UC-NRLF

nhrmitg af

No

Division

Range

Shelf....
Received .

%^-,. ,...187,7

*

CANARIE S
Ht'zarrl. 2 SpM,<]l<-fl Jiut-l . 3. Join/in I. 4.M<->il\ ' ////v/ .

CAGE

AND

CHAMBEK-BIKDS

THEIR NATURAL HISTORY, H
FOOD, DISEASES, MANAGEMENT, AND MODELS^pk CAPTURE.

,Wi ' ~,j

TRANSLATED FROM *ffi» GKBMA1UOF

,0V

J. M. BECH8

WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS OK

STRUCTURE, MIGRATION, AND ECONOMY,
COMPILED FROM VARIOUS SOURCES BY H. O. ADAMS.

INCORPORATING THE WHOLE OF

SWEET'S BRITISH WARBLERS.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON:

H. G. BOHK, YOKK STEEET, COVENT GARDEN.

MDCCCLVI.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THOSE PRINTED IN CAPITALS ABE ON STEEL, THE REMAINDER ON WOOD.

No. Page

1. CAN ABIES, Frontispiece. described 277

2. SPHINGES (for Bird Catching) . . 25

3. Parts of Wing .... 32

4. Clutching Feet ..... 32

5. Walking and Running Feet . . . 33

6. Garrulous Roller ..... 36

7. Birds of Prey— Heads ... 52

8. KESTBIL, Male and Female . 54

9. WHITE OWL . . . . 57

10. RAVEN ...... 74

11. JAY ..... 95

12. GOLDEN OEIOLE . . . . .107

13. Cuczoo . . . . . 113

14. GBEAT GBEEN MACAW . , . .125

15. LESSEE SULPHUB-CEESTED COCKATOO . . 138

16. PUBPLE-CAPPED LoEY . . . .143

17. GBEEN WOODPECKEB . . . 153

18. KINGFISHEB . . . . .164

19. Foot of Woodpecker and Nuthatch . . 171

20. CBOSSBILL . . . . .172

21. BULLFINCH ..... 181

22. SNOW BUNTING ..... 209

23. Nest of Chaffinch .... 235

24. MOUNTAIN FINCH .... 245

25. LINNET . 252

IV LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS.

No. Page

26. GOLDFINCH ..... 262

27. STARLING. . . , . . .327

28. WATER OUZEL .... 331

29. BLACKBIRD AND THRUSH .... 346

30. NIGHTINGALE. .... 355

31. WREN .... . . 419

32. WHEATEAR ... . 426

33. GREY WAGTAIL . . . . .439

34. BLUE TITMOUSE .... 450

35. BING-DOVE ; OR, WOOD PIGEON . . . 463

36. COLLARED TURTLE .... 468

37. PARTRIDGE ..... 473

38. SWANS . 487

39. Nest of the Bullfinch . . . .490

40. Woodpigeon . . . 491

41. Goldfinch . . . .491

42. Thrush. ... 491

43. Bottle-Tit 491

NKST OF THF, MAGPIE.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

PERHAPS no work ever did more to encourage the growth of
that taste for Ornithology, which has of late become so widely-
diffused among all classes of society, than DR. BECHSTEIN'S
admirable History of Cage, or Chamber-birds (StulenvogeT}.
In Germany, where it first appeared, and in various other
parts of the continent, as well as in England and America,
it has gone through several editions, and become a standard
work of reference, not only to the mere Bird-fancier, but also
to the scientific Ornithologist. Since the death of the Author,
a new edition, comprising the results of his latest experience,
has appeared, under the superintendence of Dr. LEHMANN, a
friend, whose kindred tastes and pursuits admirably fitted him
for the task.

In the present Translation, which is from this improved
edition, the Author's plan of arrangement has been strictly
followed ; and a large amount of additional matter introduced,
from the most authentic sources; including the whole of
SWEET'S BEITISH WARBLERS, a work of great reputation, now
extremely scarce. Several species not mentioned by BECH>
STEIN are described, for the first time, in this edition ; indeed,
no pains have been spared to render it as perfect as possible,

H. G. A.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

THE work which I now offer to the public, The Natural
History of Cage- Birds, is one which I have long been solicited
to write by many of my Mends.

Many persons who would find pleasure in keeping birds,
are both unable to procure them, and ignorant of the proper
method of treatment. Others, while possessing a certain
degree of knowledge on these points, are unacquainted with
the best and easiest methods. It is for such persons, and not
for students of natural history, who are able to refer to more
scientific works for the requisite information, that the present
volume is designed.

The statements contained in the following pages claim credit
and authority, on the ground that they are the result of
personal observation and experience. From childhood, I have
always been passionately fond of birds ; and even now I cannot
pursue my literary labours with pleasure and success, unless
my room be enlivened with the song of some forty or fifty,
which flutter about me at their pleasure. The reader there-
fore may, naturally, suppose that I have bestowed considerable
attention on the subject, and endeavoured to ascertain not only
the easiest, but the cheapest and best methods of preserving
my feathered favourites in health. I have only to hope that
the success of my attempt to impart information to my readers,
may be commensurate with the opportunities which I have
enjoyed of collecting it.

It is possible that different opinions may have been formed
as to the proper scope and interest of a work like the present.
The following remarks will explain the mode in which I have
divided the subject.

I have described all the indigenous birds which may be suc-
cessfully kept in the aviary; and, with regard to foreign
birds, have confined my attention to such as are most usually
imported into Germany, and may be procured with little diffi-
culty.

For convenience of reference, I have in this, as in my other

Till PREFACE TO THE FIEST EDITION.

works on birds, arranged the matter under the following
heads : —

Description. — An accurate description of each species is
necessary to guard the amateur against the tricks of the bird-
sellers, who often do not hesitate to sell a female as a male, or
substitute one species for another. It may also tend to foster
a taste for natural history in the lover of Cage-birds, and direct
his attention to such observations and researches as may tend
to the advancement of science.

Habitat. — Among the first questions prompted by the desire
to possess a bird of any particular species, are, when and where
is it to be procured ? and when procured, in what manner can its
mode of life in confinement be best adapted to its natural
habits? My remarks under the above-mentioned head are
designed to answer these questions.

Food. — Their food, which should resemble as closely as
possible their natural nourishment, is one of the particulars
most carefully to be attended to in the management of Cage-
birds. I have therefore divided this section into two parts,
which treat respectively of the food of Cage-birds, first in a
wild state, and secondly in confinement.

Breeding. — A knowledge of the method by which Cage-birds
may be induced to propagate their species, is rendered neces-
sary by the fact, that many birds cannot be kept with ad-
vantage except reared from the nest, or when removed from
the parent birds at a very early period.

Diseases. — The numerous diseases incident to Cage-birds
may be accounted for by the want of exercise and natural
nutriment experienced in the confinement of the aviary. I
have not thought it necessary to be very explicit on this sub-
ject ; as it is one which yet requires further elucidation on the
part of anatomical and medical science.

Mode of Taking. — Under this head the reader will find
directions which will enable him, with a little trouble, to
procure for himself most of our indigenous birds.

Attractive Qualities. — To the end of my account of each
species, I have appended a short statement of the qualities
which render it a desirable acquisition to the aviary.

WALTERSHATJSEN, Oct. 20, 1794.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE fact that within five years I have been called on to issue
a second edition of this work, is the surest proof of my suc-
cess in. the attempt to supply a general want. I must con-
fess, that none of my works has met with such a favourable
reception as this, for which I have received the oral and
written thanks of readers of all classes ; and particularly of
many ladies of wealth and distinction, some of whom also I
have had the pleasure of assisting by my advice. It gratifies
me to be able to announce, that I have introduced into this
edition improvements, which will be found both numerous
and important. I have not only interpolated the results of
fresh observations in my account of particular species, but
changed, and I hope amended, the general arrangement of the
work, and added descriptions of many foreign and indigenous
birds, which were omitted in the previous edition.

I cannot refrain from expressing the pleasure afforded me
by the conviction that this work has not only increased, by
the information which it contains, the interest already taken
by some of my readers in the feathered creation, but has also
been the means of directing the attention of many others to
the observation and love of natural objects. It is my earnest
wish, that in its new form, this book may again be the means
of increasing the number of those who study and admire the
wonderful works of God, and thus of fulfilling one of the chief
purposes for which we have been surrounded with the countless
host of living creatures.

"WALTEESHAUSEN, Nov. 1, 1799.

PEEEACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

I HAVE but few prefatory observations to make to this new
edition of my History of Cage-Birds. A comparison with
the preceding, will shew that it has been considerably enlarged
and improved. It has, indeed, been objected by some, that
I have already stretched the limits of my work too far, by
admitting into it descriptions of birds, which can only be
tamed with considerable difficulty ; e. g. the Common and
Gold-crested Wren. To this I reply, that in my own opi-

X PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

nion, and that of many others, I should have been guilty of
serious omission, had I included only the species which demand
little care and patience on the part of the amateur ; and with
respect to the particular birds cited, I know several persons
who take great pleasure in allowing one or more Wrens the
free range of their rooms. I must, also, be allowed to express
my conviction, that in a work like this, it is hardly possible to
err on the side of superfluity. In the present edition, also, the
reader will find accounts of various foreign species, which may
be procured from the bird-dealers.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.
By the German Editor, DR. LEHMANN.

THE Publishers of this new edition of BECHSTEIN ON CAGE-
BIRDS, believe that an apology for reproducing a work so in-
dispensable to the amateur, and so valuable to the scientific
naturalist, is hardly necessary. The constant inquiries for it,
during the lengthened interval in which it has been out of
print, are the surest proof that it has not been superseded by
any of the more recent works which have been produced upon
the same subject.

The changes in the present edition are confined to a few
emendations ; the omission of much which time and experience
had demonstrated to be superfluous ; and a considerable addi-
tion to the section upon Bird-catching. It was my own opinion,
as well as that of several competent judges whose advice has
been asked, that the form of the work did not require to be
re-cast, and that it was due to the memory of an author, so
much respected, both as a naturalist and in private life, to give
his favourite work to the public as nearly as possible as he
left it. In no other way could be assured to the work the ad-
vantages derived from the Author's engaging style, which has
already so materially contributed to the acceptance it has found
with the public.

HAMBURG, April, 1840.

CONTENTS.

INTEODUCTION.

PAOK

SECTION 1. OF CAGE-BIRDS IN GENERAL. What the Author under-
stands the term " Stubenvogel" to mean. — Importance of being
able to distinguish between male and female, varieties of colour,
&c. — Number of species comparatively small. . . . . . . 1

SECTION 2. VOICE AND SONG OF BIRDS. Peculiarity and variety
of vocal endowments. — Power of expressing passions and emotions,
exciting attention, &c. — Cries imitated by fowlers.— Wild Birds
and tame, different means of exciting them to sing. — Each
species a distinct language. — What is a song, and what a call:
instances, Chaffinch and Raven. — Song generally a prerogative
of the males. — Natural and artificial songs.— How the latter are
acquired. — Classification of songs. — Periods of song. — Recording
but an exercise of the organs. — Why one Bird sings better than
another. — Remark of BARRINGTON'S. — How to improve the song
of Wild Birds. — BRODERIP on the Melody of Birds. — COLONEL
MONTAGUE, RENNIE, SYME: BARRINGTON'S Table on com-
parative merits of British Song Birds. — MACGILLIVRAY'S de-
scription of structure of vocal organs. — Superiority ascribed by
some authors to greater degree of nervous energy. — Song of the
Nightingale written. — Melody of Birds not to be described, &c. 1

SECTION 3. HABITATION AND GENERAL TREATMENT. Space re-
quired by different species. — Modified amount of liberty. —
Cleanliness essential. — When and how to clean cages, feet, &c.
— Method of taming Birds. — How to make them sing. . 12

Xll CONTENTS.

PAGE

SECTION 4. FOOD. Chief consideration resemblance to natural diet.
—Da. MEYER'S method of inducing fresh-caught birds to eat.
— Classification of feeders.— Preservation and preparation of Food.
— Occasional variety. — Recipes for Universal Pastes. — Fresh
supply of Water. — When to feed, and quantity 15

SECTION 5. BREEDING. Chief requisite. — Kinds of Habitations.
— Materials for building. — Food at this period. — Removal of the
young Birds, &c. &c 18

SECTION 6. DISEASES. Exciting causes of Disease. — General rules
for treatment, and description of maladies . . . . . . 19

SECTION 7. AGE. Longevity of Cage- Birds, on what it depends. —

Satisfactory data. — Why Birds live longer than the Mammalia.. . 23

SECTION 8. BIRD-CATCHING. The Fowler's essentials of success.
— Methods and calls. — General directions. — Periods of least
difficulty. — Thuringian bird trap. — Best Birds for decoys. — Water
trap. — Nooses and Springes. — Folding cages. . . . . 23

SECTION 9. SWEET'S ACCOUNT OF THE GENUS SVLVIA. Finest
Songsters. — Degrees of warmth required by different species. —
Food in confinement, how prepared and how given. — Supply of
Insects for the winter, where found, and how kept. — Gravel and
water. — Restlessness at periods of Migration. — Best modes of
capture. — Treatment during Moulting. — Care of bad feet. —
General food, how to make and keep it. — Thrive and sing better
in an open, than a covered cage. — Not to be allowed to wash
too often. — HON. and REV. W. HERBERT, and PROFESSOR
RENNIE, on food, &c. . . . . . . . . , . 26

SECTION 10. STRUCTURE OF BIRDS. Described by CUVIER. —
Anatomical Structure. — Cut of Wing.— Clutching, Walking, and
Running Feet. — Feathers, Eyes, Ears, Organs of Smell, Tongue,
Brain, Vocal Organs, Internal Parts, &c. . . . . . . 31

SECTION 11. PLUMAGE OF BIRDS. MUDIE'S description.— Cut of
Roller. — Parts of Plumage. — Chemical nature of Feathers. —

CONTENTS. Xlll

PAGE

Their sensibility to atmospheric influences. — Periods and causes
of Moulting, &c 36

SECTION 12. HABITAT AND MIGRATION. CUVIER'S account. —
Habitat not circumscribed. — Regularity and method of migration.
— Periods of arrival and departure. — Each species, its distinct
habitat. — THOMPSON'S account. — Remarks by KNAPP, &c. .. 42

SECTION 13. CLASSIFICATION. WILLOUGHBY and RAY'S System.
The LINN^EAN, CUVIER'S, BRISSON'S, TEMMINCK'S. — The
Quinary, its beauty and convenience ; will it stand ? — MACGILLI-
VRAY and BUFFON on systematic arrangement. — Works to be
referred to by the student. — British Birds, number of species. —
BKCHSTEIN'S classification. . . . . . . . . 48

DIVISIONS OF BIRDS.

SECTION 1. BIRDS OF PREY. Accipitres. — Cut of Rapacious Beaks.

— Species : 1, Kestril. — 2, White, or Barn Owl. — 3, Little Owl. 53

SECTION 2. CROW TRIBE. Coraces. Species : 4, Great Ash-coloured
Shrike. — 5, Lesser Grey Shrike. — 6, Woodchat Shrike. — 7, Red-
backed Shrike. — 8, Raven. — 9, Carrion Crow : Lines by AINS-
WORTH.— 10, Hooded Crow.— 11, Rook.— 12, Jackdaw.— 13,
jay._14, Nutcracker.— 15, Magpie.— 16, Roller.— 17, Golden
Oriole.— 18, Hoopoe.— 19, Cuckoo.— 20, Minor Grakle. .. 61

SECTION 3. LARGE-BEAKED BIRDS. Levirostres. Classification
of Parrots, their geographical distribution, &c. — Species: 21, Red
and Blue Macaw. — 22, Blue and Yellow Macaw. — 23, Great Green
Macaw.— 24, Illinois Parrot.— 25, Blue-headed Parrot.— 26,
Yellow Parrot. — 27, Long-tailed Parrakeet. — 28, Pavouan
Parrot.— 29, Red and Blue-headed Parrakeet. — 30, Cardinal
Parrot, its varieties. — 31, Purple Parrot.— 32, Whiskered Parrot.
— 33, Rose-ringed Parrakeet.— 34, Red-crescented Parrakeet. —
35, Grey-breasted Parrot.— 36, Carolina Parrot.— 37, Amboina
Parrot.— 38, Great White Cockatoo.— 39, Lesser do.— 40, Red-
crested Cockatoo. — 41, Red-vented Cockatoo.— 42, Banksian

XIV CONTENTS.

PAOB

Cockatoo, its varieties. — 43, Ash-coloured Parrot.— 44, Ceram
Lory. — 45, Purple-capped Lory. — 46, Black-capped Lory. —
47, White-fronted Parrot.— 48, Amazon Parrot.— 49, Yellow-
headed do. and varieties. — 50, Blue-faced Parrot, and varieties.
51, Blue-necked Parrot. — 52, Rose-ringed Parrakeet.— 53, Little
Blue and Green Parrakeet. — 54, Yellow-breasted Toucan. — 55,
Brazilian Toucan. — 56, Preacher Toucan. — Observations on
Toucans by VIGORS, CBVIER, and D'AZARA. .. '.. ..118

SECTION 4. WOODPECKERS. Pici. Cuvier on Woodpeckers. —
Species : 57, Green Woodpecker. — 58, Greater Spotted Wood-
pecker.—59, Middle do. — 60, Lesser do. — 61, Wryneck. — 62,
Tourako.— 63, Kingfisher. — 64, Nuthatch, cut of feet. .. 152

SECTION 5. PASSERINE BIRDS. Passeres, not a good term of
distinction. — Species: 65, Common Crossbill. — 66, Fir Grosbeak.
— 67, Pine Grosbeak. — 68, Bullfinch. — 69, Greenfinch.— 70,
Hawfinch. — 70, Serin Finch. — 71, Cardinal Grosbeak. — 72, Java
Sparrow. — 73, Waxbill. — 74, Amandava. — 75, Paradise Gros-
beak.— 76, Dominican Grosbeak. — 77, Grenadier Grosbeak. —
78, Cape Grosbeak. — 79, Caffrarian Grosbeak. — 80, Blue Gros-
beak.—81, Azure blue do.— 82, Yellow-bellied Grosbeak.— 83,
Gowry Grosbeak. — 84, Banded Grosbeak. — 85, Brown-cheeked
Grosbeak. — 86, Malacca Grosbeak.— 87, Black clouded Gros-
qeak.— 88, Red-billed Grosbeak. — 89, Snow Bunting. — 90,
Mountain Bunting. — 91, Yellowhammer. — 92, Common Bunting
— 93, Ortolan Bunting. — 94, Girl Bunting. — 95, Foolish Bunt-
ing.—96, Reed Bunting. — 97, Sparrow Bunting. — 98, Whidah
Bunting.— 99, Dominican Bunting. — 100, Shaft-tailed Bunting.
—101, Indigo Bunting.— 102, Painted Bunting.— 103, Chaffinch,
cut of nest, varieties of song. — 104, Mountain Finch. — 105,
House Sparrow. — 106, Tree Sparrow. — 107, Linnet.— 108, Lesser
Redpole.— 109 and 110,Mountain and Mealy Linnets. — 111, Gold-
finch.— 112, Siskin, or Aberdavine. — 113, Ring Sparrow. — 114,
Citrel Finch. — 115, Lapland Finch. — 116, Snow Finch. — 117
Canary, History. Diseases, Management ; Prize Canaries, &c.
&c. ; German Paste.— 118, Glossy Finch.— 119, Purple Finch.
120, American Goldfinch.— 121, Brazilian Finch.— 122,, Blue,
bellied Finch,— 123, Liver-coloured Finch.— 124, Green Gold-
finch.— 125, Angola Finch 171

CONTENTS. XV

PAQK

SECTION 6. SINGING BIRDS. Oscines. Term " Songsters," not
applicable to all. — SWEET'S Genus Sylvia. — Quotation from
PLINY.— Species : 126, Skylark ; WORDSWORTH'S lines. — 127,
Crested Lark.— 128, Woodlark, Woodwele of the old ballads.—
129, Shore Lark.— 130, Titlark.— 131, Field Lark.— 132, Meadow
Lark.— 133, Water Lark.— 134, Starling.— 135, Water Ouzel —
136, Bohemian Chatterer.— 137, Missel Thrush.— 138, Song
Thrush.— 139, Fieldfare.— 140, Redwing.— 141, Blackbird, Merle
and Woosel-cock of old writers.— 142, Ring Ouzel. — 143, Reed
Thrush — 144,Rock Thrush. — 145,Nightingale, variety of strains ;
BUFFON'S description; SWEET'S account ; how to feed when fresh
caught, by KIDD, &c.— 146, Greater Nightingale.— 147, Black-
cap, SWEET. — 148, Fauvette, or Pettychap, SWEET. — 149, White
throat. — 150, White-breasted Warbler, or Babillard, SWEET. —
151, Black, or Tithys Redstart. — 152, Common Redstart,
SWEET.— 153, Dunnock, or Hedge Warbler.— 154, Redbreast,
COTTON and WORDSWORTH, &c. — 155, Bluebreast, or Blue-
throated Warbler. — 156, Arbour Bird. — 157, Reed Wren,
SWEET.— 158, Haybird, or Willow Wren, SWEET. — 159, Rufous
Warbler.— 160, Sedge Warbler, SWEET. — 161, Grasshopper
Warbler, SWEET. — 162, Wood Wren, SWEET. — 163, Dartford
Warbler, SWEET, Furze Wren, described by RUSTICUS. —
164, Wren,KNApp and WILLOUGHBY, Lines by BISHOP
MANT. — 165, Golden-crested Wren. — 166,. Whitetail, or Wheat-
ear, SWEET.— 167, Whinchat, SWEET. — 168, Stonechat, SWEET.
— 169, Alpine Warbler. — 170, Common Pied Wagtail, Dish-
washer.—171, Grey Wagtail, cut of feet.— 172, Yellow Wagtail,
Spring Oatear. — 173, Oxeye, or greater Titmouse. — 174, Cole
Tit.— 175, Blue Tit.— 176, Marsh Tit.— 177, Crested Tit.—
178. Bearded Tit.— 179, Long-tailed Tit, or Mufflin . . 306

SECTION 7. DOVES. Columbee. Place of Doves in various systems.
— Characteristics of the order. — Species : 180, Stock Dove. —
181,'Ring Dove.— 182, Turtle Dove.— 183, Collared Turtle.— 184,
Wild Rock Pigeon, original of the Domestic Pigeon, Varieties. 459

SECTION 8. POULTRY. Gallince. Term scarcely applicable. —
Species : 185, Common Partridge. — 186, Quail.— 187, Rock, or
Barbary Partridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473

xvi

CONTENTS.

PAGE

SECTION 9. WADERS. Grallce. Called in Germany Stilt-walkers.
Species: 188, White Stork.— 189, Black Stork.— 190, Wood-
cock.—191, Snipe.— 192, Lapwing.— 193, Ruff.— 194, Purr.—
195, Moor Hen.— 196, Corn Crake.— 197, Water Rail. . . 480

SECTION 10. WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. Anseres. Species : 198, Swan.
— 199, Sheldrake. — 200, Bean Goose.— 201, Scaup Duck. —
202, Mallard.— 203, Tarrock. . . 486

INTRODUCTION.

I. OP CAGE-BIRDS IN GENERAL.

BY the term Cage-birds,* I understand such as amateurs usually
keep in confinement, for the sake of their beautiful plumage,
their agreeable song, their lively disposition, or from the desire
of studying their various peculiarities. For these purposes it
is especially necessary to be able to distinguish between the
sexes, since, as is well known, the males are, in almost every
respect, more valuable than the females. I shall therefore in
the following pages, pay particular attention to the varieties
of colour, and other characteristics, by which this distinction
may be effected. As, however, many birds are untameable,
and many more would not repay the trouble necessary to tame
them, the number of species which come within the scope of
the present work is very small, when compared with the whole
number known to the ornithologist.

II. OF THE VOICE AND SONG OF BIBDS,
EVERY species of bird has a peculiarity of voice possessed by
no other. By this variety of vocal endowment, birds are not
only distinguished above the rest of the animal creation, but
are enabled to express to one another their wants and passions.
There can be no doubt that this power of communication exists
not only between the sexes, but between all individuals of the
same species. The least experienced observer of nature knows
that the approach of danger is expressed by a universally in-
telligible cry ; which, if uttered by the Wren, for instance, is
understood by the Turkey-cock, and vice versd. Of whatever
species the one may be, which first perceives the approach of
a bird of prey, it is able to excite the attention of all birds in
the neighbourhood by its peculiar cry of warning. As soon as
the Blue-tit utters her Iss ! so indicative of fear and terror, —
which, nevertheless, she seems sometimes to do from pure love

* The German word is Stubenvogel^ which, translated literally, is
chamber -birds ; but as these chambers are, so to say, cages on a large scale,
the translator has preferred the term Cage- birds.

8

2 OTKODUCTIOK.

of mischief, — the wood is silent in an instant ; and every bird
either listens for the enemy's coming, 0£ hastens to the aid of the
comrade who is attacked. This peculiarity is so marked, that
fowlers have not failed to turn it to purposes of profit. They
build a hut, roof it with green boughs, and cover the roof with
a plentiful supply of limed twigs. They then display a
Screech-owl or other bird of prey, imitate the sonorous cry of a
Jay or Woodpecker in fear and distress ; and birds of every size
and species flock to the hut, and are caught.

The tones of happiness and joy, by which one bird is able
to call forth from another a similar expression of feeling, seem
to be almost as universally intelligible. Nor is this joy shown
by song alone ; although when one little creature begins to
sing, the whole wood, or the whole room, soon manifests its
sympathy by a general chorus. The same is frequently indi-
cated by single notes. In spring and autumn, a great variety
of species may often be noticed in hedges and bushes, which
seem to take great delight in the utterance of a common cry.
Again, when in confinement, birds may often be induced to
sing by various noises, loud conversation, and above all, by in-
strumental music ; though on wild birds these means would
produce no other effect than to frighten them away.

In many cases also different species have a language, which
serves for various purposes of mutual communication. For
instance, Ravens, Crows, Jackdaws, &c., understand and re-
spond, both by voice and action, to each other's call. By imi-
tating the call of the Yellow-hammer, the fowler succeeds in
taking the Ortolan, the Snow-bunting, the Reed-bunting, the
Foolish-bunting, &c. : the cry of the Chaffinch decoys the
Mountain-finch; and that of the Siskin attracts the Citron-
finch and the Redpole.

Lastly, every bird has received from nature the power of
uttering either a song, or certain distinct sounds, by which it
can communicate its desires not only to those of its own, but
of other species. These notes, if connected in a melodious
succession, are called a song ; if unconnected, a call. In some
cases the call is the same, however different the emotions which
it is intended to express : in others, it is very various. For
instance, the Chaffinch's call, when on the wing, is Eyak!
vyak ! its expression of joy is Fink ! fink ! — if angry, the same
syllable is repeated more quickly ; and Trief! irief! is the sign

YOICE AND SOXG. 3

of tenderness or melancholy. The Raven's call — Graab ! graab !
— is, on the contrary, the same under all circumstances ; and
the only indication of a change of emotion, is the degree of
rapidity with which it is uttered.

What is called the Song of birds, is, in all cases, expressive
either of love or happiness. Thus, the Nightingale sings only
during the pairing season, and the period of incubation, and is
silent as soon as compelled to feed its young ; while, on the
contrary, the Starling, the Bullfinch, and the Canary, sing
throughout the year, except when dejected by moulting. It
seems, in general, to be a prerogative of the males, by which
they either invite or seek to retain the affections of the females.
There are indeed a few species, e.g. the Redbreast, Lark,
Canary, &c., the females of which, especially if kept by them-
selves, manifest a capability of uttering a few notes like those
of the male ; but in general they only listen to the song of the
males, in order to show their preference for the most accom-
plished singer. In a cage of Canaries, the liveliest female
always pairs with the best singer ; and a female Chaffinch,
when wild, will choose out of a hundred males, the mate
whose song is most pleasing to her.

The Songs of Cage-Birds — which, as we have already said,
constitute their chief recommendation to the amateur, — are di-
vided into two classes; the natural and the artificial. The
former are as various and as numerous as the species of birds
themselves ; and I know of no two of our indigenous birds,
which exactly resemble each other in this respect. Even the
case of the Shrikes, which, on account of their very retentive
memory, perfectly succeed in reproducing the songs of the birds
whose nests are near their own, forms no exception ; as they
so interpolate the imitated song with their own notes, that a
connoisseur soon discovers whether he is listening to a "Wood-
chat Shrike, or a Skylark. A knowledge of the different songs
is of great importance, not only to the amateur but to the na-
turalist, as many important observations relating to the habits
of the feathered tribe can be made, and classified only, by
means of their song.

The artificial song consists in part of notes peculiar to other
species, which young birds spontaneously acquire in the
aviary, or of passages which have been purposely performed in
their hearing on a flute or bird-organ. Almost all singing

B 2

I^TTRODTJCTIOX.

birds, which have been taken from the nest when very young,
are able to retain portions of such tunes as are daily played or
whistled in their presence ; but only a few, particularly dis-
tinguished for docility, entirely forsake and forget their natural
song. A young Goldfinch, for example, learns passages of the
airs which are being taught to a Bullfinch in the same room ;
but is very far from ever equalling the latter in the perfectness
of his repetition. Nor can this be accounted for, as many sup-
pose, by the greater or less plasticity of the organs of voice,
but must be attributed rather to the various degrees of memory
with which different birds are endowed. There are also cer-
tain species, such as Parrots and Jays, which have a broad,
undivided tongue, enabling them to imitate articulate sounds ;
these are said to speak.

Birdsellers and amateurs, however, classify the Songs of
birds in the following manner : — The bird warlles or qucwers,
when it always repeats the passages or single notes of its song
in precisely the same order ; such is the song of the Night-
ingale and the Chaffinch. It sings when it utters the chirp-
ing or twittering song, intermixed with most distinct notes,
without observing any regular succession, as is the case with
the Redbreast and Siskin. And then only it whistles ox pipes,
when its song consists of distinct, round, flute-like notes ; as,
for instance, that of the Linnet and the trained Bullfinch.

Some birds sing throughout the day ; some are heard early
in the morning; others in the evening; and a few seem to prefer
the silence of night. Some prefer to sing in company ; others
are mute except when alone. The Nightingale, for instance, is
silent in the daytime, and sings only in the evening, or even
at night. It seems indeed as if the queen of Song Birds was
conscious of the superiority of her powers, and disdained to
raise her voice amid the various noises of day, and the cry and
twitter of other birds, but reserved it for a period when it
could be better heard and more fully appreciated by men.

It is remarkable, that all birds which, unlike the Redbreast,
Siskin, or Bullfinch, do not sing throughout the year, appear to
forget their song during the process of moulting, and have to learn
it again every spring. The fact, however, does not seem to me,
to be thus rightly described. The practising, which goes by
the name of learning, or recording , is only a kind of exercise
of the organs, in order that they may again easily produce the
accuscomed tones ; and consists, not of notes or passages which

VOICE AND SONG. 5

have any reference to the usual song, but of a kind of twit-
tering and chirping, intermixed with which, the well known
notes are now and then to be detected, given on every occasion
with increased perfectness and facility. The Chaffinch, before
recovering its song, chirps for eight weeks, though the period
varies slightly in individual birds ; and the warbling of the
Nightingale is indistinct for an equal length of time. This re-
cording, therefore, seems to indicate, not so much a failure of me-
mory, as, if I may so speak, a deterioration in the organs of voice.

The reason why one bird sings better than another, may be
found in the different size and strength of the larynx ; whence
arises also the fact that females but rarely sing, as this organ is
much less fully developed in them than in the male. Thus too,
the Nightingale, distinguished above all birds by its clear, loud
and long song, differs also from all others in the greater strength
and size of its larynx. Like other organs, however, the larynx
may be very much strengthened by practice ; and, as we see
in the case of Chaffinches, Linnets, and Bullfinches, which have
been reared in the aviary, care, good food, and instruction, will
materially improve the song of many birds.

I must not omit to mention in this place, a remark of BAB-
BINGTON'S (Philosophical Transactions, vol. Ixiii. 1773), namely,
that the so-called wild, or natural, song of a bird might be ar-
tificially improved by the admixture of another — as, for instance,
by keeping Linnets, Sparrows, &c., in an aviary with cage-birds,
such as the Nightingale and Canary, and then setting them at
liberty. It is true enough that the songs of such birds im-
prove in the aviaiy ; for being well tended and fed, they have
nothing to think of but their song, and the effort to procure a
mate by its mean. And by putting them into an aviary con-
structed of wire, in the open air, and hanging near it, in cages,
unmated birds, of such species as the Nightingale and Canary,
which sing without intermission, it might be possible to teach
them a new and better song ; although that the same course of in-
struction could be given in the house, as HEEK GAINBOEG
affirms,* is a supposition against which all my own experience
militates. For it would be possible only in the case of birds
which pass the winter in the neighbourhood of our dwellings, —
such as Sparrows, which are, however, among the least docile of

* "How can we Improve the Song of our \\ild Birds?" Copen-
hagen, 1800.

6 INTRODUCTION.

the feathered tribe. Again, the birds which are to learn a song
not natural to them, must be taken from the nest before they
have even learned to chirp ; and if thus brought up to the food
and the temperature of the aviary, would be able neither to
sustain life, nor to migrate in winter. And thirdly, if such
birds were hatched by cage-birds — Canaries for instance — they
would become accustomed to the food of the aviary, but when
winter came, would be entirely ignorant of the cry of their
wilder comrades; could not migrate with them; and must there-
fore perish of hunger. The only means of accomplishing the
proposed object, which seems to me feasible, would be to take
trained birds, — of such species as frequent our orchards and
gardens, Larks, Finches, &c. — and hang them in cages near the
spot where others had built. Then the nestlings which hap-
pened to possess a good memory, would be able to recollect the
improved song of the trained birds, as well as that which they
acquired from their parents. Whether the attempt to improve
the natural melody of our woods and gardens, be advisable,
may I think be questioned. It is sufficient to keep birds of
curious or peculiarly beautiful song in the aviary, and thus to
derive pleasure from their strains.

ADDITIONAL REMARKS. — " The melody of birds," says BRO-
DERIP, in his Zoological Recreations, " finds its way to the heart
of every one ; but the cause that prompts the outpourings that
make copse, rock, and river, ring again on a fine spring morning,
is more a matter of doubt with ornithologists, than the uninitiated
in zoological mysteries might suppose. Much has been written on
this subject, and upon a consideration of the different opinions,
aided by our own observations, we are inclined to think that love
and rivalry are the two great stimulants, though we do not mean
to deny that a bird may sing from mere gaiety of heart, arising
from finding itself in the haunts dear to it, and in the midst of
plenty of the food it likes.

" In this country, the season of reproduction is undoubtedly
that wherein

' The isle is full of pleasant noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight ;'

and about ten weeks have been mentioned as the period during
which most of our wild birds are in song. That there are ex-
ceptions to this rule, there is no doubt. We have heard a wild
Thrush, one of the sweetest singers of his tribe, sing far into
September, but we watched narrowly, and never could find that

TOICE AND SONG. 7'

he had a mate. Then, again, we have the autumnal, and. even
the winter notes of the .Robin, long after the breeding season ;
and caged birds, if well fed and kept, will sing the greater part
of the year."

No British naturalist appears to have paid greater attention
to this part of our subject than Colonel MONTAGUE, and his re-
marks thereupon are exceedingly interesting. " There is no
doubt," he says, "that birds in confinement will learn the song
of those they are kept with ; but then it is constantly blended
with that peculiar to the species. In the spring, the very great
exertions of the male birds in their vociferous notes are certainly
the calls to love ; and the peculiar note of each is an unerring
mark for each to discover its own species. If a confined bird
had learned the song of another, without retaining any part of
its natural notes, and was set at liberty, it is probable it would
never find a mate of its own species ; and even supposing it did,
there is no reason for believing the young of that bird would be
destitute of its native notes ; for if nestling birds have no innate
notes peculiar to their species, and their song is only learned
from the parent bird, how are we to account for the invariable
note each species possesses, when it happens that two different
species are bred up in the same bush, or in the contiguous one,
or when hatched or fostered by a different species ? The males
of song birds do not in general search for the female, but, on the
contrary, their business in the spring is to perch on some conspi-
cuous spot, breathing out their full and amorous notes, which,
by instinct, the female knows, and repairs thither to choose her
mate. This is particularly verified with respect to summer birds
of passage. The Nightingale, and most of its genus, although
timid and shy to a degree, mount aloft, and incessantly pour
forth their strains, each seemingly vieing in its lone, love-laboured
song, before the female arrives. No sooner does the female make
her appearance than dreadful battles ensue — their notes are
changed ; their song is sometimes hurried through without the
usual grace and elegance ; and at other times modulated into a
soothing melody. The first we conceive to be a provocation to
battle at the appearance of another male ; the last, an amorous
cadence, or courting address. This variety of song only lasts
till the female is fixed in her choice, which is in general a few
days after her arrival ; and if the season is favourable, she soon
begins the task allotted to her sex.

" The male no longer exposes himself as before, nor are his
songs heard so frequently, or so loud ; but while she is searching
for a secure place in which to build her nest, he is no less assidu-
ous in attending her with ridiculous gestures, accompanied with
peculiarly soft notes. When incubation takes place, the song of

INTRODUCTION.

the male is again heard, but not so frequently as at first ; he
never rambles from hearing, and seldom from her sight, and if
she leaves the nest, he accompanies her with soft notes of love.

" The continuation of song in caged birds by no means proves
it is not occasioned by a stimulus to love ; indeed, it is probable
that redundancy of animal spirits from plenty of food and arti-
ficial heat may produce the same result, whereas wild birds have
it abated by a commerce with the other sex ;— but even in their
natural state, birds may be forced to continue their song much
longer than usual. A male Red-start made his appearance near
my house early in spring, and soon commenced his love-tuned
song. In two days after a female arrived, which for several days
the male was continually chasing, emitting soft interrupted
notes, accompanied by a chattering noise. This sort of courting
lasted for several days. Soon after, the female took possession of
a hole in a wall close to my house, where she prepared a nest,
and deposited six eggs. The male kept at a distance from the
nest ; sometimes sung, but not so loud nor so frequently as at
first, and never when he approached the nest. When the eggs
had been sat on a few days, I caught the female. The male did
not miss his mate immediately ; but on the next day he resumed
his vociferous calls, and his song became incessant for a week,
when I discovered a second female ; — his note immediately
changed, and all his actions as before described returned. This
experiment has been repeated on the Nightingale with the same
result ; and a Golden-crested Wren, who never found another
mate, continued his song from the month of May till the latter
end of August. On the contrary, another of the same species,
who took possession of a fir-tree in my garden, ceased its notes
as soon as the young were hatched."

In his comments upon the above, Mr. EENNIE expresses an opi-
nion, that birds sing most frequently from joy and buoyancy of
spirits ; and not unfrequently in triumphant defiance of rivalry
or attack. He says, " I have a Red-breast who will sing out
whenever I snap my fingers at him, and the Sedge-bird sings
when a stone is thrown into the bush where he may be."

According to SYME, the Song of birds may be divided into six
distinct utterances -.—-first, there is the call-note of the mate in
spring ; second, the loud, clear, and fierce notes of defiance ; third,
the soft, tender, full, melodious love-warble ; foiirth, the notes
of fear, when danger approaches the nest ; fifth, the note of
alarm, or war-cry, when a bird of prey appears ; sixth, the note
the parent birds utter to their brood, and the chirp or note
of the young. This latter he again divides into two — that
which the young birds utter while in the nest, and that after
they have left it. And to these several utterances, he adds the

YOICE AND SONG.

9

soft murmuring kind of note which the male emits while he ia
feeding the female on the nest, and also that uttered by her
while receiving the food.

The Hon. DAINES BARRINGTON remarks, that " some passages
in the song of a few kinds of birds, correspond with the intervals
of our musical scale ; but that much the greater part of such a
song is not capable of musical notation, because — first, the rapi-
dity is often too great, and it is also so uncertain where they may-
stop, that it is impossible to reduce the passages to form a musi-
cal bar in any time whatsoever : secondly, on account of the
pitch of most birds being considerably higher than the most
shrill notes of instruments of the greatest compass ; and lastly,
because the intervals used by birds are commonly so minute, that
we cannot judge at all of mem from the more gross intervals
into which our musical octave is divided." We cannot follow this
accomplished naturalist through the whole of his interesting
observations upon this subject. The table which follows will
serve to show his estimate of the comparative merits of some of
our leading feathered vocalists.

ME. DAINES BARRINGTON'S TABLE.*

Designed to exhibit the comparative merit of
British Song Birds : Twenty is supposed to
be the point of absolute perfection.

°s

%

II

%
3

1

1

Plaintiveneus;

i

1

1

1 Nightingale
2 Black-Cap, or Mock Nightingale.
3 Skylark
4 Woodlark

19
14
4
18

14
12
19
/I

19
12
4
17

19
14
18
12

19
14
18

8

5 Titlark . ....

1?

12

jo

1°

12

Ifl

16

12

Iti

18

7 Goldfinch

4

19

\

I9

12

4

12

\

H

g

4

4

\

4

6

10 Thrush
11 Blackbird

4
4
6

4
4

16

4
0
12

4
2
1?

4
2
12

13 Wren

n

12

0

\

4

6

0

g

\

4

o

\

o

?

2

16 Aberdavine or Siskin
17 Red-Pole

2
0

4
4

0
0

4

4

4
4

* We quote this Table more as a curiosity than as an authority, as we think the
estimate in many respects very defective : for instance, the Robin is placed much
too high in the scale, and the Thrush and Blackbird as much too low ; for mellowness,

10 INTRODUCTION.

In MACGILLIVRAY'S description of the Structural anatomy of
the organs of tune in birds, we find it stated that the trachea is
an elastic tube, very flexible and contractile, so that it can accom-
modate itself to the various motions of the neck ; it is covered
with layers of cellular tissue, and commences just behind the
tongue, extending downwards to opposite the first rib, where, at
the syrinx, as it is called, or inferior larynx, it is divided into
two bronckii. The parts which correspond with these in man
and animals are proportionably larger and more complex, be-
cause with them the varieties of tone in the voice are produced
by the muscles and chords of the larynx ; whereas in birds, the
sound is produced at the syrinx, or lower extremity of the wind-
pipe, the modulations being caused by the contraction and ex-
tension of the larynx. The vocal chords which vibrate under
the impulse of the air, and so produce sound in the human larynx,
are placed in that organ. But in the case of birds the vibrating
membrane is placed in the lower larynx, or, more properly speak-
ing, the syrinx. Such then is the apparatus by which the voices
of birds are attuned, and this is the modus operandi : — when
the air contained in the lungs and air-cells passes through the
bronchii, it causes the vocal membrane at the extremity to vibrate,
and the sound which is thus produced is rendered acute or grave,
by the relaxation or tension of the parts ; while the stream of
air thus caused to vibrate is narrowed and divided, or suffered to
pass free, according as the muscles of the lamjnx are tightened
or relaxed. This author cannot, however, in his careful ana-
tomical researches, find an adequate cause for the great variation
observed in the songs of different birds. He says : " The modi-
fication of these organs presented by the different species are
slight ; the parts in all I have examined, being the same, and with
the same number of muscles. The peculiar song of different
species must therefore depend on circumstances beyond our cog-
nition ; for surely no one could imagine the reason that the Rook
and the Hooded Crow require as complex an apparatus to pro-
duce their unmusical cries, as that which the Blackbird and
Nightingale employ in modulating their voices, so as to give rise
to those melodies which are so delightful to us ; and yet the
knife, and the needle, and the lens, do not enable us to detect any
superior organization in the Warbler over the Crow."

By some authors the superior powers of song manifested by

at all events, they are entitled to a higher place ; and then, why was not the Bull-
finch included, and several other very sweet songsters, whose names do not appear ?
Great difference of opinion will, of course, at all times prevail, respecting the com-
parative merits of the various individuals of the feathered choir : so much depend-
ing upon the taste and temperament of the hearer, and the circumstances under which
they are heard, as well as upon the state, and condition, and opportunities of im-
provement which the singer has enjoyed.

VOICE AND SOFG. 11

certain birds, is ascribed to the possession of a greater degree of
nervous energy ; but there are difficulties in the way of such a
solution of this problem, one of the many which tne practical
naturalist has yet to solve. Many attempts have been made to
express in words, or in the characters used in musical notation,
the varied strains of the feathered songsters ; but such attempts
have been, and must be, partially if not wholly, failures. BECH-
STEIN has taken great pains to spell out the different notes of the
nightingale, and set them down in their proper order of sequence,
dividing them into their separate strains, or strophes ; but let any
lover of the dulcet jargoningof that "sweet and plaintive Sappho
of the dell," look upon the following strange jumble of letters,
and tell us what resemblance the sounds which they express,
bear to the enchanting music to which he has often listened in
an ecstasy of delight :

" Tiou" tiou, tiou, tiou — Spe, tiou, squa — Tio, ti6, tio, tio, tio,
tio, tio, tix — Coutio, coutio, coutio, coutio — Squo, squo, squo,
squo — Tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzi — Corror,
tiou, squa, pipiqui — Zozozozozozozozozozozozo, zirrhading !—
Tsissisi, tsissisisisisisisis — Dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, dzorre, hi — -
Tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, tzatu, dzi — l)lo, dlo, dlo,
dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo — Q.uio, tr rrrrrrrr itz — Lu, lu, lu, lu,
ly, ly, ly, ly, lie, lie, lie, lie— Quio didl li lulylie— Hagurr, gurr

Siipio ! — Coui, coui, coui, coui, qui, qui, qui, gai, gui, gui, gui —
oil goll goll goll guia hadadoi — Couigui, horr, ha diadia dill
si ! — Hezezezezezezezezezezezezezezezeze couar ho dze hoi —
Quia, quia, quia, qui a, quia, quia, quia, quia ti — Ki, ki, ki, io,io,
io, ioioioio ki — Lu ly li le lai la leu lo, didl io quia — Kigaigaigai-
gaigaigaigai guiagaigaigai couior dzio dzio pi."

The French poet understood this matter better, when he said
of his mistress, that her name was the note of a nightingale,
which saying reminds us of the lines of an English child of song,
who describing his lady-love, averred that —

" Her thoughts were garlands of new tinted flowers,
Their utterance perfume."

"No, the melody of birds, like the fragrance of flowers, cannot
be described ; it must be listened to, and that by one whose
senses are properly attuned to outward harmony, by an in-
dwelling and abiding love of the beautiful and the pure in nature :
to him the sparing Lark will seem indeed to pour forth at heaven's
gate a morning hymn of praise, and the nightingale to chant,
amid the leafy woodlands, a vesper song of thankfulness : the
full chorus of feathered minstrelsy will be to him like an angel
choir, scattering melody on all around, which sinks into the soul
like summer rain into the earth, gladdening and refreshing it.

12 INTRODUCTION.

III. HABITATION AND GENERAL TREATMENT.

THE space required by cage-birds varies with the different
species, and the object with which they are confined. As far
as health and happiness are concerned, all are better in a
room, of which they have the entire range, than in a cage.
This room should be provided with boughs of fir and pine,
which ought to be cut in winter, or at the latest in March, in
order to prevent the leaves from falling off. Many species,
however, sing better when confined within so narrow a space,
that they can only communicate with their fellows by means
of song.

Those birds which are kept only for their beauty, or the
elegance of their motions, should be kept in a room where they
can hop or fly about, and may perch at night either on the
above-mentioned pine boughs, or in a large cage, with nume-
rous divisions. Many birds — as, for example, the Hedge -
Warbler and the Blue-throated Warbler — sing better in this
modified species of liberty, than if confined in a cage. In the
case of those which, for their song's sake, it is advisable to
restrain within narrow bounds, the species of cage best adapted
for them depends on their natural habit of life, and the degrees
of liveliness in their disposition. A Lark must have a large, a
Chaffinch a small cage. A further question regards the intro-
duction of perches, which is decided by the bird's habit when
at liberty ; — whether or not it lives on the ground. Such
perches are never placed in a Lark's cage, though indispensably
necessary in one intended for a Nightingale.

Under all circumstances, cleanliness is an essential requisite
for the longevity of birds, as well as for their preservation in
health and spirits. Every fortnight at least — were it done
every week the birds might be too much disturbed — all cages
should be cleaned, all perches freed from dirt, and fresh river
sand strewed over the floor of the aviary. If this be not done,
not only does the general health of the little captives suffer
from the strong odour of the dung, but the feet, to which it
adheres, become lame ; gout and other diseases ensue, and the
loss of one or more claws is frequently the result. It must be
observed, however, that before cleaning a bird's feet, it is ne-
cessary to dip them in water, as otherwise the adhesive dirt is
apt to bring the skin .with it ; — a sore which not only produces

HABITATION. 13

lameness, but often attracts to itself the diseased humours
necessarily engendered in the body by the unnatural habit
of life. The feet, indeed, are the seat of most of the diseases
incident to cage-birds ; and it is often necessary to examine
them minutely — as a hair twisted round a claw eats so deeply
into the flesh, as frequently to result in the drying and drop-
ping off of the part. Attention to this point is rendered all
the more important, and may be enforced by the fact, that it
is rare to see a cage-bird of any age, which has its full com-
plement of claws. It cannot, however, be denied that there
is not only a difference between species, but between in-
dividual birds in this respect ; some carefully keeping them-
selves clean — others not even taking the trouble to cleanse their
feet, beak, or wings. I have always found Yellow-hammers,
Reed-buntings, Bullfinches, and Redpoles exceedingly clean
birds ; whereas, on the contrary, Larks and Fauvettes allow
their feet to be constantly full of dirt, and even suffer them to
ulcerate and drop off, before they will take the trouble to re-
move the offending matter.

Many lovers of birds find pleasure in rendering them so
tame, that they may be taken on the hand into the open air ;
or be let fly, and again recalled. One of my friends, who has
succeeded in taming not only birds, but also otters, adders,
weasels, foxes, and martins, — so that they follow him wherever
he goes, and obey the slightest sign of command, — makes use
of the following method, which, from my own experience, I
can assert to be easy and certain. If the object of the experi-
ment b& a bird, he opens the door of the cage, and teazes it
with a soft feather. This he does till the bird pecks at the
feather, then at his finger, and at last comes out of the cage
and perches upon his hand. He then smooths its feathers
down, caresses it, and offers it some favourite article of food,
which it soon learns to take from his hand. He then begins
to accustom the bird to a particular call or whistle ; carries it
upon his hand or shoulder from room to room, in which all
the windows are carefully closed, lets it fly, and calls it back.
As soon as the bird becomes obedient to the call, in the pre-
sence of other persons and animals,' the same experiment is
cautiously repeated in the open air, till at last it is rewarded
with complete success, and the bird refuses to forsake its
master, either in a large company, or among the temptations
of the garden. This process is particularly adapted for young

14 INTRODUCTION.

Linnets, Bullfinches, and Canary-birds ; but in spring, or pairing
time, it is necessary to guard against taking birds so tamed
into the open air, where they are likely to hear the cry of
their wild comrades. This is the season during which they
most commonly relapse into their former wildness.

A new and approved method of completely taming all kinds
of cage-birds, in the course of one or two hours, — with which
I have only lately become acquainted, — is the following : —

A portion — larger, or smaller, in proportion to the wildness
of the bird — is cut off from the inner plume of the pen feathers,
so that the bird cannot hurt itself if it attempts to leave the
hand, and the external appearance of the wing is not impaired.
The nostrils of the bird are then touched with bergamot, or any
•other odorous oil, by which it is for a time so stupified, as to
perch quietly on the finger, or to hop from one finger to another.
It may indeed attempt to fly away once or twice ; but this is
not often repeated, especially if the experiment be tried in a
dark :place — as, for example, behind a curtain, which offers the
further advantage, that if the bird fall, it is not likely to hurt
itself. As soon as it sits quietly on any one finger, another
finger must be placed in such a position as to cause the bird to
step upon it ; and so soon as it is accustomed to hop quietly
from one finger to another, the main difficulty is overcome.
For if when the bird is gradually aroused from its state of stu-
pefaction, it perceives that its teacher does not use it roughly,
it may by degrees be taught to manifest perfect obedience to
his commands. To teach it to eat from its master's mouth, it
should be kept in the cage without food for some time. If it
be then taken upon the finger, and its favourite food be pre-
sented to it on the outstretched tongue, hunger will soon teach
it to feed.

Birds tamed in this manner may easily be taught to sing,
while perched on tho hand. To effect this, it is only necessary
to coax them by the appropriate tones, gestures, and caresses.
The Chaffinch may be made to sing by whistling Yach! yach!
and stroking it on the neck ; and the Bullfinch, by speaking
to it in a friendly manner, accompanied by a backward and
forward motion of the head. A considerable degree of perse-
verance is, however, in all cases, essential to the success of
this method of taming birds.

FOOD. 15

IT. FOOD.

THE chief consideration to be attended to, in choosing food for
the various species of cage-birds, is to select that which bears
the closest resemblance to their natural diet. In many cases,
this is exceedingly difficult, and in some impossible ; as, for in-
stance, how can we procure the seeds on which many of the
East India birds, which adorn our aviaries, are accustomed to
feed ? And thus a great obstacle in the way of our success is to
accustom cage-birds, or rather their stomachs, to such food as we
are compelled to offer them ; though there are birds, it is true,
such as Chaffinches, Yellow-hammers, Thrushes, &c., which
as soon as they are brought to the house, eat without hesita-
tion or detriment, whatever is given to them. Others, how-
ever, are more delicate, and at first, partly from grief, and partly
from want of their usual fare, will eat nothing. It is indeed
considered a bad sign if such birds as are generally accounted
delicate, begin to eat greedily as soon as put into the cage — as
it is thought to indicate an unnatural indifference at the loss of
freedom, which can only proceed from disease. If, on the
contrary, they sulkily hide themselves in a corner for some
hours, there is little need to be anxious about them, as when
the sulky fit is allowed to wear itself off, they usually begin to eat
heartily. On this subject Dr. MEYER of Offenbach writes to
me as follows : An almost infallible method of inducing fresh-
caught birds to take the food of the aviary, is to leave them
undisturbed for some hours in a cage, where water and the ap-
propriate food are easily accessible. If the bird do not eat, it
is to be dipped in fresh cold water, and replaced in the cage.
It will sit for a few moments apparently quite exhausted, but
will soon recover and begin to plume itself, and after a minute
or two will become exceedingly lively, and begin to eat. The
appetite thus incited in birds by the use of the bath, is ana-
logous to the same phenomenon in the human being.

In order to elucidate the general rules which I shall give, as
to the FOOD of cage-birds, I have divided them into four
classes : First, such as eat only seeds, as Canaries, Bullfinches,
Siskins, Linnets, Goldfinches, &c. Second, such as eat both seeds
and insects, as Quails, Larks of every species, Yellow-hammers,
and the various kinds of Tits. Some of the last-mentioned
species, however, partly subsist upon berries. Thirdly, such

16 INTRODUCTION.

as eat insects and berries, as Nightingales, Redbreasts, Thrushes,
Blackcaps, &c. Fourth, such as eat insects only, as Wagtails,
Fieldlarks, "Whitetails, Blue-throated Warblers, &c. Birds of the
fourth class are the most difficult to preserve in health ; and
yet, as their song is in general not remarkable for beauty, they
by no means repay the trouble which must be expended on
them. To meet this difficulty, it is a good plan, in spring, to
collect, dry, and store up for use the flies which may be found
in great numbers in the windows of old buildings. At the
season, therefore, when living insects cannot be procured, these
flies may be mixed with the paste which I am about to describe ;
and which, with the occasional addition of a few ants' eggs, or
meal-worms, may be considered as an universal diet for all de-
licate birds. Let a supply of wheaten bread, sufficient for
three months' consumption, be baked without salt. When the
loaves have become stale, they are again to be put into the oven
when a batch of bread has been withdrawn, and allowed to re-
main while it gradually cools . They may then easily be pounded
into a species of meal, which will keep good for a quarter of
a year. Of this, a large tea-spoonful is allotted for the daily
portion of each bird, and mixed with three times the quantity of
warm milk, which in no case, however, must be allowed to boil.
A stiff paste is the result, which may be cut into small pieces
on a board, is very nourishing, and never becomes neither sour
nor sticky, even in the hottest weather. In the case of delicate
birds, a few flies, or chopped meal-worms, may, as before said,
be mixed with this paste.

With respect to the first class, experience teaches that Ca-
naries prefer a mixture of canary, summer-rape, and crushed
hemp seed ; Goldfinches and Siskins poppy seed, now and then
mixed with a little crushed hemp seed; Linnets and Bullfinches
rape seed alone. Besides this, all require an occasional supply
of green food — cabbage, and lettuce leaves, and water-cress — as
well as river sand, which is highly useful in the process of di-
gestion, and with which the floor of their cage should always
be kept strewed. Among birds of the second class, Quails are
fond of wheat and bread crumbs ; Larks prefer barley meal
mixed with cabbage and water-cress cut small, or poppy seed
and crumbs of bread, or in winter, oats ; Chaffinches like rape
seed in summer, sometimes mixed with a little hemp seed ;
Yellow-hammers are fond of the same diet as the Larks, with the
exception of the green food ; and the various species of Tits eat

TOOD. 17

fir seeds, hemp seed, oats, meal, lard, bread, hazel and wal-
nuts. All birds of the first and second classes are easily pre-
served alive, except when taken in the pairing season, in which
case they sometimes die of hunger and grief for the loss of
their freedom.

Although I have always felt a repugnance to all appliances
and remedies which claimed to be universal, I am emboldened,
by a very long experience in the management of cage-birds, to
recommend two Universal Pastes. That these pastes are not
wrongly designated by the name "universal," is proved by the
fact, that all my birds, except those which, for their song's
sake, are kept in separate cages, are fed, and thrive upon them.
They are besides recommended, not only by their cheapness
and simplicity, but by the considerable saving of time effected
in the case of any amateur, who has a numerous collection.
The receipt for the first is as follows : Take, and thoroughly soak
in cold water, a well-baked stale wheaten loaf, then press the
water out, pour milk over it, and mix with it two-thirds of its
own weight of barley or wheat meal, well ground and sifted.

The second is made thus : Grate a carrot (which may be
kept in sand, in a cool place, a whole year) on a grater, which,
to fit it for future use, must be immediately washed quite
clean ; then thorouglily soak a penny roll in water, press the
water out, and mix both bread and carrot with two handfuls
of the above-mentioned wheat or barley meal. The whole
must then be well pounded in a mortar.

It must, however, be observed, that both these pastes ought
to be made every day, as they soon become sour, and therefore
unwholesome for the birds. I myself keep this food in a long
earthen vessel, out of which about half my birds can feed at
once. An earthen vessel is better than a wooden one, because
it is not only easier to be cleaned, but because it preserves the
food sweet for a longer period. I feed my birds — of which
from thirty to forty are generally in possession of my room — on
the first-mentioned paste ; on which they thrive so well, and
preserve so perfectly the beauty of their plumage, that no one
would suppose them to be captives. All birds, whatever may
be their natural diet, eat it willingly; and there may be seen ID
my room, Chaffinches, Linnets, Goldfinches, Siskins, Canaries,
Kedbreasts, Larks of all kinds, Quails, Yellow-hammers, Orto-
lans, Buntings, Hedge-warblers, Redtails, &c., all feeding out of

1 8 INTRODUCTION.

a single trough. A little hemp, poppy and rape seed, and a few
ants' eggs and bread crumbs, may be occasionally added as a
treat. The same pastes suffice also for birds of the third and
fourth classes.

In addition to this, all cage-birds need a fresh supply of
water every evening — not only to quench their thirst, but, in
many cases, to bathe. If a considerable number of birds inhabit
the same room, the best plan is to provide fbr them an earthen
vessel, about eight inches in length, and two inches in breadth
and depth, divided into several compartments, so that the birds
cannot entirely immerse themselves, and scatter the water about
with their wings. For Quails and Larks, fresh wet sand is suf-
ficient. A general rule as regards birds — but one which espe-
cially applies to such as will eat whatever is offered them — is
that great care is necessary not to give them meal which is at
all bad, or which has any pepper upon it. I may also remark,
that it is the best plan not to give cage-birds a larger supply of
food than is sufficient for one day; as they are apt not only to
waste it by scattering it about the cage, but also to pick out the
best, and leave themselves poorly provided for the future.

Y. BREEDING OF CAGE-BIRDS.

IT is neither necessary nor possible to make many general re-
marks on the Breeding of Cage-Birds; as, with the exception of
Canaries, which may almost be reckoned among domestic animals,
it is very rarely that they can be induced to pair. A chief re-
quisite is a quiet, solitary, and roomy habitation ; if possible, a
whole room, in which have' been placed pine-boughs cut in win-
ter, and retaining their leaves. It is especially necessary to
make the habitation resemble as much as possible the natural
haunts of the birds, in order that they may have the greater
inducement to pair.

As, however, we cannot under any circumstances, and with
any degree of care, supply the advantages afforded by nature,
or provide the necessary materials fbr building, it is best to give
them nests turned out of wood, or woven of straw or withes. In
these the birds will themselves arrange the softer materials, such
as hair, silk, and lint, which should be placed within their reach.
Great attention must also be paid to their food at this period ;
to supply such as shall at once incline the old birds to pair, and
be appropriate to the age of the young brood. I shall give

DISEASES. 19

particular directions on this head, in my account of each sepa-
rate species.

It is also necessary to mention the time at which young
birds, which it is desired to rear in the aviary, should in
general be taken from the nest. This is, when the tail feathers
are just beginning to grow, while the other feathers are com-
mencing to expand themselves, and the eyes are not yet quite
open. If they are taken before this time, their stomachs are
not strong enough to bear the change of food ; if after, it is
with great difficulty that they can be induced to open their
beaks, to receive food with which they are unacquainted.
Some species, however, may be tamed, and will allow themselves
to be fed, at any period of life.

"VI. DISEASES OF CAGE-BIRDS.

LIKE all domestic animals, birds in confinement are more subject
to disease than they would be in their natural state of life ;
although the assertion that wild birds are never attacked by
any ailment, is altogether unfounded. I have myself often
seen the Hedge-warbler, for example, completely covered with
pimples, especially on the feet and round the beak. There is
no doubt, however, that most of the disorders of Cage-Birds pro-
ceed from two causes, in part incidental to their condition ; first,
the narrow space within which they are confined, and conse-
quent want of exercise ; and secondly, the sugar, confectionery,
and other dainties often given to them, which impair the
digestive powers, and frequently result in decline.

I have here enumerated the results of my own experience
as to the chief Diseases of Cage-Birds, and the most effectual
remedies for them. As, however, the food of different birds is
not always the same, a different mode of treating their ailments
is often necessary. In any case, therefore, where the general
directions which I subjoin do not appear sufficient, I shall ap-
pend to my account of the bird a statement of the diseases to
which it is particularly liable, and the treatment rendered ne-
cessary by the nature of its food.

1. THE PIP. This is properly a cold, in which the nostrils
are stopped up, and the external skin of the tongue hardened
by inflammation. In the case of large birds, it is the best plan
to remove the hardened cuticle, beginning on the lower side,
near the palate ; an operation by which the pores of the skin

C 2

20 INTRODUCTION.

are re-opened — the saliva necessary for digestion is enabled to
be secreted — and the sense of taste, and consequent appetite,
restored to the bird. A pill of butter, garlic, and pepper,
generally completes the cure by removing the catarrh ; and its
operation will be aided by allowing the patient to sip an infu-
sion of speedwell. The stoppage of the nostrils may be cured
by drawing a fine feather through them. The symptoms of
the Pip are: — a dryncss of the tongue; a yellowness at the
root of the beak; a roughness on the feathers of the head;
and a frequent gasping, as if for breath.

2. COLD, OK RHEUM. For this disease, which shows itself by
frequent sneezings and shaking of the head, I know no better
remedy — especially if the bird be valuable, and it is thought in-
advisable to leave the malady to the healing operations of
nature — than to give it a few drops of pectoral elixir in an in-
fusion of speedwell. I have given fowls as many as twenty
drops of this medicine.

3. DECLINE. This disease — the symptoms of which are a
general roughness of the feathers, a great appetite, and yet a
gradual wasting of the flesh — is usually the result of an un-
natural diet, which impairs the digestive powers. The most
effectual remedy, besides supplying the patient with the best
and most natural food, is to force it to swallow a spider,
which acts as a purgative, and to put a rusty nail into its water,
which seems to give vigour to the stomach and bowels. In
the case of birds which occasionally require green food, water-
cress is a specific against Decline. I once fed a Siskin, which
was reduced to a deplorable condition, on water-cress for three
days, and on the fourth was gratified by hearing its song once
more.

4. COSTIVENESS. This disease is easily detected by the fre-
quent fruitless attempts of the bird to void its excrements.
If a spider, as above prescribed, be not efficacious in remedying
this, it is best to apply, with a blunt pin, a clyster of linseed oil ;
a means which rarely fails of effect. If the bird be accustomed
to eat meal worms, one of these insects, bruised with saffron
and linseed oil, will be readily swallowed, and prove an infal-
sible remedy.

5. DIARRHOZA. This very fatal disease is exceedingly common
among newly-caged birds, which have not yet become accus-
tomed to the food of the aviary. They constantly void a white

DISEASES. 21

chalky matter, which adheres to the feathers of the tail, and is
so acrid, as to produce a painful inflammation in and about the
rectum. The use of the rusty nail in the water, and the clyster
of linseed oil, as mentioned above, sometimes tend to mitigate
the disease ; but I have found that the only effectual method
of relieving the sick birds, is to procure them such food as is
most congenial with their natural habits. Many persons pull
out the feathers of the back and tail, and smear the parts
with fresh butter, and mix with the food the yolk of an egg,
hard boiled and chopped small. But in my hands this cruel
method has very rarely been attended with success.

6. OBSTRUCTION OF THE KUMP- GLAND, OR PIMPLES. In every
bird there is a gland situated just above the tail, which secretes
the oily substance necessary for pluming the feathers, and pre-
serving them from the effects of rain. And as in captivity birds
rarely get wet, they sometimes neglect to use this gland, and it
consequently swells, dries up, or even ulcerates. A good remedy
for this disease — of which the existence may be suspected if the
bird be observed sitting still, with the tail bent downwards,
and frequently pecking at the rough feathers on the affected
part — is either to apply an ointment made of unsalted butter
and sugar, or to enlarge the opening of the gland with a needle
or small knife. A better ointment still, and which may be
procured of any chemist, is compounded of litharge, white lead,
wine, and olive oil. The usual process of cutting off the
swollen gland, or perforating it with a needle, is indeed ef-
fectual in removing the disease ; but it destroyes the gland also,
and in the next moulting season the bird so treated generally
dies, for want of the oily matter necessary to soften the feathers.

7. EPILEPSY. This disease, which is very common among
Cage-Birds, seems to be brought on by a plethoric habit of body,
resulting from abundance of good food, and want of exercise.
I know of no better remedy than to dip the bird affected once
or twice in the coldest water that can be procured, and then
to cut the claws so closely as to let blood. A few drops of
olive oil given to the bird, frequently produce a good effect.
In the case of large birds, the best plan is to open a vein in
the side of the feet. It may, however, be remarked, that
this disorder sooner or later proves fatal to all birds affected by it.

8. MOULTING maybe considered as a disease. At its annual
recurrence great care and attention should be given to all the

22 INTRODUCTION.

inhabitants of the aviary, and a variety of wholesome food be
provided for them.

9. SORE FEET form one of the maladies to which Cage-Birds
are particularly subject, and which can be prevented only by a
strict attention to cleanliness. The thick scales in front of the
legs become loose every year, and ought to be removed ; great
care being taken not to break the skin.

10. TYMPANY. In this disease the skin of a part, or the whole
of the body, is puffed up by an accumulation of air beneath, till
it is stretched as tight as a drum. The remedy which would na-
turally suggest itself is also the best ; namely, to prick the
skin with a pin, and let out the air. I have known Larks,
which were dangerously ill of this complaint, begin to sing
within a quarter of an hour after the operation was performed.

1 1 . GIDDINESS is perhaps rather to be considered a trick or
bad habit, than a disease. It sometimes happens that birds of
the first class acquire the habit of looking up to such an ex-
tent, as frequently to turn round backwards on the perch.
There is no better means of preventing this, than by simply
covering the top of the cage with a cloth ; by which the
looking upwards, which is the cause of the giddiness, is effec-
tually checked.

12. PARASITIC INSECTS maybe suspected to exist in Cage-
Birds if they are restless at night, and frequently peck the
various parts of the body. The irritation thus indicated,
may often be traced to the presence of small yellow lice
in the skin, or concealed between the feathers. The most
effectual remedy is to syringe the birds with water, in which
a little quicksilver has been allowed to stand, or to expose them
repeatedly to a mild fumigation with tobacco smoke. Frequent
bathing, a careful attention to cleanliness, and a daily supply
of fresh dry sand, are the best preventives.

13. EXCESSIVE CORPULENCE. If it should be noticed that the
birds become exceedingly fat, as with some species is frequently
the case in autumn, the best plan is to mix a larger proportion
of carrot in the paste, and to put dry ants' eggs in the drinking
vessel.

14. THE PAIRING FEVEB generally attacks Cage-Birds in the
month of May, in which the desire to pair is at its height.
The birds affected by it usually cease to sing, grow melancholy,
allow their feathers to become and continue rough, waste away

MODES OF CAFIURE. 23

and die. Those which, are confined in cages are most subject
to it ; the reason of which may readily he discovered in the
uniformity and tediousness of their way of life, and the un-
gratified sensual desire. I have cured many "birds of this
disease by merely hanging their cages before the window ; by
which simple remedy they seemed at once enlivened, and forgot
their inclination for freedom and a mate.

VII. AGE or CAGE-BIRDS.

THE Age to which Cage-Birds attain, depends chiefly on the care
which is taken of them. We read of Parrots which have lived
100 years, and there are well-authenticated cases of Nightin-
gales, Goldfinches, and Chaffinches, which ha,ve been confined in
cages for twenty-four years. The age of Cage and Tame Birds
is the more worthy of notice, as it forms the only satisfactory
data for conclusions respecting the Age of Birds in general ; so
that in this, as well as in many other respects, our feathered
favourites are worthy of the naturalist's attention. It is re-
markable that birds, although attaining their full growth in a
much shorter period, yet on the average live much longer than
the mammalia. The age of the latter is equal to six or seven
times the period which they take to grow, while birds live from
fifteen to thirty times the same period. One reason for this is
said to be the different density of the bones, which in birds is
comparatively very small, so that the open structure remains
porous and light during a much longer period.

VIII. BIRD CATCHING.

WE generally obtain the inmates of our aviaries from bird-
sellers and fowlers ; the former supplying us with foreign, the
latter with indigenous birds. For the success of the latter, it is
essential that they should be acquainted, not only with the various
methods of catching birds, but also with the several calls and
cries, which, as is well known, differ according to the difference
of species, and according also to the various desires and emo-
tions which they are intended to express. As, however, there
is a peculiar method best adapted to the circumstances of every
case, I shall, in my account of each bird, give particular direc-
tions as to the best means of catching it. The following
remarks will therefore be understood to be only generally ap-
plicable.

24

INTRODUCTION.

Above all things, it is necessary to know the period at which
the different birds may be caught with least difficulty. Birds of
passage, i.e. those which, for the sake of a warmer climate and
a more abundant supply of food, annually migrate into other
countries, may be taken in spring or autumn. Such birds as
wander from place to place, not on account of climate, but to
procure their food, may be captured either in spring or autumn,
and occasionally in winter ; while those birds which always in-
habit the same place, may be caught at any season of the year ;
though, perhaps, with the greatest ease in winter, when they
are generally assembled in flocks of various sizes.

In autumn, birds may be taken in great numbers in the net ;
some being lured to it by the call of the decoy birds, and the
attraction of the bait ; others, like Larks, being driven into the
nets spread for the purpose. Spring, however — when the birds
are influenced by the sexual desire, and are attracted to the
call of the decoy bird, or the fowler, by the hope of finding a
mate — is the best season for the bird-catcher's operations. This
too is the time to intercept those birds which pass the summer
in some more northern, and the winter in some more southern
regions than our own. The difference between the sexes is now
also more readily discerned, as it is a well-known fact, that
among migratory birds, the males always arrive at least a week
before the females. March and April are the two months in the
year best fitted for the purpose ; and from daybreak till 9 A.M. is
the best time of the day, as after that hour the birds are chiefly
occupied in searching for food.

As it is a method by which almost all birds of the first and
second classes may be caught, I shall here describe in detail
the simple bird-trap used in Thuringia : —

Some strong oak or beech boughs are taken, to which the
faded leaves are still attached, and the ends cut off, so as to
produce a flat top of from 1 to 1£ feet in width. Notches are
then made in the cut branches, in which limed twigs are inserted.
These decoy-bushes, as they are called, are then set up in
plains near which it has been observed that birds of passage
frequently fly. These places are not difficult of selection, as
it has been found by experience, that such birds generally take
the same route, from which they rarely deviate by more than
400 or 500 yards. In mountainous countries, this route gene-
rally crosses the vallies ; and the overhanging eminences by

S 1' I! 1 X U E S
•'/;//' I'.ii-il / ',/////;//,/

MODES OF CAPTURE. 25

which these are hounded, are therefore excellent situations for
the decoy-bushes. Underneath the bushes are placed the cages
of the various decoy-birds, covered with boughs, in order that
the call birds and those on the wing may by no chance catch
sight of each other. Those birds which have themselves been
caught when full grown are preferred as decoys, as those reared
in the aviary are neither so able nor so willing to utter the call
peculiar to their species, and, indeed, have in many cases learned
the cry of other birds.

One of the best methods of catching birds is by the water-
trap, in which are taken birds of every species, so that the
fowler might make a selection. Nor is there anything more
pleasant than to sit in a cool place, by the side of a brook,
watching this trap on a hot summer's day. All that is neces-
sary is to turn the water into a canal, from four to six feet long,
and three to four feet broad, over which is stretched a net of
the same size, on hoops, which prevent it from falling into the
water. Level with the water are sticks of about an inch
thick, and over the rest of the canal are spread branches. If
the place be well chosen, it will be surrounded by birds through-
out the day ; though the best times are early in the morning,
and again about sunset. It depends upon the position of the
trap, whether it will succeed in taking such birds as frequent
fields and gardens, as well as the inhabitants of the woods.

Another method, which is both easy and practicable, is to clear
in woods and thickets a straight or crooked path, in which are
to be set nooses of horse-hair or fine linen-thread. By this
means, especially at the end of September and the beginning
of October, may be caught large numbers of such birds as eat
berries, e. g. Thrushes, Redbreasts, &c. This trap is called in
Germany " Schneuss" *

Cages which, when empty, maybe folded up and carried in the
pocket, add very much to the bird-catcher's convenience. They
are, however, adapted only for such birds as Goldfinches, Siskins,
Linnets, &c., which are quiet almost as soon as caught ; while
others, like Chaffinches, Larks, &c., are so violent as to render
it advisable to put them in a small bag, if possible lined with
felt, in which they can by no chance injure themselves. It is

* We should speak of it as a GIN ; the nooses or springes employed are
not only of various materials, but also of different shapes, as will be seen
by the accompanying plate.

26 1NTKODUCTION.

also recommended that such birds should be kept at first in
a dark room, and have their cages frequently covered with
green boughs or a cloth, to prevent their beating themselves
against the wires, or injuring their plumage. In these respects,
however, every bird requires a distinct treatment, the parti-
culars of which are best taught by experience.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT OF THE GENUS SYLVIA.

THE British species belonging to this interesting genus are
chiefly birds of passage, visiting this country in spring, and
leaving it again in autumn ; several of these are deservedly es-
teemed as the finest songsters of all the feathered race ; the
Nightingale, in particular, has the sweetest and most pleasing
note of any bird at present known. It has been generally sup-
posed that they are very difficult to preserve in confinement ;
but I have succeeded well in keeping several of the most inte-
resting species through several winters in perfect health, and
many of them are in full song all the winter ; and I have not the
least doubt but all the species might be kept without difficulty
in the way I have practised.

They will succeed very well in a warm room in winter, or, if
convenient, any part of a hot- house would suit them admirably ;
but they require a little fresh air when the weather is mild. They
might be preserved in cages, either separately or several together,
or in a small aviary, where all the species might be intermixed.
In the latter manner mine are kept at present. The temperature
of the room where they are, ought never to be much below tem-
perate, though some of the kinds do not mind a slight frost. The
species that I have found suffer most from cold, are, S. JKubetra
(Whin-chat), S. Phcenicurus (Hedstart), and S.Hortensis (Greater
Pettichaps) ; the Nightingale (S. Luscinia) is not near so tender
as these ; S. Cinerea (Larger Whitethroat), S. Sylviella (Lesser
Whitethroat), and S. Atricapilla (Blackcap), scarcely seem to
mind the cold at all.

In a wild state, the species of this genus feed almost entirely
on insects and fruit, but in confinement they may be taught to
feed on several other things ; but the more insects they have
given them the better ; and I believe it is impossible to keep
them in perfect health without a frequent supply. The food
that I find agrees with them best for a constancy, is an equal pro-
portion of bruised hemp-seed and bread, mixed up in the follow-
ing manner : I first put some hemp-seed in a little pan, and pour
some boiling water on it ; then, with a stick flattened at the end,
I bruise it as fine as possible, and add the same quantity of soft

SWEET'S ACCOUNT OP THE GENUS SYLVIA. 27

bread, which must also be braised up with it, so that the oily
milk from the seeds may be mixed with the bread, till it is of the
consistence of a moist paste : of this mixture they are all very
fond ; but it should be mixed up fresh every day, particularly in
summer, or the stale food will injure their health, and make them
dislike it altogether. I also give them a little boiled milk and
bread for a change, and some fresh raw meat cut in small pieces ;
some of the species like the fat best, but the greater part prefer
the lean. In winter, when insects are scarce, I occasionally treat
them to the yolk of an egg, boiled hard, and then crumbled
small ; this partly answers the purpose ; but it is a good plan to
have a stock of insects in store, to supply them with a few every
day, which keeps them in good health, and makes them sing more
melodiously.

A supply of some sorts of insects is easily preserved for the
winter. The large species of Flies may be caught in great abun-
dance in autumn ; particularly the Musca tenax, which, at that
season, are very plentiful on the Dahlias, French and African
Mary golds, and other plants belonging to the Composites. Musca
vomitoria is also plentiful on the Ivy, when it is in flower ; of
these two species large quantities may be caught, and dried for
the winter ; they only require to be put loosely in a paper bag,
and to be hung up in a dry room, so that they do not get mouldy ;
when they are given to the birds, a little boiling water must bo
poured on them, which softens them ; and the birds are as fond
of them as if they were alive. The common maggots from de-
cayed meat might also be saved for them, in large quantities ; by
collecting them late in autumn, and putting them in a large pot,
or pan, in dry mould, and then keeping it in a cool, dry place,
will preserve them all the winter ; when a few may be given to
the birds as often as the stock will allow of it. If kept hi too
warm a place, they will turn quickly into the pupa state, and the
flies will soon come out of them, and by that means, the stock
will soon diminish ; though the birds like them as well, or better,
in the pupa state.

Some fine gravel must also be kept continually in their cages ;
as the birds of this genus eat a great deal of it, and will not con-
tinue in good health without a constant supply. They are also
very fond of washing often ; so that a pan ot water, or something
large enough for them to get into, should be kept constantly at
the bottom of their cage.

These birds, when in confinement, are very restless at the
seasons of their usual migration from one country to another ;
at the time that they are leaving this country in autumn, about
twice during the winter, and again when they are returning in

28 INTRODUCTION".

spring. From their agitation at various times in winter, it may
be concluded, that they visit more than one country, after their
departure from this, it is very curious to see them when in that
state ; their restlessness seems to come on them all at once, and
generally in the evening ; when they are sitting, seemingly, quite
composed, they start up suddenly, and flutter their wings ; some-
times flying direct to the top of the cage, or aviary ; at other
times, running backwards and forwards on their perches, con-
tinually napping their wings, and looking upwards all the time ;
nor will they notice any thing that is going forward, as long as
they continue in that state, which lasts for an hour or two at
each time. By their always wishing to fly upwards, it may be
supposed that, when they first take their flight, they mount direct
upwards to a great height, so that they can direct their course
the better, by seeing the way clear all around them : their agi-
tation generally lasts on them about a fortnight, sometimes more
and sometimes less ; in the spring it seems strongest on them ;
at that season, they will sometimes flutter about the whole of
the night, and sleep a great part of the day.

The best method of catching the birds of this genus is with
the common Nightingale trap, baited with living insects. When
they are first caught, they must be fed with insects, or fruit,
according to their species ; but they will soon learn to eat the
other food, by sticking insects or fruit in it, so that they once
taste it ; if they are put in with tame birds, they will sooner get
reconciled to their confinement ; or if two or three wild ones
are put together, they will do much better than a single one.
When first caught, the cage in which they are kept should be
darkened, all but a little light near their food, or they will be
apt to beat themselves very much, and not be so likely to do
well ; it is, certainly, a good plan to keep several together, par-
ticularly in the winter, as they will sit close together on their
perch at night, and by that means keep each other warm.

Young birds of any of this genus may be bred up by hand, if
the nests are taken as soon as the birds are fledged ; they may
be fed on the same kind of food recommended for the old ones,
feeding them as often as they chirp for food, and giving them as
much as they will take readily each time, not forgetting to let a
drop or two of clean water fall into their mouth frequently ; the
neglect of this, I believe to be the only reason that so few people
can rear young birds. Those bred in this way are very tame
and familiar ; but I do not think them so hardy as those that are
caught wild.

I believe it has not been mentioned by any previous author,
that the birds of this genus moult, or change their feathers, more

SWEET'S ACCOUNT OF THE GEXTJS SYLYIA. 29

or less, twice in the year ; in the summer or autumn before they
take their departure from this country, and again in the latter end
of winter, or before their arrival in spring ; this appears to be a
provision of nature, that their feathers may be fresh and strong,
to assist them in their flight from one country to another. I sel-
dom find that they suffer any inconvenience from moulting, as
birds in general are supposed to do ; the only thing to guard
against, is to be careful that they do not get chilled with cold,
but to keep them rather warmer at that time than they generally
are ; I find nothing of more real benefit to them, than to place
them out in the sun as often as possible, which brings out their
feathers very quickly.

These birds are sometimes troubled with warts, or swellings
on their feet, particularly in cold weather, which makes them
lame, and sometimes it irritates them so much, probably from its
itching, that I have known them pull off their claws ; but this is
easily remedied, for when they are observed to be lame, if a little
fresh butter be rubbed on their feet, or, what is a great deal bet-
ter, a small quantity of cold cream, it will cure them almost imme-
diately. I have cured them in a very short time, even when
their feet have been swelled very much, and full of knots, or
warts. If by accident they happen to break off a claw or toe, it
is best to soak it directly in Freeman's Bathing Spirits, which
stops the blood immediately, and soon heals the wound.

I also find that their general food, which is bruised hemp-seed
and bread, is apt to become dry on a summer's day, particularly
if the cages are placed out of doors ; it must then be moistened, or
the birds will not eat of it, as they always prefer it very moist ;
it had better be a little over-moist than too dry. I also find that
they are fondest of their meat, when mixed up with the bruised
hemp-seed and bread, which should be cut up in small pieces,
not scraped with a knife, as is generally done ; a little very fresh
might be given occasionally, which they will sometimes prefer as
a change; the change of food I consider of the greatest impor-
tance, both as to keeping them in good health, and raising their
spirits to make them sing ; nearly the whole of mine have been
in full song all the winter ; the greater part began to sing in
October, and the others in November.

Bird-fanciers generally keep their Nightingales, or other birds
that they consider tender, in a close cage, with wires only in
front, thinking it will keep them warm, and preserve their health;
on the same principle I had my largest cage made, only with
green baize at the top, to keep them from injuring their heads
when on their passage ; at the same time I had a less cage, wired
all round except on one side, and I was surprised to find that the

30 INTRODUCTION-.

birds were always more healthy in that, than in the close one,
where some of them were frequently ill ; and I generally found
that when removed into the open cage, they soon recovered : I
therefore had the close one altered with wires at both ends and
front, and a close back, that there might be a free circulation of
air, which I supposed the birds wanted ; and since that time
they have all been in excellent health. I had observed before,
that the Nightingales always sing better in an open cage than
in a close one.

I before mentioned, that a pan of water should be kept con-
tinually in their cage, that they might wash whenever they chose;
this is the case with the greater part of them when old birds,
but it is very hurtful to young ones, as it is apt to give them the
cramp, and weaken them. I also find that the Wood- wren, Grass-
hopper-warbler, Sedge- warbler, and Reed- warbler, will wash so
much in winter, if the water is left continually in their cage, that
it will weaken them very much, and frequently cause their death.
It is, therefore, best to give them water in something that they
can wash in, allowing them to wash about once a week in the
winter, and that always in the morning of a fine dry day ; they
will then be able to clean and dry themselves in good time.

ADDITIONAL. — The Hon. and Rev. WILLIAM HERBERT says of
the Sylviadce, " Milk, which Mr. Sweet recommends, I have
found very fatal to many of the soft-billed birds, and I never give
it, but the Black-caps do not seem to suffer from it. They are very
fond of a boiled carrot, mashed and moistened, or beet-root boiled
and mashed. A boiled carrot will keep fresh many days in a
basin of cold water, and is an excellent substitute for fruit in
feeding them. Boiled cabbage, cauliflower, green peas, are
good for them ; all sorts of puddings ; a very little roast meat,
minced, I give them every day, and a little yolk of egg when it
suits, but it is not necessary. The standard food ii hemp-seed
ground in a coffee-mill, and bread crumbs scalded and mashed
up together, and fresh every day. They are very fond of ripe
pears and elder-berries, but the latter stain the cage very
much ; currants, cherries, honeysuckle, and privet-berries they
also like."

Professor RENNTE says — " I have more than once given the
Black-cap and other birds a little milk by way of medicine, when
they appeared drooping or sickly, with manifest advantage."

It has been observed, that too much hemp-seed is prejudicial
to all birds in a state of confinement, frequently inducing blind-
ness, loss of voice, and pulmonary disease.

31

STRUCTURE OF BIRDS.

BIRDS are described by CUVIER as " Oviparous, vertebrated
animals, with double circulation and respiration, organized for
flight. Their lungs are not divided, but fixed to the ribs, and
are enveloped in a membrane pierced by great holes, which per-
mit the air to pass into many cavities in the chest, lower belly,
arm-pits, and even the interior of the bones ; so that the exterior
fluid not only bathes the surface of the pulmonary vessels, but
also the surfaces of an infinity of vessels of the rest of the body.
Thus, birds respire in some respects by branches of their aorta
as well as by those of the pulmonary artery, and the energy of
their irritability is in proportion to their quantity of respiration.
All their body is arranged to participate in this energy. Their
anterior extremities destined to sustain them in flight, could
neither serve the purpose of standing or holding ; hence they
are biped, and take things from the ground with their mouth :
thus their body is inclined before their legs, the thighs carry
them forward, and the toes are elongated to form a sufficient
base; the pelvis much extended in length, to furnish attach-
ment to the muscles which support the trunk on the thighs.
There is moreover a set of muscles proceeding from the pelvis to
the toes, and passing over the knee and heel, so that the weight
alone of the bird closes the toes, and thus they are enabled to
sleep perched on one foot. The ischia, and especially the ossa-
pubis, are elongated behind, and widen to leave sufficient place
for the development of the egg.

" The neck and the beak are elongated, to reach the ground,
and the former has pliability enough to be bent backward when
at rest. It has therefore many vertebrae. On the other hand,
the trunk, which supports the wings, has very little motion ; the
sternum especially, to which are attached the muscles which
lower the wings in flight, is very much extended, and has its
surface increased, moreover, by a laminous projection in tho
middle. It is formed of five pieces ; one central, of which the
laminous projection makes a pivot ; two anterior lateral, for the
attachment of the ribs ; and two posterior lateral, for the exten-
tion of its surface. The degrees of ossification of these last in
each species denotes the proportion of vigour for flight. The
fu,rca produced by the union of the two clavicles, and the two
vigorous supports formed by the c&racoid apophyses, widens the
shoulders ; the wing — sustained by the humerus, by the fore-arm,
and by the hand which is long, and has one digit, and the ves-
tiges of two others — carries along its whole length a range of
elastic quills, which greatly extends the surface which resists the
air. The quills adhering to the hand are called primary, and

32

INTRODUCTION.

there are always ten ; those belonging to the fore-arm are called
secondary, and their number varies ; the feathers, less strong,
attached to the humerus, are called scapular ; the bone which
represents the thumb has also certain quills called bastards.

The bony tail is very short, but it has also a range of strong
feathers, which by spreading, continue to support the bird ;
their number is commonly twelve, but there are sometimes four-
teen ; in the gallinaceous birds there are eighteen.

The feet have & femur, a tibia, and a peroneum, articulated to
the femur by a spring, whose extension is maintained without
effort on the part of the muscles. The tarsus and metatarsus
are represented by a single bone, terminated at the bottom by
three pulleys.

Clutching Feet.

Golden Eagle.

Otprey.

STRUCTURE. 33

There are generally three toes in front, and a thumb behind ;
the latter is sometimes wanting ; and in the Martins is directed
forward. In the climbers, on the contrary, the external toe and
the thumb are directed backwards. The number of articulations
increases in each toe, commencing with the thumb, which has
two, and finishing with the extreme toe, which has five.

Walking and Running Feet.

Ring-Dove.

Little Bustard.

Birds are in general covered with feathers, a sort of tegument
best adapted to protect them from the effects of the rapid varia-
tions of temperature to which their movements expose them.
The air cavities which occupy the interior of their body, and
which even occupy the place of marrow in the bones, augment
their specific lightness. The sternal portion of the ribs, like the
vertebral, is ossified, to give more force to the dilation of the chest.

The eyes of birds are so disposed, as to enable them to distin-
guish objects both far and near equally well ; and a vascular
and folding membrane placed at the bottom of the globes, at
the edge of the crystalline, assists probably in displacing that
lens. The anterior surface of that globe is moreover strengthened
by a circle of bony pieces ; and besides the two ordinary eye-
lids, there is always a third placed at the internal angles, and
which by means of a remarkable muscular apparatus, is able to
cover the front of the eye like a curtain. The cornea is very-
curved, but the crystalline is flat, and the vitreous humour small.

The ear of birds has but one little bone between the tympanum
and the oval aperture. Their cochlea is a cone scarcely bent ;
but their semi-circular canals are large, and lodged in a part of
the skull, where they are surrounded on all sides with air cavi-
ties which communicate with the area. Night-birds alone have
a large external ear, which, nevertheless, is not so prominent as

D

34

that of quadrupeds; this opening is generally covered with
barbed feathers, more fringed than the others.

The organ of smell, hidden in the base of the beak, has com-
monly only three cartilaginous cornets, which vary as to their
complication ; it is very sensible, although it has no sinus dug
into the skull. The size of the osseous openings of the nostrils
governs the form of the beak ; and the cartilages, membranes,
feathers, and other teguments, which straighten these openings,
iiave an influence on the strength of the smell, and on the sort of
nourishment.

The tongue has little muscular substance, and is sustained by
a production of the hyoid bone : it has but little delicacy in the
majority of birds.

The feathers, as well as quills, which differ from them only in
size, are composed of a stem, hollow at the base, and of barbs,
each having others much smaller ; their tissue, their brightness,
their strength, and general form, vary infinitely. Touch must
be weak in all parts capable of it ; and as the beak is almost
always corneous, and possessed of little sensibility ; and the toes
are covered with scales on the upper side, and with a callous
skin underneath ; this sense must be but little efficacious in birds.

The feathers fall sometimes twice a year. In some species,
the winter plumage differs from that of the summer. In general,
the female differs from the male, by colours less bright, and the
young of both sexes resemble the female ; when the adult male
and female are of the same colour, the young have a dress pecu-
liar to themselves.

The brain of birds has the same character as that of other ver-
tebrated oviperous animals ; but is distinguished by a size in
proportion very considerable, often exceeding that of the same
organ in the mammalia. It is principally to tubercles, analogous
to the corpora striata, that the volume is referable, and not to
the hemispheres, which are very narrow, and without circumvo-
lutions. The cerebellum is large, almost destitute of lateral
lobes ; and almost entirely formed by the vermiform process.

The trachea of birds has its annulations entire ; at its bifur-
cation is a glottis, generally furnished with peculiar muscles, and
named the lower larynx: it is there that is formed the voice of
birds ; the enormous volume of air contained in the air-vessels
contributes to the force of their voice, and the trachea, by its
various form and movements, to the modification of the voice.
The upper larynx, very simple, has but little to do with this.

The face, or upper beak of birds, formed principally by the
inter maxillaries, is prolonged backwards into two arcades, the
internal of which is composed of the palatine bones, and the ex-
ternal of the maxillaries smdjugals, and which are supported on

STRUCTURE. 35

a moveable tympanic bone ; and on the upper part, this same
face is articulated, or united to the skull by elastic laminae ; this
mode of union leaves them, at all times, some degree of mobility.

The horn which invests the two mandibles serves the place of
teeth, and is sometimes prickled, so as to represent them. Its
form, as well as that of the mandibles which sustain it, varies
infinitely, according to the nature of the food which each species
takes.

The digestion of birds is proportioned to the activity of their
life, and the force of their respiration. The stomach is composed
of three parts ; the crop, which is a folding of the oesophagus;
the succentorial ventricle, a membranous stomach, furnished in
the thickness of its surface with a multitude of glands, the secre-
tion of which imbibes the food ; and finally, the gizzard, armed
with two powerful muscles, which two radiated tendons unite,
and lined within with a cartilaginous coating. The food is
ground there the more easily, by the bird swallowing little stones
to augment the force of the tituration. In a majority of species
which live only on flesh, or on fish, the muscles and the surface
of the gizzard are reduced to an extreme weakness ; it has the
appearance of making only a single bag with the succentorial
ventricle. The dilation of the crop is also sometimes altogether
wanting.

The liver turns the bile into the intestines by two conduits,
which alternate with the two or three by which the pancreatic
fluid passes. The pancreas of birds is large, but their spleen is
small ; they have no epiploon, the uses of which are in part
supplied by the partitions of the air-cavities. Two appendages
are placed toward the origin of the rectum, and a short distance
from the anus; these are more or less long, according to the
food of the species. The herons have them very short ; other
genera, as the pici, are without them altogether.

Every one knows the varied industry employed by birds in
constructing their nests, and the tender care they take of their
eggs and of their young ; this is the principal part of their in-
stinct. For the rest of their intellectual qualities, their rapid
passage through the different regions of the air, and the lively
and continued action of this element upon them, enable them to
anticipate the variations of the atmosphere in a manner of which
we can have no idea, and from which has been attributed to
them, from all antiquity, by superstition, the power of announcing
future events. They are not without memory or imagination,
for they dream ; and every one knows with what facility they
may be tamed, and may be made to perform different operations,
and repeat certain airs and words.*

* See Griffith's Cuvier, vol. vi. p. 3.

D2

36

INTRODUCTION.

PLUMAGE OF BIRDS.

As in the popular study of birds, reference is most frequently
made to the plumage, as distinctive of the several species, we
have thought it well to explain somewhat fully its nature and
construction : and this we cannot do more lucidly and concisely
than in the words of MUDIE,* who illustrates his subject with the
following cut of the Garrulous Eoller (Coriacius garrula); be-
cause, although rare as a British bird, it is one in which the
different feathers are very distinctly marked, and the parts well
denned. The upper surface is here only represented ; but as the
back is the most interesting part, and the one most usually
noticed, this will be sufficient for our present purpose.

* Mudie's British Birds, vol. i.

PLUMAGE. 37

1. Is the ear covert, which consists of certain soft feathers,
which cover the external organ of hearing. They vary consider-
ably in birds of different species, and on that account they are of
considerable use as means of distinction.

2. The scapulars, or feathers, which cover the shoulders and
shoulder-bones, and the places where the kumeri, or first bones
of the wing, answering to the bones of the human arm above the
elbow, are articulated. They unite, without much distinction,
with the common feathers of the back, and along with those of
the wings and the sides. The scapular feathers serve only as
clothing to the parts which they cover, but they form a thick,
and comparatively a downy covering, which, while it admits of
easy motion, preserves the important joints which it covers from
the varieties of the weather.

3. The bastard wing. — This consists of a greater or smaller
number of feathers, bearing some resemblance to the quills of the
true wing. They grow from a little bone, which is united to the
third or wrist joint of the wing ; and they, and the bones by
which they are supported, are generally strong in proportion to
the power of flight in the bird. Indeed, there is generally a de-
velopment of all that part of the wing which corresponds to the
hand, proportional to the power of flying. Thus, in the wing of
the Jer Falcon, which may be considered as the bird of finest and
most graceful flight, the thumb consists of two distinct bones,
and even a marking, as if the last two were united ; and the four
fingers may be traced, the first in a long bone, the second in a
small one, 'and the third and fourth in two ribs, united by a very
thin plate of bone. The use of the bastard wing is not very well
known, because the action of the different parts of the wing,
during flight, is not easily observed ; but it is probable that it
prevents the wing from turning upwards, and even gives the
point of it a downward motion, in the contrary direction to that
in which the wing is moved, and thus propels it forward.

4. The lesser wing-coverts. — These are the first parts of the
plumage of the wings, which in all birds take the form of definite
and firm feathers. There are generally several rows of them ;
and there are under-coverts, which answer to them, and line the
under or inner side of the wings, but these are more slender and
downy in their consistence, and, generally speaking, they have
less colour.

5. The greater wing-coverts. — These lie under the lesser ones,
and are still larger and stronger, stretching a considerable way
over the quills or flying feathers, and being supports to these for
a greater part of their length than the lesser coverts. They are
also much stronger, in proportion to the coverts which answer to
them on the under-sides of the wings.

38 INTRODUCTION.

6. The primaries, or principal quills. These form the termi-
nation of the wings, and are the strongest feathers on the bird.
They rise from the hand, or that portion of the wings which is
below the wrist joint, and which, though it sometimes contains
three distinct bones in its length, is frequently called the first
(or third) bone of the wing. These feathers are numbered in
order ; the outer one, or that which is foremost in the expanded,
or lowest in the closed wing, is the first. Considerable differences
in the form of wings arise from the various lengths of the feathers ;
and these are accompanied by corresponding variations in the
style of flight. If the first or second of these feathers be the
longest in the wing, (and when the second is longest the first
comes underneath and supports it,) the bird can turn in the air
with greater ease than with any other form of wing. Birds
which hawk flying, or catch their prey while on the wing, whether
they catch other birds, as the Falcons, or insects as the Swallows,
have their wings of this construction. The Pigeons, which are
also birds of excellent wing, have the second feather longest ; but
the Lapwing, which is remarkable for the variety of its motions
in the air, has the longest feathers far into the wings.

7. The secondaries, or second quills of the wing. They arise
from that part of the wing which is commonly called the second
bone, and which answers to the fore-arm in man. They come
from it towards the wrist joint, and admit of a folding of the
wing between them and the primaries, when the wing is closed.
When the wing is open they sometimes appear a continuation of
the same curve with the primaries, and at other times they form
a distinct curve of their own.

8. The tertiaries, or third quills of the wing. They arise chiefly
from the same bones as the secondaries, but nearer to the elbow
joint. In some birds, especially those which are in the habit of
running very swiftly with the wings partially opened, the ter-
tiaries are often so long, and come so to a point, that the bird
appears as if it had four wings, or rather had a double wing on
each side. This form of wing answers some important purposes
in their economy.

From the manner in which the several coverts support each
other and the quills, the wing is a finer combination of lightness,
strength, elasticity, and stiffness, than could be produced by any
other means. These coverts support, and admit of motion upon
each other, not unlike that which takes place in a coach-spring,
which is about the best of our mechanical contrivances for ren-
dering motion smooth and free from jolts, at the same time that
the compound spring is much less liable to be broken than if it
were formed of a single piece of metal.

9. The rump-feathers and upper tail-coverts. The first of

PLUMAGE. 39

these are a continuation of the covering of tho back ; and the
second support the tail feathers on the upper side, and are strong
in proportion, as these are adapted for action in flying. In birds
which use the tail as the means of support in fixing themselves
upon upright surfaces, as is the case in the Woodpeckers, the
upper tail coverts are very strong and close, and so thick is their
array, as to give that organ the same stiffness as a powerful
wing. In those birds, also, which have to take wing from the
water, and yet have not the feet webbed and placed far back-
wards, so as to support them when rising, the tail-coverts are
peculiarly strong, in order to support the tail feathers, which
are the principal fulcra from which the bird gets into the air.

10. The vent feathers and under tail-coverts, which cover the
hinder part of the bird ; and in those birds in which the tail
feathers are long and stiff, and much used in the act of flying,
support the under side of these feathers, in the same manner as
the under-coverts support the quills of the wings. In those birds
which have a habit of flirting up the tail, the under-coverts are
longer and stronger than in those which have no such habit.

The tail feathers require no reference. They vary much in
their numbers and length, and also in the form of their termina-
tions, and the motions which the bird can communicate to them.
In some birds the whole, or, at least, great part, of these feathers
appear to be merely ornamental, which of course means nothing
more than that their uses have not been observed. In general,
however, they act both as a rudder in flying, and as a means of
directing the motion upwards or downwards. Analogy would
indeed lead us to suppose that their chief use is in the upward
and downward motion, because their greatest surface is generally
horizontal. The analogy is further confirmed by the fact, that
many of the low-flying birds have the breadth of the closed tail
in the vertical plane, though these also can, in general, spread it
out like a fan when they fly.

The other feathers are to be considered rather as the clothing
of the bird than as active instruments in its flight, or as auxiliaries
in its motions upon the land or the water. But still they are
not less worthy of notice, both in the distinguishing of one bird
from another, and in tracing how well all the parts of birds are
adapted to their general habits and their haunts. These ordinary
feathers are imbricated — that is, they are placed one over the
edges of two — as slates or tiles are in a covering of a roof. By
means of this arrangement, all the parts of the bird are equally
feathered, and so they are equally proof to the action of the at-
mosphere. The lines in which the several rows of feathers are
placed, form very curious curves, and their shafts diverge or

40 INTRODUCTION.

converge so naturally, and with so perfect agreement, to the sur-
face which they cover, that no line of separation can be traced.

The feathers of birds, the coverings of the featherless parts,
and even the beaks and claws, are all, chemically speaking, formed
of nearly the same materials ; and nearly the same with the hair
and cuticle of all animals, and even with the epidermis which
covers living shells. This material is coagulated albumen, or
nearly the same substance as white of egg when consolidated by
heat, in which state it better resists the action of water than al-
most any other flexible substance. This substance is, especially
in the upper or more coloured and glossy part of the feathers,
combined with oils and metallic substances in very minute por-
tions ; but in the down and the light-coloured feathers it is nearly
pure.

The under part of the clothing feathers, and also a small por-
tion of almost all feathers near the tube or barrel, consists of
down, but the exposed surfaces, even of the softest feathers, are
smoothed so as to throw off the water. This is the case even in
those water-birds which pass the greater part of their time with
the under part of the body immersed in water. On them, the
down is abundant in proportion as the habits of the birds expose
them to cold ; and the external surface is waterproof, from its
glossy texture, and (possibly F) also from the oil with which the
bird anoints it by means of its bill : but in all birds there is an
external surface, adapted to prevent decomposition, and an inner
downy matter, as a protection against changes of temperature.
The down is partly on the root-ends of the feathers, and partly
on the skin in the intervals between them, but the material is in
all cases substantially the same ; the difference is in the form, or
in the colour, which generally approaches nearer to white in the
down than in the feathers. When the bird remains all the year
round in situations where there are great differences in the heat
of the seasons, the down increases in quantity during winter ;
and when birds of a warmer climate are domesticated in a colder
one, they become more downy. The form which the down as-
sumes is often characteristic of the habits of the bird. In the
Ostrich there is none ; in some birds it is a mere tuft at the origin
of the webs, in others it is a second feather originating there ;
and there are all the intermediate states in different birds, and
very considerable seasonal differences in the same bird.

Different birds find their food in different states, both of the
atmosphere and the waters ; and very beautiful corresponding
differences in their plumage may be traced. The plumage upon
the Haven, which braves the storm in the wilds, is very different
from that of the gallinaceous or poultry races, which a slight
shower drives to their cover or their perch ; and Ducks and other

PLUMAGE. 41

water birds, which seek their food peaceably on the banks, or by
swimming in the shallow waters, have very different phunage
from those which hawk about on the wing, in order to catch what
the troubled sea brings to the surface. If the habit of the bird
be to steal softly on its prey, then the feathers are fined off to
exceedingly delicate points, so that it can glide silently through
the air.

The feathers of birds, while they remain perfect and firm in
their connection, are really parts of a living animal, and as such
they must be regarded as organs of feeling. They do not, pro-
bably, in themselves feel pain, but they are in intimate connection
with parts which do. The epidermis in no animal appears to feel
pain, even in those parts of the animal which are regarded as
being more immediately the organs of sensation ; but they very
speedily transmit impressions to the parts that do feel. It is the
same with hair, and with all the appendages of the cuticle, such
as nails, claws, hoofs, and horns. The horse feels his footsteps
in the dark, even when his hoofs are shod with iron j and he feels
not only the touch of a wall, a gate, or any other obstacle, but
he feels the difference which such objects cause hi the resistance
of the air, and that enables him to avoid touching them.

The horse feels his way by means of the hair, and birds must
in like manner often feel their way by their feathers. Such
must be habitually the case with Owls and other nocturnal birds,
which can fly darkling through thick woods and other intricate
places ; and though the Owls have their eyes directed forwards,
and not laterally, as many other birds have, they are by that
means less capacitated for avoiding by sight, even admitting that
they can see with the smallest possible portion of light, those
obstacles which it would be the most awkward to encounter —
those of course which would injure, entangle, or impede their
wings. If one wing were to come in contact with a tree, or even
with a leaf, the bird would be upset, as certainly as a man is,
when in walking heedlessly he places one foot over a pit or ditch
while the other is on the ground.

The necessity of feeling with the feathers is not confined to
nocturnal birds, but is essential to the safety of all the winged
tribes, the feathers must therefore always be in a state of great
perfection. Now though the shafts of many feathers and the
larger ribs of the webs or bones of not a few, are of considerable
substance and strength, all feathers are subdivided till the ulti-
mate ramifications are exceedingly minute. Consequently, they
produce very large surfaces to the air, in proportion to the quan-
tities of matter they contain.

Feathers are thus very much exposed to atmospheric action,
which dries them, and renders them unfit for the functions that

42 INTRODUCTION.

are required of them. They are also apt to be broken or torn
in the flights, the wars, and the labours of their owners. They
are therefore periodically shed and reproduced ; and the repro-
duction usually takes place in such a way, so that the bird shall
be in best feather at the very time when it has the greatest
labour to perform.

The resident native birds of countries where the heat of the
year is comparatively uniform, moult gradually, and the same
may be said of those that have their Haunts in regions that are
always cold, and where the food is comparatively limited. Such
birds are seldom so denuded of feathers as to be unfit for pretty
vigorous flight. Birds which migrate from region to region moult
more periodically ; and in places where the migration is exten-
sive, it will perhaps be found, upon further examination, that the
bird moults twice in a year, though in most instances the spring
moult is less general than the autumnal one, being in many
birds, the males especially, rather a change of colour than of all
the feathers. Birds which migrate polar ly, or for the purpose
of breeding, generally receive their nuptial colours, if not their
plumage, after they arrive ; but when they migrate equatorially,
they change their plumage before they begin their journey. The
vernal change in the plumage of birds is owing to the same cause
as the change of their voices, from the chirp or cry to song ; and
in a state of nature the two cease together.

HABITAT AND MIGRATION OB BIRDS.*

THE habitat of birds is not circumscribed within such narrow
limits as that of quadrupeds, because, by means of their win^s,
they can traverse more space, and even cross the seas. The
aquatic birds, by alternate flying and swimming, can proceed to
the most remote countries. "Nevertheless, each species adopts a
country, chooses a climate suitable to its nature, and when the
change of season obliges it to seek, under new skies, a country
analogous to its former one, it is but for a season, These birds
always return to their favourite country at the season of repro-
duction. The Stork, indeed, has two separate broods, one brought
forth in Europe, and the other in Egypt.

Birds, generally speaking, appear to belong more to the air
than to the earth. They constitute moving republics, which
traverse the atmosphere at stated periods, in large bodies. These
bodies perform their aerial evolutions like an army, crowd into
close column, form into triangle, extend in line of battle, or dis-
perse in light squadrons. The earth and its climates has less
influence on them than on quadrupeds, because they almost

* Abridged from Griffith's Cuvier, vol. vi. p. 149.

HABITAT AND MIGEATION. 43

always live in similar degrees of temperature, passing the winter
in hot climates, and the summer in cold. The continual inter-
change of birds establishes a communication between all coun-
tries, and keeps up a sort of equilibrium of life. The bird pass-
ing in summer from the equinoctial climates to the cold regions
of the north, and again in winter from the poles towards the
equator, knows, by an admirable instinct, the winds and the
weather which are favourable to his voyage. He can long foresee
the approach of frost, or the return of spring, and learns the
science of meteorology from the element in which he almost con-
stantly lives. He needs no compass to direct his course through
the empire of the clouds, the thunder, and the tempest ; and
while man and beast are creeping on the earth, he breathes the
pure air of heaven, and soars upwards nearer to the spring of
day. He arrives at the term of his voyage, and touches the
hospitable land of his destination. He finds there his subsistence
prepared by the hand of Providence, and a safe asylum in the
grove, the forest, or the mountain, where he revisits the habita-
tion he had tenanted before, the scene of his former delights, the
cradle of his infancy. The Stork resumes his ancient tower, the
Nightingale the solitary thicket, the Swallow his old window, and
the Redbreast the mossy trunk of the same oak in which he for-
merly nestled. All the volatile species which disappear in the
winter do not, therefore, change their climate. Some retire into
remote places, to some desert cave, some savage rock, or ancient
forest, from whence they sally at the close of winter, and spread
themselves through the country.

Other families of birds do not, properly speaking, emigrate.
They content themselves with approaching the southern climates,
in proportion as they are pursued by the cold. The species
called erratic, such as the Greenfinches of the Ardennes, Larks,
Ortolans, other frugivorous races, and especially Parrots, go in
troops begging, as it were, their subsistence on the passage.
Others follow the track of cultivation, and spread themselves in
proportion with the habitations of men.

Of the birds which emigrate every year, some depart in autumn
and return in spring, while others depart in spring and return in
autumn. Our insectivorous races, and many gramvorous, finding
nothing at the beginning of winter but a soil deprived of its
productions, presenting every where the image of desolation and
death, are necessitated^ betake themselves to more favoured
climes. Those which, through negligence or weakness, remain
behind, drag out a miserable existence, and constantly perish
from famine in the midst of frost and snow.

As our summer birds abandon us towards the close of autumn,
we receive, at the same time, fresh supplies of feathered hordes

44 INTRODUCTION.

from the populous north. When the weather grows dull, we
see passing through the misty air large detachments of Wood-
cocks, of Lapwings, and of Plovers : these are followed by trian-
gular bands of Cranes, Storks, of Teal, of Wild Geese, and Ducks.
They delight in inundated fields, or reedy marshes, or spread
themselves in the glades of humid and denuded woods. They
continually utter clamorous and melancholy cries, in accordance
with the bleak and wintry scene around them. It is a most
curious circumstance to observe that the Cranes leave and return
every year, with marvellous exactness, on the same days.

The Palmipedes and G-rallcs come to us every winter from
the northern climates, whither they are driven by the ice, and
return in spring to their cold and humid habitations. The in-
sectivorous and granivorous races return with the flowers and
fine weather, from southern regions, to their native country,
allured by the expectation of renewed enjoyment and abundant
food. It is at the periods of the equinoxes that these great
voyages of birds are performed. These are also the periods of
great winds, as if nature had intended that the birds should be
thus assisted in their flight. The cold which drives the birds of
the polar regions into more temperate climates, sends those of
temperate climates into the hot countries. But on the first indi-
cation of summer the hot climates send back to the temperate
their aerial inhabitants, and the temperate send back to the cold
regions their native tribes. Thus there is a general concentra-
tion of birds towards the torrid zone in winter, and a general
dispersion towards the poles in summer.

The triangular figure which migrating birds adopt in their
flight is the most favourable for cutting the air. The bird placed
at the point is the most fatigued of the entire band ; accordingly
each takes this place in turn. The migrations of fishes are con-
ducted in the same manner : the most robust places himself at
the head ; the other males follow, and the females and young
come last. When the ranks of the Storks are broken by the
wind, they condense into a circle ; they do the same when
attacked by an Eagle. Thus it appears that whatever the migra-
tions of birds may be, yet do they all adopt a peculiar country —
each species has its distinct and never-varying habitat, where at
a particular period of the year it may certainly be found. In
the study of the natural history of the feathered tribes, it is of
great importance to remember this fact, and to note with exact-
ness the times and seasons of departure and return. Nothing is
more remarkable, nothing more truly wonderful in nature, than
the regularity and celerity of these annual migrations ; the im-
mense extent of illimitable space which the birds traverse, guided
only by an unerring instinct ; the intuitive knowledge whiclx

HABITAT AND MIGRATION. 45

they seem to possess of the very day and hour of departure ; the
common consent with which they act, and the certain appointed
order which they appear to preserve in their flight, all are evi-
dences that a higher wisdom than mere animal intelligence, or
than even human reason, must direct their motions.

THOMPSON, in his Note Book of a Naturalist, has well ob-
served, " The migration of birds is one of the most interesting
features in the economy of nature, whether as regards the great
diversity of species it embraces, or the manner and seasons in
which it is performed. "With respect to those which arrive in the
autumn, and leave again as soon as spring returns, there is less to
wonder at, and there is less degree of instinct displayed. The dif-
ferent wild fowl, and some few land birds, whose habitat is pecu-
liarly in the north of Europe, travel southward only as they are
driven on in search of food by the rigour of winter. They have
no fixed destinations, and are mostly on the move from spot to
spot, many of them in flocks, as the circumstances of food and
safety influence them ; and notwithstanding the vast flights which
migrate to this country, it must be borne in mind that, perhaps
without an exception, there is not one of the varieties which is
not to be found as indigenous. That the Wild Fowl should prefer
the solitudes and morasses of the north for the purpose of breed-
ing is natural ; but that Larks, Fieldfares, Thrushes, &c. should
leave a country at the moment when the supply of food would
appear to be inexhaustible, is indeed surprising, and can only be
accounted for by looking to higher causes.

The Swallow tribe, arid many other species of birds, migrate
without any apparent ostensible cause, leaving climates in every
respect adapted to their habits, for those which can offer them
at the best but a short and precarious season ; unless, indeed, they
come as humble instruments of an all-directing Providence, to
save us, as it were, from one of the plagues of Egypt, by rid-
ding us of the myriads of flies which would otherwise infest us.
The distribution of other migratory birds leads to this belief :—
Storks, for instance, which rarely visit this country, are nume-
rous throughout Germany and Holland, where frogs abound.
The benefit they confer is so great, and so much appreciated,
that they are especially protected, and a fine is imposed on the
destruction of them. These birds, the Swallow tribe, and some
others, return to their old accustomed quarters with each suc-
ceeding spring, reoccupying the old spot, and, indeed, the old
nest, should it not have been destroyed in the interim. The
instinct which drives them across the w aters is almost less to be
wondered at than this effort of memory, for it can be called by
no other name.

Of all the phenomena connected with migration, one of the

46 INTRODUCTION".

most interesting is, that certain land birds leave ns in the spring
to nidificate in other countries,— a fact to be accounted for only
by looking to higher causes. The regions of the East would,
doubtless, supply the Swallow with food inexhaustible through-
out the year ; the Nightingale, and other warblers, would find
no difficulty in supplying their wants in those genial climes ; and
yet, urged by an irresistible and regularly recurring impulse,
they launch forth on a wearisome and perilous voyage to fulfil
their high mission. The same principle must apply to those
birds which hybernate with us. The cone of the fir-tree is
nearly as abundant as in the north, and yet the Cross-bill, Haw-
finch, and Chatterer, leave us ; berries are as plentiful, and still
the Fieldfare and Eedwing return in flocks. As regards the in-
sectivores, I believe them to be commissioned by an all-wise and
all-beneficent Providence, to free us from the crowd of insects
which would otherwise infest our dwellings, and destroy the
labours of the field ; and how greatly do they add to our enjoy-
ments and feelings of cheerf illness "by their beauty, motions,
and melody ! May not the return of the migratory birds to the
north be designed for the same purpose ? for how vast would be
the abstraction from our enjoyments, were our woods and hedge-
rows silent and tenantless. If our more southern winter is
gladdened and enlivened by these sportive and happy beings,
the vernal and summer delights of the inhabitants of the less
genial regions of the north are increased, and the privations of
winter, in a measure, compensated for by their return."

The following very suggestive remarks on this head, are from
KNAFP'S Journal of a Naturalist. " We know that all young
creatures require particularly, compounded nutriment during
their infant state ; and nature (Divine Providence), as far as we
are acquainted with it, has made in every instance provision for
a supply of fitting aliment. In many instances where the re-
moval of station could not be conveniently accomplished, instinct
has been given the parent to provide the fitting aliment for its
new-born young. Thus, insects, in some cases, store their cells
with food, ready for the animation of their progeny ; in others,
place their eggs in such situations as will afford it when they are
hatched. The mammalia — at least the quadrupeds belonging to
this class,which could least conveniently move their station — have
supplies given them of a milky secretion for this purpose. Birds
have nothing of this nature, and insects no provision for their
young ; but they, of all creatures except fishes, can seek what
may be required in distant stations with most facility. A suf-
ficiency of food for the adult parent may be found in every
climate, yet the aliment necessary for its offspring may not.
Countries, and even counties, produce insects that differ, if not

HABITAT AND MIGEATION. 47

in species, at least in numbers ; and many young birds we can-
not succeed in rearing, or do it very partially, by reason of our
ignorance of the requisite food. Every one, who has made the
attempt, well knows the various expedients he has resorted to —
of boiled meats, bruised seeds, hard eggs, boiled rice, and twenty
other substances, that nature never presents — in order to find a
diet that will nourish them ; but Mr. MONTAGUE'S failure in
being able to raise the young of the Girl Bunting, (Linn&an
Trans, vol. vii.) until he discovered that they required grasshop-
pers, is a sufficient instance of the manifest necessity there is for
a peculiar food in one period of the life of birds ; and renders
it probable that, to obtain a certain aliment, the Willow Wren
and others of the insect and fruit-feeding birds, direct their
flight to distant regions, and is the principal cause of their mi-
gration.

" It is some stimulus like this which urges that little creature,
the Golden-crested Wren, that usually only flits from tree to tree,
and never attempts upon common occasions a longer flight, to tra-
verse the distance from the Orkneys to the Shetland Isles, over
stormy seas that admit of no possible rest during its long pas-
sage of about fifty miles ! there it breeds its young ; but this
one object accomplished, it leaves those isles, dares again its
tedious flight, and seeks a milder clime. With us it never mi-
grates, lives much in our fir groves during the winter, and breeds
in our shrubberies in summer.

" Peculiar necessities, such as these, may incite the migration
of many birds ; but that certain species, which lead solitary
lives, or associate only in very small parties, should at stated
periods congregate from all parts to one spot, and there hold a
council on a removal, in which the very sexes occasionally sepa-
rate, is one of the most extraordinary procedures that we meet
with among animals." Extraordinary indeed ! may we not, in
this, as in all the phenomena which we behold in the world of
animated nature, trace the superintendence of an .all-wise and
benevolent Creator, by whose direction it is that "the Stork in
the heavens knoweth her appointed time ; and the Turtle, the
Crane, and the Swallow, observe the period of their coming."

48 INTHODUCTION.

CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS.

" OF all tlie classes of animals," observes CUVIEB, " that of
birds is tlie most strongly marked, and that in which the species
have the greatest resemblance, and which is separated from all
the others by a wider interval. This fact, however, renders it
more difficult to subdivide them." And out of this difficulty, we
may add, has arisen an almost endless variety of systems, each
naturalist endeavouring to establish that mode of arrangement
which seemed to him the most convenient and distinctive. It is not
our intention to enter into the particulars of these various me-
thods of arrangement, through the labyrinths of which the stu-
dent of natural history has frequently to pursue a particular
species, until he becomes fairly bewildered, but merely to give
the outlines of those which have been most generally followed
and adopted, on account of their obvious advantages.

WILLOUGHBY AND BAY'S SYSTEM.

We have placed these two together because they are essen-
tially alike ; Ray in his synopsis having followed, with but little
variation, the method of the older naturalist, which method is,
in fact, the basis of most of the systems founded on external
characters. By these celebrated British naturalists, birds are
separated into two grand divisions, termed Land Fowl, and
Water Fowl ; in the first division we have two sub-divisions,
the former having crooked beaks and talons, and including
not only the Eagles, Hawks, Vultures, Owls, &c., but also
the Shrikes, Birds of Paradise, and various members of the
Parrot tribe : and the latter with, the bill and claws not so
much curved ; and here are included all the rest of the land
birds. In the second division we find also two sub-divisions, viz.
such as frequent water or watery places for their food, but having
cloven feet, cannot swim ; and such as are web- footed, and there-
fore good swimmers. The birds in this system are olivided into
numerous groups, in accordance with some peculiarity of habit,
conformation, or colour of plumage even ; but these we need not
particularize.

THE LINN.EAN SYSTEM

We place next, because it is that to which reference is most fre-
quently made by writers on natural history; PENNANT and
LATHAM both adopted it with slight modifications, and on it is
founded that of CUVIEB. According to this system, birds are
distributed, into six orders : — 1st. Accipitres, or Hawks, including
all those birds commonly called rapacious, such as Eagles, Vul-

CLASSIFICATION. 49

tures, Falcons, Owls, &c. 2d. Piece, or Pies, divided into those with
feet formed for perching, for climbing, for walking ; here we
have the Magpie, the Jackdaw, the several members of the corvus
or Crow tribe, &c. 3d. Anseres, or Geese, divided into those with
bill toothed, and bill without teeth. 4th. Grallce, or Waders,
divided into those which have feet four-toed and three-toed.
5th. G-allince, or Poultry. 6th. Passeres, or Sparrows, which
order has four divisions, viz. : those with the bill thick ; the upper
mandible somewhat hooked at the point; upper mandible notched
near the end ; bill straight, simple, tapering.

CUVIEE'S SYSTEM.

Here, too, we have six orders of birds, and subdivisions grounded
as in the above system, mainly on the organs of food and pre-
hension, that is, the beak and toes ; the arrangement, however,
is somewhat different, and the orders more subdivided. 1st. Birds
of Prey, with strong hooked beak and sharp claws, divided into
those which fly by day — as Eagles, Hawks, Vultures, &c. — and
those which fly by night,* as Owls, &c. 2d. Climbers, with two
toes or claws, before and behind, as Woodpeckers, Cuckoos,
Parrots, &c. 3d. Gallinaceous Birds, with a strong thick bill,
nostrils large, and covered by a cartilaginous scale, and toes
partly united at the base, as Peacocks, Pheasants, Common Fowls,
Partridges, Pigeons, &c. 4th. Passerine Birds, without any of
the characteristics above mentioned, divided into those with the
beak notched on either side, as Butcher-birds, Flycatchers, Chat-
terers, Thrushes, Nightingales, Warblers, &c. ; those with the
mouth opening very far back, as Swallows, Goatsuckers, &c. ;
those with a strongconical unnotched beak, as Larks, Titmice,
Buntings, Linnets, Ilooks, &c. ; those with a slender curved beak,
as Hoopoes, Creepers, Humming-birds, King-fishers, &c. 5th.
Waders, with long naked legs, divided into those with wings
unfitted for flying, as ostriches ; with very short or no hind toe,
as Bustards, Plovers, Lapwings ; with a long broad, strong, and
generally sharp beak, as Cranes, Herons, Storks ; with a long,
slender, curved beak, as Curlews, Snipes, Woodcocks, &c. ; with
very long toes bordered by membrane, as Rails, Coots, Flamingoes,
&c. 6th. Swimmers, with webbed feet, divided into those with the
legs very near the tail, as Divers, Auks, Penguins, &c. ; with
very long powerful wings, as Petrels, Gulls, Cormorants, &c. ;
with a large fleshy tongue and a thick beak, covered with a
softish skin, and finely notched at the edges.

BEISSON'S SYSTEM

Is a purely artificial one. It is composed of twenty-six orders,
and one hundred and fifteen genera. The birds are classed : —

50- INTRODUCTION.

1st, according to the presence or absence of the membranes
uniting the toes, and according to the greater or less perfection
of such membrane, where it does exist ; 2d, according to the
number and disposition of the toes ; and 3d, according to the
form of the beak. The birds whose toes are without membranes
compose the first seventeen orders. Those which have four toes,
and the legs covered with feathers to the heel, are contained in.
the first fourteen. Those which have the four toes separated
from their commencement are confined to the first thirteen.
Those which have three anterior toes and one posterior are con-
fined to the first twelve. The last nine orders are composed of
birds whose toes are furnished with membranes in their entire
length.

TEMMINCK'S SYSTEM,

Which was published in 1820, is founded upon the manners
and organization of birds. It contains twenty orders, which are
as follows : — 1st, Rapaces, or Birds of Prey ; 2d, Omnivores, or
General Feeders ; 3d, Insectivores^ or Insect-eaters ; 4th, Grra-
nivores, or Grain-eaters ; 5th, Zigodactyli, having two toes before
and two behind ; 6th, Anisodactyli, with three before and one
behind ; 7th, Alcyones, or Halcyons ; 8th, Chelidones, or Swal-
lows ; 9th, Columbce, or Pigeons ; 10th, Gallince, or Poultry ;
llth, Alectorides, or Cock-like ; 12th, Cursores, or Runners ;
13th, G-rallatores, or Waders ; 14th, Pinnatipedes, with only the
rudiments of webs between the toes ; 15th, Palmipedes, or web-
footed ; 16th, Inertes, with wings unfit for flight.

THE QUINAEY SYSTEM

Is so called because the species are divided into groups of five,
having certain common characteristics or affinities. The leading
divisions, or orders, are as follows : — 1. Raptores, Birds of Prey,
including Vultures, Falcons, Owls, &c. ; 2. Incessores, Perchers,
divided into Cleft-bills, Toothed-bills, Conic-bills, Slender-bills,
and Climbers ; 3. Rasores, Scratchers, as Doves, Pheasants,
Grouse, Ostriches, &c. ; 4. Grallatores, Waders, as Cranes,
Herons, Snipes, Hails, Plovers, &c. ; 5. Natatores, Swimmers,
including most of the Aquatic Birds. These orders are divided
and subdivided into Tribes and Families of five, but some of the
links of the chain which ME, VIGOES has ingeniously constructed
are yet wanting.

The beauty and convenience of this system must be ac-
knowledged, as well as the classic taste and learning displayed in
the nomenclature ; but will it bear the test of further research into
the as yet comparatively unexplored fields of natural history P

CLASSIFICATION. 51

We hope that it may, but our hope is mingled with fear. After all,
however, every classification of living creatures made or attempted,
must be* to a certain extent, artificial ; as MACGILLIVBAY well
observes : " Species only exist in nature ; and genera, families,
orders, and all other groups, are merely ideal associations made
for convenience, and therefore more or less arbitrary." A system
of classification we must have, or how are we to arrange, in any-
thing like available order, the immense accumulation of facts
which preceding naturalists have collected, and to which additions
are daily being made? How are we to know where to look for
particulars of a distinct species, or to deposit a particular fact,
if there is no certain place assigned for it in the vast magazine
of natural history ; — no class, no order of arrangement ? Like
the naturalist, Buffon, we would lay much greater stress on facts
than systems, but we would not, like him, abandon system alto-
gether, " because it aids the memory, and, if not conducted in a
manner altogether arbitrary, serves to show the actual inter-ap-
proximation of beings in nature itself."* Yes, a system we must
have, but why twenty different ones ? This is a great obstacle
to the study of natural history, and should be remedied. In this,
as well as in every branch of physical science, we want agree-
ment and uniformity in its professors and modes of instruction.
We know that there are, in the case of birds especially, obvious
difficulties in the way of one general method of classification,
and great temptation to multiply systems, but we trust that they
may be eventually overcome ; and in the mean time, "the only
alternative of the naturalist who desires to be useful is accuracy
of description. "f

In " Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology," 2 vols. 8vo.,
will be found a well-arranged Synoptical Table of the Land and
Water Birds of Britain ; and attached to each species is a very
complete list of synonymes, and works from which they are taken,
extremely useful as references to the authorities which should be
consulted by the student in Ornithology, to whom may be re-
commended " Latham's General History of Birds;" "Donovan's
British Birds ;" " Selby's Complete British Ornithology ;" "Mudie's
Feathered Tribes of the British Islands;" "White's Natural
History of Selborne, edited by Jesse ;" and for Song Birds, espe-
cially, Bolton's beautifully illustrated " History of British Song
Birds."

According to MACGILLIVEAT, the list of British Birds may be
divided as follows : — Permanently resident and breeding species,
143 ; summer birds which breed with us, 44 ; winter residents, 36 ;
stragglers from the north, 23 ; stragglers from the south and east,
55 ; stragglers from the west, 19 ; total number of species, 320.
* Griffith's Cuvier, vol. vi. p. 95. t Ibid.

E 2

52 INTEODUCTIOtf.

Respecting the System of Classification adopted in the present
volume, BECHSTEIN thus writes : —

In treating of the history of Cage-Birds, many different
methods of classifying them presented themselves to my notice.
I might, for instance, arrange them partly according to their
size — partly according to their peculiar qualities. I might
first have spoken of those which delight the ear with their
song, and then of those which we prize for the beauty of their
plumage. I might have divided them into foreign and indige-
nous species ; or made a distinction between those which are
tameable only when young, and those which may be tamed
when full grown. As none of these systems, however, seemed
to me to possess any essential advantage over the other, I have
decided on one which will be found both clear and methodical.
It has moreover the advantage of being analogous to that
system usually adopted in ornithological works, which renders
a comparison between the following and other accounts of the
same bird less difficult. I have only to mention, that birds
which possess common characteristics, especially of beak and
claws, are arranged in the same species, and that several ana-
logous species form an order. Thus the different kinds of Owl
belong to one species ; while both Hawks and Owls are arranged
together under the order, " Birds of Prey."

(A.) LAND BIRDS.

I.— BIRDS OF PREY *

BTBDS of prey, which live on flesh, or by slaughter of other
animals, have a curved, hooked beak, and strong feet, with
sharp claws. These birds are used in falconry and bird-
catching ; as, for instance, many kinds of falcons are trained
to seize other birds ; and as Owls are used to attract small
birds to the barn-floor trap, and Rooks to the decoy hut. As
birds of prey neither sing nor learn to speak, are copious in
their excrements, and generally difficult to tame, it is not
probable that amateurs will often wish to keep them. There
are, however, three species, which, on account of their beauty,
facility of domestication, or engaging habits, form exceptions
to this rule, namely, the Kestril, the White Owl, and the Little
Owl.

ADDITIONAL. — "Birds of this order," says MACGILLIVBAY,
"occur in all countries, and are characterized by their rapacious
habits, solitary disposition, great quickness of sight, and powerful
flight. They may be arranged in three families: Vulturince, Fal-
conintB, and Strigince, representatives of all of which occur in
Britain. Of the first, however, only a single individual is recorded
as having been obtained in England ; but of the second, nineteen,
and of the third ten species, belong to our Fauna." Raptrices,
or Plunderers, is the term applied by this author, as by several
others, to the present order of birds.

* Accipitres. Raubrosel, BECHSTEIN.

54 THE KESTKIL.

INLAND BIRDS,

CAPABLE OF BEING TAMED WHEN OLD.
1. THE KESTEIL.

Falco Tinnunculus, LIN. Cresserelle, BUF. Der Thurmfalke, BECH.

Description. — The Kestril is as large as the collared Turtle-
dove, namely, about fourteen inches in length, of which the tail
measures six inches. The folded wings cover two thirds of the
tail : the beak is ten lines long, very much curved, toothless, and
in colour of a bluish black. The iris, the feet, and the naked
membrane above the beak near the forehead, which is called
the cere, are yellow ; the foot, i. e. the naked part from the
toes to the first joint, is two inches high. The female is not
only one third larger than the male, but, as is common among
birds of prey, quite distinct in colour. They are both hand-
some birds. In the male the top of the head and the tail are
light grey, the under part of the latter being marked with a
broad black stripe ; the back and the wing coverts a red brick
colour with black spots ; the under part of the body a rust
rose colour with longitudinal black marks ; the leg and rump
feathers of the same hue ; the tail feathers dark brown, spotted
with white on the inner side.

In the female the back and wings are of a beautiful rust
colour, with numerous black transverse stripes ; the head light
reddish brown, also striped with black; the tail similarly striped,
having the same transverse streak at the end as the male. In
both, the point of the tail is very pale in colour.

Habitat. — This bird is met with all over Europe, espe-
cially in such woody and mountainous regions as abound in
precipices, or ruined castles. It is a bird of passage, depart-
ing with the Larks in October, when it may be seen in couples,
hovering in the air over a mouse or a Lark. It returns in March.

If an old bird be taken, it must be kept in a wire cage, but
when reared from the nest, it may be allowed to run about,
and to perch outside the window and fly out ; for when once
accustomed to dogs and cats, it is not disposed to leave the
house or barn in which it is confined.

Food. — When wild, it lives chiefly on small birds and mice ;
in the absence of these, it is content with beetles and grass-

PLATE 8.

K !•: s T K i ; i .
Male* l-Viiiiilc.

THE KESTRIL. 55

hoppers. "When confined, it is to be fed on birds, mice, and a
little fresh meat. If fed with fresh bird's flesh, or sheep's liver
and lights, it becomes quite tame, and even if caught when
old, does not seem to desire its liberty.

Breeding. — The Kestril's nest is to be found in crevices of
rocks, high towers, mountain castles, and lofty decayed trees.
The eggs, yellowish red, with red and brown spots, are gene-
rally five or six in number. At first the young are covered
only with white down, and may easily be reared on chopped
meat ; they soon perch on the hand, learn to know their feeder,
and follow him whenever he calls.

Mode of Capture. — The old birds may be caught on the nest
at the time of feeding the young, with strong limed twigs.
Another mode is by placing what is called a Hawk-basket, hav-
ing in it a Lark, or a mouse in a lure, in some spot which the
birds frequent ; this trap is elevated on four stakes, and
resembles in appearance a common meat safe ; four upright
posts are set up in the ground at such a distance, as to resem-
ble the legs of a moderately large table ; they are concealed
near the ground by a board, and at the sides by a net ; at the
top, on two sides, run iron rods, on which is fastened, by means
of rings, a net to cover the whole ; in the middle is placed a
treddle, connected with a piece of wood, to which is attached
a heavy weight. The Kestril sees the lure, flies into the bas-
ket, throws down the treddle, the weight falls, and draws the
net over him, and he is caught.

Attractive Qualities. — This bird is rendered agreeable not only
by its plumage and his engaging habits, but also by its ringing
cry, kli, Hi, Mi, which it repeats in quick succession. If
many, however, are together, the cry becomes wearisome. The
Kestril, like other birds of the same species, may be trained
to the chase, and, as before said, may, when reared from the
nest, be accustomed to considerable liberty, even when kept
in a large town. Care however, must be taken in September
and October, when these birds migrate, not to let the captive be
in the open air all day, lest it be enticed away by its comrades.

ADDITIONAL.-— Of this, which is one of the most common, as
well as the most beautiful species of the British Falconince, many
interesting particulars are furnished by MUDIE, MACGILLIVBAY,
YAEEELL, and other naturalists, who have had better opportu-
nities of observing its habits and characteristics than BECHSTEIN

56 THE KESTBIL.

probably ever enjoyed. The first of these authorities describes
it as a sort of intermediate bird between the Hawks and Owls :
" Its onward flight," he says, " has not the dash and rapidity of
the former ; but its power of hovering over the same spot, in
defiance of the wind, is much greater, and when that is neces-
sary, it comes down in beautiful style." This habit of hovering
for a while over a particular spot, has gained for the bird two of
the names by which it is popularly known in this country — the
Wind-hover, and the Stannel, or Stand-gale, as it is more correctly
pronounced. The bird is also sometimes called Ston-gale, Stem-
gale, Keelie, and Sparrow-hawk ; the latter appellation, however,
properly belongs to another bird of the same genus, the Falco
nisus of LINN.&US, the Accipiter nisus, of MACGILLIVEAY, who in
his animated description of the Eapacious Birds of Britain, saya
that " The Kestril is easily tamed; and according to WILLOUGHBY
and others, was formerly employed by idle people for seizing
small birds and young Partridges."

From a very curious work on Falconry, by DAME JULIANA
BEENEBS, frequently reprinted in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries, we learn that the Kestril ranked very low
as a sporting bird. After stating that the Eagle, the Yulture, and
the Merlin of their nature belong to an emperor ; the Gyr falcon
and the Tercel to a king ; the Falcon-gentle and the Tercel-gentle
to a prince ; the Sparrow-hawk to a priest ; the Musket to a
holy-water clerk ; it concludes with assigning the Kestril to a
knave or servant. MUDIE speaks of it as " Much less bold and
noble in its hunting than the Merlin," although BUFFON tells us
of the Cresserelle, as it is called in France, that it sometimes
carries off a Hed Partridge much heavier than itself; and that it
often also catches Pigeons which straggle from the flocks, while
its most common prey, next to field mice and reptiles, is Spar-
rows, Chaffinches, and other small birds. That it is a great de-
stroyer of field mice, and therefore a friend to the agriculturist,
is clearly shown by WATEETON ; and SELBY relates some curious
particulars with regard to its fondness for coleopterous insects,
which it seizes and devours while on the wing.

" On his librating wing he was oft seen apart,

And appeared on his prey ever ready to dart,"

says JENNINGS, in his Ornithologia, thus describing in a word
that habit of the bird to which allusion has been before made ; and
of which GILBEET WHITE thus speaks : " The Kestril, or Wind-
hover, has a peculiar mode of hanging in the air in oneplace,
his wings all the while being briskly agitated." The Elestril
builds no nest for itself, generally appropriating the deserted
nest of the Crow or Magpie to its own use, laying four or five

PLATE 9

THE BARN OWL. 57

pale reddish eggs. When pinioned it will climb up a cage side,
like the Parrot, holding on by the bill. This bird is easily tamed
when taken from the nest, and frequently trained to pursue
small birds, such as Quails, Snipes, and Larks.

ME. WATERTON is of opinion that a large proportion of those
bred in England leave it in the autumn, to join the immense
flights of Hawks which are seen to pass periodically over the
Mediterranean, towards the African, coast.

2. THE WHITE OR BARN OWL.
Strix Flammea, LINN. Effraire ou Fresaie, BUF. Der Schleiereule, BECH

Description. — This handsome bird is about the size of a
Rook, that is, fourteen inches long, of which the tail measures
five inches ; the beak is one inch long, and white ; the feet
are plumed with short feathers, the root of the foot being
two inches high ; the nails are blackish, that on the middle toe
being toothed on the inside ; the countenance is enclosed in
a heart-shaped veil of white and chestnut coloured feathers ;
the iris is dark yellow ; the upper part of the body a reddish
ashen grey, which appears mottled, and is covered with lines
of small black and white spots like pearls ; the under part of
the body is a pale reddish yellow with blackish spots ; the quill
and tail feathers are a rusty yellow, with dark ashen grey irre-
gular stripes ; the first quill feather is strongly indented on the
outside.

Habitat. — In Germany this Owl inhabits the most populous
towns and villages, old castles, churches, barns, and similar
lurking places. When confined, it must be chained to a perch,
or kept in a large cage, as it kills and eats all small birds.

food. — In a wild state it feeds on mice. Wlien confined, it
may have mice and small birds given to it. At first it is un-
willing to eat, and in the breeding season is very difficult to
manage ; at any other time it is only necessary to put mice and
birds in the cage, with the certainty that the bird will eat
them in the night, if undisturbed.

Breeding. — The nests are to be found in crevices of old
walls ; the young birds are more easily tamed than the old
ones.

Mode of Taming. — As they not only sleep in barns, but go
there to catch mice, they may sometimes, and especially in
winter, be taken by putting a sack net before the air-holes.

58 THE JUKtf OWL.

Attractive Qualities. — The Barn Owl is a handsome bird, but
utters a mournful cry, on which account country people have
designated it the bird of death.

ADDITIONAL. — To this bird MACGILLIVRAY has given the name
of the European Screech Owl, to distinguish it from an Ame-
rican species with which it has often been confounded. With
us it is the most common bird of its family, and is known by the
several names of the Barn Owl, Church Owl, Screech Owl, White
or Yellow Owl, Howlet, Hoolet, and Gillihowter. The author
above named gives the following account of its habits : — " The
Barn Owl chooses for his place of repose some obscure nook in
an old building, the steeple of a church, a tower, a dove-cot, or
a hollow tree. There he remains from sunrise to sunset, in a
nearly erect posture, with retracted neck, and closed eyelids,
dosing away the hours in which, from the structure of his eyes,
he is unable to approach his prey, and waiting for the return of
twilight. If approached in this state, instead of flying off, he
raises his feathers, hisses like an angry cat, clicks his bill, and
thus threatens the intruder. Should he by an accident be driven
abroad, he seems dazzled and bewildered. Incapable of distinctly
perceiving the objects around him, he flits about with an un-
steady flight, and is glad to betake himself to some dark retreat,
where he may be sheltered from the light, as well as from his
numerous enemies.

" But although the Barn Owl is so imbecile by day as to suffer
itself to be insulted with impunity by the pettiest aggressor, it
assumes a very different character when darkness restores to it
the faculty of clearly distinguishing objects. By watching near
its haunts, or taking his station in the neighbourhood of some
farm-steading frequented by it, one may dimly see it advance
with silent and gliding flight, skimming over the fields, shooting
along the hedge-bank, deviating this way and that, and now
perhaps sweeping over head, without causing the slightest sound
by the flappings of its downy wings. On perceiving an object,
it drops to the ground, secures its prey in a moment, and utter-
ing a shrill cry, flies off with it in its claws. In a little tune it
returns, and thus continues prowling about the farm-yard for
hours."

ME. WATERTON, whose opportunities of observing its habits
are unrivalled, he having in a manner domesticated this species,
informs us that it carries off rats, and occasionally fish. " Some
years ago," he says, " on a fine evening in the month of July,
long before it was dark, as I was standing on the middle of the
bridge, and minuting the Owl by my watch, as she brought mice
into her nest, all on a sudden she dropped perpendicularly into the

THE LITTLE OWL. 59

water. Thinking that she had fallen in epilepsy, my first thoughts
were to go and fetch the boat ; but before I had well got to the
end of the bridge, I saw the Owl rise out of the water with a fish
in her claws, and take it to the nest."

The same author states that when this bird has young, " it
will bring a mouse to its nest about every twelve or fifteen
minutes. But in order to have a proper idea of the enormous
quantity of mice which it destroys, we must examine the pellets
which it ejects from its stomach in the place of its retreat. Every
pellet contains from four to seven skeletons of mice. In sixteen
months from the time when the apartment of the Owl in the old
gateway was cleaned out, there has been a deposit of above a
bushel of pellets."

" The shriek of the White Owl," continues MACGILLIVRAY,
after quoting the above, " occasionally heard at night, and usually
in solitary places, which few persons enter without some feeling
of awe, has given to it a kind of mysterious character with the
vulgar ; and it must be confessed that, independently of any
superstitious feeling, its cry coming unexpectedly on the ear, in
a church-yard, or among the crumbling ruins of some monastery
or castle, is little calculated to inspire pleasant feelings. The
White Owl has no other cry, except the hissing noise which it
makes. The snoring sou-nd heard from its nest is, MB. WATEBTON
informs us, the cry of the young for food."

3. THE LITTLE OWL.

Strix Passsrina, LIN. Cheveche, ou Petite Chouette, BUF. Der kleine
Kauz oder die Zwergeule, BBCH.

Description. — This bird is not much bigger than a Eock
Thrush, though its thick head and close feathers make it appear
larger than it really is. Its length is eight inches, of which
the tail measures three inches. The folded wings reach al-
most to the end of the tail ; the beak is nine lines long, brown
at the root, and light yellow at the point ; the iris pale yellow,
though in winter inclining to green ; the feet one inch and a
quarter high ; the claws blackish ; the upper part of the body
is light brown, with round white spots, which are largest upon
the shoulders and back ; the under part white, speckled with
dark brown, slightly mixed with rust colour ; the quill feathers
are dark brown, with round white spots ; the tail light brown
with similar spots, though larger and rust coloured, and run-
ning together almost like stripes. The female is somewhat
lighter in colour.

60

THE LITTLE OWL.

Habitat. — In a wild state this Owl inhabits old buildings,
towers, church walls, and high trees. In such situations its
nest may be found. If allowed to be at liberty in a room, no
other bird must be suffered to come near, as the owl would
kill it. It is best hung before a window in a large kind of
Quail's cage, which may be watched from the inside.

Food. — In a wild state it generally feeds on house and field
mice, beetles and crickets. I have also found in the undi-
gested remains which, like most birds of prey, it disgorges,
large quantities of the stones of the fruit of the red cornel
tree ( Cornm sanguinea], which it must therefore eat. When
confined, both old and young birds may be kept long in health
on dried mutton, from which the skin, bones, and fat, have
been removed, and which has been allowed to soak in water
two days before giving it. By the use of this food also, the
bad smell of the excrements may be avoided. Three quarters
of an ounce of this meat a day is enough for the bird, with
occasionally mice and small birds, which last it swallows quill
feathers and all. It will eat as many as five mice at a meal.
Even in summer it becomes lively about 2 P.M., and begins
to want its food.

Breeding. — The nest is found in crevices of walls and hollow
trees. The female in confinement lays, even without contact
with the male, two round white eggs. The young ones may
be easily reared on meat, especially pigeon's flesh. Before the
first moulting, they are, instead of the usual light brown, of
a reddish grey, woolly on the head, and slightly clouded with
white. The great white round spots on the back appear more
distinct, and the reddish white of the under part of the body
has thinner grey stripes on the breast and sides.

Diseases. — If they are not sometimes fed with mice or small
birds, the hair and feathers of which clear out their crops, they
die of decline.

Mode of Taking. — If the place to which they resort be known,
they may easily be caught by putting a sack net before the
hole, and intercepting them as they fly out in the twilight.

Attractive Qualities. — They are very clean birds, collecting
all their excrement into one place. Their singular gestures
are amusing, but the hoarse cry, and restlessness at pairing
time, is very disagreeable.

THE CEOW TBIBE. 61

ADDITIONAL. — This is a rare bird in Britain, although common
enough in Germany and many other parts of the European con-
tinent ; it is sometimes called the Passarine, or Hawk Owl.
English naturalists say but little about it. YARHELL'S account of
the bird consists principally of a repetition of BECHSTEIN, with
an enumeration of the different specimens which he has seen or
heard of in this country, amounting in all, to about twenty.
MUDIE says that " when seen here it is generally in the autumn,
so that it may be blown across in the course of its autumnal
migration ; but it is worthy of remark, that it is not confined to
the mere verge of the eastern sea, as European birds generally
are when they drift, but has been noticed also in the west and
south-west." Further that " it resorts to the vicinity of human
dwellings, and nestles, and generally hides itself for the day, in
holes of old walls. It is an industrious and successful mouser, and
though its wings are not very long, it is more quick in the use of
them than some of the larger species. Its flight is not confined
to the twilight, for though that be the time when it is most success-
ful in mousing, it hawks especially on dark and cloudy days,
during which it may be seen in pursuit of swallows, opposing a
direct flight to their wheeling one, and endeavouring to meet
them as they come round." The ordinary cry of this bird, which
it repeats flying, is Poupou, poupou ; but when it settles down
it emits a louder and clearer cry, something like — " Aime, Mme,
esmi"

II. THE COEYID^E,* OE CEOW TEIBE.

BIRDS of this class have a somewhat compressed, more or
less curved, knife-shaped, moderately sized bill. Their feet
are short, generally strong, divided, and adapted partly for
climbing, partly for walking. They feed on insects, worms,
the flesh and excrement of other animals, and sometimes also
on seeds and fruits. Some few are valued for their song, but
the majority for their plumage, or powers of speaking.

ADDITIONAL. — The first and most important family in MAC-
GILLIVBAY'S 6th order, iheVagatrices, or "Wanderers, are the Cor-
vine birds, or Crows ; a family containing some of the most
familiar and interesting of our native species. Many of them are
almost indiscriminate feeders, and hence the term Omnwora has
been applied to the whole order, although it is by no means a
satisfactory distinction. In all parts of tne globe birds belonging

* Coraces. Krahenartige Vogel, BECHSTEIN.

62 THE BOTCHER BIRD.

to this order may be found ; many of the species are gregarious,
especially those which feed on worms, larva, or seeds ; they walk
with ease, are good leapers, and their flight, which is strong, is
generally performed by regularly timed beats. The nest of the
larger species is rudely constructed, that of the smaller more
neatly ; the young remain until fledged.

INLAND BIRDS CAPABLE OF BEING TAMED WHEN OLD.

4. THE GREAT OR ASH-COLOURED SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER-BIRD.

Lanius Encubiter, LINN. Pie yriesche grise, BUF. Der geimeine wurger
oder grosse Krichalster, BECH.

Description. — The Butcher-bird is about the size of the Red-
wing, though a little longer, being nine inches in length, of
which the tail measures three inches and three quarters, and
the beak eight lines. The folded wings cover a third part of
the tail. As in all Shrikes, the beak is straight at the root,
but curved over at the end, and provided with a small prong
or tooth. It is black, except at the under part of the root,
where it is yellowish white. The iris is dark brown, the feet
a glossy black, and one inch in height. The whole upper part
of the body is a light ashen grey, passing into white at the
rump feathers, over the eyes, on the forehead, and on the
shoulders. A broad black stripe runs from the nostrils, be-
tween the eyes, to the region above the temples, which are
white. The under part of the body is white, with dusky,
dark brown wavy lines, more distinct in the female than the
male. The larger wing coverts are black, the lesser ashen
grey. The black quill feathers, being white at the root and
point, make two white spots on each wing. The tail is wedge-
shaped, having the external feathers almost entirely white, and
the middle feathers black.

Habitat. — This is not a bird of passage. It frequents
groves, thickets, and the outskirts of larger woods, and also
bushy parts of the open country. It perches chiefly on the tops
of trees. In confinement, it is a very courageous and rapacious
bird, and therefore cannot be allowed to run about where other
birds are. It is best kept in a large cage — if possible, made
of wire.

Food. — In summer the Shrikes chiefly feed on beetles,
crickets, blind- worms, lizards ; and on mice and small birds,
only when these are not to be procured. In winter, however,

THE BUTCHEK BLRD. 63

they catch Yellow-hammers, Siskins, mice, moles, &\ In
pouncing on their prey, the Shrikes make a peculiar swoop, in
order to seize it by the side ; yet, as they cannot use their
claws, like other birds of prey, they are often obliged to content
themselves with a beakftil of feathers.

If an old bird be caught, it may at first be fed with small
birds, mice, beetles, and crickets, given to it alive. It must,
however, be left alone, otherwise it will touch nothing. "When
it has once eaten, it will then take fresh meat, and become
accustomed to the universal paste, especially that made of
wheat meal. For their size, these Shrikes eat a great deal — at
least, an ounce of meat at a meal. They are fond of having a
forked bough, or crossed stick, fixed in the cage. They also
bathe freely.

Breeding. — The nest, made of heath, grass-stalks, wool, and
hair, woven together, is found upon trees. The female lays five
to seven greenish eggs, often having olive green, or a few
violet grey spots at the thick end. The young ones, if taken,
may be fed with raw flesh (always the best way to tame
Shrikes), and some learn to feed from the hand.

Mode of Taking. — The Butcher-bird is caught in traps,
baited with small birds ; or by means of limed twigs, under
which is placed a nestful of young birds, which, when hungry,
attract him by their cry. In autumn and winter, he will fly
at cages hanging outside a window. He may by this means
be deceived : by putting the cage into a sort of box, with a
treddle, the slightest contact with which closes the lid over
him. These preparations are especially necessary for those,,
who would have birds to fly in and out at will.

Attractive Qualities. — The call of the Shrike is like the
Gihr ! giJir ! of a Lark. Like the Nutcracker, he imitates many
single notes, but does not succeed in the song of other birds.
His own flute-like tone is very beautiful, resembling the
whistling of the Grey Parrot. In producing it his throat is
distended like that of the tree frog. It is to be regretted that
he sings only in pairing-time, — from March to May, — and that
the song is interrupted by harsh and croaking passages. Both
sexes sing. The bird might possibly be taught to speak, as it
sometimes utters notes which bear a close resemblance to the
human voice.

The bird-catcher who wishes to catch Falcons, should have

64 THE BUTCHER BIRD.

one of these birds near his trap. It betrays the approach of
the Falcon, even at a great distance, by its fixed attention and
gestures ; and when the Hawk pounces on it, slips with a cry
into the cage, or other asylum, placed near the trap for its pro-
tection. As this bird utters the same cry when at liberty, it
is a common saying among the people, that he warns the little
birds through envy, that he may have them all to himself.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird, although plentiful in Germanv,is with
us merely a straggler, and, according to MUDIE, " one that does
not make its appearance at any usual time of migration, the few
specimens that have been found in the country having been in
winter ; and certainly not as regular winter migrants, the rare
ones of which come late, and after very severe weather." This
author further states, that " the bird cannot, indeed, be regarded
as much of a migrant, in latitude, in any country, for it rather
follows the habit of the resident Insectwora — the woodlands in
summer, and the lower plains in winter. The British specimens
are, in all probability, blown by east winds from Germany."
This, and the Eed-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio), are spoken of
by WHITE, as rare birds in this country.

MACGILLIVRAY also, describes it as an occasional or accidental
visitant only ; and YARRELL doubts if it ever breeds here.
XNAPP, on the contrary, in his Journal of a Naturalist, says :
" The Great Shrike or Butcher-bird, is not uncommon with us,
and breeds annually near my dwelling. It is one of our late
birds of passage, but its arrival is soon made known to us by its
croaking unmusical voice from the summit of some tree. Its nest
is large and ill concealed ; and during the season of incubation,
the male bird is particularly uneasy at any approach towards his
setting mate, though often by his clamorous anxiety, he betravs
it and her to every birds-nesting boy. The female, when the
eggs are hatched, unites her vociferations with those of the male,
and facilitates the detection of the brood. Both parents are
very assiduous in their attention to their offspring, feeding them
long after they have left the nest ; for the young appear to be
heavy, inactive birds, and little able to capture the winged in-
sects which constitute their principal food. I could never ob-
serve that this bird destroyed others smaller than itself, or even
fed upon flesh. I have hung up dead young birds, and even
parts of them, near to their nests, but never found that they were
touched by the Shrikes. Yet, it appears that it must be a butcher
too, and that the name ' Lanius,' bestowed on it by G-ESNER two
hundred and fifty years ago, was not lightly given. My neigh-
bour's gamekeeper "kills it as a bird of prey, and tells me he has

TTTE LESSEE. GEEY SHEIKE. 65

known it draw the weak young pheasants through the bars of
the breeding coops ; and others have assured me that they have
killed them when banqueting on the carcase of some little bird
they had captured. All small birds have an antipathy to the
Shrike, betray anger, and utter the moan of danger when it ap-
proaches their nests. I have often heard this signal of distress,
and cautiously approaching to learn the cause, have frequently
found that this Butcher-bird occasioned it. They will mob, at-
tack, and drive it away, as they do the Owl, as if fully acquainted
with its plundering propensities. LINN^US attached to it the
trivial epithet * Excubitor,' a sentinel ; a very apposite appel-
lation, as this bird seldom conceals itself in a bush, but sits
perched upon some upper spray, or in an open situation, heedful
of danger, or watching for its prey. This Shrike must be most
mischievously inclined, if not a predatory bird.— May 23d. A
pair of robins have young ones in a bank near my dwelling ;
the anxiety and vociferation of the poor things have three times
this day called my attention to the cause of their distress, and
each time have I seen this bird watching near the place, or
stealing away upon my approach, and then the tumult of the
parents subsided ; but had they not experienced injury, or been
aware that it was meditated, all this terror and outcry would not
have been excited."

There is another reason given by YAEBELL, for the term sen-
tinel applied to this bird ; " it is used," he says, " by falconers
abroad when trapping Falcons. The Shrike is fastened to the
ground, and, by screaming loudly, gives notice to the falconer,
who is concealed, of the approach of a Hawk. It was on this
account, therefore, called excubitor — the sentinel." The generic
name lanius—a, butcher — comes from lanio, to cut or tear to
pieces :

" The Butcher-bird bold, like his kinsman the Shrike,
With his bill ever ready the death-blow to strike."

5. THE LESSEE GEEY SHEIKE.

Lanius Minor, LIN. Pie yriesche d' Italic, BUF. Der graue Wurger,
oder kleine Krickelster, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Lark, is eight
inches in length, of which the tail measures three inches and
one-third. The folded wings cover a third of the tail. The beak
is glossy black, seven lines in length, straight at the base, like
that of all other Shrikes, but somewhat bent over at the point,
and provided with a small tooth. The iris is brown, the feet

F

66 THE LESSEE GREY SHRIKE.

black, tinged with lead colour, and an inch and one-third high.
The forehead is black, and a broad black stripe passes between
the eyes ; the head, nape and sides of the neck, back, and
upper tail coverts ashen grey, the last the lightest. The whole
under part of the body white, the breast and belly having a
tinge of rose colour ; the wing coverts black, the smallest being
bordered with ashen grey ; the quill feathers black, the fore-
most leaving the half nearest the base white, which produces a
white spot on the wings when folded. The tail is wedge-shaped ;
the two outermost feathers are white with black shafts, the
third and fourth black, with white roots and points, the fifth
and sixth altogether black.

The female is hardly to be distinguished from the male, ex-
cept that she is somewhat smaller, that the stripe on the
cheek is shorter and narrower, and that she has only one white
tail feather.

Habitat. — The Lesser Shrike is a bird of passage, departing
at the beginning of September, and re-appearing early in May.
It frequents gardens in the neighbourhood of groves or forests,
which at the same time are not far from ploughed fields and
pastures. It perches on the tops of trees ; easily descending
into smaller bushes, and there lies in wait for insects.

In confinement a large wire cage is proper for it, such as is
used for Larks, but with three perches. It cannot be allowed to
range the room, as even when not pressed with hunger, it might
chance, either from malice or the mere desire of showing its
superior strength, to kill one of its companions.

Food. — When wild it generally feeds on beetles, cockchafers,
crickets, breeze-flies, and other insects. It is only after con-
tinued wet weather that it sometimes kills a small bird.

If an old bird be captured, small birds fresh killed, beetles,
cockchafers, &c., should be immediately thrown into the cage.
Afterwards it will be content with raw or cooked meat. It is
indeed a difficult bird to preserve, and costs both time and
trouble ; as for the first week it must have nothing but beetles
and other insects, especially meal-worms. But when it is more
accustomed to meat, it soon becomes so tame as to take it from
the hand, or will even fly out, the moment the cage is opened,
and perch upon the hand to be fed. I once had one, which
ate the first named universal paste. Old birds can rarely be
kept longer than two years, generally dying of decline. If

THE LESSEK GREY SHRIKE. 67

reared from the nest, they require much less attention, soon
becoming contented with any kind of food.

Breeding. — The large, irregular nest of these Shrikes is ge-
nerally found in a tree, in a garden, or in the outskirts of a
grove. It is made of roots, green leaves, and wool, lined with
wool and feathers. The female lays five or six reddish eggs ;
in colour a greyish white, spotted about the middle with brown
and violet grey. The male assists in the hatching, which lasts
fifteen or sixteen days. The young birds grow so quickly, and
are so soon fledged, that notwithstanding the late arrival and
early departure of this bird, it yet breeds twice in a favourable
season. The young ones are fed with beetles and grasshoppers.
Till the first moulting, they are entirely without the black
stripe on the forehead ; the upper part of the body is a dark
ashen grey, marked hardly perceptibly with red ; the under
part white, tinged on the breast with yellow, and on the sides
with red. They may be taken from the nest as soon as the tail
begins to grow ; and at first fed on ants' eggs, and afterwards
with bread soaked in milk.

Mode of Taking. — They cannot be taken aliye,' except by
putting limed twigs on the bush, or branch, on which they are
observed to perch, when watching for insects. They are as in-
cautious as they are afterwards docile, flying without hesitation
into the snare.

Observations and Attractive Qualities. — The male is a bird of
wonderful docility ; the female, as is usually the case, does not
sing. These Shrikes not only imitate, like others of their
species, certain passages of other birds' song, but repeat the
whole with the greatest exactness ; and even seem to have little
or no song of their own. For example, they repeat perfectly
the song of the Nightingale, though wanting of course the
round full tones ; and that of the Lark. This power makes the
Lesser Shrike a very desirable bird to the amateur. I have re-
marked that it seems to take especial delight in mimicking the
call of the Quail. I possessed one which, however lively in
its song, always stopped, in order to imitate the Quail's call,
whenever it heard it ; and the latter, before it became ac-
customed to the mimicry, would go furiously about the room,
endeavouring to find its rival.

F 2

68 THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

6. THE WOODCHAT SHSIZE.

Lanius Erythrocephalus, Collurio rufus, et Pommeranus, LIN. Pie griesche
rousse, BUF. Der Rothkopfige Wuryer, BECH.

Description, — This bird is seven inches long, somewhat
smaller, or at least more delicate than the last mentioned. The
tail measures three inches and a half, a third of which is covered
by the wings. The beak is eight lines long, has a distinct in-
dentation, and is blueish black ; the iris is yellowish blue ; the feet
one inch high, and as well as the toes blueish black. The fore-
head is black, and with it is connected a band of the same
colour, running between the eyes, and behind the ears. The
back of the head and the neck, are a beautiful reddish brown ;
the upper part of the back, brownish black ; the middle, reddish
ashen grey. The upper tail coverts are yellow and white. Some
large white feathers on the shoulder, form, as in the Magpie, a
great white spot on each side of the back. Above the nostrils
the yellowish white, which is the prevailing colour of the under-
part of the body, appears in two points. The sides are some-
what redder, and indistinctly mottled with grey ; the smaller
feathers of the wing coverts are blueish black, edged with yel-
lowish white ; the larger ones, and the quill feathers, black
shot with brown. The quill feathers in front have white bases,
which, when the wings are closed, form a white spot. The tail
is black, passing over into brown ; the outermost feathers white
with a black spot in the middle, the rest white at the point,
and the two in the centre, with the exception of the white bases,
quite black. The female is exactly like the male, except that
the colours, especially the reddish brown, are somewhat paler.

Habitat. — When wild it is a bird of passage, making its
appearance at the end of April, and departing in the middle
of September. It frequents mountains, woods, and plains full
of bushes and trees, and especially congregates where horses
are kept day and night on restricted pastures. In confinement
it is kept in a wire cage.

Food. — In a wild state it feeds chiefly upon horse and dung-
beetles, as well as on grasshoppers, breeze-flies, and other in-
sects. In case of necessity it will attack young birds and lizards.
When confined it must be treated as the preceding, but as it
is even more delicate, it is better to rear it from the nest, than
to tame it when old. It is fed from the first on raw meat.

THE LITTLE SHRIKE. 69

Breeding. — It builds its nest in the thick branches of high
trees, making it of the stalks of plants, moss, grass, swine's
bristles, wool, and hair. The female lays, twice a year, six
reddish white eggs, which are covered all over, and especially
at the thick end, with distinct blood-red, and indistinct bluish
grey spots. They are hatched in a fortnight. The nests are
occasionally found in high sloe, maple, and other bushes. Till
the first moulting, the young are on the upper part of the body
of a dirty white, spotted with grey, on the lower part, dirty
white and clouded with grey ; the wing coverts are bordered
with rust colour, the quill feathers and tail are a greyish black.

Mode of Talcing. — A cruel way, though the easiest, as this is
the least shy of all the Shrikes, is to take it in the nest with
limed twigs. Like the preceding, it is fond of bathing ; on
which account, it may be caught by water-traps about noon, if
laid in the neighbourhood of hedges. These Shrikes are often
found drowned in large pools.

Attractive Qualities. — Although this Shrike appears to have
almost as good a memory as the preceding, its song is not so
pleasant, partly because its voice is not so agreeable, and partly
because it introduces into the song which it imitates, some of
its own harsh and discordant notes. It readily adopts the songs
of the Nightingale, Linnet, Goldfinch, and Redstart. It is only
in consideration of its beautiful plumage, that this Shrike can
be deemed as desirable a bird for the cage as the foregoing.

THE LITTLE SHRIKE AND THE WOODCHAT SHRIKE.

ADDITIONAL. — EENNIE states of the first of these individuals
of the Lanidce family, that it is certainly not a native of Britain,
and of the second, that it is doubtful. MUDIE, however, asserts
" that the Woodchat Shrike is a British bird, although rare ; it is
an occasional summer visitant, and does sometimes breed here,
the nest having been found more than once in the county of
Norfolk." WHITE speaks of a dead specimen which was sent
him, but does not say where it was found. MACGILLIVRAY says,
" only a few instances of the occurrence of this species in Eng-
land are recorded ;" and YARRELL enumerates several specimens,
killed, or seen in Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, York, and Worcester-
shire. The latter naturalist also tells us that, " in size, in most
of its habits, and in its mode of feeding, the Woodchat resembles
the common Red-backed Shrike, and like that species, is said to
imitate the voice of several different small birds :" and quotes the
account of the bird given by Mr. J. D. HAY, in a communication

70 THE KED-BACKED SHRIKE.

to the Magazine of Natural History, (vol. iv. p. 341), which
is as follows : " It differs from Lanius collurio, in the choice of
situation for its nest, placing it invariably on trees, and prefer-
ring the oak. The nest is fixed in the fork of a projecting
branch, and is composed on the outside of sticks and wool, mixed
with white moss from the bodies of the trees, and lined with fine
grass and wool. Eggs four or five in number, rather smaller
than those of the Bed-backed Shrike, and varying much in mark-
ings ; the ground colour being pale blue in some, in others a dirty
white, surrounded near the larger end with a zone of rust-coloured
spots ; in some again, the markings and spots are of a paler
colour, and more dispersed over the egg. It is not a wild bird,
often building close to houses and public roads. It is abundant
in some parts of the Netherlands, and arrives and departs about
the same time as Lanius collurio."

7. THE HED-BACKED SHEIKE.

Lanius Collurio, LIN. Lanius Spinitorquus, BECH. L'Ecorcheur, BUF.
Der rothruckige Wurger, BECH.

Description. — This bird forms a link between the Pies and
singing birds, having many peculiarities in common with the
latter. It is a little more than six inches long. The tail, of
which a third is covered by the folded wings, is three inches
and a quarter in length. The beak is thick, black, almost
straight, being slightly bent at the point, and six lines long ;
the iris is nut brown ; the feet, ten lines high, are, as well
as the toes, of a blueish black. In the male, the head, the nape
of the neck, the upper tail coverts, and the thighs are ashen
blue ; above the eyes and on the forehead this colour is lighter.
A broad black stripe runs from the nostrils between the eyes
to the ears ; the back and the wing coverts are a beautiful
reddish brown ; the throat, the rump, and the under-part of
the body, white, tinged with red on the breast, belly, and
sides. The pen feathers are blackish, the hinder ones having
a wide border of reddish brown ; the tail is somewhat wedge
shaped, having the middle feathers black ; the other feathers
are white half way from the root downwards, and are besides
tipped with white. The female is very unlike the male in
appearance ; all the upper part of the body is rusty brown,
somewhat inclining to ashen grey, on the nape of the neck and
the tail coverts, and on the back and wing coverts, very slightly
watered with white. The forehead and the part above the

THE RED-BACKED SHETKE. 71

eyes are yellowish white ; the cheeks are brown ; the throat,
belly, and vent feathers a dirty white ; the neck, breast, and
sides, are yellowish white, crossed by dark brown wavy lines.
The pen and tail feathers are dark brown, the latter somewhat
inclined to red ; the two outermost pen feathers are edged with
white, and the rest, with exception of the four in the centre,
have white points.

Habitat. — This is almost the latest bird of passage, ar-
riving only at the beginning of May. Although it may be
met with in the forest valleys where cattle pasture, it is more
frequently found in the open country in hedges and bushes,
especially in inclosures where horses and cows are kept. It
migrates in August, even before the young birds have moulted,
in large flocks. Like birds of the same species, this should be
kept in a large cage by itself, as if allowed to associate with
other birds it soon evinces its natural ferocity. Some years
ago I caught one, which refused to eat for three days, although
I offered him dead birds, beetles, and other insects. On the
fourth day, when I thought he would be too weak to hurt
other birds, and might, perhaps, if set at liberty, accustom
himself to his food, I let him loose. No sooner was he free,
than he seized and killed a Sparrow, before I could come to the
rescue. I let him eat it, and put him back into the cage.
From that time, as if his fury was satisfied, he ate all that was
offered him.

Foon.— -When wild, it destroys great numbers of beetles,
maybugs, crickets, grasshoppers, and especially breeze flies,
which last are the favourite food of all the Shrikes. These
insects it impales on thorns till it has collected enough for a
meal. During continuous rainy weather, when insects are
not to be found, it catches and impales field-mice, lizards, and
young birds. It is incorrectly asserted that it does this to at-
tract other birds to the spot. In confinement, its food is the
same as that of the preceding species. Insects may be given
it, mixed with the Nightingale's paste, to which it soon becomes
accustomed, and now and then a little raw or dressed meat.

Breeding. — In a favourable season this bird breeds twice,
choosing for its nest some thick bush, frequently the hawthorn.
The nest is large, made of roots and coarse grass, mixed with
layers of moss and wool, and lined with the finest root fibres.
It lays five or six greenish white eggs, rather round in shape,

72 THE RED -BACKED SHRIKE.

and spotted, especially at the thick end, with rust colour and
grey. The period of incubation, in which the male also takes
a share, is fourteen days. The young birds are like the mo-
ther, being on the upper part of the body and breast greenish
grey, marked with dark brown wavy lines, and on the belly
dirty white. If taken young, they are easy to rear, and should
be fed at first with ants' eggs, afterwards with dressed meat,
and finally, with bread soaked with milk. This last food they
always like if accustomed to it from the first.

Mode of Taking. — The Red-backed Shrike is easy to catch.
As soon as it arrives in May, the bushes, which are not many
where it usually perches, must be noticed, and limed twigs
set upon them : towards these it must be carefully driven. It
is generally taken in a quarter of an hour. Success will be most
certain if a beetle, grasshopper, or breeze-fly, be fastened near
the limed twigs, by horse hair, so that it can flutter about.
Care must be taken in removing the bird, as, like -all Shrikes,
it bites severely.

Attractive Qualities. — This bird occupies no mean place among
the songsters, as its song is not only pleasant,but unintermitting.
While singing it generally sits on a bush or the lower branches
of some tree near its nest. The song is compounded of the
songs of the Swallow, Goldfinch,~Whitethroat, Nightingale, Red-
breast, Wren, and Lark, as well as some harsh notes peculiar to
itself. It generally adopts the song of neighbouring birds, and
sometimes, through caprice, imitates that of some chance passer-
by. It is, however, unable to mimic the songs of the Chaffinch and
Yellow-hammer, perhaps, from some peculiarity in the construc-
tion of its throat. In the cage it adopts the notes of the birds
which hang near it, and is always cheerful and attractive. The
Red-backed Shrike is extremely expeditious in clearing a room
of flies, catching them when on the wing, and if needles be
stuck in a bough for him, spitting them with a very peculiar
gesture. It is not worth while teaching it to whistle airs; for
though it learns them quickly and well, it forgets them as soon,
in order to learn new ones.

ADDITIONAL. — Most English naturalists term this bird the
Red-backed Shrike ; in this country, where it arrives towards the
middle of May, departing in September, it is by far the best
known of the Shrikes. "It differs," says MUDIE, " from the rest
of our summer visitants, in being more numerous towards the

THE BED-BACKED SHEIKE. 73

centre, or even the western side of the country, than in the south-
east ;" and this testimony is confirmed by YARRELL, who informs
us that " it is common about London, and in most, if not all, of
the southern and western counties of England and Wales, going
northwards from thence as far as Cumberland, in which county,
as observed by Dr. HEYSHAM, it is rare. It does not appear to
have been observed by ornithologists in any part of Ireland.
North of London, on tne east coast, it is found hi Essex, Suffolk,
Norfolk, and Yorkshire ; but occasionally only as far north as
Northumberland, and the south-eastern part of Durham. It
seems not to have been noticed in Scotland or its islands ; yet it
visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. From thence
southward, it is found m Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.
Specimens were sent by KEITH ABBOT, Esq. to the Zoological
Society, from Trebizond ; it also inhabits Egypt and North Africa,
is included by VALLIANT among the birds of Senegal and the
Cape of Good Hope, from which latter country specimens have
also been brought by DE. SMITH."

GILBERT WHITE relates how, on the 21st of May, he procured
a male Bed-backed Butcher-bird, which the neighbour who shot
it said might easily have escaped his notice, had not the out-
cries and chattering of the Whitethroats and other small birds
drawn his attention to the bush where it was ; its craw was filled
with the legs and wings of beetles ; and BLYTH, in remarking
upon this passage in The Natural History of Selborne, says,
" J am rather surprised that Mr. White was not familiar with
this species, as it abounds in many parts of Surrey, Kent, and
Sussex, where it is commonly called 'Jack Baker,' and is well
known tt) all persons who take an interest in natural history. It
arrives rather late in the season, and both sexes, I think about the
same time, which is contrary to the usual habit of migratory
birds ; some seasons they are much more plentiful than others.
They are found generally about tall and thick maple, or hawthorn
hedges, wherein they breed, and may be Commonly seen perched
on one of the highest twigs, or, like Fly-catchers, upon the bare
branch of some tree growing out of the hedge, or sitting upon a
post or paling, always in a conspicuous situation, where their
vision can extend over a considerable range, and whence they
often dart after the larger passing insects, or upon any small
quadruped or bird that lucklessly comes within the sphere of
their downward leaping flight ; or they slowly hover along the
hedges, often remaining a long time suspended over a particular
spot, and then, perhaps, advancing a few yards, and again remain-
ing fixed in the air, and when at length they do settle, not un-
frequently hovering for some time around the branch on which
they are about to alight. When sitting watchfully upon a bough,

74 THE RAVEX.

they often jerk the tail, another habit in accordance with the Flj-
catchers, to which they are considerably allied. They subsist
chiefly on beetles and humble-bees, and render essential service in
spring by devouring great numbers of the large female wasps,
destroying what would otherwise become the founders of colonies
of these troublesome and destructive insects. I have taken four
or five from the stomach of a single bird. Chaffers they seize,
and then flying to a perch, transfer them to the foot, holdingthem
up in one foot like a Parrot, while they pick them to pieces. vV~hen
satiated, they eat only the abdomen, and impale the still living
body upon a thorn, a habit common to all the genus. They prey
also occasionally on small birds, lizards, mice, and shrews, and I
have known several instances of their being taken in the nets of
bird-catchers, when endeavouring to seize upon the brace-birds.
They do not (like the L. excubiter) attack a bird upon the whig,
but pounce down upon those which happen to be on the ground,
or upon a branch beneath, in the latter case bearing down their
prey to the ground, seizing it with both bill and claws, and ex-
panding over it the wings and tail in precisely the manner
of a Hawk, then despatching it, not by strangulation, but by
biting and compressing the head, and picking a hole in the skull.
It is then carried in the beak to the horizontal bough of a tree,
where the Shrike places one foot upon its victim, and never leaves
it I believe, when undisturbed, till all is finished." The average
weight of the male bird is said to be about an ounce, and yet it
will attack and devour birds and animals of considerable size :
in the Linncean Transactions, one is recorded to have been seen in
pursuit of a Blackbird (vol. xv. p. 14).

When these birds are in full plumage, the red which covers
their back and wings, though of a brownish tint, is very rich ;
and as they jerk through the air, it has the appearance of flashes
of dull fire, on which account they have been called " flashers,"
or " flushers."

8. THE KAVEN.

Corvus Corax, LIN. Le Corbeau, BUF. Der Gemeine Rabe oder
Kolkrabe, BECH.

Description and Observations. — This and the three following
species are not aviary birds, in the proper sense of the word ;
but as they may be taught to speak, and are often reared from
the nest with that view, they claim, for completeness' sake, a
notice in this place.

The Raven is a well-known bird ; it is two feet in length,
of which the somewhat cone.-formed tail measures eight inches
and three-quarters. The whole bird is black, tinged on the

THE EAYE^T. 75

upper part of the body with violet ; on the lower part, on the
pen feathers, and on the tail, with green ; the black of the
throat is somewhat paler.

Of all Corvine birds, which are distinguished by a high,
round, knife-shaped beak, provided at the base with bristles
which incline forward, the Raven, on account of its broad
tongue, may with least difficulty be taught to speak. In Thu-
ringia, the traveller, on entering an inn, is frequently saluted
by the appellations, "thief, rascal," uttered by one of these birds,
confined, probably, in a large cage like a tower. They may
also be allowed to run at large, or even to fly about, when they
have been tamed while young, as is necessary if they are to be
taught to speak. In this case they will, when called to their
meals, answer to a name. All shining metal, especially gold,
must be put out of their way ; as, like other birds of the
same species, they have a particular inclination to steal. It
is said, that a Eaven was trained to salute Augustus after a vic-
tory, with the words Ave Ccesar, Victor, Imperator ! Hail Caesar,
Conqueror, Emperor!

Some persons, with a view to facilitate the utterance of
articulate sounds, are accustomed to cut what is called the
string of the tongue, an operation which certainly attains its
end in some measure, though I have heard Eavens speak, on
which it had not been performed.

At the time when divination made a part of religion, this
bird was held in great estimation. All its actions, every cir-
cumstance of its flight, every modulation of its voice, were
carefully studied. Of these modulations no fewer than sixty-
four have been enumerated, without reckoning minor shades
of difference, a discrimination which must have required an
exceedingly fine ear, as the Eaven' s cry — Koack, kroack — is ap-
parently very simple. Every modulation had its specific sig-
nification, and there was no lack of impostors to profess, or of
dupes to believe, these ridiculous fancies. Some, indeed, pro-
ceeded to so great a pitch of credulity, as to eat the heart and
entrails of the Eaven, in hopes of thereby acquiring its pro-
phetic faculty.

The Eaven is generally met with in woody districts, and builds
its nest on the highest trees ; it lays from three to five dirty green
eggs, spotted with olive brown. The young, if to be tamed,
must be taken when half fledged, or about twelve days old, and

76 THE EATEN.

ffcd with meat, snails, and earth-worms ; they will a^so eat bread
soaked in milk, and after awhile, bread, meat, or any scraps
from the kitchen. In a state of nature, they subsist on leve-
rets, birds' eggs, mice, goslings, chickens, snails, pears, cherries,
&c., so that their usefulness to the farmer is not without draw-
backs.

ADDITIONAL. — The general appearance and habits in a domes-
ticated state of this bird are so well known, that we need scarcely
add anything to the account which BECHSTEIN gives of it. MUDIE
has drawn a graphic and vivid picture of its characteristic traits
as a bird of the wilderness.*

Except in a domesticated state, opportunities of observing the
habits of the Eaven are comparatively rare, for the bird generally
shuns the habitations of man, and seeks the solitude and seclusion
of wild and mountainous districts ; no where is it more plentiful,
perhaps, than amid the rocks and about the sounding shores of
the Scottish isles, where putrescent animal food is likely to be
most abundant. In the Hebrides, and along the north coast of
Scotland, MACGILLIVEAY describes these birds as being nume-
rous ; he also says that they are common in the shires of Dumfries
and Peebles, and about the head of Moffat water, where they often
breed. " In the wilds of Polmoody, in the face of tremendous
linns and rocks, there juts out a dwarfish birch or mountain-ash ;
the same cleft has borne a Eaven's nest for centuries, where no
human creature can get at it." SHUCKHAED, who states that he
had ample opportunities of cultivating an acquaintance with
this species in the outer Hebrides, gives a lengthened descrip-
tion of its characteristics, which, however, agrees so closely with
vrhat MUDIE has said on the subject, that we need not quote
more than the following observations. " The Eaven sometimes
nestles at no great distance from the Eagle, in which cases these
birds do not molest each other ; but in general the former is a
determined enemy to the latter, and may often be seen harassing
it. 'What a brave soldier the Eaven is! he fights the Eagle, who
is four times his size,' I remember hearing an old highlander say
to me more than twenty years ago. But let us consider the
matter.

" There goes the White-tailed Eagle ! Launched from the rock
of Liuir, she advances along the cliffs on her way to the inland
hills, where she expects to find a supply of food for her young.
Now she is opposite the promontory of Ui, whence, croaking in
fierce anger, rush two Eavens. The Eagle seems not to heed
them : but they rapidly gain upon her, and separating as they
* See " Feathered Tribes of the British Islands," 2 vols. Bohn.

THE RAVEN". 77

come up in her wake, one ascends, the other glides beneath, me-
nacing her and attempting to peck her. While she regards the
one below, that above plunges toward her; but perceiving that she
is ready to meet him, he reascends a few feet, the other in the
mean time threatening vengeance below. I never observed, how-
ever, that they actually came in contact with the object of their
pursuit, which seemed to regard them as more disagreeable than
dangerous, and appeared to hurry on, merely to avoid being pes-
tered by them."

GILBERT WHITE, we remember, speaks of " a very exact ob-
server," who " has often remarked that a pair of Havens nestling
in the rock of Gibraltar, would suffer no Vulture nor Eagle to rest
near their station, but would drive them from the hill with an
amazing fury." This, however, was during the period of parental
care and solicitude, when the weakest and naturally most timid
of creatures become bold and pugnacious. This author relates
an interesting anecdote, which may serve in some measure to re-
lieve the dark tints which are necessarily used in depicting the
character of this bird : —

" In the centre of the grove there stood an oak, which, though
shapely and tall on the whole, bulged out into a large excrescence
about the middle of the stem. On this a pair o'f Eavens had fixed
their residence for such a series of years, that the oak was
distinguished by the title of the Eaven Tree. Many were the
attempts of the neighbouring youths to get at this evry : the
difficulty whetted their inclination, and each was ambitious of
surmounting the arduous task. But when they arrived at the
swelling, it jutted out so in their way, and was so far beyond
their grasp, that the most daring lads were awed, and acknow-
ledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. So the Eavens built
on, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the fatal day arrived
in which the wood was to be levelled. It was in the month of
February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was applied to
the butt, the wedges were inserted into the opening, the woods
echoed to the heavy blows of the beetle, or mallet, the tree nodded
to its fall ; but still the dam sat on. At last, when it gave way,
the bird was flung from her nest ; and, though her parental affec-
tion deserved a better fate, was whipped down by the twigs, which
brought her dead to the ground."

KNOX, in his Ornithological Rambles in Sussex, gives a long
and most interesting account of a pair of Eavens, whose motions
and operations he seems to have watched very narrowly. He
says, speaking of Petworth Park, after describing the untimely
fate of one pair of birds which had built in that locality, and
which were destroyed by an ignorant keeper : — " Years passed
away, and the Eaven continued unknown in this part of West

78 THE EAVEJT.

Sussex, until one day in March, 1843, when, riding in the park
near a clump of tall old beech trees, whose trunks had been de-
nuded by time of all their lower branches, my attention was sud-
denly arrested by the never-to-be-mistaken croak of a Haven, and
the loud chattering of a flock of Jackdaws.

" I soon perceived that these were the especial objects of his
hatred and hostility ; for after dashing into the midst of them,
and executing several rapid movements in the air, he succeeded
in effectually driving them to a considerable distance from his
nest. During this manoeuvre, the superior size of the Eaven
became more apparent than when viewed alone, and his power of
flight -was advantageously exhibited by comparison with that of
his smaller congener. The latter, indeed, seemed to bear about
the same relation to him, in point of size, that Starlings do to
Hooks, when seen together. The Raven's nest was placed on a
fork, in the very summit of one of the highest of these trees,
while their hollow trunks were tenanted by a numerous colony
of Jackdaws. Some of the holes through which these entered
were so near the ground, that I had no difficulty in reaching them
when on horseback, while others were situated at a much greater
height. These conducted to the chambers in which the nests
were placed, and which were generally far removed from the ex-
ternal aperture, by which the birds entered their tower-like
habitation. On thrusting my whip upwards into many of these
passages, I found it impossible to touch the further extremity,
while a few cavities of smaller dimensions were within reach of
my hand, and contained nests, constructed of short, dry sticks,
some of which were incomplete, while in others one or two eggs
had been deposited. The next day I returned to the place on
foot, provided with a spyglass, for the purpose of observation.
On my arrival, I found that the Eavens were absent, and that the
Jackdaws, availing themselves of this, had congregated in con-
siderable numbers, and were as busily employed about their ha-
bitations as a swarm of bees ; some carrying materials for the
completion of their frail and yet unfinished nests, others convey-
ing food to their mates, and all apparently making the most of
their time, during the absence of their tormentors. There being
no cover or brushwood at hand, and the branches being yet leaf-
less, I was unable to conceal myself effectually ; but having sat
down at the foot of the tree containing their nest, I awaited the
return of the Eavens. .Nearly an hour elapsed before the return
of the male bird, and I was first made aware of his approach by
the consternation it appeared to spread among the Jackdaws.
Like most animals under similar circumstances, when conscious
of the approach of danger, they rapidly collected their forces on
a single tree, keeping up all the time an incessant chattering, each

THE RAVEN. 79

bird shifting its position rapidly from bough to bough, while the
Eaven, who held some food in his beak, satisfied himself on this
occasion with two or three swoops into the terrified crowd, and
having routed the mob, he approached the tree in which his nest
was placed. Before arriving there, however, he evidently became
aware of my presence, and dropping his prey, which proved to be
a rat, he ascended into the air to a great height in circular gyra-
tions, after the manner of a Falcon, where he was soon joined by
his consort ; and the two birds continued to soar over my head
while I remained there, uttering not only their usual hoarse croak,
but also an extraordinary sound, resembling the exclamation,
'Oh!' loudly and clearly ejaculated. At first I could hardly
persuade myself that it proceeded from the throat of either of
the Ravens, but my doubt was soon dispelled, for there was no
human being within sight ; and after carefully examining one of
the birds for some time with my glass, I observed that each note
was preceded by an opening of the beak, the distance, of course,
preventing sight and sound from being exactly simultaneous."

We cannot follow Mr. KNOX verbatim through the whole of
his interesting narrative, but must give the remainder of it hi a
more condensed form. The following year, then, it appears, the
pair of birds changed their retreat from the beech grove to a
clump of Scotch firs in the same part, where their nest was in-
vaded by a truant school-boy, who bore away in his satchel the
four " squabs" which it contained. The watchful naturalist dis-
covered the loss of the parent birds, and after awhile traced out
the depredator, and got possession of the fledgelings in a half-
starved state ; these it was determined to bring up by hand ; and
the operation of clipping was already performed upon three of
them, when the idea occurred that the restoration of the remain-
ing perfect bird to the nest might have the effect of attracting
the old ones back to their now deserted, because empty home.
The experiment was tried and proved successful, and, in the words
of the pleased narrator, "the young bird was safely reared; the
Eavens have since brought up several families in the same nest."

There is perhaps no bird more widely distributed over the sur-
face of the globe than the Eaven, which it has been well said by
the writer last quoted, " croaks as gravely as with ourselves on
the shores of the Black and Caspian seas, visits our Indian metro-
polis of Calcutta, forces its way over the guarded shores of Japan,
dwells among our busy descendants in America, ranges from
Mount Etna to the Iceland cold of Hecla, and braves the rigour
of the Arctic regions as far as Melville's Island." CAPTAIN Eoss
speaks of it as " one of the few birds capable of braving the severity
of an arctic winter ;" and Dr. EICHAKDSON says that " it fre-
quents the barren grounds of the most intense winter cold, its

80 THE EAVEN.

movements being directed in a great measure by those of the
herds of rein-deer, musk-oxen, and bisons, which it follows, ready
to assist in devouring such as are killed by beasts of prey, or by
accident. No sooner has a hunter slaughtered an animal than
these birds are seen coming from various quarters to feast on the
offal; and considerable numbers constantly attend the fishing
stations, where they show equal boldness and rapacity." In
allusion to the power which this bird possesses of imitating the
human voice, the author last quoted relates an instance of one
he knew at Chatham, which, living in the vicinity of the guard-
house, " more than once turned out the guard, who thought they
were called by the sentinel on duty."

According to AUDUBON, in the United States " the Raven is
in some degree a migratory bird, individuals retiring to the ex-
treme south during severe winters, but returning to the middle,
the western, and southern districts at the first indications of
milder weather."

WILSON characterises as " mere fable" the account given by
BUFFON, who says — " The Haven plucks out the eyes of buffaloes,
and then fixing on the back, it tears off the flesh deliberately ;
and, what renders the ferocity more detestable, it is not incited
by the cravings of hunger, but by the appetite for carnage ; for
it can subsist on fruits, seed of all kinds, and, indeed, may be
considered to be an omnivorous animal."

GILBERT WHITE has noticed a peculiarity in the habits of the
Eaven, which he says " must draw the attention of even the most
incurious," although we do not recollect to have seen it alluded
to elsewhere. " They spend their leisure time in striking and
miffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish ; and
when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on
their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the
ground. When this odd gesture betides them they are scratch-
ing themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity."
Much more might be written about this grave, and, in the eyes
of many, even of the present day, preternaturally cunning bird,
the feathered soothsayer of the Greeks and Romans, the oracular
voice of the future to the Scandinavian nations, the harbinger of
evil and of death, the bird of night and of witchcraft, the grim
watcher by the gibbet, where swing the bones of the murderer,
that amid the pauses of the night wind, as it howls and whistles
over the lonely moor, croaks ominous, and, as MALONE says in
The Jew of -Malta, —

" Doth shake contagion from his sable wings."

THE CARRION CROW. 81

9. THE CARRION CROW.
Corvus Corone, LIN. Corneille, BUF. Die Raben Jcr'dhe, BECH.

Description. — This bird resembles the preceding in almost
every particular, except that it is smaller, being only one and a
half feet long, and has not a conical, but a rounded tail. The
whole plumage is black, with a tinge of violet on the lower
part of the body.

Observations. — In many parts of Germany this is a very
common bird, so that in groves which it frequents, more than
one nest is often built upon the same tree. The female lays four
to six green eggs, spotted with grey and brown. In places where
they do not migrate, but remain the whole year, young birds
have been taken as early as March, and successfully reared.
They are to be treated like the foregoing, and are even easier
to tame. I know cases in which old birds have been taught to
come and go ; and even wild birds, which having been fed in
the farm yard throughout the winter, have flown away at the
beginning of spring, and bred, yet, at a fixed time in the
autumn, have returned to be fed, and become as tame as barn-
door fowls.

Their food in a wild state consists of insects, worms, mice,
grain, and different kinds of fruit.

In winter they may be easily caught in towns and villages
by paper cones, under which a piece of meat is placed, and
whose edges are smeared with bird lime. They may also be
taken on limed twigs placed in the yard or near the house, to
which they will be attracted by scattered grain or dung.

ADDITIONAL. — Its partiality for animal diet in a putrid state,
has obtained for this bird the name Carrion Crow, by which it is
generally distinguished ; it is also sometimes called the Flesh
Crow, and the Gor, or Gore Crow, as well as the Black Crow,
the Corby Crow, and the Hoody Bran. In many of its habits
and characteristics it closely resembles the Eaven, being a bold,
mischievous, predatory bird, with which man, and especially the
agriculturist, is continually at war. And were it not for its
extreme caution and sagacity, there is reason to believe, so nume-
rous and persevering are its foes, that the species must have long
since become extinct, or, at all events, have been driven out of
the more highly cultivated parts of the country. On the con-
trary, however, we find that it is precisely in these parts that
these black-coated depredators do most thickly congregate. Year

82 THE CAHEION CEOW.

after year, notwithstanding the gun and the snare, and the scare-
crow, and the rewards offered for their destruction, swarming
they alight upon the rich corn lands, when the seed is newly
deposited in the earth, or just as the green blade begins to peep
above the surface ; and the unlucky farmer sees his hopes of an
abundant harvest frustrated by this feathered marauder, who, as
WILSON says, " hovers over the fields of the industrious, fattening
on their labours, and, by his voracity, often blasting their expec-
tations."

It has been urged in defence of the Crow, that he is a great
destroyer of worms, moles, mice, caterpillars, grubs, beetles, and
such like agricultural pests, and perhaps if it were possible to
calculate the amount of good which he effects in this way, and
set it against a fair sum total of his mischievous workings, we
should find that he is not so great an enemy to man after all ;
as this, however, is impossible, we must be content to let the
stigma rest upon his character, and to see him proscribed as a
thief and a villanous depredator. Lawless, however, as may be
their dealings with man, it seems that among themselves the
crows have a code of laws which are somewhat strictly observed ;
no less a penalty than death being sometimes inflicted on offenders
against them. Here is an account of the holding of one of their
courts of justice, taken from Landt's Description of the Faroe
Islands : —

" Those extraordinary assemblages, which may be called Crow-
courts, are observed here (in the Feroe Islands) as well as in the
Scotch isles ; they collect .in great numbers, as if they had been
all summoned for the occasion. A few of the flock sit with
drooping heads ; others seem as grave as if they were judges, and
some are exceedingly active and noisy, like lawyers and wit-
nesses : in the course of about half an hour the company gene-
rally disperse ; and it is not uncommon, after they have flown
away, to find one or two left dead on the spot."

MUDIE says of these birds that they are not found in the High-
lands and northern isles of Scotland : perhaps it would have been
better to have said not commonly found there ; as their presence
in the Feroe Isles would seem to indicate that they would, at
least, occasionally visit the Hebrides, and other outlying parts of
Scotland, as well as the northern coast. MTJLLEB includes the
C. corone among the birds of Denmark ; and M. NILSSON says it
is found in Sweden, although rarely : in Norway and Iceland
also it is sometimes seen. And now, turning our glance south-
ward, we may mention that it is an inhabitant of Germany,
France, Spain, Provence, and Italy, in which countries it inha-
bits the woods from spring to autumn, and the plains during
the winter. According to TEMMINCK, it is found in the Morea,

THE CAEBION GROW. 83

and also in Japan ; while a Russian naturalist states that it inha-
bits the country south of the Caucassian range, between the Black
and Caspian Seas. WILSON describes a Carrion Crow, which he
says is identical with the European species, and tells us that it is
generally distributed over the cultivated parts of North America.
And, coming again to our own country, we may remark that the
Irish naturalist, THOMPSON, informs us that it frequents the sea-
coast of that country, chiefly through the northern parts. We
believe that there are no English counties in which these birds
are not found. Here is MUDIE'S account of their habits : —

" They nestle in high trees, but they prefer the neighbourhood
of rich countries, and hence they are not found in the Highlands.
They prowl about, even to the doors of the houses, and into the
poultry -yards, and are voracious devourers of eggs, young poul-
try, young rabbits, and young game, even more so than the regu-
lar birds of prey. They punch out the eyes of weak animals,
hawk at birds on the Ming, open-shelled mollusca on the sea-
shore ; and there are modern instances in corroboration of the
story of the ancient philosopher who was killed by a crow mis-
taking his head for a stone, and dropping an oyster on it in order
to break the shell. One of these was seen by the celebrated
WATT. A crow caught up a crab, rose with it to a considerable
height, dropped it, not on the head of a modern philosopher — or
he might not have come more safely off than the ancient one —
but on a stone, and descended to her feast.

" Though not a very long winged bird, the Carrion Crow rises to
a considerable height, higher than that at which the Hooded Crow
is seen ; and in defence of her brood, she beats off the smaller
Hawks, the Kite, and the Haven. The brood remain with the
parent birds till next breeding time ; and though these Crows
collect in small flocks during the winter, they seem to do so
rather from an accidental meeting in quest of food, than from
any principle or instinct of a social nature. During the breeding
season, each pair keep within their own territory, which is of
considerable extent, though at other times they associate during
the night. When the spring begins to be felt, they separate :
the Hooded Crows migrate, and the Rooks collect together. These
are, at least, distinctions of habit."

WILSON gives some interesting particulars of the in-door habits
of this bird. " The Crow is easily raised and domesticated ; and
it is only when thus rendered unsuspicious of, and placed on
terms of familiarity with man, that the true traits of his genius
and native disposition fully develop themselves. In this state he
soon learns to distinguish all the members of the family ; flies
towards the gate, screaming, at the approach of a stranger;

8± THE CARRION CROW.

learns to open the door by alighting on the latch ; attends regu-
larly at the stated hours of dinner and breakfast, which he appears
punctually to recollect ; is extremely noisy and loquacious ; imi-
tates the sound of various words pretty distinctly ; is a great
thief and hoarder of curiosities — hiding in holes, corners, and
crevices every loose article he can carry off, particularly small
pieces of metal, corn, bread, and food of all kinds ; is fond of the
society of his master, and will know him even after a long ab-
sence, of which the following is a remarkable instance, and may
be relied on as a fact : A very worthy gentleman, now (1811)
living in the Gennesee country, but who, at the time alluded to,
resided on the Delaware, a few miles below Easton, had raised a
Crow, with whose tricks and society he used frequently to amuse
himself. This Crow lived long in the family ; but at length dis-
appeared, having, as was then supposed, been shot by some
vagrant gunner, or destroyed by accident. About eleven months
after this, as the gentleman, one morning, in company with seve-
ral others, was standing on the river-shore, a number of Crows
happening to pass by, one of them left the flock, and flying
directly towards the company, alighted on the gentleman's
shoulder, and began to gabble away with great volubility, as
one long-absent friend naturally enough does on meeting with
another. On recovering from his surprise, the gentleman instantly
recognised his old acquaintance, and endeavoured, by several
civil, but sly manoeuvres, to lay hold of him ; but the Crow, not
altogether relishing quite so much familiarity, having now had a
taste of the sweets of liberty, cautiously eluded all his attempts ;
and suddenly glancing his eye on his distant companions, mounted
into the air after them, soon overtook and mingled with them,
and was never afterwards seen to return."

We have said that the Crow is a bold and mischievous bird ;
leverets and young rabbits are frequently destroyed by it, and
sometimes even weak lambs : in the preserve and the dove-cote,
and the poultry-yard, it at times does considerable mischief.
YARRELL relates that " a Carrion Crow was observed to steal a
young duck, which it pounced upon while in a pond, and carried
it off in his bill. The Crow did not drop the duck in order to kill
it, but laid it down on the ground, walking backwards and for-
wards, and treading upon it until it was dead." Another ob-
server states, " That while looking at an old Sparrow enticing
forth its young ones, a Crow pounced upon it, held it between its
claws, and instantly tore it in pieces as would a bird of prey."

HARRISON AINS WORTH, in his Rookwood, gives a song of the
Carrion Crow, so full of spirit and character, that we are disposed
•to quote it—

THE HOODED CEOW. 85

14 The Carrion Crow is a sexton bold,
He raketh the dead from out the mould ;
He delveth the ground like a miser old,
Stealthily hiding his store of gold.

Caw! caw!

The Carrion Crow hath a coat of black,
Silky and sleek like a priest's, on his back ;
Like a lawyer he grubbeth — no matter what way —
The fouler the offal the richer his prey.

Caw ! caw ! the Carrion Crow !

Dig ! dig ! in the ground below !

The Carrion Crow hath a dainty maw,
With savoury pickings he crammeth his craw ;
Kept meat from the gibbet it pleaseth his whim,
It never can hang too long for him.

Caw ! caw !

The Carrion Crow smelleth powder, 'tis said,
Like a soldier escheweth the taste of cold lead ;
No jester in mime hath more marvellous wit,
For wherever he lighteth he maketh a hit.

Caw ! caw ! the Carrion Crow !

Die/ ! dig ! in the ground below .'"

10. THE HOODED CEOW.
Corous Cornix, LIN. Comeille Mantelee, BUF. Die Nebelkrcihe, BECH.

Description and Peculiarities. — In winter this bird is to be
met with in almost all parts of Germany, but in summer only
in the north ; when it breeds in woods and gardens near the
open country. The female lays four to six eggs, of a bright
green, streaked and spotted with brown. The bird is some-
what larger than the preceding, and is grey, except the head,
throat, wings, and tail, which are black.

When young it speaks better than the preceding, and if taken
when old is more easily tamed. It is treated in the same
manner.

ADDITIONAL. — This species of the Corous family, which is vari-
ously called the Grey Dun, Bunting, Heedy Royston, or Hooded
Crow, the latter being its most common name — is, according to
MACGILLIVBAY, very abundant in most parts of the northern
and middle divisions of Scotland and its islands, but becomes
rarer as we advance southwards. In many parts of England it
is found only during winter. " Although somewhat more social
than the Carrion Crow, or the Haven, it is not gregarious ; for, al-
though four or five individuals may often be seen together, more
than that number seldom convene unless when attracted by an

86 THE HOODED CHOW.

abundant supply of food. It derives its subsistence from carrion,
dead fish, crabs, echini, mollusca, larvse, grain, and other matters,
it being fully as promiscuous a feeder as the Carrion Crow, or the
Raven, although it certainly prefers fish .and mollusca to large
carcases, and very rarely feeds upon a stranded whale, or even a
domestic animal. Young lambs are favourite delicacies, and in
severe seasons, when summer in vain struggles with winter, some-
times affords abundant temporary supply. I am not, however,
inclined to believe that the Hooded Crow often destroys these
animals, nor that it ventures to attack sickly sheep. It never
disputes a prize with the Raven, much less the Eagle, nor will it
advance so near to a dog as the former of these birds, which it
resembles in vigilance and cunning, but without showing equal
boldness.

" Perhaps the most remarkable habit of the Hooded Crow, is
one which most persons who have observed it, consider as indi-
cative of the approach of rain, but which I have not found to
have any connection with that phenomenon. In quiet, and more
especially in dull close weather, one of them, perched on a stone
or crag, continues to croak for a long time, being responded to at
intervals by another that has taken a station at some distance.
Its voice is not so loud or clear as that of the Carrion Crow, but
resolves itself into a rather harsh sound, resembling the syllable
craa, pronounced by a genuine Aberdonian. On ordinary occa-
sions, its flight is peculiarly sedate, being performed by regularly
timed slow beats ; but, when necessary, it can be greatly accele-
rated, although it never equals in rapidity that of the Raven.
It also walks in the same staid manner as the Carrion Crow and
the Rook, and in general wears a grave aspect, demeaning itself
so as if it were not disposed to indulge in unbecoming levity. It
rarely molests other birds, nor is it often attacked by any."

According to SELBY, " in those districts of Scotland where
these birds most abound (which appear to be on the western and
northern parts of the mainland, in the Scottish isles), there is no
visible diminution of their numbers during the winter months ;"
and therefore it has been inferred that those which visit England
are annual migrants from Sweden, Norway, and other north-
eastern countries. They generally make their appearance at about
the same time as the Woodcocks, "which birds," says YARKELL,
"are known always to take advantage of a north-eastern breeze
for their journey."

TEMMINCK relates, "that in the northern countries of Europe,
where the C. corone is rare, a mixed breed is produced between
it and the C. cor nix" Many instances of this admixture of breeds
are also quoted by YAREELL, but it does not appear whether
this hybrid race of birds is capable of reproduction : probably

THE ROOK. 87

it is not. It seems likely that the passage which we have quoted
from LANDT, in reference to the holding of " a Crow Court," may
refer to these birds, and not to the Carrion Crow : for MUDIE
speaks of their assembling in large numbers, as if for the purpose
of some solemn inquisition, previous to their dispersion for the
breeding season, and these meetings, he thinks, have reference to
offices of love and gallantry ; then it is that they choose their
males, and settle their quarrels of rivalry, which sometimes have
fatal terminations.

The author last quoted, also tells us, that " in the south the
Hooded Crows usually appear in small flocks, and come not only
to the corn-fields, but to the neighbourhood of villages, and even of
towns, gather any garbage they can find, and play the scavenger
in the kennels, and at the lay-stalls. On the sea-shore they are
not uncommon, where they pick up dead fish and birds, or any
sort of animal substance, no matter how decayed or putrid, that
may have been left grounded by the tide. * * * *

" They also prowl about the preserves, warrens, and pastures,
and if they find any animal in a disabled or weakly state, they
punch out its eyes, and if they are not able to kill it on the spot,
leave it to perish, and return to the carrion at their leisure. In
the north they carry on similar depredations during the whole
summer. The number of eggs and young birds of Grouse and
other species which they destroy, is very great, and in some places
of the Highlands, and the northern isles, especially in the Feroe
Islands, they rob the ground of the seed corn and the potatoes."

11. THE BOOK.

Corvus Frugilegus, LIN. Le Freux ou 'la Frayonne, BUF. Die Saal-
terahe, BLCH.

Although no notice of the Book occurs in the work which
forms the basis of the present volume, yet is it a bird whose
associations with man and his labours are so intimate and well
known, that we cannot well omit giving some account of its habits
and characteristics. To the British naturalist there is perhaps
no more interesting and important member of the corvus tribe
than this ; certainly none that has attracted a greater share of
attention. It is described by MACGILLIVBAY as having the
" feathers of the fore part of the head and throat abraded,
plumage black, splendent, with purple, blue and green reflec-
tions ; that of the neck blended, silky, steel-blue, purple and
green ; the bill attenuated towards the tip. Young, with the
head entirely feathered, the plumage black, less glossy. The

88 THE ROOK.

nest is large, composed of sticks, and lined with fibrous roots,
long straws, wool, and other substances. The eggs are four or
five in number, an inch and ten-twelfths long, an inch and a
quarter broad, colour light greenish blue, blotched, clouded,
spotted, dotted, or freckled, with greyish and greenish brown,
and light purplish grey.

ADDITIONAL. — PENNANT informsus that the Rook, or Bare-faced
Crow, as it is sometimes called, is the Cervus of VIEGIL, being the
only species of this family of birds which is strictly gregarious,
and which therefore answers the description of the Latin poet,
who very naturally describes their evening return to their nests,
when

" rustling on the wing,
From their wide plumes the Rooks thick darkness fling."

"Rooks," says MTJDIE, "have a history which is neither brief
nor void of interest ; and they are so numerous, and found in so
many places, that any one may study it." As no one has related
that history in a more lively and graphic way than this author
himself, we cannot do better than refer our readers to his interest-
ing work on the Feathered Tribes of Britain, before alluded to.

The Rook is a social bird ; he builds his nest very commonly
in the immediate vicinity of human habitations ; he is often to
be found surrounded by his cawing progeny in the very midst
of crowded cities. YAEBELL tells us that " In the spring of 1838,
a pair of Rooks began to form a nest in the crown which sur-
mounts the vane of St. Olave's church, in Hart Street, Crutched
Friars ; and many persons remember the nest built in a single
and not very lofty tree near the corner of Wood Street, Cheap-
side. A few years since, a pair built their nest between the wings
of the dragon of Bow Church ; and in the gardens of two noble-
men in Curzon Street, May Fair, a considerable number of
Rooks have built for many years, and these probably received an
addition at the destruction of the rookery in the gardens of
Carlton House." We have it on the authority of ME. BLACK-
WELL, a contributor to the Zoological Journal, that some low
Italian poplars, in a central part of the town of Manchester, were
for awhile the chosen breeding- place of three pairs of these birds ;
and on that of BEWICK, that a nest built by a pair of Rooks on
the top of the vane of- the Exchange, in JN ewcastle-upon-Tyne,
was tenanted for ten successive seasons, although turned about
with every wind that blew. MACGILLIVEAY also mentions that
Rooks build every year in the heart of the city of Edinburgh.
LEIGH HUNT, in his Indicator, thus pleasantly alludes to the
Rooks of the Temple Gardens. " From Woodcote Green, a

THE ROOK. 89

pretty sequestered spot between Ashted Park and the town of
Epsom, Eooks are said to have been first taken to the Temple
Gardens by Sir William Northey, secretary to Queen Anne.
How heightened is the pleasure given you by the contemplation
of a beautiful spot, when you think it has been the means of
conferring a good elsewhere. I would rather live near a rookery,
which had sent out a dozen colonies, than have the solitary idea
of them complete. In solitude you crave after human good ;
and here a piece of it, however cheap in the eyes of the scornful,
has been conferred ; for Sir William's colony nourishes, it seems,
in the smoke of London. Eooks always appeared to me the
clergymen among birds ; grave, black-coated, sententious ; with
an eye to a snug sylvan abode, and plenty of tithes. Their
clerkly character is now mixed up in my imagination with some-
thing of the lawyer. They and the lawyers' ' studious bowers,'
as Spenser calls the Temple, appear to suit one another. Did
you ever notice, by the way, what a soft and pleasant sound there
is in the voices of the young rooks — a sort of kindly chuckle, like
that of an infant being fed ?" It has been, and is, a much-dis-
puted question, whether Books are most beneficial or hurtful toman.
WATEETON appears to think the balance as about equal : KNAPP,
that it inclines very much in favour of the birds, as does also
JESSE, who cites several instances in which they have effected

food upon a most extensive scale. "An extensive experiment,"
e tells us, " appears to have been made in some of the agricul-
tural districts on the continent, the result of which has been the
opinion that farmers do wrong in destroying Eooks, Jays, Spar-
rows, and, indeed, birds in general. In our own country, in some
very large farms in Devonshire, the proprietors determined, a
few summers ago, to try the result of offering a great reward for
the heads of Eooks ; but the issue proved destructive to the
farmers, for nearly the whole of the crops failed for three succes-
sive years, and they have since been forced to import Rooks and
other birds to restock their farms with." "A similar experiment,"
says YABEELL, " was made a few years ago in a northern county,
in reference to Eooks, and with no better success ; the fanners
were obliged to reinstate the Eooks, to save their crops."

MACGILLIVEAY has noticed that a great variety of notes are
uttered by the Eooks under different circumstances; and that so
far from their cry being always merely a kkra, as is generally
supposed, their voice is capable of great modifications. Their
imitative powers, too, are very considerable. Mr. WEIB, a cor-
respondent of the above-named naturalist, mentions one kept by
an old woman at Bathgate, which imitated so well the barking of
a dog, that if placed out of view, it was impossible to detect the
deception. HEWITSON speaks of a Eook which imitated the note

90 THE JACKDAW.

of the Jackdaw. Many instances are on record, which go to prove
that this bird possesses a large share of that peculiar sagacity
which distinguishes several other individuals ol the Crow tribe ;
two very amusing ones are mentioned by THOMPSON, in his Note
Book of a Naturalist, which we think it well to quote : he says,
" I often witnessed the drolleries of a Rook belonging to the Ship
Inn, at Faversham, which was much frequented by commercial
travellers, whose chaises, if their stay was a brief one, were al-
lowed to remain in the yard. The Kook, in a listless manner,
and as if he had no object in view, would hop about one, and at
last disappear under the driving seat. In a short time the horse
was put to, and the traveller drove on to the next stage, when the
Book issued from his concealment, and by the most impressive
croaks signified his delight at his escapade. This was of constant
occurrence, and the landlord assured me that these jaunts cost
him many shillings for the back carriage. Another bird, on the
same road, either at Dartford or Welling, was in the habit of ac-
companying a coach which changed horses at his master's house
on its way to London, till it met the down coach, when it trans-
ferred itself to that vehicle and returned home."

Over part of the European continent the Eook is said to be a
migratory bird ; it is sometimes observed to cross the Channel
from this country, although it is not found in Guernsey or Jersey,
nor in the Shetland nor Orkney Isles. It inhabits the range of
country between the Black and Caspian Seas, and also, according
to TEMMINCK, is a dweller in Japan.

12. THE JACKDAW.

Corvus Monedula, LIN; Chouca, BUF. Die Dohle, BECH.
Description and Observations. — This bird, from the circum-
stance of making its nest in old buildings and ruins of every
description, is naturally half tame ; and becomes entirely so,
if reared by hand. In that case it may be allowed to run about
the yard with the poultry. The nest generally contains from
four to seven green eggs, spotted with dark brown and black.
The Jackdaw is prized by amateurs, not so much on ac-
count of its speaking powers, which are not very great, as of
its tameness and recognition of its owner. It often becomes
so familiar as to accompany its possessor in his walks, and so
attentive, as to notice all that passes in a house — especially in
the culinary department. Even old birds may be taught to
obey a call, if their wings be cut in autumn, and again, in spring,
so that they only gradually recover the power of flight. In
this case, the bird will certainly return to the yard at the ap-

THE JACKDAW. 91

proach of winter. The Jackdaw is about the size of a Pigeon,
being thirteen inches and a half in length. The back of the
head is light grey ; the rest of the body black, rather paler on
the belly than elsewhere.

When in winter it eats wild garlic in the fields, it preserves
the offensive smell for a long time, even in the house.

ADDITIONAL. — In many of its habits and characteristics, this
bird very closely resembles the Rook ; he is a pert, lively, and
loquacious fellow, fond of the company of his feathered conge-
ners, and also of human society ; he is more compact of form and
lively in his actions than any other bird of the genus Corvince, of
which he is the smallest member, though not by any means the
least important, if his own estimate is to be taken, — that is, judging
of this by his consequential airs, and tokens of self-satisfied im-
portance. He is a handsome bird, too, with his black head and
wing coverts glossed with blue and violet reflections, running off*
into grey as if a smoke wreath were floating over, and partly
hiding the rich dark shades of his plumage. The following is
MUDIE'S account of some of his distinguishing peculiarities :
" Holes and chinks are the immediate places in which Jackdaws
nestle ; but these must be elevated above the level of the ground,
and the higher they are the bird likes them the better. It is pro-
bable that the original instinct is the protection of its eggs and
young from the weasels. Hocks, the edges of neglected quarries,
the projecting parapets of bridges, towers, steeples, ruins, the
earth where it forms a very steep and crumbling bank, are all
resorted to by the Jackdaws ; and one would imagine that the
birds are fonder of the society of man than of having the locality
to themselves. But the fact is, that these birds court the vicinity
of human dwellings for the same reason as the House- Swallows,
because insects are most abundant there. Fifty towers may be
built in an insectless wilderness, and never a Jackdaw would
come to nestle in them.

" In the winter months, the Jackdaws and Hooks flock toge-
ther, and collect their food on the same fields, and of the same
kind, without any hostility ; but in the spring, when the Rooks
return to the rookery or the trees, the Jackdaws collect about
the rocks and towers. Their habits are, indeed, very similar to
those of the Rooks, with the exception of the places in which
they nestle, and the materials of the nest ; both are generally of
sticks, but the Jackdaw uses a lining of softer matters. The dif-
ference of their notes easily distinguishes the two species, even
when they are so blended and distant that the eye cannot. The
Scotch names, Craa and Kae, are, perhaps, as expressive of their
sounds as names can well be.

92 THE JACKDAW.

" In some places, one would think that there is more in their
winter associating than merely accidental meeting on the same
pastures. In the latter part of the season, when the Rooks from
one of the most extensive rookeries in Britain made daily excur-
sions of about six miles to the warm grounds by the sea-side,
and in their flight passed over a deep ravine in tne rocky sides,
or rather side (for they inhabit the sunny one), on which there
were many Jackdaws, I have observed that when the cawing
of the Hooks in their morning flight was heard at the ravine,
the Jackdaws, which had previously been still and quiet, in-
stantly raised their shriller notes, and flew out to join the Rooks,
both parties clamouring loudly, as if welcoming each other ; and
that, on the return, the time of which was no bad augury of the
weather of the succeeding day, the Daws accompanied the Rooks
a little past the ravine ; then both cawed their farewell, and de-
parted. What is more singular, I have seen, too frequently
for its being merely accidental, a Daw return for a short time
to the Rooks, a Rook to the Daws, or one from each race meet
between, and be noisy together for a space after the bands had
separated. With the reason I do not interfere, not being in the
secrets of either party ; but the fact is as certain as it is curious.
In order that any one who pleases may investigate the matter, I
may mention that the Rooks were from the woods of Panmure,
the Daws from the den of Pitairley, and the feeding ground was
the low part of the parishes of Monifeith and Barry, all in the
county of Angus.

" From the ease with which Jackdaws can be observed, there
are many stories of them, and also of the perils to which boys
expose themselves in plundering their nests. One of the most
extraordinary of the latter, is that of Murray, the Dundee barber.
The battlement of the old tower there is about one hundred and
fifty feet above the pavement at the base. Murray (when a boy)
went through one of the holes in the parapet, hung by one hand
to a Scotch bonnet, which another boy held from within, and with
his other hand drew the eggs and young birds from the nests,
and put them in the bonnet. While thus employed, he kept
warning his companion, ' If you let go the bonnet, I'll give you
none of the spoil.' The Jackdaw is easily tamed, and long re-
members those who have paid attention to it ; indeed, it is almost-
tame in its natural state ; but it is noisy and impudent, and not
very honest."

To this we may well add an extract from the account given by
MACGILLIVKAY in his History of British Birds.

"Jackdaws inhabit deserted buildings, steeples, towers, and
high rocks, especially those along the coast. Saflymg from thence
at early dawn, they betake themselves to the pastures, meadows,

THE JACKDAW. 93

or ploughed fields, to search, for larvse, worms, insects, and in
general the same sort of food as the Hooks, with which they
often associate on their excursions. They walk gracefully, and
much more smartly than the Hooks, often running under excite-
ment, and frequently quarrelling together, although without any
serious results. They do not despise carrion, and on the shore
will occasionally feed on shell-fish, Crustacea, and fishes, being
nearly as omnivorous as the Hooded Crows, although giving a
decided preference to larvse. They are scarcely less vigilant than
the Hooks, at least while in the fields, so that it is not always
easy to get within shot of them ; but in the breeding season one
may readily procure specimens by concealing himself in the midst
of their haunts.

" This is one of the few birds that habitually or occasionally
reside in the heart of cities, where it selects a steeple, a church
tower, or any other high building in which it can find a sufficient
number of secure retreats. In Edinburgh, for example, it fre-
quents Heriot's and Watson's hospitals, the University, the In-
firmary, the chapel of Holyrood House, and the Castle, although
in the latter it is chiefly in the rock that it takes up its abode.
In the country, ruinous castles are its favourite places of resort,
and it is found, for example, at Dunottar, Rosslyn, and Tan-
tallon castles, and the buildings on the Bass. It also not unfre-
quently finds refuge in high rocks, as at the Cove, near Aber-
deen, and in other places along the coast ; and in defect of more
agreeable lodgings, will sometimes settle in a wood.

" In these places also it nestles, as well as not unfrequently in
the interior of chimneys in which fire is not kept. The nest is
fixed in any convenient recess, in a cornice, or other projecting
part of a building, in the hole of a spout, or, in short, in any
place that seems suitable. It has a base-work of sticks, on whicn
is laid a quantity of straw, wool, feathers, and other soft mate-
rials. The eggs are from four to seven, generally five, of a regu-
lar oval form, broader in proportion to their length than those of
the other species, much lighter also, being of a very pale greenish
blue, or rather blueish white, covered, more profusely at the larger
end, with small, round, separated spots of dark brown and pale
purplish. They vary in length from an inch and four-twelfths to
an inch and six-twelfths in diameter, from eleven and a half-
twelfths to a twelfth more. The eggs are generally deposited in
May, and the young are abroad by the end of June.

" Like the Wheatear, it has sometimes been found to nestle in
a rabbit's hole. Thus, WHITE relates that a gentleman residing
near Chichester informed him that ' that many Daws build every
year in the rabbit burrows under ground. The way he and his
brothers used to take their nests while they were boys, was by

94 THE JACKDAW.

listening at the mouths of the holes, and if they heard the young
ones cry, they twisted the nest out with a forked stick.' ' Ano-
ther very unlikely spot,' he adds, ' is made use of by Daws as a
place to 'breed in, and that is Stonehenge. These birds deposit
their nests in the interstices between the upright and the impost
stones of that amazing work of antiquity ; which circumstance
alone speaks the prodigious height of the upright stones, that
they should be tall enough to secure those nests from the annoy-
ance of shepherd boys, who are always idling round that place."
Much curious matter might be added respecting the situations
in which the nests of the Jackdaws are sometimes built, and the
substances of which they are composed, wool and other soft sub-
stances being used for the lining, and sticks loosely put together
forming the exterior. Mr. J. DENSON relates, in the Magazine
of Natural History, " that at Cambridge, where the Jackdaws
are very numerous, they appropriated the wooden labels attached
to the plants in the Botanic Gardens to the purposes of building
to such an extent as to cause great perplexity and serious incon-
venience ; as many as eighteen dozen of these labels, which were
principally of fir, and about nine inches long and one broad, were
taken out of a single chimney shaft, in which the birds were in
the habit of forming their nests." Of the extraordinary mass of
materials sometimes collected by this bird, we have an instance
quoted by YAERELL, from a letter addressed to him by C. ANDEE-
SON, Esq., of Lea, near Gainsborough, who states, that a Jack-
daw began its nest in the steep and narrow steps of a spiral
stone staircase in Saunby Church, Lea, and finding that it could
not get a base sufficiently flat and broad for its purpose, con-
tinued to pile up sticks to the height of five or six steps, until a
landing was reached where the structure was finished off securely,
if not very neatly. An instance, giving evidence of still greater
perseverance and sagacity, not to say intelligence, on the part of
the bird, is recorded by JESSE, in his Scenes and Tales of Coun-
try Life; this was in the bell tower or turret of the chapel of
Eton College ; and the most remarkable circumstance connected
with it was, that the feathered architects having to bring the
timber which they employed through a narrow aperture in the
wall, broke, or cracked, each of them exactly in the middle, so
that they could be doubled up, and thus drawn through more
easily. In The Dumfries Courier, a few years back, it was re-
lated that a clump of trees in Cully Park, in which a flock of
Daws had long built, having been completely wrecked by a fear-
ful storm, the birds betook themselves, for the purposes of breed-
ing, to some rabbit burrows close by, which henceforth had both
furred and feathered inhabitants, who lived amicably together,
and formed one " happy family." In BEOWN'S Anecdotes may

THE JAY. 95

be found several, which strikingly exhibit this bird as one of
great sagacity, but we have not space to quote them. WATEETON
considers that when Jackdaws once pair they remain partners for
life : they are found in most parts of this country, as well as in
Holland, France, Germany, Italy, and on the northern shores of
Africa ; also in Denmark, Scandinavia, Russia,, Western Siberia,
and even Iceland. Specimens have been found in Smyrna and
Trebizcnd, and most of the countries between the Black and the
Caspian Seas ; but neither in India proper nor throughout the
continent of America. This bird is happily characterized in a
poem by VINCENT BOURNE, well rendered by Cowper. We have
only space for the first verse : —

" There is a bird who by his coat,
And by the hoarseness of his note,

Might be supposed a crow ;
A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishop-like, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too."

13. THE JAY.

Corvus Glandarius, LIN. Le Geai, BUF. Der Holzheher, BECH.
Description. — This is a beautiful bird, which in my youth I
have often seen among the peasants of the Thuringian forest,
confined in a cage and taught to speak. It is thirteen inches
and a half long, and about the size of a Pigeon ; its beak is
black, and resembles that of a Crow ; the feet are brown and
somewhat inclining to flesh colour ; all its smaller feathers are
soft and silky ; almost the whole body may be described as
tinged with purple ashen grey ; the throat is whitish ; the eyes
reddish white ; the vent and rump quite white ; the large loose
feathers on the top of the head can be erected into a black grey
and purple crest ; on each side of the head a black stripe runs
from the lower mandible almost half way down the neck ; the
pen feathers are blackish, the centre ones having a white border,
which produces a spot of the same colour on the wings. The
larger coverts are crossed on the outer side by bright narrow
stripes of whitish blue, light blue, and bluish black, the colours
of which blend together like those of the rainbow, and add
much to the beauty of the bird ; the tail feathers are black,
but grey at the roots, and towards the point marked by trans-
verse bands like those just described. The female is only
distinguishable from the male by having on the back of the
neck a greyish, in place of a reddish tinge.

96 THE JAT.

Habitat. — The Jay is found in forests, both in mountainous
and level countries, but especially in woods where coniferous
are mixed with other trees. In the house it must be confined
in a large wire cage, to which the shape of a tower or any
other may be given at pleasure.

Food. — In a wild state it lives on acorns and beech mast,
and when these fail, on various insects, worms, and berries.
It is very destructive in the cherry orchard. In confinement
it soon becomes accustomed to bran soaked in milk, but will
eat also bread, curds, meat, and anything that comes to table.
It is particularly fond of acorns and nuts. It must be kept
very clean, as it is apt to dirty its feathers and spoil its appear-
ance. The best food for it is, however, wheat alone, as in this
case its excrements are neither so soft, nor so foetid, as other-
wise ; on this diet it will live many years. It requires an
abundant supply of fresh water both for drinking and bathing.

Breeding. — The Jay builds its nest in beeches, oaks, and fir
trees, and lays six or seven ashen grey eggs, covered with small
dark brown spots. If the young birds are to be taught to speak,
they should be taken from the nest when fourteen days old,
and fed with curds, bread, meat, &c. They are easily reared
and domesticated. The old birds are very difficult to tame ;
they conceal themselves at the sight of any one, and will
sooner fast the whole day than reappear.

Mode of Taking. — "Whoever wishes to catch old birds, will
find the following method the best : — In autumn, choose, in a
spot frequented by these birds, a fir or pine, which stands five
or six paces from any other tree ; cut from this all the super-
fluous branches, leaving only sufficient to form a sort of ladder,
and dock these to the length of two, to two and a half feet ;
let these branches, which should extend from about ten feet
from the ground, to six feet from the summit of the tree, be
covered with limed twigs ; under the tree a small hut lightly
roofed with brushwood is to be built, capable of holding as
many persons as are desirous to share in the sport. On this is
placed a living or dead Owl, or an Owl made of clay, or even
a hareskin will do, so that it is attached to a string by which
it can be moved. To attract the Jays, a wooden whistle is
necessary, having a bit of cherry-tree rind inserted in the
notch, and covered with another piece of the same — the cry of
the Owl is thus imitated ; the Jays; its enemies, flock together

THE JAY. 97

and utter their cries. The alternate cry of Owl and Jay brings
more ; they fly on to the lime twigs, fall down, and are carried
by the weight through the roof of the hut. Other birds are
often attracted in this manner, and come to the rescueof the Jays ;
and Jays, Magpies,"Woodpeckers, Eedbreasts, and Thrushes, are
frequently caught at once. This mode of bird-catching may be
practised either at day-break or in the twilight. They are
also caught without difficulty in the water-trap — by which
means young birds, with half- grown tails, may be obtained in
July. These are not too old to be tamed and taught to speak.
Attractive Qualities. — The docility of the Jay is, as before
said, its chief recommendation. It may easily be taught to
speak, especially if the tongue-string be cut, though not more
than unconnected words ; it learns also to imitate little airs on
the trumpet, as well as the songs of several other birds. Its
beauty is to many amateurs a sufficient recommendation, but
it may also be taught to come and go at command — though
this does not succeed, as with the other Corvine birds, in the
town, but only in the vicinity of fields and woods.

ADDITIONAL. — The Common Jay, Blue-winged Jay, Jay Pie,
and Jay Pyet, are the names by which we distinguish this handsome
bird, which, is pretty generally distributed throughout the wooded
parts of England, Ireland, and Scotland. MUDIE very justly
describes it as one of the most beautiful of our resident birds,
and says that "it is not one of which it is easy to get a sight
upon compulsion, as the more you follow it, it plunges the deeper
into the thick of the coppice. The best place for observing it
well, is where there are peas or cherries near its haunts, as it
feeds greedily upon these, and may then be watched for a longer
time than its wary habits will admit of under most circumstances.

" Jays do not flock, neither have they meetings similar to those
of the Magpies, and some of those Crows that breed apart from
each other ; nor, though it has been observed in some instances,
has it been fully established that the young remain with the old
birds after they are fully fledged, and capable of finding their
own food. That is rather against the general analogy of their
natures, for they are much more predatory than the Magpies,
although considerably smaller. They are equally, if not more,
destructive of the eggs of small birds ; they catch mice, and they
occasionally pounce upon birds, and kill and devour them.

" One of their most remarkable qualities is the volubility of their
sounds, and the readiness with which, when tamed, they can be
made to articulate. Their alarm note, which they utter upon the

H

98 THE JAY.

appearance of any thing that is dangerous, or even strange in their
haunts, is peculiarly harsh ; but they have a love-note in the early
part of the season, which is not only soft, but so low, and appa-
rently cautious, that it seems whispering to their mates, as if to
hide their affections and their labours from the other tenants of the
grove. Even there they are very imitative, and though they do not
attempt the songs of the warblers, they are very adroit at bleating,
screaming, neighing, and, in short, imitating all the harsher sounds.
What purpose these may answer, whether to scare or invite, or
mislead other birds, is not known. The soft note is, in the
warmer parts of the country, often heard again toward the latter
parts of the season, because there the Jays have often two broods
in the year ; and it seems to be in such places only that the family
keep together during winter.

" The first incubation is toward the end of May, the nest being
begun about the first of that month. It is better built than that
of the Kook, but less carefully lined than the Crow's, or generally
than the Magpie's, and it has no walls or roof like the latter.
The platform is of sticks, and the immediate receptacle for the
eggs, which is shallow, is of grass and roots. The eggs are about
the same in number as those of the Magpie ; the incubation lasts
about two weeks, and the young acquire their plumage in July.

" The Jay is, for its size, remarkable for the rapacity of its appe-
tite, and the wideness of its swallow, and eats acorns, nuts, and
chestnuts entire ; but there are other substances of which it makes
more of a bonne boucke. It is very partial to the flowers of the
cruciferse, which it pulls slowly and carefully, petal by petal. It
is a restless and inquisitive bird, and sometimes gets itself torn
or jammed between branches in its ramblings. When nests, and
fruits on and under the trees fail it, it hunts among the fallen
leaves, and often plunders the hoards of small quadrupeds ; but
as it does not come far from the woods, even in the coldest
weather, it must be subject to many casualties, which accounts for
the limited numbers compared with the fecundity of the birds."

The Jay is widely distributed over the temperate portions of
Europe, and is found in Spain, Provence, Italy, Malta, Barbary,
and Egypt ; it is also common in the Morea, and in some parts
of Greece. Its flesh, according to TEMMINCK, is frequently
eaten. By a statute of 17th of Greorge the Second, grand juries
were empowered to offer threepence for the head of each Jay,
because these birds were thought to do great injury to young
trees, and this reward for its destruction had the effect of thin-
ning the numbers considerably in this country. The harsh note
of the bird has ever been one of its distinguishing characteristics.
GISBOENE, in his Walks in a Forest, says —

THE NUTCEACKEB. 99

" Proud of cerulean strains,
From heaven's unsullied arch purloined, the Jay
Screams hoarse."

14. THE NUTCBACKEE.
Corous Caryocatactes, LIN. Casse noi,v, BUF. Der Tannenheher, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of the last men-
tioned, being twelve inches in length. Of this the tail, half of
which is covered by the folded wings, measures four inches and
three quarters. The beak is one inch and a half long, straight,
compressed at the sides, and at the end curved, and black. The
iris is nut-brown, the feet black, and one inch and three
quarters in height. In general appearance it is speckled, like
the Starling. The body is dark brown, lighter on the upper
part ; the head, neck, and rump, uniform in colour. There is,
a white spot in front of the eyes, and on the cheeks and sides
of the neck a number of oval spots of the same colour. The
spots on the back are larger, and may even be called stripes.
On the breast the spots are frequent, large, and oval ; on the
belly less numerous, but larger still, and almost triangular.
The upper tail coverts are black, the lower white ; the wing
coverts blackish, the lesser ones tipped with white. The pen
and tail feathers are both black, the latter having white points.

The brown plumage of the female has a redder tinge than
that of the male.

Habitat. — In a state of nature, this bird inhabits the
thickest woods ; especially if including coniferous as well as
other trees, and being not far from meadows and springs. In
October, it generally migrates to districts where acorns, beech-
mast, and hazel-nuts are to be found ; and in winter may be
seen even on the roads, seeking for food among the horse-dung.

Food. — In a wild state the Nutcracker easily extracts the
seeds from the fir-cones, and breaks open acorns and beech-
mast, and cracks nuts by means of its strong bill. It eats also
all kinds of berries, but prefers whatever animal food it can
get, insects or otherwise.

In confinement, it may be treated and fed like the Jay ; it is
easier to tame, and sooner becomes accustomed to whatever
food may be given it. It will eat grain, but prefers animal
food ; and if a live Jay were put into its cage, it would be
killed and devoured in a quarter of an hour. It will even eat

H 2

100 THE MAGPIE.

squirrels which have been shot, a food from which the smaller
birds of prey generally turn with disgust.

Breeding. — It builds its nest in hollow trees, and generally
lays five or six eggs, of a dark olive grey, striped with dark
brown. The young may be reared on meat.

Mode of Taking. — The Nutcracker may either be caught in
the watertrap, or in autumn by a noose, baited with service
berries, or better still, with hazel nuts.

Attractive Qualities. — Its movements are as amusing as those
of the Shrike ; it is as talkative as the Jay, and imitates the
cries of many animals. Judging from its usual notes, and phy-
sical conformation, it might, if trained young, be taught to
speak.

ADDITIONAL. — MUDIE'S account of this bird is very succinct.
He says that " it is an exceedingly rare straggler in Great Bri-
tain, though abundant in many parts of the continent, even the
cold ones. It is about the size of a Magpie, of a rusty brown
colour, palest on the sides of the head and neck : and is, espe-
cially on the scapulars, spotted with white, the spots larger and
longer than those on the Starling. It lives on wild berries and
kernels, and pips, the latter of which it digs out of their shells
and cores with its powerful cultrated bill. It also lives upon in-
sects, and digs them out of the holes of trees, upon which it can
support itself in a manner similar to that of the Woodpeckers.
It has, indeed, something of the air, as well as the manners, of
those birds, but it wants their peculiarly distinguishing charac-
ters." MACGILLIVEAY says that " the Nutcracker forms the tran-
sition from the Crows to the Starlings, and, as M. TEMMINCK
thinks, to the Woodpeckers, some of which it certainly resembles in
the form of its bill, of which, however, the point is not compressed
as in that family, but depressed as in the Starlings. Its feet are
similar to those of the Crows, and still more of the Jays and
Starlings, but are not more adapted for climbing than those of
the last-mentioned families, although TEMMINCK states that its
habits greatly resemble those of the Woodpeckers."

15. THE MAGPIE.

Corvus Pica, LIN. Le Pie, BUF. Die Sister, BECH.
Description. — This bird is about the size of a Pigeon, but,
on account of its long tail, measures as much as eighteen inches
in length. It is everywhere' well known as a bird which fre-
quents the habitation of man ; and the colouring of its plu-

THE MAGPIE. 101

mage, although very simple, is yet handsome. It is black and
white, but both colours are exceedingly bright, and it is still
further ornamented by its conical tail, which has a purple tinge
at the tip, and so passes off into steel-blue.

Food. — In its natural state, the Magpie feeds on insects,
worms, berries, and roots ; but when tame, or in the aviary,
prefers meat and bread, and, if well trained, will appear at the
dining-parlour window at meal times, and eat whatever may
be offered it from the table. If more be given it than it can
eat, it conceals what is left for another meal. This propensity
may be remarked from the very first, in the young birds which
are reared from the nest.

Breeding. — The Magpie builds on trees near human habita-
tions, and generally lays four or five whitish-green eggs,
covered with ashen-grey and olive-brown spots and stripes.

Attractive Qualities.— Of all German birds, the Magpie may
be most easily and most completely tamed. It imitates all
striking sounds, and learns to speak with even less difficulty than
the various descriptions of Crows. It must, however, be taken
out of the nest when quite young, and systematically in-
structed. PLTJTAECH mentions one, in the possession of a barber
at Borne, which, of its own accord, imitated not only the human
voice, but the cries of various animals, and the sound of in-
struments ; and was a general subject of conversation through-
out the quarter of the city in which its owner lived. It may
be taught to come and go at call without difficulty, and may
be made tamer than the Pigeon, as it becomes exceedingly fond
of the various delicacies of the table, and only eats worms
and insects as dainties. The chief thing to be looked to, in the
case not only of this, but of all birds which are to be tamed,
is to take the young ones from the nest when they are a fort-
night old. It must be fed at first on bread soaked in milk or
water, afterwards on chopped meat, and at last on any kitchen
refuse, or even cooked or rotten apples and pears which are
useless for any other purpose. When it is so far fledged as to
be able to reach a neighbouring tree, let it fly till it is tired,
and then be lured back to its home. This may be repeated till
it is completely fledged, when the wings must be a little
clipped, till winter, when the feathers may be entirely pulled
out, and allowed to grow again. At last it will become so ac-
customed to its owner, and the place where he lives, that it

102 THE MAGPIE.

may be allowed to range half a day at once. If it also learn
to speak, the bird is all the more valuable. Even the old
birds, which are easily caught in winter, by limed twigs baited
with meat, may be accustomed to frequent the poultry yard —
if their wings be cut in summer, and allowed to grow again
through the autumn. In this case they return without timi-
dity, and rear their young in summer, not far from the house,
expecting to be supplied with food from the kitchen. It is not
safe to leave near them anything shining, or metallic ; for they
will carry it away, and hide it in the ground with their super-
fluous food.

A friend writes to me, " I once reared a Magpie, which fol-
lowed me about for a caress like a cat. It came at my call,
without having been taught ; and often followed me for hours,
so that I had the greatest difficulty to get rid of it, and was
obliged to confine it, if going where I could not take it. It
was wild with any one else, though able to distinguish in any
countenance the slightest change of expression. It some-
times flew to a great distance with its wild companions, but
nerer entirely deserted me for them."

ADDITIONAL. — In relation to the popular superstitions which
have gathered around this well-known bird, and made it an omen
of good and evil, some striking and pertinent observations will
be found in MUDIE'S History, as well as much interesting infor-
mation as to its habits and characteristics.

Owing, perhaps, principally to the hostility of gamekeepers,
sportsmen, and gardeners, Magpies are nowhere very numerous,
although they are to be met with in all the cultivated and wooded
districts of England, Ireland, and Scotland ; in the outer Hebri-
des, however, the Shetland and Orkney isles, according to MAC-
GILLIVEAY, they are never seen, and but rarely in the large tracts
of the Scottish central regions, because their habits unfit them to
remain far from human habitations, where this naturalist thus
graphically describes their haunts and habits : — " On the old ash
that overshadows the farm -yard, you may see a pair, one perched
on the topmost twig, the other hopping among the branches,
uttering an incessant clatter of short hard notes, scarcely resem-
bling anything else in nature, but withal not unpleasant, at least
to the lover of birds. How gracefully she of the top twig swings
in the breeze ! off she starts, and directing her flight towards the
fir-wood opposite, proceeds with a steady, moderately rapid, but
rather heavy flight, performed by quick beats of her apparently
short wings, intermitted for a moment at intervals. Chattering

THE MAGPIE. 103

by the way, she seems to call her mate after her ; but he, intent
on something which he has espied below, hops downward from
twig to branch, and descends to the ground. Eaising his body
as high as possible, and carrying his tail inclined upwards, to
avoid contact with the moist grass, he walks a few paces, and
espying an earth-worm half protruded from its hole, drags it out
by a sudden jerk, breaks it in pieces, and swallows it. Now,
under the hedge he has found a snail, which he will presently
detach from its shell. But something among the bushes has
startled him, and lightly he springs upwards, chattering the
while, to regain his favourite tree. It is a cat, which, not less
frightened than himself, runs off towards the house. The Mag-
pie again descends, steps slowly over the green, looking from side
to side, stops and listens, advances rapiclly by a succession of
leaps, and encounters a whole brood of chickens, with their mo-
ther at their heels. Were they unprotected, how deliciouslv
would the Magpie feast — but, alas ! it is vain to think of it ; for
with fury in her eye, bristled plumage, and loud clamour, head-
long rushes the Hen, overturning two of her younglings, when
the enemy suddenly wheels round, avoiding the encounter, and
flies off after his mate.

" There, again, you perceive them in the meadow, as they walk
about with elevated tails, looking for something eatable, although
apparently with little success. By the hedge afar off are two
boys with a gun, endeavouring to creep up to a flock of Plovers
on the other side. But the Magpies have observed them, and
presently rising, fly directly over the field, chattering vehe-
mently, on which the whole flock takes wing, and the disap-
pointed sportsmen sheer off in another direction."

JESSE, in his Gleanings, observes, that " as he was passing a
considerable length of wall, one day, he noticed five or six Mag-
pies perched upon it, every now and then eagerly darting at the
butterflies as they came near, and after making a short and ele-
gant circular sweep, alighted on the wall again, and there feeding
on their prey." In France, the Magpie is a great favourite, being
one of the few birds which no one seems to destroy ; it is accord-
ingly very common there. In Sweden and Norway also, it is
universally petted and protected. In The Magazine of Zoo-
logy and Botany, ME. HEWITSON observes — " The Magpie is
one of the most abundant, as well as the most interesting of the
Norwegian birds ; noted for its sly cunning habits here, its altered
demeanour there is the more remarkable. It is upon the most
familiar terms with the inhabitants, perching close about their
doors, and sometimes walking inside their houses. It abounds
in the town of Drontheim, making its nest upon the churches
and warehouses. We saw as many as a dozen of them at one

104 THE KOLLEK.

time seated upon the gravestones in the churchyard. Pew farm-
houses are without several of them breeding under the eaves,
their nest supported by the spout. In some trees close to houses
their nests were several feet in depth, the accumulation of years
of undisturbed and quiet possession.

"The inhabitants of Norway pleased us very much by the
kind feeling which they seemed to entertain towards them, as
well as to most species of birds, often expressing a hope that we
would not shoot many. Holes are cut in many of their build-
ings for the admission of some, and pieces of wood are nailed up
against them to support the nests of others. At Christmas, that
the birds may share their festivities and enjoyments, they place
a sheaf of corn at the end of their houses."

In all the central portions of Europe the Magpie is a common
and familiar bird. Southward it is found in Spain, Provence,
Italy, in the Morea, Smyrna, Aleppo ; in the country between
the Black and Caspian seas. It is met with in India and China,
where it is looked upon as a bird of happy augury, and also in
Japan. According to AUDUBON, RICHARDSON, and NUTTALL, it
is a native of the American continent from Louisiana to the Fur
Countries, and across the Rocky Mountains as far as Kamts-
chatka.

Many of the old English poets have alluded to this bird as a
noisy, chattering creature ; thus, CHAUCER, in his Canterbury
Tales, describing the miller's wife, says —

" And she was proud and pert as is a pie."

GISBOENE, in his Walks in a Forest, speaks of its restlessness
and harsh voice —

" From bough to hough the restless Magpie roves,
And chatters as she flies."

TAMEABLE ONLY WHEN YOUNG.

15. THE ROLLEK.

Coracias Garrula, LIN. Rollier d' Europe, BUF. Die Mandelkr'dhe, BECH.
Description. — In size and figure this bird resembles the Jay,
being nearly one foot in length, of which the tail measures four
inches and a half. The beak is one inch and a quarter in length,
in shape like that of a Magpie, blackish, and with naked nos-
trils. Behind the eyes is a naked warty spot ; the iris is grey ;
the feet somewhat more than an inch in height, and, as well as
the toes, a dirty greyish yellow. The head, neck, throat,

THE ROLLER. 105

breast, seat, greater and under wing coverts, are blueish green ;
the back, shoulders, and the three last pen feathers, are liver-
coloured ; the tail coverts, lesser wing coverts, and the con-
cealed side of the pen feathers, indigo blue on the inner margin.
The outer plume of the pen feathers is black, with the half
nearest the root blueish green. The tail is straight, a dirty
blueish green at the root, but towards the point of a purer and
lighter tinge. The two centre feathers are quite a brownish
green ; the first is black at the point ; the second to the fifth
are tipped with brown, and have a large blue spot on the inner
plume. All the feathers have a peculiar metallic lustre.

The female, on the head, neck, breast, and belly, is reddish
grey, mottled with greenish blue. The back and the hind-
most pen feathers are a clear greyish brown ; the rump green,
mottled with blue ; the tail blackish, tinged with green and
blue. In other respects she is like the male.

Habitat. — This bird is a native of Europe and North
Africa, though by no means to be found everywhere in those
countries. In Germany it chiefly frequents oak and fir woods,
especially those on sandy plains, though its traces are some-
times met with in other localities. In confinement it ought
to be allowed to range the room with one wing cut.

Food-, — It is said, when wild, to eat not only insects and
frogs, but also roots, acorns, grain, and the like. As I have
never seen it, when in confinement, take any vegetable nutri-
ment, I have some difficulty in accepting the above statement.

Breeding. — The nest is built in hollow trees, and consists of
twigs, grass stalks, feathers, and hair. The eggs, of which
the female lays five or six, are white, at the upper end very
round, and equally pointed at the lower. The male and female
share the labours of incubation, which occupy from eighteen
to twenty days. The young birds do not acquire the beautiful
blueish green hue till the second year. Before that period the
prevailing colour on the head, neck, and breast, is greyish white.

I had till recently believed that the Roller was untameable,
but have been convinced of the contrary by Dr. METER, of
Offenbach, and M. VON CLAIRVILLE, of Wintershur, who have both
been successful in the attempt.

Dr. MEYER'S method is as follows : " The young birds are
to be taken from the nest when half fledged, and fed with
chopped bullock's heart, beef, and tripe, till they can feed them-

106 THE ROLLER.

selves, when they may be supplied with the same food, or
live half-grown frogs. The way in which they treat them is
curious. They throw them up in the air, catch them as they
descend by the hind leg, and beat their heads violently against
the ground. These processes are repeated till the frog ceases
to move, when it is swallowed. I fancy the object of this is,
that the frogs, of which they will swallow three or four suc-
cessively, may not move in their crops. When the bird has
become accustomed to this diet, the meat may be mixed with
barley-meal. I have seen cases in which it would eat bread,
vegetables, and meal, somewhat moistened, but bullock's heart
always remains the favourite food. I have never seen one of
these birds drink.

" They learn to know their attendant, obey his call, and eat
out of his hand, though they will not suffer themselves to be
touched. They never become quite tame, nor leave off biting.
Except when eating, they generally sit in one place, occasion-
ally hopping up and down the room, though with no great ac-
tivity, on account of their short feet. They ought not to be
allowed to range the room entirely without restraint, nor be
confined in a cage ; as being exceedingly shy birds, they are
apt to beat against the bars and kill themselves. The best
plan is to give them their liberty, with one wing clipped.
With companions of their own species, they are quarrelsome
and apt to bite, but agree very well with other birds. I have
kept them in a large aviary with other large and small birds,
as well as in the dove-cote, among Pigeons not allowed to fly
out. They are as healthy and lively when alone, as with
companions."

I have since seen two of these birds in the possession of M. vox
CLAIRVILLE, and have kept one myself. They had been reared
on bullock's heart, and as soon as they could feed themselves,
were supplied with it, cut into thin stripes, in a trough with
water. Beetles and other insects were their dainties.

Attractive Qualities. — The Roller has few recommendations
except the beauty of its plumage. One in the possession of
MADAME VON CLAIRVILLE, was so tame as frequently to fly into
her bosom — provided no stranger were by — to be fed and
caressed. The only voice they possess is an unpleasant cry,
resembling that of the frog or Magpie.

GOLDEN ORIOLE.

THE GOLDEN OEIOLE. 107

ADDITIONAL. — The Coracine birds, or Boilers, are mostly inha-
bitants of warm climates ; one species occurs in Britain, and that
only as a straggler. Of this, specimens have been most fre-
quently shot in our eastern and north-eastern counties ; two are
recorded to have been obtained in Orkney. MACGILLIVBAY
describes the bird as of " a shy and restless disposition, it pre-
fers the forests and solitary places, but sometimes associates with
Rooks and other birds, searching the meadows and ploughed
fields for food. It lives chiefly on insects, but also eats slugs,
worms, reptiles, and soft fruits. Its flight is rapid, and it has
been seen to descend at times like the Kook or Tumbler Pigeon.
Its voice is said to be loud and harsh. It nestles in the hollows
of trees, or, when these are wanting, in holes which it digs in the
banks of rivers. The eggs are broadly elliptical, nearly an inch
and a half in length, smooth, and of a glossy white. They are
thus similar to those of the Kingfisher and Bee-eater ; and this
circumstance, together with the similarity in the mode of nest-
ling of these birds, indicates an affinity of structure."

According to YAERELL, the young birds of this species do not
attain to brilliant colours of plumage till their second year, pre-
vious to which they are dull brown above, and greyish green
underneath. Adult females do not differ from males in colour.

BECHSTEIN has omitted to mention that one of the German
names of this bird is Birck-heher, or the Birch- Jay.

16. THE GOLDEN OEIOLE.
Oriolus Gattula, LIN. Loriot, BUF. Der Pirol, BECH.

Description. — This bird, of which the male is exceedingly
beautiful, is about the size of a Blackbird, being nine inches
long, of which the tail measures three and a half. The
beak is reddish brown, one inch in length, strong, convex, and
the upper point, which is very sharp, bent over. The nostrils
are open ; the iris a greenish brown ; the feet, which are one
inch in height, and the toes, a dirty lead colour. The head,
neck, back, throat, breast, belly, sides, and under wing coverts,
are a beautiful golden yellow, somewhat lighter on the throat
and the belly, and a little inclined to green on the rump. Be-
tween the comer of the beak and the eye is a black spot ; the
eye-lids are edged with yellow ; the wings are black ; the
coverts of the large quill feathers edged with pale yellow,
which forms a yellow spot on each wing. The tail is straight,
and the two middle feathers quite black ; but the rest only
half- way from the base, and then yellow, yet in such a man-

108 THE GOLDEN ORIOLE.

ner that the outermost have most yellow, and the black gradu-
ally increases as the feathers are nearest the centre.

The female is not so handsome ; the golden yellow appears
only at the end of the olive green feathers of the tail, and on the
under tail and wing coverts. The rest of the upper part of the
body is siskin green ; the belly is dirty greenish white, mixed
with dark stripes ; the wings blackish grey.

Habitat. — When wild, it frequents isolated groves and
thickets, near larger woods, where there are high and leafy
trees. It prefers the bushy trees so much, that it is rarely
seen distinctly. "When the cherries are ripe, it also betakes
itself to the orchards. It appears in Germany in May, when
the trees are in leaf, and departs in flocks as early as August.

In the house, when it cannot be allowed to run or fly about,
it may be confined in a large wire cage, which may be made
.like an ordinary Nightingale aviary. At night it is always
very restless, if "the cage have not a thick covering, and thus
often rubs off its quill and tail feathers. Even when running
about the room it is a clumsy bird, jumps awry, like its rela-
tive the Boiler, on account of its short feet ; never sits still,
and quarrels with and bites all other birds.

Food. — When wild, it feeds on berries and insects. If an
old male be caught, like the Jays, by means of an Owl, put
in a large cage in a quiet room, be fed at first with cherries
alone, and afterwards mixed with bread soaked in milk, and
dry ants' eggs, it may occasionally be kept alive for some time.
Dr. MEYER kept an old male, which he caught in a Titmouse
trap, a year and a half. At first it took the usual Nightingale's
food, afterwards bread and milk, and at last anything that came
to table.

Breeding. — The Golden Oriole breeds but once a year ; their
purse-shaped nest is hung, with great art, on the fork of a
branch in some thick tree, or bush : it is not unlike a basket
with two handles. The female lays four or five eggs, which
are white, with a few black points of various sizes ; and before
the first moulting the young ones resemble the mother in ap-
pearance, and mew like cats. If it is desired to rear them,
which requires very peculiar care and attention, they should
be taken out of the nest when half fledged, fed at first with
fresh ants' eggs and chopped bullock's heart, and gradu-
ally inured either to the usual Nightingale's food, or to bread

THE COMMON HOOPOE. 109

soaked in milk : they then live four years, and sometimes
longer. It is to be regretted that the confined male birds never
retain their beautiful black and yellow plumage, but become
and remain, like the females.

Attractive Qualities. — I have seen two young males, which
had been reared from the nest, that besides the natural song,
like hidahaya, goigaia, whistled, one a nourish of trumpets,
and the other a minuet. The round, full, flute-like tone,
rendered their song exceedingly pleasing. Their yellow plum-
age was unfortunately tarnished, which frequently happens if
they are kept in a room where there is tobacco, or any other
smoke. Their call, by which they are so easily recognizable in
June, is Yo, or PuTilo.

ADDITIONAL. — " The Orioles," says MACGILLIVBAY, "appear to
be allied to the Boilers ; not only the form of their bill, but also their
short tarsi and broad toes indicating this affinity. They belong
to Africa, and the warmer parts of Asia and New Holland. One
species appears in England as an occasional or accidental visitor,"
and this is the bird here described by BECHSTEIN so fully, that
little fresh information can be added to it. YAEEELL gives an
account of the several specimens which have been shot in this
country, or are to be found in the various public or private col-
lections of stuffed birds ; he also describes the nest of the bird as
rather flat and saucer-shaped, generally placed on the horizontal
fork of a bough of a tree, to both branches of which it is firmly
attached. The materials used to form the nest are sheeps' wool
and long slender stems of grass, so curiously interwoven as mu-
tually to confine and sustain each other." ME. MEYEE, in his
Illustrations of British Birds, gives a representation of one of
these nests taken in Suffolk ; another collector is said to have
had eggs of the Golden Oriole, which were taken in the county
of Norfolk, by which it would seem that the bird does occa-
sionally breed in this country.

The Spaniards term this bird Turiol, the French Loriot, the
English Oriole, names which are said to have originated in the
sound of its call-note, which they are supposed to resemble.

18. THE COMMON HOOPOE.
Upupa Epops, LIN. Hupe, ou Pupet, BUF. Der Gemeine wiedehopf, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Missel-thrush,
is one foot in length, of which the tail measures four inches.
The beak is two inches and a half long ; black, thin, and

110 THE COMMON HOOPOE.

curved ; the feet are short and black ; the iris blackish brown.
The crest consists of a double row of feathers, of which the
longest is about two inches long, and all orange colour tipped
with black. The head, neck, breast, and under wing coverts
are reddish brown ; the belly white, marked on young birds with
narrow dark brown lines running upwards. The upper part
of the back, and the lesser wing coverts, are reddish grey; the
lower part of the back, the shoulders, and wings black, striped
with a yellowish white. The rump is white ; the tail, which
consists of ten feathers, black, but having across the middle a
broad white band, forming an obtuse angle presented upwards.

Habitat. — The Hoopoe is generally to be found in summer,
in woods which border on pastures and meadows. In August,
after the hay harvest, the Hoopoe departs in flocks to the
lower country. It is a bird of passage, leaving us in Sep-
tember, and returning at the end of April. It may always be
seen more upon the ground than on the trees.

In the house it should not be kept in a cage, but allowed to
range at will. It is exceedingly chilly, or, at least, is so fond of
warmth as to sit almost constantly on the stove ; and will suffer
its beak to be dried up rather than leave the warm place.

Food. — In a state of nature the Hoopoe eats the various
kinds of insects which are to be found in dung. It is some-
times put in a granary to destroy beetles, spiders, &c., but the
idea that it also catches mice is unfounded.

In captivity it is easily kept in condition iipon meat, and
bread soaked in milk, with an occasional meal-worm or two.

Breeding. — The Hoopoe builds in hollow trees a nest com-
posed of cow-dung mixed with fine root-fibres, and lays three
or four eggs. The attempt to domesticate old birds rarely suc-
ceeds ; it is better to take the young from the nest, and feed
them on the flesh of young Pigeons. In six weeks they will
be able to feed themselves. It is difficult to feed them, as their
heart-shaped tongue is only as large as a half-bean, which occa-
sions a difficulty in swallowing. They throw all their food up
in the air, and catch it with open beak, as it falls.

Mode of Taking. — To take them, a spot in the meadows,
which they frequent in August, must be marked ; a piece of
wood eight inches long must be smeared with bird lime, and to
it several live meal-worms are to be attached by a short thread.
The whole apparatus is then to be set up on a mole-hill. When

THE COMMON HOOPOE. Ill

the Hoopoe sees the worms, it darts upon them, and pulls the
limed twig upon itself by the thread.

Attractive Qualities. — The Hoopoe is prized, not only for its
beauty, but for its amusing gestures. It is particularly re-
markable for a ceaseless nodding of the head, touching the
ground every time — so that it seems to walk with a stick. The.
motions of its crest, wings, and tail are not less constant. I
have kept several for the sake of their comical gestures, which
they always begin the moment they are steadily looked at.
M. VON SCHATJEOTH writes to me respecting the Hoopoe as fol-
lows : ""With great trouble I succeeded in rearing two young
Hoopoes, which I had taken from the nest, in the top of a high
oak. They followed me everywhere, and when they heard me
at a distance, they would utter a twittering cry of joy, and
spring upon me. They did not fly much, yet seemed to find
no difficulty in so doing. If I sat down, they would climb up
my clothes as high as they could, especially if I was feeding
them from a pan of milk, the cream of which they eat greedily.
They did not seem satisfied till they had reached my head or
shoulders, when they would perch and caress me ; still it
needed but a word to rid me of their company, in which case
they would usually retire to the stove. In general they seemed
to gather my wishes from my eyes, according to which they
regulated their own proceedings. I gave them the universal
paste, and sometimes beetles, which are favourite morsels, but
never earth-worms. These insects they pierced with their
sharp beaks, till the feet and wing coverts were detached, and
the rest of the body soft ; they then threw them up in the
air, and caught them with open beak. If the food fell longi-
tudinally it was swallowed ; but if across the beak, it had to
be thrown up again. They do not bathe, but only roll them-
selves in sand. I sometimes took them with me to catch flies
in a neighbouring meadow, when I had the opportunity of no-
ticing their natural fear of birds of prey. As soon as they saw
a Pigeon or a Crow in the distance, they lay down on their
belly, spread out their wings so that the pen leathers met, and
the bird was surrounded with a crown, as it were, of pen and
tail feathers, laid the head upon the back, and pointed the
beak upwards. In this position the birds might have been
mistaken for an old rag ; and no sooner had the enemy passed
over, than they sprang up with cries of joy. They were very

112 THE COMMON HOOPOE.

fond of basking in the sun. "When content, they utter a qui-
vering cry of Wek ! Wek ! When angry, the note is harsher,
and the male sometimes cries Hup ! Hap ! The female had a
habit of dragging her food about the room, till it became en-
crusted with feathers and dirt ; this accumulated in the stomach
to a ball as large as a hazel-nut, of which she died. The male
survived the winter ; but from sitting so near the stove, his
beak dried up, so that he could not shut it within an inch, of
which he died miserably."

ADDITIONAL.— -" This bird," says MACGILLIVRAY, "has been
named Hoopoe, from the crest or tuft, huppe, in French, with
which its head is adorned. Some, however, derive its name from
its ordinary cry, which is said to resemble up-up, or pu-pu"

M. NECKER, in his Memoir of the Birds of Geneva, states,
that the Hoopoes fight desperately, and leave the ground
covered with feathers ; and a correspondent of the Magazine of
Natural History thus describes a favourite locality for these
birds on the Continent : — " On the Bordeaux side of the Garonne,
and near the city, are large spaces of marshy ground, intersected
by broad ditches and creeks terminating in the river, where, from
the advantage derived from the water, many poplars and willows
are planted for the sake of the twigs, which are much used for
tying vines. These trees being topped at about ten or twelve
feet from the ground, so as to induce them to sprout much, be-
come very thick, and in the course of a few years, gradually de-
caying at the centre, are attacked by numerous insects, particu-
larly the jet-ant, Formica fuliginosa. In these retired places,
which are frequented only by a few cowherds and country people,
the Hoopoe, which is a very shy bird, may be frequently ob-
served examining the rotten wood, and feeding on the insects
with which it abounds. The Hoopoe flies low and seldom, unless
when disturbed, its food being so abundant as to require little
search. It breeds in a hollow willow about the end of May.
The young come out in June ; but I could not ascertain the exact
time required for hatching."

Instances of the bird's breeding in this country are on record ;
JESSE, in his Gleanings, mentions a pair which built their nest
and hatched their young in a tree close to the house at Park End,
near Chichester ; DR. LATHAM had a young bird sent him on the
10th of May ; and MONTAGUE speaks of a pair in Hampshire
which begun a nest, but left it unfinished.

At tunes this bird breathes out a peculiarly low plaintive
sound, resembling the note of the dove, of which we are reminded
by these lines in MITCHELL'S Ruins of many Lands—'

THE COMMON CUCKOO. 113

" The green cicada chirping 'mid the grass,
The crested Hoopoes singing as they pass,
To charm the sense and soothe the pensive heart,
And bid sweet dreams and gentlest fancies start."

19. THE COMMON CUCKOO.

Cuculus Canorus, LINT. Coucou, BUF. Der Gemeine KticJcuk, BECH. Euro-
pean, ashen grey, singing Guchang, Gucher, GER.

Description. — This bird, about the size of the Turtle Dove, is
fourteen inches long, of which the tail measures seven ; three
quarters of it being covered by the folded wings. The beak,
one inch long, curves gradually, is black above, and blueish un-
derneath ; saffron-yellow at the corners, and orange-red at the
throat. The forehead and the circumference of the eyelids
are yellow ; the feet are yellow, and one inch in height, having
two toes before and two behind, and thus being adapted for
climbing. The head, back of the neck, back, rump, and wing
coverts, are of a dark ashen grey ; the back and the wing
coverts changing like the Pigeon's throat. The under-part of
the body to the breast is of a clear ash colour — throat white,
with dark grey waving lines ; the pen feathers dark brown,
with white spots on the inner side ; the tail feathers wedge-
shaped and black, with oval white specks in the middle, which
on those in the centre are hardly visible.

The female is smaller, and is on the upper part of the body
dark grey, with dusky, dirty brown spots. The under part of
the neck is ash-coloured and yellow, mixed with blackish-brown
transverse streaks. The belly is a dirty white, with similar
stripes of dark brown.

Habitat. — When wild, it is a bird of passage, appearing at
the end of April, and departing in September.

In the house, it may be allowed to run about, or confined in
a large wooden cage.

Food. — In a wild state, it eats several kinds of insects, and
picks many caterpillars from the trees.

In confinement, it is fed with meat and the universal paste
of wheat meal.

Breeding and Peculiarities. — The Cuckoo is the only bird
which never hatches its own eggs, but lays one, or at most two
oggs in the nest of any insect-eating bird. To tame it, it must
be taken out of the nest ; a thing which I have never done .

i

114 THTS COMMON CUCKOO.

myself, though several of my acquaintances have. As it is in
every respect a remarkable bird, and one which many amateurs
might willingly rear, I will subjoin the following communica-
tion on the subject from HERE v. SCHATJEOTH : " The Cuckoo
has hardly any recommendation as a house bird. "When old,
it is too stubborn and greedy ; and in general is either obsti-
nately fierce, or sits in sullen melancholy. I have reared some ;
the last I found in the nest of a Yellowhammer, who was very
puzzled with it. It was yet blind, and nevertheless flew at
me with great fury, when I took it out. On this account, I
know not how the stupidity of its foster-parents can be ex-
cused. I had hardly had it six days, before it ate, in a passion,
everything that was offered it; and I reared it on bird's flesh.
It was a long time before it learned to eat out of its trough ;
and it was so violent in its habits and quips, that it upset all
small vessels. The tail grew very slowly. It never became quite
tame ; it always darted at my face and hands, as well as at
everything that came too near it, and at other birds. It ate of
the first universal paste largely, and discharged as copiously,
and dirtied itself very much ; it also ate its own excrement.
It is exceedingly clumsy with its short climbing feet ; it cannot
walk at all, and at best can only be said to jump. It flies, how-
ever, very cleverly."

ADDITIONAL. — The name of this bird, and its curious cry, is
familiar to every one, and yet few in reality know much about
its habits, and not many have done more than catch just a glimpse
of its form, as it flitted from copse to copse, or along the hedge-
row, seeking its insect food, or a nest wherein to deposit its single
egg, the hatching of which, and the rearing of the young bird, it
leaves to a more attentive foster-parent. Whether the Cuckoo
ever does take a share in the performance of the parental duties,
has been, and still is, a disputed question ; ornithologists have
generally inclined to the negative side, but from some very posi-
tive assertions recently made by J. M'!NTOSH, in The Naturalist,
it would appear that they have yet much to learn on this subject.
He states, that with a pocket telescope, he distinctly saw the
female Cuckoo feeding its young in the nest of a Hedge Accentor,
constructed in a holly -bush about two feet from the ground.
WILLIAM KIDD also asserts that such a fact has been witnessed
by a friend of his, whose veracity he could not question ; the
foster-parent in this case being a Redbreast, which was assisted
in the work of procuring food for the young Cuckoo by the real
parent.

THE COMMON CUCKOO. 115

It is scarcely necessary for us to do more than allude to the
difference of opinion which exists on this subject, which has yet
to be settled by close and attentive investigation, as have several
other disputed points in the natural history of the Cuckoo : for
instance, whether the female bird ever utters that peculiar cry
from which the name of the species is derived, and whether she
deposits her egg indiscriminately in the first nest which comes iu
her way, or, as Mr. DAINES BAEEINGTON asserts, " looks out a
nurse in some degree congenerous, with whom to entrust her
young ;" again, whether she lays one egg only in a season, or
several in different nests, and how she manages to convey her
egg into some of the nests in which it has been found, having an
aperture much too small for it to be ejected therein in the usual
manner ; some affirm that the beak of the bird, and others the
claw, is the instrument used for that purpose. Then, again, is
the Cuckoo only an insectivorous and frugivorous bird ? is it also
granivorous? nay, is it not carnivorous? According to ARISTOTLE
and PLINY (and LINNAEUS appears to have believed this), the
young Cuckoo, when it had attained a sufficient size, would
sometimes kill and eat its foster-mother ; hence SHAKSPEAEE
makes the Fool in King Lear say :

" The Hedge-sparrow fed the Cuckoo so long,
That it had its head bit off by its young,"

in allusion to the unnatural conduct of the unhappy monarch's
daughters. In the play of Henry IV. also, there is an allusion
of a similar character. Then, why does not the Cuckoo incubate
like other birds P The French anatomist, M. HEEISSANT, dis-
covers a reason in its peculiar anatomical structure; but, says
GILBEET WHITE, here is the Fern-owl, which closely resembles
it, and which does incubate ; and several other species might be
named, which have just as good an excuse for neglecting the du-
ties of maternity. Does the Cuckoo turn out the other eggs
which she may find laid in a nest, previous to depositing her own
there ? Does she watch about the spot where this deposit has
been made, and have an eye, as it were, upon her offspring ? or
is she wholly without parental care and affection? Does the
young Cuckoo shovel up, by means of a certain depression in its
back, the eggs and young birds which incommode it, and tilt
them over the edge of the nest, as Dr. JENNEE asserts ? and does
the Titling, or the Wagtail, as the ease may be, in five instances
out of six, forthwith eject from its nest the intruded egg of the
Cuckoo ? All these, and half a hundred other equally strange
assertions, have been made and supported by good authorities,
in reference to this bird, which is such a perfect feathered mys-

116 THE COMMON CUCKOO.

tery, that we are sometimes half inclined to disbelieve in its ex-
istence altogether, and to ask with the poet, —
" 0, Cuckoo, shall I call thee bird,
Or but a wand'ring voice ?"

The REV. F. O. MOEEIS, in his History of British Birds, has
brought together more evidence on these conflicting points of the
Cuckoo's history, than will probably be found in any other work.
Quoting from this authority, we may state that "the bird is
found throughout the whole of the European continent : — in the
north, in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Siberia ; and
in the south, in Greece and its archipelago, and Italy. In Asia
it is found in Japan, Java, Kamtshatka, Asia Minor, India, and
many other parts. In Africa also, in Egypt, and, according to
TEMMINCK, iii the south of that continent.

" In our own country it occurs in every county of England, Ire-
land, Wales, and Scotland; and in the Orkney islands the
Cuckoo is frequently heard. A few breed every year in the re-
tired parts of Hoy and Waas.

"The general appearance of the Cuckoo is strikingly like that of
the female Sparrowhawk. It frequents localities of the most
opposite description — the dreary fen, the wild heath of the open
treeless moor, as well as those in which brush- wood abounds, and
the well wooded hedge-rows of the best cultivated districts."

The Cuckoo generally arrives in this country about the middle
of April, the males being a day or two in advance ; the usual
time of departure is about the end of July, or beginning of August,
although almost every year specimens have been taken much
later. G-BAVES, in his British Ornithology, says he has known
them as late as the 16th of October.

Much might be said, were this the place for it, respecting the
popular sayings and superstitions which relate to this bird, which
in Scotland is called "the Gowk," whose curious cry is every-
where hailed as the harbinger of spring. The colliers in Shrop-
shire, we are told, when they first hear it, leave off work, and have
a holiday. Under certain circumstances, however, this note has
been considered as one of evil augury. CHAUCER tells us : —
" How among men it was a common tale
That it was good to hear the Nightingale
Ere the vile Cuckoo's note were uttered."

All readers of SHAKSPEAEE will bear in mind the reproach con-
veyed in

" Cuckoo, Cuckoo, that word of fear ;"

and although they may not go back to ARISTOTLE, and give cre-
dence to his vile slanders, that the young Cuckoo eats first the
fledgelings which share the nest with it, and then the Titling

THE MEN-QE GEAKLE. 117

which has hatched it, they may still be inclined to regard the
bird as the very personification of ingratitude, like the stony-
hearted daughters of King Lear ; whether or no, all must agree
with LYDYATE, that

" Between the Cuckoo and the Nightingale

There is a manner of strange difference."

And yet, according to LISLE BOWLES, this bird, of all the songsters
of the woods and fields, is the only really scientific performer ; his
notes being the fifth and third of the diatonic scale, and therefore
strictly in accordance with musical numbers. WOBDSWORTH'S
beautiful lines on the Cuckoo, and the pleasing ode by LOGAN,
have been too often quoted to need a repetition here.

FOREIGN BIRDS.

20. THE MIXOE GEAKLE.

Graccula Religiosa, LIN. Mainate, BUF. Der Mino oder Plunderer, BECH.

Description.— This bird, about the size of a Blackbird, is ten
inches and a half in length. Its beak is one inch and a half long,
curved, knife-shaped, naked at the root, and orange coloured,
tipped with light yellow. The feet are orange ; the nostrils
longitudinal, and situate in the middle of the beak ; the iris
nut-brown. The feathers on the side of the head are short,
like the nap of velvet, except in the middle towards the back.
On each side a naked membrane extends from the eye to the
back of the head, but is not there united. This is of unequal
breadth, broadest at the corner of the eyes. It is yellow, a
colour which at specific seasons of the year, or when the bird
is pleased or angry, is changeable. The prevailing hue of
the plumage is black, tinged with purple, violet, and green,
according to the light in which it is viewed. A white stripe
runs across the pen feathers. The tail, which is three inches in
length, is straight.

Observations. — The Minor Grakle is found in Jamaica, in
various parts of the East Indies, and in the islands beyond the
Ganges, as far as Java. Its food is vegetable ; and the birds
which are brought to Europe are very fond of cherries and
grapes. If a cherry be shewn to them and not immediately
given, they will cry and weep like a child. They seem ex-
ceedingly tame and affectionate ; whistle and sing admirably ;
and chatter better than any Parrot. In Chinese aviaries they are
very common, being brought from Java. In inland German),
this bird is rarely to be found.

118 L.iHGE-BEAXED BIRDS.

III. LARGE-BEAKED BIEDS.*

THE characteristics of this class of birds are a very large beak,
generally hollow, and therefore very light, curved above, and
hooked at the point ; short and strong feet, in the species which
we are about to describe, adapted for climbing ; and a large
tongue, fleshy, and rounded like the human tongue, which
renders it easy for them to learn to speak. They are foreign
birds, and if intended to talk, must be reared from the nest.

ADDITIONAL. — Acccording to VIGORS, SWAINSON, and other
eminent ornithologists of this country, the Psittacida, or Parrot
family, belong to the order Incessores, which is included in that
primary division to which the name Scansores has been applied,
from the climbing and prehensile powers of its typical members.
This tribe or division seems naturally to resolve itself into five
circular groups or families, the representatives of the other four
being the Picidce, or Woodpeckers ; the jRampkastidce, or Tou-
cans ; the Cuculidce, or Cuckoos ; and the Certhiadce, or Creepers.
In the Linnsean and other artificial systems, the Parrots were
considered as forming a single isolated genus, termed Psittacus,
and under this generic term was included the Macaws, the Cock-
atoos, the Lories, the Parrakeets, &c., the various modifications
of form exhibited by them being considered in the light of specific
characters only. The enlightened and scientific views of recent
naturalists have, however, led to a new order of arrangement, in
which this erewhile genus Psittacus has taken its proper rank
as a family, divided into groups or sub-families, of which SWAIN-
SON distinguishes five, as under-mentioned, although, as SELBY
remarks, " a stricter examination and analysis is required to as-
certain the precise situation of species whose history is but little
known."

1st sub-family. Macrocercina, or Macaws, a splendidly attired
group of birds, whose habitat appears to be confined to America ;
included in this group are those birds of nearly allied character-
istics, distinguished by the generic titles of Arara, Aratinga, and
Psittacara, and also the genus Palceornis, belonging to the old
continent, the representative in its own circle, according to
SWAINSON, of the raptorial order, and analogous to the dentiros-
tral tribe of the Incessores.

2d sub-family. Psitticina, or Parrots, properly so called, the

* Levirostres Grosschnabliche Vogel, BECH.

LABGE-BEAXED BIRDS. 119

short and even- tailed species, which are found distributed through-
out all divisions of the globe within the tropics. This is the
typical group of the Psittacidce, and is analogous to the coniros-
tral tribe of the Incessores.

3d sub-family. Plyctolophina, or Cockatoos, including the birds
commonly known by this name, as well as the black and other
nearly allied species ; they are natives of the Indian continent
and islands, and of Australia. These represent the Scansores,
and consequently the Rasorial order, in their own family.

4th sub-family. Loriana, or Lories, natives of India and its
islands ; herein are also included the numerous members of the
genus Trichoglossus (YiGOEs), and several other generic forms
belonging to Australia, all of which are distinguished from the
PsittacidcB by their comparatively slender bill and papillose
tongue. This division represents the Tenuirostres, and is the
Grallatorial group of the Psittacidcs.

5th sub-family. Platycercina, or Broad-tails, composed of the
beautiful genus Platycercus, and of the other ground, or slender
legged parrots of Australia. " In it," says SELBY, whom we
have here followed rather closely, "we are inclined to place the
black parrots of Madagascar, known by the name of Vasa. This
division is considered as analogous to the Fissirostral tribe of the
Incessores."

By BUFFON, and other naturalists of an early date, the geogra-
phical distribution of the Parrots was supposed to be confined to
the sultry climate within the Tropics : but recent discoveries have
shewn that it is much wider in extent, particularly in the south-
ern hemisphere, where species have been found in latitudes as
high as 50°, examples having been discovered and brought from
the Straits of Magellan. In the northern hemisphere, the limit
appears to be more restricted, as the Carolina Parrakeet of North
America, and some few African species, are seldom seen beyond
the 32d or 33d degrees. It is to the Equatorial Regions, how-
ever, that we must look as the metropolis of the family, as there
the greatest variety of genera are met with, the species which
inhabit the colder latitudes being, though numerous, confined to
a very limited number of generic forms. In the majority of this
family we find a plumage which, for richness and variety of co-
lour, yields to few of the feathered race ; and though by some it
may be thought gaudy, and too violently and abruptly contrasted,
still we think no oae can look at some of the gorgeously decked
Macaws, and splendid and effulgent Lories, or the diversely tinted
Australian Parrakeets, without acknowledging them to be among
the most beautiful and striking of the feathered race.

The general form of the Psittacida may be stated as short,
strong, and compact, but as deficient in elegance, in the short

120 LARGE-BEAKED B1EDS.

and even-tailed species, in which the great bulk of the head and
bill seems disproportioned to the rest of the body. In the Par-
rakeets, this disproportion is in a great degree counteracted by
the elongation of the tail, and many of them exhibit an elegance
tnd gracefulness of carriage surpassed by few other birds. The
formation of the feet, which are zygodactile, or with the toes placed
two forwards and two backwards, and in all but a few aberrant
species expressly formed for firm prehension and climbing, evi-
dently points to woods and forests as the natural habitat of
the race. It is accordingly in those regions where the trees are
clothed with perpetual verdure, and where a never-failing suc-
cession of fruits and seeds can be procured, that the Parrots are
found in the greatest number and profusion. Thus, the re-
cesses of the interminable forests of South America are enlivened
by the presence of the superb Macaws, and the nearly allied
species of the genus Psittacara ; those of India and its islands
by the elegantly shaped members of the genus Palceornis, and
the scarlet clothed Lories ; while those of Australia resound with
the harsh voice of the Cockatoos, and the shriller screams of the
nectivorous Trickoglossi, and broad-tailed Parrakeets, or Plati-
ceri. In these their natural situations, their movements are
marked by an ease and gracefulness we can never see exhibited
in a state of confinement. They are represented as climbing
about the branches in every direction, and as suspending them-
selves from them in every possible attitude ; in all their move-
ments they are greatly assisted by their hooked and powerful
bill, which is used, like the foot, as an organ of prehension and
support. The pointed and ample wing, which prevails among
the Parrots, indicates a corresponding power of flight ; and, ac-
cordingly, we learn from those who have enjoyed the opportunity
of seeing and studying them in their native wilds, that it is rapid,
elegant, and vigorous, capable of being long sustained, and that
many of the species are in the habit of describing circles and
other aerial evolutions, previous to their alighting upon the trees
which contain their food. Thus AUDUBON, in his account of the
Carolina Parrakeet, says : " Their flight is rapid, straight, and
continued through the forests, or over fields and rivers, and is
accompanied by inclinations of the body, which enable the ob-
server to see alternately their upper and under parts. They
deviate from a direct course only when impediments occur, such
as trunks of trees or houses, in which case they glance aside in a
very graceful manner, as much as may be necessary. A general
cry is kept up by the party, and it is seldom that one of these
birds is on wing for ever so short a space, without uttering its
cry. On reaching a spot which affords a supply of food, instead
of alighting at once, as many birds do, the Parrakeets take a good

LARGE-BEADED BIEDS. 121

survey of the neighbourhood, passing over it in circles of great
extent, first above the trees, and then gradually lowering, until
they almost touch the ground, when, suddenly reascending, they
all settle in the tree that bears the fruit of which they are in
quest, or on one close to the field in which they expect to regale
themselves."

Many of the species are gregarious, and except during the
breeding season, are always seen in large and numerous bodies ;
others, as the Black Cockatoo, are met with in pairs or families.
The placet) selected for hatching their eggs and rearing their
young, are the hollows of decayed trees ; they make little or no
nest, but deposit their eggs, which, according to the species, vary
from two to five or six in number, upon the bare rotten wood.
In these hollows, it is said, they also frequently roost during the
night, and such, we learn, is the practice of the bird previously
mentioned, for the same author observes, " Their roosting place
is in hollow trees, and the holes excavated by the larger species
of Woodpeckers, as far as these can be filled by them. At dusk,
a flock of Parrakeets may be seen alighting against the trunk
of a sycamore or any other tree, where a considerable exca-
vation exists within it. Immediately below the entrance, the
birds all cling to the bark, and crawl into the hole to pass the
night. When such a hole does not prove sufficient to hold the
whole flock, those around the entrance hook themselves on by
their claws and the tip of the upper mandible, and look as if
hanging by the bill. I have," adds the narrator, " frequently
seen them in such positions by means of a glass, and am satisfied
that the bill is the only support in such cases."

The natural notes of this tribe of birds consist entirely of
hoarse or shrill and piercing screams, with little or no modula-
tion, and frequently reiterated during flight, as well as when
otherwise engaged in feeding, bathing, or preserving their plu-
mage. The power of imitating the human voice, and learning to
articulate a variety of words and sentences, is not possessed by
all the species, but is principally confined to the even- tailed
Parrots, in which the tongue is large, broad, and fleshy at the
tip. In disposition, with the exception of one or two forms, they
are quiet and docile, and easily reconciled to confinement, even
when taken at an adult age. Their flesh is said to be tender and
well flavoured, particularly that of the younger birds, and is fre-
quently used as food in the districts they inhabit.

The general characters of the family are, bill convex, large,
deflected, thick, and strong. The upper mandible, overhanging
the under, hooked at the tip, and furnished with a small cere at
the base; the under mandible thick, ascending, and forming,
when closed, an angle with the upper. Tongue thick, fleshy,

122 THE BED AND BLUE MACAW.

aud soft. Nostrils round, placed in the cere at the base of the
bill. Feet scansorial, the external toes longer than the inner.
In regard to their internal economy, we may observe, that the
bill is furnished with additional and powerful muscles, and that
the intestinal canal is of great length, and destitute of coeca.*

The loquacity of Parrots, and their extraordinary powers of
imitation and mimicry, together with the splendour of their
plumage, have rendered them at all times favourite domestic
birds, and numerous anecdotes are related in proof of their
sagacity and vocal ability ; it will, however, be scarcely neces-
sary to quote any of these, as they are to be found in works
easy of access, and are no doubt familiar to our readers.

21. THE RED AND BLUE MACAW.
Psittacus Macao, LIN. Ara rouge, BUF. Der Rothe Aras, DEC.

Description. — This, like other parrots, is chiefly prized for
the beauty of its plumage, and capabilities of speaking ; al-
though some species — as, for example, the Grey Parrot — imitate
the song of birds, and have a pleasant whistle of their own.
All birds which are able to speak, have a thick rounded tongue,
the string of which should be somewhat loosened to increase
its freedom of motion. On this account, the Short- tailed Par-
rot, as well as Starlings and Blackbirds, which possess a pecu-
liar conformation of the larynx, pronounce the most distinctly,
and next to them, Ravens, Jackdaws, and Jays.

The Red and Blue Macaw is one of the largest of the Parrot
tribe, being two feet eight inches long, and about the size of an
ordinary hen. The beak is so strong as to break a peach stone
with ease. The upper mandible, which projects considerably
beyond the lower, is white ; the point and the sides at the
base, as well as the whole lower mandible, black. The feet
are grey, and adapted for climbing. The cheeks are covered
only with a whitish, uneven skin ; the iris is light yellow.
The head, neck, breast, belly, shanks, upper part of the back,
and superior wing coverts, are a beautiful scarlet. The lower
part of the back and the rump are light blue ; the feathers on
the shoulders and the larger wing coverts are blue, mixed with
yellow and green ; the pen feathers are on the outer plume a
beautiful light blue, on the inner, greyish black. The tail is
wedge shaped, the two centre pen feathers being scarlet tipped

* Vide Naturalist's Library, vol. v., " Parrots."

THE RED AND BLUE MACAW. 123

with light brown ; the next on each side half blue and half
red, the four outermost violet blue above, and beneath pale
red.

There are varieties of this bird which exhibit some differ-
ences in the colours of the wings and tail, but these are un-
important. The female can. hardly be distinguished from the
male.

Habitat. — This bird is a native of Brazil, Guiana, and other
parts of South America, and is generally to be met with in
pairs, in swampy forests. In confinement it may either be
allowed to range about, or there may be provided for it a
smooth planed stand, with cross perches. Still, as, like all
Parrots, it is a very dirty bird, it is best to place the stand in
a wire aviary, not less than two feet and a half in width, and
eight feet in height, in which it is not liable to rub off its
beautiful tail feathers, and can enjoy the freedom of motion so
essential to its health.

Food. — In its native country it feeds chiefly on the fruit of
the fan palm. In confinement it will eat any kind of fruit ;
but is best fed with bread soaked in milk. Biscuit is a harm-
less diet, but meat, sugar or sweetmeats, are very unwholesome.
If the bird survives, it is unhealthy; its plumage becomes
rough, it tears out its feathers, especially in the wings, and
even bites its own flesh. It drinks very Little, which is, per-
haps, accounted for by the usually moist nature of its food.

Breeding. — This Parrot usually makes its nest in a hole of a
rotten tree, widens the aperture, if not large enough, with its
beak, and lines the cavity with feathers. The female lays
twice a year, two eggs, resembling in size and colour those of
the Partridge. Even in confinement the females sometimes lay
eggs, but they are generally addled, or if not, the birds, like
Parrots generally, can very rarely be induced to sit. Cases
have nevertheless occurred, in which a female Macaw of this
species has hatched even Pigeons' and Hens' eggs. Those
which are kept in Europe, especially if able to speak, are gene-
rally young birds which have been reared from the nest, as the
old birds are not only difficult to tame, but altogether incapable
of being taught, uttering only a harsh cry, the expression of
their various passions.

Diseases. — This Macaw is subject to many diseases, espe-
cially decline ; for the treatment of which the reader is referred

124 THE BLUE A5JJ) YELLOW MACAW.

to the Introduction. In the moulting season, it, like all Par-
rots, requires assiduous attention, that not only its general
health, but also the beauty of its plumage may be preserved.

Attractive Qualities. — The beautiful plumage forms the chief
recommendation of this bird ; but it may also be taught to
pronounce several words distinctly, to know its home, and to
come at its master's call. But these attractions are, perhaps,
counter-balanced by the awkwardness of its movements, its
manner of helping itself on with its beak, and its dirty habits.
It is also bad tempered, and must not be left alone with chil-
dren, as it is apt to fly at the face and eyes'. On account of its
dung, which is fluid and foetid, its cage must be cleaned every
day.

22. THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW.
Psittacus Ararauna, LIN. Ara bleu, BUF. Der Wane Aras, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Capon,
being two feet eight inches in length, is, in my opinion, handsomer
than the foregoing, though the colours are not so dazzling.
The beak is black, the feet dark ashen grey ; the cheeks flesh
coloured, with stripes of short black feathers in the form of an
S. The iris is light yellow ; the throat is surrounded by a
black band. The forehead as far as the crown, the sides of the
head, and the smaller wing coverts, are pale green. The rest
of the upper part of the body is a beautiful blue ; the rump
light blue ; the belly saffron yellow ; the shanks are orange ;
the wing coverts in the male, mottled with the same colour.
The wings and the wedge-shaped tail are a fine blue ; of the
latter, the two centre feathers are uniform in colour, the rest
are tinged on their inner edge with violet, and near the root
are bordered with black. The colours are subject to but little
variation.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Jamaica, Guiana,
Brazil, and Surinam.

In its habits it agrees with the Eed and Blue Macaw, and
possesses the same qualifications as cage-birds. It does not,
however, learn to speak with equal facility, though it pro-
nounces the word " Jacob," and imitates the bleating of sheep,
the mewing of cats, and the barking of dogs, with great ease
and exactness. It has been noticed, as a peculiarity in this
bird, that it only drinks towards evening.

'LATE

LI

MACR&CERCT'S MIL1TAJUS.
The (rreat Green Maccaw.
"Native of Mexico & Peru

THE ILLINOIS PARROT. 125

23. THE GREAT GREEN MACAW.
Psittacus Militaris, LIN. Der Grune Aras, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which has been well described and
figured by EDWARDS, is somewhat smaller than the preceding,
being two feet four inches in length. The beak is large and
black ; the feet a brownish flesh colour. The cheeks and the
circle of the eyes are a pale reddish flesh colour, crossed by
crooked stripes of black feathers. The head, neck, back, wing
coverts and belly, are grass green, in some parts lighter, in
others tinged with olive green. Over the forehead passes a
thick band of bright red feathers, which has the appearance
of coarse velvet. The green feathers of the rump are some-
what mixed with red ; the pen feathers are blackish in front,
becoming bluer as they recede, except that the last, together
with the shoulder feathers, incline more to green. The rump
is blue ; the middle tail feathers, as is the case of the two pre-
ceding species, are very long, and all the feathers of the tail are
blue, bright red at the roots, and tipped with green.

Observations. — This Macaw is a native of South America,
though from its scarcity and price in Europe, it cannot be a
common bird. It is exceedingly docile and talkative. The
specimen which I have seen, imitated every thing that was
said, called all the family by name, and was exceedingly obe-
dient, faithful, and good-tempered.

24. THE ILLINOIS PARROT.

Psittacus Pertinax, LIN. Perruche Illinoise, BUF. Der Illinesische
Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This is one of the Parrots most commonly in the
possession of the bird-sellers. It is nine inches and a half in
length ; the beak is light ash colour ; the eyes are surrounded
by a bare grey membrane ; the iris is dark orange ; the feet
dark grey. The prevailing colour is green, changing on the
lower part of the body to yellowish grey ; the forehead, cheeks,
and throat, are a beautiful orange colour ; the top of the head
dark green, becoming towards the back lighter and mixed with
yellow. The front of the neck is an ashen green ; the belly
is spotted with orange ; the pen feathers a blueish green, black
on the inner plume, and the five last grass-green. The wedge-

126 THE BLTJE-HEADED PAKHOT.

shaped tail is green, the centre feathers being uniform in
colour; the others bordered partly with ashen grey, partly
with light yellow.

In the female, the forehead is dark yellow, and the yellow
mottling on the back of the head and belly is wanting.

Habitat. — These birds are natives of Brazil, Guiana, and
Cayenne, where they frequent heaths and other open places,
and build in the holes of the Termites. They are very so-
ciable, and are often seen in flocks of 500 ; appointing, when
engaged in feeding, one as a sentinel, who gives notice by his
cry of the approach of an enemy. In confinement, a pair are
usually put together in a large cage of brass wire. They are
very affectionate, and one often dies of grief at the loss of the
other.

Food-. — Their food, in a wild state, consists of chestnuts,
acorns, peas, &c. In confinement they are fed on bread soaked
in milk, and nuts.

Attractive Qualities. — The beauty of their plumage, amiable
disposition, and natural affection, are the qualities which
chiefly recommend these parrots to the bird-fancier ; as their
talking powers are very limited, and the cry which they con-
tinually utter by no means agreeable.

25. THE BLUE-HEADED PAKKOT.

Psitfacus Cyanocephalus, LIN. Perruche a tete bleue, BUF. Der
blankopfige Siftich, BECH.

Description. — This handsome and not uncommon Parrot is
about the size of a Turtle-dove, being eleven inches and a half
in length ; of this the tail, in the middle of which meet the
folded wings, measures six inches. The upper mandible is
light yellow, tipped with light ashen grey, the lower uniformly
ashen grey. The naked circle of the eye is yellow, the upper
part of the body green, the lower part yellowish green. The
forehead is tinged with red, the head blue, the throat violet,
tinged with ashen grey, the sides of the throat dark yellow.
The pen feathers are green, though ashen grey on the inner
plume and at the points. The two centre tail-feathers are
greenish, passing at the point into blue. The next are similar,
but bright yellow on the inside. The four outside feathers
are green on the outer plume, on the inner dark yellow,

THE LONG -TAILED GKEEN PAEEAKEET. 127

though light yellow at the points. The two centre feathers
are almost four inches larger than the outer ones ; the feet are
blueish, and the claws grey.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the East Indies. It
cannot be taught to speak, and is therefore chiefly prized on
account of its beauty. It requires the same treatment as the
preceding species.

26. THE YELLOW PAEEOT.
Psiitacus Solsti tialis, LIN. Perruchejaune,Bvv. Der Gelbe Sittich, BECII.

Description. — This bird is also about the size of a Tur-
tle Dove, being eleven inches and a half in length. The tail
is wedge-shaped, and covered to a third of its length by the
folded wings. The beak and feet are grey ; the throat, the
naked membrane of the beak, and the circle of the eyes, are
light ash colour, the iris light yellow. The prevailing colour
of the plumage is orange, the back and wing coverts being
spotted with olive green. The rump is yellowish green ; the
region of the eyes, the sides, and the shanks are red. The
wing coverts nearest to the body are olive green, bordered with
orange. The larger pen feathers are blue outside, and inside
yellowish green ; the smaller ones being wholly of the last
named colour. The six centre tail-feathers are yellowish
green, the three outside ones, of similar colour ; but edged
with blue.

Observations. — This Parrot is a native of Angola. It learns
to speak easily and well, and may in general be treated like
others of the same species.

27. THE LONG-TAILED GEEEN PAEEAKEET.

Psittacus Rttfirostres, LIN. Le Sincialo, BUF. Der Rothschndbliche
Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This bird, though twelve inches and a quarter
in length, is not larger than the Blackbird. The tail alone,
the centre feathers of which are almost five inches longer than
the exterior ones, is seven and a half in length. The folded
wings cover about a quarter of the tail. The upper mandible
is blood red, but black at the tip, the lower altogether black.
The bare circle of the eyes, the membrane of the beak, and

128 THE RED AND BLUE- HEADED PARRAKEET.

the feet, are flesh coloured. The iris is orange. The prevail-
ing colour of the plumage is yellowish green ; the border of
the wings light yellow. Individuals of this species are found
which vary as to the shade of green, and some have also the
tail tipped with blue. .

Observations. — This bird is a native of various parts of
America, and of St. Domingo, Guiana, Brazil. It is very
noisy, and may easily be taught to speak, whistle, and imitate
the cries of other birds and animals. If shut up in a cage, its
continual cry often makes it unbearable. It requires the same
treatment as other Parrots, but appears to be less delicate than
most.

28. THE PAVOUAN PARROT.

Psittacus Guianensis, LIN. La Perruche Pavouane. Der Pavouan oder
Guianische Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Missel-thrush,
is twelve inches in length, including the tail, which measures
six inches and a quarter, and has the two centre feathers six
inches longer than the others. The beak is whitish, though
ashen grey at the point ; the membrane of the beak is also
whitish, the feet grey, the claws black. The upper part of the
body is dark green, the lower lighter. The cheeks after the
third year are spotted with red. The small under wing coverts
are scarlet, of a lighter tinge in the young birds ; the larger
wing coverts are bright yellow ; the pen-feathers, like the plu-
mage on the back, are edged on the inner side with yellowish
green, and are blackish at the tip. Their shafts are black.

Observations. — It is a native of Guiana, Cayenne, and the
Carabee Islands. Of all the small long- tailed Parrots, it learns
to speak most readily and perfectly. It may be procured
without difficulty from the bird-sellers, as it is not delicate,
and bears the change of climate well. It requires no pecu-
liarity of treatment.

29. THE EED AND BLUE-HEADED PARRAKEET.

Pxittacus Canicularis, LIN. Perruche a Front Rouge, BUF, Der Roth-
stirnige Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This Parrot, which is of common occurrence
in Germany, is ten inches in length. Of this the tail, one
third of which is covered by the folded wings, measures almost

THE CARDINAL PARROT. 129

half. The upper mandible is a light ashen grey, the lower
darker, and often blackish. The naked membrane of the beak is
a light grey ; the circle of the eyes dark yellow, orange, and
whitish ; the iris orange, the feet light grey, mottled with flesh
colour. The forehead is scarlet, the top of the head a bright
blue, lightest behind ; the upper part of the body is grass-
green, the under part lighter. The large pen feathers are blue
upon the outer edge, and sometimes scarlet at the root. The
tail, of which the two centre feathers are above three inches
and a half longer than the rest, is dark green on the upper
side, on the lower brownish green.

The female is probably reddish yellow on the forehead, and
light yellow on the circle of the eyes.

Observations. — This bird, which is a native of South Ame-
rica, is to be treated like the others above mentioned. It is
very handsome in appearance, but never learns to talk well.

30. THE CARDINAL PARROT.
Le Perruche Cardinale, BUF. Der Cardinal Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Turtle-dove, is
twelve inches long ; of which the wedge-shaped tail, whose
two centre feathers are four inches longer than the others,
measures six inches and three quarters. The beak is a peach-
blossom red ; its membrane ashen grey ; the iris yellowish red ;
the feet grey. The whole of the head is violet, shot with blue
and red ; round the neck runs a black band ; the throat is black ;
the upper part of the body dark green, the lower part light
green. The root of the tail is light yellow ; the two middle
leathers blue tipped with white ; the rest yellowish green, like
the under tail. The female has a yellow beak, a dark ash
blue head, and no band round the neck, but the place which it
should occupy slightly marked with yellow. •

In young birds the colour of the head is not distinct, but is
sometimes rose-red, and sometimes green. The band round the
neck is also wanting.

Varieties of the Cardinal Parrot.

A. THE BLOSSOM-HEADED PARRAKEET, Lot. Psittacus Erythroce-
phalus, LIN. f'eruche a tete rouge de Gingi, BUF. Der rothkbpfige
Sittich aus Gingi, BECH.
The head is red,-shaded with light blue, especially at the back,

130 THE PURPLE PARROT.

A narrow "black line passes from the chin to the nape of the
neck ; beneath which is another fine light green line, compos-
ing with the former a species of neck band. The rest of the
plumage is green, the under part of the body being tinged
with light yellow. The tail is green on the upper side, with
an inner border of light yellow.

B. THE ROSE-HEADED RING PARRAKEET, Lat. Psittacus Erythrocejihalus

Benyalensis, LIN. Petite Perruche a tete coulcur de rose a longs brim,
BVF. Der Rothkbpfige Sittich aus Benyalen, BECH.
The upper mandible is light yellow ; the lower black ; the
membrane of the beak brownish. The top of the head and
cheeks arc rose-coloured ; the back of the head blue ; the
throat, and the ring round the neck, as in the last described.
There is a red spot on the wing coverts. The two centre tail
feathers are blue ; the others olive green, edged with blue.

C. THE BORNEAN PARRAKEET. PsittacusErythrocephalus Bornetis, LIN.

Der rothkbpfige Sittich aus Borneo. BECH.

The upper mandible is red ; the lower black ; the membrane
of the beak and circle of the eyes ash- coloured ; the whole
head is a peach-blossom colour, with a green tinge on the fore-
head. A black stripe runs from one eye to the other, over the
naked membrane of the beak ; on the lower mandible arises a
black stripe, which runs obliquely to each side of the neck, and
becomes broader behind. The upper part of the body, as far
as the tail, is light green, changing into light yellow in the
middle of the wing coverts. The whole of the under part of
the body from the chin is blood red, with a tinge of chestnut
brown. The feathers on the shanks, seat, and middle of the
belly are green. The two centre feathers are inclined to
brown, and the shafts of all are white.

Observations. — These East India birds are chiefly prized on
account of their beautiful plumage. . They are lively, but shy ;
and although noisy, never learn anything of their own accord,
and are even difficult to teach.

31. THE PURPLE PARROT.

Psittacus Pennanti, LAT. La Purpure, BUF. Der Pennant sche
Sitiich, BECH.

Description. — The prevailing plumage of the male, which is
about the size of a Sparrow-hawk, is red, the origin of the

THE PURPLE PARROT. 131

name by which the bird is generally known. The beak is
strong, curved, and has a sharp tooth a,t the end. The under
mandible is angular at the sides, and rounded only in the
middle, the colour being horn blue, changing into white at the
point ; the iris is yellowish red, the membrane of the beak
dark blue. The feet are dark flesh-coloured, or light brown,
inclining to white, and very scaly ; the head and rump are
dark crimson ; the feathers of the back and shoulders dark red,
edged with black. The ground colour of all the feathers is
indeed black ; which, however, is entirely concealed only on
the head and rump. The throat, as well as the small outer
wing coverts, and the edges of the centre pen feathers, are a
beautiful bright blue, paler in some places on the wings than
in others. The other coverts, as well as the last pen feathers,
are black, with a narrow border of crimson, which again is
edged on the inside with grass green. The pen feathers are
black, the outermost edged with dark blue half way from the
root ; the whole under part of the body is crimson, the thighs
incline to blue. The tail measures one half of the whole
length of the body, is very wedge-shaped, and dark blue. The
outer feathers incline to a lighter blue on the inner plume, and
at the point to white ; the four centre feathers approach in like
manner to dark green. The wings cover a third part of the tail
when folded.

The prevailing colour of the female, which the bird-dealers
often call the Palm-bird, and sell as a distinct species, is
greenish yellow. It is about the size of the male Sparrow-
hawk. The head, the sides of the neck, and half the breast
are bright crimson ; the throat is pearl blue, shading to sky
blue on the edges. The top of the neck, the back, shoulders,
and hindmost pen feathers, are velvety black, all the feathers
being edged with greenish yellow. On the shoulders and the
neck this border approaches almost to sulphur yellow. The
rump and seat are green ; the long under tail coverts are
crimson, with yellowish green edges ; the knee bands are tinged
with light blue. The under part of the body is a fine light
yellow, having, however, upon the feathers some irregular
ppots and dashes of red. The root of the tail is green, tike a
Duck's neck; in other respects the wings and tail resemble those
of the male.

Observations. — These beautiful and scarce Parrots are natives

K 2

132 THE WHISKERED PARROT.

of Botany Bay ; they are unfortunately wild, timid, and difficult
to teach. They have a chirping note, which is, however, rarely
heard. As with the Amboina Parrots, their feathers are so
loose as to come off if only touched. They require similar
treatment with other birds of the same species, but are deli-
cate, and need great care.

32. THE WHISKERED PARROT.

Psittacus Bimaculatus, SPAR. Perruche a moustache. Ler Zweiflechige
Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This beautiful bird is one foot two inches in
length, of which the tail measures about one half ; it is there-
fore about the size of a Turtle-dove, and very slender. The
beak is large, orange or pale blood red, tipped and bordered
with a paler hue. The naked membrane is flesh-coloured,
tinged with blue, and has a deep indentation ; the iris, as well
as the naked eyelids, is light yellow ; the feet ashen grey.
The head is light ashen grey, the top of it tinged with red ;
a narrow band across the forehead is black ; the forehead itself
pale yellow. The cheeks, from the root of the beak to the
throat, are covered by an almost triangular black spot. The
whole upper part of the body is grass green, the feathers having
black quills. In the middle of the wing coverts is a greenish
yellow spot ; the pen feathers are blackish, but on the outer
plume green, with a sulphur-coloured edge. The under part of
the body is a dark rose colour ; the sides under the wings yel-
lowish green ; the shanks, rump, and seat green. The tail is
also green ; the two middle feather two inches longer than the
others, the upper half being of a blueish tint, and tipped with
dark green. A variety of this bird has a black beak.

The female, or what is supposed to be so, is a pale orange
red on the forehead, throat, and sides of the head and neck.
From the corners of the mouth to the throat, runs a black oval
stripe. The nape of the neck, shoulders, back, rump, and
upper side of the tail are grass green ; breast, belly, and seat
a brighter tinge of the same colour.

Observations. — This is a very docile and talkative Parrot, of
great tameness, and engaging and affectionate manners. Its
cry is " Gaie, Gaie." It is a native of the South Sea Islands
and Botany Bay.

THE RED CRESCENTED PARRAKEET. 133

33. THE ROSE -RINGED PARRAZEET.

Psittacus Manittensis, BECH. Varietas Psittaci Alexandri, LIN. Per-
ruche a collier couleur de rose, BUF. Der rosennackige Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This very beautiful Parrot, remarkable for the
.softness of its colours and the silkiness of its plumage, is about
the size of a Missel Thrush. Its total length, including the
tail, which makes up at least two thirds, is fourteen or fifteen
inches. The two centre tail feathers are three inches and a
half longer than the exterior ones. The beak is three quarters
of an inch long, strong, very much curved, and crimson on the
uppar side ; below blackish blue. The membrane of the beak
is flesh-coloured ; the eyelids bright red ; the iris white, with
a blueish tinge ; the feet greyish brown. The plumage is gene-
rally light green ; darker on the upper part of the body, and
in the lower almost yellow. From the black throat a band,
which is first black and then pale rose colour, extends round the
head ; and in old birds the nape of the neck has a blue tinge.
There is a darker shade on the wing coverts and the scapulars,
and the edges of the pen feathers are also darker. The rump,
the tail coverts, as well as the first four side feathers of the
tail itself, are greenish yellow ; the two centre feathers, how-
ever, from the middle to the tip, which is dark green, are a
greenish blue. The black on the throat of the female is not
so extensive, nor has it the rose-coloured neck band. The
under part of the body also is more inclined to yellow.

Observations. — This beautiful, tame, and very attractive bird
is a native of the Philippine Islands, particularly of Manilla,
though often found also in Africa. It may be treated like
other Parrots, but very rarely learns to speak.

34. THE RED CRESCENTED PARRAKEET.
Psittacus LunatuS) BECH. Der Schildkragen Sittich, BECH.
Description. — This bird, somewhat larger than a Turtle-
dove, is eleven inches and a half in length, of which the wedge-
shaped tail measures six inches, and the beak one inch. The
latter, which is very much curved, and provided with a sharp
tooth on the upper mandible, is whitish, tipped with horn-
brown. The circle of the eyes is small, bald, and greyish flesh
colour ; the iris a bright yellowish red ; the feet, dark ashen
grey. The forehead is crimson, as well as a crescent-shaped

THE GEEY-BEEASTED PAEEOT.

ring at the juncture of the neck and breast. The whole upper
part of the body is leek green, becoming darker on the head,
and each feather having a black shaft. The pen feathers are
blackish green, somewhat tinged with blue on the outer plume.
On the tail and wing coverts, the colour of the upper part of
the body inclines to a lighter, or Siskin green. The under wing
coverts are crimson ; the lower part of the body is light green,
tinged on the breast with red ; the knees are crimson ; the
under side of the wings and tail a dirty yellow.

Observations. — This bird is very lively, learns to speak dis-
tinctly, and in an agreeable tone, and cries " Goeur ! goeur !"
frequently and loudly. It is treated like other Parrots, and, as
the example from which this description is taken proves, attains
a very great age.

35. THE GEEY-BEEASTED PAEEOT.

Psittacus Murinus, LIN. La Perruche apoitrine prise, BUP. Der
graulriistige Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This pretty Parrot, distinguished by its silvery
grey colour, is about the size of the preceding. As the fea-
thers of the head and cheeks are usually somewhat puffed out,
and the beak is small, very much curved, and often buried in its
breast, the bird has frequently something of an Owlish appear-
ance. It is ten inches in length, of which the wedge-shaped
tail measures five inches. The beak is only three quarters of
an inch long, very much curved downwards, and light grey or
Hesh colour. On each side of the upper mandible are four
sharp angles, and the tip of the lower mandible has the appear-
ance of having been cut oif. The iris is brownish grey ; the
circle of the eyes narrow, hollow, and light ashen grey ; the
feet are of the same colour. The forehead, half way up the
top of the head, cheeks, throat, breast, and half the belly, are
light or silver grey. The breast is clouded with white, pro-
ducing at a distance the eifect of transverse stripes, and the
belly is mottled with yellow. The upper part of the body is
a beautiful Siskin green, somewhat lighter on the head and
shoulders, and therefore inclining to yellow. The remaining
lower part of the body, with the rump, is apple green ; the
foremost pen feathers are blue, though having the inner plume,
which is hidden, black, and the outer plume bordered with
green. The hinder pen feathers are olive green ; the tail

THE CAROLINA PARROT. 135

Siskin green, the feathers having blue shafts, and being tipped
with greenish yellow ; the two centre feather, which are con-
cealed, are blueish green.

Observations. — This bird is very tame, learns to speak a word
or two, and is of a very quiet disposition. Its call, "keirsh.1" is
loud and sonorous. It is the species of which PARNETTY speaks
in his Travels. " These birds," he says, " we found at Monte-
video, where they were bought by the sailors for two piastres
each. They were very tame and harmless, learned to talk
without difficulty, and grfew so fond of the men, as never to
be easy away from them. The general belief is, that when
confined, they do not live above a year." This last opinion is,
however, confuted, by the example from which this descrip-
tion has been taken.

36. THE CAROLINA PARROT.

Psittacus Carolinensis, LIN. JM ^erruche a ietejauiie, BUF. Der Caro-
liuische <Sittich, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Turtle-
dove, is thirteen inches in length. The beak 'is yellowish
white, and, as well as the eyes, surrounded by a bare light grey
skin. The iris is light yellow ; the feet and claws grey. The
front of the head is orange ; the back of the head, nape of
the neck, and throat, light yellow ; the rest of the neck, the
back, breast, and sides, as well as the upper and under tail
coverts, are green. The thighs are green, but near the joint
orange ; the edges of the wings are orange. The wing coverts
are green on the upper side, and brown beneath ; the smaller
coverts green on both sides. The foremost pen feathers are on
the inner side brown ; on the outer side, near the root, light
yellow, and then green, with tips inclining to blue. The
hinder pen feathers are, on the upper side green, on the inner
and lower side brown ; the tail is green and wedge shaped.

Observations. — This Parrot is a native of Guiana, and mi-
grates in autumn to Carolina and Virginia. It also builds,
however, in Carolina. In the fruit season it does great damage,
eating only the kernels of stone fruit, and leaving the rest. It
is frequently brought to Europe, and when in confinement, is
best fed on hemp seed. It is a very noisy bird, and a poor

* This bird is probably identical with the Psitlacus Ludoviciantts, LIN.
Papagai a tete auroret BUF.

136 THE AMBOINA PARROT.

talker, and is therefore chiefly recommended to the amateur
by its beauty and tameness.

37. THE AMBOINA PARROT.

Psittacus Amboinensis, LIN. Le Lory Perruche tricolor, BUF. Der
Amboinische Sit tick Lory, BECH.

Description. — This bird somewhat resembles the Ceram Lory,
a variety of the Lory Noirs of BTTFFON (Psittacus ga/rrulus,
aurora, LnrarzEUs), and is therefore sometimes called by the
French, EAurore. It is one foot four inches in length, of
which the tail, which is rounded at the end, measures half.
The beak is three quarters of an inch long, sharp and very much
curved ; there is no naked membrane, and the nostrils are in
front. The root of the upper mandible is orange ; the centre
lighter ; the point, and all the lower mandible, black. The
iris is golden yellow ; the feet are ashen-grey ; the scales rather
inclining to dark brown. The head, nape of the neck, and all
the lower part of the body, are dark vermilion ; the upper
part of the neck is encircled by a narrow and hardly perceptible
blue collar. The whole upper part of the body is a fine green,
inclining to blue at the edges of the feathers ; the rump is dark
blue. The tail is black, but covered on the upper side with
faint green and blue stripes, changing into a decided green at
the root ; the tail is sometimes also dark brown. The vent is
black, though the feathers have each a broad red border ; the
pen feathers are blackish blue, edged with green ; the border
of the wings is a glittering light green ; the under side of the
wings blackish blue.

In the female, the head is green ; the throat and breast the
same, but tinged with red. The vent is dark green, edged with
red. The tail is more marked with green than in the male ;
the beak is horn-brown, with a shade of reddish yellow both
above and below.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Amboina ; is wild,
shy, whistles shrilly, but does not learn to talk. Its cry is
" Geek /" It may be treated like other Parrots. A peculiarity,
however, is that its feathers are so loose as to come off in the
hand, if the bird be but touched. They nevertheless speedily
reproduce themselves.

THE GEEAT WHITE COCKATOO. 137

38. THE GEEAT WHITE COCKATOO.

Psittacus Cristatus, LIN. Kakatoes a huppe blanche> BUF. Der Gemeine
Kakatu, BECH.

Description. — The Great White Cockatoo is about the size
of a Barn-door Fowl, and measures seventeen inches in length.
The beak is blackish ; the naked membrane black ; the iris
dark brown ; the circle of the eyes bare and white. The
whole plumage is white, with the exception of the large pen
feathers, and the outermost feathers of their tail, which, half
way from the root, are on the inner side sulphur-coloured. The
crest on the head is five inches in length, and is elevated or
depressed at the will of the bird.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the Moluccas. It is
generally kept in a large bell-shaped cage, made of wire, and
provided with two perches, and a large metal ring, in which it
likes to swing. It is to be treated like other Parrots, but, as
well as the species next to be described, is very fond of pastry
and various leguminous seeds.

Of the peculiarities of the Cockatoo, as a Cage-bird, BFFFON
writes as follows : — " The Cockatoos, of which there are eight
or nine species, all of which may be recognised by the tuft,
are not easily taught to speak. The facility, however, with
which they are tamed compensates in some degree for this de-
fect. The ease with which they are reared seems to arise from
their docility, in which they surpass almost all other Parrots.
They listen and understand better, and are more obedient ; but
in vain attempt to repeat what is said to them, and seem as if
they tried to make up for this by affectionate caresses and
other expressions of feeling. Their mild disposition ajid
graceful motions add much to their beauty. In some parts of
India, we are told, they become so far domesticated as to build
their nest on the roofs of the houses. In May, 1775, a pair,
male and female, were exhibited at Paris, who, at the word of
command, spread out the tufts, saluted the company with a
nod, touched articles pointed out, with beak and tongue, an-
swered questions in the affirmative or negative by certain signs,
and in the same manner told the hour, the number of persons
in the room, the colour of their clothes, &c., &c. They also
kissed one another, and were said to have paired frequently. Al-
though, like other Parrots, the Cockatoo uses its beak as an aid

138 THE GREAT RED-CRESTED COCKATOO.

to locomotion, its gait is by no means slow or awkward. It is,
on the contrary, quick, lively and nimble."

39. THE LESSER WHITE COCKATOO.

Psittacus SulphureuS) LIN. Kakatoes a huppe jaune, BUF. Der
Gelbhaubige Kakatu, BECH.

Description. — This bird is fourteen inches and a half in length ;
the beak, the naked membrane, and the feet, are blackish. The
iris is reddish ; the eyes are surrounded by a bare white skin.
The general colour of the plumage is white, though having a
subdued tinge of sulphur colour ; the tuft on the head is tipped
with sulphur colour, and under each eye is a spot of the same
hue. The pen feathers are similarly coloured for two thirds
of their length, beginning from the root.

This species is also a native of the Moluccas ; it is easily
tamed, and of a playful and affectionate disposition ; fond of
caressing and being caressed.

There are two varieties of this bird, which differ, however,
only in size.

40. THE GREAT RED-CRESTED COCKATOO*.

Psittacus Moluccensis, LIN. Kakatoes a huppe rouge, BUF. Der roth-
haubige Kakatu, BKCII.

Description. — This bird is somewhat larger than the Great
White Cockatoo, and resembles in size the red and blue
Macaw. The beak is blueish black; the naked membrane
black ; the bare circle of the eyes pearl grey ; the iris pale
red ; the feet lead coloured ; the claws black. The general
colour of the plumage is white, tinged with pale rose colour.
The moveable tuft on the head is very large, many of the
feathers being six inches in length ; the lower part of it is a
beautiful yellowish red. The side feathers of the tail, half
way down from the root, are sulphur- coloured on the inner
plume ; and the under-side of the wings is tinged with the
same hue.

Observations. — This is a beautiful bird, of majestic bearing ;
but though becoming very tame, it is never so affectionate as the
Great "White Cockatoo. Like most of the species, it cries " Cock-
atoo /" and sometimes, in loud and sonorous tones, "Berdeng!"

PLATE 15.

PLYCTOLOPHUS SULPHURETJS.

Lesser sulphur crested Cockatoo.
Native of the Moluccas.

THE BANKSIAN COCKATOO. 139

It imitates the cries of animals, especially the cackling of Hens
and the crowing of Cocks, and accompanies its cries by a flap-
ping of the wings.

It is a native of the Moluccas, and is reared without dif-
ficulty.

41. THE RED-VENTED COCKATOO.

Psittacus Phillippinarum, LIN. Le petit Kakatoes des Phittipines, BUF.
Der Rothbauchige Kakatu, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of the Grey Parrot,
and thirteen inches in length. The beak is white or pale flesh
colour, but grey at the root ; the circle of the eyes is yellowish
red ; the feet grey. The general colour of the plumage is
white, and the head is adorned with a tuft, which, however, is
not visible, except when elevated. Its feathers are scarcely
an inch and a half long, generally sulphur-coloured at the
root, and white at the point, though some of them are light
red. The two centre tail feathers are white ; the rest, half
way down from the root, sulphur-coloured on the inner plume.
The feathers of the belly and tail coverts are red, tipped with
white.

Observations. — The Red-vented Cockatoo is a native of the
Phillippine Islands. Its chief recommendations are its beauty
and tameness, as it is unable to speak, and betrays an envious
disposition when it sees other Parrots caressed. The cry of
" Aiai Miai" is very disagreeable, and it never utters the
word " Cockatoo." It may be treated like others of the same
species.

42. THE BANKSIAN COCKATOO.

Psittacus Banksii, LIN. Le Kakatoes Noir, BUF. Der Banksche Ka-
katu, BECH.

Description. — This is undoubtedly the most beautiful, the
rarest, and most costly, of the Cockatoos. It is about the size
of the Red and Blue Macaw, and from twenty-two to thirty
inches in length. Its thick beak is yellow, tipped with black ;
the iris is red ; the feet black. The general colour of the
plumage is black ; the crest feathers are tolerably long, but, as
in the last-mentioned species, when not elevated, lie perfectly
flat ; on each of them is a yellow spot exactly at the point.
The wing coverts are similarly ornamented ; the feathers on
the upper part of the breast and on the vent are edged with

140 THE ASH-COLOT7KED PAEROT.

yellow ; the lower part of the breast and the belly are tra-
versed by yellow stripes of various intensity of colour. The
tail is rather long, and rounded at the end ; the two centre fea-
thers are black ; in the rest, the centre, for about a third part
of the whole length, is dark crimson, somewhat inclining to
orange, and crossed by five or six irregular black stripes, about
a third of an inch in breadth.

Varieties. — Of this species there are several varieties : —

a. In the first, the beak is lead-coloured : the head has a
moderately sized crest of black feathers, intermixed with
yellow ; the throat is yellow ; the sides of the head spotted
with black and yellow ; the whole body, with the wings, black,
without any marking on the belly ; the tail as in the pre-
ceding.

b. In the second, the beak is blueish grey, and the general
colour olive or rusty black. On the sides of the head is a
yellowish tinge, but none of the feathers are tipped with
yellow, and there are no transverse stripes on the belly. The
tail is as above. This may possibly be a young bird.

c . In the third — which is, perhaps, only the female — the beak
is blueish horn colour ; the head, neck, and lower part of the
body dirty dark brown. The feathers, on the top of the head and
nape of the neck, are edged with olive ; the upper part of the
body, the wings and the tail, are bright black. The centre
tail feathers are uniform in colour, the rest scarlet in the mid-
dle, but not striped with black.

Observation. — This noble bird, a native of various parts of
New Holland, is rare in England, and rarer still in Germany.
Its motions resemble those of the Great White Cockatoo, and
it may be treated in the same manner.

43. THE ASH-COLOTJEED PAEBOT.

Psittacus Erithacus, LIN. Perroquet cendre au Jaco, BUF. Der asch-
grave Papagei, BECH.

Description. — This and the following are the most common
and docile Parrots with which we are acquainted. It is about
the size of a domestic Pigeon, and nine inches in length. The
naked membrane and the circle of the eyes are nearly white ;
the iris yellowish white. The feet are ashen grey, which is
the prevailing colour of the whole plumage. The feathers on

THE ASH-COLOUEED PAEEOT. 141

the head, neck, and under part of the body have a border of
whitish grey. The rump and lower part of the belly are
whitish grey, edged with ash-colour, which gives the whole
body a scaly or powdered appearance. The tail is short and
scarlet. The male and female resemble one another, and are
equally docile.

Habit of Life. — This bird is usually imported from Guinea,
where it is brought for sale from the interior of Africa. It is
also found in Congo, and on the coast of Angola.

In confinement it is usually kept in a large bell-shaped cage,
provided with a ring.

Food. — In its native country it lives on almost all kinds of
fruit and grain, and grows fat on the seeds of the sun-flower,
which to man is so violent a purgative. In confinement it
will eat whatever is brought to table, but does best when fed on
fruit, and bread soaked in milk. Meat, of which it is fond,
produces diarrhoea, and a disease which impels it to pull out
its feathers. If well taken care of, it has been known to live
to the age of sixty years.

Breeding. — This bird, in a state of nature, makes its nest in
hollow trees, and is the only one of the Parrot species which
has been known to breed in Europe. BTJFFOX mentions a certain
M. DE LA PIGEONIEEE, of Marmanda, who possessed a pair, which
for five or six successive years hatched and reared a brood. The
female laid on each occasion four eggs, of which one was
always unfruitful. In order to induce them to sit, a small
barrel, open at one end, was placed in the room devoted to the
purpose ; and outside of this were fixed two small steps, that
the male bird might be easily enabled to visit his mate. It
was necessary to put on boots before entering the room, as the
jealous bird attacked every body who came near his mate,
with sharp blows of his beak. Whether old or young, these
birds may be easily tamed, though the young ones which have
been taken out of the nest — as is generally the case with
those which are brought to Europe — are most docile.

Diseases. — The delicacies often given to these birds, render
them especially liable to diseases ; of which swollen feet and
gout are among the most common. Eor these, no certain cure
has yet been discovered. They may, however, be easily pre-
vented, by keeping the birds clean, and not giving them
either meat or confectionary.

142 THE CERAM LOBY.

Attractive Qualities. — This Parrot, like all the various
species of Lory, not only learns very easily to speak and
whistle, but to make all kinds of gestures, and is particularly
distinguished by its affectionate conduct towards those who
treat it kindly. The present variety is preferred by many,
as it does not utter the unpleasant wild cry so ceaselessly
made by the Lories, especially in the breeding season. It is
very fond of imitating the voice of children, and prefers to be
taught by them. The extent of its imitative powers may be
inferred from an example given by BUTTON. A Grey Parrot
was taught to speak by a sailor, in the course of a voyage from
Guinea, and acquired so exactly his harsh voice and cough, as
to be frequently mistaken for him. It was afterwards in-
structed by a young man, — and although it then heard no
voice but that of its teacher, — the former lessons were never
forgotten; and it often amused the bystanders by suddenly
passing from a soft and agreeable voice to its old hoarse sea
tone. This bird has not only the powej of mimicking the
human voice, but by its attention and manifest effort, shows
also a desire of imitation. It continually repeats the syllables
which it has heard, and, in order not to be misled in memory,
endeavours to cry down all sounds which may disturb it. Its
lessons make so deep an impression, that, as I have myself
often noticed, it dreams aloud. When young, its memory is
so good as to retain whole verses and sentences. EHODIGINUS
mentions a Grey Parrot which could repeat the Apostles'
Creed without a slip, and was on that account bought by a
cardinal for one hundred crowns.

44. THE CERAM LORY.

Psittacus Garrulus, LIN. Lory de Ceram, BUF. Der Geschw'dtzige
Lory, BECH.

Description. — The Lory of Ceram is about the size of a
Pigeon, being ten or eleven inches long. It is very variable
in colour, but the following description is the most accurate
that can be given : — The beak is orange ; the naked membrane
at the base, and the circle of the eyes, ashen grey ; the iris
dark yellow ; the feet brown. The prevailing colour of the
body is scarlet, with the exception of the smaller and under-
wing coverts, which are a mixture of green and yellow. The

THE PURPLE-CAPPED LOEY. 143

large pen-feathers are dark green ; scarlet on the inner half,
and ashen grey at the points. The two centre tail feathers
are green at the root and tips, but pale red in the middle.
The next on each side are more than half red, the other part
green. The four outermost are scarlet at the root, violet in
the centre, and dark green at the tips.

Remarks. — This bird is a native of the Moluccas ; is, like the
preceding, docile, and requires similar treatment.

45. THE PURPLE-CAPPED LORY.

Psittacus Domicella, LIN. Lory a Collier, BUF. Der Purpurkappige
Lory, BECH.

Description. — This bird, so beautiful in plumage, and so
noble in general appearance, is about the size of a Pigeon,
being ten inches and a half in length. The beak is orange.
The naked membrane, as well as the circle of the eyes, black-
ish ; the iris a dark reddish brown ; the feet ashen-grey ; the
claws black. The prevailing colour of the plumage is red;
dark on the back, and lighter on the neck. The top of the
head is a purple black, the back of it inclining to blueish pur-
ple. The throat is encircled by a light yellow, crescent-shaped
collar, of varying distinctness. The edges of the wing and the
lesser wing coverts are dark blue ; the remaining portion of
the wings grass-green, shot with light yellow. The larger
pen feathers are a fine blue ; the lesser yellowish green. The
tail is rounded, except that towards the point it is somewhat
wedge-shaped, and is of a blueish purple colour, with a tinge
of reddish brown. The knee bands are blue, slightly inclining
to green.

The female is smaller than the male ; the collar on the neck
is either wanting, or very indistinct ; the blueish black colour
of the head is less extensive; the edges of the wings are
mingled blue and green ; and there is no other blue upon the
wings.

Variety. — In a variety of this species, the lower part of the
back, the rump, the lower part of the belly, and the thighs,
are white and rose-coloured. The upper and under tail
coverts red and white; the wing coverts green, mixed with
light yellpw ; the beak of the same colour. The rest of the
plumage is as above described.

Observations. — In general habits this Lory agrees with

144 THE WHITE-FRONTED PARROT.

others of the same species ; but appears to me, on the whole,
the most docile and talkative, the tamest, most affectionate
and most attractive of all Parrots. It cries " Lory ;" talks in-
cessantly and in a hollow tone, like that of a ventriloquist, and
whistles tunes which have been played to it, in a clear and
agreeable voice. It delights in being noticed and caressed.

As this species, which is a native of the Moluccas and of
New Guinea, is preserved with difficulty during the voyage,
it is rare and costly. It requires continual care and attention.

46. THE BLACK -CAPPED LORY.

Psittacus Lory, LIN. Lory des Philippines, BUF. Der Schwarzkappige
Lory, BECH.

Description. — This Lory is a very little smaller than the
preceding, being ten inches and three quarters in length. The
beak is orange ; the naked membrane and the circle of the
eyes dark flesh coloured, the iris orange red ; the feet blackish.
The top of the head is black, tinged with blue ; the neck and
body scarlet, except a black spot between the neck and the
back, and another on the lower part of the breast, with which
red feathers are intermixed. The upper side of the wings is
green, and the inner plume of the pen feathers yellow, except
towards the end, where they are dark brown. The middle pen
feathers are yellow towards the edge ; the under wing coverts
red ; the border of the wings yellowish. The lower part of
the belly and thighs, as well as the vent, are a fine blue ; the
upper side of the tail is blue, the middle feathers being dark
green, and the inner plume of the other feathers yellowish,
which gives all the under-part of the tail a yellow appearance.

Observations. — These birds are natives of the Philippines.
They are imported into Europe less often than the preceding
species, and are therefore dearer. They are, however, reported
to be equally docile and affectionate.

47. THE WHITE-FRONTED PARROT.

Psitiacus Leucocephalus, LIN. Amazone a tcte blanche, BUF. Der Weis-
skopfiye Amazonen Papagei. BKCH.

Description. — This weH known Parrot is about the size of a
Pigeon, and is among the most docile of the Parrots imported
into Germany. The beak is sometimes flesh coloured, some-
times light yellow or white ; the iris is nut brown ; the circle

THE COMMON AMAZON PAEEOT. 145

of the eyes white ; the feet dark brown. The head is white
sometimes as far as the poll, and sometimes only on the fore-
head. In the male, the poll, or occasionally only the back of
the head, is light blue, now and then spotted with red ; in the
female the same part is green. The prevailing colour of the
plumage is green ; and the feathers, especially in front, are
edged with dark brown. The cheeks, the throat, and the top
of the neck are a beautiful scarlet; the belly green, mixed
with red. The larger pen feathers are blue, though black on
the inner plume ; the hinder ones green. The tail is short ;
its two centre feathers are green ; the three next red for one
third of their length from the root ; the external feathers are
similarly marked, but are blueish on the outer plume. In
the male the border of the wings is red.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Martinique, Jamaica,
and Mexico. It may be treated in the same manner as the
preceding species, and, like them, is very tame and talkative.
Borne trouble, however, is required to teach it German words,
although it easily learns Dutch and English. It immediately
learns to imitate the cries of animals, particularly dogs, cats,
and sheep.

48. THE COMMON AMAZON PABHOT.

Psittac-us (Estivus,Lix. Peroquet Amazone, BUF. Der Gemeine Ama-
zonen Papayei, BECH.

Description. — This bird is so often brought to Europe, that it
is to be seen constantly both in Holland and England. Notwith-
standing that it is as large as a good-sized Pigeon, it is very
cheap. It is met with in many varieties, but the following
is a general description. The bill is black ; the feet ash-co-
loured ; the iris golden yellow ; the forehead and the space
between the eyes blueish ; the rest of the body and the throat
a clear yellow, the feathers having blueish green borders : the
rest of the body light green, changing on the back and belly
into a clear yellow ; the border of the wings red ; the upper
wing coverts green ; the quill feathers black, yellow, violet
blue and red ; the tail green, though when spread out, its fea-
thers appear to have a black, red, and blue edge.

Observations. — This bird comes from Guiana, Brazil, and
Mexico : learns to speak with difficulty, and is very sociable

146 THE BLUE-FACED PARROT.

and faithful. In the necessary mode of treatment it resembles
the foregoing.

49. THE YELLOW-HEADED AMAZON PARROT.

Psittacus Ochrocephalus, LIN. L'Amazone a tetejaune, BUF. Der Gelb-
kopfige Amazonen Papaqei, BECH.

Description, — This bird, about as large as a middle-sized
Pigeon, is one foot two inches long, of which the beak mea-
sures one inch and a half, and the tail five inches. The beak
is strong, orange on the sides of the upper and the root of the
lower mandible, but elsewhere dark ashen grey or brown.
The egg-shaped circles of the eye are bare, and a light ashen
grey ; the iris a golden yellow ; the wax black ; the strong feet
ashen grey ; the claws blackish. The forehead and back of the
head, neck, back, shoulder feathers, wing coverts and hindmost
tail feathers, are dark and leek green ; the under part of the body
and the under wing coverts are yellowish green. The upper bor-
der of the wings is deep red, mixed with yellow on the foremost
joint ; the top of the head, as well as a small band round the
knees, deep or golden yellow. The front quill feathers are black,
outwardly edged with green, but towards the quill tinged with
blue ; the middle quill feathers are also black, the foremost
half deep red on the outer plume, tinged with blue towards
the point ; the hinder wing feathers green on the outer plume,
but otherwise like the forward half ; the under quill feathers
blueish green ; the tail green, growing yellowish towards the
point ; the three outer feathers, on the inside of the plume half
way from the root, deep red, mixed with yellow at the side.

Varieties are found, having — 1. The forehead a pale yellow,
and the colours in general lighter. 2. The forehead and sides
of the head a clear yellow. 3. The yellow of the head mixed
with green.

Observations. — This bird is a native of South America. It
seems to be incapable of learning anything, as the example I
have before me will only utter a strong harsh scream, which
is its natural voice. The amateur must, therefore, content
himself with the scarcity and beautiful plumage of this bird.

50. THE BLUE-FACED PARROT.

Psittacus Autumnatts, LIN. Le Crik a tete Bleue, BUF. Der Herbst

Krich Papagei, BECH.
Description. — The Blue-faced Parrot is as large as a mode-

THE BLUE-NECKED PARROT. 147

rately sized Pigeon. The beak is horn colour, with a long
stripe of orange on each side of the upper mandible ; the iris is
orange ; the circle of the eyes flesh colour ; the feet the same,
but darker ; the claws black. Bound the top of the head and
the throat the colour is blue ; the under part of the neck
down to the breast red ; the rest of the body green, except the
great quill feathers, which are chiefly blue, though a few are
red, with blue points. The hinder quill feathers are also
green. The tail feathers are half green, inclining at the points
to yellow ; the under part of the side feathers towards the
base, red.

Varieties. — 1. In some, the head, instead of being red and
blue, is red and white.

2. In others the forehead is scarlet ; the top of the head
blue ; under each eye is an orange speck ; the upper edge of
the wings light yellow.

3. In others, the forehead and throat are red ; behind and
under the eyes is a patch of blue ; the top of the head is
yellowish green ; the under edge of the wing is red ; and the
tail has a light yellow point.

4. In others, the whole body is blackish, except on the
breast where the feathers are dark brown, edged with red.
This is a very rare variety, possessed by the Duke of Mein-
ingen.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Guiana. It does not
learn much, and utters a continual cry of " Girr, Gwr /"

51. THE BLUE-NECKED PARROT.

Psittacus Mestruus, LIN. Le Papagei a tete et Gorge Bkue, Bur. Der
Blauhdlsige Papagei, BECH.

Description. — This rare bird is about the size of the Ashen-
grey Parrot (43), and resembles it in form and carriage. The
beak is a dark horn colour, marked on each side of the upper
mandible with a red spot. The eyes are reddish brown, and
the circle round them a grey flesh colour. The head, neck,
and a part of the breast are a fine indigo blue, somewhat shot
with purple on the breast, while on the side of the head is a
black spot. The back, belly, wings, and thighs are green, the
feathers on the belly being tipped with blue. The wing co-

L 2

148 THE EOSE-EINGED PAEEAKEET.

verts are yellowish green, inclining to gold colour ; the vent
scarlet, with a blueish tinge at the end of the feathers. The
tail is green, with the inner half of the first three feathers red
at the root ; the feet strong and grey.

Observations. — This bird, which is a native of Guiana, lives
long in captivity, and though it does not talk, is prized for its
tameness and gentle disposition. It is scarce even in its native
country.

52. THE KOSE-EINGED PAEEAZEET.

Psittams Pullariu*, LIN. Perruche a tete Rouge, BUF. Der Rothkopfige
Guineische Parkit, BECH.

Description. — To this little Parrot, which is not larger than
a common Crossbill, and much esteemed throughout Europe, on
account of its beauty and affectionate disposition, bird-sellers
give the name of the Guinea Sparrow. The beak is red,
growing lighter towards the tip ; the naked membrane and the
bare circle of the eyes are ash-coloured. The feet are grey ;
and the iris blueish. The general colour of the plumage is
green, which is lightest on the lower part of the body. The
front of the head and the throat are red ; the border of the
wings, and the lower part of the back, blue ; the superior tail
coverts green. The upper portion of the tail feathers is red ;
below this is a narrow black stripe, and the tips are green.
The two centre feathers are entirely green.

In the female the colours are similar, though not so dis-
tinctly marked ; the red tinge on the head is lighter, and the
wings are bordered with light yellow.

Observations. — These birds are natives of Guinea, India,
Java, and all parts of the torrid zone of the eastern hemisphere.
They were formerly scarce in Europe, but are now to be seen
at every bird- seller's ; probably because the method of treating
them during the voyage is now better understood. They are
so affectionate that they cannot be kept except in pairs ; and if
one dies, it is necessary, to preserve the survivor, that a mirror
should be hung near the cage, to cheat it into the belief that
it is not alone. The male is especially attentive to the female,
frequently caressing her, and offering her food. In their
native country these birds do a great deal of damage to the
corn-fields. In confinement they may be fed on canary seed,

THE YELLOW-BREASTED TOUCAN. 149

with milk and bread. It is to be regretted that they cannot be
taught to speak, and that their cry is so unpleasant. A pair
may be kept to advantage in a bell-shaped wire cage, some-
what larger than that used for Canaries.

53. THE LITTLE BLUE AND GREEN PARRAKEET.

Psittacus Passerinus, LIN. Ete ou Toui-ete, BUF. Der Sperlings
Par Ait, BECH.

Description. — It is only four inches long, and not larger than
a House Sparrow. The beak, the membrane at the base, the
circles of the eyes, and the feet are orange coloured. The
general colour is green; the rump blue ; the little wing coverts
and the tail are also green.

Observations. — This pretty little bird, which, like the last,
lives most amicably with its mate, is rarely seen. It comes
from Brazil and Guiana, and unfortunately cannot speak. It
is fed with canary seed, hemp, &c.

54. THE YELLOW-BREASTED TOUCAN.

Rhamphastos Tucanus, LIN. Toucan a Gorge Jaune du Bresil, BUF. Der
Tukan, oder gelbbrustige Pfeffervogel, BECU.

Description. — This and the two following birds, like the
rest of their class, have a disproportionately large beak, which
is convex above, and hooked towards the point. It is hollow,
very light, and toothed at the edges like a saw. The feet are
adapted for climbing. In summer, when they do not suffer
from the cold, they are imported from North America into
England and Holland, from whence they are brought into Ger-
many, but they are not often to be found in aviaries. In con-
finement they will eat whatever is offered them — fruit, berries,
especially grapes, bread, meat, frogs, &c. They swallow every
thing whole, after having thrown it into the air, and caught it
in the beak. They are taken from the nest, which generally
stands in a hollow tree, and contains two young ones, and
when reared, are very engaging birds.

The Toucan is nineteen inches in length, of which the beak
measures six ; this is grey at the base, and at the end black.
The back is a greenish black ; the cheeks, throat, and top of
the neck orange ; on the breast is a crimson stripe ; the upper

150 THE PEEACHEE TOUCAN.

of part the belly is a beautiful red, the lower part and the
sides blackish, as are also the quill feathers and the tail. The
upper tail coverts are sulphur-coloured, the under crimson ; the
feet and claws lead-coloured.

55. THE BRAZILIAN TOUCAN.

Rhamphastos Piscivorus, LIN. Le Toucan a Gorge blanche du Brezil, BUF.
Der Brasilische Pfeffervdgel, BECH.

Description. — This bird is twenty-one inches in length, of
which the beak measures six inches, and is three inches thick
at the base. The upper mandible is yellowish green, with
orange-coloured toothed edges ; the lower mandible is a fine
blue ; the points of both scarlet ; the iris nut brown ; the
circle of the eyes bare and a greenish yellow ; the top of the
head, neck, back, belly, wings, and tail, black; the sides,
throat, and breast, yellowish white ; between the breast and
belly is a beautiful red crescent ; the upper tail coverts are
white, the lower are clear red ; the feet light blue.

It is a native of Cayenne and Brazil.

56. THE PEEACHEE TOUCAN.

Rhamphastos Picatus, LIN. Le Toucan a venire rouge, BUF. Der Pri-
diger Pfeffervogel, BECH.

Description. — The Preacher Toucan is one foot eight inches
in length. The beak is six inches long, and almost two inches
thick at the base, of a greenish yellow colour, reddish at the
point ; the head, throat, neck, top of the back, and shoulders,
are bright black, with a green tinge ; the lower part of the
back, rump, and upper and lower wing coverts are also black,
but tinged with ashen grey. The breast is a beautiful orange ;
the belly, sides, thighs, and lower tail coverts a fine red ; the
quill feathers like the back, but paler ; the tail is greenish black,
tipped with red, but black on the under side ; the feet and
claws black.

The Preacher Toucan is a native of Guiana and Brazil, and
has received its name from its unceasing cry. It is very easy
to tame, and eats whatever is offered to it.

ADDITIONAL. — The Rhamphastida, or Toucan kind, forms
one of the five families into which the order Scansores has been
divided by VIGOES : the species included in this family are not

THE PREACHER TOUCAN. 151

by any means numerous, and, according to CUVIER, they are
found only in the warmest regions of America. They live on
fruits, usually go in little flocks of from six to ten, and fly heavily,
apparently with trouble to themselves. They can, however, ele-
vate themselves to the summits of the highest trees, where they
are fond of perching, and are almost in a continual state of agi-
tation. They make their nests in the hollows of trees, and the
female lays but two eggs. The young are easily tamed and
reared, for they will eat any thing which is given to them — fruits,
bread, flesh, or fish. They seize the morsels which are presented
them with the point of the bill, throw them upwards, and receive
them in their large gullet. If they seek their food on the ground,
they usually take it up sideways and fling it in the air, and catch
it in the same manner. The Toucans are so sensible to cold, that
they dread the freshness of the night even in tropical climates.
Their skin is generally blueish, and their flesh, though hard and
black, is yet eatable. " When," says M. D'AZARA, " they take
little birds in the nest, or morsels of meat or fruits, they dart
them into the air, and by a slight movement of the bill, they
direct them so as to be swallowed conveniently ; then by another
motion they receive them into their wide gullet. But if the
morsel should be larger than the aperture of the latter, they
abandon it without attempting to divide it."

The last-named naturalist furnishes some original observations
on those birds, which may serve to complete their natural history.
" The Toucans, contrary to what may be supposed, destroy a
great number of birds, their large and bulky bfll rendering them
formidable to most species. They attack them, chase them from
their nests, and even in their presence devour their eggs and
young ones, which they either draw out of holes by the aid of
their long bill, or bring to the ground along with the nests. It
is affirmed that the Toucans do not even respect the nests of the
Aras and Caracaras, and that if the young ones are too strong
to allow themselves to be carried away from the nest, their ad-
versaries strike them to the ground, as if their disposition led
them not only to devour, but to destroy. Even the solid nest of
the Rufous Bee-eater, which resists time, and other causes of
destruction, is not safe from the attacks of the Toucans, which
wait until the clay, of which it is composed, is softened by the
rain, to batter it with strokes of their bills, that they may devour
the eggs and young. During the season of hatching, the Toucans
have scarcely any other aliment ; but at other times they live on
fruits, and sometimes on insects and the tender buds of plants ;
they then leave the other winged tribes in peace."

According to this author the tongue of the Toucan is inflexible,

152 WOODPECKEKS.

and can be of no use for the direction of the aliment, or the
formation of the cry, which, in the two species of Paraguay, is
nothing more than may be expressed by the syllable rac*

IV. WOODPECKEKS.f

IN these birds the beak is generally straight, very rarely curved,
angular, not thick, and moderately long. The feet are short, and
usually adapted for climbing.

ADDITIONAL. — " Under the name Picus" says CTJVIEE, "which
we may translate by our popular term Woodpecker, naturalists
unite a number of birds, which constitute a very natural genus
of the order Scansores. Their hard tongue, armed with solid
corneous papillae, is a very proper weapon for seizing the in-
sects, and more especially the soft larvae which these birds seek
under the bark, or in the tender and rotten wood of old trees.
The feet, furnished with claws, strong and crooked, assist them
in climbing along the trees, which they most frequently ascend
in a spiral direction : they are also capable of running along the
branches horizontally, and in opposition to their own proper
weight.

" The cry of the Woodpeckers is sharp and piercing ; their
flight heavy, and by springs. They are easily recognised by the
redoubled blows with which they strike the trees, to terrify the
insects which are concealed under the bark, or catch them if the
wood be soft enough to yield to their strokes. The Wood-
peckers are never fat ; their flesh is hard, coriaceous, black, and,
consequently, in little estimation. Their plumage is exceedingly
various, and they exhibit in the upper parts of it all colours, blue
excepted.

"Woodpeckers are continually occupied in hollowing trees,
into the holes of which they retire during the night, and also
when they lay their eggs, which the female deposits without
making any nest. The parents keep the young birds until they
are of age for reproduction. During the day they remain isolated,
and their life seems a laborious and active one. The species
of this genus are very numerous (four only are known as
British birds) ; even BUFFON was acquainted with nine-and-
thirty ; but since his time the number has been wonderfully in-
creased. They are extended over the globe through every lati-
tude ; two-thirds of them are found between the tropics j but

* Griffith's Cuvier, vol. vii. p. 546.
•f* Pici» Spechtartige Vogel^ BECH.

PLATE 17.

GREEN WOODPECKER.

THE GREEN WOODPECKER. 153

they abound most in the humid forests of America. It is, how-
ever, remarkable enough that none are to be found in New Hol-
land.

" Though the Woodpeckers constitute a very natural genus,
and all appear as though they were formed in one type, yet the
manners of some species vary considerably. There are some
which do not climb, although their organization might lead us to
believe they did ; but, on the contrary, they live on the ground,
or in the rocks."*

(A.) ETJKOPEAK BIEDS.

TAMEABLE WHEN YOUNG.

57. THE GREEN "WOODPECKER.

Picus Firidis, Lix. Pic Verd, BUF. Der Griinspecht, BECH.

Description. — The Green Woodpecker is about the size of a
small Pigeon, being twelve inches and a half in length. The
tail, half of which is covered by the folded wings, measures
four inches and a quarter. The beak is one inch and a half
long, trilateral, sharp at the point, and of a dark lead colour ;
the iris is light lead colour, with a faint brown stripe round
the pupil. The tongue, which is five inches in length, is, like
that of all Woodpeckers, provided with a horny tip, to catch
and pierce insects ; the feet are a greyish lead colour, and
adapted for climbing. The top of the head, as far as the nape
of the neck, is a beautiful crimson. In old birds a black
stripe, tinged with red, runs down each side of the neck. The
upper part of the body is a bright olive green ; the lower a
dirty greenish white, marked on the belly with indistinct trans-
verse stripes, which become more visible on the side.

The head of the female is never so red as that of the male,
and for the first year is entirely grey.

Habitat. — In summer the Woodpecker frequents woods and
retired gardens, but in winter, when the snow falls thickly, it
approaches the villages, and flies about the gardens near the
houses. It conceals itself at night in a hollow tree. In rotten
trees it excavates large and deep round holes with its beak, in
order to get at the insects which are there to be found. It
never, however, attacks a healthy tree, though often unjustly

* Griffith's Cuvier, vol. vii. p. 510.

154 THE GREEN WOODPECKER.

killed by the forester as a destructive bird. Sometimes it merely
knocks at the tree, to frighten out the insects ; and this it
does so quickly, as to produce on the ear the sensation of a
continuous sound.

Such is its wild and restless disposition in confinement,
that it must be restrained with a chain.

Food. — In a wild state it feeds upon the maggots and insects
which are found in the wood and under the bark of trees ;
ants, the larvae of wasps, and in winter, even bees.

In confinement it will eat nuts, ants' eggs, and meat.

Breeding. — The female lays, in some hole of a tree, three or
four white eggs. The young ones, if it be desired to rear
them, must be taken out of the nest when half fledged. The
old birds are untameable, and, as far as my experience goes,
will not even in confinement eat.

Attractive Qualities. — The only recommendation possessed
by this bird is the beauty of its plumage, as it is always wild
and untractable ; and never, under any circumstances, becomes
accustomed to captivity. A pair, however, form an agreeable
variety in an aviary, and it is curious to see them crack their
nuts.

ADDITIONAL. — "The Woodpecker," says MUDIE, " is especially
a bird of the ancient forests. You do not find it in the hedge or
the coppice, where so many of the little birds, especially the sum-
mer migrants, build their nests, and spend their mid-days, when
the reflections of the sun come bright on all sides of the foliage,
in picking the soft caterpillars from the leaves, or capturing the
insects that resort thither for the purpose of depositing fresh
myriads; and when they have thus secured the shelter and
beauty of their habitation, farewell the evening, and again hail
the morning, with their joyous songs ; the aged tree is all to the
Woodpecker, and the Woodpecker is much to the aged tree."

MACGILLIVRAY states that " this bird does not occur in any
part of the north or middle divisions of Scotland, and that if it
exists in the southern parts it must be extremely rare." MR.
YARRELL, he thinks, must have erred, in alleging it to be
" found over a great part, if not all, the wooded districts of
England and Scotland." Even in the north of England he says
it is of very uncommon occurrence ; but as we proceed south-
ward, it increases in frequency, and in some districts, especially
the southern and midland, it is by no means uncommon. It is
permanently resident, and does not appear to shift its quarters
much, remaining at all seasons in the woods, and occasionally

THE GREENT WOODPECKER. 155

betaking itself to orchards and gardens. Its flight is rapid, and
undulated when protracted, and all its motions are lively and in-
dicative of great vigour. It is thought to announce the approach
of rain by a peculiar cry, which may be likened to the syllables
pleu, pleu, but its ordinary note is harsh, and in the breeding
season it emits a noise resembling a shout of laughter, whence
its name, Yaffler."

This is but one of the many names by which the bird is known
in various parts of this country ; it is so called in Surrey and
Sussex. WHITE, of Selborne, says, " the Woodpecker laughs."
THOMAS HOOD, in that powerfully descriptive poem of his, The
Haunted Souse, speaks of

" The ringing of the Whitwall's shrilly laughter."

Wetwall, Woodwall, Woodwale, or Woodwell, which are, in fact,
but modifications of one word, are terms used by some old
authors, and generally considered to refer to one species of our
English Woodpeckers, though to which of them is a matter of
doubt. WILLOUGHBY and BAT apply the name Wetwall to the
Greater Spotted Woodpecker; and in the New Forest, Hampshire,
at the present day, this bird is variously called Woodwall, Wood-
wale, Woodnucker, and Woodpie, as we are informed by YAE-
EELL, in whose History of British Birds will be found an inter-
esting examination into the probable origin of the several terms
which have been supposed to refer to the Green Woodpecker.
From this work we also learn that in some parts of Hertford-
shire, and the adjoining county of Essex, the bird is called
Whet-ile, probably from whittle, " to cut or hack wood." Hew-
hole is another term used ; it is sufficiently explained by the
well-known habits of the bird. Woodspite is another name,
and sometimes spelled Woodspeight, the first syllable being de-
rived, we are told, from woad, in reference to the green colour of
the bird, and the second syllable from the German word specht,
a Woodpecker. BECHSTEIN, it will be seen, calls this bird
Grunspecht. The term Rain-bird we have already noticed. In
Northumberland, according to WALLIS, the historian of this
county, the common people call the bird Rain -fowl, because it is
more loud and noisy before rain. Woodpeckers were called by
the Eomans Pluvice aves, probably for the same reason. The
Green Woodpecker is said by MACGILLIVEAY to be very gene-
rally dispersed over the European continent, from Scandinavia
to Greece. PEOFESSOB JAMESON states, that it occurs also in
the Himalayan range of mountains. ME. HAELEY has given a
very characteristic account of its habits, as observed in the neigh-
bourhood of Leicester, from which we make an extract. " Its

156 THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

flight is undulating, but the last undulation before the bird
alights on the hole of the tree is much longer than the first. I
have never seen it descend the tree after the manner of the Nut-
hatch, nor have I reason to think that it ever does so. Some
authors, in their history of the bird, speak of its carrying away
the chips from the foot of the tree in which it has been preparing
a place for its offspring ; but although such may be the case, I
have never, after a very minute search, seen either male or female
removing the chips, which, on the contrary, I have always found
in profusion near their holes. This bird never uses masonry, as
the Nuthatch does, at the mouth of the holes which it chooses
for nidification. I have never found any appearance of nest, ex-
cepting of decayed wood, in which were laid from five to seven
delicate and beautiful white eggs."

58. THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER.
Picus Major, LIN. Epeiche ou pic varie, BUF. Der Buntspecht, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is nine inches in length, is
about the size of a Song Thrush. The tail, of which the
folded wings cover a little more than half, measures three
inches and a half. The beak is almost one inch in length ;
on the upper side five-cornered, and a blackish horn colour ;
but on the lower, it has a blueish tinge. The feet are thirteen
lines high, and of a blueish olive green ; the iris is blueish, but
surrounded by a white ring. The forehead is yellowish brown ;
the top of the head black ; but edged towards the neck with
a crimson stripe. The beak is black : the shoulders white ;
the wings and tail striped with black and white, and having
over the whole a tinge of yellow. The under part of the body
is a dirty reddish white ; the vent is crimson.

In the female the red stripe on the neck is wanting.

Observations. — The larger Woodpecker frequents gardens
and groves, and feeds on insects, hazelnuts, beechmast, acorns,
and the seeds of pine and fir-cones, &c. Before opening nuts,
it usually fixes them in some crevice of a tree. The female
lays from three to six white eggs, in a hollow tree. Before
the first moulting, the head of the young birds is altogether
red. If it is intended to rear them, they should be taken out
of the nest when half grown, and fed on ants' eggs, meat, and
nuts. In other respects, the observations on the Green Wood-
pecker apply also to this bird.

THE GEEATEE SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 157

ADDITIONAL. — Of the Pied, or Greater Spotted Woodpecker,
MACGILLIVBAY writes, "that it is extensively distributed in Eng-
land and Scotland ; but in all parts is rare, although specimens
are not unfrequently obtained. It is a permanent resident, and
has been found breeding in various districts. In England, where
it has been found from the northern counties to those bordering
on the channel, it is more common than in Scotland, though less
numerous than the Green Woodpecker."

MONTAGU states, that " it rarely descends to the ground in
search of food, and more frequently makes that jarring noise for
which the Woodpeckers are distinguished than either of the
other species, especially when disturbed from the nest, which,"
he continues, "we had an opportunity of observing. It was with
difficulty the bird was made to quit her eggs ; for, notwithstand-
ing a chisel and mallet were used to enlarge the hole, she did not
attempt to fly out till the hand was introduced, when she quitted
the tree at another opening. The eggs were five in number, per-
fectly white and glossy, weighing about one drachm, or rather
more. They were deposited two feet below the opening, on the
decayed wood, without the smallest appearance of a nest. As
soon as the female had escaped, she flew to a decayed branch of
a neighbouring tree, and there began the jarring noise before
mentioned, which was soon answered by the male from a distant
part of the wood, who soon joined his mate, and both continued
these vibrations, trying different branches, till they found the
most sonorous."

Mr. HAELEY, of Leicester, writes respecting this species as
follows : — " We have the Greater Spotted Woodpecker here also,
but it is not quite so common as the green one. It affects the
deep umbrageous woods of Oakley and Piper. In Worcester-
shire and Herefordshire, I have found it upon the moss-grown
apple trees, particularly the very a^ed ones. From the attention
I have paid to its habits, I think I say the truth, when I affirm
that it affects the tops of trees more than its congener does. The
common people here, who have a knowledge of the bird, call it
French Magpie ; and in the counties of Salop and Stafford it is
called the Woodpie."

In reference to the particular sound made by this bird when
seeking its food, PENNANT remarks : — "By putting the point of
its bill into the crack of the limb of a large tree, and making a
quick tremulous motion with its head, it occasions a sound as if
the tree was splitting, which alarms the insects, and induces
them to quit their recesses ; this it repeats every minute or two
for half an hour, and will then fly off to another tree, generally
fixing itself near the top for the same purpose. The noise may
be distinctly heard for half a mile. This bird will also keep its

158 THE LESSEE SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

head in very quick motion while moving about the tree for food,
jarring the bark, and shaking it at the time it is seeking for in-
sects."

59. THE MIDDLE SPOTTED "WOODPECKER.
Picus Medius, LIN. Pic varie a tete rouye, BUF. Der Weisspecht, BECH.

Description. — This bird resembles the former in almost
every respect, except that it is a little smaller. The beak is
smaller, far thinner, and very pointed. The top of the head
is crimson, and the vent rose-coloured.

Observations. — It is less common than the larger species,
and the young, though not very tractable, are yet more docile.
Like the preceding, this bird may be kept in a cage, and
confined by a light chain.

60. THE LESSEE SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

Picus minor, LIN. Petit Epeiche, BUF. Der Grasspecht, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Lark, is five
inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two
inches. The folded wings extend to the middle of the tail.
The beak is seven lines long, and greenish black : the feet are
of the same colour. The rump is white ; the head crimson at
the top, and black at the back. The back is white, with
blackish transverse stripes. The under part of the body is
red, greyish and white, marked on the sides with a few black
streaks.

The female has no red on the head.

Observations. — This is a rare bird ; it is an inhabitant of the
woods, and lives on the insects which it picks from the bark
and moss of trees. It may sometimes also be seen hopping
among the grass, in search of insects. The young birds, which
are to be reared, must be kept in the cage.

ADDITIONAL. — MACGILLIVRAY, who confesses that he is in-
debted to the earlier volumes of London 's Magazine of Natural
History for the information here given, thus remarks upon this
bird, which he calls the Striated "Woodpecker : — " This species,
which is said to be more abundant in the northern parts of
Europe than in France and Germany, has not hitherto been met
with in Scotland, or even in many parts of England, although it
occurs in most of the southern, eastern, and midland counties,
extending as far north as Derby, and westward to Shrewsbury

THE LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKEE. 159

and Hereford. It is said by several observers to be not uncom-
mon in some districts. Thus, Mr. GOULD, in his beautiful Illus-
trations of the Birds of Europe, says, ' In England it is far more
abundant than is generally supposed ; we have seldom sought
for it in vain wherever large trees, particularly the elm, grow in
sufficient numbers to invite its abode ; its security from sight is
to be attributed more to its habit of frequenting the topmost
branches than to its rarity.' The Hev. Mr. BEEE states, that ' it
is by no means of rare occurrence in his neighbourhood, where,
however, it is more readily heard than seen. Its loud, rapid, vi-
bratory noise, most extraordinarily loud to be produced by so
small an animal, can hardly fail to arrest the attention of the
most unobserving ear. Though I have watched the bird during
the operation, and within the distance of a few yards, I am quite
at a loss to account for the manner in which the noise is pro-
duced. It resembles that made by the boring of a large augur
through the hardest wood ; and hence the country people some-
times call the bird the Pump-borer.' Mr. DOVASTON informs
us that it is a very frequent, but uncertain, visitor to the woods
near Shrewsbury, never failing in April to astonish him 'with its
prodigiously loud churr on the ranpikes of trees, which, the at-
mosphere being favourable, may be heard more than a mile. It
much resembles the snorting of a frightened horse, but louder
and longer.' He then states that the bird, in performing this
sound, 'vibrates its beak against the tree ; the motion is so quick
as to be invisible, and the head appears in two places at once.
It is surprising, and to me wondrously pleasing, to observe the
many varieties of tone and pitch in their loud churry, as they
change their place on boughs of different vibration, as though
they struck on the several bars of a gigantic staccato. When
actually boring, they make no noise whatever, but quietly and
silently pick out the pieces of decaying wood, which, lying white
and scattered beneath on the ground and plants, leads the eye
up to their operations above. They have several favourite spots,
to which they very frequently return. Their voice is a very
feeble squeak, repeated rapidly six or eight tunes 'ee, ee, ee, ee, ee.'
They bore numerous and very deep holes in decayed parts, where
they retire to sleep early in the evening ; and, though frequently
aroused, will freely return. Whatever be the purpose of this
enormous noise, they certainly do very nimbly watch, and eagerly

Eick up the insects they have disturbed by it. They fly in jerks
ke their congeners, and always alight on the side of a tree."

160 THE WRYNECK.

61. THE WRYNECK.
J'unx Torquilla, LIN. Torcal, BUF. Der Gemeiner Wendehals, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of a Lark, being
six inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures
three inches and a quarter. The beak is one third of an inch
long, large, straight, pointed, lead-coloured in summer, and
in autumn olive green. The iris is brownish yellow ; the feet
are short, strong, and lead-coloured, having two claws in front,
and two behind. The head is ash-coloured, with small spots
of black, rust-colour and white. A broad black stripe, mot-
tled with rust-colour, runs from the top of the head half-way
down the back. The rest of the upper part of the body is a
fine grey, striped and spotted with black, white, and rust-
colour ; a chestnut-browTL stripe runs from the hinder corner of
the eye half-way down the neck ; while the cheeks, throat,
neck, half the breast and vent, are reddish yellow, covered
with fine black wavy lines. The lower part of the breast
and the belly are yellowish white, with a few three-cornered
blackish brown spots. The wing coverts and the hindmost
pen feathers are brown, finely striped with grey and black,
and covered with black and white spots. The other pen
feathers are black, mottled with rust-colour on the outer
plume. The tail, which consists of ten larger, and two smaller
feathers, is pale grey, spotted with black, aud crossed by four
broad black stripes.

The female is paler on the belly than the male.

Habitat. — The Wryneck is a bird of passage ; leaving us
in the first half of September, and returning about the end
of April. It frequents groves and gardens, and in August
may be particularly noticed in cabbage fields. In some years
they are as common in Thuringia as Linnets, though not, like
that bird, gregarious.

In confinement this bird does not thrive in a small cage,
as it is apt to soil the feathers of the breast and belly by its
pecular motions. It is advisable, therefore, either to put it
in a large cage, or allow it to range the room at will.

Food. — It chiefly feeds, in a wild state, on insects and their
larvaB, which it catches by inserting its long and sharp pointed
tongue into the crevices where these are to be found. Ants'

THE WKYNECK. 161

eggs are, however, its favourite food ; and during its passage,
when insects are not to be found, it will eat elder-berries.

In confinement, the Wryneck is a delicate bird, and must
have ants' eggs mixed with the universal paste, to which it
will then soon become accustomed. It will live the longest
on Nightingale's food. It is curious to see how it thrusts its
long narrow tongue into all chinks and crannies in search of
insects ; nor is it possible to give it greater pleasure than by
placing ants' eggs in such situations. It takes all food — if
not in a liquid state — with its tongue, and shows great dex-
terity in getting possession of ants' eggs, &c., which may be
left near the cage. It is also fond of ants.

Breeding. — The nest, which is built of moss, wool, hair, and
grass stalks, is found in hollow trees. The female lays eight
or nine shining white eggs. The old ones can be preserved
only with difficulty ; but the young may be easily reared
on ants' eggs and the universal paste made from the crumbs of
wheaten bread.

Mode of Taking, — The Wryneck can in general be caught
only by placing limed twigs round the nest ; though, some-
times in the spring, they may even be taken with the hand,
while searching the bushes for insects. Two, which I now
possess, were brought to me by a boy who had taken them in
this manner.

Attractive Qualities. — The peculiar motions whence this
bird has derived its name, together with its beautiful plumage,
form its chief recommendation to the amateur. It is accus-
tomed to stretch out its neck, and so twist its head round, that
the beak points down the middle of the back. It generally sits
upright, with its tail spread out like a fan, slowly inclining
its body backwards and forwards, and bristling up the feathers
of the head and throat. If any one vexes it, or approaches
its food box, it leans slowly forward, erects its crest, elongates
and twists round its neck, turns the eyes, bows, expands the
tail, gobbles in the throat, and throws itself into the most
peculiar positions. Its general behaviour is sedate, if not sad.
In spring it often cries " Gui! Gui! Gui!" which is the note
by which it calls its mate.

M. VON SCHAUKOTH informs me that two Wrynecks which
he reared, became so exceedingly tame as to hang about his
clothes, and to chirp whenever they either heard or saw their

162 THE WKYSJiCK.

master. One day, being impatient of the ceaseless chirping of
one of them, he put it out of the window ; but at night it
answered to his call, and allowed itself to be retaken. Even
if sitting upon a high tree, the sight of its food box was
sufficient to lure it to the window.

ADDITIONAL. — This beautiful summer visitant, which has a re-
markable habit of twisting the neck with a slow, undulatory
movement, like that of a snake, and turning its head in various
directions, — which habit has given occasion for the name Wry-
neck, or Writheneck, corresponding to Torquilla and Torticollis
— comes to this country regularly a little before the Cuckoo,
from which circumstance it has obtained the name of Cuckoo's
maid, mate, or messenger. It is sparingly distributed through
all the south-east of England, and rarely, if ever, passes the cen-
tral heights, except as a straggler.

MUDIE says that in its general shape it has some resemblance to
the Woodpecker; and it also a little resembles the smallest British
one in the markings, though not iu the tints of its colours. It
is also just a little larger than that bird, though not quite so long
in the wings. This author gives a very faithful and animated
description of the habits of the bird, for which we must refer our
readers to his History : he also says that " Wrynecks are very
abundant in' many parts of Surrey. They are sociable in the early
part of the season, and assemble at the call note, 'peup, peup,' by
imitating which with a sort of mouth-whistle, the London bird-
catchers obtain numbers of them ; they climb in the same style as
Woodpeckers, but not so often, though they often leap sportively
after each other up the boles of the trees. When a wounded
one is taken in the hand, it raises the feathers of the crown,
flattens those of the neck, writhes that part slowly like a snake,
and occasionally hisses. These birds, if captured, show signs of
pugnacity, or perhaps of fear, but their motions are slow and
twining. They can be partially tamed, but do not live long in
confinement. They usually appear in the southern counties in
the first week of April, and retire in October. They are very
noisy in the early part of the season, but become silent toward
the latter." KNAPP describes the bird as " unusually shy and
timid," and says that " when disturbed it escapes by a night pre-
cipitate and awkward, and hides itself from our sight ; and were
not its haunts and habits known, we should never conjecture that
this bustling fugitive was our long-forgotten spring visitant the
Wryneck." YARKELL says that " the Wryneck, when quitting
the southern part of the European continent in autumn, goes to
North Africa, and the warm parts of Western Asia."

THE TOUEAKO. 163

(B) FOREIGN BIRDS.

62. TKE TOTJRAKO.

Cuculus Persa, LIN. Le Touraco, BUF. Der Turako, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Mag-
pie, has been placed by some — LINN^US, for example — among
the Cuckoos, merely because its cry is " Kuk, kuk;" although
its beak and manner of living sufficiently indicate its true
position is quite another class. The beak is short, thick, and
shaped like that of a Pigeon; the upper mandible reddish
brown, and bent over the lower ; the nostrils covered with fea-
thers. The iris is nut-brown, and on the eye-lids are small
fleshy warts ; the opening of the jaws is wide, extending al-
most to the ears. The feet, which are adapted for climbing,
and the claws, are ash-coloured ; the head, neck, throat, top of
the back, breast, upper part of the belly, sides, and upper wing
coverts, are covered with fine silky feathers of a beautiful
dark green. The feathers on the top of the head are gradu-
ally elongated into a high three-cornered tuft, tipped with red,
which the bird can erect at pleasure. On each side of the
head is a black stripe, broadest in the middle of its course,
which, taking its origin from the corner of the beak, runs be-
tween the eyes to the back of the head. Above and below
this is a narrow white line. The lower part of the back, the
rump, the upper wing coverts, the scapulars, and the larger
coverts, are a blueish purple. The lower part of the belly, the
vent, the thighs, and the under tail coverts, are blackish ; the
large pen feathers are crimson, bordered with black on the outer
edge, and at the point ; the tail is long and purple.

In some cases white feathers are found intermixed in the
green crest.

Attractive Qualities. — This is among the prettiest and tamest
of foreign Cage-birds. Its cry is " Kuk, kuk ;" which syllables
it at first utters singly, and then in close and long succession.
It neither hops nor climbs, but runs about the room with as
much rapidity as a Partridge, and sometimes, with its wings
compressed against its body, leaps as far as ten or twelve feet.
When its beak is open, the tongue is not visible, and it swal-
lows at once all that is given to it. It is fed on small morsels
of fruit and bread ; its crop is easily perceptible.

M2

164 THE KINGFISHER.

BTJFFON says, that one of these birds, which came from the
Cape, ate rice ; but the one on which I tried the experiment
rejected it, though greedily eating grape stones, and pieces of
apple, and orange : this seems to shew that fruit is its natural
food.

The Tourako is brought from Guinea, but is found in several
other parts of Africa.

EUROPEAN BIRDS TAMEABLE WHEN YOUNG.

63. THE KINGFISHER.
Alcedo Fspida, LIN. Martin-pecheur ou Alcyon, BUF. Der Eisvogel, BECH.

Description. — This very handsome bird, which, however,
rarely becomes accustomed to the air and food of the aviary, is
seven inches in length, of which the tail measures one inch and a
quarter ; the feet which are adapted for walking, as the outer
is united with the centre claw as »far as the first joint, are
reddish, and four lines in height. The beak is one inch and a
half in length, strong, straight, somewhat compressed at the
sides, and pointed ; horn-brown outside, and inside saffron-
coloured. The iris is dark brown ; the top of the head and
wing-coverts are dark green ; the first being transversely spotted
with blue, and the latter covered with egg-shaped spots of the
same colour. A broad orange stripe runs from the nostrils to
the back of the eyes, and behind the ears is a large white spot.
From the lower corner of the beak to the neck runs a broad
streak of the same colour as the top of the head ; the shoulders
and back are bright blue ; the throat reddish white ; the rest
of the lower part of the body is a dirty orange, somewhat
lighter on the belly. The pen feathers are blackish, but blue-
ish green on the narrower plume ; the tail dark blue on the
upper side, and blackish below.

In the female the colours are darker, and the bright blue
tinge is supplanted by grass green.

Habitat. — The Kingfisher is a solitary bird, frequenting
pools, brooks, and rivers, throughout the year. It perches in
winter on a twig or stone, near some hole in the ice, and
watches for its prey.

In confinement it neither walks nor hops, but either flies or
remains for a long time perched on one spot. On this account

THE KINGFISHER. 165

it is well to put a clod of turf, or some green branches in the
corner of the aviary, or, perhaps, better still, to keep the bird in
a large cage well provided with perches.

Food. — In a wild state the Kingfisher feeds on small fishes,
leeches, and various water insects.

When confined it may be fed with fishes, leeches, and earth-
worms, till it becomes gradually accustomed to meat. King-
fishers, when taken old, can very rarely be preserved, though I
have seen one of this description, which was fed upon dead fish.
The fish were thrown in a vessel of considerable size — as the
bird overturned all smaller ones — which was placed in his
cage. He did not dart upon them from his perch, but bent
down gradually till he could reach the vessel with his bill.
Old birds, when first kept, will not eat while any one is look-
ing on.

Breeding. — The nest, which is made of roots, and lined with
a few feathers, is placed in a hole at the water's edge. The
eggs are white, and usually eight in number. Before the
young birds can see clearly, they are covered all over with
little quills, so as to resemble a hedge-hog. The time to take
them out of the nest, is before the feathers begin to grow ; and
they are to be fed on meat, ants' eggs, meal and earth-worms,
till at last they become accustomed to meat alone. They live
longer if their food be given to them in a vessel full of water.

Mode of Taking. — They may be caught by affixing a noose to
a post, on the spot which they are observed to frequent, and
which is generally where the water makes a sort of whirlpool.
Limed twigs also often succeed, if they do not immediately
overhang the water, into which they might, in that case, drag
the bird.

Attractive Qualities. — The beauty and the rarity of this bird
constitute its chief recommendation to the amateur. It must
be confessed that it is an awkward and obstinate inmate of the
aviary.

ADDITIONAL.— Of the Halcyons, or Kingfishers, there are but
two species known as British birds, the one being only a strag-
gling visitant, and the other that above described by BECHSTEIN,
a permanent resident, although by no means a common bird.
" It is," says MUDIE, " an inhabitant of holes or burrows on the
banks of streams, lives by fishing, and spends much of its time
in the air near the waters, or perched on the bushes along the

166 THE KINGPISHEK.

banks. Its food is not confined to fish, for it also catches dragon-
flies and other water insects ; and whatever prey it catches, it
swallows entire, casting up the indigestible parts in pellets, after
the manner of the Owls.

" Its ordinary motion is so rapid, and its colours so bright, that
when it passes, it is like a gleam of a broken rainbow, darting
along near the surface of the waters. There are few sights in
quiet nature more novel and pleasing, or that one wishes more to
have repeated, than the first glance one gets of a Kingfisher, dart-
ing along some reach of a clear but placid stream, which glides
between soft banks, fringed with reeds and bushes. If one is not
tolerably well acquainted with it from description, both in its hues
and its habits, one is at a loss whether to tnink it a meteor or a
bird. It passes so fast, and the rapid motion of the gay wings gives
them so much the appearance of vapour, that it is rather a puzzle;
and it is said, and may be true, that its rich hues when it hovers,
which it often does after the manner of the Hawks, attracts the
small fishes to the surface, in the same manner as the lighted
torch, in ' burning the water,' attracts the large ones ; and while
they are, as it were, fascinated, it darts down like an arrow, and
makes a certain capture,— though the colours can be seen from
below only when the bird twitches round. When seen as it
perches on some slender twig, overhanging the water, it has the
appearance of the gay flower of some rare and curious water-
plant ; and the bird, as if conscious of the power of instant escape
which is in its wings — which appears to be felt by most birds so
furnished— will allow you to approach tolerably near ; and if you
are quiet, and do not offer violence or make a noise, (for it is si-
lence that the Kingfisher loves more than seclusion), you may
see its mode of doing business on the surface of the brook.

" Its flight is rather low, and straightforward, but its eye must
be remarkably keen, because it will, in the most rapid flight,
halt, hover for a time, and then dart down, seize a little fish, a
leech, or even a worm or slug by the bank, and instantly land
with it. As it thus not only fishes wholly by the sight, but from
the comparative sm alines of its prey, requires to see very clearly,
it is only at particular spots, and in particular states of the wea-
ther, that its operations can be successfully carried on. The
water must be clear, and the surface smooth ; and that is the
reason why it is not found upon turbulent or brawling streams,
or when wind curls, rain dimples, or mud darkens the waters.
The days when evaporation has ceased, and a storm is impending,
are those on which the atmosphere is most transparent, and the
surface of the water most glassy. They are, consequently, the
days which, above all others, are fitted for the successful opera-

THE KINGFISHER. 167

tions of the Kingfisher, and so are the clear blinks that break
out, still warm and shiny, when the weather is unsettled, and the
process of evaporation is suspended. These are genuine ' halcyon
days ;' days on which the Kingfisher is out and active : but the
bird has, of course, no more to do with the producing of them,
or of the storm which generally follows, than a Lapland witch
has to do with the producing of that fair wind which she sells to
the credulous mariner ; and if the delivery of which did not often
follow the sale, her trade would soon be at an end. Her expe-
rience leads her, from present appearances, to infer what is to
come next, and therein the certainty of her success depends on
the soundness and length of her experience. The Kingfisher,
on the other hand, comes on the water, because that and the
atmosphere are in a certain state at the time, and the Creator of
tlie bird has made that state the stimulus of the bird's instinct."

GOULD observes, that " the young of this bird do not leave the
hole until fully fledged and capable of flight ; when seated on
some neighbouring branch, they may be known by their clamo-
rous twitting, greeting their parents as they pass, from whom
they impatiently expect their supplies ; in a short time, however,
they commence feeding for themselves, assuming at this early
age nearly the adult plumage." The superstition alluded to by
MUDIE, which gives to this bird the power of calming the
winds and waves during the period of incubation, is a very old
one. Allusions to it are frequent in the ancient poets, and the
phrase " Halcyon days," yet in use, serves constantly to remind
us of it. Every schoolboy is acquainted with the story of Ceyx
and Alcyone, who, according to OVID, were changed into King-
fishers, and endowed with this supernatural power over the
winds and waves.

There was also another fabulous belief attached to this bird, to
which SHAKSPEABE and others of our old dramatists allude. It
was supposed that the bird, when dead, if carefully balanced and
suspended by a single thread, would always turn its beak to that
point of the compass from which the wind blew. Thus, Kent, in
King Lear, speaks of rogues who

" Turn their Halcyon beaks
With every gale and vary of their masters."

And MARLOWE, in his Jew of Malta, has this —

" But how now stands the wind ?
Into what quarter peers my Halcyon's hill ?"

CHABLOTTK SMITH, in her Natural History of Birds, says that
she has once or twice seen a stuffed bird of this species hung up
to the beam of a cottage ceiling, to serve the purpose of an in-

168 THE NUTHATCH.

door weathercock, so that this belief can hardly yet liave died
out.

DR. SAYEE informs us that the term Heitre is used to signify
the Kingfisher, in the Mythology of Scandinavia ; hence, in his
Descent of Fren, he makes that goddess, addressing Niord, the
Gothic Neptune, say —

" But soon the jarring thunders cease,

Soon the winged tempests flee ;
Thor on the breezes whispers peace ;

Sunbeams gild the sinking sea ;
O'er its white brim, on calmy wing,
The Heitre played."

And this reminds us of these quaint, but sweet lines, of our old
pastoral poet, WILLIAM BKOWNE —

" Blow, but gently blow, faire winde,

From the forsaken shore,
And be as to the Halcyon kinde,
Till we are ferried o'er."

TAMEABLE WHEN OLD.
64. THE NUTHATCH.

Sitta Europasa, LIN. Sittelli ou le Terchepot, BUF. Der Gemeine
Kluber, BEOH.

Description. — The Nuthatch is almost as large as a Sky
Lark, being six inches and a half in length, of which the tail
measures only one inch and a half. The beak is nine lines
long, strong, straight, and somewhat compressed at the point.
The upper mandible is steel blue, the lower mandible blueish
white ; the iris greyish brown ; the feet yellowish grey, and
provided with very strong claws. The forehead is blue, but
only in the male ; the rest of the upper part of the body, and
the wing coverts, are blueish grey. The cheeks and the
throat are white ; and a black stripe runs from the root of the
beak, between the eyes, to the back. The breast and belly
are dark orange ; the feathers of the sides, thighs, and vent,
cinnamon brown ; the last mentioned being tipped with yel-
lowish white. The pen feathers are blackish. Of the tail
feathers, which are twelve in number, the two in the centre
are the colour of the back ; those at the sides are black ; the
two exterior ones have a white streak near the point, and are
tipped with blueish grey.

THE NUTHATCH. 160

Habitat. — This bird frequents oak and beech woods, and
seems to prefer the spots where pine and fir trees grow. In
such situations it may be observed throughout the year ;
though in winter it frequently approaches the villages, and
flies into barns and stables. The cage in which a Nuthatch is
kept must be of wire, as it would very speedily destroy a
wooden one.

Food. — In a wild state the Nuthatch feeds upon various
species of insects, for which, being an excellent climber, it
searches in the cracks and crevices of trees. Beech mast and
nuts it generally fixes in a crevice before eating them. In
confinement it may be fed on hemp seed and barley meal, and
will also eat oats and bread. The oats it has often been seen
to fix one by one in the joints of the floor, and always with
the thinner end of the grains uppermost, that they might be
split with least difficulty. If it be allowed to range the
room, — which is inconvenient, on account of its propensity
to destroy the wood- work, — it hides a great part of whatever
food is given to it.

Breeding. — It builds in hollow trees, and the female lays
six or seven white eggs, beautifully spotted with red.

Mode of Taking. — The Nuthatch may be caught in the Tit-
trap, if baited with oats and hemp seed, as well as in the barn-
floor trap. Its cry is "Gou ! Dele ! Dek /"

Attractive Qualities. — The beauty of its plumage, its ex-
traordinary cunning in eating and hiding its food, and its
general liveliness, form its chief recommendations.

ADDITIONAL. — This beautiful and lively little bird occurs in
various parts of England, but chiefly in the southern parts ; in
Scotland it does not appear to have been hitherto observed. The
best description of its peculiarities by a British Naturalist which
we have met with, is that furnished b"y Mr. HARLEY, of Leicester,
to MACGILLIVRAY, and quoted by him in his valuable History: —
" This bird remains with us throughout the year, inhabiting the
park and old inclosure more than the hedge-row tree, or the dense
umbrageous wood. In fact, I have never seen it upon our hedge-
row trees, although I have often sought for it when I have been
watching the haunts of the Woodpeckers, which so much resem-
ble it in their habits. In winter, it is not quite mute, but has a
small piping note, not unlike that of the Creeper. This is a call-
company note, inasmuch as the Nuthatch in winter feeds in little
companies, or families, of four or six individuals. On the 21st of

170 THE NUTHATCH.

November, 1839, I went after a pair of the Greater Spotted
Woodpeckers, and a pair of Nuthatches, in Ganendon Park, near
Leicester, the weather being mild, but gloomy, and the wind
south. It was not without difficulty that I found the Nuthatches,
which invariably feed where the trees are most protected from
the wind. Thus, when the south or forest wind is playing upon
the park, the Nuthatches are to be found amongst the large oaks
and elms on the north side of it ; and when a north-easter is
blowing, these birds are found feeding on the beeches, chestnuts,
and pines, which grow on the south side. I know of no birds
whose habits and manners are so operated upon by the movements
of the wind. Whether this arises from their being so much ex-
posed to the weather, in consequence of their being almost con-
stantly on the bark of trees at all seasons of the year, I cannot
say. The Nuthatch searches the bark like the Creeper, but with-
out deriving aid from its tail, and is able to descend with as much
case as it climbs. You see it now ascending spirally the bole of
an oak, then creeping horizontally along an arm, now above, now
beneath, and again hanging like a Tit, as it gains the thickened
foliage, to examine every crevice of the bark, and the young buds.
It proceeds by short leaps, jerks, or notches, and during its pro-
gress droops its wings somewhat after the manner of the Hedge
Sparrow. At this season (November) it generally keeps towards
the middle and topmost branches of the trees it inhabits ; but as
the spring advances, it not only feeds lower down on the bark, but
may then be observed occasionally betaking itself to the ground.
The note in spring is quite different, having in the vernal months
a soft flute-like sound, which it gets in February, but somewhat
earlier or later, according to the nature of the season. The flight
of the Nuthatch is very short, and, in fact, is only made from one
tree to another, or from branch to branch. When the bird is
flying, it moves its wings very rapidly, and during these short
flights, its course is not undulating. In its mode of flying it bears
a great resemblance to the Wren."

According to MONTAGUE, this bird " chooses the deserted habi-
tation of a Woodpecker in some tree for the place of its nidifica-
tion. This hole is first contracted by a plaster of clay, leaving
only sufficient room for itself to pass in and out. The nest is
made of dead leaves, most times that of the oak, which are heaped
together without much order. The eggs are six or seven in num-
ber, white, spotted with rust colour, so exactly like those of the
Great Titmouse in size and markings, that it is impossible to dis-
tinguish a difference. If the barrier of plaster at the entrance is
destroyed when they have eggs, it is speedily replaced ; apecu-
liar instinct to prevent their nest being destroyed by the Wood-

THE NUTHATCH. 171

pecker, and other birds of superior size, who build in the same
situation. No persecution will force this little bird from its ha-
bitation when sitting ; it defends its nest to the last extremity,
strikes the invader with its bill and wings, and makes a hissing
noise ; and, after every effort of defence, will suffer itself to be
taken in the hand rather than quit."

The above cut will serve to show the difference in structure
between the foot of the Woodpecker and that of the Nuthatch ;
the former, it will be seen, is zygodactilic, or yoked, two of the
toes being turned back, and two forward, and the two front ones
being joined together at their bases : thus the foot has two bear-
ings in the front and two behind, and the bird is enabled to perch
or to walk lengthways on a branch ; and with the feet alternately
holding on, and the tail acting as a prop, to walk up the trunk of
a tree, or even to move sideways round it. The foot of the Nut-
hatch is what is called anisodactilic, or unequally yoked : at a
first glance it seems not to differ much from a common foot, with
three toes before, and one behind ; but it is in reality a more
curious piece of mechanism, having the power of two feet, and
those combined. The middle and exterior toes are united toge-
ther at their bases, and admit of a position half reversed, or mid-
way between the other two ; the hinder toe is long and strong,
and all four of them have strong claws. Thus the foot can adapt
itself to any kind of surface, and the bird possessing it can run
upon the trunk or branch of a tree in any direction — upward,
downward, across, or obliquely.

V. PASSERINE BIRDS.*

THESE birds have a pointed, conical beak, generally strong, and
with both mandibles moveable, to fit it for the peeling of
grain. The feet, as in the singing birds, are slender and
divided. Some eat insects as well as seeds. Those which eat
* Passeres. Sperlingsartiye Vogel, BECH.

172 THE COMMON" CROSSBILL.

seeds only, feed the young from the crop ; those which eat
insects, from the bill. Their nests are generally elaborate,
and the female receives but little help from the male in the
work of incubation. This and the following group may be
said to comprise the Cage or Singing birds. All birds which
eat seeds may be tamed at any period.

ADDITIONAL. — With LINN^US, and most of the elder natural-
ists, the order Passeres was a very comprehensive one, including
indeed not only the Sparrow and Finch tribes, as above given,
but nearly all the smaller kinds of birds, differing as they do very
widely in habits and characteristics ; it is, therefore, as a term of
distinction, of but little practical utility, nor are the old subdi-
visions of this order much more satisfactory. The arrangement
adopted by BECHSTEIN seems to be entirely arbitrary, and the dis-
tinctions between the birds of this and the succeeding section do
not seem to be very clearly marked : the term Conirostres, conic
beaks, used in the quinary system of Mr. VIGOBS, would perhaps
have been better than Passeres, a term which, if used at all,
should have taken in all the birds of the two sections.

(A) EUROPEAN GROSBEAKS.
65. THE COMMON CEOSSBILL.

Loxia Curvirostra, LIN. Bee croise, BUF. Der Fichten Kreuzs schnabel,

BECH.

Description. — This remarkable bird, which is about the size
of a Bullfinch, is six inches eight lines long, of which the
tail measures two inches and a quarter. The beak is almost
one inch long, with this peculiarity, that the upper mandible
bending downwards, and the lower mandible upwards, cross
each other : hence arises the name of the bird. The upper
mandible sometimes crosses on the right, and sometimes on the
left side, according to the direction given it when in youth ;
it is soft and yielding. The beak is brown, of a lighter hue
underneath ; the iris and the feet nut brown ; the shin bones
eight lines high.

The changes of colour, which are falsely reported to take
place three times a year, are briefly the following : —

The young male, which is greenish brown, with a partial
hue of yellow, is, after the first moulting, light red, with the
exception of its black quill and tail feathers. This hue is darker
on the upper than on the under part of the body. The change
generally takes place in April and May; it is not till the

PLATE20.

C K ( 1 S S R I

THE COMMON CEOSSJJILL. 173

second moulting that these colours pass into the usual greenish
yellow. The red Crossbills are therefore the males of one
year old ; the greenish yellow the old birds.

The females are either grey all over, with a little green on
the head, breast, and rump, or irregularly speckled with the
same colours.

An old male then, as may always be observed in the
Thuringian Forest, answers to the following description. It
is, however, necessary that the birds should be taken from the
nest, and not at the season of departure, when no two exactly
resemble one another in colour. This arises from the differ-
ent times at which they have moulted, which, as is well
known, has a great influence on the colours of birds.

The forehead, cheeks, and eyebrows are green, or greenish yel-
low, spotted with white ; the back Siskin green ; the vent white,
spotted with grey ; the shank feathers grey. All over the bird,
however, the dark grey colour of the feathers shines through the
green and yellow, and gives all the parts, especially the back,
a spotty appearance. For in reality, all the feathers are grey,
and only their points yellow or green. The wings are blackish ;
the small wing coverts green ; the two larger rows, as well as
the last quill feathers, bordered at the end with whitish yellow.
All the quill feathers, however, as well as the black feathers of
the tail, have a very narrow border of green.

If the Crossbills are grey or speckled, they are young ; if
red, they are one year old, and have just moulted ; if carmine,
they are just about to moult for the second time ; if spotted
with red and yellow, they are two years old, and in full feather.
All these differences may be noticed except at the time of lay-
ing ; for as they do not make their nest at any fixed season, so
neither is their moulting regular, from which arises the great
variety in their appearance.

From all this it follows that the Crossbill has much the same
varieties of colour as the Linnet ; and that it is only the red
garb, which they wear for a year, which so distinguishes them
from other birds.

It is curious that the young ones, which are bred in aviaries
in Thuringia in great numbers, never acquire in confinement the
red colour, but in the second year either remain grey, or im-
mediately receive the greenish yellow colour of the males who
have twice moulted.

] 74 THE COMMON CROSSBILL.

Habitat. — In a wild state, the Crossbill inhabits Europe,
Northern Asia, and America. It frequents fir and pine woods,
but only when there are abundance of the cones.

In confinement it must have a bell-shaped wire cage, of the
form and size adapted for a Canary. It may also be allowed
to run about, if a pine branch be provided on which it may
perch and roost. It cannot, however, be kept in a wooden
cage, as it destroys the wood- work with its bill.

Food. — Its food, when wild, chiefly consists of fir seeds,
which it partly extracts from the scales of the cones with its
bill, and partly collects from the ground. It also eats the
seeds of the pine and alder, and the buds and flowers of the
sumach.

If kept in a cage, it may be fed on hemp, rape, and fir seeds,
or juniper berries. If allowed to run about, it is content with
the second universal paste.

Breeding. — Its time of incubation is the most remarkable of
its peculiarities, for it breeds between December and April. It
builds its nest in the upper branches of coniferous trees, of
thin pine or fir twigs, on which is placed a thick layer of earth
moss, lined within with the finest coral moss. It is not pitched
inside and out with resin, as some have reported. The female
lays three to five greyish white eggs, having at the thick end
a circle of reddish brown stripes and spots. The heating na-
ture of their food preserves both old and young from the effects
of the winter's cold. Like all Grosbeaks, they feed their young
with food disgorged from their own crops. They may be reared
on bread soaked in milk, and mixed with poppy seed.

Diseases. — The exhalations of a room have a bad effect on
these birds, so that they are subject, when in confinement, to
sore eyes, and swollen, or ulcerated feet. The country folk of
the mountains are simple enough to believe that these birds
have the power of attracting their diseases to themselves, and
are therefore glad to keep them. A grosser superstition adds to
this, that the bird, whose upper mandible crosses on the right
of the lower, or, as they call it, a right Crossbill, attracts to
itself the diseases of men ; and that a left Crossbill, or one whose
upper mandible crosses on the other side, takes away the dis-
eases of women. In some districts, the latter birds are pre-
ferred, as having most healing efficacy. Simple people daily
drink the water left by these birds in their troughs, as a speci-

THE COMMON CROSSBILL. 1 75

fic against epilepsy, to which, as well as to apoplexy, the Cross-
bills are subject.

Mode of Taking. — In either Autumn or Spring, they are easy
to catch by means of a decoy. A stake, to which strong limed
twigs have been attached, is fixed, with the decoy bird at its
side, in some forest glade to which the birds are observed to
resort. They will certainly be lured to the twigs by the ' gip,
gip, gipS of the decoy. In some parts of Thuringia, the coun-
try-people place spring-traps in the tops of the pines, a favour-
ite haunt of the bird, and hang a good decoy in a cage on the
highest branches. As soon as one bird perches, the others follow ;
and as many are often caught as there are traps, if the sticks
on which the birds are to perch, are alone allowed to project.

Attractive Qualities. — The Crossbill is rather a silly bird in a
cage, and uses its bill and feet for purposes of locomotion, like the
Parrot. If in health, it swings its body up and down like a Siskin,
and utters its harsh and unmelodious song. The males, however,
are not all alike in this respect, for the amateur prefers those
which often utter the ringing note like " Reitz" or " J&eitz,"
called the Crossbill's crow. It becomes so tame, that it may
be carried in the open air on the finger, and accustomed to fly
in and out of the house.

ADDITIONAL. — In this country these curious birds appear only
as occasional visitants, and that at very irregular periods, and in
different parts of the country ; " generally confining themselves,"
says MACGILLIVRAY, " to the fir plantations, in which they find
their favourite food." We extract the following from a very in-
teresting account of the manners of this species by J. D. HOT,
Esq., of Stoke Nayland, Suffolk, first published in London's
Magazine of Natural History : — " From October, 1821, to the
middle of May, 1822, Crossbills were very numerous in this county,
and, I believe, extended their flights into many parts of England.
Large flocks frequented some plantations of fir trees in this vi-
cinity, from the beginning of November to the following April.
I had almost daily opportunities of watching their movements ;
and so remarkably tame were they, that, when feeding on fir trees
not more than fifteen or twenty feet high, I have often stood in
the midst of the flock, unnoticed and unsuspected. I have seen
them, hundreds of times, when on the larch, cut the cone from
the branch with their beak, and holding it firmly in both claws,
as a Hawk would a bird, extract the seeds with the most surprising
dexterity and quickness.

*******

176 THE COMMOX CHOSSBILL.

" In captivity they were quickly reconciled, and soon became
very familiar. As at first I was not aware what food would suit
them, I fixed branches of the larch against the sides of the room
in which I had confined them, and threw a quantity of the cones
on the floor. I found that they not only closely searched the
cones on the branches, but in a few days not one was left in the
room that had not been pried into. I gave them canary and hemp
seed ; but, thinking the cones were both amusement and employ-
ment, I continued to furnish them with a plentiful supply. I had
about four dozen of them ; and frequently, whilst I have been in
the room, they would fly down, seize a cone with their beak, carry
it to a perch, quickly transfer it to their claws, and in a very short
time empty it of its seeds, as I have very many times witnessed,
to my surprise and amusement. As tne spring advanced, the
male birds in the plantations were frequently singing on the tops
of the firs, in low but very agreeable notes, yet they continued in
flocks, and were seen in some parts of the country until the be-
ginning of June. I had hopes of their breeding in confinement,
and I accordingly kept them in different rooms, fixing the tops
of young fir trees on the floor, and against the walls, and supply-
ing them with as great a variety of food as possible ; but all to
no purpose, as neither those I had confined in this manner, nor
those in cages, ever showed any inclination to breed."

Several records of the appearance of flocks of these rare birds
in England at different dates have been preserved. One of these,
of which a copy was sent by a clergyman residing near Maidstone
to Mr. YAEEELL, and by him published, states thus : — " The
yeere 1593 was a great and exceeding yeere of apples ; and there
were greate plenty of strang birds, that shewed themselves at the
time the apples were full rype, who fedde uppen the kernells ouely
of those apples, and haveinge a bill with one beake wrythinge
over the other, which would presently bore a greate hole in the
apple, and make way to the kernells : they were of the bignesse
of a Bullfinch, the henne right like the henne of the Bullfinch in
coulour ; the cock a very glorious bird, in a manner al redde or
yellowe on the brest, backe, and head. * * * *
They came when the apples were rype, and went away when the
apples were cleane fallen. They were good meate."

According to a note in the last edition of BEWICK, it would
appear that Crossbills did not confine their visit to the county of
Kent in this year 1593 : they are there mentioned as also nu-
merous elsewhere.

In a rare work, entitled Britannia Saconica, or the Natural
Rarities of England, Scotland, and Wales, it is stated that
" in Queen Elizabeth's time a flock of birds came into Cornwall
about harvest, a little bigger than a Sparrow, which had bils

THE FIE GEOSBEAK. 177

thwarted crosswise at the end, and with these they would eat an
apple or two at one snap, eating onely the kernels : and they
made a great spoil among the apples."

Most observers have noticed the readiness with which this bird
suffers itself to be stricken down, or caught. YAREELL states
that, in 1791, a bird-catcher at Bath caught one hundred pairs,
which he generally sold for five shillings each. Many subse-
quent years have also been remarkable for the visits of these
apple-destroyers in considerable numbers. It has been ques-
tioned whether they breed in this country ; KNAPP believes that
they do, and the Editor of the last edition of PENNANT'S Zoology
mentions one certain instance, which occurred in a pine tree
within two miles of Dartford, Kent. Many interesting particu-
lars of this bird, by Sir W. JAEDINE and others, will be found in
WHITE'S Selborne, Bohn's edition.

66. THE FIE GEOSBEAK, OE PAEEOT CEOSSBILL.

Loxia Pytiopsittacus, BECH. Loxia Curvirostra major, LIN; Der Kie-
fern Kreuzschnabel, BECH.

Description. — This bird is by many considered to be identical
with the last, an error into which I myself fell, until I kept
them in the same room, and had an opportunity of accurately
comparing them. It is about the size of a common Grosbeak,
being about eight inches and a quarter in length, of which the
tail measures two inches and three-quarters. From tip to tip
of the expanded wings measures thirteen inches and a half ;
the beak is one inch long, blackish, very thick, and bent cross-
wise at the point, yet not so far as to permit of the lower man-
dible reaching over the upper. The beak generally is thicker,
and its point shorter and more obtuse, than in the preceding
species. The feet are three-quarters of an inch in height, and
the middle claw one inch and a quarter long ; the head and
body of this bird are also thicker than those of the preceding.
The general hue of most males which I have seen, is ver-
milion mixed with brown, and varying in shade on diiferent
parts of the body. The neck, breast, and rump, are a purer
red ; the pen and tail feathers dark grey, with black shafts.
This bird also, like some others, appears to vary in colour ac-
cording to its age. I once possessed an olive green one, which
sang excellently, and was therefore, in all probability, an old
male.

17S THE Fill GROSBEAK.

The female is dark grey, tinged on the back with olive green;
the rump is a lighter green ; the belly and vent whitish.

Observations. — This bird is found in Germany wherever there
are woods of Scotch fir. If not seen in summer, the traces
which they leave behind them in winter, in the fir cones lying
stripped of their seeds beneath the trees, are unmistakeable.
They sit very still, and eat nearly the whole day ; and only
when hopping from tree to tree do they utter a loud harsh call,
not unlike that of the species last described, " Gep, gep, gep /"
Thoy are generally seen in parties of from twelve to twenty-
four. They are not at all shy, nor will a flock of them dis-
perse even if fired at. They prefer the highest trees, and are
caught in the same manner as the Common Crossbill. When
wild, they feed, so far as I know, only on the seeds contained
in the fir-cones. In confinement they may be supplied with
the same, vbut will eat hemp, rape seed, the second universal
paste, or, indeed, anything that comes to table. They must
not be allowed to range the room, as they have a habit
of gnawing books, shoes, &c. A couple once in my posses-
sion destroyed in this manner a pair of new shoes in one
day.

The males are very constant singers ; their song is like that
of the Common Crossbill, but deeper and more interrupted.
They are very sociable, even with birds of other species ; and
if a pair be kept, they will caress, feed, and follow one another
about. They become so tame as to allow themselves to be
taken hold of, but their continual cries often make them dis-
agreeable.

I have never succeeded in finding the nest of this bird. I
am told, however, that it builds on the tops of very high firs,
and hatches its brood of four or five, not in winter, like the
Crossbill, but in May.

ADDITIONAL. — PENNANT appears to be the first naturalist who
gives this bird a place in our native fauna, and he only speaks of
two specimens, a male and a female, taken in Shropshire, the
bills of which, he says, " were remarkably thick and short, more
incurvated than that of the common bird, and the ends more
blunt." Since the date of this short notice, 1776, but few speci-
mens have been taken in this country, although the skins of the
bird are frequently, says YARRELL, brought over by the German
dealers. TEMMINCK states that the bird is only an occasional

THE PINE GROSBEAK. 179

visitant either in Holland or France, but an inhabitant of Ger-
many and the parts of the European continent further north.
MACGILLIVEAY gives the admeasurement of a large example of
the species as follows : — " Length to the end of the tail eight
inches ; wing from flexure, four inches three-twelfths."

We have another species of Crossbills not mentioned by BECH-
STEIN, called the White-winged Crossbill (Loxia falcirostra,
PENN.), said to be identical with the North American variety (L.
leucoptera), described by AUDTJBON, BONAPAETE, and KICHAED-
SON as not uncommon in the Western continent, and alluded to
by GLOGEE, NILSSON, BEEHM, and other European naturalists,
who speak of it as very rare. In this country not more than
four or five specimens appear to have been taken. The whole
length of this bird is stated to be about six inches.

67. THE PINE GROSBEAK.

Loxia. Enucleator, LIN. Darbec ou Grosbec de Canada, BUF. Der Haken
Kreuzschnabel oder Fichten Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird resembles the other Grosbeaks in
form and habit of life, except that the lower does not cross
over the upper mandible. The latter, however, is provided
with a large hook or claw. This is the largest of the German
Grosbeaks ; being about the size of the Bohemian Chatterer,
eight inches and a half long, of which the tail measures three
inches. The beak is six lines long, short and thick ; the
upper mandible being dark brown in colour, and bent so as to
cross the lower considerably. The feet are one inch in height,
and blackish brown. The head, neck, breast, and rump, are
a light carmine, tinged with blue. From the nostrils, which
are covered with dark brown feathers, a black line runs as far
as the eyes. The feathers of the back, and upper wing coverts,
are black, edged with red ; the larger wing coverts are similar,
but in addition tipped with white, which produces two trans-
verse stripes upon the wings. The pen feathers are blaek ;
the larger ones edged with grey, the shorter being white on the
outer margin only. The belly and vent are ash-coloured ; the
tail is somewhat forked, and marked like the pen feathers.

The prevailing colour of the female is greyish green, tinged
here and there, especially on the top of the head, with pale red
or yellow.

Whether in a wild state the plumage of this bird changes
ita colour, as is the case with the last-mentioned species, is

N 2

180 THE PINE GROSBEAK.

uncertain ; but that in the aviary this is the case, has been
proved by experience. Not only after, but also immediately
before the first moulting, the colour is a decided reddish yellow.
This change commences at the beak, and proceeds down the
back to the breast, till all that was red has become yellow.
The yellow colour is somewhat darker than the citron yellow;
and all the feathers, whether red or yellow, are ashen grey on
the under side, and at the root.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the northern regions
of Europe, Asia, and America ; and is therefore found in
Mechlenburgh and Pomerania, though rarely in more southern
parts of Germany. It frequents the pine and fir woods, and
lives on the seeds of coniferous trees. It may be reckoned
among birds of passage, as in winter it migrates in search of
berries. It builds its nest in lofty trees ; the young birds are
at first brown, with a tinge of yellow ; and for the first year
the red colour of the males is much lighter than it is after-
wards. In autumn and winter these birds may be caught with
a noose, baited with juniper or other berries ; and are so stupid,
that in the north they are often taken with a brass ring at-
tached to the end of a pole, and provided with one or two
horse-hair nooses. This is simply thrown over the head of the
bird. They are often caught and keptin confinement on account
of their great taineness and agreeable song. They then sing
not only by night, but throughout the year ; whereas, in a wild
state, their song is heard only between the spring months and
August

ADDITIONAL. — MACGILLIVEAY calls this bird the Pine, or Greater
Bullfinch, and says it is the largest of our Passerine species,
bearing in colour a strong resemblance to the Common Crossbill,
which it resembles in its habits, haunts, and mode of life. In
form it presents nothing that essentially differs from the common
Bullfinch. PENNANT appears to be the only British naturalist
who has described the bird from actual observation ; and from
seeing them flying about in the great forest of Invercauld, Aber-
deenshire, as early as the fifth of August, he was led to sup-
pose that they had bred there. SELBT, however, observes that
such a conclusion ought scarcely to be inferred from this fact, as
a sufficient interval of time had elapsed for these individuals to
have emigrated from Norway, or other northern countries, to
Scotland, after incubation, as they are known to breed as early as
May in their native haunts. " 1 have made," he adds, " many

THE BULLFINCH. 181

enquiries respecting these birds, during excursions m Scotland,
but cannot learn that the nest has ever been found ; and indeed,
from the intelligence obtained from gamekeepers, and those most
likely to have made observations connected with ornithology, it
appears that they are very rarely seen, and can only be regarded
as occasional visitants/'

68. THE BULLFINCH.

Loxia Pyrrhula, LIN. Bouvreuil, BUF. Der Gimpel oder Dohmp-
faffe, BECH.

Description. — This favourite bird is, like most of the species
to which it belongs, somewhat thick in proportion to its length,
which is six inches and three quarters, of which the tail
measures two and three quarters. The beak is half an inch
long, black, short, and thick ; the iris is chestnut brown ; the
feet weak and black ; the shanks eight lines high. The top of
the head, the circle round the beak, the chin, and the upper part
of the throat are a shining velvety black. The throat, back,
and shoulders are dark grey ; the rump beautifully white ; the
breast and the upper part of the belly a beautiful crimson,
which grows darker as the bird advances in age. The remain-
ing portion of the lower part of the body is white. The pen
feathers are blackish, and darker in proportion as they are near
the body ; the hindmost being externally bordered with steel
blue, and the last having the outer plume red. The larger
wing coverts are a glittering black, tipped with reddish grey ;
the centre, an ashen grey ; the lesser blackish grey, edged with
red. The tail is somewhat forked, and steel blue, shining with
a black lustre.

The female may be distinguished from the male, by the fact
that she is smaller ; that the red portions of her plumage are
strongly tinged with grey ; that the back is brownish grey ;
and the feet lighter in colour.

There are some singular varieties of this species, which,
however, are chiefly found in the aviary : —

1. The White Bullfinch ; which is greyish white, or quite
white, with a few dark spots upon the back.

2. The Black Bullfinch. These are usually females, which
have been kept when young in a dark place ; or have acquired
the colour in old age, by being fed too exclusively on hempseed.
Some, at moulting, resume their original colours, others remain

182 THE BULLFINCH.

black. The black itself, however, varies very much in different
individuals. Some are a shining coal-black all over the body ;
ethers, only a smoky black, which is lighter on the belly;
others, again, have the brighter colour on the head, and the
duskier on the other parts of the body. Some black Bullfinches
are slightly marked with red on the belly ; others have the
belly entirely red ; and I have seen one in which, though the
head as far as the breast was black, and the rest of the body a
dusky smoke colour, the wings and tail were white. It was a
female ; a very handsome bird, and somewhat larger than the
Redbreast.

3. The Speckled Bullfinch, so called, because whether the
prevailing colour be black or white, it is covered with white
and grey spots.

4. The Hybrid Bullfinch; the offspring of a young female
Bullfinch and a Canary-bird, inherits the form and plumage of
both parents, and sings delightfully, though not so loudly as a
good Canary-bird. It is, however, very rare, as it is difficult
to rear such broods. The male Canary-bird selected for such
a purpose, must be both very ardent and very attentive to its
young. Other varieties, regarded by some as separate species,
are the Large Bullfinch, which is about the size of a Thrush,
and the Middling or Common Bullfinch, as large as a Chaffinch.
As for a third variety, the Small Bullfinch, said to be still less
than a Chaffinch, I believe the idea to originate in merely an
accidental variation of size. This I can assert with the more
certainty, as I have been in the habit of inspecting every year
several hundreds of these birds, both wild and tame. I have
seen individuals as small as a Eedbreast, and others as large as
a Crossbill, which have come from the same nest.

Habitat. — The Bullfinch is common all over Europe, even as
far north as Sweden and Russia. In Germany it may be seen
generally in pairs, in all woody districts. In winter it migrates
in search of berries.

When first taken, the Bullfinch may be allowed to range the
room with other birds, except some particular reason exist why
it should be confined in a cage. The shape and size of this are
of no consequence, as it is a quiet bird, and thrives under all
circumstances. It is, however, usual to put those which have
been taught, in a handsome cage of brass wire, and in a room
by themselves, as their artificial song might spoil that of other
birds, if within hearing. •

THE BULLFINCH. 183

Food. — It feeds, when wild, on the seeds of the pine, fir,
ash, maple, beech, and ail kinds of berries, as well as on the
buds of the red beech, the various kinds of maple, oaks, and
pears. It will also eat linseed, millet, rape, nettle, and grass
seed.

In confinement, those allowed to run about, may be fed with
the usual universal paste, and a little rape seed, by way of
variety. Those which are kept in a cage, however, must have
rape and hemp seed, with occasionally a little plain biscuit. Kape
seed soaked in water, without any hemp seed, increases their
longevity, as the latter is too heating, and often ends by making
them blind, or inducing decline. They occasionally require a
little green food also ; as for instance, a few water-cresses, a
piece of apple, some savin, service berries, or a lettuce.

Breeding. — The Bullfinch is an exceedingly affectionate bird;
very averse, both when wild and confined, to being separated
from his mate ; and when with her, continually caressing and
calling to her. The female frequently lays without contact
with the male ; and if the requisite aid be afforded, will sit
like the Canary, though the eggs are rarely fruitful. In
a wild state the Bullfinch breeds twice a year; generally
concealing its nest as much as possible in fir-trees or hedges.
The nest is badly built of twigs, and lined with moss. The
female lays from two to six eggs, of a blueish white, with
a circle of violet and brown spots at the large end. The
young birds are hatched in a fortnight. If they are to be
taught to whistle, they must be taken out of the nest when
half fledged, *. e. when twelve to fourteen days old, and fed on
soaked rape seed, mixed with wheaten bread, or buckwheat
meal softened in milk. The prevailing colour of their plumage
is a dirty dark ash colour, with dark brown wings and tail.
The males may be distinguished by a slight red tinge upon
their breast, and may even be selected from the nest, as the
females, though they learn to whistle, are neither so beautiful
or so docile. They do not begin to whistle till they are able
to feed themselves ; but must nevertheless be whistled to, as
soon as taken, as in this case the lesson is more deeply and
readily impressed upon their memory. It is also necessary to
remark, that, as is the case with Parrots, they are most at-
tentive, and most capable of learning, immediately after they
have been fed. The course of instruction must last at least

184 THE BULLFTNCn.

three quarters of a year ; for if of less duration, they will
either confuse their different airs, learn false notes, transpose
passages, or, perhaps, altogether forget their lesson at the first
moulting. Even when they have been taught, it is as well to
keep them apart from other birds, as they are so quick at
learning, as readily to catch up any novelty. It is also neces-
sary to help them when they hesitate, and to repeat their song
to them, especially at moulting time ; else there is danger of
having an imperfect performer, which is the more provoking,
as a good Bullfinch is. very valuable.

Diseases. — Bullfinches which have been taken when old —
that is, which have not been taught any artificial song — live
eight years or more in confinement, and are rarely ill. Those,
on the contrary, which have been reared from the nest, seldom
live more than six years, and are subject to many diseases,
probably because accustomed in youth to unnatural food, or
because fed, as favourites, with unwholesome dainties. They
live longest, and enjoy the best health, if never fed either with
sugar or cakes ; but only rape seed, with which a little hemp
seed is occasionally mixed as a treat. The green food which is
mentioned above, as well as the river sand with which the
bottom of the cage should be strewed, materially aid in the
process of digestion.

The diseases by which they are often attacked are the fol-
lowing:— costiveness, diarrhoea, epilepsy, grief and melan-
choly,— in which case they must be fed only on rape seed
soaked in water, — and the moulting disease. A rusty nail in
their water, together with good food, and ants' eggs, if they
have been accustomed to them when young, are specifics
against the last-mentioned ailment.

Mode of Taking. — There are few birds more easily attracted
by the decoy than the Bullfinch. They may not only be taken
in the usual manner, but in that described under the head
" Crossbill," and even by setting limed twigs upon a bush, to
which the decoy bird is fastened. In winter they may fre-
quently be caught in a snare, if baited with service or sumach
berries. In spring or autumn the same bait will often lure
them to the trap, especially if the fowler imitates their gentle
cry of " Tui, Tuil"

Attractive Qualities. — The Bullfinch is a very docile bird;
and although the natural song of both sexes is harsh and dis-

THE BULLFINCH. 185

agreeable, — resembling the creaking of a door or wheel-bar-
row,— they may be trained, as in Hesse, Fulda, England, and
Holland, to whistle many airs and songs in a soft, pure, flute-
like tone, which is highly prized by amateurs. The bird is
generally capable of retaining in its memory three different
tunes. It is found that they are best instructed by means of
a flute, or by the whistling of the teacher. They are usually
very tame, sing at command, make many very elegant ges-
tures, moving now the body, and now the tail, to the right
and left, and spreading out the latter like a fan. To obtain
the perfection of whistling, a bird should only be taught one
air, together with the usual short flourish or prelude. The
Bullfinch will also imitate the song of other birds, though the
amateur generally endeavours to prevent its having the oppor-
tunity of so doing.

The education of the Bullfinch affords another proof that
animals are endowed with various measures of capability ; one
bird learns soon and easily, another with great difficulty ; one
acquires several tunes in succession, another occupies nine
months in learning one. It has been remarked, however, that
the slow learners do not, in the moulting season, so quickly
lose what they have acquired.

Bullfinches which have been caught when old, are prized
not only for their beauty, but for their extraordinary tameness.
Like the Siskin and Kedpole, they perch upon and eat from
their owner's hand, will take saliva from his mouth, and allow
themselves to be handled as if they had never knowq. liberty.
The usual mode of effecting this is as follows: — A fresh-
caught Bullfinch is allowed to feed himself in his cage for one
day, as experience shows that these birds are willing to eat as
soon as ever they are freed from the limed twigs. A band is
then prepared, such as fowlers put round the wings of a decoy
bird, with which, and a thread one foot in length, the Bull-
finch is so fastened, that he can neither fall down, nor beat
himself to death. His food is then put into a little bag, to
which is attached a small bell, and his water poured into a
similar vessel. At first, when these are offered him, the
chained bird will neither eat nor drink. It is then as well to
leave the vessels with him for a day or two, and allow him to
help himself, yet approaching whenever he is seen to eat. On
the third day he will be seen to spring to his food whenever

186 THE BULLFINCH.

offered ; and the bell must be rung as long as he is eating.
When he has had enough, he must be carried about on the
hand ; upon which, as he finds he cannot get loose, he will at
last begin to eat quietly. On the third or fourth day he will
probably of his own accord fly to the hand in which the seed
bag is ; he must then be let go, and will be found to follow the
hand, however far it is withdrawn. Should he take the op-
portunity of flying away, he must again be bound, and left
without food for several hours. In this manner, the Bullfinch
may be tamed in the course of a few days, and be taught to
fly to the hand whenever he hears the bell. To complete the
process, it is now necessary only to make the aperture of his
seed vessel somewhat narrow, so as to force him to open it ;
or perhaps to give him only rape seed in the cage, and reserve
the hemp seed for the hand. He will also learn to drink from
the mouth, if kept without water for half a day. A bird thus
trained, might easily be taught to fly in and out ; though in
this case, the neighbourhood of a forest would be dangerous.
A sure method, in such a case, to lead the wanderer back,
would be to place his mate, with her wings clipped, in a cage
before the window of the room to which he is desired to
return.

ADDITIONAL. — The gardeners in this country call the Bullfinch
" Pick-a-bud," in reference to a well-known mischievous habit
which it has : it is, in truth, a sad depredator, although not, as
KNAPP contends, without any redeeming virtues; there is no doubt
that a large proportion of the buds of the cherry and other fruit
trees which it destroys have a worm at the core, which would pre-
vent the fulfilment of their promise to yield fruit in due season.
NEVILLE WOOD, in his Ornithologist's Text Book, expresses a
decided opinion, founded, he says, upon close observation, that the
whole of the buds which the bird destroys contain grubs, which
only are eaten, the vegetable envelope being rejected. Whether
this is really so we cannot say, much difference of opinion pre-
vailing on the subject, even among those who ought to be Best
informed.

Besides the name above mentioned, the Bullfinch is variously
called the Coal-hood, Ked-hoop, Tony-hoop, Alp, Pope, and
Nope, most of the names having reference to the distinctive
marks of .the plumage. It is generally distributed throughout
Britain, occurring in most of the wooded and cultivated districts,
although not very common any where ; and from its shy habits,
and the low unobtrusive nature of its wild melody, few persons

THE BULLFINCH. 18?

are aware of its presence even in those localities which it best
loves to frequent.

With us the Bullfinch breeds late, the nest not being begun till
the end of April or beginning of June. " The male bird," says
MUDIE, " sings at the time ; but his song is so low, that it is not
heard but in the close vicinity ; and the bird is so apt to drop
into the bush and be silent on the least alarm, that to scramble
through the trees in order to hear the native note of the Bull-
finch, is almost the surest way of being disappointed." BOLTON,
in his Sarmonia Ruralis, describes the female as " building her
nest in woods, particularly where sloe- bushes and crab- trees
abound. For the ground-work she makes use of a number of
small sticks, broken of proportionate lengths. These she places
crosswise on the divisions of a suitable branch, and upon these
the nest is built of woody roots, the largest near the bottom and
round the sides, the smaller within. The inside, or lining, is
made of very fine fibres of roots, without any other materials.
The diameter of the cavity is upwards of two inches and a half,
the depth an inch."

This author recommends that "those who would bring up
Bullfinches from the nest, with a view to teach them to whistle,
or to imitate the song of other birds, should take them about
four days old ; for if they are left to the age of ten or twelve days
(as BECHSTEIN recommends), they acquire some of the harsh
notes of the parent, which they will never quit."

A great number of piping Bullfinches are annually sent to this
country for sale by the German dealers, who cultivate to the high-
est degree the imitative powers which these birds possess ; the
facility with which they acquire the various tunes and tricks in-
cluded in their course of instruction, is, indeed, astonishing, and
the power of memory which enables them to retain and repeat
the latter through a course of years equally so. DE. STANLEY
gives the following account of the manner in which their training
is conducted : —

" No school can be more diligently attended by its master, and
no scholars more effectually trained to their own calling, than a
seminary of Bullfinches. As a general rule, they are formed
into classes of about six in each, and kept in a dark room, where
food and music are administered at the same time ; so that when
the meal is ended, if the birds feel disposed to tune up, they are
naturally inclined, to copy the sounds which are so familiar to
them. As soon as they begin to imitate a few notes, the light is
admitted into the room, which still further exhilarates their spi-
rits, and inclines them to sing. In some establishments the
starving system is adopted, and the birds are not allowed food or

188 THE GREENFINCH.

light until they sing. When they have been under this course of
instruction in classes for some time, they are committed, singly to
the care of boys, whose sole business is to go on with their edu-
cation. Each boy assiduously plays his organ from morning till
night, for the instruction of the bird committed to his care, while
the class-teacher goes his regular rounds, superintending the
progress of his feathered pupils, and scolding or rewarding them
in a manner which they perfectly understand, and strictly~m ac-
cordance with the attention or the disregard they have shown to
the instructions of the monitor. This round of teaching goes
on unintermittingly for no less a period than nine months, by which
time the bird has acquired firmness, and is less likely to forget or
spoil the air by leaving out passages, or giving them in the wrong
place. At the time of moulting, the best instructed birds are
liable to lose the recollection of their tunes, and therefore require
to have them frequently repeated at that time, otherwise all the
previous labour will have been thrown away. There are cele-
brated schools for these birds at Hesse and Fulda, from whence
all Germany, Holland, and England, receive supplies of the little
musicians. In some cases the birds have been taught to whistle
three different airs, without spoiling or confusing them ; but in
general a simple air, with perhaps a little prelude, is as much as
tiiey can remember."

69. THE GREENFINCH, OR GREEN BIRD.
Loxia Chloris, LIN. Grosbec Verdier, BUF. Der Griinlinff, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is somewhat longer than a
common Chaffinch, is six inches long, of which the tail mea-
sures two inches and a half. The beak is five lines long, flesh-
coloured, darker above than below, and light brown in winter.
The iris is dark brown ; the feet flesh-coloured, tinged with
blue, and eight lines high. The general colour is yellowish
green ; on the under part of the body a lighter or Siskin
green, which is lightest at the rump and belly, and on the
latter tinged with white. The quill feathers are blackish,
bordered with yellow ; the four outside tail feathers yellow
from the middle to the root, but else black with a white border.

The female is smaller, and easily distinguished from the
male, by having the upper part of the body of a browner
green, and the lower part more ashen grey than yellowish
green. There are some yellow spots on the breast and the
belly, and the under tail coverts are rather white than yellow.

Sportsmen and birdcatchers distinguish three kinds of Green-

THE GEEENFIUfCH. 189

finches : — 1. The Great Greenfinch, the prevailing colour of
which is a beautiful yellow. 2. The Middle-sized Greenfinch,
which is light yellow, especially on the under part of the
body. And, 3. The Smallest, which is more green than yellow.
But the true distinction lies in the age of the birds, according
to which the body is larger or smaller, and the plumage more
or less brilliant. A more remarkable bird is the Bastard Green-
finch, the offspring of a male Greenfinch and a female Canary-
bird, which is always green and grey, whatever the colour of
the mother ; this is in no case a good singer.

Habitat. — The Greenfinch is to be found all over the conti-
nent of Europe, though less common towards the north. In
Germany it is one of the commonest birds. It may be ob-
served in summer in thickets, gardens, and wherever there are
willow trees ; but in winter, migrates in large flocks, and does
not return until March.

In forest districts this is a favourite Cage-bird, and is usually
kept in a bell-shaped, or four-sided cage. It cannot be allowed
to run about, or to inhabit an aviary with other birds, except
if well supplied with food ; for it is so fond of biting, and
guards the access to the food drawer with its beak so effectually,
that other birds have no choice but to yield the point or be
deprived of their feathers. Otherwise this bird is as quiet and
tame in confinement, as it is shy and wild in a state of liberty.

Food. — When wild, it feeds on all kinds of seeds ; hemp and
rape seed, linseed, juniper berries, spurge laurel berries, unripe
barley, turnip, thistle, and lettuce seed. It is especially fond of
the seeds of the milk thistle, which almost all other birds dislike.

In confinement, if allowed to run up and down the room, it
thrives admirably on the second universal paste ; especially if
a little rape or hemp seed be occasionally given to it. In the
cage it needs only rape seed, with a little hemp seed after
moulting, to make it sing. To keep it well, some green meat
is now and then necessary ; lettuce, chickweed, cabbage, or
juniper berries.

Breeding. — The Greenfinch generally attaches its nest to a
thick branch of a tree, though it is sometimes found in a thick
hedge, or on the top of an old willow tree. It is well built of
wool, coral moss, &c., and lined with fine root-fibres and hair.
The female lays twice a year four or five eggs, pointed at the
ends, and silvery grey, spotted with violet or brown. At first

190 THE GREENFINCH.

the young are greenish grey, although the male may from the first
be distinguished by a somewhat yellow tinge. They may be
reared from the nest, and will learn, though with some diffi-
culty, very various songs from other Cage-birds. As they sing
throughout the year, it is advisable to let them learn from a
bird whose song is agreeable, e. g. the Chaffinch. What they
have once learned, they never forget.

Diseases. — They have a better constitution than most Cage-
birds, and do not often fall ill. They may be kept twelve years.

Mode of Taking. — By means of a decoy, these birds may be
caught even as late as December on the area traps. In spring
they may be taken on the lure bush with decoy birds. Their
call while on the wing is " Yek, yek /" and when perched,
" Schvoing /" They may also be lured by Linnets. When
taken, they may easily be induced to eat, by throwing a little
crushed hemp seed on the floor of the cage.

^Attractive Qualities. — Although their natural song has no
great recommendation, it is not unpleasant; so that some
persons, with whom, however, I cannot agree, even prefer it to
the Linnet's. Their tameness, which is as remarkable as that
of the Bullfinch, renders them the most agreeable birds for the
room. They may not only be accustomed to flying in and out,
but even to breeding, either in a room which lies near a garden
or grove, or in a summer-house. To accomplish this, the fol-
lowing process is necessary : The young ones are to be taken
out of the nest, and placed, covered with a Titmouse trap, in a
hole at the foot of the same tree. By this means the old birds,
when they come to feed the nestlings, are caught. Old and
young are then put together in a large cage, and kept till the
latter are half fledged. The window is then opened for them
to go out ; the desire of trying their wings prompts them to a
short excursion, and hunger soon drives them back. The first
time they are let fly, the old birds may be placed before the
window, to lure them back. When once accustomed to their
owner, they will never fly away ; but if this be not the case,
they may be kept in till winter, and the window opened to
them for the first time wThen it is snowing. If they fly out, they
may be lured back by another bird of the same species, put be-
fore the window in a cage. If a still safer method be desired,
such preparations may be made at the window as to allow
of females, with clipped wings, going in and out. They sit

THE HAWFINCH. 191

freely in the company of Canaries; and as they are good
sitters, Canaries' eggs are often put under them.

Like Goldfinches and Siskins, they may be accustomed to
drawing up their own water.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird, which is nearly allied to the Gros-
beaks in many respects, is called by some naturalists the Green
Grosbeak ; it is generally distributed over the cultivated parts
of England, Ireland, and Scotland, where it is a permanent re-
sident, only changing the ground occasionally, to obtain a shel-
tered situation in severe weather. It is said, by NEVILLE WOOD,
to be a late breeder, the first eggs being laid about the middle of
May ; SELBY says at the end of that month ; and WOOD conti-
nues : " It pays remarkable attention to its progeny ; and though
it never attempts to lead the intruder from its nest, the parents
make the most unceasing wailings when any one is near, or
when the young are carried off, sometimes fluttering close to your
head, and endeavouring to annoy you in every possible way. The
young do not quit the cradle until fairly fledged, and often dart
out simultaneously when any one approaches. They are mostly
fed on green caterpillars and small insects, of which the species
destroy immense numbers at this period. It would appear that
authors are wholly unaware of its insectivorous habits ; and in
PARTINGTON'S Cyclopedia, of Natural History, it is expressly
stated, that the young of the Green Grosbeak are fed entirely on
seeds, which is quite a mistake." This author has noticed that
in the flocks of these birds which collect at the commencement
of winter, out of twenty or thirty birds, only one will be a male ;
and infers from this, that the sexes separate at the inclement
season, and that the males either quit the country or make a
partial migration.

70. THE HAWFINCH.

LoxiaCoccothraustes, LIN. Grosbec,Buv. DerGememe Kernbelsser, BECH.
Description. — Only a passionate lover of birds would wish to
keep this species. It is seven inches long, of which the tail
measures two inches and one-third. Its beak is round, blunt,
conical, and, in proportion to its body, thick ; in summer it is
dark blue, in winter blackish at the point, but otherwise flesh-
coloured. The iris is light grey ; the feet are nine lines high,
slender, and flesh-coloured. The top of the head, the cheeks, and
the tail coverts, are a light chestnut, inclining to a yellowish brown
on the forehead ; the nape of the neck is a beautiful ashen grey ;
the circle of the head is black, forming a square black spot oa

192 THE HAWFINCH.

the throat ; the back is dark brown, changing into grey on the
rump ; the belly a dusky flesh-colour, which at the vent be-
comes white. The smaller wing coverts are black ; the larger,
white in front and brown behind, which produces a white spot
on the wings. The pen feathers are black, tipped with steel-
blue; the foremost have a large white speck on the inner
plume ; the hinder are so blunt at the tips as to give the ap-
pearance of having been clipped. The tail is black, but the
two centre feathers incline to ashen grey at the ends, and the
points of the outermost are white half-way up the inner plume.

In the female the head, cheeks, and upper tail coverts are
reddish grey; the black of the throat, wings, and tail, is
tinged with brown ; the white spot on the wings is light grey,
and the lower part of the body is reddish grey, inclining to
white on the belly.

Habitat. — It inhabits the temperate portions of Europe and
Russia, and is very common in many parts of Germany, espe-
cially on mountains overgrown with red-beeches. It can hardly
be considered a bird of passage, as it returns home as early as
March.

In confinement it is usually placed in a bell-shaped wire
cage, when it soon becomes tame. It may also be allowed to
range the room, if it have not too many companions and too
abundant a supply of food, in which case it is very quarrel-
some.

Food. — Besides the seeds of the beech, juniper, ash, and
maple, and the berries of the service tree and white thorn,
the Hawfinch is fond of cherries, the stones of which it easily
splits with its powerful beak, in order to get at the kernel. It
also eats sloes, linseed, hemp, cabbage, radish and lettuce seed.

In confinement it may be fed with rape and hemp seed, and,
if allowed to range the room, with the second universal paste.

Breeding. — The nest is found in beech woods, or trees, or
high bushes, and on fruit trees in gardens. It is well built of
small twigs, and lined with very fine roots. The female lays
three to five eggs twice a year ; these are greenish ashen grey,
speckled with brown, and striped with dark blue. In wooded
districts these birds are often reared from the nest, and become
so tame as to follow their master, and protect him with their
strong beak against dogs and cats. Like the Bullfinch, they
may be accustomed to come and go at the word of command.

THE HAWFINCH. 193

Mode of Taking. — These birds eagerly follow the lure, and
are therefore in autumn easily caught in the barn-floor trap,
if baited with hemp seed, juniper and service berries. In winter
service berries will entice them into the snare, and they may
be caught on the nest with limed twigs. They eat as soon as
taken, if hemp and rape-seed be offered them.

Attractive Qualities. — These are not very numerous. I
myself have no liking for the birds, and am especially averse
to their unpleasant call, " Itz ! tziss /" which never ceases.
Their song consists of a low whistle, with occasional clear
piercing notes, " Irrr /" For some bird-fanciers this may be
enough ; yet to most their great tameness will be their chief
recommendation.

ADDITIONAL. — This is the Hawfinch of most British natural-
ists ; it is the largest bird of the genus that appears in these
islands, in the southern parts only of which has it hitherto been
observed : it has been sometimes described as a winter migrant,
but MUDIE and MACGILLIVBAY agree in making it a permanent
resident with us, the eggs and young having been found, they
say, repeatedly in the vicinity of Epping Forest. Mr. H. DOU-
BLED AY, who appears to have paid great attention to the habits
of these birds, writes thus, in the Magazine of Zoology and Bo-
tany, vol. i.: — " Their extreme shyness has, no doubt, contributed
to keep us in ignorance of their habits and economy ; in this
trait they exceed any land bird with which I am acquainted, and
in open places it is almost impossible to approach them within
gun-shot." Their principal food here appears to be the seed of
the hornbeam (carpinus betulus), which is the prevailing species
of tree in Epping Forest ; they also feed on the kernels of the
haws, plum stones, laurel berries, &c. ; and in summer make
great havoc amongst green peas in gardens in the vicinity of the
forest.

" About the middle of April they pair, and in a week or two
commence nidification. The situation of the nest is various ;
but is most commonly placed in an old scrubby whitethorn
bush, often in a very exposed situation ; they also frequently
build in the horizontal arms of large oaks, the heads of pollard
hornbeams, in hollies, and occasionally in fir trees in plantations ;
the elevation at which the nest is placed, varying from five to
twenty-five or thirty feet. The most correct description of the
nest which I have seen, is in LATHAM'S Synopsis.

" I believe the male has no song worth notice ; in warm days in
March, I have heard them, when a number have been sitting to-

194 THE SERIN FINCH.

gether on a tree, uttering a few notes in a soft tone, bearing some
resemblance to those of the Bullfinch."

"A female in the possession of Mr. Bartlett," says YARRELL,
" sung the notes of the Linnet ; but being afterwards hung out
of doors, it learned to imitate the song of a Blackbird, though
but indifferently ; on the occurrence of the autumn moult this
season she discontinued her imitations of the Blackbird's song,
and seemed afterwards to have forgotten it."

JESSE states that the bird not only stays with us all the year,
but breeds in this country, and cites an instance of a nest with
four young ones, which was taken in the summer of 1842, in the
grounds of Lord Clifford, at Roehampton. It was built at the
extremity of a horse-chestnut, near the lodge, and composed
chiefly of twigs of the privet and birch, and lined with hair and
tine grass. LATHAM also describes the nest of this bird, which
he says is composed of the dead twigs of oak and honeysuckle,
intermixed with pieces of grey lichen, which -material, he says,
is never absent, although the quantity used varies greatly.

" The Latin ornithologists," says WHITE, " call this bird cocco-
tkraustes, i.e. berry -breaker, because with its horny beak it cracks
and breaks the shells of stone fruit, for the sake of the seed or
kernel. Mr. B. shot a cock Grosbeak, which he had observed to
haunt his garden for more than a fortnight. I began to accuse
this bird of making sad havoc among the buds of the cherries,
gooseberries, and wall fruit of all the neighbouring orchards.
TJpon opening the crop, or craw, no buds were to be seen, but a
• mass of the kernels of the stones of fruit."

70. THE SERIN FINCH.

Loxia Serinus, or Fringitta Serinus, LIN. Le Serin, BUF. Der Girlitz,
BECK.

Description. — The Serin Finch seems to occupy an interme-
diate position between the Grosbeaks and the Finches ; as its
beak appears too thick to qualify it for a place in the latter,
and too thin for one in the former genus.

It is somewhat larger than a Siskin, being four inches and
three quarters in length, of which the tail measures one inch
and three quarters. The beak is very short and thick, brown
on the upper, white on the under side ; the iris is dark chest-
nut brown ; the shanks six lines in height, and, as well as the
claws, flesh-colour. The plumage of the male bears a close
resemblance to that of the Grey or Green Canary. The top
of the head, the circle of the eyes, a stripe which passes above
the eye to the nape of the neck, the breast, and the rump, are

THE SEED* PINCH, 195

all greenish yellow. The back of the head, cheeks, and lesser
wing coverts are Siskin green and reddish grey, mixed with
blackish spots. The two larger rows of coverts are blackish,
the upper having a margin of bright yellow, the lower of red-
dish yellow, which produce the appearance of a double yellow
stripe across the wings. The pen feathers are blackish, edged
with Siskin green ; the tail is somewhat forked, and of similar
hue. The spots with which the plumage is covered are not
distinct one from the other, but unite in a sort of longitudinal
stripe. On the head they are very small, but on the sides and
rump their shape and colour are more visibly marked.

The female can with difficulty be distinguished from the female
Siskin. The colour of the plumage is the same, except that
it has a tinge of reddish grey, but the beak is shorter, the tail
longer, and the body more slender. The principal difference
between the female and male is, that in the former the yellow-
ish green breast is striped with black.

Observations. — The Serin Finch, which some are disposed to
consider identical with the Citron Finch, may in spring or
autumn be lured either to the barn-floor or decoy trap. In
Thuringia this is the usual mode of taking them.

For the remaining part of this article I am indebted to my
friend Dr. MEYEK, of Offenbach :

" Of all Cage-birds with which I am acquainted, the Serin
Finch is one of the liveliest and most indefatigable in singing.
Its voice, though not strong, is sweet ; and, except a few pas-
sages in which it resembles the song of the Lark, is remarkably
like that of the Canary bird. In a wild state it sings inces-
santly, either perched on the topmost branches of some tree,
or rising and falling in the air like a Lark, or flying from one
tree to another. Its call, too, is like that of the Canary, to
which bird, indeed, it bears, in habits and peculiarities, a strong
general resemblance.

"Habitat. — It is now thirty years since the Serins were first
observed in the district between Offenbach and Frankfort.
They arrive every year in March, in large flocks, and depart
about the end of October, although there are always some
which remain throughout the winter. In January, 1800, when
the thermometer was at 21° Keaumur, several were taken here,
and I have seen them in the neighbourhood of Offenbach as
late as the end of February. They may most frequently be

o 2

196 THE CAEDINAL GEOSBEAK.

observed on or near fruit trees, or in woods, near oaks and
beeches, and I have never yet met with them on the banks of
streams which are shaded by willows.

" Food. — They feed on such seeds as are usually to be found
in the fields, and are especially fond of those of the plantain,
groundsel, and garden pimpernel. The best diet for them,
when in confinement, consists of rape, mixed with a little poppy
seed, and occasionally hemp-seed and shelled oats.

"Breeding. — The Serin generally builds its nest on the lower
branches of apple and pear trees, sometimes on oaks and
beeches; but never, so far as I know, on willows. It is
formed, not inartificially, of an external layer of fine root
fibres, moss, and lichens (especially Lolaria farmacea), and
thickly lined with feathers, cow hair, horse hair, and swine's
bristles. The female rarely lays more than four white eggs,
shaped like those of the Canary, but a little smaller, and en-
circled at the thick end with a row of reddish brown spots.
The period of incubation is thirteen or fourteen days, during
which the male feeds his mate upon the nest, and afterwards
assists her in bringing food to the young birds. Before the
first moulting, the young birds bear a strong resemblance to
the Grey Linnet, and do not acquire the plumage of their pa-
rents till after that period. They may easily be reared on
soaked rape seed, but it is better to take old and young toge-
ther, and put the whole brood into a cage, when they will
persevere in the natural process of instruction. If brought
up in confinement, their colours are never so bright as in a wild
state ; and after a few years, even birds that were taken when
old, become almost white. They breed with Canaries, Siskins,
Redpoles, and Goldfinches.

"Diseases. — With the exception of consumption, of which a
bird in my possession died, I know of none to which they are
liable."

FOREIGN GROSBEAKS.

71. THE CAEDINAL GEOSBEAK.

Loxia Cardinalis, LIN. Grosbec de Virginie, BUF. Der Cardinal
Kernbeisser, BECH.

.-— This bird is eight inches in length, of which
the tail measures two inches. It is a native of various parts

THE CARDINAL GKOSBEAK. 197

of North America. According to recent accounts, it has been
met with, in Comiand ; though it is more likely that the bird
seen was either one that had escaped from captivity, or a speci-
men of the Pine Grosbeak. Its beak is strong, and, like its
feet, light red ; the iris very dark brown. The head is adorned
with a crest, the feathers of which, when erect, meet in a point.
The part round the beak, and the throat, are black ; the rest
of the bird a beautiful light red. The quill feathers and tail
are paler in colour, and towards the front, almost brown.

The female is generally of a reddish brown.

Observations. — The very pleasant song of this bird, which
bears a strong resemblance to that of the Nightingale, is the
reason why the name " Virginia Nightingale " has been given
to it. It sings all the year round, except while moulting, and
so loud as to make the ears tingle. In its wild state it feeds
on maize and buck wheat — of which it often collects heaps,
covering them carefully with leaves and branches, and leaving
open only a single hole as an entrance to its magazine. In
captivity it will live many years, if fed with millet, canary,
rape, and hemp-seed. The attempt has been made, I know
not with what success, to breed these birds, in detached aviaries
placed in gardens.

ADDITIONAL. — With us this species is known only as a Cage-
bird. We commonly call it the Virginia Nightingale, a name to
which, as Dr. LATHAM observes, it is fulty entitled, for its notes
are almost equal to those of the Nightingale. These notes,
WILSON tells us, both in a wild and domestic state, are very
various and musical, some of them resembling the shrill notes of
a fife. "The birds are in song from March to September, begin-
ning at the first appearance of dawn, and repeating a favourite
stanza or passage twenty or thirty times successively ; sometimes
with little intermission for a whole morning together, which, like
a good story too often repeated, becomes at length tiresome and
insipid. But the sprightly figure and gaudy plumage of the Hed
Bird, his vivacity, strength of voice, and actual variety of note,
and the little expense with which he is kept, will always make
him a favourite."

This author asserts that the story of the birds collecting great
hoards of maize and buckwheat, &c., and concealing them in the
artful way above described, is altogether fabulous. He also de-
scribes the cock birds as extremely pugnacious, and says of the
female that she often sings nearly as well as the male, by which,
when both occupy the same cage, she is often destroyed, owiog,
it may be, to some little jealousy on this score.

198 THE WAXBILL.

72. THE JAVA SPAREOW, OR EICE BIRD.

Loxia Orycivora, LIN. Padda ou Oiseau des Riz, BUF. Der Rets
Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Bullfinch,
is five inches long, of which the tail measures two. The beak
is thick, of a beautiful rose colour, which is lighter towards
the point ; the feet are the same, though of a paler hue. The
eyelids are naked, and edged with rose colour ; the head,
throat, and a stripe surrounding the white cheeks, are black.
The rump, the greater pen feathers, and the tail, are also
black ; the rest of the back, the breast, the wing coverts, and
the hinder pen feathers, dark ashen grey. The belly is purple
grey, and the vent white.

The only distinction between males and females is, that the
latter are lighter on the back and belly. The young birds are
not only lighter, but irregularly spotted with dark brown on
the cheeks and the lower part of the belly.

Observations. — These birds are brought in great numbers by
ships from Java, and the Cape of Good Hope ; where, on ac-
count of the ravages they commit in the rice fields, they have as
bad a reputation as the Sparrows among ourselves. They are
prized only for their beauty. Their cry is " Tdk! Tak!"
Their song is very monotonous, and consists of two notes,
" Dirr ! Dirr! Dehi!" The first note is given with a humming
sound; the second is higher in the scale, and much more
clearly uttered.

73. THE WAXBILL.

Loxia Astrid, LIN. Le Senigaliraye, BUF. Der Gemeine Senegalist,
BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is four inches and three
quarters in length, is hardly so large as a Kedbreast. The
beak is bright red, and somewhat raised at the root. A bright
red stripe passes between the eyes ; and the middle of the
breast and belly is a beautiful reddish brown. The upper
parts of the body are brownish grey ; the lower parts fight
ashen grey ; everywhere traversed by very fine blackish wavy
lines, which give the plumage a peculiarly silky appearance.
The pen feathers and tail are brown ; the latter being wedge-
shaped, and covered with transverse dark brown stripes : the
feet are also brown.

THE AMAXDAVA. 199

These birds, like the Amandava, vary in colour. In some,
the tail is entirely brown ; in others, the upper part of the
body is brown, the lower white, and the rump crimson.
Others, again, are yellow on the lower part of the body, and on
the upper spotted with white ; and some have even been no-
ticed with blueish neck and throat; the upper part of the
body blue, and the lower part white, mixed with rust colour.

Observations. — These birds, which are frequently brought to
Europe, are natives of the Canary Islands, Madeira, Senegal,
the Cape of Good Hope, and India. Their beauty and affec-
tionate disposition, which is manifested not only between the
sexes, but even when several pairs are kept in one cage, are
their chief recommendation. Their song presents nothing re-
markable. They are to be fed with millet, which is their
natural food, and to fields of which grain they are said to
do great damage.

74. THE AMANDAVA.

Loxia, or Fringilla Amandava, LIN. Bengali Piqnete, BUF. Der
Getiegerte Bengalist, BECH.

Description. — This beautiful bird, which is now frequently
imported from Bengal, Java, Malacca, and other parts of Asia,
is not more than four inches in length. I am induced, by its
shape, to place it among the Grosbeaks, though I am aware
many class it with the Finches. The beak is four lines in
length, thick, and bright blood red. The iris is light red ; the
feet pale flesh colour, and the shanks half an inch in height.
In the male, the head and under part of the body are of a fiery
red ; the upper part is dark grey ; but all the feathers have
so wide a margin of red, that here also the latter seems to
be the prevailing colour. The rump appears of a bright
yellowish red ; though the feathers are really blackish, and are
only edged with yellow ; the belly and vent are black. All
the feathers of the back, the wing coverts, the hinder pen
feathers, tail feathers, side feathers of breast and belly, and
the feathers of the vent and rump, are tipped with white.
These spots are most distinctly marked on the hinder pen
feathers, and the large wing coverts. The wing coverts and
pen feathers themselves are blackish.

In the female, which is only about two thirds the size of
the male, part of the upper mandible is black ; the head, and
upper part of the body, together with the wing coverts, are

200 THE PABADISE GKOSBEAK.

very dark grey ; and only the rump feathers have broad yellow
margins, and light coloured tips. The cheeks are light grey ;
the under part of the body is pale sulphur colour ; the pen
feathers blackish. The hinder and larger wing coverts aro
covered with very small white spots, and the tail feathers are
tipped with greyish white.

The male varies in colour for many years before permanently
attaining the colours above described. In some individuals
the back is a reddish grey, and the lower part of the body
marked with black and yellow ; in others, the upper part of
the body is reddish grey, spotted with fiery red ; the belly
sulphur-coloured, with black bands, and more or less spotted.

Observations. — These birds are as social as the preceding ;
and when twenty or thirty are kept in a large cage, they will
all sit on the same perch, and, what is singular enough, will
sing in regular succession. Their song, which lasts through-
out the year, very much resembles that of the Yellow "Wren.
The female is mute. They are exceedingly active, and often
bow their bodies up and down, and spread out their tails like
a fan. Their natural food is millet and other grain; in con:
finement they may be fed on millet and canary seed. They
are to be kept in a small wire cage ; eat a great deal, and
drink still more. They live from six to ten years. If
paired with the Canary bird, the hybra produced would pro-
bably be of great beauty and value.

75. THE PAKADISE GROSBEAK.

Loxia Erythrocephala, LIN. Cardinal ff Angola, BUF. Der Paradies

Kembeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird is almost six inches in length. The
beak and feet are flesh coloured : the head and chin red : the
back of the neck, back, rump, and wing coverts blueish ash
colour ; the upper tail coverts edged with grey. The lower
parts of the body are white, with brown and black spots on
the sides. The wing coverts are tipped with white, which
forms a double white stripe on the wings; the pen feathers
and tail are dark ashen blue, tipped with grey. The male
and female are alike.

Observations. — The male sings throughout the year, but in
so weak a voice, as to be hardly audible above the slightest
noise. In England, the experiment of inducing them to breed

THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK. 201

in the aviary has been successfully tried. They are to be fed
on millet and rape seed, with which a little hemp seed may be
occasionally mixed.

76. THE DOMINICAN GROSBEAK.

Loxia Dominicana, LIN. Cardinal Dominicain, BUF. Der Dominicaner
Kembeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Lark,
is a native of Brazil. The upper mandible is brown, the
lower light flesh coloured ; the feet ashen grey. The head,
throat, and upper part of the neck, are blueish, with a small
admixture of white; the tail coverts and scapulars grey,
sparingly spotted with black. The sides of the neck, the
breast, belly, beak, and vent, are whitish; the pen feathers
black, edged with white ; the tail black.

Observations. — This bird is noticeable only for its beauty, as
it has no song, but occasionally utters a harsh cry.

77. THE GRENADIER GROSBEAK.

Loxia Orix, LIN. Le Cardinal du Cap de bonne Esperance, BUF. Der
Grenadier Kembeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of a Sparrow.
The beak is black ; the iris chestnut brown ; the feet dark flesh
colour. The forehead, sides of the head, the chin, the lower
extremity of the breast, and the belly, are a velvety black ;
the rump, vent, tail, throat, neck, and upper part of the breast,
a bright carmine. The back and shoulders are somewhat
darker than the neck ; and the feathers on the top of the neck
are rather larger than elsewhere, which gives this part a puny
appearance. The shanks are reddish grey; the wings dark
brown, or blackish grey, edged with reddish white.

There are varieties of this species ; one of which wants the
black chin, and has the shanks red. Another has a dark
brown tail, edged with greyish white.

In the female the beak is horn colour ; the feathers of the
upper part of the body dark brown, edged with light grey.
The head is dark grey ; a whitish grey stripe passes over the
eyes ; and the lower part of the body is light grey. It is
therefore not unlike the female Sparrow ; the general colour
of its plumage is not so dark.

After the second moulting in the aviary, the males present

202

THE CAPE GROSBEAK.

much the same appearance, except that the marking is darker.
The feathers on the upper part of the body are blackish, with
a broad margin of reddish grey ; and the stripe over the eyes
is a pale sulphur colour. In a wild state the males lose the
red colour, and become like the females, after the pairing
time, which is in January. They resume their own garb in
July. Their appearance is very handsome when the moulting
is not quite over, — as they then have, in addition to the varie-
gated head and body, a red neck and tail.

Observations. — These birds are so common at the Cape of
Good Hope, as to do as much damage to the wheat blossom and
young grain, as the Sparrows with us ; and when in the evening
they return from the corn fields to their nests, among the reeds,
their twittering may be heard at a great distance. Their cry,
"Deeb!" .is like that of the Sparrow; and in their weak song,
they resemble the Siskin. Their nest is cleverly constructed
of small twigs and cotton, and though with only one entrance,
has two distinct chambers, one for the male, and the other
for the female. The eggs are green.

The Grenadier Grosbeak should be kept in a small cage, and
fed on canary seed. The male and female seem to enjoy each
others' society, but there is no instance known of their having
paired.

78. THE CAPE GKOSBEAX.

Loxia Capensis, LIN. Le Pinion noir et jaune, BUF. Der Kapsche
Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — One of these handsome birds, which I myself
possess, is about the size of a Bullfinch, being six inches and a
quarter in length. Of this, the tail, which is somewhat wedge-
shaped, measures two inches and a half. The beak is whitish
on the upper mandible, very much compressed at the sides, and
pointed ; the iris is dark brown ; the feet dark flesh colour.
The head, the neck, the top of the back, the under part of
the body, and the tail, are a velvety black ; the rest of the back,
the rump, and the smaller wing coverts, a beautiful golden
yellow. The larger wing coverts, as well as the pen feathers,
are blackish, or very dark brown, edged with greenish yellow.
The scapulars are light brown, with broad margins of greyish
red.

The female is light brown, though all the feathers are spotted

THE BLUE GEOSBEAK. 203

in the middle with black ; the sides of the head and wing
coverts are greyish white, striped with black ; the smaller wing
coverts and the rump are light yellow ; the tail is edged with
grey ; the beak light or horn grey.

At pairing time, or the period of the second moulting, the
male resembles the female.

Observations. — Like the last mentioned, this bird is a native of
the Cape of Good Hope. It may be kept in a cage by itself,
or with a female, and fed upon hemp and canary seed. Its
song is not remarkable.

In a wild state, it frequents rivers and brooks, and though
living on grain and seeds, is not so destructive a bird as the
foregoing. Its eggs are grey, spotted with black.

79. THE CAFFEAEIAN GEOSBEAK.
Loxia Caffra, LIN. Le Cqffre, BUF. Der Mohren Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of a Bullfinch ; but
its slightly erected tail, with which, however, it is adorned
only in the pairing season, is twice as long as the bird itself.
The beak is greyish brown ; the feet grey. The prevailing
colour of the plumage is a velvety black ; the shoulders are
blood red ; the wing coverts white ; the pen feathers brownish
grey, edged with white.

The female is entirely grey, with the exception of a slight
tinge on the shoulders. The male assumes his beautiful garb
in November, and after pairing time, which is in January, be-
comes like the female.

Observations. — The Canrarian Finch is a native of the inland
country, north-west of the Cape of Good Hope, where it
makes its nest in the marshes. It is but seldom brought to
Europe ; and on account of its long tail, needs a very large
cage. It is said that in high winds this tail is very incon-
venient ; and in rainy weather, is so cumbrous, that the bird
may even be caught by hand. It may be fed on canary seed.

80. THE BLUE GEOSBEAK.

Loxia Cceruka, LIN. Le Bouvreuil bleu d'Amerique, BUF. Der dunket-
blaue Kernbeisser^ BECH,

Description. — The Blue Grosbeak is about the size of the
Common Crossbill, but somewhat longer, being six inches and
a half in length, of which the beak measures half an inch,

204 THE YELLOW-BELLIED GROSBEAK.

and the tail two inches. The beak is strong and dark brown ;
the feet black. A black stripe surrounds the chin, and extends
as far as the eyes. The whole of the plumage is dark blue,
except the larger wing coverts, the pen feathers, and middle
tail feathers, which are dark brown. A few red spots are
visible on the shoulders ; and the under sides of the wings and
tail incline to green.

The female is brown, with a very slight tinge of blue.

Observations. — I have seen this bird, which is a native of
Carolina, Brazil, and Cayenne, in the possession of the Duke
of Saxe Meiningen. It is fed with canary seed. Its song is
weak, and its cry but rarely heard.

81. THE AZURE-BLUE GROSBEAK.
Loxia Cyanea, LIN. Der Lazurblauer Kembeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird is generally regarded as only a
variety of the last mentioned, but I have seen the two together,
and have a strong opinion that they are different. The Azure-
blue Grosbeak is rather the smaller. The beak is lead colour ;
the iris nut brown ; the feet blackish. The plumage is dark
azure-blue ; the pen and tail feathers blackish, edged with blue.
The wing coverts, as well as several feathers upon the breast,
have a border of golden yellow ; the shank and vent feathers
are edged with white.

Observations. — This very handsome bird is a native of An-
gola, and may long be preserved in health on hemp and canary
seed, and crushed oats. Its song is weak but pleasant, and re-
sembles that of the Siskin. It is always lively, and becomes
so tame as to eat out of the hand.

82. THE YELLOW-BELLIED GROSBEAK.

Loxia Flaviventris, LTN. Grosbec Jaune du Cap de bonne Esperance,BuF.
Der Gelbafterige Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — I have seen this bird in the collection of the
Duke of Saxe Meiningen, but cannot certainly identify it with
the Loxia Flaviventris of LINNAEUS. It is about the size of a
common Chaffinch, and five inches in length. The beak is
horn brown, moderately thick, and resembling in shape that
of the Finch tribe. The feet are dark brown. The head and
neck are a dull light blue ; the whole upper part of the body
olive green ; the breast, as far as the vent, orange.

THE BANDED GEOSBEAK. 205

Observations. — This bird, which is a native of the Cape of
Good Hope, is said by birdsellers to be the female of the Blue
Grosbeak, and certainly agrees very well with it, when kept
in the same cage. It may possibly, also, be the female of the
bird described in the note.*

83. THE GOWEY GROSBEAK.

Loxia Punctularia, LIN. Grosbec tachete de Java, BUF. Der Getupfelte
Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — The Gowry Grosbeak is four inches and a
quarter in length, and about the size of a Linnet. The beak
and feet are black ; the whole upper part of the body, and the
lower part as far as the breast, are light chestnut brown. On
the cheek is a purple spot, which, however, is not visible in
young birds, or such as have just moulted. The belly and
sides are white, but all the feathers are bordered with black, in
the form of a heart. The lower part of the belly and vent
are reddish white ; the rump feathers edged with grey. The
tail is short and wedge-shaped, and is dark brown like the
wings, but mottled and edged with the same colour on the
upper part of the body.

In the female the red spot upon the cheek is wanting ; the
beak and feet are dark brown ; the back reddish brown ; the
sides white, spotted with dark brown ; the vent whitish.

Observations. — These birds are natives of the Island of Java.
They may be kept in a cage, and fed on canary seed. Their
weak and twittering song resembles that of the Siskin.

84. THE BANDED GEOSBEAK.

Loxia Fasciata, LIN. Collerette, BUF. Der gebanderte Kernbeisser, BBCH.
Description. — This bird, which is about the size of the pre-

* Le Grosbec Jaune du Cap de bonne Esperance is thus described : — The
head, back of the neck, and back, are olive green, striped with brown ; the
rump olive green ; the lower part of the body dark yellow. From each
side of the head a yellow stripe passes over the eyes ; and the pen feathers
and tail are brown, edged with olive green. The female is only dis-
tinguished by the comparative dullness of the colours. A variety has the
top of the head, breast, and upper part of the body olive green : the back
of the neck to the throat, ash colour ; the belly and vent yellow ; the
part between the legs white ; the tail feathers black, edged with yellow ;
the tail dark green, having the shafts of the feathers black, and their ex-
ternal plume yellow.

206 THE BANDED GROSBEAK.

ceeding, is four inches and a half in length. The beak is
blueish grey, thick at the root, compressed in the middle, and
running rapidly to a point. The feet are short, and flesh-
coloured. The upper part of the body is a dark reddish grey,
each feather having two black stripes, of which, however, only
one is visible. The wings and tail are blackish, the former
being lighter on the edge, the latter tipped with white. The
belly is black, covered with reddish white, egg-shaped spots.
The rest of the lower part of the body is reddish brown
grey, the feathers being edged with black. A dark purple
collar surrounds the cheeks and chin.

The female is generally lighter ; the collar is wanting, and
the under part of the body is reddish brown, with a darker
shade on the edge of the feathers.

Varieties. — A male, which I have now before me, may be
described as follows : — The head is reddish grey, with frequent
black stripes ; the upper part of the neck, the back, and rump,
are reddish grey, but each feather is intersected by a semi-
circular black line, and tipped with reddish brown ; the sca-
pulars, wing coverts, and hindmost pen feathers, are dark ashen
grey, with a transverse angular black stripe, and reddish brown
tips. A narrow stripe encircles the lower mandible, beneath
which is a purple streak, which passes to the cheeks. The lower
part of the neck, the sides, and shanks, are pale reddish brown,
with an angular black stripe on each feather. The breast is
white, tinged with red at the sides. The belly is a fine
chestnut brown, covered with oval white spots, and striped
with black only at the sides. The vent is white ; the wings
and tail are dark brown, edged with reddish brown ; the latter
being also tipped with white.

In LATHAM'S Synopsis this variety is thus described: — The top
of the head, back of the neck, back, and small wing coverts, are
light brown, covered with semicircular black lines ; the cheeks
are brown, but bordered below with a bright crimson line,
beneath which runs a black one. The breast and belly are
light brown, and sparingly marked with the semicircular lines ;
the pen feathers and tail brown.

Observations. — This bird although a native of Africa, has
received from the bird sellers the name of the Indian Sparrow.
It utters the same cry as the Common Sparrow, and its song
is as worthless. It may be fed on canary seed.

THE MALACCA GROSBEAK. 207

85. THE BEOW^-CHEEKED GEOSBEAZ.
Loxia Canora, LIN. Der braunwangige Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. ~- The Brown-cheeked Grosbeak, which is about
the size of a Siskin, is four inches in length. The beak is
thick, strong, and brown ; the feet flesh-colour. The brown
cheeks are adorned with a yellow border, which extends from
the throat to the ears. The head, back, wings, and tail, which
is somewhat wedge-shaped, are dirty light green ; the breast
and belly are ashen grey.

In the female the yellow stripe on the cheeks is wanting.

Observations. — This pretty bird, which is a native of Mexico,
has a soft flute-like song, and is lively and engaging in its
movements. It may be kept in a cage, and fed on millet and
canary seed.

86. THE MALACCA GEOSBEAK.
Loxia Malacca, LIN. Jacobin, BUF. Der Malackische Kernbeisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Green-
finch, is four inches and a half in length, of which the beak,
which is thick and ashen blue, measures five lines, and the tau
one inch and a half. The feet are ashen blue ; the head, neck,
a stripe which passes from the centre of the belly to the vent,
and the thighs, are black ; the breast and the sides of the belly
white ; the back, wings, and tail, chestnut brown — both the
latter being darker on the under side. The head and body are
each somewhat clumsy in shape.

BEISSON'S " Grosbec de la China " ( Ornithology, iii. p. 235,
note 7) is sometimes considered as a variety of the Malacca
Grosbeak. Its head, throat, and neck, are black ; the plum-
age on the upper part of the body, red, or chestnut brown ;
wings and tail as in the preceding. I have often seen this
bird in the aviary, and always regarded it as a male, both on
account of its song, and because after moulting it resumed
the same colours, without white on the breast or black on the
belly,

EDWAEDS, who has figured this bird (plate 355), adds also a
female, which was kept in the same cage, and seemed to enjoy
the society of the male. She was greyish brown on the upper
part of the body ; the sides of the head, and lower part of the
body, were reddish white ; the pen feathers and tail blackish ;

208 THE BLACK-CLOUDED GEOSBEAK.

the feet flesh-colour. The blackness of the tail and pen fea-
thers seem to shew that this bird does not really occupy the
place assigned to it by EDWARDS, nor does the familiarity with
the male prove anything, as almost all seed- eating birds agree
well together, and even caress one another with their bills.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the East Indies. It
is gentle, lively, and affectionate ; its voice is strong, and its
song, though having a somewhat nasal ring, is not unpleasant.
Its cry is " Tziapp /" It will live for a long time, if fed on
hemp and canary seed.

87. THE BLACK-CLOUDED GEOSBEAK.
Loxia Nubilosa, BECH. Der SchivarzwoMge Kembeisser, BECH.

Description. — I have seen two of these birds, which seemed
to me to bear a strong resemblance to the Molucca and Black
Grosbeaks, though not absolutely identical with them. The
Black-clouded Grosbeak is about the size of a House Sparrow.
The beak is strong, and whitish grey ; the feet are large, and
lead-coloured. The prevailing colour of the plumage is black,
though the rump and vent are white ; the lower part of the
body is whitish grey, and the wing coverts are clouded with
reddish grey. After every moulting, the under part of the
body and wings becomes lighter.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Africa, and especially
of the Cape of Good Hope. It is very tame ; its cry is
" Zkeelf" and its song, which is not very melodious, consists
merely of a continuous twittering. If fed on millet, hemp,
canary, and rape seed, it will live for many years.

1. The Molucca Grosbeak (Loxia Molucca, LIN.) may be
thus described. It is four inches in length ; the beak is dark
brown ; the top of the head and neck, black ; the back of the
head and upper part of the body, brown ; the breast and belly
covered with transverse stripes of black and white ; the tail
black ; the pen feathers dark brown ; the feet brown.

2. The Black Grosbeak (Loxia Nigra., LIN.) is five inches
and a quarter in length. The beak is black, strong, and much
compressed about the centre of the upper mandible ; the plum-
age generally black, with the exception of a white spot in
front of the wings, and the roots of the two first pen feathers,
which are also white ; the feet are black. This bird is a native
of Mexico.

THE SNOW BUNTING. 209

88. THE BED-BILLED GKOSBEAK.
Loxia Sanguinirostris, LIN. Der Rothschnabliche Kern&eisser, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a House
Sparrow, is often brought by bird-dealers from England for
sale in Germany. It originally comes from Africa. Its beak
is thick, wide at the base, bare at the forehead, and of a dark
blood-red colour ; the forehead, the region round the eyes, and
the chin, black. The upper part of the body is of a greyish
brown, with black longitudinal stripes, almost like the Spar--
row ; the under part is of a clear brownish red. The quill
and tail feathers are dark brown, spotted with reddish grey ;
the feet and the irides are orange ; the eye-lids a yellowish
red.

The female is much lighter ; the black mark on the head is
altogether wanting, and the under part of the body is a yel-
lowish white.

Observations. — As before remarked, this is a Cage-bird of
common occurrence. It is fed with millet and canary seed ;
and is a favourite, not only on account of its beauty, but also
of its delicate song, which resembles that of the Yellow Wren.
The male and female caress each other incessantly, but never
pair, or build in the cage. They attain a considerable age.

89. THE SNOW BUNTING.

Emberiza Nivalis, LIN. Ortolan de Neige, BUF. Der Schnerammer, BECH.

Description. — Naturalists assert that the plumage of this
bird differs considerably, according to the season of the year.
The truth of this assertion I do not pretend to decide, though,
from analogy, I am warranted in conjecturing that the difference
arises rather from the age of the birds. And as in summer
this bird inhabits regions within the arctic circle, I shall con-
tent myself with describing its winter plumage, as it may be
seen in confinement.

It is about the size of a Lark, and six inches and a half in
length. The beak, as in all Buntings, is conical in shape,
six lines long, bent inwards at the sides, and having a hard
protuberance at the palate. Its colour is yellow, tipped with
black, except in the singing season, when it is entirely black.
The legs are one inch high, and, as well as the claws, coal

p

210 THE S^OW UTTXTIXG.

black. The head, neck, and under part of the body, are
white, the head being sometimes spotted with yellowish brown.
The back and rump are black ; the feathers of the back are
edged with white, and those of the shoulder and rump with
brownish yellow, darker in spring than in summer. The first
row of pen feathers are half white, and black towards the

Eoint ; the others are white, except those which lie upon the
ist three pen feathers, which are black, with a border of yel-
lowish brown. The tail is forked ; the three first feathers
being white, with a black stripe at the point ; the following
four black, edged with yellow.

The female is somewhat smaller : the head and upper part
of the neck are white, with a mixture of yellow or cinnamon
brown ; and spots of similar colour form a kind of broken band
across the white breast. The young, which may be caught in
winter, are known by the dark brown beak, and the back of
the same colour, bordered with greyish white. The young
male is always speckled with yellowish brown at the back of
the head ; the young female has yellow cheeks, and spots of
the same colour on the breast.

Observations. — In severe winters, these birds may be met
with in Germany, from December till May, especially in the
north, where they even approach the villages. If attention
were paid to their movements, they might be observed every-
where in March on their road home ; and when snow falls,
might be seen on the highways, and in the fields, in company
with Larks. They may be caught with horse-dung, covered
with limed twigs ; or on a spot which has been cleared from
snow, and strewed with oats. I kept a pair, which were
allowed to range the room, for six years, on the ordinary paste ;
if confined in a cage, they must be fed on oats, millet, poppy,
hemp, or linseed. They are fond of bathing ; and are very
restless birds, especially during the night. Their cry is clear
and loud, resembling a whistle; their song is interrupted,
consisting of twittering notes, mixed with high noisy ones,
gradually descending in the scale, and others, more like a loud
broken whistle. It is, however, not disagreeable. They
must be kept cool, as they are unable to bear even a moderate
degree of heat.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird has been variously called the Tawny,
Mountain, and Snow Bunting ; also the Snowflake, Snow-fowl,

Tin: SNOW BUNTING. 211

Oat-fowl : MACGILLIVEAY terms it the Snow Lark Bunting, and
describes it as " a neat and lively little bird, about the size of the
Yellow Bunting, and nearly of the same form, the body compact,
the head of ordinary size, the wings rather long." The 28th of
September is the earliest period at which this naturalist has ob-
served these birds in Scotland, and that was in the Outer Hebri-
des ; he supposes that they may occasionally breed on the higher
Grampians, although he does not think it likely that the vast
flocks seen in the lower grounds in winter are exclusively of Scot-
tish origin.

" Towards the end of October, these birds make their appear-
ance along the coasts, or on the higher grounds, of the south of
Scotland ; and about the same period in the south of England,
although there they are of much less frequent occurrence.

" Assembled in large straggling flocks, or scattered in small
detachments, they may be seen flying rather low along the shore,
somewhat in the manner of Larks, moving in an undulating line
by means of repeated flappings and short intervals of cessation,
arid uttering a soft and rather low cry, consisting of a few mellow
notes, not unlike those of the Brown Linnet, but intermixed at
times with a sort of stifled scream, or chirr. When they have
found a fitting place they wheel suddenly round, and alight rather
abruptly, on which occasion the white of the wings and tail be-
comes very conspicuous. They run with great celerity along the
sand, not by hops, like the Sparrows and Finches, but in a manner
resembling that of the Larks and Pepits ; and when thus occu-
pied, it is not in general difficult to approach them, so that speci-
mens are easily procured. Indeed, it frequently happens that

they allow a person to walk up within five yards, or even less.
* * * # * J# * *

"Although the American ornithologists speak of their alighting
on trees, I have never seen them perch on even a bush, or on any
other high place than a crag, the top of a wall, or a corn stack,
in which respect they resemble our Field Lark. It is not often,
however, that they alight on the stacks, for they prefer searching
the ground around them. In the villages along the coast of East
Lothian, they are sometimes, in spring, nearly as common as
Sparrows, and almost as familiar. About Leith, where they are
generally found in winter on the beach, even close to the pier,
they have a very different appearance from that which they pre-
sent in parts of the country remote from towns, for their plumage
is as much soiled as that of the London Sparrows.

" About the middle of April, or sometimes a week later, these
birds disappear, and betake themselves to their summer residence.
The nest and eggs of this species are unknown to me, and, indeed,
have not hitherto been detected in Britain."

p 2

212 THE MOUNTAIN BUNTING.

90. THE MOUNTAIN BUNTING.

Emberiza Montana, LIN. Ortolan de Montagne, Bur. Der Bergammer,

BECH.

Description. — This bird is somewhat smaller than the pre-
ceding. The beak is short, strong, and yellow, with a black
tip. The head is almost four-cornered ; the frontal band is
light chestnut; the back of the head and the cheeks still
lighter. The nape of the neck and the back are ash-coloured, the
latter being spotted with black, in which respect it resembles
the female Yellowhammer. The throat is white ; the breast
and the region of the eyes a rusty red. Over the first is a
brownish red stripe, which shows itself in young birds only,
as an indistinct mark. The wing coverts are blackish grey,
the larger ones being edged with white. The five first pen
feathers are blackish brown ; the rest white, and the points of
all striped with brown. The three exterior pen feathers are
white, the rest dark brown ; the feet are black.

In the female, the head is mottled with black, reddish yel-
low, and white ; the back of the neck is reddish yellow, tinged
with grey ; the belly the same colour, inclining to white.

Observations. — This handsome bird inhabits Northern Europe,
but is by no means common. In Thuringia, as well as in
other parts of Germany, especially after stormy weather and
deep snow, it may often be met on its return northwards, in
March. A pair are generally seen together, on the highways
and paths, seeking plantain seed and grains of corn in the
horsedung. It has a clear voice, and its song, though inter-
rupted, like the Yellowhammer, is not disagreeable. Its call
is " Twerr! Tzoerrf" When confined either in an aviary or
a cage, it thrives on bread, oats, poppy and hemp seed. At
night, especially in pairing time, it is, like the Snow Bunting,
very uneasy, and utters its call, however dark it may be.

Some individuals of this species are occasionally met with,
which are reddish grey on the upper part of the body, yellow-
ish on the head, and spotted with dark brown on the back.
These are young birds.

The Mountain Bunting may be caught in the same manner
as the preceding species.

THE YELLOWHAMMER. 213

91. THE YELLOWHAMMEE.
Emberiza, Citrinella, LIN. Le Bruant, BUF. Der Goldammer, BECH.

Description. — Although this bird is so well known, a descrip-
tion of it is rendered necessary by the fact, that young males
and old females are often mistaken for each other. It is six
inches and a half in length, of which the tail, which is forked,
measures three inches. The beak is five lines long ; in summer a
dirty dark blue, in winter ash-coloured : the iris dark brown ;
the feet light brown, and nine lines in height. In old birds
the head is a beautiful light yellow, usually marked on the
cheeks and poll with a few dark olive brown spots. It is
a sign of very great age, if the head and neck be a pure golden
yellow. The nape of the neck is olive green ; the back black,
mixed with reddish grey ; the rump orange. The throat and
lower part of the neck, and the belly, are a beautiful light
yellow ; the breast, especially at the sides, and the vent, are
spotted with orange and yellow. The lesser coverts are olive ;
the larger and hindermost pen feathers black, tinged with rust-
colour ; the foremost pen feathers, blackish, with a margin of
greenish yellow. The tail feathers are blackish ; the two ex-
ternal ones having on them a wedge-shaped white spot, and
the centre ones being edged with rust colour.

The female is somewhat smaller ; and the head and the
cheeks are so covered with brown, and the neck with olive
green spots, that hardly any yellow is perceptible. The breast
is only spotted with rust colour, and the wing coverts mottled
with reddish white. At a distance, therefore, the general ap-
pearance is rather grey than yellow.

Before the first moulting, the young males bear a close re-
semblance to old females, except that the throat is yellow ;
and that a yellow spot on the poll, and a stripe of the same
colour over the eyes, is distinctly perceptible. The breast and
rump also are now decidedly orange, and less spotted.

Both white and spotted varieties are occasionally met with.

Habitat. — The Yellowhammer inhabits the whole of Europe,
as well as the north of Asia. In summer- it frequents groves
and thickets ; but in autumn may be observed more in the
fields, and in winter haunts barns and stables.

When confined, it is usually allowed to range the raom ;

214 THE YELLOWHAHMEB.

but in places where it is a rare, and therefore a valued bird,
it is generally kept in a large bell- shaped cage.

Food — In summer it chiefly lives on insects, especially cater-
pillars, with which, like all birds of its species, it feeds its
young. In autumn and winter, however, it eats all kinds of
seed and grain, which, by the help of a kind of ridge on the
palate, it easily succeeds in shelling. Small seeds, however,
such as poppy and rape seed, it swallows whole. Oats seem
to be its favourite food.

To keep the Yellowhammer healthy, it must have a change
of food : for example, oats, bread crumbs, meat, poppy seed,
soaked hemp seed, &c. If, however, allowed to range the
room, it will thrive best on the second universal paste. I have
noticed that all which I have myself kept occasionally swallow
fresh black earth, I suppose in order to assist the process of
digestion. They are also fond of bathing.

Breeding. — It breeds twice a year : the first time, either at
the end of May or the beginning of April. The nest is built
in hedges, or bushes, or even in mossy places on the ground,
of grass stalks artfully woven together, and is lined with horse
or cow hair. The female lays four or five eggs, in colour dirty
white, spotted with light brown. When reared from the nest,
the males learn to imitate the song of the Finch, as well as
passages from that of other birds.

Diseases. — Decline is the disease to which these birds are
most subject, though they also moult with great difficulty, and
often die during the process. The best prevention of this is to
feed them, during that critical period, with ants' eggs.

Mode of Taking. — In winter, the Yellowhammer may easily
be caught in gardens, either by the clap net, with oats as a
bait, or by a sieve, propped up with a stick, to which a string
is attached. As soon as the bird is observed underneath the
sieve, the support is pulled away. They may sometimes be
decoyed by another bird into the barn-floor trap, and in spring
are not unfrequently caught by a bird-call.

Attractive Qualities. — The Yellowhammer is a beautiful bird,
although in the course of the five or six years during which it
may be kept alive in confinement, the golden yellow of its plu-
mage becomes continually paler. Its song, though in no way
remarkable, is pleasant. It consists of seven or eight clear
notes, tee, tee, tee, tehee ! all of which are alike, except the last,

THE YELLOWHAMMEE. 215

which is at once longer, and a third lower. This song, al-
though not loud, may be heard at a considerable distance. The
Yellowhammer, though lively and active in a state of nature,
becomes shy and awkward in a cage or aviary.

ADDITIONAL. — This handsome, sprightly, and by no means
uncommon bird in this country, is sometimes known as the Yellow
Bunting ; it is also called the Yellow Yeldring or Yoldring,
Yellow Yowley, Yellow Yite, Yeldrock or Yolkring, Skite, and
Devil's Bird. It is, generally speaking, a favourite species, and
is very widely distributed, being found in most of the wooded
and cultivated districts of Britain and Ireland, where it perma-
nently resides. " In autumn," says MACGILLIVEAY, ^these birds
form large straggling flocks, which through the winter often
mingle with Chaffinches, Green Linnets, Sparrows, and other
species, in open weather resorting to the fields, and perching at
intervals on the hedges and bushes as well a,s on trees. When
the ground is covered with snow, they congregate about houses,
and frequent corn-yards. Their flight is undulated, light, strong,
and graceful, and they alight abruptly, jerking out their tail-
feathers. In spring and summer the male chants a dolefulsort
of ditty, composed of a few short, shrill notes, concluded with a
protracted one. Towards the beginning of April, the winter as-
sociations break up, and they choose their partners without the
manifestation of angry feelings, they being less addicted to quar-
rel than most small birds."

During incubation, this author further informs us, "these
Buntings evince much anxiety about their charge, and when de-
prived of their eggs or young, continue some days about the
place, chanting at intervals their dolorous ditty, which, although
unaltered in its notes, must doubtless be meant as an expression
of their grief. In some parts of Scotland it is interpreted as sig-
nifying ' Deil, deil, deil take ye,' that is, the cruel nesters ; and
for this reason, probably, the Yellow Bunting is named the
Devil's Bird.

" When perched on a tree, especially in windy weather, they
crouch close to the twigs, draw in their neck, and keep the tail
declined. After pairing, the male is frequently seen on a bush
or tree, moving his tail by sudden jerks, by which it is raised
and at the same time slightly expanded. His notes are then
usually two chirps, followed by a harsher note : chit, chit, chirr,
with considerable intervals. When feeding in the stubble fields,
they advance by very short leaps, with their breasts nearly
touching the ground ; when apprehensive of danger, crouch mo-
tionless j and when alarmed, give intimation to each other by

216 THE COMMON, OK CORN .BUNTING.

means of their ordinary short note. They are generally more
shy than Chaffinches, but less so than the Corn Buntings."

92. THE COMMON, OR CORN BUNTING.

Emberiza Miliaria, LINN. Proyer, BUF. Der Gerstenammer, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is found throughout Europe
and the northern parts of Asia, has not even the recommenda-
tions for a Cage-bird possessed by the last mentioned, as it is
distinguished neither for beauty of plumage nor of song. It is
rather larger than a Skylark, to which in colour it bears a
strong resemblance, being seven inches and a half in length,
of which the tail measures three inches. The beak is short
and thick, six lines in length, and, like the feet, greyish brown,
though in summer the lower mandible is yellow. The feet are
ten lines high. The whole upper part of the body is a pale
reddish grey, the lower part yellowish white, both, as in the
Lark, being spotted with blackish brown. The pen and tail
feathers are dark brown, the exterior tail feathers having on
them a wedge-shaped whitish spot.

The female is somewhat lighter.

Habitat. — In some parts of Germany this bird is very com-
mon throughout the year ; others are only visited by it, in its
passages from northern countries, where it cannot survive the
winter's cold. In March it may be seen in company with the
Larks. It prefers the level country to the woods, and in
meadows, or by the side of roads, may often be noticed perched
on a willow tree, a large boundary stone, or even a clod.

When confined, it may either be allowed to range the room,
or be kept in a large Lark's cage.

Food. — When wild, its food is the same as that of the Yel-
lowhammer ; in the aviary it may be fed on oats, millet, and
the usual diet. It is, however, a more delicate bird than the
Yellowhammer.

Breeding. — The Corn Bunting usually builds among the long
grass, underneath bushes, but the nest does not rest upon the
ground. It is constructed of grass stalks, and lined with hair.
It generally contains four or five eggs, ashen grey in colour,
marked with spots and stripes of black and reddish brown.

Mode of Taking. — In autumn this bird may be taken in the
barn-floor trap, by help of a decoy; in spring with a bird-call;
in winter, near a barn or stable, by a net, or limed twigs.

THE COMMON, OR CORN BUNTING. 217

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the male is shorter and
less sweet than that of the Yellowhammer, and may be ex-
pressed hy the following syllables, Tei, Tei, Tei, Tirritz ! From
the harshness with which the last is given, this bird has ac-
quired, in some parts of the country, the "name of the Stocking-
weaver.

ADDITIONAL. — With us this bird is a permanent resident, and
in many parts of the country extremely plentiful ; "it fre-
quents," says MACGILLIVRAY, " open pastures, grass, and corn-
fields, and in its distribution seems peculiar to cultivated land
or its vicinity, scarcely ever appearing on moors or mountain
pastures. It is more abundant in the outer Hebrides than any
other part of the country that I have visited, and there, is gene-
rally known by the name of the Sparrow. Towards the end of
autumn, these Buntings collect into small flocks, and search the
stubble for seeds of various kinds, especially oats and wheat.
Frequently at this season they sit close, like the Larks, and al-
low a person to come near before they fly off; but for the most
part they are shy, and not easily approached. In winter, espe-
cially in cold or boisterous weather, they appear near houses,
and mingle in the stack yards with the Sparrows, Yellow Bunt-
ings, and Larks, and other small birds ; but they are not so gre-
garious as these species, and are very seldom met with in large
flocks. Their flight is strong, capable of being long protracted,
undulated, being performed by alternate beatings and cessations,
but heavier and more steady and direct than that of the Yellow
Bunting. When surprised in a field, or roused from a corn-
yard, they fly off with a direct rapid motion ; but often when an
individual, which has been resting on a twig or wall -top, starts
away, it allows its feet to hang for a short time before it com-
mences its bounding flight. I believe there is no other bird of
the order with us that has this habit. * * * *

" The song of this Bunting, such as it is, may be heard occa-
sionally at all seasons, especially in calm weather, but during the
breeding time it is more frequent, and then the male, perched on
a wall, a stone, a twig, or a tall herbaceous plant, especially a dock
or a bur, continues to utter at short intervals his singular cry,
which, although not loud, extends to a great distance."

KNAPP, in his Journal of a Naturalist, thus describes a de-
structive habit which he considers is peculiar to this bird. " In
the winter season it will frequent the stacks in the farm-yard, in
company with others, to feed upon any corn that may be found
scattered about ; but little inclined to any association with man,
it prefers those situations which are most lonely and distant from

213 TIIE ORTOLAN".

the village. It could hardly be supposed tliat this bird, not
larger than a Lark, is capable of doing serious injury ; yet I this
morning witnessed a rick of barley, standing in a detached field,
entirely stripped of its thatching, which this Bunting effected by
seizing the end of the- straw, and deliberately drawing it out, to
search for any grain the ear might vet contain ; the base of the
rick being entirely surrounded by tne straw, one resting on the
ground, the other against the mow as it slid down from the sum-
mit, and regularly placed as if by the hand ; and so completely
was the thatching pulled off, that the immediate removal of the
corn became necessary. The Sparrow and other birds burrow
into the stack and pilfer the corn ; but the deliberate operation
of unroofing the edifice, appears to be the habit of this Bunting
alone."

93. THE OETOLAN
Emberiza Hortulena, LIN. L' Ortolan, BUF. Der Gartenammer, BECH.

Description. — An exact description of this bird is the more
necessary, as both naturalists and birdsellers give the name of
Ortolan to many distinct species. Under this name the latter
offer for sale all rare birds which seem at all allied to this
species.

The Ortolan is about the size of the Yellowhammer, although
having a wider breast, and stronger beak. It is about six
inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two
inches and a half. The beak is six lines long, and flesh-co-
loured ; the iris dark brown ; the feet ten lines in height, and
flesh-coloured. The head and neck are a greyish olive ; the
throat, and a stripe which passes from the lower corner of
the beak down the neck, bright yellow. The back and the
scapulars are reddish brown, spotted with black; the rump
dirty greyish brown. The under part of the body is reddish
yellow, mottled with fight brown ; the pen feathers dark
brown, edged some with yellowish red, other with grey. The
tail is blackish ; the two exterior feathers having on them a
wedge-shaped white speck ; and the others being bordered with
yellowish red.

The female is somewhat smaller; the head and neck are
tinged with grey, and marked with long blackish lines ; the
reast is also less brown ; and the whole plumage lighter.

In the young males, before moulting, the throat is a dull
yellow, mixed with grey ; the breast and belly are reddish

THE ORTOLAN". 219

yellow, sprinkled with grey. They are not unlike young
Yellowhammers ; though a connoisseur is able to distinguish
between the sexes, even in the nest.

There are also white, yellowish white, and in the aviary,
even black varieties of this bird.

Habitat. — In a wild state the Ortolan inhabits the southern
and temperate regions of Europe, and is not uncommon in
many parts of Germany. An attentive observer will, however,
remark that it is constantly upon the move ; as in its passage
from one climate to another, it makes frequent halts, and never
takes long flights at once. This route is so uniform, that we
may calculate upon seeing them every spring in the spot where
they have been once observed. They fly in families rather than
in flocks. They arrive in Germany about the end of April, or the
beginning of May, when they may be seen in gardens, or in
fields, in which are groves or bushes. Near breeding-time
they frequent gardens and groves in the neighbourhood of ex-
tensive forests, especially if millet be cultivated in close prox-
imity. In August they fly in families into the open country,
and leave us after the oats have been gathered in.

The Ortolan is sometimes, as a rare and valuable bird, pro-
vided with a handsome cage ; though it is frequently also
allowed to range the room with other birds.

Food. — In a wild state it eats not only all kinds of insects,
but also millet, oats, buck wheat, hempseed, &c.

If confined in a cage, it may be fed with millet, poppy seed,
and shelled oats : if allowed to run about, it is content with
the usual paste. It is, however, a delicate bird, which we
rarely succeed in preserving above four years at most.

Diseases. — The disease most frequently fatal to the Ortolan
is atrophy, or decline.

Mode of Taking. — In spring these birds may be easily at-
tracted to the decoy bush by one of their own species, or a
female Yellowhammer.

In August a small area of turf, near bushes, like that in-
tended for the capture of Chaffinches, should be cleared, sur-
rounded with a low hedge, and covered with oat ears. Near
this should be placed one or more decoy birds ; and also one,
round whose wings is fastened a band of soft leather, which
again is attached by a string to a peg in the ground, so that
the bird has freedom of motion within certain prescribed limits.

220 THE CIEL BUNTING.

It should be provided with plenty of food and water, so as to
deceive the wild birds into the belief that they see one of
their comrades in a place of abundance. This kind of decoy
bird is often more useful than any other. The call of the Or-
tolan is tzvit, tzvit ! gye, gye ! gay, gay I pek, pek I

Attractive Qualities. — Not only. the beautiful shape and plu-
mage of the Ortolan render it valuable in the eyes of the ama-
teur, but also its clear and flute-like song, which resembles
that of the Yellowhammer, except that the concluding notes
are a tone or two lower.

These birds have long been known, and fattened as a great
delicacy. For this purpose they are generally kept in a room
artificially lighted, so that there may be no distinction between
night and day, and fed with oats, millet, and bread, mixed
with good spice. On this diet they soon become mere lumps
of fat, of about three ounces in weight, and would indeed
be suffocated by their own fat, if not killed at once.

ADDITIONAL. — This is sometimes called the Greenheaded Bun-
ting ; it occurs in this country only as a straggler ; it was first
figured by BROWN, in his Illustrations of Zoology, from a
living specimen, which was taken in Mary-le-bone Fields by a
London bird-catcher ; another specimen was taken at sea, a few
miles off the Yorkshire coast ; and two others, one killed near
Manchester, and the other taken near London, make up about
the sum of those which English naturalists have had an oppor-
tunity of examining.

94. THE CIEL BUNTING.

Male. Emberiza Elacathorax, BECH. Female. Emberiza Cirlus, LIN.
Eruant de Haye, BUF. Der Zaunammer, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is rare in many parts of Ger-
many, but common in Thuringia, is almost as large as a Yel-
lowhammer, being five inches and a half in length, of which
the tail measures two inches and a half. The beak is small,
much compressed : on the upper mandible brownish blue, on
the lower light brown ; the feet eight lines in height, and
flesh-colour. The upper part of the head and neck are olive
green, marked with small black stripes ; and a bright yellow
streak runs from the upper corner of the beak, beneath the
eyes, to the middle of the neck. A second streak runs down
from tho corner of the lower mandible, which is crossed by a

THE CTRL BUNTING. 221

black one, which passes underneath the yellow streak under
the eyes, and loses itself in the black of the throat. The back
and small wing coverts are cinnamon brown, mixed with
black and golden yellow ; the rump feathers are olive green
striped with black. The larger wing coverts and pen feathers
are blackish grey ; the former, as well as the hindmost pen
feathers, being edged with brown, and the foremost pen fea-
thers with greenish yellow. The tail is rather forked and
black ; except that the two anterior feathers have each a wedge
shaped white spot on them, and all are edged with greenish
yellow. Beneath the neck is a golden yellow spot ; the breast
is a beautiful olive green, inclining, towards the sides and
belly, to light brown ; the rest of the lower part of the body is
golden yellow.

The plumage of the female is far lighter ; the head and
upper part of the neck are olive green, but more marked with
black ; the back is light brown ; the rump more marked with
black ; the tail rather greyish blue than black. A yellow
stripe passes both above and below the eye ; and between these
goes a black line, which unites with a black border round the
cheeks. The throat is brownish; there is a light yellow
spot beneath the neck ; the breast is light olive, spotted with
brown at the sides ; the rest of the under part of the body is
light yellow.

Before the first moulting, the young are spotted with light
brown and black on the upper part of the body. The under
part of the body is light yellow, striped with black, and the
older they are, the more decidedly olive green becomes the
breast.

Habitat. — These birds are natives of the southern and tem-
perate regions of Europe, where they may be seen in gardens,
groves, and thickets. They are birds of passage, departing in
November, and returning in April. They seem fond of the
company of the Common Chaffinch.

In confinement they require the same treatment as the Or-
tolan.

Food. — In a wild state the food consists principally of the
caterpillars of the cabbage moth and other insects : of wheat,
barley, oats, millet, and hemp seed.

Breeding. — The nest, which is built of grass stalks, lined
with hair, is placed in road-side hedges and bushes. The female

222 THE FOOLISH

usually lays four or five greyish eggs, mottled and spotted with
reddish brown. Towards the end of July the young broods
may be observed abroad, especially in cabbage fields, and the
neighbourhood of willow trees.

The bird may be taken in the same manner, and is subject
to the same diseases as the Ortolan.

Attractive Qualities. — The male is a very handsome bird ;
but its song has nothing remarkable in it. It is like that of the
Yellowhammer, and may be expressed by the syllables tzis,
tzis, tzis ! Gerr, gerr, gerr ! The call is Tzi, tzi I Tzay, tzirr !
It is easy to tame, and will live from four to six years in con-
finement.

ADDITIONAL. — The Cirl Bunting was first identified and de-
scribed as a British bird, by COL. MONTAGUE, in the winter of
1800 ; soon after which, this discriminating and indefatigable na-
turalist, as MUDIE justly terms him, discovered the nest of this
bird, which must be sought for principally in the southern En-
glish counties, where it is permanently resident, frequenting open
pastures, grass, and corn fields, and building amid the ground
herbage and low bushes.

According to MUDIE, " In winter the Cirl Buntings associate
with the Yellow Buntings, which they resemble in their man-
ners, their notes, and partially also, in their appearance, only
they are rather smaller, their air is softer, and their colours
are more varied, and perhaps, upon the whole, finer. The voice,
too, is not so loud or harsh, and the chirp of the female is par-
ticularly soft. It appears to be rather more an insectivorous
bird than the more common species."

95. THE FOOLISH BUNTING.

Emberiza Cia, LIN. Le Bruant Fou, BUF. Der Zipammer, BECH.

The Foolish Bunting is somewhat smaller than the Yellow-
hammer, being six inches in length, of which the tail measures
two inches and a half. The beak is five lines long, very pointed,
blackish above and greenish below ; the iris is blackish-brown ;
the feet nine lines in height, and a brownish flesh- colour ; the
head is ashen grey, spotted with red, but marked in the middle
with small black stripes, and having an indistinct streak of
the same colour on each side. The cheeks are light grey,
and a dirty white stripe, beginning at the nostrils, passes
above the eyes ; a second stripe, which is black, runs between

THE FOOLISH BTTNTING. 223

the eyes, and unites with a third of similar colour, which be-
gins at the lower corner of the beak, and encircles the cheeks.
The back is brownish red, spotted with black ; the rump a
light reddish brown. The throat is light grey ; the rest of
the lower part of the body rust-colour, which is lightest on the
belly. The lesser wing coverts are dark grey ; the other fea-
thers of the wings chiefly black ; the foremost pen feathers
are, however, edged with red ; and the rest, as well as the
lower coverts, have a broad margin of rust colour. The
second row of coverts is tipped with reddish white, which
produces a stripe of similar colour on the wings. The tail is
black, and somewhat forked ; the two outer feathers have a
white wedge-shaped spot on the inner plume, and the two
centre ones are tipped and bordered with dark rust colour.

The female is hardly distinguishable from the male. Her
head is grey, tinged with red, and spotted with black ; it is also
marked like that of the male, but the streaks are less distinct,
and are either dirty white or dark brown. The grey of the
throat is also tinged with red, and streaked with black, and the
under part of the body is in general lighter than that of the
male.

Habitat. — This bird is fond of solitude, and is found through-
out the mountain districts of the south of France, Italy, and
Austria. During some winters it leaves these countries, and
in March and April has been caught among the mountains of
Central Germany.

In confinement it may either be kept in a cage, or allowed to
range the room ; the latter method of treatment seems to suit
it best, especially if a corner be protected by a grating, in
which it can take refuge and pass the night.

Food. — In a wild state it feeds, like most birds of its spe-
cies, on seeds and insects. In confinement it thrives on the
food already prescribed for the Ortolan. A pair in my posses-
sion have thus been preserved in health for six years.

Mode of Taking. — This bird may easily be decoyed, by help
of a Yellowhammer, to the lime-bush and barn-floor trap ;
and, indeed, has received its name from its want of caution in
regard to nets and springes.

Attractive Qualities. — The Foolish Buntings are handsome,
lively birds. Throughout the winter their clear call, Tze, tze !
is heard without intermission ; and from spring to autumn, their

224 THE EEED BUNTING.

song, Tie, tze, tzirr, tzirr f resembles that of the Yellowhammer,
though shorter, and purer in tone. It is very friendly with
the Yellowhammer if confined in the same cage, and manifests
a preference for the same food.

96. THE REED BUNTING.

Emberiza Schcenilus, LIN. Ortolan de Roseaux, BUF. Der Rohrammer,

BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of the Com-
mon Sparrow, is five inches and three-quarters in length, of
which the tail measures two inches and a half. The beak is
four lines long, black on the upper side, and whitish below ;
the iris dark brown ; the feet nine lines in height, and dark
flesh-colour. The head is black, sparingly spotted with red,
and round it, beginning from the lower mandible, runs a white
stripe, broadest at the cheeks, and narrowest at the nape of the
neck. The back of the neck is ashen grey ; the back is black,
spotted with rust-colour and white ; the rump alternately grey,
and reddish yellow. The throat is black, spotted with white ;
the rest of the lower part of the body dirty white, spotted on
the breast and sides with brown. The small wing coverts are
rust-coloured ; the larger are black, but bordered in some places
with rust-colour, and in others with white. The pen feathers
are dark brown, edged with light rust-colour ; the tail is forked
and black ; the two outer feathers having on the outer plume
a large wedge-shaped white spot, and the centre feathers being
edged with yellowish brown.

In the aviary, the head of the male becomes lighter in
colour after every moulting, and acquires, in addition, a red-
dish brown tinge.

In the female, the head is rusty brown, spotted with black ;
the cheeks are also brown, and a reddish white stripe passes
over the eyes, uniting itself with a second of similar colour,
which begins at the lower corner of the beak, and surrounds
the cheeks. A blackish brown stripe passes down each side
of the neck. The throat and lower part of the body are red-
dish white, with numerous stripes of blackish brown on the
breast ; the colour of the back is lighter and less pure than in
the male.

Habitat. — This bird inhabits not only the whole of Europe,

THE SEED BUNTING. 225

as far as Sweden, but Northern Asia also. It is a bird of
passage, departing during the month of October in small flocks,
and returning in March, in much greater numbers. The sexes
are separated in these migrations, which has probably given rise
to the incorrect statement that only the males are birds of pas-
sage. In winter they may be occasionally seen in company
with the Yellowhammer. They frequent marshy and reedy
places, on the banks of streams and ponds ; and though seldom
seen on trees, are said to climb up and down the bulrushes and
tall reeds. In the aviary, they may either be confined in a
cage, or allowed to range the room.

Food. — The Reed Bunting feeds not only on insects, but on
reed, rush, and grass seeds.

When in confinement, it is exceedingly fond of the first uni-
versal paste mixed with poppy seed, and thrives on this diet
for five or six years, though, at the expiration of that period,
as I have frequently remarked, they generally die of atrophy,
or scald head.

Breeding. — It builds its nest near the water, among reeds
and rushes, and usually lays five or six eggs ; these are grey-
ish white, and marked with spots and indistinct streaks of
dark grey, and blackish brown.

Mode of Taking. — In autumn, the Reed Bunting may be
caught in the Chaffinch trap. It is found in the spring, when
showers of snow are falling, in company with the Yellow-
hammer, near barns and dung-hills, and may be caught there,
as well as in cleared spots in the fields, with nets and limed
twigs. Its call is Iss, Iss ! and it sometimes cries Reitsha ! in a
loud note.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the Heed Bunting is al-
ternately low and shrill, and by its simple notes, Tete, toote! —
interrupted by an occasional harsh cry of Reitsh! — may be dis-
tinguished from that of every other bird. It sings throughout
the summer, by night as weU as by day. It is the tamest of
all Buntings, and is especially fond of music. This charac-
teristic, which I have remarked in many different birds, mani-
fests itself by a fearless approach to the instrument, and a
continual spreading out and closing of the tail and wing fea-
thers, apparently the expression of delight. The song of the
female is not so loud as that of the male.

226 THE EEED BUNTING.

ADDITIONAL. — The Eeed Sparrow is a term sometimes im-
properly applied to this bird, which is also known as the Water
feparrow, the Black-headed or Ring Bunting, the Eing Bird, the
Ring Fowl, and the Chink. It is described by MACGILLIVKAY as
" frequenting marshy places, where it is seen perched on the wil-
lows, reeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants. Its flight is rapid
and undulatory, and it alights abruptly, expanding its tail, when
the white of that part becomes conspicuous. Although station-
ary in England, it is migratory in most parts of Scotland, de-
parting in October, and reappearing about the beginning of April.
In winter these Buntings form small loose flocks, which break
up towards the end of March, when the different pairs betake
themselves to their summer haunts." The same author observes,
" that it is a very active bird, and that its song, which can scarcely
be called pleasant, consists of several short notes succeeded by a
long one, Being somewhat similar to that of the Yellow Bunting,
though less harsh."

MTTDIE gives a very characteristic sketch of the habits of these
handsome and interesting birds, which are entitled to a high
rank in the scale of intelligence, as the following anecdote,
related by WOOD in his British Song Birds, will show. " Some
years ago, when walking with a friend, I remember seeing
two of these birds in an osier bed, the male perched erect
at the summit of a willow stem, and his mate remaining
beneath, or only occasionally coming within view. On our
entering the osiers, they both flew around us in great alarm,
mostly in silence, but sometimes uttering a low mournful kind
of note, at the same time darting suddenly about the hedge and
willow stems, as if impatient for our immediate departure ; and
their manners were so different from those commonly observed
in the species, that we were convinced that there must be a
nest thereabouts. I was well aware of the difficulty of finding
the little tenement in a situation of that kind, and accordingly
we both of us began to move in different directions, in order
to discover by the actions of the birds where their treasure
lay. My friend traversed one side of the osier bed, and my-
self the other ; but still the loving and faithful couple remained
in precisely the same spot, where the junction of two hedge-
rows formed a corner; and we therefore concluded, naturally
enough, that in that spot all their hopes were centered. But a
close and minute investigation of the whole corner, during which
time we laid the ground completely bare, revealed nothing to us.
At length, a full hour after the commencement of our labours, I
hit upon the nest by mere chance, at exactly the opposite end to
that at which the Eeed Buntings had been, and still were, prose-

THE SPARROW BUNTING. 227

cuting their winnings and manoeuvres, which now proved beyond
a doubt, what I had never before suspected, that the birds had
been all the time endeavouring to attract our attention towards
them, instead of towards their nest."

97. THE SPARROW BUNTING.

Emberiza Passerina, LIN. Ortolan Passerin, BUF. Der Sperling-
sammer, BECH.

Description. — This species has probably been confounded
with the preceding, or it would have been better known in
Germany, where it is not rare in the spring and autumn. It
is somewhat smaller and more slender than the Eeed Bunting,
and is five inches 'long, of which the tail measures two inches
and a half. The beak is black on the upper side, and light
brown below ; the iris is dark chestnut ; the feet nine lines in
height, and of a dusky flesh-colour. The plumage resembles
in general that of the female Eeed Bunting.

In the male, the top of the head is a reddish rust colour,
tinged with olive grey, and spotted with black, from the ori-
ginal colour of the feathers, which shines through. A dirty
reddish white stripe begins from the nostrils, passes over, and
partly encircles the eyes, behind which it increases in width.
The. temples are chestnut brown, with a glimmering shade of
black, which on the sides of the neck becomes a decided black
spot. A yellowish white stripe runs from the lower corner of
the beak, half way down each side of 'the neck, and loses itself
behind the temples, in the reddish white streak above the eyes.
The throat is black, mottled with grey ; the rest of the lower
part of the body is greyish white, spotted on the sides with
brown. The vent is white ; the back of the neck olive grey,
tinged with red. The smaller wing coverts are a fine reddish
rust colour ; the larger black, with broad edges of rust colour.
The pen feathers are blackish, with a margin of olive grey,
which in the hindmost becomes rust colour. The tail is forked
and black, the two outer feathers having a wedge-shaped white
spot, and the centre ones being edged with rust colour.

The plumage of the female is generally lighter than that of
the male. There are no black stripes on the top of the head ;
but similar stripes to those in the male pass over the eyes, and
down the sides of the neck. On each side a blackish brown
streak passes from the chin to the middle of the neck. The
throat and all the lower part of the body are a dirty reddish

Q 2

228 THE WHIDAH BUNTING.

white ; though the vent is lighter in colour, and the breast and
sides are covered with fine reddish brown lines. The back of
the neck is reddish grey, and the back is covered with oval
specks, of reddish grey and black.

In the aviary, the top of the head in the male becomes much
lighter, and resembles that of the female, as above described.
The lower part of the neck also changes to whitish grey, longi-
tudinally spotted with blackish brown.

Observations. — The favourite haunts of this bird are the re-
cesses of thick bushy groves, among the mountains. It is a
bird of passage, which quits us in November, and returns in
April. It is not uncommon in Thuringia, e. specially about the
period of migration ; though formerly it was supposed to in-
habit Eussia only. In a wild state it feeds upon insects, and
various kinds of grass-seed ; and when confined, may be treated
like the Eeed Bunting ; to which bird it also bears a strong
resemblance in its song, which is not loud, but pleasant ; and
it may be caught in the same manner. Its call is Se ! se !

(B.) FOREIGN BUNTINGS.
98. THE WHIDAH BUNTING.

Emberiza Paradisea, Liy. Veuve a Collier d'Or, BUF. Der Paradiesam-
mer, BECH.

Description. — This rare and beautiful bird, called the Widow,
on account of its colour (or, according to others, from Whidah,
an African fortress, in the neighbourhood of which it is com-
mon), is about the size of a Linnet ; its length to the lateral
tail-feathers is five inches and a half. The beak is lead-co-
loured, the iris chestnut, the feet flesh-coloured. The head,
chin, front of the neck, back, wings, and tail are black. The
back of the neck is light orange ; the breast, the upper part of
the belly, and the thighs, white; the vent black. The two
centre tail-feathers are four inches long, very broad, and ending
in a long thread ; the two next are thirteen inches long, very
broad in the middle, but narrower at the end, and somewhat
pointed. From the middle of this shaft rises another long
filament. The other tail-feathers are only two inches and a
quarter in length j the two nearest the centre are somewhat

THE DOMINICAN BUNTING. 229

divergent, like the tail of a cock, wavy, and more glossy than
the rest.

The female is dark brown, or nearly black, but does not at-
tain her full plumage till the third year. When young, she
resembles the male in his winter attire.

These birds moult twice a year, and the male is without his
long tail-feathers for six months. The first moulting, when he
loses them, is in November. He then assumes his winter
plumage, of mixed black and red ; the head being striped with
black and white. The second moulting takes place late in the
spring, but the tail-feathers are rarely perfect before June.

Observations. — These beautiful birds come from Angola, and
other parts of Africa; they are lively, almost constantly in
motion, and take great delight in bathing, and trimming their
feathers. Their song is rather melancholy, and not loud, yet
on the whole agreeable. They live from six to twelve years ;
and become fond of canary-seed, millet, and barley-meal, though
occasionally requiring green food. They must be kept in a
large cage, or the long tail will be rubbed off.

99. THE DOMINICAN BUNTING.

Emheriza Serena, LIN. La Veuve Dominicaine, BUF. Der Domini Kaner-
ammer, BECH.

Description. — This species is smaller than the foregoing,
being only six inches and three quarters in length. The beak
is red ; the feet grey ; the upper part of the head black, with
the exception of the poll, which is orange white, and is con-
nected with a similar colour on the whole lower part of the
body. The feathers on the nape of the neck and back are black,
edged with dusky white. The under wing coverts are white,
which causes the wings, when folded, to appear entirely of
that colour, though the rest of them is black. The pen feathers
are edged with white. The tail is black, having the two
centre feathers pointed at the end, and more than two inches
longer than the others, which gradually decrease in length
towards the sides. Those next to the centre pair are tipped
with white ; and the two exterior feathers are white on the
inner plume, and on the outer light orange.

The female is entirely brown, and the tail feathers are of
equal length. Like the preceding species, this bird moults

230 THE INDIGO BUNTING.

twice a year; during which process it loses its long tail feathers,
and the white of its plumage "becomes dusky.

Observations. — The Dominican Bunting is a native of Africa,
and a rarer and more costly bird than the Whidah Bunting.
It requires, however, similar treatment. Its song is exceedingly
agreeable.

100. THE SHAFT-TAILED BUNTING.
EmberizaReffia, LIN. Veuve a QuatreBrins, BUF. DerKonigsAmmer, BECH.

Description. — This bird, also, is rarer than the Whidah
Bunting. It is scarcely so large, measuring to the short fea-
thers of the tail only four inches and a half. The beak and
feet are red ; the upper part of the body black ; the side of the
head, the eyes, the neck, and the lower part of the body, a
yellowish red ; the back of the neck spotted with black ; the
under side of the thighs and the vent black. The four middle
feathers of the tail are from nine to ten inches long, and fea-
thered only for two inches from the end, the remaining part
being a bare quill. The others are similar in form, and brown
and black.

The female is brown, and has no long tail feathers. The
winter plumage of the male is grey, like the Linnet, but some-
what brighter in colour.

Observations. — These birds are brought to England, Holland,
and Germany, from the coast of Africa. They are as pleasant
Cage-birds as the two preceding species, and are also capital
songsters.

101. THE INDIGO BUNTING.
Emberiza Cyanea, LIN. Le Ministre, BUF. Der Indigo Ammer, BECH.

Description. — This bird, about the size of a Siskin, is five
inches long. The beak is a dark lead colour ; the feet brown.
The whole plumage is a beautiful blue, being darkest and
brightest on the top of the head. The large pen feathers are
brown, with blue edges ; the tail of a lighter tinge of brown.

The female is very like the Linnet in colour; a remark
which, at the period of moulting, applies also to the male, for
the blue is characteristic of the perfect plumage. He may,
however, be distinguished from his mate by the more brownish
grey hue on the sides of his wings.

XH.E PAINTED BUSTING. 231

Observations. — These birds are natives of Carolina, but are
also common in New York, where they visit the orchards,
when in bloom, at the beginning of April. They chiefly fre-
quent hilly districts. Their song, which is not unpleasant,
resembles that of the Linnet. They may be kept in a bell-
shaped cage, and fed on millet, canary, poppy, and crushed
hemp seed.

102. THE PAINTED BUNTING.

Emberiza Ciris, LIN. Verdier de la Louisiana, BUF. Der Gemalte
Ammer, BKCH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of a Linnet, being
five inches and one-third in length. The beak is greyish
brown ; the iris nut brown ; the feet brown ; the head and
neck violet ; the circle of the eyes red. The upper part of the
back, and the scapulars, are yellowish green ; the under part of
the same, the rump, and all the lower portion of the body,
red. The smaller wing coverts are violet brown, with a tinge
of red ; the larger are pale green. The pen feathers are
brown, some edged with grey, others with red. The tail is
brown ; the two centre feathers being of a reddish hue, and
having the outer plume of the others of the same colour.

The female is pale green on the upper part of the body ; on
the lower, yellowish green ; the pen feathers, as well as the
tail, brown, edged with green.

As this bird does not obtain its full plumage till the third
year, it must naturally pass through several changes of hue.
At first, male and female are uniform in colour. In the
second year, the head of the male becomes blue ; the rest of
the plumage is blueish green, with the exception of the wings
and tail, which are brown, bordered with blueish green. About
the same time, the feathers of the female acquire a strong tinge
of blue. Besides all this, they moult twice a year, so that it
is no wonder that two birds are rarely seen exactly similar to
one another. Individual birds are also found, in which all the
lower part of the body, except a red spot on the breast, is yel-
lowish ; a colour which, in the moulting season, changes to
white.

Observations. — The Painted Bunting is a native of all the
warmer parts of Canada, and as far south as Mexico, Brazil,
and Guiana, though in Carolina none are found less than 130

232 THE CHAFFINCH.

miles from the sea. They are only to be seen in summer, and
build chiefly on orange or similar trees. Many of these birds
have been brought to Europe in English and Dutch ships ; and
the attempt to make them breed, has succeeded with those
confined in garden aviaries sufficiently spacious to contain
orange trees, on which they have built. They may be fed
with millet, endives, poppy, and canary seed, on which they
will live for eight years, or more. Their song is soft and
agreeable.

(A) INDIGENOUS FINCHES.

103. THE CHAFFINCH.
Fringitta Ccelebs, LIN. Pinson, BUF. Der Gemeine oder Buckfintc, BECH.

Description. — It is well known that the Chaffinch, on account
of its beautiful and extraordinary song, is the favourite of most
persons who keep birds. In Thuringia, especially, the pas-
sion for these birds is carried to so great an extent, and the bird-
catchers are therefore so eager in its pursuit, that it is very rare
to hear one in the woods with even a tolerable song. If any
such should migrate from a neighbouring district, it is imme-
diately taken by the fowler ; and the young birds, thus de-
prived of their natural teachers, grow up into very indifferent
songsters. It might therefore seem almost superfluous to give
a full description of this very familiar bird, were it not for the
sake of beginners, as well as for the uniformity of the work,
and the observations which I may find occasion to introduce.

The Chaffinch is about the size of a House Sparrow, being
six inches and one-third in length, of which the tail measures
two inches and three quarters. The beak, which is conical,
as is the case with all^ birds of this genus (Fringilla), is
white in winter, but at the time of pairing, when the bird
begins to sing, it becomes dark blue, and remains so till the
moulting season. The colour of the beak is therefore a sign
whether or no the bird has begun to sing. The iris is chestnut
brown ; the feet are nine lines in height, and blackish brown.
The claws are very sharp, and must be cut every six weeks,
as, if this be not done, the bird is apt to get entangled, and
sometimes loses its life in this manner. The forehead is black ;
the top of the head, and nape of the neck, greyish blue ; and

THE CHAFFINCH. 233

in very old birds dark blue, with a very few feathers standing

up like a crest. The upper part of the back is chestnut brown,

^ed with olive green ; the lower part of the back, and the

amp, are Siskin green. The cheeks, throat, breast, and belly,

je a reddish chestnut brown, tinged with white towards the

vent. The shanks are grey ; the pen feathers bordered on the

outer plume with green, on the inner with white, and white

also at the root. The smaller coverts are white ; the larger

black, tipped with white, from which arise two white stripes

across the upper part of the wing. The tail feathers are

black ; the two in the centre being tinged with ashen grey,

and the two on the outside having each a large wedge-shaped

white spot. All have a hardly perceptible border of green.

After the moulting season, and at the beginning of winter,
almost all these colours grow lighter; the forehead is dark
brown ; the top of the head, and nape of the neck, inclining to
greyish and olive brown ; and the reddish brown on the breast
not so dark. Young Chaffinches of the second year — called
by the bird-sellers " grey heads" — have much the same ap-
pearance, especially if of the last brood. The bird-catchers
can, however, in the spring, distinguish the old from the
young males without much difficulty ; the latter of which are
much more prized by them, as being more docile, and capable
of learning an artificial song, from some bird which has been
long an inmate of the aviary.

The female, which is easily distinguished from the male, is
smaller ; on the head, neck, and upper part of the back, grey-
ish brown ; on the lower part, dirty white ; on the breast,
reddish grey. The beak is greyish brown in summer, and in
winter whitish grey.

There are also varieties of this bird ; White Finches, Eing
Finches, — so called from a white collar round the neck, — and
Spotted Finches. I possess one, in which the general colour
of the plumage is dirty white ; but blackish upon the head, and
Siskin green upon the back. The distinction between Wood
and Garden Finches, is founded only upon the places which
they frequent.

Habitat. — The Chaffinch is found all over Europe, and is
exceedingly common in Germany. It may be seen wherever
there are trees of any kind. It is a true bird of passage,
although some occasionally pass the winter with us. Their

234 THE CHAFFINCH.

time of departure lasts from the beginning of October till the
middle of November ; and they may be noticed returning in
large flights throughout March. The males arrive in flocks by
themselves, at least a fortnight before the females ; a fact of
which the bird-catchers are well aware, and by which they
regulate their proceedings.

The Chaffinch is generally kept in four-cornered cages, which
are made of various forms, but should be at least nine inches
in height. The cages which I use, and which are common in
Thuringia, are made of wire, with a top of the same material,
and provided with two perches, one near the seed trough, and
the other by the water vessels. It is not advisable to put the
Chaffinch in a very lofty cage, as it rarely hops or flies up-
wards, but likes to go backwards and forwards, and to be
able to turn quickly. If several be kept in one room, the
cages should be hung so that the birds cannot see each other,
as this is detrimental to their song. Those intended to range
the room, for which purpose the worst singers are usually se-
lected, should either be provided with a space separated by a
grating, or should have a fir-bough fixed in a warm place, on
which they may perch ; but they rarely sing so well under
this mode of treatment as when confined in a cage, where
there is nothing to divert their entire attention from their
song.

Food. — The food of the Chaffinch consists of seeds, grain,
and insects, which they give to their young with their beaks.
In winter they collect the pine and fir seeds ; as well as linseed,
rape seed, oats, lettuce, cabbage and mustard seed, from the
fields and gardens. Like all birds of this species, they peel
the seed before eating it.

In confinement they may be fed on summer rape seed all
the year round ; a diet which agrees with them exceedingly
well, especially if a day's supply be always well soaked in
water, the morning before it is wanted. In spring, a little
crushed hemp seed ( Galliopsis Cannabind] has a great effect in
inducing the birds to sing ; but they are so fond of it, as to
render it advisable not to put it in the same trough with the
rapeseed, which they would waste, to get their favourite food.
A little green food, especially groundsel, and in winter a slice
of apple, aids the process of digestion. They are also very
fond of ants' eggs and mealworms, and need fresh wator for

THE CHAFFINCH.

235

bathing and drinking every day. Those which are allowed to
range the room, are content with the common food of the aviary ;
and eat bread-crumbs, meat, oats, millet, as well as linseed
and rape seed. And for such, it is not necessary to soak the
latter.

Breeding. — The Chaffinch's
nest, which is built upon the
branch of a tree, is constructed
with great ingenuity. Its upper
part is formed like a compressed
sphere, as round as if it had been
turned, and fastened to the bough
by cobwebs and hair. It is com-
posed of moss and small twigs,
lined on the inside with feathers,
thistle-down, and hair ; and cover-
ed outwardly with the lichens of
the tree on which it stands. The
reason of this last-mentioned pre-
caution is probably to elude hostile
observations ; at all events, it is
very difficult to distinguish the
Chaffinch's nest from the trunk of the tree to which it is
attached. The female hatches two broods every year, laying
each time four or five light bluish grey eggs, covered with
copper-coloured spots and stripes. The first brood, as indeed
is the case with all birds which breed twice a year, consists
almost exclusively of males; the second as exclusively of
females. Connoisseurs are able to distinguish the sexes at
a very early period ; as in the males, even when very
young, there is a tinge of red on the sides of the breast ; the
circle of the eyes is yellower, the wings blacker, and the
stripes on them whiter, than in the females ; though in other
respects they resemble the mother. In order to be sure that
they have not already acquired an imperfect song, they should
be taken from the nest as soon as the tail feathers have begun
to grow ; for shortly after this period, they begin to imitate
the song of their father, or of some bird in the neighbourhood
of their nest. They may be fed on bread crumbs, and soaked
rape seed; and are easily kept in health till the moulting
season, when great numbers die. At this period, a diet of

236 THE CHAFFINCH.

ants' eggs and meal worms is the best preservative. Chaf-
finches thus reared, become exceedingly tame, and will sing
at the word of command, or when invited to it by friendly
motions of the head and hand. Their docility in learning an
artificial song is much increased if they are kept in a dark
place, and not brought to the window before May. By this
means, even Finches which have acquired a bad natural song,
may be induced to learn one considered by the amateur more
perfect. The whole secret of obtaining a good songster, is to
keep the cage in some dark place, where there is nothing to
distract the bird's attention from its song. Instances have
been known, in which Chaffinches have paired with Canaries,
or even Yellowhammers. Some persons, who wish to dis-
tinguish the Garden from the Wood Finch, as a separate
species, assert that the eggs of the former are whitish ; the
latter, greenish in colour. This mistake arises from a change
which the eggs undergo in the process of incubation ; as, after
a certain period, all become whitish alike.

Diseases. — The obstruction of the rump gland, and diar-
rhoea, are the diseases to which the Chaffinch is most subject.
The remedies for the former have been given in the Introduc-
tion ; the latter may be relieved by putting a rusty nail, or a
little saffron, in the bird's water.

To prevent the Chaffinch from becoming lame and gouty, it
is often necessary to remove the scales on the legs with a pen-
knife ; an operation which requires considerable care. This
bird also very frequently becomes blind, especially if fed too
exclusively on hemp seed. This, however, has no pernicious in-
fluence on their song ; for as the disease comes on gradually, they
leave both to find their food, and hop about the perches as well as
ever. If well taken care of, the Chaffinch lives for twenty years.

Mode of Taking. — By means of a good decoy the Chaffinch
may be lured into the area or barn-floor trap in autumn from
Michaelmas to Martinmas; and in spring, throughout the
whole of March. In winter the birds which have remained
behind, or arrived before the rest, may be caught by a net in
open spaces strewed with oats. In spring they are generally
caught by means of decoy birds fastened near limed twigs.
These utter their cry, Yak, yak! Fink, fink! — and the wild
birds in search of a mate, approach and are caught. This mode
of taking may be practised as long as these birds are on the

THE CHAFFINCH. 237

passage ; and succeeds best in the morning, from break of day
till nine o'clock, as this is the period in which the Chaffinches
are on the wing, while during the rest of the day they scatter
themselves over the fields in search of food, or practise their song.
In the same manner may be caught Mountain-finches, Linnets,
Goldfinches, Siskins, Eedpoles, Yellowhammers, and Bullfinches.
The bird-catchers also make use of the jealousy of the Chaf-
finch, in a mode which they have of catching them. As soon
as they hear a Chaffinch naturally possessed of a good note,
they take a male, which frequently utters his cry, Fink, fink !
bind his wings together, and attach to his tail a thin, forked
limed twig, of about an inch in length. This bird is let loose
near the tree on which the singer is perched. The latter flies
down furiously upon the decoy as soon as he hears his cry, and
remains fast bound to him by the limed twig. Instances
have, indeed, been known, in which the decoy has been killed
by the sudden swoop of the wild bird. Another, and a surer
plan, is the following: — Underneath the wings of a male,
trained for the purpose, is fastened a bandage of soft leather,
to which is attached a thread of about a foot in length. This
again is tied to a peg sunk in the ground ; so that the bird can
run about in any direction within certain limits. Near the
decoy limed twigs are placed in a circle, and a second Chaffinch,
which is accustomed to sing in the open air, and in a covered
cage, is concealed in a bush hard by. When the wild bird
hears the call of the concealed Chaffinch, he imagines that it
proceeds from the decoy, pounces down angrily upon him, and
becomes entangled in the limed twigs. Such birds, if caught
before Whitsuntide, sing in the course of the same year ; but
if after that period, are not only mute, but die of grief at their
separation from their mates and nestlings. The heartless con-
duct of those fowlers who, for the mere pleasure of the sport,
persist in taking these birds at the wrong season, cannot be
too severely condemned. When the young birds are fully
fledged, some bird-catchers mark the places where they are
accustomed to come to drink at noon, and succeed in securing
them on limed twigs judiciously disposed. Such Chaffinches,
because caught about St. James' Day, are called in Germany,
James' Finches (Jacobi Fmken; Jopfs FinkenJ; and if they have
a good memory, are not yet too old to learn a good song, and
are more hardy in constitution than those taken from the nest.

238 THE CHAFFINCH.

Attractive Qualities. — The chief of these is undoubtedly its
song. It has besides, however, different cries, by means of
which it expresses its desires and wants. The cry of affection,
which also seems to announce a change of weather, is Treef,
treef; the call which it utters while on its migrations is a
repeated Yak, yak; and the note Fink, fink, from which it
derives its name, is heard so frequently as to warrant the con-
jecture that it is involuntary. Its clear, penetrating song,
however, is still more remarkable than these notes, and is
distinguished from that of all other birds, by its near approach
to articulate speech. This is expressed in German by the
word Schlag ftrili ?J Each bird possesses one, two, three, or
even four different songs, each of which is divisible into several
parts, and occupies perhaps two seconds in the utterance. As
the Chaffinch is among the most prized of our Cage-birds, con-
noisseurs have not only observed its various songs, but noted
down every syllable of them, and endeavoured to supply, by
instruction, its natural defects. As I am myself a great ad-
mirer of the song of the Chaffinch, and always keep a consider-
able number of good singers, I should not find it difficult to
write a volume on this subject. I shall, however, confine my-
self to what seems most important.

The names by which the various songs of the Chaffinch are
known, are generally derived from the last syllable of the sen-
tence which these birds are supposed to utter. The following,
which I place in the order in which they are prized, are most
esteemed in Thuringia.

1 . The double trill of the Hartz consists of five long passages
or strains, the last of which ends in the syllables " Weingeh "
(pronounced "vine-gay "), dwelt upon at considerable length.
This is a song which, if not created, has certainly been brought
to perfection in the aviary ; and I very much doubt if a wild
Chaffinch, even in the Hartz mountains, has ever uttered it with
the same degree of completeness as I have heard it at Ruhl,*

* Ruhl is a manufacturing village in Thuringia, the inhabitants of which,
chiefly cutlers, are passionate admirers of this bird. It is not uncommon
for them to go as far as the Hartz mountains — a distance of above eighty
miles — in hopes of snaring a good bird ; and they have even been known
to give a cow in exchange for a celebrated singer. Hence a proverbial
expression, with regard to the merits of a valuable Chaffinch, " that it is
worth a cow." A real connoisseur in Chaffinches is enraptured when he
hears one which is able to sing the double trill of the Hartz perfectly ;

THE CHAFFINCH. 239

and from birds in my own possession. It is rarely heard in all its
perfection, and never, except from a Chaffinch which has been
reared from the nest. On these accounts, a bird which sings it
perfectly, and is moreover able to retain it in memory for a
considerable time, is considered very valuable. This, and what
is called the Wine song, are the favourites among the Chaffinch
connoisseurs at Ruhl.

2. The Reitzug, or Reitherzug, of which there are two kinds.
The first has been introduced into Thuringia from Eizgebirge
and the Yoigtland, the mineral districts of Saxony, to which
it properly belongs. It may, indeed, be occasionally heard in
wild birds on the eastern part of the Thuringian forest ; but
trained birds sing it more fully and perfectly. It is a power-
ful, sonorous song, consisting of four short phrases, the first
of which ought to be given in a very high note ; and the last
ends with the syllables Reifaug. Before this, however, a ca-
dence should be introduced, to make the performance quite per-
fect, and the whole should end with a sharp Tzap, or, as con-
noisseurs call it, a snap. The second variety of this song is
peculiar to Breitenbach and the Oberland, and is longer and
more flute-like in tone than the former. The last syllable, too,
is said to be Rietza, instead of Reitzug, in accordance with the
provincial pronunciation of Thuringia. Both these are ex-
cellent songs, and one who had not heard the double trill of
the Hartz, would find it difficult to believe that a bird's song
could be more perfect. Still on this, as on every other sub-
ject, it is impossible to account for differences of taste.

8. The Reihahn. This song, which may frequently be
heard in the mountainous districts of Saxe Meiningen, and
especially in Steinbach and Lanscha, must not be confounded
with the preceding. It consists of one long, sharp passage,
beginning on a high note, and rapidly descending to the con-
cluding syllables Reethahn, or Riethahn, followed by the usual
Tzap. It is a good and striking song.

4. The Weiclmann, or Sportsman's Song. Of this there are
two varieties, the Cage and the Wood Song, the former of which

and I have often heard them say, that one possessing this song might
easily be taught to speak— so distinct a pronunciation of the various sylla-
bles does it require. The rage for Chaffinches in Thuringia is not con-
fined to Ruhl, but extends, in greater or less degree, to the neighbouring
villages of Tambach, Schmalkalden, Breitenbach, and Steinbach.

240 THE CHAFFINCH.

is common in the Voigtland. At a distance it sounds like the
Bridegroom's Song, but the preliminary passages are louder,
sharper, and more distinctly separated, while the concluding
syllables are an exact repetition of the words Weidmann, zieh
am (Sportsman, march out). The Wood Song is neither so
long nor so full, and is only occasionally heard in the forests of
Franconia.

5. The Wine Song, of which there are five varieties : First.
The Good or Langsfeld Song, which is an exceedingly beauti-
ful strain, and heard to perfection only in a few villages of
Thuringia, especially in Buhl. The genuine song consists of
four short phrases, warbled in a tone resembling that of the
hautboy, and ending in the syllables Weingeh, or Wiengeh. As
this song also is one which has been accidentally acquired in
the aviary, and thence propagated by careful training, it is
never perfectly heard from a wild bird. Second. The Bad
Wine Song, so called only when compared with the preceding,
consists of three passages, of which the second is composed of
the syllable Tzap, five times repeated, and the last is the word
Weingeh. This is a natural song, and birds which possess it
are much sought after by the bird-catchers. Third. The Straight
or Even Wine Song is a strain compounded of the Bad and the
Sharp Wine Song, of which the last syllable is uttered in a
shrill decided tone. It is by no means unpleasant, and is fre-
quently heard from wild birds in Franconia, especially in the
neighbourhood of Meiningen. Fourth. The Sharp Wine Song,
which never terminates in Weingeh, but in a distinct and
elongated Weingeh. It is divided into (a), The Common, which
is a wild song, and when genuine, consists of the syllables
Fritz, Fritz, Fritz ! willst du mit zum Wein gelien ? (Fred, Fred,
Fred ! wilt thou go with (us) to the wine ?) and (J), The Buhl
Sharp Wine Song, an artificial strain, common in Buhl and the
neighbouring villages of Thuringia. This consists of three
phrases ; the first of which is given in a very high note, and
on the last, or two last of which, a decided accent is laid. The
connoisseurs of Buhl distinguish two varieties of this song,
named, from villages in the neighbourhood, the Langsfeld and
the Winshauser songs. Both of these are very good songs ;
the last especially being very sonorous, and having two strongly
accented syllables before the concluding Weingeh. The filth
variety of the Wine Song is the Oberland Wine Song, which

THE CHAFFINCH. 241

is very much esteemed in the village of Lanscha. It is a sharp
Wine song, consisting of three loud and rapid passages, con-
cluding in the syllables, Weid, or Weingeh, followed by a sharp
Speck !

6. The Bridegroom Song : there are two varieties of this,
the first of which is altogether an artificial song. It consists
of two phrases : the first soft and high, the second sonorous,
and ending in a crescendo. The syllables of which it is said
to be composed are Fink, fink, fink, fink, willst du denn mit dem
Br'dutigam zieren ? (Finch, &c. wilt thou adorn thyself with
the bridegroom ?) The second, or inferior variety, is a natural
but agreeable song, and consists of three parts.

7. The double trill consists of two long phrases, termed a
" turn," or " shake," separated from one another by a cadence :
of this there are three varieties. First, the common double trill ;
which is again divided into a, the double trill of Schmalkalden :
b, the clear : c, the long : and d, the short double trill. These
are natural songs ; and the bird which is able to sing either a
or I, is sure to become the prey of the fowler. Second, the
double trill of Tambach — a peculiar song, invented for itself
by a young bird, which was set to learn the common double
trill — consists of notes so deep and loud, that no one unac-
quainted with the capabilities of the Chaffinch, would believe
that it could possibly utter them. The bird begins in a low
tone, which changes into a crescendo ; introduces between the
two passages a third passage, consisting of five shrill notes,
and he repeats the word Pfaff several times, and concludes by
dwelling on the word Reedidia. A bird which can sing this
double trill, either alone or in conjunction with the Bride-

froom song, is considered very valuable. Third, the Schiittel
wetscher, a double trill common in the mountainous districts
of Meiningen, especially in the villages of Steinbach and
Lanscha. It is like the common trill, except in being an arti-
ficial song, and consists of two long, distinct passages, ending
in the syllable, speck.

8. The Goody 'ear (GutyahrJ, so called from its last syllable.
The varieties are, First, the common Goodyear, consisting of
two parts, the latter of which must consist of five turns or
shakes, ending with the word gutyahr. This is a natural and
not uncommon song. Second, the Goodyear of the Hartz, an
artificial song, consisting of two passages, which are more won-

242 THE CHAFFINCH.

derful than pleasant. Chaffinches which unite with this song
the sharp wine song of Buhl, are rare and valuable, and chiefly
to be met with in Ruhl and Eisenach. Thirdly, when the last
note of this song is not gutyahr, but witzia, it is called by this
name. The preceding passages are the same as in the Good-
year song. This is a variety very common in Franconia.

9. The Kienochl, or Quakia, which also derives its name
from the concluding note. There are two varieties of this :
the double and the single QuaJcia; the former consisting of
two passages, the latter only of one. This, which is a natural
song, though very much improved by training, was once highly
prized, but is now gone quite out of fashion, being superseded
by the Good Wine song. I believe that I possess the only bird
which is now capable of executing it. It ought to be joined,
as is the case with every Chaffinch, with a clear double trill.

10. The Pa/rdkikah. No word is ever more distinctly ut-
tered by Chaffinches than this, which occurs in a song not un-
common in Franconia and the west side of the Thuringian
forest. As a natural song, it consists of two ; when improved
by training, of three passages, and concludes with the usual
Tzcvp.

1 1 . The Pithia, or Trewethia, is a rare but agreeable song,
not unfrequently to be heard in the remotest parts of the Thu-
ringian forest. When perfected by training, it consists of a
single sonorous passage, followed by the frequent repetition of
the syllable, Tzach, and concluded by the word Trewididac.
At one time, birds which united this with the common Sharp
Wine song, were very much prized.

12. The Schwartzgebiihr, a natural song, not uncommon
about Sonnenberg and Steinach. When improved by the edu-
cation of the aviary, it consists of three passages, in the last of
which the word from which it derives its name is very dis-
tinctly heard. It is concluded with the syllable, Pink. A
bird whose natural song this is, is frequently taught the Eeit-
zug, and if perfect in both, is considered very valuable.

The above varieties of the song of the Chaffinch are those
which are most prized in Thuringia, Saxony, and Franconia.
Many of these, as I have said, may be heard from wild birds,
but not so perfectly as from those confined in the aviary. If
a bird possesses but one of these songs, it generally sings more
slowly, distinctly, and with more depth and loudness, than

THE CHAFFINCH. 243

when its acquirements are more extensive ; and those are very
highly esteemed indeed which add to the end of their song one
of the syllables, Pink or Tza/p, which the bird-fanciers call the
Amen. There are, however, many other varieties, besides
those already mentioned, the names of which it is hardly worth
while to repeat. It is remarkable, that the song of these birds
varies,. according to the district which they inhabit ; and there-
fore that some songs are much more common in Thuringia than
in the Hartz mountains, and vice versa. In Austria, again,
where also this bird is a favourite, several songs are specified
as the admiration of connoisseurs ; which, as far as we can
judge from the names, are not the same as those common
with us.

The Chaffinch, when reared from the nest, is so docile, that
it is able not only to acquire the song of another bird of the
same species, but to produce an imperfect imitation of the notes
of the Canary and Nightingale. In it, also, as in all other
Cage-birds, may be noticed great natural variations in memory;
for while one bird is able to repeat a song which it has heard
but once, at least six months' study is necessary in order to
enable another to accomplish the same. One is able to learn
only a single variety of song, another acquires several ; one is
never able to repeat perfectly what it has learned, another will
not only do this, but add notes of its own invention.

Another peculiarity of these birds is, that every year they
relearn their song in a very singular manner. For four weeks
or more in spring, they are said to record; to utter, that is, a
continual murmuring or chirping, with which by degrees they
intermix detached passages of their song. It is considered a
great proof of excellence in a Chaffinch, if this process last only
a week or a fortnight, and the song be reproduced in all its
perfection at the end of that period. Other birds, which sing
only at certain seasons of the year, begin by repeating their
song in a low and uncertain tone, and introduce into it the
notes of other birds ; but in none is the recording so entirely
different in character from the usual song. Attentive observa-
tion enables us to conclude that this recording is not to be con-
sidered as a practising of the song, but rather as an exercising
of the physical powers of the throat and larynx, which for
some months have been but little used. Wild Chaffinches
begin to record immediately after their arrival in spring ; those

B 2

244 THE CKAJF-TNCH.

confined in aviaries commence as early as the beginning of
February, and sometimes continue the exercise, for two months.
The period during which they sing usually terminates in June,
though some, which have been reared from the nest, will pro-
long their strains until Michaelmas.

In order to make the Chaffinch sing by night as well as by
day, and to give its notes a greater depth and clearness, some
bird-fanciers are guilty of a shameful act of cruelty. They
first accustom the bird to find its food in the dark, by shutting
out the light from the cage, and then with a red-hot needle
either glue the eyelids together, or pierce the pupil, and* so de-
prive the unfortunate prisoner of sight. Such conduct cannot
be too strongly deprecated.

The Chaffinch seems to be in general a docile bird, and to
possess other capabilities than that of song. A travelling Al-
satian, Jeantet, had one in his possession which was able to
distinguish and compare letters, figures, and colours ; though
it seemed to be scarcely as well acquainted with its lesson as
the Canaries which were exhibited at the same time.

ADDITIONAL. — YARBELL remarks, that " the male Chaffinch is
one of the most handsome of our common small birds, and in his
general deportment is as lively as he is handsome. Thus distin-
guished by bright colours and active habits, and being besides
very numerous as a species, and confident in behaviour, allowing
the near approach of observers, without exhibiting much alarm ;
the Chaffinch is extremely well known, and as his gay appearance
and song frequently noticed as early as February, points him out
as one of the first of our indigenous birds, to afford an indication
of returning spring, he is for these various reasons a general
favourite. With our continental neighbours, the Chaffinch is one
of their most common Cage-birds ; and in France, from the lively
colours and demeanour of this bird, the term ' gay as a Chaffinch,'
is a Droverbial phrase in frequent use.

" The Finches, generally, are remarkable for the neatness and
beauty of the nests they construct, and the Chaffinch is no ex-
ception to the rule. The outside of their nest is composed of
moss, studded with white or green lichens, as may best accord
with the situation in which it is built ; the inside is lined with
wool, and that is again covered with hair and some feathers.
The eggs are usually four or five in number, of a pale purplish
buff, sparingly streaked, and spotted with dark reddish brown.
The place chosen is variable ; sometimes it is fixed in the fork of
a bush, in a hedge-row, on a branch of a wall-fruit tree, fre-

PLATE 24.

THE MOUNTAIN FINCH. 245

quently in an apple or pear-tree, several feet above the ground.
A correspondent in the Field Naturalist's Magazine, relates that
a pair of Chaffinches built in a shrub so near his sitting-room
window as to allow him to be a close observer of their opera-
tions. The foundation of their nest was laid on the 12th of
April, the female only worked at the nest-making, and, by un-
wearied diligence, the beautiful structure was finished in three
weeks ; the first egg was deposited on the 2d of May, four
others were subsequently added, and the whole five were hatched
on the 15th. During the time of incubation, neither curiosity
nor constant observation from the opened window disturbed the
parent bird ; she sat most patiently ; the male bird often visited
his partner, but it was not discovered whether he ever brought
her food."

It is said by LINNJEUS, in his Fauna of Sweden, that the
female Chaffinches migrate from that country in winter, but that
the males do not, and the name of Calebs, the bachelor, was be-
stowed by him on this species, in reference to this circumstance.
SELBY and WHITE, as well as other English naturalists, have
noticed this separation of the sexes, " which," says BOLTON, " it
is difficult to account for ; perhaps the males being more hardy
and better able to endure the northern winters, are content to
remain in the country and pick up such fare as they can find,
while the females seek for subsistence in more temperate re-
gions."

With WATERTON, it may be observed, the Chaffinch is a prime
favourite, as, indeed, from its beauty, liveliness, and docility it
well deserves to be. Twink, Shelly, Shell-apple, Chaffy, Boldie,
and Beech Finch, are the names by which it is known in different
localities ; in Scotland they call it the Shilfa, under which name
several of their poets have alluded to the bird.

104. THE MOUNTAIN FINCH.

Fringilla Montifringilla, LIN. Pinson d1 Ardennes, BUF. Der
Berg Fink, BECH.

Description. — The Mountain Finch is six inches and a quar-
ter in length, of which the tail measures two inches and a half.
The beak is half an inch long ; brown in winter, and in
summer yellow, tipped with black. The feet are nine lines in
height, and dark flesh colour. The feathers of the head and
throat are bright black, with a border of dark reddish yellow,
which becomes less marked as the bird advances in age. The
belly is mottled with white; the feathers of the back are
black, with a broad margin of dark yellow. The rump is

246 THE MOUNTAIN FINCH.

white ; the top of the neck and breast, as well as the lesser
wing coverts, orange ; the larger wing coverts black, tipped
with white. The pen feathers are dark brown, edged with
yellow ; the tail somewhat forked, and black.

The colours of the female are less diversified. The black of
the male is exchanged in her for brown ; and the orange is
tinged with grey. Varieties are also found with a white head,
back, &c.

Habitat. — This bird is common throughout Europe, but in
the summer chiefly inhabits the extreme north. In spring,
autumn, and winter, it may be found in all the German forests,
and has been seen in immense flocks in Thuringia, in seasons
when beech mast was abundant.

It may be either confined in a cage, or allowed to range the
room, according to its rarity, and the consequent estimation
in which it is held.

Food. — The reader is referred to the directions given in the
case of the Chaffinch.

Mode of Taking. — The call of the Mountain Finch is " Yac/c,
Yacky Qvadk ;" and as the two first syllables of this resemble
the call of the Chaffinch, the same decoys may be used for
both. Great numbers both of this bird and the Chaffinch may
often be caught in the barn-floor trap. In winter it may be
taken either with a net or under a sieve.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the Mountain Pinch is
not agreeable ; consisting merely of a few chirping and twit-
tering notes — like the recording of the Chaffinch — occasionally
interrupted by a sonorous UaitcTi! If kept with Chaffinches
for several years, it learns portions of their song, but never
perfectly ; and, indeed, its chief use to the bird-fancier is as
a decoy. If kept on account of its beauty, and allowed to
associate with other birds, it must be very abundantly supplied
with food, as it is of a very quarrelsome disposition. It is
said, however, that it may be tamed with less difficulty than
the Chaffinch.

ADDITIONAL. — The Mountain Finch, or Brambling, as it is
more commonly called, visits this country in the winter season
only, and is then pretty generally distributed, extending as far
as the extreme southern counties of Dorset and Devonshire.
ME. CBOUCH includes it in his Cornish Fauna. THOMPSON re-
ports, that it occurs in various parts of Ireland; and of the

THE HOUSE SPABBOW. 247

Scotch naturalists, SIB W. JAEDINE has met with it in Dumfrie-
shire ; and MACGILLIVRAY mentions having observed a flock of
the birds in some beech-trees about a mile from Corstorphine,
near Edinburgh. The following is MUD IE 's account : — " Like
the Siskin, the Mountain Finch is irregular both in the times of
its appearance and in its numbers. It is, however, much more
frequently seen than the Siskin, and resorts to more places of the
country.

" As the Snow Bunting has, in some stages of its plumage,
been called the Mountain Finch, that has occasioned a little con-
fusion between it and the species under consideration ; but the
two are so distinct in all their characters, that one cannot be
mistaken for the other. The proper Mountain Finch is some-
times called * the Brambling.'

"It is not quite so large as the Snow Bunting ; but it is a
stout-made bird, which would lead one to conclude that, though
it may, as is reported, nestle in the pine-trees, it is, in its manner
of feeding, more a bird of the open air than of the forest. While
in this country, his habits correspond, as it does not resort so
much to the trees and copses, and feed on those buds, as the
Siskin, but keeps more to the open fields, with the Chaffinches
and Yellow Bunting, though, like the Chaffinches, they frequently
alight in trees, and consume the various fruits and seeds that are
found on these, but rarely the buds, and prefer evergreens for
roosting at night."

In BEWICK'S History of British Birds, it is mentioned, that
the Mountain Finch has been seen in the Cumberland Hills as
early as the middle of August ; this, however, was quite an ex-
ceptional case. MB. SCALES, an agriculturist, of Beecham, in the
county of Norfolk, considered them of great service to his land,
as they devoured in great abundance the seeds of the knot-grass
(Polygonum amculare). " In severe weather," says YABEELL,
" large flocks of them are observed to feed upon beech mast ;"
and PENNANT, in reference to the number which occasionally fly
together, mentions that he once had eighteen sent him from
Kent, which were all killed at one shot. According to a notice
in Loudons Magazine of Natural History, one of these birds
was shot on the 6th of May of that year, in a fir plantation about
four miles east of York. But it does not appear that any col-
lector has been able to procure the eggs of this species, nor that
they can be induced to oreed in a state of confinement here.

105. THE HOUSE SPABBOW.

Fringilla Domestica, LIN. La Moineau Franc, BUF. Der Ham
Sperling, BECH.

Description. — Although this and the following species can-

248 THE HOUSE SPAEROW.

not be reckoned among those which are pleasant in a room, 1
have thought it advisable to insert a description of them here,
as they are easy of preservation, and display many attractive
qualities, not possessed by birds more generally admired for
their beauty and song.

The House Sparrow is five inches and three quarters in
length. The beak is thick, and blackish blue ; the feet grey-
ish brown. The top of the head and the cheeks are ashen grey,
though the part round the eyes is black, and a broad reddish
brown stripe passes behind them. The back of the neck is
grey; the back reddish brown, spotted with black. The
throat is black ; the breast black, mottled with white ; the
belly greyish white. The lesser wing coverts are reddish
brown ; the last row but one of the larger coverts is edged with
white ; and the last with reddish brown. The pen and tail
feathers are dark brown.

The female is very different ; being reddish grey on the
upper part of the body, spotted with black on the back. The
under part of the body is dirty whitish grey. The young birds
resemble the females till after the first moulting. Several
varieties are said to exist, — for example ; white, yellow,
black, blue, ashen grey, and speckled Sparrows.

Habitat. — It is hardly necessary to say that in its natural
state, this bird is the familiar companion of man throughout
Europe. If confined, it may be allowed to range the room
during the day, and will soon learn to take up its quarters at
night, in any sleeping place that may be provided.

Food. — It is, unfortunately, but too well known, that the
Sparrows commit great depredations on wheat and barley fields,
cherry trees, rows of peas, &c. ; but, on the other hand, they
are very useful to the gardener, in destroying, — during the
breeding season — an immense number of beetles and cater-
pillars. In confinement they will eat almost any thing,
oats, rape, hemp, poppy seed, &c.

Breeding. — They build under roofs, in crevices of walls, de-
serted Swallow's nests, &c. &c. The female lays six or seven
eggs, two or three times a year.

Mode of Taking. — The House Sparrow is a cunning bird,
and it is difficult to catch it either with a net or by means of
limed twigs. In autumn, however, they may be taken in
great numbers by marking the bushes on which they perch,

THE HOUSE SPARROW. 249

and covering them with bird-lime. They may sometimes also
be caught, by covering with a net a cherry tree which is
nailed to a house, when they have retired to rest for the night.

Attractive Qualities. — If many birds be confined together in
a room, it may be worth while to admit a Sparrow or two,
especially, as they breed freely with the Tree Sparrow. For
this purpose, a male of the House Sparrow, and a female of
the Tree Sparrow must be selected, and placed in some re-
tired corner, provided with a box, or artificial nest in which
to build.

The House Sparrow, especially in winter, maybe taught with-
out difficulty, to leave the house and return at call. All that is
necessary for this, is to keep it for a month in a large cage at
the window, plentifully provided with good food, such as millet,
meat, bread, &c. In such a cage it will sometimes breed. An
inmate of the Hotel des Invalides, at Paris, is said to have made
a Sparrow so tame, as to leave it perfectly at liberty without
any fear of losing it. It was ornamented with a small bell
round its neck. It would not allow itself to be touched by
any other person, yet was so fond of its master, that it could
not be induced to leave him, when at last he became bed-
ridden. On one occasion it was caught and deprived of its
bell, but after two days made its escape. It was, however,
melancholy, and refused all food, till a new bell had been pro-
vided. A. clergyman in Paris, also, is said to have had two
Sparrows, father and son, which were able to repeat the fourth,
fifth, sixth, and seventh commandments. It produced a highly
comic effect, when in their quarrels over their food, one of
them would gravely admonish the other — " Tu ne voter as pas ."
(Thou shalt not steal.)

ADDITIONAL. — Of this well-known type of the great Passerine
family, which we hear chirping and twittering arouiid us from
morning to night, and at all seasons of the year, KNAPP, in his
Journal, justly remarks, after alluding to the fecundity of the
bird, which enables it to maintain its numbers, notwithstanding
the hostile attacks to which it is exposed, " we have scarcely ano-
ther bird, the appetite of which is so accommodating in all re-
spects as that of the House Sparrow. It is, I believe, the only
bird that is a voluntary inhabitant with man, lives in his society
and is his constant attendant, following him wherever he fixes
his residence. It becomes immediately an inhabitant of the new
farm-house, in a lonely place or recent enclosure, or even in an

250 THE HOUSE SPARROW.

island ; will accompany him into the crowded city, and build and
feed therein, content, unmindful of the noise, and the smoke of the
furnace, or the steam-engine, where even the Swallow and the
Martin, that flock around him in the country, are scared by the
tumult, and leave him ; but the Sparrow, though begrimed with
soot, does not forsake him ; feeds on his food, rice, potatoes, or
almost any other extraneous substance he may find in the street ;
looks to him for his support, and is maintained almost entirely
by the industry and providence of man. It is not known in a
solitary and independent state."

YAEEELL observes, that "occasionally the Sparrow builds
among the higher branches of apple or pear-trees in a garden,
sometimes in other trees, but seldom choosing one that is far
from a house ; and the nest, when thus placed in a tree, is re-
markable for its large size, as compared to the bird ; it is formed
with a dome, and composed, as in other cases, of a mass of hay,
lined within with a profusion of feathers, to which access is
gained by a hole in the side. So great is the partiality of the
Sparrow for warmth, that abundance of feathers are used even to
line a hole on the inner side of the thick thatching of a barn, and
they have been seen collecting feathers in winter, and carrying
them away to the holes they inhabited. Their young are fed for
a time with soft fruits, young vegetables, and insects, particu-
larly caterpillars, and so great ia the number of these that are
consumed by the parent birds, and their successive broods of
young, that it is a question whether the benefit thus performed
is not a fair equivalent for the grain and seeds required at other
seasons of the year."

This author also quotes an anecdote from vol. i. of the Zoolo-
gical Journal, in proof of the Sparrow's attachment to its young :
it is there stated, that " a pair of Sparrows, which had built in a
thatch roof of a house at Poole, were observed to continue their
regular visits to the nest long after the time when the young
birds take flight. This unusual circumstance continued through-
out the year ; and in the winter, a gentleman who had all along
observed them, determined on investigating its cause. He there-
fore mounted a ladder, and found one of the young ones detained
a prisoner, by means of a piece of string or worsted, which formed
part of the nest, having become accidentally twisted round its
leg. Being thus incapacitated for procuring its own sustenance,
it had been fed by the continued exertions of its parents. Similar
instances are recorded in other works on natural history."

MR. KIDD, of Hammersmith, states that the Sparrow is a fine
songster, when placed under proper tutelage, equalling, if not ex-
celling the Canary. It is certainly a classical bird, celebrated by

THE TEEE SPAEEOW. 251

the poets ; the old English dramatist, JOHN LILLY, gives to the
mother of Cupid a team of Sparrows ; the German poet, BUBGEB,
welcomes the bird to his hall in some fine flowing lines ; and the
musical plaint of CATULLUS for the death of Lesbia's Sparrow,
must be sufficiently familiar to most of our readers.

106. THE TREE SPAEEOW.
Fringilla Montana, LIN. Le Friquet, BUF. Der Feldsperling, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is handsomer than the fore-
going, is about five inches and a half in length. The beak is
blackish brown ; the feet blueish flesh colour. The top of the
head is reddish brown ; the cheeks white, but each having a
black spot. A ring of white encircles the nape of the neck.
The upper part of the back is spotted with rust colour and
black ; the lower part of the back and the rump, are brown-
ish grey. The throat is black ; the breast light ashen grey ;
the belly dirty white. The pen and tail feathers are dark
brown. The smaller wing coverts are rust coloured; the
larger ones black, but edged with rust colour, and tipped with
white, which produces two transverse streaks of white on the
folded wings. Several varieties of this bird are mentioned ; as,
for instance, the white and the speckled Tree Sparrow. In
the latter, the upper part of the body, the wings, and tail, are
yellow ; the throat is black, and the head brown.

Habitat. — The Tree Sparrow is a native of Northern Asia
and America, and of most European countries. It is, however,
not so common in Germany as the last-mentioned species, as
there are several districts in which it is quite unknown. It
frequents gardens and fields, where the trees and hedges are
thick, and in autumn may be seen in great swarms in the
wheat and barley fields.

It may be allowed to range the room like the House Spar-
row. Its feet, however, are so short, that its method of loco-
motion is exceedingly ungraceful.

Food. — In this respect, the same remarks apply as in the
case of the House Sparrow.

Breeding. — It builds in hollow fruit trees, and willows by
the side of streams, and produces two broods a year.

Mode of Taking. — It may be caught in the same manner as
the House Sparrow ; though, being less shy, it can often in
winter be taken under the sieve.

252 THE LINNET.

Attractive Qualities. — The chirping song of the Tree Sparrow,
when heard among the notes of other Cage-birds, is not dis-
agreeable. It may be tamed like the House Sparrow, but
does not live so long in confinement, usually dying of decline.

ADDITIONAL. — This pretty and lively bird, which is sometimes
called the Mountain Sparrow, is with us somewhat rare, and of
local distribution ; it does not appear to have been observed fur-
ther northward than Newcastle. In many of its habits, as well
as in appearance, it greatly resembles the House Sparrow, for
which it is no doubt frequently mistaken. Its common call note,
too, is not unlike that of the last named bird, being a monotonous
chirp, somewhat more high and shrill, however. Of its song,
Mr. BLYTH says that " it consists of a number of these chirps,
intermixed with some pleasing notes delivered in a continuous,
unbroken stream, sometimes for many minutes together, very
loudly, but having a characteristic Sparrow -like tone throughout."

According to SELBY, it is a bird of retired habits, and is never
(say not often) found to frequent villages or other dwellings, like
the common species, but is generallv to be met with where old
trees (particularly pollards, hollowed by decay) are abundant, as
in the holes of these it finds a congenial retreat, and proper situ-
ation for its nest, of which the materials are hay and straw, inter-
mixed with a lining of feathers."

These birds have been known to build in the thatch of a barn,
in company with the House Sparrow, and also to occupy the
deserted nests of Magpies and Crows, and the hollow of a tree
which had once been the home of the Woodpecker.

107. THE LINNET.
Fringilla Cannabina et Linota, LIN. Linotte, BUF. Der Hiinfling, BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird is more than five inches
in length, of which the tail measures two inches and a quarter.
The beak is six lines long, dirty blue in summer, and in win-
ter whitish grey, tipped with brown. The iris is dark brown ;
the feet are black, and eight lines in height. The plumage of
the male Linnet varies exceedingly at different ages and sea-
sons of the year, a fact which not only leads to mistakes and
unfair dealing on the part of bird-sellers, but has produced
great confusion in works on ornithology. My own observations,
which have been very carefully made and extend over a period
of many years, have resulted in the conclusion that the Com-
mon Linnet (Fringilla Linota, LIN.), the Greater Redpole (Frin-

ROSE riNK£T.

THE UNNET. 253

gilla CannaUna, LIN.), and the Yellow or Mountain Linnet
^Fringilla Montana, LIN.), are one and the same species.

A male of three years old answers in spring to the following
description, and is known by the name of a Greater Kedpole.
The forehead is blood-red ; the rest of the head reddish ashen
grey, spotted on the poll with black, and on the cheeks, the
sides of the neck, and round the eyes, with reddish white. The
feathers of the upper part of the back are rusty brown, bor-
dered with a lighter shade of the same colour ; the lower part
is mottled with grey and white ; the upper tail coverts are
black, edged with reddish white sparingly spotted with reddish
grey. The feathers on the sides of the breast are blood red,
edged with reddish white ; the sides of the belly light rust
colour ; the rest of the lower part of the body reddish white.
The first row of coverts are black, edged with reddish white ;
the rest are rusty brown, with margin of a lighter hue. The
pen feathers are black, tipped with dirty white, the first row
being edged with white almost up to the points. The white
margin of the narrow plume forms a stripe parallel with the
pen feathers. The tail is forked and black ; the four external
feathers having on each a deep margin of white, which in the
two centre feathers is narrower, and tinged with red.

After the autumnal moulting, the red on the forehead dis-
appears, and the same hue on the breast becomes less conspi-
cuous, as the reddish white margin of the feathers are broader ;
the colours, however, recover their brilliancy in the course of
the winter.

Males of one year old have no red feathers on the head, on
which also the black spots are more numerous. The breast is
light rust colour, though not of a uniform shade throughout,
which arises from the fact that the inner side of the feathers is
of a shining greyish brown, more or less conspicuous, according
to the position of the bird, while their edges are, as before,
reddish white. The rust colour of the back, also, is spotted
with dark brown and reddish white. Such birds are known
under the name of Grey Linnets.

After the second moulting, specks of blood red may be ob-
served on the under side of the reddish grey feathers of the
forehead ; and the red of the breast is concealed only by the
broad yellowish white margins of the feathers. These are the
Yellow, or Rock Linnets, as they are called in Thuringia. Bird-

254 THE LTNTNET.

sellers, however, give the name of Yellow linnets to those
birds, also, in which the red on the breast and forehead is re-
placed by a bright orange ; but this is merely an effect of old
age, or sickness during moulting ; and such birds are often the
finest singers. I have myself caught several, and have always
endeavoured to preserve them. Their song was clear and
beautiful; but they were all remarkably shy and wild, and
soon died of grief, from which I concluded that they were very
old. Besides those which I have enumerated, less marked
distinctions of colour may be observed among Linnets, indica-
tive of their various ages, and the different seasons of the year.
As a general rule, the older the bird, the redder is it upon the
head.

Those which are deprived of their liberty when very young,
never acquire this beautiful red colour on the head and breast,
but always resemble the one-year old, or Grey Linnet. Birds,
also, which have been caught when old, lose their beauty after
the first moulting, and acquire the grey plumage. No variation
of colour is observable in the female, which is somewhat
smaller than the male. The whole upper part of the body is
green, spotted with blackish brown and yellowish white ; the
rump and breast, especially the latter, are spotted with greyish
brown and reddish white ; even in the nest she may be dis-
tinguished by the colour of her back, which is rather grey
than brown, and by the numerous spots on the breast, which
bears a close resemblance to that of the Lark.

Habitat. — The Linnet is a well-known bird all over Europe.
During the summer it frequents woods, groves, &c., and in
autumn betakes itself to the open fields. It is a migratory
bird, passing in winter from one place to another in search of
food. In March, by which time it has usually paired, it may
be noticed in its usual haunts.

It may be confined either in a bell-shaped, or a small four-
cornered or Chaifinch cage, in the latter of which it usually
sings better. It is not advisable to allow it to hop about the
room, as it is a very quiet bird, sitting still in any place, and
therefore liable to be trodden upon. If, however, the aviary
be furnished with small trees or branches, it will hop from one
to the other of these, and never descend except to eat and
drink.

Food. — In a wild state, the Linnet feeds on all kinds of seeds,

THE LINNET, 255

which it shells and softens in its crop, before digesting them.
It is especially fond of rape, cabbage, hemp, poppy, and lin-
seed.

In confinement, it needs only summer rape-seed, which it is
not necessary to soak, as the Linnet is a bird which feeds on
seeds alone, and consequently has stronger digestive powers
than the Chaffinch. Hemp-seed does not agree with it ; and
it is curious that winter rape-seed, of which, when wild, it eats
with impunity, is almost poisonous to it in confinement. They
must not be fed too abundantly, on account of their naturally
plethoric habit of body ; and a little salt mixed occasionally
with their food, will be found a preservative against many
diseases. Such as are allowed to range the room, will eat the
same universal paste as the other birds. A little green food
is sometimes advisable, and they are fond of bathing, either in
sand or water.

Breeding. — The Linnet breeds twice a year, the female lay-
ing each time five or six blueish white eggs, thickly marked
with flesh-coloured and reddish brown specks and stripes.
The nest, which is most frequently found in pine and fir trees,
or in thick bushes and hedges of white and black thorn, is well
built of fine roots, grass stalks, and moss, lined with wool and
hair. The old birds feed their young from the crop, and when
the whole brood is taken, will continue to do so even in the
cage. Those which are intended to learn the song of some
other bird, should be taken out of the nest as soon as their tail
feathers have begun to grow : that is, before they have received
any instruction in the notes of the parents. From the very
first, the males may be distinguished by the white collar round
the neck, and the predominance of the same colour in the wings
and tail.

Diseases. — The diseases to which the Linnet is most liable
are constipation, atrophy, and epilepsy. It lives in confinement
from twelve to sixteen years.

Mode of Taking. — As the Linnet is a peculiarly shy bird, it
is difficult to catch in the barn-floor trap, even with the aid OA
a decoy. In spring, before they have paired, a good decoy in
a cage sometimes succeeds in attracting them to the decoy bush ;
and in autumn, they may occasionally be taken with limed
twigs and nooses, set among the lettuces, of which vegetable
they are very fond. The shepherds also arrange the salt-

256 THE LINNET.

troughs for the sheep, in such a manner as to entrap the Lin-
nets, which come to pick up the scattered grains. Their cry
is Gecker.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the Linnet is loud and
flute-like, and exceedingly agreeable. It consists of several
connected passages, and is esteemed in proportion to the fre-
quency with which certain clear, sonorous notes, called the
Linnet's crow, recur. It sings throughout the year, with the
exception of the moulting season. When taken from the nest,
it should be fed on a mixture of soaked bread crumbs, rape-
seed, and hard-boiled egg ; on which diet it may be taught not
only the song of other birds, e. g. the Nightingale, Chaffinch,
Lark, &c., but also to repeat various airs and meloolies, if con-
stantly whistled in its hearing. It has even been known to
learn to talk, though not very distinctly. In whistling airs, it
excels all other birds, on account of the peculiar flute-like
tones of its voice. The trouble of teaching the Nightingale's
song to a young Linnet is also well repaid. One in my pos-
session has acquired it very perfectly, and delights us with it
during the greater part of the year, when the Nightingales are
silent.

The Linnet may also be taught to fly in and out of the win-
dow ; though, in all attempts to train it, peculiar care is neces-
sary on account of its shyness. The proper period for this ex-
periment is either in winter, or while the birds are still very
young. The best method is to confine them for a considerable
time in a large cage, which should be hung at a window look-
ing into a garden, and to feed them with crushed hemp seed.
The effect of this food, of which they are very fond, is to take
away from them the love of liberty, especially at a time when
the means of subsistence are scarce.

The hybrid between the Linnet and the Canary is well
known. It is hardly to be distinguished from the Grey Canary,
and has not only a very excellent voice, but is quick in learn-
ing to whistle.

ADDITIONAL. — The variations of plumage which occur in this
bird at different seasons and periods of life, have caused it to be
known by the various names of the Brown, Grey, and Rose Lin-
net ; it is alse called the Whin Linnet, the Greater Eedpole, and
the Lintie or Lintwhite, the last two being terms applied to it in
Scotland, more particularly j in the poetry of Burns, and other

THE LINNET. 257

sweet singers of the north, both of these names frequently occur,
as thus : —

" I waldna gie the Lintie's sang

Sae merry on the broomy lea,
For a' the notes that ever rang

From a' the harps o' minstrelsie.
Mair dear to me, where buss or breer

Amang the pathless heather grows,
The Lintie's wild sweet note to hear,

As on the ev'nin' breeze it flows."

MUDIE says of this well-known and favourite songster, which
is by some called the Greater Redpole Finch : — " The Linnet
(for, notwithstanding the manv names of the bird, that is perhaps
its most appropriate, because its most general one) is partially a
migrant within the country, though the sexes do not separate in
the same decided manner as the Chaffinches. During the incle-
ment season the birds resort to the lower grounds, especially to
those near the sea-shore. They appear in considerable flocks ;
the young birds appear earliest, then the females, and lastly, the
mature males, which may be said to be the order of movement
with all autumnal birds, how limited soever may be the distance
to which they migrate.

********

" Linnets inhabit a little higher, or more inland, more into the
open wilds, than Chaffinches ; and they prefer the closest low
bushes for their nesting places. Their general distribution, how-
ever, renders that species of accommodation not always acces-
sible ; and hence the nests are sometimes found in garden-bushes,
in hedges, or in low bushy trees. The nest is composed externally
of dry leaves and fibres, mixed with wool or hair, and lined with
the same, or with feathers. The eggs are from four to six, of a
dingy blueish white, with short lines and numerous specks of
flesh-colour. There are usually two broods in the season ; the
first hatch taking place in May, and the second in July : but if
any casualty occurs, the female will continue breeding till August.

" Linnets are birds of very gentle dispositions, easily tamed,
and capable of very considerable attachment to those who feed
and attend them ; if taken young, the males can be taught to
sing ; but the females have no song, and the old males do not
utter their note. The young, however, may be made to imitate
the songs of several other birds : and there have been instances
in which they have been brought to articulate a few words."

It seems probable that the term Linnet is derived from the
fondness of this bird for the seeds of the flax plant (Linum pe-
renne). "Except during the breeding season," says YABBELL,

258 THE LINNET.

" these birds are usually seen in flocks, feeding generally upon
small seeds, particularly those of the cruciform plants, with other
seeds of the flax, thistle, and dandelion." Sir WILLIAM JAEDINB
observes, that " every one who has lived much in the country
must have remarked the Common Linnets congregating towards
the close of a fine winter's evening, perched on the summit of
some bare tree, pluming themselves in the last rays of the sun,
chirruping the commencement of their evening song, and then
bursting simultaneously into one general chorus, again resuming
their single strains, and again joining, as if happy and rejoicing at
the termination of their day's employment."

GILBEKT WHITE also alludes to this habit of congregating and
singing or twittering in chorus : — " We have in the winter vast
flocks of the Common Linnets, more, I think, than can be bred in
any one district. These I observe, when the spring advances,
assemble on some tree in the sunshine, and join all in a gentle
sort of chirping, as if they were about to break up their winter
quarters, and betake themselves to their proper summer home :"
which home, BOLTON says, are dry, barren, and heathy grounds,
where there is plenty of heath, furze, and other low bushes.
This author describes the nest as " formed on the outside of dry
stubble, mixed with hay. The middle coat is formed of finer hay,
mixed with hair, very firmly and neatly platted together. The
inner coat, or lining, consists of hair, wool, and the down of the
seeds of willows, over which is a layer of fine fibres of roots.
The whole is a neat piece of work, round, well-finished, and very
handsome." He thus estimates the musical powers of this song-
ster : — " The Linnet gives place to few birds in point of song.
His tone is mellow, and his notes sprightly, artfully varying into
the plaintive strain, and returning again to the sprightly, with
the greatest address and most masterly execution." He also
says that its disposition is gentle and docile, and quotes the fol-
lowing anecdote, originally related by the late Dr. LETTSOM, to
show that it is capable of strong attachment for its own species : —
" Two Linnets, both male birds, which had not been brought up
together, formed a remarkable attachment to each other. When
one sang, the other joined, and at night each always slept on that
side of his cage which was nearest to his friend. Their attach-
ment was more fully ascertained, when they were set at liberty-
while their cages were being cleaned. They then flew to each
other's cage, and at length were occasionally indulged by being
puftogether in the same cage, when they always expressed their
high gratification by fluttering towards each other, joining their
bills together, and each gently picking the tongue of his friend
by turns. After some time, one was suffered to fly abroad in

THE LESSEE EEDPOLE. 259

the open air, whilst the cage of the other was hung on the out-
side of the window, as a pledge for the return of his friend.
When at liberty, they appeared greatly delighted with the com-
pany of the wild Linnets, with whom they would range for seve-
ral hours together ; but the temptations even of love and liberty
could not induce this little Damon and Pythias to forsake each
other. As soon as the hour of rest approached, the sportive
wanderer always returned to the empty cage, which was placed
by the side of that of his friend."

108. THE LESSEE REDPOLE.
Fringilla Linaria, LIN. Sizerin, BUF. Der FlachsfinJc, BECH.

Description. — The Lesser Redpole resembles the Linnet in
the colour of its plumage, but in shape, size, and habit of life,
is more like the Siskin. It is five inches and a quarter in
length, of which the tail measures two inches and a quarter.
The beak is only four lines long, very pointed, and yellow ; the
feet are eight lines in height, and black. The top of the head
is bright crimson ; the upper part of the body dark brown,
spotted with white and dingy yellow ; the rump rose-colour ;
the throat is black ; the feathers of the lower part of the neck
and breast a light rose-colour, edged with white ; the rest of
the lower part of the body white. The wing coverts are dark
brown, the two larger rows being tipped with white, which
produces a double transverse stripe on the wings ; the lesser
wing coverts are tinged with dusky yellow ; the pen feathers
and tail are black.

The plumage of the female is in general lighter in colour ;
except in very old birds, there is no trace of red upon either
the breast or the rump, and the whole upper part of the body,
as well as the breast, is spotted with white and dark brown.
The last-mentioned peculiarity distinguishes them from the
young birds, and males of one year old, on whose breast also
there is no red, but which have on the back the rusty yellow
colour of the full grown males.

In confinement the male generally loses its red breast in the
first moulting, and in the second the red on the top of the head,
which becomes greenish yellow. I possess a male, in which
the top of the head assumed this colour, which it has pre-
served for six years, at the third moulting.

Habitat. — The Lesser Redpole is at home throughout Europe,

s2

260 THE LESSEE EEDPOLE.

though, strictly speaking, a native of Sweden, Lapland, Green-
land, &c. It is a bird of passage, arriving in Germany in large
flights during the second half of October, and departing again
in March and April. During this period it frequents those
places where there is a plentiful supply of elder-berries.

In confinement, it matters nothing whether this bird be
kept in a cage or allowed to range the room. It is unfortunate
that, under these circumstances, the brilliancy of its plumage
is of so short duration.

Food. — Elder-berries are its favourite food when in a wild
state, though it also eats linseed, rape-seed, &c., moistening all its
food in its crop, before subjecting it to the process of digestion.

If kept in a cage, it may be fed on poppy and hemp-seed,
the former of which is the most wholesome. If allowed to
range the room, it is content with the first universal paste.

Breeding. — It is a very rare occurrence if a pair build a nest
in Germany.

Diseases. — The Lesser Eedpole is subject to the same dis-
eases as the Siskin ; though it seems to be peculiarly liable to
ulcerated feet, in which the claws frequently drop off. It
may be kept alive for eight years or more.

Mode of Taking. — Considerable numbers of these birds are often
caught in traps, in the spring and autumn, by means of decoy
birds, either of their own species, or Siskins. They are so
silly, or so little timorous, as often to become entangled in the
limed twigs, at the moment when the fowler is making sure
of their comrades which had been already caught. This pecu-
liarity, which seems to arise from their slight acquaintance
with human beings, is shared by all birds which breed in the
extreme North. Their call is Peewit I Krek, Jcrek ! Hoid!

Attractive Qualities. — The Lesser Redpole is recommended
to the amateur rather by the beauty of its plumage, than by
its song, which is merely a low, continuous twitter. It may,
however, be taught to draw up its own water, and perform
other similar feats ; as well as to eat out of its master's hand.
It is a very affectionate bird ; constantly caressing — not only
its own mate — but even Linnets, Goldfinches, Siskins, and
Canaries, if confined in the same cage. It seems, therefore,
not improbable that it might be induced to pair with some, if
not all of these.

THE MOUNTAIN LINNET AND MEALY LINNET. 261

ADDITIONAL. — This bird is called by MACGILLIVBAY the
Smaller Redpole Linnet, and described by him as " the most
diminutive of our native Passerine birds, and withal so delicate,
lively, and affectionate a creature, as to be a special favourite
with most people who know it ; resembling the Siskin in its
habits as well as in shape, and being one of the species which
forms the transition from Linaria to Carduelis. Its flight is
peculiarly bounding and. buoyant, and its voice remarkably clear
and loud. When starting, it emits a hurried chatter 01 short
notes, and as it proceeds on its flight utters a single note at in-
tervals, less prolonged than those of our other Linnets. Its cry
is so different from that of the Brown Linnet and Twite, being
clearer and sharper, that one who has attended to it can readily
distinguish the species on the wing. Although not abundant in
any part of the country, it forms large flocks in winter, and betakes
itself to the birch and alder woods, in procuring the seeds of
which the birds hang in all kinds of attitudes, like many other
small species that find their subsistence on trees, such as Titmice
and Gold-crests. I have also seen them in August scattered over
a tract overgrown with thistles, the seeds of which they picked
out precisely in the same manner as the Goldfinch. On such oc-
casions, unless they have previously been shot at or pursued,
they take little heed of approaching danger, so that one may
easily approach them, or even go so near as to snare them with
a noose on a long stick or fishing-rod. In many parts of Scot-
land, and in the north of England, the Redpole remains all the
year, breeding in the hilly districts, among the brushwood that
skirts the flanks of the mountains, or covers the margins of
streams in rocky dells. Not having met with its nest, however,
I take the liberty of borrowing Mr. SELBY'S account of it. ' It
is built in a bush or low tree, (such as willow, alder, or hazel), of
moss and the stalks of dry grass, intermixed with down from the
catkin of the willow, which also forms the lining, and renders it
a particularly soft and warm receptacle for the eggs and young.
Prom this substance being a constant material of tne nest, it fol-
lows that the young are produced late in the season, and are sel-
dom able to fly before the end of June, or the beginning of July.
The eggs are four or five in number ; their colour, pale blueish
green, spotted with orange brown, principally towards the larger
end.' "

THE MOUNTAIN LINNET AND THE MEALY LINNET.

Two other species of Linnets are included by most naturalists
in the British Fauna, viz. those above mentioned ; the first of
which (the Fringella Flaviostres of LINNAEUS) is frequently called

262 THE GOLDFINCH.

the Twite, and by the Scotch, the Heather Lintie ; the second
(the Fringilla Boreales of TEMMINCK) is sometimes known as
the Mealy Redpole. BECHSTEIN, it may be seen, considers the
former of these birds identical with the more common species ;
but the testimony of our own naturalists is too strong to allow of
our easily admitting this. " The Mountain Linnet," says YAR-
EELL, " is distinguished from the Common Linnet, and from both
the Kedpole Linnets, by the greater length of its tail, which gives
this bird a more elongated and slender appearance ;" and in the
admirable illustrations to his valuable work on British Birds, we
see at once, by comparing the two species, how marked is the
difference. MACGILLIVBAY also might be quoted in confirmation
of this opinion, as well as JARDINE, SELBY, and others. This
bird appears to be not uncommon in Scotland ; especially is this
the case in the western isles. In the south of England it is a
winter visitant only, and the bird-catchers there say that they
can tell immediately if there are any Mountain Linnets among
the flocks of small birds, by their particular note, which resembles
the word " twite," hence one of their popular names. Equally
good authority might be quoted to show that the Mealy Linnet
is not, as some ornithologists affirm, a variety only of the Lesser
Bedpole.

111. THE GOLDFINCH.

Fringilla Carduelis, LIN. Chardonneret, BUF. Der Steiglitz oder
Distelfink, BECH.

Description. — This bird — attractive from the beauty of its
plumage and song, its great docility, and the readiness with
which it breeds with other birds — is five inches and three quar-
ters in length, of which the tail measures two inches. The
beak is five lines in length, very sharp, and slightly bent at
the point, and compressed at the sides. In colour it is whitish,
with a tinge of brown at the tip. The feet are brown, slender,
and six lines in height. The front of the head is bright
scarlet, and a broad stripe of the same colour encircles the root
of the beak. The poll of the head is black, and a similar
stripe passes over the back of the head, down each side of the
neck. Behind this stripe is a white spot on both sides ; and
the cheeks and upper part of the neck are also white. The
back and nape of the neck are a beautiful brown ; the rump
whitish, with a tinge of brown ; and the larger feathers black.
The sides of the breast and groin are light brown ; the middle
of the breast, the belly, and the vent, are whitish, tinged with

PLATE 26.

THE GOLDFINCH. 263

brown. The thighs are greyish; the pen feathers velvety
black, with white tips, which become smaller in old birds,
and are sometimes wanting in the two first feathers. The
middle pen feathers are edged on the outer plume — for about
an inch — with bright yellow ; which, in conjunction with the
yellow tips of the hindmost large coverts, produces a beautiful
bright spot on the wings. The other coverts are black ; the
tail is slightly forked, and black ; the two, or, sometimes, the
three first pen feathers, having a white spot on the middle of
the inner plume, and the rest being tipped with white. Occa-
sionally, also, the third feather is quite black at the sides.

The female is somewhat smaller ; the red stripe round the
beak is neither so bright nor so broad ; the cheeks are marked
with light brown; the small wing coverts are brown; the
back dark brown. The assertion often made by bird-sellers,
that the presence or absence of the white speck at the tips of
the pen feathers forms a criterion by which the sexes may be
distinguished, is not founded on fact. As ill founded are the
varieties which they pretend to distinguish by the same charac-
teristics, which, after all, depend only on the age and condition
of the bird. They contend, also, that a difference of size
indicates a corresponding difference of species. In Thuringia,
the large Goldfinches, which resemble the Linnet, are called
Fir Goldfinches, and are said to have been bred in the pine-
forests ; and the smaller Garden Goldfinches, also from the
place in which they are supposed to have been reared. A
closer observation, however, proves that this distinction has as
little foundation as the last. The birds which first chip the
shell, are always larger than those last hatched, because they
appropriate to themselves an unfair share of food provided by
the parents.

The well-ascertained varieties of the Goldfinch are the
following: — !. The Yellow-breasted Goldfinch:— 2. The
White-headed Goldfinch:— 3. The Black-headed Goldfinch,
of which four specimens were once taken out of a single nest :
—4. The White Goldfinch :— 5. The Black Goldfinch. They
are either altogether black, which in confinement is the result
of age, or the immoderate use of hemp seed, or they still retain
the yellow spot upon the wing. HEEE SCHELBACH, the super-
intendent of the menagerie at Cassel, tried the experiment of
rearing a brood of Goldfinches in a cage, from which the light

264 THE GOLDFINCH.

was, as far as possible, excluded. They became altogether
black, except the yellow spot on the wings, but assumed their
natural plumage at the first moulting. Birds in which the
black hue of the plumage is the effect of age, retain it
after moulting, which, however, they do not long survive. A
sixth variety is the Bastard Goldfinch, of which more here-
after.

Habitat. — The Goldfinch is found all over Europe ; and
throughout the summer frequents gardens, groves, and such
mountainous districts as are not altogether uncultivated, or are
planted with coniferous trees. It is not a bird of passage, but
in autumn collects in flights of at most from fifteen to twenty,
and makes excursions in search of thistle-down ; forsaking
districts where the snow is thick upon the ground, for others
where the weather is more genial.

This bird may either be kept in the cage, or allowed to run
about the room. In the former case, an ordinary small-sized
Chaffinch-cage is preferable to a bell-shaped one ; as the Gold-
finch is not fond of hopping about the higher perches, and is,
indeed, apt to become dizzy. In the latter, a place separated
from the rest of the room by a grating, or a small tree should
be provided for its sleeping-place. It will be noticed that it
particularly likes to sleep and sing on the topmost branches.

Food. — The natural food of the Goldfinch consists of various
species of small seeds ; for example, plaintain, succory, burdock,
lettuce, cabbage, rape, canary, and thistle seeds.

In confinement, it should be fed on hemp and poppy seed,
especially the latter. If allowed to range the room, it is
content with the second universal paste : and I have one in
my possession, which, though refusing to touch an insect, freely
eats whatever comes to table, whether meat or vegetables. A
little green food should be occasionally given to them ; as, for
instance, lettuce or cabbage-leaves, groundsel, watercress, &c.

They are great eaters, and in the aviary usually take up a
position near the food trough, and drive away, with a harsh
cry, all birds which attempt to come near them. At the same
time, they will feed birds of similar species to themselves — as
Canaries, 'Siskins, and especially Eedpoles, whether male or
female.

Breeding. — The Goldfinch prefers to build its nest, which,
with that of the Chaffinch, is among the most remarkable for

THE GOLDFINCH:. 265

the strength and beauty of its structure, in apple and pear
trees. It is semi-spherical, and composed of moss, lichens,
and fine root fibres, finely woven together, and lined with
wool, hair, and thistle-down. The female lays once a year
five or six pale sea-green eggs, spotted with light red, and
often surrounded at the thick end with a circle of small
blackish stripes. The young, which before the first moulting
are grey on the head, and are hence called Greyheads by the
birdsellers, are fed from the crop. The males may at a very
early period be distinguished by a narrow white ring round
the beak. When taken from the nest, they may be reared on
poppy seed, and bread soaked in milk or water. The song
which they imitate with the greatest ease and perfection is
that of the Canary, with which bird they pair, and produce
bastards, which in their turn are prolific. Of the two birds,
the Goldfinch should always be the male, as, especially when
young, it is exceedingly ardent, and will often pair with two
Canaries, and rear a double brood. The bastards are in
general not very handsome birds, though they have been
occasionally produced with a j ellow body and the head of the
Goldfinch, but are distinguished by the excellence of their
song. When, as is often the case, Canaries form negligent
parents, and do not persevere in sitting, it is a good plan to
put the eggs, if possible, in a Goldfinch's nest. They will be
hatched and treated like the other nestlings, and when old
enough to feed themselves, may be transferred to a cage.

Diseases. — The disorder to which Goldfinches are most liable
is epilepsy. Sore and swollen eyes, to which they are also
subject, may be cured by an application of unsalted butter.
Stupor and giddiness are occasionally produced by the im-
moderate use of hemp seed, and may be cured by the sub-
stitution of soaked lettuce and thistle-down. In general, it will
conduce to their health, if they be allowed, now and then, to
pull the seeds from a thistle head. When very old, they
become blind, and lose the beautiful red and yellow hue of
their head and wings. Though not, generally speaking, a
healthy bird, instances have been known of their living from
sixteen to twenty-four years.

Mode of Talcing. — In spring the Goldfinch may be lured by
a decoy-bird to the decoy bush, or the Chaffinch -trap, espe-
cially if baited with thistle-top : though, from the cautious

266 THE GOLDFINCH.

disposition of the bird, neither plan can be recommended as
likely to be very successful. In winter they may be occasion-
ally caught by attaching springes to a bundle of thistles ; and
in autumn and spring, the springes may be advantageously
replaced by limed twigs.

The call of the Goldfinch is Tizflit! or Stichtitf—from the
latter of which is derived the name by which it is known in
Bohemia.

Attractive Qualities. — The Goldfinch is a lively, handsome
bird, continually in motion, and uttering its pleasant and
sonorous song at all periods of the year, except when moult-
ing. It consists, besides several intricate and twittering notes,
of certain tones, which resemble those of a harp, and it is
valued in proportion to the number of times in which the
syllable Fink I recurs. The Goldfinch may also be taught to
whistle certain airs, and to repeat the song of other birds, but
in this respect is not so docile as the Linnet and Canary.

Its tameness is, however, very remarkable, as it even learns
to discharge a small cannon, and to feign death ; as well as to
draw up its food and water, by means of an apparatus pro-
vided for the purpose. This apparatus consists of a band of
soft leather, two lines in breadth, in which are pierced
four holes, through which the feet and wings of the bird
are put, and the ends united to a ring on the belly. To this
ring is attached a small chain, fastened at the other end to the
seed and water vessel. When the bird is hungry, it pulls the
chain up a little way with its beak, puts its foot on it to retain
the length already gained, then pulls again, and so continues
till its purpose is accomplished. Sometimes the two vessels
are attached to a pulley in such a manner, that when one
descends the other rises, so that the bird can only enjoy his
food and drink by turns. I have also seen Goldfinch-cages
so contrived, that the bird, in taking a seed from the box, was
compelled at the same time to ring a bell. As in the case of
several Goldfinches in our room, the bells were harmonized,
the general effect was not disagreeable.

The Goldfinch may be taught to come and go at command,
without fear of losing it, more easily than the Linnet. To
effect this, a Goldfinch to which the warmth of the room has
not become absolutely necessary, is to be placed in his cage on
the window-sill, or on a shelf purposely constructed. Near it

THE GOLDFINCH. 267

hemp seed should be strewn, or a bundle of thistle-tops fastened,
which, together with the call of the prisoner, will soon attract
other Goldfinches. When they have been accustomed to the
place, the caged bird may be hung inside the window, as a
precaution against the cold, and merely a cage left on the out-
side— not, however, with a view to frighten the visitors, but only
to terrify the Sparrows. The door of this cage should be so
arranged as to shut, by means of a thread communicating
through the window into the room — a contrivance which need
be used at first only to frighten the Sparrows, if they should
get into it. The Goldfinches, on the contrary, should be allowed
to pass in and out at pleasure till the snow begins to melt,
or it is probable that they might betake themselves else-
where. They may then be caught, and kept in the cage till
they are so tame as to fly about the room, and return to their
cage at night, or at the word of command. The cage, indeed,
ought to be so contrived as to close after the bird without
noise, when he either comes in or goes out, and such a door as
the bird may be taught to open for himself. A bird thus
treated may be restored to liberty, without fear, in the moulting
time in August ; and, although he may fly away, will certainly
return in December when the snow begins to fall, and sing far
better than one which has been confined during the same
period. From the time, however, when he is set free, it is a
wise precaution to hang outside the window an open cage, in
which a little food is occasionally scattered, that he may never
return and be disappointed in his hope of finding nourishment.
The use of a decoy-bird also would do something to ensure his
return ; and, when once in the cage, the door should be con-
trived so as to shut and confine him in the manner before
described. After this experiment has once succeeded, it will
not be necessary to repeat the training of the bird by a partial
liberty in the room. The only risk attendant upon the prac-
tice is, that the bird may be laid hold of by the fowler during
his season of liberty. The same method of taming is often
successful in the case of Tits, Chaffinches, and other birds.

ADDITIONAL. — Of all the sweet songsters that delight the ear
with their music, and the eye with tlieir lively motions, and
graceful forms, and delicately blended tints, there is none more
generally known, nor more universally admired, than this beau-
tiful Finch, termed Carduelis, or the Thistle Finch, on account

268

THE GOLDFINCH.

of its fondness for the downy seeds of a class of plants, which
would be much more troublesome to the agriculturist, were it not
for the assistance rendered by this bright-winged Goldspink, or
Goldie, as the Scotch call him. This is a bird very generally
distributed throughout these islands, where it permanently re-
sides, affecting most the wooded and cultivated districts, although,
for reasons which it seems difficult to explain, while it is plentiful
in some of these districts, in others, which appear to possess the
same advantages, it is extremely rare. MACGILLIVKAY gives
us the following agreeable picture of the Thistle Finch enjoying
its favourite food and pasture : — " Let us stroll abroad on this
fine autumnal day, when the sun shines brightly on the yellow
fields, and the thistle-down floats along on the gentle breeze,
gliding like snow-flakes over the river. There, on that old
pasture, is the source of the plumy eruption, a forest of tall
weeds, which the husbandman ought to have pulled up and burnt
before they had time to perfect their seeds. See, tufts of down
are scattered about by those little birds, that seem bent on de-
molishing all the heads, anthodia or capitula, as the botanists
term them. How curiously they hang on the prickly stems and
leaves — with what adroitness do they thrust their bills into the
heart of the involucres— and how little do they regard us as they
ply their pleasant pursuit, unconscious of danger, and piping
their mellow call-notes !"

" Long as I have noticed this bird," says KNAPP, " it has ap-
peared to me that it never makes any plants generally its food,
except those of the syngenesia class, and on these it diets nearly
the whole year. In the spring season it picks out the seeds from
the fir cones. During the winter months, it very frequently
visits our gardens, feeding on the seeds of the groundsel (Senecio
vulgaris), which chiefly abounds in cultivated places, and vege-
tates there throughout the coldest seasons. This, however, is a
humble plant ; and when covered by the snow, the poor birds are
half famished for want. We then see them striving to satisfy
their hunger by picking some solitary green head of the plant
remaining above the frozen snow ; and so tame, that they will
suffer a very near approach before they take their flight. As the
frost continues, our little garden visitors diminish daily, and by
spring only a few pairs remain of all the flocks of autumn. Yet
it is very remarkaole, notwithstanding this natural predilection,
how readily this bird conforms to a perfect change in its diet, and
in all the habits of its life. Most of our little songsters, when
captured as old birds, become in confinement sullen and dis-
pirited ; want of exercise, and of particular kinds of food, and
their changes, alter the quality of the fluids : they become fat-

THE SISKIN. 269

tened, and indisposed to action by repletion ; fits and ailments
ensue, and they mope and die. But I nave known our Goldfinch,
immediately after its capture, commence feeding on its canary or
hemp-seed — food it could never have tasted before ; nibble his
sugar in the wires like an enjoyment it had been accustomed to,
frisk round its cage, and dress its plumage, without manifesting
the least apparent regret for the loss of companions or of liberty.
Harmless to the labours or the prospects of us lords of the crea-
tion as so many of our small birds are, we have none less charge-
able with the commission of injury than the Goldfinch ; yet its
blameless, innocent life does not exempt it from harm. Its
beauty, its melody, and its early reconciliation to confinement,
rendering it a desirable companion, it is captured to cheer us
with its manners and its voice, in airs and regions very different
from its native thistly downs, and apple-blossom bowers."

BRODERIP well observes, that " the debonnaire Goldfinch
builds one of the most elegant nests that our English Finches
produce : moss, lichens, wool, and grass, artistically intertwined
form the outside of the fabric, which is generally hidden in a
quiet orchard or secluded garden, where, in the midst of some
evergreen — an arbutus, perchance — it is protected from the pry-
ing eye by the compact leafy screen of the well-grown healthy
shrub ; the delicate down of willows, or dwarf early-seeding
plants, the choicest lamb's wool, and the finest hair, form the
warm lining, in which the blueish-white eggs, dotted with a few
rich brown spots, are deposited."

112. THE SISKIN.

FringiUa Spinus, LIN. Tarin, BUF. Der Zeisig, BECH.
Description. — This well known Cage-bird is four inches and
three quarters in length, of which the tail measures one inch
and three quarters. The beak is four lines in length, and
contracted towards the point, which is very sharp. The tip
is brown ; the rest light grey, except in winter, when it be-
comes white. The shanks are seven lines in height, and, with
the claws, brown. The top of the head and throat are black ;
the neck, cheeks, and back, green ; the latter speckled with
black. The rump, as well as a stripe between the eyes, the
under part of the neck, and the breast, are greenish yellow ;
the belly, vent, and groin, whitish yellow ; the two last being
covered with black spots. The pen feathers are black, bor-
dered with yellowish green on the outer plume, and after the
fourth, have a yellow spot near the root. The lesser wing

270 THE SISKIN.

coverts are green ; the larger edged with yellow, which pro-
duces stripes of the same colour. The tail is forked ; yellow
near the root, and the rest — with the whole of the two centre
feathers — black .

The plumage of the female is in general paler ; the head
and back are greyer, and more spotted with black ; the throat
and the sides are whitish ; the breast and the neck white,
marked with green and black ; the feet greyish brown.

The male generally loses the black of the throat in the
second year ; and for the most part, the older he is, the greener,
yellower, and therefore handsomer, he becomes. There are
also varieties of this bird — black, white, and speckled Siskins.
Some years ago I shot one, in which the breast was quite
black.

Habitat. — The Siskin is found throughout Europe, and is
very common in Germany, where it remains during the win-
ter. It does not, however, confine itself to one place, but flies
about in search of food. It may either be confined in a small
cage, like that of the Chaffinch, or left to range the room.

Food. — In summer the Siskin feeds on the seeds of the fir
and pine ; in autumn, of the hop thistle and burdock ; and in
winter, of the alder, as well as on the buds of trees.

In a cage, it may be fed on poppy seed, with which a little
crushed hemp seed may be occasionally mixed. If, however,
it be allowed to range the room, it is content with the first
universal paste. It is a very greedy bird, and although so
small, eats more than a Chaffinch ; perching all day — if kept
with other birds — on the seed box, and fighting with all that
approach it. It is also a great diver, yet, though wanting a
constantly fresh supply of water, rarely bathes, but contents
itself with spirting it over its feathers with its beak. The
operation is frequently followed by a careful combing and
arrangement of its plumage.

Breeding. — The old story that the Siskin's nest has never
been seen, has long been exploded among us. It prefers
building in forests of pine or fir, and places its nest on the
highest bough of one of these trees, or sometimes on the branch
of the alder. It is fastened to the branch with spider's webs,
coral-moss, and threads from the cocoons of various insects :
and is cleverly constructed of these materials, woven together
with small twigs, and lined with very fine roots. The female

THE SISKIN. 271

generally lays five or six eggs, of a greyish white, thickly
spotted, especially at the large end, with purple brown.
There are two broods in a year ; and the males increase in
beauty till after their fourth moulting.

Bastards between the Canary Bird and Siskin are often pro-
duced, which resemble both the parents, and are very hand-
some birds, especially if the offspring of a yellow Canary. The
experiment of pairing is more certain of success — though the
young are not so beautiful — if a Green Canary, which itself
seems to have some affinity with the Siskin, be selected for
the purpose.

Diseases. — A very fatal disease, which often attacks the
Siskin, is epilepsy. Its term of life, in confinement, is from
eight to twelve years.

Mode of Taking. — In autumn and winter, the Siskins, by
help of a decoy bird of their own species, may be taken in
great numbers in the barn-floor trap. In spring they are
easily taken by the decoy bush, and may be generally de-
scribed as by no means shy. Persons who live near a brook
shaded by alders, have caught them by merely putting a Sis-
kin out of the window, and a few limed twigs near the cage ;
and I have myself secured them in a cage, baited with hemp
and poppy seed, and provided with a door like that described
under the head Goldfinch. To this they were lured by a
Siskin inside the room ; and when in the cage, I closed the
door by means of the connecting thread. They may also be
taken by marking the place where they go to drink at noon,
and surrounding it judiciously with limed twigs.

Their call, which they utter frequently and loudly, is Dillahl

Attractive Qualities. — The Siskin is an attractive bird, in
regard both to its plumage and its song ; the latter being gene-
rally little more than a continuous chirrup, resembling the noise
made by a stocking-loom, a peculiarity which renders it a favour-
ite with stocking -weavers. It imitates the songs of other birds,
for example, — of Tits, Larks, and Chaffinches, but does not seem
able to learn to whistle a tune. It sings throughout the year,
except during the moulting season ; and by its continual twit-
tering, invites all the birds in the aviary to sing. When
taken, it feels the loss of freedom so little, as to eat as soon as
put into the cage, and on the second day to manifest no sign

272 THE SISKIN.

of alarm if any one approaches. It may be taught to draw
water, and many tricks of a similar character ; and in winter
may be trained to come and go, by placing the cage outside
the window, and strewing poppy and hemp seed before the
open door. It generally comes back, and brings several com-
rades with it. It is hardly prudent to let it loose in March,
September, or October, which are the seasons for wandering ;
though instances have been known, in which trained birds,
which have been let loose, have returned after a very consider-
able interval of time.

ADDITIONAL. — The Siskin Finch, or Aberdevine, as it is fre-
quently called, is somewhat larger than the Goldfinch, and not
so compact in appearance, nor are its plumes so beautifully marked
and tinted. With us, according to MUDIE, " it cannot be con-
sidered a very rare bird, because it is met with in many parts of
Britain, though seldom, if ever, in the extreme north ; and when
it does appear, it is not in solitary straggling individuals, but in
flocks, or at least in packs ; but as little can it be considered as a
regular winter visitant, having an equatorial migration, and in
consequence of that, appearing and disappearing at nearly the
same times every year. Its migration is rather a migration in
longitude, and an involuntary one, produced by the winds, which
waft the birds to different parts of the country at different times
of the year, according to their direction, their intensity, their con-
tinuance, and probably whether they be or not accompanied by
falls of snow on the continent. In no instance have they been
observed so early in the season as our regular autumnal birds,
which are known to breed within the arctic circle in the western
part of the continent. They are said to make their appearance
in flocks in the lower parts of Germany, about the same time of
the year at which our grain-eating birds leave the wilds, and
flock on the cultivated fields ; but with us they appear conside-
rably later, and sometimes not till the summer birds have begun
to arrive. Analogy would lead us to the conclusion that they
breed with us, but that, like the Hawfinches, they hide them-
selves in the depths of the southern forests at that time ; but
with us, their history, in a state of nature, is very imperfect.
They are chiefly known as Cage-birds, and as such they are es-
teemed for their beauty, their docility, their healthiness, their
song, and the readiness by which they produce a mixed breed
either way, with the Canary Finches. Their song is not unplea-
sant ; it bears some resemblance to that of the Canary, but it is
less powerful."

BOLTON says, that " in the southern countries it is generally

THE EING SPAEEOW. 273

called the Barley-bird, being seen about that seed time ; and in
the neighbourhood of London, it is known by the name of the
Aberdevine. It often mixes with the smaller Linnets, and is
seen picking the seeds of the alder, with its back downwards. It
is a singing bird, and being rather scarce, fetches a higher price
than the merit of its song deserves, though that is soft, sweet,
and various. It will imitate the notes of other birds, even to the
chirping of the Sparrow. It is familiar, cheerful, and docile, and
begins its song early in the morning. It breeds freely with the
Canary, and, like the Goldfinch, may be taught to draw up its
little bucket with water and food. The latter consists chiefly of
seeds. It drinks frequently, and is fond of throwing water over
its feathers."

" I am convinced," observes NEVILLE WOOD, " that ornitho-
logists are mistaken in supposing the Siskin Groldwing to be a
rare occasional visitant. Even in Derbyshire I should be almost
inclined to consider it indigenous, as future investigations will
probably find it in many of the fir forests of Scotland." In con-
firmation of this opinion, we may quote MACGILLIVKAY, who
calls this bird the Black-headed Thistlefinch, and says that " it
has been found of late years breeding in various parts of Scot-
land," and opines that most, if not all, of the individuals seen in
the winter months are indigenous.

YAEEELL observes, that " the Siskin appear to be much more
plentiful in the north than in the south ;" and there seems to be
no doubt that some, perhaps many, pairs remain and breed an-
nually in or about the fir-woods and plantations of the northern
counties of England and Scotland. Although greatly reduced hi
numbers before these flocks arrive in the southern counties, the
Siskin is not uncommon from September to April, and is most
frequently seen in small flocks, sometimes by themselves, but
more frequently in company with Linnets and Hedpoles, twitter-
ing almost incessantly as they fly, apparently for the purpose of
keeping them together, while tney search the alder, birch, and
larch for seeds as food ; their voice also very much resembles
that of the lesser Eedpole."

113. THE KHSG SPAEEOW.
Fringilla Petronia, LIN. Soulci, BUF. Der Graufink, BECH.

Description. — If it were not for the beak, this bird might
be taken for the female of the Yellowhammer, so great is
the resemblance in form and colour. It is five inches and
three quarters in length, of which the tail measures two
inches. The beak is five lines long, thick at the root ; of a

T

274 THE CITKIL FINCH.

•greyish brown on the upper, and white on the under side.
The feet are ten lines high, and greyish brown. The head, as
far as the nape of the neck, is a reddish ashen grey, spotted
with dark brown ; while round it, beginning from the eyes,
runs a ring of dull white. The back is brown, the feathers
having edges of reddish grey, which produces the appearance
of grey spots. The rump and sides are greyish brown ; the
under part of the body reddish grey, mixed with white. The
neck yellow in front, edged at the sides with ashen grey. The
wings greyish brown. The larger wing coverts have white
points. The tail feathers are greyish brown, edged with a
lighter shade of the same colour, and having the outermost
feathers tipped with white.

The female is more prevailingly grey on the upper part of
the body, and has a small pale yellow spot on the front of the
neck.

Observations. — This bird may frequently be met with in the
German forests. It is a bird of passage only in cold countries.
In a state of nature, it feeds, like the House Sparrow, on seeds
and insects, and builds in hollow trees. In captivity it may
be fed on rape and poppy seeds, as well as on the first univer-
sal paste. They are oftener tamed on account of their beauty
or rarity, than of their song, which has no recommendation.

114. THE CITRIL FINCH.

Fringilla Citrinella, LIN. Venturon de Provence, BUF. Der Citronen
Fink, BECH.

Description.— -This bird is sometimes mistaken for the Serin
Finch (Loxia Serinus, LIN.) ; but the peculiarity of the beak
is sufficient proof that it is a distinct species. The Serin Finch
has a short and thick beak ; while in the Citril Finch it is
long, sharp, and somewhat compressed, like those of the Gold-
finch and Siskin. The species at present before us bears a
strong affinity in form, colour, voice, and food to the Canary ;
except that it is somewhat smaller, and its voice is less sono-
rous. The resemblance is indeed so close, that I should take
the Citril Finch for the original wild stock of the Canary, were
not such to be found in the Canary Islands at this day.

It is twenty-five inches in length, of which the tail measures
two inches, and is eight inches from tip to tip of the expanded
wings. The beak is brownish ; the feet a pale flesh colour.

TEE LAPLAND FINCH. 275

Its plumage, which is greenish yellow, tinged in parts with
ashen grey and blackish brown, resembles in general that of
the Green Finch. The forehead, back, and rump are yellowish
green ; the back of the head, and the sides of the neck, as far
as the throat, grey ; the throat, breast, belly and vent greenish
yellow. The smaller wing coverts are yellowish green; the
larger, brownish black, with a wide border of yellowish green.
The pen feathers are brownish black ; the foremost edged with
whitish yellow, the hindmost with yellowish green. The
tail is somewhat forked, and all the feathers are blackish
brown, edged on the narrow plume with greenish yellow, and
on the broad with white.

The colours of the female are less clear and beautiful : the
yellow on the head and lower part of the body is duskier, and
the grey on the back of the head and neck extends round the
throat tike a collar, and is spotted with greenish yellow.

Observations. — This rare and beautiful Cage-bird is a native
of the South of Europe, though sometimes found in those
parts of Germany which border on France. It is chiefly kept
on account of its song, which resembles that of the Canary,
and needs the same treatment as that bird. In its native
country, which seems to be the Southern Alps, it builds its
nest on thick, shrubby firs, and subsists principally on the
seeds of coniferous trees.

115. THE LAPLAND FINCH.

Fri'iigilla Laponica, LIN. Grand Montain, BUF. Der Lerchen
Fink, BECH.

Description. — The name of the Lark Finch, by which this
bird is known in Germany, is exceedingly appropriate, as it so
closely resembles the Lark, not only in colour and general
appearance, but in having a large spur on its heel, as to be
frequently mistaken for it. In one respect, the unfortunate
bird suffers for the resemblance, being often killed by the
bird-catchers, when taken in their Lark nets. It is about the
size of the Yellowhammer, being six and a half inches in
length, of which the tail measures nearly two inches. The
beak is yellow, tipped with black ; the feet, dark brown. The
head is blackish, with specks of whitish orange ; or in some
cases quite black. A white stripe passes on each side, from
the root of the beak, over the eye, and down the neck,

276 THE SNOW FINCH.

inclining at last towards the breast. The upper part of the
body is orange, spotted with brown ; the throat and breast
light orange, in some cases with a black spot in the centre.
The belly, vent, and shanks, are white; the smaller wing
coverts light orange ; the centre black, with a yellow border,
and white tips, which produces a white stripe across the
wings. The pen feathers are black, bordered with yellow ;
the tail somewhat forked, and similar in colour.

The plumage of the female is lighter. The breast is
spotted with grey and black ; while, in other respects, she
bears a close resemblance to the Skylark.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the northern regions,
both of the Old and New World, and migrates in winter
towards the south. It may generally be seen on its south-
ward journey in company with the Skylark, while it returns
home with the Snow Bunting. If taken, it is generally in the
autumn, with the Skylarks. Its call is a loud "Pfiff!" and
its cry resembles that of the Linnet. The note of the female,
which also sings, resembles that of the Bull finch, though hardly
so sonorous. Its habits, if allowed to range the room, resemble
those of the Lark ; but if confined in a cage it sits quietly
upon the perches, like a Chaffinch. It may be fed either on the
first universal paste, or on hemp, poppy and rape seeds, which
form a diet, on which it will live for many years. It is also
fond of meal worms ; and in summer, like our common Chaf-
finch, probably subsists, in part, on insects.

116. THE SNOW FINCH.

Fringitta Nivalis, LIN. Pinson de neige ou Niverrok, BUF. Der Schnee
Fink, BECH.

Description. — The name of this bird may be ascribed either
to the white colour of its plumage, to the fact that it is found
upon the loftiest mountains, or to its strong resemblance to the
Snow Bunting. It is about the size of a Skylark, being seven
inches and a quarter in length, of which the tail measures two
inches and a quarter. The beak is nine lines in length ; thick
at the root, running rather suddenly to pink, and shining
black. The shanks are ten lines in height; the feet dark
brown. The top of the head, cheeks, temples, nape and sides
of the neck, are dark grey ; the wings are spotted with grey
and white ; the back greyish brown, varying in shade. The

THE CANARY. 277

rump is mottled with black and white; the throat spotted
with the same colours ; the upper part of the breast whitish
grey ; the rest of the lower part of the body white. The
foremost pen feathers are black ; the rest, as well as the wing-
coverts, white ; the tail feathers are white, tipped with black,
with the exception of the two external ones, which are entirely
white, and the two in the centre, which are altogether black.

The female is hardly distinguishable from the male. The
head is grey, tinged with red ; and all the lower part of the
body is snow white, except the breast, which has a dingy
appearance, and the sides, which are spotted with black.

Observations. — This bird is a native of the mountainous
districts in the South of Europe, but reaches Central Germany
in its migrations. I have seen it in Thuringia, among small
flocks of the Mountain Finch, with which it may frequently
be caught on the decoy-bush. It is a lively bird in the cage,
and may be fed on millet, rape and hemp seed, though appear-
ing to prefer to any other food the seeds of the fir tree, and of
wild hemp (Gallopsis Cannabina, LIN). It is not improbable,
also, that in a state of nature, it partly subsists on insects.
The call is " J&p, kip!" and it sings constantly, though
scarcely more pleasantly than the Mountain Finch, to which
bird it bears, in many respects, a strong resemblance. "When
kept by the amateur, it is, therefore, chiefly on account of its
rarity.

117. THE CANAKY.
Fringilla Canaria, LIN. Serin de Canarie, BUF. Der Canarien Vogel, BECH.

Description. — The original home of this bird, — now so well
known in every country in Europe, even as far north as
Eussia and Siberia, and everywhere prized for the beauty
of its plumage, its engaging disposition, its admirable song,
and its extraordinary docility, — is the Canary Islands, where
it breeds on the banks of rivulets. It is said to have been intro-
duced into Europe in the beginning of the sixteenth century,
by a ship bound for Leghorn, which foundered near the island
of Elba. The birds set at liberty by this accident found the
climate so propitious as to breed, and would probably have
become at last quite acclimatized, had they not been so dili-
gently sought after by the bird-catchers, that not a single
individual is now to be found in the island. It was there-
fore from Italy that Canaries were introduced into the rest

278 THE CANAKY.

of Europe. Their preservation in captivity was rendered
at first more difficult, by the fact that very few females
were imported. The original colour of the bird was grey,
inclining to green on the under part of the body, and, on the
whole, not unlike that of the Lin-net. But this has undergone
so complete a change from domestication, difference of climate,
and hybridizing with birds allied in species, that we now have
Canaries of almost every colour. The prevailing hues, how-
ever, are grey, yellow, white, blackish, and reddish brown ;
the mixture of which again gives rise to innumerable varieties.
In Italy the Canary has bred chiefly with the Citril Finch and
the Serin ; in Northern Europe with the Linnet, Green Finch,
and Siskin. Were it not indeed a well-established fact that
the Canary is a native of the islands of the same name, we
might reasonably suppose that it descended from some one or
more of the species above-mentioned. I have seen a mule
between a Siskin and a Serin, which exactly resembled a Green
Canary, and also the offspring of a female Grey Canary, in
which no trace of their real parentage was discernible.

Those Canaries which are blackish grey, or greyish brown on
the upper part of the body, like a Linnet, and at the lower part
greenish yellow, like a Green Finch, are the commonest and
healthiest birds, and have deviated less from the colour of the
original stock. Their eyes are dark brown. Yellow and white
Canaries have often red eyes, and are not so strong. The reddish-
brown Canaries, with greyish brown eyes, are the rarest, and
in respect to strength and longevity, occupy an intermediate
position between the other two varieties. As, however, the
plumage of the Canary generally displays more than one of
these colours, the bird is valuable in proportion to the regu-
larity with which it is marked. Those, however, in which
the body is yellow or white, and the wings, tail, and head —
particularly if crested — yellowish dun, are at present con-
sidered the handsomest birds. Next to these are the Golden
Yellow Canaries, with black, blue, or blackish grey head,
wings, and tail ; then, the blackish bird, with grey or yellow
head and collar; next, the Yellow Canaries, with black or
greenish yellow head, which in this case should have a crest.
The grey, or almost black Canaries, with the yellow breast, and
white head and tail, are held in peculiar estimation. Such
birds as are irregularly mottled or spotted, as well as those

THE CANAEY. 279

which are uniform in colour, are considered of but little value.
I may notice here, that it is a mistake to suppose that these
varieties of colour are produced in Canaries and other birds by
variety of food ; as, in point of fact, the food of wild birds, in
which these varieties are not observed, is far less uniform.
They may more probably be ascribed to an unnatural habit of
life, want of exercise, and the use of artificial diet. My own
birds, which are fed on the simplest nutriment, display those
varieties of colour as much as any others.

The female is hardly distinguishable from the male, except
that the plumage of the latter is generally brighter in colour.
His head also is rather larger and longer; the body more
slender; the neck not so short; and the legs longer and
straighter. Another special characteristic is, that the yellow
of the temples, and round the eyes, is always brighter than in
any other part of the body.

The Canary is about the size of a Linnet ; being five inches
in length, of which the tail measures two and a quarter.
The beak is five lines in length, strong, pointed, and whitish ;
the feet are flesh-coloured, and eight lines high.

The principal mule Canaries are the following: — 1. The
mule between the Canary and the Goldfinch. The colours of
this very handsome bird resemble, in some degree, those of
each parent. The most beautiful which I have ever seen was
ashen grey on the crest, and silvery white on the rest of the
head, and the upper part of the neck. A broad orange stripe
surrounded the root of the beak, and a snow-white collar
encircled the neck. The back was greyish brown, streaked
with black ; the under part of the body, including the rump,
white. The vent, the wings, and the first pen-feathers are
white ; the rest, as well as the coverts, black, edged with
yellow, and having a golden yellow spot in the middle of the
wings. The tail was white, with a black spot at the side ;
the beak white, with a black tip; and the feet also white.
The mother of this bird was white, with a greenish grey crest ;
and it may generally be remarked, that the most beautiful birds
are the offspring of a Goldfinch and a yellow or white Canary.

2. The mule between the Canary and the Siskin very
closely resembles the female Siskin, if the offspring of a
female green Canary. If she be white or yellow, the mule is
lighter in colour, but still like the Siskin in shape.

280 THE CANABY.

3. The mule between the Canary and the Greenfinch closely
resembles the next variety.

4. The mule between the Canary and the Serin Pinch, if not
bred from a female Canary, which is either yellow or white,
cannot be distinguished from the common grey or green
Canary, except by its smaller size, and thick short beak.

5. The mule between the Canary and the Linnet, if bred
from a grey Canary, can hardly be distinguished from it,
except by the length of its tail ; if from a yellow or white one,
is variegated in colour.

The other known mules are less common.

Habitat. — Except in the breeding season, the mules should
be kept in small bell-shaped cages, made of wire, which ought
to be not less than one foot in height, and eight inches in
diameter, and provided with two perches, placed crosswise,
one above the other. The females may either be allowed to
range the room with clipped wings, or be confined in a cage of
such a size, as to admit of constant and varied motion. This
exercise has a great effect in preserving health and strength.
In the small cages, adapted for one bird, the seed and water
vessels should be placed at the extremities of the lower perch.
They should be made of glass, and the seed-trough should be
provided on the outside with a covering of some sort, to prevent
the bird from scattering its food. For the same reason, the
seed-drawers for the larger cages are covered with a net of
fine wire. As cleanliness is the most effectual preventive of
many diseases to which this pretty bird is subject, the bottom
of the cage should be so constructed as to draw out ; and ought
to be cleared and strewed with river sand not less than once
a week. The cage ought never to be left in winter in a room
without fire, as these domesticated little foreigners have never
been inured to the severity of our climate, though in summer
they delight in fresh air. They always sing best in broad
sunlight, and when the natural warmth of the day prompts
them to take the refreshment of the bath.

Food. — Under this head, the most important, as regards
the management of Canaries, it may be laid down as a gene-
ral rule, that the simplest and most natural diet is the best.
The best food for Canaries is the summer rape seed; that,
namely, which is sown late in spring ; and neither so large
nor so black as the winter rape seed, which is sown in

THE CANAET. 281

autumn. Like Linnets, they thrive on this food alone ; hut
it is occasionally advisable, especially in spring, when they
are desired to breed, to mix with it a little crushed hemp,
canary, and poppy seed. Better still, perhaps, is a mixture of
summer rape seed, oats, or oatmeal, and a little millet or
canary seed. This is especially adapted for the females, though
in winter they are also content with bread, or barley-meal,
soaked in milk, if they receive a fresh supply every day. In
summer, both sexes ought to be supplied with green food —
cabbage or lettuce leaves, turnip-tops, groundsel, watercress
(if well washed) ; and in winter, with pieces of sweet apple.
As for the mixture of rape seed, millet, hemp seed, canary seed,
oats, oatmeal, poppy seed, lettuce seed, linseed, plaintain seed,
tansy seed, pink seed, sugar, cakes, biscuits, buns, and the like,
which some people give to their birds, it is injurious, in every re-
spect. It makes them dainty, weak, disinclined to breed, sickly,
and generally kills them at an early age. It is easy enough
to accustom these, and other birds, to eat and enjoy whatever
comes to table ; but, in so doing, we only lay the foundation
for future disease, and speedy death. While, on the contrary,
poor people, who are not acquainted even with the names of
many of these delicacies, succeed in rearing and preserving
healthy, handsome, and lively birds.

Canaries should be supplied daily with clean water, for
drinking and bathing ; and they swallow the larger grains of the
sand with which their cage is strewed, as an aid to the process
of digestion. These remarks, however, must throughout be
understood to apply only to full grown birds, as the young re-
quire a very different treatment.

Breeding. — The propagation of these birds is attended with
many difficulties, which have been rather increased than
diminished by the innumerable expedients invented to obviate
them. For pairing, young males, of from two to five years
old, are usually selected ; and experience shows, that if such
breed with females older than themselves, the majority of the
brood will consist of males. Old birds may be recognised by
the projecting blackish scales on the legs, and by their long
strong claws. Good breeding birds are rare and costly. Some
males are melancholy and phlegmatic, and are so silent as not
to attract the attention of their mates ; some are so passionate,
as to be always fighting with the females, and even to kill the

282 THE CANAEY.

nestlings ; others, again, so ardent, as to teaze the female during
the time of incubation, to tear the nest, break the eggs, or
induce the mate to forsake her eggs or nestlings. The females,
too, have their faults. Some forsake their eggs as soon as
laid, and begin to pair again ; others, are inattentive in feeding
their young, or even bite them, and pull at their feathers, so
that they die a miserable death ; others lay their eggs at too
long intervals, or are so much exhausted by the effort, as to be
unable to give them the requisite attention afterwards. For
all these faults, various corrections have been proposed, but I
have found none of them effectual in every case ; and it is best
for the amateur to get rid of such birds as I have described,
and to supply their places with others.

To procure handsome young ones, the best method is to
allow only such birds to pair as are both of the same colour,
and themselves clearly marked ; though of course, in large
aviaries, when the birds pair promiscuously, this precaution
cannot be taken. Greenish or brownish, paired with light
yellow birds, often produce very handsome offspring. One
rule, however, may be laid down as invariable ; not to allow
two crested birds to pair, as the young ones are almost always
bald, or in someway disfigured on the head.

Canaries begin to pair about the middle of April, and may
be allowed to do so either in a cage or a room. In the former
case, a male and a female, or a male and two females, are to be
confined in a large wire cage. In the latter, the room must
be partly filled with pine boughs (pina spicea, LIN.) which
have been cut in February, and do not therefore shed their
leaves. In both cases the birds must be able to enjoy the
warmth of the sun, and must be furnished with hemispherical
nests of turned wood, or osiers woven together, two for each
pair. If for a window-sash a wire grating could be con-
veniently substituted, so that the birds could have fresh air, as
well as light and warmth, it would tend materially to increase
the strength and health of the young ones. The pair which
are designed to breed together, should be put for a week into a
small cage, before being removed to the breeding-cage. If a
male is to be mated with two females, the females ought to be
previously kept in a small cage, till they have learned to agree.
In this case, the breeding-cage should be divided into two
parts, by a partition, in which is a communication, closed by a

THE CAXAEY. 283

sliding door. The male is first put, with one of the females,
into one of the compartments, with the door of communication
shut. When she has laid, he is to be taken away and put into
the other compartment with the second female. When she
also has laid her eggs, the door may be left permanently open,
and the male allowed to pass from one to the other. He will,
in this case, visit his two mates alternately, and they on their
part will manifest no jealousy of each other. In a room full
of Canaries, the proportion of males to females should be one
to two, or even three. Each male will first select a favourite,
with which he will pair, and always continue on the most
affectionate terms ; but during the process of incubation, he
will be invited to pair by the other females, and will probably
do so, without afterwards troubling himself much with either
them or their eggs. It is noticed, that from unions such as
these, the largest broods, and best birds, are produced.

If the floor of the room be strewed with fine moss and lichen,
the birds will need no further help in building their nests ;
though some persons supply them with hair of various animals,
swine's bristles, fine dry hay, shreds of paper, and woollen or
linen cloth : of these materials, the birds select the coarser for
the substance, the finer for the lining of the nest. They are
sometimes prompted by instinct to build a nest on the pine
branches, without the aid of the foundation of wood, or osier,
provided for them ; but it is never very skilfully constructed,
nor carefully finished. As is the case with most birds, the
female is generally the builder ; while the male only chooses
the place for the nest, and carries the materials. The female
is incessantly in motion with the nest, and invites the male to
the act of pairing, which generally takes place at that time,
with an incessant chirruping. This is repeated more fre-
quently as the time of laying the eggs approaches ; and
between the first pairing, and the laying of the first egg, a
period of seven or eight days usually intervenes. One egg is
laid each day — generally at the same hour — till they reach five
or six in number ; and the pairing continues up to the com-
mencement of incubation. If the birds be good sitters, it is
sufficient to leave them to themselves, without offering any
artificial assistance. It is, however, usual to take the eggs
away as soon as laid, supplying their place in the nest with an
ivory nest-egg, and laying them up in a box in fine, dry river

284 THE CANAEY.

sand. When the female has ceased to lay, the eggs are put
back in the nest to be hatched. She lays three or four times
a year, from April to September, and in some cases is so ardent
in propagating the species, as not to cease laying even during
the moulting season. The eggs are sea-green in colour, more
or less spotted and streaked with reddish brown and violet.
The period of incubation is thirteen days ; and if it be sus-
pected that any of the eggs are addled, the point may be as-
certained by inspection of them, at the end of six or eight
days. If at this period they be held up before a strong light,
and appear to be full of blood-vessels, they are good ; but if
their substance appear to be clear and transparent, they may
be thrown away as worthless. The male relieves the female
at the labour of incubation during a few hours in every day ;
though the latter flies back as soon as her hunger is satisfied,
and if the male refuses to give up his place, drives him from
it with beak and claws. She is probably aware that he will
perform his office imperfectly; will not turn the eggs suf-
ficiently often, or will allow them to become too hot or too
cold. The life of the young birds, even in the shell, is very
precarious ; and they are often killed by the discharge of a
gun, the slamming of a door, or any other loud or sudden
noise.

As soon as the young are hatched, a trough should be put
into the cage, filled with a quarter of a hard-boiled egg, chopped
small, mixed with a little wheaten bread, which has been
soaked in water, and afterwards pressed dry. In a second
vessel should be placed rape seed, which two hours before has
been boiled, and afterwards washed in cold water, to take away
all its pungency. For bread, some persons substitute biscuit ;
a change of very little real consequence. The main thing
to be looked to, is, that no food intended for young Canaries
should stand till it becomes sour. The chief occupation of the
male now, for some time, consists in supplying the young
with food ; a labour which he takes almost wholly upon him-
self, probably with a view of allowing the female to rest, after
the fatigue of incubation. If, in consequence of any accident, it
should be necessary to feed the young birds by hand, the best
food is wheaten bread, or biscuit grated fine, and mixed with rape
seed crushed small. A little of this food, moistened with yolk
of egg and water, should be given to each bird, by means of a

THE CANARY. 285

quill, ten or twelve times a day. About four quills-full will
be found sufficient for a meal.

Up to the twelfth day the young are almost destitute of
feathers, and need the warmth of their mother's wing ; and it
is sometimes the case, especially in cold dry seasons, that they
never become properly fledged. , A lady, who has paid a good
deal of attention to this subject, Madame C. has observed
that the growth of the feathers is promoted by a bath of luke-
warm water. A similar immersion she has found to be of
great use in aiding the young birds — when not yet hatched—-
to chip the shell. . After the thirteenth day they are able to
feed themselves ; and when a month old, may be taken from
the parent birds, and confined in separate cages, which it is
advisable to hang at some distance from one another. For a
few weeks, rape seed, soaked in the manner above described,
should be mixed with their ordinary food; as a too sudden
change of diet would probably have an unfavourable effect on
their health during the moulting season.

When the young are from twelve to fourteen days old, the
female begins to prepare for a second brood ; builds a new nest,
and has often laid her eggs, before the former brood are fully
fledged. I must not, however, omit to state, that when a
male has been paired with two females, in the manner before
mentioned, one of which dies before her eggs are hatched, the
other will receive them into her nest, sit on them till they are
hatched, and treat the young birds with as much attention as
her own. To do this, she will even avoid and repulse the
caresses of her mate. It is alleged — not without some show
of probability — that the healthiest and strongest Canaries are
such as have been bred in garden aviaries, which afford abun-
dant opportunities for exercise.

The Canary frequently pairs with birds of not dissimilar
species, and produces mules, which propagate their kind. As
we have before seen, the Linnet, Lesser Eedpole, Goldfinch,
Siskin, Serin and Citril Finches, are best adapted for this pur-
pose. Experiments, also, with the Bullfinch and Greenfinch
are said to have succeeded. If young birds of any of the
above-mentioned species be taken from the nest at a very early
period, and reared by hand, it makes no difference whether
they or the Canaries be male or female.* Otherwise, it is best

* It is well known that the Canary has occasionally paired with the

286 THE CA3TAET.

to put an old tamed male of one of these species, with a female
Canary ; as, although a female of some other bird might not
reject the advances of the male Canary, she would feel a
repugnance to laying in an artificial nest. The oifspring of
such connexions inherit the plumage of both parents. The
mules of the Canary with the Linnet and Goldfinch are excel-
lent singers ; while those with the Siskin and the Lesser Eedpole
are valueless in this respect. They are all to be treated like
Canaries of a pure breed. All these bastards are said to pro-
pagate their kind ; and with regard to the Goldfinch and Siskin
mules, the fact is well ascertained. It may be noticed,
however, that the eggs of the first year are no larger than
peas, and the young birds very small and weak. This is a
defect which is less observable in every succeeding brood.

The young Canaries have been able to feed themselves
in a fortnight, and in some cases sooner, they then begin to
twitter ; though, even at this early period, the male may be
distinguished from the female by the more connected character
of his song. If a young bird is to be taught to whistle, it
should be now separated from its comrades, and confined in a
small wire cage, which should be covered at first with a linen
cloth, and afterwards with some thicker material. A short
air should then be either whistled, or played on a flute or bird-
organ, within its hearing, five or six times a day, especially in

Sparrow, the Chaffinch, and the Yellowhammer ; though, from the differ-
ence of appearance and food, it is by no means easy to bring this about. I
myself have never observed any sexual desire between Yellowhammers
and Canaries of either sex, although resembling one another in appearance
so closely, that the difference of species was hardly perceptible, I have,
however, known cases in which an ardent Bullfinch has paired with an
equally ardent hen Canary, though, with every care, it is very seldom that
the eggs prove fruitful and produce young. I am informed by Dr. J ASSAY,
of Frankfort-on-the-Main, that he has bred mules between a male Bull-
finch and a female Canary ; the eggs, however, having been hatched by
another Canary. It is necessary, in this case, to select females which have
no crest, as the offspring are distinguished by very large heads, to which
a crest is a very doubtful ornament. " My Bullfinch," says he, "is so
fond of his mate, that he cries incessantly when I remove him from her,
and will not behave himself sociably with any other bird. I possess also
a male Nightingale, which has long lived and sung in the same cage as a
female Canary. They were both so ardent last spring, as to pair in my
presence, but the eggs proved unfruitful. Should the same thing occur
again, I will put the eggs under some other bird."

THE CANABY. 287

the morning and evening, and repeated on each occasion half-
a-dozen times. After an interval of from two to six months,
according to the memory and docility of the bird, it will have
acquired its lesson perfectly. If, however, too long a period
should have elapsed before the commencement of the instruc-
tion, it is not improbable that the bird will always intermix
with his artificial song some portion of that which he has
learned from his father.

It is also said that Canaries may be easily taught to come
and go at command ; but I must confess that the experiment
never succeeded with me, although I have strictly followed all
the directions which I subjoin for the benefit of the reader.
The cages should be provided with doors which open only
inwards, and which close of themselves. When the male and
female have been paired, as above directed, the former is let
fly in some garden where there are trees ; the cage is then
hung outside the window, that his mate may lure him back.
This is repeated for five or six days, always letting the male
go again without touching him, that he may not be terrified.
After a time, the female also may be set at liberty, the door of
the cage being left permanently open, that they may go and
return at will. In this case they generally build upon lofty
and bushy trees. Care must be taken to catch both the old
and young birds in autumn, as there is danger lest they should
fly off with the Linnets ; with which birds they are very
sociable, whether in confinement or at liberty.

Diseases. — The Canary, a bird which least of all others
enjoys the healthful influences of fresh air and exercise, is
subject to all the diseases mentioned in the Introduction. But
besides these, it is especially liable also to the following : —

1. Rupture. This disease, which is not uncommon among
young birds, seems to be a kind of indigestion, which results
in an inflammation of the bowels. Its symptoms are a gene-
ral thinness. The skin becomes bare on the part affected,
puffed up, and full of small swollen blood vessels ; the bowels
descend to the extremity of the body, and appear black and
knotted. The cause of the disease, against which all remedies
appear to be unavailing, is a too great indulgence in nourishing
food. A little alum, salt, or a rusty nail, in the water vessel
is occasionally of some service.

2. The Egg Rupture, if not so immediately fatal as the

288 THE CAKABY.

former disease, is hardly less so in the end. It consists of an
obstruction in the passages by which the eggs are extruded,
which gradually increases in size till it results in the death of
the bird. A characteristic of this disease is, that the birds
often fancy they have laid, and begin to brood accordingly.

3. The Yellow Scab on the head and eyes may be cured by
nourishing food. If, however, a small ulcer, like a grain of
hemp seed, should make its ^appearance, it should be cut off,
and the wound anointed with a little fresh butter, or bathed
in urine.

4. Sweating is a disease to which sitting females are liable,
and which often destroys the brood. If it be remarked that a
hen's feathers are wet, her body should be washed in salt and
water, and again, after the lapse of a few minutes, in fresh
water, which is allowed to dry in the sun. This is to be re-
peated once or twice a- day. The disease, however, is not so
detrimental as is generally supposed.

5. Asthma, which often arises from a disordered stomach,
may be relieved by the use of soaked plaintain and rape seed.

6. The Sneezing, which is produced by an obstruction in
the nostrils, may be cured by passing a very fine feather
through them.

7. The Loss of Voice, which in the male is sometimes the
consequence of moulting, may be cured by the use of the food
prescribed for the young ones. Lettuce-seed is also a specific
for this disease, and some bird-fanciers put a bit of bacon in
the cage for the bird to peck at.

8. Constipation is most effectually relieved by the use of
green food, especially lettuce and water-cress.

9. Epilepsy is produced in Canaries, as in other birds, by
causes with which we are not acquainted. They seem, how-
ever, to be especially liable to it from their great delicacy and
timidity, as they are attacked by it when it is attempted to
clean their cages. Sometimes it even follows an exposure to
a draught. It may be cured by the means described in the
Introduction.

10. Overgrown Claws and Beak. Both beak and claws oc-
casionally require to be clipped with a pair of scissors, though
in the latter case care must be taken not to cut too deep,
and so lame the bird by consequent effusion of blood. If
the part be held up to the light, the termination of the blood-

THE CANAEY. 289

vessel — beyond which it is not safe to cut, may be distinctly
seen. The claws of brooding hens ought sometimes also to be
cut, as otherwise they become entangled by them in the nest.
The consciousness of having very long claws, and the fear of
becoming fast in the wire of the cage, often make Canaries
melancholy, and take away the desires of food.

11. Lice. Canaries when diseased, or not kept with suf-
ficient cleanliness, are often very much plagued with these
little creatures, and manifest their uneasiness by constant rest-
lessness. Frequent bathing and a clean cage, strewed with dry
sand mixed with a little crushed aniseed, are the best preven-
tives. It is also a good plan to substitute for perches of solid
wood, others of reed or elderwood, into the cavities of which
the insects creep, and from which they may be daily dis-
lodged.

If Canaries breed, they rarely live more than ten years, but
under other circumstances, they may be preserved with care
for twice that period.

Attractive Qualities. — The Canary has always been a favou-
rite Cage-bird, not only on account of the beauty of its plumage
and the excellence of its song, but also of its docility, affection-
ate disposition, and the readiness with which it breeds in con-
finement. Another source of gratification connected with this
bird is the observation of its peculiarities of disposition. Some
are melancholy, others lively ; some of a peaceful, others of a
quarrelsome disposition ; some docile, others stupid ; some eager
to pair, others delighting in solitude, &c. Their chief recom-
mendation, however, consists, beyond doubt, in their loud,
lively, and various song, which is continued throughout the
year, in some cases, even in the moulting seasons. Some, which
are very much esteemed, will sing even at night, if a light be
placed near their cage ; a peculiarity which, though natural in
some, is in most, the result of long training. The singers of the
Tyrol, so called from the country where they are caught, which
imitate the Nightingale's song, are considered to hold the first
rank ; and next to these the English Canaries, which have ac-
quired the warbling of the Wood Lark. In Thuringia, those
are most esteemed which, instead of a sonorous song of their
own, have been taught to descend through the notes of an
octave in a clear silvery tone, occasionally introducing a trum-
pet-like song, Terteng. In the pairing season, the males some-

290 THE CANARY.

times sing so long, and with such vigour, as to burst the large
blood-vessels of the lungs, and thus fall off the perch in the
midst of their song, and die instantly.

In spring, when excited to pairing by the constant invitation
of her mate, the female utters a few harsh, unconnected notes.
In the case of one which is too old to breed, these notes are
sometimes heard throughout the year.

The Canary is remarkable also for its good ear and memory,
and its capability of reproducing all sounds, of whatever species.
The variety of its ordinary song, indeed, arises from the fact
that it imitates the songs of all birds which it has heard when
young ; and it will also learn to execute two or more airs, or
tunes, which it has been instructed as above described, in
proper time and tune. Instances have also been known in
which it has been taught to repeat short words distinctly, to
distinguish names, colours, letters, and numbers, and to per-
form certain actions at the word of command. I once saw a
female, in the possession of a person named Jeantot, of Befort,
in Alsace, which selected from an alphabet, and placed in order,
the letters of certain words ; added, subtracted, and multiplied
in German, and indicated, by means of numbers, the exact
time of a watch. He had also three males with him, which
were able to select letters and numbers which were named.
Hunger had been the chief means used in the education of
all. Some years ago, also, Canaries were exhibited which
performed many curious feats, and, among others, enacted a
trial and execution. A Canary was brought from prison by
his comrades, who formed a circle round him ; one lifted up
his leg, as if to behead the culprit, who straightway fell down,
pretending to be dead ; he was then carried off and buried in
sand, while others accompanied the ceremony by whistling a
dirge.

I will conclude this article by giving some rules, by the ob-
servance of which, the possession of a good singer may be
ensured. The first and chief thing is, that when young the
bird should hear none but a good song, and so not be tempted
to intermix the notes of other birds with his own. Care must
be taken to attain this object, not only at first, but at the first
and second moulting season, as the bird is then obliged to re-
learn his song, and might introduce into it some foreign admix-
ture. Here, too, may be remarked, a difference of capability

THE CANARY. 291

in different birds. It should also be noticed whether the bird
prefers to sing alone, or in company. Many birds are so self-
willed as never to sing except they can display their vocal
powers alone, while the song of others is always soft and low,
except when excited to rivalry by hearing the performance of
a neighbour. Another very important particular to be attended
to, not only in the case of Canaries, but of all Cage-birds, is to
give them their allotted portion of food every day ; for if too
large a supply be given them at once, the result is, that they
pick out the best at first, and leave the rest for another day,
which impairs their vocal powers. Four tea-spoonsful of
the dry food above described, is sufficient for the daily supply
of each bird ; and whatever they leave, may be given to the
other birds of the aviary, which are fed on the universal paste,
as an agreeable change.

ADDITIONAL. — The date of the first introduction of the Canary
into England is not exactly known. GESNEE, who wrote in 1585,
makes mention of it ; and ALDEOVANDTJS, in his Ornithology,
printed at Frankfort in the year 1610, gives the first good de-
scription of the bird (vide vol. ii. p. 355). WILLOUGHBY, in his
History of Birds, speaks of Canaries as common enough in his
time. Writers seem generally to concur in supposing that their
original colours were green and yellow. PENNANT says that he
once saw some small birds brought directly from the Canary
Isles, which were said to be the genuine sort ; they were of a
dull green colour, but as they did not sing, were suspected to be
hens. ME. DAINES BAEEINGTON also records having seen two
birds which came from the same quarter, neither of which had
any song at all, and he was informed that many others were
afterwards brought from thence with the same defect. Accord-
ing to the accounts of navigators, there are birds in the Canary
Isles with a sweet and lively song ; but whether they allude to
this particular species or not, we cannot tell. On the whole, it
seems likely that the melodious strain which this beautiful song-
ster pours forth from cage and aviary, is in a great measure arti-
ficial. The bird is remarkable for its imitative powers, and great
pains are usually taken in the education of the little musician, so
that we have really no opportunity of judging what its " native
wood notes wild" are like. BUFFON draws a parallel, or rather
a contrast, between this bird and the Nightingale. " If," says
he, " the Nightingale is the chau-ntress of the woods, the Canary
is the musician of the chamber. The first owes all to nature';
the second derives something from our arts : with less strength.

U 2

292 THE CANARY.

of organ, less compass of voice, and less variety of note, the
Canary Bird has a better ear, greater facility of imitation, and
more memory ; and as the difference of genius, especially among
the lower animals, depends in a great measure on the difference
that exists among them, with regard to the perfection of their
senses, the Canary Bird, whose organ of hearing is more attentive
and more susceptible of receiving and retaining foreign impres-
sions, becomes accordingly more social, more tame, and more
familiar. It is capable of gratitude, and even of attachment ; its
caresses are endearing, its little humours are innocent, and its
anger neither hurts nor offends. Its education is easy, we rear
it with pleasure, because we are able to instruct it ; it leaves the
melody of its natural note to listen to the harmony of our voices
and instruments ; it applauds, it accompanies us, and repays the
pleasure it receives with interest. The Nightingale, more proud
of its talent, seems willing to preserve it in all its purity ; at
least, it appears very little to value ours ; and it is with the
greatest difficulty it can be taught to repeat any of our airs. The
Canary can speak and whistle ; the Nightingale despises our
words as well as our song, and never fails to return to the war-
bling of its own wild wood-notes. Its pipe is a master-piece of
nature, which human art can neither alter nor improve ; that of
the Canary Bird is a model of more pliant materials, which we
can mould at pleasure. This last, therefore, contributes in a
much greater degree to the comforts of society ; it sings at all
seasons ; it cheers us in the dullest weather ; and even adds to
our happiness — for it amuses the young, and delights the recluse ;
it charms the tediousness of the cloister, and exhilarates the soul
of the innocent and the captive."

This author enumerates as many as twenty -nine varieties, and
many more might be added, were all the changes incident to a
state of domestication brought into account. " The breeding
and rearing of these charming birds," says BOLTON, " forms an
amusement of the most pleasing kind, and affords a variety of
scenes highly interesting to innocent minds." In this country,
no less than in the old German " Fatherland," and amid the
green valleys of the Tyrol, many enthusiastic Canary fanciers may
be met with. There are societies in London for promoting the
breed of Canaries ; and amateurs distinguish upwards of thirty
varieties : these varieties are separated into two great divisions,
the Plain and the Variegated ; the former being called Gay Birds,
or Gay Spangles, and the latter Fancy Birds, or Mealy Birds ;
these latter are esteemed the strongest, and have the boldest song.
*Tonks, or Jonquils, is also a term applied to those of a pure yellow.
There is also a variety called the Lizard, the plumage of which is

THE CANARY. 293

of a greenish bronze throughout, excepting the upper part of the
head, which is covered by a patch of clear yellow, and this variety
is looked upon as the nearest of kin to the original stock. " The
back," according to a recent writer on prize Canaries,* "being
marked with spangles in uniform stripes, corresponding with the
trapezins, is an indication of the primitive state, the unsophis-
ticated produce of nature being precise and geometrical."

Of the last named of these varieties, the genuine Lizard, we
may remark, that it is a very beautiful bird, and highly valued,
especially by the weavers of Nottingham, who produce some of
the best specimens ; it is not, however, considered a regular prize
bird, that honour being reserved for the varieties called the Mealy
Birds and Jonquils, to which we shall presently more fully allude.
In support of the opinion that the Lizard approaches most
nearly to the primitive type, it is stated by the authority above
quoted, that " the prize birds, previous to the first moulting,
appear in a plumage nearly similar to that of the Lizard, the only
difference being, that the young birds are of a brownish hue,
while the green coat of the Lizard is set off by a gloss of fine
grey, similar to the effect of light upon an antique bronze. The
legs of the prize bird are likewise represented by those of the
Lizard, as they continue of a dark colour." The Spangled-
Back, of which we next speak, was a great favourite with the
" fancy" some twenty years ago, but is not now thought so much
of, although it still has its admirers. In its plumage we see the
same process with regard to the markings as were noticed in the
Lizard, but much more broken up and diversified ; "an evident
sign," says our authority, " of degeneration." Among the canons
of criticism adopted by the Canary societies, we find the follow-,
ing : — " No bird shall be considered a fair show-bird that has a
feather or feathers without black, in stalk or web, on the flight or
tail feathers ; or that has less than eighteen flying feathers in
each wing, and twelve in the tail." Next to the perfection of
wings and tail, these being defined by their black feathers
forming a clear " saddle," or absolute separation of colour from
the wing coverts — the qualities which entitle show-birds to notice
are as follows : —

The Jonquil, as its name denotes, is required to be of a pure
deep yellow, entirely free from any green tinge ; the colour is
deeper on the cap over the eyes, and on the scapulars.

In the Mealy-bird, the golden plumage of back, breast, and
head, appear frosted over, or powdered, through the small
feathers, thus producing a whitish edge. In both of these varieties
the purity of development is the criterion of excellence, and the first

* See Illustrated News, Dec. 12, 1846.

294 THE CAXABY.

prize is adjudged to the bird whose colour is most perfect. In
these birds a superiority of form (the result of high breeding) will
be discovered, but such a quality is not recognized by the judges.

" After the second moult, the Canary is no longer a show bird,
the dark feathers in the wings and tail then disappearing entirely.

" The nest feathers are, as has already been stated, similar to
the appearance of the Lizard. The first moulting, which occurs
in the autumn of the first year, removes the short feathers only ;
these are replaced by the pure plumage, which appears first in
two clear yellow bands over the pectoral process, and then spreads
over the whole of the upper part of the bird, leaving the quill
feathers in their original black state. The Canary is then in its
most perfect state as a fancy bird, and it loses this distinction
immediately after.

" Among other points of nice attention which are required du-
ring the moult, it is necessary to observe if any of the quill
feathers should happen to be prematurely shed (beaten out), in
which case they would be reproduced colourless, or * foul ;' to
provide against this, it is the practice of breeders to extract the
growing feather when in the blood, or while it performs a part in
the circulation. This being done, the uniformity of black feathers
continues uninterrupted.

" In breeding the fancy birds, great proficiency is shown in
judicious pairing. A Mealy-bird and a Jonquil being put toge-
ther, the produce will not prove a mixture of the qualities of the
parent birds, but the character of the one or the other will appear
distinct, and the produce of the nest will probably show specimens
of each kind, Mealy and Jonquil. It is a curious fact, that the
Mealy -bird may be distinguished at six days old, by the invariable
appearance of five feathers on the crest of the ilium, which are
not developed by the Jonquil in any case.

" The pious and excellent DR. WATTS has borne testimony to
the harmony of the early condition of little birds. ' Birds in
their little nests agree,' but it is well for the sake of veracity in
this instance, that the worthy doctor stopped there; for no sooner
have the young of the Canary scrambled from the procreant cradle,
than they will fight like young harpies.

" The above union, i. e. that of the Mealy and the Jonquil, is
considered favourable to the production of pure birds ; but if two
strong birds are associated, the result will be an overcharge of
colour in the offspring.

" Another unfavourable consequence appertaining to the union
of two Jonquils appears, when the practice is continued, in a de-
terioration of the web of the feathers, which become frizzled and
insufficient to cover the body, and the proper complement of tail

THE CANARY. 295

and wing feathers will be wanting. A curious example of this
kind appeared in a bird of our acquaintance. This specimen had
failed to develop more than one single feather, the remainder
of its body appearing like the scanty plumage of a Friesland hen.
It was the habit of this odd bird to toy with the solitary feather
which constituted its caudal appendage, by drawing it through
its beak until it became quite curled up by such manipulation.
The above propensity to make both ends meet is not an uncom-
mon vice among better fledged birds ; and it is the practice of
attentive breeders to prevent it, by hanging a piece of string from
the top of the cage, in order to divert the notice of his restless
charge.

" The hen Canary produces on an average four nests annually.
The number of thirty-eight birds have been bred from two pair
of birds, and the produce of one cock and two hens has been
known to amount to as many as forty ; but these are extraordi-
nary instances. However, the many casualties to which the
young birds are liable operates as an effective check to their in-
crease, and the breeder is considered to do well who produces
half-a-dozen male birds of each sort in the year."

It appears that Canary Societies have existed in this country
for upwards of a century, although there is no account of their
origin and progress until within the last fifty years. We quite
agree with the writer above quoted, that "it is much to be re-
gretted that such societies have not preserved any connected re-
cord of their transactions, together with some account of their
observations upon the progressive changes which their exertions
have effected upon the appearance of the bird."

The amount of the prizes offered by these societies appears to
vary in accordance with the number of the members : the prizes
are generally ten in number, and are appropriated to the five best
birds in degree of each favourite kind, viz. the Mealy and the
Jonquil. The principal shows are held in London, at the latter
end of each year. The specifications above laid down form the
leading features of excellence, but it is generally the custom of
the societies to produce, or describe, a model bird at one show, and
award the prizes to those exhibitors, who at the next produce
birds which most closely resemble it.

Besides the different varieties of which we have already spoken,
there is a rare one, much admired, called the Cinnamon Canary,
of which the Norwich weavers are the principal producers ; it is
to this class of men, as to those who follow similar occupations
in Germany and elsewhere, that we are indebted for the finest
of our trained singing birds, and careful and experienced trainers
will often make very considerable sums by this mode of occupying

296 THE CAtfAEY.

their leisure hours. "We have it on the authority of BOLTON,
that four Tyrolese generally bring over about sixteen hundred
Canaries annually, which cost them about twenty pounds, and
for which they get on an average five shillings each. " Most of
these birds," he adds, " have been educated under parents, the
progenitors of which were instructed by a Nightingale ; they are
much valued for their song." "With the birds brought up in this
country, the song generally partakes of a mingled character, those
of the Nightingale and Titlark, or Linnet, being the most closely
followed.

GILBERT WHITE asks : — " Might not Canary Birds be natura-
lized to this climate, provided their eggs were put, in the spring,
into the nests of some of their congeners, as Goldfinches, Green-
finches, &c. ?"

Had the naturalist of Selborne been living at this time, he
need not have queried the practicability of this. WILLIAM
WOLLASTON, Esq. of Welling, in Kent, an amateur breeder of
Canaries, has had those birds building their nests, and rearing
their young, in his shrubberies for some years past.* It is true, a
home is provided for them to retire into in the winter season, so
that they can scarcely yet be considered as thoroughly acclima-
tized ; they are also furnished with appropriate food ; but there
seems little reason to doubt that eventually the Canary may be-
come, in some of our most sheltered and southerly counties, a
wild bird of the copse and woodland. The experiment of inducing
these birds to nest and breed in the open air has also been suc-
cessfully tried in the grounds of the Queen's marine villa, Osborne
House, in the Isle of Wight.

The following observations on tJie Diseases of the Canary, by
an English dealer in Song Birds,f may well be added to what
BECHSTEIN has written upon this subject, as they furnish direc-
tions for treatment in some cases of sickness of which that
author makes no reference : —

In treating of the disorders of Canary Birds, Mr. NASH says —
" I shall first consider those to which tlie hen is subject, whilst in
the breeding cage.

" When the hen has built her nest, she is often observed to
appear thick and heavy, in which case she is breeding her egg,
and ought to have a little bread and milk, and a few oatmeal
groats : I have always found that this has afforded great relief.
The groats may be given every day whilst she is laying, as it keeps

* For an interesting account of a visit to Welling, see Kidd's Journal,
vol. i., in which will also be found articles by the Editor on Canaries and
other Birds of Song ; evidently the result of long experience and close ob-
servation.
f Mr. NASH, Great Windmill Street, London.

THE CAtfABY. 297

her in fine condition, though the bread and milk ought to be
sparingly administered, it oeing apt to make her too weak and
relaxed ; indeed, it ought never to be given unless the hen be
seriously unwell.

" It occasionally happens also that the hen finds great difficulty
in laying her egg, a complaint which is sometimes fatal ; when
this occurs, I have found that the least drop of salad oil applied
to the parts, have afforded immediate relief, and enabled her
to lay her egg with ease ; a warm bath is also a good thing
when the hen is in this state. As soon as you observe that she
labours under this difficulty, take her gently out of the cage and
hold her body in some warm water for a few minutes ; in doing this,
however, the greatest care must be taken that you do not break the
egg, for in that case you will run great risk of losing the bird.
When you have given the hen the warm bath, put her carefully
back again into the breeding cage, when she will go on her nest
and lay her egg with the greatest ease.

" Canary Birds are also subject to the pip, which is a little pim-
ple that comes on the rump, and which sometimes goes away of
itself; if, however, at any time it should prove tedious, it may be
opened with the point of a fine needle, the matter squeezed out,
and a little loaf sugar, moistened in your mouth, laid on the sore,
by which it will soon be healed.

" There is another disease to which young birds as well as old
ones are subject, and which consists in a swelling of the body ; to
ascertain whether this be the case, catch the bird and take it out
of the cage, blow the feathers on one side ; when, if the body
appears to project beyond the breast-bone, it is a sure sign that
the bird is afflicted with this disorder, for which a little scalded
bread and rape seed, prepared as follows, I have found to be an
excellent remedy. Take a small piece of stale bread, pour a little
boiling water over it, and when it has stood a few minutes, squeeze
it quite dry. Next pour some boiling water over a little rape
seed, and let it stand covered over for five minutes, when the
water must be poured off, and the rape seed rubbed dry in a
cloth ; when this is done, take a knife, and having bruised the
seed with it, mix it with the bread which you have previously
scalded, so as to make a kind of paste.

" This disorder generally proceeds from the birds' taking cold,
either through being hung in a draught of air, or more frequently
from their being allowed too much water to wash in, a circum-
stance which ought particularly to be guarded against, more espe-
cially when the birds are moulting, as at such times they are ex-
tremely tender, and apt to take cold, owing partly to the disordered
state of their bodies, and partly owing to their being thin of fea-

298 THE CANARY.

tliers ; the more indeed that the birds be kept from the cold air
whilst moulting the better, for I have known many valuable birds
lost, by being stopped in their moult, through taking cold.

" When a bird begins to drop its feathers, I strongly recom-
mend that the cage be covered over with baize, or flannel, so as
to keep it quite warm, by which means the bird will throw off
its old plumage, and get its new much quicker and handsomer
than when it is allowed to moult in an open cage ; the sooner
also that a bird gets through its moulting the sooner it will be in
song, which ought to be an inducement for the keepers of singing
birds to adopt the plan recommended above."

We may add to this the recommendations of WILLIAM KIDD.
" When a Canary moults, which is generally in July or August, ac-
cording to the heat of the weather, all you have to do is to keep liim
quiet and free from draughts. Being a cheerful, lively bird, there is
no need to have him covered up, but do not let him be unduly
excited ; give him a very small quantity of raw beef, scraped and
moistened with cold water, once a week, occasionally a little yolk
of a hard-boiled egg, and now and then a piece of sponge-cake,
and ripe chick-weed in full flower. Nature will do the rest, and
present your pet with a handsome new suit, that shall keep him
spruce, and last him a full year. Mind and trim his claws when
they are too long ; use sharp scissors always, a knife never. In
handling him, let him be as passive as possible, so that your hand
may not press unduly on any part of his little body. After the
first operation he will understand all about it, and cheerfully
submit to be trimmed." The moulting time is, of all others, the
most critical and dangerous period in the lives of Canaries ;
therefore it is that we are inclined to quote somewhat largely
what the best authorities have written on this head. H. B. HIEST,
in his Book of Cage-Birds* says : " The time at which young
birds, to whom it is most dangerous to moult, commence is when
they arrive at the age of six weeks, and it continues for a couple
of months. The symptoms of its approach may readily be seen.
The birds become sad and sleepy in appearance, and sit
upon their perches, or the bottoms of their cages, with their
heads under their wings, for the greater portion of the day, while
the floors of their cages are covered with small pen feathers,
which they shed during all the time until the new ones appear.
They likewise eat very sparingly, and only of that description
of food which they most prefer, which should always be supplied
to them.

" Great care must be taken at such time to give them the richest
kinds of food, such as hemp-seed and sponge-cake, with a lump
of loaf sugar for them to peck at occasionally. One of the dead-

* Philadelphia, 1843,

THE CANAEY. 299

liest things that can happen to the Canary is to be put at this
season in a cold place, or where a draught can reach him. He
should he kept in the warmest room, and be put every day in the
sun, which should shine on him through the glass. Should the
moult prove uncommonly bad, take a piece of sponge-cake, soak
it in sherry wine, and give it to him ; this will invigorate and
do him much service. After this, and every day or two, as long
as he seems drooping, blow a little sherry wine over his feathers,
and then place him as before, in the sun or near the fire. A lump
of refined liquorice may also be thrown in his water, and, occa-
sionally, a little saffron. Be careful that your birds, during this
time, are kept supplied with coarse sand or gravel, which is now
doubly beneficial to them, and a great assistance in casting their
feathers.

" For surfeit, which sometimes occurs in young birds of from a
month to six weeks old, as well as occasionally in old ones, this
author recommends a small piece of alum or of rusty iron placed
in the water, or a little common salt. Wheaten bread and canary
seed boiled in milk are also recommended, as well as a tepid milk:
bath, to be succeeded by one of water of the same temperature,
the bird to be well dried afterwards, and fed sparingly with let-
tuce seed ; this treatment to be continued for two or three days.

" When Pip makes its appearance, the birds should be fed on
cooling seeds, such as lettuce or rape ; if not very bad, the birds
may be suffered to break the sore themselves ; but if they appear
very heavy and sleepy, they require immediate attention : the
upper half of the swelling is to be carefully and gently cut off,
the matter pressed out, and the sore touched with a little salt,
previously moistened with the mouth ; a further application of
moistened brown sugar is to be made, if this treatment appears
to cause much pain. Until the boil is sufficiently ripe for cutting,
it, and the parts about it, are to be rubbed with a feather dipped
in olive oil.

" The best remedy for Scabs on the Head is light and cooling
food, such as lettuce and rape seed, and quietude.

" The presence of Red Mites may be known by the bird's plum-
ing and feathering himself at all hours of the day — a thorough
cleansing of the cage is the remedy prescribed."

Diarrhoea is a very common sickness with the Canary, for which
neither BECHSTEIN nor NASH prescribe a remedy ; " it may
readily be cured," says our author, "by the application of a
little sweet almond or olive oil to the belly of the patient, the food
to consist of a little cantelope-melon seed, bruised, the yolk of
hard-boiled eggs, sponge-cake, and slightly scalded lettuce."

These birds have sometimes a strange kind of croaking in the

300 THE CANARY.

voice, and difficulty of breathing, the result of asthma ; the best
remedy for this disorder is sponge cake soaked in sherry -wine,
and a few wild plantain leaves inserted in the cage every day.

For perspiration the same treatment as that recommended
by BECHSTEIN is the mode of cure.

Cancer is a fatal disease, said to be very prevalent among Cana-
ries, and seemingly contagious, always attacking the bird in the
foot or the bill, which become much swollen. The curative pro-
cess is to keep the cage constantly clean, so that no particles of
dust or dirt may adhere to the schirrhus part, and to bathe it fre-
quently with sweet almond or olive oil, and wash with lukewarm
milk.

Costiveness. — See BECHSTEIN on " Constipation;" rape-seed,
chick-weed, and lettuce-leaf, with a piece of sugar-candy in the
water.

Want of appetite usually occurs after breeding, moulting, or
other sickness : in this case, take a handful of millet, canary,
rape, yellow, -and a little hemp -seed, mixed with the same quan-
tity of moistened garden loam ; knead well together, then dry
the composition, and cut up into small pieces, and give to the
bird as required. Will keep good a great length of time.

Broken Limbs : When a bird meets with an accident of this
sort, it should be taken very tenderly and placed in a cage with-
out perches, with a little soft hay, and his seed-box and water-
fount on the floor of the cage, which should be covered round
with a cloth, so that the bird may not be excited to move and
flutter about ; Nature will then do its work, and generally ef-
fect a cure in a few days.

Decline : It sometimes happens that a hen bird, which is kept
from breeding, will fall sick and die, without exhibiting any
symptoms of disease. This arises from being denied the society
of the male bird.

We have now given what we imagine a tolerably complete
list of the ills and casualties of Canary life in a state of con-
finement, with their appropriate remedies, and we shall, in the
words of our American author, " close the section by recom-
mending the amateur, or professional fancier, to keep a sepa-
rate or hospital cage, for those which happen to be sick. This
should be made of wood, with dark sides and a wicker front,
covered inside with thick flannel. Most of the diseases which
attack the Canary are contagious, and if the sick be kept in
the same cage or apartment with healthy birds, they may cause
the loss of an entire collection. Besides, they require differ-
ent food and more agreeable treatment than those in a good
state of health. " The following is this author's receipt for making^

THE FtJEPLE FINCH. 301

GERMAN PASTE.

" Bruise in a large mortar, or on an even table, with a rolling
pin, a pint or quart, as may be required, of rape- seed, in such a
manner that you may blow the chaff away ; to this add a good-
sized piece of bread, reducing the whole to powder, and well
mixing together ; put them in a box of oak, which should be kept
from the sun. A tea-spoonful of this powder with the addition
of a little hard yolk of egg, and a few drops of water, will make
an excellent food for young birds ; to the old ones it may be given
dry. The powder must not be kept longer than twenty days, as
the rape seed is apt to turn sour, so that when the water is put
to it, it smells like mustard. It is best to make a small quantity
of this paste every day ; under such treatment the young birds
grow more rapidly. Stale sponge-cake, rubbed to powder, with
the addition of hard white of egg, is the best food for young
birds during the first three or four days after they are taken
from the care of their parents."

FOREIGN FINCHES.

118. THE GLOSSY FINCH.

Frmgilla Niteiu, LIN. Moineau de Bresil, BIJF. DerylanzendeFink, BECH.

Description. — This bird is four inches and a half long, and
somewhat smaller than a House Sparrow. The beak and feet
are flesh-coloured ; the iris white ; the whole plumage a blue
black, or coal black, with the gloss of polished steel. The
female is blackish on the upper part of the body, bordered with
yellowish brown ; behind the eyes is a blackish stripe ; the
rump is grey ; the belly dark yellowish brown ; the tail black,
with a grey border ; the feet red. In some males, both beak
and feet are black.

Observations. — This bird is met with in the woods about
Carthagena and in Cayenne. It has a very agreeable voice, and
exerts itself in singing so much as to ruffle the feathers of its
head and neck. It feeds on all kinds of seeds and fruits, is
easy to tame, and when caged becomes fond of bread. The
best food for it, however, is millet, rape, and poppy seed.

119. THE PURPLE PINCH.

Fringilla Purpurea, LIN. Bouvreuil Violet de Caroline, BUF. Der
Purpur Fink, BECH.

This bird is as large as the common Chaffinch, and five

302 THE AMEEICAN GOLDFINCH.

inches and a half long. In colour it is dark violet, or purple,
with a tinge of dark brown ; the quill feathers are brown in-
side ; the belly white ; the tail rather forked. The female is
dark brown all over, the breast being spotted with white, like
a Redwing.

Observations. — In Carolina these birds are common in sum-
mer, but in winter they depart in smaller flocks. They live
principally on juniper- berries of which, when confined, they
are fond. They are fed on rape and canary seed. They are
soon accustomed to the food of the aviary. They are more
esteemed for their beauty than their twittering song.

120. THE AMEKICAN GOLDFINCH.

Fringilla Tristis, LIN. Chardonneret Jaune, BUF. Der Americaniche-
oder Gelbe Stieglitz, BECH.

Description. — The American Goldfinch is four inches and a
half long, and about the size of a Linnet. The beak and feet
are white ; the iris nut-brown ; the fore part of the head black ;
the rest of the body yellow ; the shanks and the tail coverts
yellowish white or grey ; the wing coverts black, with a white
transverse band, formed by the points of the white coverts ;
the quill feathers black, the edges and points of the hinder
ones white ; the tail black.

The female has no black on the fore part of the head ; the
upper parts of the body is olive green ; the throat, breast, and
rump, clear yellow ; the belly and vent white ; the wings and
tail like the male, but lighter in colour. The young bird is at
first like the female in every respect, except that it has the
black forehead.

These birds build twice a year, in autumn and spring, and
have the colours described above only in summer. In winter,
the male is black on the top of the head; the throat, the
whole of the neck, and the breast, are yellow ; the rump also
yellow, somewhat tinged with white ; the back olive brown,
with the edges of the feathers lighter ; the wings and tail black,
though almost all the feathers have a white border. The
female is similar, except that her colours are generally duskier,
and that she has not the top of the head black. It is plain
from this, that these birds in winter bear a strong resemblance
to our Siskins.

Observations. — These birds are met with in North America ;

THE BLUE-BELLIED FINCH. 303

in summer, in the State of New York especially. Like our
Goldfinches, they live on thistle seeds, with which they are to
be fed when caged. They become exceedingly tame.

121. THE BBAZILIAN FINCH.
Fringilla Granatina, LIN. Le Grenadin, BUF. Der Brazilishe Fink, BKCH.

Description. — The Brazilian Finch is as large as a Siskin,
four inches and three quarters in length. The beak is coral
red ; the iris dark brown ; the eyelids scarlet ; the feet light
grey ; the sides of the head, round the eyes, purple ; the
upper part of the base of the bill blue ; the throat, the under
part of the belly, and the shanks black ; the under part of the
head and body chestnut-coloured ; the back and the scapulars
inclining to brown; the rump blue ; the quill feathers brown;
the tail wedge-formed and black.

These birds are by no means uniform in colour. Some have
a brown spot between the beak and the eyes, and the back
part of the body, both above and below, violet. In other
specimens the under part of the belly, and the shanks, are of
the same colour as the upper, while the throat is greenish
brown. In others, again, the tail is reddish.

The female has a red beak, and a purple spot under the eyes.
The top of the head is reddish yellow; the back greenish
grey ; the throat and the under parts a light reddish yellow ;
the lower portion of the belly and the vent whitish ; the rest
much as in the male, but duskier in colour.

Observations. — This handsome bird is a native of Brazil.
In the form of the beak it resembles the Goldfinch, and is
fond of the same food. Its motions are lively, and its song
exceedingly pleasant.

THE BLUE-BELLIED FINCH.

Fringilla Bengalus, LIN. Le Bengali, BUF. Der Blaubaiichige FinJc^ BECH.
Description. — This bird is hardly larger than the Siskin,
being four inches and a half long, of which the beak measures
four lines, and the somewhat wedge-shaped tail one inch and
a half. The bill is compressed at the sides, very pointed, and
of a red flesh colour. The iris is nut-brown ; the feet light
brown ; the upper part of the body an ashen brown, with a
purple gloss ; the sides of the head, the under part of the
neck, the breast, belly, rump, and vent, a light or azure blue.

304 THE GREEN GOLDFINCH.

The sides are spotted with ashen grey ; a crooked purple spot
extends under the eyes to the back of the head; the quill
feathers are dark brown, with ashen brown edges ; the tail
blue. The female has no red spot under the eyes.

These -birds also vary in colour, perhaps only from difference
of age. Specimens are found which are grey on the back ;
others having the same colour on the under part of the body,
and others, again, on whose belly a red tinge may be remarked.

Observations. — These are African birds, which are brought
to Europe principally from Angola and Guinea. Their move-
ments are lively and engaging; and the song of the male,
though not loud, is agreeable. They are fed on canary,
bruised hemp, and poppy seed.

123. THE LIVER-COLOURED FINCH.
Fringilla Hepatica, LIN. Der Letter Carbene Fink, BECH.

Description. — This, which is almost as large as the preced-
ing species, measures in length four inches, for which four
lines are to be taken for the beak, and one inch and three
quarters for the wedge-shaped tail. It resembles it also in
colour, though different in air and behaviour. The beak is in
shape like a House Sparrow, blood-red with a sharp point;
the eyelids are bare and yellow ; the iris a reddish brown ;
and the feet flesh-coloured. The cheeks, the throat, half the
breast, the sides, and rump, are a dirty greenish blue ; on the
cheek is a dark purple spot. The upper part of the body is a
dark liver colour ; the belly the same, but lighter ; the wings
dark brown; the edges of all the projecting feathers like the
back; the tail dark brown on the inner side, on the outer
inclining to blue, with black tips.

Observations. — This bird inhabits the African coasts, and is
very cheerful. Its cry is " Tza" and its weak song resem-
bles that of the Wood Wren. It is fed on canary seed, and
seems to have a long life.

124. THE GREEN GOLDFINCH.

Fringilla Melba, LIN. Chardonneret Verd, BUF. Der Griine
Stieglitz, BECH.

Description. — This bird, not unlike the common Goldfinch
in size and form, is four inches and a half long, of which the
beak measures half an inch, and the tail one inch and a half.
The beak is compressed at the sides, ends in a long point,

THE ANGOLA FINCH. 305

somewhat bent at the front, and flesh-coloured. The iris is
chestnut-coloured; the feet grey; the front of the head to the
eye, as well as the throat, deep red ; the top of the head, the
upper part of the neck, and the back are yellowish green ; the
wing-coverts and the hindmost quill feathers are green, edged
with red ; the large quill feathers dark brown, bordered with
a delicate yellowish green ; the breast olive green, inclining to
white on the belly. The whole lower part of the body is
covered with long dark brown spots ; the rump and tail red,
the latter being ashen grey on the under side.

The female has a bright yellow beak ; the top of the head
and neck are ash-coloured ; the small wing-coverts and the rump
yellowish green ; the tail brown," with a pale red border. In
other respects it is like the male.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Brazil. The male
is attractive, on account both of his song and beautiful plumage.
It is kept in a cage, and fed with canary and rape seed, on
which diet it may be preserved in health for many years.

125. THE ANGOLA FINCH.

Fringilla Angolensis, LIN. La Vengoline, Bur. Der Angolische
Hdnfiing oder Fink, BECH.

This bird resembles our common Linnet in form and habits.
It is four inches and a half long, of which the tail, which is
somewhat forked, measures one inch and three quarters. The
beak is short, rather round, blunt, and a dirty flesh-colour.
The feet are flesh-coloured. Round the beak, as far as the
eyes and throat, it is black ; round the eyes and at the side of
the throat spotted with white. The upper part of the head
and neck, the back, and the small wing-coverts, are a brown
ash colour, every feather having on it a dark brown, egg-
shaped spot, which is also found on the side of the neck.
The under part of the body is orange, brightest on the breast,
and growing darker towards the vent; the rump dark yellow;
the larger wing-coverts and the quill feathers dark brown,
with a yellow edge ; the tail dark brown, with a rusty grey
border and tip.

Observations. — This bird is a native of Angola. It has a
flute-like song, resembling that of our Linnet, but more melo-
dious. It is fed with canary and rape seed. The young birds
have the same plumage as the females.

x

306 THE SKYLARK.

VI. SINGING BIRDS. *

In these birds the beak is soft, generally conical, though
sometimes approaching to the cylindrical form; pointed, and
having the upper mandible fixed. Their usual food con-
sists of insects, though some of them subsist partly on worms
and berries. Their nests are well built ; and the male shares
with the female the labour of incubation.

[In this division it will be seen that the German naturalist
has included a great number of birds differing very considerably
in their general habits and conformation ; collectively, they are
fully entitled to be distinguished as " Songsters," for among them
are several which excel all other birds for the compass and variety
of their notes. We have here the whole of the genus Sylvia,
or soft-billed warblers, to which Mr. SWEET'S valuable obser-
vations were confined, and several others which have no place in
that genus. To some of the species, the term songster would
seem ill applied, as they scarcely sing at all, so that in looking at
the whole group, we are reminded of the words of PLINY : —
" Secundus ordo qui in duas dividitum species, Oscines et Alites :
illarum generi cantus oris, his magnitude differentium dedit."
(B. 10. c. 42.)].

(A.) INDIGENOUS BIRDS,
TAMEABLE WHEN OLD.

126. THE SKYLAEK.

Alauda Arvensis, LIN. Alouette, BUF. Die Feldlerche, BECH.
Description. — This bird is so very well known, that were it
not on account of its similarity in plumage to other birds of
the same species — and for the sake of those inhabitants of large
towns, who may not have the opportunity of comparing it with
them — it would scarcely be worth while to give a detailed
description of it.

The Skylark is rather larger than the Yellowhammer,
being seven inches in length, of which the tail measures almost
three inches. The beak, as in all birds of this species, is soft,
straight, and conical. The mandibles are of the same length;
the upper, blackish brown, the lower, white. The iris is
greyish brown ; the feet also greyish brown, with a tinge of
yellow in spring, and somewhat less than one inch in height.
As is the case with all Larks, the hinder claw, or spur, is
longer than any of the others. The forehead and poll are
rusty yellow, longitudinally spotted with blackish brown;
* Oscines. Singvogel, BECH.

THE SKYLARK. 307

and when the bird is excited, the feathers occasionally erect
themselves into a crest. The cheeks are greyish brown, and
encircled by an indistinct whitish grey line, which passes between
the eyes. The feathers of the back are blackish brown, with a
broad margin; in some parts, pale reddish brown, and in others,
whitish grey. The rump is rusty grey, striped with blackish
brown ; the chin, belly, and vent, yellowish white ; the lower
part of the neck, the breast, and the sides, dingy white, inclining
to rust colour, and covered with fine blackish brown lines. The
wing-coverts are greyish brown, the larger ones being edged
with pale reddish brown. The pen feathers are dark brown,
the five first being whitish, the next reddish in their margin ;
and those next to the body, which are larger than those in the
centre, are grey ; and they are all tipped with white. The
tail feathers are blackish brown ; those in the centre have on
the inner plume a broad margin of rusty brown ; those on the
outside, of whitish grey; the two external feathers, on the
whole of the outer and half of the inner plume, are white.

The female is somewhat smaller than the male; and is
characterized by the more numerous and larger black spots on
the back and breast, as well as by the generally lighter
colour of the latter. The two following varieties are fre-
quently seen in aviaries.

1 . The White Lark^ which is occasionally met with in a wild
state, and is either pure white, or yellowish white.

2. The Black Lark, which is a smoky black all over the
body, with a faint tinge of rust colour, and a margin of white
on some of the plumage of the belly. I am not aware that
this variety has ever been met with in a wild state, but it is
not uncommon in aviaries, particularly if the Larks have been
kept in a dark place. Unlike the White Lark, it resumes the
natural colours of the species, after moulting.

Habitat. — The Field Lark is at home all over the world,
and frequents meadows, ploughed fields, and plains. It is a
bird of passage, arriving at the beginning of February, and
leaving in large flocks in October. Of all birds of passage, it
is the earliest in its arrival ; which may probably be accounted
for by the circumstance, that as it feeds not only on insects,
but on grain, seeds, and various green shoots, &c., it can
hardly fail to find nourishment, even if cold weather should
unexpectedly set in.

x 2

308 THE SKYLARK.

In confinement, it is either allowed to range the room,
betaking itself' at night to some corner railed off for a sleeping-
place, or is kept in a cage. If a good song be desired, the
latter is the preferable method. The cage, the shape of which
is of no consequence, should not be less than eighteen inches
long, nine inches broad, and fifteen inches high. On the
floor should be a drawer filled with river sand, with which
this bird delights to dust itself; the top should be made of
cloth, that it may not injure itself when flying upwards, as is
often the case when it sings, or before it is accustomed to con-
finement. A second drawer may be appropriated for food and
water ; or the vessels may be affixed as usual to the side of the
cage. If the Larks be allowed to range the room, particular
attention to cleanliness is requisite, as they are very apt to
entangle their feet in such substances as hair, wool, and flax.
If care be not taken to clean their feet once or twice a day,
lameness, or even the loss of one or more claws, is often the
result.

Food. — In a wild state, the Skylark feeds on insects and
their larvae, ants' eggs, various kinds of small seeds, and, in
autumn and spring, on oats, which it shells by beating them
upon the ground. It is also fond of green food, and may be
noticed picking up grains of sand, to aid in the process of
digestion.

In confinement, those which are allowed to range the room,
thrive on the universal pastes. Those kept in cages seem to
prefer the second of these, or they may be fed on poppy seed,
crushed hemp seed and oats, barley groats, malt, bread crumbs,
varied with a little water-cress, lettuce, and cabbage. They
are also fond of ants' eggs, and lean meat. This diet may be
occasionally given to all Larks, whether caged or not, and will
make them livelier, and improve their song. For those which
are just caught, poppy seed and oats are the best food.

Breeding. — The Skylark builds its nest on the ground, and
chiefly in fallow fields, or among the young corn. It is roughly
put together, of dry grass and hair, and is usually placed in
some slight hollow. The female lays twice a year, four or five
whitish grey eggs, spotted with greyish brown. The period
of incubation is fourteen days, and the young birds are often
to be seen as early as the end of April. They are at first fed
with insects, and begin to run about near the nest before they

THE SKYLARK. 309

are fledged. Before the first moulting, the upper part of their
body is covered with white specks. The time lor taking them
out of the nest, is when the tail is about three quarters of
an inch in length, when they are to be fed with bread and
poppy seed soaked in milk; though ants' eggs, if they can
be got, form a preferable diet. The young males may be
distinguished by the yellow tinge of their plumage. The
education of such as are to be taught to whistle, ought to
commence before they are fully fledged ; as they then begin to
practise their own song; and the facility with which they
adopt the song of other birds, render it necessary to hang the
cage in a room by itself. I have had in my possession Larks
which had acquired perfectly the songs of the Chaffinch and
Nightingale.

Some females, when confined in the aviary, lay eggs in-
dependently of any connection with the male ; but I have never
succeeded in inducing them to sit. One, in the possession of
a neighbour of mine, laid every year as many as from twenty
to twenty-five eggs ; but never, under any circumstances, could
be made to sit upon them. The breeding season is earlier in
the year, if the birds are kept in garden aviaries, when they
have more fresh air, and better opportunities of exercise.

Diseases. — The Skylark is subject to all the diseases men-
tioned in the Introduction. A malady by which it is verv
frequently attacked, shows itself by the skin about the root of
the beak becoming scabby and yellow. I know of no better
remedy than an abundance of good food, especially the second
universal paste, varied with ants' eggs, meal worms, and a
little green food. The average duration of life in confinement
is about eight years, though instances have been known in
which it has lived for thirty years.

Mode of Talcing. — It would occupy too much of our space to
describe the numerous methods which are followed to entrap
the Skylark. In all level countries, it may be caught during
autumn in great numbers, by means of day and night nets.
For the former, the nets are set up vertically like a wall, and
the Larks driven to them either by poles, to which bunches of
feathers are attached, or by ropes which are drawn along the
surface of the ground. For the latter, a four-cornered net is
drawn over such places as are likely to yield sport ; as, for in-
stance stubble fields, &c. Another plan, by which, in spring, a

310 THE SKYLAEK.

good singer may often be procured, is to take a Lark, whose wings
have been tied, and to which a forked limed twig is attached,
and let it go near the spot where the wished-for bird is heard.
As soon as the decoy is seen by the latter, he is inflamed with
jealousy, pounces down on his supposed rival, and is caught on
the limed twig.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the Skylark is exceed-
ingly agreeable ; and consists of several passages, all of which
may be characterized as trills or shakes, on various notes of the
scale, and only occasionally interrupted by the repetition of a loud
whistle. It is a very docile bird ; and even when old, often
imitates the songs of birds which are hung in the same room
with itself. Differences of capability may indeed be noticed in
the Lark, as well as in other birds; the song of some is
stronger and sweeter than that of others, and is unintermitting
from December till the moulting season ; while others, again,
sing only between March and August. In a wild state, they
generally cease to sing about St. James' Day ; though there
are exceptions to this rule, for they may sometimes be heard as
late as Michaelmas.

ADDITIONAL. — This, as it is the most common, is also perhaps
the most universally admired of all our native songsters. With
us it is not a'migratory bird, and its cheerful strains may be fre-
quently heard quite late into the winter ; generally, however, in
severe weather, the Larks gather into flocks, and seeking the lower
and more sheltered grounds, are mute, or nearly so. They con-
gregate about the ricks in the fields and farm-yards, and help
themselves plentifully to the hoarded grain. They are very com-
monly in good concQtion, and well worth the attention of the
fowler. MUDIE gives an animated description of the Field Lark,
as he calls it, and dwells particularly upon its beautiful mode of
ascending and descending, and the agreement there is between
the song and the flight of the bird.

ME. MAIN, in the Magazine of Natural History, observes, that
" no bird sings with more method : there is an overture per-
formed, vivace crescendo, while the singer ascends ; when at the
full height, the song becomes moderate, and distinctly divided
into short passages, each repeated three or four times over, like
Si fantasia, in the same key and tune. If there be any wind, he
rises perpendicularly by bounds, and afterwards poises himself
with breast opposed to it. If calm, he ascends in spiral circles ;
in horizontal circles during the principal part of his song, and
zigzagly downwards during the performance of foe finale. Some-

THE SKYLABK. 311

times, after descending about half way, he ceases to sing, and
drops with the velocity of an arrow to the ground. Those ac-
quainted with the song of the Skylark, can tell, without looking
at them, whether the birds be ascending or stationary in the air,
or on their descent ; so different is the style, of the song in each
case. In the first, there is an expression of ardent impatience ;
in the second, an andante composure, in which rests of a bar at a
time frequently occur ; and hi the last, a graduated sinking of
the strains, often touching the subdominant before the final
close. The time and number of the notes often correspond with
the vibration of the wings ; and though they sometimes sing
while on the ground, as they are seen to do in cages, their whole
frame seems to be agitated by their musical efforts."

The strong attachment of this species to their young has been
the subject of remark by many naturalists ; ME. BLYTH records,
that " some mowers actually shaved off the upper part of a nest
of the Skylark without injuring the female, which was sitting on
her young ; still she did not fly away, and the mowers levelled
the grass all around her, without her taking further notice of
their proceedings. A young friend of mine, son of the owner of
the crop, witnessed this ; and about an hour afterwards went to
see if she was safe, when, to his great surprise, he found that she
had actually constructed a dome of dry grass over the nest during
the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for ingress and
egress, thus endeavouring to secure a continuance of the shelter
previously supplied by the long grass." Two or three instances
are recorded of the Skylark moving its eggs under the fear of
impending danger ; and ME. JESSE, in the lourth edition of his
Gleanings, speaks of the attempted removal of a young bird of
this species to a place of safety by its parent, which, however,
had not sufficient strength for the purpose, but was obliged to
drop the fledgeling from a height of about thirty feet, so that it
was killed by the fall.

YABEELL observes, that " Skylarks constantly dust themselves,
appearing to take great pleasure in the operation, shuffling and
rubbing themselves along the ground, setting up their feathers,
and, by a peculiar action of the legs and wings, throwing the
smaller and looser portion of the soil over every part of their
bodies. This is supposed to be done in order to rid themselves
of small parasitic insects." This author also says, " that during
the time of producing the eggs, the female has occasionally been
heard to sing with a power and variety of tone equal to the voice
of her mate. The male Skylark, though at other tunes timid, is,
while the female is sitting, bold and pugnacious ; driving every
other bird away that ventures too near his charge, both watching
and feeding her with unceasing solicitude."

312 THE CHESTED LARK.

To no bird, except the Nightingale, have the English poets
paid such homage as to the Skylark ; from Chaucer downwards,
there is scarcely one of them who has not repaid the ecstatic
music of that " Bard of the blushing dawn," with a strain as full
of gladness and melody ; and not from the poets only has it re-
ceived these tributes of admiration : grave divines, such as JEREMY
TAYLOR and BISHOP HALL, have made it the theme of their high
discourse j the former says that " it did rise and sing as if it had
learned music and motion from an angel." We wish that the
nature of our work permitted us to quote a few of the most
beautiful meeds of song offered to this most blithesome of song-
sters. As it is, we must be content with one only, and it shall
be WORDSWORTH'S : —

" Ethereal minstrel ! pilgrim of the sky !

Dost thou despise the earth, where cares abound ?
Or, while thy wings aspire, are heart and eye

Both with thy nest, upon the dewy ground ?
Thy nest, which thou canst drop into at will,
Those quivering wings composed, that music still.

To the last point of vision, and beyond,

Mount, daring warbler ! That love-prompted strain

('Twixt thee and thine a never-failing bond),
Thrills not the less the bosom of the plain !

Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege, to sing

All independent of the leafy spring.

Leave to the Nightingale the shady wood —

A privacy of glorious light is thine,
Whence thou dost pour upon the world a flood

Of harmony with rapture more divine.
Type of the wise, who soar — but never roam,
True to the kindred points of heaven and home."

127. THE CRESTED LARK.

Alauda Cristata, LIN. Cochevis ou grosse Alouette Huppe'e, BUF. Die
Hauben Lerche, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of the Skylark,
though stouter, and resembles it also in plumage, except that
it is somewhat lighter in colour. It is seven inches in length;
the beak is lead coloured, tipped with horn brown ; the iris
dark brown ; the feet one inch high, and yellowish ash grey.
The head, cheeks, top of the neck, and upper part of the back,
are reddish grey ; all the feathers being blackish brown in the
middle. From the nostrils to the ears, runs a reddish white
stripe, hardly discernible over the eyes, but broader behind.

THE CEESTED LASS. 313

On the head stand from eight to ten long, pointed, blackish
leathers, which when erected, form a handsome crest. The
shoulders and middle of the back are light grey, spotted with
dark brown ; the rump feathers a pale rusty yellow ; the chin
reddish white. The sides are light grey, with a few dark
brown longitudinal stripes ; the under part of the body is a
dirty reddish white; the neck and top of the breast being
covered with three-cornered black spots. The wing coverts,
and the hindmost pen feathers, are dark brown, edged with
light grey ; the other pen feathers dark brown, bordered with
rusty red. The under wing coverts and pen feathers are a
beautiful red rust colour, which in old birds changes into
purple. The tail feathers are black; the two centre ones
somewhat lighter in colour, and bordered with reddish grey ;
the two outermost, tipped and edged on the outer plume with
rusty yellow.

In the female the crest is not so high, and the black spots
on the breast are rounder and more numerous.

Habitat. — The Crested Lark is seen in Central Germany
only in the autumn and winter, and then in towns and vil-
lages, along the high roads, near dunghills, stables and barns
— in company with Sparrows and Yellowhammers. It is pro-
perly a native of North Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Eussia,
France, and Italy. In summer, it frequents the thickets and
bushes of the cultivated land, the paths of woods, and near
villages which lie high and retired. It is a bird of passage,
migrating in October.

In confinement it may either be allowed to range about, or
be placed in a cage similar to that prescribed for the Skylark.
I know no bird in which the feathers grow so fast, as the
operation of clipping the wings has to be repeated every three
or four weeks.

Food. — In a wild state the Crested Lark lives on insects,
small seeds of various kinds, and oats. In captivity it may be
fed like the Skylark, but is less delicate, and has been known
to live twelve years.

Breeding. — It builds its nest on the ground, under dry
bushes, or clods, or in gardens, under the vegetables, and even
on clay walls, and thatched roofs. It lays four or five eggs,
which are whitish grey, clouded with rust colour, and dark
brown on the upper edge. Before the first moulting, the plu-

314 THE WOODLAJiK.

mage of the young is a mottled white. If taken from the nest
to be reared when half fledged, they learn whatever is whistled
to them, either by a teacher or by other birds.

Diseases. — These are the same as in other Larks; their
death is often caused by parasitic insects. I may here introduce
a fact, which seems to show that there is a difference of
natural constitution even between birds of the same species.
I possess two male Crested Larks, one of which destroys im-
mediately every insect which appears upon him ; while the
other — a good singer, a beautiful feeder, and, during the four
years he was in my possession, a healthy bird — was covered
with these little animals to the tip of every feather.

Mode of Taking. — In winter, if a place which they are ob-
served to frequent be cleared of snow, and limed twigs, nets,
or even a sieve be conveniently arranged, baited with oats or
poppy seed, these birds may be caught without difficulty.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the Crested Lark is ex-
ceedingly agreeable and various, though, in my opinion, not
so beautiful as that of the Skylark, of which, and the song of
the Linnet, it seems to be compounded. It sings from February
to August, by night as well as by day. It is a very docile
bird, and has not the tottering gait of the Skylark, but
traverses the room in a rapid decisive manner, making very
impressive motions with its crest. It is a very quarrelsome
bird, but has the peculiarity of continuing to sing while it
fights.

ADDITIONAL. — Only two or three specimens of the bird are
recorded to have been taken in this country. One of these is
mentioned in the Dublin Penny Journal, of Feb. 27, 1836, by a
correspondent, who signs himself W. R., who shot the bird near
Turrev ; another is described by ME. YAEEELL, subsequently
killed in Sussex. " This species," says MACGILLIVBAY, " is very
like the common Lark, but with the bill stronger, and distinct
decumbent, erectile crest. It is found in most European coun
tries, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, as wefl as North
Africa, Egypt, and Anatolia."

128. THE WOODLAEK.
Alauda Arborea, LIN. Alouette des Bois ou Cujelier, BUF. Die Wald-

lerche, BECH.

Description. — The Woodlark is scarcely two-thirds of the
size of the Skylark, being only six inches in length, but it bears

THE WOODLAEE. 315

a striking resemblance to that bird in form and habits. The
upper mandible of the beak is black, the lower brown, and
both inclining to flesh colour at the tip ; the feet are flesh-
coloured, and three quarters of an inch in height. The top
of the head is reddish brown, marked with four blackish brown
streaks; and the plumage consists of long straight feathers,
which, when the bird is excited, erect themselves into a crest.
The base of this crest is surrounded by a whitish grey stripe,
which passes from one eye to the other. The temples are
brown ; the nape of the neck, and upper part of the back, are
reddish brown, with blackish brown spots ; the lower part of the
beak greyish brown. The throat and breast are yellowish white,
spotted with blackish brown ; the rest of the lower part of the
body, yellowish white. The wing coverts are dark brown,
edged with pale reddish brown ; and there is a white spot on
the shoulder, on the articulation of the wing, and on each of the
four first feathers. The pen feathers are dark brown, edged
with yellowish white on the lesser plume. The tail feathers
are broad and blackish brown ; the first and second are tipped
with white, and on each is a reddish white wedge-shaped
spot ; while the two in the centre, as well as the long upper
coverts, which reach almost to the end of the tail, are entirely
greyish brown.

The female is a handsomer bird ; the ground colour of her
plumage is lighter, and the marks upon it darker, while the
breast is more thickly spotted, and the white line round the
crest more distinct. It may be remarked, that in all species
of Larks, those in which the ground colour of the plumage is
more decidedly white, and the spots more numerous, are
generally females.

Habitat. — The Woodlark is found in all the more temperate
countries of Europe, and in summer may be noticed in such
woods of coniferous and other trees as are occasionally broken
by meadows and fields. Except in the breeding season, it flies
in flocks of from ten to twelve. It is a bird of passage, taking
its departure in October, and returning in the beginning of
March.

In confinement, the "Woodlark sings better when allowed to
range the room than when kept in a cage. In any case it
ought to be plentifully supplied with river sand, both for
dusting, and to aid digestion.

316 THE WOODLARK.

Food. — In summer the Woodlark feeds on all kinds of
insects ; in autumn, on various seeds, e.g. poppy, rape, and
Unseed, millet, oats, &c. In spring, when insects and grubs
are not to be procured, it subsists upon green food.

When confined, it may be fed on the universal paste, but,
as it is a more delicate bird than either of the two last de-
scribed, it is well to introduce a little variety into its diet.
For this purpose, poppy seed, oats, crushed hemp seed, sweet
curds, dry and fresh ants' eggs, bullock's heart boiled and
grated, malt, meal-worms, &c., may be occasionally given to it
in small quantities. When first taken, the food which seems to
tempt its appetite the soonest is poppy seed, oats, and ants' eggs.

Breeding. — The Woodlark builds its nest among the heath,
under juniper bushes, in the long grass of preserves, or hedge
sides in the neighbourhood of woods. It is constructed of dry
grass stalks, interwoven with moss, wool, and hair, and gene-
rally contains four or five eggs, spotted with whitish grey and
violet brown. The young birds, when taken from the nest,
may be reared on ants' eggs, and bread soaked in milk ; or if
the parents be also taken, they will feed their brood with this
food. They easily learn to imitate the songs of birds which
are confined in the same room ; but to me this artificial song is
not so agreeable as their natural warbling.

Diseases. — This bird is liable to all the diseases mentioned
in the Introduction, but is especially subject to a malady which
makes its claws drop off. The best prevention of this is a
strict attention to cleanliness, particularly to the removal of
hairs, which cut into the flesh. It rarely lives more than four
years, and generally dies of a broken leg, a peculiarity which
I have remarked in no other bird.

Mode of Taking. — The Woodlark may be taken by putting
limed twigs on the nest, or if this method be rejected as too
cruel, the use of the night net in autumn is often very success-
ful. During snow-storms, in spring, they may be caught with
limed twigs or a net, in places cleared from, or not yet covered
with snow. A good decoy will at the same time of the year lure
them to spots either in the furrows which have been set with
limed twigs, or within reach of the clap net. Like the Chaf-
finch, they may also be caught by a decoy, in which the wings
are tied, and which has a forked limed twig attached to it, as
before described. One advantage of this method is, that the
captive is always a male.

THE WOOBIAEK. 317

Attractive Qualities. — The Woodlark not only excels all
other Larks in the beauty of its song, but, in -my opinion, sur-
passes, in this respect, all German birds whatever, except the
Chaffinch and the Nightingale. Its tones are flute-like, and
the varying phrases of its song have all a melancholy and
tender expression. It sings either perched on the top of a
tree, or flies upwards almost beyond the reach of sight, and
remains poised on its outstretched wings, often warbling for
an hour together. In confinement it always sings on its perch.
The period during which it sings is, in a wild state, from March
to July ; in confinement, from February to August. The female
also sings, as is the case with all Larks, but in a more broken
and interrupted strain. Some Woodlarks, which, however,
are often the best singers, are obstinate and whimsical, and
will not sing if any body be in the room ; it is therefore best
to hang them in a cage outside the window. Its abrupt gait,
and the curious manner in which it raises the feathers of the
head and neck when walking, make the Woodlark an amusing
inmate of the aviary.

ADDITIONAL. — The following is a portion of MTJDIE'S account
of this sweet and plaintive songster : — " The Woodlark, though
pretty generally distributed over the British islands, is by no
means so common a bird as the Skylark. It is found on the
borders of woods in wild places, and is not so much a bird of the
cultivated fields as the other. Indeed, it is altogether of more
solitary habits ; for while Skylarks congregate in flocks of many
thousands, it is rare to see a dozen of W^oodlarks at the same
time; and even in the small numbers that do appear in the
winter, they are not found far from those wild localities in which
they breed.

" That Woodlarks are not so numerous in proportion to their
eggs as the other species, may be accounted for, partly from
the inclement season, and partly from the more barren places in
which they breed. Their breeding-time varies considerably in
different parts of the country ; but in all situations it is as early
as the weather will admit. And thus, on the high grounds, on
the skirts of the Grampians especially, the nests are liable to be
destroyed by those storms of sleet or snow, which set in some-
times as late as the middle of May, or even the beginning of
June."

At the close of autumn these birds congregate in small flocks
in the open fields, seeking food ; then it is that their melodious
warble is no longer heard, as they utter instead a low melancholy

318 THE SHORELABK.

cry resembling the syllables lu, lu ; hence CTJVIER has applied to
this bird the term Alauda lulu. If the season be mild, how-
ever, they continue their sweet song far into the autumn.
BOLTON tells us, that some bird-fanciers prefer the song of this
bird to that of the Nightingale, with which it is said sometimes
to contend for superiority, invading even those hours which are
generally considered sacred to the queen of feathered vocalists.

" What time the timorous hare trips forth to feed,
When the scar'd owl skims round the grassy mead ;
Then high in air, and poised upon his wings,
Unseen the soft enamoured Woodlark sings."

BLYTH says, " in hot summer nights Woodlarks soar to a pro-
digious height, and hang singing in the air." It has been a
matter of dispute whether the term Woodwell, or Woodwale,
used by some old authors, refers to this bird, or to a species of
Thrush. In the ballad of Robin Hood we find it said —

" The Woodwele sung, and would not cease,

Sitting upon the spray,
So loud, he waken'd Robin Hood,
in the greenwood where he lay."

129. THE SHORELARK.

Alauda Jlpestris, LIN. Alouette de Virginie, ou Hausse-col noir, Bur.
Die Berglerehe, BECH.

Description. — The Shorelark is seven inches in length, and
a somewhat larger bird than the Skylark. The plumage on
the upper part of the body is similar in colour, but the throat
and lower part of the neck are light yellow, and, as well as
the breast, traversed by a black stripe in the form of a horse-
shoe. The north of Europe is the home of the Shorelark,
but in winter it may be seen in various parts of Germany,
seeking in the horse-dung for grains of corn. It is often cap-
tured on the southern side of the Thuringian Forest, when
returning home, especially in a snowy spring, with limed
twigs and nets. It is, however, often so emaciated, as not to
be able to eat the food offered it. It may be treated in all
respects like the other species of Larks.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird is sometimes called the Horned Lark ;
its claim to be admitted into the British Fauna rests upon some
three or four specimens, one obtained in Norfolk, another in
Lincolnshire, and a pair in Kent ; the male only of which, being

THE TITLARK. 319

the more attractive bird, was preserved. This species appears to
inhabit the northern parts of ^Europe, Asia, and America, being
more plentiful in the latter continent than elsewhere: it has
been described by WILSON, RICHABDSON, and AUDUBON, the
latter of whom says it is seldom found west of the AUeghany
mountains.

180. THE TITLARK.

Alanda Trivialis, LIN. Alouette Pipi, BUF. Der Baumpieper oder Die
Spitzlerche, BECH.

Description. — This and the three following birds, though
usually classed with the Larks, are entitled to this classifica-
tion only by the colour of their plumage, and by the fact, that
two of them possess a long spur. They are generally slighter
in make ; and in the shape of the beak, and the characteristic
movement of the tail, rather resemble the "Wagtails. In a
wild state their food consists wholly of insects. They have
two light coloured stripes upon the wings; a similar stripe
passes above the eyes, and the throat is free from spots. They
have all a mournful piping call, and, unlike the Larks, bathe
in water, instead of sand. I consider them to be a link be-
tween the Wagtails (Motacilla) and the Larks (Alaudaj,t and
to form a class which I call Pipits (Anihus).

The Titlark is the smallest of all German Larks, whether
properly so called or not, being only five inches and a half in
length, of which the tail measures two inches and a half.
The beak is very pointed ; the upper mandible blackish brown,
the lower whitish ; the feet ten lines in height, and, as well
as the claws, a pale flesh colour. The spur, or hinder claw,
is crooked. The head is rather long, and, with the nape of the
neck, back, rump, and sides, olive brown, spotted with black ;
the lower part of the body, as far as the belly, rusty yellow,
covered with black longitudinal spots, which begin at the
corner of the beak, and extend over the breast. The belly is
white ; the smaller wing-coverts olive brown ; the two larger
rows blackish, the upper having a margin of white, the lower
of reddish white, which produce two white stripes on the
wings. The pen feathers are dark brown, edged with olive
grey ; the tail thin, and somewhat forked. All the feathers
of the tail are pointed, and dark brown; the external ones
being white half way down the outer plume, and the next

320 THE TITLA11K.

having a small wedge-shaped white speck near the tip. The
under side of the wings is grey.

The female is hardly distinguishable from the male, except
that the throat, neck, and breast, are not so bright a yellow,
but have rather a whitish tinge ; that the white spot on the
second tail feather is smaller, and the two stripes on the wings
whiter. The males of one year old, also, are not so yellow on
the lower part of the body.

Habitat. — The Titlark inhabits the whole of Europe, ex-
cept the extreme north, and frequently breeds in the moun-
tainous and forest districts of Germany. It chiefly frequents
the skirts of woods, or those parts which have been cleared of
trees, as well as the neighbouring gardens and meadows. In
August, it may be seen in small flocks in the cabbage fields,
or on the house-tops ; and in September in the oat fields. On
this account, it is often caught about the beginning of October,
in the night nets used for the capture of the Skylark. It is a
bird of passage, returning about the end of March, when, if
the weather be at all cold, it may generally be seen in the
ploughed fields, and near warm springs. The Titlark has one
peculiarity, which is shared by very few birds ; namely, that
its call in the pairing season is entirely distinct from any note
which it utters at other times. It usually perches upon the
ground, and utters its cry of Giek, giek ! while at the pairing
time, or when it has young, and is near its nest, its call is a
mournful Tzip, tz'i/p ! If this cry be heard from a bird perched
on a tree, it is a sure sign that the nest is not far off ; and the
bird will be found to have its bill full of insects, redoubling its
cries as the stranger approaches its nest. At this time, it sel-
dom or never utters the call Giek, giek !

In my collection, the Titlark is allowed to range the room
with the other birds ; but if any amateur should think it worthy
of a cage, its life will be lengthened by this means, and its
song improved. The cage should be an ordinary Lark's cage,
furnished with two perches, upon which the bird is fond of
placing itself.

Food. — In a wild state the Titlark feeds principally on flies,
grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and small butterflies. In
the aviary it requires a varied diet, and besides the usual
paste, should occasionally have the Nightingale's paste, crushed
hemp seed, sweet curds, or meal worms. The chief difficulty

THE TITLARK. 321

in keeping the Titlark is to accustom it, when newly caught,
to the food of the aviary ; for which purpose it should be at
first fed with meal worms, grasshoppers from which the legs
have been taken off, and ants' eggs, with which the universal
paste may be mixed, in gradually larger quantities. The Tit-
lark does not sand itself like other Larks, but takes up water
with its bill, with which it sprinkles its body.

Breeding. — The Titlark builds its nest on the ground, in
gardens, meadows, or open spaces of the forest, among the long
grass. It is carelessly constructed of dry grass stalks, lined
inside with finer stalks, and horse and cow hair. The female
lays twice a year, four or five grey eggs, mottled with brown.
The young — which, on account of the numerous enemies to
whose attack they are exposed, leave the nest as soon as
fledged — may be reared on ants' eggs, and bread soaked in
milk, mixed with a little poppy seed. They are very docile, and
learn to imitate, though not very perfectly, the notes of such
birds as are kept in the same room, particularly of the Canary.

Diseases. — The Titlark is subject to the usual diseases of
birds, as well as to the falling off of the feathers, at other
seasons than that of moulting. If at this period it be not
fed with good and nourishing food — as, for example, meal
worms and ants' eggs — it frequently dies of atrophy. The
average duration of its life is six years.

Mode of Talcing. — The surest, though an inhuman method of
catching the Titlark, is to put limed twigs on the nest. In
March a male bird may often be obtained by help of a decoy,
to which a limed twig is attached, in the manner already more
than once described. In autumn it may be taken with the
night net, if the places in the oat-stubble which they frequent,
be noticed ; though at this season of the year it is difficult to
distinguish between the sexes. Up to September, the Titlark
may be also caught in the water-trap.

Attractive Qualities. — The song of this bird, though consist-
ing only of three passages, ornamented with trills and shakes,
is pleasant. It either sings perched on the top of a tree, or
ascending perpendicularly in the air, where it sustains itself
for a few moments, and then returns to its former place, re-
peating in its descent the syllables Tzia, tzia, tzia ! In a wild
state it sings from the end of March to July ; in confinement,
from February to the same period. It is an amusing bird,

Y

322 THE TITLABK.

attracting attention by its slow and thoughtful gait, the con-
stant motions of its tail, and its attention to its own neatness
and cleanliness.

ADDITIONAL. — With us this bird is variously known as the
Titlark, Tilting, Meadow-Pipit, and Moss- Cheeper ; it is a com-
mon and generally distributed species, being as often met with
in the interior of the country, as on the coasts, and frequenting
principally wet meadows, commons, and pasture lands. " In
winter," says MACGULLIVKAY, "most of the individuals betake
themselves to the lower grounds, many to the sea-shore, where
they mingle with the Rock-Pipits. During snow, they search
the margins of streams and lakes, frequent unfrozen marshes,
and even appear in the stack-yards. Their food consists of in-
sects, pupa, larvcB, and occasionally small seeds, along with which
they pick up particles of gravel, and frequently, in the lower dis-
tricts, small bits of coal and other dark-coloured substances.
When searching for it, they walk by short alternate steps, keep-
ing the body close to the ground, in the manner of the Skylark,
and when alarmed, either crouch, or spring up, uttering a repe-
tition of their ordinary cheeping note, and fly off to a distance.
You may see them occasionally on a bush or tree, frequently on
a wall, a stone, or a rock ; but they are essentially ground birds ;
and while they are employed all day in traversing the meadows
and pastures, they repose at night among the dry grass of the
moors and hills, or under the shelter of tufts of heath, furze, or
other small shrubs. Their ordinary flight is wavering and de-
sultory, but when they fly with speed, in an undulating line.
They are not generally very shy, so that they are easily shot, but
at the same time they are evidently watchful and suspicious, and
fly off when one approaches nearer than thirty yards."

This is the bird in whose nest, it is said, the Cuckoo most fre-
quently deposits its egg, and in reference to which a remarkable
instance of sagacity is mentioned by THOMPSON, in his papers on the
Natural History of Ireland. A nest of this bird having being dis-
covered by some truant boys, on the side of a drain, where, as
well as on the ground in fields, it was frequently known to build,
was by them deprived of the grassy covering which concealed it.
On visiting the spot a day after this occurrence, he found a quantity
of withered grass laid regularly across the nest ; this he removed,
and out flew the bird. On the day after, he repeated his visit, and
again found the grass similarly placed, and discovered a small
aperture beneath, by which egress was afforded to the bird, that
had evidently herself thus endeavoured to screen her nest from
observation.

THE FIELDLARK. 323

131. THE FIELDLABX.
Alauda campestris, LIN. La Spipolette, Bur. Der Brachpieper, BECH.

Description. — This bird is six inches and a half in length,
smaller and more slender than the Skylark. It resembles the
Crested Lark in colour, and the Titlark in form. The beak is
thick and long ; the upper part of the body dark grey, with
blackish spots. There is a white stripe over the eyes, and the
breast, which is yellowish white, is streaked with blackish
grey lines. The tail is dark brown, having the two outermost
feathers white on the outside. The feet are a pale flesh-
colour ; the nail of the hind claw is strong and curved.

The Fieldlark may be met with in summer in woody
marshes ; in autumn, on the edges of fields, meadows, and
high roads ; and may be caught with the night net. It does
not sing, but cries constantly, while making its revolutions in
the air, Tsirru ! and Datsida ! It is a bird of passage, depart-
ing in September, and returning in April. It must be fed and
treated like the Titlark ; but is a more delicate bird.

ADDITIONAL. — BECHSTEIN, it will be seen, has placed this bird
with the Pipits, but it does not appear at all clearly what British
species corresponds with the slight description here given. MAC-
GILLIVEAY includes in his Anthus, or Pipit Genus, five species,
two of which appear to be identical with these just described ;
the other three, which he calls Anthus Obscurus, the Dusky
or Shore Pipit ; A. Spinoletta, the Eedbreasted Pipit ; and
A. Recardi, feichard's Pipit, scarcely agree, hi their distinctive
characteristics, with either of the species given by the German
naturalist, who claims for his "Water Pipit, presently described,
the LiNNiEAN title Alauda Spinoletta. In point of size it best
corresponds with the Anthus Aquaticus, variously called the
Eock or Shore Pipit, Eock, Sea, or Dusky Lark, which MUDIE
describes as inhabiting the sea- shores, and finding the principal
part of its food at, and within, the high water mark. " In man-
ner its song in spring, and its chirp at all times, bear a very close
resemblance to those of the Meadow Pipit. It runs with great
ease along the sand, picking up its food ; and when alarmed, it
hops onward with a bouncing flight. The nest is formed of bents,
or "other plants, growing near the sea, and lined with finer fibres,
or with nair. The eggs are not more than five, yellowish grey,
with reddish brown spots, especially at the thick ends. There
are two broods or more in the course of the year."

r 2

324 THE MEADOW LARK.

132. THE MEADOW LARK.

Alauda Pratensis, Lix. Alouette despres ou Farlov^e, BUF. Der
Wiesenpciper, oder die Wiesenlerche, BECU.

Description. — This bird, which measures five inches and a
half in length, is very like the Titlark; though it may be
easily and certainly distinguished from it by the straightness
of its spur or hinder claw. Besides this, it is generally smaller ;
the feet redder, the head larger, and the beak, which is only
two inches in length, thinner and not so long. The upper
part of the body is olive green, spotted with blackish brown ;
the rump reddish greyish green, mottled with grey. A dis-
tinct whitish yellow stripe passes above the eyes, and another
of a similar colour encircles the cheeks. The under part of
the body is dirty white, reddish yellow on the breast, and
tinged on the sides of the breast and belly with greenish yel-
low. The breast is covered with oval black spots, and the
upper part of the belly with triangular specks of the same
colour. The wings are traversed by a double white stripe ;
the pen feathers are dark brown ; the feathers of the tail,
which is somewhat forked, blackish. The external feathers
are, however, half white, and the others are marked by a
wedge-shaped white spot.

The plumage of the female is generally lighter in colour.

Habitat. — The Meadow Lark frequents lakes, rivers, marshes,
and damp meadows. In September it may be seen in great
numbers on the meadows and among the stubble fields ; while
in October, it collects in large flocks, and takes its departure.
It is almost the last bird of passage to leave us, as its shrill cry,
Bis, Us I may often be heard in the meadows, even in Novem-
ber and December. It returns in March.

"When in confinement, it may either be allowed to range the
room, or be kept in a Lark's cage, which, as in the case of the
Titlark, and for the same reason, should be furnished with a
couple of perches.

Food. — In a wild state the Meadow Lark feeds on insects,
especially aquatic species. In the aviary it is the tenderest of
its kind, and can be inured to the universal paste only with
great difficulty. The best diet for this purpose is composed 01
ants' eggs and chopped meal worms, mixed with soaked bread
and meal. As it always requires both ants' eggs and meal-

THE MEADOW LAEK. 325

worms, the best plan is to keep it in a cage, and feed it on
the diet prescribed for the Nightingale.

Breeding, and Diseases. — This bird builds its nest in marshes
and damp meadows. The principal diseases to which it is
liable are atrophy and diarrhoea.

Mode of Talcing. — The Meadow Lark may sometimes be
taken with other Larks in the night net, or by setting with
limed twigs the marshy places which it is observed to frequent.
In snowy weather the same result may be attained, by setting
limed twigs, baited with meal worms, on some spot cleared
from snow.

Attractive Qualities. — This is a very pretty Cage-bird. Its
song is full, clear, and melodious ; and, except that it is more
various, and is better executed, resembles that of the Titlark.
There are also passages in it which are like the warbling of
the Canary.

ADDITIONAL. — With us this bird is sometimes called the Tree
Pipit, or Short-heeled Field Lark ; it is frequently confounded
with the preceding species, which it very closelv resembles ; it is
of much less frequent occurrence in Britain, where, according to
MACGILLIVEAY, it does not remain during the winter, nor does
it " frequent the heaths and open grassy pastures, which are the
favourite places of abode of the Meadow Pipit in summer ; but
is found in the cultivated parts, in the vicinity of woods and
thickets. Its song, which is of the same lively character, but
mellower, more modulated, and longer continued, is given out
during the descent from an elevation of from twenty to thirty
yards, during which it flutters with expanded wings and tail.
Sometimes, also, it sings while perched on a tree, and more fre-
quently while descending from one to the ground.

" The nest, which is placed among the grass in a wood, or near
its margin, is similar to that of the Meadow Pipit, being com-
posed of dry grass, lined with finer blades, and having the inte-
rior of hair. Mr. WEIE, of West Lothian, who seems to have
paid close attention to the habits of both species, writes, * that
while the eggs of the Meadow Pipit are closely freckled some-
times with dark, and sometimes witn light brown, those of the
Tree Pipit are blotched with deep crimson purple, and the
ground colour of them partakes of a tint of the same, but much,
paler.' "

326 THE WATER LARK.

133. THE WATER LARK.
Alauda Spinoletta, LIN. Der Wasserpieper, BECH.

Description. — This, which is the largest of the Larks, is
seven inches in length, of which the tail measures three
inches, and the beak seven lines. From tip to tip of the ex-
panded wings is eleven inches and a half. The beak has a
sharp ridge on the top, and in summer is horn-blue, in winter
brown, edged with yellow. The feet are brown, and unwieldy ;
the spur long and strong. The upper part of the body is olive
green, mottled with a similar tinge of grey; an indistinct
white stripe passes between the eyes ; and the under part of
the body is greyish white, covered on the throat and breast
with triangular dark brown spots. The wings are blackish
grey, with two white stripes ; the tail strong, somewhat forked,
and blackish ; the outermost feather having a wedge-shaped
white spot, and the second being tipped with dingy white.

The female is a darker grey on the upper part of the body,
and on the under part is more thickly spotted.

Habitat. — I have never seen this bird except in Pranconia
and Thuringia, during its passage at the end of October and
beginning of November. There it may be seen in moist places,
and especially near springs ; and in mild winters it occasionally
remains till March.

It is easily tamed, and may either be allowed to range the
room, or may be confined in a Lark's cage with perches.

Food. — In a wild state it feeds, like the Wagtail, on aquatic
insects. When confined, it may be easily induced to eat the
universal paste by mixing with it a meal-worm or two; it
will also take poppy and crushed hemp seed. It is fond of
bathing.

Mode of Talcing. — A spot near the water should be cleared
from snow, and set with limed twigs, baited with meal worms.
If the bird be gently driven towards it, success is certain.

Attractive Qualities. — The Water Lark, which is a favourite
bird with me, usually sits still upon its perch, but moves its
tail backwards and forwards almost as fast as a Strand Snipe.
Its song resembles that of a Siskin or Swallow, or is occa-
sionally like the wetting of a scythe. Its call, which is shrill
and harsh, is Hish ! hish ! It is a very cleanly bird.

THE STARLING. 327

134. THE STARLING.
Sturmts vulgaris, LIN. Etourenau, BUF. Der Gemeine Staar, BECH.

Description. — The Starling resembles the Kedwing Thrush
in size and shape, being eight inches and & half in length, of
which the tail measures two inches and a half. The beak is one
inch long, awl-shaped, angular, somewhat flattish, and a little
blunt. It is a pale yellow, tipped with brown, and in winter
blackish-blue. The iris is nut-brown ; the feet one inch in
height, and dark flesh-colour. The whole body is blackish,
having a bright purple tinge half way down the back and
breast, with a bright green lustre on the rest of the body, and
on the wing-coverts. The pen and tail feathers are black,
speckled with grey, and, together with all the coverts, edged
with light rust colour. The feathers of the head and nape of
the neck are tipped with reddish white ; those on the back
with light rust colour, and on the outer part of the body with
white. Hence the general appearance of the bird is speckled.

In the female the beak is rather blackish brown than yellow;
the light-coloured spots, especially on the head, neck, and
breast are larger, and the edges of the wing feathers broader,
which altogether give the bird a lighter and more mottled
appearance. Old males have hardly any white spots on the
forehead, cheeks, throat, and belly.

There are several varieties of this bird: as, for instance,
White, Mottled, White-headed, and Grey Starlings, as well as
such as are white all over the body and black on the head.

Habitat.— The Starling inhabits all parts of the Old W^orld,
and frequents woods and thickets which are at no great dis-
tance from meadows and ploughed fields. In October it departs
southwards in large flights, and does not return till the begin-
ning of March. In its migration it takes shelter by night
among reeds and bullrushes, from which its shrill cry may
often be heard to proceed.

This bird is usually allowed to range the room ; and, indeed,
the only reason for keeping it in a cage is that, though keeping
itself clean, it makes the aviary very dirty with its fluid ex-
crements. An appropriate cage, which may be of any desired
form, ought not to be less than two feet long, and one foot and
a half broad, as the Starling is a restless bird, and will injure
its plumage, if not allowed ample space for exercise.

328 THE STARLING.

Food. — When wild, the Starling eats not only caterpillars,
snails, grasshoppers, mole- crickets, and the insects which teaze
the pasturing cattle, but grapes, cherries, berries, and grain of
all kinds, buck-wheat, millet, and hemp seed. Its chief food,
however, consists of the small meadow grasshopper, which it
eats also in the larva state.

In confinement it may be fed on the universal paste, meat,
insects, bread, cheese, and, indeed, anything which is not sour.
A wild bird soon becomes tame if fed with ants' eggs and meal
worms, and is speedily as much at home as if reared in the
aviary. There are, however, some few birds so obstinate as to
die of hunger, sooner than eat in captivity. The Starling is
exceedingly fond of bathing, and therefore requires a constant
supply of fresh water.

Breeding. — The Starlings build in hollow trees, in dove-
cotes, under the roofs of houses, and in wooden boxes and
earthen vessels, which are often hung on trees for their accom-
modation. The nest is carelessly built of dry leaves, grass
stalks, and feathers, and is occupied by the same pair year
after year, being cleaned out when they take possession. The
female lays twice a year seven greenish grey eggs. Before the
first moulting the young are not so much black as a smoky
fawn colour, without spots, and their beak is dark brown.
Young birds, when taken from the nest, may be reared on
bread and milk, and will learn to whistle an air more perfectly,
and in a clearer tone, than either the Bullfinch or the Linnet.
Their memory is exceedingly good, as is shown by their retain-
ing many and various passages without confusion or mistake.
In the Yoigtland the peasants treat the Starlings like domestic
Pigeons : they take the young ones from the nest before they
are fledged, and this induces the parent birds to breed three
times a year. The last brood is, however, generally left, both
to increase the stock, and not to discourage the old birds from
returning to the same nest.

Instances have been known in which Starlings have built in
the aviary, when provided with a box or pot in which to con-
struct their nest.

Diseases. — I know of no diseases peculiar to this bird. It
will live from ten to twelve years in confinement.

Mode of Taking. — In autumn the Starling is often taken
among the reeds, in nets specially constructed for the purpose.

THE STAKLING. 329

About July single birds may be caught by placing an osier
fish basket, baited with cherries, among the reeds to which
they resort at night. In Thuringia, it is considered the best
time to take them when a snow shower occurs after their arri-
val in March. A place, near the marshes and ditches which
they frequent, is cleared of snow, and set with limed twigs,
baited with earth-worms. To this the birds will allow them-
selves to be driven, like poultry.

Attractive Qualities. — The Starling becomes exceedingly
tame in confinement, and, in respect of docility and sagacity,
deserves to be compared with the dog. It is always lively,
understands and obeys every gesture and motion of those with
whom it lives, and though tottering about with a sober step and
stupid appearance, allows nothing to escape its notice. It learns,
without having its tongue loosened, to repeat words, whistle
airs (a power shared by the females also), and to imitate the
voices of men and animals, and the song of birds. It is, how-
ever, very uncertain in this respect, as it not only soon forgets
what it has learned, but mixes up old and new lessons together,
so that entire solitude and silence is essential, if it is desired
to teach one of these birds to go through its performance cor-
rectly. It is remarkable that this docility is not confined to
the young, but is characteristic also of old birds, which have a
peculiar harp-like song of their own. As, however, is the
case with all birds, this docility is very various in different
individuals, and I have one now in my possession which utters
its natural song in the midst of all the birds in the aviary.
The Starling sings throughout the year, with the exception of
the moulting season.

ADDITIONAL. — The Stare, or Starling, is in this country a well-
known bird ; it is the smallest of all our resident birds allied to
the Corvine, or Crow tribe, and the most beautiful as well as the
most harmless, never killing other feathered creatures, or de-
stroying their eggs, although it has been accused of doing both,
and suffered on that account much persecution. MACGILLIVRAY
says, that " the Starling is generally distributed in Britain, but
local. It is no where more common than in the northern and
western isles of Scotland, where it breeds in caves, crevices of
rocks, and holes in the turf." This author, after giving an ani-
mated description of one of their breeding places, on the west coast
of the Hebrides, thus continues : — " The places to which above

330 THE STABLING.

all they most frequently resort in summer and autumn, are the
cow-folds, where the farm stock is enclosed at night, and there,
before the cattle are let out, or at milking time, you may find
large flocks busily employed in searching among the old and
dried dung for larvse and worms, keeping up an incessant low
chatter, frequently perching for awhile on the cattle, and when
satisfied, reposing on the low walls of the field, where you may
shoot them by half dozens. In winter they frequent the corn
yards along with Linnets, Buntings, Larks, and wild Pigeons, to
obtain a few grains of oats, search the stubble grounds for seeds,
pick up small testaceous mollusca from the pastures, and occa-
sionally visit the shores to feed on marine worms. In spring
they find a supply of food in the newly-turned fields or patches
of ground ; in summer and autumn, they are furnished with
abundance of larvae and worms, found chiefly under the dung of
domestic animals, and they attack the corn in the same manner
as the Sparrow, although this kind of food is apparently less
agreeable to them than their more usual kind."

In STANLEY'S Familiar History of Birds, will be found a good
account of the habits of this interesting species. It has been as-
serted that the male Starling does not feed its young ones ; ME.
WEIR, however, asserts that this is a fallacy, and proves that it is
so, from actual observation.

With regard to the vocal powers of this bird, MACGILLIVEAY
says : " Almost all authors are agreed in reducing its natural
notes to ' a harsh scream, and a chatter or twitter;' but I have cer-
tainly heard them enumerate what to me, who am more senti-
mental than musical, appeared to be a very pleasant little song.
As a specimen of an accomplished Starling, I may here introduce
one visited by MB. SYME. ' We went one morning with a friend,
to see a collection of birds belonging to a gentleman in Antigua
Street, Edinburgh, and among these were some very fine Star-
lings— one in particular, which cost five guineas. Breakfast was
ready before we entered the room. When the bird was pro-
duced, it flew to its master's hand, and distinctly pronounced —
* Good morning, Sir, — breakfast — breakfast.' It afterwards
hopped to the table, examined every cup ; and while thus em-
ployed, it occasionally repeated 'Breakfast — breakfast — bread
and butter for Jack — pretty Jack— pretty Jack.' "

ME. WEIE gives a similar account of another individual. " Mr.
Paton, carver and gilder, Horse Wynd, Edinburgh, had one a
few years ago, which I have heard pronounce most distinctly the
following sentences. When I entered the shop, he said to me,
' Come in, Sir, and take a seat — I see by your face that you are
fond of the lasses — George, send for a coach and six for pretty

THE WATEB OUZEL. 331

Charlie — Be clever, George, I want it immediately ;' and many
other sentences to the same purport."

135. THE WATEB OUZEL.
Stumus Cinclus, Lix. Merle d'Eau, BUF. Der Wasserschwatzer, BECH.

Description. — The Water Ouzel is about the size of the Star-
ling ; but the head is more pointed, the body not so slight, and
the wings and tail shorter. It is seven inches in length, of which
the tail measures one inch and three quarters. The folded wings
do not cover more than half an inch of the tail. The beak
is eight lines in length, narrow, compressed at the sides, sharp
pointed and black. The nostrils are small, and surrounded
by a kind of skin. The iris is light brown ; the feet an inch
in height, and blackish brown ; the head and nape of the neck
are a dingy reddish brown ; the rest of the upper part of the
body black, mottled with grey; the pen and tail feathers
blackish ; the throat half way down the breast pure white :
the remainder of the breast dark brown. The female is lighter
on the head and neck, and not so white on the breast.

Habitat. — The Water Ouzel frequents the banks of mountain
streams, near which, as least liable to be entirely frozen over in
winter, it remains throughout the year. In confinement it
may either be allowed to run about the room, or be kept in a
large Thrush cage.

Food. — When wild, it principally subsists on aquatic insects,
though it eats also worms and small fish, for which it dives.
In confinement it may be inured to one of the universal pastes
by the judicious use of meal worms, flies, and ants' eggs.

Breeding. — The nest of the Water Ouzel, which is constructed
of grass stalks, root fibres, and moss, is generally placed among
stones by the side of a stream, in the timbers of a weir, or
between the spokes of a disused water-wheel. The female
lays five or six white eggs, and the young ones, which need
not be taken from the nest till nearly fledged, may easily be
reared on meal worms, ants' eggs, and bread soaked in milk.

Mode of Taking. — Every pair of these birds have a fixed
station on some weir, stone, or bush, which overlooks a stream,
and may be taken without difficulty by means of limed twigs
judiciously placed, and baited with live meal worms.

Attractive Qualities. — The sonorous song of this bird is not

332 THE WAXES OUZEL.

unpleasant, especially when heard in the open air, in the
middle of winter.

ADDITIONAL.— The Water Ouzel, Water Crow, Water Peit,
Black Water Bird, Ducker, and Dipper, are the various names
by which this bird is known in Britain, where it is pretty gene-
rally distributed, being most plentiful in the north. " It fre-
quents," says MACGILLIVBAY, " running waters, perches on stones
or on the banks, descends to the bottom in search of its food,
which consists of mollusca and insects, has a rapid direct flight,
and is of a rather solitary disposition. The nest, which is placed
near the water, is of enormous size, arched over, but broader than
high, with the aperture in front, and composed externally of
moss, internally of grass, and lined with beech or oak leaves.
The eggs, five or six, oval, rather pointed, pure white, about an
inch in length, nine-twelfths in breadth. The young, when
nearly fledged, on being disturbed, leave the nest and plunge
into the water."

Some controversy has arisen among naturalists on the power
which this bird has been said to possess of walking underneath
the water. According to BTJFFON, M. HERBERT was the first to
observe and record this extraordinary feat. WATERTON ridi-
cules the notion ; and BRODERIP, who seems to have weighed the
evidence on both sides, agrees with MACGILLIVRAY in believing
only that its power of submersion extends to the short interval
of time necessary to the seizure of its food, and that with diffi-
culty it remains under water sufficiently long for this. The
sonorous song of this extraordinary bird startles the ear as it
comes mingled with the hoarse tones of the torrent, or the rushing
of the wintry waterfall, sometimes in the midst of a snow-storm.
MR. E-ENNIE, who remarks that it is one of the few birds that
are vocal so early in the year as the months of January and
February, heard it on the llth of the latter month— in hard
frost, when the thermometer in the morning had been at 26°, — sing
incessantly in a powerful and elegant style, with much variation
in the notes, many of which were peculiar to itself, intermingled
with a little of the piping of the Woodlark. The same author
declares that the Dipper consumes a considerable quantity of
fishes' spawn, and especially of the ova of the salmon. BECH-
STEIN alleges that this bird sings in the night. YARRELL, in his
British Birds, gives an admirable cut of the domed nest, which
in shape much resembles that of the Wren, than which, how-
ever, it is more broad and shallow.

THE BOHEMIAN, OR WAXEN CHATTERER. 333

136. THE BOHEMIAN, OR WAXEN CHATTERER.

Ampelis Garrulus, LIN. Jaseur de BohSrne, BUF. Der Gemeine
Seidenschwanz, BECH.

Description. — The Bohemian Chatterer is eight inches in
length, and almost as large as the Eedwing Thrush. The beak is
short, black, straight, arched above, and broad at the root, so that
the opening of the mouth is large. The iris is reddish brown;
the feet black, and nearly one inch in height. The whole
plumage of the bird is soft and silky, and the feathers on the
top of the head are elongated, so as to form a crest. The head
and upper part of the body are reddish ash colour, inclining to
grey on the rump ; and a black stripe passes from the nostrils
over each eye to the back of the head. The chin is black ;
the forehead, as well as the vent, chestnut-brown. The breast
and belly are a light purple brown ; the smaller wing coverts
are brown, the largest and most distant from the body black,
tipped with white, which produces a white stripe on the
wings. The pen-feathers are black; the third and fourth
tipped with white, the five following with yellow, on the
outer plume. Besides this, in many of their feathers the
shafts end in a smooth, horny, oval tip of the colour of red
sealing-wax. Of these the female has never more than five ;
the male sometimes as many as nine on each side. The tail is
black, tipped with sulphur colour ; and in very old males is
sometimes provided with tips like those on the wings.

In the female, the black spot on the throat, and the sulphur-
coloured tip of the tail, are smaller ; and the wings are tipped
with yellowish white.

Habitat. — These birds breed within the Arctic Circle, and
visit Germany only in the winter, arriving in November, and
departing in the beginning of April. In mild winters they do
not come as far south as Thuringia ; in severe ones, they seek
a still warmer climate. In average seasons they sometimes
remain with us throughout the year, and may then be seen in
other parts of Germany also, as in Saxony, the Hartz Mountains,
and Bohemia.

In confinement it is usually kept in a corner of the room,
separated by a grating, which, however, must not be near the
fire. A very slight degree of heat is sufficient to make it open
its beak, and begin to gasp for air, a fact which proves that
its summer abode must be in a very cold climate. If, for

334 THE BOHEMIAN, OB WAXEN CHATTEEER.

cleanliness sake, it be kept in a cage, it should have one like
that used for a Thrush, the floor of which must be daily
strewed with fresh sand.

Food. — In spring, the Bohemian Chatterer feeds on various
kinds of insects, particularly flies. In autumn and winter it
eats berries of almost every kind, and, in case of need, the buds
of the beech, maple, and different fruit trees.

In confinement, the universal pastes must be delicacies to it,
as it is content with bran and water. It swallows everything
voraciously, is very fond of wheaten bread, and eats everything
that is offered it, as vegetables of different kinds, such as
potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, and ripe fruit. It is fond of water,
though it only sprinkles itself, and that not so plentifully as
other birds.

Attractive Qualities. — The only recommendations possessed
by this bird are its beauty, and, in some districts, its scarcity,
for it is both stupid and lazy. In the aviary it does nothing
but eat, and sit still upon its perch, and even when hunger
drives it to make a journey across the room, its motions are
so awkward, as to be positively unpleasant to see. It has no
song, except a few low twittering notes, like those of the
Redwing, though still more soft ; and while singing, alternately
erects and depresses its crest, and so squats in a heap, as to
conceal all motion in the throat. This song, which the
bystander might imagine to be produced with a painful effect
on the part of the bird, continues throughout the year. If
bad tempered, as is not unfrequently the case at the seed
trough, it makes a snapping noise with its beak. It is easily
tamed; and is perhaps the greatest eater of all birds with
which I am acquainted, as it consumes every day almost its
own weight of food. This it soon voids in a half digested
state-; and if fresh food be not speedily supplied, eats its
own excrement. When juniper berries have been given it,
I have known it do this three times in succession. A natural
consequence of this greediness is, that its cage or grating
requires a daily cleasing, without which, the stench proceeding
from its excrement would be insupportable.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird is one with which British naturalists
are but little acquainted. MACGILLIVBAY describes it as visiting
this country accidentally, or at irregular periods, making its ap-
pearance generally in large flocks, and in winter, \vhen it betakes

THE MISSEL THRUSH. 335

itself to the hedges and rowan trees, to feed on their berries. It
has been met with frequently in Scotland, and yet at such irro-
gular and often distant periods, that it must be considered a very
rare bird even there. In England, if we except the northern
counties, it is of still less frequent occurrence, although specimens
have been obtained as far south as Devonshire and Cornwall.
Its geographical range is vast ; for it inhabits the north of Asia,
is mentioned by M. TEMMINCK as occurring in Japan, and has
been observed by DR. EICHARDSON and others in North Ame-
rica. With us it is generally shy, easily put to flight, and of
active habits. It is said to feed not only on the berries of the
ivy, rowan, whitethorn, and wild rose, but also on insects, which
it pursues in the same manner as Shrikes and Flycatchers, al-
though not with equal dexterity. It is usually named the Bohe-
mian Chatterer, although a remarkably silent bird, and not more
common in Bohemia than in many other parts of Germany. As
the black patch on the throat is one of its principal distinctive
characteristics, Black-throated is evidently a better specific name
than Bohemian.

137. THE MISSEL THRUSH.
Turdus Viscivorus, LIN. Le Draine, BUF. Die Mistel Drossel, BECH.

Description. — This, the largest of our Thrushes, is eleven
inches in length, of which the tail measures three inches and
a half. The knife- shaped beak is one inch long ; the upper
mandible curved downwards at the point, and, as in all Thrushes,
dark brown. The root of the lower mandible, and the open-
ing of the throat, yellow. The iris is brown ; the feet a dirty
light yellow, and more than an inch in height. The tipper
parts of the head, neck, and body are greyish brown, with a
reddish stripe on the lower part of the back and rump. The
sides of the head and the throat are whitish yellow, as are the
other parts of the body as far as the vent, though covered with
black spots, three-cornered or oval, yet regularly distributed.
The larger wing coverts are edged with reddish white ; the
pen feathers are greyish brown, bordered with a lighter shade
of the same colour ; the tail also is greyish brown, having tho
three extreme feathers tipped with white.

The plumage of the female is generally lighter ; the root of
the beak is not so yellow, and the under part of the body
whiter.

Habitat. — The Missel Thrush is a native of all Europe, but
more of the northern than the southern part. It principally

336 THE MISSEL THRUSH.

frequents mountainous countries, and is noticed to prefer pine
to other woods. It is a bird of passage, though it does not
leave Thuringia till the middle of December, and returns in
February, as soon as the fine days begin. In the warm valleys
of Eranconia, it is seen throughout the winter. In confine-
ment, a corner of the room partitioned off' with a grating, or a
cage of any shape, but at least three feet and a half long, and
almost as high, must be assigned to it, as it is a large and wild
bird, always in motion, and soon injuring its plumage. It is
best to appropriate a separate apartment to this and other large
Cage-birds, as their dung has a very unpleasant smell, and
necessitates a daily cleaning and sweetening of the room.

Food. — When wild, their food consists principally of worms,
with which they feed their young, and various insects, col-
lected from the marshes and meadows. In autumn they eat
mistletoe, service, buckthorn, and juniper berries.

In confinement they are not dainty, being exceedingly well
satisfied with the universal pastes. Crushed barley, or wheaten
bran, moistened with water, suits them very well, and is the
food on which fowlers feed these and other large birds, which
they keep in. flocks for decoys, throughout the year. If it be
wished to improve their singing, they may be fed with meat,
bread, and whatever comes to table, none of which they will
refuse. They are also fond of bathing.

Breeding. — The nest of the Missel Thrush may be found in
the woods as early as March, built sometimes high, sometimes
low upon the tree. The outside is formed of dry stalks,
covered with lichen ; the next layer of moss, with the earth
still adhering to its roots ; the inmost of fine root fibres and
grass stalks. They breed twice a year ; the female laying each
time four greenish white eggs, thinly spotted with violet and
reddish brown. The young birds are grey on the upper part
of the body, and very much spotted on the belly, the wing
feathers having a broad edge of rusty yellow. They are not
so docile as the Blackbird; and besides their natural note,
learn to imitate only a few unconnected notes, which they are
in the habit of hearing constantly. They are to be fed with
bread, soaked in milk ; and become so tame, as to sing while
on the hand.

Diseases. — Those to which the Missel Thrush is most liable,
are the obstruction of the rump gland, constipation, and atrophy.

THE MISSEL THETTSH. 337

Mode of Taking. — In autumn and winter, these birds maybe
taken in great numbers with nets and snares, baited with
berries. From December to February, they may be caught
with limed perches, placed under trees on which the mistletoe
grows ; a process which may be successfully repeated after the
interval of a week. After sunset they may be taken in the
water- trap. Those which are more yellow than others on the
lower part of the body, being the males, are preserved for con-
finement. When first caught they are very wild, and many
starve themselves to death ; but those which are saved soon
become tamer.

Attractive Qualities. — As early as February the Missel Thrush
may be observed on the top of a tree, especially at night and
morning, singing its clear and melancholy song ; — this, which
consists of five or six unconnected notes, is too loud for the
sitting-room, and the cage should therefore be hung in an
adjoining apartment, or in a large hall. Its cry is a twit-
tering Jis-rrr ! It lives in confinement ten or twelve years.

ADDITIONAL. — The Grey Thrush, Holm Thrush, Screech
Thrush, Storm Cock, and Missel or Mistle Thrush, are various
names applied to this, the largest of British songsters. " There
is a sort of double naming in this bird," says MUDIE ; " it is
called the Missel Thrush, because it ' missels' (soils) its toes with
the viscid slimy juice of the mistletoe berries, of which it is very
fond in the winter ; and the mistletoe gets its name because it
soils the toes of the bird." We have some doubts as to the
correctness of this rather fanciful piece of etymological informa-
tion, at all events, as regards the origin of the name of the plant ;
into this, however, it is not our business to enquire at present ;
we may therefore proceed to quote what other authors say of the
bird.

" The people of Hampshire," says GILBERT WHITE, " call the
Missel-bird the Storm Cock, because it sings early in the spring
in blowing, showery weather. Its song often commences with
the year. With us it builds much in orchards." This author
also alludes to its fierceness and pugnacity during the breeding
season, and says that " the Welch call it pen y Ihvyn, the head
or master of the coppice. He suffers no Magpie, Jay, or Black-
bird to enter the garden where he haunts, and is, for the time, a
good guard for the new-sown legumens. In general he is very
successful in defence of his family ; but once I observed in my
garden that several Magpies came determined to storm the n#st
of a Missel Thrush. The dams defended their mansion with

338 THE S02TG THKUSH.

great vigour, and fought resolutely ; but numbers at last pre-
vailed : they tore the nest to pieces, and swallowed the young
alive."

KNAPP considers the song of this bird, which is in his ears any-
thing but melodious, as a pretty sure indication of stormy weather.
" The flight of the Missel Thrush," observes YAEEELL, " is rapid,
but irregular and uneven, being performed by a succession of
jerks. Its food is various soft-bodied animals, as worms, slugs,
&c. ; and it is also a most decided feeder on berries of all sorts.
A botanist has reminded me that the red berries borne by the
plant named butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus), which grows
on bushy commons, are called holm-berries ; the name Holm
Thrush may have been acquired by this bird from feeding on the
Holm-berry." Probably, however, as this author opines, the
title may have originated in the partiality of the bird for the
oak-tree, from the top of which it delights to pour out its mellow
song, one species of that tree, the evergreen oak, being called by
old English writers the holm.

MACGILLIVBAY mentions that he has not met with this bird in
the Hebrides, or even in the northern division of Scotland, and
that in the middle division of that country it is very rare, although
he has seen it even among the Grampians. In the southern parts
it is not uncommon either in the cultivated districts or among
the central hills. A correspondent of his, ME. WEIE, asserts
that this is one of the most voracious of our native birds, and
that he has known it to carry off the young of other birds to
feed its own brood with.

138. THE SONG THETJSH.

Turdus Musicus, LIN. Le Grive, BUF. Die Singdrossel, BECH.
Description. — This bird might without impropriety be called
the Small Missel Thrush, so much does it resemble the pre-
ceding, in form, colour, habit of life, song, and general bearing.
It is eight inches and a half in length, of which the tail
measures three inches and a half. The beak is nine lines
long, horn-brown, except the half of the lower mandible,
nearest the root, which is yellow. The iris is nut-brown;
the feet, one inch in height, and a pale lead colour. All the
upper part of the body is olive-brown; the throat whitish
yellow, with a black stripe down each side ; the sides of the
neck and the breast, light reddish yellow, covered with
numerous dark brown heart-shaped spots. The belly is white,
with dark brown oval spots. Both rows of the larger wing
coverts have triangular orange spots on the tips ; the inner

THE SOXG THEUSH. 339

coverts are light orange ; the pen feathers greyish brown, as
are also the tail feathers, the outermost of which are edged
with white on the external plume.

In the female several little streaks are substituted for the
black lines on the throat ; the breast is a pale whitish yellow ;
and the orange tips of the wing coverts are not so large as in
the male. As is the case with all the commoner singing birds,
there are several varieties of the Thrush ; e. g. The White,
"White -headed, Mottled, Grey and others.

Habitat. — The Song Thrush is a well-known bird throughout
Europe, and frequents woods near streams and meadows.
When the weather begins to break in September, it collects in
large flocks, and migrates to a warmer climate. A little
before and a little after Michaelmas, is the time when it is
usually met with in its passage. It returns about the middle
of March, or a little later, when every male may be heard
singing his spring song, perched on the same tree from which
he sang the year before.

In confinement, the Song Thrush may be treated like the
Missel Thrush, though perhaps more deserving of a handsome
cage, both because it sings better, and is a smaller and less
dirty bird.

Food. — In a wild state its food is the same as that of the
Missel Thrush ; and in the aviary it may be treated in almost
the same manner. Barley groats and milk are an excellent
diet for it ; and it requires a constant supply of fresh water
both for bathing and drinking. It is sometimes difficult to
induce old birds, when first caught, to eat the food of the aviary.

Breeding. — The Song Thrush prefers to build its nest on
small pine or fir trees ; or, when these are not to be found, on
the thick lower branches of beeches, oaks, aspens, pear, and
apple trees. The nest is large, and is constructed of various
kinds of lichen, mixed with earth, loam, or cow-dung. The
female lays twice a year, from three to six green eggs, covered
with blackish brown spots. The first brood is usually fledged
about the middle or end of April. On the upper part of the
body, the young have a spotty appearance ; and if taken from
the nest when half fledged, and fed with bread and milk, learn
to whistle airs and tunes. The Song Thrush builds by pre-
ference near water ; and the nest may easily be found in the
situations above described.

z 2

340 THE SOXG

Diseases, and Mode of Taking. — The remarks already made on
these heads, in the case of the Missel Thrush, apply to the
Song Thrush, as well as the three following species. Of all birds
it is most frequently caught in snares and nooses, and in Sep-
tember and October, before sunrise and after sunset, may often
be taken in the water-trap. Time must be allowed for them
to get fairly into the water, as in this case eight or ten may
often be taken at once. Their call when bathing is quite
peculiar, and never heard at any other time ; the first to find
the water cries very loudly, Seek, seek, Seeki! Tsah, tsdk! and
is answered with the same cry by all within hearing. The
Song Thrush is, however, a very cautious bird, and rarely goes
into the water till it sees another bird — as, for example, a
Kedbreast — already there. The first which ventures is soon
followed by others, and a fight ensues, if there be not room for
all. It is a good plan to have a decoy-bird fluttering about
near the water.

Attractive Qualities. — The Song Thrush is the great en-
livener of our woods ; announcing from the highest trees the
arrival of spring, by its varied and beautiful song, and con-
tinuing its melody throughout the summer. It is especially
fond of singing in the morning and evening twilight. Ama-
teurs prize it chiefly on account of its song, which, as early as
February, is heard in such sonorous and melodious strains as to
delight a whole neighbourhood. If its food be properly varied,
the Song Thrush will live for six or eight years.

ADDITIONAL.— The Song Thrush, Garden Thrush, Throstle,
or Mavis, is one of those birds which, whether in a state of
liberty or confinement, may always be listened to by the lover of
melody with gratification. It is one of the commonest as well as
the best of our native songsters ; indeed, we might perhaps say
the best, and in this we should be borne out by BOLTON, who
says, " It is the finest of our indigenous singing birds, not only for
the sweetness and variety of its notes, but for the long contin-
uance of them, as it delights us with its song for three parts of
the year." In this country, according to WHITE, the Throstle
begins to sing between the sixth and twenty-second of January,
and it may constantly be heard singing late into the autumn : as
a rule, it may be inferred, that early singers are also early
breeders. YARRELL says, " I remember to have seen young
Thrushes on the last day of March ;" and JENYNS, in his Manual,
telJs us that the young of the first brood are hatched about the

THE SONG THBUSH. 341

beginning of April, and sometimes earlier ; and NEVILLE WOOD
states, that he has sometimes found Garden Thrushes' nests
begun as early as the middle of February, although he had never
known them completed, the coming on of a frost having generally
put a stop to the work.

WHITE, among other naturalists, has called attention to the
circumstance that Thrushes render great service to man by
destroying vast numbers of snails, in detaching which from the
old walls and garden palings, to which they adhere very firmly,
and in the breaking of their shelly covering, these birds display
great perseverance and sagacity. " I have frequently observed,"
says JESSE, in his notes to White s Selborne, " Thrushes place a
shell snail between two stones, or a hollow in a gravel walk, to
prevent their rolling, and then picking them till they broke
them." KNAPP may also be quoted on this head; but the fol-
lowing interesting anecdote from his Journal, seems to have a
better claim upon our space : —

" We observed this summer two common Thrushes frequenting
the shrubs on the green in our garden. From the slenderness of
their forms, and the freshness of their plumage, we pronounced
them to be birds of the preceding summer. There was an asso-
ciation and friendship between them, that called our attention to
their actions ; one of them seemed ailing, or feeble from some
bodily accident ; for though it hopped about, yet it appeared
unable to obtain sufficiency of food ; its companion, an active,
sprightly bird, would frequently bring it worms, or bruised
snails, when they mutually partook of the banquet ; and the
ailing bird would wait patiently, understand the actions, expect
the assistance of the other, and advance from his asylum upon
its approach. This procedure was continued for some days, out
after a time we missed the fostered bird, which probably died, or
by reason of its weakness met with some fatal accident. We
have many relations of the natural affection of animals ; and
whoever has attended to the actions of the various creatures we
are accustomed to domesticate about us, can probably add many
other instances from their own observation."

BEODEEIP, in his Zoological Recreations, observes, in refer-
ence to this bird, that " it was evidently one that ministered to
the absurd wantonness of the Roman voluptuaries in their olios
of brains and tongues of singing birds. Even in the present
day, as we learn from a distinguished ornithologist of this coun-
try, it is considered among the Italians as 'molto arato agli
Epicurei? The luscious grapes and figs on which it there feeds,
are said to impart a most exquisite flavour to its flesh, which seems
well appreciated by the ex-maitre d'hotel of Pascal Bruno's

342 THE FIELBFAIiE.

friend, the Prince Butera, when the accomplished artist treats
with all the solemnity due to the high importance of the subject,
of his G-rives a la broche, au genievre, and a lajlamandes. There
is, it is true, no accounting for tastes, and we would speak with
all reverence for discriminating palates ; but some may think that
all taste, save that for the pleasures of the table, must have
vanished, before the gourmand can sit down with gratification to
his dish of Song Thrushes."

139. THE FIELDFARE.

Turdus Pilaris, LIN. Litorne ou Tourdelle, BUF. Der Fiachholder-
drossel, BECH.

Description. — In size this bird is between the Missel and the
Song Thrush ; being ten inches long, of which the tail measures
four inches. The beak is one inch long, in general yellow,
but blackish at the point, and somewhat curved in the upper
part. The opening of the throat and the tongue are yellow ;
the iris dark brown ; the feet a blackish brown, and one inch
and a quarter in height. The upper part of the head and
neck, the bottom of the back and the rump, are ashen grey,
with some blackish spots on the top of the head. A white
stripe passes over the eyes; the cheeks are ashen grey; the
back rusty brown ; the throat, half-way down the breast, a
rusty yellow, with black heart-shaped spots. The rest of the
under part of the body is white, having black heart-shaped
spots on the sides, and long spots of the same colour at the
vent. The wing-coverts are rusty brown; the larger ones
mottled with ashen grey. The pen feathers are blackish grey ;
the tail feathers blackish, the outermost having the outer half
white.

In the female the upper part of the beak is more grey than
yellow ; the head and rump of a paler grey ; the throat white,
the back a dirty rust colour, the feet dark brown.

There are also many varieties, e, g. The White, the Spotted,
and the White-headed Fieldfare.

Habitat. — This bird is to be found not only all over Europe,
but even in Siberia. The pine woods of the north are its summer
abode, where it builds its nest upon the highest trees. In the
middle of November it enters Germany in flocks, and passes
the winter wherever the juniper berry is plentiful. In March
or April, according to the mildness of the season, it again
departs towards the north. "When in captivity, it is treated

THE FIJGLDFABE. 343

like the Missel Thrush, and is chiefly prized by the amateur
as a decoy. Its cage must not be hung too near the fire, as,
being a native of the north, heat is injurious to it.

Food. — In a state of nature, it lives in summer on worms
and insects, in autumn and winter on berries, especially juniper
berries.

In confinement it may be fed like the two preceding species ;
or better still, with bread, crushed barley, and grated carrots.

With regard to the diseases of this bird, and the mode of
taking it, the same remarks apply as to the two preceding
species.

Attractive Qualities. — The Fieldfare's song is insignificant,
being merely a shrill unpleasant twittering; nor would it
deserve a place among Cage-birds, were it not useful to bird-
catchers as a decoy. Its call is Sha-sha-shak ! Quiri-quiri!

ADDITIONAL. — This bird appears to form a sort of connecting
link between the uniformly coloured Thrushes, or Ouzels, and
the Spotted Thrushes, having, as MACGILLIVEAY observes, " the
form of one and the colouring of the other set, to either of which,
therefore, it may be referred. It is rather a stout bird, to which
the length of the wings and tail impart a considerable degree of
elegance." It is variously known as the Feltyfare, Fieldfar,
Feltyflier, and Grey Thrush, in Gaelic Liath-Troisg . The
naturalist above named, furnishes us with the following particu-
lars as to its haunts in this country ; — " About the end of Oc-
tober, sometimes in the beginning of November, the Fieldfares
make their appearance in the northern and eastern parts of Bri-
tain, where some of them remain all the winter and spring, while
others disperse over the country. In the wooded parts they rest
at night on tall trees, at least I have seen them so roost at night
after sunset ; but MONTAGUE affirms that they repose on the
ground, which may be the case, and certainly they must sleep
there or on rocks in the Hebrides, where they are met with
during the cold season. I know no place where one can study
their habits more effectively than in the neighbourhood of Edin-
burgh, where they are met with in flocks of from several hundreds
to three or four individuals. When the ground is covered with
snow, the Fieldfares betake themselves to marshy meadows,
where they are often shot in great numbers ; for though repeatedly
annoyed, they return at short intervals, and persons stationed
here and there along the hedges, are sure of obtaining many
chances. Should the pools and brooks be frozen, they repair to
the woods and hedges, where they obtain a supply of hawthorn,

344 THE BEDWIXG.

Lolly, and other berries, of which various kinds constitute their
food in spring, together with worms, larvae, pupse, and insects, as
well as seeds of cereal and other plants ; but I have never, in the
most severe weather, seen them in corn-yards, although they fre-
quently enter gardens in time of snow to eat the holly berries.
They employ a small quantity of fragments of quartz and other
hard substances to aid the tituration of their food, and utter,
when alarmed and flying off, a chuckling cry, resembling the
syllables yuck, chuck, chuck, chuck." WHITE expresses wonder
" that Fieldfares, which are so congenerous to Blackbirds and
Thrushes, should never choose to build in England," nor even
think the Scottish Highlands cold and northerly and sequestered
enough for their purpose ; and controverts the opinion of MAC-
GILLIVEAY that these birds roost upon trees, where trees are to
be found. "They are seen," he says, "to come in flocks just
before it is dark, and to settle and nestle among the heath in our
forests. And besides, the larkers, in dragging their nets by night,
frequently catch them in the wheat stubbles; while the best
fowlers, who take many Redwings in the hedges, never entangle
any of this species."

140. THE REDWING.
Turdus Illacus, LIN. Mauvis, BUF. Die Rothdrossel, BECH.

Description. — Tins bird, which bears a great resemblance to
the Fieldfare, is smaller than the Song Thrush. It is eight
inches in length ; of which the tail measures three inches and
a quarter. The beak is blackish, yet yellow about the corners
and the base of the lower mandible. The iris is nut-brown ;
the feet one inch high, and pale grey ; the toes light yellow.
The head, neck, back, rump, and lesser wing coverts are olive
brown. A yellowish white stripe runs from the nostrils to a
considerable distance behind the eyes ; and the cheeks, which
are finely streaked with yellow, are surrounded with a similar
stripe, which terminates in a dark yellow spot, on the side of
the head. The throat and breast are whitish yellow, with
many triangular dark-brown spots ; the rest of the lower part
of the body white, somewhat spotted on the sides and vent
with olive* brown. The sides, as well as the lower wing-
coverts and the pen feathers, are mottled with dark reddish
brown ; the feathers of the wing coverts being tipped with
orange, and the two hindmost pen feathers with white. The
tail feathers are greyish brown, rather lighter at the points.

The plumage of the female is in general paler ; the stripe

THE IIEDWIXG. 345

over the eyes is almost white, and the spot on the side of the
head a clearer yellow. The prevailing colour of the lower
part of the body is white, inclining to yellow on the neck only ;
the spots on the "breast are greyish brown, and there are none
on the vent.

There are also white and mottled varieties.

Habitat. — In a wild state these birds are natives of the
north of Europe. They arrive in Germany for the winter
towards the end of October, and depart at the end of March
or beginning of April.

With regard to their general treatment in captivity, their
food, diseases, and modes of capture, the same remarks apply
as to the preceding species.

Attractive Qualities. — The males utter in spring and summer
a few twittering notes, as unmelodious as the song of the
Fieldfare. When large flocks collect in March or April on the
alders, their twittering does indeed make a great noise ; but
there is nothing in this to be dignified with the name of a
song, though I have heard one which might have been mis-
taken for a poor Song Thrush, and even uttered some few
Nightingale notes. Their principal attraction as Cage-birds
lies in their tameness, familiarity, patience, and apparent
readiness to adapt themselves to circumstances. Bird-catchers
also use them as decoys.

It must be remembered that they cannot bear heat, and
often require fresh water.

ADDITIONAL. — With us this bird is sometimes called the Wind
Thrush, and sometimes the Swinepipe. It is the smallest of
British Thrushes, and in the north is said to be so sweet a song-
ster, as to have obtained the name of the Norway Nightingale.
These birds commonly reach our shores in October, and depart
in the month of May ; the only music that we get from them is
a sort of plaintive piping note. The following is MUDIE'S account
of their habits : — " Redwings appear in flocks, are lovers of peace,
and mingle freely with the Fieldfares ; the two, indeed, seem
alike at the mercy of storms during the winter, though the Eed-
wings usually come first, and occupy the ground. While the
weather continues open, they remain on the pastures and fields,
in those places where they land, and roost for the night in hedges
and copses, in search of wild berries, and continue till these also
are exhausted ; and if they are then overtaken by a storm, many
of them perish, as, like tne Fieldfares, they seein to have but

346 THE BLACKBIIiD.

little command of themselves in a gale. If the season is variable,
they work their way southward, but suffer very much from
hunger and fatigue ; and many of them are smothered in the
enow, if overtaken by heavy falls, in their attempts to pass the
central heights.

" Redwings, as well as Fieldfares, are often found in those parts
of Britain which have the greatest resemblance to the countries
where they nestle, as late as the middle of May, or even the first
of June, detained, no doubt, chiefly by the east winds, which
blow dry and cold at that season ; but the same instinct, the
same obedience to the state of the weather which retains them
with us, prevents them from breeding, or even singing in this
country. BULLOCK mentions their breeding in the island of
Harris, but that is out of the line of their ordinary migration ;
and though it may be true in the instance which he gives, it is
certainly not true as a general feature of the ornithology of that
island. The song of the Redwing is not known there, any more
than it is on the coast of Northumberland or East York ; but
where any singing bird breeds regularly, its song is sure to be
known, not to naturalists merely, but also to the country people."

141. THE BLACKBIBD.
Turdus Merula, LIN. Merle, Bur. Die Schwarzdrossel, BECH.

Description. — This bird, the most docile of all Thrushes, is
about the size of the Song Thrush, being nine inches and a
half in length, of which the tail measures four inches. The
beak is one inch in length, and bright yellow ; the iris dark
brown; the feet black, and fourteen lines in height. The
male is black all over the body ; the female blackish brown,
tinged on the breast with rust-colour, and on the belly with
grey. She seems also to be somewhat larger than her mate,
which has led some persons into the mistake of describing her
as a separate species. As in the case of other species of Thrush,
varieties of this bird have been noticed. For example, the
White, Grey, White-headed, Yariegated, &c.

Habitat. — The Blackbird inhabits nearly the whole of the
Old World, and in Europe is found as far north as Sweden. In
Germany it is the only species of Thrush which is not migra-
tory.

In confinement it is advisable to keep the Blackbird in a
large cage, as, if allowed to range the room, it is apt to become
tyrannical and violent, and, like the Tits, often kills smaller
birds.

PLATE 29

BLACK IUKD A SONG THRUSH.

THE BLACKBIED. 347

Food. — The food of the Blackbird is the same as that of
other Thrushes ; though, in winter, it is often obliged to be
content with the berries of the white-thorn. At the same
season of the year it may frequently be seen near warm springs,
in search of insects and earth worms.

In the aviary it is satisfied with the first universal paste,
but will also eat bread, meat, and whatever is brought to table.
Like others of its kind, it is very fond of bathing. It is,
however, a tender bird, and would not live long on so simple
a diet as bran and water.

Breeding. — As the Blackbird is not a bird of passage, it
pairs very early in the year, so that the young birds may often
be found in the nest as early as the end of March. The nest
is placed in some thick bush, often not very high from the
ground, and is constructed of earth and moss interlaced with
twigs, and lined with fine grass-stalks and hair. The female lays
twice or thrice a year five or six eggs, of a greyish green colour,
covered with light brown and liver-coloured spots and stripes.
The young males are always rather darker than the females,
and can by this means be distinguished from them even in the
nest. They may be taken as soon as ever the tail feathers show
themselves, and reared on bread and milk. By this mode of
treatment they become sooner accustomed to the food of the
aviary, and, if taught an artificial song, learn it more per-
fectly, and do not confound and mix it with their own.

Diseases. — The disease to which the Blackbird is most liable
is an obstruction of the rump-gland, which may be treated in
the manner mentioned in the Introduction. It lives in con-
finement from twelve to sixteen years, especially if its food
be judiciously varied.

Mode of Talcing. — The Blackbird is very shy, and is seldom
caught in the barn-floor trap, though in winter it may easily
be taken in nooses and springes, baited with service berries. At
the same season it falls into the large Tit traps, baited in the
same manner, or may be caught in a place cleared from snow
and set with limed twigs. After dark it may frequently be
taken in the water-trap ; and before bathing utters a call simi-
lar to that of the Song Thrush. The call is T&itzirr / Tack,
Tack!

Attractive Qualities. — The song of the male is melodious,
and consists of deep sonorous passages, like those of a Night-

348 THE BLACKBIRD.

ingale, though intermixed with others which are rather harsh.
In a wild state it sings from March to July, especially by
night ; but in confinement throughout the year, except in the
moulting season, and in so loud and joyous a tone as to be
audible at a considerable distance. Its memory is so good,
that it learns not only to repeat words, but to whistle several
airs without confounding them together.

ADDITIONAL. — In all the wooded and cultivated tracts of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland, may the loud, mellow, clear song of
the Black Thrush, Garden Ouzel, or Merle, as this bird is vari-
ously called, be heard from the very beginning of spring to the
middle of July, and frequently very late into the autumn.
We quote a portion of MUDIE'S account of this familiar and
ikvourite songster : — " The haunts and habits of the Blackbird
are nearly the same as those of the Thrush, only it is more fami-
liar, and, in proportion to its numbers, less seen. The disposition
of the bird is shy and solitary, more so than the Thrushes, as the
Blackbirds separate as soon as the young are able to provide for
themselves, and never again assemble, except in the breeding
time. It has been said that they do not all associate even then,
but that there are many solitary Blackbirds which pass the whole
year in a state of sulky celibacy. There is no reason for carrying
the matter quite so far as that : the Blackbird is as attentive to
its nest and young as any other of the tribe ; and its evasive
habit, or simply the facility with which it slips through hedges
and in and below bushes, not probably so much from the wish of
hiding itself as in mere search for its food, is the foundation of
the whole."

Like the Thrush, the Blackbird commences its song very early in
the morning, and continues to sing late into the evening. MAC-
GILLIVBAY says — " On the 1st of May, 1837, a Blackbird in the
garden commenced his song at three in the morning ; a fortnight
after, I heard one as early as half-past two ; and in the middle 01
the summer I have listened to it before going to bed, when the
twilight peeped in between the shutters upon the untired student,
thus admonished of the propriety of intermitting his labours.
The first morning song of the Blackbird is very singular, and
altogether different from that of the evening, consisting of repe-
titions of the same unmusical strain, performed with a harsh
screaming voice. It continues for a quarter of an hour or more,
and is not again heard until towards sunrise, when it is renewed
in a bolder, louder, and more joyous strain. In cold and cloudy
weather, however, this twilight strain is seldom heard, for then
the bird waits until it is full day before it commences its song.

THE ELACEBmD. 349

Although the Blackbird sings at all times of the day, it is more
especially in the mornings and evenings that it pours forth its
delightful melodies, which, simple as they are, I am unable to
describe in a more effective manner than by characterizing them
as loud, rich, mellow, and much surpassing in effect those of any
other native bird, excepting the Nightingale, Song Thrush,
Blackcap, and Garden Warbler. I have heard individuals sing-
ing most fervently in the midst of a heavy thunder storm, when
the rain was falling thickly, and the lightning flashing at an
alarming rate ; and both this species and the Song Thrush seem
to regard the summer rains with pleasure. The season at which
the Blackbird is in full song, commences about the middle of
February, and ends about the beginning of August ; but in calm,
and especially warm weather, whether clear or cloudy, it may
sometimes be heard in the winter and early spring months."

This is a prolific bird ; ME. BLYTH mentions a pair that built
four successive nests in 1837, on an island in St. James's Park,
and reared seventeen young ones, the first three broods consisting
of five each. ME. WEIE records a case of a Blackbird and
Thrush breeding together in a wild state ; and another instance
of this is mentioned by ME. RUSSELL, of Moss-side, but neither
of these gentlemen had an opportunity of securing the fruits of
this connection.

A writer in Chambers' Edinburgh Journal illustrates, by the
following anecdote, the usefulness of this bird as a destroyer of
insect pests : — " A grass plot attached to a country house, was
once visited by a dozen or two of Blackbirds for several days in
succession ; they ploughed it up so diligently with their bills, as
to make the surface look rough and decayed. The owner of the
property, unwilling to shoot the intruders, caused the grass plot
to be dug up in several places, when it was found to be overrun
with the larvae of chafers. The birds were left in undisturbed
possession ; and although the walls were covered with ripe fruit,
they left it for the grubs which they effectually destroyed, and
the grass plot soon resumed its original appearance."

Instances of this species of bird with plumage wholly or par-
tially white, have not unfrequently been met with. WIL-
LOUGHBY'S theory that such birds were natives of mountainous
districts, is hardly tenable, as an albino is sometimes found in a
nest with others of the common sable hue.

According to VAEEO, the term Merle is derived from the habit
of this bird of flying mera, or solitary ; hence, too, its generic
name, merula.

"Merry it is in the good green wood,
When the Mavis and Merle are singing/'

350 THE RING OUZEL.

sings the forester in The Lady of tJie Lake ; and most of the
Scottish poets allude to the Blackbird under this title j thus,
GRAHAME says —

" List to the Merle's dulcet pipe ! melodious bird !
Who, hid behind the milk-white hawthorn's spray,
Whose early flowers anticipate the leaf,
Welcomes the time of buds, the infant year."

Several of the older English poets, too, thus distinguish " the
Golden Bill," as he is often called. DKAYTON, for instance, says —

" Upon the dulcet pipe the Merle doth only play."

SHAKSPEABE gives us another variation of the term Ouzel,
when he says of

" The Woosel-cocJc, so black of hue,
With orange tawny bill."

142. THE RING OUZEL.

Turdus Torquatus, LIN. Merle a Plastron Blanc, BUF. Der Ring-
drossel, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is somewhat larger than the
Blackbird, is ten inches and a half in length, of which the
tail measures nearly four inches. The beak is almost one
inch long, and in colour horn-black, except on the under side
near the root, and at the corners, where it is yellow. The
colour of the plumage is black, the feathers on the belly and
wing coverts being edged with white ; the pen and outer tail
feathers with grey. A reddish white transverse stripe, about
the breadth of a finger, crosses the upper portion of the breast,
from which the bird derives its name.

In the female the plumage has a lighter tinge, or is inclined
to brown, and the stripe on the breast is narrower, less dis-
tinct, and reddish grey, clouded with brown. Those birds
which have in other respects the plumage of the female, yet
in which the stripe on the breast is distinct, are young males ;
those in which it is hardly visible, young females.

Observations. — The King Ouzel is a European bird, which
breeds only in the north, and at the commencement of the
cloudy weather in October and November, comes in small flocks
to Germany, where it frequents the woody and mountainous
districts. It may be taken with nooses and springes. Its food,
both when wild and in the aviary, is the same as that of the

THE EING OUZEL. 351

Blackbird, and in its gestures and general behaviour it bears a
strong resemblance to that bird. Its cry is Tak ! Its voice is
hoarse, hollow, and so weak, that a Eedbreast can overpower
it, yet not disagreeable. It sings throughout the year, except
when moulting, and lives in confinement six or seven years.

ADDITIONAL. — Bock Ouzel, Ter Ouzel, Mountain Ouzel,
White-breasted Blackbird, Moor Blackbird, and Ringed Thrush,
are the several names applied to this bird, which is very similar
to the species last described in form and colour, from which,
however, it is readily distinguished by the brownish white patch
on the breast, which has been said to resemble a collar or ring ;
hence its name. MUDIE remarks, that " the pure white gorget
is always a characteristic of the mature males. The young males
have it reddish ; the old females clouded with brown and grey,
and in the young females it is barely visible."

MACGILLIVRAY says that " the Kinged Thrush arrives in the
south of Scotland about the middle of April, and departs in the
beginning of October. It betakes itself at once to the open
hilly and mountainous tracts, where it prefers the shelter of the
juniper, furze, and heath bushes to that of woods or thickets.
Extremely shy and vigilant, it seldom permits a near approach,
but betakes itself to flight on the least alarm. Its manners, how-
ever, are very similar to those of the Blackbird ; and as I have
studied them with some attention, I am enabled to speak with
certainty respecting them. A few individuals are found here
and there among the Lammermoor and Pentland Hills, generally
in the vicinity of masses of furze and juniper ; and I have met
with the species in several other parts of Scotland, and even in
the island of Skye. Its flight is strong and direct, or with very
little undulation. When pursued, it generally flies at once to a
considerable distance, and it is only when you come near its nest
or young, that it ventures within shooting distance. Like the
Song Thrush, it conceals itself among the bushes, but is much
more easily put to flight. When alarmed, it utters a repetition
of strong clear notes, like those of the Blackbird, but louder ; and
its song consists of a few simple, loud, and mellow notes. The
nest, according to a person who informs me that he has several
times found it, is placed under the shelter of a furze or juniper
bush, or on the face of a rough bank, or among fragments of
rock. It is composed of coarse grass, plastered internally with
mud, and lined with fine grass. The eggs, from four to six, are
regularly ,oval, pale blueish green, freckled all over with pale
brown. The young, fully fledged, I have had from the Pentland
Hills on the 7th of June."

According to HEWETSON, the Ring Ouzel sings sweetly ; SELIS Y
says, " clearly and powerfully, though the notes were lew."

352 THE HEED TimtTSH.

143. THE HEED THRUSH.
Turdus Arundinaceus, LIN. Rousserole, BUF. Die Rohrdrossel, BECH.

Description. — This bird resembles the White throats in so
many respects, as to render it doubtful whether it should be
classed with them or with the Thrushes ; though its beak and
feet, as well as the general form of its body, seem to ally it
to the latter species. It is rather larger than the Skylark,
being eight inches in length, of which the tail, which is wedge-
shaped, and rounded at the end, measures four inches and a
quarter. The beak is ten lines long, strong, compressed at the
root ; on the upper, and at the point of the lower mandible,
horn brown, and yellowish at the root. The iris is dark
brown ; the feet one inch in height, strong, greyish brown,
inclining to flesh-colour, and having a very long hinder claw.
In colour the Reed Thrush is very like the Nightingale ; the
upper part of the head and neck are dark grey, tinged with
olive green; a dingy yellowish white stripe runs from the
nostrils to that part of the forehead between the eyes ; the
cheeks are greyish brown. The upper and centre part of the
back are rusty grey, becoming gradually lighter towards the
rump, which is rusty yellow. The chin and throat are light
grey ; the breast and belly yellowish white, the former having
a dark grey spot on each side near the neck. The sides,
shanks, and vent, are white, strongly marked with rust colour,
which gives a yellow appearance to all the lower part of the
body. The pen feathers are dark brown, with a narrow bor-
der of rusty yellow ; the tail feathers reddish grey, edged with
a lighter shade of the same.

The female is scarcely distinguishable from the male. It is
somewhat smaller, darker on the upper, but lighter on the
lower part of the body. The top of the head is marked with
rust colour, and the throat is not ashen grey, but white.

JIabM.—The Reed Thrush is a native of all but the coldest
parts of Europe ; and is common in Germany, where it fre-
quents those districts which abound in reedy ponds and lakes,
or in extensive bogs and morasses. It is rarely seen upon a
tree, but climbs up the reeds and bullrushes, like a Woodpecker.
In confinement it may be kept in a Nightingale's cage.

Food. — In a wild state it devours great numbers of aquatic
insects, and occasionally eats elderberries. In the aviary it

THE ROCK THETISH. 353

requires the same food as the Nightingale ; but is subject to
the disease which is fatal to many of the White throats.
After six months, or less, the feathers drop off, are not re-
newed, and the bird dies of atrophy.

Breeding. — The nest of the Eeed Thrush is fastened to two
or more reeds, by means of wool, and is constructed of lichens
and strong grass stalks, lined with finer stalks and hair. The
female lays from three to five eggs, which are greyish white,
spotted with olive colour and black. Before the first moult-
ing, the young birds are exactly like the Fauvette, and are
spotted on the breast with black. Their cry is like that of the
Mountain Finch, but, if taken from the nest when quite young,
reared on ants' eggs, and put under the instruction of a good
Nightingale, they become incomparable singers.

Mode of Taking. — The difficulty of taking these birds makes
them scarce in our aviaries. The only successful method, ex-
cept the barbarous one of liming their nests, is to mark some
spot which they frequent, scratch up the earth, and set limed
twigs, baited with meal-worms.

Attractive Qualities. — The male has an exceedingly loud and
beautiful voice. Its song is more various and flute-like than
that of the Song Thrush, though not equal to that of the Night-
ingale, with which it has sometimes been compared. In many
passages it resembles that of the Black Cap, though, as is the
case with all the Thrushes, not so sustained. It usually
sings at night and morning, and while singing, keeps — evi-
dently from pleasure — not only its throat, but also its whole
body in motion.

144. THE BOCK THEUSH.

Turdus Saxatilis, LIN. Merle de Roche,lEM. Die Steindrossel, BECH.
Description. — This bird is but seldom seen in confinement
in Central and Northern Germany, though better deserving the
amateur's care than many foreign species. In several parts of
Germany it is all but unknown, and if ever taken by the bird-
catcher, it is mistaken, especially the female, for a large
Redstart. It is about the size of a Bedwing Thrush ; being
seven inches and six lines long, of which the tail measures
two inches and three-quarters. In appearance and habits, it
is more like a Starling (especially in its gestures and move-
ments, which are remarkably various and amusing) than a

354 THE EOCK THRUSH.

Thrush, although possessing the characteristics of the latter
bird. The beak black, with yellow corners, is one inch long ;
the strong black feet one inch and a quarter high. The head
and neck are greyish blue, or bluish ashen grey ; lighter in
the old birds than in the young ones. The upper part of the
back dark brown, sometimes clouded with a lighter tinge ; the
middle a beautiful white ; the rump dark brown, with white
edged feathers. The breast and belly are dark orange ; the
latter spotted or clouded with white, more or less distinctly,
according to the time of the year, an appearance which is
caused by the white edges of the feathers. The vent is a pale
yellowish red ; the wing coverts darkish brown, with white
points ; the quill feathers very dark brown, or blackish, the
hinder ones somewhat lighter, whitish at the points, and
having a narrow white border on the further side ; the tail
dark yellowish red, with the two centre feathers greyish brown.

The female has the upper part of the body dark brown, the
feathers bordered with greyish white ; the rump is rust coloured
with a similar edge ; the chin white ; the throat like the
upper parts, but much lighter ; the front of the neck, and all
the lower parts, dirty orange, with brown and white wavy
lines ; the tail as in the male, but somewhat lighter ; the feet
dark brown.

Habitat. — This Thrush is found in Southern Europe and
Germany ; for example, Austria, the Tyrol, &c., but rarely
comes more north. It is common upon the Alps and the
Pyrenees. It chooses rocky and stony places, as well as
old castles, and even peasant cottages for its abode. In its
migrations, it seeks the bare mountains, looking, like the Red-
start, for beetles and other insects under the stones. It arrives
in March, and takes its departure in September.

When in confinement, it is usually distinguished as a rare
bird, with a handsome cage, which should be somewhat larger
than a Nightingale's.

Food. — When wild, this bird feeds on insects, but in con-
finement needs Nightingale's food, to preserve its life and
health. It is generally fed with a mixture of bread, yellow
rape seed, wheat meal, ants' eggs, and chopped bullock's heart.
It sometimes also needs a meal worm.

Breeding. — The female lays five eggs in the nest, which is
generally made in a hole of a rock, or a heap of stones. When
reared from the nest, these birds are exceedingly docile.

PLATE30.

NIGHTINGALE.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 355

Mode of Taking. — In these parts, it is a mere chance if one
be taken. This is, however, attempted by fixing limed twigs,
with meal worms attached, near where they are observed to
perch. How they are secured in countries where they are com-
mon, I do not know. It is said that they are lured by the Owl.

Attractive Qualities. — The male is prized as an exceedingly
good songster, especially singing by night, near a lamp. They
learn also to whistle tunes; to speak like a Starling, and
generally become exceedingly tame.

145. THE NIGHTINGALE.

Sylvia Lusdnia, Motacilla Luscinia, LIN. Rossignol, BUF. Die Nach-
tigall, BECH.

Description. — Were the Nightingale prized only for its
plumage, it would hardly deserve a place among the inmates of
the aviary. It is about the size of the House Sparrow, being
five Cinches in length, of which the tail measures two inches
and a quarter ; but in confinement, if well fed, and especially
if reared from the nest, it often attains the size of a Lark.
The beak, as in all birds of the same genus (Motacilla), is
straight, oval- shaped, thin, pointed, and having the two mandi-
bles of nearly the same size. It is seven lines long, on the upper
side dark brown, on the under light grey ; flesh coloured at
the root, and yellow inside. The iris is greyish brown ; the
feet nine lines in height, and brownish flesh colour. The
upper part of the body is greyish brown tinged with rust
colour, but in very old birds reddish ashen grey ; the rump
brownish red ; the throat, belly, and vent, white ; the breast
and sides whitish grey ; the knee bands grey. The larger
wing coverts are tipped with white ; the pen feathers greyish
brown, edged with rusty yellow ; the straight broad tail fea-
thers, which, as in all birds of this species, are very brittle, are
a dingy red.

Those which are kept in cages, are sometimes darker, some-
times lighter, than the above description. In Nightingales
which hang near the windows of large well lighted rooms,
and which are not exposed to smoke either from the fire or an
oil lamp, the feathers of the upper part of the body are dark
grey, or light greyish brown, edged with rusty yellow ; and
those of the under part white, tinged with grey on the sides

A A 2

356 THE NIGHTINGALE.

of the breast and belly ; while, on the contrary, Nightingales
which are kept in small, dark, smoky rooms, are dingy rusty
yellow on the upper part of the body, greyish white on the
lower part, and greyish brown on the sides of the breast and
belly.

The connoisseur is able to distinguish the female both by her
form and gait. Her legs are not so high, nor is she so erect ;
her head is rounder, her neck not so long ; her eyes smaller
and less bright ; her throat not so white. Nevertheless, none
but an experienced bird fancier could decide upon the sex,
except he saw both male and female together.

The Nightingale bears so strong a resemblance to the female
Redstart, that the latter is often sold for a Nightingale, and
the former cooked for a Redstart. The characteristic differ-
ences are therefore worthy of attention. The female Redstart
is smaller, and the general colour of her plumage is darker.
The feet are thin, and, as well as the beak, black ; the tail is
lighter in colour, and its two centre feathers are blackish or
dark brown. Her long slender tail also is in continual mo-
tion, while the Nightingale only moves his occasionally, and
generally carries it above the point of the wings. His gait
and bearing are also prouder than those of the Redstart, and
his motions more deliberate. He maintains a very erect pos-
ture, and there is something very peculiar in his hopping gait.
After having made a succession of hops, he stands still, moves
his wings, elevates his tail and slightly expands it, nods his
head once or twice, and then hops onward again. If anything
attracts his attention, he generally looks at it with only one
eye ; if he catches sight of an insect, he does indeed hop
quickly to the spot, yet does not seize it greedily like other
birds, but stands over it a moment, as if in consideration. He
has in general a thoughtful air, though it must be confessed,
he easily falls into the traps and snares laid for him, as is the
case with all birds which are unfamiliar with men ; though
if one is caught, he is prudent enough for ever after. He has
been called, without just cause, an inquisitive bird, because he
always hastens to examine any place on the ground which has
been disturbed or scratched up. But this peculiarity, which
he shares with other birds of the same genus, is the result of
instinct, which teaches him that he will find in such situations
the insects which are his favourite food ; while, on the con-

THE tflGKTINGALE. 357

trary, he takes no notice of many things which are put before
him, however strange or peculiar they may be.

Habitat. — The Nightingale is found throughout Europe, as
far north as the middle of Sweden ; in all Asia, except the
arctic regions of Siberia ; and even in Egypt, on the banks of
the Nile. It frequents overgrown, shady, and not very cold
places, whether woods, groves, gardens, or hedges. It is rarely
found in woods of coniferous trees, where its food is scarce :
and in wooded mountain chains, keeps to the outskirts of
the forests. It seems to prefer gardens enclosed by high,
broad, and untrimmed beech hedges, which afford abundant
shelter. It is a mistake to suppose that it has any preference
for marshy districts ; and if seen there in great numbers, the
reason may be found either in the thickets with which such
places are often overgrown, or in the fact, that during cold
weather, the insects which form the Nightingale's food may
be found in greater abundance there than elsewhere. It is,
besides, a fact, established by observation, that this bird al-
ways returns to its birth-place, whether marsh, mountain, or
garden. This attachment increases every year ; and when
once the Nightingale has made choice of a spot, it always
comes back to it— except it fall in the mean time into the
hands of the fowler, or the place lose its attraction. If, for
instance, the grove be cut down, or the underwood which
affords the desired shade be removed, it betakes itself to the
nearest convenient situation ; but if within a considerable cir-
cuit, all remain unaltered, and a Nightingale be observed to
frequent a spot not so tenanted the year before, it may with
certainty «be concluded to be a young bird. Yet, though it is
a well-known fact, that the Nightingale returns year by year
to the same place, we cannot conclude with certainty that the
bird we notice for two successive years in one spot, is the same ;
as it is also proved by experience, that if a bird which occu-
pies a well-chosen station, be shot or snared, its place is imme-
diately occupied by another. These changes, however, are not
easily discovered, except by an ear accustomed to detect slight
differences in the language of these birds.

It may be asked why Nightingales are never found in so
many districts, which are to all appearance likely to attract
them ? The following conjectures may, perhaps, throw some
light upon this question, which it is of course impossible to

358 THE NIGHTINGALE.

answer positively. Nightingales, on their passage, are able
to descry at a great distance high mountains, and such places
as from cold, or the scarcity of food, are not adapted for them,
and in their anxiety to avoid these, if not absolutely in the
line of route, may miss districts which are well suited for their
habitation. In the second place, when in want of food and
rest, they may be attracted out of the direct line, which they
would otherwise have pursued, by the sight of distant woods
and thickets. Thirdly, there may be, in places which they do
not frequent, an unfavourable condition of the temperature,
and a scarcity of proper food, imperceptible to us ; and fourthly,
if once the species has become extinct in any district, the con-
stancy with which birds of passage return to their birth-place,
would effectually prevent its recolonization. This, however,
may be effected by artificial means — if it be thought unadvis-
able to trust to nature, a brood or two should be reared
from the nest, and set at liberty after the period of migration
in the autumn. The feeling that the time of departure has
passed over, as well as their comparative tameness, will pre-
vent the birds from leaving the place, when in the ensuing
year they will probably breed. It is, however, necessary, that
Nightingales intended for this purpose, should not be kept in
a cage, but allowed, as soon as they are able to feed themselves,
to fly about the room, half filled with boughs and bushes, in
order that they may acquire the full use of their wings. In
the same manner, they should be fed with their natural food,
insects and ants' eggs, in order that they may easily find them
when set at liberty.

The Nightingale arrives in Germany about the middle of
April, and is always there by the time that the buds of the
whitethorn begin to burst into flower. As it migrates from
place to place — and not in one long journey — it rarely suffers
from the weather. It begins to depart about the middle of
August, in families, very gradually and in total silence ; and
at this period, may be taken in nooses baited with currants
and elder-berries. In central Germany, they are to be seen as
late as the middle of September, and then leave one by one,
so that it is impossible to name any period as that of their final
departure. Other birds, such as Swallows, which migrate in
large flocks, are not able to escape the eye of the attentive
naturalist in the same manner. Sickness, a late brood, or the

THE NIGHTINGALE. 359

inexperience of young birds, are reasons, each of which may
explain why a Nightingale is occasionally seen late in Septem-
ber, or even in October, though this is an exception to the
general rule.

In the aviary the Nightingale can either be allowed to fly
about at will, as I have sometimes permitted mine to do, or
may be confined in a cage, in which case they will sing both
better and more frequently. The latter course is also
preferable, because this bird, to be preserved in health for any
considerable period, requires more nourishing food than that
given to the other inmates of the aviary. The cage may be of
any desired form, but should be from twelve to eighteen inches
in length, six to twelve inches broad, and twelve inches in
height. It should also be roofed with linen or other cloth, that
in its struggling and fluttering, especially when first caught, the
bird may not injure its head. The cage which I myself use
for the Nightingale, and which I believe best adapted for it,
may be described as follows: — it is eighteen inches long,
eight inches deep, and thirteen inches high, except in the
middle of the arched roof, which rises to the height of fifteen
inches. The sides and bottom are made of osiers, about a
quarter of an inch in thickness. The floor of the cage is
formed by a drawer one inch and a quarter in height, covered
with a sheet of blotting paper, which may be changed, for
cleanliness' sake, whenever necessary. The feeding trough,
which is so constructed that the bird cannot waste its food, is
on one side. In front is a projection, half cylindrical in shape,
and reaching from top to bottom of the cage, in which a large
water vessel is suspended. Two perches are fixed in the
lower part of the cage, and a third higher up, opposite the
centre of the projection, not attached to it, but terminating in
a fork. All. these I cover with green cloth, to preserve the
feet of the bird, which are particularly tender. The roof
should be made of green cloth, and the whole cage painted
green ; though it is essential to the health of the bird that it
be not used till the colour is thoroughly dry. The advantages
of such a cage are that it takes up a very little room ; that it
does not admit the light so freely as a wire cage, and that the
bird can bathe without wetting its perches, or the rest of the
cage.

In hanging the cage, regard must be paid to the peculiarities

360 THE NIGHTINGALE.

of the little prisoner ; some will not sing, except in a dark
place ; others like to be near the window, and in the full glare
of the sun. If it be desired to teach a bird the habit of singing
under any variation of circumstance, the best plan is to ac-
custom it to change of place, immediately after the moulting
season, when re-learning its song. Some sing best when
alone ; others when singing with a neighbour ; though it is
found that if three or more be confined in one room, they will
never sing equally well. The one who begins to sing first,
generally retains its supremacy, and the others either sing in a
low tone, only when it is mute, or preserve an entire and
obstinate silence. Instances have been known of Nightingales
which, under such circumstances, have been silent for years, and
have even been mistaken for females ; yet when in a room by
themselves, have begun to sing with all their energy of throat
and lung.

Food. — In a wild state the Nightingale feeds on insects,
especially the small green caterpillars, which are found on the
oak and whitethorn; small moths, flies, beetles, and various
larvae, which it finds underneath the surface of the earth. In
its autumnal migration, it eats currants, and red and black
elder-berries.

When a Nightingale is first caught it should be fed for some
days on fresh ants' eggs and meal worms, or on dry ants' eggs,
if the fresh are not to be procured. In this case also, some
persons make a mixture of hard-boiled eggs, and bullock's
heart and bread, with which they cram the bird if it will not
feed itself; which they endeavour to induce it to do, by
tempting it with meal worms. But the Nightingale's beak is
very brittle, and often broken by this rough usage, and the
bird does not thrive on the diet ; indeed, no one ought to keep
a Nightingale, who cannot command a supply of ants' eggs.
The best food in summer is indisputably fresh ants' eggs, and
two or three meal worms daily. * To use ants, as some persons
do, instead of the eggs, is liable to the objection that it cuts

* The best plan to ensure a constant supply of meal worms, is to fill a
half gallon jar with wheat-bran, barley, or oatmeal, and a few pieces of
sugar paper, or old shoe-leather. In this half a pint of meal worms may
be thrown, which if allowed to remain for three months, and occasionally
moistened with a cloth soaked in beer, will become beetles, which again
lay eggs, and propagate their species with great rapidity. One such jar
will supply a Nightingale.

THE 3TEGHTINGALE. 361

off the chance of a future supply. When fresh ants' eggs
cannot be procured, dry ones should be given, mixed with
Swedish turnips, and bullock's heart boiled, dried, and grated
small. The turnip, which may be preserved fresh in a cellar for
a long time, will aid the stomach and bowels in the process of
digestion. A little lean beef or mutton, minced small, may be oc-
casionally given with good effect. The cheapest food consists of
ripe elderberries, dried like raisins, and mixed with ants' eggs.

In winter, some bird fanciers make a small loaf of pea-meal
and eggs, grate it, make it into a paste with water, and mix it
with dry ants' eggs. Others, who are anxious to be very
economical, crush poppy seeds in a mortar, to express the oil,
and mix them with bread-crumbs. To this, which is becoming
their usual diet in Thuringia, the Nightingale grows ac-
customed by degrees, but, as might be expected, from the cir-
cumstance, that their stomachs are not naturally adapted to
vegetable food, at last dies of decline. There are besides many
complicated receipts for Nightingale's food, but they are all
more or less noxious, and need not be repeated here ; while,
on the contrary, the amateur who conforms his practice to the
directions given above, may rely upon having healthy birds
and good singers.

I have also tried the experiment of allowing the Nightin-
gale the range of the aviary with the other birds. Under
these circumstances they have eaten the common universal
paste ; but it does not seem to be sufficiently nutritious for
them, as, after a few months, they fall into a decline and die,
if not fed again with Nightingale's food. They also require
a daily supply of water for drinking and bathing.

Breeding. — Each Nightingale in spring occupies and defends
its own station, which in pairing time often occasions very-
violent contests among the males. And as the young birds
generally return to the place where they have been bred,
these combats are frequently carried on between parents and
children ; and all the ties of relationship, which were once so
strong, are entirely forgotten.

The Nightingale builds its nest in groves or gardens, in
some thick bush, or heap of sticks, or even on the ground, if
the spot be surrounded with brushwood or long grass. It is
carelessly built of small dry twigs and leaves, with an inner
layer of grass stalks and roots, and sometimes lined with hair.

362 THE NIGHTINGALE.

The female lays five or six greenish brown eggs, which she
hatches in a fortnight. The young, which, to avoid the attacks
of various animals, hop out of the nest before they can fly, are
fed with small moths and caterpillars. Before the first
moulting they have no point of resemblance to the old birds,
except the red tail ; for the upper part of the body is rusty
grey; the head and wing coverts are spotted with yellowish
white ; and the under part of the body is rusty yellow, with
dark brown spots on the breast. After moulting, they can
scarcely be distinguished from the old birds, except by the
presence of a scattered yellow feather, or spot, on the back of the
head and neck, or near the beak and eyes. If this charac-
teristic be wanting, the possessor of the bird must wait.
Should it prove a young male, he begins to sing, or, as bird-
fanciers call it, to record. Even this sign is not quite
satisfactory, as the young females also record, and continue to
do so until April ; though their song is neither so loud nor so
sustained, and is unaccompanied by so visible an inflation of
the throat.

The following remarks may be useful to those who wish to
try the experiment of rearing a young Nightingale from the
nest. In a brood the lighter coloured birds are always the
males; which again may be known by their white throats.
The females are darker, or rather redder and browner. They
are to be fed on ants' eggs, and soaked and grated bread. The
males begin to record before their tails are grown. If the old
birds be taken with the brood, they will continue to attend
to the young. The Nightingale may occasionally be induced
to breed in confinement, if a healthy and well-bred pair be
allowed the sole possession of a room well filled with green
pine branches.

Diseases. — The Nightingale rarely passes through the moult-
ing season without some symptoms of indisposition ; the best-
remedy for which is a spider or two, and a supply of good
food. When suffering from disordered stomach they puff up their
feathers, and sit with half- closed eyes, and heads under their
wings, for hours at a time. They will be relieved by ants'
eggs, a spider, or a little saffron in their water sufficient to
give it an orange tinge. The diseases to which Nightingales
are subject, in common with other birds, may be treated in the
manner mentioned in the Introduction. It is necessary to

THE NIGHTINGALE. 363

remove the scales from their legs and claws every three months
— an operation which must be performed with the greatest
care. They will live fifteen years in confinement ; though it
is rare that a wild bird can be observed in one spot for so long
a period, a fact which may be accounted for by the depreda-
tions of fowlers and birds of prey. An instance is indeed
recorded of a Nightingale which was in the possession of its
owner for twenty-five years. After the sixth year it is observed
that they sing less frequently and pleasantly ; and it is there-
fore the most humane course to set them at liberty in May.
The fresh air, and the consciousness of liberty, have been
known so to invigorate old birds as to restore all the strength
and beauty of their song.

Mode of Taking. — In the early spring, and especially at the
pairing season, the Nightingale may be caught with very little
difficulty. ' All that is necessary is to make a shallow trench
in some dark-coloured soil, and place in it a few ants' eggs or
meal worms. The simplest contrivance — a few limed twigs,
or a falling-net adjusted on two cross sticks — is sufficient to
entrap the simple bird, which will even watch the fowler set
the trap, and hop into it before his back is turned. Even if it
be not perched within sight of the spot, it may be driven to it
with a little care and caution. It is thus easy for an expert
fowler to depopulate a whole district of these delightful song-
sters— though at the same time his operations may be anti-
cipated, by catching the birds and again setting them at liberty;
a proceeding which makes them very shy and cautious in
future. In many parts of Germany it is forbidden, under a
heavy pecuniary penalty, to catch Nightingales under any pre-
text whatever ; and in districts where this is not the case, only
certain privileged persons are allowed, under fixed restrictions,
to take or sell them. They may also be caught in nooses*
baited in spring with live meal worms instead of berries;
though this method is liable to the disadvantage that, however
firm the nooses may be, the bird is almost sure to injure its
feet in its struggles for freedom.

Attractive Qualities. — The chief recommendation of the
Nightingale is, of course, its voice, which I will endeavour to
describe as exactly as possible. It expresses its various emo- .
tions and desires in different notes. The least significant of
them seems to be the simple whistle, Witt ! but if the gut-

364 THE NIGHTINGALE.

tural syllable Err! be added, as Witt Krr ! it is the call
by which the male and female mutually invite one another.
The expression of displeasure or fear is the syllable Witt,
repeated several times ; and, at last, followed by Krr ! That
of pleasure and content, either with its food or mate, is a
sharp Tack ! like the sound produced by striking the tongue
smartly against the roof of the mouth. In anger, jealousy,
or surprise, the Nightingale, like the Black-Cap and others of
its species, utters a shrill cry, resembling the call of the Jay,
or the mew of a cat. This may also be heard in the aviary,
when a bird, by the use of it, endeavours to interrupt and con-
fuse a rival in the midst of his song. And, lastly, in the
pairing season, when the male and female entice and pursue
one another through the trees, they utter a soft twittering
note.

Such are the tunes which both sexes are able to produce ;
while the song, the variety and beauty of which has raised
the Nightingale to a pre-eminence over all other singing birds,
is the prerogative of the male alone. The bystander is asto-
nished to hear a song, which is so sonorous as to make his ears
tingle, proceed from so small a bird, and his astonishment is not
lessened when he discovers that the muscles of the larynx are
stronger in the Nightingale than in any other singing bird.
But it is not so much the strength, as the delightful variety
and ravishing harmony of the Nightingale's song, which ren-
ders it the favourite of every one who has not altogether lost
the sense of the beautiful. Sometimes it dwells for a minute
or more on a passage of detached mournful notes, which begin
softly, advance by degrees to a forte, and end in a dying fall.
At other times it utters a rapid succession of sharp sonorous
notes, and ends this, and the many other phrases of which its
song consists, with the single notes of an ascending chord.
There are, of course, various degrees of proficiency in the
Nightingale, as in other birds ; but in the song of a good per-
former have been enumerated, without reckoning smaller
distinctions, no less than twenty-four separate phrases, capable
of being expressed in articulate syllables and words. I have
noted down the following notes of the song of one which is
considered an admirable singer.* Could we penetrate into the

* Vide Introduction— Vaice and Song of Birds.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 865

hidden meaning of these sounds, we should doubtless find that
they expressed the secret feelings of the singer. All over the
world, from Sweden to Hindostan, the Nightingale's song is
essentially the same ; though, as I have before said, some are
manifestly superior to others, both in the perfectness of their
song, and the quality of their voice. One utters its notes
with a slow and sweet mournfulness ; another's tones are
peculiarly clear and sonorous ; a third introduces into its song
original passages of its own ; and a fourth surpasses all the
rest in the silvery quality of its voice. Occasionally, however,
birds may be found which seem to unite all these excellencies ;
and these are generally from the first brood of the year, which
have been reared in some spot where Nightingales have
abounded, and have learned to unite in their song the charac-
teristic beauties of each. When the males return from their
migration, which they generally do six or eight days before the
females, they sing for some time before and after midnight,
to attract the females, who in clear nights may be pursuing
their journey. So soon as this purpose is accomplished they
cease to sing by night, though some continue to begin their
song a little before sunrise, and warble it at intervals through-
out the day. There are, however, Nightingales which always
sing in the middle of the night, and are hence called Nocturnal
Nightingales ;* but it cannot be decided to which class a bird
belongs till he has occupied his position for some days, and
enjoyed the society of his mate. After many years' experience,
I have come to the conclusion that the Nocturnal and Diurnal
Nightingales are different species, which propagate themselves
regularly. A young bird, the father of which is a Nocturnal
Nightingale, will, after the first year, become so too, under any
circumstances ; nor, on the other hand, does it seem possible
for a Diurnal Nightingale to acquire the habit of singing by
night. I have also remarked that the night singers seem to
prefer mountainous districts, while the Diurnal Nightingales

* We must distinguish between the Nocturnal Nightingales and those
which are termed Mopers. The former sing uninterruptedly throughout
the night ; the latter occasionally utter a few broken, unconnected pas-
sages. All Nightingales become Mopers after they are five or six years
old, and are then often mistaken for night-singing birds ; while, on the
contrary, the true night-singers are generally Mopers for a year or two
after they are caught.

366' THE NIGHTINGALE.

frequent gardens, valleys, and the banks of streams ; and to
such an extent do I believe this distinction to exist, that I
venture to assert it is only by accident if a night singer be
found in the plains. They are, for instance, not uncommon
on the borders of the Thuringian Forest, near Wallershausen ;
while, on the contrary, only the diurnal singers are found in
the level country near Gotha.

It is a pity that the period during which the Nightingale
sings is so short ; as even in a wild state it sings only for
three months, and not with equal vigour during the whole of
that short time. It is heard most frequently from the time of
its arrival till the young birds break the shell; after that
period it sings less, and with less energy, as its principal at-
tention is necessarily directed to the feeding of its brood.
About midsummer its song ceases altogether, and one hears in
the woods only the twittering of the young birds, in their
attempts to acquire the paternal song. In confinement, birds
which have been taken when old, begin to sing as early as
November, and do not become entirely silent till Easter. The
young birds, however, which have been reared from the nest,
will sometimes, if placed under good instruction, sing for
seven months in the year. If not hung where they can hear
a good singer, they never acquire their natural song perfectly,
but intermix with it notes of other birds ; while, on the other
hand, if possessed of a good voice and memory, they sometimes
improve upon the instructions of their teacher. This, how-
ever, is a rare occurrence, as out of twenty young birds reared in
the aviary, it is doubtful if even one prove a thoroughly good
singer. The best are those which are caught in August, just
before their migration, and which, in the following spring,
are put under the tuition of an accomplished singer.

Those which are caught in spring, and are desired to sing
the same season, should be well fed, and hung in a solitary and
quiet spot. The cage should also be kept covered with a thin
green cloth, or green boughs. I must not forget to add a word
in reprobation of the barbarity of those persons, who, in order to
enjoy for a longer period the song of this delightful bird, are
cruel enough to deprive it of sight.

It is said, that the male Nightingale and female Redbreast, if
allowed the full range of the aviary, will sometimes breed.
My own experience does not bear out this assertion.

THE NIGHTINGALE. 367

By way of conclusion, I will add the beautiful, if somewhat
exaggerated description, of the Nightingale's song, given by
BFFFON, in his Natural History :

" The name of the Nightingale," says he, " recalls to the
memory of every man who has not lost the capacity of simple
and natural enjoyment, the remembrance of some beautiful
spring night, when the sky was clear, the air tranquil, and
nature lay in expectant silence, as he listened enraptured to
the songstress of the grove. Several birds may be mentioned,
whose song in one or more respects deserves to be compared
with that of the Nightingale. The Lark, the Siskin, the
Chaffinch, the Whitethroat, the Linnet, the Goldfinch, the
Blackbird, the Solitary Thrush, the American Mocking-Bird,
are all heard with pleasure as long as the Nightingale is silent.
Some of these have as beautiful a tone ; others as soft and pure
a warble ; others, again, as sustained and melancholy a note as
she ; but it is in the union of all these excellencies, and the
astonishing variety of her song, that the Nightingale bears away
the palm from them all ; so that their most perfect perform-
ance appears only a detached and incomplete portion of hers.
She is always enchanting, and never repeats herself slavishly ;
for every repetition of her song is varied by a fresh accent, and
embellished with new grace. "When this Queen of the Spring
begins her hymn to Nature, she commences with a half-fearful
prelude, in low, undecided notes, as if trying the capabilities
of the instrument, and intent on arresting the attention of the
hearers. By degrees she becomes more decided ; her courage
and her inspiration increase, and soon the full harmonies of
her incomparable throat are poured forth ; sonorous bursts,
light hovering shakes and trills, in which ease and purity are
united ; a subdued inward murmur, whose place in the scale
the ear seeks in vain, but which is all the better adapted for
a back ground to the clear distinct notes ; runs, as rapid as
lightning, uttered with amazing power, and often even with
a tasteful ruggedness ; mournful cadences, hardly separable
from one another, yet full of expression ; enchanting, penetra-
ting tones, the veritable sighs of love and pleasure which rush
from the heart, and speak to the heart, so that the heart over-
flows with emotions, and sinks in delightful languor. In the
passionate tones, it is as impossible to mistake the expression
of the feelings of the happy husband, as not to detect in the more

368 THE NIGHTINGALE.

artful, though perhaps less expressive strains, the desire to
entertain and please his mate, or to celebrate his victory over
some jealous rival of his happiness and fame. The various
passages fire interspersed with pauses, which greatly enhance
the effect of the following harmony. The notes already
heard are enjoyed again in the echo which hovers about the
ear, undisturbed by any new impression ; and if the admired
passage be not repeated, when the bird recommences her
song, it is replaced by another so beautiful, as to efface the
wish for the repetition of the ;first. One chief reason, in-
deed, as Mr. BAE.BINGTON remarks, why the Nightingale
surpasses all other birds in her song, is, that she sings in the
night, when her voice is not only at the highest pitch of
strength, but is rivalled by no other ; while she far excels all
other birds at any time, in the flute-like quality of her voice,
and in the uninterrupted duration of her warble, which some-
times lasts for twenty seconds.

" The same observer enumerates sixteen different strains, dis-
tinguished by their closing syllables ; but in other respects
tastefully varied by the feathered performer. It is also ascer-
tained that the song of the Nightingale may be heard at the
distance of a mile, which is at least as far as the human voice
can reach. The possession of so powerful an organ by a bird
which hardly weighs half an ounce, is sufficiently striking ;
and it has been observed by HTTNTEE, that the muscles of the
larynx in this bird are proportionally stronger than in all
others, and stronger in the male than in the female. AEISTOTLE
and PLINY assert that at the time when the trees begin to grow
green, the Nightingale sings for fourteen days and nights un-
interruptedly. This must be understood to apply only to wild
birds ; and cannot be taken in a literal sense ; as they sing
both before and after the period mentioned, though not with
the same energy and spirit. They generally begin to sing in
April, and end in June, about the summer solstice ; though
the exact time at which their song ceases, is that at which the
young ones chip the shell, and the parent birds are warned by
an impulse of nature to provide for their nourishment. Night-
ingales in confinement sing for nine or ten months in a year ;
and their song is not only more constant, but more perfect ;
from which fact Mr. BAKRINGTON draws the first and probable
inference, that in this and many other species, the male does

THE NIGHTINGALE. 369

not sing either to amuse the female, or relieve her fatigue
during the long period of incubation. In fact, the female
performs this office from a natural emotion or longing, which is
more powerful than love. While engaged in it, she seems to
experience a peculiar feeling of content, of which we can
form no conception, yet which in any case should prevent us
from imagining that she stands in need of consolation. And
as, therefore, it is not from duty that the female sits, we can-
not suppose that the song of the male has any reference to her
emotions ; indeed, it is observed that he does not sing while
the second brood is being hatched.

"It is love, and especially the first season of love, which
inspires the song of these birds. The spring awakes in them the
desire of love and the desire of song at once ; the males are the
most ardent, and therefore sing the most, and if placed, as in
an aviary, where they are unable to satisfy their sexual desires,
and so extinguish at the same time the love of song, will sing
through the greater part of the year. Instances are known of
Nightingales which put forth the full beauty and power of
their song, within a few hours after having been caught.
These are, however, rare cases, and may feel very acutely the
loss of their liberty ; they would starve themselves to death
if their food were not crammed down their throats, or injure
themselves against the roof of their cage, were not their wings
tied; though at last the desire to sing, supported by more
powerful desires, conquers, and they become partially recon-
ciled to captivity.

" The song of other birds, the tones of an instrument or of
the human voice, seem to have a powerful and exciting effect
on the Nightingale ; they approach hastily, as if attracted by
the agreeable sounds. From the fact that a duett seems to have
greater charms for them than a solo, it might be inferred that
they are not destitute of the sense of harmony. They do not
listen in silence, but strive with their rivals, and try by every
possible exertion not only to overpower them, but to drown
every noise, of whatever kind. It is said that some have been
known to drop down dead, having overstrained their vital
powers in these contentions ; and I have heard of one, which,
when a Siskin near it began to sing, would not cease to utter
an angry twittering till she had reduced the offender to silence.

B B

370 THE NIGHTINGALE.

So true is it, that not even conscious and acknowledged superi-
ority is always free from jealousy."

All Nightingales do not sing equally well ; some, indeed,
are such poor performers, as not to be worth the trouble of
keeping. It has also been remarked that the Nightingales of
one district surpass those of another ; and these differences,
the cause of which is not always easy to discover, have been
not inaptly compared to various dialects of the same language.
In England the Nightingales of Surrey are preferred to those
of Middlesex ; and the Chaffinches of Essex, and the Gold-
finches of Kent, are believed to possess peculiar excellencies.
It is possible that the Nightingale is often excited to rivalry,
and to practise and perfect her own song, by hearing the song
of the other birds ; and it is matter of experience, that these
peculiarities thus acquired, are transmitted from one generation
to another. At the end of June the Nightingale ceases to sing,
and her only note is a kind of harsh cry, in which it is im-
possible to recognize the qualifications of the accomplished
songstress. She is, indeed, at this time so changed in both
voice and plumage, as to preclude our astonishment at the fact,
that in Italy she is known under these circumstances by a dif-
ferent name.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT.—" This is a very interesting species, and
deservedlv esteemed for its song, which surpasses that of all
other birds, from its variety of notes ; it also sings the greater
part of the night, as well as by day. In its wild state, it fre-
quents woods, copses, and gardens, where it is often heard, but
seldom seen. It generally visits us about London, the beginning
of April ; in Somersetshire it seldom arrives till the middle or
latter end of that month, sometimes not till the beginning of
May ; some counties it does not visit at all. Its food consists
entirely of insects of various sorts, but it prefers the eggs of ants
to any other ; it is also very fond of the young larvse of wasps,
or hornets, as I believe are all the species of this genus ; but
these they can only get when procured for them. In confine-
ment, they will soon take to feed on bruised hemp seed and
bread, mixed together — if a few insects be stuck on it ; they
are also fond of fresh raw meat, but prefer the lean part ; the
yolk of an egg, boiled hard, and cut up in small pieces, may
also be given them in winter for a change, if insects cannot
be procured ; also a little boiled milk and bread ; but the more
insects they have given them, the better will be their health,

THE NIGHTINGALE. 371

and the more they will sing. The larvse of the cockchafer, or
may- bug, which is sometimes very plentiful in grass fields, may
be procured in great abundance, and kept in pots of turfy
earth through the winter, giving each bird one or two of a day,
according as the stock holds out. This will keep them in excel-
lent health. Common maggots also, in the larvse or pupa state,
they are very fond of, also spiders, earwigs, crickets, and various
other insects.

" The Nightingale is easily taken in a trap. As it generally
seeks its food in fresh ground, it is only to clear away a place,
and stir up the ground a little, near where it sings or frequents,
then set the trap near it, baited with a living insect, and it is
almost certain to be caught. Birds caught early in spring, if put
in an aviary with other tame ones, will sing in a few days ; those
caught the latter part of summer, will begin singing in Novem-
ber, if young ones ; but the old ones will seldom begin till
February. One that I caught in August, began singing in No-
vember, and left off again about the middle of December ; at the
end of the same month it begun again, and sung continually ail
day long against a Whitethroat, that strived with all its might
to outdo it.

" I have had a female Nightingale which built a nest in the
cage, in a little work-basket, put in on purpose ; she laid three
eggs, and sat on them till she was almost starved, as the male
bird would not feed her; she then threw the eggs out, and
broke them ; both the male and female were only one year
old birds : and I have no doubt but they would have bred in
confinement, had they been kept together another season ; but I
parted with the female to a gentleman who particularly wished
it. I have since had a female several years, but it has never at-
tempted to build, which I believe is owing to its being an old
bird when first caught. Some authors give it as their opinion
that the female of this species sings, but I have never heard one
make the least attempt, though I have frequently kept them
several years."

WILLIAM KIDD, in the Gardener's Chronicle, gives the following
directions how to feed fresh-caught Nightingales. — " The birds,
when secured, are placed in a store cage, and quickly conveyed
to the bird dealers in the Seven Dials. These worthies then pro-
ceed at once to ' meat them off.' This is accomplished thus : —
Some fresh raw beef is scraped ; and being divested of all fibrous
substance, it is mixed into a soft paste, with cold water and hard-
boiled yolk of egg. This is put into a large bird pan. In the
middle of this food is placed a very small inverted liqueur glass,
with the stem broken off. Under this glass are introduced three

B B 2

372 THE GREATER NIGHTINGALE.

or four lively meal worms, whose oft-repeated endeavours to
break out of prison attract the attention of the Nightingale.
Not understanding how these worms are placed beyond his rdach,
he continues to peck at them, until by degrees he tastes the beef
and egg, which is artfully rubbed over the sides of the glass.
This being palateable, he satiates his appetite with it, and soon
feels a zest for it — particularly as his attempts to get at the meal
worms always prove abortive. He now eats regularly — he is
meated off."

146. THE GREATER NIGHTINGALE.

Motacilla or Sylvia Luscinia Major, LIN. Grand Rossignol, BUF. Der
Sprosser, BECH.

Description. — This bird, though usually held to be only a
variety of the Common Nightingale, differs from it in so many
respects, as to prefer a valid claim to be considered as a sepa-
rate species. In the first place, it is, as its name denotes, a
larger bird, being six inches and a half in length, of which
the tail measures two inches and three-quarters. Secondly, its
head and beak are larger ; and thirdly, its colour and song
are both quite distinct. It must be confessed that it bears a
close resemblance to the Nightingale in disposition, behaviour,
and gait ; but this is also the case with the Blackcap and the
Fauvette, which, nevertheless, have never been looked upon as
varieties of that bird. The upper part of the body is a dirty
greyish brown ; the throat white, bordered with blackish grey ;
the breast light grey, with spots of a darker shade. The belly
is dingy white, the wings dark brown ; the pen feathers edged
with dirty rust-colour. The tail is broad, and, as well as the
rump feathers, a dirty rusty brown, which, in common with
the rest of the plumage, is of a darker hue than in the preced-
ing species.

Observations. — The difference in song between the Common
and the Greater Nightingale is very distinct. The voice of
the latter is stronger, more hollow, and sonorous ; its song is
slower and less unbroken, and possesses neither the "long
drawn-out" sweetness, nor the harmonious chord-like endings
of that of the Nightingale. On this account it is often com-
pared with the songs of the Missel and Common Thrush, though
preferable to them, in the purity and roundness of its tone.
In force its song is superior ; in variety and delicacy, inferior

THE BLACKCAP. 373

to that of the Common Nightingale. This bird, however,
possesses the advantage of being generally a night-singer, a
peculiarity which, though highly valued in the Common Night-
ingale, is by no means universal. Its song is so sonorous, as
to be hardly pleasant in a room, and it is therefore advisable
to hang the cage outside the window. Its call is also different
from that of the Common Nightingale, being See glach arrr !
or, according to some, David and Jacob (Daveet, Jakob}.

The Greater Nightingale is never found in Thuringia. It
may occasionally be seen in Silesia, Bohemia, Pomerania, and
in the neighbourhood of Wittenbergh, Halle, and Dessau ;
and in many parts of Austria, Poland, and Hungary, is of
more frequent occurrence than the Common Nightingale. They
are usually brought into Saxony from Vienna, and are there-
fore generally known by the name of Vienna Nightingales. Those
from Hungary are preferred to the Polish ones. The characte-
ristic by which they are distinguished is, that the former utter
the call, Daveet, or Jakob, only once, while the latter repeat it
several times in succession. In the neighbourhood of Thorn,
and on the banks of the Vistula, where both species are com-
mon, the Greater, or Polish, is known by the name of the
Saxon Nightingale.

The Greater Nightingale generally frequents groves and
thickets, especially in the neighbourhood of water. In con-
finement they thrive on the same food as the Common Night-
ingale, but are not so delicate, and live longer. The nest
resembles that of the Common Nightingale, but the eggs are
larger, and clouded with olive brown. The Greater Nightingale
may be caught in the same manner as the preceding species, and
is subject to the same diseases. Both at the moulting season,
and in October and November, it is very delicate, and needs
an occasional spider or woodlouse, as a restorative. The best
remedy, however, is a drop or two of the Golden Tincture of
Halle, mixed with its water.

147. THE BLACKCAP.

Silvia, or Motacilla Atricapilla, LIN. Fauvette a tete noir, BUF.
Der Monchj oder die Schwarlczopfige Grasmuche.

Description. — This bird, which is surpassed by very few in
the excellence of its song, is called in Germany the Monk,

374 THE BLACKCAP.

from the cap which covers the top of the head. As in the
male this cap is black, while in the female it is reddish brown,
and as the latter is often the larger bird of the two, many bird
catchers have fallen into the error of considering them two
distinct species, which they denominate respectively, the Black -
capped and Redcapped Warbler (grasmuche}. The result, how-
ever, of the observations which I have made for many years on
this bird, both in a wild state and in confinement, is, that the
difference is only one of sex. It is about the size of the
Linnet, being five inches ten lines in length, of which the tail
measures two inches and a half. The beak is five lines long,
shaped like that of the Nightingale, and horn blue, except in
the inside, and at the root of the lower mandible, where it is
white. The iris is chestnut brown ; the feet dark grey, and
ten lines in height. The top of the head is black ; the cheeks
and nape of the neck light grey ; the upper part of the body
and the wing coverts ashen grey, mottled with olive green.
The under part of the body is light grey, inclining to white on
the throat and belly ; the sides and shanks are the same colour
as the back ; the vent and the under side of the wings are
white, spotted with grey; the pen and tail feathers dark
brown, edged with the colour of the back.

The female, as I have before remarked, is a little larger ;
the top of the head is yellowish brown ; the upper part of the
body reddish grey, tinged with olive green ; the cheeks and
throat light grey ; the sides and shanks pale grey, with an
olive green gloss ; the belly reddish white ; the pen and tail
feathers dark brown, edged with the colour of the back.

The plumage of the Blackcap is very soft and silky, and it
is rare to see one in the aviary, whether confined in a cage, or
allowed to range the room, which has not injured its wing
and tail feathers. I once caught a white variety of this bird,
which, on the upper part of the body, was mottled with olive
green.

Habitat. — The Blackcap is at home all over Europe, and
frequents woods, or gardens at no great distance from them.
It is especially fond, like the Nightingale, of the bushy under-
wood. It begins to prepare for migration about the middle of
September ; and finally takes its departure at the end of the
same month, returning in the middle of April, a few days
before the Nightingale.

THE BLACKCAP. 375

If allowed to run about the room, a pine bough, or a grating
with several perches, should be placed for it in some warm
corner ; which it will rarely leave, as it is not fond of hopping
about. It is, indeed, a very awkward bird, hopping with its
belly almost touching the ground ; and thrives better in a large
cage, which may either be of the form of a Nightingale's cage,
or bell-shaped.

Food. — The usual food of the Blackcap consists of cater-
pillars, flies, moths, and other insects, as well as their larvae,
though it sometimes eats cherries, elder-berries, and currants.

It thrives in confinement on the univeral paste, varied with
a few meal worms and ants' eggs. It is a greedy bird, and if
allowed the range of the room, soon learns to eat everything
that comes to table. It has been known to live from twelve
to sixteen years in good health, when fed with wheat-meal,
and occasionally a little crushed hemp seed, especially if
supplied with red and black elderberries from July to No-
vember. The same berries preserved by being dried, and when
given to it soaked in water, conduce much to its health in the
winter. Autumn is the time when it is generally caught, and
a few elderberries and meal worms in the food-trough will
soon induce it to eat the food of the aviary. It is fond of
bathing, and requires a daily supply of fresh water.

Breeding. — The Blackcap builds in a hedge or bush, and
seems to prefer the whitethorn for this purpose. The nest,
which is firmly fixed to the bough, and hemispherical, is well
built of hard grass-stalks and dry twigs, lined with softer
grass-blades, and the hair of various animals. The female lays
once, and sometimes twice a year, five or six yellowish white
eggs, mottled with a darker shade of yellow, and spotted with
brown. The young are fed with caterpillars and moths, or
other winged insects ; and the young males, if reared from the
nest on bread and milk, not only acquire a very beautiful song
of their own, but those also of the Nightingale and Canary.
Before the first moulting the males and females are scarcely
distinguishable except by the connoisseur, who may be able to
detect a shade of difference in the colour of the back and top of
the head. Immediately after that period the cap or crest of
the male begins to assume its characteristic hue. The best
method, however, to determine the sex of the young birds, is
to pull out a few of the brown feathers of the head. If they

376 THE BLACKCAP.

are replaced by black ones, the bird in question is undoubtedly
a male.

Diseases. — The Blackcap is subject to the same diseases as
the Nightingale, though, in addition, especially liable to be
attacked by decline. As soon as the symptoms of this malady
appear, the bird should be frequently fed on ants' eggs and
meal worms, and a nail be allowed to remain in its water for a
considerable period. If suffered to range the room, the Black-
cap sometimes loses all its feathers, at other seasons than that
of moulting. The best remedy for this, is to put the bird into
a cage in a warm place, and feed it with good food. If the
feathers do not seem inclined to grow, a lukewarm bath,
repeated on two or three successive days, will probably aid
their development. For epileptic or paralytic affections, a
drop or two of olive oil is often an effectual remedy. I have
just cured by this means a bird which a few weeks ago had
entirely lost the use of one leg, but is now quite lively, and in
full song.

Mode of Taking. — The Blackcap may be caught in July and
August in springes, baited with currants ; in September, with
elderberries ; and which should be so arranged as not to hurt
the bird's feet. It is very suspicious, and even if hungry, will
often hover about the bait for half an hour, before it will
touch it. The same may be remarked in the case of the water-
trap ; however favourite an article of food the bait may be, it
will fly away and back again a dozen times, though confident
enough if it sees another bird bathing or drinking. The young
birds, before the first moulting, are very fearless, and may be
caught in considerable numbers. In spring they may be taken,
like the Nightingales, in nets and on limed twigs, set on a spot
cleared of moss and grass, and baited with meal worms.

Attractive Qualities. — In the villages of the Thuringian
forest the Blackcap is a very favourite bird, preferred by some
even to the Nightingale. If its song have less volume, and be
not so articulate as that of the Nightingale, it is far purer and
more flute-like in its tone, more connected, and equally various.
In confinement it sings throughout the year and almost all day;
in a wild state, of course, only during the summer ; though it
may be heard late in the evening, like the Nightingale, and
recommences its song before daybreak. The female also, as is
the case of the Nightingale, sings a little ; a fact which may

THE BLACKCAP. 377

have given rise to the idea, that it was a separate species. Its
call is a sharp Talc! repeated several times: and when sur-
prised or afraid, it also utters a loud unpleasant cry, like that
of a hurt cat.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " One of the finest songsters that visits
the British islands, the Nightingale excepted. It generally
visits us at the end of March or the beginning of April: the
earliest that I ever observed, was the 25th of March ; the same
day I saw, for the first time this season, a Redstart, a Swallow,
and a Snake. I have sometimes known a solitary male bird of
this species arrive, and sing every day for a fortnight, before
any other was to be seen ; I have also seen one as late as the 15th
of October.

" The song of the Blackcap is very loud and agreeable, and it
has a great variety of notes ; it is also a real mock-bird, and will
catch the note of any bird that it chances to hear sing. I have
heard it imitate the Isf ightingale so exactly, that it has deceived
me ; also the Blackbird, Thrush, and the Greater Pettichaps, all
of which it imitates so much in its voice, that it is almost im-
possible .to detect it, except when it runs from one into the other,
or shows itself on the open part of a tree.

" In a wild state, this species feeds chiefly on fruit and berries
of various sorts ; it is also very fond of many sorts of insects,
such as caterpillars, butterflies, spiders, &c. It is not very
difficult -to take, in a trap baited with a cherry, or living butterfly,
or a green caterpillar ; it will soon become familiar in confine-
ment, and will readily take to feed on the bruised hemp seed and
bread, if some currants, raspberries, or other small fruit, be stuck
in it. To have it always in perfect health, it is requisite that
some kind of fruit, or berries, be always kept in its cage ; any
sort of fruit, or berry, that is eatable, or wholesome, may be
given it in the winter, privet-berries, and slices of a mellow apple,
or pear, or a roasted apple; also a few flies, or spiders, oc-
casionally.

" In confinement, this bird will sing the greater part of the year,
and will soon take to sing after being caught ; I have known one
caught in April, to begin singing the next morning ; but it was
hung near some other birds. This was the first species of the
genus that I attempted to keep through the winter ; and I was
several seasons before I could manage it well ; but as soon as I
found out that it would feed on the bruised hemp seed and bread,
my difficulty was at an end ; and I had no doubt but all the other
species would feed on the same sort of food ; this proves to be
correct, as far as I have had an opportunity of deciding.

" The female of this species sings in confinement, but its note is

378 THE FAUVETTE.

quite different, and not so agreeable as the male. It lias now
been in my possession nearly six years ; the first three years it
did not sing, but since that time it sings frequently."

148. THE FAUVETTE, OB PETTICHAP.

Sylvia, or Motacilla Hortensis, LIN. Fauvette, BUF. Die
Graue Grasmucke, BECH.

Description. — The Fauvette is somewhat smaller than the
Blackcap, being five inches in length, of which the tail measures
two inches and a half. The beak is five lines long, of the same
shape as the preceding species, and horn-brown, except on the
upper mandible ; on the lower, light lead colour, and whitish
inside. The iris is greyish brown ; the feet strong, lead-
coloured, and three quarters of an inch in height. The upper
part of the body is reddish grey, with a very slight tinge of
olive brown ; the cheeks are somewhat darker, and a white
stripe surrounds each eye. The breast and sides are pale reddish
grey ; the belly white, with a tinge of reddish grey on the
rump ; the knees are grey ; the wings and tail greyish brown,
edged with the colour of the back, and tipped with white ; the
lower wing-coverts reddish yellow. In the female the breast
is a little lighter ; but, in other respects, she resembles the
male.

Habitat. — This bird, which is found in all parts of Germany,
frequents groves, gardens, or the outskirts of large forests. It
is a bird of passage, arriving a few days before the Night-
ingale, and departing about the end of September. In confine-
ment it may be treated like the foregoing species, though, being
a more delicate bird, it is advisable to keep it in some kind of
cage.

Food. — Throughout the spring the Fauvette feeds upon
caterpillars and other insects, which it picks off the trees and
bushes ; though, when the cherries are ripe, its depredations
on them are so constant as to give its beak a prevailing red
hue. It also eats currants and red and black elderberries.

In confinement the Fauvette is a greedy bird, and if fed
with Nightingale's food, will pass whole days at the trough.
Although more easily tamed than the Blackcap, it .is a more
delicate bird, aud rarely lives beyond three years. It will eat
the first universal paste ; though, if this be given to it unmixed
with anything else, its feathers begin to fall off, and the bird
perishes of cold.

THE FAUVETTE. 079

Breeding.*— The Fauvette builds its nest in hedges and
bushes, about a yard from the ground, and seems to prefer for
that purpose the black or white thorn. I have also occasionally
found it in the thickest part of a pollard lime. It is well built
of strong grass stalks and root fibres, lined with a layer of
finer stalks, or sometimes of moss. The opening of the nest
has a border of spiders' web, or of silk from the cocoon of some
insect ; and, like the Swallow, the Fauvette lays the founda-
tions of several nests before finding a situation quite to its
mind. The female lays four or five yellowish-white eggs,
spotted with light grey and olive brown. The young are
hatched in about a fortnight, and begin to leave the nest as soon
as their feathers appear.

Diseases. — The Fauvette is subject to the same diseases as
the Blackcap, except that its feathers fall out even more fre-
quently, and from a greater variety of causes. If fed with the
first universal paste, it frequently dies of surfeit.

Mode of Talcing. — In July, August, and September this bird
may be caught with springes, baited with cherries, currants,
and red or black elderberries. It may also be taken, without
difficulty, in the water-trap, especially from seven to nine A.M.,
or in the evening, just before sunset.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT.—" The present species, whose colours are
not so gay as some of the others, is nevertheless a plump,
handsome-shaped bird, and its song is scarcely to be sur-
passed by any of the genus, the Nightingale excepted. It first
visits us in the spring, about the latter end of April, or the
beginning of May ; and its arrival is soon made known by its
very loud and long song. It generally begins very low, not
unlike the song of the Swallow, but raises it by degrees, until it
resembles the song of the Blackbird, singing nearly all through
the day, and the greater part of the time that it stays with us,
which is but short, as it leaves us again in August. In confine-
ment, it will sing nearly all through the year, if it be treated
well. In a wild state, it is generally found in gardens and plan-
tations, where it feeds chiefly on fruit, and will not refuse some
kinds of insects ; it is very fond of the larvae or caterpillar, that
is often found in great abundance on cabbage plants, the produce
of Papilio Brassica, and I know no other bird of the genus that
will feed on it. Soon after its arrival here, the strawberries are
ripe, and it is not long before it finds them out ; the cherries it
•vvul begin before they are quite ripe ; and I know not any kind of

380 THE WHITETHROAT.

fruit or berry which is wholesome, that it will refuse ; it generally
tastes the plums, pears, and early apples, before it leaves us :
and when in confinement, it also feeds freely on elder, privet, and
ivy berries ; it is also partial to berberries, and a soft apple or pear.

" These birds are not so easily caught as some of the other
species ; they are more shy of getting into a trap ; but in gardens
where they are plentiful, they may be taken occasionally in a
Nightingale-trap, baited with a ripe cherry or raspberry, or a
living butterfly or caterpillar pinned on. They will readily take
to feed on the bruised hemp seed and bread, or on bread and
milk ; they are also fond of fresh raw meat, both fat and lean,
also the yolk of an egg occasionally. To bring them to eat it
directly, a few currants or raspberries, or other small fruit, must
be stuck in it ; in eating these out, they taste the other food,
which they prefer to the fruit at first, for a change. Fruit of
some kind or other, should, if possible, be always kept in their
cage. In winter they are very fond of a roasted apple ; and as
soon as the berries of the ivy are ripe, they should be supplied
with some ; they will then succeed very well.

" This species builds its nest on trees or high shrubs, from ten
to twelve feet above the ground ; it is generally very deep, but
thin, and composed of dry grass. It is not so tender as I formerly
supposed; one that I have now kept nearly six years, never
seems to mind the cold at all. I have kept females of this
species, and also of both species of Whitethroats, for several
years, but none of them ever attempted to sing."

149. THE WHITETHROAT.

Motacilla, or Sylvia Cinerea, LIN. Le Fauvette Grise ou Grisette, BUF.
Die Gahle GrasmiicJce, BECH.

Description. — This slender and elegantly-formed bird is five
inches and a half in height, of which the tail measures two
inches and three quarters. The beak is five lines long, blackish
on the upper mandible, on the lower grey, and at the corners,
and in the inside, yellow. The iris is greyish brown ; the feet
ten lines in height, and brownish flesh-colour. The head is
grey; the cheeks, neck, back, rump, tail-coverts, and smaller
wing-coverts, are grey, tinged, especially on the back, with
brown. The throat and the belly are a beautiful white ; the
breast, sides, and vent feathers, are white, tinged with reddish
flesh-colour. The wings are dark brown ; the larger and the
hinder wing coverts having a broad border of rust colour, which
appears, indeed, to be the general hue of the wings when folded.
The tail is dark brown ; the outermost feather having a large

THE WHITETimOAT. 381

white wedge-shaped spot; the next a smaller spot of the
same shape and colour ; and the third being tipped with white,

In the female, which is somewhat smaller, the rust colour
of the wings is lighter, and the beautiful white throat is alto-
gether wanting.

Habitat. — This bird, which is at home all over Europe, may
be seen about the middle of April, in thick bushes, groves, gar-
dens, or the outskirts of extensive forests, creeping through
the grass and underwood with great rapidity. It is a bird of
passage, leaving us at the end of September, or the beginning
of October. In confinement it may be treated like the last-
mentioned species, though still more delicate. The best plan
is to rear it from the nest, keep it in a Nightingale's cage, and
treat it in every respect like that bird.

Food. — In a wild state the Whitethroat picks off the trees
all kinds of insects and their larvae ; and, when deprived of
this kind of food by the severity of the weather, betakes itself
to berries of different species. In confinement it should be
fed on the Nightingale's food, and occasionally a little barley
meal with bread and milk. It thrives best if in summer red
elderberries, and in winter, dried black elderberries, which
have been soaked in water, be now and then mixed with its
food.

Breeding. — The Whitethroat builds its nest in thick under-
wood near the ground, among roots of trees which have grown
above the surface on the banks of brooks and rivers, or even in
tall grass. It is loosely put together of grass stalks and moss,
with a lining of horse-hair. The female lays five or six green-
ish white eggs, spotted with olive green and dark ashen grey.
The young birds, which soon leave the nest, are like the
parents, except that the rust-coloured border of the wings is
not so distinct ; a peculiarity which is more marked in the
females than in the males, and affords, therefore, a criterion by
which the sexes may be distinguished. They may be easily
reared with ants' eggs, and become, in time, so tame as to
sing when perched upon their master's hand.

Diseases. — The Whitethroat is subject to the same diseases
as the Blackcap.

Mode of Taking. — At the end of the summer, and in autumn,
this bird may be taken without difficulty in nooses baited with
currants and elder-berries ; though it must be confessed that

382 THE WHITETHEOAT.

the easiest and surest method is to set the nest with limed
twigs. It is shy of the water-trap.

Attractive Qualities. — This is an exceedingly lively and
cheerful bird, whose agreeable song may often be heard in the
open air till a very late hour in the evening. It is, however,
necessary to pay particular attention in order to hear it, as it
consists of a very long piano passage, concluded with a short
forte one. This last is shrill, and consists of several arpeggios
given with great distinctness ; at the end of which the bird
makes a short circuit in the air, and returns to its perch. Its
call is Tzce, ! If its cage be so hung that the bird is not silenced
by the louder notes of others, its song will be found to be ex-
ceedingly melodious.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — "A very lively and interesting species, and
one of the easiest preserved ; its song also, in mv opinion, cannot
be surpassed by any bird whatever ; it is both lively, sweet, and
loud, and consists of a great variety of notes. One that I at
present possess, will sing for hours together, against a Night-
ingale, now, in the beginning of January, and it will not suffer
itself to be outdone. When the Nightingale raises its voice, it
also does the same, and tries its utmost to get above it ; some-
times, in the midst of its song, it will run up to the Nightingale
and stretch out its neck as if in defiance, and whistle as loud as it
can, staring it in the face ; if the Nightingale attempts to peck it,
away it is in an instant, flying round the aviary, and singing all
the time.

" In a wild state, the present species generally visits hedges and
gardens ; it arrives in this country about the middle of April,
and is often heard singing in a thicket, or in the middle of a
hedge ; sometimes it mounts up in the air a little way, or flies
from one hedge to another, singing all the time. It is readily
taken in a trap, baited with a living caterpillar or butterfly. One
that I caught last spring, sung the third day after being in con-
finement, and continued to sing all through the summer ; but
this was most likely in consequence of a tame one being with it,
which also sung at the same tune.

" In their native state, these birds feed chiefly on small insects,
and a few sorts of fruit, strawberries and raspberries in parti-
cular ; they are very partial to the different species of aphis, with
which almost every tree is covered some time or other in the
summer ; they are also very fond of the smaller species of butter-
flies, and the common house-fly (musca domestica) ; they soon
take to feed on the bruised hemp seed and bread, and also on

THE WHITE-BREASTED WARBLER. 383

milk and bread. I have known them to feed on it the day they
were caught. Fresh meat, both fat and lean, they also like very
well for a change, and the yolk of a boiled egg, also a wasted
apple in winter ; they pick up a great quantity of small gravel,
of which there should be always a constant supply in their cage
or aviary ; if they are without this, they soon get unwell. Fresh
water should also be given them every day, in a saucer or pan,
large enough for them to get into, as oftentimes they wash them-
selves two or three times a day.

" I have now a fine male bird of this species, that I have pos-
sessed between eight and nine years ; it still continues as lively,
and sings as well as ever ; it is a very desirable species, as it
never seems to mind the cold, and continues in song nearly all
the year.,"

150. THE WHITE-BREASTED WARBLER, OR BABILLARD.

Motacilla Curruca, or La Fauvette Babillarde, BTJF. Die Geschwdtzige
Grasmuc&e, oder Das Mullerchen, BECH.

Description. — The Babillard is not unlike the bird last de-
scribed, in form and plumage, although smaller, and not so
rust coloured on the wings. It is five inches in length, of
which the tail measures two inches. The beak is five lines
long, sharp, and black, except on the lower . mandible, which
is blue ; the iris has an outer ring of yellowish white, and an
inner one of bright yellowish brown ; the feet are seven lines
in height, and blackish blue. The head and rump are dark
reddish grey ; the cheeks are somewhat darker than the head ;
and the rest of the upper part of the body grey, slightly tinged
with red. The under part of the body is white, with a reddish
grey hue on the sides of the breast. The small wing coverts
are light brown ; the larger wing coverts and pen feathers
dark brown, edged with reddish grey ; the tail dark brown,
the outermost feather having a wedge-shaped white spot, and
the others bordered with reddish grey.

It is almost impossible to distinguish the female from the
male ; though if both sexes be seen at once, it may be per-
ceived that her head and feet are a little lighter in colour.

Habitat. — The Babillard is found in all parts of Europe, ex-
cept in the extreme north, and in Germany is one of the
commonest hedge birds. It is a bird of passage, arriving in
the middle of April, and taking its departure in September.

384 THE WHITE-BSEASTED WARBLER.

It frequents gardens, especially if full of gooseberry bushes ;
and if seen in the woods, it is never on the high trees, but in
the thick underwodd.

In confinement it may be treated like the Fauvette, but is a
very delicate bird.

Food. — This bird eats insects and small caterpillars, and, as
we may conclude from the fact, that it arrives a week earlier
than others of its species, insects' eggs also. It is also fond
of currants and elderberries. In the aviary it may be fed with
Nightingale's food, but will not live longer than a year, except
well supplied with ants' eggs and meal worms.

Breeding. — The nest of the Babillard, which is usually found
in thick gooseberry or white-thorn bushes, or young fir-trees,
is composed of grass stalks, lined with swine's bristles and fine
roots. The -female lays five or six white eggs, spotted, especi-
ally at the thick end, with ashen grey and yellowish brown.
The affection of the Babillard for its young, like that of all of
its genus, is so great, that as soon as any one comes near the
nest, the sitting bird drops out of the nest as if senseless, and
flutters helplessly upon the ground, uttering an anxious
twitter. No sooner, again, have the feathers of the young
birds begun to grow, than they will spring out of the nest, and
hide themselves in the bushes, if so much as looked at. They
may be reared in the same manner as the young of the Fauvette.

Diseases, and Mode of Taking. — On both these heads the
reader is referred to the account of the Fauvette. The Babil-
lard— if snow should chance to have fallen — after its arrival in
the spring, may also be taken in the following manner: A
place near a hedge should be cleared, and set with limed twigs,
baited with meal worms. To this, with the exercise of a little
care and caution, the birds may be driven.

Attractive Qualities. — Although the plumage of this bird is
not particularly brilliant, its general appearance is pleasing.
Throughout Germany it is called the Little Miller, from some
peculiar notes of its song, which resemble the noise of a mill,
Klap, Tdap, Ida/p, Hap I It is commonly thought that this is
the whole of its song ; whereas in the variety and beauty of
its notes, though very soft, and not very pure in tone, it
surpasses all other warblers. While singing, it hops from
twig to twig of the thick underwood, but pauses for a moment
when it comes to the final clap : and gives it out with con?

THE WHITE-BREASTED WARBLEB. 385

siderable effort, and expanded throat. If hung in the aviary,
at a distance from other birds, it is a very agreeable singer, as
its harsh call is not often heard.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " This pretty little bird visits us about the
middle of April, and leaves us again at the end of August, or the
beginning of September ; its song is not so agreeable as many of
the other species ; but, from its singularity, it makes a pleasing
variety, being so very different from all the others ; in its wild
state, it feeds principally on flies, and other small insects ; it is
also partial to several sorts of fruit, such as cherries, plums,
apples, pears, and grapes. In confinement it will soon become
tame and familiar, and will readily take to feed on bread and milk,
and also on bruised hemp seed and bread. One that I bred up
from the nest, became so attached to its cage, that it could not
be prevailed upon to quit it for any length of time ; when the
door of it was put open, it would generally come out quickly, and
first perch on the door, then mount to the top of the cage, from
thence it would fly to the top of any other cages that were in
the room, and catch any flies that came within its reach ; some-
times it would descend to the floor, or perch on a table or chair,
and would come and take a fly out of the hand, or drink milk out
a spoon, if invited ; of this it was very fond. As soon as it was the
least frightened, it would fly immediately to its cage, first on the
top, from thence to the door, and would enter hi exactly in the
same manner as it came out. I have often hung it out at the
window, perched on the top of its cage, with the door open, and
it would never attempt to fly away ; sometimes, if a fly should
happen to pass near it, it would fly off and catch it, and return
with it to the top of the cage ; after remaining there a consider-
able time, it would either return into it, or fly in at the window,
and perch on the cages of the other birds. I sometimes have
placed the cage with its door open in the garden, where the ants
were plentiful; it was always very shy of coming out, and
would never venture far from it, and on being the least alarmed,
it would return to it again.

" I kept this bird through several winters, and the cold seemed
to take no effect on it ; at last, a strange cat came into the room
where it was, and pulled it out from betwixt the wires of the
cage, without leaving a feather behind, it was so very small.

" This elegant little bird is well worth keeping in confinement.
I have at present a very handsome one, which is continually sing-
ing, and has a very pleasing soft note, much more pleasant than the
wild ones ; they soon become much attached to their cage, and to
the person who feeds them."

c c

386 THE BLACK REDSTART.

151. THE BLACK KEDSTART.

Sylvia or Motacilla Tithys, LIN. Range Queue, BUF. Der Wistling,
BECH.

Description. — The Black "Redstart is- five inches and a half in
length, of which the tail measures two inches and a quarter. The
beak is five lines long, yellow inside and at the corners ; black
outside, and very sharp ; the iris is dark brown ; the feet black ;
the shanks ten lines high. The upper part of the body is a
deep bluish grey; the rump red; the cheeks, throat, and
breast, black ; the belly and the sides like the back, but tinged
with white ; the vent a reddish yellow. The wing-coverts are
blackish, bordered with white ; the quill feathers dark brown,
with a similar border ; the hindermost especially, having a
broad white edge, which forms a longish spot on the wings ;
the tail feathers are a yellowish red, with the exception of the
two centre ones, which are dark brown.

The female is of a dirty ashen grey on the upper part of the
body ; on the under part, ashen grey tinged with red ; the
chin whitish, and the borders of the wings narrower than in
the male, and reddish white.

The colour of this bird varies during the first eight years.
The very old ones are black all over the wings and tail ; coal
black on the lower part of the body, but not quite so dark
above. In extreme old age they become grey on the breast.
A male of one or two years' old, is very like a female, being
ashen grey on the upper part of the body, and on the under
part reddish grey. The borders of the wings are more dis-
tinctly marked. After this period the colour gradually be-
comes darker. Many bird-catchers, and even authors, have
imagined these varieties of colour, which are dependent upon
age and sex, to be characteristic of a difference of species.

Habitat. — This bird is a native of all Europe, and the tem-
perate regions of Asia. It prefers mountainous to level re-
gions, and is frequently found on bare chalk hills, though also
on rocks in the woods, and towns, and villages, perched on the
highest buildings, towers, churches, castles, &c. In spring
and autumn it frequents the hedges. It arrives from its winter
quarters veiy early, as its song may be heard even in the be-
ginning of March. In the middle of October it congregates in
small flocks, and takes its departure. It has one peculiarity,

THE BLACK SEDSTAET. 387

by no means common among singing birds — that it sings dur-
ing the whole period it is with us, even in the coldest and
stormiest weather. It may sometimes be heard piping its
song, perched on a weathercock.

In a room it may either be allowed to run about, or may be
confined in a Nightingale's cage.

Food. — When wild, this bird eats the flies on houses and
stones, which the warmth of spring has enticed out. It also
eats cabbage-caterpillars, and other insects, and in autumn
elderberries.

If intended to be kept in confinement longer than a year, it
must be fed like the Nightingale, and sometimes also on ants'
eggs and meal worms. Old birds may sometimes be tamed in
autumn, by putting elderberries among their food ; in spring
ants' eggs and meal worms are a good substitute. They have
been known to live six years in a cage.

Breeding. — They build in rocks and holes of walls, but espe-
cially in lofty old buildings, on timbers of roofs, where the
nest can stand alone on a beam or support. It is made of hair
and hay woven together. The female lays six eggs, of a pure
white colour, twice a year. The young are of a reddish grey,
and must be taken out of the nest when the tail is half grown.
They are to be fed on ants' eggs and wheaten-bread, softened
in milk. They are subject to the same diseases as the Fau-
vette.

Mode of Taking. — Limed twigs, to which meal worms have
been attached, are to be placed in any spot which they are ob-
served to frequent. In autumn they may be taken in springes
before which elderberries have been hung.

Attractive Qualities. — From the red tail, and the call, fitza,
both of which it has in common with the Nightingale, this
bird has probably derived its name, " wall Nightingale." It
cannot have been so called from its song — which, although
peculiar, has no similarity to the various melody of the Night-
ingale. It consists of three parts, of which the middle is
little better than a croak, though the upper and lower possess
some high and clear notes. It sings from morning till night ;
its movements are light and nimble ; whenever it sits down, it
vibrates its tail from side to side, cries Fitza ! and, which is the
case with very few birds, is active till it is quite night, whe-
ther wild or in confinemeut.

c c 2

388 THE COMMON EEDSTART.

ADDITIONAL. — The Black-breasted Eedstart, or Black Eedtail,
as MACGILLIVEAY calls it, is a very rare bird in this country, not
more than five specimens being mentioned by YAEEELL as hav-
ing been taken here. GOULD was the first British naturalist
who recorded the capture of a specimen, which occurred in the
neighbourhood of London, in October, 1849. The fifth specimen
mentioned was shot near Bristol, while flying about with some
Stonechats among furze. MUDIE calls this bird the Black Red-
start, and WOOD the Tithys Warbler. TENNANT says that it
inhabits the Morea ; and STEICZLAND observes that it is common
among the rocky shores near Smyrna, where it remains during
winter. The Prince of Musignano, when at sea in the spring of
1828, about five hundred miles from Portugal, and four hundred
from Africa, obtained a specimen, which was caught in the rig-
ging of the ship, the wind at the time blowing strong from the
east.

152. THE COMMON REDSTART.

Sylvia or Motacilla Phuenicurus, Lix. Rossignol dc Muraille, BUF. Das
Gemeine oder Garten Rottischwauzchen, BECH.

Description. — The Redstart is five inches and a quarter in
length, of which the tail measures two inches and a quarter.
The beak is five lines long, round at the point, black, except
at the corners and in the inside, where it is yellow. The iris
and the feet are black ; the shin bones ten lines high. The
insertion of the upper mandible and the cheeks are black ;
the throat black, spotted with white. The forehead is white,
and a stripe of the same colour passes over the eyes. The
back of the head and neck, the back and the lesser wing coverts,
are dark ashen grey, tinged with red. The rump, breast, sides,
and upper part of the belly are rust coloured, the last being
clouded with white ; the under part of the belly and the vent
rusty yellow ; the larger wing coverts, and their pen feathers,
dark brown, edged with yellow ; the tail rusty red, having
the two centre feathers dark brown.

The female is very different, and resembles, except that its
plumage is lighter, the female of the Black Redstart. The
upper part of the body is a reddish ashen grey ; the throat
whitish, clouded, after the fifth or sixth year, with black. The
breast is a dirty rust-colour, mottled with white ; the belly
dusky white; the rump reddish yellow. The larger wing
coverts and the hinder pen feathers are edged with rust-
colour.

THE COMMON REDSTART. 389

This description applies to both males and females only after
the first moulting. Before this the young males are marked
with white on the hack of the breast, a peculiarity which they
lose in the ensuing summer. They have also a white stripe
on the forehead ; and on the belly, are rather white than yel-
low.

Habitat. — lThe Common Redstart is a native of the same
countries as the preceding, and may be met with all over
Germany. It is a bird of passage, migrating to a warmer
climate in the first half of October, and not returning till the
end of March or beginning of April. In spring and autumn,
it frequents, for some time, the hedges and low bushes ; in sum-
mer it may be found in gardens, near streams overshadowed
with willows, in thickets, or even in the deepest woods. The
Redstarts which inhabit gardens, frequently delight the inha-
bitants of towns with their morning and evening song.

In confinement they may either be allowed to range the
room, or kept in a Nightingale's cage. They thrive, too, in a
bell-shaped cage, and delight the eye with their beautiful
plumage.

Food. — "When wild, the Redstart feeds on various kinds of
insects, earth worms, currants, and elderberries.

If allowed to range the room, they may sometimes in autumn
be accustomed to the universal paste, by means of elderberries
mingled with it, and an occasional meal worm. In spring the
same may be accomplished by means of ants' eggs and meal
worms. Being tender birds, ants' eggs and meal worms should
be occasionally given to them ; but earth worms very rarely,
as this is a food which does not agree with birds in confinement.
When caged, they may be fed with Nightingale's paste. Three
or four years is the longest period during which they can be
preserved on this regimen. They generally die of atrophy.

Breeding. — The Redstart builds its nest, which is carelessly
constructed, of grass stalks, feathers, and hair, in the holes of
trees and walls, and under the eaves of houses. The female
lays twice a year six or seven apple-green eggs. As soon as the
tail feathers have begun to grow, the young birds hop out of
the nest, and perch on some neighbouring branch, where they
are fed by their parents till able to provide for themselves.
Till the first moulting the whole of the body is ashen grey,
spotted with white. In autumn the young females very closely

390 THE COMMON EEDSTART.

resemble the Nightingale, and are often mistaken for it. They
may be reared with the least difficulty on ants' eggs, with
which bread soaked in milk is gradually mixed, till they become
accustomed to the paste. The Redstart is very ready to imi-
tate the songs of other birds which it may chance to hear.

Diseases. — Diarrhoea and atrophy are the diseases most fatal
to this bird.

Mode of Taking. — In spring the Redstart, like the Red-
breast, may be taken by placing limed twigs in the hedges
frequented by it. To these it must be gently driven. Like
the Nightingale, it may also be attracted by meal worms. In
autumn they may be caught, in considerable numbers, in gar-
dens and groves, by a noose baited with elderberries. Those
which are intended to be kept are best caught in springes, of
which the wooden part is covered with felt, to prevent injury
to their legs. The birds of one year old are preserved with
least difficulty. They may also be taken in the water-trap.

Attractive Qualities. — Not the beauty only, but also the
liveliness and the song of this bird, render it a favourite. Its
body is always in motion ; it never ceases to bow, and shakes
its tail from side to side ; and all its movements are active and
graceful. Its own song is pretty, and often enriched by notes
borrowed from the songs of the neighbouring birds. One, for
example, which has built near my house, imitates the song of a
Chaffinch, whose cage hangs before my window ; and another,
whose nest is in my neighbour's garden, repeats some of the
notes of a Blackcap close by. The faculty possessed by the
Redstart of appropriating to itself, even when at liberty, the
songs of other birds, is very unusual.

It soon becomes tame enough to take meal worms from the
hand.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " This is a very elegant and interesting
species, and a good songster its food is precisely the same
as the last species ; in confinement it will sing by night as well
as by day, if a light be kept in the room where it is ; it will
soon get very tame and familiar in confinement, and will be much
attached to the person that feeds it ; if brought up from the nest,
it may be learned to sing any tune that is whistled or sung to it.
One that I was in possession of some years back, learnt to sing
the Copenhagen Waltz, that it had frequently heard sung, only
it would sometimes stop in the middle of it, and say chipput, a
name by which it was generally called, and which it would always

THE DTJXNOCK. 391

repeat every time I entered the room where it was, either by
night or day. In winter it would generally begin singing in the
evening as soon as the candle was lighted, and would often sing
as late as eleven o'clock at night. When it was hung out by the
door in the cage, which it frequently was, the Sparrows would
often come round it, of which it seemed particularly fond ; it
learned their note, and would chirp and call them so exact, that
any person who did not know to the contrary, would have sup-
posed it to be the Sparrow chirping.

" The Redstart, in a wild state, chiefly visits gardens, lanes, or
old buildings, and feeds on various kinds of insects, but seems to
prefer the ants and their eggs. In spring, when it first arrives
in this country, it mounts to the top of the loftiest trees, where it.
will sit and sing for hours, beginning in the morning by day-
break. The earliest time of their arrival that I ever noticed, was
the 25th of March ; some years they come the beginning of April,
and sometimes not till the middle of that month. It seems to be
a very peevish and fretful bird, often shaking its tail, and repeat-
ing a quick shrill note, as if it was in fear ; and one that I once
reared from the nest, was often allowed to come out of its cage
into the room. One day, when wanted to be got in, and not being
willing to go, it was driven round the room a few times, which
vexed it so much that it would take no food afterwards, though
restored to its liberty ; it stayed sulky for three days, and then
died.

"I have now a beautiful male bird of this species, which I have
possessed for six years ; it always keeps itself in as good health,
and in as fine a plumage, as if flying wild in the open air, con-
tinuing in song the greater part of the year. It is certainly the
most sensible and cunning species of the tribe, and becomes very
much attached to any person who notices it j mine flew out of
its cage about two years since, and got away into the gardens,
where it continued six or seven hours : it then returned to its
cage, although it was a wild bird when first caught. In the year
1825, I saw a female of this species so late as the 21st of Novem-
ber, in Camera Square, Chelsea, flying about as lively as if it had
been midsummer."

153. THE DFNNOCK, OK HEDGE- WAKBLER.

Sylvia or Motacilla Modularis, LIN. Fauvette d'Mver, BUF. Die Brau-
nelle, BKCH.

Description. — This bird, which in its general bearing is very
like the Wren, is five inches and a quarter in length, of which
the tail measures two inches and a quarter. The beak is five
lines long, very sharp and black, except in the inside, which 13

392 THE

rose-coloured, and the tip, which is white. The iris is" purple ;
the feet ten lines high, and a yellowish flesh-colour. The head
is small, and, as well as the neck, dark grey, spotted with dark
brown ; the back light rust-colour, spotted with blackish brown,
like the back of the House Sparrow. The rump is pale grey ;
the cheeks, throat, and breast bluish grey ; the belly and vent
dingy white; the sides and shanks yellowish brown. The
wings are dark brown, edged with rust-colour ; and the feathers
of the larger coverts are tipped with white. The tail is dark
brown, bordered with a lighter shade of the same colour.

The female is more greyish blue on the breast, and more
thickly spotted with brown on the head.

Habitat. — The Dunnoek inhabits the whole of Europe, and
frequents gardens, or more especially dense woods of coniferous
or other trees. It is a bird of passage, though some individuals
which have come from the extreme north occasionally winter
with us, hopping about the hedges, and, like the Wren, flying
near barns and stables. Those which have migrated re-
turn towards the end of March, and may be seen for some time
about the hedges in the open country, before betaking them-
selves to the woods. It may either be allowed to range the
aviary, perching at night on a pine branch, or in a corner sepa-
rated from the room by a grating, or may be confined in a
Nightingale's or Canary's cage.

Food. — The Dunnoek feeds not only on all sorts of insects
and worms, but also on various kinds of seeds, which is one
reason why it is often able to survive the winter. In spring it
looks for flies, larvae, caterpillars, and earth worms ; in summer
it lives principally on caterpillars ; in autumn it feeds on grass,
rape, and poppy seeds, as well as elderberries ; and in winter,
when there is no snow on the ground, it collects the seeds of
different plants, and, when these fail, searches the holes and
crannies of walls and trees for spiders, insects, or caterpillars.

In the aviary it will eat whatever comes to ^table — meat,
vegetables, bread, and cake, as well as rape and poppy seed.
It is also fond of the universal paste, which it will eat even
immediately after it has been caught.

Breeding. — The nest of the Dunnoek, which is built of clean
lichen, sometimes interwoven with small roots of twigs, and
lined with hair or fur, generally stands in a young fir tree, or
thick bush, about two yards from the ground. The female

THE DFSNOCK. 393

lays twice a year fire or six greenish blue eggs ; and the young
birds, which are soon able to leave the nest, are very unlike
the parents. The corners of the beak and nostrils are rose-
coloured ; the breast spotted with yellow and grey ; and the
upper part of the body speckled with black and brown. They
may be reared without difficulty on bread and poppy seed,
soaked in milk. "When tamed, both male and female use every
effort to build a nest, and the females not only lay eggs with-
out the male, but even pair with the Redbreast.

Diseases, — The very prevalent idea that wild birds suffer
from no disease, is disproved by the case of the Dunnock, for
both young and old birds are subject to the small-pox. On
one occasion, when the disease was very general in my neigh-
bourhood, a young Dunnock in my possession took it; and
though, by help of a copious supply of poppy seed and ants'
eggs, it recovered, its tail fell off, and never grew again. Old
birds are frequently shot, which have ulcerated or scabby legs
and eyes — though, perhaps, only the result of chilblains.
They are often diseased in the rooms of the linen- weavers who
keep them ; their eyes swell, and the circle round them be-
comes bald ; then the beak grows scabby, and the disease at
last spreads to the feet and the rest of the body. In spite of
all this, they frequently live from eight to ten years in confine-
ment.

Mode of Talcing. — This bird may be caught without difficulty
on its return from its migration in spring. Near some hedge,
when it is observed, which from the scarcity of other birds at
the time is not difficult, or when its call, Issri ! is heard, let a
spot be cleared of grass and moss, and set with limed twigs
baited with meal or earth worms. If the bird be driven
cautiously to this place, it rushes greedily to the bait. In
autumn it may be caught in the area trap and in springes,
and in winter in the Tit-trap. It is also frequently taken in
the water-trap, to which it comes not only for the sake of
bathing, but of the drowned insects and decayed roots which
it finds there.

Attractive Qualities. — The Dunnock, though an agreeable
addition to the aviary, on account of its liveliness, cheerful dis-
position, and pleasant song, has no pretensions to the name of
the Tree Nightingale, by which it is sometimes called in Ger-
many. Its song is simple, and resembles part of that of the

394 THE DUNNOCZ.

"Wren or Skylark, consisting of the syllables Tehudt, hudt, hudt,
frequently repeated, descending by a sixth every time, and
gradually diminishing in power. The bird moves its tail and
wings continually while singing, and sings throughout the
year, except during the moulting season. If reared from the
nest, it often learns to imitate the songs of other birds, and
intermingle them with its own, though it is never able to re-
peat the Nightingale's song. Like the Crested Lark and the
Wagtail, the Dunnock always sings during its quarrels and
contentions with its fellow prisoners in the aviary.

ADDITIONAL. — The Hedge- Warbler, or Hedge-Accenter, Hedge-
Chanter, Hedge- Sparrow, Hedge-JDunnock, and Shufflewing, are
the various names by which this bird is known in different loca-
lities of Britain and Ireland, where it is so generally distributed,
as to render any mention of particular counties unnecessary. It
has been remarked, however, that although found in the western
islands of Scotland, it has not been met with either in Orkney or
Shetland. KNAPP'S description of its habits are so fresh and
original, that we are induced to quote them : " The Hedge- Spar-
row, or Shufflewing, is a prime favourite. Not influenced by sea-
son or caprice to desert us, it lives in our homesteads and our
orchards through all the year, our most domestic bird. In the
earliest spring it intimates to us, by a low and plaintive chirp,
and that peculiar shake of the wings which in all times marks
this bird, but then is particularly observable, the approach of the
breeding season, for it appears always to live in pairs, feeding
and moving in company with each other. It is nearly the first
bird that forms a nest ; and this being placed in an almost leaf-
less hedge, with little art displayed in the concealment, generally
becomes the booty of every prying boy ; and the blue eggs of the
Hedge- Sparrow are always found in such numbers on His string,
that it is surprising how any of the race are remaining, espe-
cially when we consider the many casualties to which the old
birds are obnoxious from their tameness, and the young that are
hatched, from their situation. The plumage of this motacilla is
remarkably sober and grave, and all its actions are quiet and
conformable to its appearance. Its song is short, sweet, and
gentle. Sometimes it is prolonged, but generally the bird perches
on the summit of some bush, utters its brief modulation, and
seeks retirement again. Its chief habitation is some hedge, in
the rick -yard, some cottage-garden, or near society with man.
Unobtrusive, it does not enter our dwellings like the Redbreast,
but picks minute insects from the edges of drains and ditches,
or morsels from the door of the poorest dwelling in the villages.

THE EEDBREAST. 395

As an example of a household bird, none can be found with
better pretensions to such a character than the Hedge- Sparrow."
By some English authors this bird is called the Titling ; MUDIE
describes it under that head, and says, " that its nest is one of
those in which the female Cuckoo frequently deposits its eggs.
Both birds," he says, speaking of this and the Titlark, " follow
the Cuckoo, it may be sometimes from hostility, and sometimes
in the character of foster-mothers ; at all events, they do it
voluntarily, and often blithely. It is the small following the
great, and the Cuckoo and the Titling, or better still for the
double meaning of the first name, ' the GowTc and Titling,' of
the Scotch, has become not an uncharacteristic, and in some
instances, a very biting expression for the little of mankind danc-
ing a senseless and thankless attendance on the great."

154. THE REDBREAST.

Sylvia or Motacitta Rubecula, LIN. Rouge Gorge, Bur. Das Roth-
kehlchen, BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird is five inches and three
quarters in length, of which the tail measures two inches and
a quarter. The beak is five lines long, and brown, except at
the root of the lower mandible and in the inside, where it is
yellow. The iris, as well as the feet, which are eleven lines
high, are blackish brown. The forehead, cheeks, and lower
part of the body, as far as the belly, are dark orange ; the upper
part of the body, and the wing coverts, are dingy olive green ;
the rump, sides, and vent, of a lighter hue. The sides of the
breast and neck are a beautiful pale grey ; the belly white ;
the pen and tail feathers dark brown, edged with olive green ;
and the first wing coverts are tipped with a triangular yellow
spot.

In the female, which is somewhat smaller, the orange on
the forehead is not so broad ; the colour of the breast is paler,
and the feet are a yellowish brown. The yellow spots on the
wing Coverts are also generally wanting, though the very old
females have sometimes small yellow stripes in their place.
The males of one year old, which are caught in the spring, re-
semble the females very closely, in the absence, or very small
size, of the yellow spots. The breast also is saffron yellow,
but the shanks are always blackish brown.

There are also white and mottled varieties of this bird. If

396 THE REDBREAST.

the feathers of the wings and tail be pulled out several times,
they will at last come white, which imparts a very engaging
appearance to the little creature. These new feathers are,
however, exceedingly weak and brittle.

Habitat* — At the period of migration, the Eedbreast may
be met with in great numbers in hedges and bushes, while in
summer it retreats into the woods. It returns (i. e. to Ger-
many) about the middle of March, and passes a fortnight or
three weeks in the open country before betaking itself to the
forests. In October it may again be observed among the
hedges, though some remain till November, and others through-
out the winter ; but the latter annually pay for their dilatori-
ness with their lives, as the cold either kills them, or drives
them to farm-yards or stables, where they are caught by men
and cats. They also die if brought at once from the cold of
the open air into a warm room j though when the change of
temperature is effected gradually, they thrive as well as those
caught in autumn or spring.

In cottages the Eedbreast is often allowed to fly about the
sitting or sleeping rooms, and is found to destroy flies, fleas,
&c. A roost place should be made for them by fixing oak or
beech branches to the wall, and in such a situation they will
frequently live from eight to twelve years. Two birds, how-
ever, never agree together ; if one be stronger than the other,
the weaker is sure to be killed ; and if of equal strength, they
will divide the room between them, and each will furiously
resent any attempt of the other to pass the appointed boun-
dary. Those who are fond of the Eedbreast' s song, may keep
it in a cage of any desired form.

Food. — In a wild state the Eedbreast feeds on insects of
various kinds, earth worms, and all sorts of berries. An earth
or meal worm will soon induce it to eat the usual food of the
aviary, though it thrives best on the Nightingale's food. It
is also very fond of new cheese. It requires a daily supply ot
water, not only for drinking, but for bathing, in which it seems
to delight, and often makes itself so wet, as to obliterate for
the time every trace of colour from its plumage.

Breeding. — The Eedbreast builds its nest, which is made of
lichens loosely put together, and lined with grass stalks, hair,

The Redbreast remains in England throughout the winter.

THE REDBREAST. 397

and feathers, on the ground, among moss, stones, roots, or in
deserted mole-hills, &c. The female lays twice a year, from
four to seven yellowish white eggs, spotted and striped with
orange, and having a ring of light brown at the thick end.
The young birds are at first covered with yellow down, like
chickens, and are afterwards grey, with a dingy yellow border
on all the small feathers ; though they do not acquire the red
throat and breast till after the first moulting. They may be
reared on bread soaked in milk, and if instructed by a Mght-
ingale, will become excellent singers.

Diseases. — The Redbreast is subject to diarrhoea, for which
a spider or two is the best cure. Ants' eggs and meal worms
are an effectual remedy for decline ; . indigestion, arising from
having eaten too many earth worms, often proves fatal ; though
it may be cured by administering meal worms and spiders.

Mode of Talcing. — In spring the Redbreast may be taken by
in serting stakes, to which limed twigs are attached, transversely,
in the hedges, and driving the birds gently to them. The
reason of this peculiar method is, that the Redbreast has a
habit of perching on all projecting twigs at the bottom of a
hedge, in order to examine the ground for earth worms. It
may also be taken, like the Dunnock, on a place cleared of moss
or grass, and set with limed twigs, baited with meal or earth
worms ; and in the Nightingale, Tit, or the water- trap. In
autumn it easily falls into springes, baited with elderberries,
though its feet are often injured by this plan, except great care
be taken.

Attractive Qualities. — This bird is recommended to the ama-
teur both by its tameness and the beauty of its plumage. It
soon becomes so familiar, as to march upon the dining table
and eat out of its master's dish, making, meanwhile, the most
varied movements of its body, and repeating its call, Start !
Its song, which, though loudest in spring, lasts throughout the
year, has a solemn and melancholy effect. Those which are
kept in cages sing with more ecstacy and energy than such as
are allowed to fly about the aviary. In a country residence it
is very easy to teach this bird to come and go at command,
especially in the winter. M. GOEZE mentions one, which came
back in the autumn of two successive years, having been turned
put in the spring, and passed the winter in the warm room,
where it was exceedingly tame and affectionate.

398 THE REDBREAST.

ADDITIONAL. — Thefollowing observations upon this well-known
bird, are extracted from a beautiful work on the Song Birds of
Britain, by JOHN COTTON, F.Z.S.*

" The Redbreast, or Robin, as he is occasionally denominated,
is familiar with us from childhood. Before we can read, we
learn to repeat the fabled story of poor Cock-Robin's death and
burial. In all countries he is a favourite, and has what may be
called a pet name. The inhabitants of Bornholm call him
' Tommi Liden;' the Norwegians, * Peter Bonsmed ;' the Germans,
' Thomas Guidet ;' and in England he is called by the more
familiar appellation of ' Bob.'

" WORDSWORTH thus poetically addresses the Redbreast : —
4 Art thou the bird whom man loves best,
The pious bird with the scarlet breast,

Our little English Robin ;
The bird that comes about our doors
When autumn winds are sobbing ?
Art thou the Peter of Norway boors ?
Their Thomas in Finland,
And Russia far inland ?
The bird who by some name or other
All men who know thee call thee brother,
The darling of children and men ?'

" The melodious notes of this little favourite are well known.
Its song is sweet and well supported,' and is continued almost
throughout the year. During spring the Redbreast haunts the
wood, the grove, and the garden ; it generally retires to thick
hedge rows or other secluded spots to breed in, and is then
seldom heard till autumn ; when, on the retirement of our sum-
mer visitors, he again makes his appearance about our houses,
and awakens our former attachment by pouring out his soft
liquid carol, perched on some neighbouring shrub. It becomes
the companion of the gardener, or faggot-maker in the woods,
fluttering around and chirping its slender Pip! But when the
cold grows more severe, and thick snow covers the ground, or
frost hardens its surface, it approaches our houses, taps at the
closed casement, casting sidelong glances in-doors, as envious
of the warm abode. It is probably attracted to the habitations
of man by the shelter that it there obtains from the rigour of the
weather, and in search of the insects that are collected in great
numbers by the same cause."

On the subject of the extreme pugnacity of this bird, WOOD
has the following remarks : —

" My esteemed correspondent, Mr. BLYTH, says he has seen
two of these birds fight in his garden until one was killed ; and
* Privately printed, 1836.

THE BLTTEBBEAST. 399

though I have never known their battles come to that extremity,
yet I have, on many occasions, observed them skirmishing with
such relentless ferocity and unabated ardour, that had I not
interposed, fatal consequences must inevitably have ensued to
one party. On one occasion especially, I remember to have
found two of these birds engaged in such glorious conflict, under
a laurel bush, that neither of the combatants observed my
approach ; or at all events, they heeded it not, and both of them
fell into the hands of the ' prying naturalist.' On putting them
into a cage, capacious enough to have held a dozen birds of a
more peaceful nature, to my no small surprise, they renewed the
combat as fiercely as ever. I now released one of my prisoners,
and each of them instantly poured forth its song in defiance of
the other, the one within the wires, the other at full liberty.
The next day I set my other captive at liberty, and, on the
evening of tne same day, found the champions again at their
post, fighting each other ' tooth and nail.' I now separated them
for the third and last time. That is what one would call carry-
ing the spirit of revenge rather too far. The organ of destruc-
tiveness must be very fully developed in this bird.

" I have often taken advantage of the extreme pugnacity of
the Robin Redbreast, for the capturing others of its species.
The method alluded to is as follows : — If you tie a Robin Red-
breast by the leg, inside a small cage, and leave the door open,
many minutes will not elapse before another of its kind, attracted
by its fluttering, approaches the cage, hops round it two or three
times, uttering its note of menace, and, lastly, boldly rushes into
the cage, and enters into close combat with the unfortunate cap-
tive. How the battle might terminate if the birds were left to
themselves, I know not, but suffice it to gay, that the new comer
may be captured, and, in his turn, be tied to the cage as a lure
for its brethren. But it is unnecssary even to use a cage for this
purpose. The birds may be tied, as soon as caught, to a stake,
or anything that is at hand ; for the Robin Redbreast, when
intent on destroying one of its fellow creatures, is little mindful
of any danger that may threaten itself."

155. THE BLUEBBEAST, OE BLUETHBOATED WAEBLEE.

Sylvia or Motacilla Suecica, LIN. Le Gorge Bleu, BUF. Das Blau
Kehlchen, BECH.

Description. — This handsome bird resembles, in many points,
both the Redstart and the Wagtail, and may be considered as
a link between the two. It is five inches and a half in length,
of which the tail measures two inches and a quarter. The
beak is sharp, blackish, but yellow at the corners ; the iris

400 THE BLUEBREAST.

brown ; the feet flesh-coloured ; the claws blackish ; the shanks
fourteen lines high. The head, back, and wing- coverts, are
greyish brown, mottled with a deeper shade of the same colour ;
a reddish white line passes over each eye ; the cheeks are dark
brown, spotted with rust colour, and bordered at the sides with
dark grey. The throat, and half way down the breast, are
dark azure blue, with a shining white spot, about the size of
a pea, but which seems to increase or diminish when the bird
is singing. Beneath the blue is a blackish stripe, which is
again bounded by an orange streak. The belly is dingy white;
the vent yellowish ; the shanks and sides reddish grey. The
pen feathers are dark brown, and the tail feathers rusty red
near the root, and broadly tipped with black, while the two
centre ones are entirely dark brown. Some males have in
addition two, or occasionally even three, small pearly- white
spots on the throat, while others have none. The latter seem
to be very old birds, as I have remarked that in them the blue
throat is of darker colour, and that the orange stripe is almost
brownish red.

The difference in the plumage of the female is very notice-
able. In young birds there is only a blue tinge at the sides of
the throat, which afterwards changes to two long stripes of
the same colour. The transverse orange stripe on the breast
is also wanting; the throat is yellowish white, with a longitu-
dinal black stripe on each side ; and the feet are flesh-coloured.

Habitat. — The Bluebreast is a native of all parts of Europe.
It is a bird of passage, leaving us for the more northern regions,
where it breeds, at the beginning of April. About this time,
especially in case of cold and snowy weather, it may be seen
in considerable numbers on the banks of streams and canals,
in the hedges of marshy meadows, or in farm-yards. Such as
stop with us during the summer, pass that season in mountain-
ous districts, which are well supplied with water; and in
August the whole tribe returns, and may be seen in the cabbage
gardens, .

This bird may either be allowed the full range of the aviary,
where it pleases by its engaging and rapid motions, as well as
by its great tameness, or, for the sake of its song, may be kept
in a cage. A Nightingale's cage is the fittest form, as in this,
it is not so apt to dirty and destroy its beautiful plumage. In
any case, it soon loses its tail feathers.

THE BLtTEBREAST. 401

Food. — In a wild state the Bluebreast feeds on aquatic
insects, worms of different species, the caterpillars of the cab-
bage moth, and, occasionally, on elderberries.

A fresh-caught bird, if designed to range the room, may be
accustomed to the universal paste by mixing with it a few ants'
eggs or meal and earth worms ; nor will it continue in health
unless the mixed diet be persevered in. When confined in a
cage, it should be fed on Nightingale's food, on which it will
live for six or eight years. It is very greedy, consuming
every day its own weight of the paste, and voiding its excre-
ment at every third or fourth step. It requires a daily supply
of fresh water for drinking and bathing, in which it makes
itself as wet as the Eedbreast. I have noticed also that it in-
variably bathes in the afternoon.

Diseases. — Diarrhoea and decline are the diseases to which
this bird is most subject. They may be cured by the treat-
ment indicated in the Introduction.

Mode of Taking. — It is a generally received, but erroneous,
opinion that the Bluebreast is a very rare bird, and is not to
be seen in Germany more than once in five or -ten years. I
find this idea to be prevalent in Thuringia, although, since
I called the attention of my friends to the time of the
bird's migration, they are able to catch as many as they
please. All that is necessary is to watch the banks of streams
and canals, especially if near a wood, from the 1st to the 20th
of April, when the snow is on the ground, and the weather is
windy and inclement. If a spot be cleared from snow, and set
with limed twigs, baited with meal or earth worms, the bird
may be easily driven to it, and will take the bait greedily. It
may also be taken in the Tit trap, or Nightingale's net, if set
in a spot to which it is observed to resort. In autumn it can
often be caught by setting limed twigs, baited with meal worms,
among the cabbages. At the same season it is also occasionally
taken in the water trap.

Attractive Qualities. — The tameness, cheerful disposition,
beauty of plumage, and excellence of song, which recommend
this bird to the amateur, have procured for it in Thuringia
the name of the Italian or East Indian Nightingale. It
runs with great rapidity, often elevates and spreads out its
tail, shakes its wings continually, and calls Feed, feed ! Tack,
tack ! It is to be regretted that it loses much of its beauty

D D

402 THE BLTJEBBEAST.

after the first moulting ; and especially that the blue of the
breast becomes much paler, and at last changes into grey. It
soon grows so tame as to eat from the hand, and even to come
at a whistle. Its voice is beautiful, and almost gives the im-
pression of two voices : the first a deep humming sound, like
the vibration of a string ; the second producing a succession of
soft flute-like passages. If allowed to fly about the room, the
Bluebreast always seeks a sunny place, and lays itself on its
belly to bask in the sun, before singing. Its notes bear a
strong resemblance to those of the Common "Wagtail, though
the latter wants the humming sound above described.

ADDITIONAL. — The Blue-throated Warbler, as it is frequently
called, is with us an extremely rare bird. YAREELL mentions but
two specimens, shot in this country, one near Newcastle, and the
other in Dorsetshire : we have, however, heard of two other
specimens, both taken by one individual, near theHeculvers, on the
Kentish coast ; they may, we believe, be now seen in the Margate
museum, for which Mr. STEPHEN MUMMERY, who obtained them,
has succeeded in securing many other rare specimens. Mr. J. D.
HOY, a Suffolk naturalist, has furnished Mr. YARRELL with the
following particulars relating to this species, as observed by him
on the Continent : — " This bird makes its appearance early in
spring, preceding that of the Nightingale by ten or twelve days.
I have always found this species in the breeding season in low
swampy grounds, on the woody borders of boggy heaths, and on the
banks of streams, running through wet springy meadows, where
there is abundance of alder and willow underwood. The nest is
placed on the ground among plants of the bog myrtle, on places
overgrown with coarse grass, on the sides of sloping banks, in the
bottom of stubs of scraggy brushwood, in wet situations. It is
well concealed, and difficult to discover. I do not believe that
they ever build in holes of trees. The nest is composed on the
outside of dead grass and a little moss, and lined with finer grass.
The eggs, from four to six in number, of a uniform greenish blue,
eight lines long, and five lines and a half in breadth.

" The notes of this bird have some resemblance to those of the
Whinchat, but are more powerful. While singing, if undisturbed,
it perches on the tops of the brushwood or low trees ; but on the
least alarm, it conceals itself among the low cover. It does not
exhibit the quivering motion of the tail peculiar to the Eedstarts,
but very frequently jerks up the tail in the manner of the Night-
ingale and Robin, and while singing, often spreads it. It frequently
rises on the wing a considerable height above the brushwood,
singing, with the tail spread like a fan, and alights often at a

THE 1KBOTJR BIRD. 403

distance of fifty or sixty yards from the spot where it rose. On
approaching the nest, when it contains their young, their notes
of alarm, or anger, resemble those of the Nightingale's croak ;
the wings are then lowered, the tail spread and jerked up. The
Bluethroat commences his song with the first dawn of day, and
it may be heard in the evening, when most of the feathered tribe
are silent. These birds are caught in autumn by snares, baited
with berries."

WOOD calls this bird the Bluethroated Fantail, and expresses
surprise that it has been placed by almost every writer in the
same genus as the Redstart and the Redbreast, as it belongs
most obviously to a different group, to the Wagtail sub- family
(Motacillince).

TAMEABLE ONLY WHEN YOUNG.
156. THE AEBOTJE BIBD.

Sylvia or Motacilla Hippolais, LIN. La Fauvette, BUF. Die Bastard
Nachtigall, BECH.

Description. — This admirable singing bird, which may be
met with wherever there are trees and bushes, is five inches
and a half in length, of which the tail measures two inches
and a, quarter. The beak is seven lines long, straight, blunt,
on the upper side bluish grey, on the under reddish yellow ;
yellow at the corners and in the inside. The iris is dark
brown; the feet lead •, colour, and ten lines in height. The
head is narrow and pointed, and, as well as the beak, rump,
and lesser wing-coverts, olive grey; a light yellow stripe
passes from the nostrils to the eyes; and the whole of the
under part of the body is the same colour. The tail and wings
are dark brown ; the secondary pen feathers having so broad a
border of white, as to form a white spot on the folded wings.

In the female the general colour of the plumage is paler,
and the stripes over their eyes less distinct.

Habitat. — The Arbour Bird frequents gardens, groves, and
thickets, and seems to prefer such woods as are partly com-
posed of coniferous trees. It is a bird of passage, arriving at
the end of April, and departing, before moulting, about the
end of August.

In the aviary it must be kept in a Nightingale cage, and is
very susceptible of any change of treatment. It is so delicate,
as very rarely to become tame, if taken when old.

404 THE ARBOTJK ETED.

Food. — In a wild state this bird feeds on various insects,
caterpillars, flies, spiders, beetles, &c., and, in case of necessity,
will also eat berries.

In confinement it will rarely eat anything except the insects
above mentioned. Much time and trouble are requisite to
accustom it to the Nightingale's food.

Breeding. — The nest of the Arbour Bird is exceedingly
elaborate. It is built upon a forked twig, generally about
eight feet from the ground, and the exterior is composed of
white birch bark, dried plants, cocoon silk, and wool, with a
row of fine feathers round the upper margin. Inside is a
lining of the thinnest grass stalks. The female lays five eggs,
which are at first light red, but, when sat upon for a few days,
become dark flesh-coloured, spotted with dark red. Each
pair breeds but once a year ; and if the nest be approached
more than once, it is forsaken, whether the young ones are
hatched or not.

The plan of taming this bird which is adopted in Hesse, is
to rear it from the nest on ants' eggs and bullock's heart, chop-
ped small. It should be kept in a warm place, and never
taken out of its cage ; as, if it perceives the slightest difference
in the construction of its new habitation, it becomes melan-
choly, and soon dies. We may notice that the Arbour Bird
does not moult till December or January, which seems to prove
that it passes its winter in very southern latitudes.

Diseases. — The Arbour Bird is subject to the same diseases as
the Nightingale.

Mode of Taking. — These are difficult birds to catch, and the
only sure, though a cruel method, is to set limed twigs on the
nest. They will, however, often forsake it, if they see any
traces of its having been approached. They are rarely taken
in the water- trap. In August, however, springes, baited with
currants, are often successful.

Attractive Qualities. — This is not only a handsome bird, but
has a flute-like, varied, and melodious song. Some of its tones
are long-drawn, and like those of the Nightingale ; others are
sharp and sonorous ; and others, again, resemble the notes of
the Chimney Swallow. While singing ,its throat is very much
dilated. Its call is J)ak, dak ! Feed hoi! feed hoi I

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — "This interesting little species is generally
the first of the warblers that visit us in spring, except S. (Enantlie,

THE A11BOUB BIED. 405

which occasionally precedes it. The earliest time of their arrival
that ever I noticed, was the 12th of March ; some years they do
not visit us till towards the end of that month. I have frequently
known several days of hard frost after their arrival ; so that it is
not a very tender bird. On their first coming to this country,
they are mostly seen on the forwardest trees in orchards or
copses, flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree,
singing their curious song of Chiff-chaff, chiwy-chavvy ; if the
weather is fine and mild, they are continually in motion, flying
after each other, and catching the gnats and small flies that
happen to come in their way. This species, like the last, is very
partial to the different sorts of aphis, which infest the trees and
plants in summer. They are also fond of small caterpillars, flies,
and moths ; on their first arrival, they feed chiefly on the larvae
of the different species of Tortrix that are rolled up in the
unfolding buds of various trees. The birds of this genus render
us much service in devouring those insects, that would otherwise
destroy a great part of the fruit.

" Tne Lesser Pettichaps is readily taken in a trap, in the same
manner as the last species, with which they are often in company
in the summer. They soon get familiar in confinement ; when
first caught, they should, if possible, be put with other birds ;
and they will readily take to feed on bruised hemp seed and
bread, and on bread and milk, which must, at first, be stuck full
of small insects, or a quantity of aphides may be shook off a
branch upon it ; when they have once tasted it, they will be very
fond of it. One that I caught, took to eat it directly, and became
so familiar, that in three or four days it would take a fly out of
the hand ; it also learnt to drink milk out of a tea-spoon, of
which it was so fond, that it would fly after it all round the
room, and perch on the hand that held it, without showing the
least symptoms of fear ; it would also fly up to the ceiling and
bring down a fly in its mouth every time ; at last, it got so very
tame, that it would sit on my knee by the fire and sleep ; and when
the windows were open, it would never attempt, nor seemed to have
the least inclination to fly out ; so that I at last ventured to entice
it out in the garden, to see whether it would return. I with diffi-
culty enticed it out at the door with a spoonful of milk — it returned
twice to the room ; the third time it ventured into a little tree ;
it then fled and perched on my hand, and drank milk out of the
spoon ; from thence it flew to the ground on some damp chick-
weed, in which it washed itself, and got into a hollybush to dry ;
after getting among the leaves, I could see no more of it, but
heard it call several times. I suppose, after it got quite dry, that
it left the country directly, as I could never see or hear it after-
wards ; and it was then the end of November, when all tho
others had left for some time."

406 THE REED WEEN.

157. THE REED WEEN.

Sylvia or Motacilla Arundinacea, Lix. La Fauvctte des osea.ux, BUF.
Der Feichsanger, BECH.

Description. — This bird is often confounded not only with
others of a similar plumage, but is described in place of
the Reed Thrush (Turdus Arundinaceus, LIN.), and from its
habit of life imagined to be the same as the Reed Bunting
(Emberiza Schcenilus, LIN.). It is five inches in length, of
which the tail measures two inches. The beak is seven lines
long, brown on the upper mandible, while the lower is a red-
dish flesh colour. The iris is chestnut brown ; the feet eight
lines in height, lead-coloured, and having a strong hinder claw.
The upper part of the body is olive brown, darkest on the
forehead and poll, and lightest on the rump ; the cheeks are
the same colour ; and a yellowish white line passes over each
eye. The knees are olive grey; the foremost pen feathers
blackish, the hindmost dark brown, and all edged with olive
brown. The coverts are like the back ; the tail feathers like
the pen feathers, but with a broader edge of olive brown ; the
tail very rounded, and almost wedge-shaped.

The female is hardly distinguishable from the male. The
head is light brown, and a white stripe passes between the
eyes ; the upper part of the body is reddish grey ; the throat
white ; the breast and belly whitish grey, tinged with yellow;
the pen feathers of a darker brown than the tail feathers, and
edged with olive grey.

Habitat. — The Reed Wren is found all over Europe, where-
ever there are reeds and rushes, up and down which it is
constantly climbing. It is a bird of passage, departing at the
beginning of September, and returning in the middle of April.

In confinement it is a very delicate bird, and must be kept
in a Nightingale cage.

Food. — In a wild state the Reed "Wren feeds on aquatic
insects, and, in case of necessity, will also eat berries.

In the aviary it thrives best on Nightingale's food, mixed
with insects.

Breeding. — The nest of the Reed Wren, which is long and
ingeniously fastened to the reeds and bushes among which it
is built, is composed of grass stalks woven together, and lined
either with finer stalks or with hair and wool. The eggs,
which are five or six in number, are greenish white, spotted

THE EEED WBEX. 407

with olive green. The young birds may be reared on ants'
eggs.

Mode of Talcing. — The Reed Wren may often be caught by
simply taking up a turf and setting on the spot limed twigs,
baited with meal worms.

Attractive Qualities. — This bird has a pleasant song, some-
thing like that of the last-mentioned species, though not so
full in tone. An agreeable peculiarity is, that it sings during
the morning and evening twilight.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " A pretty little lively species, generally
frequenting the sides of rivers and ditches when in a wild state,
where its warbling song may be heard amongst the reeds and
sedges, or other thickets that are near the water ; visiting us the
beginning or middle of April, and leaving again in September.
Towards autumn it sometimes leaves its usual haunts, and fre-
quents the gardens for the sake of insects ; it is particularly fond
of the common house fly (Musca domestica), and I have frequently
seen several of them in August and the beginning of September
by the side of large dung-heaps, where those flies breed, and
about that time are coming out from the pupa state in great
quantities ; they may then be readily taken in a trap baited with
a small moth or green caterpillar ; when first caught they should,
if possible, be put in a cage with some other tame birds, or if one
is placed in a cage by itself, it should be set near a cage with
some other bird in it, which reconciles it to confinement, being
so very wild and restless when first caught, that if there is not
another bird with, or near it, there will be but little chance of
its living ; but it soon becomes very tame and familiar in confine-
ment, and in a very short time will be sociable enough to take a
fly, or other small insect, from the hand of the person who attends
to it.

" In confinement the birds of this species will readily take to
feed on the bruised hemp seed and bread, and some raw lean
meat mixed with it ; to make them take to it immediately, a little,
should be placed in a small pan or dish, mixed up with a quantity
of flies or other small insects, and others stuck on the surface of
it ; some yolk of a boiled egg should also be done up in the same
manner ; when once they taste this, they are particularly fond of
it ; the egg should not be mixed with the bread and hemp seed,
but be given by itself as a change of food ; any small insects,
such as the smooth caterpillars, moths, butterflies, spiders, grass-
hoppers, crickets, ants, and various other insects, they are very
partial to, and the more is given them, the better will be their
health and spirits. Like the Sedge Warbler, the present species

408 THE HArBLfcD OR WILLOW WHISK".

is very fond of washing often in a pan of water, which is bene-
ficial to their health in summer, but is very hurtful in winter ;
at that time they should be only allowed sufficient to drink, or
only be let wash about once a week. They are very restless when
the time arrives for them to be on their passage, which lasts a
considerable time.

" I once found a nest of these birds, with five young ones ; it
was fastened up to the side branches of a poplar tree, that grew
at a little distance from the river, in Broomhouse Lane, Fulham."

158. THE HAYBIRD, OR WILLOW
Motacilla dccredula, LIN. Der Fitis Sanger, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which must not be confounded either
with the Arbour Bird or the Eufous Warbler, is four inches two
lines in length, of which the tail measures nearly two inches.
The beak is very pointed ; the upper mandible brown ; the
lower mandible and the inside yellow; the shanks are eight
lines high, and a yellowish flesh colour. The upper part of
the body is a dark olive. A yellowish white stripe passes
over the eyes ; and an indistinct dark brown streak between
them. The cheeks are yellowish, and there is a reddish grey
spot near the ear. The throat and breast are whitish yellow,
spotted with darker yellow ; the under wing coverts yellow ;
the pen and tail feathers dark brown.

Observations. — This species, which frequents gardens and
groves, may be met with in the wooded districts. It is a bird
of passage, arriving in the middle of April, and departing at the
beginning of October. In August, at which time the young
birds are of a pale sulphur colour on the lower part of the
body, they may be noticed in great numbers on the willow
trees. In a wild state it feeds on small insects and their eggs,
and also eats red and black elderberries. If taken when there
are flies, even an old bird may be accustomed to the food of the
aviary, by mixing a few with it. In general the Haybird will
eat both fresh and dry ants' eggs, and soon becomes used either
to crushed hemp seed, or the universal paste. It seems to be
a less delicate bird than the Fauvette. In the aviary it
generally chooses a perch for itself, to which it always returns,
rifter having made the circuit of the room. If it catches any
flies, it goes back to its perch to eat them. It is a clean and
lively bird : and its song, Deedee, deyheu, dahee, tzea, faea ! as
well as its call, Hold, hoid I are continually heard. Its nest,

THE HAYBLRD, OR WILLOW WREN". 409

which is oval, and composed of moss and leaves, lined with
feathers, is usually placed under a bush. The female lays six
or seven white eggs, spotted with violet ; and the young birds,
of which those which have the yellowish plumage should be
chosen, may be reared on ants' eggs and bread and milk.

In autumn these birds may be taken in nooses, baited with
elderberries. In spring it is a good plan to set limed twigs,
baited with meal worms, in the hedges ; and in summer it is
very frequently caught in the water trap.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " An elegant little species, which visits us
about the middle of April, and leaves us again the latter end of
September, or beginning of October. In its wild state, it
feeds entirely on small insects, and chiefly on the different
species of aphis, but it will not refuse small flies or caterpil-
lars ; it is easily taken in a trap baited with small caterpil-
lars, or a rose branch covered with aphides ; and it will soon
become very tame in confinement. One that I caught in Sep-
tember, was, in three days afterwards, let out of its aviary into
the room to catch the flies, which were numerous at that season ;
after amusing itself for some time in catching flies, it began sing-
ing ; it did the same several other times when it was let out, and
in a few days, it began to sing in its aviary. It soon became so
familiar, that it would take flies out of the hand, and when it was
out in the room, if a fly was held toward it, it would fly up and
take it out of the hand. It was also taught to drink milk out of
a tea-spoon, by putting some flies in it ; as soon as it had tasted
the milk, it was very fond of it, as most of the birds of this genus
are ; if the spoon was held towards it, and it was called Sylvia,
it would fly up and perch on the finger, or on the handle of the
spoon, and drink the milk, but it never got so tame as the next
species, neither was it so expert in catching flies ; perhaps, the
reason was, it became so very fat in eating so much bruised
hemp seed and bread, and milk and bread, that it cared but little
for any other food.

" These birds are very plentiful some seasons, flying about from
tree to tree, and singing their pretty soft note, which is not un-
like the song of the ^Redbreast, but not so loud. Wherever any
plants are infested with any kind of aphis, there the Willow
Wrens are almost certain to be, often quarrelling, and flying
after one another ; and they will even attack other birds that are
much larger than themselves.

" The Willow Wren seems to be more tender than the Sylvia
Hippolais, to which it is nearly related. When in confinement,
it is fond of creeping up to the other birds for the sake of their

410 THE RUFOUS WAEBLEE.

warmth, particularly at night ; and it will not rest till it is very
near to one, against which it squeezes itself as close as possible :
this is also the case with 8. Hortensis.

"It is also a very desirable bird, as it continues in song the
greater part of the year, and its song is so loud and shrill, that
it may be heard above that of any other. I possess a female of
this species that sings frequently, but her note is very different
from that of the male. The Honourable and Reverend WILLIAM
HEEBEET observes, ' that it ought to be mentioned, that garden-
ers are in the habit of cruelly destroying the nest of this bird,
confounding it with the Greater Pettichap, and imagining that
it attacks the cherries ; whereas it never touches fruit, but is
the gardener's friend, picking the aphides from the trees with
great industry.' This is the case with several other species, the
gardeners confounding them altogether under the common ap-
pellation of Whitethroats, and destroying them indiscriminately,
whereas it is only the Greater Pettichaps and the Blackcap that
materially injure the fruit ; but as the Blackcap has not a black
head the first season, it is not in general distinguished from the
Whitethroat."

159. THE RUFOUS WAEBLEE.
Motacilla Rufa, LIN. Fauvette Rousse, BUF. Der Weiden Zeisig, BECH.

Description. — Except the Golden-crested Wren, this is the
smallest of European birds. It is only four inches long, of
which the tail measures one inch and three-quarters, and the
beak four lines. The feet are blackish broVn, and eight lines
high ; the beak very sharp, externally blackish brown, and
yellow inside ; the eyes dark brown.

In colour it bears a close resemblance to the Willow Wren.
The upper part of the body is reddish grey, somewhat tinged
with olive green. A dusky straw-colour stripe passes over
the eyes ; the cheeks are brownish. The under part of the
body as far as the breast is reddish grey ; the belly dirty white,
and, as well as the part beneath the wings, covered with small
rust-coloured spots. The pen and tail feathers are blackish

The female is somewhat smaller, and less spotted with yel-
low on the under side of the body.

Observations. — Although this bird can bear cold better than
the other species of the Warblers, and may hence be seen as
early as March, on the hedges and willow trees, it cannot be

THE SEDGE WARBLER. 411

kept in confinement except reared from the nest. In April it
frequents the woods and thickets, when its song, tzip, tzap ! may
frequently be heard. In October, it collects in flocks in the
gardens, and on the willow trees ; and in November, migrates
to a warmer climate. It is at home all over Europe. It feeds
on small insects and their eggs, and in autumn, on elder-
berries. An old bird will live in confinement only so long as it
is supplied with flies, and very rarely becomes accustomed to
the Nightingale paste.

The nest is built upon the ground, and consists of a round
mass of roots, grass, wool, and feathers. It contains five or
six white eggs, spotted with red. The young may be reared
on ants' eggs.

These birds may be caught in the same manner as the Wil-
low Wren. They may be allowed to fly about the room, or
confined in a small cage with perches.

160. THE SEDGE WARBLER.

Silvia Salicaria, LATHAM. Sylvia Phragmites, TEMMINCK. Calamoherpe
Phragmites, MACGILLIVRAY. Sedge Reedling, Sedge Bird, Sedge Wren.

This little bird, which is included by MR. SWEET in his
account of British WarUers, and which, therefore, we have
thought it well to admit here, is described by MACGILLIVRAY as
rather common in many of the marshy parts of England, but
rare in Scotland : it arrives in April, and departs in October ;
its favourite resorts are places overgrown with reeds and other
tall aquatic plants, among which it searches for its insect food,
and places its nest, which is bulky, loosely constructed 01
grasses, and lined with finer materials of the same nature,
with some hair. The eggs, generally five, are eight-twelfths of
an inch long, six-twelfths in breadth, of a greenish white colour,
dotted and freckled with light brown and greenish grey. This
bird has a lively, modulated, and mellow song, which is often
heard late at night. It is very active, but, from its mode of
life, is seldom seen.

The tail of the bird is rather long, slightly rounded ; the
upper part of the head brownish black, the feathers edged
with light brown; the back and wing coverts light olive
brown, tinged with yellow, the central parts of each feather
dark brown ; rump light reddish brown j a yellowish white

412 THE SEDGE TVAEBLEB.

streak over the eye ; the lower parts brownish white ; the
lower tail coverts unspotted ; the female similar, but with the
upper part of the head more tinged with brown ; the back of
a lighter tint, the rump less bright. The young resemble the
adults, but are more tinged with red.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — "This pretty little species is very plentiful
in the neighbourhood of London, which it visits the beginning of
April, and leaves again in September, frequenting the sides of
rivers, or any ditches, where there is a thicket of reeds or sedge,
in which it builds its nest, and is almost continually in song, both
by day and night ; its song consists of a variety of notes, some
of which are very loud, and may be heard at a considerable dis-
tance, generally beginning with chit, chit, chiddy, chiddy, chiddy,
chit, chit, chit. It is readily caught in a Nightingale trap, baited
with a living green caterpillar, or a butterfly, as in a wild state
it feeds entirely on living insects, almost all sorts of flies, small
moths, and butterflies, besides various sorts of caterpillars, and
other small insects. It is a very lively bird, and shows scarcely
any symptoms of fear, approaching very near to any person who
does not drive or frighten it, and it soon becomes very tame and
familiar in confinement, where, if well managed, it will sing the
greater part of the year.

" The present species, when first caught, should, if possible, be
placed in a large cage or aviary, with some other small birds, and
must at first be supplied with some sort of insects ; flies, cater-
pillars, or maggots, should be put in a little pan, and when the
bird has found them out, and begins to feed on them, some of
the bruised hemp- seed and bread, with some bits of raw lean
meat mixed up with it, should be placed in the same pan, with
some insects stuck in it, that in picking up the insects it might
taste the other food, and it will soon take to feed on it freely ;
some of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, should also be bruised
up, and moistened with water, that it might stick to the insects,
which are also to be stuck in it ; when the bird has tasted this,
it will eat it readily, as it is particularly partial to egg after once
tasting it ; and it does for a change in the winter, instead of in-
sects, when very few of them are to be procured.

" These birds are particularly partial to washing themselves in
water, if it be placed in a pan in their cage or aviary ; at some
seasons they will wash three or four times m a day ; this will not
hurt them in summer, when the weather is warm, but it weakens
them very much if they are allowed to wash in the winter ; once
a week is often enough at that season, and then the water should
be put in the cage in the morning, and after they have washed, it

THE GEASSHOPPEB WAEELEE. 413

should be again removed, they will then have time to dry them-
selves properly before the evening.

" I have no doubt but the present species, with S. Arundina-
cea, and S. Locustella, and some other exotic species, will be here-
after divided from this genus, and also from the other Warblers,
and will form a distinct one of themselves."

161. THE GKASSHOPPEE WAEBLEE.

Sylvia Locustella. LATHAM and TEMMJNCK. Sibillatrix Locustella,
MACSILLIVRAY. Grasshopper Chirper, Cricket Bird, Brakehopper.

This is another of the British "Warblers described by SWEET,
and not mentioned by the German Naturalist. According to
MACGILLIVEAY, it is a slenderly and elegantly formed, but
plainly coloured little bird, remarkable for its hideling habits,
and its peculiar cry, which greatly resembles that of the mole-
cricket. It arrives from the middle to the end of April, and
is generally dispersed in England. It has also been found in
a few instances in the south of Scotland. The nest is com-
posed of dry grass, lined with similar but finer materials ; the
eggs found in one by Mr. WEIE, of Linlithgowshire, were
white, closely freckled with carmine dots.

The tail of the bird is long, much graduated, and rounded ;
plumage of the upper parts dull olive brown, with oblong
dusky spots ; of the lower parts pale yellowish brown ; the
fore part of the neck with a few dusky fines ; the tail coverts
with a central brown mark. Female similar, but without the
dusky lines on the fore part of the neck. Young, yellowish
brown, spotted with dusky above, brownish yellow beneath.

NEVILLE WOOD calls this bird the Sibilous Bushhopper, and
says that its proper situation in the system appears to be in
the sub-family Philomelina, immediately after the genus Sali-
caria, to which it has a direct affinity. WHITE makes some
interesting remarks on its curious note, as does also BLYTH, in
the Magazine of Natural History, vol. vii. p. 366.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " The present species is very rare in the
neighbourhood of London, and 1 have never seen more than a single
living one myself, anywhere in the vicinity; that one I caught in a
Nightingale trap, about the middle of August, 1823, in Mr.Colvill's
Grosvenor Nursery, in the Five-Fields, near Grosvenor Place,
which is now partly covered with houses ; I kept it till the Febru-
ary following, and it would have succeeded well, had I not allowed
it to wash so much, not thinking; at the time that the washing

414 THE WOOD WEEN.

would hurt it ; so that it frequently washed itself three or four
times a day, which at last weakened it so much, that on a cold
day it caused its death. It never attempted to sing while I had
it in confinement, which was probably from its being an old bird;
and I have not been able to procure another since. It throve re-
markably well on the same sort of food as the other birds of this
tribe, but was particularly fond of the yolk of an egg boiled hard,
also of the raw lean meat that was cut up small, and mixed in
the bread and bruised hemp seed ; it would also occasionally feed
on the bread and milk, but it was not so fond of that as some of
the other birds. Insects of various sorts it was very partial to,
particularly small caterpillars, ants' eggs, spiders, moths, and
butterflies, and flies of various sorts; the latter it was very
dexterous in catching when they came near its cage.

" These birds are not uncommon in several parts of England ;
they are said to be plentiful on Malmsbury Common, Wiltshire,
in summer, where they breed ; they are also frequently seen in
Norfolk and Suffolk, and in various other parts, where tney build
their nest among some high grass or sedge, in which it is so con-
cealed, that it is with difficulty found, except by watching the
old birds carrying food to their young ; or when they are build-
ing, they may be seen carrying materials to construct their nest.
The young ones may be easily reared by placing their nest in a
little covered basket, nearly filled with dry moss or soft hay, and
to be fed, whenever they require it, with the same sort of food
as recommended for the old ones ; being careful to keep them
clean, and a few very small gravel stones should be mixed with
their food occasionally, that their bones may become strong and
firm, so that they may not be cramped."

162. THE WOOD WREST.
Sylvia Sylvicola, LATH AM and MONTAGUE. Sylvia Sibillatrix^vuMivtCK.

Phyllopneuste /Sy/wco^MACGiLLivRAY. Wood Warbler, Wood Wren,

Yellow Wren, Yellow Wood Wren.

This is another of the Warbler genus of birds which is not de-
scribed by BECHSTEIN . YAHRELL observes, that though called Mo-
tacilla Trochilm by GILBERT WHITE, it was clearly distinguished
by him from the two most nearly allied species, (the Willow-
Warbler and the Chiff-chaff, which with this bird form
MACGILLIVRAY'S genus Phyllopneuste) as early as 1762. In
1796, COL. MONTAGUE, having seen and heard this species in
various localities in several western counties, and having
obtained also some specimens, nests, and eggs, furnished par-
ticulars of it to the Linnaean Society, which were published in

THE WOOD WEEN. 415

the fourth volume of their Transactions. In this country the
bird is pretty well known, being generally distributed through
the wooded districts during the season of its sojourn. It may
be at once distinguished from the true Trochilus, the "Willow
Warbler, which it most nearly resembles, by the broad streak
near the eye, and ear coverts, of a bright sulphur yellow ; by
the pure green colour of the upper parts of the body, and by
the delicate and unsullied white of the belly and tail coverts.
The following is

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " S. Sylvicola. Length five inches and a
half; bill horn colour; upper mandible bent at the top, and
rather longer than the under ; irides hazel ; nostrils beset with
bristles; top of the head, neck, back, and tail coverts, olive
green ; throat and cheeks yellow, paler on the breast ; belly and
vent of the most beautiful silvery white ; through the eye passes
a yellow line ; wings and coverts brown, edged with green ; tail
consisting of twelve feathers, rather forked, and of a brown
colour, edged with green on the exterior webs, and with white on
the interior, the first feather wanting the green edge ; under part
of the shoulder bright yellow; legs rather more than an inch long,
of a horn colour ; claws paler. T. LAMB, in Linnaan Transac-
tions, v. ii. p. 245.

" An elegant and interesting little bird, which arrives in this
country the beginning of April, and leaves it in August, or the
beginning of September. I have never observed it in any other
situation than amongst tall trees, in woods or plantations, where
it is readily detected on its arrival, by its shrill shaking sort of
note, which may be heard at a great distance, and cannot be con-
founded with the song of any other bird ; when it first arrives, it
continues to sing nearly all day long, and its song is continued
more or less through most part of the summer, except the time
that it is engaged in feeding its young ; it is then discovered by
a dull mournful sort of call, quite different from that of any other
bird ; it may be easily watched to its nest, which is built on the
ground in a thicket of small bushes, and consists of moss and dry
leaves, with a covering at the top of the same materials, so that
it is scarcely possible to discover it, without watching the old
birds to it, either when they are building, or carrying food to
their young. I believe they are to be found in most woods and
large plantations in summer. I have frequently heard them in
Kensington Gardens, amongst the tall trees ; and they are not
uncommon in Coombewood, in Surrey, where I procured a nest
with young ones, last summer ; and I find they may be reared
by hand from the nest quite readily, when they will be very tame

416 THE DARTPORD WARBLER.

and familiar, and any birds of this tribe may be reared from the
nest in this manner.

" The method that I practise in bringing them up is, to let
the young birds be nearly fledged ; I then place the nest in a
little basket with covers, nearly filled with moss, which keeps them
warm, and I feed them with moist bread and bruised hemp seed
mixed together, and small bits of raw meat mixed with it ; I also
give them a little bread and milk, and the yolk of an egg boiled
hard, not forgetting to let a drop or two of water fall into their
mouths occasionally ; they require to be fed several times a day,
giving them as much as they will take at each time ; they must also
be kept clean, for if allowed to get dirty, they will not succeed ; as
soon as they are fed, the covers of the basket must be shut down,
and they will in a few days learn to peck, and feed themselves ;
but they will peck at living insects before they will learn to eat the
other sorts 01 food ; when they are properly fledged, a little fine
gravel should be mixed with their food, as this turns to lime, and
hardens their bones, and keeps them from being cramped.

" The first notice we have of this bird as a native of England,
is by Mr. T. LAMB, in the second volume of the Linncean Trans-
actions above quoted, and I have known it as long as I have known
anything about birds ; it being plentiful in the woods of E.
Bright, Esq., of Hamgreen, near Bristol, where it was known,
when I was a boy, by the name of the shaking bird of the wood,
from its singular note, which sounds as if it was shaking as it
utters it, and which it really is, as may be readily seen by any
person who may take the trouble to notice it. I have adopted
MONTAGUE'S name for this species, as I believe it has the right
of priority.

" In my opinion, the present species is as well worth keeping
in a cage or aviary as any one of the genus, as it is an elegant
bird, and has a pleasant and singular song ; it feeds readily on
bruised hemp seed and bread, and a little raw lean meat mixed
with it, also bread and milk ; but it is most partial to the yolk of
an egg boiled hard and crumbled ; it is also very fond of flies,
small moths, caterpillars, the different sorts of aphis, and many
other insects."

163. THE DARTFORD WARBLER.

Sylvia Dartfordiensis, PENNANT. Motacilla Provincialis, MONTAGUE and
BEWICK. Sylvia Provincialis, TEMMINCK. Melizophilus Provincialis,
MACGILUVRAY.

By the last-named author this bird is also called the Pro-
vence Furzeling and the Furze Wren. It is described by him
as having the upper parts of the body blackish grey ; fore part

THE DARTFOED WARULEE. 417

of neck and sides reddish brown ; abdomen white ; tail long
and graduated; bill brownish black, with the base of the
lower mandible orange; tarsi and toes light reddish brown;
claws dark. Female similar, but with the tints lighter, and
the throat streaked with white.

This bird is a permanent resident with us, although very
locally distributed. Dr. LATHAM first described it as a British
species, from specimens obtained at Bexley Heath, near Dart-
ford, in 1773. The generic name, Melizophilus, was applied
to it by Dr. LEACH, in his Systematic Catalogue of the Spe-
cimens of the Indigenous Mammalia and Birds preserved in
the British Museum, date 1816. Other naturalists have to a
considerable extent admitted this generic distinction, as a re-
ference to SELBY, JENYNS, &c., will show.

GOULD mentions having obtained specimens of this bird at
all seasons of the year, and EENKIB has observed it suspended
over a furze, and singing as early as the end of February.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " One of the rarest of the British species
of this tribe, but mentioned by MONTAGUE as not uncommon
about Kingsbridge, Devon, and in the neighbourhood of Truro,
Cornwall ; it is also occasionally met with on Bexley Heath,
near Dartford, Kent ; also on Blackheath, and on Wandsworth
and Wimbledon Commons, where it is said to build in the furze
bushes, and feed on grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, caterpillars,
ants, and various other insects. I have never been able to
procure a living bird of this species, although there is no doubt
but it might be readily caught in a Nightingale- trap, baited with a
caterpillar, or some other living insect ; or young ones might
be easily bred up from the nest, in the same manner as mentioned
under the other species. Should any of my subscribers be able
to procure me one of them, or a nest with young ones, I should
feel much obliged, and would be willing to purchase it, or ex-
change any other sort that I have to spare in return.

" In confinement these birds should be managed exactly the
same as the other species, and will, without doubt, take to feed
readily on the bruised hemp seed and bread, with some bits of
raw meat cut small, and mixed with it ; to bring them to eat it
immediately when first caught, it will be requisite to stick it full
of flies or caterpillars, or other small insects ; some of the yolk
of an egg boiled hard, should also be given them occasionally,
for a change, and as many insects as can be procured, which will
be the means of keeping them, and all the birds of this tribe, in

£ E

418 THE DAETFOED WAEELEE.

excellent health, and will make them sing more, and louder than
they would otherwise do."

ADDITIONAL.— We are tempted to add to the above a lively
description of the bird given by ETTSTICUS, in his Letters
from Godalming, where he says, " "We have a bird common
here, which I fancy is almost unknown in other districts, for I
have scarcely ever seen it in collections ; and from the few re-
marks about it, and sketches of it in natural histories, no correct
idea can be found. I mean the FUEZE WEEN, or, as authors are
pleased to call it, the Dartford Warbler. We learn that the
epithet Dartford, is derived from the little Kentish town of that
name j and that it was given to the Furze Wren, because he was
first noticed in that neighbourhood. The term ' Warbler' is in-
appropriate, as the Furze Wren is a poor Warbler. If you
have ever watched a Common Wren (a Kitty Wren we call her),
you must have observed that she cocked her tail bolt upright,
strained her little beak at right angles, and her throat in the same
fashion, to make the most of her fizgig of a song, and kept on
jumping, and jerking, and frisking about, for all the world as
though she was worked by steam : well, that's more the charac-
ter of the Dartford Warbler, or, as we call it, the Furze Wren.
When the leaves are off the trees, and the chill winter winds
have driven the summer birds to the olive gardens of Spain, or
across the Straits, the Furze Wren is in the height of his
enjoyment. I have seen them by dozens skipping about the
furze, lighting for a moment upon the very point of the sprigs,
and instantly diving out of sight again, singing out their angry
impatient ditty, for ever the same. Perched on the back of a
good tall nag, and riding quietly along the outside, while the
fox-hounds have been drawing the furze-fields, I have often seen
these birds come to the tops of the furze. They are, however,
very hard to shoot, darting down directly they see the flash, or
hear the cap crack, I don't know which. I have seen excellent
shots miss them, while rabbit-shooting with beagles. They
prefer those places where the furze is very thick, high, and diffi-
cult to get in. This bird breeds every year in the furze bushes
in Munsted, Highdown, Headley, Elstead, and many other
heaths in our neighbourhood. And although it is so common in
the winter, and so active and noisy when disturbed bv dogs and
guns, still, in the breeding season, it is a shy, skulking bird,
hiding itself in thick places, much in the manner of the Grass-
hopper Lark, and seldom allowing them to hear the sound of its
voice."

PLATE

THE WKEX. 419

164. THE

Sylvia or Motacilla Troglodytes, LIN. Roitelet, BUF. DerZaunkonig,
BECH.

Description. — This bird, almost the smallest of those de-
scribed in the present work, is only three inches and a half in
length, of which the tail measures one inch and a quarter.
The beak is five lines long, somewhat curved downwards at
the point. The upper mandible is blackish brown ; the lower
yellowish white; and the inside yellow. The iris is nut-
brown; the feet greyish brown, and seven lines in height.
The upper part of the body is a dingy rusty brown, crossed by
indistinct dark brown stripes. A reddish white stripe passes
over the eyes. The wings are dark brown, and the tail rust
colour ; both, however, striped with black. The under part of
the body is generally reddish grey ; but the belly is white, the
sides and vent tinged with rust colour, and all covered with
transverse black stripes.

The female is still smaller. The general colour of the plu-
mage is a reddish brown, covered with indistinct transverse
stripes. The feet are yellow.

Habitat. — The Wren may be met with in all the woody and
mountainous districts of Europe. It is not a bird of passage ;
and is often seen, especially in winter, near human habitations.

The "Wren may be kept to most advantage in a large cage of
osiers or wire. If allowed to range the room, its minute size
gives it many opportunities of escape.

Food. — It feeds throughout the year on small insects, for
which in winter it searches in barns, stables, crevices of walls,
and piles of wood. In autumn it eats red and black elder-
berries.

As soon as caught, the "Wren should be fed on meal worms,
flies, and elderberries, by the use of which it may after a while
be brought to eat the Nightingale's paste. In this way even old
birds may be preserved in health for a considerable time.

Breeding. — The "Wren builds its nest in any quiet corner :
it has been found in holes in the ground, hollow trees, among
roots, under roofs, and in many other similar places. It is oval
in shape, built of moss, lined with hair and feathers, and has
at the side a little opening for the bird's entrance and exit.
The female lays seven or eight small whitish eggs, sparingly
spotted with white.. The young birds are rust coloured, with

E E 2

420 THE WSEX.

black and white spots, and may be reared on ants' eggs, with
which the common universal paste may be mixed by degrees.
I know an instance in which a "Wren actually built a nest and
laid eggs in the sleeve of an old coat.

Mode of Taking. — During the winter the Wren may be taken
in a Tit trap, baited with meal worms. In autumn they are
often caught in springes, set with elderberries, though this
mode frequently injures their feet.

Attractive Qualities. — The "Wren is an exceedingly lively
bird, particularly active and engaging in its movements. For
so small a bird, its song is loud, and lasts throughout the year.
It is not unpleasant, and in some of its tones resembles that
of the Canary. Its call is Terr, Tzerzererrrr ! I have not
myself been able to preserve it for more than a year, though I
am assured by other amateurs that it may be kept for two or
three.

ADDITIONAL. — With a few exceptions, embracing the Kinglets,
the Creeper, the Chiff-Chaff, and the smaller Tits, the Kitty, or
Jenny Wren, as it is familiarly and affectionately called, is the
smallest of our native birds, as well as the best known, if we
except the Robin-Redbreast, with which in popular regard it is
generally associated. MUDIE and MACGILLIVEAY both give a
good account of this lively little songster ; the latter says, that
" its flight is effected by a rapid and continuous motion of the
wings, and therefore is not undulated, but direct ; nor is it sus-
tained, for the bird merely flits from one bush to another, or from
stone to stone. It is most frequently met with along stone walls,
among fragments of rocks, in thickets of whins, and by hedges,
where it attracts notice by the liveliness of its motions, and fre-
quently by its loud chirring noise. When standing, it keeps its
tail nearly erect, jerks its whole body smartly ; then hops about
with great alacrity, using its wings at the same time, and continu-
ally enunciating its rapid chit. Although it seldom ascends a
tree directly, like the Creeper, it may often be seen climbing
sidewise to some height, and on fences or bushes it usually makes
its way to the top by hopping from one spot to another. If
usually pleased with a low station, it yet sometimes ascends even
to the higher branches of very tall trees, and may occasionally
be seen there in company with Kinglets and Tits. In spring and
summer, the male has a very pleasing, full, rich, and mellow
song, which it repeats at intervals ; and even in autumn, and on
fine days in winter, it may occasionally be heard hurrying over
its ditty, the loudness and clearness of which, as proceeding from

THE WEEN. 421

so diminutive a creature, is apt to strike one with surprise, even
after it has long been familiar to him.

" During the breeding season, Wrens keep in pairs, often in
unfrequented parts, such as bushy dells, mossy wctods, the banks
of streams, and stony places overgrown with brambles, sloes,
and other shrubs ; but toward the end of autumn they approach
the habitations of man, and although never decidedly gregarious,
sometimes appear in small straggling parties. They are not, pro-
perly speaking, shy, as they seem to conceive themselves secure
at the distance of twenty or thirty yards, but, on the approach
of a person, conceal themselves in holes between stones, or among
the roots or bushes. In liveliness and activity, the Wren rivals
the Kinglets, Tits, and Creepers, as, indeed, might be expected,
from its diminutive size, birds as well as quadrupeds being gene-
rally more slow in their motions the larger the bulk."

From among many other anecdotes illustrative of the sagacity,
if we may so call it, of this bird, we meet with the following by
KNAPP, whose concluding remarks are worthy of serious thought
and attention.

"June 14. — I was much pleased this day by detecting the
stratagems of a Common Wren to conceal its nest from obser-
vation. It had formed a hollow space in the thatch, on the inside
of my cow-shed, in which it had placed its nest by the side of a
rafter, and finished it with its usual neatness ; but lest the orifice
of its cell should engage attention, it had negligently hung a
ragged piece of moss on the straw-work, concealing the entrance,
and apparently proceeding from the rafter ; and so perfect was
the deception, that I should not have noticed it, though tolerably
observant of such things, had not the bird betrayed her secret,
and darted out. Now from what operative cause did this strata-
gem proceed P Habit it was not ; it seemed like an after-thought ;
danger was perceived, and the contrivance which a contemplative
being would have provided was resorted to. The limits of instinct
we cannot define : it appeared the reflection of reason. This
procedure may be judged, perhaps, a trifling event to notice ; but
the ways and motives of creatures are so little understood, that
any evidence which may assist our research should not be re-
jected. Call their actions as we may, they have the effect of
reason ; and loving all the manners and operations of these di-
rected beings, I have noted this, simple as it may be."

MACGILLIVEAY also describes the nest as enormously large,
roundish, or oblong, composed chiefly of moss, and lined with fea-
thers. RENNIE observes, that the Wren does not begin at the
bottom of its nest first, as is usual with most birds ; but if against
a tree, first traces the outline of the nest, which is of an oval

422 THE GOLD-CKESTED WEEN.

shape, and by that means fastens it equally strong to all parts ;
and afterwards encloses the sides and top, near which it leaves
a small hole for an entrance : if the nest is placed under a bank,
the top is first begun, and well secured in some cavity, by which
the fabric is suspended.

It was remarked by WILLOTJGHBY, that " it is strange to ad-
miration, that so small a bodied bird should feed such a company
of young, and not miss one bird, and that in the dark also."
BAY ranks this circumstance among "those daily miracles of
which we take no notice." These observations are censured by
Mr. BOLTON, who says that " any one who thinks about it, and
compares the dimensions of the window with those of the house
within, will instantly perceive that a Wren's nest is more strongly
lighted than any palace in the kingdom." But this naturalist, in
his haste to find fault with others, has quite overlooked the cir-
cumstance, that the parent bird, while feeding her numerous
family, stands in the entrance of her dwelling, and must there-
fore in a great measure exclude the light. All this, however, is
mere quibbling, from which we gladly turn to quote MANT, who
in his description of the month of November, speaks of

" The quick note of the russet Wren,
Familiar to the haunts of men.
He quits in hollow'd wall his bow'r,
And thro' the winter's gloomy hour
Sings cheerily : nor yet hath lost
His blitheness, chill'd by pinching frost;
Nor yet is forc'd for warmth to cleave
To cavern'd nook, or strawbuilt eave.
Sing, little bird ! Sing on, design'd
A lesson for our anxious kind ;
That we, like thee, with heart's content
Enjoy the blessings God hath sent ;
His bounty trust, perform his will,
Nor antedate uncertain ill !"

165. THE GOLD-CBESTED "WnEx.

Sylvia or Motacilla Regulus, LIN. Roitelet, Souci, ou Pout, BUF.
Das Goldhahnchen, BECH.

Description. — This is the smallest of European birds. It is
three inches and a half long, of which the tail measures one
inch and a quarter. The beak is four lines long, slender, very
sharp, and black; the nostrils are covered with a feather
divided like a comb ; the iris is dark brown ; the feet light
brown ; the shanks eight lines in height. The forehead is

THE GOLD-CKESTED WEEN. 423

brownish yellow ; a black stripe extends from the corners of
the beak to the eyes ; above the eyes is a white streak, and
under them a spot of the same colour ; the top of the head is
saffron, edged on each side with a golden yellow, and sur-
rounded in front and on the sides with a black band. The
cheeks are ashen grey; the sides of the neck a yellowish
green ; the back, shoulders, and rump, the colour of a Green-
finch ; the throat a yellowish white ; the under part of the
body a dirty white; the wing coverts blackish grey with
yellow edges on the narrow feathers, the last having little
white points, those of the second row being white at the
roots ; the tail blackish grey, edged with green.

In the female, the top of the head is golden yellow ; the
forehead and wings are a plain grey.

Habitat. — When wild, these pretty little birds are at home
all over the Old World. They principally frequent pine and fir
woods. They appear to be birds of passage only in northern
regions, going away in October, and returning in March — at
least, their flight is often remarked at those seasons in Ger-
many ; and in May, the hedges are often full of them. The
native ones are not birds of passage, for they are noticed all
the year round. In winter they assemble in small companies,
and fly about with the Tits, in search of food.

In the house the bell-shaped cage is the best. Several are
sometimes put into a trellised enclosure, in which a small pine
or fir tree must be placed. When reared from the nest, they
may be accustomed to perch on a tree in the open room. They
do not willingly leave it, and when there are many, they sit
all in a row close together on a bough, and so sleep.

Food. — In the wild state, this consists of all kinds of insects,
and their eggs. As they open the mouth very wide, they are
able to swallow large flies. In the aviary they are easily ac-
customed to the paste already prescribed for the Nightingale,
by giving them half-dead flies. They afterwards become fond
of crushed hemp seed. They must not be deprived of insect
food too suddenly, and they will always occasionally need flies,
meal worms cut small, and dry or fresh ants' eggs. To keep
them healthy and prolong their life, care must be taken that
their paste is neither too stiff or too moist. JSTor must they
be allowed to touch rape or caraelia seed, either of which
would immediately kill them.

424 THE GOLD-CRESTED WEEN.

Breeding. — Their round ball-shaped nest is woven at the
farthest extremity of a branch, and from the moss, caterpillars'
cocoons, and tufts of thistle-down, of which it is composed, is
very soft to the touch. It contains nine or more pale flesh-
coloured eggs, the size of a pea. It is generally found in low
meadows or enclosures, or the first pine tree towards the east.
The young birds are easily reared on meal worms cut small,
flies, ants' eggs, and wheaten bread soaked in milk. They
must, however, be quite fledged, before they are taken from
the nest. Those are reared with the least trouble which have
been caught immediately after leaving the nest.

Mode of Talcing. — To secure them, it is only necessary to
take a pole, attach a limed twig to it, and strike the bird with
it, when perched on a tree. This is easy, as they are by no
means shy.

They can also be shot with water, although this is a dan-
gerous undertaking, and requires much care. A fowling-piece
is loaded with powder, and a wadding of grease rammed upon
it. The water is carried in a bottle till the bird is seen ; then
about two table spoonsful of water are poured into the gun,
and a second wadding inserted, though with great care, lest
the water overflow. If hit at the distance of twenty paces,
the bird is thoroughly wetted, and may be taken with the
hand ; but if there are hedges near, or a somewhat larger bird,
e. g. a Chaffinch, be fired at, it often escapes. They are fre-
quently caught in traps set for small birds, if the way to
attract them be known.

They come in great numbers to the water- trap, and by their
repeated cry of Tzitt, Tzitt I indicate the approach of sunset,
and the arrival of larger birds. They generally become so
tame in a few days, as to eat out of the hand. It is, never-
theless, very difficult to rear these tender birds ; but once used
to the house, they live long, provided only that they are
neither bitten by other birds, nor hurt themselves, and that
they do not swallow indigestible food.

Attractive Qualities. — These are very delightful birds for
a room, on account of their small size and beauty. Their song
is indeed weak, but very melodious, and resembles that of the
Canary. Country people often confine these little creatures
in a room, in order to be freed by their means from trouble-
some flies, after which they release them.

THE GOLD-CRESTED WEEN. 425

ADDITIONAL. — Some naturalists, MACGILLIVEAY among others,
call the Crested Wrens Kinglets ; this author places them in a
separate genus, which he terms Regulus, and enumerates three
species, known as British Birds, viz., the Fire-crowned Kinglet
(R. Ignicapillus) ; the Plain-crowned Kinglet (R. Modestus);
both rare birds ; and the Gold-crowned Kinglet (R. Auricapil-
lusj ; which is generally abundant in all parts of Britain, especi-
ally those in which are woods of pine and fir, and other close
coverts. In Orkney and Shetland, however, where there are no
woods, these birds are to be met with — moving in winter from
place to place — in troops, and associating with Titmice, Creepers,
and other small birds. Notwithstanding the abundance and general
diffusion of these pretty little birds, the opportunities of atten-
tively examining them are rare, owing to the briskness of their
motions, and the secluded nature of their general haunts. MUDIE
observes, that " they are so small, generally so far from the
ground, and always so quick in their motions, that they are not
easily seen, and never long at a time. They are continually
hunting in the rough bark of the boles and main branches, and
in the twigs ; but they appear to prefer the latter. The com-
mand which these little birds have of themselves in the trees is
really astonishing ; they whisk about more like meteors than
like beings of solid matter ; they are now on this side, now on
that ; now above the twig, now hanging inverted under it ; the
body never at rest, and the head having generally additional
motion."

In BEODEEIP'S Zoological Recreations will be found a very
interesting account of the Golden-crested Wren, which, although
it braves our severest winters, appears to be very susceptible of
cold, as well as the common Brown Wren of our hedges. The
Hon. and Hev. W. HEEBEET informs us, that " in confinement the
least cold is fatal to them. In a wild state," he says, " they keep
themselves warm by constant active motions in the day, and at
night secrete themselves in places where the frost cannot reach
them ;" but he apprehends that numbers perish in severe winters.
He once caught half-a-dozen Golden Wrens at the beginning of
winter, and they lived extremely well on egg and meat, being
exceedingly tame. At roosting time there was always a whim-
sical conflict among them for inside places, as being the warmest,
which ended, of course, by the weakest going to the wall. The
scene begun with a loud whistling call among them to roost, and
the two birds on the extreme right and left flew on the backs of
those in the centre, and squeezed themselves into the middle. A
fresh couple from the flanks immediately renewed the attack
upon the centre, and the conflict continued till the light began to

426 THE WHITETAIL, OE WHEATEAE.

fail them. A severe frost in February killed all of them but one,
in one night, though in a furnished drawing-room."

166. THE "WHITETAIL, OE WHEATEAH.

Sylvia or Motacilla (Enanthe, LIN. Cul Blanc, BTIF. Der Weissschwan-
zige Steinschmatzer, Der Weiss Schwanz, BECH.

Description. — This is a well-known bird, not only in Ger-
many, but throughout Europe and Northern Asia. It is about
the size of the Wagtail, which it resembles in appearance,
except that it has a shorter tail, and a broader breast. It is five
inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures one inch
and ten lines. The beak, seven lines long, is black ; as are also
the iris and feet, which last are one inch in height. The fore-
head is white, and there is a streak of the same colour over
each eye ; a black stripe runs from the nostrils, between the
eyes, to the cheeks, which are also black. The whole upper
part of the body, with the scapulars, is a light ashen grey,
mottled with a slight tinge of red ; the feathers round the
lower base of the bill are reddish white ; the throat, gorge, and
upper part of the breast are a light rust colour ; the rest of the
under part of the body is white, varied with rusty yellow on
the sides, and at the vent ; the wings are black, the larger
wing coverts, and the hindmost quill feathers, having reddish
points ; the tail is white, with a black point ; the two centre
feathers being black almost up to the middle.

The female is reddish grey on the back, and darker on the
belly than the male ; the smaller wing coverts are edged with
red, and the white of the tail is tinged with the same colour.

Before the first moulting, the young are spotted with brown
and rust colour upon the upper part of the body, and with
orange and black underneath. After the moulting, both males
and females exhibit for a whole year the reddish grey on the
back, characteristic of an old female.

Habitat. — When wild, they are generally to be found in
mountainous or rocky regions. During their migrations, they
perch in the open country, on posts, large stones, and other
elevated spots, and are rarely seen on bushes or trees. They
depart in the first half of September, and return in the begin-
ning or middle of April, on the cessation of the nightly frosts.

When in the house, they must be confined in a Nightingale
cage, or in a trellised enclosure. They may also be allowed to

THE WHITETAIL, OS WHEATEAB. 427

run about, but not before they become accustomed to their
new food and habitation, as if not well tended at first, they
generally die. They can seldom be tamed.

Food. — In their natural state, they eat all kinds of small
beetles and flies, which they catch alive. When taken, they
must be offered an abundance of ants' eggs and meal worms,
that they may eat plentifully ; otherwise they generally die,
and, what is most extraordinary, of diarrhoea, even though they
have eaten nothing of the common house food. After some
time, they are fed with Nightingale's food, and occasionally
with bread soaked in milk. In this manner they may be kept
two years.

Breeding. — Their nest, made of hay and feathers, is gene-
rally fixed in the crevices of stone quarries ; also in holes of
river banks, heaps of stones, or a deserted mole-hill. The
female lays five or six greenish white eggs. The young are
taken when half fledged, and fed on ants' eggs, and bread
soaked in milk.

Mode of Talcing." — In some spot which they frequent, stakes
are to driven into the ground, and covered — as well as all
stones and eminences near — with bird lime ; the birds may
then be driven towards them.

Attractive Qualities. — Only very determined amateurs would
take the trouble of taming a full-grown Wheatear. I have
one, which, by means of fresh ants' eggs, has been accustomed
to range the room. Its appearance is handsome, its motions
active ; it frequently bends its body, and spreads out its fine
tail. Its song also is not unpleasant, but is interrupted in the
midst by a sort of scream.

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " A very lively and .interesting species,
which arrives in this country in March, and generally leaves it in
September or October, though sometimes they stay till the
middle of November. I observed ajpair on the 17th of November
last, near the gravel-pit in Hyde Park, which were quite lively,
and flying about after the insects, as brisk as if it had been the
middle olsummer j from their appearance, I should suppose they
had been about there for some time, as they were not at all shy,
but would allow me to come within three yards of them, so that
they might have been easily caught in a trap, if I had wished for
them ; but being previously in possession of a pair, I did not
trouble myself about them.

" In a wild state, these birds are chiefly to be found on liills or

428 THE WHINCHAT.

commons, and very frequently in parks and rabbit-warrens ; in
some counties they are so plentiful, that some hundred dozens are
caught annually by the shepherds, who sell them for the sake of
their flesh, which is very delicious, particularly in autumn, when
they become very fat: I believe it is not generally known that
S. Hortensis, or the Greater Pettichaps, also becomes as fat,
and its flesh is quite as delicious, or perhaps more so, as it feeds
almost entirely on fruit.

" I have seldom heard the Wheatear sing when wild, a,nd
when I have, its song was very soft, and scarcely to be heard,
except when very near it ; though I must allow I have never been
much in the places that they frequent in summer, so that they
may sing more than I am aware of ; but in confinement they ar«
almost continually in song, and sing by night as well as day ;
they have a very pleasant, variable, and agreeable song, different
from all other birds, and sometimes it is very loud, and they
continue it a great length of time, not continually breaking off
like a Hobin Uedbreast, and some other birds ; but their winter
song is best, and most varied. A pair that I possess at present
were caught in September last, and they began to sing in a few
days, and have continued in song ever since, and now, while writ-
ing this, the 22d day of December, they are in full song. When
in a large cage or aviary where there is plenty of room, it is very
amusing to see them at play, flying up and down, and spreading
open their large wings in a curious manner, dancing and singing
at the same time.

" In confinement these birds require the same sort of food as
the Stonechafc, Whinchat, and Nightingale, feeding freely on the
bruised hemp seed and bread, with some fresh, raw, lean meat,
cut up in small pieces and mixed with it ; they are also very fond
of the yolk of an egg boiled hard, which should be given sepa-
rately, also almost all sorts of insects, except the common earth
worm ; all the sorts that the Nightingale or Whinchat will eat,
they are also very fond of, and the more they have given them
the better, and the more they will sing : they are particularly
fond of cockroaches and crickets, so that any person acquainted
with a baker, may always procure plenty from his shop."

167. THE WHINCHAT.

Sylvia or Motadlla Rubetra, LIN. Le Grand Traquet, ou Tarier, BUF.
Der BraunJcehlize Steinschmdtzer^ BECH.

Description. — This pretty Cage-bird is found everywhere in
the open country where there are bushes, and especially on
steep declivities. It is four inches and ten lines in length, the

THE WHTN-CHAT. 429

tail measuring one inch and a half. The beak and feet, which
are nine lines high, are black. The whole of the upper part
of the body is dark brown (in some old birds black), having
all the feathers strongly bordered with a light rust colour,
whence the bird derives a general appearance of black and rust-
coloured stripes. In spring a white stripe runs from the
nostrils over the eyes to the back of the ears ; the cheeks and
temples are black ; the throat and breast yellowish red ; the
former edged with white on the sides and chin, or, rather, a
white stripe passes round the lower part of the beak to the
temples and cheeks. The belly, sides, and vent are reddish
white ; the smaller and the foremost greater wing-coverts are
dark brown, edged with red ; the hindmost are wholly or half
white, and make a white spot on the wings. The quill feathers
are black, edged with red, the hindmost having a white base ;
the half of the tail nearest the base is white, the other half
dark brown ; the two centre feathers having only a little white
at the roots.

The female is altogether lighter in colour ; the stripes about
the eyes being yellowish white ; the upper part of the body
dark brown, with rust-coloured spots; the cheeks dark brown;
the throat reddish white ; the breast a dusky yellowish red,
sometimes with small round black and brown spots ; which,
however, none of the birds have in the spring. The white
spots on the wings are small.

These birds vary till the third year. The young ones, which
in summer may often be seen perched on cabbage plants,
and on stiff stalks in the corn fields, have, till the first moulting,
rust-coloured and black spots on the upper part of the body,
all the feathers being edged with white. On the belly they
resemble the mother. The dark colour on the back and cheeks
distinguishes the sexes. It is only in the third year that the
head and cheeks become black ; and at the same period the
white stripe round the cheeks becomes broader.

Habitat. — This bird is most frequently met with in the
outskirts of forests. It makes its appearance in the beginning
of May, and leaves us at the latter end of September. In
August it may be seen everywhere, sitting on the cabbage
plants, or on single bushes.

In confinement it requires a Nightingale cage.

Food. — When wild, its food consists of small earth and
carrion beetles, and other flying insects.

430 THE WHIN CH AT.

The Whinchat, like the rest of its species, can with diffi-
culty be enticed to eat the food of the aviary. It must at
lirst be fed only with little beetles and flies. When it is once
accustomed to meal worms, it soon learns to take both ants'
eggs and the usual Nightingale's food.

.Breeding. — The nest is generally found among the grass, in
meadows and gardens. It is made of dry grass and moss,
lined with feathers and hair. The female lays five to seven,
beautiful light green eggs. Young birds that have been
reared with ants' eggs, are better to keep than old ones, and
become accustomed to the cage with much less difficulty.

Mode of Taldng. — When in spring any of these birds are
noticed in a meadow or ploughed field, take a few stakes, force
them into the ground, cover them with limed twigs, and then
drive the birds gently towards the spot. As they perch upon
anything that projects, they are thus easily taken. In sum-
mer they are caught in the cabbage fields by means of nooses,
spring traps, and limed twigs. If the noose be used, take a
stick about three feet long, cut it to a point, and slit it, to insert
crossways a piece of wood about three inches long. The noose
must be suspended one inch and a half above the cross, so that
when the bird perches there, it may be about breast high. The
limed twig should be about three feet long, forked at the top
for about four inches, and covered to the same extent with
birdlime. The spring traps are to be hung on stakes or cab-
bage plants. A sufficient quantity of such nooses, traps, and
twigs having been set in a line in a cabbage garden where
Whinchats nave been observed, about two or three paces apart,
let the bird-catcher go to the end of the garden, and drive
the birds gently before him. They will fly from one plant to
another, till at last they come to the trap. The bird-catcher
must then stand still a short time, till they run after the others,
enter the traps, and are caught. When the captives have been
released, the traps may be re-set, and the same process repeated
as often as desired.

Attractive Qualities. — This pretty bird, however lively and
cheerful when at liberty, is always quiet and melancholy in
the house. If allowed to run about, it only moves to procure
food, and resumes its place immediately, with its head sunk
upon its breast. Its song is pleasant, and has much in common
with that of the Goldfinch. Its best recommendation is, that

THE WHIN CHAT. 431

it sings not only in the daytime, but also in twilight, and till
late at night. Its call notes are Geu, and Tsa !

SWEET'S A.CCOUNT. — " This species, when wild, generally
frequents commons, or places where furze-bushes grow, being
very fond of perching on them ; its head is flat, and the light
stroke over the eyes gives it a slight resemblance to a frog, from
which the specific name is derived. Its song is not one of the
best ; still, among other birds, it makes a pleasing variety. It is
very easily taken in a trap baited with some living insect, and
soon gets familiar in a cage, where it will readily take to feed on
the bruised hemp-seed and bread, if a few insects are stuck in it
at first ; it is also very fond of raw lean meat, cut in small pieces,
or of the yolk of a boiled egg ; it will feed on almost every kind
of insect, and is particularly fond of small beetles, earwigs, and
butterflies.

" The bird I at present possess, was caught in July 1821 : it
began singing about the middle of September, and continued all
through the winter, singing the greater part of the day ; in spring
it sung very loud, beginning in the morning before daylight. I
find it one of the tenderest species that I have yet kept ; and I
have no doubt but the least frost getting at it would cause its
death, as in cold weather it appears very melancholy, especially
of a morning, before a fire is made in the room ; but as soon as
the room begins to get warm, it enlivens, particularly if a few
insects be given it ; and I believe it would susbsist but a short
time, if some were not given it frequently.

" Last summer, I procured a nest of young Redstarts, which
were placed in the aviarv with the other birds ; as soon as they
chirped for food, the Wninchat began to be agitated, and ex-
amined them minutely ; after a time, it took to feed them, and
continued to do so tiH they were grown up. This species, and
the Eedstart, I find to be the most tender of any of the sorts
that I have kept through the winter, but they may be managed
very well by keeping them in a warm room in cold frosty weather.
One that I possess at present is the most interesting bird I have;
it was taken from the nest last summer on Wandsworth Com-
mon, and bred up by hand, by which means it became very tame
and bold ; when young, it was seized with the cramp, winch I
thought might be occasioned by the want of sand or gravel, as I
suspect what they eat of that turns to lime, and forms or har-
dens their bones. I accordingly mixed up some stones, about
the size of small shots, in its food, after it had not been able to
stand for three or four days : the first day I gave it him, he
became much stronger, and could stand a little before night j

432 THE STONECHAT.

the next dav it was quite well, and could jump up and down the
perches as if nothing had ever ailed it, and it has continued in
good health ever since, and is now as handsome a bird as need
be ; it has been in full song ever since last October, singing
nearly the whole day through, and very often at night ; its song
is now very loud and very variable, as it has learnt the songs of
most of the other birds."

168. THE STONECHAT.

Sylvia or Motacilla Rubicola, LIN. Le Traquet, BUF. Der Schwarz-
kehige Steinschmatzer, BECH.

Description. — The Stonechat is four inches and a half in
length, of which the tail measures one inch and a half. The
beak is four lines long ; the feet black, and nine lines in height.
The iris is nut brown ; the upper part of the body blackish
brown, edged with reddish white ; the rump white. The
cheeks and throat are black, the latter having a white stripe
on each side. The breast is rusty red, inclining to white on
the belly. The wing feathers are dark brown, edged with rusty
red; and the hindmost coverts and pen feathers are wrhite,
from which arise white spots on the folded wings. The tail
feathers are blackish, edged with pale orange.

The plumage of the female is lighter ; the rump is brown-
ish; the throat white, spotted with black; the breast and
belly lighter than in the male.

Observations. — The Stonechat is rarer than the species last
described, but is found in all the mountainous districts of Ger-
many. It is a bird of passage ; leaving us in September, and
returning at the end of May. It resembles the Whinchat in
its habits, and feeds on flies and beetles.- In confinement it is
a very delicate bird, and must be fed with Nightingale's food.
It builds its nest in thick underwood, or a hole in a rock, and
the female lays five greenish eggs. The young may be reared
on ants' eggs ; but the old birds very rarely survive, if taken.
"When confined in a cage, the Stonechat is a very quiet bird,
sitting on the same perch for a long time together. Its song
resembles that of the Whitethroat, and its call is Feed ! and
TzerJc!

SWEET'S ACCOUNT. — " The present species, as well as 8. Ru-
letra and 8. (Enanthe, have, with some other exotic species, been
formed into a separate genus by most late authors, which has
been named Saxicola by BECHSTEIN, and (Enanthe by VIEIL-

THE STONE-CHAT. 433

LOT ; but as the name (Enanthe is already occupied with a genus
of umbelliferous plants, BECHSTEIN'S name must, of course, be
adopted; we prefer giving them at present under Sylvia, as
hereafter there will require to be several other genera separated
from that genus, and the British species proposed by Mr. VIGORS,
to which it is to be limited, will consist of S. Hippolais, 8. Tro-
chilus, and 8. Sylvicola.

" The birds of this species, when wild, are generally found on,
or near, heaths and commons, frequenting the same places as the
Winchat, but they are not so tender as that bird, as some of them
remain in this country all the winter. They are very variable in
their colours, scarcely any two to be seen exactly alike, some of
them being nearly aft white, others having a large white patch
on the wings and by the side of the neck, while others have it
very slightly ; the brightness of their colour also varies consider-
ably in different birds, some of them being particularly hand-
some.

" In confinement this species requires the same food and treat-
ment as the Nightingale — bruised hemp seed and bread, mixed
up together into moist paste, and some fresh, raw, lean beef, or
mutton, cut in pieces small enough for them to swallow, is to be
mixed with it, for I find they like the meat much better when
soaked in the bread and hemp seed, or if only soaked in clean
water, than they do when not soaked at all ; besides this, I al-
ways have an egg boiled quite hard every day ; it is then cut in
two, and the yolk stirred up in each half, and put into the cages,
so that they may peck it out of the shell themselves : this is a
change of tood for them which keeps them in health ; whereas,
if it was mixed up with other food, it would not do them half the
good ; one egg with the other food, is sufficient for twenty birds
for one day. The more insects they have given them, the better
will be their health, and the more tney will sing ; they will feed
on a great many sorts, and when in a wild state they scarcely eat
any thing besides ; any sorts of flies, moths, butterflies, cater-
pillars, maggots, woodnce, earwigs, grasshoppers, crickets, cock-
roaches, ants, or small beetles, they are very fond of, and nume-
rous other sorts.

" In confinement this bird will sing all through the winter, and
a great part of the year ; it will also sing frequently by night as
well as by day ; it has a very pretty and loud song, and when in
confinement its song is continued for a good length of time, not
continually broken off in short notes, like the wild ones. If bred
up from the nest, I have no doubt but it would learn the notes
of other birds, or even any tune that was played to it, as I be-
lieve will the greater part of this tribe, if a little pains be taken

1- 9

434 THE ALPINE WARBLEB.

with them. I have at present a young Winchat, that was reared
by hand from the nest last summer, and now, in the middle of
December, it sings all day long, and a great part of the night,
singing the notes of the Whitethroat, J&edstart, and the female
Willow Wren, and almost every other note that it hears. It has
also learnt the song of the Missel Thrush, which it hears in the
garden near by ; and the Nightingale's jug, jug, jug, and re-
peated it in five minutes after hearing the Nightingale sing, and
it now sings it frequently, so that it is impossible to know which
of the two are singing, without seeing them. The same treat-
ment is required for breeding those birds from the nest, as I have
have already mentioned in treating of some of the other species ;
and afterwards, to keep them in good health, give them as many
insects as possible, sucn as the common maggots, small beetles,
cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, and almost all sorts of small
insects."

YAREELL observes, that " the Stone-chat is common in the
counties along our southern coast, to the Irish Channel ; it is
also a constant resident hi the south, the west, and the north of
Ireland. It is observed constantly in Suffolk, Norfolk, York-
shire, and Northumberland." Mr. SELBY observed it hi Suther-
landshire ; and MACGILLIVRAY includes it in his Catalogue of the
Birds of the Hebrides, and calls it " the Blackheaded Bush Chat ;
it is also sometimes termed,'* he says, " the Stone Smith, Stone
Chatter, and Blackytop."

TAMEABLE WHEN OLD.
169. TKE ALPINE WABBLEB.

Accentor Alpinus, BECH. Motacilla Alpina, LIN. Fauvette dcs Alpes,
BUF. Der Alpensanger, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of a Sky-
lark, has sometimes been classed with the Larks, at others
with the Starlings, and at others, again, with the Motacitta.
It is about six inches and a half in length, of which the tail
measures almost three inches. The beak is six lines long,
somewhat compressed at the sides, and having the upper man-
dible dark brown, the lower orange yellow. The iris is yellow ;
the shanks light brown, and one inch in height. The head,
neck, and back, are very light or whitish grey ; the head and
neck being spotted with pale brown ; the back with dark

THE ALPINE WARBLER. 435

brown, and at the sides with rust-colour. The throat is white
with dark brown spots, and separated from the breast by a
dark brown line ; the breast whitish grey ; the sides of the
breast and belly, and underneath the wings, a beautiful brown-
ish red. The belly is greenish white, traversed by indistinct
dark grey wavy lines ; the vent dark brown ; the small wing
coverts grey, with a greenish gloss. The vent feathers, and
the two larger rows of coverts, are brownish black tipped with
white, which produces two parallel rows of white spots on the
wings. The pen feathers are brownish grey, with a border of
lighter hue ; the tail feathers dark brown, with each a yellow
spot on the inner plume. The females and young birds are
mottled with dark brown on the breast and belly, and are also
darker on the back.

Observations. — The Alpine Warbler is a native of the less
lofty mountain ranges which, in Switzerland and South Ger-
many, rise at the foot of the Alps ; and in the high cattle pas-
tures is as common as the Skylark with us. In winter it
descends into the valleys, and is often caught in considerable
numbers near the barns and villages. It generally runs along
the ground, which it does as swiftly as the Wagtail, and rarely
perches upon trees. In a wild state it eats various seeds and
insects ; and in confinement may be fed on bread, ants' eggs,
crushed hemp, and poppy seeds. In Switzerland it is usually
kept in a cage, and may be preserved alive for many years. Its
song is agreeable, though somewhat melancholy ; and it is a
very lively bird, being constantly in motion. It builds its
nest on the ground, and in holes and crevices of the rocks.

ADDITIONAL. — Three specimens only of this bird, which is
sometimes called the Alpine Chanter, or Accentor, are recorded
to have been taken in this country : one in 1822, in the gardens
of King's College, Cambridge, where a pair of these birds, very
tame, were observed climbing the buttresses of the buildings,
and feeding on the grass plats ; the second, in a garden on the
borders of Epping forest, described in the Naturalist's Magazine
for the year 1832 ; and the third, in 1833, in the gardens of the
Deanery, Wells, Somersetshire. YARRELL, from whom we gather
the above particulars, says : " This bird on the continent does not
frequent bushes, nor perch on the branches of trees, like its generic
companion, the Hedge Accentor ; but is almost always observed
to be on rocks, or on the ground, and is remarkable for its con-
stant taraeness, either from confidence or want of intelligence,

F F 2

436 THE COMMON PIED WAGTAIL.

being apparently regardless of man. The same character was
noticed in the specimens both at Cambridge and at Wells, the
birds allowing observers to approach unusually close to them,
and when at length obliged to move, making very short flights,
and always settling on some part of the nearest building. The
resemblance of the steeple-crowned stone edifices of Cambridge,
and at the Deanery of Wells, to the pointed and elevated rocks
of their own peculiar haunts, were supposed to have been the
attraction in both the localities referred to."

170. THE COMMON PIED WAGTAIL.
Motacilla Alda, LIN. Lavandier, BUF. Die Weisse Bachstelze, BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird is seven inches in length,
of which the tail measures three inches and a half. The beak
is five lines long, pointed, and black ; the iris is dark brown ;
the shanks black, slender, and one inch in height. The top
of the head is black ; the rest of the upper part of the body,
as well as the sides of the breast and the lesser wing coverts,
bluish ashen grey. The forehead, cheeks, and sides of the neck
are snowy white ; the throat and the upper half of the breast
black ; the rest of the under part of the body white. The wings
are dark brown ; the coverts and hinder pen feathers having a
broad margin of white, which produces a white stripe on the
folded wings. The tail feathers are black, with the exception
of the outermost, which is almost wholly white, and the se-
cond is marked with a wedge-shaped white spot.

In the female the white hue of the cheeks and forehead is
not so pure ; the top of the head is not so black, and the bor-
der of the wings is narrower and greyer than in the male. In
some cases, the head and back are the same colour.

Before the first moulting, the young have a very different
appearance, so much so, that of them and the young of the
Yellow Wagtail, some naturalists have made a distinct species,
which they call "the Grey Wagtail " (Motacilla Cinerea). The
upper part of the body is grey ; the throat and belly dingy
white, and on the breast is a crescent-shaped grey, or greyish
brown stripe. The wings have a whitish border. There are
also varieties of this bird ; some entirely white, and others
mottled, or speckled with white in a peculiar manner.

Habitat. — The Wagtail is found near houses, in the open
country, in mountainous or woody districts, or wherever its

THE C03OION PIED WAGTAIL. 437

peculiar food is abundant. It is a bird of passage, which, be-
fore departing, at the beginning of October, collects in great
numbers, like the Swallows. It returns as soon as the first warm
days of February or March entice from their holes the flies,
which form its food, and the aquatic insects are to be caught
in the brooks.

It may be confined in a cage, or allowed to range the room,
though in either case plenty of sand must be provided, as it
is a dirty bird, and its excrement is both fluid and copious.

Food. — When wild, it feeds on gnats, aquatic insects, and
their lame, flies, and such insects as teaze the cattle, round
which it may often be seen flying. It also follows the plough,
in order to devour the insects which are turned up.

In the aviary it must at first be fed on ants' eggs, meal
worms, and different insects, but will soon become used to the
universal paste, or will eat bread and meat. If kept in a cage,
it needs the Nightingale's paste.

Breeding. — The Wagtail builds twice or thrice a year, in
all kinds of holes and crevices ; between stones, in hollow trees,
under roofs, &c. Its nest is loosely composed of grass roots,
moss, hay, &c., and lined with hair, wool, and swine's bristles.
The female usually lays five or six bluish white eggs, spotted
with black. If the young ones be reared from the nest, they
become so tame, as to fly in and out of the aviary ; and while
building their nest and breeding in it, will forage for their own
subsistence.

Diseases. — The diseases to which the Wagtail is most liable,
are diarrhoea and atrophy, though this, as well as the two fol-
lowing species, may often be preserved alive for four years or
more.

Mode of Talcing. — If snow should happen to fall as late as
March, these birds may be taken by clearing a spot of ground,
and setting it with limed twigs, baited with meal worms. For
this purpose, a spot should be chosen which the bird has been
observed to frequent.

Attractive Qualities. — The Wagtail is recommended to the
amateur both by its lively disposition, which it expresses by
the well-known motion of its tail, and its song, which, though
not loud, is varied, and lasts throughout the year. I always
keep a Wagtail in my aviary, and in the chorus of the Black-
cap, Bluethroat, Lark, and Linnet, it seems to take the alto

438 THE COMMON PIED WAGTAIL.

part. It is also useful in destroying flies, for which its quick
gait and motions seem especially fitted.

ADDITIONAL. — It appears that the bird commonly known as
the Pied, White, Black and White, Water, or Winter Wagtail,
or, as some say, the Dishwasher, is not an identical species with
that which BECHSTEIN describes under the first of these names,
the Motacilla Alia of LINNJSTJS, although several naturalists
have so considered it. The following observations by GOULD upon
this disputed point, were first published in the Magazine of
Natural History for 1837 : — " While engaged on this tribe of
birds, during the course of my work on the Birds of Europe, I
was surprised to find that the sprightly Pied Wagtail, so abun-
dant in our islands at all seasons, could not be referred to any
described species ; and that it was equally as limitedin its habitat ;
for besides the British Islands, Norway and Sweden are the only
parts of Europe whence I have been able to procure examples,
identical with our bird, whose place in the temperate portions of
Europe is supplied by a nearly allied, but distinct species, the
true M. Alba of LINNJEUS ; which, although abundant in France,
particularly in the neighbourhood of Calais, has never yet been
discovered on the opposite shores of Kent, or in any part of
England. As, therefore, our bird, which has always been consi-
dered as identical with the M. Alba, proves to be a distinct
species, I have named it after my friend, W. YAERELL, Esq., as
a just tribute to his varied accomplishments as a naturalist."

KNOX, in his Ornithological Rambles, has written at consider-
able length on these birds ; we quote a portion of his account :

" On fine dry days in March, I have frequently seen Pied
Wagtails approaching the coast, aided by a gentle breeze from
the south, the well-known call-note being distinctly audible under
such favourable circumstances from a considerable distance at
sea, even long before the birds themselves could be perceived.
The fields in the immediate neighbourhood, where but a short
time before scarcely an individual was to be found, are soon
tenanted by numbers of this species, and for several days they
continue dropping on the beach in small parties.

" About the beginning of September, an early riser visiting the
fields in the neighbourhood of the coast, may observe them nying
invariably from west to east, parallel to the shore, and following
each other in constant succession. These flights continue from
daylight until about ten in the forenoon ; and it is a remarkable
fact, that so steadily do they pursue this course, and so pertina-
cious are they in adhering to it, that even a shot fired at an
advancing party, and the death of more than one individual, have

THE GEEY WAGTAIL. 439

failed to induce the remainder to fly in a different direction ; for
after opening to the right and left, their ranks have again closed,
and the progress towards the east has been resumed as before."

171. THE GHET WAGTAIL.

Motacilla Boarula, LIN. Bergeronette Jaune, BUF. Die Graue
Bachstelze, BECH.

Description. — This beautiful bird is about the size of the
foregoing, being seven inches in length, of which the tail
measures nearly four inches. The beak is black; the iris
brown ; the feet dark flesh colour, and nine lines high. The
whole upper part of the body, with the smaller wing coverts,
is dark grey, the head being somewhat mottled with olive
green. The rump is greenish yellow ; a white stripe runs
above the eyes ; another of the same colour passes from the
root of the beak to the neck ; and a black one from the root of
the beak to the eyes. The throat is black ; the breast and
the lower part of the body are exceedingly bright yellow.
The wings are black ; the larger coverts white, the rest edged
with ashen grey. In the like manner the hindmost pen
feathers are white at the root, and bordered with the same
colour, which produces three white lines upon the wings. The
tail is long and black, but the outside feather is white, and th#
next to it only bordered with black.

The colours in the female are altogether lighter ; and the
throat is not black, but pale reddish yellow. Males also, of
from one to two years' old, have the black of the throat mottled
with white.

Habitat. — The Grey "Wagtail is at home all over Europe.
It may frequently be met with, though always alone, in woody
and mountainous districts, watered by pebbly brooks. It is a
bird of passage, returning at the end of February or beginning
of March; though in mild winters, it has been known to
remain, taking up its abode near dunghills or warm springs.
In confinement it must be placed in a Nightingale cage, and
treated like that bird ; yet is it so delicate, as rarely to live
above two years, even with the greatest care.

Food. — In a wild state, it feeds chiefly on aquatic insects.
In confinement, the old birds, which it is desired to tame,
must be fed at first on ants' eggs and meal worms ; though
they will in the end eat the universal paste, if pieces of hard-
boiled egg be mixed with it.

440 THE GEEY WAGTAIL.

Breeding. — They breed twice a year, and build by the water
side, in mill dykes, heaps of stones, &c. The nest, which is
more carefully constructed than that of the Common Wagtail,
is made of grass stalks and moss, lined with hair. As early as
March, the female lays five or six white eggs, mottled with
flesh colour. The young birds may be reared on ants' eggs,
and bread soaked in milk.

Mode of Taking. — This bird may be taken, by placing across
or near streams which it frequents, poles, to which limed
twigs, baited with meal worms, are attached.

Attractive Qualities. — In general, this bird bears a strong
resemblance to the Common Wagtail, but it is handsomer, and
has a stronger voice. Although its song consists only of two
notes, yet its clear round tones render it not unpleasant.

ADDITIONAL. — By MACGILLIVEAY, this bird is called the Grey
and Yellow Wagtail ; he describes it as a remarkably elegant
and beautiful species, not quite so rotund as the Pied Wagtail,
which, however, it exceeds somewhat in length, the tail being
proportionally longer. " The species," he says, " is permanently-
resident in this country, although in most of the northern dis-
tricts it disappears in winter. It frequents the margins of
streams, pools, and lakes ; and is generally distributed in the
lower and more cultivated parts."

MUDIE tells us, that " the Grey Wagtail leaves the southern
parts of the country (in which it is called the Winter Wagtail)
about February, or the early part of March, the cause which
changes the plumage appearing to operate simultaneously in
prompting the migration, as the sexes resemble each other as
long as they remain in the south. Many of them halt by the
upland streams in the central and northern parts of England ;
but others pass into Scotland, where they penetrate to a consi-
derable distance north, although, as they keep to more retired
situations, they are not so often seen in proportion to their num-
bers as the Pied Wagtails. They are also more confined to the
clear streams in the open wastes, where they feed upon water-
flies, insects, and larvae.

********

" It does not appear that they ever summer or nestle in the
south ; and it is worthy of remark, that these indigenous water-
insect-consuming birds retire northwards in summer, and leave
the waters of the south and south-east to the aquatic warblers.
Those resident insectivora are suited to the open air, and the
warblers to the shade ; and, accordingly, they alternate with
each other in the seasons. The warblers retire to climates in

THE YELLOW WAGTAIL. 441

which, they find shade in the winter ; and the resident birds be-
take themselves to the north in the summer, where the deep
shade and the rank vegetation by the sides of the pools and streams
do not interfere with their pedestrian habits."

The following cut will show the difference in structure between
the foot of the Lark and Wagtail, the first being adapted for
running upon or rising from the grass ; and the latter from the
soft muddy banks or pebbly strands, where the bird to which
they belong finds its appropriate food and habitation.

172. THE YELLOW WAGTAIL.

Motacilla Flava, LIN. Bergeranette de Printemps, BUF. Die Gelbe
Bachstelze, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which resembles the female of the
preceding species, but has a shorter tail, is six inches and a
half in length, of which the tail measures two inches and a
half. The beak is blackish brown ; the iris nut-brown ; the
shanks black, and ten lines in height. The upper part of the
body is reddish grey, with a strong tinge of olive green, which
on the rump changes to Siskin green. The head is rather grey
than green ; and a reddish white streak passes over the eyes.
The under part of the body is a fine yellow, and in old birds
sulphur colour, darker on the throat and breast, and lighter on
the belly and vent. The wings are dark brown, and, as well
as the larger coverts, edged with reddish white, which pro-
duces two white streaks on the wings. The tail is black,
though the two external feathers are quite white, with the
exception of a black stripe on each.

In the female the back is more grey than green ; the belly
and vent are not so fine a yellow ; the throat is whitish, and,
as well as the belly, spotted with orange.

I have obtained from a fowler this spring a peculiar variety
of this bird. The upper part of the body was almost slate-
coloured ; the stripe over the eyes, and those across the wings,

442 THE YELLOW WAGTAIL.

being a dirty white, and the under part of the body light red.
It is still alive, and by its' song has shown itself to be a male.

Habitat. — This species of Wagtail is better known than the
.preceding, as it is found in the cattle pastures in all the level
districts of Europe. In September it collects in large flocks
before departing for a warmer climate, uttering meanwhile a
loud cry of Sipp, sipp ! It returns about the end of March.
In confinement it may be treated like the Grey "Wagtail, but
is not so delicate a bird.

Food. — When wild, its food consists of such insects as gene-
rally fly about the cattle. In the aviary it may be treated like
the preceding species, though it thrives better if a little hard-
boiled egg, chopped small, be mixed with the first universal
paste.

Breeding. — This bird builds twice a year on the banks of
streams, deserted mole-hills, or, like the Lark, among the corn
and grass. The nest is composed of an external layer of grass
stalks, lined with wool, and the female lays five or six greyish
white eggs, spotted and mottled with reddish grey. The young
birds, which are much lighter on the under; part of the body
than the old ones, and bear a strong resemblance to the female,
may be reared like those of the preceding species.

Mode of Taking. — The Yellow Wagtail is not an easy bird
to catch, and the surest plan is to set limed twigs about the
nest. The plan mentioned for taking the Common Wagtail
is, however, sometimes successful.

Attractive Qualities. — These birds, of which I always keep
several, are worthy of a place in the aviary, on account both
of their beauty and of their song. They are particularly use-
ful in destroying flies, which they do in a peculiar manner,
creeping up on them with all the caution of a cat.

ADDITIONAL.-— It will be seen that MACGILLIVRAY has applied
the term Yellow Wagtail to the preceding species ; the one here
described by BECHSTEIN, the true Motaoillajlava of LINN^US,
he calls the Blue-headed Wagtail or Quaketail. It is a rare bird
in this country ; the Common Yellow Wagtail of British orni-
thologists, however, with which it was for a long time con-
founded, is plentiful enough; this, too, is a migratory bird,
arriving here towards the end of March, and leaving in Sep-
tember. It has been proposed, for distinction sake, to name this
bird BAY'S Wagtail, after the naturalist who first described
and identified it as a species distinct from the continental bird ;

THE OX-EYE. 443

and as GOULD may fairly claim the priority of discovery in the case
of the more rare foreign visitant, it has been argued that it should
be called GOULD'S Wagtail, or, as MACGILLIVBAY has it, Quake-
tail. This naturalist places these two species in a genus by them-
selves, which he terms Budytes, calling the one B. Mayi, or
Green-headed Quaketail ; the other, JB. Gouldi, or Blue-headed
Quaketail, the colour of the head forming, as he says, the main
distinction between the two birds. Spring or Sumnler Wagtail,
Oatseed Bird, or Oatear, are also terms applied to the first
named, and in this country more familiar species, of which, it
appears, but little is known on the Continent. " This bird,"
says NEVILLE WOOD, " has received its popular designation, not
as some suppose on account of its feeding on oats or any other
corn, for it is wholly insectivorous, but because those extensive
upland districts, which it frequents, are more favourable to the
growth of oats than to any other kinds of grain, and because,
moreover, it resorts to those corn-fields on its first arrival in
Britain.

" Though the Spring Oatear is not a typical Motacilla, yet it
does, nevertheless, wag its tail ; it has not, however, so long a tail
to wag, and altogether shows a decided departure from the true
Wagtails. Almost every one who lives in the country must have
remarked that the tail is not merely waved up and down, but
that it is accompanied with a kind of lateral motion, or, at least,
that the tail is partially spread at the time of wagging, which
gives it a flitting, unsteady appearance."

173. THE OX-EYE, OB GBEATEE TITMOUSE.

Parus Major, LIN. Grosse Mesange ou Charbonniere, BUF. Die
Kolhmeise^ BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird is about the size of the
Blackcap, being five inches and ten lines in length, of which
the tail measures two inches and a half. The beak, as in all
birds of this species, is conical, hard, sharp pointed, and not
serrated ; the iris is dark brown ; the feet lead colour, and nine
lines in height; the claws strong, and adapted to climbing.
The top of the head and the throat are bright black, and a
stripe of the same colour passes over the nape of the neck ;
the cheeks and temples are white. The junction of the neck
and back is greenish yellow mixed with white ; the back is a
beautiful olive green; the rump light grey; the breast and
belly yellowish green, divided down the middle by a broad
black stripe. The vent is black in the middle, and white at

444 THE OXrEYE.

the sides; the thighs white, spotted with black; the sides

Eale olive green. The wing coverts are light brown ; the
irger ones being tipped with white, which produces a white
stripe on the folded wings. The pen feathers are blackish ;
the foremost, with the exception of the two first, being edged
on the upper side with light green, on the under with white,
and the hindmost having above a border of olive green, and
below of white. The tail is blackish, and somewhat forked;
the two centre feathers are tinged with light blue, and the ex-
ternal ones are white on the outer and part of the inner plume.
The rest are all edged with light blue, and the second is, in
addition, tipped with white.

The female is smaller ; the black and yellow colours are less
bright, and the stripe on the breast is narrower, and does not
extend so far down the belly. The last fact serves as a charac-
teristic by which we may distinguish the young males from
the females, which they very much resemble.

Habitat. — The Ox-eye is found throughout the Eastern hemi-
sphere, and principally frequents mountains and districts which
are well wooded, and at the same time not devoid of cultivation.
It is not a bird of passage, though it collects about October in
flocks, which migrate in search of food from one wood to
another. This is the period at which the Ox-eye is most ex-
posed to the attempts of the fowler. In March the flocks
again separate into pairs, which begin to build and to propagate
their species.

In the aviary the Ox-eye may be kept in a large bell-shaped
wire cage, into which a round cavity of some kind is intro-
duced, to serve as a sleeping-place. If allowed to range the
room with other birds, it should be abundantly supplied with
food ; as if, when pressed with hunger, it has once killed some
small bird, and eaten the brain, of which it is exceedingly
fond, it becomes very ferocious. I have known of an instance
in which an Ox-eye attacked and killed a Quail. The assertion
of the bird-sellers that those Ox-eyes only which have forked
tails exhibit these carnivorous propensities, is not founded on
fact ; though daily experience assures us that there is a con-
siderable difference of natural disposition between birds of the
same species.

Food. — The Ox-eye feeds upon insects, seeds, and berries,
and destroys great numbers of bees, flies, gnats, grasshoppers,

THE OX-EYE. 445

moths, and caterpillars. Like the Woodpecker, it climbs trees
in order to look for larvse, insects' eggs, and woodlice under the
bark. In autumn and winter it eats various kinds of seed and
grain, especially hemp seed, oats, beech mast, fruit kernels,
nuts, the seeds of coniferous trees, and even carrion. It holds
its food between its claws, and tears it to pieces with its beak.

In confinement the Ox-eye eats whatever comes to table —
meat, bread, cheese, and vegetables, as well as lard, tallow,
filberts, and walnuts, and the universal paste; and if well
attended to, is not a delicate bird. The better it is fed, the
more constant also is its song. It drinks a good deal, and is
fond of bathing.

Breeding. — The Ox-eye builds its nest in the tops of hollow
trees, and often avails itself of the deserted habitations of the
Raven, Magpie, or Squirrel. It lays its eggs, which are eight
or ten in number, and white, with irregular dark brown spots
of various forms and sizes, on an artfully composed layer of
moss, wool, and feathers. The young birds, which till the
first moulting are pale yellow on the under part of the body,
do not leave the nest till full grown.

Diseases. — Those which are kept in a cage, and fed with
hemp seed, are often subject to giddiness, which may, however,
be cured by confinement in a very small square cage, only
allowing the bird to range the aviary. Both gout and decline
are also said to arise from the immoderate use of the same food.
"With care they will live in confinement from eight to ten years.

Mode of Taking. — The capture of this bird, with others of
the same species, is considered by fowlers to be the most
agreeable part of their profession. It is accomplished in several
ways ; of which I shall, however, subjoin only two. In spring
and autumn the fowler repairs to orchards and other places
frequented by Tits, with a decoy-bird confined in a small square
cage. The cage is placed upon the ground and surrounded by
limed twigs in an oblique position, when the Tits, attracted by
curiosity, or some other motive, fly to make acquaintance with
their new comrade, and are caught. This mode is rendered all
the surer if a whistle, made of a goose's leg-bone, be used ;
as this makes a louder sound than the natural call, and never
fails to attract all the Tits within hearing.

In winter, what is called the Tit-trap, baited with nuts,
oats, or lard, may be used. This is a small box, one foot in

446 THE OX-EYE.

length, and eight inches in breadth and height ; the walls of
which may be formed either of boards painted green, or of
elder sticks, fastened to uprights at the four corners. In the
latter case only the floor and cover of the trap need be solid ;
and the corner should open and shut on hinges of packthread.
A small stick is vertically fixed in the middle of the floor ;
across the top of this lies another, to one end of which is
attached half a walnut, and to the other a piece of lard ; the
whole being surmounted by another vertical stick, which holds
the lid of the trap open at the height of three or four inches.
If the bird alights upon the cross stick, and begins to peck at
the bait, it brings down upon itself the cover of the trap, and
is caught. The trap may be placed in a tree, upon a layer of
oat straw, which serves to attract the birds even from a con-
siderable distance. Like all Tits, the Ox-eye may frequently
be caught in the water- trap, especially between 7 and 9 A.M.,
and 4 and 5 P.M. In autumn it is often taken in nooses,
especially if baited with elder and service berries. These
nooses should, however, be made of horse-hair, as the bird,
when it feels itself caught, will bite through those of any
other material.

Attractive Qualities. — These birds are recommended to the
amateur not only by their beauty, activity and cheerful dis-
position, but also by their varied and exceedingly melodious
song, which consists of the frequent repetition of the syllables,
Sit — fai, — da. Si, — tzi, — da. Stiti, Stiti, intermixed with
the double call, Fink, fink. Tzitzeer. "We may conclude that,
the Ox-eye, if reared from the nest, would not be wanting in
docility, from the fact that even old ones evince a readiness to
adopt the songs, and especially the call notes, of other birds.

They are also often taught to perform various tricks ; as, for
instance, to draw up their food and water by a chain ; to move
a cylinder, which appears to be worked by two miners ; or to
hop after a nut suspended by a thread.

ADDITIONAL. — The Great Titmouse, the Black-headed Tomtit,
the Blackcap, and the Ox-eye, are terms almost indiscriminately
applied to this bird, which, although by no means the largest of
the Parus, or Tit genus, is yet generally considered as the " chief
of its clan," as the Scottish naturalist has it. This well-known
species is very generally distributed throughout the wooded and
cultivated districts of England and Scotland; it is somewhat

THE COLE TIT. 447

rare, however, in the northern parts of the latter country. THOMP-
SON reports that it is indigenous to Ireland. We must content
ourselves with a very short extract from MTJDIE'S account of this
bird : — " The Great Tit has a chattering rather than a singing
voice ; but it has considerable flexibility of utterance. As it
hunts in the trees, its chatter, though not loud, is harsh and
grating, resembling that which is produced by the filing of iron ;
but in the pairing time it has a note not very dissimilar to that of
the Chaffinch ; and the alternation of the note with the chatter,
makes a sort of rude song, but that song continues but a short
time."

" The Great Titmouse," says WHITE, " driven by stress of
weather, much frequents houses; and in deep snows, I have seen
this bird, while it hung with its back downwards (to my no small
delight and admiration), draw straws lengthwise from out the
eaves of thatched houses, in order to pull out the flies that were
concealed between them, and that in such numbers, that they
quite defaced the thatch, and gave it a ragged appearance."

We will conclude our account of this bird, with a charac-
teristic little sketch from the letters of B/TTSTICTJS on the Natural
History of Godalming : — " The next object of attention was a
Titmouse, of the large black-headed kind, swinging himself
about like a rope-dancer, and whistling out his sing-song just
like a fellow sharpening a saw. To my surprise, the gentleman
entered an old Magpie's nest, to which I had paid frequent
friendly visits during the previous spring ; he immediately came
out again, and jumped about, sharpening his saw as before.
One might almost as well handle a hedgehog as a Magpie's
nest ; in this instance, some cuttings of gooseberry bushes, skil-
fully interwoven into an arch above it, rendered it rather more
untempting than usual. I was meditating how to commence the
attack, when another Tomtit flew out in a great choler, and
rated at me as though I had already robbed her. After a good
deal of trouble, during which the slender fir-top was swinging
about with me in the breeze, I succeeded in obtaining a peep
into the nest ; there was nest within nest ; the cosiest, softest,
warmest little nest, with eight delicately speckled eggs, at the
bottom of the Magpie's more spacious habitation. I declined
meddling with them j whether on account of the awkwardness of
my situation, or the intervening gooseberry bushes, or the
cruelty, I will not say."

174. THE COLE TIT.

Parus Ater, LIN. Petite Charbonniere, BUF. Die Tanenmeise, BECH.
Description. — The Cole Tit is four inches and two lines in

448 THE COLE TIT.

length, of which the tail measures one inch, and three quarters.
The beak, which is three lines long, is black, lighter at the
point ; the iris blackish brown ; the feet eight lines high, and
lead-coloured. The top of the head and neck are black ; from
the back of the head down the neck runs a broad white stripe ;
the cheeks, with the sides of the neck, are white, and form,
when the bird is perched, a three-cornered white spot. The
back is dark ashen blue; the rump a greenish ashen grey.
The throat, as far as the upper part of the breast, is black ;
the last black feathers being tipped with white. The breast
is white ; the rest of the upper part of the body also white,
tinged with red. The smaller wing coverts are like the back ;
the larger blackish, tipped with white, whence arises a double
white stripe. The pen feathers are a brownish grey, bordered
with a whiter shade ; the tail feathers of the same colour.

The female is with difficulty distinguished from the male.
The only difference is, that she is somewhat less black on the
breast, and less white on the side of the neck.

Habitat. — This Tit may be met with wherever there are
pine forests. In autumn, winter, and spring it may be some-
times seen in other woods and in gardens, but only during its
migrations. Large flocks pass in the winter, from one pine
forest to another. It seems to like the company of the Gold-
crested Wren, which is always found in its flocks, as well as
one or two of the Crested Tits, which serve as guides.

It is sometimes confined in a cage, but it is better when al-
lowed to have the run of the room among the other birds.

Food. — In a state of nature, the Cole Tits eat insects and
their eggs, and Iarva3, as well as the seeds of all species of
pine and fir. As the snow and hoar frost during the winter
frequently deprive them of sustenance, nature has taught them
to lay up in time of plenty a provision for the future. They
conceal a stock of seeds under the rough bark of the fir tree,
to which they have recourse in necessity. This instinct may
be noticed in these birds when in confinement, as they endea-
vour to hide their superfluous food in niches and crevices from
other birds, and sedulously visit their hoards, to be sure of their
safety. The Blue Tit and the Ox-eye manifest somewhat of
this tendency, and often carry their food into a corner, but do
not hide it with as much care and forethought as the Cole Tits.
They are generally fed with the universal paste.

THE COLE TIT. 449

Breeding. — The Cole Tit builds its nest of moss, lined with
hair and fur, in a deserted mole-hill, or mouse-hole ; sometimes
under the overhanging edge of an old wheel rut, and occasion-
ally in a crevice of a tree or wall. It lays, twice a year, six or
seven white eggs, spotted with light red. The young birds
resemble their parents, except that the black is paler.

Diseases. — The commonest disease among the Cole Tits is
decline, which may sometimes be prevented by giving them
fresh ants' eggs, especially at the period of moulting. I once
kept one six years, which was allowed to run about the room ;
it became at last giddy and blind, and died of old age.

Mode of Taking. — This bird may be caught like the last
mentioned; but being less shy,. an even easier method is often
available. A limed twig is tied upon a pole, with which it is
frequently possible to touch and catch the bird as it is perched
upon the tree. Its call is Tzvp-toen ! Like most Tits, it is a
delicate bird, and often dies before inured to the food of the
aviary.

Attractive Qualities. — It is an engaging and amusing bird,
always in motion ; bold, lively, never ceasing to hop and flut-
ter. Its song is a number of harsh, ringing, unconnected
notes, relieved by a clear, sonorous, Tzifi, tzifi ! repeated twenty
times in succession.

ADDITIONAL. — The Cole Tit, Coal Titmouse. This bird is the
smallest British species of the genus ; in form, as well as in colour,
it is very similar to its congeners, from which, however, the
practical ornithologist may readily distinguish it. In most, if
not all the counties of England, it is permanently resident, and,
according-to THOMPSON, is generally distributed over Ireland ;
while MACGILLIVKAY includes it among the birds found in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and SELBY says that it is common,
and even abundant, in the woods and pine forests of the north.
NEVILLE WOOD observes, that " the Cole Tit is said not to be so
plentiful in England as the Blue and Marsh Tits ; but in Derby-
shire I think it is at least as common. While the Marsh Tit is
busy exploring the low, swampy, reedy grounds, the present
species remains in the dry upland districts, exhibiting, at the
same time, that partiality to thick woods and copses, which is
observable throughout the genus. In these upland districts al-
most any thick wood will suit it, but I have ever observed the
oak to be its favourite tree. Either in plantations of young oaks,
or among isolated trees of a larger growth, it is almost sure to

G G

450 THE BLUE TIT.

be met with, and also, but not so commonly, in pine and fir
woods."

YAKEELL says, "like the Blue Tit, this species is constantly in
motion, sometimes associated with Gold Crests and Lesser B-ed-
poles, forming a small flock, and roving from tree to tree, in active
search for those small insects, and the seeds of various evergreens
upon which they principally subsist. They appear to bear cold
weather with indifference.

" This bird is at once distinguished from the Marsh Tit, by
the white patch on the nape of the neck, and by the white spots
in the wing coverts, which are always present, neither of which
are to be found in the Marsh Tit at any age."

According to HEWITSON, " when the Cole Tit breeds in the
holes of trees, it is usually at a less elevation than the other
species, and sometimes even in cavities which occur amongst the
exposed roots."

" The song of the Cole Tit," observes MUDIE, " is not indeed
one of many notes, or of mellifluous inflexions — it is little else
than the same note repeated four or five times, but with so much
variety of pitch and tune, as to form a sort of cadence, which
would make a good variety anywhere, as it is shrill and clear.
The bird sings in the noontide heat, when most birds, and
especially those of the open wastes, with which the haunts of
this species are interspersed, are usually silent. While the Cole
Tit is singing away in the plantation of half grown pines, often
heard, but seldom seen, the Marsh species may be seen flitting
about among the long fragrant broom, which often grows thick
in the neighbourhood : but as the one is heard while the other is
seen, that causes them to be sometimes confounded."

175. THE BLUE TIT, OK TOM TIT.

Parus Coerulews, LIN. Mesange Bleue, BUF. Die Blaumeise, BECH.

Description. — This very pretty bird is four inches and a half
long, of which the tail measures two inches. The beak is
three lines long, blackish except at the edges and point, which
are white ; the iris is dark brown ; the feet lead colour, and
eight lines in height. The forehead and cheeks are white ;
and a white stripe passes from the forehead over the eyes, and
encircles the top of the head, which is a beautiful blue. A
black stripe runs between the eyes : the throat is black ; and
between it and the neck is a dark blue stripe, which surrounds
the head. There is a white spot on the nape of the neck ; and
the back is light Siskin green, the feathers being of a more
silky texture than in most birds of this genus. The under

PLATE 34.

\

TIT. 453

TlT.

Parus de Marais, ou Nanette de Cendre'e, Bur.

jumpfmeise, BECH.

Desc'i - Marsh Tit is four inches and a quarter

in lengtl^ '.Ji the tail measures two inches. The beak

is four lint .jng, and black ; the feet lead coloured, and five
lines in height. The top of the head is black : the cheeks
and temples white ; the throat black. The upper part of the
body is brownish grey; the under part dirty white, tinged
with red at the sides and vent. The wings and tail are
blackish grey, edged with reddish white.

In the female, the black on the throat is hardly perceptible.

Habitat. — This bird frequents gardens and groves through-
out the year : but in winter, collects in nocks, which wander
from place to place in search of food. In confinement, it may
be allowed the free range of the aviary. It is a delicate bird,
and when first caught requires considerable attention.

Food, — In a wild state, it eats seeds, insects, ana elderberries.
In the aviary it may be treated like other Tits ; and may be
brought to eat the universal paste, by means of ants' eggs or
elderberries. The seeds of the sunflower will answer the
same purpose ; and this food is said to have a favourable effect
on the bird's longevity. It is also fond of oats, and hemp seed.

Breeding. — The Marsh Tit builds its nest in hollow trees, of
moss and grass, lined with hair and feathers. The female lays
ten or twelve eggs, which are a rusty white, spotted with orange.

Mode of Taking. — In winter,- this bird may easily be taken
in the Tit trap, if baited with nut kernels and oats. A still
surer method is to fix limed twigs on the sunflower blossoms :
which, if growing in a garden not frequented by these birds,
may be carried to some place where they have been often ob-
served.

Attractive Qualities. — The Marsh Tit is a handsome bird ;
and its song, though weak, is agreeable. It is rendered some-
what remarkable by the syllables deay deay, hitzi, iltz, Ufa,
which also form its call-notes in the pairing season. I have
never been able to keep one of these birds longer than two or
three years.

ADDITIONAL.— The Black-headed Tom Tit and the Marsh Tit-
mouse are names by which this bird is commonly known ; the

454 THE C

species, although plentiful in m. ally

distributed as those already desc. tuent

mostly low tracts of swampy land, nic. lows,

where there are plenty of old willows anu ckets,

amid which they love to breed and nestle, lonally

orchards, and gardens, and cultivated tracts, i^ A insect

food. These birds, like the other members of the amily, re-
main in this country throughout the year ; they are active and
sprightly birds, constantly flitting from place to place, feeding on
insects in their various stages, not excepting bees, and occasionally
on seeds, being very partial to those of the sunflower and thistle.
SELBY says that they will eat stale flesh. Their call note is a
single sharp chirp, like that of the other Tits, from which their
voice is only to be distinguished, says YAEEELL, when they put
forth a rapid succession of notes, more remarkable for chattering
gaiety than quality of tone. MONTAGUE states, that he has seen
this bird excavating the decayed part of the willow, carrying the
chips in its bill to some distance, always working downwards, and
making the bottom, for the reception of the nest, larger than the
entrance. The nest, according to this authority, is composed of
moss and thistledown ; sometimes a little wool ; and lined with the
down of the thistle.

TAMEABLE ONLY WHEN YOUNG.

177. THE CRESTED TIT.
Parus Cristattts, LIN. Mesange Huppce, BUF. Die Haubenmeise, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is about the size of the fore-
going, is four inches and a half in length, of which the tail
measures one inch and one-third. The beak is four lines long,
and black ; the feet lead-coloured, and seven lines in height.
The head is surmounted by a pointed crest, almost one inch in
height, which consists of black feathers, edged with white, and
of progressively greater lengths. The forehead is mottled with
black and white ; the cheeks are light grey, edged with black
below and behind. A broad reddish- white stripe runs from
the corner of the beak to the nape of the neck ; the throat is
black, and the neck surrounded by a black collar. The back
is reddish grey ; the breast and belly whitish ; the sides in-
clining to red ; the wings and tail greyish brown. The female
may be distinguished from the male, by the fact that its crest
is not so high, nor the black of the throat so bright.

THE CRESTED TIT. 455

Habitat. — The Crested Tit, which is hardly so common as
the species already enumerated, frequents woods of coniferous
trees, and seems to prefer spots where the juniper tree abounds.
It is a shy bird, concealing itself deep in the underwood. In
confinement, it may be treated like the Tom Tit, though a much
more delicate bird, and far less easy to tame.

Food. — In a wild state, its food is the same as that of the
Ox-eye. It will soon become accustomed to the food of the
aviary, if kept for a few days on ants' eggs and meal worms.

Breeding. — It builds its nest, which is like that of the Ox-
eye, in hollow trees, between stones, or in the deserted habita-
tions of other and larger birds. The female lays from six to
ten snowy white eggs, marked with numerous indistinct blood-
coloured spots. The young birds, if taken from the nest, may
be reared on chopped meal worms and ants' eggs ; but the best
plan is to take the old ones with their brood, which, if sup-
plied with ants' eggs, they will continue to feed and tend.

Mode of Taking. — The Crested Tit may be taken in the same
manner as the Ox-eye.

Attractive Qualities. — This is a pretty bird, but its song is
weak, and presents nothing worthy of notice. Its call is
Goerrkee !

ADDITIONAL. — But few specimens of this bird have beeD ob-
tained in Great Britain, and these only in the northern parts.
COL. MONTAGUE, in his Ornithological Dictionary, says : " It is
not uncommon in the large tracts of pines in the north of Scot-
land, particularly in the forest of Gleumoor, the property of the
Duke of Gordon." SIE WILLIAM JAEDINE, in a note to SELBY'S
British Ornithology, states that it annually breeds in some plan-
tations not far distant from Glasgow, and elsewhere states, that
he had received the nest of this species taken from some hollow
tree, and that the inside lining was composed of the scales and
cast-off exuvia of snakes. JOHN WALCOT, Esq., in the second
volume of his Synopsis of British Birds, and DR. LATHAM, in the
second supplementary volume to his General Synopsis, also report
that they have heard of the species being plentiful in some parts
of Scotland. MACGILLIVEAY has never seen the bird alive, nor
MTJDIE, although the latter states that he has been much in these
northern forests, which it is said to inhabit.

456 THE BEAEDED TIT.

178. THE BEAEDED TIT.

Parus Biarmicus, LIN. Mesange Barlue ou Moustache, BUF. Die
Bartmeise, BECH.

Description. — This handsome bird, which is about the size
of the Ox-eye, measures six inches and a half in length, and
ten inches and a quarter from tip to tip of the expanded wings.
The beak is four lines long, and somewhat curved at the point,
in colour orange, and surrounded by black bristles. The fore-
head is yellow ; the feet black, and one inch in height. The
head is light grey ; and beneath the eye is a conical tuft of
black feathers, almost like a moustache, from which the bird
derives its name. The nape of the neck and upper part of the
back are orange ; the throat is white ; the breast flesh-colour ;
the belly, sides, and thighs, like the back, but of a somewhat
lighter shade ; the vent black. The tail is three inches and
three quarters in length, wedge-shaped, and orange. The
outer feather is darker at the root, and almost white at the
point, and the third is also tipped with white.

The female may be distinguished from the male by the ab-
sence of the moustache. The top of the head is rusty red,
spotted with black ; and the vent feathers are of the same co-
lour as the breast and belly.

Habitat. — The Bearded Tit is a native of Germany, and is
found in the neighbourhood of lakes and marshes, or, indeed,
wherever there is an abundance of reeds and rushes. It is
rarely seen in summer, at which season it retreats, in pairs,
into the depths of the morasses ; but in winter it assembles in
small flocks, which scour the open country in search of food.
In confinement, it may be allowed either to range the room, or
may be kept in a large cage.

Food. — It eats various kinds of insects, especially the aquatic
species, and the seeds of the common rush (Arundo Phrag-
mites, LIN.) When first caught, it should be fed on poppy-
seed, ants' eggs, and meal worms ; but is afterwards content
with crushed hemp seed, and the usual food of the aviary.

Breeding. — On this head we have but little information to
oner. The nest of the Bearded Tit is fixed among the reed-
stalks ; is purse-shaped, and composed of grass-stalks and
vegetable wool. The eggs, which are pale red, with spots of

THE LONG-TAILED TIT. 457

various colours, are four or five in number. The young birds
should be taken out of the nest when nearly fledged, and reared
on ants' eggs and chopped meal worms.

Mode of Taking. — This is not an easy bird to catch ; though
fishermen and fowlers sometimes observe the spots which it
frequents, and set limed twigs for it.

Attractive Qualities. — These are chiefly its beauty, elegance
of form, and lively disposition. Some of the notes in the song
of the male deserve to be compared with those of the Tom Tit.

ADDITIONAL.- — This bird has been separated from the genus
Parus by Dr. LEACH, in his Systematic Catalogue, and dis-
tinguished by the generic title Calamopfiilus, in reference to its
partiality for those marshy and fenny districts in which reeds
grow most luxuriantly. It does not appear to have ever been a
very rare bird in this country, yet from the soft and almost
inaccessible nature of the places which it mostly frequents, but
little comparatively was known of its habits, until recent con-
tributions to the various periodicals devoted to natural history,
served to place them in a clearer light. A writer in London s
Magazine, a few years since, stated " that after a close search, he
had discovered a flock of eight or ten of these beautiful little
creatures on the wing, in a large piece of reeds, below Barking
Creek, in Essex. They were just topping the reeds in their
flight, and uttering in rail chorus their sweetly musical note ; it
may be compared to the music of very small cymbals, is clear
and ringing, though soft, and corresponds well with the delicacy
and beauty of the form and colour of the birds. Several flocks
were seen during the morning. Their flight was short and low,
only sufficient to clear the reeds, on the seedy tops of which they
alight to feed, hanging, like most of their trioe, with the head or
back downwards. If disturbed, they immediately descend by
running, or rather by dropping. The movement is rapid along
the stalk to the bottom, where they creep and flit, perfectly con-
cealed from view by the closeness of the covert, and the resem-
bling tints of their plumage."

MACGILLIVRAY calls this bird the Bearded Pinnock ; he says
it is also known as the Least Butcher Bird ; according to MUDIE,
it ought to be called the Bearded Reed Bird.

179. THE LONG-TAILED TIT.

Paurua Candatus, LIN.
In the same genus with the preceding species, Dr. LEACH

458 THE LONG -TAILED TIT.

places the Long-tailed Tit, of which bird BECHSTEIN makes no
mention. As, however, it is with us a common species, and
as capable of domestication as either of the other Tits, and,
moreover, an extremely beautiful and interesting bird; we
think it ought to be included here. MACGILLIVEAY makes it
the only British type of a separate genus, which he calls Me-
cistura, or Mufflin, and gives the following distinctive marks —
" Tail very long, plumage extremely soft and tufty ; head,
throat, and breast white; a broad band over the eye; the
nape and the back, black ; scapulars reddish, tail black, the
three lateral feathers on each side externally white. Young,
duller, without red on the scapulars.

" This singular-looking bird, the most diminutive of our
British species, except the Kinglets, is generally distributed
in the wooded and cultivated districts. Its habits are similar
to those of the Tits, with which it occasionally associates ; but
it differs from them in attaching to the branches its nest, which
is of an oblong form, composed of moss and lichens, lined with
feathers, and having a small aperture near the top. The eggs
are numerous, from six to seven twelfths long, and about five
twelfths in breadth ; white, generally marked with numerous
faint red dots at the larger end. I have seen a nest, in which
were sixteen young ones."

The Long-tailed Mufflin is the name by which this author
distinguishes the bird ; it has also several popular local titles,
such as the Long-tailed Mag, Huck-muck, Poke-pudding,
Mum-ruffin, Bottle Tom, Bottle Tit, the two last having
reference to the shape of its nest, which is indeed a curious
and elaborate structure, bearing some rude resemblance to a
bottle in shape. RENNIE calls it " the most artfully con-
structed nest of any of our British birds," and quotes the
descriptions given of it by DERHAM and ALDROVANDI, which
in the main appear to be correct.

According to NEVILLE WOOD, this species, unlike most of
the other British Tits, is entirely insectivorous, being never
observed to feed on carrion of any kind. It seeks its insect
prey among the branches and foliage of trees, with the same
assiduity as its congeners, hanging on the under sides of the
twigs, and frequently running up and down on the branches
in the same manner as the Gold-Crested Kinglet. Sometimes

DOVES. 459

it associates with the Blue and Coal Tits, but is more com-
monly observed in flocks of twelve or fourteen, probably
constituting the family party. Its flight, though never con-
tinued for any length of time, is straight and rapid.

Dr. LIVERPOOL reports that he has often endeavoured to
preserve this bird in confinement, but without success. A
pair of old birds which he once caught in a trap- cage, were
extremely shy and obstreperous, and would eat nothing but
insects ; and as sufficient of this kind of food could not be
procured for them, they soon died. He had no better success
with individuals taken from the nest.

VII. DOVES.*

THE beak in this species is thin and straight, with the exception
of a slight curvature at the point ; covered with a membrane,
and somewhat swollen at the base. The shanks are short,
and the toes divided to their origin. Doves subsist chiefly on
grain and seeds ; though some of the wild varieties eat bil-
berries also. They produce only two young ones in every
brood, which they feed with seeds softened in their own crop.
They were formerly classed either with passerine birds or
poultry ; but they have so many distinguishing characteristics,
as to make it advisable to range them in a separate order. All
the species which I shall mention are indigenous, and may be
tamed at any age.

ADDITIONAL. — According to the Quinary system, the Dovea
form the first family group of Order III. Hasores, or Scratchers.
CUVIEB places them among the Gallinaceous tribes, to which
they certainly belong ; TEMMINCK makes them compose his ninth
order, Columba; and MACGILLIVEAY his eleventh order, to which
he gives the distinctive title of G-emitrices, or Cooers. " These
being," he says, " the only single family of Columbines in this
order, the characters of the family and order are the same. The
variations in the form of the wings and tail, as well as other
circumstances, give rise to a number of generic distinctions. The

* Taulen, BECH. Columba.

460 THE STOCK DOYE.

four species which occur in Britain belong to the genus Columba.
A solitary individual of an American species has also been ad-
duced, belonging to the genus Ectopistes"

This is the Long-tailed Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes Mi-
gratoria), of which the only specimen obtained in this country
was described by Dr. FLEMING in his History of British Animals.
Of the Columbine birds MUDIE observes, " that they have in all
ages claimed much of the attention of mankind ; and the poets
have chosen them as the type of all that is gentle, amiable, and
affectionate. The mournful sound of their voices, the attachment
of the pair to each other, and to their young ; the form, gloss, and
colour of the birds, and the evolutions which they perform on
the wing, all give them an interest to the lover of nature ; while
the rapid rate at which they breed, and the flavour of their flesh,
have made them of consideration in an economical point of view.
They are, however, very voracious feeders, and while the ripe
grain and pulse are in the ground, probably destroy more than
they are worth ; but at other seasons they are not without their
uses.

" The characteristics of the order are : the bill of moderatelength,
covered at the base with a membrane, in which the nostrils are
pierced, and the upper mandible curved at the point ; the tail
containing twelve feathers, and the feet having three toes before
and one behind, free their whole length, and all articulated to the
extremity of the tarsus, so that they are equally adapted for
walking on the ground, for perching, or supporting the bird on
tufts of vegetation, of which it eats the seed."

180. THE STOCK DOVE.
Columba (Enas, Lix. Le Biset, BUF. Die Holztaube, BECH.

Description. — The Stock Dove is thirteen inches in length,
and about the size of the common Pigeon. The beak, which
is somewhat curved at the point, is whitish, except in summer,
when it changes to a pale red ; that portion of it, however,
round the nostrils is orange. The iris is brown: the feet
blood red. The head, as far as the middle of the neck, is
bluish grey: the middle and lower part of the neck dove
colour : the breast is reddish grey, with a bright purple gloss
upon it : the rest of the under part of the body light grey.
The upper part of the back, with the wing coverts and scapulars,
are grey, the latter being also tinged with red : the middle of

THE STOCK DOVE. 461

the back, rump, and larger wing coverts light grey. The
pen feathers blackish, some having also a border of light?
grey. The centre pen feathers are tipped with black, and the
larger wing coverts are spotted with black on the middle of
the outer plume, which produces two large black spots on
the wings. The half of the tail nearest the root is a beau-
tiful grey ; but becomes gradually darker, so that the tip is
quite black.

In the female, the green colour on the neck and the purple
of the breast are not so distinct : and the general hue of the
plumage is more of a dingy bluish grey than in the male.

Were it not for our accurate knowledge of the Wild Pigeon
( Columba domesticaferaj, one might suppose the Stock Dove
to be the original parent of the numerous varieties of Tame
Pigeons : as it bears a considerable resemblance to them in
colour and size ; chooses similar situations for its nest ; often
accompanies them to the dovecot, where it remains with them
throughout the winter : and pairs with them either in the
farm yard or aviary.

Habitat. — The Stock Dove frequents mountainous districts,
if well covered with trees, and seems to prefer the bases
rather than the summits of a mountain chain, as being less
remote from the open country where it seeks its food. It
is generally found in woods, in which coniferous are mixed
with other trees. It is a sociable bird, departing in large
flocks about October, and returning in the beginning of
March, or, if the season be mild, as early as the end of
February.

In country places the Stock Dove is often made an inmate
of the house : and if taken young, or reared from eggs which
have been hatched by the domestic Pigeon, may be kept in
the dovecot. In winter, however, it requires considerable
warmth.

Food.— The food of the Stock Dove, like that of the domestic
Pigeon, consists of various kinds of grain, as well as peas,
lentils, vetches, linseed, pine and fir seeds, &c. It is especially
fond of hemp seed. It rarely lives more than five or six years
in confinement.

Breeding. — The Stock Dove builds its nest in hollow trees, or
crevices of rocks, and produces two broods in a year. The
eggs are white, and are hatched without difficulty by the

462 THE STOCK DOVE.

domestic Pigeon. If the young ones, thus reared, be pre-
vented from migrating in the autumn, they will pair in the
spring with the Pigeons, and produce very handsome mules.
Of these bastard broods, however, it is very rare that both
birds are reared.

Mode of Talcing. — This, like the two following species, may
be easily taken at the salt-licks provided for the deer, by means
of a clap net, which the fowler must be ready to throw over
them when they perch. Between twelve and one o'clock, and
occasionally after sunset, they may be taken in the water trap ;
but are very cautious in their approach to it.

Attractive Qualities. — The beauty, affectionate disposition,
and agreeable cooing notes of this bird, are sufficient to give it
a place in any aviary.

ADDITIONAL. — MACGILLIVRAY terms this the Blue-backed
Dove, and says that the above name was given to it at a time
when it was believed to be the origin of the domestic races, and
identical with the Eock Dove, which will presently be described,
and to which in form, size, and general appearance, it is very-
similar. TEMMINCK, it seems, was the first naturalist who clearly
distinguished and separated the two species. The one which we
have now to notice is sometimes called the Wood Dove. MUDIE
observes, that "this is a smaller species than the Eing Dove, and
in England it is rare, excepting in the midland counties. The
southern parts of Europe are its principal haunts ; but it is a
roaming bird, and migrates in large flocks. It is a percher, and
always nestles in holes of trees, or in tall bushes, which might
have convinced authors that it could not well be the parent stock
of those numerous varieties which live in Pigeon holes, and never
perch or build in trees, though the Pigeon houses are in the
middle of woods. If the domestic Pigeon had been derived from
the Stock Dove, (or the 'Bush Dove,' as it is sometimes cajled with
more propriety), we should certainly have found it resting upon, or
moaning its note from the trees of the garden, rather than the
roof of the house. The only note of the Stock Dove is a hollow
grunt. The same pair builds for years in the same place. This
bird has no white on the rump, no bars on the wings ; it is thicker
at the shoulders and on the breast than the domestic Pigeon.
The legs and feet are not so strong, the former are not so much
feathered, and the claws are not so well armed on their under-
sides with pads and tubercles."

YAEEELL observes, that " the Stock Dove is perfectly distinct
from the Eock Dove, as its localities, habits, voice, and plumage
will sufficiently demonstrate. It was called cenus by EAT, on

THE KING DOVE. 463

account of the vinous claret colour of the plumage of the neck ;
and Stock Dove, not because it was by some considered to be the
origin of our domestic stock, but because it builds on the stocks
of trees, particularly such as have been headed down, and have
become in consequence rugged and bushy at the top. In the
open counties 01 Suffolk and Norfolk, this species frequently
makes its nest in holes in the ground, generally selecting a rabbit's
burrow for the purpose." ME. JENYNS says " the Stock Dove
inhabits woods with the King Dove, but is less plentiful and
more local ; not uncommon in some of the midland and eastern
counties, where it remains the whole year. Builds in the hollow
of pollard trees, and lays two eggs ; does not coo like the King
Dove, but utters a hollow rumbling note, heard at intervals
throughout the spring and summer months'; flocks with the
King Dove in winter, and supports itself in the same manner."

181. THE KING DOTE.
Columba Palumdus, LIN. Le Ramier, BUF. Die Ringeltaube, BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is seventeen inches and a
half in length, and the largest of our European Wild Pigeons,
is supposed by some naturalists to be the original of our large
domestic Pigeons. It is, however, not so easy to tame as the
Stock Dove : seems not to like the company of House Pigeons,
and will not build, like them, in holes provided for the purpose,
but prefers to choose its own position for a nest.

The beak is reddish white ; the iris whitish yellow ; the feet
reddish. The head and the throat are dark ashen grey ; the
front of the neck and the breast grey, inclining to purple ; the
side and back of the neck beautifully iridescent. A large
crescent-shaped white spot adorns the side of the neck near the
base, but does not quite surround it. The belly, vent, and
thighs, are whitish grey ; the plumage of the side light ashen
grey ; the top of the back, shoulders, and small wing coverts
greyish brown ; the rump ashen grey. The coverts of the first
row of pen feathers are black ; the first great wing coverts
white, which occasions a white spot on the wings. The
remaining coverts are ashen grey ; the tail feathers grey,
gradually inclining to black towards the end.

Habitat. — This Pigeon inhabits the temperate zone of Europe
and Asia, and is therefore common in the woods of Germany.
It is a bird of passage, departing in small flocks in the beginning
of October, and returning in or after the middle of March, but

4G4 THE ErNTG DOTE.

always some weeks before the Stock Dove. In harvest time it
may be noticed in groves near the corn fields.

Food. — It feeds on all sorts of corn, as well as leguminous
seeds, and bilberries. "When confined, it must be fed at first on
wheat, afterwards on all sorts of grain, except oats. It is,
however, impossible to preserve it long.

Breeding. — The nest is built in high trees, and made of dried
branches in so clumsy a manner, as to be often blown down by
the wind. The female has two broods a year, and lays each
time two large white eggs. If the eggs be put.under a domestic
Pigeon, they will be hatched, and the young birds, if kept
in a room at the season of migration, and during severe winters,
will be accustomed to the dovecot. The Ring Dove sometimes
pairs with the domestic Pigeon, but I have never observed any
result. Perhaps further experiments might succeed in produc-
ing a hybrid.

Mode of Taking. — The Ring Dove may be caught like
the Stock Dove. Old birds when taken, learn to eat with
great difficulty ; and most of them would die of hunger, if not
crammed.

Attractive Qualities. — This is a handsome bird ; and the sono-
rous coo of the male is very agreeable. The accompanying
movements also are very amusing: he hops now forwards
now backwards, now sideways ; and turns his head in every
direction. The Ring Dove becomes exceedingly tame.

ADDITIONAL. — The Ringed Dove, "Wood Pigeon, or Cushat,
are the names commonly applied to this bird, the largest known
to us of the Dove species, and by some naturalists considered as
the origin of the several beautiful varieties that inhabit the Dove-
cot and the Pigeon-house ; the difficulty of taming and induc-
ing it to live in a domestic state would seem to militate against
such an opinion. " It is," says, MACGILLIVBAY, " a strong bird of
its size, having its body large and full, the neck rather short, the
feet short and strong, the wings and tail rather long." According
to the same author, " the species is generally distributed, being
found in all the more or less wooded districts of England and Scot-
land ; but prefers cultivated tracts, avoiding those which are
bare and rocky ; and as it does not repose at night on rocks, it
is not met with in the unwooded isles of the North. In winter it
appears in large flocks, sometimes amounting to many hundreds,
when the individuals of a district congregate in some favourable
locality, although in ordinary circumstances it is not so decidedly

THE TURTLE DOVE. 4f)O

gregarious as the Kock Dove. It has a strong and rapid flight,
performed by quick beats of the half-extended wing, with occa-
sional intermissions, its pinions sounding as it glides along ; and
when on an excursion to a distant part, it flies high above the
trees, whereas the species just mentioned generally proceeds
at a small elevation. When it has espied a place likely to af-
ford a supply of food, it alights abruptly, and usually stands
for a short time to look about, after which it commences its
search. On the ground its position is a little declined, the tail
nearly touching the surface ; and, when feeding, owing to the
shortness of its legs, its breast is but slightly elevated. It walks
in the manner of the Domestic Pigeon, that is with short and
quick steps, moving its head gently backwards and forwards.
The flock disperses and spreads over the fields, it being seldom
that two or three individuals keep close together, and they gene-
rally take care not to approach the enclosing walls or hedges, so
that it is difficult to shoot them on the ground. In the time of
snow or hard frost, they frequent turnip fields, and are more
easily approached ; but in general they are very suspicious and
vigilant, ever ready to fly off on the slightest appearance of
danger. Even by clear moonlight, when I have tried to shoot
them on the roost, they perceive their enemy before he can -discover
them. Frequently, however, in the woods, more especially in the
breeding season, one may surprise them within shooting distance ;
and, by waiting for their arrival at their roosting places in winter,
considerable execution may occasionally be done among them.
As the flesh of this Pigeon affords a sufficiently palatable article
of food, it is abundant in our markets in winter and spring."

182. THE TURTLE DOVE.

Columba Turtur, LIN. la Tourterelle, BUF. Die Turteltaube, BECH.
Description. — This handsome bird is about the size of a
Missel Thrush, and ten to eleven inches in length. The beak
is slender and light blue ; the iris orange ; and a narrow bare
ring round the eyes flesh-coloured. The feet are purple ; the
forehead whitish ; the top of the head and upper part of the
neck light blue ; a colour which extends down the back, be-
coming darker and more dingy near the tail. There is a black
spot on each side of the neck, together with three or four
crescent- shaped transverse white stripes. The throat, belly,
and vent are white ; the neck and breast a light reddish violet.
The uppermost small wing coverts are light grey; the rest
blackish, with a broad border of rust colour. The foremost
pen feathers are blackish; the hindmost ashen grey, edged

H H

466 THE TURTLE DOVE.

with rose colour, which gives a very handsome appearance to
the wings. The tail feathers are blackish ; the centre feathers
wholly so ; the rest tipped with white.

In the female the breast is paler ; the wings are spotted
with rust colour ; and the spots on the neck are not so large.

Habitat. — In a wild state these birds are found throughout
the temperate zone of Europe and Asia, and in some of the
South Sea Islands. They frequent woody and mountainous
districts, but do not penetrate far into the great mountain
ranges, and are sometimes met with in gardens and detached
groves. They are the least hardy of our wild Pigeons ; and
though returning from their migration at the end of April and
beginning of May, depart again in September. In seasons
when fir cones are unusually abundant, as, for instance, 1788,
they have been seen in vast numbers in the Thuringian Forest.
They are by no means shy.

In confinement they may either be allowed to range the
aviary or may be kept in a space near the oven, divided from
the rest of the room by a grating. Young birds, which have
been reared by domestic Pigeons, may safely be kept in the
dovecot ; which, however, should always be in such a position
as to admit of the application, in winter, of artificial heat.
They are occasionally confined in garden aviaries, in which
they will not only breed among themselves, but will produce
Mules with the Collared Turtle.

Food. — The seeds of coniferous trees form the chief food of
the Turtle Dove ; though it also eats vetches, peas, linseed,
millet, hemp and rape seed, rye, wheat, buckwheat, barley, and
bilberries.

In the aviary it is content with bread, and is very easily
preserved.

Breeding. — The nest is made of a few dry twigs laid toge-
ther ; and though tolerably secure when built in a pine tree, is
often blown out of beech and other trees. The female lays
two white eggs.

The Turtle Dove, whether reared from the nest or caught
when not very old, will breed in confinement, and make a nest
in a small straw basket fixed in the corner of the cage or
grating. The eggs are generally without hard shells ; and it
is, therefore, easier to rear Mules between this and the Collared
Turtle, in which case the eggs are fully provided with shells.

THE TTJETLE DOVE. 407

The young Turtle Doves are grey on the upper part of the
body, and are spotted with blackish blue on the wings. The
Mules betwreen the Turtle and the Collared Turtle are variously
marked, according to the degree in which they partake of the
characteristics of each parent. They are generally reddish
grey on the head, neck, and breast ; and of similar colour on
the back and wing coverts, which are, however, covered with
indistinct dark spots. The belly, the hindmost pen feathers,
and the tip of the tail feathers are white ; the larger pen
feathers a greyish brown. These Mules are fruitful; and a
peculiarity, which I have also noticed in Mules between other
species, is that they are larger than their parents, and have a
peculiar cry. Their cooing is louder, though not so pleasant ;
and, while uttering it, they make a deep inclination of the
body, like the Collared Turtle.

Mode of Taking. — The Turtle Dove may be caught in the
same manner as the foregoing species.

^Attractive Qualities. — This is a favourite Cage-bird in coun^
try places, not only on account of its tameness, beauty, and
affectionate disposition, but because it is supposed to attract to
itself the diseases of its owner. It is certainly true that if
sickness prevail in the house, the Doves appear to suffer with
the rest. The cooing of the male, also, is very peculiar, con-
sisting of a deep humming tone ; after uttering which it drops
its head, and remains quiet. It often lives eight or nine years
in confinement.

ADDITIONAL. — The Turtle, or Bing-necked Turtle, as it is
sometimes called, is with us a summer visitant only, and confines
itself pretty much to the southern and south-eastern counties.
MACGILLIVEAY is not aware that it has ever occurred in Scotland.
MONTAGUE states that it is found, though rarely, as far west as
Devonshire ; and, according to BEWICK and SELBY, some indi-
viduals have been seen in Northumberland in autumn. It is in
the woods of Kent from whence they sally forth to commit their
depredations upon the neighbouring pea-fields, that these beau-
tiful birds may be most frequently seen. They usually fly in
small flocks, and nestle on the thickest trees, emitting a peculiarly
plaintive cry. By the end of September they are generally all
away to a warmer climate ; their shallow nests are deserted, and
their soft Coo-o-o-o is heard no more in the autumnal woodlands.
" Doves," says GILBEET WHITE, " coo in an amorous and mourn-
ful manner, and are emblems of despairing lovers." And of all

H n 2

468 THE COLLARED TURTLE.

the cooers not one we think has a note so tender and mournful as
this : hence, perhaps, it is that the poets have agreed to make the
Turtle the emblem of constancy and devotion to its mate.

183. THE COLLARED TURTLE.
Columba Risoria, LIN. Tourterelka Collier, BUF. Die Lachtaube, BECH.

Description. — This bird is one foot in length, and somewhat
larger than the common Turtle Dove. The beak is slender and
blackish, except near the root, where it is reddish white ; the
iris is golden yellow ; the feet blood red. The upper part of
the body is reddish white ; the under part white ; and the
back of the neck is marked b;y a black spot, in the shape of a
crescent, the points of which are turned to the front, and which
is edged at the back by a narrow stripe of white. The shafts
of the foremost pen feathers and tail leathers are blackish ; and
the under side of the tail is variegated with black and white.

The female is somewhat smaller and lighter in colour than
the male.

Habitat. — The Collared Turtle is a native of India and
China, from which countries it has been brought to Europe,
where it is now domesticated, and may often be seen in cot-
tages, the simple inhabitants of which imagine that it attracts
their diseases to itself. It may either be kept in a large cage,
or a warm grated corner, or allowed the entire range of the
room. In the latter case its wings must be cut, or tied, lest it
should break the windows, or do any other damage. The ex-
periment of keeping the Collared Turtle in ordinary dovecots
has been tried with success ; but the application of artificial
heat is necessary to preserve it alive during the winter.

Food. — The favourite food of this bird is wheat, and the
peasants often give it the sif tings of their corn. It will also
eat bread, millet, poppy, rape, and linseed.

Breeding. — The Collared Turtle readily breeds in confine-
ment, and will construct its rude nest with a few straws and
grass stalks, if provided with a basket for the purpose. The
female lays two beautiful white eggs, on which she sits for
sixteen days. She rarely, however, succeeds in rearing both
young ones ; as an egg either proves addled or the nestling is
suffered to die of hunger ; and it is, therefore, a rare occur-
rence if more than six young birds are preserved from one pair
in a year. The nestlings exactly resemble their parents, and

PLATE36.

.

THE WILD EOCK PIGEOH". 469

the presence or absence of the reddish hue is a sure criterion
by which to distinguish the sex.

Diseases. — Besides diecline, which may be treated in the
manner mentioned in the Introduction, the Turtle Dove seems
liable to all the diseases which attack the persons with whom
they live. In this manner it catches the small-pox, swollen
feet, &c. The young birds, before they are able to feed them-
selves, often suffer from ulcers in the crop, which exude a
foetid, cheesy matter. This disease is almost always fatal ; but
it may be prevented by supplying the old birds with abundance
of fresh water, and a change of food. Owing to the many
diseases to which this bird is liable, it rarely lives more than
eight years.

Attractive Qualities. — The Collared Turtle is a very clean
bird, and its cooing, hihihihihririh ! resembles the sound of hu-
man laughter. The male is very fond of his mate ; perches
near her during the night, and appears to delight her with his
cooing. When he invites her to the nest, he utters another
note, which rather resembles a howl, but does not turn himself
round, like the Domestic Pigeon. He hops towards her, then
stands still, lowers his head to the ground, dilates his crop, and
cries, Kukruhl

184. THE WILD EOCK PIGEON.

Columba Domestlca, LIN. Bisct, ou Pigeon de Roche, BUF. Die Hau-
staube, BECH.

Description. — As the Domestic Pigeon, of which this species
is the original stock, is, correctly speaking, an inhabitant of
the farm-yard, I might with propriety pass it by without men-
tion. Nevertheless, as there are varieties, which the bird-
fancier might not think unworthy of a place in the aviary, I
subjoin a few particulars. The Wild Eock Pigeon is the
parent stock of the numerous varieties of Domestic Pigeons.
In Germany, it may be noticed in open dove-cots in the farm-
yards, in churches, towers, old buildings, &c. ; while in Eng-
land, Italy, and Eussia, it is found wild in great numbers in
holes of the rocks at the sea side. It is bare-headed, and the
hue of its plumage is dark grey, or lead-colour, with a purple
gloss on the head and breast. The lower part of the back is
white ; two blackish blue stripes cross each other on the wings;
the pen feathers are blackish blue j the tail grey, tipped with

470 THE WILD BOCK PIGEON.

blackish blue, and having the outermost feathers edged with
white.

The most remarkable varieties of this species are the fol-
lowing : —

1. The Monk is a Crested Pigeon. The head and crest are
white ; the rest of the body yellow, red, blue, or black.

2. The Shield Pigeon is only occasionally crested. The
plumage is white, with exception of the scapulars, wing coverts,
and hinder pen feathers, which are yellow, red, blue, black,
or silvery grey.

3. The Swallow Pigeon is pure white, except the wings and
a round spot on the top of the head, which are yellow, red,
blue, black, or silvery grey. It sometimes has a crest.

4. The Striped Monk is black, with a white poll, and white
stripes across the wings.

5. The White Head is like No. 1 in every respect, except in
having a white tail.

6. The Marked Pigeon is white, with the exception of a small
streak on the forehead, and another on the tail, which are dark
red, or almost black.

7. The Starling -necked Pigeon is blackish blue, with white
stripes across the wings, and a narrow white streak on the
breast.

8. The Pouter is a Crested Pigeon. The plumage is white,
with exception of the poll, top of the neck, and breast, which
are marked with brown, black, or yellow. Another variety
has a coloured tail.

9. The Veiled Dove is white, with exception of the head,
neck, and foremost pen feathers, which are black, red, or yellow.

10. The Striped Starling-necked White Mead is the hand-
somest of all. It is black, with a white poll and tail, and white
stripes on the wings and breast.

There are, besides these, many other varieties of the Domestic
Pigeon; which, however, are said by naturalists not to be
originally derived from the Wild Rock Pigeon, but to be them-
selves indigenous in different parts of the world. Among
these are : —

1 . The Trumpeter Pigeon, so called from its peculiar cooing,
is crested, and generally has its feet covered with leathers. It
is met with in all colours, but is often mottled with black and
white. It is a good breeder.

THE WILD ROCK PIGEON. 471

2. The Tumbler, which derives its name from the fact that
it overbalances itself in its flight, is almost as large as the
Stock Dove. Its beak is short, and the naked circle of the eye
is red.

3. The Jacoline Pigeon is a small bird, with a short beak,
and having at the top of the neck a collar or stripe of long
feathers. In colour it resembles the Shield Pigeon.

4. The Peacock or Fan- Tailed Pigeon is like No. 3 in colour,
but has the power of spreading out its tail like a Peacock.

5. 27te Perriwigged Pigeon resembles the Veiled Pigeon in
colour, but has a high forehead, a short beak, and a crest, which
passes down the sides of the neck and breast like a wig.

6. Tlie Pouter is a large Pigeon, of various colours. It has
a high forehead, a short beak, and possesses the power of in-
flating the crop to a very large size.

7. The Turkish Pigeon is a large bird, of various colours,
which has the membrane of the beak, as well as the circle of
the eyes, very thick and wrinkled.

Mode of Treatment. — If it be desired to keep any of these
varieties in the aviary, a corner should be separated from the
rest of the room by a grating ; and provided with wicker bas-
kets, and a plentiful supply of straw, for building nests. The
birds eat wheat, barley, vetches, and peas ; and require a plen-
tiful supply of water, both for bathing and drinking. If they
be also supplied with gravelly sand, it will be found to assist
their digestion.

Attractive Qualities. — These are chiefly their beauty, and
affectionate disposition. The Trumpeter Pigeon is also prized
on account of its peculiar cooing.

ADDITIONAL. — This bird is the Columbce Livia, SELBY, JENYNS,
GOULD, MACGILLIVRAY. The last named calls it the White-
backed, or E-ock Dove ; he states that it is also known as the
Wild Pigeon, or Dove, and the Rock Pigeon, or Dove, the latter
being a Scottish name, and speaks of it as the undoubted original
of our domestic varieties ; most British naturalists agree with him
in this particular. The main characteristics of the bird are thus
shortly given in the above-named author's Manual of British
Birds ; to his more copious History, we refer our readers for
full particulars : — •' Plumage of the male light greyish blue ; the
neck splendent with green and purplish red ; the middle of the
back and lower wing coverts white; two black bands on the

472 THE WILD ROCK PIGEON.

wings, one on the six inner secondary quills, the other on the
secondary coverts ; bill brownish black. Female similar, but with
the green and purple of the neck less extended.

" Occurs abundantly in the Hebrides, Shetland, and Orkney
Islands, and along the rocky shores of the northern parts of Scot-
land ; less plentifully here and there, on the coasts of other parts
of Britain, as well as in Ireland. It resides in caves and crevices
of rocks ; feeds in the pastures and fields on seeds of various
kinds ; has a very rapid night, walks gracefully and with celerity ;
is gregarious in winter and spring, and breeds several times each
year. The male struts and cooes like the Domestic Pigeon. The
nest, rudely composed of small twigs, grass, and other materials,
is placed on a sheltered part of the rocks. The eggs, always two,
elliptical, pure white, glossy, measure an inch and seven- twelfths
in length, an inch and two-twelfths in breadth. Young birds,
taken from the nest, are easily reared, and become domestic ; tame
Pigeons sometimes associate with the wild individuals ; and be-
coming wild, and resorting to the rocks or to old buildings, gra-
dually assume the appearance of the Wild Hock Doves. The
flesh of this bird is superior to that of the Wood Pigeon, but
generally more tough."

"The Rock Dove," says YAEEELL, "as a species distinct from
the Stock Dove, was called Columba Livia, on account of its
lighter or more livid blue colour ; the pure white on the lower
part of the back ; the two conspicuous black bars across the
wings ; the voice, in conjunction with its habits, so opposite to
those of the Stock Dove, are sufficient proofs of distinction, and
accordingly, the Rock Dove is not only admitted as a good
species, but from several other circumstances, there appears no
reason to doubt that the Hock Dove is also the species from which
our Domestic Pigeons were originally derived."

The same author informs us that this bird has a very extensive
geographical range, being found as far north as the Faroe Islands,
and southward at Teneriffe, Madeira, over North America, in-
habiting some of the rocky islands in the Mediterranean, and
eastward as far as Greece. PENNANT, in his Arctic Zoology,
says that it goes as far east as Lake Bakal; and TEMMINCK
mentions, that skins received from Japan do not differ in any
respect from those of Europe and of Africa.

The whole length of this bird is about eleven inches and a half.
From the carpel joint to the end of the wing eight inches ; the
first quill feathers considerably longer than the fourth, but a little
shorter than the second and the third, which are nearly equal in
length, and the longest in the wing.

Of the Domestic Pigeons, in their several varieties, much might

THE COMMON PARTRIDGE. 473

be said here. Of Pouters, Tumblers, Jacobins, Mandarins, and
Shakers, a volume might be written, and a very interesting one
too. Of the power of vision, as well as speed and duration of
flight, of the Camer Pigeon, the most useful of the tribe, num-
berless instances are on record, which, were they not well authen-
ticated, we might well be excused for disbelieving. The extra-
ordinary changes of plumage, and modifications of form, even,
which have been produced in these birds, are equally curious and
interesting. But on these it does not accord with the plan of
our present volume to dwell ; nor to enlarge upon the poetical
associations connected with this family of birds.

VIII. POULTRY.

THESE birds may be known by the following characteristics :
the beak is raised ; the upper mandible is arched, so that its
edge projects beyond the under one. The nostrils are covered
with a raised cartilaginous membrane ; there are more than
twelve feathers in the tail ; the feet are divided, and yet con-
nected at the first joint. They chiefly feed on seeds, which
they soften in their crops. I know of only six kinds, which
can be tamed in the house.

ADDITIONAL. — In this country the term Poultry would be
generally understood to mean all those domestic birds which are
reared for the table ; such as common Fowls, Turkeys, Geese,
Ducks, Guinea Fowls. &c. ; and the three species enumerated by
BECHSTEIN, would scarcely be considered as appropriately classed
under such a head ; as, however, the limits of our work will
render it impossible for us to enter fully into so wide a field as
the varieties, mode of treatment, breeding, &c. of Poultry
occupies, we must be content to give merely the text of the
original for this and the two following sections, both of which
might also be greatly extended ; indeed, the subjects of Poultry,
Game, Wading and Aquatic birds, might well furnish matter for
a volume of themselves.

185. THE COMMON PARTRIDGE.

Tetrao Perdrix, LIN. La Perdrix Grise, BUF. Das Gemeine Rebhuhn,
BECK.

Description. — This well-known bird, which is very fleshy,
and has but few feathers, is twelve inches and a half long.
Its short beak is bluish ; the feet a somewhat brown flesh
colour. Under its reddish brown eyes is a warty bare spot, of

474 THE COMMON PAETEIDGE.

a "bright red colour ; the body is a mixture of ashen grey,
black, and yellowish red. The forehead, a stripe which passes
above the eyes to the neck, and the throat, are a beautiful
brownish red ; the top of the neck and the breast ashen grey,
finely marked with black; and underneath the breast is a
chestnut-coloured speck, shaped like a horse shoe, which in
the female is altogether wanting, or is not so large and distinct.
The quill feathers are dark brown, with transverse rust coloured
stripes ; and the feathers of the tail reddish brown.

Habitat. — They inhabit the open country, and adjoining
woods, all over Europe. In the open country, they betake them-
selves by night to the bushes. As they frequently die of cold,
or of hunger, in a hard winter when the snow is deep, they are
often, caught in flat countries by a net, and then confined in a
room, which should be either very high, or have a net stretched
over the roof and windows, to prevent the frightened birds from
injuring themselves.

Food. — In the room where they are at liberty to run about,
they are fed with barley and wheat. They will also eat bread,
the usual paste, cabbage and lettuce ; and always need some
green vegetable food, as, when wild, they are obliged to feed the
whole winter through, on the tops of grass, and young budding
plants. In summer, however, they eat clover, and various kinds
of seeds. They are fond of rolling in wet sand, of which they
ought to have a supply.

Breeding. — If domestic birds of this species are desired, they
should be reared when young, as such become exceedingly tame,
and are very pleasing in their habits. Before they are able to
eat grain, they are fed on ants' eggs, and hens' eggs cut small,
and mixed with lettuce, till they become gradually accustomed
to harder food. They are easy to rear, as a brood often numbers
twenty-one, which run about with the old ones, as soon as they
are out of the shell, and fall in the way of mowers, shepherds,
huntsmen, &c. It would not be difficult completely to transform
partridges into domestic fowl, by putting the eggs under hens in
some enclosed place, cutting the wings of the young birds, keep-
ing them in summer in a walled garden, and supplying them well
with food. If the attempt did not entirely succeed the first
season, they would by this half training gradually become accus-
tomed to their food, and the sight of man, and at last breed in
the poultry yard.

THE QUAIL. 475

186. THE QUAIL.
Tetrao Cotumix, LIN. La Caille, BUF. Die Wachtel, BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird is little more than
seven inches in length. The beak is short ; blackish brown
in summer, greyish in winter, and resembling in form that of
the Partridge ; the iris is olive brown ; the feet a whitish flesh
colour. The upper part of the body is spotted with blackish
brown and rust colour, with a few small white stripes ; the
throat blackish brown, and encircled by a double streak of
chestnut brown. The lower part of the neck and the breast
are pale rust colour, marked by indistinct longitudinal stripes ;
the belly dingy white ; the shanks reddish grey ; the pen
feathers dark grey, crossed by narrow streaks of rust colour.
The tail is dark brown, with transverse stripes of rust colour
and white, and very short.

The female may be distinguished by the fact, that the throat
is white, and the breast, like that of a Thrush, spotted with
black.

Habitat. — The Quail, which is found throughout the eastern
hemisphere, is a bird of passage ; arriving in Germany in May,
and departing about the end of September. It chiefly fre-
quents the fields of grain ; and especially those of autumn-sown
wheat.

In confinement, it may either be allowed to range the room,
where it is remarkable for cleanliness, and a gentle and engaging
disposition, or it may be kept in a cage especially designed for it.
This should be two feet in length, one foot in breadth, and one
foot two inches in height, and may be made of any desired shape.
There should be three openings in it ; two for air and light, and
the third for the drinking glass ; the floor, which should be
covered with sand, ought to be made to draw out, like the food
trough ; and the cage must be covered with green cloth, as the
bird, which frequently springs upwards, might injure its head
against a wooden roof. In such a cage as this, especially if hung
near the window, the Quail will sing far better than if allowed
to hop about the room, when its attention is diverted by a multi-
plicity of objects.

When a male, without a mate, is allowed the range of the
aviary, it is advisable to confine him during the pairing season
in June ; as he will often pursue other birds with great ardour,
especially those which have a grey plumage like his own. Larks

476 THE QUAIL.

for instance, lie follows with great violence, and often pulls out
their feathers so much, as to leave them almost bare.

Food. — In a wild state, the Quail eats all kinds of seed and
grain ; for example, wheat, millet, rape, hemp and poppy seeds.
It feeds also on green plants and insects ; and is very fond of
ants' eggs. In confinement it may be fed with wheat, millet,
hemp and poppy seed, bread, barley meal and milk, or the
universal paste : and in some cases has been preserved in health
for a long time on chopped cabbage and lettuce. It requires a
plentiful supply of wet sand, partly for rolling in, and partly to
aid in the process of digestion. It will not roll itself in dry
sand ; and is fond of drinking, though the water should not,
as some assert, be muddy. The Quail moults twice a year,
namely in spring and autumn, and requires at those seasons an
abundance 01 good food, and a large supply of river sand.

Breeding. — The only nest formed by the Quail, is a hole
scratched in the ground, and lined with a few straws or grass stalks.
The female does not lay her eggs, which are ten to fourteen in
number, and bluish white with large brown spots, till late in the
year, often not till July ; the brood is hatched in three weeks,
and the young birds run about with their mother before they are
fledged ; though this takes place before the autumn migration.
The males are exceedingly ardent ; and when one is suddenly
brought into a room where there is a female, he immediately
pursues her, and will almost strip her of her feathers if she do
not at once yield to his desires. This heat is not so manifest if
a pair be kept in a room together throughout the year. I know
a bird-fancier who from two females and one male, annually rears
a considerable number of young Quails. As soon as the male
has paired with both females, and they begin to lay, he is shut
up in a cage by himself; the females hatch their eggs, and rear
the young birds, which, if put under good instructions, often be-
come excellent singers.

The young Quails, which have been bred in the fields, may
either be committed to the care of a tame female, who will rear
them as if they were her own, or may be fed with hard-boiled
egg chopped small, millet, and wheat. It is the best plan, if
possible, to take the mother with the brood, which may be fre-
quently accomplished by a clap net. Before the first moulting,
the young males are scarcely distinguishable from the females ;
though afterwards characterized by the brown throat.

Mode of Taking. — From the many methods of catching this
bird which are in use, I shall select only the easiest and most
usual. The males are generally decoyed into a net by means of
a Quail call, which imitates the cry of the female at pairing
time, Peupeu, Peupeu. This plan is very successful during the

THE QUAIL. 477

spring in capturing those males which have been heard to utter
a good note, which consists in repeating the syllables Pikvervik '
from seven to a dozen times. If they have not been previously
frightened by an unskilful fowler, these birds usually rush blindly
into the net. The chief requisite for the sport is a good call,
which is made of leather, with a pipe formed of the leg bone of
a cat, hare, or Stork, and may be purchased for a trifle.

The mode of procedure is the following. As soon as the fowler
hears the note of the bird which he wishes to possess, he advances
to within fifty paces of the spot, sets his net in the corn, close and
well fastened to the ground, and then retires to a little distance.
When the Quail again calls, he answers two or three times,
taking care to answer the bird immediately as the females do,
and not to call too often or make false notes ; for if the male
suspects any deceit, he will at once become silent, and probably
be very cautious throughout the season. If all go well, however,
the Quail rushes direct to the spot where he hears the call, and
is caught in the intervening net. His course is indeed so straight,
that if he should creep under the net, he will come near enough
to the fowler to be taken with the hand. Should the Quail,
however, miss the net, the best plan is to proceed to the other
side and call again ; when the second attempt will probably be
successful. Some birds, if the net be too loose and therefore
visible, will make a circuit round it, and it is therefore advisable
to make a loose corner at each end, in which the Quail will en-
tangle itself. This method only succeeds in dry weather. When
it rains, or the dew is on the ground, the Quails fly to the call.
On a favourable day in the pairing season, three or four birds
may often be caught in the same field.

If no male be heard in the field, the bird-catcher takes a call
about twice the size of the one above mentioned, and conse-
quently audible to a greater distance. By imitating the cry of the
female on this instrument he will at once discover if there be any
males in the neighbourhood, and is enabled to set his net as be-
fore described.

If the object be to catch females as well as males, the sport is
most successful in autumn, when the corn is only partially cut, and
the patches still left standing harbour numbers of these birds.
Six or eight nets are necessary for the purpose, which are to be
set obliquely across the field, at a short distance from, and parallel
to each other. By means of a line, to which small bells are
suspended by threads, two persons may drive all the Quails in the
field into the nets ; and great numbers, both of males and females,
may be procured either for the aviary or table. In August and
September the young birds may easily be caught in the fields

478 THE ROCK OE BAEBAEY PAETEIDGE.

which are to lie fallow during the winter ; as, after having been
once roused, they remain in the place where they have alighted,
and may be taken up by hand. The sex can generally be deter-
termined by the colour of the throat and breast ; but if they are
too young for this, the males may be distinguished, when brought
into the aviary, by their cry of Vivi, Vivi! and by their song,
which they begin to practise. They are generally full fledged by
the end of September.

Attractive Qualities. — The Quail is a clean and lively bird ;
and creates amusement by the singular manner on which it walks
on tiptoe, with outstretched neck, and continually nodding its
head. Its cry, however, which is very peculiar, is its chief
recommendation. In pairing time it consists of the syllables
Verra, verra! very softly uttered, followed by Pikvervik, piTc-
vervik ! repeated with a loud voice, closed eyes, and a continual
nodding of the head. The oftener a bird utters the former of
these words, the seldomer does he pronounce the latter ; and a
Quail which repeats Pikvervik ! ten or a dozen times, is highly
prized. One in my possession, which is very valuable, usually
repeats it fifteen or eighteen times ; has often done so twenty -two
times, and once uttered it thirty times in succession. As the
Quail's call is chiefly heard in harvest time, the peasants interpret
it into Buck den Ruck .' (Bend the Back) and consider it as an
exhortation to industry. The song of the female is merely
Verra, verra! and in pairing time Peu, peu ! Peupeu ! when
discontented or alarmed, they utter the syllables G-hillah; and
when pleased, a sound like the purring of a cat. If kept in such
a cage as is above described, they sing in the day time, whereas,
in a light room, they are rarely heard, except at night. The
Song birds begin to sing soon after Christmas, and continue to
do so till September ; those, however, which have been caught
when old do not commence their song till the beginning of May,
and cease singing at the end of August.

187. THE EOCK OE BAEBAET PAETEIDGE.

Perdix Saxatilis, BECH. Tetrao Rufus, LIN. Perdix Grceca, BRISSON
JLa Bortavelle, BUF. Das Seinhuhn, BECH. Greek Partridge, LATH.

Description. — This bird is larger than a Partridge, being
thirteen inches in length. The beak and feet are red ; the top
of the head, the neck, breast, and all the upper part of the
body are ashen grey, tinged with orange on the back and breast.
The cheeks and throat are white, encircled by a black streak,
which commences at the nostrils, and passes between the eyes.
The belly and vent are yellowish, the sides marked with.

THE EOCK OK BAREAEY PARTEIDGE. 479

crescent shaped spots of orange and black ; the pen feathers
are brown ; the foremost having an orange spot not far from
the tip, and the shorter ones being tinged with grey. The
tail is composed of fourteen grey feathers, of which the five
outermost are tipped with orange. The feet are furnished with
a blunt spur.

This bird is not to be confounded with the Tetrao BufusofLiN-
tf^us, ihePerdiz Rouge of Burrow : the latter is smaller; the front
of the head greyish brown ; the back reddish brown, with two
oblique black spots upon each feather. The upper part of the
neck a reddish brown ; the back, wings, and rump, greyish
brown; the back being somewhat darker than the rest.
Behind the eyes is a scarlet warty spot, and the eyelids are
also red. The cheeks and throat are white, and enclosed with
a black stripe, which commencing at the beak, passes over
the eyes, and down the sides of the neck to the breast ; be-
coming gradually broader in its course, and the breast being
spotted with white. The breast is pale grey ; the belly, sides,
thighs, and vent, orange ; the sides adorned with white, black,
and orange stripes. The pen feathers are greyish brown,
edged with yellow near the point of the outer plume, and the
hindmost spotted with green ; of the tail feathers, which are
sixteen in number, the five outermost are orange ; the rest
greyish brown. This bird is a native of France and Italy.

Observations. — The Bock Partridge is found common in Switz-
erland and Greece, and is occasionally found in Bohemia, Austria,
and the southern provinces of Germany. It seems to prefer
mountains and rocky places. Its food consists of grain, seeds,
vegetables, and insects, and it is particularly fond of ants' eggs.
The cry of the male, which he very frequently utters in the pair-
ing season, is Khasibis. Though not so tame as the Quail, it is
said to propagate its species in confinement, like the Partridge ;
and in the island of Scio is driven in flocks to its pastures and
back again, obeying meanwhile the whistle of the guide. Its
handsome appearance, cheerful disposition, and animated move-
ments are its chief recommendation as an inmate of the aviary.

ADDITIONAL. — This appears to be the Perdix Petrosa of
LATHAM, TEMMINCK, YARRELL, &c., of which one specimen is
recorded to have been found dead at Edmondthorpe, Leicester-
shire, in 1842, as mentioned by the last named of the above
naturalists.

480 THE WHITE STORK.

(B.) AQUATIC BIRDS

IX. WADEBS.*

THE legs of these birds are more or less bare of feathers
above the knee ; and are so long as to procure for them, from
the common people of Germany, the name of Stilt- walkers. I
shall enumerate in this place only ten species, which with care
and attention may be tamed at any age.

188. THE WHITE STORK.

Ciconia alba, Ardea Ciconia, LIN. Cicoyne Blanche, BUF. Der Weisse
S torch, BECH.

Description. — This well-known bird, which, from the fact,
that it builds on roofs of houses, and other buildings, is in
Germany considered as half domesticated, is three feet and a
half in length. Its feet and its large strong beak are similar ;
the naked circle of the eyes and the pen feathers are black ;
and the rest of the plumage a beautiful white.

Observations. — The Stork is a bird of passage, which leaves
us at the end of September, and returns at the beginning of
April. Its food consists of small fishes, frogs, and other am-
phibious animals, mice, weasels, and, among other insects, bees,
of which it collects great numbers from the flowers. Its nest
consists of a great number of dry twigs, roughly interwoven. It
is repaired and occupied by the same couple year after year ; and
I have been informed that some nests have been known to remain
in the same spots for above a century, in which time many hundred
Swallows and Sparrows' nests have collected round them. The
connection between male and female lasts during life, and they
are models of conjugal fidelity. If the young birds be taken
from the nest when half-fledged, and fed with frogs and meat,
they will become quite tame, will catch mice and moles in the
garden, and may be allowed to fly away, without any fear of their
not returning.

At the period of migration it is advisable to clip their wings,
and in winter they should be kept in a warm place, as their feet
are very apt to suffer from cold. They will eat anything that
comes to table, and express their various emotions and desires by
a loud clapping with the bill. It is pleasant to watch a tame
Stork returning from its wanderings, circling round and round
the house, and at last descending upon it in a long spiral line.
* Gralla Sumpfvoegel, BECH.

THE SNIPE. 481

189. THE BLACK STORK.
Ciconia Nigra, LIN. Cicogne Noire, BUF. Der SchwarzeStorch, BECH.

Description. — This is almost as large as the preceding species,
and resembles it in form, except that the limbs are more deli-
cate and slender. The general colour of its plumage is a glossy
black, but the breast and belly are white. It inhabits woods
which are at no great distance from lakes and marshes, and
builds its nest in trees. Its habit of life is very similar to that
of the White Stork ; and the young birds, of which there are
often five in a brood, may be reared in the same manner.

190. THE WOODCOCK.

Scolopax Rusticola, LIN. La Becasse, BUF. Die Waldschnepfe, BECH.
Description. — The Woodcock, which is a bird well known
throughout Europe, is about the size of a Partridge. The
beak is straight, and reddish at the root ; the forehead is red-
dish grey; and some blackish brown stripes pass across the
back of the head. The upper part of the body and the wings
are rust-coloured, striped with black and grey ; the breast and
belly are dingy white, covered with dark brown lines.

Observations. — The Woodcock builds its nest in the woods on
the ground : and the eggs, which are three or four in number,
are a dingy pale yellow. As soon as evening approaches it leaves
the underwood, to look for its food, which consists of earth worms,
snails, and grubs, in the meadows, marshes, and ploughed fields.
In October it migrates into warmer countries ; and, as it always

Eursues the same route, the fowler prepares to receive it, as it
;aves the woods for the open country, with guns and large nets,
in which great numbers are taken. It is an awkward bird, and
often overbalances itself in its flight. It is scarcely necessary to
add, that the flesh of the Woodcock is highly esteemed by
epicures.

This bird soon becomes accustomed to the food of the aviary,
if fed, when first caught, with insects and ants' eggs.

191. THE SNIPE.

Scolopax Gallinago, LIN. La Becassine, BUF. Die Heerschnepfe, BECH.
Description. — This bird is about the size of a Quail. The
beak is long, black at the point, and covered with small lumps;
the feet are brown. The head is divided by two reddish brown
lines, which pass down the forehead ; and the beak is covered
with dark brown transverse stripes. The throat is white ; the

i i

482 THE PJTFF.

neck spotted with dark vermilion and brown ; the belly white ;
the vent striped with black. The pen feathers are dark brown,
tipped with white ; the tail is black at the root, and at the
point orange, with a double stripe of dark brown.

Observations. — The Snipe is a native of the northern regions
of Europe, Asia, and America, migrating to warmer climates at
the approach of winter. Its flight is peculiar ; as it suddenly
swings itself to a considerable height, and then descends to the
ground like an arrow, uttering meanwhile its cry, Maykeray. It
frequents marshy places, especially if overgrown with bushes ;
and builds its nest in a hole in the ground close to the water's
edge. The eggs, which are four or five in number, are dingy
olive green, spotted with brown. Its food consists of worms and
grubs, though it sometimes eats grain and the tender roots of
marsh plants. When tamed, its habits are very engaging.

192. THE LAPWING.
Tringa Vanellus, LIN. Le Vanneu, BUF. Der gemeine Kie6etz, BECH.

Description. — This familiar bird, which is about the size of
a Pigeon, frequents marshy meadows and morasses, and is
found in all parts of Europe. The back and wings are red.

Observations. — The food of the Lapwing consists of water
beetles and other aquatic insects, snails, earth worms, and the
leaves of various plants. The eggs may be placed under a Pigeon ;
or, if young birds be caught, they may be fed with ants' eggs,
and will soon be content with bran and milk. If the wings of
old birds are cut, they may be safely turned into the garden,
where they are very useful in destroying noxious insects and
worms. In winter, however, they must be brought into the
aviary, and fed on bullock's heart cut into long strips, from which
they will soon become accustomed to eat other meat, and will at
last be content with bread. Where flocks of them have been ob-
served, they are often caught for the table in barn-floor traps,
baited with earth worms. They may also be taken in horse-hair
nooses, set near their nests.

193. THE RUFF.

Tringa Pugnax, LIN. Le Covtibattant, ou Paon de Mer, BUF. Der
Kampfhahn, BECH.

Description. — The Ruff, which is found among the lakes and
wide morasses of Northern Europe, is nearly as large as the
Lapwing. It is remarkable as being almost the only wild bird
whose plumage varies like that of our domesticated Poultry ; grey,
rust colour, black, and white being so variously mingled one with

THE PURR. 483

the other, that no two birds of this species are exactly alike.
The feet and beak are, however, always red ; the face is red
and covered with warts ; and there is a collar, composed of
long feathers, round the neck, which the bird erects when angry.

The colours in the plumage of the female are less variable.
She is pale brown ; the back being spotted with black ; and
the breast and belly white. She has no collar.

Observations. — The Ruff feeds upon worms, insects, and marsh
grasses, and generally builds its nest in some wet meadow, upon
a dry turf, or among rushes. The flesh of the female is palat-
able, but the males must be fattened before they are fit for the
table. The latter are particularly noticeable for their quarrelsome
disposition. If several are confined in a cage, the strongest
kills the rest ; and they are so engaged during the combat, that a
net may be thrown over them without their perceiving it. They
are easily tamed, especially when young ; and it is worthy of
notice, that those reared from the nest in the aviary, never mani-
fest this disposition to quarrel ; although in the case of most birds
the contrary effect is observed to be produced. They may be fed
on meat, or bread and milk.

194. THE PURR.
Tringa Cinclus, LIN. L'Alouette de Mer, BUF. Die Meerlerche, BECH.

Description. — This marsh bird, which is about the size of a
Bedwing Thrush, is common on the banks of all large rivers
and lakes, and may be recognised by its loud clear cry of Tzi,
tzi, tzi, tzi! uttered as it rises in the air. The beak is black;
the feet dark brownish green. The feathers of all the upper
part of the body are bright and silky in texture, and in colour
dark grey, composed of fine black lines, and edged with rust
colour. A white stripe passes over, and a narrow dark brown
line between the eyes. The under part of the body is a beau-
tiful white ; the breast being striped with dark brown. The
pen feathers are blackish brown ; the foremost having large
white spots on the inner, the rest on both plumes. The large
coverts are tipped with white, which produces two white spots
on the wings ; the three centre feathers of the tail are greyish
brown, with transverse stripes of black ; the rest white, edged
with dark brown.

The female is a little larger, and somewhat lighter in colour.

Observations. — The Purr is easily tamed, and, on account of
its beauty and interesting habits, is quite worthy of a place in
the aviary. It is particularly rapid in its gait, keeps the hinder

i i 2

484 THE MOOE HEN.

part of its body in continual motion, and utters its call, Hidutzi!
incessantly, especially in the evening twilight. In a wild state it
eats aquatic insects and worms ; and in the aviary is soon content
with the universal paste, if fed when first caught with a few
meal worms, or ants' eggs. It will also eat poppy and rape seed,
and is a greedy bird, carrying all its food to the water vessel, in
order to make it as moist as possible, and thus incommoding the
other birds kept with it. Its mode of catching flies is very
curious. It creeps slowly up to them, with its head down, and,
when fairly within reach, darts on them with the rapidity of
lightning. Like all birds of its species, it is also in the habit
of turning over all the stones in its way, in order to see if there
be any insects beneath.

The Purr may easily be caught, by setting limed twigs near the
places on the sea side where it is observed habitually to perch.
To these it may then be gently and cautiously driven.

195. THE MOOE HEN.

Fulica Chloropus. LIN. La Ponle d'Eau, BUF. Das Grunfussige Meehuhn,

BECH.

Description. — This bird, which is found on almost every pool
in Germany, is one foot in length ; the beak is orange with a
greenish tip ; the bare forehead, and the naked spaces above the
knees are also orange. The feet and claws, which are dispro-
portionally long, are olive green ; the head, the upper part of
the neck, body, and wing coverts are dark olive green; the fore-
most pen feathers and the tail dark brown ; the breast and belly
ashen grey ; the vent and the edges of the wings white. In
the female also, the forehead is bare, but olive brown.

Observations. — Although the Moor Hen is not web-footed, it is
an excellent swimmer ; and possesses the additional advantage of
being able to perch and roost upon the bushes at the water side,
and to run upon the ground. Its nest, which is composed of
water plants finely interwoven, is so strongly attached to the
bushes or reeds by the water side, as to float in case of an inunda-
tion, without being carried away, and so preserve its contents from
harm. Its food consists of aquatic insects, and the leaves and
seeds of aquatic plants. It is easily tamed, especially when young,
and will eat bread and milk. I have myself kept several of these
birds in the farm-yard with the poultry, which were tamed with
very little trouble, and though in the habit of paying a daily visit
to the nearest pool, they never failed to return. Their usual sta-
tion throughout the day was the dunghill, where they were always
occupied in picking up insects or grubs.

THE WATEE RAIL. 485

196. THE COKNCEAKE.

Rallus Crex, LIN. La Rale de Genet, ou Roides Cailles, BUF. Der
Wachtel Konig, BECH.

Description. — The fact that the Corncrake is common when
the Quail is so, and vice versa — that it migrates at the same
time in autumn, and returns with it in spring — is doubtless
the reason why it is known in Trance and Germany by the
name of the Quail King. It is ten inches in length, and about the
size of the Missel Thrush. The beak is compressed at the sides ;
the upper mandible brownish grey ; the lower flesh colour ;
the feet a light lead colour. The feathers of the head, neck,
back, and tail are black, edged with reddish grey, which gives
all these parts a spotty appearance, and produces on the back
and shoulders five longitudinal black stripes. A grey streak
passes above and below the eyes ; and a reddish grey stripe runs
from the root of the beak between them. The wing coverts
and foremost pen feathers are brownish red ; the neck and
breast dingy grey ; the belly white, striped with rust colour
on the sides and vent ; the rust coloured stripes being edged
with dark brown. The female is pale grey on the breast, and
the two stripes near the eyes are greyish white.

Observations. — The Corncrake is rarely seen on the wing ;
but the harsh cry of the male, arrp ! slmarrp ! may be frequently
heard from the meadows in the evening and early part of the
night. It feeds on insects and seeds ; and in confinement thrives
on bread and milk, or on wheat, barley, or millet. The female lays
her eggs, which are from eight to twelve in number, and greenish
grey, speckled with light brown, on the bare ground ; and sits so
steadily and constantly, as often to be killed by the scythe of the
mower. The young when first hatched are covered with black
down, and are not fully fledged for three weeks. In autumn they
run among the oat stubble with the Quails, and may then be
caught by the hand. The chirping of the Corncrake, when in
confinement, is not unlike that of a chicken ; and the arrp !
shnarrp ! of the male is to me a very pleasant sound, when heard
on a calm evening. At pairing time also, they make a purring
noise like a cat ; which, if the bird be taken in the hand, will
appear to proceed, not from the beak, but the stomach.

197. THE WATEE RAIL.

Rallus Porzana^ LIN. Petite Rale d'eau, ou Maronette, BUF. Die Mittlere
Wasser Ralle, BECH.

Description. — This bird is about the size of a Quail, and re-
sembles the foregoing in form and habits. The beak and feet

486 THE SWAN.

are greenish ; the claws long ; the feathers on the upper part
of the body blackish, edged with olive colour, and covered with
small white stripes. The under part of the body is grey, spotted
with white; and the two centre tail feathers are bordered
with white.

Observations. — The Water Bail is a solitary bird, inhabiting
the bulrushes and sedge on the banks of lakes, rivers, and pools. I
never kept one myself, but Lieut. VON SCHAUBOTH writes to me
as follows, respecting one formerly in his possession. " It was
exceedingly tame. At the slightest gesture from me, it would
crouch motionless upon the ground ; but it usually ran about the
room, with outstretched head, and with great rapidity. If taken
up, it would twist itself out of my hands like an eel. It eat the
Nightingales' paste ; but did not seem to like either worms or
insects. It bathed many times a day, laying down on its side, as
hens do in sand. Its cry may be represented by the word Seek !
dwelt on for a long time ; and it also occasionally uttered a bark-
ing sound like a young dog. This handsome bird was caught in a
noose, near a warm spring, in winter. When it flew, which was
very seldom, it was in perfect silence. It was very restless at
night, especially if the moon were bright. It was sociable with
other birds ; and was exceedingly friendly with a Starling, which
it soon allowed to stroke its feathers. It eats very little."

Dr. MEYEB of Offenbach has also several of these birds. They
eat barley, groats, and milk, and seem particularly fond of millet.

X. WEB-FOOTED BIRDS.

The birds of this order are distinguished by their feet, which
are webbed ; that is, have the claws connected by a mem-
brane. Some of them never leave the water ; others unite in
flocks, both in the water and on land. Many of them may be
tamed, but I shall only enumerate six species, which may be
kept in the aviary, and can live without water. They are
tameable at any age.

198. THE SWAN.

Anas Olor, LIN. Le Cygne, BUF. Der Stumme Schwan, BECH.

Description, — This, which is commonly called the Tame
Swan, I have chosen to denominate the Mute Swan, in order
to distinguish it from the Wild or Whistling Swan ; which
is smaller, has no nob upon the beak, and carries its neck erect.
The latter, which is found wild in almost all parts of Europe,
and is very numerous in Siberia, is more commonly tamed in
Russia than the species under consideration. If the posssessor

THE SWAN. 487

of a piece of water in Germany wishes to keep these birds
throughout the winter, he chooses a pair of young ones, and cuts
or otherwise disables the first joint of their wings. They will
then be prevented from joining their comrades in the autumnal
migration.

The Mute Swan is considerably larger than the Domestic
Goose ; as it often weighs from twenty-five to thirty pounds.
Owing to its long neck, which it curves to the shape of the
letter S when swimming, it measures four feet and a half, and
from tip to tip of the expanded wings seven feet and a
quarter. The beak is dark red, provided at the end with a
black nail or claw curved inwards, and overgrown at the root,
with a large round black knob. Between the beak and the eyes
is a triangular, black, naked membrane. During the first year
the feet are black ; in the second, lead coloured, and afterwards,
cinnabar red. The whole plumage is snowy white.

Observations. — It is hardly necessary to remark, that the story
of the Swan's dying song is an invention of the poets ; and that
the whistling Swan is the only bird of this species which is at all
capable of uttering anything like a song. The structure of the
larynx of the Tame or Mute Swan is so exceedingly simple, as to
preclude it from producing anything more than a low hiss, a deep
nnmming sound, and a gentle cackling. Its food consists of aquatic
plants and insects, especially beetles ; though in winter it must be
fed with grain, and protected in some degree from the severity of
the weather. The nest, which is built of sedge, rushes, &c., lined
with the down from the breast of the female, generally contains
six or eight greenish white eggs. During the period of incuba-
tion, which lasts for five weeks, the male keeps guard over the
nest, attacks everything that approaches, and is, indeed, a very
formidable assailant, as he is said to be able to break a man's arm
or leg, by a blow of his wing. The Cygnets, when first hatched,
are grey ; and the bird is said to live a hundred years.

The Swan is better worth the trouble of keeping than is some-
times supposed, not only on account of its beauty, but of the
profit which may be derived from it. It requires less care and
attention than the Goose, and its feathers are far more valuable.
Large quantities of them are every year brought to the fair at
Frankfort on the Oder, from Lithuania, Poland, and Prussia ;
and the wild Swans on the Spree, near Berlin, Spandau, and
Potsdam, are generally collected in May, to be plucked. The
skins, with the down on them, are also applied to the same pur-
poses as furs, and are made into powder puffs. The Cygnets are
considered a great delicacy.

488 THE BEAN GOOSE.

199. THE SHELDRAKE.

Aims Tadoma, LIN. La Tadorne, BUF. Der Brandente, BECH.
Description. — The Sheldrake is two feet in length. The
beak, the base of which is covered with a fleshy lump, is
smooth, flattened, and scarlet. The nail at the end of it, and
the nostrils, are black. The feet are flesh-coloured ; the head
arid upper part of the neck dark green; the rest of the neck
and the belly white. A broad, brownish orange transverse
band runs across the breast ; the back and the wing coverts
are white ; the scapulars spotted with black. The first pen
feathers are black, the next violet, the middle rust- coloured,
and the last white. The hinder parts are green, shot with
violet ; the pen feathers white, tipped with black.

Observations. — The Sheldrake inhabits the northern coasts of
the Old Continent, and either burrows in the sea shore, or builds
its nest in some cranny of the rock. It has been tamed, and kept
in the poultry yard, on account of its beauty alone, for its flesh
has a rancid flavour. It feeds with the other Ducks.

200. THE BEAN GOOSE.
Anas Segetum, LIN. L'Oie Sauvaye, BUF. Die Saat Gans, BECH.

Description. — This bird is smaller than our common Goose,
but has a larger neck, and longer wings. The upper part of
the body is brownish grey ; the under part greyish white ; the
belly mottled with dingy orange ; the shanks vermilion. The
beak is black, except about the centre, where it is orange, and
somewhat curved. This is not, as some suppose, the original
stock of our common Goose. The species in question inhabits
the shores of the German Ocean, and exactly resembles in ap-
pearance our domestic Grey Goose.

Observations. — These birds inhabit the shores of the Baltic
and JSTorth Seas, but in autumn rep-air in large flocks to more
southern regions, where they remain throughout the winter,
feeding on the fields of rye. In some parts of Thuringia, they
may be seen in thousands. They are very shy, and place senti-
nels round their encampment, on which account it is difficult either
to catch or shoot them. They are, however, occasionally taken
by means of nooses, placed in spots where they have been seen to
spend the night ; and wounded birds will live sociably with the
other poultry in the farm-yard. I only know of one instance,

THE TAEROCK. 489

however, in which a Bean Goose has paired with the common
domestic Goose.

201. THE SCAUP DUCK.

Anas Marila, LIN. Le Milloninan. BUF. Die Bergente, BECH.
Description. — This Duck, which inhabits the northern re-
gions of Asia, Africa, and America, migrates southward in
autumn and winter; when it may be caught or shot, with
other species. It is exceedingly tame, soon becomes accus-
tomed to the farm-yard, and is fond of bread soaked in water,
dry or moistened oatmeal, groats, &c. It is almost as large as
the common Duck. Its prevailing colour is black ; but the
belly and speculum are white. The wings, shoulders, and
back are white, covered with five black transverse lines ; the
wings and tail are blackish.

202. THE MALLARD.

Anas Boschasfcra, LIN. Le Canard Sauvage, BUF. Die Wilde Ente, BECH.
Description. — The Mallard is the original stock from which
our domestic Ducks are derived, and is found all over Europe.
It is two feet in length ; and the general colour of its plumage
is ashen grey, transversely striped, and mottled with brown
and white. The head and neek are dark green ; the breast
chestnut, and the speculum violet green. The female is grey,
like a Lark.

Observations. — Like all Wild Ducks, the Mallards divide into
pairs during the summer, and collect in large flocks only at the
approach of autumn. They build in reeds or in old stumps near
the water, and the female lays from twelve to sixteen eggs. In
the Thuringian forest, broods are often found, which have been
conducted by the parent birds to the nearest pond, and there left.
These, if the first joint of their wing be taken off, may be safely
left with the Tame Ducks ; will eat the same food, pair with them,
and follow them in the winter into the farm yard. They may
be taken with nets, or even fish hooks, and on the barn floor trap.

203. THE TARROCK.

Larus Tridactylus, LIN. La Monette Cendree, BUF. Die Wintermove,
BECH.

Description. — The Tarrock, which is fourteen inches in
length, changes the colour of its plumage every year till the

490

THE TAKROCK.

fourth. The beak of old birds is greenish yellow ; the inside
of the mouth orange ; the feet olive brown, and without the
hinder claw. The head, throat, neck, lower part of the body
and tail are white ; and there is often a black spot behind
each ear. The back and wing coverts are pale or bluish grey ;
the pen feathers white, the first row being tipped with black.
Those birds which have a dark grey crescent shaped spot on
the nape of the neck, are less than four years old.

Observations. — The Tarrock inhabits the northern countries of
Europe, and migrates southward in winter. If, after an interval
of fine weather, we have a snowy February, this bird may be
seen in Germany in great numbers, and many perish from cold.
At such a time they may easily be caught by nets and nooses,
set on a spot of ground which has been cleared from snow. Their
natural food consists of fishes and aquatic insects ; but when
tamed, they are content with bread and other food, and live
equally well on land and in the water. During the winter they
may be kept in a room, which should not be very warm ; or may
even be allowed to range the yard, provided they be driven every
night to an appropriate sleeping place.

NEST OF THE BULLFINCH.

NEST OF THE WOODPIGEOX.

' ! „...

NEST OF THE OOLDFJXCH.

NEST OF THE THKUSH.

NEST OK TH3 BOTT1.B-TIT,

INDEX.

Page

Accenter Alpinus 434

Accenter, Alpine 434

— Hedge 394

Alauda Alpestris 318

— Arborea 314

— Arvensis 306

— Campestris 323

— Cristata 312

— Pratensis 324

— Spinoletta 326

— Trivialis 319

Alcedo Ispida 164

Alp 186

Alpine Warbler 434

Amandava 199

Amazon Parrot 145

Amboina Parrot 136

American Goldfinch 262

Ampelis Garrulus 333

Anas Boschas fera 489

— Marila 489

— Olor 486

— Segetum 488

— Tadorna 488

Angola Finch 305

Arbour Bird 403

Ash-coloured Parrot 140

Azure Grosbeak 204

Babillard 383

Banded Grosbeak 205

Banksian Cockatoo 139

Barbary Partridge 478

Page

Barley Bird 273

Barn Owl 57

Bearded Tit 456

Bean Goose 488

Billybiter 451

Blackbird 346

— Moor 351

— White-breasted .... 351

Blackcap 373

Black-capped Lory 144

Black-clouded Grosbeak 208

Black Redstart 386

— Stork 481

Blackytop 434

Blossom-headed Parrakeet .. 129

Blue and Yellow Macaw 124

Blue-bellied Finch 303

Bluebreast 399

Bluecap 451

Blue Grosbeak 203

Blue-headed Parrot 126

Blue-necked Parrot 147

Blue-throated Warbler 399

Blue Tit 450

Bohemian, or Waxen Chat-
terer 333

Bornean Parrakeet 130

Brakehopper 413

Brambling 246

Brazilian Finch 303

Brown-cheeked Grosbeak .... 207

Bullfinch 181

— Pine 180

Page

Bunting, Black-headed 227

— Cirl 220

— Common ...., 216

— Corn 216

— Dominican 229

— Foolish 222

— Green-headed 4 220

— Indigo 230

— Mountain ... , 212

— Ortolan 218

— Painted 231

— Reed 224

— Ring 227

— Shaft-tailed 230

— Snow 209

— Sparrow 227

— Tawny 210

— Whidah 228

— Yellow 215

Bushchat, Black-headed .... 434

Bush-hopper, Sibilous 413

Butcher Bird 62

— Least 457

Caffrarian Grosbeak 203

Canary 277

Cape Grosbeak 202

Cardinal Grosbeak 196

— Parrot 129

Carrion Crow 81

Ceram Lory 142

Chaffinch 232

Chanter, Alpine 434

— Hedge 394

Chatterer 333

— Black -headed 335

— Bohemian 333

— Waxen 333

Chink 227

Chirper, Grasshopper 413

Ciconia Alba 480

— Nigra 481

Cirl Bunting 220

Citril Finch 274

Coal-hood 186

Cockatoo, Banksian 139

— Great Red-crested . . 138

— Great White 137

— Lesser White 138

— Red-vented . . .139

INDEX. 493

Pago

Cole Tit 447

Collared Dove 468

— Turtle 468

Common, or Corn Bunting .. 216

— Redstart 388

— Wagtail . . : 436

Columba (Enas 460

— Domestica 469

— Palumbus 463

— Risoria, 468

— Turtur 465

Coracias Garrula 104

Corn Crake 485

Corvus Caryocatactes 99

— Corax 74

— Comix 85

— Cor one 81

— Frugilegus 87

— Glandarius 95

— Monedida 90

Corvus Pica 100

Crested Lark 312

Cricket Bird 413

Crossbill 172

— Parrot 177

— White.winged 179

Crow, Bare-faced 88

— Black 81

— Carrion 81

— Corby 81

— Flesh 81

— Gore 81

— Hooded 85

— Water 332

Cuculus Canoris 113

— Persa 163

Cuckoo 113

Cushat 464

Dartford Warbler 416

Devil's Bird 215

Dipper 332

Dishwasher 438

Dominican Bunting 229

— Grosbeak 201

Dove, Blue-backed 462

— Collared 468

— Ring 463

— Stock 460

— Turtle .. .465

494 INDEX.

Page

Dove, White-backed 471

— Wood 462

— Veiled 470

Duck, Scaup 489

Ducker 332

Dunnock 391

Emberiza da 222

— Ciris 231

— Cirlus 220

— Citrinella 213

— Cyanea 230

— Hortulana 218

— Miliaria 216

— Montana 212

— Nivatis 209

— Paradisea 228

— Passerina 227

— Reyia 230

— Schcenilus 224

— Serena 229

Falcon, Kestril 54

Falco Tinnunculus 64

Fantail, Blue-throated 403

Fauvette 378

Feltyfare, or Feltyflier 343

Fieldfare 342

Field Lark 323

Finch, Angola 305

— Beech 245

— Blue-bellied 303

— Brazilian 303

— Caffrarian 203

— Citril 274

— Glossy 301

— Greater Redpole 257

— James' 237

— Lapland 275

— Lark 275

— Liver-coloured 304

— Mountain 245

— Purple 301

— Serin 194

— Siskin 269

— Snow 276

— Thistle 267

— Black-headed . . 273

Fir Grosbeak 177

Flasher, or Flusher 74

Page

Foolish Bunting 222

Fringilla Angolensis 3<)5

— * Bengalus 303

— Calebs 232

— Canaria 277

— Cannabina 252

— Carduelis 262

— Citrinella 274

— Domestica 247

— Granatina 303

— Hepatica 304

— Laponica 275

— Linaria 259

— Melba 304

— Montifringilla 245

— Montana 251

— Nitens 301

— Nivalis 276

•— Petronia 273

— Purpurea 301

— Serinus 1 94

— Spinus 269

— Tristis 302

Fulica Chtoropus 484

Furzeling 416

Glossy Finch 301

Goldfinch 262

— American 302

— Black 263

— Black-headed 263

— Green 304

— White 263

— White-headed 263

— Yellow-breasted 263

Golden Oriole 107

— Crested Wren 422

Goose, Bean 488

Gowk 117

Gowry Grosbeak 205

Graccula Religiosa 117

Grakle, Minor 117

Grasshopper Warbler 413

Great Woodpecker 156

Green Bird 188

Greenfinch 188

Green Goldfinch 304

— Macaw, Great 125

— Woodpecker 153

Grenadier Grosbeak 201

Page

Grey-breasted Parrot 134

Grey Dun 85

— Wagtail 439

Grosbeak, Azure 204

— Banded 205

— Black 208

— Black-clouded 208

— Blue 203

— Brown-cheeked 207

— Caffrarian 203

— Cape 202

— Cardinal 196

— China 207

— Dominican 201

Fir 177

— Gowry 205

— Green 191

— Grenadier 201

— Malacca 207

— Molucca 208

— Paradise 209

— Pine 179

— Red-billed 200

— Yellow-bellied .... 204

Halcyon 165

Haybird 408

Hawfinch ; 191

Hedge Warbler 391

Heedy Royston 85

Heitre 16'5

Hickwall 451

Hooded Crow 85

Hoody Bran 81

Hoopoe ]09

House Sparrow 247

Huck-muck 458

Illinois Parrot 125

Indigo Bunting 230

Jackdaw 90

Jacobin Pigeon 471

Java Sparrow 198

Jay 94

— Birch 107

Kestril 54

Keelie 56

Kingfisher 164

INDEX. 495

Page

Kinglet, Gold-crowned 425

Lanius Collurio 70

— Erythrocephalus 68

— Excubiter 62

— Minor 65

Lapland Finch 275

Lapwing 482

Lark, Black 307

— Crested 312

— Field 323

— Field, Short-heeled .... 325

— Horned 318

— Meadow 324

— Shore 318

— Sky 306

— Tit 319

— Water 326

— White 307

— Wood 314

Larus Tridactylus 489

Lesser Grey Shrike 65

— White Cockatoo 138

— Woodpecker 158

Linnet 252

— Brown 2.~>6

— Grey 253

— Mealy 261

— Mountain 261

— Rock 253

— Rose 256

— Whin 256'

— Yellow 253

Lintie, or Lintwhite 256

Liver-coloured Finch 304

Long-tailed Green Parrakeet . 127

— Tit 417

Lory, Black-capped 144

— Ceram J 42

— Purple-capped ]43

Loxia Amandava 199

— Astrid 198

— Coerulea 203

— Caffra 203

— Canora 207

— Capensis 202

— Cardinalis 196

— Chloris 188

— Coccothraustes 191

— Curvirostra . .172

496

INDEX.

Page

Loxia Cyanea .............. 204

— Dominicana 2

— Enucleator 179

— Erythrocephala 200 |

— Fasciata 205

— Flaviventris 204

— Malacca 207 1

— NuUlosa 208

_ Orix 201

— Orycivora 198

— Punctularia 205

— Pyrrhula 1

— Pytiopsittacus 177

— Sanguinirostris 209

— Serinus 194

Macaw, Blue and Yellow 124

— Great Green 125

— Red and Blue 122

Magpie 100

— French 157

Malacca Grosbeak 207

Mallard

Marked Pigeon 470

Marsh Tit 453

Mavis . .

Mag, Long-tailed 45£

Meadow Lark 324

Mealy Linnet 261

Merle 348

Middle Woodpecker . .

Minor Grakle

Missel Thrush 335

Moor Hen 484

Monk 47

Moss-cheeper 3'2

Motacilla Accredula 40

_ Alba 43

— Alpina 43

— Boarula 43

— Flava 44

— Rufa 41

Mountain Bunting 21

Finch 24

Linnet 2t

Mufflin, Long-tailed 4J

Nightingale

Nightingale, Vienna 373

— Virginian 197

Nope 186

Nutcracker

Nuthatch 168

Oatear 443

Oatibwl 5i»*

atseed Bird 443

riole, Golden 107

riolus Gallnda 107

rtolan Bunting 218

uzel, Garden 348

— Ring 350

— Rock ... 351

_- Tor 351

— Water 331

>wl, Barn 56

— Hawk 61

— Little 59

— Passerine 61

— White

East Indian 4(

Greater 37

Italian 4(

)xeye

'ainted Bunting

aradise Grosbeak

arrakeet, Blossom-headed . .

— Bornean

— Long-tailed Green . .

— Rose-headed

— Rose-ringed

— Red and Blue-headed

— Red-crescented

Parrot, Amazon

— Amboina

— Ash-coloured

— Blue-headed

— Blue-necked •

— Cardinal

— Crossbill

— Carolina

— Grey-breasted

— Illinois <

— Pavonian

— Rose-headed Ring. . .

— Purple

Whiskered

— White-fronted

— Yellow

Yellow-headed

Partridge

443

231
200
129
130
127
130
133
128
133
145
136
140
126
147
129
177
135
134
125
128
, 130
130
, 132
, 144
. 127
, 146
. 473

Page
Partridge, Barbary 478

— Rock 479

Parus Ater 447

— Biarmicus 456

— Coeruleus 450

— Caudatus 457

— Cristatus 454

— Major 443

— Palustris 453

Pavonian Parrot 128

Peacock, or Fan-tailed Pigeon 471

Perriwigged Pigeon 471

Pettichap 378

— Lesser 405

Pick-a-bud 186

JPicus Major 156

— Medius 158

— Minor 185

Piet, Water 332

Pigeon, Carrier 473

— Jacobine 471

— Marked 470

— Peacock, or Fantailed . 471

— Perriwigged 471

— Rock 469, 471

— Shield 470

— Starling-necked 470

— Striped Starling-neck 470

— Swallow 407

— Turkish 471

— Wild 471

— Wood 464

Pine Grosbeak 179

Pinnock, Bearded • 457

Pipit. Meadow 322

— Tree 325

Poke-pudding 458

Pope 186

Pouter 470, 471

Preacher Toucan 150

Pstltacus (Estivus 144

— Alexandri 136

— Amboinensis 136

— Ararauna 1 24

— Autumnalis 146

— Banksii 139

— Bimaculatus 132

— Canicularis 128

• — Carolinensis 135

— Cristatus 137

INDEX. 497

Page

Psittacus Cyanocephalus 126

— Domicella 143

— Erithacus 140

— Garrulus 142

— Guianensis 128

— Leucocephalus 144

— Lory 144

— Lunatus 1 33

— Macao 122

— Menstruus 147

— Militaris 125

— Moluccensis 139

— Murinus 134

— Ocrocephalus 146

— Passerinus 149

— Pennanti 130

— Pertinax 125

— Phillippinarum .... 138

— Rufirostres 127

— Solstitialis 127

— Sulphur eus 138

Pump-borer 159

Purple-capped Lory 143

Purple Finch 301

— Parrot 130

Purr 483

Quail 475

Quake-tail 442

Rail, Water 485

Rallus Crex 485

— Porzana 485

Raven 74

Red and Blue Macaw 122

Redbreast 395

Red-backed Shrike 70

Red-billed Grosbeak 209

Red-crested Cockatoo, Great . 138

Red-hoop 186

Redpole, Greater 256

— Lesser 259

— Mealy 262

Red-vented Cockatoo 139

Redwing 344

Red-wing Thrush 344

Redstart, Common 388

— Black, or Tithys 386

Red-tail, Black 388

Reed Bird, Bearded 437

498

INDEX.

Pago

Reed Bunting

224

Sparrow, Hedge •

.. 394

— Thrush

352

. . 247

— Wren . .

406

- Java ....

198

411

— Reed

... 227

Rhamphastos Picatus ......

150

— Ring . .. ......

273

— JPiscivorus

IftO

— Tree

... 251

140

Water

227

Rice Bird

198

Standgale. . . . • •

56

Ring Bird

227

Stare ••

.. 329

Ring Dove . . .

463

. . . 327

— Ousel

350

Starling-necked Pigeon •

. .. 470

273

Stock Dove

460

Robin

398

Stonechat

432

Rock Dove

471

434

Rock Pigeon, Wild

469

Stone Smith

. .. 434

187

Stork, Black

. .. 481

— Thrush

353

— White «

. .. 480

Roller

104

Storm Cock ...

. .. 337

Rook

87

Striped Monk .. .. . .

.. 470

Rose-headed Ring Parrakeet .

130

... 57

Ruff

482

. .. 59

Rufous Warbler.

410

Sturnus Cinclus

. .. 331

. .. 327

498

Swallow Pigeon

. .. 470

Sedge Bird

411

Swan . .

.. 486

Sedge Warbler

411

. . . 345

Serin Finch , .

194

Sylvia (Enanthe . . * . .

. .. 426

Shaft-tailed Bunting

230

. . . 406

Sheldrake

488

373

Shellapple

245

. .. 380

470

— — Dartfordi&nsis

416

Shilfa

245

403

318

—• Hortensis .... . . .

... 378

Shrike, Ash-coloured

62

— Locustellu . . .

... 413

— Great

62

— Luscinia ...... .

355

— Lesser Grey . . .

65

372

— Red-backed

70

391

— Woodchat . . ....

68

•— Phtsnicurus

388

394

... 4*22

Siskin

269

— Rubetra

.. 428

168

— Rubicola, .........

. .. 432

Skite

215

— Rubecula .

395

Skylark

806

.. 411

Snipe

481

.. 399

Snow Finch. ... . . . . .

276

.. 414

Snowflake ........ ..

210

— Tithys

386

Snowfowl .

210

Troglodytes .

.. 419

Song Thrush

338

Sparrow Bunting

227

.. 489

138

. 475

INDEX.

Page
Tetrao Perdrix 473

— Rufus 478

Throstle 340

Thrush, Black 348

— Garden 340

— Grey 337

— Holm 337

— Wind 345

— Missel 335

— Redwing 344

— Reed 352

— Ringed 351

— Rock 353

— Screech 337

— Song 338

Tit, Bearded .... 456

— Blue 450

— Bottle 458

— Cole 44

— Crested 454

— Lark 319

— Long-tailed 457

— Marsh 453

Titling 395

Titmouse, Greater 443

Tom-tit 451

— Black-headed 446

Tony-hoop 186

Toucan, Brazilian 151

— Preacher 150

— Yellow-breasted .... 140

Tourako 16c

Tree Sparrow 25]

Tringa Cinclus 48c

— Pugnax 48!

— Vanellus 48!

Trumpeter Pigeon 470

Tumbler 471

Turdus Arundinaceus 352

— Illacus 344

— Merula 346

— Musicus 338

— Pilaris 342

— Saxatilis 35'.

— Torquatus 350

— Viscivorus

Turkish Pigeon 471

Turtle Dove 465

Twink * 246

499
Page

Twite 262

Turtle,Ring-necked 447

Upupa Epops 109

Veiled Dove 470

Wagtail, Black and White .. 438

— Blue-headed 442

— Common 436

— Grey 439

— Pied 438

— Water 438

— White 438

— Winter 438

_ Yellow 441

Warbler, Alpine 434

— Grasshopper 413

— Hedge 391

— Blue-throated 399

— Dartford 416

— Rufous 410

— Sedge 411

— White-breasted 383

— Wood 414

Water Bird 338

— Lark 326

— Ouzel 331

__ Rail 485

Waxbill 198

Waxen Chatterer 333

Wheatear 426

Whidah Bunting 228

Whinchat 428

White-breasted Warbler .... 383

White Cockatoo, Great 137

— — Lesser .... 138

— Owl 57

— Stork 480

White-fronted Parrot 144

Whitehead Pigeon 470

— Striped Starling-neck 470

Whitetail 426

Whitethroat 380

Whiskered Parrot 132

Whitwall 155

Willow Wren 408

Windhover 56

Woodchat Shrike 68

Wood Lark 314

X K 2

500

INDEX.

Page

Wood Wren 414

Woodpecker, Great 156

— Green 153

— Lesser 158

— Middle 158

_ Pied 157

Striated 158

Woodpie 157

Woodspite - ... 1 55

Woodwall 155

Woodwele 318

Woosel Cock 350

Wren 416

— Furze 416

— Golden-crested 422

— Reed 406

Page

Wren, Sedge 41 i

— - Willow 408

— Wood 4J4

— Yellow 414

Wryneck 160

Yaffler 155

Yeldring, Yellow 215

Yeldrock 215

Yellow-bellied Grosbeak .... 204

Yellow-breasted Toucan .... 149

Yellow-hammer 213

Yellow-headed Parrot 146

Yellow Parrot 127

— Wagtail 441

Yunx Torquilla 160

THE END.

J. BILLIKC, PEINTER AND STEREOTYPED \VOK1NO, 61TKREY.