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SOCIABIE VULTURE,

Be ese ro iY

OF THE

BIRDS OF EUROPE

NOT OBSERVED IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

BEC sk. BREE PSO. UM Day Rls,

Author of ‘‘Species Not Transmutable,”
Physician to the Essex and Colchester Hospital, &c., &c.

VOL. VE

‘‘Join voices all ye living souls; ye birds
That singing up to heaven-gate ascend
Bear on your wings and in your notes His praise.’

Minton’s Parapise Lost.

LONDON:
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M DCCC LXVI.

Oi & -
RK
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.

PAGE.
Sociable Vulture . : : 5 : 3 : : 1
Cinereous Vulture . : 4 : : : : aia (
Bearded Vulture . : : : : . 4 Bea |.
Norwegian Jer-Falcon . : F , : : 21
Saker Falcon 4 - : : : ; ; aes |
Lanner Falcon . : , P : : ; : 37
Eleonora Falcon . F : : : : : . 44
Lesser Kestrel . , ‘ 3 F ; ; ; 48
Little Red-billed Hawk . : ; : 4 hy, will
Pale-chested Harrier . 5 : ; ; b F 55
Imperial Eagle. : ‘ : ; d : Sip atte
Bonelli’s Eagle . : ; : ; : : : 62
Booted Eagle : : : ; ‘ : : fy Ol
Tawny Eagle . - : ; 5 S : : 71
Pallas’s Sea Eagle : ‘ ; : : : ee ORE
Bald Eagle : : ; ‘ : : P ‘ 80
Short-toed Eagle . 3 : ; ; A : yy Stil
Long-legged Buzzard : : } : 3 : 93
African Buzzard . 3 : é 5 d ; ae a
Black Kite F : ; : : é : ; 101
Arabian Kite : 3 : : : : Sena HOS
Black-winged Kite . : y ; é : : 108

Ural Owl : F ‘ : . : . : ee Oe:

iv CONTENTS.

PAGE
Lap Owl . : : : : : : : : 118
Least European Sparrow Owl : : : 5 . 124
Egyptian Eared Owl . j : : : ‘ ; 130
Black Jackdaw : : : j : ; . [36
Azure-winged Magpie : ; : : : ; 140
Black-headed Jay . ; : : , : ; . 144
Siberian Jay . : : : ; ‘ : : 149
Alpine Chough . : 5 E : : : . 153
Sardinian Starling . 5 : : 2 5 : 156
Great Grey Shrike : : : ; : - iad
Lesser Grey Shrike . : : , : 2 ies
Masked Shrike . : : : : : ; » 168
Hooded Shrike . : : ; ‘ : , ‘ 171
White-collared Flycatcher . , ; ; 5 oat
Red-breasted Flycatcher . 3 : : 3 f 179
Red-breasted Thrush . : : : : : . 182
Black-throated Thrush ; : : : 3 : 187
Naumann’s Thrush : : , 3 : : i a
Pale Thrush e : : : - : ; ; 195
Blue Thrush . ; : ; ‘ ; : : =) bao

Dusky Ixos : . ; : : : : : 203

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY HENNIKER,

OF THORNITAM HALL,

IN. THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK,

THESE VOLUMES ARE INSCRIBED,

WITH

EVERY SENTIMENT OF RESPECT AND ESTEEM,

BY HER FAITHFUL FRIEND

THE AUTOR.

PREFACE.

AFTER five years of considerable toil and anxiety
I have brought this work to a conclusion, and it
becomes my pleasing duty to say a few words to
my subscribers upon some points of interest connected
with it.

When I undertook to publish a ‘‘ History of the
Birds of Europe, not Observed in the British Isles,”
I was impressed with the value and importance
of such a work to all who are interested in
British ornithology. The birds of our own islands
had already been well illustrated and their histories
copiously written in the works of Montagu, Lewin,
Bewick, Selby, Macgillivray, Meyer, Yarrell, and
Morris, but with the exception of the splendid
work of Mr. Gould, there were none accessible to
the great mass of ornithologists upon the remaining
Birds or Eggs of Europe. I felt that this was a
great blank which ought to be filled up, and I
ventured to undertake the task. But I must
candidly confess that, when I consented to do this,

Vill PREFACE.

I was not aware of the magnitude and difficulty
of the work I had undertaken. As _ Professor
Schlegel remarked to me in one of his letters,
“A History of the Birds of Europe is a very
different thing now from what it would have been
ten years ago.” This of course arises from the
* great extension of ornithology as a science, and a
more general study of the avi-fauna of different
countries, especially of those which impinge upon
the other great divisions of the world—the border
districts of Africa and Asia.

Having, however, fairly engaged in my work, I
was determined not to be discouraged, but to carry
out the scheme to a successful issue. This I
have done. How, it must be for others, not me to
say. I am quite conscious of my own shortcomings,
but I have at least, I think, accomplished a work
which will be useful to my brother naturalists, and
not entirely without influence in promoting the
advancement of European ornithology.

The arrangement which I have adopted—that
of Temminck—has been objected to by some of
my friends. But upon this subject I think very
strongly. My opinion is, that the tendency of
many modern writers in Natural Science has been
to complicate a very simple subject by an over-
refinement in arrangement—by making too many
genera out of species—and thus crowding our works
with a long, series of names, which may be perfect
in their origin and application, but are, in my

PREFACE. ix

humble opinion, not only unnecessary, but obstructive
to the student.

This has, in a great measure, arisen from the
want of attention to such sound rules as men like
Agassiz have laid down upon the subject. Instead
of making organic or structural difference the only
ground of generic distinction, naturalists have
assumed that slight differences in ornamentation
or habit—or geographical distribution even—are
sufficient grounds for forming species into genera.
Thus really natural groups have been split up
into a number of smaller divisions, with grand
classical names attached to them, by which the
attention of the student is most effectually drawn
away from a study of the original naturally-defined
genus to a multiplicity of forms, which, being
called differently, he naturally assumes must differ
from each other most materially. I will illustrate
what I mean by one or two examples.

If all the owls in Europe were laid upon a
table together, a mere child would be able to say
that they were all owls, as Linneus, Temminck,
and other great naturalists had done before him.
Surely then this group ought to have a common
term. Linneus thought so—and he called it by
the generic name of Strix; and students were
content to get hold of a head, as it were, under
which all their species could be arranged. But
now steps in the man who has studied the

‘progress of science,’ and who has a_ great
b

x PREFACE,

number of elegant classical names in his head, which
he wishes to make subservient to the demands of
such ‘‘progress.” The first thing he does is to divide
the thirteen or fourteen European Owls into three
(what he calls) “‘sub-families.” The first sub-family,
containing seven species, he places in seven different
genera. The Hawk Owl is a ‘‘Surnia;”’ the Snowy
is a “Nyctea;” the little Striz passerina is a
“Glaucidium.” The Little Owl is an “Athene,”
and its congener, the Scops, has its specific name
converted into a genus, and it flourishes as “‘Scops—
zorca.” The Egyptian is treated likewise, and
becomes “‘Ascalaphus savignyi;” while the Great-
eared Owl is changed from Strix bubo to “Bubo
atheniensis.” We have then in the first sub-family
seven owls and seven genera. The next sub-family
commences with the two British Eared Owls; but
it is necessary for the “progress of science” that
these two very closely-allied birds should have each
a separate genus,—one is called “Otus vulgaris,”
the other “Brachyotus palustris!” Then jn the
same family follow the Tawny, in ¢he genus
“Syrnium;” the Lap, in the genus “U/u/a;” and
the little Tengmalm, in the genus ‘‘Nyctale.” five
more Owls, and five genera! The last sub-family
contains only one European species, for which the
genus Strix is retained, namely, our old friend
the Barn Owl. Thus we have thirteen European
owls, each having a separate genus.

Now let me ask, where is the good of all this?

PREFACE. BS

As I stated before, we are told it is the “progress
of science” that demands that any little peculiarity
in these thirteen birds should form the basis for
erection into a separate genus, and that other owls,
in different parts of the world, require a greater
division to ensure a more correct classification
according to real or assumed affinities.

But I deny the justice of such a statement
altogether. If they are owls, then let them be
comprised under one generic distinction; if not, let
separate genera be erected for them, and leave
our European birds in the position in which men
like Linneus and Temminck have placed them.
If the group requires dividing, the process is very
simple. You can have ‘Hawk Owls” and “Horned
Owls”-—“Day-flying Owls” and “Night-flying Owls”
—but let us still have the one distinctive, ex-
pressive name of Sér7x to fall back upon.

What I have ssid of the owls applies almost
as forcibly to all other well-marked groups. They
are subdivided and split up into innumerable
divisions, without the slightest gain to the classifier,
but with a certain loss to the student.

Looking over one of the most recent ornitholo-
gical works, I find that one woodpecker is called
a Hypopicus, because part of its plumage resembled
another bird! Another is called Yungipicus; a
third Hemicircus, a fourth Chrysocalaptes; while
the Great Black Woodpecker of India delights in
the euphonious compound of “Mulleripicus hodg-

Xil PREFACE.

son!” <A little farther on in the same excellent
work I find a group of shrikes, termed ‘ Tephro-
dornis,” and another of wrens, termed ‘‘Pnoepyga.”
One might multiply these instances ad infinitum.
They are doubtless thought very classical and very
expressive. I have still to learn why the common
terms of Picus, Lanius, ete., would not have served
the purposes of science equally as well.

It is for these reasons that I selected the
arrangement and terminology of Temminck, as being,
I considered, on the whole, the most simple, most
useful, and truly scientific of any modern classifica-
tion. I believe that the ‘Manuel d’ Ornithologie”
of Temminck will live long after the present system
has come to the inevitable result of creating in
Natural History a vast record of names, in which
true affinities will be sacrificed to an over-refinement
in forming generic groups.

While, however, I have taken Temminck’s
classification as my guide, I have not hesitated
to intercalate here and there any differently
arranged groups, if I thought them deserving, as
I have done, for instance, with the Sylviide.

I have endeavoured in the progress of the work
to keep as closely as possible to the European list,
strictly so called. It has happened in one or two
instances that doubtful birds have been admitted,
as, for instance, F’. leucocephalus; but I think it
is better to err on the side of even doubtful
authority, than to omit any bird from its just

PREFACE. Xlll

place. To the “List of European Birds,” which I
have added, I have appended a second, containing
all those species which have been occasionally
observed in Europe, but which have really no just
claim to a place in its avi-fauna. Many of them
we are not yet in a condition to erase entirely.
Several accidental visitors have been unavoidably
omitted from my work, some for want of authority,
others for want of specimens. I do not think,
however, that any really well-established and un-
doubted indigenous European species has been left
out.

There are other points upon which I should
like to have said a few words; but my space is
‘sed up,” and it only remains for me now to
perform the most agreeable part of my task—that
of thanking those gentlemen who have so kindly
and generously assisted me in the prosecution of
this work.

And first on my list I must name Mr. J. H.
Gurney, M.P., the first and the last of my friends.
His magnificent collection of Raptorial Birds was
placed at my service; and I shall always feel
grateful for the fund of information which he was
ever ready to allow me to draw upon, and to in-
corporate in my work. To the Rev. H. B. Tristram
my thanks are also especially due, inasmuch as
more than one half of the birds figured have been
from valuable skins placed by him most generously
at my disposal; while his stores of ornithological

XIV PREFACE.

knowledge have been placed unreservedly at my
service. To Mr. Gould, Mr. Alfred Newton, and
Dr. Sclater, names high in the ranks of ornitholo-
gical science, I desire to express my best obligations.
Dr. Leith Adams, of H. M. 22nd. Regiment, and
Mr. Wright, of Malta, have also been most kind in
furnishing me with valuable information and en-
couragement; and I should indeed be ungrateful
were I to forget the “Old Bushman,” Mr.
Wheelwright, of Gardsjo, Sweden, whose graphic
“Lap Notes” are still fresh in our minds, who has
been most liberal in his supply of specimens, and
not sparing in kindly words and friendly en-
couragement.

On the continent I have also had many friends,
from whom I have derived most valuable assistance.
Foremost amongst these stands the late much-
lamented Professor Moquin-Tandon, Messrs. Ver-
reaux, of Paris, and M. Dubois, of Brussels, whom
I have to thank for many skins, eggs, drawings,
and much valuable information. To M. le Senateur
E. De Selys-Longchamps, of Liége, my thanks are
especially due for several long letters, full of
valuable information, and written with that tone
and feeling which so strongly mark the gentleman
and the scholar. Lastly, I express my obligations
to Professor Schlegel, of Leyden, and to Professor
Blasius, of Brunswick.

One word here to my readers. We have been
good friends for the last five years; and I have

PREFACE. XV

reason to hope that such relations will continue,
because I think you will readily admit that I have
fulfilled the obligation into which I entered with
you at the beginning. You have had the best of
the contract, for perhaps so many coloured plates
and a sheet of letter-press were never before issued
at so low a rate as in this work. For this you
have to thank the spirited enterprise of my artist,
Mr. Fawcett, with whose illustrations you have now
long been acquainted. I must not express my own
opinion of these figures here, but I am quite sure
they have met with very extended approbation.

And now I will leave my work to your kind
and friendly indulgence.

Colchester, April 23rd., 1863.

BIRDS OF EUROPE,

NOT OBSERVED IN THE BRITISH ISLES.

OrvEer I.—RAPACKES.
Division I.—Rapaces—Divurn #.
Family T—VOULTURID A.
Genus I.—Vuttur. (ATiliger.)

Generic Characters.—Beak large, strong, and curved only at
_ the end; nostrils opening crosswise; eyes even with the head;
head and neck without feathers, or only partially covered; a
collar of down at base of neck. Vertebre fifteen.

SOCIABLE VULTURE.

Vultur auricularis.

Vultur auricularis, Davpin. Cuvirr. TrmMMIncrE.
a & Scuinz. Scuireen. Drenanp.
« nubicus, SMITH.

Vautour egypius, Savieny.
és oricou, Lr VAILLant.

VOL, I, B

Q SOCIABLE VULTURE.

Specific Characters.—Head thick, rounded; cutaneous folds below
the auditory opening in the adults; legs covered only with down;
the internal toe equal nearly to half the middle. Length four
feet and upwards.—DeGLanp.

Tus bird is placed among those of Europe by M.
Temminck, and after him by Schlegel and Degland.
In deference to such high authorities, I introduce it
into this work. Serious doubts have, however, been
raised against the position thus assigned to it by these
eminent naturalists.

M. 'Temminck states that it occurs in Greece, particu-
larly in the neighbourhood of Athens. M. Le Comte
Von Der Mithle, the author of a work upon the birds
observed by him during a five vears residence in Greece,
says, however, that he never observed it there, and he
expresses an opinion that the skins which have been
received from that country, have really been obtained
in Egypt. Lindermayer also observes that he has not
found it in Greece. Bonaparte leaves it out of the
European list, and Dr. Rippell seems to think the
species as [Kuropean is purely nominal. On the other
hand, M. Crespon, the author of ‘‘La Faune Meridionale
de la France,” has introduced it into his list, on the
authority of M. Barthelemy, Curator of the Museum of
Marseilles, who asserts that the specimen in that estab-
lishment was killed in the mountains of Provence. From
some valuable notes upon the raptorial birds, with which
I have been kindly favoured by J. H. Gurney, Esgq.,
of Catton, Norfolk, whose great knowledge of this
section of ornithology is well known, and I may add
equally well illustrated in his magnificent collection in
the Norwich Museum, [ extract the following:—

“T hold this species to be identical with V. nubicus
of Smith, and V. egyptius of Tomminck. I believe

SOCIABLE VULTURE. 3

it certainly has occurred in Kurope, especially in Greece.
The Norwich Museum contains a specimen which I
procured from M. Verreaux, who assured me that it
was killed in that country.”

In the ‘“‘Revue de Zoologie” for 1854, M. Jaubert,
in his remarks upon the rarer birds of Central France,
observes:—“The Oricou was killed twenty-one years
ago at Crau; after having ornamented the collection of
the town for many years, this bird was given to me,
but, alas! I only got its precious relics. Another
magnificent specimen was brought alive from Spain,
but from what place I do not exactly know. After a
residence for some years at Marseilles, it is now (1854)
in the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp. ‘The specimen
of M. G. Cara, said to have been obtained at Caglhary,
was singularly enough confounded by that naturalist,
together with V. holbu, with G. fulvus.

The Oricou, of which only the above two captures
are recorded in Europe, ought to be considered a very
rare bird; but it must be remembered that very few
Vultures of any species are killed in Europe; the pursuit
of these birds is one of the most dangerous kind, and
hence few people, except naturalists, are animated by
that enthusiasm which is ever regardless of personal risk
in the pursuit of scientific objects.”

The Sociable Vulture is a genuine native of Africa,
where it lives in flocks, feeding upon the dead carcases
of the large animals which inhabit that country. We
are indebted for all we know about it to M. Le Vaillant,
by whom it was discovered in the Namaqua district of
Southern Africa, in 1790; and fully described by him
in his ‘‘Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d’ Afrique.”

The following account of its habits is collected from
the observations of Le Vaillant:—

4 SOCIABLE VULTURE.

This gigantic species, (Qt measures upwards of ten
feet from tip to tip of wings,) is an object evidently
designed for the purpose of cleansing the soil of Africa
from the putrid bodies of elephants, hippopotami,
rhinoceroses, and giraffes. It haunts the caverns of
rocks, and is altogether a mountain bird.

M. Le Vaillant had killed three zebras, and to carry
them away he ran to fetch his waggon, which was
scarcely three miles off; on his return he found nothing
but the bones of the zebras, upon which some hundreds
of Vultures had gorged themselves. One day he killed
a gazelle; left it stretched upon the ground, and hid
himself among the bushes. First there came to the
spot some crows, which flew above the gazelle croaking;
six minutes afterwards some kites and buzzards appeared,
then almost immediately raising his eyes, Le Vaillant
saw at an immense height a flock of Vultures (the
Oricou) gradually descending in concentric circles, and
seeming to come out of the vault of heaven. ‘They
flew down upon the gazelle, and soon there were
hundreds of them; a shot put them to flight, and they
disappeared as they came. ‘Thus the smaller birds of
prey first gave warning to the raptores of larger size;
these in their turn warned the brigands of a superior
order, and all took a share in the benefit of their
communications, which were more rapid than our tele-
graphic despatches. ‘The prey having been torn in
pieces by the Vultures, the kites were able to seize
some pieces, and the small fragments left upon the
carcase of the victim were precious dainties for the
crows, who had given the warning.

The Vultures themselves share the spoils of the lon
and tiger. When one of these feline animals devours
its prey, the Oricou keeps in the, neighbourhood, and

SOCIABLE VULTURE. 5

waits respectfully till he has finished his repast; when
he has gone they clear the bones of what the mammal
had disdained to touch. Le Vaillant saw large flocks
of them perched at sunrise on the precipitous entrances
to their abodes, and sometimes the rocky region was
marked by a continuous chain of these birds. Their
tails are worn down by friction against their cragg
haunts, and by the soil of the plains, in consequence
of the laborious efforts which they make to raise them-
selves into the air; when once on the wing, however,
their flight is grand and powerful.

The nest, which is very large, and formed of boughs,
is made among the most inaccessible rocks. It is rarely
approachable by man, and when it is reached the abode
is sickening to the sight and smell. It lays two, rarely
three, eggs. M. Le Vaillant did not hesitate to eat
them, a part of his zoological performance I by no
means envy.

I take the following description from M. Degland’s
admirable “Catalogue analytique et raisonné des Oiseaux
observés en Europe,” a work to which I shall be much
indebted in the following pages.

Adult male and female; head covered with a thinly
scattered blackish brown down; the greater part of the
neck naked, and furnished upon the sides with longi-
tudinal folds and reticulations, which mount upwards
towards the orifice of the ear, below and behind, to
a kind of half collar or ruff, composed of rather short,
very stff, broad and rounded feathers; half of the
head and neck flesh-coloured, more or less inclined to
a violet shade; region of the crop covered with a
smooth, close, and silky down; the rest of the body
dark brown or blackish, darker above than below,
with a white shade upon the back; feathers of the

6 SOCIABLE VULTURE.

lower part of the body long, acuminated, and curved like
the blade of a sword. Thighs and legs covered with
white and brown down; tail tapering; beak ochre yellow
at the base, brownish at the tip; iris chesnut brown;
feet ashy yellow.

Young birds, of a lighter tmt, with the feathers of
the upper part of the body having a narrow border of
reddish grey, those of the under part not curved, deeply
bordered with reddish grey, not very near together,
allowing the white down to be perceived; head and
neck covered with a tufted brown down; thighs and
legs covered also with brown down, having some worn-
out or broken feathers behind; beak black; feet ash-
coloured.

I have much pleasure in giving a figure of the
egg of this bird, the produce of a specimen now in
the possession of J. H. Gurney, Esq., M.P., of Catton
Hall, Norfolk, who has with his usual kindness sent
me a drawing of it, made by Mr. Reeve, of the Nor-
wich Museum. This Vulture was formerly in the
Surrey Zoological Gardens. ‘The bird possesses the
usual fleshy folds on the neck. The egg is white, with
rufous markings clustered round the thick end. ‘The
longitudinal circumference is nine inches and a quarter,
the transverse eight inches and one eighth. It was
laid February 1dth., 1859. I must again repeat my
thanks to Mr. Gurney, for this very interesting con-
tribution to zoology.

This bird is not figured in Gould’s “Birds of Europe.”

There is a living specimen in the Gardens of the
London Zoological Society.

“z

OCIABLE VULTURS,

CINEREOUS VULTURE,

-1

Rapaces—D1urn&.
Family I[—VULTURIDA.
Genus I.—VuULTUR.

CINEREOUS VULTURE.

Vultur cinereus.

Vultur cinereus, Linnzus. Gmetin. Latnam.
ae - TEMMINCK. SCHLEGEL. DiuGLaAnp.
4 zs: GouLD.
“ bengalensis, Latuam, (young.)

Aigypius niger, SaVIGNY.

Gyps cinereus, Cu. Bonaparte.

Vautour ou Grand vautour, BurFrron.

Vautour arrian, and V.cendre, Of THE FRENCH.
Grauer Geier, Or THE GERMANS.
Avoltoio Lepraiolo, Or THE [TALians.

Specific Characters.—Head thick and large; nostrils rounded;
legs covered with feathers. Internal toe much shorter than half
the middle toe; twelve quills in the tail. Length three feet six
inches.— DEGLAND.

THE Cinereous Vulture is stated by M. Temminck
to live solely among the vast forests of Hungary, the
Tyrol, the Pyrenees, the middle of Spain, and in Italy.
In all other places its appearance is accidental. It

8 CINEREOUS VULTURE.

has been observed in Russia, in Provence and Lan-
guedoc, and in Sardinia. M. Schinz says that he did
not find it in Switzerland; neither has it been found
there by M. Tscharner, who lives near Berne. It is
found rarely in Germany and Dalmatia. A large flock,
according to M. Degland, was observed to pass over
the environs of Angers in October, 1839; a larger
number having been observed at the same place and
season two years before. Both flocks appeared to come
from the northward, and to wend their way towards
the Pyrenees.. It occurs in India and Egypt, but
according to Dr. Rippell, it is not found in Africa.

Like most of its tribe, the Cinereous Vulture feeds
upon carrion. M. Temminck says that it does so
exclusively, and that it flies away in fear from the
smallest live animal. Bechstein, on the contrary, says
that it attacks in the winter, hares, sheep, goats, and
even deer. It can detect its. food from a great distance,
probably by its acute vision equally with its supposed
exalted sense of smell.

It builds among the most inaccessible rocks. The
nest is of large size, and made of branches, boughs,
and small sticks. It lays two large eggs, pointed alike
at both ends; of a dirty white, without spots, and a
rough surface.—(Degland.) This description is taken
from an egg found in the Hautes Pyrenees, which is
in the collection of M. Moguin Tandon.

In the “Revue de Zoologie,” for 1854, M. Jaubert
remarks:—“‘“The V. arrian breeds in small numbers in
the Pyrences, where it lives in isolated pairs, never
mingling at that epoch with the flocks of Griffons. Its
eggs, collected personally by Captain Loche, are very
large, with a rough and hard surface, of a more or
less pure white.” M.'Temminck observes that there is

CINEREOUS VULTURE. 9

no well-marked difference between the specimens of this
bird from India and Egypt and those of Europe.

It does not appear to be either a cowardly or a
stupid bird. M. Degland mentions an instance in which
one in confinement answered to the voice of its master,
and defended itself with courage against some small
dogs which tried to bite it. M. Bouteille also, in a

> relates an

note to his ‘Ornithology of the Dauphine,’
instance of one of those birds, which in confinement
became so familiar as to call for its food. It however
once escaped into his establishment and seriously
wounded two men.

It has been considered by Mr. Bennett and Mr.
Gould that the Cinereous Vulture deviates in structure
from the true Vultures, and that it might form with
V. auricularis and V. pondicerianus a distinct genus.
These three birds have the neck only partially bare, their
ears more open, the claws more curved, and their beak more
powerful. ‘The figure in Gould is very fine and exact.

The male and female have all the plumage dark
brown or blackish. ‘Top of the head covered with a
tufted and woolly down; part of the head and neck
naked, and of a livid bluish colour; feathers long and
curved, re-ascending obliquely from the inferior part of
the side of the neck towards the nape; other feathers
loose and light, covering the insertion of the wings.
Cere and sides of the posterior half of the beak flesh-
coloured, with a violet tinge; tip of the beak and
claws black; iris brown. Feet covered with feathers
above, the remainder naked and bluish, like the naked
part of the head and neck, but of a clearer tint.

Young bird, brown, inclining to fawn-coloured; cen-
tre of the feathers darker, the head and neck covered
with a bluish grey down.—(Degland.)

VOL, I. Cc

10 CINEREOUS VULTURE.

In the natural order of arrangement the Vaultur
kolbu of Daudin, Le Vautour Chassefiente of Temminck,
would follow the bird just described. M. Temminck
considered that the species was quite distinct, and
always to be distinguished, at all ages, by the form of
the feathers of the wings and the superior parts, which
are all rounded at the end,—whilst these same feathers
in the Griffon Vulture are long and pointed; the ruff,
is also not so long or so thick. The general colours
of the plumage is often that of clear ‘café au lait,’ and
according to age varied into a light or dark brown.
The adult is nearly entirely of a whitish dove-colour,
whilst the plumage of the adult Griffon is of a uniform
light brown. ‘The crop of a dark brown; head and
neck covered with a thick down. Total length, four
feet.

Later writers, however, have considered that the
Chassefiente of M. Temminck, is only a variety of. the
Griffon.

Dr. Riippell, in reviewing the species of the genus
Vultur of modern Ornithologists, in the “Annales des
Sciences’ Naturelles,” and the “Bulletin des Sciences
Naturelles,” separates the Chassefiente from V. kolbii,
and states that the latter is not found in Europe.
Schlegel does not admit V. kolbui, but notices what he
calls a race, or permanent variety of the Griffon, under
the name of Vultur fulvus occidentalis; while Degland
states his positive conviction that the differences given
by Temminck are those of age only; that the sup-
posed V. kolbit, said to have been killed in Sardinia,
and sent to M. Hardy, of Dieppe, by 'Temminck him-
self, is a, veritable adult Vaudltur griffon; and that he
has seen other skins in Paris, upon which a high
price was fixed, in which he could find no characters

ene

a nl ¥ De

l. CINEREOUS VULTURE.

2 BEARD ED vin Use

CINEREOUS VULTURE. 11

essentially different from those of the V. griffon he
had received from Bayonne and Bagnéres-de-Bigone,
or which he had examined in various collections.
Under these circumstances we shall omit the V. holbii
from our list of European Vultures,

The figure of the egg of this species is copied from
several given by Thienemann. It is an extreme variety,
containing much more colour than usual. It will be
seen that Degland states the egg to be “a dirty white
without spots.” ‘This only proves that the egg varies
considerably. Degland’s description might -equally be
applied to the egg of V. fulvus.

Rapaces—Diurn#.
Family L—VULTURID As.
Genus I].—Gypartos. (Storr. )

Generie Characters—Head and neck covered with feathers;
claws slightly curved; beak very strong, upper mandible
elevated and curved at the end; nostrils oval. Feet short,
the three anterior toes united at their base by a membrane;
middle toe very long. Wings long; first quill shorter than
the second, the third longest. Vertebre thirteen.

BEARDED VULTURE.

Gypaetos barbatus.

Gypaétus barbatus, Cuvier. TEMMINCK.
sé ae GouLp. ScHINz.
cf ee BonaPaRTE.
os leucocephalus et melanocephalus, MEYER AND WOLFF.
Vultur barbatus, Linn 2vs.
“ niger et aureus, Brisson.
° barbarus et Falco barbarus, GMELIN.
« * barbarus et barbatus, LatHam.
Phene ossifraga, Savieny. VIEILLoT.
sé eS Lesson.
Lemmergeier or Bartalder, OF THE GERMANS.
Avoltoio barbutio, Or THE ITaALtAns.
Gypaéte barbu, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters—Base of beak above as well as below
covered with stiff hairs. Length four feet seven inches.—Drcuanp.

BEARDED VULTURE.

BEARDED VULTURE. 13

Tue Lammergeyer, or Lamb-slayer, is becoming one
of the rarest birds of Europe, though at one time it
was found in plenty by the chasseurs of the Swiss
mountains and the Tyrol. Its predatory habits mark
it as an object of destruction, and in obedience to
what appears a natural law, like the Red Indian it
disappears before the march of civilization. Its home
is in the wildest and most lonely parts of the grand
mountains in the Indian and European continents. The
traveller from the Himalayas meets with it again in
the dreary Caucasus, as well as in the rocky Heights
of the Tyrol, or the gloomy grandeur of the snow-
capped Alps. It is found in Egypt, in Syria, in
Algeria, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in Siberia.
It is rarest in Switzerland and Germany, though still
not uncommon in Sardinia. Occasionally it is found
in France and Spain.

This bird forms the natural passage from the Vultures
to the Falcons. Like the latter it feeds upon living
prey, and the neck is covered with feathers. On the
other hand, its alliance with the Vultures is strong and
decided—in the form of its beak, and in the dispro-
portionate strength of its talons to the size of the
body. It also has its eyes even with the head, its
wings are extended when at rest, and the crop when
full projects at the bottom of the neck.

Its principal articles of food are lambs, goats, the
chamois, and even deer, possession of which it obtains
by driving them over precipices, and then feeding upon
the dead bodies where they lie. It has been said to
attack man himself when asleep, which is not improbable,
as it is a fearless bird in its own wilds.

The African traveller, Bruce, has given a graphic
and amusing account of this bird in the fifth volume

14 BEARDED VULTURE.

of his “Travels in Egypt, Arabia, Abyssinia, and
Nubia.” ‘‘Upon the highest top of the mountain
Lamalmon, while my servants were refreshing themselves
from that toilsome rugged ascent, and enjoying the
pleasure of a most delightful climate, eating their
dinner in the outer air, with several large dishes of
boiled goat’s flesh before them, this enemy (the Vul-
ture, as he turned out to be,) appeared suddenly;
he did not stoop rapidly from a height, but came
flying slowly along the ground, and sat down close to
the meat, within the ring the men had made round
it. A great shout, or rather cry of distress, called me
to the place. I saw the Vulture stand for a minute, as
if to recollect himself, while the servants ran for their
lances and shields. I walked up as nearly to him as
I had time to do. His attention was fully fixed upon
the flesh. I saw him put his foot into the pan, where
was a large piece in water, preparing for boiling, but
findmg the smart which he had not expected, he
withdrew it, and forsook the piece which he held.
There were two large pieces, a leg and a shoulder,
lying upon a wooden platter, and into these he trussed
both his claws and carried them off; but I thought
he looked wistfully at the large piece which remained
in the warm water. Away he went slowly along the
ground, as he had come. The face of the cliff over
which criminals are thrown took him from our sight.
The Mahometans that drove the asses, who had, as we
have already observed, in the course of the journey
suffered from the hyena, were much alarmed, and
assured me of his return.” And return he did after
a short time, when Bruce shot him.

M. Crespon also has the following anecdote:—“A
living Gypaetos, which I had for some years, was

BEARDED VULTURE. 15

always irritated at the sight of children. I once left
the lid of its cage in my garden open. Watching
the moment when no one saw it, it threw itself on
one of my nieces, two years and a half old. Having
seized her by the shoulders, it threw her down on the
ground.. Fortunately her cries warned me of the
danger she was in, and I hastened to her assistance.
The child only suffered from fear and a torn frock.
This same bird shows very little courage towards the
other birds of prey which reside with it.”

We copy the following excellent description of the
habits of this bird from “Tschudi’s Sketches of Nature
in the high Alps:’—*‘Soon the pilgrim fancies himself
really alone with his labours; with the grey rocks and
cold fields of ice, where death has established its eter-
nal sway. Beneath him spread the stony deserts; in
the distance lie the lands of human cultivation bathed
in blue mist; around are the wastes of Schratten, and
jagged peaks, the naked thrones of the icy storm. But
hark! far overhead resounds from a distance a shrill
defiant ‘pui! pui!’ He looks around him and discerns
a moving speck in the dim blue sky. It floats nearer,
but its wings scarcely beat. Soon it comes down with
a rustling sound, and see! the Royal Vulture of the
high Alps is wheeling round him with outspread pin-
ions. Descending still lower it surveys the depths
below; and then rising again impatiently to the upper
air, flies in a straight line high over the icy summits,
which again hide it from view; while its hungry cry
resounds for some minutes from beyond the crests of
far-away mountains, till again it soars to meet the
rising sun.

In earlier times this giant among European birds of
prey inhabited all the districts of our higher Alps;

16 BEARDED VULTURE.

but it has now greatly diminished in numbers, building
permanent nests only in the mountains of Tessin, the
Grisons, the Vallais, Uri, and Berne. On the other
mountains its appearance is rare, and in most- cases
solitary. The last seen in Unterwalden was shot on the
Abzeller mountain, on September 24th., 1851, by
Michael Sigrist. An old Vulture was for many years
observed to perch regularly, at certain seasons, on a
huge block of stone in Grindelwald Glacier. The
position was quite inaccessible, and beyond the reach
of rifle-shot.

The internal structure of the Lammergeyer is very
peculiar: the muscles of the breast are of extraordi-
nary size and strength; the long bones, hollow as with
other birds, become filled by the action of the lungs
with air, warmer, and therefore specifically lghter than
the surrounding atmosphere, and the bird is thus enabled
to soar high into the air without any great exertion.
The vigour of its digestive organs is most curious.
The gastric juice in a short time decomposes the largest
bones and the horny hoofs of cows or calves, continuing
its operations even after the death of the animal.

The contents of the stomachs of Lammergeyers which
have been opened after death, have created no little
astonishment, and surpass all that has ever been related
of the voracity and digestive powers of smaller European
birds of prey. One contained five bullock’s ribs, two
inches thick, and from six to nine inches long, a lump
of hair, and the leg of a young goat, from the knee
to the foot. In one killed by the celebrated naturalist
Dr. Schinz, the stomach contained the hip bone of a
cow, the skin and fore quarters of a chamois, many
smaller bones, some hair, and a heathcock’s claws.

Its habits when at liberty have not been sufficiently

BEARDED VULTURE. ki

observed as yet. Small game, such as foxes, lambs, or
marmots, it will pounce down upon direct and carry them
off. Larger animals it endeavours to drive over
precipices, and occasionally it will try this with hunts-
men who are in dangerous positions, and who have
declared that the noise, together with the strength and
rapid motion of the enormous wings, have exerted a
certain magical and almost irresistible influence over
them. The Lammergeyer is not always successful in
securing its prey. Near the so-called “dragon hole,”
not far from Alpnach, a Vulture seized upon a live
fox, and carried it off into the air. The fox, however,
stretching out his head, succeeded in seizing his captor
by the throat, and biting him through. The Vulture
fell dead to the earth, and reynard went home well
satisfied with his exploit.

The fact of these birds seizing upon children has
often been doubted, but there are many well-authen-
ticated stories of such catastrophes. In Appenzall one
carried off a child before the eyes of its parents and
neighbours. On the Silber Alpan, Schweitz, a Vulture
attacked a shepherd boy, began tearing him in pieces,
and finally precipitated him into an abyss before assis-
tance arrived. In the Bernese Oberland a child of
three years old, called Anna Zurbuchen, was carried
off, but rescued on the rocks without having been
much injured. She afterwards went by the name of
the Geier-Anni, and was living at an advanced age a
few years ago.

These birds lift up great weights; in the Grisons
one took off a lamb weighing fifteen pounds. Another
carried away a butcher’s dog; and another instance is
recorded of a goat being borne away. A Lammergeyer

seldom attacks grown people, never unless its nest is
VOL. I, D

18 BEARDED VULTURE.

disturbed, or the man is in a dangerous position. Two
will often attack a man whom they see hanging helpless
upon a rock; and on the other hand one will venture
single-handed to assail two huntsmen who are asleep.

The nest of the Lammergeyer is not easy to take,
and the task is dangerous, as they always build in steep
rocks. ‘The renowned chamois hunter Joseph Scherrer,
of Ammon, climbed barefoot once, gun in hand, to a
nest which he suspected to contain some young. Before
he reached it the male bird flew out; Scherrer shot
him through, and reloading his gun proceeded. But
when he got near the nest the female flew out upon
him, making a terrible noise, and fixing her talons in
his hips, and beating him with her wings, endeavoured
to drive him over the precipice. His wonderful
presence of mind saved him; with the disengaged hand
he pointed the gun to the bird’s breast, and, pressing
the trigger with his naked foot, discharged it; the
Vulture fell dead.

The Lammergeyer builds in places equally: inaccessible
to naturalists and bullets. Its nest is ingenious; the
sub-stratum is formed of a mass of straw, fern, and
stalks, lying upon a number of sticks and branches,
laid crossways one upon another; the nest, which rests
upon the under layer, is composed of branches woven
into the shape of a wreath, and lined with down and
moss, and the contents of this part alone would fill the
largest hay cloth. Very early in the year the female
lays three or four large white eggs, spotted with brown,
of which only two generally are hatched. The young
' birds are covered with a whitish down, and their huge
ill-proportioned crops and maws give them an ugly
and shapeless appearance.”

We have been favoured by Mr. J. H. Gurney with

BEARDED VULTURE. 19

the following notes of this bird:—‘‘Specimens from
Algeria and the Caucasus are identical with the Kuro-
pean. Those from Abyssinia differ from the above in
having the lower part of the tarsus bare of feathers;
this race is called G. meridionalis, and is said to be
also found in Arabia and the Cape of Good Hope.
Specimens from the Himalaya Mountains do not differ
from those of Europe, Algeria, and the Caucasus,
when adult, but the young birds in the Himalaya have
the peculiarity of a row of small feathers running
down the outer side of the middle toe, half way down
the first joint. This disappears when the bird becomes
adult.

I do not know whether this peculiarity also occurs
in specimens from the Altaic range, and from China.
In the Himalayas and Abyssinia it appears to be
much more familiar in its habits than in Europe,
approaching some of the Vultures in this respect,
probably from being less persecuted.”

The adult male and female have the body above of
a greyish brown, with a white or yellow line upon the
middle of a great number of the feathers; lower part
of the body white, tinged with a more or less lively
red; top of the head white, bounded at the back by a
bluish line, which surrounds the eyes, and goes on
gradually increasing till it is lost among the hair which
covers the cere and the nostrils; neck of a very light
red. Tail feathers ash brown, with the shafts white;
tail very much graduated. Beak black; iris white,
inclined to yellow; free edge of the eyelids red; toes
livid. The female has the hairs of the chin and the
tibial feathers shorter than the male and stronger.

Young bird, first year dark brown approaching to
black on the neck, and to reddish grey on the chest

20 BEARDED VULTURE.

and abdomen. After the first moult the colour of the
feathers becomes lighter, the under part of the body
redder, and there are spots of the same colour on the
mantle. The red becomes brighter after and paler
before each moult, and sometimes more or less white
when it assumes its adult plumage. It only arrives at
its perfect plumage at six years old, at least in captivity.
It is born covered with brown down from head to foot.

The figure of the egg of this bird is from a drawing
of a specimen in the British Museum. We beg to
thank Dr. Gray for the facilities he has afforded us in
obtaining drawings of those specimens of birds and eggs
which we required.

I have much pleasure in acknowledging the receipt
of a long letter from Professor Moquin-Tandon, of
the Faculté de Médecine de Paris, in which that dis-
tinguished naturalist has in the kindest terms offered
to assist me in the prosecution of this work. I beg
to assure M. Mogquin-Tandon that I highly appreciate
the value of this offer, and the genuine spirit of phil-
osophical liberality with which he responded to my
request.

ri » io)
he
a9

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she = AWB Q,.
a! A AMSA.
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Rapaces—Diurnm.
FALCONID.

Genus Fatco. (Linneus. )

Generic Characters.—Head and neck covered with feathers;
beak hooked and generally curved from its base; cere coloured,
more or less hairy at its base; nostrils lateral, rounded, or
ovoid. ‘Tarsi covered with feathers, or with glossy scales. Toes
four; external toe often united at its base by a membrane to
the middle toe; claws pointed, very much hooked, mobile and
retractile. Vertebre twelve.

Sub-genus Fauco. (Bechstein. )

Sub-generie Characters.—Beak short, and bent from its base;
upper mandible with one, rarely two teeth; legs robust; toes
strong, long, and armed with curved and sharp claws; tarsi
short; wings long, first and third quill feathers of equal length,
second quill feather the longest.

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.
Falco gyr-falco norvegicus.

Falco gyr-falco, Scuitucet; Revue, 1844.
“ lanarius, Linnazus; Faun. Suec., p.
22, No, 62.

ra)
res)

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

Lee Faucon @ Islande, Brisson; i, pl. 21, p. 373.
Le Gerfaut de Norvege, Burron; pl. Hnl. 462,

(young.) Hist. Nat. de
Oiseaux, i, p. 241, pl. 13,
(adult.)

Le Gerfaut, ScHLEGEL ET VERSTIR;
Traité de Fauconnerie,
(fig. female jun., male
adult.)

Falco gyr-faleo norvegicus, WOLLeY.

Specific Characters—Upper half of the tarsi clothed, lower
half and toes of a greenish yellow; moustache very small;
groundwork of plumage bluish brown above, white below; spotted
on the belly and striped upon the sides and beneath the tail,
in the adult. While young it resembles the young of the
Greenland and Iceland Falcons, but is smaller.—Ducenanp.

Measurement. Male—From tip of beak to end of tail twenty
inches, (Paris.) Hxpanse of wings twelve inches and a half to
thirteen inches and a quarter. ‘Tail seven inches two lines to
seven inches eight lines. Middle toe, without claw, one inch
ten lines. Tarsus two inches three lines. Female—About one
tenth larger.—ScHLEGEL.

Tue bird with which we commence our description
of the important and interesting family of Falconide,
has been the subject of much controversy among orni-
thologists. Some authors maintain there is only one
genuine species of Jer-Falcon. Others, and I may say
the greater number of the naturalists of the present
day, admit there are two—while the opinion has been
rapidly gaining ground of late years, that there are no
less than three.

The subject is one of considerable interest in Natural
History, and although it forms no part of the plan of
this work to enter into controversial discussions, it is no
less the duty of those who conduct it, to lay before

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON. 23

their readers a brief statement of the case as it now
stands, and the reasons which have induced me to
include the bird at the head of this description, among
those which are observed in Europe; and as therefore
distinct from the other two species which have occurred
in England. Nay, I believe, strictly speaking, the
Jer-Falcon now under discussion has been killed in
England; but as the authors of our British works
have only described and figured one bird under the
general name of F. islandicus, I have thought it better
to give a figure of the F. gyr-falco of Schlegel, and to
state the reasons of that eminent naturalist for claiming
specific distinction for this bird.

When Gould published his work on the “Birds of
Europe,” in 1837, he alluded to the statements made
by Falconers who bring over trained Falcons for sale
to this country, that there was a decided difference
between the Norwegian and Iceland birds, and he asks
the question—are there two species? Temminck had
previously described one species only, F. islandicus, and
had given Falco «islandicus candicans of Latham,
Gmelin, and Meyer, as the female; while he confounded
Falco sacer, the bird next to be described, with the
Falco gyr-falco of authors, which he considered the
young of F. islandicus.

A year after Mr. Gould’s work appeared, Mr. Han-
cock sent a memoir to the “Annals and Magazine of
Natural History,” in which he described two Jer-
Falcons as existing among the English specimens,
under the name of F. islandicus; and to these birds
he gave the names of Falco greenlandicus and Falco
wslandicus ; the former being the light-coloured species,
or, as Mr. H. subsequently described it—‘‘having white
feathers with dark markings”—the latter the darker

D4 NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

bird—having “‘dark feathers with light markings;” and
these differences, in the last paper referred to, Mr.
Hancock says exist at all ages, and are permanent and
specific distinctions.

In 1844 Schlegel published his ‘Revue Critique des
Oiseaux d’Europe,” and subsequently his splendid
“Traité de Fauconnerie,”’ in which he describes, and
in the latter illustrates with beautiful drawings by
Wolff, three distinct species of Jer-Falcon, under the
names of Falco candicans, (greenlandicus of Hancock;)
Falco islandicus, (islandicus of Hancock;) and Falco
gyr-falco, the subject of the present notice.

In 1854 Mr. Hancock published a second paper in
the “Annals,” in which he corrects some important
mistakes he had made in his first, regarding the plumage
of the whiter species when young. Mr. H. having had
an opportunity of examining upwards of one hundred
and fifty specimens is now quite convinced that the
Iceland and Greenland Falcons are distinct species or
races; that the Greenland Falcon is never dark lke
the Iceland, however young; and that the adult is
distinguished more by the difference of shape in the
markings than by the colour.

This, I believe, is the position in which this inter-
esting discussion now stands. I will not offer any
further observations about the Greenland and Iceland
birds, but proceed to lay before my readers a history
of and Schlegel’s description of the third species, the
Norwegian Jer-Falcon.

Buffon gives two figures of this bird; one of a young
subject under the name of Norwegian Falcon, and the
adult simply as Ger-Falcon. Linneus appears to
describe the female of adult age under the name of
rusticolus, and the young male as Jlanarius. His

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON. 25

diagnoses are Falco rusticolus.—F. cera palpebris pedt-
busque luteis, corpore cinereo alboque undulato, collari
albo. Falco lanarius.—F. cera lutea pedibus rostroque
ceruleis, corpore subtus, maculis nigris longitudinalibus.

The name of Jer-Falcon used to be applied
indiscriminately to all the three races or species.
Schlegel proposes to confine it entirely to the true
Jer, the Norway species. The name is supposed by
some to be derived from Gyrau, because the bird
rises in circles as it pursues its prey. About the
twelfth century these birds were brought, for the pur-
poses of Falconry, from the North of Europe and the
Low Countries to all other European nations, even to
the Levant.

Schlegel suggests that those ancient Falconers may
have given the name they now bear, as in Holland
there are several words composed in the same manner,
as Ger, derived from the verb geren, which im Dutch
has many meanings, as “uttering shrill cries,” “clawing
or seizing objects,” “flying or throwing oneself swiftly
from side to side.’ In England the name used is
Jer-Falcon, or simply Jer.

The true Ger-Falcon has only been observed at
present in the season of propagation on the Norwegian
Alps. This is evidently the species which F. Boie met
with in 1817, when travelling in Norway, and of which
he relates that it leaves the mountains in winter, and
accompanies the Ptarmigans, which are its principal
food, in their migrations to the sea-shore. The Nor-
wegians assured M. Boie that neither white or whitish
Falcons exist in their country, and we cannot therefore
doubt but that the great Falcons of this country
belong to this species of Ger-Falcon. M. Boie further

adds that the young of the year leave the mountains
VOL, I. E

26 NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

in winter, and then visit the other parts of Sweden
towards the south. The Falconers establish themselves
always on the Dovrefeld, but they only take young
birds of the year. In Holland, also, the Falconers
take from time to time specimens of the young bird;
from which we may conclude with Nilsson, that the
adults never go far from their habitual dwellings.
Very little is known about the habits and propagation
of this bird in its wild state.

Mr Wolley, Jun., writing in 1856, says in his
“Catalogue of Eggs,” sold by Mr. Stevens:— Falco
gyr-falco of Schlegel is the true Gyr-Falcon at pres-
ent so little generally known in England, though
Schlegel says the young have occurred here, as they
do constantly in Holland. In immature plumage the
bird is scarcely to be distinguished from the immature
Icelanders. Whether to be considered a distinct species
or not, this Lapland, and, probably Siberian form,
must be carefully separated from the Greenland and
Iceland ones, which are so we known through the
researches of Mr. Hancock. Schlegel, writing three or
four years ago, says that nothing is known of its nidi-
fication; these eggs are therefore probably the first
that have been seen by naturalists. Mr. Wolley, in
1854 and 1855, had the pleasure of taking four nests
“with his own hands.” It breeds in the most remote
districts, commencing whilst the winter snow is still
undiminished. ‘The adult birds seem to confine them-
selves to the far north of the country, and they are
the only species or race of the Great Falcon which
occurs in Lapland.”

Writing again in 1856, the same able naturalist
further observes:—“‘In Scandinavia the forms found in
Greenland and Iceland never seem to occur. There

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON. D7)

can be little doubt that young individuals, which are
very difficult to distinguish from Icelanders, occasionally
visit Britam, as they do the parallel countries on the
continent. Last year I obtained an egg that looks like
a Gyr-Falcon’s, from a nest in a tree, for the first
time from such a situation.”

Mr. Wolley remarks that it would be convenient to
call this bird Falco gyr-falco norvegicus, and as I quite
agree with him, I have adopted the suggestion.

In captivity it differs a good deal from the white
and Icelandic birds. It is obstinate, revengeful, and
sometimes attacks Falcons of any species, or darts upon
its comrade instead of its game.

Mr. Gurney observes:—“Of the three Jer-Falcons I
look upon the first, the white one, as certainly distinct.
I think F. islandicus and gyr-falco are so alike that
it is practically impossible to distinguish them. The
average size of specimens killed in Iceland certainly
appears to be rather larger than the average of those
killed in Norway, and a difference is said to exist in
the proportion as well as the size of the breast bone;
but whether this is really a permanent distinction can
only be proved by more dissections than have hitherto
taken place. I have a specimen which was killed a few
years ago in Scotland, and which I believe was
recorded at the time in the ‘‘Zoologist,” by the person
who procured it. I cannot say whether it is zslandicus
or gyr-falco, but as it is rather a small one, it would
probably, if the two were distinct, be a gyr-falco.”

With regard to the specific difference between the
gyr-faleo and F. islandicus M. Schlegel observes:—
“When young, the Gyr-Falcon agrees in colour in every
respect with the young of the Iceland bird, and the
distribution of colours has the same individual varieties

28 NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

in both. The feet are, when young, of a dirty olive
green, approaching to yellow distinctly on the plates
covering the toes. The cere and eyelids are generally
rather brighter than the feet.

The arrangement of colours of the adult Gyr-Falcon
is very agreeable, and resembles that of the full-grown
Peregrine, with the exception of the nape, which in
the former is ornamented with some white spots; head
and region of the ears slate-coloured. The moustache
is less marked, and not so dark; the spots of the in-
ferior parts are more decidedly transverse; but the feet
are of a greenish colour, and the tints in general offer
in their shades more or less sensible modifications. In
other respects the Gyr-Falcon is quite different from
the Peregrine; the tail is longer, toes shorter, and
there are other characters proper to the division to
which it belongs, which must prevent the two birds
ever being mistaken for each other.

The Gyr-Falcon in its perfect plumage, has the feet
of a bright olive green, dirty, rather pale, and
approaching to yellow very visibly upon the plates of
the toes; the cere and eyelids greenish yellow; beak
bluish, colour of horn, passing into black towards the
tip, and yellow towards the base. Upper parts and
sides of head, posterior and lateral parts of neck bluish
grey, black, or slate-colour: this tint is rather deeper
towards the centre of each feather. On each side of the
nape is a kind of incomplete collar formed by some rows
of whitish feathers, each ornamented with a longitudinal
blackish spot. All the feathers of the upper surface of
the wings and secondaries are the colour of dark slate,
approaching to brown: but this tint is broken by the
black quill shafts, as well as by the borders and spots
of bluish grey with which these feathers are ornamented.

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON. 29

These markings, constantly of a transverse form, are
larger and more numerous upon the greater wing
coverts and secondaries, where they take the form of
bands more or less complete, and are often pointed
with brown in the centre. The clear tint of which
we have spoken is paler and more dirty upon the
upper tail coverts, and it there becomes uppermost,
so that the darker tint appears under the form of
crescentic-transverse bands. Upon the sides of the
rump the clear tint approaches to whitish, and the
transverse bands are of a dark grey approaching to
viclet blue. ‘The ground colour of the primaries
approaches strongly to blackish brown; the brownish
grey spots of the external barbs of these feathers is
lost towards their extremity, which is of a fine glossy
white; the spots, on the contrary, which are on the
inner barbs of the quill feathers, are as pale on the
inferior surface of the wings, while on the upper
surface they approach to reddish brown, which again
changes to white on the anterior feathers. The bright
bands of the tail, of which there are from fourteen to
fifteen, are of a dirtier tint than the spots above the
body, and they are covered distinctly towards the
centre with numerous confluent spots of a pale brown.
These bands being rather large the dark tints appear
upon the tail in the form of narrow streaks, sometimes
continuous, sometimes opposite, sometimes in an arch
or crescent, and are darker towards the extremity of
the tail, which is of a more less dirty white.

The under surface of the tail is generally paler than
the upper. The lesser wing coverts are ornamented
with clear spots, sometimes of an orbicular or oval
form, and those spots are transverse on the greater
wing coverts. The ground colour of the superior parts

30 NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

of the bird is of a more or less pure white, ornamented
with spots of a dark slate-colour, approaching to
brown, which form longitudinal streaks on the chin
and throat, and narrow spots in front of the neck and
region of the crop, increasing in size towards the ex-
tremity of the feathers, where they appear like tears
or drops; they are of a deeper tint, and cordate
towards the tips of the feathers of the flank, and
lozenge-shaped towards the base, approaching the form
of the transverse bands more or less perfectly; on the
feathers of the legs are transverse spots or bands,
closer together. The markings of the under tail
coverts are of greater extent, less numerous, lozenge-
shaped, and often extended along the quill shafts in
the form of fine deep streaks.

The figure of this egg is from the drawing of a
specimen in the British Museum.

NORWEGIAN JER-FALCON.

9 SAKER FALCON.

Nf "ih \
i (}, \ i
Nw

/

Wy

f

31

Rapaces—Diurn%.
FALCONID Ai.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)
Sub-genus Fanco. (Bechstein. )

SAKER FALCON.

Falco sacer.

Falco sacer, ScHLEGEL; Revue, p. 2.
Le sacre, Burron; Nat. His. des Oiseaux,
< p. 24, pl. 14.
Falco lanarius, TemMinck; Man., i, p. 20.
3 a3 Patias; Zoog., Ex. Syn. i, p. 330.
% ‘ Naumann; T. 23, f. 1. (fem. ad.
mas jun.)
as es Govutp; Birds of Europe, pl. 20,
(ad. et jun.)
ce ss ScHLEGEL u SvusEMIHL; Tab. 7,
(ad. et jun.)
Le sacre, ScHLEGEL ET VeERSTER; Traité de

Fauconnerie, fig. ad.

Specific Characters.—Moustache very narrow, hardly existing;
tail long; feet bluish; median toe shorter than tarsus; spots white,
ovoid and round on the tail_—Drcuanp.

Measurement. Male—Length one foot seven inches six lines.
Wings thirteen inches and a half. Tail eight inches. Middle
toe one inch eight lines. Female—Length one foot eight or nine
inches. Wings fourteen inches and a half. Tail eight inches
and three quarters. Middle toe one inch eleven lines to two
inches.—TEMMINCK AND SCHLEGEL.

32 SAKER FALCON.

Tue Saker Falcon was confounded from the time of
Temminck’s first edition of the ‘‘Manual d’Ornithologie,”
up to the publication of Schlegel’s “Revue,” in 1844,
with the Falco lanarius of Linneus; and it is still
named as such in collections. M. Schlegel has, however,
restored the ancient name of Le sacre to the bird
described as such by Gesner, Belon, and Buffon, and
I think he has done good service to natural science
by his researches on the subject; inasmuch as the Lanner
Falcon, hitherto confounded with almost every other
member of its family, will now take its proper place,
and the distinction between it and the Saker, so ably
drawn by M. Schlegel, and which in both instances we
shall give almost in that naturalist’s own words, must
for the future be without doubt.

In the extracts from Schlegel’s great work on Falconry,
which we shall make about this rare bird, that natu-
ralist says, “it is not found, to my knowledge, in any
of the English or French Museums.” ‘There is, however,
now a living specimen of this bird in the Gardens of
the Zoological Society, to which my attention was drawn
by Mr. Gurney. “A living specimen of this bird from
Turkey, now in the Gardens of the Zoological Society,
has a different plumage from any other specimens I
have seen. ‘This individual is cross-barred like a female
merlin.” In a subsequent note Mr. Gurney says, that
he has seen another specimen in the collection of the
East India Company, in which the plumage is the
same as in the above bird, namely, having distinct,
brown, transverse markings all across the back, shoulders,
and wing coverts. Mr. Gurney considers these are the
markings of adult age, as the specimen in the Zoological
Gardens, (labelled F. lanarius, Linneus,) had few, if

any, of them when first sent there.

SAKER FALCON. oo

M. Schlegel observes:—“In the works of antiquity,
though the description given exactly corresponds with
this species, we cannot say that any distinctive name
was given to it. In the middle ages authors equally
puzzled themselves and others about this bird, while
the English naturalists (none, with the exception of
Gould, having seen the Saker in nature,) have only
compiled what they have read of it in the works of
their predecessors. Forster’s is the young of the White
Jer-Falcon. Linnzus omits it altogether. Buffon’s figure
appears to be the true Saker, painted from a specimen
in the Royal Ménagerie; his description he takes from
Belon. Pennant, Latham, Gmelin, and other naturalists
to the end of the last century, have made their Saker
from a melange of other birds described by their pre-
decessors. Huber confounds his pretty little figure with
the Lanner, by which name he designates it; so has
Bechstein, having, like Temminck and Naumann,
received his specimens from the Vienna Museum, the
only place where the true Saker then existed; they
have described it as Lanner. The Saker is very rare
now in collections, and it is not found, to my know-
ledge, in the English or French Museums.” (Schlegel
writes in 1844-53.)

The Saker has been very well figured under the
name of Lanner, by Gould, Naumann, and Susemihl.

The word Saker or Sacer, used in Europe since
the Emperor Frederick, is the Arabic name for Falcon;
it must not be confounded with the Latin sacer,
which means “sacred,” for this mistake has caused the
F’.. sacer to be confounded with the Sacred Falcon of
the Egyptians, and has been one of the means of
throwing confusion over its history.

Several have been killed in Hungary, and young

VOL. L F

34 SAKER FALCON.

birds have been brought thence to Austria, taken out
of their nests in the month of May, about sixty years
ago, and sent to the principal falconers in Europe.
Pallas, under the name of Lanner, speaks of two species,
one stronger than the other, from the Ural Mountains;
the weaker and smaller one more common from the
deserts of Grand Tartary. Pallas, whose remarks in
natural history are very exact, says, (and all his obser-
vations are evidently referable to the true Saker,) they
build their nests on trees or even shrubs, found in the
midst of the desert. The. young birds, to the number
of two or three, often leave the nest before they are
full-grown, and follow their mother everywhere, scream-
ing lustily. They are then easily caught by the
inhabitants of the desert, and sold to the Kalmuc Tartars.
as hunting birds. They are used sometimes for taking
the kite, but they are considered too small for this
purpose.

The followmg is M. Schlegel’s description of the
Saker Falcon, which, from the rarity of the species,
and the confusion of its diagnosis, we shall be excused
for quoting at length from his work upon falconry.

“The Sacer of the falconers is a bird of a figure
rather less strong than the Lanner, and consequently it
is intermediate in this respect between this species and
the Gyr-Falcon. It is distinguished from these two
Falcons when young by a different modification of the
tints, and by the two intermediate quills of the tail not
being generally ornamented with bright bands. In adult
age it is different from all other Falcons. Its plumage,
like that of the young birds, is of more agreeable tints,
and has not transverse bands either on the upper part
of the body or on the other side. The tarsi are
feathered above half their length. The tail goes beyond

SAKER FALCON. 39

the wings when folded, from an inch and a quarter to
an inch and a half.

In the first year, though the colours are distributed
in general similarity to those of the young Gyr-Falcon,
it differs from it in the following details:—The ground
colour of the upper parts is not so deep in the Saker,
particularly on the tail, and it approaches more strongly
to brown. ‘There are only some isolated bright spots
to be seen on the scapularies, which spots, as well as
the borders of the feathers, are of a pale reddish brown,
clearer upon the edges of the quill feathers. There is
more white upon the nape, and upon the upper part
of the head, where may also be seen some traces of a
very pale reddish brown. ‘The tail is widely bordered
with white at the extremity; generally only clear markings
are to be seen on the internal barbs of the lateral tail
quills, and these markings, to the number of ten or
eleven, are of an oval form, approaching more or less
to orbicular. ‘The spots of the under parts, generally of
a very deep brown, are usually a little narrower in the
young of the Gyr-Falcon, and they are not often seen
upon the under part of the tail, except in the shape of
thin dark streaks occupying the shafts of the feathers.
The auditory region is always marked with white in
the middle, and this prevails on the front of the fore-
head. ‘The quill feathers have clear spots upon their
inner barbs. The feet, the cere, and eyelids, are of a
livid greenish blue, approaching to yellow in the plates
of the toes.

The colours of the Saker undergo in moulting the
following changes:—The ground colour of the upper
parts is paler, distinctly so on the tail; the edges of
the feathers are, on the contrary, of a more lively red
on the back and wings, but paler on the quills of the

36 SAKER FALCON.

tail and the secondaries. ‘The feathers on the crown of
the head have a rather wide edge of reddish brown,
approaching to white. The moustache but slightly
visible. Chin, throat, and lesser wing coverts are of a
dirty uniform white, and this prevails in the under
parts of the body, the markings there being paler and
less extended; these markings in the form of drops,
and rather small upon the chest, the belly, and the
feathers of the legs, are however much larger upon
the sides. ‘Those observable upon the lesser wing
coverts are longitudinal, but the white spots of the
great coverts are transverse, and arranged in bands.
The claws, as in the young bird, are of a uniform
black, and the beak is of a bluish horn-colour, passing
into black towards the tip, and into yellowish towards
the base of the beak. ‘The feet, on the contrary, the
cere, and the eyelids approach more strongly to yellowish
than in the young bird.”

The figure of this egg is from the drawing of a
specimen in the British Museum.

a ee hae

2
oy
i - |

oS
1

Rapaces—Divurn®.
FALCONID.
Genus Fauco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Fautco. ( Bechstein.)

LANNER FALCON.

Falco lanarius.

Falco lanarius, ScHLEGEL; Revue, 1844, p. 2.
Ae e Klein Ordo Avium, p. 48, No. 5.
Le Lanier, Beton; p. 123. Burron; Nat.
Hist. des Ois., i, p. 243.
Falco feldeggit, ScHLEGEL; Zoologie. ScHLEGEL
AND SUSEMIHL.
Le Lanier, ScHLEGEL ET VERSTER; Traité de

Fauconnerie, fem. adult.

Specific Characters.—Moustache narrow; tail long; toes short,
the medium shorter than the tarsus. Plumage like that of the
Peregrine Falcon, with the nape of the neck a reddish brown.
—DEGLAND.

Measurement. Male—Length fourteen inches. Length of
wing twelve inches and a quarter. Length of tail six inches
ten lines. Middle toe one inch eight lines. Female—Length
fifteen inches. Length of wing twelve inches and three quarters.
Length of tail seven inches ten lines. Middle toe one inch
nine lines.

THERE is no Falcon about which so much confusion
has existed as the celebrated Lanner of Falconry. The

38 LANNER FALCON.

name has been given to the Peregrine, the Ger-Falcon,
the Sacer, and other birds, even by systematic writers.
We are indebted to M. Schlegel for applying the right
name to the right bird, and for drawing that distinc-
tion between this and the preceding species, which
must in future prevent any mistake.

There are few naturalists who have correctly distin-
guished this bird. Schlegel considers that Naumann
and Buffon have represented the true Lanner, killed
at the beginning of the first moult, but they have
taken it for the young of the Peregrine. The Lanner
of Linneus and Nilsson he thinks is identical with the
Ger-Falcon of Norway. ‘The bird described by Pennant
as this species, appears to be the young of the
Peregrine. Schlegel himself, in his “Zoology,” described
as new to science a Falcon under the name of Falco
feldeggii, which upon more attentive examination he
became convinced was no other than the bird known
to Falconers, and first described by Belon, so long
back as 1555, in his “Hist. de la Nat. des Oiseaux,”
as the true Lanner, the subject of the present notice.

There is a specimen in the Museum of Mayence,
of a young bird, killed at Hanau, which has consid-
erable resemblance to the Falco biarmicus of 'Temminck,
but is distinguished by the colour as well as by
the first quill feather being longer in the Lanner. The
only Falcon for which it can be mistaken is the Pere-
grine, and here the likeness is considerable, but it may
be readily distinguished by the greater proportionate
length of its tail, by the toes being shorter, by the
moustache (the dark longitudinal mark on the side of
the head and neck) being less, by the feathers of the
inferior parts being larger and softer, by the reddish
colour of the nape, and by the absence of the

LANNER FALCON. 39

transverse dark-coloured bands on the belly and thighs.

There are specimens to be seen in the Norwich
Museum, and in the collection of the East India
Company.

Very little, if anything, is known about the habits
and nidification of the Lanner. It has been observed
in Dalmatia, but only accidentally in other parts of
Europe. Lewin describes a true Lanner, said to
have been shot in Lincolnshire. The Dutch Falconers,
who take annually many Falcons, agree in the assurance
that they have never seen this bird in a wild state.

In Falconry it is stated to be the best bird to fly
at the partridge, and that it will live for many years
(eighteen or twenty) in confinement. D’Arcussia, who
has written much about Falconry, gives the bird the
character of being cowardly by nature. He says the
greater number of these birds come from Sicily, where
they build their nests among rocks or the branches of
high trées.

Before giving Schlegel’s minute description of this
bird, we will take the opportunity of saying a few
words about the preparation of Falcons for Falconry,
with which all the species in this number are so much
connected, and which [ shall abridge from the “Histoire
Naturelle des Oiseaux,” by Maout.

The object of the Falconer in training his bird is
to induce it to give up its own will, and to lose all
confidence in its own resources. To do this the bird
is first subdued by fear, and then attached by hope.
First it is kept m the dark for perhaps sixty or seventy
hours, during which time the Falconer has it always
on his wrist, which is armed with shackles called

5

“castings,” or small leather straps, having belts at their

extremities, with which they fasten together the bird’s

40 LANNER FALCON.

legs. While in this position it is not allowed to sleep,
and if rebellious its head is dipped in cold water. It
is also kept without food, until, worn out by hunger
and want of sleep, it permits itself to be clothed in
what is called a “chaperon,” or hood. When it allows
itself to be fed quietly, and then hooded again, it is
considered tamed and accustomed to its master. ‘The
Falconer now uses artificial means to produce intense
hunger, so that when appeased the bird may be more
attached to the person who feeds it. This is the first
lesson.

The Falconer next takes his bird out into a garden,
and if when unhooded, it will of its own accord jump
on the wrist to feed, it is thought fit to be taught to
understand “the lure,” which is a piece of leather
with the wings and claws of a bird attached to it, and
a piece of meat. ‘This, with the voice of the Falconer
is the means adopted to bring back the bird when on
the wing. After it has been practised in a garden
it is taken into the open country, where, with a
string attached to its legs, it is permitted to take
short flights of about (at first) sixty feet from the
earth, increased gradually, and brought back each time
with the lure, and rewarded by the piece of meat.
The bird is then trained upon tame birds until its
education is complete, and it is fit for the field.

Of the birds against which Falcons are flown, the
Kite, the Heron, and the Crow are considered the
best; such a chase being deemed fit for a prince,
while that of the Pheasant, Partridge, or Wild-Duck, is
considered fit for gentlemen! Some of the larger Fal-
cons are occasionally used in pursuing the hare, and
the Persians even use these birds in hunting the
gazelle. They are trained for this purpose by feeding

LANNER FALCON. 41

the Falcon on the nose of a stuffed gazelle. When
they are thus educated they take them out, and letting
two fly at once, one immediately rushes down upon
the nose of the poor gazelle and fixes therein its claws;
of course the animal is alarmed, and stopping, uses
every effort to shake off the bird; but the beating of
its wings almost blinds the poor creature, and bewilders
it still more. When the first bird is shaken off the
other takes its place, and thus the dogs have plenty of
time to come up. ‘This same plan is said to be used
in taking the wild boar and wild ass.

The plumage of the young Lanner resembles that of
the young Saker, with the following exceptions:—The
markings of the feathers on the top of the head are
not so broad; the whitish colours of the edges of these
feathers predominate. The reddish tint of the nape is
more “‘prononcé.” The light edges of the upper parts
of the bird are less distinct, and not so brown as
in the Saker: on the contrary, these parts are covered
with small spots of a very pale red brown irregularly
scattered here and there—subject to variety in different
birds. The ground colour of the tail is paler than in
the Saker, but it is always broken as much upon the
external as the internal barbs of the tail quills, by
transverse bands, to the number of eleven or twelve,
the colour of which incomplete bands is like that of
the markings upon the wings. ‘The spots upon the
superior parts of the bird are smaller than in the
Saker. The lesser wing coverts have dark longitudinal
markings, the least covered with whitish spots, generally
of an orbicular form; on the greater coverts these spots
are transverse and arranged in bands.

In adult plumage the tints of the Lanner have some
analogy to those of the Peregrine and Jer-Falcon, but

VOL, I. a

42 LANNER FALCON.

are at once distinguished by the beautiful reddish tinge
of the nape and under part of the head. At this age
the front of the forehead is whitish. The reddish
brown feathers on the nape and upper part of the head
have in the centre a longitudinal marking of blackish
brown, larger on the middle feathers of the nape. The
moustache is rather large but neatly defined. The
feathers in the auditory region of a whitish tint
strongly approaching to reddish yellow, have longitudinal
dark markings, which nearly conceal the ground colour.
Eyelids surrounded with black feathers, and a badly-
marked streak of the same tint prolongs itself from
the eyes beyond the region of the ears, where it
disappears on the side of the nape. The colour of the
ground of the other inferior parts of the bird is a
blackish brown, like dark slate, with transverse markings
of a bright bluish grey colour, which take the form of
bands on the scapularies, greater coverts, secondaries,
and rump, but disappear on the lesser wing coverts.
The colour of these bands is bright upon the back
and rump, but of a marbled brown on the other parts,
growing of a redder brown towards the anterior ex-
tremity of the wing. ‘The primaries, with the exception
of the light spots on the inner barbs, are blackish
brown. The ground colour of the tail is paler than
that of the wings, and broken by a dozen transverse
bands of a dirty white colour, shaded with grey brown;
the tip of the tail is whitish. The lesser wing coverts
are marked by longitudinal dark spots, and inferiorly
with orbicular whitish spots: upon the greater coverts
these markings assume the form of transverse bands.
The prevailing colour of the inferior parts is white,
more or less strongly shaded with pale reddish yellow.
The chin, throat, and sometimes the crop, are of a

LANNER FALCON. 43

uniform whitish hue, but the other inferior parts are
ornamented with cordate markings on the chest and
belly, assuming on the flanks more the form of bands,
lighter in colour on the thighs. On the under tail
coverts the dark spots are generally longitudinal and
rather narrow.

I have been very careful in giving as fully as pos-
sible Schlegel’s description of this and the two preceding
birds, in order that those who have not access to his
great work on Falconry, may have an opportunity of
understanding the grounds upon which they are
constituted distinct species by that able and indefatigable
naturalist.

Good specimens of all are to be seen in the splendid
collection of the British Museum.

We are unable to give a figure, from an authentic
source, of this egg.

44

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID Ai.
Genus Farco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Fatco. ( Bechstein.)

ELEONORA FALCON.

Falco eleonore.

Falco eleonore, Gini; Icon. della Acad.
Torino, 1840.
* es Cu. Bonaparte; Iconografia

della Fauna Italica.
us oe ScHLEGEL; Revue, 1844.
Ee cf DEGLAND.

Specific Characters—Plumage of a black chesnut-colour; beak
robust, the upper mandible being straight from the base to the
tooth; cere bluish. Wings much longer than the tail; internal
toe shorter than the external. Prince Cu. Bonaparte, in Fauna
Italica.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in Norwich Museum
fourteen inches. Length of wing eleven inches.

WE are indebted to Signor Alberto della Marmora
for the introduction of this beautiful Falcon into the
European Fauna. In 1856 he saw it on the wing on
the Sardinian coast, and suspected from the peculiarity
of its cry, that it was an unobserved species. In

HLEONORA FALCON.

ELEONORA FALCON. 45

conjunction with the celebrated naturalist, M. Géné, a
sharp look-out was kept up to obtain a_ specimen,
in which they did not for some time succeed. Marmora
at length obtained a female bird, which Géné declared
to be a species new to science, and named it after
the Queen Eleonora. In 1840 Géné published an
account of this bird in the “Memoirs of the Academy
of Turin,” and discovered another species in the
Museum of Turin, killed at Beyrout, and one killed
in the vicinity of Genoa, in the collection of the Mar-
quis C. Darazzo—which last bird proved to be the
male of his Eleonora. Since then it has been beau-
tifully figured and described at length by Prince
Charles Bonaparte, in that splendid work, the “Icono-
grafia della Fauna Italica.”

There are two specimens in the Norwich Museum,
supplied to Mr. Gurney by M. Verreaux.

M. Temminck, in his Manuel d’ Ornithologie,”
described, and after him, Mr. Gould figured and des-
cribed the Falco concolor as a Kuropean species. M.
Schlegel, however, in his “Revue,” in 1844, and other
writers since, have considered that M. Temminck con-
founded specimens of the Eleonora Falcon with those
of F. concolor; and they founded this opinion chiefly
upon the want of confirmation, since Temminck’s last
edition of the ‘‘Manual’? in 1840, of the latter bird
having been ever taken in Europe. M. Von der Mihle
mentions, however, that it has occurred in Greece,
though Schlegel thinks he has mistaken it for the bird
I am now noticing. Whether F. concolor is a European
species or not, future observation must decide, but of
this there can be no doubt—that the species are totally
distinct; and it is hardly likely that such good orni-
thologists as Temminck and Gould could have confounded

46 ELEONORA FALCON.

one with the other. The only similarity between the
two birds is that they are each unicolorous; but then
the colour of one is chesnut; the other dark slate or
lead-colour; while there are specific points of difference
between them sufficiently clear. I have, however, amid
the uncertainty which exists, thought it better to omit
F. concolor, though I do so with reluctance, from the
European list.

The Eleonora Falcon is found in Sardinia, Greece,
and Syria; and it occurs also in Africa. It seems to
prefer plantations and shrubby woods for its residence.
According to Prince Bonaparte it nests in July and
August, in cavities covered with bushes among the rocky
precipices near the sea. It lays three eggs, of a pale
reddish colour, finely spotted, like the Hobby, with
ferruginous brown.

Nothing more seems to be known at present of its
habits or food. M. Jaubert, writing in the “Revue de
Zoologie,” in 1854, says it occurs frequently in Sar-
dinia, and he describes the bird.

A fine adult male in the Norwich Museum, is in
colour of a nearly uniform dark chesnut, rather lighter
underneath. The quill feathers darker, nearly black
above, shading off to a lighter colour below, and
marked by indistinct elongated spots. The feathers of
the under parts are fringed with a reddish tint, more
particularly the throat and under the cheeks, the thigh
feathers and under tail coverts. The tail is round, six
inches long, and the same colour as the rest of the
body, but barred underneath with nine or ten rows of
darker tints. Cere, tarsi, and feet are said to be
greenish yellow; claws black.

The female, which is labeled by M. Verreaux as in
immature plumage, is so exactly like the Hobby, that

q

1. ELEONORA FALCON,

2. LESSER KESTREL

ELEONORA FALCON. 47

a minute description is unnecessary. It has, however,
a more general reddish tinge, is larger, and the beak
not only more robust, but entirely different in shape
when compared with that bird.

This bird is not figured in Gould’s “Birds of
Europe.”

As the general colouring and markings of the egg of
this bird so nearly resemble those of the Lesser Kestrel
on the same plate, we have given a figure of a variety
from Thienemann.

7

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID A.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)
Sub-genus Fatco. ( Bechstein.)

LESSER KESTREL.

Falco tinnunculoides.

Falco tinnunculoides, Natrerer. TEMMINCK.
«© cenchris, Naumann. ScHLEGEL.
«© tinnuneularis, VIEILLOT.
gracilis, Lesson.

Cerchneis cenchris, Cu. Bonaparte.

Faucon creserellette, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters.—Wings reaching to the end of the tail;
upper plumage and quill feathers of the male without spot. Claws
yellowish. Length eleven inches.

Tue Lesser Kestrel inhabits chiefly the eastern and
southern parts of Europe. It is found in Hungary and
Austria, and is very common in the kingdom of Naples,
Sicily, and the mountains of the middle of Spain.
It is found in the Morea, the north of Africa,
the Crimea, and Switzerland. In France its principal
localities are Languedoc, Provence, and the Pyrenees,
particularly in the neighbourhood of that beautiful

LESSER KESTREL: 49)

mountain town Bagnéres-de-Bigorre. In France it is a
summer visitor only.

The Lesser Kestrel nests among old ruins, or in the
crevices of mountain rocks, particularly according to
Temminck, in Sicily, and in the neighbourhood of
Gibraltar.

Its eggs, according to Degland, are three or four in
number; very short, smaller than those of the Kestrel;
of a reddish white, with a great number of little points
and ‘fly spots” of a brick red, mingled together and
mixed with small brown spots.

It has the same habits as the Kestrel; lives upon
coleoptera, grasshoppers, and small reptiles, rarely upon
small birds.

The following description is from M. 'Temminck:—
Adult male; summit of the head, sides, and nape, of a
light ash-colour, without spots; back, scapulars, and the
greater part of the wing coverts of a brick red, dark,
without any spots; some of the large wing coverts, the
secondaries, the rump, and nearly all the tail of a
bluish ash; a large black band at the end of the tail
feathers, which are tipped with white; throat light; the
other under parts of a clear reddish russet, studded with
small spots and longitudinal black streaks. Feet, claws,
cere, and eyelids, yellow; beak bluish.

The old female is rather larger; she so nearly
resembles in the colour of her plumage the female
of the Kestrel, that it is impossible to distinguish them
in a description; they would however, be known from
each other at the first glance; first, by the very small
size, and, secondly, by the length of the quill feathers,
which reach to the end of the tail.

The young males of the year differ but slightly from
the old female.

VOL, I. H

50 LESSER KESTREL.

The egg of this bird is from a drawing kindly sent
me by M. Moquin-Tandon. ‘The egg from which the
drawing is made was supplied to M. Moquin-Tandon
by M. Parreys, of Vienna. Biadeker, (Die Eier der
Europ., Vog., pl. 10, fig. 4,) has represented six

varieties of this species.

:
q
:

i

AWS
—N

\

\

ai

LITTLE RED-BILLED HAWK.

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)
Sub-genus Astur. (Bechstein. )

Sub-generte Characters—Wings short, reaching to about two
thirds of the length of the tail; first quill feather much
shorter than the second, the third nearly equal to the fourth,
which is the longest. Tarsi long; toes of moderate length,
the middle one the longest. Claws much bent and pointed.

LITTLE RED-BILLED HAWK.

Falco gabar.

Faleo gabar, Latuam; Ind. Orn. Sup.
Epervier gabar, Davurin; Tr. d’Orn., 11 p. 87.
Astur gabar, Lz Varttant. Kaor.

Nisus gabar, Cuvier; Regn. An., i, p. 321.
Sparvius niger, ViIEILLOT; Gal des Ois., i, 22.
Accipiter niger, Goutp; B. of Australia, pt. 3, pl. f.
Micronisus gabar, Gray; Gen. of Birds.

Le Gabar, Le VaAtmLpant.

Red-legged Falcon, LatHam.

Specifie Characters.—Cinereous, paler on the chin, throat, and
breast. Body, thighs, and inner wing coverts white, with numer-
ous gray bars. ‘Tail with four blackish bands; base and tail
coverts pure white; feet and base of the bill red.—Swainson.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in Norwich Museum,
twelve inches. Length of wing seven inches and a half.

by LITTLE RED-BILLED HAWK.

Tuis elegant little miniature Goshawk is said by

Schlegel to occur in Greece, and Malta is given as

another European locality by the late lamented Mr.
Strickland. Degland, however, doubts whether it has
ever occurred in Europe, and omits it from his list;
but he gives no reason for his doubt, and as in
addition to the above authorities, Mr. Gurney informs
me he has no reason to disbelieve the statements of
its occurrence in Greece, I introduce it here.

I will take this opportunity of making one or two
remarks about the classification and arrangement I
have adopted im this work; and this explanation is
necessary, inasmuch as this bird is the first to which I
have not given its sub-generic name. |

I think there is no point in Natural History about
which we should be more rigorously careful than sim-

plicity in nomenclature. Since the days of Linneus_

no one has observed this rule more strictly than the
late eminent ornithologist, M. '‘Temminck; and therefore
I have unhesitatingly adopted his arrangement. A
celebrated naturalist observed to me a short time ago,
when conversing with him upon this subject, that we
must regulate our nomenclature by the progress of
science. In answer to this remark, I refer to the
synonymes at the head of this notice. .Seven eminent
men have given the Falco gabar seven totally different
names. Which of the seven is right? Science must
not be held responsible for what I have no hesitation
in declaring to be a manifest absurdity, and this
argument falls to the ground. ach authority could
doubtless give his reason; but then the question resolves
itself into one of personal opinion and not of science.
Linneus described all the Falconide under one
generic term, that of Falco. Temminck admitted sub-

'
:

LITTLE RED-BILLED HAWK. +35)

genera, and gave their definitions; but he, like Linneus,
retained the generic name Falco for each species. I
think he was right, and if this were the place for
arguing the question, I could easily support this opinion
by more logical proof. While admitting, therefore, a
certain division into sub-genera, I shall follow the
example and authority of Temminck, and adopt one
uniform generic name for each of the several great
families which I shall have to deal with in the progress
of this work.

I have deviated a little trom the arrangement of
M. Temminck, in placing the sub-genus Astur before
that of Agua. In this I have followed Schlegel, and
I shall do the same with the only species I am called
upon to describe of the sub-genus Circus. ‘There are,
I think, many sound reasons why these sub-genera
should be close to each other. Falco and <Astur
contain the most typical or perfect divisions of the
family, while the Harriers form a good passage from
the Hawks to the Hagles.

Falco gabar is a native of both southern and wes-
tern Africa, where it was discovered by Le Vaillant,
the end of the last century. He says it was not uncom-
mon; that it built in the fork of a high tree; and that
its egg, like that of its congener the Goshawk, was
white. We know nothing of its habits or propagation
in Europe.

An adult male in the Norwich Museum, has the
head, nape, and back of a uniform greyish brown or
dark slate-colour; chin, throat, and chest of a lighter
grey; the belly, thighs, and under wing coverts white,
with delicate, thin, transverse bars of grey. Primary
quill feathers hair brown, barred above and below with
a darker tint, the tips being conspicuously margined

54 LITTLE RED-BILLED HAWK. q

with white. Tail coverts (upper and lower) white; tail |
quill feathers white, with three or four broad dark
hair brown transverse bars on each feather.

According to Swainson, the cere, with basal half of
bill and legs, are of a bright red.

In the young bird the under parts are more tinged
with rufous.

I have preferred Swainson’s English designation of
this bird to that of Latham, as we have already a
““Red-footed Falcon” in the British lists.

This bird is not figured in Gould’s “Birds of
Europe.”

Our figure of this bird is from a beautiful drawing
with which we have been favoured by Mr. Reeve, the
Curator of the Norwich Museum. It is an adult male
from South Africa, and about half the natural size.
It forms one of the magnificent collection of Kulconide
in the Norwich Museum.

ra co ia

Cr
>.
Wwe

Rapacres—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Circus. (Savigny.)

Sub-genertc Characters.—Tarsi long and slender; body tall
and slim; tail long and rounded; wings long; first quill feather
shorter than the fifth, the second a little shorter than the
fourth, the third or fourth the longest; beak of medium size;
cere large, covering more than a third of the beak.

PALE-CHESTED HARRIER.

Falco pallidus.

Circus pallidus, Syxes; Proceedings of Zoolo-
gical Society, April, 1832.
x a KEYSERLING AND Buasivs.
es fe ScHLEGEL. DEGLAND.
Falco pallidus, Tremminck; Man., vol. iv,
p- 595.
Circus swainsoni, SmitH. Kavp.
«© albescens, Lesson.
“ dalmaticus, Ripret.
‘© cinereus, Cu. Bonaparte.
Strigiceps pallidus, Cu. Bonararte.
Busard meridional, CRESPON.

Specific Characters.—Head of male not spotted with pale brown;
no dusky streaks on the breast; rump and upper tail coverts white,
and barred with brown ash.—Syxzs.

56 PALE-CHESTED HARRIER.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in the Norwich Museum
seventeen inches; length of wing thirteen inches.

We are indebted to Colonel Sykes for the determina-
tion of this species. He was not, however, aware,
when he published his paper in the Zoological
Transactions for 1832, that the bird occurred in Europe.
It had previously been confounded in India with C.
cyaneus, the Hen Harrier of British lists. Colonel
Sykes clearly pointed out the distinctions between the
two species, and which are abbreviated at the head of
this notice. Mr. Gould has a fine figure of the male
bird in his “Birds of Europe,” but it deviates from
Colonel Sykes’ type in having dusky streaks on the breast.

M. Temminck appears to have been the first who
recorded the occurrence of this bird in Kurope. Since
then it has turned up plentifully in Spain. It probably
had its head-quarters in Africa, being found accidentally
in France, Germany, and Italy.

In modern days ornithologists have changed the venue
in regard to the charge of resemblance between Falco
cyaneus and fF’. pallidus. The latter is now held to be
so nearly like F. cineraceous, (Montagu’s Harrier,) that
Schlegel denies its specific distinction from that bird.
I am at a loss, however, to comprehend how such an
opinion has been arrived at by so eminent a naturalist
as Schlegel. The decided marks of distinction pointed
out by Temminck and Colonel Sykes, particularly the
bars on the rump, and the number of specimens that
have been taken both in Europe, Africa, and Asia, all
having the distinctive characters alluded to, form, I
think, sufficient evidence to settle the claim of this bird
to the position assigned to it by all naturalists, with
the exception of M. Schlegel.

1 PALE-CHESTED HARRIBR,

; ‘
2 IMPERIAL EAGLE. 8, BONBLLI’S E

PALE-CHESTED HARRIER. O7

The Pale Harrier is said by Colonel Sykes to feed
principally upon lizards; that it inhabits wild rocky
plains, that the sexes are never met with together, and
that it builds in high trees.

The figure of the egg of this bird is from a drawing
by M. Thienemann, pl. 44, fig. 2.

The adult male, according to Temmuinck, has all the
plumage generally pale; the grey colour very clear;
the top of the head in the male has no brown and
white spots; the rump and upper tail coverts are marked
with grey bars; the bars on the side tail quills are
six or seven, and more strongly tinted with reddish.
Head, mantle, and wing coverts of a pale grey; quills
white at the base, passing into deep brown at their
extremities, and margined externally with greyish; all
the parts below, from the throat to the abdomen, of a
pure white, more or less varied according to age, with
fine brown streaks disposed over the chest and _ belly.
Beak blue; cere and feet yellow; iris greenish yellow.

The adult female has the plumage like that of the
Hen Harrier, except that the colours are two shades
paler: the tail is crossed by six large brown bars, that
of C. cyaneus having only four.

In the above description it will be seen that
Temminck differs from Colonel Sykes, as to the brown
streaks on the chest. Gould’s figure was taken from a
bird sent to him by M. Temminck. This discordance
may probably be accounted for by the fact as stated
by Temminck, that these marks are more or less visible
according to age.

VOL, I. I

58

Ravaces.— Diurne.
FALCONID.
Genus Fauco. ( Linneus.)

Sub-genus AquiLa. ( Brisson.)

Sub-generic Characters—Beak strong, not bending suddenly
from its base; feet strong and sinewy; tarsi naked or covered
with feathers; toes strong, and armed with powerful and
much-curved claws. Wings long; the first, second, and third
quill feathers the shortest, the first short, the fourth and fifth
the longest.—TEmMINcK.

IMPERIAL EAGLE.

Falco imperialis.

Falco imperialis, TemMMINcK. BeEcustT4Ein.
Aquila imperialis, Cuvizr. GouLp. ScHLEGEL.
‘© heliaca, Savieny. Bonaparte.
“ mogilinik, GMELIN. LatHam. Gray.
Aigle de Thebes, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters.—Five scales on the last joint of the middle
toe; only three or four, according to age, on the others. Some
of the scapularies white, or tipped with white.

Measurement.—Length of adult male two feet six inches.
Length of adult female three feet.

IMPERIAL EAGLE. 59

Tue Eagles form M. Temminck’s second division of
the Fulconide, the typical Falcons or noble birds of
prey being the first. The separation of this family into
two classes—the noble and ignoble birds of prey—
had its origin in the pastime of Falconry. A higher
principle, however, that arising from structure, especially
in the beak and wings, and a greater amount of in-
telligence, places the Falcons, according to the strict
rules which guided men like Temminck and Cuvier,
before the larger and more powerful Eagles.

The Eagles, particularly the large species, are from
five to six years in arriving at their perfect plumage.
Their vision is very acute, and they are provided with
a peculiar membrane, by the assistance of which they
can see against the sun. ‘Their nest, termed an eyrie,
is generally placed among inaccessible rocks. ‘They
mostly prey upon small live mammals and birds,—some
feed upon fish and insects.

The Imperial Eagle, the subject of this notice, is
one of the most beautiful birds of its tribe. It was
long confounded with the Golden Eagle of the British
lists, but it is readily distinguished by the specific
characters, given above. It inhabits the extensive
mountain forests in the middle, south, and east of
Europe. It is found in Turkey, Hungary, Dalmatia,
and the south of Russia; and is included in Machado’s
“Jaist of the Birds of Andalusia.” It occurs acciden-
tally in the Pyrenees, and in the south of France.
M. Crespon records its appearance in the departments
of Gard and the Rhone; and M. Tyzenhaus says it is
found rarely in Lithuania, where it has been known,
in one instance to breed. It has a wide range, being
found commonly in Egypt and Barbary, in India, and
in the north of Africa.

60 IMPERIAL EAGLE.

In its habits it is described as more fierce than the
Golden Eagle, and consequently more dreaded by its
feathered victims. Cuvier says this bird is the true
subject of the exaggerated tales propagated by the
ancients, relating to the courage and magnanimity of
the Golden Eagle.

It feeds principally upon small deer and young
foxes, and large birds. It builds its nest among the
mountain forests, on the highest trees and rocks. It
lays two or three eggs, which are stated by Degland
to be oblong, and of a dirty white; the long diameter
thirty, and the shorter twenty lines.

Of the habits of this bird in India, Mr. Jerdon
observes in, the ‘Madras Journal,” vol. x., page 66:—
“T several times saw birds of this species, both single
and in pairs, in the more northern parts of the Deccan,
many of which shewed the white mark at the base of
the tail, which gained for it the name of the Ring-
tailed Eagle, and I procured a specimen near the
Godavery River. I frequently also saw them near
Jaulnah, even close to the cantonment; and they are
occasionally seen to pursue and strike at hares, florikin,
and other game started by sportsmen. This Eagle may
generally be seen seated on the ground, or on a stone
in the rocky hills in the neighbourhood of Jaulnah,
whence, after the sun has been up for some time, it
takes a flight im search of prey, at no great elevation,
hunting slowly over the bushy valleys and ravines, and
also over the cultivated ground occasionally; after which
if unsuccessful in its search, it re-seats itself on a stone,
on some eminence, or even perches on a neighbouring
tree, where it patiently waits till some quarry is raised
or viewed, or till hunger again prompts it to take
flight. I obtained a specimen alive. It feeds most

IMPERIAL EAGLE. 61

greedily upon raw meat, preferring it to birds or
animals, either dead or living. It is very sluggish and
inactive even when urged by hunger. It generally
drinks a gulp or two of water after eating. ‘The only
ery I have heard it utter is a harsh croaking.”

Our figure of this egg is from a drawing sent me
by M. Moquin-Tandon, with the following remarks:—
“JT bought this egg of a Paris merchant in 1837.
Great diameter seven cents two milles, (two inches and
seven eighths,) little diameter five cents one mille, (two
inches.) Surface rather rough; ground-tint heavy white,
scarcely azured, and shaded with dirty russet. Schinz
has given a representation of this egg, pl. 37, fig. 2,
very exact in size, form, and colour. Thienemann (pl.
46,) has given a drawing of good size but too white
in colour—probably a variety.”

The Rey. H. B. Tristram, in his “Catalogue of Eggs
for 1857,” says of this bird:—‘This rare and magnificent
bird appears to prefer the forests to the cliffs for the
purpose of nidification. It occurs very sparingly in
Algeria, but is well known to the Arabs as distinct
from the Golden Eagle. The eggs seem scarcely ever
to have any but the faintest clouding, or a few obsolete
spots.”

The adult male and female have the plumage gen-
erally of a rich glossy blackish brown, darker below,
except on the abdomen, which is reddish. There is a
large conspicuous white spot on the scapulary feathers.
The vertex, occiput, and nape of a lively red. Tail
irregularly waved with ashy grey; iris whitish yellow.

Young birds are more variegated with russet, and
the white mark on the scapularies indistinct. Iris light
brown; toes livid yellow.

There are specimens in the Norwich Museum.

G2

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID ZA.
Genus Fatco. ( Linneus.)

Sub-genus Aquita. (Brisson. )

BONELLPS EAGLE.

Falco bonellit.

Faleo bonellii, Temminck. Marmora.
: a Cu. BoNnAapaRTE.
‘s s KEYSERLING AND Brasius.
ee ss Scuinz. Govutp.

Aquila bonellit, SCHLEGEL. Bonaparte.
se es GRay.
“ fasctata, Virittot. Dre@Lanp.

DT’ aigle a queue barrée, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters.—Beak small; claws powerful; tail square,
covered by the wings within two inches of its end. Legs long,
entirely covered with feathers.

Measurement.—Length of adult male two feet. Length of adult
female two feet six inches——TrmmMtinck.

Bonetii’s EacGue principally inhabits the south of
Europe, being found commonly in Greece. It also
occurs in Italy, Sardinia, and the south of France; in

all of which countries it breeds, and is a permanent

BONELLI’S EAGLE. 63

inhabitant. It has a wide range, being found in India
and Africa.

According to M. Crespon, who seems to have fre-
quently observed it in his excursions, it remains in the
mountains during summer, and in winter descends to
the marshes to hunt aquatic birds. When disturbed,
it rises at once to a great height, and is quickly out
of sight. Its cry is something like that of the Golden
Eagle, but more feeble. An individual kept in con-
finement was very fierce and not easily tamed.

Its food consists of aquatic birds, hares, rabbits, etc.
It nests on the crevices of rocks, laying two eggs,
which are of a reddish brown, more or less pale, with
the marbling and dots darker.—(Degland.)

We extract the following interesting remarks about
this bird from Mr. Jerdon’s contributions to the “Madras
Journal,” and his “Illustrations of Indian Ornithology:’
—“The Mhorungah (its Hindustani name) is certainly
a rare bird in Southern India. I have only seen it
twice—once at Beramahl, seated on the edge of a
tank, in the neighbourhood of a jungly district; and
again a pair seated on a lofty tree in a tope in open
country in the northern part of the Deccan. Mr.
Hodgson says the habits of the genus are as follows:
—‘Preys on jungle fowl, partridges, and hares; watches
from a lofty perch, usually pouncing on its game when
near it, sometimes pursues it with energy on the wing.’
Mr. Elliot, in his “Notes,” says:—‘Is the noblest of
the Indian Eagles, being seldom seen, and then generally
at a great height in the air, in wild places. It preys
on the hare. I once saw a pair of them hunting in
company, which nearly surprised a peacock, pouncing
on him on the ground.’

The large Hawk Eagle is dispersed over the whole

64 BONELLI’S EAGLE.

continent of India, from the Himalayas to Cape
Comorin, but cannot be said to be an abundant species,
though few districts are not occasionally frequented or
visited by them. It chiefly affects the more wooded
and jungly districts, and especially the neighbourhood
of hills and mountain ranges.

It is much on the wing, sailing at a great height,
and making its appearance at certain spots in the
districts it frequents always about the same hour. It
may often be seen seated on the summit of a lofty
tree, or on some overhanging rock. I have observed
it chiefly on the Neilgherries, along the range of
Western and Northern Ghauts, also, though more
sparingly, in the bare Deccan and Carnatic. It preys
by preference on various kinds of game,—hares, jungle
fowl, spur-fowl, and partridges, and even on pea-fowl;
also on ducks, herons, and other water-fowl, and ac-
cording to the testimony of native Shikarees, it has
been known to strike down the douk, ( Tantalus
leucocephalus.) Most native Falconers, too, have
stories to relate of its having carried off a favourite
Hawk. On one occasion, on the Neilgherries, I obser-
ved it stoop successively at a spur-fowl, hare, and
pea-fowl, each time unsuccessfully however, owing to
the thickness of the jungle. A pair were also wont to
resort to a village at the hills, and carry off fowls.
Great havoc was committed among several pigeon-houses
on the Neilgherries by a pair of these Eagles, and
indeed I have heard that one or two were completely
devastated by them. The manner in which they cap-
ture the pigeons was described to me by two or three
eye-witnesses to be as follows:—On the pigeons taking
flight one of the Eagles pounced down from a vast
height on the flock, but directing its swoop rather

BONELLIS EAGLE. 65

under the pigeons than directly at them. Its mate
watching the moment when alarmed by the first swoop
the pigeons rise in confusion, pounces unerringly on
one of them, and carries it off. The other Eagle
having risen again also makes another swoop, which is
generally fatal. I have not yet been fortunate enough
to meet with the nest of this Hawk Eagle, but it is
said by native Shikarees to build on steep and inac-
cessible cliffs, and to breed in January and February.”

The figure of this egg is from a drawing sent me
by M. Moquin-Tandon, who observes,—‘“‘This drawing
(without shade) was given to me formerly by M. des
Murs, from an egg in his collection; (you know the
collection is now in America.) I do not know the
country where this egg was taken, nor can I be an-
swerable for its authenticity. Its size is quite in
accordance with that of the bird, but its colouring
does not resemble that of the Eagles.”

Since the above we have received the following from
M. Mogquin-Tandon. ‘In the third number of Badeker’s
work, just out, two figures are given of F. bonelli,—
pl. 17, fig. 3. These figures are the size and nearly
of the form of the drawing I sent you, but the col-
our is not so red, and more like that of the Royal
Eagle.”

There is a long series of this bird in the Norwich
Museum, shewing the great variety in its plumage, for
which it is remarkable. A fine adult male, probably a
typical specimen, has the ground-colour of head, nape,
belly, and throat white, with brown markings on the
head and nape, and narrow longitudinal streaks of
reddish grey on the belly. Wings variegated with
dark and light brown, the quill feathers darker.

An adult female from Spain, in the same collection, has
VOL, 1. K

66 BONELLIS EAGLE.

the head, nape, throat, belly, thighs, and under tail
coverts a rich cinnamon brown, streaked on the under
parts with long narrow longitudinal black bands on the
shafts of each feather. ‘The head and nape are marked
with dark longitudinal stripes. Back and tail dark
brown; quill feathers darker, slightly marked with
white.

Three other specimens (females) have a plumage in-
termediate between the two, doubtless in consequence
of age, as it varies much every year. According to
Marmora and ‘Temminck the beak in the adult is
horn-colour; cere and feet livid yellow; iris brown.

Birds of the year have the iris brownish yellow.
Birds of the third year have the iris a clear yellow,
and the tail without the dark border at its extremity,
and marked with nine or ten transverse bands. ‘There
are seven large scales on the last joint of the median
toe in the adult, and four on that of the external and
internal.

s . Sat

BOOTED EAGLE,

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDZ..
Genus Fanco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Aquina. ( Brisson.)

BOOTED EAGLE.

Falco pennatus.

Falco pennatus, GMELIN. LatHam. Cuvier.
Ls sa TemMMINCEK. ScHINz.
“é a ‘2 B
pedibus-pennatis, RISSON.
Aquila pennata, Breum. Lesson.
= Cu. Bonaparte.
= Keys st Bras.

ScHLEGEL. GouLp. Gray.
Gestiefelter adler and Zwergalder, Or BrEeuM.
LT’ aigle botté, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters.—Legs feathered to the toes; three scales
at the extremity of the middle toe. A patch of white feathers
at the insertions of the wings. Tail above entirely brown. The
smallest of all the Eagles.

Measurement.—Length of adult male seventeen inches and a
half. Length of adult female eighteen inches.

Ir size were to be taken as the basis, or even an
element in classification, the Falco pennatus must be
excluded from the family of Eagles. But it has the

68 BOOTED EAGLE,

distinctive characteristics of a true Eagle, as shewn,
among other marks, by the scales on the middle toe.
It is smaller than any of our European Buzzards,
with one of which, the Rough-legged Buzzard, (F.
lagopus,) it has some similarity, and was even con-
founded with it by M. Temminck im the first edition
of the “Manual.” ‘This error was, however, corrected,
and a very distinct diagnosis given in the second
edition, which I have incorporated with the specific
characters at the head of this notice.

This beautiful little Eagle, called “Booted,” from the
thickly feathered tarsi, inhabits the eastern parts of
Europe and adjoining parts of Asia, from whence it
migrates occasionally into France and Spain. A speci-
men was shot at Meudon, in March, 1826; another at
Bar-sur-Seine, in October, 1838; and others in the
neighbourhood of Saumur and _ Bagnéres-de-Bigorre,
St. Etienne and Bayonne; and M. Degland, on whose
authority we give the above localities, possesses himself
a specimen which was killed in the department of the
Hautes Pyrénées, on the 20th. of May, 1838. M. le
Comte Von der Miihle’ mentions in his work on the
“Birds of Greece,” that he obtained many specimens
in that country, and that two individuals were captured
near Munich.

The Booted Eagle is described as very courageous,
and attacks birds larger than itself, which alone would
distinguish it from any Buzzard, were any point of
difference now needed. It lives chiefly upon small
mammals, reptiles, and large insects. It builds in high
trees in Spain, and sometimes in the Pyrenees, laying
two, rarely three short eggs, of a dirty white, slightly
blue, and with a few very indistinct reddish spots; the
long diameter being nearly two inches, and the short

BOOTED EAGLE. 69

one about an inch and a half. Gould’s very fine
figure of this bird was from a specimen sent him by
Baron Feldegg, which was killed in Austria. There
is a specimen in the Norwich Museum, which was shot
on the nest at Bar-le-duc, in France, which must
therefore be added to its European nesting localities.
Our information about this interesting bird is altogether
very scanty.

The specimen above alluded to in the Norwich
Museum, has the head, nape, chest, belly, and under
tail feathers white, with longitudinal ferrugimous mark-
ings, and darker central streaks on the feathers of the
chest. On the head and nape the ground-colour is
nearly lost, so as to appear dusky brown. Moustache
darker, and well marked; primaries black; tail brown.
The iris is said by Temminck to be dark brown; the
cere and toes, by Degland, to be greenish yellow.

Young birds are described as reddish brown above,
most decidedly so on the head; light red below, with
the streaks of a darker tint on the shafts of the
feathers.—(Degland.)

In the “Madras Journal,” vol. x, page 75, Mr.
Jerdon remarks:—“‘My attention was first called to this
bird at Trinchinopoly, by Mr. Hooper, C.S., who shot
a specimen in the act of pouncing on some of his
pigeons. I occasionally afterwards recognised it, as I
thought, among the Kites, and saw it attempt to swoop
off chickens and pigeons. Its appearance in the air,
and mode of flight much resemble that of the Kite;
but the crows appear to distinguish it readily, and often
clamorously pursue it.”

The Rey. H. B. Tristram writes of this bird, in his
“Catalogue of Eggs for 1857:’—‘‘This symmetrical
little bird, so like a Buzzard in repose, so unlike it

70 BOOTED EKAGLE.

on the wing, is only a summer visitant to Soutl
4 prefer the cliffs'and open country to the forests. It —
lays two eggs, longer and a little larger than a Buz-—
zard’s, and seldom so richly marked.” a
The figure of this egg is from a drawing sent me _
by M. Moquin-Tandon, who observes,—‘This egg was a
sent to me from the Spanish Pyrénées, by a seller of — a
skins. I thought for some time that it belonged to the
Common Buzzard, or else the Rough-legged Buzzard;

; but on comparing it with two drawings, quite recently —
published by M. Biideker, pl. 1, fig. 3, I discovered

that I had been deceived.”

} 1 BOOTED KAGULE.
‘a

TAWNY BEAGLE. 3. PALLAS’S SEA BAGULE.

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TAWNY EAGLE.

te!

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.}

Sub-genus Aquinta. (Brisson. )

TAWNY EAGLE.

Falco neviotdes.

Falco nevioides, CUVIER.
“ rapaz, TEMMINCK.
«© albicans, ROUPPELL.
“© senegallus, CuviER.
Aquila nevioides, Cuvier. Kaur. Gray.
“ fulvescens, fusca, and
punctata, Gray.
« vindhiana, FRANKLIN.
“ choka, SMITH.

Specific Characters——Colour uniformly tawny, numerous faintly-
coloured transverse bands on the upper side of the tail. Tarsi
clothed. Four large scales at the end of the middle toe.

Dimensions of an adult male in the Norwich Museum, from M.
Favier, of Tangiers.—Length twenty-six inches. Length of wing
twenty inches; beak to angle of gape two inches and a half; middle
toe and claw three inches; hind toe and claw two inches.

I inrropuce this bird into the European list upon
the authority of Lieutenant Blakiston, who has described

Fie TAWNY EAGLE.

its occurrence in the Crimea, in the ‘“Zoologist” for
1857, p. 5350, in the following words:—‘‘There is one
more species of which I must speak; the only specimen
I know having been killed by a friend of mine in
the far-famed valley of Baidar, in May, who kindly
brought me the specimen while fresh, which I accord-
ingly skinned, not knowing the species, however, until
my return to England, when on walking through the
British Museum I espied one that was to my mind the
same, and so it turned out to be, namely the Tawny
Eagle, (Aquila nevioides.) I preserved the sternum of
this bird.”

The extensive range of this bird over the continent
of Africa and Southern Asia, makes its discovery in
the Crimea less remarkable. It is mentioned by Dr.
Riippell, under the name of A. albicans, as occurring
in Abyssinia.

An interesting account of this Eagle is given by Mr.
Jerdon, in the tenth volume of the Madras Journal,
p. 68, from which I quote the following:—

“The Wokhab (the Indian name for Tawny Eagle)
is the most abundant Eagle in India. I have seen it
both in the Carnatic, though more rarely, and on the
table land, where it is tolerably common. In the Car-
natic it chiefly frequents hilly districts clad with low
jungle. In the Deccan it frequents by preference the
cultivated lands near villages. ‘Till an hour or two
after sunrise it may be seen seated on the top of some
tree, after which it sallies forth, sailing about at a
moderate height in general, though it varies much in
this respect, over the fields, valleys, and ravines, with
a slow circling flight, or in company with the kites,
like which it is ever.on the look-out, hovering over
villages, towns, and cantonments. ‘They prey upon

TAWNY EAGLE. 73
hares, as I have ascertained in one or two instances
from the contents of their stomachs, and other game,
also rats, lizards, snakes, and insects; occasionally also
pounce on an unwary bird, and in fact feed upon almost
any kind of food, living or dead, which, however, they
obtain perhaps less by their own industry than by
robbing other birds—kites, falcons, and other birds of
prey. From Mr. Ellitt’s “Notes” I extract the follow-
ing:—‘The Wokhab is very troublesome in hawking
after the sun becomes hot, mistaking the jesses for some
kind of prey, and pouncing on the falcon to seize it.
I have once or twice nearly lost shaheens in consequence,
they flying to great distances from fear of the Wokhab.
A specimen I possessed alive was not very particular
as to its food. It frequently snatched morsels from a
Golden Eagle I kept with it, to which the latter in
general quietly submitted; it is a very noisy bird,
frequently uttering a shrill scream, and has a great
share of curiosity, walking up to and carefully and tho-
roughly examining every new-comer I place in the same
apartment. It is apparently a very easily-domesticated
bird, and perhaps might be taught to hunt hares, etc.’ ”

Mr. Gurney also writes to me about this bird as
follows:—‘“‘Mr. Ayres sent me a specimen from Natal,
who writes that a hawk had seized a fowl and was
carrying it off, when a Tawny Eagle gave chase,
apparently for the purpose of plundering it of its prey.
The hawk took refuge in the “bush,” and the Eagle
being thus disappointed, was flying over the bush when
Mr. Ayres shot it. M. Favier, of Tangiers, sent me a
specimen from that locality. He states that it nests
there on the tops of high trees, and lays two eggs, of
which only one is hatched.

The Indian specimens of this Eagle are generally
VOL, I. L

74 TAWNY EAGLE.

smaller than the African, and have by some naturalists
been described as distinct species, under the name of
A. vindhiana. I have, however, a specimen from
Abyssinia, as small as those from India, but this is an
exception. ‘This Eagle seems to me to occupy a position
intermediate between A. wmpertalis and A. mursii, a
newly-discovered small Eagle of Western Africa, named
by M. Verreaux, after the late M. Des Murs.

Some specimens of A. nevioides are of uniform light
brown all over, others are much darker, but the dark
specimens generally have part of each feather rather
darker than the other parts, the shaft of the feather
separating the two shades; this is especially the case in
the feathers of the back and wings, except the quill
feathers. I have a female alive which has been im this
parti-coloured, or rather parti-shaded plumage for several
years without any variation. Specimens of this bird
killed in a wild state when near the time of moulting,
are generally very light-coloured, as the feathers fade
from exposure to the sun in the living bird, more than
they do in any other kind of bird I know. It is in
this state that Dr. Riippell calls it A. albicans. My
living bird is very noisy, and when uttering its cry
its throat puffs out nearly to the size of a goose’s egg.”

An adult male in the Norwich Museum has the
head, nape, neck, all the under parts except the tail,
and most of the back, a tawny dirty yellow. ‘The
large wing coverts are more variegated with dark brown.
Primaries, secondaries, and tail feathers above and below,
dark hair brown; tail on the upper surface faintly
marked with numerous transverse bands; cere and toes
dirty greenish yellow.

The figure of the egg is from a specimen sent by
J. H. Gurney, Esq., of Catton, Norfolk.

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SEA

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Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID A.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Aquita. (Brisson. )

PALLAS’S SEA EAGLE.

Falco leucoryphus.

Aquila leucorypha, Pattas; Zoog. Ross.
Asiat. 1, p. 352, No. 26.
Haliaétos leucoryphus, KeysErtine et Brasivs.
sé ss ScHLEGEL; Revue.
oe macet, Cuvier; Reg., An.
Falco mace, Tremminck; pl. col. 8, 223.
Cuncuma macet, GRAY.
Haliaétus unicolor, Gray.
ae lanceolatus, Gray.

Specific Characters.—Tarsi naked; cere livid. Plumage brown;
vertex spotted with white. Nine large scales on the end of middle
toe.— PaLuas.

Dimensions of an adult male in the Norwich Museum.—Length
twenty-five inches; length of wing twenty-one inches; length of
tarsus four inches; length of middle toe and claw three inches
and a half.

76 PALLAS’S SEA EAGLE.

Ir is still, we believe, an undecided question whether
Falco leucoryphus of Pallas and F. macet the great
Bengal Fish Eagle, are the same species. Gray gives
the former doubtingly as a synonyme of the latter, and
Schlegel hesitates in expressing the opinion whether the
birds observed by Pallas and Eversmann were the young
of F. macet.

There is no doubt, however, but that F. lewcoryphus
is a European species, since in addition to those observed
by the naturalist mentioned above, it has been seen
and shot by Lieutenant Irby, in the Crimea, and
recorded in the “‘Zoologist” for 1857, p. 5353, in the
following words:—

““White-headed Eagle, ( Falco leucoryphus.)—Common
in the interior of the Crimea; not seen among the rocks
by the coast. This bird bred in two instances on trees
close to the Katcha River; the nests were about thirty
feet from the ground, and very large, formed of sticks,
lined with grass and old rags. The remains of a hare
was in one nest, in which was also a young bird just
hatched, which did not live long, as may be imagined.
A very fine specimen was killed with a revolver, while
sitting on a tree near the Alma; the bird was appa-
rently gorged, and therefore allowed a very near approach.
This Eagle is apparently different from the American
White-headed Eagle, (F. leucocephalus,) and is not, I
think, described in any English work on ornithology.
Unfortunately I was not aware of this at the time, and
so did not particularly notice it. It is known to the
Russian naturalists under the name Leucoryphon. A
friend of mine, a good observer of birds, saw one of
those Eagles chase an Osprey, and make it drop its
fish. I have heard the American Sea Eagle does the
same. The head, feet, and sternum of one of these

PALLAS S SEA EAGLE. 77
birds are in England, and will no doubt clear up the
question as to whether it is a distinct species or not.”

Mr. Gurney writes, ‘I think there is not the slightest
doubt as to HZ. leucoryphus beg as good a European
species as any on the list. I had much conversation
with Lieutenant Irby, who is an excellent observer.

i - 7 It is, I understand, admitted to be
European beyond any doubt by the St. Petersburg
naturalists of the present day, the only question being
whether they are right or not in considering it identical
with H. macet of India.”

F. leucoryphus or macei, for we shall in this notice
consider them identical, was first observed in Europe
by that excellent naturalist Pallas, and was recorded by
him in his “Zoography of Asiatic Russia,” vol. i, p. 352.
He remarks that it was observed rarely in the vicinity of
the Caspian, and that it nested in the woods surrounding
that sea. He describes the bird minutely as being
rather larger than the Spotted Eagle, and in habit
between the Osprey and White-tailed Eagle.

M. Eversmann again reports the occurrence of the
same bird, as observed by him in his voyage to Bokhara.
Schlegel gives not only Eversmann’s description but his
own from the same specimen, in which he describes
the bird as having the “figure, beak, feet, and organi-
zation of H. macet.”

F. leucoryphus belongs to the section of Sea Eagles
forming the sub-genus Haliactus of authors. Its home
is the Indian continent, where it is common. Mr. Mc
Clelland, in writing in the “Proceedings of the Zoological
Society,” im 1839, remarks of H. macez, “This Eagle
preys on fish, and is particularly active during a storm,
when it is found soaring over the lee shore, descending

on such fishes as are driven into shallow water. During

78 PALLAS’S SEA EAGLE.

fine weather it spends the principal portion of its time
on some high solitary bank quite motionless.” And
Mr. Hodges, in the “Bengal Sporting Magazine” for
1836, observes, “This species is generally found on the
banks of the larger rivers, near to where they issue
into the plains, and it preys on fish;” which quite
agrees with the account given by Lieutenant Irby, of
the Leucoryphon of the Crimea.

I shall give the description by M. Schlegel, of Evers-
mann’s specimen of F. leucoryphus,—Pallas, and then
that of the specimen labelled HZ. mace in the Norwich
Museum, from which my figure is taken. M. Schlegel
says, “Length twenty-four inches and a half; wings one
foot ten inches; tail eleven inches; tarsus three inches
and a half; middle toe, without claw, two inches.
Figure, beak, feet, and organization that of HZ. macet.
Beak blackish; general colour of the plumage earthy
brown, paler on the inferior parts. Feathers, particularly
the wing coverts, with a light border; those of the
head and neck fringed with yellowish brown. Region of
the ears, and a large streak, which is prolonged hence
to the neck, blackish brown. Greater coverts of the
wings and tail black; tail varied with white the first
half of its length; tail coverts pale brown, relieved by
some whitish spots. Feet yellowish; claws blackish.
Tail insensibly rounded at its extremity.”

An adult male, marked HZ. mace, from the Himalayas,
in the Norwich Museum, has the crown of the head,
nape, scapularies, upper part of back, and all the under
parts except the throat, cinnamon brown, darker on
the belly and thighs. Throat and forehead dirty white;
wings black brown; tail white, each feather being for
about two inches from the end black. Cere and legs
yellowish brown.

PALLAS’S SEA EAGLE. 719

The female is much larger, but the plumage nearly
the same as the male, except that the back is darker,
and the white on the throat more dirty.

An immature female is nearly unicolorous, dark
cinnamon brown, with white patches on the back and

wings. ‘Tail entirely black.

80

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus. )

Sub-genus Aqurna. ( Brisson.)

BALD EAGLE.

Falco leucocephalus.

Fatco leucocephalus, Linnzvus. TEMMINCK.
“ _ ossifragus, Witson; Amer. Orn.,
(young.)
Aquila leucocephala, Pattas. Swainson.
Haliaétus washingtonii, Avupuson; Birds of America,
pl
s leucocephalus, Cuvier. Kaur. Bream. Gray.

Specific Characters.—Beak and claws shorter than those of the
Falco albicilla; eight large scales on the extremity of the middle
toe. Tarsi clothed on their upper half only.—Dxreianp.

Measurement.—Length of adult male from thirty to thirty-two
inches. Length of adult female from thirty-four to thirty-six
inches.—TEMMINCK.

THE well-known Bald Eagle of the United States,
the national emblem of that republic, is reported by
Nilsson to occur frequently and nest in Norway. It
is generally believed, however, to occur accidentally

Dev cis ClacleaVased

yaa,
ee

BALD EAGLE. 81

in Europe. One male, as reported by Degland, has
been killed in Switzerland—a female in the kingdom
of Wurtemberg; and it is stated by Brehm to appear
sometimes on the sea-coasts of Germany. It is not easy
to account for Schlegel’s reasons therefore for omitting
this bird from the European list. He seems, I think
without sufficient reason, to have thrown doubt upon
the truth of the various reports of its capture, and
considers it to have been confounded with other
species. On this point Degland remarks, ‘The opinion
which M. Schlegel gives on this subject, in his twentieth
observation, would appear to me of great weight in the
argument for erasing this bird from the European list,
if M. Nordmann had not mentioned in the “‘Faune Pon-

99

tique,” the capture in the middle of Russia of two Sea
Eagles, with all the head, neck, and tail of a pure snow
white. After having compared them carefully with other
Sea Eagles killed in the same locality, he considered
them to be old individuals of F. albicilla, not admitting
any specific difference between it and F. leucocephalus.
It is probable if the learned naturalist of Leyden had
known this fact, he would have been very careful not
to erase F. leucocephalus from the European list; for I
do not know that F. albicilla ever has, when it becomes
old, the head and neck of a pure white, like the tail.”

The habits of F. lewcocephalus are very similar to those
of the White-tailed Eagle. An admirable description is
given of this bird by Audubon, and his graphic account
of its encounter with a Swan on the banks of the
Mississippi, has been copied into almost every work
upon ornithology. I shall not insert it here, but I can-
not help quoting the observations of a recent French
writer, M. Mouat, after relating this spirited narrative

in his work:—
VOL, I. M

82 BALD EAGLE.

“Let us compare with this magnificent description the
most elegant pages of Buffon, and the difference will be
seen between the sedentary and the field naturalist. We
are far from being so ungrateful or so bold as to wish
to weaken the admiration due to that immortal writer,
who must be ever remembered with pride by France
among its scientific and literary glories. In inviting our
readers to study comparatively the style of two such
eminent men, we only wish to make them feel how many
advantages a simple and exact mind, which has studied
from Nature, has over the most brilliant genius which
has only made its observations in a menagerie or a
garden. ‘The passionate love of Natural History is the
only secret of the descriptive talent of Audubon, and
the attentive observation of facts has sufficed to give to
the pictures he has drawn a warmth of colouring which
the most clever writer cannot find among the dust of
his cabinet.”

I shall, I am sure, be excused this digression, con-
taining, as it does, so just a tribute to the celebrated
American ornithologist.

M. Mouat gives the following description of Audubon’s
first discovery of what he then thought a new species,
but which, according to Prince C. Bonaparte, is the
one I am now describing. I transcribe M. Mouat’s
account of this discovery:—

‘Audubon describes under the name of Washington’s
Eagle a species of Fishing Eagle, which Prince C.
Bonaparte re-unites to the Falco leucocephalus. The
American ornithologist observed it for the first time in
1814, and felt, he said, happier in finding this new
species than Herschel did in discovering his planet. It
was in the month of February Audubon was ascending
the Mississippi. ‘The glacial north wind surrounded him,

BALD EAGLE. 83

and so deadened his enthusiasm, that he saw with indif-
ference myriads of aquatic birds passing before him as
they descended the river. All at once an Eagle flew
above his head; he raised himself up and knew at the
first glance that it was to him a new species. He im-
mediately disembarked, and saw the Eagle directing its
flight to some high rocks. Next morning he fixed
himself opposite the place, and waited patiently for a
sight of this bird. After some hours of expectation
he heard a hissing noise, and saw at the edge of the
most elevated point of the rock two birds agitated with
signs of impatience and joy. These were the Eaglets
welcoming the return of their parents: the father appeared
first, holding in his beak a fish, which he carried to his
young ones; then the mother came also with a fish; but
more prudent than her companion, she looked round in
defiance, and perceived the man immoveable on the sur-
face of the rock. She immediately let fall her prey, and
began to fly round above him screaming, to send him
off. The young having concealed themselves, Audubon
picked up the fish, which was a large perch. He came
the next day but saw nothing. Again the following
morning, and waited all day, but his invasion had been
foreseen, and the family had changed quarters. Two
years afterwards he shot a specimen, and named it A.
washington. The following winter he was able to
observe at his leisure the habits of another pair of these
birds.”

The Bald Eagle nests on the escarpments of rocks,
and, according to Nilsson, on the largest and highest
trees. Degland says it lays two eggs, which are white
or a yellowish grey, more or less dark, with some few
shghtly apparent reddish grey spots. ‘The interior of
the egg shell is of a beautiful grass green.

84 BALD EAGLE.

The egg which we have figured of this bird is from
a drawing sent us by M. Moquin-Tandon, with the
following remarks, in which it will be seen he differs
from Degland:—‘‘His Royal Highness Prince Napoleon
brought back many eggs of this bird from his travels
in the north of Europe. He was good enough to give
me one of them. This egg is eight centimetres (three
inches and one eighth) in its greatest, and six centimetres
two milles (two inches and three eighths) in its smallest
diameter. ‘The shell is rather rough, of a whitish very
slightly azured tint, and looks as though washed with
a dirty yellow. Prince Napoleon possessed several eggs
of the same bird—none had spots. I am particular upon
this point, because Nilsson says that they have spots
rare, and but little apparent, of a reddish grey. This
assertion is repeated by Degland. I have not broken
the egg to be certain the interior of the shell is really
of a beautiful grass green, but I doubt it very much.”

It is somewhat difficult to distinguish the young of
the Bald Eagle from that of the White-tailed Eagle,
and consequently some authors, including M. 'Temminck,
in the first edition of his Manual, have confounded the
two species. The latter states the only difference is in
the length of the tail; but Degland suggests the possi-
bility of Temminck having mistaken the young of albi-
cilla for Jleucocephalus, and justly remarks that a
difference in the length of the tail as a characteristic
distinction is not entitled to much confidence. The
adult species are quite distinct.

An adult female from Canada, in the Norwich
Museum, has the head, neck, and tail entirely white;
rest of the body of a uniform dark brown, with one
or two feathers on the thighs whitish. The male does
not differ in colour from the female.

4

1. SHORT-TOED EAGLE.

J BALD: BAG UR

BALD EAGLE 85

An immature specimen in the same collection is dark
brown, with white markings on the neck, belly, and
back. ‘Tail black.

According to Degland the young differ from those of
the White-tailed Eagle in the greyish tint of the head
and neck, and by the entire plumage being less varie-
gated with dark and pale grey brown during the first
years. After some moultings the head, neck, and upper
tail coverts shew the white feathers, and leave no longer
any doubt of their identity.

According to the same authority the beak, cere, base
of the tarsi, and toes of the adult are of a more or less
pale yellow. Iris white, inclining to yellow.

Since the publication of our last number, containing
the first page of the notice of F. leucocephalus, I have
received letters from Mr. Gurney and Mr. Alfred Newton,
of Elvedon Hall, near Thetford, expressing most decided
opinions in favour of Schlegel’s view, that this bird
ought not to be included in the European list. I am
anxious to make this work as perfect as possible, and
in the admission or exclusion of any bird, I think it my
duty to weigh the evidence, and decide according to that
which appears in my judgment the strongest. Degland,
who writes five years after the publication of Schlegel’s
“Revue,” speaks in the most positive manner upon the
subject, and in favour of the retention of this bird in
the European list.

I particularly draw attention to his observation, page
13, “Ornithologie Européenne,” and the quotation of
M. Nordmann’s two Eagles, killed in the south of
Russia, with heads and necks, as well as tails, as white
as snow. Has any ornithologist ever known such a
plumage in F’ albicilla? I may add that F. leucocepha-
lus is introduced into the European list by Temminck,

86 BALD EAGLE.

Gould, Degland, C. Bonaparte, Swagers, Keyserling, and
Newton and Mr. Gurney in favour of Schlegel’s view,
knowing, as I do, that these gentlemen are experienced
practical naturalists, I am willing, I say, to leave the
matter as still swb judicvo, and to class F. leucocephalus
amongst the doubtful European species.

Note.—Fatco Levcoryenus. After my notice of this
bird was in type, I received a letter from Captain Irby,
of the 90th. Light Infantry, dated Nawabgunge, near
Lucknow, (in answer to one which I sent him making
inquiries about this bird,) from which I have much
pleasure in adding here the following extract:—

“T lost all my notes when wrecked in the ‘Transit’
in July last year, on our way to China; so all the
information which I can give you about Falco leucory-
phus will be from memory only. ‘The notice in the
‘Zoologis’ of January, 1857, contains all I know of
its habits. The officers of the 97th., who shot the
only two that I saw, would not part with them, and
I could only get the sternum of one, which I gave
to Mr. Gurney. ‘The skins were eventually destroyed
by accident, except the head, part of the wings, and
tail of one, which I think are in England now. I
will write to the owner and try and get them sent to
you. The two I saw had the head of a dirty white
colour; back, wings, and tail, of a very dark brown;
primaries nearly black; breast light brown; bill and
feet resembling those of WH. albicilla. I think it is
most likely that my birds were specimens of F. macet?,
from what I have since heard. I am sorry not to be
able to tell you more about them.”

.

10)
+t

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Aquina. (Brisson. )

SHORT-TOED EAGLE.

Falco brachydactylus.

Falco brachydactylus,

ee “ce

gallicus,
“ leucopsis,
Aquila brachydactyla,
Circaetus gallicus,

“cc se

Circaétos gallicus,

“é ee

Aigle Jean-le- Blanc,
Schlangen bussard,

Wo.rr. TEMMINCK.
ScHINz.

GMELIN. LatHam.
BECHSTEIN.
MEYER.

VIEILLOT. CUVIER.
Lesson. DEGLAND.
Bonaparte. ScHLEGEL.
Burron. Gov p.
Or THE FRENCH.
Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Toes short, nearly equal; head large, round;
eyes very large; tarsi naked.

Measurement.—Length of adult male twenty-four inches.—
TEMMINCK.

THE Short-toed Eagle forms the sole representative

88 SHORT-TOED EAGLE.

of the genus Circaetus of Vieillot. It is placed by
Schlegel after the Buzzards, but I see no reason to
deviate from ‘Temminck’s arrangement, with the exception
of placing it last of the sub-genus Aguila, forming,
as it does, a natural link between the Eagles and the
Buzzards, just as F. bonelli does between the Hawks
and the Eagles.

This bird has an extensive range over the Asiatic and
European continents. In Europe it is found, according
to Degland, in the Vosges, the Hautes-Alps, the moun-
tains of the Var and the Hautes-Pyrenées. It is a
permanent resident of the Dauphiné and Anjou. It
occurs accidentally in the north of France; rarely in
Switzerland and Germany, and is included by Count
Mihle in the Birds of Greece. According to Tem-
minck it does not occur in Holland, is becoming rare
in France, and equally so in Belgium and Italy, and
it is not included in Machado’s list of the Birds of
Andalusia.

In the Madras Journal there is an interesting account
of its habits in that country by Mr. Jerdon, which I
transcribe from the valuable Catalogue of Birds in the
East India Company’s Museum, by Mr. Horsfield:—

“This species is very generally spread over the country.
It affects chiefly the open plains and patches of cultivated
ground. It may frequently be observed perched on a
low tree, or even a bowrie pale, or seated on the bank
of a river, where it occasionally darts on its prey, but
generally takes a long and lofty circling flight, or flies
heavily along but a few yards from the ground. The
most favourite food of the Samp-mar is, as its Indian
name implies, snakes. It will however take other food.
Colonel Sykes found a rat in the stomach of one. I
saw one strike at a wounded hare, and another make a

SHORT-TOED EAGLE. 89

swoop at a teal that was shot. From Mr. Elliot’s ‘Notes’
I take the following:—‘Pounces on snakes and guanas;
my Meer Shikar has seen them on the ground with
their claws on the snake’s head, its body coiled round
the bird’s wings, in which state the herd-boys sometimes
kill them. The Yerklees say it has a figure of the god
Chukram under each wing, by which it prevents the
snake going forward. In the stomach of one I found
a snake about two feet long and a centipede.’”

Of its habits in Europe the best summary with which
I am acquainted is in Degland’s “Ornithologie Euro-
péenne,” which I will give in his own words:—

“Le Jean-le-Blanc lives in the borders of woods, fre-
quenting the underwood. In its manner and carriage it
is very like the Common Buzzard, and equally indolent.
M. Gerbe saw one attacked by Magpies, but the Eagle
remained totally unmoved. In winter, according to M.
Bouteille, it lingers near the dwellings of man, on the
look-out for poultry, which in this season is its principal
food. In the summer and autumn it frequents marshes,
and then feeds upon field-mice and lizards.

M. Tyzenhauz does not agree upon this subject with
our friend, for, according to him, the Jean-le-Blanc
does not hunt small animals, but grouse, partridges,
hares, and barn-door fowls are its favourite prey. If
sometimes reptiles have been found in its stomach, it
was, according to this naturalist, in consequence of its
being forced by hunger to feed upon them. Notwith-
standing this assertion, it is, however, certain that it
attacks small vertebrate animals, and even insects. M.
Gerbe, at two different times, found their stomachs
filled with the elytra of beetles.”

The Short-toed Eagle nests not only upon high trees,

but according to M. Bouteille, in brushwood and coppices,
VOL. I. N

90 SHORT-TOED EAGLE.

in which opinion he is corroborated by M. Roux, who
says that it builds “sometimes in high trees, and some-
times very near the ground.” M. Tyzenhauz says that
it builds only on high trees in old forests, and never
on the ground.

The eggs, two or three in number, are of a dirty
white or greyish, often slightly tinged with blue, and
without. spots.—(Degland.)

M. Meyer says that the eggs are three, of a grey
slate-colour, with some spots of a light brown; but M.
Temminck remarks upon this, that he has never seen
eggs of this bird so dark a grey, and if they were, the
light brown spots would not be visible, as these spots
are always darker than the ground colour. M. Degland
says that he possesses an egg given him by M. Bouteille,
which is of a pure white, and rather rough to the
touch; that its authenticity cannot be doubted, for the
female was taken with it.

In the midst of so much discrepancy of opinion, it
is with much pleasure I introduce the remarks of M.
Moquin-Tandon, which accompanied the drawing from
which our figure was taken, kindly sent by him, and
which I think quite clears up the matter:—

“This egg was given me some years ago by Degland,
who had received it from M. Bouteille; the female was
taken with the egg. The great diameter of this egg is
six cents and a half, (two inches and five eighths,) and
the little diameter four cents and a half, (one inch and
seven eighths.) The shell is dull, and rough to the
touch. ‘Tint pale azure white, without spots. Schinz’s
figure, pl. 31, fig. 1, is rather too large, and perhaps
not sufficiently azured. That of Thienemann, pl. 11,
fig. 2, is much too small and too blue; it is, I think,
the egg of F. palumbarius, (vide “Revue de Zoologie.”’)

SHORT-TOED EAGLE. 91

Since my notice in the “Revue,” one of my friends
found three nests of this bird in the Vosges. ‘The
eggs were like the drawing I send you.

Dr. Alexander Savatier wrote to me from Beauvais,
sur Matha, (Charente-inférieure.) ‘I have killed on its
nest, in a forest in our neighbourhood, a female of
Jean-le-Blanc. ‘The nest was placed upon a very high
tree; it was sixty or seventy centimetres in diameter;
it was composed of dry twigs; it only contained one
egg, half sat upon. It was May 16th. The shell was
a dirty white, and rugose. Great diameter eight cents,
and little, about six cents. The peasants assured me
they had seen other nests, always with only one egg,
and that this was never spotted.’

Authors generally attribute two eggs to this species.
He added that the bird feeds principally on reptiles;
I have verified the truth of this assertion, for having
opened the stomach of my bird, I found it contained
a sort of ball, about the size of a partridge’s egg,
composed of serpents’ scales.”

The adult male has the upper part of the head
variegated with brown spots; nape, back, and upper
tail coverts ashy brown, a little lighter upon the edge
of the feathers; inferior parts, under tail coverts, and
legs white, with spots of a light reddish brown, more
numerous and nearer together on the neck and chest,
less frequent on the belly and sides; cheeks garnished
with black hairs; wing coverts similar to the back, with
edges of a lighter tint; quill feathers blackish brown;
tail white below, above brown, and barred widely with
a blackish tint, terminating in a white or whitish edge.
Beak ashy black; cere and feet whitish yellow; iris
brilliant yellow.

The adult female has less white on the head, neck,

SHORT-TOED EAGLE.

J

a

and inferior parts; vertex brown; spots more nume!
on the chest and abdomen. | saga
, Young birds of the year reddish brown on the head

base of all the feathers white, as in the adult; feet
greyish or livid.—(Degland.) .

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ONG-LEGGED BUZ

93

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID..
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Burro. ( Cuvier.)

Sub-generie Characters——Beak small, and curved suddenly at
the base; tarsi short; thighs clothed. Wings of medium length,
the four first quill feathers hollowed out; the first very short,
the second and third shorter than the fourth, which is the
longest. —TEMMINCK.

LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD.

Falco rufinus.

Falco rufinus, RUpPeEL..
Buteo rufinus, Kaur. Gray. Hopeson.
as fe Brytn. C. Bonaparre.
** canescens, Hopeson; Bengal Sporting
Journal, 1836.
* — longipes, Jerpon; Madras Journal, 1839.
“ rufiventer, JERDON; Madras Journal, 1841.
The Nasal Falcon, LatHam.
Chuha-mar, “ Rat-killer,” HInpvustani.

Specific Characters.—Rufous above, dirty white below. Tarsi
feathered on their upper third. Light transverse bands on the
tail.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in Norwich Museum
twenty-two inches. Length of tarsi three inches.

94 LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD.

I inrropuce this bird into this work upon the
authority of Mr. Gurney, who has received specimens
from the mouths of the Volga. The following is an
abstract of Mr. Gurney’s letter:—“In the Norwich
Museum there are specimens from Southern Asia and
the North-east of Africa, but there are also specimens
from the mouths of the Volga, which is the only Euro-
pean locality from which I have received it; but there
are probably other districts in South-eastern Europe in
which it may be found.

This species is sometimes of a uniform dark chocolate
brown all over. I have seen only two such examples,
one from India and one from Abyssinia. ‘This is out
of at least thirty specimens of the bird which I have
at different times seen; whether this is accidental or a
regular plumage I cannot tell, but being so rare in
proportion to those in the usual dress, I am disposed
to consider it an accidental variation.”

Of the habits of this bird in Europe nothing is at
present known. In fact it is a mere accidental visitor,
for which we are probably indebted to the proximity
of the European to the Asiatic boundary. I have,
however, much pleasure in introducing it into this
work.

Of its habits in India we have very interesting
accounts by Mr. Jerdon, in the ‘‘Madras Literary and
Scientific Journal,” vol. x, page 76; and by Mr.
Hodgson, in the ‘Bengal Sporting Magazine,” 1836,
page 181, from which I copy the following:—

Mr. Jerdon says:—‘‘This is certainly a rare bird. I
have hitherto only seen it near Jaulnah, perched on
low trees or on the ground, in fields or near water,
and taking a low but short flight to another similar
perch. In the stomach of the specimen I shot there

LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD. 95

was a cricket. Mr. Elliott, who met with this species
only in Guzerat, says:—‘This bird evidently preys on
field-rats which abound in the sandy soil of this province.
He is seen sitting on low trees or bushes over the
rat-burrows, and, watching his opportunity, darts down
on his victim. In the stomach of one were the exuvie
of a rat, and a large beetle.”

Mr. Hodgson writes:—‘‘These birds are very common
in the central and northern hilly regions of Nepal,
but I never procured one from below. It adheres to
the woods when the crops are up, but after harvest
comes into the open country, and is seen perpetually
perched on a clod and looking out for snakes, which
constitute its chief food. It also preys on rats and
mice, and on quails, snipes, and partridges, but is
reduced to take the birds on the ground. I have seen
it, however, make a splendid stoop at a quail, which,
after being flushed, chanced to alight on a bare spot,
so as to be visible to the bird as he followed it with
his eye on the wing, and marked it settle. Teal, and
even ducks are frequently slain by our bird in the
same way. If he can perceive them take wing, even
at half a mile’s distance, he is up with them in an
instant, and is sure to capture them, unless they are
under cover in a moment after they touch the earth.”

An adult male in the Norwich Museum has the
head, nape, throat, belly, and under tail coverts dirty
white, with ferruginous and brown markings on the
head and neck. ‘Thighs chesnut brown. Back light
ferruginous, with dark centres to each feather. Upper
wing coverts hair-brown; primaries, externally ash-
brown, terminating in dark brown; the upper and
inner half of each barb white. Tail feathers cinnamon
brown, lighter in the centre, and barred slightly above,

LONG-LEGGED BUZZARD.

more strongly below, with ick transverse bai
darker brown. vd ‘hel
The figure of this bird is fea a UE by
Reeve, of the Norwich Museum.
®

io,

cael

97

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDZ..
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Bureo. ( Cuvier.)

AFRICAN BUZZARD.

Falco tachardus.

Falco tachardus, Davpin; Tr. d’Orn ii, p. 164,

Buteo tachardus, Vretttot; Dict. d’Hist. Nat. x,
p. 479.

Buteo capensis, Scuteeet; Faun. Jap.

Le tachard, Le Variant; Hist. Nat. des

Ois., d’Afrique, p. 82, pl. 19.

Specific Characters.—Plumage of upper parts dark brown; under
parts whitish, spotted with brown. ‘Tarsi clothed in front on their
upper thirds.

Measurement of adult specimen in the Norwich Museum.—Length
seventeen inches and three quarters; from carpus to tip of wing
fourteen inches and a half; tarsus three inches.

THis is another bird which I introduce into the
European list, upon the authority of Mr. J. H. Gurney,
who has two specimens from the mouths of the Volga,
in his collection.

Mr. Gurney considers that there is no specific differ-

VOL, I. O

98 AFRICAN BUZZARD.

ence between this bird and that which is named in
collections Buteo cirtensis, from North Africa. Mr.
Gurney came to this conclusion after carefully examining
a dozen specimens from the Cape of Good Hope,
Mogadore, Tangiers, Erzeroum, and the mouths of the
Volga.

Falco tachardus is a native of South Africa, where
it was discovered by Le Vaillant, during his travels
there in the latter part of the last century. He only
obtained one specimen, which is figured in his work.
It is included by Schlegel in his Fauna Japonica, but
I am not aware of its having been noticed as occurring
in North Africa before, which makes Mr. Gurney’s
discovery of its identity with B. cirtensis the more
interesting.

Nepal is the most eastern locality in which Mr.
Gurney has known it to occur, but if Prince Charles
Bonaparte and Dr. Gray are right in referring Schlegel’s
B. capensis of Japan to this species, it would appear
to have a much more extensive range.

“The appearance of this bird when alive,”

says Mr.
Gurney, “is less heavy. and more elegant than that of
B. vulgaris. My living specimen, which was dull
brown when I bought it, a year ago, has moulted into
a rich rufous plumage, and one that was alive in the
Zoological Gardens a few years ago, underwent a similar
change.”

According to M. Favier, F. tachardus nests among
the rocks, and the male takes its turn in sitting.

I have much pleasure in giving a drawing of one of
the eggs sent by M. Favier. It has a strong resemblance
to the egg of the Black Kite, but it is a little more
pointed, and the ground colour a cream white, that of
the former having a greenish tinge. I have to thank

. AFRICAN BUZZARD. 2. BLACK KITS.

=

8. ARABIAN KITE.

AFRICAN BUZZARD. 99

Mr. Gurney for the loan of this egg, now I believe,
figured for the first time.

Le Vaillant, in his notice of Le tachard, says, “It
resembles very nearly in its form the other African
Buzzards, but the tail is longer and the body smaller
than any of those I have described. Its beak is as
weak as that of Le rougri, but its claws are larger and
sharper, which proves in addition to its long tail and
wings, that it is a more successful hunter than the
others.”

“It is easily distinguished from Le rougri and Le
rounir, not only by the above characters, but by its
tarsi being clothed with feathers beyond their middle,
while in these birds they are naked. In Le gante,
again, the tarsi are clothed entirely to the toes. Le
tachard also has fewer feathers on the thighs. As to
its colours, the head is a brown grey, brightened by
some white spots on the interior of the feathers, which
is the general colour of all the under parts. The
throat and chest are whitish, spotted with brown; the
scapularies and wing coverts are dark brown, but each
of the feathers is edged by a lighter tint, which
marks it out distinctly. ‘The tail above is brown, and
grey white waved with a light grey brown below.
The base of the beak is yellowish; upper mandible
black, and the under nearly quite yellow to the tip,
which is black. The naked parts of the tarsi are
yellowish, as well as the toes; claws brown. ‘The eye
was a dark reddish brown. ‘Tail square, that is, all
the quill feathers are of equal length.”

Mr. Gurney writes:—“The cere, feet, and tarsi of
this Buzzard are lemon-yellow; the iris is sometimes a
light hazel and sometimes yellow, probably assuming
the latter colour as the bird advances in age; a simi-

100 AFRICAN BUZZARD.

lar variation, which exists in the iris of the Common
Buzzard, is however, not always referable to age, as
I have ascertained by experience. The bill is dark
lead-colour, but somewhat lighter adjoming the throat
and cere.”

We are indebted for the drawing from which our
figure is copied to Mr. Reeve, of the Norwich Museum.
It is taken from Mr. Gurney’s living specimen, and
consequently represents the rich rufous plumage in
which his bird is at the present time. Mr. Gurney
has alluded to this change of plumage in an extract
I have given above. Le Vaillant’s figure closely re-
sembles his description. ‘There is no apparent difference
in the sexes.

Mr. Reeve writes: —“The crown of the head, back,
and scapularies are dark ashy-brown, each feather
having a narrow streak of brown down the centre,
shadowed with a rusty red.” ‘This clearly identifies
Mr. Gurney’s bird with Le tachard of Le Vaillant.

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101

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONID A.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus. )

Sub-genus Minvus. (Cuvier. )

Sub-generie Characters.—Nostrils oblique, a fold on their
outer edge. Tarsi short, feathered a little below the knee.
Wings long, first quill feather much shorter than the sixth,
the second a little shorter than the fifth, the third of nearly
equal length with the fourth, which is the longest of all.—
TEMMINCK.

BLACK KITE.

Falco ater.
Falco ater, Linnzvus. Gmewin. Latuam.
ss TEMMINCK.
*« fusco-ater, Meyer.
Milvus niger, Brisson. Bonaparte.
pe - KEYSERLING AND Buasius.
Le Milan Noir, Or THE FRENCH.
Schwarzer Milan, Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Beak black; only the upper third part of
the tarsi feathered. Internal toe shorter than the external, the
latter passing a little beyond the middle of the median. Tail
slightly forked. Length twenty-two inches.—Dretanp.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in Norwich Museum
twenty inches. Length from carpal joint to tip of wing seventeen
inches.

102 BLACK KITE.

Tur Black Kite is, according to M. Temminck,
found in Germany, but little known in France and
Switzerland; very rare in the north, but more frequent
in the south; very common in Gibraltar and Africa.
It is also common in Japan, where it is known by the
name of Tobi; specimens from this part of the world
are in all respects similar to those obtained in Europe.
Its true habitat is Africa, Japan, the Caucasus, and
south of Russia, where it is common. It is very
common in Abyssinia.

Count Von der Mihle mentions its occurrence in
Greece, but rarely; and Machado includes it among
the birds of Andalusia. According to M. Darracq, as
quoted by Degland, it may be seen all through the
year hovering over the Ardour, between Bayonne and
the mouth of that river. It breeds in the neighbour-
hood of Troyes and in Lorraine, and is found in the
Bas Languedoc and Hautes Pyrenées.

In its habits it resembles the other members of its
tribe, but its principal food is fish, which it will take
out of the river when dead, or plunge into to catch
alive. It appears particularly fond of shad. M.
Temminck says that. the carrion crow will attack it,
and force it to drop its prey.

It builds on high trees, and lays three or four eggs,
which Degland describes as yellowish white, or very
pale grey russet, with large and very small brown
spots, numerous and very close to each other; some-
times they are nearly white, with large spots of an
obscure red about the larger end.

The Rev. H. B. Tristram, who collected eggs and
birds in Algeria in 1857, says of this bird:—“F. ater
has a less extensive range than the Common Kite, but
when found, is more plentiful. This elegant and

BLACK KITE. 103

graceful bird exhibits some amusing peculiarities in its
nidification. It has a passion for gaudily-coloured rags,
which it assiduously collects and hangs in front of and
around as well as in its nest. It does not appear to
lay more than three, often only a single ege. A
series of its eggs displays richer colouring than one
either of the Common Kite or Milvus parasiticus, but
the greatest care was taken in identifying each
species.”

M. Moquin-Tandon has kindly sent me a drawing
from which my figure is taken, which was accompanied
by the following remarks:—“This egg was given me
by M. Schinz, of Ziirich; it comes from the north of
Switzerland, where this bird is not common. M.
Schinz has figured (plate 38, fig. 4) an egg of this
bird covered with very dark small brown spots, very
numerous, and mingled together at the smaller end.
If the species is authentic, it is a very remarkable
variety. M. Thienemann (plate 11, fig. 7) has given
an authentic drawing of this egg. I think, however,
it is rather too large. I saw a few days ago in the
Museum of Natural History, some eggs of F. ater,
sent from Africa by M. Favier; they exactly resembled
the drawing I send to you.”

An adult male in the Norwich Museum has the
head, neck, throat, and upper part of chest striped
with brown upon a whitish grey ground. Belly
rufous, with the feather shafts black; thighs and
under tail coverts rich cinnamon brown, with longitu-
dinal markings. Wings above dark brown, lighter on
the scapularies; primaries black; secondaries hair
brown. ‘Tail above dark brown, underneath grey, with
darker transverse bands. Beak black; cere yellow;
tarsi and toes grey.

104 BLACK KITE.

The female resembles the male, but the colours are
duller.

According to Degland the young birds have the
feathers of the head, neck, and wing coverts, edged
with reddish white; tail without transverse bands or
but slightly visible; beak brownish, darker at the tip.

w

4

ARABIAN

Kir se,

105

Rapraces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.
Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus Mitvus. ( Cuvier.)

ARABIAN KITE.

Falco egyptius.

Falco egyptius et forskahliz, GMELIN.

“parasiticus, Daupin. Latuam.
Milvus parasiticus, Kaur. ScHLEGEL.
« — egyptius, Drcranp.
« etolius, SAVIGNY.
Falco ater, TEMMINCK. VIEILLOT.
se oe Cu. Bonaparte.
Le parasite, Le VAILLANT.

Specific Characters.—Beak yellowish. Upper half of tarsi
clothed with feathers; internal toe shorter than the external, the
latter passing much beyond the middle of the median. Tail
more forked than in the Black Kite. Length twenty-one inches.
—DerGuanD.

Measurement.—Length of adult male in Norwich Museum
twenty inches. From carpal joimt to tip of wing eighteen
inches.

In the first edition of his “Manual” M. Temminck

confounded this with the preceding species, and the
VOL, I. EB

106 ARABIAN KITE.

same error was committed by Vieillot, Ch. Bonaparte,
and several other ornithologists. In his second edition
in 1840, M. Temminck corrected this error, which
seems to have arisen from the fact that both birds are
equally common at the Cape of Good Hope and in
Egypt, and at the same time pointed out that the
Parasite of Le Vaillant is easily distinguished from the
Black Kite by its stronger and more raised and con-
stantly yellowish beak; by the brighter red colour of
the abdomen and thighs of the adult; by the tail
being more forked, and the general plumage being
coloured in larger masses.

Count Miihle mentions having obtained two speci-
mens of this bird in Greece, in the months of June
and August, which had beautiful wax-like beaks,—
tolerably stout,—black-banded tails, red brown thighs,
and black shafts on the feathers of the abdomen.
Degland says that it has also occurred in Dalmatia,
and Mr. Gurney in the following abstract, hints that
it has been taken in the south of France.

“The African range of this species is much the
same as that of A. gabar, except that I rather doubt
whether it is so common in Egypt, (although one of
its synonymes is M. egyptius.) It is said to occur
occasionally in Greece, and also in the south of

France. ‘This species when adult, is readily distin-_

guished by its yellowish white bill; but when younger
the bill is a brown horn-colour, and in that state it
might easily be confounded with the M. niger.”

The Egyptian Kite is said to be very voracious
and hardy, and it will sometimes dispute with the
carnivora for its prey. Its food is birds, fish, and
carrion.

According to Degland, from whom the above passage

——--

ARABIAN KITE. 107

is quoted, it builds among the most elevated trees and
rocks.

Its eggs are said by Le Vaillant to be four; white
ground with red spots; and by Ardouin three or four;
yellowish white, entirely covered with confluent brown
spots, leaving the ground-work hardly visible.

An adult male im the Norwich Museum has the
head, back, and under parts, of a dark cinnamon
brown, lighter on the thighs; primaries and tail
feathers above dark brown; tail below with nine or
ten dark bands; under tail coverts cinnamon.

The female does not differ from the male. When
recent the beak is yellowish with the tip black; cere
bluish; feet yellow. In the young the plumage is
brown and the tail almost square. Adult specimens do
not differ much in plumage.

The figure of this bird is from a drawing by Mr.
Reeve, of the Norwich Museum. It is taken from a
living specimen, in the possession of Mr. Gurney.

108

Rapaces—Diurne.
FALCONIDA.

Genus Fatco. (Linneus.)

Sub-genus ELanus.

(Savigny.)

Sub-generic Characters.—Beak short, strongly bent from its
origin with a very hooked tip; cere very hairy; feet short;
tarsi partly feathered; toes divided. Wings long; the first
and second quill feathers nearly equal, second longest of all.
Tail more or less forked.—TEmmMincx.

BLACK-WINGED KITE.

Falco melanopterus.

Faleo melanopterus,

ce ee

“ec

vociferus et sonninensis,
Elanus melanopterus,

ee

cesius,
Elanoides cesius,
ss Le Blac,
Falken Milan,
Kupasee or Kapasi, Chanwa, and
Chanwa Musaher,

LatHam. Davpin.
TEMMINCK. ScCHINZ.
LaTHam.

Lraco. Kaur. Gray.
ScHLEGEL. GovULD.

C. Bonaparte. DEGLAND.
SAVIGNY.

VIEILLOT.

Lz VaAtmLuant.

Or THE GERMANS.

HInpDvstTanI.

Specific Characters.—Tail not long, nearly square; upper two

( !
Yj Willy, ||
i Wy , i ie }

BLACK-WINGED KITE.

BLACK-WINGED KITE. 109

thirds of tarsi clothed with feathers; external toe much shorter
than the internal, the latter reaching to the anterior third part
of the median.

Measurement.—Length twelve to fourteen inches.—Dr@uanp,

Tuts beautiful little Falcon, so well known to orni-
thologists from Gould’s exquisite plate in the “Birds
of Europe,” is the last of its family which I shall have
to introduce into this work. It is an African species,
forming with its congener, the North American “Swal-
low-tailed Kite,’ which is in the British lists, the only
representatives of the genus Elanus of Savigny.

The little Black-winged Kite is found generally dis-
tributed over the Indian continent, and in Africa from
south to north. It is common in Egypt, and it occurs
in Java, New Holland, and also in the southern part
of North America.

In Europe it is an accidental visitor. It has been
found in France, Germany, and Spain, and is a _peri-
odical visitor according to Count Miihle, in Greece.

Specimens are recorded by Degland as having been
killed at Cassel, in May, 1830. In the Coté d’Or it
has been seen in October; and M. Crespon killed an
adult male in the same month in the neighbourhood of
Nimes.

It has not that I am aware of, ever been known to
breed in Europe; and as its habits have been observed
only in Africa and Asia, I shall again make extracts
from the Madras Literary and Scientific Journal, vol.
vl, page 77, in which a notice of its manners is given
by Mr. Hodgson, and vol. x, page 71, where I find
the following observations by Mr. Jerdon:—

“Though generally spread over India, the Kupasee
is by no means common. It is most frequent in woody

110 BLACK-WINGED KITE.

districts. Its general food is insects, (chiefly grasshop-
pers and locusts,) lizards, and mice. I shot one in
Goomsoor which was devouring the carcass of a dove;
this however appeared to have been dead some time,
and I doubt if it was killed by the Kupasee. It often
frequents long grass and grain-fields, over which it may
be seen to hover like the Kestrel.”

Mr. Hodgson says, “The Chanwa or Black-wing
quests chiefly in the morning and evening, feeding
upon small birds, insects, and mice. It does not usually
seize upon the wing, though its hunting be for the
most part by continual questing. Commonly it is seen
skimming the cultivation like a Circus, occasionally
poising itself on the wing for the purpose of getting a
distincter view of some mouse, small bird, or insect
which has stirred on its beat, and upon which, when
clearly perceived, # stoops perpendicularly with the
speed of lightning. After a while it will resort to some
low roost, and when relieved commence another excur-
sion, or perchance sit and watch there for its prey.
Its forward flight is easy, low, and silent, but very
effective in evolution when exertion is required to cap-
ture such nimble game as mice, which constitute its
ordinary food.

It frequently whips off insects from the stalks of
standing grain, and this feat is of course accomplished
on the wing.

I have also seen the Chanwa pursue Cuckoos and
Sparrows with uncommon energy, but I never witnessed
it strike a bird in the air.

The Chanwa doubtless can and sometimes does seize
its feathered prey on the wing.”

It will be seen from the above that the food of this
bird is not, as stated by Temminck, exclusively insects.

4

'
om
‘

BLACK-WINGED KITE.

BLACK-WINGED KITE. 1G

From Le Vaillant we read, “It rests on the tops of
trees, where the pure white of its stomach glistens in
the sun; but when it flies it is by its piercing cry
that its presence is announced. It lives upon large
insects, such as grasshoppers, mantis, etc.; and it chases
the Crows and Magpies which live upon the same
kind of food, with much courage from its domicile. It
exhales an odour of musk very distinctly. It places its
nest large and wide in the bifurcation of trees, lining
it with feathers and moss, and laying four or five white
eggs.”

The Rey. H. B. Tristram, in his “Catalogue of Alge-
rian Birds,” says of Falco melanopterus:—“<This beau-
tiful bird is extremely rare in Algeria. A female
specimen was the only one obtained during the spring.
The egg is interesting as corroborating by its character
the position of the species between Astur and Buteo.
It is believed to be hitherto unknown to British col-
lectors.”’

The adult male and female have the vertex, nape,
and mantle ashy grey, lighter on the head. Face, front
of neck, and under parts of body pure white, shaded
with bluish ash-colour upon the sides of the cheek;
eye-brows anda spot in front of the eyes black; wings,
when folded, partly black and partly a more or less dark
ash-colour, with the carpus and the edge pure white.
Tail shaded with grey above, white below; beak black;
iris and feet orange yellow.

Young birds.—Colours duller, with the feathers of
the upper parts edged with ferruginous red; those of
‘the under parts longitudinally marked with brown
streaks or spots; wings slate-coloured, with the coverts
and quills ending in a reddish white; tail ash-coloured,
tipped with white. When first born they are covered

Ly BLACK-WINGED KITE.

with a reddish grey down; when they leave the nest
they have the head, nape, and upper parts of the body
of a reddish tint; the chest ferruginous red, and the
rest of inferior parts white, very slightly “watered”
with a reddish tint. (Degland.)

There are four specimens in the Norwich Museum.

I have now brought to a close the description of
the important and interesting family of the Falconide.
I have endeavoured to make the list as correct as the
present state of ornithology will permit; and I have
spared no time or labour in the task. There are some
species admitted whose claims may be doubted, and
others omitted which a more advanced knowledge of
the birds inhabiting or appearing along the boundary
line may bring into the European Fauna. Of this class
there are three more particularly which may be men-
tioned here—F alco peregrinoides, F. vocifer, and F.
rupicolus, to the first and last of which my attention
has been kindly drawn by Mr. Gurney, of whose great
practical knowledge of the family I have had such fre-
quent cause to avail myself in the previous pages.

F. vocifer has been admitted by Schlegel into the
European list on the strength of some specimens said
to have been killed in Greece; but Count Miihle, our
best historian of Grecian ornithology, makes no mention
of its appearance there, and I think it will be admitted
that the evidence is too slight. The geographical dis-
tribution of birds is a most interesting subject, and it
requires great care and research to avoid that error
which is so easily created by the too often doubtfully-
assigned localities of birds in museums.

BLACK-WINGED KITE. 113

Of the other two Mr. Gurney thinks there is sufficient
evidence to place them among the doubtful species;
and as the. publication of this work will extend over
three or four years, there will probably be abundant
materials in that time to form a supplement of really
indigenous or accidental species, about which the
evidence may admit of no reasonable doubt.

VOL. I. Q

114

OrpvEeR I.—RAPACES.
Division I].—Rapraces—Nocrurn#,
Family STRIGIDA. ( Bonaparte. )

Genus Strix. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters—Beak compressed, curved from its root;
base surrounded with a cere, covered altogether or in part
with rough hair. Head large, much covered with feathers;
nostrils lateral; eyes very large, placed in wide orbits, sur-
rounded by stiff feathers, and provided with a membrana nicti-
tans; iris brilliant. Feet amply covered with feathers, often
quite to the claws; three toes before and one behind, completely
divided; exterior toe reversible. Wings rather pointed; first
quill feathers toothed upon their exterior edge; first quill
feather the shortest, second not reaching to the end of the
third, which is the longest—Trmmrncx.

Section I. First Division—AccrPirrIngs.

Tail more or less long, and tapering; quest for food during
the day. Head without tufts.

URAL OWL.

Striz Uralensis.

Strix Uralensis, Patuas. GMELIN.
a og TremMMINcK. SCHLEGEL.
“ litturata, ReEtzius. VIEILLOT.
as es DEGLAND. :
‘“ macroura, Meyer anp WotrFr.
Syrnium Uralense and Ulula
Uralensis, Or AvTHoRs.

Chouette de l Oural, Or THe FRENCH.

ip?

hip, Mh b CMM?
Ninny is

URAL OWL:

URAL OWL. 115

Specific Characters:—Head large and much feathered; facial
disc round; eyes small; tail very long and tapered; plumage brown,
varied with white above; white spotted longitudinally with brown
below. Length twenty-three inches.—DxrcGLanp.

THE Owls form a family perfectly distinct and natural.
In their external form, in their internal anatomy, and
in their habits, they are placed by the wisdom of their
Creator a group isolated among the members of the
feathered tribes.

Linneus and Cuvier, and after them Temminck,
formed but one genus of these birds in their systems
of classification. Modern ornithologists have divided
them into at least eleven. Again I ask with all defer-
ence, is Science benefited by this somewhat pedantic
extension of a simple and precise nomenclature? “It

>

is high time,” writes one of my correspondents, a well-
known ornithologist, and moreover a learned and classic
writer, “‘that a stand should be made against a system
like this.” I quite agree with him. I am confident
the more we complicate objects in Natural History, in
any branch of the Science, with a multiplicity of names,
which however elegant and comprehensive, are unneces-
sary or devoid of simplicity, the more surely do we
throw impediments in the path of those for whom all
our systems are drawn up, and all our books written—
the students of Nature. Holding these opinions I shall
remain content with the views of the really great men
to whom I have alluded, and recognise in this work
but one genus for the Owls.

The Ural Owl is a native of the Arctic regions. It
is common in Lapland and the Ural Mountains. Ac-
cording to Meisner, as quoted by ‘lemminck, it inhabits,
though in small numbers, the cantons of Berne and the

116 URAL OWL.

Soleure; and M. Michaelles has reported its having
been several times killed in the environs of Salzbourg.
It is found in the north of Sweden, is not uncommon
in Livonia and Hungary, and is seen rarely in the
eastern parts of Germany. It seems to be pretty nearly
confined to these districts, occurring very accidentally
in any other part of the world, among which excep-
tional localities we may name Japan.

M. Schinz, who saw alive the bird said by Meisner
to have been found in the cantons of Berne and the
Soleure, is of opinion that it was only a variety of
Strix aluco, the 'Tawny Owl of the British list.

The Ural Owl preys principally upon birds and small
animals, which towards the close of the day it may be seen
looking out for, among the wild forests of the desolate
regions in which it lives. It builds its nest in the
holes of trees, and lays four or five eggs, which are
like the rest of the genus, obtuse, and of a pure glossy
white.

The Ural Owl was first discovered by Pallas, in his
“Journey into Russia in 1776,” and was described by
him in the Appendix to the French edition of his
“Voyage,” page 29. Dr. Latham has the following
description of this bird in his ‘‘Synopsis,” vol. i., page
168, sp. 37, in which he has closely followed Pallas. —
Bill colour of wax; eyelids and irides black; feathers
surrounding the eyes cinereous, encircled with black
and white feathers, and reaching quite from the forehead
to the throat; colour of the upper part of the body
not unlike that of Striz aluco, but paler, and with
scarce any undulations on the feathers; the parts be-
neath, except a few slender lines, are quite white; rump
white; the outer edge of the three outer quills serrated
the whole of their length; fourth and fifth serrated

URAL OWL. i Lag

likewise, but only at the ends; first quill shortest; tail
cuneiform, and longer im proportion than in S. aluco,;
legs covered with dirty white down.

Young birds of the year, according to Temminck,
have the ground plumage light grey brown, with the
upper parts spotted irregularly with ashy brown, light
red, and varied by white ovoid spots; the under parts
marked with spots and longitudinal stripes of ashy
brown; wings streaked transversely with grey; tail with
seven transverse bands of a whitish ash-colour.

Mr. Gurney informs me that he has specimens of the
Ural Owl from Western Sweden.

According to Middendorf, Siberian specimens are
darker and more distinct in colour, and smaller in size
than the European. ‘Those from Japan are even darker
and smaller than the Siberian. The Japan bird is
figured by Temminck and Schlegel as a distinct species
under the title of Strix fuscescens.

Rapacrs—Nocturne.
STRIGIDAK.
Genus—Strix. (Linneus.)

Section I.—First Division—AccrPrIrRrineEs.

LAP OWL.

Stric Lapponica.

Strix Lapponica, Rerzius. TEMMInck.
cs 6 ScHLEGEL. Dercauanp.
“cinerea, GMELIN. AUDUBON.

ce ee

RicHarpson & Swarnson.
in ‘Faun. Bor. Am.”

“ barbata, Pauas.

“ fuliginosa, Saaw. Nitsson. AupbusBon.
Ulula Lapponica, CUVIER.
Syrnium cinereum, Bonaparte. Gray.

Specific Characters.—Plumage grey, spotted and striped with
brown and russet above; white, with dashes of brown below.
Length twenty-four inches.—DerGLanp.

Length of specimen in Norwich Museum twenty-four inches;
from carpus to tip of wing seventeen inches.

Tur range of the Lap Owl is confined to Lapland, ;
Greenland, and the northern parts of North America.

An interesting account of this bird is given in
Richardson and Swainson’s “Fauna Boreali Americana,”

EAP) OWelts

rs
(hrs

ti

LAP OWL. 119

published in 1831, where it is described at great length
and minuteness by Swainson. The following is Dr.
Richardson’s account:—

“This bird is the largest of the North American
Owls; it was first described by Latham in his “Synop-
sis,” page 134. It is by no means a rare bird in the
fur countries, being an inhabitant of all the woody
districts lying between Lake Superior and latitude 67
or 68, and between Hudson’s Bay and the Pacific. It
is common on the borders of Great Bear Lake, and
there and in the higher parallels of latitude it must
pursue its prey during the summer months by day-light.
It keeps however within the woods, and does not fre-
quent the barren ground lke the Snowy Owl, but
hunts principally when the sun is low; indecd it is
only at such times when the recesses of the woods are
deeply shadowed that the American hare and the
marine animals, upon which it chiefly preys, come forth
to feed. On the 23rd. of May I discovered a nest of
this Owl built on the top of a lofty balsam poplar,
made of sticks and lined with feathers. It contained
three young, which were covered with whitish down.
We got them by felling the tree, which was remarkably
thick; and whilst this operation was going on, the two
parent birds flew in circles round the objects of their
care; keeping however so high in the air as to be out
of gunshot: they did not appear to be dazzled by the
light. ‘The young ones were kept alive for two months,
when they made their escape.

They had the habits common also to other Owls, of
throwing themselves back and making a loud snapping
noise with their bills when any one entered the room
where they were kept.”

To this account Mr. Swainson adds, “This bird has

120 LAP OWL.

the posterior half of its bill covered with cere,
rounded or swelled out on the sides, and very slightly
arched on the ridge; the curved point moderately com-
pressed, much resembling that of Strix brachyota. Its
auditory concha is much larger than that of 8. (Bubo)
Virginiana, but very considerably less in proportion
than that of S. brachyota, though the operculum is
larger than in this bird.”

Although described as common in the fur country by
Richardson, it is rare in the United States. Audubon
only records two instances of its capture, and he saw
it once or twice. His figure of the bird is taken from
an unusually large female, thirty inches long and forty-
eight inches and a half across the wings, in the Gardens
of the London Zoological Society. The following is
his account of the habits of one of the specimens cap-
tured alive, as related in his “American Ornithology,”
vol. iv., page 364:—

““No where common in America, but ranges from the
north-east coast of the United States to the source of
the Columbia River. One of these birds was taken
alive, February, 1831, at Mablehead, Massachusetts. I
went to Salem to see it, but it had died, and I could
not trace the remains. Mr. Ince, in whose keeping it
had been for several months, fed it on fish and small
birds, of which it was very fond. It uttered at times
a tremulous cry, not unlike that of Strix Asio, the
Little Screech Owl, and shewed a great antipathy to
cats and dogs.

The comparatively small size of this bird’s eyes ren-
ders it possible that it hunts by day, and the marked
smallness of its feet and claws leads me to think that
it does not prey upon large animals.” .

This last inference of Audubon is not in accordance

LAP OWL. 121

with the account given by Dr. Richardson, nor of that
by Pennant, in his “Arctic Zoology,” vol. 11., page 232,
who says, ‘‘Feeds on mice and hares. Flies very low,
and yet seizes its prey with such force that in winter
it will sink into the snow a foot deep, and with great
ease will fly away with the American hare alive in its
talons. It makes its nest in a pine tree in the middle
of May, with a few sticks lined with feathers, and lays
two eggs spotted with a darkish colour. The young
take wing the end of July. Length two feet, extent four.”

With regard to this remark of Pennant, that the
eggs were “‘spotted with a darker colour,” there is no
doubt that it is a mistake, and that some adventitious
spots, probably of dirt or blood, had existed on the
eggs which he described. I believe there is no excep-
tion to the family characteristic of the Owl’s eggs—they
are all of a pure white.

Mr. Wolley, whose great zeal and practical know-
ledge as a naturalist I have had occasion to notice
before, has found the nest and taken the eggs of the
Lap Owl in Lapland, and I have much pleasure in
quoting here an abstract of his paper, published in the
Proceedings of the Zoological Society for March, 1857,
page 56:—

“Two nests of the Lap Owl were found in Finnish
Lapland, in 1856. In one near Sodankyla there were
two eggs, and when one of the birds was shot, a third
egg was found ready for exclusion. They were placed
on the jagged end of the stump of a large Scotch fir,
about twelve feet from the ground, at which spot the
tree had been snapped across by some storm, the upper
part not yet entirely separated, but sloping downwards
till the greater part of its weight was supported by the

ground.
VOL, I. R

122 LAP OWL.

The other nest was near Annasjoki, at the top of a
lowish Scotch fir. Some time previously in the same
year a bird had been shot at this spot, which was found
to be a female with eggs inside. The nest was not
observed until after the shot was fired. At the second
visit, on the 28th. of May, there were two eggs in the
nest, and again a bird was shot, which turned out to
be another female, with a fully-formed egg inside, through
which the bullet had passed. The skin is now in
England. The birds seemed on both occasions remark-
ably fearless.

The eggs are smoother, and, as might be expected,
considerably smaller than those of the Eagle Owl. The
dimensions of the two in the last-mentioned nest are
2in. by 1.6 in., and 2.1 in. by 1.65 in.

At the Meeting of Scandinavian Naturalists in Chris-
tiana, last summer, before I heard of these two nests
having been found, I was able to announce that the
Lap Owl generally makes its nest on the top of a
stump. I had received several reliable accounts from
different woodsmen, but had never found a nest myself,
or been able to get the eggs, which indeed have, I
believe, hitherto been unknown to ornithologists. It
appears that three is the ordinary number of eggs.”

In his Catalogue of Eggs, sold by Mr. Stevens, in
1858, Mr. Wolley accounts for the proportionate small-
ness of the egg, by the fact that the size of the Lap
Owl is very much made up by an unusual quantity of
feathers, with which it is provided to protect it against
the extreme cold of the region in which it lives. He
also says the number of eggs is four.

The male and female of the Lap Owl have the
upper parts grey, with brown and reddish spots or
streaks mm zigzags, and others white on the scapularies.

a
"
f
,

LAP OWL. 123

Under parts and under tail coverts whitish, slightly
tinged with a reddish tint; sides of the chest are irreg-
ularly covered with numerous longitudinal brown spots
and transverse zigzag lines or stripes; the legs and feet
are striped in the same way with brown and white;
face streaked with brown upon a bluish grey ground,
and encircled by feathers variegated with black, white,
or red; quill feathers crossed transversely with ash-
coloured bands, variegated on the inner barbs by
irregular lines of a reddish tint, and others of dark
brown; towards the end of the quill feathers the colours
are darker. Tail brown, crossed by wide ash-coloured
bands, spotted and striated irregularly with brown; beak
yellow, a great part of it hidden by the feathers of the
face.

The Lap Owl has been figured by Dr. Richardson in
“Fauna Boreali Americana;’’ Audubon, “Birds of Amer-
ica; Gould, “Birds of Europe;” and Nilsson, in his
“Fauna Scandinavia.”

Rapaces—Nocturne.
STRIGIDA.

Genus Strix.

Section I. Second Division—NocruRNEs.

Habits No

LEAST KUROPEAN

cturnal.

SPARROW OWL.

Striz pusilla.

Stria pusilla,

“ acadica,

se sé

sf pygma,

ee ‘ec

Glaucidium passerinum,

Surnia passerina,

Athene passerina,

Davpty; Traité d’ Ornithologie,
ii, p. 205, 1800.

Linnzus; Fauna Suecica and
Systema Nature, 1761.

ScHLEGEL. DEaLAND.

GmeE.in; Syst., 1788.

Temminck; Man., 1820.

Scuinz; Europ. Faun., 1840.

Becustr1n; Naturg. Deut., 1,
p. 978, 1801.

VIEILLOT.

BoE; Isis, 1826.

Breum; Vog. Deut,, i., p. 108,
i Mee = ep oe 2

C. Bonaparte. 1838.

KEYSERLING AND BLastvs; p.
32, 1840.

Gray.

SPARROW OWL.

N

OPHA

TTP
BU iy

LEAST

thes
oi7¢

Natural

LEAST EUROPEAN SPARROW OWL. 125

La Chevechette, Le Vartrant; Ois: d’ Afrique,
pl. 46.
Petite Chouette d’ Uplande,
and Chouette d’ Acadie, Or THE FrReNcH.
Gemeiner Sperlingskauz, OF THE GzRMANS.

Specific Characters.—Upper part of body greyish brown, punc-
tured with white spots. Inferior parts whitish, with longitudinal
brown markings. Tail feathers marked with four or five large
white spots on the inner barb, smaller en the outer, forming in
the male four white bands, and in the female three. The smallest
of European Owls. Length, male six inches, female about seven
inches.

Ir is not without considerable hesitation that I have
applied Daudin’s name to designate this bird, which is
the true S. passerina of Linneus. By the rule of
priority, the name given to it by the distinguished
naturalist by whom it was first described, ought to be
retained. But this rule, like all others, is open to
an exception, and my excuse for breaking it in the
present case, is, I think, a sound one. All the English
ornithological writers, with the exception of Mr.
Gould, who adopted Nilsson’s name S. nudipes, have
applied Linneus’s designation to a closely allied but
totally different species, the S. pselodactyla of Linneus,
the Athene noctua of modern authors, a bird in the
British lists, so well described and figured as the
Little Owl by Yarrell. Much confusion must necessarily
result among English students, by having two birds at
sight similar to each other designated by the same
name.

Temminck adopted Latham’s name, S. acadica, to
designate this bird; but it is quite certain that the S.
acadica of Latham is the North American species, a

126 LEAST EUROPEAN SPARROW OWL.

bird not known in Europe, and named, as Mr. Newton
suggests, after its habitat Acadie, that is, Nova Scotia.
I think then I have good reason for restoring Daudin’s
name, while at the same time I fully admit the priority
of Linnzus, and regret the necessity which the erroneous
designation of previous writers has forced upon me.

There are several “Little Owls’ which may, more or
less, be confounded with each other. I will briefly
notice some of these, so that the ground may be cleared,
I trust, of all obscurity or doubt:—

S. pusilla.—The subject of the present notice, and
the synonymy of which I have given at length above.
The S. passerina of Linneus. ‘

S. psilodactyla of Linneeus, Brehm, and Degland; the
S. passerina of Gmelin, Latham, Meyer, Wolff, Tem-
minck, Vieillot, Schinz, and the English authors. S.
noctua of Retzius and Schlegel. Noctua passerina of
Cuvier, and the Athene noctua of Gray. This bird, the
Little Owl of the English lists, is readily distinguished
from S. pusila by its greater size, shorter tail, different
disposition of colours, and by the shortness of the
feathers on the tarsi, and the substitution of down for
feathers on the toes. It is figured by Edwards, Lewin,
Gould, Yarrell, and others. It is fully one third larger
than puszlla.

S. acadica of Gmelin, and S. acadiensis of Latham.
A North American species, well figured by Wilson in
his “American Birds,” and afterwards by Audubon,
pl. 199. Figured also by Latham in his “General
Synopsis,” vol. i., pl. 5, fig. ii; and described at
length by Swainson, in the “Fauna Boreali Americana,”
Birds, p. 97, in which its distinction from any of the
European species is clearly established. ‘This is the
Nyctale acadica of Bonaparte, and of Gray’s list; it

LEAST EUROPEAN SPARROW OWL. an

is designated Strix passerina by Wilson, and Ulula
acadica by Audubon.

Athene perlata, figured and described by Le Vaillant,
in his “Oiseaux d’ Afrique.” This is the Noctua occip-
italis of Cuvier, the Striz perlata of Vieillot, and the
S. occtpitalis of Temminck.

This beautiful species is apparently but little larger
than S. pusilla when Le Vaillant’s two drawings are
compared. It is in fact however altogether, particularly
in the head, a larger formed bird. It is readily dis-
tinguished by this character alone when the skins are
examined together. In addition the white spots are
shaded with black, so as to give them the appearance
of pearls, and hence Le Vaillant’s name, Chevechette
perlata; the tarsi and toes are covered with down
instead of feathers; the primaries are barred with three
bands of russet on a black ground, and the spots on
the tail form seven white bands.

In addition to the above I may mention Surnia pas-
serinoides of Audubon—“‘The Little Columbian Owl’—
which is about the size and has a good deal of colouring
similar to that of pusddla, but it is darker, and the
white spots on the head and wing coverts are replaced
by chesnut. ‘Those on the tail feathers are like pusdlla,
largest on the inner barb, but they form six white
rather curved bands; the tarsi and toes are feathered
as in pusilla. It is a closely allied but perfectly dis-
tinct species. I need not say anything about the other
two South American Sparrow Owls, <Athene nana and
A. pumila, as they are not likely to be confounded
with S. puszlla.

S. pusilla is an inhabitant of North-eastern Europe.
It is stated by Degland to occur in North America,
but I believe this to be a mistake. It is excluded from

128 LEAST EUROPEAN SPARROW OWL.

the American list by C. Bonaparte, and is not that I
am aware of described by any of the American authors.
It has doubtless been often confounded with the Strix
acadica of that continent. It is found in Lapland, in
the Carinthian Alps, in Switzerland, and rarely in the
north of Germany. It is included by Nilsson in the
Scandinavian Fauna, under the name of Sparfs uggla.
A Striz passerina is mentioned by Machado as occurring
in Andalusia, but whether it is the bird I am noticing
or not I cannot say.

Mr. Wolley says that as far as he is aware no small
Owl, except Strix tengmalmi, occurs in Lapland.
Degland says however, “J” ai recu un sujet de la Suisse,
et deux autres (male et femelle) de la Laponie, par
? entremise de M. Sundevall.”—Eur. Orn., vol. 1., page
137.

According to Temminck, this little Owl feeds upon
mice, grasshoppers, beetles, and lepidopterous insects.
It builds in pine forests, or im the crevices of rocks,
and lays two white eggs.

An adult male in the Museum of the University of
Edinburgh has the upper parts of the body of an ashy
brown, punctured on the head and nape with numerous
dull white spots. ‘The feathers of the back, scapularies,
and upper tail coverts are marked with reddish white.
Inferior parts white, with longitudinal confluent brown
spots, streaked with reddish on the sides of the chest.
There is a white space forming a kind of incomplete
collar on the throat and sides of the chest. Wings
marked with spots and dots in whitish stripes; tail
brown, with four white transverse narrow bands; beak
lead-colour, tipped with yellow; tarsi and toes thickly
clothed with white feathers, dashed and spotted with red;
claws black. According to Degland the iris is yellow.

.

4 rs.

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nat. pst 7 ’ ’
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.
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.
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.

1. LEAST BUROPEAN

2. EGYPTIAN EARED OWL.

LEAST EUROPEAN SPARROW OWL. 129

An adult female in the Norwich Museum has the
head and back chesnut brown; nape variegated with
white; face grey; throat and belly white, nearly covered
with light chesnut markings; primaries spotted with
white; tail colour of back, with three spotted transverse
bands; under tail coverts white.

Figured by Le Vaillant in “‘Ois: d’ Afrique,” pl. 46;
Gould, pl. 50; Nilsson, ‘Faun. Scand.,” pl. 3; Naumann,
pl. 43.

Our figure of this bird is from the drawing of a
specimen in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh,
done with great exactitude by my wife.

The figure of this egg is from a drawing sent to
us by M. Moquin-Tandon, with the following remarks:—
“This drawing was sent to me by M. des Murs, and
is taken from an egg in his collection. Of all the
Night Birds of Europe this species has the most elon-
gated egg. M. Thienemann (pl. 3, fig. 2,) has given a
drawing of an egg of this species, of which the smallest
end appears to be rather too pointed.”

VOL. I, rs)

150

Rapaces—Nocturne.
STRIGIDA.
Genus Strix. (Linneus.)

Section II.—Hornep Owts.

EGYPTIAN EARED OWL.

Strix ascalaphus.

Strix ascaluphus, Virittot. TEMMINCK.
< - DEGLAND.
Bubo ascalaphus, Savieny. Gray.
i a AUDUBON.
Otus ascalaphus, CuviER.
Ascalaphia savignyt, Gray. TremMinck er Lave,
pl. col. 57.
Hibou a huppes courtes, Or THE FRENCH.
Kurzihriger Uhu, Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Head rather small; beak slender and
hidden; facial dise incomplete; two tufts very short, just behind
the eyes; tarsi long, feathered to the toes; two glabrous scales at
the extremity of the hind toe.

Length nineteen inches.—DrGLanp.

THis Owl was first described by Savigny in his work
upon the Birds of Egypt, published in 1809. It is a
species; confined almost entirely to Africa, but having
been accidentally found in Sicily and Sardinia, it has

D

~
u

HAR

HGYPTIAN

EGYPTIAN EARED OWL. 13]

obtained a place in the European list of Birds. It was
stated by Pennant to have been taken in Scotland.

Mr. Gurney says of this bird, “It is probably iden-
tical with Budo bengalensis of India; but I cannot
speak positively, having never had the opportunity of
examining an African or European example.”

So little is known of the habits of S. ascalaphus, that
I may be excused if I quote here extracts of the habits
of Bubo bengalensis in India, because if Mr. Gurney’s
impression of the identity of the two birds should not
prove correct, it is most probable that the habits of
species so closely allied are very similar:—

“The Googoo is the most abundant and universally-
spread of the large Owls of India. In the Carnatic
it frequents rocky barren hills chiefly, where several
may often be seen seated even for some hours after
sunrise. In the Deccan it frequents rocky ravines,
banks of rivers, and holes in the steep sides of the
precipitous trap hills; also often found about old build-
ings, forts, and walls. On the Neilgherries it is how-
ever found in dense woody glens. Though partially
diurnal, it chiefly preys during the night; its chief food
is rats and lizards; occasionally birds, crabs, and fre-
quently large locusts.

I have had a pair of this species, male and female,
in my possession. ‘Their usual cry is a loud, clear,
and prolonged hoot. I occasionally at night heard them
utter a low indistinct strangling sort of cry. They vomit
bones and feathers in the form of pellets.”—Jerdon,
eMadrds Journal,’: L.'S;,. x, p. 87.

“The habitation of this bird is sometimes in a hole
or burrow in a bankside, in which they always breed,
and sometimes their domicile consists merely of a perch
upon the stunted trees growing from rocky declivities.

132 EGYPTIAN EARED OWL.

It breeds in March, and the young as soon as fledged
resemble their parents; the brood consists invariably of
two.” —Hodgson, “Asiatic Researches,” xix., p. 170.

The Hon. F. J. Shore, as quoted by Mr. Gould, in
his “Catalogue of Himal. Birds,” says, “Builds im trees,
the nest being composed of large and small sticks, the
female laying two large eggs mottled with black, red-
dish brown, and white. Its native name in the Doon
is Hokra Cheel, the natives considering it among the
Cheel or Kite genus, and affirming that it is strong
enough, and does in fact, attack and kill wild cats.”

The description of the egg here given would lead to
the inference that the bird mentioned by Mr. Shore did,
as the natives surmised, actually belong to the Kite
genus.

Stric ascalaphus is figured by Cuvier in the Regne
Animal; Temminck, Gould, etc.

In the adult the body, wings, and tail are of a red-
dish white, variegated in different shades, and covered
with spots and streaks of a black brown, lanceolate
upon the head and nape, in great blotches on the wings,
and in large bands or narrow zigzags on the primaries
and tail quills. On the chest these marks are in the
form of elongated drops, and upon the other inferior
parts, of fine transverse zigzags; tail transversely barred
with four or six narrow streaks of a blackish brown;
under parts white; throat and middle of chest white;
tarsi very long, clothed as well as the toes with a
whitish down; beak black; iris yellow.

It is included in Captain Loche’s “List of Algerian
Birds,” published in 1858; and there is also a notice
of its capture in Egypt, by Mr. E. C. Taylor, in the
**Zoologist,” 4442.

The figure of the egg of this bird is from a drawing

EGYPTIAN EARED OWL. 133

sent us by M. Moquin-Tandon, with the following
remarks:—“This drawing was also sent to me by M.
des Murs, when he had his collection. I do not know
the country in which it was taken. I have since ob-
tained an egg of this bird from Sardinia, which
resembles exactly that of the drawing I send you.”

With this bird I terminate my description of the
European Owls. Schlegel has admitted into the Cata-
logue another small Owl, under the name of Striz
noctua meridionalis, the S. noctua of Forskal, Noctua
glaux of Savigny, and S. passerina of Riippell. This
is however generally believed by naturalists to be only
a pale variety of our Little Owl, (Strix noctua.) It
is found in Spain and Egypt. Most naturalists have
also admitted into the list S. mebulosa, the Barred Owl
of Pennant, a North American species, well described
in “Fauna Boreali Americana,” and in Audubon’s and
Wilson’s works. It is said to have been taken in the
extreme north of Europe, but I can find no authentic
account of its capture. It is admitted with great doubt
by Degland, and omitted by Schlegel. It does not
appear to have been observed by any of the northern
naturalists; and M. Sundevall, as quoted by Degland,
says it has never been observed in Europe, but that it
was admitted into the Catalogue by an error in the
name.

My attention has been drawn by Mr. Gurney, to
the following extract from “Naumannia,” a German
ornithological periodical, for 1852:—

“Strix capensis, Smith, (not Lath.,) occurs as a
stationary bird along the coast of “Northern Africa,
from Tangiers as far as Morocco, in broken and marshy

134 EGYPTIAN EARED OWL.

low grounds, exactly as our Striz brachyotus. <A friend
of mine, M. Garstensen, C. M., in Copenhagen, who
was staying in Tangiers as ornithological collector during
the last winter months, and who has recently returned
with many well-prepared birds’ skins and eggs, assured
me that this Owl inhabited also the neighbouring coasts
of Spain, and that he had observed it upon its flight
to and fro, an assurance which given by so intelligent
as well as conscientious and truth-loving a man, leaves
no doubt whatever; the more so since M. Garstensen,
a son of the former consul in Morocco, where he was
himself born and educated, is thoroughly acquainted
with the language of the natives, and he at the same
time conferred upon the subject with a French collector.”

Mr. Gurney thinks the bird alluded to was the Otus
capensis of Smith, “Birds of South Africa,” plate 67,
as he has frequently received this bird from Tangiers.
I think the statement of SKjoerbolling much too in-
definite to permit the introduction of either Strzz or
Otus capensis into the European list. I draw however
the attention of naturalists to the subject, and shall be
glad to hear from any of them who can afford me any
positive information upon it.

I take this opportunity of correcting one or two
errors in Part VII:—Falco tachardus, though alluded
to as F. capensis, is not stated by Schlegel to be an
inhabitant of Japan. When I wrote this notice I had
not access to Schlegel’s work, but I took the synonyme,
which is however correct, from Bonaparte’s ‘‘Consp.

> and drew the natural inference, that as

Gen. Avium,’
Bonaparte had given Schlegel’s ‘Fauna Japonica” as
his authority for the synonyme, the bird was a native
of Japan. Nepal will therefore remain at present the

eastern limit of this species.

3 ‘

EGYPTIAN EARED OWL. 135

The second mistake arose from the position of E.
leucurus in Bonaparte’s “Comparative List of North
American and European Birds.” Being placed exactly
opposite to EL. melanopterus, I took it without sufficient
consideration as an intended synonyme of the latter,
which does not occur in North America. Mr. Gurney
also thinks that M. ater has never been taken south of
the Equator, or from any locality further east than
Affghanistan.

136

Order I—OMNIVORZ.
Family CORVIDA. (Bonaparte. )

Genus Corvus. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters.—Beak straight to its base, thick, com-
pressed laterally, bent towards the tip, edges cutting. Nostrils
basal, open, hidden by hairs, and directed forwards. Three
toes before and one behind, nearly completely divided. Tarsi
longer than the middle toe. Wings acuminated; first quill
feather least in length, second and third shorter than the
fourth, which is the longest.

BLACK JACKDAW.

Corvus monedula-nigra.

Corvus monedula-nigra, Frisco. Vorst. perk VoGEL
Deuts. 1739-63.

Linnzxvus. GmeEtin. Brisson;
Ornith., v. ii, p. 28. 1760.

ScHLEGEL; Revue. 1844,

« _spermolequs, VirILLotT; Dict. 1817.

“ c Temminck; Man. 1835.

KerysErtine ET Buastus.

Scuinz. DeEcGianp.

“ee ec
“é “e

“ce “e

‘ec se

Specific Characters.—First quill feather longer than the ninth;
second shorter than the fifth; third and fourth equal. Length
twelve inches six lines.—TEMMINCK.

‘i
bt
i

BibA Cie “JAIC K DA We

BLACK JACKDAW. Lai

Ir has been doubted by*some modern ornithologists
whether this bird is really distinct from, or only as
considered by Latham, a variety of the Common
Jackdaw. Degland says:—‘‘This is a very doubtful
species, I have never seen it. An individual, said to
be this species, killed in a garden at Bergues, I am
convinced is only a variety of the Common Jackdaw.
The specimens indicated by M. Millet, in the ‘Faune
de Maine-et-Loire,’ are also Common Jackdaws,
according to M.de Lamotte, by whom they have been
examined. Vieillot said that a young individual was
in the cabinet of the Count di Riocourt, and an adult
in the Museum of Natural History at Paris. M.
Selys-Longchamps has examined the Paris specimen
and found it different, but thought that it had come
from North America, because he found it formed part
of a lot of skins bought in Poland, and among which
were some American species,—among others Sylvia

anthoides.” —“Orn. Europ.,”

vol. i, page 321.

But this after all is only negative evidence, and not
of a very strong kind—for this species is not included
among Prince C. Bonaparte’s “Birds of North America.”
Schlegel admits it into the European Catalogue, but
refrains from making any remarks upon it, because he
had never seen the bird; and it is not included in
Machado’s “‘List of the Birds of Andalusia,” published
in 1854, though Spain has been said to be its head
quarters.

On the other hand it has been admitted as a species
by Frisch in 1739-63; by Gmelin; by Brisson in 1760;
by Vieillot in 1817; Temminck in 1835; and Bonaparte,
Schlegel, etc., of more modern days.

Brisson, one of the most correct naturalists that ever

lived, describes it very minutely and clearly. Tem-
VOL, I.

138 BLACK JACKDAW.

minck gives a diagnosis, which, as will be seen by
reference to that of our Common Jackdaw, establishes
an important distinction between the two birds. Under
these circumstances, I think the time has hardly arrived
at which it may safely be excluded from the European
species; though I admit it with doubt.

It is said by Vieillot to be found inhabiting and
breeding in several of the French provinces, and
Temminck says he has been assured that it is common
in Spain. Nothing appears to be known of its habits
or propagation.

The following is Brisson’s description:—‘‘A little ‘less
than the Common Jackdaw. Length from tip of beak
to end of tail twelve inches and a half, and to the
end of the claws eleven inches and three quarters.
Beak fourteen lines; tail four inches and three quarters;
tarsi one inch six lines and a half. From middle of
three anterior toes to their junction with claws six
lines; the two lateral toes the shortest; hind toe inter-
mediate between them and middle toe. Wings extend
to three fourths of length of tail. The whole of the
body covered with brilliant black feathers. Primaries
same colour above, beneath like all the under parts,
not so splendid a black as the upper. First primary
shortest, fourth longest of all. Tail composed of twelve
feathers, same colour as secondaries, namely, brilliant
black above, duller black below. ‘There is on each
side of the head a crescent of deep black, of which
the concave part is turned towards the eyes. The
feathers covering the nostrils are long and thick. The
eyes are surrounded with small white points; pupils
black, irides bluish. Beak, feet, and claws black.

Habitat, ruined towers and walls, where it builds.
In the Museum of M. de Reaumur.”

———

BLACK JACKDAW. 139

In this description it will be seen that Brisson
differs from Temminck in the length of the primaries.
First shortest, fourth longest; while Temminck says:—
“First quill longer than the ninth, third and fourth
equal.”

The following is M. Temminck’s diagnosis of C.
monedula, the Common Jackdaw:—‘First quill shorter
than the ninth, second and fifth equal, the fourth
shorter than the third.”

Figured by Buffon, pl. Elum 522; Roux, Orn. Prov.,
pl. 133; Gould, Supp., pl. B. of E.

140

Orpver Il.—OMNIVOR.
Family CORVIDAE. (Bonaparte.)

Genus Pica. (Brisson.)

Generic Characters.—Beak middle-sized and strong, compressed
laterally, slightly arched, hooked at the tip, and garnished at
its base with short stiff feathers; nostrils oblong; middle and
external toe united at their origin. Wings short and rounded;
first quill feather very short; fourth or fifth longest. Tail long
and graduated.

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE.

Pica cyanea.

Pica cyanea, Wacter; Syst. Av., 1827.
. Bonaparte. Scuinz. ScHLEGEL.
Corvus cyanus, Patras; App. to Voyage, 1776.
a * LatHamM. GMELIN.
Garrulus cyanus, TEMMINCE.
Pica cyana, KEYSERLING ET Brastvs.
5S és DEGLAND.
Pie turdoides, Or THE FRENCH.
Blaue Elster, OF THE GERMANS.
Blue Crow, LATHAM.

Specific Characters.—Head deep black; wings and tail blue;
apex of quill feathers white. Length of adult male and female
twelve to fourteen inches.

GIdd)VNM AHONIM-HUnZV

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE. 141

Tus bird, the most beautiful member of its family,
is an inhabitant of Spain, and, according to the cele-
brated traveller Pallas, of Eastern Asia. It is found in
the Crimea and in Japan, in the northern part of which
empire it is common. It is not identical with the
species found in Africa by Le Vaillant; and Degland
says that specimens which he has examined from the
Caucasus are larger, and have not the tail feathers
tipped with white like the Spanish individuals.

In the “Revue et Magazin de Zoologie,” for May,
1858, M. Pucheran remarks that an individual of this
species, presented to the National Collection of France,
by M. Leclancher, from Nankin, has the first quill
feather much shorter than specimens from Shang-Hai
and Japan, and that the secondaries are shorter also.
He asks ornithologists who have many specimens to
compare, to note this fact, as he thinks if this is found
to be a constant difference, that these Nankin specimens
may constitute a new species.

In its habits the Blue Magpie differs little from its
congener, our well-known British bird, but Temminck
says that it more especially feeds upon insects.

According to M. Riocour it builds in Spain in trees;
its nest composed of slender sticks. He does not state
the number of eggs, but we may presume they are the
same as our Magpie—five or six, rarely seven, very
rarely eight.

In an interesting series of papers which he is pub-
lishing on the Nests and Eggs of the South of France,
in the ‘‘Revue de Zoologie,’” M. Moquin-Tandon has
one upon the nidification of the Common Magpie,
(March, 1858, p. 98,) which will bear one or two ex-
tracts here, notwithstanding the subject is so familiar to
every bird-nesting youngster in this country.

142 AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE.

“The nests are of three principal forms. First, hori-
zontal cup-like nest, not domed. Second, the same
shape, but with one side raised. Third, an irregular
spherical nest, with a dome more or less thick, and a
lateral opening. Of fourteen nests, nine had the first
form, three the second, and two the third. All the .
nests were upon large trees—poplar, oak, beech, ches-
nut, and walnut. ‘Those with a raised side were fixed
in forked branches, and on the side which had most
support, the screen or covering was placed. One nest
only, which was in the broken branch of an Italian
poplar, had this covering without any support, but it
was not so high as usual. The screen had always a
reference to the prevailing wind. The two nests pro-
tected by a dome differed from each other; in one the
covering was almost transparent, whilst in the other it
was thick so as to keep out rain. One of these last
had a transverse diameter of twenty-two centimetres,
(eight inches and four fifths,) and the opening seven
centimetres high.

These nests were formed outside of little sticks and
thorny branches. In the framework of the largest was
the branch of a plum tree as thick as one’s finger, and
forty centimetres (sixteen inches) long. In four nests
the materials were united by clay mortar. All were
lined with flexible roots, stalks of grasses, wool, and
feathers.”

Of one hundred and eighty-seven eggs examined by
M. Moquin-Tandon, one hundred and eleven had the
ordinary size, (thirty to thirty-two millemetres by twenty
to twenty-five;) sixty-six were a fifth or sixth less; one
only a third less; one without yolk; five increased in
length both ends alike; four obtuse and much shorter.
These one hundred and eighty-seven eggs differed in

1. AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE,

9, SIBERIAN JAY.

AZURE-WINGED MAGPIE. 143

colour as follows:—One hundred and thirty-five were
of the natural colour, that is, dirty white, more or less
clear, with spots of olive brown and dark green,
particularly at the greatest end. Twenty-seven had
few spots, and a well-marked circlet at the greatest
end. Four with a circlet well marked at the smaller
end, of which one had the rest covered with spots.
Eleven were finely dotted, principally at the larger
end. Four had three or four dots slightly marked
about the large end. ‘Three were greenish, without
spots. Two bluish, without spots. One dirty Hee
without spots, and a slight blue shade.

The Azure-winged Magpie is stated by Hate to
build its nest in the same manner as the Common
Magpie, which will give the above quotations sufficient
interest to justify my inserting them here. He also
says that it is a very timorous bird, and withal a noisy,
crafty, clamorous species. It appears in the eastern
part of Asia in flocks in April.

The adult male and female have the top of the head
as far as the nape a deep glossy black; mantle, back,
and scapularies, ash-colour; throat and front of neck
pure white; crop, flanks, and belly, greyish ash, whiter
in the middle; wings and tail of a brilliant azure blue;
quill feathers black, the first entirely, but the rest
bordered with azure at the base, and tipped at the
points with white; first quill feather half as long as
the second. ‘Tail blue, tipped with white. Beak and
feet black.

Figured by Gould, Azure-winged Magpie.

144

OMNIVOR&.
Family CORVID.

Genus Garruuus. (Brisson. )

Generic Characters.—Beak medium size, thick, straight, com-
pressed, with cutting edges, abruptly bent, and slightly den-
tated at the tip. Nostrils basal, lateral, and hidden by setaceous
feathers; feet like the crows. Wings of medium length,
rounded; first three quill feathers graduated, the fourth, fifth,
and sixth of nearly equal length, and the longest in the wing.
Tail square or slightly rounded; feathers of the head elongated,
and capable of being raised into a tuft at will.

BLACK-HEADED JAY.

Garrulus melanocephalus.

Garrulus melanocephalus, Gent; Mem. della
Acad. di Torino,
vol. xxxvil, p. 291.
with figure, 1840.

23 < TEMMINCK.
ss glandarius melanocephalus, ScHLEGEL.
ae iliceti, Deretanp; after Rus-
sian authors in litt.,
1846,
Geai a culotte noir, Or THE FRENCH.

Specific Characters.—Beak, chest, and sides ferruginous; greater

BLACK-HEADED JAY.

BLACK-HEADED JAY. 145

wing coverts blue, crossed with transverse lines of black and white;
forehead, throat, and cheeks white; top of the head black.

Length eleven inches and a half; tail five inches and a half.—
GENE.

SOMEWHERE about the year 1837, M. Crolla, a
medical man and chemist, attached to Monseigneur
Lorano Evéque d’Abido, shot two Jays on the Monto
Libano, near Balbeck. He took them to the celebrated
Professor Bonelli, of Turin, who declared them to be
a distinct species, and gave them the name of Corvus
melanocephalus. Subsequently, in 1840, they were des-
cribed and figured in the ‘“Memoires della Acad. di
Torino” under the name of Garrulus melanocephalus.

Such is the origin of this bird’s scientific career,
which has now lasted eighteen years, during which time
its name, as will be seen by its synonymic biography,
has been changed by at least two systematic writers.
Fifty or a hundred years hence, when it has attained
a long tail of names, some compiler of the ornithological
dust and ashes of the past will probably discover that
after all it is only a variety of the Common Jay, and
consign it, like the Black Jackdaw, to specific oblivion.

In the meanwhile let us see what are its present
claims. Gené, who is a good naturalist and a careful
writer, the worthy successor of Bonelli, says of it, “The
description I have given of this bird proves its strong
affinity with the Common Jay. The colour of the body
and its members is absolutely the same, if it were not
for the lines, white, blue, and black, which embellish
the greater wing coverts. But it is easily distinguished
in a positive manner by the colour and relative size of
the head. In the Common Jay the forehead and crown
of head are white, simply spotted with black. In this
species, on the contrary, the forehead is white, but the

VOL. I. U

146 BLACK-HEADED JAY.

top of the head is entirely black. ‘The cheeks in the
common species are the same colour as the back—red-
dish grey; in this they are white like the throat. The
Common Jay is considerably longer (quite two inches)
than our species.”

The Black-headed Jay is an inhabitant of Syria,
where it replaces the common species, and M. Crolla
says it is never found there with a different plumage.
It is found also throughout the whole of Greece, the
Crimea, and the Caucasus.

M. Temminck has examined specimens from each of
these countries, and found no difference except in the
size; those from Greece were twelve inches; that from
the Caucasus thirteen.

M. Degland. in his “Ornith. Europ.,” differs from
Temminck on this point. He says that the specimens
from Syria and Algeria differ sensibly from the Caucasian
species. ‘They are not only smaller, but have the tuft
less; the cheeks, the throat, and a part of the front of
the neck white, and not reddish ash; the blue of the
wings is less extended, and of a brighter tint; the tail
has on all its quills transverse bars of bluish ash, (the
most lateral of each side excepted,) while there are only
a few bands on the median in the Caucasian species.
The beak in the latter is thicker, and approaches nearer
to that of the Common Jay.

Degland doubted whether this bird was ever found
in Greece, as stated by Temminck, as M. Von der
Mithle never met with it there during a six-year’s
residence.

For these reasons Degland considered it most probable
that the Black-headed Jay of Asia Minor and Algeria
does not occur in Europe, and that the Caucasian race
is the only one that does. He therefore prefers the

BLACK-HEADED JAY. 147

name of the Russian naturalists, [/icet?, considering that
Gené’s species is different, and not found in Europe.

Whether this is correct or not there seems to be no
doubt but that the habits of the Common Jay and the
species we are now considering are precisely the same.

For the same reason then that I introduced some
interesting details by Professor Moquin-Tandon, on the
nidification of the Common Magpie, I quote here some
equally valuable notes from his paper on the Nests and
Eggs of the Common Jay, (Garrulus glandarius.)
They are extracted from the “Revue de Zoologie” for
March, 1858:—

“Tt is well known that the Jays build in oaks, ches-
nuts, birches, and beeches, at a height of from five to
eight metres, (sixteen to twenty-four feet;) it rarely
chooses bushes. Its nest is in the form of a shallow
cup, more or less extended. I have seen a large number
of them, and they are all very much alike. Four of
them averaged about three inches high, six inches in
diameter, and two in depth.

In the materials which compose their nests are found
on the outside small branches and twigs of oak, chesnut,
and beech, and inside slender roots of heath and stalks
of grasses. ial

The eggs of the Jay are in number from four to
seven, and of a dark grey, with a more or less bluish,
greenish, or reddish shade, with small olive-coloured
spots in great number very close together.

These eggs vary very much in colour. In 1838 one
hundred and three were brought to me from the Black
mountain near Revel, some fresh, the others hatched.
I noticed in this number fifty-six of a greenish grey,
finely and indistinctly spotted with olive green, (this is
the type;) twenty-one less grey, rather bluish, with

148 BLACK-HEADED JAY.

spots of the same colour; fifteen grey, slightly reddish,
and spots of the same colour; four dark olive grey, with
spots very indistinct; six greenish grey, nearly without
spots; and one a fourth smaller, colour normal.

The Black-headed Jay does not require an extended
description. ‘The points which distinguish it from the
Common Jay are clearly laid down in the specific cha-
racters used in Gené’s remarks, which I have quoted
in the notice. ‘The irides are white, streaked with
brown; feet horn-colour.

u

“AVE NVIBUUAIS

— 2 -

149

OMNIVOR/:.
Family CORVID A.

Genus GARRULUS.

( Brisson. )

SIBERIAN JAY.

Garrulus infaustus.

Garrulus infaustus,
ce ec

Lanius infaustus,

Corvus fe

ee 6é

Dysornithia infausta,

Corvus mimus,
“« sibiricus,
Geai boreal—Geai imitateur,

Gemeiner meisenheher,

VizritoT; Dict. vol. 12, p. 478.

Temmincx; Man. 1835.

Linn.; S. N. 1766.

Linn.; Faun. Suec.

LatHam. Trmminck, 1820.

Swarnson; App. Faun. Bor.
Am., p. 495.

Pattas; Faun. Russ.

Garuin; Syst., p. 373.

Or THE FRENCH.

Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters——Top of the head and cheeks brownish;
beak grey; tail reddish ash, slightly rounded. Length twelve to

thirteen inches.

Tuis bird, as Temminck remarks, and its congener,

G. Canadensis, form the natural passage from the Crows

to the Nutcrackers, the only European species of which

is in the British list.

They have the same straight beak
as the latter bird, but it is shorter.

Swainson, in the

150 SIBERIAN JAY.

Appendix to the Aves of the Fauna Boreali Americana,
has formed a distinct genus, under the name of Dysor-
nithia, of which he gives the American Jays—Canadian
and Short-billed—with this bird as the type. Thus
carrying into practice the remarks acutely made by
Temminck that these Jays form good species for multi-
plers of genera, and that among the foreign Omnivore
they will find a vast field for the development of their
new views. I hope this observation will not be con-
strued into any disparagement of so great and original
a naturalist as Swainson. The accuracy of his descrip-
tions, the clearness and elegance of his language, the
able criticism by which he unravelled the obscurity
which the verbiage and synonymic lumber of many
bygone writers had thrown around different species,
will long render his name distinguished among the
philosophic naturalists of the age which he adorned.
But with all this it must be admitted that in the
separation of closely allied species into different genera,
often to favour his well-known views, he has done
much to retard the attainment of a natural system of
classification. The Jays were originally classed by
Linneus among the Crows. ‘lemminck and _ others
followed the same plan. Brisson, however, originally
had classed them separately, under the generic name of
Garrulus, which Vieillot, in 1817, restored, and he
has been followed by almost all other authors of
eminence, including Temminck, in the third edition of
his Manual.

There have been few if any naturalists equal to
Brisson for accuracy of observation, and the writers on
ornithology of the present age paid a just tribute to
his genius, by adopting his classification of this and
many other well-defined groups. No classical learning

SIBERIAN JAY. 151

or minute analysis can ever make a Jay anything else
than a Jay, and in this as in many other branches of
natural history, we are apt to lose sight of real natural
affinity in a refined hair-splittmg philosophy, which
equally retards the study and the knowledge of nature.

Though Asia is given as a locality for the Siberian
Jay, it is almost exclusively confined to Northern
Europe, ‘T'emminck says entirely. It is found in Norway,
Sweden, Lapland, Russia, and Siberia, where it is not
uncommon. ‘lemminck says that in Norway it bears
the name of the Bird of Misfortune. It generally
remains, according to M. Bore, squatted on the fork of
the branches near the trunk of the tree, from which it
sends forth a very piercing sonorous cry. It is a bold
bird, and will steal flesh wherever it can. It also feeds
on caterpillars and insects, mice and small birds.

It nests among the firs and pines, three or four
yards from the ground, and makes its nest of moss
and fibres, hairs and feathers. It lays five or six eggs,
smaller than those of the common magpie, of a bluish
grey, with the spots darker.—(Temminck.)

Mr. Wolley found the eggs in his visits to Lapland
in 1857 and 1858, and there were five in each of his
catalogues for these years. He says, ‘Common as this
bird is, and obtrusive as its habits for three parts of
the year are, its eggs are perhaps the most difficult to
procure of any. Before winter has shown a sign of
departing, it begins to prepare its nest, and in doing
so exercises all the cunning of its tribe to keep concealed
the selected spot. Its eggs are consequently still
unknown to most collectors, while in some cabinets
they are represented by well-known varieties of those
of the magpie, to which indeed they bear but slight
resemblance. It requires long familiarity with the habits

152 SIBERIAN JAY.

of this bird to know when and how to watch it to its
nest, whose proximity it is so careful not to betray by
any observable marks of anxiety.”

The adult male and female have the head tufted,
and blackish brown; the feathers which cover the
nostrils, and those at the base of the beak, white.
Plumage above cinereous. Lesser wing coverts and
the under part of the wings, rump, abdomen, and all
the lateral quills of the tail a beautiful russet; the two
middle quills of the tail of an ashy grey. Beak black;
feet brown.

The young has the head of a less dark brown, with
the feathers of the tuft shorter; below the ash-colour
is browner.

Figured by Gould, (Siberian Jay,) “Birds of Europe ;”
Buffon, “Pl. Enlum.,” 608, (Geai de la Siberia;) and
Schinz, “‘“European Fauna.”

The figure of the egg of this bird is from a specimen

tote,

kindly sent by Mr. Wolley.

_ LD
SZ anh

153

OMNIVORA.
Family CORVIDA.

Genus Pyrruocorax. (Cuvier. )

Generic Characters—Beak middle sized, compressed, rather
slender, slightly curved above, and very slightly hollowed out
at the point; nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid, and concealed by
stiff feathers. Feet strong and thick lke those of the crows;
tarsi longer than the middle toe; toes four, almost entirely
separated; claws strong and hooked. Wings long and pointed,
the fourth and fifth quills longest. Tail rounded.

ALPINE CHOUGH.

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocoraz.

Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocoraz, Temminck; Man. 1820.
Ks a“ Scuinz. ScHLEGEL.
7 alpinus, Cuvier; Reg. An., 1829.
i “e Vie1LLot; Dict. et Faun. France,
p. 125., 1817.
es «6 Lesson; Orn., 1831.

Cu. Bonaparte.
KEYSERLING ET BLAstivs.

Corvus pyrrhocoraa, Linnzvus; S.N., 1766.
oe 3G Gmuewtin; Syst., 1788.
oe 5 Latuam; Ind., 1790.
ce ee Meyer et Wotrr., 1810.
sis es Trmminck; Man., 1815.
Corvo cokallino, Stor.
Choucas des Alps, Or THE FRENCH.
Gemeine alpenkrike, Or THE GERMANS.

VOL. L x

154 ALPINE CHOUGH.

Specific Characters—Beak shorter than the head, rather slen-
der, and yellow. First quill feather short, the second longer
than the seventh, the fourth the longest of all. Plumage black.
Feet red or black. Length sixteen inches.

Tue Alpine Chough is not only separated specifically
from our well-known Cornish Chough, but has been
placed by Cuvier in a separate genus, sixty-one genera
from it; some real or fancied difference in the beak
being the reason assigned for this remarkable distinction
of two birds so closely allied that it is almost difficult
to distinguish one from the other. The Alpine bird
has a yellow instead of a red beak, and is rather less
than the Cornish species; in other respects, in form
and colour, feet, nostrils, wings, and tail, they are
absolutely the same. In habit they are also identical,
and M. Temminck mentions that in the high Alps he
has often seen the two species united together in large
flocks.

The Alpine Chough is common in the Alps, Pyre-
nees, and in Greece. It inhabits the highest valleys of
the Alps, in the neighbourhood of regions covered with
perpetual snow, from which, Temminck observes, they
never come down into the plains till all nourishment
fails them.

They nest in the cliffs of the most precipitous rocks,
and of ruins and towers in the villages of the highest
mountains. ‘They lay four or five eggs—whitish with
spots of a dirty yellow.

They feed upon grain, insects, carrion, small crus-
taceans, berries, worms, in fact everything they can get.

Their moult is simple and ordinary; the sexes are
scarcely to be distinguished externally, and the young
of the year are known by having the beak and feet

1. GREAT GREY SHRIKE,

2% SARDINIAN STARLING. an Ae tN CE @ UGad,

ALPINE CHOUGH. 155

blackish, the old birds having those parts covered with
yellow or bright red.

From a letter with which I have been favoured by
Mr. Tuck, of Wallington, Herts., containing some val-
uable remarks about the birds which he observed near
Pau, in the south-west of France, I extract the following:
—“<The Alpine Chough is often seen among the moun-
tains, sometimes in large flocks of nearly two hundred,
as they were at the end of March in the Vallée d’
Ossau. They and the Red-legged Crow seem about
equally distributed there.”

This bird occurs frequently in Greece. The Count
Von der Miihle, in his “Beitraege zur Ornithologie
Griechenlands,” page 54, says:—‘“‘The Alpine Chough
is found in all the mountain range of Greece, as well
in Lacedemonia as in Rumelia; it is also found in
Illyria, where it abounds in the volcanic rocky caverns
formed on the level land. ‘These caverns became the
dwelling-place of incredible flocks of Alpine Choughs,
Pigeons, ( Columba livia,) and Jackdaws. I generally
visited one of these caverns every morning, and when
I looked into it there arose such a noise from the
mingled voices of its various inhabitants, that I was
positively deafened by it. ‘These caverns are filled with
copsewood. If a stone were thrown in, the birds would
rise by degrees and fly quickly away. One day a
friend and I threw down a piece of rock, and no words
can describe the astounding cries which rent the air.”

Latham gave the following concise description of this
bird:—“Size of a Jackdaw. Bill rather more elongated
and yellow. Plumage wholly black; legs and claws
black or yellow. Inhabits the Alps; has a sharp and
disagreeable voice. Lives upon grain, and does much
damage to the harvest. Flesh pretty good eating.”

156

OMNIVOR.
Family CORVIDZ:.

Genus Sturnus. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters.—Beak nearly as long as the head, straight,
wider than high, slightly obtuse, and depressed; base of the
upper mandible encroaching upon the forehead; tip much de-
pressed, and not hollowed. Nostrils basal, lateral, and half
closed by a membrane. Three toes in front and one behind;
exterior toe joined at its base to the middle one. Wings
long; first quill feather almost obsolete, second and third
longest.

SARDINIAN STARLING.

Sturnus unicolor.

Sturnus unicolor, Marmora; Della Acad. di
Tor., 1819.
ae cs Temmuinck; Man., 1820.
36 # ViEILtoT; Faun. Fr., 1828.
ss és Bonaparte. ScHInz.
ss vulgaris unicolor, ScHLEGEL; Revue.
Storno nero, Savi.
Etourneau unicolore, FRENCH.
Einfarbiger staar, GERMAN.

Specific Characters.—Plumage black without spots; feathers of
inferior parts very long, tapering, and drooping from base of the
neck. Length nine inches—Drctanp.

QNITUVLS NVINIGUYV

SARDINIAN STARLING. 157

Tue Sardinian Starling was discovered by Marmora,
and described by him in the “Memoirs of the Academy
of Turin,” for August, 1819. Since then it has been
found in Algeria, and it is known to pass the winter
in company with the Common Starling on the African
coast of the Mediterranean, which is contrary to the
opinion expressed by Marmora at the time he wrote
his memoir.

It is easily distinguished from the Common Starling
by the specific characters at the head of this notice.
The males have the drooping feathers from the neck
longer than the female.

According to Temminck it is found in Sardinia
among the rocks, where it builds, and it flies about
and rests on the houses like its congener.

Its food and mode of building is exactly the same
as the Common Starling.

The male and female are entirely black, without
spots, having a reflection of purple, but less so in the
female. ‘The base of the beak is blackish, with a
yellowish tip. Feet yellowish brown.

The young before the first moult are of a grey
brown, always darker than the young of the Common
Starling. After the second moult, and during the
winter it has small whitish spots on the feathers, which,
however, disappear in the spring without a double
moult.

ooo

I may take this opportunity of observing that Mr.
Small, a bird-stuffer and naturalist, of George Street,
Edinburgh, has in his possession a male specimen of
the Abyssinian Roller, (Coracias abyssinica,) which
was killed near Glasgow a year or two ago. Mr.

158 SARDINIAN STARLING.

Small ‘had the bird in the flesh, and preserved the
skin himself. He says the female was also obtained a
short time after, but forty miles distant from where the
male was killed. Mr. Small is a well-known naturalist,
and I have not the slightest doubt that the statement
is in every point correct; but as I am not aware that
this bird, which is distinguished by the two long
processes at the end of the outer tail quills, has ever
been observed in Europe, and as there is a possibility
of the two birds having escaped from confinement, I
do not feel justified in introducing it into this work.
I notice it here as its place would have been that
preceding the bird I have just described.

159

Orver III.—INSECTIVOR.
Family LANIDA. ( Bonaparte.)

Genus Lantus. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters.—Beak medium size, robust, convex, and
much compressed; superior mandible strongly curved at the
tip, forming a hook; base destitute of a cere, covered with
rough hairs directed forwards. Nostrils basal, partly lateral,
almost round, closed by an arched membrane, and frequently
nearly concealed by the hairs. Tarsi longer than the middle
toe; three toes in front and one behind, entirely divided.
First primary of the wings of moderate length, the second
slightly shorter than the third and fourth, which are the
longest. ;

GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

Lanius meridionalis.

Lanius meridionalis, TemMMINcK; Man. i., 143.
os aa Bonaparte. SCHLEGEL.
c ce Scuinz. Dercuanp.
a es KeryYsERLING ET Brasivs.
Pie grieche meridionale, Or THE FRENCH.
Siidlicher Wiirger, OF THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—First quill feather shorter than the fifth;
tail long and much graduated, with the lateral quill feathers
half black and half white; a white mark above the eye, and a
roseate tint on the under parts in the adult. Length ten inches.

160 GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

Tne Shrikes, which form the first genus of Tem-
minck’s third order, Jnsectivores, are a well-marked
group, feeding almost, if not entirely, upon insects.
They were originally classed by Linneus in his first
edition of the “Systema Nature,” published in 1735,
among the Falcons, but he subsequently formed them
into the distinct genus Lanius, still keeping them
among the Accipitres, or Birds of Prey. ‘They were,
however, separated from this last class by Llliger and
Cuvier. Temminck, in the first edition of his “Manual,”
placed them directly after his order Rapaces; but as he
justly observes their manners and habits are so similar
to those of the great group comprised in his Jnsectivores,
that in his second edition in 1820 he placed them at
the head of that order. Schlegel places the Swallows
between the Raptores and the Lanide. Swainson
classes them directly after the Raptores, while Bonaparte
separates them from that order by no less than twelve
families, including the Hirundinide, Sylviade, Paride,
Merulide, etc.

The limits of this book will not allow me to enter
at length into the various reasons assigned for these
different generic positions. ‘Temminck, however, did
not form his arrangement upon one or two peculiar
characteristics; he took a masterly view of the various
groups of birds, and he assigned to them the position
they hold in his classification, according to their
natural affinities. Thus the Sturnide are insect feeders
and have a musical note, but in their habits they
assimilate with the Crows, and he therefore excluded
them from the Jnsectivores, and placed them with the
Rollers, the Chatterers, the Orioles, and the Pastors, in
the Omnivores. But the habits of the Shrikes are
altogether those of our singing passerine birds, with

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 161

whom they are seen flitting from branch to branch in
early spring, and they are therefore introduced into
that group, and are placed at the head of the order
Insectivore.

The Great Grey Shrike, (Lantus meridionalis,) must
not be confounded with the bird of that name in the
British lists, Z. excubitor of Pennant, to which it is a
pity that Yarrell did not restrict the name of Grey or
Cinereous or Ash-coloured Shrike, given to it by various
authors.

Temminck, however, in the second edition of his
““Manual,” states his opinion that the three European
Shrikes known as ZL. excubitor, L. meridionalis, and L.
manor, are only races or permanent varieties produced
by climactric agency. I will quote his exact words as
the subject is one of great interest. In the third
edition he does not say anything contrary to this
opinion, but he gives an additional distinction between
the two first, namely, the white band above the eyebrows,
mentioned in the specific characters above.

“This Shrike and those known under the names
excubitor and minor, seem to form three races or con-
stant varieties, produced by the climate. ‘This one
(meridionalis) belongs to the countries of the south,
and never visits the centre or the north of Europe. Its
habits are nearly the same as those of the Grey Shrike,
(excubitor,) from which, however, it constantly differs
by the much darker ash-colour of the upper parts of its
body, and by the wine lees colour distributed in dif-
ferent shades upon all the under parts of the body.
This race, which might also be called a species, seems
always to have the same marks by which it is easily
distinguished from JZ. excubitor, without offering by its

plumage any indication of a union of the species. I
VOL. I. Y

162 GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

do not think the races do mix, though this may take
place in districts where they are both found, or where
one is more numerous than the other.”

The Great Grey Shrike is an inhabitant of Italy,
Dalmatia, the south of France, and the Spanish coast
of the Mediterranean, and it is found in Greece. It
has been killed by M. Savi in Tuscany, and by Prince
C. Bonaparte near Rome. It occurs accidentally in the
north of Africa.

Count Von der Mihle says:—“Z. meridionalis is
found, though not commonly, among the bushes in
growing meadows. It breeds in Greece. It is very
like excubitor, when young, but it has the four centre
tail feathers a beautiful black. It is rarely seen here
after the end of August.”

According to Degland it nests in trees. It lays five
or six eggs, of a dirty white or reddish white, with
small spots, numerous and close together, of a dull red,
brown, and grey. lLength,—long diameter one inch,
small diameter nine lines.

In the “Fauna Boreali Americana” there is an ex-
cellent picture of the North American Shrike, (Lanius
excubitorotdes,) which Swainson occupies three or four
pages in endeavouring to prove is a new species, and
different both from the ZL. carolinensis of Wilson, and
the Z. ludovicianus of Linneus. He also says that
Vieillot’s Z. ardosiaceus is an imaginary species, made
up of ZL. borealis, the Great American Grey Shrike,
and Wilson’s carolinensis. If Swainson’s description
is, however, true, whatever may be the specific mark
of L. meridionalis, there can be no doubt about Wilson’s
carolinensts, and the LZ. meridionalis of ‘Temminck
being the same bird. Swainson insists upon the im-
portance of the four middle tail feathers of Z. carolinensis

|
7
#

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. 163

being a strong. distinctive character between that bird
and his Z. excubitoroides. If it is the only one, and he
only adduces the additional characteristic of ‘fa darker
slate,” then it is quite certain that my supposition is
right. ‘The description of M. Temminck of his Z.
meridionalis is (with the exception of the four middle
tail feathers being quite black instead of two) precisely
corresponding to the figure given by Swainson in the
‘Fauna,’ as above quoted. ‘The white mark above the
eye is not mentioned in the second edition of the
“Manual,” but it is in the third. ‘Temminck gives
the length of Z. meridionalis nine inches, Degland ten.
Swainson is most accurate in his dimensions, and gives
the length of his bird nine inches and a half.

Wilson also says of Z. carolinensis that it inhabits
the warmer parts only of the United States, as the
rice plantations of Georgia and Carolina.

In the observations above it will be seen that Tem-
minck says LZ. meridionalis only inhabits the countries
of the south of Europe. The following is the
description of this bird:—

Adult male. The head, nape, mantle, and back of
a very dark ash-colour; a large black band below the
eyes, covering the orifice of the ears; throat of a vinous
white. All the lower parts of a rather vinous ash-
colour, of which the tints are shaded upon the flanks
and thighs into a more pure and darker ash-colour.
Origin of primaries and tip of secondaries of a pure
white; four middle quills of the tail quite black, the
others as in excubitor.

Adult female. Upper part of the body of a dark
ash-colour, but always less pure than that of the male;
the under parts more shaded with ash-colour, and
variegated with dark crescented marks, which terminate

164 GREAT GREY SHRIKE.

all the feathers. ‘The dark band under the eyes not
so decidedly black.

The figure of the egg is from a drawing with which
I have been favoured by M. Mogquin-Tandon, from an
egg found in the south of France.

Figured by Temminck and Laug; Gould, B. of E.,
(Great Grey Shrike;) Roux, ‘‘Ornith. Prov.;” Bouteille,
Ormith. du Dauph., p. 16yt2.

165

INSECTIVOR.
Family LANIDZE. ( Bonaparte.)

Genus Lanivus. (Linneus.)

LESSER GREY SHRIKE.

Lanius minor.

DLanius minor, GMELIN.
as be Linnzus, 1788. TxmMincx,
1820.

es ac Vieittot. Lesson. Cuvirr.
“ ne KEYSERLING ET Brasivus.

ss os ScHLEGEL. ScHINz.
“ ttalicus, Larnam; Ind. 1790.
Averla cenerina, SavI.
Pie-Grieche grise a front noir, OF THE FRENCH.
Grauer Wiirger, OF THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Wings with supplementary quill feather
short and narrow, and a white speculum on the primaries; first
quill feather much longer than the fourth; tail very long, nearly
square in the middle; two lateral quills entirely white; adult birds
with rose-coloured chests.

Length nine inches.—Dratanp. Length eight inches.—Trm-
MINCK.

Tuts is another of the three Shrikes which Temminck
considers as a permanent variety or race of the type

L. excubitor, and which I noticed in the previous de-
vol, I. Z

166 LESSER GREY SHRIKE.

scription. It lives in the same localities, and has the
same manners and habits as that bird.

Lanius minor inhabits the Archipelago, Turkey, Italy,
Spain, Greece, and many parts of the north and
south of France. It is found also in Germany rarely,
and still more so in Holland. It builds its nest of
odoriferous herbs, according to Degland, and M. Gerbe
says that in Provence it always constructs the outside
of stalks, in greater or less quantity, of the wild zm-
mortelle, (Amaranthus.) It lays five or six eggs, obtuse,
generally greenish, sometimes greyish or slightly bluish,
with spots of a violet grey and olive, particularly at the
larger end.

Of this bird in Greece, Count Mihle observes that
it is as abundant as L. meridionalis, yet “I never saw
it with so red an abdomen as the figure in Gould’s
splendid work.”

The following is Temminck’s description:—Adult male.
Forehead and auditory region, and parts around the
eyes, black; occiput, nape, and back, ash-colour; throat
white; chest and flanks of a red rose; wings black, a
white speculum on the quill feathers; first tail quill
white, the second black along the shaft, on the third a
great black spot.tipped with white; on the fourth a
larger black spot, at the end pure white; four middle
quills entirely black.

The female has the rose-colour duller; black bands on
the forehead and ears smaller; the band and the black
of the wings more inclined to a brown tint.

Young of the year in the two sexes, after the autumn
moult, have no black band on the forehead; this part
is in winter of a dull ash-colour; after the spring moult
the black band appears, and the rose on the chest is
brighter. Young birds of the year are also distinguished

MN

Aig are Aah 7 a lA wh
Pa Lv ii
bi
ae
i oi
| weit
Pd A WP
; te
at
. A
Pak
pen ti bag
; i]
; , i
toed &
( } a |

re

1 MASKED SHRIKE,

2&3. LESSER GREY SHRIKE. 4. HOODED 8

ca

i") erty

LESSER GREY SHRIKE. 167

by the dirty ash-colour of the upper parts, with which
all the feathers are fringed, and by the dull white of
the under parts.

The egg of this bird and a beautiful variety are figured
from drawings kindly sent me by M. Moquin-Tandon,
from eggs found in Spain.

Figured by Gould, (Lesser Grey Shrike;) Naumann,
pl. 50; Buffon, pl. enl. 32, (Pie-Grieche d’ Italie;)
Roux, Orn. Prov., pl. 51, ¢ adult, f. 2, young; Bouteille,
Orn. du Dauph, pl. 18, f. 3,

168

INSECTIVORA.
Family LANIDZ.

Genus Lanius. (Linneus.)

MASKED SHRIKE.

Lanius personatus, TeMMINCK. SCHLEGEL,
1844,
“ nubicus, LIcHTENSTEIN; Cat:
Mus: Berlin, 1823.
«« leucomotopon, Count Mvuutez, 1844.
Leucometopon nubicum, Bonaparte.

ee oe

Mam., et des Ois:
Observé en Algerie,
1858. Supplementary
list, p. 154.
Pie-Grieche masquée, Or THE Frencu.

Specific Characters.—Wings with a rather lengthened bastard
quill feather, marked with a white spot. First quill feather longer
than the fifth; tail long and sloped, with the most lateral quill
feather white, shaft black; the following one also white; inner
feather with the shaft and edges black.

Length nineteen centimetres (seven inches and a half.)—Dxe-
LAND. Length six inches and one sixth, (Paris. —Muu tz.

Tus bird appears to have been first described by
Lichtenstein, in his Catalogue of Duplicate Birds in
the Museum of Berlin, and published in 1823, under
the name of Lanius nubicus. It was subsequently dis-

Cart. Locue; Cat: des

MASKED SHRIKE. 169

covered in Greece, and described as a new species by
Count Von der Mihle, in 1844, under the name of
Lamius leucomotopon.

It was first figured by Temminck as ZL. personatus,
which name was adopted by Schlegel, in his “Revue,”
in 1844, and which I retain in deference to the natu-
ralist whose system of classification I have followed.
The genius of the late Prince of Canino, so fertile in
adding to our list of names, called it Leucometopon
nubicum, erecting a new genus upon the specific name
of Count Mihle. Ornithologists must not therefore be
confounded in finding the Lanius personatus of 1844,
and the Leucometopon nubicum of Loche’s list of
African birds in 1858, the same.

And yet it is, and was, and ever will be, a Butcher
Bird, having all the characters and habits of the well-
marked genus Lantus.

The Masked Shrike is an inhabitant of Greece, Nubia,
Algeria, Arabia, Abyssinia, and Egypt. We are indebted
for all we know about its habits to Lindermayer and
Mihle, the Grecian ornithologists.

According to the former it makes its nest in bushes,
in uncultivated ground, or on olive trees; it constructs
a circular nest, composed of young leaves outside, and
of blades of grass and petals of flowers inside. It lays
seven or eight eggs, of a pale greenish grey, washed
with a yellowish tint and irregular spots of green black,
mixed with others of a green brown at the largest end.

It arrives in Greece towards the end of April or
beginning of May, and leaves with its young towards
the end of August. It inhabits the extensive valleys
of Greece, and sings very prettily.

Count Miihle thus described the ““Masked Shrike:’—
“A beautiful Butcher Bird, of which I have collected

170 MASKED SHRIKE.

both young and old in Greece. Length six inches and
one sixth. It has a broad white stripe, which extends
across the forehead and over each eye; the scapulars
clear white; the whole upper part of the body, head,
back, and tail blue black; the wings brown black, with
a clear white speck upon the tenth primary; the second-
aries and wing coverts whitish at the edges; breast,
red yellow; feathers on the abdomen bright rust-coloured.
Tail feathers white, with black shafts; first feather an
inch shorter; second the same, having its inner side
with a narrow border of black; the third black, with
a white wedge-shaped spot on the inner side, and a
larger one on the outside.

The young have the whole upper part of the body
greyish, with thick black wave-like lines; all the feathers
yellowish red at the edges; the scapularies whitish, with
black waves; the spots on the wings like those on the
old birds, but smaller, with white edges to the primaries,
broader on the hinder ones. Tail brown black, other-
wise the same as in old birds; throat white; whole
under part of body whitish, with black waves; under
wing coverts the same. Beak and feet black.

Habitat on the thorn bushes along the banks of the
Phalerus, near Athens.”

Figured by Temminck, pl. 256, f. 2.

rv}

pl

oe
Bait acca re]

up

INSECTIVOR.
Family LANIDA.

Genus LANIUS.

HOODED SHRIKE.

Lanius tchagra.

Lanius tchagra, Le Variuant; Ois, d’Afr.,
2, pl. 70.
ee < Scutecet. Drewanp.
« eucullatus, TEMMINCK, 1840.
Telophonus erythropterus, SwaINson.
Pie-Grieche a Capuchin, Or THE FRENCH.
Tschagra- Wiirger, Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Above testaceous brown, beneath whitish;
wing coverts and quills (externally) rufous; crown and stripe through
the eye black; sides of the head with a broad whitish stripe.

Total length nine inches; from the gape one inch; wings three
inches and a half; tail from base four inches and a half; tarsus
one inch and one tenth—Swatrnson.

THis bird has been introduced into the European
Fauna in consequence of its occurrence in Spain,
especially. More recently it has been killed in the west
of France, according to Degland. ‘Temminck, in the
latest additions to his Manual, published in 1840, re-
marks that he has received it from Andalusia, as well
as the south of Spain. But it is rather singular that in

Lie HOODED SHRIKE.

a list of the Birds of Andalusia, published by Dr. (Don
Antonio) Machado, in 1854, no mention is made of this
bird. ‘The omission, however, loses much of its signi-
ficance by not being noticed. M.'Temminck remarks
further that his specimens from Andalusia do not differ
from those of Senegal. But Schlegel, writing in 1844,
observes that the specimens killed in Spain and at the
Cape of Good Hope are the same, while they differ
both in size and colour from those brought from Senegal.
This is also confirmed by Degland. But the Spanish
specimens alluded to in both these instances were those
procured from the south of Spain. ‘There seems however
to be two races or permanent varieties of this species,
one inhabiting Senegal, and the other Abyssinia and the
Cape of Good Hope, and found accidentally in Spain
and France.

The best account of this bird is given by Le Vaillant,
in his “Histoire des Oiseaux d’Afrique,” from which I
extract the following:—

The feebleness of the wings of this Shrike prevents
g, and it therefore contents
itself with seeking under shrubs and among low plants

it from hunting on the win

caterpillars, spiders, and insects which cannot escape
from it by flight, as moths and grasshoppers do. ‘This
is another example of the manner in which Nature has
adapted the forms of animals to their habits. The
Ostrich, Cassowary, and other large birds, designed only
to live upon the earth, have wings, but are unprovided
with feathers fit to sustain them in the air, while their
strong and massive feet fit them for the long journeys they
are obliged to take. In the same manner the Mandiots,
(Grebes,) which are formed to inhabit the water, have
not only rudimentary wings, but their feet are placed
so far back, that they cannot walk the slightest distance

HOODED SHRIKE. 173

without falling. We see in this how an All-wise Pro-
vidence, while in the organization of beings He bestows
upon all the organs necessary to their habits of life,
deprives them in the same manner of whatever might
impede the due performance of their several functions.
A great and sublime lesson to those who would rule
over our fellow-creatures. We must not only make laws
to control the wicked, but deprive them of the means
of injuring themselves and others.

The Tchagra is about the size of our Kuropean Grey
Shrike; its tail, very slightly sloped, is simply rounded
at the end; the upper part of the head is of a brownish
black, slightly shaded with olive; the back of the neck
and scapulars and upper part of the body are of a tan-
brown colour; throat whitish. A white band springs
from the corner of the eye, and is prolonged from
thence with a black line, which is parallel. The neck
above and the body below are ash-coloured; the great
covers of the wings and the upper edges of the quill
feathers are of a ferruginous red, the rest brown, with a
greenish shade above; below entirely ash-coloured. The
two middle feathers of the tail are of a brownish grey,
imperceptibly shaded with a deeper colour; the others
are blackish, all tipped with white. Beak horny black,
as well as the feet; iris brown.

“This bird frequents the most covered and thickest
places; it would be very difficult to discover were it
not continually betrayed by its song. The male has a
note which is heard far off, and which is very well
expressed by ‘tcha-tcha, tcha-gra,’ from which Le Vaillant
derived its name.

The female is rather smaller than the male, and has
not the upper part of its head black; in every other

respect they are exactly alike, except a rather darker
VOL. I. 2A

174 HOODED SHRIKE.

shade, which may be discovered on the mantle of the
male and in the red of its quill feathers.

The nest of these Shrikes is found in the bushes;
they lay five eggs spotted with brown.

When young the Tchagra has all the upper part of
the body of a much lighter ashy brown than is repre-
sented in the figure given by Le Vaillant, of the male
and female, and the white is of a reddish tint. It is
only at a certain age that the upper part of the head
of the male becomes black.

This species was found by Le Vaillant in the environs
of the Gamtoos River, and from thence as far as Caf-
fraria, but he did not meet with it in his travels among
the Macaaquois. |

The above interesting description is taken from Le
Vaillant. I was therefore much surprised in turning
over Temminck and Degland to find them add a note,
““Meurs habitudes, nourriture, et propagation, niconnus.”

Figured by Buffon under the name of Pie-Grieche
rousse 4 téte Noire du Senegal, pl. enl. 479, f. 1, and
by? be Vaillant, Op. Cit; pl. 70:

iL

INSECTIVORA.
Family MUSCICAPIDZA. ( Lesson.)

Genus Muscicapa. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters.—Beak of medium size, angular, depressed
at base, and compressed towards the tip, which is curved and
hollowed out. Nostrils basal, ovoid, lateral, and partly covered
by hairs, pointed forwards. Tarsi medium size, as long, or
longer than middle toe; middle and external toes united at
their base; the claw of the hind toe stronger and more cur-
ved than the other. First quill feather very short, second
shorter than third or fourth, the third longest. Tail hollowed
out at the end, having twelve quill feathers.

WHITE-COLLARED FLYCATCHER.

Muscicapa albicollis.

Muscicapa albicollis, TremmMinck, 1820. Cuvirr, 1829.
b ie Bonaparte, 1838. Scuinz, 1840.
{e ie KEYSERLING AND Buasius, 1840.
& fe ScHLeGeE., 1844. Derenanp, 1844.
“ atricapilla, var. y., GMELIN; Syst., 1788.
ff aS Latuam; Ind., 1790.
#4 es Meyer anp Wotrr, 1810.
ge af Viri1ttotT; Dict., 1818.
7 streptophera, Vieititot; Faun. Fran., 145.

- collaris, Becustein. Naumann. Govucp.
Le Gobe-Mouche a collier
de la Lorraine, Or THE FRENCH.

Weisshalsiger Fliegenfunger, Or THE GERMANS.

176 WHITE-COLLARED FLYCATCHER.

Specific Characters.—Wings with the bastard feather a third of
the length of the first quill, this either on a level with the fourth
or extending beyond it; a small clear white spot upon the wing.
Length five inches and three fifths —Durcianp.

Tue Flycatchers are merely birds of passage in
Europe, and we only recognise four species in its
fauna, of which two are in the British lists, and the
others will be described and figured in this work. The
tropics are rich in species of this family.

The White-collared Flycatcher is found especially in
the provinces of the centre of Europe, and is dispersed
rather plentifully in many parts of France, less regularly
in the north. Degland says that he has found it at
Lisle in May, and that it breeds in considerable num-
bers in Lorraine. ‘Temminck says that it is never found
in Holland, and rarely in the middle of Italy. Count
Von der Miihle observed it in Greece, in the spring
passage in April, but then only for a few days, and in
considerable numbers, and in the breeding plumage, from
which he thinks it probable that it breeds in Rumelia.
It is included in Captain Loche’s “Birds of Algeria.”

Latham thought that the White-collared Flycatcher
was a variety of the Pied, and observes—‘‘These
varieties the less surprise us when we are told that the
bird varies in plumage in different seasons of the year,
the male only possessing the full black during the
summer; after that growing so like the female as not to
be known from her. Hence such variety of description
and sentiment concerning this bird.” The specific dis-
tinction, however, between the two birds, was clearly
pointed out by Temminck in the first edition of his
“Manual.” The males in breeding plumage are easy
to distinguish, but only after a change in the colour

WHITE-COLLARED FLYCATCHER. ry

of the plumage which follows the sprmg moult, and
which Temminck at one time considered and described
as a second moult.

In albicollis the white collar surrounds all the upper
part of the neck, while in atricapilla the whole of the
upper part of the neck at this time is black. During
the moult the collar of albicollis is marked out by a
grey ashy shade. The males of atricapilla in the winter
plumage have no white spot on the quill feathers. In
albicollis the two external quill feathers of the tail
have a white edge, more or less wide according to age;
in atricapilla there are three lateral quill feathers so
marked. According also to Roux, the first quill feather
of the wing is not longer and often shorter than the
fourth in atricapilla, whilst it is always longer in albi-
collis. In all other external marks the males in winter
plumage, the females of both species, and the young
birds, may very easily be mistaken for each other.

But the habits, the call note, and the song of the
males, are very different and distinctive, as well as the
colour of the eggs. ‘The call of albicollis is a sharp
disagreeable whistle, while that of atricapilla is an
agreeable sonorous note.

The White-collared Flycatcher builds its nest in the
holes of trees, of moss and hair. It lays five or six
eggs of a pale greenish blue, and generally very slightly
deeper in colour or streaked at the larger end. Large
diameter nine lines, small diameter six lines.—Degland.

It frequents wild and vast forests, where it may be
found perched upon the summit of the trees, only
coming down when its prey, the insects, are driven
lower by the rain. It is only seen in the smaller
woods in autumn. The plumage differs much in the
sexes, and at different seasons.

178 WHITE-COLLARED FLYCATCHER.

Male in breeding plumage. The top and sides of
the head, back, small wing coverts, upper tail coverts,
and tail of a deep black; the lower. part of the back
variegated with white. The forehead, a collar round
the lower part of the neck, a large longitudinal spot,
and a small spot below it upon each wing of a pure
white; the outermost tail feathers on each side edged
with white. Beak, feet, and iris black.

Adult male in autumn and winter. Greyish brown
above, white below; it only then differs from the female
of the same age by a kind of grey and often interrupted
collar round the neck, and by the feathers being darker.

Female. In breeding plumage very little different
from the Pied Flycatcher. It is of an ashy grey above,
and pure white below; the forehead whitish; a white
spot upon the wing, and a kind of collar of paler
feathers at the base of the neck.

Young birds of the year are like the females in
autumn, but they have the inferior parts of the body
of a duller white, the chest and sides spotted with ash-
colour, and they have not, like them, a whitish forehead.
At the approach of spring the plumage of the young
male blackens wherever it is ash-coloured in the female.
One or both lateral tail quills are black with white
edges, but this disappears entirely in the males upwards
of two years old. In winter there is no difference
between males and females.

The figure of the egg is from a drawing kindly sent
me by M. Moquin-Tandon.

The figure of the bird is a male in summer plumage.

Bird figured by Roux, “Ornith. Prov.,” pl. 151, male
in summer plumage; Gould, “‘B. of E.,” pl. 63, f. 2;
Bouteille, “Ornith. du Dauph.,” pl. 19, f. 2.

ee

\
1.WHITE-COLLARED FLYCATCHER,

2% RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER 3 RED-BREASTED THRUSH.

179

INSECTIVORZ.
Family MUSCICAPIDA. (Lesson. )

Genus Muscicapa. (Linneus. )

RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER.

Muscicapa parva.

Muscicapa parva, Meyer anp Wotrr, 1810.
ss fe TemMinck, 1820.
= as KEYSERLING AND Buastus, 1840.
ss ee Scuinz. ScHLEGEL.
Erythrosterna parva, Bonaparte, 1838.
Gobe-Mouche rougeatre, Or THE FRENCH.

Rothkehliger Fliegenfanger, OF THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Wings with the bastard feather a third
of the length of the first primary; this shorter than the fourth,
equal to the eighth: no white speculum on the primaries. Two
thirds of tail quill feathers white, except the four middle cnes,
which are brown entirely. Length five inches.

Tuis pretty and interesting species inhabits the vast
forests of Hungary, and the neighbourhood of Vienna,
in the summer, but only during the short time neces-
sary to rear its young. It is an annual migratory bird
in the Crimea, and accidental in France, Switzerland,
and Italy. M. Nordmann says that the young birds

180 RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER.

may be seen in flocks in the botanic gardens of Odessa,
from the last days of July, and remain till the end of
October, and that those birds in full plumage which
pass in the spring, only stop avery short time in these
gardens.

Schinz writes that this Flycatcher was found in
Switzerland. ‘The Marquis of Durazzo notices the cap-
ture of one in the neighbourhood of Génes, in 1835.
M. Crespon mentions another taken in the ‘Jardin des
Plantes,’ in Abignon; and M. Gerbe says it has been
found at Montpellier, by his friend M. Gervais. Tem-
minck remarks that this species “is an annual migratory
bird in Germany, but very difficult to procure. I
have not heard that this species has been seen else-
where—perhaps it only passes through France.” It
occurs in India, as there are specimens from the Deccan
in the museums of Paris and the low countries.

This little interesting bird has, according to Tem-
minck, all the habits of the Redbreast. Nordmann
remarks that the vivacity of its movements, as well as
the white of its tail, reminds one of the smallest
species of Stonechat. It constantly utters a feeble
chirp, lowers its tail slowly and repeatedly, and spreads
it out or raises it suddenly above its wings. Schlegel
remarks in his ‘Revue,’—“‘This bird appears to be still
little known in France and England, Mr. Swainson
having introduced it into the Naturalists’ Library, in
1838, as a species quite unknown, and one sufficiently
remarkable to serve as the type of a new genus.”

The Red-breasted Flycatcher, like the rest of its
family, lives upon flies and other insects. It builds its
nest in the united boughs of two neighbouring trees,
or in the fork of the branches. The moult is simple,
but the colours of the plumage, especially of the in-

RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER. 181

ferior parts, change periodically from the same cause
as in the preceding species.

The adult male has the upper part of the head,
neck, body, and upper tail feathers of a russet or red-
dish ash-colour; throat, front of the neck, and chest of
a bright yellow red; abdomen and under tail feathers
silvery white; the sides of the bird streaked with a
reddish light ash-colour; sides of the neck and chest
of a beautiful ash-colour; wing coverts like the back;
primaries of a brownish ash-colour; the secondaries
edged outside, and tipped with a greyish tint; the four
middle tail feathers and the extremity of lateral feathers
blackish; the last of a pure white in the rest of their
extent; beak and feet brown.

Adult female. According to M. Temminck, it should
resemble the male, but Degland says it has the red of
the neck and of the chest less bright, and the other
colours lighter.

Young birds. Upper parts ash-colour, inclining to
russet; inferior parts of a whitish ash-colour, shaded
with very light red on the neck and chest, and of a
whiter tint on the middle of the abdomen; under tail
feathers very white; cheeks, sides of the neck, and
chest, especially the sides, tinged with a light red; tail
nearly like that of the adult bird. Temminck adds
that there is a slight bluish tint above the ears, and
that the hairs at the base of the beak are very long.

The figure of this bird is in winter plumage.

Figured by Gould, “B. of E.,” pl. 64.

VOL. I. 2B

INSECTIVORZ.
Family TURDIDZ. ( Bonaparte.)

Genus Turpus. (Linneus.)

Generic Characters.—Beak medium size, compressed, and
more or less bent at the tip; the upper mandible hollowed
out towards the end; isolated hairs at the gape. Nostrils
basal, lateral, ovoid, and partly covered by a naked membrane.
Feet with the tarsi longer than the middle toe; the exterior
toe united at its base to the middle one. The first primary
almost wanting, or short; in some species the third is the

longest, in others the fourth.

RED-BREASTED

Turdus

Turdus migratorius,

“eé ee

“ce se

“Canadensis,
The Robin,
Migratory Thrush,—

American Fieldfare,
Merle Erratique and

Litorne du Canada,

Wanderdrossel, :

Specific Characters.—W ings
first primary longer than the

THRUSH.

migratorius.

Linnzus. GmMeELin. LatHam.
VirrLttot. TEMMINCK.
BonaparktE. SCHLEGEL.
Brisson.

WILtson.

Or AvtTHors.

Or THE FRENCH.
Or THE GERMANS.

with the bastard feathers short;
third, the second longest of all.

“a
{

AB) SUNS

(77
tro
(Bp)

yt: pil
7 q ad

RED-BREASTED THRUSH. 183

Plumage olive brown, underneath rufous; head of the adult
blackish, more or less spotted with brown below, and of an
ashy brown tint above in the young.

Measurement.—Length nine inches and four lines; beak twelve
lines; tail three inches and six lines; feet fifteen lines; toe with
claw twelve lines and a half; extent of wings fourteen inches and
eight lines.

Tuts is a North American species, where it ranges
as far as Hudson’s Bay. It is only an accidental
visitor to Europe. According to Temminck it has been
killed frequently in Germany; on the testimony of
Brehm it is recorded as having been killed near Vienna;
and M. de Selys-Longchamps thinks that the specimen
indicated by Schinz of Turdus rufus, as having been
killed in England is referable to this species. Whether
this latter remark be true or not I cannot say, but
as we know nothing of its habits in Europe, I have
much pleasure in introducing the followmg graphic and
interesting account of it from ‘Fauna Boreali Americana”
by Swainson.

“The Red-breasted Thrush is very common in
America, where it is called the Robin. It affects the
neighbourhood of towns, and is observed to feed much
on the fruit of Nyosa sylvatica, and on poke-berries,
Phylotacea decandria.

It begins to sing in March, and pairs early in April.
Its nests were observed as high as the sixty-seventh
parallel of latitude, and as low as the fifty-fourth. The
young are hatched about the end of May in the latter
districts, but not until the 11th. of June further north.
The snow even then partially covers the ground, but
there are in the high latitudes abundance of berries of
Vaccinium uliginosum and V. vitis-idea, Arbutus alpina,
Empetrum nigrum, and some other plants, which, having

184 RED-BREASTED THRUSH.

been frozen up during the winter, are exposed the
first melting of the snow, full of juice and in high
flavour; shortly afterwards, when the young require
them, the parents get plenty of fruit.

It builds on the branch of a spruce fir-tree, generally
about five or six feet from the ground, taking no par-
ticular pains to conceal it, and frequently selecting a
tree in the immediate vicinity of a house. Its nest is
formed, like the European Thrush, of grass and moss
interwoven, and lined with dung. ‘The eggs, five in
number, are about fourteen lines long, and have a
bluish green colour like those of the Common Thrush.

He is one of the loudest and most assiduous songsters,
his notes rather like those of our Thrush, but not so
loud. Within the arctic circle the woods are silent in
the bright light of noonday, but towards midnight,
when the sun travels near the horizon, and the shades
of the forest are lengthened, the concert commences,
and continues till six or seven in the morning. Even
in these remote regions the mistake of those naturalists
who have asserted that the feathered tribes of America
are void of harmony, might be fully disproved. Indeed
the transition is so sudden from the perfect repose—

the death-like stillness of an arctic winter—to the

animated bustle of summer; the trees spread their
foliage with such magical rapidity, and every succeeding
morning opens with such agreeable accessions of feath-
ered songsters to swell the chorus, their plumage as
gay and unimpaired as when they enlivened the deep
green forests of tropical climates, that the return of a
northern spring excites in the mind a deep feeling of
the beauties of the season, a sense of the bounty and
Providence of the Supreme Being, which is cheaply
purchased by the tedium of nine months winter.

RED-BREASTED THRUSH. 185

The most verdant lawns and cultivated glades of
Europe—the most beautiful productions of art, fail in
producing that exhilaration and joyous buoyancy of mind,
which we have experienced in treading the wilds of
Arctic America, when that snowy covering has been just
replaced by an infant but vigorous vegetation. It is
impossible for the traveller to refrain at such moments
from joining his aspiration to the song which every
creature around is pouring forth to the Great Creator.”

The Red-breasted Thrush migrates in greater or less
flocks at the end of summer. It is interesting to re-
flect upon the marvellous power of that instinct which
impels a bird like this into the cold regions of the far
north, where the food necessary for the support of its
young is still under the frozen snow.

The male in summer has the superior parts and sides
of the head covered with black feathers, having the
margin fuscous inclining to olive; on each side of the
head, between the beak and the eye, is a small white
spot. The upper part of the neck, body, and upper
tail coverts of a blackish brown; front of the neck
white, longitudinally marked with blackish streaks; chest
and abdomen of a very light russet; lower belly of a
pure white; under tail coverts brown, spotted with
white: free edge of the eyelids white. Wings like the
mantle, with the lesser coverts bordered with ash-colour;
primaries and tail quills brown, also edged with ash-
colour, the outer end of these last terminating on the
inside with a white spot, and the following one by a
border of the same colour.

Males in autumn are of a more green tint above,
and all the red feathers of the inferior parts end in
whitish.

Female in summer plumage is of a more ashy tint
VOL, I. 2C

186 RED-BREASTED THRUSH.

above, and a less bright red below, a part of the ab-
dominal feathers ending in white, those of the rump,
wings, and tail visibly worn out.

Young before the first moult. Upper parts blackish
brown; of a dull black on the head, with the spots
and streaks reddish in the centre of the feathers. The
back, throat, and middle of the neck white, slightly
washed with russet; chest and abdomen of a bright
red, crossed with black spots at the extremity of the
feathers; lower belly white. Wang coverts of a lighter
brown than the mantle; primaries and tail quills
blackish, the latter edged with white.

The egg is from a drawing kindly forwarded to me
by M. Moquin-Tandon.

The figure of this bird is in summer plumage.

Figured by Wilson, pl. 2, fig. 2; Gould, pl. 74;
Buffon, pl. enl. 556.

r ‘HSHYUAGL GELvYOUnL-AOVis

187

INSECTIVOR.
Family TURDIDA.

Genus TurpDUs.

BLACK-THROATED THRUSH.

Turdus atrogularis.

Turdus atrogularis, TemmMinckK; Man., 1820.
fe s ScHINz.
« bechsteinit, Naumann; xi. p. 310,
pe iGo ial:
« —_atrigularis, ScHLEGEL; Revue, 1844.
Merula atrogularis, Bonaparte.
Merle & gorge Noir, Or THE FRENCH.
Schwarzkehlige Drossel, Breem.

Specific Characters.—Plumage above greyish olive, below a
reddish brown. Face, cheeks, and front of the neck in the male
black; in the female, front of the neck red, streaked with black,
and with a black spot, horse-shoe-shape, marked out with ash-
colour on the breast. In the young, front of the neck white,
bordered with black or brown spots. Length about twelve inches.
—DercianD.

Tuts bird is an inhabitant of Siberia, whence it
occasionally migrates into Russia, Hungary, Silesia, and
Austria. Its occurrence, however, is only accidental in
Europe, and little or nothing is known of its habits.
It ranges south as far as Nepaul.

188 BLACK-THROATED THRUSH.

There seems to have been some confusion created
among systematic writers on ornithology about this bird.
Thus Brehm denies that it is identical with the Turdus
dubius of Bechstein, and also differs in opinion with
Naumann and Temminck, who have described the T.
auroreus of Pallas as identical with 7. atrogularis, an
opinion shared in by Schlegel and other ornithologists.
Upon this subject Temminck remarks:—

“As I cannot form any opinion from inspection . of
the identical species, I think it will be serviceable to
give the description furnished by M. Brehm of his T.
dubius. ‘The upper part of the body is of a beautiful
olive brown, but the rump is lighter; there is a red-
dish border to the wings, and an indistinct brown
band over the eyes; the front of the body to the
upper part of the chest is tan-colour, without spots
on the middle of the neck, but with blackish brown
streaks on the sides; these spots take a triangular form
at the upper part of the chest; the rest of the under
parts of a dull white. The plumage of the young
bird is like 7. atrogularis, but there is a yellow band
above the eyes.’

If M. Brehm did not give so many new species and
sub-species some value might be attached to the dif-
ference in the form of the spots, and in the absence
or presence of a band over the eyelids; but we may
also add we cannot be too particular in admitting what
are presumed to be new species, especially in Asiatic
Thrushes. The greater number known shew such a
disparity in the colours, in their distribution and in the
form of spots at different epochs of the moult and at
different ages, that the young female and old male of
the same species may easily be mistaken and separated
as quite distinct.”

BLACK-THROATED THRUSH. 189

Turdus ruficollis of Pallas, “Zoog.,” tome i., p. 452,
has been given as a synonyme of T. atrogularis by
some systematic writers, but Mr. Gould, who has a
beautiful figure of the bird in his “Birds of Asia,”
considers them quite distinct. I quote the following
upon the subject from that magnificent work :—

“In the size of the bill, length of the wings and
tail, and in the colouring of the crown of the head
and beak 7. ruficollis is exactly like 7. atrogularis ; but
they are very different in colour in other parts. Mr.
Hodgson, who has had ample opportunities for examining
this bird in India, remarks that 7. ruficollis is nearly
allied to 7. atrogularis, but differs in having the neck,
breast, superciliary ridge, fore part of the under sur-
face of the wing and the tail, except at the tip, rufous.
The Russian specimens of 7. atrogularis are also smaller
than individuals killed in the Himalayas, and I have
never seen a specimen of the latter species with any
other than uniform blackish brown tail feathers; if I
had I should have believed the birds were of the same
species.”

T. ruficollis has been said to have occurred in Europe,
and there can be little doubt that it is occasionally
seen with the other Asiatic Thrushes as an accidental
visitor, though I am not aware of any well-authenticated
instance of its capture, and adding this doubt to that
of its specific distinctness I do not feel justified in
introducing it into this work. It was observed in
company with T. naumanni by Middendorff, in the
south-east of Siberia, in the sixty-first degree of north
latitude. It was also observed by Pallas passing in
great abundance to winter quarters through the larch
forests of the Daoouria.

About the end of April they begin to pair. They

190 BLACK-THROATED THRUSH.

frequent the densest and most remote solitudes of the
forest at this time, and “while perched on the tops of
the lofty larches the males gave utterance to sweet
songs, which recalled the melody of our 7. musicus to
my memory.”

The male of the Black-throated Thrush has the face,
cheeks, front of the neck, and upper part of the chest
of a deep black, which is shaded with ash-colour upon
the end of the feathers of the chest; lower part of the
chest and middle of abdomen of a whitish colour,
shaded on the side with russet, where this colour is
relieved by little angular spots of a dark brown. Infe-
rior tail coverts russet, and all tipped with white. Upon
the upper parts a shade of olive ash-colour predominates,
which is darker on the head. Wing coverts are
delicately bordered with yellowish ash-colour; beak
blackish brown, but the inferior mandible is yellow at
its base. Iris and feet brown. Length ten inches and
a half.

The female has the upper parts of an olive grey,
with deeper tints on the wings; the throat has those
parts which are black in the male of a yellowish red,
longitudinally streaked with black; a horse-shoe-shaped
spot on the chest black, marked out with grey; under
tail coverts whitish, shaded with yellowish hairs.

Young birds have the throat and front of the neck
whitish, but surrounded laterally by a succession of
longitudinal spots, which unite on the chest in black
or brown marks or spots according to age; all the
other parts are whitish, except the sides, which are
ash-coloured, and have angular brown spots; all the
upper parts of the body as well as the cheeks are
olive ash-coloured. It is then 7. dubius.—Temminck,
Man., 1820—35.

BLACK-THROATED THRUSH. 191

The following is Gould’s description of T. ruficollis:
—‘‘Head, all of the upper surface, and wings, greyish
brown; lores, superciliary stripe, and throat, light
chesnut; breast, abdomen, and under tail coverts, white;
two central tail feathers brown, lateral tail feathers
rufous, becoming brown towards the margin; bill olive
yellow, passing into black at the tip; feet flesh-colour.”

T. atrogularis is figured by Naumann, ‘‘Naturg. Neue
Ausg.,” v. 2, p. 310, tab. 69, fig. 1, old male, fig. 2,
young of year; Bechstein, as 7. dubius; Temminck,
“Atlas,” (male;) Schinz, “HKurop. Fauna,” tab. 1, p.
164; Gould, “B. of E.”

192

INSECTIVOR.
Family TURDIDA.

Genus TurRDUS.

NAUMANN’S THRUSH.

Turdus naumannii.

Turdus naumannii, Tremminck; Man., 1820.
ae st Bonaparte. ScuHInz.
ig of KEYSERLING AND Brastus.
ue ce ScHLEGEL.
“« Ofuscatus, Patras; Zoogr., 1, p. 451,
ms oe Govutp; Birds of Asia.
‘6 eunomus, Temminck; Fauna Japonica.
s t NavMANN.
Merle Naumann, Or THE FRENCH.
Naumann’s Drossel, Or THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Plumage ,ash-coloured red above; in the
adult marked below with large red spots fringed with white, and
in the young with triangular spots of blackish brown. Length
ten inches.

Tus is said to be one of the Asiatic Thrushes dis-
covered and designated by Pallas Turdus fuscatus.
Temminck described it in his “Manual” of 1820 as 7.
naumannit, after the distinguished ornithologist of that
name. Mr. Gould, in his ‘Birds of Europe,” adopts

‘HSMUHGL SNNVNOVN

NAUMANN’S THRUSH. 193

Temminck’s name, and gives the figure of a bird from
the Museum of Munich. In his “Birds of Asia” he
restores the name of Pallas—TZ. fuscatus. I think this
is a mistake, for in the first place the change of a
name held for so long a time, and adopted by the
best European ornithologists is likely to cause confusion;
and secondly, it is by no means clear to my mind that
the specific identity has been clearly established. Gould’s
two figures differ considerably, and I am not aware
that Temminck ever admitted that the bird he described
as naumanni was identical with the fuscatus of Pallas.

T. naumanniw is an inhabitant of Siberia and Japan;
it occurs accidentally in Silesia and Austria, more
commonly in Hungary, and probably in Southern
Russia. It is also found occasionally in Dalmatia and
the centre of Italy. It is readily recognised at all
ages by the dark brown tint of the feathers covering
the ears, and by the clear bright colour of the eyebrows.

Nothing whatever is known of the manners, habits, or
nidification of this species.

The adult male has the top of the head and feathers
covering the ears of a dark brown; all the other upper
parts of a red ash-colour, passing by gradations of tints
into a deep russet, which is also the colour of the
sides of the neck, rump, and lateral tail feathers; the
same bright russet edges the scapularies, and forms
upon the chest, sides, and abdomen large spots, which
occupy the centre of all the feathers, fringed with a
deep white edge; middle of the belly and thighs of a
pure white. Primaries and middle tail quills, of a dark
brown, but all the under part of the tail red; beak
and feet brown. Length of the male nine inches.

The female only differs from the male in having

lighter and less-marked tints.
VOL, I, 2D

194 NAUMANN’S THRUSH.

Young of the year differ in the large eyebrows and
all the under parts of the body having a white ground,
on which are a great number of triangular spots of a
blackish brown; some of the feathers on the chest
and sides are of a bright red in the middle, and all
fringed with a deep white edge; middle of belly and
abdomen always white.—Temminck.

Degland says the young only differ from the old
birds in the under parts, which have a great number
of triangular spots of a blackish brown, and some red
feathers fringed with white on the chest and sides.

Figured by Pallas, ‘‘Zoog.,” 1, p. 445, 92, fig. 100;
Temminck, ‘‘Atlas;”-Brehm, ‘Vog. Deut.,” (male;)
Naumann, “Naturg Neue Ausg.,” tab 68, (young of
different ages;) Schinz, “Kurop. Fauna;” Gould, “B.
of Ei.”

HSOUHL* £1Vd

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195

INSECTIVORA.
Family TURDID, ( Bonaparte.)

Genus Turpus.

( Linneus. )

PALE THRUSH.

Turdus pallidus.

Turdus pallidus,

6é 6e

pallens,

“se 6é
tliacus-pallidus,
" seyffertitzii,

wernert,

Merle blafard,
Blass drossel,

Gmetin; Syst., 1788.

Latuam; 1790.

TremMMInCcK; 1835. Bonaparte.

KeyYsERLING AND Buasivs.

Scuinz. DEGLanp.

Pattas; Zoog., i, p. 457.

ScHLEGEL; 1844.

NavMann; xi, p. 279.

Breumu; Vog. Deutschl., p. 387.

Gent; Mem. Acad Tor., xxxvii,
p- 291.

Or THE FRENCH.

OF THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Distinguished from all other Thrushes by
wanting absolutely the black spots on the crop and sides. Length
seven inches and a quarter. Tail three inches. Wings in repose
reach to half length of tail. Tarsi thirteen lines.—GeEnz.

Tuts is another of the Eastern Thrushes, occurring

accidentally in Europe. ‘Temminck, in his “Manual”

in 1835, states that only three specimens have been

196 PALE THRUSH.

captured in Europe. He amends, however, this state-
ment in 1840, by referring to the memoir of Gené in
the thirty-seventh volume of the Academy of Turin,
who records two other specimens captured in November,
1827 and 1828, in the neighbourhood of Turin. In
this paper Gené at the same time points out the sin-
gular mistake of Werner, who figured this bird in the
“Atlas” as Z. naumannii, although Temminck’s text
distinctly refers to Naumann’s figures of the latter;
being the first, however, to figure the bird, though
under a wrong designation, Professor Bonelli gave it
the name of wernert, which will be found among the
synonymes.

The bird was described long ago by Pallas, Gmelin,
and Latham. Mr. Gould in his figure has delineated
faint-coloured spots on the breast, remarking—‘We
possess other specimens, in which the spots on the
breast are wanting, and the white of the throat and
abdomen is less pure, but whether the difference is
occasioned by sex or age we are unable to determine.”

Like the two species which precede this, nothing is
known of its habits and propagation, though we may
fairly assume they are similar to those of the other
species in this well-marked family.

The adult has all the upper parts of a more or less
pale olive brown; a black spot covers the lore; the
forehead brown; superciliary ridge reddish yellow; the
neck and throat blackish ash; the chin white; the crop
olive ash; the nape, the back, and wing coverts, dark
olive red; quill feathers and tail of a bright ashy black;
a white spot on the inner barb of the three lateral
quill feathers of the tail; the flanks of an ashy olive;
all the rest of the inferior parts of a pure white.
Length eight inches three or four lines. The differences

PALE THRUSH. 197
between male and female and different ages of young
not known.—Temminck.

Figured by Werner, in the “Atlas to the Manual,”
under the name of Turdus naumanni, and by Gould,

eb of )E:.”

In the next number I shall figure and describe
T. cyaneus, but I take this opportunity of noticing
several species, some of which have been included by
Schlegel and others in the European fauna, and I will
quote the remarks of Schlegel himself upon these birds
in his “Revue” of 1844, as the best authority for
omitting them from this work. The question of
determining with exactness the claims of admission into
the European lists of many of these stragglers is very
difficult, and I have already incurred the rebuke of
the reviewer of my work in the “Ibis” on this point.
Sins of omission are, however, equally great with those
of commission, and I must content myself with the
exercise of the best judgment I can give of the evi-
dence on both sides, and perhaps by this means [ shall
at least avoid the error of being too confident upon a
confessedly difficult question in ornithology.

Turdus barbaricus, Gmelin.—Frequents according to
Risso, the environs of Nice. I cannot give any account
of this doubtful species, and therefore pass it in silence.

Turdus rufus, Brisson.—Said by Schinz to have been
observed in England, but as he has not indicated the
source from whence he has derived this information,
I have not adopted this species among those: observed
in Europe.

Turdus sibiricus, Pallas.—Introduced into Temminck’s

‘“‘Manual’”’ among the birds of Europe, from one indi-
g ’
VOL. I. 2K

198 PALE THRUSH.

vidual sent by Professor Pallas during his sojourn in
the Crimea, by whom it is said to inhabit only Eastern
Siberia. It is therefore necessary to erase this bird
from the European catalogue.

Turdus solitarius, Wilson; T. minor, Latham.—One
specimen killed December 22nd., 1825, in the Duchy
of Anhalts-K6then.

Turdus auroreus, Pallas; ZT. bechsteinit, Naumann.—
In his “Catalogue” Schlegel says this bird has been
observed many times in Germany. In his observations,

page 70, he says its claim rests upon a specimen re-—

ported by Gloger to have been killed in Silesia. It
is omitted from the European list by Temminck and
Degland, the latter of whom remarks that its appear-
ance within the geographical limits of Europe has not
been satisfactorily demonstrated. It is quite probable
that it may occasionally appear, as well as other Asiatic
species recorded, but I agree with Degland that the
evidence on this point is not satisfactory.

My readers will be kind enough to consider the
above among the doubtful European species.

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199

INSECTIVORA.
Family TURDIDZ.

Genus Prrrocincia. ( Vigors.)

Generie Characters.—Beak elongated and snb-cylindrical, the
edges of inferior mandible notched towards the point, to
correspond with the curve of the upper mandible. Nostrils
basal, lateral, ovoid, and partly closed by a membrane; tarsi
of medium length; wings passing the middle of the tail; first
quill feather very short, the third the longest, the second a
little shorter than the third. Tail feathers equal at the end.

BLUE THRUSH.

Petrocincla cyanea.

Petrocincla cyanea,

ee 66

Turdus cyaneus,

** solitarius, (female, )

GouLp. Dercranp.

KEryYsERLING anp Buastvs.
Linnzvus. Gmuerwin. Latuam.
Meyer anv Wotrr. TremMinck.
VirILtot. Scuinz. ScHLEGEL.

and manillensis, (young,) Lataam; Index, p. 3465.

Merula cerulea,
Petrocossyphus cyaneus,

“ce “cc

Merle de Roche bleu,
Blaue Steindrossel,

Brisson.

Borz. Bonaparte.
Locus; Cat. des Oiseaux
Observés en Algéria.
Or THE FRENCH.
Or THE GERMANS.

200 BLUE THRUSH.

Specific Characters.—The two middle feathers of the tail longer
than the rest. Ground of the plumage blue or bluish. Length
eight inches and a half.

Temmincxk placed the two European Rock Thrushes
in what he called the Sazicoles—the second division
or section of his genus Turduws—in consequence of their
affinity to the Wheatears and Stonechats. They differ,
however, from these latter in having the beak of the
true Thrushes. On the other hand they are more
solitary in their habits, they never emigrate in flocks,
and, although not exclusively insectivorous, they are
much more so than the Thrushes, properly so called.
In the present notice, therefore, I shall follow the example
of Gould, Keyserling, and Blasius, and Degland, and
place the Blue Thrush in the genus Petrocincla of
Vigors, with which family, as observed by Mr. Gould,
it is evidently the connecting link. Prince Bona-
parte has adopted the arrangement of Boie, -who
formed a ‘separate genus, Petrocossyphus, for this bird,
under which name it is alluded to by Captain Loche
as inhabiting the highest regions of Algeria.

The Blue Thrush inhabits the south of France,
Spain, Sardinia, the Levant, and Italy. It is also
found in the Morea; it is abundant in the valleys of
Piedmont, less common in Switzerland and the Tyrol,
still rarer in the Vosges, and abundant in the Appenines.
It is spread over Greece, and ranges, according to
Brehm, in parts of Asia, and the northern parts of
Africa.

In its habits this bird is solitary, rarely perching
on trees. It is found among retired ruins and wild
unfrequented rocks and caverns, where, seated upon
the highest point it can find, it sends forth its sweet,

cr pl ve Ui ne

ry

—.

ey

BLUE THRUSH. 201

melancholy, and plaintive note, giving an additional
charm to the picturesque and beautiful scenery it fre-
quents. It is a shy bird. It builds in the crevices of
rocks, on church towers, ruins of mountain castles, and
other high buildings. Its nest is of considerable size,
formed of grass and straw, like a shallow bowl, and
bound together with bents and fibres of roots.

In the beginning of May it lays five oval shining
greenish blue eggs, having upon them faint spots of
violet grey, over which are reddish or red brown
markings. Some are also unspotted. They differ from
P. saxatilis in being larger, of a paler colour, and in
the much clearer spot markings.—Brehm, in Badeker’s
European Eggs.

Count Von der Mihle, in his “Grecian Ornithology,”
remarks of this bird:—‘‘It is very plentiful on the
rocky hills of the Morea, and in the islands. In its
habits and song it has a great resemblance to the
Stonechats. In summer it frequents steep rocky places,
but in the latter part of autumn it comes plentifully
into the towns, where it may be observed on the
topmost ridges of the houses, singing and looking out
for food. It is wary, and carefully avoids all traps.
The nest is very difficult to find. I once was shewn
one built on the Crategus pyracantha, or, as it is
commonly called, ‘Moses in the Burning Bush.’ The
nest was built simply of grass, and the young were
brought up, tamed, and sold in Turkey.”

In plumage the male and female differ considerably.
The adult male has the whole of the upper surface of
a deep greyish blue, many of the feathers margined
with grey. Wings and tail black, with the wing
coverts clear, and the tail quills bordered with obscure
blue. The under parts light blue, with obscure narrow

202 BLUE THRUSH.

bars of brown edged with white on the chest and ab-
domen; beak and tarsi black.

The adult female has the whole upper parts bluish
brown, with the feathers bordered with ash-colour.
Wings and tail blackish brown, each feather edged
with bluish ash; on the crop and neck large reddish
spots; the other under parts streaked and variegated
with a bluish tint, ash-colour, or brown.

The young have the upper and under parts of the
body of an ashy brown, sprinkled with small whitish
spots; the back and neck tinted with a bluish hue;
wings and tail blackish brown.

After the first moult and when a year old, according
to Degland, the males have a plumage of a less vivid
blue, with black and bluish narrow crescents placed
irregularly on the inferior parts of the body; sometimes
also some are found on the upper parts, but they are
less apparent, and have a reddish tint.

Figured by Buffon, Pl. enl., 250, as Merle solitaire
femelle d’Italie, and as Solitaire de Manille, Pl. enl.,
564, f. 2, and as Le Merle Bleu, p. 350, t. 24;
Edwards, pl. 18; Temminck and Laugier, Atlas;
Vieilott, Faun. France, pl. 70 and 71; Roux, Ornith,
Prov., pl. 173 and 174, (male and female;) Gould, B.
of E.; Bouteille, Ornith. du Dauph., pl. 21.

Beet Ste aie
USK Y 1X Os,

203

INSECTIVORZ.
Family TURDIDA.

Genus Ixos. ( Temminck. )

Generic Characters.—Beak shorter than the head, compressed,
bent from its base, curved and slightly hollowed out at the
tip, with stiff hairs at the base. Nostrils basal, lateral, ovoid,
and partly closed by a naked membrane. Feet short and
feeble; tarsi shorter than the middle toe; the external toe
united at the base; claws short and slender. Wings short
and rounded; the first quill feather short, the second, third,
and fourth, each longer than the last; fourth, fifth, and
sixth longest.

DUSKY » 1X05.

Txos obscurus.

Ixos obscurus, Tremminck, Manual, App. to
Third Part, 2nd. Edit., 1840.
ry ¥: ScHtecet, DrGuanp.

“ barbatus, Bonaparte. Captain Locue.
Hematornis luqubris, Lesson; Synops, 1839.
Turdoide obscur, Or THE FRENCH.

Dunkle Halb-drossel, OF THE GERMANS.

Specific Characters.—Wings with the bastard quill long; first
quill shorter than sixth. General tint brown above, ash-colour
below. Length about eight inches.

204. DUSKY IXOS.

Tuts bird was introduced into the European fauna
by Temminck in 1840, in the Appendix to the last
edition of his work. I shall quote his remarks about
the family and description of the species entire:—

“This genus is new to the ornithology of Europe;
many representatives of it exist in Africa and the
islands of the Indian Archipelago, where the species of
the genus are numerous. M. Muller, one of our Indian
travelling naturalists, informs me that it is one of the
sedentary birds of Java. Some species we found in-
habiting the mountainous countries, and one of them
at an elevation of eight thousand feet; others were
found on the plains, even in the neighbourhood of in-
habited places. ‘Their call resembles somewhat that of
the Chaffinch.

They are generally found in pairs, or collected to-
gether in families—rarely in a numerous flock. They
generally frequent trees or shrubs bearing fruit or
berries, which are almost their only food. They may
often be seen upon the ground seeking for those
fruits which have fallen; but they rarely feed on
caterpillars or other insects, so that it must be ad-
mitted they are essentially fructivorous, in which they
differ from the Thrushes.”’

The Dusky Ixos is found commonly in Andalusia,
and it inhabits the western parts of North Africa. I
am not able to give any authentic account of its
habits or propagation.

M. Temminck further remarks:—“This new species
resembles very closely, both in size and form, the Jzos
plebeius of Western Africa, of which there is a plate
in the Atlas of Roupell’s “Travels in Egypt,” but
the colour of the plumage is suflciently different to
distinguish the two species. Our species, though it

‘

$ :
DUSKY IXO0S.

DUSKY IXOS. 205

differs in the colours of the plumage, is very like the
one we have figured under the name of Izos vail-
lantii in the “Pl. Color.,” or the Merle cul-jaune du
Cap of Buffon, “Pl. Enl.,” 517, which is the Brunozr
of Vaillant, ‘‘Ois. d’Afr.,” pl. 106, f. 1. It resembles
also in all these characters many of the species of the
same genus scattered over the Isles of the Asiatic
Archipelago.”

I have much pleasure in giving here a figure of
the egg of Izos obscurus, sent to me by the Rev. H.
BL. Tristram, with. that gentleman’s remarks. ‘This rare
egg is, I believe, now figured from an authentic
specimen for the first time. Mr. Tristram says,—‘‘Egg
of Izos obscurus.—Taken in a ravine near Lake Fetzara,
Eastern Algeria, 24th. June, 1857, from a nest con-
taining three eggs hard set, in the centre of an
extremely thick piece of brushwood in the fork of a
low bush. Both the parent birds were shot. The
nest is very slight, small for the size of the bird,
formed outwardly of very fine twigs, and lined with
extremely fine fibres of roots. No hair or wool, or
other warm material used in its construction. It is
saucer-shaped and shallow.

The voice of the bird is powerful and rich, some-
thing like the note of the Nightingale cut short,—the
first part of its song without the last. ‘This is believed
to be the only nest of ZLzos obscurus yet found, and
the egg bears a close affinity with that of the Izos
(or Pycnonotus) hemorrheus, of Ceylon, in my collec-
tion, and with that of zanthopygius of Palestine.
The egg of the Gold-vented Thrush will doubtless
prove to be very similar. ‘These eggs mark at once
the clear separation of the genus vos from the Turdine.

The whole family are among the richest songsters in
VoL. I. 2F

206 DUSKY IXOS.

nature, and one of the genus is the true ‘Bulbul’ of
the East.”

The adult male and female have the top of the
head, cheeks, and throat, dull brown; nape, mantle,
back, and rump, a dull earthy brown; the whole of
the wing same colour, but rather more shining. Chest
and sides a clear brown; middle of the belly whitish
brown; abdomen and upper tail coverts dull white;
tail unicolorous blackish brown; beak and feet black. °

With this bird I complete the description of the
Thrushes and their allies. The two Water Ouzels
admitted by some authors, namely, Cinclus pallasit
and C. melanogaster, would, according to the arrange-
ment of Temminck, follow next; but there is, I think,
no doubt that the last is a variety of C. aquaticus, a
well-known British bird, while the former is only an
inhabitant of Siberia, and that proof of its having been
found in the Crimea, as stated by ‘Temminck, is
wanting. They are excluded by Schlegel and Degland,
and therefore I shall follow their example.

I srine here my first volume to a close, a number
or so sooner than I intended, to avoid breaking in
upon the next group, the Sylvcade, which will occupy
the first six or seven numbers of Volume II. In
dealing with this family, I shall follow the arrangement
of Count Von der Miihle, and avail myself largely of
the information derived from his excellent ‘‘Monographia
der Europaischen Sylvien.”

I shall of course in the progress of the work be
thankful for any information, which those possessing it
may wish to impart, so as to render it as perfect as

DUSKY IXOS. 207

possible, and assist in carrying out the great object
for which it was undertaken,—that of diffusing widely
sound information upon a most interesting part of
natural history. I shall hereafter in its proper place
have more to say upon this subject, and many most
grateful acknowledgments to offer.

END OF VOL. LI.

B. FAWCETT, ENGRAVER AND PRINTER, DRIFFIELD.

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