Title: Nests and Eggs of Familiar British Birds, Second Series - Described and Illustrated; with an Account of the Haunts and Habits of the Feathered Architects, and their Times and Modes of Building
Author: Adams, Henry Gardiner
Language: English
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BIRDS, SECOND SERIES***


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NESTS AND EGGS OF FAMILIAR BRITISH BIRDS,

Described and Illustrated; With an Account of the Haunts and Habits
of the Feathered Architects, and Their Times and Modes of Building;

SECOND SERIES.

by

H. G. ADAMS.

Author of "Favorite Song Birds," "Beautiful Butterflies,"
"Humming Birds," &c., &c.

With Eight Coloured Plates of Eggs,
Containing Thirty-Eight Different Species.



London:
Groombridge and Sons, 5, Paternoster Row.
M DCCC LVII.



INTRODUCTION.

WHAT IS AN EGG?


It may at first strike our young readers that this is a question very
easily answered; if they think so, let them try what sort of an answer
they can give to it, and if they break down in the definition, we will
endeavour to help them, as we are told in the old fable, Jupiter did
the waggoner; but it is best for young people to _try_, and, for that
matter, old people too; let them never believe that they _can't_ do a
thing--"where there's a will there's a way." Many a boy that will take
a deal of pains, and incur no inconsiderable risk of life and limb, to
climb up a tree after a bird's nest, finds it too much trouble to read
and learn about the habits of the creature he is thus ready to deprive
of its warm comfortable home and beautiful eggs. He cannot tell you, if
you ask him, of what the nest is composed, nor how, nor when it was
built, much less can he answer the question which we have just put to
our readers,--

WHAT IS AN EGG?

"Well," we hear some one say, "an Egg is a thing of an oval shape,
large or small, white or coloured and speckled, as the case may be; it
has a shell which breaks if you knock it, because it is brittle; and
inside is a yellow substance called the yolk, surrounded by a white,
clear liquid; if you boil it for a little time it becomes _set_, so
that you can take it up in a spoon, and in this state it is good to
eat. Oh! very good, I like an egg, especially for breakfast, with a
little salt; and then eggs, and other things with them, make custards,
and pancakes, and puddings, and all sorts of nice things; and then I
recollect some such funny '_Stanzas to an Egg by a Spoon_,' which begin,

    'Pledge of a feathered pair's affection,
      Kidnapped in thy downy nest,
    Soon for my breakfast--sad reflection!
      Must thou in yon pot be drest.'"

Well, never mind the rest. Now listen to our definition of an Egg. The
word itself, we may observe first of all, is of Saxon origin; that this
is how the ancient dwellers on our island used to write it aeg, you may
call it _aeg_ or _oeg_, which you like. Johnson says the term means,
"That which is laid by feathered and some other animals, from which
their young is produced;" it is also, we are told by the same
authority, "the spawn or sperm of other creatures," as fish, which
are said, you know, not to lay eggs, but to _spawn_. Another
dictionary-maker defines it to be "the _ovum_ of birds," giving us here
the Latin for egg, hence that peculiar shape is called _oval_, and the
science of eggs is sometimes termed


OVOLOGY.

As we have told you in the first volume of this series, _Oology_ is
another term for this science, which has occupied the attention of many
learned men, who have gone deeper into Eggs than ever you or I shall,
and told us such strange things about them, as would scarcely be
believed by the very hens that laid them. Little does the happy mother
think, when she goes cackling about the yard, proclaiming the event,
that she has produced such a wonderful object. It looks a simple affair
enough, one might make a thing very like it with a piece of chalk;
touch it, roll it about; boil it, eat it, or crack it, and let the
inside flow out; there's the yellow, and there's the white; there's
nothing very particular in that, all eggs are so. Well, who made them
so? and of what _are_ they made? and what reason is there for this
peculiar arrangement of the different parts of an Egg? and how is it
that, under certain circumstances, so complete a change should take
place in the nature of its contents--that the fluids should be
gradually absorbed into a solid body, and that, by and by, at the end
of a period which can be calculated to a nicety, the shell should be
burst open, and there should come forth a living creature? Truly this
_is_ wonderful; but we are surrounded by wonders, and only heed them
not because they are so common.

    _Common_ is the vital air,
      _Common_ is the azure sky,
    _Common_ flowers are everywhere,
      _Common_ stars shine out on high:
    Music of the forest bird,
      Cometh without stint or measure,
    Friendly smile and loving word,
      _Common_ are as joy and pleasure;
    Why from _common_ things then turn,
    And for the _uncommon_ yearn?

But about this common thing, an Egg? It is the germ or seed, so to
speak, of animal life; in it is contained all that is necessary for the
formation of the perfect living creature; in that little oval case lie
snugly packed up, bones, and muscles, and sinews, and all the delicate
parts, organs, as they would be called, from a Greek word signifying an
instrument, thus the tongue is an organ of speech, the eye of sight,
and so on. But all these organs are in an _undeveloped_ state, as the
flower is in the bud; develope is a French word, and signifies to
unroll, or unfold. The animal is there in _embryo_; this again is
Greek, and means a thing unperfected, or unfinished, so the poet
Thompson says:--

            "While the promised fruit
    Lies yet a little _embryo_ unperceived,
    Within its crimson folds."

And so with closer reference to our subject, we might say,

            While the promised bird
    Lies yet a little _embryo_ unperceived,
    Within its oval shell.

Dr. Harvey, who made that great discovery, the circulation of the
blood, uttered a truth when he said _omne animal ex ovo_, every animal
is born of an egg, for although some animals are _oviparous_, and
others _viviparous_,--the two words come from _ovum_ egg, _vivum_ life,
and _pario_ to bring forth--yet may the first stage of all animal life
be compared to an Egg. From the smallest insect up to the most huge and
unwieldy creature that swims in the deep sea, or walks upon the land.
All were at one time alike, mere specks, surrounded by fluid matter,
which afforded the material for growth and nourishment, and enclosed in
some kind of a case, which if not exactly like an egg shell, answers
the same purpose of protection from injury.

What a vast difference is there between the bright-winged insect, whose
history we traced in our volume on Butterflies, and the bird with downy
plumage and the voice of melody; between that again and the great
crocodile, in his scaly coat of mail; the mighty boa constrictor, king
of serpents; or that tyrant of the deep, the fierce voracious shark;
and yet all these come from Eggs, very similar in form, and precisely
so in their nature and internal construction. Look too at the
difference in size, between the egg of the Humming Bird, no bigger than
a pea, and that of the Ostrich, as large as a man's head nearly, or
bigger still that of the Epyornis, of which fossil remains have been
found in Madagascar, the contents of which must have been equal to six
ostrichs', or one hundred and forty-eight common hens' eggs, that is
about seventeen English pints; and yet in all these the germ, or as it
would be called, the vital principle, that is, the principle of life,
is but a tiny speck, or circle, which is attached to the membrane that
surrounds the yellow portion, or yolk; it is from this that the animal
in embryo derives nourishment, and the size of it, and consequently of
the whole egg, is in proportion to the quantity that is required to
sustain life, until the protection of the shell is no longer necessary.
There is only so much food stored up as the bird, or reptile, or
whatever it may be, requires before it is strong enough to make an
opening in its prison, and come forth to provide for itself, or be fed
by the parent. Some creatures that eventually attain a large size are
born, or _hatched_, as it is termed, comparatively small; thus the size
of the egg is not always in proportion to that of the animal which lays
it; the crocodile's egg, for instance, is but little larger than that
of the common fowl; the young comes forth like a small lizard, about
two or three inches long, takes to the water at once, and begins to
catch insects on its own account; its mother may be twenty or thirty
feet in length. Most creatures that produce eggs small in proportion to
their size lay a great many; this is especially the case with fish,
whose _spawn_ must be numbered by millions: it has been calculated that
if the young of a single pair of herrings were suffered to breed
undisturbed, they would in twenty years together make up a bulk six
times the size of the earth; but so many creatures feed upon this
spawn, that few of the eggs of which it is composed ever come to young
fish, that is comparatively few, for the vast shoals which every year
visit our shores, for the purpose of depositing their spawn in shallow
water, shew that immense numbers must escape the dangers to which they
are exposed. There are some fish of the fierce and rapacious kind, such
as the Ray, the Dog-fish, and the Shark, which attain a considerable
size before they lose the protection of the egg-shell, which is of a
very peculiar shape and construction, being of a leathery texture,
flat, and four-cornered, with a long curling string-like projection
from each corner; frequenters of the coast, to whom they are very
familiar objects, being often cast up on the beach, call them Mermaid's
purses, and Fairy-purses, while the clustered Eggs of the Cuttle-fish
they term Sea Grapes.

All eggs require warmth to hatch them; the fishes know this, not as we
know it, because we have read, or been told so, and can _reason_ upon
causes and consequences, and so understand _why_, but they know it
_instinctively_; they possess, in common with all unreasoning
creatures, what we call _instinct_, that is, a natural impulse to do in
the right way, and at the proper time, whatever may be necessary for
the maintenance of that state of existence in which God has placed
them; so instinct directs the fishes when the time for spawning has
arrived, to leave the deep waters, where they generally remain safe
from the pursuit of man, for the shores, where the warmth of the sun
can reach the eggs, and awaken the principle of life within them. So
instinct teaches the bird to leave its winter home, in some far
southern country, and fly hundreds of miles across land and ocean, to
reach a spot suitable for the purpose of breeding and rearing its
young; to collect the materials and to build its nest, and after the
eggs are laid, to sit patiently on them the appointed time; to select
the food proper for those little gaping bills, and to tend the
fledglings carefully, until they are able to fly and provide for
themselves, and then, when their wings are strong enough for the
journey, and their food begins to get scarce, away they go back to the
south of Europe, or Africa, straight as an arrow, and the young ones,
which have never flown that way before, seem to know it as well as
those which have been backwards and forwards, often and often.

But the egg, what of that? Can we describe its nature and construction
in a way sufficiently clear for our readers to understand? Let us
try:--it is like a series of cases or envelopes, one within the other;
the outer one only, which is the last formed, being hard and unelastic,
that is, it will not stretch or change its shape. Like the shells of
some fish, and other testaceous animals, it is composed of carbonate of
lime, which the animal has the power of secreting, as it is called,
from its food. Hens sometimes lay soft eggs, without a shell; this
shews a deficiency of the secreting power, or a want of the necessary
material, and may generally be remedied by mixing some chalk with the
food, or scattering it about the yard. Next to the shell is a skin
called the _membrana putaminis_, that means the membrane or skin of the
shell; it has also a Greek name--_chorian_; it is divided into two
layers, which separate at the larger end, and leave a space called the
_vesicula aëris_, that is, air vesicle, or little bladder; this
contains the air necessary for the chick to breathe before it chips the
shell. Enclosed in this membrane is the _albumen_, or white fluid,
sometimes called the _glair_, from the Latin _glarea_; in the same
language _albus_ means white; and our readers who live in Albion, so
called from her chalky cliffs, ought to see at once from whence we
derive the word _albumen_; the little chords by which this bag of fluid
is suspended are called _chalaza_; this word comes from a Greek root,
and has reference to the connection between the suspending chords and
the germ, or spot, in which is the vital principle.

We now come to what may be called the provision bag, because it
encloses the yolk, which serves as food for the animal in embryo; it is
called _membrana vitelli_, or the skin of life. Thus our examination of
the egg has brought to view the three great necessities of all
existence--_protection_, the shell and albumen; _nutrition_ or food,
the yolk; and the _vital principle_, to understand the nature of which
has puzzled the greatest philosophers that the world ever saw. It is
said in the Scriptures that God breathed into man the breath of life,
but what this may be we can none of us tell; it is given to us and we
_live_, it is taken away from us and we _die_; and so do all God's
creatures, which by Him, and Him alone, live, and move, and have their
being. Man can do many wonderful things, but he has not yet been, nor
will he ever be, able to make an egg, much less to produce a chick from
it.

Let us now fancy that we are looking upon one of these strange little
elongated globes, and that instead of being _opaque_, that is,
dark--not clear, it is transparent, so that we can see into it, and
observe the changes which are taking place there. The mother bird has
been sitting on it for, say twelve hours, and the warmth of her body
has called into action the principle of growth, or of vitality; the
little spot and ring in the centre of the yolk have become somewhat
enlarged and changed in form; they are no longer round, but the outline
is irregular, shewing a tendency to shoot or spread out on all sides.
Four hours later shews them yet more enlarged, and getting into an oval
shape, with a distinct, though somewhat broken line down the centre.
When the _incubation_ has lasted thirty-six hours, (for meaning of this
word, see the first series of "Nests and Eggs,") there is a still
greater increase in the germ, and a spreading of its mottled margin
over a portion of the yolk; if at this stage of growth we examine it
through a magnifying glass, we shall see a little body like some
curious kind of caterpillar, and veins shaped like stags' horns
branching out of it in every direction. On the fourth day the chick is
a more strange-looking object still, with great projecting eyes with
rings round them, like spectacles, and what appears to be a very blunt
sort of a snout or muzzle; the whole head, and there is not much else,
reminds one of that of a serpent, it might be the Cobra di Capello, or
the Spectacle Snake, seen through a diminishing glass. But we cannot
give a proper description of it, so we have called in the aid of our
artist, who has furnished us, on the next page, with portraits of the
interesting creature at four different stages of its growth. In the
last we get a side view, and begin to fancy we discover some
resemblance to a baby-fowl, although a very hideous one.

  [Illustration: 36 hours.

  4 days.

  6 days.

  10 days.]

All this time a great change has been going on in the whole interior of
the egg; the chick has, of course greatly increased, and the red veins
have become more numerous, and spread over the entire surface; the yolk
is scarcely distinguishable from the other portions. Now, too, the
bones of the chick have begun to form, and we clearly perceive the
projection of the wings and the stump of the tail, while the pupil of
the eye is quite clear and distinct. Larger and larger the creature
grows, until it fills all the space, and has to be doubled up in a very
curious manner, with the feet and the head brought together, and the
bill close to the shell, ready to be used as the instrument of
liberation. Many persons suppose that the parent bird chips the shell,
but this is not so, it is done by the little creature within, which has
first to make its way through a thick membrane, or skin; this it does
on the twenty-first day of incubation; we are speaking now of the
common fowl, the periods in different species of birds vary
considerably, although the process of growth in all is the same. One
wonders how, with its soft bill, the little creature can make its way
through the tough skin, and hard, though brittle shell; but it must be
remembered that the elastic skin is stretched to its greatest extent,
and when in this state, a slight prick will make a large opening; and
the shell, too, is no doubt, by the pressure from within, rendered less
capable of resisting the stroke, slight though it be, of the bill of
the prisoner, which does sometimes fail to make its escape, and dies in
confinement, if not released by some friendly hand from without.

As if to assist in the work of opening a passage to the light and air,
there is found on the tip of the chick's bill a small horny scale,
having at the centre a hard and sharp projecting point, which, from the
position of the head, is brought into direct and constant contact with
the inner surface of the shell; this scale soon loosens and comes away
after the chick is hatched, there is then no further use for it. The
preceding figure represents the chick as it lies closely folded up on
the twenty-first day, just previous to its deliverance from bondage.

We have now finished our account of this wonderful process, and may say
in the words of a recent writer, "Dull indeed of soul must the man be,
(or boy either,) in whom an egg does not inspire emotions of awe and
admiration, wonder and worship. The circle of life is from the adult
(fully-grown animal,) to the egg. This is the vital round--the
beginning and the ending--the ending and the beginning. The wheel goes
round continually, life kindling sparks of life; and what is called
death is the worn-out forms becoming cold and decaying away."


HOW TO PRESERVE EGGS FOR THE CABINET.

For this purpose eggs which are newly laid should always be chosen, as
any decomposition of the contents will, probably, cause a
discolouration of the shell. Make a hole at the smaller end, with an
awl, or some other pointed instrument, and another at the larger end,
which should be as small as possible, merely a pin hole will do; to
this latter the mouth must be applied to blow out the contents. If the
yolk does not come out readily, get a cup full of water, and immersing
the sharp end into it, put your mouth to the blunt end, and suck up
some of the water into the shell, then shake it about well, and blow it
out again; repeat this operation two or three times, if necessary. If
the shell has got soiled in any way, wash it well in strong lather,
using a nail-brush if the stains do not come off readily, but great
care must be taken in the handling of so brittle and fragile an
article. Now as the membrane which lines the shell would be likely to
decompose, and render it offensive, if not injure its beauty, it is
best to wash the inside with a solution of the bichloride of mercury,
commonly called corrosive sublimate, in spirits of wine; this solution
should be prepared by a chemist, and used with great caution, as it is
extremely poisonous. Pour it into a wineglass, and holding the egg
firmly, yet tenderly, with the finger and thumb, which should not touch
the liquid, put the smaller end therein; then apply the mouth, as
previously directed, to the larger end, and suck up gently; cease doing
so as soon as you are aware, by a cold sensation in the finger and
thumb, that the liquid has entered the shell, which then take up by the
two ends, so as to stop the orifice, and shake it well, then blow the
solution back into the glass, taking care to wash the lips or the
fingers if it comes in contact with either of them. The Oological
specimen will soon dry, and is now ready for the cabinet. To render it
more glossy and brilliant, it may have a coat of mastic varnish, put on
thinly with a camel-hair brush, or, if the egg be of a blue or green
tint, as many are, a solution of very pure white gum arabic is best, as
the varnish is apt to injure those delicate colours.

As to the formation of the cabinet, and arrangement of the eggs
therein, directions are scarcely necessary; this must depend very much
upon the means and conveniences, as well as the taste of the collector.
Shallow drawers with divisions sufficiently broad for the names of the
specimens to be written or pasted along the tops, are perhaps best.
Small pill-boxes, which may have the names on the lids, are not bad
receptacles, and the cost of a few dozens of these is not much; but
above all things let the arrangements be carried out with neatness and
order; do not let the specimens be huddled together, but classified,
and placed so that the hand may be laid upon any one which may be
required. Duplicates for exchanging with other collectors, or replacing
any which may be broken, may be put carefully in a drawer by
themselves, their presence with the others will only cause unnecessary
confusion and trouble.

Care should be taken not to name a specimen positively, if there is any
doubt of its identity, it may be named with a query; and in the
note-book, which every collector should keep, should be entered all the
circumstances which weigh for or against the correctness of the
designation given to it. This note-book ought to be a complete record
of the time and place of acquisition of every specimen included in the
collection, and of all that is curious or interesting connected with
it. If nests as well as eggs are preserved, of course drawers with
divisions are the very best receptacles; they occupy a great deal of
space, and, except in some cases where the structure is peculiarly neat
or curious, it is perhaps scarcely worth while to take and preserve
them, especially as doing so often involves a cruel spoliation of the
feathered architects, whose carefully chosen situations for building
are well described by Dr. Bidlake, in his "Walks in a Forest."

    "The cavern-loving Wren sequester'd seeks
    The verdant shelter of the hollow stump;
    And with congenial moss, harmless deceit,
    Constructs a safe abode. On topmost boughs
    The glossy Raven, and the hoarse-voiced Crow,
    Rock'd by the storm, erect their airy nests.
    The Ouzel, lone frequenter of the grove
    Of fragrant pines, in solemn depths of shade
    Finds rest, or 'mid the holly's shining leaves;
    A simple bush, the piping Thrush contents,
    Though in the woodland concert he aloft
    Trills from his spotted throat a powerful strain,
    And scorns the humble choir. The Lark too asks
    A lowly dwelling hid beneath the turf,
    A hollow trodden by the sinking hoof:
    Songster of heaven! who to the sun such lays
    Pours forth as earth ne'er owns. Within the hedge
    The Sparrow lays her sky-blue eggs. The barn,
    With eaves o'er-pendent, holds the chattering tribe.
    Secret the Linnet seeks the tangled copse.
    The White Owls seek some ruin'd antique wall,
    Fearless of rapine; or in hollow trees,
    Which age has cavern'd, safely courts repose.
    The thievish Pie, in twofold colours clad,
    Roofs o'er her curious nest with firm wreath'd twigs,
    And side-long forms her cautious door; she dreads
    The talon'd Kite, or pouncing Hawk, savage
    Herself, with craft suspicion ever dwells."



FACTS AND ANECDOTES OF NESTS AND EGGS.


EASTER EGGS.

During the fifteen days after Easter, which constitute the Russian
carnival, the people of that country supply themselves with eggs,
variously coloured, which they send or give to one another as presents;
and when they meet during this time they salute with the words, "Christ
is risen;" to which the other having answered "He is certainly risen,"
they kiss one another. He that salutes first is obliged to present the
other with an egg; no one, of whatever rank or sex, being allowed to
refuse either the egg or the kiss. This custom prevails in many
Catholic countries; the eggs, it appears, being considered as an emblem
of the resurrection.


EGGS USED AS COIN.

The want of any copper coin in Peru has given rise to a curious
practice of which Lieutenant Maw was informed at Truxillo. A person
coming to the market of that city, and not wishing to spend a real upon
every article, purchases a real's worth of eggs, with which he or she
proceeds to market; buying an egg's worth of vegetables from one, and
so on from others, till all that was wanted has been obtained. The eggs
are taken as current payment, and finally purchased themselves by those
who require them for use.


ILLUMINATED NESTS.

The birds that build hanging nests are at Cape Cormorin numerous. At
night each of their little habitations is lighted up, as if to see
company. The sagacious little bird fastens a bit of clay to the top of
the nest, and then picks up a firefly, and sticks it on the clay to
illuminate the dwelling, which consists of two rooms. Sometimes there
are three or four fire-flies, and their blaze of light in the little
cell dazzles the eyes of the bats, which often kill the young of these
birds.--_Dr. Buchanan._


AN EGG WITHIN AN EGG.

A few years since, M. Seguin submitted to the Academy of Sciences at
Paris, a hen's egg of extraordinary size, in which was a second egg.
Its dimensions were eighty-eight millimetres by fifty-nine, or nearly
three inches and a half by two and a quarter. More recently, in 1855,
there appeared in an English scientific journal, an account of a
similar oological curiosity, produced in Scotland, in the case of a
turkey's egg.


A BOY REPROVED BY A BIRD.

A correspondent of "The Youths' Instructor" relates the following
anecdote, to which our young readers are earnestly requested to pay
especial attention:--"When quite young, in my boyish days, I had
watched some sparrows carrying materials to build their nests, (in the
usual season,) under the eaves of a cottage adjoining our own; and
although strict orders had been issued that none of us should climb up
to the roofs of the houses, yet birds' eggs formed a temptation too
powerful to be easily resisted, and self-gratification was considered
rather than obedience. A favourable opportunity presenting itself, the
roof of the house was ascended, and not only was the nest pillaged, but
seized and carried away. It was soon stripped of all its unnecessary
appendages, that it might appear as neat as possible. Amongst the
_externals_ thus removed, was a piece of paper, which had been a page
of one of Dr. Watts's hymn-books; and which, thrown away, had been
taken by the poor bird for the purpose of strengthening the nest, or
increasing its warmth. A word or two caught my eye, and I unfolded the
paper. Need I say that, boy as I was, I read these verses with, to say
the least, _curious_ feelings.

    "Why should I deprive my neighbour
      Of his goods against his will?
    Hands were made for honest labour;
      Not to plunder nor to steal.

    Guard my heart, O God of heaven,
      Lest I covet what's not mine;
    Lest I take what is not given,
      Guard my hands and heart from sin."



NESTS AND EGGS OF FAMILIAR BRITISH BIRDS.

SECOND SERIES.



CROSSBILL.

EUROPEAN OR COMMON CROSSBILL. SHELL OR SHIELD-APPLE.

FIGURE 1.

Of those curious birds called Crossbills, from the peculiar
construction of the bills, the points of which cross each other, there
are three species known in this country, but two of them, namely, the
Parrot and White-winged Crossbills, are very rare, only a few specimens
having been taken here. The more common kind is a migratory bird,
coming in large flocks at very irregular intervals, and visiting more
especially those parts of the country where there are woods and
plantations of fir and pine, of the seeds of which they are very fond,
extracting them with great dexterity from between the scales of the
cones; for this operation, the projecting points of the bill appear to
be well adapted, as well as for picking out the apple-pips, as they are
called, and kernels of other fruits; hence the name shell-apple given
to the bird, which was a not uncommon visitor to the English orchards
in former times; thus in a curious old record we are told that "In the
yeere 1593 was a greate and exceeding yeere of apples; and there were
greate plenty of strang birds, that shewed themselves at the tyme the
apples were full rype, who fedd uppon the kernells onely of those
apples, and haveing a bill with one beake wrythinge over the other,
which would presently bore a greate hole in the apple, and make way to
the kernells; they were of the bignesse of a bullfinch, the henne right
like the henne of the bullfinch in coulour; the cocke a very glorious
bird, in a manner al redde or yellowe on the brest, backe, and head."

We would not advise our young readers to take the above as a lesson in
spelling, although it is a very lively and faithful picture of the
Crossbill, great flocks of which were English visitants in 1254, 1593,
and 1791, when a bird-catcher in Bath caught one hundred pairs, which
he sold for five shillings each; again in 1806, 1828 and 9, and 1835;
ever since which time they have generally remained with us in greater
or lesser numbers, having been probably induced to do so by the greater
abundance of fir plantations. They are very lively birds, chattering
and making a shrill noise while engaged in their favourite occupation
of picking out seeds; they swing about on the branches of the trees
often head downwards, and are very nimble and graceful in their
movements, and so fearless of the approach of man, that they can
frequently be taken with a hand-net, or knocked down with a stick.

That the Crossbill sometimes breeds in this country there cannot be a
doubt, but it does this only as an exception to the general rule; the
nest, which has been found at various seasons, has been described as of
a loose texture, not unlike that of the Common Greenfinch, though not
nearly so well nor so carefully built; the eggs also are not unlike
those of that bird but larger. In Norway and Sweden, where the bird
habitually breeds, the nest is built in the uppermost branches of the
pines and firs; it is composed of grass, moss, and the finer portions
of these trees; one has been found here on an apple tree, and another
on a fir, and another, near Dartford, in Kent, on the lowest fork of a
pine; this was composed of dry twigs, but no eggs were laid in it, the
curiosity of frequent observers having driven the bird away.

Although we have placed this among our _familiar_ British Birds, the
eggs to English collectors are rare and difficult of attainment, and
should be prized accordingly. The scientific name given to the species
is _Loxia curvirostra_, both the terms having reference to the shape of
the beak, the first coming from the Greek _loxos_, curved, and the
latter from the Latin _curvus_, curved or bent, and _rostra_, the beak.
By some naturalists _EuropÊa_ is the generic term, and this so closely
resembles the English name as to require no explanation.


STARLING.

COMMON STARLING, OR STARE.

FIGURE 2.

This handsome and well-known bird is sometimes called, when young, the
Solitary Thrush. Its scientific name is _Sturnus vulgaris_, which is
simply the Latin for the Common Starling. It may be met with in all
parts of Britain, even in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, where it
sometimes breeds in rocky caves, and fissures, and holes in the turf.
More towards the south its nest is found in hollow trees, cavities in
chalk-pits, sandy banks and old buildings; it is large and rudely
fashioned of straw, roots, dry grass, and other vegetable fibres, with
frequently a lining of hair and feathers; the eggs, from four to six in
number, are of a delicate greenish blue colour, sometimes altogether
plain, but frequently spotted with black; they are of a longish oval
shape.

"Nidification," as Mr. Morris tells us, in his beautiful work on
British Birds, "commences about the beginning or middle of April." This
word, my readers should remember, comes from the Latin _nidus_, a nest.

Incubation lasts about sixteen days; _incubatio_, as we have already
explained in the first series of "Nests and Eggs," is the Latin for to
lie or sit upon. These are words we shall often have to use, and
therefore we think it well to explain their meaning here, lest they
should have escaped the memory of some who take this volume in hand.

The Starling is gregarious and insectivorous, that is, it goes in
flocks and feeds on insects; chiefly on insects, we should say, but not
altogether, for it likes also worms, snails, grain, fruit, and seeds of
various kinds, so that it may be almost called omnivorous, eating all
things. A bold lively bird, something like the Magpie in its habits,
given to picking and stealing when it can get a chance; it is,
nevertheless, a general favourite, on account of its beauty and
teachability, if we may use such a word. It has naturally a low musical
note, which is uttered by both male and female, although least by the
latter, and may be taught to articulate many words, so that it is often
kept in confinement, where, like the poor bird in Sterne's "Sentimental
Journey," we may fancy we hear it exclaiming in piteous tones, "I can't
get out!"


CHOUGH.

CORNISH CHOUGH. RED-LEGGED, MARKET-JEW, OR HERMIT-CROW. RED-LEGGED
JACKDAW. GESNER'S WOOD-CROW. CORNISH, CHAUK, OR CLIFF-DAW. CORNWALL
KAE, OR KILLEGREW.

FIGURE 3.

Plenty of names here for one bird. Oh, stay, here's another--Long-billed
Chough; not to count the scientific names, the most common of which is
_Corvus graculus_, that is a Chough Crow, or a Crow Chough, whichever
may be preferred. Some naturalists use a longer specific name, and say
_Pyrrhocorax_, which comes from the Greek _pyrrhos_, red, and _Corax_,
a Crow. A fine handsome fellow is this, with his sable plumes, over
which shimmers a steely blue reflection; his bright eye, and long red
bill, and legs of the same colour; the very handsomest of the Crow
family, and with us the rarest, although, from all that we can read and
learn, it was formerly by no means uncommon, especially in Cornwall, as
its name imports. It now occasionally occurs in small flocks in various
parts of Great Britain, generally near the coast, where it builds amid
the cliffs a rude nest of sticks lined with wool and hair; the eggs are
generally five in number, of a dull white colour, spotted with grey and
light brown, most thickly at the larger end. Sometimes the nest is
found in old church or other towers, especially such as are in a
ruinous condition.

The Chough feeds chiefly on grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects,
in search of which, says Mr. Morris, it will follow the plough like the
Rooks; it will also eat the smaller kinds of crustacea, or shell-fish,
and grain and berries. Now and then it indulges, like the Common Crow,
in a feast of carrion. It has a shrill note something like that of the
Jackdaw; it also chatters, and steals, and talks, as well as a
Starling, in short is a most accomplished feathered performer. One of
its favourite haunts is, or used to be, Shakspere's cliff at Dover, and
our great poet describing that grand and sublime scene, alludes to the
bird.--

            "Here's the place:--stand still. How fearful
    And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low!
    The crows and choughs that wing the midway air,
    Show scarce so large as beetles."


RAVEN.

CORBIE. CORBIE CROW. GREAT CORBIE CROW.

FIGURE 4.

Scientific name, _Corvus corax_, the first being the Latin, and the
second Greek, for a Crow. This is the largest, as it is also one of the
best known of the Crow tribe or family. It is found in nearly all parts
of the world--in the coldest as well as the hottest climates--amid the
wild mountainous regions of everlasting snow, in the depths of the
gloomiest forests, and on the wide prairies and sandy plains, its
hoarse cry may be heard; as well as on the lonely island, whose shores
are lashed by the foaming waves of the mighty ocean, and seldom or ever
visited by the prow of the merchant or other vessel.

A bold familiar bird is the Raven, with jet black plumes, and a large
powerful bill, fitted for tearing to pieces the flesh of animals on
which it often feeds; and a deep hollow voice, that grates harshly upon
the ear; and strong feet armed with sharp talons; and wings that spread
out to a great extent, and with regular and well-timed beats, _flap_,
_flap_, _flap_, winnow the air, and support the bird in its long flight
over land and sea; while the broad tail, now elevated and now
depressed, now turned this way and now that, gives to the heavy body
the desired direction. "_Croak!_" one hears the sound, and scarcely
knows whether it comes from the air above or the earth beneath; but
presently the sunshine is obscured by a black shadow, and swoop! down
comes the bird of ill omen, as people have generally agreed to consider
it, down upon the sick sheep, or any other weak and defenceless
creature, that may be within the compass of its keen sight, and
commences picking out the eyes of the animal, reminding us of the
punishment threatened by the Lord against disobedient children, as
mentioned in Proverbs, and paraphrased in Dr. Watts' familiar lines:--

    "Have you not heard what dreadful plagues
      Are threatened by the Lord,
    To him that breaks his father's law,
      Or mocks his mother's word.
    What heavy guilt upon him lies,
      How cursed is his name,
    The Ravens shall pick out his eyes,
      And Eagles eat the same."

Then again, as we see the strong-winged bird sweep far away over the
wide sea, we think of the time when the waters covered the face of the
whole earth, and "Noah sent forth a Raven, which went to and fro until
the waters were dried up." Or, if in some scene of wild sublimity, some
valley hemmed in by lofty mountains, through which a stream goes
winding silently, we are startled by that black shadow and harsh
grating note, we fancy ourselves by the brook Chereth, where the Ravens
brought bread and flesh, morning and evening, to the prophet Elisha,
being commanded to do so by God, who, as we are told in Job, "provideth
for the Raven his food;" and in Psalms, "heareth the young Ravens which
cry."

In nearly all parts of Great Britain these birds are found, they were
formerly more abundant than they are at present, gamekeepers and others
having long waged war against them, on account of their real or
supposed propensity to destroy the young hares, partridges, pheasants,
etc.

In the northern and western parts of Scotland, and in some of the
Scottish Isles they are numerous. They make large nests composed of
sticks, cemented together with mud, and lined with roots, wool, fur,
and such other soft materials as come most readily to hand, or we
should rather say, to beak and claw; they are said sometimes to rob the
sheep's backs. Their building-places are cliffs and precipices, church
towers, caves and rocky fissures, and the clefts between the forked
branches of tall trees. The eggs are from four to six in number, of a
pale olive green, more or less blotched and spotted with greenish brown
and grey. They are early builders, sometimes commencing in January; the
eggs, says Mr. Morris, have been taken in the middle of February.
Incubation lasts twenty days; both male and female sit on the eggs, in
defence of which and their young, they will fight desperately, driving
off the hawks, and even eagles and vultures.

The Raven is known to live to a great age, often when in a domesticated
state, seeing out two or three generations of a family; it is one of
those birds which possess the power of imitating the human voice, and
many anecdotes are told of its proficiency in this respect. It is a
very sagacious bird, indeed so cunning that it has been thought by
ignorant persons, to know more than it ought, and to be in league with
witches and other "uncanny" people. Constantly do we find its cry
alluded to by both ancient and modern poets, as ominous of death.

    "The Raven is a dreaded bird,
    The stoutest quail when his voice is heard,
    For when, 'tis said, his dismal cry
    Rends thrice the tranquil azure sky,
            'Tis the token,
            Surely spoken,
    That ravenous death is hovering nigh."


CARRION CROW.

GOR. GORE, OR FLESH CROW. BLACK NEB. HOODY BRAN.

FIGURE 5.

Everybody knows the Common Crow that goes _caw-cawing_ over the fields
through the long summer day, and hunts in the freshly-turned furrows
for grubs and wire-worms, and settles down upon the marshes where the
white flocks are feeding, dotting them here and there with great black
spots, as though some literary giant had taken too much ink in his pen,
and scattered it out over the landscape before he began to write. Oh
yes, everybody knows the familiar Crow, called by scientific people
_Corvus corone_, Latin and Greek again for the same thing--a Crow!
Black and all black is he, a kind of Raven in miniature, closely
resembling that bird in his habits as well as appearance. A foul
feeder, delighting in putrid carcasses, and all kinds of meat that is
not merely a "_little_ touched," but "very far gone" indeed. The
shepherd does not like him, neither does the gamekeeper, neither does
the farmer, although we are inclined to think that the dislike of the
latter is owing to an unfounded prejudice; true it is that our friend
_Corvus_ does sometimes eat grain, but he prefers animal food, and
oftener feeds on worms and other grain-destroyers. If you wish to find
his nest, you must climb into the tall elm tree, or far up the face of
the chalky cliff; it is made of sticks, cemented together with clay,
and lined with roots, straw, wool, moss, or any soft substance which
can be had. If in a tree, it is usually placed among the topmost
branches, or else on a bough near to the trunk, so as to be well
sheltered and hidden from view. The eggs, from four to six in number,
are of a pale bluish green or grey, speckled, some very thickly, with
light brown and deep grey.

The Crows, like the Ravens, pair for life; the work of building is
shared by both birds, and generally commences about the end of
February, or beginning of March. There is a variety of this species
which is almost wholly white, and this is the case also with the Raven.
Harrison Ainsworth has written a spirited song on the Carrion Crow, of
which this is the first verse:--

    "The Carrion Crow is a sexton bold,
    He raketh the dead from out the mould;
    He delveth the ground like a miser old
    Stealthily hiding his store of gold.
                        _Caw! Caw!_
    The Carrion Crow hath a coat of black,
    Silky and sleek, like a priest's, on his back;
    Like a lawyer he grubbeth, no matter what way,
    The fouler the offal the richer the prey.
                _Caw! Caw! the Carrion Crow!_
                _Dig! Dig! in the ground below!_"


HOODED CROW.

ROYSTON. GREY, GREY-BACKED, DUN, BUNTING, HEEDY, OR SCARE-CROW. HOODY.

FIGURE 6.

The Hooded Crow, so called, most probably, on account of the distinct
black covering of the head and neck, is not a very common bird in
England generally, although it may often be found in certain
localities, and at certain seasons, for it is partly migratory,
frequenting the southern parts of the island only in winter, usually
from October to April. In the north of Scotland, and the Hebrides and
other islands, they are always to be found, and in great numbers. In
its habits the Hooded Crow resembles the common kind, except that it is
more of a coast bird, seldom being found far from the sea-shore, or the
banks of estuaries, or tidal rivers.

Its nest is generally placed on tall trees, or the clefts and chasms of
rocks and hill sides. Mr. Morris describes it as composed of sticks,
roots, stalks, or heather, lined with wool and hair. The eggs are from
four to six in number, of a green tint, mottled over with greenish
brown; some have been found of a yellowish tinge, or with dashes and
streaks of yellow, others of a uniform dull dark green, with but few
spots or variations of any kind.

It is the opinion of some naturalists, that the Hooded and Carrion
Crows are but varieties of one species, and certain it is that they do
sometimes breed together, but there appears to be sufficient
distinctive marks and characteristics to warrant the specific
difference assumed for them by most of the leading ornithologists.

Frequenting as it does the sea-shore, the Hooded Crow, which may be
known by its distinctly marked plumage of dull grey, extending all over
the back, breast, and belly, feeds much on shell-fish, which it bears
up to a great height, and then lets fall on a large stone or piece of
rock, so as to break the shell. We have here an instance of something
very like reasoning power, in what we must call an unreasoning
creature, nor are such instances at all unfrequent in natural history.


ROOK.

BARE-FACED CROW. YDFRUN, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH.

FIGURE 7.

Naturalists term this bird _Corvus frugilegus_. With the meaning of the
first, or generic name, our readers are already well acquainted; the
specific name comes from the Latin _fruges_--fruits, and _lego_--to
collect or gather, and from this we learn that it is a _frugiverous_ or
fruit-eating bird; it is not, however, altogether so, for it feeds much
on insects, worms, slugs, and such small animals, in search of which it
digs or delves with its large and strong beak, all around the base of
which is bare of feathers, hence the name Bare-faced Crow, by which the
bird is known in some localities. It is a matter of dispute whether or
not this bareness is caused by the constant use of the bill as a
digging instrument; we are inclined to think not, for several reasons,
which need not here be stated; but, that the bare whitish skin which
surrounds the beak, and which offers such a strong contrast to the rest
of the purplish black plumage, is a natural distinction.

Rooks are said to be more abundant in England than in any other part of
the world, although they are found in most temperate regions of Europe
and Asia; they do not, like many of the Corvine, or Crow family,
increase toward the north, but on the contrary, decrease in that
direction: in the Scottish islands they are not to be met with. They
are strictly gregarious birds, immense numbers of them building and
rearing their young together. Almost every English Village, or Hall, or
old Manor House, has, or at one time had, its "Rookery," where, on the
tops of the tall elms or other lofty trees, the sable birds delight to
build their large loose nests of sticks, cemented together with clay,
and lined with grass and root fibres. There do they hold their noisy
councils, morning and evening, but especially at the latter time,
before retiring to rest. One would think they had all the affairs of
the nation to settle, so long and loud is the debate, or at least that
there must be an immense deal of quarrelling about the right to this or
that resting-place; and more fighting, too, than there ought to be,
among a decent feathered community.

There is something pleasing about the _caw_ of the Rook, whether heard
in the dreamy quietude of nature, or, as it often is, amid the bustle
of the busy town; it is a sociable bird, friendly to man and his
belongings. It is an English bird--a _home_ bird, and reminds us of
domestic scenes and pleasures. We have had rookeries in the very hearts
of cities; there was one in the Temple Gardens, in London, close by the
stream of life which ever flows and reflows up and down the Strand and
Fleet Street. Not many years since it was stated in the papers that,
"in the small church-yard of St. Peters, Westcheap, situated in Wood
Street, Cheapside, stands a solitary tree, in the lofty branches of
which, two pairs of Rooks have built themselves nests, and are now
busily engaged in rearing two broods, which have been recently
hatched." But volumes might be written, as they have been, about Rooks
and rookeries; Leigh Hunt, and Charles Lamb, and Washington Irving, and
nearly all the English poets, might be called in to give their tribute
of praise to this old familiar friend and companion of our
life-journey.

The Rooks are frugal nest-builders; they make the same structure do
year after year. Early in March they begin to repair their old
habitations, which, during the winter, we may see far up amid the naked
branches, like so many bundles of dry sticks; the young pairs, we
suppose, build new ones, unless they should find a nest left vacant by
the removal, by death or otherwise, of parents or other relatives, for
all the community must be closely allied.

    "Where, in venerable rows,
    Widely waving oaks enclose
    The moat of yonder antique hall,
    Swarm the Rooks with clamorous call;
    And, to the toils of nature true,
    Wreathe their capacious nests anew,"

says the poet Warton, describing the 1st. of April; and generally by
the end of May, or beginning of June, the young Rooks are fledged. The
eggs from which they have emerged do not differ greatly from those of
the other members of the _Corvus_ family just described. They are
usually four or five in number, of a pale greenish ground colour,
blotched and spotted with light brown and yellowish green; they,
however, vary greatly, some being nearly white, others grey, and others
olive brown, with markings more or less deep and distinct.


JACKDAW.

DAW. KAE.

FIGURE 8.

_Corvus monedula_ is the scientific name of this species, the latter,
or specific title, being derived, as Mr. Morris supposes, from _moneo_,
to warn; the Daw, like most of the Crow tribe, having been formerly
considered a creature of evil augury.

A pert bold fellow is the Jackdaw, restless, inquisitive, and
loquacious; ever poking and prying into every hole and corner, and
purloining whatever he can lay his claw or his bill on. He seems to
delight in mischief, and to consider that to pick and steal is the
great end and object of his existence. This is a sad character to give
a bird, but we must tell the truth at all hazards, and confess that,
notwithstanding the respectability of his appearance, with his suit of
silky black, and grey poll, like the wig of a counsellor, he is a sad
scamp.

Oh, what a long catalogue of crimes and offences connected with this
black-coated offender, might we present, had we space and inclination
to do so; but we have not, and indeed it is not necessary, for all the
world knows the character of the subject of these remarks, as well as
Thomas Hood, who says--

    "The Daw's not reckoned a religious bird,
      Because it keeps a cawing from a steeple."

And this brings us to one of the favourite building places of Kae, as
the Scotch people call it; ruined towers, and ivy-grown steeples, holes
in cliffs and hollow trees, are generally chosen for the heap of sticks
loosely piled together, and having a depression in the centre, where,
on a layer of wool, hair, grass, or other soft substance, the eggs are
deposited; in number from four to six, of a pale bluish white, spotted
with greyish brown; some of the spots being large and distinct, and
much deeper than the others. The young birds are generally hatched by
the end of May, or early in June, by the end of the second week in
which month they are usually fit to be taken from the nest; they are
easily reared by hand, and become very tame, learning to talk, and play
all sorts of curious tricks.

The caw of the Daw is more high and shrill than that of most Crows; it
is found in nearly all parts of Great Britain, and is common in
Holland, Germany, France, Italy, and most countries of Europe. One
remarkable circumstance connected with its nidification is the immense
quantity of material which it collects; sometimes it builds in
chimneys, and completely stops them up with the huge pile of sticks,
which it there deposits. It is said that the fire which, some years
since partly consumed the cathedral of York, was much fed and assisted
by the Jackdaws' nests on the turrets. In Cambridge, where the Daws are
numerous, building in the colleges and church towers, no less than
eighteen dozen of deal laths, about nine inches long and one broad,
which had been purloined from the botanic gardens, where they were put
into the ground as labels for the plants, were found in the shaft of
one chimney in which the birds had built. Many anecdotes are related of
the ingenuity they manifest on getting their building materials into
the desired position; often through narrow loopholes, and up winding
staircases, they manage to convey long sticks and pieces of wood in a
manner truly surprising; and the way in which they pile up the light
fabric upon joists and cross-beams, and window-sills, and make it all
firm and stable, is no less so. Sometimes the Daws choose less lofty
situations for their nests; generally, as Bishop Mant tells us, they
make

    "In spire or looped and windowed tower
    Of hallowed fane their nestling bower.
    In caverned cliff beside the sea,
    Or hollow of the woodland tree;--"

But occasionally they descend, when nature

    "Prompts them in the waste to roam
    And seek a subterranean home,
    The burrowing rabbit's haunt, and there
    Of sticks and matted wool prepare
    Their dwelling, and produce their race,
    In that unlikely dwelling-place."


MAGPIE.

PIET. PIANET. MAG. MADGE.

FIGURE 9.

_Pica caudata_, _Pica melanoleuca_, and _Corvus pica_ are the several
names given by naturalists to this bird; the first word is Latin, and
means simply a pie; in the same language _caudus_ signifies a tail, and
a splendid tail our handsome Magpie possesses, long and broad, and like
the beautiful pinions, all shot with green and purple reflections.
_Melanoleuca_ is compounded of two Greek words, meaning black and
white, and no one can deny that this is very appropriate, although it
is not so commonly used as the former name. The third title may be
translated the Crow-Pie; indicating the particular genus and species of
Mag the merry. No member of the Crow family puts on so resplendent a
dress as this; beautifully do the snowy shoulders (scapulars
naturalists would say) and belly, contrast with the rich velvety black
of the back, breast, head, and neck. Rich is the sheen of emerald and
amethyst which plays about the tail and wings, as the latter are spread
out in the sunshine, and the former flirts up and down with a quick
vibrating motion. And such a droll fellow, too, is Mag, every now and
then you would think he were dancing, or imitating some fine lady or
courtly beau; he steps or hops along in such an odd, fantastic manner.
Yes, a droll fellow, but a sad thief; it is not safe to leave a gold
chain, or a ring, or a silver spoon in his way; up into the old church
steeple it is sure to go, if it is not buried in some out-of-the-way
corner, all among the moss, and dead leaves, and decayed wood, which
have accumulated there for centuries. We all remember the old story of
the Maid and the Magpie; and how nearly the poor girl suffered death
for the loss of the silver spoons stolen by the bird, who, however, was
not so guilty after all, for he did not know that the loss of the
glittering objects which attracted his attention, would be attended
with such serious consequences. He had no sense of right and wrong to
guide him as my readers have, and had never been taught the great
commandments--"Thou shalt not covet!" and "Thou shalt not steal!"

The chattering Magpie is found chiefly in the cultivated and wooded
parts of Britain and Ireland; it is an _omnivorous_ feeder, that is, it
eats almost anything--_omnes_ in Latin, you know, means all. It is a
shy watchful bird, and very difficult to catch; it has a fine broad
tail, but we never heard that any one was able to put salt upon it.
Such a quick eye the fellow has, and a way of twisting himself about,
so as to be looking every way at once; you would catch a weasel asleep
sooner than you would Maggie. The nest is made with a hole in the side,
from whence a sharp look-out can be kept. It is placed in some thick
bush, or tall prickly hedge, generally at a considerable distance from
the ground; it is of a longish oval shape, and made of sticks and
thorns, cemented together with mud; on the lining of roots and grass
lie the bluish white eggs, spotted over with grey and greenish brown;
there may be six, seven, or even eight of them, although very rarely so
many as the latter number. The breeding-time is quite early in the
spring, and the same nest is resorted to by one pair of birds year
after year.

It is thus that Bishop Mant describes the mode and place of building of
what he calls the "Artful Pie."

    "On turf-reared platform intermixt,
    With clay and cross-laid sticks betwixt,
    'Mid hawthorn, fir, or elm tree slung,
    Is piled for the expected young,
    A soft and neatly-woven home,
    Above of tangled thorns a dome,
    Forms a sharp fence the nest about,
    To keep all rash intruders out.
    So like a robber in his hold,
    Or some marauding baron bold,
    On coasted cliff in olden time,
    They sit unblenched in state sublime,
    And fortress intricately planned;
    As if they felt that they whose hand
    Is aimed at others, rightly deem
    The hand of others aimed at them.
    So there they dwell, man's dwellings nigh,
    But not in man's society;--
    Arabian-like: and little share
    His love, nor for his hatred care;
    Prompt of his rural stores a part
    To seize, and joyful of their art
    His efforts at revenge elude."


JAY.

JAY PIE. JAY PIET.

FIGURE 10.

In scientific language _Corvus glandarius_, or _Garrulus glandarius_;
the specific name is from the Latin, and signifies of or belonging to
acorns; the second generic name is also Latin, and means chattering or
talkative, a leading characteristic of this bird, whose harsh cry is
frequently heard amid the stillness of the solitary woods.

              "Proud of cerulean stains
    From heaven's unsullied arch purloined,
    The Jay screams hoarse,"

says Gisborne, in his "Walks in a Forest," and all persons who are
accustomed to woodland scenery, must have been startled, ever and anon,
by the grating syllables _wrak, wrak_, shortly and sharply repeated by
this bird, and have noticed the dull gleam of its blue wings, as it
passed in a heavy scurrying manner from tree to tree, or shuffled away
down the glade, as though it had committed some crime, and was fearful
of being taken.

The Blue-winged Jay is a name commonly given to this certainly handsome
bird, whose plumage of delicate brown, variegated with white and black,
and set off with "cerulean stains," as Gisborne says, give it a
striking and pleasing appearance, notwithstanding its general air of
dullness and apprehension. It is true, we seldom have an opportunity of
observing it closely, except in a state of confinement, where it is not
likely to be very lively, for it is a bird of the wild woods, and likes
not to be deprived of its free range, and brought into close
companionship with man. Sometimes, however, if taken young and properly
trained, it becomes a very amusing domestic pet, having a decided
talent for mimicry, and being gentle and teachable.

The nest of the Jay is commonly built in a high coppice wood, or hedge,
generally many feet from the ground, although it is seldom seen near
the tops of tall trees, like those of the Magpie and Crow. Montagu
says, "He who feels inclined to study the nidification of this bird,
must search the lower branches of the oak, or inspect the woodbine
mantling round the hazel."

Morris describes the nest as "of an open shape, formed of twigs and
sticks, and well lined with small roots, grasses, and horse-hair. Some
are much more cleverly constructed than others." And certainly from the
representation which he gives of one, we should take the Jay to be a
much neater builder than any of its _congeners_, as birds of the same
family or genus would be called.

The eggs are five or six in number, of a greenish or yellowish white,
freckled all over with two shades of light brown.

Several variations from this common pattern have been found and
described, some being lighter and some darker, and some having a
greater degree of polish on them than others.

The Jay is an omnivorous feeder; but is said to have a great partiality
for acorns; and also for the eggs and young of game-birds, hence he is
shot without mercy by those interested in their preservation.

Let us see what Bishop Mant says of him.

"He who makes his native wood Resound his screaming, harsh and rude,
Continuously the season through; Though scarce his painted wing you'll
view With sable barred, and white and grey, And varied crest, the
lonely Jay!"


GREEN WOODPECKER.

LARGE GREEN WOODPECKER. NICK-A-PECKER. ECLE. HIGH-HOE. HEW-HOLE. AWL,
OR RAIN-BIRD, OR FOWL. POPINJAY. WHITTLE. YAFFLE. YAFFER. YAPPINGALL.
WOODSPITE. WOODWALL, OR WELE.

FIGURE 11.

We have in England six species of Woodpeckers, namely, the Black, the
Green, the Greater Spotted, the Lesser Spotted, the Hairy, and the
Three-toed, but only the one above-named is at all common. It is a
handsome bird, with green and brown plumage, prettily marked and barred
with white; the bill is large and black, which colour extends over the
sides of the head and part of the throat; there is a light-coloured rim
round the eye, and a crest like a crimson cap, also a few feathers of
the same rich colour set in the black patches of the throat. A truly
handsome bird, rather awkward in appearance, on account of the
shortness of the tail, and the large size of the feet, head, and bill.
A shy, unsocial bird, too; not fond of exhibiting its beauties; for
ever tap-tapping the hollow beech, or other tree, in the depth of the
solitary woods; often heard but seldom seen, and when it is, in all
sorts of inelegant positions, creeping up or down the rugged bole,
clinging to the broken bough, crouching close, and peeping and peering
into every hole and crevice, in search of its favourite food--insects
and their eggs, spiders, and grubs and caterpillars; and boring into
the decayed bark with its hard wedge-shaped bill. The old poet Chaucer
describes a very busy, inquisitive person as being

    "As prate and prying as a Woodpecker,
    And ever inquiring upon everything."

And Gisborne gives us a true picture of this restless and curious
bird:--

              "With shrill and oft-repeated cry,
    Her angular course, alternate rise and fall,
    The Woodpecker prolongs; then to the trunk
    Close clinging, with unwearied beak assails
    The hollow bark; through every call the strokes
    Roll the dire echoes, that from wintry sleep
    Awake her insect prey; the alarmed tribes
    Start from each chink that bores the mouldering stem;
    Their scattered flight with lengthened tongue the foe
    Pursues; joy glistens in her verdant plumes,
    And brighter scarlet sparkles in her crest."

We have here perhaps a little bit of what is called poetic licence;
true, it has been said that the Woodpecker taps on the tree to alarm
the insects lurking within, and make them come out to see what is the
matter, but it is most likely done to ascertain which are the parts
most unsound and pervious to the bill. In the above lines is an
allusion to the shrill cry of the bird; this, heard amid the stillness
of the wood, is perfectly startling; like a peal of unearthly laughter,
it bursts forth and rings around; it has been compared to the syllables
_glu_, _glu_, _glu_, _gluck!_ finishing off with a sharp _gk_, as
though a laugh had tumbled down and broken its neck, turning into
something like a cry before it expired. Only just as you are thinking
it is really dead and done for, out it bursts again louder than ever,
and you listen aghast to

    "The ringing of the Whitwall's shrilly laughter,
        Which echo follows after,"

but is never able to overtake. And we are here reminded of the long
array of names with which this noisy fellow is honoured; a different
one for almost every locality, and having reference mostly to the cry
of the bird, or its singular habits. The scientific name is _Picus
viridis_; the first signifying a Woodpecker, and the last green.

"The Woodpecker," says Mudie, "is especially a bird of the ancient
forests. You do not find it in the hedge or the coppice, where so many
of the little birds, especially the summer migrants, build their nests,
and spend their mid-days, when the reflections of the sun come bright
on all sides of the foliage, in picking the soft caterpillars from the
leaves, or capturing the insects that resort thither for the purpose of
depositing fresh myriads; and when they have thus secured the shelter
and beauty of their habitation, farewell the evening, and again hail
the morning with their joyous songs. The aged tree is all to the
Woodpecker, and he is much to the aged tree." Yes, for he eats the
insects which are revelling in its decay, and of the fine dust thereof
he makes his nest, if nest it can be called, which is merely a hole in
the trunk, high up, perhaps twenty or thirty feet, lined with the small
particles of rotten wood.

All the Woodpeckers lay white or nearly white eggs, and all, with whose
habits we are acquainted, are early builders; the common green species,
found in most of the southern parts of Britain, commences making a new,
or repairing its old nest as early as February; the eggs are from four
to eight in number. The young are hatched in June.


WRYNECK.

CUCKOO'S MATE, MAID, OR MESSENGER. RINDING, SNAKE, TURKEY, BARLEY, OR
TONGUE BIRD. EMMET-HUNTER. LONG-TONGUE.

FIGURE 12.

This bird, which appears to be a kind of connecting link between the
Woodpeckers and Cuckoos, having some of the characteristics of both, is
only a summer visitant of this country, generally arriving in April.
Its scientific name is _Yunx torquilla_; the first is undoubtedly
Greek, but its meaning is not very obvious; the second comes from
_torqueo_--to turn or twist, and refers to a singular habit which the
bird has of twisting its neck with a kind of slow undulating motion,
like that of a snake; hence also the common English name Wryneck, and
one or two others given above. The Welsh consider this the forerunner
of the Cuckoo, and call it _gwas y gog_, or the Cuckoo's attendant. In
the northern counties of England the common people call it Cuckoo's
Maiden; it generally comes to us a few days in advance of that bird, as
though it were deputed to prepare a place for it.

Although it can boast of no bright and gaudy colours, the Wryneck is a
most elegant bird, both in shape and plumage.

    "The embroidery of that vesture grey
    No pen nor pencil can pourtray,"

says Bishop Mant. But it is seldom that one can get a good sight of its
beautifully marked and mottled dress, for it is, like the Woodpecker, a
shy and retiring bird; like that, too, it lays its eggs in a hole of a
tree, lined with the decayed wood; they are six or seven in number
generally, sometimes nine, and even ten, have been found in one hole;
the colour is a pure white, or slightly tinged and spotted with
yellowish brown. The time of incubation is fourteen days, and the
female is so much attached to the young birds, that she will often
suffer herself to be taken rather than desert them. These birds resort
to the same spot year after year; it is at various heights from the
ground, and sometimes the deserted nest of a Woodpecker or other bird
is used.


NUTHATCH.

NUT-JOBBER. WOODCRACKER.

FIGURE 13.

The _Sittine_ Birds, or Nuthatches, are little short-bodied creatures,
with large heads, and very small tails; the bill is tolerably long,
straight, and slender, pentagonal, or five-sided at the base, or part
where it is inserted into the head. They are pretty lively birds, and
seem to occupy a position between the _Certhias_, or Tree Creepers, and
the _Parine_ Birds or Tits. We have but one species in this country,
known as the _Sitta EuropÊa_, or European Nuthatch; the generic name
being derived, as Morris thinks, from some word in a primitive, or
early language, (from _primus_--first,) from which also comes the term
hatchet, and having reference to the habit of hacking and hewing at the
nuts, on which this bird chiefly feeds.

The Nuthatch is not found generally throughout Britain, only in certain
localities, and very rarely in the northern parts. It has long curved
claws, by means of which it ascends the trunks of the trees, and clings
about the branches much like the Creepers and Woodpeckers, frequently
descending head downwards, which few other birds are able to do. It
bores into the nuts with its strong-pointed bill, and feeds upon the
kernels; it also with the same instrument extracts the insects from the
holes and crevices, and thus varies its diet. Its motions are abrupt
and jerking, so that it always appears in a desperate hurry, and it
keeps up a constant _quit, quit_, as though giving warning to its
landlady of an intention to leave its lodgings forthwith. Bewick says
that it will pick bones, and that it lays up a store of food for the
winter in various little granaries.

For a nesting-place it makes choice of some hole in a tree, which it
lines with dried leaves, moss, scales of fir-cones, bits of bark, and
it may be, a little hair. If the entrance is too large it is partly
closed up with clay, so as to leave but just room for the bird to
enter. The eggs are from five to seven or eight, sometimes nine in
number; they are greyish white, with spots or blotches of reddish
brown.

The following interesting account of a pair of Nuthatches engaged in
making their nest, is from the pen of a contributor to a periodical
called "The Naturalist;" the date of the occurrence was the 18th. of
April.--"The birds had fixed upon a hole in an ash tree, about twenty
feet from the ground, and were contracting it with a plastering of mud,
for which they flew to a small pond about fifty yards distant from the
tree, and took pieces in their beaks about as big as a bean, which they
laid on, and smoothed with their chin. Sometimes one of them would go
inside and remain for a short time, I suppose for the purpose of
smoothing the mud there. They would every now and then leave off from
their task, and chase one another up the trunk and round the branches
of the tree with amazing rapidity, uttering all the while their
flute-like whistle. They both seemed to take an equal share in the
labour; and had, like the House Martin, small pieces of straw mixed
with the mud, for the purpose of making it bind better. They seemed to
be quite at ease on the ground, and hopped about much after the same
manner as the Sparrow. The male bird was easily distinguishable by his
brighter plumage."


CUCKOO.

COMMON, OR GREY CUCKOO. GOWK, OR GECK. COG, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH.

FIGURE 14.

Of the _Cuculine_ Birds, or Cuckoos, none are permanently resident in
countries subject to severe winter cold. They feed mostly on insects,
worms, or soft fruit, gliding amid the trees in search of their food in
a peculiarly rapid and noiseless manner. In passing from branch to
branch they generally leap; they do not climb like the Woodpeckers and
Creepers, although they have much the same conformation of feet, the
outer toe being directed backwards, as well as the first; this is
called _Zy-go-dac-ty-lous_, a Greek word, signifying that the toes are
yoked, or in pairs, two before and two behind. We have thought it well
to introduce this queer word to our readers, lest they should stumble
over it, as they are likely to do, in many works on Natural History
which they may consult, and be frightened at its uncouth appearance;
they will now know what is meant by _zygodactylous_, or _dactytic_
birds, such as Owls, Woodpeckers, Cuckoos, etc. But having explained
thus much, we should go a step farther, and introduce also
_A-ni-so-dac-ty-lous_, Greek again, meaning unequally yoked, that is,
when there is a wider interval between one pair of toes than between
the other.

Of Cuckoos the British Naturalist knows of three species; the Great
Spotted Cuckoo, inhabiting chiefly the northern and western coasts of
Africa, and only now and then paying a short visit to these northern
climes; the Yellow-billed, or American Cuckoo, or Cowcow, as some call
it, which is a more frequent, although still a rare visitant, and the
Common Grey species, termed _Cuculus canorus_, that is, the Musical
Cuckoo, with whose curious cry--_cuck-oooo_, most of our readers must
be familiar. It may not be generally thought that there is much music
in this _monotonous_, that is, single-toned call, but we are assured by
a competent authority, that this is the only feathered performer who
sings in strict accordance with musical numbers, its notes being the
fifth and third of the diatonic scale. But be that as it may, the cry
of the Cuckoo is extremely pleasant to most ears, when first heard,
soon after the bird arrives in this country, which is sometimes about
the middle of April, "in April, come he will," says the old proverb; we
know that the fresh floral season of sunshine and country delights, has
fairly set in, and all through the summer, to the time of his
departure, in August or September, we love to listen to the far-away,
dreamy kind of call, for it seems like an invitation to 'follow,
follow,' some invisible leader, through greenwoods and flowery dingles,
and into scenes of quietude and peace; then, too, there is a kind of
mystery about it which excites the curiosity, for who ever sees the
utterer of these dreamy sounds. We are inclined to say with
Wordsworth,--

    "Oh, Cuckoo, shall I call thee bird,
      Or but a wandering voice."

And indeed the Cuckoo is a flying and feathered marvel altogether; we
should fill this book were we to repeat all the strange tales that have
been told about it, and by grave authorities too, from Aristotle of
ancient Greece, to Dr. Jenner, and the rest of modern England. Amid all
the disputations that have arisen upon the points of this bird's
natural history, we can only clearly gather that it is a summer
migrant, coming and going at the times just mentioned; that while with
us it is to be found in all wooded and sheltered parts of the island,
frequenting most parks and pasture-grounds, groves and thickets, it is
more likely to be seen at early morning and evening, than during the
broad daylight, and its cry has been heard at all hours of the night,
proving it to be somewhat nocturnal in its habits,--_nox_, you know is
the Latin for night, and from thence comes this word.

The Cuckoo lives almost entirely upon insects, devouring great numbers
of hairy caterpillars. It makes no nest of its own, but lays a single
egg in that of some other bird, or conveys it thither in its bill. Its
eggs are small for the size of the bird, in colour white, with a
greyish, or it may be a reddish tinge, with cinereous (that is, ashy)
or grey brown speckles. How many of these the bird lays no one can
tell, but it has the judgment, or compassion, or whatever it may be, to
give the Pipit, Hedge Sparrow, Wagtail, or other small bird so
favoured, the task of rearing but one of its young, which soon grows to
be quite a monster in the eyes of its foster parent, and sometimes,
says the old Greek, Aristotle, eats her up; but this is just a physical
impossibility, and a most vile slander. Whether the intruder, as Dr.
Jenner says, _shovels_ up with its broad back its fellow fledglings, to
whom the nest rightfully belongs, and pitches them over the edge to die
miserably of cold and starvation, while he gets the whole of the food
brought by the provident mother, we cannot say, but may hope, for the
credit of bird nature, that this too may be a mistake, if not a fable.

The Cuckoo is an elegantly-formed and agreeably-coloured bird, the
prevailing tints of its plumage being a greenish grey, fading off into
white, which is barred and mottled with silky brown; the large tail is
spotted and edged with white. The male resembles the female; the young
at first have bars of light red and olive brown about the upper parts.


KINGFISHER.

COMMON KING, OR KINGFISHER. GLAS Y DORIAN OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH.

FIGURE 15.

The Kingfishers belong to the order called _Jaculatrices_, or Darters,
and to the family _AlcedinÊ_; so they are _Alcedine_ birds. These terms
are not very easy of explanation. _Alcedo hispida_ is the name of the
Common Kingfisher. The second term may mean either rough, or hairy, or
wet, all of which are quite applicable to this bird, which must be
familiar to many of our readers; for although by no means common in any
part of Britain, and very rare in the north, it is yet to be found, all
the year through, in most parts of the country where there are streams
of water, and river banks, and moist meadows suited to its habits,
which are solitary. It generally nestles in holes in the declivities
near to its favourite hunting ground--the clear stream, fringed with
reeds and bulrushes, which glides away over pebbles that shine like
gold and silver, and weeds as green as emeralds, or red as rubies, amid
which dart the minnows and other small fish, on which, together with
aquatic insects, the gorgeously-painted fisher feeds. You may see him
in some quiet out-of-the-way place, beneath the shade of the grey
alders, sitting motionless as a statue upon a branch of an old thorn,
that projects over the stream. It may be that a ray of sunshine finds
its way between the shivering branches, and out flash the glorious
tints of its plumage--red, and green, and blue, and all changeable
colours. Truly he is the monarch of fishing birds, and rightly named
_King_fisher! Not handsome in form, certainly not elegant, nor well
proportioned--with his short squat body and stump of a tail, thick
neck, large head, and immense bill, little feet, that seem meant for a
Sparrow, and eyes which, although bright and sharp enough, are much too
small for the head. But he is a swift flier, for all that he looks so
awkward; and see! quick as light he darts down upon that heedless fish
that has come too near the surface, swallows it at a gulp, and is ready
for another dart before you can look round you.

The eggs of our Common Kingfisher are what is termed broadly ovate in
shape, that is, they are nearly round, not tapering out much, as some
eggs do; they are simply white and semi (that is half) transparent. The
number is generally six or seven. They are laid some time in May, in a
hole, often that of the water-rat, sometimes on the bare earth, but
more frequently on a layer of small fish bones; now and then on a
little dried grass. The note of the bird is sharp, shrill, and piping,
like that of the Sandpipers, but is not often uttered.


SWALLOW.

RED-FRONTED, COMMON, OR CHIMNEY SWALLOW.

FIGURE 16.

The _Hirundine_ Birds, or Swallows, form a very distinct group; they
have slender bodies, and large, powerful wings, which enable them to
fly with great velocity, skimming over the moist meadows, where their
insect food most abounds, and wheeling and circling about trees and
buildings in a swift and easy manner, which appears to be the very
perfection of motion. They are all migratory birds, coming to us from
Africa and the south of Europe to breed, and returning to those warm
climates to pass the winter.

The Common Swallow, called by naturalists _Hirundo rustica_, the first
word signifying a Swallow, and the second, of, or belonging to the
country, generally arrives in Britain in the latter half of the month
of April, or the beginning of May, some time in which month the nest is
commenced; it is of a broad cup-like shape, and is formed of moist
earth, collected bit by bit from the side of a pond or stream, and
moulded together with straw and grass: there is a lining of feathers,
or some other soft materials. The situations chosen are sheltered spots
beneath eaves or projecting roofs of any kind, shafts of mines, holes
in the sides of pits and quarries, old wells and out-buildings, bell
turrets, the under sides of spouts and bridge arches; most usually the
spot selected is near human habitations. Who is not awakened in the
bright summer mornings by the twittering of the young birds near his
bed-room window? These birds have frequently been known to build in
empty unused rooms, to which access could be gained through a broken
pane of glass; they are said to nestle near chimneys for the sake of
the warmth, being apparently not at all annoyed by the smoke which
issues thence.

The eggs of the Swallow are usually from four to six in number; they
are white, thickly speckled over with ash-coloured, dark red, or brown
spots. Morris says that two broods are frequently hatched in the year,
the first of which flies in June, and the second in August. It is most
interesting to see the parent birds tempting them on from one resting
point to another, and so teaching them to use their wings, feeding them
in a most dexterous manner while on the wing; it is said that these
careful parents, ere the young can provide for themselves, bring them
food about once in every three minutes throughout the day. The male
Swallow is a handsome bird; the wings, long forked tail, head, neck,
and upper part of the breast, being brownish black, with a steely blue
reflection, which is only seen in certain lights. The forehead and
throat are chestnut, and there is a tinge of the same on the delicate
white under parts of the body. Undoubtedly a handsome bird, and one of
the most familiar of our feathered friends while it remains with us,
which is until the autumn is fairly set in. You may know when the
Swallows are about to leave, by their frequent consultations on the
roofs, and by the more frequent utterance of their low, and not
unmelodious warble, which is very different from the short, sharp cry,
consisting of two notes, which they utter occasionally when hawking, as
it is called, after insects.

Previous to their departure they may be frequently observed wheeling in
rapid circles in the air, as if trying their wings, and drilling for
their long, and no doubt orderly flight. We might quote plenty of
poetry on this bird, for its beauty, grace of motion, and familiarity
with man, have made it ever a general favourite, but for want of
sufficient space we shall not be able to make use of any. In some
allusion is made to a notion once entertained even by scientific
naturalists, that the Swallows did not actually leave this country in
the cold season, but _hybernated_, as it is called, from the Latin
_hyems_--winter; that is, wintered here, passing the time in a state of
torpor, or sleep, somewhere out of sight, as the dormouse and some
other animals do. But it is now certainly known that this is a false
impression; a few young or sickly birds, unable to endure so long a
journey, may be, and no doubt are, left behind; these constitute but an
exception to the rule of annual migration.


MARTIN.

WHITE-RUMPED, WINDOW, HOUSE, OR MARTIN SWALLOW. MARTINET. HOUSE OR
WINDOW MARTIN. MARTLETT.

FIGURE 17.

This is the _Hirundo urbica_ of naturalists, the latter term coming
from the Latin _urbs_--a city. Its plumage is of a more decided purple
tint than the Common Swallow, from which it is also distinguished by
the absence of chestnut brown on the forehead, throat, and under parts,
which in this species are pure white. In its habits the Martin closely
resembles its congeners, than which it is, perhaps, even more a house
and city bird; hence its specific name. It reaches our island generally
a few days later than the Swallow, and departs at about the same time.

The eggs of this bird are four or five in number, of a longish oval
shape, smooth, and perfectly white. The nest, which is composed of mud,
so cemented and tempered that it will adhere even to glass, is lined
with hay or feathers. Gilbert White, in his "Natural History of
Selborne,"--a delightful book which all young naturalists should read,
says that there are generally young birds in the nest up to Michaelmas,
there being two broods, and sometimes even three, in the year; the
first brood are generally ready to fly by the latter end of May, and
the second early in August: the period of incubation is thirteen days.


SWIFT.

COMMON, OR BLACK SWIFT. BLACK, OR SCREECH MARTIN. SWIFT-SWALLOW.
DEVELING. SCREECH. SCREAMER. SQUEALER. CRAN. MARTIN DU, OF THE ANCIENT
BRITISH.

FIGURE 18.

Like the rest of our Swallows, this is a migratory bird, and it remains
with us a shorter time than most of the others, generally arriving in
May, and departing in August. Its scientific name is _Hirundo apus_,
meaning a Swallow without a foot, derived no doubt from the small size
of the feet, and the little use it seems to make of them, being almost
constantly in the air, where its evolutions are peculiarly rapid and
graceful, even for one of its family. The rapidity with which it skims
and dashes along, wheeling and turning in the most sudden manner, is
truly marvellous; so great is the force of its forward impetus, that it
has been known to kill itself by dashing against a wall; it has been
estimated that Wild Ducks fly ninety miles an hour, and Swallows rather
more, but the Swift above two hundred miles an hour; this may possibly
be an exaggeration, but if we make a large allowance, say one half, the
rate of progress is something astounding.

The note of the Swift is a harsh scream, hence several of the common
names by which it is known; it is generally uttered while pursuing its
insect prey on the wing, and may be considered as an exclamation of
triumph or delight, as much as to say,--"Ha, ha, I have caught you!"

The Swift resorts much to ruinous castles, steeples, towers, and
precipitous rocks, for the purpose of building; sometimes it nestles
under the eaves of cottages and barns, or in holes in walls, and hollow
trees, etc. The nest is rudely formed of sticks and straws stuck
together with mud; the materials are picked up with great dexterity
while the bird is on the wing, and, sometimes, it is said, the Sparrow
or other small bird is robbed of its goods and chattels by the impudent
stranger, which snatches them up, and is gone like a flash of
lightning.

The eggs are white, of a longish oval shape, and seldom more than two
or three in number.

This bird, like the rest of the Swallows, is pretty widely diffused
over the country during the time it remains here; it has a near
relative called the White-bellied or Alpine Swift, which is common in
the south of Europe, but which seldom comes so far north as this. There
are also belonging to this family of _gliders_, as they are sometimes
called, the Purple and Sand Martins, which are placed among British
Birds; the former is common in America, but rare with us, the latter,
the smallest of the family, are not unfrequently found in Britain.

The whole plumage of the Common Swift, with the exception of a greyish
white patch under the chin, is blackish brown, with a bronzy green
tinge, which greatly relieves its otherwise dull appearance.


NIGHTJAR.

GOATSUCKER. EUROPEAN OR NOCTURNAL GOATSUCKER. DOR, OR NIGHT-HAWK. FERN,
CHURN, OR JAR-OWL. NIGHT-JAR, OR NIGHT-CHAR. WHEELBIRD. PUCKERIDGE.
RHODWR AND ADERYN V DROELL, OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH.

FIGURE 19.

To the above long list of names, we might add two or three others by
which different naturalists distinguish this remarkable bird, but the
most common of its scientific designations will be sufficient; this is
_Caprimulgus Europúus_, the first name being derived from the Latin
_caper_--a goat, and _mulgio_--to milk; it having been at one time
supposed that the poor innocent bird was in the habit of sucking the
teats of the goats to obtain the milk; and there are, we believe, some
ignorant persons in out-of-the-way country-places, who still give
credence to this absurd notion, and even fancy that the udders of the
cows, as they lie asleep, are drained by the feathered depredator, as
they consider the Churn Owl to be. From this supposed habit of the
bird, and the whirring or jarring noise which it makes when flying, are
derived most of the names given above.

The Goatsucker flies chiefly by night, and is oftener heard than seen;
_whirr, whirr, whirr_ it goes, like a spinning-wheel, and the sound is
interrupted every now and then by a shrill whistle or scream, or a
softer cry, _dec, dec_, which it generally utters when getting on the
wing. White, of Selborne, says, that when a person approaches the haunt
of the Fern Owls in an evening, they continue flying round the head of
the intruder, and by striking their wings together across their backs,
in the manner that the pigeons called Smiters are known to do, make a
smart snap. He thinks it likely that this is done by way of menace, to
scare those who are approaching their young. This author also observes,
that the powers of flight of this bird are truly wonderful, exceeding,
if possible, in graceful ease and celerity, even those of the Swallow,
than which it is a much larger bird.

Its plumage is remarkably soft and downy, like that of the Owl, and is
prettily marked and mottled, the colours being brown, yellow, and grey
of various shades. The eye is large and hawk-like, the bill small, the
mouth capable of great distension, and fringed with small feathers,
which have a very curious appearance.

The Goatsucker is pretty common throughout the whole of England, but
more so in the south than the north; it is a migratory bird, arriving
towards the middle or end of May and departing in September. It chiefly
inhabits woods, moors, heaths, and commons, especially where fern and
brushwood abound. Its food consists chiefly of moths, beetles, and such
insects as are most frequently met with on the wing in the morning and
evening twilight.

The nest consists of a few dead leaves huddled together in some hollow
in the ground, among the heath, long grass, or fern; it is frequently
found at the foot of a furze or other bush. The eggs, two or three in
number, are of a perfect oval shape, beautifully clouded and streaked
with grey and light brown on a white ground; they are laid in the
beginning of July, in about the middle of which month the young are
generally hatched.


RING DOVE.

RINGED DOVE, OR CUSHAT. QUEEST, OR CUSHIE. WOOD PIGEON.

FIGURE 20.

Of the _Columbine_ birds, or Doves, we have in this country four
distinct species, three of which are permanent residents, and one a
summer migrant. There is also a member of the family, although classed
in a different genus, of which a few specimens have been taken in this
country, namely, the Passenger Pigeon of North America. All these are
extremely beautiful birds, and general favourites on that account, as
well as for their pleasing habits and manners, which have mainly
contributed to make the name of the Dove synonymous with all that is
gentle, and peaceable, and loveable. It was a Dove, we may remember,
which first gave to Noah assurance that the waters had subsided from
the earth, by returning to the ark with an olive leaf in its beak,
since which, both bird and plant have ever been emblematical of peace;
and it is under the mystic semblance of a Dove, that we find the Holy
Spirit personated in Scripture.

The particular species above named is termed by most naturalists
_Columba palumbus_, the first term meaning a Dove or Pigeon, and the
second a "Wood Pigeon," which, in this country, is its most common
appellation, although it is also frequently called the Ring Dove, or
Cushat. This truly elegant bird occurs throughout the whole of Great
Britain and Ireland, frequenting most the cultivated and wooded
districts, where it does a good deal of mischief by feeding upon the
wheat, peas, barley, and other agricultural produce; it also partakes
freely of beech-mast and acorns; it is _graminivorous_, that is,
feeding on grass; as well as _granivorous_--feeding on grain. Its
favourite resting-place is amid the thick branches of tall trees,
especially beech, ash, and pine, in which most frequently its nest will
be found; just a few twigs, loosely put together in a circular form; it
is generally from sixteen to twenty feet from the ground.

The eggs are two in number, of a pure white colour, and of a roundish
form. Three broods are sometimes produced in a season, the first of
which is generally abroad by the beginning of May, and the second about
the end of July. The period of incubation is sixteen or seventeen days.

All must be familiar with the soft _coo coo_ of this shy bird; heard in
the summer woodlands, it falls on the ear with a particularly soothing
effect. In the winter it congregates in large flocks, the number of the
permanent residents being then much increased by fresh arrivals from
the continent; and very beautiful they look, flying about amid the
snow, in their greyish blue plumage, ornamented with black and white,
green and purple, and suffused on the breast with a reddish flush, as
though the light of the setting sun were shining on them.


STOCK DOVE.

BLUE-BACKED OR WOOD DOVE.

FIGURE 21.

_Columba Ênas_ is the scientific name of this species. The first term,
as you are aware, means simply a Dove, the etymology of the second is
not so clear, most likely it comes from _oinos_--relating to wine, and
alludes to the ruddy or vinous tinge of the breast. This is a somewhat
stouter bird in the body than the last, and it wants the white patches
which so vary and enliven the plumage of the Ring Dove, than which it
is less elegant, although perhaps its plumage is more rich and
splendid, with that shifting play of golden green and violet which all
the Doves, and some other of the feathered tribes present. But for
this, the plumage of our Stock Dove, (so called, it is said, because it
is the original stock from which our common domestic Pigeons are
derived,) would be considered plain and dull; it is chiefly greyish
blue, deepening at parts into purple, and flushed here and there with
deep red; the legs of this, as of most Doves and Pigeons, are light
red, and the bill light brown or yellowish.

    "The Stock Dove builds in the old oak wood,"

says Mary Howitt, in her beautiful song of the Pheasant, and so no
doubt it often does; but more frequently, perhaps, in the fir
plantation, or among the beeches, or any other trees that present a
suitable nesting-place; a hole in the trunk is frequently chosen, it
may be only four or five, or as many as forty or fifty feet from the
ground. Sometimes the flat and shallow nest, just a few sticks loosely
put together, is placed on the ground itself, in a deserted
rabbit-burrow, or some other hollow place; beneath furze bushes it is
occasionally found, and even in hedges and fruit trees near to woods
and coppices.

Nidification commences about the end of March or beginning of April;
incubation lasts about seventeen days, and in a month from the time of
hatching the young are ready to fly. There are two or three broods in
the year. The eggs are white, somewhat smaller than those of the Ring
Dove, and more pointed at the smaller end. The parent birds sit very
close, and will even allow themselves to be taken off by the hand; they
evince great attachment for their young, as well for each other, and
although several pairs may build within a very limited space, they do
not appear to quarrel; indeed gentleness and tenderness is the main
characteristic of all their motions, as well as of their soft notes,
the old familiar _coo, coo, coo_. In winter they consort with the Ring
Doves, but are not perhaps so numerous in this country as these birds.
They migrate from place to place, and feed on hemp, rape, and other
seeds, young shoots of plants, berries, beech-mast, acorns, and grain.


ROCK DOVE.

WHITE-BACKED DOVE. WILD, OR ROCK PIGEON.

FIGURE 22.

Scientific name _Columba livia_; the latter name probably from
_livida_--livid, blue, or lead-coloured. It is held by some that this
species, and not the Stock Dove, has the best claim to be considered
the original of the Common Pigeon; others have confounded the species,
although there appears to be a very clear mark of distinction in the
white patch over the tail, which is never absent, the broad black band
across the grey wings, and the more deep and distinct marking of the
plumage altogether. Besides, the habits of this bird differ
considerably from those of either of the other species.

It is, as its name implies, a haunter of rocks, in the crevices and
caverns of which it generally builds its rude nest of twigs, and grass,
and stalks of plants. It is a social bird, building in companies; the
first eggs, two in number, and white, are generally laid about the
middle of April, and the last towards the latter end of August; the
young are fledged in about three weeks, and after that, a few days'
training by their parents, enables them to fly and obtain their own
livelihood. They feed like their congeners, and are great grain-eaters,
only at times varying this kind of food with a few snails. Like all the
Doves they are swift flyers.


TURTLE DOVE.

RING-NECKED TURTLE.

FIGURE 23.

This is perhaps the most beautiful, as it is also the smallest and
rarest of our native Doves; naturalists term it _Columba turtur_, of
which its English name is simply a translation; sometimes the specific
name _auritus_--golden, is applied to it, and this well describes the
plumage of the bird, which has a rich golden tinge throughout most
parts of the plumage, the chief colours of which are brown and grey,
running off into yellow and white, flushed at places with red, and
elegantly marked with black.

With us, the Turtle Dove is migratory, generally arriving towards the
latter end of April, and departing early in September; it is pretty
much confined to the southern and eastern counties, but few specimens
having been found in Scotland. It frequents the wooded districts both
hilly and flat, flies in small flocks, and feeds on grain and seeds,
peas, of which it is particularly fond, and sometimes small slugs and
snails; being fond of drinking and bathing, it is commonly found in the
neighbourhood of streams and brooks; in such situations may its soft
note, _tur, tur_, doubtless the origin of its name, be frequently
heard, when the shy bird itself is hidden amid the thick shade of the
leafy boughs.

Mr. Morris tells us that the nest is so slight and carelessly
constructed that the eggs may frequently be seen from below; it is
generally placed at some distance from the ground, ten or twenty feet,
and is commonly well concealed among the foliage. The glossy white
eggs, two in number, and of a narrow oval form, are generally laid
about the middle of May, and the young birds come forth in sixteen or
seventeen days: there are two or three broods in the year.

The prophet Jeremiah, we may remember, speaks of this as a migratory
bird, "Yea, the Stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times; and
the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow observe the time of their
coming." The soft note of the bird is also spoken of by Solomon as one
of the signs of returning spring, "For lo! the winter is past, the rain
is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the
singing of birds is come, and the voice of the Turtle is heard in our
land."


PHEASANT.

COMMON OR RING-NECKED PHEASANT.

FIGURE 24.

This glorious bird is the _Phasianus Colchicus_ of naturalists, the
first term meaning a Pheasant, and the second of Colchis, the ancient
name of a country of Asia Minor, from whence it is said the bird was
originally brought into Europe, by the old Greek navigators, called the
argonauts, say some--those who in the ship Argo, sailed the seas under
the command of Jason, and went through a series of surprising
adventures connected with the bearing away of a certain _golden fleece_
from the King of Colchis, all of which are faithfully reported in the
mythology, for the admiration and belief of the credulous. Certain it
is that if Jason had not with him such a treasure as a golden fleece,
he had in the Pheasant a golden bird, if there really ever was such a
person, and he did in reality bring the splendid king of the English
preserves into Europe.

A description of the bird's gorgeous plumage we need not attempt, as
all of our readers must have seen it hanging up in the poulterer's
shops, if they have not been startled by the sudden _whirr_ of its
wings as it rose from the fern-brake or thicket at their approach, as
they wandered amid the green woods where it delights to dwell.

The nest of this bird consists of merely a few leaves placed in a
slight depression on the ground, sometimes in the open field near to a
preserve or plantation, but more frequently among the underwood, in
long grass and in hedge-rows; frequently the situation chosen is
beneath boughs that have been felled, or have fallen from the tree. The
laying of the eggs commences in April or May; incubation lasts from
twenty-four to twenty-six days; the number sat upon varies from six up
to as many as fourteen; more than this have been found in one nest, but
it was not likely to have been the produce of a single hen; the colour
of the eggs is pale olive brown, covered all over with very small dots
of a deeper tint. Poachers are ever on the look-out for these eggs, as
a sitting of them fetches a high price; they are generally, when taken
from the nest, placed under a common hen to be hatched. Some have been
found of a greyish white tinged with green. It is said that Partridges
are sometimes expelled from their nests by these birds, which will sit
upon their own eggs, and those of the rightful owner of the nest, and
hatch them all.

Generally speaking, the Pheasant is a shy wary bird, and with good
reason, being such an object of pursuit with sportsmen, as well as
unlicensed depredators; but where secured from molestation and well
fed, it becomes bold and familiar. Its general food is grain of various
kinds, peas, beans, nuts, and berries, shoots and leaves of several
plants, roots, and insects: it is particularly partial to sunflower
seeds and buckwheat.

The variety called the Ring-necked Pheasant is distinguished by a clear
ring of white round the neck; there is also a variety known as the
Bohemian Pheasant, which is of a stone-colour prettily marked and
mottled with black and brown. White and cream-coloured ones
occasionally occur.


BLACK GROUSE.

BLACK GAME. BLACK COCK. FEMALE--GREY OR BROWN HEN.

FIGURE 25.

The meaning of the generic name of this bird--_Tetrao_, is by no means
clear, neither is that of its specific name _tetrix_: are they not both
derived from the Hindostanee word _Tetur_? is the query of Morris, who
does not tell us what this _tetur_ means.

The Black Grouse, conspicuous for its large size, glossy black plumage,
forked tail, turning out like the flakes of an anchor, and noble
bearing, is, with the exception of its near relative, the Capercaillie,
or Cock of the Woods, now only to be found in some of the Scottish
forests, the largest of our native game birds. It is found chiefly in
Scotland, where it frequents those parts where there is a good growth
of underwood or heather, or other thick vegetation, and also plenty of
water, which appears to be necessary to its existence. It is also found
in many of the English counties, being tolerably plentiful in Yorkshire
and Northumberland, and about Windermere, in Westmoreland. It feeds on
juniper and most other berries, and wild fruits, heather-twigs, and
young shoots of many plants; the tops of grasses, rushes, sedge, and
buds of trees, turnip and rape leaves, and even the young fronds of the
fern.

The nest, which is placed in some marshy spot among heath, or in
plantations or hedge-rows, amid the rank vegetation, is composed of
grass or twigs, neatly laid but not woven together. The eggs are from
five to eight or ten in number; the colour is reddish yellow, in some
nearly white; they are irregularly spotted with reddish brown: they are
generally laid in May.

A fine full-grown Black Cock will weigh nearly four pounds; and the
Grey Hen, which has a sober dress of brown and grey prettily
intermixed, about half this weight. They are birds much valued as table
delicacies; and every year immense numbers are shot by eager sportsmen,
who leave the desk and the counter, the senate-house and the
drawing-room, to roam amid the Scottish moors and mountains, and
undergo fatigues and privations with an endurance and perseverance
worthy of a better cause.


RED GROUSE.

GOR, OR MOOR-COCK. MOOR, OR MUIR-FOWL. RED-GAME. RED, OR BROWN
PTARMIGAN.

FIGURES 26 & 27.

_Tetrao_, or _Lagopus Scoticus_ is the scientific name of this species;
the meaning of the first term is already explained, the second comes
from _Lagos_--a hare, and _pous_--a foot, and is given to this bird
because it has the lower joints of the leg, and even the toes,
feathered, differing in this respect from the other kinds of Grouse.
_Scoticus_ means Scotch, and indicates the country in which the species
most abounds, although it is also found in various parts of England and
Wales; it is, however, peculiar to Great Britain, and therefore the
name _Britannicus_ has been suggested as a more appropriate generic
name for it.

The Red Grouse is, perhaps, the most highly-prized of all game birds,
and the wonder is that it continues so abundant, notwithstanding the
annual slaughter which takes place in its breeding and feeding grounds,
which are mostly the open moors and hill-sides, where there is plenty
of heath and ling, and other low-growing plants of the like nature. It
is especially partial to the heather, which affords it both shelter and
food. It also feeds on various grasses and mountain berries, and grain
when its home is near cultivated districts, which it generally,
however, avoids, retiring as far as possible from the presence of man,
as though it knew and feared him as its greatest enemy.

The nest of the Muir Cock, as the Scotch call it, is formed of heather
and grass, with a few of the soft downy feathers of the bird, and is
placed in a hollow of the ground among the heath. The first eggs are
laid in March or April; they are usually six or seven in number,
although sometimes they amount to twelve and even more; they vary
considerably in colour, the ground being usually a greyish white, with
more or less of a reddish brown or yellow tinge. They are thickly
dotted or clouded with dark grey and brown; the shape is a regular
oval.

The Heath Poults, as the young are called, leave the nest directly they
are hatched, as do most of the game birds, and are very soon able to
fly. At first they lie close, and may almost be trodden upon, but they
get more wild and wary as the shooting-season advances; this commences
in August.


PTARMIGAN.

WHITE GAME, OR GROUSE. IN GAELIC, PTARMICHAN.

FIGURE 28.

Rich as is the plumage of the Red Grouse, with its beautiful markings,
and warm sienna tint, which prevails throughout every part except the
snowy legs, yet we are inclined to give the preference to this, its
close relative, for elegance of appearance. It is all over of a pure
delicate white, except just the points of the toes, the larger tail
feathers, the bill, and a patch on each side of the head, which
surrounds the eye, all of black; there is also, as in every other
species of Grouse with which we are acquainted, a semicircular patch,
like a piece of crimson velvet over each eye. The edges of the white
feathers are delicately pencilled, as we see them in the Silver
Pheasant, so that they appear perfectly distinct from each other. This
is the winter dress, according well with the snowy regions which the
bird chiefly inhabits. In summer the plumage in parts becomes brown
and yellowish grey of different shades; this dress also assimilating
well with the lichen-covered rocks of those Alpine solitudes where
the Ptarmigan must be sought. With us it is found only in the
Grampians, and others of the Scottish mountains; there it dwells in
seldom-disturbed security, feeding upon such plants as grow in these
elevated places, in winter descending lower, to obtain a better supply
of food, but never venturing into the plain.

Its eggs, which vary from seven to twelve in number, are sometimes laid
on the bare earth, under the shadow of a rock or some plant; their
colour is white, with sometimes a green, yellow, or reddish tinge; they
are blotted and spotted with dark brown. The laying does not commence
until June; incubation lasts three weeks. The young at first feed on
insects.

The scientific name of this bird is _Tetrao lagopus_, the meaning of
which has already been explained, and _Lagopus vulgaris_, that is,
common, or mutus--changeable, in allusion to the variation in the
colour of the plumage.


PARTRIDGE.

COMMON OR GREY PARTRIDGE.

FIGURE 29.

This is one of the best-known and most-esteemed of our native game
birds; its scientific name is _Perdix cinerea_, the first term meaning
a Partridge, and the last ash-coloured, the prevailing tint of the
plumage of this species being ashy grey and brown, with a reddish tinge
throughout. Beautifully marked and mottled is the dress of the plump
little Partridge, as our readers know well,--delicately barred, and
pencilled, and variegated, as if to shew what glorious effects may be
produced with two or three colours only.

Partridges are tolerably plentiful in nearly all parts of Great
Britain, where cultivation has smoothed the rugged features of the
landscape; for, unlike the Grouse, which retreat as man advances
further and further into the wilds of nature, these birds seldom go far
from the farm and the home plantations. Coveys, as the family parties
are called, are sometimes met with on the edges of moors, and they
often wander, as Mr. Morris tells us, to wastes and commons; but their
home is not there; the clover, turnip, grass, or stubble field is their
cover and resting-place; there, and in the coppice and along the
hedge-row they feed, and build their nests, if the placing a few loose
straws in a hole scratched in the ground can be called building; there
they lay their eggs, generally ten or twelve in number, although
sometimes more, and of a uniform pale greenish brown colour. Early in
the spring, from the first to the middle of February, may the not
unpleasing call--_chicurr, chicurr_--of these birds be heard; and
towards the end of May, or the beginning of June, the nest will most
likely be quite finished. The hen bird alone sits, the male keeping
watch, and, when the covey are hatched, assisting to feed and protect
them from their numerous foes. The chicks run directly they are out of
the shell, frequently with portions of it sticking to them; they are
very lively and nimble, and so escape many dangers. But one brood is
reared in the year, unless the first eggs are taken, in which case
others will be laid, and the work of incubation recommenced, although
the eggs will be less in number, and the young, it is said, weaker. It
is related by Mr. Jesse, as a curious fact, that "when young Partridges
are hatched, and have left the nest, the two portions of the shell will
be found placed one within the other." We have observed this in eggs of
the Common Fowl, and believe with the above-named naturalist that it is
done by the chicks themselves, in their efforts to escape from their
confinement.


QUAIL.

COMMON OR WANDERING QUAIL.

FIGURE 30.

The Quail can scarcely be called a common bird with us, although it may
be found occasionally in various parts of both England and Ireland, and
sometimes, though very rarely, in Scotland. It is migratory, generally
arriving in May and departing in September; some few remain throughout
the year, and scraping together a few bits of dry grass, clover, or
straw, make a rude nest in a hollow place on the ground, and there
deposit their eggs, which are of a yellowish, greenish, or reddish
white, blotched and speckled with brown. They vary in number from six
to fourteen, and even, it is said, twenty; the most common number is
ten. The period of incubation is about three weeks; the young, like
Partridges, run as soon as hatched.

The Common Quail is a plump little bird, not much unlike the Partridge
in its form, colours, and markings, but the head and throat are
curiously barred with black and white, and the distinct patch of the
latter colour beneath the chin gives the bird a very peculiar
appearance. Naturalists call this species _Perdix coturnix_, the former
term meaning a Partridge, and the latter a Quail.

This is thought by some to be the bird with which the children of
Israel were fed in the wilderness, as mentioned in the sixteenth
chapter of Exodus, and the immense flocks which pass from country to
country in the migratory seasons, render the supposition likely. It is
said in Numbers xi., 31, that "There went forth a wind from the Lord
and brought Quails from the sea;" and it is well known that the
direction of the wind will often determine the flight of these birds.
As many as one hundred thousand are said to have been taken in one day
in the kingdom of Naples after an unusually exhausting flight over the
Mediterranean; thousands of dozens are sent every year into the London
market, where they are eagerly purchased: their flesh is esteemed a
great delicacy.

Quails are desperate fighters, and in some countries are kept
especially for the cruel "sport," as it is called, which their
pugnacious propensities afford. They feed upon grain, seeds, young
leaves, and insects; and have a shrill whistling note like _whit,
whit_, which is called "piping."


BUSTARD.

COMMON OR BEARDED BUSTARD.

FIGURE 31.

If you can fancy a bird in general conformation something between an
Ostrich and a Goose, you will have a pretty fair notion of the Great
Bustard--_Otis tarda_ as naturalists call it, the first term meaning a
Bustard, and the second slow or lazy; yet lazy as he may be, this
long-legged stalker is by no means slow in his movements when once
roused to action; he runs with great swiftness, and, when he does take
wing, which he appears to do with difficulty, has a strong and
sustained flight. This is now a very rare species in Great Britain,
although once plentiful, according to old writers, who state that it
was customary with greyhounds

    "To hunt the Bustards in the fens."

A tall, strong, and stately bird is this, slow and sedate in its
general manners and movements, frequenting plains, and heaths, and open
moors, where it can have a wide range of vision, and so be aware of the
approach of an enemy. The gradual extension of cultivation over its
favourite places of resort, and the incessant war waged against it by
sportsmen, anxious to bag such a noble head of game, have nearly driven
it from our island. A specimen was shot as late as January, 1856, near
Hungerford, in Berkshire.

The prevailing colours in the plumage of the Great Bustard are white or
bluish grey, and yellowish or orange brown, with black mottlings; the
legs and beak are dark horn-colour; underneath the chin is a plume of
narrow feathers, falling backwards, and partly covering the front and
sides of the neck; they are six or seven inches long, and very light
and graceful.

The Bustards are called graminivorous, but are somewhat omnivorous
feeders; mice, frogs, worms, and young birds are occasionally added to
their usual vegetable diet. We have a species called the Little
Bustard, much smaller than the one we have been describing, and also a
very rare bird. The eggs of both these species are great treasures to
collectors; those of the larger kind are like what our artist has
represented, of an olive brown colour, clouded and spotted with ash and
rust-colour. They are generally two in number, laid on the bare earth,
or in a hollow carefully lined with corn stalks or grass; the length is
nearly three inches. The eggs of the Little Bustard are more decidedly
green, with ashy or dull brown variations.


GOLDEN PLOVER.

WHISTLING, YELLOW, GREEN, GREY, OR BLACK-BREASTED PLOVER.

FIGURE 32.

Of the _Pluveline_ Birds, or Plovers, we have several species in this
country, and the one above named is the commonest. Naturalists call it
_Pluvialis aurea_, the first term meaning a Plover, and signifying
rainy, or pertaining to rain, and the last golden; or _Charadrius
pluvialis_. Of the meaning of this generic name we are obliged to
confess our ignorance; by some it is, applied to all the Plovers, and
by others to the Sand Plovers only. This Golden species is a very
remarkable bird, both in its habits and appearance; all the under parts
of the body, the breast, throat, and sides of the head up to and above
the eyes, are of a deep velvet black; then comes all round an edging of
white, which deepens into grey tinged with yellow; and then again all
over the back, pinions, tail, and top of the head, are black feathers,
beautifully bordered, and barred with what appears to be gold
embroidery. It is a nimble active bird, constantly running about on the
open plains and ploughed fields in search of food, which consists of
insects of various kinds, green corn and leaves of vegetables, small
berries, etc.; or in flying hither and thither in the air, now close to
the ground as if about to settle, and then with a sudden upward wheel
urging a strong and swift flight to some distant part of the field, or
sea shore, which is a favourite resort in winter, where the birds
collect in large flocks, uttering their wild shrill whistle, which
harmonizes well with the sounds of the winds and waves.

The Golden Plover may be found all over Britain, where it remains
throughout the year, generally resorting to the heaths, downs, or
marshes to breed. Its nest is merely a few stems of grass and vegetable
fibres laid in a slight hollow in the ground, just about large enough
to contain the eggs, which are usually four in number, of a yellowish
stone colour, blotted and spotted with brownish black. They are
generally placed with great regularity, with the smaller ends meeting
in the centre; they are laid early in June. The young leave the nest as
soon as hatched, and are able to support themselves in a month or five
weeks.


DOTTEREL.

DOTTREL. DOTTEREL PLOVER.

FIGURE 33.

This, the _Charadrius morinellus_ of naturalists, is another lively and
beautiful bird, more so, perhaps, than the species last described,
having greater variety and more distinct markings in the plumage. The
crown and sides of the head are black, with a white band proceeding
from above each eye, running down into a point, and nearly meeting
another band from the back of the head; the throat is white, tinged and
spotted with grey, which is the colour of the breast, which is divided
from the orange-coloured belly by a broad waved band of white; black
and bright yellow complete the under parts; the back, wings, and tail
are brown and black, the larger feathers being distinctly edged with
golden yellow.

"The Dotterel," says Morris, "has acquired the character of being a
foolish bird, hence its English name from the word to dote, and its
Latin one from the word _morio_--a foolish fellow." The bird was
formerly supposed to imitate the actions of the fowler, and so to fall
into the trap, instead of providing for its escape by a timely flight.

The Dotterel, which is a migratory bird, frequents open and exposed
situations, wide heaths and barren mountainous districts, where it
generally breeds. Any hollow in the ground serves it for a nest, which
is composed of a few lichens, not woven but merely laid together. The
eggs are seldom more than three in number; they are generally laid in
June; the colour is a deep yellowish brown, or it may be a fine grey,
thickly spotted, especially about the darker end, with dark or reddish
brown, and deep grey.


RINGED PLOVER.

RING, OR STONE PLOVER. RINGED DOTTEREL. SAND LARK, OR LAVROCK.
DULL-WILLY. SANDY-LOO.

FIGURE 34.

_Charadrius hiaticula_ is the scientific name of this species; we have
already confessed our ignorance of the meaning of the first term;
according to the old naturalist Pliny, it is "a bird the seeing of
which cures those that have the jaundice;" but we must say that we are
extremely doubtful if the sight of any bird included by modern
naturalists in the genus _Charadrius_ would have such a wonderful
effect. The Latin dictionary tells us that the term comes from the
Greek, and that one of its meanings is _terrÊ fissura_, which we may
translate furrowed earth; so that the name may have reference to the
bird's real or supposed habit of haunting the furrows of the ploughed
field, or the rough uneven ground of rocky shores or barren places.
With regard to the specific name _hiaticula_, we have something very
like it in English--_hiatus_, a break, an aperture, or opening; the
Latin word from which it comes is precisely similar. Why applied to
this bird cannot tell, except it be from its being chiefly found on
broken and uneven ground.

The Ring Plover, or Dotterel, is altogether a shore bird, and may be
found on most parts of the British coast, and along the margins of the
creeks, estuaries, and tidal rivers, and sometimes by the inland lakes
and ponds. It is a bright lively creature, with party-coloured plumage
of black, brown, and white. It plays about on the sands, following the
retiring tide, and fleeing before its advance, as we see children do;
its silky feathers ruffled by the wind, and its shrill clear whistle
making pleasant music amid the rocks, and over the wide wild ocean
scenery. Its eggs are laid in some slight natural hollow in the sand or
small gravel, sheltered by a tuft of reeds or coarse herbage, sometimes
just above high-water mark, but frequently in the marshy grounds
further inland; they are four in number, of a greenish grey, buff, or
cream-colour, spotted and streaked with grey and black, or dark brown.

These birds generally pair in May; the male and female both sit on the
eggs, and are very careful of them and the young. Their general food is
worms, marine and other aquatic insects, shrimps, and small crustaceous
animals. On moonlight nights they may be seen searching diligently with
quick and incessant movements, their white plumes flashing here and
there like silver.


LAPWING.

COMMON, CRESTED, OR, GREEN LAPWING. GREEN PLOVER. LAPWING SANDPIPER.
PEWIT. TEWIT. TEACHET. PEESE-WEEP. FRENCH PIGEON.

FIGURE 35.

_Vanellus cristatus_ is the scientific name of this beautiful bird; the
first term may perhaps come from _vannus_--a fan, and be given to it on
account of the graceful fan-like motion of its glossy green pinions, as
it skims along the shore, or over the wide heaths, or low-lying
marshes, which it most frequents; the specific name means crested, and
has reference to the crest of long black feathers which adorn the head,
and can be raised nearly straight up or depressed at pleasure. We have
called this a beautiful bird, and truly so it is, with bronzy green and
coppery reflections playing over its black back, breast, throat, wings,
top of the head, and end of the tail; the breast, back, and sides of
the neck are pure white, as is part of the tail, and a long patch on
each side of the head; the legs, belly, and under side of the tail, are
all bright orange colour; and then its long shining crest gives it such
a pert and comical air, that it is quite a pleasure to behold.

Lapwings, or Peewits, as they are more generally called, from their
shrill cry, which sounds like the syllables _pe-wit_, or _pees-wit_,
are tolerably familiar birds with us, being found in summer on most wet
heaths, moors, and marshy pastures. It nestles in April, and lays its
four eggs, which, in general, are of a dull green colour, blotted and
irregularly marked with brownish black, in April. A slight depression
in the ground, with perhaps a few straws for lining, suffices for a
nest; it is sometimes placed amid a tuft of rushes or long grass. Being
considered delicate food they are eagerly sought for, and great numbers
are every year taken and exposed for sale in the poulterers' shops in
London and elsewhere.

The Lapwing feeds on worms and insects, runs with great speed, and has
a quick flight, although the flapping of its wings is heavier and more
measured than that of the Plovers.


TURNSTONE.

COMMON, OR COLLARED TURNSTONE. HEBRIDAL SANDPIPER.

FIGURE 36.

This is a very remarkable bird with regard to personal appearance,
having a variegated dress of black, white, and brownish red, with
little fading or running off into the other, so that the colours are
strongly contrasted; it has a tolerably heavy body, a strong stout bill
of moderate length, and longish thick legs, which are of a dull orange
colour, the toes terminating in strong black claws, very useful in what
appears to be the chief occupation of the bird, namely, turning up the
stones and pieces of rock on the shore, in search of the sea-worms and
small shell-fish which lurk beneath; farther inland it searches in the
same way for beetles and other insects; hence its common name
Turnstone, and Collared Turnstone, from the distinct white mark which
passes over the neck and down each side of the breast, until it nearly
meets beneath. In the Hebrides we find that it is called a Sandpiper,
because it closely resembles, in habits and general conformation, some
of the birds which belong to the _Tringa_, or Sandpiper genus, of which
there are several species in this country.

The most commonly used scientific name of the Turnstone is _Strepsilas
interpres_--rather a difficult name to translate; the first term
appears to come from two Greek roots, _Strepho_--to turn, and _laas_--a
stone; the second term may mean an interpreter, and is applied to the
bird, as Morris conjectures, from its habit of careful investigation,
and turning over, as a translator does the leaves of a book. So we may
set down our feathered friend, who goes poking and prying into holes
and turning up stones, as one who likes to see the bottom of things. It
is well for my readers to have the like inclination, to possess an
inquiring mind, so that they pursue their investigations with a due
regard to the wishes and interests of others, and are not merely
curious and Paul Pryish, if we may use the term. The secrets of nature
cannot be too closely and perseveringly investigated, and in her
domains much information may often be gained by becoming a Turnstone.

This bird is one of our winter visitants, arriving, says Morris, at the
end of August; the Scottish naturalist, Macgillivray, we see, says,
"visiting our coasts at the end of October;" perhaps he refers more
particularly to Scotland and the northern parts of the island; both
agree in assigning May as the latest date of departure.

The Turnstones frequent rocky and gravelly places more than the smooth
level sands. They are active energetic birds, running swiftly, and
flying rapidly with regular well-timed beats of the wings, sometimes in
a direct course, but oftener in curves. They have a clear twittering or
whistling cry, uttered frequently while flying. Their time of breeding
is about the middle of June, when they are found on the coast of Norway
and other northern countries of Europe. They lay their eggs on the
sandy and rocky shores, sometimes amid the stunted herbage, but often
in a slight hollow, natural or scraped out for the purpose, and lined
with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four in number, of a reddish
olive cast, spotted with dark grey, greenish brown, and black, some
very thickly, others not so much so. They are smaller than the eggs of
the Peewit, and more rounded in shape. Hewitson has remarked that those
which he met with in Norway had a beautiful purple or crimson tinge.

  [Illustrations: 1 through 38]



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Transcriber's note:

The eight pages of illustrations preceding the title page have
been moved to the end of the text.

Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without
note. Dialect spellings, contractions and inconsistencies have been
retained as printed.





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Nests and Eggs of Familiar British Birds, Second Series - Described and Illustrated; with an Account of the Haunts and Habits of the Feathered Architects, and their Times and Modes of Building" ***

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