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BRITISH BIRDS, THEIR EGGS
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1a oN) BRITISH
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BIRDS’ EGGS AND NESTS
POrULABREY DESCRIBED
REVISED AND RE-EDITED
BY
Rev. CANON ATKINSON, D.C.L.
AUTHOR OF
*“WALKS AND TALKS,” *f PLAY HOURS AND HALF HOLIDAYS,” ‘* SKETCHES IN NATURAL
HISTORY,” ‘* THE CLEVELAND GLOSSARY,” ‘f THE HISTORY OF CLEVELAND,”
** FORTY YEARS IN A MOORLAND PARISH,” *f MEMORIALS OF
OLD WHITBY,” &c. &c.
ILLUSTRATED BY W. S. PM
Sy
MATHS INIA J
JUL 0 9 1991
LONDON Sot! IBARIES
GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limrrep _
BROADWAY, LUDGATE HILL
1901
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PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION?
THE object proposed in this volume is, in the first
place, to present our young readers with a complete
and systematic list of our British birds:—the word
British being taken to mean such as, being truly wild
birds, either inhabit Britain throughout the year;
visit Britain statedly for longer or shorter periods of
each year; or have been proved to reach the shores of
Britain two or three times, or oftener, under the
pressure of any incidental circumstances whatever.
In the next place, the attempt has been made to dis-
tinguish at once between the rare or casual visitors,
and such as are really denizens of the land, whether
for a few weeks or months annually or by unbroken
habitation.
But the principal object and intention of the book
is to present accurate and trustworthy accounts of the
Nests and Nesting-sites, the Eggs, and any ascertained
1 The Editor thinks it better to reproduce these portions of the
original book as they were written nearly thirty-five years ago,
partly because they are important parts of the volume of which the
present is simply a New Edition, and partly because what in them
was worth printing then is worth printing still. Where modifica-
tion, more or less noticeable, is called for, attention will be directed
to the circumstances in notes or otherwise.
v
vi Preface to Original Edition.
nesting or breeding-season peculiarities of every un-
doubtedly British-breeding species. And the author's
difficulty has often been, out of the large mass of
available materials at his command, acquired by
personal observation or from the reading and notes of
many years, to select what might be instructive, in-
teresting, or amusing, without burdening the book
with unnecessary details, or encroaching too much on
the allotted space.
The principle adopted in the illustrations has been
to omit all representations of eggs either white or
nearly white in colour, in order to husband space for
the admission of a greater number of those char-
acterised by varied colours and markings. On the
same ground, although it was earnestly desired by the
artist to give more than one representation of some of
the very marked variations occurring in the eggs of
several species, he has been compelled to content him-
self with selecting and figuring the most typical or
normal forms in all such cases. All the illustrations
given have been carefully drawn from unquestionable
specimens, and Mr. Coleman desires to acknowledge
in this place the assistance which, in this matter, has
been afforded him by that excellent and accurate
practical naturalist, Mr. F. Bond.
An Appendix is subjoined, in which a notice will be
found of the habits of nidification, the nest and eggs
of several birds, which, though regular inhabitants of
Britain or some part of it, for a given portion of each
year, still retire to foreign and distant localities for
the purpose of nest-making and rearing their young.
Finally, an attempt has been made to exhibit at one
Preface to Original Edition, vii
glance, and in a very condensed and systematic form,
as much information as possible touching the nest, its
customary site and materials, and also the eggs, their
number, colour, and markings, and any noteworthy
breeding peculiarities of each separate British-breed-
ing species. It is hoped this attempt, somewhat novel
as it is, and almost inevitably imperfect as it must be
in too many respects, will not be regarded as alto-
gether unacceptable by the youthful nest-hunter and
ego-collector.
The author has only to observe, in conclusion that
he has scarcely thought it necessary in the majority
of instances to notice the common and well recognised
fact that any particular species under notice, in common
with many or most of our common British birds, rears
two broods, or even more, in the course of the summer,
Neither has he thought it requisite to attempt to
define the average season for the commencement of
nidification in the case of this or that species as they
came successively under review.
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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS
TO THE
OFIGINAL EDITION.
CHAPTER I.
THE object with which this book is written is that it
may be interesting and useful to young egg-collectors.
It is not easy to make a book, which is to be devoted
to such details as the length and breadth, and shades
and markings of some two or three hundred different
eggs, either interesting, or even barely readable. But
there is no necessity that a book of British Birds’ Eggs
and Nests should be devoted to merely such details as
those. For my own part, I do not find it easy alto-
gether to dissociate the eggs laid from the bird which
lays them; and when I see a beautiful nest I can
hardly help being led to think something about the
builder, its means, objects, powers, instincts and in-
telligence. And I don’t see why a book about eggs.
and nests should not follow the direction given by
those same objects to my thoughts, and the thoughts
A
2 British Birds,
of hundreds and thousands of other men besides me,
and I am sure too of hundreds and thousands of boys
and girls as well. I am as sure as if I could see into
the minds of the young nest-hunter generally, that
when he finds one day the wonderfully neat and
beautiful Chaffinch’s or Goldfinch’s or Crested Wren’s
nest, and the next, lights upon some littering Jack-
daw’s nest, or some inartistic, careless-seeming Jay’s
or Ring-dove’s, that the wide, wonderful contrast and
difference sets him thinking — What is the reason
of this strange dissimilarity ? Is one of these birds
really less clever than the other? Did God make one
of them a careless, disorderly, unthrifty bird, while
the other He made such a wonderfully neat and
dexterous and contriving one ?
And I am equally sure that a little measure of
observation and thought will be enough to show the
young inquirer not only that the Great Maker of
birds and Giver of their instincts and understandings
and capacities has not left some of His creatures im-
perfect in some of their qualifications and endowments,
but that the very contrasts and unlikenesses which
first set him on questioning at all, all teach one great
lesson and illustrate one great truth—namely this,
“O Lord, how manifold are Thy works!” and to add
the inquiry suggested by what follows the words
quoted,—* Hast Thou not in wisdom made them all ?”
Perhaps an Ego-book might be so written as to
help such thought and observation as is here sup-
posed, and now and then, besides, to suggest explana-
tions or lead to investigation or communicate a
knowledge of facts such as to illustrate and make
Their Eggs and Nests. 3
clear, and even entertaining or amusing, the every-
day incidents and facts which fall commonly enough
beneath the notice of the moderately sharp-eyed and
observant nest-hunter.
The difficulty of making such a pook useful to the
systematic collector of eggs, however young, is not
nearly as great as that of making it interesting to the
many, who, though not inspired with the ambition of
owning a real grand cabinet, and of arranging its
manifold drawers with neatly ordered and ticketed
egg-cards, are yet sensible of a real pleasure and
enjoyment in noticing the nests and eggs of their
numerous “feathered friends,’ and in identifying
such as may chance to be less familiarly known than
the majority of those met with under ordinary cir-
cumstances. [Faithful description and _ accurate
representation are clearly within our reach, and such
description and representation are sufficient in nine-
teen cases out of twenty for the purposes of identi-
fication in all instances of usual occurrence.
The cases in which identification is difficult are of
two or three kinds. Sometimes the difficulty arises
from the near resemblance of the eggs laid by differ-
ent allied species, sometimes from the wide dis-
crepancies in the markings and especially in the
shadings or tints of eggs laid by the same species;
but much more frequently from the doubtful eggs
being met with apart from the containing nests, or
from want of proper or sufficiently accurate observa-
tion of the nests at the moment of discovery. The
young egg-fancier should always recollect that the
fashion and materials and site of the nest, taken in
4 British Birds,
connection with the eggs, will almost always, with the
aid of a tolerably accurate and well illustrated Book
of Eggs, enable him to decide without hesitation as
to the real owner of the nests and eggs in question ;
while there are very many eggs, such as the Common
Wren’s, those of one or more of the Tom-tits, the
Lesser Willow Wren, etc., of which specimens may be
found so nearly resembling one another in shade and
size and spots, that it requires a very nice and
experienced eye to allot the several eggs to their
certain origin. In such a case as this, recourse must
be had to some kind and experienced oologist.
A few words on another subject. The author has
been gravely taken to task by some of his conscien-
tious friends, for delineating in one or two of his
former books the pleasures and excitements of egg-
hunting, or the satisfaction of trying to form a
methodical collection. He has been more than once
asked—“ Do you really mean to encourage boys in
robbing birds’ nests? Can you defend such a practice
from the charge of cruelty ?”
If I thought there was any real or necessary con-
nection between a love of egg-hunting—yes, and egg-
collecting, too,—and cruelty, I would not say another
word for it or about it. But I am sure that the real
lover of birds and their nests and eggs is not the boy
who is chargeable with those torn and ruined nests—
“destroyed” as they may well be styled—which
grieve one as he walks along the lanes and hedge
sides. If the nest is taken, or rudely and roughly
handled, or the eggs all plundered, there is cruelty:
for in the one case, the poor parent-birds are warned
Their Eggs and Nests. 5
by their instinct, if not their intelligence, to forsake
their treasured charge ; in the other, they suffer from
pitiless robbery of what they most care for. But if
the parent-bird be not rudely and repeatedly driven
from her nest,—if the nest be not pulled out of shape,
or the containing bushes or environing shelter be not
wilfully or carelessly disturbed—if two or three eggs
are still left for her to incubate, there is, so far as
human observation can reach, no pain, or concern, or
uneasiness, to the little owners from the abstraction of
one egg or more; and, therefore, of course, no cruelty
in the abstraction. The legitimate pursuit of sport in
the stubbles and turnip fields, or on the open moor,
does not differ more widely from the cruel proceedings
of the cold-blooded, hard-hearted slaughter of his
dozens of Rock birds (many of which are always left to
die lingeringly and miserably), than the object or
manner of action of the true lover of birds and their
ways and nests and eggs, from the ruthless destruc-
tion of every nest and its contents which may happen
to be met with by some young loutish country
savage.
Again, a few words more, and this time about
classification. I should like, if such a course were
profitable, or even practicable, to make just such a
classification as an active, sharp-eyed, observant, per-
severing nest-hunter would, as it were, find ready
made for him, by the results of his rambles and in-
vestigations and discoveries ; that is to say, to group
the birds and their eggs according to their frequent
occurrence, their comparative, but still not positive,
infrequency, or their downright rarity. By this
6 British Birds, <
means, and the subdivisions which would be suggested
by an enumeration of the most usual sites of the
several nests, an interesting, and at least partially
instructive as well as practical system of classification
would be devised. But I am afraid such a system
would not have much to recommend it besides its
novelty and interest, and practical hints “where to
look for this bird’s nest or the other’s; and how to
look so as to find.” One great disadvantage would be
that such classification, so called, would have the effect
of breaking up groups which nature has put together.
There is, generally speaking, what may be called a
great family-likeness between the eggs of the various
species of any given genus, or kind of birds. Take
the Buntings, for instance: anyone who is familiar
with the common Yellow Hammer’s egg would at
once guess at the eggs of either of the other species as
belonging to a Bunting; and the same of the Titmice,
Linnets, Thrushes, Crows, and so on without end.
So that, although it may seem at first sight that
scientific classification is hard and troublesome and.
half unnecessary, and may often prompt the question
in the boy-collector’s mind, Why wouldn’t it do just
as well to write down the English names on the cards
and in my catalogue, and arrange them all my own
way ?—still it should be remembered that such classi-
fication after all is far from arbitrary, and on the
contrary, and as far as it is really good, only follows
out the teachings or guidings of nature. And this
quite independently of the trouble which is saved by
it to anyone who wishes to consult books of reference,
and still more to examine large and well-arranged
Their Eges and Nests. 7
collections of eggs, whether for his own direct instruc-
tion, or merely in search of interesting pastime. If a
boy only knows that a Reed Sparrow is called a Reed
Sparrow or a Black-headed Bunting, and he wanted to
find the Reed Sparrow’s eggs in a well-stocked collec-
tion, he might be half an hour before he hit upon what
he wanted; but if he knew that the generic name of
the Bunting was Emméberiza, and the specific name of
the Reed Sparrow, Scheniclus he would be able to
pitch upon his quarry’in half a minute. Besides all
which, no one was ever the worse for learning habits
of orderly and systematic arrangement, even though
he had to pay the price of doing a little puzzling
head-achy work, and had to bother himself with a
good many ugly-looking, ill-sounding, jaw-cracking
words, such as Coccothraustes, Troglodytes, Platy-
rhyuca, Phalacrocorax, and the like.
It is proposed in this little book to adopt a classifi-
cation which seems to meet with very general
acceptance or acquiescence, and principally for that
reason ;—that, namely, which was employed by the
late Mr. Yarrell, This classification depends on the
system which divides all birds whatever into five
great classes,! vzz :—
1 Jt will possibly be thought by some of my readers—and I must
admit that I have again and again debated the consideration with
myself—that it was scarcely necessary, perhaps desirable, to suffer
this and what follows to reappear in a new Edition. On the whole,
I thought it was; because it will at least serve to direct attention
to the greatness of the changes consequent on more careful and more
scientific investigation which have been introduced during the period
which has elapsed since the first appearance of this little book.
These will in this way be caused to appear less abrupt and startling,
and the reader to be better prepared for them, when he comes to the
8 British Birds,
I. Raptores. . . . . Prey-catchers,
IL J/usessores. . » . +» Perchers.
Ill. Rasores .-. i « » 'Seratchers,
LV... Grallgtores ~ ... 2 * Waders.
V. Natatores . . . . Swimmers.
Each of these classes, or “ Orders,” as they are
technically called, is again divided either into distinct
Families, or (at least in some cases) into Sub-classes,
or Groups; these Groups being then further sub-
‘ divided into families. Again, these Families are made
up of more or fewer gevera, and each gezus of more or
fewer species. These species, so many of them as com-
pose any particular genus, all differ from one another
more or less, but yet have a strong general resem-
blance, or (what may familiarly be called) strong
family likeness to each other.
The general scheme or, as I may almost call it, the
skeleton of our classification, will therefore stand
thus :—
ORDER I.—RAPTORES.
Famity I. Vulturide@! . . Vulture-kind.
II. Falconide . . . Faleon-kind.
Wi Siviside sin: a is (Owi-kind:
more modern arrangement which will be found at the close of the
Introduction to the present Edition.
1 Vulturide, Falconide, and the other similar names of Families,
are, most of them, Latin words, with Greek forms or terminations.
The true or real meaning of any one of them would be, that the
birds in the Family so named are the children, or descendants, of the
bird or birds whose name is used—thus, Vulturide, sons of a Vulture
or Vultures—which, of course, is nonsense, as the words are applied,
Their Eggs and Nests. 9
ORDER II.—INSESSORES.
Group 1.—Dentirostres (Tootu-BrLep).
Famity I. Zanzade@. . . . Butcher-bird-kind.
II. Muscicapide . . Flycatcher-kind.
Ill. Merulide . . . Thrush-kind.
IV. Sylviad@! . . . Wood-bird-kind.
V. Paride . . . . Titmouse-kind.
VI. Ampelide . . . Waxwing-kind.
VII. Motactlide. . . Wagtail-kind.
VIII. Anthide. . . . Anthus-kind,
Group 2.—ControsTrES (Conr-BILLED).
Famity I. Alaudide . . . Lark-kind.
Il. Emberiide. . . Bunting-kind.
Ill. Fringilide. . . Finch-kind.
IV. Sturnide . . . Starling-kind.
V. Corvide. . . . Crow-kind.
What is meant by the use of the words in question is that the birds
grouped together in any one Family, all participate in some likeness
of kind—are, so to speak, ‘‘ connections” of each other, or that there
is a sort of kinship among them. This I have tried to convey in the
annexed translation. It ought to be observed also that the bird
whose name is given to the entire Family is selected for such pur-
pose as possessing the characteristic qualities or peculiarities of the
Family in question, or, at least, most of them, in the strongest and
most marked degree. [The reader should, on this point, consult the
Introduction to the present edition. ]
1 Sylviade I have translated Wood-bird-kind, because Sylvia
means something connected with wood, if it meansanything. Sylvia
is taken, in bird-nomenclature, to denote a Warbler; and it may be
said, that most of those birds which come under this division are
Warblers in some sense, and are, in some degree or other, of sylvan
habits ; at least if we give to the word ‘‘ sylvan” some latitude of
meaning,
10
British Birds,
Group 3,—ScANSORES (CLIMBERS).
AMILY | Ti
Ti:
Phi,
Piade:. Woodpecker-kind.
Certhiade Creeper- kind.
Cuculide . Cuckoo-kind.
Group 4.—FisstrosTRes (CLEFT-BILLzp).
Famity J.
iH.
Lit.
IV.
ORDER
Faminy (1,
ORDER
Famity I.
Meropide Bee-eater-kind.
Flalcyonide . Kinefisher-kind.
Hirundinide . Swallow-kind.
Caprimulgide . Goatsucker-kind.
III.—RASORES (SCRATCHERS).
Columbide . Dove-kind.
. Phasianide . Pheasant-kind.
. Letraonide . Grouse-kind.
. Struthionide . Ostrich-kind.
IV.—GRALLATORES (WADERS).
Charadriide Plover-kind.
. Gruide . Crane-kind.
. Ardede . Heron-kind.
. Scolopacide . Woodcock-kind.
. Rallide . Rail-kind.
. Lobipedide . Lobed-foot-kind.
ORDER V.—NATATORES (SWIMMERS).
Famity I. Anatide. Duck-kind.
Il. Colymbide . Diver-kind.
Ill. Atade. Auk-kind.
IV. Pelecanide . Pelican-kind.
V. Lavride . Gull-kind.
Their Eggs and Nests it
Such being the skeleton of our classification, the
details necessary for the completion of the entire
system or frame will be most conveniently given as
we proceed to notice in detail the various Orders, their
comporent Families and subordinate members,
. British Birds,
CHAPTER II.
ANy one who is conversant with Yarrell’s admirable
“ British Birds,” will most likely have noticed that
that author gives in almost every case very precise
measurements of the eggs of each particular species
of bird described. And it might, at first sight, seem
to be so necessary to give such measurements that
one would very likely feel half inclined to pronounce
a book of birds’ egos very imperfect, which omitted
ail notice of dimensions. But the fact is, such
measurements are, in so very many different instances,
altogether fallacious and likely to mislead. Thus
Mr. Yarrell’s measurements of the Blackbird’s egg
are, “the length one inch, two lines; the breadth ten
lines.” That is no doubt a good average or approxi-
mate measurement, but I have Blackbirds’ eggs before
me which vary between half a line, or 4 of an inch,
less, and a line, or 7; of an inch, more in length, and
between half a line more or less, in breadth. Again,
Ihave two Starlings’ eggs on my table, both taken
from the same pigeon-cote in Essex ; one of which is
12, inch long by 4% inch broad; the other 1/5 inch
long, and 3§ inch broad ; while to the eye the latter is
‘not much more than half as large as the former.
Moreover, Mr. Yarrell’s measurements for this bird’s
egos are precisely the same as for those of the Black-
Their Eggs and Nests. aS
bird, and not only not tallying with those of either of
my eggs, but not even presenting a near approach to
the medium dimensions.
Great numbers of similar instances might be ad-
duced, and in connection with the very commonest
birds. Even eggs from the same nest may continually
be met with, presenting great disparity in bulk; one
in the number being frequently so small in compari-
son with the others, as invariably to set one thinking
it must have been the last laid, and that a partial
failure of egg-producing power in the mother-bird
must be the explanation of the phenomenon.
It seems scarcely open to question that the physical
condition of the parent-bird must exercise a great
influence over its egg-producing capacity. Its powers
may be impaired by age, by the effects of recent
injury or sickness, by a partial failure of some neces-
sary element of food, by undue pressure on the ege-
producing organs, such as must occur by the loss of
one or more early layings. Indeed all these causes are
well known to interfere with the reproductive energies
of animals at large, and it is a thoroughly ascertained
fact that both the first and the last act most strongly
in the case of many birds. The comparative size of
birds’ eggs, therefore, seems to me a matter to which
it is unnecessary, if not inexpedient, to direct the young
collector’s attention ; in any other way, at least, than
as to a matter of curious observation and contrast.
As a means of identification it fails completely, and is
only adverted to here for the purpose of obviating a
portion of the perplexity which may often occur in
practice to the youthful egg-fancier from the differ.
14 British Birds,
ence in size between different specimens of what are
in reality eggs of the same species of birds, but seem
to him, from their discrepancy of dimensions, not
possibly so. |
Again, the colour and markings of many different
species of eggs are found to admit of great variation.
The most familiar and striking instance is in the case of
the Guillemot; but one more within the reach of every
nest-hunter is presented by the eggs of the Blackbird.
Sometimes the spots on them are very minute and
multitudinous; almost confluent from their number
and minuteness ; sometimes large and well-defined
and permitting the ground-shade of the shell to be
very apparent; sometimes reddish in colour, closely
approaching the shade of those on the Ring Ousel’s
egg, and sometimes brown in hue, with no reddish
tinge at all; and sometimes they disappear altogether,
or very nearly, and leave the egg with a strong
resemblance to the little-spotted Thrush’s egg.t To
such an extent is this the case, that a year or two
since I was misled into assuming that four eggs
which I found in a nest with all the characters of a
Blackbird’s nest, must most certainly, from their
colour and markings, be assigned to a Thrush original
and not to a Blackbird. Other familiar instances of
the same kind may be noticed as met with in the
House Sparrow, the Tree Pipit, the Sky Lark, the
Yellow Hammer, one or more of the Hawks, etc.
In the fabric and materials of nests, again, as con-
structed by birds of the same species, much dissimi-
larity, under peculiar circumstances, will be found to
1 Yarrell, i. 204. Hewitson, i. 63.
Their Eggs and Nests. 5
prevail. But really not more than might have been
looked for beforehand, if it were not that, in our
usual way of thinking about birds and other animals,
we lay so much stress upon Instinct, and do not so
much as admit to our notice the possibility that many
of their actions may be prompted by a measure of
intelligence, and not simply an unconsidering, un-
reasoning influence, which we term their Instinctive
endowment. No doubt Instinct teaches them both to
build and how to build their nests, and what materi-
als are the most suitable, and the sites that are most
eligible. But it is scarcely Instinct which sets the
Eagle and the Crow, when their abode is in a place
that does not furnish the sticks they commonly or
instinctively use for building their nests, to adopt
instead of sticks the sea-weed stems which their home
does produce. And so too of the House Sparrow,
which, if it selects a tree or ivy for its site, builds a
huge domed or well covered-in nest, but only lines the
bottom of the hole in thatch, or a wall, with abundant
feathers or hair or straw. The Wren, again, which
usually builds its nest so that it may easily be
removed entire and compact, may be found to avail
itself of such a site for its nest, that it may be built
on the principle of application—like the Martin’s to
the wall beneath the eaves—so that, when taken from
its site, it shall appear to have had a segment com-
pletely cut out or sliced off from it.
The adaptation of materials to site also, so as to
secure a greater degree of concealment by making the
intrusive structure assimilate in external fabric and
hue to the surrounding objects, is well worthy of
16 British Birds,
receiving attention, as supplying not only fresh sources
of seeming unlikeness in nests of the same species of
birds, but also fresh instances of the little feathered
architect's wonderful adaptive intelligence.
The question —Why are birds’ eggs, in so many
cases, so variously and beautifully ornamented ?
Why are their hues and markings made so attractive
to look at? has often been asked, and two or three
different answers or modes of answer have been sug-
gested. I have seen the idea started that the design
of such various colouring and marking is intended to
facilitate concealment, by the adaptation of the
general hue of the egg to that of the recipient or
supporting substances. The theory is at least original
and amusing; but unfortunately less happy than
when applied to the plumage of the birds themselves
which lay the eggs. It is no easy thing to detect a
Partridge as she sits, lifeless-seeming, amid other
objects not more still than herself, and presenting no
great contrast in colour to her feathers: but there is
no difficulty in seeing her eggs as they le in the nest,
And so well aware is she of the fact, that she always
covers her eggs with some convenient and suitable
material—last year’s oak leaves, for example—when
leaving her nest deliberately, or not under the im-
pulses of alarm. The Hedge Sparrow’s eggs again, or
any other blue egg, how can they be supposed to
become less conspicuous by their colour when reposing
in some earth-brown or hay-coloured nest-cup ?
If it had been said that the Golden Plover’s eggs,
the Peewit’s, the Snipe’s, the Norfolk Plover’s—not to
name many others of which the same might be alleged
Their Eggs and Nests. 17
—were of such general hue, so shaded and so marked
as to be anything but conspicuous, as to be indeed
well calculated to escape any but a most scrutinising
notice, in the apologies for nests which usually con-
tain them, the entire truth of the remark would have
appealed to every nest-finder’s experience and assent :
but it will not do so in any other form.
It is impossible to lay down any rule for the colours
of eggs in connection with the places, or nature of the
places, in which they are laid. White eggs are not
laid in nests built in dark holes as a rule-—indeed,
very much the contrary; witness the Dove’s eggs,
and so many of those of the Duck tribe; nor are
dark-coloured eggs invariably found to be laid where
exposed to the greatest amount of broad daylight.
There seems to be no rule in the matter.
Again, another answer to the question just noticed
is, Eggs were made so beautiful, and so various in
their beauty, to gratify and gladden man’s eye. I don’t
dispute the fact that the beautiful shape, and the
beautiful tints, and the beautiful markings do gratify
and gladden the human eye and human heart too. I
know they do, and in thousands of cases, and with a
great, pure pleasure. But that is a very different
thing from saying that God made them so for no
other reason, or even for that purpose as a principal
reason. How many thousands of eggs, for ten that
are seen by man, escape all human notice whatever!
How many millions upon millions in the old-world
times before there were men to see them, must have
had their fair colours, and delicate symmetry, and
harmonious intermingling of hues, for no purpose
B
18 . British Birds,
whatever according to this view! No, no. Nature
should not be read so. God made the Beasts of the
Field, and the Birds of the Air, and the Fishes of the
Sea, and the Insects, and the Shells, and the Trees,
and Herbs, and Flowers, all, as a rule, wonderfully,
gloriously, harmoniously beautiful, because He is a
God of order,and beauty, and harmony ; because it
would have been inconsistent with His own Being,
with the necessary purposes of such a Being, with the
declared objects of such a Being in Creation, not to
have made all “very good;” and the same reason
which accounts for the beauty of the myriad flowers
“born to blush unseen,” for that of the innumerable
shells and insects of past days and the present day,
for that of the glorious birds of Tropic lands, is all
that we want in the way of explanation of the
symmetry and beauty of the bird’s egg. God made
it as well as all other things “very good.”
Something more to the point for the practical egg-
hunter, and even although he may be not very
juvenile, is to recommend the practice of jotting down
notes of any peculiarity of either nest or eggs or be-
haviour of parent birds, in any supposable case that
may be a little unusual. Such notes are always in-
teresting and very often useful at some long subse-
quent period ; useful in themselves, and useful too as
commenting on or else illustrated by, the similar
memoranda of other observers. Besides, in what is
put down upon paper while the incident is still fresh,
and the memory of it not interfered with by other and
newer matters of strong interest, the record is sure
to be accurate; while mere recollection at a later
Their Eggs and Nests. 19
date is about sure to be insuflicient or untrust-
worthy.
Perhaps the boy-collector too may not think a few
sentences about blowing and drying and mounting his
ego-treasures either tiresome or unnecessary. As a
rule, let the egg intended to be kept be blown and
dried as soon as possible. There are several reasons
for this piece of advice. The light shells travel more
safely than the full egg; the egg shells do not suffer
detriment from lying overlooked, with their contents
rotting within, as often happens with the collector of
uncareful and unprecise habits; they are put into a
state of comparative readiness for prompt and complete
preparation and arrangement; and though last not
least, a good, useful, methodical habit is encouraged in
the collector himself.
There are several ways of blowing an egg and going
through the preparatory stages of fitting it to take its
place in a collection. There are also instruments for
extracting the contents of the shell so as to obviate
the necessity of making more than one hole. I don’t
think they are likely to be of much use to a mere boy,
Iam sure they would be a great deal of trouble, and
I don’t think that the end gained would repay the
1 If, however, the boy has or acquires them, the following note is
useful :—‘‘ The simplest and best way of blowing eggs is to drilla
hole in one side (not at the ends), then taking the egg, hole down-
wards, between the finger and thumb of the left hand, place the
blowpipe point just outside the hole, and blow into the egg; this
will force out the contents. When this is done, blow a little clean
water into the egg, and shake it well; then remove the water in the
same way as above, and allow the egg to dry hole downwards on
blotting paper; it will then be quite clean.” This note was ap-
pended to the first Edition,
20 British Birds,
trouble and care expended. I have always found a
small hole, only just large enough to admit the passage
of sufficient air to expel the contents, made very care-
fully and neatly at the small end, and a larger one
about half-way between the great end and the line of
greatest diameter, which need not be more than a line
in breadth for the very iargest eggs (if not “ hard-
sat”) quite sufficient for my purpose, and not objec-
tionable on the score of disfiguring the shell; for by
mounting the ege with the larger or vent hole down-
wards—the smaller hole being practically invisible in
a great number of instances, at least until looked for—
it appears to be altogether entire and perfect.
Any tolerably strong pin will do for the purpose
with small eggs. For the larger and harder shells
something more efficient will be required. A hard
steel instrument fashioned like a “glover’s needle ”—
that is with the penetrating end furnished with three
edges all lost in the point—is as good as anything
that could be devised, and by having two or three of
different sizes, every case of necessity would be pro-
vided for. The sharp-pointed pen-blade may be em-
ployed, but great care is necessary lest, when the
perforation is just effected, the instrument should slip
a little farther in than was intended, and an ugly
fragment of shell be wrenched out.
When the egg is thoroughly blown, it is advisable
to draw up a little clean water into it by the process
of immersing the vent-hole and sucking or drawing
in the air from the shell with the mouth through the
other—just reversing the late process of “ blowing,”
in short, The shell, when half-full, should be well
Their Eggs and Nests. 2i
shaken, and the water then expelled as the legitimate
contents had been: a very gentle puff will suffice for
this. Repeat the process two or three times, or until
the water comes out as clear as it went in; then dry
the egg as well as you can by blowing through it at
intervals, after it has been so held that the moisture
on the inside may all trickle down towards the vent-
hole ; after which it may be set up for some hours
in an airy, but not sunny, place to dry thoroughly.
Some collectors varnish their eggs. A little of the
white of the egg itself is all-sufficient, and that should
not be applied unless the egg is perfectly clean, which
is by no means the case with the eggs of many ground-
building birds when taken from the nest. I have
taken Dabchicks’ eggs also so completely muddied all
over, that it was almost impossible to get them clean.
One,met with on one of the Essex marshes a year or two
since, which was the only one yet laid and apparently
not a day old, was so engrained with dirt or mud that
it defied all efforts to restore it to its pristine white-
ness. In the case of an originally white egg, such
efforts at cleansing will not do much harm; in the
case of an egg strongly marked with deep colours, it
is a different matter. The efforts to remove the clay
or dirt imparted by the feet of the parent bird may
succeed in removing the stains in question, but may
also very likely remove some of the tints or stronger
colouring too. It must be remembered that the
deeper colours of many eggs are not “fast,” at all
events when they have not been long laid, and that
attempts at cleansing, more vigorous than judicious,
may easily produce an undesired result.
23 British Birds, their Eggs and Nests.
If the vent-hole is necessarily made large, there is
no objection to placing a piece of thin or gauze paper,
wetted with the varnish or white of the egg, so as to
eover the entire orifice, and so exclude dust or other
intrusive substances. As to mounting the eggs, and
labelling for insertion in the collection, much depends
on taste. An ordinary “ printer’s” card is as good for
the purpose as anything, and a little very strong gum-
water is the only other requisite. A little attention
to placing the eggs symmetrically and neatly, and the
use of a few gun-wads or halfpence or small wooden
wedges, to retain the eggs when accurately set in their
true position, until the gum has had time to harden,
are matters which will almost surely suggest them-
selves to any youthful egg-fancier who is only toler-
ably given to admire the “ szmplex mundztits.” As for
labels, they may either be neatly written, or procured,
at a very slight cost, printed on purpose for such
application. [See the remarks on the “ Ibis” list in
the Introduction which follows.]
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
NEW AND REVISED EDITION.
THIRTY-FIVE years ago the author did not regard the
writing of introductory chapters to the Original
Edition of the present book either difficult or accom-
panied with risk. But the writing of an introduction
to a New and Revised Edition, under the circum-
stances of the present time, is by no means so easy a
task or one to be lightly undertaken. Then, it was
all comparatively plain sailing, with no hidden rocks
ahead, or risk of running upon hazardous quicksands.
But now, there are breakers ahead in the diversity of
conflicting views as to divers matters closely con-
nected with ornithological questions; and, apart from
the shoals of error which it may require the nicest
steering to avoid, it is only too certain that there is
no chart laid down of sufficient accuracy to save the
course of the craft from being interfered with by the
influence of divers currents of differing and discordant
views and opinions.
23
24 British Birds,
It is quite true that, within the interval of time just
adverted to, vast and most interesting additions have
been made to our knowledge about birds, and matters
connected with them; their habits, their haunts, their
life-history, and especially the general run of facts
connected with their nests and eggs, their places of
nidification and all other circumstances of interest to
the egg-collector.
But, recognising in the fullest manner that this is
so, it is, at the least, equally open to recognition that,
notwithstanding the acquisition of a certain very large
amount of positive information and knowledge on
these and such-like topics, there is stil] a vast array of
ornithological matters remaining under debate, which,
moreover, are discussed with the usual amount of
warmth and mutual “ agreement” still “ to differ.”
But interesting as all such discussions may be and
are to the scientific student and observer, it scarcely
follows that it would prove to be of interest to the
commencing bird-naturalist or the boy nest-hunter
and egg-collector. And what the editor of this “ New
and Revised ” issue of his book has especially to think
of is that the readers he has to desire as well as to
write and provide for, must mainly belong to a class
who are not, as yet, at least, either scientific or deeply
read, whether as bird-observers or ornithological
students. The time may come when they will be both.
But in the meantime, it seems to be an object to be
aimed at by the editor of this new edition of a book,
merely elementary (the kindly reception of which by
many past generations of nest-hunters and egg-
collectors has greatly gratified the author), while
Their Eggs and Nests. 25
steering clear of uninteresting, perhaps unnecessary
technicalities, to be equally careful alike to admit
nothing such as to discourage the attempt after more
accurate knowledge, and, on the other hand, by no
means to omit to notice anything that may possibly
serve to assist all such as desire, or may be aspire to,
fuller and completer knowledge.
With such views, then, the reviser might, and most
likely would, make a great mistake if he burdened the
few pages available to him for fresh matter with dis-
quisitions as to the superiority of this or that system
of arrangement over some other or others; or the. pre-
ferableness of this or that classified list of genera and
species, orders, families, and sub-families over this or
that other. The misfortune is—and it really is a
great misfortune to very many juvenile enquirers
about “our feathered friends”—that there are so
many differences or divergences or contentions as
those above alluded to. It will be our endeavour to
keep as clear of them all as one possibly can in a book
of this sort.
Still, it is absolutely necessary to the very being of
the book itself, that there should be some preference
shown, inasmuch as without it there could be no
attempt made at arrangement or classification of any
sort or degree whatever. In the Original Edition the
author took the then recent work by the late Mr.
Yarrell—a book welcomed with the liveliest and
heartiest recognition by all the ornithological world—
as his standard book or book of reference. In the inter-
val between the completed publication of the original
edition of Yarrell’s work and the present time, that
26 British Birds,
book has passed through three other editions. Of
these “the second and third editions,” as the editor of
the first two voiumes of the fourth edition says in his
“ Prospectus,” “ with the exception of some few, though
not unimportant, additions and alterations, were, as a
whole, mere reprints of the first, which appeared some
thirty ”—now more than forty—‘ years ago.” But
the same cannot be said of the fourth and last edition;
and, least of all, can it be said of the third and fourth
volumes thereof. Certain systematic changes were
made, as well as alterations rather than merely.
additions, in the first two volumes (for the original
three volumes had been expanded into four in the
latest issue), such as might be looked upon as satisfac-
torily established. But the editorship of this new
edition expired when it was half way through, and at
the close of the second volume—the last edited by
Professor Newton—he writes as follows:—‘ I am not
responsible for anything that may follow by another
editor.”
This was in 1882; and the changes that have been
made under the direction of “ another editor” are very
great; and it may be added that there is, if not an
universal, still a very considerable consensus of opinion
that the systematic changes and alterations adverted
to are such as may be regarded as in the main satis-
factorily established. But, still, there is no question
possible but that they have introduced a very marked
incongruity between the systematic arrangement
adopted in the former editions, and even in the former
half of the fourth edition itself, and that exhibited in
the later and concluding moiety of the same.
Their Eggs and Nests. 27
Thus, Mr. Yarrell himself begins with the order
Raptores, an arrangement followed in all the three
earlier editions, and by Professor Newton in the
commencing volume of the fourth. But the newer
systems put the Passeres (or as it is in some lists
Pico-Passeres) as the first order; and it is unnecessary
to dwell upon the almost utter subversion of Mr.
Yarrell’s classification that is occasioned by this
change alone. Only it is very far indeed from
standing alone. It is but the first of a series of
changes which may almost be characterised as
startling.
Unhappily, there is not complete accordance, nor
too striking an approach to it, among those who
depart from the older arrangement; and the present
writer feels that the best he can do for the readers,
for whom the present book is principally designed, is
to mark the differences of System, Classification,
Nomenclature, and so forth, in such a way as shall
tend the least to confuse the young reader’s mind, and,
at the same time, make it evident that many matters
are still left for further and fuller enquiry ; taking,
however, every care to avoid interference with the main
object of such a book as this—which ought to be of
course, and is intended to be, to render help to the
young nest-hunter and egg-collector ; to help him, in
fact, to classify the results of the prizes he gains and
discoveries he makes, as well as, perhaps, in the
desire to compare the collection he compiles with
other and larger and more complete and well-arranged
collections within his reach whenever such an oppor-
tunity may happen to offer itself.
28 British Birds,
Such an object as this renders unnecessary, even if
it does not exclude as mistaken and misplaced, any
attempt at scientific disquisition as to the differences
cr divergences just now referred to; but perhaps it
apologises, even if it does not call, for some notice of
another topic not altogether unconnected. J mean,
the resort to some list or key-list, some catalogue, or
summary, or systematic sketch of the orders, genera,
and species of British birds. The writer has several
before him as he pens these lines. One by Mr. Henry
Seebohm; another by Lieutenant-Colonel Howard
Irby, for instance. Then there is the “Ibis” List,
which is the list compiled for the British Ornitho-
logical Union, besides some others of more or less
considerable standing. Then again, there are the lists
one can make for oneself by copying from some such
book as Saunders’ “ Manual of British Birds,” or from
the earlier pages of the several volumes of the last
edition of Yarrell’s “ History of British Birds,” so
largely referred to above. All of these, however, will
be found to differ more or less in divers matters; such,
for instance, as the number of birds whose names
should be admitted into the list of British birds; or
the arrangement proposed or followed; or the nature
of the nomenclature adopted. Among more than one
of the drawbacks thus enumerated, Mr. Seebohm’s list
has certainly this advantage, that, besides giving a
most valuable summary of the geographical distribu-
tion of each British bird, it is also arranged for
“ Labels of Collections of British Birds or Eggs.” The
name of each separate species, together with the in-
formation about it, is printed on one side of the paper
Their Eggs and Nests. 29
only, so that the list can easily be cut up into separate
slips as desired.
There is, however, one special advantage attaching
itself to the “Ibis” List. I mean that it gives the
various synonyms that have been proposed (and by
different authorities accepted) by scientific systema-
tists for our various British birds. To give an in-
stance of what I mean :—Take the well-known bird
called the Bullfinch. In different systems it is_ called
Loxta Pyrrhula, Pyrrhula Europea, Pyrrhula Vul-
garts, Pyrrhula Rubicilla, and Pyrrhula Pileata.
Here are five scientific “ a/zases” for one familiar bird.
The Lesser Redpoll and the Mealy Redpoll each have
six such “a/zases,’ and the Common Guillemot is so
very far from being ordinarily “respectable,” that it
has a list of seven scientific “ a/ases” belonging to it.
Of course all this is, to an outsider, very absurd ;!
while to a would-be learner it is very perplexing.
The “Ibis” List tables all these a/zases, as I have
called them—“synonyms” the learned call them—
and they may be seen and scanned at one glance.
“The nesting-places,’ says Mr. Headley (“Structure
and Life of Birds,” p. 348), “the nesting-places of all
the British migrants except one, the Curlew Sand-
piper, have been found, thanks chiefly to the energy
1 It is, however, intensified, and in a much more serious degree,
in the list of synonyms (or as I have called them ‘‘ aliases”) given in
Mr. Henry Seebohm’s *‘ History of British Birds,” refixed to the
letterpress belonging to the description of eacn several species,
Thus the very familiar English bird, the Chiffchaff, has no less than
twenty-seven scientific synonyms printed below its English (or
common) name. And for the purpose of this illustration, I opened
on it by the merest hazard, .
30 British Birds,
of our English ornithologists. Our summer visitants
have been seen and recognised in their South African
winter resorts by English travellers.” That is quite
true, but it is not much more to our special object and
purpose—which is mainly limited to British-breeding
birds—than a detailed notice of the differences and
vagaries of opinion as to the purely scientific matters
of Structure and System to which reference has been
made in the nearly preceding paragraphs. Our
business certainly lies with the birds which build
nests and lay their eggs in England—at least in
Britain—and more especially with those which are
most commonly met with.
But from time to time the nest and eggs of a bird
that breeds but rarely among us are met with, and
some notice of such bird is called for; as also of the
helps and facilities which are afforded, in other books,
towards the identification of such birds, and their
allocation among the order, or group, or family they
belong to.
With this view, I append here a sketch of the
syetematic arrangement adopted in the last edition of
Yarrell’s “British Birds”; and to the subsequent
letterpress will be added notices of some of the
members of the several groups therein specified, or
such additional nesting notes as may seem to have
either some approach to noveity, or else some attrac-
tiveness or helpfulness for the juvenile nest-hunter
and collector of eggs; who, though not a scientific
ornithologist at present, may easily be a real lover of
birds and their ways and belongings now, and grow
‘up in increasing regard and admiration both for
Ther Eggs and Nests. 31
themselves and the wonderful objects of study their
history reveals.
A comparison of the scheme which follows with
that which is left standing in the “ Introductory
Chapter to the Original Edition” may be not alto-
gether without profit to one who desires really to
study the general subject. The orders, it will be
noticed, are altered, and both in name and constitu-
tion, and the same as to groups or sub-orders, The
same as to families and sub-families ; and again, the
same as to the genera constituting these latter
divisions. But itis hoped that neither what is left,
nor what is substituted for the old, will be such as to
interfere with the utility and citeees of the Rae to
the rising ornithologist.
ORDER.—ACCIPITRES.
Famity I. Vulturide . . (2 members or species.)
II. Falcontde . . . . (22 members.)
ELE Greed ay Srey LEO aoe
ORDER.—PASSERES.
Famity I. Laniade ( 4 members.)
Il. Muscicapide (3 - )
III. Oriolide. ( 1 member. }
IV. Cinchde. ii ee
V. Lxide eee tee ae toe Tale,
Vi. Zurdid2 . .°. . { 9 members)
VII. Sylvzade (30 a. )
VIII. Troglodynde . ( 1 member. )
IX. Certhiade . (al i )
X, Stttide . (1 oo ine
32 British Birds,
A LPaviae .. ( 6 members.)
XII. Panuride . ( 1 member. )
XIII. Ampehde . Cy 4s )
XIV. Motacillide. (11 members.)
XV. Alaudide ( 6 - )
XVI. Emberizide (10 sft te
XVII. Fringilide . (20 33 )
XVIII. Lcteride . ( 1 member. )
XIX. Sturnide ( 2 members.)
XX. Corvide . Gy , )
XXI. Hirundinide . ( 4 ks )
ORDER.—PICARIZ.
Famity I. Cypselide ( 2 members.)
Il. Caprimulgide . ( 1 member. )
Ill. Cuculide. ( 3 members.)
IV. Upupide ( 1 member. )
V. Coracide ‘oe: a )
VI. Meropide . Ci ie )
VII. Alcedinide . ( 2 members.)
VIII. Peccde ( 4 at abe
ORDER.—COLUMBAL.
Famity I. Columbide . ( 5 members.)
ORDER.—PTEROCLETES.
Famity I. Péterochde . ( 1 member. )
ORDER.—GALLIN A.
Famity I. TZetraonide. ( 4 members.)
ll. Phasianide «3 Ae Z )
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
FAMILY
i,
I.
I.
RE:
I. Procellariide .
; Omanioie.:-. . . { 1 member.’)
I.
IT.
II.
Their Eggs and Nesis.
ORDER.—HEMIPODII.
Turnicide.. . » + (-1 member.)
ORDER.— FULICARL.
Rallide. . . . . ( 7 members.)
ORDER.—ALECTORIDES.
Griide. 3 SE member. 3
Ondide .~<.« » ~ { & members.)
ORDER.—LIMICOL.
. Gdicnemide . . . ( 1 member. )
Grirtaitid@e . 2 i ge EI a )
Charadritde . . . (10 members.)
. wColopatid@e. . .« « (86 as
ORDER.—GAVI.
. Laride. . . . . (80 members.)
ORDER.—TUBIN ARES.
( 9 members )
ORDER.—PYGOPODES.
Alpe obs on, es EE members.)
Colpmbide oe ES 7 )
Podicipedide . C5 ” )
ORDER.—STEGANOPODES.
a
Pelecanide. . . . (3 members.)
Cc
33
34. British Birds, their Eggs and Nests.
ORDER.—HERODIONES.
Famity I. Ardede. . . . . (10 members.)
MMseCpconde. =. > as A * )
Wi sbiraide 2. 2 + A Lanember.9
INE Piaiieiae 2 3s ee :. )
ORDER.—ODONTOGLOSS.
Famity I. Phanicopteride . . ( 1 member. )
ORDER.—ANSERES.
Famity I. Anatide . . . . (44 members.)
BRITISH BIRDS,
aHEER EGGS. AND NESTS.
a
IN the following pages I shall endeavour, as far as my
subject will permit, to avoid mere dry and uninterest-
ing detail. It is, of course, quite inconsistent with the
nature of the book to omit matter-of-fact descriptions
altogether, or even in any very great degree; but an
effort will be made to relieve the whole from wearing
the appearance of a catalogue in disguise, and to give
it as much of a life-like practical character as possible.
How many incidents in a school-boy’s life are con-
nected, in his memory, with some nesting expedition,
some recollection of perhaps an accidental discovery
of a nest and eggs he had never seen before, or pos-
sibly wished and tried to find, but always wished and
tried in vain. Such experiences are always pleasant
and interesting in their detail to the real lover of
birds and their belongings ; and often almost as much
so when detailed by others as when reproduced in his
own recollections of former days, and their hopes, and
plans, and successes, and disappointments, each often
renewed, or often repeated under some varying form
Why, then, should not such matters stand here and
there in these pages ?
35
36 British Birds, their Eggs and Nests.
Our plan, therefore, will be to omit ali special
notice of the nests and eggs of so-called “ British
Birds,” whose only claim to the designation lies in
their having been met with once or twice, or even
some half-dozen times in the British Isles: to omit it,
that is, in the body of the book, and to give such
reference or description of at least the more interest-
ing species and their eggs, as space may allow, in an
Appendix. Accounts will be, however, given of the
habits of nidification and the eggs of all unquestion-
ably British birds, even although their breeding
habitat be in another country, or most rarely and
exceptionally within the compass of the British
seas; such birds, for instance, as the Fieldfare, the
Redwing, the Snow Bunting, and others, besides
several of the Anatid@. We begin, therefore, with
our first Order.
ORDER.—ACCIPITRES.
FAMILY IL—VULTURIDAL
Two members of this Family, classed by some
naturalists as belonging to the same gexus, by others
as species of two different gexera, have been met with
in Britain ; but I believe one of them, the first-named
below, only once, the other only twice or three times.
They are only mentioned here as showing the justifi-
cation there is for claiming the family of Vulturide
as being in anywise exemplified in birds belonging to
the British Isles.
Their Eggs and Nests. 37
GRIFFON VULTURE—(Gips ; fulvus formerly,
Vultur fulvus).
EGYPTIAN VULTURE—(Weophron percuopterus).
FAMILY IL—FALCONID.
There are several species belonging to this family
of sufliciently common occurrence even still in these
days of game preservers, gamekeepers, and vermin-
killers.
‘Time was, and not so long since either, when many
even of those most rare now were familiarily met
with ‘in almost all parts of the country ; and Eagles
and the Kite and several of the larger and more con-
spicuous Falcons and Hawks were not yet become so
much like Black Swans, as they are now in so many
English and even Scottish counties.
These birds differ, with a marked distinction, from
those belonging to the Vulture-kind ; and as much in
habits and food and power of wing, as in appearance,
formation, bill and claws, and other matters, such as
the scientific naturalist notices for the purpose of
enabling himself and others to distinguish between
family and family, genus and genus, species and
species.
Thus, the Vulture’s foou 1s usually carrion, the flesh
of animals killed by other agency than their own, and
in numberless instances in a state of putridity more
or less complete.
The food of the Falcon tribe generally consists of
the flesh of creatures taken and killed by themselves
38 British Birds,
I say generally ;—not invariably. The Eagles in a
state of nature do not disdain to gorge themselves on
the flesh of a dead sheep, for instance, although they
have had no hand—or rather beak and claw—in the
death. Still the rule is, and admitting not many |
exceptions when the whole family is considered, that
tne Falconide hunt for, or surprise, and slay their
prey for themselves. And very intent on this busi-
ness are they oftentimes, when engaged in discussing
the meal which their craft, or still vigilance, or fierce
impetuous speed and dash has secured for them.
Often, too, not a little sleepy and heavy are they after
having been lucky enough to secure a large prey, and
greedy enough to stuff themselves full with it.
The bird which stands at the head of the family
and alike deserves and does credit to his rank is the
GOLDEN EAGLE—(Aguzla chrysaetos).
It seems almost too tame to talk of an “ Eagle’s
nest,” and we seem almost to feel as if different words
might well be applied to the nursery-structure of the
King of Birds, and that of the tiny Tom-tit or the
Wren. So, independently of the old meaning of the
word eyry! which makes it so suitable as applied to
the egg-home of the grand kingly birds, called Eagles,
1 Probably from Saxon eghe (g sounded like y) ‘fan egg.” The
modern English form of the word would be eggery therefore;
the old English form eyry or eyrie. Chaucer (about 1400) wrote ey for
“Sega.” Professor Skeat, however, does not approve of the derivation
from the Saxon, which would make the word equivalent to eggery.
He would refer it rather to the Icelandic arahreidr, meaning ‘“‘an
eyrie, an eagle’s nest”; Icel. ari, ‘‘an eagle” ; hreidr, ‘a wreath,”
‘*a bird’s nest.”
Their Egos and Nests. 39
we feel a sort of satisfaction in limiting the use of the
word eyry to the Eagle’s nest alone.
No easy matter is it always to cultivate a visiting
acquaintance with an Eagle. His home is not in a
place easy of access to any but himself, or those like
himself, up-borne on wings. On rock platforms (not
too scanty in size), in mountainous districts, and
guarded by rugged, stern, precipitous rock-walls,
utterly forbidding, in almost every case, access by
human members from below, and not often to be
safely reached from above, the great pile which forms
the nest is usually built. Sometimes, but very rarely
by comparison, it may be found on some large, possibly
shattered, forest-trunk amid some wild, seldom-
approached scene of loneliness or desolation. It is
four to five feet in diameter, made of sticks of no
mean size and length, sometimes lined with softer
materials, sometimes not; the new or more recently
constructed nest placed upon those of last year and
other preceding years ; and it would require a willing
and able labourer to clear it thoroughly away, and no
slight touch of the quality of the gate-bearing Jewish
hero in the juvenile nest-seeker who might aspire to
carry off such a trophy of his nesting exploits. The
site chosen for the nest-pile too is almost invariably
one which commands a wide, unhindered look-out;
partly, it is likely, under the influence of the strong
instinct of vigilance in self-preservation, partly also
for the advantages offered by such a dwelling-place
towards the detection of a distant prey.
The number of eggs deposited is usually two, some-
times three. They are commonly of a dull whitish
40 British Birds,
ground, mottled or marbled nearly or quite all over
with a sort of rusty hue.
The young ones, while yet too young to leave the
nest, are amply catered for by their parents. Lists
are sometimes given of the spoils, feathered and four-
footed, found in what may be styled the Eagle’s larder
—Black Game, Moor Game, Partridges, Hares, Rabbits,
Lambs, young Roes, and so on, to an amount that
would seem hardly credible to one not conversant with
the Eagle’s power of vision and mighty sweep of wing.
Indeed there is a story told of a man in Ireland who.
got a fair provision for his family in a season of
scarcity by no other effort than was requisite in
plundering an Hagle’s nest of the food brought in by
the parent birds for their young. He is said also to
have prolonged the season of supply by preventing
the young ones from flying, by clipping their wings as
the feathers grew. Instances have been known where
the prey seized was human. Professor Wilson tells a
touching story, in a touching way, of an incident of
the kind, in which the infant was seized as it lay and
slept where its mother had placed it, while herself
busy not far off in the harvest field, and carried off by
the strong bird to its eyry. The poor mother, frantic
with her loss, blind to everything but the thought and
effort for the recovery of her babe, safely scaled the
precipice, high up on which the nest was placed—
though no man, however skilful and expert as a crags-
man, had ever dared attempt the ascent—found her
babe alive and unhurt, and smiling in her face, de-
scended again—a more perilous feat still—in safety ;
and once more on level ground at the foot, swooned
Their Eggs and Nests. 4i
helplessly away. The Eagles did not attack her in
reality, though their fierce menaces made the spectators
tremble. Our boy readers if ever they found an
Kagle’s nest, which is not likely, might well need the
protection of a good strong cudgel, fearlessly and skil-
fully wielded, before they succeeded in possessing
themselves of one of its eggs.— zg. 1, plate L.
SPOTTED EAGLE—(Aquila navia),
Met with in Britain once or twice only.
WHITE-TAILED EAGLE—(Aatiaetus albicilia).
Called also Erne, Cinereous Eagle, Sea Eagle.—This
species—a member of another gexws, however—like
the last, breeds amid high, almost inaccessible rocks,
in the mountainous solitudes of Scotland, and some of
the northernmost British Islands. The nest resembles
the Golden Eagle’s, but is often more cushioned—
one can hardly say lined, when there is scarcely any
cavity or depression to receive the eggs— more
cushioned with soft material, such as heather or sea-
weed. This Eagle seldom lays more than two eggs,
which in ground-colour are like the Golden Eagle’s
but not often noticeably marked with red.
The White-tailed Eagle is much more frequently
seen south of the Border than the Golden Eagle. In
fact, a year rarely passes without some record of the
occurrence of this fine bird in more than one county
of England, and those by no means always the most
northerly. On the rabbit warrens of Norfolk and
Suffolk they used frequently to be met with, and it
42 - British Birds,
not seldom happens that two are seen together—
perhaps the young from the same nest driven forth by
their stern parents to seek their own living in the
wide world.
The male Eagle of this species is known, like the
male of many other kinds of birds, to take his turn
with his mate in incubating their eggs. It would
seem difficult for the observer to be mistaken in this
fact; for the male bird, as is the case in the other
families of the Falconide generally, is very distinctly
smaller than the female—to the actual extent indeed |
of not much less than one-third of the entire size.
We come next to a raptorial bird, whose food is
procured mainly from the water,—namely, the
OSPREY—(Pandion haliaetus),
The Osprey, or Fishing Hawk, or Mullet Hawk, or
Kagle Fisher,! builds its nest sometimes on a tree,
sometimes on some part of an ancient and deserted
building—always on the highest part, a turret or
chimney, for instance—and sometimes on a rock or
precipitous scar. But a very favourite and almost
characteristic site—speaking of the bird only as a
British bird—is on some low insular rock in a wild
mountain loch in Scotland. I extract a very striking
description from “St. John’s Tour in Sutherland ”:
“The nest was placed in a most curious situation.
About a hundred and fifty yards from the shore, there
rose from the deep water a solitary rock, about ten
feet high, shaped like a broken sugar-loaf or trun-
1A translation of the Gaelic name of the bird.
Their Eggs and Nests. 43
cated cone. On the summit of this was the nest, a
pile of sticks of very great depth, evidently the ac-
cumulation of many breeding seasons, as the Osprey
returns year after year to the same nest. How this
heap of sticks withstood the winter gales without
being blown at once into the water, puzzled me... .
The female Osprey allowed our boat to approach
within two hundred yards or so, and then, leaving her
nest, sailed upwards with a circling flight, till she
joined her mate high above us.
“ Having reached the rock, and with some aifficulty
ascended to the nest, our disappointment may be im-
agined when we found it empty. From the old bird
having remained on so long, we had made sure of
finding eggs in it. The nest itself, however, was in-
teresting to me, perched as it was on the very summit
of the rock, and composed of large sticks,’ every one
of which must have been a heavy burden for a bird of
the size of the Osprey.
“Tn the centre of the pile of sticks was a cup-shaped
hollow, the size of a boy’s cap, lined with moss and
dead grass, and apparently quite ready to receive
eggs.” “In another nest,” says the same author,
elsewhere, “ we found two beautiful eggs, of a round-
ish shape: the colour white, with numerous spots and
marks of a fine rich red brown.” —Fzg. 2, plate I.
The Osprey is met with from time to time in al-
most all parts of the kingdom, but more especially
along the east coast; but it is known to breed no-
where in England now. In America, it is met with in
1Some of the sticks—or rather branches—employed, are said to
have been 14 inch in diameter,
4A Lritish Birds,
considerable numbers, forming, as it were, a large
eolony during the breeding season ; of course, in the
vicinity of some ample and convenient fishing
station.
We come next to the Falcons, distinguished from
the rest of the Hawks by, among other things, their
long and pointed wings, and their vehement and
ane flight and dash in -pursuing and seizing their
quarry. First we notice the
GREENLAND FALCON—(Falco Candicans ;
formerly, Grenlandicus).
Also called Jer Falcon or Gyr Falcon.
ICELAND FALCON—( Falco Islandicus).
Neither of these birds breed in Britain, and they
are only occasional aud somewhat rare visitants.
Whatever notice can be afforded to them, will be met
with in the Appendix.
PEREGRINE FALCON—(Falco peregrinus).
There was a time at which this bird was abundant
enough in our island. It still breeds in many paris
of both England and Scotland, though much more
commonly in the latter country. But in the feudal
times there would have been no difficulty to the young
ego-collector—if such beings existed then—in meeting
with the nest of the Peregrine, in districts suitable to
their breeding habits and requirements. Although
some consideration, it is true, might have been ad-
visable previously to appropriating the contents of the
Ther Eggs and Nests. 45
said nest for cabinet purposes. The right hand of the
fortunate collector would have been the penalty in
those days of strict “game laws.” So stringent, in-
deed, were the provisions for preserving the Peregrine,
that the customary breeding haunt of a pair was
placed under the especial care of the occupiers of the
land in the immediate vicinity, and they were: made
responsible, by the terms of their tenure, for the safe
keeping of the noble birds and their offspring. One
such site is in Goathland, on the line of the Pickering
and Whitby Railway ; and it is an interesting fact in
the nesting habits of the Peregrine, that until within
a recent period (and it is believed at the present time
also), Killing-nab Scar has always been a site of that
Falcon’s nidification.1 Many of its breeding places,
perhaps like others in the interior, known time out of
mind by some name derived from the circumstance of
their being thus appropriated, such .as Falcon-scar,
Hawk-scar, Eagle-cliff, are among the tallest and least
accessible rocks both in the interior and on the sea
coast. The nest itself is placed on some projection,
possibly within some fissure, and is made of sticks, or
seaweed from the coast, and is lined with some hair,
on which, for the hollow is not deep, the eggs repose.
These are from two to four in number, often vary a
good deal in size (probably according to the age of the
laying bird), and not less in the markings and mottlings
which pervade the entire surface. _——
FAMILY XVIII—ICTERIDA.
RED-WINGED STARLING — (Ageleus pheniceus)
Several specimens, questionably wild, have been
met with.
FAMILY XIX.—STURNIDZ.
STARLING—(Sturnus vulgaris),
Common Starling, Stare, Sheep-stare, Solitary
Thrush, Brown Starling—The two last of these
names used to be applied to the young of the Starling.
Few cases of more brilliant plumage are met with in
our English birds than in the instance of the male of
the Common Starling. The metallic glow and play
of colours in the feathers of his head, neck, and back
is very beautiful. It is a very abundant bird, and it
is supposed by some that there are some peculiarities
in its breeding habits. I mean that I have heard it
asserted that the male is a polygamist, or rather
perhaps a bigamist. I never saw anything within
Ther Eggs and Nests. P21
my own scope of observation which led me to suspect
it, but rather to hold the received belief that the
Starling pairs exactly as most other birds do. They
are exceedingly pertinacious in adhering to their
choice of a place for nesting in. I knew one case in
which, from the inconvenient nature of the nest-site
selected, one of the birds was shot. Ina very short
space the survivor had paired again, and the gun
again dissolved the union. The whole process was
repeated five or six times, and the Starlings bred at
last in the place chosen by the original pair. The
nest is found in a great variety of situations,—in the
bowl of a water pipe from the eaves of a house, in a
dove-cot, in holes in trees, below the nests in a
rookery, in holes in old buildings or more recent
masonry, Letween the slates and underdrawing of a
roof, in holes in steep high rocks, in chimneys of
houses, and the like. It is made, without stint of
materials, of straw, roots, grass, and a plentiful lining
of feathers. The eggs, four to six in number, vary
strangely in size but not in colour, which is of a uni-
form pale blue. In some districts where the Starling
abounds, they collect in huge flocks, the young with
the parents, and may be seen, when on the wing, like
a cloud, from a great distance.—/7zg. 1, plate V.
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING--(Pastor roseus).
Rose-coloured Ouzel or Pastor.-—Merely an acci-
dental visitor to our shores.
122 British Lirds,
FAMILY XX.—CORVID.
CHOUGH—(Pyrrhocorax graculus ; formerly,
Fregilus graculus.)
Cornish Chough, Red-legged Crow, Cornish Daw,
Cornwall Kae, Market-jew Crow, Chauk Daw, Hermit
Crow, Cliff Daw, ete—A bird which occurs more
sparingly than it used todo. Its abiding and build-
ing place isamong the steep rocks which line so many
parts of the British coasts. In the Isle of Wight, in
Man, on the Cornish shores, at Flamborough, in
Berwickshire near St. Abb’s Head, it is still (or was
till lately, 1860,) known to breed. “ This bird,” says Mr.
Yarrell, “makes a nest of sticks lined with wool and
hair, in the cavities of high cliffs, or in old castles, or
church towers near the sea; laying four or five eggs
of a yellowish-white colour, spotted with ash-grey and
light brown.’—fig 2, plate V.
RAVEN—(Corvus corax).
Corbie, Corbie Crow, Great Corbie Crow.—I dare
say the acquaintance of many of us with this fine
bird is limited to an introduction to some tame or pet
Raven. In this district, where, I believe, these birds
abounded a little more than half a century since—the
rocky cliffs of our moorland solitudes being so welt
suited to their habits,——I do not know that I have
seen or heard one for the last thirty-five or forty
years. Persecuted by the gamekeeper, sought after
for domestication, or their eggs taken for sale to the
collector, they are becoming very rare in many a part
of the country where not long since they were fre-
Their Eggs and Nests. 123
quently seen. They build sometimes on old ruins or
cragey precipices, but oftener in a tree, piling nest after
nest in successive years upon the same bough, whence
the chosen tree soon comes to be called the “ Raven-
tree.” One such accumulation of nests I knew, as a
boy, in Essex, and after a stiff climb succeeded in
reaching it. I did it in jeopardy, however, for the
Ravens were very bold, and every moment I expected
they would assail me, in spite of the short bludgeon I
had suspended to my wrist. The appearance below
the nest of the farmer in whose fields the Raven-tree
grew, decided the question—perhaps he frightened the
Ravens as well as threatened me; perhaps they knew
he came as their protector—anyhow I did not get my
egg, although I had actually had itin my hand. The
nest is a great pile of sticks, lined with wool and roots
and felts of hair, and often has four or five eggs laid
in it, of a light green ground-shade, blotched and
spotted with browns of varying depth of colour, but
some of them very dark.—/ig. 3, plate V.
BLACK CROW—( Corvus corone).
Carrion Crow, Corbie Crow, Flesh Crow, Gor Crow,
Midden Crow, Black-neb, Hoodie——Another bird not
nearly so common as it used to be, even within my
own recollection—and no wonder; for he is a strong,
fierce bird (Mr. Waterton calls bim his “ Warrior
bird”), and a young and weakly lamb, a young Hare
or Rabbit, a wounded or frightened Partridge has
little or no chance with him. I knew a case many
years since of a Crow attacking a Partridge and driv-
ing it to cover in a hedge, where it lay so terrified and
124 British Birds,
exhausted as to suffer itself to be picked up by a
spectator. I knew another instance, also many years
ago, in which the Crow attacked a young Rabbit.
The old doe came to the assistance of her young one,
and the battle was well contested, but the Crow was
the victor, and carried off the spoil. Paired once,
these birds, as in the case of the Raven, are paired for
good. The nest is placed ina main fork of a large
tree, and is made of sticks and twigs, with abundant
cushioning of wool and hair. It is believed not to
build a new nest every year. It lays four or five
eggs, varying much in the depth of the tint of the
greenish ground-eolour, and generally well mottled
and blotched and spotted with greenish ash colour
and bright brown. The parents seem to expel their
young from the immediate precincts of their own
abode very soon after they are able to provide for
themselves ; as is the case with the Raven also.—/7zg.
4, plate V.
GREY CROW—(Corvus cornix).
Royston Crow, Dun Crow, Norway Crow, Kentish
Crow, Hooded Crow, Grey-backed Crow, Bunting
Crow, Scare-crow, Hoodie.—Even a fiercer and more
mischievous bird than the Carrion Crow. It has been
very seldom known to breed in England,! though
coming in great abundance from its more northern
haunts before the access of winter. In north and
1 Both of these statements must be taken with the qualification
that it is by no means an ascertained fact that the Carrion Crow and
the Grey Crow form two distinct species. It is held by many orni-
thologists that they do not. Certainly they interbreed with one
another.
Their Eggs and Nests. 125
west Scotland, the Hebrides and Orkneys, it breeds in
large numbers, and rewards for its destruction have
been customarily paid to within a recent period; if,
indeed, they have altogether ceased yet. They place
their nests among rocks, in the rifts or on ledges.
These are built of ling, sticks, roots, stalks of plants,
seaweed, and lined with wool and hair. There are
usually four or five eggs, not differing very materially
in colouring from those of the Common Crow.—/zg. 5,
plate V.
ROOK—(Corvus frugilegus),
Crow.—Everyone must be acquainted with the
Rook and its nesting manners and habits. Even the
dwellers in great cities have sometimes had this bird
doiniciled among them for the breeding season, and
many places in London are signalised by the presence
of a Rook’s nest, or several, in very unlikely situations.
In the country some of the most familiar sights and
sounds are those afforded by the Rookery, or by the
huge assemblages of Rooks about the fields or wing-
ing their morning or evening flight in quest of food,
or in return to their domiciles. Most of us too have
heard of Rook courts of justice, and the sentences
awarded against the wrongful spoilers of a neighbour’s
nest, as well as the battles to resist such an invasion.
It is certainly a remarkable instinct which, to so great
a degree, forbids birds building in communities to
plunder the building materials placed on the adjoin-
ing bough or ledge, and no wonder that instinct has
provided a remedy for what must be looked upon,
when it occurs to any extent, as a somewhat un-
126 British Birds,
natural offence. The Rook resorts to the same nest
year after year, merely making such repairs as a
year’s wear and tear from wind and rain and accident
have rendered necessary. When the nest is ready,
four or five eggs are deposited, of a greenish ground-
colour more or less intense in shade, plentifully
mottled and blotched with darker and varying shades
of brownish green. Many of the eggs strongly re-
semble those of the Crow, while others are much more
like those of the Jackdaw. As in the case of the
Bullfinch, the Rook is often blamed for doing mischief
which was really done by the creature which formed
the real object of search to the supposed offender.
The wireworm and the grub of the cockchafer do in-
finite damage in grass or corn-fields by eating off the
roots of the plants in question. The Rook pulls up
these ruined plants and eats the offending larve. The
farmer or superficial observer only sees the dead grass
or corn plant, and foolishly accuses the Rook, and
persecutes him, though in reality a friend and bene-
factor, to the death. Not but what the Rook does
mischief at times ; for I have often seen newly sown
corn-fields black with them, and have been continually
a witness to the very extensive damage done to the
potato crop just when the young tubers were in most
active growth and most susceptible of harm. Still, a
few precautions will suffice to protect both corn-field
and potato-crop during the brief space while protec-
tion is necessary, and the balance of good done is so
greatly on the predominating side, that the Rook may
well continue to be protected. Rook shooting has
charms for many. For myself I seem to see cruelty
Their Eggs and Nests. 127
so conspicuous about the whole process, that I can-
not conceive in what the pleasure consists.—/zg. 6,
plate V.
J ACKDAW!—(Corvus monedutla),
Daw, Kae, Jack.—The chattering Jackdaw is as
familiar as a “household word” to us, and when one
visits an extensive colony of Jackdaws in the nesting
season, he is apt to be enabled to form a good estimate
of the amount of chatter a few score Jackdaws can
contribute. They breed in many places in the im-
mediate neighbourhood of my residence in very con-
siderable numbers, in the holes and crevices which
abound among craggy rocks and precipices that rise
high above steep wooded banks. Besides, they build
in ruinous buildings, in church towers or pigeon-
houses, in little-used chimneys, in holes in modern
masonry, even in deserted chambers. The pile of
materials amassed is simply wonderful, and really
they are sometimes so laid together as if intended to
serve no other purpose but to lengthen out the nest-
pile for a builder’s amusement. Sticks and wool are
the substances usually employed, and the eggs laid
vary, as to number, between three and six. They are
of a pale bluish-white, well spotted with ash colour,
light brown and dark brown.—/7g. 7, plate V.
1In the last edition of Yarrell’s Birds this bird is called the ‘‘Daw,”
and the following one the ‘‘ Pie.” I have known the two birds all my
life long as the ‘‘ Jackdaw” and the “‘ Magpie,” and for me, as for
most field naturalists, so they will remain,
128 British Birds,
MAGPIE—(Pica rustica ; formerly, P.
caudata.)
Pyet, Pianet, Madge, Mag—A very wary, crafty,
shy bird the wild Magpie is. A very bold, impudent,
thievish rascal the domesticated Mag as certainly
proves himself. Shy and wary as these birds are in
a state of nature, no bird whatever seems to affect
concealment less in the fashion and structure and
position of its nest. Placed high up among the
smaller branches of a tallish tree, or perhaps in the
upper part of a strong, thick, high bush in a hedge or
standing lonely in a field or park, nothing can well be
more conspicuous than the massy Magpie’s nest, with
its large though light dome of thorny sticks and twigs.
I used to be assured as a schoolboy that there were
two sorts or varieties of Magpies, distinguished by
the comparative length of their tails and the site of
their nests:—the alleged short-tailed one was called
the Bush Magpie; the other the Tree Magpie. It is
almost idle to say no such variety or distinction
really exists. The materials of the nest are chiefly
sticks, plastered with earth inside, and lined with
roots and hair. There are often as many as six or
seven eggs laid in it, pale bluish-white in colour,
spotted all over, and abundantly so in general, with
grey and greenish brown of more than one shade.—
Fig. 8, plate V.
JAY—(Garrulus glandarius).
Jay-pie, Jay-piet.—The Jay’s peculiar screeching
note is perhaps more familiar to many ears than the
Their Eggs and Nests, 129
bird itself to the eyes corresponding to the said ears.
It is a shy bird, seldom seen far from its haunts in
woods and copses, though when seen, it is noticeable
enough from a certain peculiarity in its flight, due toa
sort of fluttering use or motion of its wings. It is easily
domesticated, and becomes a tame and amusing pet.
The nest is very often extremely rude and inartificial,
almost as much so as the Ring Dove’s. Itis placed in
the upper part of a lofty bush in a wood, or on some
one of the lateral branches of a tree where the height
from the ground is considerable ; is made of sticks and
lined with roots; the cavity containing the eggs often
seeming to be not very considerable. Now and then
a nest is met with carefully and strongly compacted,
and sufficiently cup-shaped. The Jay lays five or six
eggs of a faint shade of dusky green for ground
colour, closely and thickly freckled all over with
light brown.—/zg. 9, plate V.
NUT-CRACKER—(Wucifraga caryocatactes).
A bird which has probably been met with less than
a score of times in all in this country,
FAMILY XXI—HIRUNDINIDE.
SWALLOW—(Aizrundo rustica).
Common Swallow, House Swallow, Chimney Swallow,
Barn Swallow.—One of the most welcome of all our
I
130 British Birds, *
spring visitors; and so frequently coming back, the
self-same pair of birds apparently, to the self-same
nest, that they seem to be almost like members of the
family returning from a temporary absence. The
common name, Chimney Swallow, is, however, rather
a misnomer. No doubt they build in chimneys freely
and frequently, but in many districts the chimney is
quite untenanted by any Swallows, while the open
roofs of sheds and barns, the under. side of bridges
sufficiently flat and uneven to afford the necessary
support, disused shafts of mines, and the like, and even
parts of unused rooms, or articles of furniture in such
rooms, are resorted to. These nests are very con-
siderably different from those of the Martin (to be
noticed next), inasmuch as they are always completely
open above, being so built that there is a sensible
space between the greater portion of the edge of the
plaster-work of the nest, and the roof or other surface
above; while in the case of the Martin’s nest, it is
always built so as to be closed above by the eaves or
other ledge to which it is affixed, requiring a gap or
lip—so to speak—to be left in the wall to afford in-
gress and egress to the owners. The nest, in either
case, is built with many pellets of soft tenacious earth,
wrought into form with bits of straw or grass, and
afterwards lined with feathers. It is observable that
no more work at the nest is done in a day than will
readily harden enough to bear the requisite additions
of materials above when the time comes for making
them. There are usually four, five, or six eggs laid;
white, speckled and spotted with deep red, and a
lighter duller shade.—/7g. 20, plate IV.
‘Their Egos and Nests, 131
MARTIN—(Chelidon urbica ; formerly, Hirundo
urbica).
Martlet, Martin Swallow, House Martin, Window
Martin, Eaves Swallow, Window Swallow.—This fami-
liar little bird, whose cheeping note in the nests above
our chamber windows is one of the sounds we should
sorely miss, frequents the dwellingsof men quiteasmuch
as, I think more than, the Swallow. Every one knows
where to look for the Martin’s nest, and many a house
ean we all call to mind which seems, from some
peculiarity in its site or external fashion, to be par-
ticularly affected by these birds—and certainly, in
most cases, the inmates of the house take much care
to save their confiding feathered friends from dis-
turbance. In many places, however, the Martin forms
large nesting colonies, which take possession of a
series of overhanging ledges on some steep rocky face,
and there build their nests in great numbers, In
Berwickshire, on the banks of the Whiteadder, I knew
of such a colony, and others elsewhere: the principal
ones, however, being on the rock-bound coast between
St. Abb’s Head and Burnmouth. Hundreds of these
birds nested in several different places upon those
lofty precipices.' No description of the nest itself—
beyond what was said in the notice of the Swallow—
seems requisite. The number of eggs, which are per-
fectly white, seems seldom to exceed six.
1 Of course Martins and Swallows were in being long before man,
and necessarily, therefore, before man’s buildings. These birds,
then, must have had their building-site when neither chimney, barn,
nor eaves were in existence. In the face of this fact ‘‘ Chimney
Swallow,” ‘‘ Eaves Swallow,” and the like are, as names, only
partially justifiable. :
132 British B ivds,
SAND MARTIN—(Cottle riparia ; formerly, Hirundo
riparia).
Bank Martin, Pit Martin, Sand Swallow, Bank
Swallow, River Swallow.—This delicate little visitor
comes to us in the spring, often very early, from
Africa, as do also the two others of the genus just
named. Where it does occur—and it is generally
diffused—it is often seen in very large numbers. A
ballast pit at Fingringhoe, in Essex, used to be occu-
pied by the most numerous colony I was acquainted
with; and a site afforded by the surface beds of
sand and soil above a steep scarp of rock on Tweed-
bank, nearly opposite Norham Castle, used to accom-
modate another colony. Some of the holes are bored
to a very great depth. I have enlarged the orifice of
many till it would admit my whole shoulder, and
have then been unable to reach the termination of the
gallery. Others are much shorter, and admitting of
more easy access to the nest. The female will, not-
withstanding the noise and violence attending the
enlargement of the aperture of her nest-hole, sit
resolutely on, and allow herself to be taken in hand
with scarcely a struggle or sign of resistance—even of
life, sometimes. One I took thus many years since
lay in my open hand for a minute or more, and then
at last flew only leisurely away. A little loose, soft
straw, with some feathers, serves to receive the eggs,
which are four to six in number, often much elongated
in shape, of the most delicate white, and beautifully
pink from the thinness of the shell, before they are
blown.
Their Eggs and Nests. 133
PURPLE MARTIN—(Progue purpurea; formerly,
Hlirundo purpurea).
American Purple Martin—Only a very casual
visitor
ORDER.—PICARI®.
FAMILY I.—CYPSELID.
SWIFT—(Cypselus apus).
Deviling, Black Martin, Screech, Screech Martin,
Shriek Owl, Screamer, Squeaker, Skeer- or Skir-devil,
Cran.—I should think no one who has once seen this
bird on the wing, and noticed its rapid, peculiar, power-
ful, long-winged, whirling flight, or heard its remark-
able scream, would ever be likely to mistake when he
saw itagain. Itis most frequently seen at no great dis-
tance from some old tower of castle or church, or such
like building, although at times it seems to range far
in search of food. It makes its nest of pieces of soft
straw, bents or grass or hay and feathers, and usually
in holes in the buildings aforesaid, or between the tiles
and under-roof of houses; and the nest once made is
supposed to be used for many years in succession by
the same pair of birds. It sometimes seems as if it
had been cemented together in some way. The Swift
often lays only two eggs, but has been known to pro-
duce three, and even four. They are quite white,
and rather large for the size of the bird.
134 British Birds,
ALPINE SWIFT—(Cypselus melba ; formerly,
C. Alpinus).
White-bellied Swift.——A bird which is known to
have visited us on some half dozen occasions or so.
FAMILY II.—CAPRIMULGID.
NIGHT-J AR—(Caprimulgus Europeus).
Night Hawk, Goat-sucker, Dor Hawk, Fern Owl,
Night Crow, Jar Owl, Churn Owl, Wheel-bird, Eve-
churr, Night-churr, Puckeridge.—Far more familiar to
many of the comparatively few among country dwellers
who notice such matters, is the Night-jar by sound than
bysight. Coming from its retirement but very little and
very reluctantly by day, and only pursuing its prey
towards and during twilight, it is not by any means
an obtrusive bird ; as little so, indeed, as any one of
the Owls. But its loud churring or jarring note, as it
wheels round a tree or clump of trees, is, often enough,
heard by many a one to whom its form and size and
plumage are nearly or utterly strange. It is perhaps
most frequently met with where patches of furze and
fern on open commons, not too far from the neigh-
bourhood of plantations, occur. The Night-jar can
hardly be said to make a nest; but lays two eggs in any
slight natural depression of the ground which she can
find sufficiently near a bush or clump of whins to be
at least partly concealed by it. The eggs are very
oval in shape, and very beautifully mottled and
clouded and veined with varying tints of bluish
Their Eggs and Nests. 135
lead-colour and brown, on a whitish ground.—/zg, 1,
plate V1.
FAMILY III1.—CUCULID.
CUCKOO—(Cuculus canoris).
Gowk.—* Have you heard the Cuckoo yet?” How
often that question is asked by one’s friends or neigh-
bours in the country. Hearing the first Cuckoo and
seeing the first Swallow are always events to true
lovers of country scenes and objects and sounds. But
what a strange instinct it is which forbids our Cuckoo
to build a nest, and instructs it to lay its ege—at least
to place it—in some other bird’s nest, and that bird
usually not one-fifth its own size! A Blackbird’s nest
is sometimes selected to receive the deposit, but very
rarely compared with the Hedge Sparrow’s, the
Lark’s, the Meadow Pipit’s, the Water Wagtail’s, or the
Chaffinch’s. How many eggs are laid by a single
Cuckoo in a season, is, I think, not ascertained. It is,
however, a very rare circumstance to find more than
one Cuckoo’s egg in any given nest, and then open to
great doubt if both were placed there by the same
Cuckoo. It has been a matter of dispute how the
egg is actually deposited in the nest selected ; whether
“laid” in, or placed in—after being dropped on the
ground, suppose—by the bill or claws. I found one
in the Meadow Pipit’s nest mentioned above (p. 101),
where the position and site of the nest were such as
to leave no doubt whatever in my mind that the egg
136 British Birds,
could not possibly have been “laid” in the nest; and
must almost certainly have been inserted by the aid
of the bill. How the Cuckoo found such a nest at all
was a marvel tome. As is more than suspected by
some enquirers and observers, the Cuckoo must watch
for its opportunities. The eggs are very small com-
pared with the size of the bird which produces them,
and strongly resemble some of the darker and more
closely freckled specimens of the House Sparrow’s
ego, but are rather larger in size; while Mr. Double-
day says some of them resemble those of the Pied
Wagtail—Fig. 19, plate IV.
GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOO—(Coccystes
glandarius).
Of the rarest occurrence.
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO—(Coceyzus
Americanus),
A rare visitor only.
FAMILY IV.—UPUPID&.
HOOPOE—( Upupa epops).
A casual visitor only, but still not so rare that
specimens are not obtained almost every year. In
fact, the whole appearance of the bird is so very
striking, that it is scarcely possible such a visitor
should pass without notice. It breeds in several
European countries.
Thetr Eggs and Nests. 137
FAMILY V.—CORACID.
ROLLER—(Coracias garrula).
Garrulous Roller—vVery rarely met with in Eng-
land.
FAMILY VI.—MEROPID.
BEE-EATER—(Merops apiaster’.
An African bird, which strays occasionally so far
to the North as to reach Britain, and be claimed as a
British bird.
FAMILY VII.—ALCEDINIDA.
KINGFISHER—(Alcedo tspida).
Beyond doubt, as far as exceeding brilliancy of
plumage goes, the most beautiful of our indigenous
birds. I have never seen it in any part of the king-
dom a numerous bird, though in my fishing and other
excursions in Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, and Hereford-
shire, I used to see many pairs; each, however,
domiciled at some distance from its nearest neighbours.
In the district of North Yorkshire I am best ac-
quainted with I have rarely seen it. Its straight,
arrow-like, speeding flight is sure to be remembered,
when once seen, and so is the odour inseparable from
its nest hole or other stated haunt. A hole, sloping
upwards, in the bank of the water it most frequents,
whether pond, stream, marsh, ditch, or large river, is
138 British Birds,
usually chosen to receive the nest, which is often a
foot and a half, or two feet from the entrance; but
sometimes the bird has been known to resort to a hole
at some distance from any water. The nest, so called,
seems to be constituted of small fish-bones, ejected
from the Kingfisher’s stomach, and the dry soil of the
hole; while the eggs deposited in it are five or six in
number, very round in form, beautifully white when
blown, though, from the thinness of the shell, seeming
to have a pink hue before the removal of the yolk.
BELTED KINGFISHER—(Ceryle Alcyon).
Two occurrences only recorded.
FAMILY VIIIL—PICIDZ.
GREEN WOODPECKER—(Gecinus viridis ;
formerly, Pzcus viredts),
Wood-spite, Rain-fowl, Rain-bird, Hew-hole, Yaffle,
Whet-ile, Woodwall, Witwall, Popinjay, Awl-bird,
Eaqual, Pick-a-tree, Yappingale, ete—I observe Mr.
Morris spells the name I have written Eaqual in the
form Ecle I have no idea of the origin or etymology
of either form, but I have given these names generally
in the thought that they may be helpful to some, and
interesting to other young egg-collectors. The Green
Woodpecker is the most common, and much the best
known of all our English Woodpeckers. Besides
being a very handsome bird, its organisation (as is
1 It is probably a phonetic variant of Hickwall, and equivalent to
Woodwall, Witwall, Whetile, etc.
Their Eggs and Nests. 139
indeed the case with all the tribe) is so beautifully
adapted to its mode of life, as to merit a brief notice
at our hands. Its strong prehensile feet and claws,
two toes being directed forward and two backwards,
fit it not only for moving in all directions, and with
wonderful readiness and ease in any direction what-
ever, about the trunk or limbs of a tree, but also for
grasping the surface with great tenacity when neces-
sity arises for applying its strong bill to penetrating
or dislodging either bark or portions of the wood
itself. When thus occupied, the tail comes into use,
and the bones at the lower extremity of the skeleton
are so formed as to enable the stiff, pointed tail-
feathers to be applied to the tree in such a way as to
strengthen the purchase already obtained by the firm
foot-hold. Add to all this the length of the tongue,
its great extensibility, specially provided for by a
peculiar arrangement of muscles, together with the
structure of the tongue itself—remarkable for its
sharp, horny tip and barb-like bristles on either side
near the point—and we have one of Nature’s most
beautiful accommodations of means to the intended
end which can well be offered to our notice. The
undulating flight and laugh-like ery of the Green
Woodpecker used to be more common than they seem
to be now, and the great multiplicity of provincial
names seems to show that once it must have been an
exceedingly common bird. I have rarely seen or
heard it here: and no wonder. For where once there
were miles of forest, now we have scarcely 100 acres
of wood in the whole district. This Woodpecker’s cry
is loudly and frequently uttered before impending
140 British Birds,
rain; whence one of its common or by-names. It
breeds in holes in trees, which it often excavates in
part or enlarges to suit its wants. It makes no nest,
but deposits its eggs, four to seven in number, and
perfectly white, on a bed of the soft decayed wood of
the tree. The eggs average rather over 11 inch in
length, by about £ inch broad. No illustration being
possible, in our space, of purely white eggs, I think it
better to append their measurements,
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER—(Dendrocopus
major » formerly, Pzcus major).
Pied Woodpecker, French-pie, Wood-pie, Whitwall,
Great Black and White Woodpecker, Wood-nacker.—
A not very uncommon bird in some localities, and
very rare in others nowadays. It is less likely, too,
to betray its presence by its note than the Green
Woodpecker, and is so shy and so capable of conceal-
ing itself, or keeping the trunk of a tree always
between itself and any prying observer, that doubtless
it is deemed to be more rare than it really is. It
seems to prefer the vicinity of woods, but may be seen
occasionally where woods do not abound, and some-
times even it resorts to places where abundance of old
posts or decaying tree-trunks lead it to expect a
plentiful repast. It breeds in holes in trees, making
no nest, and laying its four or five eggs on just such
a bed as its green namesake. The female is very
averse to leaving her eggs, and shows almost as much
pertinacity asa Tom-tit in abiding by them, They are
1 inch long by 3 inch broad.
Their Eggs and Nests. 141
LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER—(Dendrocopus
minor ; formerly, Pzcws minor).
Barred Woodpecker, Hick-wall, Little Black and
White Woodpecker, Crank-bird.—A pretty little bird,
very shy, very active, very able to keep itself out of
sight, and so, hardly noticed by one in a hundred of
those whom Miss Edgeworth would class as more or
less nearly connected with the widely-spread family of
“No-eyes.” It is said to prefer large woods of beech;
and like the other Woodpeckers, makes no nest, but
places its eggs in a hollow’tree, accessible by only a
small hole, the means of access being often at a con-
siderable distance from the eggs laid below. The eggs
of this little bird are four or five in number, purely
white, though seeming to be suffused with a delicate
pink hue before they are blown, which arises from
the transparency of the shell. They are about ? inch
long by rather more than 3 inch broad.
WRYNECK—(Lunx torquilla).
Cuckoo’s-mate, Emmet-hunter, Snake-bird, Long-
tongue.—A dear little bird is the Wryneck, with his
cheery spring-announcing cry. We willingly pardon
its want of melody for its associations. The marvel-
lous rapidity with which its tongue is darted out and
retracted, enabling it by the aid of the glutinous
secretion with which its end is furnished to secure an
Ant at every action, is highly interesting as illustrat-
ing another of the wonderful and beautiful adaptations
provided by the Author of Creation. The Wryneck
makes scarcely any nest (if any), but lays its eggs on
142 Lritish Birds,
the fragments of decayed wood which line a hole in a
tree. They are from six to ten in number, and white
and glossy, and about the same size as those of the
Barred Woodpecker. The old bird is singularly un-
willing to leave her eggs under any intrusion, and
tries by such means as hissing sharply, elevating her
crest and contorting her neck, to intimidate or deter
the intruder,
ORDER.—COLU MB.
FAMILY.—COLUMBID.
RING DOVE—(Columba palumbus),
Wood Pigeon, Ring Pigeon, Cushat, Cushie Doo,
Queest.—This, the first bird in the new Order of
Columbex, is tolerably well known to every one the
least acquainted with ordinary country scenes and
objects. A fine, handsome bird, met with everywhere
throughout the country, and, in many parts of it,
seen in very large flocks in the winter-time; sure to
attract attention, also, as we walk through the wood,
by the loud ringing clap of his wings as he takes
flight; and all this independently of his plaintive
murmur in the breeding season, sounding very sweet
and mellow as heard from a little distance—the Wood
Pigeon, or Queest, or Cushat, as he is named in
different districts, is as prominent among wild birds as
the parson of the parish among his parishioners. The
young birds are frequently taken from the nest and
reared by hand; and the bold, fearless, confiding
Their Eggs and Nests. 143
familiarity of such pets, considering their extreme
native shyness and wildness, is remarkable. The
Ring Dove makes,its rude platform nest of sticks,
with a cushion of roots to receive the eggs, in bushes
standing singly or in hedges or woods, in pollard
trees, in holly or other thick trees, in evergreens in
- gardens and the like; and nothing is more common
than to see the parent birds frequenting the garden
and close vicinity of a country house, almost as tamely
as if they were a pair of common or house Pigeons.
The eggs seem to be invariably very oval in shape,
and purely white. They are 1% inch long, by 3 inch
broad.
STOCK DOVE—(Columba enas).
Stock Pigeon, Wood Pigeon, Wood Dove.—This
Dove is not only, generally speaking, much less
abundant throughout the country than the Ring
Dove, but very often, it would seem, confounded with
it by casual observers, who only notice the several
birds from a distance, or on the wing. They frequent
the same roosting-places, and often feed in the same
field, though probably on different species of food. I
have shot birds of both species at the same discharge
of the gun, and have noticed the different matters
which had supplied their meals of the day,—Holly-
berries, in the case of the Ring Dove; wild mustard-
seed, in the other. The Stock Dove is, however,
immediately and easily distinguishable from the Ring
Dove, by its lesser size, a slight difference in colour,
and the entire absence of the “ ring” of white feathers
on the neck. Its nest is placed sometimes on pollard
144 British Birds,
trees, sometimes in open holes or hollows in old trees;
and very commonly, in some districts, either on the
ground below thick furze-bushes, or in deserted
rabbit-burrows, two or three feet distant from the
entrance. The nest is very slight, consisting merely
of a few twigs or roots. The eggs are two in number,
’ pure white, about or rather exceeding 14 inch in
length, by 1§ inch in breadth.
ROCK DOVE—(Columba livia).
Wild Pigeon, Rock Pigeon, Wild Dove, Doo,
Rockier.—This pigeon has usually, until not long
since, been confused with the Stock Dove. But their
plumage is unlike, their voice unlike, and especially
their habits and living and breeding haunts? unlike.
It is believed with some certainty that the Rock Dove
is the real origin of the Domestic Pigeon, and certainly
any one who has seen the large flights of Domestic
Pigeons turned wild, which frequent the caverns in
the rock-bound coast near St. Abb’s Head and similar
localities, living with, flying with, feeding with, and
nesting with the undoubted wild Rockier, can enter-
tain but very small doubts on the subject. The Rock
Dove makes a loose nest of twigs and plant-stems and
1 This is subject to some qualifications. Both species breed in this
neighbourhood, and both nest in holes or rifts among the sandstone
cliffs of the country. I have again and again seen the Rock Deve
leave such nesting-sites, and again and again recognised the Stock
Dove in the same locality. Twice within the last two or three years
I have come upon birds of one or the other species (which I could
not positively identify, but believe to have been the Rock Dove)
feeding on the bilberry fruit, and in close company with numerous
Ring Ousels.
Ther Eggs and Nests. 145
dry grass; very often far back in holes and crevices
of the rock; and lays two white eggs, with a much
better defined “ big end” and “ little end ” than in the
case of the two Pigeons last named.
TURTLE DOVE—(Turtur communis; formerly,
Columba turtur).
Turtle, Common Turtle, Ring-necked Turtle, Wrekin
Dove.—Only a summer visitor and not a regular
inhabitant, like its three predecessors. It is long
since, living where I do, I have heard its sweet,
plaintive note. No one but one who loves birds and
their ways can tell how real a deprivation it is to live
for years out of sound of the sweet and familiar voices
of such as are only local: the Nightingale for instance,
the Turtle, and many others. The male Turtle Dove
is a very handsome bird, but much shier and more
retiring at breeding-time than the Ring Dove. The
nest is a light platform of sticks, easily permitting
the sky to be seen through it from below, and usually
placed high up in a holly, a thick bush in a wood, in
the branches of a fir, or the lesser fork of some limb
of an oak or other forest tree. As with the other
Doves, the eggs are two in number, quite white, about
14 inch long, by 2 broad.
PASSENGER PIGEON—(Eciopistes migratorius).
Every bird-loving boy, beyond doubt, has heard of
this Pigeon and the inconceivable vastness of the
flocks in which they pass from one distant district to
another in America. Here it is only a casual visitor,
and can lawfully lay claim to none of our limited space.
K
146 British Birds,
ORDER.— PTEROCLETES.
FAMILY.—PTEROCLID.
7/& SAND GROUSE—(Surrhaptes paradoxus).
It has appeared in large numbers on two or three
occasions.
ORDER.—GALLINZ.
FAMILY I—TETRAONIDZ.
/72. CAPERCAILLIE—(Tetrao urogallus).
Cock of the Woods, Wood Grouse, Cock of the
Mountain, Great Grouse, Capercailzie, Capercally.—
An indigenous inhabitant of this country, but one
which had become, or was becoming, extinct, a few
years ago. Now it is becoming comparatively abun-
dant again on the estates of several large and noble
owners, principally in Scotland. It is indeed a very
noble bird, and well worthy the care and attention
and expense which have been devoted to the attempt
to re-establish it. 'The female makes her nest on the
sround, and lays from six to ten or twelve eggs. These
are of a pale reddish-yellow brown, spotted all over
with two shades of darker orange brown.—/zg. 3,
plate VI. |
ry, BLACK GROUSE—(7etrao tetrix).
Black Cock, Black Game, Heath Cock, Heath Poult,
Their Eggs and Nests. 147
and the female, Grey Hen, sometimes Brown Hen.—
Still found in some districts out of the north of
England, where wild and hilly forest still remains, but
of much more frequent occurrence in more northerly
localities. In fact, the gradual and very complete de-
molition of the last remains of what were once very
extensive forests*has completely banished the Black
Grouse from places where it used to be common with-
in the memory of living men. It is a very handsome
bird, and like the Capercailly and the Pheasant, does
not pair. The hen makes a very slight nest on the
ground, and lays in it seven to nine or ten eggs, of a
somewhat less warm ground-shade than those last
named, but with larger and brighter-coloured spots
and blotches.— Fzg. 4, plate VJ,
/ V4. RED GROUSE—(Lagopus Scoticus),
Red Ptarmigan, Red Game, Moor Game, Muir-fow],
Moor-bird.—A beautiful bird indeed, and peculiar to
the British Islands. The Grouse moors, however, are
mainly confined to the northern counties of England
and Scotland. In the district in which this is written
the Grouse may be truly said to abound, and I hear
them continually from my garden or open window.!
These birds do pair, and pair very early indeed more-
over. I have frequently seen them in pairs before the
season for killing them—which expires on December
10—is fully out. If the weather becomes severe this
union often seems to be annulled; but I don’t think it
is in reality. In the earlier spring, when the pairing
1 For a detailed series of observations on the habits, etc., of the
Grouse, see “ Sketches in Natural History,” Routledge & Co.
148 British Birds,
is becoming general, many fierce battles among the
males may be seen going on, and very resolute and
lengthened and circuitous flights of one in pursuit of
another occur. The nest is very slight, of ling and
bents chiefly, and usually well concealed in a tuft of
heather. From six or seven up to twelve or fifteen
eggs are said to be laid, but I should say that the
highest average, judging from the number of young
birds in a brood, very rarely much exceeds eight or
nine. The eggs are very beautiful and richly coloured,
but vary exceedingly in both ground-colour and mark-
ings, even those found in the same nest. Some are of
a yellowish shade, and others of a blood-stain red,
mottled and blotched with rich umber brown, and the
paler ones with shades of light brown.—/ ig. 5, plate
VI.
/ 75» PTARMIGAN—(Lagopus mutus ; formerly,
L. vulgaris).
White Grouse, Rock Grouse, White Game.—Only
found now among the rocky tops of the highest hills
and mountains in the centre and north of Scotland.
It is the smallest species of Grouse in Britain, and its
plumage varies greatly with the season, becoming
nearly pure white in winter. It lays seven to ten
eggs; frequentl yon the bare stones. They are of a
yellowish ground-colour, blotched and spotted (slightly
so as compared with the eggs of the Red Grouse) with
rich dark brown.
Lheir Eggs and Nests. 149
FAMILY II.—PHASIANID.
PHEASANT—(Phasitanus Colchicus).
I dare say “a good few” of our readers if they were
asked “Do you know the Pheasant ?” might answer,
“Yes, very well. We had some for dinner, such and
such a day.” And I have no doubt the acquaintance
was satisfactory enough—at least to one of the
parties. The Pheasant does not pair, and on the pre-
served estates in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire I have
frequently seen in the spring large groups of Cock
Pheasants collected and consorting together without
the intermixture of a single hen. In a vast many
places now an artificial system of Pheasant-breeding
is adopted, three or four hens with one male being
turned into a large paled “apartment,” well netted in,
the whole establishment comprising many such apart-
ments. Each hen lays double or treble the number of
egos she would if suffered to run wild, and these are
collected daily and placed under hens ready to sit as
soon as a sufficient number is got together. In this
way twice or three times the number of young ones
is secured from one hen as compared with her own
greatest success in bringing off a brood in the woods.
In her wild state, the’ Pheasant makes scarcely any
nest, on the ground, and lays ten or twelve eggs, of a
uniform pale olive-brown shade. Not only are cases
in which two Pheasants lay in the same nest of by no
means unfrequent occurrence, but others even, in which
Pheasants’ eggs have been found in Partridges’ nests.
Many instances are on record of the Pheasant inter-
breeding with other birds, such as the Guinea Fowl,
150 British Birds,
the Black Grouse, and the Common Fowl. The cross
last named is by no means uncommon, and a remark-
ably fine male specimen of the produce of a Cock
Pheasant and Speckled Hen occurred here (one of four
birds which were hatched) a few years since. The
Pheasant’s tail and head and general shape as well as
fashion of feathers (with access of size) were united
to the shades and markings of the plumage of the
mother. The bird in question was so inveterate in
his visits to the neighbouring farm-yards in order to
challenge the cocks who dwelt there, and so sure to
kill them outright, or maim or maul them so severely
that they had to be killed, that it became necessary
to put him out of the way himself, and his present
(1860) memorial is his remarkably well-stuffed skin.
—Fig. 2, plate VI.
cya COMMON PARTRIDGE—(Perdix cinerea).
Much too familiar a bird by appearance, voice and
flavour to require any very lengthened notice from
us. The Partridge pairs pretty early—by the end of
January often—and once paired they never separate
again throughout the season. At pairing time the
cocks fight fiercely, and I have sometimes seen, and
even in my garden here, three or four engaged in the
conflict, with another, probably the female “apple of
discord,” sitting quietly by the while. I have seen
the male, too, in the evening, when summoning his
newly-married wife, stand on the top of one of our
stone walls and call repeatedly. The nest is made on
the ground in a field of grass or corn, or on a dry
hedge bank, or at the foot of a wall among the long
Their Eggs and Nests. PSI
grass, and consists of little but a slight depression in
the ground, with a few dead leaves and bents. The
number of eggs varies between eight or ten, and
twenty. But it is no uncommon thing for two Par-
tridges to lay in the same nest, and an instance came
to my knowledge a good many years since, in which a
Red-legged Partridge had laid several eggs in a
Common Partridge’s nest. When two birds lay to-
gether thus, the covey sometimes amounts to thirty or
thirty-five birds. I knew one instance of forty, about
thirty years since. The male Partridge is known to
help his mate, when the hatch is drawing on, by
sitting at her side and covering some of the eggs.
When there are two layings in the same nest, it is an
interesting question whether the two hens sit to-
gether, or the original owner of the nest is simply
assisted by her mate. The young birds are able to
run and “fend for themselves ” almost as soon as they
are hatched. The eggs are of a uniform pale olive-
brown hue.—/zg. 6, plate VJ.
/7//7, RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE—(Caccablis rufa ;
formerly, Perdix rufa).
French Partridge, Guernsey Partridge.—A much
more striking bird in appearance than the Common
Partridge, and said also to be a powerful enemy to it.
Certainly, in districts where it has been encouraged
and preserved, it seems to have prevailed to the com-
parative exclusion of the indigenous species. It is
supposed to have been first introduced about the time
of Charles II. For long it seems to have increased
and spread but very slowly, but now there are many
152 British Birds,
districts of the south where it is exceedingly abundant.
These birds form a slight nest of dry bents and leaves
upon the ground, amid some growing crop of grass or
corn. Instances, however, have been asserted in which
the nest was a good deal elevated above the ground,
as on the top of a stack. The eggs, very hard-shelled,
are from ten to fifteen or sixteen in number, of a
cream colour, well spotted with small speckles of
reddish or cinnamon brown.—/f7zzg. 7, plate VJ.
QU AIL—(Coturnix communis ; formerly,
C. vulgaris).
The Quail is believed, in some rare instances, to
stay with us all the year, but is usually only a
summer visitant, not coming in any great numbers.
In some countries its migratory hosts are so great that
one hundred thousand are said to have been taken in
a day. In its appearance, the Quail strongly reminds
one of the Partridge, and suggests the idea that itself
is only a diminutive bird of that species. It has been
said that they do not pair, still they have been re-
peatedly seen in apparent pairs. And one couple
which haunted my garden and the neighbouring fields
for many days could only have been regarded as having
“paired,” and their nests are met with in many parts
of the kingdom. Two years since it was believed that
at least two broods were reared on certain lands in
Moorsholm, in North Yorkshire. A small depression
in the ground is made, or found, and loosely lined with
bits of grass and dry stalks. Seven to ten, or possibly
yet more eggs, are laid, presenting much variety of
appearance, but usually of a faint cream-coloured
Ther Eggs and Nests. 153
ground, mottled and clouded in some cases with red
brown, and in others spotted with dark brown spots,
some of considerable size.—Fig. 8, plate VI
ORDER.—HEMIPODII.
FAMILY.—TURNICID.
ANDALUSIAN HEMIPODE—(Turnix sylvatica ;
formerly, Hemzpodius tachydromus).
Some three or four examples have been met with
in Britain, .
ORDER.—FULICARIA,
FA MILY.—RALLID.
LAND-RAIL—(Crex pratensis).
Corn Crake, Meadow Crake, Dakerhen.—This bird
is found in most parts of the kingdom, though for the
most part in no great abundance anywhere, in the
earlier months of theautumn. In most of the northern
parts it breeds annually, but I do not remember ever
hearing its breeding note while I was a dweller in the
district embracing what are usually called the eastern
counties. Nor yetin Herefordshire. But the note in
question has been sufficiently familiar to me for the
last fifty years, and here in North Yorkshire I hear
154 British Birds,
it on all sides of me, at all hours, I may say, of both
day and night. For two or three years in succession
a, pair took possession of a small plantation of young
fir trees bordering my garden lawn on the north, and
only separated from it by a deep ditch with a run of
water at the bottom. Long after the union seemed to
have been formed the peculiar note was kept up, and
I used to see both birds within a few feet of each
other during its continuance. Scarcely a day passed
during their sojourn of eight or ten days in and about
the plantation but excursions were taken into the
garden, frequently extending to the terrace beneath
my dining-room window, where sundry very inquir-
ing and interested glances—not to say stares—were
exchanged between the visitors and myself and divers
members of my family. The visitors seemed very
little disturbed at our notice as long as we remained
quite still and silent, but any movement on our part
led to immediate retreat on the Corn Crakes. Its
movements were desultory or in jerks, so to speak.
The bird would run ten or twelve paces In an attitude
and with a speed which left one in doubt for a moment
whether it were not some small quadruped. Then it
would skulk amid taller herbage, or under the shrubs
of a raised bed, in beneath a rhododendron bush. A
minute after it would be seen with its head and whole
body erect, and the neck so out-stretched that if the
bird had been hung up by its head it could not have
been much more elongated. This was the invariable
position or attitude assumed when interchanging
looks with the occupants of the window. My own
impression was that these journeys or excursions
Their Eggs and Nests. 155
(which I knew extended into the grass-field beyond
the garden, and into a field over the road at the back
of the plantation) were simply made for the purpose
of inspection, and with a view to the selection of a
place for nesting—and that, pending this interesting
investigation, the fir trees and herbage beneath afforded
an ample covert. As far as I could ascertain, the
place actually selected by them for the purpose was
in the field—a corn-field—just beyond that which lay
adjacent to the garden. The Corn Crake makes a
loose nest of dry herbage and stalks and grass; and J
think almost always among growing herbage—grass,
clover, or corn. The hen lays seven or eight eggs,
sometimes even ten, and sits very close upon them.
They are whitish in ground, suffused with a reddish
tinge, and spotted and speckled with brownish-red
and purplish-grey.—Fizg. 4, plate LX.
SPOTTED CRAKE—(Porzana maruetia ; formerly,
Crex porzana).
A summer visitor, as the Land-Rail is, to our shores,
It is rare, however, compared with the Land-Rail, and
with more predilection for the vicinity of water.
Like all the other Rails it conceals itself very closely,
and from the form of its body and power of leg runs
with great speed and equal facility, even among what
seems to be and is very thick covert. It is known to
breed in Norfolk and in Cambridgeshire, in Yorkshire,
Durham, and Northumberland ; and it may do also in
other localities as well. The nest, made on the
ground in wet marshes, is “formed on the outside,”
says Mr, Yarrell, “with coarse aquatic plants, lined
Ss
156 British Birds,
with finer materials within.” From seven to ten eggs
appears to be the number laid, and they vary very
much in their ground-colour, between a pale brown-
ish-dun and a slightly yellow-white, the spots or
blotches being of a reddish brown of some intensity.—
Fig. 5, plate LX.
LITTLE CRAKE—(Porzana parva ; formerly,
Crex pusilla).
Olivaceous Gallinule, Little Gallinule. — Strictly
speaking, still a rare bird in this country.
BAILLON’S CRAKE—(Porzana Bailloniz ;
formerly, Crex Bazllonit).
More rare than the last, and, perhaps, occasionally
confused with it.
net WATER-RAIL—(Rallus aquaticus).
Bilcock, Skiddycock, Runner, Brook-runner, Velvet-
runner.—One of the very shiest of our British birds,
and thus seeming to be much more rare than it really
is. I have seen it at all seasons of the year, though
it is, lam well aware, less tolerant of cold than many
others of our winter-staying birds. Its motions on
the bank of a stream, when suddenly disturbed, are
much more like those of a Water Rat than a bird. It
breeds with some degree of commonness in several of
the southern counties. I obtained two nests from
the estate in Norfolk elsewhere mentioned in these
pages, at the same time with the Woodcock’s eggs,
and was informed that it bred regularly there. I had
Their Eggs and Nests. 157
reason also to know that it bred at Tolleshunt D’Arcy,
in Essex. The nest is made often in an osier ground
or among thick water plants, and composed of differ-
ent kinds of aquatic herbage. The eggs are from six
to nine or ten in number, and seldom quite white in
hue; usually they are much more like pale or faded
specimens of the Land-Rail’s eggs, the spots being both
fewer and fainter—/7g. 6, plate LX.
nie MOOR HEN—(Gallinula chloropus).
Water Hen, Gallinule, Moat Hen, Marsh Hen.—
Few nest hunters, however young, but know the nest
and eggs of this very common bird. I have in many
cases scen it almost domesticated, and constantly
taking 1ts food among domestic fowls, and sometimes
even almost from the hands of human creatures. Its
nest is made in somewhat various places, I have
seen it amid the sedges growing in the water near the
edge of a marsh-ditch or the like, on dry tussocky
_tumps near a sheet of water, among the herbage and
willow stubs not far from the same mere, built upon
masses of fallen but not decayed bulrushes and flags,
at the edge of a pond, on a bough projecting several
feet horizontally from the bank over and resting
upon (or partly in) the water of a running stream,
nay, even in a branch or top of a thick tree, or among
the ivy which mantled its trunk and wreathed its
branches. In it are laid six, seven, or eight eggs, of a
reddish-white colour, sparingly speckled and spotted
with reddish-brown. The eggs have been known to
be removed by the parent birds under circumstances
of peril awaiting them—from a flood, for instance—
158 British Birds.
and hatched in some new locality. Instances also
have been recorded in which a supplementary nest
has been constructed by the female parent to receive
a part of her brood, when they were too numerous
and had grown too large to be accommodated by their
original nest-home at night—ig. 7, plate 1X.
» 59° COOT—(Fulica atra).
Bald Coot.—A common bird enough in many parts
of the kingdom, and in former days, I have sometimes
seen them in straggling flocks of several hundreds or
thousands along the tide-way on the Essex coasts,
With its white oval spot on the forehead, and per-
fectly black plumage, it is a sufficiently noticeable
bird. It seems to be much more at home on the
water than on land ; but, like the Moor Hen, can and
does move with very considerable ease and speed on
the latter. The Coot makes a large and very strong
and compact nest, making or finding a firm founda-
tion for it below the surface of the water, and heaping
up and twisting in dry flags and bulrushes and pieces
of reed, until some of the nests are sufficiently firm
and stable to support a considerable weight. The
egos laid are usually seven or eight, and up to ten;
though even twelve or fourteen have been mentioned
as sometimes found. They are of a dingy stone-
colour, speckled and spotted with dark brown.— Fig.
8, plate IX.
Their Eges and Nests. 159
ORDER.—ALECTORIDES.
FAMILY L—GRUID.
CRANE—(Gras cinerea),
A couple of centuries since it is not improbable the
Crane may have—at least, oceasionally—bred in this
country ; but now it is become a very rare and casual
visitor.
FAMILY IL—OTIDID,
GREAT BUSTARD—(Ots tarda).
This noble bird, once abundant enough on our wide
plains and wolds in England, is now, I fear, almost
extinct among us, as so far as I am aware no very
recent! capture of it has been announced. It used,
before the gun became so common and so fatal to
birds of much interest to the ornithologist or others, to
be customarily pursued with greyhounds. These birds
do not pair, and their nest is said to be a mere natural
saucer-shaped hole in the bare ground. The eggs are
seldom more than two, or at most three, in number,
and are of an olive-green ground, blotched and spotted
with two or three shades of brown, lighter and
darker.
LITTLE BUSTARD—(Otis tetrar),.
Only a casual and not a summer visitor.
1 Since this was written, several instances have occurred, detailed
notices of which are given in the last edition of Yarrell (iii., p- 207).
160 British Birds,
MACQUEEN’S BUSTARD—(Oz?s Macqueenz).
Only one occurrence as far as I know. Accidental
even in Europe.
eee
ORDER.—LIMICOL.
FAMILY I.—G@DICNEMID.
STONE CURLEW—(@dicnemus crepttans).
Great Plover, Norfolk Plover, Whistling Plover,
Stone Plover, Thick-knee—The Stone Curlew is a
summer visitor, and strictly a local one. The Nightin-
gale, for instance, is very much more extensively
diffused than the bird just named. It was found abun-
dantly enough on the wide sandy plains of Norfolk,
and I used (1840) to hear it very commonly in the
fields a few miles to the north-west of Bury St.
Edmunds. Besides the counties just named, it is met
with in parts of Essex and Kent, in Hampshire, and
Cambridgeshire, and two or three others. Its peculiar
shrill cry or whistle, once heard, is not likely to be
forgotten. The female lays two eggs on the bare
ground, among white-coated flints and stones. An
idea of their ground-colour may be given by the
mention of what the painters call stone-colour, in pale
shades, and this is streaked and spotted, or marbled
with dark brown.—fig.1, plate VII.
ee eee aaa
Their Eggs and Nests. 161
FAMILY Il.—GLAREOLID/.
PRATINCOLE—(G. fratincola ; formerly,
Glareola torquala.)
Collared Pratincole, Austrian Pratincole.—A bird of
sufficiently rare occurrence in this country, and re-
markable as having caused some degree of perplexity
and dispute among naturalists as to the position it
should occupy in the general system or classification
of the bird family. Mr. Yarrell (in whose first edition
it appears at the head of the Rail family) says—* The
Pratincole has been arranged by some authors with
the Swallows, by others near the Rails; but I believe,
with Mr. Selby, that it ought to be included in the
family of the Plovers, and had I known its Plover-
like habits and eggs sooner, I should have arranged
it between Cursorius and Charadrius.” ‘To this Mr.
Hewitson adds—‘“ Besides the similarity of their
habits, the fact of this species laying four eggs isa
further link to connect it with the Charadriide.” It
is, however, much too rare—besides being known not
to breed in Britain—to have any claim on our limited
space for description of its nest or eggs.
FAMILY IIJ.—CHARADRIID.
CREAM-COLOURED COURSER—(Cursorius
Tsabellinus).
A very rare bird indeed.
162 British Birds,
DOTTEREL—(Eudromius morinellus ; formerly,
Charadrius morinellus),
Dottrel or Dotterel Plover, Foolish Dottrel.—This
is a summer visitor to our country, and in many
localities where it used to be abundant, or at least
common, it is now rare or almost unknown. ‘This is
the case on parts, at least, of the Yorkshire Wolds, as
well asin the Lake district. They are sought after
by the fly-fisher and by the ornithologist and by the
epicure, and from their exceedingly simple and un-
suspicious habits they fall easy victims before the
fowling-piece of modern days. The female inakes no
nest, but lays her customary three eggs in a slight
cavity on the ground near high mountain tops, where
some tall-growing moss or other mountain herbage
facilitates concealment. The eggs are of an olivaceous
hue, spotted plentifully with very dark brown or
brownish-black.
RINGED PLOVER—(¢gzalites hiaticula; formerly,
Charadrius hiaticula).
Ringed or Ring Dottrel—aA _ very pretty shore-bird,
of interesting habits, and not infrequent, especially in
winter, on many parts of the British coast. In quiet
parts, where large expanses of sand or shingle, or even
mud, are left by the receding tide, it may be seen in
numbers. It seems to make no nest:—the eggs are
laid on the sand, and often at a very considerable dis-
tance from the sea; as, for instance, on the warrens
in Norfolk and Suffolk. They are four in number,
very large in proportion to the size of the bird,
Their Eggs and Nests. 163
possessing the peculiar pointed shape of the eggs of
the entire class of birds we are now among, and of a
warm cream-colour, spotted and streaked with black.
The parent birds try hard to lead the casual intruder
away from the vicinity of their young.—/7zzg. 3, plate
VII.
LITTLE RINGED PLOVER—( £¢giahtis curonica ;
formerly, Charadrius minor).
A very rare British bird.
KENTISH PLOVER—(gialitis Cantiana ;
formerly, Charadrius Cantianus).
Seldom obtained very far from the southern coasts
of England, and not appearing to be a very plentiful
bird even there. In habits it strongly resembles the
Ring Plover just named. The female makes no nest,
but fays her four eggs in a slight hollow on sand or
shingle; which strongly resemble some of the lighter-
coloured examples of the eggs of the last-named
species.—/zg. 4, plate VII.
GOLDEN PLOVER—(Charadrius pluvialts).
Yellow Plover, Green Plover, Whistling Plover.—
It has sometimes been an object to me to obtain speci-
mens of this bird in its breeding-plumage, and it is
scarcely possible to imagine a stronger contrast than
that presented by the male in his May dress and six
or eight months later. All the glossy black of neck
and breast has entirely disappeared long before the
latter period. I have occasionally seen a single pair
164 British Birds,
or two, very early in the year, separating themselves
from the great flock of some scores; and in the female
of one such pair which I shot some few years since
(the next shot killing five out of a very large flock, at
no great distance), I found an egg quite ready for ex-
trusion, and which, from the depth of its colouring,
would probably have been laid in the course of a few
hours at most. The hen-bird makes a very slight
nest, and lays just four eggs in it, seldom either more
or less. They are of a large size for the bird, of a fair
stone-colour, well blotched and spotted with very dark
or blackish brown. After sitting eight or ten days
the bird becomes very reluctant to leave her nest, and
will suffer herself to be almost trodden on rather.
The young ones, awkward-looking, mottled yellow
and brown puff-balls on stilts, run fast and well soon
after they are hatched, and do not speedily acquire
the use of those wings which, after a time, are to be
so strong and swift. Very jealous, too, are the
parents as long as their young are only runners, and
very plaintive is their incessant piping if you or your
dog approach too near their place of concealment.—
Fig. 2, plate VII.
GREY PLOVER—(Sguatarola Helvetica; formerly,
S. cinerea).
A bird which has never been ascertained to breed
in England, although specimens in the dark-breasted
May plumage have been seen in the London markets,
and observed by Mr. Selby in the Farne Islands in
June. It is not uncommon as a winter visitor, though
even then nothing like so numerous as the Golden
Their Eggs and Nests. 165
Plover in its winter visits to districts in which it does
not breed. The eggs are said to bein colour “ oil green,
spotted with different shades of umber brown, the
spots crowded and confluent round the obtuse end.”
LAPWING—( Vanellus vulgaris ; formerly,
V. cristatus).
Pewit or Peewit, Te-wit, Teu-fit, Green Plover,
Bastard Plover, Green Lapwing, Crested Lapwing.—
Another of those birds which are familiar to almost
everyone who is not a mere casual visitor to the
country, or quite deaf and blind to its commonest
sounds and sights. It is a very universally diffused
bird, even in those districts where it does not statedly
breed. It nests not only on commons and heaths and
the wide moor, but in the fields and inclosures; and
round my present residence I have many yearly evi-
dences that there are half-a-dozen nests within the
limits of a short half-mile which intervenes between
me and the moors. The female constructs scarcely
any nest, properly so called, but makes, or more likely
avails herself of a ready-made, slight cavity on the
surface of the ground, with a sufficiency of some kind
of herbage to serve as covert. The female’s habits in
connection with the nest and eggs are different from
the male’s. She slips off on the approach of a visitor,
and runs very silently and quietly away to some dis-
tance before taking wing; /e hastens up on rapid,
sounding, whirling wing, and cries and dashes and
wheels above and around the cause of alarm in a very
remarkable manner. The Pecwit lays four eggs, of
large size and acutely pointed at the lesser end, and
166 British Birds,
like so many others of the class, often arranged so 4s
to occupy the least possible space, by having their
points all turned inward. They are of a darkish:
olive-dun ground, abundantly blotched and spotted
with brown and black. These eggs are much sought
after as delicacies for the table. They are boiled hard
and served cold, and when the shell is removed they
have quite a jelly-like appearance. But few of the
eggs, however, sold in the market as “ plovers’ eggs,”
are sometimes recognised by the oologist as having
been laid by the Lapwing.—fig. 5, plate VII.
TURNSTONE—(Strepszlas interpres).
Hebridal Sandpiper.—Found on many parts of our
coast either in small parties, or one or two together,
from September all through the winter. in the
spring it leaves us to go to the north for breeding
objects, but it has never yet been fully proved to have
nested within the limits of the British Islands. We
cannct therefore notice its nest and eggs in this place.
OYSTER-CATCHER—(Hematopus ostralegus).
Pied Oyster -catcher, Shelder, Sea- Pie, Olive-—A
very beautiful and well-known dweller on our sea-
coasts, and wonderfully provided by nature, too, with
a suitable instrument for purveying its destined food.
The bill of the Oyster-catcher is one of those natural
objects which form each a study in themselves. Woe
be to the oyster or mussel, however powerful its
mechanism for closing its valves, if once the Oyster-
catcher has found means to insert that natural weapon
Their Eggs and Nests. 167
of his. Flattened sideways, and hard and strong as so
much bone, its efficacy is so great that there can be
scarcely a struggle for life on the part of the shell-fish,
This bird runs well, and is even said to dive and swim
with facility. I never saw this, though I have had
them under my observatica for hours together in
former days. But I knew their shrill, rattling whistle,
and their short uneasy flights, and restless paddlings
up and down upon the ooze, when I have been among
their haunts, well ;—and many a nest it used to be my
lot to discover on some parts of some of the Essex Salt-
ings. The eggs, usually three or four in number, are
laid on the bare ground, sometimes in slight holes
amid the Salting herbage above high-water mark ; or
where there is shingle, in some cavity among its
higher and coarser layers. They are cream-coloured,
of varying shades of warmth, and blotched and
spotted, or spotted and strongly streaked with very
dark brown and some few touches of a lighter hue—
Fig, 6, Plate VII.
FAMILY IV.—SCOLOPACIDA.
225 if AVOCET—(Recurvirostra avocetta).
Butterflip, Scooper, Yelper, Cobbler’s Awl, Crooked-
bill, Cobbler’s-Awl Duck.—Fast verging on extinc-
tion. In Sir Thomas Browne’s time, it was not at all
uncommon; but of late years seldom recorded as
having been “ obtained” or met with. If only people
weren't so fond of “obtaining” our rare birds. But
nowadays, when every third person has a gun, the
,2) O
q) A
A.
5
168 British Birds,
appearance of a “rare bird” is enough to set half a
village off in pursuit, and the gre&t object of hundreds
throughout the country seems just to be to destroy
the casual feathered visitor, however interesting it
may be, or whatever claims it might seem to possess
on our hospitality. The Avocet’s bill and plumage
are enough to point it out for slaughter, and so,
slaughtered it has been. It used to breed in Sussex
and Norfolk. “The nest is said to be a small hole in
the drier parts of extensive marshes. The eggs are
said to be only two in number, of a clay-coloured
brown, spotted and speckled with black.”
BLACK-WINGED STILT—(Himantopus candidus ;
formerly, /7. melanopterus).
Long-legged Plover, Long-Legs, Long-Shanks, Stilt
Plover —Not so very uncommon as a visitor ; but still,
strictly speaking, only accidental in its appearance here.
GREY PHALAROPE—(Phalaropus fulicarius ;
formerly, P. obatus).
Red Phalarope——Supposed, some half century
since, to be exceedingly rare in this country, but
now known to visit our shores in small numbers,
perhaps annually, on their way to their winter place
of sojourning. Like the Coot, they are lobe-footed,
and very capable swimmers.
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE—(Phalaropus
hyperboreus).
Red Phalarope.—More rare than the last-named in
Their Eges and Nests. 169
England, though occurring, occasionally, somewhat
more abundantly in some of the northern Scotch
Islands.
WOODCOCK—(Scolopar rusticola).
One of our most universally recognised “birds of
passage,” coming to us sometimes in the autumn
(always, at least, beginning to arrive in October), and
leaving us again in the spring. Still no season passes
in which many pairs do not remain to breed, and that,
too, in many different parts of the kingdom. It was
an object to me some fifty years ago to obtain eggs
of the Woodeoek, and I applied to a person in Norfolk,
who had not any difficulty in procuring for me eggs
from the gamekeeper of a neighbouring estate out of
two different nests which had been deserted by their
owners. My friend added the information, that
scarcely a year passed in which one nest or more of
Woodeocks was not known of on the estate in ques-
tion. Their nests are not uncommon in some parts of
Galloway. The nest, a very loose one, is made of
dead leaves and the like, bracken leaves appearing to
be commonly used for the purpose. The eggs are
usually about four in number, and want the peculiar
pointed shape common to almost all the other birds of
the Order. They are of a dirty yellowish-white, a
good deal blotched and spotted with two or three
shades of pale brown and purplish-grey. The old
bird is known to transport her young, if occasion
demands, from one place to another. She has been
seen doing so repeatedly, and by good observérs,
generally making use of both feet for the purpose,
170 British Birds,
sometimes one only; and, it is said, using her beak
sometimes for the same purpose.—/7g. 1, plate LX.
GREAT SNIPE—(Gadliinago major ; formerly,
Scolopax major).
Solitary Snipe, Double Snipe——Often taken, no
doubt, by many a sportsman in former days to bea
very large specimen of the Common Snipe, than
which no bird with which I am well acquainted
seems to vary more in size. On the wing it does not
look much larger than the Common Snipe, and is
seldom seen except alone, or at most two in company.
It breeds in high northern localities, and never with
us, and no notice, therefore, of its nesting habits is
permissible in this place.
COMMON SNIPE—(Galiinago Celestis ; formerly,
Scolopax gallinago).
Whole Snipe, Snite, Heather-bleater.—Although
this snipe, like the Woodcock, retires to northern
latitudes to breed, yet there are few districts in
Britain suitable to its habits in which it is not known
to breed in greater or less numbers, And it is a bird,
moreover, which is quite sure to make it very dis-
tinctly known that it has a nest and eggs somewhere
near, if only any human visitor appears on the scene.
I refer to the very peculiar note or sound emitted by
the male, always while he is on the wing high in the
air, and always accompanied with a very remarkable
action of his wings and curving descent in his flight.
This sound or note—for it is not absolutely certain, I
Their Eggs and Nests. 171
think, how it is produced—is variously called hum-
ming, bleating, drumming, buzzing. To me, the first
time I heard it, and before I knew to what origin to
assign it, the impression produced was precisely that
of the sound made by a large Bee, entangled in some
particular place and unable to extricate itself; and I
remermber spending some minutes in trying to discover
the supposed insect. The eggs are usually four, placed
in a very slight and inartificial nest on the ground
near some tuft of rushes or other water-herbage.
They are of a greenish-olive hue, blotched and spotted
with two or three shades of brown, the deepest being
very dark. The old ones are said to be very jealous
and careful of their young. Many couples are often
killed on the moors in this district on or just after the
12th of August.—/zg. 2, plate LX,
JACK SNIPE —(Gallinago gallinula ; formerly,
Scolopax gallinula).
Judeock, Half Snipe—A little bird, very often seen
quite late in the spring, but no specimen of whose egg
undoubtedly laid in Britain has, as far as I know, ever
yet been produced. It say breed here, in some few
instances, but none such are yet ascertained. No
notice of its eggs can consequently be inserted here.
RED-BREASTED SNIPE—(Wacroramphus griseus).
“A very rare straggler.”
BROAD-BILLED SAND PIPER—(Limicola
platyrhynca ; formerly, Tringa platyrhynca).
Of very rare occurrence.
172 British Birds,
PECTORAL SANDPIPER—(77ringa maculata ;
formerly, 7. pectoralzs).
Not so rare as the last.
BONAPARTE’S SANDPIPER—(7ringa fuscicollis ;
formerly, Z. Schznziz).
Very rarely met with.
DUNLIN—(Tringa Alpina ; formerly, 7. variabilts).
Dunlin Sandpiper, Purre, Churr, Stint, Oxbird, Sea
Snipe, Least Snipe, Sea Lark.— Perhaps the very
commonest and best known, as well as incomparably
the most abundant of all our small shore birds, and
yet the one about which heaps of scientific mistakes
have been made. The male has a conspicuous wedding-
dress, which he duly puts on in the spring, and once
it was on he was christened 7yinga Alpina, the Dunlin.
Then in the autumn and winter, having divested him-
self alike of his summer dress and all property or
concern in wife and children, he was named anew
Tringa Cinclus, the Purre. On its being satisfactorily
ascertained that the only real difference between
Dunlin and Purre was that of a few feathers, and
those chiefly on the breast, and dependent simply on
season, the new name at the head of this notice was
suggested and willingly adopted as altogether a fit
one. The Dunlin, always called Oxbird where my
boyhood was spent, and often seen there in flocks of
not simply hundreds, but thousands, and many
thousands, in the autumn and winter, goes to the far
north to breed, though some of their hosts stay in the
ENS
Ther Eggs and Nests. . §9B
north of Scotland, the Hebrides, Orkneys and other
islands near. Their nests are placed on the ground,
among long grass and ling, and always contain four
eggs. Mr. Hewitson says :—“In beauty of colouring
and elegance of form the eggs of the Dunlin are un-
rivalled. The ground-colour is sometimes of a clear
light green, richly spotted with light brown; some-
times the ground-colour is of a bluish-white.” The
hen will suffer herself to be removed from her nest by
the hand rather than leave her eggs,—//ig. 8, plate LX.
LITTLE STINT—(7ringa minuta).
Not to be described altogether as a rare little bird,
for it seems to be met with sometimes in autumn on
the southern and eastern coasts in some numbers, and
even in flocks of twenty or thirty together. They are
often seen in company with the Dunlin or other small
shore-birds. Much more is known about their breed-
ing places or habits than used to be the case. It breeds
in Siberia, and other northern localities.
AMERICAN STINT—(7rznga Bessel =
Twice met with in England.
TEMMINCR’S STINT—(7ringa Temmincki1).
Less even than the Little Stint, and much more rare ;
besides which it frequents fresh waters rather than the
sea-shore. No very great number of them, however,
has been met with in England.
174 British Birds,
CURLEW SANDPIPER~(7ringa subarquata).
This little bird was till lately considered to be a
very rare and occasional visitor. But it is very likely
to have been confused with the Dunlin, or other small
shore-birds, and is now supposed even to _ breed
occasionally in our country. During autumn it
is sometimes seen in small groups or flocks.
“M. Temminck says this bird breeds occasionally in
Holland, and that the eggs are yellowish-white, spotted
with dark brown.”
PURPLE SANDPIPER—(7vringa striata ;
formerly, 7. maritima).
Selninger Sandpiper, Black Sandpiper.—Not a
very numerous species, but by no means infrequent on
the British coasts. Very few, however, are seen except
in winter and early spring, the far greater part resort-
ing to some place far in the north to nest. Still it
seems almost certain that a few breed with usin North
England and Scotland It lays four eggs of “a
yellowish-grey colour, varied with small irregular spots
of pale brown, thick at the obtuse end, rarer at the
other.”
KNOT—(7Tringa Canutus).
Camden says this bird derived its name from the
Danish King Knut or Cnut (generally written Canute,
but not properly pronounced so), probably because he
was very fond of eating them. A very poor piece of
etymology I should almost think. It is not uncom-
monly met with in autumn on several parts of our
Their Egos and Nests. 175
coasts, and as far as I have seen is by no means diffi-
cult toapproach. But its breeding-place is very much
more to the north than any portion of the British
Islands extends. The male in his nuptial dress is a
very much gayer gentleman than after his annual
honeymoon is over.
SANDERLING—(Cakdris avenaria).
Common Sanderling, Sanderling Plover—aA by no
means unusual visitant to most parts of our coasts,
and sometimes met with also at the edge of large .
pieces of fresh water, but never known hitherto to
have bred with us. It is found associating most com-
monly, though in small parties for the most part, with
the Dunlin, and other similar shore-haunting birds.
RUFF —(Machetes pugnax).
Female, Reeve.—Time was, and not nearly a century
ago either, when one fenman could take six dozen of
these birds in a single day. Now, I fear, he would
scarcely get that number in several years. The Ruff
is, however, still known to breed annually in some
parts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The variety of
plumage, no less than the very remarkable ruff or
feathery appendage about the neck of the male in
the breeding season, is quite sufficient to make this a
very conspicuous bird among our truly native birds.
Searcely any two males in an assemblage of some
dozens can, in some cases, be picked out as possessing
exactly the same plumage. The breeding habits, or
some of them, observed in this bird are also very
176 British Birds,
characteristic. His Latin name, as given above, simply
means “pugnacious warrior,” and verily he is as
thorough a lover of battle as any knight-errant of the
Middle Ages, or fierce Northern sea-rover of four or
five centuries earlier. They do not pair, and therefore
fight for the possession of the females, and they used
to have spots, known to the fenmen by the name of
Hills, which were as much the scenes of universal
challenge and battle as ever the stated “ lists” of the
old days of tournament or playing at battle. This
habit of theirs facilitated the process of capture very
materially, and by means of a peculiar kind of net,
duly arranged before the day began to dawn, the
fowler was enabled to capture all, or almost all, who
had been attracted by their peculiar instincts to the
vicinity of any given “hill.” The Reeves lay each her
four eggs, which vary in colour from olive-green to a
yellowish stone-colour, and are spotted and blotched
with “ liver-colour” and rich brown.
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER—( 7ryngites
rufescens ; formerly, Tringa rufescens).
It has occurred perhaps some half-dozen times.
BARTRAM’S SANDPIPER—(4artramia longi-
cauda ; formerly, Totanus Bartramiza).
A rare straggler to our coasts.
COMMON SANDPIPER—(Totanus hypoleuca).
Summer Snipe, Willy Wicket, Sand Lark—A
pretty little bird enough, and seeming to be pretty
Their Eges and Nests. 77
extensively diffused, though not a numerous species
anywhere. It is commonly seen running briskly
along by the water edge of streams or lakes, or per-
haps flitting along as disturbed by your sudden
invasion of its haunt. Unlike the Dipper, which may
constantly be seen sitting quite still near the edge of
the stream, the Summer Snipe is always in motion.
It makes a very rude nest of dry grass in some hole
in a bank not far from water, where the shelter and
concealment of sufficient herbage is available, and
lays in it four eggs, which vary often in colour and
spots, but are usually of a yellowish-white, with
blotches and spots of deep brown or ordinary brown.
The eggs are sometimes laid on the bare ground
among shingle or collections of small pebbles.—/zg. 5,
plate VILL,
SPOTTED SANDPIPER—(Tofanus macularius).
A visitor, but one of the rarest and most casual of
all our feathered visitors.
GREEN SANDPIPER—(Totanzus ochroputs).
It is supposed that a few of these birds may remain
with us to breed; but far the greater part of those
which are customarily seen about the sides of our
smaller streams and ditches and canals, are known to
return far to the north to produce their eggs and
young. I believe no authenticated instances of its
nesting with us are known, but a few very young
birds have been met with under circumstances which
seemed to leave no doubt that they must have been
M
178 British Birds,
hatched in the neighbourhood. The nest is said to
be placed “on a bank, or among grass, on the side of
a stream,” and the eggs, four in number, to be of a
greenish ground-colour, spotted with different shades
of brown, light and dark, and with gray.
WOOD SANDPIPER—(7otanus glarcola),
This Sandpiper resembles the last in some degree,
and the two have been sometimes looked upon as
varieties of the same species. It is not by any means
a frequently occurring visitor, though it seems to be
admitted that it is more than probable it sometimes
breeds in this country. Mr. Hoy’s account of its
habits and nesting peculiarities, as observed by him-
self in Dutch Brabant, is quoted at length by both
Mr. Yarrell and Mr. Hewitson. He says, “ The nest
is generally placed at a short distance from the water,
among stunted heath, or scrubby plants of the Bog
Myrtle, or among coarse grass and rushes. It is
placed in a hollow, and formed of dry grass and other
plants. The eggs are four in number. They are
pointed in shape, of a pale greenish white, spotted
and speckled, particularly over the broad end, with
dark reddish brown.”
COMMON REDSHANK—(Totanus calidris).
Redshank Sandpiper, Teuke, Pool Snipe, Sand
Cock, Red-legged Horseman, Red-legged Sandpiper.
—One of the most familiar of all our birds to me in
my youth. Many long days have I spent amid their
haunts on the Essex Saltings. Their nests are very
Their Eggs and Nests. 179
slightly constructed of a few bits of grass amidst a
tuft of herbage, or in a small hole or cavity which is
sheltered by some of the taller-growing marine plants.
The eggs are usually four in number, occasionally but
two or three, of a cream-colour (sometimes dashed
with a somewhat warmer hue) spotted and speckled
with dark brown. The spots are less and more
numerous than in the case of the Peewit’s egg, In
the case of the last nest I found, now many years
since, the old bird suffered me to walk within
a yard of her before taking flight. When the young
are newly hatched the parent birds betray excessive
jealousy and anxiety at the approach of either man
or dog to their resort. They have sometimes come
and settled on the ground within two or three paces
of me, and, at others, flown so directly towards me, as
to suggest the possible intention of attacking me,
piping most plaintively and incessantly the while.
This conduct is designated by the term “ mobbing,”
on the Essex marshes.—/izg. 4, plate VITT.
SPOTTED REDSHANK—{(Totanus fuscus).
Spotted Snipe, Dusky Sandpiper, Black-headed
Snipe. —A bird which varies much in plumage
according to season, being almost black in the
summer—but only an occasional visitor, and scarcely
anything known certainly of its nest or breeding
habits.
YELLOW-SHANKED SANDPIPER—( TZotanus
flavipes).
Exceedingly rare,
180 British Birds.
GREENSHAN K—(Totanus glottis).
Cinereous Godwit, Green-legged Horseman.—I used
to meet with it occasionally in the early autumn on
the Essex Saltings, and remember thinking I had got
a prize the first time I shot one, and noticed its
slightly upturned bill. It is only rare as a species,
and not known positively to breed anywhere much
south of the Hebrides. The nest is said to be like
that of the Golden Plever or Lapwing, consisting
only of a few blades of grass or sprigs of ling, placed
in a hollow in the soil. The eggs—like so very many
of those characterised by the pyriform shape peculiar
to the Grallatores—are placed with their pointed ends
together in the middle, and are of a pale yellowish-
green colour, spotted all over irregularly with dark
brown with intermingled blotches of light purplish-
grey ; the spots and blotches being more numerous at
the larger end.
BLACK-TAILED GODWIT—(Zimosa c@gocephala ;
formerly, L. melanura).
Red-Godwit Snipe, Jadreka Snipe, Red Godwit,
Yarwhelp, Yarwhip, Shrieker.—Another of those
birds which two or three generations back were ex-
ceedingly more abundant than now; proportionately
esteemed, too, as an article of delicate fare in the days
of its frequency, now little heard of, or perhaps
thought of. But our forefathers thought many
things of the eatable sort good, which their descend-
ants of 1896 had rather not sit down to. I rather
think my young readers might not eat Porpoise or
Their Eggs and Nests. 181
Heron either, with any great relish, not to speak of
other matters about equally, or more questionably,
“good eating.” Both this species of Godwit and the
one to be mentioned next are subject, like the Golden
Plover, the Gray Plover, the Spotted Redshank, and
many others yet to be named, to very great and strik-
ing changes of plumage in the breeding season. At
all times they are handsome birds. The Black-
tailed Godwit is hardly believed to breed still in
England. The nest is found in marshy places, made
of dry grass and the like, and more or less concealed
by the coarse growths peculiar to such places. The
egos vary in both size and colours, but are usually of
a greenish olive-brown, marbled and blotched with
darker brown; and, as usual in this class of birds, are
generally four in number.
BAR-TAiutD GODWIT—(Limosa Lapponica ;
formerly, L. rufa).
Common Godwit, Grey Godwit, Red Godwit, God-
wit Snipe, Red-breasted Snipe-—Of much the same
habits as the last, and not remaining in this country
to breed, and consequently occurring much more
frequently in winter than in spring: not at all in
summer. As not nesting with us, no space can be
conceded here for a notice of its eggs and nest.
CURLEW—(Wumentus arquata).
Whaup.—As common a bird as almost any along
the whole of the British coasts. Sometimes singly
and sometimes in groups of eight or ten, it may be
182 British Birds,
seen along the line of oozy shores or the sandy flats
which are laid bare by the receding tide. When the
water is sufficiently high to cover all its feeding
grounds, it betakes itself to some higher ground in
the vicinity, to rest during those hours of inactivity
in food-search. When removing from one place, or
one part of the coast to another, it usually flies in long
lines, which, however, scarcely maintain the same
degree of accuracy as in the case of Wild Geese or
other line-flying wild fowl. On the arrival of spring
the Curlews leave the coast and retire to their breeding
haunts in the hills of the extreme north of England,
the highest moorlands of Scotland, and other similar
places in more northerly latitudes yet. It is very
abundant on the North Yorkshire moors. Near
Aysgarth and Bolton I have often seen from ten to
twenty flying and settling quite near an intruder on
their breeding haunts. Its note once heard is suffi-
ciently noticeable to be easily recognised on any
future occasion. It makes a very careless or rude
nest, and lays four eggs, which vary a good deal in the
depth of the ground-colour and the amount of their
spots. It is pale greenish dun, varying to olive-
sreen, and spotted with darker shades of green and
dark brown.—J/ig. 8, plate VIII.
WHIMBREL—(Wumentus pheopus).
Whimbrel Curlew, Curlew Jack, Curlew Knot, Half
Curlew, Jack Curlew, Stone Curlew, Tang Whaap.—
No wonder it has the name of Half Curlew, for it
does most strongly resemble a diminutive Curlew in
its plumage, shape, fashion of bill, haunts, and many
Ther Egos and Nests. 183
of its habits. It is seen, in no great numbers, on
many of our coasts in winter; but I have met with it
in former years on the Essex Saltings only in the early
spring and previous to its retirement to the north to
breed. It is difficult to assert positively that it fre-
quents any part of the main British Island for that
purpose ; but it is known to nest in both Orkney and
Shetland. The nest is said by Dr. Fleming to be
placed in exposed parts of amoor. The eggs are four
in number, and, though very much less in size, still
very much like the darker varieties of the Curlew’s
egos. The Whimbrel is probably a fast decreasing
species.
ESQUIMAUX CURLEW—(Wumenzus borealis).
“A rare straggler in the British Islands.” (“ Ibis”
List.)
ORDER.—GAVI.
FAMILY.—LARID/AL.
BLACK TERN—(/ydrochelidon nigra; formerly,
Sterna nigra).
Blue Darr.—These birds show considerable varieties
in plumage, according to sex and age. They used to
be very much more numerous than they now are,
many of their favourite haunts having been drained
or otherwise broken up. Still it is not uncommon,
even yet, in some parts of the fenny districts—al-
though other Terns build in the close vicinity of the
184 British Birds,
sea, and in dry sites. The Black Tern, however,
selects marshy places and often builds in very wet
spots, making a nest of flags and grass, The eggs are
sometimes four in number, this being the only Tern
which lays more than three. They vary much in
colour and markings, some being of a palish green,
others of a brownish yellow, or dull buff, but all
spotted and blotched with deep brown.—/fzg. 6,
plate XI.
WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN—(Aydrochelidon
leucoptera ; formerly, Sterna leucoptera).
“A rare straggler.”
WHISKERED TERN—(fydrochelidon hybrida ;
formerly, Serna leucopareza).
Like the last.
GULL-BILLED TERN—(Sterna Anglica).
Of more frequent occurrence than either of the
two last; and especially in Norfolk.
CASPIAN TERN—(Sterna Casfia).
It may be remarked in connection with the birds
we are now among, that the Grebes, Divers, Cormor-
ants are all gifted with wonderful powers of diving;
the Gulls and Terns are incapable of diving an inch.
The latter, buoyant and sitting as lightly on the water
as a cork; the former deep-sunken in the water, and
seeming to require almost an effort to support them-
selves on the surface at all. The contrast is certainly
Their Eggs and Nests. 185
sufficiently striking, without taking into account that
the one group has immense power of flight, and
exercises it; and the others seem to have little in-
clination to use their wings at all more than is
absolutely necessary. The handsome and large Tern
specially under notice does not breed in this country,
but is known to inhabit the coast of some parts of the
European continent, at no great distance from our own
shores.
SANDWICH TERN—( Sterna Cantiaca).
This bird has been noticed as breeding in several
different localities on our southern coasts, and it is
known to frequent both Coquet Island and one or
more of the Farne Islands for the same purpose; as
also several parts of Scotland. It lays three or four
eggs in a hole, or rather cavity, either scratched or
found ready-made in the neighbourhood of plants or
herbage suflieient to afford some covert. The colour
of the eggs varies from yellowish white to a buffy
stone-colour, and they are thickly spotted with neutral
tint, chestnut, and deep rich brown. There is, indeed,
considerable variation in the colouring of the eggs,
but all are very beautiful. 7zgs. 1, 2, plate XT. j
ROSEATE TERN—( Sterna Dougallii).
This bird is known to be a regular but not
abundant summer visitor. Unlike many of our re-
cognised British Birds, it seems rather to increase in
numbers than to diminish. They associate with
other and infinitely more common species, and closer
186 British Birds,
observation only has distinguished between them and
their eggs and those of their more numerous associ-
ates. ‘The eggs of the Roseate Tern are two or three
in number, and vary among themselves to some small
extent. They are usually of a light yellowish stone-
colour, spotted and speckled with dark-grey and dark-
brown.
COMMON TERN—(Sterna fluviaiilis ; formerly,
S. hirundo).
Sea Swallow, Tarney or Pictarney, Tarrock, Pirr,
Gull-teazer, ete.— Although distinguished by the
epithet of Common, this Tern is really not much
more numerous, and in that sense common, than one
or two other species with which it customarily con-
sorts. It is very generally diffused, however, and in
that sense zs common. It usually builds on the ground
in marshy localities near large sheets of water, or on
islands low and flat not far from the sea. Sometimes,
though more rarely, it builds upon low rocks or
slightly elevated sand-banks. They lay two or three
eggs, and are exceedingly and noisily restless and un-
easy when they, or especially their young, are too
nearly approached. Their eggs vary a good deal, but
most of them are of a medium stone-colour, blotched
and spotted with ash-grey and dark red-brown. The
buoyancy and power of flight exhibited by these
birds is very observable.—/7zg. 3, plate XT.
ARCTIC TERN—( Sterna macrura ; formerly,
S. arctica).
This Tern, until a comparatively recent period, was
Their Eggs and Nests. 187
confounded with the Common Tern, but a clear specific
difference was pointed out by M. Temminck, and it is
now acknowledged that, in many of the more
northerly localities especially, it is a much more
numerous species than the Common Tern. It breeds
plentifully in Shetland, Orkney, and some parts of the
Hebrides, and in great numbers on Coquet Island and
one cr more of the Farnes. It lays two or three eggs,
which are exceedingly like those of the Common Tern,
and vary in the same proportion. Some have a
greenish shade, and others rather a pronounced buff,
spotted and blotched as in the case of those of the
last-named species.—/zg. 4, plate XJ.
LESSER TERN—(Sterna minuta),
Lesser Sea Swallow, Little Tern.—A pretty—almost
a delicate—little bird, and not infrequent on such
parts of our coasts as are adapted to its habits. It
seems to prefer sand or shingle-banks or surfaces, and
lays its two or three eggs in any small cavity which
it may be lucky enough to find in the selected place.
It is perfectly surprising in many cases how closely
the eggs laid resemble the stones and gravel among
which they are laid. They are palish stone-colour,
speckled and spotted with ash-grey and dark brown.
—Fig. 5, plate XI.
SOOTY TERN—(Sterna fuliginosa).
It has been met with two or three times.
188 British Birds,
NODDY TERN—(Axous stolidus ; formerly, Sterna
stolida).
A bird of only rare and casual occurrence.
SABINE’S GULL—(Zema Sabinii ; formerly, Larus
Sabint).
This, the first of the Gulls which falls under our
notice. is only a rare visitor.
Ricca Sock CUNEATE-TAILED GULL—(Xhodostethia rosea).
—_ A very rare bird.
BONAPARTEAN GULL—(Larus Philadelphia).
‘ Like the last.
LITTLE GULL—(Larus minutus).
Not only the least English Gull, but the least of all
the Gulls, and a very pretty-looking little bird. It is,
however, only a visitor, though known, of late years,
as putting in a more frequent appearance than had
been before noticed.
ane BLACK-HEADED GULL—(Larus ridibundus).
: Brown-headed Gull, Red-legged Gull, Laughing
Gull, Pewit Gull, Black-cap, Sea Crow, Hooded Mew.
—This is a very numerous, and, at least at some
periods of the year, a very generally diffused species.
At the breeding time, although a few pairs may be
met with in an infinite number of localities, the great
bulk of the species seems to collect at a few chosen
places. One such place, in which they used to breed
ro.
4‘
Their Eges and Nests. 189
in thousands, is on Scoulton Mere, in Norfolk; an-
other at Pallinsburn, in Northumberland ; and a third,
in Lincolnshire, not far from Brigg. They have,
within the last few years, bred in some numbers at
Lockerdam, near Bolton Castle, in Wensieydale. The
nests are made of sedges, grass, and the flowering
part of the reed, and are not very deeply cup-shaped.
The bird lays three eggs, and there is a very great
degree of variation between them in respect of colour
and markings; the ground colour being sometimes of
a light blue or yellow, and sometimes green, or red, or
brown. Some, too, are thickly covered with spots,
and others scarcely marked with a single speckle or
spot. In more than one of their great breeding-places
the right of gathering the eggs was rented, and some-
times upwards of a thousand eggs collected in a single
day. When the first laying of eggs is taken, a second
batch, and even a third, is produced; but in each
successive instance, the eggs become less. They are
used as the Pewit’s eggs are, and also for culinary
purposes.—/7zg. 7, plate XT.
THE GREAT BLACK-HEADED GULL—(Larus
echthyctus).
One or two specimens only.
COMMON GULL—(Larus canus).
Winter Mew, Sea Mew, Sea Mall or Maw, Sea Gull,
Sea Cob, Cob.—This Gull is, on the whole, sufficiently
general and well known on all parts of our coast to
merit the prefix of Common, which is usually applied
to it, For though it is essentially a sea-bird, yet
190 British Birds,
during some weeks in the spring, it may frequently be
seen in the new-ploughed or sowed fields at some
miles’ distance from the salt water. Its nest may
sometimes be found on marshes or low flat islands,
such as are not rare in some of our southern estuaries,
while in other districts it breeds on high rocks. In
either case, the nest is a structure of considerable size,
formed of sea-weed and grass, and the female deposits
two or three eggs in it, which are a good deal varied
in appearance: “Some,” says Mr. Hewitson, “with a
ground colour of light blue, or straw colour, others
green or brown; some a good deal like eges of the
Oyster-catcher, others covered all over with minute
spots.” Some, moreover, are sufficiently well blotched
and spotted with ash colour and dark brown; others
well streaked with the brown, but with only a few
spots of the grey colour.—/7zg. 2, plate XLT.
HERRING GULL—(Larus argentatus).
A very numerous species in many different parts of
the kingdom, where rocky coasts sufficiently high and
precipitous are met with. I have seen it abundantly
at Flamborough Head and St. Abb’s Head, and in
smaller numbers on many parts of the Yorkshire
coast north of Flamborough, as well as in others
not distant from St. Abb’s. Here we see it on the
ploughed lands very abundantly in early spring. The
earliest date for their appearance this year (1896) was
February 21st. I heard them also on February 26th ;
and I have heard them again as late as three days ago,
or May 26th. It usually selects for the site of its nest a
flat ledge or other rock-surface towards the upper part
Their Eggs and Nests. 19I
of the cliff, but will sometimes build on a low rock or
grassy island. The nest is like that of the last species,
but even larger, and usually contains three eggs.
These so strongly resemble those of the Lesser Black-
back as to make it very difficult to distinguish be-
tween the one and the other. Mr. Hewitson says the
only means of distinction available even to an ex-
perienced eye seems to depend on the somewhat greater
size of the Herring Gull’s egg, and the larger and
more confluent character of the blotches of surface
colour.—/fig. 4, plate XT.
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL—(Larus fuscus),
Yellow-legged Gull.—This Gull is seen in sufficient
numbers, and all the year round, on many parts of
the British coasts, and in the south as well as the
north. Italmost exclusively prefers localities to breed
in which are characterised by the presence of rocky
cliffs, but yet makes a nest of some considerable
thickness—even when placed on the grassy summit
of some rocky island—* of grass loosely bundled to-
gether in large pieces, and placed in some slight
depression or holiow of the rock.” Its nests are
intermingled, in several places, with those of the
Herring Gull ; in many places greatly exceeding those
of the latter, in others as greatly inferior, in number.
The eggs (two or three in number) vary greatly in
colouring,—from a warm stone-colour, through shades
of brown, to pale green or light olive-green. The
spots and blotches vary too, and vary greatly, in
number, size, position, and intensity; neutral-tint,
chestnut brown, and dark brown being all met with,
192 British Birds,
and sometimes in the same specimen.—/7zg. 3, plate
AX/I.
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL—(Larus
marinus).
Black-back, Cob, Great Black-and-white Gull—By
no means a numerous species, and not affecting society
as so many of the other Gulls do. It breeds, in some
cases, on the Marsh or Salting-spaces met with so
abundantly on some of the southern and eastern
shores; but more commonly on rocky parts of the
coast. Thus,it breeds very abundantly on the Orkney
aud Shetland Islands. The nest is made of a large
quantity of dry grass simply thrown together. The
eggs are three in number, often bearing a great
resemblance to those of the two species last named,
but usually distinguishable by the larger masses of
surface colouring, and by some superiority in size.
The Black-back’s eggs are much esteemed as articles
of food, or for cooking purposes generally. The yolk
is very deep and rich-coloured, and the white colour-
less or transparent. Each female will lay three sets
of eggs; the first two sets being, in some cases,
customarily taken, and the last left for her to hatch.
GLAUCOUS GULL—(Larus glaucus).
Large White-winged Gull, Burgomaster—A Gull
equally large with the last (one of which, shot by
myself, exceeded six feet from the tip of one wing to
that of the other); but one of merely casual occurrence
as a British bird. |
Their Eges and Nests, 193
ICELAND GULL—(Larus leucopterus ; formerly, L.
Lslandicus).
Lesser White-winged Gull.—A bird which has been
obtained in this country from time to time, but in
cases of no great frequency.
KITTIWAKE—(Xissa tridactyla ; formerly, Larus
tridactylus).
Tarrock, Annet.—A very common rock-breeding Gull,
met with on almost all parts of our coasts, and nesting
in great numbers in many different localities, Flam-
borough Head, St. Abb’s Head, the Bass, more than
one of the Farne Islands, are such places. It places
its nest of sea-weed high up on the face of some rocky
steep on a narrow ledge, and deposits therein, for the
most part, three eggs. These differ much in colour
and in the amount and position of the spots; some
are stone-coloured, some tinged with an olive shade,
and some with a bluish cast. The spots and blotches
are of ash-grey and two or three shades of brown,
chestnut to umber.—fzg. 1, plate XII.
IVORY GULL—(Pagophela eburnea; formerly ~-
Larus eburneus).
Snow-bira,-—A bird of very rare occurrence.
GREAT OR COMMON SKUA—(Svercorarius catar-
rhactes ; formerly, Lestr¢s catarrhactes).
Skua Gull, Brown Gull, Bonxie.—We pass here
into a somewhat different class of birds. The Skua is
as bold and insolent as most of the Gulls are timid
and retiring. In many instances these birds do not
N
194 British Birds,
take the trouble to fish for themselves, but, watching
the fishing operations of the Gull, seize their oppor-
tunity of assailing a successful fisher, and compel him
to disgorge his prey. The Common Skua has only a
very limited breeding-range in Britain, not being
known to nest out of Shetland, and to have but three
places for nidification there. So resolute and daring
are they when they have young to defend, they do
not scruple to attack the eagle, and a pair have been
known to beat the strong, proud marauder effectually
off. The Skua makes a large nest of moor-growing
moss, and takes some pains in its construction. It is
placed among the heath and moss of a hilly island.
The eggs are two in number, and vary much in
colour ; according to locality, it would almost seem.
Some are dusky olive-brown, others with a much
greener hue, and they are blotched with darker
brown, and a few spots of rust colour.
POMARINE SKUA—(Stercorarius pomatorhinus
formerly, Lestr¢s pomarinus).
Merely a casual visitor, although more frequently
noticed of late years than before ornithology became
so favourite a study.
RICHARDSON’S OR ARCTIC SKUA—(Séercor-
arius crepidatus ; formerly, Lestris Richardsoniz).
Arctic Gull, Black-toed Gull.—This species is the
most numerous of all those who visit this country. It
breeds in the Hebrides, in the Orkneys and in Shet-
land, and numerously enough in the two localities last
named, The female has been observed to make use
Their Eggs and Nests. 195
of the same artifices as the Partridge and the Grouse
to decoy an intrusive dog or man away from its nest
or young. The nest is built of moss or ling, on some
elevated knoll amid marshy ground, or on the moor,
and contains two eggs. These are of a greenish olive-
brown colour, spotted with dark brown. This Skua
not only restlessly and pitilessly persecutes the Kitti-
wake and other Gulls in order to obtain its own food
from them at second-hand, but also makes free with
their eggs for the same purpose in a very mapeuaer
like fashion.—/7¢. 5, plate XTT.
LONG-TAILED OR BUFFON’S SKUA—(Séercor-
arius parasiticus ; formerly, Lestris Buffonz2).
Mr. Yarrell distinguishes between this bird and the
true L. parasiticus, and consequently adopts the
scientific name I have now given. This Skua can
only be considered a rare and accidental visitor.
ORDER.—TUBIN ARES.
FAMILY.—PROCELLARIIDA.
FULMAR PETREL—(Fulmarus glacialis ; formerly,
Proceilaria glacialts).
Fulmar, Northern Fulmar.—The Fulmar breeds in
incredible numbers at St. Kilda, but is rarely met
with, even in winter, about the southern coasts of
England. Both. old birds and their young on being
touched eject a considerable quantity of clear oil,
which, however, is by no means of an agreeable
196 British Birds,
odour; and probably from this cause the nest, young
birds, and even the rock on which they are placed,
stink almost intolerably. The nest is very slight, if
any, and the bird lays her single white egg in little ex-
cavations, and lightly lined, on such shelves on the face
of high precipitous rocks as are surfaced with a little
grass or sward. The egg varies in length from a
little over 24 inches to 3 inches.
CAPPED PETREL—(@strelata hesitata).
Of almost unique occurrence.
GREAT SHEARWATER—(Pufinus major).
Cinereous Shearwater, Dusky Shearwater.—A bird
which has not been very frequently recorded as met
with on the British seas, but still one of occasional
occurrence.
42° SOOTY SHEARWATER—(Puffinus griseus).
MANX SHEARWATER—(Pufinus Anglorum),.
Shearwater Petrel, Manx Puffin.—This is a regular
seafaring little bird, and perhaps would hardly ever
care to eome to land if it were not for the need of
something solid for itseggs to repose upon. It usually
frequents islands well-washed by the sea and not
much frequented by men. It used to be very abund-
ant on the Calf of Man, but is never seen there now.
In one of the Scilly Islands it breeds in some
numbers still, and on St. Kilda, the Western Isles,
Orkney and Shetland. The nest is made deep down
on
Their Eggs and Nests. 197
in a hole in some wild and half inaccessible part of
the islands frequented, and in it one egg of exceed-
ing whiteness is laid, and remarkable for the fine
texture of the shell and the musky scent of the entire
ego, It is about 23 inches long by 14 broad.
DUSKY SHEARWATER—(Pufiinus obscurus).
A rare straggler.
BULWER’S PETREL—(Bulweria columbina ;
formerly, Thalassidroma Bulwerit).
A Petrel of sufficiently rare occurrence.
~ FORK-TAILED PETREL—(Cymochorea lencorrhoa ;
formerly, Zhalassidroma Leachit).
Breeds at St. Kilda, and an occasional straggler on
the British coasts.
© STORM PETREL—(Procellaria pelagica ; formerly,
Thalasstdroma procellaria).
Mother Carey’s Chicken.—This is said to be the
smallest web-footed bird known. It never comes to
the shore except at the breeding-season, and only
seeks comparative shelter under the pressure of very
heavy weather. It breeds in the Scilly Islands, some
of the islands on the Irish coast, and abundantly on
St. Kilda, the Orkneys and Shetland. They breed in
holes in a cliff, or under large-sized stones, which,
from their great size and accumulation of boulders
and large shingle about them, afford many deep
recesses well suited to the wants of the nesting
198 British Birds,
Petrel. Like the Manx Shearwater, they are by no
means silent in their nest-holes, but make themselves
distinctly audible to the passenger above. They lay
one white egg, a little exceeding 1 inch long, by 2
broad.
FAMILY I1—OCEANITID.
WILSON’S PETREL—(Oceanites Oceanicus ;
formerly, Zzalassidroma Welsoniz).
Equally rare with the bird last-named.
ORDER.—P YGOPODES.
FAMILY I.—ALCID.
RAZOR-BILL—(Alca tora).
Razor-bill Auk, Black-billed Auk, Murre, Marrot.—
It may almost be said that wherever the Guillemot is
met with the Razor-bill is sure not to be far distant.
They have their habits, their food, their haunts, even
to a great degree their general appearance, in common.
There is, however a great difference both in the shape
and size and also in the colouring of the single egg
laid by the Razor-bill, from that of the Willock. It
is less in proportion, less elongated, wants the infinite
diversity of colouring which characterises the egg of
the latter, the ground-colour being always whitish or
white tinged with some light buffy shade, and the
spots and blotches, which are sufficiently abundant,
are some of a reddish or chestnut brown, others of a
very deep rich brown.—/izg. 4, plate X.
Ther Eggs and Nests. 199
GREAT AUK—(Akca impennis).
Gair-Fowl.— Not merely an exceedingly rare British
bird, but extinct as a British species. While yet in ex-
istence it was said scarcely ever to leave the water, and
it laid its one large egg almost close to high-water
mark. ‘These egos are white in ground, or sometimes
soiled or slightly yellowish white, blotched and
streaked, most at the larger end, with black. They
somewhat resemble the iailemnets egg in shape, but
are rather less elongated. The value ot these eggs is
almost fabulous, sixty @ guineas ' having been given for
a couple of them. I had to thank the late Mr.
Champley, C.I1., of Scarborough, for most kindly send-
ing me an engraving of a Great Auk’s egg in his
possession, as well as for offering me access to his ad-
mirable collection of eggs, numbering upwards of
8,000 specimens.
COMMON GUILLEMOT—( (72a trozle),
Foolish Guillemot, Willock, Tinkershere, Tarrock,
Scout, Sea Hen, Murre, Lavy.—It is remarkable in
several particulars connected with its breeding peculi-
arities. It makes no nest, and lays but one egg, but
that an egg of huge dimensions as contrasted with the
size of the bird itself; besides which, it is almost
impossible, out of a collection of many scores, to pick
out half a dozen that are precisely alike, either in
ground-colour or general markings. The eggs are
laid on the ledges of rocky precipices overhanging the
sea, on various parts of the British coasts. I have
1 Morris’s ‘* British Birds.”
200 British Birds,
frequently seen the Willocks under the impulse of a
sudden alarm—for instance the firing of a gun in the
close vicinity of their egg-bestrown ledges—fly off in
very large numbers and with every symptom of pre-
cipitation. But no egg is ever dislodged; a circum-
stance which some have sought to account for on the
supposition that they must be cemented to the rock !
The explanation really is, it would seem, that the
shape of the egg is such that, instead of rolling off in
any direction, as a ball would do on being sufficiently
moved, they simply turn round and round within the
length of their own axis. It would serve but little
purpose to attempt a description of the Guillemot’s
egg. They are of all shades, from nearly or quite
white to a dark green, some profusely spotted and
blotched and streaked with dark colours, others very
slightly so or scarcely at all. Unfortunately tle egg
is so large that but two illustrations can be given in
the limited space available to us—Fizgs. 1, 2, plate X.
BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT—(Uria Briinnichit).
Thick-billed Guillemot.—Easily distinguished by
an experienced eye from the last, but a bird of which,
perhaps, it can scarcely be said that it has been
actually ascertained to breed anywhere within the
limits of the British Isles. The eggs are described as
varying from those of the Common Guillemot in their
greater roundness ; they are less long in proportion to
their thickness than the others, but seem to run
through the same endless variations of ground-
colour.
Their Eggs and Nests. 201
RINGED GUILLEMOT—( Uria lacrymans).
Bridled Guillemot.—There has been some doubt
whether this bird is to be considered a distinct species,
or merely a variety of the Common Guillemot. It is
now hardly admitted as a good species. It occurs in
company with the other Guillemot on various parts
of our coasts, and in Wales is said to be equally
numerous with it. The eggs are scarcely distinguish-
able from those of the other two species already named,
and exhibit precisely similar characteristics.
BLACK GUILLEMOT—( Ura gryile).
Tyste, Scraber, Greenland Dove, Sea Turtle.—
Sensibly less in size than the Common Guillemot, and
not found commonly on our more southerly coasts.
Shetland, the Orkneys and Western Isles are all
frequented by them, and their quick and lively
motions are pleasant enough to witness. These birds
lay two eggs each instead of one, in holes or crevices
of precipitous rocks, and at some distance from the
aperture; sometimes, where no such nest-sites are
available, on the bare ground, under or between frag-
ments of rock or large stones. They are most
commonly white, more or less tinged with blue,
speckled, spotted, and blotched or marbled with chest-
nut brown, very dark brown anda kind of neutral
tint.— ze. 3, plate X.
LITTLE AUK—(Wergulus alle ; formerly, JZ.
melanoleucos).
I have rarely seen any bird, much more a very
202 British Birds,
small bird like this, whose whole air and deportment
conveyed to me more completely the idea of entire in-
dependence. Only under the pressure of severe storms
or long continued hard weather do they leave the
deep sea in order to seek the comparative shelter of
some land-sheltered bay or reach. It breeds on the
Faroe Isles and in Iceland, but not in Britain.
PUFFIN
Sea Parrot, Coulterneb, Tammy Norie.—This is,
one may safely say, the quaintest-looking of all the
host of our English birds. The young Owl is gro-
tesque enough, but more by reason of its deliberate,
solemn-seeming, and yet laughable movements ; but
the Puffin, with its upright attitude and huge ribbed
and painted beak—reminding one somewhat strongly
of the highly-coloured pasteboard noses of preposterous
shape and dimensions which, at some seasons, decorate
the windows of the toy-shop—strikes us as more
laughably singular yet. They breed abundantly about
many of our rocky coasts in all parts of the kingdom,
depositing their one egg—a large one, again, in pro-
-portion to the size of the bird—sometimes in crannies
or rifts in the surface of the cliff, often very far back;
at other times in rabbit-burrows where such excava-
tions are to be met with sufficiently near the coast and
otherwise suitable to the wants of the bird. It does
not follow that because the Puffin eccupies the hole,
that the rabbit had forsaken it or even given it up
“for a consideration.” On the contrary the Puffin is
quite ready and equally able to seize on and continue
to occupy the desired home by force of arms. In
(Fratercula arctica).
Ther Eggs and Nests. ~ 203
other cases they dig their own holes, and often exca-
vate them to the depth of two or three feet. The eggs
are nearly white before they become soiled—that is,
spotted and marbled with a tinge of ash colour.
FAMILY IL—COLYMBID&.
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER—(Colymébus glacialis).
Greatest Speckled Diver, Great Doucker, Immer,
Immer Diver.—This magnificent bird—I shot one, in
full plumage, several years since, which weighed nearly —
thirteen pounds—is usually found at some distance
from the coast, except during that part of the year
which is devoted to the work of propagation. There
seems good reason to think some of them may breed
in some of the most northerly British Islands, but no
authentic history of its ever having been known to
do so, is, I believe, extant.
BLACK-THROATED DIVER—(Colymbus arcticus).
Lumme, Northern Doucker, Speckled Loon.—The
rarest of the three Divers known in our seas. It is,
however, described as breeding in several of the lakes
of Sutherlandshire. It makes no nest, but lays its
two eggs on the bare ground, at no great distance
from the water-edge. These are in some instances of
a light shade of chocolate-brown, others having more
of an olive-brown tinge about them, and sparingly
spotted with black.
204 British Birds,
RED-THROATED DIV ER—(Colvmbus
septentrionalis),
Rain Goose, Cobble, Sprat-borer, Spratoon, Speckled
Diver.—The commonest and the smallest of the Divers,
and varying greatly in its plumage, according to age
and season. It breeds on the Scottish mainland, in
Shetland, in the Hebrides, and until lately, in the
Orkneys. The eggs are said to be always deposited
very near the water’s edge. They are two in number,
of a greenish-brown colour, spotted with very dark
brown, but, as Mr. Yarrell states, when the egg has
been long sat upon, the brown ground-colour is apt to
assume a chestnut, or dark reddish-brown tint.
FAMILY III.—PODICIPEDID.
GREAT CRESTED GREBE—(Podiceps cristatus).
Cargoose, Loon, Greater Loon, Tippet Grebe.-—The
family of Grebes to be noticed now are to be looked
upon as principally, but not exclusively, frequenting
the fresh water. The bird now under notice remains
almost all the year on the large sheets of water which
it inhabits in Wales, Shropshire, Norfolk, and Lincoln-
shire. Like the rest of the Grebes, it is little able to
walk, and not much disposed to fly, but possessing
marvellous capacity and power of diving. Its nest is
made of a large heap of half rotten water weeds, but
little raised above the surface of the water, and always
soaked with wet. On this likely-seeming place for
duly addling every egg deposited, three, four, or five
cm
Their Eggs and Nests. 205
egos are laid, which are almost white when newly
dropped, but soon become so stained from constant
contact with wet and decaying vegetable substances
as to be any colour rather than white. They are
about 21 inches long, by 14 broad. The eggs, in the
absence of the parent bird, are usually found covered
with portions of some water vegetable; and the owner,
on being disturbed on her nest, always dives away
from it. The first lessons of the young Loon in diving
are taken beneath the literal “shelter of their mother’s
wing.”
RED-NECKED GREBE—(Podiceps rubricollis).
Not so common as the Grebe last named, and more
frequently met with on salt water, though not usually
far from some estuary or inland arm of the sea. It
is not known to have bred in this country.
SCLAVONIAN GREBE—(Poadiceps auritus ;
formerly, P. cornutus).
Dusky Grebe, Horned Grebe.—Rather a rare bird
in the summer, and not common at any period of the
year ; nor has it ever been known to breed with us.
EARED GREBE—(Podiceps nigricollis ; formerly,
P. auritus).
The rarest of all the Grebes. It occurs, however,
from time to time, and I knew of one instance in
Essex some sixty-five years ago in which one of these
birds was taken from a Water Rat’s hole into which
it had been seen to creep for shelter,
206 British Birds,
LITTLE GREBE—(Podiceps fluviatilis; formerly, P-
minor).
Dabchick or Dobchick, Didapper, Small Ducker,
Black-chin Grebe.—A very common and very inter-
esting little bird, and yet, in spite of its frequency
and familiarity, blessed with two scientific names,
originating (as in the case of the Dunlin) in differ
ences of plumage, depending on age or season. It is
difficult to say where it is ot to be met with in
spring, provided only there be what the Americans
call a sufficient “ water-privilege,” neither too shallow
nor too rapid, for its requirements. As expert a diver
as any of those hitherto named, it seldom resorts to
the use of its wings, except just at the time when
birds’ love-making goes on. Then the male (at least)
may be seen working his short wings most vigorously
and rapidly, uttering his rattling cry as he circles over
and about the mere on which he has “squatted” for
the season. The nest is a heap of water weeds only
just flush with the surface, and always steeping wet.
The eggs are four, five or six in number, perfectly
white when laid, but soon ceasing to be clean-looking,
for they grow more dingy day by day, until on some
waters they become completely mud-coloured, on
others, assume a hue which I can compare to nothing
but old blood stains on some dirty surface. I am
quite convinced that in some cases at least this dis-
colouration is intentional on the part of the parent
bird, though in others it may be simply due to the
action of the juices of fresh or decaying vegetable sub-
stances. I never yet, though I have seen some dozens
of nests, found the eggs left uncovered by the owner
Ther Eggs and Nests. 207
save only in one instance, in which only one egg had
been laid. The weeds used as a covering were, more-
over, in the majority of instances, fresh, and evidently
procured by the Dabchick in virtue of her skill in
diving. The young birds swim and dive almost im-
mediately they are hatched, and are very persevering
little skulkers if disturbed on their breeding waters.
ORDER.—STEGANOPODES.
FAMILY.—PELECANID.
COMMON CORMORANT—(Phalacrocorax carbo),
Crested Cormorant, Corvorant, Great Black Cor-
morant, Cole Goose, Skart.—Wherever there are any
traces of a rocky coast about our island, there the
Cormorant is pretty sure to be found, so that he may
very well be described as a common bird. Where the
rocky coast is not only extensive, but not liable to
much disturbance from human intrusion, these birds
abound, and may be seen in numbers and observed to
anyone’s heart’s content. They build their nests,
which are of ample size, with sticks, sea-weed and
coarse herbage of any obtainable sort, on ledges of the
precipices ; and many nests are usually formed in the
near neighbourhood of each other. They are much
disposed also to select as the situation for their nests a
rocky islet with cliffy sides, and woe to the nose of
anyone who approaches such an island rock from the
leeward side. What from the nature of their food
and the abundance of their excrement, an intolerably
208 British Birds,
fetid odour always prevails about their breeding-place.
The eggs vary in number from four to six, and are
almost entirely covered over with a white chalky in-
crustation, which, however, admits of easy removal by
a knife or similar means, leaving a shell of a bluish-
green colour apparent.
SHAG—(Phalacrocorax cristatus).
Green Cormorant, Crested Cormorant, Crested Shag.
—A smaller bird than the last, but easily distinguish-
able by that and its prevailing green colour, As to
habits and haunts, the differences are not great. The
Shags are said to breed lower down on the rocks than
the Cormorant, and the nests are principally composed
of sea-weed and grasses. The eggs are three to five
in number, and covered with the same incrustation as
those of the Cormorant, and equally removable.
White at first, they soon become as soiled and stained
as those of the Grebes.
GANNET—(Sula Bassana).
Solan Goose.--Common enough in certain localities,
though the localities in which they occur vary with
the season. When the breeding time comes round,
they congregate in hosts of many thousands at some
half-dozen different stations, particularly affected by
them, on different parts of our coasts. During the
breeding season if, or where, unmolested, they become
exceedingly tame, and will even suffer themselves to
be touched. They make their nests of a large mass
of sea-weed and dry grass, ov rather than zz which
they lay each one single egg, of no very considerable
Their Eges and Nests. 209
size. This, when first laid, is white or bluish-white
(the colour being due to an incrustation similar to that
of the Cormorant’s eg), but soon becomes soiled and
stained.
ORDER.—_HERODIONES.
FAMILY I.—ARDEID A.
COMMON HERON—(Ardea cinerea).
Hern, Heronshaw, Heronseugh.—It would have
been no light matter once to have molested a Heron.
Those birds were “ preserved” with a strictness we
scarcely can imagine even in these days of game-pre-
serves. They were the peculiar game of royal and
noble personages. Now, however, the case is widely
different, and probably not one Heron in a hundred
can now be met with as compared with the days of
falconry. It is a strange odd sight to see a Heron
balancing himself on the topmost twig of some fir-
tree, and succeeding after a few uneasy motions of
body and wings in poising himself. The Heron some-
times breeds on precipitous rocks, but much more
commonly on trees,—generally trees of large size, and
commonly oaks or firs. It is not a solitary builder,
but like the Rook forms a community, and frequents
the same tree or clump of trees through successive
years for many generations. Hach nest is of large
size, and composed of sticks with a lining of wool.
Four or five eggs are usually deposited, of an uniform
pale green colour, A few nests are said to have been
fe)
210 British Birds,
met with on the ground and even in a laurel.—/7g. 1,
plate VILL.
PURPLE HERON—(A4rdea purpurea).
A few instances only of the occurrence of this bird
in Britain have been recorded.
GREAT WHITE HERON—(4rdea alba).
White Heron, Great Egret—A rarer and more
accidental visitor than even the bird last named.
LITTLE EGRET—(Aréea garzetia),
Egret, Egret Heron, Little Egret Heron.—There is
good reason to believe that this bird may once, at a
remote period, have been sufficiently common, or even
abundant in England. Now, however, it is of exceed-
ingly rare occurrence anywhere within the British
seas.
BUFF-BACKED HERON—(Arde abubuicus ;
formerly, A. russaia).
Red-billed Heron, Rufous-backed Egret, Little
White Heron (the young).—An exceedingly rare bird,
with as scanty claim as not a few others to be con-
sidered British at all.
SQUACCO HERON—(Aréea rallotdes).
Buff-coloured Egret.—A bird which has been met
with in several of the counties in the southern half
of England, and I believe more or less frequently in
some of them. Still it is but a visitor, and, com-
paratively with many other not very common birds, a
Their Eggs and Nests. 211
rare one; and, as certainly not breeding in our island,
possessing no claim upon us for lengthened notice
here.
NIGHT HERON—(Wycticorax griseus; formerly,
NV. Garden),
Gardenian Heron, Spotted Heron, Night Raven.—
This bird claims to be a British bird, inasmuch as
upwards of a dozen specimens have been met with
here. But it does not breed with us, if indeed
commonly at all in Europe.
LITTLE BITTERN—(Ardetia minuta; formerly,
Lotaurus minutus).
It would seem that this bird is to be looked upon
rather as a summer visitor to us; and Mr. Yarrell says of
it, “ Some, if not prevented, would probably have bred
in this country.” Still, although the grounds for this
opinion seem valid and conclusive, no actual instance
of nidification here has ever been ascertained,
COMMON BITTERN—(Botaurus stellaris).
Mire Drum, Butter-bump, Bog-bumper, Bittour,
Bumpy-coss, Bull-of-the-Bog, Bog-blutter, Bog-
jumper.—Clearances and drainage, and the onward
strides of agriculture, and the gun, and the pursuit of
specimen-hunters and collectors, have made this arare
species almost everywhere. It was common enough a
century or two since; and many a fertile cornfield,
which then was a seemingly hopeless marsh and bog,
has resounded far and wide with the deep, booming,
bellowing cry of the Bittern, Recorded instances
212 British Birds,
even of its nesting here are becoming more and more
rare and unusual, and ere long, it is to be feared, this
beautifully plumaged bird will be among the things
that “have been.” Its nest is composed of sticks,
reeds, and like matters, built on the ground, at no
sreat distance from the water it frequents, and hid
among the plentiful water-growth found at the edges
of shallow standing waters. The eggs are three to
five in number, of an uniform olive-brown colour.—
Fig. 2, plate VIII.
AMERICAN BITTERN—(Botaurus lentiginosus).
A bird of rare and most accidental occurrence in
England.
FAMILY II—CICONIID.
WHITE STORK—(Ciconza alba),
A much too conspicuous object not to be noticed
whenever its visits have been paid to our shores.
Accordingly, we find it had long been known as a
visitor, though the instances of its occurrence in the
last generation or two are noticeably less frequent
than in former days. As breeding abundantly in
Holland, it would be strange if the Stork did not
come to us sometimes.
BLACK STORK—(Ciconza nigra).
The Black Stork has occurred much more rarely
than its white congener.
Their Eggs and Nests. } at
FAMILY III.—IBIDID/.
GLOSSY IBIS—(Plegadis falcinellus; formerly,
Tbis falcinellus).
This visitor has been met with in late years, even
in some numbers. There was one about the moors in
this district thirty-four or thirty-five years since, which
I saw myself and heard of as seen in the same neigh-
bourhood by others; and about the same time I
noticed that birds of the same species had been
observed in several other parts of Yorkshire and
elsewhere. Still it is only a visitor, and a casual
one.
FAMILY IV.—PLATALEID.
WHITE SPOON-BILL—(Platalea leucorodia).
A bird which is said to have bred in former days in
our country, but which has certainly become, for a
long time past, a mere visitor, and not a frequent one.
ORDER.—ODONTOGLOSS .
FAMILY.—PHtR NICOPTERIDA
26\. FLAMINGO—(Phenicopterus roseus).
Strange as it may seem, at least three occurrences
of this remarkable bird in our country have been re-
corded.
> 2
214 British Birds,
ORDER.—ANSERES.
FAMILY I.—ANATID.
GREY-LAG GOOSE—(Azser ferus).
Grey-legged Goose, Grey Goose, Wild Goose.—It is
not proposed to give any illustrations whatever of the
eggs of the Wild-fowl—the Geese, Swans, Ducks, and
Diving Ducks—inasmuch as they are not only of large
size, and would usurp much space to the absolute ex-
clusion of many others of much interest and urgently
demanding pictorial illustration, but, also, are charac-
terised by so much sameness or general uniformity of
colour ;—for they vary only, in that respect, about as
much as the eggs of the common Fowl! and common
Duck do.
Their Eggs and Nests. 215
iii any very scanty numbers. One of my very worst
discomfitures in my early sporting-days took place in
connection with a flock of these birds. There were
seven or eight of them which flew deliberately right
on towards my father and myself till they were within
twenty-five yards of us, and then they doubled up into
a confused clump, and I was already counting the
slain when my gun missed fire. My father’s did not,
and gave us the opportunity of identifying the species.
It breeds in Scotland and other countries far to the
north. |
st BEAN GOOSE—(Anser segetum).
Like the last, and in common with the Goose next
to be mentioned, indiscriminately known by the name
of Wild Goose. Unlike the last, however, it is ascer-
tained to breed in small numbers on some of the large
lakes in the north of Scotland, and in the islands of
Lewis and Harris. Besides which, a nesting locality
of this species in Westmoreland is named. The nests,
in some instances, are hid in very tall ling, and the
eggs are from five to seven in number. In size they
are a little under 3} inches long by 25 broad.
Qo 6* PINK-FOOTED GOOSE—(Anser brachyrhyncus).
A smaller bird than the last, but otherwise bearing
a@ very strong resemblance to it ; so much so, that it
appears more than probable it has often been assumed
to be a young or small specimen of the former species.
It is, however, of comparatively rare occurrence.
216 | British Brrds,
SNOW GOOSE—(Chen hyperboreus).
Of rare occurrence, and, it is believed, in Ireland
only.
RED-BREASTED GOOSE—(Bernicla ruficollis ;
formerly, Auser riuficollis).
A very rare species, and one of which but little is
known as to history or habits.
BERNICLE GOOSE—(Sernicla leucopsts ;
formerly, Azser leucopsis).
Another winter visitor; often appearing in great
flocks, but always retiring to the north again to breed.
It is supposed to frequent the shores of the White Sea
especially for such purpose.
BRENT GOOSE—BLernzcla brenta ; formerly,
Anser brenta).
Black Goose, Ware Goose.—By far the most numerous
of all the geese which visit our shores in winter, as it
is also the least. I have seen it in inconceivable
numbers on the Essex coast in hard winters, and the
numbers reported to have been killed at one discharge
of a heavy punt-gun seem simply incredible. In the
very hard and long-continued winter of 1837-38, I saw
the ice, which, in broken fragments of four or five feet
square by three or four inches thick, covered the
whole estuary of the Blackwater at Tollesbury (a space
of very considerable width), black with them during
highwater. The expression made use of by one of the
sea faring men of the neighbourhood was, “ There are
»~
Their Eves and Nests. 217
acres of ’em.” Still of all their vast numbers none
remain to breed, and no great proportion of them are
known to breed in Europe.
CANADA GOOSE—(Bernicla Canadensis » formerly, —
Anser Canadensis).
Cravat Goose.— Many of these remarkably fine birds
are kept on ornamental waters in many different parts
of the kingdom ; and these have been known some-
times (aided by a storm, perhaps, or some unusual
occurrence) to make their escape. Many of the sup-
posed wild birds shot, or otherwise taken, have been
accounted for on the supposition that they are such
escaped birds. However, it would seem almost certain
that considerable flights of really wild Cravat Geese
do occasionally visit this country, and even that some
pair or two of them may occasionally stay to breed.
The eggs are six to nine in number, of very large size,
and white.
EGYPTIAN GOOSE—(Chenaloper .Tgyptiaca;
formerly, duser Egypteacus).
As rare and not less exceptional than the last ; as
the few that have occurred may have escaped from
confinement.
SPUR-WINGED GOOSE—(PVectropterus Gambensis ;
formerly, Axser Gambenszs).
Gambo Goose.—An accidental visitor indeed.
W HOOPER—( Cygnus ferus).
Wild Swan, Whistling Swan, Elk.—Of sufficiently
)
-
218 British Birds,
common occurrence on the British coasts, and par-
ticularly in hard winters. Few birds vary much
more in size and weight than do these. A young bird
of the year may weigh only twelve or thirteen pounds;
the older and more full-grown specimens, twenty or
twenty-one. They breed very far to the north.
Tt BEWICK’S SWAN—(Cygnus Bewcki2).
A smaller bird than the Whooper, and of very
much rarer occurrence. Still it is an ascertained
species, and visits us frequently, if not annually, in
some numbers,
MUTE SWAN—(Cygnus olor).
The Common tame Swan of our ornamental waters,
—They are found wild in many, if not all, the
northern countries of Europe. It is too well known
by everyone to require detailed notice here.
a, POLISH SWAN—(Cyguus tmmutabilis).
) -
‘
Ps
‘
A bird of very rare occurrence in a wild state, and
deriving its Latin name from the circumstance that
its plumage undergoes no change in colour at any
period of its age. It is always white. The cygnets
of the other swans are, on the contrary, grey or
dusky-coloured for a lengthened period, and only
become white on their reaching maturity.
RUDDY SHIELDRAKE—( Tadorna casarea ;
formerly, Z. rutza).
A bird of exceedingly rare occurrence.
4)
j
ef
Their Eges and Nests. 219
COMMON SHIELDRAKE (Tadorna cornuta ;
formerly, 7. vul/panser).
Burrow Duck, Skel Goose, Bar Goose.—One of the
most extremely beautiful of all our wild fowl, or even of
those which for their beauty are selected to be orna-
mental accessions to the waters of the park or pleasure-
oround. Its plumage is so beautiful and clear and
brilliant, and its attitude in repose so graceful, one
cannot but admire it greatly. It breeds not un-
commonly on many sandy parts of our coasts, occupy-
ing the deep rabbit-burrows, which are found in what
are called the “sand-hills,” to place its nest in. The
nest is one really made of bents and dry stalks, and
lined or cushioned with down liberally plucked from
the builder’s own breast. The number of eggs laid
varies between eight or nine and twelve or fourteen.
They are nearly or quite white, about 2? inches long
by nearly 2 in breadth. I. have known instances in
which the eggs obtained from one of their nests have
been hatched under a common Hen, The young
seemed to accustom themselves to their life of restraint
tolerably well, but never showed any disposition to
pair or breed.. Probably it might be because no suit-
able hole for a nest was within their reach. The
male of this species is known to assist the female in
the labours and constraint of incubation.
WILD DUCK or MALLARD—(A as boschas).
By far the most common of all our wild fowl among
the Ducks, but lessening, year by year, in the numbers
which visit us. Within my own recollection many
220 British Birds,
Decoys on the Essex coast were worked constantly
and successfully, which for many years now have
been dismantled and unused. I well remember, when
I was a lad of ten or twelve, being at a house in
Tolleshunt D’Arcy, on the farm belonging to which
was an active Decoy, and seeing the birds which had
been taken in the course of one morning. The
numbers were so great that many of the undermost
Ducks, where the great accumulation had taken place
at the end of the “pipe,” had died of pressure and
suffocation, and some even were sensibly flattened by
the superincumbent weight of their fellows. The
multiplication of shooters on shore and afloat has
sensibly tended to lessen the numbers of the Wild
Duck ; while drainage on a large scale in many a
district the country through, has materially lessened
the number of their haunts. Still a very considerable
number remain to breed, and a Wild Duck’s nest in
many parts of the kingdom is no rarity. The nest is
made of grass, lined and interwoven with down. Itis
customarily placed on dry ground on the margin of
water, among reeds and bulrushes, or the like; but
may often be found at some distance from water, and
in places so unlikely for the purpose as on the open
moor, or in a tree top, or in the lofty deserted nest
of a crow. The eggs are from nine to twelve in
number, sometimes, however, exceeding the latter
limit, of a greenish-white colour, and about 2} inches
long by 14 broad. It is long before the young Wild
Ducks fly well enough to leave their native reed beds
or similar shelter, and, in the state preceding that of
actual power to fly away, they are called Flappers.
ee
Their Eggs and Nests. 22%
GADWALL—(Azas strepera),
Rodge, Grey Duck.—A Duck which occurs in no
very great numbers at any time;*mostly about the
end of the winter, or in spring; and is not known to
breed commonly in any part of Europe. |
SHOVELLER—(Sfatula clypeata ; formerly, Anas
clypeata).
Blue-winged Shoveller, Broad-bill.—A very beauti-
fully plumaged bird indeed. But gaily feathered as
he is, and brilliant as is a part, at least, of the plumage
of all the male Ducks during a certain portion of the
year, yet it is remarkable that they all undergo a
change in this respect about the breeding time, just
the reverse of that which takes place in the males of
so many other birds at the same season. Tey become
more brilliant, or their colours deeper or richer
then :—the male Ducks duskier, plainer coloured, more
like the female in her more unobtrusive hues. The
Shoveller’s bill is very remarkable, and, as I said of
the Oyster-catcher’s, a study for all who admire the
works of Creation. It merits our notice for its adapta-
tion to its purposes, in a direction just opposite to
that which characterises the bill of the bird just
named. Dilated at the sides so as almost to look
awkward, it is furnished with a large series of very
sensitive laminz or plates, such that the minute ob-
jects which form a considerable portion of the birds’
food may be instantly detected by the sense of touch,
and retained. It used to breed very commonly in
many parts of the kingdom, Norfolk and the Fen
a
rf
| v
“1 3
¢ ‘
222 British Birds,
district for instance, as well as in Romney Marsh and
other places more in the south of the island. At
present it has become comparatively rare. The nest
is made of fine grass, and the eggs are eventually en-
veloped in down procured from the bird’s own breast.
The eggs may be from eight to twelve in number:
white, tinged with a greenish-dun shade, and about
2 inches long by 13 broad.
PINTAIL DUCK—(Dajila acuta ; formerly,
Anas acuta).
Cracker, Winter Duck.—An early visitor to our
shores when winter has once urged the wild fowl
hosts to Jeave their northern nesting-places. It is
not, however, a numerous bird with us, but abounds
in many of the northernmost countries of Europe.
TEAL—(Querquedula crecca; formerly, Anas crecca).
A very pretty little Duck, and the least of all our
winter visitors of that species. It is of common
occurrence, but not met with in any great numbers.
It breeds abundantly in Norway and Sweden, and
especially in Lapland, whither the great bulk of our
winter friends retire on the approach of the northern
summer; still, pairs often remain throughout the
summer in various parts of our country to nest and rear
their young. When I was a boy I heard of nests, al-
most annually, on some of the marshes I knew most
familiarly; and I have known of many broods
hatched and reared on these North Riding moors,
The Teal builds a nest of abundance of different
Their Eggs and Nests. 223
vegetable substances, varying according to the loeality
and its productions, and lines it with down and
feathers, the concealment afforded by the neighbouring
herbage being carefully adopted. Eight to ten or
twelve eggs are laid, of a buffy-white, 1} inch long by
rather over 11 broad,
0° GARGANEY—(Querquedula circia s formerly,
| Anas querquedula),
Summer Duck, Summer Teal, Pied Wiggon—This
is a somewhat rare bird, and is seen sometimes in late
autumn, but more usually in the spring. It has been
known to breed in this country, though by no means
commonly or frequently. It is said to make a nest
among reeds of dry grass, rushes and down, and the
number of eggs deposited to run from eight or nine to
twelve, or even more. They are of a distinct but pale
buff colour, 1? inch long by 14 broad.
WIGEON—(Warcea Penelope ; formerly, Anas
Penelcpe).
Whewer, Whim.—Mr. Waterton has recorded an
observation on the habits of this Duck, which is of
great interest. Whereas, all the birds of the Duck-
kind which we have hitherto named are night-feeders,
the Wigeon obtains its food by day, “and that food
is grass.” The great body of our winter visitors of
this species retire to the north to breed about the end
of March, or April; but a few have been ascertained
to remain for that purpose in north Scotland. A nest,
found on Loch Laighal in Sutherlandshire, was “ placed
in the midst of a clump of grass, and was made of
2 39°
224 British Birds,
decayed rushes and reeds, with a lining of the birds’
own down. ‘The eggs were smaller than those of the
Wild Duck, and of a rich cream-white colour.” The
number of eggs laid varies between five and eight or
nine; the length, 25 inches by 14 in breadth.
AMERICAN WIGEON—(Warcea Americana ;
formerly, Anvas Americana).
Of entirely rare and accidental occurrence.
RED-CRESTED POCHARD—(Fuligula rufina).
Red-crested Whistling Duck.—A rare winter visitor.
POCHARD—(Fuligula ferina).
Dunbird, Red-headed Wigeon, Red-headed Poker,
Duncur.—A winter visitor, and in very considerable
numbers in districts where the presence of inland
waters to a sufficient extent enables them to follow
out their natural habits. It is almost impossible, from
their great quickness and skill in diving, to take them
with the other “Fowl” in the Decoy, and they are
therefore captured by a peculiar arrangement of nets
affixed to poles so heavily weighted at one end as on
being liberated to elevate the net in such a way as to
intercept the flight of the birds, as soon as they are
fairly on wing. The Dunbird does not now breed in
this country.
FERRUGINOUS DUCK—(Fuligula nyroca).
Somewhat resembling the Pochard in general hue,
but smaller, and in respect of the numbers in which it
Their Eggs and Nests. 225
has been met with in this country, comparatively a
very rare visitor.
SCAUP DUCK—(Fuligula marila).
Spoon-bill Duck.—A winter visitor, and not an
unusual one, although its numbers are never such as
to commend it to notice in the same way as the Wild
Duck, the Dunbird, the Wigeon, and some others. It
breeds commonly in Iceland, but never in Britain.
TUFTED DUCK--(fuligula cristata).
Another constant winter visitor, and as well or
better known than the Scaup. Like the Scaup Duck
it usually prefers oozy or muddy estuaries and their
customary accompaniments. But I have met with it
here in the narrow, rapid trout-stream which runs
through this part of the country, and at a distance of
not less than nine or ten miles from the sea. It breeds
sparingly in Holland and in more northerly countries.
GOLDEN EYE—(Clangula glaucion } formerly,
Fuligula clangula).
Brown-headed Duck, Grey-headed Duck, Pied
Wigeon, Golden-eyed Wigeon, Duck, or Teal, Morillon,
Rattlewings.—As well known and as common as per-
haps either the Scaup or the Tufted Duck, but known
by different names according to the state of plumage
depending on sex and age, females and young birds
being much more common than adult males. As not
known to breed in England, no notice of nest or eggs
can be inserted here. In the Appendix, however, a
3 P
>
AD
-
226 British Birds,.
very interesting notice of one of its habits connected
with its breeding time will be inserted.
BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK—(Clangula albeola ;
formerly, Fuligula albeola).
A visitor, but a very rare one, to our shores in
winter.
LONG-TAILED DUCK—(arelda glacialis ;
formerly, Fuligula glactalis),
Another bird which, like the two last, is sufficiently
well known without being exceedingly or indeed in
the least degree numerous. It is, in fact, a rather rare
and very beautiful Duck, and is remarkable for the
great variations of plumage to which it is liable,
according to differences of age, sex, and season. It
breeds abundantly in Norway and Denmark, and
much more so in purely Arctic regions.
HARLEQUIN DUCK—(Cosmonetta histrionica ;
formerly, /uligula histrzonzca),
Another very beautiful bird, and most peculiarly
marked. So much so as to remind its sponsors, as it
appears, of the artistic effects produced by the custom-
ary pictorial adornment of our facetious friend Harle-
quin’s face. A rarer bird, however, than even the
Long-tailed Duck last named.
EIDER DUCK—(Somateria mollissimay).
St. Cuthbert’s Duck.—We have now arrived at
Their Eges and Nests. 227
another section of the Duck family. Those hitherto
named all frequent the fresh waters, and chiefly affect
those that are of no great extent or depth. These,
the first of which we have just named, frequent the
sea or, in a few instances, the deepest parts of large
freshwater lakes. The Eider Duck, well known to
most of us by name, to some of us by sight, breeds in
some marshes on the Farne Islands, and in many
of the islands on the coast of Scotland. The nests are
principally composed, on a foundation of sea-weed or
grass, of the beautiful light elastic down, commonly
known as Hider-down ; and if the first is plundered,
a second, and even a third are formed; but the down
decreases in quality and quantity in each successive
instance. The first accumulation is so large and
springy as quite to conceal the eggs contained, which
are usually five in number, and are of a light-green
colour, about three inches long by two wide. The
lining of one nest, admitting of easy compression by
the hand, is described by Mr. Hewitson as capable,
when fully expanded, of filling a man’s hat.
KING EIDER—(Somateria spectabilis.)
King Duck.—A much rarer bird than the last, in-
deed occurring only very casually. It has been known
to breed in one of the Orkney Islands, while Iceland,
Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and like localities, are the
great breeding haunts of the species. The nests are
made on the ground, and contain five eggs, very
closely resembling the Eider Duck’s, except in size.
They are rather less,
~
228 British Birds,
STELLER’S EIDER OR WESTERN DUCK—
(Somateria Stelleri; formerly, Polysticta Stellerz).
Exceedingly rare in Britain, and not much less so,
it seems, In Europe generally.
COMMON SCOTER—(@demia nigra).
Seoter, Black Scoter, Black Duck, Black Diver.—
This dusky-coloured Duck is seen in considerable
numbers on various parts of our coasts in winter, and
always swimming and diving in what may be called
“loose order,” like the Coots rather than any of the
true Ducks. It does not, however, ever stay to breed
with us, and can have no further notice here.
VELVET SCOTER—(@demia fusca).
Velvet Duck.—A winter visitor, and rare on our
south coasts. More common in the far north of
Britain.
SURF SCOTER—(Cdemia perspicillata).
A bird of very rare, and, perhaps also it may be
added, very local occurrence.
GOOSANDER—(Mergus merganser),
Dun Diver, Sparling Fowl, Jacksaw, Saw-bill—A
few of these birds also remain to breed in Britain,
though by far the most retire to the north of Europe
for that purpose. Its nests are common both in the
Orkney Islands and the Hebrides. They are large,
made of dry grass and roots, and lined with the down
of the female, and placed amid bushes or stones, or in
\. .
Their Eggs and Nests. 229
some cavity afforded by an old tree. The eggs rarely
exceed six or seven, not varying much in shade from
those of the next species, and are 24 inches in length
by nearly 1 in breadth.
jy) RED-BREASTED MERGANSER—(Jergus serrator),
Red-breasted Goosander.—This handsome bird is
an undoubted denizen of our country during the
breeding season, but in no great numbers in any year
or district. It breeds in Ireland, on islands in several
of the loughs; also in the Hebrides and other
Scottish islands. The nest is made of long grass or
moss, small roots, dry water-herbage, mixed and lined
with the bird’s own down, doubtless added to as in-
cubation proceeds, It is often placed at the foot of a
tree, if there be one on the islet selected. The eggs
are six to nine in number, of a pale buff or fawn
colour. They are 2} inches long by 13 broad.
SMEW—(Wergus albellus).
White Nun, Red-headed Smew (for young), Smee,
Lough Diver, White-headed Goosander, White Mer-
ganser.—The Smew is perhaps quite the most common
of the entire family; but they are very wary and
difficult to approach. They are not known to breed
in any part of the United Kingdom.
HOODED MERGANSER—(Mergus cucullatus),
A rare and accidental visitor to this country, and
indeed to the European continent. As far as is
known, it makes its nest in the hollow of trees,
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APPENDIX
Our object in adding this Appendix is simply a wish to make the
book more complete by adding notices, more or less detailed, of the
nests and eggs and any interesting breeding-season peculiarities of
birds recognised as really well entitled to the name of British Birds,
but not happening to remain within the limits of Britain to breed,
The first bird of the kind in our complete list is—t
GREENLAND FALCON,
The equivalent to Mr. Yarrell’s Gyr Falcon.
\2° —ICELAND FALCON.
These two species are now, I believe, looked upon as established,
but the differences between them are not excessively striking, except
it be to a scientific naturalist. Mr. Hewitson has figured an egg of
the Iceland Falcon which he believes may have lost some of its
colour. It was taken from a nest made with sticks and roots, lined
with wool, which once perhaps was the nest of a Raven. The nest
in question was in a cliff, and had the remains of many sorts of birds
1 If any reader desires to know more about the breeding habits of the birds not
mentioned in this Appendix, the ‘‘ Ibis” List named in the text above in several
places will give him ready means of acquiring the information desired.
231
232 Appendix.
—Whimbrels, Golden Plovers, Guillemots, Ducks—strewed round
it. The egg is of a buffy red colour, mottled and speckled—very
thickly in places—with deeper red.
9 1: SNOWY OWL.
Sufficiently often met with in North Britain (and even occurring
sometimes in England) to merit a short notice here. It inhabits
Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and the greater part of Northern Europe.
These birds are accustomed to take their prey by daylight, and seem,
from the accounts received, to be in the habit of ‘‘ bolting” their
food, when not very large, whole. It makes its nest on the ground,
and lays in it three or four white eggs.
4,4 GREAT GREY SHRIKE.
This bird is met with in Denmark and other northern countries of
Western Europe, and also in Russia, Germany, and France. It is
said to frequent woods and forests, and to build upon trees at some
distance from the ground, as well as in thick bushes and hedges.
The nest is made of roots, moss, wool, and dry stalks, lined with
dry grass and root-fibres. The eggs are four to seven in number,
and though they vary a good deal in colour, they always illustrate
the peculiar tendency of the eggs of the Shrikes to show a sort of
zone or girdle, due to the agglomeration of the spots about some
part of the circumference. They are yellowish or greyish white,
and the spots of grey and light brown.
9 © FIELDFARE.
I have sometimes seen this favourite game-bird of the school-boy
here as early as the latter part of September, and I have frequently
noticed them feeding in hundreds on the holly berries which abound
Appendix. 233
in more than one part of this district. They must breed very late
in the year, from the late period of their departure hence, and the
distance of the countries to which many of them resort for that pur-
pose. It breeds very abundantly in Norway, and also in Sweden,
Russia, and Siberia, not to mention other and more southerly
countries in Europe. Their nests, in Norway, are usually built
against the trunk of the spruce-fir, and at very variable heights from
the ground. They are said to be very like those of the Ring Ousel,
except that small twigs are added to the outside structure. The
eggs are from three to five, and are very like those of the Ring
Ousel, but with somewhat more red about them. The Fieldfare
seems to prefer breeding in numerous groups or colonies, two or
three hundred nests being frequently seen within a rather limited
space.
)2 7: REDWING.
This winter visitor has been known to breed occasionally, but yet
only very exceptionally, in this country. A nest was brought to me
many summers since, which, from its construction, the size and colour-
ing of the eggs, and especially from the description of the bird
which my informant saw leaving the nest, I have little doubt was a
Redwing. It breeds abundantly in Sweden, and in lesser numbers
in Norway, and is described as being a very sweet singer, as heard
among the forest solitudes of the latter country. Its nest is very
similar to those of the Blackbird, Ring Ousel, and Fieldfare, in
materials and structure. The eggs are four to six in number, and
very similar, allowing for a little inferiority in size, to those of the
Fieldfare, and to very red specimens of the Ring Ousel’s. A nest,
with the parent birds, was kept for years at Kildale Hall, in the
North Riding. It was found in the parish.
G6 SNOW BUNTING.
‘
This bird resorts in the breeding season to the ‘‘ Arctic regioms
234 Appendix.
and the Islands of the Polar Sea.” Mr. Yarrell says, ‘* The nest is
composed of dry grass, neatly lined with deers hair and a few
feathers, and is generally fixed in a crevice of a rock, or in a loose
pile of timber or stones. The eggs are a greenish white, with a
circle of irregular umber-brown spots round the thick end, and
numerous blotches of subdued lavender purple.”
4* MOUNTAIN FINCH,
This Finch is occasionally met with in sufficient numbers to be
deserving of a short notice here. It seems to breed in Denmark,
Norway, and Lapland, and it is at least possible that a few pairs
may, from time to time, stay to nest with us. It is said to build in
fir-trees, though from Mr. Hewitson’s account, the nests are by no
means easy to find. The following is an account of a nest made by
a pair in an aviary at Beccles in Suffolk :—‘‘ The nest was deep, the
walls thick, a large quantity of materials employed for the founda-
tion, which was worked among the stalks of the ivy-leaves. It was
composed of moss, wool, and dry grass; and lined with hair.” The
general appearance of the eggs is one of resemblance to those of the
Chaffinch; the spots, however, seeming to be fewer, smaller, and
less decided.
j1O SISKIN.
This little bird has been known in several instances to breed with
us in its natural wild condition, but its nesting-home is in Russia,
Germany, and North-Western Europe. It has been ascertained to
build in furze bushes, and also close to the trunk of a fir-tree, where
a projecting bough afforded support for the structure. The nest is
composed of similar materials to the Chaffinch’s, and the eggs present
a good deal of resemblance to those of the Goldfinch, with a little
inferiority in size.
Appendix, 235
/° 5» TURNSTONE.
This very handsomely plumaged bird inhabits the countries
bordering on the Baltic, as also Greenland and other localities far to
the north. Mr. Hewitson gives a most interesting account of his
discovery of its nest in Norway :—‘‘We had visited numerous
islands with little encouragement,and were about to land upona flat
rock, when our attention was attracted by the singular cry of a
Turnstone. We remained in the boat a short time until we had
watched it behind a tuft of grass, near which, after a minute search,
we succeeded in finding the nest. It was placed against a ledge of
the rock, and consisted of nothing more than the dropping leaves of
the Juniper bush, under a creeping branch of which the eggs, four
in number, were snugly concealed and sheltered.” Several other
nests were also found in the course of further researches, which,
however, were required to be both close and systematic. The eggs
are of an olive-green colour, spotted and streaked with different
shades of red-brown, and all having a beautiful tint of purple or
crimson, seen in few other eggs.”
/o ©» SANDERLING.
It breeds in Greenland, Labrador and other Arctic countries, It
makes its nest on marshy grounds, of grass, and lays four ‘‘ dusky-
coloured eggs, spotted with black.” But little seems to be known
of either the nidification or the eggs of this species, as no figure is
given by either Mr. Hewitson or in the Rev. O. Morris’s book.
HOOPER.
Occasionally met with during the breeding season in Iceland, and
more commonly in Lapland. They are described as inhabiting the
most remote and inaccessible lakes and morasses in forest districts.
236 Appendix.
The nest is made of any coarse water herbage which is suitable and
at the same time accessible. It is large, and raised some inches
above the surface of the supporting soil. The eggs are believed to
be from three or four to seven in number, and are usually of a pale
brownish white colour, extending to about 4 inches long by 22
broad.
PINTAIL.
This Duck breeds in Iceland, and commonly in Lapland and some
of the districts about the Gulf of Bothnia. It builds, like most
others of its kind, among the thick herbage commonly growing near
the edge of pieces of fresh water; the nest being made of the same,
but dry, and lined with down. The eggs are six to eight or nine in
number, and are of a light greenish-white colour, and about thesame
size as those of the Wild Duck proper.
VELVET SCOTER.
This Sea Duck is found in Russia, Norway, the Faroe Islands, and
also in Iceland, Mr. Audubon’s account of its nest and eggs is as
follows :—‘‘ The nests are placed within a few feet of the borders of
small lakes, a mile or two from the sea, and usually under the low
boughs of the bushes, of the twigs of which, with mosses and vari-
ous plants matted together, they are formed. They are large and
almost flat, several inches thick, with some feathers of the female,
but no down, under the eggs, which are usually six in number,
22 inches in length, by 1 in breadth, of an uniform pale cream
colour, tinged with green.”
25" COMMON SCOTER.
It breeds, but not very numerously, in Iceland; but is seen nest-
Appendix. 237
ing in company with the Velvet Scoter, in Scandinavia, rather more
commonly. It makes a nest of any available vegetable substance,
such as grasses, twigs, leaves, dry stalks; it is lined with down, and
placed under the partial cover or concealment afforded by low
shrubs or other plants. The eggs are six or seven to ten in number,
of a pale buff colour slightly tinged with green, 2} inches long by 13
broad. After the eggs are laid, the males assemble in large flocks
and draw towards the coast.
> 37. POCHARD.
The breeding haunt of this bird seems to be more to the eastward
than that of the majority of those hitherto named. It is said to be
abundant in Russia and in the North of Germany, and is very
commonly found in the fur countries in America during the
breeding season. A. few also breed on the borders of the Meres
in Holland. The nest is similar in site and materials to those of
the Wild Duck and other Ducks, and the eggs sometimes reach
the number of twelve. They are of a greenish buff colour, 2
inches in length, by 13 in breadth. The Pochard was dis-
covered, several years since, as breeding about the Mere at Scar-
borough, and has also been stated to nest occasionally in one or
two places in Norfolk.
SCAUP DUCK.
This Duck has also been known as breeding very incidentally in
this country, but its almost unbroken habit is to return to such
countries as Iceland, the swampy lake-district north of the Gulf of
Bothnia, and some parts of Norway, for nesting purposes. It some-
times makes its nest in what may be almost called the usual site for
the nests of Ducks, and sometimes upon the stones and shingle at
the edge of sheets of fresh water. The nest is very thin and slightly
formed, but well lined with down, and the eggs seem to be six,
238 Appendix.
seven, or eight in number. They are of a pale buff colour, and
sensibly less in size than those of the Pochard last named.
29° TUFTED DUCK.
This little Duck is known to breed near the head of the Bothnian
Gulf, as well as in other parts of Sweden, and in Lapland and
Russia. A few pairs also are seen nesting in Holland. It makes a
very slight nest of grasses and the like. The eggs are seven or
eight to ten in number, very similar in shade to those of the Scaup
Duck last mentioned, but much less in size, being only a little over
2 inches long, by less than 14 in breadth.
20! LONG-TAILED DUCK.
It is known to breed in Iceland, and believed to do so in Norway.
It makes its nest among low brushwood and the herbage usual at or
near the margin of fresh water. A few stems of grass form the sub-
structure, on which is placed a plentiful lining of down. The eggs
are from six to twelve in number. They are of yellowish-white,
just tinged with green, and nearly 2} inches long by 14 in breadth.
4
29°" GOLDEN EYE.
This Duck seems to prefer wooded or forest districts for nesting
in. It breeds in Lapland, Sweden, and Norway, and has such a
strong liking for a hole in a tree to nest in, that if suitable boxes
with an adequate entrance-hole are placed on the trees growing on
the banks of streams or lakes frequented by them, their eggs are
sure to be deposited therein, to the great profit of those who sus-
pend the boxes. Of course when it is known that a Duck hatches
its young in a hole in a tree, the question must suggest itself—as it
Appendix, 239
did to the original observer in the case of the Wild Duck’s nest on a
pollard, or in a fir tree—How can the young ducks ever be got
down safely, and, still more, finally launched on their proper ele-
ment? An observed habit of the Golden Eye answers this question,
A Lapp clergyman saw the parent bird conveying its young, to the
number of five or more, but one at a time, from the nest to the
water, and he was at last able to ‘“‘make out that the young bird
was held under the bill, but supported by the neck of the parent.”
The eggs of the Golden Eye are said to be ten or twelve or even
more in number, and of a brighter colour than is usual with the
eggs of the Duck tribe, being of a rather decided green colour,
SMEW.
But little that is quite authentic seems to be known of the nesting
habits of this little Duck ; nor is it certainly ascertained where its
chief numbers retire to breed. The eggs are said to be eight or ten
in number, or even more than that, and to be of a yellowish-white
colour,
ZO GREAT NORTHERN DIVER.
This bird breeds on the Faroe Islands, and on some of the lakes in
Iceland ; as also on some of the islands of Finmark. Spitzbergen
and Greenland are also named as the breeding resort of many of
these Divers. They lay, it is supposed, two eggs each, though in
some observed instances only one was to be seen. Mr. Audubon
says that three are sometimes laid. They are of a dark olive-brown,
with a few spots of dark umber brown, and are of considerable size,
| LITTLE AUK.
4)
This little wave-dweller has its nesting home in countries far more
to the North than ours, It abounds on some parts of the Green-
240 Appendix.
land shores, and it is also met with, but much more sparingly, in
Teeland. It makes no nest, but lays its one egg on the ground
amongst or possibly beneath the large rock-masses which encumber
the shore after falling from the overhanging cliffs and precipices.
The parent birds are exceedingly averse to leave their egg when
incubation has commenced, and like some other species already
mentioned, will rather suffer themselves to be removed by the hand.
The egg is white, lightly tinged with blue, alittle spotted and veined
with rust colour.
FN DEX
—_—p~_——-_
Abbreviated names for Jackdaw
and Magpie, 127n
Accentor, Alpine, 76
Andalusian Hemipode, 153
Association of eggs with the
birds that lay them, 1
Auk, Great, 199
— Little, 201, 239
Avocet, 167
Bee-eater, 137
Bittern, American, 212
— Common, 21]
— Little, 211
Blackbird, 74
— Moor, 75
Blackcap, 86
Blowing birds’ eggs, 19-22
Blue-throat, 78
Brambling, 111
Bullfinch, 117
Bunting, Black-headed, 109
— Cirl, 109
— Common, 107
— Little, 107
— Ortolan, 109
— Reed, 106
— Rustic, 107
— Snow, 105, 233
Bustard, Great, 159
— Little, 159
— Macqueen’s, 160
Buzzard, Common, 52
— Honey, 54
— Moor or Bald, 54
— Rough-legged, 53
Capercaillie, 146
Chaffinch, 110
Chough, 122
Classification of eggs, 5
Classification of birds, 5-7, 31-34
Coot, 158
Cormorant, 207
Courser, Cream-coloured, 161
Crake, Baillon’s, 156
— Little, 156
— Spotted, 155
Crane, 159
Creeper, 91
Crossbill, 119
— Parrot, 120
— Two-barred, 120
— White-winged, 120
Crow, Black, 123
— Grey, 124
Cuckoo, 135
— Great-spotted, 136
— Yellow-billed, 136
Curlew, 181
— Esquimaux, 183
— Stone, 160
Differences between Falcons and
Vultures, 37
Differing systems of classifica-
tion and arrangement, 24,
25
Dipper, Common, 70
Diver, Black-throated, 203
— Great Northern, 203, 239
— Red-throated, 204
Dotterel, 162
241 Q
242
Dove, Ring, 142
— Rock, 144
— Stock, 143
— Turtle, 145
Duck, Buffel-headed, 226
— Ferruginous, 224
— Harlequin, 226
— Long-tailed, 226, 238
— Pintail, 222, 236
— Scaup, 225, 237
— Steller’s Eider or Western,
228
— Tufted, 225, 238
Eagle, Golden, 38
— Spotted, 41
— White-tailed, 41
Egret, Little, 210
Eider Duck, 226
— King, 227
Falcon, Greenland, Gyr or Jer,
44, 231
— Iceland, 44, 231
— Peregrine, 44
— Red-footed, 47
Family resemblance among birds’
eggs, 14
Fieldfare, 71, 232
Flamingo, 213
Flycatcher, Pied, 69
— Red-breasted, 69
— Spotted, 68
Gadwall, 221
Garganey, 223
Godwit, Bar-tailed, 181
— Black-tailed, 180
Golden-eye, 225, 238
Goldfinch, 114
Goosander, 228
Goose, Bean, 215
— Bernicle, 216
— Brent, 216
— Canada, 217
— Egyptian, 217
— Grey-lag, 214
— Pink-footed, 215
— Red-breasted, 216
Index.
Goose, Snow, 216
— Spur-winged, 217
— White-fronted, 214
Goshawk, 49
Grebe, Eared, 205
— Great Crested, 204
— Little, 206
— Red-necked, 205
— Sclavonian, 205
Greenfinch, 113
Greenshank, 180
Grosbeak, Pine, 119
— Scarlet, 118
Grouse, Black, 146
— Red, 147
Guillemot, Black, 201
— Briinnich’s, 200
— Common, 199
— Cuneate-tailed, 188
— Ringed, 201
Gull, Black-headed, 188
— Bonapartean, 188
—- Common, 189
— Glaucous, 192
— Great Black-backed, 191
— Great Black-headed, 189
— Herring, 190
— Iceland, 193
— Ivory, 193
— Lesser Black-backed, 191
— Little, 188
Harrier, Hen, 55
— Marsh, 54
— Montagu’s, 56
Hawfinch, 113
Hedge Sparrow, 76
Heron, Buff-backed, 210
— Common, 209
— Great White, 210
— Night, 211
— Purple, 210
— Squacco, 210
Hobby, 46
Hoopoe, 136
Ibis, Glossy, 213
Identification of eggs, 3
— Difficulties attending, 4
Index.
Intelligence and Instinct, Con-
trast between, 15
Jackdaw, 127
Jay, 128
Kestrel, 48
Kingfisher, 137
— Belted, 138
Kite, 51
— Black, 52
— Swallow-tailed, 52
Kittiwake, 193
Knot, 174
Labels for arranging birds’ eggs,
28
Land-rail, 153
Lapwing, 165
Lark, Shore, 102
— Short-toed, 105
— White-winged, 105
— Wood, 104
Linnet, 116
Magpie, 128
Martin, 131
— Purple, 133
— Sand, 132
Measurements of birds’ eggs, 12
et seq.
Merganser, Hooded, 229
— Red-breasted, 229
Merlin, 47
Merrythoughts of birds, their
connection with flight, 57-60
Moor Hen, 157
Mountain Finch, 111, 234
Nesting-places of British birds
mostly known, 29
Nightingale, 78
Night-jar, 134
Nut-cracker, 129
Nuthatch, 92
Oriole, Golden, 69
Ornamental colouring of birds’
eggs, 16 e¢ seq.
243
Osprey, 42
Ousel, Ring, 75
Owls, 57-60
Owl, Barn, 64
— Eagle, 63
— Hawk, 64
— Little, 64
— Long-eared, 62
-— Scops Eared, 63
— Short-eared, 62
— Snowy, 64, 232
— Tawny, 60
— Tengmalm’s, 62
Partridge, Common, 150
— Red-legged, 151
Petrel, Capped, 196
— Fulmar, 195
Phalarope, Grey, 168
— Red-necked, 168
Pheasant, 149
Pigeon, Passenger, 145
Pipit, Meadow, 100
— Richards’, 102
— Rock, 101
— Tawny, 102
— Tree, 100
— Water, 101
Plentiful provision made for
Kagles’ and Hawks’ unest-
lings, 40-51
Plover, Golden, 163
— Grey, 164
— Kentish, 163
— Little Ringed, 163
— Ringed, 162
Pochard, 224, 237
— Red-crested, 224
Ptarmigan, 148
Puffin, 202
Quail, 152
Rail, Land, 153
— Water, 156
Raven, 122
Razorbill, 198
Redpole, Mealy, 115
— Lesser, 115
244
Redshank, Common, 178
Redshank, Spotted, 179
Redstart, 78
— Black, 78
Redwing, 73, 233
Regulus, Fire-crested, 89
— Gold-crested, 89
Robin, 77
Roller, 137
Rook, 125
Ruff, 175
Sand Grouse, 146
Sanderling, 175, 235
Sandpiper, Bartram’s, 176
— Bonaparte’s, 172
— Broad-billed, 171
— Buff-breasted, 176
— Common, 176
— Curlew, 174
— Green, 177
— Pectoral, 172
— Purple, 174
— Wood, 178
— Yellow-shanked, 178
Scoter, Common, 228, 236
— Surf, 228
— Velvet, 228, 236
Serin, 114
Shag, 208
Shearwater, Bulwer’s, 197
— Dusky, 197
— Fork-tailed, 197
— Great, 196
— Manx, 196
— Sooty, 196
— Storm, 197
— Wilson’s, 197
Shieldrake, Common, 219
— Ruddy, 218
Shoveller, 221
Shrike, Great Grey, 67, 232
— Lesser, 67
— Red-backed, 67
— Woodchat, 68
Siskin, 115, 234
Skua, Great or Common, 193
— Long-tailed or Buffon’s, 195
— Richardson’s or Arctic, 194
Index.
Skua, Pomarine, 194
Sky Lark, 102
Smew, 229, 239
Snipe, Common, 170
— Great, 170
— Jack, 171
— Red-breasted, 171
Sparrow Hawk, 50
Sparrow, House, 112
— Tree, lll
Spoonbill, White, 213
Starling, 120
— Red-winged, 120
— Rose-coloured, 121
Stilt, Black-winged, 168
Stint, American, 173
— Little, 173
— Temminck’s, 173
Stone-chat, 79
Stork, Black, 212
— White, 212
Swallow, 129
Swift, 133
— Alpine, 134
Swan, Bewick’s, 218
— Mute, 218
— Polish, 218
Teal, 222
Tern, Arctic, 186
— Black, 183
— Caspian, 184
— Common, 186
— Gull-billed, 184
— Lesser, 187
— Noddy, 188
— Roseate, 185
— Sandwich, 185
— Sooty, 187
— Whiskered, 184
— White-winged, 184
Thrush, Black-throated, 74
— Gold-vented, 71
— Missel, 71
— Rock, 76
— Song, 72
— White’s, 71
Titmouse, Bearded, 97
— Blue, 93
Index.
Titmouse, Cole, 95
— Crested, 95
— Great, 93
— Long-tailed, 96
— Marsh, 95
Turnstone, 166, 235
Twite, 117 ©
Varying names for the same
bird, 29 e¢ seq.
Vulture, Egyptian, 37
— Griffon, 37
Wagtail, Blue-headed, 98
— Grey, 99
— Pied, 98
— White, 98
— Yellow, 99
Warbler, Aquatic, 83
— Dartford, 84
— Garden, 85
— Grasshopper, 83
— Great Reed, 82
— Icterine, 81
— Orphean, 87
— Reed, 82
245
Warbler, Rufous, 81
Wagtail, Savi's, 84
— Sedge, 82
— Yellow-browed, 88
Water Rail, 156
Waxwing, Bohemian, 87
Wheatear, 80
Whimbrel, 182
Whinchat, 80
Whitethroat, 84
— Lesser, 85
Whooper, 217, 235
Wigeon, 223
— American, 224
Woodcock, 169
Woodpecker, Green, 138
— Great Spotted, 140
— Lesser Spotted, 141
Wren, 89
— Fire-crested, 89
— Gold-crested, 89
~— Willow, 87
— Wood, 87
Wryreck, 141
Yeilow Hammer, 107
——— nd
Printed by Cowan & Co., Limited, Perth.
a
<<
2
PLATE Il.
at
at.
Whincha
is
1
PLATE III,
1, Wheatear. 2. Grasshopper Warbler. 3. Sedge Warbler. 4. Reed Warbler. 5. Nightingale.
6. Black Cap. 7. Garden Warbler. §&. Whitethroat. 9. Lesser Whitethroat. 10. Wood Wren.
11. Willow Wren. 12. Chiff Chaff. 18. Dartford Warbler. 14. Gold-crest. 15. Great Tit.
16. Blue Tit. 17. Long-tail Tit. 1s. Bearded Tit. 19. Pied Wagtail. 20. Grey Wagtail.
21. Meadow Pipit. 9223. Tree Pipit. 24. Skylark. 95, Wood Lark.
PLATE IV.
3. Yellow-hammer. 4, Cirl Bunting.
8. Greenfinch. 9. Hawfinch. 10. Goldfinch.
1s. Crossbill. 16. Creeper. 17. Wren.
1. Common Bunting. 2. Black-headed Bunting.
5. Chaffinch. 6. Tree Sparrow. 7. House Sparrow.
11. Linnet. 12. Redpole. 13. Twite. 14. Bullfineh.
18. Nuthatch. 19. Cuckoo. 290. Swallow
PLATE V.
no
. Chough. 3. Raven. 4. Carrion Crow. 5. Royston Crow. 6. Rook.
7. Jackdaw. §. Magpie. 9. Jay-
1. Starling.
PLATE VI.
1. Night-jar. 2. Pheasant. 3. Capercailzie. 4. Black Grouse. 5. Red Grouse.
6. Partridge. 7. Red-legged Partridge. S. Quail.
PLATE VIL.
I. Stone Curlew 2. Gol
Curl 2. G n Plov
den rlover. 8 Ringed Plover K
I ver. 4. Kentis
0. Oyster-Catcher
PLATE IX
2. Common Snipe. 8. Dunlin. 4, Land Rail. 5. Spotted C
6. Water-Rail. 7. Moorhen. 8. Coot.
1. Woodcock.
PLATE X.
4. Razorbill
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s)
PLATE XI.
4s
Ir Might
a) S ( + VY
Fer Joy was Du ry
And Love was Law.
For one of the brightest
°
Mavup MULLER, on a summer’s day, raked the meadow sweet with hay.
Beneath her torn hat glowed the wealth ofsimple beauty and rustic health.
Singing, she wrought, and her merry glee the mock-bird echoed from his tree.
But when she glanced to the far-off town, white from its hill-slope looking down,
The sweet song died, anda vague unrest and a nameless longing filled her breast,—
A wish, that she hardly dare to own, for something better than she had known.
amet udge rode slowly down the lane, smoothing his horse’s chestnut mane.
He drew his bridle in the shade of the apple-trees to greet the maid,
And asked a draught from the spring that flowed through the meadow across ‘the road,
She stooped where the cool spring bubbled up, and filled for him her small tin cup,
And blushed as she gave it, looking down on her feet so bare, and her tattered gown.
‘* Thanks!” said the Judge ; ‘‘a sweeter draught from a fairer hand was never quaffed.”
He spoke of the grass and flowers and trees, of the singing birdsand the humming bees;
Then talk: d of the haying, and wondered whether the cloud in the west would bring foul
And Maud forgot her brier-torn gown, and he: gracefulanklesbare and brown ___[weather.
And listened, while a pleased surprise looked from her long-lashed hazel ey es.
At last, like one who for delay seeks a vain excuse, he rode away.
Maud Muller looked and sighed: ‘Ah me! That I the Judge’s bride might be!
“* He would dress me up in silks so fine, and praise and toast me at his wine.
‘““ My father should wear a broadcloth coat ; my brother should sail a painted boat.
“I'd dress my mother so grand and gay, and the baby should have a new toy each day.
“And I'd feed the hungry and clothe the poor, and all should bless me who left our door.”
The Judge looked back as he climbed the hi!l, and saw Maud Muller standing still.
“« A form more fair, a face more sweet, ne'er hath it been my lot to meet.
** And her modest answer and graceful air show her wise and good as she is fair.
‘© Would she were mine, and I to-day, like her, a harvester of hay:
“ No doubtful balance of rights and wrongs, nor weary lawyers with endless tongues,
“‘ But low of cattle and song of birds, and health and quiet and loving words.”
But he thought of his sisters proud and cold, and his mother vain of her rank and gold.
So, closing his heart the Judge rode on and Maud was left in the field alone.
But the lawyers smiled that afternoon, when he hummed in Court an old love tune;
And the young girl mused beside the well till the rain on the unraked clover fell.
He wedded a wife of richest dower, who lived for fashion, as he tor power.
Yet oft, in his marble hearth’s bright glow, he watched a picture come and go;
And sweet Maud Muller’s hazel eyes looked out in their innocent surprise.
Oft, when the wine in his glass was red, he longed for the wayside well instead ;
And closed his eyes on his garnished rooms to dream of meadows and clover-blooms.
And the proud man sighed, with a secret pain, ‘‘ Ah, that I was free again!
‘Free as when [ rode that day, where the barefoot maiden raked her hay.”
She wedded a man unlearned and poor, and many children played round her door,
But care and sorrow, and childbirth pain, left their traces on heart and brain.
And oft, when the summer sun shone hot on the new-mown hay in the meadow lot,
And she heard the little spring brook fall over the road side, through the wail,
In the shade of the apple-tree again she saw a rider draw his rein.
And, gazing down with timid grace, she felt his pleased eyes read her face.
Sometimes her narrow kitchen walls stretched away into stately halls;
The weary wheel to a spinnet turned, the tallow candle an astral burned,
And for him who sat by the chimney lug, dozing and grumbling o’er pipe and mug,
A manly form at her side she saw, and joy was duty and love was law.
Then she took up her burden of life again, saying only, ‘‘ It might have been.”
Alas for maiden, alas J udge, for rich repiner and household drudge!
God pity them both! and pity us all, who vainly the dreams of youth recall.
For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘‘It might have been.”
Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies deeply buried from human eyes ;
And, in the hereafter, angels may roll the stone from its grave away ! WHITTIER.
What Higher aim can Man attain than Conquest over Human Pain?
The JEOPARDY OF LIFE IS IMMENSELY INCREASED without such a simple precaution as
ENO'’S ‘FHRUrTYT SALT’
How important it is to every individual to have at hand some simiple, effective and
palatable remedy such as ‘ FRUIT SALT’ to check disease at the onset. Whenever a
change is contemplated likely to disturb the condition of health, let it be your companion,
for, under any circumstances, its use is beneficial, and never can do harm.
“Tt is not too much to say that its merits have heen published, tested, and approved literally,
from pole to pole, and that its cosmopolitan popularity to-day presents one of the most signal
illustrations of commercial enterprise to be found in our trading records” —European Mail.
Its effect upon any Disordered, Sleepless, and Feverish condition is simply marvellous.
CAUTION.—Examine each bottle and see that the capsule ismarked ENO’S ‘FRUIT
SALT.’ Without it, you have been imposed upon by a WORTHLESS IMITATION.
Prepared only by J. C. ENO, Litd., at the ‘FRUIT SALT’ WORKS,
LONDON, S.E., by J. C. ENO’S Patent.
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