LIBRARY

OF THE

MUSEUM OF a oe am ZOOLOGY
els

GIFT OF

Jarmucl Henthewur

Ockebos 29, 1921

a,

COLOURED FIGURES

OF THE

BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS.

ISSUED BY

DORM GILFORD, F.Z.8, ETC.,

PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION.

VOLUME V.

LONDON:
R. H. PORTER, 7 PRINCES STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE, W.

1885—1897.

ALERE FLAMMAM:

PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,

RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.

—-¥ -———

ees : 1
‘ lil

. . he ae wae Vv

5 vii

Pee a. 63 | L139 P

FOreeTIONn OF EDITIONS.

Tuts Work was issued in two Editions: the First commenced
October 1885, and the Second April 1891, both Editions ending
simultaneously ; the Plates in Volume V. appeared as follows :—

lst Edition. 2nd Edition.
PART PART
1. Great BustaRD ...... XXI. Aug. 1892. XV. Aug. 1892.
2. Lirtie Bustarp ...... XXIV. June 1893. XXIII. July 1893.
3. Inpian Hovupara Bus- XXXIV. Apr. 1897. . XXXIV. Apr. 1897.
TARD.
4. Stonn-CurLEW or XXXI. ° June 1895. XXXJI. June 1895.
THICK-KNED.
5. Common Pratincore .. XXVIII. Sept.1894. XXVIII. Sept. 1894.
6. CrEAM-COLOURED S m a’ a
CouURSER.
7. SoctaBLn LAPwINne .... XXXII. Nov. 1896. XXXIII. Nov. 1896. )
PeUIOUWMHET........+... XXXIV. Apr. 1897. XXXIV. Apr. 1897.
9. Caspian PLOVER ...... XXI. Aug. 1892. XV. Aug. 1892.
10. Rincep PLovER ...... aX. Dec: 1851. XIV. July 1892.
11. Lirrin Rincep PLover. XXX. Feb. 1895. XXX. Feb. 1895.
12, Kentish PLovur...... 5 ee ME -
13. KitipEER PLOVER .... XXV. Oct. 1893. XXIV. Oct. 1893.
14. Go~pENn PLOVER ...... XIII. Mar. 1890. XIII. June 1892.
15, Gray PLOVER ........ XVIII. Apr. 1891. XIX. Feb. 1893.
16. Lapwine or Prewir .. XIX. July 1891. XII. May 1892.
Wie PERNSTONE ../.. 5. 5-+ XIV. May 1890. XVI. Nov. 1892.
18. OysTER-CATCHER or SEA- XII. Jan. 1890. XXVII. Aug. 1894.
Pie.
UG MPACVOORID. a sve cieve’= avers vie XITI. Mar. 1890. XIII. June 1892.
20. BLACK-WINGED STILT .. 93 Pe A is
21. GREY PHALAROPE .... XXX. Feb. 1895. XXX. Feb. 1895.

22. Rep-NECKED PHataroPE XXXIV. Apr.1897. XXXIV. Apr. 1897.

vi

59.

. Woopcock

. Great or

. JACK SNIPE
. RED-BREASTED SNIPE ..
. BROAD-BILLED

COLLATION OF

Oth D> OM Oo

LAOS O
SOLITARY
SNIPE.

. Common SNIPE........

” ”

SAND-
PIPER.

. PECTORAL SANDPIPDR ..

” ih) ie

. BoNAPARTH’S SANDPIPE
34.
. Lirrrn Stint
. TEMMINCK’s STINT .

. AMERICAN STINT ......
38.
39.
. Kyor

DtUNLIN

CURLEW SANDPIPER....
PuRPLE SANDPIPER ..

PIPER.

4, BARTRAM’S PLOVER ....
. CoMMON SANDPIPER....
. GREEN SANDPIPER

. Woopd-SANDPIPER

. SOLITARY SANDPIPER ..
. ComMMon REDSHANE....
. YELLOW-SHANKED SAND-

PIPER.

. Dusky RupsHANK
. GREENSHANK

AAs ise ute locas te) oi yie\telislta/(s\ielte

5. BLACK-TAILED GODWIT .
56.
. CURLEW

Bar-TaAILEeD GopWIt

ist
PART
VII.
XIV.

XXVIII.

XXXII.

XXVIII.

XXX.

» 2OOVADUL,

XOMIDY

XIV.

XXXIV.

XXIV.
XIX.
XXXII.

XXXY.

XXY.
XXIV.
XII.
XXI.
XIX.
XXIX.
XXXII.
XXXVI.

39

XVIII.

XXXIV.

XVIII.
XVII.

XXVIT.

XXII.
XIX.

XXXII.

XX.

EDITIONS.

Edition.

Sept. 1388.
May 1890.
Sept. 1894.

June 1895.
Dec. 1893.
Feb. 1895.
Sept. 1894.
June 1893.

May 1890.
Loe, ISOC
June 1893.
July 1891.
June 1895.
Nov. 1897.
Oct. 1893.
June 1893.
Jan. 1890.

Aug. 1892.
July 1891.

Nov. 1894.
June 185.
Noy. 1893.

”

Apr. 1891.
Apr. 1897.

Apr. 1891.
Feb. 1891.

Dec. 1893.
Dee. 1892.
July 1891.
Apr. 1896.
Aug. 1892.

2nd Edition.

PART
Wank.
XVI.

XXVIII.

XXXII.
XXVI.
XXX.

XXVIII.

XXII.

OE
SOO
XOCOUL
pete
YOO
XORORVE
XO
KONE
dO,
XV.

xi
LOD,
NOOME
OR

bed

XIX.
XXXIV.

XIX.
XOXTE

XXVI.
XVII.
xasle
OOCUe
XY.

July 1891.
Noy. 1892.
Sept. 1894.

June 1895.
Dee. 1893.
Feb. 1895.
Sept. 1894.
July 1893.

Noy. 1892.
Apr. 1897.
July 1893.
May 1892.
June 1895.
Noy. 1897.
Oct. 1893.
July 1893.
Aug. 1894.

99
Aug. 1892.
May 1892.

Noy. 1894.
June 1895.
Nov. 1893.

o:

Feb. 1893.
Apr. 1897.

Feb. 1893.
June 1893.

Dec. 1893.
Dec. 1892.
May 1892.
Apr. 1896.
Aug. 1892.

ipo t OF PLATES

IN VOLUME V.

. Great Bustarp. Otis tarda, Linn. .
. Lirrite Bustarp. Ofis tetrax, Linn. ;
. Invian Hovsara Bostarp. Otis macqueeni, J. E.

Gray

. STONE-CUuRLEW or THICK-KNEE. Cidicnemus

scolopax (S.G. Gmelin) .

. Common Pratincote. Glareola pratincola (Linn.)
. CREAM-cotouREeD Courser. Cursorius gallicus

(J. F. Gmelin)

. SocrasLe Larwine. Chetusia gregaria (Pall.)

. DorrerrL. Eudromias morinellus (Linn.) .

. Caspian Prover. AX gialitis asiatica (Pall.)

. Rincep Prover. Agialitis hiaticola (Linn.) .

. Litrte Rincep Prover. Agialitis curonica (J. F.

Gmelin)

. Kenrish Prover. gialitis cantiana (Latham) .
. Kimupzer Prover. A gialitis vocifera (Linn.)

. GoLvEN Piover. Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. .

. Grey PLover. Sguatarola cinerea (Fleming) .

. Lapwine or Peewir. Vanellus vulgaris, Bechst. .
. Turnstone. Strepsilas interpres (Linn.)

. OysTer-catcHer or Sea-Piz. Hematopus ostra-

legus, Linn.

To face
page
i

Vill PLATES IN VOL. V.

To face

page

19. Avocet. Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn.. . . . 49
20. Brack-winerp Sritt. Himantopus melanopterus,

Meyer. 6) 2 ve-s jackie pe ee

21. Grey Puatarorr. Phalaropus fulicarius (Linn.). 53
22. Rev-neckED Puatarors. Phalaropus hyperboreus

(Linn.) . Oe oe eae eee 56

23. Woopncock. Scolopax rusticula, Linn. . . . ? 53
24. Do. Do. . Mee) eee cates tatiana oe
25. Great or Soritary Snree. Scolopax major, J. F.

Gmelin sy res eta hang ai eager 59

26. Common Snies. Scolopax gallinago, Linn.. . . 63

27. Do. (Melanic variety). Scolopax sabinii, Vigors . 64

28. Jack Snipz. Scolopax gallinula, Linn. . . . . 67
29. Rep-preastep Snipe. Macrorhamphus griseus

(JiscE'S Ginaelum\ i jee eer ee ee nea
30. Broap-BitLep SanppirEr. Limicola platyrhyncha

(Temi). sosc tse ae ee aie ene mere RE

31. Pectoran SanppirEer. Tringa maculata, Vieill. . 76

822 “Do! “D05).39 xe. i ee eS

33. Bonaparte’s Sanppiper. Tinga fuscicollis,Vieill. 80

BIG Deana Weegee Clyaumer, Wii 5 SL

35. Lirriz Stinr. Tringa minuta, Leisler . . . . 86

36. Temmincr’s Stinr. Tringa temmincki, Leisler . 87

37. AMERICAN Stint. Tringa minutilla, Vieill. . . 90
38. Curtew Sanppirer. Tringa subarquata (Giilden-

Stadt ene caulhh oy amps oN. coy. eee OT
39. PurpLe Sanpriver. Tringa striata, Linn.. . . 98
40. Knot. Tringa canutus, Linn. Summer . . . 95
AN. WO.) Do-5 \Winter Sis a oe OG

42. SanDpeRLING. Calidris arenaria (Linn.). . . . 97

43. Burr-Breastep Sanppiper. Tringa rufescens,
Wael Seemed ca ke ee

44. Bartram’s Purover. Bartramia longicauda
(Bechists) vis-+ 5.00 oie nee cts ee TOT

45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

olc

PLATES IN VOL. V. ix

To face
page
Common Sanppirer. Totanus hypoleucus (Linn.). 103

Green Sanpprper. Totanus ochropus (Linn.). . 105
Woopn-Sanprieger. Totanus glareola (J. F.Gmelin). 109
Sotitary SanppiPeR. Totanus solitarius (Wilson). 111
Common Repsuanxk. Totanus calidris (Linn.). . 113

YELLOW-SHANKED Sanppirer. Totanus flavipes
(J. F. Gmelin)

Dusky Repsnann. Totanus fuscus (Linn.) . . 118

51.

52. Greensaank. Totanus glottis (Linn.) . . . . 119

53. Rurr. Machetes pugnaz (Linn.). . .. . “Vize

54. Do. Do. :

_55. Buack-taitep Gopwir. Limosa egocephala

(Linn.) DR ie ee io far a a E25

56. Bar-taitep Gopwit. Limosa lapponica (Linn.) . 129

57. Curtew. Numenius arquata(Linn.) ... . 181

58. Wuimpret. Numenius pheopus (Linn.) . . . 135

59. Eskimo Curtew. Numenius borealis (J.R. Forster) 137

1-70

VOL. V. b

‘um ‘epiey SHO

‘duvyisna Lyvyaad

‘wpeg ‘eaatg “Mv “OUR

GREAT BUSTARD.

OTIS TARDA, Linn.

Otis tarda, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 264 (1766); Naum. vii. p. 12 ;
Macq. iv. p. 30; Hewitson, i. p. 285; Yarr. ed. 4, iil.
p- 193; Dresser, vii. p. 369.

Outarde barbue, French; Trappe, German; Adbutarda,
Spanish.

To those interested in the history of British Birds it
is superfluous to state that this fine species, which was
formerly resident and well known in certain counties of
England, and, at least in one district, in Scotland, is
now an exceptional and uncommon straggler to this
country, wherein there are but few tracts remaining in
a condition to suit its habits and tastes. Open country,
without trees or fences, a dry light soil, and freedom
from human disturbance, are essential to the continued
stay of this bird; and although there are still a few
localities in England that afford the natural conditions
just mentioned, our swarming population, its industries,
traffic, recreations, and facilities of locomotion leave but

little chance for the Bustard to enjoy the solitude in
which he delights.

For an exhaustive account of the last days of our
bird as a resident in Norfolk I must refer my readers
to the second volume of Stevenson’s admirable work,
‘The Birds of Norfolk’; the author treats his subject
not only with a minute accuracy of detail but with a
pervading expression of regret at the virtual extinction
of this grand living ornament of his native county, that
appeals to all the best feelings of those who love birds
for their own sake. From this account it seems that
the last eggs of the Great Bustard found in Norfolk
were taken in the neighbourhood of Great Massingham
in 1835; and in all probability these were the last laid
in England by one of these birds in a state of freedom.

The wolds of Yorkshire and Lincoln, and the downs
of several of our southera counties, besides the well-
known favourite localities in Hast Anglia, were, within
the memory of man, frequented by the Great Bustard ; }
but now-a-days the scanty records of its occurrence in
our country are obituary notices, generally setting forth
how Mr. A. shot an invariably “splendid” specimen,
and how the “accomplished taxidermist” Mr. B. is
engaged in “ mounting ” it for the collection of Mr. C.

I am very glad, however, to be able to record a
notable and most praiseworthy exception to the usual
treatment of a Bustard in England, in the case of a fine
male that visited the fen country of West Norfolk in
1876; the owner of the locality in which this bird made
its appearance at once took measures to prevent its
being disturbed, and was at least rewarded by having

frequent opportunities of observing the Bustard and
showing it to several sympathizing lovers of birds; this
bird remained in the district for a considerable time,
and, as I have reason to believe, England is guiltless of
its blood.

I have become intimately acquainted with the Great
Bustard in Spain; but as I have already set forth my
experiences in the ‘Journal of the Northamptonshire
Natural History Society,’ I will only say here that this
species is very abundant, and more or less resident, in
the great plains of Central and Southern Spain, where
it is not much esteemed as an article of food, and I
hope likely to hold its own for many years to come.

No amount of legitimate and sportsmanlike pursuit
can materially affect the “breed” of Bustards in Spain ;
and, in my opinion, Bustard-driving is excellent sport,
and the young birds very excellent food, whilst even the
flesh of old males, who are of course the principal
desiderata from the sportsman’s point of view, can be
rendered into most palatable soup—and Spain is a
hungry country.

Vast numbers of Bustards are said to exist in the
southern provinces of Russia in Europe, as well as in
Hungary and European Turkey ; in fact the bird is, or
has been, tolerably common in all parts of Europe that
are suited to its habits.

In captivity this fine bird thrives well in favourable
circumstances, and becomes not only tame but aggres-
sive and impudent towards its human visitors, though
in my experience, with a few exceptions, peaceable
enough with other birds.

}
|

This bird is virtually omnivorous; the Andalucian
herdsmen and shepherds declare that the young birds,
during their first summer, subsist almost entirely upon
insect-food ; but hardly any green thing comes amiss to
them, and besides vegetable food of all sorts, they will
greedily devour mice, small birds, frogs, lizards, snails,
small fishes, and earthworms.

muy ‘X81}9} SHO

‘Gavisnad ATLLIT

“UIP1Eg “AIH “AA 'OURIT

LITTLE BUSTARD.

OTIS TETRAX, Linn.

Otis tetrax, Linn. 8. N.i. p. 264 (1766) ; Naum. vii. p. 52;
Macg. iv. p. 35; Hewitson, i. p. 287; Yarr. ed. 4, iii.
p. 216; Dresser, vii. p. 383.

Outarde canepéticre, Poule de Carthage, French; Zwerg-
Trappe, German ; Sison, Spanish.

This is an uncommon and irregular visitor to the
British Islands, and, so far as I am aware, has never been
known to nest between the ‘four seas.” Mr. H.
Saunders states that most of the occurrences recorded
have been during the colder months, and I do not
remember to have ever heard of more than two or three
as seen together on any one occasion in our country.
My personal acquaintance with the Little Bustard is
almost entirely confined to Spain and North Africa.
With regard to the former country I make no excuse
for quoting from my “ Notes on the Birds of North-
amptonshire,” contributed to the ‘Natural History
Journal’ of our county, in an article referring to a
solitary record of this species therein:—In most of its
habits, haunts, and food, as well as in make and general

tone of plumage, this bird resembles the Great Bustard ;
but it is a more strictly southern species, and is less
exclusively addicted to absolutely level stretches of
country than that bird during the summer months ;
at that season undulating pasture-lands, or fields of
growing corn, especially in the neighbourhood of water,
are its favourite abode, and im Spain, wherever such
combination of circumstance is met with to the south of ~
the central mountain-ranges, the Little Bustard is pretty
certain to be found from April to August in pairs or
small family-parties. On the approach of winter these
birds congregate in large flocks, and I think that in
Spain a very considerable local migration to the south-
ward takes place from the high central plateaux to the
sunny plains of Andalucia, At all events very large
numbers of this species are to be found flocked on these
plas during the colder months, frequenting the fallows,
stubbles, and drier marsh-lands. In the courting-
season, April and early May, the male often betrays his
presence by a very peculiar cry, that Colonel Irby aptly
describes as easily imitable “ by pouting out and pressing
the lips tightly together and then blowing through
them ;” he adds, “the birds when thus calling seem to
be close to you, but are often in reality half a mile off.’
This exactly agrees with my own experience. At the
season to which I am referring, the male constantly
springs two or three feet from the ground, with dilated
throat, and wings partially extended, and, in fact, goes
through a sort of “show ” more or less common amongst
birds of this Order.

In the winter I have found this species very wary and

difficult of approach, and although a shot or two may
occasionally be obtained by “driving,” as a rule the
birds mount high in the air on rising, and generally
pass over the concealed gunners far out of shot-range.
On the other hand, during the breeding-season, although
the Little Bustard will run at great speed in good covert
before an enemy, we had little difficulty in procuring as
many specimens as we required by advancing in line to
the spot from which we had seen one of the male birds
jump, or heard his call, and in the great heats of August
and September these birds lie very close in any available
shade of grass or weeds. When the bird is alone, or
only in company of a mate, I have found that a close
approach on horseback is often feasible, especially if
accompanied by the tinkle of a cattle-bell attached to
the neck of the quadruped.

The flesh of this bird is, in my opinion, of excellent
quality, and is frequently served up in Spanish inns
under the name of “ Faisan”’ (Pheasant), to which it has
no likeness, either in taste or colour. In the Regency
of Tunis, where I met with the Little Bustard in great
numbers in November and December, and also in
Algeria, it is known to the European inhabitants as
“Poule de Carthage.”

The flight of this bird is exceedingly rapid and easy,
and the action of the wings produces a loud whistling
sound, from which the Spanish name of “Sison” is
derived. The few nests that I have seen were composed
of dried straws and grass-stems in a shallow scratching,
amongst growing corn or in thick covert of natural vege-
tation. ‘The eggs are three or four in number, of a dark

glossy olive-green, occasionally spotless, but more often
blotched with dark bronze colour. The Spaniards say
that the Little Bustard generally produces two broods ;
this statement I can neither deny or confirm from
personal knowledge, but I have reason to believe that
it is correct.

In captivity this bird becomes very tame, but is
delicate and very susceptible of damp in cold weather.

The Little Bustard abounds in certain parts of the
Danubian provinces, the Crimea and Southern Russia
generally; I have met with it in Albania, Sicily, and
Sardinia, and have received specimens from Cyprus.
Mr. H. Saunders tells us that it breeds freely on the
plains that extend across France from Marne to La
Vendée, where it has greatly increased of late years,
arriving about the end of March or early in April, and
leaving in September. I believe that these dates would
apply generally as regards this bird to most of its
summer haunts to the north of the Alps and Pyrenees,
but in the south of Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily it is to
be met with throughout the year. For a most amusing
account of the pursuit of this species and the Great
Bustard on the downs of the Dobrudscha, I refer my
readers to a delightfully written article by Mr. W. H.
Simpson in ‘The Ibis’ for 1861, p. 361.

INDIAN HOUBARA BUSTARD.

OTIS MACQUEENTI, J. E. Gray.

Otis macqueeni, Gray & Hardwicke, Ml. Ind. Zool. ii. pl. 47 ;
Naum. xiii. Suppl. p. 216; Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 221;
Dresser, vii. p. 395.

A bird of this species was shot in October 1847 by
Mr. G. Hunsley in a stubble-field near Kirton-in-Lindsey,
Lincolnshire, and the specimen is still preserved in the
museum of the Philosophical Society at York. A second
bird was shot on 5th October, 1892, near Marske, in
Yorkshire. It proved to be a male and is now in the
museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne. A third example, also
a male, was shot in the parish of Hasington, near Spurn
Head, on the 17th October, 1896, and an account of
its capture is given by Mr. John Cordeaux in the
‘Zoologist’ for 1896 (p. 433).

In Europe several occurrences of this Bustard have
been recorded, concerning some of which the details are
given by Mr. H. Saunders in his ‘ Manual.’ The home
of the species is Central Asia, whence it migrates
southwards, and spends the winter in Northern India,
and is said to be especially abundant in Sind at that
season.

An egg of this species, taken in Mesopotamia in May
1860, and sent to Professor Newton, is figured in the
‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society’ for 1861
(p. 397, pl. xxxix. fig. 5). [O. 8.]

AVAD)

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‘gf ‘\uaanbovu $119

VUVANOH NVICANI

"NOGNOD “OIDALS LHVY “OHLIT

OWOYHS

“(uyaug “9 “s) xedopoos snureusIpAy

‘AANM-MOINL YO ‘MATANO-ANOLS

“UNes “OAATH “AM “OUITT

STONE-CURLEW or THICK-KNEE.

GDICNEMUS SCOLOPAX (S. G. Gmelin).

Charadrius scolopax, S. G. Gmelin, Reise durch Russland, 11.
p. 87 (1774).

Charadrius cedicnemus, Linn. 8, N. 1. p. 255 (1766).

(Adicnemus crepitans, Naum. vii. p. 92; Macg. iv. p. 77;
Hewitson, i. p. 288.

(Xdicnemus scolopax, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 225; Dresser, vii.
p- 401.

(CEdicnéme criard, French; Triel, German; Alcaravdn,
Spanish.

This bird is a vernal visitor to those parts of our
country that it affects for breeding purposes, but in
Cornwall it is said to appear in autumn, and frequently
remains on the moorlands of that county throughout the
winter. ‘The districts chiefly favoured by this species
during the summer are chalk-downs, sandy warrens,
heaths, and extensive fallows, and it is only to be met
with casually and uncommonly upon heavy lands, gene-
rally at the periods of migration. We found it in some
numbers on the Wiltshire downs between Salisbury and
Devizes in the early spring, and took several with the
Falcons of the “ Old Hawking Club.” In West Norfolk,

ee = ee

where the Thick-knee still breeds in tolerable abundance,
I have frequently seen considerable assemblages in early
autumn when the birds were evidently congregating for
departure. As a rule, I have found the Thick-knee very
wary, but it occasionally attempts to avoid observation
by squatting or standing motionless, trusting, no doubt,
to the similarity of its inconspicuous upper plumage to its
surroundings for concealment. From my own experience
I think that this habit is generally adopted on the approach
of a wheeled vehicle or of a person on horseback ; and in
Spain, where the bird is very common, I should frequently
have passed solitary individuals if it had not been for
the glistening of their bright yellow irides in the sun-
hght. Although these birds are specially addicted to
perfectly bare and open wastes, I have frequently seen
them flushed from plantations of young conifers on the
sands of Norfolk, and Professor A. Newton has recorded
a case in which a pair frequented a spot in a covert of
more than three hundred acres at Elveden, Suffolk, long
after it had become the centre of a flourishing wood.
The principal food of this species consists of beetles,
snails, mice, slugs, and worms, frogs also are very
favourite morsels, and the birds “ flight” regularly at
nightfall from their diurnal haunts to the nearest marshy
lands in search of these delicacies. The eggs, two in
number, are laid upon the bare ground, and in colour
so closely resemble their sandy or flinty surroundings
that they are often very difficult to find. A most
interesting account of close observation of a pair of this
species at their nesting-place is given by Mr. A. Trevor-
Battye in a very fascinating work entitled ‘ Pictures in

Prose, etc.’ (Longmans & Co., 1894). ‘This bird feeds
principally at night, and in Spain, when riding by moon-
light, I have frequently been startled by a sudden clamour
of ‘‘ Alcaravanes ” passing overhead on their way to their
feeding-grounds. ‘The cry is loud and clear, but to my
ears somewhat mournful and querulous, well in keeping
with the lonely and uninhabited localities so beloved of
our bird. In captivity the Thick-knee thrives well, and
from its semi-confident hesitating manners and extra-
ordinary speed on foot, with frequent relapses into
complete immobility, is a very attractive denizen of an
aviary. This species is to be met with in suitable localities
throughout Central and Southern Europe and North
Africa during the summer, and very frequently, if not
generally, passes the winter in the countries that border
the Mediterranean. The Thick-knee, though a very
powerful flyer, has but little chance of escape from a good
Falcon, and in my experience seems to be well aware of
this fact, as although it will turn down wind and fly close
to the ground at great speed, it shrieks pitifully, and will
plunge headlong into the first furze-bush, patch of
bracken, or rabbit-burrow that it can reach. I have
kept several of these birds captured in this way alive at
Lilford for considerable periods. In my opinion the
Thick-knee is altogether worthless for the table, but in
Spain there is a tradition (no doubt handed down from
the Moors) that the flesh of this bird if eaten warm
endows its consumer with strong sight and fleetness of
foot.

“UTpOg “9ABID “Ay “OUFIT

COMMON PRATINCOLE.

GLAREOLA PRATINCOLA (Linn.).

Hirundo pratincola, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 345 (1766).

Glareola torquata, Naum. ix. p. 437, xii. p. 261; Hewitson,
i. p. 290.

Glareola pratincola, Macg. iv. p.49; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 231;
Dresser, vii. p. 411.

Perdriz de Mer, Glaréole a collier, French ; Giarol, Brach-
Schwalbe, German ; Canastera, Spanish.

This very remarkable bird is a rare straggler to our
country, and has not, to my knowledge, been recorded
as breeding in Western Europe anywhere to the north
of the great plains that border the lower course of the
Rhone. From Cape St. Vincent to Cyprus and Pales-
tine the Pratincole is a well-known and locally common
summer visitor, and breeds in great abundance in
Morocco, certain parts of Southern Spain, Algeria,
Tunis, and Sicily. I have on many occasions met with
great numbers of this interesting species in the
“marisma” on both sides of the Guadalquivir below
Seville ; it arrives in that district from the south towards
the end of April, and may from that date be seen,

especially as the sun begins to sink, hawking for insects
over the marsh-lands and corn-fields in every direction.
lts favourite breeding-localities are the vast open and
almost entirely barren expanses of mud that have been
under water during the late autumn and winter, and
become dry and baked hard by the sun of March and
April. In these localities the Pratincole lays two or
three eggs side by side, without any attempt at a nest,
during the first fortnight of May. These eggs are very
unlike those of any Plover with which J] am acquainted,
although the authorities have (in my opinion) rightly
classed the Glareolide between the Stone-Curlews and
the Coursers. In flight, ery, and general habit of life
the present bird much resembles the Marsh-Terns, and
its eggs have a certain resemblance to those of some
of that group. lLinnzeus, who had classed it with the
Swallows before having seen it, on receiving a specimen
from Gibraltar, wrote of it:—‘‘ Ad Grallas spectat, et
proprii generis est” (Yarrell’s ‘British Birds,’ 4th ed.
vol. ui. p. 236). During the heat of the day these
birds for the most part remain upon the ground, either
basking in the sun or running swiftly in pursuit of
beetles and other insects, though some are at all times
hawking over the plains. Towards sunset they all
become active, and may be seen skimming and hovering
at no great height in every direction, and continue on
wing long after darkness has set in. In my experience
the Pratincole is rather a silent bird, except when
disturbed im its breeding-haunts, when it is very
clamorous and utters a harsh, rapidly repeated cry,
which to my ears resembles that of some of the smaller

Terns. During the breeding-season these birds are
perfectly fearless of man, and will boldly attack a dog,
but, when merely resting awhile on their migrations, I
have found them difficult of approach, without a certain
amount of scheming, though when on wing they will
pass and repass within a few yards of unconcealed
human beings.

The Pratincole frequently cowers with extended wings
on the bare ground without any apparent cause, and as
frequently lies upon its side with one wing partially
elevated, as represented in the Plate. We found this
species in abundance in the plains of Cyprus in May,
but did not discover any eggs, although I have no
doubt that it breeds in the island. In Corfu and on
the opposite mainland of Epirus these birds appear in
April and haunt suitable localities for a considerable
time; but I am not aware of their breeding in those
regions anywhere nearer to Corfu than Mesolonghi.

Mr. John Gould informed me that he had never seen
a young Pratincole in down, and had no idea as to its
appearance; I was able to procure some of these birds
for him in Spain in this stage in 1869, that could not
have been more than two or three days old; as I
expected, they can run like typical Plovers on leaving
the egg. Mr. Gould gives a very accurate represen-
tation of the young bird in this early stage in his grand
work, the ‘ Birds of Great Britain.’ Colonel Irby, in
his useful ‘Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar,’
tells us that he found Pratincoles “in countless thou-
sands” in Morocco to the south of Larache in April,
but they had not then begun to lay; he goes .on to

mention that he was assured that these birds in autumn
are excellent eating. I may add that they are by no
means bad on the table in the Spring.

This bird, in Andalucia, is universally known by the
name of ‘Canastera,’ a word of which I have hitherto
been unable to discover the derivation or meaning.

(uu) “H L) SNOT{[e-s Sntrosing

‘AaHSUNOD GHANOTOO-WYaao

“umteg ‘eA0Ig “MQ OUIITT

CREAM-COLOURED COURSER.

CURSORIUS GALLICUS (J. F. Gmelin).

Charadrius gallicus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 692 (1788).

Cursor europeus, Naum. vii. p. 77.

Cursorius europzeus, Macg. iv. p. 42.

Cursorius gallicus, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 238; Dresser, vii.
p. 425.

Cour-vite isabelle, French.

Some twenty specimens of this beautiful desert-bird
have met with death at the hands of man in our country,
and their respective occurrences been duly recorded
by competent persons. It is difficult to assign any
cause for the visits of these ill-advised lovers of sun,
sand, and freedom from human molestation, to our
humid and over-populated Islands, especially as there is
no evidence that the Courser is even a regular local
migrant in Africa—the country of its birth. I have
never seen a Courser alive, or even recently dead, and
therefore I make no apology to my readers for
quoting at length from Mr. H. G. Meade-Waldo’s most
interesting ‘“‘ Notes on the Birds of the Canary Islands,”
published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1889. I may mention that

this gentleman is the only English writer with whom I
am acquainted who has published any details of conse-
quence as to the breeding-habits of the present species.
Alluding to a visit to the island of Fuerteventura
in 1888, Mr. Meade-Waldo writes (loc. supra cit.
pp. 505, 506) of a second visit in February 1889, as
follows :—“I got on better this year at finding the
nests of Cursorius gallicus, but they are certainly very
difficult to discover. This is caused by the perfectly
open country, the bird being of the same colour as the
ground and never betraying fear or uneasiness, and the
eggs being exactly like the stones that cover the plain.
There is really no nest, the bigger stones being just
moved away to make room for the bird to sit upon the
two eggs. The young are much easier to find than
the eggs. The hen only remains at the nest whilst she
is sitting; the cocks either go about in little parties
or mix with birds that are not breeding. When the
young are hatched, however, both parents care for
them, the male being rather more shy than the hen.
It is easy to tell the cock from the hen while running
about; he carries himself much higher and seems to
have a bigger head; when shot, this difference vanishes.
The males breed in their first year, as two that I shot
were in partly spotted plumage. Nevertheless, many
do not breed at all, as I saw flocks of some fifteen to
forty birds, whilst others had eggs or small young. In
flocks they were very wild, and reminded one generally
of Lapwings; they skim a great deal with outstretched,
motionless wings. Their note is a low gua qua when
they have young. When shot this bird ejects a

brownish fluid from its mouth, which soils its feathers
very much. I fancy that this is natural and voluntary.
Where the birds are most frequent this fluid may be
seen in patches; and a pair of young ones that I kept
alive for three days ejected some of it when undis-
turbed and apparently at their ease. I think that I
should have succeeded in rearing this pair had it not
been that I could not spare time for the almost ceaseless
attention that they required. They ate flies, small
snails, and cochineal bugs, also small pieces of lizards.
They ran at a great rate, holding themselves very
upright, with their wings stretched out wide.”

The normal range of this bird extends from the
Canary Isles throughout North Africa, Arabia, and
Persia to the north-western plains of Hindostan ; its
occurrences in Europe being, though not very rare,
purely erratic and accidental. Only two skins of
Cream-coloured Courser have been sent to me from
Spain during the twenty-five years that I have collected
the birds of that country; these were killed in the
Marisma de Lebrija in August. For some interesting
details on the habits of this species in captivity and
freedom in Morocco I refer my readers to the notes of
Favier, of Tangier, as set forth by Colonel Irby in his
‘ Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar.’

SOCIABLE LAPWING.

VANELLUS GREGARIUS (Pail.).

Charadrius gregarius, Pallas, Reise, 1. p. 456.

Vanellus gregarius, C. L. Brehm, Vogelf. p. 285; Seebohm,
P. Z. 8. 1888, p. 416.

Chettusia gregaria, Dresser, vii. p. 527; Saunders, Man.
Br. B. p. 537.

One occurrence. A young bird was shot between
1860-1866 by a farmer out of a flock of Peewits, about
two miles from St. Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire. For
many years it passed as a Cream-coloured Courser,
until its owner, Mr. Doeg of Manchester, sent it to
Seebohm, who, recognizing the species to which it
belonged, exhibited it at a meeting of the Zoological
Society held 20th November, 1888.

A few stray occurrences of this Plover are recorded
from Central Europe, Southern France, Italy, and
elsewhere ; but its home is South-eastern Russia, South-
western and Central Asia, whence it migrates south in
winter to North-eastern Africa, Arabia, India, and
Ceylon. [O. 8.]

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DOTTEREL.

EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS (Linn.).

Charadrius morinellus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 254; Naum. vi.
p. 163; Hewitson, ii. p. 293.

Pluvialis morinellus, Macg. iv. p. 104.

Eudromias morinellus, Dresser, vii. p. 507; Yarr. ed. 4, i.
p. 246.

Pluvier guinard, French; Dummer Regenpfeifer, Mornell,
German.

The Dotterel is a spring and autumn visitor to many
of the counties of England as it passes to and from its
breeding-grounds in the higher mountains of the Lake-
district and of the Highlands of Scotland. It performs
similar migrations in Europe and Western Asia, breed-
ing in the north or the high mountains of more southern
countries, such as ‘Transylvania and Styria, and spending
the winter in the countries bordering the southern
shores of the Mediterranean.

Lord Lilford has given a full account of his own
personal knowledge of this interesting bird in his ‘ Birds
of Northamptonshire’ (vol. ii. p. 4). [O. S.]

‘((M127) Snjjeuldow seiwoupng

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2

CASPIAN PLOVER.

MHGIALITIS ASIATICA (Pail.).

Charadrius asiaticus, Pall. Reise Russ. ii. p. 715 (1773).
figialitis asiatica, Dresser, vii. p. 479.

One occurrence only of this Asiatic species has
hitherto been recorded as having taken place in Great
Britain, and I cannot do better than condense that
record from Appendix A, pp. 582-384, to vol. il. of
Stevenson’s ‘Birds of Norfolk,’ by Mr. Thomas
Southwell, through whose kind offices I obtained the
loan of the bird for the purposes of this work. Mr.
Southwell writes :—‘ On the evening of May 23, 1890,
I received from Mr. Lowne, of Great Yarmouth, the
fresh skin of a handsome full-plumaged male of this
species, which he sent for determination, as the bird was
unknown to him. I subsequently learned the following
particulars. During the morning of May 22 two
strange birds were seen in a large market-garden,
bordering on the North Denes, at Yarmouth, which
attracted the attention of a man who works the garden
for a Mr. Bracey ; but he had no opportunity of a shot.
About 5.30 p.m., when they were on the golf-ground,
which forms a portion of the denes, the step-son of the
man who had seen them in the morning saw them, and

having a gun with him, tried to get both birds in a line,
but being unsuccessful, selected the brighter of the
two, its companion being about six yards distant from
it; when he fired, the paler bird flew off in a westerly
direction, and was no more seen. The dead bird was
taken the next morning to Mr. Lowne for preservation,
and, as before stated, he forwarded the skin to me the
same evening. The weather being very warm at the
time, Mr. Lowne would not risk sending the bird in
the flesh, hence it was that I only saw the skin; but I
may mention that it had all the appearance of having
been very recently removed, and there were still many
living parasites remaining on the feathers. Mr. Lowne
tells me that the total length of the bird when in the
flesh was eight inches, and its weight 24 oz. Through
the liberality of some friends I was enabled to purchase
this specimen for the Norwich Museum, and to send
this first British example of the Caspian Plover for
exhibition at the meeting of the Zoological Society on
June 17, 1890. I submitted the parasites before men-
tioned to Dr. E. Piaget, who informed me that they
were of a new species, for which he proposed the name
of Mirmus assimilis.”

I have never met with this species alive ; its home is
said to be Western Asia, especially the shores of the
Caspian; I have a specimen, obtained by my brother
in Lower Egypt. It has been recorded as having
occurred twice in Heligoland, viz. in November 1850
and May 1859.

’

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“HAHAOTAI GaAONTY

‘uNog ‘OA0ID “4A “OUILT

SiGe)

RINGED PLOVER.

AGIALITIS HIATICULA (Linn.).

Charadrius hiaticula, Linn. S. N. i. p. 253 (1766); Naum.
vil. p. 191; Macg. iv. p. 116; Hewitson, ii. p. 296.
Agialitis hiaticula, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 257; Dresser, vii.

p. 497.

\

Pluvier « collier, French; Sand-Regenpfeiffer, German ;
Frailecillo, Correrios, Spanish.

This pretty bird, which is known by a variety of
names in different parts of the country, is common on
all our sandy and shingly coasts throughout the year,
and is also frequently to be met with inland on the
banks of rivers and lakes. The Ringed Plover lays its
four eggs in a hollow in the sand or shingle; and I can
confirm from personal observation the fact stated in the
Ath edition of ‘ Yarrell,’ that the cavity in which the eggs
are laid is occasionally lined with a number of small
stones, from which habit the bird has in certain localities
acquired the name of Stone-Hatch. ‘These birds show
the greatest anxiety and distress when their eggs or
young are approached, and will go through all the

dodges of the Peewit or Partridge to draw attention to
themselves and away from their broods on such occa-
sions, feigning to have broken wings or legs, and only
just avoiding capture by rising when very closely
pressed by man or dog. When the bird has no special
cause for anxiety it usually runs off rapidly before a
human intruder upon its haunts, uttering a soft sweet
whistle, and occasionally halting abruptly with noddings
of the head and bowings of the body.

In the autumn these birds gather into large flocks
and associate with Dunlins and other Waders on the
mud-flats at low-water times. But the Ringed Plover
is essentially a bird of the sand, and can evidently find
a living in spots where a Sandpiper would starve, as it
is known to breed on some of the warrens of our
eastern counties; and I have myself met with a pair
that were evidently breeding upon a high down in the
county of Hants during the month of June. There is
no doubt that this species habitually rears more than
one brood, as the young are often to be found well able
to take care of themselves in May, and, on the other
hand, I have found several that could not have been
hatched more than a few hours late in July. Besides
the name of Stone-Hatch, already mentioned, this bird
is very commonly known as Ringed Dotterel, Sea-Lark,
Stone-Runner, Sand-Lark, Pullot, and Purre; this last
name, however, is more commonly applied to the
Dunlin.

I must refer my readers to the often quoted 4th
edition of ‘ Yarrell’ for details relating to a small race
of this species that occurs more or less regularly on the

south coast of England in May, and has been (as I
think without valid reason) specifically separated from
the present bird under the title of 4. intermedia. This
small race is the prevailing form on the shores of the
Mediterranean; but is not, in my experience, very
abundant in Southern Europe.

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LITTLE RINGED PLOVER.

A4AGIALITIS CURONICA (J. F. Gmelin).

Charadrius curonicus, J. F. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 692
(1788).

Charadrius minor, Naum. vii. p. 225, xiii. p. 229; Macg. iv.
p. 128; Hewitson, 1. p. 299.

Aigialitis curonica, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 262; Dresser, vii.
p. 491.

Petit Pluvier a collier, French; Fluss-Regenpfeiffer,
German ; Frailecillo, Andarios chico, Spanish.

This bird is a singularly rare visitor to England,
although common in many parts of the continent of
Europe and a regular summer migrant to the north-
eastern portions thereof. I have met with this Plover
on various parts of the shores of the Mediterranean, and
found it breeding in scattered pairs on the uncultivated
wastes of New Castile in the neighbourhood of Aranjuez.
Except in the matter of its preference for the sandy
banks of freshwater lakes, ponds, and streams, to the
sea-shore, this species differs but little in habits from
the common Ringed Plover, but it is considerably
smaller, and proportionately much more slenderly built
than that bird. ‘The eggs of the present species, found
by us in Spain, were laid in slight depressions of the

sand amongst stones and stunted vegetation, without
any attempt at a nest; the complement is four, they
are, of course, smaller, and more elongated and thickly
speckled, than those of the Ringed Plover. In one
instance I came upon three of these eggs on the sand
between the wheel-ruts of a rough cart-road. The birds
did not display any particular anxiety at our approach,
but merely flew to a short distance and ran about
unconcernedly, uttering a short sharp whistle from time
to time. A shepherd, who shared our “ bucolica,’—
midday repast,—on one occasion, assured me that these
little birds sing like Larks before they begin to lay ;
this is quite probable, but the only note that I ever
heard from them is that to which I have just alluded.
This bird may always be distinguished from the Ringed
Plover by the colour of the shafts of the primaries,
which are all dusky except the outer one, which alone is

white throughout.

>

‘(umyjoT) “eueiyued siqiyelssy

UWHAAOTd HSILN wo

“NOGNO1 “‘OIONLS LHY ‘OHLIT-OWOYHD

KENTISH PLOVER.

ZEGIALITIS CANTIANA (Latham).

Charadrius cantianus, Lath. Suppl. ii. to Gen. Synopsis,
p- Ixvi (1801); Naum. vii. p. 210; Macg. iv. p. 125;
Hewitson, i. p. 298.

fEgialitis cantiana, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 267; Dresser, vi.
p. 483.

Pluvier & collier interrompu, French; See-Regenpfeiffer,
German ; Charran, Spanish.

This bird, first described by Latham, was named by
him as above, on account of his having received speci-
mens from Dr. Boys that were killed at Sandwich in
1787 and 1791. The Kentish Plover is a very local
and not a very abundant vernal migrant to our shores,
arriving in April and departing about the end of
August. Personally I have met with it but very rarely
in this country, but am well acquainted with it from
frequent close observation in Spain and many parts of
the shores of the Mediterranean. As I have already
published virtually all that I have to say of this bird
from my own experience in the ‘Journal of the North-
amptonshire Nat. History Society,’ I make no scruple
about quoting therefrom verbatim as follows :—“I found

the Kentish Plover common on the shores of the Bay of
Cadiz in February, and later in the year observed it in
small parties on both banks of the Guadalquivir as far
up as to within a few miles below Seville. These birds
are extraordinarily tame and fearless of man, and will
run about and feed unconcernedly within a few feet of a
boat full of people. If a flock is fired at, many of the
survivors will very soon return to the spot from which
they were startled by the shot. In general habits this
species resembles the Ringed Plover, but appears to be
more exclusively addicted to shingle and hard sands
than that bird; I seldom met with it upon the soft tidal
mud. ‘The eggs average three in number, and may be
readily distinguished from those of the Ringed Plover
by the deeper yellowish tinge of their ground-colour and
the irregular and ‘scratchy’ character of their mark-
ings.” The usual complement of eggs is three in my
experience, but Mr. H. Saunders has more than once
found four.

The Kentish Plover breeds in small numbers in
certain localities in England, but has suffered greatly
from the greed of collectors of British birds and eggs.
This bird has a wide range, as it is met with at various
seasons from the Tagus to the coasts of China and
Japan, and from the shores of the Baltic to Ceylon and
the Cape Colony.

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‘(uutT) VIBJIIOA SHyEIsay

‘AHAOTd AAAGCTTIA

“utjteg ‘@A0TD "AL ‘OUIIT

KILLDEER PLOVER.

AEGIALITIS VOCIFERA (Linn.).

Charadrius vociferus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 253 (1766).
AMegialitis vocifera, Yarr. ed. 4, ii, p. 266, Pref. p. ix.

The specimen of this bird from which the accom-
panying Plate was taken was most obligingly lent to
me (with other rare British birds) by its owner, Mr.
Dorrien Smith, of Tresco, Scilly, for the purposes of
this work. The occurrence of this specimen, killed by
Mr. Jenkinson in the island of Tresco in January 1885,
is recorded with a few details at p. 118 of the
‘Zoologist’ for that year by Mr. Thomas Cornish. I
am positively assured by Mr. Edward Hart, of Christ-
church, Hants, that another bird of this species was
killed on the shore of Christchurch harbour in April
1857, and seen by him whilst in fresh condition. These
two are, as I believe, the only recorded instances of
the occurrence of this American bird in the United
Kingdom.

As I have never crossed the Atlantic I can say
nothing of the Killdeer from personal observation, so
I quote the following details from Chamberlain’s edition
of ‘Nuttall’s Manual’ (1891) :—*'The well-known,

restless, and noisy Killdeer is common throughout the
United States, in nearly all parts of which it is known
to breed, wintering, however, generally to the south of
Massachusetts. In the winter it is confined to the
coast ; but about the beginning of May it resorts to the
fields or level pastures which happen to be diversified
with pools of water, or to the barren sandy downs in
the immediate vicinity of the sea, where it lays its eggs,
usually four in number, m a slight hollow lined with
such straw and dry weeds as come most convenient.
At all times noisy and querulous to a proverb, in the
breeding-season nothing can exceed the Killdeer’s
anxiety and alarm; and the incessant cry of Ail/deer,
killdeer, or te te de dit and te dit, as they waft them-
selves about overhead, or descend and fly around you,
is almost deafening.”

I gather that in general habits and food this bird
combines some of the characteristics of our “ Peewit”’
with those of the other species of the genus Aiyialitis.

nena sunrp ‘siyeanyd sniupeueysy

wauuns ‘YIAOId NAATON

GOLDEN PLOVER.

CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS, Linn.

Charadrius pluvialis, Linn. S. N. i. p. 254 (1766); Naum.
Xill. p. 221; Hewitson, i. p: 291; Yarr. ed. 4, iii.
p-. 271; Dresser, vii. p. 435.

Charadrius auratus, Naum. vii. p. 138.

Pluvialis aurea, Macg. iv. p. 94.

Pluvier doré, French; Gold-Regenpfeifer, German; Chor-
lito, Spanish.

This bird is too well known to require many details
at my hands, although it is very possible that in the
summer plumage shown in the figure here given it may
not be so familiar to some of my readers as in the
plainer garb of autumn and winter, when the lower
parts are more or less white and spotless.

The Golden Plover nests on the moorlands of the
three kingdoms, generally at a considerable elevation,
the eggs, of which the full complement is four, are very
beautiful, of a warm yellow stone-colour, profusely
blotched with very dark purple or black. The whistle
of this bird is very musical and sweet, though somewhat
mournful. In autumn the Golden Plovers leave the
high moors, and are to be met with, sometimes in very

large numbers, on our flat coasts, as well as casually on
open grass and ploughed lands, all over the country.
Worms, small snails, and grubs are the favourite food of
these pretty birds, but in captivity they will gradually
take to a vegetable diet, upon which they thrive well.
The flesh of the Golden Plover is held in high and well-

deserved estimation.

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‘APMAOTdI AGUS
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GREY PLOVER.

SQUATAROLA CINEREA (Fleming).

Squatarola cinerea, Fleming, Brit. An. p. 111 (1828).

Charadrius squatarola, Naum. vii. p. 249, xii. p. 230.

Pluvialis squatarola, Macg. iv. p. 86.

Squatarola helvetica, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 278; Dresser, vii.
p. 455.

Vanneau-Pluvier, French; Grauer Regenpfeiffer, German ;
Redoblin, Chorlito plateado, Spanish.

This beautiful species is only known to me as a bird
of passage on the shores of our own islands, of many
parts of the Mediterranean, and certain marshy coast-
districts of Spain outside of the Straits of Gibraltar.
I found it in large numbers on the lower Guadalquivir
during the first fortnight of May 1872, consorting with
myriads of Knots, and many other waders. Almost
all of the specimens then obtained by our party had
assumed the full summer plumage represented in the
Plate. In general habits the Grey Plover closely
resembles the better-known Gclden Plover, and con-
siderable confusion has been caused amongst English
sportsmen in Ireland by the fact that the natives of that
island almost invariably apply the term ‘“ Grey ”’ to the
latter species to distinguish it from the Peewit, which,
throughout Ireland, is known as “Green” Plover. In
my experience the present species is seldom to be met

with during its stay in our country at any great distance
from salt water, though, in common with most maritime
birds, it occasionally straggles into inland localities.
In the south of Spain we found the Grey Plovers very
tame and fearless, but in the autumn, on our own coasts,
they are, as a rule, more wary than the Golden Plover.
To those who are not acquainted with this species, I
may mention that it is at once to be distinguished from
the Golden Plover (to which it bears a considerable
superficial resemblance in shape and winter plumage) by
the presence of a hind toe and the black axillaries or
under wing-feathers; it is also a somewhat larger and
heavier bird, and the note is very distinct from the well-
known plaintive whistle of the species last named. J
have noticed a peculiar habit in the Grey Plover that
I do not find recorded by other authors,—that of occa-
sionally throwing complete somersaults in the air in the
fashion of the Roller (Coracias garrulus).

I cannot conclude this article without a reference to
Mr. H. Seebohm’s most graphic and interesting account
of his experiences on the breeding-grounds of the Grey
Plover in the valley of Petchora during the summer of
1875, and the success that he and his companion,
Mr. Harvie-Brown, met with in their search for the
nests, eggs, and young of this species. A full and
most absorbingly fascinating record of this ornithological
triumph can be found in vol. iii. of Mr. Seebohm’s
‘ History of British Birds.’

The Grey Plover supports the confinement of an
aviary fairly well; the drawing for the accompanying
Plate was taken from a bird that has passed two years

in my possession at Lilford.

eS

‘ysyoog ‘SIIVS[NA snjjoueA

‘LIMAAd 12 ONIMAW TI

“Ulpteg eAatsy "MM ‘OOF

LAPWING or PEEWIT.

VANELLUS VULGARIS, Bechst.

Vanellus vulgaris, Bechstein, Ornith. Tasch. p. 313 (1808) ;
Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 283; Dresser, vii. p. 545.

Charadrius vanellus, Naum, vii. p. 269.

Vanellus cristatus, Macg. iv. p. 133; Hewitson, i. p. 301.

Vanneau huppé, French; Kiebitz, German; Ave fria,
Spanish.

Under the two names given above, and that of Green
Plover, the present species is so well known throughout
the British Islands that any lengthened notice on my
part would be quite superfluous. One of the most
remarkable characteristics of the Peewit is its affection
for particular spots for nesting; several instances have
come to my knowledge of pairs of this species continu-
ing to nest annually on what had been open commons
or grazing-lands after they were not only brought under
cultivation, but cut up into small enclosures divided by
quick-set fences. Although these birds congregate in
the autumn and winter in marshy places, and occasion-
ally in vast flocks on the sea-shore, they may, roughly
speaking, be said to nest almost anywhere, and a high
and dry fallow-field is quite as likely for what are
generally known as “ Plover’s eggs” as the low-lying

meadows, or even the open moor-land. Fears are often
expressed in the newspapers and elsewhere as to the
probable extinction of this species by the high prices
that its eggs will always command in our markets; but
I imagine that most owners of land upon which any
considerable number of Peewits breed have found out
that by taking the eggs on a regular system, always
allowing the birds to sit and rear one brood of young,
an occasional “jubilee” and protection of the birds
themselves, they can always make sure of a profitable
ege-harvest without any detriment to the stock. Though
very bold and fearless of man during the breeding-
season, the Peewit at other times is a wary bird, and
certainly runs little risk of extinction by fair means. In
certain parts of England this bird may be fairly con-
sidered as a vernal visitor, arriving in March and taking
its departure in October; but, taking our islands under
consideration “en bloc,” it is perhaps best described as
a partial migrant that. may be found in certain places at
all times of year, and there is no doubt that we are
occasionally visited by large flocks of Peewits from the
continent. There is a story that many Rook’s eggs are
sold as those of this species in our markets; but I can
hardly believe that many of our country-people would
risk their necks or limbs in climbing to obtain eges
the sale of which must at all events be very uncertain,
especially when the genuine articles may be had for the
finding and picking up, and, although no doubt Rook’s
eges may be very palatable, I must say that I consider
that any one ignorant enough to purchase them as
“ Plover’s eggs” fully deserves to be “ so/d” himself.

TURNSTONE.

STREPSILAS INTERPRES (Linn.).

Tringa interpres, Linn. 8. N.1. p. 248 (1766).

Strepsilas interpres, Naum. vil. p. 303; Macg. iv. p. 143;
Hewitson, ii. p. 303; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 289; Dresser,
vil. p. 555.

Le Tourne-pierre, French; Steinwalzer, Mornell, German ;
Vuelve-piedras, Spanish.

This very pretty species is to be met with on various
parts of our coasts throughout the year, although the
nest has never as yet been discovered in the United
Kingdom. I have myself observed the Turnstone in
small numbers in June and July on the west coast of
Ireland, but it is generally known on our shores as a
bird of double passage ; many, however, remain through-
out the winter in favourable localities. This bird, when
not associating (as it often does) with other shore-birds,
is very tame and fearless of man, and may be closely
observed as it searches for small marine animals amongst
shingle and sea-weed.

The Turnstone breeds in Northern Europe; but as I
have never visited any of its ascertamed nesting-places,
I leave the description of its nest and eggs to other
authors. In captivity this bird thrives remarkably well ;
it is very active in pursuit of winged insects, and fre-
quently perches. ‘The note is a clear piping whistle.

(my) sardiayur seyisdesys

‘HNOLSNUNL

“UTA g ‘P2919 “Ay “OUINT

‘ung ‘snse[erso sndojewery

dHId WHS AO AHHOLVYO-aAALSAO

“ulpleg ‘eA0TD “MM “OUTTT ‘

OYSTER-CATCHER or SEA-PIE.

HAiMATOPUS OSTRALEG US, Linn.

Hzeematopus ostralegus, Linn. S.N. i. p. 257 (1766) ; Naum.
vii. p. 325; Macg. iv. p. 152; Hewitson, i. p. 305 ;
Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 294; Dresser, vil. p. 567.

Huitrier pie, French; Austern-Fischer, <Austern-Leser,
Meer-Elster, German ; Ostrero, Spanish.

This handsome and conspicuous bird is well known
on most parts of our coasts. It is with some reluctance
that I have followed other authors in adopting the name
at the head of this article, for oysters can hardly be said
to require catching, and the bird most assuredly could
not open the shells of a genuine “native” or other
oyster, admirably adapted as its beak is for prising
limpets from the rocks and for breaking open the com-
paratively weak armour of mussels.

The Sea-pie lays its three or four eggs generally in
slight depressions on sandy or shingly shores close above
high-water mark, but is often also to be found breeding
far from the sea on the stony banks of lakes and rivers.
The parent birds are very clamorous when the eggs are
near hatching or hatched, and will try all the dodges of

the Peewit to draw the attention of an mtruder away
from their treasures to themselves. In the autumn and
winter months these birds collect in large flocks, and,
with their loud piping whistle and brilliantly contrasted
plumage, very much enliven many flat stretches of coast
which, without bird-lfe, would be very dreary and
monotonous of aspect. This bird thrives excellently

well in captivity.

ye

I

a
AVOCET.

Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn.

AVOCET.

RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA, Linn.

Recurvirostra avocetta, Linn. 8. N. 1. p. 256 (1766) ; Naum.
Vili. p. 213, xiii. p. 245; Macg. iv. p. 806; Hewitson, ii.
p. 339; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 299; Dresser, vii. p. 577.

Avocette a nique noire, French; Avosette, German ;
Avoceta, Spanish.

This singular and handsome bird was formerly a very
common summer visitor to many of the marshes of our
eastern and southern counties, but owing to drainage,
cultivation, and merciless persecution, it has long ceased
to breed in England, and may now be justly considered
as a rare bird in all parts of our islands. My own
acquaintance with the Avocet is confined to Southern
Europe; it appears in great numbers on the great
marshes of the lower Guadalquivir in April, and breeds,
for it can hardly be said to zes¢, on the vast expanses of
dry sand and mud on both sides of that famous river ;
I have also met with it at Santander in November.
The eggs are four in number, of a yellowish-drab
ground-colour, thickly blotched and spotted with black ;
many sittings are to be found on a comparatively small
space, and the clamour of the birds when disturbed at

mS

their breeding-places is almost deafening, consisting of a
continued series of shrill yelps, from which the Avocet
derived some of its most common English designations,
such as “ Yelper” and “ Clinker.” Although the Avocet
is, on the whole, a wary bird, I have frequently
approached to within a very few yards of small parties
feeding on the muds, by sailing or drifting down upon
them in a boat; their method of feeding is by sidelong
scoops in the soft mud, which they sift with a sort of
nibbling action between their mandibles; they are very
active on foot, and excellent swimmers, continually
shifting from place to place and uttering a pleasant clear
whistle very different from their discordant cries when
alarmed.

I could never succeed in keeping Avocets alive in
captivity for more than a few weeks, but I know that
they have been so kept for a considerable time, and if I
could obtain young birds I should have little doubt of
success.

The flight of the Avocet is very strong and well
sustained; as may well be imagined, a flock of these
birds on wing has a most remarkable appearance, and
they form one of the most striking of the many ornithic
ornaments of the otherwise dreary wastes of the Anda-
lucian marisma. The flesh of the Avocet is tolerable
“faute de mieux.”

~e

1

3
BLACK-WINGED STILT.

Himantopus melanopterus (Meyer).

BLACK-WINGED STILT.

HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS, Meyer.

Himantopus melanopterus, Meyer, Temm. Man. d’Orn. ii.
p- 528 (1820); Macg. iv. p. 312; Hewitson, i. p. 341.

Charadrius himantopus, Linn. S. N.i. p. 255.

Hypsibates himantopus, Naum. viii. p. 191, xiii. p. 244.

Himantopus candidus, Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 305; Dresser, vii.
p- 587.

Echasse blanche, French; Stelzenliufer, Strandreiter,
German ; Ciguéfuela, Spanish.

The Stilt is an irregular and uncommon summer
visitor to our islands, and has occurred in Scotland
and Ireland as well as in England; but, as far as I
am aware, there is no existing record of its having ever
been found nesting in any part of the United Kingdom.
In Southern Europe it is locally abundant in the
breeding-season, and occurs as an occasional straggler
to most parts of that continent.

The Stilt nests m wet marshes, very often building
actually on the surface of shallow pools amongst the
aquatic vegetation that covers them, but more fre-
quently on the mud of the open marsh; the nests, of
course, vary in solidity according to their situation, but
are generally formed of dry coarse grass and small

pieces of twigs drifted on to the marshes during the
winter floods. The eggs are four, and, except in their
ground-colour (which is much of the same tone as that
of the Avocet), greatly resemble those of our well-
known Peewit—dhe “ Plover” of ege-commerce.

I have always found this bird very easy of approach ;
in the breeding-season it is difficult to drive them from
their nesting-places, over which they hover with loud
outcries ; and I have frequently ridden to within a few
feet of Stilts wading in a few inches of water, and
busily engaged in picking up small insects from the
weeds, or snapping at them in the air. In Spain I
have found the stomachs and throats of these birds
crammed with what I believe to have been mosquitos,
or some very nearly allied and probably equally pesti-
lent insects, and on this score alone this pretty bird is
well worthy of protection, more especially as its flesh is
worthless, and its tameness so great that the most rabid
collector can obtain more specimens than he can reason-
ably require in a very few minutes. I am only too
well aware of the futility of any appeal to collectors of
British birds, who cannot be satisfied except with
victims slaughtered at home; but perchance my re-
marks may induce a certain amount of moderation on
the part of English collectors in Spain, where I can
assure them that it is urgently needed.

‘Cumy) snizeorpny sndoreleyg

abound uungno pup Lauums ‘qadOuwTwHd RAUMD

‘Uljieg ‘eaelp “M “OUI alas ie é

ge

Sqn

GREY PHALAROPE.

PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS (Linn.).

Tringa fulicaria, Linn. 8. N. 1. p. 249 (1766).

Phalaropus platyrhynchus, Naum. vii. p. 255.

Phalaropus lobatus, Macg. iv. p. 284; Hewitson, 1. p. 368.

Phalaropus fulicarius, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 310; Dresser, vii.
p. 605.

Phalarope dentelé, French.

Although this beautiful and very interesting species
occasionally visits our Islands in large numbers, my
acquaintance with it in life is confined to having seen
two on the north coast of Spain in the winter of 1878—
one on the mud-flats of the harbour of Santander ; the
other, swimming almost under the bows of my yacht, in
the Bay of Biscay, at about five miles off Rivadesella.
With very few exceptions the recorded occurrences of
the Grey Phalarope to our country have taken place in
the autumn and winter, in the grey dress of that season,
but I find a record in ‘Yarrell’ of ‘“a_ beautifully
marked adult bird, which was killed in Wiltshire in
August, and retained at that time a great portion of the
true red colours of the breeding-season or summer
plumage.” The visits of this species to our Islands

appear to be much more frequent on the eastern and
southern coasts than elsewhere, but there are few
English counties in which stragglers have not been
occasionally found.

Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., has recorded the slaughter of
five hundred Grey Phalaropes between August 20th and
October 8th, 1866; of these about half were obtained
in the county of Sussex. The year 1886 was also
remarkable for the numbers of this species that visited
our southern coasts; fourteen were brought from the
neighbourhood of Christchurch, Hants, to Mr. Ed. Hart,
the well-known taxidermist, in October and November
of that year, and a very great number recorded from
other places. ‘The singular tameness of these pretty
birds has been noticed by almost every author who has
personally become acquainted with them, and is fully
verified by my very limited experience, as above-
mentioned. The attitude of the bird, seen by us
at sea, reminded me much of a Teal, with the head and
neck drawn closely in and slightly thrown back. The
breeding-haunts of the Grey Phalarope are the circum-
polar regions; the eggs, four in number, are of a
greenish yellow, thickly spotted with dark brown, and
are said to be laid in June in slight depressions in grass
or on shingle, with very little, if any, nest. In this
family of birds the females are larger and more bril-
liantly coloured than the males, and the contrast between
the bright colours of the summer-plumage and the sober

grey and white of winter is peculiarly striking.

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.

PHALAROPUS HYPERBOREUS (Linn.).

Tringa Eeperiores Linn. 8. N. 1. p. 249.

Phalaropus hyperboreus, Hewitson, ii. p. 370; Yarr. ed. 4,
ii. p. 815; Dresser, vii. p. 597.

Lobipes Lypecboreae Macg. iv. p. 291.

Phalaropus angustirostris, Naum. vii. p. 240.

Phalarope cendre, French; Der schmalschnibige Wasser-
treter, German.

The Red-necked Phalarope is of very uncertain occur-
rence in England, and then only at the seasons of
migration in spring and autumn. On some of the Outer
Hebrides and of the Orkney and Shetland Islands a few
pairs still remain to breed, but in sadly decreasing
numbers. This bird has a very wide range over the
northern hemisphere and is said to be especially abun-
dant in the Arctic Regions of America; thence it
migrates southwards in autumn and _ has been recorded
even from Chili.

A bird, supposed to have been obtained from Whittle-
sea Mere, was reported to Lord Lilford and furnished
the text of a short note by him on this species in his
‘Birds of Northamptonshire’ (vol. i. p. 35).

[O. S.]

( "weee7) snout

“ad OUV IVA

d

jtadky sndouvjeyg

GCuaaoan-adayd

"NOGNOT ‘O1anLsS

LHY “OHLIT-ONOHHSD

aid ee oh,

WOODCOCK,

SCOLOPAX RUSTICULA, Linn.

Scolopax rusticola, Linn. 8. N. 1. p. 243 (1766).

Scolopax rusticula, Naum. viii. p. 861; Yarr. ed. 4, i.
p. 820.

Rusticola sylvestris, Macg. iv. p. 386.

Scolopax rusticola, Hewitson, ii. p. 8348; Dresser, vii. p. 615.

Bécasse, French ; Waldschneppe, German ; Chocha, Becada,
Gallineta, Sorda, Spanish.

_ It is somewhat difficult to find a fitting word to apply
to this well-known bird with regard to its stationary
and migratory habits. A great number breed annually
in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and many visit us
from the continent in autumn and winter, but as yet we
seem to be in complete ignorance as to what becomes of
our native birds between the time at which they become
strong on the wing in August and the arrival of the
migratory flights in October. It is a certain fact that
in many districts in Scotland and England, in which
Woodcocks breed, it is difficult to find one between the
end of August and the first or second week in October.
‘This species may be found, roughly speaking, through-
out Europe and Asia at various seasons, and visits Africa
north of the Atlas during the winter months. It is
reported on excellent authority as breeding and partially
resident in the Canaries, the Azores, and Madeira.

Litho. W. Greve, Berlin.

WOODCOCK,

Scolopax rusticula, Linn.

—_

#
rm
5

g

W.Fostar del

WOODCOCK.

Sevlopax rusticula , Linn

|

“UpIeg ‘ese “MM *OUTIT

‘upup ye “ofeur xedojoos

‘AdINS AAVLIIOS AO LyYaaAD

&
G

Mate ieg

ated

TMP ry yesgerrOOp a
f Pa “

GREAT or SOLITARY SNIPE.

SCOLOPAX MAJOR, J. F. Gmelin.

Scolopax major, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 651 (1788) ; Naum.
vii. p. 291; Macg. iv. p. 364; Hewitson, ii. p. 351.
Gallinago major, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 336; Dresser, vii. p. 631.
Grande Becassine, French; Doppel Schnepfe or Grosse

Schnepfe, German ; Agachadiza real, Spanish.

Although, of course, the title of “Great” is only
locally applicable to this species, I prefer that epithet
to the more common one of “ Solitary,” and consider
that if the latter distinction is bestowed upon any
British Snipe it is the Jack-Snipe that obviously has
the first claim thereunto. I imagine, however, that the
term “ Solitary” was originally applied to the present
bird either on account of its scarcity in our country
or because it is seldom, if ever, found in “ wisps ” or
flocks as our Common Snipe so frequently is. In
places where the last-named species is abundant the
word ‘“‘ Double” is frequently used to distinguish this
species ; but this is only a Snipe-shooter’s term, and
even less truthfully applicable than “Solitary.” The
Great Snipe cannot be considered otherwise than as

an accidental and scarce visitor to any part of the
British Islands, though, as in the case of all casual
visitors, the annual records of capture vary greatly in
number ; and I find in ‘ Yarrell’ that 1826 and 1868
were notable for the unusual frequency of this bird.

Throughout Europe the Great Snipe is best known
as a bird of double passage. It breeds in Norway,
Sweden, Russia as far south as Bessarabia, Northern
Germany, Denmark, and, if I am not mistaken, occa-
sionally in the Netherlands. But as any details with
regard to pairing and nesting-habits could here only be
quotations from well-known authors, I will merely state
that I gather that these habits much resemble those of
the Common Snipe. Most of the records of occurrence
of this bird in our country have reference to the months
of August, September, and October, and, as may be
inferred from its summer haunts, it is more commonly
met with in our eastern counties than elsewhere. The
only bird of this species that I ever saw on wing in
England, rose at my feet from a grassy bean-stubble in
Northamptonshire whilst I was reloading my muzzle-
loader, after a double shot at Partridges, in September
1850. Knowing that the Great Snipe seldom flies to
any great distance on first disturbance, I devoted the
afternoon to a diligent search for this bird with good
dogs; but in vain, and the next that I know of as a
Northamptonshire specimen was killed by my late
friend and neighbour, Mr. George Hunt, of Wadenlioe,
on September 13, 1880, in one of our meadows.

To the Ionian Islands and the adjacent mainland the
Great Snipe is by no means an uncommon vernal

visitor, generally appearing in the first fortnight of
May, and evincing a very remarkable predilection for
certain small areas of, in many cases, unattractive
eround. In Corfu, for instance, I was directed to
look for this bird in a certain patch of currant-vines
not far from the town, on a stony, dry soil, as soon as
the Quails had come in, and from the beginning of
May till about the middle of that month I never visited
this spot without finding two or more of these Snipes ;
five was the greatest number that I ever met with there
in one day. I do not wish it to be understood that
our bird is by any means exclusively addicted to dry
localities, as I shot several amongst the swampy currant-
vines in the well-known Val di Roppa, a famous Snipe-
ground at about seven miles distance from the town of
Corfu, as well as in marshes in other parts of Europe,
but on the vernal migration in the Mediterranean
countries it would be difficult, in my experience, to say

where one might not “happen upon ”’

a Great Snipe.
In the low-lying maize-fields of Epirus we frequently
found a few of these Snipes in September, but as
frequently searched for them at that season without
success. In Cyprus I shot several near Larnaca in
April and May. TI killed one and flushed another on
the east coast of Spain in March, met with several in
the marshes of Sicily during the same month; and here
ends my personal acquaintance with the subject of this
article.

I quote from my notes in the ‘ Northamptonshire
Natural History Society’s Journal’ as to the habits of

this species:—This Snipe will often run before a dog

b/

for some distance before taking wing, and is usually
very tame, rising with apparent reluctance and offering
the easiest of shots. If not shot at, the Great Snipe
generally flies low for a short distance, rises for a few
yards into the air, and pitches straight down to the
ground. I never saw one of these birds mount to any
considerable height in the air or indulge in the erratic
flight so frequent with the Common Snipe. On rising,
this bird almost always spreads out its tail, and in
spring often utters a low croak. In my experience it
was exceptional to find one of these birds without
another in its immediate neighbourhood, and I have
occasionally flushed two simultaneously. The heaviest
Great Snipe that I ever saw weighed a fraction over
82 oz.; the lightest that I ever heard of was shot in
Cyprus by Dr. H. H. Guillemard in 1888, and only
reached 53 0z. The flesh of the Great Snipe, even
during the vernal migration, is, in my opinion, much
superior to that of Common Snipe or Woodcock during
their legitimate season. I was assured by an officer of
the Russian army that bags of from fifty to eighty
Great Snipes are frequently obtained by one or two
guns in a day im September within easy reach of
St. Petersburg; and another friend has informed me
that in May large numbers of these “Royal Snipes ”
are to be found in the marshes of the Gulf of Salerno.

‘urpfteg ‘PAST “A ‘OU31T ih

COMMON SNIPE.

SCOLOPAX GALLINAGO, Linn.

Scolopax gallinago, Linn. S. N. 1. p. 244 (1766) ; Naum. viii.
p- 310; Macg. iv. p. 8368; Hewitson, 11. p. 353.

Gallinago ccelestis, Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 342; Dresser, vii.
p- 641.

Bécassine ordinaire, French; Schnepfe, German; Agacha-
diza, Agachéna, Laguneja, Spanish.

As I believe that this delightful bird breeds more or
less commonly in all but a very few counties of
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and is well
known throughout Europe, either as a summer or
winter visitor, I can hardly expect to add anything of
importance to its already well-known history. In the
British localities in which it does not breed regularly
it generally makes its appearance after the first heavy
autumnal rains, and remains in favourable circumstance
till driven away by severe weather or the constant
persecution of man. In the neighbourhood of Lilford,
where a Snipe’s nest is of rare occurrence, although a
certain number of these birds breed regularly within
the limits of our county, I generally hear of the first
Snipe about the end of July, and in wet summers I
think that we, as a rule, have more Snipes in our
portion of the Nen valley in August and September than

at any other time of the year. This, no doubt, is due
to the flooding of the fen-districts. In ordinary circum-
stance the first noticeable ‘ flights’ of Snipes visit us -
after the October rains, but these flights have of late
years most lamentably diminished in numerical strength,
and nowadays a bag of five couples of Snipes in a long
day’s walk would be a notable achievement in our
meadows. It was not always so, but I think that
a proportionate decrease would be confirmed from many
of the most favoured localities in the eastern counties of
England. In my opinion Snipe-shooting holds the first
place in the list of diversions with the gun, and as long
as I was able I never lost an opportunity of indulging
in it at home or abroad. Accounts of shooting experi-
ences at feathered game are apt to weary the general
reader, but to any one who delights in vivid description,
and excellent advice on such matters, I most strongly
recommend the Snipe-shooting details given by Mr. F. B.
Simson in his altogether delightful work entitled
‘Letters on Sport in Eastern Bengal.’

The favourite breeding-grounds of this species are
moorlands and undrained sedge-fens, but they often
select. comparatively well-drained meadows as nesting-
places. ‘The nest is generally pretty well concealed in
a tuft of sedge, a tussock of rushes or coarse grass, and
consists of a few stalks of bent or the common rush.
The eggs, four in number, are generally laid during the
first fortnight of April, and hatched in about sixteen
days. A second brood is often reared. If the weather
is sunny and fine in the early part of March, the Snipe,
on rising from the ground, instead of giving forth its

‘s“osty “iuiqes xedojoosg

‘Ayatape numa ‘TAINS NOW WOO

r
FA NOGNO1 ‘OIGNLS LHY OHLIT-OWOUHD

usual well-known “scape,” “scape,” utters a low
chuckle (that to my ears is best represented by the
words “ chevuck,” ‘“chevick”), and suddenly darts up
into the air, often to a very great height, and flies in wide
circles, now and then stooping like a Falcon towards
the ground and producing a prolonged sound that
much resembles the bleat of a goat. Naturalists have
for years exercised their pens in controversy as to the
means by which this very peculiar sound is produced ;
my opportunities for observation have not been very
many, and I am not disposed to enter the lists as
a disputant on this question, but I feel quite convinced
that the sound in question is not vocal. Whatever may
be its origin it has procured for the Snipe the local
name of “ Heather-bleater,” ‘ Air-goat,” and other
names of similar signification. I have weighed a great
number of Snipes, killed in various parts of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, between the beginning of Sep-
tember and the end of February, and generally find
them to average heavier in December than in any other
month ; the heaviest that I have weighed pulled down
6 oz. fair weight; but I consider any weight above
5 oz. as exceptional, and should fix the average weight
at from 4 oz. to 4$. Snipes, however, put on and
lose weight in a very short time, and in a bag of ten or
twelve couples the chances are that some birds may be
found of little more than 3 oz., and of all intermediate
weights up to 4? oz. It is a common saying that
a Snipe is not worth shooting till he has had a frost
through him, and there is much truth in this, for so
long as the weather is mild and open these birds

subsist chiefly upon insects. It is difficult to account
for the sudden appearance or disappearance of these
birds in various places without any perceptible reason
from change of weather, or exhaustion of food-supply,
but “here to-day and gone to-morrow” is perhaps
more strictly applicable to the Snipe than to any other
British bird. I have had occasionally very good sport
at Snipes in various parts of Ireland, as well as in
Tunis, Sardinia, and Sicily, but I never met with such
an abundance of these birds anywhere as in the marshes
of Epirus in the winter of 1857.

The figure in the background of the accompanying
Plate was taken from a specimen of the large russet-
coloured variety killed in Ireland by Lieut.-Col. L. H.
Irby, who kindly sent it to me “in the flesh.”
With regard to this variety of the Common Snipe,
Mr. H. Saunders, in the 4th ed. ‘ Yarrell,’ vol. in. p. 347,
writes with reference to a Snipe recorded by the late
Mr. Lubbock as having weighed nearly eight ounces:
‘Mr. Lubbock’s bird and one shot by Mr. Stevenson,
appear to have belonged to a large form of a russet-
brown hue, which has also been noticed by the late
Mr. Rodd in Cornwall, and has occurred in many
other parts of England. Mr. Gould was at one time
inclined to consider that it might be entitled to specific
distinction, in which case he proposed for it the name
of Gallinago russata.” I have a specimen of this
variety, that was, if I recollect rightly, obtained many
years ago in Sussex, and is considerably larger than a
specimen of the Solitary Snipe, of about the average
dimensions, that is cased with it.

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JACK SNIPE.

SCOLOPAX GALLINULA, Linn.

Scolopax gallinula, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 244 (1766) ; Naum. viii.
p. 344, xiii. p. 246; Macg. iv. p. 380; Hewitson, ii.

p. 355.

Gallinago gallinula, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 351; Dresser, vii.

p- 653.

Bécassine sourde, French; Kleine Schnepfe, German ;
Agachadiza sorda, Gachona chica, Spanish.

To those of my readers who carry the gun, and are
able to indulge in the fascinating sport of Snipe-
shooting, a description of the habits of this pretty but
somewhat irritating little wanderer will, I fear, be
superfluous. However, as ‘‘ Jack” is a British bird by
right of abundant habitual winter residence in our
Islands, and some of my subscribers are not content
with my pictures without some accompanying notes, I
will state what 1 know in this instance, although I am
well aware that I can adduce nothing that has not
already been repeatedly recorded. It is hardly neces-
sary to refer to the belief that was prevalent in my boy-
hood, not only amongst gamekeepers, but also in the
minds of many of their employers, that this bird was
the male of the Common Snipe, but it certainly is

remarkable that in spite of many well-authenticated
records of the occurrence of our bird in summer, and
many tales of the finding of its nest and eggs, there is
hitherto no proof that it has ever bred in any part of
the United Kingdom. The breeding-haunts of the Jack
Snipe are the morasses of the extreme north of Europe,
and an interesting account by John Wolley of the
discovery of several nests and eggs, and the behaviour of
the birds at their breeding-places in Lapland, is given
in the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell.. We are there informed
that during the breeding-season this bird makes a
“drumming” noise hke the cantermg of a horse over
a hard hollow road. In the district of Northampton-
shire with which I am best acquainted, the Jack Snipe
generally appears during the third week of September ;
I have one record for August 15, but none for any day
between that and the 7th of the following month. The
latest lingerer of which I have heard in our neigh-
bourhood was sprung by one of our gamekeepers on
May 18th, 1891; with this solitary exception I have no
record of appearance after the end of April. This species
differs from the Common Snipe in its comparatively
solitary habits, its usual reluctance to take wing, its short
flights when disturbed, and its endurance of severe frosts
that drive the latter birds from all their favourite haunts.
A Jack Snipe flushed one day from a particular spot
may be found again there or thereabouts every day
throughout the winter months, unless relentlessly pur-
sued, and many amusing stories are told of a Jack Snipe
having afforded sport through the season to an unskilful
shooter. I cannot say that I considered these little

birds as specially difficult to hit in my shooting days,
but I have been repeatedly baulked by their dropping
to the ground again before they were far enough off to
shoot at. As a rule the Jack Snipe loves good covert
of sedge or reeds, but I have net infrequently detected
lim upon muddy spots almost entirely bare of vege-
tation. On one occasion I flushed one of these birds
that, instead of pitching again within a short distance,
joined a flock of Peewits, and went quite out of sight
with them. I have found Jack Snipes im all the
Mediterranean marshes that I have visited, and was
surprised to find a few lingering in Cyprus late in
April; one of these birds uttered a low hollow note
that I had only heard once before in the case of a
“Jack” flushed on the bank of our river at home in the
month of March. Our bird ranges to the southward as
far as Ceylon and the Blue Nile in the winter. In
captivity the Jack Snipe thrives well if constantly sup-
plied with small earthworms, of which he will consume
almost incredible numbers.

i
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‘(uyouy if ‘f) Shestis snydureysos1sepy

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“urpleg ‘aAersy +A, “OULU,

RED-BREASTED SNIPE.

MACRORHAMPHUS GRISEUS (J. F. Gmelin).

Scolopax grisea, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1. p. 658 (1788).
Macrorhamphus griseus, Macg. iv. p. 275; Yarr. ed. 4, ii.
p. 857; Dresser, vii. p. 187.

This bird is an occasional and uncommon straggler
to our Islands from the other side of the Atlantic. ‘The
first recorded occurrence in England took place in
Devonshire in October 1801, and was made known to
the public by Col. Montagu in his ‘ Ornithological
Dictionary.’ About a dozen more occurrences are on
record with regard to England, two or three in Scotland ;
and the principal figure in the accompanying Plate
represents an Irish specimen, that was most obligingly
lent to me by its possessor, Mr. F. Coburn, who, in
the ‘ Zoologist’ for February 1894, refers to it in the
following words :—‘‘ On October 11th, 1893, I received
from County Tipperary, Ireland, an adult female of the
Red-breasted Snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus) changing
to winter plumage. Professor Newton, who has
examined this bird, gives its dimensions as—bill 2°65,
tarsus 15, wing 6. It will be seen that these measure-
ments closely approach those of the supposed western

form, but it seems to me that eastern and western
forms cannot be with certainty distinguished.”—
(Signed) F. Coburn (Holloway Head, Birmingham).
Never having crossed the Atlantic, I can only quote
from other writers with regard to this species, whose
habits seem in almost every respect to resemble those
of the true Sandpipers more than those of the Snipes.

An American author states that the breeding-range
of this bird extends, without interruption, from the
borders of Lake Superior to the shores of the Arctic
Sea. It is common on passage on many parts of the
Atlantic coast of the United States, but is seldom seen
inland except in its breeding-haunts. In autumn and
winter it passes through the Southern States to Central
and South America, as far as Chili on the west and
Brazil on the east, visiting Cuba regularly and the
Bermudas more rarely. During its stay it flies in
flocks, sometimes very high, and has then a loud and
shrill whistle, making many evolutions over the marshes,
—forming, dividing, and reuniting. They frequent the
sand-bars and mud-flats at low water in search of food,
and allow of close approach by boat, hence they are
frequently shot down in great numbers; so closely do
they occasionally congregate, that eighty-five have been
killed at one discharge of a musket. I have quoted
almost the whole of these notes from Nuttall and the
Ath edition of ‘ Yarrell’s British Birds.’

BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER.

LIMICOLA PLATYRHYNCHA (Temm.).

Tringa platyrincha (misprint), Temm. Man. d’Orn. p. 398
(1815).

Limicola pygmeza, Naum. vill. p. 271, xiii. p. 245.

Tringa platyrhyncha, Macg. iv. p. 224; Hewitson, i. p. 359.

Limicola platyrhyncha, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 362 ; Dresser, viii.
p. 3.

Bécasseau platyrhynque, French ; Plattschnabliger Wasser-
treter, German.

As this is a bird that I never saw alive, I will only
state that it is of rare occurrence in our country, that it
breeds in Scandinavia, and migrates im autumn to the
shores of the Mediterranean. For further details I refer
my readers to our standard ornithological authorities,
merely adding that I have a specimen of this species in
my collection that was shot by Mr. W. Burton near
Rye on August 13th, 1887.

Litho, W. Greve, Berlin.

BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER.

Limicola platyrhyncha (Temm.)

te

PECTORAL SANDPIPER.

TRINGA MACULATA, Vieill.

Tringa maculata, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv.
p- 465 (1819); Yarr. ed. 4, ui. p. 368; Dresser, viii.
p. ll.

Tringa pectoralis, Macg. iv. p. 190.

This is an American species, of whose occurrence in
our islands from twenty to thirty stances have been
recorded at various seasons of the year ; it is very pro-
bable that it may often have passed undistinguished
amongst a “ bunch ”’ of Dunlins killed by a coast-gunner,
as it has a certain general similarity to that species in
the plumage of autumn and winter; but the present
bird is larger than the Dunlin, and the legs and toes,
which are always nearly black in that species, are said
to be of a yellowish colour in the Pectoral Sandpiper.
This bird is stated to range, according to the season,
from the arctic regions of North America to Patagonia
and Chili.

The specimen figured in the Plate is a young male
killed at Spurn Head on October 2, 1888, and very
kindly sent to me for the purposes of the present publi-
cation by Mr. John Cordeaux.

Litho, W. Greve, Berlin.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER.

Tringa maculata, Véeill.

PECTORAL SANDPIPER,

TRINGA MACULATA, Vieill.

A subscriber (who does not wish that his name
should appear here) has most obligingly presented me
with a second Plate of this species, taken from a
specimen shot by himself in Scilly in 1870, and now

(stuffed) in his possession.

‘ai ‘eyejnoeu eB suliy

‘AAUdIdGNYS TYaOLOdd

Upto “AABIHO "Aq “OUT

eee

BONAPARTE’S SANDPIPER.

TRINGA FUSCICOLLIS, Vieillot.

Tringa fuscicollis, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv.
p- 461; Dresser, viii. p. 15; Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p. 373.
Tringa schinzi, Macg. iv. p. 222 (nec Brehm) ; Yarr. ed. 2,

lll. p. 74.
Tringa bonapartii, Schlegel, Rev. Crit. p. Ixxxix.

About a dozen instances of the occurrence of this
American species have been recorded, most of them in
places in our southern counties. It is not known to
have occurred on continental Europe.

In America, its true home, it breeds abundantly in
the Arctic Regions and after that season migrates south-
wards to spread over nearly the whole of Central and
South America, reaching Cape Horn and the Falkland
Islands. [O. S.]

39

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DUNLIN.

TRINGA ALPINA, Linn.

Tringa alpina, Linn. S. N. i. p. 249 (1766); Naum. vii.
p. 426; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 8377; Dresser, viii. p. 21.

Tringa cinclus, Macg. iv. p. 203.

Tringa variabilis, Hewitson, ii. p. 364.

Bécasseau variable, French ; Alpen-Strandliufer, German ;
Churrilla, Correplaya, Spanish.

This lively little Sandpiper is perhaps the most
common of our British shore-birds, and under one or
other of its various aliases—Stint, Ox-bird, Purre,
Mud-Lark—is probably well known to most of my
readers. Although the Dunlin is to be met with at
almost all seasons of the year upon all parts of our
coasts, the majority of our home-bred birds are reared
upon inland moors and swamps, frequently far inland,
and at a very considerable height above the sea, never,
so far as I am aware, upon the stretches of shingle
or the sand-hills that are the nurseries of the Ringed
Plover, the Sea-Pie, and the Terns. I have met with
the Dunlin in early August in the centre of Scotland
on the water-shed of the tributaries of the Tay and
the Spey at certainly more than 1500 feet above the

sea, and at the same time of year on the high grouse-
moors in the neighbourhood of Halifax; and in July
on an elevated district of Dartmoor—in all of which
localities the birds had apparently bred, though I was
never on their nesting-grounds early enough in the year
to find eggs or even unfledged young.

A very great number of this species breed on the
Scottish moorlands, a considerable number in some of
our English counties, and more than seem to be known
of in the north-west of Ireland. In early autumn
these little birds come down to the sea-shores in
thousands, and remain throughout the winter months,
only shifting their quarters according to the weather.
The migration of the Dunlin is said to extend as far to
the south as the Mozambique coast, and its breeding-
range in the Old World to extend from Iceland and the
Hebrides to Behring’s Straits ; it has also a vast range
on the other side of the Atlantic. I have met with
vast numbers of Dunlins both at Santander in May and
November, and in Andalucia during the former month ;
but I never had the good fortune to meet with a
nest in Spain, as Mr. A. Chapman is recorded to have
done in the lower marisma of the Guadalquivir. On
most parts of the Mediterranean coasts that are suited
to its habits this bird is to be found more or less
abundantly during the winter months, and locally in
tens of thousands on the northward migration in April
and May. In England I have frequently met with this
species in Northamptonshire in the valley of the Nene
from August to April and May; but on the autumnal
migration it rarely appears in our district unless the

meadows are swampy from floods; in these cases a few
Dunlins are generally to be seen consorting with flocks
of Peewits or Starlings. In the spring I look upon it
as a pretty constant though irregular migrant in our
district, and on one occasion [ found it in some
numbers frequenting the banks of the Isis above Oxford
in May.

Much has been written by more able and practised
pens than mine upon the curious effect produced by
the wheelings and twistings of a flock of Dunlins on
wing, as they present the upper or underside to a
spectator. It often happens that in the winter months,
against a grey sea and sky-line, the eye loses hold (if
I may be allowed the expression) of the flock, and is
suddenly startled by a broad flash of snowy white as
the birds turn their underparts to the observer on
changing their course. In the summer these evolutions
have not to me quite the same effect, as the dark upper
plumage at that season allows the eye to follow the
flock more readily than when the birds are more or less
grey and white. To see the “shifts” of the Dunlins
to perfection, however, the assistance of a Falcon or
Merlin is invaluable; even the Sparrow-Hawk will
keep the flocks pretty lively at times. When in small
parties Dunlins are usually easy of approach, but the
larger the flock the more wary they become. In my
opinion the flesh of this little bird in the autumn is by
no means to be despised, though I would not compare
it with that of the Jack-Snipe, under whose name it is
frequently offered and sold. I believe also that the

eggs of the Dunlin very generally did duty in “ British”
collections for those of the former bird until the mde-
fatigable researches of the late Mr. John Wolley in
Lapland taught us the entire difference between the
productions of the two species in question, and proved
satisfactorily that no British egg of the Jack-Snipe had
ever been seen. I have kept a few Dunlins in our
aviaries ; but have found that they either refuse to feed,
and pine to death in a few days, or feed so ravenously
that the same result ensues from the exactly opposite
cause—plethora.

The ordinary note of the Dunlin is a piping whistle ;
but I have been assured that in the pairing-season the
male “sings on wing like a Lark.” TI find, however,
that my standard authority only credits our bird at
that season with the utterance of a prolonged and
somewhat monotonous “ dwee.”

LITTLE STINT.

TRINGA MINUTA, Leisler.

Tringa minuta, Leisler, Nachtrage zu Bechstein’s Naturg.
Deutschl. pp. 74-81 (1812) ; Naum. vii. p. 391; Macg.
iv. p. 227; Yarr. ed. 4, 11. p. 886; Dresser, vill. p. 29.

Bécasseau minule, French; Kleiner Strandliufer, German ;
Churrilla chica, Picaruica, Spanish.

This species is an irregular autumnal visitor to our
coasts, more common in the eastern counties of England
than elsewhere, though seldom very abundant in any
part of our islands. I have very little personal acquaint-
ance with this Sandpiper, having only met with it
occasionally in small numbers on the shores of the
Mediterranean; in general habits it closely resembles
the well-known Dunlin, as it does also in appearance,
but the present species is considerably smaller, and
does not assume the black breast-plumage so character-
istic of the former bird in summer. The Little Stint
breeds in the extreme north-east of Europe and in
Siberia, and in winter ranges to the extreme south of
Africa and over the entire Indian region. Messrs. H.
Seebohm and Harvie Brown were the first to take the
egos of this bird in Europe, near the mouth of the river
Petchora, in July 1875.

‘uajseT “enum eSu1y

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Pt

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TEMMINCK’S STINT.

TRINGA TEMMINCKTI, Leisler.

Tringa temmincku, Zeisler, Nachtrige zu Bechst. Naturg.
Deutschl. pp. 63-73 (1812) ; Naum. vii. p. 483, xiii.
p- 234; Macy. iv. p. 232; Hewitson, ii. p. 362.

Tringa temmincki, Yarr. ed. 4, ill. p. 398 ; Dresser, viii. p. 45.

Bécasseau Temminck, French.

This little Sandpiper is an irregular and somewhat
rare visitor to Great Britain; most of its recorded
occurrences have taken place on the autumnal migration,
but it has also been observed and frequently obtained,
especially in Norfolk, on the return passage in May.
The only fresh specimens of this bird that I have ever
handled were shot by my friend Lt.-Col. L. H. Irby in
the “ Marisma ” of the Guadalquivir in February 1882,
and I cannot say with certainty that I ever saw Tem-
minck’s Stint alive. The breeding-grounds of this
species extend, according to the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell,’ from
the northern districts of Norway, and over a great part
of Sweden, across Northern Russia, throughout Asiatic
Siberia to the north of the forest-growth, as far as the
shores of Bering’s Straits. On migration it ranges as
far to the southward as Ceylon and Senegambia.

Wolley, who first made known the breeding-habits and
egos of this species, found it sparsely in several
localities north of the Bothnian Gulf, and tells us that
it generally nests upon grassy banks, and pastures by
the waterside, and seems to delight im the neighbour-
hood of houses; he remarks upon its extraordinary
tameness, and alludes to its constant trilling note
uttered both when on wing, and from its standing
place, and says that this note slightly resembles that of
the Grasshopper Warbler. The nest is a simple
arrangement of a few short bits of hay in a little saucer-
shaped hollow, generally not far from the water's edge,
but sometimes in the middle of a meadow. The eggs
in 1854 were laid about midsummer day. I quote the
above details from Hewitson’s ‘Eggs of British Birds,’
3rd ed. vol. ii. p. 3862. Col. Irby found Temminck’s
Stint commonly in small parties during the winter, in
the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, and says that a very
favourite locality for these birds was the abandoned or
unused salt-pans near Pulmones. He did not observe
any in those parts later than the month of March.

AMERICAN STINT.

TRINGA MINUTILLA, Vieillot.

Tringa minutilla, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv.
p. 466; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 896; Dresser, vii. p. 51.
Actodromas minutilla, Baird, Brewer, & Ridgway, Water-

Birds of N. Am. i. p. 236.

Two occurrences. A bird of this species was shot by
Mr. Vingoe in Mount’s Bay, Cornwall, on 10th October,
1853, and another by Mr. Rickards on Northern
Burrows, near Bideford, in September 1869.

The home of this Stint is America, where it breeds in
the arctic and subarctic districts. In autumn it migrates
southwards, and spreads in winter over Central and
South America, as well as the West Indian Islands,
returning to its summer-quarters in spring.

[0. 8.]

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‘uyieg ‘eAoIp “AA ‘OUI1T

CURLEW SANDPIPER.

TRINGA SUBARQUATA (Giildenstddt).

Scolopax subarquata, A. J. Giildenstidt, Novi Comment. Acad.
Petropol. xix. p. 471 (1775).

Tringa subarquata, Naum. vii. p. 408, xiii. p. 234; Macg. iv.
p. 215; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 403; Dresser, viii. p. 59.

Bécasseau-cocorli, French ; Churra, Malaga; Siseta rocha,
Valencian.

This bird is a tolerably common visitor to our eastern
and southern coasts on the double passage, but I believe
that I am correct in stating that hitherto there is no
authentic record of the discovery of its nest or eggs in
any part of the world. I have heard of the occurrence
of this bird on the Norfolk coast as early as the first
week of August, but I think that about the 20th of that
month is the usual date for its first autumnal appear-
ance in that part of England. On the return migration
it occurs in the summer dress on our eastern coasts
from about the end of March till the end of May, and
occasionally even in June.

In general habits this bird very much resembles the
Common Dunlin or Stint; but on wing may be easily

distinguished from that species by the white rump-
feathers.

In my British experience the Curlew Sandpiper
seldom comes to any considerable distance inland; but
to this experience there are, I know, many exceptions.
I have met with this species im various parts of the
Mediterranean shores in March, April, and May, but
nowhere in such abundance as on the great alluvial
plains of the lower Guadalquivir during the first fort-
night of the last-named month in 1872. Every speci-
men then obtained by our party was in full summer
dress; and amongst the myriads that constantly passed
me at short distances I could not detect any other
phase of plumage.

The Curlew Sandpiper occurs from Archangel to the
Cape Colony and Tasmania, and from the Atlantic to
the north-eastern coast of the Pacific. I have generally
found this bird very easy of approach, unless the flocks
were accompanied by individuals of some more wary
species. The note is a passing whistle, uttered in a low
tone, yet more powerful than that of the Dunlin, to
which it bears a certain resemblance.

muy “eyes eSuLry,

‘AadIAGANYS @ITIdynd

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ut Gee : "y ne .™ . oe

PURPLE SANDPIPER.

TRINGA STRIATA, Linn.

Tringa striata, Linn. 8S. N. i. p. 248 (1766); Yarr. ed. 4,
il. p. 408; Dresser, viii. p. 69.

Tringa maritima, Naum. vii. p. 467; Macg. iv. p. 197;
Hewitson, ii. p. 366.

Bécasseau violet, French; See-Strandldufer, German.

This bird is not uncommon on our coasts during the
autumn, winter, and early spring, but it has not been
as yet positively ascertained to breed in any part of
the British Islands. My own acquaintance with the
Purple Sandpiper is very scanty, being entirely confined
to a few rocky localities in Wales and the west of
Ireland. In the latter part of the world I found two of
these birds late in June; and I firmly believe that they
had eggs in the close neighbourhood of the spot about
which I constantly saw them; but the continued swell
that broke upon the coast rendered a landing always
difficult, and often impossible, and I was obliged to
content myself with an unproven inward conviction.
In other localities I have generally met with this species

in small parties later in the year, always amongst rocks
overgrown with seaweed, amongst which the birds find
their food. I have repeatedly seen Purple Sandpipers
lifted from the rocks by the waves and paddling on
the water till it receded and left the weeds ‘“‘as they
were.’ I have also frequently noticed birds of this
species swimming in the little pools amongst the rocks ;
they are exceedingly fearless, and always permitted
close observation from our boats.

This Sandpiper is said to be the most numerous of
its genus throughout the greater portions of the Arctic
regions, and it breeds in considerable numbers in the
Feeroes, as also in Iceland, Greenland, Spitzbergen,
and Novaya Zemlya.

I leave the description of the nest and egg of this
species to those authors who have personally met with
them. In this country the Purple Sandpiper very

rarely wanders to any considerable distance from salt-
water.

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KNOT.

TRINGA CANUTUS, Linn.

Tringa canutus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 251 (1766); Macg. iv.
p. 1855. Yaerr. ed. 4, ii. p: 413; Dresser, viii. p, 77.
Tringa islandica, Naum. vii. p. 372, xii. p. 232.
Maubéche, French; Islindischer Strandliufer, German ;
Churra, Spanish.

This bird is exceedingly common on the double
passage on many parts of our coasts, and many remain
in favourable localities throughout the winter months.
Although the Knot ranges as a migrant over the whole
of Europe, a considerable portion of Africa, and N.
America, and has, according to Mr. H. Saunders, been
met with in the Indian Region, Australia, and Brazil,
its breeding-haunts appear to be confined to the extreme
Arctic regions of America, and I believe that I am jus-
tified in stating that well authenticated eggs of this
species are still destderata to ornithologists. Col.
Feilden and Mr. Chichester Hart, however, the natura-
lists of the Polar Expedition of H.M. ships ‘Alert’ and
‘Discovery,’ had the good fortune to obtain three broods
of very young nestlings of this species in July 1876 in
latitudes 82° 33' and 81° 44’ N. The favourite resorts

of the Knot in our country are bare reaches of tidal
mud and sand; and where these wastes are permeated
by runlets of fresh water, there, if anywhere, the Knots
will be found at low-water time. I think that, in the
whole of my bird-seeking experience, I never met with
any one species in such astonishing numbers as the
present in the lower marisma of the Guadalquivir during
the first fortnight of May 1872; any really approximate
reckoning was, of course, out of the question, but my
companions and I put the total mildly at several millions ;
with very few exceptions these masses of birds were in
the most perfect summer plumage. The Knot thrives
exceedingly well in captivity, often for three or four
years, and becomes very tame.

The drawings for both Plates were taken from living
birds in the Lilford aviaries.

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SANDERLING.

CALIDRIS ARENARIA (Linn.).

Tringa arenaria, Linn. 8. N.1. p. 251 (1766).
Calidris arenaria, Naum. vii. p. 353, xiii. p. 231; Macg. iv.
p- 237; Yarr. ed. 4, ili. p. 420; Dresser, viii. p. 101.

Sanderling variable, French ; Sanderling, German ; Chur-
rilla, Spanish.

This species is tolerably common on the double
passage on many parts of our coast, generally appearing
early in August and remaining till cold weather sets in,
reappearing in April, and often lingering till the end of
May, or even later, upon the hard sands of our shores.
I have met with the Sanderling in small flocks almost
throughout the Mediterranean, and in many parts of
our own Islands, but do not recollect to have ever seen
it on the tidal muds that present attractions to the
great majority of the family of Waders. Occasionally,
but m my personal experience rarely, a few Sanderlings
may be found associating with Dunlins and Knots, but
I have generally met with them in companies composed
solely of their own species, varying in number from a
dozen to perhaps thirty or forty. With the exception

of greater activity and special predilection for clean
sands, the habits of this bird appeared to me to resemble
most closely those of the Knot.

There is no authentic record of the breeding of this
bird in any part of the British Islands; but for details
on this subject I must refer my readers to the standard
authorities.

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BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER.

TRINGA RUFESCENS, Vieill.

Tringa rufescens, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat. xxxiv.
p- 470 (1819) ; Macg. iv. p. 194.

Actitis rufescens, Naum. xiii. p. 239.

Tryngites rufescens, Yarr. ed. 4, iil. p. 435; Dresser, viii.
p; LI.

This is a rare and irregular straggler to our country
from North America, concerning whose habits and
distribution I have no personal knowledge. Some
fourteen or fifteen well-authenticated occurrences of this
species in England and Ireland are referred to by
Mr. H. Saunders in his ‘ Manual,’ as also one in
Heligoland. The specimen from which the accompany-
ing figure was taken was shot in September 1870 on
the island of Bryher, Scilly, by Mr. Augustus Pechell,
who most kindly lent it for the purpose, and has sent
the following note with reference to the occurrence :—
“T was sitting on a bank at Bryher, 80 or 100 yards
from a small freshwater pool, when the bird came, and
after flying round settled, and ran about the edge of the
pool; I saw it was a stranger, and was moving to stalk

it, when something disturbed it and it flew away west-
ward towards rocks and sea; some minutes later it
came back over the spot where I had been sitting all
the time, and fell in a grass field behind me; it was
a bit of good luck. Pectoral Sandpipers were also in
Scilly that September.”

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“Uypseg “PAGIH *M “OUT

BARTRAMS PLOVER.

BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA (Becist.).

Tringa longicauda, Bechstein, Kurze Vebers. aller bek. Vogel,
p. 453 (1811).

Actitis bartrami, Naum. viii. p. 43, xiii. p. 238.

Bartramia longicauda, Yarr. ed. 4, iil. p. 440.

Actiturus longicaudus, Dresser, viii. p. 119.

I find seven records of the occurrence of this American
species in England in the 4th ed. of ‘ Yarrell,’ vol. ii..,
under the heading of “ Bartram’s Sandpiper,” but as,
from all the accounts that are accessible to me, it seems
to resemble the Plovers much more closely in habits
than the Sandpipers, and is very generally known in
the United States as Upland, or Field-Plover, I have
ventured, with all due deference to our English autho-
rities, to designate it as a Plover. Never having crossed
the Atlantic, or had the luck to meet with this bird in
Europe, I cannot, of course, give any details concerning
it from personal observation, and therefore quote from a
recent American work to the effect that our bird breeds
on the inland prairies and dry meadows of North
America from the fur-countries of Canada to Penn-
sylvania, as well as on both sides of the Mississippi.

These Plovers keep together in broods or small com-
panies, and feed much upon grasshoppers. In the
pastures they familiarly follow and feed around the
cattle, and, though usually wary of man, can generally
be approached from a cart or wagon. In August these
birds approach the vicinity of the sea, but resort to feed
and roost in the contiguous dry fields. They run fast
and often skulk in high grass. On being alarmed they
utter three or four querulous whistling notes as they
mount to fly, and when travelling they have a short
warbling whistle. The author from whom I am quoting
states that about the middle of August the market of
- Boston, Mass., is amply supplied with this “ delicate
and justly esteemed game.” In Yarrell, loc. supra cit.,
I find that the migrations of this species extend as far
southward as the West Indies, Brazil, Eastern Peru, and
Chile. In Europe Bartram’s Plover has been met with
certainly in Malta and in Northern Italy, and there are
also records of its occurrence in Sweden, Holland, and
Hesse. John Gould states that he examined a specimen

shot near Botany Bay.

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COMMON SANDPIPER.

TOTANUS HYPOLEUCUS (Linn.).

Tringa hypoleucos, Linn. S. N. i. p. 250 (1766).
Actitis hypoleucos, Naum. viii. p. 7; Macg. iv. p. 351.
Totanus hypoleucos, Hewitson, ii. p. 333; Dresser, viii.
p. 127.

Totanus hypoleucus, Yarr. ed. 4, 11. p. 446.

Chevalier guignette, French; Fluss-Uferléufer, German ;
Andarios, Lavandéra chica, Spanish.

This pleasant little bird is a common summer visitor
to almost all the streams of the United Kingdom,
perhaps more numerous in Scotland and Wales than
elsewhere ; but in my experience there is hardly a river,
a lake, or even a considerable pond in our country, upon
whose banks this Sandpiper may not be found between
the middle of April and the end of September. I have
more than once noticed a few of this species on our
southern coasts as late as the middle of November, but
such lingering is decidedly exceptional. For nesting-
_ purposes this bird prefers the neighbourhood of rapid
streams or gravelly lakes to that of still muddy waters.
The nest is composed of dry grass and rushes, moss, and
occasionally a few dead leaves; it is generally well

. ‘28

concealed and by no means easy to discover. The eggs
are four in number, very large for the size of the bird,
and of a creamy white, much spotted with dark brown.
When the young are hatched the parent birds display
the utmost anxiety, and go through all the well-known
devices to draw off a human or canine intruder that may
frequently be noticed in the case of other wading birds.
This Sandpiper when suddenly startled from the side of
a stream shoots off with a darting flight close to the
surface of the water, uttering a shrill piping whistle
rapidly repeated; but it is naturally of a confiding
character, and I have frequently passed one or two in a
boat within less than half a gunshot without disturbing
them as they ran on the gravel banks with constant
nodding of heads and flirting of tails ; they very frequently
perch, especially upon rail-fences and stone walls. When
unable to fly from youth or a wound, the Sandpiper
frequently takes to the water, and not only swims well,
but dives with ease. I have met with this species in
every suitable locality in Kurope that I have visited, but
nowhere in such abundance as upon a creek of the

Guadalquivir in May 1883.

.
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‘aHdIAGGNYS NHAADS

GREEN SANDPIPER.

TOTANUS OCHROPUS (Linzn.).

Tringa ocrophus (misprint), Linn. S. N. i. p. 250 (1766).

Totanus ochropus, Naum. viii. p. 59, xi. p. 241 ; Macg. iv.
p- 342; Hewitson, ii. p. 334*; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 457 ;
Dresser, viii. p. 135.

Chevalier cul-blanc, French; Griinfiissiger Strandldufer,
German ; Lavandera grande, Andario, Spanish.

This bird is more or less common as an irregular
visitor to all parts of England and many of the eastern
counties of Scotland; whilst in Ireland generally it is
much less frequent, and very rare in the west of that
country. In Northamptonshire I have records of the
occurrence of the Green Sandpiper in every month of
the year except June, and am by no means certain of
the correctness of this exception. It is, however, never
abundant with us, and generally to be found singly or
in couples about certain muddy ponds during the period
of the autumnal migration. Once only I found six of
these birds together on the banks of the Nene; this was
late in the month of August, and no doubt was a family-
party on their travels. I may mention that in the

district to which I am referring this bird is generally
known as either “Solitary” or “ Summer-Snipe.”

From my own experience I am inclined to think that
this species finds its living principally on soft muddy
spots, and is comparatively seldom to be found fre-
quenting banks of shingle or sand. It exhibits a
remarkable partiality for certain ponds in our pasture-
lands, and where one or two Green Sandpipers are
found in August or September at these pools we almost
always find one or two at the same season every year.

It is not very often that circumstance permits a
close observation of these birds, as they are very wary ;
but I have once or twice had the opportunity of watching
one at close quarters; they appeared to me on these
occasions to be less constantly in motion than the
Common Sandpiper, and, after a close examination of a
patch of mud and many snaps at flying insects, the
birds, in the instances to which I allude, retired to a
clod of earth on the pond-bank, and drawing up one leg
remained motionless, except for an occasional jerk of
the tail, for a considerable time. When alarmed, the
Green Sandpiper darts up to a great height in the air
with a very vigorous flight, and constantly utters a shrill
trisyllabic whistle, alarming all the Snipes that may be
in the neighbourhood, and has often caused me much
vexation on this account; the present bird, however,
generally makes off to a distance at once, and from the
Snipe-shooting point of view is not such a nuisance as
the Redshank, which flits round the marsh from which
it rises with constant outcry, as if it was the appointed
sentinel of the Snipes.

I cannot find any positive record of the present bird’s
breeding in our Islands, although I feel convinced that
it occasionally does so; for evidence in favour of my
view on this subject I must refer my readers to the
Ath edition of ‘Yarrell’; my personal experience on
this point will be found recorded in article 149 of my
“Notes on the Birds of Northamptonshire” in the
‘Journal of the Natural History Society’ of that county.
The Green Sandpiper generally selects an old nest of
some other species for its nursery, often at a consider-
able height from the ground. I quote from “ Yarrell,”
ed. supr. cit., to the effect that the eggs have been found
in Pomerania in the abandoned nests of Song-Thrush,
Jay, Blackbird, Mistletoe-Thrush, Wood-Pigeon, once in
that of the Red-backed Shrike, often in squirrels’
“dreys,’ sometimes on the ground, and in various other
situations at from 3 to 35 feet im elevation, but always
in proximity to ponds. I have met with the Green
Sandpiper at various seasons in every part of Europe
that I have visited.

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WOOD-SANDPIPER.

TOTANUS GLAREOLA (J. F. Gmelin).

Tringa glareola, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 677 (1788).

Totanus glareola, Naum. viii. p. 78; Macg. iv. p. 346;
Hewitson, ii. p. 830; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 463; Dresser,
viii. p. 143.

Chevalier sylvain, French; Bruch-Wasserliufer, German ;
Andario, Spanish ; Carregadet, Valencian.

This bird is an irregular but by no means a very
uncommon visitor to England and Scotland, and there
is good evidence of its having bred on several occasions
in the former and once in the latter kingdom, although
we have only one authentic record of the actual finding
of an occupied nest in Great Britain; this nest, con-
taining eggs, was discovered by the late John Hancock
on June 3rd, 1853, in Prestwick Car, not far from
Newcastle-on-Tyne, and the adult male was shot at the
same time. My acquaintance with this Sandpiper is,
with one exception, confined to foreign countries. In
Andalucia we found it exceedingly common in April and
May on the borders of the great marshes of the Lower
Guadalquivir; it was also common about the Ionian

/09

Islands and the adjacent mainland on the double passage.
I noticed it in the neighbourhood of Tunis in November,
and have seen it in Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus ; in this
last-named island I am convinced that it was breeding
near Limasol in May 1875, but we could not discover a
nest in spite of protracted search and some watching of
a pair that were much distressed by our proximity, and
kept hovering and whistling about the spot whence we
first disturbed them.

The Wood-Sandpiper breeds in many parts of Europe,
notably in the Netherlands and in Denmark ; the nest
is generally situated in rough moorland, and is always
well concealed and difficult to find. The habits of this
bird to some extent resemble those of the Green Sand-
piper, but it is much less wary than that erratic species,
and, so far as my experience goes, is more addicted to
perching on bushes and low trees than any of its con-
geners. The ordinary cry of the Wood-Sandpiper is a
double whistle; but the pair to which I have alluded
above as observed in Cyprus flew about constantly
uttering a prolonged twitter or trilling note that I never
heard on any other occasion. I gather from other
writers that this species ranges virtually over the whole
of the Old World, from Scandinavia and Northern
Siberia to Ceylon and South Africa, and from the coast
of Portugal to Japan.

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“aARAdIdGNYS AUMYLITIOS

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SOLITARY SANDPIPER.

TOTANUS SOLITARIUS (Wilson).

Tringa solitaria, Wilson, Amer. Orn. vii. p. 53, pl. 58. fig. 3
(1813).
Totanus solitarius, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 468, Pref. p. x.

I find three records only of the occurrence of this
American species in Great Britain; the first, recorded
by Gray in the ‘ Ibis’ for 1870, is stated to have been
shot some years ago somewhere on the banks of the
Clyde, in the higher grounds of Lanarkshire ; the second
British specimen was killed in Scilly on September 21st,
1882, and is now in the possession of Mr. Dorrien
Smith, to whom I am indebted for the loan of the bird
for this work ; a third is recorded by Mr. Thomas Cor-
nish (‘ Zoologist,’ 1885, p. 113) to have been killed in
a marsh near Marazion, and identified by the late
W. H. Vingoe, of Penzance, into whose possession it
passed; Mr. Cornish gives no precise date for this
occurrence, but as he mentions /oc. supra cit. that it was
in Vingoe’s hands on January 26th, 1885, we may
presume that it was killed shortly before that date.

I gather from Nuttall that this bird very much
resembles its near relation, our Green Sandpiper (7ota-
nus ochropus), in habits, as it certainly does m appear-
ance, but with the important difference that in the
latter species the rump and upper tail-coverts are pure
white, whilst in the American bird the feathers of these
parts are of a greenish brown, with scanty white spots.
It seems that little or nothing authentic has been dis-
covered as to the nidification of the present species.

Litho. W. Greve, Berlin.

COMMON REDSHANK.

Totanus calidris (Linn.).

COMMON REDSHANK.

TOTANUS CALIDRIS (Linn.).

Tringa calidris, Linn. S. N. i. p. 252 (1766).

Totanus calidris, Naum. viii. p.95; Macg. iv. p. 333; Hewit-
son, ii. p. 829; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 469; Dresser, viii.
p. 157.

Chevalier-Gambette, French; Rothfissiger Wasserliufer,
Gambette, German ; Gamba roja, Pajarillo, Spanish,
Archibebe (Malaga).

This pretty bird is probably only too well known to
those of my readers who are given to Snipe-shooting,
from its frequency on their favourite grounds, and, from
a sportsman’s point of view, its detestable habit of
flying screaming over the marshes, thereby putting all
the Snipes upon the “ gui-vive.’ Admitting this
charge against our bird, it is withal a very great
ornament to many of our native districts, which, without
bird-life, would be dreary indeed; and as it is perfectly
harmless, worthless from a culinary point of view, and
one of the many of our British species that must by
degrees become extinct as a resident, from the draining
and reclamation of its present breeding-localities, 1 say
by all means spare the Redshank. In the spring and

summer this species is to be found in suitable localities

throughout the three kingdoms, all that it seems to
require in those seasons being open, uncultivated, and
comparatively moist ground. ‘The nest is usually placed
upon or under a tussock of sedge or rushes, sometimes
amongst heather, and is almost invariably well concealed
from observation ; the eggs are four, and so well known
that I gladly shirk the task of description, for which, in
such matters, I frankly plead a singular incompetence.
During the pairing-season the male Redshank goes
through much the same performances as other birds of
his genus, soaring into the air with quivering wings and
note, and on the ground his antics have reminded me
often of a tame Pigeon in similar circumstance of season
and passion; at other times of year the Redshank is
very wideawake and wary, and, on the slightest alarm,
darts shrieking into the air, and flies at a safe height to
a safe distance. On the autumnal migration and during
open winters vast numbers of Redshanks frequent our
flat coasts and salt-marshes, and many stragglers are to
be met with on both passages in districts far away from
their accustomed haunts. This species thrives well in
captivity, and from its lively actions and graceful shape
is a very desirable inmate of the aviary.

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YELLOW-SHANKED SANDPIPER.

TOTANUS FLAVIPES (J. F. Gmelin).

Scolopax flavipes, J. F. Gmelin, S. N. 1. p. 659.

Totanus flavipes, Yarr. ed. 4, iv. p.480; Baird, Brewer, and
Ridgway, Water-Birds of N. Am. i. p. 273; Dresser,
Suppl. p. 377.

An American straggler to this country, of which two
unquestioned instances of its occurrence are on
record—one near Bawtry on the borders of Lincolushire,
and one near Marazion in Cornwall. In the latter case
the bird was shot by Mr. Vingoe on September 12,
1871.

Over the greater part of North America the Yellow-
shanked Sandpiper is a well-known bird as a spring and
autumn migrant during its passage to its breeding-
grounds in the subarctic districts of the Continent. On
its return it spreads widely over the West Indian
Islands, Central and South America, and reaches as far
south as Chili and Patagonia. (Oss

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‘UAdIdGNYS GAANYHS- MOTIEA

—

DUSKY REDSHANK.

TOTANUS FUSCUS (Linn.).

Scolopax fusca, Linn. S. N. i. p. 243.

Totanus fuscus, Naum. vii. p. 123, xii. Suppl. p. 242; Macg.
iv. p. 828; Hewitson, ii. p. 326; Dresser, viii. p. 165 ;
Yarr. ed. 4, 11. p. 474.

Barge brune, Chevalier arlequin, French ; Caballero arlequin,
Spanish ; Dunkelfarbiger-Wasserlaéyfer, German.

A not uncommon but irregular visitor to the British
Islands, where it appears during its spring and autumn
migrations, never remaining to breed or to spend the
winter months within our shores. In Ireland it appears
to be of very rare occurrence.

The Dusky Redshank breeds in the northern parts of
Norway and Sweden, in Finland and Russia, and
probably throughout Northern Asia.

The first discovery of its nest and eggs was due to
Wolley, and his account of the breeding-habits of the
bird in Finland is full of interest. His notes were
first sent to Hewitson, in whose work they appear and
in greater detail in Dresser’s ‘ Birds of Europe.’

[0. $.]

W. Greve, Berlin

Litho.

DUSKY REDSHANK.,.

Totanus fuscus (Linn.).

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GREENSHANK.

TOTANUS GLOTTIS (Linn.).

Scolopax totanus, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 245 (1766, ex Briss.).

Totanus glottis, Naum. viii. p. 145, xiii. p. 243; Hewitson, ii.
p- 336. :

Glottis chloropus, Macg. iv. p. 319.

Totanus canescens, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 483; Dresser, viii.
py 173:

Chevalier gris, Chevalier aboyeur, French; Griinfiissiger,
Wasserléufer,German ; Corre-playa, Andario, Picorilla,
Spanish.

I have such a very slight acquaintance with this
species as a “ British” bird, that, were it not for the
expressed wishes of many friends for a certain amount
of letterpress to accompany these “Coloured Figures,”
I should almost be inclined to state simply that this
is the Greenshank; but in compliance with the wishes
above mentioned, I will attempt to condense the infor-
mation gathered from recent authorities on my present
subject.

The Greenshank is a bird of double passage in
most parts of our islands; it breeds on open moor-lands
and the shingly borders of lochs and streams in certain
districts of the Scottish Highlands and islands, but is

nowhere very abundant, and in England and Ireland is
best known as an autumnal visitor to the coasts and
inland waters; Mr. H. Saunders informs us that it
remains in Ireland throughout the winter. ‘The nest is
said to be often placed close to large grey granite
stones, to which the upper plumage of the Greenshank
closely assimilates in general tone of colour; the eggs
are four in number, very large for the size of the bird,
and are generally hatched during the first fortnight of
June; both parent-birds are very clamorous, and bold
in attacking a dog, and sweeping round the head of a
human intruder after their young are hatched. I have
met with this bird once or twice on the Tweed in early
autumn, and occasionally on the Irish coasts at the
same season, also on various parts of the Mediterranean
shores, but my principal acquaintance with it was
formed on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, where,
though by no means very abundant, it is frequently to
be met with in pairs or small parties during April and
the early part of May. It is generally, in my experi-
ence, a very wary bird, rising at the slightest suspicion
of danger, and uttering a very remarkable shrill double
note, by which it may easily be identified from any of
its congeners with whom I have any acquaintance. I
do not remember ever to have found Greenshanks
associating with any other birds, except a stray Avocet
or two.

7 j ;

RUFF.

MACHETES PUGNAX (Linn.).

Tringa pugnax, Linn. S. N. i. p. 247 (1766).

Machetes pugnax, Naum. vii. p. 502; Macg. iv. p. 171;
Hewitson, ii. p. 845; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 426; Dresser,
vill. p. 87.

Combattant, French; Kampf-Hahn, German; Combati-
ente, Spanish.

This singular bird is one of the many species that
have been driven from their former breeding-places in
England by the draining and reclamation of the marshes
and fen-lands in which they were at one time abundant ;
a very few pairs of Ruffs and Reeves, however, still nest
occasionally in Hast Norfolk, but, owing to the greed of
collectors, and lax administration of the law, are seldom
allowed to rear, or even to hatch out their broods,
and our birds are now principally known as autumnal
visitors to the sea-coast and adjacent meadow-lands,
stray birds being occasionally met with inland at con-
siderable distances from salt water.

The Ruff is polygamous, and consequently most pug-
nacious, but, as far as I have been able to observe,

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amongst these birds in aviaries their fights are never
very serious or long sustained, and appear to be set
going more for the sake of showing off to the Reeves
than with any intention of damage to each other; so
well known was this habit in Lincolnshire in former
days that I have been assured by a friend that his
mother, a native of that county, would often check the
squabbles of her young family by the words ‘Come, you
children must not fight like Ruffs!” Large numbers
of these birds were formerly taken in nets in the fens of
our eastern counties in the spring and regularly fattened
for the table, always commanding a ready sale at a high
price; but this business has long ago been discontinued
for lack of birds, and the great majority of Ruffs and
Reeves that are now to be found in the English markets
are imported from the Netherlands. The natural food
of this species consists of insects, worms, and small
mollusks, but in captivity they take readily to a diet of
bread and milk, boiled wheat and rice, and chopped
liver, and on this regimen rapidly become fat; a Ruff
in good condition is a most excellent bird, far superior,
in my estimation, to a Woodcock at its best. My own
acquaintance with this species in a wild state is very
limited: the only remarkable point about it that I have
observed that I have not found recorded by other
writers, is the ease with which these birds are attracted
by any unusually bright-coloured object such as a red
or yellow flag or handkerchief fluttering in the breeze,
and I have seen some of them occasionally hover over a
dog; this habit is, of course, common amongst waders
when their nests are approached, but the instances in

which it has come under my notice in this species had
no connection with parental instinct. The curious collar
or ruff of feathers of the male birds is fully developed by
the middle of May (I write of birds in captivity), and is
carried throughout June. I have found that this species
thrives remarkably well in our aviaries in ordinary
weather, but cannot bear severe frost ; the actions and
attitudes of the males are most amusing and grotesque,
and both sexes become very tame. It would take at
least half a dozen plates to display even the most
ordinary varieties of the nuptial plumage of the Ruff, in
fact it would be difficult in May or June to find two
males precisely alike. The principal figure in the first of
the accompanying Plates is an excellent portrait of a
specimen in the aviary at Lilford, in his full summer
“glory.” ‘The difference of size and weight of the two
sexes is very remarkable, for whilst a wild Ruff in
August and September will generally pull down from
7 to 8 oz. (often a good deal more), it 1s exceptional to
meet with a Reeve that weighs 6 oz., and I have a
specimen of the latter killed in perfect condition at
Corfu in the autumn that weighed just 43 oz.

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BLACK-TAILED GODWIT.

LIMOSA AfEGOCEPHALA (Lina.).

Scolopax zgocephala, Linn. 8. N. i. p. 246 (1768).

Limosa melanura, Naum. viii. p. 406; Hewitson, ii. p. 342.

Limosa egocephala, Macy. iv. p. 269; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 488 ;
Dresser, vil. p. 211.

Barge « queue noire, French; Schwarzschwénzige Ufer-
schnepfe, German ; Abujeta, Sarseruelo, Andalucian.

This is one of the many species that formerly bred
in some numbers in the fen-districts of England, but
have become comparatively rare, in some cases extinct,
from the effects of drainage, the persecution of local
sportsmen and depredators, and, I must add, the greed
of collectors and their agents. The excellence of the
flesh and of the eggs of this Godwit have of course
tended to its extermination as a breeding species in this
country. In the ‘Althorp Household Books,’ kept
during portions of the 16th and 17th centuries, are
several entries of high prices paid for “ Yarwhelps ”—a
local eastern-county name for this bird, still in use
amongst the marsh-men; and a fat Godwit has for
centuries been accounted as one of the daintiest dishes

in England. I quote from Sir Thomas Browne and, on -
the authority of Yarrell, from Ben Jonson to this effect.
Nowadays the Black-tailed Godwit is only known in
our country as a bird of double passage, and by no
means avery common one, although within the memory
of man it not only bred, but was regularly netted and
fattened for the table by the Ruff- and Plover-netters of
Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

This bird still frequents and breeds in some of the
marshes of the Netherlands, whence a few are sent
annually alive to the London markets in April and
May. ‘The nests are said to be generally well con-
cealed amongst the herbage of the marsh-lands. The
eggs are four in number, of a dull green spotted and
blotched with brown, and are pear-shaped. I have
frequently found these eggs in Leadenhall Market
amongst those of many other marsh-birds from Holland,
and the few that I have had hard-boiled were quite
equal, if not superior, in flavour to those of the Peewit.
The Black-tailed Godwits that I have seen in their
natural condition, at liberty in England, might certainly
be reckoned on my fingers; but in the early months of
spring I have seen very large numbers of these birds in
Southern Spain, a few on the shores of Epirus, and
here and there in other parts of the Mediterranean
shores. In Spain we found these Godwits exceedingly
wary, and it was only by the aid of one of the wonder-
fully trained native horses, or that of a wild Falcon,
that we brought any of them to bag.

To the Falcon, Peregrine, and possibly Lanner, this
species seems to present. special delight, and we often

noticed from a distance flocks of Godwits spreading
out into lines, or gathering into dense masses, in the
manner of Starlings or Dunlins, from the constant
persecution of the long-winged enemies above mentioned.
At the season in which I noticed these birds in the
Spanish marshes, I never heard any note uttered by
them but a single “chut” “chut;” but in captivity
they frequently utter a double note, from which (jide
‘Yarrell, 4th ed.) they derive the trivial name of
“Grutto” m Holland. These birds thrive fairly well
in our aviaries at Lilford, but require protection from
cold and damp that hardly affect the Bar-tailed Godwit.
The present species has a very extensive seasonal range,
having been recorded from Greenland, Iceland, and
Finland, to Ceylon and Australia, and also from Madeira
to Japan.

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BAR-TAILED GODWIT.

LIMOSA LAPPONICA (Linn.).

Scolopax lapponica, Linn. S. N. i. p. 246 (1766).

Limosa rufa e¢ meyeri, Naum. viii. pp. 446 and 428, xiii.
pp. 246 and 247.

Limosa rufa, Macg. iv. p. 260; Hewitson, ii. p. 343.

Limosa lapponica, Yarr. ed. 4, i. p. 494; Dresser, viii.
p. 203.

Barge-rousse, French ; Ufer-Schnepfe, German; Sarse-
ruelo, Spanish ; Tetol, Valencian.

This bird visits the low-lying coast districts of the
United Kingdom on the double passage in May and
August and is said to remain, occasionally in large
numbers, throughout the winter in certain favourable
localities ; on the other hand a few occasionally linger
with us throughout the summer, but the nest of the
Bar-tailed Godwit has not been recorded as even having
been found in any part of the British Islands. The
breeding-haunts of this species in the Old World are
confined to the extreme north-east of Europe and the
north of Asia, but little seems to be known concerning
the bird’s habits in its nesting localities. In the
autumn and winter this Godwit occurs throughout

the Mediterranean shores, but I never met with it there
in any considerable numbers, in fact I have but little
personal acquaintance with the bird in a wild state. I
saw a few and shot one in the richest nuptial plumage
in the harbour of Santander in May 1876. The old
birds on the return passage in spring are generally wide
awake and difficult of approach, but in autumn the
mexperienced youngsters on their first travels are often
stupidly tame and confiding, unless, as is often the case,
they are in company with Curlews or Redshanks. The
flesh of this bird in autumn is fairly good, although it
will not bear comparison with that of the Black-tailed
Godwit. At Marseille and Toulon Bar-tailed Godwits
appeared constantly on the bills of fare and tables of the
hotels as “ Bécasses,” never, to my knowledge, with the
legitimate addition of “de Mer.” ‘This bird thrives
_ fairly well in captivity, but none of those that I have
kept at Lilford have ever assumed the full nuptial
dress.

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CURLEW.

NUMENIUS ARQUATA (Linn,).

Scolopax arquata, Linn. 8S. N. i. p. 242 (1766).

Numenius arquata, Naum. viii. p. 478, xiii. p. 248; Macg. iv.
p. 243 ; Hewitson, ii. p. 322; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 499.

Numenius arquatus, Dresser, viii. p. 243.

Le Courlis, French; Brachvogel, German ; Zarapito real,
Spanish.

This well-known bird nests on open moorlands in
several counties of England, most of those of Scotland,
and throughout the great bogs and uncultivated districts
of Ireland and Wales. The greater part of our home-
bred Curlews find their way to the sea-coast in
September, many come to our country across the North
Sea, and in certain favourite localities on the shores of
the three kingdoms more or less of these birds may be
found throughout the year. I have always considered
an old and experienced Curlew as the most wary of my
bird acquaintances, but the young, when they first come
down from the moors, may often be circumvented by
stalking, and are well worth powder and shot. In
Northamptonshire I look upon this species as a bird of
double passage ; a few pass up the valley of the Nene

pretty regularly in September, but are very seldom to be
seen on the ground, and in March and April a few visit
us, generally singly or in pairs, on their return passage,
occasionally remaiming for a few days in our water-
meadows. I imagine that there are very few districts in
Great Britain or Ireland im which the Curlew is not to
be met with either as a breeding species, an occasional
visitor, or an autumnal and winter-resident, though, no
doubt, to the majority of Englishmen the bird is chiefly
associated with the wildest and least frequented parts of
our sea-shores and estuaries. The nest of this species is
an artless arrangement of dry rushes and grass, generally
well concealed : the eggs, very large for the size of the
bird, are of a dull olive-green with brown blotches and
spots; I have now and then found young Curlews
almost full-grown, but unable to fly, as late as the first
week in August. The parent-birds are very bold and
clamorous when their young are approached, and will
attack a dog in this circumstance, but seldom approach
within gunshot range of a man. A few Curlews may
be killed by lying up concealed in their line of flight to
and from their feedig-grounds at the ebb and flow of
the tide, but they soon learn to avoid dangerous spots,
and either change their route or fly at a safe height from
the ground ; their food consists of the creeping, crawling,
and wriggling animals that are to be found on the sands
and muds at low-water time, and on the upland moors
they feed principally upon earth-worms, beetles, and
various berries. The ordinary cry of the Curlew is
fairly well represented by its English name with the first
syllable dwelt upon and prolonged, but it has a variety

of other notes, and the deafening shrieks of a large flock
of these birds when suddenly alarmed at night or in a fog
certainly form one of the most startling pieces of bird-
music with which I am acquainted. I have never had
much success in keeping young Curlews alive in captivity,
but adult birds, captured without injury, generally do
well in our aviaries, and feed heartily upon worms and
chopped meat: in the summer months some of my
Curlews have to a considerable extent supported them-
selves by very adroit fly-catching, a process for which
their curved soft bills appear to be singularly ill-adapted ;
I have, however, constantly and repeatedly seen them
pick house-flies from the walls and gravel of the aviaries
with the unerring aim of the smaller Herons. Our
Curlew may be roughly said to be found throughout
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in other parts of the world
is represented by very similar and closely-allied species.

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WHIMBREL,

NUMENIUS PHAOPUS (Linn.).

Scolopax phxopus, Linn. S. N. i. p. 243 (1766).

Numenius phzopus, Naum. viii. p. 506; Macg. iv. p. 253;
Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 507; Dresser, viii. p. 227.

Numenius pheopus, Hewitson, ii. p. 324.

Courlis, Courlieu, French; Regen-Brachvogel, German ;
Zarapito menor, Zarapito, Spanish.

Although some of this species are to be met with on
our shores during the winter, the Whimbrel is generally
known in England as a bird of double passage, appear-
ing in July, August, or September on the southward
migration, and again in May on its return to its
breeding-quarters in the north. In many parts of
England and Ireland it is known as the May-bird, but
“ Jack-Curlew” and “ Half-Curlew” are perhaps the most
common names for it. In Northamptonshire large
numbers pass over us to the south-west in August and
September, and a few in late April or May; the
autumnal travellers seldom, if ever, alight in our neigh-
bourhood, but are sufficiently well known to have
acquired the local name of ‘“ Seven-Whistlers” from

their peculiar cry of seven distinct notes. I have seen
little of the Whimbrel in this country, except on the
autumnal passage to which I have referred, but am well
acquainted with it from personal observation in both
Northern and Southern Spain and various parts of the
Mediterranean shores. In its habits and manner of
feeding, as well as in appearance, this bird closely
resembles the Curlew, but it is less wary than that
exceedingly wide-awake fowl, and its flesh is much.
superior to that of its more common relation. On the
lower Guadalquivir in May we found a good number of
Whimbrels feeding upon the mud-banks of the river at
low-water time, and resorting as the tide “made” to
some open swampy savannahs in the pine-woods on the
right side in the far-famed Coto de Dofana. Here it
was not difficult to drive the birds over our ambush,
and we obtained as many as we required for the table
and for specimens. In my opinion the Whimbrel is
the best of all the marsh-birds for culinary purposes in
the spring-time, although not to compare in autumn
with the Ruff, the Godwits, Snipes, and Knot. ‘This
bird breeds regularly in Iceland, the Faeroes, the
Orkneys, the Shetlands, and throughout the north of
Europe and Asia. Its migration-range is said to extend
to the Cape of Good Hope and Ceylon, and from the

Azores to New Guinea.

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‘MATHNOD OWIASH

ESKIMO CURLEW.

NUMENIUS BOREALIS (J. R. Forster).

Scolopax borealis, J. R. Forster, Phil. Trans. Ixii. pp. 411,
431 (1772).

Numenius borealis, Naum. viii. p. 506; Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 512;
Dresser, viii. p. 221.

Mr. H. Saunders, in his ‘ Manual of British Birds,’
records some seven or eight occurrences of this small
American Curlew in the British Islands; the specimen
from which my Plate was taken being the latest in date
of the birds there recorded ; it was killed on the island
of Tresco, Scilly, on September 10, 1887, and most
kindly lent to me by Mr. Dorrien Smith for this work.

Nuttall says of this species that “in the course of its
vast migrations it occasionally visits almost every part
of the American continent”; but its breeding-haunts
are, it would seem, confined to the Arctic regions. It
visits Labrador in great numbers on the autumnal
migration ; but the main route of the annual southward
journey of this Curlew is said to lie along the valley of
the Mississippi and to the southward of New Jersey. Its

occurrence on the Atlantic coast of the United States
would seem to be exceptional.

The food of this species is said to consist of insects,
small mollusca, and, when ripe, the fruit of the crow-
berry (Hmpetrum nigrum).

Nuttall states that on their arrival from the north in
Massachusetts Bay and New Jersey they are very fat
and well flavoured, and included with Mumenius hud-
sonicus and Limosa fedoa under the general name of
Dough-birds.

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