I

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

5

BRITISH BIRDS.

VOL. I.

LONDON :
PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,

ANGKL COURT, SKINVKR STREET.

HISTORY

OF

BRITISH BIRDS

BY

WILLIAM YAEBELL, V.P.L.8. F.Z.S.

ILLUSTRATED BY 550 WOOD-ENGRAVINGS.

IN THREE VOLUMES.— VOL. I.
THIRD EDITION, WITH MANY ADDITIONS.

LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M.DCCC.LVI.

PREFACE

TO

THE THIED EDITION,

THE publication of the third edition of this History of
our British Birds supplies the opportunity of including
the record of seventeen species new to the British Cata-
logue ; fifteen of which are figured and described in their
places in these volumes, and notice of the occurrence of
two others, also new, is here added, with further particu-
lars of some recent and rare additions. More than one
hundred pages have been added to the text.

STRIX ASIO, Linn. The American Mottled Owl. This
bird was shot by Joseph Owen, who resides at Kirk-
stall. It was killed in the breeding -season of 1852, in
Hawksworth cover, the property of Lord Cardigan, half
a mile above Kirkstall Abbey, on the banks of the river
Aire, about four miles west of Leeds. A pair of these
Owls were seen by Mr. Owen, and having shot one,
he went to their haunt, night after night, to obtain the
other, but without success. I was favoured with a notice
of the occurrence of this bird by Richard Hobson, Esq.,

1)

VI PREFACE.

M.D., of Leeds ; and a detailed account, with a figure of
the species, appeared in the Naturalist for August, 1855.
This Owl was preserved by Mr. Mathew Smith, of
Leeds, and recognised by Mr. Denny and Mr. Graham,
Naturalists, residing at Leeds. The bird inhabits the
Oregon and the Columbia River districts, and is met with
abundantly in the British provinces of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador.

TRINGA PUSILLA, Linn. Wilson and Audubon. This

•

little Sandpiper was recorded in the Zoologist as having
occurred at Penzance. E. H. Rodd, Esq. very kindly
sent me a letter on the subject, promising me a sight of
the specimen. During the last week of last month, May,
1856, Mr. "W. S. Vingoe, of Penzance, who shot the bird
in autumn on the shore there, being in London, brought
me the specimen to look at. It was well preserved, and
bore on the feathers of its back and wing-coverts the
reddish colour and buff margins peculiar to the Tringa
minuta of Leisler in its summer and autumn plumage,
which species it resembles, but is smaller in size. The
tarsi are longer than those of the Tringa Temminckii of
Leisler, but shorter than those of Tringa minuta.

This diminutive Sandpiper, called Little Peep, and
Peep, in America, from the sound of its single note, was
found by Audubon in Labrador in the breeding-season ;
on the shores of New Jersey and New York ; on the
banks of the Ohio ; in South Carolina in spring and
autumn, and in Florida in winter. It is the Tringa
pusilla of the 13th edition of the SYSTEMA NATURE, p.
sp. 20, Habitat in DOMINGO, and is the only very

PREFACE. Vil

small Sandpiper there recorded. If I am not in error,
this species is also noticed in Catesby's Carolina.

Mons. Vieillot called the Peep of America T. minu-
tilla, apparently desiring to point out by this specific
name that it was a smaller bird than T. minuta.

STRIX FUNEREA. The Hawk Owl. An instance of
the occurrence of this species, of which only one example
had been previously noticed as belonging to our British
Catalogue, was recorded in the Zoologist for 1851, p.
3029, by E. T. Higgins, Esq., of Birkenhead.

It is worthy of notice that of the more recent additions
to our British Birds, half of them are found in North
America ; the greater portion of them being species that
resort to high northern latitudes in their breeding-season,
and have been obtained here, about, or soon after, the time
of their autumnal migration to the southward.

The route pursued by birds from North America to
this country is an interesting problem, of difficult solu-
tion. "Would that the problem might be solved by the
following calculations of the comparative numbers of the
species found in the different localities of the two countries.

The list of the Birds of America, as made out by
Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte in his comparative Cata-
logue of the Birds of Europe and North America, in-
cludes of our

British species 24 per cent.

The birds of the Fur countries and the
Arctic regions, by Sir John Richard-
son, include on the same plan . 33 „ „
The south coast of Greenland . . 74 „ „

b 2

vin PREFACE.

Iceland .94 per cent.

The Faroe Islands . . . . 96 „ „
The west coast of Norway . . 92 „ ,,
The Birds of Scandinavia . . . 88 ,, ,,
On an intermediate meridian line, in-
cluding Newfoundland, Nova Scotia,
and the Bay of Fundi, the propor-
tion of British species is . . 55 ,, ,,
Philadelphia, as shown by Prince
Charles Lucien Bonaparte in his
comparative Catalogue of the Birds
of Philadelphia and Rome, has . 32 „ ,,
Bermuda, 500 miles east of Carolina . 58 ,, ,,
Of the proportions of the two great divisions of these
Land and Water Birds, four-fifths belong to the Waders
and Swimmers, GRALLATORES and NATATORES. Of the
Land Birds the proportion is only one-fifth, and these,
almost confined to the Raptores. Sir John Richardson
and Mr. Swainson have remarked that nearly one-third of
the American Falconidae belong also to Europe. The
late Mr. Audubon told me that on one of his voyages
between this country and America, and when 300 miles
from the west coast of Ireland, he saw a Peregrine Falcon
pass over the vessel in rapid and vigorous flight ; the
direction pursued being a line to the Azores.

The Owls, though some of them only are migratory,
from the lightness of their bodies and the large expanse
of their wings, appear to fly without much labour. The
nephew of Dr. Jenner, when on board a vessel going in
a direct course for Newfoundland, and more than 100

PREFACE. IX

leagues from any land, saw a Brown Owl gliding over the
ocean with as much apparent ease as when seeking for a
mouse over its own native fields.

The late William Thompson of Belfast, in his Natural
History of Ireland, records, vol. i. p. 102, from the log-
book kept on board the John and Robert of 500 tons,
Captain M'Kechnie, from Quebec to the port of Belfast,
that from thirty to forty Snowy Owls on the 16th of
November, 1838, were seen when the vessel was 250
miles from the straits of Belleisle. Several followed the
ship ; from fifty to sixty were seen on the 18th, some
alighting on the rigging and yards; three were caught
and taken to Belfast alive. The last of those seen at sea
was on the 20th November, the vessel then near 700 miles
from Belleisle, and sailing along in latitude 54°, or nearly
so. The ship arrived at Belfast early in December, but
had been driven out of her course in the commencement
of the voyage by contrary winds.

Mr. Swainson has remarked that " it is among the in-
sectivorous or soft-billed birds that the principal ornitho-
logical features of any extensive region will be traced."

That the obtaining an equalization of temperature
has its influence in migration, as well as a search for food,
may, I think, be inferred from the circumstance that the
summer visitors to this country, coming as they do from
the south, leave the winter temperature of North Africa,
averaging 55°, for England, where the summer heat
averages 63°, only eight degrees higher than that of the
countries they leave, rather than remain where the summer
temperature reaches an average of 79°, making a differ-

X PREFACE.

ence of 24° ; and thus also our winter visitors, coming as
they do from the North, find our winter temperature of
40° to be within seven or eight degrees of the temperature
of the country they came from ; and we observe that the
more severe our winter is, the further south these our
winter visitors go.

It is known that a marked difference exists in the
average temperature of places in similar parallels of lati-
tude on the western coasts of the Old World and the
eastern coasts of the New "World, as a glance at the
undulations of the isothermal lines will exhibit. Thus
the isothermal line at Boston gives the same temperature
as that of London, though Boston appears to be ten
degrees further south ; and Iceland appears to be as warm
as the south point of Greenland, though situated five
degrees further north.

The undulations of the isothermal lines, and the higher
comparative temperature of the western shores of Europe,
may exercise some influence in the route of water birds
crossing the northern portion of the Atlantic ; while the
large patches of floating sea-weed, sometimes occupying
half an acre or more, and teeming with aquatic animal
life in its various stages, as observed by those who cross
the more southern part of the Atlantic, afford both rest
and food to many. Thus birds of great and enduring
powers of flight, able moreover to obtain both food and
rest on the surface of the sea, may reasonably be ex-
pected to have a wide geographical range ; and of these
powers the long-winged web-footed species are good
examples.

PREFACE. XI

It is sometimes difficult to make a just estimate of the
powers of flight. The Rev. Robert Holdsworth wrote
me word that a Water Rail alighted on the yard of a
man-of-war, about 500 miles to the westward of Cape
Clear, and at the same distance from any known land.
An officer of the ship caught it, and took care of it, and
carried it with him to Lisbon, feeding it with bits of raw
meat. In a day or two it became perfectly tame, and
would eat out of his hand.

By the kindness of two officers of the Royal 42nd
Highlanders, stationed at Bermuda, I received the skin
of a Landrail, shot there. This bird is not found in the
New World, and could only have reached Bermuda under
the influence of a strong north-east wind, and thus saved
its life, for a time, by making that island.

The number of our British Birds is . . 354

Of which those resident all the year are . .140

Summer visitors 63

Winter visitors 48

Occasional visitors . 103

354

I have been led to these remarks, crude and imperfect
as they are, by the communications of two kind friends,
Sir John Richardson and Alfred Newton, Esq., on the
same subject, and I give here, by permission, that of Sir
John Richardson in his own words.

" With respect to Sir John Ross's pigeons, as far as I
can recollect, he despatched a young pair on the 6th or

Xli PREFACE.

7th of October, 1850, from Assistance Bay, a little to
the west of Wellington Sound, and on the 13th of Oc-
tober, a pigeon made its appearance at the dovecot in
Ayrshire, from whence Sir John had the two pairs of
pigeons which he took out. The distance direct between
the two places is about 2000 miles. The dovecot was
under repair at this. time, and the pigeons belonging to it
had been removed ; but the servants of the house were
struck with the appearance and motions of this stranger.
After a short stay it went to the pigeon-house of a
neighbouring proprietor where it was caught, and sent
back to the lady who originally owned it. She at once
recognised it as one of those which she had given to Sir
John Ross, but to put the matter to the test, it was
carried into the pigeon-house, when out of many niches
it directly went to the one in which it had been hatched.
No doubt remained in the mind of the lady of the identity
of the bird."

By what extraordinary power did this interesting bird
find its way, and by what route did it come ?

To return to the History of British Birds, — a Supple-
ment, containing figures and descriptions of the species
obtained since the publication of the second edition, has
been prepared.

Eyder Street, St. James's,
June, 1856.

INDEX.

A.

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

American Quail .

ii. 404

Aberdevine, the .

i. 571

„ Scaup Duck

iii. 349

Accentor, Alpine .

i. 249

„ Widgeon .

iii. 293

Accentor Alpinus

i. 249

Ammer, Yellow .

i. 515

Accentor, Hedge .

i. 253

Ampelis garrulus

i. 413

Accentor modiilaris

i. 253

Anas acuta .

iii. 258

Accipiter fringillariu s

i. 74

„ albifrons .

iii. 162

„ nisus .

i. 74

„ Americana

iii. 293

,, palumbarius

i. 69

„ anser .

iii. 145

African Heron

ii. 545

,, bernicla

iii. 169

Agelaius phcBniceus

ii. 39

,, boscnas

iii. 265

Alauda alpestris .

i. 465

,, Canadensis

iii. 185

,, arbor ea .

i. 484

,, clangula

iii. 371

,, arvensis .

i. 472

, , clypeata

iii. 247

,, brachydactyla

i. 488

,, crecca

iii. 282

,, campestris

i. 457

,, cygnm

iii. 191

„ cristata .

i. 480

„ dispar

iii. 306

„ minor

i. 447

„ Egyptiaca .

iii. 177

,, obscura .

i. 457

,, erythropus

iii. 162

„ pratensis

i. 452

„ ferina

iii. 334

„ trivialis .

i. 452

,, ferruginea .

iii. 339

Alca alle

iii. 468

„ fuligula .

iii. 353

„ arctica

iii. 472

„ fusca .

iii. 314

„ impennis

iii. 479

,, Gambensis .

iii. 181

„ pica .

iii. 476

,, glacialis

iii. 357

,, tor da .

iii. 476

,, glaucion

iii. 371

Alcedo alcyon

ii. 236

,, histrionica .

iii. 365

„ ispida

ii. 228

,, leucophthalmos .

iii. 339

Alp, a name for the Bui]

-

„ leucopsis .

iii. 166

finch .

i. 601

,, marila

iii. 343

Alpine Accentor .

i. 249

„ mollissima

iii. 298

,, Swift

ii. 276

„ nigra .

iii. 319

Aluco flammea .

i. 140

,, nyroca

iii. 339

American Bittern

ii. 577

,, olor .

iii. 209

„ Cuckoo

ii. 209

,, penelope

iii. 287

,, Martin

ii. 267

„ perspicillata

iii. 324

XIV

INDEX.

Anas qiierquedula
,, rubens
,, ruficollis .
„ rufina
, rutila

spectabilis

strepera

tadorna

VOL. PAGE

iii. 278

iii. 247

iii. 174

iii. 329

iii. 235

iii. 153

iii. 310

iii. 254

iii. 240

Anatomy of the Crossbill ii. 22
Andalusian Hemipode ii. 421
„ Quail . ii. 421
Anous stolida . . iii. 537
Anser albifrons . . iii. 162

,, bernicla . . iii. 166

„ brachyrhynchus iii. 158

,, brenta

,, Canadensis

,, Egyptiacus

,, erythropus

„ ferus

,, Gambensis

,, leucopsis .

„ palustris .

„ phcenicopus

„ ruficollis .

,, segetutn .

,, torquatus .
Anthus aquaticus

,, arbor eus

,, minor

,, petrosus .

,, pratensis

,, Richardi
Aquila albicilla .

„ chrysaetos

,, haliceetus

,, ncevia
Arctic Gull .

„ Jager

„ Skua

iii. 169
iii. 185
iii. 177
iii. 162
iii. 145
iii. 181
iii. 166
iii. 145
iii. 158
iii. 174
iii. 153
iii. 169
457
447
447
457
452
461
25
11
30
20

.
Ardea cequinoctialis

„ alba .
,, Caspica .
ciconia

in. 635

iii. 635

iii. 635

iii. 512

ii. 557

ii. 549

ii. 545

ii. 586

VOL. PAGE

Ardea cinerea . . ii. 537

,, comata . . ii. 561

„ egretta . . ii. 549

,, Gardeni , . ii. 581

„ garzetta . . ii. 553

„ grus . ii. 530

„ lentiginosa . ii. 577

,, major . . ii. 537

„ minuta . . ii. 565

„ nigra . . ii. 591

,, nycticorax . ii. 581

„ purpurea . . ii. 545

,, ralloides . . ii. 561

,, russata . . ii. 557

„ stellar is . . ii. 571

Arenaria calidris . ii. 506

Ash-coloured Falcon . i. 108

,, „ Harrier. i. 108

,, ,, Sandpiper iii. 55

Astur palumbarius . i. 69

Auk, Black-billed . iii. 476

,, Great . . .iii. 479

,, Little . . .iii. 468

„ Razor-billed . ii. 476

Austrian Pratincole . ii. 470

Avocet, the . . ii. 671

B.

Baillon's Crake . . iii. 121

Balbusardus hali&etus i. 30
Bald Buzzard, a name for

the Osprey.

Bank Martin . . ii. 261

Barbary Partridge . ii. 400

Barn Owl . i. 140

Barred Woodpecker . ii. 159

Bar-tailed Godwit . ii. 688

Bartram's Sandpiper . ii. 632

Tatler . ii. 632

Bat-fowling . . i. 614

Batty-bird . . . ii. 557

Beam-bird . . . i. 182

Bean Goose . . . iii. 153

Bearded Tit . . i. 407

Bee-bird i. 182

INDEX.

XV

VOL. PAGE

Bee-eater . ii. 222
Bees and "Wasps, how eaten

by birds . . ii. 226

Belted Kingfisher . ii. 236

Bernicle Goose . . iii. 166

Bewick's SAvan . . iii. 198

Billy-biter . i. 387

Bittern, American . ii. 577

,, Common . ii. 571

„ Little . . ii. 565

Blackbird, the . . i. 221

Black-cap i. 326

Black-chinned Grebe . iii. 423

Black Cormorant . iii. 484

„ Grouse . . ii. 351

„ Guillemot . . iii. 465

Black-headed Bunting i. 509

Gull . iii. 569

Black Sloddy . . iii. 537

„ Redstart . . i. 274

„ Sandpiper . . iii. 93

„ Scoter . . iii. 319

„ Stork . . ii. 591

Black-tailed Godwit . ii. 681

Black Tern ... iii. 528

Black-throated Diver . iii. 437

Black-toed Gull . . iii. 630

Black-winged Gull . iii. 576

Stilt . ii. 676

Black Woodpecker . ii. 137

Blue Darr . . .iii. 528

Blue-headed Wagtail . i. 437

Blue-throated Warbler i. 264

Blue Tit . i. 387

Blue-winged Shoveller iii. 247

Bohemian Chatterer . i. 413

„ Waxwing . i. 413

Bomlycilla garrula . i. 413

Bombycivora garrula . i. 413

Botaurus lentiginosus. ii. 577

„ mi nut us . ii. 565

„ Mokoho . ii. 577

„ stellar is . ii. 571

Bottle Tit . . . i. 401

Bramble Finch . . i. 537

Brarnbling i. 537

VOL. PAGE

Brancher i. 565

Brantail, the Redstart i. 269

Brent Goose . . iii. 169

Bridled Guillemot . iii. 461

Broad-billed Sandpiper iii. 65

BroadbiU, the . . iii. 247

Brown-headed Gull . iii. 569

Brown Linnet . . i. 577

„ Longbeak .iii. 46

„ Snipe . . iii. 46

Brunnich's Guillemot . iii. 458

Bubo mazimus . . i. 121

,, Scops i. 127

Buff-backed Heron . ii. 557

Buff-breasted Sandpiper iii. 60

„ „ Tringa . iii. 60

Buff-coloured Egret . ii. 561

Buffel-headed Duck . iii. 377

„ „ Garrot . iii. 377

Buffon's Skua . . iii. 635

Bullfinch, Common . i. 601

,, Pine . . i. 608

Bulwer's Petrel . . iii. 664

Bunting, Black-headed i. 509

„ Cirl . . i. 520

„ Common . i. 504

„ Green-headed i. 527

,, Lapland . i. 490

,, Mountain . i. 495

„ Ortolan . i. 527

Reed . . i. 509

„ Snow . . i. 495

„ Tawney . i. 495

Yellow. . i. 515

Burgomaster, the . iii. 614

Burrow-duck . . iii. 240

Bustard, Great . . ii. 428

,, Little . . ii. 452

„ Macqueen's . ii. 457

Butcher-bird . . i. 165

Buteo apivorus . i. 98

,, cineraceus . . i. 114

,, cyaneus . . i. 108

,, ceruginosus . i. 104

,, lagopus . i. 94

nisus . . i. 74

XVI

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Buteo palumbarius . i. 69

Chasse aux Grebes . iii. 407

„ rufus . . i. 104

„ „ Macreuses iii. 320

„ vulgaris . i. 89

Chatterer, the . . i. 413

Buzzard, Common . i. 89

Chauliodus strepera . iii. 254

,, Honey . i. 98

Chenalopex Egyptiaca iii. 177

,, Moor . . i. 104

Chiff Chaff . i. 360

,, Rough-legged i. 94

Chimney Swallow . ii. 241

Chough, the . ii. 58

C.

Chroicocephalus capi-

stratus . . . iii. 566

Calamoherpe turdoides i. 299

,, minutus iii. 562

Calamophilus biarmicus i. 406

Ciconia alba . . ii. 586

Calidris arenaria . ii. 506

,, nigra . . ii. 591

„ canutus . . iii. 55

Cinclus aquaticus . i. 191

Canada Goose and Swan iii. 185

Cinereous Eagle . i. 25

„ Owl . . i. 155

„ Godwit . ii. 665

Capercaillie, the . . ii. 333

„ Shearwater, iii. 647

Capped Petrel . . iii. 643

OiYcus cineraceus . .114

Caprimulgus Europeus ii. 280

,, cyaneus . . . 108

Carbo cormoranus . iii. 484

,, ceruginosus . .104

Carduelis elegans . i. 565

,, Montagui . . .114

„ spinus . i. 571

,, rufus . . . 104

Carolina Cuckoo . . ii. 209

Cirl Bunting . . .520

Carrion Crow . . ii. 86

Clangula albeola . iii. 377

Carr- swallow, the Black Tern.

,, chrysophthalmos iii. 371

Caryocatactes nucifraga ii. 130

,, glacialis . . iii. 357

Caspian Tern . . iii. 497

,, histrionica . iii. 365

Castaneous Duck . iii. 339

,, vulgaris . . iii. 371

Cataractes parasiticus iii. 630

Clap-net i. 582

,, pomarinus . iii. 625

Cob, the Great Black-

,, vulgaris . iii. 621

backed Gull.

Cathartes percnopterus i. 6

Cob, the male Swan.

Cephus grylle . . iii. 465

Coccothraustes chloris i. 552

Certhia familiaris . ii. 170

,, vulgaris i. 558

Chaffinch, the . . i. 532

Coccyzus Americanus ii. 209

Channel Goose . . iii. 493

Cock of the Wood . ii. 333

Chantrey, Sir Fras., and

Cole Tit . i. 394

Woodcocks . . iii. 19

Colin, Yirginian . . ii. 404

Charadrius calidris . ii. 506

Collared Pratincole . ii. 470

„ cantianus ii. 498

Columba cenas . . ii. 293

,, hiaticula . ii. 494

,, lima , . ii. 298

,, himantopus ii. 676

,, migratoria . ii. 314

,, minor . ii. 502

,, palumbus . ii. 287

,, morinellus ii. 484

„ turtur . ii. 309

„ cedicnemus ii. 465

Colymbus arcticus . iii. 437

,, pluvialis . ii. 476

,, glacialis . iii. 428

INDEX.

xvii

VOL. PAGE

Colytnbus immer . iii. 428

„ septentrwnalism. 444

„ stellatus . iii. 444

Common Bittern . ii. 571

Bullfinch . i. 601

,, Bunting . i. 504

„ Buzzard . i. 89

Coot . . iii. 138

,, Cormorant . iii. 484

,, Creeper . ii. 170

„ Crossbill . ii. 1

,, Curlew . ii. 610

„ Dipper . . i. 191

„ Gallinule . iii. 129

,, Gannet . . iii. 493

,, Grosbeak . i. 558

,, Guillemot . iii. 453

„ Gull . . iii.~5$9

,, Heron . . ii. 537

,, Kingfisher . ii. 228

,, Linnet . . i. 577

,, Partridge . ii. 383

,, Quail . . ii. 413

,, Rail . . iii. 125

,, Redpole . i. 589

,, Redshank . ii. 628

,, Rotche . . iii. 468

„ Sandpiper . ii. 654

,, Scoter Duck. iii. 319

,, Scraber . iii. 465

,, Shelldrake . iii. 240

,, Skua . . iii. 621

,, Snipe . . iii. 31

,, Starling . ii. 44

,, Storm Petrel iii. 675

„ Tern . . iii. 509

,, Whitethroat i. 335

,, Widgeon . iii. 287

Conirostres . . i. 465

Coot, the . . . iii. 138

Coracias garnda . ii. 216

Cormorant, the Common iii. 484

„ the Crested iii. 484

,, the Green iii. 490

Corncake, the . . iii. 107

Cornish' Chough . . ii. 58

VOL. PAGE

Cornish Daw . . ii. 58

Corvus caryocatactes . ii. 130

,, corax . . ii. 65

„ comix . . ii. 86

,, cor one . . ii. 82

,, frugilegus . ii. 95

,, glandarius . ii. 124

,, graculus . ii. 58

,, monedula . ii. 105

,, pica . . ii. 114

Corythus enucleator . i. 608

Coturnix dactylisonans ii. 413

,, Marylanda . ii. 404

,, vulgaris . ii. 413

Coulterneb, the Pufiin iii. 472

Courier, Cream-coloured ii. 460

Cracker, the . . iii. 258

Crake, Baillon's . . iii. 121

,, Gallinule . . iii. 107

„ Little . . iii. 116

„ Spotted . . iii. 112

Crane, the . . . ii. 530

Cravat Goose . . iii. 185

Cream-coloured Courser ii. 460

,, ,, Plover ii. 460

„ „ Swiftfootii. 460

Creeper, the . . ii. 170

Crested Cormorant . iii. 484

,, Lapwing . ii. 515

„ Lark . . i. 480

„ Tit . . . i. 391

Crex Baillonii . . iii. 121

,, porzana . . iii. 112

,, pratensis . . iii. 107

,, pusilla . . iii. 116

Crossbill, American

White-winged . ii. 33

,, Common . ii. 1

,, European

White-winged . ii. 27

,, Parrot . ii. 23

Crow, Carrion . . ii. 82

,, Hooded . . ii. 86

,, Hybrid . . ii. 89

,, Red-legged . ii. 58

,, Royston . . ii. 86

XV111

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

Cuckoo, American . ii. 209

,, Common . ii. 194

,, Great-spotted ii. 205

„ Mate . . ii. 163

Cuculus canorus . ii. 194

,, glandarius . ii. 205

Cuneate-tailed Gull . iii. 558

Curlew, Common . ii. 610

„ Esquimaux . ii. 620

,, Pigmy . . iii. 50

,, Sandpiper . iii. 50

,, Stone . . ii. 465

,, Tringa . . iii. 50

Curruca arundinacea i. 309

,, atricapilla . i. 326

,, cinerea . i. 385

,, hortensis . i. 331

,, locustella . i. 295

,, luscinia . i. 313

,, orphea . . i. 343

,, Provincialis . i. 365

,, salicaria . i. 303

,, sibilatrix . i. 346

,, sylviella . i. 339

Cursorius Europeans . ii. 460

„ Isabellinus . ii. 460

Cushat, the Woodpigeon ii. 287

Cygnus Bewickii . iii. 198

„ Canadensis . iii. 185

,, ferus . . iii. 191

,, immutdbilis . iii. 230

,, mansuetus . iii. 209

„ olor . . iii. 209

Cypselus alpinus . ii. 276

,, apus . . ii. 270

,, murarius . ii. 270

,, Africanus . ii. 276

D.

Dabchick, the . . iii. 423

Dqfila caudacuta . iii. 258

Dalmatian Regulus . i. 380

Dartford Warbler . i. 365

Decoys . . . iii. 267

Dentirostres i. 165

VOL. PAGE

Didapper . . .iii. 423

Dipper, the . . , i. 191

Diver, Black-throated iii. 437

,, Great Northern iii. 428

,, Red-throated . iii. 444

,, Ring-necked . iii. 428

,, Speckled . . iii. 444

Domestic Swan . . iii. 209

Dotterel, the . . ii. 484

Double Snipe . . iii. 24

Dove, Ring . . ii. 287

„ Rock . . ii. 298

,, Stock . . ii. 293

„ Turtle . . ii. 309

Duck, Buffel-headed . iii. 377

,, Burrow . . iii. 240

,, Castaneous . iii. 339

,, Eider . . iii. 298

,, Ferruginous . iii. 339

,, Gadwall . . iii. 254

,, Golden Eye . iii. 371

,, Harlequin . iii. 365

,, King . . iii, 310

,, Long- tailed . iii. 357

,, Pintail . . iii. 258

,, Red . . . iii. 339

,, Red-crested . iii. 329

„ St. Cuthbert's . iii. 298

,, Scaup . . iii. 343

,, Scaup of America iii. 349

,, Steller's . . iii. 306

Tufted , iii. 353

Velvet .
Western .

iii. 314
iii. 306

,, White-eyed . iii. 339

,, Wild . . iii. 265

Dunbird, the . . iii. 334

Dundiver, the . . iii. 398

Dunlin, the . . .iii. 86

Dunnock, the . . i. 253

Dusky Grebe . . iii. 414

„ Lark . . i. 457

,, Petrel . . iii. 659

,, Sandpiper . ii. 624

Shearwater iii. 647

INDEX.

XIX

E.

VOL. PAGE

TOL. PAGE

Falco buteo .

i. 89

Eagle, Cinereous . i. 25

,, chrysaetos

i. 11

, Golden . . i. 11

„ cineraceus

i. 114

, Owl . . • i. 121

,, cyaneus .

i. 108

, Ring-tailed . i. 11

„ fulvus

i. 11

, Rough-footed . i. 20

„ gyrfako .

i. 36

, Sea . . . i. 25

,, hali&etus .

i. 30

, Spotted . . i. 20

„ hyemalis .

i. 114

„ White-tailed . i. 25

„ Islandicus

i. 36

Ear of Owls . . i. 134

„ lagopus

i. 94

Eared Grebe . . iii. 420

,, milvus

i. 78

Ectopistis migratorius ii. 314

,, nisus .

i. 74

Edible nest of Chinese

,, palumbarius

i. 69

Swallow . . ii. 266

,, peregrinus

i. 42

Egret, Buff-coloured . ii. 561

„ rufipes

i. 56

,, Great . . ii. 549

,, subbuteo

i. 52

„ Buff-backed . ii. 557

,, tinnunculus

i. 64

„ Little . . ii. 553

Fallow Chat

i. 286

Egyptian Goose . . iii. 177

Feathers, growth of .

i. 225

,, Neophron . i. 6

Ferruginous Duck

iii. 339

,, Vulture . i. 6

Ficedula Suecica

i. 264

Eider Duck . . iii. 298

„ tithys .

i. 274

Elanns furcatus . i. 84

Fieldfare, the .

i. 208

Elk, the Swan . . iii. 191

Fieldlark, the .

i. 472

Emberiza chlorocephala i. 527

Field Titling

i. 447

,, cirlus . . i. 520

Finch, Bramble .

i. 537

„ dtrinella . i. 415

,, Linnet

i. 577

,, glaciaUs . i. 495

,, Mountain

i. 537

,, Jwrtiilana . i. 527

,, Red-headed

i. 577

,, Lapponica . i. 490

Fire-crested Regulus .

i. 376

,, miliaria . i. 504

„ „ Wren .

i. 376

,, montana . i. 495

Fishing with Cormorants iii. 489

,, mustelina . i. 495

Fissirostres .

ii. 216

,, nival is . i. 495

Flight, powers of i. 119

and 144

,, schceniclus . i. 509

Flycatcher, Pied

i. 187

Erne, the . . i. 25

,, Spotted .

i. 182

Erythaca rubecula . i. 257

Food, influence of, on

Esquimaux Curlew . ii. 620

plumage

i. 607

Eyes of birds i. 15, 19, and 154

Food of the Israelites .

ii. 413

Foolish Guillemot

iii. 453

F.

Forked-tailed Petrel .

iii. 671

Fratercula arctica

iii. 472

Faho (cruginosus . i. 104

Freckled Heron .

ii. 577

,, cesalon . i. 60

Fregihis graculus

ii. 58

,, albicilla . i. 25

French Pie

ii. Io3

,, apivorus . i. 98

Fringilla Borealis

i. 583

XX

INDEX.

VOL. PAQE

VOL. PAGE

Fringilla canescens

i. 583

Gapes, mode of curing

ii. 323

, , canndbina .

i. 577

Gardenian Heron

ii. 581

,, carduelis

i. 565

Garden Warbler .

i. 331

,, chloris .

i. 552

Garganey Duck .

iii. 278

,, coccothraustes

i. 558

Garrot, Buffel-headed

iii. 377

„ Calebs .

i. 532

,, Golden-eyed .

iii. 371

,, domestica

i. 546

Garrulus glandarius .

ii. 124

„ elegam

i. 565

Gibraltar Quail .

ii. 421

,, linaria

i. 589

Glareola Austriaca .

ii. 470

,, linota .

i. 550

,, pratincola

ii. 470

,, montana

i. 541

,, torquata

ii. 470

,, montifringilla

i. 537

Glaucous Gull

iii. 614

,, montium

i. 596

Glead, the Kite .

i. 78

,, spinus .

i. 571

Glossy Ibis .

ii. 604

Fulica atra

iii. 138

Godwit, Bar-tailed

ii. 688

, , chloropus

iii. 129

,, Black-tailed .

ii. 681

Fuligula albeola .

iii. 377

Golden Eagle

i. 11

„ clangula

iii. 371

Golden-eyed Duck

iii. 371

„ cristata

iii. 353

Golden-crested Regulus

i. 371

dispar .

iii. 306

„ ,, Warbler

i. 371

,, /erma .

iii. 334

„ „ Wren .

i. 371

,, glacialis

iii. 357

Golden-crowned Wren

i. 371

,, histrionica .

iii. 365

Golden Oriole

i. 237

,, marila .

iii 343

,, Plover

ii. 476

, , mariloides .

iii. 349

Goldfinch, the .

i. 565

„ nyroca .

iii. 339

Goosander, the .

iii. 398

,, rufina .

iii. 329

,, Red-breasted iii. 392

Fulmar Petrel .

iii. 638

Goose, Bean

iii. 153

Furze Chat .

i. 282

,, Bernicle .

iii. 166

,, Brent

iii. 169

G.

,, Canada .

iii. 185

,, Channel .

iii. 493

Gadwall Duck .

iii. 254

,, Cravat

iii. 185

Gallinula Baillonii

iii. 121

,, Egyptian .

iii. 177

, , chloropus .

iii. 129

,, Gambo

iii. 181

„ cre# .

iii. 107

„ Grey-lag .

iii. 145

,, Foljambei .

iii. 116

,, Laughing

iii. 162

, , minuta

iii. 116

,, Pink-footed

iii. 158

„ porzana

iii. 112

,, Red-breasted .

iii. 174

„ pusilla

iii. 116

„ Ruddy .

iii. 235

Gallinule, Baillon's .

iii. 121

,, Soland

iii. 493

,, Common .

iii. 129

,, Solent

iii. 493

„ Little .

iii. 116

, , Spur-winged .

iii. 181

,, Olivaceous .

iii. 116

„ White-fronted

iii. 162

Gambo Goose

iii. 181

„ Wild

iii. 145

Gannet, tlie

iii. 493

Goshawk, the

i. 69

INDEX.

XXI

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Grallatores ii. 460

Grey Wagtail .

i. 432

Grasshopper Warbler . i. 295

Griffon Vulture .

i. 1

Great Auk . . . iii. 479

Grosbeak, Common

i. 558

,, Black-backed Gull iii. 610

„ Pine .

i. 608

,, Black Woodpecker ii. 137

Grouse, Black

ii. 351

,, Bustard . . ii. 428

„ Red . .

ii. 364

„ Crested Grebe . iii. 403

„ White .

ii. 372

„ Egret . . ii. 549

„ Wood . .

ii. 333

,, Imber Diver . iii. 428

Grus cinerea

ii. 530

„ Northern Diver iii. 428

Guernsey Partridge .

ii. 394

,, Plover . . ii. 465

Guillemot, Black

iii. 465

,, Snipe . . iii. 24

,, Bridled .

iii. 461

„ Spotted Wood-

,, Brunnich's

iii. 458

pecker ii. 153

,, Common .

iii. 453

,, Tit . . . i. 383

„ Foolish .

iii. 453

„ White Heron . ii. 549

,, Lesser

iii. 453

Greater Pettychaps . i. 331

,, Ringed

iii. 461

,, Shearwater . iii. 647

Spotted .

iii. 465

Spotted Wood-

Thick-billed

iii. 458

pecker ii. 153

Gull, Arctic

iii. 630

Grebe, Black-chin . iii. 423

,, Black-headed .

iii. 569

„ Dusky . . iii. 414

, , Black-winged .

iii. 576

,, Eared . . iii. 420

,, Bonaparte's

iii. 554

,, Great-crested . iii. 403

,, Brown-headed .

iii. 569

,, Horned . . iii. 414

„ Common .

iii. 589

,, La Chasse aux iii. 407

,, Cuneate-tailed .

iii. 558

,, Little . . iii. 423

,, Glaucous .

iii. 614

,, Red-necked . iii. 410

„ Great Black -

,, Sclavonian . iii. 414

backed .

iii. 610

„ Tippet . . iii. 403

„ Herring .

iii. 607

Green Cormorant . iii. 490

,, Iceland

iii. 594

,, Finch . . i. 552

,, Ivory

iii. 586

,, Grosbeak . . i. 552

,, Kittiwake .

iii. 581

Green-headed Bunting i. 527

,, Large White -

,, ,, Goosander iii. 398

winged .

iii. 614

Green Lapwing . . ii. 515

,, Laughing .

iii. 576

,, Plover . . ii. 476

,, Lesser Black -

,, Sandpiper . ii. 642

backed .

iii. 602

„ Shank, the . ii. 665

,, Lesser White -

,, Woodpecker . ii. 142

winged .

iii. 594

Grey-headed Wagtail i. 437

,, Little

iii. 562

Grey-lag Goose . . iii. 145

„ Masked .

iii. 566

Grey Phalarope . . iii. 97

,, Pomerine .

iii. 625

,, Plover . . ii. 511

„ Red-legged

iii. 569

,, Shrike . . i. 165

,, Ross's.

iii. 558

,, Snipe . . . iii. 46

,, Sabine's

iii. 548

XXII

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

Gull, Skua . . iii. 621

,, Tarrock . . iii. 581

,, Wagel . . iii. 610

,, Winter . . iii. 589

,, Yellow-legged . iii. 602

Gull-billed Tern . . iii. 520

Gyrfalco candicans . i. 36

Gyrfalcon . . i. 36

H.

Hackbolt . . iii. 650

Hcematornischrysorhceus i. 234

Hagdown . . .iii. 651

Haliceetus albicilla . i. 25

Harelda glacialis . iii. 357

Harlequin Duck . . iii. 365

Harrier, Hen . . i. 108

„ Marsh . . i. 104

,, Montagu's . i. 114

,, Ring-tailed . i. 113

Hawfinch, the . . i. 558

Haw Grosbeak . . i. 558

Hawk, Fishing, the . i. 30

Hawking . i. 17, 46, 70, 75

ii. 116

Hawk Owl . i. 155

Hay-tit . i. 335

Hebridal Sandpiper . ii. 520

Hedge Accentor . . i. 253

,, Sparrow . . i. 253

„ Warbler . . i. 253

Hemipode Andalusian ii. 421

Hemipodiuslunatus . ii. 421

,, tachydromus ii. 421

Hen Harrier . . i. 108

Hernshaw . . ii. 537

Heron and Eel . . ii. 539

Heron, African . . ii. 545

,, Buff-backed . ii. 557

,, Common . . ii. 537

„ Freckled. . ii. 577

,, Gardenian . ii. 581

,, Great White . ii. 549

„ Little White . ii. 557

Night . . ii. 581

VOL. PAGE

Heron, Purple . . ii. 545

,, Squacco . . ii. 561

Heronries, Catalogue of ii. 541

Heronshaw . . . ii. 537

Herring Gull . . iii. 607

Hew-hole, the . . ii. 142

Hickwall . ii. 159
Himantopus melano -

pterus ii. 676

„ Plinii . ii. 676

Hirundo apus . . ii. 270

,, pratincola . ii. 470

„ purpurea . ii. 267

,, riparia . ii. 261

„ rustica . . ii. 241

,, urbica . . ii. 255

Hobby, the . . . i. 52

Hcematopus ostralegus ii. 525

Honey Buzzard . i. 98

Hooded Crow . . ii. 86

,, Merganser . iii. 386

Hooper, the . . iii. 191

Hoopoe, the . . ii. 181

Horned Grebe . . iii. 414

House Sparrow . . i. 546

Hybrids, i. 8, 327, 572, 603

ii. 344, 355, 360, 362; iii.

152, 157, 178, 187, 211, 232,

251, 261, 273, 290.

I.

Ibis falcinellus . . ii. 604

,, Glossy ii. 604

Iceland Falcon . i. 36

,, Gull . . iii. 594

Icterus phceniceus , ii. 38

Imber, Great . . iii. 428

,, Lesser . . iii. 437

Influence of food on

plumage . . i. 607

Insessores . . . i. 165

Israelites, food of . ii. 413

Ivory Gull . . . iii. 586

J.

Jackdaw, the

ii. 108

INDEX.

xxili

1

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Jacksaw

iii. 396

Larus crepidatus

iii. 630

Jack Snipe .

iii. 39

,, eburneus .

iii. 686

Jadreka Snipe

ii. 681

,, erythropus

iii. 669

Jager, Arctic

iii. 625

,, fuscus

iii. 602

Jay, the

ii. 124

,, glaucoides

iii. 594

Judcock, the Jack Snipe

iii. 39

,, glaucus

iii. 614

,, Jiyberneus

iii. 589

K.

,, Islandicus

iii. 594

Kentish Plover .

ii. 498

,, leucopterus
,, marinus .

iii. 594
iii. 610

Kestril, the .

i. 64

,, minutus .

iii. 562

King Duck .

iii. 310

,, ncevius

iii. 610

Kingfisher, Belted
„ the Common

ii. 236
ii. 228

,, parasiticus
,, ridibundus

iii. 630
iii. 569

Kinglet, the

i. 371

rissa

iii. 581

Kite, the Fork-tailed .

i. 78

, , i *<jtriv • •

,, Ross it

iii. 558

,, Swallow-tailed .

i. 84

,, Sabini

iii. 548

Kittiwake Gull .
Knot, the .

iii. 581
iii. 55

,, tridactylus
Laughing Goose .

iii. 581
iii. 162

Gull . .

iii. 576

L.

Leach's Petrel

iii. 671

Lagopus mutus .

ii. 372

Least Spotted Wood-

,, scoticus .

ii. 364

pecker .

ii. 159

„ vulgaris

ii. 372

„ Willow Wren .

i. 360

Landrail, the

iii. 107

Lesser Black - backed

Lanius collurio .

. 171

Gull . . .

iii. 602

„ excubitor

. 165

,, Guillemot

iii. 453

„ rtiftts .

. 177

,, Imber

iii. 437

,, rutilus .

. 177

,, Pettychaps

i. 360

Lapland Bunting

. 490

,, Redpole .

i. 589

Lapwing, the

ii. 515

,, Spotted Wood-

Large White - winged

pecker .

ii. 154

Gull . . .

iii. 614

„ Tern . .

iii. 524

Lark, Crested .

i. 480

,, Whitethroat .

i. 339

,, Shore

i. 465

,, White - winged

„ Short-toed

i. 488

Gull .

iii. 594

„ Sky . . .

i. 472

Lestris Buffonii .

iii. 635

„ Wood

i. 484

,, cataractes

iii. 621

Larus argcntatus

iii. 607

,, parasiticus

iii. 635

,, atricttla .

iii. 576

,, pomarinus

iii. 625

,, Bonapartii

iii. 554

,, Richardsonii .

iii. 630

,, candid us .

iii. 586

,, striatus .

iii. 625

,, canus

iii. 589

Limosa mclamira

ii. 681

,, capistratus

iii. 566

„ rufa . .

ii. 688

,, cataractes

iii. 621

Linaria borealis .

i. 583

,, cinerarias

iii. 569

,, canescens

i. 583

c 2

XXIV

INDEX.

Linaria canndbina
,, minor

VOL. PAGE

i. 577

. i. 589

,, montana . i. 596

Ling -"bird, the . . i. 452

Linnet, Brown . . i. 577

,, Common . i. 577

,, Mountain . i. 596

Linota Borealis . . i. 583

,, canescens . i. 583

,, cannabina . i. 577

,, linaria . . i. 589

,, montium . . i. 596

Little Auk . iii. 468

,, Bittern . . ii. 565
, , Black and White

"Woodpecker . ii. 159

,, Bustard . . ii. 422

,, Crake . . iii. 116

„ Egret . . ii. 553

,, Gallinule . . iii. 116

,, Grebe . . iii. 423

„ Gull ... iii. 562
i. 127
i. 158

,, Ringed Plover . ii. 502

,, Sandpiper . . iii. 70

„ Stint . . . iii. 70

,, Tern . . iii. 524

,, White Heron . ii. 557
Liverpool, Arms of the

Town . ii. 606

Lobipes hyberboreus . iii. 102

Locustella avicula . i. 295

Long-eared Owl . . i. 131

Long-legged Plover . ii. 676

Long-tailed Duck . iii. 357

,, ,, Hareld . iii. 357

,, ,, Horned Owl i. 131

„ ,, Tit . . i. 401

Lough Diver . . iii. 381

Loxia, beak of . . ii. 22

,, bifasciata . ii. 27

,, chloris . . i. 552

,, cocothraustes , „ i. 558

,, curvirostra . ii. 1

enmleator i. 608

,, Horned Owl
„ Owl . .

VOL. PAGE

Loxia falcirostra . ii. 27

,, leucoptera . ii. 33

,, pityopsittacus . ii. 23

,, pyrrhula . . i. 601

. M.

Machetes pugnax . ii. 692

Macrorhamphus gristfas iii. 46

Magpie, the . . ii. 114

,, hawking . ii. 116

Mallard . . .iii. 265

Manx Puffin . . iii. 654

,, Shearwater . iii. 654

Mareca Americana . iii. 293

,, Penelope . iii. 287

Marsh Harrier . . i. 104

„ Tit . . . i. 397

Martin, Bank or Sand ii. 261

,, the House, or

Common . . ii. 255

,, Purple . . ii. 267

Masked Gull . . iii. 566

Meadow Crake . . iii. 107

,, Gallinule . iii. 107

,, Pipit . . i. 452

,, Titling . . i. 452

Mealy Redpole . . i. 583

Mecistura vagans . i. 401

Melizophilus Dartfor-

diensis i. 365

„ provincialis i. 365

Merganser, Hooded . iii. 386

„ Red-breasted iii. 392

Mergoides rufina . iii. 329

Mergulus melanoleucos iii. 468

Mergus albellus . . iii. 381

,, castor . . iii. 398

,, cucullatus . iii. 386

,, merganser . iii. 398

,, serrator . . iii. 392

Merlin, the . . . i. 60

Merops apiaster . . ii. 222

Merula iliaca . . i. 217

musica . i. 212

pilaris .

i. 208

INDEX.

XXV

VOL. PAGE

TOI. PAGE

Merula torquatus

i. 228

Mountain Bunting . i. 495

,, viscii'ora

i. 197

„ Finch . . i. 537

„ vulgaris .

i. 221

„ Linnet . i. 596

Mew a Gull

iii. 589

,, Sparrow . i. 541

Migratory Pigeon

ii. 314

Moustache Tern . . iii. 517

Milvus furcatus .

i. 84

Moving eggs or young i. 475

,, re galis . " .

i. 78

ii. 385; iii. 133.

,, vulgar is .

i. 78

Mullet Hawk . . i. 30

Minute Trfega .

iii. 70

Muscicapa atricapilla i. 187

Mire-drum, the Bittern.

,, grisola . i. 182

Missel Thrush .

i. 197

„ luctuosa . i. 187

Montagu, Colonel, notice

Mute Swan . . iii. 209

of .

i 525

Montagu's Harrier

i. 114

N.

Moor Buzzard

i. 104

Moor Hen, the .

iii. 129

Natatores . . iii. 145

Morillon, the

iii. 371

Nauclerus furcatits . i. 84

Mormon fratercula

iii. 472

Neophron percnopterus i. 6

Moss-cheeper, the

i. 452

Xest-making . i. 184, 476

Motacilla alba .

i. 428

Nests, unusual places for,

„ arumUnacea

i. 309

i. 183, 259

,, atricapilla .

i. 326

Nets . . . i. 582, 614

,, boarula

i. 432

Nettle-creeper, the Whitethroat.

,, cinerea

i. 335

Night Hawk . . ii. 270

,, flava .

i. 437

„ Heron . . ii. 581

,, hippolais .

i. 360

Nightingale, the . . i. 318

,, Jiortensis

i. 331

Nightjar, the . . ii. 280

,, luscinia

i. 318

Noctua funerea . . i. 155

,, modularis .

i. 253

,, nyctea . . i. 150

,, neglecta

i. 437

,, passer ina . i. 158

,, cenanthe

i. 286

,, Tengmalmi . i. 162

,, passer in a .

i. 331

Noddy Tern . . iii. 537

,, phcenicurus

i. 269

Norfolk Plover . . ii. 465

,, provincialis

i. 365

Northern Diver . . iii. 428

Rayi .

i. 443

,, Fulmar . iii. 638

,, regulus

i. 371

Nucifraga caryocatactes ii. 130

,, rubecula

i. 257

Numenius arquata . ii. 610

„ rubetra

i. 282

,, borealis . ii. 620

,, rubicola

i. 278

,, phozopus . ii. 616

,, saticaria

i. 303

,, pigmceus . iii. 50

,, Suecica

i. 264

Nutcracker, the . . ii. 130

„ syh-iella

i. 339

Nuthatch, the . . ii. 188

,, trochilus

i. 351

Nycticorax Europaus ii. 581

,, troglodytes .

ii. 174

„ Gardeni . ii. 581

,, Yarrellii .

i. 421

Nyroca ferina . . iii. 334

Mouldy lungs

iii. 345

,, fuligula . . iii. 353

XXVI

INDEX.

Nyroca leucophthalmos

VOL. PAGE

iii. 339

Owl, Tawny

VOL. PAGE

i. 145

,, marila .

iii. 343

,, Tengmalm's

i. 162

,, Pochard.

iii. 339

„ White

i. 140

„ Yellow

i. 140

o

Oxbird

iii. 86

V/«

Oyster-catcher .

ii. 525

CEdicnemus Bellonii ,

ii. 465

, , crepitans

ii. 465

P.

Oidemia fusca .

iii. 314

„ nigra .

iii. 319

Pandion haliceetus

i. 30

, , perspicillata .

iii. 324

Parasitic Gulls .

iii. 621

Oidicnemus Bellonii .

ii. 465

Parrot Crossbill .

ii. 23

Olivaceous Grallinule .

iii. 116

Parrot, the Sea .

iii. 472

Olive, a name for the

Partridge, Barbary .

ii. 400

Oyster-catcher.

,, the Common

ii. 383

Orange-legged Hobby

i. 56

„ Red-legged

ii. 394

Organs of voice .

ii. 72

,, Yirginian .

ii. 404

Oriole, the Golden

i. 237

Partis ater .

i. 394

Oriolus galbula .

i. 237

,, biarmicus .

i. 407

Orpheus "Warbler

i. 343

,, caudatus .

i. 401

Ortolan Bunting .

i. 527

,, cceruleus .

i. 387

Orti/gometra crex

iii. 107

„ cristatus .

i. 391

Ortyx Virginiana

ii. 404

,, major

i. 383

Osprey, the

i. 30

,, palustris .

i. 397

Otis Macqueeni . .

ii. 457

Passenger Pigeon

ii. 314

,, oedicnemus .

ii. 465

Passer domesticus

i. 546

,, tarda .

ii. 428

„ montanus

i. 541

,, tetrax .

ii. 452

Passerine Warbler

i. 331

Otus brachyotos .

i. 135

Pastor, Rose-coloured.

ii. 52

,, vulgaris

i. 131

„ roseus

ii. 52

Ouzel, the Ring .

i. 228

Pectinated claw .

iii. 491

„ Water .

. i. 191

Pectoral Sandpiper

iii. 82

Owl, the Barn .

i. 140

Peewit, the .

ii. 515

,, Canada

i. 155

Pelecanus bassanus .

iii. 493

„ Eagle.

i. 121

,, carlo .

iii. 484

,, Great-eared

i. 121

, , cristatus

iii. 490

,, Hawk

i. 155

,, graculus

iii. 490

„ Little .

i. 158

Perdix Borealis .

ii. 404

,, Little-eared

i. 127

,, cinerea .

ii. 383

,, Little -horned

i. 127

,, coturnix .

ii. 413

„ Little Mght

i. 158

,, gambra .

ii. 400

,, Long-eared

i. 131

,, petrosa .

ii. 400

,, Long-horned

i. 131

„ rufa ^ .

ii. 394

,, Scops-eared

i. 127

, , Virginiana

ii. 404

„ Short-eared

i. 135

Peregrine Falcon

i. 42

,, Snowy

i. 150

Pernis apivorus .

i. 98

INDEX.

XXVll

VOL. PAGE

Petrel, Bulwer's . . iii. 664

,, Capped . . iii. 643

,, Dusky . . iii. 659

,, Forked-tailed . iii. 671

,, Fulmar . . iii. 638

,, Leach's . . iii. 671

,, the Storm . iii. 675

,, Wilson's . . iii. 667

Petrocincla saxatilis . i. 245

Pettychaps, the Greater i. 331

,, the Lesser i. 360

Phalacrocorax carlo . iii. 484

,, cristatus iii. 490

,, graculus iii. 490

Phalarope, Grey . . iii. 97

„ Red . . iii. 97

,, Red-necked iii. 102

Phalaropus fuUcaria . iii. 102

,, fuscus . iii. 102

„ hyperboreus iii. 102

,, lobatus . iii. 97

„ platyrhin-

cJius . . iii. 97

Phasianus colchicus . ii. 320

Pheasant, Ring-necked ii. 332

,, the . . ii. 320

Philomela luscinia . i. 318

Phcenicura ruticilla . i. 269

,, Suecica . i. 264

,, tithys . i. 274

Pica caudata . . ii. 114

,, melanoleuca . ii. 114

Picus major . . ii. 153

,, martins . . ii. 137

„ minor . . ii. 159

,, viridis . . ii. 142

Pied Fly-catcher . i. 187

,, Oyster-catcher . ii. 525

,, Wagtail . . i. 420

,, Woodpecker . ii. 153

Pigeon, Migratory . ii. 314

,, Passenger . ii. 314

„ Wood . . ii. 287

Pigeons held sacred, and

why . ii. 289

,, varieties of . ii. 303

VOL. PAGE

Pigeons, their flight home ii. 304

Pigmy Curlew . . iii. 50

Pine Bullfinch . . i. 608

,, Grosbeak . . i. 608

Pink-footed Goose . iii. 158

Pintail Duck . . iii. 258

Pipit Lark . i. 452

,, Meadow . . i. 452

„ Richard's . . i. 461

„ Rock . i. 457

„ Shore . i. 457

„ Tree . i. 447

Platalea leucorodia . ii. 597

Plectrophanes Lapponica i. 490

,, nivalis. i. 495

Plover, Cream-coloured ii. 460

„ Golden . . ii. 476

,, Great . . ii. 465

,, Green . . ii. 476

,, Grey . . ii. 511

,, Kentish . . ii. 498

,, Little-ringed . ii. 502

,, Long-legged . ii. 676

„ Norfolk . . ii. 465

„ Ringed . . ii. 494

„ Yellow . . ii. 476

Plumage, some laws of i. 176, 226

Pochard Duck . . iii. 334

Podiceps auritus . iii. 420

,, cornutus . iii. 414

cristatus

iii. 403

,, Hebridicus . iii. 423

,, minor . . iii. 423

,, obscurus . iii. 414

,, rubricollis . iii. 410

,, urinator . iii. 403

Polish Swan . . iii. 230

Polysticta Stelleri . iii. 306

Pomerine Gull . . iii. 625

,, Skua . . iii. 625

Port Egmont Hen . iii. 623

Pratincole, Austrian . ii. 470

„ CoUared . ii. 470

Procellaria Anglorum iii, 654

,, Bullockii . iii. 671

Bulwerii . iii. 664

XXV111

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

Procellaria fuliginosus iii. 647

VOL. PAGE

Rasores . . . ii. 287

,, glacialis . iii. 638

Rattle-wings . . iii. 371

,, h&sitata . iii. 643

Raven, the . . ii. 65

,, Leachii . iii. 671

Ray's Wagtail . . i. 443

,, pelagica . iii. 675

Razor-bill, the . . iii. 476

,, puffinus . iii. 654

Recurvirostra avocetta ii. 671

,, Wilsoni . iii. 667

Red-backed Shrike . i. 171

Ptarmigan, the . . ii. 372

Red-billed Heron . ii. 557

Puffin, the . . . iii. 472

Red-breasted Goosander iii. 392

Puffinus Anglorum . iii. 654

,, ,, Goose . iii. 174

,, cinereus . iii. 647

,, ,, Merganser iii. 392

,, fuliginosus . iii. 647

,, „ Shoveller iii. 247

,, major . . iii. 647

,, „ Snipe . ii. 688

,, obscurus . iii. 659

and iii. 43

Purple Heron . . ii. 545

Redbreast, the . . i. 257

,, Martin . . ii. 267

Red-crested Pochard . iii. 329

,, Sandpiper . iii. 93

„ j, Whistling

Purre, the . . .iii. 86

Duck . . .iii. 329

Puttock, the Kite and

Red Duck ... iii. 339

Common Buzzard.

Red-footed Falcon . i. 56

Pycnonotus chrysorheeus i. 234

RedGodwit . . ii. 688

Pyrgita domestica , i. 546

,, Grouse . . ii. 364

,, montana . i. 541

Red-headed Pochard . iii. 334

Pyrrhocorax graculus ii. 58

Red-legged Crow . ii. 58

Pyrrhula enucleator . i. 608

„ „ Gull. . iii. 569

,, vulgaris . i. 601

,, ,, Partridge, ii. 394

Red-necked Coot-foot . iii. 102

D

,, ,, Grebe . iii. 410

YiC«

,, ,, Lobe-foot iii. 102

Q,uail, American . ii. 404

,, ,, Phalarope iii. 102

,, Common . . ii. 413

Redpole, Common . i. 589

,, Three-toed . ii. 421

,, Lesser . . i. 589

Queest, the . . . ii. 287

„ Mealy . . i. 583

Querquedula acuta . iii. 258

Red Sandpiper . . iii. 55

,, circia . iii. 278

Red-shank, Common . ii. 628

,, crecca . iii. 282

,, ,, Sandpiper ii. 628

„ ,, Spotted . ii. 624

R.

Redstart, the Black . i. 274

„ the . . i. 269

Rail, Water . . iii. 125

Red-throated Diver . iii. 444

Rainbird . . . ii. 142

Redwing, the . . i. 217

Rain-goose . . . iii. 444

Red-winged Blackbird ii. 39

Rallus aquaticus . iii. 125

,, ,, Maize-bird ii. 39

,, crex . . iii. 107

,, ,, Starling . ii. 39

,, porzana . . iii. 112

Reed Warbler . . i. 309

Raptores . . i. 1

,, Wren i. 309

IXDEX.

XXIX

VOL. PAGE

Reeve, the . . . ii. 692

Regulus auricapiUus . i. 371

,, cristatus . i. 371

Regulus, Dalmatian . i. 380

,, Fire-crested i. 376

Regulus Jiippohtis . i. 360

,, ignicapillus . i. 376

,, modestus . i. 380

,, trochilus . i. 351

„ fulgaris. . i. 371

Rhodostethia Rossii . 21. 558

Rhynchaspis clypeata iii. 247

Richardson's Lestris . iii. 630

,, Skua . iii. 630

Richard's Pipit . . i. 461

Ringdove ii. 287

Ringed Dotterel . . ii. 494

,, Guillemot . iii. 461

Ring-necked Diver . iii. 435

Ring Ouzel . . . i. 228

Ringed Plover . . ii. 494

Ringtail Harrier . i. 108

„ head of. . i. 113

Robin, the i. 257

Rock Dove . ii. 298

Rocker and Rockier . ii. 298

Rock Pipit i. 457

,, Sandpiper . . iii. 93

,, Thrush . . i. 245

Roller, the . . . ii. 216

Rook, the . . . ii. 95

Roseate Tern . . iii. 505

Rose-coloured Ouzel . ii. 52

„ ,, Pastor . ii. 52

,, ,, Starling ii. 52

Ross's Rosy Gull . iii. 558

Rotche, Common . iii. 468

Rough-legged Buzzard i. 94

Royston Crow . . ii. 86

Ruddock, the Redbreast.

Ruddy Goose . . iii. 235

,, Plover . . ii. 506

,, Shieldrake . iii. 235

Ruff, the . . . ii. 692

Rufous-backed Egret . ii. 561

Rufous Sedge Warbler i. 314

TOL. PAGE

Sabine's Gull . . iii. 548

,, Snipe . . iii. 20

,, Xeme . . iii. 548

Saint Cuthbert's Duck iii. 298

Salicaria arundinacea i. 309

„ locustella . i. 295

,, luscinoides . i. 307

,, pJiragmitis . i. 303

,, turdoides . i. 299

Sand Martin . . ii. 261

Sanderling, the . . ii. 506

Sandpiper, Ash-coloured iii. 55

,, Bartram's. ii. 632

„ Black . iii. 93

„ Broad-billed iii. 65

,, Buff-breastediii. 60

,, Common . ii. 654

,, Green . ii. 642

„ Little . iii. 70

,, Pectoral . iii. 82

,, Purple . iii. 93

„ Red . . iii. 55

Rock. . iii. 93

,, Schinz's . iii. 79

,, Selninger's iii. 93

„ Spotted . ii. 660

„ Wood . ii. 648

„ Yellow

shanked . ii. 637

Sandwich Tern . . iii. 501

Savi's Warbler . . i. 307

Saw-bill . . iii. 392

Saxicola osnanthe . i. 286

,, rttbetra . i. 282

,, rubicola . i. 278

Scallop-toed Sandpiper,

see Phalaropes.

Scansores . . . ii. 137

Scaup Duck . . iii. 343

Schinz's Sandpiper . iii. 79

Scilly Islands, rent of iii. 473

Sclavonian Grebe . iii. 414

Scolopax arquata . ii. 610

borealis . ii. 620

calidris

ii. 628

XXX

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Scolopax canescens

ii. 665

Shoveller, the Blue -

„ flavipes

ii. 637

winged .

iii. 247

,, gallinago

iii. 31

Shrike, Ash-coloured .

i. 165

,, gallinula

iii. 39

,, Cinereous

i. 165

„ glottis .

ii. 665

,, Great Grey

i. 165

,, grisea .

iii. 46

,, Red-backed .

i. 171

,, Lapponica .

ii. 681

„ Woodchat

i. 177

,, limosa .

ii. 681

Singing, how taught to

,, mo/or .

iii. 24

birds .

i. 604

,, novdboracensis

ii. 688

Siskin, the .

i 571

,, cegocephala .

ii. 688

Sitta Europcea .

ii. 188

,, phoeopus

ii. 616

Skua, Arctic

iii. 635

,, pygmaus

iii. 50

,, Buffon's .

iii. 635

,, rusticola

iii. 1

,, Common .

iii. 621

,, Sabini .

iii. 20

„ Gull . . .

iii. 621

,, totanus

ii. 624

,, Pomerine .

iii. 625

Scooping Avocet .

ii. 671

,, Richardson's

iii. 630

Scops Aldrovandi

i. 127

Sky-lark .

i. 472

,, eared Owl .

i. 127

Smew, the .

iii. 381

„ Owl . . .

i. 127

Snake -bird .

ii. 163

Scoter, Common .

iii. 319

Snipe, Brown

iii. 46

„ Surf

iii. 324

,, Common .

iii. 31

„ Velvet .

iii. 314

„ Double .

iii. 24

Scraber, Common

iii. 465

,, Great

iii. 24

Sea Parrot and Puffin .

iii. 472

,, Grey

iii. 46

,, Pheasant, the Pin-

„ Half. . .

iii. 39

tail Duck .

iii. 258

„ Jack

iii. 39

,, Pie, the

ii. 525

,, Sabine's .

iii. 20

,, Swallow

iii. 509

,, Solitary .

iii. 24

„ Titling .

i. 457

,, Summer , .

ii. 654

Sedge Warbler .

i. 303

„ Whole .

iii. 31

Selninger's Sandpiper

iii. 93

,, Yellow-shanked

ii. 637

Serrated claw

iii. 491

Snow-bird, the .

iii. 586

Shag Cormorant, the .

iii. 490

Snow Bunting

i. 495

Shearwater, Cinereous

iii. 647

„ Flake

i. 495

Petrel .

iii. 654

Snowy Owl .

i. 150

,, the Dusky

iii. 647

Soland Goose

iii. 493

,, the Greater iii. 647

Solent Goose

iii. 493

,, the Manx

iii. 654

Solitary Snipe

iii. 24

Shieldrake, the .

iii. 240

Somateria dispar

iii. 306

Ruddy .

iii. 235

,, mollissima .

iii. 298

Shore Lark .

i. 465

,, spectabilis '".

iii. 310

„ Pipit. . .

i. 457

Song-thrush

i. 212

Short-eared Owl .

i. 135

Sparrow, House .

i. 546

Short-horned Owl

i. 135

Tree .

i. 541

Short-toed Lark .

i. 488

Hawk .

i. 74

INDEX.

XXXI

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Spathula clypeata

iii. 247

Strepselas interpres .

ii. 520

Speckled Diver .

iii. 444

Striated Tern .

iii. 501

Spoonbill, the

ii. 597

Strix brachyotos .

i. 135

Spotted Crake

iii. 112

,, bubo .

i. 121

„ Eagle .

i. 20

,, flammed

i. 140

,, Flycatcher

i. 182

,, funerea

i. 155

,, Gallinule

iii. 112

,, nyctea

i. 150

,, Guillemot

iii. 465

,, otus .

i. 131

,, Redshank

ii. 624

,, passer ina .

i. 158

,, Sandpiper

ii. 660

,, scops .

i. 127

„ Snipe .

ii. 624

,, stridula

i. 145

„ Water-hen .

iii. 112

,, Tengmalmi

i. 162

Spur-winged Goose

iii. 181

Sturnus cinclus .

i. 191

Squacco Heron .

ii. 561

,, predatorius .

ii. 38

Squatarola cinerea

ii. 511

,, vulgaris

ii. 44

,, Helvetica .

ii. 511

Sula alba .

iii. 493

Standgale, the .

i. 64

,, basan .

iii. 493

Starling, Common

ii. 44

Summer Snipe

ii. 654

„ Red-winged

ii. 39

„ Teal . .

iii. 278

Steller's Western Duck

iii. 306

Surf Scoter Duck

iii. 324

Sterna Anglica .

iii. 520

Surnia funerea .

i. 155

,, Arctica .

iii. 512

,, nyctea .

i. 150

,, Boysii

iii. 501

Swallow, the

ii. 241

, , Cantiaca

iii. 501

Swallow-tailed Kite .

i. 84

,, Caspia

iii. 497

Swan, Bewick's .

iii. 198

,, Delamotte

iii. 517

„ Domestic .

iii. 209

,, Dougallii

iii. 505

„ the Mute .

iii. 209

„ fissipes .

iii. 528

„ the Polish

iii. 230

,, fuliginosa

iii. 543

„ the Whistling .

iii. 191

,, Mr undo .

iii. 509

„ the Wild . .

iii. 191

,, leucopareia

iii. 517

Swan Marks

iii. 220

,, leucoptera

iii. 532

Swift, Alpine

ii. 276

,, minuta .

iii. 524

,, the Common

ii. 270

,, ncevia

iii. 528

„ White-bellied .

ii. 276

,, nigra

iii. 528

Swiftfoot, Cream -

,, stolida

iii. 537

coloured

ii. 460

Stilt, Black-winged .

ii. 676

Sylvia arundinacea

i. 309

Stint, Little

iii. 70

,, atricapilla

i. 326

,, Temminck's

iii. 74

,, cinerea

i. 335

Stock Dove .

ii. 293

,, Dartfordiensis

i. 365

Stonechat, the

i. 278

,, galactotes

i. 314

Stone Curlew

ii. 465

,, hippolais .

i. 357

Stork, Black

ii. 591

,, hortensis .

i. 331

„ White

ii. 586

,, ignicapilla

i. 376

Storm Cock .

i. 197

,, locustella .

i. 295

,, Petrel

iii. 675

,, luscinia .

i. 318

XXX11

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

VOL. PAGE

Sylvia luscinoides

i. 307

Tern, the Common . iii. 509

„ modular is

i. 253

„ Gull-billed . iii. 520

,, cenanthe .

i. 286

,, the Lesser . . iii. 524

,, Orphea .

i. 343

„ the Moustache . iii. 517

,, phcenicurus

i. 269

„ the Noddy. . iii. 537

,, polyglotta

i. 357

„ the Roseate . iii. 505

,, provincialis

i. 365

,, the Sandwich . iii. 501

„ regulus .

i. 371

„ the Sooty . . iii. 543

„ rubecula .

i. 257

„ the Whiskered . iii. 517

„ rubetra .

i. 282

,, White - winged

,, rubicola .

i. 278

Black . . .iii. 532

„ rw/a.

i. 360

Tetrao coturnix . . ii. 413

,, salicaria .

i. 303

„ lagopus . . ii. 372

,, sibilatrix .

i. 346

,, Scoticus . . ii. 364

„ Suecica .

i. 264

„ tetrix . . ii. 351

,, sylvicola .

i. 346

„ urogallus . . ii. 333

,, sylviella .

i. 339

Thalassidroma Bullockii iii. 671

,, £#Ays

i. 274

„ Bulweri iii. 664

,, trochilus .

i. 351

,, Leachii iii. 671

,, troglodytes

ii. 174

,, pelagica iii. 675

„ turdoides .

i. 299

,, Wilsoni iii. 667

Syrnium aluco .

i. 145

Thick-billed Guillemot iii. 458

„ Tengmalmi .

i. 162

Thick-kneed Bustard . ii. 465

,, stridula

i. 145

Three-toed Quail . ii. 421

Thrush, Gold-vented . i. 234

T.

„ Holm . . i. 197

Thrush-like Warbler . i. 299

Tadorna Bellonii

iii. 240

Thrush, Missel . . i. 197

,, rutila .

iii. 235

„ the Ring . i. 228

,, vulpanser

iii. 240

the Rock . i. 245

Tame Greenfinch

i. 553

„ the Song . i. 212

Tantalus falcinellus .

iii. 604

„ White's . . i. 202

,, igneus ..

ii. 604

Tinkershere, the . . iii. 453

Tarrock Gull

iii. 581

Tit, Bearded . . i. 406

Tatler, Yellow-shanked

ii. 637

„ Blue . . . i. 387

Tawny Bunting .

i. 495

„ Cole . i. 394

„ Owl. . .

i. 145

„ Crested . . i. 391

Teal, the Common

iii. 282

„ Great i. 383

„ the Summer

iii. 278

„ Long-tailed . . i. 401

Temminck's Sandpiper

iii. 74

„ Marsh i. 397

„ Stint

iii. 74

Titlark, the . . i. 452

Tringa .

iii. 74

Totanus Bartramii . ii. 632

Tengmalm's Owl

i. 162

,, calidris . . ii. 628

Tern, the Arctic .

iii. 512

,, flavipes . . ii. 637

„ the Black ,

iii. 528

,, fuscus . . ii. 624

,, the Caspian

iii. 497

,, glareola , ii. 468

INDEX.

XXXlll

Totamis glottis .

VOL. PAGE

ii. 665

Turdus merula .

VOL. PAGE

i. 221

» hypohncos

ii. 654

,, musicus .

i. 212

,, macularius .

ii. 660

,, pi far is

i. 208

,, ochropus

ii. 642

,, roseus .

ii. 52

Tree Pipit .

i. 447

„ saxatilis .

i. 245

„ Sparrow

i. 541

,, torquatus

i. 228

Tringa Alpina .

iii. 86

,, varius .

i. 202

,, Bartramii

ii. 632

,, viscivorus

i. 197

„ Buff-breasted .

iii. 60

JlTiitei .

i. 202

„ Canutus .

iii. 55

Turnstone, the .

ii. 520

„ cinchis

iii. 86

Turtle Dove, the .

ii. 309

,, cine rea

iii. 55

Twite, the .

i 596

„ glareola .

ii. 648

Tyste, the .

iii. 465

„ hypohucos

ii. 654

,, Icelandica

iii. 55

U.

„ inter pres
,, Lincolniensis .
„ lobata

ii. 520
iii. 93
iii. 97

Ulula stridula .
Upupa epops
Uria alle

i. 145

ii. 180
iii. 468

,, macularia

ii. 660

,, Brunnichii

iii. 458

,, maritima

iii. 93

„ gryUe .

iii. 465

,, mi nut a .

iii. 70

,, lacrymam .

iii. 461

,, nigr leans

iii. 93

,, minor .

iii. 453

,, ochropus

ii. 642

,, troile .

iii. 453

„ pectoral is
,, phityrhyncha .

iii. 82
iii. 65

Urogallus vulgaris

ii. 333

„ pugnax .

ii. 692

V-

,, pusilla

iii. 70

.

,, rufescens

iii. 60

VaneUus cristatus

ii. 515

,, Schinzii .

iii. 79

„ griseus .

ii. 511

,, squatorala

ii. 511

,, melanogaster

ii. 511

,, striata

iii. 93

Varieties in birds

ii. 105

,, subarquata

iii. 50

Velvet Duck

iii. 314

,, Temminckii .

iii. 74

,, Scoter

iii. 314

„ vaneUus .

ii. 515

Virginian Colin .

ii. 404

„ variabilis

iii. 86

„ Cuckoo

ii. 209

Trochihis minor .

i. 360

„ Partridge .

ii. 404

Troglodytes Europceus

ii. 174

Vision, power of . i.

15, 154

„ vulgar is .

ii. 174

Voice, Organs of .

ii. 71

Tufted Duck

iii. 353

Vultur fulvus

i. 1

„ Pochard .

iii. 353

Vulture, Egyptian

i. 6

Turdus arundinaceus .

i. 299

„ Griffon .

i. 1

,, aureus .

i. 202

Vultur percnopterus .

i. 6

„ aurigaster _ .

i. 234

„ chrysorheus .

i. 234

,, cinclus .

i. 191

•

,, iliacus .

i. 217

Wagel Gull

iii. 610

XXXIV

INDEX.

VOL. PAGE

Wagtail, Blue-headed i. 437

„ Grey . . i. 432

,, Grey-headed i. 437

Pied . . i. 420

„ Ray's . . i. 443

White . . i. 428

„ Yellow. . i. 443

Warbler, Blue-throated i. 264

,, Garden . i. 331

,, Grasshopper i. 295

,, Melodious . i. 357

„ of Savi . i. 307

,, Orpheus . i. 343

„ Heed . . i. 309

„ Rufous Sedge i. 314

,, Sedge . . i. 303

„ Thrush-like i. 299

Water Ouzel . . i. 191

„ RaH . iii. 125

Waxen Chatterer . i. 413

Waxwing, the . . i. 413

Weather guides . . ii. 147

Western Duck . . iii. 306

,, Pochard . iii. 306

Whaup . ii. 610

Wheatear, the . . i. 286

Whet-ile, and why . ii. 142

Whewer, the Wigeon . iii. 287

WhimbreU, the . . ii. 616

Whinchat, the . . i. 282

Whiskered Tern . . iii. 517

Whistling Swan . . iii. 191

White-bellied Swift . ii. 276

White-eyed Duck . iii. 339

White-fronted Goose . iii. 162

White Heron . . ii. 549

White-headed Goosander iii. 381

White Grouse . . ii. 372

„ Nun . . . iii. 381

„ Owl . i. 140

,, Spoonbill . . ii. 597

„ Stork . . ii. 586

White-tailed Eagle . i. 25

White-tail, the Wheatear i. 286

Whitethroat, the . i. 335

the Lesser i. 339

VOL PAGE

White's Thrush . . i. 202
White-winged Black

Tern . . . iii. 532
,, ,, Crossbill ii. 27, 33
White Wagtail . . i. 428
Wigeon, American . iii. 293
„ the Common . iii. 287
Wild Duck . . .iii. 265
„ Goose . . .iii. 145
,, Swan . . .iii. 191
Willock, the . . iii. 453
Willow Locustelle . . 307
„ Warbler. . . 351
„ Wren . . .351
Wilson's Petrel . . ii . 667
Windhover, the . . .64
Wing-primary feathers . 113
Winter Gull . . iii. 589
,, Mew . . iii. 589
Witwall . . . ii. 142
Woodchat Shrike . i. 177
Woodcock, Sir F. Chan-
trey's . . . iii. 19
,, the . . iii. 1
Woodcocks, breeding . iii. 11
Wood Grouse . . ii. 333
Woodlark i. 484
Woodpecker, Barred . ii. 159
„ Great Black ii. 137
„ „ Spotted ii. 153
,, Green . ii. 142
„ Least

Spotted . . ii. 159
,, Lesser

Spotted . ii. 159

„ Pied . ii. 153

Woodpie, the . . ii. 153

Woodpigeon . . ii. 287

Wood Sandpiper . ii. 648

Woodspite . . ii. 142

Woodwall, what bird . ii. 142

Wood Warbler . . i. 346

„ Wren . . i. 346

Wren, the . . ii. 174

Writing Lark . . i. 515

Wryneck, the . . ii. 163

INDEX.

XXXV

X.

VOL. PAGE

Xema atricilla .

VOL. PAGE

. iii. 576

Yellow Bunting .
„ Legged Gull

. i. 515
. iii. 602

„ Bonapartii
,, minutus .

. iii. 554
. iii. 562

„ Owl. .
,, Plover

. i. 140
. ii. 476

,, ridilnindus

. iii. 569

„ Wagtail .

. i. 443

,, Sabini

. iii. 548

„ Warbler .

. i. 351

„ Sabine's .

. iii. 548

Yunx torquilla .

. ii. 163

Z.

Y.

Zapornia Baillonii

. iii. 121

Yaffle, the .

. ii. 142

,, porzana

. iii. 112

Yellow Ammer .

. i. 515

„ pusilla .

. iii. 116

BRITISH BIRDS.

RAPTORES.

VULTURID^E.

THE GRIFFON VULTURE.

Vultur fulvus.

Vultur fulvus, Gri/on Vulture, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

» „ Vaidour Griffon, TEMMINCK, Manuel d'Ornithologie, vol. i.

p. 5. vol. iii. p. 3.
VOL. I. B

2 VULTURIim

Vultur fulvus, Fulvous Vulture, HARVEY, Fauna of Cork, p. 4.

„ „ Griffon Vulture, THOMPSON, Annals of Nat. Hist. vol. xv.

art. 31 ; and Birds of Ireland.

VULTUR. Generic Characters. — Beak strong, thick and deep, base co-
vered with a cere; upper mandible straight until it reaches the point,
where it is hooked abruptly ; under mandible straight, rounded, and be-
coming narrower towards the point. Head naked or covered with short
down. Nostrils naked and pierced diagonally in the cere. Feet very
strong, furnished with claws slightly hooked ; the middle toe very long,
and united at the base to the external toe. Wings long ; the first quill-
feather short, the fourth the longest.

THE BRITISH BIRDS in this History will be divided into
five principal orders, in accordance with the views of mo-
dern systematic Ornithologists, more particularly those of
this country. The first of these orders, the RAPTORES, or
Birds of Prey, as they are usually called, includes three
families, — the Vultures, the Falcons, and the Owls ; and
although the Vultures are commonly confined to the more
tropical countries of the Old and of the New World, the
capture of two examples of different species, one in Ire-
land, and the other in England, entitle them to a notice in
this work.

Vultures are most numerous in warm countries, where
a high degree of temperature induces rapid decomposition.
Their food is chiefly animal substance in a decaying state,
and their business in nature, as observed by Mr. Vigors,
is to clear away with rapidity those putrefying remains
which, if allowed to accumulate, might produce pestilence
and death. The same services rendered to man by nu-
merous Storks in the cities of India, and by troops of
dogs in Constantinople, are performed on a much more
extended scale by Vultures. So valuable are these ser-
vices, that Vultures are almost universally protected from
molestation or injury either by local legislation or by com-
mon consent. Great powers of smell have been attributed
to them; and it appears certain that they possess also

GRIFFON VULTURE. 3

extraordinary extent of vision. Their flight is rather
marked by a sustaining strength than great rapidity ; the
latter quality being more particularly required by those
birds which pursue and prey on living animals. The
more straightened claws of the Vultures, unlike those
of the Falcons, do not enable them generally to grasp
and bear away the carrion to their young ; but, more
or less restrained in these powrers according to the species,
most of them devour their meal on the spot where they
find it, and conveying it away in their craw, disgorge it
when they arrive at their nest.

It will be one of the objects of this History to trace
our British Birds, throughout all the various countries
in which they are found, and thus to show, as far as
has been yet observed, the extent of the range of each
species.

I am indebted to the kindness of Admiral Bowles for
the first notice of the capture in Ireland of the Griffon
Vulture, of which the engraved figure at the commence-
ment of this article is a representation. In the autumn
of 1843, while Admiral Bowles was in command on
the Cork station, on his visiting Lord Shannon, at
Castle Martyr, near the Cove of Cork, he saw there
this Vulture which had been caught by a youth on the
rocks near Cork Harbour, in the spring of that year.
The bird had been brought to Castle Martyr for sale,
and was purchased by Lord Shannon's keeper for half-
a-crown. The bird was full grown; the plumage per-
fect, without any of the appearances consequent upon
confinement; there was no reason to suspect that the
bird had escaped from any ship ; it was very wild and
savage, and was in perfect health. Not long afterwards
Mr. Thompson observes in the Annals of Natural His-
tory already quoted, "his Lordship politely offered the

4 VULTUfttM.

bird to Dr. Ball for the collection in the Garden of the
Zoological Society, Dublin ; but before arrangements
were completed for its transmission it died. The speci-
men was, by the directions of Lord Shannon, carefully
preserved and stuffed, and placed at the disposal of Dr.
Ball, who has added it to the collection in Trinity
College, Dublin. It is in adult plumage."

This species of Vulture, of large size and proportion-
ate strength, possesses also great sustaining powers of
flight, and has, as might be expected, a very extended
geographical range. It is found in Germany, France,
on the Pyrenees, and in Spain, particularly the rocky
country about Aragon, and is common both there and at
Gibraltar. It is included by Polydore Roux in his Birds
of Provence, and is found in Sardinia, Italy, Silesia,
Dalmatia, Albania, the Grecian Archipelago and Candia.
The Zoological Society of London possess specimens
sent from Tangiers and Tunis, and it is known to
inhabit Algeria, Egypt, and other parts of the African
Continent.

It is one of the characters of the Vultures generally,
that unless pressed by extreme hunger, they seldom attack
living animals, but appear to prefer carrion and putre-
fying substances ; and when fed to repletion are so slug-
gish and inactive as to be easily captured. The late
Drummond Hay, Esq., the representative of the British
Government at Tangiers, in a communication to the
Zoological Society of London on the Birds of North
Africa, says of this Vulture, " I shot this bird as he
rose heavily from the top of a high rock, near Cape
Spartel on the north coast, where he had been gorging
himself with the body of a dead kid. The species is
rare in these parts." They build on high and almost
inaccessible rocks, but are observed to descend to and

GRIFFON VULTURE. 5

frequent open plains in winter. In Sardinia, and in some
other countries, this Vulture makes a large nest, of
three or four feet in diameter, on high trees, and lays
two or sometimes three elongated white eggs, three inches
and five eighths in length, by two inches and a half in
breadth.

The following description is taken from a fine living
specimen in the garden of the Zoological Society in the
Regent's Park. The beak from the curved point to the
cere is of a yellowish white horn colour ; the cere itself
bluish black ; the irides reddish orange ; the head, neck,
and circular ruff of dull whitish down ; the lanceolate
feathers below the circular ruff, the plumage of the
upper surface of the body and the wing-coverts, light
yellowish brown ; the shaft of each feather of light wood
brown ; the primaries and tail-feathers dark clove brown ;
the lower part of the neck in front, and the upper part
of the breast dull white, mixed with light brown ; under
surface of the body reddish yellow brown; the smaller
under wing-coverts light brown ; the large under wing-
coverts almost white ; the legs and toes lead colour ; the
claws black ; the anterior portion of each toe covered
with six large scales, the remaining portion and the legs
reticulated.

A specimen in the Museum of the Zoological Society,
sent by Sir Thomas Reade from Tunis, measures in its
whole length from the point of the beak to the end of
the tail-feathers three feet eight inches; from the an-
terior bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather twenty-seven inches ; the length of the middle toe
and claw five inches.

VULTURID^E.

BAPTORES.

VULTURID^E.

EGYPTIAN VULTURE.

Neophron percnopterus.

Vultur percnopterus, Alpine Vulture, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, edit.

1832, vol. i. p. 51.
Neophron „ Egyptian Neophron, SELBY, Illustrations of British

Ornithology, vol. i. p. 4.
„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Man. Brit. Yert. An.

p. 79.

„ „ „ Vulture, EYTON, History of Rare Bri-

tish Birds, p. 1.

„ „ „ Neophron, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Cathartes „ Catharte alimocfie, TEMMINCK, Manuel d'Ornitho-

logie, vol. i. p. 8.

NEOPHRON. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, slender, elongated,
rounded above, encircled at the base with a naked cere, which extends

EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 7

more than half the length of the beak : upper mandible with straight
edges, hooked at the tip ; under mandible blunt, and shorter than the
upper. Nostrils, near the middle of the beak, elongated, longitudinal.
Head and neck partly bare of feathers. Wings long, rather pointed ; the
third quill-feather the longest. Legs of moderate strength and length ;
tarsi reticulated ; feet with four toes, three before, one behind ; anterior
toes united at the base. Tail-feathers fourteen.

Two examples of this Vulture were seen on the shores
of the Bristol Channel, and one of them, now in the pos-
session of the Rev. A. Mathew, of Kilve in Somerset-
shire, was shot near that place in October, 1825. " When
first discovered it was feeding upon the carcass of a dead
sheep, and had so gorged itself with the carrion as to be
unable or unwilling to fly to any great distance at a time,
and was therefore approached without much difficulty
and shot. Another bird, similar to it in appearance, was
seen at the same time upon wing at no great distance,
which remained in the neighbourhood a few days, but
could never be approached within range, and which was
supposed to be the mate of the one killed."

The Egyptian Vulture is included by Le Vaillant in
his Birds of Southern Africa. He found it occasionally
at the Cape, and still more numerous in the interior :
it has also been obtained by naturalists in the same locali-
ties up to the present time. It is there called by various
names which signify White Crow, the name referring to
the adult bird. Le Vaillant states that this species inha-
bits the whole of Southern Africa, and is infinitely more
common within the tropics than elsewhere. The Egyp-
tian Vulture does not live in flocks, like other Vultures ;
although, when attracted by a carcass, eight or ten may
be seen assembled. At other times it is rare to see more
than two together. The male and female seldom sepa-
rate. In the districts which this species inhabits, every
group of the natives has a pair of these Vultures attached

8 VULTURID^.

to it. The birds roost on the trees in the vicinity, or on
the fences which bound the inclosures formed for their
cattle. They are to a certain degree domiciled and harm-
less. The people do them no injury : on the contrary,
they are rather glad to see and encourage them, because
they clear the premises of all the offal and filth they can
find. In default of other food, they eat frogs, lizards,
and snakes. They make their nests among rocks, and the
Hottentots assured M. Le Vaillant that they laid three
and sometimes four eggs ; but this he had no oppor-
tunity of verifying. The eggs are dark red on a ground
of white ; and in the third edition of Mr. Hewitson's
work on British Birds' eggs, the representation measures
two inches and a half in length, by two inches in
breadth.

From the vicinity of Tangiers in North Africa, this
species passes over to Portugal ; it is common in Spain,
building on high rocks about Aragon. In France it in-
habits and breeds on the Alps and Pyrenees, it is found
also in Provence. Buffon has recorded its appearance,
and received an adult specimen from Norway ; it is not
therefore at all surprising that this bird should have been
taken in England. The specimen of this Vulture ob-
tained from Norway was placed by Buffon in the National
Cabinet. Le Vaillant compared his Cape specimens
with this example received from Norway, and was con-
vinced they were the same species.

Malta, Sicily, Corfu, and Crete, with other islands of
the Mediterranean Sea, are, as might be expected, visited
by this Vulture. Bruce, in the appendix to his Travels,
says it is frequent in Egypt and about Cairo, where it is
called by the Europeans Pharaoh's Hen. In Egypt and
Barbary it is called Rachamah. This name, referring to
the black and white colours of the adult birds, is said to

EGYPTIAN VULTURE. 9

be derived from Rahama, a name applied to a particular
breed of sheep in Arabia Felix, which are black and
white. Bruce, however, thinks this name has a different
origin, and derived from higher antiquity, since Rachma,
or the Vulture, was sacred to Isis, and considered as an
emblem of parental affection ; he therefore thinks it may
be derived from the Hebrew, Rechem, which signifies
female love or attachment. Bruce adds, that this bird
builds its nest in the most deserted parts of ;hc country,
and lays but twro eggs. The parent biidc attend their
young with great care, and feed them for the first four
months. It is considered a breach of order to kill any
one of these birds in Cairo. They are efficient scaven-
gers.

From Turkey this species ranges over Arabia and Per-
sia, and has been found in the Russian dominions as far
north as Astrakhan, from whence it again extends east-
ward and southward, and has been taken in various parts
of India. Colonel Sykes remarks of them, " that they
are always found in cantonments and camps." Sonnini
states that during the French occupation of Egypt, the
first sound of the cannon brought these and other birds
of similar tastes from every direction to the summons.

In the adult bird, the whole length from the point of
the beak to the end of the tail is from twenty-six to
twenty-nine inches ; and specimens from Africa are
observed to be the largest in size. The cere and beak
are yellow, the point brown; the irides red; the naked
skin of the cheeks and front of the neck yellowish
flesh colour ; the feathers of the occiput and back of the
neck slightly elongated: all the plumage white except
the primary and secondary wing-feathers, the first of
which are wholly black ; the second have the proximal
half black, — which colour, extending beyond the ends

10

VULTURIDjE.

of the great wing-coverts, forms by its exposure a dark
band across the middle of the wing ; the remaining
portion of the secondaries white ; the tail is graduated,
the feathers of the middle being the longest ; the legs
and toes yellow ; the claws black. In this state it
is the Norwegian Vulture and White Vulture of Buffon ;
the Ash-coloured and Alpine Vulture of Dr. Latham.

The young bird has the base of the bill yellow; the
point black ; irides reddish brown ; the naked skin of
the cheeks and front of the neck livid grey ; the general
colour of the plumage dark brown, with a few light-
coloured feathers, and the edges of others indicating the
approach to maturity ; great quill-feathers black ; legs
and toes greyish brown ; claws black. In this state it is
the Maltese Vulture of Buffon and Latham.

GOLDEN EAGLE.

11

RAPTORES.

FALCON ID^.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE.

Aquila chrysattos.

Falco chrysaetos, Golden Eagle, PENNANT, Brit. Zool. edit 1812, vol. i.

p. 197.
» ,, „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

» » „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 5.

Aquila chrysae'tos, Eagle, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 52.

„ „ Golden Eagle, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 12.

» „ „ „ JENYNS, Man. Brit. Yert. p. 80.

» „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco fulvus, Aigle Koyal, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 38.

AQUILA. Generic diameters. — Beak strong, of moderate length, curved
from the cere, pointed, the cutting edges nearly straight. Nostrils oval,
lateral, directed obliquely downward and backward. Wings large and
long, the fourth quill-feather the longest. Legs strong ; tarsi feathered to
the junction of the toes. Feet strong ; the last phalanx of each toe
covered by three large scales; claws strong, hooked.

IN the second edition of his Manual of the Birds of
Europe, published in 1820, M. Temminck, who is de-
servedly considered one of the best authorities in Orni-
thology, formed six divisions of the extensive genus
Falco of Linnaeus, under names that are equivalent to
the Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Kites, Buzzards, and
Harriers of English authors. It will be seen that these
divisions and their distinctions as enumerated by M.
Temminck are only other terms for the genera and gene-
ric characters of other naturalists. In accordance with
some of the views of modern systematic writers in Orni-
thology, many of the new divisions or genera will be
included in the present work. The characters upon
which these divisions are founded by their respective
authors will be given ; and by comparing these with the
characters of the genus from which the particular species
has been separated, the reader will be enabled to
judge for himself of the propriety and value of the new
distinctions.

Of the Diurnal Birds of Prey, constituting the family
of Falconidce, the second in the order Raptores, the
Eagles are by far the largest in size, and of great muscular
power ; and although they do not possess all the charac-
teristics which distinguish the true Falcons, their flight is
powerful, and their habits destructive.

GOLDEN EAGLE. 13

The Golden Eagle, though occasionally seen and
sometimes obtained in the southern counties of England,
is more commonly found in Scotland, and its western
and northern islands. Mr. Mudie, in his Feathered
Tribes of the British Islands, has named "the higher
glens of the rivers that rise on the south-east of the
Grampians — the high cliff called Wallace's Craig on the
northern side of Lochlee, and Craig Muskeldie on its
south side," as localities for the Golden Eagle. Mr.
Selby and his party of naturalists observed this species
in Sutherlandshire in the summer of 1834. Mr. Mac-
gillivray, in his detailed descriptions of the Rapacious
Birds of Great Britain, has recorded his own obser-
vations of this species in the Hebrides ; and other
observers have seen it in the Orkney and Shetland Islands,
where it is said constantly to rear its young.

Some years ago a specimen was killed at Bexhill
in Sussex ; it has also occurred, but very rarely,
in Suffolk, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Durham, and Northum-
berland.

In a direction, south and west of London, the Golden
Eagle has been obtained or seen in the Isle of Wight,
and on the coasts of Devonshire and Cornwall. In
Ireland, a Ring-tailed Eagle, the young of the Golden,
was seen by a party of naturalists in Connemara in the
autumn of 1835; and from William Thompson, Esq.,
President of the Natural History Society of Belfast,
to whom I am indebted for a catalogue and notes of
the Birds of Ireland, which will be constantly referred
to throughout this work, I learn that specimens of the
Golden Eagle are preserved in Belfast which were ob-
tained in the counties of Donegal and Antrim.

Wilson, in his American Ornithology, states that the
Golden Eagle is found in America, from the temperate

14 FALCONIDJ3.

to the arctic regions, particularly in the latter, breeding
on high precipitous rocks, always preferring a mountainous
country. Sir John Richardson considers that this bird is
seldom seen in North America far to the eastward of the
Rocky Mountains. M. Audubon saw one on the coast
of Labrador, besides others in various parts of the United
States of America.

The Golden Eagle inhabits Iceland, Scandinavia,
Russia, and Germany. In France, according to M.
Temminck, it is not uncommon in the forests of Fontaine-
bleau, and it breeds in the Alps and Pyrenees. A range
still further to the southward and eastward is now ascer-
tained. The representative of the British Government
at Tangiers, included this species in a catalogue of the
birds of that country sent to the Zoological Society.
It is found in Sicily, in Asia Minor, and several parts
of India.

The flight of the Golden Eagle is described by those
who have witnessed it as majestic and powerful in the
extreme ; and from the great strength of the bird, it-
preys with ease on fawns, lambs, hares, and other game,
very seldom feeding on fish or carrion, and rarely on
anything which it finds dead. Montagu relates, that
" when sporting in the neighbourhood of Ben-Lomond,
on the summit of the lesser mountains that form its base,
a Red Grouse was wounded, and flew with difficulty
eighty or a hundred paces. An Eagle, apparently of this
species, perceiving the laborious flight of the Grouse,
descended with rapid wing from the adjacent lofty cliffs
before our guns were reloaded, and, in defiance of the
shouts made to deter him, carried off Ms prey." In
another part of the Western Highlands of Scotland,
Montagu "had an opportunity of witnessing the powers
of the flight of this bird in pursuit of its quarry. An

GOLDEN EAGLE. 15

old Black Cock was sprung, and was instantly pursued
by the Eagle (which must have been on a neighbouring
rock unperceived) across the glen, the breadth of which
was at least two miles. The Eagle made several
pounces in view, without success ; but as there was no
wood nor cover on the opposite mountain sufficient to
conceal so large a bird as a Black Grouse, he doubtless
forfeited his life to the merciless tyrant of the rocks."

Dr. Fleming, who had opportunities of observing
these birds when residing in Zetland, says that they are
general depredators, and in the breeding-season rob the
rock birds of their young, especially the Gulls and
Cormorants. This habit is probably common to each
of the British Eagles.

The power of vision in birds is observed to be very
extraordinary; and in none is it more conspicuous than
in the Eagles, and the Falconidce generally. It has
been stated that, probably in the whole range of anato-
mical structure, no more perfect or more conclusive
proofs of design could be adduced than are to be found
in the numerous and beautiful modifications in the form
of various parts of the eyes of different animals, des-
tined to exercise vision in media of various degrees of
transparency as well as density. The figure on the right
hand of the vignette at the end of this article represents
the circle, composed of fifteen bony plates, by which
the orb of the eye of the Golden Eagle is supported.
These bony plates are capable of slight motion upon
each other. The figure on the left hand in the vignette
represents the crystalline lens of the same bird ; the lens
being subject to great variety of form in different birds.
In the Eagle, the proportion of the axis to the diameter
of the lens is as three and eight-tenths to five and seven-
tenths ; in the Great Owl, which seeks its prey at twi-

16 FALCONID^l.

light, the relative proportions of the lens are as six and
seven- tenths to seven and eight-tenths ; and in the Swan,
which has to select its food under water, the proportions
of the lens are as three to three and eight-tenths. Birds
have also the power of altering the degree of the con-
vexity of the cornea. With numerous modifications of
form, aided by delicate muscular arrangement, birds
appear to have the power of obtaining such variable
degrees of extent or intensity of vision as are most in
accordance with their peculiar habits and necessities.

The Golden Eagle makes a flattened platform nest,
or rather a collection of strong sticks, on the high and
most inaccessible part of rocks, and requiring a space of
several square feet of surface. The female bird, which
is considerably larger than the male, lays two, and
sometimes three eggs, towards the end of the month of
March or the beginning of April. If the eggs are
removed, it is said that the bird does not lay any more
that season. The egg is about three inches long by two
inches and five lines broad, of a dirty white colour,
slightly mottled nearly all over with pale reddish brown.
An egg of this bird in the collection at the British
Museum is so marked ; and a representation of the egg,
in the excellent work of my friend Mr. W. C. Hewitson
oil the Eggs of British Birds, is very correctly drawn
and coloured. Incubation with the Golden Eagle, ac-
cording to Mr. Mudie, lasts thirty days, and the young
Eaglets are at first covered with greyish white down.
They are watched, defended, and plentifully supplied
with food by the parent birds. Smith, in his History
of Kerry, relates that a poor man in that county got a
comfortable subsistence for his family during a summer
of famine out of an Eagle's nest, by robbing the Eaglets
of part of the food the old ones brought, whose at-

GOLDEN EAGLE. 17

tendance he protracted beyond the natural time by clip-
ping the wings, and thus retarding the flight of the young
birds.

Eagles are said to be very long-lived; one that died
at Vienna was stated to have lived in confinement
one hundred and four years. Their voice is sharp
and loud, consisting generally of two notes, repeated
many times in succession. Two birds of this species
kept by Mr. Selby " appeared untameable in dispo-
sition, their fierceness remaining undiminished through
years of confinement. They did not exhibit any par-
tiality even for the person who constantly attended
and fed them, but were as ready to attack him as a
stranger."

In the menagerie at the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety there are Golden Eagles and White-tailed Eagles ;
but the keepers find the Golden Eagles the most tractable
of the two species.

" Captain Green, of Buckden in Huntingdonshire,
has now in his possession a splendid specimen of the
Golden Eagle, which he has himself trained to take
hares and rabbits."— Naturalist for May, 1837.

Mr. Thompson has given the following information
on the authority of a sporting friend. " When out hunt-
ing among the Belfast Mountains, an Eagle appeared
above his hounds as they came to fault on the ascent to
Devis, the highest of the chain. As they came on the
scent again, and were in full cry, the Eagle for a short
time kept above them, but at length advanced and carried
off the hare, when at the distance of from three to four
hundred paces before the hounds."

M. Luighi Benoit of Messina has thus referred to the
habits of the Golden Eagle in Sicily. A pair have been
seen to hunt in concert for small mammiferous animals

VOL. i. c

18 FALCONID^.

in the following manner : one of these birds makes a loud
rustling noise by a violent beating of its wings against
bushes and shrubs, while the other remains in ambush
at a short distance watching for anything that may
appear. A rabbit or a hare, if driven out, is immedi-
diately pounced upon, and the prey thus obtained is
shared with its companion.

The whole length of an adult male Golden Eagle is
nearly three feet ; the adult female is still larger. The
beak is bluish horn colour, darkest at the tip ; the cere
yellow ; the skin of the lore tinged with blue ; the irides
hazel, the pupils black ; the feathers on the top of the
head and back of the neck pointed in shape, and rufous
brown : the general colour of the plumage of the body
dark brown, the chin and throat particularly so ; the
wing-primaries nearly black, the secondaries brownish
black ; the wing-coverts reddish brown, varied with
dark brown : the feathers of the belly and thighs bay ;
those of the tail varied with two shades of brown, the
ends dark : the legs covered with bay feathers ; the toes
yellow and reticulated, except the last or distal joint of
each toe, which is covered with three broad scales ; the
claws are black, the outer claw of each foot the smallest
of the four.

In a younger specimen of the Golden Eagle with the
basal or proximal half of the tail white, the feathers on
the back of the neck were less rufous, and the general
colour of the plumage on the body and wings more uni-
form, and darker. In this state it is the Ring-tailed
Eagle of authors. White varieties of the Golden Eagle
have been seen and recorded.

The foot of the Golden Eagle is so distinctly marked
from that of the White-tailed, or Cinereous Eagle, as to
afford the means of deciding between our two British

GOLDEN EAGLE. 19

Eagles at any age ; and the three anterior toes of both
species are therefore figured as a vignette to the White-
tailed British Eagle, to show the distinction. The foot
on the left hand is that of the Golden Eagle, in which
each toe is covered with small reticulations as far as the
last phalanx, then with the three broad scales already
referred to. In the foot of the White-tailed Eagle, repre-
sented by the figure on the right hand, the reticulations
are confined to the tarsus, the whole length of each toe
being covered with broad scales.

The figure of the Golden Eagle at the head of this
article was taken from a fine specimen at the Garden
of the Zoological Society, where it had lived for eight
years.

The figures below represent the crystalline lens and the
bony ring of the eye of the Golden Eagle, referred to at
page 15.

c 2

20
RAPTORES.

FALCONHXE,

FALCONID^E.

Aquila ncevia,
Falco ncevius,

THE SPOTTED EAGLE.

Aquila ncema.

Rough-footed Eagle, LATH. Syn. v. i. p. 37.

Spotted Eagle, „ „ „ 38.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Aigle criard, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 42.

„ „ „ „ „ vol. iii. p. 23.

FOR the particulars of the occurrence of this inter-
esting addition to the ornithology of the British Islands,
I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Robert Davis, Jun.,

SPOTTED EAGLE. 21

of Clonmel, who sent me also a coloured drawing made
from the bird, and from which the representation here
given was copied. The bird is now preserved in the
museum of the University of Dublin.

" This specimen," observes Mr. Davis, " which is the
property of my friend Samuel Moss of Youghal, county
of Cork, was shot in the month of January of the present
year, 1845, on the estate of the Earl of Shannon, and
was at the time in a fallow field devouring a rabbit.
Another bird similarly marked, but reported to have been
of a lighter shade of brown, was shot at the same place
within a few days, lout was unfortunately not preserved ;
both had been noticed during the two previous months
sweeping over the low grounds in the neighbourhood,
which is near Youghal, and between Castle Martyr and
Clay Castle."

The late William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast, in his
Natural History of the Birds of Ireland, observes, " he
had little doubt also, that a bird particularly described
to himself, when visiting Horn Head (Donegal), in 1832,
as having been shot there the previous year, was of this
species."

In the Zoologist for 1846, page 1246, Mr. Richard
Weaver of Birmingham states that he saw a tame bird
of this species on Valentia Island, on the west coast of
Ireland, in May, 1840, that it was well known there, and
that a pair of them had bred regularly on the rocks on the
island.

This Eagle, very similar in its appearance to our well-
known Golden Eagle, but almost one-third smaller in
size, inhabits the Apennines and other mountains of
central Europe. It is le petit Aigle ou Aigle tachete
of the Animal Kingdom of Baron Cuvier, who mentions

22 FALCONIDJl.

that it was so tractable as to be employed in Falconry,
but would only attack small or weak animals, and was
otherwise deficient in courage. M. Viellot includes this
species in his Birds of France, and mentions that it preys
upon pigeons, rats, and particularly upon ducks, from
which latter circumstance it has been called anataria.
It builds on high trees, laying two whitish eggs, slightly
streaked with red, and it feeds on small quadrupeds and
birds.

This species has been killed in Belgium, and is included
by MM. Meyer, Brehm, and Naumann in their histories
of the Birds of Germany; it is found also in Russia
and Siberia, but not, I believe, in Denmark, Sweden,
or Norway.

South of the countries of Europe first mentioned, this
Eagle is found in Provence, according to Polydore Roux
and M. Schembri ; and M. Savi includes it in his Birds
of Italy. M. Malherbe says this species inhabits the
centre of Sicily. One nest was discovered, containing
two Eaglets and a mass of bones and skeletons of rabbits
and reptiles ; but that which created the greatest surprise
was to find, underneath this large nest, seven nests of the
Tree Sparrow, containing eggs and young birds ; and
these little Finches seemed to apprehend no danger in
establishing themselves thus near the habitation of so for-
midable an enemy.

This Eagle is not found in Malta, but is said to inhabit
North Africa, and is included by M. Savigny in his Birds
of Egypt under the name of Aquila melancetos. It has
been taken as far south as Kordofan.

M. Menetries, the Russian Naturalist, in his catalogue
of the zoological subjects obtained by him in the vicinity
of Mount Caucasus, says, page 27, "I killed on the

SPOTTED EAGLE. 23

mountains of Talyche an adult example of this species,
which had almost entirely lost the spots observed upon
it when it is young."

Aquila ncBvia has been obtained by B. Hodgson, Esq.,
in Nepal, and by Mr. Blyth near Calcutta ; skins were
in the collection made by Mr. Ewer in the north-western
province of the Bengal territory, and also in that of Major
Franklin.

The young bird in its first year has the bill of a dark
bluish horn colour, becoming lighter in colour towards
the base, the cere yellow ; irides hazel ; the whole head,
neck, back, wings, and tail dark chocolate brown ; the
tips of all the small and large wing-coverts marked with
a crescentic patch of pale wood-brown ; the tertials, upper
tail-coverts and tail-feathers the same ; under surface of
the body dark brown, the feathers of the thighs and legs
varied with paler brown lines; the legs feathered down
to the tarsal joint ; the toes yellow, reticulated for a
portion of their length, but ending with four large and
broad scales ; the claws nearly black.

The young bird in its second year, as figured by
Mr. Gould in his Birds of Europe, is more uniform in
its colour than the bird here represented, but has some
of the smaller wing-coverts, the greater coverts, and the
tertials tipped with light brown ; the general colour dark
reddish-brown.

An adult bird had the neck, back, wing-coverts, and
tail reddish liver-brown ; the head, both above and below,
rather lighter in colour, the feathers of the upper part
of the head and neck lanceolate ; the primaries almost
black ; under surface of the body very little lighter in
colour than the back ; all the feathers white at the base ;
legs, toes and claws as in the young birds.

The whole length twenty -seven and a half inches, the

24 FALCONID^.

wing from the anterior joint twenty-three and a half
inches ; the fourth and fifth quill feathers nearly equal
in length, but the fifth rather the longest in the wing.
The wings when closed reach to the end of the tail.

Willughby in his Ornithology has accurately described
this species at page 63, under the name of the Morphno
congener of Aldrovandus, and adds, that " this bird took
the name of Morphnos from the spots of the feathers,
whence also it may inLatine not unfitly be called nfevia"

The young bird is the Falco ncemus and maculatus of
Gmelin.

The vignette represents a mode of shooting an Eagle
from a pit.

5

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE.

BAPTORE8.

FALCONIDJS.

THE WHITE-TAILED EAGLE.

AND CINEREOUS EAGLE.

Ha lice'etiis alb icilla .

Falco cdbicilla, Cinereous Eagle,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 209.
» MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

White-tailed Eagle, BEWICK'S British Birds, vol. i. p. 9.

26 FALCONIDJ2.

Aquila albicilla, The Erne, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 53.

HalicK'etus „ Cinereous Sea Eagle, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 18.

Aquila „ „ Eagle, JENYNS, Brit. Vert, An. p. 80.

Haliceetus „ Sea Eagle, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ Aigle pygargue, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.p. 49.

HALIJBETUS. Generic Characters. — Beak elongated, strong, straight at
the base, curving in a regular arc in advance of the cere to the tip, and
forming a deep hook. The upper ridge broad and rather flattened. Edges
of the upper mandible slightly prominent behind the commencement of
the hook. Nostrils large, transversely placed in the cere, and of a lunated
shape. Wings ample ; the fourth quill-feather the longest. Legs having
the tarsi half-feathered ; the front of the naked part scutellated, and the
sides and back reticulated. Toes divided to their origin ; the outer one
versatile. Claws strong and hooked, grooved beneath ; the claw of the
hind toe larger than that of the inner, which again exceeds that of the
middle and outer toes.

MR. SELBY considers the White-tailed Eagle as gene-
rically distinct from the Golden Eagle ; and the generic
characters attributed to it by that gentleman in his orni-
thological work are therefore inserted here. Other dis-
tinguished naturalists have stated the same opinion. In
the greater length of its beak, in being less particular in
the nature and quality of its food, in its more sluggish
habits and comparative want of courage, it has some re-
semblance to the Vultures.

As a species, it is much more common than the Golden
Eagle, and on some parts of the coast may be seen fre-
quently. It inhabits the high rocks and cliffs that over-
hang the sea, from whence it keeps a look-out, and when
hungry is equally ready to seize either fowl or fish, and
has been seen to attack and feed on seals. It also evinces
a great partiality for fawns and venison, being occasionally
killed in deer-parks and forests. Epping Forest, near
London, and the New Forest, in Hampshire, are recorded
as localities in which it has been shot — in the latter in
several successive years ; and Mr. Selby, in his Catalogue
of the Birds of Northumberland and Durham, printed in

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 27

the Transactions of the Natural History Society of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, mentions three examples that were shot
in Chillingham Park, where they were accustomed to feed
upon the fallen deer.

The White-tailed Eagle builds its nest on high rocks,
and lays two eggs about the same size as those of the
Golden Eagle, but with very little or no red colour on
the white ground. The young are at first covered with
a soiled white down ; and even at this age the beaks and
claws of the Eaglets are of very large size. A pair of
Golden Eagles have been known to rear their young in
the same spot for eight seasons in succession ; and Mr.
Mudie has mentioned that being thus attached to a par-
ticular locality, their young, when able to provide for
themselves, are driven away by the parent birds to get
their living elsewhere ; but the more erratic White-tailed
Eagles, quitting the breeding station when the season is
over, leave their young to forage over the district in
which they have been raised.

This species has been taken in most of the counties on
the east coast. A pair were trapped on a rabbit-warren
in Suffolk, one of which carried a heavy trap nearly half
a mile, and was secured with some difficulty. Six spe-
cimens have been killed in Norfolk since the year 1811.
Holy Island and St. Abb's Head are localities near
which these birds have been occasionally seen. Specimens
have also been killed in Hampshire, Devonshire, Somer-
setshire, and Shropshire. Since the publication of the
first edition of this work, one example of this Eagle has
been shot at Thetford in Norfolk ; one near Weymouth ;
one at Fawley Court near Henley; and one so near
London as Coombe Wood, Wimbledon Common. This
last bird was well preserved by Mr. Larkham of Roehamp-
ton, for H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge. Montagu

28 FALCONID.E.

received the young from a nest taken in the county of
Down; and from Mr. Thompson I learn that it is not
uncommon on the rocky parts of the western and northern
coasts of Ireland. Dr. Hey sham, in his Catalogue of
Cumberland Animals, says that the White-tailed Eagles
breed occasionally in the neighbourhood of Keswick and
Ulswater. In some parts of Scotland this species may
be said to be common. In the third volume of the
Reports of the British Association, at page 610, Mr.
Selby states, in his notice of the Birds observed in Suther-
landshire in June, 1834, where premiums are paid for the
destruction of Eagles on account of the injury done to
sheep and lambs, that one hundred and seventy-one
full grown birds had been killed within the previous
three years. Some of these were probably Golden
Eagles.

The White-tailed Eagle breeds in the Hebrides, in
Orkney, and Shetland. Mr. Dunn, in his useful guide to
these latter islands, names the particular localities in
which they may be found, but states that they are much
more numerous in winter than in summer. This accords
with the opinion of M. Temminck and others, that this
species returns to the southward from high northern
latitudes as the season advances. Mr. Dunn says he
once saw, while shooting on Rona's Hill, a pair of Skua
Gulls chase and completely beat off a large Eagle. The
Gulls struck at him several times, and at each stroke he
screamed loudly, but never offered to return the assault.
This Eagle frequents Denmark, Sweden, the west coast
of Norway, and from thence as far north as Iceland and
Greenland, but is not found in North America. M.
Temminck believes that this Eagle follows the flocks of
Geese that annually resort to the Arctic regions in sum-
mer to rear their young. It is found in Siberia, at Lake

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. 29

Baikal, and inhabits Russia, from whence to the south-
ward it is spread over the European continent generally,
and has been taken in Sicily and Corfu.

The whole length of an adult male Cinereous or
White-tailed Eagle is about twenty-eight inches ; the
females are five or six inches longer : the beak and cere
are yellow, the irides straw yellow; the head and neck
brownish ash, made up by a mixture of yellowish white
and brown, the shaft of each feather the darkest part ;
body and wings dark brown, intermixed with a few
feathers of a lighter colour ; primaries nearly black ;
tail entirely white, and slightly rounded in form, the
middle feathers being the longest; the legs and toes
yellow ; the claws black.

In young birds of this species the beak is horn colour,
the cere yellowish brown, the irides brown ; the plumage
more uniform in colour, and darker ; the tail-feathers dark
brown. In this state it is the Sea Eagle of many authors,
and was called ossifragus (bone-breaker). The term ossi-
frage occurs in the Old Testament, Leviticus, ch. xi.,
v. 13, and in Deuteronomy, ch. xiv., v. 12.

The vignette below has been already referred to, page 19.

The representation of the White-tailed Eagle here given
was taken from a specimen in the Garden of the Zoological
Society.

30

RAPTORES.

FALCONTD^E.

FALCONIDsE.

THE OSPREY, OR FISHING HAWK.

Pandion haliteeius.

Falco haliceetus, The Osprey, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 214.

„ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 13.

Balbusardus „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 51.

Pandion „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 24.

Aquila „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 81.

Pandion „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ A igle Balbuzard, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 47.

PANDION. Generic Characters. — Beak short, strong, rounded, and broad ;
cutting edge nearly straight. Nostrils oblong-oval, placed obliquely. Wings
long; the second and third quill-feathers the longest. Legs strong and
muscular : tarsi short, covered with reticulated scales. Toes free, nearly
equal in length ; outer toe reversible ; all armed with strong, curved, and
sharp claws: under surface of the toes rough, and covered with small
pointed scales.

OSPREY. 31

THE genus Pandion was instituted for the Osprey by
M. Savigny, and some other species have since been added
to this genus by other naturalists.

This bird, from its habit of feeding almost exclusively
on fish, must be looked for near the sea-shore, or about
rivers and large lakes which may be expected to afford a
plentiful supply of the particular food it is known most
to delight in. The manner in which the Osprey seeks
its prey, and its mode of obtaining it, are admirably
described by the Ornithologists of America, in which
country this bird is sufficiently numerous to afford ex-
cellent opportunities of observing its actions. On one
island near the eastern extremity of Long Island, New
York, three hundred nests were counted. The old birds
were rearing their young close together, living as peaceably
as so many Rooks, and were equally harmless in reference
to other smaller birds. " When looking out for its
prey," says Sir John Richardson, "it sails with great ease
and elegance, in undulating and curved lines, at a consi-
derable altitude above the water, from whence it precipi-
tates itself upon its quarry and bears it off in its claws ;
or it not unfrequently, on the fish moving to too great a
depth, stops suddenly in its descent, and hovers for a
few seconds in the air, like a Kite or a Kestril, suspending
itself in the same spot by a quick flapping of its wings ;
it then makes a second and, in general, unerring dart
upon its prey, or regains the former altitude by an
elegant spiral flight. It seizes the fish with its claws,
sometimes scarcely appearing to dip its feet in the water,
and at other times plunging entirely under the surface
with force sufficient to throw up a considerable spray.
It emerges again, however, so speedily, as to render it
evident that it does not attack fish swimming at any
great depth,"

32 FALCONID^.

The versatility of the outer toe of the Osprey, the
strength, curvature, and sharpness of its claws, and the
roughness of the soles of its feet, are peculiarities of
structure adapted to the better securing its slippery prey ;
and the shortness of its thigh-feathers, unusual in the
Falcon tribe, is also evidently connected with its fishing
habits. A specimen at the Gardens of the Zoological
Society of London, when a fish was given to it, was
observed to seize it across the body, placing the inner
and outer toes at right angles with the middle and hind
toes, and digging in the claws, held the fish most
firmly by four opposite points ; not relaxing its hold
or altering the position of the toes, but picking out the
portions of flesh from between them with great ease and
dexterity.

From the docility observable in the Osprey, Montagu
thought that it might formerly have been trained for
hawking of fish, as by an Act passed in the reign of
William and Mary, persons were prohibited at a certain
period of the year, from taking any salmon, salmon-peal,
or salmon kind, by Hawks, racks, guns, &c.

The Osprey makes a large nest, sometimes on high
trees, at others on rocks, or about old ruins near large
pieces of water, and lays two or three eggs, which are
generally hatched in June. The eggs are about two
inches and four lines long by one inch ten lines in breadth,
blotched and spotted over the larger end with reddish
brown on a white ground. In some specimens the
secondary colour is of a paler yellowish red. During the
period of incubation, the male watches near, and sup-
plies the wants of the female ; catches fish for her, and
brings the food to the nest : she therefore seldom quits
the eggs, and then only for a very short interval. The
parent birds feed the young till they are in the full

OSPREY. 33

possession of powers to provide for themselves, and have
been seen to supply them with fish long after they had
left the nest, and both were flying about on the wing
together. The old birds rear but one brood in the year.

Specimens of this bird have been obtained in Surrey,
Sussex, and almost every county on our north-east coast :
at Hartlepool, Mr. Selby states that one was frequently
observed perched on the hull of a vessel that had been
wrecked. Two or three specimens have been killed in
Durham ; and they are said to be observed on the north-
west coast of Scotland rather more frequently than else-
where. Sir William Jardine, in his notes to his edition
of Wilson's Birds of America, says, that in Scotland " a
pair or two may be found about most of the Highland
lochs, where they fish, and, during the breeding season,
build on the ruined towers so common on the edges or
insulated rocks of these wild waters. The nest is an
immense fabric of rotten sticks —

' Itself a burden for the tallest tree/

and is generally placed, if such exists, on the top of the
chimney ; and, if this be wanting, on the highest summit
of the building. An aged tree may sometimes be chosen ;
but ruins are always preferred, if near. They have the
same propensity of returning to an old station with those
of America : and if one is shot, a mate is soon found, and
brought to the ancient abode. Loch Lomond, Loch
Awe, and Killchurn Castle, and Loch Menteith, have long
been breeding-places."

On our southern coast, a specimen was shot in August,
1836, in Christchurch Bay, where this bird is called the
Mullet Hawk, — a local name for the knowledge of
which I am indebted to the kindness of the Earl of
Malmesbury, and the figure of the bird here given is

VOL. I. D

34 FALCONIM.

represented with a grey mullet under his foot. The
Rev. Gilbert White, in his Natural History of Selborne,
has also mentioned one that was killed at Frinsham Pond,
—a large piece of water about six miles from Selborne.
This bird was shot while sitting on the handle of a
plough devouring a fish it had caught. Montagu con-
sidered that the Osprey was frequent in Devonshire.
Dr. Edward Moore, in his Birds of Devonshire, mentions
five or six recent instances of its occurrence ; and Mr.
Couch sends me word that this species is believed to
breed every year on the rocks about the Lizard. Of
the more inland counties, specimens have been killed in
Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, and Shropshire. In Ireland,
the Osprey has been seen by several naturalists about the
Lake of Killarney.

It has been already observed that the Osprey is com-
mon in North America, where it has an extensive range.
Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says that it is found in
Siberia and Kampschatka. In high northern latitudes it
is migratory, retiring before the appearance of frost. It
inhabits Scandinavia, and Russia. In Europe, south
of Russia, it is found in Germany, Holland, Switzerland,
and the southern provinces : it is found in Sicily, Corfu,
and Crete or Candia as it is now called, and in Tripoli
and Egypt. M. Temminck, in the third part of his
Manual, says that specimens of the Osprey from the
Cape of Good Hope, and others from Japan, are simi-
lar to those killed in Europe ; Mr Blyth has found it
in India, and Sir William Jardine possesses one from
New Holland which is in no way different. The geo-
graphical range of this species is therefore most exten-
sive.

The Osprey measures about twenty-two inches in length.
The beak is black, the cere blue, the irides yellow ; the

OSPREY. 35

top of the head and nape of the neck whitish, streaked
with dark brown, the feathers elongated. The whole
of the upper surface of the body and wings dark brown ;
the ends of the wing-primaries black ; the upper surface
of the feathers of the tail waved with two shades of
brown ; the chin and throat white ; across the upper part
of the breast a few feathers tinged with light brown,
forming a band. The under surface of the body, the
thighs, and under tail-coverts, white ; under surface of
the wing white at the axilla, brown on the outer edge ;
under surface of the wing-primaries dark brown, the shafts
white ; under surface of the tail-feathers barred with grey-
ish brown on a white ground : the legs and toes blue ; the
tarsi reticulated ; the toes partly reticulated, but with a
few broad scales near the end ; under surface of the toes
covered with short, sharp spines, admirably adapted for
holding a smooth and slippery prey : claws long, all of
jiearly uniform length, crooked, forming one-third of a
circle, sharp, and solid, — that is, not grooved underneath ;
their colour black.

The vignette below represents a Hawk's hood.

D 2

36

RAPTORE8.

FALGONIDJS.

FALGONID.E.

THE GYR-FALCON.

Falco gyrfalco.

Falco Islandicus, Gyrfalcon, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 217.

n Jerfalcon, MONT. Ornith. Diet.

n Gyrfalco, „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 1 5.

Gyrfalco candicans, „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 51.

Falco Islandicus, „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 36.

„ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 81.

}) „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Faucon Gerfaut, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 17.

FALCO. Generic Characters.— Beak short, curved from its base ; on each
cutting edge of the upper mandible a strong projecting tooth. Legs ro-

GYR-FALCON. 37

bust ; tarsi short : toes long, strong, armed with curved and sharp claws.
Wings long and pointed ; the first and third quill-feathers of equal length,
the second quill-feather the longest.

OF the true Falcons which the British Islands produce,
the Gyr-Falcon may be considered one of the most
typical in form, as it is the largest in size. It is an
inhabitant of the North of Europe and North America,
seldom appearing south of the 52° of latitude, or north
of 74°. It is not, however, very numerous anywhere ;
and from its great courage and strength large sums were
formerly expended in procuring specimens from Iceland
and Norway, for various potentates of Europe who were
then devoted to Falconry. Those specimens obtained
from Iceland were called exclusively Iceland Falcons ;
and, from peculiarities observed in their disposition, as
well as in their mode of flying at their game, not only
commanded the highest prices, but they were, and are
even now, considered by falconers as a species distinct
from the Gyr-Falcon. " They say that these two Falcons
differ in the comparative length of their wings in reference
to the tail ; the Iceland Falcon is, to them, a much more
valuable, as well as a much more rare species ; that they
require a different system of training, as well as of gene-
ral management. They describe the Iceland Falcon as a
bird of higher, courage than the Gyr-Falcon ; of a more
rapid and bolder flight ; and that it can be flown success-
fully at larger game. Its- gyrations are said to be wider,
its mount higher, and its stoop to the quarry more impe-
tuous, grand, and imposing." Some naturalists believe
that the Greenland and Iceland Falcons are distinct spe-
cies;* others, with M. Temminck, consider these birds
as local varieties only.

* See a paper by Mr. John Hancock, Annals of Natural History, vol.
ii. page 241.

38 FALCONID^.

The specimen from which Mr. Bewick took his repre-
sentation of the Gyr-Falcon is now in good condition in
the Museum of Natural History at Newcastle -upon-Tyne,
although it must have been preserved more than fifty
years. This bird was given at that time to Mr. Tunstall
by the then Lord Orford, of sporting notoriety, who had
used it for many years in catching hares, rabbits, &c. It
came from Iceland.*

In reference to keeping this rare species from year to
year, Sir John Sebright, in his Observations on Hawking,
says — " As it is difficult to procure Icelanders and Gyr-
Falcons, these valuable birds are well worth mewing
(putting to moult) ; but as Peregrine Falcons and Gos-
hawks are easily obtained, much trouble and expense
will be saved by getting young birds every year ; and
as these do not cast their wing and tail-feathers the
first year, they will be in order to fly in the autumn,
when the older birds will be in moult." When kept for
flying over their moult, they are then called Intermewed
Hawks.

The Peregrine Falcon being much more numerous as
a species, and much more easily procured, was more parti-
cularly the object of the falconer's care and tuition ; and
in the history of that bird, which follows next in the
series, a few observations on the powers of flight and the
mode of using the Falcons will be introduced.

From the great strength and courage of the Gyr-
Falcon, it was usual to fly them at birds of large size ;
such as Cranes, Storks, Herons, and Wild Geese.

The Gyr-Falcon is said to build annually on the rocky

coasts of Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. Two eggs in

my own collection I believe to belong to this species : the

length is two inches and three -eighths, the transverse mea-

* G. T. Fox, Esq., Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum, p. 52.

GYR-FALCON. 39

surement one inch seven-eighths ; both are mottled nearly
all over with pale reddish brown on a dull white ground ;
they are larger than those of the Peregrine Falcon, but
very similar in shape and colour, as well as in the mode in
which the colour is disposed over the surface.

These birds defend their young with great courage and
perseverance. Sir John Richardson says, " In the middle
of June, 1821, a pair of these birds attacked me as I was
climbing in the vicinity of their nest, which was built
on a lofty precipice on the borders of Point Lake, in
latitude 65 £°. They flew in circles, uttering loud and
harsh screams, and alternately stooping with such velocity,
that their motion through the air produced a loud rushing
noise : they struck their claws within an inch or two of
my head. I endeavoured, by keeping the barrel of my
gun close to my cheek, and suddenly elevating its muzzle
when they were in the act of striking, to ascertain whether
they had the power of instantaneously changing the direc-
tion of their rapid course, and found that they invariably
rose above the obstacle with the quickness of thought,
showing equal acuteness of vision and power of motion.
Although their flight was much more rapid, they bore
considerable resemblance to the Snowy Owl."

This species appears but very seldom in the southern
parts of the British Islands. Dr. Edward Moore of Ply-
mouth has recorded a notice of one taken in Devonshire
so lately as the year 1834. Dr. Borlase, in his History
of Cornwall, refers to the occurrence of one at Helston.
The bird from which the representation here given was
made, was killed in Pembrokeshire, on the estate of the
Earl of Cawdor, by whom the specimen was presented to
the Zoological Society. In Ireland, Mr. Thompson has
noticed two occurrences of the Gyr-Falcon : one in 1803
and another in 1837.

40 FALCONUm

In a Catalogue of the Birds of Norfolk and Suffolk,
by Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear, published in the fifteenth
volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, men-
tion is made of a specimen that was shot on Bungay
Common. By the kindness of Mr. Allis of York, I have
learned that a very fine adult specimen was shot within a
few miles of that city on the 15th March, 1837. One of
the specimens now in the Museum of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne was killed in Northumberland ; in the month of
January of the year 1845, an Iceland Falcon was shot near
the North Tyne. Pennant possessed one that was shot
near Aberdeen. Mr. Low, in his Fauna of Orkney, con-
sidered the Gyr-Falcon as only an occasional visitor : Mr.
Bullock, when he visited the Orkneys, saw one sitting on
a stone wall in the island of Stronsa ; but its appearance
has not been observed by more recent Ornithologists.
As before mentioned, its true habitat appears to be in
higher northern latitudes, — Norway, Iceland, Greenland,
Siberia, Russia, and occasionally the north of Germany ;
but apparently in no country more plentiful than in North
America. Sir John Richardson says, " We saw it often
during our journeys over the Barren Grounds, where its
habitual prey is the Ptarmigan, but where it also destroys
Plover, Ducks, and Geese."

Major Sabine, in his Memoir on the Birds of Greenland,
says, " The progress of this bird from youth, when it is
quite brown, to the almost perfect whiteness of its matu-
rity, forms a succession of changes in which each indi-
vidual feather gradually loses a portion of its brown co-
lour as the white edging on the margin increases in breadth
from year to year." Sir John Richardson also, who has
had favourable opportunities for observing this species at
different ages, says, " The young Gyr-Falcons show little
white on their plumage, being mostly of a dull brown co-

GYR-FALCON. 41

lour above. As they grow older, the white margins en-
croach on the brown, which becomes merely a central
blotch, indented on each side by the white ; while in aged
birds the plumage is mostly pure white, varied only by a
few narrow transverse bars on the upper parts."

These coinciding observations from two distinguished
naturalists render any attempt at a technical description
unnecessary, beyond adding that the specimen from which
the present figure was taken measured twenty-three inches
in length from the point of the beak to the end of the tail :
the beak itself pale bluish horn colour, the cere yellow ;
the irides dark, as are those of all the true Falcons : the
head, neck, chest, under surface of the body, and under
tail-coverts, become pure white before the greyish brown
spots and bars are lost on the back and upper surface of
the wings; the wing-primaries are dark at the tip, but
do not reach to the end of the tail : the tarsi and toes
are yellow; the claws black, curved, and sharp.

FALCONID.E.

RAPTORES.

FALCONIDJE.

THE PEREGRINE FALCON.

Falco peregrinus.

Falco peregrinus, Peregrine Falcon, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 218.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.

99 99

„ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 17.

„ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 49.

„ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 39.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 82.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Faucon pelcrin, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 22.

\

PEREGRINE FALCON. 43

THE great docility of the Peregrine Falcon, and the
comparative ease with which the birds are procured, has
rendered them the most frequent objects of the falconer's
care and tuition, and it is this species which is the most
commonly used at the present day by those who still oc-
casionally pursue the amusement of hawking. Formerly
this sporting diversion was the pride of the rich, and these
birds, as well as their eggs, were preserved by various
legislative enactments. So valuable were they considered
when possessed of the various qualities most in request,
that in the reign of James I. Sir Thomas Monson is said
to have given one thousand pounds for a cast (a couple) of
Hawks. The qualities of a good Falcon have been so
aptly described by Walton in his Complete Angler, as
addressed by Auceps to his companions, that, illustrating
the powers and habits of the bird, it is here in part intro-
duced. " In the air my noble, generous Falcon ascends
to such a height, as the dull eyes of beasts and fish are
not able to reach to : their bodies are too gross for such
high elevation ; but from which height, I can make her
to descend by a word from my mouth, which she both
knows and obeys, to accept of meat from my hand, to own
me for her master, to go home with me, and be willing the
next day to afford me the like recreation."

How much the former predilection for this particular
sport has now subsided, may be learned from the follow-
ing paragraph in Sir John Sebright's Observations upon
Hawking, published in 1826. " The village of Falcon -
swaerd, near Bois-le-Duc, in Holland, has for many years
furnished falconers to the rest of Europe. I have known
many falconers in England, and in the service of different
princes on the Continent; but I never met with one of
them who was not a native of Falconswaerd. It has been
the practice of these sober and industrious men to stay

44 FALCONIDjE.

with their employers during the season for hawking, and
to pass the remainder of the year with their families at
home. John Pells, now in the service of my friend John
Dawson Downes, Esq., of Old Gunton Hill, Suffolk, and
who also manages the Heron Hawks kept by subscription
in Norfolk, is (I believe) the only efficient falconer by
profession now remaining ; all the others whom I remem-
ber are either dead or worn out, and there has been no
inducement to younger men to follow the employment of
their forefathers."

The Peregrine Falcon builds on high rocks on various
parts of the coast, but is more numerous in Scotland than
in England. The eggs are from two to four in number,
about two inches long by one inch and eight lines in
breadth, mottled all over with pale reddish brown. The
old Falcons obtain a plentiful supply of food for them-
selves and their brood by preying upon the numerous
aquatic birds that rear their young in the same localities.
Mr. Selby, in one of his papers on the Birds observed in
the vicinity of St. Abb's Head, says, " that the eyrie
of the Peregrine Falcon had long been established there.
A pair of old ones and a pair of young birds were seen at
this visit. It was from this locality that the late Mr.
Baird of Newby th usually obtained his cast of Hawks, for
each of which he gave the person who undertook the
perilous task of scaling the precipice one guinea. The
castings of these birds, Mr. Selby noticed, were scattered
in great profusion upon the tops of the cliffs : those ex-
amined were almost wholly composed of the bones and
feathers of gulls and other aquatic fowl ; others were
mixed with the feathers of partridges, and the bones of
rabbits and young hares."

Falcons, Hawks, and probably most, if not all, other
birds of prey, from feeding on birds and animals covered

PEREGRINE FALCON. 45

with feathers or fur, and thus swallowing a quantity of
indigestible matter, relieve themselves by throwing it up
in the form of castings, which are oblong balls, consisting
of the feathers or hair and bones forcibly compressed
together.

This habit of reproducing at will from the stomach the
remains of the last meal is common to the Shrikes, the
Swallows, and most of the insectivorous birds which feed
on coleoptera, or those insects possessed of strong and hard
external wing-cases.

In the language of Falconry, the female Peregrine is,
exclusively, called the Falcon, and, on account of her
greater size and power, is usually flown at Herons and
Ducks : the male Peregrine, being smaller, sometimes one-
third less than the female, is called the Tercel, Tiercel,
and Tiercelet, and is more frequently flown at Partridges,
and sometimes at Magpies. Young Peregrines of the
year, on account of the red tinge of their plumage, are
called, the female, a Red Falcon, and the male, a Red
Tiercel, to distinguish them from the older birds; the
names also of Eyas, or Nyas ; Gentil ; Peregrine or Pas-
sage ; and Haggard, are also applied to them according to
their age when taken. If kept over a moult they were
then called intermewed Hawks. The Lanner of Pennant
is a young female Peregrine, at which age it bears some re-
semblance to the true Lanner, Falco lanarius of authors —
a true Falcon also, but much more rare than the Peregrine,
and which probably has never been killed in this country.
Mr. Gould says he was unable to find a specimen in any
collection here, either public or private, at the time he
was desirous of figuring this species in his Birds of Europe.
The true Lanner is only found in the south and south-
eastern parts of Europe. " The King of France, Louis
XVI., had Lanners sent annually from Malta ; but they

46 FALCONID^.

were brought from the eastern countries. It exceeds the
Peregrine Falcon in size, being intermediate between that
and the Gyr-Falcon; was much esteemed for flying at
the Kite, with which the Peregrine is hardly able to con-
tend." The name of Lanner is confined to the female ;
the male is called a Lanneret, on account of his smaller
size. This species is said to have been called lanarius,
from the woolly softness and thickness of its plumage.
It is also said that nestling Lanners are brought from
Sicily, where this species breeds on rocks.

Sir John Sebright, in his Observations on Hawking, be-
fore quoted, thus describes the mode of flying Peregrine
Falcons at Herons, as practised in Norfolk : — " A well-
stocked Heronry in an open country is necessary for this
sport ; and this may be seen in the greatest perfection at
Didlington in Norfolk, the seat of Colonel Wilson. This
Heronry is situated on a river, with an open country on
every side of it. The Herons go out in the morning to
rivers and ponds at a very considerable distance in search
of food, and return to the Heronry towards the evening.

"It is at this time that the falconers place themselves
in the open country, down wind of the Heronry ; so that
when the Herons are intercepted on their return home,
they are obliged to fly against the wind to gain their
place of retreat. When a Heron passes, a cast (a couple)
of Hawks is let go. The Heron disgorges his food when
he finds that he is pursued, and endeavours to keep above
the Hawks by rising in the air ; the Hawks fly in a spiral
direction to get above the Heron, and thus the three birds
frequently appear to be flying in different directions. The
first Hawk makes his stoop as soon as he gets above the
Heron, who evades it by a shift, and thus gives the se-
cond Hawk time to get up, and to stoop in his turn. In
what is deemed a good flight, this is frequently repeated,

PEREGRINE FALCON. 47

and the three birds often mount to a great height in the
air. When one of the Hawks seizes his prey, the other
soon binds to him, as it is termed, and buoyant from the
motion of their wings, the three descend together to the
ground with but little velocity. The falconer must lose
no time in getting hold of the Heron's neck when he is
on the ground to prevent him from injuring the Hawks.
It is then, and not when he is in the air, that he will
use his beak in his defence. Hawks have, indeed, some-
times, but very rarely, been hurt by striking against the
Heron's beak when stooping ; but this has been purely by
accident, and not, as has been said, by the Heron's pre-
senting his beak to his pursuer as a means of defence.
When the Heron flies down wind, he is seldom taken,
the Hawks are in great danger of being lost, and as the
flight is in a straight line, it affords but little sport."

Mr. Thompson, in his interesting volumes on the Birds
of Ireland, which have been already referred to, mentions
" that a Peregrine Falcon having caught a Landrail which
it was about to eat on a house-top, instantly gave chase
to another rail that was sprung, and, still retaining its
first victim, secured the second with its other foot ; and
bore off both together." — Vol i. page 44.

So bold as well as rapid is the Peregrine Falcon, that it
has frequently interfered and robbed the sportsman of his
game in the manner described under the article " Golden
Eagle," of which instances are related by Mr. Selby and
others. But these daring birds are not always success-
ful.

Mr. Lloyd, in his Scandinavian adventures during a
residence of upwards of twenty years, forming two highly-
illustrated volumes, recently published, relates, on the
authority of Dr. Willman of Malmo, that one day, in the
vicinity of where he dwelt, " an eagle pounced down upon

48 FALCONJM.

and fixed his talons in the back of a heifer, which, in her
fright, rushed with all speed towards the cattle-house. On
the way home, the animal passed a gate-post, of which
the eagle thought to take advantage ; for whilst retaining
hold of his prey with the one talon, he firmly grasped the
post with the other, no doubt with the intention of bring-
ing up the runaway. But in this matter the bird some-
what miscalculated his powers; for instead of thereby
staying the headlong career of the heifer, her impetus
was such, that the lord of the air was himself actually
riven in twain."

Mr. Watters, in his useful little work on the Birds of
Ireland, mentions, " that the late Sir Charles Giesecke, in
a lecture, stated his having been present at a hawking
party in Norway where a Gyr-Falcon was flown at a hare :
the bird clutched the hare with one foot, and the stump
of a tree with the other, with such tenacity that from the
speed of the hare, the leg of the Gyr-Falcon was torn
from its socket, and being unable to extricate its claws,
both perished."

They manage these matters better in the East. Sir
John Malcolm, in his Sketches of Persia, says on this sub-
ject : — " When at Shiraz, the ambassador had received a
present of a very fine royal Falcon. Before going out, I
had been amused at seeing the head falconer, a man of
great experience in his department, put upon this bird a
pair of leathers, which he fitted to its thigh with as much
care as if he had been the tailor of a fashionable horse-
man. I enquired the reason of so unusual a proceeding.
You will learn that, said the consequential master of the
Hawks, when you see our sport ; and I was convinced, at
the period he predicted, of the old fellow's knowledge of
his business.

'' The first hare seized by the Falcon was very strong,

PEREGRINE FALCON. 49

and the ground rough. While the bird kept the claws
of one foot fastened in the back of its prey, the other was
dragged along the ground till it had an opportunity to
lay hold of a tuft of grass ; by which it was enabled to
stop the course of the hare, whose efforts to escape I do
think would have torn the hawk asunder, if it had not
been provided with the leathern defences which have been
mentioned."

Lieutenant R. F. Burton, in his interesting book on
Falconry in the Valley of the Indus, tells us, "when
the Falcon is flown at the hare she is invariably breeched,
a broad leather thong being passed from the right to the
left knee, where it is securely buttoned. Were this pre-
caution neglected, the natives assure us there is imminent
danger of the Hawk's being split up."

This species has been most aptly termed peregrinus,
since it has been found in very distant parts of the world ;
its extraordinary powers of flight being probably one
great cause of extensive geographical distribution. In
this country it makes its nest on the high cliffs between
Freshwater Gate and the lighthouse, near the Needle
Rocks, and in some other parts of the Isle of Wight. In
Devonshire and Cornwall it is known by the name of the
Cliff-Hawk. Pennant has recorded a locality on the rocky
coast of Caernarvonshire. The young have been obtained
from the rocks about Holyhead, and the Great Orme's
Head; and in Ireland, Mr. Thompson informs me it is
not uncommon in rocky situations inland as well as marine.
Mr Selby, in the Proceedings of the Berwickshire Natu-
ralists' Club, has noticed both adult birds and their young
in the vicinity of St. Abb's Head ; in Scotland it is also
well known, and Sir William Jardine, in his Notes on this
bird, in his edition of Wilson's American Ornithology,
names the Vale of Moffat in Dumfriesshire, the Bass Rock,

VOL. i. E

50 FALCONID^.

and the Isle of May in the Forth, as places in which these
nohle birds rear their young, returning to the same spot,
for the same purpose, many years in succession. This
species breeds annually in the Outer Hebrides and the
Shetland Isles, and is found also in Denmark, Sweden,
Norway, and Lapland. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology,
includes the Peregrine as an inhabitant of the Uralian and
Siberian Mountains ; and it is found also in Greenland.
In North America and the United States this species is
well known, and its habits are described by the various
naturalists who have written on the birds of that country.
Captain King, when surveying the Straits of Magellan,
found two birds which he considered to be young Pere-
grines. It is found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta ; Dr. An-
drew Smith has recorded it as inhabiting the vicinity of
the Cape of Good Hope ; Mr. Blyth has found it in India ;
and Mr. Vigors and Dr. Horsfield have included this spe-
cies in their Catalogue of the Birds of New Holland, pub-
lished in the Transactions of the Linnean Society.

The whole length of an adult Peregrine Falcon is from
fifteen to eighteen inches, depending on the sex and age of
the bird. The beak is blue, approaching to black, at the
point ; the cere and eyelids yellow, the irides dark hazel
brown ; the top of the head, back of the neck, and a spot
below the eye, nearly black ; the back and upper surface
bluish slate or ash colour, becoming lighter in colour at
every succeeding moult, the males usually the most so :
the feathers of the back, wing-coverts, and tail, barred with
a darker tint ; the primary wing-feathers brownish black,
the inner webs barred and spotted with rufous white ; the
front of the neck white, with dark longitudinal lines ; the
breast rufous white, with dark brown transverse bars ; the
flanks, under tail-coverts, and the under surface of the
tail-feathers, barred transversely with dark brown and grey-

PEREGRINE FALCON. 51

ish white; legs and toes yellow, the claws black. The
figure here given was taken from a very fine female of
large size, in its second year, but still retaining one outer
tail-feather of the first year on each side. The wing and
tail-feathers are not changed in the Falconidce in their first
autumn.

Young Peregrines have the head and upper surface of
the body and wing-coverts of a brownish ash-colour, the
edge of each feather rufous ; the dark longitudinal streaks
on the white under side of the body more conspicuous, but
gradually shortening and spreading laterally, ultimately
change their direction, and become transverse. This change
is first observed on the feathers of the belly and flanks.

W. G. Johnstone of Dumfries sent an interesting
communication to the Naturalist in 1853, to the following
effect. " In the summer of 1852, a pair of Peregrine
Falcons in confinement, and where they had been kept
for some years, not only produced eggs, but continued
to sit on them for twelve days, the male taking his share
of duty. The cause of their giving up sitting was on
account of being disturbed by strangers ; after this they
would not again sit. It would have been most interesting
to have had a pair of young Peregrines produced under
such circumstances. There is every reason to believe this
would have been the case from the assiduity displayed
by the parent birds while they sat. The eggs were two
in number, and fertile, as proved on examination by
breaking them."

E ^

FALCONIDJE.

RAPTORES.

FALCONlDsE.

THE HOBBY.

Falco subbuteo.

Fcdco subbuteo, The Hobby,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 247.
„ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 42.

„ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 49.

„ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 43.

„ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 82.

„ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Faucon Hobereau, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 25.

THE HOBBY, a true Falcon, though of small size, may be
considered a Peregrine Falcon in miniature, but is rather

HOBBY. 53

less bulky in proportion to the whole length ; the hody of
the bird being slender, the tail elongated, and the points of
the wings reaching even beyond the tail. In this country
the Hobby is a summer visitor, appearing in April, and
leaving again generally in October for warmer regions, like
other summer visitors. Dr. Heysham, however, in his
Catalogue of Cumberland Animals, mentions having seen
a Hobby as late as November.

Unlike the Peregrine, the Hobby appears to prefer in-
land situations among wooded and well-cultivated districts,
and possessing considerable power of flight, as well as per-
severing endurance, was formerly trained to fly at Larks,
Quails, and Snipes. Sir John Sebright says, the Hobby
will take small birds if thrown up by the hand, but is not
strong enough to be efficient in the field. Colonel Mon-
tagu says, he has " frequently witnessed the flight of this
species in pursuit of a Skylark, which appears to be its
favourite game ; and it is astonishing to observe how dex-
terously the little bird avoids the fatal stroke until it
becomes fatigued. A Hobby in pursuit of a lark was
joined by a Hen-Harrier, who, not being so rapid on wing,
was usually behind, and ready to avail himself of the sud-
den turns the unfortunate Lark was compelled to make to
avoid the talons of the Hobby : however, after numberless
evolutions, the Hen-Harrier relinquished further pursuit,
being unequal to the chase, and left the deadly stroke to
one better adapted for rapid and durable flight, and aerial
evolutions. The country was open, and, as far as the eye
could discern, the chase continued, but doubtless without
a chance of the Lark's avoiding the fatal blow." The
Hobby has been known to dash through the open window
of a room at a small bird confined in a cage, and is some-
times used by London bird-catchers to enable them by
its presence, and by exhibiting it in a particular way, called

54 FALCONID^E.

daring, to catch male Skylarks;* but it is more common
with them to use the stuffed skin of a small Hawk or
Owl, with its wings extended, than a living bird. The
mode of proceeding will be described under the article on
the Skylark.

The Hobby, though a well-known bird, is not very nu-
merous as a species. It chooses a high tree to make its
nest on, occasionally taking to the remains of one of suit-
able size that has been deserted. The female lays three or
four eggs, like those of all the true Falcons in shape and
colour, — that is, of a short oval form, speckled all over
with reddish brown on a dirty white ground ; — the length,
one inch eight lines ; the breadth, one inch four lines.

The localities to be quoted for the Hobby, though ex-
tending over considerable geographical range, are not very
numerous. Dr. Moore has noticed it in Devonshire, and
finds that it breeds in Warleigh Woods. From Mr.
Thompson of Belfast, I have received the information that
this species occurred twice to the late Mr. Templeton, and
was said to have been found breeding among rocks on the
mountains of Wicklow and Londonderry. Mr. Doubleday
has obtained two specimens in the vicinity of Epping ; and
I have one that was shot near Bishops Stortford, Herts.
Mr. Paget says it is not uncommon during summer in
Norfolk. In the collection of Messrs. Hancock, at New-
castle, is a specimen killed in the county of Durham.
Muller says it inhabits Denmark and Norway ; and Pen-
nant, in his Arctic Zoology, says it visits Siberia.

The Hobby is an inhabitant of the continent of Europe
generally ; it is found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta. The
Zoological Society possess specimens from Tangiers ; and
it is most probably spread over the northern part of Africa :

* In reference to the various modes of taking Larks with the Hobby,
one of the old names for this species was alaudarius.

HOBBY. 55

Dr. Andrew Smith considers it as an inhabitant also of
South Africa in the vicinity of the Cape. From the
eastern part of Europe the Hobby is traced to Astrakhan
and to India. Mr. Selby mentions having received spe-
cimens from that country in every respect similar to our
own ; and a collection of birds exhibited at the Zoological
Society in 1831, which was formed by Major James Frank-
lin on the Ganges between Calcutta and Benares, also
contained specimens of the Hobby.

The food of this species appears to consist of small birds
and large coleopterous insects. My friend Mr. Henry
Doubleday sent me word that the stomachs of two speci-
mens examined by him were filled with the common dung-
chaffer, Geotrupes stercorarius.

Specimens of the Hobby measure from twelve to four-
teen inches, depending on age or sex. The male bird
from which the figure was taken had the beak bluish horn
colour, darkest at the tip ; the cere greenish yellow, the
irides dark brown ; the top of the head, nape, back, and
upper wing-coverts, greyish black ; the edges of the fea-
thers buify white ; the wing -primaries and secondaries
nearly black, edged with dull white ; the two middle tail-
feathers uniform greyish black ; the others slightly barred
with a lighter colour. The tips also lighter ; the chin and
side of the neck white ; the cheek and moustache black ;
the breast, belly, and thighs, yellowish white, with longi-
tudinal patches of brownish black ; under tail coverts dull
white ; under surface of the tail-feathers barred with dull
white and greyish black; the legs and toes yellow; the
claws black.

Old birds have the upper surface of the body bluish
grey ; in young birds the plumage is tinged with rufous.

56
RAPTORES.

FAICONIlXaS.

FALCONIDM.

THE RED-FOOTED FALCON.

Falco rufipes.

Falco rufipes, Orange-legged Hobby, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 45.

„ „ Red-legged Falcon, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 83.

„ „ Red-footed Falcon, GOULD, Birds of Europe, pt. i.

„ „ Red-legged Falcon, EYTON, Rare British Birds.

„ „ Faucon a pieds rouges, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 33.

THE RED-FOOTED FALCON is a species of small size, and
so much in its general contour resembling the Hobby, that

RED-FOOTED FALCON. 57

Buffon described and figured the adult male as a singular
variety of that bird. The young female has more the
appearance of a young Merlin. One specimen caught in
Berkshire is recorded by F. Holme, Esq. of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, and a second by the Rev. N. C. Strick-
land, obtained in Yorkshire. Four examples of this Fal-
con were killed in the county of Norfolk in 1830, three of
which were shot by Mr. Heath at Horning; and since
that period several others have occurred in different parts
of England, and one in Ireland. M. Viellot, in the Faune
Franpaise, says that it builds in the hollows of trees, or
takes to the nest of the Magpie, sometimes in companies
like Rooks, and that it flies and hawks for its prey only
in the evening. It has lately been stated to breed on the
Pyrenees, and to lay four eggs ; a drawing of an egg sent
me resembles that of the Merlin in form and colour, but
is a little smaller in size. Its food is ascertained to be
small birds and large coleopterous insects, the more indi-
gestible parts of which have been found in the stomach.

The Red-footed Falcon is a native of Russia, Poland,
and Austria, from whence it passes southward in Europe
to Provence, Tuscany, Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Crete;
it has also been shot at Trebizond, and in India.

Since my notice of the four specimens killed in Norfolk
in 1 830, other examples have been shot in the same county
in 1832 and 1843. Two specimens have been obtained in
Yorkshire, and one in the county of Durham. An adult
female specimen lived two years in the menagerie of the
Zoological Society. A specimen is preserved in a museum
at Devonport, which was obtained not far off; and Mr.
Thompson of Belfast has recorded a notice of one that
was killed in the county of Wicklow in the summer of
1832.

This recent addition to our catalogue of British Birds

58 FALCONIDJ:.

goes through several interesting changes of plumage ; and
as the species is somewhat new to us, these different ap-
pearances are here described in detail.

The upper figure in the wood-engraving represents a
young female ; the lower figure is that of an adult male.

After their first change, the plumage of the males is
much more uniform than that of the females. In the adult
male, the base of the beak is yellowish white, the other
part dark horn colour ; the cere and eyelids reddish orange,
the irides dark brown ; the head, neck, back, upper sur-
face of the wings and tail, the throat, breast, and belly,
of a uniform dark lead colour ; the thigs, vent, and under
tail-coverts, deep ferruginous ; the legs and toes reddish
flesh colour ; the claws yellowish white, with dusky tips.
The whole length of the bird eleven inches.

The plumage of the young males before their first change
is similar to that of young females, which will hereafter be
described. At their first change, they become of a uniform
pearl grey ; the thighs and flanks ferruginous ; beak, cere,
eyes, legs, toes, and claws, as in the old male. The repre-
sentation used as a vignette is taken from a young male
bird that has nearly completed his first change, but still
retains a portion of the barred appearance of his first
livery on the outer or distal part of the wing, on the lower
part of the back, and the tail-feathers, the central pair only
of which are as yet moulted.

The adult female has the beak, cere, irides, legs, &c. as
in the male ; the head and back of the neck reddish
brown; the eye surrounded with dusky feathers almost
black ; the whole of the back, wing-coverts, and tail-fea-
thers, blackish grey, barred transversely with bluish black ;
upper surface of the wing-primaries uniform dusky black.
The chin and throat nearly white ; the breast and all the
under surface of the body pale rufous, with dark reddish

RED -FOOTED FALCON.

59

brown longitudinal streaks ; the thighs and their long fea-
thers plain rufous ; under wing-coverts rufous, with trans-
verse bars of dark brown ; under surface of the wing-
primaries blackish grey, with numerous transverse bars of
bluish grey : under surface of the tail-feathers bluish grey,
with nine or ten transverse bars of bluish black, the bars
increasing a little in breadth as they approach the tip.

Young females have the top of the head reddish brown
with dusky streaks ; the eyes encircled with black, with a
small black pointed moustache descending from the ante-
rior part of the eye ; ear coverts white : upper surface of
the body dark brown, the feathers ending with reddish
brown ; wing-primaries dusky black, the inner edges and
tips buffy white ; the tail-feathers dark brown, with nume-
rous transverse bars of reddish brown ; throat white : sides
of the neck, the breast, and all the under surface of the
body, pale reddish white, with brown longitudinal streaks
and patches on the breast ; the thighs and their long feathers
uniform pale ferruginous ; beak, cere, irides, &c. as in the
adult female.

60

PAPTORE8.

FALCONIDJE.

FALCONIDJE.

THE MERLIN.

Falco cesalon.

Falco cesalon, The Merlin, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 251.

„ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 48.

„ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 50.

„ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 51.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 83.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Le Faucon Emerillon, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 27.

THE MERLIN is one of the smallest of the British
Falconida, and being of rapid flight and great courage,
possesses, on a diminished scale, all the attributes and
characters of a true Falcon. So bold as well as powerful,

MERLIN. 61

in proportion to his size, is this little bird, that a male
Merlin, not weighing more than six ounces, has been seen
to strike and kill a Partridge that was certainly more than
twice his own weight ; and so tenacious generally is he of
his prey, that it is very difficult to make him quit any-
thing he has taken. The more common food of this
species is small birds, and they have been seen in chase
of the smaller marine shore birds, as the Sanderling and
Dunlin.

The Merlin was formerly, and is now occasionally,
trained ; and Sir John Sebright, in the pamphlet already
quoted, says, " He will take Blackbirds and Thrushes.
He may be made to wait on, that is, hover near, till the
bird to be pursued is started again ; but though a Merlin
will sometimes kill a Partridge, they are not strong enough
to be effective in the field."

The Merlin was formerly considered to be only a winter
visitor in this country ; but it is now very well ascertained
that this species breeds on the moors of some northern
counties. Mr. Selby has found the nest several times in
Northumberland ; and Dr. Heysham mentions three in-
stances that came to his knowledge of Merlins' nests in
Cumberland, where, he says, this bird remains all the
year. Mr. Eyton tells me that it breeds on Cader Idris ;
and Mr. Dovaston sent a notice to his friend Mr. Bewick,
" on the authority of the gamekeeper at Wynstay Park,
North Wales, that he had often seen the nest of the
Merlin, and that it built and bred there in the summer of
1826." In the more southern counties of Cornwall and
Devonshire, the Merlin is considered to be rare, and only
seen in winter. On our eastern coast it is killed, but not
very often, in Kent, Essex, and Norfolk. The specimens
obtained are generally young birds ; and these occur most
frequently in autumn, or at the beginning of winter. In

62 FALCONID^.

Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson, the Merlin is indi-
genous in several northern counties. It breeds also in
Scotland, in Orkney, and in Shetland : and is included by
Muller and M. Nilsson among the birds of Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway. It inhabits Germany and France,
and from thence southward to the shores of the Mediter-
ranean. It has been found in Sicily and Malta. Mr.
Strickland includes the Merlin among the birds seen by
him at Smyrna in the winter of 1835-6; but it was con-
sidered rare : it has been found also at Erzeroum and in
Egypt as far south as Kordofan. Dr. Andrew Smith ob-
tained examples of it in the vicinity of the Cape of Good
Hope ; but this last may prove not to be identical with
the true Merlin of Europe.

The Merlin makes its scanty nest on the ground, laying
four or five eggs, measuring one inch seven lines in length,
by one inch three lines in breadth, mottled all over with
two shades of reddish brown. In North Wales, the young
birds are called Stone Falcons ; but among Ornithologists
the Stone Falcon is considered to be an adult bird. It is
not, however, improbable that the habit of sitting on a
bare stone or portion of rock, by which this species has
acquired the name of Stone Falcon, is common to it at all
ages, and in other countries. In France it is called Le
Rockier, and Faucon de Roche ; and in Germany, Stein
Falke. This bird occasionally builds on rocks.

The Merlin measures from ten to twelve inches in
length, depending on the sex of the specimen. An old
male has the beak bluish horn colour, palest at the base,
darkest towards the tip ; the cere yellow, the irides dark
brown ; the top of the head blue grey, with dark lines
passing backward ; the cheeks, and from thence round
the back of the neck, pale reddish brown, also marked
with dark streaks, forming a collar; the whole of the

MERLIN. 63

back and wing-coverts fine blue grey,* the shaft of each
feather forming a dark central line ; wing-primaries pitch
black ; upper surface of the tail-feathers bluish grey over
two-thirds of their length, with slight indications of three
dark bands, the distal third nearly uniform black, the tips
of all the feathers white ; the chin and throat white ;
breast, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, rufous, with
browTn central patches, and darker brown streaks ; under
surface of the tail-feathers barred with two shades of grey,
a broad dark terminal band, and white tips ; legs and toes
yellow ; claws black.

In the female, the top of the head, back, wing-coverts,
and secondaries are dark liver brown, the shaft of each
feather darker, the edge tipped with red ; the tail-feathers
brown, with five narrow transverse bars of wood brown ;
under surface of the body pale brownish white, with
darker brown longitudinal patches ; the beak, cere, eyes,
legs, toes, and claws as in the male. Young males re-
semble the females ; and in birds of the year, the wings
do not reach so far towards the end of the tail as in those
that are adult.

* " The Elfin king, like the Merlin's wing,
Are his pinions of glossy blue."

Tales of Wonder.

64

RAPTORES.

FALCONIM.

FALCONIDJ&

THE KESTREL, OR WINDHOVER.

Falco tinnunculus.

Falco tinnunculus, The Kestrel,

The Kestril,
The Kestrel,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 244.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 39.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 50.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 47.
JENYNS, Man. Brit. Vert. p. 84.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Faucon Cresserelle, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 29.

KESTREL. 65

THE KESTREL is one of the most common species of the
British Falconidce, and from its peculiar habits, which place
it very often in view, it is also, as might be expected, one
of the best known. It is handsome in shape, attractive in
colour, and graceful in its motions in the air ; though from
its mode of searching for its food, and the shortness of its
wings compared with others of the small raptorial species
already figured, it departs from the characters of the true
Falcons. It is best known, and that too at any moderate
distance, by its habit of sustaining itself in the air in the
same place by means of a short but rapid motion of the
wings, while its powerful eyes search the surface beneath
for mice of different species, which form by far the most
considerable part of its food. It has acquired the name
of Windhover from this habit of remaining with outspread
tail suspended in the air, the head on these occasions al-
ways pointing to windward ; and it is also called Stonegall,
which Mr. Mudie suggests should be written Standgale,
from the same habit.

Mice, as before stated, certainly form the principal part
of the food of this species ; and it appears to obtain them
by dropping suddenly upon them, and thus taking them by
surprise. Montagu says that he never found any feathers
in the stomach of the Kestrel ; but it is certain that it does
occasionally kill and devour small birds. The remains of
coleopterous insects, their larvae, and earth-worms have
been found in their stomachs; and Mr. Selby, on the
authority of an eye-witness, has recorded the following
fact : "I had the pleasure this summer of seeing the Kes-
trel engaged in an occupation entirely new to me, — hawk-
ing after cockchafers late in the evening. I watched him
with a glass, and saw him dart through a swarm of the
insects, seize one in each claw, and eat them while flying.

VOL. i. F

66 FALCONID^.

He returned to the charge again and again. I ascertained
it beyond a doubt, as I afterwards shot him."

In spring the Kestrel frequently takes possession of the
nest of a crow or a magpie, in which to deposit its eggs.
Sometimes these birds build in high rocks, or on old
towers, and among the ruins of buildings, laying four, and
occasionally five eggs, about one inch seven lines long, by
one inch three lines across, mottled all over with dark
reddish brown, and sometimes with blotches of reddish
brown upon a pale reddish white ground. The fifth egg
has been known to weigh several grains less than either of
those previously deposited, and it has also less colouring
matter spread over the shell than the others ; both effects
probably occasioned by the constitutional exhaustion the
bird has sustained in her previous efforts. The young
are hatched about the end of April or the beginning of
May, and are covered for some time with a yellowish
white down.

Among the numerous interesting communications on
British Birds which have appeared in Mr. London's Maga-
zine of Natural History from the pen of Charles Waterton,
Esq., and from his own observations, is one on the habits
of the Windhover, in which the value of the mice-destroy-
ing propensities of this friend to the agriculturist is clearly
pointed out.

The Kestrel is too common in this country to render
necessary an enumeration of the counties in which it has
been observed. It is well known in Ireland, where it
breeds on rocks and in trees. It is common in Scotland,
and on its western and northern islands. From the works
of Northern Naturalists we learn that the Kestrel inhabits
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and Siberia; and
from thence southward over the continent of Europe gene-

KESTREL. 67

rally, to Spain and Italy. Numbers of those bred in
Europe are said to pass over in autumn to the north of
Africa. It is found in Corfu, and was seen by W. Thomp-
son, Esq., about forty-five miles from Zante ; it is found
also in Sicily and Malta. Mr. Strickland observed it at
Smyrna in winter ; and it has been found at Trebizond
and at Erzeroum. In North Africa it has been taken at
Tangiers and Algiers; it has been found in Egypt and
Nubia. It inhabits Central Africa, according to M. Tem-
minck; and the Zoological Society have received speci-
mens from the Cape of Good Hope, which were sent by
Captain Spiller.

The range of the Kestrel in the East is also very ex-
tensive. Mr. Selby mentions having received specimens
from India, and I have seen others from the banks of the
Ganges. Colonel Sykes includes it among the birds of the
Dukhun. Figures of it occur in drawings from China ; it
is known to inhabit Japan ; and Dr. Horsfield includes it
in his catalogue of the birds of Java.

The whole length of the Kestrel is from thirteen to fif-
teen inches, depending on the sex. The male, the upper
figure in the illustration, has the beak blue, pale towards
the base ; the cere and orbits or eyelids yellow, the irides
dark brown ; the top of the head, the cheeks, and nape
of the neck, ash grey, with dusky longitudinal streaks ;
the back, tertials, and wing-coverts, reddish fawn colour,
with small black triangular spots dispersed over them, one
occupying the point of each feather ; the primaries and
secondaries blackish grey, with lighter-coloured edges ; the
tail-feathers ash grey, with a broad black band near the
end, each feather tipped with white ; the breast and belly
pale rufous fawn colour, with dark longitudinal streaks on
the former, and dark spots on the latter ; the thighs and
under tail-coverts rufous fawn colour, without spots ; under

F 2

68 FALCONnxaB.

surface of the tail-feathers greyish white, with imperfect
dark transverse bars, terminating with the black band and
white tips, as on the upper surface ; the legs and toes
yellow; the claws black.

In the female, the top of the head is reddish fawn colour,
striped darker longitudinally ; the whole of the back, wings,
upper tail-coverts, and tail, reddish brown, barred trans-
versely with bluish black ; wing-primaries darker than in
the male : the whole under surface of the body of a paler
ferruginous colour, but streaked on the breast and spotted
lower down, as in the male ; under surface of the tail-
feathers more uniform in colour and less distinctly barred
than in the male.

Young males are like the female till after their first
winter, but begin by slow degrees of change in colour to
exhibit the plumage which distinguishes the male after
having completed their first year.

Mr. John Atkinson of Leeds, in his compendium of
the Ornithology of Great Britain, says of the Kestrel,
" Our tame specimens, having their wings cut to prevent
escape, exhibited great adroitness in climbing the trunk of

GOSHAWK.

RAPTORES.

FALCONID^E.

THE GOSHAWK.

Astur palumbarius.

Falco palumbarius, The Goshawk, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 225.

„ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 28.

Buteo „ „ FLEMING, Brit. An. p. 54.

Astur „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 29.

Actipiter „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. An. p. 85.

Astur „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ L'Autour, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 55.

ASTUR. Generic Characters. — Bill short, bending from the base ; cutting
edge of the upper mandible produced, forming a festoon. Nostrils oval.
Wings short, reaching only to the middle of the tail-feathers, the fourth
quill-feather the longest. Legs stout, the tarsi covered in front with broad

70

scales. Toes of moderate length, the middle toe the longest, the lateral
toes nearly equal.

THE GOSHAWK is at once distinguished from the Falcons
by the lobe or festoon, instead of the sharp tooth, on the
cutting edge of the upper mandible, and by the short and
rounded form of the wing, which reaches only half way
down the tail. The Goshawk has also been separated ge-
nerically from the Sparrow-Hawk on account of its shorter
and stronger tarsus, which is covered with feathers on the
upper part ; and by the want of the elongation in the
middle toe, so conspicuous in the genus Accipiter, in which
genus the Goshawk was formerly arranged.

Inferior in powers to the Falcons, though equal in size
to the largest of them, the Goshawk is yet the best of the
short-winged Hawks ; but its habits, as well as its mode
of flying at its game, are very different : it does not stoop
to its prey, like the Falcons, but glides along in a line
after it, and takes it by a mode which, in the language
of falconry, is called raking. The Goshawk was formerly
in esteem among falconers, and was flown at hares, rabbits,
pheasants, grouse, and partridges. It flies fast for a short
distance, may be used in an enclosed country, and will
even dash through woods after its prey ; but if it does
not catch the object, it soon gives up the pursuit, and
perching on a bough, waits till some new game presents
itself. This habit of taking to a branch of a tree and
waiting is particularly alluded to by Colonel Thornton,
formerly of Thornville Royal, who was devoted to hawk-
ing, and who, in reference to the Goshawk, says, " If its
game takes refuge, there it waits patiently on a tree, or
a stone, until the game, pressed by hunger, is induced
to move ; and as the Hawk is capable of greater absti-
nence, it generally succeeds in taking it. I flew a Gos-
hawk," says the colonel, " at a Pheasant ; but it got into

GOSHAWK. 71

cover, and we lost the Hawk : at ten o'clock next morning
the falconer found her, and just as he had lifted her, the
Pheasant ran and rose."

As the flight of the Goshawk is low, and it takes its
prey near the ground, the females were flown at hares and
rabbits : the males, which are much smaller, were flown at
partridges.

The Goshawk is a rare species in the South of England,
and the few that are used for hawking are obtained from
the Continent. Colonel Thornton, who kept them con-
stantly in Yorkshire, procured some of his specimens from
Scotland. Dr. Moore, in his catalogue of the birds of
Devonshire, says that it is found occasionally on Dart-
moor ; but I can find no record of its appearance further
west in England, nor any notice of it in Ireland. A fine
adult male was trapped by a gamekeeper in Suffolk in
March, 1833 ; and Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, has sent
me word that he received a young bird from Norfolk in
the spring of the same year. Mr. Selby mentions that he
had never seen a recent specimen south of the Tweed ; but
states that it is known to breed in the forest of Rothie-
murcus, and on the wooded banks of the Dee. Mr. Low
says that this species is pretty frequent in Orkney ; but as
he speaks of it in connection with sea-beaten rocks with-
out shelter or woods, is there not reason to suspect that
Mr. Low was mistaken, and that the birds he saw were
Peregrine Falcons, — the more so as several recent visitors
to these northern islands have observed Peregrines, but
no Goshawks ?

Since the publication of the former edition of this work,
a Goshawk killed near Dalkeith is noticed by Sir W. Jar-
dine, Bart., as the only Scotch specimen he had seen in a
fresh state. Three examples were killed in Northumber-
land during the winter of 1841, and two specimens in the
county of Norfolk since that time.

72 FALCONID^.

According to Muller, Linnaeus, and Pennant, the Gos-
hawk inhabits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Siberia, Russia,
and Chinese Tartary. It is said to be plentiful in Ger-
many, rare in Holland; but according to Yieillot and
others, it inhabits France, Switzerland, Sicily, Malta,
Egypt, and North Africa.

Mr. Hoy, who has frequently visited Germany, has sup-
plied Mr. Hewitson with the following lines, which are
here copied from his beautiful work on the Eggs of British
Birds : — " The Goshawk builds its own nest, and, if un-
disturbed in its possession, will frequently occupy it for
several years, making the necessary repairs. It is placed
in some high tree on the outskirts of the forest, and is
rarely found in the interior, except in those parts which
are open and free from timber. The eggs are three or
four, and are frequently hatched by the middle of May."

The eggs of the Goshawk are rare : the few that I have
seen were uniform in size and colour, two inches and
three sixteenths in length, by one inch eleven sixteenths in
breadth, of a pale bluish white without any spots or streaks.

A full-grown female measures from twenty -three to
twenty -four inches in length ; — the males, one-fourth, and
sometimes one-third less ; but when adult, the plumage is
nearly similar. The beak is horn colour or bluish black ;
the cere and irides yellow : the top of the head, the whole
of the back, upper surface of the wings, and tail-feathers,
dark greyish brown, — in females the colour inclines to clove
brown ; the upper surface of the tail-feathers barred with
darker brown : a band passing over the lore, eyes, cheeks
and ear-coverts, the nape of the neck, throat, breast, belly
and thighs, nearly white, with spots, transverse bars, and
undulating lines of dull black ; under tail-coverts white ;
lore, cheeks, and ear-coverts greyish brown, forming an
elongated dark patch on the side of the head ; the legs
and toes yellow ; the claws black.

GOSHAWK. 73

Young birds have the beak, cere, and eyes nearly similar
to those of the old birds ; the top of the head, nape, and
ear-coverts, ferruginous white, each feather darker in the
middle ; back, wings, and upper tail-coverts, brown, mar-
gined with buff; upper surface of the tail-feathers with
five bands of dark brown and four bands of lighter brown,
the ends of all the feathers white ; wing-primaries dark
brown, barred with two shades of brown on the inner
webs ; the chin, throat, breast, and belly, greyish white,
each feather with a central elongated patch of dark brown ;
thighs and under tail-coverts with a dark brown longitu-
dinal streak, instead of a broad patch ; under surface of
the wings greyish white, with transverse dusky bars ; under
surface of the tail-feathers greyish white, with five darker
greyish brown transverse bars, the tips of all the feathers
white ; legs and toes yellow brown ; the claws black, those
of the inner toe considerably larger than those of the
outer.

Bewick, in his excellent work on British Birds, having
figured an adult Goshawk, a young bird was chosen for
the illustration here given.

74
RAPTORES.

FALCONIRffi.

FALCONIDJ4.

THE SPARROW-HAWK.

Accipiter nisus.

Falco nisus, Sparrow-Hawk, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 249.

„ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 44.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 55.
„ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 32.

„ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 85.

„ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

L'Epervier, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 56.

Buteo „

A ccipiter fringillarius,

Falco nisus,

ACCIPITER. Generic Characters. — Beak bending from the base, short,
compressed, superior ridge rounded and narrow, cutting margin of the
upper mandible with a distinct festoon. Nostrils oval. Wings short; the
fourth and fifth quill-feathers nearly equal in length, and the longest.
Legs long, slender, and smooth. Toes long and slender, the middle toe
particularly, the claws curved and sharp.

SPARROW-HAWK. 75

THE SPARROW-HAWK is another short-winged Hawk,
but of small comparative size, in its habits very similar to
the Goshawk last described, and has been aptly termed a
Goshawk in miniature. It has, however, been separated
from the Goshawk generically, on account of the tarsi and
toes being long and slender ; and the term Accipiter, ori-
ginally bestowed upon it by our countryman and naturalist
Ray, has been restored to it. In most of the wooded
districts the Sparrow-Hawk is a common and well-known
species ; bold, active, vigilant, and destructive, a danger-
ous enemy to small quadrupeds and young birds, upon
which they subsist, and are so daring during the season in
which their own nestlings require to be provided with food,
as frequently to venture among the out-buildings of the
farmhouse, where they have been observed to fly low, skim
over the poultry-yard, snatch up a Chick, and get off
with it in an instant.

In reference to the capabilities of this species for hawk-
ing, Sir John Sebright says, that he " once took a Par-
tridge with a Sparrow -Hawk of his own breaking, ten
days after he had been taken wild from a wood. These
Hawks must be kept in a high condition, and cannot fly
when there is the least wind : they are upon the whole
more difficult to manage than strong birds. The flight of
the Sparrow-Hawk is rapid for a short distance : he will
take Partridges at the beginning of the season, and is the
best of all the Hawks for Landrails."

Mr. Selby says, in rearing the young of this species care
should be taken to separate them very early; otherwise
the female birds, being superior in size and stronger, are
sure to destroy and devour the males, as he has repeatedly
found, if they are kept caged together.

The Sparrow-Hawk generally takes possession of some
old or deserted nest in a tree, most frequently that of the

76 FALCONIM.

Crow, in which the female deposits four or five eggs, each
about one inch seven lines long, by one inch four lines
broad, of a pale bluish white, blotched and spotted with
dark red brown. The young are covered with a delicate
and pure white down, and are abundantly supplied with
food. Mr. Selby mentions having found a nest of five
young Sparrow-Hawks which contained besides, a Lap-
wing, two Blackbirds, one Thrush, and two Green Lin-
nets, recently killed, and partly divested of their feathers.

The Sparrow-Hawk is common in most of the counties
of England, and has been observed in the west and north
of Ireland ; it occurs also in Scotland and its northern
islands. It inhabits Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia,
and from thence southward, over the European continent
to Spain and Italy. It is found in Sicily, Malta, Algeria,
and Egypt. Mr. Strickland observed it at Smyrna ; and
the Zoological Society has received specimens from Erze-
roum. It is found in Thibet, Cashmere, North- Western
India, and Bengal ; and Mr. Temminck has recorded it
as occurring as far to the eastward as Japan.

The adult male measures about twelve inches in length ;
the beak blue, lightest at the base; the cere greenish
yellow, the irides yellow ; the top of the head, nape of
the neck, back, wings, and wing-coverts, rich dark brown,
— in very old males with a tinge of bluish grey ; feathers
of the tail greyish brown, with three conspicuous trans-
verse bands of dark browTi ; the chin, cheeks, throat,
breast, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, rufous, with
numerous transverse bars of darker rufous brown ; legs and
toes long, slender, and yellow; the claws curved, sharp,
and black.

The female is generally three inches longer than the
male ; the beak, bluish horn colour ; cere yellowish, the
irides yellow ; the top of the head, upper part of the neck,

SPARROW-HAWK. 77

back, wing, and tail-coverts, brown, — the base of many of
the feathers white, which, extending beyond the edge of
the feather immediately above it, causes a white spot or
mark ; primaries and tail-feathers light brown, barred
transversely with darker brown ; under surface of the
neck, body, wing-coverts, and thighs, greyish white, barred
transversely with brown ; under surface of the wing and
tail feathers of the same colour, but the light and dark
bars much broader ; the first six wing -primaries emargi-
nated; the fourth and fifth quill -feathers equal and the
longest, the first quill-feather the shortest; the legs and
toes yellow ; the claws long, curved, sharp, and black.

The young male Sparrow-Hawk resembles the female ;
but the brown feathers of the back and the wing-coverts
are edged with reddish brown ; feathers of the tail reddish
brown, particularly toward the base, with three conspicuous
dark brown transverse bands. In other particulars like
the female ; and both have a collar formed by a mixture of
white and brown, which extends from the sides of the neck
to the nape.

;,

78
RAPTORES.

FALCONID^.

FALCONIDJS.

THE KITE.

THE FORK-TAILED KITE, AND GLEAD.

Milvus vulgaris.

Falco milvus, The Kite, PENN. Brit. Zool. i. p. 229.

„ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 32.

Milvus vulgaris, „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 51.

„ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 74.

„ IcMnus, „ JENYNS, Brit. An. p. 86.

„ vulgaris, „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco milvus, Milan Royal, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 59.

MILVUS. Generic Cliaracters. — Beak straight at the base, curved from
the cere to the point, cutting margin with a slight festoon. Nostrils oval,
oblique. Wings long ; the fourth quill-feather the longest ; the first and
seventh quill-feathers nearly equal in length. Tail long, forked. Legs
short. Toes short and strong, the outer toe united at its base with the
middle toe. Claws moderately long and curved.

KITE. 79

THE KITE is readily distinguished among the British
Fahonidce, even when at a distance on the wing, by its
long and forked tail. The flight of this large bird is sin-
gularly graceful and easy, gliding smoothly along with
little muscular exertion. It still retains in some districts
the name of Gled, or Glead, — derived, according to Pen-
nant, from the Saxon glida. The term Glede, having re-
ference to this species, occurs in Deuteronomy, ch. xiv.
v. 13. Occasionally it sails in circles, with its rudder-like
tail by its inclination governing the curve ; then stops, and
remains stationary for a time, the tail expanded widely,
and with its long wings sustaining its light body, appa-
rently from the extent of surface the bird is able to cover.
In its mode of taking its prey the Kite is distinguished
from Falcons and Hawks generally, by pouncing upon it
upon the ground. The nature of the food also makes
this habit evident; twenty -two moles were found in the
nest of a Kite, besides frogs and unfledged birds : it preys
also on Leverets, rabbits, snakes, and particularly on the
young of various Gallinaceous birds. The Kite, like the
Sparrow-Hawk, frequently visits the poultry -yard, but is
not remarkable for its courage : Hens have been known
by their vociferations and their show of resistance to pro-
tect their Chickens from the threatened attack, and even
to drive away the unwelcome intruder.

A writer in the Magazine of Natural History relates
that he had almost daily opportunities of witnessing the
powers of the Kite in taking fish from a broad river near
which he resided ; and though distance prevented him
from distinguishing the particular sort of fish, the birds
were eminently successful, occasionally alighting on the
banks to eat their captures, at other times bearing them
off to the woods.

In Hertfordshire and Essex the Kite is called the Put-

80 FALCONDm

tock, and the Crotchet-tailed Puddock. Merrett, in his
Pinax, and Shakspeare, in the Second Part of Henry the
Sixth, identify the term Puttock with the Kite :

" Who finds the Partridge in the Puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Altho' the Kite soar with unblooded beak."

But in some counties the Common Buzzard is also called a
Puttock. In Ireland, as I learn from Mr. Thompson of
Belfast, the Kite is unknown to Ornithologists as an indi-
genous bird ; but gamekeepers and others call the Common
Buzzard a Kite.

In France, as already mentioned at page 45, the falcon-
ers of Louis the Sixteenth trained powerful Falcons, called
Lanners, obtained from the eastern parts of Europe, to fly
at Kites for the gratification of the king ; and by some
of the naturalists of the Continent the Kite is still called
Milan royal and Milvus regalis, from the amusement
afforded by these birds to the royal parties.

Sir John Sebright observes, that " the Fork-tailed Kites
were much flown some years ago by the Earl of Orford,
in the neighbourhood of Alconbury Hill. A great Owl,
to the leg of which the falconers usually tie a fox's brush,
not only to impede its flight, but to make it, as they fancy,
more attractive, is thrown up to draw down the Kite."
The Owl is trained to fly round in small circles, and to
return when lured, and having performed his part of
decoy-bird, the Kite, thus enticed within the required
distance, then becomes the quarry. A cast of Hawks are
sent in pursuit, the capture and death of the Kite being
the real object intended.

In proof of the docility of this species, Mr. Thompson
of Belfast relates, that " MrA R. Langtry, when at Loch
Awe, in Argyleshire, early in the summer of 1 833, procured
from the nest two young Kites, which proved a highly

KITE. 81

interesting addition to his aviary. They at once became
very tame and familiar, and were so gentle in disposition
as to be most engaging. Every morning they had their
liberty, never flew far, but soared to a great height in the
air, and, in ' still repeated circles,' displayed their peculiar
and graceful flight. To either lure or fist they always
returned when called. Mice were preferred by them to
birds or any other food. When these Kites were on
wing, rats let off from the cage-trap were expertly caught
by them." — Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. ii.
p. 172.

This bird has now become comparatively rare in Eng-
land ; extensive forests or well-wooded districts afforded
it the only chance of escape from the increasing desire to
preserve game, and the consequent war of extermination
carried on by gamekeepers against birds of prey gene-
rally.

The nest, formed of sticks and lined with various soft
materials, is usually placed in the forked branch of a tree
in a thick wood. Two, and sometimes three eggs, of a
short oval form, measuring two inches two lines in length
by one inch nine lines in breadth, of a soiled white colour,
marked with a few reddish brown spots over the larger
end, are laid early in the season. The nest and its con-
tents are sometimes vigorously defended: a boy who
climbed up to one had a hole pecked through his hat, and
one hand severely wounded, before he could drive away
the parent bird.

In the southern counties of England the Kite is rare :
Montagu saw but one in Devonshire in twelve years. Dr.
Moore considers it rare still, but records two or three
captures; and Mr. Couch mentions two instances of its
appearance in Cornwall. The woods about Alconbury
Hill are even now the breeding-places of the Kite. Mr.

VOL. i. G

82 FALCONID^.

Waterton has noticed this bird and its habits in Yorkshire ;
and Mr. Selby states that, though rare in Northumberland
and Durham, it is more frequent in Westmoreland and
Cumberland. Dr. Heysham, in reference to the last-named
county, says that the Kite breeds in the woods near Arma-
thwaite, and also in those near Ullswater.

The Kite is not uncommon in Denmark, Sweden, and
Norway, from spring till autumn ; but during the winter
very few remain there. It inhabits Russia, Siberia, and
the country about Lake Baikal. In the southern part of
Europe, though rare in Holland, it inhabits the forests of
Germany, France, and Italy. It has been observed at
Corfu, Sicily, Crete, Malta, Algeria, and Egypt.

The specimen from which the figure and the following
description were taken measured twenty-six inches in
length. Wing, from the anterior bend to the end of the
longest quill feather, nineteen inches ; the longest tail
feather fifteen inches. The beak is horn colour, cere and
irides yellow ; the feathers of the head and neck greyish
white, streaked along the shaft with ash brown ; the
feathers of the back and wing-coverts dark brown in the
centre, broadly edged with rufous ; the inner web of some
of the tertials edged with white : the primaries nearly
black : upper tail-coverts rufous ; tail-feathers reddish
brown, the outer webs of one uniform colour, the inner
webs barred with dark brown ; the outer tail-feather on
each side the darkest in colour ; the tail deeply forked :
the chin and throat, like the top of the head, greyish
white, streaked with dusky ; the breast, belly, and thighs,
rufous brown, each feather with a central longitudinal
streak of dark brown: the under surface of the wings,
near the body, rufous, with dark brown feathers edged
with red brown towards the outer part of the wing ; under
tail -coverts plain rufous white : under surface of the tail-

KITE.

83

feathers greyish white, with the dark bars of the upper
surface showing through : the tarsi and toes yellow ; the
claws black.

The females of this species are rather larger than the
males ; but there is no very observable difference in the
plumage : females have the head more inclined to grey,
with a more decided red colour on the under surface of
the body.

FALCONIDJJ.

FALCONIDJE.

THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE.

Nauclerus furcatus.

Elanus furcatus, Swallow-tailed Kite, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 52.

„ „ „ Elanus, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 77.

Milvus „ „ Kite, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 86.

Nauclerus „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

NAUCLERUS. Generic Characters. — " Bill small, weak, considerably
hooked, with a small and nearly obsolete festoon in the middle. Orbits
and sides of the head thinly provided with feathers. Wings very long ;
the first and second quill internally emarginate towards the tip. Tail
very long and deeply forked. Tarsi very short, not longer than the hind
toe and claw ; plumed half way in front, the remaining portion covered
with angulated scales. Toes short ; the two lateral almost equal, the hinder
nearly equal to the inner. Claws grooved beneath."

Two Specimens of this elegant bird having been taken
in this country, it is entitled to a place in this work ; and
I have followed Mr. Vigors,* Mr. Swainson,f and Mr.

* Zoological Journal, vol. ii. p. 386.

f Natural History and Classification of Birds, vol. ii. p. 210.

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 85

Gould,* in considering that it required to be distinguished
generically from the species belonging to the genera MIL-
vus and EL ANUS, with which it was previously associated.
I have also availed myself of the detailed generic characters
published by Mr. Swainson in his Natural History and
Classification of Birds, volume ii. p. 210.

The first of these two examples of the Swallow-tailed
Kite just referred to as having been taken in Britain was
killed at Balachoalist, in Argyleshire, in 1772, and, ac-
cording to Dr. Fleming, was recorded by the late Dr.
Walker in his Adversaria for 1772, page 87, and for 1774,
page 153. The occurrence of the second example is thus
recorded in the fourteenth volume of the Transactions of
the Linnaean Society, page 583 :— " Dr. Sims, F.L.S.,
communicated to the Society an extract of a letter from
W. Fothergill, Esq., of Carr-end, near Arkrigg, in York-
shire, containing a notice of the Faho furcatus, Linn.,
having been taken alive in Shaw-gill, near Hawes, in
"Wensleydale, in that county, on the 6th of September,
1805. Mr. Fothergill states, that, apparently to avoid the
violence of a tremendous thunderstorm, and the clamorous
persecution of a flock of Rooks which attacked it at the
same instant, it took shelter in a thicket, where it was
seized before it could extricate itself. The person who
caught it kept it a month ; but a door being accidentally
left open, it made its escape. It first alighted on a tree
at no great distance, from which it soon ascended in a
spiral flight to a great elevation, and then went steadily
off in a southerly direction as far as the eye could trace
it."

The Swallow-tailed Kite, the Falco furcatus of Linnaeus,
is only an occasional visitor to this country : it is a native
of the southern States of North America, where it remains
* Birds of Europe.

86 FALCONID^.

during summer, but is observed in autumn going further
south to pass the winter. According to Vieillot, it visits
Peru and Buenos Ayres.

The habits of this bird have been detailed from personal
observation by the American Ornithologists, Messrs. Wil-
son, Audubon, and Nuttall : and to Audubon's Biography
I am indebted for the following particulars of the geogra-
phical distribution and habits of this bird.

" A solitary individual of this species has once or twice
been seen in Pennsylvania. Further to the eastward the
Swallow-tailed Hawk has never, I believe, been observed.
Travelling southward, along the Atlantic coast, we find it
in Virginia, although in very small numbers. Beyond that
State it becomes more abundant. Near the falls of the
Ohio a pair had a nest and reared four young ones in
1 820. In the lower parts of Kentucky it begins to be-
come numerous ; but in the States further to the south,
and particularly in parts near the sea, it is abundant. In
the large prairies of the Attacapas and Oppellousas, it is
extremely common."

" In the States of Louisiana and Mississippi, where these
birds are abundant, they arrive in large companies in the
beginning of April, and are heard uttering a sharp plain-
tive note. At this period I generally remarked that they
came from the westward, and have counted upwards of a
hundred in the space of an hour, passing over me in a di-
rect easterly course. At that season, and in the beginning
of September, when they all retire from the United States,
they are easily approached, when they have alighted, being
then apparently fatigued, and busily engaged in preparing
themselves for continuing their journey, by dressing and
oiling their feathers. At all other times, however, it is
extremely difficult to get near them, as they are generally
on wing through the day, and at night rest on the higher

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. 87

pines and cypresses, bordering the river-bluffs, the lakes,
or the swamps of that district of country."

"They always feed on the wing. In calm and wann
weather they soar to an immense height, pursuing the
large insects called musquito hawks, and performing the
most singular evolutions that can be conceived, using their
tail with an elegance of motion peculiar to themselves.
Their principal food, however, is large grasshoppers, grass-
caterpillars, small snakes, lizards, and frogs. They sweep
close over the fields, sometimes seeming to alight for a
moment to secure a snake, and, holding it fast by the
neck, carry it off, and devour it in the air. When search-
ing for grasshoppers and caterpillars, it is not difficult to
approach them under cover of a fence or tree. When one
is then killed and falls to the ground, the whole flock
comes over the dead bird, as if intent upon carrying it off.
An excellent opportunity is thus afforded of shooting as
many as may be wanted, and I have killed several of these
Hawks in this manner, firing as fast as I could load my
gun."*

" The Swallow-tailed Hawk pairs immediately after its
arrival in the southern States; and as its courtships take
place on the wing, its motions are then more beautiful
than ever. The nest is usually placed on the top branches
of the tallest oak or pine tree, situated on the margin of a
stream or pond. It resembles that of a Carrion Crow ex-
ternally, being formed of dry sticks, intermixed with Spa-
nish moss, and is lined with coarse grasses and a few fea-
thers. The eggs are from four to six, of a greenish white
colour, with a few irregular blotches of dark brown at the
larger end. The male and the female sit alternately,

* Mr. Nuttall says, that the Swallow-tailed Kites seize upon the nests
of locusts and wasps, and, like the Honey-Buzzard, devour both the insects
and their larvae.

88 FALCONID^.

the one feeding the other. — The young are at first covered
with buff-coloured down. Their next covering exhibits
the pure white and black of the old birds, but without
any of the glossy purplish tints of the latter. The tail,
which at first is but slightly forked, becomes more so in a
few weeks, and at the approach of autumn exhibits little
difference from that of the adult birds. The plumage
is completed the first spring. Only one brood is raised
in the season. — The species leaves the United States in
the beginning of September, moving off in flocks, which
are formed immediately after the breeding season is over."
The figure and description here given were taken from
a preserved specimen in the Museum of the Zoological
Society, the whole length of which was twenty inches ;
the beak bluish black, the cere lighter blue, the irides
dark ; the whole of the head, neck, breast, belly, under-
surface of the wing, sides of the body, thighs, and under
tail-coverts, pure white ; the back, wing primaries, secon-
daries, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, black, with a
purplish metallic lustre ; the tertials black on the outer
webs, but patched with pure white on the inner ; tail very
deeply forked ; legs and toes greenish blue ; claws faded
orange colour.

COMMON BUZZARD.

89

RAPTORES.

FALCONID^E.

THE COMMON BUZZARD.

Buteo vulgaris.

Falco buteo,

Buteo vulgaris,

Falco buteo,

The Buzzard,
Common Buzzard,
The Buzzard,
Common Buzzard,

La Buse,

PENX. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 232.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 22.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 54.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 55.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 87.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.p. 63.

BUTEO. Generic Characters. — Bill rather small and weak, bending from
the base, part of the cutting edge of the upper mandible slightly project-
ing ; cere large ; nostrils oval. Wings ample ; the first quill-feather short,
about equal in length to the seventh, the fourth the longest ; the first four
feathers with the inner webs deeply notched. Tarsi short, strong, scaled
or feathered. Toes short ; claws strong.

90 FALCONIM.

THE BUZZARD is one of the most common of the larger
kind of Hawks which inhabit the wooded districts of this
country, preying upon small quadrupeds, birds, and even
reptiles. Bulky in appearance and rather slow in flight,
it remains for hours watching from the same tree, appear-
ing to prefer the accidental approach of an animal that
may serve for a meal rather than find it by a laborious
search, and is seldom observed to remain long together
upon the wing. Its courage, too, as compared with others
of the FalconidfSj has been questioned ; since it is known
to attack such animals as are either young or defenceless,
which it does not pursue and capture by its powers of
flight, but pounces at upon the ground. Though occa-
sionally seen soaring in the air in circles, it is much more
frequently stationed on a tree, from which if approached
it bustles out, as observed by the author of the Journal
of a Naturalist, with a confused and hurried flight, indi-
cative of fear.

Mr. Macgillivray, in his descriptions of the Rapacious
Birds of Great Britain, gives the Buzzard a character for
greater activity in Scotland, as observed by himself; but
the nature of the country may be the cause of this differ-
ence in habit, and much greater exertion is perhaps abso-
lutely necessary to ensure a sufficient supply of food. In
Scotland the Buzzard " forms its nest on rocks, or on the
edges of steep scars or beds of torrents : " one nest described
by the writer last named "was placed on the top of a
steep bank or rut of a stream, and was composed of twigs,
heath, wool, and some other substances." In England the
Buzzard usually builds, or takes to, a nest in the forked
branches of a tree in a large wood : the materials with
which the nest is made, or repaired, are similar to those
that have been already named.

The female lays two or three, and sometimes four eggs,

COMMON BUZZARD. 91

of a short oval form, two inches three lines in length by
one inch and ten lines in breadth, of a soiled white colour,
slightly spotted with pale brown. Both parent birds attend
upon and feed their young with great assiduity ; and Ray,
in his letters, as recorded by Pennant, says, that the male
Buzzard will hatch and bring up the offspring if the hen
is killed. The young accompany the old ones for some
little time after they quit the nest ; and White of Selborne
adds, that they follow their dam with a piping and wail-
ing noise. In confinement, says Mr. Atkinson, our Buz-
zards are observed to hide their food when satisfied, like
the Magpie.

The extreme partiality of the Common Buzzard to the
seasonal task of incubation and rearing young birds has
been exemplified in various instances. A few years back,
a female Buzzard, kept in the garden of the Chequers Inn
at Uxbridge, showed an inclination to sit by collecting and
bending all the loose sticks she could obtain possession of.
Her owner, noticing her actions, supplied her with materials ;
she completed her nest, and sat on two hen's eggs, which
she hatched, and afterwards reared the young. Since then,
she has hatched and brought up a brood of chickens every
year. She indicates her desire to sit by scratching holes in
the ground, and breaking and tearing everything within her
reach. One summer, in order to save her the fatigue of
sitting, some young chickens just hatched were put down
to her ; but she destroyed the whole. Her family in June,
1831, consisted of nine ; the original number was ten, but
one had been lost. When flesh was given to her, she was
very assiduous in tearing and offering it as food to her
nurslings, and appeared uneasy if, after taking small por-
tions from her, they turned away to pick up grain. Several
other similar instances are recorded.

Though more rare now than formerly, an enumeration of

92 FALCONID^l.

county localities for a bird so well known will probably be
considered unnecessary. According to Mr. Thompson, as
stated in his contributions to the Natural History of Ire-
land, now in course of publication in the Magazine of
Zoology and Botany, this species is of common occurrence
in several parts of Ireland. In Scotland the Buzzard is
not very plentiful, nor is it included either by the Rev.
Mr. Low or Mr. Dunn in their accounts of the Birds of
Orkney and Shetland ; yet it inhabits Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, and Russia. It is well known over the wooded
parts of the continent of Europe south of Russia, and is
abundant in Holland, where, according to M. Temminck,
it makes its appearance in autumn and remains till the
spring. It inhabits Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and passes
over the Mediterranean to North Africa; but Madeira,
Sicily, Crete, Smyrna, and Trebizond, appear to be the
southern and eastern limits of the range of the Common
Buzzard.

In North America Sir John Richardson observed the
Common Buzzard as high as the 57th parallel of latitude,
and considered that it went still further north. This bird
visits the fur-countries in the middle of April, and leaves
by the end of September.

The whole length of the Common Buzzard is from twenty
to twenty-three inches, depending on the sex, — the females,
as in the Falconidcs generally, being the largest ; from the
anterior bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather fourteen inches and three eighths. From the
habit of seeking food late in the evening observed in this
species, and also in the Rough-legged Buzzard next to be
described — in the softer and more downy texture of the
feathers as compared with the plumage of the true Falcons,
the Buzzards are considered as indicating an approach to
the Owls.

COMMON BUZZARD.

93

The beak is bluish black, darkest in colour towards the
point ; the cere yellow, the irides generally yellow ; but
as the Common Buzzard, and indeed all the Buzzards, are
subject to considerable variation in the colour of their plum-
age, the irides are observed to vary also, presenting some
reference to the prevailing tone of the colour of the feathers.
The upper part of the head, occiput, and cheeks, pale
brown, streaked longitudinally with darker brown ; the
whole of the back, wing-coverts, upper tail-coverts, and
upper surface of the tail-feathers, dark clove brown,
the latter barred with lighter brown, the feathers of the
former named parts having lighter-coloured edges ; the
wing-primaries brownish black ; the chin and throat almost
white ; front of the neck, breast, under wing-coverts,
belly, and thighs, greyish white, spotted and streaked
with brocoli brown ; under tail-coverts white ; under sur-
face of the tail-feathers greyish white, barred transversely
with dark wood brown ; legs and toes yellow ; the claws
black.

The vignette below, is from a sketch of the Buzzard,
taken in the garden referred to at page 91 .

94

RAPTORES.

FALCONIM.

FALCONIDJE.

THE ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD.

Buteo lagopus.

Fcdco lagopus, Rough-legged Falcon, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 228.

„ „ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 20.

Buteo „ „ Buzzard, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 54.

„ „ , „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 58.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 87.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ BusePattue, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.i. p. 65.

THE ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD is at once distinguished
from the Common Buzzard last described, by having the
tarsi covered with feathers as low down as the junction of
the toes. In its habits and powers, however, it resembles

ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 95

the Common Buzzard ; and, like that bird, it occasionally
exhibits some deviation in the colour of the plumage from
that which may be considered characteristic of the species.
The Rough-legged Buzzard is much the more rare bird of
the two ; and although it has now been killed once or
oftener in almost every county in England, it has rarely
been known to breed here, and is usually obtained in the
spring or autumn, when changing its latitude from south to
north, or vice versa.

The Rough-legged Buzzard appears from various autho-
rities to prefer marshy districts; and Mr. Selby has re-
corded his own personal observation of the habits of two
birds of this species. " Their flight was smooth, but slow,
not unlike that of the Common Buzzard ; and they seldom
continued for any length of time on the wing." They
preyed upon rabbits, mice, wild ducks, other birds, and
some reptiles, as lizards and frogs.

Mr. Williamson, in his remarks on the appearance of
rare birds in the vicinity of Scarborough, says that " the
Rough-legged Buzzard breeds occasionally in a precipitous
dell near Hackness. A marked female returned the fol-
lowing year with a new mate to her former favourite
haunt."

According to M. Temminck, this bird generally builds
on high trees, and lays three or four eggs. A coloured
figure of the egg will be found in the first part of Dr.
Thieneman's work on the Eggs of the Birds of Europe,
tab. iii. fig. 2 : this representation is two inches two lines
in length, by one inch eight lines in breadth, of a pale
brownish white, blotched over the larger end with darker
brown. Mr. Thompson of Belfast, in his Birds of Ire-
land, mentions three or four instances of the occurrence
of the Rough-legged Buzzard in that country; and
Sir William Jardine notices several that have been killed

96 FALCONID^.

in East Lothian and other southern districts of Scot-
land.

This species appears to inhabit Scandinavia, Lapland,
Russia, and from thence southward is distributed over
the European continent to the shores and islands of the
Mediterranean. It has been taken at Madeira. Le Vail-
lant found it in considerable numbers frequenting the
wooded portions of the district of Auteniquoi in Africa ;
and Dr. Andrew Smith has recorded its occurrence as far
south as the Cape of Good Hope.

The Rough-Legged Buzzard is well known in the United
States. Audubon has seen it as far south as the eastern
portion of North Carolina, from whence, he says, it goes
northward to breed in March ; observing also that it is
more nocturnal in its habits than any other Hawk in the
same locality. Sir John Richardson, in his Zoology of
North America, says this species advances, east of the
Rocky Mountains, as high as the 68th parallel. " It
arrives in the fur countries in April or May, and having
reared its young, retires southward early in October. It
winters on the banks of the Delaware and Schuylkill,
returning to the north again in the spring. It is by no
means an uncommon bird in the districts through which
he travelled ; but being very shy, only one specimen was
procured. A pair were seen at their nests built of sticks,
on a lofty tree, standing on a low moist alluvial point of
land. They sailed round the spot in a wide circle, occa-
sionally settling on the top of a tree, but were too wary
to allow an approach within gun-shot. In the softness
and fulness of its plumage, its feathered legs, and habits,
this bird bears some resemblance to the Owls. It flies
slowly, sits for a long time on the bough of a tree, watch-
ing for mice, frogs, &c., and is often seen skimming over
swampy pieces of ground, and hunting for its prey by the

ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. 97

subdued daylight, which illuminates even the midnight
hours in high parallels of latitude. Wilson observes,
that in Pennsylvania it is in the habit of coursing over
the meadows long after the sun has set. It is fitted for
this nocturnal chase by the softness of its plumage, which
contributes to render its flight noiseless, like that of an
Owl."

The whole length of the specimen figured was twenty-
four inches ; the beak black ; the cere and irides yellow ;
the top of the head, the cheeks, nape, and upper part of the
neck, pale buff, each feather streaked or patched in the
centre with dark brown; the back, wings, wing-coverts,
and rump, clove brown, some of the feathers edged with
fawn colour ; primaries brownish black, the fourth the
longest, the first and seventh equal in length ; upper tail-
coverts bufly white, with an angular brown patch near the
end of each feather; upper surface of the tail-feathers
buffy white on the proximal half of their length, the
distal half brown. The chin, throat, and breast, fawn
colour, tinged with ferruginous, streaked and patched
with brown ; the belly almost uniform clove brown ; thighs
and tarsi, to the junction of the toes, covered with fea-
thers of fawn colour spotted with brown : the toes with
three broad scales at the base of the claw, yellow; the
claws or nails black : under surface of the wing-primaries
to the end of the broad part of the inner web white,
from the emargination brownish black: under tail-co-
verts uniform buffy white : proximal half of the under
surfaces of the tail-feathers white, the distal half greyish
brown.

VOL. i. H

98
RAPTORES.

FALCONIM.

FALCONIDJ3.

THE HONEY BUZZARD.

Pernis apivorus.

Falco apivorus, Honey Buzzard,

Pernis

Buteo

Pernis

Falco

Buse Bondree,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 235.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 24.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 52.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 62.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 88.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 67.

PEBNIS. Generic Characters.— Bill slender, rather weak, curved from
the base, the cutting edge of the upper mandible nearly straight ; the cere
large ; nostrils elongated, placed obliquely ; the lore covered with small
scale-like feathers. Wings long and large ; the first quill-feather short ;
the third and fourth feathers the longest in the wing ; inner webs of the

HONEY BUZZARD. 99

first four deeply notched. Tail long. Tarsi short, half-plumed, the rest
reticulated ; toes of moderate length and strength ; the claws only slightly
curved.

THE genus PERNIS was proposed by Baron Cuvier for
the Honey Buzzard of Europe, to separate and distinguish
it from the true Buzzards, on account of its less powerful
beak, — the lore, or space between the beak and the eye,
being defended by scale-like feathers, — and the manner in
which the legs were plumed, or otherwise covered and
protected.

The Honey Buzzard is a rare species in this country,
more frequently met with from spring to autumn, —
which, coupled with the circumstance of its food, when
ascertained, being almost entirely composed of insects, has
led to the supposition that this bird is only a summer
visitor. M. Vieillot says of this species, which is not
common in France, that it seldom flies except from one
tree to another, or from bush to bush, and then always
low, and that it runs when on the ground with great
rapidity, like our common fowls, — a circumstance which is
also noticed by Willughby. Several specimens taken in
Northumberland have come under the examination of Mr.
Selby of Twizel House ; and some interesting observations
in reference to the habits of the Honey Buzzard are con-
tained in the annual address of Sir William Jar dine, Bart.,
to the Members of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club in
September, 1836.

" The district around Twizel appears to have something
attractive to this species, for within these few years several
specimens have been procured both in the adult and
immature plumage. The bird in question was accidentally
observed to rise from the situation of a wasp's nest, which
it had been attempting to excavate, or, in fact, to a certain
extent had accomplished ; and the large hole which had

H 2

100 FALCONUm

been scraped showed that a much greater power could be
employed, and that the bird possessed organs much better
fitted to remove the obstacles which generally concealed its
prey, than a superficial examination of the feet and legs
would warrant us in ascribing to it. A few hours after-
wards, the task was found to be entirely completed,
the comb torn out and cleared from the immature young ;
and after dissection proved that at this season (autumn),
at least, birds or mammalia formed no part of the food.
A steel trap, baited with the comb, secured the aggressor
in the course of the next day, when he had returned to
review the scene of his previous havoc."

The stomach of a specimen killed in the north of
Ireland, and examined by Mr. Thompson of Belfast, " con-
tained a few of the larvae and some fragments of perfect
coleopterous insects ; several whitish-coloured hairy cater-
pillars ; the pupae of a species of butterfly, and also of the
six-spot burnet-moth.3' The stomach of one examined by
White of Selborne contained some limbs of frogs, and
many grey snails without shells.

Examinations have usually proved the food to have been
the larvae of bees and wasps, to obtain which the recep-
tacles containing them are scratched out and broken up in
the manner described by Sir William Jardine. In one
instance, in the case of a Honey Buzzard kept in confine-
ment, I was told that it killed and ate rats, as well as
birds of considerable size, with great ease and good appetite.
BufFon says, that in winter, when fat, the Honey Buzzard
is good eating.

This species builds or takes to a nest on a high tree in
a wood or forest. White, in his Natural History of Sel-
borne, says, that "a pair of Honey Buzzards built them
a large shallow nest, composed of twigs, and lined with
dead beechen leaves, upon a tall slender beech near the

HONEY BUZZARD. 101

middle of Selborne Hanger, in the summer of 1780. In
the middle of the month of June, a bold boy climbed this
tree, though standing on so steep and dizzy a situation, and
brought down an egg, the only one in the nest, which
had been sat on for some time and contained the embryo of
a young bird. The egg was smaller, and not so round as
those of the Common Buzzard ; was dotted at each end
with small red spots, and surrounded in the middle with a
broad blood-red zone." Pennant mentions an instance of a
Honey Buzzard that was shot on her nest, which contained
two eggs blotched over with two shades of red, something
darker than those of the Kestrel. The eggs of the Honey
Buzzard are rare : I have only seen three or four speci-
mens, one of which answered to the description given by
White, the colouring matter being confined to a broad
band round the middle. One specimen in my collection
resembles those mentioned by Pennant, being mottled
nearly all over with two shades of orange brown : long
diameter, two inches one line; transverse diameter, one
inch nine lines. Willughby says, the Honey Buzzard
builds its nest of small twigs, lining it with wool, and
adds, " We saw one that made use of an old Kite's nest
to breed in, and that fed its young with the nymphae of
wasps ; for in the nest we found the combs of wasps' nests,
and in the stomach of the young the limbs and fragments
of wasp -maggots. There were in the nest but two young
ones, covered with a white down, spotted with black.
Their feet were of a pale yellow ; their bills between
the nostrils and the head, white ; their craws large, — in
which were lizards, frogs, &c. In the crop of one of
them we found two lizards entire, with their heads lying
towards the bird's mouth, as if they sought to creep out."
J. P. Wilmot, Esq., has supplied an interesting commu-
nication in the Zoologist, vol. ii. page 237, on the breeding

102 FALCONID^E.

of the Honey Buzzard in various recent instances. Early
in the month of July, 1838, a female Honey Buzzard
was shot off her nest in Wellgrove Wood, in the parish
of Bix, near Henley-on-Thames, by Lord Camoy's game-
keeper. Two eggs were taken from the nest, and the
male bird which continued to haunt the wood was also
shot. The nest, a very large one, was placed in the fork
of a beech tree, and was built of sticks of considerable
size, with which were intermixed twigs with the leaves on.
The lining was composed of leaves and wool.

Other instances are mentioned as occurring in Warwick-
shire in the season of 1841. The old birds were obtained :
one was shot, the other was caught in a trap baited with
young rabbits. They had been seen to carry off young
pheasants in their claws.

Willughby appears to have been the first to describe and
name the Honey Buzzard as a British bird.

Besides various specimens obtained in Suffolk, Norfolk,
and along the eastern coast as far north as Northumber-
land, which have been already referred to, the Honey
Buzzard has been killed in several western counties, in-
cluding Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Worcestershire. Dr.
Heysham considered it very rare in Cumberland, and had
only met with one specimen : he was told that it bred in
the woods at Lowther. Mr. Thompson of Belfast has
recorded one example killed in the north of Ireland. Mr.
Macgillivray mentions two instances of the occurrence of
this species in Scotland.

According to Linnaeus, Brunnich, Muller, and Pennant,
the Honey Buzzard inhabits Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and Russia. From thence southward, it is found in Ger-
many, France, Italy, and the south of Europe generally.
At Tangiers and in Sicily the Honey Buzzard is only
seen in spring on its passage northwards. Dr. Ruppel

HONEY BUZZARD. 103

says it is found in Egypt ; and Mr. Gould and Mr. Blyth
include it in their notices of the Birds of India.

The figure and description here given were taken from a
specimen in the British Museum, which was killed near
York. Honey Buzzards measure from twenty-two to
twenty-five inches, depending on the sex. The beak is
black ; the cere grey, the irides yellow ; the space between
the beak and the eye covered with feathers, small, round,
and closely set ; the upper part of the head and back of
the neck buffy white, with brown streaks ; upper surface
of the body and wings uniform brown colour ; the pri-
maries nearly black, the third and fourth feathers the
longest and equal : the tail long ; the upper surface of
the tail-feathers barred transversely with two shades of
brown: the front of the neck, breast, and belly, pale
yellow brown ; the shaft and middle line of each feather
marked by a dark brown longitudinal streak or patch, those
of the belly transversely barred: thighs and under tail-
coverts varied with yellowish brown and white ; the tarsi
feathered half-way down, the lower portion reticulated and
yellow ; the toes yellow ; the claws black, rather long,
slender, and not much curved.

This species, like the other Buzzards, occasionally pre-
sents some variety in colour and markings. Those speci-
mens which have the head of a uniform ash grey have been
called the Capped Buzzard. A series of figures of the
Honey Buzzard in various states of plumage are inserted
in the Zoologist, vol. i. pages 376 and 377, from the draw-
ings of William R. Fisher, Esq. The youngest birds are
the darkest in colour on the body.

104

RAPTORER.

FALCONIDjE.

FALCONIDJZ.

THE MARSH HARRIER.

Circus ceruginoms.

Falco ceruginosus, Moor Buzzard, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 237.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 26.

Buteo „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 55.

Circus rufus, Marsh Harrier, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 66.

Buteo „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 88.

Circus „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ Busard de Marais, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 69.

CIRCUS. Generic Characters. — Beak small, bending from the base, com-
pressed and elevated ; cutting edge of the upper mandible with a slight
festoon. Cere large. Nostrils oval. Lore covered with radiating hairs.
Head surrounded with a ruff of small feathers. Wings long; the first

MARSH HARRIER. 105

wing-feather very short, the third or fourth feather the longest. Tail
long. Tarsi long, slender, and naked ; claws slightly curved, and very
sharp.

THE MARSH HARRIER, though frequently called a Buz-
zard, is, in conjunction with the two British species to be
described next in succession, immediately distinguished
from the true Buzzards by the more elongated and slender
form of their bodies, their lengthened, taper, and naked
legs, the still greater softness of their plumage, and by
the circular disk of short feathers which surround the face.
In the two points last mentioned, — namely, the loose and
floculent characters of the feathers, and the circular arrange-
ment of those about the face, — the Harriers exhibit an
obvious resemblance to the Owls, and the affinity on com-
paring the skeletons of each is most decided.

One of the remarkable traits in the species of the genus
CIRCUS, as established by Bechstein, is, that the males
when adult are all more or less ash grey in colour, while
the females retain their original tints of red or brown.
This at least is the case with the species known, three of
which are British. The Marsh Harrier is the largest of
these, and appears to require a greater length of time
than others of smaller size before the male exhibits any
portion of the ash grey plumage ; nor is it known, that
I am aware, that this species ever at any age becomes
entirely grey, like other smaller males among the Harriers ;
but when the habits and plumage of the Marsh Harrier
are duly considered, and compared with those of the
two species which follow here in succession, no doubt
will remain that the bird now under consideration is a
true Harrier, and not a Buzzard. Our figure represents
an old male.

The Marsh Harrier, as its name imports, is generally
found on low and level lands, or uncultivated heaths and

106 FALCONID^E.

moors ; and of the counties within a day's ride of London,
examples appear to be most numerous in Cambridgeshire.
Their flight, though slow, is smooth, performed with ease,
but near the ground ; and from the regular manner in
which the species of this genus traverse the surface, look-
ing for prey, like a dog hunting for game, they have pro-
bably acquired the name of Harriers. The Marsh Harrier
is said to roost on the ground, and may be seen sitting
on a stone or low bush, seldom on a branch of a tree,
looking out for objects for food, which it strikes when
on the ground, and is not very particular in its choice,
feeding on young rabbits or other small mammalia, birds,
— preferring water birds, — reptiles, and, according to some
authors, occasionally taking perch and other kinds of
fish. The nest is placed on the ground, among long coarse
grass, in a bunch of rushes, fern or furze, or at the base
of a bush. The nest is formed of small sticks, rushes, or
long grass : the eggs are three or four in number, of an
oval shape, rather pointed at one end, white, two inches
one line in length, and one inch six lines in breadth.

The Marsh Harrier occurs in most of the counties of
England and Wales ; in Ireland it has been ascertained,
according to Mr. Wm. Thompson, to exist in several
counties from Cork to Antrim : it is found also in Scotland
and in the Hebrides. It inhabits Denmark, Norway, Swe-
den, and the South of Russia, Germany, France, Holland,
Spain, Italy, and Turkey. It is found at Corfu, Sicily,
and Malta, and inhabits North Africa from Tripoli, and
Algeria as far west as Tangiers. Mr. Strickland observed
this species at Smyrna ; and other naturalists have seen it
at Trebizond, and Egypt. Mr. Gould, in his Birds of
Europe, mentions having received examples of this species
in collections from the Himalaya Mountains ; and Major
Franklin obtained it in other parts of India.

MARSH HARRIER. 107

The whole length of a Marsh Harrier is from twenty-
one to twenty -three inches, wing fourteen and a half inches,
the difference in size depending on the sex of the speci-
men. The figure here given was taken from an adult
male bird in the British Museum, in which collection
there are examples of various ages. In an adult male,
the beak is bluish black, with a slight festoon on the cut-
ting edge ; the cere and irides yellow ; the top of the
head, cheeks, and nape of the neck, yellowish white,
tinged with rufous, and streaked with dark brown; the
back, wing-coverts, and tertials, dark reddish brown, with
lighter margins ; the primaries brownish black ; the se-
condaries and all the tail-feathers ash grey. This state of
plumage is not assumed till the third moult. In birds that
are still older, the wing-coverts and tertials in addition
become partially or entirely ash grey ; the wing primaries
slate grey ; the chin and throat nearly white ; the breast
rufous, streaked longitudinally with dark brown ; belly, '
thighs, and under tail-coverts, reddish brown, each feather
streaked with dark brown; the legs long, slender, and
yellow ; the toes yellow ; the claws sharp and black.

In young birds of the year, the whole of the plumage is
chocolate brown ; the feathers tipped with lighter reddish
brown : the irides at this age are darker in colour than in
the adult bird ; the legs and feet as in old birds.

In the second year, the head, neck, chin, and throat
become dull yellow, with an occasional patch of the same
colour on the carpus, or anterior point of the wing. The
figure by Bewick represents a bird in its second year.

Duck Hawk, Harpy, and White-headed Harpy, are
names occasionally bestowed on the Marsh Harrier.

108
RAPTORES.

FALCONE)^.

FALCONIDJZ.

THE HEN HARRIER.

Circus cyaneus.

Falco cyaneus, Hen Harrier,

Circus

Buteo
Circus
Falco

Busard St. Martin,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 239.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 34.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 53.

SELBT, Brit. Ornitli. vol. i. p. 68.

JENTNS, Brit. Yert. p. 89.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 72.

THE decided difference in colour between the males and
females of the true Harriers when adult is a subject now so
well understood as to require to be noticed here only as a
prominent illustration of one of the laws which appear to

HEN HARRIER. 109

influence the assumption and changes of plumage in birds,
to be hereafter more particularly adverted to. In the
present instance, the old male, from his almost uniform ash
grey colour as seen in the figure, is called provincially the
Dove Hawk and Blue Hawk, and by the more general
name of Hen Harrier. The female, called a Ringtail,
is brown : a representation of the head of one forms
the subject of the vignette, in which, from its spotted
appearance, the circular ruff around the face is distinctly
seen.

These birds inhabit flat marshy situations, fens, low
moors and commons, partially covered with furze and short
bushes. They feed indiscriminately on small mammalia,
birds, and reptiles : twenty lizards were found in the sto-
mach of one killed near London. They are considered to
be particularly destructive to the young of Gallinaceous
birds. Their flight, performed apparently without much
labour, is easy and buoyant, but not rapid, and generally
within a few feet of the surface of the ground, which they
appear to examine with great care, making close and dili-
gent search for any object of food, and have courage and
strength sufficient to pounce upon and kill a Partridge,
a Red Grouse, or even a Pheasant. They have been ob-
served to hunt the same ground regularly; and a male
bird has been seen to examine a large wheat stubble
thoroughly, crossing it in various directions, always about
the same hour in the afternoon, and for many days in
succession.

The nest is placed on the ground; the materials col-
lected to form it are but few, consisting of small sticks and
coarse grass : the eggs are four or five in number, white
or of a pale skimmed-milk blue, one inch eight lines long
by one inch four lines in breadth. The male sits occa-
sionally during the period of incubation, and has been shot

110 FALCONIDJ3.

on the nest. The young are hatched early in June, and
are at first covered with white down.

The Hen Harrier, though nowhere very numerous, is
pretty generally distributed in England, Ireland, and Scot-
land. It inhabits the Hebrides and Orkneys, remaining
in those northern islands all the winter. It appears to be
less perfectly known in Scandinavia : but has been killed
on some of the islands in the Baltic. Pennant, in his Arc-
tic Zoology, says it is common in the open and temperate
parts of Russia and Siberia, and extends as far as Lake
Baikal. The Hen Harrier also inhabits Germany, France,
Holland, Italy, Turkey, the Morea, Corfu, Sicily, and
Malta ; it was obtained at Smyrna by Mr. Strickland, and
at Trebizond by K. E. Abbot, Esq. Le Vaillant found
it in Africa, and describes it under the name of Le Busard
Grenouillard.

Whether the Hen Harrier of North America be really
identical with the Hen Harrier of Europe, is a point that
is still debated. M. Temminck considers the specimens
from Africa, and also those of North America, to be iden-
tical with those of Europe. Wilson the Ornithologist,
the Prince of Musignano, — who has added four parts to
the American Ornithology of Wilson, uniform in size
and appearance with the original work, — and Audubon,
consider the Hen Harrier of North America the same as
that of Europe. Sir John Richardson and Mr. Swainson
appear to have some doubts on this point, but have adopted
the nomenclature and synonymes of the European Hen
Harrier ; and indeed there is but slight difference in the
markings of the plumage in the birds of the two countries,
and none whatever in the habits. If this point of the
identity of these two birds be admitted, the Hen Harrier
may then be said to inhabit the whole of North America,
in addition to the other localities already enumerated ; and

HEN HARRIER. Ill

I may add, that several species of true Harriers are now
known to exist on each of the large continents of the Old
and New World.

The male and female, it has already been stated, are
when adult so very different in colour as to have led for-
merly to the belief that they were distinct species ; and
we are indebted to Colonel Montagu for a series of obser-
vations detailed in the ninth volume of the Transactions of
the Linnean Society, and afterwards in the Supplement to
his Ornithological Dictionary, which, corroborated by the
more recent observations of others, have clearly determined
that the Hen Harrier and Ringtail are but the adult male
and female of the same species.

The whole length of the male is about eighteen inches ;
the bill black, or bluish black ; the cere and irides yel-
low ; the black hairs on the lore, or space between the
base of the beak and the eye, radiate from a centre, those
in a direction upward and forward meet and become mixed
with those of the opposite side over the ridge of the cere,
hiding the nostrils; the whole of the head, neck, back,
wing-coverts, wings, and upper surface of the tail-feathers,
ash grey ; with the exception in my own specimen of a
mottled brown spot on the nape of the neck, the last re-
maining portion of its former brown plumage ; the wing-
primaries nearly black, the first the shortest and the lightest
in colour, the longest not reaching to the end of the tail ;
the chin and throat ash grey, like the other parts of the
neck ; the breast and belly lighter in colour, becoming
bluish white ; thighs and under tail-coverts white ; under
surface of the tail-feathers pale greyish white, with traces
of five darker bars ; the legs and toes slender and yellow ;
the claws black.

Young males are brown, like the female to be next de-
scribed, but begin to change from the brown colour to the

112 FALCONIDJi.

grey which distinguishes the sex, in their second autumn ;
young males are smaller in size, and have the irides lighter
in colour than those of females at the same age. It is
probable that young males are capable of breeding in their
second year, before they have acquired their grey plumage,
as two brown birds, apparently performing the duties of
parents, have been shot at the same nest.

The female measures about twenty-one inches in length ;
wing from the anterior bend fifteen inches ; the bill almost
black ; the cere greenish yellow, the irides reddish brown ;
the top of the head and back of the neck umber brown ;
the feathers of the latter with lighter reddish brown edges,
forming a collar on the neck ; over the eye a light-coloured
streak ; ear-coverts uniform umber brown ; the circular disk
or ruff round the face formed by short feathers of mixed
brown and white colours, passing from behind the ear on
one side round under the chin to the back of the ear on the
other side ; the back and wings uniform umber brown ; the
smaller wing-coverts margined with ferruginous ; wing-
primaries blackish brown ; upper surface of the central
tail-feathers uniform umber brown; the lateral tail-
feathers dark brown, barred with lighter reddish brown ;
the ends of all the feathers pale ferruginous ; the throat,
breast, belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts, reddish buff
colour, each feather having an elongated reddish brown
patch in the centre, with a still darker shaft ; those of the
thighs and the under tail-coverts being lighter in colour,
and less decidedly marked than those of the body ; under
surface of the middle tail-feathers strongly marked with
broad bands of brownish black and dull white ; the outer
feathers on each side greyish white, with four darker trans-
verse bars ; the legs and toes yellow ; the claws black.

In reference to our Harriers, a notice appears in the
Naturalist for September, page 314, that some difference

HEN HARRIER. 113

had been observed in the relative length of the quill-fea-
thers : in a female the fourth quill -feather being the longest ;
in a male, the third. This notice is here adverted to in
order that the relative length of the different quill -feathers
in the wings, when referred to in description, or as afford-
ing indications of distinction in species, may not be too
much relied upon without having due regard to the period
of the year at which the birds were killed. In this
country particularly, a large proportion of our cabinet
specimens are obtained during autumn, the gun being then
in general use, and during which period the quill-feathers
will frequently be found not to have attained their ultimate
relative proportions.

The vignette represents the head of the Ringtail, as
referred to at page 109.

VOL. i.

114

RAPTORES,

FALCONID^E.

FALCONIDJZ.

MONTAGU'S HARRIER.

Circus Montagui.

Falco hy emalis, Ash-coloured Falcon, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 243.

„ cineraceus, „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 37.

Buteo „ „ Buzzard, FLEMING, Brit. An. p. 55.

Circus „ „ Harrier, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 70.

Buteo „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 90.

Circus „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Falco „ Busard Montagu, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 76.

ONE of the very few alterations in the names of our
British Birds which will be proposed in this work, refers,
as seen above, to this Harrier ; and it is hoped that the
reasons to be given for adopting this change will be consi-
dered even more than sufficient to justify it.

MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 115

The specific distinction of the Ash-coloured Harrier was
first demonstrated by Colonel Montagu, in consequence of
which M. Temminck, Yieillot, and Meyer, have called
this bird Le Busard de Montagu, and probably other Con-
tinental naturalists have done the same, as a tribute due to
the discernment of our English Ornithologist ; there seems
to be no good reason, therefore, that Montagu's own coun-
trymen should not now adopt this complimentary memorial.
At this time a fourth species of Harrier has been made
known in Mr. Gould's Birds of Europe ; and others have
been described as belonging to different parts of Asia,
Africa, and America, in each of which the adult males,
as in all the true Harriers, are more or less ash-coloured ;
this term, therefore, no longer conveys a specific distinction.
To this I may add, that Montagu himself, either by mis-
take or error of the press, has called this bird cineraceus
in his Ornithological Dictionary, cinerarius in his supple-
ment to the Dictionary, and cinerareus in his paper in the
Linnaean Transactions, volume the ninth, page 188; it
will therefore be an advantage, as well as a gratification,
to call this bird in future Montagu's Harrier, and Circus
Montagui.

Specimens of Montagu's Harrier of either sex may be
readily distinguished from those of the Hen Harrier, al-
though about equal to them in length, by being much more
slender in shape, and not near so heavy, the average weight
of Montagu's Harrier being about nine and a quarter
ounces, that of the Hen Harrier about thirteen ounces ;
the wings are also longer in reference to the end of the
tail, and the third quill-feather of the wing is much more
pointed ; but in their habits, and the sort of country they
are most partial to, the two species are very similar.

Mr. Selby, who has observed and obtained several ex-
amples in Northumberland, says, " it skims along the sur-

i 2

116 FALCONIDJS.

face of the ground like the Hen Harrier, but with more
rapid flight, and more strikingly buoyant." Its food is
small birds and reptiles : the stomach of one examined by
Montagu contained the remains of a Skylark ; and Mr.
Orton Aikin found portions of five lizards in a male killed
in Cambridgeshire. The nest is placed on the ground,
generally among furze ; the eggs seldom exceeding four in
number, very similar, as might be expected, to those of
the Hen Harrier ; they are white, one inch seven lines in
length, and one inch four lines in breadth. The young,
according to Mr. Jenyns, are hatched about the second week
in June.

Montagu's Harrier has been met with in the counties of
Devonshire and Cornwall, and Mr. Eyton informs me he
has received one specimen from Dolgelly ; and only two
examples, as far as I am aware, have as yet been recognised
by Ornithologists in Ireland. North of London it appears
to be most plentiful in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.
At the latter end of the summer of 1831, my friend Mr.
Orton Aikin had in his garden at Cambridge the young of
each of our three species of Harriers, and was bringing
them up together. They had been procured in the fens
within a few miles. Three or four specimens of Montagu's
Harrier are recorded by Mr. Selby as having been ob-
tained in Durham and Northumberland ; but Mr. Macgil-
livray says it has not, as far as he knows, been observed
in Scotland.

According to M. Temminck, and other naturalists,
Montagu's Harrier is found in Poland, Germany, and
France. M. Baillon found it in the marshes of Abbeville,
and considered it a summer visitor, appearing in April and
departing in October. M. Temminck says it is very
common in the marshes of Holland. It inhabits Provence,
Dalmatia, Italy, Sicily, Malta, and on the same parallel as

MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 117

far east as Trebizond. Mr. Blyth has found this species in
India.

The length of the adult male is about seventeen inches.
The beak is nearly black ; the cere greenish yellow, and
partly hid by the radiating hairs of the lore ; the irides
bright yellow ; the head, the whole of the neck, back,
wing-coverts, secondaries, and tertials, bluish grey ; the
secondaries with three dark bars across, the last of which
is visible externally when the wing is closed ; the primaries
almost black; upper surface of the central tail-feathers
bluish grey ; the lateral tail-feathers white, barred with
reddish orange ; breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, white
with various longitudinal streaks of reddish orange ; under
wing-coverts barred with reddish brown ; under surface of
tail-feathers dull white, barred with dusky grey ; legs and
toes slender and yellow ; the claws black.

A young male in my own collection, from which the
figure was taken, killed while undergoing his second moult,
and in a gradual state of change, has the top of the head
and the feathers round the cheeks a mixture of brown and
rufous, ear-coverts grey ; occiput varied with white ; the
nape, back, scapulars, tertials, and upper tail-coverts, lead
grey ; upper surface of all the tail-feathers, except the two
in the middle, barred with two shades of brown and rufous ;
middle tail-feathers, with the outer webs uniform pearl
grey ; the inner webs with five dark brown bands on a
greyish ground ; wing-primaries and secondaries blackish
brown ; great wing-coverts dark brown ; lesser wing-coverts
lighter brown varied with rufous, and two or three grey
feathers : chin, and front of neck, pearl grey ; breast, belly,
thighs, and under tail-coverts, white, with a longitudinal
rufous stripe on the centre of each feather ; under surface
of tail-feathers barred with greyish white and brown ; legs,
toes, and claws as in the adult male.

118 FALCONID^.

A young male in the plumage of the first year has the
head and neck ferruginous, each feather with a central
lanceolate patch of dark brown ; back and wings umber
brown ; wing-coverts with broad ferruginous margins ;
primaries brownish black ; secondaries and tertials tipped
with rufous: upper tail-coverts white, tipped with red;
upper surface of the tail-feathers with five bands of dark
brown, and four bands of greyish brown ; ear-coverts uni-
form umber brown; chin, throat, breast, belly, thighs,
and under tail-coverts, uniform reddish brown ; under sur-
face of wings the same; under surface of tail-feathers
dull reddish white, with four or five bands of brownish
grey ; legs, toes, and claws, as in older birds.

The adult female of Montagu's Harrier measures nine-
teen inches ; the wing fifteen ; the beak black ; the cere
dull yellow ; the irides hazel ; crown of the head and
nape reddish brown, with darker brown spots ; above and
below the eye a streak of dull white ; ear-coverts dark
brown; back and wings dark umber brown; rump and
upper tail-coverts mixed with wlute and orange brown ;
upper surface of the central tail-feathers uniform dark
brown; lateral tail-feathers barred with two shades of
brown ; breast, belly, and all the under surface of the
body, light reddish brown, with longitudinal marks of a
darker colour ; legs and toes yellow ; claws black. In
very old females of this species the general colour of the
plumage is lighter and the irides become bright yellow.
Young females have the whole of the under parts from the
throat to the under tail-coverts of a uniform reddish bay,
without any of the darker-coloured streaks observable in
adult females.

Having thus described the last of the British Falcomda,
it may be desirable, before quitting this group, to exhibit
a representation of the breast-bone, or sternum, of one

MONTAGU'S HARRIER. 119

of the types of the Falcons, in order to show in the
form and magnitude of the principal bone, and the other
bones attached to it, the power of flight possessed by these
birds, of which the breast-bone affords good comparative
indication.

The power of flight is one of the decided characteristics
of the organization of the class of Birds ; and the division
of the Falconidce includes those birds which appear to
possess this power in the highest degree of perfection.
The conditions necessary to produce this power in its
fullest extent are, — large and strong pectoral muscles;
great extent of surface, as well as peculiarity of form, in
the wing; and feathers of firm texture, strong in the
shaft, with the filaments of the plume arranged and con-
nected to resist pressure from below. The extent of sur-
face, the form and other peculiarities of the wings, have
been already noticed, and the anatomical part only re-
quires to be briefly described. A certain degree of
specific gravity is necessary to rapid flight, and this is
imparted by large pectoral muscles; the power of these
muscles may be estimated by the depth of the keel, and
the breadth of the sides of the breast-bone or sternum,
as affording extent of surface for the attachment of those
large muscles by the action of which the wings are brought
down.

As an illustration of this form, the figure here inserted
as a vignette is a representation about one-fourth less than
the natural size of the breast-bone of a young male Pere-
grine Falcon, which exhibits the depth of the keel, the
breadth of the sides, as well as the strength of the coracoid
bones ; and the power of flight peculiar to all the species
of Falcons is still further illustrated by the form and sub-
stance of the forked bone,* commonly called the merry-

* Which, when the two sides are united, represents both clavicles.

120

FALCONIDyE.

thought, which is circular, broad, and strong, affording a
permanent support to the shoulders.

By an extended examination of the different species of
Buzzards and Harriers, it will be found that the characters
described as necessary to produce rapid flight decline gra-
dually. The sternum decreases in size, the keel loses part
of its depth, the coracoid bones and furcula become more
slight ; while the form of the cranium, the loose ruffled
feathers of the neck, as well as the softer and more downy
texture of the plumage generally, indicate an approach to
the family next in succession.

A representation of the sternum of an Owl will be in-
serted as a vignette to one of the species, to afford a com-
parative view of the size and structure of the same part in
the diurnal and nocturnal Birds of Prey.

EAGLE OWL.

KAPTORES.

EAGLE OWL.

Bubo maximus.

121
STRIOID^E.

Strix Biibo,

Bubo maximus,

•SV/-j> Bubo,

Eagle Owl,
Great-eared Owl,
Eagle Owl,

Hibou Grand Due,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 254.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 56.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 57.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 82.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 90.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.p. 100-

BUBO. Generic Characters. Head furnished with two tufts of feathers.
Bill short, strong, curved, compressed at the point. Nostrils pierced in
the cere, large, oval or rounded. Facial disk incomplete about the eyes.

Auditory opening, small, oval, without an operculum. Wings rather short,
concave ; the third and fourth quill-feathers generally the longest. Legs
and toes covered with feathers ; claws long, curved, and sharp.

THE characters and appearance of Owls are so singular
and so peculiar, that once having seen them they are not
readily forgotten. They have but little external beauty
of form. The head is large, the expression grotesque, the
body bulky in appearance, the plumage soft and downy.
Unlike the Falcons, which hunt for their food by day, the
Owls seek their prey during the twilight of morning and
evening, and probably during the greater part of the night,
if the state of the moon or the atmosphere affords sufficient
light for the purpose. From this habit of flying at night,
the singular appearance of the bird produced by the ar-
rangement of the feathers of the face, forming a broad
circular disk, a peculiar hollow tone of voice, unlike that of
any other bird, and the additional circumstance of most of
the species selecting ivy-covered ruins of sacred edifices as
places of resort from the solitude and protection the cha-
racter of such remains afford, Owls have been considered
by the superstitious as birds of darkness and ill -omen, and
by some even as messengers of death. Thus Shakspeare
says —

" Out on ye, Owls ! nothing but songs of Death."

Richard the Third.

The eyes of Owls are large, and appear to be particularly
susceptible of impression from light. If exposed to the
glare of day, most of the species seem to be powerfully
affected by it, and the eyes are either closed entirely or
defended by an internal eyelid, which is brought down with
ease and rapidity. The power of hearing in Owls is pro-
bably more acute than in many other birds ; the auditory
opening in some ^ecies is very large, and covered by an
operculum, which is -elevated or closed at pleasure. Their

EAGLE OWL. 123

flight is easy and buoyant, but not rapid ; and from the soft
texture of the feathers, even those of the wings, their flight
is performed without noise.

The species vary greatly in size ; and, according to their
several powers, their food consists of mammalia, birds, rep-
tiles, and occasionally fishes; while, among the smaller
species of Owls, twilight-flying beetles and large moths are
the objects of search. Owls, like the Falcons, return by
the mouth the indigestible parts of the food swallowed in
the form of elongated pellets ; these are found in consider-
able numbers about the usual haunts of the birds, and ex-
amination of them, when softened in warm water, detects
the nature of the food.

The Owls are usually arranged in two principal groups :
one in which all the species exhibit two tufts of feathers
on the head, which have been called horns, ears, and egrets ;
in the second group, the heads are smooth and round with-
out tufts.

The Eagle Owl is one of the largest species of the family,
and inhabits the North of Europe generally ; but must be
considered a rare bird in England, an example occurring
only occasionally, and at uncertain intervals. Its food con-
sists of the larger sorts of game among mammalia as well
as birds, such as fawns, hares, grouse, &c., which it pounces
on upon the ground, seizing its prey with its feet, and sel-
dom advancing its head towards the victim till its struggles
are over.

The nest of this bird is large, the materials collected
being spread over a surface of several square feet among
rocks, or the walls of old ruins. The female is larger than
the male, and produces two or three eggs of a short oval
shape, two inches five lines long by one inch ten lines wide,
and perfectly white.

Linnaeus, when making a tour in Lapland, found this
bird and its nest on one of the highest hills of that country

STRIGIM.

on the 17th of May. The nest contained an addled egg
and two young birds : these last were of small size, with
a soft whitish covering like wool. On the ]6th of June
he found two other young birds of the same species which
were nearly full grown, but unable to fly. In these young
specimens the bill was black ; irides saffron yellow ; pupil
bluish black ; the general plumage soft ; the wings dark,
with reddish brown spots ; feathers of the breast brick red,
with a dark indented longitudinal stripe ; tail-feathers still
short, dark, with roundish red spots : feet reddish brown.
" Owls have been noticed for an extraordinary attach-
ment to their young. An instance in point was witnessed
by a Swedish gentleman, who resided several years on a
farm near a steep mountain, on the summit of which two
Eagle Owls had built their nest, One day in the month
of July, a young bird, having quitted the nest, was caught
by the servants. This bird was, considering the season of
the year, well feathered ; but the down appeared here and
there between those feathers which had not yet attained
their full growth. After it was caught, it was shut up
in a large hencoop, when to his surprise, on the following
morning, a fine young Partridge was found lying dead be-
fore the door of the coop. It was immediately concluded
that this provision had been brought there by the old Owls,
which no doubt had been making search in the night-time
for their lost young one. And such was, indeed, the fact ;
for night after night, for fourteen days, was this same mark
of attention repeated. The game which the old ones
carried to it consisted chiefly of young Partridges for
the most part newly killed, but sometimes a little spoiled.
On one occasion, a Moor-fowl was brought, so fresh that
it was actually warm under the wings ; and at another time,
a putrid stinking lamb was deposited."*

* Familiar History of Birds, by the Rev. E. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich,
vol. i. p. 184.

EAGLE OWL. 125

In the southern and western counties of England, the
Great Eagle Owl has been obtained in Kent, Sussex, and
Devonshire : in the counties north of London, it is recorded
as having been taken in Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Durham.
The only record of the Eagle Owl's occurrence in Ireland,
according to Mr. Thompson,* appears in Mr. Stewart's
Catalogue of the Birds of Donegal, in the following words :
— " Four of these birds paid us a visit for two days, after
a great storm from the north, when the ground was covered
with snow. They have not since been seen here. As I
am informed that a pair of them breed in Tory Island,
about nine miles to the north of this coast, it is probable
that they came from that island. I have heard of them
nowhere else."

This bird inhabits Denmark, Sweden, Norway Lapland,
Russia, and the continent of Europe generally, but par-
ticularly the fir-covered mountains of Switzerland, and
the high rocky country of Aragon, extending southward
as far as Italy, Turkey, Corfu, and Sicily. Mr. Strick-
land saw specimens at Smyrna, and it is recorded as
inhabiting the Morea. Pennant says it is found as far
to the eastward as Lake Baikal and Astrakhan ; and Mr.
Gould has seen skins of this bird in collections from
China.

It is well known as a species here, being constantly
exhibited in various menageries, where it is mostly quiet,
uttering no sound except an occasional sharp and snapping
noise made with the bill. They breed in confinement at
Arundel Castle, and elsewhere. Our figure was taken from
a bird in the Garden of the Zoological Society, and the
description from specimens in the museum. The beak is
nearly black, the base of it hid by the radiating feathers
forming the inner portion of the facial disk ; irides bright
* Mag. of Zool. and Bot. vol. ii. p. 176.

126 STRIGID2E.

orange ; the tufts on the head contain seven or eight dark-
coloured feathers, with light brown bars on the inner webs ;
the head, neck, and back, a mixture of reddish brown and
dark brown, the darker colour occupying the centre of
each feather, forming streaks ; the other parts of the web
mottled ; wing-primaries and tail feathers similar in colour,
but barred transversely; the feathers of the facial disk
light brown speckled with greyish black, those under
the disk white ; breast pale brown ; with longitudinal
patches of dark brown ; belly, under tail-coverts, thighs,
legs, and toes, pale brown ; with numerous narrow trans-
verse bars of dark brown ; under surface of tail-feathers
dusky brown, barred with pale brown ; claws long, curved
and black. The whole length of a specimen is from
twenty -four to twenty-eight inches, the difference depend-
ing upon sex and age. Two preserved specimens of
females in the Museum of the Zoological Society are
darker in the general colour of their plumage than a male
in the same collection, and both have the throat white.
They are old birds.

SCOPS EARED OWL.

RAPTORES.

127

STRIGID^E.

THE SCOPS EARED OWL.
Scops Aldrovandi.

Strix Scops, Little Horned Owl, MONT. Suppl. to Omith. Diet.

„ „ Scops Eared Owl, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 71.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 57.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 92.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 91.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol.i. p. 103.

Scops Aldrovandi, Scops Owl,

„ Eared Owl,
Bubo Scops,

Scops Aldrovandi, „ „ „
Strix Scops, Hibou Scops,

SCOPS. Generic Characters. — Head furnished with two tufts of feathers.
Beak curved from the base. The nostrils round. Facial disk incomplete,
not extending over the forehead ; auditory conch small, and without an
operculum. Wings long, reaching to the end of the tail ; the third quill-
feather generally the longest. Legs rather long, feathered to the junction
of the toes : the toes naked ; claws curved and sharp.

THIS little tufted Owl, one of the smallest of the family,
found in this country, was first noticed as a British Bird
by Colonel Montagu from specimens killed in Yorkshire,
which are still preserved, and other examples have oc-
curred. It is, however, so rare, that little has been ob-

128 STRIGID^l.

served of its habits here. It is believed, and with reason,
to be migratory, visiting us in summer, and retiring, be-
fore the cold weather commences, to the south of Europe
and to North Africa. It is said to be strictly nocturnal,
feeding upon mice, beetles, and large moths. It forms a
simple nest in the fissures of rocks, or in holes of trees,
laying from two to four or five eggs, which are white, one
inch three lines in length, by one inch and half a line in
breadth.

One example of this little Owl was taken some time
since near London ; another in Buckinghamshire, and I
am indebted to Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden,
for the knowledge of the occurrence of two specimens on
the estate of Lord Braybrooke, at Audley End in Essex.
Dr. Hastings, in his Natural History of "Worcestershire,
notices one that was taken alive near Fladbury, and
brought to the residence of the late Mrs. Perrot, at
Chantry. One shot in Yorkshire, is said to be in the
collection of Mr. Foljambe of Osberton ; a second, shot
near Wetherby in the spring of 1805, is in the collection
of Mr. Fothergill of York ; and a third example, also
shot in Yorkshire, is recorded by Mr. Selby to have been in
the possession of the late Mr. Thomas Bewick. My friend
Mr. John Hogg of the Temple, in his Natural History
of the vicinity of Stockton-on-Tees, says of the Scops,
that it " breeds in Castle Eden Dene. Mr. Winch informs
me, that he has seen young birds just taken from the nest
by the woodman." From Sir William Jardine and Dr.
Alexander Smith, I have learned that one was killed in
Sutherlandshire in June, 1854.

This little species, though inhabiting an extensive range
in different countries, is confined to the temperate and
warmer parts of the Old World, where insects are known
to abound. Mr. Gould, in his Birds of Europe, says it

SCOPS EARED OWL.

is found in Asia. It does not visit the North of Europe
even in summer, but is found at that season in the
southern part of Germany. In France it is not uncommon,
and is said to appear and depart with the Swallow. Ad-
vancing southward to the shores and islands of the Me-
diterranean, it is even plentiful ; and Mr. W. Spence, the
well-known Entomologist, has thus recorded its summer
habits : —

" This Owl, which in summer is very common in Italy,
is remarkable for the constancy and regularity with which
it utters its peculiar note or cry. It does not merely ' to
the moon complain' occasionally, but keeps repeating its
plaintive and monotonous cry of ' kew, keivj (whence its
Florentine name of Chiti, pronounced almost exactly like
the English letter Q,) in the regular intervals of about two
seconds, the livelong night ; and until one is used to it,
nothing can well be more wearisome. Towards the end
of April last year, 1830, one of these Owls established
itself in the large Jardin Anglais, behind the house where
we resided at Florence ; and, until our departure for
Switzerland in the beginning of June, I recollect but one
or two instances in which it was not constantly to be
heard, as if in spite to the Nightingales which abounded
there, from nightfall to midnight (and probably much
later), whenever I chanced to be in the back part of the
house, or took our friends to listen to it, and always with
precisely the same unwearied cry, and the intervals be-
tween each as regular as the ticking of a pendulum. This
species of Owl, according to Professor Savi's excellent
Omithologia Toscana, vol. i. p. 74, is the only Italian
species which migrates ; passing the winter in Africa and
southern Asia, and the summer in the south of Europe.
It feeds wholly upon beetles, grasshoppers, and other
insects."

VOL. i. K

130

This little Owl, according to Dr. Smith, goes as far
south in Africa as Senegal ; but the species described by
Mr. Swainsoii under the name of Scops Senegalensis, in
his Birds of Western Africa, is, as that gentleman has
stated, a distinct species from that found in Europe, and
both of them are distinct from that named capensis by
Dr. Smith, which is found at the Cape. By the kindness
of Dr. Smith, I have been enabled to compare the Euro-
pean Scops with both the African species.

The beak is black; the irides bright yellow; the
feathers of the facial disk minutely speckled with greyish
white and brown, the margin of the disk on each side de-
fined by a darker brown line ; from the beak over the
top of the head are several longitudinal streaks of dark
brown on a pale brown ground, forming a central band
passing over the head between the tufts, which are short,
made up of a few feathers slightly elongated, differing but
little in colour from the grey speckled feathers of the
facial disk ; the back chestnut and pale wood-brown, mot-
tled with grey, and barred with dark lines ; the outer web
of the wing feathers barred alternately with white and
speckled brown ; tail barred and spotted with black, brown,
and pale wood-brown ; the whole of the breast and belly
varied with greyish white and pale brown, with several
decided streaks and patches of umber brown ; under tail-
coverts and under surface of tail-feathers greyish white,
mottled and barred transversely with brown ; thighs and
legs to the junction of the toes covered with short speckled
feathers ; toes brown ; claws white at the base, nearly
black at the tip.

Adult males and females are very similar in plumage,
but young birds have a more rufous tinge. Length about
seven inches.

LONG-EARED OWL.

PAPTORES.

Strix otus,

LONG-EARED OWL.

Otus vulgaris.

Long-eared Owl,

Otus vulgaris,

Strix otus,

Long-horn
Long-eared

Hibou moyen due,

PENN. Brit, Zool. vol. i. p. 258.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 60.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 56.

SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 85.

JENYNS, Man. Brit. Vert. p. 91.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 1 02.
OTUS. Generic CJiaracters. — Head furnished with two tufts, more or less
elongated. Beak curved, bending from the base ; cere large ; under mandible
notched. Nostrils oval, oblique. Facial disk complete. Auditory opening
large, covered by an operculum. Wings long ; the second quill-feather
generally the longest. Legs and toes feathered to the claws.

THE LONG-EARED OWL, from the variety and beauty
of the markings on its plumage, is a very handsome

132 STRIGIDJE.

species, and though probably not numerous anywhere,
is by no means unknown or uncommon in most wooded
districts. It appears to resort to large woods, in which
it makes choice of an old tree well covered with ivy for
a hiding-place ; thick plantations also of evergreens, fir,
holly, &c., are favourite haunts, those of spruce fir more
particularly, according to Mr. Selby, being preferred.

This species of Owl remains in this country throughout
the year. It makes little or no noise, except when young,
seldom moves in the day-time, unless disturbed, and then
bustles out, close to you, with every mark of fear and con-
fusion. It feeds upon rats, moles, mice, and small birds.
In the stomach of one individual, Mr. Selby found five
skulls of mice ; and one I examined contained the remains
of a Goldfinch. It is believed that this Owl obtains small
birds by taking them off their roost.

The Long-eared Owl is said not to make a nest for
itself, but to take to the deserted habitation of some other
bird, when of sufficient size for its own wants ; and has
been known to rear its young in the old drey of a squirrel.
The eggs are four or five in number, oval, smooth, and
white; one inch eight lines and a half long, by one inch
three lines and a half in breadth. The young, hatched
by the end of April, are then covered with white down,
and do not quit the nest during the first month ; when they
do, Mr. Selby says, " they take up their abode in some
adjoining tree, and for many subsequent days, indeed for
weeks, may be heard after sunset uttering a plaintive call
for food, during which time the parent birds are diligently
employed in hawking for prey."

The Long-eared Owl inhabits most of the southern and
western counties of England, from Sussex to Cornwall.
According to Mr. Thompson of Belfast, " it occurs through-
out Ireland, and is resident. Where a sufficient extent of

LONG-EARED OWL. 133

wood exists in the counties of Down and Antrim, it is a
common species. An individual, well acquainted with the
Long-eared Owl, said that in a close plantation of spruce
firs at Scoutbush, near Carrickfergus, he for several years
had its nest, which, in consequence of the trees being young,
were placed not higher than six feet from the ground.
The contents of the stomach of a Long-eared Owl, shot
at Killaloe, and examined by the Rev. Thomas Knox,
proved to be part of a rat, the skull of a mouse, and the
heads of two Sparrows."

This species is found in most of the midland counties
of England, and is noticed by various authors as occurring
in Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, and Scotland.
It inhabits also Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and
the continent of Europe, from thence southward. In France
it is the most common of all the Owls, and is found in
Spain, Italy, Turkey, and Sicily. It has been traced as
far eastward as Astrakhan, and southward to Trebizond,
Egypt* an(^ Africa. This bird also inhabits most of the
United States of America. A ccording to Sir John Richard-
son, it has been found as far north as latitude 60°, and
probably exists as high as the forests extend. Captain
Back took one specimen on his last journey. It frequents
Hudson's Bay in the summer, but retires to the interior
during winter.

The exposed portion of the beak is black ; the base and
cere are hid by the feathers of each inner side of the facial
disk ; the irides orange yellow ; radiating feathers of the
facial disk on each outer side pale brown, with a half
circular boundary line of darker brown ; on the inner side
varied with dusky brown at the base, and white towards
the tips ; the tufts on the head, an inch and a half in
length, are formed of about seven or eight feathers, longer
than wide, dark brownish black in the middle, with pale

134 STRIGID^.

brown edges ; top of the head between the tufts a mixture
of brownish black and pale brown ; nape, round the neck,
and the upper part of the back marked with longitudinal
streaks of brownish black on a surface of light brown ;
feathers of the back, wing-coverts, secondaries, and tertials,
a speckled mixture of black and dark brown on pale brown ;
wing-primaries light chestnut brown, barred and speckled
with darker brown ; the second quill-feather the longest, and
the wing when closed reaching a little beyond the end of
the tail ; upper surface of tail-feathers the same colour ;
feathers of the breast and belly a mixture of greyish white
and pale brown, with longitudinal streaks of umber brown ;
thighs and under tail-coverts uniform pale brown ; under
surface of tail-feathers greyish white, with narrow trans-
verse bars of dusky brown ; legs and toes covered with
short uniform pale brown feathers ; the extreme ends of
the anterior toes bare ; claws rather long, curved, very sharp
and black.

The whole length is from fourteen to fifteen inches.

The vignette represents the orifice of the ear in this spe-
cies, from the work of Mr. Macgillivray on the Rapacious
Birds of Great Britain.

RAPTORES.

SHORT-EARED OWL.

135

STRIGID^E.

SHORT-EARED OWL.

Otus brachyotos.

titrti brachyotos, Short-eared Owl,

Otus

Strix

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 260.

„ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 62.

Short-Jwrn „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 56.

Short-eared „ SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 88.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 92.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Hibou brachiote, TEMII. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 99.

THE SHORT -EARED OWL is not only numerous as a spe-
cies, but is also very widely diffused, as the localities in
various countries to be hereafter named will show. Unlike
the species last described, which hides itself in large woods,

136 STRIGULE.

or dense plantations, this bird frequents wide open fields,
extensive commons, heaths, and moors. A large propor-
tion of the specimens seen in this country are winter
visitors that come from the North of Europe with the first
favourable wind in October, and have in consequence been
called Woodcock Owls. There are few sportsmen who
have not occasionally met with this Owl when Partridge
shooting, towards the end of October, either in old grass
fields, barley stubbles, or turnips. It lies close, and when
obliged to move flies only a short distance, and is very
easily obtained. In winter, when the fields are bare,
it shelters itself in the bottoms of thick hedge-rows. From
its small head and its habit of looking for food during
the day, Pallas calls this species Strix accipitrina, and
Hawk Owl is also a common name for it in this country.
Many of those that visit Great Britain in the autumn and
winter months, retire northward again in the following
spring ; but some few remain and breed, not only in the
Orkneys, in Scotland, and in some of the northern counties
of England, but even much farther south than has hitherto
been apprehended.

Mr. Low says it breeds frequently in the island of Hoy,
one of the Orkneys, forming an artless nest among the
heath. Two young birds, nearly ready to fly, had been
supplied by the parent birds with a Moorfowi and two
Plovers. Sir William Jardine considers that many are
bred on the Scottish moors. In one locality in Dumfries-
shire, Sir William found two nests with five eggs. " They
were formed upon the ground among the heath; the
bottom of the nest scraped until the fresh earth appeared,
on which the eggs were placed, without any lining,
or other accessory covering. When approaching the nest
or young, the old birds fly and hover round, uttering
a shrill cry, and snapping with their bills. They will then

SHORT-EARED OWL. 137

alight at a short distance, survey the aggressor, and again
resume their flight and cries. The young are barely able
to fly by the 12th of August, and appear to leave the nest
some time before they are able to rise from the ground. I
have taken them, on that great day to sportsmen, squatted
on the heath like young black game, at no great distance
from each other, and always attended by the parent birds.
Last year (1831) I found them in their old haunts, to which
they appear to return very regularly ; and the female, with
a young bird, was procured. The young could only fly
for sixty or seventy yards."

Mr. Selby, from finding old birds during summer and
on the 12th of August, at which time they were moulting,
believes that a few pairs breed on the higher moors of
Northumberland, and probably also some on those of
Westmoreland and Cumberland. Mr. Hoy, in the Maga-
zine of Natural History, says, " I am acquainted with two
localities in the south-western part of Norfolk, where
pairs of this bird breed ; and I have known several in-
stances of their eggs and young being found. One situa-
tion is on a dry heathy soil, the nest placed on the ground
amongst high heath; the other in low fenny ground,
among sedge and rushes : a friend of mine procured some
eggs from the latter situation during the last summer
(1832). The Short-eared Owl is pretty common in
many parts of Norfolk during the autumn and winter,
the great majority of them retiring northwards in the
spring, only leaving a few scattered pairs to breed in this
district."

The eggs of this bird, seldom exceeding three in number,
are smooth and white, one inch eight lines in length by one
inch three lines and a half in breadth.

Small quadrupeds and small birds form the principal
food of this Owl. In the stomach of one, Colonel Mon-

138 STRIGID/E.

tagu found the remains of a Skylark and a Yellowhammer.
Mr. Thompson of Belfast found the legs of a Purre, Tringa
variabilis of Meyer and Temminck ; and in the stomach
of one examined by myself, were a half-grown rat, and
portions of a bat ; but this is the only bird in the stomach
of which I ever found the remains of a bat. Wilson,
however, in his account of the White, or Barn Owl, says
that bats are the favourite food of most of the American
Owls.

The Short-eared Owl is well known in most of, if not
all, the southern and western counties of England, and,
according to Mr. Thompson, is one of the regular winter
visitors to the northern counties of Ireland, preferring wet
and boggy places, where Snipes might be expected. Loca-
lities in the north of England, in Scotland, and the Ork-
neys, have been already named. It inhabits the whole
of the continent of Europe, and is found also in India
and in China. It is found also on many of the islands of
the Mediterranean, and on the African continent. Sir John
Richardson says, " It is a summer visitor to the fur-countries
of North America, arriving as soon as the snow disappears,
and departing again in September. It was observed as
far north as latitude 67° ; and a female, killed at Fort
Franklin on the 20th of May, contained several pretty
large eggs nearly ready for exclusion. In summer it is
by no means rare in the fur-countries : and, as it hunts
frequently for its prey in the day time, is often seen.
When disturbed, it flies low for a short distance, and then
hides itself in the heart of a bush, from whence it is not
easily driven. Its nest, formed of withered grass and
moss, is placed on a dry spot of ground." This species
frequents Hudson's Bay, Labrador, and Newfoundland,
in summer, and is found on the American continent in
winter, as far south as Pennsylvania. Two specimens are

SHORT -EARED OWL. 139

said to have been brought from the Sandwich Isles, and
Mr. Gould has seen examples from Brazil, and the Straits
of Magellan.

The head of this species is small compared with that of
Owls generally ; the tufts about three-quarters of an inch
long, formed of three or four feathers, which can be elevated
or depressed at pleasure ; the beak is black ; the irides
golden yellow ; the feathers radiating from around each
eye, forming the facial disk, are dark, almost black at the
base, but becoming lighter in colour and mixed with brown
towards the end, those pointing in the direction of the
beak hiding the cere ; the facial disk surrounded by a
whitish line or border ; top of the head, neck, back, and
wings, patched with very dark brown : the feathers edged
with fawn colour ; wing-coverts with a few roundish spots
of yellowish white ; wing-primaries pale reddish brown,
barred with dark brown, and ending with speckled ash-
grey ; upper surface of tail-feathers buff colour, with five
transverse bars of very dark brown ; the chin white ; all
the under surface of the body pale buif, with longitudinal
patches of blackish brown on the neck and breast, and
streaked with the same colour on the belly and flanks;
thighs, legs, and upper surface of the toes covered with
short, uniform, hair -like, pale buff-coloured feathers ; under
surface of the toes naked ; claws almost black, curved and
sharp.

The whole length from fourteen to fifteen inches. Wings,
when closed, reaching beyond the end of the tail. The
females are larger than the males ; but the differences in
the plumage of the sexes are not very obvious.

140
KAPTORES.

STRIGIDJE.

STRIGID^.

THE WHITE, OR BARN OWL.

Strix flammea.

Strix fiammea, White Owl, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 263.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ Yellow „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 65.

Alucoflammeus, Barn „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 57.
Strix flammea, Barn, or White Owl, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 99.

„ „ White Owl, JENYNS, Brit. Vert, p, 92.

„ „ Barn „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

lie, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 91.

STRIX. Generic CJiaracters. — Head smooth, not furnished with tufts.
Beak straight at the base, considerably curved towards the point ; cutting
margin of the upper mandible nearly straight, under mandible notched.
Nostrils oval, oblique. Facial disk large and complete. Auditory opening

WHITE, OR BARN OWL. 141

large, and furnished with an operculuin. Wings long and ample ; the
second quill-feather generally the longest, the first and third equal in
length. Legs long and slender, clothed with downy feathers to the junc-
tion of the toes, which are only furnished on the upper surface with a few
hair-like feathers; claws long, curved, sharp, and grooved underneath.

NATURALISTS appear to be agreed that our well-known
Barn Owl may be considered the type of the true Owls,
and the old generic term Strix is accordingly by most
authors continued to it. Unlike the species last described,
the Barn Owl is resident in this country throughout the
year, and is so peculiar in the colouring of its plumage,
and so generally diffused, that it is probably the best
known of all the British species of Owls.

This White Owl inhabits churches, barns, old malting
kilns, or deserted ruins of any sort, and also holes in de-
cayed trees. If unmolested, the same haunts are fre-
quented, either by parent birds or their offspring for many
years in succession. As constant destroyers of rats and
mice, and that to a very considerable extent, the services
performed by Barn Owls for the agriculturist have obtained
for these birds toleration at least, while by some they are, as
they deserve to be, strictly protected in return for benefits
received.

Unless disturbed, these birds seldom leave their retreat
during the day, and if the place of concealment be ap-
proached with caution, and a view of the bird obtained, it
will generally be observed to have its eyes closed, as if
asleep. About sunset the pair of Owls, particularly when
they have young, issue forth in quest of food, and may be
observed napping gently along, searching lanes, hedge-rows,
orchards, and small enclosures near out-buildings. In this
irregular country, says White of Selborne, " we can stand
on an eminence, and see them beat the fields over like a
setting dog, and often drop down in the grass or corn."
They feed on young rats, mice, shrews, small birds, insects,

142 STRIGID^.

&c., parts of all of which have been recognised at different
times on examination of the rejected pellets, which are
generally to be found in abundance near any favourite
place of their resort. That the Barn Owl will sometimes
capture fish is proved by a note in the Compendium of the
Ornithology of Great Britain by the late Mr. John Atkin-
son of Leeds, which states that a gentleman residing in
Yorkshire, and well acquainted with ornithology, having
observed the scales of fishes in the nest of a pair, which
had built near a lake on his premises, he was induced one
moonlight night to watch their motions, when he was
agreeably surprised to see one of them plunge into the
water, and seize a perch, which it bore to its nest, whence
the gentleman took it. This note, it appears, was supplied
by Mr. Waterton, of Walton Hall, in whom the Barn Owl
has found a most able and philanthropic advocate.*

It is said of this Owl, that when satisfied it will hide the
remainder of its meat, like a dog.

The Barn Owl lays from three to five eggs, which are
oval and white, measuring one inch six lines in length, and
one inch three lines in breadth. Young birds have been
found in July, they have also been found in September,
and Mr. Waterton, in his paper already referred to, men-
tions having found young Owls in the nest so late in the
year as December. A short notice by Mr. Blyth in the
Field Naturalist's Magazine, vol. i. page 187, serves to
explain the circumstance of the occurrence of young Owls
over a space of time so unusually long. (t A nest of the
Barn Owl last summer in this neighbourhood (Tooting)
contained two eggs, and when these were hatched, two
more were laid, which latter were probably hatched by the
warmth of the young birds ; a third laying took place after
the latter were hatched, and the nest at last contained six
* Magazine of Natural History, vol. v. p. 9.

WHITE, OR BARN OWL. 143

young Owls of three different ages, which were all reared."
I have frequently been told by boys in the country that
they had found eggs and young birds at the same time in
the nest of the Barn Owl. The young, covered with a
thick white down, remain in the nest a long time, and the
first set of feathers, which, Mr. Ely th says, are not moulted
till the second autumn, grow very slowly.

The Barn Owl screeches, but does not generally hoot.

The Barn Owl is common in most, if not in all, the coun-
ties of England ; and, according to Mr. Thompson, it is
also the most common Owl in Ireland. In Scotland it is
less numerous, and this species appears to decrease in num-
bers as we proceed northward. A few are found in some
of the Orkney Islands ; Muller includes it among the birds
of Denmark ; but it does not appear to inhabit Sweden or
Norway. Over the more temperate part of the European
continent it is generally diffused, and its range southward
extends in Africa even to the Cape of Good Hope. Sir
William Jardine has received specimens from Madeira.
According to M. Temminck and others, this bird also in-
habits India and Japan. In North America our Barn Owl
is found in the United States ; but it is more thinly dif-
fused, and it does not appear to visit the fur-countries of
the North. The Yellow Owl of South America is con-
sidered to be a distinct species.

In an old male the beak is almost white ; irides bluish
black ; facial disk stained with rust colour at the inner and
lower part of each eye, the margin of the disk denned by
the white feathers being tipped with brown ; top of the
head and the neck very pale buff, thinly spotted with black
and white ; back and wings darker buff speckled with grey,
and spotted with black and white ; upper surface of tail-
feathers pale buff, with five transverse grey bars ; all the
under parts pure white ; tarsi covered with short white

144 STRIGHLE.

hair-like feathers, a few of which are spread over the upper
surface of the toes ; the claws brown, the inner edge of
that of the middle toe being slightly serrated. The wings
reach beyond the end of the tail, and the edges of the wing
and tail-feathers have the appearance of being worn, the
fibres forming the web being of unequal length, and the
wings of these birds therefore, when moved in the air, make
very little or no noise. In some specimens, generally found
on dissection to be females or young males, the under sur-
face of the body is fawn colour. The whole length of the
bird is about fourteen inches.

The vignette below represents the actual size and form
of the sternum or breast-bone of the Tawny Owl, the
species figured on the next page, to be contrasted with
the same part of the Peregrine Falcon at page 120. It
will be observed that the bones of the Owl are compara-
tively deficient in surface and strength : the keel has but
little depth, the sides are narrow, while the forked bone,
which in the Falcons is circular, broad, and strong, will be
found in this Owl, and in all the species of Owls, to be
angular, slender, and weak. The powers of flight are
diminished in proportion.

TAWNY OWL.

RAPTORES.

THE TAWNY OWL.

Syrnium stridula.

Strix stridula, Tawny Owl, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 266.

» » „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

» n ,, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 67.

Ivy „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 57.

Tawny „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 102.

Syrnium aluco „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 93.

« » ,> GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Chouette hulotte, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 89.
SYRNIUM. Generic Characters.— The head without tufts. Bill slightly
bending from the base. Nostrils large. Facial disk large and complete ;
auditory opening large, defended by an operculum. Wings short and
rounded ; the first quill-feather very short, the fourth the longest. Tail
long, concave beneath. Legs and 'toes feathered ; claws curved, long, and
sharp.

VOL. I.

146 STRIGmffi.

MOST of the various systematic names by which this Owl
has been designated are here brought together in one view,
as referring to the same bird ; differences observed in the
plumage, some specimens being reddish brown or tawny,
while others were grey, had led to a belief in the existence
of two distinct species.

The Tawny Owl is a common bird in most well-wooded
districts, and is strictly nocturnal in its habits, seldom
moving or leaving its place of concealment during the day,
and appears, more than any other species of Owl, to be in-
commoded by bright light. It inhabits thick woods, or
strong plantations of evergreens, and at nightfall issues
forth to seek its food, sometimes visiting small enclosures
about farm-houses, at others taking a wider range over the
neighbouring fields. It feeds indiscriminately on leverets,
young rabbits, moles, rats, mice, birds, frogs, and insects.
Several writers have proved that this Owl feeds occasion-
ally on fish, and that it is able to catch either those species
that swim near the surface in deep water, or the bullhead
and loach, that are to be found among stones in the shal-
lowest parts of brooks.

The eggs of this species are large compared with those of
either of the three Owls last described. They are smooth
and white, measuring one inch ten lines in length, by one
inch six lines in breadth. These, to the number of three
or four, are usually deposited in a hole in a tree, and,
according to Mr. Jenyns, are hatched in April. For a
considerable time the young, covered with a greyish white
down, are fed in the nest ; they afterwards perch among
the branches of trees near the nest, where the parent birds
still continue to feed them. The young of this species of
Owl are said to be more easily reared than others, being
much less choice in the quality of their food. The note of

TAWNY OWL. 14-7

this Owl is a loud and melancholy hoot, most frequently
heard in the evening.

An interesting notice on the habits of the Tawny Owl
was communicated to the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club
by Ralph Carr, Esq., and the following abstract is from
the first volume of the Transactions : — " This bird does not
seem to be known as a bold and rapacious robber of the
nests of some of our stronger birds at the time when it is
feeding its own young. It has been protected now for
a few years at Dunston Hill. In 1844 a pair of Tawny
Owls reared and ushered into the world three hopeful
young ones, after having fed them assiduously upon the
trees for many weeks after they had left the nest. The
food must often have consisted in great part of worms,
snails, and slugs, for the old birds brought it every minute
from the ground in the immediate vicinity of the trees
where the young were perched. This however might only
be considered as a whet to their appetites before dinner ;
for the parents made repeated and persevering attacks
upon three or four magpie nests, sometimes during half
an hour at a time. As the defence was spirited and gallant,
they were often repulsed; but, finally, I found the re-
mains of young magpies under the favourite perch of the
young owls, and one morning the head and feathers of an
old magpie. This then I thought must have been taken
when roosting. In 1845, the old owls alone were seen,
and they passed the summer in sedate retirement, and
seemed to rest from the labours of propagation ; neither
did they molest the magpies. But in 1846 they began to
be very active early in the spring, and by the beginning
of May again had their young owlets out upon the
branches. Walking out one evening about nine o'clock,
I heard a pertinacious attack going on against a pair of
magpies that had their nest in the top of a very tall syca-

L 2

148 STRIGIDJE.

more. At last, instead of the frantic chattering of the
poor magpies, one of them began to shriek in agony like
a hare when caught in a noose ; and it was evident the
owl was endeavouring to drag the magpie by the head out
of the entrance hole of the nest. I ran down to the spot
to prevent the perpetration of another murder, and arrived
in time to separate the combatants by striking against the
stem of the tree with a stick. Before the next morning
the young of our only pair of rooks had disappeared from
the nest, in a situation where nothing but the owls could
have injured them. This was too bad; a decree went
forth against the young owls, and they paid the penalty of
their voracious appetites.

" It is thus evident that the magpie's instinct in arching
over her nest is necessary to enable her and her mate to
defend it against rapacious birds. Probably the Raven,
the Buzzard, and the Kite may be all disposed to make
unfriendly visits, and it is evident that the Tawny Owl
is a formidable enemy. The reluctance of the Rook to
build out of society may also be better understood, as it
cannot defend its open nest against the Owl at night ; and
also one reason why the instinct of the Daw leads it to
seek the shelter of a hole. That wisdom and beneficence
which never err, may have given them instincts for other
and more important ends than human eyes may ever be
able to descry, but it is always gratifying when we think
we can in part understand the utility and design of differ-
ences so striking."

The Tawny Owl may be traced through the western
counties of England, but has not been recognised by prac-
tical ornithologists as existing in Ireland. It occurs also
in the northern counties of England, but is more rare
in Scotland. Mr. Low includes it among the birds of
Orkney that are seen in summer, but not in the winter.

TAWNY OWL. 149

It inhabits Scandinavia, Lapland, Russia, the wooded
countries of the European continent, and is found in Spain,
Italy, Sicily, and Algeria ; it was seen by Mr. Strickland
as far to the southward and eastward as Smyrna. M.
Temminck includes this Owl in his Catalogue of the Birds
of Japan.

The adult male has the head large ; the beak whitish
horn colour : the eyes large and full ; the irides dark blue,
almost black : the facial disk greyish white, defined by a
dark brown marginal line ; top of the head, neck, back,
and wings, a mixture of ash grey, mottled with two shades
of brown ; a descending line of white spots at the edge
of the scapulars, and another on the edge of the wing-
coverts ; wing-primaries barred with dull white and dark
brown, the wings only reaching half way down the tail ;
upper surface of the tail-feathers barred with two shades
of brown, the central pair of feathers being the most
uniform in colour. The under surface of the body grey-
ish white, mottled and streaked longitudinally with pale
and dark brown ; under tail-coverts white ; under surface
of tail-feathers greyish white, barred transversely with
reddish brown; legs and toes covered with short greyish
white feathers; claws horn white at the base, becoming
darker towards the tip. The whole length about fifteen
inches.

The females are larger, and much more ferruginous or
tawny in the general colour of their plumage. Young
males are for a considerable time, probably till their second
autumn, similar in colour to the females.

150
RAPTORES.

STRIGID^.

STRIGIDJE.

Strix nyctea,

THE SNOWY OWL.

Surnia nyctea.
Snowy Owl, MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet. Suppt.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 58.

„ „ „ „ FLEMING, Brit. An. p. 58.

Surnia „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 95.

Noctua „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 93.

Surnia „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Strix „ Chouette Harfang, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 82.

SURNIA. Generic Characters. — Head not furnished with tufts of feathei
Beak curved from the base ; nostrils large, oval ; cere small. Facial di
incomplete. Auditory opening small. Wings of moderate size ; the thii
quill-feather generally the longest. Tail rather long. Legs and
thickly covered with feathers ; claws long, curved, and sharp.

SNOWY OWL. 151

THIS beautiful species of Owl, originally described by
Linnaeus in his Fauna Suecica, was first made known as a
British bird by Mr. William Bullock in 1812, in the sum-
mer of which year that indefatigable collector, on visiting
the islands of Orkney and Shetland, was told that such a
bird had been seen on the links or rabbit-warren of one of
the islands near the sea-shore, and soon after Mr. Bullock
obtained sight of it himself. This specimen, however, was
not procured on that occasion ; but in the month of Sep-
tember following he had the gratification of receiving one
which had been killed a few weeks before by Mr. L. Ed-
monston in Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Isles.
Mr. Bullock adds, that he had not the smallest doubt the
Snowy Owl at that time remained the whole year in the
mountainous precipices both of that island, and also of the
island of Yell, in the immediate vicinity. " They are seen
there," he said, " at the end of summer, in company with
their young, three or four together : the latter are then
brown. Their flight, which I had several opportunities
of observing, was more light and buoyant than any of the
Hawks ; but not so much so as our common Barn Owl.
They prey by day on various animals : one wounded on the
Isle of Balta disgorged a young rabbit whole ; and that
now in my possession had in its stomach a Sandpiper, with
its plumage entire."

Recent visitors to the Shetland Islands believe that the
Snowy Owl is only now occasionally to be seen there in
winter. In that season of the year 1812, a fine specimen
was shot at Elsdon in Northumberland. Since that period
various examples have been killed : one in Norfolk in the
year 1814, a second in the same county in 1820, two in
Northumberland in 1823. In May, 1835, Dr. Neill of
Canonmills, near Edinburgh, made the following commu-
nication to the conductor of the Magazine of Natural His-

152 STRIGIDJS.

tory, vol. viii. page 508 : — " Last week I received from
Mr. S earth, Sanda, Orkney, a living specimen of the Snowy
Owl. This was not a native specimen, but evidently a
bird of last year, in immature plumage, but whose ex-
panded wings extend four feet in width. This bird ar-
rived in Orkney during a strong north-west gale, with
hail and sleet, along with flocks of wild Swans, Golden-
eyes, snow flakes, &c. ; indicating an Icelandic or Green-
land origin."

A notice of one taken still more recently has appeared
in several periodicals devoted to Natural History. On the
13th of February last (1837), a fine male Snowy Owl was
shot three miles below Selby-on-the-Moor, Yorkshire,
where it had been observed by a miller, at a mill adjoining,
for a day or two previous. The moor is well stocked
with rabbits, and the Owl was most probably preying
upon them: it appeared very shy, and when pinioned
by the shot was extremely fierce,* Several specimens
have also been killed in different parts of Ireland, the
particulars of which are recorded by Mr. Thompson of
Belfast, in his history of the Birds of Ireland.

Other examples of this large owl have occurred, one in
Sutherlandshire, two in Aberdeenshire, one of them in the
spring of 1850; another in December, 1851, was shot by
the bailiff of Sir William Fielder : this bird had been seen
preying on a young lamb. I learn from Sir William
Milner that a specimen now in his collection was obtained
not long since in Yorkshire.

The Snowy Owl inhabits Sweden, Norway, Lapland,
and the north of Europe generally. The Swedish name of
Harfang is bestowed upon it in consequence of its apparent
partiality to feeding upon hares. It inhabits also Iceland
and Greenland. Several pairs were seen during the sum-
* Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. ii. p. 93.

SNOWY OWL. 153

mer months on the different islands of the Polar sea by the
Arctic voyagers from this country ; but the birds being
very wary, and the country affording little shelter to the
sportsman, only a single individual or two were killed. A
specimen was obtained by Mr. King during Captain Back's
last journey, and others were seen. Sir John Richardson,
who passed seven summers and five winters in the fur-
countries of North America, east of the Rocky Mountains,
thus describes its habits in that country : — " It hunts in
the day ; and, indeed, unless it could do so, it would be
unfit to pass the summer within the Arctic Circle. When
seen on the barren grounds, it was generally squatting on
the earth, and, if put up, it alighted again after a short
flight ; but was always so wary as to be approached with
great difficulty. In the wooded districts it shows less
caution ; and, according to Hearne, has been known to
watch the Grouse-shooters a whole day, for the purpose
of sharing in the spoil. On such occasions, it perches on
a high tree, and when a bird is shot, skims down and carries
it off before the sportsman can get near it. It preys on
lemmings, hares, and birds, particularly the Willow Grouse
and Ptarmigan. Mr. Hutchins says that it eats carrion ;
and Wilson informs us that it is a dexterous fisher,
grasping its finny prey with an instantaneous stroke of
the foot as it sails along near the surface of the water, or
sits on a stone in a shallow stream. I have seen it pursue
the American hare on the wing, making repeated strokes
at the animal with its foot. It makes its nest on the
ground, and lays three or four white eggs, of which only
two are in general hatched."

To return to the localities visited by this bird in Europe :
I may add that, in addition to those already named, this
bird has sometimes been seen in Germany, but not in
France, and, according to M. Temminck, only once in

154 STRIGID^.

Holland, and that a young bird, which made its appear-
ance in the winter of 1802. As in the adult Gyr-Falcon,
already described, the ground colour of the plumage in
the adult Snowy Owl is pure white, more or less spotted
and barred with dark umber brown, according to the age
of the individual ; these dark marks becoming smaller
every succeeding year, until in very old individuals from
high northern latitudes the whole plumage becomes pure
white, without any spots whatever. The brown mark
when present is situated towards the end of the feather ;
and upon the feathers of the under surface these markings
are semilunar in shape, while those on the feathers cover-
ing the back and wings are more linear. The feathers
forming the incomplete facial disk, those of the upper
part of the breast, and also the downy feathers defending
the legs and toes, are pure white ; the beak and claws are
black; both are partially hidden by feathers; the latter
are long, curved, and very sharp. The irides are bright
orange yellow. The whole length of the Snowy Owl is
from twenty-two to twenty-seven inches, the difference de-
pending on the sex : the females are much the larger of the
two. M. Temminck says the young birds are covered with
brown down, and their first feathers are also light brown.
The vignette below represents the crystalline lens and
the bony ring of the eye in this bird, which may be com-
pared with those of the Eagle at page 19, and both are
referred to at page 15.

HAWK OWL.

155

RAPTORES.

THE HAWK OWL.

Surnia funerea.

Noctua funerea,
Surnia „
Strix,

Canada Owl,
Hawk Owl,
Chouette caparacoch,

JENTNS, Brit. Vert. p. 526.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 86.

AN OWL of this species, preserved in the collection of
Dr. Burkitt of Waterford, was taken on board a collier,
a few miles off the coast of Cornwall, in March, 1830,
being at the time in so exhausted a state as to allow itself
to be captured by the hand. On the arrival of the vessel
at Waterford, whither she was bound, the bird was given
to a friend of Dr. Burkitt, with whom it lived for a few

156 STRIGID^.

weeks, and then came into his possession. The very cir-
cumstantial account of the capture of this bird given by
Captain Stacey of the collier leaves no doubt of its accu-
racy. Such was the account given to the Zoological So-
ciety in June, 1835, by Mr. Thompson of Belfast, of the
capture of this Owl, as recorded in the Proceedings of that
Society, on the evening when the specimen was exhibited.
This bird is an inhabitant of Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and other parts of the North of Europe ; it is not unfre-
quently seen in Germany, and even in France ; it is an
inhabitant also of great part of North America. Edwards
long ago described and figured this species under the name
of Hawk Owl, from examples received from Hudson's Bay ;
and I have followed Mr. Gould in retaining for this species
the English name of Hawk Owl, as originally bestowed
upon it by our countryman Edwards.

The most recent account of the habits of this species has
been supplied in the Fauna Boreali- Americana, by Sir
John Richardson and Mr. Swainson, and I hope I am not
exceeding privilege in availing myself of part of it.

" This Owl remains all the year in high northern lati-
tudes in America, and is rarely seen so far south as Penn-
sylvania, and then only in severe winters. Wilson saw
only two specimens in the United States. It is a common
species throughout the fur-countries, from Hudson's Bay
to the Pacific, and is more frequently killed than any other
by the hunters, — which may be partly attributed to its
boldness, and its habit of flying about by day. In the
summer season it feeds principally on mice and insects ;
but in the snow-clad regions, which it frequents in the win-
ter, neither of these are to be procured, and it then preys
mostly on Ptarmigan. It is a constant attendant on the
flocks of Ptarmigan in their spring migrations to the north-
ward. It builds its nest on a tree of sticks, grass, and

HAWK OWL. 157

feathers, and lays two white eggs. When the hunters are
shooting grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the
report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird
being killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be
unable from its size to carry it off. It is also known to
hover round the fires made by the natives at night."

The following description is from a specimen killed in
Lapland, and presented to the Museum of the Zoological
Society by Captain Everett : — The beak is white ; the
irides straw-yellow; facial disk dull white, bounded on
the sides by a semilunar dark purplish brown patch ex-
tending from the ears downwards ; the head, back of the
neck, and upper part of the shoulders, mottled with dusky
black and dull white ; back and wings dark umber brown ;
lower part of the back barred with dull white ; tertials
elongated, loose, and downy in texture, covering great
part of the wing, and barred alternately with dusky
brown and white ; upper surface of tail-feathers dusky
brown, with six or seven narrow bars of dull white, and
a broader terminal band of the same colour. Chin dusky ;
throat dull white ; across the upper part of the breast a
broad band of dull white ; breast, belly, and under tail-
coverts, dull white, with numerous narrow transverse bars
of dusky brown ; under surface of tail-feathers barred al-
ternately with greyish brown and dull white; the tail
long ; tarsi and toes covered with short feathers of grey-
ish white ; claws white at the base, tipped with bluish
black.

The whole length of the bird is about seventeen inches.

The female differs from the male in being somewhat
larger in size, and the plumage is lighter in colour.

158
RAPTORES.

STRIGID.E.

STRIQIDJg.

THE LITTLE OWL.

Noctua passerina.

Strix passerina, Little Owl,

Noctua

Little Night Owl,

Strix passerina, Chouette cheveche,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 270.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 69.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 58.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 107.
JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 94.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TBMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 92.

NOCTUA. Generic Characters. — Head not furnished with tufts of feathers.
Beak curved and bending from the base ; cere short ; nostrils oval. Audi-
tory opening large ; facial disk not well defined. Wings large ; the third
and fourth quill-feathers nearly equal in length. Legs and toes covered
with feathers. Claws curved and sharp.

THIS LITTLE OWL, and that which is next to follow, can
only be considered as occasional visitors to this country,

LITTLE OWL. 159

though both have now been taken several times, and most
of those instances will be here mentioned. There is rea-
son, however, to believe that from the general similarity
in appearance of these two small Owls, they have been
frequently mistaken the one for the other. The specific
distinctions will be pointed out. The Little Owl is strictly
nocturnal in its habits, but towards the evening becomes
active and vigilant. Bechstein, in his Natural History of
Cage Birds, — for a published translation of which we are
indebted to Mr. Rennie, — says, "In its wild state this
small species of Owl frequents old buildings, towers, and
church walls, where its nest is also found. The female
lays two white eggs of a short oval form, one inch four
lines in length by one inch one line in breadth. The
male takes his turn to sit upon the eggs during incuba-
tion; and the young ones may be very easily reared on
fresh meat, particularly on Pigeons." This species is very
frequently exposed for sale in the markets of Germany,
Holland, and France.

In a wild state it feeds on mice, bats, small birds, which
it takes from the roost, and insects.

" In a cage," according to Bechstein, " it may be kept
for some time in good health, if fed on dried mutton : the
skin, fat, and bones must be removed, and the meat left
to soak in water for two days before it is eaten. Three
quarters of an ounce a day of this meat dried will be suf-
ficient, particularly if now and then some mice or small
birds be given it, which it swallows, feathers and all : it
can devour as many as five mice at a meal. It begins to
wake up at about two in the afternoon, and then becomes
very lively, and soon wants its food. If great care be
not taken sometimes to give it mice or birds, the fur and
feathers of which cleanse the stomach, it will soon die of
decline. It is easily captured when the place of its re-

160

treat during the day is discovered, by placing a net in
the form of a bag over the mouth of the hole, for the
bird will by this means entrap itself when endeavouring
to come out for the evening. It is much used on the
Continent as a decoy to entrap small birds." M. Vieillot
says it is seldom found in forests.

The actions of a specimen kept for more than two years
by Mr. Leadbeater of Brewer-street were singularly gro-
tesque and amusing.

Edwards drew his figure of this Little Owl, plate 228,
from a specimen caught alive in a chimney in London;
and a second example was taken about the same time in
a similar situation, in the parish of Lambeth. It is re-
corded as having been killed in Sussex. Mr, Rennie, in
a note to a recent edition of White's Selborne, says, " I
recollect seeing in Wiltshire the remains of a specimen of
the rare Sparrow-Owl, Stria: passerina, nailed up to a
barn-door." — Page 34. Two specimens, according to Dr.
Moore, have occurred in Devonshire : Montagu has also
mentioned one in the same county. T. C. Eyton, Esq.,
sent me a notice of one taken near Bristol ; Dr. Hastings
mentions one instance of the occurrence of this bird in
Worcestershire ; and Pennant speaks of one taken in
Flintshire. In a direction north of London, Mr. Hunt
of Norwich, in his British Ornithology, says, " We recol-
lect a nest of these birds being taken at no great distance
from Norwich ; " and Mr. Paget, in the Sketch of the
Natural History of Yarmouth, mentions two specimens as
well authenticated. The Little Owl has occurred in York-
shire ; and the woodcut in Mr. Bewick's work was taken
from a drawing of a specimen shot at Widrington in North-
umberland, in January, 1813. M. Temminck says this
species does not go beyond the 55th degree of north lati-
tude. It is common in Germany and Holland, visits

LITTLE OWL. 161

Spain and the Morea, and, according to Mr. Strickland, is
common in the Levant.

The beak is yellowish white ; the irides very pale straw
colour : feathers of the facial disk greyish white, passing
into brown on, the outer side of each eye ; chin, and sides
of the neck, below the ears, nearly white ; top of the head
and neck clove brown, with numerous spots of greyish
white ; the back and wings clove brown, with roundish
white spots arranged in several lines on the scapulas and
wing-coverts, and varied with other white spots which are
less distinct, each brown feather having a white spot, which
is partly concealed by the brown end of the feather over
it ; wing-primaries umber brown, barred with yellow brown
or wood brown : the first quill -feather short ; the second
and fifth longer, and equal in length ; the third and fourth
the longest, and also equal : upper surface of tail-feathers
clove brown, barred with pale wood brown ; upper part
of the breast with an indistinct brown and white transverse
band, below greyish white with longitudinal spots of clove
brown ; under tail-coverts white ; under surface of tail-
feathers dull greyish brown, barred with yellow brown :
legs very long, covered with close short white hair-like
feathers, — from which circumstance this species has re^
ceived the name of nudipes from M. Nilsson ; the toes are
very slightly covered ; the claws sharp and black.

The whole length of this bird is about eight inches and
a half. The females are rather larger than the males, and
the general colour of their plumage is paler.

According to Beckstein, in the young birds before the
first moulting, " the head is of a soft reddish grey, clouded
with wrhite. The large round spots on the back become
gradually more marked ; and the reddish white of the
under part by degrees acquires long streaks of brown on
the breast and sides."

VOL. 1. M

STRIGIDjE.

RAPTORES.

STRIOID^.

TENGMALM'S OWL.

Noctua Tengmalmi.

Noctua Tengmalmi, Tengmalm's Owl, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 105.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 94.

Syrnium „ „ „ EYTON, Ilare Brit. Birds, p. 90.

Noctua „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Strix „ Chouette Tengmalm, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 94.

THIS prettily -marked Owl was clearly distinguished from
the Stria: passerina of authors by Dr. Tengmalm, an able
Ornithologist, who resided near Stockholm, and who ap-
plied to it the name of Strix noctua ; but this name ap-
pears to have been changed by Gmelin to that of Strix
Tengmalmi^ in compliment to its early describer.

Though similar in size and general appearance to the
Little Owl last figured, it will at once be distinguished on

TENGMALM'S OWL. 163

close examination by the more thick and downy character
of the plumage, and by the length and abundance of the
feathers covering its short legs and toes, indicating the
natural defence against a low temperature afforded to a
bird that is an inhabitant of high northern latitudes. It
has no doubt been frequently mistaken for the Little Owl,
and probably obtained in this country more frequently
than it has been recorded; since, according to M. Tem-
minck, the Little Owl figured by Pennant in the folio
plates illustrating the first edition of his British Zoology,
though called passerina, is in reality a female of Tengmalmi.
Mr. Selby has in his collection a specimen killed at Mor-
peth in Northumberland, in 1812. In 1836, a specimen
recently shot was purchased in a poulterer's shop in Lon-
don ; and in May of the same year, Mr. John Lead-
beater of Brewer-street received a specimen for preserva-
tion which had been shot in Kent. There can be no
doubt, therefore, of the propriety of including this species
in a History of British Birds.

This little Owl inhabits thick forests in Norway, Sweden,
Russia, and Germany ; occasionally in France, and the
northern parts of Italy ; but is in no country so abundant
as in North America, where, according to Sir John Rich-
ardson, it has a wide range, including all the woody coun-
try from Great Slave Lake to the United States, but is
most plentiful on the banks of the Saskatchewan. " It is
strictly nocturnal in its habits, and is so much dazzled by
the light of the sun, when it accidentally wanders abroad
in the day, as to become stupid ; and it may then be easily
caught by the hand. Its cry in the night is a single me-
lancholy note, repeated at intervals of a minute or two ;
and it is one of the superstitious practices of the Indians
to whistle when they hear it. If the bird is silent when
thus challenged, the speedy death of the inquirer is au-

M 2

164

gured; hence its Cree appellation of Death-bird." Ac-
cording to Mr. Hutchins, it builds a nest of grass half
way up a pine-tree, and lays two eggs in the month of
May. The eggs are rather elongated and white, one inch
four lines in length, and eleven lines in breadth. The
food of this small Owl consists of mice and large insects.
The beak is yellowish white ; the irides pale straw yel-
low ; the top of the head, nape, back, and wings choco-
late brown, with minute white spots on the top of the
head, and larger white patches on the back and wing-
coverts ; some smaller white spots on the lower or distal
part of the outer web of the wing-feathers are arranged so
as to give the appearance of bands ; tail-feathers clove
brown, with soiled white spots forming interrupted bars ;
tail-feathers extending nearly an inch beyond the ends of
the wings. Facial disk soiled white ; round the eyes a
dark ring forming a band, which is broadest on the inner
side ; the ends of the feathers extending over and hiding
the base and sides of the beak ; neck, breast, and belly,
greyish white, indistinctly barred and spotted with clove
brown ; under tail-coverts dull white, without spots ; under
surface of tail-feathers greyish white, the light-coloured
spots of the upper surface appearing through; tarsi and
toes thickly covered with downy feathers of soiled white,
slightly speckled with brown ; claws black, long, curved,
and sharp. The whole length of the bird is from eight
and a half to nine inches.

GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

INSESSORES.

DEtiTIROSTRES.

165

LANIAD^E.

GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

Lanius excubitor.
Lanius excubitor, Great Grey Shrike, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 272.

Cinereous „

Ash-coloured „

Cinereous „

Great „

Cinereous „

Great „
Pie-grieche grise,

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 75.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 62.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 148.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 95.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 142.

LANIUS. Generic Characters. — Bill short, thick and straight at the base,
compressed ; upper mandible hooked at the point, with a prominent tooth ;
base of the bill beset with hairs directed forwards. Nostrils basal, lateral,
oval. Wings of moderate size ; the first quill-feather shorter than the
second, the third the longest. Tarsus longer than the middle toe ; feet
with three toes before, one behind • the outer united at its base to the
middle toe.

THE second ORDER of Birds, the INSESSORES, or Perch-
ing Birds, includes a much greater number of species than
either of the other four primary divisions or orders of the

166

Class. They are distinguished as an Order by possessing
the largest volume of brain in proportion to their size, and
a corresponding degree of intelligence ; the vocal organs
present the highest degree of perfection to be found in the
class, and several of the species are capable of imitating the
sounds of the human voice : by the perfection of the foot
it is adapted to the greatest variety of purposes, and the
hind-toe is always present, and always articulated on the
same level or plane with the fore-toes.

The birds included in this Order are again divided ; and
those now about to be described belong to the division or
tribe called DENTIROSTRES, on account of the distinct
tooth or notch near the extremity of one or both of the
mandibles.

The Great Grey Shrike, the largest of the British spe-
cies of the genius Lanius, is only an occasional visitor to
this country, and is generally obtained between autumn
and spring. On two occasions it has been seen in Essex
during summer, by observers who know this bird well ;
and also in Burnt-ash Lane, near Lee in Kent, by Mr.
Gray ; yet it has not, that I am aware, been ever known
to breed here, — though the large size of the nest and the
variable colour and markings of the eggs of the Red-
backed Shrike have in some instances led to the belief
that they belonged to the Great Shrike. A pair of Grey
Shrikes were frequently seen together in a fir plantation
in Northumberland in the spring of 1831 ; but on search
being made later in the season, neither the birds nor any
nest could be found, and by far the greater number of
British killed specimens have been obtained during the
winter season.

The Grey Shrike feeds upon mice, shrews, small birds,
frogs, lizards, and large insects. After having killed its
prey, it fixes the body in a forked branch, or upon a sharp

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 167

thorn, the more readily to pull off small pieces from it.
It is from this habit of killing and hanging up their
meat, which is observed also in other Shrikes, that they
have been generally called Butcher Birds.* Part of a
letter from my friend Mr. Henry Doubleday of Epping,
in reference to the Grey Shrike, is as follows :• — " An old
bird of this species, taken near Norwich in October 1835,
lived in my possession twelve months. It became very
tame, and would readily take its food from my hands.
When a bird was given it, it invariably broke the skull,
and generally ate the head first. It sometimes held the
bird in its claws, and pulled it to pieces in the manner
of Hawks, — but seemed to prefer forcing part of it
through the wires, then pulling at it. It always hung
what it could not eat up on the sides of the cage. It
would often eat three small birds in a day. In the spring
it was very noisy, one of its notes a little resembling the
cry of the Kestrel."

Mr. Blackwall has recorded of this species that a " bird-
catcher following his occupation at Gorton, near Man-
chester, and having arranged the cage containing his call-
bird, and placed his twigs well smeared with birdlime in
the manner best adapted to attain his object, he patiently
waited the result. A Grey Shrike flew to the cage, most
likely for the purpose of devouring the decoy-bird, and
perching upon the limed twig attached to its summit
became entangled in the viscid material which covered it.
The frightened Shrike made vigorous efforts to disengage
itself from the unpleasant situation in which it was placed,
but without avail ; its struggles only tended to involve it
more completely in the tenacious toils with which it was
encumbered. At length it was secured and placed in a
dark cage with the Redpoles which had been previously
* Lanius, a butcher ; lanio, to cut or tear in pieces.

168 LANIAD^l.

captured ; but the surprise and mortification of the bird-
catcher may be imagined, when, on his arrival at home,
he found that the Shrike had killed all its companions in
captivity."

Mr. Selby, who has seen the Grey Shrike when alive in
its wild state, says, " Its flight is interrupted, being per-
formed by jerks ; and when perched, the tail is kept in
constant motion." It has considerable power of voice,
and sufficient flexibility to enable it to imitate the notes
of some of the smaller birds ; and this power it is said to
exercise as a decoy, the more easily to obtain food by
deceiving small birds. A writer in the Naturalist, says,
" My first acquaintance with the Butcher Bird was occa-
sioned by hearing notes not entirely familiar to me, though
much resembling those of the Stonechat. Following the
sound, I soon discovered the utterer ; and while listening,
to my surprise the original notes were discarded, and
others adopted of a softer and more melodious character,
never, however, prolonged to anything like a continuous
song. Its grave ash-coloured garb, with its peculiar black
patch on the cheek, soon convinced me that my unknown
friend was the Butcher Bird." This bird is used by fal-
coners abroad during autumn and winter when trapping
Falcons. The Shrike is fastened to the ground, and,
by screaming loudly, gives notice to the falconer, who is
concealed, of the approach of a Hawk. It was on this
account, therefore, called excubitor, — the sentinel. The
signal thus given of the approach of a Hawk, the falconer,
from his hiding-place, a hole in the ground, withdraws the
Shrike by pulling one string, and by pulling a second
string exhibits a Pigeon — the moment the Hawk pounces
upon the Pigeon a sharp pull upon a third string in an
instant brings a small bow-net over both Hawk and
Pigeon. It frequents groves and forests, and builds on

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 169

trees at some distance from the ground, making a nest of
bents, roots, and moss, lined with down and wool. The
eggs are from four to six in number, of a bluish or greyish
white colour, spotted over the large end with two shades
of light brown and ash. The length of the egg one inch
one line, by nine lines and a half in breadth.

The Grey Shrike has been obtained in several southern
and western counties, — in Surrey, Sussex, Wiltshire, Dor-
setshire, Devonshire, Worcestershire, and Cheshire ; and I
am informed by Mr. Thompson of Belfast, that it has oc-
curred in one or two instances in the North of Ireland. A
specimen shot near Belfast is in the collection of Dr. J. D.
Marshall. North of London, it has been killed in Hert-
fordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Yorkshire,
Cumberland, Northumberland, and Durham. Dr. J. A.
Smith has recorded the capture of the Grey Shrike in
two counties of Scotland, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire.
No Shrikes appear to have been seen either in the islands
of Orkney or Shetland ; but the Grey Shrike is included
among the birds of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Lapland,
Russia, and Germany. In Holland it is rare ; but it is
rather a common bird in France, and remains there through-
out the year, frequenting woods in summer, and open plains
in winter. It is an inhabitant of Spain, Provence, and
Italy. It is found also in Sicily, Malta, Fezzan, and east-
ward as far as Erzeroum.

In the old male, the upper mandible is black, with a
projecting tooth near the point of the beak, which is
considerably curved ; under mandible yellowish brown at
the base, becoming brownish black at the end ; the nos-
trils hid by black hairs : the lore, or space between the
base of the beak and the eye, black ; the same colour
passing by a narrower band under the eye, and then ex-
panding, forms a black oval patch which covers the orifice

170 LANIADJl.

of the ears : the irides very dark brown ; the head, neck,
back, wing and tail-coverts, pearl grey ; the scapulars
tipped with white ; wing-primaries and secondaries black,
with a white bar near the base of each feather, which,
when the wing is closed, form two white spots ; the secon-
daries are also tipped with white ; the upper surface of
the four central feathers of the tail black, the next feather
on each side tipped with white ; the next one-fourth
white, the next one-third white, the next or outer tail-fea-
thers almost wholly white ; the tail graduated. The chin,
throat, sides of the neck, the breast, belly, flanks, thighs,
and under tail-coverts, pure white ; under wing-coverts
white ; under surface of wing -primaries dusky grey, in-
clining to slate grey ; under surface of tail-feathers less
pure in colour than the upper surface, but equally denned
in the markings ; the legs, toes, and claws, black.

Females resemble the males, except that the colours of
the plumage are not so pure, and the dull white of the
breast is marked with numerous greyish semilunar lines.

Young males resemble the females.

The whole length of the Grey Shrike is ten inches.
Length of wing from the wrist-joint, or carpus, to the end
of the longest primary, four inches and three-quarters ;
first wing-feather only half as long as the second; the
second shorter than the third, fourth, or fifth, which are
nearly equal, and the longest in the wing ; the sixth but
very little longer than the second.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE.

INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

171

LANIAD^.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE.

Lanius collurio.

Lanius collurio, Red-backed Shrike, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 272.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 75.

„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 62.

„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 150.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 96.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Pie-grieche grise, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 142.

THE lower figure of the engraving represents the male,
and the upper figure the female, of the Red-backed Shrike,

172 LANIAD^.

another species of Butcher Bird, very similar in its habits
to the Grey Shrike last described, but is much more com-
mon, and visits this country only in the summer. It
arrives in Italy from Africa about the beginning of April,
and reaches England by the end of that month or early in
May, quitting it again in September. It frequents the
sides of woods and high hedge-rows, generally in pairs, and
may frequently be seen perched on the uppermost branch
of an isolated bush on the look-out for prey. The males
occasionally make a chirping noise, not unlike the note of
the Sparrow ; Montagu mentions having heard them give
utterance to a sort of song; and M. Vieillot says they
imitate the voice of small birds. The food of the Red-
backed Shrike is mice and probably shrews, small birds,
and various insects, particularly the common May-chaffer.
Its inclination to attack and its power of destroying little
birds has been doubted ; but it has been seen to kill a
bird as large as a Finch, is not unfrequently caught in the
clap-nets of London bird-catchers, having struck at their
decoy birds, and is recorded in the Linnaean Transactions
as having been seen in pursuit of a Blackbird.* Mr.
Hewitson says, " Seeing a Red-backed Shrike busy in
a hedge, I found, upon approaching it, a small bird, upon
which it had been operating, firmly fixed upon a blunt
thorn ; its head was torn off, and the body entirely
plucked."

Mr. Blyth has observed, that where food is abundant,
this Shrike leaves the body and hard parts of insects thus
impaled, and only eats the softer abdomen. Portions of
fur or feathers, and other indigestible parts, when swallow-
ed, are afterwards ejected at the mouth by the Shrikes in
the same manner as by Falcons and Owls.

The nest made by this species is very large in proportion
* Vol. xv. p. 14.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 173

to the size of the "bird, frequently measuring from six to
seven inches diameter ; it is usually placed rather high in a
strong hedge or thick bush ; the nest, shaped like a cup,
is generally formed of coarse stalks of plants on the out-
side, with some moss and fibrous roots within, and lined
with bents and a few hairs. The eggs are four or five
in number, about eleven lines long by eight lines in breadth,
generally uniform in size, but very variable in colour,
sometimes pale bluish white, spotted with hair-brown and
ash-grey, the spots confined to the larger end of the egg,
and frequently forming a band; occasionally they are
found of a greenish white, with darker spots; and in
many instances the eggs are pale reddish white, spotted
with two shades of darker red and reddish brown. —
Three eggs are exceedingly well represented in Mr. W. C.
Hewitson's work.

The parent birds are clamorous over their young brood,
and the little family keep together as long as they remain
in this country.

The Red-backed Shrike is common about London, and
in most, if not all, the southern and western counties of
England and Wales, going northward from thence as far as
Cumberland ; but there, as observed by Dr. Heysham, it
is rare. It has not, I believe, been observed by Ornitholo-
gists in any part of Ireland. North of London, on the east
coast, it is found in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and York-
shire ; but occasionally only as far north as Northumber-
land and the south-eastern part of Durham. It has not,
that I am aware, been noticed in Scotland or its islands ;
yet it visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Russia.
From thence southward, it is found in Germany, France,
Spain, Provence, Italy, Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and the
Crimea. Specimens were sent by Keith Abbot, Esq., to
the Zoological Society from Trebizond ; it also inhabits

1 74 LANIAD^!.

Egypt and North Africa, is included by Le Vaillant among
the birds of Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope, from
which latter country specimens have also been recently
brought by Dr. Smith.

The adult male has a beak of shining black, with a con-
spicuous tooth and notch near the point of the upper
mandible, which is curved ; the feathers at the base of
the beak, those of the lore, around the eye, and those
forming the ear-coverts, black ; the irides hazel brown ;
all the upper part of the head and the neck grey ; back
and wing-coverts fine chestnut red ; upper tail-coverts grey,
tinged with red ; wing-primaries dusky black, edged with
red on the outer web ; secondaries and tertials the same,
but with broader red margins ; upper surface of the tail-
feathers with the proximal half white, the distal half
black, just tipped with white ; the shafts black ; the two
middle tail-feathers, which are longest, are wholly black
except the tips, which are white ; the outer tail-feather
on each side about three- eighths of an inch shorter than the
others. The chin is nearly white ; all the under surface
of the body very pale red ; under tail-coverts white ;
under surface of the tail-feathers like the upper surface,
but the colours less pure; legs, toes, and claws, black.
The length of the adult male is about seven inches and a
half; length of wing from the carpal joint to the end of
the longest feather, three inches and seven-eighths ; the
first feather of the wing less than half the length of the
second, the second nearly as long as the fourth, the third
feather the longest in the wing.

The adult female has the beak dark brown ; irides
hazel, as in the male: no black about the head, but a
light-coloured streak over the eye ; the whole of the upper
surface of the head and body reddish brown ; wings like
those of the male, but the rufous margins narrower ; upper

RED-BACKED SHRIKE. 175

surface of tail-feathers brown, tinged with red ; the outer
edge of the web of each outside tail-feather dull white.
Chin dull white : under surface of the body and the sides
greyish white, crossed with greyish brown semilunar lines ;
abdomen and under tail-coverts, dull white ; under surface
of tail-feathers grey, tipped with dull white. The length
of the female described rather exceeded that of the male.
Young males are like adult females, but have the darker
semilunar marks on the back as well as on the breast.

Some particulars in reference to the plumage of this
Shrike deserve here to be noticed. Mr. Hoy * says, " I
have a female bird of the Red-backed species, in the full
garb of the adult male. I had found the nest, and ob-
served near the spot apparently two male birds : not being
able to discover the female, I was induced to shoot both ;
and, on dissection, one proved the female, with the eggs
much enlarged, and one nearly ready for exclusion. I
mention this circumstance, as this change of plumage in
some species has been attributed to barrenness." Mr.
Blyth has met with almost a similar example, which is
noticed as follows :f " The first individual that came under
my inspection this season was a very remarkable bird : it
was a female, partly in the male plumage ; but the ovaries
were perfect, and contained eggs ; and it was in company
with a partner of the other sex at the time it was shot."

Knowing that the adult female of the Grey Shrike, and
that of the Woodchat Shrike, next to be described, closely
resemble their respective males, except that their plumage
is less brilliant, may we not conclude that the really old
female of the Red-backed Shrike also resembles the male,
but does not acquire that state of plumage in any single
year, nor until after having moulted several times ? Though
not believed formerly, it is now very well known that
* Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. iv. p. 344. t Ib. vol. viii. p. 364.

176 LANIAD^.

many birds build nests and produce young before they
have attained their own adult plumage.

Baron Cuvier has stated, that when the adult female
bird differs from the male in the colour of her plumage, the
young birds of both sexes, in their first feathers resemble
the female ; the young males afterwards putting forth the
colours that indicate their sex. When the adult male and
female are of the same colour, the young then have for a
time a plumage peculiar to themselves. The Pheasant
may be quoted in illustration of the first law, and the
Partridge as an example of the second. To these two, a
third law may be added : whenever adult birds assume a
plumage during the breeding season decidedly different in
colour from that which they bear in the winter, the young
birds of the year have a plumage intermediate in the ge-
neral tone of its colour compared with the two periodical
states of the parent birds, and bearing also indications of
the colours to be afterwards attained at either period.

There are various modes by which changes in the ap-
pearance of the plumage of birds are produced.

By the feather itself becoming altered in colour.

By the bird's obtaining a certain addition of new feathers
without shedding any of the old ones.

By an entire or partial moulting, at which old feathers
are thrown off and new ones produced in their places.
And by the wearing off the lengthened lighter-coloured
tips of the barbs of the feathers on the body, by which
the brighter tints of the plumage underneath are exposed.
These changes will be noticed under the different species
most affected by them.

WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

IXSESSOKES.

DEXTIROSTRES.

177

LANIAD^E.

S

THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

Lanius rutilus.

Lanius rutilus, The Woodduit, PENN. Brit, Zool. vol. i. p. 277.

« » „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ rufus, „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 81.

,, SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 153.

„ JEXYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 96.

» » „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Pie-grieche rousse, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 146.

WHATEVER doubts might have existed formerly of the
propriety of including the Woodchat among the Shrikes
that visit England, there can be no question on this sub-

VOL. i. N

178 LANIAD^.

ject now, several instances having occurred in which this
bird has been obtained.

One of the earliest specimens recorded as British is that
noticed by the Rev. Gilbert White in his 25th letter to
Thomas Pennant, dated Selborne, August 30th, 1769.

In the British Museum there is a specimen of the Wood-
chat, a young male, which formerly belonged to the mu-
seum of Dr. Leach, and is labelled as having been killed
in Kent.

In a communication to the Magazine of Natural His-
tory* on the British species of Shrikes, by Mr. J. D. Hoy,
who is devoted to the study of birds and their habits, that
gentleman mentions one instance of the Woodchat being
killed near Canterbury, that came to his knowledge, and
another killed in the neighbourhood of Swaffham in Nor-
folk, which last bird was in the collection of the late Rev.
Robert Hammond. In a collection of birds formerly at
Cambridge, which belonged to the Rev. Francis Henson,
were a male and female Woodchat, both of which were
said to have been killed in Suffolk. From the communi-
cation of Joseph Clarke, Esq., of Saffron Wai den, I find
that Mr. Adams, of Gorlestone in Norfolk, has in his col-
lection a Woodchat shot by himself ; it is also included by
Messrs. Gurney and Fisher in their catalogue of the birds
of Norfolk ; and a few years ago, Mr. Leadbeater re-
ceived a specimen which had been killed in Yorkshire.
Dr. Hastings, in his Illustrations of the Natural History
of Worcestershire, says, the Woodchat is stated by Mrs.
Perrot to have appeared in the neighbourhood of Evesham.
Lastly, I may mention that E. H. Rodd, Esq., of Pen-
zance, in communications read before the Royal Institute
of Cornwall, has referred to two specimens of this rare
bird, which had been taken at Scilly.
* Vol. iv. p. 341.

WOODCHAT SHRIKE. 179

In size, in most of its habits, and in its mode of feeding,
the Woodchat resembles the common Red-backed Shrike,
and, like that species, is said to imitate the voice of several
different small birds. Mr. Hoy says, "It differs from
Lanius collurio in the choice of situation for its nest, plac-
ing it invariably on trees, and preferring the oak. The
nest is fixed in the fork of a projecting branch, and is com-
posed on the outside of sticks and wool, mixed with white
moss from the bodies of the trees, and lined with fine grass
and wool. Eggs four or five in number, rather smaller
than those of the Red-backed Shrike, and varying much
in markings ; the ground colour being pale blue in some,
in others, a dirty white, surrounded near the larger end
with a zone of rust-coloured spots ; in some, again, the
markings and spots are of a paler colour, and more dis-
persed over the egg. It is not a wild bird, often building
close to houses and public roads. It is abundant in some
parts of the Netherlands, and arrives and departs about
the same time as Lanius collurio"

This shrike does not visit the higher northern parts of
the European continent ; but is found in Germany and
France, in which countries it appears in spring, and leaves
in autumn, as might be expected, — though M. Le Vaillant
says that he had shot the Woodchat in winter in Lorraine.
M. Vieillot has remarked that the Woodchat makes choice
of odoriferous plants for the construction of part of its
nest; and M. Lichstenstein has noticed the same thing
in reference to Lanius minor.

The Woodchat visits Switzerland, Provence, Italy,
Corfu, Sicily, Malta, the Morea, and Egypt. It is abund-
ant in North Africa, and is found at Senegal, and as far
south as the Cape of Good Hope, in both of which latter
localities it is said to be stationary all the year.

In the adult male, the beak is black, with the same sort

N 2

180 LANIADJJ.

of tooth and depression near the point of the upper man-
dible observed in the Red-backed Shrike ; above the base
of the upper mandible is a narrow streak of white ; the
forehead, round the eyes, the ear-coverts, and a small patch
depending therefrom, black ; irides hazel ; crown of the
head and nape of the neck, rich chestnut red ; the back
black ; the scapulars white ; the rump grey ; upper tail-
coverts white : the wings and wing-coverts black ; the
primaries white at the base, forming a spot when the
wing is closed ; the secondaries white at the end : the
central tail-feathers black ; the outer feather on each side
wholly white ; the next on each side with the proximal
half white ; the distal half black, with a white tip ; the
next on each side with a white tip only. The chin, throat,
breast, belly, and under tail-coveits, white ; legs, toes, and
claws, black.

The whole length of the male here described was seven
inches and a half. The length from the carpal joint to the
end of the wing-feathers, four inches : the first wing-
feather less than half the length of the second ; the third,
fourth, and fifth, longer than the second ; the third the
longest of the whole.

The female has the head and neck dull red ; the scapu-
lars dirty white ; the black colour of the back mixed with
brown ; the wing-coverts edged with red ; the breast dirty
white; the feathers of the flanks reddish tipped with
brown.

The young bird of the year is reddish brown above,
with brown transverse lines ; wings and tails brownish
black ; underneath dirty white, with greyish transverse
lines.

The young male in the British collection of Birds in
the British Museum, which has been already referred to
as having been killed in Kent, and a specimen of a young

WOODCHAT SHRIKE. 181

female in the Museum of the Zoological Society, which
bird belonged to the collection of Mr. Vigors ; both these,
apparently in the plumage of the second or third year,
are very much alike, and may be thus described : Head,
and nape of the neck, red; back and wings hair brown,
without any transverse lines ; scapulars and edges of the
tertials yellowish white ; rump inclining to grey ; tail-
feathers clove brown ; all the under surface of the body
dull white, tinged with red, but without bars ; beak, legs,
and toes, dark brown. Of this last pair of birds, the
female is the smaller.

In the illustration at the head of this article, the lower
figure represents an adult male bird, the upper figure is
that of a young bird of the year.

The vignette below is intended by the artist to refer to
" A Woodchat " of another description.

182

MUSCICAPID^E.

TN8S880RE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

MUSCICAPID^E.

THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.

Muscicapa grisola.

Musdcapa grisola, Spotted Flycatcher, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 471.
„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 213.
„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 63.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 141.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 97.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Gobe-mouche gris, TEMM.Man. d'Ornith.vol.i. p. 152.

MUSCICAPA. Generic Characters. — Beak of moderate length, stout,
angular ; broad and depressed at the base ; compressed towards the point,
which is slightly curved : the base surrounded with hairs directed for-
wards. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, partly concealed by hairs. Feet with
the tarsus the same length, or even longer than the middle toe : the lateral
toes nearly equal in length ; the outer toe connected to the middle one ;
the claw of the hind toe stronger and more curved than either of the
others. Wings— the first feather very short, the second not so long as the
fourth, the third the longest.

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 183

THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER is one of the latest, but, at
the same time, one of the most regular of our summer
visitors. White of Selborne remarks, even more than
once, in his miscellaneous observations published in the
second volume of Mr. Jesse's Gleanings, that the Spotted
Flycatcher arrives on the 20th of May. Mr. Selby says,
this bird seldom makes its appearance till the oak-leaf is
partly expanded, and it begins to form a nest immediately
on its arrival. It frequents orchards, gardens, lawns, and
pleasure-grounds, and is not a little remarkable for the
singularity of the places in which it sometimes makes its
nest. It is also believed that the same pair of birds return
to occupy the same spot for several years in succession.

In the first volume of the Magazine of Natural History,
a notice appears of a pair of Flycatchers that formed their
nest on the head of a garden-rake left by accident near a
cottage. Mr. Blackwall has mentioned an instance of a
pair that built their nest in a bird-cage, which had been
left with the door open suspended from the branch of a
tree in a garden. Mr. Atkinson, in his Compendium of
Ornithology, says, " we recollect a pair having built on the
angle of a lamp -post in one of the streets of Leeds, and
there rearing their young." Mr. Jesse, in the second part
of his Gleanings, mentions a nest of this Flycatcher, which
was found on the top of a lamp near Portland-place in
London, having five eggs in it, which had been sat upon.
This nest, fixed in the ornamental crown on the top of
the lamp, as described, I saw at the Office of Woods and
Forests, in Whitehall -place.

The more usual places for this bird's nest are, the side
of a faggot-stack, a hole in a wall, or on a beam in an out-
building, whence arises one of its provincial names, that of
Beam-bird ; it also frequently fixes its nest on a branch
of a pear-tree, a vine, or a honeysuckle, when trained

184 MUSCICAPIDJI.

against a building. Of three cup-shaped nests now before
me, one is formed on the outside of old dark-coloured
moss, mixed with roots, the lining of grass stems, with
only two or three white feathers ; the second has the bot-
tom and outside of fresh green moss, lined with a few grass
bents, long horse-hairs, and several mottled feathers, appa-
rently those of a Turkey ; the third is similar to the last
on the outside, but lined with long horse-hairs, wool, and
feathers. The labour and art bestowed by birds on the
construction of their nests have long been the theme of ad-
miration ; but the state of vegetation at the nest-building
season of the year, and the care manifested by birds gene-
rally in selecting a place of security, render it difficult to
obtain a sight of the nest-makers when at work. From
what has been observed, however, it is believed that the
female is generally the nest-builder ; the male collects and
brings to her the materials required : long stems of grass,
or long horse-hairs, are interwoven by the bird fixing in
one end, and then traversing the edge of the nest, lays in
the remainder as she makes circle after circle. A female
bird has been seen going backward round the upper edge
of the nest, arranging the materials which formed the inner
lining. The eggs of the Spotted Flycatcher are four or
five in number, about nine lines in length by seven lines
in breadth ; the ground colour white tinged with blue, and
spotted with pale red. White says, the female while sit-
ting on the eggs is fed by the male even as late as nine
o'clock at night.

This bird has no power of voice beyond a chirping call
note.

A curious circumstance in reference to this bird has been
noticed by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., the President
of the Horticultural Society. A Flycatcher built in his
stove several successive years. He observed that the bird

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. 185

quitted its eggs whenever the thermometer in the house
was above 72°, and resumed her place upon the nest again
when the thermometer sunk below. According to Mr.
Jenyns, the young Flycatchers are hatched about the se-
cond week in June : when able to leave the nest, they fol-
low the parent birds, who feed them, and teach them, by
their example, to catch insects for themselves. When on
the look-out for food, they generally take their stand on
the top of a post, on the upper bar of a flight of rails, or
the extreme end of a branch of a tree, from whence they
dart off on the approach of an insect, appear to catch it
with ease by a short and rapid movement, returning fre-
quently to the spot they had quitted, to keep watch as be-
fore. These birds are believed to feed almost exclusively
on winged insects. They frequent orchards, and have been
accused of eating cherries and raspberries ; in this belief
this bird in some parts of Kent goes by the name of the
Cherry-sucker, but they seem rather to be induced to visit
fruit-trees for the sake of the flies which the ripe fruits at-
tract, since on examination of the stomachs of Flycatchers
killed under such circumstances no remains of fruit were
found.

White, in his History of Selborne, says that the Spotted
Flycatcher only rears one brood in this country ; but I
have known some instances of this bird's producing a se-
cond hatch, and have been told of several others ; and as
it does not leave England till near the end of September,
there is ample time to bring up a second brood.

A second brood in three successive seasons is recorded
by Mr. Knox in his systematic catalogue of the birds of
Sussex.

The Spotted Flycatcher is common during summer in
most of, if not all, the counties of England ; and Mr.
Thompson of Belfast informs me, it is also a regular sum-

186 MUSCICAPID^.

mer visitor to the North of Ireland. Dr. Fleming says it
is rare in Scotland. Mr. Selby observed it in Sutherland-
shire, in June, 1834; and it is also found in Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden. It is a common bird on the Eu-
ropean continent. It is found at Corfu, Sicily, Malta,
Crete, and eastward as far as Erzeroum, and its range ex-
tends to Western and Southern Africa, even as far as the
Cape.

The beak is dark brown ; the irides hazel ; the head
and the whole of the upper surface of the body and
wing-coverts hair brown, the quills and tail-feathers being
a little darker, with a few dark brown spots on the top
of the head ; the tertials with a narrow margin of light
brown ; the under parts dull white, with a patch of light
brown across the upper part of the breast, and a few dark
brown streaks or spots upon that and the chin, with a
clear white space between ; the sides and flanks tinged
with yellowish brown ; legs, toes, and claws, black.

Males and females are alike in plumage.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and five-
eighths. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quill-feather, three inches and three-eighths : the first fea-
ther of the wing very short, only about one third of the
length of the second ; the second very little shorter than
the fourth ; the third feather the longest of the whole.

The young, when ready to leave the nest, are truly
Spotted Flycatchers, each brown feather having a buff-
coloured tip, the ends of the great wing-coverts forming
a pale wood-brown bar across the wing ; under surface
white. After their first moult, they may be distinguished
from older birds by the broader buff-coloured outer mar-
gins of the tertials.

IN8E880RE8.

DEXTIROSTRES.

PIED FLYCATCHER. 187

MUSCICAPID^E.

THE PIED FLYCATCHER.

Muscicapa atricapilla.

Musdcapa atricapilla, Pied Flycatcher, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i.

p. 473.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.
„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 210.

., „ „ „ FLEMING, Brit. An. p. 63.

„ luctuosa, „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 143.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 97.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Gobe-mouche lec-figue, TEIIM. Man. d'Oraith. vol. i.

p. 155.

188 MUSCICAPIDJS.

THE PIED FLYCATCHER is much less numerous as a spe-
cies than its generic companion last described, and, except
in certain localities, is a rare bird in England. It should
be considered also as a summer visitor to this country,
arriving in April, and quitting it to go further south in
September. It appears to be most plentiful in the vici-
nity of the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland;
and in some of its habits, particularly in its mode of
feeding, as also in the nature of its food, it resembles the
well -known Spotted Flycatcher ; but with these distinctions,
— that it builds in the holes of decayed oaks or pollard
trees, and, as Mr. T. C. Heysham of Carlisle has in-
formed me, is exceedingly noisy and clamorous when its
retreat is approached, and that it lays sometimes as many
as eight eggs.

"In the season of 1830, a pair had a nest in the iden-
tical hole where this species had bred for four successive
years. On the 14th of May this nest contained eight
eggs, arranged in the following manner : one lay at the
bottom, and the remainder were all regularly placed per-
pendicularly round the sides of the nest, with the smaller
ends resting upon it, the effect of which was exceedingly
beautiful." The eggs from different nests are found to
vary greatly in size.

Its nest is a loose assemblage of roots and grass, with a
few dry leaves, dead bents, and hair : the eggs are eight
lines and a half long, by six lines and a half in breadth,
and of a uniform pale blue colour. The young are hatched
about the first or second week in June. Mr. Black-
wall says, that the notes of the male are varied and
pleasing ; and Mr. Dovaston compares its song to that of
the Redstart.

Pennant mentions one example of this bird killed near
Uxbridge in Middlesex ; and I have a young male of the

PIED FLYCATCHER. 189

year killed in September, much nearer to London. It has
been noticed in Surrey, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk,
Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Durham. On the south-
ern coast it has occurred, though rarely, in Hampshire,
Dorsetshire, and Devonshire.

From thence northward it has been noticed in Worces-
tershire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Cumberland, and West-
moreland. In a recent Fauna of Scandinavia, this bird is
included as visiting Norway and Sweden in summer. It
is a periodical visitor in the central parts of Germany and
France, and observed to be most numerous in the latter
country in spring and autumn, when going to and return-
ing from countries further north. It is abundant in the
southern provinces of Europe, and particularly on the
coasts and islands of the Mediterranean.

An adult male in the breeding season has the beak
black, with a spot of white over its base on the forehead ;
irides dark brown ; upper part of the head and neck,
including the eyes, dark brownish black ; the back of a
decided black ; wing-primaries and secondaries brownish
black; edges of the greater wing-coverts, and the outer
webs of the tertials, pure white ; tail-feathers twelve ; the
outer web and part of the inner web next the shaft of the
outer and second tail-feathers, white ; the third from the
outside, white on a small portion of the outer web only ;
all the rest of these and the other tail-feathers black ; all
the under surface of the bird to the end of the under
tail- coverts, white ; legs, toes, and claws black.

The whole length of the bird five inches and one- eighth.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary
three inches and one -eighth : the first wing-feather less
than half the length of the second ; the second equal to the
fifth ; the fourth feather longer than the second ; the third,
the longest in the wing.

190 MUSCICAPID^E.

An adult female killed in summer, for which I am in-
debted to the kindness of John Walton, Esq., of Byard's
Lodge, near Knaresborough, who obtained it in the Valley
of Desolation, near Bolton Abbey, has the beak black,
without any white over its base ; the head, neck, back,
and wing-coverts, dark hair brown ; wing-primaries brown-
ish black; greater coverts and tertials edged with dull
white ; tail-feathers marked like those of the adult male,
but less bright in colour : under parts dull white ; legs,
toes, and claws, black.

A young male of the year, killed near London in Sep-
tember, and at that time changing his plumage, having
obtained in part the darker coloured feathers by which the
male bird is distinguished, has the beak black, no white mark
over its base ; the head, neck, back, and wing-coverts, dark
hair brown, as in the female, the latter edged with yellow-
ish white ; primaries, secondaries, and tertials, black ; the
latter margined with white, but these edges are not so
broad as in the adult male : the markings of the tail-
feathers precisely those of the old male, and black and white ;
chin and under tail-coverts white ; breast, belly, and flanks,
dull white, tinged with pale brown.

A male killed in the spring, immediately on the arrival
of the species in this country, has the beak black, with a
conspicuous white mark above its base ; head, including
the eyes, neck, back, and greater wing-coverts, a mixture
of dusky and pure black; rump and upper tail-coverts
smoke-grey ; primaries dusky black ; smaller wing-coverts
smoke-grey ; greater wing-coverts and tertials broadly edged
with white ; tail-feathers nearly black, the outer ones edged
with white, as in the adult male first described : all the
under parts pure white. This bird I believe to be in
change to his first breeding plumage, and was obtained in
Tunstall Valley, near Wearmouth, Durham.

COMMON DIPPER.

IN8SSSOXE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

191

MERULIDuE.

THE COMMON DIPPER.

Cinclus aquaticus.

Turdus cinclus, Water Ouzel, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 398.

Sturnus „ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 126.

Cinclus aquaticus, The Dipper, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 66.

„ European Dipper, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 172.

„ Water Ouzel, JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 98.

» „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ Cincle plongeur, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 177.
CIXCLUS. Generic Characters.— Beak of moderate size, angular, and
higher than broad at the base ; straight, compressed, and rounded near
the end : the point of the upper mandible slightly curving downwards to
meet the point of the lower one. Nostrils basal, lateral, placed in a de-
pression, cleft longitudinally, partly covered by a membrane. Wings

the first feather very short ; the second not so long as the third or fourth,
which are nearly equal. Feet— three toes before and one behind ; tarsus
longer than the middle toe ; the lateral toes equal in length ; the outer
toe slightly connected to the middle toe.

192 MERULID^.

CONSIDERABLE interest is attached to the natural history
of the Dipper, or Water Ouzel, from the diversity of
opinions that exist even to the present time in reference
not only to its power of diving, which is believed by some
to be accomplished without any perceivable muscular
effort, but that it can also walk at the bottom when under
water with the same ease that other birds walk on dry
land.

Never having seen this bird alive, I must be indebted to
the recorded observations of those who have ; and one of
the most complete and perfect accounts that I am acquaint-
ed with is that by Mr. Macgillivray, published in the first
volume of the Naturalist, page 105.

The Dipper frequents clear, rocky mountain streams,
and although allied to the Thrush or the Blackbird in its
internal organisation, and in many of its actions on land,
it has also the habits and powers of the Moorhen ; living
constantly by the sides of rivers, swimming and diving
with great facility, and feeding principally upon the
various aquatic insects with which the bottoms of streams
abound.

I am indebted to the kindness of my friend John Mor-
gan, Esq., for the only opportunity that has occurred to
me of dissecting a specimen of this bird, which came from
Wales. The muscles and other parts of the organs of
voice are similar to those of the Thrush ; but I found
nothing in the structure of this bird internally that could
induce me to believe that it possessed the powers which
have been so frequently attributed to it, of diving and
remaining on the ground at the bottom of the water,
without making any visible muscular effort. Its short
wings are well adapted for diving ; but, clothed with its
feathers, the specific gravity of the Dipper must be con-
siderably less than that of an Otter or a Beaver, — and we

COMMON DIPPER. 193

know that diving and remaining under water is not accom-
plished by these animals without using great and continued
exertions. Accordingly Mr. Macgillivray observes, " I
have seen the Dipper moving under water in situations
where I could observe it with certainty ; and I readily
perceived that its actions were precisely similar to those
of the Divers, Mergansers, and Cormorants, which I have
often watched from an eminence as they pursued the shoals
of sand-eels along the sandy shores of the Hebrides. It,
in fact, flew, not merely using the wing from the carpal
joint, but extending it considerably, and employing its
whole extent, just as if moving in the air. The general
direction of the body in these circumstances is obliquely
downwards ; and great force is evidently used to counter-
act the effects of gravity, the bird finding it difficult to
keep itself at the bottom. Montagu well describes the
appearance which it presents under such circumstances :
in one or two instances, where we have been able to per-
ceive it under water, it appeared to tumble about in a very
extraordinary manner, with its head downwards, as if
picking something ; and at the same time great exertion
was used, both by wings and legs. When searching for
food, it does not proceed to great distances under water ;
but, alighting on some spot, sinks, and soon reappears in
the immediate neighbourhood, when it either dives again,
or rises on the wing to drop somewhere else on the stream,
or settle on a stone. The assertion of its walking below
the water, which some persons have ventured, is not made
good by observation nor countenanced by reason. The
Dipper is by no means a walking bird : even on land I
have never seen it move more than a few steps, which
it accomplished by a kind of leaping motion. Its short
legs and long curved claws are very ill adapted for running,
but admirably calculated for securing a steady footing on
VOL. i. o

194 MERULID^E.

slippery stones, whether above or beneath the surface of the
water."

The Dipper may be said to be local rather than rare,
but is seldom found in the counties around London. The
nearest spot in wliich I have heard of a Dipper being seen
was at a water-mill tail at Wyrardisbury on the Colne,
about two or three hundred yards above the place at which
it falls into the Thames, just below Bell Weir. It has
also been seen on the Mole, near Esher.

It is not uncommon in Devonshire and the eastern parts
of Cornwall, where, according to Mr. Couch, it is called
the Water Thrush. Mr. E. H. Rodd of Penzance says,
it is less frequent about the rivers of the western part
of the county ; which may in some measure be accounted
for by the streams in the west of Cornwall being strongly
impregnated by contact with mineral ore, and, in all pro-
bability, proving equally destructive to aquatic insects
as to fish. It is of frequent occurrence in Wales ; and
Mr. Thompson sends me word that it is common through-
out Ireland.

The Dipper has been seen in Essex, and occasionally in
Norfolk. In some parts of Cheshire, Derbyshire, and York-
shire it is not uncommon, and probably in all the counties
northward throughout Scotland ; but I do not find it
noticed as inhabiting the Hebrides, Orkney, or Shetland.
It is found in Scandinavia, Siberia, Russia, Germany, the
Alps, Pyrenees, and Switzerland. It is common in the
northern parts of Spain, where it is also called Water
Thrush (Tor do de agua). Keith Abbott, Esq., has for-
warded specimens of this bird to the Zoological Society
from Trebizond and Erzeroum, the most eastern locality,
as far as I am aware, that has been yet quoted for it.

The Dipper is secluded in its habits ; and it rarely hap-
pens that more than two are seen together, except in

COMMON DIPPER. 195

summer, when the parent birds are accompanied by their
young. Its flight is rapid and even, not unlike that of the
Kingfisher ; and Mr. Gould, who has had opportunities of
observing this bird both in Wales and Scotland, informs
me that its song, though louder — its habit of elevating and
jerking its tail, its general manners, and the form as well
as the materials of its domed nest, all closely resemble
those of the Wren. It breeds very early in the season, and
conceals its large nest with great art. If a cavity in a
moss-covered rock is chosen, the nest is formed of a mass
of closely -interwoven moss, seven or eight inches deep,
and ten or twelve inches in diameter, with a hollow cham-
ber in the centre lined with a few dry leaves, to which ac-
cess is gained by a small aperture through the moss on one
side. Sometimes the nest is placed under a projecting
stone, forming part of a cascade, and behind the sheet of
water that falls over it. The eggs are from four to six in
number, measuring one inch in length by nine lines in
breadth, pointed at the smaller end, and white.

Mr. Macgillivray, who has examined the contents of the
stomach in these birds on various occasions, has found only
beetles and the animals of fresh-water shells belonging to
the genera Lymnea and Ancylus ; the larvae of various
Ephemera and Phryganea have also been mentioned, and
those of other aquatic insects. In some parts of Scotland
this little bird "is destroyed by every device, from an idea
that it feeds upon the salmon spawn ; but this is not estab-
lished."

The beak is brownish black ; the irides hazel ; the
margin of the eyelids white ; the head and neck to the
commencement of the back umber brown ; back, wings,
and wing coverts, rump and tail-feathers, sides, flanks, and
under tail-coverts, brownish black ; the margins of the
wing-coverts, and the tips of the feathers of the body, of

o 2

196 MERULID^E.

a lighter greyish black ; chin, neck, and upper part of the
breast, pure white ; lower part of the breast chestnut
brown; legs, toes, and claws brown. Females resemble
the males.

The whole length of the specimen described measured
seven inches and one quarter. From the carpal joint to
the end of the wing, three inches and three -eighths ; the
first wing feather less than half the length of the second,
which is equal in length to the third ; and both the second
and third longer than the fourth.

The young bird in its first plumage has the whole of the
upper parts dull greyish brown ; the wing-coverts and
tertials tipped with greyish white ; the chin white ; the
feathers of the front of the neck and breast pale buff tipped
with brown; belly, sides, and vent, grey, with darker
lines.

The Penrith Ouzle of Pennant's British Zoology, ap-
pears to be a young bird of the common Dipper in its first
year.

The vignette below represents a nest of the Dipper, for
which I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. J. D. Salmon
of Thetford, who received it from Yorkshire.

IN8ESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MISSEL THRUSH.

197
MERULIDJE.

THE MISSEL THRUSH.

Turdus viscivorus.

Turdus wsdvorus, Missel Thrush, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 401.

» » „ „ MOXT. Ornith. Diet.

» „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 117.

„ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 64.

Merula viscivora, „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 158.

Turdus viscivorus, ^ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 98.

» „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ Merle Draine, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.i.p.l61.

TURDUS. Generic Characters.— Beak of moderate size, straight, convex
above ; point of the upper mandible compressed, notched, and slightly
curved downwards ; the gape furnished with a few hairs. Nostrils basal,

198 MERULHXE.

lateral, oval, partly closed by a naked membrane. Wings with the first
feather very short; the second feather shorter than the third or the fourth,
which are the longest. Feet with the tarsus longer than the middle toe ;
the outer toe connected with the middle toe at the base.

THE MISSEL THRUSH is one of the largest of the British
species of Thrush, and, though not very numerous any-
where, is yet very generally diffused, as its range in this
country, to be hereafter quoted, will evince. It is rather
a shy bird, frequenting small woods, and the high trees in
hedges bounding large meadows ; but during the breeding-
season it becomes bold and quarrelsome, driving away the
smaller birds in all directions from its haunts, so much
so as in Wales, according to Pennant, to have acquired the
name of Penn y llwyn, or, master of the coppice. It is
resident in this country all the year, and the male com-
mences his song very early in the season, sometimes in
February. His strain, which is something like that of the
Blackbird, but not so good in quality of tone, is repeated
many times in succession, and generally from the top of
some lofty oak, beech, or fir tree ; but he has been occa-
sionally observed to sing while on the wing, and from a
habit of giving his song frequently both before and during
the occurrence of wind and rain, the name of Storm-cock
is a well-known appellation for the Missel Thrush. It is
also called the Holm Thrush, probably owing to its par-
tiality to the Oak, from the top of which this Thrush will
sometimes continue to repeat its song for an hour together,
and occasionally also has its nest in the oak —

" The fruitful Olive, and the Platane round ;
The carver Holm ; * the Maple seldom inward sound."

SPENSEK.

A good botanist has reminded me that the red berries
borne by the plant named Butcher's broom, Ruscus acu-
* The Holm oak, the evergreen oak, Quercus ilex.

MISSEL THRUSH. 199

leatus, which grows on bushy commons, are called Holm-
berries ; and as the Missel Thrush is a decided feeder on
berries generally, it may have acquired the name of Holm
Thrush from feeding on the Holm berry.

This bird is not observed to be partial to low flat
land, near water, to which the word Holm or Holme is
also applied.

The Missel Thrush is one of the earliest of our breeders,
beginning to build in April, and fixes its nest in the fork
of a branch of a tree, frequently that of an apple tree in
an orchard. The nest is composed externally of lichen,
moss, dry grass, and coarse stems of other plants. This
outside framework is coated internally with a layer of
mud, and this again is covered with a lining of fine grasses.
The nest is sometimes very artfully concealed by assimi-
lating the colour of the materials to that of the branch on
which it is placed ; but, on the contrary, it is sometimes
placed in the most conspicuous arid exposed situations, so
that it is scarcely possible to pass the nest without dis-
covering it. The eggs are four or five in number, of a
greenish white colour, spotted with red brown ; sometimes
the ground colour is reddish white, spotted with dark red
brown ; the length one inch three lines, the breadth eleven
lines, but occasionally varying in size. The female while
sitting exhibits much of the boldness of character observed
at that season in the male, and has been known to fly at
the face of a man who disturbed her. Two broods are
produced in the season, and during autumn and winter
small parties may be seen together, probably composed of
the parent birds and their young brood of the year.

The flight of the Missel Thrush is rapid, but irregular
and uneven, being performed by a succession of jerks. Its
food is various soft-bodied animals, as worms, slugs, &c.;
some fruit in the season ; and it is also a most decided

200 MERULIM.

feeder on berries of all sorts, including those of the missel-
toe, from whence it derives its most common name : the ger-
mination of the seeds is accelerated by the warmth and
moisture of the body of the bird. The flesh of the
Thrushes generally is eatable; and in some species it is
excellent.

The Missel Thrush is well known in our southern coun-
ties to the Land's End ; it is found also in Wales, as has
been already noticed ; and, according to Mr. Thompson,
though formerly rare in Ireland, it is now common and
indigenous to Ulster. North of London, it is found in
Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland,
Durham, and probably all the midland counties ; and, as
observed by Mr. Selby, this bird is rapidly increasing in
numbers still further to the northward ; but I do not find
it quoted as an inhabitant of the islands west or north of
Scotland. It nevertheless inhabits Scandinavia and Rus-
sia, and has been found by Mr. Blyth in India. It is
found in Germany, France, Provence, and Italy. In this
country, and in the central portions of Europe, the Missel
Thrush is resident all the year ; but it leaves both Italy
and Scandinavia during the winter.

The beak of this bird is dark brown ; the under man-
dible pale yellow at the base ; the irides hazel ; the top
of the head, and almost all the upper surface of the body,
nearly uniform clove brown : wings and wing-coverts
umber brown ; the latter broadly edged with wood-brown ;
the wing-feathers with a narrow edge of the same colour ;
upper surface of the tail-feathers umber brown ; the broad
inner web of each outside tail-feather with a patch of dull
white ; the second feather on each side with a smaller
patch at the tip ; the tail slightly forked : all the under
surface of the body white, tinged with yellow, and covered
with numerous black spots ; those on front of the neck

MISSEL THRUSH. 201

triangular in shape, with one angle pointing upwards ; the
spots on the breast, belly, and sides are round ; under
surface of the wings and tail grey ; tarsi and toes pale
brown ; the claws dark brown.

Males and females exhibit but little difference in size or
plumage.

The whole length of the adult bird is about eleven
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, five
inches and three-quarters ; the first wing-feather only one
inch long ; the second feather the same length as the fifth ;
the third and fourth feathers equal, and the longest in the
wing.

The young bird when about to leave the nest exhibits
a greater variety of markings on the upper surface of the
body than the parent birds ; the feathers on the head,
neck, upper part of the back, and smaller wing-coverts,
have a central stripe of buff, with a black spot at the tip ;
those of the greater coverts and tertials have broad ex-
ternal edges of rich buff. On the under surface the chin
is white ; the other parts tinged with fawn colour, and
marked with black spots.

MERULID.E.

INSESSOKES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MEBULID^E.

WHITE'S THRUSH.

Turdus Whitei.

Turdus Whitei, White's Tlirush,

vanus,
WJiitei,
aureus,

Sen Whitei,
White's Thrush,
Grive doree,

EYTON, Earer Brit. Birds, p. 92.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
HAKVEY, Fauna of Cork, p. 6.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. iv. p. 602.
Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. xi. p. 68.
HOLANDKE, Faune de la Moselle, p. 60.

BY the kind permission of the Earl of Malmesbury, I
am enabled to give a figure from that extremely beautiful
Thrush which was shot by his lordship himself on his es-
tate at Heron Court, near Christchurch, in January, \ 828 ;
and his lordship has very kindly allowed me the free use

WHITE'S THRUSH. 203

of this specimen, to make a close examination of it, and
by taking the measurements of the various parts of the
bird, to institute a comparison between it and two others
which have been brought to this country from the East,
one of them found in Japan, the other in Java ; specimens
of the first of which are in the Museum of the Zoological
Society, and of the second in the Museum of the Honour-
able East India Company. The measurements of this lat-
ter specimen I have obtained through the kindness of Dr.
Horsfield, by whom this species was first made known.
To Mr. Jesse I am indebted for an introduction to his
friend Mr. Bigge of Hampton Court, who has allowed me
the use of a specimen of a Thrush which appears to be iden-
tical with Dr. Horsfield's Thrush from Java, and also with
specimens from Australia, which are certainly very closely
allied to the Javanese Thrush. Mr. Bigge's bird is said
to have been shot in the New Forest, Hampshire, by one
of the forest-keepers, who parted with it to a bird-pre-
server at Southampton, of whom Mr. Bigge bought it for
his own collection. The measurements of these various
examples will enable the reader to decide on the species.

Lord Malmesbury's bird measures twelve inches and a
half. The length of the wing from the carpal joint to the
end of the longest primary, six inches and three-eighths ;
the first feather of the wing-primaries is very short ; the
second and fourth equal in length ; the third feather the
longest in the wing.

The Japan Thrush measures twelve inches in its whole
length : the wing six inches and four-eighths ; the first
feather very short ; the second a little longer than the
fifth ; the third and fourth feathers equal, and the longest.

Two specimens of a Thrush in every respect the same
as the Japan Thrush have been shot on the banks of the
Elbe. One of these was lately obtained in a fresh state

204? MERULID^.

by Mr. Gould when at Hamburgh, and is figured in his
beautiful work on the Birds of Europe. This specimen
with a wing rather longer than the Japanese bird, is now
in the collection of T. B. L. Baker, Esq., of Hardwicke
Court, Gloucester.

Dr. Horsfield's bird from Java, Turdus varius, mea-
sures ten inches and three-quarters ; the wing five inches
and four-eighths ; the first feather short ; the second and
sixth equal ; the third, fourth, and fifth also equal, and
the longest in the wing.

Mr. Bigge's specimen is eleven inches and a half long ;
the wing five inches and four-eighths ; — the first feather
short ; the second as long as the sixth ; the third, fourth,
and fifth of equal length, and the longest in the wing.

An Australian specimen, also in the Museum of the
Zoological Society, measures twelve inches in length : the
wing five inches and four eighths ; the first feather short ;
the second shorter than the sixth ; the third, fourth, and
fifth nearly equal, and the longest.

So much alike in their colour and markings are the six
birds just referred to, that one description would apply to
all : but in the relative size and structure of the wing, par-
ticularly, it will be seen that Lord Malmesbury's Hamp-
shire Thrush, the Hamburgh specimen, and that from
Japan, appear to be identical ; while that from Java, Mr.
Bigge's bird, and the specimen from Australia, appear also
to be identical.

A specimen of this rare Thrush has been taken at Jemt-
land, in Sweden, and the occurrence recorded by C. J.
Sundevall, of Stockholm.

In Lord Malmesbury's Thrush the beak is two lines
shorter, and the tarsus one line shorter, than the same
parts in either of the Eastern specimens, all of which in
these particulars are very nearly alike. Mr. Gould re-

WHITE'S THRUSH. 205

marks that in his Hamburgh specimen also the beak was
smaller than those of the Eastern specimens.

The circumstance of the Japan bird occurring in three
different instances in Europe, is less remarkable than might
at first appear, when we remember that in the recently-
published Supplement to the Land Birds of his Manual,
M. Temminck has given a catalogue of the names of one
hundred and fourteen birds which are found both in
Europe and Japan ; that number of species in the two
countries being considered identical by this gentleman, who
is one of the best authorities as an Ornithologist in Europe.
Of these one hundred and fourteen birds common to
Europe and Japan, eighty-six are found in the British Is-
lands. Mr. Gould considers that the large size of the
wing in this new European Thrush indicates migratorial
powers and habits, and that it is in all probability dis-
persed over a great part of southern Siberia. Should this
eventually prove to be the case, the southern migration of
this bird is then nothing more than that which is performed
every year by the Fieldfares and Redwings, two species so
closely allied to it as to belong to the same genus ; and
these two Thrushes breeding in June in the most northern
parts of Norway and Lapland, were found by Mr. Strick-
land in winter at Smyrna, about three degrees further
south than the north of Japan. Lord Malmesbury's bird
was shot on the 24th of January, and proved to be a male.
The Ornithologists of this country are much indebted to
his lordship for the knowledge of this handsome addition to
the list of British Thrushes.

Since the publication of the preceding portion of this
subject, a notice has appeared in the eleventh volume
of the Annals of Natural History, and another in the
Fauna of the County of Cork, stating, that early in the
month of December, 1842, an example of this rare Thrush

206 MERULID^S.

was obtained by Mr. Spraine at his residence near Bandon
in the county of Cork, and is now in the possession of
G. J. Allman, Esq., of Grattan Street, Dublin. I have
also learned, by obtaining a copy of the Fauna of the
Department of the Moselle, published in 1825, at Metz, by
M. J. Holandre, librarian and conservator of the Museum
of Natural History in that city, that a specimen of this
Thrush had been taken, with several other Thrushes, a few
leagues from Metz, in the wood of Rezonville, in the
month of September, 1788. This bird was first in the
collection of the late Baron Mar chant, and is now in the
Museum of the city of Metz. The opinion of Baron Mar-
chant was, that this species might in summer visit some
part of the north of Asia, and that the individual he pos-
sessed, driven by some accidental circumstances out of the
line of migration peculiar to the birds of that part of the
world, had then fallen into the track of European migra-
tion. Bryan H. Hodgson, Esq., includes this species in
his catalogue of the Birds of Nepal, and Mr. Blyth has
sent it from Calcutta. M. Temminck seems to incline to
the opinion that the specimens found in Japan, those found
in India, and the seven or eight examples which have been
taken in different parts of Europe, all belong to the same
species.

Of the habits of this species but little, I believe, is
known ; in Japan, M. Temminck says it inhabits high
mountains.

The beak is dark brown, except the base of the under
mandible, which is pale yellow brown ; the space between
the beak and the eye pale wood-brown ; the irides hazel :
the feathers on the upper part of the head and neck yellow
brown, tipped with black ; those of the back, scapulars,
and the upper tail-coverts, darker brown, with a crescentic
tip of black, the shaft of each feather yellow : the smaller

WHITE'S THRUSH. 207

wing-coverts have broad pale yellow ends, the lateral webs
black, the shafts yellow brown ; the greater wing-coverts
dark brown with light yellow brown ends, together form-
ing two oblique descending bars ; the feathers of the spu-
rious wing are light yellow brown, tipped with black, form-
ing an ascending oblique bar ; the wing-feathers pale brown
on the outer web, brownish black on the inner web, with
dark brown ends, the shafts black : the four central tail-
feathers uniform pale brown ; the others darker in the webs,
but lighter at the ends, and of these the outer tail-feathers
are the lightest. The chin and throat is white ; from the
lower edge of the under mandible descends a narrow dark
streak ; the neck, breast, and all the under surface, white,
tinged on the breast and flanks with yellow brown, all the
feathers having a black semilunar tip ; before the wing on
each side, the brown colour of the back extends a little
forward toward the breast; anterior under wing-coverts
white at the base, and black at the tip ; under tail-coverts
white ; under surface of the tail-feathers greyish brown,
the shafts white ; legs and toes pale brown, the claws rather
lighter.

This bird having been killed in Hampshire, was named
after White of Selborne by my friend T. C. Eyton, Esq.

208
INSES80RES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MERULIDJS.

MERULID^.

THE FIELDFARE.

Turdus pilaris.

Turdus pilaris, The Fieldfare,

Merula
Turdus

Merle litorne,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 404.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 121.
Thrush, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 65.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 160.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 99.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 163.

THE FIELDFARE is a well-known migratory Thrush that
comes to us from the north, and is one of the latest, if not
the last, species that makes its annual and regular winter
visit to Great Britain and the North of Ireland. It seldom
appears much before the beginning of November, depending

FIELDFARE. 209

on the temperature of the season, and frequently later than
that, arriving here in large flocks in search of food, and if
the weather continues open and mild, spreading themselves
over pasture-lands to look for worms, slugs, the larvae of
insects, and any other soft-bodied animals of that sort ; but
on the occurrence of snow or frost, they betake themselves
to the hedges, and feed greedily on haws and various other
berries. At this time they are much sought after by
youthful gunners, who find them shy and difficult to ap-
proach : the whole flock taking wing and keeping together,
settle by scores on some distant tree, from whence, if again
disturbed, they wheel off in a body as before. Should the
weather become very severe, the Fieldfares leave us to go
further south, and are again seen on their return. They are
known to go as far to the south and to the east as Minorca,
Sicily, Malta, Smyrna, and Erzeroum. The Fieldfare does
not return to its breeding-ground till late in the season.
I have known them shot on the 12th of May, and others
have been seen much later. White of Selborne says that
one particular season they remained till the beginning of
June ; and he asks, why do they not breed in the High-
lands? Some instances have occurred of the Fieldfare
breeding in this country ; and Pennant, or the editor rather
of the last edition of the British Zoology, mentions two in-
stances that came to his knowledge. More recently, a nest
has been found in Kent, and others in Yorkshire and Scot-
land ; but in Orkney and Shetland, according to the ob-
servations of Mr. Dunn, it is only seen on its passage to and
from other countries. Mr. W. C. Hewitson, who visited
Norway a few summers since, thus describes the nesting
habits of the Fieldfare : — After a long ramble through
some very thick woods, " our attention was attracted by the
harsh cries of several birds, which wre at first supposed
VOL. i. p

210 MERULIM.

must be Shrikes, but which afterwards proved to be Field-
fares. We were soon delighted by the discovery of seve-
ral of their nests, and were surprised to find them (so con-
trary to the habits of other species of the genus Turdus
with which we are acquainted) breeding in society. Their
nests were at various heights from the ground, from four
feet to thirty or forty feet or upwards ; they were, for the
most part, placed against the trunk of the spruce fir ; some
were, however, at a considerable distance from it, upon the
upper surface and towards the smaller end of the thicker
branches : they resembled most nearly those of the Ring
Ouzel ; the outside is composed of sticks, and coarse grass
and weeds gathered wet, matted with a small quantity of
clay, and lined with a thick bed of fine dry grass : none of
them yet contained more than three eggs, although we
afterwards found that five was more commonly the number
than four, and that even six was very frequent ; they are
very similar to those of the Blackbird, and even more so to
the Ring Ouzel. The Fieldfare is the most abundant bird
in Norway, and is generally diffused over that part which
we visited; building, as already noticed, in society, two
hundred nests or more being frequently seen within a very
small space." The eggs are light blue, mottled over with
spots of dark red brown ; the length one inch three lines,
the breadth ten lines.

Wm. Christy, Esq., Jun., who, with a party of natural-
ists, visited Norway in the summer of 1836, says, on the
mountains called the Dovrefeld, Fieldfares were rearing
their young ; they were just able to fly about on the 6th
of August.

The call-note of the Fieldfare is harsh ; but its song is
soft and melodious. In confinement it soon becomes recon-
ciled, and sings agreeably. At night when at large it fre-

FIELDFARE.

quents evergreens and thick plantations ; but, unlike its
congeners, it has frequently been known to roost on the
ground among fern, heath, or furze, on bushy commons.

This bird is well known in Sweden, Russia, and Siberia,
where it is found only in summer : in Poland, Prussia, and
Austria, it remains the whole year ; but in France, and the
southern countries of Europe, it is a winter visitor, extend-
ing its migration, in that season only, as before stated.

The point of the beak is black ; the base of the upper
mandible dark brown, the base of the lower mandible pale
yellow brown; the space between the beak and the eye
black ; the irides hazel brown ; the upper part of the head
ash grey, spotted with dark brown ; the neck, ear-coverts,
upper part of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, ash
grey ; the back, wings, and wing-coverts, rich hazel brown ;
greater wing-coverts edged with grey ; wing-primaries dark
slate grey, the outer edges and tips lighter grey, the shafts
black : upper surface of tail-feathers nearly black ; the tail in
form slightly forked : chin and throat golden amber, streaked
longitudinally with black ; the breast reddish brown, spot-
ted with black : the belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts,
white ; the two latter spotted with greyish brown and dark
brown : under wing-coverts white ; under surface of wing-
primaries and of the tail-feathers dark slaty grey : legs and
toes dark brown ; claws black.

The whole length of the Fieldfare is full ten inches : the
length of the wing from the carpal joint, five inches and
five-eighths ; the first wing-feather very short ; the second
a little longer than the fifth ; the third and fourth feathers
equal in length, and the longest in the wing.

The female has the beak darker brown ; the head more
clouded with brown ; the colour of the back less pure, and
the legs of a paler brown.

p 2

MERULID^.

IN8E88ORES.

DENTIROSTR Ex.

MERULIDM

m

THE SONG THRUSH.

Turdus musicus.

Turdus musicus, The Song Thrush, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 407.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 119.

„ „ Common „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 64.

Song „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 162.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 100.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Merula musica,
Turdus musicus,

Merle Grive,

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 164.

THE SONG THRUSH is not only well known, but is also a
general favourite, from the prevailing opinion that of our
larger singing birds the Thrush is the best, possessing to a
greater extent than others a combination of the three requi-
sites— power, quality of tone, and variety. Its song is

SONG THRUSH. 213

also continued through a large portion of the year, begin-
ning early in spring, and continuing it at intervals till
autumn. In addition to this great recommendation to
favour, the bird is inoffensive in habit, elegant in shape,
sprightly in action, and engaging by its confidence. It is
a native of Europe generally, and resident throughout the
year in all the more temperate portions. It is not, like
the Redwing, gregarious, but is so distributed that scarcely
any district not entirely destitute of wood is found to be
without it. It frequents more particularly small woods,
plantations, and shrubberies, seeking its food in meadows,
lawns, and gardens. It feeds on insects, worms, various
species of garden snail (the shells of which are broken
against a stone, and afterwards shaken off with great
dexterity), fruit, and, in the winter, various berries. In
the grape countries of Europe, the Thrush feeds luxuriously
during autumn on ripe grapes ; and in France this bird is
in great request for the table at that time, from the extra
condition and flavour which abundance of this rich food
imparts to its flesh.

White of Selborne considered it a rule, that whenever
there was incubation, there was music ; and the early
spring song of the Thrush is an equally true indication of
an early breeder. The nest is frequently placed in the
centre of a thick and tall bush or shrub, sometimes in
a holly or fir tree, and occasionally this bird has been
known to make its nest in an open shed or tool-house.
The nest formed externally of green moss and fine roots ;
the inner surface smooth and compact, being lined with a
thin coating of clay and rotten wood, so equally spread over
and cemented, that when dry, it will, for a time, hold water ;
and so much rain has been found in a Thrush's nest in an
exposed situation, as to have induced the belief that the
nest had been deserted as untenable. The eggs are usually

MERULIDjE.

four or five in number, of a beautiful light blue colour,
with a few small well-defined black spots over the larger
end,— but sometimes without spots ; the length of the egg
one inch one line, by ten lines in breadth. An observer,
in Mr. London's Magazine of Natural History, after de-
tailing some particulars as to the nest building by a pair of
Thrushes, writes, " When all was finished, the cock took
his share of the hatching ; but he did not sit so long as the
hen, and he often fed her while she was upon the nest.
In thirteen days the young birds were out of the shells,
which the old ones always carried off." Mr. Jenyns, in
his Manual, says, the young of the first brood are hatched
about the beginning of April, and sometimes earlier. I
remember once to have seen young Thrushes on the last day
of March. The parent birds rear two broods in the season.
Mr. Knapp, in his Journal of a Naturalist, has related
an interesting fact in reference to the Thrush in the follow-
ing terms : — " We observed this summer two Common
Thrushes frequenting the shrubs on the green in our garden.
From the slenderness of their forms and the freshness of
their plumage, we pronounced them to be birds of the
preceding summer. There was an association and friend-
ship between them that called our attention to their actions.
One of them seemed ailing, or feeble from some bodily
accident ; for though it hopped about, yet it appeared
unable to obtain sufficiency of food. Its companion, an
active, sprightly bird, would frequently bring it worms or
bruised snails, when they mutually partook of the banquet ;
and the ailing bird would wait patiently, understand the
actions, expect the assistance of the other, and advance
from his asylum upon its approach. This procedure was
continued for some days ; but after a time we missed the
fostered bird, which probably died, or by reason of its
weakness met with some fatal accident."

SONG THRUSH.

Towards the end of autumn our native Thrushes receive
a considerable accession in number from the birds that
arrive from the North. M. Nilsson, a Professor of Natural
History in Sweden, says, " the Thrushes leave that country
for the winter, and come further south;" and Mr. Selby
remarks, that, " like many of our autumnal visitants, they
arrive with a north or north-east wind, plainly indicating
the countries from which they hold their progress. After
recruiting their strength for a few days, they move onward
in a southerly direction."

The Thrush is universally spread over England, Wales,
Ireland, Scotland, and its islands : it is also common during
summer in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. From
thence southwards it extends over Germany, France, Italy,
Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and the Morea, in autumn and winter,
and has been seen as far as Smyrna, Trebizond, and Erze-
roum.

The beak is umber brown, except the base of the under
mandible, which is a paler yellow brown ; the irides hazel
brown ; the upper part of the head, neck, and back, wings,
rump, and upper surface of the tail-feathers, dark hair-
brown; the external edges of the primaries and wing-
coverts wood-brown; from the beak to the eye a dark
brown streak, with a* lighter brown streak over it; the
eyelids light brown ; the feathers forming the ear-coverts
mottled with two shades of brown, with darker coloured
tips forming part of a circle ; the chin white ; the throat,
sides of the neck, breast, and flanks, ochraceous yellow,
spotted with dark brown; belly, vent, and tail-coverts,
nearly white, the former with a few well-defined spots
of dark brown; under surface of tail-feathers reddish
brown ; legs and toes pale brown, claws darker brown.

The whole length rather less than nine inches. The wings
from the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary,

216 MEHTJLID^.

four inches and five-eighths : the first feather very short ;
the second rather longer than the fifth; the third and
fourth nearly equal in length, longer than the second ; the
third the longest in the wing.

The female is smaller than the male ; the head and upper
part of the neck are lighter ; the white of the breast not
so pure, with less of the yellow colour ; the breast spots
larger, and not so well defined.

The back and scapulary feathers in young birds have
each a pale yellowish spot in the centre, and the smaller
wing-coverts streaked with pale brown.

Varieties in colour among Thrushes are not uncommon.

The sternum, or breastbone, in Birds may be considered
the most characteristic, as it is also one of the most import-
ant, of the bones in their skeleton. It has already been
observed, that the extent of surface furnished by the sides
and keel of this bone indicate the size and strength of
the muscles which move the wings, and therefore afford
a criterion by which to judge of the comparative power
of flight possessed by the species. The breastbone also
supports and protects all the most important soft parts of
the body. A figure of the sternum of one species in each
genus, as far as practicable, will therefore be introduced
among the vignettes, for the purpose of illustrating generic
form in bone, and the general accordance in figure, in con-
junction with external characters and habits, may be ac-
cepted in proof of systematic arrangement.

REDWING,

INSESSORES.

DKXTIROSTRES.

217

MERULIDuE.

THE REDWING.

Turdus iliacus.

Turdus iliacus, The Redwing,

Merula iliaca,
Turdus iliacus,

Redwing Thrush,
The Redwing,

Merle Mauvis,

PENN. Brit. Zoo], vol. i. p. 409.

MONT. Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 123.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 65.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 165.

JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 100.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 165.

THE REDWING is another winter visitor to the British
Islands, which, like the Fieldfare, comes to us in flocks
from the northern and north-eastern parts of Europe, but
with this difference, that they make their appearance earlier
in the year than the Fieldfare, arriving frequently by the
middle or before the end of October. It has also been

218 MERULIM.

observed that the Redwings are unable to bear hard weather
so well as the Fieldfares. While in this country, the Red-
wings inhabit parks and pleasure-grounds that are orna-
mented with clumps of trees ; and, like the Thrush, which
they most resemble in external appearance, they seek their
subsistence in mild and open weather in pasture lands and
moist meadows, feeding principally on worms, snails, and
other soft-bodied animals. They are much less inclined to
feed on berries than most of the other species of this genus ;
and should the resources usually obtained by their search
on the ground be closed against them by long-continued
frost and snow, the Redwings are the first among birds to
suffer, and during some severe seasons, such as 1799, 1814,
and 1822} hundreds have been found almost starved, alike
unable to prosecute their journey further south to more
congenial countries, or to bear the rigour of this.

It is worthy of notice, as an instance in the economy of
nature, that many birds feed without hesitation or prejudice
on berries that are said to be injurious to man.

After the winter is over, during which the Redwings
frequently visit for a time the most southern parts of
Europe, namely Sicily and Malta, and were seen by Mr.
Strickland at Smyrna, they return in flocks to the more
central portions, where they remain till the gradual advance
of the season induces them to continue their journey north-
ward. Mr. Blyth has seen and heard them in Surrey, Mr.
Doubleday in Essex, and Mr. Williamson in Yorkshire, as
late as the month of May ; and White of Selborne remarks,
that one very cold and backward season they lingered in
Hampshire till June. An instance is recorded of the nest
of this bird being taken near Barnet, in Middlesex ; another
has occurred near Godalming, in Surrey. A few Redwings
have been observed to remain all the summer in Aberdeen-
shire ; and Dr. Fleming states, that " Mr. Bullock, in a

REDWING.

letter to him, dated the 23rd April, 1829, mentioned the
circumstance of the Redwing's breeding in Harris, one of
the Hebrides, where he had observed it in the preceding
summer."

Monsieur Vieillot, the well-known French naturalist,
says the Redwing builds in trees in the environs of Dant-
zic.

In Sweden, M. Nilsson states that this bird breeds in
moist woods in June, and that the eggs are six in number.
In Norway, Mr. Hewitson remarks that " the Redwing
was but seldom seen, and then perched upon the summit
of one of the highest trees, pouring forth its delightfully
wild note. It was always very shy, and upon seeing our
approach would drop suddenly from its height and disap-
pear amongst the underwood. Its nest, which we twice
found with young ones, was similar to that of the Field-
fare, but nearer the ground. The eggs are blue with pale
red specks.

" The Redwing is called the Nightingale of Norway ;
and well it deserves the name."

Linneus, several times in his Tour in Lapland, notices the
song of the Redwing, " whose amorous warblings from the
top of the spruce fir were delightful. Its high and varied
notes rival those of the Nightingale herself." A Redwing
in the new aviary at the Zoological Gardens, sung con-
stantly during the spring of 1852, with a fine rich voice.

During summer the Redwing advances even further
north than the Fieldfare, visiting the Faroe Islands and
Iceland ; it is found also in Russia ; but it leaves these
northern countries as winter approaches and extends its mi-
gration over central Europe as already mentioned.

The beak is brownish black, except at the base of the
under mandible, where it is pale yellow brown ; the top of
the head, the upper surface of the neck, the back, rump,

MERULUXE.

upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers, uniform clove-brown ;
wing-feathers a shade darker, but with lighter- coloured ex-
ternal edges : from the beak to the eye, and the ear-coverts,
clove brown ; over the eye a streak of pale wood-brown ;
the irides hazel ; the chin, throat, belly, vent-feathers, and
under tail-coverts, dull white ; sides of the neck, upper
part of the breast, and the flanks, dull white, tinged with
wood-brown, and streaked longitudinally with clove-brown ;
under surface of the great wing and tail-feathers ash-grey ;
sides of the body, under wing-coverts, and axillary feathers,
bright reddish orange, from which peculiarity the bird has
derived its name : legs pale brown ; toes and curved claws
darker brown.

The whole length of the Redwing is about eight inches
and three-quarters. The wing from the carpal joint to the
end of the longest primary measures four inches and three-
eighths : the first feather very short ; the second equal in
length to the fifth; the third and fourth also equal in
length, and the longest in the wing.

The plumage of the female Redwing is less bright than
that of the male.

White and cream-coloured varieties of this bird have
been obtained.

The outline vignette below represents the form of the
breastbone of the Great Grey Shrike and the spotted
Flycatcher.

BLACKBIRD.

MERULIDJE.

DENTIROSTRES.

THE BLACKBIRD.

Turdus merula.

Turdus merula, The Blackbird, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 411.

„ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 125.

„ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 65.

Merula vulgaris, „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 167.

Turdus merula, „ JEXYNS, Brit Vert. p. 101.

Merula vulgaris, „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Turdus Merula, Merle noir, TEMH. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 168.

THE BLACKBIRD is a species so generally known that
but little need be said of its habits or its haunts. Unlike
most of the species of the genus to which it belongs, it is
very seldom seen in flocks, and rarely more than two are to
be observed in company. Numbers are bred in this coun-

MERULID^E.

try every season ; and those thus reared, it is believed, do
not migrate.

The Blackbird frequents hedges, thickets, plantations,
and woods. They are shy, restless, and vigilant, frequent-
ing the ground under cover of evergreens and other shrubs
that serve to conceal them ; and if disturbed they take
wing with a vociferous chattering cry of alarm, and after
a short flight turn suddenly into some thick brake or
hedgerow to avoid further pursuit.

The food of the Blackbird varies considerably with the
season. In the spring and early part of the summer it con-
sists of the larvae of insects, with worms and snails, the
shells of which are dexterously broken against a stone to
get at the soft body of the animal within : as the season
advances, they exhibit their great partiality for fruit of
various sorts, and their constant visits to the garden bring
upon them the vengeance of the gardener, whose gun is
ever ready at hand to repel or destroy the numerous in-
truders. When, however, the enormous number of insects
and their larvae, with the abundance of slugs and snails,
all injurious to vegetation, which are eaten by Blackbirds
throughout a great portion of the year, are duly considered,
it may fairly be doubted whether the value of the fruit is
not counterbalanced by services performed, and I join in
the recommendation of the compassionate author of the
poem on the Birds of Scotland, who says,

" Scare, if ye will, his timid wing away,
But, oh, let not the leaden viewless shower,
Yollied from flashing tube, arrest his flight,
And fill his tuneful, gaping bill with blood."

GKAHAME.

The song of the Blackbird is more remarkable for power
and quality of tone than for compass or variety. It is
usually much too loud except for the open air, and the

BLACKBIRD. 223

same notes are too frequently repeated. This bird com-
mences his song early in the spring; and it has been
observed that he occasionally sings his best strain during
the continuance of a warm April shower. He continues
singing at intervals throughout the summer, and till the
regular moulting of the season commences.

Like some other birds gifted with great powers of voice,
the Blackbird is an imitator of the sounds made by others.
He has been heard to imitate closely part of the song of
the Nightingale ; three or four instances are recorded of his
having been known to crow exactly like the Common Cock,
apparently enjoying the sound of the responses made by
the fowls of the neighbouring farm-yard ; and Mr. Neville
Wood, in his British Song Birds, has mentioned an in-
stance in which he heard a Blackbird cackle as a hen does
after laying.

The Blackbird pairs and breeds very early in the spring,
generally choosing the centre of some thick bush in which
to fix and conceal the nest. The outside is formed of
coarse roots and strong bents of grass, plastered over or in-
termixed with dirt on the inner surface, forming a stiff
wall : it is then lined with finer bents. The eggs are four
or five in number, sometimes, but rarely, six, of a light
blue colour, speckled and spotted with pale reddish brown :
the eggs of the Blackbird are occasionally found of a uni-
form blue, without any spots whatever ; the length of the
egg one inch two lines, the breadth ten lines. The first
brood of young are hatched by the end of March, or early
in April.

The Blackbird is very generally distributed. It is found
over the whole of the counties of the South of England
from Sussex to Cornwall ; it is common in "Wales ; and,
according to Mr. Thompson of Belfast, it is very common
and constantly resident in Ireland : it is found also in the

224* MERULmffi.

northern counties ; and in Northumberland, Mr. Selby says
that "about the beginning of November vast flocks of
Blackbirds make their appearance upon our coasts, from
more northern countries. They remain but a few days to
recruit, and then resume their flight in a south-westerly
direction."

The Blackbird is also found over Scotland. Mr. Selby
saw it in Sutherlandshire in June, 1834; and it is re-
corded as inhabiting the Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetland.

In Sweden, Professor Nilsson says it is common every-
where ; and Mr. Hewitson and his party saw it occasion-
ally in Norway. From the northern parts of Europe it is
spread southward over the whole of the European conti-
nent to Italy, Corfu, Sicily, and Malta, and is known to
go from thence to North Africa. According to M. Tem-
minck, the Blackbird also inhabits the Morea ; and Mr.
Charles Darwin saw it as far to the westward as Tercera,
one of the Azores.

The beak and the edges of the eyelids in the adult male
are gamboge-yellow : the whole of the plumage black ;
under surface of the wings shining greyish black ; the legs
and toes brownish black ; claws black.

The whole length of the bird is about ten inches. The
wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the longest pri-
mary, four inches and seven-eighths : the first feather very
short ; the second not quite so long as the fifth, but longer
than the sixth ; the third, fourth, and fifth feathers, equal
in length, and the longest in the wing.

In the female, all the plumage of the upper surface is
uniform umber brown ; the chin, throat, and upper part
of the breast, reddish yellow brown, with a few darker-
coloured spots ; belly, sides, and under tail-coverts, hair-
brown.

The young have the upper parts blackish brown, darker

BLACKBIRD.

in the males, each feather having a central spot or streak of
pale rufous : under parts light rufous brown, with terminal
dark spots, generally more distinct in the males.

Young males having completed their first autumn moult,
are intermediate in the general colour of their plumage be-
tween that of the adult female and adult male, the yellow
also beginning to appear at the point of the beak.

Having previously stated some of the laws which appear
to govern the assumption and changes of colour in the
plumage of birds, I may here add a few remarks on the
disposition and situation of the feathers themselves. It is
not, however, my intention to attempt to describe the
structure and growth of a feather, one of the most com-
plicated of all the various productions of the skin in
animals ; such minute anatomical details would be out of
place in a work intended to be popular, but the reader
who is inclined to pursue this part of the subject may con-
sult with advantage the " Developement of Feathers," by
F. Cuvier, in the Memoires du Museum, torn, xiii ; or the
article " Aves," in the first volume of the Cyclopaedia of
Anatomy and Physiology by Professor Owen.

In young birds the first feathers are preceded in their
passage through the skin by filaments of down ; but after
the first plumage, at the regular period of moulting, each
old feather is the pioneer of that which is to follow. The
natural moult proceeds by degrees, and the large quill-
feathers of the wings and tail are generally shed and re-
newed by pairs.

" Although the feathers of birds appear to be an entire
and uniform covering, they do not arise equally from every
part of the body, but only from such parts of the skin as
are least liable to be affected by the motion of the conti-
guous parts, such as the action of the limbs.

VOL. I. Q

226 MERULID^E.

" The feathers arise pretty equally on the head where
there is no motion; and along the back, on the wings
between joint and joint ; as also on the thighs and legs ;
the whole forming a kind of partial coat of mail. As they
do not arise from every part of the skin equally, they must
be proportionately thick-set where they do arise.

" The places of origin of feathers are very observable in
a bird that has been plucked ; but still more so in young
birds just feathering, more especially of such as have but
little down, and of which the clumps of feathers, from their
colour, as in the young Blackbird, present a great contrast
with the skin.

" In the interstices of the clumps of feathers, there are
others disposed irregularly, but so sparingly as not to in-
terfere with the motion of the part."

The four preceding paragraphs, and the two representa-
tions of the young of the Blackbird, while assuming the
first or nestling feathers, are taken from the Descriptive
and Illustrated Catalogue of the Physiological Series of
Comparative Anatomy, contained in the Museum of the
Royal College of Surgeons in London, Part II., vol. iii.,
page 311.

The upper figure shows the lines of young feathers on
the side and under part of the lower mandible ; the long
line of feathers down each side of the breast, which by
their growth and extension outwards and downwards cover
the principal part of the under surface of the body ; the
extended line of flight feathers, partly concealed by the
bend of the wing, and above them the various under wing-
coverts.

The lower figure shows the long line of feathers covering
the brain, and the whole length of the spinal column;
those on the sides of the body over the shoulders, called

BLACKBIRD.

the scapularies ; and the rows on each wing over the flight
feathers, forming the lines of the greater and lesser wing-
coverts.

Q 2

MERULIDJE.

INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MERULIDJE.

THE RING OUZEL.*

Turdus torquatus.

Turdus torquatus, Ring Ouzel,

Merula torquata,
Turdus torquatus,
Merula torquata,

Thrush,
Ouzel,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 415.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 127.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 65.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 169.

JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 101.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Turdus torquatus, Merle a plastron, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 166.

* Ousel, or Ouzel, from Oisel, old French. — Nare's
The Blackbird is also sometimes called Ouzel and Ousel. Thus Shak-
speare says—

" The Ousel cock, so black of hue,
With orange tawny bill."

Mids. N. Dr. iii. 1.

RING OUZEL. 229

THE RING OUZEL is a summer visitor to the British
Islands ; and its migrations are thus decidedly opposite as
to season to those of the Fieldfare and Redwing, which
visit us in winter.

The Ring Ouzel arrives in this country from the south
in the month of April, and appears to prefer the extreme
western and northern portions of these islands, visiting the
wilder, and more mountainous districts generally. They
breed, it is said, on Dartmoor every year ; and Mr. Couch
sent me notice that they breed also on the rocky ground a
little north of Liskeard. Mr. Ey ton has noticed that they
are by no means rare birds in Wales, particularly on the
Berwyn chain of mountains near Corwen. According to
Mr. Thompson,* they are distributed generally over Ire-
land ; and the birds are seen every spring in Devonshire
and Cornwall, on their passage, probably, to these breed-
ing grounds.

They are seen in Surrey, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and Nor-
folk, both in spring and autumn ; and from the circumstance
of a specimen having been shot early in the month of
August, 1836, near Saffron Walden, it was conjectured the
bird had been bred in that neighbourhood. In 1804, a pair
built in a garden at Lowestoff ; but their nests are much
more frequent in the northern counties. Mr. Allis of York
tells me that it breeds in the higher moorlands of York-
shire : and the eggs of this bird in my own collection were
sent me by Mr. Leyland of Halifax. They are known to
breed also in Derbyshire. Mr. Selby, in his Catalogue of
Birds of the county of Northumberland, says it is common
in summer throughout the Cheviot range, and the higher
parts of Cumberland and Durham. At the meeting of the
Berwick Naturalists' Club in September, 1834, Mr. Arm-
strong mentioned having procured the nest of this bird from
* Mag. of Zool. and Bot. vol. ii. p. 438.

230 MERULID^E.

the hills in the neighbourhood of Wooler. The Ring-
Ouzel breeds also in various parts of Scotland. Dr. Flem-
ing says it is not rare on the Pentland Hills near Edin-
burgh ; and Mr. Rennie has seen their nests in a wild
mountainous country behind Carntable in Argyleshire. In
Sutherlandshire, Mr. Selby found the bird abundant in
June, 1834, in all the mountainous parts ; and Mr. Bul-
lock exhibited, in his collection at the Egyptian Hall, a
male, female, nest, and eggs, taken in the Hebrides ; but
I do not find any record of this bird frequenting Orkney
or Shetland.

The Ring Ouzel visits Denmark and Sweden. In the
latter country M. Nilsson considers it a rare bird, which, he
says, arrives in April and departs in autumn. Of the Ring
Ouzel in Norway, Mr. Hewitson says it was often seen,
" frequenting many of the wooded rocks, and enlivening the
most bleak and desolate islands with its sweet song. It
shares with the Redwing the name of Nightingale, and often
delighted us in our midnight visits amongst the islands."
Further north than this the Ring Ouzel does not appear to
venture ; nor is it found in Siberia or in Russia.

In its appearance the Ring Ouzel resembles the Black-
bird ; but it frequents wild and hilly uncultivated tracts of
country, rather than those which are enclosed and inhabited.
They fly rapidly, are shy and difficult of approach, unless
you are near their nest, when they become bold and
clamorous, endeavouring by various arts to entice the in-
truder to follow them away from their treasured eggs or
young.

The nest is generally built on or near the ground, some-
times on banks by the sides of streams, occasionally placed
at the base of a stone, a stump, or a bush, which serves as
a shelter. Dr. Fleming says that in Scotland it makes its
nest among heath ; and the nests seen by Mr. Rennie in

RING OUZEL.

Argylesliire were placed on the sides of heathy banks, not
under a bush. The nest, according to Mr. Hewitson,
though differently situated, "is very similar to that of the
Blackbird, being outwardly composed of coarse grasses,
with a slight layer of clay, and thickly lined with fine dry
grass : " the eggs four or five in number, of a light blue,
speckled and spotted with reddish brown ; the length one
inch two lines, and ten lines in breadth. Mr. Heysham of
Carlisle has seen the young birds, in that vicinity, fully
fledged on the 15th of June.

The food selected by this species is similar to that sought
for by the Blackbird. It consists of snails, insects, fruit,
hawberries before the birds leave us for the winter, and
ivy -berries when they return in the spring. Sir William
Jardine, in a note to an edition of White's Selborne, says
of these birds, " Before migrating to their winter-quarters,
and often ere the duties of incubation are over, they leave
their mountainous haunts, and descend to the nearest gar-
dens, where they commit severe depredations among the
cherries, gooseberries, &c. They also frequent holly-hedges
and the mountain-ash, whenever the fruit of these trees is
so early as to be of service during their passage. They
are known to the country-people under the title of Moun-
tain Blackbird." Buffon says, they feed largely on grapes
in France, and are themselves, at that time, delicious eat-
ing : he adds also, that, in consequence of their habit of
forming their nests on the ground, they are sometimes
called Merles terres. These birds visit gardens in the
vicinity of the Forest of Orleans. The voice of the Ring
Ouzel possesses, according to Mr. Selby, a few clear and
powerful notes ; its cry of alarm, when disturbed, very
closely resembles that of the Blackbird.

The Ring Ouzel is not unfrequently seen in flocks of
twenty or thirty, about the end of October, along the line

232 MERULIDyE.

of our southern coast, when preparing for their departure.
To the Rev. Robert Holdsworth, of Brixham, I am in-
debted for a series of letters containing notes on the Na-
tural History of Birds and Fishes in Devonshire. From
this gentleman I learn that flocks of Ring Ouzels appear
in October, for about a fortnight, near Berry -head, the
Bolt-headland, and the Start Point, and are then seen no
more that year. Further to the eastward, at the Island of
Portland, where these birds assemble, they are called Mi-
chaelmas Blackbirds ; and the Isle of Purbeck is another
starting-place. White of Selborne saw them frequently
when on their route in Hampshire and Sussex. These
flights probably go to France and Spain, and from thence
to North Africa, where they pass the winter.

A specimen is occasionally obtained near London. A
female bird, in my own collection, given me by my friend
Mr. Arthur Vardon, was caught in a trap in his garden at
South Lambeth ; and a young male bird of the year was
shot out of a small flock on Wimbledon Common in Oc-
tober, 1844, by Mr. Larkham, of Roehampton.

From our eastern coast these birds probably cross the
Channel to Germany. They are rare in Holland, but com-
mon in France. They breed in the mountains of Switzer-
land, and are seen on the higher mountains of Arragon.
They are sometimes abundant in winter at Genoa and in
Italy ; but a great portion pass over to Africa, Egypt, and
Syria.

The adult male has the point of the beak almost black,
with more or less of yellow at the base ; the irides dark
brown ; the head, neck, back, upper tail-coverts, wings,
and tail-feathers nearly uniform brownish black ; the fea-
thers of the body edged with blackish grey ; the external
margins of all the wing-feathers grey, but this lighter colour
is broadest on the edges of the tertials ; the chin, throat,

RING OUZEL. 233

breast, belly, and under tail-coverts are of the same colour
as the upper surface of the body, but across the chest there
is a broad crescentic stripe of pure white : the legs, toes,
and claws, brownish black.

The length of an adult bird is about eleven inches. The
wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the longest pri-
mary, five inches and a half : the first feather of the wing
very short ; the second equal in length to the fifth ; the
third and fourth feathers also equal, and the longest in the
wing.

The female is rather lighter in colour than the adult male,
and the grey margins of the feathers are broader ; the band
across the chest is narrower ; the white colour is less pure,
and clouded with reddish brown and grey.

Young males resemble the adult female ; but in young
females the pectoral gorget is scarcely perceptible.

Specimens without the white crescent have been called
Rock-thrushes. White, and some otherwise marked va-
rieties, are said to have occurred.

The vignette represents the form of the breast-bone of
the Common Dipper.

234

IN8E8SORE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

MEHULIDJE.

MERULIDJE.

GOLD-VENTED THRUSH.

Turdus aurigaster.

Turdus aurigaster, VIEILLOT, Encyclop. Method.

p. 657.
Le Culdor, LE VAILLANT, Ois. d'Afriq. vol.

iii. p. 46, pi. 147, f. 2.
Turdus chrysorhceus, „ TEMM. Plan. Color.

„ „ „ LESSON, Man. d'Ornitli. t. 1,

p. 231.
Gold-vented Thrush, LATHAM, Gen. Hist. v. 5, p. 82,

sp. 75.
Hcematornis „ SWAINSON, Class, of Birds, v. 2.

p. 228.

Pycnonotus „ THOMPSON, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol.

15, p. 308.

IN the month of January, 1838, this rare African Thrush
was shot at Mount Beresford, three and a half miles from

GOLD-VENTED THRUSH. 235

Waterford, by a lad while out shooting Blackbirds; he
considered it a hen Blackbird, and sold it to Dr. Robert
Burkitt of Waterford, who skinned and preserved it ; the
sex, however, was not noted. In 1843 Dr. Burkitt sent
the specimen to Win. Thompson, Esq., for exhibition in
the Natural History Section of the British Association,
then about to hold a meeting at Cork, and the subject is
noted in the Published Report of the thirteenth meeting,
in that part of the volume devoted to the Transactions of
the Sections, page 71.

Dr. Burkitt has most kindly allowed me the use of his
bird for my work on the present occasion, and the figure
at the head of this subject, and the description to be added,
were taken from this British killed specimen.

But little is known of the habits of this species by the
various authors whose names and works are here quoted.
By Le Vaillant, who has given a coloured representation
of the male, it is stated that Klaas, the faithful companion
of his travels, shot this species on the banks of the Groot-
vis river, in the Caffre country. This example, which was
found to be a male, was accompanied by another of the
same species, but Le Vaillant's fellow-traveller having only
a single-barrelled gun, the other bird, which was probably
a female, escaped while he was reloading. They afterwards
saw no more birds of this species, not even the female in
question, although they searched the district in which the
male was killed for several days.

Dr. Latham, in the fifth volume of his General History,
when noticing this species, ^observes, that in the collection
of Sir J. Anstruther are several drawings of this bird,
where it is called the Bulbul (Nightingale) of Calcutta ;
but the bird thus referred to by Dr. Latham, which is
figured in Brown's Illustrations of Zoology, plate 31,
though somewhat resembling Le Vaillant's bird, is yet a

236 MERULID^E.

different species, as comparisons of the figures and descrip-
tions appear to me to prove. These African and Indian
Thrushes have been grouped to form various genera ; the
African species included by Mr. Swainson in his genus
Hcematornis, appear to be closely allied in characters to
those of the genus Ixos of M. Temminck, as given in the
fourth part or volume of his Manual, page 606, one species
of which, called Ixos obscurus, has, according to M. Tem-
minck, been found in Andalusia, where it is said to be
common, and that it also inhabits North Africa. Of this
bird I have seen a drawing in the possession of Mr. Gould,
and, from the representation, this species has all the ap-
pearance of belonging to the same group as the Ixos plebeius
of Dr. Ruppel, found in North Africa, and those of Le
Vaillant from South Africa. Of the habits of the Culdor,
or Gold-vented Thrush, as before mentioned, nothing is
known that I am aware of.

The beak black ; the irides probably dark brown ; the
head, neck, back, wings, and tail-feathers, uniform umber
brown ; the feathers on the forehead and crown slightly
elongated, forming a crest when elevated, the plumage of
the whole head being a shade darker in colour than those
of the body ; throat and neck in front clove brown, be-
coming lighter on the breast, and passing into a dull white
on the belly ; vent and under tail-coverts brilliant king's
yellow ; legs, toes, and claws, black. The whole length of
the bird seven and a half inches ; the wing, from the
anterior joint to the end of the longest quill -feather, three
and a half inches ; the first qufl.1 -feather very short, about
one inch in length ; the second three-quarters of an inch
longer than the first, but shorter than the third : the fourth
feather the longest in the wing; the tail very slightly
forked.

GOLDEN ORIOLE.

237

DEXTIROSTRES.

HERULID&.

THE GOLDEN ORIOLE.

Oriolus galbula.

Oriolus galbula, Golden Oriole, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 303.

„ „ „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 109.

„ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 66.

„ „ SELBY, Brit. Omith. vol. i. p. 176.

» „ „ JEXYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 102.

•> » „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Le Lor lot,

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 129.

238 MERULID^E.

ORIOLUS. Generic Characters. — The form of the beak is that of an
elongated cone, but slightly depressed at the base; upper mandible ridged
above, notched at the point. Nostrils basal, lateral, naked, pierced hori-
zontally in an extended membrane. Wings of moderate size, with the
first feather short ; the second feather not so long as the third, which is
the longest in the wing. Feet with three toes in front, one behind ; tarsi
shorter or only as long as the middle toe ; the outer toe joined at its base
to the middle toe.

LIKE the Ring Ouzel, though much more rare, the
Golden Oriole is also a summer visitor to Britain, an
occasional straggler being now and then obtained, but al-
ways between spring and autumn. This bird makes its
annual visit to the European continent from the countries
south of the Mediterranean in the month of April, and re-
turns in September. It is in April that a specimen is some-
times obtained on our southern coast ; and from those that
pass over France and Germany in a north-western direc-
tion, an example is occasionally procured in the maritime
counties of our eastern coast.

Very little is known of the habits of the Golden Oriole
in this country ; but greater facilities for observation occur
on the Continent, and in Italy particularly these birds are
common.

Bechstein says, they generally frequent lonely groves, or
the skirts of forests, always keeping among the most bushy
trees, so that it is rarely seen on a naked branch. They
always frequent orchards in the fruit season. M. Vieillot
also says that they frequent wooded countries, are shy and
difficult to approach. These birds, he says, are sometimes
deceived by an expert sportsman, who advances towards
them whistling their note ; but the ear of the bird is so
correct that a single mistake, or false note, made in the
imitation of his song, is a sufficient hint to the bird,
and he takes wing instantly. Mr. Swainson, speaking
of the habits of the Orioles generally, says, they live in

GOLDEN ORIOLE. 239

small flocks, fly well, and frequent high trees, among the
foliage of which they seek for caterpillars, soft insects, and
fruits.

The Golden Oriole is the only European species of the
genus, and its nest is very different in shape from those of
some of its foreign congeners, which are elongated, purse-
like, and pendant. The nest of the Golden Oriole is rather
flat and saucer-shaped, generally placed in the horizontal
fork of a bough of a tree, to both branches of which it is
firmly attached. The materials used to form the nest are
sheep's wool and long slender stems of grass, which are so
curiously interwoven as mutually to confine and sustain
each other. The vignette at the end of this article re-
presents a nest of this bird, taken, by permission, from a
specimen presented to the Zoological Society by Professor
Passerini of Florence. Another nest of this bird, exactly
resembling the one just referred to in form, materials, and
structure, is represented by Mr. Meyer in his Illustra-
tions of British Birds, from a nest taken in Suffolk ; and
I have been told that Mr. Scales of Beecham Well had
eggs of the Golden Oriole in his collection which had been
taken in Norfolk. The eggs are usually four or five in
number, one inch two lines long, and ten lines in breadth,
of a wliite colour slightly tinged with purple, and with a
few distinct spots of ash-grey and claret colour. The
female is said to be so tenacious of her eggs as to suffer
herself to be taken with the nest. A writer in the Natu-
ralist mentions having seen a pair of young birds in nearly
full plumage exhibited for sale in the public market at
Cologne, for which he was asked the moderate sum of
three shillings. Bechstein says that the parent birds rear
but one brood in a season ; which helps to account for the
scarcity of this very handsome bird. The food of this

240 MERULID^E.

species is various, consisting of insects and their larvae, with
figs, cherries, grapes, and other fruits in their season.

The voice of the Oriole is said to be loud : Bechstein
considers it to be full and flute-like ; its call -note, he says,
is well expressed by the term puhlo. The Spaniards call
this bird Turiol ; the French, Loriot ; the English, Oriole ;
— all of which are said to have some resemblance to the
sound of the bird's call-note, and to have given origin to
its name.*

In April, 1824, a young male in its third state of plum-
age was obtained at Aldershot in Hampshire. When shot,
it was in company with some Blackbirds. This specimen
was purchased and preserved for the Rev. Dr. G. Thack-
eray, the Provost of King's College, Cambridge, by whom
it has been most obligingly lent me for my use in this
work. Two examples are recorded by Dr. Moore to have
been killed in Devonshire. By a communication from Mr.
Couch of Polperro, I find that several specimens have been
obtained in Cornwall ; Montagu, in his Supplement, also
mentions two instances ; and Mr. E. H. Rodd has sent me
a notice of one shot in 1833 near the Land's End. Pen-
nant has recorded one shot in South Wales. One was
shot in Gorton Fields, near Manchester, in July, 1811 ;
and another was shot in Quermore Park, near Lancaster,
which is now preserved in the Museum of that town. For
this last communication I am indebted to Mr. T. Howitt,
jun. From Mr. Thompson's contributions to the Natural
History of Ireland, we find that five specimens have been
obtained in different parts of that country since the year
1817.

* The generic term, however, like that of Icterus, for a genus closely
allied, is probably intended to have reference to the prevailing yellow
colour of the birds.

GOLDEN ORIOLE. 241

Two birds, both males, were shot at Charleston, near
Alfriston in Sussex, in the beginning of May, 1833, as I
learn from Mr. William Borrer, Jun. ; Mr. Knox notices
several obtained in the same county, and others have been
taken in Kent and Essex.

In Surrey, the Golden Oriole has been seen near Walton
by Mr. Meyer, whose name has been mentioned in re-
ference to the nest ; and a specimen of the bird was shot
near Godalming in 1833. In the summer of the same year,
a fine example of this beautiful bird was seen for several
successive days in the garden of William Harrison, Esq.,
at Cheshunt. Some years since, two of these birds were
taken near Saxmundham in Suffolk, and were in the pos-
session of Mr. Bright of that place. A male and female
shot at Diss in Norfolk, in 1829, were in the collection of
the Rev. Francis Henson at Cambridge. Other specimens
have been obtained in Norfolk. I learn from the Rev.
Richard Lubbock, that one was killed at Hethersett, near
Norwich, in April, 1824, which is still preserved ; and it
is stated in the Transactions of the Linnean Society, that
a pair of these birds built a nest in the garden of the Rev.
Mr. Lucas of Ormsby. Mr. Selby mentions an instance
of a female that was killed in a garden at Tynemouth in
Durham, which is also stated by Mr. Bewick; I possess
a young bird of the year, killed in Yorkshire ; but this
species does not appear to have been seen in Scotland, or
on its islands. M. Nilsson says that it occasionally breeds
in Sweden.

In Germany, Holland, and France, tlu's bird is not un-
common ; and it is still more numerous in Spain, Provence,
and Italy. Edwards, the English naturalist, had one sent
him that was shot on the rock of Gibraltar ; and the Zoo-
logical Society have received it from Tangiers. At Sicily
and Malta these birds arrive in September, on their way

VOL. I. R

MERULIDJl.

back to pass the winter in Africa ; and the Zoological
Society have received specimens from Tunis, Egypt,
Smyrna, Trebizond, and Erzeroum.

The adult male has the beak orange brown ; from the
base of the beak to the eye a dark coloured streak ; irides
lake red : the whole of the head, neck, and body, above
and below, with the upper and under tail-coverts, bright
gamboge yellow ; the wings black ; the ends of the fea-
thers of the spurious wing yellow ; the outer edge of the
primaries, and the tips of the secondaries and tertials, yel-
lowish white ; upper surface of the two middle tail-feathers
black, tipped with yellow ; the outer tail-feather on each
side has its basal half black, the remaining portion yellow :
in the tail-feathers on each side between the outside feather
and those in the centre, the black colour occupies a larger
space in each successively ; the tail in form is slightly
rounded : under wing-coverts yellow ; under surface of the
quill-feathers and the dark part of the tail-feathers, greyish
black ; legs and toes lead colour ; the claws, like the beak,
orange brown.

The whole length of the bird is nine inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest feather in
the wing, six inches and a quarter : the first wing-feather
not quite half as long as the second; the second not so
long as the fourth, but longer than the fifth'; the third
feather the longest in the wing.

The female has not the dark streak between the beak
and the eye ; the upper surface of the plumage is oil -green ;
upper tail-coverts greenish yellow ; wing-coverts brocoli-
brown ; the quill -feathers blackish brown ; the ends of the
spurious wing-feathers tipped with white ; outer edges and
ends of the quill -feathers margined with dull white : upper
surface of tail-feathers brocoli-brown, tinged with yellow
at the base, streaked and tipped with brighter yellow ;

GOLDEN ORIOLE. 243

throat, breast, and under surface of the body, dull greyish
white, streaked longitudinally with dark brown on the
shafts of the feathers ; sides of the body and flanks yellow,
streaked with dark brown ; under tail-coverts pure yel-
low ; under surface of tail-feathers yellow mixed with dull

According to Mr. Macgillivray, " the young, in its first
plumage, is of a dusky yellowish grey tint above, each
feather having the central part greyish brown ; the lower
parts yellowish white, each feather with a central brown
line ; the sides and lower tail-coverts bright yellow ; the
wings and tail brown, marked with yellow, as in the adult.
The male is easily distinguished from the female by its
lighter colour." The irides are brown ; the beak dark grey.

After the first moult, the young resemble old females.

In the Rev. Dr. Thackeray's British killed specimen,
which had not attained the truly adult male livery, the
upper surface of the body is tinged with wine yellow : the
scapulars and a few feathers on the centre of the back
streaked with black ; the wings not so decidedly black :
the spurious wing-feathers are slightly tipped with greyish
white, not bright yellow, on the distal half of their length,
as in the old male first described ; the quill-feathers with
narrow lighter-coloured outer margins and tips : the fea-
thers of the tail have the proximal two -thirds black, the
rest yellow : under surface of the body yellow, tinged with
green, and still retaining faint indications of darker streaks
in the direction of the shafts of the feathers.

Mr. Hoy agrees with me in considering that the male
does not obtain its brilliant yellow and black plumage until
the third year. This gentleman in one of his letters states,
" some pairs are observed breeding, in which you can
scarcely distinguish male from female ; others still further
advanced, but the plumage is not bright." This, it will be

R 2

MERULID^E.

observed, is in accordance with the descriptions here given
as those of the second and third summer.

The Oriole so frequently received from India, Oriolus
aureus, which is by some considered to be identical with
the bird under description, is, however, distinct, and may be
immediately recognised by having the dark mark behind
the eye, reaching to some distance above the ear coverts ;
the wing is also much shorter, not reaching near so far
towards the end of the tail.

ROCK THRUSH.

IN8ESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

245

MERULIDM

THE ROCK THRUSH.

Petrocincla saxatilis.

Petrodnda saxatilis, Rock Thrush, VIGORS, Zool. Journ. T. 2, p. 396.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Turdus „ Merle de Roche, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 172,

y. iii. p. 102.

PETROCIXCLA. Generic Characters. — Beak stout, straight, the ridge
arched towards the point. Nostrils basal, round, partly covered with
hairs. Wings of moderate length ; the first quill-feather very' short, the
third the longest, the second a little shorter than the third. Feet of
moderate size, rather strong. Tail-feathers equal at the end.

THE beautiful specimen of the Rock Thrush figured
above, was obtained on the 19th of May, 1843, by Mr.

246 MERULIDJ5.

Joseph Trigg, who shot it at Therfield, near Royston, in
Hertfordshire, while it was sitting on an ash-tree in the
evening of the day mentioned. I saw the specimen before
it was skinned for preservation by Mr. John Norman of
Royston, and received the first notice of the occurrence
from my friend Thomas Wortham, Esq., whose influence
with Mr. Trigg obtained for me the loan of the bird for
my use in this work ; and I beg to return my best thanks
to all the parties, for the opportunity thus afforded me of
figuring and describing the first example of the Rock
Thrush that has been known to occur in this country. I
have now very recently heard of another specimen shot by
a gamekeeper, who, not aware of the interest attached to
such a bird, saved only the head and neck ; but this portion
having been shown to a gentleman conversant with ornitho-
logy, the species was identified without difficulty from its
peculiar colouring.

The habits of this Thrush, and the localities it prefers,
induced M. Temminck, in his Manual, to separate it and
some others of the same character, from the true Wood or
Sylvan Thrushes, and to include them in a distinct and se-
parate section. Mr. Vigors, carrying out this view still
further, proposed for this group of ground Thrushes the
generic title and characters here adopted, and named the
Rock Thrush as the typical species of his new genus.
These birds inhabit rocky and mountainous countries, their
stout legs and short tails, as compared with the Wood
Thrushes, enabling them to traverse rough ground with
ease. They frequent the wildest parts of rocky countries,
and are found in summer on the Uralian mountains, the
Alps and Pyrenees ; they inhabit Germany, France, Swit-
zerland, and the Tyrol ; they are found in several parts of
Spain, particularly the rocky districts about Arragon ; they
breed also in Provence and in the north of Italy, retreating

ROCK THRUSH. 247

as winter approaches, to Sicily, Turkey, the Grecian
Archipelago, and have been killed on very high mountains
in Algeria.

The male bird is an excellent songster, his notes resem-
bling those of the Blackcap "Warbler, and this bird has
been known to live five years in confinement, singing even
at night if a candle was placed near the cage. In its
natural state, the Rock Thrush is a very shy bird, and
difficult of approach, avoiding pursuit, and settling on the
upper parts of pointed rocks, from which it is able to com-
mand the view all around. The pair make their nest among
fragments of rock, or among the loose rough stones at the
base ; the nest is constructed of moss, lined with hair, in
which five eggs are deposited of a uniform pale blue colour,
generally without spots.

I have followed Mr. Vigors in placing this bird near
the Alpine Accentor, and the similarity in some of their
habits will be obvious. The Rock Thrush feeds upon
insects and berries.

The male bird has the beak black, the hides hazel ;
the whole of the head and the neck all round bluish grey ;
upper part of the back the same, but passing into brown-
ish black on the scapularies ; the greater part of the back
white, varied with a few bluish grey feathers ; tail-feathers
chestnut brown, the two in the middle rather darker in
colour than the others ; wings and wing-coverts dark brown,
almost blackish brown ; the greater wing-coverts and the
secondaries tipped with bufiy white ; the whole of the
under surface of the body, and under tail-coverts, light
chestnut brown or bay ; legs and toes dark reddish brown.

The whole length of the bird seven and a half inches ;
the wing from the anterior joint to the end of the longest
quill -feather four inches and three quarters.

The female has all the upper surface of the body of a dull

248 MERULIM.

brown ; on the back are some large white spots edged with
brown ; throat and sides of the neck pure white, some of
the feathers occasionally varied with ash-brown ; all the
other under parts reddish white, with fine transverse lines
at the end of each feather ; tail light bay, the two middle
feathers ash brown.

A young bird of the year, killed near Geneva in July,
1850, kindly lent to me for this work by Captain G. J.
Johnson, formerly of the Guards, has all the upper parts
light ash brown, each feather terminated with a spot of
greyish white. Quill-feathers tipped with huffy white:
wing-coverts edged with grey and tipped with buffy white ;
tail-feathers red ; the two in the middle black in the centre ;
under part of the body something like that of the adult
female, but more varied with white, which is again inter-
sected with brown lines.

The vignette represents the form of the breast-bone of
the Blackbird.

ALPINE ACCENTOR. 249

INSESSORES. S YL VIA D^E.

DEXTIROSTRES.

THE ALPINE ACCENTOR.

Accentor alpinus.

Accentor Alpinus, Alpine Accentor, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 72.

„ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 247.

„ „ „ „ JENTNS, Brit. Vert. p. 103.

„ „ „ „ EYTON, Barer Brit. Birds, p. 11.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ A ccenteur des A Ipes, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 248.

ACCENTOR. Generic Characters. — Beak of moderate length, strong,
straight, conical, and pointed ; the edges of both mandibtes compressed,
upper mandible notched near the point. Nostrils basal, naked, pierced in
a membrane of considerable size. Wings — the first feather almost obso-
lete, the second nearly as long as the third, the third the longest in the
wing. Legs strong; three toes before, and one behind; the outer toe
joined at its base to the middle toe ; the claw of the hind toe by much
the longest, and the most curved.

BY the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Thackeray, I am en-
abled to give a figure of the Alpine Accentor from the spe-
cimen killed in the garden of King's College, Cambridge,

£50 . SYLVIADJE.

on the 22nd of November, 1822. At that time two of
these birds had been occasionally seen climbing the but-
tresses of the buildings, or feeding on the grass-plots of the
garden, and were so tame, — a character peculiar to the spe-
cies,— that one of them, probably a male, was supposed to
have fallen a victim to a cat : the other was shot. On dis-
section it proved to be a female, and the specimen was
prepared and preserved for Dr. Thackeray's collection.

A second specimen has been killed in Essex ; and the
following notice of the occurrence appeared in London's
Magazine of Natural History for the year 1832, page 288,
in a letter to the editor, as follows : — " Sir, — A few years
since, I shot a small bird in a garden on the borders of
Epping Forest, which I did not know, nor could any one
tell me what it was, till within a fortnight a gentleman
requested me to allow him to take it to London. He
accordingly went to Mr. Gould, Naturalist, 20, Broad-
street, Golden-square, who sends me an account of its
being the Accentor alpinus, or Alpine Warbler, the only
one known to have been killed in England, with the
exception of one in Dr. Thackeray's garden at Cambridge.
If any of your correspondents would like to see it, they
can, by calling at my nursery, Wood Street, Waltham-
stow. — I am, Sir, yours, &c. JAMES PAMPLIN. Whips Cross,
Walthamstow, January 27th."

I am indebted to the Rev. Dr. Goodenough, the Dean
of Wells, for a knowledge of the occurrence of a third
example of this rare bird, which was shot in the garden of
the Deanery in Somersetshire in 1833. Dr. Goodenough
most obligingly offered to send this bird up to London for
my use : but the loan of Dr. Thackeray's specimen ren-
dered a second example unnecessary. I am not, however,
the less happy to record my obligations for the favour
intended.

ALPINE ACCENTOR.

The Alpine Accentor is not uncommon in Germany,
France, Switzerland, Provence, and Italy, in which coun-
tries it frequents the highest elevations of the mountain
districts during the summer, but seeking the shelter of the
valleys to protect it from the storms of winter. It makes
its nest among stones, or in cavities of the rocks, and
sometimes on the roofs of houses, on the mountain -sides.
The nest is formed of moss and wool, lined with hair from
different animals. The eggs are four or five in number, of
a fine light blue colour, like those of our Hedge Accentor,
Dunnock, or Hedge-sparrow, as it is more commonly called,
but larger, those in my own collection measuring eleven
lines in length and eight lines in breadth. The vignette at
the end of this article represents the nest.

The food of this species consists of insects and seeds.

This bird on the Continent does not frequent bushes, nor
perch on the branches of trees, like its generic companion
the Hedge Accentor ; but is almost always observed to be
on rocks or on the ground, and is remarkable for its con-
stant tameness, either from confidence or want of intel-
ligence, being apparently regardless of man. The same
character was noticed in the specimens both -at Cambridge
and at Wells, the birds allowing observers to approach un-
usually close to them, and when at length obliged to move,
making very short flights, and always settling on some part
of the nearest building. The resemblance of the steeple-
crowned stone edifices of Cambridge, and at the Deanery
of Wells, to the pointed and elevated rocks of their own
peculiar haunts, were supposed to have been the attraction
in both the localities referred to.

The beak is black at the point, and yellowish white at
the base ; the irides hazel : head, neck, and ear-coverts,
brownish grey ; feathers of the back brown, with longi-
tudinal central patches of darker blackish brown; rump

252 SYLVIAD^E.

greyish brown ; wing-primaries blackish brown, the centre
of each tertial still darker, edged on both sides with reddish
brown, and tipped with dull white ; both the small and
large wing-coverts reddish brown, varied with black, and
tipped with a spot of white ; upper surface of tail-feathers
dark brown, tipped with buff: chin, throat, and front of
the neck, dull white, with a small black spot on each fea-
ther ; chest dark grey ; the breast and flanks varied with
chestnut-coloured patches: under tail-coverts dark grey-
ish brown, edged with dull white ; under surface of tail-
feathers ash grey, tipped with dull buiFy white : legs and
toes orange brown ; claws black.

Length of the bird described six inches and a half.
From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the long-
est wing-feather three inches and five -eighths : the first
feather very short, the second feather longer than the
fourth, the third the longest in the wing.

The females do not differ in plumage from the males,
except that their colours are not so bright.

INSESSOKES.

DENTIROSTRES.

HEDGE ACCENTOR.

253

SYLVIAD^E.

THE HEDGE ACCENTOR.

Accentor modularis.

Sylvia modularis, Hedge Warbler,
Montacilla .

Accentor

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 509.
MONT. Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol.ii. p. 251.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 71.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 248.
„ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 103.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

A ccenteur Mouchet, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 249.

Sparrow,
Accentor,

THE HEDGE ACCENTOR, or Hedge Warbler, better
known to many by the name of Hedge Sparrow, is so
generally diffused over the British Islands as to make any
enumeration of particular counties unnecessary ; except
that although found in the Western Islands of Scotland,

254 SYLVIAD^E.

I have not met with any notice of it as a visitor to
Orkney or Shetland.

In this country it is resident throughout the year, fre-
quenting hedge-rows, gardens, and pleasure-grounds, from
spring to autumn, where it feeds indiscriminately on in-
sects in their various stages, worms, and seeds, but not
on fruit ; drawing nearer to the habitations of men as
winter approaches, to gain such scanty subsistence as chance
or kindness may afford; and Gilbert White of Selborne
remarks, that it is a frequenter of gutters and drains in
hard weather, where crumbs and other sweepings may be
picked up. It is more frequently seen on the ground than
elsewhere, is unobtrusive and harmless, and deserves pro-
tection and support.

Early in February the male may be heard singing his
short and plaintive song ; but the voice of this little fa-
vourite, though sweet in tone, is deficient in variety as
well as in power : yet his song may still be heard through-
out the greater part of the year, if we except a short
period in August when undergoing his annual moult. Mr.
Knapp has observed that Hedge Warblers are almost
always seen in pairs, feeding and moving in company with
each other, and may truly, in a double sense, be consi-
dered domestic birds. Their nest, built of green moss,
roots, and wool, and lined with hair, is usually placed
rather low down in a thick bush or hedge-row, and is
generally finished early in March. As observed in the
Journal of a Naturalist, " it is nearly the first bird that
forms a nest ; and this being placed in an almost leafless
hedge, with little art displayed in its concealment, gene-
rally becomes the booty of every prying boy ; and the
blue eggs of the Hedge Warbler are always found in such
numbers on his string, that it is surprising how any of
the race are remaining, especially when we consider the

HEDGE ACCENTOR. 255

many casualties to which the old birds are exposed from
their tameness, and the young that are hatched from their
situation."

In a nest thus easily found, the Cuckoo is apt to deposit
her egg, and Mr. Slaney says more Cuckoos are fostered
by the Hedge Warbler than by any other bird.

The eggs of the Hedge Warbler are four or five in num-
ber, sometimes, though rarely, six, of a delicate and spot-
less bluish green colour ; nine lines and a half in length,
by six lines and a half in breadth. According to Mr.
Jenyns, the first brood of young birds is hatched in April,
and a second brood is reared in the season.

The Hedge Warbler goes as far north in summer as
Sweden ; but, according to M. Nilsson, most of them leave
that country before winter. It inhabits all the temperate
parts of Europe, but goes southward in autumn; it is
even said to leave Genoa in October, but to be found in
every hedge about Rome and the southern parts of Italy
in winter. It is found in Sicily and Malta. Mr. Strick-
land obtained this bird at Smyrna in December; but it
was considered rare in that locality.

The beak is dark brown, but lighter in colour at the
base ; irides hazel ; head, nape, and sides of the neck,
bluish grey, streaked with brown, except behind and be-
low the ear-coverts, where the grey colour is unmixed
with brown ; back and wings reddish brown, streaked
with dark brown ; upper tail-coverts plain hair-brown ;
wing-primaries and tail-feathers dusky brown ; tertials
margined with reddish brown; chin, throat, and chest,
grey; breast and belly buffy white; sides and flanks
pale brown, streaked with dark brown ; under surface of
wings and tail-feathers greyish brown ; the tail slightly
forked : legs and toes orange brown ; claws black ; the
hind claw as large again as either of the other three.

256 SYLVIAM.

The whole length of the bird rather more than five
inches and a half. From the carpal joint to the end of
the longest feather in the wing, two inches and three-
quarters : the first wing-feather very small ; the second
a little longer than the seventh, but shorter than the
sixth; the third, fourth, and fifth feathers nearly equal
in length, but the fifth rather the longest.

Females resemble the males, but are a little more spotted
on the head, breast, and belly.

The young before their first moult have the throat grey-
ish white, varied with small darker-coloured spots, and the
general colour of the plumage of the other parts darker.

This species is subject to varieties in colour. A speci-
men sent me by the Rev. Dr. Thackeray has the head,
neck, body, and wing-coverts dull white, varied with a few
markings of the natural brown ; the wing and tail-feathers
pure white ; beak and legs flesh colour. A specimen sent
me by the Rev. Robert Holdsworth from Brixham was
of a nearly uniform reddish buff colour ; and I have seen
several others.

The figure on the left hand in the vignette below repre-
sents the foot of the Accentor alpinus ; the right hand
figure is taken from the breast-bone of Accentor modular is,
as an illustration of the generic form of the sternum.

REDBREAST.

IJTSSSSOSES.

DEXTIROSTRES.

257

SYLV1AD.E.

• v

^*M£&>3i

I

THE REDBREAST.

Erythaca rubecula.

Sylvia rubecula, The Redbreast,
Motacilla

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 502.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
» „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 240.

Sylvia „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 68.

ErytJiwa „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 188.

Sylvia „ „ JEXYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 103.

Erytliaca „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Sylvia „ Bee-fin Rouge-gvrge, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.i.p.21o.

ERYTHACA. Generic Characters. — Beak rather broad and depressed at
the base, becoming narrower towards the point, and slightly compressed ;
VOL. I. S

258 SYLVIAM.

upper mandible deflected and notched. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval,
pierced in a membrane, partly hid by feathers and hairs projecting from
the base of the beak. Wings rounded ; the three exterior quills gradu-
ated ; the first only half as long as the second, which is shorter than the
third ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth, longer than the third ; the fifth the
longest in the wing. Legs— the tarsus longer than the middle toe ; the
lateral toes nearly equal to each other in length ; the outer toe united at
its base to the middle toe ; the claw of the hind toe longer and stronger
than the others.

THE REDBREAST is so generally distributed over the
British Islands, and so universal a favourite, mixed up as
it is with our earliest associations, that all are sufficiently
interested in the bird to make themselves acquainted with
its habits. These may be observed either in the wood,
the field, or the garden, since there is scarcely a hedge
without its Redbreasted inhabitant : and if Robins appear
to be more numerous in winter than in summer, it is partly
owing to the state of vegetation at the former season,
which leaves them more exposed to observation, and partly
because they resort to the habitations of man for food as
they find it decline in quantity elsewhere. During sum-
mer they feed indiscriminately on earthworms, various
insects in their different states, fruit, and berries. In
winter every country-house has its attendant pensioner,
who requires but little invitation to become an in-door
guest. Thomson has most truly described the half-confi-
dent, half-doubtful manner of the Robin when he ven-
tures to enter the cottage to pick up the proffered crumbs :

" then, hopping o'er the floor,
Eyes all the smiling family askance,
And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is."

The sprightly air of this species, the full dark eye and
the sidelong turn of the head, give an appearance of saga-
city and inquiry to their character, which, aided by their
confidence, has gained them friends ; and the Robin has

REDBREAST. 259

accordingly acquired some familiar domestic name in al-
most every country of Europe.

The song of the Robin is sweet and plaintive, but not
very powerful. White of Selborne says, " Redbreasts
sing all through the spring, summer, and autumn. The
reason that they are called autumn songsters is, because in
the two first seasons their voices are drowned and lost in
the general chorus ; in the latter their song becomes distin-
guishable. Many songsters of the autumn seem to be the
young male Redbreasts of that year."

As the song of the Missell Thrush is said to foretell
the rising storm, so may the Redbreast claim to be con-
sidered a part of the naturalist's barometer. A writer
in an early volume of the Magazine of Natural History
says, " On a summer evening, though the weather be un-
settled, he sometimes takes his stand on the topmost twig
that looks up to the sky, or on the house-top, singing
cheerfully and sweetly : when this is observed, it is an
unerring promise of succeeding fine weather."

Miller, in his Beauties of the Country, page 31, says,
" the Robin does not sing after twilight ; " yet he is one
of the latest among birds to retire to roost, and one of
the first to be seen moving in the morning, requiring
apparently but little sleep.

The Redbreast, like the Spotted Flycatcher and some
other birds, is remarkable for the peculiarity of the situ-
ation in which it sometimes builds its nest. A writer
in the Field Naturalist's Magazine states, that a pair of
Robins chose for their abode a small cottage, which
though not actually inhabited was constantly used as a
depository for potatoes, harness, &c., and repeatedly visited
by its owners. It closely adjoined a large blacksmith's
shop ; but neither the noise of the adjacent forge, nor the
frequent visits of the owners of the cottage, deterred these

260 SYLVIAD^I.

fearless settlers. They entered through a window-frame,
the lattice of which had been removed ; and in a child's
covered cart, which, with its horse attached to it, was
hanging on a peg over the fire-place, and just afforded
space for the purpose, they built their first nest early in the
spring. The circumstance was observed, and soon became
an object of curiosity to the neighbours, many of whom
came to look at the nest ; these inquisitive visits, however,
had not the effect of alarming the birds, who here reared
without accident their first brood. "When the attention of
their parents was no longer needed by their full-fledged
offspring, they set about providing for another family, and
built their second nest on a shelf on the opposite side of the
room close to an old mouse-trap. Here again they received
visits of inquiry from bipeds of a larger growth, and reared
and dismissed their progeny. This second brood had no
sooner left them, than they again betook themselves to the
task of building a third nest under the same sheltering
roof, and for this purpose chose another shelf, in a different
corner of the same room ; and there, in their mossy bed,
on a bundle of papers, on the 21st of June, were four half-
fledged nestlings, which the hen was feeding while a party
was watching the proceeding, the cock bird con tenting him-
self with looking on from the outside. There was no
doubt that the same pair of birds belonged to each suc-
cessive nest, as the loss of her tail rendered the hen con-
spicuous.

Mr. Blackwall of Manchester relates that " a pair of these
birds built their nest in a small saw-pit. Soon after the
female had begun to sit, the sawing of timber was com-
menced at this pit; and though the persons employed
continued their noisy occupation close to the nest every
day during the hatching of the eggs and the rearing of the
young, yet the old birds performed their several parental

REDBREAST. 261

offices to their progeny without interruption, and appa-
rently without alarm."

These birds also exhibit great attachment to each other.
One that was " caught and caged by the editor of the
Naturalist in winter was for several weeks constantly
attended by its mate ; which seems to prove that this
bird pairs for life. When any one approached the cage,
the male bird departed very unwillingly ; and if wholly
excluded from the room in which the prisoner was con-
fined, it would utter the most unceasing and piteous wail-
ings. After some time, however, the visits became gra-
dually less frequent, and at length ceased altogether."

With many redeeming qualities, the Robin is, however,
one of the most pugnacious among birds, and maintains
his right to a certain limited domain against all intruders.

The Robin breeds early in spring : its nest is formed
of moss, dead leaves, and dried grass, lined with hair, and
sometimes a few feathers : the nest is frequently placed
on a bank sheltered by brushwood, or a short distance
above the ground in a thick bush or lane-hedge, sometimes
in a hole of a wall partly covered with ivy. The eggs are
from five to seven in number, white, spotted with pale
reddish brown ; the length nine lines and a half, by seven
lines and a half in breadth.

Generally diffused over England, Ireland, and Wales,
the Redbreast is also an inhabitant of the most northern
counties of Scotland ; but, according to Mr. Dunn, it is
more rare in the Shetland Islands than it is in Orkney.
It also visits Denmark and Sweden in the breeding season ;
and so well does it bear cold weather, that among the
summer visitors to the latter country, M. Nilsson observes
that the Robin is one of the first to come, and one of the
last to go. Mr. Hewitson also saw it in Norway.

It is a constant resident throughout the year in the

262 SYLVIADJJ.

temperate and warmer parts of Europe, abundant in Spain
and Italy, from the last of which it passes over by Sicily
and Malta to North Africa. The Robin was observed by
Mr. Strickland at Smyrna in winter ; and the Zoological
Society have received specimens sent by Keith Abbott,
Esq., from Trebizond.

In the adult bird, the beak and irides are black ; upper
part of the head, neck, back, upper tail-coverts and tail-
feathers, a yellowish olive brown ; quill-feathers rather
darker, the outer edges olive brown ; greater wing-coverts
tipped with buff: over the base of the beak, round the
eye, the chin, throat, and upper part of the breast, red-
dish orange ; encircling this red is a narrow band of bluish
grey, which is broadest near the shoulders ; lower part of
the breast and belly white ; sides, flanks, and under tail-
coverts, pale brown ; under surface of wing and tail-
feathers dusky grey ; legs, toes, and claws, purple brown.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and three-
quarters. The length of the wing from the carpal joint
to the end of the longest quill feather, three inches : the
first wing-feather but half the length of the second, which
is not quite so long as the sixth ; the third, fourth, and
fifth nearly equal, and the longest in the wing.

The female is not quite so large as the male, and her
colours are less bright.

The young birds before their first moult have the brown
feathers of the head, back, and wing-coverts tipped with
buff or very pale brown ; throat and breast tinged with
reddish brown, and margined with dark brown.

The young birds after their first autumn moult resem-
ble adult females ; but the red of the breast is tinged with
orange, the legs dark brown.

The Redbreast is subject to variation in the colouring
of the plumage. White and partly white varieties are

REDBREAST.

263

not uncommon. I remember, some years ago, having
seen one in which the part usually coloured red was a
light bluish grey, the back and wings bluish green. In
this state, as to colour, the bird had the appearance of a
Tit (Parus) ; but the generic characters, and the parti-
cular distribution of the colours, decided the species.

SYLVIADJE.

INSESSOfiES.

DENT1ROSTRES.

SYLVIADjE.

THE BLUE-THROATED WARBLER.

Phcenicura Suecica.

Motacilla Suecica, Blue-throated Robin, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 244.
Phcenicura „ „ Redstart, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 195.

Sylvia „ „ Warbler, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 104.

Phcenicura „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Ficedula „ „ Redstart, EYTON, Earer Brit. Birds, p. 9.

Sylvia „ Bee-Jin Gorge bleue, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 216.

PHOENICDRA. Generic Cliaracters. — Beak slender and nearly straight,
compressed towards the point, slightly deflected and emarginated. Nostrils
basal, lateral, oval, pierced in a membrane, and partly concealed by the
feathers of the forehead. Wings of moderate size ; the first quill very
short ; the second equal in length to the sixth ; the third, fourth, and
fifth, nearly equal, but the fourth the longest. Tail more or less red in
all the species. Legs with the tarsus lengthened and slender, longer than
the middle toe ; outer toes nearly equal in length.

BLUE-THROATED WARBLER. 265

Two instances only of the occurrence in England of this
prettily-marked Warbler were formerly recorded. The
first bird was shot on the boundary hedge of Newcastle
Town Moor in May, 1826, and was presented by Mr.
Thomas Embleton to the Museum of the Literary and
Philosophical Society of Newcastle. This circumstance
was, I believe, first noticed by G. T. Fox, Esq., of Dur-
ham, in his Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum, page 298,
and afterwards in the third volume of the Zoological
Journal, page 497. By the influence and kindness of
that gentleman, this specimen, with some other birds of
great rarity and interest, were exhibited a few years ago
in London, at one of the evening meetings of the Zoolo-
gical Club of the Linnean Society. The occurrence of
the second specimen is recorded in the second volume of
the Naturalist, page 275, and is said to have happened in
Dorsetshire. In September, 1852, a Blue-throated War-
bler was shot near Whimple, South Devon, as recorded
by the Honourable T. L. Powys in the Zoologist.

Soon after the publication of that part of the work
which contained this species, I received a letter from
Plumptre Methuen, Esq., informing me that a specimen
killed near Birmingham was in his possession ; and in
October, 1841, J. H. Gurney, Esq., of Norwich, sent me
word that he had just obtained a specimen for his own
collection which had but a very few days before been
picked up dead near Yarmouth. In September, 1844,
two birds, one old, the other a young bird of the year,
and both then unskinned, were sent for my inspection by
Mr. Gardner, of Oxford Street. These birds were shot
in the Isle of Sheppy.

This species visits the European Continent from the
south in the breeding season. It is observed in Italy on
its passage northward in April, and again on its return in

266 SYLVIAD^.

September, a straggler being occasionally seen in the
winter. It visits during the summer, Provence, Spain,
France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Prussia, going
as far north as Russia, Siberia, Finland, West Bothnia,
and the most distant part of Sweden. It was seen by
Mr. Hewitson in Norway ; but, according to M. Nilsson,
it is never seen in the lower or southern part of Sweden,
nor is it included among the birds of Denmark. It
appears to prefer the southern parts of France, and is
more abundant in Lorraine and Alsace than elsewhere,
in which latter-named country this bird is considered a
delicate article of food, and great numbers are caught for
the table.

The Blue-throated Warbler is found in Sicily, Malta,
and Egypt ; Mr. Blyth has also found it in India, near
Calcutta.

The food of this species is earthworms, insects, and
berries ; and its song is said to be pleasing.

I have been favoured by Mr. J. D. Hoy, of Stoke Nay-
land in Suffolk, with the following notes of his own obser-
vations on the habits of this species on the Continent.
" This bird makes its appearance early in spring, preceding
that of the Nightingale by ten or twelve days. I have
always found this species in the breeding season in low
swampy grounds, on the woody borders of boggy heaths,
and on the banks of streams running through wet springy
meadows, where there is abundance of alder and willow
underwood. The nest is placed on the ground among
plants of the bog myrtle, in places overgrown with coarse
grass, on the sides of sloping banks, in the bottom of stubs
of scrubby brushwood in wet situations. It is well con-
cealed and difficult to discover. I do not believe they ever
build in holes of trees. The nest is composed on the out-
side of dead grass and a little moss, and lined with finer

BLUE-THROATED WARBLER. 267

grass. The eggs from four to six in number, of a uni-
form greenish blue, eight lines long, and five lines and a
half in breadth.

"The notes of this bird have some resemblance to
those of the Whinchat, but are more powerful. While
singing, if undisturbed, it perches on the tops of the
brushwood or low trees ; but on the least alarm it conceals
itself among the low cover. It does not exhibit the quiver-
ing motion of the tail peculiar to the Redstarts ; but very
frequently jerks up the tail in the manner of the Nightin-
gale and Robin, and while singing, often spreads it. It
frequently rises on wing a considerable height above the
brushwood, singing, with the tail spread like a fan, and
alights often at a distance of fifty or sixty yards from the
spot where it rose. On approaching the nest when it con-
tains their young, their notes of alarm or anger resemble
those of the Nightingale, but end with a short sharp note
instead of the Nightingale's croak : the wings are then
lowered, the tail spread and jerked up. The Blue-throat
commences his song with the first dawn of day, and it may
be heard in the evening when most of the feathered tribe
are silent. These birds are caught in autumn by snares
baited with berries."

The beak and irides dark brown ; over the eye a pale
streak : the top of the head, all the upper surface of the
body and wings, uniform clove-brown ; outer edges of the
wing-feathers lighter brown : the two middle tail-feathers
clove-brown throughout their whole length ; all the other
tail-feathers have the basal half bright chestnut, the distal
half nearly black : chin, throat, and fore-part of the neck
and upper part of the breast, ultra-marine blue, with a spot
in the centre, which in some specimens is pure white, but
in very old males is red ; below the blue colour is a black
bar, then a line of white, and still lower down a broad band

268 SYLVIAD^.

of bright chestnut : belly dirty white ; flanks and under
tail-coverts light reddish brown ; legs, toes, and claws,
brown.

The whole length of the bird six inches. From the carpus
to the end of the longest quill-feather, two inches and
seven-eighths: the first feather very short; the second
equal to the sixth ; the third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal
in length, but the fourth the longest in the wing.

Females resemble the males in the uniform colour of the
upper parts ; the tail-feathers not so bright : the chin and
upper part of the throat white, bounded below by a cres-
cent-shaped patch of blue mixed with some black, the
horns of which are directed upwards, encircling the white ;
below the blue colour the breast is pale reddish brown :
belly and flanks dull white. Some old females have the
blue and white almost equal in colour to that of the
males.

The young in their first feathers resemble the young of
the Redbreast.

Young males after their first moult resemble adult
females ; the blue colour increasing by degrees on the
chin, sides of the neck, and throat, till the white is reduced
to a central patch.

The vignette below represents the nest of this species.

IN8S88ORB8.

DENTIROSTRES.

REDSTART,

269
SYLVIAD^E.

THE REDSTART.

Phcenicura ruticilla.

Sylvia phcenicurus, The Redstart,
Motacilla

Phcenicura ruticilla,
Sylvia phMnicwrus,
Phcenicura ruticilla,
Sylvia phanicurus,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 500.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 246.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 68.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 191 .
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 104.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.
p. 220.

THE REDSTART is a summer visitor that comes to this
country from the south, and proceeds both to the westward
and northward. It is not very numerous, and in some
localities is rather rare. It makes its appearance in the
southern counties of England generally about the second
week in April, arrives in the neighbourhood of Carlisle by

270 SYLVIAD^.

the third week, but does not reach the southern part of
Sweden till the end of the month : and the character of the
season exercises great influence in determining the time of
the appearance of this bird, as well as some others ; the
state of vegetation and temperature being generally better
indicators than the almanack.

In some particulars the Redstart resembles the Blue-
throat and the Redbreast. It inhabits the skirts of forests,
lanes, meadows, orchards, and gardens, and is partial to old
walls and ruins, particularly if overrun with ivy. The male
bird is remarkable for the distribution and purity of the
colours of his plumage, and makes himself rather con-
spicuous by perching on the uppermost branch of low
trees, moving his tail repeatedly, and singing his soft and
sweet song, — occasionally taking a short flight to some
other prominent station, and singing as he flies. Like
most of those birds that are gifted with powers of song, as
observed in the account of the Blackbird, the Redstart is
also an imitator of the notes of other birds ; and some
have been taught, like the Bullfinch, to repeat a tune. Mr.
Sweet possessed a Redstart that whistled the Copenhagen
Waltz ; and other males of this species have been known
to imitate very closely the notes of the Sparrow and Chaf-
finch, and the songs of the Garden Warbler and Lesser
Whitethroat.

The food of the Redstart is worms, beetles and their
grubs, flies, spiders, ants and their eggs, fruit and berries.
Most of these they seek for on the ground, like the Accen-
tors and Redbreasts ; but they are also frequently seen to
capture insects on the wing with as much ease and certainty
as the true Flycatchers.

The nest, which is rather loosely constructed, is formed
of moss externally, and lined with hair and feathers : it is
occasionally placed in a hollow tree, or in a hole in a wall,

REDSTART. 271

or behind a branch of a tree that is trained against a wall,
and sometimes in a hole on the ground even where there
has happened to be abundance of trees. A writer in the
Zoologist has furnished the following notice on a singular
locality for a Redstart's nest: "In the spring of 1841, I
noticed that when I went to a particular part of my
garden, a male Redstart always appeared much distressed,
which convinced me that its nest was close at hand, but I
could not find it. One day, having occasion for a com-
mon flower-pot, not of a very large size, I took one which
had been left inverted on a narrow path between two sea-
kale beds. On lifting it up, I discovered a nest with
five eggs, placed on the ground. I carefully replaced
the pot over the nest, inclining it a little towards the
south, so that when the sun was shining I could just dis-
cern the eggs through the hole at the bottom (now, from
its inverted position, the top) of the pot. On passing it
soon after, I found the hen bird was on the nest ; and she
succeeded in hatching and bringing up her brood ; paying
no regard to my looking down upon her as I passed by, if
I did not stop."

The eggs are from four to six in number, sometimes
seven ; and in a few instances as many as eight have been
found. The egg is of a uniform greenish blue colour,
eight lines and a half long, and six lines and a half in
breadth. Two broods are sometimes produced in the season.
Mr. Jenyns says, the young of the first brood are fledged
by the second week in June.

The Redstart as a species is naturally a shy and timid
bird ; but during the time the female is sitting, the male
exposes himself constantly, and may almost always be
seen in some conspicuous situation, not far from the nest.
At this season he sings early and late ; he has been heard

SYLVIADJl.

singing after ten o'clock at night, and at three on the fol-
lowing morning.

The Redstart was considered by Pennant and some other
authors not to extend its range to the westward beyond
Exeter ; but though rather rare in the eastern part of Corn-
wall, it is not an uncommon bird in the extreme western
part, as I learnt from the communications of Mr. Couch
and Mr. Rodd. This bird also visits Wales now, and has
been obtained in Ireland, near Belfast, by Dr. J. D. Mar-
shall, as I learnt from W. Thompson, Esq.

In a northern direction from London, it is found in Suf-
folk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and various
parts of Scotland, even to Sutherlandshire. Still further
north, it visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Siberia, Russia,
and from thence southward it is distributed over the more
temperate parts of Europe. It is abundant in Holland,
France, Provence, Spain, and Italy. The Zoological
Society have received skins from Tangiers, where it is
said to be common. It is found during summer in Sicily
and Malta, going from thence to Egypt. Specimens have
been received from Trebizond, and also from Erzeroum,
about one hundred miles further to the south-east of Trebi-
zond. It has been found in Nepal, and M. Temminck
includes it among the birds of Japan.

In the adult male Redstart during summer the beak is
black, with a narrow band of black feathers above its base ;
the irides brown ; the forehead white ; the top of the head,
the scapulars, back, and wing-coverts, lead-grey; wing-
feathers brown, with the outer edges rather lighter ; upper
tail-coverts and tail-feathers bright rufous chestnut, the
centres only of the two middle tail-feathers being marked
with a longitudinal strip of dark brown ; the chin, throat,
sides of the neck and face, including the eyes, jet black ;

REDSTART. 273

breast, belly, under wing and tail-coverts, and under
surface of tail-feathers, pale chestnut; under surface of
the quill-feathers of the wings grey ; legs, toes, and claws,
brown.

The whole length of the bird five inches and one-quarter.
From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the longest
wing-feather, three inches : the first wing-feather very short ;
the second equal in length to the sixth ; the third, fourth,
and fifth nearly equal, but the fourth the longest.

The female has neither the white nor the black on the
head ; the upper surface of the body greyish brown ; the
chestnut colour of the tail-feathers, and their upper coverts,
rather less bright than in the males ; under surface of the
body and tail-feathers pale reddish brown. Very old females
obtain plumage somewhat similar to that of the males ; but
the colours are neither so pure nor so bright.

The young in their nestling plumage very closely resemble
the young of the Robin, except on the rump and tail ; all
the upper parts are of a dusky brown, with a pale spot
upon each feather : wing-coverts broadly edged with pale
brown ; tail and tail-coverts rufous ; breast mottled with
yellowish and dusky brown.

Young males of the year after their autumn moult, and
adult males in winter, have the black and chestnut parts of
the throat and breast varied with white lines ; no white on
the forehead of the young males ; and the upper parts of
the body are pale reddish brown, tinged with grey.

VOL. I.

274

SYLVIAD2E.

INSESSOUJBS.

DENTIROSTRES.

SYLVIADsE.

THE BLACK REDSTART.

Phcenicura tithys.

Phcenicura tithi
Sylvia „
Ficedula „
Phcenicura „
Sylvia „

is, Tithys Redstart,
Black Redtail,
„ Redstart,

» ))
Bee-Jin Rouge qu

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 193.
JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 105.
EYTON, Karer Brit. Birds, p. 7.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.
p. 218.

THE BLACK REDSTART, which is at once distinguished
from the well-known and common Redstart, last described,
by being sooty black on the breast and belly where the
other is reddish brown, was first made known as an occa-
sional visitor to this country by Mr. Gould, who recorded
the occurrence and capture of a specimen near London in
October, 1829: and another example has since been seen
in the Regent's Park. In ] 830, two other specimens were

BLACK REDSTART. 275

obtained ; one at Bristol, the other at Brighton. In
January, 1833, a fourth example occurred at Teignmouth
in Devonshire ; and in December, 1835, a specimen was
shot near Bristol while flying about with some Stonechats
among furze. It has also been obtained, once at least,
in Ireland, on the concurrent testimony of Robert Ball,
Esq., of Dublin, and William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast.

Since the publication of the first edition of this work,
Black Redstarts have been obtained in Cornwall, at Teign-
mouth in Devon, in the Isle of Wight, in Kent, and else-
where.

This bird, according to M. Nilsson, is very rare in Swe-
den, and in the northern parts of the European Continent
generally, and is seldom seen in Holland ; it is, however,
rather a common summer visitor to Germany, France, and
Switzerland ; more plentiful in Provence, Spain, and Italy,
in which countries it is resident from April to October, occa-
sionally remaining in the south of Italy during the winter.
It is found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta. M. Temminck says
it inhabits the Morea ; and Mr. Strickland observed that
it was common on the bare rocky hills near Smyrna, where
it also remains during winter. Drummond Hay, Esq.,
included it in his list of the birds of Tangiers. The
specimen figured by Edwards in his twenty -ninth plate was
received from Gibraltar ; and the Prince of Musignano,
when at sea in the spring of 1828, being then five hundred
miles from Portugal and four hundred from Africa, ob-
tained a specimen of this bird, which was caught with some
other small birds on the rigging of the vessel, the wind at
the time blowing strong from the eastward.

The manners and habits of this bird are somewhat similar
to those of the Redstart ; but it prefers stony places, and is
rarely seen on the plains. Its food consists of worms,
insects, in their various stages, the smaller fruits, and

T 2

276 SYLVIAM.

berries. It makes a nest in the clefts of rocks ; and when
it frequents towns or villages, it chooses holes in walls,
roofs of houses, and sometimes, according to M. Vieillot,
the elevated parts of churches. The nest is formed exter-
nally of grass, and lined with hair : the eggs are five or six
in number, ten lines in length by seven lines in breadth,
white, smooth, and shining. The female frequently has
two broods in the season. The song of the male, according
to Bechstein, " contains a few high, clear notes, which may
be heard from an early hour in the morning till night.
The bird is always gay and active, shaking its tail at every
hop, and continually uttering its peculiar call -note."

In the adult male, the beak is black, the irides blackish
brown ; the top of the head, neck, and back, dark bluish
grey : wing-coverts and quill-feathers greyish black ; the
coverts edged with lighter grey ; the secondaries and tertials
on the outer edges almost white: rump and tail-coverts
chestnut; tail-feathers bright chestnut, except the two
middle feathers, which are very dark brown, almost black.
The cheeks, chin, throat, breast and sides, dark sooty
grey, becoming slate grey on the belly, and still lighter on
the vent and under tail-coverts, which are tinged with red ;
under wing-coverts dull greyish white ; under surface of
the primaries lead grey ; under surface of tail-feathers
chestnut ; legs, toes, and claws, black.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and three-
quarters. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quill-feather, three inches and three-eighths : the first quill-
feather very short ; the second and the seventh nearly
equal in length ; the third rather longer than the sixth ;
the fourth and fifth equal, and the longest in the wing.

The female of this species is not very unlike the female
of the common Redstart, but is generally somewhat darker.
The upper parts are of a dull brownish grey, the tertials

BLACK REDSTART. 277

being margined with buffy white ; tail-feathers brownish
red; under surface of the body light grey.

The young birds of the year in their first plumage re-
semble adult females : the young males afterwards assume
by degrees a light grey colour ; but it is probable they are
several years old before they attain the very dark sooty
grey colour ; so many shades of grey being observable
among them.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Black
Redstart, reduced in size, from the coloured figure forming
the subject of the fifteenth plate in the work of Dr. Schinz
on the Eggs and Nests of the Birds of Switzerland and
Germany, published at Zurich in 1819.

278

SYLVIADJ2.

SYL VIAD^E.

DENTIROSTRES.

THE STONECHAT.

Saxicola rubicola.

Sylvia rubicola, The Stonechat, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 526.

Motacilla „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 278.

Saxicola „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 68.

„ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 185.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 121.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Traquet rubicole, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 246.

SAXICOLA. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, slender, the base rather
broader than high, surrounded with a few stiff hairs ; the superior ridge
of the upper mandible prominent, the sides towards the point compressed ;
the point itself curved and indented. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, half
closed by a membrane. Wings — the first quill-feather about half as long
as the second ; the second shorter than the third or the fourth, which are
the longest in the wing. Feet — the tarsus rather long, three toes in front,
one behind ; the outer toe connected by a membrane to the middle toe ;
claw of the hind toe short, strong, and curved.

STONECHAT. 279

THE STONECHAT, a migratory species over the greater
part of the European Continent, where it is not observed
to remain during the winter, is a constant resident in this
country,'— or at least it may be said, that only a portion of
those produced during the breeding season leave us in
autumn, and return again about the end of March in the
spring following. Many remain, and may be seen through
the winter months on most of our dry commons and
heaths which are partially covered with patches of furze or
low brushwood. Should the weather prove very severe,
they leave these exposed districts, and frequent for a time
more sheltered situations. In the spring and early part
of summer this lively little bird may be seen flitting
from bush to bush, restless and noisy, — from which latter
habit the common names of Stonechatter and Stoneclink
originate, — almost always perching on the most elevated
part of a stone or bush, and seldom remaining long in one
spot. From such prominent positions they may be seen
darting off with rapid motion to capture a passing insect,
and, Flycatcher like, returning to their former station.
Their song, which is also occasionally uttered while on the
wing, is short, but pleasing ; and they may be frequently
heard to imitate the notes of other small birds. They are
often to be seen on the ground in search of worms, which,
with various insects, are their most common objects of re-
quest as articles of food.

The Stonechat begins to build early in April : the nest
is rather large for the size of the bird, and is usually
placed on or near the ground at the base of some low
bush ; the outside of a specimen now before me is con-
structed of moss and strong grass, lined with fine bents,
hairs, and a few small feathers. The female lays five or
six eggs, about the middle or during the third week of
April ; these are of a pale greyish blue, the larger end

280 SYLVIAD^E.

minutely speckled with dull reddish brown : the length
of the egg is about eight lines and a half, and seven lines
in breadth. The young are usually hatched by the middle
of May ; and the parent birds are then clamorous and
bold, practising various tricks to entice intruders from their
nest.

The Stonechat is common in the counties along our
southern coast to the Irish Channel ; it is also a constant
resident in the south, the west, and the north of Ireland.
It is observed constantly in Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire,
and Northumberland ; Mr. Selby observed it in Suther-
landshire ; and Mr. Macgillivray includes it in his Cata-
logue of the Birds of the Hebrides.

M. Temminck mentions that specimens of the Stonechat
were sent by Pallas from some part of Russia, but the
particular locality is not named : these specimens, it is
stated, did not differ from others received from South
Africa. The Stonechat is common during summer in
Germany, France, Provence, and Italy ; it is found at
Corfu, Sicily, Crete, and was observed by Mr. Strickland
at Smyrna. Mr. Swainson includes the Stonechat among
the birds of Senegal ; it is found as Tangiers, and Le
Vaillant and Dr. Smith obtained specimens at the Cape.
In a direction east of Europe, the geographical range of
this little bird is extensive. In India, the Stonechat has
been found by Colonel Sykes, Major Franklin, and Mr.
Blyth. M. Temminck includes the Stonechat in his
Catalogue of the Birds of Japan.

The adult male, in May, has the beak black ; the irides
dark brown ; the head, neck, and back, nearly black ;
wing-coverts of the tertials white, but partly hid by the
other coverts, which are blackish brown, edged with lighter
brown ; quill -feathers the same colour : upper tail-coverts
white ; tail-feathers nearly black. Chin and throat black ;

STONECHAT. 281

sides of the neck to the wing white ; breast rich chestnut,
becoming lighter, almost yellowish white, on the belly,
vent, and under tail-coverts ; under surface of the quill-
feathers lead grey, edged with dull white ; legs, toes, and
claws black.

The whole length of the bird five inches and one-quarter.
From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the
longest quill -feathers, two inches and three-quarters : the
first quill-feather not half so long as the second ; the
second equal to the seventh ; the third, fourth, fifth, and
sixth, nearly equal ; the fourth rather the longest of all.

Adult males after their autumn moult have the feathers
of the neck and back broadly edged with rufous brown ;
quill-feathers margined, and tail-feathers tipped with the
same rufous colour ; the dark feathers on the throat edged
with rufous brown ; the breast and belly lighter in colour
than in summer.

The adult female has the feathers of the upper parts
blackish brown, bordered with buff; the quill and tail-
feathers brown, edged with buff; throat blackish, varied
with small spots of white and red ; the white space on the
neck and wings of smaller extent than in the male ; breast
dull red.

Young birds in their nestling plumage have the feathers
of the upper parts of a greyish brown, with a spot of
white at the end.

Young males after their first moult resemble adult
females ; after their second moult they attain by degrees
the plumage of adult males.

282

SYLVIAD.E.

ItfSESSOfiES.

DENTIROSTRES.

SYLVIAD^E.

THE WHINCHAT.

Saxicola rubetra.

Sylvia rubetra, The Whinchat, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 525.

Motacilla „ „ MONT. Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 277.

Saxicola „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 67.

„ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 183.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 120.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Traquet tarier, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 244.

THE WHINCHAT, or Furzechat, is, in its habits, and also
in the localities it frequents, very similar to the Stonechat,
last described. Its obvious partiality to furze, which is
also in many parts of England called whin, has induced
its most common names ; and, like the Stonechat, it darts
along with an undulating flight from bush to bush, always

\YHINCH AT. 283

perching on one of the uppermost twigs. There is one
difference between the Whin chat and the Stonechat which
must be mentioned. A considerable number of Stone-
chats pass the winter in Britain ; but the Whinchats, almost
to a bird, depart in autumn to go further south. The
similarity in various points between these two birds has
induced a partial belief that the Whinchats, like the Stone-
chats, remained here during the winter. Pennant thought
they did not migrate, only shifted their quarters ; but 1 am
not aware of more than two authentic instances of the
Whinchat being seen here in winter — one in Cambridge-
shire, and one in Devonshire.

The Whinchat makes its appearance in the southern and
south-eastern parts of this country about the middle of
April, and arrives in the northern counties by the end of
that month : it does not, however, begin to build so soon
as the Stonechat, but is usually about a fortnight later.
Its song is agreeable, generally given from an elevated po-
sition on a furze-bush, or while hovering in the air over it.
Like most song birds, it is prone to imitate the notes of
others ; and the Whinchat appears to have been an especial
favourite with Mr. Sweet, who was well known for his
partiality to, and successful treatment of, the Warblers in
confinement, and has published his method of treatment.
One of these birds brought up from the nest by Mr. Sweet
used to sing the whole day through, and very often at
night : it sang the notes of the Whitethroat, Redstart,
Willow Warbler, Missel Thrush, and Nightingale. The
food of the Whinchat is worms, insects, small testaceous
mollusca, slugs, and berries.

The nest, generally placed on the ground, is similar to
that of the Stonechat, formed with a little moss and bents
of grass, lined with finer bents : the eggs, five or six, of a
uniform bluish green, with some minute specks of dull

284 SYLVLUXE.

reddish brown ; the length of the egg nine lines, and six
lines and a half in breadth. Mr. Jenyns says, the young
are hatched towards the end of May, and two broods are
produced in the season. In the month of August, when
fat, though smaller in size than the Wheatear, they are not
otherwise inferior to it as an article of food for the table.

Whinchats may rather be said to be general than nu-
merous, and are usually seen in pairs only, till their young
leave the nest. They are observed in all the counties
around London ; and in a southern and western direction,
in Hampshire and Dorsetshire ; but more rare in Devon-
shire, and still more so in Cornwall. Montagu says they
are plentiful in Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucester-
shire ; are observed in Wales ; and, according to Mr. Tem-
pleton and Mr. Thompson, are regular summer visitors to
Ireland. North of the counties surrounding London, the
Whinchat is seen in Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, Dur-
ham, and Northumberland ; and, still further north, was
seen by Mr. Selbyin Sutherland, and by Mr. Macgillivray
in the Hebrides ; but is not included among the Birds of
Orkney or Shetland.

The Whinchat visits Denmark, and was observed by Mr.
Hewitson to be rather numerous in those parts of Norway
that were clear of wood ; and, according to M. Nilsson, it
arrives in Sweden by the end of April. It is found also,
according to Pennant, in the temperate parts of Russia as
far as the Uralian chain, but does not reach Siberia. In
summer it is found over the whole of the south of Europe
to the shores of the Mediterranean. It is seen at Genoa
and in Italy on its passage to the south and east in Septem-
ber ; it is seen also at Corfu, Sicily, Malta, Egypt, and
Crete : Mr. Strickland observed that it was a common
bird at Smyrna in winter, and Mr. Blyth has obtained it
in India.

WH1NCHAT. 285

The male has the beak black ; from the angle of the
gape of the beak to the eye a brown streak ; irides brown ;
the ear-coverts and a patch under the eye dark brown ;
over the lore, the eye, and the ear-coverts, an elongated
streak of white : top of the head, neck, back, and smaller
wing-coverts, a mixture of pale brown and very dark
brown, each feather being dark in the centre, and light
at the circumference : greater wing-coverts black ; the
spurious wing white : quill -feathers dark brown, the pri-
maries reaching nearly to the end of the tail ; the secon-
daries and tertials edged with light brown ; tail-feathers
white at the base, dark brown over the distal half, and
edged with pale brown. The chin and a line from thence
reaching beyond the lower edge of the end of the ear-
coverts, white ; throat and breast delicate fawn colour,
passing into pale buff on the belly and under tail-
coverts ; under surface of the distal half of the tail-feathers
greyish black. Legs, toes, and claws, black.

The whole length of the bird rather short of five inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary,
three inches : the first feather very short ; the second
equal to the fifth ; the third the longest.

In the female, the white on the spurious wing is less
conspicuous ; and the colouring of the under surface of
the body has less of red and more of yellow in the tint.

2S6

SYLVIAM;.

INSESSORE8.

DENT1ROSTRES.

THE WHEATEAR.

Saxicola cenanthe.

Sylvia cenanthe, The Wheatear, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 521.

Motacilla „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 274.

Saxicola „ The Fcdlowcliat, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 67.

„ „ The Wheatear, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 181.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 119.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Traquet moteux, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 237.

WHEATEAR. 287

THE WHEATEAR, or Fallowchat, as it is sometimes
called, is another summer visitor allied to the Stonechat
and Whinchat, which generally makes its appearance from
the southward about the middle of March, and is one
of the earliest among those birds which seek to pass the
season of reproduction far to the north of their winter-
quarters.

In reference to their appearance in spring, Mr. Couch,
who resides on the coast of Cornwall, remarks that " the
Wheatear reaches our coast so early in the morning as
to prove that it must have taken flight from the French
coast long before daybreak. Few come after nine o'clock
in the morning, and none after twelve. They sometimes
perch on our fishing-boats, at two or three leagues from
land, in an almost exhausted state. They do not cross the
Channel every day ; and as it usually happens that our own
residents are not the first to arrive, it is common for them
to abound in a morning ; but in the afternoon, and for a
day or two after, for not one to be seen. My own observa-
tions do not confirm the remark, that one sex materially
precedes the other : they rather appear to arrive indiscrimi-
nately. Through the summer, the Wheatear is a common
bird along our coasts, on the slopes fronting the sea, some-
what above the bare uncovered rocks. On the least alarm,
they flit over the precipice, and take refuge in some place
of shelter."

These birds, arriving in numbers probably along the
whole line of our southern coast, soon disperse themselves
over the downs, warrens, and fallow lands, some of them
seeking for a time very high northern latitudes, to be here-
after enumerated.

" No May without a Wheatear."

Old Saying.

The Wheatear feeds principally on worms, and various

288 SYLVIAM.

insects, some of which are taken on the wing, the bird re-
turning to its former elevated position on a lump of earth,
or the top of a stone, from whence it keeps a sharp look-
out, both as a measure of precaution as well as for food ;
but is not so prone to alight on a bush as either of the
species of Saxicola already described.

The Wheatears begin to make their nest in the southern
parts of our island by the middle of April ; and on the sea-
coast, where some remain. Mr. Couch says, "Our prying
fisher-boys inform me that it is concealed in the bottom of
a deep recess, beneath some huge stone or rock, far beyond
the reach of their arm. Consequently, when discovered, —
a circumstance of some difficulty, — they are able to obtain
it only by means of a hook fastened to the end of a rod."
The Wheatear frequently makes its nest in old walls, or
in pits from which stone, gravel, sand, or chalk have been
dug out. In the Journal of a Naturalist, Mr. Knapp says,
" One had made her nest deep in the crevice of a stone-
quarry, so carefully hidden by projecting fragments as not
to be observed from without until part of the rock was
removed ; her fabric was large and rudely constructed with
dried bents, scraps of shreds, feathers, and rubbish, col-
lected about the huts on the down, and contained four pale
blue eggs. Another hen-bird had descended through the
interstices of some rather large loose stones, as a mouse
would have done, and then proceeded laterally to a hollow
space in a bank, against which the stones were laid ; and
so deep had she penetrated, that many of the stones had to
be removed before we could discover her treasure : as no
appearances led to any suspicion of a nest, it would never
have been detected but for our watchfulness."

The same degree of caution, however, is not always ob-
servable. In Suffolk and Norfolk, the Wheatear, accord-
ing to Mr. Salmon, " is very abundant on the warrens, and

WHEATEAR. 289

usually selects a deserted rabbit -burrow, in which it places
its nest at some little distance from the entrance : it is
composed of dried roots, intermixed with feathers, rabbits'
down, and other light substances ; and it generally contains
six pale blue eggs. The nest is easily detected by a little
observation, for in such situations the old birds amass a
considerable number of small pieces of the withered stalks
of the brake, Pteris aquilina, on the outside at the en-
trance of the burrow : by noticing this circumstance its
nest is sure to be discovered." I have more than once
found the nest in a fallow field, under a large clot, to
which my attention was drawn by a portion of the ma-
terials of which the nest was composed appearing outside
the hole through which the bird passed to the hollow space
within. The eggs are of a uniform delicate pale blue,
measuring ten lines and a half in length, and seven lines
and a half in breadth.

The male sings prettily, but not loud, sometimes even
when hovering on the wing, either near his nest or his
partner. Mr. Sweet, in his British Warblers, says, "that
in confinement the Wheatear is continually in song, and
sings by night as well as by day : their winter song is the
best and the most varied."

Whether owing to the art with which the nest of this
bird is mostly concealed, or placed beyond the reach of
danger ; whether from the great number of the parent
birds that breed here ; or that in autumn the numerous
families migrate towards the same point on our southern
coast from which to take their departure ; but the number
of these birds seen and taken every autumn in the county
of Sussex alone is very extraordinary.

The extensive downs between Eastbourne and Beachy-
head are visited by the Wheatear from the end of July to
the middle of September by hundreds in daily succession.

VOL. i. u

290 SYLVIAD.E.

Other portions of the downs along the southern coast have
their share also of these periodical emigrants ; and as they
are then fat and of good flavour, it is customary to dress
them by dozens at the inns of the numerous watering-
places on the Sussex coast.

The birds are supplied in profusion by the shepherds,
who form numerous traps for them in the turf of the downs
over which their flocks and cattle graze. The Wheatear
trap is formed by cutting an oblong piece of turf from the
surface, about eight inches by eleven, and six inches thick,
which is to be taken up in a solid mass, and laid in the
contrary way both as to surface and direction over the hole,
thus forming a hollow chamber beneath it. Besides this
chamber, two other openings are also cut in the turf, about
six inches wide and of greater length, which lead into the
chamber at opposite ends, that the bird may run in under
the turf through either of them. A small straight stick,
sharpened at both ends, not very unlike a common match,
but stouter, is fixed in an upright position a little on one
side of the middle of the square chamber ; the stick sup-
ports two open running loops of twisted horse-hair placed
vertically across the line of passage from either entrance to
the opposite outlet, and the bird attempting to run through
is almost certain to get his head into one of these loops and
be caught by the neck : upon the least alarm, even the
shadow of a passing cloud, the birds run beneath the clod
and are taken.

However inefficient this trap may appear to be from my
description, the success of the shepherds is very extraor-
dinary. It is recorded in the Linnean Transactions that as
many as eighty-four dozen have been caught by a shepherd
in one day ; and Pennant states that the numbers snared
about Eastbourne amounted annually to about 1840 dozen.
It is not unusual, however, for a shepherd and his lad to

WHEATEAR. 291

look after from five hundred to seven hundred of these
traps. They are opened every year about St. James's Day,
the 25th of July, and are all in operation by the 1st of
August. The birds arrive by hundreds in daily succession,
but not in flocks, for the next six or seven weeks, probably
depending on the distance northward at which they have
been reared.

Southey, in the fourth series of his Common-place Book,
mentions a beautiful trait of Hurdis, the poet, who used
to let the Wheatears out of their traps, and leave their
price (one penny) for their ransom.

The season for catching is concluded about the end of
the third week in September, after which very few birds
are observed to pass. Stragglers are occasionally seen
later in the year. Mr. Sweet " observed a pair on the
17th of November, 1822, near the gravel -pit in Hyde
Park, which were quite lively, and flying about after in-
sects as brisk as if it had been the middle of summer."

The diffusion of the Wheatear during summer over Eng-
land, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland is general ; it visits also
the Hebrides, and the islands of Orkney and Shetland. It
arrives in Denmark and Sweden about the middle of April ;
Mr. Hewitson saw numbers in Norway ; and Linneus ob-
served it in Lapland. The extreme northern range of this
apparently delicate bird is very extensive. It visits the
Faroe Islands and Iceland. Captain Sabine, in his Memoir
on the Birds of Greenland, says, " This species was not
seen on the shores of Greenland, on which we landed ; but
on our return homewards in October, 1818, off Cape Fare-
well, a few were seen at a distance from the land, doubt-
less on their passage southward. In our outward voyage,
in May, we also met with them in latitude 60° N. and
longitude 13° W., then most probably migrating north-
ward." In high latitudes, this little bird does not breed

u 2

292 SYLVIAD^E.

till June ; and it has been seen on the shores of Greenland
by Fabricius and others. Sir James Ross, in the Natural
History appended to the narrative of his last Voyage to the
Arctic Regions, says of the Wheatear, " One of these little
birds was observed flying round the ship in Felix Harbour,
70° N., 91° 53' W., on the 2nd of May, 1830, and was
found dead alongside the next morning : having arrived
before the ground was sufficiently uncovered to enable it
to procure its food, it had perished from want. It is the
only instance of this bird having been met with in Arctic
America, in the course of our several expeditions to those
regions."

The Wheatear is abundant on the European Continent,
and very numerous on the northern shores of the Mediter-
ranean in spring, and again in autumn. M. Temminck says
it is found in Dalmatia and the Morea ; it is found also in
Sicily and Crete ; Mr. Strickland observed it at Smyrna
in April ; and the Zoological Society have received speci-
mens from Keith Abbott, Esq., obtained at Trebizond and
Erzeroum, the most eastern localities, as far as I am aware,
that have yet been quoted for this species.

The adult male in the breeding season has the beak, the
space between the beak and the eye, a small line under the
eye, and the ear-coverts, black ; the irides dark brown ; the
space above the base of the beak, a narrow line over the
eye, and a small space above the ear-coverts, white ; the
head, back, and scapulars, of a fine light grey ; wing-coverts
and quill-feathers almost black : upper tail-coverts white ;
the two middle tail-feathers, with the proximal third, white,
— the distal two-thirds black; all the other tail-feathers
have the proximal two-thirds white, the distal one-third
black : chin and throat buff colour ; belly, flanks, vent,
and under tail-coverts, pale buffy white ; legs, toes, and
claws, black.

WHEATEAR. 293

The whole length of the adult bird is six inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-
feather, three inches and seven-eighths: the first feather
very short ; the second as long as the fifth ; the third and
fourth equal in length, and the longest in the wing.

In the adult female, during the breeding season, the
ear-coverts are dark brown ; the grey of the back and the
buff of the under surface of the body are each clouded
with brown.

Immediately after the breeding season the annual moult-
ing takes place, and the plumage of old and young is then
very similar : the beak and the colours of the cheeks are
much the same as before, but the top of the head, back,
and scapulars are reddish brown, slightly tinged with grey ;
each feather being grey at the base, but brown at the tip,
the brown thus hiding the grey : the wing-coverts, secon-
daries, and tertials, broadly edged with reddish brown ;
the tail-feathers tipped with buff; the reddish buff-colour
of the chin and throat, and the paler buff colour of the
belly, vent, and under tail-coverts, are much more intense
in colour and richness. This change, as before remarked,
is produced by the regular autumnal moult, and the brown
colour remains all the winter ; but in the following spring
the change from the brown to the grey appearance is
effected by the wearing off of the brown tips and margins
of all the feathers that were previously so coloured ; — an
illustration of one of the modes by which changes of ap-
pearance are effected, as already referred to. These brown
edges disappear from the quill -feathers of the wings be-
fore the brown colour is lost on the feathers of the head,
neck, back, and scapulars. On these last-named parts the
change from brown to grey is gradual, and many shades
of difference may be observed in different specimens, some
changing more rapidly than others ; but the change from

294

SYLVIAD^.

grey to brown produced by the autumn moult is rapid arid
general, affecting all alike.

Females and young birds in autumn do not differ
much from adult males at the same season, except that
the markings about the head are less clearly defined, and
the colours are rather less pure. The birds are in this
state of plumage when caught in such numbers on the
south downs.

The vignette represents the breastbones of the Robin
and the Wheatear.

IN8B880RE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

295

SYLVIADjE.

\

THE GRASSHOPPER WARBLER.

Salicaria locustella.

Sylvia locustella, Grasshopper Warbler, PENX. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 518.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 236.

Curruca „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 69.

Salicaria „ „ „ SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 199.

Sylvia „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 106.

Locustella avicula, Brake Locustette, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Sylvia locustdla, Bee-fin Locustette, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 184.

SALICABIA. Generic Characters.— BUI straight, subulate, expanded at
the base, with the ridge of the upper mandible elevated, compressed
towards the tip, which is slightly deflected and emarginated ; the edges
straight, those of the under mandible being gently inflected. Nostrils
basal, lateral, oval, and exposed. Forehead narrow and depressed. Wings
rather short ; the first quill nearly abortive, the second a little shorter
than the third, which is the longest of all. Tail rounded. Legs having
the tarsi longer than the middle toe ; feet rather large and stout; the hind
toe large and strong : claws moderately curved, long, and very sharp ; that
of the hind toe longer and larger than any of the others.

I HAVE followed several systematic authors in considering
several species next to be described as entitled to generic

296 SYLVIADJJ.

distinction. The rounded form of the tail, the outer
feathers being much shorter than those in the middle, and
the partiality of these birds to moist situations, particularly
conspicuous in the Sedge and the Reed Warblers, appear
to separate them from the Sylvan Warblers. I have there-
fore adopted the generic name and characters proposed for
them by Mr. Selby.

The Grasshopper Warbler, so called from its very pe-
culiar and almost incessant cricket-like note, is a visitor
from the South, which comes to this country for the
summer, and is first to be heard and occasionally seen
about the middle of April, and leaves us again in Septem-
ber. In its habits, it is shy, vigilant, and restless, secreting
itself in a hedge bottom, and creeping along it for many
yards in succession, more like a mouse than a bird ; seldom
going far from a thicket, a patch of furze, or covert of
some sort, and returning to it again on the least alarm.
During the breeding season, when bushes and shrubs are
clothed with leaves, it is difficult to obtain a sight of
this bird ; yet, when near its haunt, its note rings on the
ear constantly, and, like that of other Aquatic Warblers,
may be heard about sunset particularly, and sometimes
even during the night. The food of the Grasshopper
Warbler is small snails, slugs, and insects.

Unless the old birds are closely watched and seen carry-
ing materials for building or food to their young, the nest
is very difficult to find. One discovered by Mr. R. R.
Wingate of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, who "watched the
bird to the distant passage on the top of a whin-bush by
which it entered and left the nest, was built at the bottom
of a deep narrow furrow or ditch, overhung by the prickly
branches of the whin, and grown over with thick coarse
grass, matted together year after year, to the height of
about two feet ; all of which he was obliged to take away

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 297

piecemeal before he succeeded in gaining the prize. The
nest was composed of coarse dried grass, and contained
five beautiful white eggs, closely freckled with carnation
spots."

The Grasshopper Warbler is found within a few miles
north of London, and also in Surrey. A nest brought me
in May, 1 837, containing five eggs, was cup-shaped, about
four inches across over the top, formed externally of coarse
grass, and lined with finer bents within. This bird some-
times lays as many as seven eggs, eight lines long by six
lines in breadth, of a pale reddish white colour, freckled
all over with specks of darker red. I have seen five or six
sets of the eggs of the Grasshopper Warbler which did not
differ either in colour or marks.

Besides the counties immediately round London, the
Grasshopper Warbler has been observed to visit Hamp-
shire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, and
Wales. It was considered also as a visitor to Ireland by
Montagu and the late Mr. Templeton, and is now included
in the History of the Birds of that country, by my friend
William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast. In a direction
north of London, this species is seen in Suffolk, Norfolk,
several parts of Yorkshire, in Cumberland, Northum-
berland, and Durham, where, according to Mr. Selby, it
frequents low shrubby underwood in moist situations.
Mr. Rennie, in a note to White's History of Selborne,
mentions having seen and heard this species near Edin-
burgh and in Ayrshire. On the European Continent it
frequents during summer the central and southern parts,
but is not very numerous. It is rare in Holland, where,
M. Temminck says, it frequents the sides of rivers. In
Italy and in Sicily it is observed on its passage in the
spring only.

The beak is brown ; the base of the under mandible

298 SYLVIAD.E.

paler in colour than the other parts : the irides hazel ;
the top of the head, back, and wings, greenish brown ;
the centres of the feathers darker brown, producing a
spotted appearance : the feathers of the tail graduated and
of a uniform brown, the ends triangularly pointed. Chin,
throat, breast, and belly, pale brown, spotted with darker
brown on the neck and breast ; under tail-coverts pale
brown, streaked along the centre with darker brown ; legs,
toes, and claws, pale brown.

The whole length five inches and a half. The wings
short: from the carpal joint to the end of the longest
primary, two inches and three-eighths ; the first feather
very short ; the second longer than the fifth, but not
so long as the fourth ; the third the longest in the
wing.

Females do not differ much from males on the upper
parts of the body ; but the under parts are destitute of
the brown spots on the breast, and are of a uniform pale
brown or buff colour, as described by Mr. Heysham of
Carlisle, from a specimen obtained in that neighbourhood.

THRUSH-LIKE WARBLER.

INSESSORES.

DEXTIROSTRES.

299
SYLVIADJE.

THE THRUSH-LIKE WARBLER.

Salicaria turdoides.

Salicaria turdoides, Great Sedge Warbler, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Sylvia „ Bee-fin rousserolle, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i

p. 181 ; vol. iii. p. 109.
T urdus arundinaceus, Grive „ VIEILLOT, Faun. Franc.

p. 160.
Calamoherpe turdoides, Rousserolle turdoides, DEGLAND, Ora. Eur. t. i.

p. 570.
Bon. Cons. Av. Eur. p. 149.

WE are indebted to Mr. John Hancock of Newcastle-
on-Tyne, for the knowledge of this interesting addition to
our catalogue of British Song Birds, in a communication
made to the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for
1847, part ii. page 135, as follows: —

300 SYLVIAD^E.

" A male specimen of this fine Warbler was shot, three
or four miles west of Newcastle, near the village of Swal-
well, by Mr. Thomas Robson of that place, on the 28th
of last May. The attention of this gentleman, who is
perfectly familiar with the song of all our summer visi-
tants, was arrested by a note which he had not before
heard : and after some search he succeeded in getting a
sight of the bird. It was concealed in the thickest part
of a garden hedge close to an extensive mill-dam, which
is bordered with willows, reeds, and other aquatic plants.
It would scarcely leave its retreat, and when it did so
never flew far, and always kept close to the herbage. Its
habits resembled those of the Reed Warbler, being con-
tinually in motion, occasionally hanging with the body
downwards, or clinging to the branches and stretching
forwards to take its prey.

"Its song was powerful, and resembled that of the
Black Ouzel, but was occasionally interrupted with the
harsh croaking note common to many of the Warblers,
and at intervals it uttered a single shrill cry.

"The specimen was very fat, and when opened, the
stomach contained small beetles and flies.

" From the nature of the locality, and from the time of
year when captured, there can be little doubt that this
bird was breeding in the neighbourhood, and I have some
reason for believing that the nidification of this species
has occurred in another part of England. I have had in
my possession for nearly two years an egg taken by a
friend of mine in Northamptonshire, which agrees in every
respect with Thienemann's figure and description of the
egg of Sylvia turdo'ides ; and now, since the capture of
the bird in Britain, it is impossible to doubt that this egg
belongs to that species. It would therefore appear pro-
bable that this delightful songster, the largest of the Euro-
pean Warblers, may be a regular summer visitant to our

THRUSH-LIKE WARBLER. 301

island. Notwithstanding its large size, it might easily
pass unnoticed, skulking as it does in the low herbage, and
seldom exposing itself to view. Its song, too, by most
would be taken for that of the Black Ouzel; and even
now it might have escaped detection had not the accurate
ear and experienced eye of Mr. Robson been engaged in
the pursuit."— July, 1847.

Since the capture of the specimen thus referred to,
several others have been obtained. Mr. Newman has re-
corded in the Zoologist, page 3476, an example obtained
at Dartford in May, 1852. The Rev. F. O. Morris has
noticed one killed by the side of a pond near Sitting-
bourne on the 4th of May, 1853. I have had in my
hand for examination two specimens of this bird in the
flesh, and but recently dead, one of them killed between
Tunbridge and Sevenoaks, the other at Erith; the op-
portunity of seeing both of which was supplied me by Mr.
Green, a well-known dealer in birds and eggs ; and Mr.
Butterfield, the bird preserver of Seymour Place, has lent
me a nest of this bird which was taken near Dorking.
This nest in its form and materials exactly resembles the
nest of the Reed Warbler, figured and serving as a
vignette to the account of that bird, a few pages further
on in this volume, excepting only that it is as much
larger and stronger as the greater size of this Thrush-like
Warbler would require.

The eggs are four or five in number, measuring seven-
eighths of an inch in length by rather more than five-
eighths in breadth ; pale greenish white, spotted and
speckled with ash grey and reddish brown. They are
correctly figured in the third edition of Mr. Hewitson's
work on the Eggs of British Birds, Plate 32, figures 3
and 4; and by Thienemann, Plate 21, fig. 5.

The whole length of an adult male was eight inches ;

302 SYLVIAIM:.

wing from the anterior bend to the end of the longest
quill-feather, four inches ; the upper mandible dark brown,
under mandible lighter brown at the point, the base yellow ;
irides brown ; a pale yellow brown line over the eye ; top
of the head, neck and back, wings and upper tail-coverts
uniform light brown ; primaries, secondaries, and tail-
feathers darker brown, with lighter brown edges ; the tail
graduated, the central pair of feathers nearly half an inch
longer than each outside tail-feather. Chin, neck in front,
and the breast, white ; under surface of the wings, sides of
the body, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, delicate fawn
colour ; legs light brown ; toes and claws darker brown.
Of the wings, the first quill -feather very small ; the second
and third nearly equal in length, and the longest in the
wing : under surface of tail-feathers greyish brown, the
shafts white.

Referring to M. Temminck and other continental
authorities, it is stated that this bird, coming about the
middle of April, is abundant in the marshes of Holland,
frequenting those banks, near water, which are overgrown
with reeds and rushes. It visits Belgium and the low
flat lands of France, even as near us as Calais. It is
found in Germany, Dalmatia, and Tripoli. According to
M. Savi, it leaves Tuscany in October, and is found in
Sicily. Specimens have been received from Bengal and
Borneo. M. Temminck notices that skins sent him from
Japan exactly resemble those obtained in Holland.

The very loud notes of this bird sometimes betray
himself and his nest ; his song, however, is said not to
be heard when his nesting propensities are terminated.

Both the nest and the egg are figured by Dr. H. R.
Schinz in his work on the eggs and nests of the more
remarkable birds of Switzerland and Germany, published
at Zurich in 1819, Plate 25.

SEDGE WARBLER.

TN8E880RE8.

DE\T1ROSTRES.

303

SYLVIAD^E.

THE SEDGE WARBLER.

Salicaria phragmitis.

Sylvia salicaria, Sedge Warbler, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 517.

Motacitta „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

Bird, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 253.

Warbler, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 69.

„ SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 201.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 106.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Bee-fin phragmite, TEVIM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 189.

Curruca „
Salicaria pliragmitis,
Sylvia
Salicaria

THE SEDGE WARBLER, the next example of this aquatic
division, is more numerous as a species than either of the
others, and is generally to be found during summer in most
thick patches of reeds or willows in marshes, or on the low
sides of rivers, or on islands, where, from the loose and
soft nature of the soil, aquatic herbage grows thick and

304 SYLVIAM.

strong. The Sedge Warbler is a summer visitor to this
country, arriving in April and leaving again in September ;
but on one occasion a single specimen was observed near
High "Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, in winter. Imme-
diately on its arrival it takes to thick cover by the water-
side, and is much more frequently heard than seen ; though
it may occasionally be observed flitting on the uppermost
twigs of the willows it inhabits, giving rapid utterance to
a succession of notes as it flies from one branch to another.
White of Selborne appears to have first made Pennant
acquainted with this species, and with his usual acuteness
detailed the habits of the bird, particularly remarking its
power of imitating the notes of other birds, and its sing-
ing at night. The observations of others in various locali-
ties have confirmed the accuracy of his remarks ; and the
Sedge Warbler, in the situations it frequents, may be heard
throughout the day and frequently during a summer night,
imitating the notes of various birds in a somewhat con-
fused and hurried manner ; and should he desist for a few
minutes' rest, it is only necessary to throw a stone or a clod
of dirt among the bushes, and he will immediately com-
mence a series of repetitions, but seldom quits his covered
retreat.

Worms, slugs, and various aquatic insects are the food
of this bird.

The nest of the Sedge Warbler has frequently been con-
founded with that of the Reed Warbler ; but it is usually
placed much nearer the ground, and seldom depends on
reeds for its support. It is frequently placed at or near
the bottom of a patch of thick coarse herbage. One nest
now before me is composed externally of moss at the
bottom : the sides are of grass and coarse bents ; the inside
rather deep, and thickly lined with hairs. The eggs are
five or six in number, eight lines long by six lines in

SEDGE WARBLER. 305

breadth, of a pale yellowish brown colour, slightly mottled,
and sometimes streaked with darker brown. These, ac-
cording to Mr. Jenyns, are hatched towards the end of
May or the beginning of June.

The Sedge Warbler, as before observed, is neither so
local nor so limited in numbers as the species which here
precede it, or those which follow it.

The marshy banks of the Thames, on either side of the
river where beds of willows or reeds abound, are well
stocked with this bird ; although, from the wet and muddy
nature of the ground, they are not very easy to get at. In
the southern and western counties it occurs in Hampshire,
Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, and in Wales ; and
from Mr. Wm. Thompson of Belfast, I learn that it is a
regular summer visitor to the north of Ireland. It occurs
also in the marshes of Essex, in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lin-
colnshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Lancashire,
and was traced by Mr. Selby in Sutherlandshire to the
northern extremity of the island: "it was found pretty
generally distributed along the margins of the lochs, parti-
cularly where low birchen coppice and reedy grass abound-
ed. The well-known babbling notes of this wakeful little
bird proclaimed its presence in many unexpected situa-
tions." Mr. Hewitson saw it in Norway ; M. Nilsson
records it as a summer visitor to Sweden ; and Pennant, in
his Arctic Zoology, says it frequents Russia and Siberia
even to the Arctic Circle. It inhabits all the marshes and
sides of rivers in Holland ; is a common bird in Germany,
France, Provence, and Italy, which last country it leaves
early in October and returns in April. It is found in
Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Crete. Mr. Strickland saw this
species at Smyrna in December.

The beak is brown ; from the gape to the eye a brown
streak; irides brown; from the top of the eye a broad

VOL. i. x

306 SYLVIADJ3.

streak of yellowish white passes backward over the ear-
coverts ; the ear-coverts dark brown ; the top of the head
streaked longitudinally with dark and light brown, and
thus mixed is darker than the plumage of the nape, form-
ing a hood : back and wing-coverts pale reddish brown,
clouded with darker brown ; quill-feathers dark brown ;
wing-coverts and tertials edged with pale brown ; upper
tail-coverts decidedly rufous ; tail-feathers uniform brown ;
the tail rounded, the outside feather on each side being
three-eighths of an inch shorter than those of the middle.
Chin and throat white; breast, belly, flanks, and under
tail-coverts, buff colour, darkest on the flanks ; under sur-
face of tail-feathers dusky brown ; legs, toes, and claws,
pale brown.

The whole length of the bird is four inches and three-
quarters. This bird is as large in the body as the Grass-
hopper Warbler; but its tail-feathers are much shorter.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-
feather, two inches and a half: the first feather very
short ; the second and third equal in length, and the longest
in the wing.

The female has less of the rufous colour in the upper
tail -co verts ; and the whole of the under surface from the
chin to the vent is darker in colour than the same parts in
the male, and has a dingy appearance from being mixed
with dusky brown.

SAVI'S WARBLER.

IN8E8SORE8.

307
SYLVIADJE.

SAVI'S WARBLER.

Salicaria luscino'ides.

Wittow Locustelle, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
„ „ Savis Warbler, LUBBOCK, Fauna of Xorfolk,p.34.

„ „ Bee-fin des saule-s, TEMM. Man.d'Ornith.vol.iii. p. 11 9.

SEVERAL examples of this Warbler have lately been
procured in this country. The first specimens were ob-
tained in the fens of Cambridgeshire, in the spring of 1840,
by Mr. J. Baker, and by him presented to the British
Museum ; of these birds a notice was published by Mr.
George R. Gray, in the sixth volume of the Annals of
Natural History, page 155. Since that time Mr. Joseph
Clarke, of Saffron Walden, has also obtained a pair of
these birds, which are deposited in the Museum at Saffron
Walden, and were obligingly devoted for a time to my

x 2

308 SYLVIADJI.

use. Since that time, three examples of this species have
been obtained in Norfolk, as I learn from the interesting
Fauna of that country recently published by the Rev.
Richard Lubbock, and others have been taken.

Mr. George R. Gray mentions "that this is a rare
species in the South of Europe, and was first noticed by
Savi in the Nuovo Giornale de Letterai, No. XIV. 1824;
again in his Ornithologia Toscana, torn. i. p. 270, under
the name of Sylvia luscino'ides, and is also figured by Sa-
vigny in his Description de 1'Egypt, PI. 13, f. 3." It
appears to have been noticed by M. Temminck in 1835 ;
it is figured by Pollidore Roux, in his Birds of Provence,
and by Mr. Gould in his Birds of Europe. Savi's Warbler
has been taken in Malta and in Sicily.

This neat little Warbler belongs, like the Sedge and
Reed Warblers, to that small group which frequent
moist and shaded situations, among reeds and bushes near
water. M. Savi says that it arrives in Tuscany about
the middle of April, that it conceals itself among willows
and shrubs, creeping about among the low branches, and
feeds on worms and insects. The egg is figured by Mr.
Hewitson and Thienemann.

The beak is brown ; the head, neck above, back
wings, and tail-feathers reddish-brown ; the latter indis-
tinctly barred across with narrow darker bands ; chin and
throat almost white ; front of neck and breast pale brown ;
under parts of the body rather darker, but lighter in
colour than the upper surface of the body ; legs and toes
pale brown.

The whole length of the bird five inches and a half; the
wing, from the anterior bend, two inches and a half. This
bird resembles the Reed Warbler, and was at first mis-
taken for it ; the plumage is, however, more like that of
the Nightingale.

REED WARBLER.

1N8S880BE8.

DEXT1ROSTRES.

309
SYLVIADsE.

THE REED WARBLER.

Salicaria arundinacea.
Sylvia arundinacea, Reed Warbler, PEXN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 520.

Motacilla

Curruca

Salicaria
Sylda
Salicaria
Sylda

„ Wren, MONTAGU, Omith. Diet.

Night Warbler, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 254.

Reed „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 69.

„ Wren, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 203.

„ „ JEXYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 107.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Bee-fin des roseaux, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.voLLp.l91.

THE REED WARBLER appears to have been first made
known as a British Bird by the Rev. John Lightfoot, who,
in a communication to Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., which was
read at the Royal Society, and printed in the volume of
Transactions for the year 1785, has well described the

310 SYLVIADJS.

habits, plumage, and nest of this species, which, he found,
frequented the reeds of the river Coin from Harefield
Moor to Iver, a distance of about five miles. This bird
did not appear in Pennant's Zoology till the edition of
1812.

The Reed Warbler comes to this country in April, and
departs again in September ; and is in its habits and man-
ners, as well as in the localities it frequents, so similar to
the Sedge Warbler, that wherever one species is found,
the other is almost certain to be within a short distance ;
and the birds themselves, from a certain resemblance in
appearance, have been frequently confounded : the Reed
Warbler, however, is not so abundant as a species, and the
distinctions by which it may be always known will be
particularly referred to hereafter. Like its aquatic con-
geners already figured, the Reed Warbler takes care to
secrete itself under cover of the bed of reeds or willows it
may chance to inhabit; it sings repeatedly in the day,
and sometimes also occasionally during the night. Mr.
Selby says its song is varied and pleasing, with fewer of
the harsh notes that prevail in that of the Sedge Warbler,
but is delivered in the same hurried manner. Mr. Sweet,
well known for his skill and success in keeping the British
Warblers in confinement, says he had a male bird of this
species that sung occasionally all winter. The song was
very loud and variable, consisting of a great number of
notes, and sung with many changes of voice, so diversified
as to resemble the song of several different birds. The
food of this species in a wild state is very similar to that
of the Sedge Warbler, — namely, worms, slugs, various
aquatic insects, and the smaller species of dragon-flies,
Libellula.

The nest of this bird is very singularly constructed and
sustained. That from which the vignette at the end of

REED WARBLER. 311

this subject was drawn, was supported between four reed
stems, and was taken from a bed of reeds on the side of
the Thames, the surface soil of which was covered by
water every tide, or twice in each twenty-four hours.
The nest is formed of the seed-branches of the reeds and
very long grass, wound horizontally round and round, in-
cluding the four upright reeds in the substance; thus
forming, with a little wool, the sides of the nest, which
frequently measures five inches in depth on the outside,
three inches in breadth across the top, and very frequently
three inches deep inside ; the lining is formed of very fine
grass and long hairs. The nest is made so deep that the
eggs do not roll out when the supporting reeds are waved
by the wind ; and Montagu observes, that he has seen the
bird sitting on her nest when every gust forced it almost
to the surface of the water.

Among the various nests sent me by Mr. J. D. Salmon,
was a very beautifully constructed one of tin's bird, as de-
scribed to have been found amongst the reeds adjoining
the river near Euston Bridge ; which nest contained four
eggs on the 30th of June, 1834. This bird sometimes lays
five eggs, which are of a greenish white colour, spotted and
freckled with ash-green and light brown ; the length nine
lines, by six lines and a half in breadth. The young are
hatched in July, and quit the nest very soon, hanging and
climbing with perfect security among the reeds by their
very sharp claws.

The Reed Warbler is found in Essex, Surrey, and Kent,
within a few miles of London ; it is found also in Suffolk,
about Sudbury. In Norfolk, one locality has been men-
tioned ; and the large fresh waters called the Broads, near
Yarmouth, with their numerous islands, reeds, and rank
aquatic herbage, are very likely situations to harbour it.
Mr. Selby mentions that he had not observed this bird

312 SYLVIAD^.

north of Northamptonshire : it has now been observed in
Staffordshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire ; but not be-
yond, that I am aware of.

Montagu says it was numerous in the southern parts of
Kent, about Romney Marsh : it has been found also in
Sussex ; and Dr. Moore of Plymouth possesses a specimen
taken in Devonshire, where, however, it is considered rare.
It is also included in Mr. Tempi eton's Catalogue of the
Birds of Ireland, as having been once seen in the vicinity
of Belfast.

The Reed Warbler is abundant in Holland ; frequents
Germany and France ; is included among the Birds of
Provence by Polydore Roux ; and, according to S. Savi,
is common in Italy from spring to October. It is found also
in Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Egypt; and Bryan Hodgson,
Esq., includes it among the Birds of Nepal.

The beak is longer than that of the Grasshopper War-
bler or the Sedge Warbler, and rather broader at the base,
of a pale brown colour, the under mandible inclining to a
yellowish white ; the irides brown : the head, neck, and
all the upper surface of the body, of a uniform pale brown
colour with a tinge of chestnut, the primary quill -feathers
being a little darker : the form of the tail rounded, the
outside feather being one-quarter of an inch shorter than
that in the middle. The chin and throat white ; breast,
belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts, pale buff, rather lighter
in colour along the middle line than on the sides. Legs,
toes, and claws, pale brown.

The length of the male bird five inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-
feather, two inches and five- eighths: the first feather very
short ; the second, third, and fourth nearly equal in length,
the third the longest.

The female is rather less than the male, measuring only

REED WARBLER.

313

five inches in length ; but is not otherwise unlike the
male.

The character of the beak, the entire absence of the
buffy white stripe over the ear-coverts, and the uniform
colour of the whole of the upper surface of the body of
this bird, distinguish it from either the Grasshopper War-
bler or the Sedge Warbler, with both of which, however,
it has many habits in common.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Reed
Warbler, obtained from a reed-bed near the Thames.

314

LVSESSOfiES.

DENT1ROSTKES.

SYLVIADJ8.

SYLVIAD.E.

THE RUFOUS SEDGE WARBLER.

Salic aria yalactotes.

Salicaria galactotes, Rufous Sedge Warbler, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Sylvia „ Bee-fin rubigineux, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 182.

Salicaria

SCHLEGEL, Kr. 116.
TEMM. and LAUG. PI. Col.
pi. 251, f. 1.

FOR the knowledge of the occurrence of this handsome
Bird in Sussex, I am indebted to the kindness of Mr.
Wm. Borrer, Junr., to whom I am under further obliga-

RUFOUS SEDGE WARBLER. 315

tions for many interesting reports on the Birds of that
county, and who supplied the following notice of the cap-
ture of this species, new to Britain, to the pages of the
Zoologist in the autumn of 1854, page 4511 : —

" As G. Swaysland, a bird-preserver of Cranbourne
Street, West Street, Brighton, was driving on the South
Downs, about six miles from Brighton, near a part of the
Downs known as Plumpton Bosthill, he noticed a bird
which he at first took for a cream-coloured variety of the
Nightingale. Having no gun with him, he proceeded
about four miles to obtain one, and returning to the spot,
found the bird about twenty yards from where he first
observed it. It was very wary, flying always to the further
side of some furze-bushes, and settling on the side furthest
from him, mounting into the air some fifteen yards.
Swaysland describes its flight as resembling that of the
young of the Red-backed Shrike. He at last got a shot
at about forty yards, and killed it: this was on the 16th
of September last. The bird, on dissection, proved to be
a male, and would shortly have moulted, one or two young
feathers of the primaries having made their appearance
on each wing ; these are darker than the old ones. The
feathers also, on the back and tail, especially the central
ones of the latter, are much worn. I borrowed the bird
and sent it to Mr. Yarrell, who returned it with various
references, stating also that he was not aware of its having
previously occurred in Britain."

Although the beauty of this species might have been
expected to attract and invite attention, its habits appear
to be but little known. According to M. Temminck, it
was first obtained at Gibraltar by M. Natterer, a distin-
guished traveller and naturalist, attached to the Imperial
Museum of Vienna, who succeeded in securing other ex-
amples at Algesiras. This species is not included by M.

316 SYLVIAM.

Vieillot in the Faune Frangaise, nor by Savi in his Birds
of Tuscany, but it is found in various provinces of Spain,
and particularly in the valleys of Andalusia, nesting among
the shrubs of oleander. Of two examples of this bird,
kindly lent me by Mr. Gould for my use in this work,
one is ticketed as having been taken in Savoy ; the label
on the other, a very fine adult male, from which the
figure and description here inserted, were derived, is
marked as shot in Tripoli. M. Degland, in his European
Ornithology, vol. i. p. 567, says it inhabits Greece and
Egypt. M. Malherbe, after having examined skins from
Algeria, and others from the vicinity of Caucasus, considers
them to belong to this same species.

Its food is said to be grasshoppers and other insects
generally. It is considered a good songster. Though very
lively, it is shy in its habits, and whenever it perches on a
branch, it moves its tail up and down, like a true Mota-
cilla. Its short wings, long and graduated tail-feathers,
and the character of its eggs, three of which are figured
by Thienemann, Plate 21, fig. 4, of a pale greenish white
ground colour, spotted and speckled over with two shades of
darker greenish brown, very similar in colour to the eggs
of our Great Sedge Warbler, and our Reed Warbler,
assist in deciding the place of this species. The name,
galactotes, originally given to it by M. Temminck, its
first describer, is intended to refer to the light creamy
colour of the ear-coverts, and the parts above and below
the eye.

The beak is slightly curved, measuring from point to
gape, five-eighths of an inch in length; upper mandible
brown above, lateral edges and under mandible pale yel-
lowish brown ; irides reddish brown ; over and under the
eye, and passing backward over the ear-coverts, creamy
white ; from the gape to the eye, a dark streak ; upper

RUFOUS SEDGE WARBLER. 317

surface of the head, neck, shoulders, wing-coverts, and
back, fawn colour ; wing primaries and secondaries, bro-
coli brown ; outer edges reddish buff; upper tail-coverts,
and the two long central tail-feathers, uniform reddish
buff; the outer five tail-feathers on each side reddish buff
over two-thirds of their diminishing length ; then a broad
band of black extending over both webs of the feather ;
the remainder of the length pure white; each extreme
outside feather with the most elongated portion of white ;
chin, throat, and all the under surface of the body, and
under tail-coverts, dull white ; under surface of the wings,
the sides and flanks, delicate fawn colour ; under surface of
the tail-feathers marked like the upper surface, but the
colours not so bright ; legs, toes, and claws, pale wood
brown. The plumage, in colour, resembles that of our
well-known Bearded Tit.

The whole length of the specimen, seven inches ; from
the bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather, three and a half inches; the first wing-feather
short ; the second and "sixth feathers about equal in length ;
the third, fourth, and fifth feathers equal in length, and the
longest in the wing.

318

SYLVIADJE.

ItfSESSORJES.

DENTlROSTRES.

SYLVIAD.E.

THE NIGHTINGALE.

Philomela luscinia.
Sylvia luscinia, The Nightingale, PBNN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 494.

Motadlla

)>

Curruca
Philomela
Sylvia
Philomela

Bee-Jin Rossignol,

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 236.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 69.

SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 206.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 107.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 195.

PHILOMELA. Generic Characters. — Bill moderate, straight, upper ridge
rounded; the tip of the upper mandible slightly deflected and emarginated.
Nostrils basal, lateral, round, pierced in a membrane. Wings of moderate
size ; the first quill very short, the second equal in length to the fifth, the
third the longest in the wing. Tail slightly rounded. Legs long ; toes
of moderate length ; claws rather short.

NIGHTINGALE. 319

THE NIGHTINGALE is admitted beyond dispute to possess
in a higher degree than any other Britisli Bird each of the
three requisites necessary to form by their combination a
first-rate song. The volume, quality, and execution of its
voice are unrivalled in this country ; and when the dimi-
nutive size of the musician is considered, its powers are
certainly very extraordinary. The song of the Nightingale
has accordingly been the theme of writers of all ages, and
few have expressed their admiration in more fervent or
more natural terms than honest Izaak Walton, who loved
birds almost as well as he loved fish, and says, " But the
Nightingale, another of my airy creatures, breathes such
sweet loud music out of her little instrumental throat, that
it might make mankind to think that miracles are not
ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer
sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear
airs, the sweet descants, the natural rising and falling, the
doubling and redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted
above earth, and say, ' Lord, what music hast thou pro-
vided for the saints in Heaven, when thou affordest bad men
such music on earth ! ' '

The Nightingale makes its appearance in this country
generally about the middle of April, and the males arrive
ten or fourteen days before the females. As the males sing
well in confinement, and produce a price in proportion to
the perfection of their song, their arrival is taken immedi-
ate advantage of. Many are caught by the London bird-
catchers during the first week, and these are preserved
without difficulty ; but if a male be caught after the fe-
males have arrived, and his song and attentions have gained
him a mate, he is almost certain not to survive his confine-
ment in a cage ; and hence the desire among the dealers in
birds to make the most of the very first of the season.
Among the best judges of the powers of the Nightingale,

320 SYLVIAM.

the birds taken in the county of Surrey are considered to
possess the finest quality of song. By particular feeding
and judicious management, a male may be kept in song for
three months together ; and I remember to have heard it
stated by a successful keeper of Nightingales, that a bird
of his had sung his song round upon one hundred and
fourteen successive days.

The localities frequented by the Nightingale are woods
having thick undergrowth, low coppices, plantations, and
hedgerows. The extensive grounds around London which
are cultivated by market-gardeners, are favourite haunts
with this bird ; low damp meadows near streams are also
frequented ; and M. Vieillot says they are partial to the
vicinity of an echo. From the pairing time to the hatching
of the young, the male continues in full song, not only
singing at intervals throughout the day, but frequently
serenading his partner during the night ; and Pennant says,
the name of the bird is derived from our term night, and
the Saxon word galan, to sing. The nest of this bird is
almost always placed on the ground : advantage is taken
of a slight depression in the soil, some dead oak and horn-
beam leaves are deposited therein, with a few dried bents
and portions of rushes, lined internally towards the bottom
with fine fibrous roots ; but so loosely constructed, that it
is generally necessary to pass thread or string several times
round the whole nest, before removing it, if desirous of
preserving its form. The eggs are four or five in number,
of a uniform olive brown colour, and measuring ten lines in
length by eight lines and a half in breadth. The eggs are
produced in May, and the young are hatched in June.
From this period the song of the male is heard no more ; a
single low croaking note is uttered as a warning should
danger threaten, occasionally changing to a sharp snapping
noise, made with the beak, which is considered to be a note

NIGHTINGALE.

of defiance. Colonel Montagu took a nest of young Night-
ingales early in June, and placing them in a cage, observed
that the parent birds fed them principally with small green
caterpillars. The adult birds feed on insects of various
sorts, flies, moths, spiders, and earwigs.

When we consider that this bird extends its visits
during the summer as far north as Russia and Sweden,
its very limited range in this country is unaccountable.
It is found in Sussex, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and the
eastern part of Devonshire, along the line of our south
coast. It has been heard about Tinmouth and Exmouth,
but not in Cornwall. In north Devon it has been heard
at Honiton and Barnstaple. A gentleman of Gower,
which is the peninsula beyond Swansea, procured from
Norfolk and Surrey, a few years back, some scores of
young Nightingales, hoping that an acquaintance with
his beautiful woods and their mild climate would induce
a second visit; but the law of Nature was too strong
for him, and not a single bird returned. Dyer, in his
Grongar Hill, makes the Nightingale a 'companion of
liis muse in the Vale of Towey or Carmarthen ; but this
is a poetical licence, as the bird is not heard there. The
Nightingale has not hitherto been heard in any part of
Ireland.

In a note by Mr. Blyth, in an edition of White's Sel-
borne, it is observed, " The Nightingale, I think, appears
to migrate almost due north and south, deviating but a
very little, indeed, either to the right or left. There are
none in Brittany, nor in the Channel Islands, Jersey,
Guernsey, &c.; and the most westward of them probably
cross the Channel at Cape La Hogue, arriving on the
coast of Dorsetshire, and thence apparently proceeding
northward, rather than dispersing towards the west; so
that they are only known as accidental stragglers a little

VOL. i. Y

SYLVIAD-ffi.

beyond the third degree of western longitude, — a line which
cuts off the western part of Devonshire and Cornwall,
together with part of South "Wales, and all Ireland." In
the former editions of this work, I had considered that
the Nightingale was not to be found in Glamorganshire,
but in the spring of the present year (1855), Robert
Boreter, Esq., of Llandough Castle, near Cowbridge, con-
vinced me to the contrary, and most kindly took the
trouble to obtain and send me a specimen of a male bird
shot in May, near the Perthkerry Woods, about seven
miles S.S.E. of Cowbridge; in which district when the
spring is warm, the Nightingale is not uncommon. Mon-
tagu says it is plentiful in Somersetshire ; but it is only
occasionally heard in the northern part of that county. It
is not included by Mr. Rylands in his Catalogue of the
Birds of Lancashire ; yet it has been heard on the north-
west side of England as high up as Carlisle, but no further.
On the eastern side, this bird is well known to frequent
Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, some of the more wooded parts
of Lincolnshire, and several parts of Yorkshire ; but not
higher than five miles north of the city of York, as I learn
from my friend and correspondent, Mr. Thomas Allis. The
Nightingale, has not, I believe, been heard in Scotland, or
in the Scottish Islands ; which, considering that it does
visit Denmark, is also extraordinary. It is said to have
been heard in Calder Wood in Mid Lothian, in the early
part of the summer of 1826, but I have heard of no recent
instance. An attempt to establish the Nightingale in Scot-
land is thus recorded in a note to an edition of White's
Selborne, published in Edinburgh : — " It has been generally
believed that the migratory songsters, both old and
young, return to their native haunts in the breeding season.
From this circumstance it is believed, that if any of
these could be bred beyond the ordinary limits of their

NIGHTINGALE. 323

incubation, they would return in the following season to
their birth-place. Impressed with this belief, Sir John
Sinclair, Bart., long known for his patriotism, commissioned
the late Mr. Dickson of Covent Garden to purchase for
him as many Nightingales' eggs as he could procure, at a
shilling each. This was accordingly done ; the eggs care-
fully packed in wool, and transmitted to Sir John by the
mail. Sir John employed several men to find, and take
care of, the nests of several Robins, in places where the
eggs might be deposited and hatched with security. The
Robins' eggs were removed, and replaced by those of the
Nightingale, which were all sat upon, hatched in due
time, and the young brought up by the foster-parents.
The songsters flew when fully fledged, and were observed
for some time afterwards near the places where they
were incubated. In September, the usual migratory
period, they disappeared, but never returned to the place
of their birth."

The following observations on the breeding of the
Nightingale in confinement by H. Hanley, Sergeant-
Major of the 1st Life Guards, were communicated to
the Zoological Society, and read there in June, 1851 : —

" Being of opinion that any bird which breeds in this
country in a wild state, might, by studying its habits, be
brought to do so in a state of captivity, I made prepara-
tions during the winter of 1841, for trying the Nightingale,
which I considered to be the most retired in its habits of
any of our summer visitants. I had a cage made four
feet long by three feet high, the back, ends, and top solid,
with a wire front, in which I placed a small Scotch fir-
tree, planted in a flower -pot ; to each end of the cage I
attached a common-sized canary's breeding-cage, commu-
nicating with the large cage by a hole about four inches
square. I broke up a new birch broom, and filled the

Y 2

324 SYLVIAD^l.

cages at each, end, to make them resemble, as near as pos-
sible, the bottom of a thick hedge, and then put in a
plentiful supply of withered oak-leaves and moss, of which
the Nightingale forms its nest, covering the fronts of the
two small cages with green glazed calico. I placed the
cages high up against a wall facing a landing window.
The following spring, that is, about the latter end of April,
1845, I directed a bird-catcher to bring me a cock and
hen bird which had paired naturally ; he did so, and, for-
tunately, they meated off very readily. By * meating off,'
I mean that such birds as live on insect food will not
peck at dead food until taught to do so, which is effected
by inclosing meal-worms in a small glass tube, corked up
at each end, and then placing the tube in their food ; on
pecking at the worm, the beak slips off the glass amidst
the food, which they swallow, and will afterwards go to it
without the aid of the tube. On finding my birds feed
freely in the small cage, in which until then, I had confined
them, I turned them into the place I had fitted up for
them, and was much gratified, about a week afterwards,
to observe the hen bird flying about with an oak-leaf in
her beak. She made her nest in one of the small cages
at the end of the large one ; laid four eggs, of which she
hatched and brought up three young ones. During the
time she was sitting, the cock bird sang as well and as loud
as I ever heard one in a wild state : when the young were
excluded he left off singing, and was most assiduous in
assisting to feed and rear them."

M. Nilsson says that the Nightingale arrives in Sweden
by the 1st of May ; and Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology,
says this bird visits the temperate parts of Russia, and some
parts of Siberia. It breeds in Germany, France, Spain,
Provence, and Italy ; but leaves even the most southern
parts of this last-named country by the end of September,

NIGHTINGALE.

or early in October, going by Sicily and Malta to pass the
winter in North Africa, Egypt, and Syria. Mr. Strickland
saw this bird at Smyrna on the 5th of April. It also
visits the islands of the Grecian Archipelago. Mr. Blyth
has found it in India.

The beak is brown ; the irides hazel : the head, and all
the upper parts of the body and wings, of a uniform rich
brown, tinged with reddish chestnut ; the tail-feathers still
more rufous, and rather rounded in form : all the under
surface of the bird dull greyish white ; the chin, and the
lower part of the breast, of a lighter tint than the throat
and chest ; under tail-coverts pale reddish white ; legs, toes,
and claws, brown.

The whole length of the bird, six inches and three-eighths.
From the carpus to the end of the longest primary, three
inches and one-quarter : the first quill-feather very short,
the second equal in length to the fifth, the third the long-
est in the \ving.

The female in plumage resembles the male.

Young birds have buff-coloured spots on the tips of the
feathers of the upper surface of the body ; those on the
under surface have dark margins.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Nightin-
gale.

326

SYLVIAD^.

INSE8SOBES.

DENTIROSTRES.

SYLVIADM

Sylvia atricapilla, Blackcap Warbler,
Motacilla ,

Curruca

»

Sylvia
Curruca
Sylvia,

THE BLACKCAP WARBLER.

Curruca atricapilla.

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 505.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 258.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 70.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 209.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 108.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.
p. 201.

CURRUCA. Generic Characters. — Bill rather stout, short; upper mandible
slightly curved at the point, which is emarginated ; gape with a few hairs.
Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, exposed. Wings of moderate size ; the first
quill-feather very short, the second longer than the fifth, the third the
longest in the wing. Legs with the tarsus short, but longer than the
middle toe ; the toes and claws short, and formed for perching.

THE BLACKCAP is a true Sylvan Warbler, visiting this
country from the South and East every spring, arriving

Bee-fin d iete noire,

BLACKCAP WARBLER. 327

about the middle of April, sometimes rather earlier, de-
pending on the state of the season, but never, according to
Mr. Selby, till the larch trees are visibly green ; and it
leaves us again, with an occasional exception, in September.
Mr. Lewin, some years ago, it is recorded, shot a Blackcap
near Dartford in the month of January; and several in-
stances have occurred of specimens being obtained, and
others heard, during winter, in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don, Bristol, and other western localities.

Like the Nightingale, the males of this species, which
are readily distinguishable by their jet-black head, arrive
some days before the females ; and their song soon betrays
their retreat. They frequent woods, plantations, thick
hedges, orchards, and gardens. They are restless, timid,
and shy ; and are no sooner observed, but they exhibit
their anxiety to gain some place of concealment by hopping
from branch to branch to a more secluded situation. The
female is equally cautious in selecting the spot for her nest,
and does not finally determine upon it till the expanding
foliage promises sufficient security, and sometimes even
after having commenced and abandoned a nest in two or
three different places. The nest is usually fixed in a bush
about two or three feet from the ground ; it is constructed
of bents and dried herbage, lined with fibrous roots mixed
with hair. The eggs are mostly five in number, of a pale
greenish white, mottled with light brown and ash colour,
with a few spots and streaks of dark brown : they are nine
lines in length by seven lines in breadth. Some specimens
of the eggs of the Blackcap resemble those of the Garden
Warbler, the bird next to be described.

The male Blackcap is inferior only to the Nightingale in
the quality of his song. White has described the tones of
this bird as full, deep, sweet, and loud : like most birds
that are gifted with great powers of voice, the Blackcap is

328 SYLVIAD^J.

an imitator of the notes of several others, and occasionally
detracts from the character of his more natural song by the
introduction of variations. The male birds of several spe-
cies share with their females the task of incubating the
eggs : this is particularly the case with the male Blackcap,
so readily known from the female, as before observed, by
his black head ; and so gratified apparently is he when
performing this part of his duty, as frequently to sing while
so occupied, sometimes, perhaps, producing the destruction
of his hopes. A writer in the Magazine of Natural His-
tory says, he has several times been led to the discovery of
a well-concealed nest by the male singing while sitting on
the eggs. The female while taking her turn on the nest is
occasionally fed by the male : generally, however, male
birds neither sit so steady, so long at one time, or feed the
young so assiduously, as the females. The food of this
species is berries, insects, and fruit, particularly raspberries
and red currants. Mr. Blyth mentions having seen the
Blackcap dart into the air after insects, and catch them
while on the wing. Bechstein, in his Cage Birds, says,
" A young male which I had put into a hot-house for the
winter was accustomed to receive from my hand, every
time I entered, a meal-worm : this took place so regularly,
that immediately on my arrival, he placed himself near the
little jar where I kept the meal-worms. If I pretended
not to notice this signal, he would take flight, and, passing
close under my nose, immediately resume his post ; and
this he repeated, sometimes even striking me with his wing,
till I satisfied his wishes and impatience." And the Black-
cap in confinement appears, as well from his habits as
from his fine song, to have been a great favourite with the
late Mr. Sweet.

The Blackcap visits all the counties along the southern
coast of England from Sussex to the Land's End ; but,

BLACKCAP WARBLER. 329

from the communications in reference to Ornithology with
which I have been favoured by E. H. Rodd, Esq., of Pen-
zance, this bird is more common in the wooded districts of
Cornwall of late years than it was formerly. It visits
Wales, and has been taken, once at least, in the north of
Ireland, as communicated by Mr. Thompson of Belfast to
the Zoological Society. It visits also Suffolk and Norfolk,
the northern counties of England, and some parts of Scot-
land ; but I have not been able to find any recorded notice
of its appearance in the Scottish Islands. It is, however,
included among the summer visitors to Denmark, was seen
by Mr. Hewitson in Norway, and, according to M. Nilsson,
arrives in Sweden about the end of May, and goes as far
north as Lapland.

This bird visits also the eastern and central parts of
Europe. In Germany it is called the Monk, in reference
to the hooded appearance of both male and female. It is
found in summer in Spain and Portugal, and at Tangiers.
It is an inhabitant of the Azores, where the female is
called Red Hood. It is also a resident at Madeira ; and
M. Temminck has received specimens from the Cape of
Good Hope and Senegal. It inhabits North Africa, is
resident in the southern part of Italy all the year, fre-
quents Sicily and Crete, and the Zoological Society have
received specimens from Trebizond. M. Temminck fur-
ther states that he has received specimens from Japan,
and one skin of a female from Java ; and however distant
these localities may appear, these specimens presented no
perceptible difference either in form or in the colour of
their plumage.

In the adult male, the beak is dark horn colour ; the
irides dark brown ; all the upper part of the head above
the eyes jet black ; nape of the neck ash grey ; back,
wings, and tail, ash brown ; chin, throat, and breast, like

330

SYLYIAD^.

the nape, ash-grey ; belly and under wing-coverts white ;
under surface of quill -feathers and tail grey; legs and
toes lead colour ; claws brown.

The whole length five inches and three-quarters. From
the carpus to the end of the wing, two inches and three-
quarters ; the first quill-feather very short ; the second
longer than the sixth, but not so long as the fifth ; the
third the longest in the wing.

The female is larger than the male, measuring six inches
and one-quarter ; the top of the head chestnut, and the
other parts of the plumage more tinged with brown than
that of the male.

Young birds resemble the adult female, but the hood is
not so decidedly conspicuous. Young males do not ac-
quire the white belly till after their second summer.

GARDEN WARBLER.

tNSESSORES.

1)E\T1ROSTRES.

331

SYL VIAD^E.

THE GARDEN WARBLER,

Curruca hortensis.

Xt/lna hortensis. Greater Pettychaps, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 506.
Motadlla „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

Sylvia „ Garden Warbler, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 248.
Motadlla passerina, Passerine, „ „ „ „ 250.

Curruca hortemis, Pettychaps, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 70.

„ Greater Pettychaps, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 211.
Sylvia „ „ „ JEXYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 108.

Curruca „ Garden Warbler, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

/Syria „ Bee-fin Fauvette, TEMM.Man.d'Oraith.vol.i.p.206.

THE GARDEN WARBLER is another summer visitor,
closely resembling the Blackcap in habits, being lively,
active, and restless, seldom remaining long in any one place,
secreting itself in dense foliage, oftener heard than seen,

332 SYLVIADJJ.

but sometimes singing from a branch at the top of a tree.
As a songster, the Garden Warbler ranks next to the
Blackcap ; and a good judge of the comparative value of
the songs of our birds has described that of the Garden
Warbler as a continued strain of considerable modulation,
sometimes lasting for half an hour at a time without a
pause. The song is wild, rapid, and irregular in time and
tone ; but the rich depth is wonderful for so small a
throat, approaching in deep mellowness even to that of
the Blackbird.

The Garden Warbler seldom comes to this country in
the spring till towards the end of April or the beginning
of May. Mr. Selby remarks that it is rarely seen till the
elm and the oak are bursting into leaf : the males arrive
before the females. They frequent thick hedges, shrub-
beries, and gardens, feeding on insects, peas, various fruits,
— according to the notes of the Hon. and Rev. W. Her-
bert,* cherries in particular, and some berries. Their
nest is placed in a low bush, or among rank herbage. I
have found it hid in a row of peas and pea-sticks in a
garden, and once among some tares in an open field. Mr.
Jesse mentions an instance under his own observation of
a Garden Warbler building its nest three times in suc-
cession among some ivy growing against a wall ; the ma-
terials, consisting of goose-grass, bents, with a little wool
and moss, lined with fine fibrous roots and a few hairs,
are but loosely put together : the eggs are four or five
in number, of a greenish white, spotted and streaked with
ash-green and light brown ; the length nine lines, by six
lines and a half in breadth. The young are said to re-
main in the nest till they are well grown and feathered.

This species was first made known to Dr. Latham, as a
British Bird, by Sir Ashton Lever, who observed and ob-
* In two editions of White's Natural History of Selborne.

GARDEN WARBLER. 333

tained specimens in Lancashire, which he sent to Dr. La-
tham, then residing at Dartford. Since that period it has
been found in many other counties of England. Though
easily overlooked, it is not an uncommon bird around
London, among the numerous and extensive gardens in
which vegetables and fruit are grown for the supply of the
different London markets. It occurs as far to the west-
ward as Devonshire, does not appear to visit Cornwall,
nor have I been able to trace any notice of it in Wales.
Mr. Thompson of Belfast, in the continuation of his re-
marks on the Birds of Ireland, published in the first
number of the Annals of Natural History, gives the fol-
lowing extract, in reference to the Garden Warbler, from
the MS. of the late John Templeton, Esq : — " On the 21st
of May, 1820, I had the pleasure of seeing this bird, to
whose haunt in my garden I was attracted by its pleasing
melody. It was not very shy, coming near enough to be
distinctly seen, — but was extremely restless, flitting every
moment from place to place, and only stationary on the
branch while it gave out its song. The male continued to
sing until the young were reared, when his song ceased for
about a fortnight ; then it was again renewed, as I sup-
pose, on the construction of a second nest."

From London in a northern direction this bird is found
in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Durham, and
Northumberland. Mr. Selby observes that he has found
it throughout the greater part of Scotland, particularly
where the wooded districts margin the lakes and rivers.
The Garden Warbler also visits Denmark and Sweden.
In the latter country M. Nilsson says it arrives in the
middle of May, and departs in August. On the continent
of Europe, this bird is found from spring to autumn in all
the temperate and southern portions, inhabiting Italy from

334 SYLVIADJl.

April to October, and is seen in Sicily when on its north-
ern route in spring.

The adult male has the beak dark brown ; irides hazel ;
the eyelids white ; the head, neck, back, wings, and tail-
feathers, of a uniform hair brown : the whole of the under
surface of the body from the chin to the ends of the under
tail-coverts, dull brownish white, darkest on the neck and
chest, and lightest, almost white, on the belly ; the under
wing-coverts of a delicate buff colour ; the legs, toes, and
claws, purple-brown.

The whole length of the bird rather less than six inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest feather in
the wing, three inches : the first feather very short ; the
second longer than the fourth, but not quite so long as the
third, which is the longest in the wing.

The female is lighter in colour than the male on the
upper surface of the body, and more uniformly greyish
brown underneath.

According to Mr. Selby, " the young of the year have
the region of the eyes greyish white ; head, upper
part of the neck, back, rump, and wing-coverts, yellow-
ish brown, passing into oil-green ; quills greenish grey,
edged with oil-green : cheeks and sides of neck yellowish
grey ; throat, breast, sides, and under tail-coverts, wine-
yellow ; middle of the belly, white ; legs, toes, and claws,
pearl-grey."

COMMON WHITETHROAT. 335

DBNT1ROSTRBS.

THE COMMON WHITETHROAT.

Curruca cinerea.

Sylvia Cinerea, Whitethroat Warbler, PEKS. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 528.
Motacilla sylvia „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 260.

Curruca „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 71.

„ cinerea, „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 213.

Sylvia „ „ „ JEXYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 109.

Curruca „ Common IVhitethroat, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Sylria „ Bee-fin Grweite, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 207.

THE COMMON WHITETHROAT is probably more numerous
as a species, and more generally diffused here, than any
other of those summer warblers which annnually visit this
country. It makes its appearance about the third week
in April, and frequents the sides of great woods, thickets,
hedge-rows with broad banks, and grassy lanes partially
overgrown with low brambles, nettles, and other wild

336 SYLVIAM.

weeds or herbage ; hence one of the most common pro-
vincial names by which this bird is known, that of
Nettle Creeper. The males of this species arrive, as in
several instances among our warblers, before the females ;
and both are active, vigilant, and shy, easily alarmed, and
retreating immediately into the seclusion afforded by the
thick underwood and coarse vegetation of their favourite
haunts. The nest is sometimes placed in a low bush, or
among a tangled mass of long grass, weeds, and brambles.
It is occasionally placed near the ground, and very seldom
more than three feet above it. Their nest is formed
on the outside almost entirely of dried grass stems ; but
the sides are very thin, lined with finer bents, and a
few of the flowery heads of grass. The eggs are four or
five in number, of a greenish white ground, spotted and
speckled with ash-brown, and two shades of ash-green ;
the long diameter nine lines, transverse diameter six lines
and a half. Mr. Jenyns says, the first brood is fledged about
the end of May.

The food of this species consists of insects in their va-
rious states, particularly white caterpillars, and most of the
smaller-sized fruits and berries, to obtain some of which
they visit the kitchen garden, and bring their young with
them in July and August. Some of the notes of the
voice of this bird are rather harsh, others are pleasing,
though too frequently repeated ; but he always sings in
earnest, erecting his crest, puffing out his throat, shaking
his wings, jerking his tail, and other movements, which
mark his zeal and agitation. Occasionally he sings on the
wing, ascending with a peculiar flight, rapidly describing
small circles, and after a few turns descending to the spot
from which he arose. They are equally lively and enter-
taining when kept in confinement, and easily preserved in
health. Mr. Sweet says of the Whitethroat, " One that

COMMON WHITETHROAT. 337

I at present possess will sing for hours together against a
Nightingale, now in the beginning of January, and it will
not suffer itself to be outdone ; when the Nightingale
raises its voice, it also does the same, and tries its utmost
to get above it ; sometimes in the midst of its song it
will run up to the Nightingale, and stretch out its neck as
if in defiance, and whistle as loud as it can, staring it in
the face ; if the Nightingale attempts to peck it, away it
is in an instant, flying round the aviary, and singing all
the time. It is readily taken in a trap baited with a living
caterpillar or butterfly. One that I caught last spring
sung the third day after being in confinement, and continued
to sing all through the summer ; but this was most likely
in consequence of a tame one being with it, which also sung
at the same time."

The Whitethroat is plentiful in summer in the southern
counties of England, from Sussex to Cornwall ; and, ac-
cording to Mr. Thompson, is a regular summer visitor
throughout Ireland. Northward from London it may be
traced to Northumberland and Durham ; but appears to
decrease in numbers in northern counties. Mr. Rennie is
mentioned as having seen it in Argyleshire ; and Mr. Selby
observed it in two localities in Sutherlandshire.

The Whitethroat visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
Russia, and Siberia : it is also common during summer in
Germany, Holland, France, Provence, Spain, Sardinia,
Italy, Sicily, and Crete, remaining in the more southern
countries from April to October. Mr. Strickland saw it
at Smyrna ; and the Zoological Society have received spe-
cimens from Trebizond.

The beak is brown ; the irides hazel ; the head and neck
smoke-grey, tinged with' brown ; the back, wing-coverts,
and upper tail-coverts, reddish brown ; quill-feathers
blackish brown ; secondaries and tertials broadly edged

VOL. i. z

338 SYLVIADJ3.

with bright chestnut ; great part of the outer tail-feather
on each side dull white, and the feather rather shorter than
the rest ; all the others dark brown, with lighter margins ;
chin and throat white ; lower part of the neck, the breast,
belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts, pale brownish white,
tinged with rose colour ; under surface of wings and tail-
feathers grey ; legs pale wood-brown ; toes and claws
darker brown.

The whole length is five inches and a half. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches and five-
eighths : the first quill short ; the second and third equal
in length, and the longest in the wing.

The female is without the rosy tints on the breast, and
the other colours of the plumage are less pure.

Young birds have a light coloured space between the
beak and the eye ; the irides yellowish brown ; the outer
tail-feather on each side tinged with red.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Lesser
White throat, the species next to be described.

,

LESSER WIIITETHROAT.

339

STL VI 'A D^E.

DESTIROSTRES.

THE LESSER WHITETHROAT.

Curruca sylviella.
Sylvia sylviella, Lesser Whitethroat, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 529.

Motacilla „
Curruca „

„ garrula,
Sylvia curruca,
Curruca garrula,
Sylvia curruca,

Bee-fin Babillard,

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 262.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 71.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 215.

JEXYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 109.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 209.

THIS pretty warbler was first discovered in this country
by the Rev. Mr. Lightfoot :* he found it near Bulstrode in
Buckinghamshire, and sent specimens to Dr. Latham, who

* The first discoverer also, in this country, of the Reed Warbler.

z 2

340 SYLVIAM.

inserted a figure and description of it in the first supple-
mentary volume of his General Synopsis of Birds, page
185. This warbler visits many parts of England every
year, arriving about the third week in April. In many
of its habits it closely resembles those of the three war-
blers which immediately precede it in this work, is inferior
to them in the quality of its song, but is equally active
and restless. It frequents high and thick hedges, shrub-
beries, orchards, and gardens, and is occasionally to be
seen and heard in lofty trees. The louder notes of this
bird have nothing particular in their tone to recommend
them ; but in a wild state, if approached with sufficient
caution to prevent alarm, or when kept in confinement,
a low, soft, and pleasing whistle may be heard, which is
almost incessant, so much so as to have induced the ap-
plication of garrula, and babillard, as terms of specific
distinction.

The food of this species is also very similar to that
sought for by the Common Whitethroat, — namely, insects
in their various states, the smaller fruits of many different
sorts, for which it visits the gardens, and later in the
season it feeds on the berries of the elder, and some
others. It is not, however, so easy to preserve this bird
in health during confinement as the Common White-
throat.

The nest is frequently placed among brambles or low
bushes : it is slight in structure, generally formed on the
outside with strong bents, lined inside with finer bents,
fibrous roots, and horse-hair. As this bird is readily dis-
tinguished from the more Common Whitethroat by being
rather shorter, as well as more slender in its form, so are
its eggs rather smaller, measuring but eight lines in length,
by six lines in breadth ; the ground colour white, sparingly
spotted and speckled, principally at the larger end, with

LESSER WHITETHROAT. 341

ash-grey and light brown. The eggs in number are four or
five ; and Mr. Jenyns has remarked that incubation com-
mences about the 20th of May.

The Lesser Whitethroat is by no means an uncommon
bird around London, but is observed to be much more
plentiful in some seasons than it is in others. South and
west of London it visits Hampshire, Wiltshire, Devonshire,
Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire ; is rare in Cornwall
and Wales, and has not, I believe, been identified as a
visitor to Ireland. It frequents Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,
Norfolk, the inclosed parts of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire,
Yorkshire, and Durham, in which latter county it fre-
quents strong and thick whin or furze bushes. Further
north in Northumberland it becomes more rare, according
to Mr. Selby ; but extends, though probably in still more
limited numbers, to Scotland. Mr. Rennie, who appears
to be well acquainted with this bird, mentions having seen
it at Musselburgh Haugh, near Edinburgh, and also in
Ayrshire. It visits Denmark, and arrives in Sweden by
the 20th of May ; it also visits the southern part of Russia,
as well as the more temperate and warmer parts of the
European continent, including Spain and Portugal, but
quits them, and even Genoa and Italy, in September. It
is common in Sicily and in Egypt. M. Temminck says it
is abundant in Asia ; and Colonel Sykes obtained examples
in the Dukhun, which only differed from some English spe-
cimens in having a reddish tint on the white of the under
surface ; but Mr. Blyth mentions, in some remarks on this
species in the Naturalist, and also in a note to an edition of
White's Selborne, that he has seen this rosy tint on speci-
mens obtained in this country. I may here also quote, in
corroboration, part of a letter received from my kind friend
the Rev. W. F. Cornish of Totness, who is very successful
in his treatment of our small singing birds in confinement,

342 SYLVIAD2E.

which is, "I have reared the Lesser White throat, two
males and a female ; the males had a beautiful tinge of
carmine on their breast."

In the adult male the beak is nearly black ; the base of
the under mandible yellowish brown ; the irides yellowish
white ; and in some very old birds pearl white ; the head,
neck, and back, smoke-grey ; the ear-coverts almost black ;
quill -feathers blackish brown, the tertials edged with lighter
brown ; tail-feathers blackish brown, except the outer
feather on each side, which is nearly white ; chin, throat,
breast, and belly, nearly pure white, the latter tinged with
red as far as the vent ; sides and flanks tinged with grey ;
under surface of wing and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes,
and claws, lead colour.

The whole length is five inches and a quarter. From
the carpal joint to the end of the primaries, two inches
and five-eighths ; the first feather very short ; the second
feather rather shorter than the third or fourth, which are
equal in length, and the longest in the wing.

The female is not quite so large as the male ; the grey
colour of the head and neck is tinged with brown ; the
ear- co verts not so dark in colour, and the white of the
under surface of the body is less pure, being clouded with
grey.

Young birds resemble the female, and have the eyes
reddish hazel.

ORPHEUS WARBLER.

INSESSORES.

1)E\T1ROSTRES.

343
SYLVIADM.

THE ORPHEUS WARBLER.

Curruca orphea.

Cun'uca orphea,
Sylvia

•» »

„ grisea,
„ OrpJiea,

Orpheus Warbler,
Bee-fin Orphee,
Orpheus Warbler,
Fauvette grise,
Bigia grossa,

GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol.i.p. 198.
HEWITSON, Eggs of Brit. Birds.
VIEILLOT, Faun. Fran?, p. 209.
SAVI, Ornit. Tusc. v. i. p. 250.

THE occurrence of this species in Yorkshire was com-
municated to the Zoologist in 1849, page 2588, by Sir
William Milner of Nunappleton, who retains the specimen
in his extensive collection. " The bird was a female, and
was observed in company with its mate for a considerable
time before it was shot. The other bird had a black head,
and the description I received left no doubt on my mind
that it was a male bird of Sylvia orphea.

" The bird obtained, of which I send you a description,

344 SYLVIAD^E.

was shot in a small plantation near the town of Wetherby,
on the 6th of July, 1848, and had the appearance of
having been engaged in incubation, from the state of the
plumage. Mr. Graham, a bird-preserver of York, hearing
that a very uncommon bird had been shot, went over to
Wetherby, and fortunately obtained the specimen for my
collection."

M. Vieillot, in his work on the Birds of France, says
this species is not found in the environs of Paris, but in-
habits in summer the forests and dry districts of Lorraine
and Provence. According to M. Temminck it visits
Switzerland, and Dr. Schinz, in his work already quoted,
gives a coloured representation of the bird, its nest and
eggs, at Plate 9. The nest in this instance is placed among
blocks of stone on the ground, but bushes and other situa-
tions are frequently chosen: in form and structure the
nest is large and saucer -shaped ; the foundation is of small
twigs bearing a few narrow leaves ; upon this some strong
bents of grass, interwoven outside and inside with many
long horse -hairs. The eggs are four or five in number,
white, somewhat tinged with pale green, with small spots
and specks of reddish yellow and light brown. The egg
of this species is also figured by Mr. Hewitson, PI. 35,
fig. 3, and by Thienemann, PI. 21, fig. 4. The bird has
a loud, sonorous, and agreeable song, as the name given to
it by M. Temminck would seem to imply. It is said to
feed on small insects and berries.

Savi mentions that this warbler is found in several parts
of Italy, but is there only as a summer visitor, and in its
habits resembles the Whitethroat. Mr. Gould mentions
having received this species more than once in collections
from India.

The male bird has the bill shining black ; under man-
dible lighter in colour at the point, the base yellowish

ORPHEUS WARBLER. 345

brown ; irides brown ; all the top of the head, around
the eyes and including the ear-coverts, nearly black ;
neck, back, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts ash-grey ;
wing and tail-feathers clove-brown, with lighter-coloured
edges ; the shafts darker shining brown ; outer tail-feather
on each side brown over the inner half of the broad web,
the remainder white, the dark shaft very conspicuous.
All the under surface of neck and body white, tinged on
the sides with grey ; flanks, and underwing and tail-coverts
bufiy white ; under surface of tail-feathers ash-grey ; legs
and toes dark brown ; claws very short. The whole length
of the bird is six inches and three-eighths ; bill, from the
point to the gape, five-eighths ; wing, from the anterior
bend to the end of the longest quill-feather, three inches ;
the first feather very short ; the second and fifth nearly
equal in length, but shorter than the third, fourth, and fifth
feathers, which are also nearly uniform in length, and the
longest in the wing.

Sir William Milner describes the female in his posses-
sion as having " the beak black, and very strong ; the whole
upper part of the plumage dark ash-coloured brown ; the
outer feather of the tail white ; the second on each side
edged with dirty white ; the rest of a brownish black ;
chin dirty white ; throat and belly brownish white ; under
surface of the wings and vent light brown ; legs very strong,
toes and claws black. The whole length six inches three
lines."

The young birds of the year resemble the female, and
M. Temminck thinks it probable that old males in autumn
lose the decided black on the head, since none are then
observed so marked in colour ; or, that the male birds seen
at that time are all young birds of the year, the old birds
quitting the breeding-ground sooner than their own young,
as is the case with most of our migratory warblers.

346
INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

SYLVIAD^l.

SYLVIAD^E.

THE WOOD WARBLER.

Sylvia sylvicola.
Sylvia sylvicola. Wood Warbler, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 512.

Wren,

Motacilla trochilus, Yellow
Curruca sibillatrix, Wood
Sylvia

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet,

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 264.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 70.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 224.
„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 110.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Bee-fin Siffleur, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 283.

SYLVIA. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, slender, conical, pointed,
slightly notched at the tip ; sides compressed ; base furnished with fine
hairs. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval. Wings, with the first quill very short;
the second shorter than the third, the third the longest in the wing. Legs,
with the tarsi longer than the middle toe ; toes, three before, one behind ;
the outer toe joined at the base to the middle toe.

THE WOOD WARBLER, though called Motacilla trochilus
by Gilbert White of Selborne, was clearly distinguished by
him from the two most nearly allied species, and particu-

WOOD WARBLER. 347

larised in his letters to his friend Pennant in the year 1768 ;
but the bird does not appear to be included in the edition
of the British Zoology published in 1776. The first edi-
tion of White's Natural History of Selborne, which con-
tained several notices of this bird, was published in 1789.
In November, 1 792, Mr. Thomas Lamb supplied some par-
ticulars of this same bird to the Linnean Society, which
were published in the second volume of the Transactions of
the Society ; and in 1796 Colonel Montagu, having seen
and heard this species in various localities in several
western counties, and having obtained also some specimens,
nests, and eggs, furnished further particulars to the Lin-
nean Society, which were published in the fourth volume of
the Transactions. This bird is now very well known, and
is at once distinguished from the true trochilus, or Willow
Warbler, with which it is most likely to be confounded, by
the broad streak over the eye and ear-coverts of a bright
sulphur-yellow, by the pure green colour of the upper parts
of the body, and by the delicate and unsullied white of the
belly and under tail-coverts. In addition to these distinc-
tions, which on comparing the two birds will be found very
obvious, the wing of the Wood Warbler is nearly half an
inch longer from the carpal joint to the end of the quill-
feathers than that of the Willow Warbler, although the
birds themselves differ but little in their respective whole
lengths ; the wings of the Wood Warbler when closed
reaching over three-fourths of the length of the tail, while
those of the Willow Warbler, next to be described, reach
only to the end of the upper tail-coverts, or less than half
way along the tail-feathers. The two birds here named,
with two others, are the only British species now included
in the genus Sylvia, as at present restricted. They differ
from the warblers already described in the general colour
of their plumage ; in not being fruit-eaters ; they almost

348 SYLVIAD.E.

invariably build their nests on the ground, and their nests
are covered or domed at the top, like that of the Dipper,
already figured at page 196, and the little birds creep into
the hollow chamber within by a small round hole, generally
left in the side.

The Wood Warbler seldom arrives even in the southern
parts of England till near the end of April, the males, as
in some other instances, making their appearance a week
or ten days before the females. In Northumberland, Mr.
Selby says, this bird does not appear till the elm and
the oak are bursting into leaf; and that gentleman con-
siders, from repeated observations, that with all our sum-
mer visitants there is a difference of ten days or a fortnight
between their arrival in the southern and northern parts of
the kingdom.

The Wood Warbler is generally distributed through the
wooded districts, preferring old plantations and woods con-
taining tall trees, particularly those of oak or beech. The
males commence their simple song soon after their arrival,
and may frequently be heard from a lofty elm in a hedge-
row. The note resembles the word twee, sounded very
long, and repeated several times in succession, at first but
slowly, afterwards much quicker, and when about to con-
clude is accompanied by a peculiar tremulous motion of the
wings, which are lowered by the side. The note is also
occasionally uttered while the bird is on the wing from
one place to another. The song is continued throughout
the greater part of the summer, and the bird leaves this
country in September.

The Wood Warbler neither eats fruit nor berries ; its
food appears to be insects and their larvae ; some are taken
on the wing, and others are sought for among the upper
foliage of trees. The nest is oval, and domed over, always
placed on the ground among herbage, and is formed of

WOOD WARBLER. 349

dry grass, dead leaves, and some moss, and invariably lined
with finer grass and long hairs, but no feathers, which are
used as lining to some extent by the other species of this
genus, and serve to distinguish their nests, which are also
placed on the ground, from that of the Wood "Warbler.

This bird lays six eggs, white, spotted, and speckled all
over, almost hiding the ground colour, with dark purple
red and ash colour ; the eggs eight lines in length by six
lines in breadth.

The Wood Warbler is not uncommon in the metro-
politan counties, and visits also all those to the south and
the west as far as Devonshire ; but though Colonel Mon-
tagu includes Cornwall also, I am unable to quote any
recent authority for its appearance in that county lately.

It is found in Wales, but has not been identified to a cer-
tainty as a visitor to Ireland. It is rare in Cambridge-
shire, as observed by Mr. Jenyns, but is found in Suffolk,
Norfolk, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northum-
berland ; but I am not aware of any record of its appear-
ance in Scotland. M. Nilsson includes this species among
the summer visitors to Sweden, but considers it rare ; it is
also rare in the more northern parts of Europe generally ;
but is common in Germany, Holland, France, and Pro-
vence, quitting Genoa and Italy, Sicily and Malta, by the
end of September, and passing the winter, according to S.
Savi, in Egypt and Asia.

The adult male has the beak blackish brown, but lighter
in colour along the edges of the mandibles ; the irides
hazel ; a streak of bright sulphur-yellow passes from the
base of the upper mandible, behind the nostril, over the
eye, and over the ear-coverts ; the upper part of the ear-
coverts, the top of the head, neck, smaller wing-coverts,
back, and upper tail-coverts, olive-green, tinged with sul-
phur-yellow ; smaller wing-coverts slate-brown, edged with

350 SYLVIADJl.

yellow ; all the quill -feathers slate-brown ; the primaries
and secondaries with a narrow outer edge of bright yellow,
the tertials with a broader edge of yellowish white ; tail-
feathers slate -brown, with the outer edge yellow, the
central pair rather shorter than the others ; the chin,
throat, breast, and flanks, delicate sulphur-yellow ; belly,
and under tail-coverts, clear white ; under surface of wings
and tail grey ; legs, toes, and claws, brown, sometimes
dark brown.

The whole length of some specimens is five inches and one
quarter ; but the average measurement of many specimens
is rather less. From the carpal joint to the end of the
longest quill-feather, three inches : the first feather very
short ; the second feather rather longer than the fifth ; the
third the longest of the whole ; the wings when closed
reaching over three-fourths of the length of the tail.

Females do not differ much from males either in size or
colour.

Most of our warblers begin to moult as soon as their
breeding season is over, and complete their moult before
they migrate ; but Mr. Hoy informs me that the Wood
Warblers remain in their old plumage, and migrate before
they change their feathers.

INSBSSOSSS.

1)K\T1ROSTRES.

WILLOW WARBLER.

351

SYLVIAD^E.

THE WILLOW WARBLER.

Sylvia trochilus*

Sylvia trochilus, Yellow Warbler, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 511.

Motacilla „ „ Wren, MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

Willow „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 266.

Beyulus „ YdloiD „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 72.

Sylvia „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 226.

„ „ Willow „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 111.

» „ » „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Bee-Jin Pouittot, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 224.

THE WILLOW WARBLER visits this country every spring,
rather earlier in the season than the bird last described,
but about the same time as the Blackcap. Around Lon-
don, and in the southern counties of England, it is gene-
rally seen and heard by the middle of April ; and Mr.

352 SYLVIAM.

Selby has noticed its appearance in Northumberland as
soon as the larch trees become visibly green. The Willow
Warbler is to be found in greater numbers, as well as
more generally dispersed, than either the Wood Warbler
or the Chiff Chaff, with which it is generically united, and
with both of which it is sometimes confounded. This
bird is, however, readily distinguished from the Wood
Warbler by the darker olive green tint of the plumage of
the upper parts of the body ; by the light-coloured streak
over the eye being smaller, and not so well defined ; by
all the under surface of the body, and under tail-coverts
being tinged with yellow ; and by the shortness as well as
by the structure of the wing, the second feather of which
is equal in length to the sixth. From the Chiff Chaff, next
but one to be described, it is best distinguished by its pale
brown legs, which in the Chiff Chaff are very dark brown,
or nearly black, with the second feather of the wing equal
in length to the seventh.

The Willow Warbler frequents woods, plantations,
shrubberies, thick hedgerows, and bushes on commons, is
lively and amusing in its actions, hopping or flying from
branch to branch, and capturing any small insect that
comes in its way. Its song, though possessing but little
variety, is soft and pleasing, sometimes given from a high
tree, and occasionally while on the wing, passing from
place to place. The nest is built on the ground ; and
one of the situations most commonly chosen for it is a
wood hedge-bank among long grass and coarse herbage.
The nest is oval or rounded in form, composed externally
of moss and grass, with a hole in the side through which
the bird creeps to the hollow space within, which is lined
with feathers. The eggs are six or seven in number,
white, with numerous small specks of pale red ; the length
of the egg seven lines and a half, and six lines in breadth.

WILLOW WARBLER. 353

Mr. Henry Doubleday tells me he has seen the eggs of
this bird of a pure unspotted white. The food of this
species is flies, aphides, and insects generally in their
different states. It does not eat fruit ; and when seen in
a garden should be allowed to remain unmolested as one
of the gardener's best friends, from the number of insects
it consumes daily.

A remarkable instance of the attachment of this bird to
its nest is thus recorded in the Field Naturalist by a lady :
— " In the spring of 1832, walking through an orchard, I
was attracted by something on the ground in the form of
a large ball, and composed of dried grass. I took it up
in my hands, and upon examination found it was a domed
nest of the Willow Wren, Sylvia trochilus. Concerned
at my precipitation, I put it down again as near the same
place as I could suppose, but with very little hope that
the architect would ever claim it again after such an at-
tack. I was, however, agreeably surprised to find, next
day, that the little occupier was still proceeding with his
work. The feathers inside were increased, as I could per-
ceive by the alteration in colour. In a few days, two eggs
were laid, and I thought my little protege safe from harm,
when a flock of Ducks, that had strayed from the poultry-
yard, with their usual curiosity, went straight to the nest,
which was very conspicuous, as the grass had not grown
high enough to conceal it, and with their bills spread it
quite open, displaced the eggs, and made the nest a com-
plete ruin. I now despaired ; but immediately on driving
the authors of the mischief away, I tried to restore the
nest to something like its proper form, and placed the eggs
inside. That same day I was astonished to find an addi-
tion of another egg ; and in about a week four more. The
bird sat ; and ultimately brought out seven young ones ;
but I cannot help supposing it a singular instance of at-

VOL. I. A A

354 SYLVIAM.

tachment and confidence, after being twice so rudely dis-
turbed."

The young are hatched by the end of May, or the
beginning of June. Mr. Sweet says this species soon be-
comes very tame in confinement.

The "Willow Warbler is plentiful in the counties around
London, and in a westerly direction visits Hampshire,
Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire. Colonel Montagu states that,
at the date of his observations, this bird did not go so far
west as Devonshire and Cornwall, and there is no reason
to suppose that he was mistaken ; but from whatever
cause it may arise, this bird is now become a constant
summer visitor, not only to Devonshire and Cornwall, but
to Wales : it was seen also in the summer of 1834- by a
party of naturalists in the district of Connamara in the
west of Ireland ; and according to Mr. Thompson of Bel-
fast, it is a regular summer visitor to the north of Ireland.
In a direction eastward and northward of London, this bird
is plentiful in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Dur-
ham, and Northumberland. It is probably found in va-
rious parts of Scotland, since Mr. Selby observed it in
Sutherlandshire in the summer of 1834, even to the ex-
tremity of the island, and says, " it was noticed wherever
copse or brushwood abounded. About Tongue it was very
plentiful, and the same at Laing, the margins of Loch
Naver, and the wooded banks of Loch Assynt, but it was
the only species of the genus Sylvia seen there."

I have been unable to trace this bird to the Scottish
islands ; yet it visits Denmark, is known to arrive in Swe-
den before the end of April, and was seen by Mr. Hewit-
son in Norway. On the continent of Europe, in summer,
this bird is common: it is plentiful in Spain and Pro-
vence ; appears about Genoa in April, and remains till
September ; is common in Italy, and is found at Corfu,

WILLOW WARBLER. 355

Sicily, Malta, Algeria, Nubia, and Egypt. Mr. Strick-
land saw it in Asia Minor, the Zoological Society have
received specimens from Trebizond ; and B. H. Hodgson,
Esq., includes it among the birds of Nepal.

In the adult male the beak is brown ; under mandible
pale yellow brown at the base ; irides hazel ; a narrow
light-coloured streak over the eye ; crown of the head,
neck, back, and upper tail-coverts, dull olive-green ; wing
and tail-feathers darker brown, the former edged with
green ; the tertials to a greater extent than the primaries :
the tail slightly notched, the two middle feathers being a
trifle shorter than the others; chin, throat, and breast,
whitish, but strongly tinged with yellow ; belly almost
white ; flanks, and under tail-coverts, like the feathers on
the front of the neck, tinged with yellow ; under wing-
coverts bright yellow, some of which extend over the
outer edge of the wing, from the carpal joint to the bas-
tard or spurious wing-feathers ; under surface of wing and
tail-feathers greyish brown; legs, toes, and claws, pale
brown.

The whole length of the bird is about five inches ; from
the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary, two
inches and a half ; the first quill-feather short ; the second
equal in length to the sixth, but not so long as the fifth ;
the third, fourth, and fifth feathers, nearly equal in length,
and the longest in the wing.

The females scarcely differ from the males either in size
or plumage ; and these birds moult as soon as the breed-
ing season is over.

Young birds in their nestling feathers resemble the
parent birds in the colour of their plumage : but in the
autumn after their first moult the whole of the under
surface of the body is more decidedly yellow than the
same parts in the parent birds at the same season, and this

A A 2

356

SYLVIAD^E.

yellow colour is retained to some extent till after their
re-appearance here in the following spring, so that it is
not difficult to select the birds of the previous year from
those which are older.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Wood
Warbler, which resembles also that of the Willow War-
bler, but there is this distinction in the materials, which is,
I believe, constant, — I have never seen a nest of the Wood
Warbler with any feathers in it, or the nest of the Willow
Warbler without feathers.

MELODIOUS WILLOW WARBLER. 357

INSESSOBES. SYLVIADM.

DEXTIROSTRES.

THE MELODIOUS WILLOW WARBLER,

Sylvia hippolais.

Sylvia hippolais, Melodious Willow Wren, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
„ „ Bee-fin d. poitrine jaune, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 222.
„ „ Melodious Willow Warbler, HEWIT. Eggs of Brit. Birds,

pi. 36, f. 5.

» polyglotta, FauveUe lusdniole, ViEiLL.Faun.Fran?.p.212.

„ hippolais, Beccafico canapino, SAVI, Ornit. Tusc. vol. i.

p. 287.

ON the occurrence of this new addition to the British
Fauna, I was favoured by Dr. Plomley of Maidstone,
honorary secretary of the Kent Natural History Society,
with the following communication, dated July 6, 1848:-—

" Those interested in Natural History, more particularly
in Ornithology, will be pleased to hear of the capture, for

358 SYLVIADJJ.

the first time in the British Isles, of the Melodious Willow
Wren, Sylvia hippolais of Temminck, which was killed at
Eythorne, near Dover, on the 15th of June last. It is a
beautiful specimen, and in the most perfect plumage, and
the person who shot it was attracted by its extraordinary
loud and melodious song ; it is a species which has never
been found in England, and Mr. Gould states, in his Birds
of Europe, that it is somewhat singular that this species,
so familiar to every naturalist on the Continent, and which
inhabits the gardens and hedgerows of those portions of the
coasts of France and Holland that are immediately oppo-
site to our own, should not, like the rest of its immediate
congeners, more diminutive in size, and consequently less
capable of performing extensive flights, have occasionally
strayed across the Channel and enlivened our glens and
groves with its rich and charming song, which is far supe-
rior to that of either of the three other species of the
group, and only equalled by those of the Blackcap and
Nightingale."

This pleasing songster, called polyglotta (many tongues)
by M. Vieillot, from the great variety which distinguishes
the voice of this bird, appears to be numerous as a species,
and is distributed generally over the European continent,
from Sweden to the shores of the Mediterranean, particu-
larly in Holland, France, Germany, and from thence south-
ward to Italy. Unlike the three well-known species of
this pretty group, which visit this country every summer,
and which have acquired with us the general name of
Willow Warblers or Willow Wrens from their prevailing
green colour, all three of which construct dome-covered
nests, like that of the true Wood Warbler, figured as a
vignette on the page immediately preceding the present
subject, and which they almost invariably place upon, or
very near, the ground, — the Melodious Willow Warbler

MELODIOUS WILLOW WARBLER. 359

builds its nest at a considerable elevation, sometimes near
the top in tall bushes, or young trees. Dr. Schinz, who
has included, in his work already referred to, a coloured
figure of the nest, represents it as supported on two slender
horizontal branches, and placed but a short distance from
a small upright stem, not more than half an inch in dia-
meter, the coloured bark of which is similar to that of our
cherry-tree. This nest is open at the top, cup-shaped, the
bottom and sides made up of long grass bents and long
hairs interlaid and wound round together, the inside lined
with fine roots, hairs and bits of wool. The egg pale
pinkish white, speckled with dark or purplish red. The
eggs of this bird also differ a little in their ground colour
from those of our other Willow Warblers. They are most
correctly represented in Mr. Hewitson's work, and they are
also figured by Thienemann, PI. 19, fig. 4.

The food of this species consists chiefly of various cater-
pillars, and small insects.

The bill is brown above, the under mandible paler, its
base yellowish white ; from the gape to the eye a small
streak of yellow ; irides brown ; top of the head, neck, and
all the back to the ends of the upper tail-coverts green,
tinged with ash-brown; upper wing-coverts, wing, and
tail-feathers, darker ash-brown, with rather broad lighter-
coloured external edges ; chin, neck, and all the under
surface of the body sulphur yellow ; legs and toes slate
colour.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and one
quarter ; the wing, from the anterior bend, two inches and
three quarters.

It maybe mentioned that this species is the true hippolais
of continental authors, and that the hippolais of most Bri-
tish writers is the rufa of the Continent, the species next
to be described.

360

SYLVIADJJ.

INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

SYLVIAD^E.

THE CHIEF CHAFF.

Sylvia rufa.

Sylvia hippolais, Lesser Pettycliaps, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 508.

Motadlla „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

CM/ Chaff, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 267.
Trochilus minor, Least Willow Wren, „ „ „ „ 268.

JRegulus hippolais, Lesser Pettychaps, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 72.

Sylvia „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 222.

„ „ Chi/ Chaf, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 111.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ rufa, Bee-Jin veloce, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 225.

WITH the exception of the Wheatear the diminutive
Chiff Chaff is the first of the Warblers that visit us in
spring, and by his sprightly actions, as well as his oft-
repeated double-note, resembling the two syllables, ' Chiif-
Chaff,' from which he derives his name, is always a wel-
come visitor as one of the first harbingers of returning
fine weather. This hardy little bird has been seen as early

CHIFF CHAFF. 361

as the 12th and 14th of March ; by the 20th several have
been noticed, and they are frequently heard in the woods
before the trees are in leaf to hide them. On their first
arrival they are said to feed chiefly " on the larva of the
different species of Tortrix that are rolled up in the un-
folding buds of various trees, rendering good service in
devouring those insects that would otherwise destroy a great
part of the fruit. If the weather is fine and inild, they
may be seen among the most forward trees in orchards,
flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree, chasing
each other, and catching the gnats and small flies that come
in their way. In the summer they feed on the aphides
which infest trees and plants, and they are also very partial
to small caterpillars, flies, and moths."

These birds frequent shady woods, hedgerows, and
bushes ; and their song, sometimes given while the bird
is on the wing, and frequently from a branch of a tall tree,
consists, as before mentioned, of two notes repeated several
times in succession.

The nest is in form like that of the Willow Warbler,
oval, or rounded, with a hole in the side by which the
little bird enters. The outside of the nest is composed of
dried grass, dead leaves and moss, lined with a profusion
of feathers. It is generally placed on or near the ground
in a hedgebank, sometimes raised a little above the ground
in a low bush. Mr. Henry Doubleday sent me notice
of an instance in which he found the nest of this bird,
formed externally of dead leaves, placed in dead fern, at
least two feet from the ground ; and Mr. Hewitson men-
tions another, at an equal elevation, that was built in some
ivy against a garden wall. The eggs are usually six in
number, about seven lines in length by five lines and a
half in breadth, white, with a few specks of dark purplish
red.

362 SYLVIADJE.

As this little bird is one of the first to arrive here in
the spring, so is it also one of the last to leave us in au-
tumn, and it is frequently heard and seen as late as the
middle of October. Montagu states in his Supplement
that he saw this species several times in the winters of
1806 and 1808 in Devonshire ; and Mr. Neville Wood, as
mentioned by Mr. Hewitson, has heard its note as early
as the 5th of February ; but on the occurrence of an
unusually late spring, the song was not heard by the
same gentleman in the north of England till the 2 1st of
April.

Mr. Sweet says, " The Chiff Chaff is easily taken in a
trap, and soon becomes tame in confinement. One that
he caught was so familiar as to take a fly from his
fingers ; it also learned to drink milk out of a tea-spoon,
of which it was so fond that it would fly after it all
round the room, and perch on the hand that held it, with-
out showing the least symptom of fear ; it would also fly
up to the ceiling, and bring down a fly in its beak every
time."

The Chiff Chaff is nowhere so abundant as the Willow
Warbler ; it is, however, found, though few in number,
in all the southern counties from Surrey and Sussex, to
Cornwall and Wales ; but Mr. Thompson sends me word
it is not so abundant in Ireland as Sylvia trochilus. It is
found in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Derbyshire, Westmore-
land, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland; but
further to the north in this country I am unable to trace
it. Mr. Hewitson noticed it in Norway ; and on the
European continent, in summer, it is generally distributed
to the shores of the Mediterranean, and is even common
in Italy in winter. It is found at Corfu, Sicily, and
Malta, and was also seen by Mr. Strickland at Smyrna in
November.

CHIFF CHAFF. 363

Mr. Blyth has found this species in the neighbourhood
of Calcutta.

This little bird has the beak shorter and narrower at
the base than that of the Willow Warbler; the legs
very dark brown, and the general tone of the colour of
the plumage has more of brown and less of green than
that bird ; it is on this latter account, probably, that the
Chiff Chaff has also been called the Lesser Pettychaps,
its plumage bearing some resemblance to the brown colour
of that of the Garden Warbler, which has been fre-
quently called the Greater Pettychaps as shown by the
synonymes.

The adult male has the beak dark brown ; the irides
brown ; over the eye a light-coloured streak, sometimes
rather obscure; the head, neck, back, wings, and tail-
feathers, nearly a uniform ash -brown ; the quill -feathers
rather darker than the other parts, the edges of the ter-
tials rather lighter; the chin, throat, breast, belly, and
under tail-coverts, dull brownish white, tinged with yel-
low ; under wing-coverts primrose-yellow ; under surface
of wing and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes, and claws, dark
brown, almost black.

The whole length of the bird is about four inches and
three quarters. From the carpus to the end of the longest
primary, two inches and thr ee -eighths : the first feather
short ; the second about as long as the seventh, and neither
of them so long as the fifth or sixth ; the third and fourth
nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing.

The plumage is similar in the two sexes. Young birds,
like the young of the Willow Warbler, are more tinted
with green and yellow than very adult birds.

It should be borne in mind, that the British bird to
which the term hippolais has usually been attached in the
works of British Naturalists, is not the hippolais of con-

364

SYLVIADJ3.

tinental authors ; and before quitting this little group, I
may here mention that the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert,
in his notes to a recently-published edition of White's
Natural History of Selborne, has mentioned two other
warblers ; but as I have never yet been so fortunate as
to obtain a specimen of either of them, I only here refer
to that gentleman's account. I venture respectfully to
request to be allowed an opportunity of examining any
British Warbler which may be considered to differ from
those figured and described in this History of British
Birds.

It is a mistake to destroy these Willow Warblers when
seen in gardens : they are insect-destroyers, and not fruit-
eaters.

The vignette below represents the nest of the Dartford
Warbler, the bird next to be described.

DARTFORD WARBLER.

INSESSOKES.

DEXTIROSTRES.

365
SYLVIAD&.

THE DARTFORD WARBLER.

Melizoph ilus Dartfordiensis.
Sylvia Dartfordiensis, Dartford WarUer, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 530.

Motatilla Provincialis, „ „ MONTAGU, Oraith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 239.

Curruca „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 70.

MdizopMus „ „ „ SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 219.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 112.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Sylvia „ Bee-fin Pittechmt, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 211.

MELIZOPHILUS. Generic CJutrarters. — Beak slender, upper mandible
slightly bent from the base, and finely emarginated near the tip ; under
mandible straight, shorter than the upper, and shutting within it. Nostrils
basal, lateral, cleft longitudinally; base of the beak surrounded with hairs.
Wings short : the first quill-feather very small ; the second shorter than
either of the next four feathers ; the fourth and fifth the longest in the
wing. Tail elongated, cuneiform. Tarsi strong, and longer than the
middle toe ; claws of moderate length, sharp.

366 SYLVIAB^.

THE DARTFORD WARBLER appears to have been first
made known as a bird inhabiting this country by Dr. La-
tham, from specimens obtained at Bexley Heath, near
Dartford, in April, 1773 ; the occurrence of this novelty
was soon after communicated to Pennant, who inserted
this species in the edition of his British Zoology published
in 1776.

The generic term Melizophilus was applied to this bird
by the late Dr. Leach, and first appeared in print in
1816 in a small, thin quarto volume, entitled " A Syste-
matic Catalogue of the Specimens of the Indigenous Mam-
malia and Birds then preserved in the British Museum,"
and this generic distinction of the Dartford Warbler has
been admitted to some extent in the works of other Na-
turalists. Since this bird was discovered on Bexley Heath
in Kent, it has been found on most of the commons in
Kent, Surrey, or Middlesex, which bear old and thick
furze. It has been seen in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Colonel Montagu found it both in Cornwall and Devon-
shire, and has detailed at length, both in the Linnean
Transactions and in the Supplement to his Ornithological
Dictionary, the habits of this bird, more particularly
during the spring and summer, which will be hereafter
referred to : but so many examples have occurred during
winter, that there is no doubt this little hardy warbler
remains in this country the whole year. Montagu shot
one from the upper branch of a furze bush at a time when
the furze was covered with snow ; and he saw other speci-
mens on the same occasion. Mr. Rennie, in his Archi-
tecture of Birds, page 233, says, " We observed this bird
on Blackheath, suspended over the furze, and singing on
the wing like a Whitethroat or a Titlark, as early as the
end of February, 1830; whence we concluded that, not-

DARTFORD WARBLER. 367

withstanding the severity of the frost, it had wintered here,
as it is known to do in Devonshire." In a paper in the
Magazine of Natural History, by Rusticus of Godalming,
near which place this bird appears to be plentiful, it is
stated, that "its habits are very like those of the little
Wren ; and when the leaves are off the trees, and the
chill winter winds have driven the summer birds to the
olive gardens of Spain, or across the Straits, the Furze
Wren, as it is there called, is in the height of his enjoy-
ment. I have seen them by dozens skipping about the
furze, lighting for a moment on the very point of the
sprigs, and instantly diving out of sight again, singing
out their angry impatient ditty, for ever the same. Mounted
on a tall horse, and riding quietly along the outside,
while the fox-hounds have been drawing the furze-fields,
I have seen the tops of the furze quite alive with these
birds. They prefer those places where the furze is very
thick, high, and difficult to get in." During the winter I
have seen specimens that were killed near Alton in Hamp-
shire ; and I knew of another that was shot on Wimbledon
Common, where the nest with three young birds has also
been obtained. Mr. Gould mentions having obtained spe-
cimens at all seasons of the year. These little birds fly
with short jerks, and feed principally on small insects,
which they capture on the wing, returning to their place
on the furze. They are very shy, and though sometimes
to be seen on the topmost branches of the brake, they
conceal themselves in the thickest part on the least alarm,
and creep about from bush to bush. Their note is weak
and shrill, but frequently repeated; and sometimes this
bird may be observed on the uppermost spray in vocal
strain for half an hour together.

In Devonshire, Colonel Montagu says, " The Dartford

368 SYLVIADJl.

Warblers were generally found in valleys, within two miles
of the sea. Upon a large furze-common near Kingsbridge
three pairs of old birds were observed on the 16th of
July ; two pair of these had young, evidently, by their
extreme clamour, and by frequently appearing with food
in their bills.

" On the 17th, my researches were renewed; and after
watching for three hours the motions of another pair, I
discovered the nest with three young ; it was placed among
the dead branches of the thickest furze, about two feet
from the ground, slightly fastened between the main stems,
not in a fork. On the same day a pair were observed to
be busied, carrying materials for building ; and by con-
cealing myself in the bushes, I soon discovered the place
of nidification, and, upon examination, found the nest was
just begun. As early as the 19th, the nest appeared to be
finished; but it possessed only one egg on the 21st, and on
the 26th it contained four, when the nest and eggs were
secured.

" The nest is composed of dry vegetable stalks, par-
ticularly goose-grass, mixed with the tender dead branches
of furze, not sufficiently hardened to become prickly ; these
are put together in a very loose manner, and intermixed
very sparingly with wool. In one of the nests was a single
Partridge's feather. The lining is equally sparing, for it
consists only of a few dry stalks of some fine species of
Carex, without a single leaf of the plant, and only two or
three of the panicles. Tin's thin flimsy structure, which the
eye pervades in all parts, much resembles the nest of the
Whitethroat. The eggs are also somewhat similar to those
of the Whitethroat, but rather less, weighing only twenty-
two grains ; like the eggs of that species, they possess a
slight tinge of green ; they are fully speckled all over with
olivaceous-brown and cinereous, on a greenish white ground;

DARTFORD WARBLER. 369

the markings becoming more dense, and forming a zone at
the larger end."

Young males brought up from the nest, Colonel Montagu
says, " begin to sing with the appearance of their first
mature feathers, and continue in song all the month of
October, sometimes with scarcely any intermission for
several hours together ; the notes are entirely native, con-
sisting of considerable variety, delivered in a hurried man-
ner, and in a much lower tone than I have ever heard the
old birds in their natural haunts. This song is different
from anything of the kind I ever heard ; but in part re-
sembles that of the Stonechat."

Besides the localities already enumerated, the Dartford
"Warbler has been found in North Devon, and, though
rarely, in Cornwall, specimens having been obtained at
Truro, Falmouth, and Penzance ; it has also been taken
in Worcestershire ; but I have not heard that it has, as
yet, been observed in Ireland. In a letter containing notices
of the occurrence of rare birds in Leicestershire, with
which I have been very lately favoured by Henry Bickley,
Esq., of Melton Mowbray, I find that the Dartford
Warbler has occurred in that county within the last two
years ; but this is the most northern locality in which
it has been obtained. On the European continent this
bird does not go so high as Germany or Holland. It is
found in France; but is most plentiful in Provence,
Spain, and Italy. In Provence it is observed to frequent
cabbage gardens, whence, probably, its name Pitte-chou
or Pit-chou. In Genoa it remains only from April to
September. It has been observed in Sicily and Malta,
but is not common.

The beak is slender, and nearly black, particularly
towards the point ; the edges of the upper mandible, and
the base of the lower mandible, reddish yellow; irides

VOL. I. B B

370 SYLVIAS.

reddish ; head, cheeks, neck, back, and upper tail-coverts,
greyish black ; the wing-coverts, wing, and tail-feathers,
blackish brown, with rather lighter-coloured edges ; the
chin chestnut brown, with specks of dull white ; throat,
breast, and sides, chestnut brown, without spots ; the edge
of the wing between the carpal joint and the spurious wing-
feathers, white ; belly white ; under surface of the wings,
under tail-coverts, and the under surface of the tail-feathers,
slate-grey ; the tail in shape cuneiform, the outer feathers
on each side being three-eighths of an inch shorter than
those in the middle, and edged as well as tipped with
lighter grey; legs and toes pale reddish brown; claws
darker brown.

Whole length rather more than five inches, the tail-
feathers alone being nearly half the whole length of the
bird. The wing very short, from the carpal joint to the
end of the longest primary only two inches : the first quill-
feather very short ; the second equal in length to the
seventh : the third equal to the sixth ; the fourth and fifth
also equal, and the longest in the wing.

Females and young birds are more tinged with brown
above, and of a lighter rufous colour beneath. The irides
of young birds are yellowish.

By the exertions and perseverance of Mr. Larkham of
Roehampton, I am enabled to add as a vignette to the
Chiff Chaff last described, an exact representation of the
nest of the Dartford Warbler, which was taken from a spe-
cimen obtained on Wimbledon Common during the month
of May, 1838, after watching the birds for some hours
every day for a fortnight.

GOLDEN-CRESTED REGULUS.

IN8RQ8ORE8.

DEXTIROSTRES.

371

STLVIAD^E.

THE GOLDEN-CRESTED REGULUS.

Regulus cristatus.

Sylvia Regulus,
MotadUa „

Regulus cristatus, „ crowned „

„ auricapillus, Gold-crested Regulus,

Golden-crested Warbler, PENN. Brit, Zool. vol. i.

p. 514.

„ „ Wren, MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 270.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 72.
SELBY, Brit, Ornith. vol. i.

p. 229.

JEHYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 113.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i .

p. 229.
TEMM. Suppt. ou Seme pt.

p. 157.

REGULUS. Generic Characters. — Beak slender, straight, the edges di-
lated at the base, compressed towards the point. Nostrils basal, lateral,

B B 2

„ vulrjaris,
Sylvia Regulus,

Regulus cristatus,

Wren,
Roitelet ordinaire,

SYLVIAM.

oval, partly covered by small feathers directed forwards. Wings of moderate
length : the first quill-feather very short ; the second shorter than the third ;
the fourth or fifth the longest in the wing. Legs rather slender ; feet with
three toes before, one behind; the outer toe joined at its base to the middle
toe; claws curved and sharp.

THE term Regulus proposed for the little Gold Crest by
our countryman Ray, lias recently been adopted by several
Naturalists both on the Continent and in England with
generic distinction, and M. Temminck, in the Third Part
or Supplement to the Land Birds of his Manual, though
not in the Manual itself, has fallen into the views of mo-
dern authorities by also admitting and recording this genus,
of which six species are now known, three belonging to
North America, and three others to Europe.

These little birds exhibit many of the habits of the
smaller warblers already described, and also many of the
actions of the various species of the genus Parus, or Tits,
which will be arranged here immediately after them. The
little Golden-crested Regulus, or Kinglet, the subject of
the present notice, has a soft and pleasing song, somewhat
like that of the common Wren. Pennant says he has ob-
served this bird suspended in the air for a considerable time
over a bush in flower, whilst it sang very melodiously ; but
as its voice is not strong, it is necessary to be advantage-
ously placed to hear it in perfection. The call-note of this
little bird is like that of the common Creeper. This spe-
cies is most frequently to be observed in fir plantations,
where these diminutive creatures, one of the smallest
among our indigenous birds, may be seen, all life and
activity, hopping from branch to branch, and clinging to
them in various positions, sometimes with their backs
downwards, busily engaged seeking various small-winged
insects, or their hidden larva, as food, occasionally eating
also a few seeds or small berries. They remain in this
country all the year through ; and are even observed to be

GOLDEN-CRESTED REGULTJS. 373

more numerous in winter than in summer, many arriving
here late in autumn from colder northern regions. Not-
withstanding their diminutive size, as well as delicate
structure, and without any apparent power of endurance,
these birds brave the severity of our rigorous winters, and
are among the earliest breeders in spring, the invitation
songs of the males being frequently heard by the end of
February. The nest is placed under a branch of a fir, and
generally towards the end of the bough, being supported
by two or three of the laterally diverging and pendant
twigs, which are interwoven with the moss of which the
outside of the nest is principally composed. The nest thus
sheltered by the fir-branch above it, as shown in the vig-
nette at the end, is frequently lined with feathers ; and,
both for security and architecture, is one of the prettiest
examples to be found among our indigenous nest-makers.
So confident and bold, also, is the female when sitting on
her nest, as to allow very close observation without flying
off. She lays from six to ten eggs, of a pale reddish white,
six lines long and five lines in diameter. Colonel Mon-
tagu, who timed the visits of a female to her nest of eight
young ones which he kept in his room, found that she
came once in each minute and a half or two minutes, or,
upon an average, thirty -six times in an hour; and this
continued full sixteen hours in a day. The male would
not venture into the room ; yet the female would feed her
young while the nest was held in the hand. Mr. Selby
says, in reference to the early breeding of this species, that
he has known the young birds to be fully fledged as early
as the third week of April.

The Gold Crest appears to be distributed generally over
the whole of the south of England and in Wales, and is
mentioned by Mr. Thompson, and others, as common and
indigenous to Ireland. In the counties north of London it

374 SYLVIAD^E.

is also plentiful ; and on the eastern coast, at the end of
autumn, this species occasionally arrives in flocks. Mr.
Williamson of Scarborough, has observed this on the coast
of Yorkshire ; and Mr. Selby has recorded that, " on the
24th and 25th of October, 1822, after a very severe gale,
with thick fog from the north-east, but veering towards its
conclusion to the east and south of the east, thousands of
these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea-shore and sand-
banks of the Northumbrian coast ; many of them so
fatigued by the length of their flight, or perhaps by the
unfavourable shift of wind, as to be unable to rise again
from the ground, and great numbers were in consequence
caught or destroyed. This flight must have been immense
in quantity, as its extent was traced along the whole line
of the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. There
appears little doubt of this having been a migration from
the more northern provinces of Europe, probably furnished
by the pine forests of Norway, Sweden, &c., from the cir-
cumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of
large flights of the Woodcock, Fieldfare, and Redwing.
Although I had never before witnessed the actual arrival
of the Gold-crested Regulus, I had long felt convinced,
from the great and sudden increase of the species during
the autumnal and hyemal months, that our indigenous birds
must be augmented by a body of strangers making these
shores their winter's resort."

Mr. Macgillivray mentions this species as inhabiting
Scotland, and the Rev. Mr. Low and Mr. Dunn include it
in their accounts of the Birds of Shetland and Orkney ; it
inhabits also Denmark, Norway, Sweden, part of Russia
and Siberia ; but many of them, as indicated by the
autumnal flights referred to, leave the northern parts of
these countries for the winter, and spread themselves over
the more temperate portions to the southward, even to the

GOLDEN-CRESTED REGULUS. 375

shores of the Mediterranean. It is found in Sicily and
Malta. The Zoological Society have received specimens
from Trebizond ; Edwards considered it an inhabitant of
various parts of Asia ; and M. Temminck includes it in his
Catalogue of the Birds of Japan.

The beak of the male is black ; the irides hazel ; the
forehead greyish white ; the base of the crest on each side
is bounded by a narrow black line ; the crest feathers bright
yellow, tipped with orange ; sides of the head, nape, back,
and upper tail-coverts, olive green, slightly tinged with yel-
low ; the smaller wing-coverts tipped with white ; coverts of
the primaries black ; those of the secondaries tipped with
white, overlying a black spot on the base of the secondaries
and tertials ; wing and tail-feathers brownish black, edged
with greenish yellow ; all the under parts yellowish grey ;
legs, toes, and claws, brown.

The whole length about three inches and a half. From
the carpus to the end of the longest primary, two inches :
the first quill -feather very short ; the second shorter than
either of the next four ; the fifth the longest in the wing.

In the female, the plumage generally is less bright in
colour, and the crest is lemon-yellow.

376

INSESSORES.

DEVT1ROSTRES.

SYLVIADJ1.

SYLVIAD^E.

THE FIRE-CRESTED REGULUS.

Regulus ignicapillus.

Regulus ignicapillus, Fire-crested Regulus,
,) „ >, Wren,

Sylvia ignicapilla,
Regulus ignicapillus,

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 113.
EYTON, Rarer Brit. Birds,

p. 13.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Roitelet triple bandeau, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 231.
„ „ „ TEMM. Suppt. p. 158.

THE FIRE-CRESTED REGULUS was first made known as
an inhabitant of this country by my friend the Rev.
Leonard Jenyns, who obtained a specimen in his own gar-
den at Swaffham Bulbeck, near Cambridge, in August,
1832, and this, being a young bird of the year, had
probably been reared in that neighbourhod. Since then
others have been observed at Brighton by Mr. J. E. Gray.
In the Magazine of Zoology and Botany, one specimen is
said to have been obtained near Durham, and another was

FIRE-CRESTED REGULUS. 377

caught on the rigging of a ship five miles off the coast of
Norfolk in the early part of October, 1836. Since that
period the Fire-crested Regulus is stated to have been
taken in Kent ; four have been obtained in Sussex, as re-
corded by Mr. Knox ; W. R. Fisher, Esq., has obtained
one in Norfolk, and E. H. Rodd, Esq., of Penzance, has
noticed two that have been obtained in Cornwall.

Although this species is not anywhere so numerous as
the little Gold Crest, the general resemblance in the two
birds has probably caused the rarer one to be occasionally
overlooked. M. Temminck says it is common in large
forests in Germany, and M. Brehm, a naturalist of that
country, says that it conies there in March and April, and
leaves again in September and October. Of the habits of
this species in France, M. Vieillot says that its voice is
stronger than that of the Gold Crest, and that pairs of them
only are usually seen together ; but that the time of their
passage in France, as compared with that of the Gold
Crest, is later in the spring, and earlier in the autumn. A
nest of this bird, found by M. Vieillot near Rouen, was
suspended under a branch of a tree, like that of its generic
companion, and contained five eggs. According to other
authors, this bird sometimes lays as many as ten eggs, of a
pale flesh colour, marked with small red spots at the
larger end. The food is said to be similar to that of the
preceding species. It is occasionally seen in France during
winter. It has been noticed in Sicily, Malta, and Algeria.

I am indebted to Mr. J. D. Hoy for the following notes
of the habits of this species, as observed by himself on the
Continent, and I insert them with the greater pleasure, be-
cause they will assist observers in further identifying the
species in this country.

" M. Temminck describes the Regulus ignicapiUus as
common in the Belgian provinces ; but in the parts which I

378 SYLVIAD^E.

have visited, I have found it only as a migratory species
during the autumn ; it probably passes over the same dis-
tricts in the spring, but I have not observed it. As M.
Brehm, the German naturalist, seems to have been one of
the first who noticed this bird, I have little doubt of its
breeding in northern Germany. I fully expected to have
found it in some very extensive tracts of forest which I
visited last summer, situated between the Meuse and the
Rhine ; but I could neither meet with this species, nor our
common Gold Crest. I have noticed the appearance of the
Fire Crest in the beginning of September, at first only
single birds or in pairs ; the end of September, and the first
fortnight in October, seem to be the time when they pass
over in the greatest numbers. I never recollect having seen
more than five or six individuals together, whereas with the
common species you often find them in parties of a dozen or
more. By the early part of November you will rarely find
the Fire Crest, while the common species is abundant
through the winter. I have never heard the song of the
Fire Crest, but have no doubt of its differing from the
other : the call-note I can readily distinguish among a host
of the common ; it is shorter, not so shrill, and pitched in
a different key, that to one well versed in the language
of birds it is easily discovered. I think they prefer low
brushwood and young plantations of fir to the loftier trees ;
but yet I have often found them in the latter situations.
They associate with the Titmice like the other kind ; but
I have found them sometimes more restless and shy. I
have no doubt but the Fire Crest would be found early in
autumn if diligently sought for on our south-eastern coast
by those well conversant with its notes, without which
knowledge it would be difficult to find it ; when within a
few yards of it this bird is readily distinguished by the
white mark above the eyes."

FIRE-CRESTED REGULUS. 379

The beak is black, and rather stouter at the base than
that of the Gold Crest ; the irides hazel ; on the cheek
above the eye, and also below it, a greyish white streak ;
at the base of the crest on each side a black streak ; from
the angle of the beak to the eye, and over the ear- coverts,
a second black streak ; and from the lower mandible,
passing downwards and backwards, a third black streak,
producing three dark lines contrasted with the two light-
coloured lines on the sides of the head, and hence the
French name "triple bandeau;" the forehead greyish
white, tinged with red ; the crest large, and of a much
more vivid reddish colour than that of the same parts in
the Gold Crest ; the nape, back, and upper tail -co verts,
olive -green, but with less of the brown and more of the
yellow than in the other species, particularly on the sides
of the neck; great coverts of the primaries tipped with
white ; base of the secondaries black ; wing and tail-
feathers brownish black, edged with green ; the tail-
feathers longer than those of the Gold Crest ; all the
under parts greyish white ; legs, toes, and claws, brown.

Whole length near four inches. From the carpus to the
end of the primaries, two inches ; the first quill very short ;
the second shorter than the third ; the fourth and fifth
nearly equal, and the longest in the wing.

The young of the year are stated by Mr. Jenyns, " to
be distinguished from those of the last species by the
longer and broader bill ; cheeks cinereous, without any ap-
pearance of the longitudinal streaks ; crest of a pale lemon
yellow, scarcely developed ; forehead and sides of the neck,
cinereous ; upper parts not so bright as in the adult ;
under parts cinereous, tinged with yellow."

380 SYLVIAD^.

TNSES80RE8. SYLVIADJ2.

DENT1ROSTRES.

DALMATIAN REGULUS.

Regulus modestus.

Regulus modestus, Dalmatian Regulus, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Pliylloscopus „ „ „ BLYTH, Ann. Nat, Hist. v. xiii.

p. 179.
Regulus „ Roitelet modeste, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. iv. p. 61 8.

A SINGLE specimen of this bird, shot in Dalmatia in
1829, by the Baron de Feldegg, of Frankfort, was figured
by Mr. Gould in his Birds of Europe, as above quoted.
Another, shot in Northumberland, was recorded in the
second volume of the Annals of Natural History, page 310,
by Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as fol-
lows : — " I beg to hand you a notice of a very scarce and
interesting species of Regulus, which I shot on the banks
near Hartley, on the coast of Northumberland, on the 26th
of last September (1838) ; it corresponds exactly with
Mr. Gould's Regulus modestus, a species so extremely rare,

DALMATIAN REGULUS. 381

that lie considers the individual from which he described
as unique in the continental collections. The description
of my bird, which will now entitle this species to a place
in the British Fauna, is as follows : — Length 4T\ inches :
breadth 6J inches : length from the carpus to the end of
the wing 2^ inches ; tail 1 -}^ inch ; the bill from the
gape to the tip nearly TT6- ; and from the tips of the
feathers, which extend to the extremity of the nostrils, a
quarter of an inch. The whole of the upper plumage a
greenish yellow ; on the centre of the crown of the head
is a streak of paler : a light lemon-coloured streak extends
over the eye from the base of the bill to the occiput ; a
short streak of the same colour passes beneath the eye, and
a narrow band of dusky passes through the eye, and
reaches the termination of the auriculars. The under-
parts pale yellow ; the ridge of the wing bright lemon
colour ; wing-feathers dusky, edged with pale yellow,
becoming broader on the secondaries ; two conspicuous
bands of lemon colour across the coverts ; the wings reach
to within three quarters of an inch of the end of the tail.
Bill brown, with the under mandible paler at the base ;
mouth yellow ; legs and toes brown, with the under sur-
face of the toes inclining to yellow ; claws brown. Its
manners, as far as I had an opportunity of examining them,
were so like those of the Golden-crested Wren, that at first
I mistook it for that species. It was continually in motion,
flitting from place to place in search of insects on umbel-
liferous plants, and such other herbage as the bleak banks
of the Northumberland coast affords ; such a situation
could not be at all suited to the habits of this species, and
there can be little doubt that it had arrived at the coast
previous to, or immediately after, its autumnal migrations."
Mr. Hancock has stated to Mr. Selby, that the covering
of the nostrils in his specimen consists of various feathers,

382

SYLVIAD.E.

and not of a single plumule t as in the other Reguli. On
this account Mr. Blyth, who has found the Dalmatian
Regulus in the vicinity of Calcutta, and sent two specimens
to the British Museum, has proposed for it the new generic
term Phylloscopus. B. H. Hodgson, Esq., includes this
species in his catalogue of the Birds of Nepal.

GREAT TIT.

IN8RSSORES.

DE\TIROSTRES.

383

PAPIDM.

THE GREAT TIT.

Parus major.

ii"'j"i', Tlie Great Titmouse,

The Great Tit,

PEXX. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 532.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 282.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 80.
SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 233.
JENYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 121.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ M esange Charbonniere, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.i.p.287.

PARUS. Generic Characters. — Beak strong, short, rather conical, slightly
compressed, sharp-pointed, and hard. Nostrils basal, round, covered with
reflected bristly feathers. Wings — the first quill-feather very short ; the
second not so long as the third ; the fourth or fifth the longest. Feet with
three toes before and one behind ; the anterior toes divided to their origin ;
the hind toe strong, and armed with a long, hooked claw.

384 PARIDJE.

SOME of the various species of the genus Parus, or the
Titmice, as they have been very generally called, are
remarkable for the beauty of the colours of their plumage,
and the well-defined character of the markings ; these
birds also attract attention from their vivacity and in-
cessant activity. They are indefatigable in their search
for food ; and being fearless in disposition, may be readily
observed climbing the trunks of trees, or by the aid of
their strong toes and hooked claws, hanging suspended
from the under surface of branches, while examining every
cavity, leaf, or bud, that is likely to afford shelter to any
of their numerous insect prey. These birds exhibit several
peculiarities common to different groups of the dentirostral
division. The Great Tit, so called, and placed first in
the series, because the largest in size, will frequently kill
small birds, accomplishing his purpose by repeated blows
of his hard and sharp beak on the skull of the victim, and
afterwards picking out and eating the brains. Though
more truly a feeder on insects, the Great Tit, unlike in-
sectivorous birds in general, does not migrate, but remains
all the year in the same district, apparently unaffected
by the very different temperature of Italy as compared
with Russia, and the species is known to be constantly
resident in both countries.

In England the Great Tit is seldom seen on bleak open
ground, but inhabits woods, the vicinity of gardens, or other
enclosed and sheltered situations in summer, where it occa-
sionally feeds on small seeds. In winter it approaches
nearer the habitations of men, and may be seen in hard
weather closely examining the thatch of old buildings in
search of the many small flies that harbour there. As
the Great Tit is an early breeder, the lively chirping
notes of the male are heard early in February ; sometimes
this bird produces a sound which has been considered

GREAT TIT. 385

to resemble the noise made in sharpening a saw ; and
though this is small praise, his notes are more remarkable
for vivacity and frequent repetition, than for quality of
tone. The nest, formed of moss and lined with hair
and feathers, is usually placed in a hollow of a tree or
a hole in a wall. The deserted nest of a Crow or a Mag-
pie is sometimes chosen. Several observers have recorded
the partiality so frequently evinced by this species to build
its nest in or about any old unused wooden pump, and the
mass of materials collected on such occasions wherewith to
construct it. The eggs are from six to nine in number,
nine lines and a half in length, and seven lines in breadth ;
white, spotted and speckled with pale red.

The bird is common throughout the enclosed parts of
most of the counties of England and Wales ; Mr. Thomp-
son informs me it is indigenous to Ireland ; and Mr. Mac-
gillivray mentions it as a native of Scotland. It inhabits
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Siberia, even in
winter. From thence southwards this species inhabits the
whole of the European continent. The powers of flight
of this bird are much greater than from its appearance
would be expected. The Rev. Edward Stanley, Bishop
of Norwich, in his Familiar History of Birds, quotes
from Forster's North America, vol. i., an instance of the
Great Tit having been met with in latitude 40° north, and
longitude 48° west, more than half way across the Atlantic,
in a direct line from the Azores to Philadelphia.

The Great Tit inhabits Sicily and Crete ; was obtained
by Mr. Strickland at Smyrna ; and specimens have been
received by the Zoological Society from Trebizond. M.
Temminck includes this species in his Catalogue of the
Birds of Japan.

The beak is black ; the irides dusky brown ; the top
of the head black, with a spot of white at the nape

VOL. i. c c

386 PARID^E.

of the neck ; the cheeks and ear-coverts white ; the back,
shoulders, and coverts of the tertials, greenish ash ;
upper tail-coverts bluish grey ; lesser wing-coverts greyish
blue ; greater wing-coverts bluish black, broadly tipped
with white, forming a conspicuous bar across the wings ;
quill-feathers bluish black, edged with bluish white, which
is broadest on the tertials; tail-feathers bluish black,
darkest on the inner web ; the outer tail-feather on each
side dull white on the outer web, and on part of the inner
web towards the end of the feather ; the chin and throat
black, and united to the black colour on the sides of the
nape, encircling the white ear-coverts and cheeks ; breasts,
sides, and flanks, dull sulphur yellow ; from the chest to
the vent a black stripe passes along the mesial line ; under
wing-coverts dull greyish white ; under surface of the
wing and tail-feathers lead grey ; under tail-coverts white ;
legs, toes, and claws, lead colour.

The whole length of this species is rather less than six
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quill-feather, two inches and seven-eighths : the first quill -
feather very short ; the second not so long as the third ;
the fourth a little longer than the fifth, and the longest
in the wing.

The female does not differ much from the male ; the
plumage, however, is not so brilliant in colour, and the
black line down the breast and belly is not so broad as in
the male, nor does it extend so far towards the vent.

BLUE TIT.

IN8EBSORE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

387

PARID^E.

THE BLUE TIT.

Par us c&ruleus.

Parus ccemleus, Blue Titmouse,

Mesange bleue,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 534.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 286.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 80.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 235.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 122.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 289.

THE BLUE TIT, like the species last described, is very
generally distributed in this country, and although a very
pretty bird, both as to colour and markings, as well as
active and lively, it is but little noticed, and not at all
appreciated, probably only because it is exceedingly com-

c c 2

388 PARID^E.

mon. It frequents small woods, orchards, and gardens ;
and is said to do injury to fruit trees when searching for
food, by destroying the fruit buds as well as the insects.
Several experienced observers, however, believe that this
bird does more good than harm. Mr. Selby says, " I am
convinced that the trifling injury occasionally committed
by the abrasion of a few flower buds is more than com-
pensated by the destruction of innumerable larvae and
eggs of the insect tribe, which are usually deposited in or
about those essential parts of fructification ; and which,
if allowed to proceed through the necessary changes, would
effectually check all hope of produce." Other evidence
will be adduced.

The Blue Tit builds in a hole in a wall or a tree ; the nest
is made up of a profusion of moss, hair, and feathers ; the
eggs are variable in number, sometimes very numerous.
Montagu mentions six or seven ; Pennant names from
twelve to fourteen ; Mr. Heysham has also found fourteen
eggs in a nest ; and Mr. Hewitson has recorded one instance
in which the nest contained eighteen eggs. From eight to
ten eggs, however, is the more common number ; they are
white, spotted with pale red, measuring seven lines and a
half in length, and six lines in diameter.

When the Blue Tit has taken possession of a hole in a
wall, or in a decayed tree, she is not easily induced to quit
it, but defends her nest and eggs with great courage and
perseverance, puffing out her feathers, hissing like an
angry kitten, and goes by the name of Billy Biter among
the bird-nesting boys of several counties, from a vivid recol-
lection of certain impressions made on their fingers. A
female that had taken possession of a small wooden box
hung up against an outbuilding, into which she had carried
abundance of materials for her nest, and in the midst of
which she was then sitting upon her numerous eggs, allowed

BLUE TIT. 389

herself to be carried in the box into a house for examina-
tion ; and when the box was replaced in its former situation,
she did not desert her eggs, but hatched them, and reared
her young. The Blue Tit sits " about fourteen days.
When first hatched," says a correspondent in the Magazine
of Natural History, " the hen sat upon the young ones
several hours during the day. This time was gradually
shortened, till they were sufficiently fledged not to need
such a means of warmth. Nothing but small grubs and
caterpillars were brought to the nest ; and I was induced
to believe that the depredations of these birds are not, at
that time of the year, injurious to vegetation. Many
insects did they bring from some apple trees that grew
near, but no buds." In another instance where the parent
birds were closely watched, caterpillars only were brought,
in rapid succession, to feed their young.

Insects, in their various stages, appear to be the princi-
pal objects of search as food during summer. In winter
the Blue Tits frequent farmyards and outhouses, picking
up small seeds, or other portions of vegetable matter, and
are constant visitors to the horseflesh hung up near the
dog-kennel. They are most amusing when seen upon trees,
from their unceasing restlessness, and the grotesque posi-
sions assumed under as well as over the branches when
searching for food. The call-note is a single shrill chirp,
and the best vocal efforts of this little bird possess but
little variation.

The general distribution of the Blue Tit in this country
renders a particular notice of its localities unnecessary.
It appears to be common in Ireland ; and was seen by Mr.
Selby as far north in Scotland as the fir plantations at
Rosehall in Sutherlandshire. It is a native of Denmark,
Norway, Sweden, the southern part of Russia, and the
European continent. M. Vieillot says it inhabits the

390 PARIDJE.

Canary Islands ; it is found in Sicily and in Crete. M.
Temminck, in his Supplement, says that it is found in the
Morea, and includes it also in his Catalogue of the Birds of
Japan.

The male has the beak of a dusky horn colour, almost
black; the forehead bluish white, the white extending
backwards in a band over the eyes; the crown of the
head azure blue ; from the nostril to the eye, and from
thence over the ear-coverts to the nape of the neck, a
stripe of Prussian blue ; the irides dark hazel ; above
the eye, and under the blue colour of the crown of the
head, is a white band, already noticed, which isolating
the blue colour above it, has given rise to the term Blue-
cap, another name by which this bird is known; the
cheeks are white ; the nape of the neck has a band of
Prussian blue, which passing forward on each side, under
the white cheeks, joins a triangular patch of blackish blue
colour which descends from the chin over the throat;
the back and upper tail-coverts yellowish green ; wings
and tail pale blue ; the greater wing- coverts and the ter-
tials with a white spot at the tip of each ; under surface
of the body sulphur yellow, with a central longitudinal
patch of dark blue ; under surface of the wing and tail-
feathers pearl grey ; legs, toes, and claws, bluish black.

The whole length of the bird is four inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches
and three-eighths ; the first quill-feather not quite half
as long as the second ; the third longer than the second ;
the fourth the longest in the wing.

CRESTED TIT.

1N8E880RE8.

DENTIROSTRES.

391

PARIDjE.

THE CRESTED TIT.

Parus cristatus.

Parus cristatus, Crested Titmouse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 542.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 284.

„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 81.

„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 243.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 122.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Mesange huppee, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 290.

THE CRESTED TIT appears to be as rare, as a British
Bird, as the two species of Tits already described are
common, and the authorities for its capture are but few.
John Walcott, Esq., in the second volume of his Synopsis
of British Birds, published in 1789, says, " This bird has

392 PARIDJE.

been lately observed in Scotland, once in a considerable
flock." Dr. Latham, in the second Supplementary volume
to his General Synopsis, says, " We have heard of this
species being plentiful in some parts of Scotland, especially
in the pine forests, from whence I have received a speci-
men, now in my possession." Colonel Montagu, in his
Ornithological Dictionary, says, " It is not uncommon
amongst the large tracts of pines in the north of Scotland,
particularly in the forest of Glenmoor, the property of
the Duke of Gordon, from whence we have seen it." In
a note to the history of this species in the British Orni-
thology of Mr. Selby, it is stated, " Sir William Jardine
informs me that this bird has been found in some planta-
tions not far distant from Glasgow, where it annually
breeds." Thomas Macpherson Grant, Esq., of Edinburgh,
who has favoured me with notes of his own observations
on birds in the eastern counties of Scotland, says, " I pos-
sess one preserved specimen of the Crested Tit, shot by
myself, and seen in considerable numbers ; " and F. W.
Bigge, Esq., of Hampton Court, whose name I have quoted
in the article on White's Thrush, informs me that in the
summer of 1837 he observed several examples of this
species in the pass of Killiecrankie.

The Crested Tit inhabits Denmark, Sweden, and the
more temperate parts of Russia. M. Nilsson, the Swedish
naturalist, says it remains in that country all the year,
inhabiting the pine forests, building in holes in trees, and
feeding on insects in their different stages, and on the
small seeds of various evergreens. It inhabits the forests
of Germany, and the fir-covered mountains of Switzer-
land ; it is also found in Lorraine and Provence. Bech-
stein says it inhabits all the pine woods of Thuringia;
and Mr. Hoy, who has had opportunities of observing
this species on the Continent, informs me that their note

CRESTED TIT. 393

has some resemblance to that of the Cole Tit, but a pecu-
liar shake at the finish enables you to distinguish it among
others of the tribe ; its simple call -note is also somewhat
different. They seem partial to woods where fir and oak
trees are mixed, the holes in the oaks generally serving
them for their nests. The female lays eight or ten white
eggs, with a few spots and specks of pale red ; the length
of the egg seven lines, and six lines in breadth.

The adult male has the beak nearly black ; the irides
hazel ; the cheeks white, spotted with black ; the fore-
head black and white ; the elongated feathers on the top
of the head, which form the conical crest, are black at
the base broadly margined with white; from the eye,
passing over the ear-coverts, is a black streak, which joins
a circular band of the same colour curving forwards below
the ear-coverts ; behind this is a patch of white bounded
by another black band curving forward towards the side
of the neck : the back, wing, and tail-coverts, hair brown ;
quill and tail-feathers rather darker ; chin and throat covered
with a black triangular patch of large size, which descends
to the upper part of the breast ; all the under surface of
the body below the black is of a whitish fawn colour ; under
surface of the wing and tail-feathers pearl grey ; legs, toes,
and claws, lead colour.

The whole length of the bird is four inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches
and a half : the first quill -feather less than half the length
of the second ; the third and fifth feathers equal in length,
and longer than the second ; the fourth the longest feather
in the wing.

The female has the black patch on the throat of smaller
size than that of the male.

394

PARID^l.

INSESSOBflS.

DENTIROSTRES.

PAEJDJE.

THE COLE TIT.

Parus ater.

Parus ater, Cole Titmouse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 535.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 288.

„ „ Colemouse, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 80.

„ „ Cole Titmouse, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 239.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Man. Brit. Yert. p. 123.

„ „ „ Tit, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Mesange petite charbonniere, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 288.

THE COLE TIT appears to be almost as generally dis-
tributed in this country as either the Great or the Blue
Tit, already described, and inhabits woods, plantations,

COLE TIT. 395

and shrubberies, particularly those containing the various
firs, the birch, or the oak. Like the Blue Tit also, this
species is constantly in motion, sometimes associated with
Gold Crests, and Lesser Redpoles, forming a small flock,
and roving from tree to tree in active search for those
small insects, and the seeds of various evergreens, upon
which they principally subsist. They appear to bear cold
weather with indifference ; and are resident all the year,
not only in this country and in Scotland, but even in higher
northern latitudes.

The note of this bird is generally harsh, with frequent
repetition, but it sometimes assumes a more agreeable
tone. The nest is built of moss and wool, lined with
hair, placed in a hole of a wall or a tree, in a cavity of a
decayed stump, and occasionally on the ground at the
mouth of the hole of some burrowing animal. Mr. Hewit-
son says, that when the Cole Tit " breeds in the holes of
trees it is usually at a less elevation than the other species,
and sometimes even in cavities which occur amongst the
exposed roots." The eggs are from six to eight in
number, rather smaller in size than those of the Blue
or Marsh Tit, but, like the eggs of all the species of this
genus, in colour they are white spotted with pale red,
measuring seven lines in length, by five lines and a half in
breadth.

The Cole Tit, according to Mr. Thompson, is generally
distributed over Ireland. Mr. Macgillivray includes it
among the Birds of Scotland. Mr. W. Christie saw it in
Norway. M. Nilsson says it is resident in Sweden ; and
Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, states that it inhabits
Siberia, and passes the winter even beyond the Lena. It
is not less generally spread over the European continent ;
and according to the Prince of Canino, it is a constant
resident as far south as Italy, and a few are seen in Sicily.

896 PARIDJS.

M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of the Birds of
Japan.

The adult male has the beak black ; the irides hazel ;
the cheeks, side of the neck, and a descending stripe on
the nape of the neck, white ; the head, ear-coverts, and
the lower part of the side of the neck before the wing,
black ; back and wing-coverts bluish grey ; the smaller
and larger coverts ending with a spot of white on each
feather, forming two conspicuous white bars across the
wings ; the quill-feathers brownish grey, edged with green ;
the tertials tipped with dull white ; upper tail-coverts
greenish fawn colour ; tail-feathers, like those of the wings,
brownish grey; the tail slightly forked. The chin and
throat black ; breast dull white ; belly, flanks, and under
tail-coverts, fawn-colour, tinged with green; under sur-
face of wing and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes, and claws,
black.

This bird is at once distinguished from the Marsh Tit,
next to be described, by the white patch on the nape of
the neck, and by the white spots on the wing- coverts,
which are always present, neither of which are to be found
in the Marsh Tit at any age.

The whole length of the Cole Tit is four inches and a
quarter. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing
two inches and three-eighths ; the first feather very short ;
the second shorter than the third, and equal to the seventh ;
the third, fourth, and fifth, nearly equal to each other in
length, and the longest in the wing.

Females and young birds have the grey colour of the
back tinged with greenish brown ; in young birds, also, the
white colour is not so pure, and the black colour about the
head is less decided.

MARSH TIT. 397

INSESSOBES. PAEIDM.

DENTIROSTRES.

THE MARSH TIT.

Parus palustris.

Parus palustris, Marsh Titmouse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 536.

„ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 292.

„ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 80.

„ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 237.

„ „ „ JEXYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 123.

Jf „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ Mtsange nonnette, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 291.

THE MARSH TIT, if not so generally distributed as some
others of the family, is yet plentiful as a species in many
localities ; but, as its name implies, is more partial than
the other Tits described, to low tracts of land covered
with thickets, to marshes, and moist meadows, bearing old
willow trees and alders, and to swampy ground near woods,

398 PARID^J.

but apparently preferring shorter brushwood to high trees,
occasionally visiting orchards and gardens. The Marsh Tit,
also, like its generic companions, remains in this country
throughout the year ; is, like them, active and sprightly in
its habits, flitting from place to place, feeding on insects in
their various stages, is said to be an enemy to bees, and
when in the garden, may be frequently seen feeding on the
seeds of the sunflower ; is observed, also, to be partial to
the seeds of the thistle ; and in winter, according to Mr.
Selby, it will eat stale flesh.

This bird makes its nest in holes in old willows, and in
the low scrubby stocks of pollard trees that have been
headed down, taking considerable pains in enlarging any
suitable cavity. Colonel Montagu says he has seen the
Marsh Tit excavating the decayed part of such trees, and
artfully carrying the chips in its bill to some distance,
always working downwards, and making the bottom for
the reception of the nest larger than the entrance. The
nest is compactly formed of moss and wool, lined with
the soft seed-down of the willow. The eggs are from five
to eight in number, measuring seven lines and a half in
length, by six lines in breadth, white, spotted with red.
The female exhibits great attachment to her nest, and is
not easily induced to forsake it. The call-note of this
species is a single sharp chirp, like that of the other Tits,
and this bird is only to be distinguished from them by its
voice, when it puts forth a rapid succession of notes, more
remarkable for chattering gaiety than quality of tone.

The Great Tit, the Blue, the Cole, the Marsh, and the
Long-tailed Tit, next to be described, are each of them
common around London ; and when requiring additional
specimens for my use in this work, I found no difficulty in
obtaining pairs of each of them within a very short space
of time. A young ornithological friend of mine has given

MARSH TIT. 399

me a list of birds observed by himself in Kensington Gar-
dens, including near seventy species ; an unusually large
number for so limited a locality in such a situation. The
five species of Tits, just referred to, are included in this
list ; these birds are probably attracted to this spot by the
insect food to be found about old trees in various stages of
decay, a London atmosphere being unfavourable to healthy
vegetation.

From London westward, the Marsh Tit may be traced
to Cornwall and Wales. In Ireland, according to Mr.
Thompson, tliis bird has been killed in the Phoenix Park,
near Dublin ; in the county of Kildare ; in the vicinity
of Belfast ; and in the county of Donegal. From London
northward, it may be traced through Essex, Suffolk, Nor-
folk, and Lincolnshire. I have been favoured with a Ca-
talogue of the Birds of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, by Mr.
Neville Wood, and the Rev. Orpen Morris, and these
sources of information have been frequently quoted : from
the first I learn, in the present instance, that the Marsh
Tit is abundant in Derbyshire ; and from the second, that
it is also common in Yorkshire. Mr. Selby includes it
in his Catalogue of the Birds of Durham and Northum-
berland ; and Mr. Macgillivray has noticed it near Edin-
burgh. From the works of Muller, Brunnich, and M.
Nilsson, this bird appears to be resident in Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden, and remains even in Russia and
Siberia all the year. It is dispersed over the European
continent ; and, as might be expected, is more abundant
in Holland than elsewhere. It is resident also all the
year as far south as Provence, Italy, and Sicily ; but is
not very common.

The Marsh Tit is immediately distinguished from the
Cole Tit by having no white patch on the nape of the neck
nor any white spots on either row of the wing-coverts.

400

The beak is black ; the irides dark hazel ; the forehead,
crown, and nape, deep black ; the back, wing-coverts, and
upper tail-coverts, ash brown tinged with green ; wing and
tail-feathers greyish brown, with the edges rather lighter
in colour ; the tail even at the end ; the chin black ; the
cheeks, throat, and breast, dull greyish white ; flanks,
belly, and under tail-coverts, tinged with light brown ;
under surface of wing and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes,
and claws, bluish black.

The whole length of the bird is four inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing-primaries
two inches and three-eighths : the first quill-feather very
short ; the second equal in length to the ninth ; the third
equal to the seventh ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth, nearly
equal, and the longest in the wing.

The sexes do not differ in plumage.

The vignette below represents, on the left hand, the
breast-bone of the Nightingale ; and on the right, the same
part in the Great Tit, as illustrative of the form of the
sternum in the genera Philomela and Parus.

LONG-TAILED TIT.

TNSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

401

PARIDJB.

THE LONG-TAILED TIT.

Parus caudatus.

Pans caudatus, Long-tailed Titmouse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 537.
„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 289.

)> „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 81.

„ n „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 241.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 124.

„ „ „ Tit, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Melange a longue, queue, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 266.

THE LONG-TAILED TIT was removed from the genus
Parus by Dr. Leach in the printed Catalogue published in
1816, which has been already referred to in the article on the
Dartford Warbler, and the name Mecistura vagans applied

VOL. I. D D

402 PARED.®.

to it. It is to be regretted that the generic characters, and
the reasons which induced so excellent a zoologist to make
the separation in this instance, as well as in many others,
at least as far as I am aware, were not made known. Other
naturalists appear to coincide with Dr. Leach in the pro-
priety of this division. M. Brehm, in his work on the
Birds of Germany, published in 1831, considers the Long-
tailed Tit entitled to generic distinction, and has used the
term Paroides for it, apparently unaware of the name pre-
viously given by Dr. Leach. The Prince of Canino, also,
in his Comparative List of the Birds of Europe and North
America, adopts for the Long-tailed Tit the generic term
Mecistura.

The Long-tailed Tit, as its name implies, has the tail
long and graduated; the legs and toes rather long and
slender ; the nest of the most perfect kind, oval in shape,
domed at the top, with a small hole at the upper part of
one side, by which access is gained to the chamber within ;
the nest is generally fixed in the midst of a thick bush ;
the bird is more decidedly insectivorous, and some other
differences in habits are observable. As, however, the
genus Mecistura of Dr. Leach has not been adopted by
either of the authors whose more recent ornithological
works are referred to and quoted at the head of each sepa-
rate subject here, I have included the Long-tailed Tit in
the genus Parus.

The Long-tailed Tit is a well-known and common spe-
cies, that may be seen generally wherever there are woods,
thickets, shrubberies, and tall hedges. It remains in this
country the whole year, and in its habits among trees it
resembles other Tits, being active and lively, almost inces-
santly in motion, hopping or flitting from branch to branch
in search of food ; but is more select in its choice than
other Tits appear to be, and confines itself almost, if not

LONG-TAILED TIT. 403

entirely, to insects and their larvae. The nest of this spe-
cies is another example of ingenious construction, com-
bining beauty of appearance with security and warmth.
In shape it is nearly oval, with one small hole in the upper
part of the side, by which the bird enters. I have never
seen more than one hole. The outside of this nest sparkles
with silver-coloured lichens adhering to a firm texture of
moss and wool, the inside profusely lined with soft feathers.
The nest is generally placed in the middle of a thick bush,
and so firmly fixed, that it is mostly found necessary to cut
out the portion of the bush containing it, if desirous of
preserving the natural appearance and form of the nest. In
this species, the female is known to be the nest-maker, and
to have been occupied from a fortnight to three weeks in
completing her habitation. In this she deposits from ten
to twelve eggs ; but a larger number are occasionally
found : they are small and white, with a few pale red
specks, frequently quite plain, measuring seven lines in
length, and five lines in breadth. The young family of the
year keep company with the parent birds during their first
autumn and winter, and generally crowd close together on
the same branch at roosting time, looking, when thus
huddled up, like a shapeless lump of feathers only. These
birds have several notes, on the sound of which they as-
semble and keep together ; one of these call-notes is soft
and scarcely audible, a second is a louder chirp or twitter,
and a third is of a hoarser kind.

The young birds, taken early from the nest, are the
prettiest pets imaginable ; soon becoming perfectly tame,
sitting on the finger and waiting with confidence and com-
posure for the proffered morsel of food.

The Long-tailed Tit is a common bird in the southern
and western counties of England, from Sussex to Corn-
wall. Mr. Eyton includes it in his Catalogue of the Birds

D D 2

404 PARIDJE.

of Shropshire and North Wales ; and Mr. W. Thompson
says it is diffused in Ireland, through the wooded districts
of the north particularly, but not in great numbers. It
is found also in all the counties north of London, from
Middlesex to Northumberland; and Mr. Macgillivray
mentions its occurrence in the vicinity of Edinburgh. It
is resident all the year in Sweden ; and inhabiting Siberia
and Russia, is spread southward over the whole European
continent even to Italy, and about Palermo in Sicily,
where it is also common, and resident all the year. It
is observed to be particularly abundant in Holland ; and
M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of the Birds of
Japan.

The beak is black ; the irides hazel ; the top of the
head, nape, and cheeks greyish white ; over the eye, and
descending from thence over the ear-coverts, is a black
stripe, narrow, and sometimes said to be entirely wanting
in old males, but broader in females ; on the upper part of
the back a triangular patch of black, one point of which
is directed downwards ; the shoulders, scapularies, and
part of the rump, tinged with rose red ; wing-coverts
black ; wing-primaries greyish black ; the tertials broadly
edged with white ; upper tail-coverts black : the three
pair of central tail-feathers very long and black ; the
next three pair each half an inch shorter than the feather
on the same side which precedes it, and all six are black
on the inner web, and white on the outer ; the whole of
the under surface of the body greyish white ; the sides,
flanks, and under tail-coverts, tinged with rose colour ;
under surface of the body greyish white ; legs, toes, and
claws, almost black.

The whole length of the bird is about five inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing two
inches and one quarter : the first feather very short ; the

LONG-TAILED TIT.

405

second feather considerably shorter than the third ; the
fourth and fifth each a little longer than the third ; the
fifth the longest in the wing.

Females differ but little from males except in having
more black about the head.

Young birds, as described by Mr. Blyth, have the irides
at first much lighter in colour than those of the old birds ;
the top of the head white ; ear-coverts dull black : cheeks,
and sides of the neck, mottled with dusky brown ; the black
on the back not so pure in colour, and the tail-feathers
while growing of variable comparative lengths.

The vignette below represents the nest of this bird.

406

INSESSOXES.

DENTIROSTRES.

PARID.E.

PARIDJZ.

THE BEARDED TIT.

Calamophilus biarmicus.

Parus biarmicus, Bearded Titmouse, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 540.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 293.

„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 81.

„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 244.

Calamophilus „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 125.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Parus „ Mesange moustache, TEHM. Man. d'Ornith.vol.i. p. 298.

CALAMOPHILUS. Generic Characters. — Beak nearly as in the genus
Parus, but the upper mandible at its tip is somewhat curved downwards.
Wings short, with the fourth feather the longest. Tail very long and
graduated. Legs and toes strong, particularly the hind toe and claw.

THE BEARDED TIT, here figured, was also separated from
the genus Parus by Dr. Leach, in the Systematic Cata-
logue of the Specimens of the Indigenous Mammalia and
Birds in the British Museum, already referred to, and

BEARDED TIT. 407

there distinguished by the generic term Calamophilus, in
reference to its decided partiality to live among reeds. The
habits of the only species known are distinct : it lives mostly
in marshy places, and builds an open cup-shaped nest, which
is placed on the ground. The food of this species is seeds,
insects and their larvae, and small-shelled snails. The sides
of the stomach in this bird are muscular, and much thick-
ened, forming a gizzard which the true Tits do not possess.
This structure of the stomach affords the power of break-
ing down the shells of the testaceous mollusca referred to,
— namely, Succinea amphibia and Pupa muscorum, many
of which have been found comminuted therein. This bird
differs also from the Tits in some other minor characters.

From the loose, soft, and almost inaccessible nature of
the soil at the sides of rivers in which beds of reeds grow,
and which are the places mostly frequented by the Bearded
Tit, its habits were formerly but little known ; but the
communications of various observers to the different pe-
riodicals devoted to Natural History have supplied the de-
ficiency. A contributor to Mr. London's Magazine found,
after a close search, a flock of eight or ten of these beautiful
little creatures on the wing, in a large piece of reeds below
Barking Creek, in Essex ; " they were just topping the
reeds in their flight, and uttering in full chorus their sweetly
musical note ; it may be compared to the music of very
small cymbals, is clear and ringing, though soft, and cor-
responds well with the delicacy and beauty of the form and
colour of the birds. Several flocks were seen during the
morning. Their flight was short and low, only sufficient to
clear the reeds, on the seedy tops of which they alight to
feed, hanging, like most of their tribe, with the head or
back downwards. If disturbed, they immediately descend
by running, or rather by dropping. The movement is rapid
down the stem to the bottom, where they creep and flit,

408

perfectly concealed from view by the closeness of the covert,
and the resembling tints of their plumage." Mr. Hoy says,
" The borders of the large pieces of fresh water in Norfolk
called broads, particularly Hickling and Horsey Broads,
are the favourite places of resort of this bird ; indeed, it is
to be met with in that neighbourhood wherever there are
reeds in any quantity, with fenny land adjoining. During
the autumn and winter they are found dispersed, generally
in small parties, throughout the whole length of the Suf-
folk coast, wherever there are large tracts of reeds. I
have found them numerous in the breeding season on the
skirts of Whittlesea, near Huntingdonshire ; and they are
not uncommon in the fenny district of Lincolnshire ;
whether they are to be met with farther north I have had
no means of ascertaining ; but they do not appear to have
been noticed north of the Humber. It begins building
towards the end of April. The nest is composed on the
outside with the dead leaves of the reed and sedge, inter-
mixed with a few pieces of grass, and lined with the top
of the reed. It is generally placed in a tuft of coarse

grass or rushes near the ground, on the margin of the
dikes, in the fen ; sometimes fixed among the reeds

BEARDED TIT. 409

that are broken down, but never suspended between the
stems."

I obtained two nests from the parish of Horsey. These
were both placed near the ground, being sustained only
an inch or two above the surface by the strength of the
stems of the coarse grass upon which they were fixed.
Each nest was composed entirely of dried bents, the finer
ones forming the lining, and others increasing in substance
made up the exterior. The eggs are from four to six in
number, rather smaller than those of the Great Tit, and
less pointed, eight lines and a half long by six lines and a
half in breadth, white, and sparingly marked with pale red
lines or scratches.

Their food during winter, Mr. Hoy says, " is principally
the seed of the reed ; and so intent are they in searching
for it, that he has taken them with a bird-limed twig
attached to the end of a fishing-rod. When alarmed by
any sudden noise, or the passing of a Hawk, they utter
their shrill musical notes, and conceal themselves among
the thick bottoms of the reeds ; but soon resume their
station, climbing the upright stems with the greatest faci-
lity. I have been enabled to watch their motions when in
search of insects, having, when there has been a little wind
stirring, been often within a few feet of them, quite un-
noticed among the thick reeds." In the same volume
of the Magazine of Natural History, Mr. Dykes says,
" Having had an opportunity of examining three specimens,
I found the crops completely filled with the Succinea am-
phibia in a perfect state, the shells being unbroken. These
shells were singularly closely packed together ; the crop
of one, which was not larger than a hazel nut, containing
twenty, and some of them of a good size ; it contained
also four of the Pupo muscorum. Of all these mollusca
the shell was quite uninjured ; which, when the fragile

410

nature of that of the Succinea is considered, is somewhat
extraordinary. The shell appears to be passed into the
stomach in the same perfect state, as I discovered one
which I presume had been recently swallowed, quite
entire. They are not, however, voided in this state, for
I found the stomach to be full of small fragments of
shell, in a greater or less degree of decomposition. This
work of destruction is accomplished by the action of the
stomach, aided by the trituration of numerous sharp an-
gular fragments of quartz, which had been instinctively
swallowed, and by which the minute division of the shells
is most completely effected." The Bearded Tits, like the
Long-tailed Tits last described, keep together in families
during autumn and winter ; two or three families occasion-
ally roving together in a small flock.

South and west of London, the Bearded Tit has been
found in Surrey about some ponds near Godalming; in
Sussex near "Winchelsea ; and on the banks of the Thames
from London upwards as far as Oxford. Pennant says it
has been taken near Gloucester. In Cornwall, as I learn
from Mr. Rodd, it is considered very rare ; a single speci-
men was obtained in the neighbourhood of Helston, which
is now in the collection made by the late Humphrey
Grylls, Esq. It is not included in the Catalogue of the
Birds of Shropshire and North Wales, published in the
Annals of Natural History, by my friend Mr. Thomas
Eyton ; but is said to have been taken in Lancashire : and
a single specimen is recorded as Irish by Mr. Thompson,
on the authority of Mr. W. S. Wall, a bird-preserver in
Dublin, which example was received from the banks of
the Shannon.

Eastward from London the Bearded Tit inhabits the
various reed beds on the banks of the Thames, both in
Kent and Essex. It is found also in Cambridgeshire, Suf-

BEARDED TIT. 411

folk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire ; but has not been traced
in this country, as before observed, north of the Humber.
Pennant says it is found, though rarely, in Sweden ; but
as this bird does not appear in the works of Muller,
Brisson, or Nilsson, referring to the ornithology of Den-
mark, Norway, and Sweden, or in the Fauna of Scan-
dinavia by the naturalist last named, I am induced to
suppose that Pennant was mistaken on this point. It is
very abundant in Holland ; and numbers are brought alive
from that country to the London Markets for sale : the
price is usually four or five shillings a pair ; and the birds
are attractive in confinement from the beauty of the plum-
age, their graceful form, and general sprightliness. They
are not very common either in France, Provence, Italy,
or Sicily ; but are found on the marshy borders of the
Black and the Caspian seas.

In the adult male, when alive, the beak and irides are of
a most delicate orange colour ; the head, neck, and ear-
coverts pearl -grey ; descending from the space between the
base of the beak and the eye is a black pendent whisker,
or moustache, of three-quarters of an inch in length,
and ending in a point ; back, greater wing-coverts, and
upper tail-coverts fawn colour ; the smaller wing-coverts
black ; the primaries greyish brown, with narrow white
outer edges ; the tertials with broad external edges of
fawn colour, bounding a black stripe, the internal webs
being bufly white ; the middle tail-feathers three inches
long, the others shorter and graduated ; the outside tail-
feather one inch and a half long, black at the base, and
white at the end ; the two next pairs white on the outer
webs, and buffy white on the inner webs ; the other six
nearly uniform fawn colour. Chin, throat, and breast
white, tinged with grey, and passing into yellowish white
on the belly; the sides tinged with salmon colour; the

412 PARHXE.

flanks fawn colour ; under tail-coverts jet black ; legs, toes,
and claws, black.

The whole length is rather more than six inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing two inches and one
quarter ; the first feather very short ; the second feather
equal in length to the fifth, but shorter than the third ; the
fourth the longest in the wing.

In the female the head is of a dull brownish fawn colour
where the male is pearl grey, and the feathers in the situa-
tion of the moustache are of the same colour as those of
the cheek ; the female has sometimes been described as
wanting the whiskers ; but the elongated feathers are pre-
sent, though not coloured black ; the plumage of the fe-
male is in other respects like that of the male, but the
colours are not quite so delicate and pure ; the under tail-
coverts in the female are fawn colour.

In young birds about three weeks old the tertials want
the broad white inner webs ; the wing and tail-feathers are
patched with black ; the tail-feathers short and but slightly
rounded ; the whole of the under surface of the body fawn
colour ; the legs light brown. At this age young males
have an indication of the whisker in a small black line
reaching from the base of the beak to the eye.

BOHEMIAN WAXWING.

INSESSOXES.

DE\T1ROSTRES.

413

AMPELID^.

THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING.

Bomby cilia garrula.

A mpelis garndus,

Waxen Chatterer, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 418.
„ „ Bohemian „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ TJie Chatterer, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 104.

Bombytitta garrula, Bohemian Chatterer, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 64.

„ „ „ Waxwing, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 268.

JENYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 125.
Waxen CJtatterer,
Grand Jaseur,

Bombycivora

BombycUla

GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 124.
TEMM. Supplt. p. 70.

BOMBYCILLA. Generic Characters. — Beak strong, short, and straight ;
broad at the base ; the upper mandible slightly bent at the tip, and emar-
ginated. Nostrils basal, oval, and open, sometimes concealed by closely-

414 AMPEinm

set feathers directed forwards. Wings long; the first or second quill-
feather the longest in the wing. Legs and toes short and strong; the
tarsus shorter than the middle toe.

THE BOHEMIAN WAXWING is one of the most beautiful
of the birds that visit this country, combining as it does a
graceful form with a plumage of brilliant and varied colours.
It is, however, only a winter visitor, and that, too, at most
uncertain intervals ; yet coming, as it then does, in flocks,
and attracting attention by its gay appearance, as well as
its numbers, it can hardly be called a very rare bird, as
there is scarcely a northern county in which it has not
been frequently killed, and few collections of birds of any
extent exist which do not include one or more specimens.

Like most of the winter visitors to this country, the
Waxwings comes to us from the north, and have been seen
in small troops or families of eight or ten in number,
occasionally in flocks consisting of some scores, and some-
times even of several hundreds. These are distributed
over the country as they proceed southward, and a few
reach the counties on our southern coast. Specimens have
been killed in Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. The bird from
which the figure was taken in the Synopsis of British Birds,
by John Walcott, Esq., was killed in Hampshire. Dr.
Edward Moore says that several have been shot in the
plantations of Mount Edgecumbe and Saltram in Devon-
shire ; and Mr. Couch, in a Catalogue of Cornish Birds
with which he has favoured me, mentions one instance of
this bird being killed at Lostwithiel in 1 829, and another
near Helston in 1835 ; but examples so far south are
much more rare than in the northern counties. Mr. Thomas
Eyton notices several specimens that have been killed in
Shropshire ; and Mr. W. Thompson mentions various
instances of the occurrence of this bird in Ireland. In the
northern counties of England, and in Scotland, as before

BOHEMIAN WAXWING. 415

observed, the appearance of these birds, though accidental,
is much more frequent, and the winters of 1787-88 and 9,
1790 and 91, 1803, 1810, 1820, 22, 28, 1830, 31, 34 and
35, 1850-51 and 52, are particularly recorded as having
afforded opportunities of obtaining specimens, in some one
or other of various northern localities.

Although this bird is called the Bohemian Waxwing, it
is not more plentiful in Bohemia than it is in England. It
is in the central and southern parts of the European conti-
nent, as it is here, only an accidental visitor in winter. It
is a rare bird in France and Provence ; still more rare
as far south as Italy, and never crosses the Mediterranean
Sea. The geographical range of this bird east and west is,
however, very extensive. M. Temininck says it is an
inhabitant of Japan, a country which produces another
species of this same genus. Our bird is found in various
northern parts of Asia, Europe, and North America ; this
latter country also producing another species of this genus ;
but these three are the only species known ; and the
European bird is the largest as well as the finest of the
three.

The country in which this bird produces its young is not
decidedly ascertained, and its habits in that season of the
year are but imperfectly known. Frisch says it is a bird
of Tartary, where it breeds among rocks. The Prince of
Canino says, "It seems probable that their chief place of
abode is in the oriental parts of the old Continent ; and,
if we may hazard an opinion, we should not be surprised
if the extensive and elevated table-land of Central Asia
were found to be their principal rendezvous, whence, like
the Tartars in former times, they make their irregular
excursions." M. Temininck, in the Supplement to his
Manual, says, the European Waxwing breeds in the eastern
parts of the North of Europe, and lives in the northern

416 AMPELID.E.

parts of Asia. M. Nilsson, an ornithologist of Sweden,
and the author of a Fauna of Scandinavia, says, these
birds pass the summer in the arctic regions ; they are seen
on their passage in Scania in November, and return in the
spring. The remarks of Sir John Richardson are as fol-
lows ; — " This elegant bird has only lately been detected
in America, having been discovered in the spring of 1 826,
near the sources of the Athabasca, or Elk River, by Mr.
Drummond, and by myself, the same season, at Great Bear
Lake, in latitude 65°. In its autumn migration south-
wards, this bird must cross the territory of the United
States, if it does not actually winter within it ; but I have
not heard of its having been hitherto seen in America to
the southward of the fifty-fifth parallel of latitude. The
mountainous nature of the country skirting the Northern
Pacific Ocean being congenial to the habits of this species,
it is probably more generally diffused in New Caledonia
and Russian American territories, than to the eastward of
the Rocky Mountain chain. It appears in flocks at Great
Bear Lake about the 24th of May, when the spring thaw
has exposed the berries of the alpine arbutus, marsh vac-
cinium, &c., that have been frozen and covered during
winter. It stays only for a few days ; and none of the In-
dians of that quarter, with whom I conversed, had seen its
nest ; but I have reason to believe that it retires in the
breeding season to the rugged and secluded mountain-lime-
stone districts, in the sixty-seventh and sixty-eighth paral-
lels, when it feeds on the fruit of the common juniper,
which abounds in these places." In a note, Sir John
Richardson adds: — " I observed a large flock, consisting of
at least three or four hundred individuals, on the banks of
the Saskatchewan, at Carlton House, early in May, 1827.
They alighted in a grove of poplars, settling all on one or
two trees, and making a loud twittering noise. They

BOHEMIAN WAXWING. 417

stayed only about an hour in the morning, and were too
shy to allow me to approach within gunshot."

Such are the accounts and opinions of observers and na-
turalists who have written most recently on this bird. Of
its habits in this country, it may be briefly stated that it
has once appeared as early in the season as August. In
that month of the year 1835, a male was killed out of a
flock by my friend Joseph Clarke, Esq., at Saffron Walden
in Essex. Mr. Frederick Fuller, of Aldborough, on the
Suffolk coast, who has also seen these birds alive, and pro-
cured specimens for his collection with his own gun, tells
me that he found them very shy and difficult to approach,
alighting from time to time, and when seen on other occa-
sions, were perched upon the uppermost twigs of tall
hedges, very much in the manner of our Red-backed
Shrike ; but in their activity and incessant change of posi-
tion or place, they resemble the Tits. In this country
these birds are known to feed on the berries of the
mountain ash, hawthorn, and ivy, and have been thus
fed in captivity, but seldom live long. When fruit or
berries are scarce, they are said to feed upon insects,
catching them dexterously in the same manner as their
distant relatives the Flycatchers. Their call-note is a
chirp frequently repeated.

For the opportunity of figuring from a British killed
example of this bird, I am indebted to the kindness of my
friend Thomas Wortham, Esq., of Royston, who obtained
for my use, of his neighbour Mr. Trudgett, the loan of a
fine male specimen, which was shot near Royston a few
winters since.

The beak is almost black, but light brown on the edges
near the base ; the irides dark red ; the forehead reddish
chestnut ; the feathers on the top of the head a light
brocoli-brown, and elongated, forming a crest ; over the

VOL. I. E E

418 AMPELIM.

base of the upper mandible, on the lore, round the eye,
and passing backward round the occiput under the back
part of the crest, an elongated circle of black ; nape of
the neck light brocoli-brown, becoming darker on the
back, scapulars, and small wing-coverts ; the coverts of the
primaries black, tipped with white ; primaries and second-
aries black, with an elongated patch of straw yellow at the
end of the outer web of all except the first three ; the
tertials purple brown, tipped with pure white on the outer
web ; four of the secondary quill -feathers, and from one
to four of the tertials, depending on the sex and age of
the bird, terminate in a small, flat, oblong appendage, re-
sembling in colour and substance red sealing-wax ; these
appendages are merely expanded and coloured horny pro-
longations of the shafts of the feathers beyond their webs ;
upper tail-coverts smoke-grey ; tail-feathers smoke-grey at
the base, black towards the end, and tipped with king's-
yellow, the shafts of the feathers being slightly tinged with
red where the webs are yellow. Under the chin is a patch
of velvet black ; at the angle of the mouth the feathers
are chestnut, passing on the cheeks, neck, breast, and all
the under parts, into pale brocoli-brown, becoming grey-
ish brown on the flanks and abdomen ; under tail-coverts
chestnut brown ; axillary plume, and under surface of the
wings, ash-grey ; all the plumage silky and soft to the
touch ; the legs, toes, and claws black.

The whole length of the bird is rather more than eight
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing,
four inches and a half : the first and second feathers very
nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing, indi-
cating considerable powers of flight.

A female described by Sir John Richardson had the
marks on the tips of the primaries untinged with yellow ;
a narrower yellow tip to the tail, and a smaller and less in-

BOHEMIAN WAXWING.

419

tensely black mark on the chin. Very old males have
sometimes as many as eight red appendages to the wing-
feathers ; the females seldom more than five.

Young birds have no waxlike appendages during their
first year ; and the same may be said of the young of
the American species. Neither sex of the new species
from Japan, described by M. Temminck, exhibits waxlike
appendages at any age ; I have not, therefore, included
this peculiarity in the generic characters here given.

E E ',!

420

INSESSOKES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MOTACILLIM.

MOTACILL1DJE.

THE PIED WAGTAIL.

Motacilla Yarrettii.

Motadlla alba, White Wagtail, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 489.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ Pied „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 231.

„ „ White „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 73.

„ „ Pied „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 251.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 114.

„ Yarrettii „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe, under

the name of alba in the de-
scription, and Yarrettii in
the General Index.

» ,, Bergeronette Yarrellii, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. iv.

p. 620.

MOTACILLA. Generic Characters. — Bill slender, subulate, straight, cari-
nated, angulated between the nostrils, emarginated at the tip ; the edges
of both mandibles slightly compressed inwards. Nostrils basal, lateral,

PIED WAGTAIL. 421

oval, and partly concealed by a naked membrane. Wings of moderate
size ; the first quill-feather the longest, the second and third equal in
length, and nearly as long as the first ; the tertials very long. Tarsus
much longer than the middle toe ; the outer toe of the three in front
joined to the middle toe at its base ; the claw of the hind toe sometimes
elongated. Tail of twelve feathers, long, and nearly even at the end.

IN a paper by Mr. Gould, published in the Magazine of
Natural History, in the volume for the year 1837, page
459, entitled ' ' Observations on some Species of the Genus
Motacilla" the following paragraphs occur: — "While
engaged upon this tribe of birds during the course of my
work on the Birds of Europe, I was equally surprised to
find that the sprightly and Pied Wagtail, so abundant in
our islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any
described species ; and that it was equally as limited in
its habitat ; for, besides the British Islands, Norway and
Sweden are the only parts of Europe whence I have been
able to procure examples identical with our bird, whose
place in the temperate portions of Europe is supplied by
a nearly allied, but distinct species, the true M. alba of
Linneus ; which, although abundant in France, particu-
larly in the neighbourhood of Calais, has never yet been
discovered on the opposite shores of Kent, or in any part
of England. As, therefore, our bird, which has always
been considered as identical with the M. alba, proves to
be a distinct species, I have named it after my friend W.
Yarrell, Esq., as a just tribute to his varied acquirements
as a naturalist."

" The characters by which these two species may be
readily distinguished are as follow. The Pied Wagtail
of England, M. Yarrellii, is somewhat more robust in
form, and, in its full summer dress, has the whole of the
head, chest, and back of a full deep jet black ; while in
the White Wagtail, M. alba, at the same period, the
throat and part of the head alone are of this colour, the

MOTACILLID^E.

back, and the rest of the upper surface, being of a light
ash-grey. In winter the two species more nearly assimi-
late in their colouring ; and this circumstance has, doubt-
less, been the cause of their being hitherto considered as
identical ; the black back of M . Yarrellii being grey at
this season, although never so light as in M. alba. An
additional evidence of their being distinct (but which
has, doubtless, contributed to the confusion) is, that the
female of our Pied Wagtail never has the back black, as
in the male, this part, even in summer, being dark grey,
in which respect it closely resembles the other species."

Such are the observations of Mr. Gould, and although
concurring with him in opinion that these birds are dis-
tinct, it is intended here to give figures and descriptions,
as far as requisite, of both birds in their summer and
winter plumage, to invite investigation on this subject ;
premising that M. Temminck, in the Supplement to his
Manual, page 171, refers to Mr. Gould's figure in the Se-
cond Part of the Birds of Europe, and also to the co-
loured lithographic figure in Werner's Atlas of Illustra-
tions to the Manual, which, although there called Mota-
cilla lugubris, is certainly our Pied Wagtail, as represen-
tations of varieties of Motacilla alba. The Prince of
Canino has considered our bird distinct from M . alba, and
has admitted it as a species in his published Geographical
and Comparative List of the Birds of Europe and North
America.

The Pied Wagtail of this country, though a very com-
mon bird, is deservedly admired for the elegance of its
form, as well as for the activity and airy lightness exhi-
bited in all its actions. It is ever in motion, running
with facility by a rapid succession of steps in pursuit of
its insect food, moving from place to place by short un-
dulating flights, uttering a cheerful chirping note while on

PIED WAGTAIL. 423

the wing, alighting again on the ground with a sylph-like
buoyancy, and a graceful fanning motion of the tail, from
which it derives its name. It frequents the vicinity of
ponds and streams, moist pastures, and the grass plots of
pleasure-grounds : may be frequently seen wading in shal-
low water, seeking for various aquatic insects, or their
larvae ; and a portion of a letter sent me lately by Wil-
liam Rayner, Esq., of Uxbridge, who keeps a variety of
birds in a large aviary near his parlour window for the
pleasure of observing their habits, seems to prove that
partiality to other prey, besides aquatic insects, has some
influence in the constant visits of Wagtails to water. " I
had also during the summer and autumn of 1837 several
Wagtails, the Pied and Yellow, both of which were very
expert in catching and feeding on minnows which were in
a fountain in the centre of the aviary. These birds hover
over the water, and, as they skim the surface, catch the
minnow as it approaches the top of the water in the most
dexterous manner, and I was much surprised at the wari-
ness and cunning of some Blackbirds and Thrushes in
watching the Wagtails catch the minnows, and immedi-
ately seizing the prize for their own dinner."

The nest of our Pied Wagtail is formed of moss, dead
grass, and fibrous roots lined with hair and a few fea-
thers ; the nest is sometimes placed on the ground on a
ditch bank, sometimes in a hole of a wall, or thatch of an
out-building, and it is frequently fixed in the side of a
wood stack, or hay-rick ; occasionally it has been found
occupying a cavity in a peat stack, or a wall of turf sod,
but always in the vicinity of wrater. The eggs are four or
five in number ; white, speckled with ash-colour, nine
lines in length, and seven lines in breadth.

Mr. Jesse, in his Gleanings in Natural History, re-
cords an instance of a Water Wagtail building her nest

424 MOTACILLIM.

in one of the workshops of a manufactory at Taunton.
" The room was occupied by braziers, and the noise pro-
duced by them was loud and incessant. The nest was
built near the wheel of a lathe, which revolved within a
foot of it. In this strange situation the bird hatched four
young ones ; but the male, not having accustomed him-
self to such company, instead of feeding the nestlings
himself, as is usual, carried such food as he collected
to a certain spot on the roof, where he left it, and from
whence it was borne by his mate to the young. It is
still more remarkable that she was perfectly familiar
with the men into whose shop she had intruded, and
flew in and out of it without fear. If by chance a
stranger, or any other of the persons employed in the
same factory, entered the room, she would, if in her nest,
instantly quit it, or if absent, would not return ; the
moment, however, that they were gone, she resumed her
familiarity."

"When the young are able to follow the parents, the little
family may be seen in meadows very busy about the feet
of the cattle while grazing, availing themselves, as White
observes, of the flies that settle on their legs, and probably
feeding on the worms and larvae that are roused by the
trampling of their feet.

The Pied Wagtail is exceedingly common over the
whole of the United Kingdom ; and in all the southern
parts it is resident throughout the year. In summer it is
observed in the Scottish islands ; but is more numerous in
Orkney than in Shetland, and quits both these northern
parts as soon as their breeding season is over. They also
quit Scotland, and some of the more northern counties of
England before winter, and appear to be somewhat gre-
garious in their habits when on the move from one locality
to another, small flocks being occasionally seen about the

PIED WAGTAIL. 425

vernal and autumnal periods of change. Considering our
bird as a distinct species, I have not identified it with the
localities inhabited by the true M. alba. It is probable,
as suggested by Mr. Gould, that the Channel is the
line of boundary, although stragglers from either side
may have been, and probably will be, found on the opposite
shores. It appears from what is known of the habits of
our bird, and the circumstance of Mr. Gould having re-
ceived examples of it from Norway and Sweden, that our
Pied Wagtail migrates due north and south. Brunnich,
in lu's Ornithologia Borealis, page 70, decidedly refers to a
variety of M. alba, besides including the bird itself; but
the excellent coloured figure in the Fauna of Scandinavia,
by M. Nilsson, of Lund, represents the true M. alba of
Linneus, the bird next to be described.

The adult male in the plumage of the breeding season,
which begins to appear in March, and is completed in
April, has the beak and irides almost black ; the forehead,
the lore, or space between the beak and the eye, the part
surrounding the eye, the ear-coverts, the cheeks, and a
portion of the side of the neck, pure white ; the crown of
the head, nape of the neck, back, scapulars, rump, and
upper tail-coverts, black ; the small and great wing-co-
verts black, broadly edged, and tipped with white; pri-
mary and secondary quill-feathers black, with narrow
lighter-coloured outer edges ; the third, fourth, and fifth
primaries, with some white on the inner web ; the tertials,
one of which is very long, black, with broad white outer
borders; the eight central tail-feathers black; the two
outer tail-feathers, on each side, white, with a black edge
on the inner web ; chin, throat, and neck in front, and
on the sides, black, which, uniting with the same colour on
the anterior part of the wings and scapulars, surrounds
the white on the side of the neck ; breast, belly, and

426 MOTACILLIM.

under tail-coverts white; sides of the body and flanks
black ; legs, toes, and claws black ; the hind claw rather
short.

The whole length of a male bird is seven inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three
inches and three-eighths ; the first three primaries very
nearly equal in length, but the first of the three rather the
longest in the wing.

The adult female is half an inch shorter in the whole
length than the male ; and only differs from him, at this
season, in having the back lead-grey, mottled with darker
feathers, almost as black as those on the back of the male
at this season.

In the adult male and female in winter plumage, the
black colour of the head and nape of the neck does not
extend to the back, which is then nearly uniform ash-grey ;
chin and throat white ; the black colour on the front of
the neck only appearing in the form of a gorget or cres-
cent, the horns of which are directed upwards to the back
part of the ear-coverts. The darker colour of the plumage
of the breeding season is obtained in the spring by an alter-
ation taking place in the colour of the feathers, not by
losing the old feathers and gaining new ones : the annual
moult takes place in autumn.

Young birds of the year resemble the parent birds in
their winter plumage, except that the head is not black,
but ash-grey, like the back ; the cheeks and ear-coverts
are tinged with yellow, and the upper part of the breast
mottled with greyish black.

In their winter dress, as observed by Mr. Gould, there is
less difference in the colour of the plumage.

The marked specific distinction between these two Wag-
tails is, that the beak of our Pied Wagtail is broader than
that of the White Wagtail throughout its whole length

PIED WAGTAIL.

427

from the point to the more dilated base, and that while our
pied bird changes on the back from ash-grey to black in the
breeding-season, the back of the white bird remains as
light in colour as it is in winter; even the back of the
female of our pied bird changes, and is decidedly much
darker in summer than the back of the White Wagtail at
the same season.

The vignette represents the appearance of the Pied Wag-
tail in summer and winter.

428
INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MOTACILLID^.

MOTAGILLIDM.

THE WHITE WAGTAIL.

Motacilla alba.

Motacilla alba,

White Wagtail,
Bergeronette grise,

GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 255 ;
vol. iii. p. 178.

THE belief expressed in the first edition of this work,
that attention being directed to the subject, the White
Wagtail would be occasionally found in this country as a
summer visitor, has been verified in several instances. It
happened that late in the month of May, 1841, my friend
Mr. Frederick Bond found two pairs of this White Wag-
tail frequenting the banks of the reservoir at Kingsbury,
and succeeded in shooting three of the birds, two males
and a female, and very kindly gave me one of the males.
In the spring of 1842, a specimen was shot near Carlisle,
which is now in the possession of T. C. Heysham, Esq.,
and during the month of April, 1843, I received one and

WHITE WAGTAIL. 429

heard of two others that were obtained by Mr. James J.
Tratham, in the vicinity of Falmouth. Mr. Bond also told
me, in the spring of 1843, that he had again seen one
example near the Kingsbury Reservoir.

That this species is the true Motacilla alba of Linneus
the coloured figures and descriptions of Swedish and other
continental authors, leave no room to doubt, and when the
subject has been further investigated, it will probably be
found that the present species, the true Motacilla alba, and
therefore called the White Wagtail, is only a summer
visitor to Britain, while many of the better known Pied
Wagtails remain with us all the year ; their numbers, how-
ever, receiving an increase by visitors from the Continent
every spring. A. E. Knox, Esq., who is well located on
our southern coast for observations on the migratory birds,
and bestows time and great attention to the subject, says,
that Wagtails arrive on the coast of Sussex by the beginning
of March, and generally during a gentle wind from the
south. It is probable that both species on their arrival are
less distinct in colour than they are afterwards at a later
period, and Mr. Knox observes, that the Pied Wagtails on
their arrival are farther advanced towards the plumage
peculiar to the breeding-season, than those which have
remained in this country all the previous winter ; the
permanent pearl-grey or light ash-grey of the whole of
the back in the White Wagtail being the most obvious
distinction.

There is this difference in the habits of the two species
in this country. The White Wagtail is not so partial to
water as the Pied Wagtail, and though found and shot
near ploughed land, does not follow the plough, which
seems to denote some difference in the choice of food ; it
has also a hoarser voice, as recorded by Mr. Borrer, Hew-
itson, and others.

430 MOTACILLID^E.

I quote M. Temnrinck's Manual for the habits of
Motacilla alba on the Continent, where it is stated that it
inhabits meadows in the vicinity of streams of water,
villages, and old houses. Its food consists of insects of
any sort and in any stage of their existence ; the nest is
placed among grass in meadows, in a fissure of decayed
buildings or rocks, or under the arch of a bridge, where
five or six eggs are deposited of a bluish white colour,
spotted with black. This species is found in summer as far
north as the Arctic Regions. Professor Nilsson says that it
appears in Sweden in April, and leaves in October. It is
spread over the whole of the European continent, and is
found also on several of the islands of the Mediterranean,
namely, Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Crete. Mr. Gould, in his
account of this species in his History of the Birds of Europe,
says, that it is common in Africa and on the high lands of
India.

In the adult male in summer the beak is black, the fore-
head, region of the eyes, and part of the side of the neck as
low as the wing, pure white ; top of the head, and a square
patch at the back of the neck, black ; the scapularies, and
all the back and upper tail-coverts, pearl-grey or very light
ash-grey ; wing primaries, tertials, and wing-coverts nearly
black, with broad outer margins of white ; the two outside
tail-feathers on each side white, with a narrow line of black
on the inner margin ; the other tail-feathers black ; the
chin, neck in front, and the upper part of the breast, black ;
under surface of the body white ; legs, toes, and claws
black.

The whole length is seven inches and three-eighths ; the
wing from the anterior bend rather more than three inches:
and this bird always appears rather smaller than the Pied
Wagtail.

The female, according to M. Temminck, has the fore-

WHITE WAGTAIL.

431

head and cheeks dull white ; the black colour at the
occiput covers less space, and the edges of the wing-coverts
incline to a greyish white.

The vignette below represents the male bird in the
plumage of summer and winter — and renders a description
of the plumage in winter unnecessary, the white chin and
neck in front being the principal difference.

432

INSfiSSOKES.

DENTIROSTRES.

MOTACILLID2E.

MOTACILLID^.

THE GREY WAGTAIL.

Motacilla boarula.

Motacilla boarula, Grey Wagtail, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 492.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 233.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 74.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 253.
JENTNS, Brit. Vert. p. 115.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
„ „ Bergeronettejaune, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 257.

THE habits of the Grey Wagtail are in many respects
very similar to those of the Pied Wagtail; but, as a
species, it is far less numerous, and with some exceptions,
to be hereafter noticed, it may be generally considered
in this country as a summer visitor to the more northern
counties, migrating in autumn to become a winter visitor
in those of the south; these changes of locality being

GREY WAGTAIL. 433

generally made in September and April. It is even rather
more an aquatic bird than our Pied Wagtail, being seldom
seen except about marshes and water meadows, or on the
banks or sides of streams. In such situations, and some-
what solitary in their habits, a pair of Grey Wagtails may
be seen, shifting from place to place with undulating flight,
or running with rapid steps along the margin of, and some-
times wading in, the shallow water in search of various
insects, and are known to avail themselves of one very
numerous species of fresh-water bivalve, Cyclas cornea of
Dr. Turton, as food. These birds have been also observed
to run upon the tops of the weeds, which are partly sub-
merged in the ditches, and probably feed upon the various
species of water-beetles, Dyticus and Gyrinus, which are
almost always to be found in those situations.

The nest of this bird is placed on the ground, seldom
very distant from the stream it frequents, and generally
on some rugged part of its banks, the inequalities of the
ground affording concealment. The structure of the nest
is similar to that of the Pied Wagtail, being formed of
fibrous roots and moss, lined with wool, hair, or feathers.
The eggs are from five to six in number, yellowish white,
mottled with pale brown, varying sometimes in the depth of
the tint ; the eggs are about eight lines and a half in length,
and seven lines in breadth. Mr. Selby has observed that
these birds produce two broods in the season, the first of
which is generally fledged by the end of May. The young
birds, till late in autumn, may be frequently seen in com-
pany with their parents.

In the counties around London, the Grey Wagtail is a
winter visitor ; but Mr. Blyth has recorded that he " once
observed a pair of them upon Penge Common, in Surrey,
at the end of May, that evidently had a nest in the neigh-
bourhood, though he was unsuccessful in his repeated

VOL. I. F F

434 MOTACILLIDJJ.

endeavours to find it." White of Selborne considered it
a winter visitor in Hampshire ; but it also occasionally re-
mains in that county in summer. I have been favoured
with a communication from Mr. James Rawlance, of Ford-
ingbridge, received by the hands of Dr. Thackeray, stating
that the Grey Wagtail reared its young on a farm at Ford-
ingbridge, in the summer of 1836 : and Mr. Joseph Clark,
of Saffron Walden, who is well acquainted with birds, saw
this same species in the breeding-season when on a visit
near Stockbridge. This part of Hampshire, it will be
remembered, is intersected by various excellent trout
streams running through rich water meadows. Montagu,
in the Supplement to his Ornithological Dictionary, ap-
pears to have become aware " that in a few local instances
the grey species had been known to breed in the south of
England ; " and Mr. Turton and Dr. Edward Moore are
good authorities for this bird having bred occasionally in
Devonshire.

Mr. Blackwall observes it in Denbigh and Caernarvon-
shire throughout the year, but much more numerous in
summer than in winter.

Mr. Couch, of Polperro, who, with his usual kindness,
has supplied me with extensive notes on the Birds of Corn-
wall, says of the Grey Wagtail — " abundant in winter ; and
within a few years, I have known some pairs remain with
us and breed." Robert Slaney, Esq., says of this bird in
Shropshire, " it visits us in autumn, remains during winter
about our warm spring heads, and leaves us in spring for
the north." In North Wales, according to Mr. Eyton, it
is also a winter visitor ; but in Lancashire and Cumber-
land this bird is not only found all the summer, producing
its young, but a few remain during winter.

Mr. Thompson says the Grey Wagtail is extensively,
but not universally, distributed over Ireland ; and, like

GREY WAGTAIL. 435

the Pied Wagtail, is permanently resident throughout the
country. The stomach of one examined by this gentleman
in December, contained many specimens of the minute
river limpet, Ancylus flumatilis.

Of the counties on our eastern coast, the Grey Wagtail
appears to be a winter visitor in Essex, Suffolk, and Nor-
folk ; and a summer visitor, according to Mr. Selby, in
Durham and Northumberland, a few remaining the whole
year. Mr. Selby also mentions having observed this bird
in June, 1834, upon most of the banks of the rivers and
margins of lochs in Sutherlandshire. This species, how-
ever, has no very high northern range, never appearing in
Denmark, Norway, or Sweden. Southward, on the Euro-
pean continent, it is resident about Geneva, according to
M. Necker, and inhabits Spain, Provence, and Italy ; it is
found in Corfu, Sicily, and Malta. It is also an inhabitant
of the island of Madeira. B. Hodgson, Esq., Mr. Gould,
and Mr. E. Blyth, have seen specimens of this bird from
various parts of India ; and M. Temminck states that ex-
amples from Japan, Java, and Sumatra, exactly resembled
the European bird.

In summer the beak of the male is dusky brown ; the
edges of both mandibles light brown ; irides dark hazel ;
crown of the head and the ear-coverts slate-grey, with a
light buff-coloured streak above the eye extending over
the ear-coverts, and another under the ear-coverts ; neck,
scapulars, back, and rump, slate-grey ; wing-coverts and
quill -feathers almost black ; the coverts tipped with buffy
white ; the tertials edged with white ; upper tail -coverts
king's yellow ; the outside tail-feather on each side white ;
the second and third on each side also white, with a narrow
elongated black line on the outer web of each; the six
central tail-feathers black, with yellowish edges at the
base ; the chin and throat black ; breast, belly, and under

F F 2

436

MOTACILLID^.

tail-coverts, bright king's yellow ; legs, toes, and claws,
pale brown.

The whole length of the bird is seven inches and three-
quarters, of which the tail-feathers measure nearly half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the quill-feathers,
three inches: the first three primaries nearly equal in
length, and the longest in the wing.

In winter the chin and throat are buffy white, without
any appearance of black; the breast and belly greyish
white, tinged with yellow.

The colours of the female are at all seasons paler than
those of the male ; and the young bird of the year is like
the adult female bird in winter.

The vignette below represents on the left hand the foot
and breast-bone of our Pied Wagtail, and on the right
hand the foot of Ray's Wagtail.

GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 437

INSESSORES. MOTACTLLIDjE.

DENTIROSTRES.

THE GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL.

Motacilla flava.

Motadlla neglecta, Grey-headed Wagtail, GOULD, Birds of Europe.
„ „ Blue „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 116.

„ „ Grey „ „ LUBBOCK, Fauna of Norfolk,

p. 35.
„ flava, Bergeronette printaniere, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 260.

TEMM. Supplt, p. 181.
Budytes „ „ „ P. MUSIGN. Comp.List. p. 18.

SINCE Mr. Gould first pointed out the distinctions be-
tween the common Yellow Wagtail of this country, the
Motacilla flava of Ray, and one of the yellow continental
Wagtails, which is the Motacilla flava of Linneus, several
examples of this latter species have been killed in England,
and one or two in Scotland ; it is therefore entitled to a
place in this work, and the attention of Ornithologists
being drawn to the subject, other examples will no doubt
be obtained.

438 MOTACILLimE.

Mr. Gould very clearly proved, what appears never to
have been even suspected before, that the M. flava of
English authors was not only a different bird from the M .
flava of continental authors, but that our very common
Yellow Wagtail was in fact as rare a bird, and as little
known on the Continent, as the M. flava of the Continent
was rare here. Those who contend that the trivial name
given by the first describer of a species ought ever to
remain unchanged, will still consider that our well-known
Yellow Wagtail ought to continue to be called M, , flava,
while those who consider systematic nomenclature as be-
ginning with Linneus, will continue the term flava to the
Grey-headed Wagtail of Mr. Gould.

When the Grey-headed Wagtail was first named in this
country, Mr. Gould, supposing this species had been
equally overlooked on the Continent, called it Motacilla
neglecta ; but further communication with continental
Ornithologists convincing him that it was the true M. flava
of Linneus, and subsequently of continental authors, it
became necessary that the term neglecta should be dropped
in favour of that vt flava, which it had so long borne;
and it was then considered that justice would also be done
to Ray's original notice of our yellow bird, if it was in
future to be called Ray's Wagtail. I have reason to be-
lieve that the application of the term Rayi, as appropri-
ated to this bird in the Comparative List of the Prince of
Musignano, had Mr. Gould's concurrence.

The first British specimen of this bird, obtained in Oc-
tober, 1834, on Walton Cliffs, near Colchester, was shot by
Mr. Henry Doubleday ; two birds were together, and his
attention was drawn to them by observing a pair so late in
the season, and so long after our common Yellow Wagtail
leaves this country. Only one of the two was secured.

In the first volume of the Magazine of Zoology and

GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 439

Botany, it is recorded that, at a meeting of the Wernerian
Society of Edinburgh in January, 1836, Sir Patrick
Walker read a notice of the occurrence of the Grey-headed
Wagtail on the banks of the water of Leith; and in a
note on the same page, 1 1 1 , a second example is noticed
as having occurred near Edinburgh.

The same Magazine has also recorded two other in-
stances of the occurrence of this species. On the 2nd of
May, 1 836, an adult male bird was killed by Mr. Hoy in
the parish of Stoke Nayland, Suffolk. In the same month
a male specimen was shot a little west of Newcastle.
This bird was with another, probably a female, and from
the lateness of the season, it is likely they might have bred
in the neighbourhood. This last communication was made
by Mr. Albany Hancock.

Another was taken in April, 1837, near Finsbury, a
short distance north-east of London. From this bird, by
the kindness of Mr. Joseph Clarke, the figure at the head
of this subject was taken. This bird was a fine male in
his full summer dress.

H. Gurney, Esq., and the Rev. Richard Lubbock have
recorded one example of this species killed at Sherring-
ham, in Norfolk. The specimen is in the Norwich Mu-
seum.

On the Continent, Mr. Hoy tells me, this species in-
habits wet springy places in moist meadows : and M. Tem-
minck adds, that it frequents the vicinity of water, and
the gravelly edges of rivers. As a species it is numerous ;
common over the central part of Europe, and has a very
extensive northern and eastern geographical range. Some
British Ornithologists have brought specimens from Swe-
den and Norway, where it is a summer visitor, appearing
in April, and departing in September: it is excellently
figured by M. Nilsson in the coloured illustrations of his

440 MOTACILLIDJ;.

Fauna of Scandinavia ; and in his Tour in Lapland, Lin-
neus mentions having seen this bird in that country on
the 22nd of May, 1732. This species is found in Sicily
and Malta. William Thompson, Esq., while at sea in the
month of April, 1841, on his passage from Malta to the
Morea, noticed six of these birds visiting the deck of
the vessel, and it is found also in Algeria, Nubia, and
Egypt. Mr. Gould states that he has received skins of
this bird from the Himalaya Mountains ; and M. Tem-
minck includes it also in his Catalogue of the Birds of
Japan.

This bird makes its nest on the ground in holes, some-
times among exposed roots of trees, in corn-fields and mea-
dows, laying about six eggs, which, as figured in several
continental works, are so much like those of our common
summer visitor to be in future called Ray's Wagtail, that
they can scarcely be distinguished. The food of this bird,
according to M. Temminck, is flies, moths, small green
caterpillars, and aquatic insects.

The figure at the head of this article was taken, as be-
fore observed, from a British-killed specimen. I am in-
debted to Mr. Henry Doubleday for a pair of these birds ;
and Mr. Hoy has very kindly allowed me the use of seven
specimens killed at different seasons of the year. From
these ten examples I am enabled to supply the following
descriptions.

The adult male, during that part of spring and summer
which may be said to constitute the breeding-season, has
the beak black ; the irides dusky brown ; the top of the
head, the lore, or space between the beak and the eye,
the ear-coverts, and nape of the neck, lead-grey; over the
eye, and extending also over the ear-coverts, a distinct
white line; the scapulars, back, and upper tail-coverts,
greenish olive, tinged with yellow; wing-coverts and quill-

GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 441

feathers dark brown ; the small and great coverts, and the
tertials, edged with yellowish white ; the two outer tail-
feathers on each side, white, with a black border on the
inner web of each, that of the second feather being broader
than that of the first; the third feather black, with a
narrow outer edge of white ; the six central tail-feathers
nearly uniform black ; the chin white, this colour extend-
ing as far as the end of the ear-coverts in a line under-
neath them ; the throat, breast, and all the under surface
of the body, bright gamboge yellow ; legs, toes, and claws,
black.

The old male in the autumn loses the yellow tint on the
back, the greener colour then prevailing, and the whole of
the under surface of the body, losing brilliancy, fades to a
primrose yellow.

The length of the male is six inches and a half. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and
one-eighth : the first, second, and third quill -feathers very
nearly equal in length ; but the first is rather the longest.

The whole length of an adult female is six inches and
one-eighth. In the breeding- season the head, ear-coverts,
and nape of the neck, are slate-grey; over the eye and
ear-coverts a white streak ; the back dull olive ; the edges
of the wing-coverts and tertials nearly white; the chin
and throat white ; all the rest of the under surface of the
body pale king's yellow.

In autumn the grey head of the female is mixed with
greenish brown, the white streak over the eye and the ear-
coverts remaining ; the chin white ; throat and breast bufiy
white ; belly, and under tail-coverts, primrose yellow.

The young male in his first autumn plumage resembles
the adult female in the breeding-season, except that the
grey of the head is more mixed with brown, and the yel-
low of the upper part of the breast is clouded with brown

442 MOTACILLID^l.

and buffy orange. In the following spring the grey fea-
thers of the head still exhibit a slight mixture of olive-
green, and the chin is yellow, which in the more adult
male is white.

The young female in spring has the head and ear-
coverts greyish brown ; the chin and throat buffy white ;
the upper part of the breast mottled with brown ; the
lower part of the breast, and the other under parts, prim-
rose yellow, enriched with a mixture of king's yellow.

This bird may be distinguished from our common sum-
mer Yellow Wagtail, M. Rayi, next to be described, by
the white elongated line over the eyes and ear-coverts,
which appear to be permanent at all seasons, and by the
grey head, which is more or less conspicuous, also, at all
seasons, but particularly in summer. In Ray's Wagtail,
the line over the eye and the ear-coverts is yellow ; and
the head, I believe invariably, of the same colour as the
back of the bird. The females of the two species most
resemble each other.

RAY'S WAGTAIL.

INSESSOKES.

DE\TIROSTRES.

443

MOTACILLID&.

RAY'S WAGTAIL.

Motacilla Rayi.

Motadllaflava, Yellow Wagtail, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 491.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 234.

„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 74.

„ „ „ „ SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 255.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 115.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ flaveola, fiergeronette Jlavtole, TEMM. Supplt. to Man. p. 183.

Budytes Rayi, „ „ P. MUSIGN. Comp. List. p. 18.

THE common Yellow Wagtail of England, first de-
scribed by our countryman and naturalist John Ray, and
now proposed, for distinction's sake, to be called Ray's
Wagtail, is a constant summer visitor to this country,
making its appearance about the end of March, or the be-
ginning of April, and leaves our southern shores in Sep-

444 MOTACILLIDJE.

tember. Like most of our summer visitors, this species
comes to us from the south, and in its habits is very like
the other Wagtails, except that it does not appear to be,
like them, so decidedly partial to water. It frequents
arable land, and inhabits fields of peas and tares, in both
of which I have found its nest ; it also frequents open
downs and sheep pastures, fields of young green corn, and
not unusually dry fallows, where, perched upon a clod of
earth, or upon a stone, this bird may be seen" fanning his
tail, and exhibiting his rich yellow breast to the greatest
advantage. The nest is placed on the ground, and is gene-
rally formed of dried bents and fibrous roots, lined with
hair ; the eggs are from four to six in number, not unlike
those of the Sedge Warbler, but rather larger ; whitish in
colour, mottled nearly all over with yellow brown arid ash
brown ; the length eight lines and a half, the breadth six
lines and a half.

The young birds are able to fly about the end of May ;
and may be seen from that time to the period of their
autumnal departure following the parent birds in search of
food. Like others of the genus, they are frequently to
be seen attending cattle and sheep while grazing, running
about so close to their feet as to appear in danger of being
trodden upon. A writer observes, " I have seen as many
as seven, which I concluded were the parents and their
offspring, running and dodging just before the cow's head,
apparently catching small insects. I suppose that the
cattle disturbed small flies, which are the favourite food of
this bird, lodged in the grass, and which as soon as they
arose were caught by the watchful Wagtail before they
could secure their retreat into the grass. We see the
economy of Nature demonstrated when one animal is thus
subservient to the well-being of another."

The call-note of this bird is more shrill than that of the

RAY'S WAGTAIL. 445

other Wagtails, and consists of two notes repeated in suc-
cession, the second of which, in the musical scale, is one
whole tone lower than the first. This species is numerous,
and generally diffused during summer from the southern
coast of England as far north as Durham and Northum-
berland; where, according to Mr. Selby, they collect in
small flocks after the breeding-season, and move southwards
towards the end of August. Montagu observed flocks
of these birds in Devonshire in the autumn of 1802, 3, 4,
and 5, and every succeeding year they were observed
sooner or later in the southern promontories of Devon.
According to Dr. Edward Moore, similar assemblages of
these birds take place every year at the present time ; and
Mr. Blyth mentions having " noticed a small flock of
them, early one morning in September, upon the sands in
the isle of Jersey, which had apparently not long alight-
ed from a journey across the Channel, and had probably
taken their departure from some part of the West of Eng-
land."

The geographical range of this species, as far as at pre-
sent known, is very limited ; it appears to be a rare sum-
mer visitor even to Ireland, according to Mr. Thompson ;
and M. Temminck states that he has certainly never seen
it on the continent of Europe in any locality between the
Baltic and the Mediterranean.

I am indebted to my friend Mr. Henry Doubleday of
Epping, for the finest specimen of this bird I ever saw,
an adult male in brilliant summer plumage. The beak is
black ; the irides hazel ; the top of the head, the lore, ear-
coverts, nape of the neck, scapulars, and back, very pale
olive, rather darkest on the back ; over the eye and ear-
coverts a streak of brilliant gamboge yellow ; wing-coverts
and quill-feathers dusky brown, the former tipped, the
tertials edged and tipped, with yellowish white; upper

446 MOTACILLID^l.

tail-coverts olive ; the two outer tail -feathers on each side
white, with a streak of black on the inner web, all the
others brownish black; the chin, throat, breast, and all
the under surface of the body, a bright, rich gamboge yel-
low ; legs, toes, and claws, black.

The whole length of the bird is six inches and a half.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches
and one-eighth : the first three quill -feathers very nearly
equal in length, but the first rather the longest.

The plumage of the female at the same season of the
year is much less rich in colour, the back being tinged
with darker brown, and the under surface of the body of
a less brilliant yellow. Young birds of the year, and the
parent birds after the moult, which immediately succeeds
the breeding-season, resemble each other considerably ; the
olivaceous band observed in some across the breast, is, I
believe, a sign of youth, and probably remains till the first
spring change, when the birds are nearly twelve months
old.

Having frequently examined specimens of our Wagtails
in the spring of the year, when they were assuming either
the change of colour, or the additional brilliancy of tint,
peculiar to the breeding-season, without finding any new
feathers in progress, I am induced to consider the vernal
change in these birds as so many instances of alteration
effected in the colour of the old feathers, and not a change
of the feathers themselves.

TREE PIPIT.

INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

447

ANTHID^E.

THE TREE PIPIT.

Anthus arbor eus.

Alauda trivialis, Pipit Lark,

» >t )j »

„ minor, Tree Pipit,

Anthus, Field Titling,

„ arbore, Tree Pipit,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 484.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 223.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 75.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 262.
„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 118.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Pipit des buissons, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 271.

ANTHUS. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, slender ; the superior
ridge at the base of the upper mandible rather elevated; the sides com-
pressed towards the point ; the tip slightly bent downwards and emargi-
nated. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, partly concealed by a membrane.
Wings with the first three quill-feathers very nearly equal in length, and
the longest in the wing ; the tertials very long. Toes, three before, and
one behind, with the outer toe united to the middle one as far as the first
joint ; hind claw curved, and more or less produced.

448 ANTRIM.

M. B ECKSTEIN separated the Pipits from the true Larks,
and proposed the generic term of Anthus for the former ;
this division and name have been generally adopted ; it
would still further assist correct definition, if among our-
selves the term Titlark could be discontinued entirely ; the
Tree Pipit being called the Titlark by some, the Meadow
Pipit a Titlark by others, and round the sea-coast, where
the Rock Pipit is generally the most frequent of the three,
that is also called Titlark. Scarcely any two British Birds
have been so frequently confounded together as the Tree
and the Meadow Pipits; but when the two species are
examined in hand, distinctions will be found that are suf-
ficiently obvious and constant ; and there are besides dif-
ferences in the habits of these birds, as well as in the
localities they each frequent. The Tree Pipit is rather
the larger bird of the two ; the beak is stouter and
stronger ; the spots on the breast larger and fewer in
number ; the claw of the hind toe is not so long as the
toe itself; the tertial feathers of the wings are rather
longer in proportion to the primaries ; the white on the
outer tail-feather on each side is neither so pure in colour,
nor is it spread over so large a portion of the feather ; and,
as far as my own observation goes, it does not appear to be
so numerous as a species as the Meadow Pipit.

The Tree Pipit is a summer visitor to this country, ar-
riving about the third week in April, and frequents the
enclosed and wooded districts of England ; it is not un-
common around London, and I have observed it frequently
in the highly cultivated and wooded parts of Kent. The
male has a pretty song, perhaps more attractive from the
manner in which it is given than the quality of the song
itself. He generally sings while perched on the top of a
bush, or one of the upper branches of an elm-tree standing
in a hedge-row, from which, if watched for a short time,

TREE PIPIT. 449

he will be seen to ascend on quivering wing about as high
again as the tree, then, stretching out his wings and ex-
panding his tail, he descends slowly by a half-circle, sing-
ing the whole time, to the same branch from which he
started, or to the top of the nearest other tree ; and so
constant is this habit with him, that if the observer does
not approach too near to alarm him, the bird may be seen
to perform this same evolution twenty times in half an
hour, and I have witnessed it most frequently during and
after a warm May shower.

The nest of this bird is placed on the ground in woods
and plantations, sometimes sheltered by tufts of herbage
on the grassy bank of a wood hedge, or under a low bush ;
and Mr. Neville Wood mentions one instance that occurred
to him, in which the nest of this bird was fixed on the
lowest branch of a small thick bush. The nest is formed
of moss, with fibrous roots and dried grass, lined with fine
bents and a few hairs : the eggs are four or five in number,
and exhibit considerable variation in colour in different
nests, the most characteristic, however, being of a greyish
white ground colour, clouded and spotted with purple
brown, or purple red ; the length of the egg about ten
lines, by eight lines in diameter. Like the Wagtails and
Larks, the Pipits walk and run on the ground : and the
food of this species is insects and worms.

The Tree Pipit is found in all the wooded and culti-
vated districts of the southern counties of England ; but
is seldom found in any open unenclosed country. It is
comparatively rare in Cornwall ; not very numerous in
either South or North Wales ; and some doubts are still
entertained whether it extends its range to Ireland. North
of London it is common in the parts of those counties
which are congenial to its habits ; Mr. Neville Wood says
it is abundant in the sheltered and cultivated parts of

VOL. I. G G

450 .ANTHIDJE.

Derbyshire ; and Mr. Selby includes it among the birds of
Durham and Northumberland, as a summer visitor, making
its first appearance every season in May.

Our Tree Pipit is a summer visitor also to Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden, and from thence southward is dif-
fused generally over the European continent to Italy ; but
in Provence, at Genoa, and Rome, it is still only a summer
visitor, going farther south in September. It is known to
be an inhabitant of the island of Madeira, and is found
at Tangiers and Algeria ; it is also found in Sicily, Malta,
and Crete, and M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue
of the Birds of Japan.

The beak is dark brown ; the base of the lower mandi-
ble pale yellow brown ; the irides hazel ; the head, neck,
back, and wings, olive brown, of two shades of colour, the
centre of each feather being darker than the surrounding
edge; the smaller rounded wing-coverts blackish brown,
edged and tipped with buffy white; the greater wing-
coverts also dark brown, edged with pale brown, the light-
coloured ends of the two sets of coverts forming bars
across the wing; quill -feathers dark brown; the tertials
large, with a broad outer edge of pale brown ; upper tail-
coverts nearly uniform brown ; the outer tail-feather on
each side, with nearly all the narrow outer web, and part
of the broad inner web, of a dull white, tinged with
brown, the other parts of the feather clove brown; the
second feather has only a small patch of dull white at the
end of the inner web, the remaining portion of that feather
on each side, and all the central feathers between them
clove brown, the two in the middle having lighter brown
margins. The chin and throat pale brownish white ; from
the lower angle of the under mandible a dark brown streak
passes backwards and downwards ; below this line on the
sides of the neck, and on the breast in front, are various

TREE PIPIT.

451

elongated spots of dark brown, which are better defined
in the males than in the females; belly and under tail-
coverts pale brown ; the flanks streaked with darker
brown ; the legs, toes, and claws, pale yellow brown ; the
hind claw considerably curved, and shorter than the hind
toe, hence one of the provincial names for this bird is the
Short-heeled Field Lark.

The whole length of the bird is about six inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three
inches and three-eighths : the first three primaries nearly
equal in length, but the first is the longest ; one broad
tertial feather reaching beyond the longest primary, when
the wing is closed.

The male is rather larger than the female ; but the two
sexes are nearly alike in plumage. At the moult, these
birds acquire a greenish tint on the upper surface of the
body, and an ochreous yellow on the throat and breast.

G G

452

INSESSORES.

DENTIROSTRES.

ANTHID^E.

ANTH1DJE.

THE MEADOW PIPIT.

Anihus prat ens is.

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 481.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

Alauda pratensis, The Titlark,
*„ trivialis, Pipit Lark,
„ pratensis, Titlark, „ „ „

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 225.

Anthus „ Meadow Titling, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 75.

„ „ „ Pipit, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 260.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 117.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Pipit Farlouse, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 269.

THE MEADOW PIPIT is the smallest, the most common,
and accordingly the best-known species of this genus, and
is resident in the British Islands throughout the year. It
inhabits commons and waste lands generally, appearing to
prefer uncultivated districts; and in the northern lake
counties of England it is called the Ling Bird, from its
constantly frequenting the moors, where it is one of the
few small birds that are to be seen in such localities. It
is not, however, exclusively confined to heath and hill, but

MEADOW PIPIT. 453

may also be found in meadows and marsh land, frequent-
ing more exposed situations during summer, and seeking
the shelter of valleys and plains in winter. When progress-
ing from place to place, the flight of this bird is performed
by short unequal jerks ; but when in attendance on its
mate and undisturbed, it rises with an equal vibratory
motion, and sings some musical soft notes on the wing,
sometimes while hovering over its nest, and returns to the
ground after singing. Occasionally it may be seen to
settle on a low bush ; but is rarely observed sitting on a
branch of a tree, or perched on a rail, which is the com-
mon habit of the Tree Pipit. The Meadow Pipit, when
standing on a slight mound of earth, a clot, or a stone,
frequently moves his tail up and down like a Wagtail ; and
Mr. Neville Wood mentions that he has heard him sing
while thus situated on or very near the earth.

The Meadow Pipit seeks its food on the ground, along
which it runs nimbly in pursuit of insects, worms, and
small slugs. In the stomach of one of these birds, ex-
amined in the month of December, Mr. Thompson of Bel-
fast found two specimens of Bulimus lubricus. According
to this gentleman, the name of the Meadow Pipit in the
north of Ireland is Moss-cheeper, the name having reference
to the moss and peat covering the ground mostly in-
habited by the bird, and also to its call-note. In the
county of Kerry, Mr. Thompson adds, this bird is called
Wekeen, in reference probably to the small size of the
bird.* Sir Robert Sibbald, in his Scotia Illustrata, pub-
lished in 1684, and considered to be the first Fauna of
Scotland, gives Moss-cheeper and Titling as the names of
the Meadow Pipit in that country.

The nest of this bird is built on the ground, among

* In Irish, een, ending a word, is a diminutive ; thus, doudeen, is a little
pipe ; mavouraeen, my little dear.

454 ANTRIM.

grass generally : it is constructed externally of dried bents,
lined with finer bents, and some hairs : the eggs are from
four to six in number, of a reddish brown colour, mottled
over with darker brown ; the length of the egg nine lines
by seven lines in breadth. The parent bird has been ob-
served to feign being wounded for the purpose of with-
drawing attention from its nest. "W. Thompson, Esq., in
his valuable communications on the Natural History of
Ireland,* mentions that " his friend at Cromac has fre-
quently found the nest of the Meadow Pipit on the banks
of water-courses and drains, as well as on the ground in
fields. One which was known to him at the side of a
drain was discovered by some bird-nesting boys, who
pulled the grass away that concealed it. On visiting it
the next day, he observed a quantity of withered grass
laid regularly across the nest ; on removing this, — which,
from its contrast in colour with the surrounding herbage,
he considered must have been placed there as a mark by
the boys, — the bird flew off the nest ; and on his return-
ing the following day, he found the grass similarly placed,
and perceived a small aperture beneath it by which the
bird took its departure, thus indicating that the screen,
which harmonised so ill with the surrounding verdure, had
been brought there by the bird itself. The same gentle-
man once introduced the egg of a Hedge Accentor into a
Meadow Pipit's nest, containing two of its own eggs ; but
after a third egg was laid, the nest was abandoned." The
desertion of the nest was probably induced by the visits
of the observer, rather than by the introduction of the
strange egg, as the egg of the Cuckoo is more frequently
deposited and hatched in the nest of the Meadow Pipit
than in that of any other bird.

The Meadow Pipit, Titling, or Moss-cheeper, is as well
* Magazine of Zoology and Botany, and Annals of Natural History.

MEADOW PIPIT. 455

known on the heathery mountains of Scotland as it is in
England, Wales, or Ireland. According to Dr. Neill, Mr.
Bullock, the Rev. Mr. Low, — the author of the Fauna
Orcadensis, — and Mr. Dunn, it is common also in summer
on the islands of Orkney and Shetland, remaining on
some of the former throughout the year. It is common
also during summer in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway,
taking a very high northern range, and visiting even the
Faroe Islands and Iceland. It inhabits the whole of the
European continent, being common as far south as Spain,
Italy, and Corfu, frequenting the plains from October to
the spring, and passing the summer on the hills and moun-
tains. It inhabits Tangiers, Sicily, and Malta ; it is found
also in Egypt and at Trebizond : Mr. Gould has seen spe-
cimens from "Western India ; and M. Temminck includes
it in his Catalogue of the Birds of Japan.

The beak of this bird, which is more slender than that of
the Tree Pipit, is dark brown, but inclining to light yellow
brown at the base of the under mandible : irides hazel ; the
feathers of the head, neck, back, wing, and upper tail-
coverts, dark brown in the middle, much lighter brown at
the margin all round ; both sets of wing-coverts broadly
edged with pale wood-brown ; primaries, secondaries, and
tertials, brownish black, edged with light brown ; the two
central tail-feathers rather shorter than the others, and
dark brown; the outer tail-feather on each side white,
with a small patch of brown on the broad inner web ; the
next tail-feather on each side dark brown, with a small
patch of white at the tip of the inner web ; the six other
tail-feathers blackish brown ; the chin, throat, and sides of
the neck, pale brownish white ; ear-coverts a uniform patch
of darker brown ; the breast spotted with dark brown, on
dull white, tinged with brown, the spots more numerous
than on the same part in the Tree Pipit ; belly and under

456 ANTHID^E.

tail -coverts dull white tinged with brown ; legs, toes, and
claws, light brown ; the claw of the hind toe slender,
slightly curved, and as long as the toe.

The plumage obtained at the moult which immediately
follows the rearing of the young, has on the upper surface a
rich tinge of olive mixed with the light brown colour, and
the under surface is enriched with an ochreous yellow, both
these colours remaining till the following spring, about
which time it is lost by degrees, apparently from the age of
the feather.

The whole length of the bird is six inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the longest primary, three inches
to three inches and one-eighth : the first four quill -feathers
nearly equal in length, but the first is the most pointed in
shape, and rather the longest in the wing.

Young birds of the year have the olivaceous and yellow
tints similar to those on the plumage of the parent birds in
autumn after their moult.

ROCK PIPIT.

INSESSOBES.

DENTIROSTRES.

457

ANTHID^E.

THE ROCK PIPIT.

Anthus petrosus.

Alauda obscura,

Dusky Lark,
„ Hock Lark,

campestris, Fidel Lark,

Anthus petrosus,

ea Titling,

aqiiaticus, Rock Pipit,
petrosus, „ „
aqiiaticus, „ „

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 482.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 221.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 74.

SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 258.
„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 118.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Pipit Spioncelle, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 265.

THE ROCK PIPIT, in its habits, mode of flight, and song,
so closely resembles the two species already described, as
for a long period to have been confounded with them.
Colonel Montagu became aware of the distinction, and
suggested the subject to Mr. Lewin, who figured and
described this species under the name of Dusky Lark,
in his large work on British Birds, with coloured illustra-
tions.

458 ANTRIM.

The localities frequented by the Rock Pipit are, how-
ever, strikingly distinguished from those in which the other
Pipits are so constantly found. I do not remember to have
seen the Rock Pipit except within a short distance of the
sea-coast : and so generally is it there distributed, that I
never remember looking for it, when visiting any part of
our sea-coast, without finding it. It does not wander far
inland, and is very seldom seen at any considerable distance
from the sea. It remains in this country on the coast
throughout the year. Montagu found it along the whole
line of shore from Kent to the Land's End. It inhabits the
shores of South and North Wales. Mr. Thompson men-
tions it, as observed by himself, on the north, west, south,
and east coasts of Ireland ; and Mr. Selby mentions it as
occurring along the Northumbrian coast, and the eastern
shores of Scotland.

Though called the Rock Pipit, it inhabits as well low
flat shores in the vicinity of the sea, and the neighbouring
salt marshes, where it feeds on marine insects, sometimes
seeking its food close to the edge of the retiring tide ; and
I have seen these birds very busily engaged in the exami-
nation of sea-weed, apparently in search of the smaller
Crustacea. This bird is readily distinguished from the Tree
and Meadow Pipit by its larger size ; the hind claw long,
and very considerably curved.

The Rock Pipit makes its nest on the ground ; and if
the coast is bounded by rock or cliff, the favourite places
are the grass-grown ledges at various elevations on the
surface opposed to the sea. The nest is made up of several
sorts of dry grasses ; the eggs are four or five in number,
of a greyish white, tinged with green, and mottled nearly
all over with ash brown ; the length is nine lines and a
half, by seven lines and a half in breadth. The young
are hatched early in spring.

ROCK PIPIT. 459

The Rock Pipit, besides the localities already quoted,
is probably to be found on all the shores of the United
Kingdom. Mr. Dunn says, it is abundant in all parts of
Shetland and Orkney. Professor Nilsson says it is mi-
gratory in Sweden, only visiting that country in summer :
Mr. Hewitson saw it in Norway, and M. Temminck says
that it goes as far north as Greenland. Sir John Richard-
son and Mr. Swainson quote Antlms aquatlcus as an in-
habitant of North America ; but after a close examination
of specimens from that country agreeing exactly with Mr.
Swainson's excellent figure, I cannot but consider that bird
as distinct from our own.

On the European continent, the Rock Pipit is abundant
over the maritime shores of Holland, and occasionally on
the borders of the Rhine. M. Vieillot says, it is seen as a
migratory bird on the banks of rivers in France ; and it
is included in ornithological works referring to Provence,
Switzerland, and Italy, as an occasional visitor in summer ;
it is also found at Malta. M. Temminck says, that speci-
mens of this bird from Japan only differ from European
examples in the plumage being a little darker in colour,
and the spots on the under surface of the body being a
little larger.

The beak is dark brown on the upper part of the upper
mandible, and on the point of both mandibles, the base and
edges of both pale yellow brown ; irides dark brown ; over
the eyes and ear-coverts a light-coloured streak, not always
conspicuous ; the top of the head, ear-coverts, nape of the
neck, back, wings, and upper tail-coverts, nearly uniform
olive brown, the centre of the feathers on the back only
being rather darker than their edges ; quill -feathers dark
brown ; the outer tail-feather on each side pale brownish
white, lightest in colour at the end ; the next feather on
each side dark brown, with a light-coloured tip only ; the

460 ANTHIDJ;.

next three on each side very dark brown ; the two central
feathers light brown, and shorter than the others ; the tail
in shape slightly forked ; the chin dull white ; the throat
breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, yellowish brown,
slightly tinged with green, spotted and clouded with brown ;
the flanks olive brown ; the legs, toes, and claws, brown ;
the hind claw longer than the toe, larger than that of the
Meadow Pipit, and considerably curved.

The sexes do not differ in plumage ; during the breeding
season the adult birds on the upper surface of the body are
of a dull brown, but slightly tinged with green, and the
outer tail-feathers on each side exhibit more white. After
the breeding season, old birds and the young birds of the
year have more of the olive tint above, and the outside tail-
feathers are dull whitish brown.

The whole length of an adult bird is about six inches
and three-quarters, but rather less than more. From the
carpal joint to the end of the longest primary, three inches
and five-eighths : the first quill-feather rather the longest
of the whole ; the next three but a trifle shorter than each
other in succession ; the fifth feather three-eighths of an
inch shorter than the fourth.

F. M. Lyte, Esq., of Berryhead, near Brixham, sent
me a pied variety of the Rock Pipit, which was white on
the head, the back, and on the under surface.

fNSESSOHES.

DENTIROSTRES.

RICHARD'S PIPIT.

461

ANTHID^.

RICHARD'S PIPIT.

Antlius Ricardi.

Anthus Ricardi, Ricliards Pipit,

Pipit Richard,

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 219.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 75.

SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 264.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 117.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 263.

THIS fine species was first made known as an occasional
visitor to England by the late N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P.,
who obtained a specimen that was taken alive in the
neighbourhood of London in October, 1812. Mr. Gould, in
his Birds of Europe, mentions two instances that occurred
of the capture of this species, also near London, in the
spring of 1836. Mr. Rennie, in his edition of Montagu's
Ornithological Dictionary, notices two instances of this

462 ANTRIM.

bird, one of which was taken alive in Copenhagen Fields,
near London, which I believe is intended to refer to the
example recorded by Mr. Vigors : the other was taken
near Oxford. The British Museum also contains a British
specimen, which is said to have been killed at Bermondsey ;
and Mr. W. Proctor, the curator of the Durham University
Museum, informs me that he shot a specimen of this bird
on the 13th of February, 1832, near Howick, on the
Northumbrian coast, which is now in the collection of
the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge, Stafford-
shire.

Since then four examples are recorded to have been
killed in Cornwall, — one of them at St. Mary's, Scilly ;
six or seven in Devonshire ; two in Kent, and three in
Norfolk.

The habits of this species, as far as the peculiarities of
so rare a bird can be known, — for it is equally scarce on.
the Continent, — are said to be very similar to those of the
other Pipits. It is mostly observed on the ground, fre-
quenting old pastures, where it stands very high, and runs
with facility, waving the tail up and down with a gentle
airy motion, like that observed in the Wagtails ; while its
long hind claw, but slightly curved, connects it with the
Larks; it has, like them also, an agreeable song. So scarce
is this species in foreign collections, that M. Temminck
appears to have seen but two specimens ; examples, how-
ever, have been obtained in Germany, France, Spain, Italy,
and Malta. This bird was named Ricardi in compliment
to a very zealous amateur of ornithology, who first made
known an example captured in Lorraine in autumn ; the
bird has also been taken in Picardy. M. Savi says, that
three specimens only were known to him as having been
obtained in Italy ; and this species probably inhabits the
countries south of the Mediterranean from whence stragglers

RICHARD'S PIPIT. 463

occasionally visit the southern parts of Europe. B. Hodg-
son, Esq., has found it in Nepal ; and Mr. Blyth has
recorded its occurrence in the vicinity of Calcutta.

The note of this bird is said to be very loud, and is heard
at a great distance ; its food consists of various insects ; and
its eggs, as noticed by M. Polydore Roux in his Ornitho-
logy of Provence, have a reddish ground colour, speckled
with darker red and light brown ; the length ten lines and
a half, by seven lines and a half in breadth. The egg,
rather larger than that of the Rock Pipit, is now figured
by Mr. Hewitson, plate 44, fig. 4.

The figure of Richard's Pipit here given was taken, by
permission, from the bird originally obtained by Mr. Vigors,
which, with his whole collection, was some years since pre-
sented to the Zoological Society.

The upper mandible of the beak is dark brown, the lower
mandible pale yellow brown ; the irides very dark brown,
almost black ; a light-coloured streak passes over the eyes
and ear-coverts, the latter are brown ; the feathers on the
top of the head, nape, back, wing, and upper tail-coverts,
are clove brown in the middle, with lighter yellowish brown
edges ; the margins of all the wing-coverts and tertials buffy
white ; quill-feathers dark brown ; the outer tail-feather on
each side is dull white, with an elongated patch of brown
at the base of the inner web ; the next feather on each side
is also in part dull white, but the brown colour on the
inner web extends over a larger surface ; the three next
feathers on each side are very dark brown ; the two middle
tail-feathers are shorter than the others, not so dark a
brown, and have light wood-brown coloured edges.

The chin, throat, and all the under surface of the body,
dull white, tinged on the sides of the neck and on the
upper part of the breast with yellowish brown, and spotted
with dark brown; the flanks are also tinged with pale

464 ANTHID^E.

yellow brown ; legs, toes, and claws, pale flesh colour : the
hind claw very long, and hut slightly curved.

The whole length of the male bird is seven inches and
three-quarters. From the carpal bone to the end of the
longest primary quill -feather, three inches and five-eighths ;
the first four feathers of the wing are very nearly equal in
length, but the first is rather the longest, and the three next
in succession are each a very little shorter than that which
precedes it ; the fifth feather is a quarter of an inch shorter
than the fourth.

These birds exhibit the green tinge on the upper surface,
and the reddish colour over the breast and flanks observed
periodically in other Pipits ; but the females are less rufous
than the males.

The vignette at the foot of page 451 represents, of the
natural size, the feet of the four British species of the genus
Anthus, in the order in which they have been described here,
— namely, No. 1, the Tree Pipit, No. 2, the Meadow Pipit,
No. 3, the Rock Pipit, and No. 4, Richard's Pipit, and
considerable modifications prevail in each : here, however,
the alteration in the form of the hind claw is accompanied
by a difference in the manners of the birds, witness the
arboreal habits in connection with the short hind claw of
the first, the Tree Pipit, and the decided terrestrial habits
in conjunction with the elongated hind claw in the last,
or Richard's Pipit. Mr. Vigors some years ago suggested
the propriety of removing Richard's Pipit from the genus
Anthus, and proposed for it the term Corydalla, but this
distinction has not, that I am aware, been adopted by
systematic writers.

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

SHORE LARK.

465

ALAUDID^.

THE SHORE LARK.

Alauda alpestris.

Alauda cdpestris, SJiore Lark, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 126.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ „ „ EYTON, Rarer Brit. Birds.

„ „ Alouettedhausse-colnoir, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 279.

ALAUDA. Generic Characters. — Beak short, subconic, mandibles of
equal length, the upper one convex, and slightly curved. Nostrils basal,
oval, partly covered by small feathers directed forwards. Head furnished
on the top with a few elongated feathers, capable of being elevated, and
forming a crest. Wings rather long; the first quill-feather generally very
short, the second rather shorter than the third, which is the longest in the
wing. Feet with three toes before, divided to their origin ; one toe behind
with the claw elongated, and almost straight.

WITH the Larks commences the second division of the
Second Order of Birds, the CONIROSTRES, a distinction
drawn from the conical form and great strength of the
beak. Many of the birds of this division live almost en-

VOL. I.

H H

466 ALAUDIM.

tirely on grain ; others are less limited in the nature of
their food ; but so great is the power of the beak in some
of the species included in this division, that they are en-
abled to break down the hardest seeds, and even to crack
the stones of various fruits, by which they obtain the
highly-flavoured kernels within. The arrangement of the
genera and species will exhibit a gradual increase in the
size of the mandibles till the maximum of power is at-
tained.

In the year 1831, I learned of my late friend, Mr. John
Sims, then residing at Norwich, that a British-killed speci-
men of the Shore Lark, the Alauda alpestris of authors,
had come into his possession. The bird was shot on the
beach at Sherringham, in Norfolk, in March, 1830 ; it was
preserved by Mr. Sims, and was in the collection of the
late Edward Lombe, Esq., of Great Melton, near Norwich,
the possessor of one of the most complete and perfect col-
lections of British Birds.

A second specimen has been shot near Yarmouth, as re-
corded by J. H. Gurney, Esq. ; and a nest, containing four
eggs, placed on grass close to the sea, has been found near
Exmouth.— Zoologist, 1852, p. 3707.

Another example of this species, according to the testi-
mony of Thomas Eyton, Esq., has been killed in Lincoln-
shire ; one very recently near Redcar ; and I have heard of
a pair that were obtained together on an extensive down in
Kent, the male only of which, being the more showy and
attractive bird, was preserved.

The Shore Lark inhabits the northern parts of Asia,
Europe, and America ; but appears to be more plentiful
on the continent of North America than elsewhere ; and
detailed accounts of its habits and geographical range will
be found in the valuable works of Wilson, Audubon, and
Sir John Richardson.

SHORE LARK. 467

Wilson says the Shore Lark visits the United States in
winter, going as far south as Georgia. Mr. Audubon says,
these birds in severe weather are seen in Massachusetts as
early as October : but seldom proceed on the Atlantic side
beyond Maryland, or the lower parts of Kentucky, west of
the Alleghany Mountains, and he saw but one in Louisiana.
Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, states that in very severe
weather these birds reach Virginia and Carolina. Mr. Bul-
lock found them on the table-land of Mexico.

Pursuing our bird in North America, Sir John Richard-
son says, that it " arrives in the fur-countries along with
the Lapland Bunting, with which it associates, and being
a shyer bird, is the sentinel, and alarms the flock on
the approach of danger. It retires to the marshy and
woody eastern districts to breed, extending its range to
the shores of the Arctic Sea. Mr. Hutchins states that its
nest is placed on the ground, and that it lays four or five
white eggs, spotted with black." They appear on the
shores of Hudson's Bay in May, and proceed from thence
still further north to breed. We are indebted to Mr.
Audubon for the best account of the habits of this bird
during summer, the most interesting period of its existence.
In one of those arduous voyages which this indefatigable
naturalist undertook to complete his Ornithological Bio-
graphy of North America, this bird was found on the
shores of the coast of Labrador, and its various peculi-
arities are thus described : * —

" Although in the course of our previous rambles along
the coast of Labrador, and among the numberless islands
that guard its shores, I had already seen this Lark while
breeding, never before that day did I so much enjoy its
song, and never before I reached this singular spot, had I
to add to my pleasures that of finding its nest. Here I
* Ornithological Biography, vol. ii. p. 570.

HH 2

468 ALAUDID.&.

found the bird in the full perfection of plumage and song,
and here I had an opportunity of studying its habits, which
I will now endeavour to describe.

" The Shore Lark breeds on the high and desolate tracts
of Labrador, in the vicinity of the sea. The face of the
country appears as if formed of one undulated expanse of
granite, covered with mosses and lichens, varying in size
and colour, some green, others as white as snow, and others
again of every tint, and disposed in large patches or tufts.
It is on the latter that this Lark places her nest, which is
disposed with so much care, while the moss so resembles
the bird in hue, that unless you almost tread upon her as
she sits, she seems to feel secure, and remains unmoved.
Should you, however, approach so near, she nutters away,
feigning lameness so cunningly, that none but one ac-
customed to the sight can refrain from pursuing her. The
male immediately joins her in mimic wretchedness, uttering
a note so soft and plaintive, that it requires a strong
stimulus to force the naturalist to rob the poor birds of
their treasure.

" The nest around is imbedded in the moss to its edges,
which is composed of fine grasses, circularly disposed, and
forming a bed about two inches thick, with a lining of
Grouse feathers, and those of other birds. In the beginning
of July the eggs are deposited. They are four or five in
number, large, greyish, and covered with numerous pale
blue and brown spots. The young leave the nest before
they are able to fly, and follow their parents over the moss,
where they are fed about a week. They run nimbly, emit
a soft peep, and squat closely at the first appearance of
danger. If observed and pursued, they open their wings
to aid them in their escape, and, separating, make off with
great celerity. On such occasions it is difficult to secure
more than one of them, unless several persons be present,

SHORE LARK. 469

when each can pursue a bird. The parents all this time
are following the enemy overhead, lamenting the danger to
which their young are exposed. In several instances, the
old bird followed us almost to our boat, alighting occasion-
ally on a projecting crag before us, and entreating us, as it
were, to restore its offspring. By the first of August many
of the young are fully fledged, and the different broods are
seen associating together to the number of forty, fifty, or
more. They now gradually remove to the islands of the
coast, where they remain until their departure, which takes
place in the beginning of September. They start at the
dawn of day, proceed on their way south at a small eleva-
tion above the water, and fly in so straggling a manner,
that they can scarcely be said to move in flocks.

" This species returns to Labrador and the adjoining
islands in the beginning of June. The males are then so
pugnacious and jealous of their females, that the sight of
one of their own sex instantly excites them to give battle ;
and it is curious to observe, that no sooner does one of these
encounters take place, than several other males join in the
fray. They close, flutter, bite, and tumble over, as the
European Sparrow is observed to do on similar occasions.
Several times, while in Labrador, I took advantage of their
pugnacious disposition, and procured two or three indi-
viduals at a shot, which it is difficult to do at any other
time. Several pairs breed in the same place, but not near
each other. The male bird sings sweetly while on wing,
although its song is comparatively short. It springs from
the moss or naked rock obliquely for about forty yards,
begins and ends its madrigal, then performs a few irregular
evolutions, and returns to the ground. There also it sings,
but less frequently, and with less fulness. Its call-note
is quite mellow, and altered at times in a ventriloqual
manner, so different, as to seem like that of another

470 ALAUDID^.

species. As soon as the young are hatched, the whole are
comparatively mute, merely using the call-note. Only one
brood is reared each season. The food of the Shore Lark
consists of grass seeds, the blossoms of dwarf plants, and
insects. It is an expert catcher of flies, following insects
on wing to a considerable distance, and now and then be-
taking itself to the sea-shore to search for minute shell -fish
or Crustacea."

Sir James Ross, in his Appendix to the Narrative of the
Second Voyage of Sir John Ross to the Arctic Regions,
says, " One Shore Lark shot by us near Felix Harbour,
agreed well with the descriptions of authors. Two others
were all that were seen by us ; it is therefore but rarely
met with above the seventieth degree of latitude."

The adult male has the beak bluish horn colour, almost
black ; the irides hazel ; the lore, or space between the
beak and the eye, and the cheeks, black ; the ear-coverts,
and a streak over the eye, yellow ; the forehead also
yellow, bounded on the top of the head by a broad black
transverse band, which ends on each side with a few
elongated and pointed black feathers, these the birds can
elevate at pleasure ; the occipital portion of the head, the
nape, back, and upper tail-coverts, hair-brown, the central
line of the feathers being darker than the edges ; the back
of the neck and the smaller wing-coverts tinged with red,
the latter tipped with white ; the greater wing-coverts and
tertials dark brown, with light brown margins; wing-
primaries and secondaries dark brown, with very narrow
light-coloured edges; the two centre tail-feathers dark
brown, with light brown margins ; the others pitch black,
except part of the edge of the outer web of the outside
feather on each side, which is white ; chin, throat, and sides
of the neck, primrose yellow ; upper part of the breast with
a gorget of black ; the lower part of the breast, the belly,

SHORE LARK. 471

and under tail-coverts, dull white ; flanks tinged with red-
dish brown ; legs, toes, and claws, bluish black, the hind
claw straight, and longer than the toe. This is the plum-
age of autumn. In winter, the black on the crown of the
head, on the cheeks and chest, becomes dusky brown. In
summer, Mr. Audubon says, the brownish black bands on
the head and neck become deep black ; the throat and
frontal band white, and the upper parts of the body light
brownish red.

A female, killed on Lake Superior, described by Sir
John Richardson, " wanted the black horned mark, and
also the vinacious tint of the head, neck, and shoulders of
the male, these parts being coloured like the back ; the eye
stripe, and under surface of the head, lemon yellow, and
there was a narrow black band fringed with yellow on the
upper part of the breast. The rest of the plumage nearly
as in the male ; her dimensions a little smaller."

The young males of the year, after their first autumnal
moult, resemble the adult female.

The whole length of an adult male is about seven inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the quill -feathers, four
inches and one quarter : the first three quill-feathers very
nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing ; the
first feather a little longer than the third ; the fourth quill-
feather a quarter of an inch shorter than the third.

This pointed form of wing affords great power of flight,
and may help to account for the very extended geographical
range of this species.

472

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

ALAUDIDJE.

ALA UDIDM.

THE SKY LARK.

Alauda arvensis.

Alauda arvensis, Sty Lark,

Field „
Sty „

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 475.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 216.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 79.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 273.
„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 127.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Alouette des champs, TEMM. Man.d'Ornith.vol. i. p. 281.

THE SKY LARK is so abundant as a species, so universal
a favourite, and its various qualities are so well understood
and appreciated, as to require little more than a general
reference here to the points of greatest interest in its his-
tory. It is an inhabitant of most, if not all, the countries

SKY LARK. 473

of Europe, but prefers cultivated districts, particularly
uninclosed arable land. Here in early spring its cheerful
and exhilarating song, fresh as the season, is the admiration
of all. The bird rises on quivering wing, almost perpen-
dicularly, singing as he flies, and gaining an elevation that
is quite extraordinary, yet so powerful is his voice, that
his wild, joyous notes may be heard distinctly when the
pained eye can trace his course no longer. An ear well
tuned to his song can even then determine by the notes
whether the bird is still ascending, remaining stationary,
or on the descent. When at a considerable height, should
a Hawk appear in sight, or the well-known voice of his
mate reach his ear, the wings are closed, and he drops to
the earth with the rapidity of a stone. Occasionally the
Sky Lark sings when on the ground ; but his most lively
strains are poured forth during flight ; and even in con-
finement, this would-be tenant of the free air tramples his
turf and flutters his wings while singing, as if muscular
motion was with him a necessary accompaniment to his
music.

The male Sky Lark is one of our most common cage-
birds, from the facility with which he is preserved in health
under confinement, and the general sprightliness of his song ;
yet the notes of the Lark are more remarkable for variety
and power than for quality of tone ; what is wanted in
quality is, however, made up by quantity ; his strains are
heard during eight months of the year ; and in summer,
Mr. Jenyns observes, he begins to sing soon after two
o'clock in the morning, and continues with little inter-
mission till after sunset.

An instance has come to my knowledge of a Sky Lark
that lived nineteen years and a half in a cage.

The food of the Sky Lark is grain, seeds of grasses,
various insects, and worms. They pair in April, and gene-

474 ALAUDHLE.

rally produce two broods in the summer. The nest is
placed on the ground, frequently sheltered by a tuft of
herbage, or a clod of earth. Grahame, in his poem on the
Birds of Scotland, has well contrasted the lowly situation
of the nest with the lofty flight of the builder :

" Thou, simple bird, dwellest in a home
The humblest ; yet thy morning song ascends
Nearest to Heaven."

The materials of which the nest is formed, as well as the
locality frequently selected for it, are in the same poem
thus truly described :

" The daisied Lea he loves, where tufts of grass
Luxuriant crown the ridge ; there, with his mate,
He founds their lowly house, of withered bents,
And coarsest spear-grass ; next, the inner work
With finer, and still finer fibres lays,
Rounding it curious with his speckled breast."

The eggs are four or five in number, of a greyish white
ground tinged with green, and mottled nearly all over with
darker grey and ash brown ; the length eleven lines, by
eight lines and a half in breadth : the young are hatched
in about fifteen days. Mr. Selby says, that the young of
the first brood are fledged by the end of June, and the
second brood are able to fly in August. The strong at-
tachment of the parent Lark to its eggs and young has
long been known, and a remarkable instance is thus de-
scribed by Mr. Blyth in the second volume of the Na-
turalist:— "The other day some mowers actually shaved
off the upper part of the nest of a Sky Lark without in-
juring the female, which was sitting on her young ; still
she did not fly away, and the mowers levelled the grass
all round her without her taking further notice of their
proceedings. A young friend of mine, son of the owner
of the crop, witnessed this ; and about an hour afterwards

SKY IARK. 475

went to see if she was safe, when, to his great surprise,
he found that she had actually constructed a dome of dry
grass over the nest during the interval, leaving an aperture
on one side for ingress and egress, thus endeavouring to
secure a continuance of the shelter previously supplied by
the long grass." Two or three instances are recorded of
the Sky Lark moving its eggs under the fear of impending
danger ; and Mr. Jesse, in the fourth edition of his Glean-
ings, adds the following communication made to him by a
clergyman in Sussex, who, during a previous harvest, "was
riding gently towards Dell Quay, in Chichester Harbour,
with two friends ; when having passed the toll-bar, the
road is of good elevation, and separated by a short quick-
set hedge on each side from the fields, over which there
was a commanding view. When in this situation, their
attention was attracted by a shrieking cry, and they dis-
covered a pair of Sky Larks rising out of the stubble, and
crossing the road before them at a slow rate, one of them
having a young bird in its claws, which was dropped in
the opposite field at a height of about thirty feet from the
ground, and killed by the fall. On taking it up it ap-
peared to have been hatched about eight or nine days.
The affectionate parent was endeavouring to convey its
young one to a place of safety, but its strength failed in
the attempt.'*

Mr. "W. P. Foster, surgeon, of Church-street, Hackney,
had for some years kept twelve or fifteen pairs of our
smaller singing birds together in an aviary, where they ap-
peared in excellent health and plumage, repaying the care
and attention bestowed upon them by pursuing the round
of their various interesting habits, — the song, the court-
ship, the nest-building, and feeding their young, within
five or six feet of the window, outside which the aviary
was constructed, and through which window, when open,

476 ALAUDID2E.

many of them came into the room to him. The degree of
perfection with which they were managed, and the total
absence of any influence from fear or restraint on their
habits, may be learned by the fact that in the summer of

1836, a pair of Sky Larks produced four sets of eggs ; in

1837, the same pair produced three sets of eggs, and reared
some of their young ; and in the following year, three females
had, each of them, a nest and eggs. The materials for build-
ing are sought for and carried by the male bird to the spot
selected for the intended nest, near which the female re-
mains to assist in arranging them. During the period of
producing the eggs, the female has occasionally been heard
to sing with a power and variety of tone equal to the voice
of her mate. The male Sky Lark, though at other times
timid, is, while his female is sitting, bold and pugnacious ;
driving every other bird away that ventures too near his
charge, both watching and feeding her with unceasing soli-
citude. To supply the quantity of insect food necessary
during summer, the maggots of the flesh-fly, and the beetle,
so common in most kitchens, are principally resorted to.

Sky Larks constantly dust themselves, appearing to take
great pleasure in the operation, shuffling and rubbing them-
selves along the ground, setting up their feathers, and by
a peculiar action of the legs and wings throwing the
smaller and looser portions of the soil over every part of
their bodies. This is supposed to be done in order to rid
themselves of small parasitic insects. Many ground birds,
such as Quails and Partridges, are observed to be invete-
rate dusters, their terrestrial habits probably exposing them
to the constant attacks of minute but very troublesome
visitors. From the number of male Sky Larks sold for
cage birds, and the sum obtained for them,— twelve or
fifteen shillings being a common price for a good bird,—
various means are practised to entrap them. Though living

SKY LARK. 477

in pairs during summer, Sky Larks are gregarious in winter,
assembling in vast flocks on the open country, where thou-
sands are taken for the table by dragging a net over the
stubbles, and other short cover, among which the poor
birds shelter themselves. At this time they are in excel-
lent condition, even during severe frost, the low temperature
of the season probably checking cutaneous transpiration,
and inducing a deposit of fat ; but should a fall of snow
cover the ground, their condition is altered for the worse
in a few days. It appears from the following remarks of
Mr. Woolnough, of Hollesley, on the coast of Suffolk,
that these birds frequently migrate into this country from
the Continent in autumn :* — " I have frequently seen them
come flying off the sea ; not in one year, but in several,
and for many hours on the same day, from five to ten, to
forty and fifty in a flock. This I once observed in No-
vember for three days in succession : our fields were then
covered with Larks, to the great destruction of the late-
sown wheat." The Rev. Richard Lubbock, among other
notices of the birds of Norfolk with which he has favoured
me, says, " I can entirely corroborate the migration of
these birds to our coast in the autumn, as mentioned in
the Linnean Transactions. On Caistor Point, near Yar-
mouth, I have more than once witnessed the arrival of
Larks from the sea, precisely as there described." During
severe weather in winter, large flocks of Larks are ob-
served in some inland counties, and particularly in the
southern counties, of England, flying to the westward.

The Sky Lark is universally distributed over the British
Islands, but in severe weather in winter, accompanied
with snow, a large portion leave Scotland in flocks to come
southward. In Orkney and Shetland it is only a summer
visitor, according to Mr. Dunn, retiring to a more southern
* Linn. Trans, vol. xv. p. 22.

478 ALAUDIDJl.

latitude on the approach of winter. It is a common bird
in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, during summer, and
a few remain in winter; but the greater part migrate
southwards. The Sky Lark does not appear to visit the
Faroe Islands, Iceland, or Greenland. M. Temminck says
it inhabits Siberia, Russia, and Western Asia. It is uni-
versal over the European continent to the shores of the
Mediterranean, and inhabits also Corfu, Sicily, Malta,
the Morea, the shores of the Black Sea, Smyrna, and
North Africa. Mr. H. E. Strickland, when at Smyrna,
says, " immense flocks of this bird arrived from the
northward at the commencement of the severe weather
at Christmas, 1835."

The beak is dark brown above, pale yellow brown at
the base of the lower mandible ; irides hazel ; the feathers
on the top of the head are elongated, forming a crest,
which the bird elevates at pleasure; in colour they are
dark brown, with pale brown edges; the nape, back,
wings, and upper tail-coverts, varied with three shades of
brown, the darkest of which occupies the longitudinal line
of the shaft of each feather, and the margin of the feather
is the lightest ; the wing-coverts and tertials have broad
light brown edges; the quill-feathers dusky brown; the
outer tail-feather on each side is white, with a longitudinal
streak of brown on the inner web ; the next tail-feather
on each side is dark brown, with a longitudinal streak of
white on the outer web ; the rest dusky brown, with light
brown edges ; the throat and upper part of the breast are
pale wood-brown, spotted with dark brown; belly and
under tail- coverts pale yellowish white, tinged with brown
on the thighs and flanks ; the legs, toes, and claws, brown ;
the middle toe rather long ; the claw of the hind toe very
long, straight at the base and for half its length, then
slightly curved.

SKY LARK.

479

The whole length of the adult male is seven inches and a
quarter. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing,
four inches and a half ; the first feather short, the second
shorter than the third, which is the longest in the wing.

The female is a little smaller than the male, and rather
darker in colour.

Broad edgings to the great wing-coverts, and a black
spot with a white tip at the lanceolate ends of the smaller
coverts, bespeak the young bird ; these markings are lost
at the first moult, wliich begins in August.

The vignette below represents the breast-bone and the
foot of the Sky Lark of the natural size.

480

INSESSOItES.

CONIROSTRES.

ALAUDID.E.

ALAUDIDJE.

THE CRESTED LARK.

Alauda cristata.

Alauda, cristata, Crested Lark,
» „ Alouette cochevis,

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 277.

YIEILLOT, Faun. Frans. p. 171.

THE following letter referring to the occurrence of this
specie's in Ireland, appeared, with a characteristic figure,
in the Dublin Penny Journal of February 27th, 1836, vol.
iv. No. 191, page 276, to the Editor :— " Sir, in a shooting
excursion a few weeks ago, I killed, near Taney, a curious
species of Lark, of which the above is a sketch. The
bird was about seven inches long, like the common Lark,
Alauda arvensis, in form ; but differing from it in having

CRESTED LARK. 481

a longitudinal crest, consisting of ten feathers, in the
form of a truncated cone, reclining backwards. Its head
and bill were rather large in proportion to its size. The
latter was of a horny white (colour), and slightly curved
at the end. A band, darker than the colour of the breast,
ran round the throat, and joined the rufous brown of the
back. The general colour of its breast and belly was a
dusky white, mottled with brown ; the wing-feather edged
with white and rufous. Its tail was long, and consisted
of twelve stiff feathers, edged with a whitish yellow. Its
hind toe and nail were remarkably long. I searched the
Naturalist's Cabinet, and the Zoological Journal, in vain,
for a description of this little bird. When not looking
for it, however, I accidentally met with one in Buffon.
He describes it under the name of ' Le Cochevis, ou la
grosse alouette huppee,' as well as its specific designation
of ' Alauda cristata.' He mentions it as an inhabitant
of Italy, France, Germany, Poland, and Scotland ; but
does not say that it is found in England or Ireland, yet I
am convinced I have frequently met them in the furrows
and meadows of Dublin. (Signed) W. R."

Since the publication of this notice a specimen has been
killed in Sussex, and by the kindness of the gentleman
who now possesses it, I am enabled to give a figure and
description from that bird.

More than one example of the Crested Lark has been
obtained in Ireland since ; and three have occurred near
Penzance, as recorded by E. H. Rodd, Esq.

When publishing his fine work on the Birds of Europe,
Mr. Gould was not aware that any record existed of the
occurrence of this species in the British Islands, and re-
marks that " this is the more singular as from the cir-
cumstance of the Crested Lark extending its range to
many parts of the coast which are opposite our own, and

VOL. I. II

482 ALAUDIDJi.

from its being particularly common in the fields and plains
round Calais, it might pass and repass to Dover at will.
Our personal observation of this bird while on the Con-
tinent, leads us to regard it as a much more solitary bird
than the Sky Lark, to which in its general aspect it bears
a close resemblance. The Crested Lark is said to con-
gregate in flocks occasionally; but when we observed
them they were scattered over the country in pairs, very
frequently in the vicinity of the main roads."

Pallas describes this species as visiting Siberia and
Russia in summer, and M. Nilsson includes it with a good
coloured figure in his Fauna of Scandinavia. Buffon
speaks of it, as before mentioned, as inhabiting Poland ;
and it is included by various authors among the birds of
.Germany. It is rare in Holland and Belgium, seen in the
latter-named country about October on its passage south.
M. Vieillot says "it is resident all the year in France,
and frequently shows itself about the entrance of villages,
or on low walls or coverings of low houses. Its song is
sweet and agreeable, and is continued till the month of
September. The female makes her nest on the ground in
cultivated fields, it is constructed very like that of the
Sky Lark, and she deposits four or five eggs of a light
ash colour, spotted with light and dark brown." They
feed on insects of various sorts, worms, and grain, and
the writer remembers when travelling some years since
from Calais to Paris, seeing one or two of these birds
occasionally picking, like our sparrows, at the horse-dung
dropped in the road, flying off, on the approach of a car-
riage, to the road-side, settling on the foot-path or perch-
ing on any low rail till the vehicle had passed, and then
returning to renew their search.

The Crested Lark is found in Switzerland, Italy, Tur-

CRESTED LARK. 483

key, Greece, and Asia Minor ; it is found also in Spain,
North Africa, Sicily, Crete, and in Egypt.

The beak of the Crested Lark is thicker, stronger, and
more curved than that of the Sky Lark, brown along
the ridge and at the point, but paler on the sides and at
the base ; the crown of the head reddish brown, with a
few feathers elongated, forming a crest and pointing back-
wards ; irides hazel ; from the eye passing over the ear-
coverts a streak of buffy white ; ear-coverts and back of
the neck dark brown ; back, wing-coverts, and wings,
brown, the shaft and central portion of each feather dark
brown; the wing-coverts and tertials edged with buffy
white ; the two middle tail-feathers nearly uniform light
brown; the outer tail-feather on each side light brown,
with a buffy -white outer margin; the other tail-feathers
dark brown. The chin white ; neck in front, breast and
under parts pale yellow brown ; the breast and flanks
streaked with darker brown ; legs, toes, and claws, pale
brown. The whole length of the bird is six inches and
three-quarters ; length of wing from the anterior bend to
the end of the second quilr=feather, which is the longest,
four inches and one-eighth ; length of beak along the ridge
seven lines ; the tarsus one inch ; the hind toe and claw
nine lines.

Mr. Gould mentions that the females of this species are
smaller than the males, and have a shorter crest.

i i

484

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

ALAUDIDJE.

ALA UDIDJt.

THE WOOD LARK.

Alauda arbor ea.

Alauda arlorea, Wood Lark,

Alouette lulu,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 479.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 227.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 79.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 276.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 127.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 282.

THE WOOD LARK is immediately distinguished from the
Sky Lark by its smaller size, its shorter tail, and by a
conspicuous light brown streak over each eye and ear-
coverts. It is by no means so plentiful a species as the
Sky Lark; and in some localities in this country, even
of very considerable extent, it is not found at all. It
prefers hedge-bound meadows, cultivated lands, and corn-
fields, that are interspersed with copses, plantations, and
small woods, and is seldom found on those open, exposed

WOOD LARK. 485

tracts of country where the Sky Lark is most abundant.
In some of its habits, also, the Wood Lark differs from
its generic companion, particularly in that of singing while
perched on the branch of a tree, which the other does not.
Its voice has neither the variety nor the power of that
of the Sky Lark ; but is superior to it in quality of tone,
and by many persons preferred on that account. There
is also a plaintive character in its song, which is second
only to that of the Nightingale, and, like that bird, it is
said also to sing during warm summer nights. Several
writers have heard this Lark sing sweetly even in the
months of December and January ; and as the season
advances, being an early breeder, it is heard to advantage
in March and April while wheeling in circles, and some-
times hovering

" High in air, and poised upon its wings,
Unseen the soft, enamour'd Wood Lark sings."

The nest is built upon the ground, under shelter of a
low bush, or a tuft of grafes ; it is usually formed exter-
nally of coarse grass with some moss, lined with finer
bents and a few hairs. The eggs are four or five in num-
ber, nine lines and a half in length by seven lines in
breadth, of a pale reddish white ground, spotted and
speckled with dull reddish brown; and as the eggs have
been found as early as March, and as late as July, it is
probable these birds produce two broods in the season ;
but as the young of the Wood Lark are in great request
to bring up as cage-birds, the late attempts of this species
to obtain a brood may sometimes be the consequence of
previous disappointment. The family of the year, with
the parent birds, keep together through their first winter,
and are seldom seen in larger flocks. They feed on grain,
seeds, insects, and worms.

486 ALAUDID^.

Though not very numerous in any locality that I am
acquainted with, the Wood Lark inhabits Sussex, Hamp-
shire, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire, Devonshire, and a few
in Cornwall ; it is also found in Wales ; is included by Mr.
Templeton in his Catalogue of the Birds of Ireland ; where,
according to Mr. Thompson, it is resident in the counties
of Down and Antrim, but is very partially distributed.

North of London, it is found in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lin-
colnshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Lancashire. Mr.
Heysham mentions the capture of this bird near Carlisle
as a very rare occurrence ; but says that it is taken occa-
sionally by bird-catchers in the vicinity of Dumfries. Mr.
Selby considers it a very rare species in Northumberland.
Sir Robert Sibbald and Dr. Fleming include it as a bird
of Scotland, but no localities are named. It does not
appear to visit the Orkneys or Shetland. In Denmark,
Sweden, and Russia, it is a summer visitor only, appear-
ing in March, and leaving those countries to go southward
in September. In Germany, Holland, France, and thence
to Italy, it is resident all the year ; it is found at Corfu,
Sicily, Malta, and Crete, and Mr. Strickland says it is
common at Smyrna.

The upper mandible of the beak is dark brown, the
lower one pale yellow brown ; the irides hazel ; over the
eye and ear-coverts a pale brown streak ; the feathers
on the top of the head elongated, forming a crest, when
elevated, of a light brown colour streaked with dark
brown ; the nape, back, wings, and upper tail-coverts
wood-brown, streaked on the neck and patched on the
back with dark brownish black ; quill-feathers dusky
brown, tipped with light brown; tertials dark brown,
edged with light brown ; the outer tail-feather on each
side pale brown, with a dark brown patch on the inner
web ; the two middle tail-feathers nearly uniform pale

WOOD LARK. 487

brown, all the other eight feathers brownish black, with
a triangular spot of white at the tip : the form of the tail
square at the end ; the ear-coverts are brown ; the throat,
breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, pale yellowish brown,
with a few small elongated spots of dark brown on the
breast ; legs, toes, and claws light brown ; the hind claw
straight, and half as long again as the hind toe.

The whole length of a male bird is rather more than
six inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing
three inches and three-eighths : the first feather very
short ; the second not quite so long as the third, which
is the longest in the wing; the fourth and fifth nearly
as long as the second.

The female is rather smaller than the male, and has the
spots on the breast more numerous.

488 ALAUDIDjE.

TNSESSORES. ALA UDID^E.

CONIROSTRES.

SHORT-TOED LARK.

Alauda brachydactyla.

Alauda brachydactyla, Short-toed Larlc, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Alouette a doights courts, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith.

vol. i. p. 284, and
vol. iii. p. 205.

AT the end of October, 1841, I received a letter from
Mr. H. Shaw, of Shrewsbury, informing me that an ex-
ample of the Short-toed Lark had been caught in a net
near that town on the 25th of that month ; and shortly
afterwards Mr. Shaw very obligingly sent the specimen
up to me for my examination.

This species having some resemblance to our Woodlark
is yet immediately to be distinguished from it by its
stouter beak ; its nearly plain, unspotted breast, and its
very short hind toes and claws, from which latter pecu-

SHORT-TOED LARK. 489

liarities it has received its name. Another example has
lately been caught near Brighton, in a net, with other
small birds.

Large flocks of this Short-toed Lark are observed at
Erzeroum in spring, and it is found also in Greece ; ac-
cording to M. Temminck, this bird is very abundant in
Sicily, is found generally along the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, in Spain, and in the southern and central parts of
France. Pollidore Roux enumerates it as a bird of Pro-
vence ; and M. Brehm includes it in his Birds of Germany,
but this appears to be the usual boundary of its range
northwards. It feeds on insects and seeds ; makes its nest
on the ground, and lays four or five eggs of dull yellow,
or pale coffee colour, without any spots.

The male, Mr. Gould observes, " has the top of the
head and all the upper parts of a yellowish, or sandy
brown, with the centre of each feather darker ; the quills
and tail of a dusky brown, the two outer feathers of the
latter having their external edges yellowish white ; a
whitish-yellow streak over/ each eye ; throat and belly
white ; the chest and flanks being tinged with yellowish
brown ; bill and feet light brown. The sexes are not dis-
tinguishable by the colouring of their plumage ; the tints
of the female are, however, somewhat duller than those of
the male. The young during the first autumn have the
outer edges of each feather margined with buff.

The whole length of the Shrewsbury specimen was five
inches and three-quarters ; the tarsal bone three-quarters
of an inch ; the hind toe half an inch, the claw of it only
one quarter of an inch ; the wing, from the carpal joint
to the end of the longest quill-feather tliree inches and a
half ; the second quill -feather the longest in the wing, the
first and third feathers a little shorter ; the tertials extend
backwards as far as the end of the closed wing.

490

EMBERIZID^.

INSESSOBES.

CONIROSTRES.

EMBERIZWJB.

THE LAPLAND BUNTING.

Plectrophanes Lapponica.

PlectrophanesLapponica, Lapland Lark Bunting, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 283.

Emberiza „ „ Bunting, JENYNS,Brit.Vcrt.p.l28.

Plectrophanes „ „ M GOULD, Birds of Europe.

w »> « „ EYTON, Earer Brit. Birds,

p. 95.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith.
vol. i. p. 322.

PLECTROPHANES. Generic Characters.— Beak short, thick, conical, the
edges of both mandibles slightly curved inwards; upper mandible smaller
than the lower, with a small palatal knob. Nostrils basal, oval, partly
hidden by small feathers. Wings long and pointed ; the first and second

Emberiza calcarata, Bruant montain,

LAPLAND BUNTING. 491

quill-feathers of nearly equal length, and the longest in the wing. Legs
with the tarsi of moderate length; anterior toes divided, lateral toes equal
in length, hind toe strong, claw elongated, and nearly straight.

THE LAPLAND BUNTING, though a native, as its name
imports, of the most northern parts of Europe, and even of
the Arctic Regions, has yet been taken on five different
occasions in this country. The first was obtained in the
London market, and was for some years in the possession
of N. A. Vigors, Esq., M.P., passing afterwards, with his
whole collection, by gift, to the Museum of the Zoological
Society. The second was taken on the downs near Brigh-
ton, and is in my own collection ; another has since been
taken in the same locality. The fourth was taken a few
miles north of London, and its capture made known by
Mr. Gould. The fifth, caught near Preston in Lanca-
shire, was selected from among a variety of other small
birds in Manchester market, and is now preserved in the
Manchester Museum. Each of these examples exhibited
the plumage of the least conspicuous bird in the back
ground of the plate here given.

On the last day of September, 1844, a fine adult male
was caught in a net with some larks on the downs near
Brighton : this specimen I have seen in the possession of
Mr. William Borrer, jun. ; it is in the plumage of summer
as represented in the lower figure, but undergoing a slight
change from the advance of the season.

Another bird was caught in a net near Norwich in
January, 1855.

Systematic writers in ornithology at the present day ap-
pear to agree that the natural situation of the species of
the genus Plectrophanes of Meyer, is between the true
Larks and the true Buntings : with several characters by
which they are allied to the Buntings, the difference in
the structure of the wing, their straight hind claw, their

492 EMBERIZID^E.

terrestrial habits, and their mode of progression on the
ground by steps, and not by hopping, indicate their con-
nection with the Larks, in the nets with which the
specimens here recorded were caught in this country.
M. Temminck, it will be observed by the quotation at
the head of this article, has not adopted the genus Plec-
trophanes of Meyer, but has made two sections of the
Buntings, Emberiza, the second of which contains the
species ranged by others in the new genus Plectrophanes.

Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says the Lapland Bunt-
ing is found in Siberia, and near the Uralian chain. To-
wards winter a few migrate southward as far as Switzer-
land. M. Necker, in his paper in the Transactions of the
Natural History Society of Genoa, mentions that this bird
had been taken occasionally with Larks in that vicinity.

M. Nilsson includes this bird in his Fauna of Scandi-
navia. It inhabits the Faroe Islands, Spitzbergen, Green-
land, and Iceland in summer, and from thence westward to
Hudson's Bay. Some stragglers are occasionally seen in
the northern parts of the United States. Sir John Richard-
son, in the second volume of the Fauna Boreali Americana,
says, " I never met this species in the interior of the fur
countries during winter, and I suspect that its principal
retreats in that season are on the borders of Lakes Huron
and Superior, and to the country extending to the west-
ward on the same parallel. In the year 1827 it appeared
on the plains at Carlton House, about the middle of May,
in very large flocks, amongst which were many Shore
Larks, Alauda alpestris, and a few individuals of Plectro-
phanes picta. During their stay of ten or twelve days they
frequented open spots, where recent fires had destroyed
the grass. They came to Cumberland House a few days
later in the same season, and there kept constantly in the
furrows of a newly-ploughed field. In the preceding year

LAPLAND BUNTING. 493

many were seen, though in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of
Fort Franklin, latitude 65^°, in the beginning of May ;
and the crops of those that were then killed were filled
with the seeds of Arbutus alpina. They breed in moist
meadows on the shores of the Arctic Sea. The nest,
placed on a small hillock, among moss and stones, is com-
posed externally of the dry stems of grass, interwoven to
a considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and com-
pactly with deer's hair. The eggs, usually seven, are
pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown." Sir James Ross,
in the Appendix quoted in the history of the Shore Lark,
says, the Lapland Bunting was " by no means numerous in
the higher northern latitudes. A nest with five eggs was
brought on board early in July, 1830."

The adult male in spring and summer has the beak
yellow, with the point black ; irides hazel ; the lore, or
space between the base of the beak and the eye, the fore-
head, crown of the head, and occiput, velvet black, with a
collar of bright chestnut on the nape of the neck and
upper part of the back ; the feathers of the back, wings,
and upper tail-coverts, reddish brown at the edge, dark
brown at the centre ; the small wing-coverts edged with
white ; the greater coverts and tertials with a broad mar-
gin of red ; quill -feathers blackish brown, with narrow
light-coloured exterior margins ; the tail-feathers also
blackish brown, with reddish edges ; the two outer fea-
thers with a conical white spot at the end ; the tail forked ;
the chin, cheeks, ear-coverts, throat, and breast, velvet
black ; behind the eye, and surrounding the ear-coverts, a
streak of white which descends to the breast, bounding the
black on the throat and breast ; lower part of the breast,
the belly, and under tail-coverts, dull white ; sides of the
breast and flanks spotted with black ; legs, toes, and claws,
pitch black ; the hind claw almost straight.

494 EMBERIZnXffi.

The whole length is about six inches and a quarter. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and a
half : the first quill-feather the longest in the wing.

Sir John Richardson says, "the female differs in having
the chin greyish ; the black plumage of the head and breast
edged with pale brown and grey, and the chestnut feathers
of the nape fringed with white. The white stripes are
duller.

" After the autumn moult the male resembles the female.
The darker hue of the breeding dress is produced by the
pale margins of the plumage dropping off."

My own young bird has the beak brown ; the whole of
the plumage dark brown, with light brown edges ; quill
and tail-feathers brownish black ; throat, breast, and all the
under surface, pale brown, spotted with darker brown on
the breast and flanks ; legs, toes, and claws, light brown.

The vignette below represents the breast-bone and foot
of the Lapland Bunting, Plectrophanes Lapponica.

TtfSESSORES.

COXIROSTRES.

SNOW BUNTING. 495

EMBERIZID^E.

THE SNOW BUNTING.

Plectrophanes nivalis.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet

» » »

Supplt.

Emberiza glacialis, Tawny Bunting, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 442

„ montana, Mountain „

„ nivalis, Snow „

„ mustdina, Tawny „

„ montana, .Mountain „

„ nivalis, Snow „

„ glacialis, Tawny „

„ nivalis, Snow . „

„ mustdina, Tawny „

„ nivalis, Snow „

Plectroplianes „ „ „
Emberiza

and Appen.

Plectrophanes „
Emberiza

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 181.
» » „ 184.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 78.

„ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 279.

,. ,. JENYXS, Brit. Vert. p. 129.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Bmant de neige, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 319.

496 EMBERIZID.E.

WHATEVER differences of opinion might have existed
formerly, it is now well ascertained that the Mountain, the
Tawny, and the Snow Bunting of authors, are only terms
which refer to one and the same species under different
states of plumage. Colonel Montagu, in the Appendix to
the Supplement of his Ornithological Dictionary, quotes a
portion of a letter to himself from Mr. Foljambe, — an ex-
cellent practical ornithologist, — which first furnished to him
a key to the true elucidation of the subject : the extract
is as follows : — " A few years ago I shot more than forty
from the same flock, during severe weather in the month of
January, hardly any two of which exhibited precisely the
same plumage, but varied from the perfect Tawny to the
Snow Bunting in its whitest state ; the feathers of those
of the intermediate state being more or less charged with
white."

The Snow Bunting may be generally considered as only
a winter visitor to this country, and to the other temperate
parts of Europe ; a portion of the young birds of the year,
bred in high northern latitudes, annually visiting our islands.
It is only in severe weather, and late in the winter season,
that the older birds make their appearance, the young birds
always venturing farthest to the southward. The Snow
Bunting is an inhabitant, during the breeding-season, of
the Arctic Regions, and the islands of the Polar Sea.
Captain Scoresby says it resorts to the shores of Spitz-
bergen in large flocks. It is included by Captain Sabine
in his Birds of Greenland ; and he says, also, that it was
very numerous in the North Georgian Islands, where they
were amongst the earliest arrivals. Sir James Ross, in his
Appendix, — which has been frequently quoted, — says that
it abounds in all parts of the Arctic Regions, from the
middle or end of April to the end of September. Sir
John Richardson states that this bird " breeds in the north-

SNOW BUNTING. 497

ernmost of the American islands, and on all the shores of
the continent from Chesterfield Inlet to Behring's Straits.
The most southerly of its breeding stations in the New
World, that has been recorded, is Southampton Island, in
the sixty-second parallel, where Captain Lyons found a
nest placed in the bosom of the corpse of an Esquimaux
child. Its nest is composed of dry grass, neatly lined with
deer's hair and a few feathers, and is generally fixed in
the crevice of a rock, or in a loose pile of timber or stones.
The eggs are greenish white, with a circle of irregular
umber-brown spots round the thick end, and numerous
blotches of subdued lavender purple. On the 22nd July,
1 826, in removing some drift timber lying on the beach of
Cape Parry, we discovered a nest on the ground contain-
ing four young Snow birds. Care was taken not to injure
them ; and while we were seated at breakfast, at the dis-
tance of only two or three feet, the parent birds made
frequent visits to their offspring ; at first timidly, but at
length with the greatest confidence, and every time bring-
ing grubs in their bills. The Snow Bunting does not
hasten to the south on the approach of winter with the
same speed as the other summer birds, but lingers about
the forts and open places, picking up grass seeds, until the
snow becomes deep ; and it is only during the months of
December and January that it retires to the southward
of the Saskatchewan. It usually reaches that river again
about the middle of February ; two months afterwards it
attains the sixty-fifth parallel of latitude, and in the be-
ginning of May it is found on the coast of the Polar Sea.
At this period it feeds upon the buds of the Saxifraga
appositifolia, one of the most early of the Arctic plants ;
during winter its crop is generally filled with grass seeds.
In the month of October, Wilson found a large flock run-
ning over a bed of water plants, and feeding, not only on

VOL. I. K K

498 EMBERIZID^.

their seeds, but on the shelly mollusca which adhered to
the leaves ; and he observes that the long hind claws of
these birds afford them much support when so engaged.
The young are fed with insects." Mr. Nuttall, in his Or-
nithology of the United States and Canada, says that on
their way to the south these birds appear round Hudson's
Bay in September, and stay till the frosts of November
again oblige them to seek out warmer quarters. Early in
December they make their descent into the northern States
in whirling, roving flocks, either immediately before, or soon
after, an inundating fall of snow. The southern migra-
tion on the American continent extends as far to the south
as Louisville in Kentucky.

Mr. William Proctor, the curator of the Durham Uni-
versity Museum, who visited Iceland in the summer of
1837, and has very kindly supplied me with several inter-
esting notices of the habits of some of our birds on that
island, says, " Of the Snow Bunting it is observed, that
this bird breeds there in June ; the nest, placed among
large stones, or in the fissures of rocks, is composed of dry
grass, and lined with hair or feathers ; the eggs from four
to six in number. The male bird attends the female during
incubation ; I have often seen him, when he was coming
from the nest, rise up in the air and sing sweetly, with his
wings and tail spread like the Tree Pipit. I observed these
Buntings frequently perch on some low railing which had
been put up to dry fish on, even when fish were hanging
on the rails."

Linneus, in his Tour in Lapland, mentions having seen
them in that country at the end of May, and in the be-
ginning of July. At page 282 he observes that the Em-
beriza nivalis is said to be the only living animal that has
been seen two thousand feet above the line of perpetual
snow in the Lapland Alps. This bird breeds in Iceland,

SNOW BUNTING. 499

and on the Faroe Islands. Mr. Hewitson, in his notes on
the Ornithology of Norway, printed in the Magazine of
Zoology, says, " We saw the Snow Buntings in their beau-
tiful plumage of black and white, and found a single nest
with the young under some loose stones." In Sweden this
bird inhabits the highest hills in summer, and valleys in
winter. M tiller includes it as a bird of Denmark. Dr.
Neill, Dr. Fleming, and Mr. Dunn, mention the Snow
Bunting as a winter visitor to Shetland and Orkney ; and
Dr. Fleming adds that in Zetland it is called Oatfowl,
from the preference which it gives to that kind of grain.

Sir William Jardine, Bart., of Applegarth,' Dumfries-
shire, whose extensive acquirements in various branches of
Natural History are so well known, has most liberally sup-
plied me with valuable information from his own notes on
the localities of our birds in Scotland; and under the head
of the Snow Bunting, quoting from his communication, I
find that this bird is common in Dumfriesshire during the
winter, frequenting the sheep pasture lands, at an elevation
of from fifteen hundred to two thousand feet, descending
in severe weather to lower ranges. In very severe times,
it is shot on the banks of the Annan and in the holm lands
adjoining ; is common on the Alpine ranges of the upper
part of Tweed-dale, and always to be seen from the high
road when travelling that country in winter ; frequents the
Pentland Hills, Portobello Sands, Middleton Muir at the
head of Gala Water, and is said to be frequent in winter
on all the sub-alpine ranges in the south of Scotland, de-
scending to the shore in very severe weather.

We are indebted to Mr. Macgillivray for interesting
observations on this species in the Hebrides, and also in
Scotland : they are as follows : — " The earliest period at
which, according to my note-books, I have observed the
Snowflake in the outer Hebrides, was on Sunday, the 28th

K K 2

500 EMBERIZID^E.

of September, 1817, on which day it is recorded that on
the ridge between Maodal and Ronaval I saw a Snow
Bunting ; and in returning along the shore by the low
hills of Drimafuind saw another." In another place, dated
Luachar, in Harris, I find the following statement : — " The
Snow Bunting is frequently met on the hills in small flocks.
I am told they are never seen in summer, nor have I ever
met with them there beyond the end of April ; yet the
little flocks which I have often observed, were apparently
family groups ; nor do these birds appear in large congre-
gations, such as we often see along the shores of Scotland
or England. On the 4th of August, 1830, being on the
summit of Ben-na-muic-dui, the highest mountain in Scot-
land, I observed a beautiful male flitting about in the neigh-
bourhood of a great patch of snow ; it was also seen by
Dr. Greville at the same time. Some days after, having
descended from the top of Lochnagar, to its corry, along
with Dr. Martin Barry, in quest of plants, I met with a
flock of eight individuals, flying about among the blocks
of granite. They were evidently a family, the male and
female being easily distinguished from the young. It is
therefore very probable that the Snowflake breeds on the
higher Grampians : and perhaps in considerable numbers,
although it is not likely that the vast flocks seen in the
lower grounds in winter are exclusively of Scottish origin."
I may further add here, that Colonel Thornton, in his
Sporting Tour in the Highlands of Scotland, says, " Snow-
flakes were seen upon the summit of a Ptarmigan mountain,
August 29." Mr. Selby says, that " these birds generally
arrive in the upland or mountainous districts about the
middle or latter part of October in large flocks, which
seem chiefly to consist of the young of the year, or Moun-
tain Buntings, and of females, or young males, the Tawny
Buntings, with a few adult males intermixed ; which, at

SNOW BUNTING. 501

this period, having scarcely acquired their winter's livery,
are, in consequence, nearer to the state of the tawny plum-
age. Afterwards, if the season should be severe, small
nocks are seen, principally consisting of adult male birds
in their winter's dress, but never in such numbers as those
in the two states first mentioned. As the severity of the
winter increases, they leave the heaths, where they have
fed upon the seeds of various grasses, and descending to
the lower grounds, frequent the oat-stubbles ; and, if the
snow lies deep, they approach to the coasts, where the in-
fluence of the sea-breeze soon exposes a sufficient breadth
of ground to afford them subsistence. Their call-note is
pleasing, and often repeated during their flight, which is
always in a very compact body ; and frequently before
settling on the ground they make sudden wheels, coming
almost in collision with each other, at which time a pecu-
liar guttural note is produced. They run with ease and
celerity, like the Lark genus, and never perch on trees."

These flocks, diminished by separation and other causes,
are seen in Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, sometimes on
open heaths and warrens, at others in the marshes and fields
contiguous to the coast. A few reach the southern coun-
ties, and have been seen from Sussex to Devonshire. They
are considered rare in Cornwall, have been noticed in
Worcestershire, and Mr. Thompson writes me word they
are winter visitants to the mountainous parts of the north
of Ireland.

On the Continent they annually visit the north of Ger-
many, France, and Holland. In the latter country, M.
Temminck states them to be very abundant, particularly
by the sea-side, a partiality evinced by them in our own
country. In Austria, Pennant says, they are caught and
fed with millet, and, like the Ortolan Bunting, grow ex-
cessively fat. Two instances are recorded in which this

502 EMBERIZIDJB.

bird was taken as far south as Genoa, and once at Malta,
in 1840. From all the southern districts, on the approach
of spring, they again return to the northern latitudes from
whence they came.

An adult bird, on its arrival here towards winter, has
the beak yellow, the tip almost black ; irides hazel ; top
of the head and the ear-coverts reddish brown ; the feathers
on the back black at the base, with broad ends of pale red-
dish brown ; wing-coverts and tertials white ; the spurious
wing, primaries, and secondaries black, with narrow white
tips and external edges ; upper tail-coverts tawny and
white ; three outer tail-feathers on each side white, tipped
with black ; the others black, edged with white ; all the
under surface of the body dull white, tinged with reddish
brown on the breast and flanks ; legs, toes, and claws,
black ; the hind claw elongated and almost straight. In
this state it has been called the Tawny Bunting. In sum-
mer the brown tips of the feathers on the back having
fallen off, leave that part black ; the want of the rusty
brown on the head and breast leave those parts white : in
this state it is called the Snow Bunting ; and an example
in this its fine white summer plumage, was killed at Roy-
ston, in Hertfordshire, on the 22nd of May, 1840. This
specimen was given to me by my friend Thomas Wortham,
Esq., on whose grounds it was shot. In this state of plum-
age it is very rare, except in high northern latitudes. When
presenting less white than the figure here given, it is a
young bird in the state called the Mountain Bunting. Of
the young of the year in autumn, apparently unable to per-
form a long flight, and flitting from crag to crag, as already
noticed, Mr. Macgillivray observes, that they seemed to
resemble young females in their second plumage, but with
more grey and less white.

The whole length of an adult bird is about seven inches.

SNOW BUNTING. 503

From the carpal joint to the end of the first quill-feather,
which is the longest in the wing, four inches and one
quarter.

Mr. Knox states that " out of nearly forty which were
captured by one bird-catcher, during a single winter, on
the downs near Brighton, only two had the white head
characteristic of the adult Snow Bunting."

The vignette represents a Falconer carrying his Hawks
to the field on his cadge.

504

1NSESSOBES.

CONIROSTRES.

EMBERIZIM1.

EMBERIZID^E.

THE COMMON BUNTING.

Emberiza miliaria.

Emberiza miliaria, Common Bunting, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 435

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

The
Common

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 171.
, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 77.
„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 268.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 130.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Bruant proyer, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith.vol.i. p. 306.

EMBERIZA. Generic Characters. — Beak conical, strong, hard, and sharp-
pointed; the edges of both mandibles curving inwards ; the upper mandible
narrower and smaller than the under one, and its roof furnished with a
hard, bony, and projecting palatal knob. Nostrils basal and round, partly
hidden by small feathers at the base of the bill. Wings of moderate size ;
the first quill shorter than the third, which is the longest in the wing.
Feet with three toes before and one behind, divided to their origin; claws
rather long, curved, and strong.

THE COMMON BUNTING is so called because it is the
species of this genus that is most universally known, is of

COMMON BUNTING. 505

frequent occurrence in many of the cultivated districts of
this country, and remains here throughout the year ; it is
perhaps more numerous in the southern counties of Eng-
land than elsewhere, and is most frequently observed about
corn-fields, whence one of its provincial appellations, that
of Corn Bunting, — a name by which it is also known in
Scotland. During spring and summer, this bird, the largest
of the true Buntings, may be often seen perched on the
upper branch in a tall hedge, or on the top of a low tree,
uttering his harsh, unmusical notes, which are sometimes
continued while on wing as he flies from spray to spray.
The nest is finished about the middle or towards the end
of April ; it is usually placed on or very near the ground,
frequently sustained a few inches above it by the strength
of the coarse herbage or tangled briers among which it is
concealed. The nest is composed of straw and fibrous
roots, mixed with some dry grass, and lined with hair.
The eggs are four or five in number, of a reddish white,
or pale purple red ground, streaked and spotted with dark
purple brown ; the length one inch by eight lines and a half
in breadth.

The adult birds feed principally on grain and seeds, for
the breaking down or shelling of which the palatal knob
of the upper mandible, and the elevated cutting edges of
the lower one, are admirably adapted; the young birds
while nestlings are probably fed with insects and their
larvae. Mr. Gould mentions havings seen the adult birds
feeding on the common cockchaffer.

Though living in pairs during the spring and summer,
this species become gregarious through autumn and winter,
flying in flocks with Chaffinches, Sparrows, and other
visitors to the farm -yard and barn-door for the sake of
the grain to be there obtained. One destructive habit of
this bird is thus described by the author of the Journal of

506 EMBERIZIM.

a Naturalist :— " It could hardly be supposed that this bird,
not larger than a Lark, is capable of doing serious injury ;
yet I this morning witnessed a rick of barley, standing in
a detached field, entirely stripped of its thatching, which
this Bunting effected by seizing the end of the straw, and
deliberately drawing it out, to search for any grain the ear
might contain."

This bird generally roosts in thick bushes, particularly
during the cold nights of winter ; but many of them also
pass the night on the ground in stubble fields, and are
caught with Sky Larks in the nets employed for that pur-
pose, and are brought with them to market for the use of
the table. The general resemblance of this Bunting to the
Sky Lark in the colour of its plumage, has given origin
to another provincial name by which it is known, that of
the Bunting Lark.

The Common Bunting is well known around London, and
is also to be found in suitable localities in all the southern
counties of England, from Sussex to Cornwall. Mr. Eyton
says it is common in Shropshire and North Wales ; and
Mr. Thompson sends me word that it is common and in-
digenous to Ireland. North of London it is found in
Suffolk and Norfolk, is more rare in some parts of Derby-
shire, and is said not to be partial to rocky or mountainous
countries ; it occurs in Lancashire and Yorkshire ; is in-
cluded by Mr. Selby in his Catalogue of the Birds of
Durham and Northumberland, and by Dr. Heysham in his
Birds of Cumberland. Sir William Jardine, Bart., who
has most kindly furnished me with notes on the localities
of birds in Scotland, as noticed in the account of the Snow
Bunting, last described, says of the Corn Bunting, as it is
there called, that it frequents the lower straths, or broad
valleys, and the holm lands, where there is an extent of flat
surface bordering streams. At Annandale, in Dumfries-

COMMON BUNTING. 507

shire, frequent ; and in a note to his edition of White's
Selborne, Sir William Jardine states his belief that we
receive a considerable number at the great general migra-
tion, at the commencement of winter, most probably from
Sweden and Norway. Mr. William Macgillivray, of Edin-
burgh, mentions that it is common in the outer Hebrides,
where it is called Sparrow. In this gentleman's work, de-
tailing the anatomical peculiarities, as well as describing
minutely the external characters of a portion of our " British
Birds, Indigenous and Migratory," it is stated that this
Bunting is generally distributed, but not very common in
some districts, preferring grass and corn-fields to moors or
mountain pastures. Mr. Selby observed it in the cultivated
lower grounds of Sutherlandshire ; and Mr. Low, Dr.
Fleming, and Mr. Dunn, include it as a bird of Orkney and
Shetland. It inhabits Denmark and Sweden, and remains
there in considerable numbers during winter. It is found
on the European continent from Russia to the Mediterra-
nean, and is common in Corfu, Sicily, Malta, Crete, in
the Morea, at Smyrna, and at Trebizoiid.

The upper mandible is small and dark brown, the lower
one pale yellow brown ; irides dark hazel ; the head, neck,
back, and upper tail-coverts, pale hair-brown, streaked lon-
gitudinally with dark brown, the dark line occupying the
centre of each feather ; all the wing-coverts and tertials
dark brown, broadly margined with pale wood brown ;
quill and tail-feathers dark brown, with lighter-coloured
edges ; tail slightly forked ; chin, throat, breast, and all
the under parts of the body, dull whitish brown, marked
on the sides of the neck and on the breast with conical spots
of dark brown ; the flanks marked with elongated lines of
dark brown ; legs, toes, and claws, pale yellow brown.

The whole length of the adult bird is rather more than
seven inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the

508

EMBERIZIDJB,

wing, three inches and three quarters : the first quill-feather
a little shorter than the second, the second a little shorter
than the third, which is the longest in the wing ; the fourth
feather a little shorter than the first.

There is little or no difference in the plumage of the
female to distinguish it from that of the male ; and young
birds of the year very soon acquire the appearance of their
parents.

Varieties in colour of this species are not uncommon,
and I possess one which in colour resembles a golden yel-
low canary.

The figures below represent the cranium and foot of the
Common Bunting, in the former of which may be seen the
palatal knob on the upper mandible, and the opposed cut-
ting angle of the lower jaw, peculiar to the true Buntings.

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING.

509

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

EMBERIZIDJE.

THE BLACK-HEADED BUNTING.

Emberiza schceniclus.

Emberiza scluznidus, Reed Bunting, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i.

p. 440.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ Black-headed Bunting, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 179.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 78.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 290.

JEXTNS, Brit. Vert. p. 130.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.
p. 307.

Reed Bunting,

schcenidus, „ „
schaniculus, „ „

„ Bruant de roseau,

THE BLACK-HEADED BUNTING, or Reed Bunting, as it is
also called, is a well-known inhabitant of marshy places,
the sides of lakes and large ponds, banks of rivers or
canals, rush-grown water-meadows and beds of osiers, and
though local from the partiality the bird exhibits to live

510 EMBERIZID.E.

in the vicinity of water, it is not a rare species in situations
which accord with its habits, and it remains in this country
throughout the year.

The contrast afforded by the black head of this bird as
opposed to the white collar on the neck, and the varied co-
lours of the back, give it an agreeable and inviting appear-
ance, and it is accordingly a favourite with many. If
suitable localities are visited, the male during the breeding
season may be seen perched on a conspicuous spray, amus-
ing his mate and himself with his song for an hour toge-
ther ; this consists of an interchange of two or three notes,
which, however, have nothing particular to recommend
them. His habit and his song are somewhat similar to
those of the Common Bunting and the Yellow Bunting ;
but the song of the latter is perhaps a little better in quality
of tone. The nest is generally placed on the ground
among coarse long grass or rushes, at the foot of a thorn,
or on the side of a canal bank ; sometimes, but rarely, in
a low bush, the nest being placed a short distance only
above the ground, perhaps but a few inches. It is com-
posed of a little moss with coarse grass, lined with finer
grass and hairs. The nest of this bird has been described
by some authors as made of grass, lined with the soft
down of the reed, and suspended between four reed stalks,
thus apparently referring to the nest of the Reed Warbler
as figured at page 313 ; but by comparison it will be found
that the nest of the Black-headed Bunting does not agree
with that of the Reed Warbler either in materials or situ-
ation. The bird itself has also been stated to put forth a
soft, melodious, warbling song, which is frequently heard
in the night: this is a just estimate of the powers and
habits of the Reed Warbler and the Sedge Warbler, but
not of the Black-headed or Reed Bunting, and as the term
Reed Bunting may have helped to induce and extend the

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. 511

confusion, it would probably be desirable to use in prefer-
ence the name of Black-headed Bunting.

Both sexes of this bird endeavour to allure intruders
from their nest. Mr. Salmon of Thetford says,* " Walk-
ing last spring amongst some rushes growing near a river,
my attention was arrested by observing a Black-headed
Bunting shuffling through the rushes, and trailing along
the ground, as if one of her legs or wings were broken. I
followed her to see the result ; and she having led me to
some considerable distance, took wing, no doubt much re-
joiced on return to find her stratagems had been success-
ful in preserving her young brood, although not in pre-
venting the discovery of her nest, containing five young
ones, which I found was placed, as usual, on the side of
a hassock, or clump of grass almost screened from view by
overhanging dead grass. I have invariably found it in
such a situation, and never suspended between reeds, as
is sometimes stated : it was composed of dead grass, and
lined sparingly with hair."

Mr. Neville Wood, in his British Song Birds, relates an
occurrence with the Black-headed Bunting which indicates
a still higher grade of intellectual character. It is thus
described : — ' ( Some years ago, when walking with a friend,
I remember seeing two of these birds in an osier bed, the
male perched erect at the summit of a willow stem, and
his mate remaining beneath, or only occasionally coming
within view. On our entering the osiers, they both flew
around us in great alarm, mostly in silence, but sometimes
uttering a low mournful kind of note, at the same time
darting suddenly about the hedge and willow stems, as if
impatient for our immediate departure ; and their manners
were so different from those commonly observed in the

* Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, vol. viii. p. 505, for the year
1835.

512 EMBERIZID^.

species, that we were convinced that there must be a nest
thereabouts. I was well aware of the difficulty of finding
its little tenement in a situation of that kind, and accord-
ingly we both of us began to move in different direc-
tions, in order to discover by the actions of the birds
where their treasure lay. My friend traversed one side of
the osier bed, and myself the other ; but still the loving
and faithful couple remained in precisely the same spot
where the junction of two hedge-rows formed a corner;
and we therefore concluded, naturally enough, that in that
spot all their hopes were centred. But a close and mi-
nute investigation of the whole corner, during which time
we laid the ground completely bare, revealed nothing to
us. At length, a full hour after the commencement of
our labours, I hit upon the nest by mere chance, at ex-
actly the opposite end to that at which the Reed Buntings
had been, and still were, prosecuting their winnings and
manoeuvres, which now proved, beyond a doubt, what I had
never before suspected, that the birds had been all the
time endeavouring to attract our attention towards them,
instead of towards their nest."

The eggs of this bird are four or five in number, of a
pale purple brown colour, streaked with darker purple
brown ; the length nine lines and a half, and seven lines in
breadth. Incubation commences, Mr. Jenyns says, about
the first week in May, and occasionally a second brood is
produced in July. The food of the Black-headed Bunt-
ing is grain, seeds, insects, and their larvae; the young
are probably fed for a time on the latter. In winter these
birds associate with others, forming flocks, and visiting
gardens, barn doors, and stack-yards in search of seeds,
or grain of any kind.

The Black-headed Bunting occurs in the localities suited
to its habits in all the southern counties of England ; it

BLACK-HEADED BUNTING. 513

is common in Wales ; and Mr. Thompson includes it as
common and indigenous to Ireland. North of London it
is also found in most, if not all, the counties as far as the
Tweed. In Scotland it is common in the usual localities ;
has been observed in the Hebrides, and was seen by Mr.
Selby upon the margins of all the lochs, and in the
swampy districts of Sutherlandshire ; but according to
Dr. Fleming this bird does not visit Orkney or Shetland.
It is only a summer visitor to Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden, appearing in April and retiring in September ;
it is found also from Russia to Italy, being very abundant
in Holland, as might be expected.

It is found at Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and Crete, inhabit-
ing the marshes in summer and gardens or fields in winter.

The beak is dusky brown above, paler beneath ; irides
hazel ; head, cheeks, and ear-coverts, velvet black, bound-
ed by a collar of white, which descends to the breast ;
from the angle of the gape a white streak passes backwards
and falls into the white collar ; back and wing-coverts
black, each feather having a broad margin of rufous or
bay ; tertials black on the inner web, red on the outer,
and margined with white ; upper tail-coverts grey ; the
two outer tail-feathers on each side white, with a dusky
brown patch at the base and tip ; the central pair dark
brown, margined with red, the others blackish brown ; the
tail slightly forked ; chin and throat black, this colour
ending in a point directed downwards ; sides of the chest
before each wing, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts,
white, clouded and streaked on the sides and flanks with
brown ; legs, toes, and claws, brown. At the autumnr
moult in each year the new feathers of the head and throat
are tipped with brown, which tips falling off in the follow-
ing spring, leave these parts pure black.

The whole length of the male bird is six inches. From

VOL. i. L L

514

EMBERIZID^E.

the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches : the
first four quill -feathers nearly equal in length, but the se-
cond rather the longest ; the fifth shorter than the first.

The female is rather smaller than the male: the head
and ear- coverts reddish brown, varied with darker brown,
over and behind the ear-coverts, and from thence passing
forwards to the base of the under mandible, a pale yel-
lowish brown streak ; both sets of wing-coverts and the
tertials broadly edged with rufous ; on the chin upon each
side a descending streak of dark brown ; under surface of
the body more clouded with brown than in the males ; legs
and toes pale brown.

Young birds resemble the female. Young males obtain
a black head in the spring following their first winter.

The vignette below represents the breast-bones of the
Common Bunting and the Black -headed Bunting.

YEILOW BUNTING. 515

ItfSESSOKES. EMBERIZID^E.

CONIROSTRES.

THE YELLOW BUNTING.

OR YELLOW AMMER.

Emberiza citrinella.

Emberiza citrinella, Yellow Bunting, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 437.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 175.

„ „ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 77.

„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 288.

„ „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 131.

„ „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Bruant jaune, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 304.

THIS handsome Bunting is one of our most common
birds, and the male makes himself conspicuous, in summer
particularly, by frequenting almost every wood-hedge, gar-
den, lane, or high road, flying from one low tree to another,
or from bush to bush, as the traveller proceeds on his way.
From the brilliancy of his plumage, the fine lemon yellow
colour of the head and breast, and the rich chestnut and
brown of the back, this might claim for his species much

LL 2

516 EMBERIZUXffi.

greater distinction were he not so common everywhere ;
but his song also, though probably listened to with interest
by his mate, is but indifferent, consisting chiefly of one
note repeated five or six times in quick succession, fol-
lowed by two others, the last of which is drawn out to a
considerable length.

The Yellow Bunting is a late breeder generally, but
some exceptions to this rule have been noticed ; and the
nest is most frequently placed upon or very near the
ground, under shelter of a bush, in a hedge bottom, or on
the grass-grown bank of a deep ditch or brook ; and the
moss, roots, and hair of which it forms its nest, are
usually well put together. Exceptions to both these
points also happen occasionally. Mr. Blackwall, in some
ornithological remarks printed in the first volume of the
Zoological Journal, says, " It is well known that the Yel-
low Bunting generally makes a very substantial nest; yet,
from some internal defect (for there did not appear to be
any in its external configuration), a female of this species,
in June last, deposited its eggs on the bare ground, in
which situation it sat upon them till they were hatched.
It is evident that birds of the same species possess the
constructive powers in very different degrees of perfection ;
for, though the style of the architecture is usually adhered
to, the nests of some individuals are finished in a manner
greatly superior to those of others. In the instance be-
fore us, the requisite instinctive capacity appears to have
been wanting altogether, as it is known to be in the
Nightjar, Cuckoo, Cow-pen bird, and some species of water-
fowl." Mr. Salmon mentions, in the second volume of
the Naturalist, having found the nest of this bird at the
extraordinary elevation of seven feet from the ground,
among the branches of some broom, which, though naked
at bottom, were thick, close, and bushy at the head.

YELLOW BUNTING. 517

The eggs are of a pale purplish white colour, streaked,
or veined and speckled, with dark reddish brown: the
length ten lines and a half, by eight lines in breadth. The
male, whose song is heard in spring and summer, but par-
ticularly during warm sunny days in June, is remarkable
for his attentions to his female, taking his turn upon the
eggs during the period of incubation ; and Mr. N. Wood
mentions having heard him sing while thus engaged upon
the nest. The young are seldom able to fly before the
second week in June, but they are generally ready to
leave the nest within a fortnight after the time of being
hatched ; and if often visited before they are able to fly,
their fears induce them to quit their discovered retreat a
few days sooner. In winter they are gregarious, flocking
with Chaffinches, Greenfinches, and others, to visit the
farmers' stack-yard, feeding on grain, seeds, and insects.
Sometimes the Yellow Buntings, like the Common Bunt-
ings, pass the night on the ground ; but in very cold wea-
ther they resort at roosting time to the shelter and tem-
perature afforded by thick bushes and evergreen shrubs.
In Italy great quantities of this species are caught, with
the Ortolan Bunting, and fattened for the purposes of the
table ; as we in this country consume Wheatears in sum-
mer and autumn, and Larks in winter.

Of the localities inhabited by the Yellow Bunting in
Britain, it may be sufficient to say that it is common and
indigenous to England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. It
is not included in the Fauna Orcadensis of the Rev. Mr.
Low, but Mr. Dunn, who has lately visited both Orkney
and Shetland more than once, says it is a visitor, though
a rare one, to both countries, but is only to be seen during
the winter season. It inhabits Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden, and is found over the European continent from

518 EMBERIZID.3S.

thence to the shores of the Mediterranean, but not on the
islands, or at most hut very rarely.

I have ventured to restore to this bird what I believe to
have been its first English name, Yellow Ammer, although
it appears to have been printed Yellow Ham, and Yellow
Hammer, from the days of Dr. Wm. Turner and Merrett
to the present time. The word Ammer is a well-known
German term for Bunting in very common use ; thus Bech-
stein employs the names Schnee-ammer, Grau-ammer,
Rohr-ammer, Garten-ammer, and Gold-ammer, for our
Snow Bunting, Corn Bunting, Reed Bunting, Ortolan, or
Garden Bunting, and Yellow Bunting. Our mode of
prefixing the letter H to the word appears to be unneces-
sary, and even erroneous, as suggesting a notion which has
no reference to any known habit or quality in the bird.

The adult male in summer has the beak of a bluish horn
colour ; the palatal knob less conspicuous than in the
Common Bunting ; the irides dark brown ; the head,
cheeks, ear-coverts, and nape of the neck, bright lemon-
yellow, varied with a few dusky black patches, that are
most conspicuous at the boundary of the ear-coverts ; the
upper part of the back and wings reddish brown, tinged
with yellow, each feather having a dark brown patch at its
centre ; the wing-primaries dusky black, with narrow ex-
ternal edges of bright yellow : the secondaries, tertials, and
both sets of wing-coverts, dusky black, broadly margined
with rich chestnut brown ; upper tail-coverts reddish chest-
nut, edged with yellow; the central pair of tail-feathers
shorter than the others, and dusky Jblack, edged with chest-
nut, and tinged with yellow; the next five feathers on
each side dusky black ; the two outer ones on each side
having a broad patch of white on the inner web ; the form
of the tail slightly forked ; the chin, throat, breast, and

YELLOW BUNTING.

519

all the under surface of the body, bright lemon-yellow,
clouded on the breast and flanks with reddish brown;
under wing and tail-coverts yellow ; under surface of wing
and tail-feathers grey ; legs, toes, and claws, light brown.

The whole length of the bird is seven inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and a
half; the first three primaries nearly equal in length, but
the first rather the longest ; the fourth a little shorter than
the third, and the fifth one quarter of an inch shorter than
the fourth.

The female has much less yellow about the head, and
her colours are in general much less vivid.

Young birds have no yellow colour on the head till after
their first autumn moult, and the head is patched with
dusky black. Young males after their first moult have
the yellow colour much more mixed with greyish dusky
spots than older males : the bright lemon-yellow colour in
very old males is extended over a larger surface.

520

EMBERIZID^E.

INSJSSSOJRES.

CONIROSTRES.

THE GIRL BUNTING.

Emberiza cirlus.

Emberiza cirlus, Girl Bunting,

Bruant Zizi,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 438.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 177.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 77.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 292.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 131.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 313.

ALTHOUGH this bird appears, from the quotations above
cited, to be included in the later editions of the works of
Pennant and Bewick, we are indebted to Colonel Montagu
for the addition of this species of Bunting to our catalogue
of British Birds. It was discovered by him near Kings-

CIRL BUNTING. 521

bridge in the winter of 1800, among flocks of Yellow
Buntings and Chaffinches, from which he obtained several
specimens of both sexes. In the following summer these
birds were found breeding in several localities on the coast
of Devonshire, and a detailed account of their habits, and
the mode by which the young were successfully reared,
was communicated to the Linnean Society by Colonel
Montagu, and was published in the seventh volume of the
Transactions of the Society.

The Cirl Bunting is generally found on the coast, and
does not often appear to go far inland. In some of its
habits it resembles the Yellow Bunting, last described, the
male frequently singing from an upper branch of a tree,
his song resembling that of the yellow bird, but delivered
rather more rapidly, and without the long finishing note.
The female has but a single call-note. They generally
build in furze, or some low bush ; the nest is composed of
dry stalks, with a little moss, and lined with long hair and
fibrous roots : the eggs are four or five in number, of a dull
white, tinged with blue, streaked and speckled with dark
liver brown ; the length ten lines, by eight lines in breadth.
The young are hatched in thirteen or fourteen days, and
are supplied by the parent birds with insect food ; when
reared by hand, Colonel Montagu found grasshoppers most
serviceable, with the addition of uncooked meat finely
divided. Some years since, several old birds were ob-
served, near Brading in the Isle of Wight, to feed con-
stantly on the berries of the woody nightshade, Solanum
dulcamara ; and a paste made of these berries, mixed with
wheat, flour, and fine gravel, proved excellent food for
some of their young birds, which were reared without
difficulty.

Mr. Blyth has published, in the second volume of the
Naturalist, some interesting notes on the habits of this

EMBERIZHLE.

species, as observed by himself in the Isle of Wight. It
is much more shy than the Yellow Bunting. The nest
is usually placed higher abo.ve the ground than that of the
Yellow Bunting. French Yellow Ammer, and Black-
throated Yellow Ammer, are the provincial names which
have been applied to it.

Since Colonel Montagu's discovery of the Cirl Bunting
in Devonshire, this species has been observed in many
other counties. It has been found in Surrey near Godal-
ming, and in Hampshire about Alton and Selborne, as
noticed by Mr. Blyth, and in the Isle of Wight ; in Berk-
shire it was obtained by the Rev. Orpen Morris ; in Sussex
it has been observed by Mr. Gould and Mr. Knox to be
common from Chichester to Brighton, and is constantly
found in Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire ; it is not
unfrequent in Cornwall, having been taken at Penzance
and at Penryn ; Mr. Bewick says, " Our figure is from a
well-preserved specimen presented to the Newcastle Mu-
seum by Mr. Henry Memburn, of St. Germain, Cornwall,
where it was shot in 1822. This gentleman has besides
ascertained that they breed in that neighbourhood, fre-
quenting woods and high trees, generally perching near
the top.'* It has also been observed and obtained by Mr.
Anstice in Somersetshire. Occasionally in winter specimens
are taken by the London bird-catchers.

In the northern counties the Cirl Bunting is very rare.
One was obtained in 1837 near Doncaster by Mr. Neville
Wood. Mr. Thomas Allis sent me notice of one that had
been taken near York; and a third was obtained near
Edinburgh, as noticed by Mr. Wilson in the second volume
of the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society.

The Cirl Bunting is most numerous in the southern
parts of the European continent. In France it is only seen
when going northward in spring, and again when returning

CIRL BUNTING. 523

and going southward in autumn. It is very abundant in
Switzerland and Italy, and along the shores of the Medi-
terranean. It is found in Sicily, Malta, Algeria, and
Crete. Mr. H. E. Strickland says of this bird in Smyrna,
that it haunts the vicinity of streams, and seems in that
country to replace the Yellow Bunting, which he did not
notice in Asia Minor.

The adult male in summer has the beak bluish lead
colour, the palatal knob about the same size as that of the
Yellow Bunting ; the irides hazel ; the top of the head
dark olive, streaked with black ; over the eye, and on the
cheeks, a patch of bright lemon yellow; the ear-coverts
dark dusky green ; the back rich chestnut brown ; the
primaries and secondaries dusky black, with very narrow
yellowish edges ; the tertials, the small and the large
wing-coverts, dusky black in the centre, broadly margined
with chestnut ; upper tail-coverts yellowish olive, streaked
with dusky grey ; tail-feathers dusky black ; the outer two
on each side with a patch of white on the inner broad
webs ; the central pair rather shorter than the others,
and tinged with red, the rest with very narrow light-
coloured edges. The chin and throat black ; below the
black a crescentic patch of bright lemon-yellow, the ends
of which reach to the inferior edge of the dark ear-coverts ;
upper part of the breast dull olive, bounded below by a
chestnut band, which is narrowest in the middle ; belly and
under tail-coverts dull yellow ; legs, toes, and claws, light
brown.

In winter the plumage is less brilliant generally, and the
black feathers of the head and throat have lighter-coloured
margins.

The whole length of the male bird is six inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three
inches and a half : the second and third primaries are equal

524* EMJBERIZID.ZE.

in length, and the longest in the wing ; the first and fourth
are also equal in length, but a little shorter than the second
and third ; the fifth full one-eighth of an inch shorter than
the fourth.

The female is without the black colour or the bright
lemon-yellow on the head and throat ; the upper surface of
the head and body is streaked longitudinally with black on
the dull olive colour of the one, and the reddish brown of
the other ; the under surface of the body is similarly
streaked with black on a dull and dingy yellow.

Young birds very closely resemble adult females.

English Naturalists are greatly indebted to Colonel Mon-
tagu for the careful and patient investigation he bestowed
upon various subjects, which enabled him to produce several
valuable communications, and make many interesting ad-
ditions to British Zoology. He contributed nine papers to
the Linnean Society, between the 1st of March, 1796, and
the 6th of June, 1815, which are published in the Trans-
actions of that Society ; and six papers were furnished to
the Wernerian Natural History Society between the 1 1 th
of March, 1809, and the 20th of March, 1815; these were
also published in the Memoirs of that Society. In 1802,
Colonel Montagu published his Ornithological Dictionary,
the best history of British Birds at that time. The Supple-
ment to this Dictionary, published in 1813, was a valuable
addition, from the increased accumulation of observed facts.
In 1803, Colonel Montagu published his TESTACEA BRI-
TANNICA, in two volumes, quarto, with plates, and after-
wards a Supplement. His notes on Ichthyology, which by
the kindness of my friend Mr. Broderip, I was allowed to
avail myself of in the History of British Fishes, included
references to seventy-four species.

Colonel Montagu supplied several new Crustacea to his
friend Dr. Leach, while the latter was engaged on the

CTRL BUNTING. 525

Malacostraca Podopthalmata Britannia, who, under the
article onProcessa canaliculata, tab. xli., thus notices what
had then very recently occurred : — " Since writing the
above, I have received intelligence of the death of this
most zealous Zoologist, in whom science has lost an able
supporter, the world an accomplished gentleman, and his
friends a most valuable companion and correspondent. His
published works, and numerous papers, leave proofs of his
industry and research that will cause his name ever to be
remembered and respected by British Zoologists. We still
hope to see his observations on the British Mollusca and
Vermes, which have long been prepared for publication."

His death was thus noticed in the Second Part of the
eighty-fifth volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, p. 281 : —

" Died on the 28th of August, 1815, at Knowle House,
Devon, in his 64th year, George Montagu, Esq., many
years a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Wilts Militia. He pos-
sessed talents of the highest order ; and as a writer of
Natural History, his name will descend to posterity with
praise and admiration. He had chosen a retirement in the
fine county of Devon, singularly beautiful, for the prose-
cution of his inquiries into the works of Nature ; and some
very rare MSS. were in preparation for the press at the
time of his death. Colonel Montagu was of very ancient
and honourable descent, being, on the paternal side, from
the family of Montagu, of Lackham House, Wilts, closely
allied to the noble houses of Manchester and Sandwich ;
and, on the maternal side, from the family of Hedges, of
Alderton, county of Gloucester, of whom Sir C. Hedges,
secretary of state to Queen Anne, was a distinguished orna-
ment. Colonel Montagu possessed a long correspondence
between her Majesty and her favourite secretary, which,
with the family estates of Lackham and Alderton, descend
to his son, George Montagu, Esq."

526

EMBERIZID^.

The vignette here introduced is a representation of
Knowle House, or Knowle Cottage rather, as it is there
called, which is situated about half a mile from Kings-
bridge, and at which Colonel Montagu resided many
years. For this opportunity of presenting a memorial of
an English Zoologist, I feel myself greatly indebted to
the kindness of the Rev. Robert Holdsworth, of Brixham,
who supplied me with the sketch from which the vignette
below was prepared.

ORTOLAN BUNTING.

1NSESSOKES.

CONIROSTRES.

527

EMBERIZID^E.

THE ORTOLAN BUNTING.

Emberiza hortulana.

Emberiza chlorocephala, Green-headed Bunting, MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 173.
SELBY, Brit. Omith. vol. i.

p. 294.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 132.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith.

hortulana, Ortolan

Bruant Ortolan,

vol. i. p. 311.

THE GREEN-HEADED BUNTING was first described and
figured by Brown in his Illustrations of Zoology, page 74,
tab. 30, from a living specimen then in the possession of Mr.
Moon in Hyde Park, which was taken in Mary-la-bonne

528 EMBERIZHXE.

Fields by a London bird-catcher. Dr. Latham describes
a Green-headed Bunting in the collection of Marmaduke
Tunstal, Esq., in the third volume of his Synopsis, page
211, No. 61. From these sources a description of this bird
was copied by Gmelin, Lewin, Montagu, and others. La-
tham and Montagu both express their doubts of its being
a distinct species, no other instances appearing to be re-
corded than those before mentioned. To the Synopsis of
the Newcastle Museum, by George T. Fox, Esq., F.L.S.,
we are indebted for much valuable information on various
zoological subjects, and some particulars of the Green -
headed Bunting. From this gentleman's statement, we
learn that the specimen of the Green -headed Bunting
figured by Brown, while it was alive in the possession of
Mr. Moon, passed, when dead, into the possession of Mr.
Tunstal, and was preserved for his collection ; the same
specimen had therefore furnished the materials for each of
the authors before enumerated. By the kindness and in-
fluence of Mr. Fox, this specimen was, a few years ago,
sent up from Newcastle, and exhibited at a meeting of
the Linnean Society, and at the Zoological Club ; and no
doubt remained in the minds of the members who were
conversant with birds, that the Green-headed Bunting was
only a variety of the Ortolan Bunting, the plumage having
become darker, the colours more intense, — a change fre-
quently produced by artificial food and long confinement,
Mr. Selby, who has had opportunities of comparing the
specimen in the Newcastle Museum with examples of the
true Ortolan Bunting, has recorded his opinion to the same
effect. From Mr. Fox we also learn that the Wycliffe
collection, which came under his inspection, contained a
specimen of the Ortolan Bunting. Mr. Bewick, in the last
edition of his beautiful work on British Birds, and in the
Supplement to a previous edition, has given a figure and

ORTOLAN BUNTING. 529

description of the true Ortolan Bunting. This representa-
tion was taken from a bird caught at sea, a few miles off the
Yorkshire coast, by the master of a trading vessel, in May,
1822. This specimen, which came into the possession of
Mr. Fox, was lent to Mr. Bewick for his use in his work
on British Birds. A fine male specimen was killed near
Manchester in November, 1827; and in 1837 another male
Ortolan was caught near London, along with Yellow Bunt-
ings, in a bird-catcher's net, and deposited in the aviary, at
the Zoological Gardens, as recorded by Mr. Blyth.

At the end of April, 1841, a fine specimen was shot
whilst sitting on the parapet of the viaduct of the Brighton
and London Railway, near the Brighton terminus. This
example is now in the possession of Mr. William Borrer,
jun., of Henfield ; and another was shot in April, 1852,
within a few yards of the turnpike gate between Lancing
and Worthing, as recorded in the Zoologist, page 3476.

The Ortolan Bunting is only a summer visitor to the
middle and northern countries of Europe : but considering
the high northern latitude which this bird attains every
season, it is rather matter of surprise that more specimens
have not been recorded as obtained in this country. It
visits and produces its young in Denmark, Sweden, and
Norway ; and Linneus, in his Tour, mentions having seen
it in Lapland on the 22nd of May. M. Temminck says,
it is sometimes found in Holland. M. Vieillot observes of
this species, in his Faune Frangaise, that it is most nume-
rous in the southern parts of France, where it arrives about
the same time as the Swallows, and a little before the
Quails. Mr. Hoy, in a letter to me, says in reference to
the habits of this bird on a part of the Continent farther
north than that referred to by M. Vieillot, " that it makes
its appearance at the beginning of May, and almost imme-
diately pairs and commences building ; its monotonous

VOL. I. MM

530

chirping notes are heard the whole day long. These birds
prefer light sandy soils, and build invariably on the ground
in fields of corn — at least, I have never met with a nest in
any other situation : those I found were placed in a slight
hollow, were something similar to the nest of the Sky Lark,
but rather more compact ; the interior lined with fine grass
and a few hairs ; the eggs are from four to six in number,"
bluish white, speckled and spotted with black. " These
birds retire southward early, few being seen after the end
of August. They are at that time taken in great numbers
in nets with decoy birds, and fattened for the table." Mr.
Gould says that when thus caught they are kept in a dark
room, and there fed with plenty of oats and millet seed,
upon which they quickly fatten ; and Mr. David Booth, in
his Analytical Dictionary of the English Language, which
abounds with interesting references to Natural History,
says, " These birds are fed up till they become lumps of
fat of three ounces in weight, some of which are potted, or
otherwise preserved, and exported to other countries."

The natural food of the Ortolan Bunting is grain and
seeds, when ripened, with insects during the early part of
the season.

It is a common bird in the southern countries of Europe
from May to August, is seen at Gibraltar every spring and
autumn, is common at Tangiers, and winters in North Africa.
It is found in Sicily, Malta, and Crete. It was observed at
Smyrna by Mr. H. E. Strickland in April, and is included
by Colonel Sykes in his Catalogue of the Birds of the
Dukhun.

The adult male in summer has the beak reddish brown,
the palatal knob small ; the irides brown ; head and cheeks
greenish grey ; the feathers on the back rich reddish brown,
but almost black in the centre ; primaries dusky black,
narrowly edged with rufous brown ; tertials and wing-co-

ORTOLAN BUNTING. 531

verts dusky black with broad rufous brown margins ; upper
tail-coverts reddish brown ; tail-feathers dusky black, two
and sometimes three outer feathers on each side with a
patch of white on the broad inner web ; the chin, throat,
and upper part of the breast, yellowish green ; the other
under parts of the body reddish buff, palest in colour on
the belly and under tail-coverts ; legs, toes, and claws,
pale brown, tinged with red.

The back of this bird being very similar in appearance
to that of the Girl Bunting, a front view of this species
was given to avoid repetition.

The whole length of the bird is six inches and one quarter.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches
and a half : the three first feathers of the wing equal in
length, and the longest in the wing ; the fourth nearly one
quarter of an inch shorter than the third.

The female has the colour of the head more mixed with
grey, and streaked with dark brown ; the upper part of the
breast spotted with dark brown and the buff colour below,
as well as the other colours, generally less vivid.

Young birds of the year resemble the female.

M. Temminck, M. Vieillot, and others, well acquainted
with this species, refer particularly to the variations that
are occasionally found in the colours of its plumage. M.
Vieillot enumerates six varieties that have occurred, the
third of which, his variety C, is described as having the
head and neck green.

M M 2

ERINGILLID.&.

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES,

F1UNG1LL1DJ1.

THE CHAFFINCH.

Fringilla ccelebs.

Fringilla ccdebs, The Chaffinch, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 452.
„ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 191.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 83.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 303.

„ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 133.

„ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Gros-bec pinson, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 357.

FRINGILLA. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, longer than deep, conic
and pointed; mandibles nearly equal, cutting edges entire, forming a
straight commissure. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, partly hidden by the
frontal plumes. Wings with the first quill-feather longer than the fifth,

CHAFFINCH. 533

but a little shorter than the second or third, which are equal, and the
longest in the wing. Legs with the tarsi of moderate length ; toes di-
vided, and adapted for hopping and perching ; claws curved and sharp.

THE male Chaffinch is one of the most handsome of our
common small birds, and in his general deportment is as
lively as he is handsome. Thus distinguished by bright
colours and active habits, and being besides very numerous
as a species, and confident in behaviour, allowing the near
approach of observers without exhibiting much alarm, the
Chaffinch is extremely well known ; and as his gay appear-
ance and song, frequently noticed as early as February,
point him out as one of the first of our indigenous birds
to afford an indication of returning spring, he is for these
various reasons a general favourite. With our Continental
neighbours the Chaffinch is one of their most common
cage-birds ; and in France, from the lively colours and
demeanour of this bird, the term " gay as a Chaffinch" is
a proverbial phrase in frequent use. Linneus, in his Fauna
of Sweden, says that the female Chaffinches migrate from
that country in winter, but that the males do not, and he
bestowed upon the species the name of ccelebs, or bachelor,
in reference to these deserted males. At the present time
Professor Nilsson, of Sweden, says, that although but few
remain in that country during winter, they are not males
only ; but even the temporary separation of the sexes
among birds is not an unusual occurrence, and Mr. Selby,
in his history of the Chaffinch, says, that in "Northumber-
land and Scotland this separation takes place about the
month of November, and from that period till the return
of spring, few females are to be seen, and those few always
in distinct societies. The males remain, and are met with,
during the winter, in immense flocks, feeding with other
granivorous birds in the stubble lands, as long as the
weather continues mild, and the ground free from snow ;

534 FRINGILLIDJl.

resorting, upon the approach of a storm, to farm-yards, and
other places of refuge and supply. It has been noticed by
several authors, that the arrival of the males, in a number
of our summer visitants, precedes that of the females by
many days ; — a fact from which we might infer that in
such species a similar separation exists between the sexes
before their migration." White, in his History of Sel-
borne, remarks that for many years he had observed that
towards Christmas vast flocks of Chaffinches appeared in
the fields, — many more, he used to think, than could be
hatched in any one neighbourhood, and on observing them
more narrowly he was amazed to find that they appeared
to be almost all hens. We certainly receive a considerable
accession to our numbers at the great autumnal migration,
most probably from Sweden and Norway ; I have, how-
ever, reason to believe that some of the large flocks of sup-
posed females only, are in reality old females accompanied
by their young birds of that year, which in plumage re-
semble females, the young males not having at that time
acquired the brilliancy of colours which renders them so
conspicuous afterwards when adult.

Their flight, like that of most of the Finches, is undu-
latory, and their food insects, with some young and tender
vegetables in spring and summer, at other seasons grain and
seeds. Gardeners are most of them enemies to Chaffinches,
on account of their partiality to early -sown radishes when
first appearing above ground, and some few other mis-
chievous propensities. The common name of Pink by
which this bird is known provincially, has reference to the
sound of its call-note, and has its echo in several northern
languages.

The Finches generally are remarkable for the neatness
and beauty of the nests they construct, and the Chaffinch
is no exception to the rule. The outside of their nest is

CHAFFINCH. 535

composed of moss, studded with white or green lichens, as
may best accord with the situation in which it is built ;
the inside is lined with wool, and this again covered with
hair and some feathers ; the eggs are usually four or five
in number, of a pale purplish buff, sparingly streaked and
spotted with dark reddish brown. The place chosen is
variable ; sometimes it is fixed in the fork of a bush in a
hedgerow, on a branch of a wall-fruit tree, frequently in
an apple or pear tree several feet above the ground. A
correspondent in the Field Naturalists' Magazine, relates
that a pair of Chaffinches built in a shrub so near his sit-
ting-room window as to allow him to be a close observer
of their operations. The foundation of their nest was laid
on the 12th of April; the female only worked at the nest-
making, and by unwearied diligence, the beautiful struc-
ture was finished in three weeks : the first egg was deposited
on the 2nd of May ; four others were subsequently added,
and the whole five were hatched on the 15th. During the
time of incubation, neither curiosity nor constant observa-
tion from the opened window disturbed the' parent bird ;
she sat most patiently ; the" male bird often visited his
partner, but it was not discovered whether he ever brought
her food.

The Chaffinch is too generally distributed over all the
British Islands to require extended notice of localities ; it
inhabits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other northern
parts of the European continent, extending southwards to
the shores of the Mediterranean, being migratory in the
colder countries, and stationary in those which are warmer.
It is found in Sicily, Malta, and Crete. It is a common
bird in the Levant and in Northern Africa. I have little
doubt that it is also found in the Canary Islands and Ma-
deira, as it has been seen by Mr. Charles Darwin, and
another observer, as far west as Terceira, one of the Azores.

536 FRINGILLIDJE.

The adult male in summer has the beak bluish lead
colour, with a tinge of purplish red on the under surface
of the under mandible ; the feathers over the base of the
upper mandible black ; the irides hazel ; top of the head
and nape of the neck dark bluish grey ; back chestnut ;
wings almost black ; smaller wing-coverts white ; the greater
wing-coverts black at the base, tipped with white, the two
sets of wing-coverts forming two conspicuous white bars ;
all the quill-feathers dusky black, with narrow lighter-
coloured edges, the tertials with broader margins of buffy
white ; rump and upper tail-coverts yellowish green ; the
two middle tail-feathers greyish black, the next three on
each side nearly black ; the outer tail-feather on each side
white, with a narrow stripe of dusky black at the base and
at the tip ; the next feather on each side dusky black, with
a triangular patch of white on the inner web ; the tail is
very slightly forked ; the cheeks, ear-coverts, chin, throat,
breast, and flanks, a rich reddish brown, becoming paler on
the belly and under tail-coverts ; legs, toes, and claws,
brown.

The whole length of the bird is six inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and three-
eighths ; the first quill-feather a little longer than the fifth ;
the second, third, and fourth feathers equal in length, and
the longest in the wing.

The female has the upper surface of the body more
mixed with dull brown, producing considerable uniformity
of colour ; the under surface is also of a dull fawn colour ;
the two white bars on the wings are rather less conspicuous.

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

MOUNTAIN FINCH. 537

FRINGILLID^E.

'

THE MOUNTAIN FINCH.

BRAMBLING, OR BRAMBLE FINCH.

Fringilla montifringiUa
Fringilla montifringiUa, Bramble Finch,
„ „ Brambling,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i.

p. 454.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
Mountain Finch, BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 193.

„ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 84.

„ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 306.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 134.

„ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Gros-bec tf Ardennes, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.
p. 360.

538 FRINGILLID^E.

THE MOUNTAIN FINCH, Brambling, or Bramble Finch,
is in this country a winter visitor only, coming to us from
the North ; but in reference to the time at which it makes
its appearance, as well as to the numbers of the birds that
arrive, there is considerable variation in different years,
both events probably depending on the temperature of the
country from which they have emigrated. It is mentioned
in Bewick's History of British Birds that they have been
seen on the Cumberland Hills as early as the middle of
August, but their general appearance is much later. They
frequent thick hedges, and feed on the grain and seeds to
be found on stubble land, in company with Yellow Bunt-
ings, Chaffinches, and others. Mr. Scales, an agriculturist
of Beecham Well, in the county of Norfolk, used to con-
sider them of service to his land, from their devouring in
great abundance the seeds of the knot grass, Polygonum
aviculare. In severe weather, large flocks of these birds
are observed to feed upon beech mast; and Pennant, in
reference to the numbers that occasionally fly together,
mentions that he once had eighteen sent him from Kent,
which were all killed at one shot. Some of our London
bird-catchers take them in their nets, and in confinement
they are bold and hardy.

They are not known to breed in any part of this country,
though it seems probable that now and then a pair of these
birds may remain through the summer. In Mr. London's
Magazine of Natural History for 1835, there is a notice
of one bird that was shot on the 6th of May of that year
in a fir plantation about four miles east of York. Several
specimens have lived and exhibited their perfect summer
plumage in the aviary devoted to British Birds in the
gardens of the Zoological Society in the Regent's Park,
but they did not breed.

The Brambling is pretty generally distributed over

MOUNTAIN FINCH. 539

England in winter, even as far as the extreme southern
counties of Dorsetshire and Devonshire. Mr. Couch in-
cludes it in his Cornish Fauna ; and E. H. Rodd, Esq., of
Penzance, has sent me word that a pair of these birds were
killed near the Land's End in the winter of 1836-37, which
are now preserved in his collection. William Thompson,
Esq., of Belfast, includes it in his notes sent me as one
that occasionally occurs in winter in various parts of Ire-
land. Sir William Jardine, in reference to Dumfries -shire,
says it appears in flocks about the beginning of November,
frequenting beech trees, and feeding on the mast; and
Mr. Macgillivray mentions having fallen in with a flock
also on some beech trees about a mile from Corstorphine,
near Edinburgh, from which he shot two birds, and has
seen many others that had been killed in Scotland.

It is not an uncommon bird in Denmark. Mr. Hewit-
son saw them at one place in the southern part of Norway,
where they were breeding ; it is known to breed also in the
woods of Norholm and Drontheim, and breeds in Lapland.
M. Nilsson says that in the southern parts of Sweden it is
only a winter visitor, appearing in autumn, and remaining
till April. This species is described as building in fir trees,
the nest formed of moss, and lined with wool and feathers :
the eggs, four or five in number, white, tinged with yellow,
and spotted with dark red, like those of the Chaffinch. The
call -note of this bird is a single monotonous chirp.

This species ranges in winter over the European conti-
nent as far south as Italy, Sicily, and Malta ; was seen by
Mr. Strickland at Smyrna ; and is included by M. Tem-
minck in his Catalogue of the Birds of Japan.

The male in winter has the beak yellowish white, with
the point bluish black ; the irides brown ; the top of the
head, cheeks, ear-coverts, nape of the neck, and the back,
mottled with brown and black, each feather being black at

540 FRINGILLID.E.

the base, and brown at the tip ; scapulars and smaller wirig-
coverts rich fawn colour, the latter tipped with white;
greater wing-coverts jet black, tipped with fawn colour ;
quill-feathers black; the primaries with narrow, light-
coloured outside edges, the tertials broadly edged with
fawn colour ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, slightly
varied with a few black feathers, which are brown at the
tips ; tail-feathers black, edged with buffy white, the outer
feather on each side with a patch of dull white on the
broad inner web, the middle pair shorter than the others ;
the form of the tail forked ; the chin, throat, upper part
of the breast and sides rich fawn colour ; lower part of
the breast, the belly, and under tail-coverts, white ; the
flanks varied with black and light brown ; a small tuft of
elongated feathers under the wing, forming an axillary
plume, and the smaller under wing-coverts bright yellow ;
the other under wing-coverts white ; legs, toes, and claws,
light brown.

In spring, the brown tips to the black feathers on the
head and neck are lost, leaving these parts of a fine velvet
black, which the bird retains till the next autumn moult ;
the beak during spring and summer lead blue.

The whole length of the male bird is six inches and three-
quarters. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing
three inches and five-eighths : the first three wing-feathers
nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing ; the
fourth feather about one- eighth shorter than the third.

The female in winter has less black colour on the top of
the head ; the cheeks, ear-coverts, and neck, dull brownish
grey, with two dark lines dividing the sides of the neck
from the nape : the other colours of the body less pure,
and clouded with dull brown.

Young birds of the year, M. Temminck says, have the
throat white, but otherwise resemble adult females.

TREE SPARROW.

INSESSOKES.

CONIROSTRES.

541

FRINOILLIDM.

THE TREE SPARROW.

Passer montanus.

Fringilla montana, Tree Sparrow, - PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 458.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ Mountain „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 190.

Pyrgita „ Tree „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 83.

Passer montanus, „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 300.

Fringilla montana, „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 135.

Pyrgita „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Fringilla „ Bee-Jin Friquet, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 354.

PASSEB. Generic Characters. — Beak strong, conical, longer than deep,
the upper mandible slightly curved, the lower mandible compressed, and
smaller than the upper. Nostrils lateral, basal, rounded, partly concealed
by the short feathers at the base of the mandible. Wings with the second
quill-feather rather the longest. Legs with the tarsi nearly as long as the
middle toe ; claws sharp and curved, that of the hind toe rather larger than
that of the middle toe. Tail nearly square.

I HAVE followed Mr. Selby in considering the numerous
species of Sparrows, some of which are found in almost

542 FRINGILLID^.

every country in the world, as entitled to generic distinc-
tion among the Finches, and in continuing to them also
the name of Passer, bestowed upon them by Ray. Their
habits, particularly in reference to the situation chosen for
the nest, are distinct from those of the Finches generally,
and in this circumstance our two native specimens agree
more closely than has usually been stated. The Tree
Sparrow is an active lively bird, in appearance, and in
many of its other peculiarities, very similar to the well-
known House Sparrow, and for which, I have no doubt,
the Tree Sparrow has been often mistaken. It is not so
numerous as a species, and much more local in distribu-
tion ; but small colonies of them are to be found in various
counties. In size it is smaller than our Common Sparrow,
and is generally described as frequenting trees remote from
houses, and buildings in the holes of decayed pollards.
That these are not their universal habits, I learn from the
Rev. James F. Dimock, and his brother George Dimock,
of Uppingham in Rutlandshire, to whom I am indebted
for the following particulars from their own observation.
These birds frequently build in the thatch of a barn, in
company with the House Sparrow, not however entering
the thatch from the inside of the building like them, but
by holes in the outside ; five or six instances of this sort
occurred in one building, and one or two pairs built about
the farmhouse ; to be certain as to the species, some old
birds were watched, were shot when quitting their holes,
and their eggs taken ; in other instances the young birds
were reared from the nest. They also built in the deserted
nests of Magpies and Crows, in which they formed domed
nests, as does the Common Sparrow, when it builds among
the branches of trees, and one pair built in a hole of a
tree that had been occupied by a Green Woodpecker.
These different modes of building occur in a country

TREE SPARROW. 543

abounding with pollards, ash, and willow trees. Mr. Hoy
in a letter to me states, that he has observed on the Con-
tinent, where this species is rather numerous, that they
often build in holes in the tiling of houses, and in stacks
of wood-faggots, and M. Vieillot, when noticing these
birds in France, says, that they occasionally build their
nests in old walls, not many feet above the ground ; and
they are also observed to frequent gardens like the com-
mon House Sparrow. Their nests are formed of hay, and
lined with feathers ; the eggs, from four to six in number,
of a dull white, speckled all over with light ash brown ;
the length eight lines and a half, by six lines in breadth.
The young are supplied with insects and soft vegetables,
which are also the principal substances consumed by the
old birds during spring and summer, and at other seasons
of the year they feed on grain and seeds; both young
and old flying in flocks with House Sparrows, Chaffinches,
and other Finches, and Buntings, in and about farm-yards,
corn-stacks, and any other places likely to supply food.

The common call-note of the Tree Sparrow is a mono-
tonous chirp, not unlike that of the common House Spar-
row, but more shrill ; and of its higher powers of song,
Mr. Blyth says, that " it consists of a number of these
chirps, intermixed with some pleasing notes, delivered in a
continuous unbroken strain, sometimes for many minutes
together, very loudly, but having a characteristic sparrow-
like tone throughout."

The Tree Sparrow is a rare species in most of the ex-
treme southern counties of England, and is not included
in some county catalogues of Sussex, Dorsetshire, Devon-
shire, or Cornwall ; but Mr. E. H. Rodd, of Penzance,
mentions in a private communication, that the Falmouth
Museum contains a single specimen. It is not uncommon
in Shropshire, as I learn from Robert Slaney, Esq., M.P.,

544 FRINGILLID^l.

and Mr. Thomas Eyton. In Lancaster it has been ob-
served about Chat Moss. On the eastern side of England,
this bird appears to be a winter visitor at Southchurch in
Essex, according to the observations of Mr. Parsons. It
is found in Surrey, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire,
Rutland, Lincolnshire, about Wainfleet, in Yorkshire at
various localities; in Durham, and also in Northumber-
land ; but I am unable to trace it much farther north than
Newcastle, and it does not appear to have been noticed in
Scotland.

Professor Nilsson includes the Tree Sparrow in his work
on the Birds of Sweden, and also in his Fauna of Scandi-
navia, where he says it frequents gardens ; and some
authors have stated that this bird was found as far to the
west of the European continent as Hudson's Bay and
North America ; but this appears to have been a mistake,
and refers to another species. The geographical range of
the Tree Sparrow is to the northward and the eastward ;
it inhabits Lapland and Siberia : specimens have been re-
ceived by Mr. Gould from the Himalaya mountain range
and from China; it has been found in Nepal and at
Calcutta, and M. Temminck includes it also in his Birds
of Japan. In the southern part of Europe it is well
known, being rather a common bird in France, Provence,
Spain and Italy, Sicily, Malta, and Africa.

In summer the beak of the male is of a bluish lead
colour ; the irides hazel ; the head and neck chestnut,
bounded with white on each side of the neck ; the back
and wings reddish brown, streaked with pure black ; both
sets of wing-coverts black, edged with chestnut and tipped
with white ; primaries black, margined with brown ; ter-
tials broadly edged with chestnut brown ; rump and upper
tail-coverts uniform pale brown ; tail-feathers greyish
brown, with lighter brown edges ; chin and throat black :

TREE SPARROW. 545

under the eye and over the ear-coverts a narrow black
streak ; cheeks, and sides of the neck, with a triangular
spot of pure black ; breast, belly, and under tail-coverts,
dull brownish white, darker on the sides and flanks ; under
coverts of the wings pale fawn colour ; legs, toes, and
claws, pale brown.

The whole length of the male is five inches and five-
eighths. The first quill-feather the same length as the
fifth ; the second, third, and fourth, nearly equal in length,
and the longest in the wing, but the second rather the
longest of the three.

The female is smaller than the male, measuring only
five inches three-eighths in length; but the plumage is
the same, except that the colours are not quite so bright
as those of the male.

The young birds in their nestling feathers possess the
chestnut head, black throat, and the white on the side of
the neck ; but the colours are paler than those of the adult
birds.

The vignette below represents the breast-bones of the
Brambling and the House Sparrow.

VOL. i. N N

546

FRINGILLIDJ3.

INSESSOJRES.

CONIROSTRES.

FRINGILLID^E.

THE HOUSE SPARROW.

Passer domesticus.

Fringilla domestica, The Sparrow, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 458.

„ „ House „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

The „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 187.

House „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 83.

„ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 298.

„ „ JENYNS, Brit. Yert. p. 134.

Common „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.
Gros-bec moineau, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 350.

Pyrgita

Passer domesticus,

Fringilla domestica,

Pyrgita

Fringilla „

OF all our British Birds, the Common Sparrow alone is
found throughout the year, whether in country or town,
attached to, and identified with, the habitations of men ;
and such is the confident familiarity obtained by long inter-
course, that from the thatch of the cottage of the peasant,
to the elaborately-ornamented architecture of the palace of

HOUSE SPARROW. 547

the prince, all buildings are alike subject to its intrusion.
The bird, however, that is reared in the smoky city, though
perhaps more bold, active, vigilant, and assuming than
that to be seen in the country, affords but a poor example
of the colours that ornament the bird, when seen in the
cottage garden, or at the farmer's barn-door.

Of a species so well known as the Sparrow a very length-
ened notice is not required: the history of the bird in
one country is equally the detail of its habits in another.
This is certainly the case with our Common House Spar-
row, the geographical range of which, as a species, is very
extensive.

Our Sparrow pairs early in the season, and like most of
those birds which are very prolific, great animosity and
numerous contests for choice or possession occur at this
season of the year. There are few persons who have not
witnessed in spring the bustle and confusion attending
what appears to be a sort of battle royal among Sparrows,
in which five or six individuals are seen indiscriminately
engaged attacking, buffetting, and biting each other, with
all the clamour and fury of excited rage ; but the matter
in dispute being adjusted, each retires from the scene of
contest to attend to his mate, and the performance of the
more important duties of the season. Their nests are
formed under the eaves of tiles, in holes or crevices in
walls, in the orifices of old water-pipes, or in any cavity
which will afford sufficient space for the mass of hay and
feathers collected for their dwelling. The first batch of
eggs usually consists of five or six, and two other sets are
frequently produced in the season. The eggs are white,
spotted and streaked with ash-colour and dusky brown,
varying considerably in the quantity of this secondary co-
louring matter ; the length of the egg ten lines, the breadth
seven lines.

N N 2

548 FRINGILLIM.

Occasionally the Sparrow builds among the higher
branches of apple or plum trees in a garden, sometimes in
other trees, but seldom choosing one that is far from a
house; and the nest, when thus placed in a tree, is re-
markable for its large size, as compared to the bird ; it is
formed with a dome, and composed, as in other cases, of
a mass of hay, lined within with a profusion of feathers,
to which access is gained by a hole in the side. So great
is the partiality of the Sparrow for warmth, that abund-
ance of feathers are used even to line a hole on the inner
side of the thick thatching of a barn, and they have been
seen collecting feathers in winter, and carrying them away
to the holes they inhabited. Their young are fed for a
time with soft fruits, young vegetables, and insects, par-
ticularly caterpillars, and so great is the number of these
that are consumed by the parent birds, and their successive
broods of young, that it is a question whether the benefit
thus performed is not a fair equivalent for the grain and
seeds required at other seasons of the year.

The great attachment of the parent birds to their young
has been frequently noticed. In a note at the foot of the
tenth page, vol. i. of the Zoological Journal, it is stated
that a few years since a pair of Sparrows, which had built
in the thatched roof of a house at Poole, were observed to
continue their regular visits to the nest long after the time
when the young birds take flight. This unusual circum-
stance continued throughout the year ; and in the winter,
a gentleman who had all along observed them, determined
on investigating its cause. He therefore mounted a ladder,
and found one of the young ones detained a prisoner, by
means of a piece of string or worsted, which formed part of
the nest, having become accidentally twisted round its leg.
Being thus incapacitated for procuring its own sustenance,
it had been fed by the continued exertions of its parents.

HOUSE SPARROW.

549

A still more singular accident which occurred to a Spar-
row was described and figured in the Illustrated London
News, for January 20th, 1844.

" The principal external ornament of the Rotunda, in
Sackville Street, Dublin, is a richly-carved frieze, re-
presenting the heads of oxen, with festoons of flowers
pendant from the horns ; the frieze running round the en-
tire building at a great elevation. In the hollow of the
eye of one of these heads, a Sparrow built its nest. But
amongst the materials which it employed for that purpose,
there unhappily chanced to be a woollen thread, with a
noose at one end. By some accident the poor little fellow
unfortunately got his own neck inserted in the noose ; and

550 FRINGILLIDJE.

in his efforts to extricate himself, fell from his nest, and
hung suspended below it. He was observed for some time
making prodigious exertions to escape, but in vain ; and
his remains are now to be seen, gibbeted at his own door,
and fluttering in the wind, whilst the straws of his nest
project from the eye-hole above his head."

The Sparrow, as before observed, is seldom seen far
from the habitations of men; but as summer advances,
and the young birds of the year are able to follow the old
ones, they become gregarious, flying in flocks together to
the nearest field of wheat, as soon as the corn is suffi-
ciently hardened to enable them to pick it out, and here
for a time they are in good quarters ; but when the corn
is housed, and the fields gleaned, their supply being thus
cut off, they return to the vicinity of houses, to seek again
the adventitious meal which the habitations of men are
likely to afford them.

The House Sparrow is common over the whole of the
United Kingdom, including the islands of Orkney and
Shetland; it is common also in Denmark, Norway, and
Sweden, where, M. Nilsson says, it infests every house.
From thence southward its range is extended to Spain,
Portugal, and North Africa ; in the south-east it is found
in Italy, Corfu, Dalmatia, and the Ionian Islands. Mr.
H. E. Strickland says, that our species — for there are
three others in Europe — is the Common House Sparrow
of the Levant ; and the Zoological Society have received
specimens from Trebizond and the Nubian Mountains.
Colonel Sykes includes this species in his Catalogue of the
Birds of the Dukhun, from whence he brought specimens,
and it has also been received in this country from the
Himalaya Mountains, from Nepal and the vicinity of Cal-
cutta.

The beak of the adult male in summer is a bluish lead

HOUSE SPARROW. 551

colour ; from the base of the upper mandible to the eye
a black streak ; the irides hazel ; top of the head bluish
grey ; over the ear-coverts, nape of the neck, back, and
wings, rich rufous brown, the centre of each feather nearly
black ; some of the smaller wing-coverts tipped with
white ; the greater wing-coverts and tertials broadly edged
with rufous brown ; the primaries with narrow outer edges
of brown ; upper tail-coverts uniform pale brown ; tail-
feathers dark brown, edged with lighter brown ; tail nearly
square ; the chin and throat black ; cheeks and sides of
the neck greyish white ; breast dull greyish brown spotted
with black ; belly and under tail-coverts greyish white ;
legs, toes, and claws, brown.

The whole length is rather more than six inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches: the
first three quill -feathers nearly equal in length, but the se-
cond rather the longest ; the fourth feather a little shorter
than the third ; the fifth more than one-eighth of an inch
shorter than the fourth.

The female has the beak brown ; the head and neck of
a uniform brown colour ; the edges of the feathers on the
back and wings are buff colour ; chin, throat, breast, and
all the under surface of the body, pale wood-brown, rather
darker in colour on the sides and flanks. '

Black, white, and buff-coloured varieties of this species
are not uncommon.

552

ERINGILLID^E.

INSESSOKES.

CONIROSTRES.

FRINGILLID^E.

THE GREENFINCH,

OR GREEN GROSBEAK.

Coccothraustes chloris.

Loxia, chloris, Green Grosbeak, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 432.

„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 164.

Coccothraustes „ ., „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 83.

„ „ „ „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 326.

Fringilla „ „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 136.

Coccothraustes „ „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Fringitta „ Gros-bec verdier, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.i.p.346.

COCOOTHRAUSTES. Generic Characters. — Beak conical, very thick at the
base, tapering rapidly to the point ; culmen rounded ; the commissure

GREENFINCH. 553

slightly arched ; lower mandible nearly as large as the upper, its cutting
edges inflected, and shutting within those of the upper. Nostrils basal,
lateral, oblique, oval, nearly hidden by the short feathers at the base of the
beak. Wings long, rather powerful, the second and third quill-feathers of
nearly equal length, and rather longer than the first. Legs with the tarsi
short, not exceeding the length of the middle toe ; the outer toe longer
than the inner one ; claws sharp and curved, the hind toe and claw broad
and strong. Tail short, and more or less forked.

THE GREENFINCH, or Green Grosbeak, as it is very com-
monly called from the great size of its "beak, is one of our
most common birds, and remains in this country through-
out the year, changing its ground occasionally only to ob-
tain a sheltered situation in severe weather. It frequents
gardens, orchards, shrubberies, small woods, and cultivated
lands, where these birds may be seen actively employed,
sometimes on the ground, at other times in tall hedges,
or among the branches of trees, searching for grain, seeds,
or insects, to satisfy their appetite. The notes of this
bird are harsh and monotonous, but it occasionally utters
a few that may be called melodious ; and, like many others
of the Finches, when kept in confinement, it endeavours to
imitate the song of any birds kept in the same room, and
without many qualities to recommend it as a cage bird, it
soon becomes tame and reconciled to its prison.

I have been favoured by a lady with the following
details of a young bird of this species : — " You ask for an
account of my bird. It was a Greenfinch : our acquaint-
ance commenced whilst walking close to house.

A young bird flew on my shoulder ; I drove it away, and it
returned a second and third time ; it having shown such
a determined wish for my protection, induced me to take
it into the house and feed it, intending to let it fly as
soon as able to provide for itself ; but it became in a few
days very familiar, perching on our hands, heads, &c., and
restless unless sitting on my finger, where it would remain

554 FRINGILLIDJE.

for hours, pecking and playing with my cuff, if permitted.
It had perfect liberty to go out of doors, and occasionally
flew out of the window and returned ; sometimes sitting
on my finger when I walked in the garden. On one
occasion it remained out all night, returning at break of
day to my room, the window of which was open to receive
it, and, after waiting to be noticed on my awakening, took
another flight of some hours. It was his delight, whilst I
was dressing, to play with my hair, and he has often fallen
into the hand-basin whilst I was washing. I regularly
went into my sister's room after breakfast with the bird,
and it would often fly before me to her room, as if con-
scious where it was to go. It was impatient in a cage, and
troublesome out, as it was impossible to work or read in
quiet. A needle or ring was a very favourite plaything ; as
soon as it had obtained either of them, it would fly round
and round the room in triumph. It attached itself, I think,
more particularly to me, although my sister was equally
fond of it. It was perfectly tractable, and would go any-
where, even into its prison house, if taken on the finger.
It took a dislike to Mamma, I believe, because she often
caught it and put it in the cage, whilst it would go in
voluntarily for me at any time. On my return from
France, it appeared to have forgotten its old mistress ; and
on my opening the cage, instead of flying instantly on my
finger, it sat still for a long time, and when urged out,
flew immediately out of the window to a tree, and all
our calling, contrary to former custom, was disregarded :
it was Sunday, and the tree stood close to the church.
I fear some boys hunted it, and as the cat came from
under the same tree in the evening, I fear she surprised
our interesting favourite. I have but one thing more to
add : it was most destructive to plants in the room, not
pulling off the leaves, but applying its bill to the stems,

GREENFINCH. 555

and dividing a Heliotrophe or geranium stem in an instant.
I had it about five months, and took no pains to tame it.
I am not fond of birds — compassion was the origin of our
acquaintance, and attachment and confidence on the part
of the bird won my favour."

It is said to be rather a late breeder ; but its nest may
frequently be found towards the end of April in low bushes
or hedges, and sometimes in trees. The nest is composed
on the outside, of coarse fibrous roots, with bits of wood
and green moss interwoven, lined with finer roots, horse-
hair, and feathers. The eggs are from four to six in
number, white, tinged with blue, the larger end spotted
and speckled with purplish grey and dark brown; the
length nine lines and a half, by six lines and a half in
breadth.

The young birds are fed for a time with insects and soft
vegetable substances, and as the season advances these little
families unite, and flocking with Buntings and Finches, feed
in corn fields and stubble lands till winter and its privations
oblige them to resort to the farmer's barn-doors and stack-
yard.

The Greenfinch is found generally in all the cultivated
parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland, except, as stated
by Mr. Macgillivray, the western and northern islands of
Scotland. It is included by authors among the birds of
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden ; but according to M.
Nilsson, it is more common in Sweden in winter than in
summer. It is common in all the countries of southern
Europe, on many of the islands of the Mediterranean, and
is found even as far as Madeira. In a south-eastern di-
rection it was observed by Mr. Strickland to be common
at Smyrna.

M. F. H. Kittlitz, a distinguished naturalist, who went
with a Russian Expedition, in 1827, to the South Seas,

556 FRINGILLID./E.

in his published notes of the birds observed by himself,
mentions at page 33, that he found this Greenfinch rather
numerous in small flocks on the coast of Bonin, or, as it is
named in some maps, Bonin-Siam, an island between four
hundred and five hundred miles east of Japan. The birds
inhabited tall woods near the shore ; and M. Kittlitz adds,
that they ran with facility, and searched for their food on
the ground.

The adult male has the beak of a pale flesh colour ; the
irides hazel ; the whole of the head, neck, back, and upper
part of the wings olive green, or wax yellow ; the exterior
edges of the wings, from the carpal joint to the base of the
primaries, gamboge yellow; the primaries greyish black,
with brilliant gamboge yellow edges on two-thirds of their
length, the outer third, forming the tip, of the same colour
as the body of the feather ; the greater wing-coverts and
the tertials grey ; the rump and upper tail-coverts of a
brighter yellow than the body ; the two middle tail-feathers
shorter than the others, and greyish brown ; the rest on each
side have the basal half gamboge yellow, the terminal part
greyish brown ; the form of the tail forked ; the chin,
throat, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, light wax
yellow, inclining to grey on the sides of the body, and to
gamboge yellow on the belly and under tail-coverts ; the
surface of the smaller under wing-coverts yellow ; under
surface of the basal half of the tail-feathers pale yellow,
the ends grey. Legs, toes, and claws, pale wood-brown.

The whole length of an adult male bird is six inches to
six inches and one quarter. From the carpal joint to the
end of the wing, three inches and a half: the first three
quill-feathers very nearly equal in length ; the fourth one-
eighth of an inch shorter than the third ; the fifth one-
quarter of an inch shorter than the fourth.

In the female, which is rather smaller than the male, the

GREENFINCH. 557

beak is pale brown ; the general colour of the plumage hair-
brown, tinged only with greenish yellow on the outer edges
of the primaries, the rump, and base of the tail-feathers ;
the throat, breast, and belly, pale brown, the latter tinged
with green ; under tail-coverts pale brownish white ; under
wing-coverts tinged with yellow.

Young birds of the year in their first plumage are readily
known by the elongated patches of brown which they bear
at that period on the throat, breast, and belly ; a few clouded
spots are also to be seen on the back.

Young males after their first moult are intermediate in
the general tone of colour between that of the adult male
and the female, but the yellow colour on the primaries does
not extend so far along each feather.

558 FRINGILLIDJS.

INSfiSSORES. FRINGILLIDjE.

CONIROSTRES.

THE HAWFINCH.

Coccothraustes vulgaris.

Loxia coccothraustes, Haw Grosbeak, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 421.
„ „ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ The „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 162.
Coccothraustes vulgaris, Common „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 82.

„ „ Hawfinch, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 324.

Fringilla coccothraustes, Common Grosbeak, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 136.
Coccothraustes vulgaris, Hawfinch, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Fringilla coccothraustes, Le Grosbec, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 344.

THE HAWFINCH is described in most of our Ornitholo-
gical works as an accidental visitor, appearing only in winter ;
but the increased attention bestowed upon the various
branches of Natural History within the last few years, and
the interest attached to an investigation of the habits of
birds in particular, has led to more correct views on the

HAWFINCH. 559

subject ; and this bird is now ascertained to exist even in
very considerable numbers in many different localities, and
to be resident there the whole of the year.

One of the best accounts of this bird is in the first
volume of the Magazine of Zoology and Botany. Mr.
Henry Doubleday, the author of the paper, residing at
Epping, within a short distance of Epping Forest, one of
the localities in which these birds abound, says, " I have
for some years past given close attention to their habits,
and I cai^ safely assert, that they are permanent residents,
nor can I perceive any addition to their numbers by the
arrival of foreigners at any period of the year*

"Their extreme shyness has no doubt contributed to
keep us in ignorance of their habits and economy ; in this
trait they exceed any land bird with which I am acquainted,
and in open places it is almost impossible to approach them
within gun-shot. Their principal food here appears to be
the seed of the Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus, Linn.), which
is the prevailing species of tree in Epping Forest ; they
also feed on the kernels of the haws, plum stones, laurel
berries, &c., and in summer make great havoc amongst
green peas in gardens in the vicinity of the forest.

" About the middle of April they pair, and in a week or
two commence nidification. The situation of the nest is
various ; but is most commonly placed in an old scrubby
whitethorn bush, often in a very exposed situation ; they
also frequently build on the horizontal arms of large oaks,
the heads of pollard hornbeams, in hollies, and occasionally
in fir trees in plantations ; the elevation at which the nest
is placed varying from five to twenty-five or thirty feet.
The most correct description of the nest which I have seen
is in Latham's Synopsis. It is there said to be composed
of the dead twigs of oak, honeysuckle, &c., intermixed
with pieces of grey lichen ; the quantity of this last ma-

560 FRINGILLIM.

terial varies much in different nests, but it is never absent ;
in some it is only very sparingly placed among the twigs ;
in others the greater part of the nest is composed of it ;
the lining consists of fine roots and a little hair. The whole
fabric is very loosely put together, and it requires consider-
able care to remove it from its situation uninjured."

In a letter from Mr. Henry Doubleday, the situations
of five nests are thus noticed ; one was built in a white-
thorn, one on the head of a pollard hornbeam, a third
twenty-five feet from the ground on a spruce fir,J;he fourth
on a tall red cedar, the fifth in a holly. Joseph Gurney
Barclay, Esq., who lives at Ley ton, on the London border
of Epping Forest, pointed out to me a nest of this bird in
an apple tree in his garden. This gentleman had also taken
a nest from a tall whitethorn on the forest. The nest in
this instance was formed of twigs laid across the branches
in various directions as a framework or foundation of sup-
port ; and the whole of the upper part was composed of
gardeners' bass, wreathed in circles, and mixed with a few
fine roots. A nest brought to me, containing three eggs
and one young bird, which was taken from a tall fir tree
near Bexley, had a flat under surface of dead twigs of fir
and birch, nearly as thick as a wheat straw, with fibrous
roots and grey lichen laid flat upon them, the structure re-
sembling the platform nests made by Doves and Pigeons.

Mr. Doubleday says, " The eggs vary in number from
four to six, and are of a pale olive green, spotted with
black, and irregularly streaked with dusky grey. Some
specimens are far less marked than others, and I have seen
some of a uniform pale green ;" the length eleven lines by
eight lines and a half in breadth.

" The young are hatched about the third week in May,
and as soon as they are able to provide for themselves,
they unite with the old birds in flocks, varying in numbers

HAWFINCH. 561

from fifteen or twenty to one hundred, or even to two
hundred individuals. In this manner they remain through
the winter, feeding on the hornbeam seeds which have
fallen to the ground, the newly-cracked shells of which
are to be seen in abundance at their haunts; the birds
only separate at the approach of the breeding season. I
believe the male has no song worth notice ; in warm days
in March I have heard them, when a number have been
sitting together on a tree, uttering a few notes in a soft
tone, bearing some resemblance to those of the Bullfinch."

A female in the possession of Mr. Bartlett sung the notes
of the Linnet ; but being afterwards hung out of doors, it
learned to imitate the song of a Blackbird, though but
indifferently ; on the occurrence of the autumn moult she
discontinued her imitations of the Blackbird's song, and
seemed afterwards to have forgotten it.

Mr. Doubleday remarks, " that although so common in
his neighbourhood, the Hawfinch is but little known, which
is to be attributed to its shy and retired habits." These
birds generally perch on the highest branches of a tree, or
upon a dead or naked bough, from whence they keep so
good a look-out that it is very difficult to get near them.

I have known a Hawfinch to be shot as near London as
Netting Hill, and two others were caught in that neigh-
bourhood by a bat-fowling net. Mr. Jesse, in his instruc-
tive Gleanings, says that this bird breeds about Roehampton,
and refers to one nest that was found in the grounds of
Lord Clifden, at the extremity of a branch of a horse-
chestnut tree near the lodge, and it has been known to
build in other localities in Surrey but a few miles from
London. Mr. H. L. Meyer, the author of Coloured Il-
lustrations of British Birds, whilst publishing that work,
gave me a specimen which was shot near Esher. In Kent
this species is observed to exist in considerable numbers at

VOL, i. o o

562 FRINGILLIM.

Dartford, and about Maidstone. Mr. Gould says that it is
abundant on the estate of W. Wells, Esq., at Redleaf, near
Penshurst, that gentleman having, with the assistance of a
small telescope, counted eighteen at one time on his lawn.
The bird figured many years ago by Edwards in his Glean-
ings of Natural History, was killed at Goodwood, in Sussex.
They have been known to breed near Windsor, and young
birds were obtained when paying their daily visits to some
young peas in a garden, which from concurring testimony
appear to be much sought after by these birds as food in
summer. They have been noticed about Chipping Norton,
in Oxfordshire, and repeatedly seen by Gilbert White at
Selborne, in Hampshire. They have been obtained occa-
sionally in Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and in the eastern as
well as western part of Cornwall. According to Pennant,
Montagu, and Mr. Eyton, they occur in winter in Glouces-
tershire and Shropshire ; they have been met with at Orms-
kirk, in Lancashire, and one was seen frequently in the
spring of 1833 about the gardens and pleasure grounds at
Woodside, four miles south of Carlisle. Mr. Thompson
sends me word that the Hawfinch has in a very few in-
stances been obtained in different parts of Ireland.

Eastward and northward from London this bird is most
plentiful in the vicinity of Epping Forest, and is found as
far towards the east coast as Manningtree. It occurs in
Sussex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and occasion-
ally about York ; but is not included by Mr. Selby in his
Catalogue of the Birds of Durham and Northumberland.
Sir William Jar dine sends me word that it has been once
or twice killed in Dumfriesshire, but it is not common in
Scotland.

The Hawfinch is included by Miiller among his birds of
Denmark, and by Professor Nilsson in those of Sweden
and of Scandinavia generally, but it is considered rare ; it

HAWFINCH. 563

occurs sparingly in Russia, but is found in Siberia and
Northern Asia. On the European continent it is plenti-
ful, in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, Corfu, Sicily,
and Malta. M. Temminck includes the Hawfinch in his
Catalogue of the Birds of Japan, and the Zoological So-
ciety have received a skin of this bird from China.

The beak of the adult male in summer is blue, around
the base is a line of black, which on the lore reaches to
the eye ; the irides greyish white ; the top of the head,
cheeks, ear-coverts, and nape of the neck, fawn colour,
lightest on the forehead and cheeks, darkest on the nape of
the neck ; lower part of the neck above grey ; upper part
of the back, scapulars, and part of the tertials, rich chest-
nut brown ; smaller wing-coverts black ; larger wing-
coverts white, except the three nearest the body of the
bird, which are fawn colour ; quill-feathers bluish black,
with more or less white on the inner webs ; the fifth and
four succeeding primaries singularly formed, like an an-
tique battle or bill -hook, — a figure of a feather is given ;
the other quill -feathers nearer the body are square at

the end; rump and upper tail-coverts fawn colour; the
outside tail-feather on each side black at the base and on
the outer web, the distal half of the inner web white ; the
next four on each side also black at the base, with the
ends of both webs white, the proportion of white diminish-
ing in each feather ; the two centre tail-feathers rather

oo #

564 FRINGILLIM.

shorter than the others, and greyish brown, tipped with
white ; chin and throat velvet black : sides of the neck, the
breast and belly, pale nutmeg brown ; under tail -co verts
white ; legs, toes, and claws, pale wood-brown.

The whole length of the bird is full seven inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, four inches : the
first three quill -feathers very nearly equal in length, but
the second rather the longest of the three ; the fourth one-
eighth of an inch shorter than the third ; the fifth three-
eighths of an inch shorter than the fourth.

In the female, the black at the base of the beak and on
the lore, or space between the beak and the eye, is much
less conspicuous than in the male ; the black patch on the
chin is also of smaller size ; the colours of the head, neck,
and back, less pure, and blending more with each other ;
the white colour on the larger wing-coverts more mixed
with brown, and the outer webs of the tertials are bluish
grey.

In the young bird, and in the old ones during winter,
the beak is of a fleshy red colour, but inclining to pale
brown on the ridge of the upper mandible ; the head, neck,
and upper parts, yellowish olive brown ; the bar on the
wing less conspicuous ; the throat yellow, bounded by a
small line of brown spots, which indicate the outline of
the black patch on the throat of adult birds ; under surface
of the body pale yellowish brown, each feather tipped with
darker brown.

The nest is figured at the end of the account of the
next bird but one, the Siskin.

GOLDFINCH. 565

INSESSOBES. FRINGILLID^.

CONIROSTRES.

THE GOLDFINCH.

Carduelis elegans.

Fringilla cardudis, The Goldfinch, - PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 447.

„ „ „ MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 195.

„ „ „ FLEM. Brit. An. p. 85.

Carduelis elegans, „ SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol.i. p. 312.

Fringilla cardudis, „ JENTNS, Brit. Vert. p. 137.

Carduelis elegans, „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Fringilla cardudis, Gros-bec chardonneret, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 376.

CARDUELIS. Generic Characters. — Beak lengthened, conic, compressed ;
the point attenuated and acute ; commissure slightly curved. Nostrils
basal, lateral, covered by small incumbent plumes. Wings lengthened,
pointed ; the first, second, and third quills nearly equal, and longest. Tail
moderate, slightly forked. Feet with the middle toe longer than the tarsus,
which is equal to the hind toe ; lateral toes short, of equal length; claws
slender, curved, and acute.

THE genus Carduelis was proposed by Brisson for the
reception of the Goldfinch, and other allied species, of

566 FRINGILLID^.

which many are known ; and this distinction has received
the sanction, by adoption, of Baron Cuvier, and several
other naturalists. These birds belong to M. Temminck's
third section of the Finches, Gros-bec, distinguished by the
term Longicones*

Gay plumage, lively habits, an agreeable form and song,
with a disposition to become attached to those who feed
them, are such strong recommendations, that the Goldfinch
has been, and will probably long continue to be, one of
the most general cage favourites. So well also do the
birds of this species bear confinement, that they have been
known to live ten years in captivity, continuing in song
the greater part of each year. This tendency to sing and
call make them valuable as brace birds, decoy birds, and
call birds, to be used by the bird-catcher with his ground
nets ; while the facility with which others are captured,
the numbers to be obtained, and the constant demand for
them by the public, render the Goldfinch one of the most
important species included within the bird-dealer's traffic.

Goldfinches, and the small Finches generally, are also
favourites on another account : they are taught, without
much difficulty, to perform a variety of amusing tricks,
such as to draw up water for themselves by a small thimble-
sized bucket, or to raise the lid of a small box to obtain
the seed within. Mr. Syme, in his History of British
Song Birds, when speaking of the Sieur Roman, who some
years since exhibited Goldfinches, Linnets, and Canaries,
wonderfully trained, relates, that one appeared dead, and
was held up by the tail or claw, without exhibiting any
signs of life ; a second stood on its head with its claws in
the air ; a third imitated a Dutch milk-maid going to
market with pails on its shoulders ; a fourth mimicked a
Venetian girl looking out at a window ; a fifth appeared as
a soldier, and mounted guard as a sentinel ; and the sixth

GOLDFINCH. 567

acted as a cannoneer, with a cap on its head, a firelock on
its shoulder, and a match in its claw, and discharged a
small cannon. The same bird also acted as if it had been
wounded. It was wheeled in a barrow, to convey it, as it
were, to the hospital ; after which it flew away before the
company. The seventh turned a kind of windmill ; and
the last bird stood in the midst of some fireworks which
were discharged all round it, and this without exhibiting
the least symptom of fear.

In spring, and the early part of summer, the Goldfinch
frequents gardens and orchards. Hurdis, in his Village
Curate, page 44, says: —

" I love to hear the Goldfinch twit and twit,
And see him pick the groundsel's feathered seeds ;
And then in bower of apple blossom perched,
Trim his gay suit, and pay us with a song."

The Goldfinch builds a very neat nest, which is some-
times fixed in an apple or pear tree ; occasionally in a
hedge, or thick bush in a small copse, or an evergreen in
a plantation. A nest before me is formed on the out-
side with fine twigs of fir, green grass bents, fine roots,
some wool, and several pieces of white worsted, curiously
interwoven together ; lined with willow down, feathers, and
numerous long hairs. It has been well observed, " that
birds will in general take the materials for building which
they can most easily procure." Bolton, in the preface to
his Harmonia Ruralis, says, " I observed a pair of Gold-
finches beginning to make their nest in my garden, on the
10th of May, 1792: they had formed the groundwork with
moss, grass, &c., as usual; but on my scattering small
parcels of wool in different parts of the garden, they in
a great measure left off the use of their own stuff, and
employed the wool. Afterwards I gave them cotton, on
which they rejected the wool, and proceeded with the

568 ERINGILLID^.

cotton ; the third day I supplied them with fine down, on
which they forsook both the other, and finished their work
with this last article. The nest, when completed, was
somewhat larger than is usually made by this bird, but
retained the pretty roundness of figure and neatness of
workmanship which is proper to the Goldfinch. .The nest
was completed in the space of three days, and remained
unoccupied for the space of four days, the first egg not
being laid till the seventh day from beginning the work."
The eggs are four or five in number, pale bluish white,
with a few spots and lines of pale purple and brown ; the
length eight lines and a half, the breadth six lines.

The young birds are fed for a time with caterpillars, and
other insects, and when able to follow their parents, they
rove together in small flocks over commons and other un-
cultivated lands to feed on the ripened seeds of the thistle,
burdock, or dandelion, with chick weed, groundsel, or
plantain. If watched while thus feeding, they may be
seen climbing and clinging in all directions and positions
about the stems, picking out their favourite portions. If
approached too near, the little party, one by one, move off
to the next nearest patch, with undulating flight, twitter-
ing as they rise —

" Each outstretched wing
A fairy fan, with golden sticks adorned,"

and thus roving in small flocks, through the autumn and
winter, living almost entirely on various seeds, particularly
those of the different species of thistle, they perform
good service to the agriculturist by consuming the prolific
source of many a noxious weed.

The Goldfinch is found in numerous localities, both in
England and Wales ; it occurs, according to Mr. Thomp-
son, in certain parts of Ireland ; and as an inhabitant of

GOLDFINCH. 569

the south of Scotland, is mentioned by Sir Robert Sibbald,
Sir William Jardine, and Mr. Macgillivray.

It is found in Sweden, and is said to be found also in
Europe from Siberia to the Grecian Archipelago. It is
certainly abundant in Germany, France, Provence, Spain,
and Italy ; it is found also at Corfu, Sicily, Malta, and
Crete ; Mr. Strickland says it is common at Smyrna, and
the Zoological Society have received specimens sent by
Keith Abbot, Esq., from Trebizond.

The beak is whitish horn colour, black at the tip ; irides
dusky brown ; the whole circumference at the base of the
beak crimson red ; cheeks and ear-coverts white ; top of
the head black, which colour descends from the occiput in a
band on each side of the neck ; nape of the neck below the
occipital band white ; back, scapulars, and rump, dusky
wood-brown ; carpal portion of the wing, and the smaller
wing-coverts, black ; greater wing- coverts, and the outer
edge of the basal half of each primary, brilliant gamboge
yellow ; the remaining portion of the primaries, and nearly
all the other quill -feathers black ; the tertials with a spot
of white at the tip ; upper tail-coverts greyish white : tail-
feathers black ; the outer feather on each side with an oval-
shaped spot of white on the inner web ; tail in form slightly
forked. Chin, as before remarked, crimson red, around it
white ; the whole of the under surface of the body dull
white ; tinged on the sides of the neck, the throat, on the
breast, sides of the body, and on the thighs, with wood-
brown ; under wing-coverts white ; legs and toes pale flesh
colour ; claws brown.

The whole length of the bird is five inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches and seven-
eighths : the first, second, and third quill-feathers, nearly
equal in length, the first rather the longest; the fourth,
one-eighth shorter than the third.

570 FRINGILLIDJE.

In the females, the red on the forehead and chin occupies
smaller space, and is frequently speckled with black ; the
lesser wing-coverts are brown, and the other colours gene-
rally are less brilliant.

In young birds of the year, which for distinction's sake
are called by the bird-catchers and bird-dealers, Branchers,
the whole of the head, neck, back, and sides of the chest,
are nearly uniform greyish brown ; the other parts resem-
ble in colour those of the female. " The black begins to
appear on the head of the young Goldfinches about the
middle of September, and the red at the end of that month.
On one which was kept in confinement, the black colour
first showed itself on the 1st of October, and was perfect
on the first of November ; the face was covered with a dull
orange, much mixed with black ; it is some time before the
head assumes its perfect covering."*

* Field Naturalist's Magazine.

SISKIN.

INSESSORES.

CON1ROSTRES.

571

FEINGILLIDM.

THE SISKIN.
Carduelis spinus.

Fringilla spinus, Tlie Siskin,

Cardudis
Fringilla
Carduelis
Fringilla

Gros-bec tarin,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 405.
MONT. Suppl. to Omith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 197.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 85.
SELBT, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 309.
JENTNS, Brit. Yert. p. 137.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 371.

THE SISKIN, or Aberdevine, as it is also called, is a visitor
to this country, arriving in flocks from the North in autumn,
and comes generally in company with the Lesser Redpole,
to be hereafter described, many of which also pass the
summer in high northern latitudes. The Siskin appears to
be much more plentiful in the North than with us in the
South; and there seems to be no doubt that some, perhaps

572 FRINGILLID^.

many, pairs remain and breed annually in or about the fir-
woods and plantations of the northern counties of England
and Scotland, some recorded instances of which will be re-
ferred to. Although greatly reduced in numbers before
these flocks arrive in the southern counties, the Siskin is
not uncommon from September to April, and is most fre-
quently seen in small flocks, sometimes by themselves, but
more frequently in company with Linnets and Redpoles,
twittering almost incessantly as they fly, apparently for the
purpose of keeping them together, while they search the
alder, birch, and larch, for seeds as food ; their voice also
very much resembling that of the Lesser Redpole.

Although this bird has been known to breed in three or
four different localities in the northern parts of this island,
and has been seen during the breeding-season in others, it
is seldom found south in the summer, or after the month
of April, about which time it departs for the North ; and
I have only heard of two instances of its remaining to breed
near London. Mr. Meyer informs me that the Siskin has
built twice in furze, about three feet from the ground,
near Combe Wood; the eggs were taken in both instances :
they were hatched by Canaries, and some of the young
were reared, so that no doubt remained of the species.
With care, and some attention to their particular wants,
the Siskin has bred in confinement with several persons ;
and these birds are in some request with London bird-
dealers, who pair the Siskin with a Canary, and by that
means obtain a bird whose song, unlike that of most Ca-
naries, is not too loud for a room.

In Surrey, Sussex, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire, this bird
is seen more or less frequently from Michaelmas to April ;
in Cornwall it is more rare : but Mr. Couch, in his Cornish
Fauna, mentions having had a young specimen of the year
brought alive to him on the 31st of October, 1835. Mr.

SISKIN. 573

Eyton says it is common in Shropshire, mostly in company
with the Little Redpole ; and Mr. Thompson says it is an
occasional winter visitor to Ireland. From London the
numbers of this bird increase as we proceed northward, and
they are almost always seen in flocks in winter, and feeding
on the seeds of the alder. In Suffolk and Norfolk they are
at times abundant. Dr. William Turner, who published
his Avium Prcecipuarium, &c., in 1544, mentions having
then seen the Siskin in the fields of Cambridgeshire, and
the Rev. L. Jenyns also records their appearance in the
same county in 1844. They are not uncommon in winter
in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire ; and Mr. Selby observes
them to be more or less abundant every winter in Durham
and Northumberland. In the former county, a nest, in
form and materials very like that of the Redpole, was found
near the top of a tall spruce fir. Mr. Howitt, of Lan-
caster, sent me word that large flocks, containing several
hundred birds, have been seen there during winter ; a few
remained in the summer of 1836 to breed, six pair of old
birds were seen about, and later in the season several young
ones.

Sir William Jardine, in a note appended to the descrip-
tion of the American Siskin, in the first volume of his
edition of Wilson's American Ornithology, says of our
British species, "A few pairs not performing the migration
to its utmost northern extent, breed in the larger pine
woods in the Highlands of Scotland. In 1829 they were
met with in June, in a large fir wood at Killin, evidently
breeding ; last year they were known to breed in an ex-
tensive wood at New Abbey, in Galloway. In their winter
migrations they are not regular, particular districts being
visited by them at uncertain periods. In Annandale, Dum-
friesshire, they were always accounted rare ; and the first
pair I ever saw there was shot in 1827. Early in October,

574 FRINGILLID^J.

as the winter advanced, very large flocks arrived, and fed
chiefly upon the ragweed, and under some large beech trees,
turning over the fallen mast, and eating part of the kernels,
as well as any seeds they could find among them. In 1828
they again appeared; but in 1829 not one was seen. In
the winter of 1830 they were equally wanting."

Mr. Drew, of Paisley, says, " Early in June, 1 833, at
which time I resided at Inverary, I went out one morning
to fish, and, according to my usual practice, I carried a
light gun with me. I was rather surprised, at that season,
to see a pair of Siskins among some furze bushes, on the
shore of Lochfine, and the birds being close together, I
killed both. On dissecting the female, an egg was found
ready for exclusion, and I never had any doubt but that
the birds were breeding in the neighbourhood, though I
did not look for, or see, the nest. It is very likely that it
was in some of the spruces, which were the predominant
trees in the place. I subsequently secured a pair of Siskins
in the same locality."

A correspondent, residing in the Vale of Alford, Aber-
deenshire, thus notices in Mr. London's Magazine of Na-
tural History, vol. iv., the appearance of the Siskin in the
breeding season : — " A gentleman in the neighbourhood
observed some about the middle of May ; the first that I
noticed was on the 27th : it was picking seeds of grass on
the edge of the road, and was not at all shy ; I saw others
afterwards, at different times and places, till the end of
June."

William Gardiner, Esq., jun., of Dundee, says of the
Siskin, " Occasionally a pair or two linger with us during
the breeding-season, and produce their young. Near the
end of May, 1834, a nest full of young ones was found in
Camperdown Woods ; the nest was situated close to the
trunk, at the insertion of a branch of a spruce fir, about

SISKIN. 575

six feet from the ground. It was composed of materials
similar to those used by the Chaffinch, and contained three
birds covered with a black down. The old ones were also
taken." — London's Magazine, vol. viii. This gentleman has
succeeded in breeding and rearing Siskins in confinement,
and states that incubation lasts fourteen days ; the young
were fledged in fifteen days, and left the nest at the end of
the third week. Siskins also bred in confinement under the
management of Mr. Alfred Newton, at Elveden Hall, Thet-
ford.

This species inhabits Scandinavia, and the southern pro-
vinces of Russia ; is said to breed occasionally in Germany,
but is a visitor for the winter, appearing in autumn in
Holland, France, Provence, and Italy. M. Temminck
states that specimens received from Japan resemble our
Siskin in every particular.

The adult male in summer has the beak orange brown ;
the top of the head velvet black ; the lore, or space between
the beak and the eye, is also black ; the irides dusky brown ;
the cheeks and ear-coverts yellowish green ; back and sca-
pulars greenish olive, streaked longitudinally with dusky
black ; small wing-coverts black, tipped with yellow ;
greater wing-coverts yellow at the base, tipped with black ;
quill -feathers dusky black, edged with yellow ; rump and
upper tail-coverts yellow ; tail-feathers yellow at the base,
dusky black at the end, with narrow light-coloured edges ;
the tail slightly forked. Chin black ; throat, breast, and
belly, yellowish green, streaked longitudinally with dusky
black on the sides, flanks, and belly ; under tail-coverts
greyish white ; legs, toes, and claws, brown.

The whole length of the bird is four inches and five-
eighths. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing,
two inches and seven-eighths : the first three quill -feathers
nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing, the first

576 FRINGILLID^.

being rather the longest of the three ; the fourth one-eighth
shorter than the third.

At the moult which follows the breeding-season, the
yellow colour is much less brilliant, and the feathers of
the head are brownish at the end, hiding the black at the
base. The plumage becomes much richer towards the season
of incubation. The black parts become deeper, and the
olive of a yellower green.

The female is smaller than the male, measuring from
four inches and a quarter to three-eighths in length ; the
head, back, and upper part of the wings, greyish olive
brown, streaked with dusky black ; under parts greyish
white, streaked with dusky black, and tinged with green-
ish yellow on the throat and breast.

Young males, after their first moult, have the black
feathers on the head margined with brown, and the colours,
though brighter than those of the female, are not so vivid
as those of the adult male.

The nest below is that of the Hawfinch, previously de-
scribed.

INSESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

COMMON LINNET. 577

FRINGILLID&.

THE COMMON LINNET.

Linota cannabina.

Fringilla linota, Linnet Finch,

„ cannabina, Red-headed Finch,
„ linota, Brown Linnet,
„ cannabina, Greater Redpole,
„ linota, The Linnet,
„ cannabina, Greater Redpole,
„ „ Brovm Linnet,

Common ,,

Linaria

}>
Fringilla

Gros-bec linotte,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 462.
464.
MONT. Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 205.
201.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 84.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 139.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 315.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith.vol.i. p. 364.

LINOTA. Generic Characters. — Beak straight, conical, pointed. Nostrils
basal, lateral, concealed by short feathers. Wings long, somewhat pointed;
the first, second, and third feathers nearly equal in length. Tarsi short ;
feet with lateral toes of equal length ; the hind toe and claw as long as
that in the middle ; claws slender, acute, and curved. Tail forked.
VOL. I. P P

578 FRINGILLIDJ;.

THE propriety of advancing the Linnets, of which there
are many species, to generic distinction among the Finches,
appears to be admitted by many of the Naturalists of the
present day; but the term Linaria, which has latterly been
applied to them, has been considered objectionable and even
inadmissible, from the circumstance of this word having
been employed in Botany more than two hundred years.*

From the great changes which our Common Linnet un-
dergoes at different periods of the year, it was long sup-
posed that there were two species included under this name,
and the specific terms linota and cannabina were applied to
them, as a reference to the synonymes of Pennant, Mon-
tagu, and Bewick, here quoted, will show. These seasonal
changes and appearances are now better understood, and in
the case of our Common Linnet, under consideration, are
known to constitute only the summer and winter plumage
of the same individual species. It is obviously an advan-
tage to combine the two specific words by which the Linnet
has hitherto been systematically known, and I therefore
adopt the term Linota for the generic term, as proposed by
Prince Charles Bonaparte, in his Geographical and Com-
parative List of the Birds of Europe and North America.
One other additional advantage is also gained ; — our Lesser
Redpole will still retain the specific name of linaria, by

* The term Linaria was employed in Botany to distinguish certain
species of toadflax, by Fabius Columna, who published in 1616, and this
word was probably so used even before that date. It was again made use
of by Caspar Bauhim in his Pinax, published in 1671. In 1699 this word
was adopted by Tournefort, in his Institutions Rei Herbaria, and the
characters of the genus are beautifully illustrated in Tab. 76 of that work ;
seven species were then described as belonging to this genus, and the name
was continued by Jussieu in his Genera Plantarum, published in 1789.
Linneus did not adopt the genus Linaria, but included the species in his
genus Antirrhinum; in this arrangement, however, the example of Linneus
has not been followed by systematic botanists, who still continue to use and
refer to the generic term Linaria.

COMMON LINNET. 579

which it has been so long known, and thus another change
will be avoided.

Our Common Linnet, which, assuming in the breeding
season a red colour on the breast, is then called the Rose
Linnet, and at other times the Brown Linnet, is a well-
known species, existing in great numbers on most of the
uncultivated lands of this country, appearing to prefer
commons and fields of furze. The gay and active habits
of this species, their sprightly and agreeable notes, would
enliven a dreary scene, while their social disposition in
confinement renders them great favourites with those who
are partial to caged birds. Except during the breeding
season, these birds are usually seen in flocks, roving from
place to place, feeding generally upon small seeds, particu-
larly those of the cruciform plants, with other seeds of
flax,* thistle, and dandelion.

In the pairing season, the thickest parts of furze bushes
are generally selected as the place for incubation, and the
birds begin building early in spring. The nest is usually
formed of small twigs on the outside, with bents of grass,
lined with wool, and sometimes with the addition of hair
or feathers. I have known the Linnet's nest to be placed
high in a whitethorn bush, and I have a note of one that
was found in a fir tree, ten or eleven feet above the ground.
The eggs are four or five in number, of a pale bluish white
colour, speckled with pale purple and reddish brown ; the
length nine lines, by six lines and a half in breadth.

When the broods are reared, and the summer over, these
birds again flock together, feeding on the stubble grounds,
and waste lands ; and in the maritime counties, Mr. Selby
observes, that in winter these flocks descend to the sea-

* The Linnets were probably so named from their partiality to the seeds
of the various species of flax,— j^mtrn, Linaria, Linota, La Linotte,
Linnet.

PP 2

580 FRINGILLIM.

coast, where they continue to reside till returning spring
again urges them to pair.

The Linnet, generally distributed over England, is also
common in Ireland, as I learn from Mr. Thompson ; and
Sir William Jardine sends me word that it is common
during summer in the whin covers, and occurs in large
flocks during winter on the stubbles and fallows : it is
found also in the south and east of Scotland. Mr. Selby
observed it in summer in Sutherlandshire ; and the Rev.
Mr. Low says it is abundant in Orkney and Shetland.
The Linnet is an inhabitant of Denmark, Norway, Sweden,
and the southern provinces of Russia, where it remains all
the year. It is found from thence over the whole of the
European continent to the southward ; it is very common
in France, Provence, Spain, and Italy; it is found in
Corfu, Sicily, Malta, Crete, the Levant, and at Smyrna ;
the Zoological Society have received specimens sent by
Keith Abbot, Esq., from Erzeroum, about a hundred
miles south-east of Trebizond, on the shores of the Black
Sea; and M. Temminck includes it in his Catalogue of
the Birds of Japan.

The male of the Common Linnet in summer has the
beak of a bluish lead colour ; the irides hazel ; the feathers
of the fore part and top of the head greyish brown at the
base, but vermillion red at the tip ; round the eye, the ear-
coverts, and back of the neck, greyish brown ; the whole
of the back, wings, and upper tail-coverts, uniform rich
chestnut brown; quill -feathers nearly black, with very
narrow outer margins of white ; tail-feathers black, with
narrow outer edges, and broader inner edges of white ;
tail rather forked ; chin and throat a mixture of brown
and grey ; breast vermillion red, with a few pale brown
feathers intermixed; belly and under tail-coverts pale
wood-brown ; the flanks darker yellowish brown ; the

COMMON LINNET. 581

under surface of the tail-feathers when spread out exhibits
a series of grey and white longitudinal bars ; legs, toes, and
claws, brown.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and three-
quarters. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing-
feathers, three inches and one-eighth ; the first three quill-
feathers nearly equal in length, but the first rather the
longest ; the fourth feather one quarter of an inch shorter
than the third.

In autumn and winter these birds have no red colour on
the head or breast ; the beak is brownish horn colour ; the
feathers of the head, cheeks, and ear-coverts, dark brown,
with lighter greyish brown edges ; back, wings, and tail-
coverts, dark brown, the margin of each feather being
lighter in colour, but with less of the rich chestnut colour
observed in summer ; quill and tail-feathers as in winter ;
throat, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, pale wood-
brown, with conspicuous longitudinal streaks of dark brown
on the breast.

Males do not -in confinement acquire the fine red colour
which pervades the breast of a mature wild bird ; and a
female has been taken bearing a fine red breast, but this is
not generally the case. The particular plumage, however,
assumed during the breeding season by many species, being
a periodical indication of constitutional and sexual vigour,
is borne in degree by both sexes.

The female Linnet is a little smaller than the male, and
has the upper surface of the body rather lighter in colour,
and more varied with dark brown patches ; the under sur-
face of the body slightly tinged with rufous, and streaked
with brown.

Young birds resemble the females, and have the breast,
belly, and flanks, streaked longitudinally with brown.

The vignette below represents the mode of working the

582

FRINGILLID^E.

clap-net, a particular sort of ground-net in constant use
among London bird-catchers. It consists of two equal
parts, or sides, each about twelve yards long, by two yards
and a half wide, and these two sides are by an ingenious
contrivance pulled over together towards each other, so as
to cover the oblong space between their points of motion,
which are in parallel lines nearly as far apart as the width
of both halves of the net. Various call -birds, either fixed
by braces, or confined in small cages, are placed about the
net to decoy the wild birds down that come within sight
or healing. One bird-catcher is represented in the act of
pulling the two halves of the net over to enclose and entrap
the birds between them ; the figure in the foreground, with
his nets packed at his back, exhibits the convenient porta-
bility of the materials.

INSESSOItES.

CONIROSTRES.

MEALY REDPOLE.

583
FRINGILLID^E.

THE MEALY REDPOLE.

Linota canescens.

Linaria canescens, Mealy Redpole, GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ „ „ EYTON, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 19.

„ borealis, „ „ MACGILLIV. Brit. Birds, p. 388.

Fringilla „ Gros-bec Boreal, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. pt. iii. p. 264.

Linota canescens, BONAP. Catalogue, p. 34.

THE MEALY REDPOLE, figured above, has been con-
sidered by several Ornithologists to be merely a large variety
of the Lesser Redpole, L. linaria, next to be described ;
but sufficient evidence appear to exist to entitle this bird
to specific distinction, and the synonymes of those authors
who have hitherto considered it only as a variety are here
omitted. The Mealy Redpole is figured as a species by
John Walcott, Esq., in his Synopsis of British Birds, and
it now ranks as a species in the works of Prince Charles

584 FRINGILLIM.

Bonaparte, of Mr. Gould, and Mr. Eyton. By the
synonyme quoted in his work, Mr. Macgillivray appears
to consider our Mealy Redpole as identical with the
Fringilla Borealis of the third part of M. Temminck's
Manual, and the description there given of the plumage
in its various states very closely resembles that of our
bird. The Lesser Redpole of this country has been con-
sidered identical with the Redpole of North America;
but, according to the testimony of Mr. Gould, the North
American bird appears to be the L. canescens, or Mealy
Redpole, rather than the Lesser Redpole of authors ; and
the measurements given in the different works on the
Birds of North America, approach nearer to those of
our Mealy Redpole, than to the lesser bird. Mr. Gould,
in the article on the Mealy Redpole in his Birds of
Europe, says, " Whether this species is truly a native
of Europe, or whether those which occur in our island are
arrivals from the northern portions of the American conti-
nent, is a matter of doubt ; true it is that the specimens
brought home by Sir John Richardson, which furnished
the descriptions given in the Fauna-Boreali Americana, are
strictly identical with the bird before us." The Prince
Charles Bonaparte includes two species of Redpole in his
Catalogue of the Birds of North America, Borealis and
Linaria.

To return, however, to our English species : the Mealy
Redpole, or Stone Redpole, as it is also called, is well
known to the London dealers in birds, and considered by
them as distinct from the Lesser Redpole ; but the occur-
rence of the Mealy Redpole in the vicinity of London is
rare even to those men who, obtaining their livelihood by
bird- catching, trap hundreds of dozens of birds in the
course of the year. The Lesser Redpole, on the contrary,
is very common. A respectable dealer in birds tells me

MEALY KEDPOLE. 585

that about twenty-three years ago, the Mealy Redpoles were
very abundant for a time, but Lesser Redpoles scarcely
then to be got ; and Mr. Gould mentions that in the year
1829, the Mealy Redpoles were again particularly abun-
dant, and were caught in great numbers.

The best specimens I possess of this bird were given me
by my friend Mr. Henry Doubleday, of Epping, who sup-
plied me also with the following observations. " During a
visit to Colchester in January, 1836, I observed some Red-
poles feeding on the alder, in company with the Siskin.
On shooting some, they proved to be the Mealy Redpole,
and I am convinced were all of this species, as I could
plainly see their pale or nearly white rumps. A friend
from Colchester brought me a pair alive; these I kept
some time, and there was certainly a difference in their
note, being sharper ; but as they had been kept some weeks
with a number of Canaries, I thought it possible that the
Mealy Redpoles had caught part of the Canary's note.
When I was at Colchester, I could form no opinion of the
Mealy Redpole's note in a wild state, from the continual
chatter of the Siskins. In Prince Charles Bonaparte's
Catalogue of the Birds of Europe and North America,
three Redpoles are given, viz., our common one, Linota
linaria, Linota canescens, Mr. Gould's plate of the Mealy
Redpole being referred to for this species, and Linota
Borealis, which is stated to inhabit Europe generally ; now
I always thought that the Borealis of M. Temminck was
our Mealy Redpole. When skinning this bird, the head
has always appeared to me broader than that of the com-
mon species ; but I am sorry that I have not a skull to
make the comparison, as I have had so few specimens of
the Mealy bird." This desideratum, in further proof of
the distinction between this bird and our Common Redpole,
I am, however, enabled to supply from another quarter.

586 FRINGILLIDJJ.

Mr. Pelerin, a Naturalist, living in Great Russell Street,
who has prepared for himself an extensive collection of the
crania and skeletons of animals, has most freely allowed me
the use of a cranium of each of our Redpoles, from which
the representations forming the subject of the vignette at
the end of the account of the next Redpole were carefully
drawn ; where, in addition to the side and back view of
each, the double parallel lines exhibit at once the com-
parative length and breadth of each head.

In the Museum at Saffron Walden, there is a male of
the Mealy Redpole, which was killed in that neighbourhood
in May, 1836, and one shot by Mr. Pelerin at Oundle was
sufficiently advanced in its spring plumage to have acquired
a considerable portion of red colour on the breast ; the oc-
currence of this species, for such I consider it, is, however,
most frequent in winter ; many specimens have been ob-
tained in England, and some in Scotland. Its habits
throughout the year are probably very similar to those of
the Little Common Redpole next to be described, and
with which it has frequently been confounded. Its food
is the seeds of various forest trees.

Thinking it not improbable that the Mealy Redpole
named canescens by Mr. Gould, as here quoted, may be
the same bird as that wlu'ch has been called Borealis
by Messrs. Temminck and P. Roux,— that part of Mr.
Gould's Birds of Europe having been published, I be-
lieve, before the appearance of the third part of M. Tem-
minck's Manual, which contained the Borealis, — I may
then add, under this supposed combination, that the geo-
graphical range of the species is very considerable. It in-
habits Scandinavia in summer ; and M. Temminck says he
has received specimens from Greenland, which did not
differ from those which are obtained in Europe. Like
most birds which visit the Arctic Regions, this species is

MEALY REDPOLE. 587

found in the northern parts of America and Asia as well as
in Europe ; and M. Ternminck mentions having received
specimens from Japan.

The beak is much larger than that of the Common Red-
pole, but of the same form, and yellowish brown, the under
mandible being the lightest in colour ; the irides dusky
brown ; in winter the feathers of the forehead dark red ;
back of the head, neck, upper part of the back, and the
smaller wing-coverts, a mixture of dark and light brown,
the middle of each feather being the darkest part ; the
smaller wing-coverts tipped with dull white, forming a
short bar ; the greater wing-coverts uniform dark brown,
with broader ends of dull white, forming a conspicuous
bar; quill-feathers greyish brown; the primaries with
narrow, and the tertials with broader outer edges, of dull
white ; lower part of the back, the rump, and upper tail-
coverts, mealy, or greyish white, with a few dark brown
streaks ; tail-feathers greyish brown, with light brown edges,
the two in the middle short : the form of the tail deeply
forked ; the chin almost black ; the cheeks, ear-coverts,
neck, breast, belly, and under tail- coverts, pale brownish
white, streaked with darker brown, except on the middle
of the breast and belly, which are plain ; the dark streaks
are largest on the flanks ; the legs, toes, and claws, dark
brown.

The whole length is five inches and a quarter. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches and seven-
eighths : the first, second, and third quill -feathers nearly
equal in length; but the first and second rather longer
than the third ; the fourth feather two-twelfths of an inch
shorter than the third.

M. Temminck's description of his Fringilla Borealis at
different seasons of the year, is as follows : —

The old male in spring has the throat and lore black ;

588 FRINGILLID^.

forehead and upper part of the head blood red ; front of
the neck, breast, and rump, rose red ; belly and flanks pure
white : occiput and nape covered with darkish streaks on a
reddish white ground ; shoulders and back with dark streaks,
edged with white ; pure white edges to all the quill-feathers
of the wings and those of the tail.

The males in autumn have the rump white, with a
slight tint of rose colour and some brown streaks ; a slight
reddish tint on the cheeks ; the brown streaks on the back
edged with red ; the top of the head varied with two
shades of red.

The female has the forehead whitish ; the top of the
head red ; the breast, the under parts of the body and the
rump white, marked with brown streaks, which are most
numerous on the flanks.

Although the summer plumage is here described by M.
Temminck, this bird is rare on the Continent, and is not
known to breed in the South of Europe, or even in Scot-
land, while the Lesser Redpole breeds every year in
numbers in Scotland, and even in some of the more north-
ern counties in England.

The heads of both birds in different points of view, with
comparative linear measurement, are given with the next
species, the Lesser Redpole.

IN8E8SOKE8.

COXIROSTRES.

LESSER REDPOLE. 589

FRINGILLID^E.

THE LESSER REDPOLE,

OR COMMON REDPOLE.

Linota linaria.

Frincjilla linaria, Lesser Red-headed Finch, PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 466.
„ „ „ Redpole, MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

„ „ „ „ BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i.

p. 203.

„ „ Rose Linnet, FLEM. Brit. An. p. 85.

Linaria minor, Lesser Redpole Linnet, SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i.

p. 320.

Frincjilla linaria, „ „ JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 138.

Linaria minor, „ „ GOULD, Birds of Europe.

Fringilla linaria, Grosbec sizerin, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 373.

THE Lesser, or more common Redpole, is the smallest of
the British Linnets, and is even a trifle smaller than our

590

diminutive Siskin. It is more especially a winter visitor
to the southern counties of England, appearing in small
flocks from Michaelmas till April ; but is not often seen in
the south of England in summer. It is at once distin-
guished from the Mealy Redpole, last described, by its
smaller size ; and though not attractive from its notes,
which are little more than a lively twitter, its sprightly
habits and engaging confidence render it a general fa-
vourite, since it is, of all the small birds, one of those that
are the most easily tamed. This species will breed in con-
finement ; and W. Rayner, Esq., of Uxbridge, sent me word
that a Lesser Redpole in his aviary made her nest, and laid
five eggs during the summer of 1838.

In some of the northern counties of England, and in
Scotland particularly, this little bird is resident all the
year ; and of its habits, Mr. Selby says, that " during the
summer it retires to the underwood that covers the bases
of our mountains and hills, and that often fringes the banks
of our precipitous streams, in which sequestered situation
it breeds. The nest is built in a bush or low tree (such
as the willow, alder, or hazel), of moss, and the stalks of
dry grass, intermixed with down from the catkin of the
willow, which also forms the lining, and renders it a par-
ticularly soft and warm receptacle for the eggs and young.
From this substance being a constant material of the nest,
it follows that the young are produced late in the season,
and are seldom able to fly before the end of June, or the
beginning of July. The eggs are four or five in number ;
the colour pale bluish green, spotted with orange brown,
principally towards the larger end." I have received the
nest from Durham ; and Mr. J. D. Salmon, formerly of
Thetford, very kindly sent me two nests of the Lesser
Redpole, which were taken in 1835 and 1836 in the vi-
cinity of Halifax in Yorkshire. The eggs are seven lines

LESSER REDPOLE. 591

and a half in length, by five lines and a half in breadth.
Pennant says, " We found the nest of this species on an
alder stump near a brook, between two and three feet
from the ground ; the bird was sitting on four eggs, and
was so tenacious of her nest, as to suffer us to take her off
with our hand ; and we found that after we had released
her she would not forsake it." Mr. Selby adds, that " in
winter, the Lesser Redpole descends to the lower grounds
in considerable flocks, frequenting woods and plantations,
more especially such as abound in birch or alder trees,
the catkins of which yield it a plentiful supply of food.
When feeding, its motions afford both interest and amuse-
ment ; since in order to reach the catkins, which generally
grow near the extremities of the smaller branches, it is
obliged, like the Titmouse, to hang with its back down-
wards, and assume a variety of constrained attitudes ; and,
when thus engaged, it is so intent upon its work, as fre-
quently to allow itself to be taken by a long stick smeared
with bird-lime, in which way I have occasionally captured
it when in want of specimens for examination. It also
eats the buds of trees, and (when in flocks) proves in this
way seriously injurious to young plantations. Its call-
note is very frequently repeated when on wing, and the
notes it produces during the pairing season, although few,
and not delivered in continuous song, are sweet and
pleasing."

According to Mr. Thompson, the Lesser Redpole is com-
mon in Ireland. Sir William Jardine, writing from home
in Dumfriesshire, says, " a few pairs breed here annually
in the vicinity, in young moorland plantations ; and it is
not unfrequent during summer in the Middle Highlands.
Small parties also occur in the winter." Mr. Macgillivray,
in confirmation, adds, " that in many parts of Scotland this
Redpole remains all the year, breeding in the hilly districts

592 FRINGILLID.E.

among the brushwood that skirts the flanks of the moun-
tains, or covers the margins of streams in rocky dells. I
have seen them in August," the same author says, " scat-
tered over a tract overgrown with thistles, the seeds of
which they picked out precisely in the same manner as
the Goldfinch. On such occasions, unless they have pre-
viously been shot at or pursued, they take little heed of
impending danger, so that one may easily approach them."
This habit of unsuspecting confidence has been noticed
by other naturalists. The Rev. W. T. Bree remarks,*
" I well remember, when a very young sportsman, or
rather a young carrier of a gun, falling in with a flock of
Redpoles feeding on the seeds of the alder ; after firing
at them, I found that they returned to the very same
tree (though I was standing under it) before I could re-
load my gun. This they did many times, and with a per-
severance which I shall not easily forget." Mr. Audubon,
in the fourth volume of his Ornithological Biography,
says of the Lesser Redpole, " They were in small parties
of seven or eight, apparently formed by the members of
the same family; and although several of these groups
were around me, they did not intermingle until fired
at, when they all simultaneously rose on wing, mixed to-
gether, and after performing several short evolutions,
returned to the same bushes, separated into families,
and resumed their occupations. When alighted they
were quite unsuspecting, and so heedless as to allow a
close approach, scarcely regarding my presence, but cling-
ing to the branches, dexterously picking out the seeds of
the alder cones, and occasionally coming to the ground
after some which had dropped. Few birds exhibit a more
affectionate disposition than the Little Redpole, and it was
pleasing to see several on a twig feeding each other by
* The Naturalist, vol. iii. p. 452.

LESSER REDPOLE. 593

passing a seed from bill to bill, one individual sometimes
receiving from his two neighbours at the same time."

Mr. Selby, who visited Sutherlandshire in June, 1834,
says, " The Lesser Redpole Linnet was met with where-
ever birch copse occurred. Several were shot, but all
appeared of the common species, and none could be as-
signed to the larger variety, or L. borealis." This appears
to me to be additional evidence that the larger, or Mealy
Redpole, is a species distinct from the smaller. I do not
find a single record of the Mealy Redpole breeding in
this country ; but the nest and eggs of the Lesser Redpole
may be obtained without difficulty every season. The
Rev. Mr. Low includes it among the birds of the Orkneys,
observing, that it builds in Hoy, among the small shrubs
and heath, frequenting the farmyards in winter.

Miiller and Professor Nilsson say that this bird inhabits
Denmark and Scandinavia generally. Mr. Hewitson saw
it in Norway ; and Captain W. Scoresby, in his account
of the Arctic Regions, says, " On our approach to Spitz-
bergen, several Lesser Redpoles alighted on different parts
of the ship, and were so wearied apparently with being on
the wing, though our distance from the land was not
above ten miles, that they allowed themselves to be taken
alive. How this little creature subsists, and why a bird
of such apparent delicacy should resort to such a barren
and gelid country, are questions of some curiosity and
difficulty. It must be migratory; and yet how such a
small animal, incapable of taking the water, can perform
the journey from Spitzbergen to a milder climate, without
perishing by the way, is difficult to conceive. Supposing
it to take advantage of a favourable gale of wind, it must
still be at least ten hours on the wing before it could reach
the nearest part of Norway, an exertion of which one
would imagine it to be totally incapable."

VOL. I. Q Q

594 FRINGILLIDJJ.

So hardy is this species, that, according to Sir John
Richardson, it is a permanent resident in the Fur Countries
of North America, where it may be seen in the coldest
weather on the banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among
the reeds and carices, or clinging to their stalks. Although
numerous throughout the year, even in the most northern
districts, a partial southern migration takes place. Mr.
Audubon says, " They are abundant every cold winter in
the northern parts of Massachusetts and Maine, as well as
in all the British provinces. Large flocks visit Pennsyl-
vania for a month or two in severe winters." The Lesser
Redpole in Europe goes as far south as Rome and Sicily
in winter. Eastward from Norway, this bird is found in
Siberia ; and, according to M. Temminck, in Japan.

The beak is brown, the under mandible pale brown ;
the irides dusky brown ; forehead deep red ; the head,
neck, back, wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail- coverts, a
mixture of dark and light brown, the centre of each fea-
ther being darkest; the outer feather only of the small
wing-coverts tipped with wood-brown ; all the feathers
of the greater coverts tipped with pale brown, forming one
conspicuous bar; quill -feathers brownish black, the pri-
maries with a very narrow edge, and the tertials with
broader edges of pale wood-brown ; tail-feathers not so
deeply forked, or near so long as those of the Mealy Red-
pole, but similar in colour ; chin with a patch of black ;
cheeks, sides of the neck, sides of the breast and flanks,
with dark brown streaks on pale brown ; the breast
strongly marked with vermillion red ; belly and under
tail-coverts dull brownish white ; legs, toes, and claws,
brown.

The whole length is four inches and one quarter. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing, two inches and
five-eighths ; the first three quill -feathers nearly equal in

LESSER REDPOLE. 595

length ; but the second the longest ; the fourth one-twelfth
shorter than the third. M. Temminck, in the third or
supplementary portion of his Manual, has corrected his
former measurement of this bird, as given in the second
edition of the Manual, and states the whole length to be
four inches, five or six lines. But I may here remark,
what has been also observed by Mr. Macgillivray, that
the measurements and some other peculiarities of the Red-
pole of American authors, approach nearer to those of our
Mealy Redpole than to those of the Lesser Redpole.

The females of the Lesser Redpole are without the red
on the breast, and the dark-coloured parts about the head
are rather brown than black.

Young birds of the year have no red colour on the fore-
head or breast : but young males acquire a portion of this
colour in the following spring, though less brilliant than
that of older males.

The vignette exhibits representations of the head of the
Mealy and Lesser Redpole, with comparative linear mea-
surements.

596

IN8ESSORES.

CONIROSTRES.

FRINGILLID^.

FRINGILLID^E.

THE MOUNTAIN LINNET,

OR TWITE.

Linota montium.

Fringilla montana, Twite Finch,
„ montium, „ „

„ Mountain Linnet,

Linaria montana, „ „

Fringilla, montium, „ „

Linaria montana, „ „

FringiUa montium, Gros-bec de montagne, TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i.

p. 368.

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 467.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 207.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 84.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol.i. p. 318.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 140.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.

THE MOUNTAIN LINNET is distinguished from the Com-
mon Linnet, and from both the Redpole Linnets, by the
greater length of its tail, which gives this bird a more
elongated and slender appearance ; and it is further dis-
tinguished by having a reddish tawny throat, but does not
exhibit any red colour, either on the head or breast, at any

MOUNTAIN LINNET. 597

season of the year. There is, however, a tinge of red on
the rump of the male in summer, and in the general cha-
racter of the plumage of both sexes there is considerable
similarity to that of the other species of the genus. This
bird is a winter visitor only to the southern parts of Eng-
land, where it is generally seen in small flocks, with other
Linnets ; but it breeds in the northern parts of England,
in Scotland, and in the western as well as the northern
Scottish islands every season.

The Mountain Linnet, as its name would imply, prefers
high hills and mountains, or, at least, an interchange of
moor and fell. Dr. Latham sent Colonel Montagu a nest
and eggs taken in Yorkshire ; and according to Mr. Neville
Wood, this bird breeds also in some parts of Staffordshire
and in Derbyshire, exhibiting its partiality to the higher
grounds. This is probably about the southern limit of its
breeding ground in this country.

Mr. Thompson says it is not uncommon in certain locali-
ties in Ireland. Mr. Macgillivray states that it "is plen-
tiful in the Hebrides, and in winter frequents the corn-yards
in large flocks, clinging to the stacks of oats, and picking
out the seeds. Its flight is rapid and undulated, and it
flies in circles over the fields previous to alighting, utter-
ing a soft twitter at intervals. When disturbed it betakes
itself to tall trees, or to a distant field ; but is not shy, and
may therefore be easily approached when feeding. In spring
it forsakes its winter haunts, and disperses over the hilly
tracks, where it forms its nest on the ground, among short
heath, or on the grassy slopes of craggy spots. It is neatly
constructed, being composed externally of fine dry grass,
fragments of heath, and a little moss, internally of fibrous
roots, wool, and hair. The eggs are bluish white, marked
towards the larger end with light brown and purplish red,
sometimes with a few blackish dots."

598 FRINGILLIDJE.

Sir William Jardine sends me word that the Mountain
Linnet is abundant in the north Highlands, taking the place
there in summer of the Common Linnet, L. cannabina, in
the Lowlands. " Once or twice," this gentleman observes,
" I have seen a flock here during the winter, frequenting
wild stubble land. Last winter I shot a pair within a few
hundred yards of Jardine Hall, evidently driven in by the
storm. They were feeding on the heads of the black knap-
weed, Centaur ea nigra"

Mr. Selby " found it a plentiful species, and generally
distributed in Sutherlandshire. It was first met with at
Laing, and afterwards occurred at all the different stations
that were occupied. Its song was pleasing, though scarcely
equal in compass to that of L. cannabina"

The Rev. Mr. Low states, in his Fauna Orcadensis, " that
this little bird remains in the Orkneys all the year, building
in the heath, but seldom or never in bushes." Mr. J. D.
Salmon, who furnished to Mr. London's Magazine of
Natural History an account of a visit to the Orkneys, has
remarked, " that the Mountain Linnet was the only species
of Linnet seen by the party : two nests came under our
observation ; one was placed upon the ground, among the
young corn, the other amidst some whins, Ulex. They
were both alike : their outsides were composed of small
roots and dried grass, and their insides lined with a small
quantity of hair and a few feathers ; and each contained six
eggs, similar in appearance to those of the Common Linnet,
but rather smaller."

Mr. Dunn, in his Ornithologist's Guide to Orkney and
Shetland, says of the Mountain Linnet, or, as it is there
called, the Heather Lintee, this, " as far as I am aware, is
the only Linnet that breeds in these countries, over which
it is pretty numerously dispersed. I have repeatedly taken
its nest, which I found in shaded situations amongst long

MOUNTAIN LINNET. 599

heath. In the winter it appears in large flocks, frequently
in company with Sparrows and Snow Buntings, and infests
the corn-yards." Our southern bird-catchers say they can
tell immediately if there are any Mountain Linnets among
the flocks of small birds around them, by their peculiar
note, which is considered to resemble the word " twite," in
its sound, and hence the name of Twite, by which, as well
as by that of Mountain Linnet, this bird is very generally
known. Its food consists of any sort of seed of small size.

Our Mountain Linnet inhabits Denmark, Norway, Swe-
den, and indeed Scandinavia generally, but is said to be
rare in Russia, particularly in the eastern portions. It is
observed periodically on its passage in Germany and France,
and some are said to remain and breed in the mountains of
Switzerland. It is found in Provence, at Genoa, and even
as far south as Rome in winter, but retires to the northern
mountains to breed in summer. M. Temminck says our
bird is found in Japan, where it is known by the name of
Zuzume.

The beak is yellow, and hence the term flavirostris has
by some authors been attached to this species ; the irides
hazel ; the forehead, crown of the head, ear-coverts, neck
behind, back, and wings, are of two shades of brown, the
darker colour pervading the middle of the feather, the
lighter wood-brown colour on the edges ; the greater wing-
coverts only tipped with pale wood-brown, forming one bar
across the wing ; quill-feathers brownish black, the prima-
ries with narrow edges, the tertials with broader margins of
pale brown ; the rump red ; upper tail-coverts like the back
in colour ; tail-feathers brownish black, with narrow white
external edges, and broader light brown inner margins ;
tail deeply forked ; chin and throat uniform reddish yellow
brown, without streaks, but streaked on the sides of the
lower part of the breast and flanks with dark brown ; lower

600

FRINGTLLIM.

part of the breast, belly, and under tail-coverts, dull brown-
ish white ; legs, toes, and claws, very dark brown.

The red colour on the rump is a sexual as well as a
seasonal assumption, peculiar to the male only in summer ;
but healthy well-fed males in confinement carry this red
colour over a longer period.

The whole length of the bird is five inches and one
quarter ; but the body being slender, and the tail-feathers
lengthy, this bird has a more elongated appearance than the
Common Linnet, or the Mealy Redpole. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing, three inches ; the first and
third quill-feathers equal in length ; the second longer than
either, and the longest in the wing ; the fourth feather one-
eighth of an inch shorter than the third.

The female is without the red colour on the rump, and
is also lighter in colour on the back ; her beak, less de-
cidedly yellow at the base, is dusky brown at the tip.

Young birds, like the females, are lighter in colour gene-
rally, and are thus distinguished from old males.

INSESSOBES.

CONIROSTRES.

BULLFINCH.

601

FRING1LLIDJE.

THE BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula vulgaris.

Loxia pyrrhula, The Bullfinch,

Pyrrhula vulgaris, Common „

The

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 430.

MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.

BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 168.

FLEM. Brit. An. p. 82.

SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 336.

JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 140.

GOULD, Birds of Europe.

„ „ Bovreuil commun, TEMM.Man.d'Ornith.vol.iv. p. 338.

PYRRHULA. Generic Characters. — Beak short, and thick at the base ; the
sides inflated and bulging ; upper mandible convex, deflected at the tip,
and overhanging the point of the lower one. Nostrils basal, lateral, round,
more or less concealed by hair-like feathers at the base of the bill, directed
forwards. Feet with the tarsus shorter than the middle toe : toes, three
before, one behind, divided. Wings rather short ; the first quill shorter
than the third, which is of the same length as the fourth, and the longest in
the wing.

602 FRINGILLID^.

THE BULLFINCH is too common a bird not to be exceed-
ingly well known, and is found in most parts of England,
but particularly those which are wooded and cultivated,
preferring gardens, orchards, hedgerows, plantations, and
small woods, to bleak and exposed tracks of common, waste,
or moor. It is rather shy and retiring in its habits, and is
seldom seen associated with any but its own species. In
confinement this bird appears to have an extraordinary
appetite ; and at large is found to be particulary destruc-
tive in gardens throughout the spring of the year, devour-
ing the flower buds of the various sorts of gooseberries,
cherries, and plums, in succession, to such an extent, as to
destroy, if unmolested, all prospect of any crop of fruit for
that season. The author of the Journal of a Naturalist
says, " In all instances I think it will be observed, that
such buds as produce leaves only are rejected, and those
which contain the embryo of the future blossom selected :
by this procedure, though the tree is prevented from pro-
ducing fruit, yet the foliage is expanded as usual ; but had
the leaves — the lungs of the plant — been indiscriminately
consumed, the tree would probably have died, or its summer
growth been materially injured; we may thus lose our fruit
this year, yet the tree survives, and hope lives too, that we
may be more fortunate the next." Mr. Selby, in the first
volume of the Naturalist, remarks, " With me the Bull-
finches are very destructive, particularly to the plum trees,
apples, medlars, &c. It is the blossom buds that are chiefly
preferred. I have dissected dozens of these birds, and have
never found any remains of insects in the crop or stomach.
They are here very numerous, being fostered by the exten-
sive plantations I have made ; and I am obliged, reluctantly
I must say, to make war on them every spring." From
various authorities it appears that the Bullfinch is a more

BULLFINCH. 603

decided bud-destroyer than any other British Bird. In
winter it feeds on hips, the fruit of the dog-rose, berries,
and seeds. Towards the end of April this bird leaves the
gardens for more secluded situations, and begins with its
mate to seek a place of security for its nest. Being rather
a late breeder, it seldom begins to build till the beginning
of May, and produces but one brood in the season. The
nest is formed of small twigs, and lined with fibrous roots,
the materials not very compactly entwined together, and
usually placed, four or five feet above the ground, on a
branch of a fir tree, or in a thick bush. The eggs are
four or five in number, of a pale blue, speckled and streaked
with purplish grey and dark purple. These are hatched
towards the end of May, after fifteen days' incubation.
The shy and retiring habits of the Bullfinch have been
already referred to, and it is known that a slight provo-
cation will in general cause it to desert its nest ; but W.
H. R. Read, Esq., of Frickley Hall, in Yorkshire, has
recorded in the Naturalist that in the early part of June,
1838, a Bullfinch allowed herself to be caressed while sit-
ting on her young ones, and would feed from the hand
without the least fear. The nest was in a laurel-bush, close
to the house. Mr. Neville Wood has recorded the finding
of an egg of the Bullfinch on the ground in Yorkshire so
late as the 15th of November.

The young birds of the year continue to associate with
the parents through the autumn and winter till the pairing
time of the following spring ; and so constant is the at-
tachment of adult birds throughout the year, that they
are believed, like some other species among birds, to pair
for life. The Bullfinch will breed in confinement, particu-
larly in aviaries where there is sufficient space. Hybrids,
or mules, as they are more commonly called, have been

604 FRINGILLID2E.

produced between the Bullfinch and the Canary ; but such
a union is of rare occurrence, and requires particular
management.

The notes of the Bullfinch, as heard in a wild state,
particularly the louder ones, have no remarkable quality
of tone to recommend them ; its call -note is, however, soft
and plaintive : it is principally for its power of imitation
and its memory that this bird is prized.

" In Germany," says Bechstein, " those young Bull-
finches that are to be taught to sing particular tunes, must
be taken from the nest when the feathers of the tail begin
to grow ; and must be fed only on rapeseed soaked in
water, and mixed with white bread. Although they do
not warble before they can feed themselves, it is not neces-
sary to wait for this to begin their instruction ; for it will
succeed better, if we may say so, when infused with their
food ; since experience proves that they learn those airs
more quickly, and remember them better, which they have
been taught just after eating. It has been observed that
these birds, like the Parrots, are never more attentive
than during digestion. Nine months of regular and con-
tinued instruction are necessary before the bird acquires
what amateurs call firmness; for if the instruction cease
before this is obtained, they would destroy the air, by
suppressing or displacing the different parts, and they often
forget it entirely at their first moulting. In general it is
a good plan to separate them from the other birds, even
after they are perfect ; because, owing to their great quick-
ness in learning, they would spoil the air entirely by in-
troducing wrong passages ; they must be helped to con-
tinue the song when they stop, and the lesson must always
be repeated while they are moulting, otherwise they will
become mere chatterers, which would be doubly vexatious
after having bestowed trouble in teaching them. Different

BULLFINCH. 605

degrees of capacity are shown here, as well as in other
animals : one young Bullfinch learns with ease and quick-
ness ; another with difficulty, and slowly ; the former
will repeat, without hesitation, several parts of a song ;
the latter will hardly be able to whistle one part, after
nine months' uninterrupted teaching : but it has been
remarked that those birds which learn with most difficulty,
remember the songs which they have once well learned,
better and longer, and rarely forget them, even when
moulting. The instrument used is a bird-organ, or a fla-
geolet, but generally the former. Many birds, when
young, will learn some strains of airs whistled or played
to them regularly every day ; but it is only those whose
memory is capable of retaining them that will abandon
their natural song, and adopt fluently, and repeat without
hesitation, the air that has been taught them. Thus a
young Goldfinch learns, it is true, some part of the
melody played to a Bullfinch ; but it will never be able to
render it as perfectly as this bird ; this difference is not
caused by the greater or less flexibility of the organ, but
rather by the superiority of memory in the one species
over that of the other. Numbers of Bullfinches, which
have been taught in the manner described, are brought
from Germany to London every spring, and are frequently
advertised for sale in the London newspapers: the price,
which is sometimes considerable, depends on the powers
and proficiency of the performer."

The Bullfinch, as before observed, is common in Eng-
land, and Mr. William Thompson writes me word that it
is not uncommon in certain localities in Ireland. Accord-
ing to Sir William Jardine and Mr. Macgillivray, it is
also frequent in the southern parts of Scotland : but it is
not found in the northern Scottish islands of Orkney or
Shetland. It inhabits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and

606 FRINGILLID^l.

Russia; is particularly common in the forests of Germany,
and from thence to the shores of the Mediterranean, and
is seen at Corfu, in Sicily, and in Malta. To the east-
ward in this parallel it is found as far as the countries
spread between the Black and the Caspian Seas. M.
Thunberg long ago said that the European Bullfinch was
an inhabitant of Japan ; and M. Temminck includes it in
his Catalogue of the Birds of Europe found in that country.

In the adult male the beak is of a shining black ; the
irides dark brown ; the whole of the top of the head jet
black ; nape of the neck, back, and lesser wing-coverts, deli-
cate bluish grey ; the greater wing-coverts black, the ends
white, forming a conspicuous bar across the wing; the
rump above white ; upper tail-coverts black ; all the quill
and tail feathers also black, tinged with blue, but the
primary wing-feathers not so dark as the tertials. The
chin black ; ear-coverts, sides of the neck, throat, breast,
and belly, tile-red; vent and under tail-coverts white;
under surface of the wings slate grey ; under surface of
the tail-feathers greyish black ; legs, toes, and claws, purple
brown.

The whole length of the bird is rather more than six
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing,
three inches and one-eighth : the second, third, and fourth
primaries, nearly equal in length, and the longest in the
wing ; the first and fifth feathers are also equal in length,
but each about one-eighth shorter than the second, third,
or fourth.

The female has the grey colour of the back more mixed
with brown ; the under surface of the body, where the
male is red, is in her of a brownish purple red ; the head,
wings, arid tail, not quite so pure a black.

Young birds in their first feathers resemble the female,
but are without the black head. Some time after leaving

BULLFINCH. 607

the nest, young males assume a brighter red colour on the
breast and the black on the crown of the head. The
bright tints of the adult male are not obtained till after
the second moult.

Bullfinches appear to be liable to great changes of co-
lour in their plumage. White of Selborne says, in one of
his letters, " A few years ago I saw in a cage a cock Bull-
finch which had been caught in the fields after it had come
to its full colours. In about a year it began to look dingy ;
and, blackening every succeeding year, it became coal
black at the end of four. Its chief food was hempseed :
such influence has food on the colour of animals." Morton,
in his History of Northamptonshire, as quoted by Pennant,
gives another instance of such a change, with this addition,
that the year following, after moulting, the bird recovered
its natural colours. The occurrence of varieties, partially
or wholly white, have been recorded in the Magazine of
Natural History, and in the Naturalist. Professor Nilsson,
of Lund, in the coloured illustrations of his Fauna of
Scandinavia, has figured a beautifully -marked variety of
the Bullfinch, which is pure white on the back, wings,
and tail ; but the head, and all the under surface of the
body, are of a delicate rose colour. This bird is quoted as
the Loxia flamengo of Sparrman.

608

FRINGILLHXE.

FRINGILLIDJS.

CONIROSTRES.

Loxia enucleator,

THE PINE GROSBEAK.

Pyrrhula enucleator.
Pine Grosbeak,

PENN. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 423.
MONTAGU, Ornith. Diet.
BEWICK, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 166.
FLEM. Brit. An. p. 76.
SELBY, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 334.
JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 141.
GOULD, Birds of Europe.
TEMM. Man. d'Ornith. vol. i. p. 333.

THE PINE GROSBEAK appears to be a very rare bird in
this country, and but few instances of its having been ob-
tained are either known or recorded. Pennant says that he

Corythus „
Pyrrhula „

» »
Corythus „
Pyrrhula „

Common Hawfinch,
Pine Bullfinch,

» »
„ Grosbeak,
Bouvreuil dur-bec,

PINE GROSBEAK. 609

saw them flying above the great forests of Invercauld,
in Aberdeenshire ; and he imagined that they had bred
there, because he saw them as early as the 5th of August.
Mr. Selby observes, " Such a conclusion, however, ought
scarcely to be inferred from this fact, as a sufficient interval
of time had elapsed for these individuals to have emigrated
from Norway, or other northern countries to Scotland, after
incubation, as they are known to breed as early as May in
their native haunts. I have made many enquiries respect-
ing these birds, during excursions in Scotland, but cannot
learn that the nest has ever been found ; and indeed,
from the intelligence obtained from gamekeepers, and
those most likely to have made observations connected
with Ornithology, it appears that they are very rarely
seen, and can only be regarded as occasional visitants."
Only one specimen is recorded as having been killed in
Ireland, and this was shot in December, 1819, at the Cave-
hill, near Belfast.

Messrs. C. J. and James Paget, in their Sketch of the
Natural History of Yarmouth, mention, at page 6, that a
flight of these birds was seen on the Denes in November,
1822, and the Rev. Richard Lubbock, in his Fauna of
Norfolk, refers to a pair that were shot, and which were
said to have had a nest, which unfortunately was destroyed.
Mr. Rylands, in his Catalogue of Birds found in Lan-
cashire, published in the second volume of the Naturalist,
includes the Pine Grosbeak as obtained in Hulston fir
trees, on the authority of T. K. Glazebrook, Esq. ; Mr.
Knox, in his Birds of Sussex, has referred to two ex-
amples killed in Ashdown Forest; and a female in my
own collection was shot some years ago at Harrow-on- the -
Hill.

The Pine Grosbeak, or Pine Bullfinch as it is frequently
called, closely resembles the Common Bullfinch in the form

VOL. I. R R

610 FRINGILLID^.

of its beak, and in other generic characters ; while it agrees
with the Crossbills in many of its habits, as well as in the
general colouring and changes of its plumage.

The food of this species is seeds and berries ; it frequents
pine forests, builds a nest of small sticks, with a lining of
feathers, and usually places it on a branch of a tree, a few
feet only above the ground. It lays four or five eggs, one
inch one line long, by eight lines in breadth, of a pale
green, with a few spots and streaks of purplish brown ; and
the young birds are said to be hatched in June. The male
has an agreeable song, will sometimes sing at night, and in
confinement is said to remain in song nearly the whole of
the year.

The Pine Grosbeak is more abundant in the northern
parts of Europe and America than elsewhere, and is found
in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, Russia, Siberia, and sparingly
in the north of Germany, but more frequently now than
formerly. According to M. Vieillot, it is a very rare bird
in France, sometimes seen, and then only in winter, in those
parts bordering on Germany or Switzerland, where there
are abundance of pine forests ; but this bird has been seen
as far south as Provence and Genoa.

North America appears to be the country in which the
habits of the Pine Grosbeak have been more attentively
observed, and to the recent describers of the birds of that
extended region I must refer for particulars. Mr. Audubon
has observed them in Newfoundland, on the coast of La-
brador, and at Hudson's Bay. In the winter of 1836 these
birds were seen as far south as the vicinity of Philadelphia ;
and that season also they were abundant in the States of
New York and Massachusetts. Sir John Richardson saw
them as far north as the 60th parallel. Mr. Audubon, in
his extended and valuable Ornithological Biography, says,
" The flight of the Pine Grosbeak is undulating and smooth,

PINE GROSBEAK. 611

performed in a direct line when it is migrating, at a consi-
derable height above the forests, and in groups of from five
to ten individuals. They alight frequently during the day,
on such trees as are opening their buds or blossoms. At
such times they are extremely gentle, and easily approached.
They are exceedingly fond of bathing, and, whether on the
ground or on branches, move by short leaps. I have been
much surprised to see, on my having fired, those that were
untouched fly directly towards me until within a few feet,
and then slide off, and alight on the lower branches of the
nearest tree, where, standing as erect as little Hawks, they
gazed upon me as if I were an object quite new, and of
whose nature they were ignorant. They are easily caught
under snow-shoes put up with a figure of four, around the
wood-cutters' camps, in the State of Maine, and are said
to afford good eating. Their food consists of the buds and
seeds of almost all sorts of trees ; occasionally, also, they
seize a passing insect. I once knew one of these sweet
songsters, which in the evening, as soon as the lamp was
lighted in the room where its cage was hung, would
instantly tune its voice anew."

A friend of Mr. Audubon says, " I received a male in
splendid plumage, but so emaciated that he seemed little
else than a mass of feathers. By cautious feeding, how-
ever, he soon regained his flesh, and became so tame as to
eat from my hand without the least appearance of fear. To
reconcile him gradually to confinement, he was permitted
to fly about my bedroom ; and upon rising in the morning,
the first thing I did was to give him a small quantity of
seed. But three mornings in succession I happened to lie
rather later than usual, and each morning I was aroused by
the bird fluttering upon my shoulder, and calling for his
usual allowance. The third morning I allowed him to
flutter about me some time before showing any symptom

R R 2

612 FRINGILLID^J.

of being awake ; he no sooner observed that his object was
effected than he retired to the window, and waited patiently
until I arose. As the spring approached, he used to whistle
occasionally in the morning, and his notes were exceedingly
rich and full. About the time, however, when the species
began to remove to the North, his former familiarity en-
tirely disappeared." Mr. Audubon further says, " While
in the State of Maine, I observed that these birds when
travelling fly in silence, and at a considerable height above
the trees. They alight on the topmost branches, so that it
is difficult to obtain them, unless one has a remarkably
good gun. But, on waiting a few minutes, you see the
flock, usually composed of seven or eight individuals, de-
scend from branch to branch, and betake themselves to the
ground, where they pick up gravel, hop towards the nearest
pool or streamlet, and bathe by dipping their heads, and
scattering the water over them, until they are quite wet ;
after which they fly to the branches of low bushes, shake
themselves with so much vigour as to produce a smart
rustling sound, and arrange their plumage. They then
search for food among the boughs of the taller trees."

In the male bird from which the figure was drawn, the
beak is dark brown, the lower mandible tinged with dark
red ; the base of the upper mandible and the eyes sur-
rounded with a narrow band of dusky black : the irides
hazel ; the whole of the head, cheeks, ear-coverts, and the
neck behind, vermilion red ; the feathers of the back and
scapulars greyish black, margined with red ; those of the
rump and the upper tail-coverts with broader margins of
red, producing as they overlay each other a continuous
surface of red colour like that on the head and neck ; the
wing-coverts and quill-feathers greyish black; both sets of
wing-coverts with broad outer edges, and the tips white,

PINE GROSBEAK. 613

but tinged with red ; all the quill -feathers with narrow
outer edging of white, tinged with red on the proximal
half of the first six of the primaries ; tail-feathers uniform
greyish black ; the tail in form slightly forked. The chin,
throat, breast, and sides, vermilion red ; but the feathers,
if raised, are found to be like those on the upper surface of
the bird, grey at the base ; the belly, vent, and under tail-
coverts, French grey, the latter edged with white ; under
surface of wings and tail slate grey ; legs and toes blackish
brown ; the claws black.

The whole length of the bird is eight inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, four inches and a half:
the third quill -feather of the wing the longest ; the second
very little shorter than the third ; the first feather a little
shorter than the fourth, and both shorter than the second ;
the fifth a quarter of an inch shorter than the fourth.

This bird is considered to be a young male after his first
autumnal moult, and this plumage is retained till the
second year, when, according to authors, all the red parts
become more or less tinged with yellowish orange.

The adult female killed at Harrow has the beak orange
brown ; the irides hazel ; the head, ear-coverts, and back of
the neck, honey -yellow ; back and scapulars slate grey ;
rump and upper tail-coverts honey-yellow, like the colour
of the head ; both sets of wing-coverts, and all the quill-
feathers, greyish black, edged and tipped with white, with-
out any of the red tinge observed on the white of young
males ; tail above, uniform greyish black ; all the under
surface of this bird, from the chin to the under tail-coverts,
uniform ash-grey ; legs, toes, and claws, dark brown.

Females, when older than this bird, have the head, rump,
and upper tail-coverts, orange yellow. When younger than
our bird, the same parts are greenish brown.

614

Young birds of the year, before their first moult, re-
semble the female, but are more tinged with brown.

The vignette below represents bat-fowling, a mode of
catching birds at night.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Woodfall and Kinder, Printers, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London.