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VOL. TIT.

7 OL te J

; : « ; A, ee
(ik te (eign Yams ce
Pe) ce a t o

i
cc. i

A

HISTORY

OF

BRITISH BIRDS.

BY

WILLIAM YARRELL, BLS. VERZE.

_ Au ili Ze
: Cre 0 ay
~ Si il we

ILLUSTRATED BY 520 WOOD-ENGRAVINGS.
IN THREE VOLUMES.—VOL. III.

LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M.DCCC.XLIII.

Ex conan Insti, aes
RICHM@N |
GOLLECT!
“e e
é: ~lational Mus

LONDON:
Printed by 8.& J Benriey, Winsow, and Fury,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane

BRITISH BIRDS.

GRALLATORES. RALLIDA.

THE COLLARED PRATINCOLE.

Glareola Austriaca, Austrian Pratincole, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 110.

As 55 as 5 Mont. Supp. Ornith. Dict.
Hirundo Pratincola, a Be Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 309.
Glareola torquata, a an Fie. Brit. An. p. 94.

9 a Collared 3 Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 213.

aa Pratincola, Be a Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 216.

», torquata, e An Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.

5 He Glaréole a collier, Tema. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 500.

Grarerota. Generic Characters.—Beak short, convex, compressed towards
the point, the upper mandible curved throughout the distal half of its length.
Nostrils basal, lateral, pierced obliquely. Legs bare for a short space above
the tarsal joint; long and rather slender; three toes in front, one behind ;
the middle toe united by a short membrane to the outer toe; the inner toe
free; the hind toe articulated upon the tarsus; claws long and subulate.
Wings very long, the first quill-feather considerably the longest.

VOL, III. B

eo

RALLIDE.

Tue Prarincoxe is an inhabitant of the temperate and
warmer parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia; and from its
great powers of flight, indicated by its long wings, it has, as
might be expected, an extensive geographical range.

Mr. Bullock, of the London Museum, in the eleventh
volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, thus re-
cords the first captures of this species in this country.

‘The first instance of this bird having been killed in
Britain occurred in 1807, when one was shot in the neigh-
bourhood of Ormskirk in Lancashire: it was preserved by
Mr. J. Sherlock, of that place, from whom I purchased it
a few days afterwards. On the 16th of August 1812, I
killed another specimen of this bird in the Isle of Unst,
about three miles from the northern extremity of Britain.
When I first discovered it, it rose within a few feet and flew
round me in the manner of a Swallow, and then alighted close
to the head of a cow that was tethered within ten yards’ dis-
tance. After examining it a few minutes, I returned to the
house of T. Edmondson, Esq. for my gun, and, accompanied
by that gentleman’s brother, went in search of it. After a’
short time it came out of some growing corn, and was catch-
ing insects at the time I fired; and, being only wounded in
the wing, we had an opportunity of examining it alive. In
the form of its bill, wings, and tail, as well as its mode of
flight, it greatly resembles the genus Hirundo ; but, contrary
to the whole of this family, the legs were long, and bare
above the knee, agreeing with J'ringa; and, like the Sand-
pipers, it ran with the greatest rapidity when on the ground,
or in shallow water, in pursuit of its food, which was wholly
of flies, of which its stomach was full.”

The bird killed near Ormskirk is in the collection of the
Earl of Derby. The other remained in Mr. Bulleck’s pos-
session till the sale of the contents of his museum in 1819 ;
when I find, by a reference to my priced catalogue, that this

COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 3

specimen from Shetland produced 8/. 8s., and was _trans-
ferred to the British Museum.

Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, sent me word that,
a pair of Pratincoles was shot on the Breydon-wall near Yar-
mouth, in May 1827, by John Bessy, a fisherman, and sold
to Isaac Harvey, a bird preserver, who resold them for ‘7.
The occurrence and capture of this pair of Pratincoles is
mentioned in Paget’s sketch of the Natural History of Yar-
mouth and its neighbourhood (page 10).

From Mr. F. Holme I learned, that a Pratincole was shot
by Frederick Oates, Esq. of Branston Hall, near Lincoln, on
the 15th of August 1827, while flying about much like a
Swallow, and near the ground.

The Rev. Leonard Jenyns sent me notice of a Pratincole
shot in Wilbraham Ken, Cambridgeshire, in May 1855; and
I have since ascertained that this specimen is now in the col-
lection of J. 'T. Martin, Esq. of Quy Hall, in that county.
In May 1840, a Pratincole was shot upon the shore of the
harbour of Blakeney in Norfolk, by Henry Overton, a
fowler, and passed into the possession of Mr. John Sparham,
by whom it was presented to Henry Rogers, Esq. solicitor,
at Thetford. A living specimen was preserved for some
months in the aviary at the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety. It was very quiet in confinement, and had a habit
of throwing the head back, as if looking upwards. M. 'Tem-
minck says it frequents the banks of rivers, and the marshy
margins of large lakes, making its nest among rushes or other
dense aquatic vegetation. I have, however, very lately learn-
ed something more. Among a collection of birds, recently
presented to the Zoological Society by the son of Drummond
Hay, Esq., and which had been shot by this young gentleman
in the vicinity of Tangiers, were two skins of the Pratincole.
On making inquiry of the donor in reference to the Pratin-
cole particularly, I learned that the habits of this bird corre-

BR

4 RALLIDE.

sponded closely with those of our Plovers, frequenting sandy
plains, flying and running with great rapidity; forming a
slight nest in any accidental depression in the dry soil, and
laying four eggs. One example of this bird’s egg was given
to the Society ; and this zealous young ornithologist had seen
others, which were all alike. ‘The egg measures one inch
two lines in length, by eleven lines and a half in breadth ;
it is of a pale buffy stone-colour, marked with small round
spots of bluish grey and dull black. This egg immediately
reminds the observer, who is acquainted with the eggs of our
birds, of those of the Ring Plovers, by its colours and mark-
ings. The Pratincole has been arranged by some authors
with the Swallows, by others near the Rails: but I believe,
with Mr. Selby, that it ought to be included in the family
of the Plovers; and had I known its plover-like habits and
eggs sooner, I should have arranged it between Cursorius
and Charadrius.

The egg of the Pratincole is so great a rarity, that I have
endeavoured to give a representation of it, by which it may
be known.

The bird is rare in Holland, but is occasionally seen in
Germany, France, Provence, Switzerland, and Italy; it is
more plentiful in Dalmatia, and other eastern parts of Eu-
rope. M. Temminck mentions that it breeds in Sardinia,
and has been seen at Malta. It is said to inhabit Senegal ;
and I have seen specimens from Tangiers and Tripoli. This
species has also been observed at Cairo, Smyrna, Trebizond ;
and in the country about the Caucasus it was seen by M.
Menetries in considerable flocks: the birds squatted close to
the ground, with outstretched wings, and allowed a near ap-
proach. ‘The Pratincole is also found in 'Tartary, but is said
not to go farther north in that direction than latitude 53°,

The beak is curved, and almost black, and Mr. Bullock
says, that whilst living, the edges of both mandibles, and the

COLLARED PRATINCOLE. 5

base of the lower one, were bright scarlet orange ; the irides
light brown ; the head, the neck behind, the back, scapulars,
wing-coverts and tertials, nearly uniform clove-brown ; pri-
maries nearly black ; upper tail-coverts white; tail very much
forked, the feathers white at the base, the other part dark
brownish black ; the outer feather on each side as long again
as those in the middle; the chin white; the throat pale buff,
with a crescentic line of black ascending to each eye; breast
brownish buff; belly, thighs, and under tail-coverts white ;
axillary plume and under wing-coverts bay; the legs reddish
purple brown.

In the young bird the clove-brown feathers of the back,
and the wing-coverts, secondaries, and tertials, have pale red-
dish brown margins ; the tail-feathers shorter, and much less
forked ; throat pale brown, the crescentic collar indicated by
dark brown spots; breast varied with two shades of brown ;
belly, and under surface of the body, and tail-feathers, grey-
ish white.

Females are said to resemble the males. The whole length
of an adult bird near ten inches. From the carpal joint to '
the end of the first quill-feather, seven inches.

6 RALLIDE,

GRALLATORES. RALLIDEA.

THE LANDRAIL,

or Corn CRAKE.

Gallinula crex, Crake Gallinule, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 119.

Rallus be Ps . Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Gallinula Ff. Corn Crake, Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 138.
Ortygometra ,, si By Fem. Brit. An. p. 98.
Crex pratensis, Meadow ,, Sexey, Brit. Oruith. vol. ii. p. 176.
9 59 Corn - Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 217.
Gallinula crexv, Landrail Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. i.
Be 3 Poule deau de Genet, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 686.

Crex. Generic Characters ——Bill shorter than the head, thick at the base,
subcultrated, compressed ; the culmen gradually deflecting from the forehead
to the point of the bill; lateral furrow of the upper mandible broad, and occu-
pying more than half its length; angle of the under mandible bending up-
wards ; both mandibles of an equal length. Nostrils concave, lateral, linear,
ovoid, pierced in a membrane occupying the mandibular furrow in the middle

fi

LANDRAIL.

of the bill. Wings armed with a spine, and having the second and third quill-
feather the longest. Legs strong, of mean length, with the lower part of the
tibie naked. Feet four-toed, three before, one behind. Toes long, slender,
and cleft to their base, without any lateral membrane ; hind toe resting almost
wholly on the ground. Claws arcuate, compressed, and sharp-pointed.—Selby.

Tue Lanpratt is a summer visiter to this country, gene-
rally making its appearance in the southern counties during
the last ten days of April; but in Yorkshire, and still farther
north, as mentioned by Mr. Selby and others, it is seldom
observed or heard till the second week in May. It frequents
the long grass of marshy water-meadows near rivers, beds of
osiers or reeds, and fields of green corn, where its presence
is indicated by its creaking note ; and hence one of its names,
that of Corn Crake, or Corn Creak, by which latter term it
is also known in Ireland. ‘This call-note may be imitated
by passing the edge of the thumb-nail, or a piece of wood,
briskly along the line of the points of the teeth of a small
comb; and so similar is the sound, that the bird may be
decoyed by it within a very short distance. The male bird
is the caller, and he continues the note until a mate be found
and incubation commenced ; after which he is less frequently
heard. A Landrail, kept some time in confinement, uttered
besides a low guttural sound when alarmed or disturbed. Pen-
nant mentions, that Landrails were plentiful in Anglesey about
the third week in April, and the birds were supposed to pass
from thence to Ireland : it was common to kill seven or eight
ina morning. Mr. Selby mentions, also, that he has killed
eight or ten in the course of an hour, in a single field, in the
rich meadows upon the banks of the Trent, below Newark; a
favourite locality, which is annually visited by great numbers
of Crakes.

The food of the Landrail consists of worms, slugs, snails,
and insects, with small portions of vegetable matter and a
few seeds. The nest is formed on the ground, of dry plants ;

8 RALLIDE.

and generally a field of thick grass, clover, or green corn, is
the situation chosen: the eggs, from seven to ten in number,
are produced in the middle of June; they are of a pale red-
dish white, spotted and speckled with ash grey and pale red
brown; one inch six lines in length, by one inch and one
line in breadth. Daniels says, that in 1808, as some men
were mowing grass upon a little island belonging to the fish-
ing water of Low Bells, on Tweed, they cut the head from
a Corn Crake, that was sitting upon eleven eggs: about
twenty yards from this spot, they had nearly destroyed a
Partridge in a similar way, which was sitting upon eighteen
eggs ; but, observing her, the mowers took the eggs from the
nest of the Corn Crake, and put them into that of the Par-
tridge. ‘Two days after she brought out the whole brood,
which were seen running about the island. The Partridge
catered for them all, and was observed to gather her nume-
rous family under her wings without any distinction. Young
Landrails are at first covered with black down, but soon ac-
quire their first feathers, and, according to Mr. Selby’s ob-
servation, are able to fly in about six weeks.

During the early part of the Partridge shooting-season in
this country, many Landrails are killed by sportsmen, who,
after the barley is cut, find them most frequently in seed
clover. This bird does not take wing very readily, and flies
but slowly, with its legs hanging down, seldom going farther
than the nearest hedge, or other covert, in which it can hide
itself; and is rarely flushed a second time, unless pressed
upon by a dog, that, following its footsteps correctly and
rapidly, can thus get close up to the bird. Landrails are
considered most delicate as articles of food, and in such high
estimation, that two Landrails are said to be a present for
a queen. Drayton, of old, highly valued the Rayle, which,
he says, ‘“* seldom comes but upon rich mens’ spits.” The

usual weight of a Landrail is about six ounces; but I have

LANDRAIL. 9

seen one instance, and heard of another, in which this bird
weighed eight ounces and a half. Pennant mentions one
that weighed eight ounces.

Mr. Jesse, in his remarks on this bird, says, ‘* I have met
with an incident in the Natural History of the Corn Crake
which I believe is perfectly accurate, having been informed
that the bird will put on the semblance of death when ex-
posed to danger from which it is unable to escape. The in-
cident was this :—A gentleman had a Corn Crake brought to
him by his dog, to all appearance quite dead. As it lay on
the ground, he turned it over with his foot, and was convinced
that it was dead. Standing by, however, in silence, he sud-
denly saw it open an eye. He then took it up; its head
fell; its legs hung loose, and it appeared again quite dead.
He then put it in his pocket, and before long he felt it all
alive, and struggling to escape. He then took it out; it was
as lifeless as before. Having laid it again upon the ground
and retired to some distance, the bird in about five minutes
warily raised its head, looked round, and decamped at full
speed. I have seen a similar circumstance take place with
a Partridge, and it is well-known that many insects will prac-
tise the same deception. I have also observed it in that
curious marine animal, the sea-mouse, Aphrodita aculeata.
They probably congregate before they migrate, as I am as-
sured that a considerable number were, on one occasion, seen
together near the sea-shore in the neighbourhood of Swansea,
about the time they usually take their departure from this
country.”

The Rey. Robert Holdsworth wrote me word that he has
been at the killing of thirteen couple in one day, in Devon-
shire, in the month of September.

Some years since, two sportsmen while partridge-shooting
during the third week of September, in the neighbourhood of
Battle, only a few miles from the coast in Sussex, killed

10 RALLIDE.

fifteen couple of Landrails in one day, and seven couple the
next day.

These birds usually leave this country early in October,
but one was killed near London in the month of December
1834; one near Yarmouth in January 18365; one is record-
ed to have been killed in Ireland in January 1859, and one
on the 29th of March, but whether this last was an early
spring visiter, or had remained all the winter, could only be
conjectured.

The Landrail is common in valleys near rivers in Scotland,
and abundant in Orkney and Shetland. It also visits Den-
mark, Sweden, and Norway, going as far north as the Faroe
Islands and Iceland. It is abundant, as might be expected,
over the European Continent ; and Mr. Strickland saw it at
Smyrna in winter. Dr. Heineken includes the Landrail
among the birds of Madeira; and Mr. Wilde mentions
having seen it at Algiers.

The beak is pale brown ; the irides hazel; over the eye
and ear-coverts, and on the cheeks, ash grey; the head and
neck all round, the back, scapulars, and tertials, pale yellow-
ish brown, each feather having an elongated central streak
of very dark brown; tail-coverts and tail-feathers the same ;
wings and wing-coverts rich reddish chestnut; quills brown,
tinged with red; breast, belly, flanks, and under tail-coverts
pale buff, barred transversely on the sides and flanks with
darker reddish brown ; legs, toes, and claws, pale yellowish
brown.

The whole length rather less than ten inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the longest feather in the wing,
five inches four lines.

Females are rather smaller than males, and, as well as
young birds of the year, have the ash grey on the sides of
the head less distinct and pure, and the chestnut colour of

the wing mixed with darker reddish brown.

SPOTTED CRAKE. 11

GRALLATORES. RALLIDZ.

THE SPOTTED CRAKE.

Gallinula porzana, Spotted Gallinule, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. 11. p. 117.

Rallus re re Water Hen, Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Gallinula ,, a Gallinule, | Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 140.
a is se A F.iem. Brit. An. p. 99.
Crex 3 A Crake, Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 179.
nA ds PA ne Jenyns, Brit. An. p. 218.
Zapornia a3 5 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvi.

Gallinula ,, Poule Bi Marouette, Trmm, Man. d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 688.

Tuts prettily marked bird is, like the Landrail last de-
scribed, a summer visiter to this country, which Montagu
mentions having seen as early as the 14th of March, and as
late as the 23rd of October. Mr. Blyth has recorded one
instance in which a single specimen was seen by himself in
the London market in the month of January 1834. Com-
pared with the Landrail, however, this Spotted Rail is much
less numerous as a species, and more aquatic in its habits ;
frequenting the sides of streams and lakes which are covered

12 RALLIDE.

with thick reeds or rushes, among which it conceals itself,
and from the security afforded by the dense and luxuriant
vegetation of marshy grounds it is seldom moved without
the assistance of a good dog, accustomed to them and their
haunts. In all these Rails the bodies of the birds are com-
pressed, by which they are enabled to make their way through
dense herbage with facility; their toes are also long in pro-
portion to the size of the bird, affording them a firm footing
over mud or weeds, from the extent of surface they cover,
and enabling them also to swim with ease.

In Ireland it is an occasional summer visiter. Mr. Dill-
wyn has mentioned three or four occurrences in Wales. In
England it is more frequently in the maritime counties than
in others; and its appearance has been recorded in Cornwall,
Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire, and, in fact, round the
southern, and up the eastern coast, as high as Durham and
Northumberland. The Rev. Leonard Jenyns mentions that
this species has been met with in the fens of Cambridgeshire
by the middle of March; and Mr. Borrer, Jun. has noticed
several occurrences in the same county in autumn. The
authors of the catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds say,
“there can be no doubt that the Spotted Gallinule breeds in
the marshes of Norfolk. We have seen a considerable num-
ber of its eggs at Yarmouth, which, as well as its young,
were found in the neighbourhood of that place. We are also
in possession of an egg taken from a female of this species
which was killed in the marshes below Norwich.”

These birds probably breed in several other parts of
England, where they can find suitable localities; and are,
in consequence, more frequently obtained in autumn than
at any other season. Mr. Selby mentions, that, by the aid
of a dog accustomed to pursue these birds, he has, just
previous to their departure in autumn, sometimes flushed
as many as six in a large morass in his neighbourhood in

SPOTTED CRAKE. 13

Northumberland, the majority of which were young birds of
the year.

Mr. Heysham has also recorded the occurrence of this bird
in autumn, on several occasions, on the western side of Cum-
berland. Montagu mentions, that in his time the Spotted
Crake had not been noticed farther north than Cumberland :
Mr. Selby has since found it in various parts of Scotland,
and 'T’. M. Grant, Esq. of Kdinburgh, sent me word that he
has a specimen of the Spotted Gallinule in his collection that
was shot in Forfarshire, in October 1832. The food of this
species consists of worms, aquatic insects, and slugs, with
some soft vegetable substances. One bird, kept by Montagu
in confinement, fed on worms, and bread and milk.

These birds breed in marshes that are overgrown with
reeds and sedges; their nest, built on the wet ground, very
frequently at the water’s edge, is formed on the outside and
in substructure of coarse aquatic plants, lined with finer
materials within. Eight or ten eggs are deposited, which are
of a pale reddish white, spotted and speckled with dark red-
dish brown ; they measure one inch three lines in length, by
eleven lines in breadth. The young are at first covered with
black down, and are said to take to the water very soon after
they are hatched. In the autumn these birds are considered
to be in the best condition for the table, and as an article of
food are in great estimation, particularly in France. The
flesh is said to be of a fine and delicate flavour.

M. Nilsson says, the Spotted Rail occasionally visits Swe-
den in summer, but that it is rare. Pennant says it is found
in the southern parts of Russia. It is rare in the north of
Germany and in Holland ; more common in France and Pro-
vence, and thence to the Mediterranean. It is most fre-
quently met with in the southern and eastern parts of Eu-
rope. Mr. Strickland saw it at Smyrna in winter, and it is
said to extend its range to India.

14 RALLIDE.

The beak yellowish brown, tinged with reddish brown at
the base; the irides dark brown; top of the head dark
brownish black; cheeks, sides and back of the neck olive-
brown, spotted with white; back dark olive-brown, each
feather black in the centre, and streaked longitudinally with
some narrow lines of white; rump, upper tail-coverts, and
tail-feathers black in the middle, margined with clove-brown,
and spotted with white; wing-coverts olive-brown, spotted
with white ; quill-feathers very dark brown ; tertials trans-
versely streaked with narrow lines of white; chin, neck, and
breast dark brown, spotted with white; belly, vent, and
under tail-coverts buffy white; sides and flanks lead-grey,
barred with white ; legs and toes greenish yellow; the claws
brown.

Mr. Selby’s description of the young is as follows: upper
parts of a deep oil-green, the white dispersed in the form
of small spots; eyebrows deep grey, with numerous white
specks ; cheeks, chin, and throat greyish white, with a few
darker specks ; lower part of the neck and the breast oil-
green, tinged with grey, and with small spots of white ; belly
and abdomen greyish white; quills deep hair-brown ; legs
deep oil-green, tinged with grey ; bill dirty saffron-yellow at
the base, the tip brown.

The young at its birth is covered with black down ; the
beak red at the point and at the base, and encircled at the
middle with a band of black.

The whole length of an adult bird about nine inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather
four inches and a half.

rt

LITTLE CRAKE. 1

GRALLATORES. RALLIDE.,

THE LITTLE CRAKE,

or OxivacEous GALLINULE.

Gallinula minuta, Little Gallinule, Monr. Supp. Ornith. Dict.

36 Foljambei, Olivaceous ,, », Appendix to Supp.
5 minuta, Little 53 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 142.
ne Foljambei, Olivaceous ,, 5p 3 a3 3 pe 144.
4 pusilla, Little a Fiem. Brit. An. p. 99.
5 Foljambei, Olivaceous ,, ne ahh Be S
Crex pusilla, Little Crake, Setsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 185.
BA 3 oR 5 Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 219.
Zapornia _,, of 5 Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. x.

Gallinula ,, | Poule d’eaw Poussin, Trem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 690,

Tue first example of this species made known in this
country, was shot near Ashburton in Devonshire, in 1809,
and Colonel Montagu received it from Mr. Tucker. This
bird, figured and described in Montagu’s Supplement to his

16 RALLIDE.

Ornithological Dictionary, under the name of Little Gallinule,
appears to be a female, but the sex was not noted. The
next specimen, recorded by Montagu, is Mr. Foljambe’s
bird, obtained in the shop of a London poulterer, in May
1812; this is also figured and described in the Appendix
to his Supplement, and is considered to be an old male.
This example was received from Norfolk. About the same
time Mr. Plasted, of Chelsea, obtained another which was
shot on the banks of the Thames, near that place. At the
sale of Mr. Plasted’s birds, this specimen passed into the
possession of Mr. Leadbeater, and is now, I believe, in the
collection of Mr. Lombe, who resides near Norwich. This
bird, which I saw several times while it belonged to Mr.
Leadbeater, agreed with the figure and description of Mon-
tagu’s Olivaceous Gallinule, and was believed to be an old
male.

An extract from the Minute-book of the Linnean Society,
dated November 4th, 1823, is thus inserted in the fourteenth
volume of the Transactions of that Society, page 583. ‘ In
a letter from W. Fothergill, Esq. of Carr-end, near Arkrigg,
in Yorkshire, it is stated that the Rallus pusillus of Gmelin,
Gallinula minuta of Montagu, and G. pusilla of '’emminck,
was shot on the 6th of May 1807, by John Humphrey, Esq.
of Wensley, on the banks of the Yore, near that place. It
was alone, and suffered itself to be approached very near,
without betraying any sense of danger. It ran with great
rapidity, carrying its tail erect.”

In March 1826, a female of this species was caught at
Barnwell near Cambridge, which is now in the collection of
Dr. Thackeray, the Provost of King’s College; and the
figure of the bird in the front of the illustration here given,
as also the description, were taken from this bird, which was
most kindly lent me for my use in this work.

In the volume of the Magazine of Natural History for the

LITTLE CRAKE. 17

year 1829, page 275, it is mentioned that Mr. James Hall
caught a specimen of the Olivaceous Gallinule, G. pusilla,
alive in a drain in Ardwick meadows, near Manchester, in
the autumn of 1807. In the same work, but for the year
1834, page 53, the late Mr. Hoy has recorded that a Little
Gallinule was shot near Yarmouth. Mr. W. Borrer, jun.
sent me notice that a Little Crake, Crex pusilla, was taken
alive on the banks of the Adur, at Beeding chalk-pit near
Shoreham, in October 1835; and in 1836 Mr. W. C. Wil-
liamson recorded, in the printed Proceedings of the Zoo-
logical Society, that an Olivaceous Gallinule had been killed
near Scarborough.

Other examples have no doubt been killed in various parts
of England, but it must be considered a rare bird, and, per-
haps, is not always clearly distinguished from the species next
to be described. In its food and general habits this Oliva-
ceous Crake very closely resembles the Spotted and other
Crakes, but is occasionally seen on the higher and more cul-
tivated soils. Montagu truly observes, that the habits of
the smaller species of Gallinules are their principal security ;
they are not only equally capable of diving and concealing
their bodies under water, with only the bill above the surface
to secure respiration, but run with celerity and hide them-
selves amongst the rushes and flags of swampy places, and
are with great difficulty roused even with the assistance of
dogs, depending more on concealment in thick cover, than
upon their wings, to avoid danger. From these circum-
stances it is, that they are so rarely obtained. This bird
forms a nest of aquatic plants among rushes, laying seven or
eight eggs of a light olive-brown colour, spotted with darker
brown ; the length one inch two lines, by nine lines and a
half in breadth ; the form of the egg oval.

M. Temminck says this species is only found accidentally
in Holland, but is more common in Germany and in France,

VOL. Ill. c

18 RALLIDE.

particularly in the central and southern parts. M. Vieillot,
in his History of the Birds of France, says it is found in the
rice-fields of Piedmont, and in the Pyrenees ; and was found
also by M. Baillon in the marshes of Picardy. It is com-
mon in Italy, and the eastern parts of Europe. Messrs.
Dickson and Ross, corresponding members of, and liberal
donors to, the Zoological Society, obtained two specimens at
Erzeroom, in boggy ground near the river; one in April,
and the second in May, of the year 1839.

M. Temminck says that specimens from Japan do not
differ from those killed in Europe.

In the adult male the beak is green, but red at the base ;
the irides red; top of the head, back of the neck, and upper
surface of the body generally, olive-brown ; the centre of the
back almest black, with a very few white marks, but no white
marks on the wing-coverts or quill-feathers ; the primaries
dark clove-brown; the tertials dark brownish black in the
centre, with broad olivaceous margins ; upper tail-coverts and
tail-feathers dark brown; the chin greyish white; sides of
the head, the neck in front, the breast and belly, uniform
slate-grey; the feathers of the flanks dark brown; those of
the thighs, vent, and the under tail-coverts slate-grey, spot-
ted with white ; legs and toes green.

The whole length about seven inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing four inches and one eighth; the
second and third quill-feathers nearly equal in length, and
longer than the first.

The female has the beak, irides, and legs, like the male ;
round the eye pearl-grey ; top of the head, sides and back
of the neck, pale brown; middle of the back nearly black,
with only two or three small spots of white ; scapulars brown,
with one or two spots of white ; the wing-coverts and tertials
dark in the centre, with broad edges of pale brown, the inner
margins lighter in colour than the outer; primaries dusky
brown ; no white spots on the wing-coverts or quill-feathers ;

LITTLE CRAKE. 19

rump, tail-feathers, and upper tail-coverts, dark brown; the
chin white ; the neck in front, breast and belly, delicate buff
colour; flanks and under tail-coverts greyish brown, with
white spots forming bands.

The young are at first covered with black down; the beak
green ; afterwards both sexes, for a time, resemble the female.

By an unfortunate oversight, I find that I made a mistake
at page 664 of the second volume. The vignette there
figured is a representation of the young of the Common
Sandpiper, the species figured at page 539, and not the
young of the Dunlin as stated. To remedy this error, and
at the same time to make some amends, I now insert below
the true figure of the young of the Dunlin. The short de-
scription at the bottom of page 663, of ‘“ the chick soon after

leaving the egg,” belongs also to the young of the Common

Sandpiper.

20 RALLIDE.

GRALLATORES, RALLIDE.

BAILLON’S CRAKE.

Crex Baillonii, Baillon’s Crake, Srtpy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11. p. 182.

Ap A a5 an Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 219.
Zapornia s Me R Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ix.
Gallinula ,, — Poule d’eaw Baillon, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 692.

One of the earliest notices of the occurrence of this bird
with which I am acquainted, is published in the second vo-
lume of the Zoological Journal, page 279, on the exhibition
of a specimen at the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society,
which belonged to Dr. Thackeray, the Provost of King’s
College, Cambridge, and which was caught upon some ice at
Melbourne, about nine miles south of Cambridge, in January
1825. <*'To this spot, originally fen land, the poor bird
had resorted, in an inclement season, to obtain a meal; but,
having wandered far from its native and more congenial lati-

BAILLON’S CRAKE. Q1

tude, was so exhausted by want of food, or the low tempera-
ture of the season, or the combined effects of both, as to
allow itself to be taken alive by the hand.” In the third
volume of the same Journal, page 493, G. T. Fox, Esq. of
Durham, has recorded another specimen of this bird, which
was killed within three miles of Derby, in November 1821.
In the catalogue of the Birds of Norfolk and Suffolk, pub-
lished in the fifteenth volume of the Transactions of the
Linnean Society, the authors, in reference to Baillon’s Crake,
say, ‘‘ We have met with a specimen of this bird in the col-
lection of Mr. Crickmore, of Beccles, which was shot near
that town. The throat, neck, and belly are ash colour; the
sides and under tail-coverts barred and spotted with black
and white; the back is like that of the Spotted Gallinule ;
but this bird is considerably smaller than that species. An
extremely small Gallinule, probably of this same kind, was
shot at Nacton in Suffolk, many years since, and was in the
possession of the late John Vernon, Esq.”

The Rev. Richard Lubbock wrote me from Norfolk as
follows :—‘* On the 2nd of April 1833, a fen-man of my ac-
quaintance killed an adult male of this species, upon a marsh
at Dilham in this county; it is now in my possession.
Three years previously he had killed another at Barton, the
adjoining parish ; it was late in autumn, and the bird was
in immature plumage. This species is probably not so rare
as it is supposed to be; when shooting in parts of France
and Switzerland, where it is not uncommon, I could never
manage to get more than one specimen, its power of running,
sculking, and general concealment is so great.” In September
1840, Francis Edwards, Esq. of Brislington, near Bristol,
sent me word that an adult female of this species had been
killed a short time before, on some marshy ground near
Weston super mare, a small watering-place on the British
Channel. This specimen Mr. Edwards was kind enough to

22 RALLIDA.

send up for my use; and the description and measurements,
to be hereafter given, were taken from that bird. In its
habits, food, and nesting, this species resembles that last
described, laying seven or eight oval-shaped eggs very similar
in colour, markings, size, and shape, to that of Crew pusilla.

Mr. Selby says, it is well known in the neighbourhood of
Boulogne, on the opposite coast, where it annually breeds
in the marshes ; it is found besides in several provinces of
France. M. Baillon has found it in the marshes of Picardy ;
it is seen occasionally in Switzerland, at Genoa, and through-
out Italy. Mr. Joseph Clarke sent me word he had seen
specimens from Africa; and Dr. A. Smith brought examples
in his collection formed at the Cape, and in southern Africa.
M. Temminck says that skins sent from Japan do not differ
from those obtained in Europe.

In the adult male the beak is green, the base red; irides
red; top of the head, and back of the neck, clove-brown ;
centre of the back, and the scapulars, black, with numerous
spots and streaks of pure white; wing-coverts and tertials
clove-brown, spotted and streaked with pure white; primaries
dark brown, the outer web of the first quill-feather edged
with white; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers clove-brown ;
throat, cheeks, sides, and front of the neck, breast and belly,
uniform lead-grey ; vent and under tail-coverts the same, but
tipped with white ; legs and toes flesh colour.

The female has both mandibles green at the point, pale
reddish brown at the base ; irides crimson-red; neither the
black colour on the centre of the back, or on the scapulars,
or the white spots upon the black, are so pure in colour as
the same parts in the males; nor are the white spots so nu-
merous; the chin white; legs, toes, and claws, in the pre-
served specimen, pale brown; all the other parts as in the
adult male.

The whole length six inches and a half. From the carpal

BAILLON'S CRAKE. 23

joimt to the end of the wing four inches; the first and the
sixth quill-feathers equal in length, and shorter than the
fourth or the fifth ; the second and third feathers equal in
length, and the longest in the wing: the length of the tarsus
one inch and one eighth; the length of the middle toe and
claw one inch and five-eighths.

The young male belonging to Dr. Thackeray, the use of
which has been allowed me for this work, and which was
killed in the month of January, is to all appearance a bird of
the previous season, not having quite attained the mature
plumage, the chin being still greyish white, and the lead-grey
colour of the front of the neck, breast, and belly being va-
ried with patches of pale buffy brown and bars of greyish
white. In still younger birds, before their first autumn
moult, the neck, breast, and under parts are pale buffy
white mixed with light brown.

There is reason to suspect that the Little Crake and Bail-
lon’s Crake have been sometimes confounded. As particular
marks of distinction, it may be mentioned, that the Little
Crake exhibits but a few white marks on the centre of the
back, and sometimes on the scapulars, but never on the wing-
coverts; in Baillon’s Crake, on the contrary, these white
marks are very numerous, occupying several distinct situa-
tions, namely, the central space on the back, the scapulars,
wing-coverts, and tertial feathers on both sides. These white
marks, placed on a black ground, forming the centre of each
feather, are so conspicuous and brilliant as to have led M.
Temminck originally to devote the term stellarts to this spe-
cies; but he subsequently proposed to substitute Bazlloniz
for stellaris, as a compliment due to the celebrated naturalist
of Abbeville; and this latter proposition has been received

and adopted.

QA RALLIDE.

GRALLATORES, RALLIDZ.

THE WATER RAIL.

Rallus aquaticus, Water Rail, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 114.

” ” » 40 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

» ” 99 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. 11. p. 134.
”» » ” 99 Fiem. Brit. An. p. 98.

PH - Common ,, Sexy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 172.
A 5 Water ,, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 217.

” ” ” »» Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.

A A Rale d’eau, Tremm. Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 683.

Rattus. Generic Characters.—Beak longer than the head, slender, slightly
curved downwards, compressed at the base, cylindrical at the point; upper
mandible grooved at the sides. Nostrils lateral, pierced longitudinally in the
lateral groove, partly covered by a membrane. Legs long and strong, with a
small naked space above the joint; three toes before, and one behind ; the
anterior toes divided to their origin, the hind toe articulated upon the tarsus.
Wings moderate, rounded ; the first quill-feather much shorter than the second,
the third and fourth quill-feathers the longest in the wing.

Tue Warer Ratz, though well known as a species, is
not very abundant here; while the habits of the bird, and the
nature of the localities it frequents, increase the difficulty of

WATER RAIL. 25

observation. It is found in the marshy districts of this coun-
try, and delights to dwell among the rank vegetation of fens,
shallow pools, and water-courses, from which it can scarcely
be driven to take wing. If obliged to fly, to save itself from
being caught by an eager dog in close pursuit, its progress
through the air is slow, with the legs hanging down ; and it
drops again in the nearest bed of reeds, flags, or rushes, that
is likely, from its size or density, to afford sufficient security.
The compressed form of its body enables it to pass easily
through the thickest herbage; while its lengthened toes assist
it to swim, and even to dive when necessary for its safety.
Dr. Fleming, in his paper on the Natural History of our
Water Rail, published in the Wernerian Memoirs, says,
“This species is a native of the Old World. It was first
noticed as an English bird by Merret; and, as a native of
Scotland, by Pennant. Sibbald, indeed, in his S‘cotta Illus-
trata, enumerates the Rallus aquaticus among our northern
birds; but the description which he subjoins obviously be-
longs to the Common Gallinule. On the continent of Eu-
rope it is considered as a summer bird of passage, and has
been observed crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the spring,
going northwards, and in autumn retiring southwards. It
has, on many occasions, been found in the Atlantic Ocean
far from land, and in an exhausted condition ; a situation into
which it had probably been driven by stress of weather.”
Buffon says that a flight of Water Rails were seen at the
distance of fifty leagues from the coast of Portugal in the
middle of April, some of which were so fatigued that they
allowed themselves to be taken by the hand. The Rev. Ro-
bert Holdsworth wrote me word that a bird of this species
alighted on the yard of a man of war, about five hundred
miles to the westward of Cape Clear, and at the same dis-
tance from any known land. An officer of the ship caught
it, and took care of it, and carried it with him to Lisbon,

26 RALLIDE.

feeding it with bits of raw meat. In a day or two it became
perfectly tame, and would eat out of his hand. He kept it
till his return to England, and left it at Portsmouth in the
ship in charge of his servant, intending, at a future time, to
give the bird its liberty in the marshes there; but, in conse-
quence of neglect from the servant, the bird died.

The food of this species is worms, snails, slugs, with some
vegetables. Dr. Fleming mentions having seen the stomach
of one that was filled exclusively with the young snails of
Helix lucida. One of these birds, which Mr. Selby kept for
some time, was fed entirely with earth-worms, upon which it
continued to thrive, till an accident put an end to its life.
It refused bread and the larger kinds of grain. In cenfine-
ment this bird is observed to jerk its tail up while walking,
like the Common Moor-hen; and I have heard of one that had
so far conquered its timidity as to have become pugnacious.

Mr. Paget says the Water Rail is common in the marshes
of Norfolk ; and Montagu observes, that “ the nest is rarely
found; it is made of sedge and coarse grass, amongst the
thickest aquatic plants; sometimes in willow beds. In such
a situation we found one with six eggs, of a spotless white,
and very smooth, rather larger than those of a Blackbird ;
the shape a short oval, with both ends nearly alike.” I have
found the eggs of the Water Rail very difficult to obtain,
and never possessed but two, one from Norfolk, and one from
Cambridgeshire, and never saw more ‘than three or four
others; these were all very much alike, of a cream-coloured
white, with small specks of ash-grey and reddish brown ; the
length of the egg one inch four lines, by one inch in breadth.
The egg is very correctly figured by Mr. Hewitson in his work.

M. Nilsson says the Water Rail is rare in Sweden; but
it annually visits also Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Ice-
land. In these countries, of course, it is only a summer
visiter, as in the winter all the usual places of resort for food

WATER RAIL. 27
would be frozen up. In our own country the greater portion
probably remain all the year ; in proof of which Dr. Fleming
mentions having obtained this species three times in winter,
—twice in the month of November, and once in January. I
have also bought the Water Rail, among other winter-killed
birds, in the London markets, and found the flesh excellent,
but little inferior to that of the Landrail. The specimen
from which the figure and description here given were taken
was shot late in the month of November.

The Water Rail is abundant in Holland, Germany,
France, Switzerland, Provence, Spain, and Italy. At Genoa
it is said to be seen only when on its passage in April and
September. Pennant says it is common at Malta. Mr.
Strickland saw it at Smyrna; and M. Menetries includes
it among the birds seen by the naturalists of the Russian
expedition in the country of the Caucasus.

The beak of an adult male is red, one inch and three-
quarters in length ; the irides hazel; top of the head, neck,
back, wing-coverts, and upper surface of the body generally,
olive-brown ; each feather nearly black in the centre, with
broad margins; primaries dusky; tail-feathers also dusky,
with olive-brown margins; cheeks, chin, sides and front of
the neck, and the breast, lead-grey ; the sides and flanks
dark slate-grey barred with white; vent buff colour; under
tail-coverts dull white ; legs and toes brownish flesh colour.
The whole length eleven inches and a half. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing four inches and three-quarters.

The sexes do not differ in plumage, but the beak of the
female is shorter than that of the male, and not so red.

Young birds have the feathers of the neck and breast edged
with pale brown, forming transverse bars; the flanks and
thighs not so dark in colour, and without the white bands.

A variety of the Water Rail has been taken which was
pure white.

28 RALLIDA,

GRALLATORES. RALLID.

THE MOOR-HEN.

Gallinuta chloropus, Common Gallinule, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 121.
Monr. Ornith. Dict.

Fulica re ss ~
Gallinula of s3 be Bewick, Brit. Birds. vol. ii. p. 145.
” ” ac 43 Fem. Brit. An. p. 99.
., 55 A Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol.ii. p. 188.
” ” ” i Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 220.
” Py) ” ss Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.

Poule d’eau ordinaire, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 693.

Gatunuta. Generic Characters.—Bill thick at the base, compressed,
slightly swollen towards the tip, subconic, as short as the head. Upper man-
dible convex, with the culmen extended and dilated, forming a naked frontal
plate or shield ; lateral furrow wide ; mandibles of nearly equal length; angle
of the lower one ascending. Tomia of the under mandible slightly intracted,
and covered by the upper. Nostrils lateral, pervious, pierced in the membrane
of the furrow in the middle of the bill; longitudinal and linear. Legs strong,
of mean length, naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ; front of the
tarsus scutellated ; hinder part reticulated ; feet four-toed, three before and one
behind; toes long, divided, and bordered through their whole length by a
narrow entire membrane. Wings armed with a small, sharp, recumbent spine.
Plumage soft, and thick, but loose in texture ; body compressed at the sides.—

Selby.

MOOR-HEN. Q9

Tue Moor-H_En is one of those well-known, half domes-
ticated species which afford interesting opportunities for ob-
servations on habits. Dr. William Turner, who wrote on
British Birds three hundred years ago, calls this bird a
Water-hen, or a Mot-hen; and Pennant says, that in the
days of moated houses they were very frequent about the
moats. They are found also on ponds which are covered with
aquatic herbage, old water-courses grown up with vegetation,
and among the rushes, reeds, and willows of slow rivers.
They can swim and dive with great facility, assisted by an
expansion of the membrane along the sides of their toes; a
structure by which they are connected to the fin-toed aquatic
birds, the descriptions of which will immediately follow.
Moor-hens are commonly to be seen on the surface of the
water, swimming along with a nodding motion of the head,
picking up vegetable substances, first on one side, then on
the other, and feeding generally on aquatic plants, small
fishes, insects, worms, and slugs, for some of which they may
be seen early in the morning, and again in the evening, walk-
ing over meadows near their haunts, diligently searching
among the grass, particularly after a shower of rain in sum-
* mer; jerking up their tail as they walk along, and showing
the white under tail-coverts. Mr. Selby mentions that he
has several times known this bird to have been taken on a
line baited with an earth-worm, intended for catching eels and
trout ; and infers, therefore, that it is by diving they obtain
the larger coleopterous water insects, aquatic worms, and the
larvee of dragon-flies, upon which they are known to feed.

When suddenly disturbed, they will sometimes take a short
flight, with their legs hanging down, and will occasionally
perch in a tree; they are, however, capable of more extended
exertion on the wing, but appear to prefer the security afford-
ed by thick rushes.

The nest is generally placed among reeds on the ground ;
fo) 5

30 RALLIDE.

sometimes among stumps, roots, or long grass, on a bank at
the edge of the water; and the bird has been known to fix
its nest on a branch of a tree which rested upon the surface
of deep still water. The editor of the Naturalist mentions
an instance where ‘the nest of a Moor-hen floated on the
water without having any attachment whatever with the islet
which it adjoined ; but was enclosed on all sides by sticks, Xe.
Thus situated, the careful parents hatched their eggs in per-
fect safety ; though, had the water risen to an unusual height,
the case might have been otherwise.”

Rusticus of Godalming, in the fifth volume of the Maga-
zine of Natural History, says, ‘‘'The piece of water called
Old Pond, about one mile from Godalming, on the London
road, is a most attractive spot to waterfowl; and an island in
its centre is the resort of some of them in the breeding-sea-
son, and also a variety of other birds, which find it a safe and
unmolested place for the same purpose. I have often de-
lighted, in years that are gone, to visit this island and its
inmates: the owner, Robert Moline, Esq. used to allow us
free ingress to all and every part of the estate; a liberty any
one with an incipient thirst for a knowledge of natural his-
tory would be sure to avail himself of. One day, having
pushed off from the shore, and moored the little shallop to
some of the osiers which surrounded the island, I began my
accustomed examination. The first object that attracted my
attention was a lot of dry rushes, flags, reeds, &c. enough to
fill a couple of bushel baskets. This mass was lodged about
twenty feet from the ground, in a spruce-fir tree, and looked
for all the world as if it had been pitched there with a hay-
fork. I mounted instantly, thinking of herons, eagles, and
a variety of other wonders; just as my head reached the
nest, flap, flap, out came a Moor-hen, and, dropping to the
water, made off in a direct line along its surface, dip, dip,
dip, dipping with its toes, and was lost in the rushes of a

MOOR-HEN. 31

distant bank, leaving an evanescent track along the water,
like that occasioned by a stone which has been skilfully
thrown to make ducks and drakes. The nest contained seven
eges, warm asa toast. The situation was a very odd one for
a Moor-hen’s nest; but there was a reason for it: the rising
of the water in the pond frequently flooded the banks of the
island, and, as I had before witnessed, had destroyed several
broods by immersion.”

The following notice is from the pen of Mr. Waterton :—
** In 1826 I was helping a man to stub some large willows
near the water’s edge. There was a Water-hen’s nest at the
root of one of them. It had seven eggs in it. I broke two
of them, and saw that they contained embryo chicks. The
labourer took up part of the nest, with the remaining five
eges in it, and placed it on the ground about three yards
from the spot where we had found it. We continued in the
same place for some hours afterwards, working at the willows.
In the evening, when we went away, the old Water-hen came
back to the nest. Having no more occasion for the labourer
in that place, I took the boat myself the next morning, and
saw the Water-hen sitting on the nest. On approaching the
place, I observed that she had collected a considerable quan-
tity of grass and weeds, and that she had put them all around
the nest. A week after this I went to watch her, and saw
she had hatched ; and, as I drew nearer to her, she went into
the water with the five little ones along with her.” An in-
teresting account of Moor-hens moving their eggs to make
an addition to their nest, is thus related by Mr. Selby, in the
printed Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club :—
“ During the early part of the summer of 1835, a pair of
Water-hens built their nest by the margin of the ornamental
pend at Bell’s Hill, a piece of water of considerable extent,
and ordinarily fed by a spring from the height above, but
into which the contents of another large pond can occasion-

32 RALLIDE.

ally be admitted. This was done while the female was sit-
ting; and as the nest had been built when the water level stood
low, the sudden influx of this large body of water from the
second pond caused a rise of several inches, so as to threaten
the speedy immersion and consequent destruction of the eggs.
This the birds seem to have been aware of, and immediately
took precautions against so imminent a danger; for when
the gardener, upon whose veracity I can safely rely, seeing
the sudden rise of the water, went to look after the nest, ex-
pecting to find it covered and the eggs destroyed, or at least
forsaken by the hen, he observed, while at a distance, both
birds busily engaged about the brink where the nest was
placed; and, when near enough, he clearly perceived that they
were adding, with all possible dispatch, fresh materials to
raise the fabric beyond the level of the increased contents of
the pond, and that the eggs had, by some means, been re-
moved from the nest by the birds, and were then deposited
upon the grass, about a foot or more from the margin of the
water. He watched them for some time, and saw the nest
rapidly increase in height; but I regret to add, that he did
not remain long enough, fearing he might create alarm, to
witness the interesting act of the replacing of the eggs, which
must have been effected shortly afterwards; for upon his re-
turn, in less than an hour, he found the hen quietly sitting
upon them in the newly raised nest. In a few days after-
wards the young were hatched, and, as usual, soon quitted
the nest and took to the water with their parents. The nest
was shown to me zn sttu very soon afterwards, and I could
then plainly discern the formation of the new with the older
part of the fabric.”

The eggs are usually seven or eight in number, of a red-
dish white colour, thinly spotted and speckled with orange-
brown; the length one inch eight lines, by one inch three
lines and a half in breadth. Incubation lasts three weeks,

MOOR-HEN. 33

and they produce two, if not three broods in a season,
the first of which is generally hatched by the end of May.
J. M. Boultbee, Esq., in a letter to the Rev. W. T. Bree,
says, “* At the bottom of the walk between the house and cur
garden, in winter, runs a brook, but in summer there is only
still water, which is inhabited by Water-hens, &c. The
Water-hens have become quite tame, from persons constantly
passing and repassing. This year, 1833, in the spring, a
pair of them hatched some young ones ; and, as soon as they
were feathered, made another nest and hatched some more.
The young ones of the second hatch left the old birds, and
have been adopted by the young ones of the first hatch, who
have each taken one, and seem to take as much care of them
as the old ones could have done: they feed them, and never
leave them. Only one young one has remained with the old
hen.” The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk
Birds say, that two young Moor-hens, which were hatched
under a Hen, used to take their food from the bill of their
foster-mother; and it was not till they were several weeks old
that they would pick their food from the ground. We have,
notwithstanding, observed this bird in its natural state, when
it had only been hatched a few days, running about upon the
tops of the weeds and picking insects from them. Pennant
says Moor-hens might possibly be domesticated, for a pair in
his grounds never failed appearing when he called his ducks
to feed, and partook before him of the corn. Among the
many aquatic birds with which the Ornithological Society
have stocked the canal and the islands in St. James’s Park,
are several Moor-hens: in the course of the present summer,
1841, two broods have been produced, the young of which
are so tame, that they leave the water and come up close to
your feet on the path to receive crumbs of bread. In winter,
during hard frost, when ponds are frozen over, Moor-hens
resort to running streams, and harbour in plantations, hedge-
VOL. III. D

34 RALLIDE.

rows, and thick bushes; roosting in firs, thorn-trees, and
others that are covered with ivy, feeding probably on the
berries. Mr. Jesse mentions, that, during the frost of the win-
ter of 1832, a pair of Water-hens kept almost entirely in a
large arbutus-tree, on the lawn of a house belonging to a lady
at Hampton Wick, which was enclosed by a high paling, and
no pond was near it. Here they probably fed on the berries
of the tree, and other produce of the garden. The tree, how-
ever, was always their place of refuge if they happened to be
disturbed when feeding in the garden.

When the ice disappears, Moor-hens return to the ponds.
When the bird is in good condition the flesh is well flavoured.

The Moor-hen is rare in Denmark and Sweden, but is said
by Pennant to inhabit Russia and part of Siberia. It is
very common in Germany, Holland, France, Spain, Pre-
vence, and Italy. Dr. Heineken includes it among the Birds
of Madeira; Mr. Joseph Clarke mentioned to me having
seen skins from Africa; and Dr. Andrew Smith brought spe-
cimens from so far south as the vicinity of the Cape. Mr.
Strickland saw this bird at Smyrna in winter: it has been
found at Trebizond, and in the countries between the Black
and the Caspian Seas.

The male has the beak yellowish green; the base of it, and
the naked patch on the forehead, red ; irides reddish hazel ;
the back, wings, rump, and tail, rich dark olive-brown ; head,
neck, breast, and sides, uniform dark slate-grey; outside of
the thighs and the flanks streaked with white; belly and vent
greyish white; under tail-coverts white; above the tarsal
Joint a garter of red; legs and toes green; the claws dark
brown.

Mr. Gould mentions that he has seen females that were
more vividly coloured than males.

The length of the Moor-hen is about thirteen inches.

MOOR-HEN. 35

From the carpal joint to the end of the wing six inches and
three-quarters.

The young are at first covered with black hairy down.
Their after-plumage is described by Mr. Selby as white on
the throat ; front and cheeks a mixture of brown and white ;
breast and sides ash-grey, tinged with brown; the belly
paler ; the flanks streaked with yellowish brown; under tail-
coverts cream-yellow; upper parts dark grey, tinged with
oil-green ; beak and legs dull green ; the frontal patch small,
and partly concealed by feathers.

The vignette represents the breast-bone of the Moor-hen
of the natural size, in two points of view, one from the side,
the other as seen from below; the latter serves to illustrate
the flattened form of the body which belongs to the Crakes,
Gallinules, and Rails.

36 LOBIPEDIDE.

GRALLATORES. LOBIPEDIDEZ.

THE COMMON COOT.

Fulica atra, Common Coot, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 127.
A EA as a Monr. Ornith. Dict.
Ss ‘5 The mA Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 149.
55 a Common ,, Fem. Brit. An. p. 100.

ree A As Sexsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 193.
:. - “s - Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 221.
ae, The = Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.

»,» 5 Foulque macroule, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 706.

Furica. Generic Characters—Beak of medium size, shorter than the head,
strong, conical, straight, compressed at the base, higher than broad, superior
basal portion extending up the forehead, and dilated, forming a naked patch ;
points of both mandibles compressed, of equal length; the upper one slightly
curved, the inferior mandible with an angle underneath at the symphysis.
Nostrils lateral, pierced longitudinally about the middle of the beak, partly
closed by a membrane. Legs long, slender, naked above the tarsal joint; three
toes in front, one behind ; all the toes long, united at the base, furnished late-

7

oo

COMMON COOT.

rally with an extension of the membrane, forming rounded lobes. Wings of
moderate size ; the first feather shorter than the second or third, which are the
longest in the wing. ‘Tail short.

Tue Coor is a common bird upon large ponds, lakes, and
slow rivers ; it also frequents the level shores of some parts
of the coast, where extensive mud-flats are laid bare at each
retiring tide, preferring, however, open waters, and does not,
except in the breeding-season, so much seek the sheltered
reed-grown situations frequented by the Moor-hen; the ex-
treme watchfulness of the Coot enabling it to avoid danger.
Colonel Hawker, in his Instructions to Young Sportsmen,
says, “If a gentleman wishes to have plenty of wild-fowl on
his pond, let him preserve the Coots, and keep no tame
Swans. The reason that all wild-fowl seck the company of
the Coots, is because these birds are such good sentries, to
give the alarm by day, when the fowl generally sleep.”

The Coot is seldom seen on dry land, and its power of
active progression on shore has been doubted; but Mr. Youell
observes that those authors could have had but few oppor-
tunities of noticing the habits of this bird, for, instead of
being awkward on land, it is fully as lively on land as in the
water, standing firmly and steadily, and without any tottering
or waddling in its gait. It picks up grain with surprising
alacrity, even much quicker than any of cur domestic poultry.
If deprived of water, on which to pass the night, it will roost,
as other land birds, upon any elevated situation, and it will
ascend a tree with the activity of a Wren. In reference to
the power of its claws, the sportsman’s book already referred
to, contains the following caution :—‘‘ Beware of a winged
Coot, or he will scratch you like a cat.”

The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds
notice the breeding of the Coots on those large pieces of
water in the marshes of Norfolk called Broads, and on some
of them in considerable numbers. “In autumn and winter

58 LOBIPEDIDE.

these birds make their appearance on the rivers in vast flocks ;
and upon an appointed day all the boats and guns are put in
requisition, and a general attack is made upon them. On
the banks of the Stour the fowlers approach them, while sit-
ting upon the ooze, by concealing themselves behind a skreen
made of bushes, which is placed upon a sledge and driven
before them. On crossing the Stour in the month of Janu-
ary, in a dead calm, we observed the Coots floating upon the
water in a semicircle. On our approach within about two
hundred yards, the whole body, amounting at the least caleu-
lation to several thousands, partly rose and flapped along the
surface of the water, making a tremendous rushing noise.
Had there been any wind, they would have risen into the air
without difficulty ; but, there being none, they could scarcely
disentangle their feet. We killed two wounded birds; one
of them afforded excellent sport, not suffering the boat to
approach it without diving, and coming up oftentimes a hun-
dred yards off: it had the action and alertness of a Dobchick.”
Sir William Jardine says, Coots have a very powerful flight
when once on the wing, and fly with their legs stretched out
behind, acting the part of a tail, in the manner of a Heron.
In Scotland and the north of England they arrive in the
marshes and lakes to breed, and retire again at the commence-
ment of winter to the more southern coasts. Here, in the
south, these birds are very numerous at several different
places, particularly on the shores and inland waters of the
Isle of Sheppy, at the mouth of the Thames; in the South-
ampton water in Hampshire, at Poole, and other parts of
Dorsetshire ; they are also carefully protected, and according-
ly breed in great quantities, at Slapton Ley, in Start Bay, on
the coast of Devon. ‘They feed on small fishes, aquatic in-
sects, and various portions of vegetable matter. Coots breed
in many parts of England, forming a nest of flags, among
reeds, upon the margins of lakes, ponds, and rivers. Mr.

COMMON coor. 39

Hewitson says, that ‘he has had opportunities of examining
many of their nests. They are large, and apparently clumsy
at first sight, but are amazingly strong and compact; they
are sometimes built on a tuft of rushes, but more commonly
amongst reeds ; some are supported by those that lie prostrate
on the water, whilst others have their foundations at its bot-
tom, and are raised till they become from six to twelve inches
above its surface, sometimes in a depth of one and a half or
two feet. So firm are some of them, that, whilst up to the
knees in water, they afforded me a seat sufficiently strong to
support my weight. They are composed of flags and broken
reeds, finer towards the inside, and contain from seven to ten
eggs.” These are stone colour, speckled over with nutmeg-
brown, two inches one line in length by one inch six lines in
breadth. Bewick: mentions that a Bald Coot built her nest
in Sir W. Middleton’s lake, at Belsay, Northumberland,
among the rushes, which were afterwards loosened by the
wind, and, of course, the nest was driven about, and floated
upon the surface of the water, in every direction ; notwith-
standing which, the female continued to sit as usual, and
brought out her young upon her moveable habitation. Some
broods appear towards the end of May, others in June. The
young quit the nest soon after they are hatched, and leave it
entirely after three or four days, to follow their parents, who
are very careful of them.

Sir Thomas Browne of Norwich, when writing of British
Birds about 1635, says, ‘‘ Coots are in very great flocks on
the broad waters. Upon the appearance of a Kite or Buz-
zard, I have seen them unite from all parts of the shore in
strange numbers; when, if the Kite stoop near them, they
will fling up, and spread such a flash of water with their
wings, that they will endanger the Kite, and so keep him off
again and again in open opposition;” and this habit they
practise to the present time to defend themselves or their

40 LOBIPEDID&.

young from the frequent attacks of large and predaceous
Gulls.

Of their habits in autumn and winter, when pursued by the
sportsman or the fowler, Colonel Hawker says, ‘* Coots found
in rivers are scarcely thought worth firing at; yet they are
in great requisition when they arrive for the winter on the
coast, from the immense numbers that may be killed at a
shot, as they roost on the mud-banks. Coots, when on the
coast, usually travel to windward, so that a west wind brings
them to the west, and an easterly wind to the east, instead
of the contrary, as with other fowl. The plan that I have
found best for slaughtering the Coots by wholesale is, either
to listen for them before daylight, and rake them down at
the grey of a white frosty morning, or watch them at some
distance in the afternoon, and set into them as late in the
evening as you can see to level your gun, taking care, if
possible, to keep them under the western light. Coots, in-
stead of drawing together before they fly, like geese and
many other fowl, always disperse on being alarmed ; and, as
they generally fly to windward, the gentlemen’s system of
wild-fowl shooting answers well, which is, to embark with a
party, sail down on them, and, as they cross, luff up and fire
all your barrels. When a beginner at wild sport, I used to
be mightily pleased with this diversion. When on the coast,
you may easily distinguish Coots from wild-fowl by the
scattered extent of their line, their high rumps, their rapid
swimming, and their heads being poked more forward.

‘* They are generally sold for eighteen pence a couple, pre-
viously to which they are what is called cleaned. The recipe
for this is, after picking them, to take off all the black down,
by means of powdered resin and boiling water, and then to
let them soak all night in cold spring water; by which they
are made to look as white and as delicate as a chicken, and
to eat tolerably well; but, without this process, the skin in

roasting produces a sort of oil, with a fishy taste and smell ;

COMMON COooT. 41

and if the skin be taken off, the bird becomes dry, and good
for nothing. A Coot shot in the morning, just after roosting,
is worth three killed in the day when full of grass, because
he will then be whiter, and milder in flavour. A Poole man
is very particular about this, as the sale of his Coots much
depends on it.”

The Coot, as observed by Sir William Jardine and Mr.
Selby, is a summer visiter to Scotland. Dr. Neill and Mr.
Dunn mention it as visiting occasionally the lochs of some of
the islands of Orkney. It is found during summer on the
coasts of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, going as far as the
Faroe Islands, and even to Iceland, as noticed by Faber and
other authorities, but not farther to the west; the Coot of
North America and the United States is now known to be
a different species. Our Coot is found in Russia and the
eastern parts of Siberia, according to Pennant. It is very
abundant in Holland, and on the lakes and rivers of Ger-
many, France, Switzerland, Spain, Provence, and Italy. Dr.
Heineken includes the Coot among the Birds of Madeira.
Mr. Strickland saw it at Smyrna; the Zoological Society
have received specimens from Trebizond; and the Coot of
India, China, Japan, and the island of Sunda, is said to be
identical with the Coot of Europe.

The beak is of a pale rose-red, or flesh colour; the patch
on the forehead naked, and pure white; hence the name of
Bald Coot: the irides crimson; below the eye a small half-
circular streak of white ; the whole of the plumage above and
below sooty black, tinged with dark slate-grey; the head
rather darker than the body; primaries nearly pure black ;
secondaries tipped with white, forming a line or narrow bar
across the wing ; legs, toes, and membranes dark green, the
garter above the tarsal joint orange.

The whole length sixteen inches. From the carpal joint
to the end of the wing about eight inches.

Adult birds from their more decided dark colour have been

42 LOBIPEDID&.

by some authors considered distinct, and called F. aterrima;
but we have only one species. The young birds of the year
are smaller than the parents, the naked frontal patch is also
smaller, and the under parts of the plumage are of a lighter
grey. Young chicks on emerging from the egg-shell are
covered with black down, with some lighter-coloured down
hanging loosely about them.

Varieties entirely white, and others only partially white,
have been seen both in Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

The decidedly aquatic habits, with the attendant pecu-
liarity of the feet of the remaining members of this order of
birds, entitle them to some distinction from the Gallinules, as
more nearly approaching the true swimmers, Natatores.

The vignette represents the structure of the foot, in which
the dilatations of the membranes correspond in situation with
the bones of the toes, namely, one lobe on each side each of
the phalanges; of which there are two to the inner toe, three
to the middle toe, and four to the outer toe.

GREY PHALAROPE. 43

GRALLATORES. LOBIPEDIDZ.

THE GREY PHALAROPE.

Phalaropus lobatus, | Grey Phalarope, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 202.

Tringa lobata, a Py Mont. Ornith. Dict.

Phalaropus lobatus, a a Bewrcx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p- 155.
ae hyperboreus, Red 35 5 5 An », p. 154.
Ai lobatus, Grey 3 Frem. Brit. An. p. 100.
a a AS Ap Sevsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 162.
is os A 5S Jrenyns, Brit, Vert. p. 215.
», platyrhinchus, ,, 5 Gov p, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.

», Phalarope platyrhinque, Tem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 712.

”

Puataropus. Generic Characters.—Beak rather long, slender, weak, straight,
depressed and blunt ; both mandibles grooved throughout their whole length ;
the upper mandible slightly curved at the point. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval,
prominent, encircled by a membrane. Legs moderate, slender, tarsus com-
pressed ; three toes in front, one behind ; the anterior toes united as far as the
first articulation, the other parts furnished with an extension of the membrane
laterally, forming lobes slightly serrated at the edges, the hind toe without
membrane, and articulated on the inner side of the tarsus. Wings moderate ;
the first and second quill-feathers the longest.

Als LOBIPEDID®.

Tuis pretty species, remarkable for the great difference of
its red appearance when in the plumage of summer, compared
to its delicate grey colour in winter, and from which latter
‘prevailing tint it derives its name, received an early notice
from our countryman and naturalist George Edwards, who
figured this bird in its winter plumage in his plate, No. 308,
from a specimen killed in Yorkshire, in January 1757, and
another in its summer plumage, plate 142, from a specimen
received from Hudson’s Bay. Edwards, in his Gleanings in
Natural History, called them Coot-footed, from the dilated
and lobed membranes of the toes, resembling in structure the
same part in the Coot; and in Papa Westra, according to
Dr. Neill, in his Tour through Orkney, the Phalaropes are
called Half-webs.

Such decided swimmers are these Phalaropes, that Major
Sabine, in his Memoir on the Birds of Greenland, mentions
having shot one out of a flock of four, on the west coast of
Greenland in latitude 68°, while they were swimming in the
sea amongst icebergs, three or four miles from the shore ;
and Dr. Richardson, in his Natural History, Appendix to Sir
Edward Parry’s Second Arctic Voyage, says, they were ob-
served upon the sea, out of sight of land, preferring to swim
out of danger rather than take wing. Their under plumage
is also thick and compact, and the bones of the legs flattened
like those of the true swimming birds.

Though formerly a rare bird in this country, since Pennant
says that he only knew of two instances in which it had oc-
curred in his time, they are now more common, and generally
appear in the autumn, when on their way to their southern
winter quarters. ‘They are also, for the most part, young
birds of the year, in various stages of change towards the pure
and delicate grey colour of the plumage of winter. Some
years since, A. B. Lambert, Esq. presented to the Zoological
Society a beautifully marked adult bird; this was killed in

GREY PHALAROPE. 45

Wiltshire in the month of August, and retained at that time
a great portion of the true red colours of the breeding-season,
or summer plumage; and I have occasionally seen specimens
obtained in December and January, and then exhibiting, of
course, the perfect grey plumage of winter.

They feed on the smaller thin-skinned crustacea and aquatic
insects, which they search for and pick up from the surface of
the water while swimming; and their attitude resembles that
of the Teal, with the head drawn backwards. A specimen in
my own collection, killed in November 1824, while swim-
ming on the Thames near Battersea, was seen there by a
gardener, who went home, a distance of a mile and a half,
to fetch his gun, and on his return found the bird still swim-
ming and feeding near the same spot.

This species breeds in Iceland, Greenland, on the North
Georgian and Melville Islands. The eggs are usually four
in number, of a stone colour tinged with olive ; spotted and
speckled over with dark brown ; measuring one inch two lines
in length, by ten lines and a half in breadth. The egg here
described, which is in my own collection, and is figured in
Mr. Hewitson’s work, was brought from Melville Island, and
also the female bird in summer plumage, from which the
figure in the back-ground of the illustration was drawn and
engraved.

This species has now been obtained in so many different
counties in England, as to render the particular enumeration
of them unnecessary ; in some instances they were found to
be so tame as to allow of very close approach, and in one in-
stance that came to my own knowledge, the bird was struck
down by a labouring man with a spade. The Grey Phala-
rope has also been killed in Ireland and in Scotland. In
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway it is observed in spring and
autumn, when on its passage to and from its breeding stations
in higher northern latitudes. It visits Iceland and Greenland.

4.6 LOBIPEDIDE.

On Sir Edward Parry’s first and second Arctic voyages, it
was observed to be abundant during the summer months on
the North Georgian Islands, and found breeding at Iglookik
and Melville Island on the third voyage. This species is
well known to the ornithologists of the United States, where
it performs periodical migrations north and south, similar to
those observed in Europe; the Grey Phalarope is also in-
cluded in the volume devoted to the Zoology of Captain
Beechey’s voyage to the Pacific in the Blossom, but the lo-
eality in which the bird was obtained is not named.

According to Pennant, this species is found in the eastern
parts of the north of Hurope; is abundant in Siberia, and
about the large lakes of Asia to the Caspian Sea. It is occa-
sionally found in Holland and Germany ; but is considered a
rare bird in France, Switzerland, and Italy.

The females of this species appear to assume more perfect
colours in the breeding-season, and to retain them longer than
the males. A female in fine summer plumage has the beak
yellow, the point dark brown; around the base of the beak,
and on the top of the head, dark brownish black ; irides dark
brown; around the eye a patch of white; a narrow stripe
down the back of the neck; all the back and rump nearly
black, with pale yellow margins; lesser wing-coverts lead-
grey, edged with white; greater wing-coverts and secondaries
lead-grey, with broad ends of white; tertials also lead-grey
margined with orange-yellow ; quill and tail-feathers almost
black ; the front and sides of the neck, the breast, and all
the under surface of the body uniform reddish chestnut, or
bay ; under surface of tail-feathers ash-grey; legs, toes, and
their lobed membranes yellow; the claws black.

When changing in autumn to the plumage of winter, the
bay under-colour is lost by degrees; the first grey feathers
that appear are the scapulars, and from thence down the sides
of the back ; afterwards those of the interscapular space, and

GREY PHALAROPE. AT

the centre of the back below ; the orange-coloured margins of
the tertials becoming paler.

In winter the beak is black; around its base, and on the
top of the head, white ; irides dark brown; around the eye
dusky black ; a patch of the same colour on the ear-coverts
and on the occiput ; back of the neck, scapulars, upper wing-
coverts, and all the back, uniform pearl-grey ; greater coverts,
secondaries, and tertials, lead-grey, margined with white ; pri-
maries as in summer; tail-feathers ash-grey, margined with
white ; chin, neck in front, breast, and all the under surface
of the body pure white, except a small patch of pearl-grey
before the point of the wings, but not extending round the
front; legs, toes, and membranes yellowish brown ; the claws
black.

Specimens vary considerably in size; the females are the
largest, and measure about eight inches and a quarter in their
whole length ; the males usually half an inch less; from the
carpal joint to the end of the wing four inches and three-
quarters.

The vignette represents the structure of the feet in the
Phalarope.

48 LOBIPEDIDE.

GRALLATORES., LOBIPEDIDE.

THE RED-NECKED PHALAROPE.

Phalaropus hyperboreus, Red Phalarope, Pxnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 125.
Pr fulicaria, a 5 Mont. App. to Supp. Ornith, Dict.
x fuscus, Red-necked ,, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 157.
Lobipes hyperboreus, ,, Coot-foot, Frem. Brit. An. p. 100.
hyperborea, 5, Lobe-foot, Srxsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 166.
ne hyperboreus, ,, a3 Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 214.
Phalaropus x3 Red-necked Phalarope, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
Phalarope hyperboré, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 709.

” >?

Tue Rep-neckeD PHALARoPE is at once distinguished
from the Grey Phalarope last described, by its smaller size,
yet with a longer and more slender beak, and it presents also
much less seasonal variation in its plumage. Hdwards has
also, in this instance, engraved two representations of the bird,
plates 46 and 143, from examples, both of which were
brought from Hudson’s Bay.

In its habits the Red-necked Phalarope very closely agrees
with the Grey Phalarope, but is comparatively much more

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 49

rare in England, and more common on the northern islands
of Scotland. Pennant refers to a specimen shot on the banks
of a fresh-water pool on the Isle of Stronsay, one of the Ork-
neys, in May 1769. Mr. Simmonds, in a paper published in
the eighth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society,
refers to six females and two males, found in 1803 about
fresh-water lakes in Sanda and North Ronaldsha, the two
most northern of the Orkney islands. Mr. Bullock, in a
letter to Colonel Montagu, says, ‘I found this Phalarope
common in the marshes of Sanda and Westra in the breeding
season, but which it leaves in the autumn. This bird is so
extremely tame that I killed nine without moving out of the
same spot, being not the least alarmed at the report of a gun.
It lays four eggs, of the shape of that of a Snipe, but much
less, of an olive colour, blotched with dusky. It swims with
the greatest ease, and when on the water looks like a beautiful
miniature of a Duck, carrying its head close to the back, in
the manner of a Teal.” Mr. Salmon, who visited Orkney in
the summer of 1831, says of the Red-necked Phalarope, ‘ this
beautiful little bird appeared to be very tame; although we
shot two pairs, those that were swimming about did not take
the least notice of the report of the gun; and they seemed to
be much attached to each other, for when one of them flew to
a short distance, the other directly followed ; and while I
held a female that was wounded in my hand, its mate came
and fluttered before my face. We were much gratified in
watching the motions of these elegant little creatures, as they
kept swimming about, and were for ever dipping their bills
into the water; and so intent were they upon their occupa-
tion, that they did not take the least notice of us, although
within a few yards of them. The female has not that bril-
liant bay colour upon the sides of the neck and breast, so
conspicuous in the male. After some little difficulty, we were
fortunate in finding their nests, which were placed in small
VOL. Il. f E

50 LOBIPEDID£.

tufts of grass growing close to the edge of the loch; they
were formed of dried grass, and were about the size of that
of a Titlark, but much deeper. The eggs are considerably
smaller than those of the Dunlin, and beautifully spotted all
over with brown. They had but just commenced laying,
June 13, as we found only from one to two eggs in each
nest ; but we were informed by a boy whom we engaged in
our service, that they always lay four, and are called by the
name of Half-web. Mr. Dunn, who visited Orkney and
Shetland in 1831, 1833, and 1835, says, ‘“‘I never saw this
bird in Shetland, but I got several in Orkney ; it sometimes
builds its nest on small green islands in the middle of the
lakes. The places where I procured their eggs, and found
the birds most numerous, were in a small sheet of water three
or four miles from the lighthouse of Sanda, a lake near Nunse
Castle in Westra, and at Sandwick, near Stromness.”

This species has been obtained in Norfolk, Yorkshire, and
Northumberland. Passing over the Scottish Jocalities already
named, M. Nilsson mentions that the Red-necked Phalarope
visits Sweden and Norway, where a few remain to breed on
the margins of fresh-water lakes, but the greater part going
still further north, are known to visit Lapland, the Faroe Is-
lands, and Iceland. Mr. W. Proctor, Subcurator of the
Durham University Museum, visited Iceland in the summer
of 1837, and in some notes on the habits of birds seen there,
which were published in the Naturalist, mentions, that ‘‘ The
Red-necked Phalarope, or Lobefoot, breeds on little hillocks
among the marshes. ‘The nest is composed of a few stems
of dried grass. ‘The eggs are four in number, of an oil-green
colour, thickly spotted with black ; in dimensions one inch
and an eighth long, and two inches three-quarters round, or
about the size of that of a common Thrush. The young birds
leave the nest as soon as hatched. On the approach of dan-

ger the old bird runs among the aquatic herbage, spreading

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 51

her wings, and counterfeiting lameness, for the purpose of
deluding the intruder; and after leading the enemy from her
young, she takes wing and flies to a great height, at the same
time displaying a peculiar action of the wings ; then descend-
ing with great velocity, and making simultaneously a noise
with her wings. On her return to her young, she uses a par-
ticular cry for the purpose of gathering the young together.
As soon as she has collected them, she covers them with her
wings like the domestic hen.” A small flock of these birds
was seen on the west coast of Greenland, in latitude 71°, in
June, on Sir Edward Parry’s first Arctic voyage; and Cap-
tain James Ross, in the Natural History Appendix to the
third voyage, mentions that a small flock of these birds alight-
ed under the lee of the ship, during a strong breeze of wind,
and were so fearless of danger as to approach within a few
yards of her, feeding on small shrimps, which were seen in
great numbers. At this time, it is observed, ‘‘ we were sixty
miles from the nearest land. (Disco.) We found them
breeding at whale fish islands, but saw no more of them after

”

leaving the coast of Greenland.” Dr. Richardson says this
species breeds on all the Arctic coast of America, and it is
well-known to the naturalists of the United States ; but Mr.
Audubon remarks that few individuals are ever seen to the
south of New York.

M. Temminck, and other authorities on the continent of
Kurope, mention that this bird is obtained occasionally in
Holland and Germany, but is rare in France, Switzerland,
Provence, and Italy.

The food, as may be inferred from what has been already
stated, consists of small crustacea, marine insects, worms, &c.
An egg in my own collection measures one inch two lines in
length, by ten lines in breadth, the ground colour olive,
blotched and streaked over with dark red brown. From the
denuded state of the breast of males obtained during the

E 2

52 LOBIPEDIDE.

breeding season, there is reason to believe they take a con-
siderable share in the process of incubation.

In summer the beak is black, more slender and longer than
that of the Grey Phalarope ; irides dark brown ; around the
base of the beak and the eyes, on the top of the head, back
of the neck, all the back and the wing-coverts, nearly uniform
dark lead-colour; the scapulars and tertials margined with
reddish yellow ; primaries almost black ; secondaries rather
lighter in colour and tipped with white; upper tail-coverts
dusky and white; tail-feathers brownish grey, the middle pair
the darkest in colour; chin pure white; sides and front of
the neck rich yellowish red ; feathers of the lower part of the
neck in front dark grey, edged with white; breast, belly,
vent, and under tail-coyerts, pure white; in front of the wing
a patch of dark grey, which extends backwards, mixed with
white over the sides and flanks. Legs, toes, and their mem-
branes green, the claws black.

Adult birds in winter have little or no red on the neck or
back, and young birds of the year resemble old birds in
winter.

Females measure about seven inches in length, and are
larger than males; from the carpal joint to the end of the
longest quill-feather four inches and one quarter. The length

of the beak, from the feathers on the forehead, ten lines and
a half. ,

GREY-LEGGED GOOSE. 53

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

THE GREY-LEGGED GOOSE.

Anas anser, Grey Lag Goose, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 11. p. 228.
» 95 ferus Grey Lag Goose, Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 299 ;
but not the figure.

%”? ” 2”? bed a” 3”

Anser palustris, », Goose, Frem. Brit. An. p. 126.

5 3 », Lag Wild Goose, Srxsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 261.

op fais Wild Goose, Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 222.

A 36 Grey Lag Wild Goose, Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. xviii.
Anas anser ferus, Oie cendrée ow premiere, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 818.
Anser ferus, 53 AA 43 a; 4g »> pt. iv. p. 517.

Anser. Generic Characters.— Beak not longer than the head, conical,
elevated at the base, which is covered with a cere, or skin; under mandible
smaller_than the upper. Nostrils lateral, placed towards the middle of the
beak, pierced anteriorly. Legs under the centre of the body ; the tarsi long,
the hind toe free, articulated upon the tarsus.

Tue fifth and last Order of Birds, the Natatores, or Swim-
mers, remains now to be considered. A large portion of

54 ANATIDE.

these are remarkable for their powers of swimming and diving ;
they are commonly called Water Fowl, and as an Order
have frequently been designated Palmipedes, in reference to
their webbed feet. From the geographical position, extent,
and varied character of the British Islands, the species of this
Order are very numerous, comprehending nearly one third of
the whole number of our British Birds. The first family of
this Order, the Anatidee, is also extensive, including the Geese,
Swans, Ducks and Mergansers. The first three portions were
formerly considered as belonging but to one genus, Anas ;
and hence the family name Anatidee: modern systematic
authors have found it more convenient, as well as desirable, to
divide them into smaller groups, which are known to be dis-
tinct in their characters and habits, and these will be hereafter
referred to. Many of the species are of great interest and
value.

Under the term, Wild Goose, four or five species are
frequently included, and the Grey Lag Goose, or Grey-
legged Goose, which is considered to be the true reading,
the first on our list, has not always been so well defined or re-
presented as to exhibit the true specific characters, that dis-
tinguish it from the Bean Goose and White-fronted Goose,
with which the Grey-legged Goose is the most frequently
confounded. ‘The present species is considered to be the
origin from which our valuable domestic race is derived; and
to show the aptitude of the wild bird to this purpose, I may
mention, that the Zoological Society of London, possessing
a pinioned wild Grey-legged Gander, which had never asso-
ciated with either Bean Goose or White-fronted Goose,
though both were kept on the same water with him, a domes-
tic goose selected in the London market, from the cireum-
stance of her exhibiting in her plumage the marks which be-
long to, and distinguish the true Grey-legged species, was
this season, 1841, brought and put down to him. The pair

GREY-LEGGED GOOSE. 55

were confined together by themselves for a few days, became
immediately very good friends, and a sitting of eight eggs
was the consequence.

There is, however, some reason to believe that one other
species, at least, has had some share in establishing our pre-
sent domestic race. Almost all the species of Geese, Swans,
Ducks, and Mergansers, are remarkable for the peculiar form
of their organ of voice, or windpipe, and so peculiar as well
as permanent is this anatomical character, that the males of
the British species of this family, consisting of about forty,
almost all of them, but more particularly the Swans, Ducks
and Mergansers, can be immediately identified by the examina-
tion of this organ alone. Figures of these will be hereafter
introduced as vignettes to the species to which they belong.
In the Wild Grey-legged Goose the tube of the windpipe is
nearly cylindrical, and this form of trachea I have frequently
found on examination of domestic geese intended for the table ;
but I have also frequently found the tube flattened at the
lower portion, a character which is constant in the Anser albi-
Jrons, or White-fronted Goose; and there are few persons
well acquainted with the appearance of our domestic geese
who have not observed in many of them the white ring of fea-
thers round the base of the beak extending a little upwards on
the forehead, from which the Anser albifrons derives one of
its names: the figure of the White-fronted Goose, the fourth
species here given, will exhibit this mark. The legs of many
of our domestic geese are orange coloured, like those of the
white fronted; the legs of the Wild Grey-legged Geese are
of a pale flesh colour. ‘The white colour of the horny termi-
nation of the beak, called the nail, is common to both. The
occasional deviation from the natural colour of the plumage
of the wild birds to a pure white, is probably caused by domes-
tication and selection.

The Grey-legged Wild Goose is said to have been former-

56 ANATIDE.

ly very common in the fens of this country, residing there
the whole year, breeding there, and bringing out eight or
nine young; but that the general system of draining pursued
in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, has been the
means of driving them away. Certain it is that now the
Grey-legged Goose is comparatively a rare bird at any season,
and whole winters pass away without a single example occur-
ring in the London market, though the bird is well known to
some who are constantly upon the look-out for it. A few
specimens appeared in October 1837, and in January 1838,
and I considered myself fortunate in obtaining two specimens
in March 1840, at the common wild goose price, of a poul-
terer who did not know them as distinct from the Bean
Goose. Montagu says they have been killed in open coun-
tries when feeding upon young green wheat ; they feed also
on the grasses, aquatic plants, and any sort of grain.

The Grey-legged Goose is considered to have bred former-
ly in Ireland, but is now a rare visiter there, even in winter.
A specimen is occasionally obtained in Devonshire,* and the
same may be said of it in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Durham,
and Northumberland. This species visits both Orkney and
Shetland in winter, but does not remain to breed there.
Richard Dann, Esq. who has supplied me with interesting
notes referring to many of the species of this extensive family
of birds, more particularly as to their breeding ground and
habits in Scandinavia, says, ‘‘ On the inlets and islands from
Bergen northwards, this Goose is not uncommon during the
summer, particularly about Hitteren, where they are tolerably
numerous early in August, and one of our party shot one
there, which proved to be a very large gander. Their migra-
tion so far north, however, seems to be confined to the coast,
never having met with them in Lapland, or in the northern
parts of Sweden or Norway. They make their appearance

* Montagu’s collection of birds, as left by him, did not contain this species.

GREY-LEGGED GOOSE. oA

in the Elbe at the latter end of August or the beginning of
September, remaining there until October, and then go fur-
ther south.

Professor Nilsson, who resides in the south-eastern part of
Sweden, says, that a few pairs make their appearance there
towards the end of April. The males leave the fens when
the females begin to sit, and collect in flocks near or on the
sea; the females conduct their young when they are ready
to go. The eggs of this species are of a dull yellowish ivory
white, smooth and shining, measuring three inches one line
in length, by two inches and one line in breadth.

This species is said to go as far as Iceland in summer, and
to most of the countries still farther north, but late observers
do not include them among the birds of the Arctic regions,
or of North America. The Grey-legged Goose is not com-
mon in Holland or France, but is said to be more abundant
in Germany, and the central portions of Europe. Said to
be found in Northern Asia, China, and Japan.

The beak is of a pale flesh colour, the horny nail at the
extremity of each mandible white; the irides brown; the
head, nape, back of the neck, and the upper part of the back,
ash-brown, the latter named part with lighter coloured edges ;
inner portion of the wings, scapulars, and tertials, lead-grey
with broad and lighter grey coloured margins; the point of
the wing, both sets of upper wing-coverts, and all the feathers
on the primary portion of the wing, except the quill-feathers
beyond the first three, very light bluish-grey; the three
outer quill-feathers also light grey; the rest dark lead-grey,
all with white shafts; the lower part of the back and the
rump uniform light bluish-grey ; upper tail-coverts white ;
tail-feathers lead-grey, tipped with white; chin, neck in
front, and the breast, of a lighter grey colour than the back
of the neck ; the belly, and all the under surface of the body,
white ; sides, flanks, and thighs, barred with ash colour and

58 ANATIDE.

ereyish white ; under tail-coverts, and the under surface of
the tail-feathers, white ; legs, toes, and membranes, dull flesh
colour; the claws black.

The whole length of an adult male thirty-five inches; the
wing, from the carpal joint to the end of the second quill-
feather, which is the longest, seventeen inches and a half;
the wings when closed scarcely reaching to the end of the
tail. Both males and females have a hard callous knob at
the point of the wing, which varies in size in the different
species of geese. ‘The males in this genus are larger than the
females. An adult female measured thirty inches in the
whole length, and sixteen inches in the wing. Mr. Bartlett,
who has paid great attention to the plumage of these birds,
says, the young of this species are darker than the adults, but
the grey colour of the shoulders and rump, the form of the
bill, and the colour of the legs and feet, will always distin-
euish them from the young of any of the other species.

I have ventured to make an exception to the figure placed
over the name of the Grey Lag Goose in Bewick’s admirable
work on our British Birds, believing it to have been taken
from a specimen of the Bean Goose, as the black nail at the
end of the beak, and the uniform colour of the wing, seems to
indicate. His excellent figure of the tame Goose, at page
304, exhibits the characters of the true Grey Lag Goose,
from which the stock is derived, in the conspicuous white nail
to the beak, and the light coloured cinereous blue outer por-

tion of the wing.

BEAN GOOSE. 59

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE BEAN GOOSE.

Anas segetum, Bean Goose, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 233.

” ” ne 6 Monr. Ornith. Dict.

a» ap AF i Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 303, fig. p. 299.
Anser ferus, Wilde. Frem. Brit. An. p. 126.

a3 us Bean ,, Sexey, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 263.

», segetum, 2 A Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 222.

” ” 3 5 Govtp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.
Anas a Oie vulgaire, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 820.
Anser 5, ie 4 Ap M3 pt. iv. p. 517.

Tue Bran Goosz is principally a winter visiter to the
British Islands, and from the numbers that are seen in that

season of the year, is the most common, and the most numer-

60 ANATIDE.

ous as a species among our wild geese, with the exception of
the Brent Goose, to be hereafter noticed.

It has been ascertained that a few Bean Geese breed in
some parts of this country, but the greater portion make their
appearance in September and October, coming from Scandi-
navia, and from still higher northern latitudes. From the
greater security against surprise, which an uninclosed country
affords, these birds appear to prefer very large open fields.
The Rev. Richard Lubbock sent me word that immense
flocks are seen in the western parts of Norfolk. I remember
to have seen flocks containing, apparently, several hundreds in
that county, some years ago, in the month of September,
where they feed on the extensive stubbles; and I have been
told lately, that these birds visit Gloucestershire, and other
parts in the vicinity of the Severn, as early as August.

During an excursion made by a party of naturalists in
Sutherlandshire, in the summer of 1834, Mr. Selby says,
“* we were agreeably surprised to find that the Bean Goose
annually breeds upon several of the Sutherland lakes. The
first intimation we received of this interesting fact was at
Lairg, where we were informed that a few pairs bred upon
some islands about twelve miles up Loch Shin. We accord-
ingly took boat the following morning, and, upon arriving at
the place, discovered a single pair, attended by four or five
young goslings. None were obtained, as the old birds being
wild, escaped, seemingly uninjured, although repeatedly fired
at, and the goslings immediately dived, and escaped into the
reeds and other herbage. Upon Loch Naver we also found
several pairs attended by their young, seemingly about a
fortnight or three weeks old, one of which, after a severe
chase, we procured. Upon the islands of Loch Laighal, from
thirty to forty pairs, we were informed, annually had their
nests. We saw several old birds, and the nests that had
been used, which are concealed in heath upwards of three

BEAN GOOSE. 61

feet in height, that covers the islands. The eggs were all
hatched, and most of the young had betaken themselves to
the neighbouring moors, where they continue till able to fly,
‘secreting themselves when disturbed, in the highest heather.
At Tongue we saw some goslings about a month old (follow-
ing ahen), which had been hatched from eggs taken at Loch
Laighal. We were told they became nearly as tame as com-
mon geese, but refuse to intermix or breed with them. The
egos, from five to seven in number, are smaller than those of
the common goose, but of a similar shape and colour.”

A few pairs it is said, breed annually in Sunbiggin Tarn,
near Orton, in Westmoreland, and the islands of Lewis and
Harris, among the Hebrides, are also named as places regular-
ly visited by Bean Geese in summer, where, according to
Pennant, they feed on green corn to an injurious extent.
A pair of Bean Geese belonging to the Ornithological Society
of London, have this season produced a brood of five, in St.
James’s Park: the young were observed to grow very rapidly.
The egg of a Bean Goose, brought from Norway, and given
me by Mr. Hewitson, is of a dull white; three inches five
lines long, by two inches five lines in breadth. The eggs
produced by the Bean Goose in the park were a little smaller.
The Bean Goose is common during winter in Ireland, and in
North Wales, but is more rare in the southern counties of
England, increasing in frequency on going northward. Mr.
Dann’s note on this species is as follows :—‘* This Goose is
said to be very numerous on the north-west coast of Norway.
I have seen it in vast numbers on the Tornea river in Sep-
tember; and the young ones are often caught on the islands
at the head of the Bothnian Gulph, and tamed. They arrive
in the south of Sweden the latter end of March or the be-
ginning of April, and remain about a month previous to their
departure north. During their stay they keep amongst the
dead reeds and rushes, feeding upon the roots and young

62 ANATIDA.,

shoots. I have never seen this Goose upon the coast in
winter; but, as before stated, it is reported to breed in great
numbers on the Norwegian coast.

Professor Nilsson says the Bean Goose is the most com-
mon species in Sweden, and is also spread over Finland,
breeding upon the islands, and committing great ravage upon
the green corn. Mr. Hewitson, says the Bean Goose was
rather numerous upon one of the large islands on the west
coast of Norway, near the Arctic circle, where it had been
breeding during the previous month. ‘This species is said to
visit the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland. It breeds
also in great numbers at Nova Zembla.

M. Temminck says the Bean Goose is abundant in Hol-
land, Germany, and France, but is more rare in the central
portions of Europe. It is found also in Spain, Provence,
and Italy. M. Vieillot mentions that one of the names of
this bird in France is, Harvest Goose, Oze des moissons, from
its frequenting corn-fields, and the destructive effects of large
flocks when feeding upon green corn. Our name of Bean
Goose is said to have reference to the dark nail on the beak,
which in appearance is considered to resemble a horse-bean ;
Mr. Selby thinks the name has been suggested by the de-
cided partiality of the bird to pulse and grain.

The bill is two inches and one quarter in length, nearly as
long as the head ; rather slender towards the end and point-
ed; the nail, edges, and base, black, the middle portion
orange ; irides dark brown; the head and neck brown, tinged
with grey ; back and scapulars darker brown, slightly tinged
with grey, each feather margined with greyish white; wing-
coverts, secondaries, and tertials, greyish-brown, edged and
tipped with white ; primaries dark brown tinged with grey ;
rump dark brown; upper tail-coverts white; tail-feathers
dark brown, broadly edged with greyish white ; neck in front,
breast, and belly, dirty white; abdomen, vent, and under

BEAN GOOSE. 63

tail-coverts, pure white ; legs, toes, and membranes, orange ;
the claws black. ;

The whole length of an adult male thirty-four inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing nearly nineteen
inches ; the second quill-feather the longest in the wing ; the
wings when closed reaching considerably beyond the end of
the tail; point of the wing with a prominent callous knob
hidden by the plumage.

Young birds of the year darker in the general colour of
their plumage, and the markings less distinct, but with a
tinge of orange colour about the neck.

Wild geese, when on the wing together for any distance,
are frequently observed to assume some particular figure. If
there are only three or four birds, they mostly fly in a
straight line one after the other; when more numerous they
assume a wedge-shaped form like the letter <— placed hori-
zontally, the angle in advance. The interval between the
side lines sometimes occupied. Practice seems to have taught
them that angular forms diminish atmospheric resistance.

64 ANATIDA,

NATATORES. ANATIDZ,

THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE.

Anser phenicopus, Pink-footed Goose, Bartiert, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 3.
», brachyrhynchus, BaILuon, ,, she wee », p- 124.
of as Oie @ bec court, Temm. Man. d’Ornith, pt. iv. p. 520.

On the 8th of January, 1839, at the first evening meeting
of the Zoological Society in that year, Mr. Bartlett exhibited
several species of Geese in order to illustrate a paper which
he communicated to the meeting on a new British species
of the genus Anser, for which he proposed the name of pha-
nicopus, on account of the pink colour of the feet, with re-
marks on the nearly allied species.

On the 10th of September, in the same year, a communi-
cation was received by the Zoological Society from M.
Baillon, of Abbeville, stating that he had described in 1833,

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. 65

in the Memoirs of the Society of Emulation of Abbeville, a
new species of goose, to which he had given the name of
brachyrhynchus, because it appeared to him that one of its
most striking characters consisted in the shortness of its beak.
This bird proved to be of the same species as the one de-
scribed by Mr. Bartlett; but I believe I am correct in stating
that at the time Mr. Bartlett proposed his name for this new
Goose in 1839, no one here was aware that M. Baillon had
described and named the same species in the Memoirs of the
Society of Emulation of Abbeville, in 1833. M. Baillon’s
name, of course, has the precedence, and will be adopted by
others, as it has been by M. Temminck; Mr. Bartlett’s name
is, however, the better of the two, since there are several
species of geese with short beaks, but only one other that
I am aware of that has pink legs and feet.

This new species, for the first notice of which, in this
country, we are indebted to the discrimination of Mr. Bart-
lett, is considerably smaller in size than the Bean Goose last
described, but otherwise so like it in general appearance, that
there is little doubt it has frequently been mistaken for the
young bird of that species; but on comparative examination
it is at once distinguished by the smaller and shorter beak,
and the pink colour of the legs and feet. Little is known
of the particular habits of this new species in a wild state,
but M. Temminck mentions that three specimens kept in a
domestic state with others of the Grey, the Bean, and White-
fronted species, did not associate with either of them, but
kept together by themselves.

The same habit has been observed of this species in two
instances in this country. The Zoological Society have had
a male for several years which has never associated with any
of those of the various other species with which it has been
confined. The Ornithological Society has a female which,
during the summer of 1840, would not associate with any of

VOL. III. F

66 ANATIDE.

the various species kept with her in St. James’s Park, yet she
laid eight eggs, and began to sit, but from which of course
there were no proceeds. The eggs were rather less than
those of the Bean Goose, of a pure white colour, and measur-
ing three inches and one eighth in length, by two inches and
a quarter in breadth.

This season the Zoological Society have allowed their male
to be transferred to St. James’s Park; but though the pair
were soon good friends, there is as yet no produce.

The voice of the Pink-footed Goose differs from that of
the Bean Goose in being sharper in tone, and the note is
also repeated more rapidly. These geese were not uncommon
in the London market during the winters of 1838, 39,
and 40.

In January of the present year, 1841, I was favoured with
a letter from the Hon. and Rev. Thomas Keppel, of War-
ham Rectory, near Holkam, informing me that a Pink-footed
Goose had been killed by his nephew, Lord Coke, at Holkam.
This bird was shot out of a flock of about twenty, but no-
thing particular was observed in their flight or habits.

There is little or no doubt that this species will be found
breeding in some of the localities frequented by the Bean
Goose. At a meeting of the Wernerian Natural History
Society, held in Edinburgh on the 28th November 1840,
Dr. Neill, the secretary, read a communication from Mr.
Macgillivray, stating that the Pink-footed, or Short-billed
Goose, Anser brachyrhynchus, occurs occasionally on the
stalls of the poultry market there —Hdin. New. Phil. Journ.
No. 59, p. 213.

The bill is but one inch and five-eighths in length, consi-
derably shorter than the head, parrow, and much contracted
towards the tip; the nail, and the space from the nostrils to
the base black, the intermediate space pink ; the irides dark
brown; head and neck dark ash-brown, the colour becoming

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. 67

lighter towards the lower part of the neck; back, wing-
coverts and tertials, brownish-grey, edged and tipped with
dull white; primary quill-feathers lead-grey, with white
shafts; the secondaries still darker, almost bluish-black ;
rump greyish ash colour; upper tail-coverts white; tail-
feathers grey, edged and tipped with white; neck in front,
breast, and belly, pale ash-brown, with lighter coloured
edges ; sides, flanks, and thighs, grey, broadly tipped with
pale brown; vent, under tail-coverts, and under surface of
the tail-feathers white; legs, toes, and membranes pink,
tinged with yermilion, in colour like those of the Egyptian
Goose; the claws black; the hind toe short; the membranes
of the feet thick and fleshy.

The whole length of an adult male twenty-eight inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the second quill-feather,
which is rather the longest in the wing, seventeen inches and
and a half; the carpal joint of the wing furnished with the
usual hard knob; the wings when closed reach an inch or
more beyond the end of the tail.

In the recently published September number of the Annals
and Magazine of Natural History, it is stated in a paper on the
Zoology of the outer Hebrides by Mr. J. Macgillivray, “‘ that
the Pink-footed or Short-billed Goose breeds in great num-
bers in the small islands of the Sound of Harris, as well as
those of the interior of North Uist. This bird was seen in
flocks so late as the beginning of May, was observed in pairs
among the islands in the Sound about the middle cf the
month, and had the young fully fledged and strong upon the
wing about the end of July; it had again collected into
flocks by the beginning of August, for late in the night of
the 8th of that month, as I was riding in great haste to over-
take the ferry-boat for Berneray, while crossing the sandy
margin of a shallow pool, I came suddenly upon a flock of
geese amounting to several hundreds.”

FQ

68 ANATIDEA.

NATATORES. ANATIDE.,

THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE,

OR LAUGHING GOOSE.

Anas albifrons, White-fronted Goose, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 235.

33 an * ap AA Monr. Ornith. Dict.

“3 = Be » Wild ,, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 311.
Anser erythropus, Laughing ,, Frem. Brit. An. p. 127.

a », White-fronted Wild Goose, Seruy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 266.

», ulbifrons, oe ae Goose, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 223.

<3 s > ‘3 a3 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.
Anas », Oie rieuse, ow a front blanc, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 821.
Anser ,, ot tse Pe) aeere, AS - . a pt. iv. p. 518.

Tue Wuirte-FrronTeED, or Laughing Goose, may be con-
sidered a regular winter visiter to this country, not usually so

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE,. 69

numerous as the Bean Goose, but occasionally appearing in
very large flocks, and in some proportion to the severity of
the weather. This species frequents marshes and morasses,
rather than corn fields ; and birds examined by Mr. Selby were
found to have their stomachs filled with the tender shoots and
leaves of the common clover. These birds are not uncom-
mon in the shops of the London poulterers from November
till March, and are in some request for the table as one of the
best among the different sorts of wild geese. They are not
known to remain to breed in any part of this country in their
natural wild state, that I am aware of; but a pair in the Gar-
dens of the Zoological Society, have this season brought forth
their brood from one of the islands in the pond to which they
are restricted, and show great anxiety for the safety of their
young. The egg is white, tinged with buff, and measures
two inches ten lines in length, by one inch and eleven lines
in breadth.

This species is a regular winter visiter to Ireland, and is
occasionally killed in Wales. Large flocks were seen in
Cornwall and Devonshire, during the winter of 1829-30,
which frequented turnip fields. It has been frequently killed
in Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Nor-
folk, Durham, and Northumberland. I can find no records
of its appearance in Orkney or Shetland. Mr. Richard
Dann’s note to me on this species is as follows :—

This is the Common Goose in Lapland, and by the
Laps called the Mountain Goose from its frequenting more
elevated districts than the Bean Goose. It breeds in small
numbers south of Juckasiervi, in Tornea Lapland, but not
further west than Killingsuvanda. It appears in great num-
bers in the spring at Quickiock, but does not breed there.
None of the western parts of Swedish Lapland are adapted
either for Sandpipers or the Duck tribe, the lakes being
generally rocky, and the swamps not of sufficient extent.

70 ANATIDE.

The young ones are easily tamed, and are caught in great
numbers by the Laps, with the old ones in a moulting state
and unable to fly, in July. In Sweden, Professor Nilsson
says this Goose is seen from spring to autumn, becoming gre-
garious in September and October, in the marshes near the
sea. Acerbi, in his Travels through Finland and Lapland,
mentions having shot some White-fronted Geese near Kau-
tokeino in Lapland, and it is recorded as visiting the Faroe
Islands and Iceland. The White-fronted, or Laughing
Goose, described long ago, as well as figured by Edwards,
plate 153, was from a specimen brought from Hudson’s Bay,
where, however, it is not common. Of its habits in North
America, Dr. Richardson observes, that ‘* the Laughing
Goose travels in great flocks through the fur-countries, eight
or ten days later than the Canada Goose, and breeds on the
coasts and islands of the Arctic Sea, north of the 67th pa-
rallel of latitude. The autumn migration southwards com-
mences early in September; and its return at that season to
the fur districts is often the first indication of winter having
begun within the Arctic Circle. The Indians imitate the
call of this Goose by patting the mouth with their hand
while they repeat the syllable wah. The resemblance of this
note to the laugh of a man has given one of the trivial names
to this species. It passes on toward the United States, in
advance of the Canada Goose ; and Mr. Audubon says that it
arrives before the latter in Kentucky, where many of the spe-
cies winter; but many also, he is convinced, go entirely to
the southward of the United States’ boundary. The same
gentleman informs us that this species leaves its winter quar-
ters a fortnight sooner than the Canada Goose, which is dif
ferent from the order of their appearance on the banks of the
Saskatchewan. Its flesh is superior to that of the Canada
Goose. It frequents grassy ponds.”

East of our own country the White-fronted Goose visits

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Al

Holland, Germany, and France, and is included by M. Savi
among the Birds of Italy. M. Menetries, the Russian natu-
ralist, mentions that in autumn this species makes its appear-
ance in considerable flocks near the Caspian Sea, particularly
at Bakou, and the lakes in that vicinity, where they pass
the winter. ‘Towards the end of February they commence
their emigration. M.Temminck says this species is found
in Japan.

The bill is of a reddish flesh colour, the nail white; at the
base of the upper mandible, and on the forehead, the feathers
are white; the irides very dark brown; head, neck, back,
rump, and wings, brownish ash colour; wing-coverts grey,
edged with white ; tertials margined with dull white; wing-
primaries and secondaries bluish black; upper tail-coverts
white; tail-feathers dark grey tipped with white; breast and
belly pale brownish-white, both sexes with patches and broad
bars of black; sides and flanks ash-brown, edged with dull
white; vent and under tail-coverts white; legs, toes, and
membranes orange ; claws whitish horn colour.

The whole length of an adult male twenty-seven inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing seventeen
inches; the second quill-feather the longest in the wing.

The young birds of the year, bred in the garden of the
Zoological Society, are now, in the middle of August, as large
as the parents. The plumage is more uniform in colour and
rather darker, the feathers at the base of the wpper mandible
are of a darker brown than those of the other parts of the
head ; the nail and point of the beak light brown. The pale
brown feathers on the breast are uniform in colour without

any dark patches or bars.

i2 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE BERNICLE GOOSE.

Anas erythropus, Bernacle Goose, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 237.
” ” ’9 19 Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Bewick, Brit. Birds. vol. ii. p. 319.

”? ” ” ”
Anser bernicla, 5 5 Fem. Brit. An. p. 127.

Fi . Bernicle ,, Sexny, Brit. Ornith. vol.ii. p. 268.

5, leucopsis, Common ,, a Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 224.

” »” » » Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. xi.
Anas ss Oie bernache, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p, 823.
Anser 4, A a3 35 5 +3 pt. iv. p. 520.

Tre Bernicie Goose is another winter visiter to the
British Islands, appearing in considerable flocks, particularly
when the weather is severe, and is considered to be more
abundant on the western coasts than on those of the east ;

they are naturally wild and shy, but when made captive they

BERNICLE GOOSE. 73

very soon become as familiar as our domestic geese, and have
lived a very long time in confinement, in one instance as
much as thirty-two years. In a communication to the Zoolo-
gical Society, from the Earl of Derby, the President, dated
Prescot, in May 1840, it was stated that on the ‘ Great
Water of his lordship’s park, a Bernicle Goose paired with,
and constantly accompanied a Canada Goose, but there was
no produce ; this happened last season. In the present one
the same Bernicle Goose has paired with a White-fronted
Goose, and the pair have a nest with nine or ten eggs. It
is not known, in either case, which was the goose and which
the gander.” A small flock of Bernicles, consisting of one
gander and four geese, have been kept for several seasons on
the canal in St. James’s Park by the Ornithological Society,
but no young ones have been produced. This species is a
regular winter visiter to Ireland, and has been taken there in
the north, north-east, at Dublin, and in the south. Mr. Sel-
by says it is sometimes abundant on the Lancashire coast,
and in the Solway Firth. It has occasionally been taken in
Wales, in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Sussex, Cam-
bridgeshire, Norfolk, and in Northumberland. They are
observed to frequent marshes on the coast, where they feed
on the grasses, and the tender parts of aquatic plants. The
flesh is of good flavour, and the birds are not uncommon in
the shops of our London poulterers, from November to Feb-
ruary, about which time they take their departure for more
northern latitudes, in which they produce their young. Their
nesting habits are little known; but an egg brought home by
our northern voyagers is of a greenish-white ; three inches
long, by one inch and eleven lines in breadth. Mr. Dann’s
note in reference to this species, says, ‘¢ A skin of this Goose
was shown me by some Laps near Gillivara, who were igno-
rant of the bird, never having seen it before. It was shot at
Killingsuvanda. It migrates in vast numbers along the west-

U4 ANATID.

ern coast of Norway, from the Naze of Norway northwards,
where it generally seems to make the land after leaving the
Danish coast. I suspect the shores of the White sca, to the
eastward, are the great breeding places of this bird. ‘They
appear in vast numbers on the coast of Scona in October and
November, but their flight is generally along the coast of the
Baltic. This Goose is said to visit the Faroe Islands in
summer: Faber includes it as a bird of Iceland; and it is
sometimes found at Hudson’s Bay. It is said to breed in
Russia. M.Temminck mentions it as abundant in Holland,
but less common in Germany and France. Polydore Roux
includes it among his birds of Provence. M.'Temminck says
that this species inhabits Japan and northern Asia.

This very prettily marked Goose has the beak, and a stripe
from the beak to the eye, black; the length of the beak one
inch and three eighths ; the irides dark brown; the forehead,
cheeks, and chin, white; top of the head, nape, all the neck
and interscapulars, black ; scapulars, point of the wing, both
sets of wing-coverts, and tertials, French grey, tipped with a
crescent of bluish-black, and an extreme edge of white 5 pri-
maries almost black ; rump bluish-black ; upper tail-coverts
white ; tail-feathers almost black ; breast and belly greyish-
white ; vent and under tail-coverts pure white; flanks and
thighs tinged with grey in bars; legs, toes, membranes, and
claws black.

The whole length of an adult male twenty-five inches.
From the blunt spur at the carpal joint to the end of the first
quill-feather, which is the longest in the wing, sixteen inches.

Young birds have the white of the cheeks varied with
black feathers; the ends of the feathers on the back and
wing-coverts tinged with red; the flanks barred with darker

grey, and the legs less decidedly black.

BRENT GOOSE. i)

NATATORES. ANATID#,

THE BRENT GOOSE.

Anas bernicla, Brent Goose, Punn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 239.

AS #3 3 5 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

if P os: a Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. 1. p. 317.
Anser brenta, 3 Ah Frem. Brit. An. p. 127.

Bs a 6 es Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11. p. 271.

», ltorquatus, ,, An Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 224.

», brenta, a vs Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvi.

Anas bernicla, Oie cravant, Trem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 824.

Anser ” ” ” ” ” ” pt. lV. p- 522%

Or the various species of geese that visit the British Is-
lands, this is the smallest as well as the most numerous, and
possesses also for us the agreeable advantage of being a good
bird for the table. It is a regular winter visiter to the shores

of most of our maritime counties, and remains with us through

76 ANATID.

all the cold months of the year. It is seldom seen on fresh
water in the interior, unless wounded; but is truly a marine
species, passing a great portion of the day and night out at
sea, at other times frequenting extensive muddy flats and
sand bars on the sea-shore, which are exposed at every ebb
tide, and the birds make their appearance at these their feed-
ing places, as soon as, or even a short time before the water
leaves the ground exposed, remaining there, if undisturbed,
till the tide flows over the ground again. In such situations
the immense numbers that frequent certain favourite localities
are quite extraordinary. — -

The author of Wild Sports in the West of Ireland, says,
“they come here in immense multitudes; I saw from the
window a considerable extent of sand literally black with this
migratory tribe ;” and they are equally numerous on other
parts of the Irish coast.

Colonel Hawker, in his very amusing Instructions to young
sportsmen, referring to Wild Fowl shooting on the coasts of
Dorsetshire and Hampshire, observes, ‘* towards November or
December, we have the Brent Geese, which are always wild,
unless in very hard weather. In calm weather these geese
have the cunning in general to leave the mud as soon as the
tide flows high enough to bear an enemy; and then they go
off to sea, and feed on the drifting weeds. To kill Brent
Geese by day, get out of sight in a small punt, at low water,
and keep as near as possible to the edge of the sea. You
will then hear them coming like a pack of hounds in full ery,
and they will repeatedly pass within fair shot, provided you
are well concealed, and the weather is windy to make them
fly low. Before you fire at them, spring suddenly up, and
these awkward birds will be in such a fright as to hover toge-
ther, and present a mark like a barn door. The Brent Geese,
when fat, are excellent eating birds.”

The London markets are abundantly supplied with these

BRENT GOOSE. Wh
Geese, and a few may be seen in almost every poulterer’s shop
in the winter. The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and
Suffolk Birds mention, that the cry of a flock of these birds
much resembles the noise of a pack of hounds, and they had
twice been deceived by it.

Upon the Northumbrian coast, Mr. Selby observes, ‘a
very large body of these birds annually resorts to the exten-
sive muddy and sandy flats that lie between the mainland and
Holy Island, and which are covered by every flow of the tide.
This part of the coast appears to have been a favourite resort
of these birds from time immemorial, where they have always
received the name of Ware Geese, given to them, without
doubt, in consequence of their food consisting entirely of ma-
rine vegetables. This I have frequently verified by dis-
section ; finding the gizzard filled with the leaves and stems
of a species of grass that grows abundantly in the shallow
pools left by the tide, and with the remains of the fronds of
different alge, particularly of one, which seems to be the
Laver (Ulva latissima). In this haunt they remain till the
end of February, when they migrate in successive flocks, as
the individuals happen to be influenced by the season, and
before April the whole have disappeared. When they de-
part, the same procedure as that mentioned by Wilson, in
his American Ornithology, takes place; the flock about to
migrate rises high into the air by an extensive spiral course,
and then moves off seaward in a northerly direction.”

This species is included by Mr. Macgillivray among the
Birds of the Hebrides, and in Shetland it is called Horra
Goose, from the numbers that frequent Horra Sound, but
none remain during summer. Mr. Dann’s note on this spe-
cies is as follows. ‘‘I could get no information respecting
the Brent Goose in Lapland, it being unknown to the colo-
nists and Laps. I have seen and shot them in the neigh-
bourhood of Gottenburgh in the autumn, but they are not

18 ANATIDE.

known to pitch often except on the coast. This Goose is
more of a sea bird than the rest of the tribe, keeping much
in narrow tide ways, and feeding on the drift weed. They
are very abundant among the Danish islands in November
and December.”

The Brent Goose is found during summer at the Faroe
Islands, and at Iceland. Dr. Richardson says, this neat
small Goose is very numerous on the coast of Hudson’s Bay,
in its passage to and from the north. Captain James Ross
states that it did not remain near Felix Harbour, Boothia, to
breed, but went still farther north; and that it is found
during the summer months in the highest northern latitudes
that have been visited. It was found breeding on Parry’s
Islands, in latitude 74°, 75°.

Eggs brought home by some of our northern voyagers
were of a greyish white colour, and measured two inches and
three-quarters in length, by one inch and three-quarters in
breadth. The bird is well known to the ornithologists of the
United States: and Mr. Audubon says they have produced
their young in captivity.

Captain Scoresby, in his account of the Arctic Regions,
reports that the Brent Goose occurs in considerable numbers
near the coast of Greenland ; but is not seen in any quantity
at Spitzbergen. In K. E. Von Baer’s description of Animal
life in Nova Zembla, a translation of which appeared in the
fourth volume of the Annals of Natural History, it is ob-
served, “*‘ Among the web-footed birds which pass the season
here, the Bean Geese are so common, at least in the southern
island, that the collecting their fallen wing-feathers is an ob-
ject of profit; according to the assertions of the Walrus-
catchers, only one species of goose comes to Nova Zembla,
and we in fact got sight of no other than the Bean Goose,
and the Brent Goose, which latter, however, does not pass
for a goose among the Russians. The web-footed herbi-

——~~

BRENT GOOSE. 79
vorous birds, however, collect in much greater numbers upon
the island of Kolgujew, which is described as covered with
swans and geese, than in Nova Zembla, where the vegetation
is too scanty. On this account expeditions are sometimes
sent hither to kill and salt these birds. A merchant of
Archangel told me that once fifteen thousand geese were
killed here in two hunts.”

In the adult male the bill is black, and only one inch and
a half in length; the irides very dark brown, almost black ;
the forehead low, the head small and black; the neck all
round black, except a small patch on each side, which is
white, but mixed with a few regularly placed black feathers ;
back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertials, dark brownish-
black, the edges a little lighter in colour; primary and se-
condary quill-feathers black; the rump black; upper tail-
coverts white; tail-feathers black; upper part of the breast
black ; lower portion of the breast and the belly slate-grey,
with lighter coloured margins; vent and under tail-coverts
white ; legs, toes, membranes, and claws black.

The whole length twenty-one inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing thirteen inches; the first quill-
feather the longest in the wing.

Females are a little smaller than males, and have their
plumage tinged with brown.

Young birds of the year have little or no white patch on
the sides of the neck ; head and neck dusky lead-grey ; the
feathers of the body edged with brown; belly and flanks light

grey.

80 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATIDEA.

THE RED-BREASTED GOOSE.

Anas ruficollis, Red-breasted Goose, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 241.

os ” ” 6 96 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

»» ” 5 3 90 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 297.
Anser ,, $3 5 5 Friem. Brit. An. p. 128.

” » ” 9 p Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 275.

”» ” 2 m3 of Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 225.

” ” ” ” » Gov p, Birds of Europe, pt. xvi.
Anas + Oie a cow roux, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 826.
Anser 5, Toms 9 338 39 9 5p 5p pt. iv. pe 522.

Bur little is known of the habits of this beautiful species,
which appears to be very rare, except in the extreme northern
parts of Asia and Siberia, its migrations in summer extending

RED-BREASTED GOOSE. 81

to the shores of the Frozen Ocean, where it is said to breed
and rear its young. According to M. Temminck it is found
about the estuaries of the rivers Ob and Lena. Professor
Nilsson mentions two instances only in which this bird has
been obtained in Scandinavia, once in 1793, and once in
1830. Its migrations are said to have been more regularly
observed in Denmark ; and Faber includes it in his Prodro-
mus of the Ornithology of Iceland. It appears to have been
obtained more frequently in England than in any of the coun-
tries around it. The first example was taken near London
during the severe frost of 1766. This specimen passed into
the possession of Mr. Tunstall, and is now preserved in the
Museum of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Another was captured
alive in Yorkshire about the same time, soon became tame,
and was kept with some ducks in a pond. A third was killed
near Berwick-upon-T weed, and formed part of Mr. Bullock’s
celebrated collection. This specimen is now preserved in the
British Museum. The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk
and Suffolk Birds state, that Mr. Wigg had a specimen of
this rare Goose, which was killed at Halvergate in Norfolk, in
the year 1805. He says its flesh was well flavoured. It has
been elsewhere noticed, that the flesh was free from any fishy
taste, and in great esteem for the table. Other specimens
are stated to have been killed in Cambridgeshire during the
severe winter of 1813; and Dr. Edward Moore, in his Cata-
logue of the Birds of Devonshire, has recorded two instances
of this Goose having been obtained in that county. One was
shot on Kenton Warren in 1828, and is now in the posses-
sion of Mr. W. Russell, at Dawlish: the second was killed
on Teign marshes, February Ist, 1837, by Rendell of Buck-
land, and was prepared and preserved by Mr. Drew. But
one example is mentioned by M. Temminck as having been
killed in Holland; but one in France, recorded by M.
Vieillot as having been killed near Stry bourgh; and one in
VOL. III. @

82 ANATIDE.

Germany, included in the Histories of the Birds of that
country by Wolfe and Meyer, and by M. Brehm.

The most interesting recent notice of this species I have
been able to find, is that by M. Menetries, in his Catalogue
Raisonné of objects in Zoology observed by the naturalists
attached to the Russian expedition to the vicinity of the
Caucasus and the frontiers of Persia. This gentleman men-
tions that in 1828 a considerable flock of this species appear-
ed at Leukoran, probably driven there by strong winds; they
were so exhausted by fatigue that they were caught by hand,
and many were preserved in captivity, to which they were
easily reconciled. They always kept together, and uttered
a gentle call-note when any one of their party separated from
the others, or when a bird of prey hovered over them : this was
the only sound that was heard. Of the food placed before
them they preferred green vegetables to grain, and drank often.

In the adult bird the beak and the nail are almost black :
the irides hazel ; between the beak and the eye a white
patch; round the eye, the top of the head, and down the
back of the neck, dark brownish-black ; on the ear-coverts
an angular patch of chestnut surrounded with white, ending
in a white streak passing downwards ; upper surface of the
body and wings very dark brown, almost black ; wing-coverts
edged with greyish-white ; upper tail-coverts white; prima-
ries and tail-feathers black ; throat dark brown; neck and
upper part of the breast rich chestnut red, ending with a col-
lar of white; lower part of the breast black ; belly, vent, and
under tail-coverts white; the flanks barred with dark brown ;
legs, toes, and their membranes, dark brown, almost black.

The whole length twenty-one or twenty-two inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing fourteen inches.

M. Temminck states that the plumage of the young bird
differs considerably from that of the adult, but that he had not
been fortunate enough to obtain a specimen to describe from.

EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 85

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.,

THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE.

Anas Egyptiaca, Egyptian Goose, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 315.
Anser Egyptiacus, 53 an Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 225.
Chenalopex Egyptiaca, ,, 9 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi.
Anser Egyptiacus, Oie Egyptienne, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. pt. iv. p, 523.

Ir is only lately that the Egyptian Goose has been ad-
mitted into the histories and catalogues of our British Birds,
and even now exceptions are occasionally made to it, on the
ground that the specimens, though killed at large, or appa-
rently in a wild state, had probably escaped from the waters
of parks or pleasure grounds, where they had been bred and
fostered on account of the beauty of their plumage. Their

appearance, however, thus at large, the feathers exhibiting no
a2

84 ANATIDE.

marks of confinement, occurs so frequently, in so many dif-
ferent localities, and more particularly in such numbers, a
flock of about eighty having been seen together on one occa-
sion in Hampshire; these facts, in conjunction with the
statement of M. Temminck, that he had not admitted it
among the Birds of Europe in his Manual, till he had ascer-
tained to a certainty the appearance of individuals in a wild
state in several parts of southern Europe, seem to justify re-
cording it also among the occasional visiters to this country.
M. Temminck says this species inhabits the whole of Africa
from the north to the middle; it is found also in Turkey,
visits the mouths of the Danube, and occasionally the islands
of the Grecian Archipelago ; has been killed in Sicily, and it is
said, also, in several parts of Germany. M. Selys-Lonchamps
sent him word that a specimen had been killed upon the
Meuse, and another at Liege.

One point of interest must not be omitted. Our Egyptian
Goose is the Vulpanser of the ancients. On this subject Mr.
Salt, the Egyptian traveller, in his Essay on the Phonetic
System of Hieroglyphics, observes, “* Horus Apollo says, Fi-
lium volentes significare vulpanserem pingunt, and adds a reason
for it that holds good to this day—that the old geese stay
with their young in the most imminent danger, at the risk
of their own lives, which I have myself frequently witnessed.
Vulpanser is the Goose of the Nile, and wherever this Goose
is represented on the walls of the temples in colours, the re-
semblance may be clearly traced.” Page 18, note.

The breeding habits of this bird, in a wild state, are, I
believe, but little known: they hatch and rear their young
without difficulty in confinement, and have bred several sea-
sons in succession in the gardens of the Zoological Society.
The eggs are of a dull white, tinged with buff colour, two
inches nine lines in length, by two inches in breadth. The
editor of the Naturalist says, ‘‘ the Egyptian Goose quacks

EGYPTIAN GOOSE. 85

in a manner somewhat similar to the Mallard Duck, but the
note is more like barking.” Vol. il. p. 385.

In the summer of 1838, an Egyptian Goose, in the garden
of the Zoological Society, paired with a Penguin Drake,* and
the eggs were productive. ‘The same two birds were kept
together in the following season, and the result was, more
productive eggs. The young birds were preserved, and kept
by themselves experimentally. In the following season many
eggs were produced between these hybrid brothers and sisters,
the females sat steadily, but the eggs were not productive, and
those examined exhibited no appearance of embryotic forma-
tion.

Besides various instances of single specimens of the Egyp-
tian Goose having been obtained in this country, a flock of
five were seen on the Fern Islands in April 1830. A small
flock visited the Tweed in February 1839. Three were
shot at Campsie, near Glasgow, in November 1832. Mr.
Wallace, of Douglas, sent me word that a flock of nine were
seen in the Isle of Man, in September 1838. ‘This species
has been killed in Ireland. Four were shot on the Severn,
near Bridgwater, in February 1840; two were shot in Dor-
setshire, in 1836 ; and Colonel Hawker mentions “ two killed
in Norfolk, and three at Longparish in Hampshire, in the
winter of 1823; and the next year again, during some tre-
mendous gales from the west, a flock of about eighty appear-
ed near the same place, when two more were killed.”

The beak in the centre is pale brown; the nail, the mar-
gins, and the base dark brown; the irides wax yellow; round
the eye a patch of chestnut brown ; cheeks and sides of the
neck pale rufous white; forehead, crown of the head, back of
the neck, the back scapulars and tertials, rich reddish-brown ;
the carpal portion of the wing, the smaller and the larger

* The Penguin Duck, so called from its walking nearly upright, is only a
variety of the Common Domestic Duck.

86 ANATIDE.

wing-coverts white ; the smaller coverts tipped with black ;
the wing-primaries almost black, tinged with green; the
secondaries tinged with reddish-bay, and edged with chest-
nut; the lower part of the back, the rump and tail, nearly
black ; front of the neck, the breast, and upper part of the
belly, pale rufous brown, a patch on the breast chestnut
brown ; lower part of the belly and the vent pale brown; the
legs and feet pink.

The whole length of an adult male about twenty-six inches.
The distribution of colours are the same in females as in
males, but the tints are less bright and pure. The wing is
furnished with a short blunt spur at the wrist.

The tube of the windpipe is about twelve inches long,
nearly cylindrical in form throughout ; but unlike those of the
other geese, the male has a hollow bony enlargement, half
as thick as it is wide; at the bottom of the tube on the left
side, as shown in the vignette below, where the lower portion
of the windpipe, the bony enlargement, and the short de-
pending bronchial tubes, the last slightly connected by a thin
slip of membrane, are figured of the natural size. The view
is taken with the tube and its enlargement in the natural
position, the breast-bone being removed, as in the case of the
view of the windpipe of the Spoonbill figured in the second
volume, page 504.

SPUR-WINGED GOOSE. 87

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE SPUR-WINGED GOOSE,

or GampBo Goose.

Anas Gambensis, Spur-winged Goose, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. 11. p. 313.
Anser, 5, Gambo Goose, Fem. Brit. An. p. 128.
Spur-winged Goose, JENYNS, Brit. Vert. p. 226.

a” a”

A specimen of this African Goose, killed in Cornwall in
June 1821, was presented to Mr. Bewick by Mr. Henry
Mewburn of St. Germain’s, near which place it was shot.
The figure in Bewick’s work on our British Birds was taken
from this specimen, which is now deposited in the Museum
at Newcastle.

G. T. Fox, Esq. in his Synopsis of the contents of the
Newcastle Museum, gives the following particulars of the
capture of this British killed specimen, which were supplied

88 ANATIDE.

by Mr. Mewburn. ‘ When first seen, it was in a field
adjoining the cliffs, at Port Wrinkle, a small fishing place,
about four miles from St. Germain’s, near which it remained
for two or three days. Being several times disturbed by
attempts to shoot it, it came more inland, to a low situated
farm, called Pool, and there associated with the common
geese ; but was wild, and immediately took wing upon being
approached. Here it kept to and fro for a day or two, but
being much disturbed, left, and came down upon the shore
of the St. Germain’s river, or estuary, when the following
day, the 20th of June 1821, it was shot by John Brickford
in a wheat field at Sconnor, about a mile from St. Germain’s.
When killed, it was in the most perfect state, having only
one shot in the head. Some gentlemen who saw it the fol-
lowing day, requested him to let me have it, which he pro-
mised ; but though he knew I was a bird stuffer, he had a
wife, who, from some strange infatuation, thought she could
stuff it; but being soon convinced of her inability, she cut
off the wings for dusters, and threw the skin away; and it
was not till three weeks afterwards that I heard of the circum-
stance, when I sent a servant, who brought it covered with
mud, the head torn off, but luckily preserved, as also one
wing, when I had it washed, and put it together as well as
I was able. The skin, in this state, was obligingly forward-
ed to Newcastle by Mr. Mewburn, for Mr. Bewick’s use,
from whence it passed into Mr. R. Wingate’s hands, who has
most ably reset it, and thus preserved one of the most uncom-
mon ornithological rarities ever known in England.”

The bad management of the skin in the first instance
explains Mr. Couch’s remark on this bird in his Cornish
Fauna; namely, ‘one specimen only is on record, and that
was mutilated when ascertained.”

Mr. Bewick’s description of the specimen at Newcastle is
as follows: —‘“‘ The bill is reddish-yellow, with a jointed

SPUR-WINGED GOOSE. 89

protuberance on the base of the upper mandible. The upper
part of the head and neck are dingy brown; the auriculars
and sides of the throat are white, spotted with brown; the
lower part of the neck, sides of the breast, and all the upper
plumage appear black, but this colour is lost, particularly
in the scapulars and tertials, which are most resplendently
bronzed and glossed with brilliant green, and most of the
outer webs of the other feathers partake of the same hue; on
the bend of the wing or wrist, is placed a strong white horny
spur, about five-eighths of an inch in length, turning upwards,
and rather inwards; the whole of the edges of the wing from
the alula spuria to the elbow and shoulder are white, all the
under parts the same. This beautiful bird is nearly of the
bulk of the Wild Goose, but its legs and toes are somewhat
longer, and of a red or orange yellow.”

To give the actual appearance of the British killed speci-
men our figure is taken from Mr. Bewick’s work.

This species is a native of northern and western Africa,
but its habits are unknown.

A male specimen died lately in the gardens of the Zoolo-
gical Society, after living there in confinement nearly twelve
years. Advantage was taken of this opportunity to examine
the organ of voice, generally found to possess some remarkable
variety in form and structure throughout most of the species
of this extensive family; and the expectation was fully realised.
By permission of the council of the Zoological Society, | am
enabled to publish the following description and figures.

The windpipe of the Spur-winged Goose is about sixteen
inches long, the tube flattened throughout the greater part
of its length, but cylindrical at the bottom. The vignette
over leaf represents the lower portion of the windpipe in three
points of view. The figure on the right hand shows the
tube with its bony enlargement on the left side, being its
position in the body of the bird; the other figures are added

90 ANATIDE.

to exhibit the various circular and oval apertures which per-
vade different parts of this bony enlargement, the opposite
sides not being exactly alike, either in the number, form,
or situation of these apertures in the bone, which in a natural
state are closed by delicate transparent membrane. The
bronchial tubes are divided higher at the back than in front,
as seen in the figure on the left, to allow free passage for
the cesophagus between them from behind forwards.

3

CANADA GOOSE. 91

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE CANADA GOOSE,

or Cravat Goose.

Anas Canadensis, Canada Goose, Brwicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 293.
Anser ss a os Fiem. Brit. An. p. 128.
Cygnus, ,, », Swan, JeEnywns, Brit. Vert. p. 227.

So frequently are specimens of the Canadian Goose shot
which do not exhibit either in their actions or plumage any
marks of having escaped from confinement, and so often
are flocks seen in different parts of the country, apparently
in a naturally wild state, some pairs of which, in the season
produce and rear their young in places selected by them-

aS)

9

ANATIDE.

selves for this purpose, without requiring or receiving either
care or food from man, that the Canada Goose seems to be
entitled to a place in this work. The bird from which Mr.
Bewick drew his figure of this species was shot at St. Ger-
main’s in Cornwall, where two or three other examples have
also been shot ; and Mr. KE. H. Rodd, of Penzance, sent me
word some time ago, that the Canada Goose had been shot on
the Scilly Islands. I have known several shot at different
times in Hampshire. The Rev. Leonard Jenyns observes
that large flocks have been observed in the fens of Cambridge-
shire in a state of liberty and independence, and some of
them have been killed in more than one instance. A writer
in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. viii. p. 255, says, ‘in
this neighbourhood (near Derby) we are frequently visited by
small flocks of the Canada Goose, Anser Canadensis, Wil-
lughby, which is a bird, I believe, of very local distribution.
They always announce their approach by a loud noise, and,
after wheeling two or three times round the piece of water
near the house, they alight and commence grazing. They
are very ornamental objects stalking about the lawn, tossing
their heads and making curious contortions with their long
necks. It frequently happens that two remain when all the
rest are flown. After reconnoitring the place for a few days,
they usually fix on the corner of an island as their nesting
place. This favourite nook of theirs is not far from where a
pair of Moorhens, year after year, produce their young; yet,
neither Goose nor Moorhen ever interfere with each other,
but keep on very good terms; nevertheless, the former does
not permit her sooty companion to make too close an ap-
proach. After the female goose has fully made up her mind
as to the locality of her nursery, she begins plucking feathers,
straws, and other soft materials, until she has at last con-
structed a perfect feather bed. Having laid her eggs, gene-

rally six, she sits with most exemplary patience, and, notwith-

CANADA GOOSE. 93

standing the proximity of the water, which offers a great
temptation, it is rare to find her off her nest. During the
period of incubation the male is, through the greater part of
the day, sailing in measured time and slow over the water,
never approaching his mate very near, nor straying very far.
On the approach of any intruder he displays great uneasiness,
and his tranquillity does not return till the danger is over.
Shortly after the goslings have extricated themselves from
their brittle covering, they are conducted to the water by the
female, when they are joined by the male, who brings up the
rear. The little family remain together till the return of the
flock, when all mix promiscuously, recruit themselves for a
few days, and then depart. A pinioned female was joined by
amale. When they were approached, the male did not fly
away until he was pursued so closely as to be in danger of
being caught ; he remained with his mate as long as was con-
sistent with his liberty; when that was in danger, and not till
then, he deserted the female. Several of the wild goslings
were obtained in the season of 1832, two of them passed into
the hands of a neighbouring farmer, in whose possession they
have remained ever since. ‘They associate with his domesti-
cated Grey-leg Geese, and are very peaceable.” Montagu
had observed that the Canada Goose will breed with the
common species. Bewick says ‘ great numbers of these
Canadian Geese were driven from their haunts during the
severe snow storms of January and February, 1814; they
were taken upon the sea-shore, near Hartlepool, and divided
among the farmers in the neighbourhood, no pains having
been taken to keep the breed pure.”

Sir W. Jardine observes, in a note in his edition of Wil-
son’s American Ornithology, ‘‘ On the beautiful piece of water
at Gosford House, the seat of the Earl of Wemyss, Hadding-
tonshire, the Canadian Goose and many other water birds
rear their young freely. I have never seen any artificial piece

94 ANATIDE.

of water so beautifully adapted for the domestication and in-
troduction of every kind of water fowl which will bear the
climate of Great Britain. Of very large extent, it is em-
bossed in beautiful shrubbery, perfectly recluse, and, even in
the nearly constant observance of a resident family, several
exotic species seem to look on it as their own. The Canada
and Egyptian Geese both had young when I visited it, and
the lovely Anas (Dendronessa) sponsa* seemed as healthy
as if in her native waters.”

Canada Geese produced and reared their young in the
gardens of the Zoological Society in 1835, and a pair belong-
ing to the Ornithological Society have been productive in St.
James’s Park, during the present season, 1841. The egg is
of a dull white colour, measuring three inches four lines in
length, and two inches four lines in breadth. The young
were observed to grow very rapidly. Willughby, whose
Ornithology was published in 1678, says of the Canada Goose,
“*the name shows the place whence it comes. We saw and
described both this and the Spur-winged Goose among the
King’s wild-fowl in St. James’s Park.”

The Canada Goose goes to very high northern latitudes in
summer. Captain Phipps mentions having seen Wild Geese
feeding at the water’s edge, on the dreary coast of Spitzbergen,
in latitude 80° 27’; but these might be Bean Geese, which
are known to go there. Fabricius suspects that they are found
during summer in Greenland. ‘They inhabit the northern
parts of North America. Immense flocks appear annually in
the spring in Hudson’s Bay, and pass far to the north to
breed, and return southward in autumn. Pennant, in his
Arctic Zoology, says, numbers also breed about Hudson’s
Bay, laying six or seven eggs each; the young are easily
made tame. They proceed in their southern migration as far
as South Carolina, where they winter in the rice grounds.

* The Summer Duck, or Wood Duck of America.

CANADA GOOSE. 95

Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna Boreali-Americana, says, ‘‘ the
arrival of this well known bird in the fur-countries is anxious-
ly looked for, and hailed with great joy by the natives of the
woody and swampy districts, who depend principally upon it
for subsistence during the summer. It makes its first appear-
ance in flocks of twenty or thirty, which are readily decoyed
within gun-shot by the hunters, who set up stuffed skins, and
imitate its call. Two or three, or more, are so frequently
killed at a shot, that the usual price of a Goose is a single
charge of ammunition. One Goose, which, when fat, weighs
about nine pounds, is the daily ration for one of the Com-
pany’s servants during the season, and is reckoned equivalent
to two Snow Geese,* or three ducks, or eight pounds of buf-
falo and moose meat, or two pounds of pemmican, or a pint
of maize and four ounces of suet. About three weeks after
their first appearance, the Canada Geese disperse in pairs
throughout the country, between the 50th and 67th parallels,
to breed, retiring at the same time from the shores of Hud-
son’s Bay. They are seldom or never seen on the coasts of
the Arctic Sea. In July, after the young birds are hatched,
the parents moult, and vast numbers are killed in the rivers
and small lakes, when they are unable to fly. When chased
by a canoe and obliged to dive frequently, they soon become
fatigued and make for the shore, with the intention of hiding
themselves, but as they are not fleet, they fall an easy prey
to their pursuers. In the autumn they again assemble in
flocks on the shores of Hudson’s Bay for three weeks or a
month previous to their departure southwards. It has been
observed, that in their migrations, the Geese annually resort
to certain passes and resting places, some of which are fre-
quented both in the spring and autumn, and others only in

* There is an old saying, that a Goose is too much for one, and not enough
for two: Hearne, in his Journal, says, “the flesh of the Snow Goose is delicate,
but the bird is so small that I ate two one night for supper.”

96 ANATID&.

spring. The Canada Goose generally builds its nest on the
ground, but some pairs occasionally breed on the banks of
the Saskatchewan in trees, depositing their eggs in the de-
serted nests of ravens or fishing eagles. Its call is imitated
by a prolonged nasal pronunciation of the syllable wook fre-
quently repeated.” The Canada Goose is well known to the
ornithologists of the United States.

The beak is black; the irides very dark brown; head, and
nearly all the neck, black; chin and throat white, extending
upwards, and ending in a point behind the ear-coverts. This
white patch, from its similarity in colour and position to a
neckcloth, has given origin to one of the names of this spe-
cies, the Cravat Goose. The back and the wing-coverts, the
secondaries and tertials, brown, the feathers of all these except
the first, with lighter coloured edges; primaries and _tail-
feathers black ; the rump also black; the upper tail-coverts
white ; lower part of the neck almost white ; breast and belly
pale brown; vent and under tail-coverts white ; legs, toes,
and interdigital membranes dark lead colour, almost black.

The whole length of an adult bird, according to Dr. Rich-
ardson, forty-one or forty-two inches; the length of the wing,
from the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather,
nineteen inches and a half.

Females are smaller than the males.

From the swan-like length of neck, and the large size of
this species, some authors have included it in the genus
Cygnus. 'The organ of voice is also like that of the Mute
Swan, to be hereafter described and figured. I shall have
occasion also, hereafter, to refer to the relations which certain
of the Geese exhibit to the Swans, and to each of the two
great divisions of the true Ducks.

HOOPER. 97

NATATORES. ANATIDA.

THE HOOPER,

Exx, on WuistTLine SwAN.

Anas cygnus, Wild Swan, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 218.

a ap WGRISy BE Dy Mont. Ornith. Dict.

” ” x 3 Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 281.
Cygnus ferus, 55 3 Fem. Brit. An. p. 126.

Whistling ,, Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 278.
Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 227.

a af # Af Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xv.
Anas cygnus, Cygne sauvage, Temm. Man, d’Ornith. t. 11. p. 628.
Cygnus musicus 53 53 5 3 »» pt. iv. p. 526.

”? ”

” ” ” ”

Cycnus. Generic Characters,— Beak of equal breadth throughout its
length ; higher than wide at the base; depressed at the point ; both mandibles
furnished along the sides with transverse serrated lamellz. Nostrils oblong,
lateral, near the middle of the beak. Neck slender and very long. Legs
short, the hind toe small and free.

VOL. III. H

98 ANATID£.

Tue Hoorer, so called on account of the peculiar note
uttered by this bird, is a winter visiter to the British Islands,
even to the southern parts, arriving in flocks, sometimes as
late as Christmas, and are generally more numerous as the
weather becomes more severe. ‘The Rev. Mr. Low, in his
natural history of Orkney and Shetland, says, “‘ The Wild
Swan is found at all seasons in Orkney; a few pairs build in
the holms ef the loch of Stenness. These, however, are
nothing to the flocks that visit us in October from the more
northern climates, their summer retreats. Part of these con-
tinue with us all winter, and the rest go to Caithness and the
other northern shires of Scotland; in April they go off again
to the northward, except the few which remain here for the
summer. Like the wild geese, these birds fly in the fashion
of a wedge, making a fine melodious clang, which has, per-
haps, furnished one occasion to give a musical voice to this
bird.” Mr. Donn, the botanist, says a few visit the lakes of
Forfarshire. In December various flocks are seen flying in
compact bodies, directing their course southward, particularly
along the coast lines, and many specimens are to be seen in
the London markets, which are sometimes supplied to pro-
fusion. Many reach the sea on our southern coast. The late
lamented Earl of Malmesbury sent me, in the spring of the
year 1838, a list of four hundred and sixteen wild fowl,
killed at Heron Court during the frost of the previous Janu-
ary and February, namely, from January the 9th to February
the 24th. This list included thirty-three Hoopers. And
Colonel Hawker describes with his usual skill the many suc-
cessful shots he had made at swans, when wild-fowl shooting
between Lymington and Poole harbour; ‘ the Hoopers, be-
fore they have been shot at, are easier of access than many
other wild birds; and if, when flying, they are fired at di-
rectly under the hollow of the wing, or, when swimming,

5?
through the head, they may be stopped at a reasonable dis-

HOOPER. 99

tance, with a common double gun and small shot; perhaps
even farther than other wild fowl, as, when struck in the
body, they become helpless from their weight, and their
heads are less likely to escape between the shot than those of
smaller fowl. No birds vary more in weight than Hoopers.
In the last winter, 1838, I killed them from thirteen to
twenty-one pounds. On one occasion I knocked down eight
at a shot, seven old ones and a brown one, and they averaged
nineteen pounds each. ‘The old gander was only winged ;
and when he found himself overtaken by my man, Read, he
turned round and made a regular charge at him.”

These birds visit Holland, France, Provence, and Italy ;
and Mr. Bennett says they sometimes go as far south as
Kgypt and Barbary.

Linneus saw wild swans several times during his tour in
Lapland, and mentions that at the residence of the governor
of the province at Calix, he saw three, which having been
taken when young, were as tame as domestic geese.

Mr. Dann, in his note to me of this bird, says:—‘ The
Wild Swan appears in Lapland with the first breaking up of
the ice, and is the earliest of all the Anatide in its return
north. They frequent the most secluded and uninhabited
swamps and lakes in the wooded districts, and are found only
in scattered pairs south of Juckasiervi; thence in a north-
eastern direction they are reported to be very numerous, but
I did not fall in with any during my stay in Lapland.”

Bechstein says that in Russia the Hooper is more fre-
quently domesticated than the Mute Swan. A_pinioned
female, in the possession of Montagu, laid an egg. Several
years ago I had an opportunity of seeing ten or twelve
Hoopers in a stable in London. ‘These fine birds had been
procured by Mr. Castang, the well known dealer in birds for
the late Earl of Egremont, and the swans were shortly after-
wards sent to Petworth, where, it was said, they afterwards

H 2

100 ANATID#.

produced their young. At the time I saw these birds, I
also heard the voice of one of them, a very old and large
male. His note resembled the sound of the word ‘ hoop,”
repeating it loudly ten or twelve times in succession. At
the Gardens of the Zoological Society a pair of Hoopers bred
on one of the islands in the summer of 1839, and again
during this last season. A curious occurrence took place in
reference to the brood of 1839. The cygnets, when only a
few days old, were sunning themselves on the margin of one
of the islands, close to the deep water. The parent birds
were swimming near. A carrion crow made a descent and
struck at one of the cygnets; the old male Hooper came to
the rescue in an instant, seized the crow with his beak, pulled
him into the water, and in spite of all his buffetings and
resistance, held him there till he was dead. They make a
large nest of rushes and coarse herbage; the egg is of a
uniform pale brownish-white, and measures four inches one
line in length, by two inches eight lines in breadth: incu-
bation lasts forty-two days; the birds feed on grasses, weeds,
roots, and seeds of plants. In the eastern part of Europe
the Hooper ranges from the lakes of Siberia and Tartary in
summer, to the Caspian Sea in winter. M. Menetries says
that it is seen at Bakou in January and February.

The Hooper may be immediately distinguished from other
species among the Swans, by the characters to be observed
about the head. Willughby, besides giving a figure of the
whole bird, introduced in addition the head only, of larger
size, to show the specific peculiarity. Edwards gave the
head of our Mute Swan on the same plate with his figure of
the Hooper, to show the distinction. This plan of engraving
the heads only has been adopted with excellent effect by Col.
Hawker, in his very popular work, and I have profited by his
example of giving the head only, of large size, rather than give
repetitions of similar white bodies. The first here introduced

HOOPER. 101

is the head of the adult Hooper. The anterior part of the
beak is depressed and black; the posterior or basal part

quadrangular and yellow: this latter colour extending con-
siderably forward along each lateral margin of the upper
mandible, beyond the openings of the nostrils, which are
black ; the lore, or bare space between the base of the upper
mandible and the eye, is also yellow; the irides dark; the
head, neck, and the whole of the plumage of the body and
wings in adult birds, pure white ; some specimens, occasion-
ally only, exhibiting a rufous or ochreous tint at the tips of
the feathers on the head; the legs, toes, and their membranes
black.

The whole length from the point of the beak to the end
of the tail five feet. From the carpal joint of the wing to
the end of the longest primary quill-feather, twenty-five inches
and a half; weight twenty-four pounds.

102 ANATIDE.

Of those produced at the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety, the young birds in the middle of last August, when
about ten weeks old, the beak was of a dull flesh colour, the
tip and lateral margins black; the head, neck, and all the
upper surface of the body pale ash brown ; the under surface
before the legs of a paler brown; the portion behind the legs
dull white ; the legs, like the beak, of a dingy flesh colour.

The same young birds, in the middle of October, have the
beak black at the end; a reddish orange band across the
nostrils, the base and lore pale greenish-white ; the general
colour pale greyish-brown ; a few of the smaller wing-coverts
white, mixed with others of a pale buffy brown; the legs
black.

The young Hoopers bred in 1839, had lost almost all
their brown feathers at the autumn moult of 1840, and before
their second winter was over they were entirely white; the
base of the beak lemon yellow.

The internal distinctions of the Hooper are more con-
spicuous than those which have been referred to as external,
and of the former, the organ of voice furnishes the most
valuable and decisive characters. ‘This peculiarity was known
to Willughby, but it was previously noticed by Sir Thomas
Browne, who mentions “‘ that strange recurvation of the wind-
pipe through the sternum.”

The cylindrical tube of the trachea or windpipe passes
down the whole length of the long neck of the bird, in the
usual manner, but descends between the two branches of the
forked bone, called the merrythought, to a level with the keel
of the breast-bone or sternum. ‘The keel of the breast-bone
is double, and receives between its two plates or sides, the
tube of the trachea, which, after traversing nearly the whole
length of the keel, turns suddenly upon itself, passing for-
wards, upwards, and again backwards, till it ends in the ver-
tical bone of divarication, from whence the two long branchial

HOOPER. 103

tubes go off, one to each lobe of the lungs. This singular
structure will be further understood by a reference to the
vignette, where a portion of one side of the keel is removed
to show the convoluted tube within.

The depth of the insertion is not, however, so considerable
in females or young males.

In a very young Hooper that died at the Garden when
only two or three days old, and which I examined with care
to ascertain the state of these various parts at that age, I
found the tube of the trachea quite soft and flexible, but de-
scending to the level of the anterior portion of the keel, then
curving upwards, but exterior to the keel and passing back-
wards into the body, giving off the branchial tubes from the
then cartilaginous point of divarication. The keel was hol-
low, but the cavity was filled up with a fatty matter, having
very much the consistence of marrow, ready to be absorbed
when the cavity was wanted.

LP ae

Hes % t
if ae
0 I pe es

104 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

BEWICK’S SWAN.

Cygnus Bewickii, Bewick’s Swan, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 290.

23 PY an Be Sexvny, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11. p, 284.
29 .» a aA Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 228.

» 39 oS a5 Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 86.

Be He Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.

si oF Cyan ide Bee Temm. Man. d’Ornith. pt. iv. p. 527.

In the winter of 1823-24, I prepared and preserved the
trachea and part of the bones of a young Wild Swan, shot
in this country, which, possessing peculiarities I had never
observed in the bones of the Hooper at any age, induced me
to believe it would prove to belong to a distinct species.

At the sale of part of the valuable collection of the late

BEWICK’S SWAN. 105

Joshua Brookes, Esq. in July 1828, I purchased the sternum
and trachea of a swan which had been prepared by Dr. Leach,
and presented by that distinguished naturalist to Mr. Brookes;
this, also, from its anatomical structure, appeared to be dis-
tinct from the Hooper, and belonged to an adult bird of the
same species, as the bones of the young one just mentioned.
These materials I exhibited at the evening meeting of the
Zoological Club of the Linnean Society, on the 24th of
November 1829, and contrasting them with analogous parts
of the Hooper, pointed out by comparison the anatomical
distinctions between them, upon which I proposed to consider
the new one as a distinct species.

Karly in the following month of December I was presented
by J. B. Baker, Esq. with the sternum and trachea of a
third example of this new species, shot at Yarmouth during
the winter of 1827-28, the skin of which had been prepared
for that gentleman’s collection at Hardwicke Court. During
the severe weather of the same month, wild swans were un-
usually numerous; more than fifty were counted in one flock
at Wittlesey Mere. Among a considerable number which
had been forwarded to the London markets for sale, I was
fortunate enough to select five examples of this new species,
of different ages; and, possessing thus a series of gradations
in structure, I described them in a paper read before the
Linnean Society, and proposed to call it Bewick’s Swan, thus
devoting it to the memory of one whose beautiful and ani-
mated delineations of subjects in natural history entitle him
to this tribute. These swans being plentiful from the severity
of the winter, others were procured in different parts of the
country. Mr. Richard Wingate, of Newcastle, had obtain-
ed specimens, and observing the difference between them and
the Hooper, read a notice upon the subject, at the Natural
History Society at Newcastle, and as he was one of the oldest
as well as one of the warmest friends of Thomas Bewick,

106 ANATIDE.

immediately adopted the name I had proposed. It is gratify-
ing to observe that M. Temminck, who is acquainted with
the merits of Bewick’s works, has set the example on the
Continent, and adopted this name also.

This species is one third smaller than the Hooper at the
same age, and appears to go through the same changes of
plumage. It is first greyish-brown ; afterwards white, tinged
with rust colour on the head, and on the under surface of the
belly, and ultimately pure white. Their habits, as far as they
are known here, have been observed by Mr. Blackwall and
Mr. Thompson. ‘These birds have appeared in flocks on
various occasions during winter; they have probably visited
this country for many years, but had not been distinguished
from the Hooper. When the external characters were made
known, several museums and collections in different parts of
the country were found to contain specimens.

Some birds that were but slightly wounded in the wing
have been retained, like our Mute Swan, upon ornamental
waters, but I have not heard that. any one has succeeded with
them so far as to induce them to produce their young. I
have one egg which I believe to belong to this species; it is
very like that of the Hooper but smaller, of a pale brownish-
white; three inches seven lines long, by two inches six lines
in breadth.

Mr. John Blackwall, in his researches in Zoology, after
referring to a specimen of Bewick’s Swan in the Manchester
Museum, says, “‘ About half-past eight, on the morning of
the 10th of December 1829, a flock of twenty-nine swans,
mistaken by many persons who saw them, for wild geese, was
observed flying over the township of Crumpsall, at an eleva-
tion not exceeding fifty yards above the surface of the earth.
They flew in a line, taking a northerly direction, and their
loud calls, for they were very clamorous, when on the wing,
might be heard to a considerable distance. I afterwards

BEWICK’S SWAN. 107

learned that they alighted on an extensive reservoir near
Middleton, belonging to Messrs. Burton and Sons, calico-
printers, where they were shot at, and an individual had one
of its wings so severely injured that it was disabled from ac-
companying its companions in their retreat. A short time
since, I had an opportunity of seeing this bird, which re-
sembled the rest of the flock with which it had been as-
sociated, and found, as I had anticipated, that it was precisely
similar to the small swan preserved in the museum at Man-
chester, which, I should state, was purchased in the fish
market in that town, about five or six years ago.”

<< Twenty-nine of these birds congregated together, with-
out a single Whistling Swan among them, is a fact so decisive
of the distinctness of the species, especially when taken in
connexion with those external characters and internal struc-
ture in which it differs from the Hooper, that I should no
longer have deferred to describe it as a new bird to ornitholo-
gists, had I not been anticipated by Mr. Yarrell.”

**Of the habits and manners of this species, little could
be ascertained from a brief inspection of a wounded indivi-
dual; I may remark, however, that when on the water, it
had somewhat the air and appearance of a goose, being almost
wholly devoid of that grace and majesty by which the Mute
Swan is so advantageously distinguished. It appeared to be
a shy and timid bird, and could only be approached near by
stratagem, when it intimated its apprehension by uttering its
call. It carefully avoided the society of a Mute Swan which
was on the same piece of water.”

“On the 28th of February 1830, at half-past ten in the
morning, seventy-three swans, of the new species, were ob-
served flying over Crumpsall in a south easterly direction, at
a considerable elevation. They flew abreast, forming an ex-
tensive line, like those seen on the 10th of December, 1829 ;
like them, too, they were mistaken for Wild Geese by most

108 ANATIDE.

persons who saw them with whom I had an opportunity of
conversing on the subject ; but their superior dimensions, the
whiteness of their plumage, their black feet, easily distin-
guished as they passed overhead, and their reiterated calls,
which first directed my attention to them, were so strikingly
characteristic, that skilful ornithologists could not be deceived
with regard to the genus to which they belonged. That these
birds were not Hoopers may be safely inferred from their
great inferiority in point of size.”

**] was informed, that when the wild swans were shot at,
near Middleton on the 10th of December, 1829, one of them
was so reluctant to abandon the bird which was wounded on
that occasion, that it continued to fly about the spot for
several hours after the rest of the flock had departed, and
that, during the whole of this period, its mournful cry was
heard almost incessantly. In consequence of the protracted
disturbance caused by the persevering efforts of Messrs. Bur-
ton’s workmen to secure its unfortunate companion, it was at
last, however, compelled to withdraw, and was not seen again
till the 25rd of March, when a swan, supposed to be the
same individual, made its appearance in the neighbourhood,
flew several times round the reservoir in lofty circles, and
ultimately descended to the wounded bird, with which, after
a cordial greeting, it immediately paired. The newly arrived
swan, which proved to be a male bird, soon became accustom-
ed to the presence of strangers; and, when I saw it on the
4th of April, was even more familiar than its captive mate.
As these birds were strongly attached to each other, and
seemed to be perfectly reconciled to their situation, which, in
many respects was an exceedingly favourable one, there was
every reason to believe that a brood would be obtained from
them. This expectation, however, was not destined to be
realized. On the 13th of April, the male swan, alarmed by
some strange dogs which found their way to the reservoir,

BEWICK’S SWAN. 109

took flight and did not return; and on the 5th of September,
in the same year, the female bird, whose injured wing had
recovered its original vigour, quitted the scene of its mis-
fortunes and was seen no more.”

Specimens of Bewick’s Swan have been obtained in several
parts of Scotland; and Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, has re-
corded that this species is certainly more common in Ireland
than the Hooper. Several strings of them, as they are there
called from the form in which they fly, were seen in January
1836; single individuals were brought to market occasionally,
by which museums and collectors were supplied; and Mr.
Thompson particularly mentions that in February, 1830, a
flock containing seven of these Swans alighted in a flooded
meadow near Belfast, when they were shot at, and two of
them so disabled by the one discharge, as to be, after some
difficulty secured. They were bought by William Sinclaire,
Esq., and on their wounds being found so trivial as merely
to incapacitate them from flight, were placed in his aquatic
menagerie, where, in company with many other species of
wild-fowl, chiefly Anatide, they have ever since remained.
Mr. Sinclaire also mentions, that every spring and autumn
since he has had these Swans, they have regularly, about the
months of March and September, become very restless, and
for the period of at least three weeks have wandered from the
enclosure within which they are contented to remain all the
rest of the year. In disposition they are timid and extremely
gentle, and never attempt to molest any of the wild-fowl
confined in the same pond with them, though all of these are
their inferiors in strength and size. Their call, chiefly uttered
at the migratory periods, is a low deep-toned whistle, once
repeated. On the water, the carriage of the Cygnus Bewickit
is intermediate in its character between that of the Mute
Swan and common goose; but if these birds exhibit not the
grace and majesty of the former on this element, they appear

110 ANATIDE.

to much more advantage on the land, where, by choice, they
spend the greater portion of their time. The stomach of a
specimen examined by Mr. Thompson contained only minute
seeds and gravel.

Young birds as they appear here in the plumage of their -
first winter are greyish-brown. At their second winter, when
they have acquired the white plumage, the irides are orange ;
the head and breast strongly marked with rusty red ; base of
the beak lemon yellow ; when older some continue to exhibit
a tinge of rust colour on the head, after that on the breast
has passed off. The adult bird is of a pure unsullied white ;
the base of the beak orange yellow; the irides dark; the
legs, toes, and membranes black; the figure at the com-
mencement of this subject shows the distribution of black
and yellow on the beak, which is liable to a little variation.

The whole length three feet ten inches, to four feet two
inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
primary twenty-one inches; the second and third quill-fea-
thers longer than the first and fourth ; tail-feathers twenty ;
in young birds I have found but eighteen, and in one in-
stance nineteen.

M. Temminck says this species breeds in Iceland in May,
and has been taken in the winter in Picardy.

In anatomical structure this new species differs much more
decidedly from the Hooper than in its external characters.
The principal and most obvious difference is in the trachea,
which forms one of the best distinctions in the separation of
nearly allied species throughout this numerous family. ‘The
tube of the windpipe is of equal diameter throughout, and —
descending in front of the neck enters the keel of the sternum
which is hollow, as in the Hooper, traversing its whole length.
Having arrived at the end of the keel, the tube then gra-
dually inclining upwards and outwards passes into a cavity

in the sternum destined to receive it, caused by a separation

BEWICK’S SWAN. 111

of the parallel horizontal plates of bone, forming the posterior
flattened portion of the breast-bone, and producing a convex
protuberance on the inner surface. The tube also changing
its direction from vertical to horizontal, and reaching within
half an inch of the posterior edge, is reflected back after
making a considerable curve, till it once more reaches the
keel, again traversing which, in a line immediately over the
first portion of the tube, it passes out under the arch of the
merrythought ; where, turning upwards, and afterwards back-
wards, it enters the body of the bird to be attached to the
lungs in the usual manner. This is the state of develope-
ment in the oldest bird I have yet met with. The degree
next in order, or younger, differs in having the horizontal
loop of the trachea confined to one side only of the cavity in
the sternum, both sides of which cavity are at this time form-
ed, but the loop of the tube is not yet sufficiently elongated
to occupy the whole space; and the third in order, that on
the right of the three representations shown on the next page,
from a still younger bird, possesses only the vertical insertion
of the fold of the trachea; yet in this specimen the cavity in
the posterior portion of the sternum already exists to a con-
siderable extent.

uf ANATIDE.

These are the peculiarities of structure which belong to the
tube and the sternum. The bronchiz are very short; but
the flexible part intervening between the bone of divarication
and the bronchial rings is considerable, producing an effect to
be hereafter noticed. This elongated, flexible, and delicate
portion being defended on each outer side by a distinct mem-
brane, attached to the whole edge of the bone of divarication,
and to a slender semicircular bone on each side, by which it
is supported.

The muscles of voice with which this bird is provided, pass
down, as usual, one on each side of the trachea, till the tube
is about to enter the cavity in the keel, they then quit that
part of the tube to be attached to the ascending portion of
the curve, which they follow, ultimately dividing into two
slips, one of which inserted upon the surface of the bone of
divarication governs the length of the preceding flexible por-
tion of the tube; the other slip passes off downwards to be

BEWICK’S SWAN. 113

attached to the inner surface of the breast-bone, anterior to
the first rib. The course of the muscle on one side may be
traced in the first anatomical figure.

The vignette at the end of this subject represents a front
view of a portion of the body of this species of Swan, with
the anterior part of the descending windpipe turned aside to
show the inner ascending part of it, the muscles of voice, and
the tendinous fascia stretched across from one branch of the
forked bone or merrythought over to the other, by which both
portions are supported.

Dissection, which proved the distinction between the Hoo-
per and Bewick’s Swan, has also proved that the two Wild
Swans of North America are peculiar to that country, and
distinct from the two Kuropean Swans. The largest of the
North American Swans, still larger than our Hooper, is
called Cygnus buccinator, or the Hunters Swan, by Dr.
Richardson, in his Fauna Boreali-Americana, where the mea-
surements and other particulars of its history will be found ;
and I am indebted to the liberality of Dr. Richardson for a
specimen of the very singular organs of voice and the sternum
of this species, which will be found described and figured in
the seventeenth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean
Society.

The second species of North American Swan was described
by Dr. Sharpless, in the fifth volume of the American Jour-
nal of Science and Arts, under the name of Cygnus Amert-
canus; it has also been described more recently by Mr.
Audubon, in the fifth volume of his Ornithological Biography.
I have been presented by both these gentlemen with the
organ of voice and the sternum from several examples of this
second species of American Swan, which, however, in some
respects, internally as well as externally, resembling our Be-
wick’s Swan, is said to attain a size and weight almost equal
to those of our Hooper; the whole length is recorded as

VOL. III. I

114 ANATIDE.

reaching four feet six inches, and the weight twenty-one
pounds.

The anatomical representations of Bewick’s Swan, neces-
sarily very much reduced in size here, will be found of much
larger dimensions in the sixteenth volume of the Linnean
Transactions.

~

MUTE SWAN. 115

NATATORES. ANATIDZ,

THE MUTE SWAN.

Anas olor, Tume Swan, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 221.
eS Ae Mute Swan, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 286.
Cygnus ,, af AA Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 228.
», mansuetus, Domestic ,, Govutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.
Anas olor, Cygne tuberculé Txrmm. Man, d’Ornith. t. ii. p. 830.
Cygnus ,, a 5 a mn »» pte iV..p. 029:

Our Mute Swan is one of the most graceful as well as the
largest of British Birds, and at the same time so well known
and appreciated, that minute details of its characters, or its
value, are unnecessary, beyond pointing out those external
differences by which it may be readily distinguished from
either of the species already described.

The most obvious difference, and that which will imme-
diately strike the observer on comparing the representation of
our Mute, half-domesticated Swan, with those of the Hooper

rez

116 ANATIDE.

and Bewick’s Swans is, that the two most conspicuous colours
on the beak occupy opposite situations in these species. In
the Hooper and Bewick’s Swans, the anterior portion of the
beak is black, the base and the lore to the eye, orange-yel-
low ; but in our Mute Swan it is the anterior portion of the
beak which is of a rich reddish orange, the base and the lore
to the eye black, with a prominent black tubercle or knob,
on the upper part in front of the forehead, which in old males
attains considerable size.

The Swan is, perhaps, of all others the most beautiful
living ornament of our rivers and lakes. Poets of all ages
and countries have made this bird the theme of their praise,
and by none with more characteristic truth of expression than
by our own Milton, who, in his Paradise Lost, says—

The Swan with arched neck
Between her white wings mantling, proudly rows
Her state with oary feet.

The male has frequently been styled ‘the peaceful mo-
narch of the lake ;” but this is his character during part of
the year only; pending the season of incubation, and rearing
the young, there is scarcely any bird more pugnacious, and
from his great size and power he is in reality a monarch to
be feared and avoided by all that inhabit his watery domain,
for he drives his weaker subjects in all directions.

The nest, consisting of a large mass of reeds, rushes, and
other coarse herbage, is formed on the ground near the edge
of the water, and an island is generally chosen rather than
the bank. The female produces six or seven eggs; these
are of a dull greenish white, four inches in length, by two
inches nine lines in breadth. Incubation lasts six weeks,
during which time the male is in constant attendance upon
the female, occasionally taking her place upon the eggs, or

MUTE SWAN. 1 a

guarding her with jealous care, giving chase and battle, if
necessary, to every intruder. So fierce and determined are
they at this time that two instances have occurred in which
Black Swans, though but little inferior to themselves in size,
have been killed by White Swans; one of these occurrences
which took place in the Regent’s Park, is thus related.
“The two White Swans pursued the Black one with the
greatest ferocity, and one of them succeeded in grasping the
black one’s neck between its mandibles, and then shook it
violently. The Black Swan with difficulty extricated itself
from this murderous grasp, hurried on shore, tottered from
the water’s edge a few paces, and fell, to die. Its death
appeared to be attended with great agony; it stretched its
neck in the air, fluttered its wings, and attempted to rise
from the ground: after about five minutes of suffering it
made a last effort to rise, and fell dead with outstretched
neck and wings. Its foes never left the water in pursuit,
but continued sailing with every feather on end, up and down
towards the spot where their victim fell, and seemingly proud
of their conquest.”

I am indebted to the kindness of Lord Braybrooke for the
following account of a female Swan, on the small stream at
Bishop’s Stortford. ‘This Swan was eighteen or nineteen years
old, had brought up many broods, and was highly valued by
the neighbours. She exhibited, some eight or nine years
past, one of the most remarkable instances of the powers of
instinct that was ever recorded. She was sitting on four or
five eggs, and was observed to be very busy in collecting
weeds, grasses, &c. to raise her nest; a farming man was
ordered to take down half a load of haulm, with which she
most industriously raised her nest and the eggs two feet and
a half; that very night there came down a tremendous fall
of rain, which flooded all the malt shops and did great

118 ANATIDE.

damage. Man made no preparation, the Bird* did. In-
stinct prevailed over reason; her eggs were above, and only
just above the water.

The young, when hatched, which is generally about the
end of May, are conducted to the water by the parent birds,
and are even said to be carried there: it is certain that the
cygnets are frequently carried on the back of the female when
she is sailing about in the water. This I have witnessed on
the Thames, and have seen the female, by raising her leg,
assist the cygnets in getting upon her back. I thought it
probable that carrying the young might only be resorted to
when the brood inhabited a river, to save the young the
labour of following the parent against the stream; but during
the present summer, 1841, a female Swan was frequently seen
carrying her young on the canal in St. James’s Park, where
there is no current to impede their course. A short quo-
tation from the first volume of ‘* Gleanings in Natural His-
tory,” by Mr. Jesse, corroborates several points in the habits
of this bird. ‘* Living on the banks of the Thames, I have
often been pleased with seeing the care taken of the young
Swans by the parent birds. Where the stream is strong the
old Swan will sink herself sufficiently low to bring her back
on a level with the water, when the cygnets will get upon
it, and in this manner are conveyed to the other side of the
river, or into stiller water. Each family of Swans on the
river has its own district; and if the limits of that district
are encroached upon by other Swans, a pursuit immediately
takes place, and the intruders are driven away. Except in
this instance, they appear to live in a state of the most per-
fect harmony. ‘The male is very attentive to the female,
assists in making the nest, and when a sudden rise of the

* In the account of the Green Woodpecker, I have referred at vol. ii. page
136, to the probable means by which birds and some other animals become
cognizant of approaching changes in the weather,

MUTE SWAN. 119

river takes place, joins her with great assiduity in raising the
nest sufficiently high to prevent the eggs being chilled by
the action of the water, though sometimes its rise is so rapid,
that the whole nest is washed away and destroyed.”

The family continue to associate through the winter, but
under the influence of returning spring the parent birds drive
away from them the young brood of the previous year and
oblige them to shift for themselves. Their food consists of
the softer parts of water plants, roots, aquatic insects, and
occasionally small fish: a Swan has been seen to eat a small
roach; they also eat grain and bread.

The Swan being identified with Orpheus, and called also
the Bird of Apollo, the god of music, powers of song have
been often attributed to it, and as often denied. It is, how-
ever, perfectly true that this bird has a soft low voice, rather
plaintive and with little variety, but not disagreeable. I
have heard it often in the spring, and sometimes later in the
season, when moving slowly about with its young. Colonel
Hawker, in his sporting work, at page 261, has printed a few
bars of the “‘ Swan’s melody, formed with two notes, C and
the minor third (E flat), and the musician, it is said, kept
working his head as if delighted with his own performance.”

These birds are found wild in Russia and Siberia; and
Mr. Bennett observes that it is found in a wild state in al-
most every country in Europe. Bechstein particularly men-
tions Lithuania, Poland, and eastern Prussia. In Germany,
young birds that have not been pinioned migrate in autumn.
M. Temminck says it is abundant in Holland, and is found
in France, Provence, and Italy. Mr. Strickland says this
species visits Smyrna Bay in winter; and the Russian natu-
ralists include it among the birds found in the countries
between the Black and the Caspian Seas.

In England, Dr. Turner notices the Swan with the black
tubercle on the beak, in his book on Birds, published in

120 ANATID&.

1544, and Sibbald includes it in his Fauna of Scotland, in
1684. They were more abundant formerly than at the
present time, though still existing in a comparatively wild
state on many rivers. The author of the Journal of a Natu-
ralist mentions having seen more than forty at one time, on
the great swan-pool that some years ago existed near the city
of Lincoln, but has been since drained ; and the great swan-
nery of the Earl of Ichester, at Abbotsbury, near the coast
in Dorsetshire, is well known. About eighty Swans are there
preserved, and as the cygnets are not caught to be marked
or pinioned, the interesting sight of several of these fine large
birds on the wing together is often witnessed. The water is
strictly watched and guarded, and in the season is used as
a decoy.

The adult bird has the nail at the point of the beak, the
edge of the mandible on each side, the base, the lore to the
eye, the orifice of the nostrils and the tubercle, black ; the
rest of the beak reddish orange ; the irides brown; the head,
neck, and all the plumage pure white; the legs, toes, and
interdigital membranes black.

The whole length of an old male is from four feet eight
inches, to five: feet; the weight about thirty pounds; and
marked Swans have been known to live fifty years. The male
is distinguished from the female by being larger; the black
tubercle at the base of the beak is also larger; the neck is
thicker, and the bird swims higher out of the water. The
body of the female is smaller; the neck more slender, and
she appears to swim deeper in the water. This latter point
is referrible to a well known anatomical law, that females have
less capacious lungs than males, and her body therefore is
less buoyant.

The young Mute Swan, in July, has plumage of a dark
bluish-grey, almost a sooty grey; the neck, and the under
surface of the body rather lighter in colour; the beak lead

MUTE SWAN. 121

colour; the nostrils and the basal marginal line black. The
same birds, at the end of October, have the beak of a light
slate grey, tinged with green; the irides dark ; head, neck,
and all the upper surface of the body, nearly uniform sooty
greyish-brown; the under surface also uniform, but of a
lighter shade of greyish-brown. Young birds at the end of
October nearly as large as the old birds. After the second
autumn moult but little of the grey plumage remains. When
two years old they are quite white, and breed in their third
year.

The figure here inserted represents the windpipe and
breast-bone of the Mute Swan. The keel is single, unpro-
vided with any cavity; the windpipe descends between the
branches of the forked bone, and curving in the form of part
of a circle, passes upwards and backwards to the bone of
divarication, and from thence by short tubes to the lungs.

One subject having reference to this species of Swan ap-
pears to be so closely connected with its history, that I am
induced to take a short notice of it, and the more so because
it has hitherto been passed over in other histories of the
birds of this country. I allude to the privileges granted
to individuals or companies to keep and preserve Swans on
different streams; and the many various swan marks adopted,

ies ANATID#.

by which each party might know their own birds. The sub-
ject, in all its details, is so extensive that I can afford space
for little more than an outline, but this will be sufficient to
show the degree of value and importance attached to the pos-
session of the bird, and the authorised power to protect it.

In the twenty-second year of the Reign of Edward the
Fourth, 1483, it was ordered that no person who did not
possess a freehold of the clear yearly value of five marks
should be permitted to keep any Swans.

In the eleventh year of the Reign of Henry the Seventh,
1496, it was ordered that stealing, or taking a Swan’s egg
should have a year’s imprisonment, and make fine at the
king’s will. Stealing, setting nets or snares for, or driving,
Grey or White Swans, was punished still more severely.

In Archzologia, or miscellaneous tracts relating to anti-
quity, published by the Society of Antiquaries of London,
vol. 16. 1812, Ordinances respecting Swans on the River
Witham, in the county of Lincoln; together with an original
roll of ninety-seven Swan marks, appertaining to the pro-
prietors on the said stream, were communicated by the Right
Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K.B. P.R.S. and F.S.A.

‘“‘ These are the Ordinances made the 24th day of May,
1524, in the fifteenth year of the reign of our Sovereign
Lord King Henry the Eighth, by the Lord Sir Christopher
Willuby, Sir Edward Dimock, and others, Justices of Peace
and Commissioners, appointed by our Sovereign Lord the
King, for the confirmation and preservation of His Highness
game of Swans, and signets, of his stream of Witham, within
his county of Lincoln, &c. from a Breges, called Boston
Breges, unto the head of the said stream.”

A true copy of the Parchment Roll being too long, a few
only of the particulars are here inserted.

No persons having Swans could appoint a new swanherd

without the king’s swanherd’s license.

MUTE SWAN. 123

Every swanherd on the stream was bound to attend upon
the king’s swanherd upon warning, or suffer fine.

The king’s swanherd was bound to keep a book of swan
marks, and no new marks were permitted to interfere with
old ones.

Owners of Swans and their swanherds were registered in
the king’s swanherd’s book.

The marking of the cygnets was generally performed in the
presence of all the swanherds on that stream, and on a par-
ticular day or days, of which all had notice. Cygnets re-
ceived the mark found on the parent birds, but if the old
Swans bore no mark, the whole were seized for the king, and
marked accordingly. No swanherd to affix a mark but in
the presence of the king’s swanherd or his deputy.

Formerly, when a Swan made her nest on the banks of the
river, rather than on the islands, one young bird was given
to the owner of the soil, who protected the nest, and this
was called ‘the ground bird.” A money consideration, in-
stead of a young bird, is still given.

The swan mark, called by Sir Edward Coke, ctigninota,
was cut in the skin on the beak of the Swan with a sharp
knife or other instrument. These marks consisted of annulets,
chevrons, crescents, crosses, initial letters, and other devices,
some of which had reference to the heraldic arms of, or the
office borne by, the swan owner.

The representations inserted overleaf are swan marks sup-
posed to be cut on the upper surface of the upper mandible.

Nos. 1 and 2 were the royal swan marks of Henry the
Highth. No. 3 was the swan mark of the Abbey of Swin-
stede, on the Witham in Lincolnshire; and I may notice
that the crosier, or crook, is borne by the divine, the shep-
herd, the swanherd, and the gooseherd, as emblematic of a
pastoral life and the care of a flock.

No. 4 was the swan mark of Sir Edward Dimock of Lin-

124 ANATIDE.

colnshire. The king’s champion, it will be recollected, is of
this family, who hold ‘*the mannour at Scrivelsby in Lin-
colnshire by that tenure, to come armed on horsebacke (or

‘a he)
jr DS |

A sede &

pe Me a

one in his stead) on the king’s coronation day, and in the

J
tee)

presence of the king to proclaime and challenge any that
shall affirm the king not lawfull heire to the crowne and king-
dome, to fight with him bodie for bodie,” &c.—Camden.
No. 5, the swan mark of Sir Thomas Frowick, of Gunners-
bury, Middlesex, who was born at Ealing, bred in the study
of our municipal law; wherein he attained to such eminency
that he was made Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Four years he sate in his place, accounted the oracle of law
in his age, though one of the youngest men that ever enjoyed
that office. —Abridged from Fuller’s Worthies. The swan

mark is from Harleian M.S. No. 541. <A volume of papers

MUTE SWAN. 125

collected by Stow the Antiquary. The four swan marks
which precede it are from Archzeologia.

The next three swan marks are from an interesting volume,
Mr. A. J. Kempe’s Losely Manuscripts, and refer to the
time of Klizabeth.

No. 6, the swan mark of Lord William Howard, after-
wards Earl of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of England,
in the reign of Queen Mary.

No. 7, the swan mark of Lord Buckhurst. The keys
here adopted have reference to his office of Chamberlain of
the Household. At the present day the appointment of the
royal swanherd’s man is vested in the Lord Chamberlain for
the time being.

No. 8, the mark of Sir William More, who was appointed
by Lord Buckhurst to the office of Master of the Swans for
Surrey, ‘in such sorte as all the rest of the sheres were
graunted.” One of the conditions recorded in the grant is as
follows: ‘‘ But this order must be kept, that the upping* of
all those Swans, near or within the said branches of the T'ems,
may be upped all in one day with the upping of the Tems,
which is referred to Mr. Maylard, of Hampton Courte, who
hath the ordering of the 'Tems. So if it pleas you from time

5

to time to send and confer with him.” ‘The following is a
copy of a letter from R. Maylard, the Master of the Swans
on the Thames, to Sir William More, as Master of the Swans
for Surrey, extracted from Mr. Kempe’s book :—

“* May it please you, Sir, this morning I received a I’re
affirmed to come from you, but no name thereunto. Wherein
yo’ request me to come to Perford to conferr wt yo’ touching
the upping of Swannes, w’ch I wold most gladly pforme, yf I
were not throughe very ernest busynes letted of my purpose,
ffor to morrowe being Tuysdaie I take my jorney along the

* Upping, or taking up the young Swans to mark them, now sometimes
called swan-hopping.

126 ANATID&.

river of Thames at Gravesend.* And then uphon the first
Mondaie in August, I come westward towards W yndsor.
Wherefore if it may please yo" to send to my howse to
Hampton Court what daies you meane to appointe for driv-
ing the river of Weybridge and Molsey, it shall suffice, to
th’ end the gamesters maie have knowledge thereof, that they
may attend accordingly. I do thinke it wold greatly satisfhie
them yf yo’ did appointe the same upon Tuesday the vii'"
of August, for upon that day they wil be at the entrance of
these rivers. And so prainge you to p’don me for my ab-
sence at this tyme, I humbly take my leave. Hampton
Courte, this Mondaie, xxxth of July 1593.
‘** Yor poore frend to comaunde,

“¢R. Maylard.”
«“To the R. W. Sir W. Moore, Kn’t,
at Pirforde.”’

No. 9, the first swan mark of the representations forming
the final vignette, is that of the corporation of Norwich, now
used to mark the Swans belonging to the corporation on the
river Yare.

No. 10, is the swan mark of the present Bishop of Nor-
wich, the President of the Linnean Society of London, to
whose kindness I am indebted for the following particulars as
now practised at Norwich, in reference to the feeding the
young Swans of the year for the table. The town-clerk
sends a note from the Town-hall to the public swanherd,
the corporation and others, who have Swans and Swan rights.
On the second Monday in August, when collected in a small
stew or pond, the number annually varying from fifty to
seventy, and many of them belonging to private individuals,+

* Many Swans were formerly kept below bridge. In ancient views of the
port of London, they are usually represented as swimming in that part of the
river.

+ Bloomfield’s History of Norfolk contains representations of numerous
swan marks.

MUTE SWAN. 127

they begin to feed immediately, being provided with as much
barley as they can eat, and are usually ready for killing early
in November. ‘They vary in weight, some reaching to twenty-
eight pounds. ‘They are all cygnets. If kept beyond No-
vember they begin to fall off, losing both flesh and fat, and
the meat becomes darker in colour and stronger in flavour.
A printed copy of the following lines is usually sent with
each bird.
TO ROAST A SWAN.

Take three pounds of beef, beat fine in a mortar,

Put it into the Swan—that is, when you ’ve caught her.
Some pepper, salt, mace, some nutmeg, an onion,

Will heighten the flavour in Gourmand’s opinion.

Then tie it up tight with a small piece of tape,

That the gravy and other things may not escape.

A meal paste, rather stiff, should be laid on the breast,
And some whited brown paper should cover the rest.
Fifteen minutes at least ere the Swan you take down,

Pull the paste off the bird, that the breast may get brown.

THE GRAVY.

To a gravy of beef, good and strong, I opine,

You ’ll be right if you add half a pint of port wine ;

Pour this through the Swan, yes, quite through the belly,

Then serve the whole up with some hot currant jelly.
NB. The Swan must not be skinned.

In former times the Swan was served up at every great
feast ; and i have occasionally seen a cygnet exposed for sale
in the poulterers’ shops of London, but not very lately.

No. 11. Eton College has the privilege of keeping Swans
on the Thames, and this is the College swan mark. It is
intended to represent the armed point, and the feathered end
of an arrow, and is represented by nail heads on the door of
one of the inner rooms in the College.

Nos. 12 and 15 are derived from Mr. Kempe’s interesting
publication of the Loseley Manuscripts, and represent the
swan marks of the Dyers’ and Vintners’ Companies of the

128 ANATIDE.

City of London, as used in the reign of Elizabeth. These
two companies have long enjoyed the privilege of preserving
Swans on the Thames, from London to a considerable dis-
tance, some miles above Windsor, and they continue the
ancient custom of proceeding with their friends and visiters,
with the royal swanherd’s man, and their own swanherds
and assistants, on the first Monday of August in every year,
from Lambeth, on their Swan voyage, for the purpose of
catching and marking all the cygnets of the year, and renew-
ing any marks in old birds that may by time have become
partially obliterated. Mr. Kempe says, ‘ the struggles of
the Swans when caught by their pursuers, and the duckings
which the latter received in the contest, made this a diversion
with our ancestors of no ordinary interest.”

The forming circles or annulets on the beak as observed in
these two ancient marks, being considered as inflicting more
severe pain upon the bird than straight lines, these rings are
now omitted, and the lines doubled, as shown in the marks
numbered 14 and 15, which are those of the Dyers’ and
Vintners’ Companies as used at this time. Nos. 12 and 14
being the ancient and modern mark of the Dyers’ Company :
Nos. 13 and 15, the ancient and modern mark of the Vint-
ners’ Company.

The two nicks in the swan mark of the Vintners’ Com-
pany, which have so often been the subject of notice, are
probably intended for two half lozenges, or a demi-lozenge,
on each side; the V is perhaps a chevron reversed ; the arms
of the company being—Sable, a chevron between three tons,
argent. I think it probable that the V is only the chevron
reversed, for the true chevron could scarcely be cut on the
beak of the bird without each lateral branch crossing its elon-
gated and tender nostril, and this, from a feeling of humanity,
the marker would also be disposed to avoid. The chevron
reversed, for many of these swan marks are evidently heraldic,

MUTE SWAN. 129

had the additional adaptation of representing the initial letter
of the word Vintner, and forming, also, the Roman numeral
five, is further borne in mind, and perhaps intended to be
referred to, at their hospitable entertainments, where one of
the regular stand-up toasts of the day is, the Worshipful
Company of Vintners, with five—.

Mr. Kempe appears to discountenance the popular notion
that the sign of the Swan with two necks has any reference to
the two nicks in the swan mark of this company; but the sign
has been considered a fair heraldic personification of the term ;
united, as it is, with the following considerations: that the
Swan has been for some hundreds of years identified with the
Vintners’ Company and its privileges ; that the principal go-
verning officers of the company for the time being are, a
Master and three Wardens, the junior Warden of the year
being called the Swan Warden ; that models of Swans form
conspicuous ornaments in their Hall ; and that the first pro-
prietor of the well-known inn, the Swan with Two Necks,
was a member of the Vintners’ Company.

No. 16 is the Royal swan mark of our Most Gracious
Queen Victoria. This mark has been used through the
reigns of George the Third, George the Fourth, and William
the Fourth, to the present time.

By the kindness of a friend I have been favoured with an
account of the whole number of old and young Swans belong-
ing to Her Majesty, and the two Companies, at the last
Swan voyage, in August 1841.

Oxtp Swans. Cycnets. ToGETHER.
Her Majesty 185 47 232
The Vintners’ Company 79 21 100
The Dyers’ Company 91 14 105
355 62. 437

But the numbers formerly were much greater; at one
VOL.. III. K

130 ANATIDE.

period, the Vintners’ Company alone possessed five hundred
birds.

In the language of swanherds, the male Swan is called a
Cob, the female a Pen: these terms refer to the comparative
size and grade of the two sexes; the black tubercle at the

base of the beak is called the berry.

es

0

POLISH SWAN. 131

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

THE POLISH SWAN.

Cygnus immutabilis, Polish Swan, YarreExu, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1838, p. 19.

Tue London dealers in birds have long been in the habit
of receiving from the Baltic a large Swan, which they dis-
tinguish by the name of the Polish Swan. I had reason to
believe that this Swan would prove to be a distinct species,
though even more nearly allied externally to our Mute Swan,
than the Bewick’s Swan is to the Hooper. Previous to the
year 1836, a nobleman wrote to the late Mr. Joseph Sabine,
to inquire what was the name of a tame Swan he had seen
with her brood, the cygnets of which were ,all white ; and in
the spring of 1836, the Ornithological Society of London

K 2

132 ANATID.

purchased of Mr. Castang, the dealer in birds, whose name
was referred to under the article on the Hooping Swan, a
pair of these Polish Swans with a young bird of their own
brood, and this cygnet was also white. This appeared to be
a specific peculiarity worthy of consideration; the parent
birds were remarkable besides, in having the legs, toes, and
their intervening membranes of a pale ash-grey colour; the
black tubercle at the base of the beak was of small size, and
there is a slight difference in the nostrils, the elongated open-
ings of which do not reach the black colour at the base of the
beak, on each side, but are entirely surrounded by the orange
colour of the beak, as shown in the representation. Unfor-
tunately, both the old female and the young bird died in the
following winter. The old male, now in his ninth or tenth
year, at the least, has but a small tubercle at the base of the
beak, and his legs and feet, though a little darker than for-
merly, are still of a pale slate grey. This bird has never
paired ; ‘and can scarcely be said to associate with any of the
Mute Swans on the same water.

In the months of January and February 1838, Swans of
all sorts were more abundant than I ever remember to have
seen them, and I have already adverted to the great number
of Hoopers and Bewick’s Swans which were seen and killed
at that season. The more intense the frost, the farther south
do the usual winter visiters extend their range ; while new, or
very rare species from extreme northern latitudes are occa-
sionally obtained.

During the severe weather of January 1838, several flocks
of these Polish Swans were seen pursuing a southern course
along the line of our north-east coast, from Scotland to the
mouth of the Thames, and several specimens were obtained.
The specimen I exhibited, by permission, at the evening
meeting of the Zoological Society, belonged to the Rev. L.

B. Larking, of Ryarsh Vicarage, near Maidstone, for whom

POLISH SWAN. 133

it had been preserved by Mr. Leadbeater. It was one of
four, shot on the Medway, near Snodland Church, where a
flock of thirty, and several smaller flocks were seen.

The circumstance of these flocks being seen, without any
observable difference in the specimens obtained, all of which
were distinct from our Mute Swan; the fact, also, that the
cygnets, as far as observed, were of a pure white colour, like
the parent birds, and did not assume, at any age, the grey
colour borne for the greater part of the first two years by the
young of the other species of Swans ; and an anatomical dis-
tinction in the form of the cranium, to be hereafter noticed,
which was described by Mr. Pelerin, in the Magazine of
Natural History, induced me to consider this Swan entitled
to rank as a distinct species, and, in reference to the un-
changeable colour of the plumage, I proposed for it the name
of Cygnus tmmutabilis.

I have very recently been favoured with a letter from the
Earl of Derby, who some years since purchased a pair of
Polish Swans in London, and sent them to Knowsley. The
female in this instance also, unfortunately, died. The male
paired with a Mute Swan, and a brood was produced ; but the
hybrids, though now old enough, have neither paired among
themselves nor with any of the Mute Swans on the same
water.

I have heard of one Polish Swan shot in Cambridgeshire,
and now preserved in the Wisbeach Museum ; and another
was shot in the winter of 1840-41. This species, however,
does not appear to have been distinguished elsewhere from
the Mute Swan, and I am therefore unable to name any
foreign geographical localities as producing it, beyond the
probability of its inhabiting those countries in the vicinity
of the Baltic.

In the adult bird the beak is reddish-orange ; the nail,
lateral margins, nostrils, and base of the upper mandible

134 ANATIDE.

black ; the peculiarity of the nostril has been noticed; the
tubercle, even in an old male, of small size ; the irides brown ;
the head, neck, and the whole of the plumage pure white ;
legs, toes, and intervening membranes slate-grey.

From the point of the beak to the end of the tail fifty-
seven inches. Krom the carpal joint to the end of the second
quill-feather, which is the longest in the wing, twenty-one
inches and a half; tarsus four inches; middle toe and nail
five inches and three-quarters.

Its food and habits closely resemble those of the Mute
Swan.

The organ of voice appears, from one that I examined, to
be like that of the Mute Swan; but Mr. Pelerin has found
considerable differences in various parts of the head; the
description and measurements were given in a paper publish-
ed in the Magazine of Natural History for 1839, page 178,
from which the following is an extract.

The measurement of an adult cranium of each is as fol-
lows :—Length, from the tip of the bill to the base of the
occipital bone in C. ¢mmutabilis, six inches and three-eighths ;
C. olor, six inches and seven-eighths. Height, from the bot-
tom of the lower mandible when closed, to the top of the pro-
tuberance at the base of the bill, in C. zmmutabdilis, one inch
and five-eighths; C. olor, two inches. Height, from the base
of the under jaw to the vertex of the head, just behind the or-
bit of the eye, in C. ¢mmutabilis, two inches and one-eighth ;
C. olor, two inches and one-quarter. In C. immutabilis the bill
is rather more flattened, particularly in the middle, between the
dertrum, or nail, and the nostrils; the protuberance at the
base of the upper mandible is less developed. In the Polish
Swan the cranium is highest at the supra-occipital portion ;
in the Mute Swan the cranium is highest at the supra-orbital
portion; but the greatest difference is perceptible on com-
paring the occipital bones; the upper portion of this bone in

POLISH SWAN. 135

C. immutabilis protrudes considerably more, and there are
two oval foramina, one on each side just above the foramen
magnum, which are not present in any specimens of C. olor
that I have examined; the portion forming the boundary of
the external orifice of the ear is much more prominent, and
the condyle forms a more acute angle with the basilar portion
of the occipital bone.
I have verified all Mr. Pelerin’s observations.

136 ANATIDE

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

THE RUDDY SHIELDRAKE.

Anas rutila, Ruddy Goose, Bewickx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 330.
Tadorna ,, », Shieldrake, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 229.

Secsy, Brit. Ornith., vol. ii. p. 293.
» 30 3 h Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.
Anas > Canard Kasarka, Temm. Man. d’Ornith, t. 11. p. 832.
pt. iv. p. 531.

” ” ” ”

> ” ” ” a? a”? ”

Taporna. Generic Characters.—Beak about the length of the head, higher
than broad at the base, depressed or concave in the middle ; breadth nearly
equal throughout; under mandible much narrower than the upper, the latter
grooved near the tip ; nail curved downwards forming a hook ; both mandibles
furnished with strong transverse lamella. Nasal groove near the base of the
beak ; nostrils oval, lateral, pervious. Legs of moderate length ; the tibie
naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ; toes three in front, entirely
webbed ; one behind free, without any pendent membrane or lobe. Wings of
moderate length, tuberculated, pointed, the second quill-feather the longest.
The sexes alike in plumage, or very nearly.

Wiruour intending to follow some systematic ornitholo-

or

RUDDY SHIELDRAKE. 137

logists in their numerous modern divisions of the old genus
Anas, I feel justified in adopting the genus T'adorna, insti-
tuted by Dr. Leach and Dr. Fleming in 1822, and revived
by Boié in 1826, for the reception of the Ruddy Shieldrake,
and the Common Shieldrake, which in some respects resemble
the true Geese, particularly in the circumstance of the females
being very nearly in plumage of the same colour as that of
the males, which is not the case in the true Ducks. The
similarity of the Shieldrakes to the Egyptian Goose in several
points will be obvious, and they are frequently called Geese.

G. T. Fox, Esq. of Durham, appears first to have noticed
this bird as British, from an example in the Museum at New-
castle, which had formerly belonged to Marmaduke Tunstall,
Kisq., this was believed to have been killed at Bryanstone,
near Blandford in Dorsetshire, the seat of Mr. Portman, in
the severe winter of 1776; the same frost of which season, as
Mr. Fox remarks, produced the Red-breasted Goose, also in
that collection, a bird of equal rarity, and, like the present
one, a native of the eastern parts of Kurope. As the spe-
cimen is a female, there is no doubt that this is the Grey-
headed Duck of Brown’s Illustrations. 'T'wo other specimens
have, however, been killed since, and no question, therefore,
exists of the propriety of including it among our British
Birds. Mr. Selby mentions a specimen, now in his own
collection, killed in the south of England, which was at first
lent to him by Mr. Gould to figure from; and in January
1834, a specimen was shot at Iken near Orford, on the coast
of Suffolk, which passed into the possession of Mr. Manning,
of Woodbridge.

This species has a very wide geographical range: Pennant
received a specimen from Denmark ; it is found in all the
southern parts of Russia and Siberia, and the eastern parts
of Europe generally ; it is sometimes obtained in Germany,
Hungary, and Austria; has been killed a few times in Italy,

158 ANATIDA.

according to Savi; and it is said to be found in Africa, even
as far south as the Cape. It has been found in Persia, Asia
Minor, at Trebizond, and in the countries about the Cauca-
sian range. Mr. Strickland says it is frequently to be seen
in the poultry shops at Smyrna, but owing to the Turkish
practice of cutting the throats of birds as soon as shot, he
was unable to obtain a perfect specimen. Messrs. Dickson
and Ross say this species is abundant at Erzeroom, frequents
marshes during the day, but feeds late in the evening and
early in the morning in corn and stubble fields. Arrives
there about the middle of March, and departs at the end of
November ; rarely seen in the water. Said to breed in the
marshes. Great numbers on the Lake of Van in August.
Native name, Ahngoot. Colonel Sykes includes this species
in his Catalogue of the Birds of the Dukhun.

The food of this duck consists of aquatic plants and their
seeds, insects, and the fry of fish. Latham says it makes its
nest in the craggy banks of the Wolga, and other rivers, or
in the hollows of the deserted hills of marmots; forming it
after the manner of the Shieldrake, and it is said to make
burrows for itself in the manner of that bird; builds some-
times in the shaft of an old well that is not used, and has
been known-also to lay in a hollow tree, lining the nest with
its own feathers. They pair, and the male and female sit
by turns. They lay eight or nine white eggs. When the
young come forth the mother will often carry them from the
place of hatching to the water, with the bill. Have been
attempted to be domesticated, by rearing the young under
tame Ducks, but without success, as they remain wild, effect-
ing their escape the first opportunity ; and if the old ones
are taken and confined, they lay their eggs in a dispersed
manner, and never sit. ‘The voice of the bird when flying
is not unlike the note of a clarionet : at other times it cries

like a Peacock, especially when kept confined ; and now and

RUDDY SHIELDRAKE. 139

then clucks like a hen. The organ of voice is unknown to
me. Lach bird is very choice of its mate, for if the male is
killed the female will not leave the gunner till she has been
two or three times shot at. Quoting the Memoirs of the
Baron de Tott, who travelled in Tartary and the Crimea,
Latham says, the Tartars pretend that the flesh of this bird
is exceedingly dangerous: ‘I tasted it,” says he, ‘“‘and only
found it exceedingly good-for-nothing.” These birds go
in pairs during the summer; at other times gregarious.

In the adult male the beak is lead colour; the irides yel-
lowish-brown ; head, cheeks, and chin buff colour, becoming
darker, almost an orange-brown, towards the lower part of the
neck all round; towards the bottom of the neck a ring of
black ; the back, tertials, breast, and all the under surface
of the body the same; the point of the wing, and the wing-
coverts pale buffy-white; wing-primaries lead grey, almost
black ; secondaries rather lighter in colour, the outer webs
short of the end, forming a brilliant green speculum ; rump
and tail-feathers lead-grey ; legs, toes, and their membranes
brownish-grey.

Whole length twenty-five or twenty-six inches; the females
are rather smaller in size; and the female in the Newcastle
Museum is thus described by Mr. Fox :—‘* The crown of the
head and the neck is of a mouse-grey; the front, cheeks, and
throat pure white. The whole of the breast, belly, upper
part of the back, and scapular feathers, which are very long,
of a light ferruginous, which is the prevailing colour of the
bird. ‘The feathers are broad at their end, semicircular, and
tipped with a lighter colour, which form semicircular lines all
over the body. ‘The wing-coverts are white, which forms a
broad space on the wing ; below this the secondary quills are
green, forming a speculum ; the greater quills brown, darker
on the edges, which has occasioned them to be described as
black ; the same applies to the tail and back, which is near! y

140 ANATID.

covered by the scapulars, both of which are dark brown, with
a greenish tinge. ‘The legs are dark coloured; the toes
largely webbed, and the webs black. At the bend of the
wing is a blunt knob. Beneath, on the sides of the vent, are
the rudiments of a bar of mottled feathers, and the feathers
of the thighs, and some of the vent feathers are lighter than
those of the rest of the body.”

The male is distinguished from the female in having a
black collar round the neck, from which circumstance it has
been called the Collared Duck; it has also been called the
Ruddy Goose.

Bewick has figured the female ; I have therefore purposely
given the figure of a male.

This species is very rarely found at sea.

COMMON SHELLDRAKE. 141

NATATORES. ANATID#.

THE COMMON SHELLDRAKE,

Tue SHIELDRAKE, oR Burrow Duck.

Anas Tadorna, The Shieldrake, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 256.
5 a Fe amas eae Monracu, Ornith. Dict.
55 3 rf 5. Bewrck, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 357.
Tadorna Vulpanser, Common ,, _F em. Brit. An. p. 122.
ay a - 3 Secsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. 11. p. 289.
», Bellonii, 4 a Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 229.
oy Vulpanser, ys, + Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vill.
Anas Tadorna, Canard Tadorne, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 833.
- An 53 ys % us EE pealVeND Ook.

THe SHIELDRAKE is one of the most beautiful in appear-
ance of our ornamental water-fowl: the various colours of its
plumage are pure and brilliant, strongly contrasted ; their
limits well defined ; and the birds are retained in a state of
domestication without difficulty. This species differs greatly
from that of the same genus last described, in being rarely

142 ANATID.

seen inland, unless in a semi-domestic state and pinioned; but
some are constantly found on the sea coast, and that during
the whole year, preferring flat shores, sandy bars, and links,
where it breeds in rabbit burrows, or other holes in the soft
soil, and hence has obtained the name of Burrow Duck, and
Bar Gander, which is probably only a corruption of Burrow
Gander. In Scotland it is called Skeeling Goose, according
to Sibbald, and other writers since his time. Many Shield-
rakes come from the north to visit this country for the winter,
returning again in the spring.

The authors of the Catalogue of the Norfolk and Suffoll
Birds mention that it breeds in the rabbit burrows formed
in the sand-hills upon the coast of Norfolk. Its nest is dis-
covered by the print of its feet on the sand, and therefore
most easily found in calm weather; for in windy weather the
driving sand soon obliterates the impression. The old bird
is sometimes taken bya snare set at the mouth of the burrow.
The eggs are often hatched under domestic hens, and the
birds thus obtained kept as an ornament on ponds.

Mr. Selby mentions that these birds are also regular in-
habitants of the sandy parts of the Northumbrian coast, and
during the breeding-season the holes in the earth frequented
by them are lined with bents of grass and other dry vegetable
materials, forming a nest sometimes as far as ten or twelve
feet from the entrance, and lining it with fine soft down,
plucked from their own breasts. They lay from ten to
twelve eggs, and sometimes more ; these are rather large, of
a smooth shining white, about two inches nine lines in length,
and one inch eleven lines in breadth. Incubation is said to
last thirty days, during which time the male watches near at
hand, taking his turn upon the eggs morning and evening,
while his mate goes off to pick up her hasty meal. When
the young are hatched they follow the parents, and in some
situations are even carried by them in their bills to the water,
where they soon learn to feed and take care of themselves.

COMMON SHELLDRAKE. 143

Their food is various, namely, seaweed, bivalve and other
shelled mollusca, sandhoppers, sea-worms, marine insects, and
the remains of shell-fish. I have found the stomach of this
species filled with very minute bivalve and univalve mollusca
only, as though they had sought no other food; a predilec-
tion which may have given rise to the name of Shell-drake ;
and the term Shield-drake may have had its origin in the
frequent use made of this bird in Heraldry: the family of
Brassey, of Hertfordshire,* and several other families in this
country, bearing in their arms this bird on their shield, and
sometimes as a crest. In captivity they feed on grain of any
sort, soaked bread, and vegetables. ‘Their note is a shrill
whistle. The flesh of the Shieldrake is coarse and bad, dark
in colour, and unpleasant both in smell and flavour.

Montagu and other writers have mentioned that this spe-
cies does not breed readily in confinement. The following
hint may be of service. When the Zoological Society first
had a pair of these birds, they exhibited no signs of breeding,
but their natural habits being consulted by putting them into
another place, where there was a bank of earth, into which
some holes were purposely made, the birds immediately took
to one of the holes and went to nest there, bringing out a
brood in 1835, and again in 1836. Of what has happened
with them since I have no notes; but in the present season,
1841, there is a fine and numerous show of young birds, from
which the description of the plumage of the birds of the year in
their immature dress will be hereafter given. As observed by
Mr. Selby, the young birds soon become tolerably tame, and
answer to the call of the person who feeds them ; when fully
fledged, however, being very active, they are apt to stray
away, and if left unpinioned, generally in time fly entirely
off, though they have been known, in some instances, to re-
turn after an absence of many months.

* Brassey bears quarterly, per fess indented sable and argent, in the first
quarter, a Shieldrake. Crest on a mount, a Shieldrake.

144 ANATIDE,

Colonel Hawker, in reference to their habits, says, ** The
young Shelldrakes, directly after being hatched in the rabbit-
burrows, are taken by the parent birds to the sea, where they
may be seen in what the boatmen call troops, of from thirty
to forty; but as the female seldom hatches more than four-
teen eggs, it is clear that each flock is formed by two or three
broods. On their being approached, the old ones fly away,
and leave the young to shift for themselves by diving. They
may be easily shot when they come up, but you can seldom
kill more than one or two at a time, as they always disperse
before you can get very near them.

“These birds show but tame sport with a gun, and are good
for nothing when killed. But, in winter nights, they often
give you a fine shot on the mud, though they are so white
that you can seldom perceive them, even afloat, without a
good moon. Be prepared to fire directly you rise; as they,
being very quick-sighted birds, will give you but little time
to present your gun. We had a great many Burrow Ducks
on our coast, Hampshire and Dorsetshire, during the last
hard winter. They were the wildest of birds till half starved
by the freezing of the shell-fish, and then they became the
tamest of all wild-fowl.”

“You may keep young Burrow Ducks for five or six
weeks, provided you give them crumbs of bread, and only
a little water three times a day. But if you let them get
into the water, or even drink too much before they are full
grown, and fit to be turned out on your pond, you are almost
sure to kill them. This appears quite a paradox with birds
that, in their wild state, are always in the water; but such
is the case.”

This bird is found on most of the sandy parts of the coast
of Ireland, and in Scotland as far as the Shetland Isles, but
is more common in those of Orkney, where Dr. Patrick Neill
says “it has got the name of Sly Goose, from the arts which

COMMON SHELLDRAKE. 145

the natives find it to employ to decoy them from the neigh-
bourhood of its nest: it frequently feigns lameness, and
waddles away with one wing trailing on the ground, thus in-
ducing a pursuit of itself, till, judging its young to be safe
from discovery, it suddenly takes flight, and leaves the out-
witted Oreadian gaping with surprise.”

Mr. Dann tells me this beautiful duck appears early in
May in great numbers on the Swedish coast, where they
breed ; and that they are found on the west coast of Nor-
way, as high as Drontheim, in small numbers.

It is found both in the northern and western countries of
Europe, on the borders of the sea. M. 'Temminck says it is
abundant in Holland, on the coasts of France, and occasion-
ally visits the rivers of Germany. M. Savi includes it in his
Birds of Italy; and Keith Abbot, Esq. sent the Zoological
Society specimens from Trebizond. M. 'Temminck says this
species is found in Japan.

In the adult male the beak is vermilion; the irides
brown; the whole of the head and upper part of the neck
green, bounded by a collar of white, and below that a collar
of rich chestnut, which covers the upper part of the breast,
the space before the point of the wings, and the upper part
of the back; the rest of the back, the rump, and upper tail-
coverts white; scapulars and part of the tertials nearly black ;
the longest tertials with the outer webs rich chestnut ; point
of the wing and all the wing-coverts white ; primaries very
dark brown; the speculum of the secondaries green; tail-fea-
thers white, tipped with black ; lower central line of the breast
and belly rich dark brown; sides, flanks, vent, and under tail-
coverts white ; legs, toes, and their membranes flesh colour.

Whole length twenty-four to twenty-six inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing thirteen inches; the
second quill-feather the longest. The female is rather smaller
than the male, and not quite so bright in her colours.

VOL. Ill. L

146 ANATIDE.

The young of the year in August have the beak flesh
colour; the head and neck brown; chin and front of the
neck white; interscapulars and wings brown ; wing-coverts
white ; tertials white, but edged with chesnut, the first
appearance of that colour; primaries black ; speculum be-
coming green ; all the under surface white ; legs flesh colour.

The young birds do not breed till they are two years old.

I referred, at page 55 of the present volume, to the
peculiar character of the organs of voice in some of the Geese
and Swans, and in almost all the Ducks and Mergansers,
forming together the large, the valuable, and interesting
family of the Anatidee ; and I may here refer particularly
to that organ as found in the Shieldrake, which is so entirely
distinguished from that of any other species, as at once and
alone to afford, as far as I have yet seen, a decided specific
character. The trachea, or windpipe, in the Shieldrake is
about ten inches long, nearly uniform in size throughout its
length, except towards the bottom, where, for about one
inch, it is much smaller. On each side of the bone of divari-
cation, forming the bottom of the tube, there is a globular,
hollow, bony protuberance, that on one side being as large
again as the one on the other. The bone is thin, and so
flexible when in its moist and natural state as readily to
become indented on pressure. The representation given
below is only a little smaller than the natural size. The
tube below each enlargement, going off, one to each lobe of
the lungs, presents nothing remarkable.

NATATORES.

THE

SHOVELER. 147

ANATIDE.

SHOVELER,*

BLUE-WINGED SHOVELER, OR BROAD-BILL.

Anas clypeata,
5, rubens,
,, ¢elypeata,

Spathulea ,,

QD

Anas 30

Rhynchaspis

Anas ee

ANAS.

Shoveler Duck,

Red-breasted Shoveler, ,, ,, #

The Shoveler,

+” ”

Common ,,

” ”?

Shoveler Duck,

Canard souchet,

Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 264.
265.
Monr. Ornith. Dict.

Frem. Brit. An. p. 123.

Seisy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 297.
Jenyns, Brit, Vert. p. 230.

Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.
Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 842.

Generic Characters.—Bill about as long as the head, broad, de-

pressed, sides parallel, sometimes partially dilated ; both mandibles furnished

on the inner edges with transverse lamelle.

Nostrils small, oval, lateral,

anterior to the base of the beak. Legs rather short, placed under the centre

* The Shoveler,—genus Spathulea, Fleming, 1822 ; Rhynchaspis, Stephens,
1824; and Clypeata, Brehm, 1831.

Hy

148 ANATID.

of the body; tarsus somewhat rounded; toes three in front, connected by
intervening membrane; hind toe free, without pendent lobe or membrane.
Wings rather long, pointed. Tail pointed, or wedge-shaped. The sexes
differ in plumage.

Tue first division, or genus, of the true Ducks, as here
arranged, will contain the Shoveler, Gadwall, Pintail, Bi-
maculated Duck, Wild Duck, Garganey, Teal, and the
Wigeons, all of which will be found to have the following
characters in common. Externally they exhibit considerable
length of neck; the wings are also long, reaching nearly to
the end of the tail ; the tarsi somewhat round; the hind toe
free, or having no pendent lobe. In habits they may be
stated generally as frequenting fresh-water, but passing much
of their time on land, feeding in ditches and about the shal-
low margins of pools, on aquatic plants, insects, worms, and
occasionally on small fish, taking their food at or near the
surface ; possessing great powers of flight, but seldom diving
unless pursued. Of their internal soft parts, the stomach
is in the greatest degree muscular, forming a true gizzard ;
the intestines long; the cecal appendages from six to nine
inches in length, in the larger birds, and decreasing only in
proportion to the size of the species. Of the bones it may
be observed, that the ribs are short, the angle formed by the
union of the last pair on each side extending but little be-
yond the line of the posterior edge of the sternum ; the keel
of the breast-bone deep, affording great extent of surface for
the attachment of large and powerful pectoral muscles ; the
enlargement at the bottom of the trachea, in all of them, is
of bone only.

The males of the species of this division are further re-
markable for a particular change in the colours of some parts
of their plumage, by which they become, for a time during
summer, more or less like their females. This alteration in
appearance, produced by a partial production of new feathers,

SHOVELER. 149

and a change of colour in others, is very remarkable in the
Pintail ; and Colonel Montagu was the first, I believe, to
record in print the annual change which takes place in that
species. The change which the Mallard undergoes has
since been observed and described by Mr. Waterton. ‘The
Shoveler and others also suffer a partial change of this sort,
to be hereafter noticed. The cause or the utility of this
change has not been explained, that I am aware of. Mr.
Gould says, ‘‘as we have observed that this change is com-
mon to the males of those species that more especially breed
in marshes, among reeds, &c., and as it generally takes place
at the period of incubation, may it not serve as a protection
to the species by rendering the fostering parent less con-
spicuous at this critical period, than he would be were he
to retain the gay nuptial dress, which would present so
strong a contrast to the sombre-tinted vegetation among
which it is necessary for him to remain, until the young are
able to provide for themselves? But to this view of the
subject it may be mentioned, that as soon as the females
begin to sit, the males desert them, and the whole charge
of each young brood devolves upon the female, the males
going together in small flocks, intent only on providing for
and taking care of themselves.

The Shoveler is to be considered generally as a winter
visiter to this country, but some remain every year to breed.
They inhabit marshes, lakes, rivers, and muddy shores, se-
lecting their food in shallow water, by the instrumentality
of their sensible beak, the laminated sides of which being
abundantly supplied with nerves, enable them to retain the
nutritious, and reject the useless. They feed on some grasses
and other vegetables, with worms, aquatic and other insects,
even some insects that are winged; Gesner, on that account,
called this species Anas muscaria, and Vieillot says, that
at the present time, one of its common names in France is

150 ANATIDE.

Canard gobe-mouche. Shrimps have been found in its
stomach ; and Mr. Audubon mentions that in North Ame-
rica, in some parts of which this duck is abundant, it feeds
upon leeches, small fishes, ground-worms, and snails. The
flesh is tender, juicy, and of good flavour. The excel-
lence of the Canvass-back Duck of America, as an article
of food, is proverbial, yet Mr. Audubon also says, that no
sportsman who is a judge will ever go by a Shoveler to shoot
a Canvass-back.

Wild-fowl are prebably more plentiful on the eastern side
of England, from Essex to Lincolnshire, than in most other
counties, perhaps, because they are opposite, and nearest to
Holland, where most of them are very abundant. Mr. Salmon
mentions that a pair bred annually amongst some green
rushes on the warren at Stanford, in Norfolk. The Rev.
Richard Lubbock, in a communication to me from Norfolk,
says, “‘ the Shoveler used frequently to breed at Winterton,
Horsey, &c., and has not yet discontinued. TI have seen two
nests at different times ; eight eggs in one, nine in the other,
placed in a very dry part of the marsh, at a considerable
distance from the Broad.” The authors of the Catalogue
of the Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, say, ‘* the Shoveler remains
all the year in Norfolk. We have twice met with its nest
in Winterton Marshes. It was placed in a tuft of grass,
where the ground was quite dry, and was made of fine grass.
After the female begins to sit, she covers her eggs with down
plucked from her body. In the spring of 1818 the warrener
at Winterton found several nests belonging to this species,
containing in the whole fifty-six eggs.” Mr. J. Youell, of
Yarmouth, in a communication to the Linnean Society, says,
that he, in one season, obtained upwards of thirty eggs of
the Shoveler Duck. These eggs were put under some do-
mestic fowls, and most of them were hatched; but he sue-
ceeded in rearing only two of them. ‘Their bills, when a

SHOVELER. 15h

few days old, were not longer than those of the domestic
duck, but at the age of three weeks they had obviously
increased in length more than those of the common duckling.
One of these birds, a male, lived till it was ten months old,
and then had attained in a considerable degree the adult
plumage of the Shoveler.

That the bill of the young Shoveler when hatched is not
dilated laterally, as has been described, I can myself answer.
During the summer of 1841 a pair of Shovelers made a nest,
and brought out their young on one of the islands in the
Garden of the Zoological Society ; the bills of these duck-
lings were as narrow, and the sides as parallel, as the bills
of some young Gadwalls which were hatched at the same
time on an island in the same piece of water. The egg is
buffy white, tinged with green; two inches two lines long,
by one inch and six lines in breadth.

Although the Shoveler formerly bred in Romney Marsh,
it is now comparatively rare there, and also along the line
of the southern counties to Cornwall. It is not uncommon
in North Wales in winter, and probably breeds in Ireland.
Mr. Heysham has met with it only a few times in the
western parts of Cumberland. It is not mentioned as visit-
ing Orkney or Shetland; and Mr. Dann tells me this duck
is by no means common in the parts of Scandinavia where he
resided, but is chiefly confined to the south of Sweden. It
is found in Gothland, in Russia and Germany; is abundant
in Holland; breeds regularly in the marshes of France ; is
seen on its passage about Genoa and in Italy twice in every
year, in the spring and again in November; frequents the
northern parts of Africa, is called in consequence the Bar-
bary Shoveler; and specimens have been brought from South
Africa by Dr. Andrew Smith. Mr. Strickland observed this
species at Smyrna in winter; Messrs. Dickson and Ross
sent the Zoological Society specimens from Hrzerum; and

152 ANATIDA.

the naturalists of the Russian expedition found it on the
shores of the Caspian Sea. Colonel Sykes includes it among
the Birds of India; and M. Temminck says that examples
from Japan exactly agree with the specimens taken in
Europe. The Shoveler is found in the United States, in
North America, and at Hudson’s Bay; and _ interesting
accounts will be found in the works of Audubon, Wilson,
Nuttall, and Dr. Richardson.

In the adult male the beak is lead colour, dilated on each
side towards the tip; the irides yellow; the whole of the
head and the upper part of the neck green; lower part of
the neck, the inter-scapulars, scapulars, and some of the
tertials white ; middle of the back dark brown, the feathers
having lighter-coloured margins ; the point of the wing, the
lesser wing-coverts, and outer web of some of the tertials,
pale blue; greater wing-coverts white ; primaries dark brown,
almost black; the secondaries the same, but the speculum
green; rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers, almost
black ; breast, and all the belly rich chestnut brown ; thighs
freckled with dark brown, on a ground of lighter pale brown ;
the vent white; under tail-coverts black; legs, toes, and
their membranes, reddish-orange ; the nails black.

The whole length about twenty inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the wing ten inches; the second quill-
feather the longest.

Adult males in summer change the green colour of the
head and neck to brown, spotted with very dark brown ;
back and scapulars dusky; breast and belly ferruginous,
spotted with black ; legs orange.

Females have the head and neck mottled with two shades
of brown; the feathers on the upper surface of the body
darker brown in the centre, with light brown edges and tips ;
under surface of the body pale brown.

Young males at first resemble females, changing by slow

SHOVELER. 153

degrees to the true distinctive plumage of the sex, but do
not attain it till after the old males have completed their
change under the influence of the autumn moult.

The tube of the trachea in the Shoveler male is about
seven inches long, and nearly uniform in size throughout its
length, with a small hollow bony protuberance on the left
side, from which it will be observed by the figure below
that one bronchial tube goes off to the lobe of the lungs
on its own side; the other bronchial tube comes off from
the right inferior portion of the bone of divarication at the
bottom of the trachea.

The second figure below represents the lower part of the
trachea, and the bronchial tubes in the female Shoveler, in
which, as in all the other females of the Anatide, there is
no bony enlargement.

arr

CEE

154 ANATID#.

NATATORES. ANATID#.

THE GADWALL.

Anas strepera, Gadwall Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 275.

o fy The Gadwall, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

‘9 ox s - Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 364.

Ms 8 “> 73 Fiem. Brit. An. p. 124,
Chauliodus* ,, Common ,, Setny, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 301.
Anas a The i Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 231.

Ae = 55 %5 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. viii.

ae A Canard chipeau. Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 837.

Tue Gapwaut, or Grey Duck, as the term is intended to
imply, is a rare species, occurring sometimes in winter, but
more frequently in the spring, rather than at any other season
of the year, and then only in very limited numbers. Mon-
tagu mentions that during the many years he devoted to
observing and collecting British Birds, he was never able
to obtain a recent specimen. Examples are, however, occa-

* Genus Chauliodus of Swainson, 1831,

GADWALL. P55

sionally to be met with on our eastern coast, and not un-
commonly in the London markets, but some of these latter
birds are very probably brought from Holland, where they
are known to be rather common, and from whence a con-
siderable quantity of wild fowl of different sorts is sent to
this country for sale throughout the season for working
decoys. Sir William Jardine mentions, in a note appended
to this species in his edition of Wilson’s American Ornitho-
logy, that in Holland, in September and October this is the
most common duck in the markets, and that they were ob-
served to be abundant on the lakes. ‘The eastern parts of
Europe seem to be the more favourite localities with this
species. M. Vieillot says that it is not uncommon on the
coast of France in the month of November, if the weather
is rough. In Switzerland, according to Professor Schinz, it
is more frequently seen in autumn than in winter. At
Genoa and in Italy it is observed rather as a bird of passage,
in spring and in autumn. The Zoological Society have re-
ceived specimens, sent by Sir Thomas Reade, from North
Africa. Messrs. Dickson and Ross found this species at
Erzerum in March. The Russian naturalists observed it
in the countries of the Caucasus: and Colonel Sykes includes
it in his Catalogue of the Birds of the Dukhun, where it is
seen in flocks. It is said to be abundant in the vast marshes
of the North of Europe, but does not go far to the west of
the Baltic, as M. Nilsson says that it is rare in Sweden ;
and Mr. Dann tells me that he never met with this species
in Norway or Lapland. As might be expected, it is rare
in the western parts of the British Islands ; it has but rarely
been killed in Ireland; only occasionally in Cornwall or
Devon, but more frequently in Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Cam-
bridge, and Norfolk.

Mr. Proctor, subcurator at the University Museum, Dur-
ham, who visited Iccland a few summers since, sent me word

156 ANATIDE.

that the Gadwall is not common there; he only obtained
one nest, composed of dry grass and down, and containing
five eggs; this was placed near the edge of the fresh-water,
in a marsh near Myvat on the north side of Iceland.

This species is described by various writers on the Birds
of North America and the United States as being found
from the fur countries as low as South Carolina.

The Gadwall, like the other ducks of this division with
long and pointed wings, has a vigorous and rapid flight, but
appears to dislike exposure, and hides itself among thick
reeds and aquatic herbage. This is observed to be the
habit of a pair in the Gardens of the Zoological Society,
which mostly conceal themselves in the long grass on the
islands of the ornamental water in which they are confined.
These birds bred there in the season of 1839, and again in
1841, laying seven or eight eggs. One egg left unhatched
in the nest was of a uniform buffy white colour, tinged with
green, and measured two inches two lines in length, by one
inch eight lines in breadth. These Ducks feed on vegetable
matter, aquatic insects, and small fish.

In the adult male the beak is lead colour; irides hazel ;
the head and upper part of the neck light brown, speckled
with darker brown; back grey, produced by an alternation
of darker and lighter coloured grey lines; the point of the
wing, and the small coverts chestnut, varied with orange-
brown ; the greater coverts almost black ; primaries nearly
black ; the secondaries similar, but the outer webs forming
the speculum white ; tertials pointed, and of two shades of
brownish grey, the darker colour occupying the centre of
each feather, the lighter colour forming the margin; rump
and upper tail-coverts bluish-black : tail-feathers dark brown,
with lighter coloured edges; lower part of the neck in front,
and on the side dark grey, each feather ending in a half

circle of lighter grey ; breast and belly white; sides, flanks,

GADWALL. 157

and vent, covered with two shades of grey in short lines ;
under tail-coverts bluish-black ; legs, toes, and their mem-
branes, orange ; claws black.

The female has the head and upper part of the neck
spotted with dark brown, on a surface of pale brown; the
alternate crescentic bands on the lower part of the neck
in front dark brown, and pale brown, but the bands broader
than in the male; under surface of the body white ; lower
part of the neck behind, and the upper surface of the body,
brown, the feathers edged with paler brown; wing-coverts
brown, with paler margins ; speculum like that of the male ;
tail-feathers of dark brown, with edges and tips of pale
buffy brown and white.

The young birds of the year at the Zoological Gardens,
compared with the old birds, are of a more uniform reddish-
brown colour above, speckled with dark brown; the middle
of each feather also dark brown.

The windpipe of the Gadwall is rather small in calibre,
with a slight enlargement of the tube about two inches above
the bony protuberance as here shown. ‘The voice of this
species is loud, and hence it obtained the name of strepera.

158 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATID&.

THE PINTAIL DUCK.

Anas acuta, — Pintail Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 266.
99 a5) . _ Monracu, Ornith. Dict.
50 3 3 A Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 372.
5 cs The Cracker, Fem. Brit. An. p. 122.
Querquedula* ,, Common Pintail, Srvsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 311.
Anas BA The a Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 232.
Dafila caudacuta,+ Pintail Duck, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. v.
Anas acuta, Canard pilet, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 838.

Tis handsome duck is a winter visiter to this country,
and is one of the first among those species which are taken
when the decoys begin to be worked in October. It remains
here through the winter till spring, and is obtained by wild-
fowl shooters on the coast, as well as by fen-men on the
rivers and Jakes of the interior; its flight is rapid. It is

* Querquedula, Selby, 1833. + Dajila, Leach and Stephens, 1824.

PINTAIL DUCK, 159

observed to feed by preference in shallow water, and it
selects plants, insects and their larvee, and mollusea. Sir
William Jardine mentions having once shot two, while they
were feeding in the evening on a wet stubble field, in com-
pany with the common wild-duck. This species is one of
the best of our various ducks for the table; the flesh is
excellent, and in great esteem. The Pintails, however, do
not breed readily in confinement; neither the Zoological
Society nor the Ornithological Society have succeeded in
this point with the Pintail Duck, though both parties retain
several pairs on the canal, ponds, and islands, apparently well
adapted to their habits, and where the males constantly un-
dergo that remarkable summer change in their plumage which
renders them for a time more like their females in appearance
than any other species in which this change is observed.
This alteration commences in July, partly effected by some
new feathers, and partly by a change in the colour of many
of the old feathers. At first one or more brown spots appear
in the white surface on the front of the neck; these spots
increase in number rapidly, till the whole head, neck, breast,
and under surface have become brown; the scapulars, wing-
coverts, and tertials, undergo, by degrees, the same change
from grey to brown. I have seen a single white spot re-
maining on the breast as late as the 4th of August; but
generally by that time the males can only be distinguished
from females of the same species by their larger size, and
their beak remaining of a pale blue colour. In the female
the bill is dark brown. I have seen a male Pintail, confined
in the hutch of a dealer throughout the summer, that did not
exhibit any change at all. The following is Montagu’s de-
scription of a male Pintail, after he had thrown off the mas-
culine plumage, taken on the 19th of August :—“ Bill as
usual; top of the head, and from thence down the back of
the neck, dusky and pale ferruginous, intermixed in minute

160 ANATIDE.

streaks, paler on the forehead ; sides of the head and throat
brown, with minute dusky specks tinged with ferruginous ;
the front and sides of the neck brown, with dusky black
spots, which are minute on the upper part, becoming larger
by degrees downwards, where they are also more distinct ;
the breast and belly very pale brown, with more distant
dusky spots; the back and scapulars dusky black, with pale
margins, each feather having a transverse bar of white near
the tip; the longer scapulars are only margined with rufous
white, and some are powdered with white; the rump, like
the back, but these feathers gradually lose the white bar as
they approach the tail, so that the tail-coverts are only
margined with white; the feathers on the sides of the body
being large, have broad margins, with the middle dusky
black, in which is either a ferruginous white bar, or two
spots, one on each side of the shaft; the prime quills dusky
grey as usual; the speculum changeable green, or copper,
tipped with white, a violet bar dividing the green from the
white ; the first tertial is brown on the inner web, grey on
the outer near the shaft, and a broad margin of violet; the
rest of the tertials are brown, dashed with cinereous black
near the shafts; the coverts of the wings plain dark cinereous,
the largest series tipped with bay; the tail consists of sixteen
dusky feathers, dashed with cinereous, gradually becoming
darker towards the middle feathers, which rather exceed the
next in length, making the tail regularly cuneiform; vent,
and under tail-coverts rufous white, with distant black spots.”

At the annual autumn moult the males again assume with
their new feathers the colours peculiar to their sex, but the
assumption is gradual. White spots first appear among the
brown feathers on the front of the neck; by the end of the
second week in October the front of the neck and breast is
mottled with brown and white; at the end of the third week
in October a few brown spots only remain on the white.

PINTAIL DUCK. 161

These birds form their nests in rushes and strong herbage,
producing seven or eight eggs, which are greenish white in
colour, and rather elongated in form, measuring two inches
one line in length, by one inch five lines in breadth. Mon-
tagu mentions ‘that the notes of the Pintail are extremely
soft and inward; the courting note is always attended with
a jerk of the head; the other greatly resembles that of a very
young kitten. In the spring the male -Pintail indicates his
feelings by suddenly raising his body upright in the water, and
bringing his bill close to his breast, uttering at the same time
a soft note. This gesticulation is frequently followed by a
singular jerk of the hinder part of the body, which in turn is
thrown up above the water.” Montagu mentions also that
Pintails have bred in confinement; and Lord Stanley in-
formed him he had a hybrid brood produced two seasons fol-
lowing between a female Pintail and a male Wigeon ; the hy-
brid birds laid eggs during two successive seasons, but they
were unproductive. In December 1831, the Honourable
Twiselton Fiennes exhibited at the Zoological Society a
specimen of a hybrid Duck, bred between a male Pintail and
a common Duck. It was one of a brood of six, several of
which were subsequently confined with the male Pintail from
which they sprung, and produced young. A specimen of a
female of this second brood was also exhibited.—Zool. Pro-
ceedings, 1831, page 158.

The Pintail has been killed occasionally in different parts
of Ireland in winter. It is rare in Wales, Cornwall, and
Devon; more common on the coasts of Dorsetshire and
Hampshire, particularly from Poole harbour to Lymington,
where it is called the Sea Pheasant, on account of the length
of its tail, and where it is seen in small flocks during winter.
It occurs also occasionally in the marine and fenny districts
of the eastern counties. The figure of the male on the fore-
ground in the illustration of the species here given, was taken

VOL. III. M

162 ANATIDE,

from a fine specimen, killed in Cambridgeshire, now in the
collection of Dr. Thackeray, the Provost of King’s College.

The Pintail is rather rare in the extreme north of Eng-
land, and in Scotland. Mr. Robert Dunn, in his useful
little book, says, I never met with this bird in Shetland, but
it is tolerably plentiful in Orkney, particularly in the island
of Sanda. It frequents the inland lakes more than the sea-
shore, and leaves these islands early in the spring. Richard
Dann, Esq. tells me that the Pintail Duck is common in
Lapland, and at the head of the Bothnian Gulf during the
summer months. It breeds late; I saw on the Ist of July,
1838, a large flock, both males and females, in a lake near
Lulea, which had evidently not yet dispersed for breeding.
In the Dofre Fiell mountains they are tolerably numerous in
May, but pass on to the north. They do not appear, how-
ever, in the autumn on their return from thence, and from
their not appearing on the western coast in autumn but
rarely, I am induced to think their migration is southerly in
autumn, and as winter advances westerly. They are by no
means shy or difficult of access. The young are five or six
in number.

This species is said to be common in Russia, Germany,
Holland, and France. In Spain it occurs at Lake Gallo-
canta, in Arragon, where it is called collilargo. It is seen
at Genoa twice annually on its passage; and in Italy Savi
says it appears at the beginning of winter and remains till
spring. Mr. Strickland saw this species at Smyrna in winter.
Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent the Zoological Society speci-
mens from Erzerum, that were killed there at the end of
March; and the Russian naturalists found this Duck in the
vicinity of the Caspian Sea. It is said to be found in China
and Japan.

The Pintail is included in the Catalogue of the birds of

the Faro Islands ; and Mr. Proctor says that a few breed in

PINTAIL DUCK. 163

Iceland, laying from six to ten eggs, in a nest placed among
reeds and thick herbage ; it is also found in North America
and the United States.

The appearance of the adult male in July, August, and
September, has been already noticed. In winter the bill is
lead grey on the sides, part of the central ridge and the base
brownish-black ; irides dark brown; head, cheeks, chin, sides,
and upper half of the neck in front rich dark brown; nape
and back of the neck the same, the occipital portion tinged
with purple; back, scapulars, the part before the wings,
and the smaller coverts, rich grey, produced by fine un-
dulating alternate lines of greyish-white and bluish-black ;
primaries greyish-brown ; secondaries black, the end of the
outer web of each forming a speculum of dark green; greater
wing-coyerts ash-brown, tipped with reddish-buff and white ;
tertials elongated, black in the centre, with a white lateral
margin on the outer web, and a grey one on the inner; tail-
coverts ash grey; the elongated tail-feathers black; the
others dark brown, margined with white ; from the occipital
portion of the neck on each side descends a white stripe, which
becoming broader as it passes downwards, extends in front
over the whole of the lower portion of the neck, breast, belly,
and part of the flanks; the sides grey; vent and under tail-
coverts velvet black ; legs, toes, and their membranes, black-
ish-brown.

The whole length of the male, somewhat influenced by
the tail-feathers, is from twenty-six to twenty-eight inches.
From the carpal joint to the end of the wing ten inches and
a half; the first quill-feather the longest in the wing.

The female has the head reddish-brown ; the neck pale
brown, both parts speckled with very dark brown; upper
surface of the body dark brown; each feather almost black
in the centre, and pale brown on the margin ; tail-feathers
also dark brown, varied with pale brown ; no appearance of

M 2

164 ANATIDE.

white lines on the sides of the neck; under surface of the
body nearly uniform pale brown.

The length of the windpipe in this species is about nine
inches and a half, the diameter of the tube slightly enlarged
about an inch aboye the bony labyrinth, the form of which is
figured below.

BIMACULATED DUCK. 165

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE BIMACULATED DUCK.

Anas glocitans, Bimaculated Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 272.
Bewicr, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 378.
35 BS i ys Fiem. Brit. An. p. 125.
Querquedula ,, a Teal, Sextny, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 321.
Anas A - Duck, JeEnyns, Brit. Vert. p. 232.
He a Le Teal, Govutn, Birds of Europe, pt. xvii.
Canard glousseur, TEmm, Man.d’Ornith. pt. iv. p.533.

9? 99 ”? >

2? >?

Tue British historical notice of this prettily marked duck
was thus given by Mr. Vigors, in November 1824.* “The
male of this species was first described by Pennant in his
British Zoology, under the name of Bimaculated Duck, and
introduced as an inhabitant of the British Islands, in the
following words :—‘'Taken in a decoy in 1771, and com-
municated to me by Edward Poore, Esq. The same bird
was afterwards described and figured by Dr. Pallas, in the
Acta Stockholmiensia for 1779, as a native of Siberia, fre-

* Linnean Transactions, vol. xiv. p. 560.

166 ANATIDE.

quenting Lake Baikal and the River Lena; and was named
by him Anas glocttans. On the authority of Mr. Pennant
the species has subsequently been included among the birds
of Great Britain, by writers on British Ornithology ; but no
further account has reached us of the specimen alluded to
by that distinguished naturalist, nor has it been ascertained
whether it was preserved after it was communicated to him.
The specimen of both male and female, from which I have
taken the description, were sent up from a decoy near
Maldon in Essex, to Leadenhall market, in the winter of
1812-13. Here they were observed by a respectable natu-
ralist, Mr. George Weighton, of Fountain Place, City-road,
who immediately purchased them and set them up. From
his collection they have subsequently passed into mine.
There can be little doubt of the two birds being sexes of
the same species. They agree in all the essential particulars
that serve to identify the species of this family ; their bill,
legs, and feet, exactly according in structure, and the colour-
ing and markings of the speculum on the wings, a distinguish-
ing character among the Anatide, being precisely the same.
We have moreover, in favour of this conclusion, the negative
evidence that the other sex of neither of these birds has until
now been ascertained; and we have the positive evidence
that boih these specimens were taken in the same decoy and
at the same time.”

Such was the account of this species, furnished by one of
our most distinguished naturalists at that time, and but little
has been learned since. Of its habits or its nidification,
nothing, that I am aware of, is known. Mr. Proctor sent
me word that he saw this species at Iceland, but could not
obtain it. M. Temminck, including a notice of it in the
fourth part of his Manual, has furnished some particulars of
its plumage, which will be given here after the description of
the adult male. I looked in vain for any account of this

BIMACULATED DUCK. 167

rare species in the Natural History Catalogues of the Russian
Expeditions towards the Caucasus.

The following is Mr. Selby’s description of the adult male,
taken from the specimen. ‘* Bill blackish-grey, passing to-
wards the base and edges into orange-yellow. Front, crown,
and occiput, very deep reddish-brown, glossed with purplish-
black, and passing upon the hind part of the neck into deep
violet-purple. Between the bill and eyes, and behind the
ear-coverts, are two large irregular patches of chestnut-brown,
margined and varied with white. Sides of the neck and
cheeks glossy duck-green, the rest of the upper part of the
neck, and sides of the breast, reddish-brown, with oval black
spots. The middle part of the breast pale reddish-brown,
also spotted with black. Ground colour of the mantle pale
sienna-yellow, undulated with black lines. Scapulars the
same, tipped with glossy Scotch-blue. Wing-coverts hair-
brown, the lower range having pale wood-brown tips. Spe-
culum dark green, glossed with purple. Upper and under
tail-coverts greenish-black, glossed with purple. Tail wedge-
shaped, with the two middle feathers black, narrow, acumi-
nate, and much longer than the rest, which are hair-brown,
margined with white. Belly and abdomen yellowish-white,
with undulating black lines, most distinct upon the flanks.
Legs and feet pale orange.”

The whole length fifteen inches and three-quarters. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing eight inches and four
tenths.

M. Temminck says that ‘the males of this species appear
to vary very much in the degree of purity of the tints of their
plumage, and in the colour and form of the two large spots
on the neck. He has seen one male bird covered in part
only with the variegated plumage of that sex, while all the
rest was like that of the female, but dotted here and there
with some feathers of the male. The top of the head alone

168 ANATIDE.

exhibited some red colour at the tip of the feathers, and the
rest black ; the metallic green also being clouded with black,
at the end of white feathers. Probably, adds the author, a
young male, or perhaps a male in the moult.”

The female, according to Mr. Selby, has “‘ the chin and
throat pale buff. Head and neck the same, but with spots
and streaks of black, those upon the crown of the head being
larger and more distinct. Lower part of the neck, and sides
of the breast, pale yellowish-brown, with blackish-brown
spots. Flanks variegated with yellowish-brown, and _black-
ish-brown. Upper parts blackish-brown, the feathers being
deeply margined with reddish-white, and pale yellowish-
brown. Lesser wing-coverts hair-brown, with the lower tier
deeply tipped with pale reddish-brown. The upper half of
the speculum green, with purple reflections ; the lower half
velvet black, with white tips to the feathers. Quills and tail
hair-brown, the latter margined with white and reddish-white.
Legs orange.

This species, it has been observed, has been confounded
by some authors with the Japan Teal, Anas formosa, but
Anas glocitans, though marked something like it on the head
and neck, is a much larger bird, and the two species could
scarcely be confounded together by those who had ever had
the opportunity of seeing both.

WILD DUCK. 169

NATATORES. ANATIDA.

THE WILD DUCK.

Anas boschus, The Mallard, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 258.
rs 55 Wild Duck, Mont. Ornith. Dict.
3 is =e an Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ul. p. 342.
A ae Common ,, Fre. Brit. An. p. 123.
Be * » Wild ,, Setzy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11, p. 305.
3 5 The Mallard, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 233.

Common Wild Duck, Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvi.
Canard sauvage. Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. il. p. 835.
From the evidence of Pennant and others it appears cer-
tain that the Wild Duck was formerly much more numerous
in the British Islands than it is at present. To the progress
of draining, and the consequent extension of agriculture this
change may be greatly attributed, and though a few pairs of
this handsome and valuable species may still remain here to

170 ANATID&.

breed during summer on the margins of rivers and lakes in
many counties, these bear but a very small proportion to the
numbers which annually visit this country from high northern
latitudes during winter. Particular spots, or decoys, in the
fen countries, are let to the fowlers at a rent of from five
pounds to thirty pounds per annum; and Pennant instances
a season in which thirty-one thousand two hundred Ducks,
including 'Teals and Wigeons, were sold in London only,
from ten of these decoys near Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire.

Two illustrations, reduced in size, from designs which
appeared in the Penny Magazine, of February 1835, which
exhibit the screens, the net, and the mode of proceeding,
will enable the reader, with a short description, to under-
stand the process.

The wild birds are enticed from that portion of the lake
near the wide open mouth of the tunnel by means of the dog,
the decoy ducks, and the corn used in feeding them in, till

WILD DUCK. i hrg |

the decoyman has worked them sufficiently up the pipe to
enable him to show himself at one of the openings between
the wild birds and the entrance from the lake, the oblique
position of the reed screens enabling all the birds in the pipe
to see him, while none that are on the lake can. The wild-
fowl that are in sight hasten forward, their retreat being cut
off by the appearance of the man whom they dare not pass.
The decoyman then moves on to the next opening, waving
his hat if necessary, and the wild birds are thus driven along
till they enter the tunnel net and are all taken, a twist of the
net prevents them getting back. ‘The decoyman then takes
the net off from the end of the pipe with what fowl he may
have caught, takes them out one at a time, dislocates their

necks, hangs the tunnel on to the net again, and all is ready
for working afresh.

Iam indebted to the Rev. Richard Lubbock for the fol-
lowing account of the mode of making a decoy, supplied him
by a friend in Norfolk.

172 ANATIDE.

In making a decoy it is necessary to have from an acre
and a half to three or four acres of water, in a quiet place
surrounded by plantation ; the water should be in the form of
a star, making six equal divisions of the compass; in these
six recesses must be made six pipes: they are constructed by
digging cuts in the land something in the form of a semi-
circle covered over with bows, and a net gradually tapering
to the end, at which must be placed a tunnel net, to be taken
off when the fowl are driven into it. On each side of the
pipe are screens made of reed to shelter the person when
working the decoy; the outer side of the circle of the pipe
is the one on which the person walks who is decoying the
fowl, and in the screens on that side must be divisions for
the dog to pass over, and also for the man to appear at when
driving the fowl.

The water forming the decoy should be surrounded with
a fence of reeds three or four feet high to prevent the decoy
ducks from getting out of it. About midsummer is the time
to put them into the water, and commence training them,
which is a very important part in the art of decoying ; they
should be young birds and made very tame, taught to come
to any pipe from all parts of the water whenever they are
whistled, and to prevent them flying they should be pinioned.

In working a decoy it is best to go to that pipe at which
the wind blows from the tunnel net to the bend of the pipe ;
by doing so all scent of the person at work is carried away
from the fowl in the pipe, and as all wild-fowl by choice rise
head to wind, there are generally more taken with the wind
in that direction than any other. During the time the wea-
ther is open they are taken almost entirely by means of the
dog, but as soon as the frost sets in they are taken by feeding
them in the pipe, and keeping a piece of water constantly

open near it.

WILD DUCK. 173

The reason in favour of a small piece of water for a decoy,
not exceeding three or four acres at the most, is, that when
thus confined in extent you can almost always work fowl,
but if a large lake is made a decoy, there may be thousands
of ducks on the water, but none near enough to a pipe to
regard the dog* or the decoy ducks.

Bewick, in his excellent ornithological work, has given a
plan of one pipe of a decoy, with zigzag markings showing
the situation and position of the screens formed of reeds, by
which the fowler and his trained dog are hid from the sight
of the wild birds, an outline only of which is here introduced.

The Duck and Mallard begin to congregate in the decoy
soon after midsummer, but these are the fowl that are bred in
the neighbourhood. About the first week in September the
Teal begin to come, and about the beginning of October, if
easterly winds prevail, there is generally a flight of fowl from
foreign countries, composed of Ducks, Wigeon, Dunbirds,
Teal, with a few of the Shoveler and Pintail Ducks; but the

* The well-trained dog moves the birds from the banks when they are
sluggish, and is otherwise useful when they are within the mouth of the pipe.

174 ANATIDE.

principal flight of foreign fowl does not arrive till the weather
becomes severe; at that time all sorts arrive, with the ex-
ception of the Garganey, which we do not see before the
spring of the year, and then only for a short time previously
to the different descriptions of wild-fowl migrating to other
countries.

The Wild Duck is an early breeder ; and Mr. Waterton,
in his published essay on this species, considers that the old
birds remain pairs through the entire year; and that the
young ones, which have been hatched in the preceding spring,
choose their mates long before they depart for the Arctic
regions in the following year. With his usual felicity of
expression this gentleman observes, ‘‘ I have a favourite
hollow oak tree on a steep hill, into which I can retire to
watch the movements of the pretty visitors. From this I
can often see a male and female on the water beneath me,
nodding and bowing to each other with as much ceremony
as though they were swimming a minuet, if I may use the
term. Hence I conclude that there is mutual love in the
exhibition, and that a union is formed.”

The nest is composed of grass, intermixed and lined with
down, and is placed on the ground, sometimes near the mar-
gin of rivers or lakes, at other times a considerable distance
from water. I have known the nest of the Wild Duck to
be found in a field of young wheat, sometimes in a thick
hedge row, or in a wood. Occasionally the duck will make
her nest at a considerable elevation from the ground. One
mentioned by Mr. Tunstall, at Htchingham, in Sussex, was
found sitting upon nine eggs, on an oak twenty-five feet from
the ground. The author of the Rural Sports records an
instance of a duck taking possession of the deserted nest of
a hawk in a large oak ; and Montagu makes mention of one
that deposited her eggs in the’ principal fork of a large elm
tree, and brought her young down in safety. Mr. Selby

WILD DUCK. 175

records an instance, within his own knowledge, and near his
own residence, ‘‘ where a Wild Duck laid her eggs in the
old nest of a crow, at least thirty feet from the ground. At
this elevation she hatched her young; and as none of them
were found dead beneath the tree, it was presumed she carried
them safely to the ground in her bill, a mode of conveyance
known to be frequently adopted by the Hider Duck.” I
have a note of a nest with fifteen eggs, upon which the female
was sitting hard, just ready to hatch, on the 3rd of May.
The eggs are of a greenish-white colour, smooth on the sur-
face, two inches three lines and a half long, by one inch seven
lines in breadth. The young ducks are two months or ten
weeks before they can fly, and formerly advantage was taken
of this inability, to have, in the fens, an annual driving of
the young ducks before they took wing. Numbers of people
assembled, who beat a vast tract, and forced the birds into a
net placed at the spot where the sport was to terminate. A
hundred and fifty dozens have been taken at once; but this
practice being supposed to be detrimental, has been abolished
by act of Parliament.— Pennant.

These birds feed on grain, or seeds, worms, slugs, insects,
and small fish. As soon as the female begins to sit the
males leave them, and soon after undergo that remarkable
change in the colour of their plumage, which has already
been referred to in the males of several species belonging to
this division of this extensive family.

The change in the Mallard is thus characteristically de-
scribed by Mr. Waterton from personal observation.

‘¢ At the close of the breeding-season the drake undergoes
a very remarkable change of plumage; on viewing it, all
speculation on the part of the ornithologist is utterly con-
founded ; for there is not the smallest clue afforded him, by
which he may be enabled to trace out the cause of this strange
phenomenon. ‘To Him alone, who has ordered the Ostrich

176 ANATIDE.

to remain on the earth, and allowed the Bat to range through
the ethereal vault of heaven, is known why the Drake, for a
very short period of the year, should be so completely clothed
in the raiment of the female, that it requires a keen and
penetrating eye to distinguish the one from the other.
About the 24th of May, the breast and back of the Drake
exhibit the first appearance of a change of colour. In a few
days after this, the curled feathers above the tail drop out,
and grey feathers begin to appear amongst the lovely green
plumage which surrounds the eyes. Every succeeding day
now brings marks of rapid change. By the 23rd of June
scarcely one single green feather is to be seen on the head
and neck of the bird. By the 6th of July every feather of
the former brilliant plumage has disappeared, and the male
has received a garb like that of the female, though of a some-
what darker tint. In the early part of August this new
plumage begins to drop off gradually, and by the 10th of
October the Drake will appear again in all his rich magni-
ficence of dress; than which scarcely anything throughout
the whole wild field of nature can be seen more lovely, or
better arranged to charm the eye of man. This description
of the change of plumage in the Mallard has been penned
down with great care. I enclosed two male birds in a coop,
from the middle of May to the middle of October, and saw
them every day during the whole of their captivity. Perhaps
the moulting in other individuals may vary a trifle with re-
gard to time. Thus we may say that once every year, for
a very short period, the Drake goes, as it were, into an
eclipse, so that, from the early part of the month of July, to
about the first week in August, neither in the poultry yards
of civilized man, nor through the vast expanse of Nature’s
wildest range, can there be found a Drake in that plumage
which, at all other seasons of the year, is so remarkably

splendid and diversified.”

WILD DUCK. ye

The Wild Duck may be called resident in Ireland, from
its breeding there, and some being to be met with at all
seasons. The same may be said of it in England and in
Scotland. Richard Dann, Esq. in his notes to me on this
species, says, ‘‘the Wild Duck is common over the whole
of Norway and Sweden, but is found only as a straggler, or
in very small numbers, within the Arctic Circle. I have seen
them at Quickiock, and at Juckasiervi, but there they are
rare. Their great breeding places are the numerous shallow
reedy lakes at the head of the Bothnian Gulf; they seem
naturally to prefer the vicinity of cultivated districts and feed
much on the corn in August and September. ‘They are also
found in the mountainous parts of Norway, and breed as high
as the birch tree grows. ‘The young and the females migrate
south first, the old males remaining until they have recovered
their full plumage, and at the end of September are some-
times to be seen in flocks of three or four hundred together.
They remain in considerable numbers among the islands on
the western coast of Sweden till the sea freezes.” The Wild
Duck is common algo over the other parts of the Continent
of Europe; is found eastward as far as Japan; westward
over North America and the United States, and was ob-
tained by Captain Beechey during a voyage to the Pacific
and Behring’s Straits; it is probably indigenous to the
greater part of the northern hemisphere.

The Wild Duck is the undoubted origin of many of the
varieties of our domestic ducks; but in these one curious
difference of habit is observable: the Wild Duck is strictly
monogamous ; our most common domestic ducks, on the con-
trary, are polygamous.

In the adult male the bill is yellowish-green ; the irides
hazel ; all the head and the upper half of the neck rich glossy
green ; below that a narrow ring of white; the neck behind

and the back greyish chestnut brown, becoming dark on the

VOL. III. N

178 ANATIDE.

lower part of the back, and bluish-black on the rump and
upper tail-coverts ; the four middle tail-feathers velvet black,
and curled upwards; the rest lancet-shaped, ash-grey in the
middle, margined with white, the most outer feathers having
the broader margins; scapulars a mixture of brown and grey ;
the small wing-coverts ash-brown ; the greater coverts with a
bar of white near the end, and tipped with velvet black; pri-
maries ash-brown; the secondaries the same on the inner
web, the outer portion towards the end of the outer web rich
shining purple, forming the speculum, but bounded by a bar
of velvet black, and tipped with white ; tertials pale chestnut-
brown, the outer webs darkest in colour; front and sides of
the neck below the white ring rich dark chestnut, each feather
at the commencement of winter edged with white ; breast,
belly, vent, and flanks, greyish-white, the sides before and
under the wings marked with delicate grey lines ; under tail-
coverts velvet black; legs, toes, and their membranes orange
yellow. The whole length twenty-four inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing eleven inches and a half;
the second quill-feather the longest in the wing.

The female has the beak greenish-black, towards the end
light yellow-brown, the nail black; irides brown; cheeks,
head, and neck, pale brown, each feather streaked with black
in the middle ; the scapulars, and the whole of the back of
the same two colours, but prettily varied, some of the fea-
thers black in the middle and on the margin, with a light
brown band between the two dark colours; tail-feathers the
same ; small wing-coverts ash-brown ; the large coverts white
towards the end and tipped with velvet black ; primaries
uniform dark brown; the secondaries the same on the inner
web, outer webs forming a purple speculum, ending in a
band of black, and tipped with white ; tertiaries dark brown;
chin and throat pale brown; lower part of the neck richer
reddish-brown, varied with dark brown ; breast, belly, vent,

WILD DUCK. 179
and under tail-coverts pale brown, slightly varied with darker
brown, which occupies a portion of the centre of each feather ;
legs and toes orange, the interdigital membranes darker.

The females are smaller than males, and measure but
twenty-two inches in length; the wing ten inches and a
quarter ; the first and second quill-feathers very nearly equal.

I have seen two instances in which females of this species
have assumed to a considerable extent the appearance of the
plumage of the Mallard, even to the curled feathers of the
tail. One of these birds, in my own collection, was given
me when alive by my kind and liberal friend John Morgan,
Esq. In this female the beak was yellowish-brown ; the
head and upper part of the neck a mixture of green and
brown; the white ring below perfect ; the lower part of the
neck and the breast chestnut-brown ; the upper surface of the
body a mixture of ash-brown and dark brown; the under
surface dull white. When this bird was examined after
death the sexual organs were found to be diseased, as in the
cases of the Hen Pheasant, mentioned in the second volume,
page 285. In the recently published Illustrations to his
Fauna of Scandinavia, M. Nilsson has given a coloured figure
of a Duck in this state of plumage, plate 163, which is called
a barren female, and in which the curled tail-feathers are
made very conspicuous. From the general similarity in these
females to the appearance assumed for a time by healthy
males in July, I am disposed to refer this seasonal change
in males to a temporary exhausted state of the male gene-
rative organs and their consequent diminished constitutional
influence on the plumage.

The windpipe of the Mallard is about ten inches long, the
diameter of the tube is of equal size throughout ; the bony
labyrinth is large, the vignette indicates the form by its
outline, but represents a section of the lower part of the tube
of the trachea, the bony cavity, and the bronchial tubes, as

nQ

180 ANATIDE.

seen from behind, the enlargement in this, as in most of the
other species, being on the left side. The object here in-
tended is to show the course of the air from each lobe of the
lungs to the single portion of the tube of the windpipe. The
column of air on the right side in the bird, and in the repre-
sentation, goes direct from the right lobe of the lungs to the
tracheal tube ; but the column of air on the left side, on
passing through the bronchial tube, is opposed by the de-
scending edge, and being divided by it, a portion is sent in
circles round the inner surface of the cavity before it becomes
united with the air from the other lobe in the tube common
to both. A compound tone of voice is thus produced by
which wild-fowl shooters can distinguish males from females,
of the same species, in the darkest night, whenever the birds
utter their note, and this they frequently do, apparently for
the purpose of keeping together. The resemblance to the
reed or other mouth-piece, and the edge opposed to its inner
orifice, to produce vibration, in some musical wind instru-
ments, will be obvious.

GARGANEY. 181

NATATORES., ANATIDZ.

THE GARGANEY,

oR SuMMER TEAL.

Anes querquedula, Garganey Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 277.

The Garganey, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 390.
bP ee - A Frem. Brit. An. p. 125.

Querquedula circiu, Garganey Teal, Setuy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 318,

Anas querquedula, The Garganey, Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 234,

Garganey Teal, Govuup, Birds of Europe, pt. xiii.

Sarcelle d’été. Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. il. p. 844,

7” 2? »” 2?

? 2?

INTERMEDIATE in size between the Teal and the Wigeon,
the birds next in succession to be described, the Garganey is
rather a rare species, and though I have seen specimens in
October, it more frequently makes its appearance in the
spring, and then only in comparatively small numbers. ‘These
birds are then on their way to the south, as various references
to authorities in the south of Hurope, to be hereafter referred
to, will determine. A few pairs remain occasionally in the

182 ANATIDE.

eastern part of Norfolk to breed, as the Rev. Richard Lub-
bock sent me word that he had shot the flappers in July and
August. The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and
Suffolk Birds, say also, it seems probable that the Garganey
sometimes breeds in Norfolk, as the Rey. Henry Tilney, of
Hockwold, had a pair brought to him on the 6th of May,
in the female of which was a perfect egg. And Mr. Youell
has received a specimen of this duck killed near Yarmouth
in June. Mr. Salmon, an accurate observer, says he has
never succeeded in obtaining a nest of the Garganey on the
western side of Norfolk.

The Garganey has been but rarely killed in Ireland, and
then on the east coast. It is rare in Wales, Cornwall, and
Devon. It is rare also in Kent and Essex; has been
quoted as occurring in Norfolk, and is occasionally sent up
to the London market from the decoys of Lincolnshire. Mr.
Dunn, of Hull, sent me word that he received two in October
1840. Mr. Selby says no instance of its capture further
north in England has come to his knowledge. Dr. Edward
Clarke sent me notice from Edinburgh that six specimens
were shot in Stirlingshire during the last fortnight of March
1841; of these Dr. E. Clarke obtained two examples for his
own collection, and speaks in terms of the highest praise of
the delicate qualities of these birds as food. Mr. Low men-
tions that the Garganey appears in vast numbers in Orkney,
but it is probable that he was mistaken in the species, of
which he mentions that he never could procure a single spe-
cimen for examination. The Garganey is not included among
the Birds of Orkney or Shetland, either by Dr. Patrick Neill
ot Mr. Dunn. Professor Nilsson says it is found in Sweden
in summer; and it is said to inhabit Russia and Siberia.
M. Temminck says it is abundant in Holland, Germany,
and in some parts of the interior. M. Vieillot says it is

found in France in summer, arriving in March, and breeds

GARGANEY. 183

there in April, laying from ten to fourteen eggs, in a nest
formed of dry grass and placed in a bunch of reeds. The
egg is of a buff colour, and measures one inch nine lines in
length by one inch and three lines in breadth. The food of
this species consists of seeds, slugs, insects, and their larve.

The Garganey is found in Spain about Aragon; arrives
at Genoa in flocks, from February to April. Savi says it
visits Italy in March, and remains the summer; and the
Prince of Canino says that at Rome it is common in summer.
Sir Thomas Reade sent the Zoological Society specimens of
the Garganey obtained in the vicinity of Tunis; and it will
be recoliected that this bird has, by some authors, been called
the African Teal. Keith Abbot, Esq. sent specimens from
Trebizond ; the Russian naturalists found it inhabiting the
countries of the Caucasus ; Colonel Sykes includes it among
his Birds of the Dukhun in India; and Mr. Gould mentions
that it has been found on the Himalayan range.

The adult male, as obtained here in March, has the bill
brown; the irides hazel; the forehead, top of the head, and
occiput, dark brown, forming a stripe which ends in a point
half way down the neck behind ; over the eye and ear-coverts,
on each side, and passing to the back of the neck under the
dark brown stripe, isa stripe of white; cheeks, and sides of
the neck nutmeg brown, varied with short hair-like lines of
white; the back dark brown, each feather edged with lighter
brown; scapulars elongated, black, with a central stripe of
white ; wing-coverts bluish-grey ; speculum dull green, mar-
gined with white; primaries brownish-black ; tertials bluish-
grey ; tail greyish-brown ; chin black; neck in front, and the
whole of the breast dark brown, with pale brown crescentic
bands ; belly white; sides and flanks varied with transverse
black lines, bounded by two broad bands ; under tail-coverts
mottled black and white; legs, toes, and their membranes

greyish-brown.

184 ANATIDE.

The whole length sixteen inches. From the carpal joint
to the end of the wing seven inches and three-quarters; the
first quill-feather the longest.

Females are smaller than males, and have the whole of the
head brown, with darker spots and lines; over the eye an
indication of a light band of pale brown; back, scapulars,
and tertials dark brown, with ferruginous edges and white
tips ; wing-coverts brown; speculum dull, between two bars
of white; chin white; breast varied with two shades of
brown, on a surface of greyish-white ; sides and flanks pale
brown, varied with darker brown.

Young males, as usual, resemble females in their first
plumage, attaining their sexual distinctions after their first
moult.

The windpipe of the Garganey is about seven inches in
length, the tube slightly enlarged towards the bottom; in
the form of the bony enlargement it is, however, quite dis-
tinct from that of any other species I am acquainted with.
It is nearly oval, and placed perpendicularly, so as to appear
like a continuation of the tracheal tube, rather than as an
appendage to it; the enlargement is not on the left side, as
in other species, but in the front, and the bronchial tubes
come off from the flattened inner surface which lies upon the
esophagus. The voice, as noticed by Mr. Selby, is said to
be a low hoarse croak.

NATATORES.

~

TEAL. 185

ANATID.

THE TEAL.

Anas crecca, The Teal,

” ” ” ?

Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 279.
Monyr. Ornith. Dict.

Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 392.
Firm. Brit. An. p. 125.

Querquedula ,, Common ,, Sexsy, Brit, Ornith. vol. i. p. 315.
Anas 5 The 2 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 235.
Querquedula ,, Common ,, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ix.

Anas », Sarcelle d'hiver. Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 846.

Tuis very prettily marked species, the smallest of our

Ducks, but one of the best as an article of food, is an early

and constant winter visitor, making its appearance by the end

of September, sometimes sooner than that, and remaining

with us till spring has made considerable progress ; their

186 ANATIDE.

numbers constantly recruited through the winter months by
additional arrivals from the northern parts of Europe, and
our markets in consequence obtain a regular supply from the
various decoys and other modes of capture. Although num-
bers in spring return again to more northern localities to
breed, many remain in this country and pass the summer
near fresh-water lakes. That some of these breed here, also,
in suitable localities, is proved by the fact that in the summer
of 1817, Mr. Youell, of Yarmouth, had four young birds of
the Teal brought to him, which were hatched at Reedham
in Norfolk. The authors of the Catalogue of Norfolk and
Suffolk Birds say also, that very small ones have been ob-
served in company with their parents upon Ranworth Broad,
by Mr. Kerrison of that place ; and that they breed also on
Scoulton Mere. The Rev. Richard Lubbock, of Norfolk,
in his note to me on this species, says, “‘the Teal must, in
some years, either breed abundantly with us, or migrate hither
very early; I have known sixty or seventy Teal come in
small parties to the same plash of water at sundown, by the
first week in August.” ‘The Teal bear confinement well, and
at the Gardens of the Zoological Society, though restricted
to a very small pond with a margin of thick and high grass,
with some low shrubs, have bred regularly for the last five
seasons. The eggs are white tinged with buff, measuring
one inch nine lines in length, by one inch four lines in
breadth. The food of the Teal consists of seeds, grasses,
water plants, and insects in their various states. In confine-
ment they require grain. Some Teal breed about the lakes
of Wales, and a few in Romney Marsh. Mr. Selby, who
has paid attention to the habits of this species in Northum-
berland, says, ‘four indigenous broods, I am inclined to
think, seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the place
in which they were bred, as I have repeatedly observed them

to haunt the same district from the time of their hatching till

TEAL. 187

they separated and paired, on the approach of the following
spring. The Teal breeds in the long rushy herbage about
the edges of lakes, or in the boggy parts of the upland moors.
Its nest is formed of a large mass of decayed vegetable mat-
ter, with a lining of down and feathers, upon which eight or
ten eggs rest.” Dr. Heysham, in his Catalogue of Cumber-
land Animals, says, that a few Teal certainly breed in the
mosses of that county every year.

In Ireland the Teal is found in great numbers throughout
the winter, and a few are resident there all the year. Sir
Robert Sibbald, and other authorities since his time, notice
the Teal as inhabiting the edges of the Scottish lakes; Mr.
Dunn, however, says that it is not numerous either in Orkney
or Shetland, although the most so in winter; but that a few
pairs occasionally remain during summer and breed. They
prefer the inland lakes to the sea-shore. Richard Dann,
Ksq. sent me word that this beautiful little Duck is widely
and numerously dispersed over the whole of Norway and
Sweden, but is most plentiful in the north during the breed-
ing season. It breeds all over Lapland, both western and
eastern, and is very abundant in the Dofre Fiell, within the
range of the birch trees. The eggs vary in number from ten
to fifteen. It breeds also in the cultivated districts in all
the mosses and bogs. Mr. Proctor says the Teal is pretty
common in Iceland. LHastward of Scandinavia it is found
in Russia, and is abundant in Germany, Holland, France,
Spain, and Italy; visits North Africa in winter, and has been
noticed at Smyrna and Trebizond. ‘The Teal was found in
the vicinity of the Caucasian range, by Russian naturalists,
and is included in catalogues of the birds of various parts of
India, China, and Japan. The Teal of North America is
distinct from the Teal of Europe and Asia.

In the adult male Teal the beak is nearly black ; the irides

hazel ; forehead, and a narrow band over the top of the head,

188 ANATIDE.

rich chestnut brown; at the gape and upwards, along the
base of the upper mandible, and from thence high up over
the eye, and then backwards towards the occiput, there is a
narrow line of buff; from the lower edge of the eye to a
point below and behind the ear-coverts, another narrow line
of the same light colour; all the space from the eye between
these two lines, and extending backward to the occiput, forms
a broad patch of rich glossy green; cheeks and sides of the
neck, below the under light coloured line rich chestnut ;
back of the neck, scapulars, and upper part of the back a
mixture of black and white in narrow transverse lines; the
longest of the scapulars and the tertials dark brown ; all the
smaller wing-coverts ash-brown ; the large coverts tipped with
white, forming a bar, two or three of the higher coverts
having their white tinged with bay; primaries dark brown ;
the secondaries forming a speculum of velvet black, green
and purple, tipped with white ; lower part of the back dark
brown; upper tail-coverts almost black, edged with rufous ;
tail-feathers pointed, dark brown ; the chin black; front of
the upper part of the neck chestnut; lower part of the neck
in front partly covered with circular spots of black, on a
ground of white, tinged with pale purple; breast and belly
white ; sides and flanks barred with narrow black and white
lines; central under tail-coverts velvet black ; lateral tail-
coverts delicate buff colour, with a narrow band of velvet
black at the base ; under surface of tail-feathers ash grey ;
legs, toes, and membranes brownish-grey.

The whole length fourteen inches and a half. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing seven inches and a
quarter; the first and second quill-feathers nearly equal ; and
the flight of the species very rapid.

Of male Teal observed constantly last summer, some had
lost the sexual distinctions of the plumage by the 27th of July,
and all were changed by the 4th of August ; remaining like

TEAL. 189

the females, till they acquired new feathers at the autumn
moult. The female has the whole of the head speckled with
dark brown, on a ground colour of light brown ; upper part
of back and the scapulars dark brown, each feather with two
narrow transverse bars of buffy-brown ; wing like the male,
but the speculum has more velvet black, less green, and no
purple colour; chin pale brown; lower part of neck on the
front and sides varied with two shades of brown, in crescentic
marks ; breast white; sides, flanks, belly, and under tail-
coverts dull white, spotted with dark brown.

Many persons have doubtless observed the yellow tinge on
the white feathers of the breast in the Teal, Wigeon, Pin-
tail, Wild Duck, and other wild water fowl, exposed for sale
at the poulterers’ shops. When buying birds for the table I
have usually selected examples so marked, believing them to
be young birds of the year, and have not been disappointed
in their qualities as food.

The trachea of the male Teal is about five inches in
length, the tube rather narrower near the middle than at any
other part ; the bony enlargement of the size and form repre-
sented in the figure below.

190 ANATID.

NATATORES. ANATIDA.

THE WIGEON.

Anas Penelope, The Wigeon, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 273.

9 93 50 ss Mont. Ornith. Dict.
” 59 Ap A Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 366.
” Py) np Ng Firm. Brit. An. p. 124.
Marecu* ,, Common ,, Sexy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 324.
” ae The A Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 236.
” ” ” 3 Gov tp, Birds of Europe, pt. x.
Anas 55 Canard siffleur, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 840.

THe immense number of Wigeons which visit this country
during the winter season render it a valuable species here,
with the additional advantage that it frequents the shores all
round the coast, as well as the rivers, lakes, and fens of the
interior. It is justly in great esteem for the table, and, from

* Mareca of Stephens, 1824.

WIGEON. 191

its abundance, generally sells at a moderate price. Its habits
in some respects resemble those of the Wild Duck, and great
quantities are taken with them in decoys; while for coast
night-shooting, Colonel Hawker says, the Wigeon is like the
fox for hunting, it shows the finest sport of anything in Great
Britain. Ample directions for approaching and getting shots
at these birds on the coast will be found in this gentleman’s
most amusing and instructive work on all that relates to guns
and shooting.

The Wigeon appears first about the end of September or
the beginning of October, and flocks continue to arrive at
intervals till the weather becomes severe. Mr. Waterton
observes that the ‘“* Wigeon is a much more familiar bird
than either the Pochard or the Teal. While these con-
gregate on the water, beyond the reach of man, the Wigeon
appears to have divested itself of the timidity observable in
all other species of wild-fowl, and approaches very near to our
habitations. A considerable time elapsed before I was en-
abled to account satisfactorily for the Wigeons remaining
here during the night; a circumstance directly at variance
with the habits of its congeners, which, to a bird, pass the
night away from the place where they have been staying
during the day. But, upon paying a much closer attention
to it than I had formerly been accustomed to do, I observed
that it differed from them ali, both in the nature of its food,
and in the time of procuring it. The Mallard, the Pochard,
and the Teal, obtain nearly the whole of their nourishment
during the night. On the contrary, the Wigeon procures its
food in the day time, and that food is grass. He who has an
opportunity of watching the Wigeon when it is undisturbed,
and allowed to follow the bent of its own inclinations, will
find that, while the Mallard, the Pochard, and the Teal, are
sporting on the water, or reposing on the bank at their ease,
it is devouring with avidity that same kind of short grass on

192 ANATIDE.

which the Goose is known to feed. Hence, though many
flocks of Wigeons accompany the other water-fowl in their
nocturnal wanderings, still numbers of them pass the whole
of the night here; and this I know to be a fact, by their
singular whistling noise, which is heard at all hours.”

In March and April the Wigeon again moves northward
for the breeding season, and it is only within the last few
years that a small number have been ascertained to remain in
the most northern part of Scotland, to breed about the lakes
of Sutherlandshire. Colonel Hawker says that ‘‘ Wigeon
either choose their mates, or detach themselves into small
trips preparative to so doing, by about Valentine’s day.”
Mr. Selby, in his paper on the Birds inhabiting the county
of Sutherland, says, “‘as the Wigeon had not previously
been detected breeding in Britain, we were much pleased to
observe several pairs upon the smaller lochs near Lairg, which
we concluded had their nests among the reeds and other
herbage which grew in their vicinity. We were not so for-
tunate, however, as to find one here, though diligent search
was made; but afterwards, upon one of the islands of Loch
Laighal, we sprung a female, which was shot from her nest,
containing seven eggs. It was placed in the heart of a large
rush bush, and was made of decayed rushes and reeds, with a
lining of warm down from the bird’s body. The eggs were
smaller than those of the Wild Duck, and of a rich cream-
white colour.” The length two inches and one eighth, by
one inch and a half in breadth. Sir. W. Jardine, who was
one of the exploring party with Mr. Selby in Sutherlandshire,
in June 1834, mentions that ‘‘ Wigeon were seen upon Loch
Shin, Loch Naver, Loch Loyal, and Loch Hope. They
were by no means abundant ; and it is probable that the birds
in this district were at the most southern limit of their breed-
ing stations, and bore no proportion whatever to the immense
flocks which frequent our coasts in winter.” The note of the

WIGEON. 193

Wigeon is a shrill whistle, and in some parts of England it
is in consequence called the Whew Duck: its name in
France, Canard siffleur, has reference to the same circum-
stance. In some books on cookery, and in bills of fare,
Wigeons are called Hasterlings ; and all over Lapland they
are called Grass Ducks. The note of Richard Dann, Esq. in
reference to the Wigeon in Scandinavia, is as follows :—
“This is the most abundant of all the Duck tribe in Lap-
land, frequenting the grassy swamps, lakes, and rivers. ‘They
appear with the first breaking up of the ice, in pairs, and as
soon as the female begins to lay, the male loses his beautiful
plumage, and secretes himself in willow swamps, and in the
most inaccessible morasses; nor does he recover his former
appearance until November or December. The females lay
from five to eight eggs. They also breed in the Dofre Fiell,
as high as the birch grows, and in many other parts of Nor-
way and Sweden, but only in straggling pairs. They migrate
south early in September, appearing in great flocks on the
coast of Norway and Sweden. The young keep among the
rushes and reeds in the lakes; the old birds betaking them-
selves to the shallows on the coast; but they, unlike the
Mallard, entirely leave Sweden in the winter.”

Mr. Proctor sent me word that a few breed in Iceland,
forming their nest generally among low bushes near the edge
of the fresh waters.

The female Wigeon has not been known to breed in con-
finement that I am aware of, but the male has bred with a
Pintailed Duck, and in another instance with a dun-coloured
variety of the Common Duck. A preserved specimen given
me by Richard Dann, Esq. has all the appearance of being
a hybrid between the Wigeon and Common Duck. A few
pairs breed in Holland, according to M. Temminck ; and
these birds are abundant in France and Germany throughout
the winter. They are found in Spain, and are observed at

VOL. III. O

194 ANATIDE.

Genoa on their passage in spring ; and from Italy are said to
go as far south as Egypt. Mr. Strickland saw Wigeon at
Smyrna during winter. It was observed in the vicinity of
the Caucasus, and is found in India and Japan.

In the adult male the bill is brownish-black, tinged with
lead colour ; irides dark brown ; from the eye a green streak
passing backwards; forehead and top of the head cream
white ; the cheeks and hind part of the neck rich reddish
chestnut ; interscapulars, scapulars, and all the back greyish-
white, crossed with irregular zigzag lines of black; upper
tail-coverts freckled with grey ; tail-feathers elongated, point-
ed, and nearly black ; wing-coverts white, tipped with black ;
the primaries uniform dark-brown; the outer webs of the
secondaries form a green speculum edged with black ; the
black outer webs of the tertials broadly edged with white ;
the inner webs hair-brown; chin and neck in front almost
black ; lower part of neck and the space before the wing
pale rufous; under wing, sides, and flanks, marked with
dark transverse zigzag lines on a ground of white; breast,
belly, and vent white ; under tail-coverts velvet black; legs,
toes, and their membranes dark brown.

The whole length eighteen inches. From the carpal joint
or point of the wing, to the end of the longest quill-feather,
ten inches and a half; the length of the first and second
primary quill-feathers nearly equal.

The adult male birds undergo considerable change in their
appearance towards the end of July or the beginning of
August, becoming much more uniform in their general co-
lour, losing some of the most conspicuous external differences
which distinguish males from females, and which are to be
considered as secondary sexual characters.

The female Wigeon has the bill bluish-black ; the irides
brown; head and neck brown, tinged with rufous, and
speckled with dark brown; the back varied with two shades

WIGEON. 195

of brown, that in the centre of each feather the darkest in
colour, the paler brown on the margins tinged with rufous ;
quill and tail-feathers as in the male; under surface of the
body nearly white.

The young male birds of the year are, for a time, in
plumage resembling that of the females.

The tube of the windpipe in the adult male Wigeon is
about six inches in length, and nearly equal in diameter
throughout ; the form of the bony enlargement and the de-
pending bronchial tubes as figured in the vignette below.

—
eo)

6 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

THE AMERICAN WIGEON.

Anas Americana, American Wigeon, |Wuixson, Am. Ornith. vol. vin. p. 86.
Janvine’s edit. vol. iti. p. 109.
Aupvusoy, Ornith. Biog. vol. iv. p. 337.
29 3 5 3 Nurratr1, Man. vol. il. p- 389.
Mareca, ,, - ay Srrpuens, Shaw. Zool. vol. xit. p. 135.
Faun. Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 445.

a” ” ” ”

” ” ” ”

” ” ” ”

Tue occurrence of the American Wigeon in a London
market during the winter of 1837-38, was thus noticed by
Mr. Edward Blyth, in the third volume of the Naturalist,
page 417.

“The American Wigeon is a novelty which was ob-
tained by Mr. Bartlett. He selected it from a row of Com-

mon Wigeons, deeming it, at the time, to be only an acci-

AMERICAN WIGEON. 197

dental variety of the species; there was a female along with
it, which, after some hesitation, he unfortunately left, con-
sidering it only as a variety, but insufficiently diverse to be
worth preserving ; he has since, however, positively recog-
nised the female of the American Wigeon to be identical
with the bird he thus passed over, hesitatingly, in the market.
The dimensions of the male bird were nineteen inches in
length, and thirty-two and a half in extent of wing; the
beak is rather narrower than that of its European relative,
and nearly a quarter of an inch longer; the tracheal laby-
rinth, or rather osseous vesicle, considerably smaller; scarcely
exceeding in magnitude that of a Teal.”

I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Bartlett for the
opportunity afforded me of giving a figure, description, and
measurements from his specimen. I must also refer to Ame-
rican authorities for the habits and localities of this bird.
Wilson says ‘this species is very common in winter along
the whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island, but most
abundant in Carolina, where it frequents the rice plantations.
In Martinico, great flocks take short flights from one rice
field to another, during the rainy season, and are much com-
plained of by the planters. The Wigeon is the constant
attendant of the celebrated Canvass-back Duck, so abundant
in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay. They are said to
be in great plenty at St. Domingo and Cayenne, where they
are called ‘vingeon,’ or ‘gingeon ;’ are said sometimes to perch
in trees ; feed in company, and have a sentinel on the watch,
like some other birds. They feed little during the day, but
in the evenings come out from their hiding places, and are
then easily traced by their particular whistle, or whew, whew.
This soft note, or whistle, is frequently imitated with success,
to entice them within gunshot. They are not known to
breed in any part of the United States; are common in the
winter months along the bays of Egg Harbour and Cape

198 ANATIDE.

May, and also those of the Delaware. They leave these
places in April, and appear upon the coasts of Hudson’s Bay
in May, as soon as the thaws come on, chiefly in pairs; lay
there only from six to eight eggs, and feed on flies and
worms in the swamps; depart in flocks in autumn. ‘These
birds are frequently brought to the market of Baltimore, and
generally bring a good price, their flesh being excellent.
They are of a lively frolicsome disposition, and with proper
attention might easily be domesticated.”

Dr. Nuttall says “he has never seen them anywhere
so numerous as in the Neuse river, round Newbern, forty
miles from the ocean, where, in company with the Canvass-
back and Buffel-head, they are seen constantly in February
and March.”

Mr. Audubon says ‘this Duck is abundant during winter
at New Orleans, where it is much esteemed on account of
the juiciness of its flesh, and is best known by the name of
Zinzin. In the western country, and in most parts of the
eastern and Middle States, it is called the Bald Pate.
While advancing along the shores of the Bay of Mexico, in
April 1837, I and my party observed this species in con-
siderable numbers; and during the whole of our stay in the
Texas, we daily saw, and very frequently procured Wigeons.
There they were found in ponds of brackish water, as well
as im the fresh-water streams. Before we left that country
they were all paired ; and I was informed by the Honourable
M. Fisher, secretary to the Texian Navy, that a good num-
ber of them breed in the maritime districts, along with several
other ducks, and that he annually received many of the young
birds. ‘Their manners at this time fully proved the correct-
ness of the statements of all those who spoke to me on this
subject. Indeed, my opinion is, that some of these birds
also propagate in certain portions of the most southern dis-

AMERICAN WIGEON. 199

tricts of the Floridas, and in the Island of Cuba, as I have
seen Wigeons in the peninsula in single pairs, in the begin-
ning of May.”

Dr. 'Townsend states that it is abundant on the Columbia
River; and Dr. Richardson obtained it as far north as the
Saskatchewan, in May 1827.

In Mr. Bartlett’s bird the beak is black ; the irides hazel ;
behind the eye a green streak passing backward ; forehead
and top of the head dull white ; neck, cheeks, and occiput,
pale brownish-white, freckled with black, the occipital fea-
thers a little elongated ; upper part of the back, the scapulars,
and part of the wing-coverts reddish-brown, each feather
crossed with minute zigzag blackish lines, some of the elon-
gated scapulars falling over the wing-coverts ; lower part of
the back hair-brown ; upper tail-coverts brown, barred with
pale brown ; tail-feathers uniform brown, slightly elongated
and pointed; wing-coverts white, slightly varied with brown ;
the greater coverts tipped with black ; the primaries uniform
brown; the outer webs of the secondaries forming a green
speculum, tipped with black ; outer web of the tertials black-
ish-brown, inner web hair-brown ; lower part of the neck in
front reddish-brown, extending along under the wing to the
flanks, which are barred with dark lines; breast, belly, and
vent white; under tail-coverts brownish-black ; legs, toes,
and their membranes dark brown. The whole length nine-
teen inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing
ten inches ; the second quill-feather the longest in the wing,
but the first almost as long.

Wilson says ‘‘ the female has the whole head and neck
yellowish-white, thickly speckled with black, very little rufous
on the breast ; the back is dark brown. The young males,
as usual, very much like the females during the first season,
and do not receive their full plumage until the second year.

200 ANATIDE.

They are also subject to a regular change every spring and
autumn.”

The lower part of the trachea, here introduced from Mr.
Audubon’s work, is, as noticed by Mr. Blyth, of small size,
and decidedly different in form from that of the European
Wigeon.

EIDER DUCK. 201

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE EIDER DUCK,

or Str. Curupert’s Duck.

Anas mollissima, Eider Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 243.

” » 5 Aa Mont. Ornith. Dict.
>» A 7 mn Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. u. p. 322.
Somateria ,, Common Eider, Fiem. Brit. An. p. 119.
a9 »9 55 aa Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 338.
5 - Eider Duck, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 237.
a3 55 ‘ig s3 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
Anas Hs Canard Eider, Tema. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 848.

Somarenra. Generic Characters.— Bill swollen and elevated at the base ;
extending up on the forehead, where it is divided by an elongated, descending,
angular projection of feathers down the surface. Nostrils lateral, oval, small.

Q02 ANATIDE.

‘

Legs short; feet of four toes, broadly webbed, hind toe with a deeply lobated
membrane. Wings only of moderate length, with the first quill-feather equal
in length to the second,

Tue distinguishing characters, both external and internal,
of the first division of true Ducks, will be found at page 148
of the present volume ; those of the second division of these
birds which now remain to be described are decidedly dif-
ferent, and may be thus stated : —Externally they exhibit the
neck and wings short, the latter only reaching to the origin
of the tail-feathers ; the legs short and compressed ; the hind
toe lobated, with an extended web to the inner toe. They
frequent the sea, or the deep parts of the largest fresh-water
lakes, and have been called Oceanic Ducks ; seldom seen on
land ; their walk embarrassed from the backward position of
the legs, but they dive constantly and with great facility,
taking their prey at various depths below the surface; their
food fish, shelled mollusca, crustacea, and marine insects, but
little or no vegetable production ; their powers of flight mo-
derate. Of their soft parts, the esophagus is capable of great
dilatation; the stomach is a muscular gizzard, but the in-
ternal cavity is large, and the sides comparatively thin. The
ribs are elongated ; and the keel of the breast-bone decreases
in depth, in those species which in their habits most resemble
the Mergansers.

The Eider Duck, though indigenous to some of the north-
ern parts of England, as well as several of the Scottish Is-
lands, is only a winter visiter to the southern portions of the
kingdom, and that too in very limited numbers. It is but
rarely killed in Ireland, and has been seen on the Cornish,
Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and Hampshire coasts. A fine
adult bird was obtained in the London market in January
last. On the other side the Channel, M. Baillon, of Abbe-

ville, procured a female which was killed in Picardy, during

EIDER DUCK. 203

the middle of summer; and Pollidore Roux included the
Kider Duck among the birds found in Provence.

The most southern locality in this country at which this
species is known to breed regularly, is that which was visited
by Pennant in July 1769, and has been frequently visited
by Mr. Selby, namely, the Fern Islands, situated upon the
northern coast of Northumberland. Here, the latter gentle-
man observes, ‘* these birds, if protected, would soon become
very numerous, and might be made a source of productive
wealth, as they afford, in great abundance, that fine and
elastic down known by their name, and which, as an article
of luxury, produces an exorbitant price. This consideration,
however, has hitherto been lost sight of, and the eggs of the
Hider have been taken indiscriminately with those of the
Gull, Guillemot, &c. and sold for a mere trifle to the inha-
bitants of the main land. In consequence, the young annu-
ally produced have been few, and those only of the later
or second hatchings. The last season, however, proved more
fortunate to all the feathered inhabitants of the islands, as
they were protected from extensive depredation by the gen-
tleman employed as architect to erect a light-house upon one
of the outer rocks. A very numerous brood of all the spe-
cies, but particularly of the Hiders, was the consequence, of
this care. About April these birds are seen assembling in
groups along the shores of the main land, from whence they
cross over to the islands early in May. As soon as the
females begin to lay, which is usually about the 20th, the
drakes leave them, and again spread themselves along the
adjoining coast. The usual number of eggs is five, of a pale
asparagus green, and rather large, measuring three inches in
length, by two inches and one line in breadth. The nest is
composed of fine seaweed, and as incubation proceeds, a
lining of down, plucked by the bird from her own body, is

Q04 ANATIDE.

added; this increases from day to day, and at last becomes
so considerable in quantity, as to envelope and entirely con-
ceal the eggs from view, no doubt contributing by its effect,
as a nonconductor of heat, to the perfect evolution of the
fetus. ‘The young, as soon as hatched, are conducted to
the water, and this, in some instances, must be effected by
the parent carrying them in her bill, as I have frequently
seen the nest placed in such situations as to preclude the
possibility of its being done in any other way. Incubation
. lasts amonth. The food of the Eider consists of the young
of the different muscles that cover the rocks, and other spe-
cies of bivalves. The young are reared with difficulty in
confinement, and being very bad walkers, are subject to fre-
quent accidents in the poultry-yard. Like all the Anatide,
possessing a lobated hind toe, they dive with facility, and
remain submerged for a long time.”

The Eider Duck is also called St. Cuthbert’s Duck, from
the circumstance of its breeding there on a rock, called St.
Cuthbert’s Isle, as well as upon other islands which form the
group. ‘*So early as A.D. 635, says the author of Rambles
in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border, a monastery
was established at Lindisfarn, one of these islands, by Aidan,
a Scottish monk, educated in the island of Iona, or Icolmkil,
who exercised the office of bishop in Northumberland. From
this period a succession of bishops continued to preside at
Lindisfarn till about 805, when, in consequence of the mo-
nastery having been several times plundered by the Danes,
the bishop and his brethren abandoned the island, taking
with them the body of St. Cuthbert, which had been interred
in the church, as one of their most precious relics. After
the saint’s body had been in a state of almost perpetual
transit for nearly two centuries, he at length made choice of
Durham, as a final resting-place, and thither the See of
Lindisfarn was transferred, with the remains of St. Cuthbert,

EIDER DUCK. 205

in 995. Though Lindisfarn thus lost its importance as a
bishop’s see, it was not entirely deserted as a place of reli-
gious abode; for a cell of Benedictine monks, dependent on
the abbey at Durham, was afterwards established there, which
continued to the suppression of the monasteries by Henry
the Eighth.” -

Mr. J. Macgillivray, who visited the outer Hebrides in
the summer of 1840, mentions that these birds breed on
several of the islands there, more particularly that called
Haskir. Mr. Bullock brought nest, down, eggs, and young
birds, from Papa Westra, one of the Crkneys, in 1812; and
this species has since been observed on the islands of Orkney
and Shetland by Mr. Drosier, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Dunn, and
others, from 1828 to the present time. Mr. Hewitson men-
tions that the Hider was the most numerous of the Ducks
breeding on some of the islands on the west coast of Norway,
where they are strictly protected. Upon one island which
Mr. Hewitson and his friend visited, in company with the
keeper, the females were sitting in great numbers, and were
so perfectly tame, and on such familiar terms with him, that
they did not appear to be in the least disturbed whilst we
stood by to look at them, and some of them would even
allow him to stroke them on the back with his hand. The
male birds at this time were floating about in hundreds among
the islands, giving the sea a lively and even beautiful appear-
ance. Earl Derby’s principal menagerie keeper, who was
sent to Sweden in the summer of 1839, brought back with
him a brood of young Hiders, which he reared, feeding them
on slugs, and the bodies of shelled mollusca. Several of
these birds are now alive at Knowsley. Hider, Eder, or
Edder, is the name applied to this Duck in Germany,
Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. It is found on the Faro
Islands, at Iceland, at Spitzbergen, and at Nova Zembla.
Mr. Scoresby observes that the specimens seen by him at

206 ANATID&.

Spitzbergen were smaller than those in the seas of Greenland.
To the westward these birds were noticed in Davis’ Straits,
Baftin’s Bay, and on each of the Arctic voyages performed
by Sir Edward Parry and others. The Eider Duck is also
found in the northern parts of North America, as will be
found by a reference to the ornithological works of Dr. Rich-
ardson, Mr. Audubon, and Wilson.

In the adult male the beak is dusky green; the nail
white ; the irides brown; top of the head velvet black; lore
and cheeks white ; ear-coverts and occiput pale green ;_ back,
scapulars, tertials, point of wing, and smaller wing-coverts
white; greater wing-coverts black ; wing primaries and se-
condaries dull black ; the tertials elongated, and falling partly
over them ; rump black ; tail-feathers dull black ; chin and
upper part of neck in front white; lower part of neck pale
buff; breast, belly, sides, and all the under surface black,
except a patch on the flank, which is white; legs, toes, and
their membranes dusky green. The whole length twenty-five
inches. From the point of the wing to the end of the longest
quill-feather eleven inches.

Mr. Robert Dunn says the males vary very much at dif-
ferent seasons of the year: that part which in the winter is
pure white, in the summer becomes mottled with black, in
some birds much more so than in others.

Young males of the Hider are at first like the adult female,
but when changing in their first winter the head and neck are
mottled with two shades of dark brown, with a few white
feathers appearing through in different parts ; lower portion
of neck, and upper part of the back, mottled black and white ;
wing-coverts and tertials becoming white; the rest of the
plumage black ; legs and bill greenish-grey. The pure white
colour is assumed by slow degrees, and the males do not attain
the appearance of adult birds till their third winter.

The female in colour is like the hen of the Black Grouse,

EIDER DUCK. 207

namely, a pale brown, tinged with red, and varied with marks
of darker brown; very similar to the female of the King
Duck hereafter figured ; the quill and tail-feathers dull black.

The windpipe of the male Eider measures nine inches in
length, the tube uniform in size throughout; the bony laby-
rinth and inferior tubes as represented below.

°

208 ANATIDA,

NATATORES. ANATID.

STELLER’S WESTERN DUCK.

Fuligula dispar, Western Pochard, Sertny, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 360.

5 » #5 ss Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 243.

$3 “ », Duck, Gov p, Birds of Europe, pt. xviii.
Polysticta Stelleri, ,, 93 Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 79.
Anas dispar, Canard de Steller, Trem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 547.

A SINGLE example of this rare species of Duck was shot on
the 10th of February 1830, at Caistor, about three miles
north of Yarmouth, in Norfolk, and was soon afterwards
presented to the Norwich Museum by the Rev. George
Steward, as stated by Messrs. C. and J. Paget, in their
Sketch of the Natural History of Yarmouth and its neigh-
bourhood. It has since been noticed by the various authors
above named, whose synonyms are quoted, and by the kind-
ness of Mr. Charles Buckler, who allowed me the use of a

STELLER’S WESTERN DUCK. 209

drawing taken by himself from the bird at Norwich, I am
enabled to give an exact representation of the only British
killed specimen that I am acquainted with. It is a male
very closely approaching the perfect plumage of an adult.

This species of Duck has now been killed three or four
times in Sweden, and once in Denmark. Professor Nilsson,
in his Fauna of Scandinavia, has given coloured figures of
both sexes; and M. Temminck further remarks that it visits
the Eastern parts of the North of Europe, and has occasion-
ally wandered into Germany.

It inhabits Asia and North America; was originally de-
scribed, from specimens obtained by Steller, in Kamtschatka,
where it breeds upon rocks inaccessible to man. Dr. Latham
~ mentions that there was a specimen formerly in the Leverian
Museum. Examples have been brought from the Western
side of North America, and it was in consequence called the
Western Duck, and Anas occtdua. The description of the
plumage of the adult male here given was taken from a
beautiful specimen in the possession of Mr. John Leadbeater.

It is stated of this species that it flies in flocks, and never
enters the mouths of rivers. Its food is marine insects, with
mollusca naked and testaceous.

It will be observed that some of the English authors
quoted under the figure of the bird, have considered it a Fu-
ligula, and have arranged it among the Pochards, not, how-
ever, without some doubts that this would probably be found
not to be its natural situation. The anatomy, which I believe
is as yet unknown, will at some future time indicate the pro-
per location ; but in its general character and appearance, with
its habit of breeding on high and steep rocks, it appears to
me to be more closely allied to the Eider Duck, and I have
accordingly placed it next in succession to that species.

In the adult male the bill is brownish-black ; the irides
pale brown; reund the eye a narrow ring of black ; between

VOL. III. 10

210 ANATID&.

the beak and the eye, and on the occiput, a patch of pale
green; head, cheeks, and part of the neck behind white ;
below the white on the neck there is a collar of black, which
ends in a broad stripe, passing the whole length of the middle
of the back and upper tail-coverts, this latter portion tinged
with raven blue; the wing primaries and tail-feathers brown ;
the secondaries in part white, with a steel-blue outer web
forming a rich speculum ; the terminal portions white; each
tertial feather white on the inner web, rich blue on the outer
web, and curved downwards towards the end: wing-coverts
white ; scapulars elongated, and like the tertials, with the
narrow inner web white, the broader outer web rich blue ;
chin and throat rich brown; below the broad bluish-black
collar is a narrow collar of white, the colour extending over
the sides of the neck to each wing ; just below the point of
the wing, some of the white feathers have black at the tip,
forming a dark patch ; middle of breast and belly rich chest-
nut brown, passing off into a buff colour on the front, sides,
and flanks; vent, and under tail-coverts dark brown ; legs,
toes, and their membranes black ; the hind toe with a deep
lobe.

The whole length of the bird nineteen inches. From the
point of the wing to the end of the longest quill-feather nine
inches.

The female figured by M. Nilsson so closely resembles
the females of the Eider and King Ducks, which are de-
scribed, and the latter represented on the opposite page, that
it is only necessary to notice the difference in the wing of the
Western female, which has the greater coverts and the secon-
daries tipped with white, forming two bars enclosing between
them a bluish-black speculum. Our figure of the female
Western Duck was taken from M. Nilsson’s coloured plate.

KING DUCK, Qi

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE KING DUCK.

Anas spectabilis, King Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 11. p. 246.

” ” Of 50 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

” Ds * : Bewick, Brit. Birds. vol. il. p. 327.
Somateria ,, King Eider, Fuiem. Brit. An. p. 120.

”» a Ar % Setsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 343.

» an », Duck, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 238.

” 29 5p a Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
Anas », Canard a téte grise, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 851.

TuIs species is very little inferior to the Eider Duck in
size, and also resembles it in its habits, but is much more

rare as a British bird; indeed, there are but few instances
PQ

2)

2S)

ANATIDEA,

recorded of its occurrence. Mr. Bullock assured Colonel
Montagu that he found this bird breeding in Papa Westra,
one of the Orkney Islands, in the latter end of June. It
had six eggs, rather less than those of the Eider Duck, and,
like that bird, covered them with its own down. The nest
was on a rock impending the sea. An egg of this species, in
my own collection, is of a pale green colour, two inches, and
rather more than a half long, by one inch and three quarters
in breadth.

According to Mr. 'Thompson, this species has been killed
in Ireland, and the specimen is in the collection of Mr.
Robert Ball, of Dublin. The Rey. Leonard Jenyns men-
tions that it has been killed at Aldborough on the coast
of Suffolk; and M. Vieillot says it has been taken in
France.

Professor Nilsson of Sweden, states that some visit the
most northern part of the Baltic, Denmark, and Norway.
A few breed in the Faroe Islands and at Iceland, but in the
higher northern regions they are numerous. Nova Zembla,
Spitzbergen, and various parts of Greenland, are annually
visited by these birds in vast numbers during the breeding-
season, and accounts were furnished by the naturalists who
sailed with the various Arctic expeditions of discovery from
this country. In the Appendix to Sir Edward Parry’s first
voyage, it is stated by Major Sabine that this species were
very abundant in the North Georgian Islands, having their
nests on the ground in the neighbourhood of fresh-water
ponds, and feeding on the aquatic vegetation. Captain
James C. Ross, in the last published Appendix, says, ** vast
numbers of this beautiful Duck resort annually to the shores
and islands of the Arctic Regions in the breeding-season, and
have on many occasions afforded a valuable and salutary sup-
ply of fresh provision to the crews of the vessels employed on

KING DUCK. 913

those seas. On our late voyages comparatively few were ob-
_ tained, although seen in very great numbers. They do not
retire far to the south during the winter, but assemble in
Jarge flocks; the males by themselves, and the females,
with their young brood, are often met with in the Atlantic
Ocean, far distant from any land, where the numerous crus-
taceous and other marine animals afford them abundance of
food.”

The adult male has the beak reddish-orange, bounded with
a black line; the irides yellow; cheeks white, tinged with
green ; top of the head and the occiput bluish-grey ; lower
part of neck behind, the upper part of the back, and the sca-
pulars white ; lower part of the back, the rump, and upper
tail-coverts black; the point of the wing black ; wing-coverts
white ; all the wing and tail-feathers nearly black ; the pri-
maries tinged with red on the inner web; the ends of the
elongated scapulars and tertials fall in curves over the wings ;
under the chin a streak of black ; front of neck and breast
white, the latter tinged with buff; the lower part of the
breast, the belly, and all the under surface black, except a
patch on the flank, which is white; legs, toes, and mem-
branes orange-red.

The whole length twenty-four inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the longest quill-feather eleven inches and
a half.

The female has the beak greenish-brown, and the whole of
the plumage of two shades of brown; the darker colour occu-
pying the centre of each feather ; the brown on the head and
neck rather lighter in colour than the other parts of the
body.

Young males at first resemble the females; at a later
period one described by Dr. Richardson had the head and

neck dusky yellowish-grey, crowded with black spots ; upper

214 ANATIDA.

plumage mostly pitch-black, with yellowish-brown edgings ;
breast and flanks yellowish-brown, spotted and barred with
black ; belly the same colours intimately mixed ; bill as in
the female.

The representation of the lower portion of the trachea here
given is of the natural size, and taken from a specimen.

VELVET SCOTER. Oe

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE VELVET SCOTER.

Anas fusca, Velvet Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 247.

2 50 ae sh Mont. Ornith. Dict.
9 5 56 5D Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 337.
Oidemia ,, Velvet Scoter, Frem. Brit. An. p. 119.
” » 5p if Sexsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. i. p. 333.
9 » 56 ap Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 239.

” 3 35 RA Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi.
Anas 5, Canard double macreuse, Temm. Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 854.

O1pemta. Generic Characters—Bill swollen or tuberculated at the base,
large, elevated, and strong ; the tip much depressed and flattened, terminated
by a large flat nail, which has its extremity rounded and slightly deflected ;
mandibles laminated, with the plates broad, strong, and widely set. Nostrils
lateral, elevated, oval, placed near the middle of the bill. Wings of mean

length, concave, acute. ‘Tail short, graduated, acute. Legs far behind the

216 ANATIDE.

centre of gravity ; tarsi short ; feet large, of four toes, three in front, and one
behind. Outer toe as long as the middle one, and much longer than the
tarsus ; hind toe with a large lobated membrane.—Selby.

Tue Vextver Duck is only a winter visiter to the sea-
shore of the British Islands, and is not at all common in the
southern parts. It has been killed in the vicinity of Dublin,
in Cornwall, and in Devonshire. Specimens were obtained
in the London market during the winters of 1832 and 1837 ;
Mr. Hoy procured it in Suffolk, and it has also been killed
in Norfolk. It occurs in Holland and France, and even as
far south as Provence and Italy, being included in the His-
tories of the birds of those countries by Messrs. Temminck,
Vieillot, Roux, and Savi. From its habits of diving rather
than flying when approached, it is sometimes caught in the
nets of our sea fishermen, by becoming entangled in the
meshes, and it is occasionally caught also in the stake nets
set for salmon, as noticed by Mr. Selby, who mentions ‘¢ that
in those he had dissected, the gizzard, which was large and
strong, was filled with the remains of mytilus, mactra, solen,
and other shelly mollusca, intermixed with the spawn of fish
or crustaceous animals.”

Mr. Robert Dunn, says this species is rare in Shetland,
but is very common in Orkney, where it arrives in the begin-
ning of winter, and retires again very early in the spring. It
frequents the sounds in flocks of ten or twelve, generally
feeding in the middle or deep water, and in the stream of the
tide. It is remarkably shy, and great caution is required in
approaching it. The flesh of this Duck is in no estimation.

The Velvet Duck is included by Muller among the Birds
of Denmark ; Mr. Hewitson saw it in the western part of
Norway ; and the memorandum of this species in Scandi-
navia, supplied me by Richard Dann, Esq., is as follows :—
“This Duck is common during the summer months in the
interior of the whole of Scandinavia, north of Jat. 60°. It

VELVET SCOTER. O1%

frequents and breeds on the large lakes in the mountainous
districts, especially those of which the shores are flat and
boggy, and covered with vegetation. In Lapland it is com-
mon everywhere. The eggs are much sought after by the
Laps. These birds are also common in the Dofre Fiel, ap-
pearing at the latter end of May. They hatch very late,
seldom before the middle of July. Their nests are placed
on hummocks, among the willow swamps, or long grass near
the water. They frequent the lakes as high as the birch
grows. They are very shy and difficult to approach. 'The
egg of this duck, as figured by M. Thienemann, is of a buffy
white colour, tinged with green; two inches ten lines in
length, by one inch and ten lines in breadth.

The Velvet Duck inhabits Russia and Siberia, and west of
Norway and the Faroe Islands, is found at Iceland. No
notice of this species occurs in the natural history returns of
any of the recent Arctic voyages. It is, however, abundant
in various parts of North America, as detailed by Mr. Au-
dubon, who says ‘‘ those which breed at Labrador begin to
form their nests from the Ist to the 10th of June. The
nests are placed within a few feet of the borders of small
lakes, a mile or two distant from the sea, and usually under
the low boughs of the bushes, of the twigs of which, with
mosses and various plants matted together, they are formed.
They are large and almost flat, several inches thick, with
some feathers of the female, but no down under the eggs,
which are usually six in number, measuring two inches and
three-quarters in length, by one and seven-eighths in breadth,
of a uniform pale cream colour, tinged with green. The
males leave the females after incubation has commenced. On
the 28th of July I procured five young ones out of a brood
of six, among which, although to appearance scarcely a week
old, I could readily distinguish the males from the females
as they swam on the little pond around their mother; the

218 ANATIDE.

former having already a white spot under the eye. The
down with which they were covered was rather stiff and
hair-like ; of a black colour, excepting under the chin, where
there was a small patch of white. They swam with great
ease, and when we drove them into a narrow place for the
purpose of catching them, they several times turned upon us
and dived, with the view of getting back to the middle of the
pond, so that at last we found it necessary to shoot them.
Only one escaped ashore, which was afterwards caught and
restored to its mother, who continued on the pond, manifest-
ing the greatest anxiety, and calling to her brood all the
while with short squeaking notes, by no means unpleasant
to the ear. A pair had bred on the same water for six or
seven years in succession, and the young did not leave the
pond until they were able to fly.”

The adult male has the beak orange, based and edged
with black ; the irides pale yellowish-white ; the eye-lid and
a small patch behind each eye white ; the ends of the secon-
dary quill-feathers white, forming a conspicuous bar across
the wing; all the rest of the plumage uniform velvet-black ;
the legs and toes reddish-orange, the intervening membranes
dark brown.

The whole length twenty-two inches. From the point of
the wing to the end of the longest quill-feather ten inches
and three-quarters.

In the female, Mr. Audubon says, the basal prominence of
the bill is much less elevated, and the colour of the whole
bill is dusky. The irides and feet are as in the male, but
of duller tints; the general colour of the plumage is a sooty
brown; the breast and abdomen lighter; there are two
whitish spots on each side of the head, one near the base of
the upper mandible, the other behind the eye; the secondary
quills are white, as in the male.

The trachea of the male Velvet Duck is remarkable for a

VELVET SCOTER. 919

hollow bony enlargement situated about two-thirds down the
tube, made up of expanded tracheal rings, which in the
adult bird are firmly ossified together. Upon each side of
this enlargement a small muscle passing downwards is inserted
upon the inner side of the shaft of the bone, called the
merrythought ; and the voice is probably influenced by the
action of these muscles altering the relative position of this
hollow bulb upon the tube. There is also another pecu-
liarity. On making a longitudinal lateral section, as shown
in the outside figures below, it will be seen that the inner
tube of the trachea, at its upper part, has an aperture on each
side by which it communicates freely with the cavity within
another bony enlargement, situated immediately below the
superior larynx, and brings to mind the laryngeal cavities
found in some of the higher animals. A slip of paper is
represented as passing through both apertures.

220) ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATID.

THE COMMON SCOTER.

Anas nigra, The Scoter, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. 11. p. 248.

y » A 6 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

31 35 rs aS Bewicx, Erit. Birds, vol. il. p. 389.
Oidemia ,, Black Scoter, Fix. Brit. An. p. 119.

4p 50 is 59 Setzy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 329.

56 55 + ef Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 239.

” ” » 9 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xv.

Anas », Canard macreuse, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 356.

THE Common Scorer is generally considered a winter
visiter only, and during that season is to be seen in great
numbers on various parts of our coast. They are, however,
also to be seen in the summer on the southern coast of Eng-
land. Richard Dann, Esq. told me he saw flocks in the sea
off Dungeness, in the middle of June 1841, and other flocks
have been seen on the coast of Dorsetshire. I have ocea-
sionally seen here and there a straggling Scoter or two out-
side the rocks of the Isle of Wight, and in Christchurch Bay
in June and July. It is not improbable that these were

COMMON SCOTER. Q2]

birds only twelve or fourteen months old, that would remain
unable to breed till the following summer. The Scoter is
not very often found on fresh-water inland during winter ;
yet the late Sir Richard C. Hoare, Bart. sent me word, some
years ago, that his keeper had shot a Scoter on the ornamental
water in the Park at Stourhead, Wiltshire, which is more
than twenty miles from the sea, in a straight line, and no
such bird had been seen there before.

The Scoter feeds almost exclusively on the soft bodies of
muscles, and the animals of other bivalve shells, which they
obtain by diving, and they approach the shore generally with
each flood-tide for the purpose of satisfying their appetite.
The flesh of the Scoter is oily, and has a strong fishy taste ;
it is in consequence, but seldom eaten in this country ; but
these same qualities are considered a recommendation else-
where, for being identified with fish, it is allowed by the
Romish church to be eaten in Lent, and on fast days; and
so great is the demand for it, that many devices are in use
on the sea coasts of Catholic countries to obtain these Ducks
for the use of the table. One of the modes in practice is
thus described in more than one work on ornithology. Ad-
vantage is taken of the habits of this Duck by the fishermen
on the coast, who, at the ebb-tide, spread their nets horizon-
tally, about two or three feet above the beds of shell-fish,
which these birds are observed most to haunt. Upon the
return of the tide the Scoters approach in great numbers, and
diving for their food, become entangled in the meshes of the
floating nets ; and in this way it is said that twenty or thirty
dozens have been taken in a single tide. .

I am indebted to H. L. Long, Esq. of Hampton Lodge,
Farnham, for a copy of a French account by M. Hugo, of
the mode in which many of these birds are obtained upon the
various salt lakes in the vicinity of Martigues, at the mouth
of the Rhone. These numerous salt lakes are frequented in

Pade) ANATIDE.

winter by large flocks of aquatic birds. With the first ap-
pearance of frost the Scoters and other Ducks arrive in nume-
rous small flocks, and a destructive sort of battue takes place,
in which all who can are induced to participate with great
eagerness. About Christmas, when the Scoters have made
their appearance, printed bills are posted at Marseilles, Aix,
and all the principal places in the vicinity, stating the in-
tended order of attack upon the birds, and the day and hour
at which it is to take place. The Mayors of two or three
of the principal places make the necessary arrangements; on
the eve of the day fixed upon all the shooters are divided
into parties, and each has a boat, a pilot, and a commander
appointed. The assemblage is large, filling the inns and the
lodgings to be had at private houses. In the morning, at
the sound of a drum, the embarkation takes place on the lake
named for the first attempt. The boats, filled with sportsmen,
form an extended circle around the flocks of birds at one part
of the lake; the boats then draw in, diminishing the circle by
degrees till the crews are within gunshot of the intended vic-
tims. At a well-known and preconcerted signal, a partial
discharge takes place at the unfortunate birds while swimming
on the surface of the water. Many are killed on the spot ;
those which escape this first fire attempt to save themselves
by flight, when a second discharge assails them in the air;
many more fall, and with broken wings and loud cries are
picked up by the shooters, who divide the spoil, not without
many altercations, and return to land. After a short respite,
the birds having again collected together on that or some
other neighbouring lake, a second advance takes place in the
same manner, and the day is passed in making a succession of
attacks, each followed by a retreat for a time to allow the
birds to reassemble. A chasse, as it is termed, of a some-
what similar character, is performed near Bastia, the capital
of Corsica; but in this locality the Scoter is always accom-

COMMON SCOTER. 993

panied by numbers of the Red-throated Diver, which appear
to act the part of sentinels outside the flocks of Ducks ; and
so quick-sighted are these sentinels, and so instantaneously
do they dive, and so rapidly do they swim under water, that
hundreds of Scoters are killed to one couple of Divers. M.
Savi includes the Scoter among the Birds of Italy. M.
Vieillot says that the coast of Picardy is covered with them in
winter whenever the wind blows from the north, or north-
west : and M. Temminck describes it as abundant on other
parts of the coast of France, and in Holland. I am not aware
that the Scoter has ever been found to breed in this country.
The nest is described as formed of grass and other vegetable
matter, mixed and lined with a quantity of its own down;
the eggs about six in number. These, as figured in the work
of M. Thienemann, are of a pale buff colour, tinged with
green ; two inches six lines in length, by one inch and nine
lines in breadth. In reference to the Scoter in Scandinavia,
Richard Dann, Esq. sent me word that this Duck frequents
the same places, and is very similar in its habits to the Velvet
Duck, both being generally found in the same localities.
After the female has laid, the males associate in large flocks,
and slowly draw towards the coast, where they arrive in
October. The eggs are generally from five to seven in num-
ber. They are never found on the coast during summer
there. Mr. Procter found the Scoter breeding in Iceland,
but it is not common; only two nests were obtained ; the
eggs six in number. The Scoter is found in the northern
parts of Kurope, Asia, and America.

In the adult male the beak is black, except the central
ridge of the upper mandible, which is orange; the irides
brown; all the plumage deep black; legs and toes dusky
black, the webs darker, or quite black.

The whole length nineteen inches. From the carpal joint
to the end of the longest quill-feather nine inches; the
second quill-feather rather the longest in the wing.

Q2Q4, ANATID&.

In the female all the upper surface of the body is of a
uniform blackish-brown, the margins of the wing-coverts a
little lighter; cheeks, and sides of the neck paler brown ;
lower part of the neck, the breast, abdomen, vent, and under
tail-coverts, dark brown; legs and toes brown, tinged with
green; the interdigital membrane almost black.

Young birds of the year, at the approach of their first
winter, have the cheeks, chin, sides and front of the neck,
dull greyish-white, and the under surface of the body mottled
with white and brown.

The trachea of the male Scoter differs from that of the
male of any other species among the Ducks, in having no
bony enlargement ; and differs from that of the female only
in having the principal tube, as well as the bronchial tubes,
rather larger. A portion of both are figured below.

SURF SCOTER, 925

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.

WN
W.\
XY \X\" \

THE SURF SCOTER.

Oidemia perspicillata, Surf Scoter, Frem. Brit. An. p. 119.

9 aS 7 35 Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 335.

» » » 5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 240.

a9 s % Fe Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 81.

” » 9 2 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.
Anas », Canard marchand, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. il. p. 853.

Accorpine to the testimony of various authors, namely,
Dr. Fleming, Sir W. Jardine, Mr. Selby, and M. Tem-
minck, examples of this Duck have occurred on the Islands
of Orkney and Shetland; Mr. Gould obtained a specimen
that was killed in the Frith of Forth, as noticed. in his work
above quoted; and Mr. Bartlett, of London, received a
recently shot Surf Scoter for preservation, as recorded in the
third volume of the Naturalist, page 420, from which bird

VOL. IIT. Q

226 ANATIDE.

the measurements here given and some other particulars
were derived. M. Vieillot says that this species appears
sometimes on the coast of Picardy, and that it lives on fishes
and testaceous mollusea, which are obtained by diving. Pro-
fessor Schinz mentions one killed in Switzerland, in April
1818. Messrs. Meyer and Wolf include this Duck in their
pocket volumes of the Birds of Germany; and Professor
Nilsson gives a coloured figure of the male in his illustrated
Fauna of Scandinavia, in consequence of the occurrence of
the species in that country. It is only, however, on the
shores of high latitudes in North America that Surf Scoters
in any quantity can be observed; and the accounts of Wilson
and Mr. Audubon must be referred to for a knowledge of
their habits in localities where they are abundant.

Wilson says, ‘this Duck is confined to the shores and
bays of the sea, particularly where the waves roll over the
sandy beach. Their food consists principally of small bivalve
shell-fish, spout-fish, and others that lie in the sand near its
surface. For these they dive almost constantly, both in the
sandy bays and amidst the tumbling surf. They seldom or
never visit the salt marshes. They continue on our shores
during the winter, and leave us early in May, for their breed-
ing places in the North. Their skins are remarkably strong,
and their flesh coarse, tasting of fish. They are common in
winter along the whole coast, from the river St. Lawrence to
Florida. This spécies was also found by Captain Cook, at
Nootka Sound, on the north-west coast of America.”

Mr. Audubon’s account furnishes many interesting par-
ticulars, and a portion of it is as follows :—‘‘ While proceed-
ing towards the sterile country of Labrador, in 1833, on
board the Ripley, I found the waters of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence alive with ducks of different species. ‘The nearer
we approached the coast, the more numerous did they be-
come ; and of the many kinds that presented themselves to

SURF SCOTER. NPT)

our anxious gaze, the Surf Duck was certainly not the least
numerous. It is true that in the noble bays of our own
coast, in the Sound, between New York and the Hook, on
the broader waters of the Chesapeake, and beyond them to
the mouths of the Mississippi, I had seen thousands of Surf
Ducks ; but the numbers that passed the shores of Labrador,
bound for the far north, exceeded all my previous concep-
tions. For more than a week after we had anchored in the
lovely harbour of Little Macatina, I had been anxiously
searching for the nest of this species, but in vain. At
length I found that a few pairs had remained in the neigh-
bourhood, and one morning, while in the company of Captain
Emery, searching for the nests of the Red-breasted Mergan-
ser, over a vast oozy and treacherous fresh-water marsh, I sud-
denly started a female Surf Duck from her treasure. We
were then about five miles distant from our harbour, from
which our party had come in two boats, and fully five and a
half miles from the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The
marsh was about three miles in length. The nest was snugly
placed amid the tall leaves of a bunch of grass, and raised
fully four inches above its roots. It was entirely composed
of withered and rotten weeds, the former being circularly
arranged over the latter, producing a well rounded cavity, six
inches in diameter, by two and a half in depth. The borders
of this inner cup were lined with the down of the bird, in the
same manner as the Hider Duck’s nest, and in it lay five
eggs, the smallest number I have ever found in any duck’s
nest. ‘They were two inches and two and a half eighths in
length, by one inch and five eighths in their greatest breadth;
more equally rounded at both ends than usual; the shell
perfectly smooth, and of a uniform pale yellowish, or cream
colour, I took them on board along with the female, which
was shot as she rose from the nest. We saw no male bird
near the spot ; but in the course of the same day met with
Q2

Q98 ANATIDE.

several males by themselves, about four miles distant from
the marsh, as we were returning to the harbour. This in-
duced me to believe, that, like the Eider and other ducks
that breed in Labrador, the males abandon the females as
soon as incubation commences. I regret that, notwithstand-
ing all my further exertions, I did not succeed in discovering
more nests or young birds. The female, which was killed as
she flew off from the nest, uttered a rough uncouth guttural
cry, somewhat resembling that of the Goosander, on similar
occasions; and I have never heard any other sound from
either sex. The Surf Duck is a powerful swimmer and an
expert diver; it is frequently observed fishing at the depth of
several fathoms ; and it floats buoyantly among the surf or
the raging billows, where it seems as unconcerned as if it
were on the most tranquil waters. I have never seen this
species on any fresh-water lake or river, in any part of
the interior, and, therefore, consider it as truly a marine
Duck.”

The adult male has the beak orange, with a square patch
of black on each side at the base of the upper mandible ;
irides straw yellow ; on the top of the head and on the back
of the neck, are two oval patches of white; all the rest of the
plumage black; legs and toes orange red, the membranes
brownish-black. ‘The whole length twenty-one inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the wing nine inches and a
quarter; the first and second primary quill-feathers of equal
length, and the longest in the wing.

The female differs from the male in having the plumage of
dull brown, which is lightest in colour about the cheeks and
under surface of the body; the beak dark olive; the feet
greyish-brown. According to the descriptions given, the
trachea of the Surf Scoter resembles that of the Velvet
Scoter as represented at page 215.

RED-CRESTED WHISTLING DUCK. 229

NATATORES., ANATIDE.

THE RED-CRESTED WHISTLING DUCK.

Fuligula rufina, Red-crested Pochard, Sxvsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii, p. 350.
Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 240.

x” ” %? ” ”

Mergoides ,, ares B Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 77.
Fuligula,, OE eed Ducks Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vi.
Anas » Canard Siffleur Huppé, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 864.

Furicuta. Generic Characters. — Bill not longer than the head, but
slightly elevated at the base, depressed towards the tip; sides parallel ; both
mandibles laminated, lateral edges of the upper mandible enclosing the edges
of the under one. WNostrils at a short distance from the base. Wings rather
short, pointed. Legs with the middle and outer toes longer than the tarsus,
which is flattened laterally ; feet large, webbed, the hind toe with a broad de-
pending membrane.

I nave followed the example of several modern zoologists
in adopting the generic term F'uligula, for an extensive series
of oceanic Ducks, the general characters and habits of which

230 ANATID.

are noticed in the paragraph at page 202. The necessity for
this distinction has been acknowledged by M. 'Temminck him-
self, and the grounds for the separation are stated in the note
below,* from the 68th No. of the Planches Coloriés, Art. 406.

I had the pleasure of first noticing+ this handsome Duck
as an occasional visiter to this country, in January 1826,
when a male was shot near Boston, while feeding on fresh-
water in company with some Wigeons. Though a well-
known species, inhabiting the eastern parts of Europe, it had
not previously been recorded to have been killed in England.
During the same winter several others were obtained ; more
than one occurred in the London markets, and were eagerly
purchased for collectors. One was secured by Mr. Bartlett,
as noticed in the Naturalist, vol. ii. p. 420. Since then a speci-
men has been killed at Yarmouth, another at Colchester, nowin
the Museum of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ; and the
female represented by Mr. Gould, in the Sixth Part of his Birds
of Europe, is in the collection of the Hon. W.'T. 'T. Fiennes.
This specimen was killed out of a flock of eighteen, on the
Thames, near that gentleman’s estate at Erith in Kent.

M. Vieillot says this species has been taken, though rarely,
in France. It has been included in two or three Histories
of the Birds of Germany. It is mentioned by M. Necker in
his published notice of the Birds of Geneva; has been found
more than once in different parts of Switzerland and Pro-
vence ; has been seen at Genoa; and is included by M.
Savi, in his Ornithology of Italy. Our countryman Wil-
lughby, it will be recollected, obtained this Duck in the mar-

* «Nous avons cru necessaire de separer des canards proprement dits, et
de réunir, toutes ces espéces a doigt postérieur garni d’un rudiment de mem-
brane, vu que le squelette de ces oiseaux nous offre des differences marqués et
constantes ; que leur manieére de vivre et le choix des alimens ne sont pas les
mémes que chez les canards a doigt posterieur lisse, et que les caractéres faciles
a saisir fournissent de tres-bons moyens pour etablir la difference générique
entre ces deux groupes.”

+ Zoological Journal, vol. i. page 492,

RED-CRESTED WHISTLING DUCK. Q31

ket at Rome.* The Zoological Society has received speci-
mens from North Africa, sent by Sir Thomas Reade, and it
was formerly noticed in Barbary, by Shaw, in his published
Travels in that country. It is found in Austria, Hungary,
and Turkey. Russian naturalists have observed that it is
very common in winter at Bakou, on the Caspian Sea. Ac-
cording to Dr. Latham, it inhabits the vast lakes of the desert
of Tartary; is sometimes seen on the great lakes lying on
the east side of the mountains of the Uralian chain, but not
elsewhere in Siberia. Mr. Gould mentions, in his Birds of
Europe, that he has received specimens from the Himalaya,
and Colonel Sykes includes it among his Birds of the Duk-
hun, but states that it is rare in that part of India.

Of the habits and nidification of this species little is known.
The egg has been described as of a uniform olive-brown, two
inches two lines in length, and one inch six lines in breadth.
The food is stated to be shell-fish and aquatic vegetables.

In the adult male the beak is vermilion-red; the nail
white ; the irides reddish-brown ; the whole of the head, and
the upper part of the neck all round rich reddish-chestnut,
the feathers on the top of the head considerably elongated,
forming a conspicuous crest; the back of the neck below,
and the upper tail-coverts dark brown; the back, and a por-
tion of the scapularies, wing-coverts, and tertials, yellowish-
brown ; a white patch on the carpal joint of the wing, and
another over the joint; greater coverts ash-brown; wing-
primaries and tail-feathers greyish-brown; the secondaries
with the outer webs white, forming a speculum ; front of the
neck, breast, belly, and under tail-coverts rich dark brown ;
the sides and flanks white ; legs and toes vermilion-red, inter-
digital membrane almost black.

The whole length twenty-two inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the first quill-feather, which is the longest

in the wing, ten inches and a half.

* Willughby, Orn, p. 364.

232 ANATIDE.

The female is without a crest; the top of the head dark
brown ; cheeks, throat, and sides of the neck greyish-white ;
upper surface of the body pale rufous-brown ; point of the
shoulder and the speculum greyish-white ; breast reddish-
brown; the other parts of the under surface greyish-brown ;
beak and legs reddish-brown.

The windpipe of the male is about nine inches in length,
the tube is narrow in diameter at the middle, and near the
end, but enlarged at the commencement and again below the
middle, as shown in the representation of the lower half here
inserted. ‘The labyrinth in the Ducks of this division is
composed partly of bone, and partly of membrane. The right
and left surface are here shown ; the membrane supported by
delicate portions of bone diverging from an outer bony ring.

POCHARD, 233

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE POCHARD,

or Dun Birp.

Anas ferina, Pochard Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 271.

a a The Pochard, Monr, Ornith. Dict.
a 95 re i Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 369.
Nyroca ,, is A Fiem. Brit. An. p. 121.
Fuligula ,, Red-headed,, Se.sy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 347.
Br 3, Common’ ,, Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 241.
B ,, Red-headed ,, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvii.

Anas », Canard milouin, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. il. p. 868.

Tue Pocnarp, or Dun-bird, for this species is known by
various names, as Red-headed Poker, and Red-eyed Poker,
from the prevailing colour of the head, and the peculiar
colour of the eye, not observed in any other British Duck ;
and Dos gris, or Grey-back, in some parts of North Ame-
rica, as we are told by Mr. Audubon; is a winter visiter to

Q34 ANATIDE.

this country, appearing about the beginning of October, and
leaving us again in the spring to seck, during its breeding-
season, higher northern regions.

While here it resorts to inland lakes and rivers, as well as
the sea-shore, and though a difficult bird to take in a decoy
on account of its shyness and caution, and the facility with
which it dives enabling it to get back under water in the
pipe, yet, from being very abundant as a species great num-
bers, according to authorities, are taken every season. Many
thousands are sold every winter in one market only in Lon-
don; and Montagu mentions that the method formerly prac-
tised for taking the Pochard, was something similar to that of
taking Woodcocks. Poles were erected at the avenues to
the decoys, and after a great number of these birds had col-
lected for some time on the pond, to which wild-fowl resort
dnly by day, and go to the neighbouring fens to feed by
night, a net was at a given time erected by pulleys to these
poles, beneath which a deep pit had previously been dug ;
and as these birds, like the Woodcocks, go to feed just as it
is dark, and are said always to rise against the wind, a whole
flock was sometimes taken together in this manner; for if
once they strike against the net, they never attempt to re-
turn, but flutter down the net till they are received into the
pit, from whence they cannot rise, and thus we are told
twenty dozen have been taken at one catch.

Dun-birds are, in general, remarkable for the excellence of
their flesh, and probably but little inferior to the far-famed
Canvass-backed Duck of the United States, which it very
closely resembles in the colour of its plumage, but our Dun-
bird is the smaller Duck of the two. As the Canyass-backed
Duck of America is considered to derive the goodness and
flavour for which it is so much esteemed from its taking a
considerable portion of a particular vegetable food,* and is

* Dr, Nuttall, who is a botanist as well as an ornithologist, has mentioned

POCHARD., 235

much less prized in spring when deprived of it, and obliged
to feed entirely at sea; so our Dun-birds are best while they
feed at the mouths of rivers, and about fresh-water, but when
they feed at sea on fishes, crustacea, and mollusca, I have
found them coarse and ill flavoured. They feed principally
during the night.

When these Ducks are not excited or alarmed, their note
is a low whistle, but at other times it is a rough croak. The
Dun-bird is not so slender and elegant in form as the Wild
Duck, and others of the first division, or more surface-feeding
Ducks, but are short in the body, and depressed in form,
swimming low in the water, and are observed to be bad
walkers on land, from the backward position of their legs ;
an arrangement of great service to them as swimmers and
divers. Rusticus, of Godalming, says that fifty or more have
been seen on the piece of water there called the Old Pond, in
company with Wild Ducks; from which, however, they al-
ways separated on rising. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear, in
their Norfolk Catalogue of Birds, mention, in 1825, that this
species breed at Scoulton Mere; and the Rey. Mr. Lubbock
sent me word that it has also bred there of late years. Mr.
Hewitson says a small number of the Pochard remain during
the summer months, and breed on the borders of the inland
meres, So numerous in many parts of Holland. The nest is
placed amongst the rushes, or other coarse herbage abounding
in those situations. The eggs vary in number from ten to
twelve. ‘The specimen figured in Mr. Hewitson’s work on
the eggs of our British Birds, is of a buffy-white colour, two
inches in length, and one inch and five-eighths in breadth.
M. Vieillot says this species appears in France at two periods
the names of Valisneria Americana, Zostera marina, Grass-wrack, and Ruppia
maritima, Sea-grass, called also in America Eel-grass, from the form and
length of the stem. The Ducks dive and pull up these aquatic plants to ob-

tain the tender roots, the only parts they seem to eat. The two plants last
named are common near the coast in this country,

236 ANATIDE.

of the year, namely, in October on its way south ; and in
April on its return; but has been killed in France in the
month of July. It is taken in Provence and Italy, and is
recorded to have been found as far south as Egypt.

North of England, it is found at the Orkney and Shetland
Isles, in Denmark and Sweden; but neither Mr. Hewitson
nor Mr. Dann mention having seen this Duck either in Nor-
way or Lapland. It goes, perhaps in its migration, more to
the eastward, as it is said to be abundant in Russia and the
North of Germany.

The Pochard, or Dun-bird, is a common Duck in America,
dispersed and breeding over the fur countries in summer,
some of them in winter going as far south as Carolina and
Louisiana.

The adult male has the bill black at the point and the
base ; the intermediate portion pale blue, forming a broad
transverse band; the irides red; the head and upper part of
the neck all round rich chestnut-red ; the neck below deep
black ; back, scapulars, tertials, and wing-coverts, freckled
over with minute grey specks and lines, on a ground of
white ; primaries and secondaries nearly uniform grey; the
primaries ending in dark brown; the secondaries narrowly
tipped with white; rump and upper tail-coverts nearly black ;
tail-feathers uniform greyish-brown ; breast, sides, and belly
to the vent, greyish-white ; produced by minute grey marks,
on a white ground ; under tail-coverts black; legs and toes
bluish-grey, the intervening membranes bluish-black.

The whole length nineteen inches and a half. From the
point of the wing to the end of the first quill-feather, which
is the longest, eight inches and a quarter.

The adult female has the bill black; the irides brown;
head, and all the back of the neck, dusky greyish-brown ;
back and wings darker grey than that of the males; quill-
feathers like those of the males; no bright-coloured speculum

POCHARD. 934

in either sex; chin and throat pale greyish-brown ; lower part
of the neck in front dark brown ; all the under surface of the
body uniform dull greyish-white ; under tail-coverts dark
grey; legs and feet as in the male.

Young males at first resemble the females, obtaining
some change with the feathers of their first autumn moult ;
the change in the colour of the feather going on by slow
degrees afterwards. As late as the middle of January, young
males of the previous summer had not attained their perfect
plumage ; and Dr. Fleming mentions that the black on the
breast of the young males does not make its appearance
during the first year.

The trachea of the male is about eight inches in length,
the diameter of the tube large, tapering suddenly towards the
bottom; the labyrinthic tympanum of beautiful form; the
bronchial tubes short. The engraving below represents the
surface opposed to the left side of the bird.

238 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATID.

THE FERRUGINOUS DUCK,

AND WatteE-EYED Duck.

Anas ferruginea, Red Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 272.
5p De Ferruginous Duck, Monr. Ornith. Dict. and Suppt.
5 nyroca, Castaneous ,, Burwrex, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 332.
Nyroca leucopthalmos, White-eyed ,, Fue. Brit. An. p. 121.
Fuligula nyroca, Nyroca Pochard, Srtey, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 354.
a a3 be * Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 242.
3h a White-eyed Duck, Gout, Birds of Europe, pt. v.

Anas leucopthalmos, Cunard a iris blanc, Temm. Man. d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 876.

T'HouGH somewhat in colour resembling the Pochard or
Dun-bird last described, the Ferruginous Duck is at once dis-
tinguished from it by its smaller size, its dark brown back,
and by the ends of its secondary quill-feathers being white ;
forming a single white bar on the wing at all ages. Like the
Pochard, the Ferruginous Duck is a winter visiter to this
country, and but few are annually taken. It has been killed
in Cambridgeshire and in Norfolk, and the flesh is reported

FERRUGINOUS DUCK. 239

to be excellent. Mr. Bullock obtained specimens in the
London market ; and I have seen examples of all ages that
were procured in the London market; these are generally re-
ceived from the eastern counties, between the Thames and
the Humber, but two were killed near Oxford, in the winter
of 1832, and another pair also during the last winter, for a
notice of which I am indebted to W. Borrer, Esq. Jun.

This species is occasionally sent to London alive from
Holland, where it is sometimes caught in decoys. M. Vicillot
says it is a rare bird in France, and only seen in winter. It
has been taken in Switzerland, Provence, and Italy ; and is
stated to go as far south as North Africa and Egypt. It is
the Sarcelle 7 Egypt of Buffon.

The Ferruginous Duck is recorded to have been taken in
Persia; and Mr. Gould has received specimens from the
Himalaya Mountains, as well as other parts of India.

It appears to be a resident in the North of Germany from
October to March. Dr. Latham says it inhabits Russia, and
is frequent about the Don. It was formerly said to have
been found in the rivers of Sweden; and Pennant, in his
Arctic Zoology, mentions having had a specimen sent him
from Denmark ; but this species is not included by Professor
Nilsson at the present time either in his Ornithology of
Sweden, or in his Fauna of Scandinavia. It is, however,
included among the Birds of Iceland, by F. Faber, who
published in 1822. According to M. 'Temminck, this Duck
feeds on insects, small frogs, aquatic plants, and their seeds ;
and makes its nest near rivers and marshes, laying nine or ten
white eggs, slightly tinged with green. The egg, as figured
by Thienemann, measures two inches and one eighth in
length, by one inch and a half in breadth.

In the adult male the bill is bluish-black ; the irides white;
the whole of the head, the neck all round, to the upper part
of the breast, and the sides, rich chestnut-brown ; round the

240 ANATIDE.

middle of the neck a narrow ring, rather darker in colour ;
the whole of the back and wing-coverts umber-brown, with a
tinge of green; primary quill-feathers dusky black, part of
the inner webs white ; the secondaries white, forming a bar
of that colour on the wing, but the extreme ends are black ;
tail-feathers brownish-black ; on the chin a small triangular
spot of white ; lower part of the breast and the belly white ;
the flanks brown; vent greyish-brown; under tail-coverts
white ; legs and toes bluish-black, the membranes darker.
The whole length sixteen inches ; the wing, from the carpal
joint seven inches and three-quarters. The first quill-feather
the longest in the wing.

In the female the irides are not quite white; the whole
head and neck deep reddish-brown, darker in tint, and not so
rich in appearance as the same parts in the male; wings like
those of the male ; lower breast and belly dingy white ; the
female bird is rather smaller than the male.

The young bird of the year, during its first winter, is still
smaller than the adult female, and has also still less of the
red chestnut tint; the back, wings, and neck are of two
shades of brown, the edges of the feathers being of the lighter
colour; breast and belly dull brownish-grey.

The trachea of the male is about six inches in length ;
the tube is small at both ends, but enlarged in the middle ;
the portion represented below is of the natural size.

SCAUP DUCK. Q4)1

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE SCAUP DUCK.

Anas marila, Scaup Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 251.

ry) 9» iS 5 Mont. Ornith. Dict.
of 5p aa 3 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 355.
Nyroca ,, ~ He Fem. Brit. An. p. 122.
Fuligula ,, », Pochard, Serzy, Brit. Oruith. vol. ii. p. 354.
” ” as “i Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 243.
» 19 55 96 Gov p, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.

Anas », Canard milouinan, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 865.

Tue Scavue Duck is a winter visiter to this country, and
rather a late one, seldom making its appearance till the end
of October, or the beginning of November, about which
time, particularly if the weather be rough and cold, they
arrive in small flocks on various parts of the coast, and at
the mouths of rivers, but do not very often visit the waters
of inland counties. They appear to prefer low, flat, muddy,

VOL. III. R

Q42 ANATIDA.

or oozy shores, and are numerous throughout the winter
months on the coasts of Hampshire and Dorsetshire, where,
in company with Tufted Ducks, Golden Eyes, and other
species, they are pursued by wild-fowl-shooters in their gun-
punts, and also occasionally caught by fishermen in upright
nets fixed in curving lines, on perpendicular stakes in shal-
low bays. The Scaup Duck, however, feeding on small fish,
mollusca, aquatic insects, and marine plants, is by no means
in request for the table, as its flesh is generally coarse, dark
in colour and fishy in flavour. The greater part of its food
is obtained by diving, at which it is very expert, but like
most of the short-winged diving-ducks it gets upon wing from
the surface of the water but slowly, prefers rising against
the wind, and flies at a moderate pace. What it wants,
however, in speed, it appears to make up by its caution, and
it is considered a difficult bird to approach. Its name of
Scaup Duck, is, according to Willughby, derived from the
bird feeding among broken shells, which are called scaup ;
but the name, is, perhaps, only a modification of our word
scoop, from the manner in which the bird uses its broad beak,
ploughing or scooping along the soft upper surface of mud
and ooze in search of food; as the Shoveler Duck, using its
beak in the same manner, is, in some countries, called the
Scopper-bill.

Colonel Montagu, who kept both sexes of this species alive
in confinement many years, observed ‘‘ that they associated
together apart from all other ducks, made the same grunting
noise, and both had the same singular toss of the head, at-
tended with an opening of the bill, which, in the spring, is
continued for a considerable time while swimming and sport-
ing on the water. This singular gesture would be sufficient
to identify the species were all other distinctions wanting.
In the case of one female which died, Montagu mentions that
the cause of death appeared to be in the lungs, and in the

SCAUP DUCK. 243

membrane that separates them from the other viscera; this
last was much thickened, and all the cavity within was cover-
ed with mucor, or blue mould.”

<¢ Tt is a most curious circumstance,” this writer adds, “‘ to
find this vegetable production growing within a living animal,
and shows that where air is pervious, mould will be found to
obtain, if it meets with sufficient moisture, and a place con-
genial to vegetation. Now the fact is, that the part on
which this vegetable was growing was decayed, and had no
longer in itself a living principle; the dead part, therefore,
became the proper pabulum of the invisible seeds of the
mucor, transmitted by the air in respiration ; and thus nature
carries on all her works immutably under every possible
variation of circumstance. It would, indeed, be impossible for
such to vegetate on a living body, being incompatible with
vitality, and we may be assured that decay must take place
before this minute vegetable can make a lodgment to aid in
the great change of decomposition. Even with inanimate
bodies the appearance of mould or any species of fungi is a
sure presage of partial decay and decomposition.”

M. Deslongchamps has found a similar growth lining the
air-cells in the lungs of an Hider Duck ;* and Mr. Owen
described the same appearance as found by himself in the
bronchial tubes of a Flamingo.- References to descriptions
and figures of various singular vegetable growths on insects,
will be found in the first Part of the third volume of the
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London; and
those acquainted with Edwards’ Gleanings in Natural History,
will remember his coloured representations of vegetating
caterpillars, and vegetating wasps, in the plates numbered
535 and 336, published many years since.

In spring, the Scaup Ducks depart to countries north of the

* Annals of Natural History, vol. viii. page 229.
+ Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1832, page 142,

R 2

Q44 ANATID&.

Orkney and Shetland Islands to breed; and I am only ac-
quainted with one record of their producing their young in
Scotland, which is that by Mr. Selby, in his notice of the
birds found when exploring Sutherlandshire in the month of
June 1854, ‘A single female was shot by Sir William
Jardine, in a small loch between Loch Hope and Eriboll;
she was attended by a young one, which unfortunately es-
caped among the reeds. ‘This is the first instance of its
breeding in Britain having been ascertained that I am aware
of.”

Of this species in Scandinavia, Richard Dann, Esq. has
supplied me with the following note: —‘* The Scaup Duck,
in its migration south, does not make its appearance on the
western coast of Europe until late in the winter, and then
only in comparatively small numbers ; its migration appears
to be more southerly than westerly. It breeds on the
swampy lakes towards the north of the Bothnian Gulph, near
Lulea, in considerable numbers. I have shot the young
there previously to their being able to fly. I have seen them
about Gellivara and Lulea in small numbers. Being a diving-
duck they avoid the reeds, and keep out in the open water.
They are, also, tolerably numerous in the Dofre Fiell moun-
tains, frequenting and breeding near swampy solitary lakes
as high as the birchwood grows. At whatever season the
Scaup Duck is shot, it is generally very fat and heavy. The
egos are five or six in number.

Mr. Procter sent me word that the Scaup Duck is a very
common species in Iceland, where it breeds either among the
aquatic herbage, or the large stones, near the edge of fresh
water, making little or no nest, but a quantity of down cover-
ing the eggs, which are from five to eight in number: an egg
brought from Iceland by Mr. Procter, and figured in Mr.
Hewitson’s work, is of a uniform clay brown colour, two

SCAUP DUCK. Q45

inches and three-eighths in length, by one inch and five
eighths in breadth.

Mr. Charles Drosier, who gives, in the fourth volume of
the Naturalist, a brief sketch of a voyage across the North
and Baltic seas, says, that large flocks of Scaup Ducks were
seen streaming over the water, as the vessel entered the gulf
of Finland, in the month of August, and others were seen
on the shore. ‘They are known to be common in Russia,
Siberia, and southwards to Germany; and M. Temminck
mentions that they are abundant in Holland. In France,
they are mostly confined to the coast, and the Scaup Duck is
included among the birds of Switzerland and Italy.

This species is common in North America, from the fur-
countries to the southern states of the Union, depending on
the season of the year.

In the adult male the bill is pale blue ; in form, narrowest
at the base, dilated considerably towards the point, being
nearly one third wider; the nail curved and black; the
irides yellow; the head and the neck all round, as well as
the upper part of the breast and back, black; the cheeks and
sides of the neck glossed with rich green; the rest of the
back and the scapulars spotted and striped with broadish
black lines, on a ground of white, with considerable intervals
between the lines; the wing-coverts of much darker grey
than the back; the wing-primaries brownish-black ; the se-
condaries white, forming the speculum, but tipped with
black ; tertials as dark a grey as the smaller wing-coverts ;
rump and upper tail-coverts black ; tail-feathers brownish-
black ; breast, sides below the wing, and the flanks pure
white; the portion of the belly behind the legs marked with
greyish lines, on a ground of white ; under tail-coverts black ;
legs and toes bluish-black, the intervening membranes darker.
The whole length eighteen inches. From the carpal joint to

246 ANATIDE.

the end of the wing nine inches; the first and second quill-
feathers very nearly equal in length, but the first rather the
longer of the two.

The head and neck of the female is of a dark brown
colour; the beak lead colour; around the base of the beak
in old females, a broad band of white ; the lower part of the
neck and breast dark brown; the back and scapulars light
grey, transversely barred with irregular dusky lines; the
greater quill-feathers dark brown; the secondaries white,
tipped with dark brown; the tail-feathers also dark brown ;
the belly dirty white; under tail-coverts dusky black ; the
legs and toes dusky blue, the webs black. The female is
nearly as large as the male, and from the broad white band
occasionally to be found around the base of the bill, has been
figured and described as a distinct species under various
names.

Young birds resemble the females, generally, but the light
colour on the back is varied with brown spots.

The trachea of the male measures nine inches in length, the
diameter of the tube of large size throughout the upper three-
fourths of its length, then tapers gradually to the junction
with the tympanum; the view given below represents the
surface on the left side of the bird when in its natural situ-
ation. The tracheal tube of the female is small, and of
equal size throughout its whole length; the diameter like
that of the male at the smallest part.

AMERICAN SCAUP. Q47

NATATORES, ANATID/:.

THE AMERICAN SCAUP.

Fuligula mariloides, American Scaup. Vicors, Zoology of Captain Beechey’s
Voyage, page 31, note.

I am indebted to the kindness of my friend, Mr. Henry
Doubleday, for the opportunity of figuring and describing a
duck very closely allied to our Scaup ; differing from it, in-
deed, so little, that it has been doubted, by good authority,
whether it ought to be considered otherwise than as a variety
only. Since this specimen has been in my possession, for my
use in this work, it has been examined in comparison with
the true Scaup by several ornithological friends, who believe,
with Mr. Doubleday and myself, that it is entitled to be
described as distinct, and I haye, therefore, applied to it the
specific term martloides, as mentioned by the late Mr.
Vigors, in a quotation to be hereafter noticed. The British

248 ANATIDE.

Scaup Duck is well known in the United States, and the
accounts of the American ornithologists, Messrs. Wilson,
Audubon, and Nuttall, appear to refer to the species which
immediately precedes the present subject in this work. Sir
William Jardine, however, in his edition of Wilson’s Ame-
rican Ornithology, vol. ili. page 106, in a note appended to
the history of the Scaup, makes the following remark :—‘‘ Com-
mon also to both Continents, and in Britain a most abundant
sea-duck. ‘Though generally to be found in the poultry-mar-
kets during winter, it is strong and ill-flavoured, or what is
called fishy, and of little estimation for the table. In the
Northern Zoology, the American specimens are said to be
smaller, but no other distinctions could be perceived; a
single northern specimen which I possess, agrees nearly with
the dimensions given of the smaller kind, and I can see no
other important difference ; but there are also larger-sized
birds, known to the natives by the addition of keetchee to the
name, and I think it probable that two birds may be here
confused, which future observations will allow us to separate.”

Dr. Richardson’s remarks on the Scaup Duck in the Fauna
Boreali-Americana, are as follows : —‘‘ Our specimens are
smaller than English ones killed in the winter, the head, bill,
wings, and legs, in particular, being proportionally smaller,
and the bill less high at the base.—A variety, nearly corre-
sponding with the English one in size, is also found in the
fur-countries, where it is distinguished by the epithet of
keetchee (bigger): but an attentive examination of a num-
ber of specimens, disclosed no peculiarities which could cha-
racterise it as a distinct species, except its size. The undu-
lated markings on the back and wings are darker, and less
extended than in the English specimens.” Mr. Swainson adds
in a note at the bottom of the page, ‘‘ one of these varieties
(if such they be) is common upon the lakes of Mexico.”

The late Mr. Vigors, who wrote the ornithological portion
of the volume published on the various subjects in Zoology

AMERICAN SCAUP. 249

obtained during a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Straits,
performed in H.M.S. Blossom, under the command of Cap-
tain F. W. Beechey, appends the following remarks to his
notice of our Scaup Duck at page 31 :—

“Several specimens of a bird nearly allied to this species,
if not the same, were brought home by the expedition. They
uniformly differ from the typical Fuligula marila in their
smaller size; in the black colour on the breast being less in-
tense and defined; in the undulating white markings being
less diffused over the scapulars and back, and being wanting
almost entirely on the wing-coverts. Dr. Richardson, whose
judgment on these points, and whose experience respecting
the birds of the Arctic regions, entitles him to every con-
fidence, is inclined to consider these birds but as a variety of
the European species. Following his opinion, I refrain from
describing them as separate. It is, however, to be observed,
that the true Fuligula marila is found in North America,
and there is less reason to believe the birds alluded to above
to be varieties resulting from climate or locality. Should the
species prove to be distinct, the specific name of marilordes,
which has been suggested by Dr. Richardson, would be ap-
propriate.”

I have not been able to find Dr. Richardson’s suggestion
of the name mariloides, (Scaup-like,) except in the quotation
here made, and examination of more examples of the bird,
than the single one here figured, may be considered necessary
to decide that this Duck is distinct from the Scaup Duck. I
have, however, adopted the name provisionally.

The bill is blue, equal in breadth throughout, the sides
being parallel; the irides yellow; head, cheeks, and upper
part of the neck all round rich orleans plum-colour, but with
more of red than purple ; lower part of the neck, and upper
part of the breast, jet black ; all the back, scapulars, small
wing-coverts, and tertials, one uniform tint, produced by fine
black transverse lines on a ground colour of greyish-white ;

Q50 ANATIDE.

greater wing-coverts black ; wing primaries brownish-black ;
secondaries white, forming the speculum, and tipped with
black ; rump and upper tail-coverts nearly black ; tail-feathers
dark brownish-black ; the sides below the wings, and the
flanks, covered with fine grey lines, on a ground of white:
lower part of breast and the belly mottled with pale greyish-
brown and white; vent dark grey, almost as black as the
under tail-coverts; feet like the beak, much smaller than
these parts in the true Scaup, and darker in colour, being of
a more uniform bluish-black.

In the figures given, great care has been taken to present
the true relative appearance of the two birds.

I only know of this one example found in England, which
was purchased in Leadenhall market a few winters since.
The form of the trachea is unknown to me, and not possess-
ing any measurements taken before the bird was preserved, I
refrain from mentioning those which may not exist in a state
of nature.

The vignette below represents the difference in the extent
of the membrane depending from the hind toe of the two
divisions of the true ducks; that on the left side belongs to
the first division, or surface-feeding Ducks ; that on the right
to the second division, the oceanic, or Diving-Ducks.

WT

Tl

ll

ld

TU

7

TUFTED DUCK. Q51

NATATORES, ANATIDZA.

THE TUFTED DUCK.

Anas fuligula, Tufted Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 249.

a ne rif 5 Mont. Ornith. Dict.
a - pf aH Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 386.
Nyroca_ ,, es a Fiem. Brit. An. p. 122.
Fuligula cristata, ,, Pochard, Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ti. p. 357.
an i; 5 gt Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 244.
a *9 », Duck, Govtp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.

Anas fuligula, Canard morillon. Tem. Man. d’Ornith. vol, ii. p. 873.

Tue Turrep Duck is a constant and well-known winter
visiter to this country, frequenting our sea coasts, estuaries,
and lakes, where it generally remains till March. It is fre-
quently seen in company with the Pochard, the Scaup, the
Golden Eye, and other oceanic ducks on our shores, but,
occasionally, also in small parties, and sometimes in pairs only.
It is a plump and short bird, depressed in form, swimming
low in the water; and though it frequents our rivers and

Q52 ANATIDE.

other fresh waters in considerable numbers, it is considered
a difficult duck to take in a decoy on account of the facility
with which it dives, and gets back in the pipe towards the
open entrance and the pool. Its food is similar to that of
the Scaup Duck, but, unlike that species, its flesh is generally
excellent, so much so, that from its goodness this bird is
sometimes called the Black Wigeon.

Tufted Ducks bred in confinement in the ponds at the
Gardens of the Zoological Society, during the summers of
1859-40, and 41 ; but I do not remember to have met with
any record of their breeding in a wild state in Britain. The
egg figured by Mr. Hewitson was obtained from Holland,
where a few pairs of these birds are scattered during the
season among the many inland waters, and breed on_ their
borders amongst the thick cover which generally skirts them.
They lay from eight to ten eggs, in shape rather pointed at
one end, of a pale buff colour, tinged with green ; measuring
two inches and one-eighth in length, by one inch and three-
eighths in width.

Besides being found generally over England, even to the
southern shores during winter, it is also found along the
eastern coast of Ireland, but leaves both countries, and also
Scotland, in spring, for higher northern latitudes. Faber in-
cludes it among the birds of Iceland, but it does not appear
to go farther to the westward. The Tufted Duck is not
found in North America, though sometimes so stated. Mr.
Richard Dann, says, ‘ this Duck is by no means common
either in Norway or Sweden. I have met with it in the
neighbourhood of Lulea, on the Bothnian Gulf, where it
breeds ; and in spring it appears on the coast and on the
adjacent Jakes and rivers in the south of Sweden in small
numbers.” Linneeus, in his Tour, mentions having seen
this species at Lycksele in Lapland; it is also the Lap-

TUFTED DUCK. Q53

marck Duck of Pennant’s Arctic Zoology, and is found in
Russia.

During winter it visits France, Germany, Switzerland,
Provence, Italy, and other southern states. The Zoological
Society have received specimens from Trebizond. ‘The Rus-
sian naturalists found it was common in the vicinity of the
Caucasus in winter. Mr. Gould mentions having received
examples from the Black Sea, Northern India, and the
Himalaya. Colonel Sykes includes it among the birds of the
Dukhun; and M. Temminck says that specimens sent from
Japan do not differ from those obtained in Europe.

The adult male has the bill pale blue, except the nail,
which is black ; in form nearly parallel, or but little dilated
towards the point; the irides brilliant golden yellow; the
head, the whole of the neck, the back, rump, tail, and wings
black, except a small portion of each of the secondaries of
the wing, which is white, forming a white bar, or speculum,
but tipped with black; the sides of the head, behind and
below the eyes, are tinged with purple ; the occipital feathers
considerably elongated, forming a crest or tuft, from which
the bird derives its name; at the chin a small triangular
spot of white; breast, belly, sides, and flanks, pure white ;
vent, and under tail-coverts black ; legs and toes dark blue,
the webs black. The whole length of the bird seventeen
inches ; of the wing from the carpal joint to the end eight
inches; the first and second quill-feathers nearly equal in
length.

The female is dark brown on all those parts which in
the old male are black; the white of the under surface of
the body less pure in colour, being tinged with grey, or
pale ash-brown ; the speculum of the wing white, as in the
male.

I have seen a dead female that was known to be old, with

Q54 ANATID&.

the feathers at the base of the upper mandible speckled with
white, like the adult female of the Scaup; and with some
elongation of the occipital feathers.

The trachea in this species is about seven inches long,
the tube somewhat larger at the upper end, below that of
nearly equal diameter throughout; the figure underneath
shows the form of the tympanum.

LONG-TAILED DUCK. 255

NATATORES, ANATIDE.

THE LONG-TAILED DUCK.

Anas glacialis, Long-tailed Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 268.

” ys 2 a a Mont, Ornith. Dict.
»” ” 9 of an Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 375.
Clangula ,, Ae AA fa Frem. Brit. An. p. 121.
Harelda_ ,, is », Hareld, Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 363.
” ” ” » » Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 247.
” ” 56 », Duck, Govutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.
Anas Pn Canard de Miclon, Txmm, Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 860.

Tus beautiful species, remarkable for great diversity in
the appearance of its plumage, depending on age, sex, or the
season of the year, is another winter visiter to the British
shores, and that, too, only in small numbers, except the
weather is severe ; for this bird remains in the north as long
as any surface of water remains unfrozen. The specimens
obtained in this country are also, for the most part, young
birds of the previous season, which are observed generally to

Q56 ANATIDE.

take a wider range than those of greater experience. These
ducks are most frequently found on the coast, not far from
land, in sheltered bays, or estuaries; but have been occa-
sionally taken in inland counties. Mr. W. Borrer, Jun. sent
me notice of an adult male killed in Huntingdonshire, in
January 1858. This species has been killed a few times on
the south coast of Devonshire; and Charles Prideaux, Esq.
who resides near Kingsbridge, sent me a notice with a colour-
ed drawing of a young bird killed in the estuary at Kings-
bridge, late in December last. This bird has also been killed
on the coast of Dorsetshire. I have more than once obtained
young birds in their first winter in the London markets at a
low price, being sometimes unknown, and not at that age
attractive in colour. It is considered a rare bird, but has
been killed on the coasts of Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and Nor-
folk.

Of this bird, on the other side of the Channel, M. Tem-
minck says, that it appears rather often on the coast of Hol-
Jand, and occasionally visits the large lakes of Germany. M.
Vieillot says that it is rare on the coast of France. Accord-
ing to M. Schinz it has been obtained two or three times on
the large lakes of Switzerland. A young bird has been taken
at Naples; and in November 1824, a young bird was taken
near Pisa; this species is, therefore, included by M. Savi, in
his Birds of Italy.

To return to our own country, Mr. Selby notices the Long-
tailed Duck as a winter visitant to the shores of Durham and
Northumberland ; Mr. Heysham has obtained it on the west
coast of Cumberland; and Mr. W. Thompson mentions
having procured specimens four winters in succession from
Belfast Bay.

Mr. Robert Dunn, in his useful little book, says, ‘¢ this
species, which is there called ¢ Calloo,’ is very plentiful both
in Orkney and Shetland, arriving about the middle of

LONG-TAILED DUCK. Q57

October, and departing again in March. It is to be met
with in all the inlets or yoes, generally in large flocks, never
far from the land, feeding upon small shell-fish and star-fish.
When on the wing it utters a musical cry, something like
‘calloo,” which may be heard to a great distance ; from this
cry it derives its provincial name.”

The Long-tailed Duck is well known in Denmark, and
among its numerous islands. Mr. W. C. Hewitson, in his
work on the eggs of our British Birds, says, ‘‘ we met with
many whilst in Norway; and although those which we shot
and dissected had every appearance of being shortly about to
breed, yet they were always in flocks, roving from place to
place, and apparently unattached to any particular spot ;
sometimes sweeping past, within a few yards of us, with
great rapidity, uttering their strikingly-wild and most inte-
resting cries. Several eggs of this bird were brought home
by the officers of the Arctic expeditions: for the one figured
I am indebted to the liberality of my friend, Mr. G. C.
Atkinson, who, during an excursion in Iceland, had the good
fortune to meet with a nest of the Long-tailed Duck; it was
placed near the margin of a small Jake, and lined with the
down of the female; the eggs were six in number, but would
most probably have been increased to ten or twelve, the
usual number of this tribe of birds.” Mr. Procter, who also
visited Iceland, sent me word that he found this Duck rather
common there, making its nest generally among low bushes,
by the edge of the fresh water ; the nest, composed of a few
stems of grass, and well lined with down ; the eggs, from six
to ten in number: in one instance twelve eggs were found
in one nest. The eggs are of a pale greenish-white, with a
tinge of buff colour; the length two inches two lines, by
one inch and a half in breadth. These birds are expert
divers, feeding in shallow water on mollusca, crustacea, and
marine insects. In the stomachs of two examined by myself,

VOL. III. s

258 ANATIDA.

I found the remains of our common mussel and shrimps.
The flesh of this species is coarse, hard, and fishy.

This Duck is found among the Faroe Islands; and the
notes of Richard Dann, Esq. in reference to this species in
Scandinavia, are as follows :—‘‘ The Long-tailed Ducks are
very numerous on the coasts of Norway and Sweden during
the winter, but are seen in greatest numbers off the coast of
Scona. ‘Towards the middle of March they begin to draw
north, and by the latter end of May appear in vast numbers
on the streams and lakes in the mountain-range which divides
Finmark from Swedish Lapland. As the season advances
they take themselves to the more elevated and smaller lakes,
but in Lapland are not generally found within the range of the
dwarf-birch. I have seen great numbers on the Calix lakes.
In the Dofre Fiell, a few straggling pairs make their appear-
ance and breed. They arrived the Jast week in May, on the
lakes and swamps within the range of the birch, and con-
tinued to increase in numbers until the 14th of June, when
I lost sight of them on the lakes where they had been most
abundant. On ascending, however, to the small lakes in the
valleys still higher up the mountains, and at an elevation
where the creeping-birch and dwarf-willow can only vegetate,
I again found them in pairs the last week in June; the ice
had not then entirely disappeared on these lakes. In July,
I again lost sight of the females, but frequently found, and
shot the males in the most elevated lakes and small pools in
the snow-mountains. Those I shot were filled with the
larvee of aquatic insects. 'They, undoubtedly, breed in the
Dofre Fiell. I saw one night as many as twenty males in
a flock fly by. I was not fortunate enough to find the nest,
but got specimens throughout the whole summer.”

This Duck is abundant in Russia, and in summer visits
Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen. In reference to its high
geographical range, its most common name in northern coun-
tries is the Arctic Duck. ‘The Long-tailed Duck was found

LONG-TAILED DUCK. 259

by our Arctic voyagers at Greenland and as far as the North
Georgian Isles. It was also particularly noticed by Dr.
Richardson, Captain James Ross, and Mr. King. The first
coloured representations of this species, in two states of
plumage, are, probably, those of our countryman, Edwards,
plates 156 and 280, both taken from male birds, the first
brought from Hudson’s Bay, in summer plumage; the
second from Newfoundland, in the plumage of winter.

It is well known in North America and the United
States; its habits are detailed by the Ornithologists of that
country, Messrs. Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall, and it is
stated to have been found in winter as far south as Carolina.
Mr. Audubon says, ‘‘in the course of one of my rambles
along the borders of a large fresh-water lake, near Bras d’or,
in Labrador, on the 28th of July, 1833, I was delighted by
the sight of several young broods of this species of duck, all
carefully attended to by their anxious and watchful mothers.
Not a male bird was on the lake, which was fully two miles
distant from the sea, and I concluded that in this species, as
in many others, the males abandon the females after incu-
bation has commenced.” Both sexes are active, noisy, and
restless.

The adult male in winter has the nail, and the basal half
of the bill black, the intermediate portion pale reddish-
brown; the irides hazel; the cheeks and ear-coverts, in-
cluding the space round the eye, brownish-buff ; below this
on each side of the neck an oval patch of dark brown, in-
clining to chestnut-brown at the lower margin ; forehead, top
of the head, back, and front of the neck, and the lower part
of the neck all round, below the dark brown patch, pure
white ; the middle line of the back, the rump, and the elon-
gated tail-feathers nearly black ; scapulars, tertials, and short
outside tail-feathers white; wing-coverts and primaries dark
brownish-black ; the secondaries reddish-brown ; the whole
of the breast black; belly, sides, flanks, vent, and under

s 2

260 ANATID£.

tail-coverts white; legs and toes pale bluish-lead colour, the
webs almost black. The whole length, without including
the elongated tail-feathers, seventeen inches: to the end of
the long tail-feathers twenty-two to twenty-four inches ; from
the carpal joint of the wing to end of the longest primary
nine inches; the first and second quill-feathers nearly equal
and the longest in the wing.

The winter plumage is generally perfected by the middle
of October: the summer plumage is assumed by the end of
May, and at that time only the space around the eye is pale
buff, mixed with a little white; all the other parts of the
head, neck, back, wings, and breast black ; the scapulars and
tertials black, each feather with a broad edge of rufous-brown ;
belly, and under surface of the body white, as in winter; bill,
irides, and legs the same.

A male killed while intermediate, or in change with refer-
ence to the two states of plumage described, had the forehead
black ; top of the head and the occiput white; cheeks brown-
ish-buff; all the neck mottled with black and white; scapu-
lars and tertials white at the base, black in the centre, and
reddish-brown on the margin ; secondaries distinguished from
the coverts and the primaries by their lighter reddish-brown
colour.

Females have the forehead, crown, and back of the neck,
dark brown ; the lore, or space between the base of the bill
and the eye, the ear-coverts, and sides of the neck greyish-
white ; below the ear-coverts, on both sides, a patch of
brown ; all the back and wings dark brown; primaries and
tail-feathers almost black ; neck, in front, light brown, clouded
with darker brown; breast, belly, and under tail-coverts
white ; thighs and flanks pale ash-brown.

Females measure about sixteen inches in length, and do
not assume the white scapulars or the elongated tail-feathers.

Young birds for the first twelve months resemble the
females. Young males in their first winter may be distin-

LONG-TAILED DUCK. 261

guished from young females by being a little larger in size,
and in having the brown and the white parts about the head
and neck rather more pure in colour, and their limits better
defined.

IT am indebted to Richard Dann, Esq., for the use of a
beautiful series of examples of this species, from which the
various descriptions here given were derived. They were the
specimens referred to as shot at various periods throughout
the year in different parts of Scandinavia.

The trachea of the male is about seven inches in length,
and very singular in its structure. At the bottom of the
tube four window-like apertures, as well as the kidney-shaped
tympanum, are closed by a delicate membrane. The vig-
nette exhibits this curious structure in two points of view.
The windpipe of the female is of the common, or ordinary
form, yet both sexes are said to have the same notes.

262 ANATID#.

NATATORES. ANATIDE.

THE HARLEQUIN DUCK.

Anas histrionica, Harlequin Duck, Prnn, Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p- 269, Edit. 1812.

” ” 99 », Monr, Ornith. Dict.
) ” Ap », Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 388.
Clangula ,, 5 »» Fuem. Brit. An. p. 120.
” ” », Garrot, Srrxy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 371.
” ” ” », JENyNS, Brit. Vert. p. 246.
Ms An a Duck, Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 84.
” ” a3 », Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.

Anas », Canard Histrion., Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii, p. 878.

Tis beautiful species, which, from the great variety in
its colours and markings, is called the Harlequin Duck, is
another of the winter visiters to our coast, but is still more
rare than the Long-tailed Duck last described. The Harle-

HARLEQUIN DUCK. 263

quin Duck was first noticed as a British Duck in the orni-
thological Dictionary of Colonel Montagu, published in 1802.
His descriptions were taken from a pair of birds that had
been killed in Scotland, and sent by Lord Seaforth to Mr.
James Sowerby, who published coloured figures of them in
1806, in his British Miscellany, tab. 6, page 11. Mr.
Sowerby afterwards received a young female of the same
species from Mr. Simmons, who shot it on one of the Ork-
neys. It is, however, a very rare bird here, and but few
occurrences are recorded. Dr. Edward Moore has noticed
one that was obtained in Devonshire, in the winter of 1850.
Some years since I bought two in the London market during
the same winter; both of them were young females. Mr.
Paget has recorded one that was obtained at Yarmouth ;
and the gamekeeper of Sir Philip Egerton shot one, a
female, in Cheshire, in December 1840, during a frost.

It has been taken on the coast of France, according to
M. Vieillot, and occasionally in Germany. M. Nilsson says
it visits Sweden; it is said to be found in Russia, and from
Lake Baikal to Kamschatka.

The Harlequin Duck breeds in Iceland; and the egg
figured in Mr. Hewitson’s work was brought from that island
by G. C. Atkinson, Esq. of Newcastle, ‘“‘ who found a nest
containing seven or eight eggs, deposited in a bed of the
bird’s down, upon the grass, bordering the margin of a
shallow lake.” The egg is of a pale buff colour, tinged
with green, and measuring two inches one-eighth in length,
by one inch five-eighths in breadth. This duck also in-
habits Greenland, and the most northern parts of the Ame-
rican continent. Dr. Richardson, in reference to its habits,
says that it haunts eddies under cascades, and rapid streams.
It takes wing at once when disturbed, and is very vigilant.
It was never seen associating with any other Duck. Colour-
ed figures of both sexes will be found in Edwards’ Gleanings

264 ANATIDE.

in Natural History, and these are among the earliest repre-
sentations of this species. Plate 99 represents an adult
male, brought from Newfoundland, where, on account of its
variegated plumage, it is called the Painted Duck. Plate
157 is a representation of a female brought from Hudson’s
Bay, where the male, from his fine appearance, is called the
Lord Duck.

This species is well known to American ornithologists.
Mr. Audubon says, “On the 31st of May, 1833, I found
them breeding on White Head Island, and other much
smaller places of a similar nature, in the same part of the
Bay of Fundy. There they place their nests under the
bushes, or amid the grass, at the distance of twenty or thirty
yards from the water. Farther north, in Newfoundland and
Labrador, for example, they remove from the sea, and betake
themselves to small lakes a mile or so in the interior, on the
margins of which they form their nests beneath the bushes,
next to the water. ‘The nest is composed of dry plants of
various kinds, arranged in a circular manner to the height of
two or three inches, and lined with finer grasses. The eggs
are five or six, rarely more, measure two inches and one
sixteenth, by one inch and nine-sixteenths, and are of a
plain greenish-yellow colour. After the eggs are laid, the
female plucks the down from the lower parts of her body,
and places it beneath and around them, in the same manner
as the Hider Duck and other species of this tribe. The
male leaves her to perform the arduous, but, no doubt, to
her pleasant, task of hatching and rearing the brood, and,
joining his idle companions, returns to the sea-shore, where
he moults in July and August.”

The adult male has the bill bluish-black; the irides
orange ; forehead, crown, back of the neck, around the eyes,
the cheeks, and sides of the neck, bluish-black, tinged with
violet colour; at the base of the bill, and on the ear-coyerts,

HARLEQUIN DUCK. 265

a patch of white; over the eyes, and down the neck behind
the ear-coverts, are streaks of white, that over the eye varied
with rufous below, and reaching to the occiput ; at the bot-
tom of the neck, and again below across the chest, are bands
of white; beneath the first, and above and below the second,
are narrow bands of black; back, wing-coverts, and rump,
bluish-black ; primary quill-feathers and tail dull black ; sca-
pulars and secondaries white; front of neck between the
crescentic bands bluish-grey ; breast below the second band,
and the belly dusky grey, becoming darker towards the vent
and under tail-coverts, which are bluish-black ; sides of the
body and flanks rufous, or chestnut ; legs and toes blue, the
membranes darker. The whole length seventeen inches; the
wing, from the bend eight inches; the first quill-feather the
longest. The female is considerably smaller than the male,
and of a nearly uniform brown colour above, but mottled on
the front of the neck and on the breast with two shades of
brown, and with a patch of more or less pure white on the
forehead, as well as before and behind the eye; the belly
whitish. Whole length fourteen inches; of the wing, from
the carpal joint, seven inches.

Young males, during their first winter, like the females,
but, in the second year, according to Mr. Audubon, “are
greyish-brown on the back and wings, light brownish-grey
beneath. The head and neck are of a dull leaden-blue, the
upper part of the head darker. ‘The white spot before the
eye is mottled with grey, the line extending over the eye
obscure, and the edging of the occiput faint reddish-brown.
The two white marks exist on the sides of the neck, but are
merely edged with darker blue; there are slight indications
of the white collar, and the band before the wing is marked,
but much smaller than in the adult. The quills are dark
brown, but the secondaries are not tipped with white, of
which there are but slight indications on the scapulars. The

266 ANATIDE.

upper tail-coverts are blackish, the tail bluish-grey, lighter
at the end. The bill is dusky; the feet of a leaden tint.
The male in the third year, and after his second moult, has
greatly improved in colouring, although the tints are not
nearly so pure as in the old bird. The hind part of the
neck is still brown, as are the wing-coverts; the sides are
dark brownish-grey, with undulated yellowish-red bars. The
white collar is not yet complete, but all the white markings
on the neck are edged with black; the fore part of the breast
is dull grey, the middle yellowish-grey, spotted with bluish-
grey. The white bar on the wing is still wanting; the rump
is glossy bluish-black, the tail nearly of the same tint.”

I have never been able to obtain a specimen of the wind-
pipe of the male of this species; it is thus described by Mr.
Audubon: “is six inches and a half in length, has at first a
breadth of only three lines, but at the distance of three-
quarters of an inch enlarges to four and a half lines, and so
continues for two inches; it then contracts to two and a half
lines, and again at the lower part enlarges to five and a
quarter lines, and terminates in a large transverse bony dila-
tation or tympanum, of which the length is seven and a half
lines, the breadth one inch two lines ; it projects as usual to
the left side, where it is of a rounded form.”

GOLDEN EYE. 26%

NATATORES, ANATIDZ.

THE GOLDEN EYE.

Anas clangula, Golden Eye Duck, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 253.

a ae a 3 BS Mont. Ornith. Dict.
5 ny a ‘ a Berwick, Brit. Birds. vol. ii. p. 381.
», glaucion, The Morillon, FS 3 = rf 385.
Clangula vulgaris, Golden Eye, Fem. Brit. An, p. 120.
“Fi i Common ,, 55 Se.py, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 367.
5, chrysopthalmos, Golden Eye Garrot, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 245.
», vulgaris on 35 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. i.

Anas clangula, Canard Garrot, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 870.

Tue Goxpen Eye is another species of Duck, which visits
this country in small flocks every winter, and is well known
on most parts of our coast, particularly the females and
young birds of the year, which are much more numerous,
and more easily procured than adult males. These birds
resort to, and feed in, the estuaries, or at a short distance

268 ANATIDE.

up rivers that fall into the sea; they are, also, sometimes
obtained on inland waters, both in decoys and by the gun.
They are active in the water, swimming and diving with
great rapidity, and when in pursuit of their food, which
consists principally of small fishes; if five or six of these
ducks are together, they do not all dive at the same time,
but some of them remain on the surface, as sentinels, where
they keep a good look-out to prevent being approached and
surprised by an enemy. The flesh of this species, like that
of other ducks feeding on fish, is not in much estimation.
Young birds are better than old ones, but the muscular parts
are dark and coarse both in appearance and flavour.

The Golden Eye is a regular winter visiter to Ireland, as
well as to England and Scotland ; it also visits Orkney and
Shetland, but all of them leave in spring for Scandinavia,
anc countries still farther north. Mr. Hewitson, when with
his party in Norway, found a nest of the Golden Eye; it
was in a tree, in a hole lately occupied by the Great Black
Woodpecker, at the height of ten or twelve feet from the
ground; but though the aperture inside was about a foot in
diameter, and lined with the soft down of the bird, the ex-
ternal opening was so small that it was with difficulty the
hand could be inserted. The eggs were green, and measured
two inches and three-eighths in length, by one inch five-
eighths in breadth.

The notes supplied me by Richard Dann, Esq., are as
follows :—‘* The Golden Eye is numerously spread over the
whole of Lapland, as far as the wooded districts extend, both
to the westward range of mountains which separate Norway
from Sweden, as well as the eastern parts. It breeds in
small numbers on the coast of Norway, but not from Sta-
vanger northward, and on the Dofre Fiell mountains. It
prefers rivers to lakes, particularly the neighbourhood of falls
and rapids. ‘The Laps and settlers place boxes, with an
entrance-hole, in the trees on the banks of the rivers and

GOLDEN EYE. 269

lakes in which the Golden Eye lays its eggs. Although the
birds are always robbed of their eggs, they gain nothing by
experience, but seem to have such a predilection for holes in
trees that if such cavities are to be found, artificial or natural,
they always appear to prefer them to any other locality.
The Golden Eye seems never to be driven from the north
except by the waters freezing up. During the long and
dreadful winter of 1837, the Golden Eye did not altogether
migrate ; the streams at Trolhattan, under the falls, and at
various rapids and open parts of the rivers, the Golden Eyes
were, in considerable numbers, all the winter, in company with
the Goosander, while all the Ducks, Mallards, and Wigeons,
were starved to death and found dead upon the ice. There
have been speculations and opinions as to the mode the
Golden Eye adopts to carry its young down from the holes
of the trees in which they are hatched, which are frequently
twelve or fifteen feet from the ground, and at some distance
from the water. That the bird does transport them is be-
yond doubt. There is, I believe, but one person who has
ever actually witnessed the manner. M. Nilsson was not
aware of it. The Laps, whom I frequently interrogated,
were also ignorant, beyond the mere fact of the bird carry-
ing them. The clergyman, however, at Quickiock, in Lulean
Lapmark, near the source of that chain of vast lakes whence
the Lulean river flows, was once a witness. Contrary to the
general character of the Lap clergymen in Lapland, this
gentleman, with little to employ him, took a great interest
in natural history and botany. While botanizing by the
side of the lake near Quickiock, where Golden Eyes breed
in great numbers, he saw a Golden Kye drop into the water,
and at the same instant a young one appeared ; after watch-
ing some time, and seeing the bird fly backwards and for-
wards from the nest five times, he was enabled to make out
that the young bird was held under the bill, but supported
by the neck of the parent.”

270 ANATID.

Linneeus, in his tour in Lapland, refers to the egg-boxes of
the natives, when near Lycksele, in the following terms :—
‘<A little further on a couple of young Owls were suspended
on a tree. On my inquiring what these birds had done to
be so served, the rower made me remark, on the most lofty
of the fir-trees, concave cylinders of wood, closed at top and
bottom, and having an aperture on one side. These cylin-
ders are placed on the highest part of the trees, in order to
tempt Wild Ducks to lay their eggs in them, and they are
afterwards plundered by the country-people. In one of
these nests a brood of young Owls had been hatched instead
of young Ducks.”

West of Scandinavia the Golden Eye is found at the
Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland; and is well known
and described by the ornithologists of North America. ast
of Great Britain it is found in winter in Holland and Ger-
many; on the coast of France, and also, sometimes, in the
interior. It visits, though rarely, the lakes of Switzerland,
and has been taken in Provence. M. Savi includes it in
his Birds of Italy, and mentions, that from the circumstance
of this Duck having a light-coloured patch in addition to
its light-coloured eye on each side of its head, it is, in dif
ferent parts of that country, called Quattr-occhi, (four eyes.)
The Zoological Society have received specimens, sent by
Keith Abbott, Esq., from Trebizond ; the Russian naturalists
found it in the vicinity of the Caucasus ; and M. Temminck
says that the Golden Eye of Japan is identical with the bird
of Europe.

The Ornithological Society of London have preserved a
female Golden Eye on the canal in St. James’s Park for
the last two years; she associates constantly with a male
Smew.

The adult male has the bill bluish-black; the irides
golden-yellow ; at the base of the upper mandible a roundish
white patch ; head, and sides of the neck rich glossy green,

GOLDEN EYE. ATi |

the feathers on the occiput a little elongated ; chin and throat
black ; lower part of neck all round white ; middle line of
the back and the rump bluish-black ; tail-feathers greyish-
black ; point of wing black; both sets of wing-coverts black
at the base, white at the end; primaries and tertials black ;
secondaries and scapulars white, the latter edged with black ;
breast, belly, and under tail-coverts white; flanks and thighs
dull greyish-black ; legs and toes yellow, the connecting
membranes black. The whole length nineteen inches; from
the carpal joint to the end of the wing nine inches; the first
quill-feather the longest in the wing.

The female is smaller than the male, and has the bill
brownish-black at the base, orange-brown towards the point ;
the head, and upper part of the neck all round, hair-brown,
below this a broad collar of white; lower part of neck, back,
rump, and tail-feathers greyish-black, edged with bluish-grey ;
smaller wing-coverts edged with white; secondaries and
greater coverts white; primaries dusky; breast and belly
ereyish-white; sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts mottled
with greyish-black ; legs, toes, and their membranes as in
the males.

Young birds, for the first six months, resemble the female,
but young males beginning to assume their proper colours,
have the brown of the head darker; the occipital feathers
slightly elongated, causing the head to appear bushy and
large ; the white colour on the wings occupies more surface,
and being purer in its tint is more conspicuous ; the scapulars
exhibit some white lines; the back is darker, almost black ;
and the bird is altogether larger in size ; in this state it has
been called the Morillon, and was considered, for a time, a
species distinct from the Golden Eye, but repeated examina-
tions of the internal parts, particularly the organ of voice,
has proved it to be the young of the bird first described. I
have seen young males putting forth a few small white fea-
thers, the commencement of the white patch at the base of

Pals ANATIDE.

the upper mandible, by the end of January, but it more fre-
quently begins at a later period, namely, in March.

The trachea of this species is singular in its form, differing
from the character of those of the Ducks in general, and
bearing some resemblance to those of the Mergansers, both
in the tube and in the labyrinth. The length is about nine
inches, the diameter of the upper half of the tube equal in
size and small; at the commencement of the second half, the
tube is dilated to four times the previous size, and the rings
are so arranged as to lay flat upon each other. The last, or
fourth, portion again contracts till it ends in the labyrinth,
of which the vignette below represents the surface nearest
the back of the bird. The bronchial tubes are observed to
be unequal in length, to compensate for the obliquity of the
inferior surface of the labyrinth, which, as usual, is made up
partly of bone and partly of membrane.

BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. QYS

NATATORES. ANATID£.

BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK.

Clangula albeola, Buffel-headed Garrot, Jenywns, Brit. Vert. p. 246.
Fuligula ,, Buffel-headed Duck, Bonarartr, Aupuson, and others,

Tuts species was included by Mr. Donovan in his British
Birds, volume 10, plate 226, but no authority was named
on which it was given, nor any record of the place of cap-
ture. In the winter of 1830, or about that time, a male
was shot near Yarmouth, in Norfolk, which passed into the
possession of Mr. Stephen Miller, a resident there, who
prized it very highly. Of Mr. Miller’s bird, Mr. Joseph
Clarke, of Saffron Walden, very kindly sent me a drawing.
This bird is also referred to by Mr. Paget, in his Sketch of
the Natural History of Yarmouth and its vicinity, page 11,

VOL. LT, ay

QA ANATIDE.

note, in the following words, appended to his notice of the
Golden Eye :—‘* Mr. Miller has a specimen, which he con-
siders proves that the Morillon is different from the Golden
Kye. It was an old male, but is full one-third less than
the males of the Golden Eye, and the bill is considerably
shorter; besides which, the plumage is rather different.”
From a recent conversation with the Rey. Richard Lubbock,
who is well acquainted with the extensive waters near Yar-
mouth visited by numerous birds, I have reason to believe
that other examples of the Buffel-headed Duck have been
seen in winter in that country, but the bird is very shy, and
from its power of diving very difficult to get at. The boat-
shooters there, or some of them at least, call this bird the
true Morillon; they are well acquainted with the Golden
Kye, or Rattle-wings, as they call it, in every state of its
plumage, and therefore, very properly, consider their Morillon
(this Buffel-headed Duck) as distinct from the Golden Eye.

In the autumn of 1841 Mr. Mummery, the curator of
the Museum of Natural History at Margate, sent me word
that during a visit to Orkney, from which he had then but
recently returned, he had obtained a Buffel-headed Duck
there, which was intended for the Margate Museum.

This species is well known to the naturalists of North
America, and to their histories we must refer for an account
of its habits. Mr. Audubon says “that during autumn and
winter it is to be seen in almost every part of the Union,
frequenting the sea-shore, rivers, and lakes. It feeds on shell-
fish, shrimps, and marine plants, particularly the species of
laver called Ulva lactuca, and the bird being generally very
fat, one of its common names is Butter-box; it is also called
Spirit Duck, and Conjuror, from the facility with which it
escapes by diving suddenly at the flash of a gun, or the
twang of a bowstring. The Buffel-headed Duck is a very

hardy bird, for it remains during extremely cold weather on

BUFFEL-HEADED DUCK. ag ts

the Ohio, when it is thickly covered with floating ice, among
which it is seen diving almost constantly in search of food.
When the river is frozen over they seek the head-waters of
the rapid streams, in the turbulent eddies of which they find
abundance of prey. Possessed of a feeling of security arising
from the rapidity with which they can dive, they often allow
you to go quite near them, though they will then watch every
motion, and at the snap of your gun, or on its being dis-
charged, disappear with the swiftness of thought, and, per-
haps, as quickly rise again within a few yards, as if to ascer-
tain the cause of their alarm. When these birds return to us
from the north, the number of the young so much exceed
that of the old, that to find males in full plumage is much
more uncommon than toward the time of their departure,
when I have thought the males as numerous as the females.
Although at times they are very fat, their flesh is fishy and
disagreeable ; many of them, however, are offered for sale in
our markets.

*“'The note is a mere croak, much resembling that of the
Golden Eye, but not so loud.” These birds leave the United
States in spring to breed in more northern regions, and, like
the Golden Eye, are said to make their nests in hollow trees.
Mr. Audubon saw many in flocks in the Bay of Fundy.
The specimen figured by Edwards, plate 100, came from
Newfoundland. Dr. Richardson states that they frequent the
rivers and fresh-water lakes throughout the Fur countries in
great numbers, but does not mention having observed them
breeding. Dr. Townsend found this species on the streams
of the Rocky Mountains; and it has been observed as far
westward as Monterey, in New California. Captain Beechey,
during a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Straits, found
this Duck at San Francisco.

In the adult male the bill is bluish-black, narrow, and
small ; irides hazel; forehead, lore, chin, throat, and sides

Tees

276 ANATID&.

of the neck, bluish-black, tinged with rich purple and green ;
behind the eye, on the ear-coverts, and thence upwards to
the crown of the head, and backwards to the occiput, a trian-
gular patch of pure white; the feathers of the head elongated
forming a crest which is elevated at pleasure; lower part of
the neck white; back, rump, and tertials black; scapulars,
wing-coverts, and secondaries white ; primaries greyish-black;
tail-coverts and tail-feathers pale ash-grey ; breast, belly, and
all the under surface of the body white; legs, toes, and
membranes yellow. Whole length fifteen inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather six
inches and three-quarters.

The female is smaller than the male; the head and neck
ash-brown, with a patch of white behind the eye ; upper part
of the back greyish-brown, lower part black; wing-coverts,
primaries, and tertials dark greyish-brown ; secondaries white;
tail ash-grey ; breast and belly dull white ; vent and under
tail-coverts greyish-white; legs and toes bluish-black: whole
length thirteen inches; wing six inches and one-quarter.
Young males in the first autumn resemble females.

The trachea, described by Mr. Audubon, ‘is five inches
long, much flattened, its rings unossified, its diameter at the
top two lines and three-quarters, towards the lower part three
lines, having scarcely any appearance of dilatation at the part
which is so excessively enlarged in the Golden-Eyed Duck,
which, in form and habits, is yet very closely allied.”

The specimens from which the figure and descriptions here
given were derived, were obligingly lent me for my use in

this work by Mr. Joseph Clarke of Saffron Walden.

SMEW. Qt

NATATORES. : ANATIDZ.

THE SMEW.

Mergus albellus, Smew Merganser, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 216.

us 55 The Smew, Monr, Ornith. Dict.

5 A seen Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 276, male.
», Lough Diver, 5 3 5 », 278, female.

7 », White-headed Goosander, Firm. Brit. An. p. 129.

33 », Smew, or White Nun, Sevsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 385.

ny A The Smew, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 250.

vy a 9 3 Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. i.

3 », Harle Piette, Tem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 11, p. 887.

Mercus. Generic Characters.—Bill about as long, or longer than the
head, straight, slender, rather pointed, the base large, forming an elongated
and almost a cylindrical cone ; point of the upper mandible curved, and, with
the horny nail, forming a hook ; edges of both mandibles furnished with saw-
like teeth, the points directed backwards. Nostrils lateral, about the middle
of the beak, longitudinally elliptic. Legs short, placed rather backward ; three
toes in front webbed, hind toe with a pendant lobe or membrane. Wings
moderate, the first and second quill-feathers nearly equal in length.

248 ANATIDE.

By reversing the usual order of arrangement of the species
of this genus, and placing the smallest bird first, the transi-
tion from the oceanic Ducks to the Mergansers is easy and
natural, agreeing as well in general appearance as they are
known to assimilate in habits. The Smew, or Smee, as it
is sometimes called, is a winter visiter here, and the most
common species of the genus, frequenting our rivers and
large pieces of fresh water, as well as most parts of the coast.
The adult male is a handsome bird, remarkable for the con-
trast, rather than the variety of the colours of his plumage.
Young birds, frequently called Red-headed Smews, are much
more common in our markets than old males. As a species
they are shy and vigilant, taking long flights occasionally.
They feed on small fish, crustacea, and aquatic insects, which
they obtain without difficulty, as they are excellent divers,
but when walking they appear to labour in their progression
from the backward position of their legs.

Smews are not mentioned as having been known to breed
in this country, but leave us in spring to return to more
northern, or rather, north-eastern localities. Richard Dann,
Esq. tells me these birds are very common in the Elbe in
winter, and that he has seen them at the entrance of the
Stockholm Fiord in November, but nowhere else. Pennant,
in his Arctic Zoology, says, that in the Russian Empire
Smews frequent the same places with the Goosander; each
of them retiring southward at the approach of winter; and
are observed returning up the Volga in February, tending
towards the north. The nesting habits of the Smew are
unknown, but the eggs are said to be eight or ten in number,
and the colour whitish.

This bird is not found on the west coast of Norway, on
the Faroe Islands, in Iceland, or Greenland. The species
was not observed by any of our Arctic travellers either on
the northern parts of the American continent or any of the

SMEW. Q79

numerous islands, and there is reason to believe that it is
only an accidental straggler to the United States.

In this country it is well known on the east, south, and
west coasts; and Mr. W. Thompson mentions having seen
specimens from different parts of Ireland. East of our own
country the Smew is rather common in Holland and Ger-
many in winter, more rare in France, frequents also the lakes
of Switzerland ; and has been observed there as late as May ;
it visits also Provence and Italy. The Smew has been found
as far south as Tinos, in the Grecian Archipelago. Mr.
Strickland saw specimens at Smyrna in winter. The Zoo-
logical Society have received specimens, sent by Keith
Abbott, Esq. from Trebizond; and the Russian naturalists
include it in the catalogue of Birds found in the country of
the Caucasus. Finally, M. Temminck remarks that speci-
mens received from Japan do not differ from those killed
in Europe.

In the adult male the bill is one inch and a half long, and
of a bluish-lead colour, the nail horny and white ; the irides
reddish-brown ; at the base of the bill on each side a black
patch, which just surrounds the eye ; from the crown of the
head down the line of the occiput, another dark patch elon-
gated, which is tinged with green, the dark feathers mixed
with others that are white, and all somewhat elongated form-
ing a crest; the other parts of the head, the chin, and all
the neck white; the back black; rump, upper tail-coverts,
and tail-feathers ash-grey; the point of the wing greyish-
black, with two crescentic lines of black pointing forward, one
before and one behind the point of the wing; the small
wing-coverts and scapulars white, the latter edged with black ;
great coverts and secondaries black, tipped with white, form-
ing two narrow white bands; the primaries nearly black ;
tertials ash-grey passing to lead-grey, the inner feathers
being the darkest in colour; all the under surface of the

280 ANATIDE.

body pure white; the sides under the wing and the flanks
barred with narrow ash-grey lines ; legs, toes, and their mem-
branes bluish and lead-grey. The whole length seventeen
inches and a half; the wing, from the carpal joint to the end
of the longest quill-feather, seven inches and three-quarters.

An adult male, belonging to the Ornithological Society of
London, which has lived more than two years on the canal
in St. James’s Park, assumes the colours of the plumage of
the adult female before the middle of June, remaining in that
state during the summer, re-assuming his white plumage at
the regular autumn moult. This bird associates constantly
with a female Golden Eye, but not with any other species.

Adult females have the bill and the irides of the same
colours as those of the males, with a black patch at the base
of the upper mandible; all the top of the head reddish-
brown ; down the back of the neck a streak of ash-grey,
which extends to form a collar at the bottom, and spreads
thence over the space before the wings and on the upper part
of the back; centre of the back, the rump, upper tail-coverts,
and tail-feathers greyish-black ; point of the wing ash-grey ;
smaller wing-coverts pure white; greater coverts and secon-
daries black, tipped with white as in the male, but the two
white bands are narrower than those of the male; primaries
nearly black ; tertials lead-grey; chin, throat, and all the
under surface of the body pure white ; legs, toes, and their
membranes lead-grey. Females are considerably smaller than
males, measuring but fourteen inches and a half in their whole
length, and but six inches and a half from the point of the
wing to the end of the longest quill-feather.

Young males resemble females for the first twelvemonths,
and do not assume their white plumage till their second
autumn moult. Young females have no black patch on the
side of the head during their first winter; the red colour on
the back of the neck covers a larger space; the white colour

SMEW. 281

of the smaller wing-coverts is mixed with ash-grey, and the
under surface of the body is of a dull white. Females pro-
bably assume the black patch on the lore, and the more pure
white colour on the wing-coverts at their second autumn
moult.

The trachea of the male Smew is about nine inches in
length, the tube very narrow at the upper part, but increases
gradually till it attains the diameter shown in the figure on
the left side of the vignette below; the bony rings being
firmly ossified throughout. The labyrinth, it will be ob-
served, is at right angles with the line of the tube, the spaces
in the bone supplied with tympanic membranes; the bron-
chial tubes short. The figure on the right is from the lower
portion of the windpipe of the female, which preserves the
same simple character as those of the Ducks. Both are here
represented of the natural size.

282 ANATIDE.

NATATORES. ANATIDZ.,

THE HOODED MERGANSER.

Mergus cucullatus, Hooded Merganser, Sevpy, Brit. Ornith, vol. i. p. 383.
Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 249.

Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 75.

sf fe A 5 Gou p, Birds of Europe, pt. i.
Harle cowronné, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 557,

We are indebted to Mr. Selby for the first notice of the
Hooded Merganser as a British Bird; the specimen was ob-
tained at Yarmouth, in Norfolk, during the winter of 1829,
and passing into the possession of Mr. Selby, the occurrence
was recorded in the first volume of the Transactions of the
Natural History of Northumberland, Durham, and New-
castle-upon-Tyne, page 292. <A short notice appears also
in Messrs. Paget’s sketch of the Natural History of Yar-
mouth and its vicinity ; and an early account appeared in
the third volume of the Edinburgh Journal of Natural and
Geographical Science, page 238, by Mr. Selby, who was in-

HOODED MERGANSER. 983

formed that other instances of the capture of birds of this
species had occurred.

Since that period T. C. Eyton, Esq. has obtained a speci-
men which was killed in the Menai Straits, near Bangor, in
the winter of 1830-31; Mr. Hoy, of Stoke Nayland, in
Suffolk, obtained an adult male as recorded in the Natu-
ralist ; and I have heard of another example that was shot at
Benton Park, the estate of Anthony Ralph Biddulph, Esq.

Though only an accidental visiter to this country, or even
to Europe, the Hooded Merganser is well known in North
America, and to the ornithologists of that extensive conti-
nent we must refer for an account of the habits of this
species. Mr. Audubon writes as follows :—‘‘ Excepting the
Smew, or White Nun, the Hooded Merganser is the hand-
somest of its family. Its broad and rounded crest of pure
white, with an edging of jetty black, and which it closes or
spreads out at pleasure, renders the male of this species con-
spicuous on the waters to which it resorts. The activity of
its motions, the rapidity of its flight, and its other habits,
contribute to render it a pleasing object to the student of
nature, not less than to the sportsman. Its flesh, however,
has a fishy taste and odour, although it is relished by some
persons. It seems to prefer fresh water, and is by no means
very frequent along the sea coast. Long, narrow, and mode-
rately deep creeks, or small ponds, are more frequented by
it than large rivers or lakes. On the waters of the western
and southern States these Mergansers are seen to arrive from
the north early in October, but, generally, later than many
species of Ducks, although sooner than either the Red-
breasted Merganser, or the Goosander. At the approach of
night, a person standing still on the banks of such a river as
the Ohio, first hears the well-known sound of wings whistling
through the air, presently after, a different noise, as if pro-
duced by an eagle stooping on her prey, when gliding down-

284 ANATIDE.

wards with the rapidity of an arrow, he dimly perceives the
Hooded Mergansers sweeping past. Five or six, perhaps
ten, there are; with quick beats of their pinions, they fly low
over the waters in wide circles. Now they have spied the
entrance of a creek ; they shoot into it, and in a few seconds
you hear the rushing noise which they make as they alight on
the bosom of the still pool. Up the creek they proceed,
washing their bodies by short plunges, and splashing the
water about them. Now they dive for minnows, which they
find in abundance, and which no doubt prove delicious food
to the hungry travellers. At length having satisfied their
appetite, they rise on wing, fly low over the creek with
almost incredible velocity, return to the broad stream, rove
along its margin until they meet with a clean sand-beach,
where they alight, and where, secure from danger, they re-
pose until the return of day. This bird ranges throughout
the United States during winter, content with the food it
meets with in the bays and estuaries of the eastern coast, and
on the inland streams. The dam of the Pennsylvania miller
is as agreeable to it as that of the Carolina rice-planter ;
even the numerous streams and pools of the interior of the
Floridas are resorted to by this species, and there I have
found them full of life and gaiety, as well as on the Missouri,
and on our great lakes. When the weather proves too cold
for them they go southwards, many of them removing towards
Mexico.”

<*The Hooded Merganser is a most expert diver, and so
vigilant that at times it escapes even from the best percussion
gun. As to shooting at it with a flint-lock, you may save
yourself the trouble, unless you prevent it from seeing the
flash of the pan. If you wound one, never follow it; the
bird, when its strength is almost exhausted, immerses its
body, raises the point of its bill above the surface, and in
this manner makes its way among the plants, until finding
some safe retreat along the shore, it betakes itself to it, and

HOODED MERGANSER. 285

there remains, so that you may search for it in vain, unless
you have a good dog. Even on wing it is not easily shot.
If on a creek ever so narrow, it will fly directly towards its
mouth, although you may be standing knee-deep in the
middle. It comes up like a ball, rises and passes over head
with astonishing speed, and if you shoot at it, do not calcu-
late upon a hit. You may guess how many one may shoot
in a day.”

‘¢ Like all the rest of the tribe, which, when far north, for
the want of hollow trees, breed on the moss or ground, the
Hooded Mergansers that remain with us nestle in the same
kind of holes or hollows as the Wood Ducks; at least I
have found their nests in such situations seven or eight times,
although I never saw one of them alight on the branch of
a tree, as the birds just mentioned are wont to do. They
dive as it were directly into their wooden burrows, where,
on a few dried weeds and feathers of different kinds, with a
small quantity of down from the breast of the female, the
eggs are deposited. They are from five to eight, measure
one inch and three-fourths, by one and three-eighths, and in
other respects perfectly resemble those of the Red-breasted
Merganser. The eggs are laid in May, and are hatched
some time in June. The young, like those of the Wood
Duck, are conveyed to the water by their mother, who carries
them gently in her bill; for the male takes no part in pro-
viding for his offspring, but abandons his mate as soon as in-
cubation has commenced. The affectionate mother leads her
young among the tall rank grasses which fill the shallow
pools, or the borders of creeks, and teaches them to procure
snails, tadpoles, and insects. On two occasions the parents
would not abandon the young, although I expected that the
noises which I made would have induced them to do so;
they both followed their offspring into the net which T had
set for them. The young all died in two days, when I re-
stored the old birds to liberty.

286 ANATIDEA.

“The Hooded Mergansers which leave the United States,
take their departure from the first of March to the middle
of May; and I am induced to believe that, probably, one-
third of them tarry for the purpose of breeding on the mar-
gins of several of our great lakes. When migrating, they
fly at a great height, in small loose flocks, without any regard
to order. Their notes consist of a kind of rough grunt,
variously modulated, but by no means musical, and resem-
bling the syllables croo, croo, crooh. 'The female repeats it
six or seven times in succession, when she sees her young in
danger. The same noise is made by the male, either when
courting on the water, or as he passes on wing near the hole
where the female is laying one of her eggs.”

In the adult male the bill is dull reddish-brown ; the irides
yellow; head, and upper part of the neck black ; top of the
head ornamented with a half circular crest, the posterior half
of which is white edged with black; back and wing-coverts
black ; primaries, secondaries, rump, and tail-feathers dark-
brown ; scapulars and tertials elongated, slender, and white,
edged with black ; lower part of neck in front white, with the
points of two crescentic bands descending from the upper
put of the back, and directed forwards; belly, vent and
under tail-coverts white; sides waved with yellowish-brown ;
legs and feet dull red. The whole length of the bird nine-
teen inches; the wing, from the point to the end of the
longest quill-feather seven inches and a half.

The female is rather smaller in size ; the head, neck, back,
and wings dark brown ; top of the head reddish-brown, the
feathers elongated ; chin white; neck in front pale brown,
the edges of the feathers lighter in colour; under parts
white ; bill, irides, and feet, as in the males. The young
birds resemble the female for the first year ; during the
second the black and white about the head appears in young

males ; in the third spring they are complete.

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 287

NATATORES, ANATID#.,

THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.

Mergus serrator, Red-breasted Merganser, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 214.

” ” op 2 a Mont. Ornith. Dict.

» » 5p Ap 5 Berwick, Brit. Birds,

” 9 36 », Goosander, Friem. Brit. An. p. 129.

” ” +. », Merganser, Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 379.
» » ” ” bp Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 249.

” ” a 36 iy Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iil.

6 5 Harle Huppé, Temm. Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 884.

THE Rep-BREAsTED MeErGANsER is one of the species
of the genus now under notice, that may be said to breed
annually in some parts of the British Islands, and various
localities will be quoted; though by far the larger portion
of these birds which are found in this country may be con-
sidered but as winter visiters, which arrive here late in

288 ANATIDE.

autumn, and retire in spring to various parts of Scandinavia
and other high northern localities. In winter, particularly
during severe weather, they are not uncommon on our coast,
appearing to prefer bays and estuaries, but sometimes pur-
suing the course of rivers and visiting inland waters, ‘They
do not confine themselves, in their visits, to any particular
counties. They frequent the eastern coast as mentioned by
Mr. Selby, in his catalogue of the Birds of Northumberland
and Durham, Holy Island, and the Fern Islands, being
favourite localities. Thence they pursue a course southwards
by Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. The Rev. L. Jenyns
told me that a female had been killed in Burwell Fen, Cam-
bridgeshire, in summer. They are more rare on the shores
of Kent, but visit the Thames, where they are called Saw-
bills, in reference to their conspicuously toothed beak; and
Mr. Jesse sent me a fine specimen that was shot during
severe weather above Putney Bridge. The Red-breasted
Merganser is included in the catalogues of the Birds of
Dorsetshire; I have had specimens sent me from Devon-
shire. It has been killed in Cornwall, and as high up the
Severn as the vicinity of Worcester. Mr. Dillwyn has
noticed its occurrence at Swansea, and it has been obtained
on the coasts of North Wales and Lancashire.

In reference to the breeding stations of this species, Mr.
Thompson says it is indigenous to Ireland, nestling on islets
both of marine and fresh-water loughs. Pennant has record-
ed its breeding in the Isle of Islay. Sir W. Jardine and
Mr. Selby found nests of this species when on a fishing ex-
cursion upon Loch Awe, in Argyleshire. One of these nests
was upon a small wooded island, placed among thick brush-
wood, under the covert of a projecting rock, and completely
surrounded with nettles, long grasses, and fern. It was care-
fully made of moss, plucked from the adjoining rocks, mixed
with the down of the bird; both in structure and materials

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 289

resembling that of the Eider Duck. It contained nine eggs,
of a rich reddish-yellow, or fawn colour. The bird was re-
markably tame, sitting until nearly taken with a small hand-
net. Sir W. Jardine very kindly sent me one of these eggs
for my collection; it measured two inches and a half in
length, and one inch and three quarters in breadth. The
males leave the females as soon as incubation commences.
Mr. J. Macgillivray, who visited the outer Hebrides in the
summer of 1840, says, that a few remain there during the
breeding-season, and he took a nest with eggs on a small
island between WKilligray and Ob, in the sound of Harris.
Pennant mentions that the Red-breasted Merganser had been
found breeding at Loch Maree in Ross-shire; and Mr. Selby,
when with a party exploring Sutherlandshire, in June 1834,
says, it was very plentiful upon all the lochs, but only a few
at that time had commenced incubation.

Mr. Robert Dunn, in his ‘“ Ornithologist’s Guide to the
Islands of Orkney and Shetland,” says, this wary bird is very
plentiful in both countries, and is a constant resident ; it is
extremely shy at all times. In the summer season the male
loses his beautiful plumage, and approaches in colour to that
of the female. This bird is seldom seen far from land, but
frequents the inlets and inland lakes.

Mr. Hewitson, during his trip to the west coast of Nor-
way, observed that the Red-breasted Merganser was frequent
upon most of the lakes and rivers; the eggs were laid under
shelter, either upon their margins or their numerous woody
islands. Richard Dann, Esq. sent me word that the Mer-
ganser is far more numerously spread over Norway and
Sweden than the Goosander; it breeds on all the coasts,
and is also found in the Dofre Fiell and Lapland mountains
as high as the birch grows. This species is found in Iceland
and at the Faroe Islands; in Russia, and on the great rivers
of Siberia and Lake Baikal. Its food is fish, obtained by

VOL. III. U

QO() ANATIDE.

diving, which its serrated beak, with the horny nail depend-
ing at a right angle from the upper mandible, enables it to
catch and hold with certainty. M.'Temminck says this spe-
cies is abundant on the shores of Holland, and sometimes on
the marshes of the interior; it is found also in Germany,
Switzerland, Provence, and Italy. According to M. Tem-
minck birds from Japan exactly resenible European examples.

The Red-breasted Merganser is found in Greenland, New-
foundland, and Hudson’s Bay. Dr. Richardson obtained
specimens in the fur-countries of North America; and in-
teresting accounts of its habits in the United States are given
by the ornithologists of those countries.

In the adult male the upper mandible is dark reddish-
brown, except the edges, which are of a brighter red, under
mandible wholly red; irides red ; all the head and the upper
part of the neck dark, but shining green, the feathers on the
crown and occiput elongated; middle of neck all round
white, except a narrow line of black descending from the
occiput to the upper part of the back, which, with the shoul-
ders, is also black; the short scapulars white, those more
elongated are black ; before the point of the wing on each
side are several roundish white feathers, margined with broad
and rich velvet-black ; point of the wing dark brown ; small
wing-coverts white ; great coverts and secondaries black at
the base, the outer halves white, forming with the smaller
coverts three conspicuous white bands on the wing; primary
quill-feathers brownish-black; tertials white, edged with
black ; lower portion of the back, the sides, flanks, rump,
and upper tail-coverts grey; tail-feathers stiff, rather pointed,
and of a uniform brownish-ash colour; lower part of the neck
on the front and sides pale chestnut-brown, streaked, and
otherwise varied with black; breast, belly, and under tail-
coverts white; legs and toes reddish-orange, the membranes
darker reddish-brown. The whole length full twenty-two

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 291

inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quill-feather ten inches.

Females are rather smaller than males, and have the head
and the neck behind reddish-brown, darkest on the crown of
the head, the occipital feathers elongated ; all the back, sca-
pulars, and small wing-coverts umber-brown ; greater coverts
and secondaries dark brownish-black, ending with white,
forming two white bands ; primaries and tertials dark brown-
ish-black ; upper tail-coverts and _ tail-feathers brown-ash
colour ; neck in front mottled with reddish and pale brown,
on a white ground; all the under surface of the body white.
Whole length about twenty-one inches.

Young birds resemble adult females during their first winter.

Males, however, in any state of plumage may be ascertained
by passing the finger and thumb down the neck, feeling along
the line of the trachea; the male has an enlargement of the
tube before it passes into the body; the tube of the trachea
in the female is uniform in its size throughout its whole
length. Young males do not obtain their fine plumage till
after their second autumn moult, and old males from the time
they desert the females till their autumn moult begins ‘“ lose
the rich glossy green of the head and neck, which degenerates
into an obscure brown, and the fine chestnut colour of the
breast entirely disappears.” — Gould.

292

NATATORES,

ANATID&.

ANATIDE#.

Mergus merganser,
56 castor,
yy, merganser,
Of castor,
yy» merganser,
3 castor,
>> merganser,

” 9
” 9
” ”
? ??

THE GOOSANDER.

The Goosander, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 211.

», Dundiver, ore Pr 35 33 213.

», Goosander, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

», Dundiver, sth 93 a5

», Goosander, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 266.
», Dundiver, 5 269.

9
,, Green-headed Goosander, Frem. Brit. An. p. 128.
The Goosander, Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 375.
Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 248.
“ 35 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. i.
Grand Harle, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 881.

9? 9?

THe Goosanper, the largest of the British Mergansers,

a male and female of which are figured above, is rather to

be considered as a winter visiter only to our islands, although
a small number remain to breed annually among the lochs
in some northern localities to be hereafter pointed out.

GOOSANDER. 293

These birds usually make their appearance in November,
especially in severe weather, and remain till the end of
March; but the greater proportion of them are females, or
young birds of the year: the fully adult male may be con-
sidered as the most rare. All of them frequent fresh-water
lakes as well as the sea-shore and estuaries, but if severe
frost occurs they are driven to the shelter of deep bays,
where, by their powers of diving they are able to obtain a
supply of fish, the principal object sought after as food.
Possessing strong tooth-like processes on the bill, by which
it is enabled to hold a slippery prey, this bird, like the
Red-breasted Merganser, is also called Sawbill and Jacksaw.
Goosanders in any state are rare visiters to the southern
counties of England, but have been killed during hard win-
ters in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, and eastward to
Sussex, Kent, and Essex. <A few are occasionally exposed
for sale in winter in the London markets, and specimens
are obtained in Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and north-
ward to Durham, and Northumberland. In Sutherlandshire,
Mr. Selby mentions that two or three birds of this species
were seen in June 1834, during the Natural History ex-
cursion, but no nest or breeding station detected. Mr. J.
Macgillivray, in his recently published notes on the Zoology
of the Outer Hebrides, says the Goosander is pretty common,
breeding close to the larger lakes, and occasionally by the
sea, as near Loch Maddy in North Uist. In Ireland, Mr.
Thompson, of Belfast, observes, that the Goosander is only a
regular winter visiter. The Rev. Mr. Low, in his Natural
History of Orkney, says, ‘‘ With us the Goosander con-
tinues the whole year, and may be seen every day in num-
bers on the lakes and in the sea; builds on the small holms
of the loch of Stenness, along with other birds ; in harvest
and in winter fly in flocks, in summer in pairs; the male
and female are then strict companions, but, like many other

Q9 4 ANATID.

birds, when breeding-time is over, part company, and lose
acquaintance.” ‘The nest, according to Mr. Selby, is con-
structed “‘near to the edge of the water, of a mass of grass,
roots, and other materials, mixed and lined with down. It
is placed sometimes among stones, sometimes in long grass,
or under the coyer of bushes, and, when the locality affords
them, in the stumps or hollows of decayed trees.” The eggs
are of a uniform buff-coloured white, measuring two inches
and a half in length, by one inch and eight lines in breadth.
Six or seven young are considered a large brood, and the
careful mother has been seen, like the Wild Duck, to carry
some of her offspring, occasionally, on her back when in the
water, as the parent Swan is known to do.

Mr. Hewitson, in his notes on the ornithology of Norway,
says, ‘‘ of the Goosander we frequently observed small flocks,
almost entirely male birds, accompanied rarely by one or
two females. ‘The females must have been breeding some-
where in the neighbourhood, but it was in vain that we made
every search for the eggs. Upon enquiry of the best in-
formed people, we were told that'the females are never seen
during the summer, nor until (accompanied by their young
ones,) they join the male birds in the autumn.”

Professor Nilsson says the Goosander is not uncommon
on the lakes and rivers of Sweden; and Mr. Dann tells me
that it is widely dispersed from Scona to Lapland, as far
as the woody districts extend; and that it breeds at Gelli-
vara. Linneus, in his tour in Lapland, describes a male
Goosander which had been caught in a net set for pike, near
Lycksele; and Acerbi in his travels, when on the banks
of a river near Nardis, in Lapland, says, “the Mergus mer-
ganser, instead of building a small nest, like the ducks, on
the banks, or among the reeds and rushes, chooses to lay
her eggs in the trunk of an old tree, in which time, or the
hand of man, has made such an excavation as she can con-

GOOSANDER. 295

veniently enter. The person that way-lays the bird for her
egos, places against a fir or pine tree somewhere near the
bank of the river, a decayed trunk, with a hole in its middle ;
the bird enters and lays her eggs in it: presently the peasant
comes, and takes away the eggs, leaving, however, one or
two. The bird returns, and, finding but a single egg, lays
two or three more, which the man puwrloins in the same
manner; the bird still returns, and, as if she had forgot
the eggs she had laid, proceeds once more to complete the
number she intended. She is defrauded of her eggs as
before, and continues repeating the same process four or
five times, when the man, who has by this time gathered
perhaps a score of eggs from the same nest, suffers her to
lay the last for the increase of her family. As soon as the
eggs are hatched, the mother takes the chicks gently in her
bill, carries and lays them down at the foot of the tree,
where she teaches them the way to the river, in which they
instantly swim with an astonishing facility.”

The Goosander is well known in Russia, and frequents
the large inland waters of Germany; it is found also in
winter in Holland, France, Switzerland, Provence, and Italy.
It has been observed in the vicinity of the Caucasus ; and
M. Temminck says it is found in Japan. It is well known
to the naturalists of the United States; and is found in
North America, Hudson’s Bay, Greenland, and Iceland.

In the adult male the bill is vermilion red, the superior
ridge of the upper mandible and the nail black; the irides
red; the head and upper part of the neck rich shining green,
with the occipital feathers elongated ; upper part of the
back and the scapulars black ; lower part of the back, upper
tail-coverts and tail-feathers ash-grey ; point of the wing, and
all the wing-coverts white; wing-primaries nearly black ;
secondaries and tertials white ; lower part of neck in front,
and all the under surface of the body delicate reddish-buff ;

296 ANATID&.

legs and toes orange-red, the webs rather darker; the whole
length of the bird twenty-six inches and a half; from the
point of the wing to the end of the longest quill-feather
eleven inches.

In the female the bill and irides like those of the male,
but not so bright in colour; head and upper part of the
neck reddish-brown; the occipital feathers elongated; the
back, scapulars, tertials, wing-coverts, rump, upper tail-
coverts and tail-feathers ash-grey ; wing-primaries lead-grey ;
the secondaries white ; chin and lower part of the neck in
front white; breast, and under surface of the body tinged
with buff; sides and flanks ash-grey ; legs and feet orange-
red. The female is rather smaller than the male.

The young birds in their plumage resemble the female,
but young males in this state may be readily ascertained by
feeling down the neck in the line of the windpipe with the
finger and thumb; males have two enlargements on the
tube, which females do not possess, their windpipe being
uniform in size throughout its length. Young males do
not assume the plumage by which that sex is distinguished
till their second year.

The trachea of the male is twelve inches in length. The
vignette below represents that surface of the labyrinth and
tympanum which is nearest the back of the bird.

NATATORES.

GREAT-CRESTED GREBE. 29%

COLYMBIDE.

THE GREAT-CRESTED GREBE.

Podiceps cristatus, Great-crested Grebe,

PB af 9 tppet

of 6 >» crested

” 2” 9 ””

»> urinator, », tippet

5 cristatus, 3s» erested

2”? ? ” ”

x” ” a” ”

”? ” ” 9

es a Grébe huppé,

»”

Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 130.
” ” ” ” 134.
Monr. Ornith. Dict.
Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p- 161.
3 3 "p ssi elG3s
Fiem. Brit. An. p. 131.
Setey, Brit, Ornith. vol. ii. p. 394.
Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 251.
Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ix.
Trem. Man. d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 717.

Popicers. Generic Character.—Bill of moderate length, straight, hard,
slightly compressed, pointed, forming an elongated cone. Nostrils lateral,
concave, oblong, open in front and perforate, closed behind by a membrane.
Legs and feet long, attached behind the centre of gravity ; tarsi very much
compressed ; three toes in front, one behind ; anterior toes very much flatten-
ed, united at the base, surrounded by an extended membrane ; hind toe also
flattened, articulated on the inner surface of the tarsus ; claws large, flat. No
true tail. Wangs short, first three primaries nearly equal in length, and the

longest in the wing.

298 COLYMBIDE.

Or the true Divers among our British Birds the Grebes
and Dabchicks belong to that division which more particu-
larly frequent fresh water, and the Great-crested Grebe, the
largest of the genus, is resident all the year in several parts
of this country, which afford extensive surfaces of water, partly
overgrown with reeds and other luxuriant aquatic vegeta-
tion, in which they find the required security. They breed,
and remain all the year, or by far the greater part of it, on
some of the lakes of Wales, on the meres of Shropshire and
Cheshire ; on the broads of Norfolk, and in the fens of
Lincolnshire. They are seldom seen to fly or walk. Their
wings are short and small, and the thighs and legs placed so
far behind the centre of gravity, and so closely attached to
the posterior part of their body, that they sit upright on
the whole length of the tarsus, and their walk is constrained.
If the bird is seen on land it is generally close to the edge
of the water, into which, if disturbed, it passes with little
or no noise to attract observation. ‘They are mostly seen
on the water; the form of the whole bird being that of an
elongated cone, is admirably adapted for diving, and their
habits can only be observed by those who live in the vicinity
of their favourite pools.

I have been favoured by the Rey. Richard Lubbock with
notes on the habits of some of the various divers, as ob-
served on the broads of Norfolk, where the Great-crested
Grebe is called a Loon, and of which species it is stated
that they are persecuted from a double motive; for the
beauty of their plumage, and because they are considered
to be enemies to fish. A pair or two are to be found on
most of the extensive pools during spring, summer, and
autumn, but they move over towards the arms of the sea as
winter approaches, not remaining to be frozen out, and return
early in spring. The nest is frequently built in an exposed
situation, before the young reeds haye sprouted sufficiently

GREAT-CRESTED GREBE. 299

to conceal it. When the nest is plundered, the bird im-
mediately makes another in the vicinity and lays again. The
birds are more prone to take flight in spring than at other
seasons of the year, but as soon as the eggs are deposited
in the nest, both male and female seem to trust entirely to
their powers of diving for preservation, and very seldom show
themselves. They generally dive away from their nest on
being disturbed, and thus frequently escape observation; a
slight vibration among the reeds being the only sign of their
departure. The nest is composed of half-rotten decaying
water-plants, nearly level with the surface of the water, and
is generally very wet. The eggs are usually four in num-
ber, white, and two inches two lines long, by one inch and
six lines in breadth. The parent birds are very careful of
their young, taking them down with them for security under
their wings when they dive. They feed them with young
eels, and other small fish, some small crustacea, and a portion
of vegetable food. ‘Tadpoles and small frogs are favourite
diet with them.

A fine adult specimen belonging to the Ornithological
Society, has been kept on the canal in St. James’s Park more
than twelve months. ‘This bird has carried a good crest,
unaltered throughout the whole of last winter; and at this
time, May 1842, the crest is of large size and fine in colour.
Unfortunately the Society possess but a single example of
the species, apparently a fine and old male. This bird does
not associate with any of the other numerous water-fowl on
the canal, he swims low in the water, and generally keeps
out in the middle of the widest part, frequently diving for
food, occasionally preening his plumage, and sometimes sleeps
in mid-day, the head turned half round with the beak in-
serted and hid among the feathers on the back.

Of several examples of the Great-crested Grebe which I
have examined internally, I never remember to have opened

300 COLYMBID2&.

one, the stomach of which did not contain a portion of fea-
thers which appeared to have been taken from the white
under surface of their own bodies. The same thing has been
noticed and recorded by others in the Magazine of Natural
History.* This habit of swallowing feathers alone appears
to be peculiar to the Grebes only, but from fish bones being
occasionally found mixed up with the feathers, there is cause
to suspect these birds reproduce, at will, from the stomach,
the more indigestible parts of their last meal as hawks, owls,
shrikes, and some other birds are known to do.

The Great-crested Grebe is rather rare in some parts of
the south of England, but has been seen occasionally in
Devon and Cornwall; Mr. Dillwyn has noticed it in Glamor-
ganshire ; and Mr. Eyton in Shropshire and North Wales.
Mr. Thompson says it is resident in Ireland on the larger
lakes; Mr. Heysham has recorded the capture of both old
and young in Cumberland; and Mr. Macgillivray, now of
Aberdeen, in his recently published Manual of the Water-
Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, says it is more numerous
in Scotland during winter than summer.

Of the Grebes in Scandinavia, Mr. Dann sends me word,
that, with the exception of the Red-necked species, next to
be described, they are confined to the south of Sweden. In
Norway they only appear as stragglers, and then generally
on or near the coast. M. Nilsson, the Swedish naturalist,
says the Great-crested Grebe breeds in their lakes; it is
found on some of the large reeded lakes of Russia and
Siberia; it is abundant in Germany, Holland, and France ; is
found also at Tangiers, Smyrna, and the Caucasus.

The under surface of the body of this bird being of a
delicate silvery whiteness, and of a shining silky appearance,
one of the names of this well known bird is that of Satin
Grebe; and skins, from the beauty of their appearance, are

* Volume vi, page 519, and vol. ix, pp. 202 and 326.

GREAT-CRESTED GREBE. 301

in great request for making into muffs for ladies, or, more
frequently to cut up into narrow strips as trimming for pelisses.
A good skin sells for six or eight francs on the continent,
and in the vicinity of the Lake of Geneva, which is fre-
quented in autumn by these birds, it is usual for sportsmen
to make parties on the lake to obtain specimens by shooting.
This sport, called La chasse du Grébe, is referred to by M.
Necker, in his paper on the Birds of Geneva, and has been
described to me by an English gentleman who had pursued
the amusement.

A party of four, as shooters, hire a boat with able rowers,
and on a calm day, when the surface of the lake is smooth,
they put off, and look out with telescopes for a large Grebe,
towards which the men row; on their approach the bird
dives, and the boatmen pull with vigour in the direction the
bird has taken, in order to be near it when it comes up to
the surface to breathe. One of the shooters stations himself
in the bow of the boat, one at the stern, and the others one
at each side, about the middle, in order that one or the other
may be in a position to take the shot as soon as the bird is
visible. At the commencement of the pursuit, when the
bird is strong, it frequently comes to the surface of the water
out of shooting distance, and has perhaps altered its course,
but a good look-out being kept by the shooters at their
different posts, the bird is soon descried, and the rowers again
urge the boat in chace; the bird dives again, and is again
pursued, and on rising is perhaps shot at, but at too great a
distance to be effectual, and the bird dives again. In this
way the chace is kept up for a time; the bird, partly ex-
hausted by the necessity of maintaining its exertions, and
perhaps slightly wounded, is unable to remain so long under
water, but the boat is close at hand, the exertion must be
continued, and the Grebe still rises and dives again with so

much rapidity that several unsuccessful shots are frequently

302 COLYMBID.

made. The rowers from practice calculating the length of
time the chace has lasted, can tell very nearly whenever
the bird dives how many strokes of the oars will bring the
beat near the place where it may be expected to rise, and
by giving out this notice and counting aloud, the interest is
kept up throughout the pursuit, till a fortunate shot gives
the fatal blow, when the prize is handed into the boat, and the
telescopes again put into requisition to find out a new victim.

The Great-crested Grebe is found in Provence and in
Italy. The Zoological Society have received specimens sent
by Keith Abbott, Esq. from Trebizond. Dr. Andrew Smith
brought examples from South Africa, and it is found in
several parts of Asia. Dr. Richardson found this bird during
summer on most of the lakes of the fur-countries of North
America, and the species is included in the histories of the
Birds of the United States.

In the adult male the bill is brownish-red ; the irides red ;
the top of the head, and the elongated feathers of that por-
tion of the crest on the crown of the head, rich dark brown ;
the cheeks white; the long feathers forming together the
tippet, and part of the crest standing out from the sides of
the neck are reddish-chestnut at the base, becoming dark
chestnut at the end; the neck behind, as also the back,
wings, rump, and the short tuft-like tail, dark brown ; the
secondaries white, but this colour is little seen unless the
wings are extended; front of neck, and all the under surface
of the body delicate and shining silky white, from which, as
before mentioned, this species is sometimes called the Satin
Grebe ; sides beneath the wing and the flanks pale chestnut-
brown ; legs and toes dark green on the outer flat surface,
lighter pale yellowish-green on the inner surface; the whole
length twenty-one to twenty-two inches. From the carpal
joint to the end of the longest feathers eight inches. The
crest is borne constantly throughout the year.

GREAT-CRESTED GREBE. 303

Adult females do not differ much from old males, except
that they are not quite so large in size; the crest is also a
little smaller, and the general colours of the whole plumage
less pure.

Young birds in their first winter, and during part of their
second year, have but small crests, and little or no reddish-
chestnut colour. For some time after they are hatched the
young chicks have their bills mottled black and white: the
head and neck ornamented with long dark stripes on a ground
colour of dull greyish-white; the upper surface of the body
dark brown, with longitudinal stripes of light brown, the
whole under surface white. The young bird figured below
was obtained in Norfolk.

304 COLYMBID®.

NATATORES. COLYMBID#.

THE RED-NECKED GREBE.

Podiceps rubricollis, Red-necked Grebe, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 139.

93 Of, 2 3 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

» 55 55 3 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 169.
ys Ap a5 i Friern. Brit. An. p. 131.

” of 5¢ es Sesy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 392.
» 9 oF x Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 252.

» 1 a i Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.

Be si Grébe jou-gris, Temm. Man.d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 720.

Tue Rep-NeckeD Gress is not found in this country so
frequently as the Grebe last described; it is, moreover, a
winter visiter only, and with this further difference, that
young birds of the year are of much more frequent occur-
rence than adult specimens. It is easily distinguished, being
intermediate in size between the Great-crested Grebe and the
Horned, or Sclavonian Grebe, and differs from the other spe-
cies found in this country, in having a much longer and
stronger bill in proportion to the bulk of the bird, and the

RED-NECKED GREBE. 305

base of the bill is mostly yellow; this species is also con-
sidered to be more decidedly marine in its habits. Like the
other Grebes it is an expert diver, and very difficult to obtain
when at sea, or in other extensive waters where there is ample
space to exercise its powers. It feeds on small fish and
aquatic insects. ‘The stomach of one examined by Montagu
was found to be distended with its own feathers and small]
seeds. I am not aware of any record of the Red-necked
Grebe breeding in this country. The nest is described as
placed among aquatic herbage and reeds, being built of
similar decayed materials; an egg, which I obtained from
Hamburgh, is of a dull white colour tinged with green; two
inches in length, by one inch and four lines in breadth.

Mr. W. Thompson mentions that the Red-necked Grebe
has been taken at Belfast, and in different parts of Ireland.
It has been obtained in Cornwall, Devonshire, and Dorset-
shire. It has been killed more than once in East Kent ;
and Mr. Joseph Clarke sent me notice of one killed recently
in Essex, near Saffron Walden, which is now preserved in
the Museum there. Both old and young have been killed
in the fens of Cambridgeshire, and on the broads of Norfolk,
but only in winter. Mr. Selby says it is not uncommon in
winter on the coasts of Northumberland and Durham; and
Mr. Macgillivray mentions having obtained it in the Frith
of Forth.

M. Temminck states that this species is nowhere more
abundant than in Holstein. It breeds on the lakes of
Sweden; and I have been favoured by Mr. Dann with the
following notes from his own observations of its habits still
farther north in that direction. ‘* The Red-necked Grebe is
common during the breeding-season on many of the shallow
reedy lakes at the head of the Bothnian Gulf, particularly
between Pitea and Lulea. They seem to be confined to
the vicinity of the coast of the Baltic. I have never met

VOL. Ill. x

306 COLYMBID&.

with them anywhere in the interior of the country, except in
Scona, and in the southern provinces of Sweden, although
the whole of Northern Scandinavia abounds with lakes. The
character of those lakes where alone I have seen and procured
specimens of the Red-necked Grebe, so far north as latitude
66, is precisely similar to that of the broads in Norfolk and
the meres of Holland, where some of the Grebes are so
numerous. Swedish ornithologists have confined the locality
of this Grebe to the southern parts of Sweden, but having
procured the old and young birds in August, and seen them
in considerable numbers two years in succession in the same
localities, no doubt can exist but that they are regular visit-
ants. The eggs I did not see, but the peasants on finding
a nest are in the habit of leaving one egg, and the female
will continue to lay, as long as one is left, until nature is
exhausted. These Grebes are by no means shy, and when
undisturbed amongst the reeds and grass, keep up an in-
cessant croaking.

“They do not, like many of the divers, use their wings
under water, but glide through it, however, with equal swift-
ness, and dart through thick entangled masses of weeds and
grass with the ease and rapidity of a fish. From the very
weedy nature of the waters they invariably frequent, using
their wings in diving would impede their progress. I have
had repeated opportunities of observing them when under
water.”

The Red-necked Grebe is found in the eastern parts of
Europe, and in Germany, Holland, France, Switzerland,
Provence, and Italy. Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent the
Zoological Society specimens from Erzeroom. M. Tem-
minck says the same species is found in Japan; it is found
also in North America.

The adult bird has both mandibles of the beak black, ex-

cept at the base, where it is yellow; the irides red; top of

RED-NECKED GREBE. 307

the head, and back of the neck, rich dark brown, almost
black ; cheeks, chin, and throat, fine bluish-grey, margined
with white; back, wing-coverts, tertials, and rump, dark
brown ; wing-primaries nearly black ; the secondaries white ;
neck in front rich chestnut-red; breast and belly silky-white ;
sides under the wing, the flanks, and under tail-coverts grey-
ish-brown ; legs and toes dark greenish-brown on the outer
surface, the inner surface greenish-yellow ; the whole length
sixteen inches and a half. From the carpal joint to the
end of the primaries seven inches.

Young birds have the head and neck behind dusky-brown;
the back and wings neither so dark in the brown colour, nor
so uniform in the tint, as in the adult birds, the margins of
the feathers being ash-brown ; chin, throat, and neck in front
greyish-white ; other parts as in the more adult birds.

I have seen young birds more than half grown which ex-
hibited longitudinal dark stripes on a light ground-colour
down the neck.

The figure below represents the form of the foot in the
Grebes.

308 COLYMBID.

NATATORES., COLYMBIDZ.

THE SCLAVONIAN GREBE.

Podiceps cornutus, Sclavonian Grebe, Pxnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 141.

- obscurus, Dusky oF >» eon » 136.

np cornutus, Sclavonian ,, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

of olscurus, Dusky a » ” »

55 an # = Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 167.
oo cornutus, Horned an Frem, Brit. An. p. 131.

* Bs 5 3 Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 397,

oF Ss Sclavonian ,, Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 252.

5p a Horned a Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. viii.

os », Grébe cornu vow Esclavon, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 720.

THE ScuavoniaAn Gress, called also, as shown by the
synonyms, the Horned and Dusky Grebe, is rather a rare
bird here in summer, but occurs occasionally in the winter
months in the state of plumage under which it is called the
Dusky Grebe. The species was first described as British by

Colonel Montagu, from an example obtained at Truro, in

SCLAVONIAN GREBE. 309

May, 1796. It frequents the coast and the few fenny dis-
tricts that yet remain in some parts of this country. It is
not uncommon in several parts of Ireland in winter. Mr.
Dillwyn has noticed a specimen that was shot at Penrice,
near Swansea, by C. R. M. Talbot, Esq. M.P. for Glamor-
ganshire. It has been killed in Cornwall and Devonshire.
I have notes sent me of several killed in Sussex, and have
met with it in the London market, but only in winter, or
very early in spring. The finest specimen I ever saw was
purchased when fresh killed by my friend Mr. John Morgan,
in May, 1826, of a dealer from Yarmouth, who, if I recollect
rightly, obtained it from one of those boatmen that fish and
shoot on the broads in that neighbourhood. This specimen
was preserved by Mr. Leadbeater, and was given to me by
Mr. Morgan in July, 1827, when he gave up collecting.
The Rey. Mr. Lubbock sends me word that this species is
not uncommon on the Norfolk broads in winter. It occurs,
as might be expected, in Lincolnshire; and Mr. Selby has
obtained it on the coasts of Durham and Northumberland.
Dr. Fleming considered that this species was resident all the
year in Scotland, but I can find no record of its having been
found breeding there ; they appear to go to higher northern
latitudes. Mr. Dunn, in his useful little book, says, ¢ this
beautiful species is extremely rare both in Orkney and Shet-
land. I cannot say whether it is a constant resident in these
countries or only migratory. During my stay in the former
place I saw seven or eight, three of which I shot; this was
in the month of April, and they were then in bad plumage.
I have only seen one in Shetland, which I fortunately killed ;
it was on my last visit, about the latter end of May, and was
in the most perfect plumage ; indeed I never saw so fine a
specimen. This Grebe differs from any other in having the
irides of two colours. It is a very shy bird, and a most ex-
pert diver, frequenting the sea, but always remaining close
to the rocks, where the sea-weed which is attached to the

310 COLYMBID&.

land floats on the surface of the water. When once alarmed
it dives to a great distance, and on coming to the surface
immediately takes wing. The young of this bird, known by
the name of the Dusky Grebe, is very rare in both countries.
I have seen very few, and these only in spring, on the lakes
near to, or communicating with, the sea. Two or three pairs
used to frequent the Loch of Stenness, in the neighbourhood
of Stromness.”

Mr. Proctor, subcurator of the Durham University Mu-
seum, visited Iceland in the summer of 1837, and observed
that ‘‘ this bird frequents the fresh waters there, and breeds
amidst the reeds and other rank herbage. The nest is large,
and floats on the surface of the water, with which it rises and
falls. It is composed of a mass of reeds and other aquatic
plants. The eggs vary in number from two to four, and are,
when just laid, of a bluish-white; but they soon become
stained by the materials of which the nest is composed. The
size of the egg is one inch and three-quarters long, by one
inch and one quarter in breadth. The young birds, when
first hatched, are covered with grey-coloured down. No
sooner does the old bird perceive danger from any intruder,
than she instantly dives, and emerges at thirty or forty yards’
distance. One day during my sojourn in Iceland, having
observed one of these birds dive from its nest, I placed my-
self with my gun at my shoulder, waiting its re-appearance.
As soon as it emerged I fired and killed it, and was surprised
to see two young ones, which it seems had been concealed
beneath the wings of the parent bird, drop upon the water.
I afterwards shot several other birds of this species, all of
which dived with their young under their wings. The young
were placed with their heads towards the tail, and their bills
resting on the back of the parent bird.”

M. Nilsson says this species is not very common in
Sweden, but breeds there in the reedy parts of shallow
waters. M. 'Temmuinck says it is rare in Holland, but more

SCLAVONIAN GREBE. a

common in Germany and the eastern parts of Europe ; it is
found also in France, Switzerland, Provence, and Italy, but
only in winter, and that rarely. It is said to -have been
found in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea.

This species also inhabits North America. The bird
figured by Edwards, plate 145, was sent from Hudson’s Bay,
where, Pennant says, it appears on the fresh waters in June,
and lays its eggs among the aquatic plants. Dr. Richardson
says it is very common in the Fur-countries, frequenting
every lake with grassy borders. The species is included
also in some of the histories of the birds of the United
States.

Mr. Morgan’s bird killed in May, in the plumage of the
breeding-season, has the beak black, both mandibles of horn-
coloured white at the tip; forehead and crown black ; irides
vermilion-red ; from the base of the upper mandible to the
eye, and from thence for the space of an inch behind the
eye, the feathers are of a rich yellowish-chestnut, the latter
elongated forming a tuft; from the chin the feathers on the
throat, cheeks, and sides of the neck, are also elongated,
forming a ruff of rich dark brown ; back of the neck, and all
the upper surface of the body dark brown; the secondaries
of the wings alone are white, but scarcely seen unless the
wings are extended ; neck in front rich reddish-chestnut, be-
coming rather darker towards the bottom ; breast and belly
shining silvery-white ; sides under the wings, and the flanks
dusky, mixed with some chestnut streaks ; legs and toes dark
greenish-brown outside, varied with yellowish-green on the
edges and inner surface. The whole length of the bird
rather more than thirteen inches. From the carpal joint to
the end of the wing five inches and a half.

In winter the beak and irides as described in summer;
the upper part of the head dark brown ; the lower part with
the chin pure white, a line from the gape to the eye, and
from thence along the lower edge of the ear-coverts, being

312 COLYMBIDE.

the line of division between the two colours; back of neck
and upper surface of the body dark brown; lower part of
the neck in front greyish-white ; under surface of body and
legs as in summer.

The figure of the male in summer plumage in the illustra-
tion at the head of this subject, was taken from the specimen
given me by Mr. Morgan, and my note made on an ex-
amination of the internal parts of this specimen, as mentioned
by the Rev. L. Jenyns, in his ** Manual of the British Verte-
brate Animals,” page 253, was, stomach membrano-muscular,
ceecal appendages each one inch and a half in length. The
other figure, in the state, as to plumage, in which it is called
the Dusky Grebe, was taken from a specimen obtained in
the London market in March 1825, and now also in my
own collection. My note of the internal appearance of this
bird was, stomach muscular, a true gizzard, contained in-
sects,* two long ceecal appendages from four to five inches
each. From the difference in the substance of the parietes
of the stomach in these two specimens, and particularly in
the comparative length of the cecal appendages, I was at
first induced to suppose that Montagu and the Editor of
the last edition of Pennant’s British Zoology were correct
in considering the Sclavonian Grebe distinct from the Dusky
Grebe, but I am now inclined to believe that though the
specimen killed in summer plumage was adult, the other
was still an older bird. I find the cecal appendages in
Podiceps cristatus, killed in its first winter, when six months
old, only half an inch long; but in an old bird these append-
ages measure two inches in length.

* Dr. Fleming, in his History of British Animals, page 182, says, ‘In the
stomach of a young male, shot 18th January, 1809, I found a concretion up-
wards of half an inch in diameter, consisting of its own belly feathers, closely
matted together. Montagu, in his Supplement, states that he has observed the

same occurrence in the Red-necked and Crested species. Are these to be con-
sidered as analogous to bezoars ?”’

NATATORES.

Podiceps auritus,

”

”

”

EARED

GREBE. 313

COLYMBID#.

THE EARED GREBE.

The Eared Grebe,

9 97
99 ?
” ”
” ”?

Grébe oreillard,

Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 135.
Mont. Ornith. Dict.

Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 165.
Fem. Brit. An. p. 132.

Serzy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 399.
Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 253.

Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. i.
Temm., Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 725,

Or the five species of Grebes found in the British Islands,
the Hared Grebe appears to be the most rare. Colonel Mon-
tagu mentions that during the many years he devoted at-

tention to ornithology he only obtained one specimen, and

314 COLYMBIDE.

the opportunity of examining a recently-killed bird is quite
accidental. This species is distinguished from the Grebe
last described by being a little smaller in size; in having
the bill bent slightly upwards, the curve being most con-
spicuous in the lower mandible; and in the lore, or part
between the base of the bill and the eye, never carrying
any ferruginous feathers at any age or season. The reddish,
or golden-yellow feathers, when present, arise behind the -
eye, covering the orifice of the ears. In its habits it ap-
pears to resemble the Sclavonian Grebe ; it feeds on small
fishes, aquatic insects, and some fresh-water plants ; hiding
itself and making its nest among thick herbage. The eggs
are mostly three or four in number, of a dull yellowish-
white, one inch nine lines in length, by one inch and three
lines in breadth.

Mr. Thompson says this species occurs, though but rarely,
in Ireland. Colonel Montagu obtained one in Cornwall ;
and it has been killed in Dorsetshire, and in Sussex. The
bird figured by Edwards in his Gleanings, plate 96, figure
2, was taken in a pond at Hampstead, near London; and
Mr. Bond gave me notice of two that were killed in 1841,
on the Kingsbury reservoir. Mr. Joseph Clarke sent me
an account of one that was taken alive on Duxford common
field, and it is included in the catalogues of the Birds of
Norfolk and Suffolk. Pennant states that in his time it
inhabited the fens near Spalding, in Lincolnshire. Mr. Selby
obtains it occasionally in winter on the coast of Northumber-
land; it is found also occasionally in the lake counties on
the western side of England. Mr. Macgillivray says he
has rarely met with it in Scotland, and it is not included
among the birds found in Orkney or in Shetland.

Faber describes it in his account of the Birds of Iceland ;
M. Nilsson says it breeds in Sweden, but only rarely. Lin-
neus, in his tour in Lapland, mentions having met with it

EARED GREBE. 315

near Lycksele, and in other parts of the north of Europe
it is said to inhabit lakes, rivers, and pools, wherever aquatic
herbage is abundant. It is found in Russia, Siberia, and
Germany ; it is rare in Holland and France, but visits the
lakes of Switzerland, Provence, and Italy. M. 'Temminck,
in the 4th part of his Manual, says it is rather common
in the Adriatic, and in the Bay of Cagliari, one of the
ports of Sardinia. Messrs. Dickson and Ross sent the
Zoological Society a specimen from Trebizond. Finally,
this bird is said to inhabit the Falkland Islands, and some
parts of the United States.

The adult male in summer has the beak of a dusky-
lead colour, almost black, the tip of the lower mandible only
being horny-white ; the irides red ; head and neck all round
nearly black ; chin speckled with grey ; from behind the eye
over the ear-coverts a triangular patch of reddish-chestnut ;
back, and all the upper surface of the body, dark brown ;
secondary wing-feathers white, but scarcely seen unless the
wing is extended; breast, and under surface of the body,
pure and shining silvery-white ; sides under the wings, and
the flanks, chestnut, mixed with dusky lines; legs dark green
on the outside, lighter green within. ‘The whole length
twelve inches. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing
five inches.

Females and young birds in winter so nearly resemble
those of the so-called Dusky Grebe, figured and described
in the account given of the last species, except in size, and
in the form of the beak, as to make another description un-
necessary.

316 COLYMBID.E.

NATATORES. COLYMBID.

THE LITTLE GREBE, or DABCHICK.

Podiceps minor, The Little Grebe, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 137.

aA hebridicus, Black-chin ,, a 4 Ri > 138.

13 minor, Little 5 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

af hebridicus, Black-chin ,, 3 93 Bs

»> minor, Tittle 5 Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 171.
55 hebridicus, Black-chin _ ,, nn Ps 55 35 Wi2s
ss minor, Eattle 5, Fiem. Brit. An. p. 132.

5 a - a Srrny, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 401.
a4 A ae - Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 254.

- ee re es Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ii.

Grébe castagneux, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 727.

Tue LirrLe Gress, or Dascuick, as it is more gene-
rally called, is the smallest, as well as the most common, of
the British Grebes. It remains here throughout the whole
year, inhabiting rush-grown lakes or fish-ponds, and the reedy
parts of most rivers during summer, but in winter it is more

LITTLE GREBE. 317

frequent on smal] streams. In some of these situations, de-
pending on the season, it may be frequently observed busily
engaged on the surface in search of food, or diving to shelter
itself for security if disturbed by too close an approach.
Though occasionally seen to use its wings when flapping
along the top of the water, its powers of flight appear to
be limited, and in walking its progression is still more em-
barrassed ; it is, therefore, very seldom found on land, except
close to the edge of the water, into which it returns on the
slightest alarm, perfectly conscious that water alone affords it
the required protection.

Its food consists of small fishes, aquatic insects, with some
vegetable substances; and a few of its own soft feathers
from the under part of the body, are usually found in its
stomach. Mr. Selby remarks, ‘“‘ During winter, when the
ponds and brooks become frozen, Dabchicks betake them-
selves to the mouths of rivers and small retired bays, where
they feed upon shrimps, fry of fish, and marine insects. At
this season I have several times caught them in Budle Bay,
on the coast of Northumberland, when they happen to be
left in small pools after the recess of the tide. Having first
dived, they afterwards invariably endeavoured to conceal
themselves among the fronds of the alge, rarely attempting
to escape by flight.” Nares, in his Glossary, says that the
term Didapper, applied to the Dabchick in some counties,
means a little diver.

Like the other species of this genus, the Little Grebe
breeds among the reeds and coarse herbage of the waters
it inhabits, and, considering the small size of the birds, forms
a large flat nest of aquatic plants, in which from four to six
eggs are usually deposited. These are one inch seven lines
in length, by one inch three lines in breadth. When first
laid they are perfectly white, but soon become stained with
greenish-yellow and brown, from being in contact with de-

318 COLYMBID.

caying vegetable matter, and the soil from the feet of the
bird ; by hatching-time they are frequently of a dirty clay-
brown. The female is very careful of her eggs, and seldom
leaves them without covering them over with some of the
vegetable substances by which she is surrounded, and I quite
agree with Mr. Selby, that the object in thus covering the
eggs is concealment, and not for the purpose of preserving
temperature during incubation. The young when first hatch-
ed are dark brown on the head, neck, and upper surface,
streaked longitudinally with light yellowish-brown on the
neck and back, the under surface of the body silvery-white.
They take to the water very soon, swimming about with the
parents in pursuit of aquatic insects and other food; or
diving to avoid danger with all the apparent facility and con-
fidence that usually attend long practice.

The Little Grebe is common and resident in Ireland, and
too universally distributed in localities suited to its habits in
England, to render particular enumeration necessary. In
Scotland this small species is not considered to be so plenti-
ful as with us in the south. Mr. Selby mentions that it
was met with occasionally upon the smaller lochs of Suther-
landshire during the natural-history excursion through that
county in the summer of 1834. It is found also in Orkney
and in Shetland.

M. Nilsson considers the Little Grebe to be rather rare in
Sweden; it is found in some other parts of the north of
Europe, and in Germany, but it is not common, M. Tem-
minck says, either in Holland or France. It is said by M.
Schinz to be abundant on the ponds and lakes of Switzerland
all the year; it is found also in Provence and in Italy.

Our Little Grebe is included in catalogues of the birds of
some parts of India; but, according te M. Temminck, the
small species found in Africa and at the Philippine Islands is
not identical with the Podiceps minor of European authors ;
nor is this species found in North America.

LITTLE GREBE. 319

The adult bird in summer, represented in the illustration
by the one which is swimming, has the beak black, the tip
of a light horn colour, the upper mandible straight, the under
mandible brought to a point by a line directed obliquely up-
wards from the symphysis, or junction of the two portions ;
the soft part of both mandibles, forming the angle at the gape,
yellowish-white ; irides reddish-brown; head, back of the
neck, and all the upper surface of the body, very dark brown,
almost black; the secondary quill-feathers white, but these
are not seen when the wings are closed; chin black ; cheeks,
sides and front of the upper part of the neck reddish-chest-
nut; under surface of the body dull greyish-white ; sides
under the wings and the flanks dusky-brown; legs and toes
dark greenish-brown.. The whole length nine inches and a
half. From the carpal joint to the end of the wing four
inches and one quarter. In this state of plumage it is the
Podiceps hebridicus, or Black-chin Grebe of authors, which
is now known to be only the summer appearance of Podiceps
minor, the Little Grebe.

Adult birds in winter have the under mandible lighter in
colour than the upper; the latter being dark brown ; head,
back of the neck, and all the upper surface of the body, clove-
brown; some of the primary quill-feathers, as well as the
secondaries, greyish-white, but only seen when the wing is
extended ; chin white; front of the neck ash-brown ; breast
and belly shining greyish-white ; sides under the wing, and
the flanks, ash-brown. Young birds of the year, in their
first winter, have the beak yellow-brown ; the head and back
of a still lighter brown colour than old birds in winter; chin
white ; sides of the neck pale wood-brown ; under surface of
the body and the sides clouded with brown, on a ground
colour of greyish-white.

The plumage of the very young chick has been already
noticed.

9
XS
i)

COLYMBID.

NATATORES. COLY MBID&.

THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER.

Colymbus glacialis, Great Northern Diver, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 165.

zs immer, Imber a bp 2p ” 9 167.
35 glacialis, Great Northern ,, Monr. Ornith. Dict.
re immer, Imber ” y» » ”

ie glacialis, Great Northern ,, Berwick, Erit. Birds, vol. il. p. 196.
Fem. Brit. An. p. 132.

9 ”? 9? >

ps a ee Fe Sexey, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 406.
es q a Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 255.

As 4 5 7 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiii.

Plongeon imbrim, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii, p.9L0.

” ”

Cotymbus. Generic Characters.— Bill about as long as the head ; strong,

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 321

straight, rather compressed, pointed ; upper mandible the longer of the two,
edges of both curving inwards. Nostrils basal, lateral, linear, perforate and
partly closed by a membrane. Legs thin, the tarsi compressed, placed very
far backwards, and closely attached to the posterior part of the body; toes
three in front, united by membranes, one toe behind, with a small membrane,
articulated upon the tarsus ; the claws, or nails flat. Wings short, the first
primary quill-feather the longest. T'ail short and rounded.

Or the genus Colymbus there are three British species
called Divers, par excellence, since they possess this power
in a most marked and perfect degree. Of these three, the
Northern Diver, frequently called also the Great Northern
Diver, is the largest in size, but of the specimens procured
young birds are much more common than old matured ex-
amples, and even the former are only obtained in winter.
Sir Thomas Browne says that in his time the Divers bred on
the broads of Norfolk, but this is not the case at the present
day, nor is it very certain that the Northern Diver breeds in
any part of the British Islands now, even in Orkney or Shet-
land; but what has been ascertained on this subject will be
adduced when enumerating the different localities in which
it has been found.

Except during their breeding-season all the Divers live
chiefly at sea, where they obtain their living by following,
or keeping in the vicinity of shoals of herrings, sprats, and
other species of fishes of moderate size, which they ‘catch
seemingly with great ease and certainty while diving, re-
maining under water a very considerable time without any
apparent inconvenience, and have been taken, while thus
submerged, by a baited hook.

Montagu, in the Appendix to the Supplement to his
Ornithological Dictionary, says, ‘‘ A Northern Diver taken
alive, was kept in a pond for some months, which gave us
an opportunity of attending to its manners. In a few days
it became extremely docile, would come at the call from one
side of the pond to the other, and would take food from the

VOL. Ill. Xi

322 COLYMBID£.

hand. The bird had received an injury in the head, which
had deprived one eye of its sight, and the other was a little
impaired ; but, notwithstanding, it could, by incessantly
diving, discover all the fish that was thrown into the pond.
In defect of fish it would eat flesh. It is observable that the
legs of this bird are so constructed and situated, as to render
it incapable of walking upon them. This is probably the
case with all the Divers, as well as the Grebes. When this
bird quitted the water, it shoved its body along upon the
ground like a seal, by jerks, rubbing the breast against the
ground ; and returned again to the water in a similar manner.
In swimming and diving, the legs only are used, and not
the wings, as in the Guillemot and Auk tribes ; and by their
situation so far behind, and their little deviation from the
line of the body, it is enabled to propel itself in the water
with great velocity in a straight line, as well as turn with
astonishing quickness.”

Mr. Thomas Nuttall, of Boston, who kept one for some
time, gives the following account of its manners while in his
possession :—‘¢ A young bird of this species which I ob-
tained in the Salt Marsh at Chelsea Beach, and transferred
to a fish-pond, made a good deal of plaint, and would some-
times wander out of his more natural element, and hide and
bask in the grass. On these occasions he lay very still until
nearly approached, and then slid into the pond and uttered
his usual plaint. When out at a distance he made the same
cautious efforts to hide, and would commonly defend himself
in great anger, by darting at the intruder, and striking power-
fully with his dagger-like bill. This bird with a pink colour-
ed iris, like albinos, appeared to suffer from the glare of
broad daylight, and was inclined to hide from its effects,
but became very active towards the dusk of the evening.
The pupil of the eye in this individual, like that of nocturnal
animals, appeared indeed dilatable ; and the one in question

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 823

often put down his head and eyes into the water to observe
the situation of his prey. This bird was a most expert and
indefatigable diver, and remained down sometimes for several
minutes, often swimming under water, and as it were flying
with the velocity of an arrow in the air. Though at length
inclining to become docile, and showing no alarm when
visited, it constantly betrayed its wandering habits, and
every night was found to have waddled to some hiding-place,
where it seemed to prefer hunger to the loss of liberty, and
never could be restrained from exercising its instinct to move
onwards to some secure or more suitable asylum.”

During their breeding-season the Northern Divers fre-
quent islands, in lakes and pools of fresh water, forming a
flattened nest of dead herbage, among reeds and flags, from
eight or ten yards to a distance of forty yards from the
water’s edge. The frequent passage of the birds to and
from their nest to the water, produces a path or track, by
which the nest is sometimes discovered.

The eggs are usually two in number, but Mr. Audubon
mentions, in his account of this species, that three eggs are
sometimes deposited. These are of a dark olive-brown, with
a few spots of umber-brown; the length of the egg three
inches six lines, by two inches and three lines in breadth.
The female when on her nest lies flat upon her eggs, and
if disturbed by the too near approach of an intruder, makes
her way to the water by scrambling, sliding, and pushing
herself along, occasionally running with the body inclined
forwards, the thighs being closely attached to the hinder
part of the body, the motion is principally confined to the
tarsi and toes. The water gained she immediately and in-
variably dives, rather than flies off, sometimes using the
wings under water. Though its wings are short, the flight
of the bird is strong and rapid, yet it always resorts to diving
to effect an escape. Sir William Jardine says, ‘ the Great

v2

324 COLYMBID&.

Northern Diver is very frequent in the Frith of Forth, and
there I have never been able either to make up with, or cause
one to fly from the sea. I have pursued this bird in a New-
haven fishing-boat, with four sturdy rowers, and, notwith-
standing it was kept almost constantly under water by firing
as soon as it appeared, the boat could not succeed in making
one yard upon it. ‘They are sometimes caught in the herring-
nets, and at set lines, when diving.” Their voice is loud
and plaintive, varied occasionally from a high note to a deep
croak.

Mr. W. Thompson, of Belfast, says, the Northern Diver
is a constant visiter to Ireland in winter, and it is on the
coast at that season of the year that these birds are prin-
cipally seen; but Dr. Fleming mentions having seen one
of this species off the coast of Waterford, in the month of
July, 1816. Mr. Eyton has noticed its appearance in North
Wales; and Mr. Dillwyn has recorded the occurrence of
this species in the vicinity of Swansea ; they are not unusual
also in winter on the coasts of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset,
in the south, and off the coasts of Kent and Essex on the
east. From Suffolk to Northumberland young birds are
common in winter, but old birds are rare, and all very dif-
ficult to obtain.

Mr. Heysham has recorded the capture of young birds in
winter in Cumberland, on the rivers near the Solway, and
in January, 1835, one was killed on Talkin Tarn, near
Brampton. In his remarks on the Zoology of the Outer
Hebrides, Mr. J. Macgillivray mentions that the Northern
Diver was plentiful until the beginning of June, when they
all disappeared. In Sutherlandshire, Mr. Selby says, “ that
a single pair was seen in the Bay of Balnikiel, mouth of the
Durness Frith, both adult birds, and in perfect summer
plumage. It is probable that they had their nest upon one
of the numerous islets that abound in the bay.”

-
F

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 32:

The Rev. George Low, says, ‘ the Great Northern Diver
is very frequent around all the Orkneys, but especially in
the bays and harbours, which it enters in pursuit of small
fish, its only sustenance. The natural history of this and
the following species (another Diver), is something para-
doxical. Though they continue among these islands thie
whole season, I can find none to inform me how or where
they breed.” Mr. Robert Dunn, who has visited these
islands several seasons in succession, says, “‘ this beautiful
bird is plentiful both in Orkney and Shetland, in winter and
spring. It leaves about the latter end of May, by which
time it has acquired its perfect summer plumage. It is
extremely shy, and very difficult to get within shot of; it
generally congregates in parties of four or five; it dives with
the utmost facility, can remain a long time under water, and
rises again at a great distance. In the act of diving it does
not appear to make the least exertion, but sinks gradually
under the surface without throwing itself forward, the head
being the last part that disappears. It frequents the narrow
inlets and sounds where there is a sandy bottom, and the
best way to procure it is to secrete yourself amongst the
rocks near the water’s edge; by this means you will fre-
quently get a shot at it, as it swims pretty close to the land
in shallow water when feeding. It must be shot dead, for
if only wounded your chance of getting it is very small. On
my last visit to Shetland, I saw a Northern Diver in Ham-
mer Voe, in the parish of Northmaven, on the 28th of June ;
it was in perfect plumage, and I was informed it had been
there all the summer. I presume it must have been wound-
ed, or it would have left in the spring. It was remarkably
shy; I tried several times to get a shot at it, but was un-
successful.”

Mr. Hewitson, when in Norway, saw the Great Northern
Diver, though rarely, in the fiords of the west coast. Richard

326 COLYMBID&.

Dann, Esq. sent me word that the Northern Diver occasion-
ally appears on the lakes and rivers in Tornea and Lulea
Lapmark early in spring, on the first breaking up of the ice,
but is a rare visitant. Although well known to the Laps,
all agreed it appeared but seldom. It, in all probability,
traverses Lapland on its passage east from the north-west
coast of Norway. It breeds on some of the islands of Fin-
mark, but is rarely seen in Sweden, except in winter. ‘The
Northern Diver breeds on the Faroe Islands, and Mr. Proc-
tor thus notices what occurred to him, in reference to this
species, on his recent visit to Iceland. It breeds on the
lochs of fresh water about a day’s journey from Myvatn, a
single egg was deposited on the bare ground, but just out
of water-mark, rather under a rugged bank on some broken
ground. I was successful in finding two nests. I allowed
the single egg to remain in one of them, in the expectation
that another egg would be laid to it, but was disappointed.
The old bird was very shy, and always left the egg on our
approach, when at a great distance off, taking to the water
and keeping so far from the side as not to be within shot.

The Great Northern Diver visits Spitzbergen and Green-
Jand in summer; it was observed by Dr. Richardson and
others on all the lakes of the interior of the Fur-countries
of North America, and is said to breed as far north as the
latitude of 70°, going southward for the winter season, and
is well known and described by the ornithologists of the
United States. Its flesh is dark, tough, and unpalatable.

The Northern Diver, in its adult state, is a rare bird in
Germany, France, or Switzerland. M. Savi says that one
only, and that a young bird, had been taken in Italy in his
knowledge. Mr. Gould states that it has been found as
far south as latitude 36°. Young birds migrate farther than
old ones.

The bird in its fully adult plumage has the beak black ;

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 327

the irides red; head, cheeks, and back of the neck black,
the first with some tints of green and blue; the back also
black, but most of the feathers ornamented with spots of
white upon the black, those on the back with small square-
shaped spots, the scapulars and tertials with larger white
spots, which are also square, one on each side the shaft of
the feather, forming transverse lines, the tertials also ending
in white ; on the wing-coverts, rump, and upper tail-coverts,
the white spots are small; primaries and _ tail-feathers uni-
formly black without spots; chin, and neck in front black,
varied with two collars of white, spotted with black; from
these marks this species is sometimes called the Ring-necked
Diver; lower part of the neck in front white, with short
longitudinal stripes of black, upon white on the sides; breast
and under surface of the body white; sides under the wing
and the flanks greyish-white; legs, toes, and their mem-
branes nearly black. The whole length from thirty to
thirty-three inches. From the carpal joint to the end of
the wing thirteen inches and three-quarters to fourteen
inches. Females are smaller than males.

A young male, nearly full grown, killed in the winter, has
the beak of a brownish-white horn colour; irides reddish-
brown ; head, back of the neck, and all the upper surface
of the body greyish-black; all the feathers on the back
broadly edged with ash-grey: chin, neck in front, and all
the under surface of the body dull white ; outer surface of
the legs and toes dark greenish-brown; edges and inner
surface lighter greenish-brown; the whole length thirty-one
inches ; of the wing thirteen inches and a half.

Mr. Audubon says “the young are covered at birth with
a kind of black stiff down, and in a day or two after are led
to the water by their mother.”

iss)
x¢
CO

COLYMBIDE,

NATATORES. COLYMBIDE.

THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER.

Colymbus arcticus, Black-throated Diver, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 170,
Moyr. Ornith. Dict.

” ,’ ” 99 »”

‘ ae a . ae Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 203.
The Lesser Imber, ee 55 aA 95 198.

- & Black-throated Diver, Friem. Brit. An. p, 133.

ag =A se <5 - Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 411,

e. “hy is Aes ie Jexyns, Brit. Vert. p. 256.

is » 36 a ae Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.

Plongeon a gorge noir, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 913.

Or the three species of the genus Colymbus, known in this

BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 329

country, the Black-throated Diver is the most rare, occurring
but seldom on the southern shores. Young birds have been
taken in winter in Cornwall and Devonshire. In the London
market young birds are occasionally to be met with, and
during the winter of 1836, Mr. Bartlett purchased two, one
of which was an adult bird with a fine black throat, this
specimen was obtained in the month of January; the other
was a young bird. Mr. 8S. Mummery, of Margate, has just
sent me notice that a beautiful specimen was captured on
the 2nd of June last, 1842, in Sandwich Haven, and this
being a very fine male bird has been preserved, and deposited
in the museum at Margate. I learn from the Rev. Richard
Lubbock that in the year 1832, a fine pair were killed on
one of the broads of Norfolk, which birds are now in the
collection of Mr. Penrice; but that in Norfolk most of
the examples of this species have been obtained in winter,
and these were young birds. On the shores of Durham and
Northumberland, Mr. Selby considers the Black-throated
Diver a rare winter visitant. In 1830 a fine mature speci-
men was killed at the mouth of the Tweed, and several young
birds on different parts of the coast, and upon the river
Tyne. Mr. Selby having had an opportunity of examining
the bird from which Thomas Bewick engraved the figure of
his Lesser Imber, has no doubt that it is the young of the
year of this species.

In its habits the Black-throated Diver closely resembles
the Northern Diver, last described ; and we learn also from
Mr. Selby some of the localities in Scotland in which this
species has been found during summer. ‘This gentleman
observes, ‘* that it dives with the same ease and as perse-
veringly as the other species, and can remain long submerged,
making very great progress during its submarine flight, as
was experienced by Sir William Jardine and myself, when
in chase of this bird in a light and handy boat upon Loch

330 COLYMBID.

Awe. Our utmost exertion could never bring us within
range, and we were often foiled by its returning on its former
track, and re-appearing in a direction contrary to that in
which it seemed to have dived. During this pursuit it was
frequently lost for several minutes together, and came up
nearly a quarter of a mile ahead, and its progress could not,
T should think, have been much under the rate of eight miles
in the hour. It lives upon fish, aquatic insects, and such
other food as it procures under water. I have seen a pair
upon Loch Awe towards the end of June, but did not suc-
ceed in detecting their place of nidification. When in
Sutherlandshire we found this species upon most of the lochs
of the interior. The first we noticed was at the foot of Loch
Shin, where we were so fortunate as to find the nest, or rather
the two eggs, upon the bare ground of a small islet, removed
about ten or twelve feet from the water’s edge. ‘The female
was seen in the act of incubation, sitting horizontally, and not
in an upright position, upon the eggs. In plumage she pre-
cisely resembled the male, and when fired at immediately
swam, or rather dived off to him at a short distance. Our
pursuit after them was, however, ineffectual, though per-
severed in for a long time, as it was impossible to calculate
where they were likely to rise after diving. Submersion fre-
quently continued for nearly two minutes at a time, and they
generally re-appeared at nearly a quarter of a mile’s distance
from the spot where they had gone down. In no instance
have I ever seen them attempt to escape by taking wing. I
may observe that a visible track from the water to the eggs
was made by the female, whose progress upon land is effected
by shuffling along upon her belly, propelled by her legs be-
hind. On the day following, Saturday the 31st of May,
Mr. J. Wilson was fortunate enough to find two newly-
hatched young ones in a small creek of Loch Craggie, about

two and a half miles from Lairg. After handling and ex-

BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 33]

amining them, during which the old birds approached very
near to him, he left them in the same spot, knowing that we
were anxious to obtain the old birds. Accordingly on the
Monday morning we had the boat conveyed to the loch, and,
on our arrival, soon descried the two old birds, attended by
their young, and apparently moving to a different part of the
loch. Contrary to their usual habit at other times, they did
not attempt to dive upon our approach, but kept swimming
around their young, which, from their tender age, were un-
able to make much way in the water, and we got sufficiently
near to shoot both of them through the neck and head, the
only parts accessible to shot, as they swim with the whole
body nearly submerged. The female could only be distin-
guished from the male by a slight inferiority of size, and both
were in the finest adult, or summer, plumage. We after-
wards saw several pairs upon various lochs, and upon Loch
Kay a pair, attended by two young ones nearly half grown.
When swimming, they are in the constant habit of dipping
their bill in the water, with a graceful motion of the head
and neck.” The egg, measuring two inches and_three-
quarters in length, by one inch and ten lines in breadth, is
of a dark olive-brown, thinly spotted with dark umber-brown.

Mr. Thompson has recorded the occurrence of the Black-
throated Diver in the North of Ireland; and Mr. J. Mac-
gillivray states it as ascertained that it breeds in North Uist,
one of the Outer Hebrides. The Rev. Mr. Low says that
it is to be found in the sounds and bays of Orkney at all
seasons, but Mr. Dunn who has visited both Orkney and
Shetland several times lately, considers it now to be a rare
bird at both places.

M. Nilsson says this species is common in Sweden in
summer, breeding among grass and reeds on the margins
of islands in lakes; leaving those places for the open sea
in winter. Mr. Hewitson and his friends saw the Black-

332 COLYMBID.

throated Diver occasionally in the fiords on the west coast
of Norway. Richard Dann, Esq. sent me the following
note :—* This beautiful Diver is widely and numerously dis-
persed over the whole of Scandinavia during the summer
months, but is most abundant in the northern parts. It
breeds generally in the interior of the country on small
islands, in the most secluded and retired lakes. In Lapland
and in the Dofre Fiell mountains, it is found as high as the
birch-tree grows. It makes its first appearance in the spring
with the breaking up of the ice on the lakes. Within twelve
hours of open water being seen, this bird never fails to show
itself. The eggs are generally two in number. They are
of a very rank fishy taste, but much sought after by the
Laps. After the young are hatched both male and female
are very assiduous in bringing them food, and at that period
are much on the wing, and may be seen flying at a vast
height, with fish in their beaks, from one lake to another ;
on arriving over the lake where they intend to alight, they
descend very suddenly in an oblique direction. ‘The cries
of this Diver are very peculiar during the breeding-season,
and may be heard at a great distance. ‘This bird is very
quick-sighted and difficult to approach, it takes wing with
great reluctance, but dives incessantly, taking care to come
up far out of shot. On the approach of winter the old birds
retire to the west coast of Norway. They make their ap-
pearance in the southern parts but rarely. ‘The young birds,
however, migrate in considerable numbers to more temperate
climes, and are found at that period in the open parts of the
Baltic, in the Elbe, and on the coast of Holland.”

Linneus, in his Lapland tour, mentions having seen this
bird at Lycksele, Lulea, and Tornea; caps are made of the
skin of it, which is very tough when properly prepared.
Linneus observes, also, that this bird uttered a melancholy
note; and Sir Arthur de Capel Brooke, says its voice re-

BLACK-THROATED DIVER. 333

sembles that of a human being in distress. A few of this
species are said to be found in Russia, and on the inland
lakes of Siberia; it is not uncommon in winter in Holland,
and some parts of Germany; is very rare in France, but
young birds in winter have been sometimes by chance taken
as far south as Switzerland, Provence, and Italy. M. Tem-
minck says that specimens from Japan exactly agree with
those found in Europe.

The Black-throated Diver is found in the United States.
The bird figured from by Edwards was brought from Hud-
son’s Bay, on the shores of which it is common. Sir Edward
Parry brought home specimens from Melville Peninsula ;
and Dr. Richardson says that the skins of this and the
other species of Divers, being tough and impervious to wet,
are used by the Indians and Esquimaux as an article of
dress.

In the adult bird the beak is dark bluish-black ; in form
slightly inclining upwards; the irides red; forehead dark
grey, top of the head, and back of the neck light ash-grey ;
back, rump, and tail-feathers nearly black ; inter-scapular and
tertial-feathers with a square patch of white on each side of
the shaft, forming a series of transverse bars ; wing-coverts
black, with a few specks of white; primary quill-feathers
black; chin and throat black, divided by a half collar of
short white lines; sides and bottom of the neck streaked
longitudinally with black and white lines; breast, belly and all
the under surface of the body, pure white; flanks and under
tail-coverts dusky ; legs and toes dark brown outside, lighter
pale brown within. The whole length about twenty-six
inches; wing from the carpal joint to the end of the pri-
maries, eleven inches and a half. Females are but little
smaller than males, and both sexes, when mature, have the
throat black, as repeated internal examinations have proved.
The Divers undergo a partial moult in the spring, and on the

334 COLYMBID.

first assumption of the Black-throat it is generally varied
with a few white feathers.

Young birds measure twenty-three or twenty-four inches
in length, and closely resemble the young of the Northern
Diver, except in size.

The form and structure of the legs and feet in these
Divers, and also in the Grebes, are worthy of particular ex-
amination. Though almost useless on land, these members
are most efficient instruments in the water. ‘The bones are
broad and flat, and almost as thin as the blade of a knife ;
when the backward stroke in swimming is given, the whole
surface of all these bones and their investing membranes is
brought to bear against the water; but when the leg is to
be brought forward again to renew the impulse, the sharp
edges only are opposed to the fluid, and the position, as well
as the partially rotatory motion, remind the observer of the
action of oars in rowing when used by skilful hands. Those
who have the opportunity of examining the leg of a Diver, in
a recently-killed specimen, while all the parts retain their
perfect flexibility, will find a beautiful example of animal
mechanics.

The figure below represents the form of the foot in this

genus of birds.

(CiGGG

SN

RED-THROATED DIVER. 335

NATATORES,

COLYMBIDZ,

THE RED-THROATED DIVER.

Colymbus septentrionalis,

”

”

stellatus,
septentrionalis,
stellatus,
septentrionalis,
stellatus,

septentrionalis,
”
”

”

Red-throated Diver, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 169.

Speckled

Red-throated

Speckled

Red-throated

First speckled
Second speckled

Red-throated

9

”

7

”

32

”

”

”

”

”?

?

Meds Pp amligs:

Mont, Ornith. Dict.

Bewrcx, Brit. Birds, vol.ii. p. 199.
) 9) 9? 97 201 i
” ” ” ” 202.

Frem. Brit, An. p. 133.

Serpy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p.414.

Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 257.

Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. v.

», Plongeon a gorge rouge, Tema, Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p.916,

aor
396 COLYMBID2.

Tue Rep-ruroatep Diver is the smallest species of
the genus, as well as the most common; and the occurrence
of specimens with white throats in winter is so constant and
so frequent, while those with red throats, at the same time
of the year, are so rare, that the question has been asked,
and with some reason, is not the dark-coloured throat in the
three species of the genus Colymbus, an appearance peculiar
to the breeding-season ? but to this part of the subject I
shall return before concluding the account of the Diver with
the red throat.

Mr. William Thompson, of Belfast, considers this species
a regular winter visitant to Ireland, and records it as having
been killed at places on the north, the east, the west, and
also at Youghal in the south. It has been killed on the
coast of South Wales, as noticed by Mr. Dillwyn; it is very
frequently observed and obtained in winter on the coasts of
Cornwall and Devon. Colonel Hawker notices them on the
coasts of Dorsetshire and Hampshire; specimens have been
shot on the coast of Sussex; it is common about the estuary
of the Thames, both on the Kentish and Essex sides, where
these birds follow the numerous shoals of sprats, and are in
consequence called the Sprat Loon. They are frequently
caught in the nets. The term Loon, or Loom, appears to
be a modification of the Laplander’s name, Lumme, which is
said to mean lame, in reference to the bird’s hobbling mode
of progression on land. In Norway the name of Lumme
refers more particularly, almost exclusively, to the Black-
throated Diver; but M. Nilsson, in his Fauna of Scandi-
navia, calls all the three species by the name of Lom, dis-
tinguishing the Red-throated Diver, on account of its com-
parative want of size, by the name of Sma Lom. This
species is very commonly exposed for sale in the London
markets throughout the winter. The Rey. Richard Lubbock

sends me word that on the broads of Norfolk many are seen,

RED-THROATED DIVER. ao7

but very few are procured, the boat shooters leaving them un-
molested ; the diving powers of the bird causing only loss of
time and labour.

Mr. Selby mentions that young birds in the plumage of
their first winter, are much more common than older birds on
the coasts of Durham and Northumberland, perhaps in the
proportion of fifty to one; but that in Sutherlandshire adult
birds were seen in June 1834, and though no eggs or young
were obtained, it was evident from the conduct of the birds
that they were breeding. On the western-side Mr. Heysham
of Carlisle mentions “that an adult Red-throated Diver, in
nearly full summer-plumage, was caught in a stake-net on the
coast on the first of May, 1834. Notwithstanding the period
of the year, the bird was very much in moult.” Pennant
notices having seen a pair in July in the Hebrides, and Mr.
J. Macgillivray, on his visit to the Outer Hebrides in the
summer of 1840, observed this species on several of the lakes.
The Rev. Mr. Low, in his “ Natural History of Orkney,”
says, “this bird continues with us the whole season ; builds
on the very edge of a lake in the hills of Hoy; lays two
egos; its nest is placed so as it can slip from it into the
water, as it can neither stand nor walk on land, but can
make very quick way at sea; flies well, and commonly very
high ; makes a vast howling, and sometimes croaking, noise,
which our country-folks say prognosticates rain, whence its
name with us of the Rain-goose.” Mr. Salmon, who visited
Orkney with his brother in the summer of 1831, for the
purpose of collecting the eggs of the different birds that resort
there annually to incubate, mentions that ‘‘a few pairs of the
Red-throated Diver annually breed on the margins of the
small lochs that are to be found amid the hills in the island
of Hoy. Although we visited every loch in the island, we
were not fortunate enough to meet with its egg; and are
indebted to the son of the Rev. Mr. Hamilton, who very

VOL. III. Z

338 COLYMBID.

kindly presented us with a specimen that he had taken
from a nest the preceding summer. He informed us, at
the same time, that they were becoming very scarce ; and
although he had, at different times, found their eggs, he
never saw two in one nest, which is always placed close to
the water’s edge, and composed merely of a few loose rushes
and dried grass that may happen to be near, without any
down or feathers whatever.” Mr. Robert Dunn finds this
species, as Dr. Fleming had previously observed, breeding
in Shetland, and in reference to their habits says, ‘‘ On the
banks of the lakes they lay their eggs close to the water’s
edge, so close, indeed, that the bird can touch the water with
its bill while sitting on its eggs; perhaps these birds have
the power of removing their eggs from their proximity to the
water; for were it to be swollen only two or three inches in
height the eggs would be destroyed. I have taken their
eggs several times, and invariably found them not more than
two or three inches from the water’s edge. ‘The female lays
two eggs, which in general are deposited amongst a few loose
stones. The birds are remarkably shy, particularly during
the breeding-season, and if any one approaches the lake, in-
stantly leave their nests and take to the water. To procure
these birds two or three persons should go together, never less
than two; one should secrete himself close to the water, and
the other move round to the opposite side, and letting him-
self be seen, may, by great caution, drive the birds towards
the person in ambush. I have practised this method re-
peatedly with success. It requires more patience and caution
in shooting these birds than any others I know of, excepting
the Northern Diver; for in general they select such a place
for the site of incubation, as from its natural situation will
admit of their perceiving any one that approaches ; and very

often after creeping a great distance on your hands and knees

c

towards a lake, believing yourself unobserved, on arriving

RED-THROATED DIVER. 339

there you have the mortification to find the object of your
search is on the side exactly opposite to you.” Mr. Hewit-
son, when on the west coast of Norway, saw this species
often, upon almost every piece of water, and frequently heard
their loud singular scream in an evening at a great distance.
My friend, Richard Dann, Esq., sent me the following note :
‘This Diver is far more common here than the Black-
throated. On the west coast of Norway it is very abundant
from the Naze to the North Cape. In the Lapland Alps,
in the Dofre Fiell, and in the interior of Sweden, it is equally
numerous. In August, 1838, I saw on the great Tornea
Lake, the source of the Tornea river, thirty in a flock, and
all old birds. Although so common, it is rarely one sees
the young before they are able to fly; their habits and mode
of feeding their young are similar to those of the Black-
throated Diver. Their cries are very mournful and melan-
choly. During the breeding-season, while on the wing, they
utter frequently a sound like the word, kakera, kakera, by
which name they are called in many parts of Scandinavia.
The red neck disappears in the winter, a darker hue only
marking the space occupied by the red. The eggs are of a
dirty greenish hue.” The eggs of this bird in my own col-
lection measure two inches eight lines in length, by one inch
ten lines in breadth; of a dark greenish-brown when fresh
laid, rather thickly spotted with dark umber-brown; but the
ground colour changes a little and assumes a chestnut, or dark
reddish-brown tint when the egg has been long incubated.

It will thus be seen that in its habits and food this species
very closely resembles the other two already described. It
is found at the Faroe Islands and at Iceland. At the latter
place Mr. Proctor saw small flocks of twenty or twenty-five
together, but not a White-throated bird among them. Mr.
Proctor suspected they were all old males; the females were
then engaged in incubation. ‘The Red-throated Diver has

z2

340 COLYMBID.

been seen as far north as Nova Zembla, and was found, as
stated by Captain James C. Ross, at Boothia, and in every
part of the Arctic regions visited by the late expeditions.

Of this bird Mr. Audubon says, ‘ the Red-throated Diver
is found, in tolerable abundance, on the sea-coast of the
United States during autumn, winter, and early spring, from
Maryland to the extremities of Maine. The younger the
birds the farther south do they proceed to spend the winter,
and it is rare to see an old bird, of either sex, at any season
to the south of the Bay of Boston. Farther eastward they
become more common, and they may be said to be plentiful
towards the entrance of the Bay of Fundy, in the vicinity of
which a few remain and breed. I found some in December,
January, and February, at Boston, where I procured males,
females, and young birds. The old had the red patch on
the throat darker than in the breeding-season; the delicate
grey and white lines on the neck were as pure as I observed
them to be during summer in Labrador; and I have since
been convinced that birds of this family undergo very little
if any change of colouring after they have once acquired their
perfect plumage, the Loon and the Black-throated Diver
being included in this remark.”

East of our own shores the Red-throated Diver, in its
immature state, or winter dress, is taken on the coasts of
Holland and Picardy; it has been taken also in Switzerland,
Provence, and Italy; and M. Temminck states that this
species also occurs in Japan.

In the adult bird the beak is of a bluish horn colour; the
irides red ; the front and top of the head, chin, cheeks, and
sides of the neck ash-grey, varied with lighter grey lines and
spots ; back of the neck almost black, with short longitudinal
lines of white; the scapulars, wing-coverts, back and upper
tail-coverts nearly black, speckled with white ; quill-primaries

black, without spots or streaks ; on the throat the red colour

RED-THROATED DIVER. 341

forms a conical patch, the point of which is directed upwards,
the base resting on the breast, which is white; all the under
surface of the body white; flanks greyish black ; legs, toes,
and their membranes dark brown on one surface, pale wood-
brown on the other. Male birds measure twenty-four inches
in length, and sometimes rather more ; from the carpal joint
to the end of the longest quill-feather eleven inches and a
half. Females are usually smaller, some measuring only
twenty-one inches in length, and but ten inches and a
quarter from the wrist to the end of the quill-feather. <A
female specimen in my own collection, killed in April 1822,
has the red feathers on the throat mixed with some that are
white.

Colonel Sabine, in his supplement to the Appendix of the
first Arctic voyage of Sir Edward Parry, says of the Red-
throated Diver, ‘‘ that it breeds in the neighbourhood of
fresh-water ponds on the shores of Baffin’s Bay, and Davis’
Straits. The young birds, killed in September, were in the
plumage in which they have been called C. stellatus ; but
when nestlings, the feathers of the back, scapulars, and wing-
coverts, were margined with white.” ‘This is precisely the
case in the young bird from which the upper figure in our
illustration was taken, and is the smallest specimen I possess.
The white border is first interrupted at the extreme end of
the feather, leaving the white marks as two long lateral lines.
These lines of white diminish in length by degrees, leaving
only one white spot on each outer edge of the feather; the
term striatus, used by some authors, would therefore appear
to refer to an earlier stage of plumage than the word stedlatus,
and of the Speckled Divers of Bewick, the second Speckled
Diver is, I believe, the younger bird of the two.

Montagu, in his Supplement, says that both sexes have
been killed in winter with the red throat ; and Mr. Audubon

and Mr. Dann mention that the throat remains of a dark

342 COLYMBID&.

colour during winter, apparently confirming the opinion that
having once acquired a dark-coloured throat they do not
afterwards lose it at any season. M. Temminck, in the
4th part of his Manual, states it as now ascertained that the
Divers have a double moult in the year; and Mr. Hey-
sham’s specimen, as well as others, have been found to be in
moult in the spring. This is certainly in favour of a tem-
porary assumption of colour. Mr. Selby mentions that, of
the numbers which visit our shores in winter, adult specimens
might perhaps be estimated at not more than one in fifty ;
this seems a very large proportion of young birds, when we
consider that these Divers breed but once in a summer, and
seldom bring up more than two young birds ; sometimes only
one. Mr. Proctor saw flocks of Divers when at Iceland, in
the middle of summer, but not one of them had a white
throat, nor can I find any record of the capture of Divers
with a white throat in summer, except very late in that
season in Norway, and these were two small and young birds
of the year, only two or three months old. The few Divers
obtained with dark-coloured throats in winter, compared to
the number of those taken having white throats, seem to
make the former rather the exception than the rule, and I
have known a specimen of our common Tern, killed in
December, with a black head, thus, perhaps from some
morbid cause, carrying the strongest mark of its breeding-
plumage through the winter.

COMMON GUILLEMOT. 343

NATATORES. ALCADZ.

THE COMMON GUILLEMOT,

Wiutock, or TINKERSHERE.

Uria troile, Foolish Guillemot, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 160.

a ‘ Lesser FF ‘ 5 ee a 162.

53 ah Foolish A Monr. Ornith. Dict.

», minor, Lesser 55 " A at

», troile, Foolish ae Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 188.
»» minor, Lesser fe a a i aD 190.
», troile, Foolish a3 Fem. Brit. An. p. 134.

” ” a 50 Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 420.
2» ” » 56 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 258.

a3 . 5p 53 Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. 1x.

aA 5, Guillemot a capuchon, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 1. p. 921.

Urta. Generic Characters.—Bill of moderate length, strong, straight,

344 ALCADE.

pointed, compressed ; upper mandible slightly curved near the point, with a
small indentation or notch in the edge on each side. Nostrils basal, lateral,
concave, pierced longitudinally, partly closed by a membrane, which is also
partly covered with feathers. Feet short, placed behind the centre of gravity
in the body; legs slender, feet with only three toes, all in front, entirely
webbed. Wings short, first quill-feather the longest. Tail short.

Tue birds of this genus, and of the Alcade in general,
bear considerable resemblance to the Divers both in form and
habits; they are oceanic birds that can swim and dive well,
and in this way obtain small fishes of various sorts, or still
smaller crustacea, as food.

The Common Guillemot, or Foolish Guillemot, as it is
frequently called, is one of the best known of the species,
and may be seen in the tide-way of the open sea all round
our coast at any season; but as their numbers are there dis-
persed over an extensive surface, these birds are best ob-
served during their breeding-season, when they assemble by
hundreds, or thousands more frequently, on many of the
most extensive and highest rocks and cliffs that bound our
sea-girt islands,

About the beginning of May the Common Guillemots,
with many other species of birds, frequenting rocks at that
season, to be hereafter described, converge to particular
points, where, from the numbers that congregate, and the
bustle apparent among them, confusion of interests and lo-
calities might be expected; but on the contrary, it will be
found that the Guillemots occupy one station, or line of
ledges on the rock; the Razorbills another; the Puffins a
third; Kittiwake Gulls a fourth; whilst the most inac-
cessible pinnacles seem to be left for the use of the Lesser
Black-backed and the Herring Gulls. Two distinct species
scarcely ever breed close by the side of each other.

The Common Guillemot lays only a single egg, but this
is of large size, and very variable in colour, scarcely two
being found precisely alike, but generally of a fine bluish-

COMMON GUILLEMOT. 345

green, more or less blotched and streaked with dark reddish-
brown, or black; sometimes these markings are distributed
over a white ground colour, and I have seen the eggs of this
species of a plain green or white colour, without any se-
condary markings ; the form of the egg is that of an elon-
gated handsome pear, measuring three inches and a quarter
in length, by one inch and eleven lines in breadth at the
larger end. The eggs of the Guillemot are readily distin-
guished from those of the Razorbill, with which they are
most likely to be mixed, by the length to which the smaller
end of the former is drawn out. Large quantities of these and
various other rock-birds’ eggs are collected at different parts
of the coast by fishermen and their sons, who let themselves
down, or are let down by others, over the edge of the cliff
with one or two ropes fixed to a strong iron crow-bar driven
into the ground above. These men, from practice, traverse
narrow ledges of the rock, picking up the eggs along a path
of only a few inches in breadth with steadiness and certainty.
The Guillemot makes no nest, and the female sits in an up-
right position upon her single egg during incubation, which
lasts for a month. The young birds, at first covered with
down, or bristly hair rather, from the manner in which it
resists saturation with water, are fed for a time on the rocks
by the parent birds with portions of fish. Mr. Waterton,
in his account of his visit to the rock-bird-breeding localities
about Flamborough head, says, ‘“‘ the men there assured me
that when the young Guillemot gets to a certain size, it
manages to climb upon the back of the old bird, which con-
veys it down to the ocean. Having carried a good telescope
with me, through it I saw numbers of young Guillemots
diving and sporting on the sea, quite unable to fly; and I
observed others on the ledges of the rocks as I went down
among them, in such situations that, had they attempted to
fall into the waves beneath, they would have been killed by

346 ALCAD.

striking against the projecting points of the intervening sharp
and rugged rocks; wherefore I concluded that the inform-
ation of the rock-climbers was to be depended upon.” In
further proof of the truth of their statement, I may mention
that I have seen on the sea, at the base of the very high
cliffs at the Isle of Wight, between the needle-rocks and
Freshwater gate, the young of the Guillemot and Razorbill
so small, that they could not have made the descent by
themselves from the lofty site of their birth-place without
destruction; yet these little birds knew perfectly well how
to take care of themselves, and at the approach of a boat
would swim away, and dive in various directions like so many
Dabchicks. By the end of August, or early in September,
both parents and offspring have quitted the rocks for that
year, and for a time remain both night and day on the open
water, far from land, till the circle of seasons induces another
visit to the rocks.

This species remains also about the rocks and bays of
Orkney and Shetland all the year, and has been found in
summer in various parts of Scandinavia, at the Faroe Islands,
Iceland, in the Arctic seas as far north as Nova Zembla,
Spitzbergen, and by Sir Edward Parry, and Captain James
C. Ross, when on their perilous journey northward over the
ice, as high as latitude 81°. East and south-east of England
the Common Guillemot is found on the coasts of Holland
and France ; it, is not included among the birds of Nice or
Italy, by M. Risso or Savi. The Prince of Canino, in his
catalogue of the birds found at Rome, only considers its oc-
currence there as accidental, and it very rarely appears so far
south as the Mediterranean.

These birds have a partial moult in the spring, besides
the entire moult in autumn, and while changing the wing-
primaries they are said to be for a time wholly meapable of
flight. When killed here in summer the bill is black; the

COMMON GUILLEMOT. 347

inside of the mouth orange ; the irides very dark brown ;
head, neck all round, at the upper part, and on the sides and
hind part below, the back, tail, and wings, except the tips of
the secondaries, sooty black; lower part of neck in front, and
all the under surface of the body pure white; legs, toes, and
their membranes dark brownish-black ; the whole length of
male bird about eighteen inches; the wing, from the wrist
to the end of the longest quill-feather, seven inches and a
half. Females are rather smaller than males.

The young Guillemot, on its first appearance, has the chin
and the throat in front white, the neck in front below slightly
- varied with a few black hairs, which are lost on the bird’s
gaining its first true feathers.

The figure on the left hand in our illustration was taken
from a young bird of the year, killed in its first winter; in
this state of plumage they resemble the winter plumage of
adult birds in higher northern latitudes, but are distinguished
from old birds by their smaller beak; the throat remains
white till the spring-moult produces the appearance observed
in our other figure, the ordinary plumage of summer.

348 ALCADE.

NATATORES. ALCAD&,

BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT,

THe THick-BILLED GUILLEMOT.

Uria Brunnichii, Brunnich’s Guillemot, Fre. Brit. An. p. 134,

Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 258.

” ” ” np Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxii.
Guillemot a gros bee, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 924.

” 3) 3? >”

Tus species was first described by Brunnich, in his Ornr-
thologia Borealis, page 27, species 109, under the name of
Uria Troile, the author having previously called our com-
mon Guillemot Uria Lomvia. An alteration of the specific
term being thus rendered necessary, Colonel Sabine very
properly devoted this Guillemot to the memory of Brunnich

BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT. 349

by name, and some interesting remarks on the early history
of this species will be found in Colonel Sabine’s ‘“‘ Memoir of
the Birds of Greenland,” published in the 12th volume of the
Transactions of the Linnean Society.

Brunnich’s Guillemot is at once distinguished, at any sea-
son of the year, from our Common Guillemot, by the short-
ness, the stoutness, angularity, and greater depth of its bill,
as shown by the outlines of the beaks of both birds in the
vignette attached to this article, and our present subject has
been called the Thick-billed Guillemot in reference to this
peculiarity.

Mr. W. Thompson of Belfast, in his published Report on
the Vertebrata of Ireland, mentions that the Uria Brun-
nichii is noticed by Colonel Sabine as seen by him in the
month of July on the coast of Kerry, where it may be pre-
sumed to breed. Captain James C. Ross, in his last natural
history appendix, published in 1835, says he met with this
species at Unst, the most northern of the Shetland Islands,
and in several parts of Scotland ; and Professor Macgillivray
refers, in the second volume of his Manual, to a specimen
now preserved in the Edinburgh University, which was re-
ceived with other skins from Orkney.

Professor Nilsson includes this species in his Fauna of
Scandinavia, and considers it the Alca pica of Fabricius; it
is found also at the Faroe Islands and Iceland, at Spitz-
bergen, Greenland, Davis’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay, and the
Arctic seas. Southward in Europe, one example, a young
bird, according to M. Temminck has been killed in the
vicinity of Naples, and is there preserved.

Tn its habits and food, as far as known, Brunnich’s Guille-
mot does not differ from the Common Guillemot, and I am
not aware of distinctions in the eggs, if any exist.

A specimen before me, brought from Iceland by Mr.
Proctor, agrees exactly with Colonel Sabine’s description of

350 ALCADE.

this species in its summer-plumage. The beak is black, its
shape has been referred to, the posterior half of the marginal
portion of the upper mandible nearly white, extending from
the corner of the mouth to the point where the feathers pro-
ject on the bill; the irides dark ; head, throat, neck behind,
back, wings, and tail sooty black; secondaries tipped with
white ; belly, and all beneath pure white, running up to a
point on the front of the neck; in the Common Guillemot
the white colour ends here in the form of a rounded arch ;
legs, toes, and their membranes brownish-black. The whole
length eighteen inches. From the wrist to the end of the
longest quill-feather eight inches and a quarter. The sexes
are alike in plumage.

This species undergoes the same changes of plumage from
season as the U. trotle. Colonel Sabine remarks that speci-
mens killed early in June had the throat and neck white,
unmixed with black; towards the end of June the change
was in progress, and by the second week in July, as many
were found in perfect summer-plumage, with black throats
and necks, as were still in change. M.'Temminck says the
young assume, in March, their first summer-plumage. Adult
birds lose their black throat at the autumn moult.

RINGED GUILLEMOT. 351

NATATORES, ALCADE.

THE RINGED GUILLEMOT,

OR THE BrRIDLED GUILLEMOT.

Uria lacrymans, Bridled Guillemot, Gouin, Birds of Europe, pt. xxii.
is Ra Guillemot bridé, . Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 577.

Or this Guillemot Mr. Gould observes, in his Birds of
Europe above-quoted, “although we have figured this bird
under the name of lacrymans, we are doubtful of its specific
value, bearing as it does so close a resemblance to the com-
mon species, Uria trozle, and from which it differs only in
the white mark which encircles the eyes, and passes down
the sides of the head. It inhabits the same localities, and is
often found in company with the common species, and that
too on various parts of our coast, particularly those of Wales,
where, we have been informed both kinds are equally numer-
ous. It was first described as distinct by Choris, who states
that it is abundant at Spitzbergen, and the neighbouring
seas. By M. Temminck and the French naturalists the two
birds are considered to be distinct, and as such we have
figured them.”

352 ALCADE.

Since the publication in 1857, of the twenty-second part,
the last and concluding portion of Mr. Gould’s ‘ Birds of
Europe,” here quoted, I have learned that this Ringed
Guillemot has been taken on the coast, both in Yorkshire
and Durham, I have, therefore, here to add the little that is
known of this bird, that my readers may form their opinion
from the evidence to be advanced, whether it is entitled to
be considered distinct, or only a variety.

In the fourth part of his Manual, page 577, M. Tem-
minck says, “* MM. Faber et Graba, qui ont séjourné en
Islande et A Féroé, assurent que le Guillemot bridé et celui
a gros bec ne sont que des variétés du Guillemot a capuchon
(Uria troile). Je suis trés-porté a admettre leur opinion,
basée sur des observations faites sur les lieux par des juges
compétens. ‘'Toutefois, il se pourrait que ses races voisines
fussent mélées et confondues exactement par les mémes
causes et de la méme manicre que celles des Corvus corax
et leucophaus ; Cornix et Corone; Monedula et Spermo-
gulus ; Fringilla domestica et cisalpina,” ete.

In reference to the first part of this paragraph, it may be
stated, that since the true specific distinctions of Brunnich’s
Guillemot have been pointed out, namely, the form and
greater size of the anterior portion of the bill, and the broad
light-coloured stripe along the posterior half of the margin
of the upper mandible, no one that I am aware of has con-
sidered it to be only a variety; and if it is intended that the
claims of the Bridled Guillemot to be ranked as a species,
are equal to that of the Brunnichii, then will both be entitled
to be considered as species and not as varieties.

The meaning of the latter part of the paragraph is to me
also somewhat doubtful ; but that the Ringed Guillemot is
not a hybrid produced between the Common Guillemot and
the Brunnichii, seems proved by two circumstances ; first,
that the beak of the Ringed Guillemot is even rather more

RINGED GUILLEMOT. 353

slender than that of the Common Guillemot, which would
scarcely be expected to happen if the Brunnich’s Guillemot
were one of the parents; and secondly, by the well-known
fact that the Ringed Guillemots are abundantly fertile, breed-
ing by themselves.

But M. Temminck, in his fourth part already cited, fur-
ther says: —‘* M. Thieneman, qui a également parcouru
'Islande et le Nord, dans le but d’étudier les productions
de ces contrées, est davis que ces oiseaux forment trois
especes distinctes ; il indique méme des différences con-
stantes dans la couleur des ceufs.” In reference to the value
of the opinion of M. Thieneman, I can quote that of Mr.
Proctor of Durham, who, having visited the breeding-stations
of these birds at Iceland, agrees with him precisely.

I am indebted to Mr. Proctor, the subcurator of the
Durham University Museum, for the opportunity of ex-
amining specimens of these three Guillemots, all brought
from Iceland, and obtained at the same time. Mr. Proctor
went to Iceland a few summers since to collect birds, and
on enquiring for the Ringed Guillemot, was told by fisher-
men that they knew the bird very well, and that it would
be found breeding at Grimsey, an island about forty miles
north of Iceland. An arrangement to visit Grimsey was
made, and on reaching the island the species of Guillemots
were found then breeding on the different rocks, and were
considered by the inhabitants of the island to be distinct
species. Brunnich’s Guillemot was the most numerous, and
was called by them Stutnefa. The Common Guillemot
was the next in order of quantity, and was called Langnefia.
The Ringed Guillemot was the least numerous, and its name
was Hringlangnefia. The eggs of all the three species
were obtained, and the distinctions between them well known
to these fishermen, who separated them, when put together,
without difficulty or hesitation. The eggs of the Ringed

VOL. III. DIN

354 ALCADE.

Guillemot were the most rare, not so much on account of
the smaller number of the parent birds, as from the circum-
stance of these birds breeding away from the others, far lower
down on the rocks, and they were consequently much more
difficult to obtain by those lowered down from the top of the
rocks. The natives of Grimsey further testified, not in words,
but by placing the birds in pairs together, and by separating
others when one of each were placed together as a pair, that
the Common Guillemot, and the Ringed Guillemot do not
breed one with the other, but each sort by themselves.

M. Nilsson, professor of natural history at Lund, in his
Fauna of Scandinavia, considers the Ringed Guillemot only
as a variety of the Common Guillemot, but as it appears
that the most weighty evidence is in favour of its being a
species, rather than a variety, I have given it a place in
this work.

Not having seen the eggs of this Ringed Guillemot, |
am unable to state the characters by which they are dis-
tinguished, but the birds themselves in their habits and food
are described as very closely resembling the species already
noticed.

An adult bird in its breeding-plumage, obtained at Grim-
sey Island, has the beak black, rather more slender in form
than that of the Common Guillemot obtained at the same
locality ; the irides dark ; all round the eye a narrow ring
of pure white, and a line of the same colour about an inch
and a half long, passing from the eye backwards and down-
wards on the neck; head, chin, throat, upper part of neck
all round, lower portion of neck behind, back, wings, and
tail dull greyish-black ; tips of secondaries, and all the under
surface of the body white; legs, toes, and membranes
brownish-black. The whole length about eighteen inches ;
the wing, from the joint to the end eight inches.

BLACK GUILLEMOT. 355

NATATORES., ALCADZ.

THE BLACK GUILLEMOT.

Uria grylle, Black Guillemot, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 163.
aaa 0 on Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Sg eas Spotted ,, *F 3 40
ae Black - Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 192.
Shu be Spotted ,, e AR 3 ts 194,
Cephus ,, Common Scraber, Friem. Brit. An. p. 134.
Uria ,, Black Guillemot, Seisy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 426.
est 5 35 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 258.
aah ay 5 59 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xv,
Ae ete Guillemot & miroir blanc, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 925.

Tue Brack Guitiemor, a well-known species, is smaller
in size than the Common Guillemot, and more confined to
the northern parts of the British Islands; but like the other

Pes

356 ALCADS.

species of this genus, it is an open sea bird, frequenting the
rocks only for a limited period, during the season of incuba-
tion, and is seldom or ever found inland. It is local, re-
maining all the year in such situations as suit its habits. I
have seen this bird at the end of summer in Christchurch
Bay, on the Hampshire coast; it is also occasionally pro-
cured on the coasts of Dorsetshire, Devonshire, and Corn-
wall. Pennant mentions that in his time it was known to
breed at several places on the coast of Wales. Mr. W.
Thompson includes it, at this time, among the resident spe-
cies of Ireland. Mr. J. Macgillivray says it is found on all
the rocky coasts of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, but
nowhere numerous ; and Montagu mentions that Mr. Henry
Boys saw both old and young in the month of August at
Fowlesheugh, near Stonehaven. On the coasts of Durham
and Northumberland Mr. Selby considers it a rare bird, but
it breeds upon the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Frith
of Forth, and was seen by some of the natural history party
in Sutherlandshire about the caves of the mouth of the
Dumess Frith. Professor Macgillivray says ‘the Black
Guillemot sits lightly on the water, paddles about in a very
lively manner, dives with rapidity, opening its wings a little,
like the other species, and moves under water with great
speed.”

Mr. Salmon, in his notes on eggs and birds found in
Orkney in 1831, says, this species, which is there called the
Tyste, differs from the Common Guillemot, in not resorting
to the same spots for the purpose of incubation ; and its
principal place of breeding 1s upon a small holm, lying to the
eastward of Papa Westra, where it is very numerous, and
would scarcely move off the rocks when approached. In
every instance two eggs were invariably found together, and
they were deposited upon the bare ground, principally under
the large fragments of rocks scattered about upon the island,

BLACK GUILLEMOT. 357
without any appearance of nest. The egg is white, slightly
tinged with green, blotched, spotted, and speckled, with ash-
grey, reddish-brown, and very dark brown; the length two
inches three lines, by one inch and a half in breadth. The
first covering of the young bird is a greyish-black down,
through which its first feathers make their way, and these
are mottled black and white. The old birds, as well as
the young, have a considerable portion of white in their
plumage during winter, and in high northern latitudes still
more white than with us. ‘The summer-plumage is black,
and in reference to the time of its assumption in Zetland,
Dr. Fleming says that their summer appearance was com-
pleted by the end of March, but that they began to assume
the black by the end of February. Mr. Dunn, from ob-
servation in Shetland, adds, ‘‘ that the young of this species
never leave the nest until perfectly fledged, and able to
provide for themselves; as soon as this takes place the at-
tendance and care of the parents cease; they do not even
continue in the company of their young, which associate
together for some time afterwards. Their food is small fish
and crustacea.

This species is found on the coasts of Scandinavia, the
Faroe Islands, and Iceland; it has also been found as far
north as Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Greenland, and has
been called the Greenland Dove. It was found by our
Arctic voyagers in most of the high northern latitudes visited
by them, and is well known in North America, where Mr.
Audubon says it lays three eggs. It is occasionally seen on
the coasts of Holland and France.

Tn summer the beak is black; inside of the mouth red-
dish-orange; the irides brown; the whole of the plumage
black, except the patch on the wing, which is white; legs
vermilion red; whole length of the bird fourteen inches; of

the wing from the wrist six inches and a half.

oS
Or
(0)

ALCAD£.,

NATATORES. ALCADE.

THE LIEU AUK

ork Common RorcuHe.

Alca alle, Little Auk, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 158.
a ue x _ Mont. Ornith. Dict.
5 5 i 7 Bewrck, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 185,
Mergulus melanoleucos, Common Rotch, Firm. Brit. An. p. 136.
ae 5 Ae nn Srrpy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 430.
A a A fa Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 259.
PF Pa Little Auk, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
Uria alle, Guillemot nain, Tema. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 928.

Mercutus. Generic Characters. — Bill shorter than the head, thick,
broader than high at the base ; culmen arched ; upper mandible indistinctly
grooved ; under one with the symphisis very short and oblique ; tips of both
mandibles notched. Commissure arched. Nostrils lateral, round, situated at
the base of the bill, and partly covered with small feathers. Legs abdominal,
short ; feet of three toes, all directed forwards, and united by a membrane.
Wings and tail short.

LITTLE AUK. 359

Tue Lirrte Auk, or Common Rotche, as it is also called,
though in its habits very similar to the Guillemots and the
true Auks, is only a winter visiter to the British Islands,
and is more frequently met with among those of Orkney and
Shetland than farther south. Somewhat intermediate in its
characters between the Guillemots and the Auks, with the
last of which it was long associated in ornithological works,
it has been considered worthy of generic distinction, and
separated accordingly.

Truly oceanic in its habits, and unless forced by necessity,
rarely seen on land except in the breeding-season, this species
seldom makes its appearance on our coasts, but with, or soon
after, the stormy weather which usually follows each autumnal
equinox, when they are forced by violent and long continuing
winds to leave the rougher sea and take shelter in land-locked
bays, where they are easily shot; or, are not unfrequently
driven. while on wing over the land itself, far from their
natural marine haunts, to situations where they are generally
found either exhausted or dead.

A remarkable instance of this sort occurred in the month
of October, 1841. Dr. Edward Clarke, of Hartlepool, sent
me word that after a violent storm of wind from N.N.E.
which lasted several days, his attention was directed by pilots
and fishermen on the look out to various flocks of small black
and white birds, then close in shore. There were several
hundreds of them, which were unknown to these seafaring
men, but which proved to be the Little Auk. Many were
obtained, five or six being killed at each shot, the birds were
so numerous. The same thing happened at the same time
at Redcar, on the Yorkshire coast, but after two or three
days, the wind abating, they were seen no more. About the
same time I heard from various friends of other examples
being taken in many different counties. In Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and Sussex. On the other

360 ALCADE.

side of the channel, on the coasts of Holland and France,
the Little Auk is taken in severe winters. During the early
part of November, 1841, a few of these birds were sent for
sale to the London markets. Some were taken at unusual
distances inland. Mr. Thrale, a collector in Hertfordshire,
sent me notice of one, now in his possession, that was ob-
tained on the mill-head at Wheathamstead. Another was
picked up alive between Baldock and Royston, and is now
preserved in the Museum at Saffron Walden. I heard of
others taken near Birmingham. Mr. Strickland recorded
nine taken in Worcestershire ; three in Shropshire; some
at Bristol, and other parts near the Severn. The Little Auk
is, however, a rare bird in the counties of Devon and Corn-
wall. Mr. W. Thompson has noticed its occurrence in Ive-
land at Wexford, and at Kerry; at the latter it is suspected
that it may breed in the same locality as Brunnich’s Guille-
mot. It has been shot in winter in Cumberland.

North of Shetland it is found in different parts of Scandi-
navia. It breeds on the most northern of the Faroe Islands ;
and Mr. Proctor tells me that it breeds also at Iceland;
he found the eggs laid under stones on Grimsey island.
Some writers say this little bird lays but one egg; others
say two; they are very rarely to be seen in collections; the
length is one inch seven lines, the breadth one inch one line,
and the colour a uniform pale blue, not unlike the eggs of
our Common Starling.

The Little Auk goes as far north as Nova Zembla, Spitz-
bergen, and Greenland. Sir Edward Parry, while accom-
panied by Captain James C. Ross, obtained one specimen as
far north as latitude 81°, with the Common Guillemot that
has already been referred to, and these were the only two
species of birds seen in that high latitude, and their only food
was small thin-skinned crustacea. The Little Auk was,

however, found in great quantities by our Arctic voyagers

LITTLE AUK. 361

in some situations. In his Memoir on the Birds of Green-
land, published soon after one of the Voyages of Discovery,
Colonel Sabine observes: ‘‘ This species was abundant in
Baffin’s Bay, and Davis’ Straits; and in latitude 76° was
so numerous in the channels of water separating fields of ice,
that many hundreds were killed daily, and the ship’s com-
pany supplied with them. ‘The whole of the birds in the
breeding-season, the sexes being alike, had the under part of
the neck an uniform sooty-black, terminating abruptly, and
in an even line against the white of the belly; the young
birds, which we saw in all stages from the egg, as soon as
they were feathered, were marked exactly as the mature
birds; but in the third week in September, when we were
on our passage down the American coast, every specimen,
whether old or young, was observed to be in change; and
in the course of a few days the entire feathers of the throat
and cheeks, and of the under part of the neck, had become
white.”

The double moult and its effects, have been already
noticed by Mr. Sabine in the extract, but a few farther par-
ticulars remain to be described. In the adult bird the beak
is black; the irides hazel, with a small white spot over the
eye; the head, hind neck, back, wings, and tail black, but
the ends of the secondaries and the sides of the tertials are
margined with white; the colour of the chin, throat, and
neck in front, depend on the season, being black in summer
and white in winter, but mottled with black and white in
spring and autumn; under surface of the body white ; legs
and toes yellowish-brown, the membranes between the toes
darker brown. Whole length of the bird about eight inches
and a half; of the wing from the wrist four inches and a
half. M.'Temminck says the young birds of the year may
be distinguished by having their cheeks shaded with grey.

362 ALCAD.

NATATORES. ALCADE.

PE PO EEN:

Sea Parrot, AND CoULTERNEB.

Alea arctica, The Puffin, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 152.

By 5 a al Mont. Ornith. Dict.

o » Sess Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 181.
Fratercula ,, Common Coulterneb, Fie. Brit. An. p. 130.
Puffin, Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 439.

99 bb] ??
55 a The a5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 260.
Mormon fratercula, ,, ms Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. il.

9 a Macareau moine, Trimm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 933.

Fratercuta. Generic Characters.—Bill shorter than the head, higher than
long, very much compressed, both mandibles arched, transversely grooved,
notched towards the point; the culmen as high as the top of the head, and
with a cutting edge. Nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, naked, almost entirely
closed by a naked membrane. Legs short, abdominal; feet with three toes
only, all in front, united by membranes; claws curved. Wings and tail
short.

PUFFIN. 363

Tuts singular looking bird, whose aspect is rendered so
peculiar by the form and colours of its bill, is only a summer
visiter to the British Islands, making its appearance early in
April, and departing by the end of August. High rocks or
cliffs on the sea coast, or the short turf frequently to be
found on the table land above, are the places selected by
Puftins for the great object of their visit, the reproduction of
their species, and various localities about which they assemble
in vast numbers may be enumerated. In Ireland, Mr. W.
Thompson says, the Puffin is a regular summer visitant,
haying breeding-haunts around the coast. This bird visits
the Isle of Man; the coast of Anglesey ; the Scilly Islands,
where it is more common than in Cornwall; the high cliffs
of the Isle of Wight, between the needle rocks and Fresh-
water gate; the Yorkshire coast; the Fern Islands; Puffin
island in the Frith of Forth, and others of the numerous
Scottish islands.

Early in May these birds deposit their single large egg,
sometimes in crevices and fissures on the perpendicular sur-
face of the cliffs, at the depth of three or four feet from the
front. Rabbit warrens are not unfrequent on our coast, and
where this happens the Puffins often contend with the rab-
bits for the possession of some of the burrows. Many
Puffins, Mr. Selby observes, ‘resort to the Ferm Islands,
selecting such as are covered with a stratum of vegetable
mould; and here they dig their own burrows, from there
not being any rabbits to dispossess upon the particular islets
they frequent. They commence this operation about the
first week in May, and the hole is generally excavated to the
depth of three feet, often in a curving direction, and occasion-
ally with two entrances. When engaged in digging, which
is principally performed by the males, they are sometimes so
intent upon their work as to admit of being taken by the
hand, and the same may also be done during incubation.

364 ALCAD,

At this period I have frequently obtained specimens, by
thrusting my arm into the burrow, though at the risk of
receiving a severe bite from the powerful and sharp-edged
bill of the old bird. At the farther end of this hole the
single egg is deposited, which in size nearly equals that of
a Pullet. The length two inches three lines, by one inch
and seven lines in breadth. Its colour when first laid is
white, sometimes spotted with pale cinereous, but it soon
becomes soiled and dirty from its immediate contact with
the earth, no materials being collected for a nest at the end
of the burrow. The young are hatched after a month’s in-
cubation, and are then covered with a long blackish down
above, which gradually gives place to the feathered plumage,
so that, at the end of a month or five weeks, they are able
to quit the burrow, and follow their parents to the open sea.
Soon after this time, or about the second week in August,
the whole leave our coasts.” Pennant mentions that when
the time for migration arrives, such young birds as cannot
then fly are deserted. Puffins when on land rest on the
whole length of the foot and heel, as represented in the illus-
tration, and walk in consequence with a waddling gait, but
they fly rapidly for a moderate distance, and can swim and
dive well. They feed on marine insects, small crustacea, and
young fish. I have seen old birds when they had a young
one to feed, returning to the rocks with several small fish
hanging by the head from the angle of the gape of the mouth.
Mr. John Macgillivray says that at St. Kilda many Puffins
are taken when sitting on the rocks, by means of a noose of
horse-hair attached to a slender rod of bamboo-cane. This
mode is most successful in wet weather, as the Puffins then
sit best upon the rocks, allowing a person to approach within
a few yards, and as many as three hundred may be taken in
the course of one day by an expert bird-catcher. They are
caught for their feathers.

PUFFIN. ~° 365

The Puffin visits various parts of Scandinavia, the Faroe
Islands, and Iceland; it has been found as far as Nova
Zembla, and other high northern latitudes. East of this
country it is taken on the coasts of Holland and France. A
single specimen is recorded to have been taken at Genoa in
the winter of 1823, and M. Savi includes it in his history of
the Birds of Italy.

The beak has the basal ridge yellow, the space in advance
of the base bluish-grey, with three grooves and four ridges of
orange; the naked skin at the gape is yellow; the irides grey,
eyelids orange ; lore, chin, cheeks, and ear-coverts white ;
forehead, crown, occiput, a collar round the neck, all the
back, wings, and tail black, the wing-primaries rather the
lightest in colour; all the under surface of the body white ;
legs, toes, and their membranes orange; the whole length
twelve inches, of the wing six inches. Both sexes alike in
plumage. Varicties in colour have been known to occur.

366 ALCADE.

NATATORES. ALCADZ.

THE RAZOR-BILL.

Alca torda, The Razor-bill Auk, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 148.

An An 5, Black-billed ,, +3 3 5 A GY)

3 3 », Razor-bill Mowr. Ornith. Dict.

»» pica, », Black-billed ,, AG 55 oF

,, torda, ,, Razor-bill Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 176.

Se Cis 5, Black-billed ,, 5 5 >) ” 179.

», torda, », Razor-bill Frem. Brit. An. p. 130.

Ay 3 >» 9 9 Auk, Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 435.

A “f ee as Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 260.

x A »» 95, billed Auk, Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.

s- 3 Pingouin macroptere, ‘Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 936.

Auca. Generic Characters.—Bill straight, large, compressed, very much
curved towards the point, basal half of both mandibles covered with feathers,
grooved towards the point, the superior mandible hooked, the under one form-
ing with it a salient angle. Nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, near the middle

RAZOR-BILL. 367

of the beak, the aperture almost entirely closed by a membrane covered with
feathers. Legs short, abdominal ; only three toes, all in front, entirely united
by membrane ; claws but slightly curved. Wings short, tail pointed.

THe Razor-piiu so closely resembles the Common
Guillemot in the localities it frequents; in the time of its
moveinents ; in its manners, habits, and food; in its general
colours and appearance, and the seasonal changes of its
plumage; that the history of the one species, given at page
543, is the history of the other, and repetition would be use-
less. ‘The egg of the Razor-bill, however, differs in size,
form, and colour; it wants the lengthened pear shape of that
of the Guillemot, as well as its agreeable green colour ; it
measures only two inches and three-quarters in length, by
one inch and ten lines in breadth; the ground colour is
white, blotched and spotted with red-brown, and_blackish-
brown. ‘The bird is abundant on most of the islands of the
Arctic seas, and the Zoological Society have received a
young bird in its first winter-dress from Tangiers; but this
is the farthest southern range I am able to quote for it.

Both sexes are alike in plumage, and in summer the beak
is black, with three transverse grooves, and one white line on
the upper mandible, two transverse grooves and a white line
on the lower mandible; from the top of the beak to each
eye there is a well-defined streak of pure white ; irides dark
brown; the whole of the head, chin, throat, hind neck, back,
wings, and tail black; the tips of the secondary quill-fea-
thers, the breast, and all the under surface of the body pure
white; legs, toes, and their membranes brownish-black ;
whole length about seventeen inches; wing, from the wrist
seven inches and a half.

A young bird of the year killed in December, represented
by the central figure in the illustration, has the beak smooth
and black, as yet without ridge, groove, or white line on
either mandible ; the white line from the top of the beak to

368 ALCADE,

the eye very observable, but not very pure in colour, being
mixed with a little black; chin, throat, neck in front, and
on the side at the upper part, cheeks, and ear-coverts, white ;
in other respects like the old bird in summer.

A young bird about a week old, obtained from the rocks
at the Isle of Wight, has the beak smooth and black, no
white line to the eye, but the chin and throat are white, with
a few greyish-black hairs about the middle of the neck in
front ; the head and hind neck black, with a few white hairs ;
body above and the wings dull sooty-black.

The young bird of the year at Christmas only differs from
the adult bird in winter in the character of the beak, which
is smaller and has not then acquired the grooves or lines so
conspicuous in the old bird. The young bird retains its
white throat till the spring moult, when it assumes the black
throat peculiar to the breeding-season.

It is matter of surprise that Colonel Montagu, who was
so good an observer, should have remained mistaken on the
subject of his Lesser Guillemot and Black-billed Auk. Had
he obtained a young bird of the Common Guillemot, or the
Razor-bill from the rocks on our coast, in June, and kept it
alive in his garden till Christmas, the riddle would have been

solved for him.

GREAT AUK. 369

NATATORES.

ALCAD.

THE GREAT AUK.

Alca impennis, The Great Auk,

”

Pingouin brachipteére,

Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 146.
Mont, Ornith. Dict.

Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 174.
Fem, Brit. An. p. 129.

Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11. p, 433.
Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 261.

Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiii.
Temm. Man, d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 939.

Tue Grear Avx is a very rare British Bird, and but few

instances are recorded of its capture. ‘* The natives in the
Orkneys informed Mr. Bullock on his tour through these

Ill.

QR

310 ALCADA,

islands several years ago, that only one male had made its
appearance for a long time, which had regularly visited Papa
Westra for several years. The female, which the natives call
the Queen of the Auks, was killed just before Mr. Bullock’s
arrival. The King, or male, Mr. Bullock had the pleasure of
chasing for several hours in a six-oared boat, but without
being able to kill him, for though he frequently got near him,
so expert was the bird in its natural element that it appeared
impossible to shoot him. The rapidity with which he pur-
sued his course under water was almost incredible.” About
a fortnight after Mr. Bullock had left Papa Westra, this
male bird was obtained and sent to him, and at the sale of
his collection was purchased for the British Museum, where
it is still carefully preserved.

Dr. Fleming has noticed one taken at St. Kilda, an island
of the Outer Hebrides, in the winter of 1822. Another was
taken there in 1829, but afterwards escaped from confine-
ment. Mr. John Macgillivray, who visited the islands of the
Outer Hebrides in July, 1840, says, “The Great Auk was
declared by several of the inhabitants to be of not unfrequent
occurrence about St. Kilda, where, however, it has not been
known to breed for many years back. ‘Three or four speci-
mens only have been ever procured during the memory of the
oldest inhabitant.”

The authors of the catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds
include a notice of one specimen killed near Southwold, on
the authority of Sir William Jackson Hooker. Mr. Bullock
told Dr. Fleming some years ago that a specimen was taken
in a pond of fresh water, two miles from the Thames, on the
estate of Sir William Clayton, near Marlow, in Buckingham-
shire. Dr. Edward Moore, in his catalogue of the web-
footed birds of Devonshire, refers to a specimen of this bird
which was picked up dead near Lundy [sland in the year
1829, and which Professor Jameson suggested might have

GREAT AUK. 371

been the one which had been obtained by Mr. Stevenson in
St. Kilda, and which had escaped from the Light-house
keeper of Pladda. Lastly, Mr. W. Thompson states that
one of these birds taken in 1834, off the coast of the county
of Waterford, is preserved in the collection of Dr. Burkitt of
Waterford. It lived in confinement for some months.

These are the only notices I am acquainted with in re-
ference to the appearance of the Great Auk near the British
Islands. It is said to be very rarely seen out of the water,
and the female lays her single large egg close above the sea-
tide mark. The egg measures four inches ten lines in length,
by two inches and nine lines in breadth; of a soiled white
colour, tinged with yellow, blotched and streaked, principally
over the larger end, with black.

The wings in this species are so short that the bird is sup-
posed to be incapable of flight, but short wings are admirably
adapted for diving, and the Great Auk can swim and dive in
perfection. It is considered to feed almost exclusively upon
fish, and is said, among others, to prefer the Lump fish.

M. Nilsson says this species is very rare in Sweden and
Norway. In a volume of the Edinburgh Cabinet Library,
containing a historical and descriptive account of Iceland,
Greenland, and the Faroe islands, it is said, page 405, ‘* The
Great Auk, which is the size of a goose, used formerly to be
found in these countries. In Landt’s time it had, however,
become scarce, and at present is almost unknown even by
name. According to Graba none have been seen in Green-
land, Iceland, or Faroe of late years, so that the race may
now be regarded as extinct.” No specimen was obtained by
our Arctic voyagers upon either of the Northern expeditions.
The specimen represented by Edwards, plate 147, was ob-
tained at sea, over a fishing bank, about one hundred leagues
from Newfoundland. Mr. Audubon says, ‘“‘ The only authen-
tic account of the occurrence of this bird on our coast that

2B2

312 ALCADE.

I possess, was obtained from Mr. Henry Havell, brother of
my engraver, who, when on his passage from New York to
England, hooked a Great Auk on the banks of Newfound-
land, in extremely boisterous weather. On being hauled on
board it was left at liberty on the deck. It walked very
awkwardly, often tumbling over; bit every one within reach
of its powerful bill, and refused food of all kinds. After
continuing several days on board it was restored to its proper
element. When I was at Labrador, many of the fishermen
assured me that the Penguin, as they name this bird, breeds
on a low rocky island to the south east of Newfoundland,
where they destroy great numbers of the young for bait; but
as this intelligence came to me when the season was too far
advanced, I had no opportunity of ascertaining its accuracy.
In Newfoundland, however, I received similar information
from several individuals. An old gunner residing on Chel-
sea Beach, near Boston, told me that he well remembered
the time when the Penguins were plentiful about Nahant,
and some other islands in the bay.”

In summer-plumage the bill is black, very strong, com-
pressed, and marked with several lateral furrows; the irides
reddish-brown ; between the beak and the eye an oval patch
of white; head, chin, and throat, hind neck, back, wings,
and tail black; the ends of the secondary wing-feathers
white ; breast, and all the under surface of the body white ;
legs, toes, and their membranes black. The whole length
of the bird thirty-two inches ; the wing from the wrist to the
end of the longest quill-feather seven inches; of the longest
feather alone but four inches and one quarter.

Dr. Fleming’s specimen obtained in winter, had the chin,
throat, and front of the neck white. Mr. Fox, in reference
to the specimen in the Newcastle Museum, says, ‘ Our bird
is apparently a young one, the neck black, spotted, or
mottled with white; upper mandible of the bill with one
large sulcus at the base, none at the tip.”

COMMON CORMORANT. 3713

NATATORES. PELECANID#.

THE COMMON CORMORANT.

Pelecanus carbo, The Common Corvorant, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 281.

‘3 carbo, 3 ae Monr. Ornith. Dict.
‘3 carbo, ,, Cormorant, Berwick, Brit. Birds. vol. il. p. 397.
»» Crested 5 an te SS 403%
Phalacrocoraz ,, Common bs Fem. Brit. An, p. 117.
» 22 m9 “p Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol.ii. p. 446.
” ” »» op Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 262.
» ” a fs Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ix.

Carbo cormoranus, | Grand Cormoran, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol.1i.p.894.

Puatacrocorax. Generic Characters. —Bill moderate, or long, straight,
compressed, culmen rounded ; upper mandible very much curved at the point,
hooked ; the base connected with a membrane which extends to the throat.

374 PELECANID.

Face and throat naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hid. Legs strong, short, ab-
dominal ; three toes in front, one bebind, the hind toe articulated on the inner
surface of the tarsus ; all four toes united together by membranes ; claw of the
middle toe serrated on the inner edge. Wings of moderate length, the third
quill-feather the longest. Tail feathers stiff and rigid.

Tue Great Cormorant, or Black Cormorant as it is
sometimes called, to distinguish it from the green-coloured
species next to be described, is found in considerable num-
bers on most of the rocky parts all round the coast. So
common indeed is it as to make an enumeration of the lo-
calities it frequents unnecessary; yet the bird has given rise
to some mistakes, and the new appearance assumed by the
adult Cormorant when it has acquired in spring the crest and
further change peculiar to the breeding-season, has induced
some authors to consider that we had in this country, besides
the green species already referred to, a second Cormorant.

Our illustration represents two birds killed at the Isle of
Wight. The bird in front is in the plumage of the breeding-
season ; the other is a younger bird, not yet sufficiently ma-
tured to assume the breeding-dress. Some observations made
upon living Cormorants in the Gardens of the Zoological So-
ciety will afford further explanation. Some white feathers on
the side of the head and neck began to appear on an old bird
on the 4th of January, 1832, and arrived at their greatest
perfection by the 26th of February. They remained in this
state till the 2nd of April, when they began gradually to dis-
appear, and by the 12th of May were wholly lost, haying
been fifty-three days arriving at perfection; thirty-six days
stationary, and forty days disappearing; making together a
period of eighteen weeks three days. These white feathers
are new ones, much longer than the black feathers of the
same part, rounded in form, and in some degree resembling
bristles. Some white feathers began to appear on the thighs
of the same bird on the 25th of January, and the patch was
completed in five weeks. These white feathers began to dis-

COMMON CORMORANT. 315

appear about the 16th of June, and by the 20th of July were
almost entirely gone. Both sexes assume summer-plumage.
The female has the longest crest, and is the brightest in
colour, but is the smallest in size. A young Cormorant
brought to the Garden in the autumn of 1830, did not go
through any change during the summers of 1831 or 1832.
Cormorants, when at their breeding-stations, seem to prefer
the higher parts of the rocks or cliffs, and many birds con-
gregate harmoniously together. They make a large nest,
composed of sticks, with a mass of sea-weed and long coarse
grass ; they lay four, five, and sometimes six eggs, which are
small compared to the size of the bird. The eggs are ob-
long, similar in shape at both ends, rough in texture ex-
ternally, of a chalky white colour, varied with pale blue ; the
length two inches nine lines, by one inch and seven lines in
breadth. Mr. Selby says, ‘“‘ The young when first excluded
are blind, and covered with a bluish-black skin; in the
course of a few days they acquire a thick covering of black
down, and are sufficiently fledged to take to the water,
though still unable to fly, in the space of three weeks or a
month.” The old birds fly well, generally low over the sur-
face of the water; they swim rapidly, and dive in perfection ;
their food is fish, which they appear to catch with great ease
and hold with certainty, by the sharp, hooked, horny point
of the upper mandible ; their dilatable throat enabling them
to swallow a large prey. When fishing they are frequently
observed to carry their heads under water, perhaps that
vision may not be interfered with by the ripple on the sur-
face. They are frequently seen sitting on posts, rails, or
leafless trees by the water side, when, if a fish should move
on the surface within their sight, it is pounced upon, and
caught to a certainty. An eel is a favourite morsel with him,
and a Cormorant has been seen to pick up an eel from the
mud, return to the rail he was previously sitting upon, strike

376 PELECANIDE.

the eel three or four hard blows against the rail, toss it up
into the air, and catching it by the head in its fall, swallow it
in an instant. Cormorants on the wing frequently follow the
course of a river many miles inland; sometimes, perhaps,
mistaking stone buildings for rocks, as, a few years ago a
Cormorant was shot on King’s College Chapel, in Cambridge.

That Cormorants possess considerable intelligence is shown
by several circumstances. ‘They are easily reconciled to con-
finement ; and Montagu, in his Supplement, relates an in-
teresting account of one that very soon became so tame and
attached, that it seemed to be never so happy as when per-
mitted to remain by the side of its owner. They were
formerly trained to catch and bring fish to their masters.
Whitelock tells us, says Pennant, that he had a cast of them
manned like hawks, and which would come to hand. He
took much pleasure in them, and relates, that the best he
had was one presented him by Mr. Wood, Master of the
Corvorants to Charles I. The Chinese are said to use them
at the present time; the bird is taken to the water side; a
metal ring, or leather strap, by way of collar is put on his
neck, and he is then set at liberty to catch a fish, which he
brings to hand when called, a small cord being attached to
him, while in training, to insure his return; having satisfied
the wants of his master, the collar is taken off, and the bird
is then allowed to fish for himself. Mr. Selby, in a note,
says, it appears probable that, under favourable circum-
stances, the Cormorant would breed in a reclaimed or domes-
ticated state, as Dr. Neill informed him that one in his pos-
session laid two eggs in April, 1832, and showed an incli-
nation to incubate. The eggs having been accidentally bro-
‘ken, the fact of their impregnation remains doubtful. These
Cormorants roosted with the poultry when they found the
hen-house door open, keeping the cocks and hens at a re-
spectful distance. Mr. Strickland says Cormorants abound

COMMON CORMORANT. od

in the harbour of Constantinople, and roost on the roofs of
the houses. Sir Robert Shafto Adair told me that a pair
of Cormorants took to, fed and brought up a nest of young
ravens, the natural parents of which had both been destroyed.
The game-keeper was desired to watch the proceedings, and
reported that the Cormorants brought a constant supply of
fish.

The adult bird during spring, and the early part of sum-
mer, has the bill pale brown, the point horny, hooked, and
sharp ; irides green ; forehead, crown, nape, and part of the
neck black, mixed with many white hair-like feathers, the
black feathers on the occiput elongated, forming a crest ;
base of the under mandible, and the gular pouch yellow, the
pouch margined with white ; the back and wing-coverts dark
brown, each feather margined with black ; quill-feathers and
tail black ; lower part of the neck all round with the breast
and all the under surface of the body a rich velvet-like
bluish-black, except a patch on the thigh, which is white;
the legs, toes, and their connecting membranes black ; whole
length of a male about three feet; of the wing fourteen
inches and a half. Of the female the length is about thirty-
three inches, the wing thirteen inches and a half.

A young bird has the upper mandible dark brown, the
lower one pale brown; irides brown; forehead, hind neck,
back, wings, and tail dark brown ; chin, throat, and neck in
front dull white, mixed with pale wood brown ; lower part of
neck in front darker brown, mottled with white; under sur-
face of body dull white, varied with a little brown ; sides and
flanks dark brown ; legs, toes, and membranes nearly black.

378 PELECANIDE.

NATATORES. PELECANIDE.

THE SHAG, or GREEN CORMORANT.

Pelecanus cristatus, Shag Cormorant, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 285.

” ” Crested ” ” ” 284,

97 99
KS graculus, The Shag, Monr. Ornith. Dict.
AG cristatus, Crested Shag, an Ar +3
+ graculus, The Bs Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii, p. 405,
Phalacrocorax, ,, Common ,, Fem. Brit. An. p. 117.
XS cristatus, Crested ,, ae At Re 118.
> - oy 3 Setsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 450.
¥3 A ‘ ar Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 262.
oF 5 os 3 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. x.
Carbo 55 Cormoran largup, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 900.

THe adult Shag is immediately distinguished from the
Cormorant at any season by its prevailing green colour, as

SHAG. 379

well as its smaller size, and this difference in size is a suf-
ficient distinction between them, when as young birds they
are more alike in colour. The matured Cormorant and the
Shag both bear crests in spring, and the early part of sum-
mer, but neither of them have a crest in winter, while the
young and immature birds of both these species have no crest
either in winter or summer. It is also common to find the
crested mature birds associating and breeding in one locality,
and the non-crested immature birds congregating, but not
breeding in another.

In the localities visited, or in the habits of the Small, or
Green Cormorant, as compared with those of the larger and
darker-coloured bird, there are but few points of difference.
The Shag, it is said, never quits the salt water to follow the
course of a river, nor does it settle on trees like the Cormo-
rant. ‘They generally build lower down on the rocks, nearer
the water, than the Cormorants, but in companies like them ;
and Montagu says he has seen thirty nests close together on
a small rock. The nest is formed of sea-weed, the eggs, three
or four in number, in shape and colour like those of its
generic companion, but they measure only two inches five
lines in length, by one inch and five lines in breadth. These
birds live on fish, in-pursuit of which they exhibit all the skill
of the Cormorant, and have a similarly serrated claw, but as
neither of them are observed to attempt to catch, or to hold
fish with their feet, it would seem that their serrated claw is
not used to enable them to retain a slippery prey ; while from
some remains of down and feather found adhering to the
serrations in one of the Bitterns, it would rather appear that
the pectinated claw was used to dress and arrange the
plumage.

The geographical range of this bird in the north is very
similar to that of the Cormorant, but the Cormorant goes to

380 PELECANIDE.

the eastward, and is found at the Caspian Sea and in India,
where the Green species is not seen, but has been brought
from South Africa by Dr. Andrew Smith.

In the adult bird the bill is dusky black, the base of the
under mandible and the naked skin about the gape yellowish-
green ; the irides green ; the head crested in the spring; the
crown, neck, breast, and all the under surface of the body a
uniform rich dark green ; back, and wing-coverts dark green.
each feather with a narrow, but darker margin; wing and
tail-feathers black ; legs, toes, and their membranes black.
The whole length of the male twenty-seven inches; of the
wing from the wrist ten inches and three-quarters.

Young birds have the upper plumage brown, tinted with
green ; the under surface brownish-ash, mingled with white.

381

GANNETT.

NATATORES. PELECANIDE.

THE GANNETT,

orn SoLAND Goose.

The Gannet, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 286.
Mont. Ornith. Dict.
Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 408.

Pelecanus bassanus,

” 2? »”

” o” ”

Sula alba Common ,, Frem. Brit. An, p. 118.
3 bassan, Solan ,, Secsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 455.
os ay Common ,, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 263.
Ph 5 Solan Be Gov tp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvil.
As alba, Fou de bassan, Txrmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 905.

Sura. Generic Characters.—Bill strong, long, forming an elongated cone
very large at its base, compressed towards the point, which is slightly curved ;
edges of the mandibles serrated ; the angle of the gape behind the line of the

382 PELECANID.

eyes. Face and throat naked. Nostrils basal, linear, hidden. Legs short,
strong, placed rather backward ; three toes in front, one behind, articulated to
the inner surface of the tarsus, all four toes united by membrane ; claw of the
middle toe pectinated. Wings long, first quill-feather the longest. Tail
cuneiform.

Tuer GANNET is a constant resident on our coast, but with
considerable change of locality depending on the season of
the year. The breeding stations at which the largest quan-
tities congregate during spring and autumn are, Lundy Is-
land, off the coast of Devon, where one spot is called Gannet
Cove, from the numbers which resort there; the Skelig Isles,
off the county of Kerry, west of Ireland; the Isle of Ailsa,
at the mouth of the Frith of Clyde; St. Kilda in the Outer
Hebrides ; Souliskerry near the Orkneys; and, on the east
coast, the Bass Rock in the Frith of Forth. These stations
are inhabited by many thousands.

This last-named precipitous rock, Mr. Selby says, “is
rented from the proprietor at sixty or seventy pounds per
annum, and as the proceeds chiefly depend upon the produce
of the Gannets, great care is taken to protect the old birds,
which the tenant is enabled to do from the privilege possessed
by the proprietor, of preventing any person from shooting, or
otherwise destroying them within a certain limited distance
of the island. From the accounts I have received from the
resident there, it appears that the Gannet is a very long-lived
bird, as he has recognised, from particular and well-known
marks, certain individuals for upwards of forty years, that in-
variably returned to the same spot to breed. He also con-
firmed to me the time required for this bird to attain ma-
turity, namely, four years; and pointed out several in the
different garbs they assume during that period, stating also,
that until fully matured, they have never been known to
breed. During incubation, in consequence of being unmo-
lested, they become very tame; and, where the nests are
easily accessible upon the flat surface of the rock on the south

GANNET. 383

west side of the island, will allow themselves to be stroked by
the hand without resistance, or any show even of impatience,
except a low guttural note.”

The birds form their nests of a mass of weeds and grass,
upon which they deposit a single egg, which, when first laid,
is of a chalky white, tinged with pale blue, but soon becomes
soiled; the length is three inches three lines, by one inch
and ten lines in breadth. The changes between black and
white these birds undergo are very curious. ‘rom the white
egg the young one is excluded with a smooth and naked
bluish-black skin, which soon becomes covered with a white
down ; this growing rapidly is soon very thick, giving them
the appearance of large powder puffs, or masses of cotton.
Through this white down their first true feathers issue, and
these are black, to be followed by the adult plumage which
is again white. Gannets feed exclusively upon fish, and
being birds of great powers of flight they take a very wide
range over the sea in search of food. Shoals of herrings,
pilchards, or sprats, appear to have the greatest attraction for
them, and all the species of the genus Clupea, it will be
recollected, swim near the surface. On quitting their north-
ern breeding stations in autumn, many of these birds take a
southern direction. Off the Cornish coast, Mr. Couch says
in his Fauna, ‘* Adult birds are most abundant in autumn
and winter, fishermen learning by the actions of these birds
when shoals of pilchards are present, and the direction they
are pursuing. ‘The Gannet takes its prey in a different man-
ner from any other of our aquatic birds; for traversing the
air in all directions, as soon as it discovers the fish it rises to
such a height as experience shows best calculated to carry it
by a downward motion to the required depth ; and then par-
tially closing its wings, it falls perpendicularly on the prey,
and rarely without success, the time between the plunge and
emersion being about fifteen seconds.” Gannets attracted to

the same shoal, and fishing in company, are frequently caught

384 PELECANIDE.

in considerable numbers by becoming entangled in the meshes
of the fishermen’s long sea nets.

North of the British Islands the Gannet is found in the
Baltic, as high as the Gulf of Bothnia; on the west coast of
Norway; at the Faroe Islands and Iceland; while from the
coast of Labrador they are said to go as far south as Carolina.
Southward from England the Gannet is included among the
birds of Madeira and South Africa.

In the adult bird the bill is of a horny greyish-white ; the
edges serrated; the naked skin of the face blue; irides pale
straw yellow; the head and neck buff colour; all the rest of
the plumage white, except the wing primaries, which are
black; the line of the bones of the legs and toes in front
green, the other portions of the bones and the connecting
membranes almost black. The whole length of the bird
about thirty-four inches: from the wrist to the end of the
first quill-feather, which is the longest, nineteen inches.

In the immature bird the beak is almost black ; the naked
skin of the face bluish-black; the genera] plumage black,
varied with lines and triangular spots of dull white, giving
the bird very much the appearance of the young of the Red-
throated Diver, in one of its stages, but the structure of the
foot will prevent them being mistaken for each other.

CASPIAN TERN, 385

NATATORES. LARID.

THE CASPIAN TERN.

Sterna caspia, Caspian Tern, Srvny, Brit. Omith. vol. ii. p- 463.

” ” ” ” JENYNS, Brit. Vert. P- 264.

” ” »” » Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 66.

»» ” ” 9 Govtp, Birds of Europe, pt. xviii.

5 »5 Hirondelle-de mer Tschegrava, Temm. Man.d’Ornith. vol. ii. p- 733,

Sterna, Generic Character.—Bill as long, or longer than the head ;
nearly straight, compressed, slender, tapering, with the edges sharp, and the
end pointed ; the mandibles of equal length, the upper one slightly curved to-
wards the point. Nostrils near the middle of the beak, pierced longitudinally,
pervious. Legs slender, naked for a short space above the tarsal joint ; tarsi
short ; toes four, the three in front united by intervening membranes deeply
concave in front, or semi-palmated ; the hind toe free ; claws small, curved.

Wings long, pointed, the first quill-feather the longest. Tail forked in various
degrees.

To this family, the Laride, the last among British Birds,
VOL, III. 2°¢

386 LARIDA,

belong about thirty-four species, of which the Terns and
Gulls are remarkable for the elegance of their forms; the
great length of their wings; the small comparative size of
their bodies, and the quantity of feathers with which they are
covered. They are incessantly on the wing, yet sustain their
flight with great apparent ease to themselves ; swim buoyant-
ly on the water, but never dive. Their food consists princi-
pally of fish, obtained alive from the surface, or animal mat-
ter left by the retiring tide, which is sought for by these
birds at the water’s edge. Besides the regular moult in
autumn, a partial change in their plumage takes place in
spring, soon after which they frequent rocks, sandy flats, or
marshes, for the purpose of incubation. All the species
belonging to the first genus, or the Terns, Sea-swallows, as
they are frequently called, are summer visiters to this coun-
try, and the north of Europe.

Several specimens of this fine large Tern, called the Cas-
pian Tern, have been killed within the few last years on our
eastern coast, particularly in the counties of Suffolk and Nor-
folk. T'wo early examples are those mentioned by the
Messrs. Paget, in their ‘Sketch of the Natural History of
Yarmouth and its neighbourhood,” one of which was killed
in October, 18255; another was presented to the Norwich
Museum, by the Rev. G. Steward, of Caistor, near which
place it was shot. Three or four were seen at Aldborough,
in Suffolk, and one of them shot, which is now preserved in
the Museum of the Philosophical Society of Cambridge, as
mentioned by the Rev. L. Jenyns, in his Manual of British
Vertebrata. Mr. Heysham sent me notice of a Caspian
Tern shot in Norfolk in 1839, and I have received other
communications on this subject which might possibly refer to
some of those instances already mentioned, but enough has

been said to entitle this species to a place in our catalogues
of British Birds.

CASPIAN TERN. 387

The Caspian Tern is reported to breed annually at Sylt,
an island of Denmark, on the west coast of Jutland. M.
Nilsson says it visits also the mouth of the Baltic, and is
seen in the vicinity of the Elbe. It is included by several
naturalists in their birds of Germany. M. 'Temminck men-
tions that he has himself killed it, though rarely, on the coast
of Holland, and it visits the coasts of France. M. Necker
and Professor Schinz include this species among their birds
of Switzerland; the former quoting four instances of its cap-
ture in the vicinity of Geneva; the latter calls it the King
of the Sea-swallows, in reference to its very large size. M.
Temminck says it has been met with and killed on the ex-
tensive rocks near Bonifacio, a sea-port of Corsica. M. Savi
includes it in his work on the birds of Italy; it inhabits the
Grecian Archipelago; and the Russian naturalists who have
lately visited the Caucasus found it in the vicinity of the
Caspian Sea, where it was originally found, and from whence
it received its first name from Pallas. The Caspian Tern
has been found at Senegal, and at the Cape of Good Hope.

M. Temminck tells us that the Caspian Tern feeds on
fish, and lays its two or three eggs in a hole in the sand, or
on the bare rocks near the edge of the sea. Eggs of this
species, obtained from Hamburgh, in my own collection, are
two inches six lines in length, by one inch and eight lines in
breadth ; of a yellowish stone colour, spotted with ash-grey,
and dark red-brown.

When in their summer-plumage the bill is vermilion-red,
lightest in colour at the point; the irides reddish-brown ;
forehead, all the top of the head, and the nape of the neck
rich black, the feathers of that colour on the occiput elon-
gated ; lower part of the neck all round white; the back,
and all the upper surface of the body, the wings and _tail-
feathers ash-grey; the first six wing-primaries of a much
darker grey, a slate-grey, with white shafts; the tail but

262

388 LARIDE.

slightly forked ; the chin, throat, breast, and all the under
surface of the body pure white ; legs, toes, their membranes,
and the claws black, the latter strong and curved.

The whole length of the specimen described, from the
point of the beak to the end of the long feathers of the tail,
nineteen inches ; some specimens measure twenty to twenty-
one inches. Among the Terns the males are rather larger
than the females. From the carpal joint of the wing to the
end of the first, which is the longest, quill-feather, seventeen
inches and a half, the ends of the wings extending consider-
ably beyond the ends of the forked feathers forming the tail.

Young birds of the year, before their first autumn moult,
have the beak of a dull red, with some black at the point ;
the forehead and top of the head white; the upper surface of
the body varied with patches of ash-brown, and darker trans-
verse bands; the feathers of the tail have dark ends; the
primary quill-feathers are also dark; all the under surface of
the body pure white.

Adult birds in winter have the head white, with a few
dark feathers behind the ear-coverts, in all other respects
adult birds in winter resemble adult birds in summer, the
black head alone excepted.

SANDWICH TERN. 389

NATATORES, LARID,

THE SANDWICH TERN.

Sterna Boysii, Sundwich Tern, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 1. p. 200.

», cantiaca, Ph 5 Mont. Ornith. Dict.

.; 5 5 A Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. 1. p. 211.

», Boysii, A ” Frem. Brit. An. p. 142.

or ns ne * Serzy, Brit. Ornith. vol. il. p. 464.

», cantiaca, ae as Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 265.

» » > op Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vi.

5 5, Hirondelle de mer Caugek, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ll. p. 735,

Tue Sanpwicu Tern was first observed and obtained in
this country at Sandwich, in 1784, by Mr. Boys, who sent
specimens to Dr. Latham, by whom the particulars respect-
ing it were published in the sixth volume of his General
Synopsis, page 356, species 9. Attention being thus drawn
to this species, it has since been ascertained to be a regular

590 LARIDE.

summer visiter here, appearing in spring and departing in
autumn, after having reared the yearly brood. Of this spe-
cies in Ireland, Mr. Thompson remarks that it is annually
shot upon the coast, and may perhaps have breeding-haunts
in some of the islets that are rarely visited by the naturalist.
It has been noticed in Cornwall and Devonshire. Mr. Plom-
ley says it breeds on the shingle banks about Romney marsh
in Kent; and I have seen it on Sandwich Flats and at
Ramsgate. Mr. Parsons has taken the eggs near some
salterns at the mouth of Blackwater river in Essex. The
birds are not uncommon on the coasts of Suffolk and Nor-
folk ; I possess both old and young birds killed near Sunder-
land in the second week in August ; and Mr. Selby has par-
ticularly noticed their annual visits to the Farn islands, and
to Coquet island, a few miles to the southward. ‘“* Here a
station is selected apart from other species, generally on a
higher site, and the nests are so close to each other as to
render it difficult to cross the ground without breaking the
eggs, or injuring the unfledged young. Upon this coast it
is called, par excellence, ‘the Tern,’ all the other species
passing under the general name of ‘Sea Swallows.’ Its
habits strongly resemble those of its genus, and it subsists
upon similar kinds of fish, the sand-launce and young gar-fish,
forming the principal supply, and upon which it precipitates
itself as they rise near to the surface of the ocean. Its flight
is strong and rapid, making a great advance at each stroke of
the pinions, and, except when engaged in incubation, it is
almost constantly on the wing, uttering at intervals a hoarse
and grating cry, which can be heard at a very great distance,
and gives notice of its approach long before it is discoverable
by the eye. If much disturbed by being fired at, or if the
egos be repeatedly taken at the commencement of the season,
it deserts the station first selected, and retires to some other
place, less liable to molestation. The eggs of this bird are

SANDWICH TERN. 391

three or four in number, for the reception of which a shallow
hole is scratched among the sea-campion, or other plants
that may happen to grow on the selected place. The eggs
are two inches in length, by one inch five lines in breadth ;
of a yellowish stone colour; thickly spotted with ash-grey,
orange-brown, and deep red-brown, but subject to consider-
able variation in the markings. As soon as the young birds
become tolerably fledged, but before they are altogether able
to fly, they frequently take to the water, swimming off to the
smaller rocks, where they continue to be fed by the parents
until capable of joining them in their fishing excursions.
The time of the arrival of the old birds is about the middle
of May; incubation commences in the first week in June,
and nearly the whole have again taken their departure for
more southern latitudes by the end of September.” Mr.
Macgillivray, in his Manual, mentions having obtained this
species in the Frith of Forth, and it was seen by the natural
history party in Sutherlandshire, upon the Friths of Tongue
and. Eribol.

M. Nilsson says it is seen in the southern parts of Sweden
occasionally ; it is included among the birds of Germany,
and M. Temminck says it is abundant in North Holland.
It is found on the coast of France, and is said to breed on
some islets off Ushant ; it visits some of the lakes of Switzer-
land, is seen at Genoa, and goes eastward to Italy. It is
found in various parts of Africa, and specimens were in the
collection brought by Dr. Andrew Smith from the Cape of
Good Hope.

Mr. Audubon, in his Birds of America, says the Sandwich
Tem is seen from Texas, during spring and summer, to the
Floridas, where it breeds in great numbers ; but is never ob-
served in any other part of the coast of America. Consider-
ed to be migratory.

The adult bird in summer has the bill black, the tip

392 LARIDE.

yellowish-white ; the irides hazel; all the parts of the head
above the eyes black ; the feathers on the occiput elongated,
forming a loose plume which ends in a point ; cheeks, sides,
and bottom of the neck behind white ; back and wings ash-
grey, the ends of the tertials almost white ; the longest pri-
mary slate-grey, with a strong and broad white shaft, the
next two or three primaries each a little lighter in colour than
the first, and diminishing in colour in succession till they be-
come of the same tint as the wing-coverts; the tail white
and forked ; chin, throat, neck in front, breast, and all the
under surface of the body pure white ; legs, toes, and their
membranes black, claws curved and black. ‘The whole length
of the bird, from the point of the beak to the end of the
longest tail-feather fifteen inches. Irom the carpal joint to
the end of the longest quill-feather eleven inches; the first
quill-feather the longest in the wing.

A young bird of the year killed on the 10th of August is
about ten inches in length; the upper mandible dark brown,
the under one pale brown at the base; forehead greyish-
white, top of the head and the occiput black ; back and
smaller wing-coverts ash-grey, varied with pale brown; greater
coverts ash-grey, quill-feathers bluish-grey, the inner margins
white, the outside quill-feather almost black, except the shaft
which is white; tail-feathers varied with ash-grey and brown;
legs, toes, and membranes dark brown.

The young bird figured in the illustration has the head
mottled with black and white; the back, wing-coverts and
tail-feathers varied with angular lines of black ; in this state
as to plumage it is the striated Tern of some authors.

Adult birds in winter have the head white, and the old
bird in my own collection, killed on the 10th of August, has
on the front of the head a considerable number of small
white feathers appearing among those which are black.

ROSEATE TERN. 393

NATATORES. LARIDE.

THE ROSEATE TERN.

Sterna Dougallii, Roseate Tern, Mont. Supp. Ornith. Dict.
39 9 5 sy Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. il. p. 214.
9 » 50 ne Fiem. Brit. An. p. 143.
aD 6 He 5 Setey, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 470.
9 93 35 af Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 265.
9 ” 49 br Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. x.
i 5, Hirondelle de mer Dougall, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 738.

Tue Roseare TERN was first discovered on two small
rocky islands, called Cumbray, in the Firth of Clyde, by Dr.
Macdougall of Glasgow, who sent a specimen and particulars
to Colonel Montagu, from which a figure and description
were inserted in the Supplement to his Ornithological Dic-
tionary, published in 18135. Since that period this species
has been found breeding at various stations frequented by
other Terns, and is ascertained to be, like them, a regular

394 LARIDE.

summer-visiter, but not in very large numbers. Mr. Wm.
Thompson obtained specimens in summer from a smal] rocky
islet near the entrance to Belfast Bay. Mr. Heysham has
recorded a specimen obtained at Brugh Marsh Point, on the
Cumberland side of the Solway, and there is reason to believe
that this Tern, with others, breeds on some of the low flat
islands in the Solway Firth. Mr. Thomas Howitt sent me
notice of its occurrence in Lancashire. '‘T. C. Eyton, Esq.
has recorded its capture in Shropshire. It has been killed in
Cornwall and Devonshire, but does not appear so often on
the southern shores as on those of the west or east coasts.
Mr. Selby, in his account of the birds of the Farn Islands,
says, ‘‘ Several years ago the keeper of the outer Lighthouse
first noticed this as a new and distinct species. Information
was given me of the circumstance, and I went over to ascer-
tain the fact, and having killed several, found them to be the
Sterna Dougalit, or Roseate Tern of Montagu. Since that
period they have greatly increased, and now form a numerous
colony, which occupies a large space of ground near to that
occupied by the Arctic Terns, and a second station upon one
of the Walmseys. ‘The old birds are easily recognised amidst
hundreds of the other species, by their peculiar and buoyant
flight, long tail, and note, which may be expressed by the
word crake, uttered in a hoarse grating key. Its eggs are
rather larger than those of 8. arctica, and the young differ
both in the early or downy, and in the feathered state.”
The eggs measure one inch nine lines and a half in length,
by one inch two lines and a half in breadth; of a yellowish
stone colour, spotted and speckled with ash-grey and dark
brown. These birds live upon small fish.

This Tern in summer visits Norway and the Baltic; and
Richard Dann, Esq. sent me word that it breeds in Lapland.
It is included among the birds of Germany. M. Temminck
says it is found on the coast of Holland in August and Sep-

ROSEATE TERN. 395

tember, and breeds on some small islands on the coast of
Brittany and Picardy. M. Calvi and M. Savi include it
among the birds of Genoa and Italy. Dr. Heineken sent
specimens from Madeira, and Dr. Andrew Smith brought
others from the Cape of Good Hope. This species appears
to have a very wide geographical range. Mr. Audubon men-
tions that he found this Tern breeding in abundance at the
Florida Keys ; and Mr. Gould, in his Birds of Europe, says
he has received many skins from India, particularly from the
coast of Malabar.

In the adult bird in summer the bill, from the point to the
nostrils, is black, from thence to the base or gape red; the
irides dark; all the top of the head black; neck all round
white ; back, wing-coverts, and quill-feathers ash-grey, the
outer webs of the primaries dark grey, the inner webs lighter;
tail-feathers very long, extending beyond the ends of the
wings, the colour pale ash-grey; breast and all the under
surface of the body white, strongly tinted with a delicate rose
colour, whence the bird derives its name; legs, toes, and
their membranes red. The whole length of the bird fifteen
inches and a half. From the carpal joint to the end of the
longest quill-feather nine inches and a quarter.

Mr. Selby describes the young bird of the year as having
the bill black, orange-yellow at the base; forehead and crown
of a very pale wood-brown ; region of the eyes, ear-coverts,
and nape of the neck black, the latter barred with pale wood-
brown ; back and wing-coverts bluish-grey, barred with black-
ish-grey, the feathers tipped with yellowish-white; quills
grey, the exterior web of the first feather black ; tail grey,
the exterior webs the darkest, the tips of the feathers white ;
under parts white ; legs pale red.

The plumage of the adult bird in winter is unknown, but
it is probable that it only loses the black and the rose colour
which belong to the breeding-season.

396 LARIDE.
NATATORES. LARID#.

THE COMMON TERN.

Sterna hirundo, Common Tern, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 196.
>» ” 5 ‘ Mont. Ornith. Dict.
a6 > Fe P Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 207.
ms ss re - Fiem. Brit. An. p. 143.
+ 5 55 5 Secsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 468.
AC oh of +5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 266.
Py >» 46 Ap Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xviii.
a >> Hirondelle de mer pierre garin, Tem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 740,

THis species was long considered more common than it
really is, close examination having proved that two other dis-
tinct species of ‘Ferns very frequently occupy the same sta-
tions with it or localities very close to it, all of which were
for a time confounded under the name of Common Tern:
the great similarity in their habits, and the general resem-
blanee in the birds while on the wing at a distance favouring
the supposition.

COMMON TERN. 39%

Although occasionally breeding on rocks or on banks of
shingle, forming a sea-beach, the Common Tern appears to
prefer building on the ground in marshes, or on small, low,
flat, sandy islands near the sea, and sometimes on the margin
of large lakes. ‘They are known to follow the course of rivers
going far inland; and Mr. Jesse, in his Gleanings, mentions
an instance of one being shot in Bushy Park, others have
been seen and shot high up on the Thames more than forty
miles above Gravesend. They possess great powers of flight,
are rapid and varied in their motions, noisy and restless ;
constantly on the wing over the water, either amusing them-
selves or looking for small fish upon which they subsist.
They lay two or three eggs, and are very careful both of
them and their young, making many signs of anger and dis-
tress when their nest is approached too nearly. The eggs
are of a yellowish stone colour, blotched and spotted with
ash-grey and dark red-brown; the length one inch eight lines
by one inch two lines in breadth. Like the other species of
this genus the Common Tern, which comes in May, leaves
this country in September, and when about to take their de-
parture, have been seen, like other swallows not of the sea,
to collect in small flocks, and wait about as if desirous to in-
crease their numbers before starting.

Mr. Wm. Thompson says this species is widely distributed
in Ireland. It breeds m the Frith of Clyde, and Mr. Hey-
sham mentions that it breeds near the western extremity of
Rochcliff salt marsh, at no great distance from the junction
of the rivers Eden and the Esk in Solway Frith, and a few
pairs on Solway moss, and about these localities Mr. Hey-
sham has known this species remain till the beginning of
October. Priestholm isle, off the coast of Anglesey, and the
Skerries are also visited. It is observed on the coasts of
Cornwall, Devonshire, and Dorsetshire. It is said to be
rather numerous about Winchelsea, Dungeness, and Romney
Marsh. I have obtained it at the mouth of the Thames.

398 LARIDA.

It is found also on the east coast, and it is common along
the shores of Suffolk and Norfolk, but more sparingly dis-
tributed on the coasts of Durham and Northumberland. It
visits the Isle of May, in the Frith of Forth, and other parts
of Scotland. This species is said to go very far north, but
not without some suspicion that the next species to be de-
scribed is the Tern most frequently found in high northern
latitudes.

The Common Tern visits Germany, Holland, Switzerland,
France, Spain, Genoa, and Italy. The Zoological Society of
London have received specimens sent by Keith Abbott, Esq.
from Trebizond. It is found at Madeira, the Canary Islands,
at Senegal, and in South Africa.

In the adult bird in summer the bill is coral-red, the point
black, irides dark brown; forehead, crown, and nape black ;
back and wings ash-grey; outside web of the first primary
slate-grey, the shaft white, inner web light-grey ; tail-coverts
white ; outer webs of tail-feathers pale ash-grey, inner webs
white ; chin, neck, breast, and under surface dull white;
legs, toes, and membranes coral-red. The whole length of
the bird fourteen inches and a quarter; from the wrist to the
end of the longest quill-feather ten inches and a half.

A young bird killed in August has the point of the beak
dark brown, the base reddish-yellow ; forehead dull white ;
posterior part of the crown, the ear-coverts, and the occiput
black; chin, and neck all round white; back and wing-
coverts ash-grey, each feather margined with ash-brown and
white ; outer web of the first quill-feather black ; the others
ash-erey ; under surface of the body white ; legs, toes, and
membranes reddish-brown.

An adult bird obtained in December, by Mr. Henry
Doubleday, had the head black; and M. Temminck says
that the head is so usually, only more dull in colour in winter

than in summer.

ARCTIC TERN. 399

NATATORES. LARID,

THE ARCTIC TERN.

Sterna arctica, Arctic Tern, Frem. Brit. An. p. 144.

” ” D¢ as Sexey, Brit. Ornith, vol. i. p. 473.

”» »” »» op Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 267.

” ” AB 5 Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 68.

”» ” ne oe Gou tp, Birds of Europe, pt. iii.

ae »» Hirondelle de mer arctique, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 458.

M. Temmincx first pointed out the distinctions of this
species which had previously been confounded with the Com-
mon ‘l'ern ; these differences will be observed in the bill, the
legs, and in the colour of the plumage of the under surface of
the body. The bill is full one-quarter of an inch shorter
than that of the Common Tern, measured from the point to
the commencement of the black feathers on the forehead ; it

is also more slender in substance, a little more curved, and

400 LARIDE.

has only occasionally a small portion of black colour at the
tip, most frequently without any black, all the rest coral-red.
The legs are remarkable in having very short tarsal bones,
which are characteristic of this species at all ages, and the
plumage of the under surface of the body in the adult bird
is of French grey, as dark as that of the back and wings ;
the same part in the Common Tern is white, and in the
Roseate Tern the white is tinged with a rosy hue as already
described.

The Arctic Tern, thus distinguished was soon found to be
even more numerous than the Common Tern, particularly in
high northern latitudes, and it was seen in quantities by our
Arctic voyagers, as references to the details of the natural
history productions of these different expeditions will show.
It was found breeding on Melville Peninsula, and on the
islands and beaches of the Arctic Sea. It was abundant in
various parts of Greenland. Breeds in Iceland, and the
Tern found at the Faroe Islands, and named by M. Graba,
Sterna brachytarsa, is probably the Arctic Tern. It breeds.
also in Norway, Lapland, Sweden, and Holstein. Mr. Dunn
says, ‘* This Tern is plentiful in the summer both in Orkney
and Shetland. It makes its nest on the gravelly beach, and
low rocks, and sometimes amongst the short dry grass on the
tops of low cliffs, always in exposed situations. The female
lays three or four eggs. ‘This bird is seldom seen but on the
wing, in pursuit of the small coal-fish which abound im the
harbours and inlets of these countries. It darts down upon
them with great rapidity as they swim on the surface of the
water. It is the only species of Tern I have met with
amongst these islands.” In the outer Hebrides, according
to Mr. John Macgillivray, ‘the Common Tern is found as
well as the Arctic, but the latter is much the more plentiful
of the two. On several of the smaller and less frequented

islands many hundreds of their eggs were taken in a few

ARCTIC TERN. 401

minutes, and in some places it was difficult to move without
treading upon them ; a loose cloud of Terns of both species
hovering about uttering incessant cries, and darting down to
within a few feet of the invaders of their peaceful territory.”
Mr. Wm. Thompson notices that it is common and widely
distributed in Ireland; and Mr. Eyton says this Tern breeds
on the Skerries, about nine miles north of Holyhead ; but a
most unusual number of this species made their appearance
early in the month of May of the present year in and about
the estuary of the Severn, and up the line of its course. I
heard of them at Swansea, from Mr. L. Dillwyn, and Mr.
Bicheno ; great numbers were seen and many obtained. At
Monmouth the same thing happened. On the east side of
the Severn Mr. Robert Whitefield, of the Water Farm, near
Bridgewater, sent me notice of the appearance of this unusual
visiter there. The following is an extract from the ‘ Bristol
Mirror.” ‘* During the high winds that prevailed on Sunday
last, May 8th, our harbour and floating docks were visited by
large flights of a rare and beautiful species of bird, the
Sterna arctica, or Arctic Tern. The birds were assembled
in such vast numbers that two or three hundred were killed
with stones and other missiles, whilst several were caught
alive; and so tame were they, that many were observed to
pitch on the backs of passers-by. This Tern, as its name
indicates, is a native of the higher Arctic regions, and has
been met with in all the late expeditions to the Polar Seas.
It is a summer visitant to the coasts of Scotland, and the
north of England, but is rarely met with more southernly, and
until the present, there was no instance on record of a speci-
men having been obtained in this neighbourhood. ‘The ap-
pearance of such vast flights of Arctic birds, rare as a species,
in the very heart of a large city, is an occurrence as remark-
able as it is interesting. Flocks of these birds were also ob-
served the same day at Clevedon, Weston, and other places
VOL. III. 2D

4.02 LARID&,

along the channel coast.” Mr. H. E. Strickland has pub-
lished in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History for
June, 1842, a notice of the simultaneous appearance of this
bird over a large extent of country in the same vicinity.
Forty specimens procured on the 8th and 9th were taken to
one bird-preserver at Evesham. Mr. John Evans, of Grove
House, Worcester, sent me notice of the numbers seen there,
and thirty-three specimens were deposited with one bird-pre-
server. Hundreds were seen at Cofton Hall, near Broms-
grove, and Tewkesbury, Hereford, Devizes, and Trowbridge,
are places mentioned as having been visited by considerable
numbers. The wind had been blowing hard for many days
from the east and N. E., but suddenly changed to the west-
ward, continuing to blow hard. Some of the specimens had
not acquired the perfect black head peculiar to the breeding-
season, but all were on their route to their northern summer
quarters, their intended course having been interfered with by
the prevailing strong winds. A few of the Common Tern
were said to have been found with them, but from the num-
bers seen by ornithologists who are well acquainted with spe-
cies, the written descriptions I have received and some speci-
mens I have seen that were sent up to London, I have no
doubt that the great bulk of the flights were composed of
Arctic Terns. I have been told that a few of this same
species breed on the Scilly Islands every year, but it is not
common generally on the south or south-eastern coasts. On
the coasts of Durham and Northumberland it is again plenti-
ful. Sir William Jardine says it is perhaps the most com-
mon species in Scotland, and abounds during the breeding-
season upon all the rocky islands in the Forth, from Queen’s-
ferry to the Farn islands; and Mr. Selby says of Sutherland-
shire, that this bird is abundant upon all the Friths, and
upon the flat coast of Tongue. Mr. W. C: Hewitson, in

his work on the eggs of British Birds, says, the Arctic Term

ARCTIC TERN. 403

breeds in great numbers on Coquet Island, a few miles south
of the Farn Islands. The eggs, two or three in number, are
very much like those of the Common Tern in shape, colour,
and markings, but always smaller in size, measuring one inch
seven lines in length, by one inch and one line in breadth.

The adult bird in summer has the bill coral-red, the ex-
treme point sometimes black; forehead, crown, and nape
black ; baek, wings, and wing-coverts pearl-grey ; outer web
of the first primary lead-grey : tail-coverts and _tail-feathers
almost white, the two longest tail-feathers on each side grey
on the outer webs; cheeks white; chin and upper part of
neck in front, and on the sides ash-grey ; breast and all the
under surface of the body as dark a grey colour as that of
the back ; legs, toes, and their membranes orange-red. The
whole Jength of the bird from the point of the bill to the end
of the middle, or short, tail-feather twelve inches and a half,
to the end of the longest tail-feather two inches and a half
more, or fifteen inches whole length; from the wrist to the
end of the longest quill-feather eleven inches; length of the
tarsus only half an inch.

A young bird of the year, nearly full grown, and measur-
ing thirteen inches, has the bill dull brown at the point, the
remainder red; forehead dull white; crown of the head
mottled black and white; back of the head and nape uniform
dusky black ; back and wings pearl-grey ; outer web of the
first primary lead-grey, inner webs of all the primaries light
grey, almost white; secondaries, tertials, scapulars, and small
wing-coverts tipped with white ; upper tail-coverts and _tail-
feathers white, the three long tail-feathers on each side with
outer webs of slate-grey; throat, breast, and all the under
surface of the body and wings at this age nearly pure white ;
legs, toes, and membranes orange.

The winter-plumage of the adult bird has not been ob-

served.
DQ isny 2)

404 LARIDE

N ATATORES. LARIDA.

THE WHISKERED TERN.

Sterna leucopareia, Moustache Tern, Gouin, Birds of Europe, pt. xviil.
3» ,, Hirondelle de mer moustac, Temm. Man, d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 746.
», Delamotte, ,, »> », dela Motte, Virriu, Faun. Frang. p. 402.

I am indebted to the kindness and discrimination of T. C.
Heysham, Esq. of Carlisle, for the advantage of inserting this
species, new to the British catalogue, and of rare occurrence
even on the Kuropean continent. At the end of August,
1836, a party of two or three persons went out in a boat from
Lyme, to amuse themselves with shooting sea-birds, and this
Tern, among others, was part of the produce of their guns.
Mr. Heysham shortly afterwards had an opportunity of ex-
amining the skins of the birds obtained, selected that of the
Whiskered Tern here figured from, and made the arrange-
ment by which I became possessed of it.

WHISKERED TERN. 405

This species has not previously been killed nearer than the
coast of Picardy, where M. Temminck states that M. Jules
de la Motte, of Abbeville, once saw several examples in a
marsh; he killed three; and M. Vieillot includes this Tern
in consequence among the Birds of France.

But little is known of the habits of this Tern. It was
first discovered in the southern part of Hungary, by M. Nat-
terer, of Vienna. M. Brehm includes it in his Birds of Ger-
many. M.'Temminck mentions that he has met with this
species in the marshes of Capo d’Istria, and on the coast of
Dalmatia; it has been found also in Syria and in Egypt.
M. Temminck further states that specimens received from
Borneo do not differ in any respect from those obtained in
Europe. M. Savi includes this Tern in his Ornithology of
Italy, but considers it a very rare species, of which only three
examples had been obtained.

It is said to feed on winged insects and aquatic worms ;
but its mode of nesting and its eggs are, I believe, as yet
unknown.

In the specimen killed on the Dorsetshire coast, and now
before me, the bill is red, inclining to dark brown on the
edges of both mandibles towards the point; the bill rather
stout, with the inferior angle of the under mandible promi-
nent, an approximation to the form of the under mandible in
the Gull-billed Tern, next to be described. The irides
brownish-black ; forehead, crown, and nape black ; from the
base of the upper mandible, in a line below the eye to the
ear-coverts a stripe of white, forming the whisker or mous-
tache ; back, wing-coverts, upper tail-coverts, and _tail-fea-
thers uniform dark grey, almost slate-grey ; first quill-feather
lead-grey on the outer web, and over a considerable portion
of that part of the inner web nearest to the white shaft, the
other part of the inner web white; the outer webs of, the
other primary and secondary feathers lighter grey than the

406 LARIDE£.

inner webs ; chin and throat greyish-white ; neck and breast
slate-grey, and as dark as. the back; abdomen, thighs, and
flanks lead-grey ; under wing and tail-coverts white ; legs,
toes, and membranes red, the membranes deeply indented.
From the point of the beak to the first feathers on the fore-
head one inch and one eighth ; from the point of the beak to
the end of the middle, or short, tail-feathers, ten inches and a
half, to the end of the outside, and longest tail-feather one
inch more, making the whole length eleven inches and a half.
From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the first
quill-feather, which is the longest, nine inches and one-quar-
ter; length of the tarsus seven-eighths of an inch; of the
middle toe three-quarters of an inch, claw of the middle toe
three-eighths of an inch, strong and curved.

Adult birds in winter, according to M. Temminck, have
the forehead, crown, occiput, neck, and all the under parts
pure white; a black spot behind the eyes; mantle, back,
wings, tail-coverts and tail-feathers uniform ash-grey ;_ bill,
legs, and feet deep lake-red.

Young birds of the year have the crown of the head varied
with red and brown ; occiput and ear-coverts greyish-black ;
the feathers of the back, scapulars and secondaries brown in
the middle, bordered and tipped with dirty flesh-colour ; tail-
feathers blackish-grey towards the end, but tipped with
white ; beak brown, red at the base; legs and feet flesh-
colour.

GULL-BILLED TERN. 407

NATATORES. LARID.

THE GULL-BILLED TERN.

Sterna Anglica, Gull-billed Tern, | Mont, Supp. Ornith. Dict.

0 33 Ae aes ue Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 219.
” nf aG2) ED be Frem. Brit. An. p. 143.

Ae i, eae vs re Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 480.
ie % a He A Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 269.

5 if seat Sh - Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 97.

sy i shoal as Re Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vii.

* ,, Hirondelle de mer hansel, Timm, Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii, p. 744.

THs species was first made known by Colonel Montagu,
who gave a figure and description of it in the supplement to
his Ornithological Dictionary, published in the year 1813;
one specimen was shot by himself in Sussex, and he saw two
others that had been killed at Rye. The birds obtained
were at first confounded with the Sandwich Tern, but the
form and length of the bill in the two birds, which are quite
different, soon led Montagu to a just appreciation of the
specific distinctions, and he called it S. Anglica, because it
was not known to him as existing elsewhere. I have heard
of two examples killed in this country, both in 1839; one in

408 LARIDE.

Kent, in the month of June, but of the other I have un-
fortunately mislaid the letter which contained the particulars.
According to M. Vieillot it has been taken in Picardy, and
on the coast of the Channel. M. 'Temminck says it is com-
mon in Hungary, and the confines of Turkey, and was in-
cluded by M. Savigny, among the Birds of Egypt. This
species appears to have a most extensive geographical range.
M. Temminck says he received a specimen killed in the
United States, and two others from Brazil: these last were
killed there by Prince Neuwied, and they did not either of
them differ from those obtained on the lakes of Hungary.
Mr. Selby says, **‘ Upon investigating specimens from North
America, I feel no hesitation in considering the Marsh Tern
of Wilson’s North-American Ornithology to be the same
bird.” Mr. Audubon also says, ‘* Having taken six specimens
of the American Marsh Tern to the British Museum, and
minutely compared them in all their details with the speci-
mens of the Gull-billed Tern, which formed part of the col-
lection of Colonel Montagu, and were procured in the South
of England, I found them to agree so perfectly that no doubt
remained with me of the identity of the bird described by
Wilson with that first distinguished by the English Orni-
thologist.” Colonel Sykes, in his published account of the
Birds of India, collected by himself, says of this species, my
‘‘ specimens correspond exactly with specimens of this rare
British Bird in the British Museum.”

The specimens I have been able to examine, some from
Germany and others in the British Museum, appear to me to
be of the same species, the tarsus in all of them measuring
one inch and a quarter, the middle toe and claw together
being of the same length as the tarsus. M.'Temminck men-
tions that Boie had received specimens from the eastern coast
of Jutland, where this bird is said to breed. Two examples
were seen in the south of Holland, in the summer of 1839,
by M. Temminck himself, one of which was obtained. M.

GULL-BILLED TERN. 4.9

Savi includes this species in his Birds of Italy. It visits the
shores of the Red Sea; and M. 'Temminck says it is very
abundant in the islands of Sunda, several specimens sent him
from thence not differing from those of Europe. The Sterna
affinis of Dr. Horsfield, obtained in Java, is considered also
by M. Temminck to be of the same species.

This Tern feeds on small fishes and large insects ; fre-
quenting marshes rather than the sea coast, and lays two or
three eggs, which, judging from figures of them in continental
works, are one inch eleven lines long, by one inch four lines
in breadth, of a dark olive-brown spotted with ash-colour
and two shades of dark red-brown.

In the adult in summer the bill is black, and one inch and
a quarter in length from the point to the feathers on the fore-
head; the angle at the symphisis of the lower mandible
rather prominent ; irides reddish-brown ; forehead, crown, and
nape jet black; neck behind greyish-white ; back, scapulars,
wings, the coverts, secondaries, and tertials, upper tail-coverts
and tail-feathers uniform pale ash-grey; the outside web of
the first primary slate-grey, the other primaries pearl-grey ;
chin, throat, breast, belly, and all the under surface white ;
legs, toes, membranes, and claws black. The whole length
of the bird figured from and described, fifteen inches and a
half; wing from the wrist thirteen inches.

I have seen two or three specimens of the adult bird killed
in winter, the head is then white.

A young bird of the year, measuring thirteen inches, has
the bill blueish-black ; head on the top dull white, varied with
pale brown and dusky streaks; on the ear-coverts a spot of
greyish-black ; neck all round white; back, scapulars, and
tertials orange-brown, spotted with darker brown; wing-
coverts ash-grey, tipped with pale orange-brown ; primaries
pearl-grey; tail but little forked; chin, neck, and all the
under surface of the body white.

410 LARIDE.

NATATORES, LARID£.

THE LESSER TERN.

Sterna minuta, — Lesser Tern, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 198.
Monr. Ornith. Dict.

Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 209.
Fiem. Brit. An. p. 144.

” ” ” ”

” ” ’ ”

> ”? 99 ”>
np 50 5h 9 Secey, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 475.
or, af 2 55 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 267.

Little Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. vill.

” ”” ”

Petite Hirondelle de mer, Vemm. Man, d’Ornith, vol. i. p. 752.

” ”

Tuis pretty little bird, the smallest of the British 'Terns,
but one of the most elegant as well as delicate examples of
the species, is not uncommon during summer on such parts
of the coast of the British Islands as are suited to its habits.
It appears to prefer low flat shores, or islets, of sand, broken
shells, or small shingle, coming here early in May, and laying
two or three eggs before the end of that month in any small
accidental depression in the ground above high water mark.
I have found them in considerable numbers at the mouth of

LESSER TERN. 411

the Thames on the Kentish side, about Yantlet island, and
the creek of the same name close by. When their breeding-
haunts are visited they exhibit but little fear, settling on the
ground not far from those who may be looking for their eggs
er young, and will frequently walk about with a light step,
or with a piping note again take wing. ‘They fly with rapid
beats of their long pinions, and from this circumstance look
much larger in the air than when in hand. Their food con-
sists of the fry of surface-swimming fish, and small crustacea,
upon which they descend from the air, and I have frequently
seen them alight on the water, sometimes evidently seeking
food on the surface, and at others only resting from their
labours.

Their eggs are of a stone colour, spotted and speckled with
ash-grey and dark chestnut-brown ; the length one inch four
lines, by eleven lines in breadth. ‘The young are generally
able to fly by the end of the second week in July; and Mr.
Audubon mentions that they are fed for a time on the wing
by their parents. Both old and young leave this country
about the end of September, but I have a note of one seen
on the 10th of October, 1839, and I received a notice from
the Rev. William Howman of one that was exposed for sale
in Norwich market, in the third week of the month of De-
cember.

This species visits many different places along the line of
the southern coast from Cornwall to Sussex. It has been
noticed on the shores of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk ; was
observed by Montagu to be numerous about Skegness, on the
coast of Lincolnshire. Does not breed on the F'arn islands,
according to Mr. Selby, but upon the beach of the main land
near Holy Island, and on the shore of the Frith of Forth on
both sides. Professor Macgillivray says it visits the sands
near Aberdeen, and also some other localities on the west

coast of Scotland. It frequents some of the sandy flats in

412 LARIDE.

the Solway Frith ; and Mr. Wm. Thompson notices it as a
regular summer visitant to Ireland.

M. Nilsson says it is common in summer on the shores of
the Baltic; and it is said to visit Russia and Siberia. It is
not very common in the interior of Germany, but is included
in the different histories of the birds of that country. It is
abundant on the coasts of Holland and France, but not com-
monly found inland. M. Savi includes it in his Birds of
Italy, and it is said to have been found at the Black and the
Caspian Seas; but it is not mentioned in the catalogues of the
Russian naturalists who have lately visited these localities.
Mr. Gould mentions having received this species from India,
and it is a common species in the United States.

In the adult bird in summer the beak is orange, tipped
with black ; irides dusky; forehead white, crown of the head
and the nape jet black; back and wings uniform delicate
pearl-grey, the first, second, and sometimes the third primary
slate-grey; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers white, tail
forked ; chin, throat, sides of neck, breast, and all the under
surface of the body pure white ; legs, toes, and membranes
orange. The whole length of the bird rather more than eight
inches ; from the wrist to the end of the wing six inches and
three-quarters. The adult bird in winter only varies in
having the head dull black, instead of deep black.

The young bird of the year, as figured, has the point of
the bill dark brown, the base pale brown; forehead and
crown mottled with dusky brown, and greyish-white, more
uniform in colour on the nape, and darker; back, wing-
coverts, and tertials ash-grey, margined with dusky black ;
primaries slate-grey, margins of the inner webs white ; secon-
daries ash-grey ; tail-feathers spotted with dusky grey towards
the ends; chin, sides of neck, breast, and all the under sur-
face white; legs pale brown.

BLACK TERN. 413

NATATORES, LARIDE.

lex
IV \\
{ \

\
NN ia

THE BLACK TERN.

Sterna fissipes, The Black Tern, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 199.

»» nevia, ” ” ” », 201.

», __fissipes, aA Pe Mont. Ornith. Dict.

a - “A es Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 217.
» nigra, on or Frem. Brit. An. p. 144.

= #3 > oA Sersy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii, p. 477.
A 5 3 af Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 268.

es + BA re Gout», Birds of Europe, pt. iv.

= », H. de mer €pouvantail, Temm, Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 749.

Tue Brack TeEry, of which we have figured an old male
in his summer dress, and a young bird of the year in autumn,
is like the other Terns only a summer-visiter here, but differs
from them a little in its habits, seldom associating with them,
or seen on the sea-coast except in spring, at the period of its
arrival, or in autumn, when about to take leave for the winter.

414 LARID&.

This species prefers fresh-water marshes, the vicinity of rivers
or reedy pools, and is found in Cambridgeshire, in some parts
of Norfolk, and Lincolnshire, but is a rare bird in the North
of England, and is not found in Scotland, although it visits
higher northern latitudes in other directions. The Black
Tern is a summer-visiter to different parts of Ireland, and Mr.
Robert Ball has noticed that it bred for years in succession
by a small lake at Roxborough, near Middleton, in the coun-
ty of Cork. Pennant notices a young bird of the year, in
which state it is the Sterna nevia of some authors, that was
shot on the Severn a few miles below Shrewsbury. Speci-
mens have been obtained in Devonshire. Dr. Latham pro-
cured some in Hampshire. Montagu mentions that in his
time it was common in Romney marsh, in Kent, but Mr.
Plomley, who resides there, tells me it is not so now; a few
only are seen, and these in spring and autumn, apparently on
their way to and from some other locality. Mr. Bond ob-
tained some good specimens in the autumn of 1841, at the
Kingsbury reservoir, in Middlesex. The Rev. Richard Lub-
bock sent me word that ** The Black Tern used to breed in
Norfolk in abundance, but that the great breeding-place in a
wet alder carr at Upton, where twenty years back hundreds
upon hundreds of nests might be found at the end of May,
has been broken up for some years. The Blue Darr, as it
is provincially termed here, has in consequence become scarce.
Mr. Salmon told me that he got the eggs of this bird from
Crowland Wash, in Lincolnshire, within the last two or three
years. It can hardly be said at present to breed regularly in
Norfolk, a few straggling pairs only still nest here.” The
eggs figured by Mr. Hewitson were supplied by Mr. Salmon,
who obtained them from Crowland marsh, where they are de-
posited upon tufts of grass and rushes, sometimes in very wet
situations, and barely raised above the level of the water.

The nest is composed of flags and coarse grass; the eggs

BLACK TERN. 415

usually three, but sometimes four; those in my own collec-
tion are of a dark olive-brown, blotched, and spotted with
black, principally at the larger end; the length of the egg
one inch five lines, by one inch in breadth. The food of this
Tern consists chiefly of beetles and dragon-flies, with some
small fish. The insect portion of its prey is taken on the
wing with great ease and certainty, as the flight of the bird is
rapid, and it turns, stops, or alters its course in an instant.
Its note is shrill. The Black Tern makes its appearance
here by the end of April, or the beginning of May, and
leaves us early in October. Montagu mentions an instance
of having seen a young bird in Devonshire as late as the be-
ginning of November in 1802.

M. Nilsson says this species is rather common in Sweden,
and it is included in the various histories of the Birds of Ger-
many. M. 'Temminck says it is very abundant in Holland,
and in the extensive marshes of Hungary. It is observed in
some of the marshes of France; visits some of the lakes of
Switzerland, and is seen at Genoa on its northern route in
spring. M. Savi includes it in his Birds of Italy. The
Zoological Society received a specimen, a young bird, sent by
Mr. Ross from T'rebizond ; and the Russian naturalists found
it also in the vicinity of the Caucasus.

Dr. Heineken includes the Black Tern in his catalogue of
the Birds of Madeira.

Pennant says Kalm saw flocks of hundreds of these birds
in the Atlantic ocean, midway between England and Ame-
rica. ‘The Black Tern is well known to the ornithologists of
the United States, in some of which it is abundant.

Adult males and females in summer have the bill black ;
the irides dark brown; whole head and neck dark lead-grey ;
back, wings, and tail uniform slate-grey ; breast and belly, like
the head and neck, dark lead-grey; vent and under tail-

coverts white; legs, toes, and their short membranes dark

416 LARID®.

reddish-brown ; the whole length of the bird nine inches and
three-quarters ; the tail less forked than in some other spe-
cies; the wing from the carpal joint to the end of the first
quill-feather eight inches and a half.

Adult birds in winter have the forehead, the space between
the beak and the eye, the chin, and throat white, and I have
seen an adult female specimen that had assumed this white
colour before leaving this country in autumn. The other
parts as in summer.

Young birds of the year have the bill brownish-black ;
forehead, chin, throat, and a collar round the neck white ;
crown of the head and the nape greyish-black ; feathers of the
back and wing-coverts light slate-grey, margined with brown
or white, or partly with both ; primaries dark slate-grey ; the
first primary lead-grey ; rump and upper tail-coverts greyish-
white; tail-feathers slate-grey; breast, belly, and all the
under surface of the body and wings white. Before leaving
this country the plumage on the upper surface of the body in
the young bird loses the brown colour, becoming of a more
uniform slate-grey, but clouded with dark lead-grey. ‘This
Tem having once assumed the dark colour peculiar to the
breast and belly in summer, does not afterwards become white

on those parts at any age or season.

NODDY TERN. 417

NATATORES. LARIDE.

THE NODDY TERN.

Sterna stolida, Black Noddy, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 270.

Anous ,, pe a Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 70.
Sterna ,, Noddy Tern, Govutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi.
as », H.demer Noddy, Tema. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 461.

Two examples of this Tern were shot in the summer
of 1840, between the Tasker Light-House, off the coast of
Wexford, and Dublin Bay. The fact was recorded, after
the examination of both specimens, by Wm. Thompson, Esq.
of Belfast, in publications devoted to natural history, and was
then the first record of the occurrence of the Sterna stolida
in Europe. The specimens are both preserved. It has re-
cently been stated by Thos. Austin, Esq. in the Annals and
Magazine of Natural History, ‘‘ that this species is a sum-
mer-visiter to St. George’s Channel, but is so exceedingly
shy that the writer could never get a shot at one, though
watching many times for a chance; the bird seeks its food at

VOL. ILI. 25

418 LARIDA.

some distance from land, but occasionally pursues its prey
into the estuaries of the larger Irish rivers, or along the outer
shores of the coast.”

M. Temminck, in the 4th Part of his Manual, published
in 1840, mentions that the Noddy has been seen on the coast
of France, and Dr. Latham says he was told that they lay
their eggs in vast numbers on certain small rocky isles near
St. Helena.

We are indebted to American ornithologists for the best
accounts of the habits of this Tern. Mr. Audubon says,
‘about the beginning of May the Noddies collect from all
parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the coasts of Florida, for
the purpose of returning to their breeding places on one of
the Tortugas called Noddy Key. These birds form regular
nests of twigs and dry grass, which they place on the bushes
or low trees, but never on the ground. On visiting their
island on the 11th of May, 1832, I was surprised to see that
many of them were repairing and augmenting nests that had
remained through the winter, while others were employed in
constructing new ones, and some were already sitting on their
eggs. In a great many instances, the repaired nests formed
masses nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them had
only a slight hollow for the eggs, broken shells of which were
found among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely
placed there. The birds did not discontinue their labours,
although there were nine or ten of us walking among the
bushes, and when we had gone a few yards into the thicket,
thousands of them flew quite low over us, some at times
coming so close as to enable us to catch a few of them with
the hand. On one side might be seen a Noddy carrying a
stick in its bill, or a bird picking up something from the
ground to add to its nest; on the other, several were seen
sitting on their eggs unconscious of danger, while their mates

brought them food. 'The greater part rose on wing as we

NODDY TERN. 419

advanced, but re-alighted as soon as we had passed. The
bushes were rarely taller than ourselves, so that we could
easily see the eggs in the nests. This was quite a new sight
to me, and not less pleasing than unexpected. ‘The Noddy,
like most other species of Terns, lays three eggs, which
average two inches in length, by an inch and three-eighths
in breadth, and are of a reddish-yellow colour, spotted and
patched with dull red and faint purple. ‘They afford ex-
cellent eating, and our sailors seldom failed to collect buckets-
ful daily during our stay at the Tortugas. The wreckers
assured me that the young birds remain along with the old
through the winter, in which respect the Noddy, if this ac-
count be correct, differs from other species, the young of
which keep by themselves until spring. At the approach of
a boat, the Noddies never flew off their island, in the manner
of the Sooty Terns. They appeared to go farther out to sea
than those birds in search of their food, which consists of
fishes mostly caught amid the floating sea-weeds, these Terns
seizing them, not by plunging perpendicularly downwards, as
other species do, but by skimming close over the surface in
the manner of Gulls, and also by alighting and swimming
round the edges of the weeds. ‘This I had abundant oppor-
tunities of seeing while on the Gulf of Mexico. The flight
of this bird greatly resembles that of the Night-hawk when
passing over meadows or rivers. When about to alight on
the water, the Noddy keeps its wings extended upwards, and
touches it first with its feet. It swims with considerable
buoyancy and grace, and at times immerses its head to seize
on a fish. It does not see well by night, and it is for this
reason that it frequently alights on the spars of vessels, where
it sleeps so soundly that the seamen often catch them. When
seized in the hand it utters a rough cry, not unlike that of a
young American Crow taken from the nest. On such occa-
sions it bites severely, with quickly-repeated movements of
2ER

420 LARID,

the bill, which, on missing the object aimed at, close with a
snap. Some which I kept several days refused all kinds of
food, became dull and languid, and at length died. While
hovering over us near their nests, these birds emitted a low
querulous murmur, and, if unmolested, would attempt to
alight on our heads. After a few visits, however, they be-
came rather more careful of themselves, although the sitting
birds often suffered us to put a hat over them. ‘This species
incubates both day and night.”

Dr. Latham, in his Synopsis, observes that this bird is said
to breed in the Bahama Islands, laying the eggs on the bare
rocks ; on the Roca Islands, and various parts of the coast
of Brazil, and Cayenne. Catesby, in his Natural History of
Carolina, mentions having seen this bird more than a hundred
leagues from land. According to Mr. Collie’s notes, this
species was seen in the Pacific at several different places at
various seasons of the year, as mentioned in the volume de-
voted to the Zoology of Captain Beechey’s voyage in the
Blossom, p. 38.

In the adult bird the bill is black, from the base of the bill
to the eye is also black; irides brown ; the forehead and
crown buff-colour; occiput smoke-grey; the whole of the
body above and below and all the wing-coyerts dark choco-
late-brown ; primaries and tail-feathers brownish-black ; legs,
toes, membranes, and claws black. The whole length of the
specimen here figured and described fourteen inches and a
half to the end of the tail, which is graduated, the middle
pair of feathers being the longest ; the wing, from the carpal
joint to the end of the first quill-feather ten inches and a
half.

SABINE'S GULL. 4.2]

NATATORES. LARIDE.

SABINE’S GULL.

Larus Sabini, Sabine’s Gull, Junyns, Brit. Vert. p. 270.
Xema ,, ae Xeme, LEyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 64.

ae a 4 Gull, | Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi.
Larus Sabinei, Mouette de Sabine, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 488.

Larus. Generic Characters.—Bill of moderate length, strong, hard, com-
pressed, cutting, slightly curved towards the point, lower mandible shorter than
the upper, the symphisis angular, prominent. WNostrils lateral, near the middle
of the beak, pierced longitudinally, pervious. Leys slender, lower part of the
tibia naked, the tarsus long, three toes in front entirely palmated, the hind toe
free, short, articulated high up on the tarsus above the line of the other toes.
Wings long, the first quill-feather nearly as long as the second, which is the
longest in the wing. Tail square at the end or slightly forked.

THE prominent angle at the symphisis of the under man-
dible ; the extent of the palmated membrane between the
toes, and the almost square tail observed, more or less, in
some of the Terns indicate a degree of connection with the
Gulls; and the Gull here first inserted, by its slightly-forked

429 LARID.

tail, exhibits one point of resemblance to the greater number
of the Terns. Like the Terns, too, some of the smaller Gulls
assume during the breeding-season a dark-coloured head.

The species of the genus Larus, or the Gulls, are nu-
merous, and most of them have a wide geographical range.
They frequent the ocean, many of them living on the coast,
but occasionally visiting inland lakes, rivers, and marshes.
They are voracious feeders, living on fish alive or dead, and
seldom refuse any animal matter that is cast ashore by the
tidal waves. The young differ from the adult birds in
plumage, and are not allowed to associate with them at the
nesting-place, whether it be rock or marsh, during the breed-
ing-season. ‘The adult birds undergo a partial change of
colour in spring, besides the regular general moult in autumn.
The sexes do not differ in plumage; but the males are larger
than the females, and this difference is so considerable in the
Gulls of large size as in some instances to have led to the
supposition of new, or distinct species.

We are indebted to Wm. Thompson, Esq. of Belfast, for
the first notice of Sabine’s Gull as an addition to the British
Fauna, and also for a description of the plumage of the young
bird in its first autumn dress, which had not previously come
under the inspection of the ornithologist. The first specimen
was shot in Belfast Bay, in September, 1822, and was pre-
sented to the Natural History Society of Belfast, for the
museum, in 1833. In the Museum of the Royal Dublin
Society, Mr. Thompson has also pointed out a second ex-
ample of this Gull, which is also in the plumage of the first
autumn. This bird was shot in Dublin Bay by Mr. Wall,
the curator. In October, 1857, H. H. Dombrain, Esq., of
Dublin, wrote me word that he had obtained a third example
of this Gull, which was also a young bird of the year. Since
then I have notes of one killed at Milford Haven, in the
autumn of 1859, and another shot in Cambridgeshire was

SABINE’S GULL. 4.23

shown to me by Dr. Fitch. This last bird is now in the
collection of J. T. Martin, Esq. of Quy Hall. M. Tem-
minck, in the 4th Part of his Manual, notices three instances
of the occurrence of this species known to him; one, a young
bird, killed on the coast of Holland ; a second, killed on the
Rhine; and a third near Rouen. M. Temminck has also
noticed that there is one example of this bird in the mu-
seum at Vienna.

This species of Gull was first described in the 12th volume
of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, page 520, by the
late Joseph Sabine, Esq. from specimens sent by his brother,
Captain Edward Sabine, of the Royal Artillery, who accom-
panied the expedition of 1818 in search of a North-West
Passage. The account of these birds was that ‘‘ they were
met with by Captain Sabine, and killed by him on the 25th
of July, 1818, on a group of three rocky islands, each about
a mile across, on the west coast of Greenland, twenty miles
distant from the mainland in latitude 75° 29’ N., and longi-
tude 60° 9’ W. They were associated in considerable num-
bers with Arctic Terns, breeding on those islands, the nests
of both birds being intermingled. This Gull lays two eggs
on the bare ground; these are hatched the last week in July ;
the young are mottled at first with brown and dull yellow.
The eggs are an inch and a half in length, and of regular
shape, not much pointed; the colour is olive, blotched with
brown. The parent birds flew with impetuosity towards per-
sons approaching their nests and young; and when one bird
of a pair was killed, its mate, though frequently fired at con-
tinued on wing close to the spot where it lay. They get
their food on the sea-beach, standing near the water’s edge
and picking up the marine insects which are cast on shore.”

During the second Arctic voyage one bird of this species
was seen in Prince Regent’s Inlet ; afterwards many speci-
mens were obtained on Melville Peninsula. It has been

424 LARIDE.

found also at Spitzbergen, Igloolik, Behring’s Straits, Cape
Garry, and Felix Harbour. Some Esquimaux also told Cap-
tain James C. Ross that it breeds in great numbers on the
low land west of Neityelle.

Mr. Audubon mentions that he saw one flying over the
harbour of Halifax in Nova Scotia, and that they had been
seen in abundance on one occasion about one hundred miles
off Newfoundland.

The following is Mr. Sabine’s full description of the adult
bird in its summer-plumage :—The bill one inch long, the
base of both mandibles black, as far as the angular projection
of the lower mandible, the remainder yellow; the inside of
the mouth bright vermilion. The irides dark, surrounded by
a naked circle of the same colour as the inside of the mouth ;
a small white speck beneath the eye scarcely perceptible.
The whole of the head and upper part of the neck a very
dark ash, or lead colour; the remainder of the neck behind
and before, as well as the breast and belly, pure white; a
narrow black collar surrounds the neck at the meeting of the
ash-colour and of the white. The back, scapulars, and wing-
coverts are ash-coloured, very much lighter than the head, but
darker than the corresponding parts of the Larus ridibundus ;
the lower ends of the scapulars are tipped with white. The
first five primary quill-feathers with black shafts, the whole
outer webs of these black, the edge of their upper webs white
to within an inch and a half of the tips, the white sometimes
continued to the tip; the tips of the first and second of these
quill-feathers in some white, in others black ; the tips of the
third, fourth, and fifth white, giving the wing when closed a
spotted appearance; the sixth primary quill-feather with a
white shaft, having the web more or less black, but princi-
pally white, with sometimes a black spot near the end; the
other primaries, the secondaries, and the tertials, white; the
whole under parts of the wings white. ‘The wings extend an

SABINE’S GULL. 4.25

inch or more beyond the longest feather of the tail. The
legs, feet, and claws black; the thigh feathered to within
three-eighths of an inch of the knee: the tail with its upper
and under coverts white ; the tail-feathers twelve, the outer
narrower than the centre ones; the outer tail-feathers about
one inch longer than those in the middle. It is probable
that in its immature and winter state it resembles other black-
headed Gulls, in being divested of the dark colour of its
head. The whole length thirteen inches; wing, from the
wrist ten inches and three-quarters.

Mr. Thompson’s description of the autumnal plumage of
the young bird of the first year, is, ‘‘ the forehead, space im-
mediately above the eye, and between it and the bill, (with
the exception of the narrow line of greyish-black closely en-
circling the front and lower part of the eye,) upper part of
the throat, and sides of the neck, are white; crown, nape,
and back of the neck, blackish-grey ; back, scapulars, greater
and lesser wing-coverts, blackish-grey, tinged with yellowish-
brown, the extremity of every feather varying from greyish-
white to white, as it approaches the tail; under part of the
throat, and upper part of the breast, pale ash-colour ; lower
breast, and all the under plumage, white; shafts of the first
six primaries brownish-black at base, becoming gradually
darker towards the extremity, where they are black in the
first three, but in the fourth, fifth, and sixth assimilate in
colour to the feather at that part, which is white; the entire
of the outer webs of the first five black ; the inner webs with
a broad edging of white, to within from one to two inches of
the end, which part is black in the first three, but tipped with
white in the fourth and fifth ; in the sixth the inner web is
white, the outer black, excepting for three or four lines from
the tip, where it is white, and again at about an inch from
the end where a white spot of an oval form appears. I'ea-
thers of the tail white, with black tips.”

4.26 LARID®.

NATATORES. LARIDZ.

THE LITTLE GULL.

Larus minutus, Little Gull, Monr. Supp. Ornith. Dict.
” 92 a Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. 11. p. 246.
” PY 3 re Frem. Brit. An. p. 142.
9 on oF or Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 484.
’9 9 dp 5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 271.
Chroicocephalus ,, ye +f Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 61.
Xema a MF = Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xi.

Larus », Mouette pygmée, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 787.

Turis interesting Little Gull, the smallest I believe of its
genus, was first described and figured as a British bird by
Colonel Montagu, in the Appendix to the Supplement of his
Ornithological Dictionary, from a young bird in the plumage
of the first year that was shot on the Thames near Chelsea,

LITTLE GULL. 427

and then in the possession of Mr. Plasted of that place, at
the sale of whose collection it passed into the possession of
Mr. Leadbeater. Mr. Bullock’s celebrated collection con-
tained two specimens in 1819 which were then considered
very rare. Since that time various specimens have occurred
in different states of plumage. Mr. Selby has noticed one
killed in the Frith of Clyde. Dr. Neill obtained a specimen
from the Solway, in the autumn of 1824, which was presented
by him to the Edinburgh Museum. An adult bird, in sum-
mer-plumage, when it has a fine black head, was shot in Ire-
land, on the river Shannon, as recorded by Wm. Thompson,
Esq.; the only specimen obtained in the British Islands in
that state of plumage that I am aware of. This species has
also been killed on the shores of Cornwall and Devonshire,
but occurs more frequently on the eastern coast. I have re-
ferred to one killed on the Thames. Dr. Waring gave Mr.
Leadbeater a beautiful adult specimen in winter-plumage that
was shot at the mouth of a small river in Essex. The late
Mr. Hoy obtained one on the Suffolk coast in 1832; and
Mr. Fuller, of Lowestoff, obtained a specimen in that vicinity.
It has been met with at Yarmouth in Norfolk. Mr. Hawk-
ridge, of Scarborough, shot a young bird there in Nevember,
1836, and obligingly allowed me the use of it for this work ;
the figure and description of the young bird of the year here
given, were taken from that specimen. Mr. A. Hancock, of
Newcastle, has noticed one killed in September, 1835, at the
mouth of the Tyne, and it has also been taken in Scotland.
Professor Nilsson says this species is a summer-visiter to
the marshes in the vicinity of the Baltic and Gottland, where
it breeds, but he has never seen the eggs; it is also said to
visit Russia and Siberia. It is included by the ornithologists
of Germany among the birds of that country. M. 'Temminck
says he has killed two, and examined several others in Hol-
land. Professor Necker and Dr. Schinz have recorded four
or five instances of this species having been taken about dif-

428 LARID®.

ferent lakes in Switzerland. It has been observed at Genoa ;
M. Savi includes it in his Birds of Italy, and it is seen on
the Adriatic and the Mediterranean every season. It is said
to be found about the Caspian sea in winter.

It feeds on insects and worms, according to M. 'Temminck,
but very little of its habits are known. On more than one oc-
casion when shot in this country it was associated with Terns.

The figure of this bird in its summer-plumage at the head
of this subject, was taken from a specimen given me by Mr.
Gould. In this specimen the bill is reddish-brown ; the
irides very dark brown; the whole of the head and the upper
part of the neck all round is black; the neck below white ;
the back, wing-coverts, and wings, uniform pale ash-grey, the
outer primaries darker grey, with white at the end and on the
inner margin of the web ; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers
white, the tail in form square at the end; all the under sur-
face of the body and under tail-coverts white; legs, toes,
and membranes vermilion.

An adult bird in winter has the bill almost black ; irides
dark brown ; forehead and upper part of neck in front, and on
the sides pure white ; occiput and nape of the neck streaked
with greyish-black on a white ground; a dusky spot under the
eye, and an elongated patch of dusky black falling downwards
from the ear-coverts ; all the other parts as in summer.

The young bird of the year killed in the middle of No-
vember, had the bill black, irides very dark brown ; forehead
and lore white; top of the head, occiput, and ear-coverts,
greyish-black ; nape of the neck white, forming a collar by
uniting with the white of the front ; below the nape a broader
black band extending towards, but not reaching, the wings ;
back, scapulars, and tertials pale pearl-grey, with a few black
feathers appearing through; wing-primaries and secondaries
greyish-black, tipped with white, nearly the whole of the
inner webs white; greater wing-coverts pearl-grey ; smaller
coyerts black, edged with grey; upper tail-coverts white ;

LITTLE GULL. 4.29

upper surface of tail-feathers white, with a broad terminal
band of black, which is broadest on the middle feathers, the
outer tail-feather on each side wholly white; all the under
surface of the body and wings, under tail-coverts, and each
outside tail-feather white, the other tail-feathers white with a
narrower margin of greyish-black ; legs, toes, and interdigital
membranes in this. preserved specimen pale yellow-brown.
Whole length ten inches and one-eighth ; wing from the
wrist eight inches and three-quarters.

I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. W. Alderson,
of Ashton, near Sheffield, for the use of a clever drawing,
from which the vignette below was taken. A Heron was
seen one evening going to a piece of water to feed; the spot
was visited the next morning, when it was discovered, that
the Heron had struck its sharp beak through the head of an
eel, piercing both eyes; the eel thus held had coiled itself so
tightly round the neck of the Heron as to stop the bird’s
respiration, and both were dead.

430 LARIDA,

NATATORES. LARID.

THE MASKED GULL.

Larus capistratus, Masked Gull, Frem. Brit. An. p. 142.

as e Brown-headed Gull, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 272.
Chroicocephalus, ,, ‘5 ss », Eyvon, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 63.
Larus 5, Mouette 4 masque brun, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 783.

Tuts species, first distinguished and separated from Larus
ridibundus by M. 'Temminck, appears to be very rare, since
even now, when so much attention is devoted to ornithology,
but very few specimens are known. ‘The first notice of it as
a British Bird that I am acquainted with in print, occurs in
the sale catalogue of Mr. Bullock’s collection, published in
April, 1819. On the fifth day, a day devoted to the sale
of British Water-Birds, the sixty-third lot, page 32, is
‘¢ Brown-headed Gull, L. erythropus, male and female,
young and eggs ; taken at Westra, in the Orkneys” ; and
was bought by Dr. Leach. From these examples, M. 'Tem-
minck, who was in London at that time, to attend the sale of

Q

MASKED GULL. 451

so important a collection, probably became aware that this
species was found in Orkney, and included that locality
among others for this species, in the second edition of his
Manual, published in 1820. In 1831 Mr. William Lord
presented to the Zoological Society about thirty skins of
birds collected during the previous summer in Shetland ;
among them was one specimen of the Masked Gull, or
Brown-headed Gull, as it was also called, the Larus capis-
tratus of 'Temminck, of which I published a description with
measurements in the Society's Proceedings for that year,
page 151. In March, 1833, Wm. Thompson, Esq. ex-
hibited at one of the evening meetings of the Zoological
Society a specimen of the Larus capistratus of 'Temminck
that was shot in the neighbourhood of Belfast. In 1833,
in a notice of birds found near Carlisle, published by T.
C. Heysham, Esq., is the following record: ‘* The Lesser
Brown-headed Gull, Larus capistratus. An immature fe-
male of this rare Gull was accidentally procured near Sands-
field on the 6th of June. It was found associating with
several of the Black-headed species, Larus ridibundus, but
remained after all its congeners had taken wing, was shot
at, and fortunately killed. From an inspection of this bird,
we are satisfied that this species may be very easily over-
looked, and that many ornithologists would consider it mere-
ly a small specimen of the Black-headed Gull. We have
deemed it advisable, therefore, to give its weight and di-
mensions. Weight eight ounces and a quarter; length
fourteen inches and a half; extent of the wings thirty-six
inches; bill to the front one inch and one tenth; bill to the
gape, or rictus, one inch and eight-tenths ; tarsi one inch and
six-tenths; middle toe and claw one inch and five-tenths.”
T. C. Eyton, Esq. in his catalogue of the birds of Shropshire
and North Wales, mentions that one specimen had been

killed near Bangor, and was in his own collection.

452 LARIDE.

M. Temminck says this species has been taken in Baffin’s
Bay and Davis’ Straits. Professor Calvi of Genoa notices
two taken there, one in the year 1826, the other in 1827.
M. Temminck mentions that the eggs of this species, which
he had seen, were smaller than those of Larus ridibundus, of
an ash-green colour, with darker spots, and mentions also
that M.de Selys Longchamps had sent him word that he had
seen one example of this bird in the collection of the Mar-
quis Durazzo, which had been killed in Liguria. M. Savi
includes this species in his Birds of Italy.

This Gull is best distinguished from the species next to be
described by its smaller size, its shorter and more slender
bill, its shorter legs, and smaller feet ; and in its summer-
plumage by the hair-brown feathers about the head forming a
mask and not a hood.

The particulars of the bird in summer-plumage from Shet-
land, are as follows. The bill brownish-red; the head and
upper part of the neck on the sides and front hair-brown,
bounded by blackish-brown ; no dark colour on the occiput,
but descending low on the fore part of the neck, where some
of the dark feathers were tipped with white; the remaining
portion of the neck, the breast, abdomen, vent, and tail pure
white; upper surface of the wings pale ash-grey, under sur-
face greyish-white ; primaries white, edged and tipped with
black, broadest on the inner web, the shafts white; legs and
toes brownish red.

In winter this bird, like all the Gulls which have dark-
coloured heads in summer, have the head white, with a few
dusky grey lines on the crown, a small patch of dusky black
under the eye, and another upon or under the ear-coverts.
The rest of the plumage as in summer, except that the black
colour on the wing primaries is more intense from the recent

renewal of the feathers at the autumn moult.

BLACK-HEADED GULL. 433

NATATORES, LARID#.

THE BLACK-HEADED GULL.

Larus ridibundus, Black-headed Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. pp. 189,
191, and 192.

Monr. Ornith. Dict.

” ” Bt) ” ”

», erythropus, Brown _,, “ aA Ae 5

», ridibundus, Black ,, Pa Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. 1. p. 242.
», cinerarius, Red-legged % fF a 50 ig ede

ridibundus, Black-headed ,, Fiem. Brit. An. p. 141.
Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 486.

9? ? ?? ” ?

” ” ” op Ap Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 272.
Xema 55 Laughing AG Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. x1.
IETS ep Mouette rieuse, Tem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. il. p. 780.

Tue Buack-Heapep Gutu is abundant on various parts
of our coast, particularly those that are flat and marshy. In
such situations it is very common, and while wearing its dark

VOL. III. QF

434 LARIDE.

brown hood in summer is easily recognised and well-known.
It frequents all parts of the coast during winter, but being
decidedly a marsh breeder, assembles in great numbers early
in spring, year after year, constantly, at various favourable
localities for the purpose of incubation. These birds are
abundant at the mouth of the Thames, both in Kent and in
Essex, but the most so in the latter county, breeding by
hundreds on some of the low flat islands on the coast, and in
the marshes of the interior.

A breeding station in Norfolk, at a place called Scoulton
Mere, where Sir Thomas Browne says this species bred con-
stantly in his time, three hundred years ago, is thus described
by the authors of the catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds.
‘* Near the centre of the county of Norfolk, at the distance
of about twenty-five miles from the sea, and two from Hing-
ham, is a large piece of water called Scoulton Mere. In the
middle of this mere there is a boggy island of seventy acres
extent, covered with reeds, and on which there are some
birch and willow trees. There is no river communicating
between the mere and the sea. This mere has from time
immemorial been a favourite breeding-spot of the Brown-
headed Gull. ‘These birds begin to make their appearance
at Scoulton about the middle of February; and by the end
of the first week in March the great body of them have
always arrived. ‘They spread themselves over the neighbour-
ing country to the distance of several miles in search of food,
following the plough as regularly as Rooks; and, from the
great quantity of worms and grubs which they devour, they
render essential service to the farmer. If the spring is mild,
the Gulls begin to lay about the middle of April; but the
month of May is the time at which the eggs are found in the
greatest abundance. At this season a man and three boys
find constant employment in collecting them, and they have

sometimes gathered upwards of a thousand in a day. These

BLACK-HEADED GULL. 435

egos are sold on the spot at the rate of fourpence a score,
and are regularly sent in considerable quantities to the mar-
kets at Norwich and Lynn. They are eaten cold, like Lap-
wings’ eggs, and also used for culinary purposes; but they
are rather of an inferior quality, and somewhat like ducks’
eggs in flavour. ‘The person who sells these eggs gives
fifteen pounds a year for the privilege of collecting them.
This species of Gull never lays more than three eggs the first
time ; but, if these are taken, it will lay again. We found
many of the old birds sitting in the middle of June; most of
these had only one egg in the nest, but a few of them had
two. Their nests are made of the tops of reeds and sedge,
and are very flat at the surface. The eggs vary so much in
size, shape, and colour, that a person not well acquainted
with them would suppose some of them to belong to a dif-
ferent species of bird. Some are thickly covered with dusky
spots, and others are of a light blue colour without any spots
at all. The young birds leave the nest as soon as hatched,
and take to the water. When they can fly well the old ones
depart with them, and disperse themselves on the sea coast,
where they are found during the autumn and winter. By
the middle of July they all leave Scoulton, and are not seen
there again till the following spring. We were a little sur-
prised at seeing some of these Gulls alight and sit upon some
low bushy willows which grow on the island. No other than
the Brown-headed Gull breeds at this mere; a few of them
also breed in many of the marshes contiguous to the sea-
coast of Norfolk.”

Charles Anderson, Esq., sent me notice of another breed-
ing-place in Lincolnshire, frequented annually by many hun-
dreds of this species. ‘This is at 'wigmoor, near Brigg—an
estate belonging to Sir John Nelthorpe, of Scawby. It con-
sists chiefly of warren ground, partly covered with heather,
dwarf shrubs, and birch trees. In the centre of this is a

ZEB

4.36 LARID®.

piece of water of about eighteen acres, the sides of which are
green swamps, so spungy, that it is impossible to walk upon
them. In these swamps the Black-headed Gulls breed in
great quantities, assembling in April, laying their eggs among
the rushes in May, and hatching in June. The young, till
they are able to fly, creep about among the reeds, or launch
out into the open water in fleets if a dog is sent into the
swamp to disturb them ; the old birds screaming, and almost
darting in the face of any one who approaches and dwells
upon the haunts of their young. There are also one or two
other breeding-places on an adjoining estate at Manton. As
soon as the young can fly they are seen scattered about the
neighbourhood, feeding in moist meadows, but soon leave the
place and return no more till the following spring.

In Northumberland, Mr. Selby says, these Gulls have for
many years past enlivened the precincts of a large pond at
Pallinsburn, the seat of A. Askew, Esq. from whence flocks
(in consequence of the increase produced by the protection
afforded during the breeding-season) have at different times
detached themselves to such other situations in the neigh-
bourhood as possessed suitable facilities for reproduction.
The note of this Gull is a hoarse cackle, which, from its
effect when quickly repeated, has been compared to a laugh,
and has given rise to one of its specific appellations. Its
flight is easy and buoyant. Its food, small fishes, insects,
and worms. The Rey. Richard Lubbock, who sent me some
particulars of this species from Norfolk, mentions that he saw
several of these birds in June, 1841, dashing round some
lofty elms catching cockchafers. The eggs are yellowish-
olive-brown, spotted with two shades of darker brown; the
length two inches one line and a half, by one inch and
six lines in breadth. When their nests are robbed the
birds are induced to lay two or three times, and Mr. Hewit-
son mentions that the eggs produced at these second and

BLACK-HEADED GULL. 437

third layings are sometimes one third less than the natural
size.

Mr. Thompson says this species is a constant resident in
Ireland. Mr. J. Macgillivray noticed that it was abundant
in summer on the marshes of some of the islands of the outer
Hebrides. It was observed to be plentiful on some of the
reedy lochs of Sutherlandshire; and a few breed on the
boggy parts of some of the islands of Orkney and Shetland ;
but Dr. Fleming mentions that these birds leave Scotland in
winter. ‘This species breeds in Sweden, in Russia, and in
Siberia. It is included by several naturalists among the
birds of Germany. M. 'Temminck says it is abundant in
Holland at all seasons. It is common on the French coast
in winter, and a few of them breed near the lakes and rivers
of the interior. It visits Switzerland in summer; is not un-
common at Genoa; is included by M. Savi in his Birds of
Italy ; and the Zoological Society have received specimens
sent by Keith Abbott, Esq. from Erzeroom.

The adult bird in summer has the beak vermilion red ;
irides hazel; eyelids orange ; the head, occiput, and upper
part of the neck all round dark brown, the colour being most
intense when first assumed, and becoming lighter by time
and wear; sides and back of the neck pure white ; back,
wing-coverts, secondaries, and tertials, uniform French grey ;
the first three quill-primaries white on the shafts and webs,
but margined with black; the fourth white on the outer
web, grey on the inner web, and edged with black ; the fifth
and sixth grey on both webs, the edge of the inner or broader
web and the point black ; tail-coverts and tail-feathers white;
front of the neck, the breast, and all the under surface of the
body and tail pure white; legs and feet like the beak, ver-
milion red.

The whole length sixteen inches; from the front of the
wing to the end of the first quill-feather, which is the longest,

438 LARID&.

twelve inches. Bewick’s figure of the Black-headed Gull
represents a bird in this state of plumage; the lower figure
in the illustration here given is from an adult male bird, one
year old, killed at the nest in the breeding-season, but still
exhibiting some slight traces of immature colours in the few
brown feathers on the anterior part of the wing, and in the
narrow black tips to the tail-feathers.

The assumption of the dark colour on the head in the
spring is very rapid. A Gull in the collection at the Gar-
dens of the Zoological Society, began, some years since, to
change colour on the head, from white to dark brown, on the
11th of March ; it was a change of colour, and not an act of
moulting, no feather was shed, and the change was completed
in five days. Another bird, some seasons afterwards, had
not completed the dark colour till the beginning of May, but
the time required for the change was not noted.

The upper figure in the illustration here given is from a
young bird of the year killed in August ; at which period the
head is marked with greyish-brown, on a ground of white ;
the back, scapulars, smaller wing-coverts, and the tertials
mottled with brown ; greater coverts and secondaries French
grey; primaries as in the adult bird; tail-feathers white,
with a broad bar of black at the end; beak, legs, and feet
yellowish-brown.

Bewick’s figure of the Red-legged Gull is from a bird in
the plumage of its first winter, as indicated by the markings
on the anterior part of the wing, and the narrow black bar at
the end of the tail. In the truly adult bird in winter the
head is but slightly marked with a dusky patch at the ear-
coverts; the back and wings uniform French grey; the
wing-primaries as already described ; _ tail-coverts and _tail-
feathers pure white ; neck, breast, and all the under surface
of the body, also pure white; bill, legs, and feet red.

LAUGHING GULL. 439

NATATORES. LARIDA.

THE LAUGHING GULL.

Larus atricilla, Laughing Gull, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. il. p. 193.

”
”

”

Xemu
Larus

”?

”

a”

» 3 Monr. Ornith. Dict.
“5 _ Friem. Brit. An. p. 142.
5h a Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 273.

Black-winged ,, Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxii.

Mouette @ capuchon plombé, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 779.
and vol, iv. p. 483.

Tuis species, called the Laughing Gull by Catesby in his

natural history of Carolina, was made known as a visiter to

the British shores by Colonel Montagu, who, in his Ornitho-

logical Dictionary, says, ‘“‘In the month of August, 1774,

we saw five of them together feeding in a pool in the Shing-

ley Flats near Winchelsea; two only were black on the
head, the others were mottled all over with brown. One of

them was shot; but, although the remaining four continued

44.0 LARID&.

to resort to the same place for some time, the old ones were
too shy to be procured. We also saw two others near
Hastings in Sussex. They may be easily known from the
Black-headed Gull even when flying; the flight is different ;
the bird appears much larger, and the tail shorter in pro-
portion.” No other examples, taken in this country, have
been recorded, that Iam aware of ; but Mr. Gould mentions
that the preservation of Montagu’s specimen in the British
Museum has afforded him the means of determining that it
is identical with the American bird.

The following account of the habits of this Gull in the
United States, is derived from the Ornithological Biography
of Mr. Audubon :—

‘¢ This species breeds, according to the latitude, from the
Ist of March to the middle of June; and I have thought
that on the Tortuga Keys, it produced two broods each sea-
son. In New Jersey, and farther to the eastward, the nest
resembles that of the Ring-billed Gull, or Common Ame-
rican Guil, Larus zonorhynchus, being formed of dried sea-
weeds, and land plants, two, and sometimes three, inches high,
with a regular rounded cavity, from four and a half to five
inches in diameter, and an inch and a half in depth. This
cavity is formed of finer grasses, placed in a pretty regular
circular form. I once found a nest formed as it were of
two; that is to say, two pairs had formed a nest of nearly
double the ordinary size, and the two birds sat close to each
other during rainy weather, but separately, each on its own
three eggs. I observed that the males, as well as the fe-
males, thus concerned in this new sort of partnership, evinced
as much mutual fondness as if they were brothers. On the
Tortugas, where these Gulls also breed in abundance, I
found their eggs deposited in slight hollows scooped in the
sand. Whilst at Galveston, in Texas, I found their nests

somewhat less bulky than in the Jerseys, which proved to me

LAUGHING GULL. 441

how much birds are guided in these matters by differences in
atmospheric temperature and locality.

“Whilst at Great Egg Harbour, in May 1829, shortly
after my return from England, I found this species breeding
in great numbers on the margins of a vast salt marsh, border-
ing the sea shore, though separated from the Atlantic by a
long and narrow island. They constantly evinced a dislike
to rocky shores. About sunrise every morning, an immense
number of these birds would rise in the air, as if by common
consent, and wing their way across the land, probably intent
on reaching the lower shores of the Delaware River, or in-
deed farther towards the head waters of Chesapeake Bay.
They formed themselves into long, straggling lines, following
each other singly, at the distance of a few yards. About an
hour before sunset, the same birds were seen returning in an
extended front, now all silent, although in the morning their
cries were incessant, and lasted till they were out of sight.
On arriving at the breeding-ground, they immediately settled
upon their nests. On a few occasions, when it rained and
blew hard, the numbers that left the nests were compara-
tively few, and those, as I thought, mostly males. Instead
of travelling high, as they were wont to do in fair and calm
weather, they skimmed closely over the land, contending
with the wind with surprising pertinacity, and successfully
too. At such times they were also quite silent. I now and
then observed some of them whilst on wing, and at a con-
siderable height, suddenly check their course, as if to ex-
amine some object below; but on none of these occasions
did I see one attempt to alight, for it soon resumed its
wonted course, and rejoined its companions.

‘**]T never found more than three eggs in a nest. Their
average length is two inches and half an eighth, their greatest
breadth a trifle more than an inch and a half. They vary

somewhat in their general tint, but are usually of a light

442 LARIDE.

earthy olive, blotched and spotted with dull reddish-brown,
and some black, the markings rather more abundant towards
the larger end. As an article of food they are excellent.
These Gulls are extremely anxious about their eggs, as well
as their young, which are apt to wander away from the nest
while yet quite small. They are able to fly at the end of six
weeks, and soon after this are abandoned by their parents,
when the old and young birds keep apart in flocks until the
following spring, when, I think, the latter nearly attain the
plumage of their parents, though they are still smaller, and
have the terminal band on the tail.”

This species has been taken on the coast of Spain, in the
Straits of Gibraltar, at Genoa, on various islands of the
Mediterranean Sea, at Sicily, and in the Grecian Archipelago.
It feeds on insects, small fishes, and minute crustacea.

The bill is red; the irides very dark, almost black; head
and upper part of neck all round dark lead-grey ; lower part
of the neck pure white; back and wings greyish-blue, the
secondaries largely, and the primaries slightly, tipped with
white. Mr. Audubon mentions that the first primary is
black, with a tinge of grey on the inner web at the base;
the second and third similar, with the grey more extended ;
on the fourth the grey is spread over two-thirds ; the fifth is
black only for an inch and a half; and on the sixth the black
is reduced to two spots near the end; the other parts, and
the rest of the primaries, of the same colour as the back ;
rump, upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers white; neck in
front, breast, and under surface of the body white, tinged
with pale red; under tail-coverts and tail-feathers white ;
legs and feet red. ‘The whole length seventeen inches ; from
the point of the wing to the end of the first quill-feather,
which is the longest, twelve inches and three-quarters. Fe-
males are rather smaller than males, and have the head of
slate-grey, rather than lead-grey. The winter-plumage of

LAUGHING GULL. 443

this species was first described from a bird taken at Trieste,
in the winter of 1829. Forehead white, some small greyish
feathers around the beak ; four spots about the eye ; upper
part of the plumage silvery grey ; small wing coverts dusky
brown, the larger coverts tipped with white; first wing-
primary uniform brown ; the next five also brown, but each
with one white spot; from the sixth to the tenth the shafts
are brown, the webs white; outer tail-feather on each side
white, the others with a broad terminal band of brown ;
under surface of the body silvery white. A young bird in
the plumage of its first winter.

The vignette below was taken from a pen-and-ink sketch
sent me by Charles Anderson, Esq., to illustrate the de-
scription at the top of page 436.

4.44, LARIDA.

NATATORES. LARIDEA.

——
Oe

THE KITTIWAKE GULL.

Larus tridactylus, Kittiwake Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. 11, p. 186.

50 5 Tarrock es thee oe i ie 187 young.
»» rissa Kittiwake ,, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

» tridactylus, 3 53 Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 238.

Re = Re cf Bs Ae os », p- 240 young.
Ap RR as Be Fem. Brit. An. p. 141.

$e ee i Ars Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 493.

5, tridactylus, P Fe Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 274.

>» Tissit, aA fe Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.

tridactylus, Mouette tridactyle, Tumm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 774.

‘Tue early describers of this species seem not to have been
aware that the Gull named the Tarrock, Larus tridactylus,
was only the young state of that which had been previously

KITTIWAKE GULL. 445

called the Kittiwake, Larus rissa; but this is a point satis-
factorily ascertained now. The figure in our illustration with
the dark-coloured markings on the neck and wings, is taken
from a young bird of the year; the other figure is from an
adult bird killed at the Isle of Wight, early in the month of
June.

Colonel Montagu was certainly mistaken in considering
the Kittiwake a rare bird on our southern coast. This Gull
is decidedly a rock-breeder, and very common in the breeding
season on all the rocky parts of the coast of Hampshire, Dor-
setshire, Devonshire, and part of Cornwall. I have seen
hundreds in one day, in the first week in June, between the
Needle Rocks and Freshwater Gate in the Isle of Wight.
Mr. Thompson mentions that it is only a summer-visiter to
Ireland, and it is known to migrate in autumn from the
coasts of Durham, Northumberland, Seotland, from the
Scotch Islands, and from all the numerous places still further
north, to which it resorts for the breeding-season; but Dr.
Kdward Moore mentions having killed the young bird in
Devonshire in November. I am confident that I have seen
this species in winter in Dorsetshire and Hampshire; and
M. Vieillot says it is stationary on the coast of France.
That many go far south in winter the localities to be here-
after quoted will prove.

The young bird, while bearing on its plumage the dark-
coloured markings, has been called the Tarrock ; the adult
bird is the Kittiwake, and the name has reference to the cry
of this Gull, which, when disturbed at its breeding-station,
utters three notes in quick succession, which closely resemble
in sound the word in question. A writer in the Field Na-
turalists’ Magazine, in his Notes from the Isle of Wight,
volume il. page 74, mentions a very curious fact in reference
to a Gull, which I believe to have been a Kittiwake. He

says, ** In the next parish to this there is a Gull, either the

44.6 LARIDE.

Larus hybernus, or L. rissa, which was brought up there
about twenty-seven years ago. There is a small piece of
water which it used to frequent, but for many years it has
nearly forsaken this, and spends its time, either sitting upon
the rails of one or two cottages to which it confines its visits,
or flying at liberty around the country. Every spring, when
the breeding-season arrives, it leaves the parish, which is in-
land, and pairing with one of the wild birds, inhabits the
white cliffs on the coast,* whence it returns again alone when
the breeding-season is over. It is so tame at other times
with those whom it knows, that it will come into their
cottages and eat out of their hands, but will not allow itself
to be approached thus closely by strangers.”

The Kittiwake breeds high up on rocky cliffs, and is found
by the egg-collectors to select very narrow ledges. The
nests are formed of sea-weeds and are generally placed very
close together. Three eggs is the most usual number in
each nest: these are two inches two lines and a half in
length, by one inch and seven lines in breadth; of a stone
colour, tinged with olive, thickly spotted with ash-grey, and
two shades of light brown. The principal food of the Nitti-
wake is the small surface-swimming fry of fishes, and other
soft marine animals.

Besides breeding on many of the high ranges of cliffs along
the southern line of our shore, this bird breeds also on many
of the high rocky promontories on the eastern coast, such as
Flamborough Head, the lofty cliffs of Scarborough, some of
the Farn Islands, St. Abb’s Head, the Bass Rock, and some
parts of the coast of Aberdeen, as well as Orkney and

* The circumstance of this bird visiting the cliffs of the Isle of Wight to
breed, induces me to believe that it was a Kittiwake, which species breed there
every year in great numbers. Our Common Gull, to which Gmelin applied the
term Larus hybernus, breeds on low flat islands or marshes whenever it has the

power of choosing, and of such ground there is plenty on the Lymington and
Hurst Castle side of the Southampton Water.

KITTIWAKE GULL. 44.7

Shetland, but from these districts the birds move southwards
by the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. Professor
Nilsson says it breeds on many parts of the rocky coast of
Scandinavia. Faber includes it among the birds of Iceland ;
and Mr. Proctor observed that it was plentiful. It is known
to visit the Faroe islands, Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and
Greenland. Captain James C. Ross says ‘it inhabits all
parts of the Arctic Regions, and has been met with in the
highest latitudes yet attained by man. It is extremely
numerous during the summer season along the west coast of
Prince Regent’s Inlet; where, in several places that are
peculiarly well fitted for breeding-stations, they congregate
in inconceivable numbers. We killed enough to supply our
party with several excellent meals, and found them delicious
food, perfectly free from any unpleasant flavour.” Dr. Rich-
ardson found this bird common in various parts of North
America, and Mr. Audubon says it is plentiful on the shores
of the United States.

South of the coast of France, which has been before
quoted, this species is found at Genoa in winter. Dr.
Heineken included it in his catalogue of the Birds of Ma-
deira ; the Zoological Society have received specimens from
Tripoli; M. Savi includes it in his Ornithology of Italy,
and the Russian naturalists found it in the vicinity of the
Caspian Sea.

The adult bird in summer at the breeding-station has the
bill greenish-yellow, the mouth inside orange; the irides
dusky brown ; the head and the neck all round pure white ;
back and wings French grey, the secondaries and _tertials
tipped or edged with white; the outer margin of the first
primary quill-feather black, the next three tipped with black,
the fifth with a black patch near the end, but the extremity
white; tail-coverts and tail-feathers pure white ; chin, throat,

breast, and all the under surface of the body and tail pure

448 LARIDE.

white ; legs rather short, and dusky in colour, the toes and
interdigital membranes also; the hind toe only a small
tubercle without any projecting horny nail or claw, and on
this account the species was called tridactylus, three toed.

The whole length fifteen inches and a half; from the
anterior joint of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather twelve inches.

The adult bird in winter has the lower part of the neck
behind French grey, like the back ; the occiput, top of the
head and the region of the ear-coverts streaked with dusky
grey, the other parts as in summer.

Young birds of the year have the bill black; the irides
dusky, almost black; upper part of the head white; the
occiput and nape with a few dusky grey patches on a white
ground ; the lower part of the neck behind marked by nu-
merous blackish-grey feathers, forming transverse crescentic
bands ; back, scapulars, great wing-coverts, and secondaries
French grey ; point of the wing, and the series of smaller
wing-covyerts nearly black, forming a conspicuous dark stripe
down the wing when closed, and across it when expanded;
tertials French grey, with a spot of black near the end, the
inner broad web varied with white; tail-coverts and_tail-
feathers white, the latter black at the end, forming a con-
spicuous transverse bar; the middle tail-feathers having the
largest portion of black, the outer tail-feather on each side
the smallest; chin, neck, breast, and all the under surface of
the body pure white ; under tail-coverts white, tail-feathers
white at the base, ending in dark or lead-grey; legs, toes,

and membranes pale brown.

IVORY GULL. 44.9

NATATORES. LARIDE,

PREY IVORY GULL:

Larus eburneus, Tvory Gull, © Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. u. p. 234.
», candidus, The Snow-bird, Kiem. Brit. An. p. 142,
», eburneus, Ivory Gull, Sevny, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 497.
. oF 3 5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 276.
% An = 5 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.
oe 3 Mouette blanche, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 769.

Tue first example of this Ivory-white Gull obtained in
the British Islands, occurred at Balta Sound, Shetland, in
the winter of 1822, and the circumstance is recorded in the
fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society by
Lawrence Edmonston, Hsq., who presented the specimen to

VOL. III. Ze

450 LARIDE.

the Edinburgh Museum. Another example is noticed by
Mr. Selby as having been killed in the Frith of Clyde. The
late Joseph Sabine, Esq., early in the year 1834, sent notice
to Captain James C. Ross, that this beautiful Gull had then
but recently visited the western shores of Ireland ; and Mr.
Wm. Thompson, in his Report to the British Association
on the Fauna of Ireland, says, ‘‘ I have had a note com-
municated by the late Thomas IF’. Neligan, Esq., of Tralee,
who was well versed in British Birds, that in January, 1835,
he saw a Gull in a field near that town, and four miles from
the sea, which he was satisfied was the Larus eburneus ; he
watched it for about twenty minutes, and was at first at-
tracted by the ivory tint of its plumage and its black legs.”

M. Temminck mentions in his Manual having himself
killed a bird of this species, which was entirely white, in
spring, on the coast of Holland. M. Vieillot says it has ap-
peared on the coast of France, though very rarely, and one
specimen was killed in winter, some years since, near Lau-
sanne, which has been recorded by M. Necker, and also by
Dr. Schintz. Professor Nilsson says, this rare Gull appears
occasionally in winter both in Sweden and in the northern
parts of Scandinavia. The Ivory Gull is best known in high
northern latitudes, and has been found in summer at Nova
Zembla and at Spitzbergen. In reference to some of the
habits of this species, Captain W. Scoresby, in his account
of the Arctic Regions, says, that this Gull, ‘‘ though so deli-
cate in its appearance, is almost as ravenous as the Fulmar
Petrel, and as little nice in its food. It is, however, more
cautious. It is a constant attendant on the flenzing opera-
tions of the whale-fishers, where it generally seizes its portion
on the wing. It rarely alights in the water, but often sits on
the ice, preferring the most elevated situations. Its voice is
a loud and disagreeable scream.”

Captain Sabine and Captain James C. Ross, represent this

IVORY GULL. 451

species as being common on the coast of Greenland, in Davis’
Straits, Baffin’s Bay, Port Bowen, and Hecla Cove. Dr.
Richardson mentions it as observed breeding in great num-
bers on the high perforated cliffs which form the extremity of
Cape Parry, in latitude 70°. Mr. Audubon, in his North-
American Ornithology, says it is found in winter on the
southern coast of Labrador and Newfoundland. This Gull
feeds on the flesh of whales, and almost any other decom-
posing animal matter. The egg is unknown to me.

The adult bird in summer has the bill greenish-grey at the
base and about the nostrils, the anterior portion yellow ; the
irides brown, eyelids red at the edge; the whole of the
plumage, including the wing and the tail-feathers, a pure and
delicate white ; the legs short and black.

M. Temminck, in the fourth part of his Manual, says,
that, when alive, the whole plumage of this bird exhibits a
rosy tint, which passes off soon after death.

The adult birds in winter are said to have a few greyish
streaks or lines about the head.

Captain Sabine describes a specimen killed during the first
week in June, at Greenland, apparently a bird of the pre-
ceding year, as having a few light brown feathers about the
bill, extending towards the eyes; a very small transverse
band of brown spots across the primary wing-coverts, thickest
at the point of the wing; the primary quill and the tail-
feathers slightly tipped with brown. <A bird still younger
than the last had the ends of the primary quill-feathers, and
of the tail-feathers, tipped with brown.

The whole length from sixteen to eighteen inches, de-
pending on age and sex; from the same cause the wing, from
the most anterior joint to the end of the longest quill-feather,

varies from twelve and a half to thirteen inches.

452 LARID&.

NATATORES. LARID#,

THE COMMON GULL.

Larus canus, The Common Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 184.

si an Winter Mew, - a is 3 185.*

He oh Common Gull, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

re > Winter 2 ” »

sa ‘5 Common ,, Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 236.
” ” ” 1 Fem. Brit. An. p. 140.

A $3 a 6 Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 490.
5H AS An ks Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 275.

” ” ” 6 Govtp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxi.

3 », Mouette a pieds bleus, Trem. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 771.

THe Common Gutu, as its name would imply, is pretty
generally diffused around the coast, though more plentiful in
some situations than in others, and varies a little in its habits
depending on the locality in which it is found. Both in
Kent and Essex, where those counties bound the estuary of

* Larus hyberneus, of Gmelin, and La Mouette d’hiver, of Buffon.

COMMON GULL. 453

the Thames, this Gull is to be seen throughout the year on
the sandy flats and bars, picking up as food any refuse
animal matter the tide may bring; occasionally taking its
flight to survey the line of the slack and shallow water near
the shore, hovering in its search to be certain of its object,
and picking up from the surface of the water small fishes, or
other floating substance, to satisfy its appetite. This bird
frequently, also, goes some miles inland to follow a plough in
search of insects and grubs. Here also, as well as on other
parts of the coast which are flat, the Common Gull breeds in
marshes, or on flat islands, while in other districts to be
hereafter named, it breeds on high rocks. They frequent-
ly follow the course of a river for many miles up from the
sea; Mr. Jesse notices one that was shot in winter on the
Mole, near Hampton Court. The Common Gull, in confine-
ment, will feed on pieces of bread; some kept by Colonel
Montagu would pick up grain when not supplied with fish or
worms, and one bird of this species, kept by John Hunter,
was brought by degrees to live entirely on corn. The sto-
mach of this bird was examined after death, and the mus-
cular parietes were found to be thickened. The preparation
is preserved in the Museum of the Royal College of Sur-
geons. A female in the possession of Dr. Thackeray, the
Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, which bird is still
living in the garden of the College, has, for several seasons
following, laid one or more eggs, two of which, by the kind-
ness of the Provost, are now in my own collection.

The Common Gull in a wild state, makes rather a large
nest, whether on marsh or rock, of sea-weeds and grass, and
lays two or three eggs of a dark olive-brown, spotted with
darker brown and black; the length two inches and a quarter,
by one inch and a half in breadth. The eggs produced by
Dr. Thackeray’s bird were perfectly similar both as to size
and colour.

454 LARIDE&.

Mr. Thompson says the Common Gull remains all the year
in Ireland; it is found also all round the south and east
coast, from Wales to Sussex, and from thence to Norfolk
and Lincolnshire. At St. Abb’s Head, a bold and rocky
headland of Berwickshire, these birds, Mr. Selby says, are
very numerous during the breeding-season, and occupy the
whole face of the cliff. In Sutherlandshire, the same species,
Mr. Selby observes, has several breeding-stations ; viz. upon
Loch Shin, Loch Laighal, and various smaller lochs. Mr. J.
Macgillivray noticed the Common Gull on several islets of
the Outer Hebrides; there it was found occasionally breed-
ing in the interior. In Orkney and Shetland, Mr. Dunn
says, I have found a few pairs incubating in company with the
Herring Gull, and occasionally a solitary pair breeding in the
cliffs without any associates ; they may be found occasionally
on the small islands in the lakes.

Professor Nilsson considers this bird one of the common
Gulls in Sweden ; it was seen in Norway by Mr. Hewitson,
who states that two thousand eggs were gathered for the use
of the inhabitants from one island only. Linneus, in his
tour in Lapland, mentions having seen hundreds of this Gull
in the corn-fields of Westbothland, and one also on the Lap-
land Alps. It is found at the Faroe Islands; and Mr.
Proctor observed that it was plentiful at Iceland. It is in-
cluded in a list of birds found by Naturalists at Nova Zembla,
and was observed by Dr. Richardson in Arctic America.

This species is common on the shores of Holland and
France ; it is found in Spain, at Genoa, and in Italy. The
Zoological Society have received specimens sent by Keith
Abbott, Esq. from Trebizond, and the Russian Naturalists
found it in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea.

In the adult bird in summer the bill is greenish-grey at the
base, towards the point yellow; irides dark brown, edges of
the eye-lids red ; the whole head and neck pure white; the

COMMON GULL. 455

back and all the wing-coverts pearl-grey, secondaries and ter-
tials the same, but broadly edged and tipped with white ;
primaries black on the outer web, with a small portion of
pearl-grey at the base of the inner web, the proportion of
grey increasing on each primary in succession, the first and
second primary with a patch of white on both webs near the
end, but the extreme tips of both are black, the third, fourth,
fifth, and sixth, have white tips, but the first set of primary
quill-feathers which the young bird carries for the first fifteen
months, have no white at the tips. Few birds moult their
first set of quill-feathers in their first autumn. Tail-coverts
and tail-feathers pure white ; chin, neck in front, breast, and
all the under surface of the body and tail pure white; legs
and feet dark greenish-ash. The whole length of an old male
eighteen inches and a half; of the wing from the peint four-
teen inches and a half. The length of an old female about
one inch less, and of the wing half an inch less.

In the winter the whole head and the sides of the neck are
streaked and spotted with dusky brown and ash-brown.

A young bird in its first autumn has the basal portion of
the bill yellowish-brown, the part anterior to the nostrils
nearly black ; irides dusky ; head, sides of the neck, the ear-
coverts and occiput dull white, mottled with greyish-brown ;
the back, wing-coverts, secondaries and tertials brownish-ash,
the feathers edged with paler brown ; a few bluish-grey fea-
thers on the centre and sides of the back; the primaries
nearly black, both as to the shafts and greater part of the
webs, al] but the first being tipped with brown ; upper tail-
coverts dull white; tail-feathers white, the outer half black,
except the outer feather on each side, which has the outer
web white ; chin and throat white ; neck in front, the breast,
and all the under surface of the body, mottled with light ash-
brown, on a ground of white ; legs and feet pale yellowish-

brown, the claws black.

456 LARIDA.

NATATORES. LARIDE.

THE ICELAND GULL,

oR LessER WHITE-WINGED GULL.

Larus Icelandicus, Iceland Gull, Firm. Brit. An. p. 139.
Serpsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 501.

” ” ” ”
hs * sa 5 Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 279.

», leucopterus, a +3 Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 59.

5, Icelandicus, ne 5 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xx.

5, glaucoides, Mouette leucoptere, Trmm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 468.
,, leucopterus, rr 0 a 35 56 p- 467.

Turis WuitTe-winaep GuLL, originally described by
Faber, in his Prodromus of the Ornithology of Iceland, under

ICELAND GULL. 4A5Y

the name of Larus leucopterus has occasionally been taken in
this country, and was at first confounded with the Glaucous
Gull, another rare species, having also white wings, and only
differing from it in being considerably larger. It happens
too that the various names which have been proposed for it,
not excepting that of leucopterus, White-winged, given by
Faber himself, are not wholly free from objection, since both
these Gull are glaucous in reference to colour, both are in-
habitants of Iceland, and both have the principal wing-feathers
white. The Iceland Gull bears the same proportion in size
to the Glaucous Gull, that the Lesser Black-backed Gull does
to the Great Black-backed Gull, and I have therefore added
an English name referring to size by which they may be dis-
tinguished. Dr. Richardson’s notice of this species in the
Fauna Boreali-Americana may be quoted in aid of this view.
** Larus leucopterus. Faber. During Captain Ross’s and Sir
Kdward Parry’s first voyages, many specimens of this Gull
were obtained in Davis’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay, and at Melville
Island. M.Temminck, to whom they were communicated,
considered it at first to be merely an Arctic variety of Larus
argentatus, the Herring Gull; and, in deference to his
authority, it was described as such by Captain Sabine. Both
he and other Ornithologists have, however, since that time,
published it as a distinct species under different appellations,
the one which we have selected having the priority. The
plumage of L. leucopterus differs little from that of L.
glaucus ; but the great superiority of the latter bird in size
is sufficient to distinguish the species.” Captain James C.
Ross says of this species, in his last Appendix, ‘*it was found
breeding on the face of the same precipice with the Glaucous,
but at a much less height, and in greater numbers. It is not
unfrequently met with at the Shetland Islands in the winter
season, and may therefore be added to our catalogue of
British Birds.” Mr. Audubon says it is not rare in winter

458 LARIDS.

from Nova Scotia to New York. I have not found any
description or figure of the egg.

Professor Nilsson includes this species in his Fauna of
Scandinavia, and it is found at the Faroe Islands.

The substance of Faber’s remarks on this species may be
thus given :—In size between Larus canus, the Common Gull,
and Larus argentatus, the Herring Gull. This is the only
Gull that passes the winter in Iceland without breeding there
in summer. It must, like Larus eburneus, the Ivory Gull,
breed in the higher northern regions, and come to Iceland in
winter as a bird of passage. I have travelled over most of
the coast of the island, but have never found its breeding-
place. There was no L. leucopterus on the rocks of Faxe
or Bredebugt towards the west, where L. glaucus breeds in
large colonies. A few days after the middle of September,
the first specimens, both old and young, make their appear-
ance on the coast of Iceland, confining themselves to the
northern parts among the small inlets of which great numbers
pass the winter. When I lived on the innermost of the
small fiords on the northern coast, these birds were our daily
guests. Towards the end of April their numbers decreased,
and by the end of May they had nearly all disappeared from
Iceland. These tame birds came on land by my winter
dwelling on the northern coast, to snap up the entrails thrown
away by the inhabitants, and fought fiercely for them with
the Raven. I had made one so tame that it came every
morning at a certain time to my door to obtain food, and
then flew away again. It gave me notice of its arrival by its
cry. This Gull indicated to the seal-shooters in the fiord
where they should look for the seals, by continually following
their track in the sea, and hovering in flocks, and with in-
cessant cries over them; and whilst the seals hunted the
sprat and the capeling towards the surface of the water, these

Gulls precipitated themselves down upon the fish and snapped

ICELAND GULL. 459

them up. In like manner they follow the track of the cod-
fish in the sea, to feed upon the booty hunted up by this fish
of prey. In the winter of 1820-21, which I passed at Dre-
batte, on the southern coast, there was not a single L. leu-
copterus to be seen; on the Ist of March, 1821, the shore
was almost free of sea-gulls; but as I stepped out of my
room early on the 2nd of March, the air was almost filled
with a species of Larus which had appeared suddenly. As I
approached and looked up at them, I soon recognised my
L. leucopterus, which had arrived in great numbers during
the night. The Icelanders concluded, from the sudden ap-
pearance of these Gulls, that shoals of codfish must have
arrived on the coast. They got ready their boats and nets,
and the fish had in truth arrived in such numbers that the
fishing for that season commenced immediately. Here, where
hitherto an ornithological quiet had reigned, everything now
became enlivened through the arrival of these birds, which,
without intermission, and with incessant cries, hovered over the
nets. If I wished to shoot this Gull I observed the time
when the fishing-boats landed, and this tame bird followed
the boats to shore in order to feed on the parts which were
thrown away by the fishermen. I heard afterwards that this
particular species of Gull had been very scarce during that
winter on the northern coast ; the Greenland ice had filled up
all the inlets there, and the birds were thus driven to the
southern shore, where I had again the opportunity of observ-
ing them. In this year, 1821, they remained on the southern
coast till the middle of May, when they entirely left it to
proceed northward to their breeding-places. This Gull was
my weather guide in winter. If it swam near the shore, and
there, as if anxious, moved along with its feathers puffed out,
then I knew that on the following day storms and snow were
to be expected. In fine weather it soared high in the air.
‘They often sit by hundreds on a piece of ice, and in that way

4.60 LARIDE.

are drifted many miles. Its manners differ from those of the
Glaucous Gull, which has the habits of the Great Black-
backed Gull, and moves with more energy. The nature of
the White-winged Gull more resembles that of the Herring
Gull; its deportment and flight are more graceful ; it hovers
over its prey, is somewhat greedy, always active, and is not
afraid to fight with equal, or superior, antagonists for its food.
My manuscript was finished before I knew that this Gull had
been mentioned by any author. Accidentally I had lent to
me Sabine’s Memoir of the Birds of Greenland, and found
therein, under the incorrect name of Larus argentatus, men-
tion of a Gull which bore a great resemblance to my Larus
leucopterus. Perhaps this bird when it leaves this island in
May goes to Hudson’s Bay in order to breed.

Besides three or more examples of this bird obtained in
Shetland by Lawrence Edmonston, Esq., to. whom we are
indebted for the first notice of this species as a winter visiter
to Britain, Professor Macgillivray has noticed one specimen
taken in Orkney, and now in the Edinburgh Museum. This
species has also been taken twice in Ireland; and Mr. Wm.
Thompson has recorded in the Magazine of Natural History,
vol. xi. p. 18, a notice of the habits of this species as observed
on the south-west coast of Scotland, which, as coinciding with
the remarks of Faber in Iceland, are interesting. The notice
is as follows :—** At the end of last year, 1836, three Gulls,
of the same kind, made their appearance on the shore where
the fishermen reside. Two of them were shot in the spring,
and the one sent you, in June. As they frequented the
fishing-boats, the men used to supply them with fish ; and in
a short time they became quite familiar ; took whatever was
thrown to them, but would not allow themselves to be caught.
They were never observed to go far from the place where
they were first seen. The person who gave me this informa-

tion, shot the two in the spring; and says, that every winter

ICELAND GULL. 461

one or more are seen on the coast. He cannot say where
they breed, but is sure there are none on the Craig at Ailsa.”
Mr. Thompson remarks that the month of June seems a late
period for the Iceland Gull to remain in such a comparatively
southern latitude ; and there can hardly be a doubt that it is
the same species which is seen about Ballantrae, in Ayrshire,
every winter, as the authority for the statement must evident-
ly know it well from its congeners, when he correctly states
that it breeds not on Ailsa Craig.

Mr. Selby mentions having obtained three or four speci-
mens on the coast of Northumberland, all immature birds.
An adult specimen has been taken in Yorkshire, and another
is in the collection of John Malcolm, Esq. A young bird
was obtained in the winter of 1838, in the London market,
by Mr. Bartlett. This specimen is now in the collection of
D. W. Mitchell, Esq., of Penzance, who very kindly allowed
me the use of the bird for the figure and description here
given.

The Iceland Gull sometimes makes its appearance in
winter at the mouth of the Elbe; it has also been taken in
Holland and in Belgium ; the latter circumstance I learn by
the publication of a most useful and interesting volume on
the vertebrate animals of Belgium, written by M. Edmund
de Selys-Longchamps, of Liege, and which has very recently
been received in this country.

In the adult Lesser White-winged Gull the bill is small
and yellow, the angle of the under mandible red ; the irides
straw yellow ; head and neck all round pure white ; back,
wings, and all the wing-coverts very pale ash-grey ; primary
quill-feathers wholly white ; upper tail-coverts and _tail-fea-
thers white; chin, throat, breast, and all the under surface of
the body and tail pure white; legs flesh-coloured.

The whole length twenty-two inches; the pointed ends
of the wings, when closed, reach two inches beyond the tail.

4.62 LARID.

From September to the beginning of April, while in their
winter-plumage, Faber says, they have grey spots on their
head and neck.

Mr. Mitchell’s young bird has the bill pale yellow at the
base, the anterior half horny black; the irides dark brown ;
head and neck dull white, clouded with pale ash-brown ; the
back the same colour ; secondaries, tertials, and all the wing-
coverts dull white, marked transversely with pale brown
angular streaks ; primaries white ; tail-coverts and tail-feathers
ereyish-white, the latter marked across with broadish lines of
pale brown, which are more numerous about the base than
towards the end; chin dull white; neck, breast, belly, and
all the under surface of the body, dull white, streaked trans-
versely with pale brown ; legs yellowish-brown.

The whole length of this specimen eighteen inches. From
the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather fifteen
inches and a half; the ends of the wings reaching two inches
beyond the tail.

Faber mentions, that the young bird before becoming
matured in colour measures twenty inches and three-quarters
in length ; that the spots on the plumage are lost by degrees,

and in the fourth summer they have the same colour as the
old birds.

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 463

NATATORES. LARID#A.

THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Larus Lesser Black-bucked Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 178.
» argentatus, ,, A ss fe Mont. Ornith. Dict.
» fuscus, elf s He - Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 227.
a ne Yellow-legged “a Frem. Brit. An. p. 140.
a PF Lesser Black-backed ,, Sevey, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 509.
a as Hn i < , Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 277.
ae 35 ah ah 3 =i Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.

- x Goeland a pieds jaunes, . Temm, Man.d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 767.

Tue Lesser Buack-BackeD Guu was first noticed as a
British bird breeding at Anglesey, by Pennant, though he

464 LARIDE.

had doubts whether it differed specifically from the Great
Black-backed Gull, notwithstanding it was so much smaller
in size. The names are here given on the line referring to
Pennant’s work, to obtain uniformity in appearance. Mon-
tagu afterwards supplied the true distinguishing characters,
but included a name and synonyms which belong to two
other species. The Great Black-backed Gull is on our south-
eastern coast a much more rare species than the Lesser Black-
backed Gull, and is in these same districts decidedly a marsh
breeder ; while the Lesser Black-backed Gull here as con-
stantly resorts to the rocks and cliffs, associating and breeding
in company with the Herring Gull, both being found almost
always inhabiting the same localities.

Small surface-swimming fishes, upon which these birds pre-
cipitate themselves from the air, and animal substances float-
ing,
food, but both old and young are seen occasionally to go

or brought to shore by the tide, form their most usual

inland from the coast, to search moist pastures, or recently-
ploughed fields, for worms, insects, and their grubs. <A bird
of this species, kept in confinement, is thus spoken of by the
owner. ‘* He has the full range of a large garden, his escape
being only prevented by having his wing cut; but he con-
stantly prefers the neighbourhood of a large network cage,
the residence of a pair of silver pheasants; not very congenial
companions, one would suppose, for a roamer of the ocean.
But such is the fondness of almost all animated beings for
society of some kind or other, that, when that of their own
species is out of reach, they will often attach themselves to
creatures of a very different character. Near his gallinaceous
friends our Gull always sleeps, seldom straying to any con-
siderable distance ; though he seems to enjoy, at times, using
his wings to the utmost of his ability ; half flying, half run-
ning, in all directions, apparently for mere amusement. He
is, however, very tame, and will, when hungry, follow any of

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 465

the family about the garden, uttering a peculiar cry, which
always means that he is quite ready for a meal. Indeed, he
has a most voracious appetite, and the capacity of his throat
is truly astonishing; he has repeatedly swallowed, quite
whole, with beak, claws, and feathers, various small birds
which had been shot and thrown to him. Mice, or other
small quadrupeds, appear equally to suit his taste; and,
though he has no objection to butcher’s meat, he seems rather
to prefer small animals, notwithstanding the hair, feathers,
&c., which sometimes give him not a little trouble to dispose
of satisfactorily. The way in which he remedies this diffi-
culty suggested itself the first time a bird was given him; I
believe it was a skylark. After some ineffectual efforts to
swallow it, he paused for a moment; and then, as if suddenly
recollecting himself, he ran off full speed to a pan of water,
shook the bird about in it until well soaked, and immediately
gulped it down without further trouble. Since that time, he
invariably has recourse to the same expedient in similar cases.”
Mr. Selby says, that a Gull of this species which he kept in
his garden from its youth, for the sake of witnessing the
changes in its plumage during its progress to maturity, which,
as in the other large species, occupy three years, made no
difficulty of swallowing whole young plovers of both kinds,
when fully half grown.

The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a constant resident in
Treland and Wales, on the coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset,
Hampshire, Sussex, Suffolk, and Norfolk. On the North-
umberland coast, Mr. Hewitson observes, that these birds
‘* appear to prefer those islands which are the most rocky, and
upon which there is the least herbage, and though they have
their choice, very few of them deposit their eggs upon the
grass, and yet they rarely lay them without making a tole-
rably thick nest for their reception; it is of grass, loosely
bundled together in large pieces, and placed in some slight

VOL. III. 24

466 LARIDE.

depression or hollow of the rock. Amongst upwards of one
hundred nests that I examined, one or two only had small
pieces of sea-weed mixed with the other materials. They lay
two or three eggs, varying in their shades of colour from a
dark olive-brown to a light drab, thickly spotted with ash-
grey, and two shades of brown; the length of the egg about
two inches ten lines, by one inch and eleven lines in breadth.
After they have begun to sit, they become very bold in the
defence of their eggs; whilst among them, I was amused
with one, near the nest of which I was sitting ; it retired to a
certain distance, to give it full force in its attack, and then
made a stoop at my head, coming within two or three yards
of me, this it continued to do, incessantly, till I left it. Mr.
Darling, the keeper of the light-house on the island, informs
me, that an old woman who was in the habit of gathering
their eggs, had her bonnet almost torn to pieces, it being
perforated throughout by their bills.” Mr. Selby observes
“‘that the young, upon exclusion, are covered with a parti-
coloured down of grey and brown ; but this is rapidly hidden
by the growth of the regular feathers, and in a month or five
weeks they are able to take wing.” The young birds of
former seasons, while yet immature in plumage and incapable
of breeding from want of sufficient age, are not permitted by
the adult and breeding birds to inhabit the breeding-stations
during their breeding-scason, but are driven away to other
localities. Mr. Selby mentions having found the eggs and
young of this species upon an island in Loch Awe, and in
Sutherlandshire many colonies were observed, one upon Loch
Shin, and another upon one of the islands of Loch Laighal.
It breeds also at the Hebrides, in Orkney, and in Shetland.
Professor Nilsson says it is common about the Baltic and on
the coast of Norway. It is found in Holland, France, and
Belgium ; in Dalmatia, and the isles of the Adriatic. M.
Savi includes it in his Birds of Italy. It is found also in

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. 467

Barbary, Syria, Egypt, and the Red Sea. The Zoological
Society have received this species also from Trebizond. M.
Temminck says, that specimens of this bird from the Cape of
Good Hope are larger, while those from the eastern countries
named are smaller, than the average size of the birds obtained
here at home.

The adult bird in summer has the bill yellow, the inferior
angle on the lower mandible red ; irides straw yellow ; head,
and the whole of the neck all round pure white ; back, wing-
coverts, and all the wing-feathers dark slate-grey, the tips
only of some of the longer scapulars and tertials being white,
and white tips to the shorter of the primaries; upper tail-
coverts and tail-feathers white; breast, belly, and all the
under surface of the body and tail pure white; legs and feet
yellow. ‘The whole length twenty-three inches; from the
anterior joint of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather sixteen inches.

In winter the head and neck are streaked with dusky
brown.

A young male at one year old has the base of the bill pale
brown, the rest horny black ; irides dark brown ; head, sides
and back of the neck white, streaked longitudinally with
dusky brown ; back, and all the wing-coverts and the tertials
ash-brown, the feathers margined with white, but the shaft of
each feather deep brown, forming a dark line down the
centre ; primaries and secondaries blackish-brown, without
any white at the tips; upper tail-coverts white, tail-feathers
blackish-brown, varied with some white; the central feathers
having the most dark colour, the outside ones the most
white; chin and neck in front white ; breast, belly, flanks,
and under tail-coverts white, mottled with dusky brown ;
legs and feet light brown.

PS)
iso)
aS)

468 LARID&.

NATATORES. LARIDE,

THE HERRING GULL.

Larus fuscus, Herring Gull, — Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 181.

5 AG “ Ap Mont. Ornith. Dict.

», argentatus, ,, o Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 229.
Fem. Brit. An. p. 140.

” 29 ” bb)
” a7 on i> Sersy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 11. p. 504.
” ” 2 oS Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 276.

” ” ” 9 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. il.

55 Goeland & manteau bleu, Temm. Man, d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 764.

”

Cotonet Monraeu, misled by others, misquoted and mis-
placed the systematic names of the Lesser Black-backed Gull
and the Herring Gull, the latter being the true Larus ar-
gentatus. On the southern parts of our coast this is a com-
mon species, remaining all the year, and breeding im the

HERRING GULL. 469

season at most of the localities frequented by the Lesser
Black-backed Gull. The Herring Gull is particularly nume-
rous at the Isle of Wight, from Freshwater Gate, to that
group of isolated rocks, some of which, from their conical and
pointed forms, are called the Needles; and these birds are
also found at many places where the cliffs are high along the
line of coast extending to the westward. These Gulls make
anest of grass on the ledges and other flat portions of the
cliff near the top, where they lay three eggs, which closely
resemble those of the Lesser Black-backed Gull. They are
of a light olive-brown, spotted with two shades of dark brown,
and measure two inches and a half in length, by one inch and
three-quarters in breadth.

This Gull, from its partiality to fish, distinguished by the
name of Herring Gull, feeds upon surface-swimming fish,
mollusca, and radiata. This species is particularly bold in
approaching the boats and nets of the fishermen; and in
Italy has acquired the name of Pescatore.

A pair of this species bred in captivity at Quy Hall, the
residence of J. T. Martin, Esq.; two eggs were laid, and
one young bird was reared.

The Herring Gull is common, and resident, on many of
the rocky parts of the coast of Ireland; it is found along the
line of the coast of Wales, in Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorset-
shire, and Hampshire. On the eastern coast it is observed
in Suffolk and Norfolk; but Mr. Selby mentions that it is
far less numerous on the Northumbrian coast than the Lesser
Black-backed Gull. Mr. J. Macgillivray says, the Herring
Gull is abundant on some of the islands of the Outer He-
brides, never breeding in the interior like the Common Gull,
but always on the coast. Mr. Hewitson notices the fine cliff
of Sumburgh Head, the southern termination of Shetland, as
a place where the Herring Gull breeds abundantly. Mr.
Dunn says, this species is very numerous both in Orkney and

470 LARIDE.

Shetland, is bold and clamorous, giving loud warnings when
danger approaches. It is found in Scandinavia, at the Faroe
Islands, in Iceland, and by our Arctic voyagers in Greenland
and Melville Island. Mr. Audubon mentions it as plentiful
in North America.

This species is observed all the year on the coasts of Hol-
land and France; both old and young are also observed at
Genoa in winter. Dr. Heineken includes it in his catalogue
of the Birds of Madeira; and M. Savi in his Birds of Italy.
Mr. G. H. Strickland mentions, that Herring Gulls frequent
the Golden Horn at Constantinople, where they are so tame
that they may be easily struck with an oar. This species has
also been found in Asia Minor, and on the southern shores
of the Black Sea.

The adult bird in summer has the bill yellow, the angle
of the under mandible red ; edges of the eyelids orange, the
irides straw yellow; head and neck all round pure white;
the back, and all the wing-coverts uniform delicate French
grey ; tertials tipped with white; primaries mostly black,
but grey on the basal portion of the inner web; the first
primary with a triangular patch of white at the end, the
second and third with smaller portions of white ; upper tail-
coverts and tail-feathers pure white; chin, throat, breast,
belly, and all the under surface of the body and tail pure
white ; legs and feet flesh-colour. The whole length from
twenty-two inches to twenty-four and a half, depending upon
age and sex; the wing from sixteen inches and a half to
seventeen and a quarter. In winter the adult birds have the
head streaked with dusky grey. Young birds resemble the
young of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but the legs and
feet are more livid in colour.

-
—_

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 4

NATATORES. LARIDE,

THE GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Larus marinus, Great Black-backed Gull, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. i. p. 172,

” ” > > ne 5, Monr. Ornith. Dict.

op 5p 56 AA 5 ,, Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 223.
» naevius, The Wagel ns ee -s 225, young.
»» marinus, Black-backed Gull, Firm. Brit. An. p. 140.

” » Great ,, 55 », SeExpy, Brit. Ornith, vol. i. p. 507.
” ” ” yy ap) », JeEnyns, Brit. Vert. p. 278.

” ” ” ” » ,, Goutn, Birds of Europe, pt. xii.

a », Goeland a manteau noir, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. 11. p. 760,

Tne Great Buackx-packep Gutt, though seen through-
cut the year on various parts of our coast, is not numerous as

472 LARIDA,

a species, and is most frequently observed to be solitary, or
in pairs only. Dr. Turner, who wrote on British ornithology
nearly three hundred years ago, calls this Gull a Cob, and
on the flat shores of Kent and Essex, at the mouth of the
Thames, where this bird remains all the year, it is still called
a Cob, which term, as mentioned in the history of our Mute
Swan, vol. ili. page 130, has reference to its large size.

About the estuary of the Thames, in the counties men-
tioned above, the Great Black-backed Gull is decidedly a
marsh breeder, both male and female assisting in the forma-
tion of their grassy nest, and driving all other birds, friends
or foes, from the vicinity of the chosen spot. ‘The female
lays three eggs of large size, measuring three inches two lines
in length, by two inches and four lines in breadth; the
general colour yellowish-brown, tinged with green, sparingly
spotted with slate-grey and dark brown. ‘The food of this
species is fish, and any animal matter; it will kill and eat
small birds, and has been known to destroy weak lambs ; it
is bold as well as strong, and, if wounded, will make a re-
solute defence against capture. Its flight is powerful, and
sustained without much apparent effort; it is also frequently
seen at the edge of the water, or, like other Gulls, swimming
buoyantly on its surface, supported by the mass of feathers
with which the body is invested.

The Great Black-backed Gull, according to Mr. 'Thomp-
son, is a resident species in Ireland; it is found in Wales,
being observed by Montagu in considerable abundance on
the extensive sandy flats of the coast of Caermarthenshire ;
breeds on the steep holmes, and Lundy island in the Bristol
Channel, and has been shot in winter as high up the Severn
as Worcester. It is found in Cornwall and in Devonshire.
The Rev. Robert Holdsworth sent me word that, from an egg
of this species, taken off the Bolt Headland by some of the
crew of the Vigilant, excise-cutter, and kept in a blanket

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. ATS

by day, and near the fire-place at night for about ten days,
a young gull was hatched and reared by the crew; and
for many years lived quite tame in the possession of a smith
at Dartmouth. It swam in the river every day, and looked
out for the fishermen returning from sea, who used to throw
small fish to it. Both banks of the Thames towards the
mouth are inhabited by this species, and the bird from which
the figure here inserted was taken, given me by my friend
Mr. Broderip, was shot at Putney during the frost which
occurred early in February, 1841. It is found in Suffolk
and Norfolk. Mr. Selby says it is occasionally killed on the
coasts of Durham and Northumberland; breeds on the Bass
Rock in the Frith of Forth, and a few were seen on the
friths of Sutherlandshire.

Mr. Hewitson mentions, “that this species breeds in
abundance on a few of the islands of Orkney and Shetland.
The birds select with care either a place surrounded by the
waters of some inland lake, where no boat has ever been,
or one that is difficult of access by climbing. A com-
munication from one rock to another is formed by two
parallel ropes, between which a large wooden box is sus-
pended by holes in each side, through which the ropes pass,
and the box is thus readily drawn from rock to rock; after
the eggs are all carried off, sheep are conveyed across to pas-
ture on the rich grass produced by the dung of the birds.
Their eggs are rich and excellent to eat; when boiled the
yolk is much deeper in colour than those of the common
fowl, and the white transparent; they are, in consequence, a
most valuable acquisition to the owners of the islands upon
which they are deposited. The custom is to take the whole
of the eggs as soon as laid, and the second set in like manner,
allowing the birds to sit the third time. One gentleman,
Mr. Scott, upon whose property they breed, and by whom
we were most hospitably received, told us that he had thus

474 LARIDE.

secured sixty dozen of their eggs for winter use, although the
extent of the island was scarcely half an acre.”

Professor Nilsson says this species is found on most of the
shores and islands of Sweden and Norway; it is also found
at Iceland. A single specimen was seen by our Arctic
voyagers in Baffin’s Bay, and the species was included by
Fabricius in his Birds of Greenland. According to Mr. Au-
dubon the Great Black-backed Gull inhabits North America.

This species is observed on the coasts of Germany, Hol-
land, and France ; it is included by M. Savi, in his Birds of
Italy, and it was found by the Russian naturalists in the
vicinity of the Caspian Sea.

The adult bird in summer has the bill pale yellow, the
inferior angle of the under mandible reddish-orange, the
whole bill very large and strong ; the irides straw yellow, the
edges of the eyelids orange; head and neck pure white ;
back, wing-coverts, scapularies, secondaries, and tertials lead
grey, the feathers of the three latter series ending in white ;
primaries nearly black, the first and second quill-feathers with
a triangular white patch, forming the end of each feather, the
second quill-feather having a black spot in the white ; all the
others tipped with white, the inner broad webs being lead-
grey; upper tail-coverts and tail-feathers pure white; chin,
throat, breast, belly, and all the under surface of the body
and tail pure white; legs and feet flesh-colour. In winter
the crown of the head and the occiput are slightly streaked
with ash-grey. The whole length of an adult male is thirty
inches, and sometimes rather more; the wing, from the carpal
joint to the end of the longest quill-feather twenty inches.
The female measures twenty-seven inches, and her wing nine-
teen inches.

The young birds in their stages to maturity resemble the
young of the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but are always much
larger, and their legs are paler in colour.

GLAUCOUS GULL. ATS

NATATORES, LARID#,

THE GLAUCOUS GULL,

ok Large Wurtrt-wincep Gutu.

Larus glaucus, Glaucous Gull, Brwicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 231.
” ” Young ” ” ” ” ” ” 233.
a 35 The Burgomaster, Firm. Brit. An. p. 139.

5 5 Glaucous Gull, Srxey, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 498.

” ” » 5 Jrenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 279.

an “O $3 a Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xvu.

a », Goeland Burgermeister, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 757.

Turis large species, equal in size to the Great Black-

backed Gull last described, was first made known as a winter

AU6 LARIDE.

visiter to the most northern of the Shetland Isles, by Law-
rence Edmondston, Esq., who obtained young and old birds
of both the species of White-winged Gulls included in this
work. ‘This Glaucous Gull was first named and described by
Brunnich, in his OrnirHotocia Boreanis, published in
1764; the bird also inhabits Iceland, and is included by
Faber in his Ornithology of that island.

Mr. Edmondston thus describes the habits of this Gull as
observed by himself. ‘‘ This species is never known to
breed in Shetland. It arrives in that country about the
middle of autumn, and leaves it towards the end of spring ;
and this migration appears to be completely general, at least
I do not remember having seen one during the whole sum-
mer season. In this respect it totally differs from all the
species of known Gull, to which, on a superficial view, it
might be supposed to approximate. Its favourite resorts are
the entrances of the more exposed bays ; or the ocean, a few
miles off the land, where it is often found assiduously attend-
ing the fishing-boats, to pick up any offals that may be
thrown overboard; and it is often taken by a line and hook
baited with fish, when engaged in this pursuit. It is greedy
and voracious to a proverb; and, when allured by carrion,
which seems to be its favourite food, becomes comparatively
indifferent to danger. It then quits the ocean and the head-
lands, enters the bays, and boldly ventures inland. General-
ly speaking it is rare; and I have hardly above once seen
more than three or four individuals at one time. Occasion-
ally a single bird may be met with, attending a large flock of
its congeners, and feeding along with them. Upon these
occasions its peculiarity of appearance is very striking. Its
usual deportment is grave and silent, exhibiting little of the
characteristic vivacity or inquisitiveness of many of its tribe,
and it is roused to exertion chiefly by a sense of danger, or
the cravings of hunger. When it flies, it extends its wings

GLAUCOUS GULL. ATT

more, and its flight is also more buoyant than that of the
other species of Gull; and, when not in quest of food, it is
of a reserved disposition, seldom coming within the range of
a fowling-piece, but soars at a respectful distance, uttering,
at intervals, a hoarse scream, of a sound quite peculiar to
itself. It exhibits none of that remarkable instinct so pre-
dominant in many of the larger species of the genus, which
prompts them frequently, at the hazard of their own lives, to
warn other animals of the vicinity of the sportsman; but
when once alarmed, it commonly flies off. In the month of
November, 1820, I observed a flock of upwards of a hundred
of this species in the Bay of Balta Sound, in Shetland.
They remained there for two or three weeks, going out to
sea, in search of food, regularly, at a particular period of the
tide, and returning to rest for some time in the Bay. During
this time I had ample opportunity of observing their appear-
ance and habits, and of completely confirming all the views
I had previously entertained concerning them. It is in
Unst, the most northerly island of the group, that I have
found it most frequently, and where it is chiefly known. It
is there that I have observed it first to arrive, and this most
generally occurred when the wind was favourable from the |
Arctic regions.”

Mr. Thompson says Larus glaucus is of occasional occur-
rence on every quarter of the coast of Ireland. The fine
specimen from which our illustration was taken was shot by
Francis Edwards, Esq., of Bristol, in the winter of 1840,
on the Severn. Specimens have been obtained in Cornwall
and Devonshire. Mr. Bullock, in his London Collection,
exhibited various specimens, some of which were sent to him
by Mr. L. Edmondston ; one was killed on Loch Lomond,
and one on the coast of Northumberland, where Mr. Selby
observes other examples, old and young, have occurred. Mr.

Bartlett obtained an immature specimen in the London mar-

478 LARIDE.

ket in the winter of 1838; this bird is now in my own col-
lection, and will be found described at the end of this sub-
ject. The Rev. Leonard Jenyns sent me notice of one ob-
tained in Cambridgeshire. In the notes of Mr. Wm. Borrer,
Jun., I find a record of three examples, all young birds, ob-
tained at Thornham in Norfolk, in the winter of 1836; and
I have heard from two or three other friends of specimens
killed at Yarmouth, and at Scarborough. On the other side
of the Channel this species visits the coasts of Germany and
Holland. M. Edmund de Selys Longchamps, in his Belgian
Fauna, mentions that both old and young specimens have
been taken at Dunkirk. M. Vieillot includes this species in
his Birds of France, and, in the winter of 1817, a single bird
strayed as far south as Genoa.

Mr. Edmondston mentions having seen this species on the
shores of the Baltic, and Professor Nilsson includes it in his
Ornithology of Sweden, and of Scandinavia. It is said to be
common in Russia, and was found by naturalists as far north
as Nova Zembla.

Captain W. Scoresby, in his account of the Arctic regions,
says of this Gull, ‘“‘ Larus imperiosus might perhaps be a
more characteristic name for this lordly bird, and would
correspond pretty nearly with the name, Burgomaster, or
Burgermeister, as generally given to it by the Dutch. It
may with propriety be called the chief magistrate of the
feathered tribe in the Spitzbergen regions, as none of its class
dares dispute its authority, when, with unhesitating superi-
ority, it descends on its prey, though in the possession of
another. ‘The Burgomaster is not a numerous species, and
yet it is a general attendant on the whale-fishers whenever
any spoils are to be obtained. It then hovers over the scene
of action, and, having marked out its morsel, descends upon
it and carries it off on the wing. On its descent, the most

dainty pieces must be relinquished, though in the grasp of

GLAUCOUS GULL. 4°79

the Fulmar Petrel, the Ivory Gull, or the Kittiwake. It
seldom alights in the water. When it rests on the ice, it
selects a hummock, and fixes itself on the highest pinnacle.
Sometimes it condescends to take a more humble situation
when it affords any advantage in procuring food. It is a
rapacious animal, and, when without other food, falls upon
the smaller species of birds and eats them. I have found the
bones of a small bird in its stomach, and have observed it in
pursuit of the Little Auk. Its eggs I have found on the
beach of Spitzbergen, deposited in the same way as those of
the Tern, namely, on the shingle, above high water mark,
where the full power of the sun falls.”

The remarks of Faber in reference to this species at Ice-
land, are, in substance, as follows:—This bird remains here
all the year, keeping the open sea in winter, and breeding in
summer on the rocks of the southern and western parts in
company with Larus marinus, which it resembles in some of
its habits, in its nest, and its eggs. It attacks small birds,
and robs their nests for food. It feeds also on Cancer pulex
and araneus ; extracts the soft animals from the shells of
Venus tslandica, Pecten islandicus, and searches closely for
the Lump-sucking fish, Cyclopterus lumpus, which it appears
to delight in finding.

The Glaucous Gull was found by our Arctic voyagers to
be numerous in Davis’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay, Greenland, and
the Polar Seas; occupying with their nests the pinnacles of
rocks and the projecting ledges of cliffs on the sea shore.
The egg is of a stone colour, spotted with ash-grey and two
shades of reddish-brown, and measures two inches nine lines
in length, by one inch and eleven lines in breadth. One
of these Gulls disgorged a Little Auk when it was struck
by the shot, and proved on dissection to have a second in
its stomach. Captain James C. Ross mentions, that this

species was found at Felix Harbour, and along the line of

480 LARIDA.

the western shore of Prince Regent’s Inlet ; and Mr. Audu-
bon includes it in his ornithology of the United States and
North America.

The adult bird has the bill yellowish-white, the inferior
angle of the lower mandible reddish-orange; irides straw
yellow ; all the plumage nearly white, but with a tinge of
skimmed-milk blue over the back and wing-coverts ; prima-
ries white, reaching but little, if any, beyond the end of the
tail; legs and feet flesh-colour.

Old males have been taken measuring, from the point of
the beak to the end of the tail-feathers, thirty-two and even
thirty-three inches; the wing from the carpal joint to the
end of the longest quill-feather nineteen inches. In winter
the head and neck are slightly streaked with ash-grey.

The bird killed by Mr. Edwards on the Severn, and which
that gentleman very kindly sent up for my use in this work,
measured in its whole length twenty-seven inches and a half;
the wing seventeen inches and three-quarters.

The young Glaucous Gull obtained in the London market
has the bill pale brown at the base, the point dark horn co-
lour; the irides dark ; head, neck, back, and wing coverts, a
mixture of pale ash-brown and dull white; scapulars and
tertials transversely barred with pale brown, and tipped with
greyish white ; primaries and secondaries uniform pale yel-
lowish grey; upper and under tail coverts dull white, barred
with pale brown; tail-feathers uniform yellowish-brown ;
wings only reaching to the end of the tail; chin, throat,
and breast dull white, mottled with pale brown, belly more
uniform in colour, and greyish-brown ; legs and feet livid
brown. ‘The bird in general appearance is very similar to the
young of the Lesser White-winged Gull, figured at page 456,
and described at page 462, but much larger: the whole
length twenty six inches and a half, and the wing, from the

anterior joint to the end, seventeen inches and a half.

COMMON SKUA. ; 481

NATATORES. LARIDE.

THE COMMON SKUA.

Larus catarractes, Skua Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 174.

ap 5 7 Monr. Ornith. Dict.
KB Be + rp Bewickx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 247.
Cataractes vulgaris, Common Skua, Firm. Brit. An. p. 137.
i = 35 7 Sexy, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 514,
Lestris cataractes, A os Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 280.
5, catarractes, The rf Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ii.
re », Stercoraire cataracte, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 792.

Lesrris. Generic Characters.—Bill strong, hard, cylindrical, formed for
cutting ; compressed, curved, and hooked at the point ; base of the upper man-
dible covered with a cere. Nostrils situated towards the point of the beak,
diagonal, narrow, closed behind, pervious. Legs strong, naked above the tarsi,
which are rather long; three toes in front, palmated; the hind toe small ;

VOL. III. OP it

482 LARIDE.

claws large, strong, very much curved. Tail slightly rounded, the two middle
feathers generally elongated, sometimes considerably. Wings moderate, the
first quill-feather the longest.

Tne various species of the genus Lestris have long been
separated by naturalists from the true Gulls, from a just
appreciation of the differences in their external characters, and
also in their habits. The Skuas may be considered as form-
ing a conspicuous portion of the predaceous division among
the swimming birds, as indicated by their powerful and hook-
ed beak and claws. Their food is fish, but they devour also
the smaller water birds and their eggs, the flesh of whales, as
well as other carrion, and are observed to tear their prey to
pieces, while holding it under their crooked talons.

Many of the true Gulls are listless and timid; the Com-
mon Skua and its generic companions are, on the contrary,
courageous and daring, harassing the smaller Gulls perpetu-
ally. They rarely take the trouble to fish for themselves,
but, watching the Gulls while thus employed, they no sooner
observe one to have been successful than they immediately
give chase, pursuing it with fury ; and, obliging it from fright
to disgorge the recently-swallowed fish, they descend after it
to catch it, and are frequently so rapid and certain in their
movements and aim as to seize their prize before it reaches
the water. It is on this account these birds have been called
Parasitic Gulls, because they are supported by the labours of
others. John Barrow, Esq., in the description of his voyage
to Iceland, mentions the amusement afforded to the party in
the yacht, when watching the Brown Gulls chasing the White
Gulls.

The various species of Lestris are inhabitants of the most
Northern regions, rarely going farther south in Europe, even
in winter, than the line of our southern shore. The Com-
mon Skua, however, has a much wider range, and, besides
inhabiting Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Iceland, has been
found in the Southern Hemisphere, in the Straits of Magellan,

COMMON SKUA. 483

and at the Falkland Isles, where, in a fine harbour on the
north-west coast these birds long since obtained the name of
Port Egmont Hens.

The Skua is included by M. Nilsson in his Birds of Scan-
dinavia ; and it is known to inhabit the Faroe Islands. Its
breeding-stations with us are probably confined to Shetland.
Mr. Dunn mentions three, namely, ‘¢ Foula, Rona’s Hill,
and the Isle of Unst. In the latter place it is by no means
numerous, and is strictly preserved by the landlords on whose
property it may have settled, from a supposition that it will
defend their flocks from the attacks of the Eagle. That it
will attack the Eagle if he approaches their nests, is a fact I
have witnessed ; I once saw a pair completely beat off a large
Eagle from their breeding-place on Rona’s Hill. The flight
of the Common Skua is more rapid and stronger than that of
any other Gull. It is a great favourite with the fishermen,
frequently accompanying their boats to the fishing-ground,
which they consider a lucky omen, and in return for its at-
tendance they give it the refuse of the fish which are caught.
The Common Skua does not associate in groups, and it is
seldom that more than a pair are seen together. During the
breeding-season it is highly courageous, and will strike furi-
ously at, and will even pursue, any one who may happen to
approach its nest, which is constructed amongst the heath
and moss.” ‘The female lays two and sometimes three eggs,
which are olive-brown, blotched with darker brown; the
length two inches nine lines, and two inches in breadth.

From the north these birds in autumn come down the line
of our eastern shore, and specimens have been obtained on
the coast of Northumberland, Durham, Norfolk, Essex,
Kent, and Sussex. Several were exhibited for sale in the
London market during the winter of 18357. On the other
side of the British Channel specimens have been obtained on
the coasts of Germany, Holland, and France.

212

484 LARIDE.

Mr. Heysham has noticed one on the coast of Cumber-
land, an adult female, which allowed herself to be seized
while she was in the act of killing a Herring Gull. Mr.
Thompson includes the Common Skua among the visiters to
Ireland, and it has been shot on the Severn, in Cornwall, and
in Devonshire.

In this species the bill and its cere are black ; irides dark
brown; the whole of the head and neck dark umber-brown,
slightly varied by streaks of reddish-brown ; back, wings, and
tail dark brown; scapulars and tertials margined with pale
reddish-brown ; wing primaries blackish-brown, rusty brown-
ish-white at the base; the two middle tail-feathers a little
longer, and rather darker in colour than the others; chin,
throat, neck in front, breast, and all the under surface of the
body uniform clove-brown ; legs, toes, and their membranes
black ; the tarsi scutellated in front, reticulated behind; the
inner claw the strongest and the most curved. The whole
length twenty-four to twenty-five inches ; the wing from the
anterior bend sixteen inches.

The female is rather smaller than the male, but otherwise
the sexes do not differ much in appearance; nor does this
species assume by age the lighter colours peculiar to the
other species of this genus. G. T. Fox, Esq., says of one
example which had been kept alive ten years, that the plum-
age had undergone no change of colour at any of the annual
moultings. A specimen brought to Dr. Neill in the summer
of 1820, then a nestling, was alive in 1832 at the Cannon-
mills. This bird, Mr. Selby observes, preferred mutton to
fish, and, when irritated, or preparing to attack, would raise
the feathers of the neck in the manner of a game-cock.

vn’

POMERINE SKUA. 485

NATATORES. LARIDZ,

THE POMERINE SKUA.

Cataractes pomarinus, Pomerine Skua, Sevey, Brit. Ornith, vol. ii. p. 517.

Lestris Pe Mr 5s Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 281.
a striatus, ap 4 Eyton, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 53, adult.
55 pomarinus, 7 Gull, _Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. ii.
‘5 », Stercoraire pomarin, Tremm. Man.d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 798.

THE first notice of this species I am acquainted with, upon
which it is entitled to a place among our British Birds, is in
the sale Catalogue of Mr. Bullock’s Collection, April, 1819,
where, at page 32, lot 61, is “an undescribed Gull, much
allied to the Arctic, but greatly superior in size, killed at
Brighton ; and lot 62, a second example of the same species,

486 LARID.

killed at Dover; and a third is referred to as having been
killed near Liverpool, and then in the collection of Lord
Stanley.” This species was afterwards characterised by M.
Temminck, in the second edition of his Manual, published
in October, 1820. Since that period many more examples,
most, if not all of them, young birds, have been obtained ;
but this species has not been known to breed, like the Com-
mon Skua, even in Shetland, and can therefore be considered
only as a winter-visiter. It appears to come down the lines
of our eastern and western coasts in autumn, some remaining
all the winter on our southern coast.

Mr. Thompson mentions that several examples have been
taken on different parts of the east coast of Ireland. In
1831, James Cornish, Esq. presented two living specimens
to the Zoological Society, which had been captured in Devon-
shire. An example of this species was shot, some years since,
in Hackney Marshes, near London. Larly in the winter of
1837, many were received in the London market for sale, and
among them were eight or ten birds which had been caught
alive. Mr. Mummery, of Margate, sends me word that the
Pomerine Skua has been obtained on the coast of Kent. A
specimen killed in Cambridgeshire is now in the collection of
Dr. Thackeray, of King’s College. This species has also
been taken on the coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk ; and Rud-
ston Read, Esq. has obtained several specimens off Scar-
borough. The Pomerine Skua also visits the shores of Ger-
many, Holland, and France; and, according to Dr. Schintz,
one or two, which are found to be young birds of the year,
make their appearance almost every winter on some of the
lakes of Switzerland.

In its habits it resembles the Common Skua, and the other
species of the genus, preferring a life of plunder to one of
independent industry, and hence the generic title, the term
Lestris signifying a robber.

POMERINE SKUA. 487

Less, however, is known of the summer-habits of this
species than of that bird which precedes it, or that which is
to follow. It is found on the west coast of Norway, and at
the Faroe Islands. By our intrepid Arctic voyagers it was
observed on the coast of Greenland, and at Whale-fish Is-
land. During the dangerous passage to the northward, over
ice and water, by Sir Edward Parry and Captain James C.
Ross, one bird of this species flew past the boats in latitude
82°. N. The Pomerine Skua was also seen at Prince Re-
gent’s Inlet, Melville Island, and at Igloolik. Captain
James C. Ross mentions, in his last Appendix, that a nest
with two eggs was found near Fury Point, on the margin of
a small lake. Dr. Richardson says “the Pomarine Gull-
hunter is not uncommon in the Arctic seas, and northern
outlets of Hudson’s Bay, where it subsists on putrid flesh
and other animal substances thrown up by the sea, and also
on the matters which the Gulls disgorge when pursued by it.
It retires from the north in the winter, and makes its first
appearance at Hudson’s Bay in May, coming in from sea-
ward. The Indians abhor it, considering it to be a com-
panion of the Esquimaux, and to partake of their evil quali-
ties.” Mr. Audubon mentions having seen a few birds of
this species while on an ornithological cruise off the coast of
Labrador. The bird is said to form a rude nest of grass and
moss, which is placed on a tuft in marshes, or on a rock, and
to lay two or three eggs ; these, as figured by Naumann and
Buhle, are of a uniform pale green, the larger end blotched
and spotted with two shades of reddish-brown; the length
two inches three lines, by one inch six lines and a half in
breadth.

In the young bird, from which our figure is taken, the cere
and base of the bill are greenish-brown, the curved point
black ; the irides very dark brown; feathers of the head and
neck clove-brown, with narrow margins of wood-brown ;_ back,

488 LARID#.

scapulars, tertials, and upper tail-coverts umber-brown, each
feather margined with wood-brown, these margins being
broadest on the tertials, the lower part of the back, and the
upper tail-coverts ; great wing-coverts nearly uniform umber-
brown ; wing-primaries blackish-brown, the shafts of these
feathers, and a considerable portion of the inner webs white ;
tail-feathers umber-brown, the two middle tail-feathers in this
young bird not more than half an inch longer than the next
feather on each side; chin, throat, breast, belly, and vent
mottled with buff-coloured brown, produced by narrow alter-
nate transverse lines of clove-brown and wood-brown ; under
tail-coverts broadly barred across with umber-brown and
wood-brown ; legs and base of the toes yellow, anterior part
of the toes and their intervening membranes black.

The whole length of this bird to the end of the tail-feathers
next the central pair, twenty inches; wing from the anterior
bend fourteen inches and a quarter. The comparative mea-
surements in an adult bird would be twenty-one inches, and
fifteen inches. I have seen a specimen of the Pomarine
Skua in the collection of Mr. Bond, which was obtained alive
when a young bird in the varied plumage of its first year,
which assumed the uniform chocolate brown plumage during
its second year; some specimens barred across the breast
have been named Lestris striatus, as noticed by Mr. Eyton ;
and I have seen two fine old birds, dove-grey on the back,
with the head black, the neck all round and the breast yellow-
ish-white, with the central tail-feathers elongated, showing
that the Pomarine Skua is subject to all the changes of
plumage which have been so frequently observed in the more
common species next to be described, and of which three
representations are given as illustrations.

The name of Skua is considered to have been adopted
from the note of the bird, which sounds like skuz.

RICHARDSON’S SKUA. 489

NATATORES. LARID.

a

RICHARDSON’S SKUA.

Lestris RicHARDSONIL OF SwAINSON.

Larus parasiticus, Arctic Gull, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 179, adult.
crepidatus, Black-toed ,, » 178, young.

” t : ” Od eg iat
», parasiticus, Arctic »s Monr. Ornith. Dict, adult.
n erepidatus, Black-toed Ap a 9. 9) young.
»» parasiticus, Arctic ,, Berwick, Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 250, adult.

», erepidatus, Black-toed ,, ae a 5 252, young,
Cataractes parasiticus, Arctic Skua, Furm. Brit. An.
; Ap % re Setsy, Brit. Ornith, vol. 11. p. 520.

Lestris Richardsonii, Richardson’s ,, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 282.
35 5 », Lestris, Gourv, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
“ », Stercoraire Richardson, Tema, Man, d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 499.

490 LARID&.

THREE distinct species of the genus Lestris have been
frequently brought together under the name of the Arctic
Gull, the Larus parasiticus of Linneeus, briefly described in
his Fauna Surcica; and the measurements of this species,
as given by M. Nilsson, the Swedish Professor of Natural
History at Lund, in his OrnrrHoxoera Suecica, vol. ii. p.
182, appear to prove that the true parasiticus of Linneus is
the same species as that to which Mr. Swainson, in the
Fauna Boreartr Americana, has attached the name of the
distinguished naturalist and companion of Sir John Franklin.
As all the five species of the genus Lestris, found in Europe,
are visiters to the Arctic regions, and all are alike parasitic
in their habits, ornithologists are indebted to Mr. Swainson
for thus worthily superseding terms, which, from the advance-
ment in natural history, have ceased to convey specific dis-
tinction.

Of the species of this genus which visit this country, Dr.
Richardson’s Skua is the most numerous. Pennant, in his
time, found it breeding at the islands of Jura, Day, and
Rum, in the Hebrides; and in his British Zoology gives
figures of it in three different states of plumage. Mr. J.
Macgillivray, who visited the Outer Hebrides in the summer
of 1840, says, ‘* Richardson’s Skua breeds in several spots in —
the interior of North Uist, and a few stragglers might now
and then be observed upon the coasts, chasing the 'Terns and
smaller Gulls.”

In the Orkneys this species has been observed on almost
every island, but the principal breeding-places are in Hoy
and the Holm of Eddy, or Eday, as mentioned by Mr.
Salmon and Mr. Dunn. In some instances these birds fre-
quent the tops of the highest hills; in others they appear to
prefer those unfrequented heaths which are low and marshy,
but making their nest of dry grass and mosses upon some
slight but dry eminence. Mr. Salmon, says, ‘‘ When the

RICHARDSON’S SKUA. 491

female left her nest, we observed her endeavouring to decoy
us away, by pretending to be lame, and tumbling about as if
her wing were broken ; and it was this circumstance that led
us to look more attentively. It is very amusing to sce this
bird chasing the Kittiwake, which it compels to disgorge its
food, and before this food reaches the water or land, this
pirate bird catches it. This appears to be the only means of
subsistence with this Lestris, as we never observed them fish-
ing like the rest of the Gulls.”

In Shetland this species breeds on the islands of Noss,
Unst, and Foula, and their various breeding-stations have
been visited by Mr. Drosier, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Hewitson.
Here these birds seem to breed in society, from fifty to sixty
being met with at the same place. The eggs are usually but
two in number, olive-brown in colour, spotted with dark
brown; the length two inches four lines, by one inch and
eight lines in breadth. As the young were already hatched,
Mr. Drosier observes, I had an opportunity of observing
them, several were discovered concealed in the long grass ;
and, although many of ‘them were only covered with down,
still the blue legs and black toes were very distinct. As the
season advanced, some that had not lost the down off their
heads were of a beautiful light brownish colour, distinctly
barred and spotted with black ; and in others, as they ad-
vanced in growth, the brown colour was gradually disappear-
ing, until, in many specimens, only a very few brown marks
were discernible and the middle tail-feathers began to elon-
gate.

In Norway Mr. Hewitson says, these birds breed most
commonly apart from each other, each pair taking possession
of its separate island, upon the highest point of nearly all of
which they are constantly to be seen perched, and upon it
they usually lay their eggs; sometimes, however, choosing
the lower grounds. Here, also, they are the persecutors of

492 LARIDE.

the other species of sea-fowl, even to sucking their eggs
whenever their owners left them uncovered. This species is
found over the seas and coasts of the North of Europe and
North America, but from the breeding-stations in Scotland
and Norway, which they quit in August, some of the young
birds of the year rove southward, down the western and
eastern lines of the coast of England, as before mentioned in
reference to other species of the genus. Richardson’s Skua
has been killed in Lancashire, and on the eastern coast of
Treland, both in the bays of Belfast and Dublin. This
Skua was seen by Sir Wm. Jardine upon the Durness Firth
in Sutherlandshire, in June, 1834. Several examples have
been killed on the coast of Durham late in August and early
in September, and most of them young birds of the year ;
others have been obtained in the county of Norfolk. Some
years since I saw a young bird that had just been shot on the
Thames at Battersea; and in the autumn of 1842, four
young birds of the year were shot on the reservoir at Kings-
bury, a few miles north of London ; two of these specimens
were more uniformly dark brown than the other two, from
having lost many more of the light brown margins of the first
set of feathers. These birds appear also on the coasts of
Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, and Devonshire. Both the. adult
and the young have been taken in Cornwall. M. de Selys
Longchamps, in his Fauna of Belgium, says, Lestris Richard-
sonit occurs occasionally on the Dutch and Belgian shores.
The young bird during its first autumn and winter has the
base of the beak and the cere brownish-grey; the anterior
portion conspicuously curved and black; the irides dark
brown; the head and neck pale brown, streaked with dark
brown; the back, wing-coverts, and tertials umber-brown,
margined with wood brown; wing-primaries brownish-black,
tipped with pale brown ; tail-feathers pale brown at the base,
then brownish-black to the end ; the central pair half an inch

RICHARDSON’S SKUA. 493

longer than the others; neck in front, breast, belly, and
under tail-coverts pale yellowish wood-brown, mottled and
transversely barred with umber-brown ; legs, and the base
of the toes yellow, the ends of the toes and the anterior por-
tion of the intervening membranes black, and hence called
sometimes the Black-toed Gull; but this is only an indication
of youth: as the bird increases in age the yellow colour is lost
by degrees.

The next stage, which in this species, also, as in the Poma-
rine Skua, probably occurs in the second year, the plumage
is of a uniform greyish umber-brown, the whole of the light
brown margins having disappeared, and the bird has now
acquired its full size, measuring from the point of the beak to
the end of the long feathers of the tail twenty inches, the
central pair of tail-feathers being three inches longer than the
next feather on each side; the wing, from the anterior bend
to the end of the longest quill-feather, thirteen inches and
three-quarters ; the tarsus one inch and three-quarters ; the
middle toe and claw together the same length, or one inch
and three-quarters.

After this stage a few yellow hair-like streaks appear on
the sides of the neck; next, the sides of the neck become
lighter in colour ; and, advancing in age, the neck all round
becomes white, tinged with yellow, the head remaining of
the same colour as the back. Males and females are not dis-
tinguishable by their plumage, and as this species, like the
smaller Gulls, is capable of breeding when one year old, it
is observed, that birds, sometimes in similar states, and some-
times in very different states as to plumage, are in pairs at
the breeding-stations.

4.9 4, LARIDA.

NATATORES. LARIDE.

BUFFON’S SKUA.

Lesrris Burroniu or Boizr, Bonar. ann Meyer.

Lestris parasiticus, Arctic Skua, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 283.
33 v ,, Jager, Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 55.
Parasitic Gull, Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.
Stercoraire parasite, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 501.

» »
5: r
Tuis smaller species of the genus Lestrzs, of which the

most adult examples measure only twelve inches from the

anterior bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather, and are otherwise distinguished by characters to be
hereafter referred to; although much more rare than Dr.

Richardson’s Skua, has occasionally been taken in this coun-

try, and I have followed the example set by others, of sepa-

rating this species also from the term paraszticus, with which

BUFFON’'S SKUA. 4.95

it appears to have been erroneously mixed up, and with which
its measurements do not coincide.

The Arctic bird from Hudson’s Bay, figured by Edwards,
in his Natural History, plate 148, described as having the
wing only twelve inches long when closed, the middle tail-
feathers thirteen inches long, and the middle toe but one inch
and a half in length, is, I think, without doubt, from these
particulars, as well as the peculiar form of the tail-feathers,
an adult male of Buffon’s Skua; but Edwards’ plate 149,
representing a female brought by Mr. Isham from the same
locality, and said to exceed it a little, is a younger bird, and
probably belongs to the species last described, namely, Dr.
Richardson’s Skua, both species being known to inhabit
North America. An adult specimen killed in this country
is preserved in the British Museum; and the Zoological
Society, in 1832, received this species from Orkney, with
skins of the three other British species of this genus, and of
the Ivory Gull. Young birds of Buffon’s Skua in the brown
plumage of their first autumn, have been killed in the vicinity
of the Tyne, and on the coast of Durham, in the month of
September; and Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, obtained a mature individual that was shot near Whit-
burn, in the county of Durham, at the end of October, 1837.

M. de Selys Longchamps says, this species, which, in his
newly-published Fauna of Belgium, is distinguished by the
name of Stercoratire ad longue queue, has been obtained on
the coasts of Dunkirk and Picardy, and also in the vicinity
of Lisle.

Buffon’s Skua visits Norway and Iceland. Dr. Richardson
says, ‘‘ It inhabits the Arctic sea-coasts of America and Hu-
rope in the summer, migrating to the more temperate parts
in winter. Numerous specimens were brought home by the
late expeditions from Melville Peninsula, the North Georgian
Islands, Baftin’s Bay, and Spitzbergen. It resembles the

496 LARID&.

Lestris pomerina in its manners.” The egg, as figured by
Thienemann, is of a pale green colour, spotted with ash-grey
and dark reddish-brown ; the measurements are two inches
in length, by one inch and five lines in breadth.

In the adult bird the base of the bill, including the cere,
is dark greenish-brown, the horny, curved point black ; irides
brown; all the upper part of the head black ; sides and back
of the neck white, tinged with straw yellow; back, tertials,
wing, and tail-coverts brownish-grey; primaries and_tail-
feathers almost black; chin, throat, and upper part of belly
white ; lower part of the belly, the vent, and under tail-coverts
light brownish-grey; legs, toes, and their membranes black; the
tarsi still bearing some traces of their previous yellow colour.

The whole length of the specimen, described from the
point of the beak to the end of the tail-feather next the
central pair, thirteen inches and a half, the central feathers
extending nine inches beyond; the wing, from the anterior
bend to the end of the longest quill-feather, twelve inches ;
the tarsus one inch and a half; the middle toe and the claw
rather shorter, or one inch and three eighths.

Independently of the difference in measurements, adult
birds of this species, compared with old ones of the species
previously described, have the head always much darker in
colour, while the back is lighter.

The fifth European species of Lestris which I have referred
to, is that noticed by Dr. Richardson in his Fauna Boreali-
Americana, page 432, under the name Stercorartus cepphus
of Leach. 'T'wo examples from Hecla Bay and Spitzbergen
are in the collection at the British Museum, and I possess
one brought home from the Greenland seas. ‘It has not been
taken in England, that I am aware of: but, though closely
resembling Richardson’s Skua in size and colour of plumage,
is at once to be distinguished by the great comparative
breadth of the bill at its base.

FULMAR PETREL, 49'7

NATATORES, LARID,

THE FULMAR PETREL.

Procellaria glacialis, Fulmar Petrel, Prnn. Brit. Zool. vol. u. p. 203.

- af The Fulmar, Monr. Ornith. Dict.

5% 39 “ 35 Bewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 256.
= s Fulmar Petrel, Firm. Brit. An. p. 135.

ie 5 ah ~ Serry, Brit. Ornith, vol. il. p. 523.
a > Northern Fulmar, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 284.

cf 7 Fulmar Petrel, | Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. iv.

= 5 Petrel Fulmar, Trem. Man. d’Ornith, vol. ii. p. 802.
AA Op 5 Pr) ar e », vol.iy. p. 505.

Procetiaria. Generic Characters.—Beak not so long as the head; the
upper mandible composed of four portions, divided by lines, or indentations ;
the whole together large and strong, curving suddenly towards the point ;
the under mandible grooved along each side, bent at the end, with a promi-
nent angle beneath ; the edges of both mandibles sharp and cutting ; those

VOL. III. Da

498 LARID&.

of the lower mandible shutting just within those above. Nostrils prominent
along the upper ridge of the upper mandible, but united, enclosed, and some-
what hidden within a tube with a single external orifice, within which the
division between the two nasal openings is visible. Feet moderate, tarsi
compressed ; three toes in front united by membranes, hind toe very small,
rudimentary. Wings rather long, the first and second quill-feathers nearly
equal in length, and the longest in the wing.

THe Furtmar Perret. is only a winter-visiter to the
more southern parts of England, and the specimens obtained,
even at that season of the year, are but few in number; some
of these, and the localities in which they were obtained, will
be referred to hereafter. G. C. Atkinson, Esq., of New-
castle-upon-Tyne, as described by Mr. Hewitson, met with
these birds in great numbers on the islands of St. Kilda,
Borrera, and Soa, and was informed that they also breed in
the south isles of Barra, in the outer Hebrides. St. Kilda
has been long noted as the principal breeding-place, and the
following account was given in a recent number of the Edin-
burgh New Philosophical Journal, by Mr. John Macgillivray,
who visited St. Kilda in June, 1840 :—‘* This bird exists
here in almost incredible numbers, and to the natives is by
far the most important of the productions of the island. It
forms one of the principal means of support to the inhabitants,
who daily risk their lives in its pursuit. The Fulmar breeds
on the face of the highest precipices, and only on such as
are furnished with small grassy shelves, every spot on which,
above a few inches in extent, is occupied with one or more of
its nests. ‘The nest is formed of herbage, seldom bulky,
generally a mere shallow excavation in the turf, lined with
dried grass, and the withered tufts of the sea-pink, in which
the bird deposits a single egg, of a pure white colour when
clean, which is seldom the case, and varying in size from two
inches seven lines, to three inches one line in length, by two
inches in breadth. On the 30th of June, having partially

descended a nearly perpendicular precipice six hundred feet

FULMAR PETREL. 499

in height, the whole face of which was covered with the nests
of the Fulmar, I enjoyed an opportunity of watching the
habits of this bird, and describe from personal observation.
The nests had all been robbed about a month before by the
natives, who esteem the eggs of this species above all others.
Many of the nests contained each a young bird, a day or two
old at farthest, thickly covered with long white down. The
young birds were very clamorous on being handled, and
vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which I sometimes ob-
served the parent birds feeding them by disgorging it. The
old birds, on being seized, instantly vomit a quantity of clear
amber-coloured oil, which imparts to the whole bird, its nest
and young, and even to the rock which it frequents, a pecu-
liar and very disagreeable odour. Fulmar oil is among the
most valuable productions of St. Kilda. The best is ob-
tained from the old bird. The Fulmar flies with great
buoyancy and considerable rapidity, and when at sea is
generally seen skimming along the surface of the waves at
a slight elevation, though I never observed one to alight, or
pick up anything from the water. Several which I dissected
had the stomach filled with pure oil, mixed up with the in-
digestible horny mandibles of some of the Sepzade, which
we may conclude form their principal food. It is partially
a nocturnal bird, except at its breeding-places, where it is
always in motion, flying along the face of the precipice; but
I never heard them utter any cry when thus engaged, or even
when their nests were being robbed. The Fulmar does not
allow itself to be handled with impunity, but defends itself
with its powerful bill, which it can use with as much effect
as good-will.”

The Fulmar does not breed on the islands of Orkney or
Shetland, but occasionally visits the latter during winter in
stormy weather.

Captain Wm. Scoresby, in his account of the Arctic Re-

2x 2

500 LARIDA.

gions, has given a long account of this species, part of which
is as follows:—‘‘ The Fulmar is the constant companion of
the whale-fisher. It joins his ship immediately on passing
the Shetland Islands, and accompanies it through the track-
less ocean to the highest accessible latitudes. It keeps an
eager watch for anything thrown overboard; the smallest
particle of fatty substance can scarcely escape it. They are
remarkably easy and swift on the wing. ‘They can fly to
windward in the highest storms, and rest on the water in
great composure, in the most tremendous seas. But it is
observed, that in heavy gales they fly extremely low, gene-
rally skimming along by the surface of the water. Fulmars
are extremely greedy of the fat of the whale. Though few
should be seen when a whale is about being captured, yet,
as soon as the flensing process commences they rush in from
all quarters, and frequently accumulate to many thousands in
number. They then occupy the greasy track of the ship ;
and being audaciously greedy, fearlessly advance within a few
yards of the men employed in cutting up the whale. It is
highly amusing to observe the voracity with which they seize
the pieces of fat that fall in their way; the size and quantity
of the pieces they take at a meal; the curious chuckling noise
which, in their anxiety for despatch, they always make; and
the jealousy with which they view, and the boldness with
which they attack any of their species that are engaged in
devouring the finest morsels. When carrion is scarce, the
Fulmars follow the living whale, and sometimes by their
peculiar motions, when hovering at the surface of the water,
point out to the fisher the position of the animal of which he
is in pursuit. They cannot make much impression on the
dead whale, until some more powerful animal tears away the
skin, for this is too tough for them to make way through
Mase

In a recently-published account of the Faroe Islands, it is

FULMAR PETREL. 501

stated, that from twenty thousand to thirty thousand young
Fulmars are annually caught on the West Manna Islands.

The Fulmar is found at Spitzbergen and Iceland. Mr.
Proctor observed that it was common at Grimsey Island. It
is found in the Greenland seas, at Davis’ Straits, Baflin’s
Bay, Hudson’s Bay, and Newfoundland.

In this country specimens have been procured on the coast
of Durham ; it has also been occasionally shot or caught in
Yarmouth Roads. A fine example is preserved in the Mu-
seum at Saffron Walden, which was obtained in Essex. It
has also been shot in Cornwall, and sometimes, but not often,
on the coast of Wales.

On the other side of the Channel it has occurred on the
coast of Holland, Picardy, Brittany, and Dunkirk.

In the adult bird the curved point of the bill is yellow,
the sides horny white, the superior ridge investing the nostrils
greyish-white ; irides straw yellow; the whole head and the
neck all round pure white; the back, all the wing-coverts,
secondaries, tertials, upper tail-coverts, and tail-feathers pearl
grey; wing-primaries slate-grey ; breast, belly, and all the
under surface of the body pure white ; legs, toes, and their
membranes brownish-yellow ; the claws slender, but curved
and pointed. The whole length of an adult male about
nineteen inches; the wing, from the anterior bend, twelve
inches; the middle toe and its claw longer than the tarsus.

A young Fulmar in its second summer, probably twelve
or fourteen months old, has the tip of the bill yellow, the
other parts greyish horn colour; head, neck, back, wings,
and tail nearly uniform ash-brown, but the surface of the
back and wings rather darker in colour; chin, neck in front,
and all the under surface of the body also uniform ash-brown,
but rather paler in colour than the upper surface ; legs, toes,
and their membranes pale brown.

502 LARID&.

NATATORES, LARIDA.

THE GREATER SHEARWATER.

Purrinus MAJOR oF FABER.

Puffinus cinereus, Cinereous Shearwater, Sevsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. 1. p. 528.

Procellaria puffinus, ei At Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 284.
5, fuliginosus, - a Fe. FP ar 285.
Puffinus cinereus, an 5 Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 49.
», fuliginosus, Dusky 55 PP ae 33 an ol.
»» Cinereus, Cinereous bs Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xix.
oy eye Puffin majeur, Trem. Man.d’Ornith. vol. iv. p. 507,

Purrinus. Generic Characters. — Bill as long, or longer than the head,
slender, upper mandible compressed and curved towards the point; under

GREATER SHEARWATER. 503

mandible also slender and curved at the point. Nostrils tubular, opening by
two separate orifices, Legs of moderate length, tarsi compressed laterally ;
toes three in front, rather long, webbed throughout ; hind toe rudimentary.
Wings long and pointed, the first quill-feather the longest.

Tue first example of the Greater Shearwater obtained in
this country was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological
Society in July, 1832, by Mr. Arthur Strickland, of Boyn-
ton, near Burlington, in Yorkshire, who stated that it was
shot by Mr. George Marwood, jun., of Busby, in the middle
of August, 1828, on a very stormy day, at the mouth of the
Tees; it was seen early in the morning, sitting on the water
like a duck, and was shot as it was rising; its manner of
flight was consequently not noticed. In 1833 Mr. Strick-
land very kindly gave me a coloured drawing taken from his
bird ; this resembles the upper figure in the woodcut here
given. Since that period Mr. Strickland has obtained a
second specimen, apparently in the adult plumage, being
much lighter in colour on the under surface ; both these ex-
amples are figured in the 19th part of the Birds of Europe,
by Mr. Gould, who remarks, ‘“‘ With respect to the specimens
forwarded by Mr. Strickland, which we have figured, we have
to observe, that these two birds, although agreeing in their
measurements with each other, differ slightly from a specimen
of Puffinus cinereus sent to us by M. 'Temminck as an un-
doubted example of that species, Mr. Strickland’s specimens
being less in all their measurements ; and could we have dis-
covered any difference in the markings of their plumage, we
should have had no hesitation in regarding them as distinct ;
as it is, we have here figured both Mr. Strickland’s birds as
of one and the same species, but with a mark of doubt as to
their being examples of the true Puffinus cinereus.

To these two figures M. Temminck refers in the 4th part
of his Manual, p. 507, under the name of Puffinus major
of Faber, and considers the lighter-coloured bird as a male,

504 LARIDA.

the darker bird as a female. M.'Temminck also refers to,
and includes under, this species a dark-coloured bird obtained
on the coast of Northumberland by Mr. Selby, who considers
it to be a young bird. Dr. Edward Moore, in his Catalogue
of the Birds of Devonshire, mentions that several specimens
have been obtained on that coast, but had not till lately
been distinguished from the Manks Shearwater. Puffinus
anglorum.

For the two birds from which the figures here given were
drawn, I am indebted to the liberality of D. W. Mitchell,
Ksq., of Penzance, who supplied me, in addition, with the
following account of the appearance of this species on the
coast of Cornwall :—‘* In November, 1839, a man brought
me a Puffinus major, alive, which he said he had found asleep
in his boat when he went off to unmoor her, preparatory to
a fishing expedition. I suppose this happened about three
in the afternoon, and the bird had, probably, taken up his
quarters at daylight. ‘The moorings at Newlyn are from one
hundred to two hundred yards from the shore. There were
great numbers of this species off Mounts Bay at that time,
and I soon after had two more brought to me, which had
been taken by hooks. One of them is the light-coloured
specimen in your collection. ‘The dark-coloured bird which
you have figured was, I believe, obtained in a similar man-
ner about the same period in 1838. It is the only example
in that state which I met with during my residence in Corn-
wall. ‘The adult bird appears pretty regularly every autumn,
though not always in equal numbers. It has long been in
several collections at Plymouth, though it does not appear to
have been distinguished there from P. anglorum, until Dr.
Moore published his Catalogue of the Birds of Devon. The
latter is not a very common bird there, which may have been
the cause of such a mistake.

‘¢ P. major is very well known to the Scillonians, by whom

GREATER SHEARWATER. 505

it is called Hackbolt. They inform me it is a constant visi-
tant in the latter part of autumn, and represent its manners
on the water as resembling those of P. anglorum. I recol-
lect seeing four last year, through a telescope, in Mounts Bay.
It was late in the afternoon, the wind blowing hard from §.
S. W., which accounted for their being so far in-shore ; they
are generally deep sea-goers. They had exactly the flight of
P. anglorum, and kept so close to the water as almost to
skim the tops of the waves. Mr. Clement Jackson told me
last spring that they appear some autumns off Looe and Pol-
perro in thousands.”

Mr. Wm. Thompson has recorded two occurrences of this
species on the south of Ireland, communicated to him by Mr.
Robert Davis, jun., of Clonmell, who also sent me notice of
the circumstance, and a coloured drawing, made from the
second bird. Both were taken in the autumn of 1839, by
men fishing with hooks and lines for hake, off Dungarvon
Bay; the birds having taken the baits. Mr. Davis says,
“‘T kept the second specimen alive for about a week, but, not
having a suitable place for that purpose, killed it and set it
up. As well as I can recollect the former specimen, this
resembled it in every respect. It was, however, more lively,
and ran along very rapidly, with the breast about an inch and
a half from the ground. Having, on one occasion, put it on
a roof, it seemed to be more at ease on the inclined plane
afforded by that situation, than on a flat surface ; it mounted
rapidly to the top, though when it came to the edge no
attempt to fly was made, and it fell heavily to the ground.
It rarely stirred at all during the day, but kept itself as
much concealed as possible, and, if it could not hide its body,
would endeavour to conceal its head. The fishermen some-
times keep them for weeks about their houses, and in some
instances they have become tame ; they never attempt to fly.
It does not appear that the Manks Shearwater is ever seen,

506 LARIDA,

nor could I ascertain that a Greater Shearwater was ever shot,
but always taken with a hook. They are commonly known
by the name of Hagdowns.”

Mr. 'Thompson further adds: ‘‘So little is known respect-
ing this species as an inhabitant of our seas, that I am in-
duced to add the following: Mr. Robert Ball, when dredg-
ing off Bundoran, on the west coast of Ireland, in company
with Mr. E. Forbes and Mr. Hyndman, on the 16th of
July, 1840, saw three Petrels on wing near to him, which
he believed to be of this species.”

Faber’s account of this species in his Prodromus of the
Ornithology of Iceland, is very short; in substance, it is as
follows :—It is very scarce, and is only seen on the most
southern parts of the island; it does not breed here. Only
a single individual has fallen into my hands. The fishermen
talk of a Puffinus, which they see sometimes, and is twice as
big as Puffinus arcticus, (Faber’s name for our P. anglorum,)
it may well be this one. There is no description, but I
infer that Faber’s bird was white underneath, and that he
called it P. major because it only differed from our P.
anglorum, which is common in Iceland, in being larger.
The measurements of P. cinereus of Gmelin, Latham, and
others are stated at twenty inches and a quarter, for the
whole length of that species, but of the several examples
of our Greater Shearwater that I have seen, none have
exceeded eighteen inches in length, and the dark-coloured
specimens, which may be females, or young birds, are not
quite so much. That our new bird is not the P. fuligi-
nosus of Kuhl, I believe, from having obtained a specimen
of this bird, which is not only two inches shorter in its whole
length than our new bird, but is also a true Procellaria,
having the short, strong, hooked, and cutting beak, like that
of our Fulmar last “described.

In the dark-coloured bird from which our upper figure was

GREATER SHEARWATER. 507

taken, the bill is dark brown, the base of the under man-
dible lighter brown; irides dark brown ; head and neck all
round and the back dark clove-brown ; scapulars and tertials
the same, but with lighter-coloured margins ; wing-coverts,
primaries, and tail-feathers blackish-brown ; breast and belly
greyish hair-brown, each feather much darker in colour on
the margin than over the centre; legs brown on the outer
surface, but pale wood-brown on the inner; toes and their
membranes yellowish-brown. The whole length of the bird
seventeen inches and one quarter; wing, from the anterior
bend, twelve inches and three-quarters ; whole length of the
bill one inch and three-quarters ; of the tubular portion half
an inch; of the tarsus two inches; of the middle toe, in-
cluding the claw, two inches and five-eighths.

In the bird from which the lower figure in our wocdcut
was taken the bill is dark brown, under mandible lighter
brown at the base; irides dark brown; head and occiput
dark ash-grey ; back of the neck almost white; back, wing-
coverts, and tertials ash-grey; all the margins greyish-white ;
primaries and tail-feathers blackish-brown ; chin, sides, and
front of neck, the breast, and sides of the body white; lower
belly, vent, and under tail-coverts varied with dull white and
ash-brown ; legs, toes, and their membranes brownish-yellow.
The whole length eighteen inches; of the wing, from the
bend, thirteen inches; whole length of the bill one inch and
seven-eighths, of the tubular portion half an inch; of the
tarsus two inches and one-eighth; of the middle toe and
claw two inches and seven-eighths.

There are specimens in the British Museum, from South
Africa, and known to be the young and adult of the same
species, which exactly resemble the two birds here figured.

M. 'Temminck says this species breeds by thousands on
the banks of Newfoundland. It is probably the Wandering
Shearwater of Messrs. Audubon and Nuttall.

508 LARIDE,

NATATORES., LARIDE.

a
TBS pane

AA ase ¥
—

THE MANX SHEARWATER.

Procellaria puffinus, Shearwater Petrel, Pxrnn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 206.
The Shearwater, Mont. Ornith. Dict.

»”» >”
” ” ” 4 Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 258.
Puffinus anglorum, Manks Puffin, Frem. Brit. An. p. 137.

PA “in », Shearwater, Sexy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 529.
Procellaria ,, 9% Ay Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 285.
Puffinus A es 55 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xiv.
Procellaria ,, Petrel Manks, Tremm. Man,d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 806.
Puffinus ,, es 3 a9 7 » vol. iv. p. 509.

So exclusively aquatic, says Mr. Gould, is this little tenant
of the ocean, that the impulse of incubation alone induces it
to visit land, on which occasion it resorts to those portions
only of the shore which are washed by the surge, generally
selecting such places as small islands, which, from the danger
of approach, or their rocky nature, are seldom made the resi-
dence of man. Whenever he does take up his abode there,
the number of birds speedily diminishes ; and this is shown

MANX SHEARWATER. 509

by the absence at the present period of this species in the
Calf of Man, where, in the time of Willughby, and even at
a later date, they appear to have been very abundant. This
diminution of their numbers is wholly occasioned by the
wanton and greedy destruction of their eggs and young,
which are eagerly sought after as an article of food, the latter
being considered by many a great delicacy, and eaten both
fresh and salted.

On the eastern part of the southern line of our coast this
Shearwater is a rare bird ; it is more frequently seen at sea
off Dorset and Devon, becoming still more numerous farther
to the westward. I have been favoured by Mr. D. W.
Mitchell with the following account of the habits of this spe-
cies, as observed by himself off the coast of Cornwall :—

‘“* To the westward of St. Agnes, in the Scilly group, lies
a barren island called Annet. Its northern shore is abrupt
and craggy; it gradually slopes towards the south, and nar-
rows into a sort of peninsula, where the sandy soil is rich
enough to produce a dense growth of short ferns. Here is
the strong-hold of the Shearwaters. Sit down on a rock
which commands the little territory, and you will see nothing
but the Terns, who have a station on the higher and central
part of the island, and are making a flight of inquiry very
much like the Black-headed Gulls in your vignette, at page
443. Yes, you will see a hundred or two of Oyster-catchers,
who do not like your landing so near their nests, and make
short journeys hither and thither, whistling all the while like
birds possessed. You will see two or three pairs of Turn-
stones, and a few Ring Dotterel; perhaps a Curlew. You
may wait all a sunny day in June, but not a Shearwater will
you see on land or water. There are plenty near you all the
time, however, as you may ascertain by the odour which
issues from the first burrow you look into among the ferns.
As soon as the sun is down you will see a little party of five

510 LARIDE.

or six flitting silently across the sound, or steering out to sea.
The latest fishers from the colony of Terns are coming home
from the sandy shallows, five or six miles away, with their
throats and beaks crammed with Lance-fish, when the Shear-
waters begin to wake. You will not see them come out of
their holes; you first catch sight of them skimming round
the corner of a rock close to the water. Perhaps they will
have a great gathering, such as I encountered one evening in
‘Smith’s Sound.’ There was a congregation of at least three
hundred, in the middle of the tide-way, washing, dipping,
preening feathers, and stretching wings, evidently just awake,
and making ready for the night’s diversion. As I wanted a
few specimens more than I had dug out of the burrows, I
ran my boat well up to them, and when they rose, got as
many as I wished, besides a few unfortunate cripples who
were only winged, and proved, by their agility in swimming
and diving, a good deal too much for my boatmen. I think
a good dog would have no chance with them. They allowed
me to come quite close. They sit low in the water; they
make no noise when disturbed, though in their holes they
are eloquent enough, the Scillonian synonyms of Crew and
Cockathodon being derived from the guttural melodies they
pour forth as the spade approaches the end in which the egg
is deposited. I once caught a pair in one burrow who were
crooning a duet of this kind before we commenced operations.
I presume they were in the honey-moon, as there was no
egg. It is frequently deposited on the fine sandy soil with-
out any preparation, though generally there is a slight accu-
mulation of fern leaves and old stems. They produce but
one egg, which, when fresh laid, is of the most dazzling white-
ness, and of peculiarly beautiful texture; it measures two
inches five lines in length, by one inch nine lines in breadth,
and is very large for the size of the bird. When you killa
Shearwater by pressure, as I generally did for the sake of

MANX SHEARWATER. 511

her skin, she vomits a most abominable oil, in which float so
many particles of brilliant green that it appears of that colour,
though the stain it leaves is yellow. The quantity got rid
of in this way is sometimes enormous.

“‘ When the young bird leaves the egg it is covered with
ereyish-black down, except a stripe along the centre of the
breast and belly, which is white. I found a chick very lively
in an egg which had been taken from the burrow two days
previously to my examining it. My notice was attracted by
hearing a little voice in the basket as I sat preparing a skin
about midnight. I thought of Asmodeus in the bottle im-
mediately.”

The Manx Shearwater visits the coast of South Wales in
considerable numbers in spring. Mr. Gould mentions having
received from thence, through the medium of a friend, no less
than four dozens of these harmless creatures at one time, with
an assurance that as many more would be forwarded if re-
quired. ‘These were all evidently captured by the hand,
none of them exhibiting any of the usual indications of
having been shot.

The Manx Shearwater is only an occasional visiter to
Treland, and, according to Mr. Thompson, is more rare now
than formerly. It breeds every season at St. Kilda and
Soa, among the islands of the Hebrides, at Pappa Westra
in the Orkneys, and at Foula and Unst in Shetland, deposit-
ing its single egg either in a rabbit-burrow or a crevice in
the rock; but as soon as the young are able to follow the
parents, all take to the open sea together. As cbserved in
the south, these birds are somewhat crepuscular in their
habits, and feed upon fish, marine insects, worms, &e.

The Manx Shearwater is found on the coast of Norway,
the Faroe Islands, and at Cape Farewell, where the sailors
call them Cape Hens. Faber includes it among his Birds of
Iceland; and Mr. Proctor, who has been there, tells me he

512 LARID£.

found it common on the west coast. Though included
among the Birds of the United States, but few are seen to
the west of Newfoundland.

It is rather a rare bird on our eastern coast, but has been
obtained at the Farn Islands, and on the coast of Norfolk.
It is rare also on the shores of Holland and France. It has
been taken at Genoa, in the Adriatic, and in the Mediter-
ranean. Dr. Heineken included it among the Birds of Ma-
deira. M. Temminck mentions having received one from
the Bosphorus ; and Mr. Hugh Strickland also obtained this
species at Smyrna.

The appearance of the young chick has been already
noticed. M. Temminck, in the 4th part of his Manual,
says, The young birds of the year have all the under parts of
a deep ash colour.

In the adult bird the bill is blackish-brown, but lighter
brown at the base; irides hazel; head, back of the neck,
back, wings, and tail, uniform brownish-black ; chin, and
neck in front white; sides of the neck varied with dark grey
and white in transverse bars; breast, belly, and under tail-
coverts white ; behind the thighs a patch of brownish-black ;
legs, toes, and their membranes brown.

The whole length of the bird fourteen inches ; from the
anterior bend of the wing to the end of the longest quill-
feather nine inches and a half.

BULWER'S PETREL. 513

NATATORES, LARIDE.

BULWER’S PETREL.

Procellaria Bulwerii, Bulwer’s Petrel, JanrpinE and Serny, Illust. Ornith.
vol. ii. pl. 65,
Thalassidroma Bulwerii, ,, 53 Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xxii.

Tuatassiproma. Generic Characters——Bill shorter than the head, much
compressed in front of the nasal sheath, with the tip of the upper mandible
suddenly curving and hooking downwards, and that of the lower one slightly
angulated, and following the curve of the upper. Nostrils contained in one
tube or sheath, but showing two distinct orifices in front. Legs, having the
tarsi rather long and slender, reticulated. Feet of three toes, united by a
membrane. ‘The outer and middle toes nearly equal in length, and longer
than the inner; hind toe represented by a small, straight, dependant nail.
Wings long, acuminate. Tail square, or slightly forked. Selby.

SeveRAL species of Petrel, all of small size, were sepa-
rated by the late Mr. Vigors from the other genera of Petrels
on account of distinctions observable in their external struc-
ture, as referred to in the generic characters,* as well as

* Zoological Journal, vol. ii. page 405.
VOL. III. 21

514 LARIDE.

some differences in their habits, which will appear in their
histories. ‘Those who have an opportunity of examining and
comparing the skeleton of our Manx Shearwater with that of
the Storm Petrel, cannot fail to observe internal distinctions
also; that of the Manx Shearwater possessing the sternum,
and low keel of a swimming and diving-bird; the Storm
Petrel, on the other hand, exhibiting the deep keel of a
Swift, and possessing accordingly enduring powers of flight.
These birds form M. Temminck’s third section of the genus
Procellaria, which section has been advanced to generic dis-
tinction in the 4th Part of M.'Temminck’s Manual. The
term J'halassidroma refers to the power and habit of this
group of running on the surface of the sea.

The first published notice of Bulwer’s Petrel that I am ac-
quainted with, is that by Sir William Jardine and Mr. Selby,
in the second volume of their ‘ Illustrations of Ornithology,”
already quoted.

‘¢ We are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Bulwer, during
some years a resident in Madeira, for the subject of this
plate, which we consider as yet undescribed. It is not to
be found in the works of Latham or Shaw, or indeed in any
other which we have had an opportunity of consulting ; and,
from its marked characters, it is not a species that would be
easily overlooked. The length of our specimen is about ten
inches ; it inhabits Madeira, or the small islands adjacent.”

For its title to a place among our British Birds I refer to
Mr. Gould, who, in the 22nd, the concluding, part of his
Birds of Europe, gives a figure from a specimen obtained in
this country, with the following observations :—

“‘On the authority of Colonel Dalton, of Slenningford,
near Ripon, we are enabled to add this rare species to the
Fauna of Britain, from a fine specimen which was found on
the banks of the Ure, near Tanfield, in Yorkshire, on the
8th of May, 1837; and which could not have been long

BULWER'S PETREL. 515

dead, as it admitted of being mounted as a good cabinet
specimen. It is now in the possession of Colonel Dalton,
who doubtless regards it as one of the greatest treasures in
British Ornithology. In fact, with the exception of one or
two foreign examples, we do not recollect that we have ob-
served it among the numerous collections we have had oppor-
tunities of examining. As it is stated to be an inhabitant of
Madeira and the adjacent islands, we may infer that the seas
bounding the western shores of Africa constitute its true
habitat.”

The figure of the bird here given is taken from Mr.
Gould’s plate, and represents, therefore, the only British
example of this species at present known ; but a specimen of
this bird in the collection of the Zoological Society enables
me to give the following description and measurements :—

The bill is black; the irides nearly so; the whole of the
plumage almost uniform sooty black, rather paler on the
edges of the great wing-coverts; tail rounded; legs and toes
dark reddish-brown, the interdigital membranes dark brown.

The whole length, from the point of the beak to the end
of the tail, ten inches and a half; the wing, from the anterior
bend to the end of the longest quill-feather, eight inches ;
the bill is three-quarters of an inch in length from the base ;
the tarsus, and the middle toe, including the claw, each one
inch and one-sixteenth.

There is reason to believe that this Petrel has been dis-
tinguished by the specific name columbina, in a History of
the Canary Islands.

Oar

516 LARIDE,

NATATORES. LARIDA,

WILSON’S PETREL.

Procellaria Wilsoni, | Wilson’s Petrel, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 286.
Thalassidroma ,, Thalassidrome de Wilson, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. iv.
p- 512.

In the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, volume 3, part 2, 1824, a memoir by Charles
L. Bonaparte, now Prince of Canino, gives an account of
four species of Storm Petrels, with the distinctive characters,
measurements, and figures, of each. Wilson’s Petrel, the
bird now under consideration, is one of the species included
in this memoir, and, at the end of the notice of it, the author
says, ‘“¢ I have never learnt that it has been seen on the coasts
of Europe. I killed one, that had probably strayed, near
the Azores.” This is the first printed notice I am ac-
quainted with of the appearance of Wilson’s Petrel on this
side the Atlantic. Eight or nine years ago I saw two skins
of this species which had been taken by the captain of a ship,

WILSON ’S PETREL. 51%

while sailing up the British Channel. The muscles about
the wings of these specimens, which I examined closely, were
still soft and moist. I was told that these two birds had
been caught by the captain himself, from the stern of his
ship, with a baited hook at the end of a long slender line of
thread. These are the specimens referred to by the Rev. L.
Jenyns, in his British Vertebrata. When the wind blows
hard Storm Petrels are known to seek some protection from
the gale they are unable to withstand, by flying for hours
under the lee, or in the wake of a ship. Their swallow-like
appearance, and their gentle habits inviting commiseration,
they are frequently fed by throwing small pieces of fatty sub-
stances towards them, which the hungry birds eagerly pick up
from the surface of the water, and sometimes, it appears, to
their own destruction.

In November, 1838, a specimen of Wilson’s Petrel was
found dead in a field near Polperro, in Cornwall, and a notice
of the occurrence was published in the second volume of the
Annals of Natural History, by Mr. Couch, who very kindly
sent the bird when preserved up to me, that I might take a
drawing from it as a British specimen. In the spring of
1839, Mr. Charles Buxton, of Norfolk, sent me notice of one
obtained in that county. I received notice of one also from
T. C. Heysham, Esq., of Carlisle; and last year a specimen
was procured in Sussex, for a knowledge of which I am in-
debted to Mr. F. Bond. Other examples have probably oc-
curred, but have not, perhaps, been distinguished by those
into whose hands they may have fallen. That they might be
distinguished in America was the object intended by the
Prince of Canino, when publishing his memoir. The portion
relating to Wilson’s Petrel was afterwards republished in this
country, in the first volume of the Zoological Journal, p. 425.

Mr. Audubon, says, ‘* Wilson’s Petrel breeds on some
small islands situated off the southern extremity of Nova

518 LARIDA.

Scotia, and called Mud Islands, but which are formed of sand
and light earth, scantily covered with grass. hither the
birds resort in great numbers, about the beginning of June,
and form burrows to the depth of two, or two and a half feet,
in the bottom of which is laid a single white egg ; a few bits
of dried grass, scarcely deserving the name of a nest, having
been placed for its reception. ‘The egg measures an inch and
a half in length, by seven-eighths of an inch in breadth ; is
almost equally rounded at both ends, and has a pure white
colour. By the beginning of August the young follow their
parents to the sea, and are then scarcely distinguishable from
them. During incubation they remain in the burrows, or at
their entrance, rarely going to seek for food before the dusk.
On wing this species is more lively than the Forked-tailed, °
but less so than the Common Stormy Petrel. It keeps its
wings nearly at right angles with its body, and makes con-
siderable use of its feet, particularly during calm weather,
when it at times hops, or leaps for several feet, or pats the
water, whilst its wings are extended upwards with a fluttering
motion, and it inclines its head downwards to pick up its food
from the water; and I have observed it immerse the whole
head beneath the surface, to seize on small fishes, in which it
generally succeeded. It can walk pretty well on the deck of
a vessel, or any other flat surface, and rise from it without
much difficulty. Its notes are different from those of the
Forked-tailed Petrel, and resemble the syllables kee-re-kee-
kee. ‘They are more frequently emitted at night than by
day. I never could ascertain whether or not these birds
alight on the rigging at night, but my opinion is that they
do not, for the sailors, to whom I had offered premiums for
catching some of them, told me that, although they flew about
them while aloft, they could not see one standing anywhere.
I have rarely seen Wilson’s Petrel farther to the eastward
than the Azores, and beyond these islands it generally aban-

WILSON’S PETREL. 519

doned the vessel. In my journal, written on board the
packet-ship Columbia, commanded by my worthy friend Jo-
seph Delano, Esq., I find the following memorandums: ‘ Wil-
son’s Petrel was first seen, this voyage, about two hundred
miles from England, and alone until we reached the middle
of the Atlantic, when the Forked-tailed came in’ sight, after
which the latter was most plentiful, and the Stormy Petrel
by far the least numerous. During my several visits to the
coasts of the Floridas, I saw scarcely any of these birds in
the course of several months spent there, but I found them
pretty abundant on returning towards Charlestown. This
species, like the others, feeds on mollusca, small fishes, crus-
tacea, marine plants, and the greasy substances thrown from
vessels. When caught, an oily substance passes from the
mouth and nostrils. The sexes are similar in their external
appearance.”

The bill is black ; the irides dark brown ; the head, neck,
back, wing-primaries, and the tail-feathers, dark brownish-
black ; greater wing-coverts and the secondaries dark rusty-
brown, lighter in colour near the end, with the extreme edges
and tips white; upper tail-coverts white; chin, throat, breast,
and all the under parts sooty black, except the feathers near
the vent on each outside, which are white, and some of the
under tail-coverts are tipped with white; legs long and slen-
der, with the toes and their membranes black, but with an
oblong greyish-yellow patch upon each web.

The whole length of a fine specimen seven inches and a
half; the wing, from the anterior bend to the end of the
longest quill-feather, six inches and one-eighth; length of
tarsus one inch three-eighths ; middle toe and claw one inch

and three-sixteenths.

520 LARIDA.

NATATORES. LARIDZ.

THE FORKED-TAILED PETREL.

Procellaria Leachii, Fork-tailed Petrel, Brewicx, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 261.
ie Bullockii, ,, ne 53 Frem, Brit. An. p. 136,

Thalassidroma ,, »» 9,Storm,, Sexsy, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p, 537.
Procellaria Leachii, Leach’s », JEnyns, Brit. Vert. p. 286.
Thalassidroma Bullockii, Fork-tailed ,, Eyron, Rare Brit. Birds, p. 101.

ie Leachti, ,, ,,Storm,, Gouxp, Birds of Europe, pt. xi.
Procellaria - Pétrel de Leach, Tremm, Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p.842,
Thalassidroma », Thalassidrome,,

” ” », Vol, iv. p. 512.

Tuts species of Petrel is but very little smaller in size
than the bird last described, but is at once distinguished from
it by its forked tail, and its shorter legs. The first specimen
of this bird was obtained at St. Kilda in the summer of
1818, by Mr. Bullock, during a tour round the coast of
Scotland, principally undertaken with a view to investigate
its ornithology. At the sale of Mr. Bullock’s collection in
the spring of 1819, this specimen was bought by Dr. Leach,
and transferred to the national collection in the British Mu-

FORKED-TAILED PETREL. 521

oth

seum. At that time only three other examples of this species
were known; one in the Museum at Paris, a second in the
possession of Baron Laugier at Paris, and a third in the col-
lection of M. Baillon, of Abbeville, which had been taken in
Picardy.

This species, and the Storm Petrel next to be described,
are mostly obtained in this country during the violent gales
of wind which sometimes occur about the vernal, or autumnal
equinox, but particularly the latter. Several were procured
during the stormy weather which occurred in the autumns of
1823, 1825, and 1831. So many examples have now been
obtained, that it would be useless to enumerate the localities
known. It may be sufficient to notice that it has been ob-
tained on various occasions in all quarters of Ireland, and in
almost every maritime county of England ; sometimes under
peculiar circumstances. Mr. T. C. Heysham, of Carlisle,
sent me notice in November, 1841, of a Forked-tailed Petrel
that was caught in a poke-net set for fish in the Solway Frith.
I obtained a bird that was sent alive to Leadenhall market,
but it was exhausted from want of food when brought to me,
and died the same evening. Some are occasionally found in
inland counties, at considerable distances from the sea, gene-
rally picked up dead or dying from starvation, having been
driven far away from their usual sources of food. Mr. T. C.
Kyton has recorded one taken near Shrewsbury, and now in
his own collection ; another was taken in Herefordshire; one
at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; several near London; one
near Saffron Walden; one at Bassingbourne, in Cambridge-
shire; one in Derbyshire. The last I have received notice
of was in November, 1842; this was one taken near Durham,
and is now in the possession of the Rev. A. Shafto. It is
included by M. Nilsson in his Fauna of Scandinavia.

In its habits, as far as observed in this country, it resem-
bles the Storm Petrel, breeding in sandy burrows, or holes

522 LARID&.

of rocks, and laying one white egg of a roundish oval form,
large for the size of the bird, measuring one inch four lines in
length, and eleven lines in breadth.

Mr. Audubon, who has enjoyed many opportunities of ob-
serving these swallow-like Petrels during his ornithological
researches in various. parts of North America, as well as on
his various voyages across the Atlantic, says, ‘‘ The species of
this genus with which I am acquainted, all ramble over the
seas, both by night and by day, until the breeding-season
commences; then they remain in their burrows, under rocks,
or in their fissures, until towards sunset, when they start off
in search of food, returning to their mates, or young, in the
morning, and feeding them then. When you pass close to
the rocks in which they are, you easily hear their shrill,
querulous notes; but the report of a gun silences them at
once, and induces those on the ledges to betake themselves
to their holes. The Forked-tailed Petrel emits its notes
night and day, and at not very long intervals, although it is
less noisy than Wilson’s Petrel. They resemble the sylla-
bles pewr-wit, pewr-wit. Its flight differs from that of the
other two species, it being performed in broader wheelings,
and with firmer flappings. It is more shy than the other
species, and when it wheels off after having approached the
stern of a ship, its wanderings are much more extended be-
fore it returns. I have never seen it fly close around a
vessel, as the others are in the habit of doing, especially at
the approach of night; nor do I think that it ever alights on
the rigging of ships, but spends the hours of darkness either
on the water, or on low rocks or islands. It also less fre-
quently alights on the water, or pats it with its feet, probably
on account of the shortness of its legs, although it frequently
allows them to hang down. In this it resembles the Storm
Petre], and Wilson’s Petrel has a similar habit during calm
weather. JI have seen all the three species immerse their

FORKED-TAILED PETREL. 523

head into the water to seize their food, and sometimes keep
it longer under than I had expected. The Forked-tailed
Petrel, like the other species, feeds chiefly on floating mol-
lusea, small fishes, crustacea, which they pick up among the
floating sea-weeds, and greasy substances which they occa-
sionally find around fishing-boats, or ships out at sea. When
seized in the hand, it ejects an oily fluid through the tubular
nostrils, and sometimes disgorges a quantity of food. I
could not prevail on any of those which I had caught to take
food.” It is common on the banks of Newfoundland, and
some parts of the coast of North America.

On the opposite side of the British Channel it has been
taken on the coasts of Holland, Belgium, and France.

The bill is black ; the irides dark brown ; the head, neck,
and back sooty black, the back rather the darkest in colour ;
wing-coverts rusty brown; the tertials tipped with white ;
upper tail-coverts white; primaries and tail-feathers black ;
the tail forked, the outer feathers being half an inch longer
than those in the middle; breast and belly sooty black ;
behind each thigh, and extending over the sides of the vent
and lateral under tail-coverts, an elongated patch of white ;
the vent and middle under tail-coverts sooty black.

The whole length of my bird seven inches and a quarter ;
from the anterior bend of the wing to the end six inches; the
length of the leg one inch. The sexes in plumage are alike.

524 LARIDE&.

NATATORES. LARIDE.

THE STORM PETREL.

Procellaria pelagica, Stormy Petrel, Penn. Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 208.
Mont, Ornith. Dict.

” ” ” a
a3 a Ae A Bewick, Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 263.
AS be A ay Fiem. Brit. An. p. 1365.
Thalassidroma ,, - Common Storm ,, Srxzy, Brit. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 533.
Procellaria ,, ee ese Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 285.
Thalassidroma ,, A Alege Goutp, Birds of Europe, pt. xi.
Procellaria ,, Pétrel tempéte, Tremm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. ii. p. 810.
Thalassidroma ,, Thalassidrome ,, is * », Vol. iv. p. 514,

Tue Srorm Perret, the smallest web-footed bird known,
and the last of our British Birds in the arrangement here
adopted, has so often been the subject of notice by naturalists
and writers generally, and even by poets, that little of novelty
remains to be told. A year seldom passes without some of
these birds being obtained on our shores, and it has happened
occasionally that they appear in large flocks. Thus Messrs.
C. and J. Paget, in their Sketch of the Natural History of
Yarmouth and its neighbourhood, mention, that in Novem-
ber, 1824, between two and three hundred were shot after

STORM PETREL. 525

seyere gales. Ten or twelve years ago Mr. Gould exhibited
twenty-four, in a large dish, at one of the evening meetings
of the Zoological Society. In March, 1825, one bird of this
species, while flying about over the Thames between the
bridges of Blackfriars and Westminster, was shot from a coal
barge. ‘These small birds are frequently driven by strong
winds to great distances inland. Mr. Bicheno has recorded
one taken near Newbury, in Berkshire, others have been
taken in Oxfordshire; three or four are noticed as having
been caught in the streets of the town of Coventry; and
three within a few miles of Birmingham. This species ap-
pears also to breed freely at many different places around us,
generally small islands; but is never observed to frequent
land except during the breeding-season. Among some other
notes recently referred to, Mr. D. W. Mitchell says, ‘the
Stormy Petrel also breeds at Scilly, and is, as far as I know,
confined to one locality, on the islet where the Thames
steamer ran ashore, in the extreme 8. W. of the group. It
is the latest layer among the sea-fowl; the first egg I took
was newly-dropped in the second week of June.” Mr.
Thompson mentions that this bird is at all times to be met
with on the coasts of Ireland, washed by the Atlantic, and
breeds on several of the islets ranging from north to south of
the western coast. Pennant found them in August, 1772,
on the rocks called Macdonald’s Table, off the north end of
the Isle of Skye, and conjectured they bred there. They
lurked under loose stones, but betrayed themselves by their
twittering noise. Mr. John Macgillivray, who visited the
Hebrides in July, 1840, says, ‘“‘ The Stormy Petrel is abund-
ant in St. Kilda. The island of Soa is the principal breed-
ing-place, where, as well as in several spots among the others
of the group, it nestles among débris, and in crevices of the
rocks. The bird sits very close upon the nest, from which
it will allow itself to be taken by the hand, vomiting on

being handled a quantity of pure oil, which is carefully pre-

526 LARID&.

served by the fowlers, and the bird allowed to escape. It is
only at sunset and about day-break that I have observed the
Stormy Petrel at sea, except during gloomy weather, save
once, while crossing the Minch, being then not far from one
of their breeding-places, at Dunvegan Head, in the Isle of
Skye.”

Mr. Scarth, when in Orkney, caught one on her nest in a
small hole, and preserved her alive for three months in a
cage, feeding her by smearing her breast with oil, which she
sucked from the feathers, drawing each feather singly between
her mandibles. Mr. Hewitson, who made an excursion to
Shetland in search of rarities for his work on the Eggs of
British Birds, gives an interesting account of the habits of
this species at Foula, Papa, and Oxna. On the 31st of
May these birds had not arrived on the breeding-ground,
or, to use the phrase of the fishermen, had not yet come up
from the sea. Some eggs were deposited as late as the
30th of June. Hach female lays but one, which is oval
and white, measuring one inch one line in length, by ten
lines in breadth. During the day the old birds remain
within their holes, and, when most other birds are gone
to rest, issue forth in great numbers, spreading themselves
far over the surface of the sea; the fishermen then meet
with them very numerously, and, though they had not pre-
viously seen one, are sure to be surrounded by them upon
throwing pieces of fish overboard. Mr. Dunn found these
birds plentiful on the small islands near St. Margaret’s Hope,
in Orkney, and among the small islands lying off Scalloway,
on the west side of the main land in Shetland ; and observes
that, though he had watched them for hours, he had never
seen one dive.

The Storm Petrel is included by M. Nilsson in his Fauna
of Scandinavia; it breeds on the Faroe islands and at Ice-
land. It roves over the greater part of the Atlantic, feeding
on small fishes, crustacea, and mollusca to be found about

STORM PETREL. 527

the extensive masses of sea-weed which float upon the surface
of the ocean. This bird will keep in company with a ship
for many days, sometimes for shelter, but also for the sake
of the various matters thrown overboard, as they are always
ready to stoop and pick bits of biscuit or meat. On ex-
amining the stomach of a Stormy Petrel, Mr. Couch found
about half an inch of a common tallow-candle, of a size so
disproportionate to the bill and throat of the bird, that it
seemed wonderful how it could have been able to swallow it.

These birds are supposed to be seen only before stormy
weather, and therefore not welcome visiters to sailors, who
call them the Devil’s birds, witches, and Mother Carey’s
chickens —the last name said to have been originally be-
stowed upon them by Captain Carteret’s sailors,* probably
from some celebrated ideal hag of that name. Their habit
of paddling along the surface obtained for them the name of
Petrel, from the Apostle Peter, who walked on the water.

Mr. Wm. Borrer, jun., sent me notice that he took from
rabbit-burrows in the Isle of Berhon, off Alderney, two speci-
mens of the Storm Petrel, each had one white egg in its nest.
M. Vieillot includes this species in his Birds of France.
Several museums in Switzerland possess specimens obtained
about the lakes of that country. M. Savi includes it in his
Birds of Italy; it has been found at Madeira; and Dr. A.
Smith brought specimens from South A frica.

The bill is black; the irides dark brown; head, neck,
back, wings, and tail, sooty black; outer edges of tertials
white; upper tail-coverts white; chin, throat, breast, belly,
vent, and under tail-coverts, sooty black; sides of the vent
white ; legs, toes, and membranes black. The whole length
of the bird not quite six inches; the wing, from the bend,
four inches and five-eighths. The young bird, till twelve-
months old, is not quite so dark in colour; edges of wing-

* See Jardine’s Wilson, vol. ii. p. 283; and Hawkesworth’s Voyages,
vol. i. p. 203.

528 LARID.

coverts rusty brown ; no white on the margins of the tertials
and less white at each side of the vent.

The final vignette represents an Englishman at Iceland in
the dress worn when collecting birds, taken from a drawing

lent me by Mr. W. Proctor of Durham.

LONDON : Printed by 8S. & J. Brenriey, WILson, & Fury, Bangor House, Shoe Lane

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