FAMILY OTIDIDÆ(Bustards)Bill flattened and obtuse; no hind toe; tarsi unarmed; wings very short; rectrices sixteen to twenty.107.Otis(Bustard). Legs long, naked above the knee; wings moderate, hind quill longest.Page 236ORDER LIMICOLÆ(WADERS)Leg and tarsus long, the lower portion of the former generally destitute of feathers; bill long or moderate; toes three or four, more or less connected by a membrane at the base, sometimes lobated. Primaries eleven; fifth secondary wanting; after shaft to contour feathers present.Adapted by structure for feeding in marshes, on the muddy or sandy sea-shore, or on the banks of lakes and rivers. Some, which feed on fish, have unusually long legs and powerful bills; others, owing to their length of bill and legs, are able to search muddy places for worms and insects, without clogging their feathers; and others, again, are decidedly aquatic, and have considerable swimming powers, thus approaching the next order; the majority have great power of flight, and lay their eggs on the ground.FAMILY GLAREOLIDÆ108.Glaréola(Pratincole). Bill short, convex, compressed towards the point; upper mandible curved throughout half its length; nostrils basal, oblique; legs feathered nearly to the knee; tarsus long; three toes in front, one behind, the latter joined on the tarsus; wings very long; first primary longest.Page 238FAMILY CHARADRIIDÆHind toe absent in most species; tarsus usually reticulate, sometimes scutellate.109.Œdicnémus(Thick-knee). Bill stout, straight, longer than the head, slightly compressed towards the end; nostrils in the middle of the bill, narrow, with the aperture in front, pervious; toes three, united by a membrane as far as the first joint; wings as in the last.Page 239110.Cursorius(Courser). Bill shorter than the head, depressed at the base, slightly curved, pointed; nostrils basal, oval, covered by a little protuberance. Legs long, slender; toes three, very short, divided nearly to the base, inner toe half the length of the middle one; its claw serrated; claws very short; wings moderate; first primary nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in the wing.Page 240111.Charádrius(Plover). Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, somewhat swollen towards the tip; nasal channel reaching from the base through two-thirds of the bill, covered by a membrane; nostrils basal, very narrow; tarsi moderate, slender; toes three, the outer and middle connected by a short membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest.Page 240112.Squatárola(Grey Plover). Bill shorter than the head, straight, swollen and hard towards the tip; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the membrane of a long groove; legs slender; outer and middle toe connected by a short membrane, hind toe rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, not touching the ground; wings long, pointed; first primary longest.Page 242113.Eudromias(Dotterel). Bill shorter than head, slender, compressed; nasal channel reaching about half length of bill. Wings moderate; inner secondaries much longer than inCharádrius.Page 244114.Ægialitis(Ringed and Kentish Plovers). Bill much shorter than head, slender, straight to end of nasal channel, which extends beyond middle of bill, then slightly raised, but decurved at tip; wings long, pointed.Page 245115.Vanellus(Lapwing). Wings large, quills broad and rounded, the fourth and fifth primaries longest. In other respects resembling Squatarola.Page 247116.Hæmátopus(Oyster Catcher). Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, forming a wedge; legs moderate, stout; toes three, bordered by a narrow membrane; wings long; first primary longest.Page 248117.Strépsilas(Turnstone). Bill short, thickest at the base and tapering; nostrils basal, narrow, pervious; legs moderate; three front toes connected at the base by a membrane, fourth rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, touching the ground with its tip.Page 250FAMILY SCOLOPACIDÆ(Snipes, etc.)Bill long and slender; toes four, the hind one weak and elevated, very rarely wanting.118.Recurvirostra(Avocet). Bill very long, slender, weak, much curved upwards, pointed; legs long, slender; front toes connected as far as the second joint; hind toe very small.Page 252119.Phaláropus(Phalarope). Bill as long as the head, slender, weak, depressed and blunt; front toes connected as far as the first joint, and bordered by a lobed and slightly serrated membrane; hind toe not bordered.Page 253120.Scólopax(Woodcock). Bill long, compressed, superior ridge elevated at base of mandible, prominent. Legs rather short, anterior toes almost entirely divided.Page 254121.Gallinágo(Snipe). Bill very long; legs rather long and slender; anterior toes divided to the base.Page 256122.Calidris(Sanderling). Bill as long as the head, slender, straight, soft, and flexible, dilated towards the end; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the long nasal groove which reaches to the tip; legs slender; toes three, scarcely connected by a membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest.Page 260123.Tringa(Sandpiper, Knot, Dunlin, Stint). Bill as long as the head or a little longer, straight or slightly curved, soft and flexible, dilated, and blunt towards point; both mandibles grooved along sides; nostrils lateral wings moderately long, pointed, first quill longest; legs moderately long; three toes in front, divided to origin; one behind, small, articulated upon tarsus.Page 361124.Machétes(Ruff). Bill straight, as long as the head, dilated and smooth at the tip; nasal channel reaching to nearly the end of the bill; nostrils basal; first and second primaries longest; toes four, the outer and middle connected as far as the first joint; neck of the male in spring furnished with a ruff.Page 266125.Tótanus(Redshank, Sandpiper). Bill moderate, slender, soft at the base, solid at the end; both mandibles grooved at the base, upper channelled through half its length; nostrils pierced in the groove; legs long, slender; toes four.Page 267126.Limósa(Godwit). Bill very long, slender, curved upwards, soft and flexible throughout, dilated towards the tip, and blunt; upper mandible channelled throughout its whole length; nostrils linear, pierced in the groove, pervious; legs long and slender; toes four, the outer and middle connected as far as as the first joint; wings moderate; first primary longest.Page 272127.Numenius(Curlew, Whimbrel). Bill much larger than the head, slender, curved downwards.Page 273ORDER GAVIÆFront toes entirely connected by webs. Primaries, ten large and visible, one minute and concealed.FAMILY LARIDÆ(Gulls, Terns, Skuas)SUB-FAMILY STERNINÆBill straight, rather slender; mandibles of about equal length.128.Hydrochelidon(Black, White-winged, and Whiskered Terns). Tail feathers rounded or slightly pointed; tail short, less than half length of wing.Page 275129.Sterna(Other Terns). Outer tail feathers longest, pointed; tarsus short; tail at least half length of wing; bill compressed and slender; tarsus never exceeds length of middle toe with claw.Page 276SUB-FAMILY LARINÆBill with upper mandible longer and bent over tip of under one.130.Larus(Gull). Bill moderate, strong, sharp-edged above, compressed, slightly decurved; hind toe high on the tarsus; first primary nearly equal to the second, which is longest; tail even, or but slightly forked.Page 281131.Rissa(Kittiwake). Bill rather short and stout, considerably decurved; hind toe minute and usually obsolete; first primary slightly exceeding second; tail perceptibly forked in young, nearly square in adult.Page 287SUB-FAMILY STERCORARIINÆBill with a cere; claws large, strong, hooked.132.Stercorarius(Skua). Bill moderate, strong, rounded above, compressed towards the tip, which is decurved; nostrils far forward, diagonal, pervious; hind toe very small, scarcely elevated; the middle tail-feathers more or less elongated.Page 288ORDER PYGOPODESWings shortFAMILY ALCIDÆ(Auks)Bill much flattened vertically (compressed); wings short; legs placed at the extremity of the body; feet three-toed, palmated; tail short. Food, mostly fish, and captured by diving.133.Alca(Razor-bill). Bill large, sharp-edged, the basal half feathered, the terminal part grooved laterally; upper mandible much curved towards the point; nostrils nearly concealed by a feathered membrane; tail pointed.Page 291134.UÚria(Guillemot). Bill strong, nearly straight, sharp-pointed, of moderate length; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first primary longest.Page 292135.Mérgulus. (Little Auk). Bill strong, conical, slightly curved, shorter than the head; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first and second primaries equal.Page 294136.Fratercula(Puffin). Bill shorter than head, higher than long, ridge of upper mandible higher than crown; both mandibles much curved throughout, transversely furrowed, notched at tip; nostrils basal, almost closed by a naked membrane.Page 295FAMILY COLYMBIDÆ(Divers)Bill slightly compressed, not covered with a membranous skin; edges of the mandibles unarmed, or but slightly toothed; wings short; legs placed far behind; tarsi very much compressed; toes four. Food, fish and other aquatic animal substances obtained by diving. Females smaller than males.137.Colymbus(Diver). Bill forming a pointed cylindrical cone; front toes entirely palmated; tail very short.Page 297FAMILY PODICIPEDIDÆ(Grebes)Hallux raised above level of other toes; toes with wide lateral lobes, united at base. Tail vestigial.138.Pódicipes(Grebe). Bill forming pointed cylindrical cone; secondaries, if any, very little shorter than primaries.Page 300ORDER TUBINARESExternal nostrils are produced into tubes; anterior toes fully webbed; hallux small or absent.FAMILY PROCELLARIIDÆNostrils united exteriorly above culmen.139.Fulmarus(Fulmar). Bill not so long as head; upper mandible of four portions divided by indentations, the whole large, strong, curving suddenly to point; under mandible grooved along sides, bent at end; edges of mandibles sharp; nostrils prominent, united, enclosed, somewhat hidden in tube with single external orifice; wings rather long, first quill longest; tarsi compressed, feet moderate.Page 304140.Puffinus(Shearwaters). Bill rather longer than head, slender; mandibles compressed, decurved; nasal tube low, both nostrils visible from above, directed forwards and slightly upwards; wings long, pointed, first quill slightly the longest; tail graduated; tarsi compressed laterally.Page 305141.Procellaria(Storm and Fork-tailed Petrels). Bill small, robust, much shorter than head, straight to nail, which is decurved; wings long, narrow, second quill longest, slightly exceeding third, first shorter than fourth; tail moderate, slightly rounded; legs moderate, claws rather short.Page 307ORDER PASSERESFAMILY TURDIDÆSub-FamilyTURDINÆTHE MISTLE (OR MISSEL) THRUSHTURDUS VISCIVORUSUpper plumage ash brown; space between the bill and eye greyish white; wing-coverts edged and tipped with greyish white; under parts white, faintly tinged here and there with reddish yellow, marked all over with deep brown spots, which on the throat and breast are triangular, in other parts oval, broader on the flanks; under wing-coverts white; three lateral tail feathers tipped with greyish white. Length eleven inches; breadth eighteen inches. Eggs greenish or reddish white, spotted with brownish red. Young spotted on the head and back with buff and black.The largest British song bird, distinguished from the Song Thrush not only by its superior size, but by having white under wing-coverts, and the whole of the under part of the body buffish-white, spotted with black. It is a generally diffused bird, and is known by various local names; in the west of England its popular name is Holm Thrush, or Holm Screech, derived most probably, not, as Yarrell surmises, from its resorting to the oak in preference to other trees, but from its feeding on the berries of the holly, or holm; the title 'Screech' being given to it from its jarring note when angry or alarmed, which closely resembles the noise made by passing the finger-nail rapidly along the teeth of a comb. Its French name, 'Draine', and German, 'Schnarre', seem to be descriptive of the same harsh 'churr'. In Wales, it has from its quarrelsome habits acquired the name of Penn y llwyn, or, master of the coppice. Another of its names, Throstle Cock, expresses its alliance with the Thrushes, and its daring nature; and another Storm Cock, indicates 'not that it delights in storms more than in fine weather, but that nature has taught it to pour forth its melody at a time of the year when the bleak winds of winter roar through the leafless trees'. The song of the Mistle Thrush is loud, wild, and musical, Waterton calls it 'plaintive', Knapp 'harsh and untuneful'. I mustconfess that I agree with neither. This note, generally the earliest of the Spring sounds (for the Redbreast's song belongs essentially to winter), is to my ear full of cheerful promise amounting to confidence—a song of exultation in the return of genial weather. The bird sings generally perched on the topmost branch of some lofty tree, and there he remains for hours together out-whistling the wind and heeding not the pelting rain. This song, however, is not continuous, but broken into passages of a few notes each, by which characteristic it may be distinguished alike from that of the Thrush or the Blackbird, even when mellowed by distance to resemble either. The Mistletoe Thrush is essentially a tree-loving bird. During winter its food mainly consists of berries, among which those of the Mountain Ash and Yew have the preference, though it also feeds on those of the Hawthorn, Ivy, Juniper, and the strange plant from which it derives its name.[1]Towards other birds it is a very tyrant, selfish and domineering in the extreme; to such a degree, indeed, that even when it has appeased its appetite it will allow no other bird to approach the tree which it has appropriated for its feeding ground. I have seen it take possession of a Yew-tree laden with berries, and most mercilessly drive away, with angry vociferations and yet more formidable buffets, every other bird that dared to come near. Day after day it returned, until the tree was stripped of every berry, when it withdrew and appeared no more.As soon as the unfrozen earth is penetrable by its beak, it adds to its diet such worms and grubs as it can discover; and, if it be not belied, it is given to plunder the nests of other birds of their eggs and young. It may be on this account that Magpies, Jays, and other large woodland birds, robbers themselves, entertain an instinctive dislike towards it. Certainly these birds are its better enemies; but in the breeding season it eludes their animosity by quitting the woods, and resorting to the haunts of man. Its harsh screech is now rarely heard, for its present object is not defiance, but immunity from danger. Yet it takes no extraordinary pains to conceal its nest. On the contrary, it usually places this where there is little or no foliage to shadow it, in a fork between two large boughs of an apple, pear, or cherry tree, sometimes only a few feet from the ground, and sometimes twenty feet or more. The nest is a massive structure, consisting of an external basket-work of twigs, roots, and lichens, within which is a kind of bowl of mud containing a final lining of grass and roots. The bird is an early builder. It generally lays five eggs and feeds its young on snails, worms, and insects. The range of the Mistle Thrush extends as far as the Himalayas. In Great Britain it is a resident species.[1]That this thrush feeds on the berries of the mistletoe was stated by Yarrell, but it is not now generally believed to be a fact.Plate_01Plate_02THE SONG THRUSHTURDUS MÚSICUSUpper parts brown tinged with olive; wing-coverts edged and tipped with reddish yellow; cere yellowish; throat white in the middle, without spots; sides of neck and breast reddish yellow with triangular dark brown spots; abdomen and flanks pure white with oval dark brown spots; under wing-coverts pale orange yellow; bill and feet greyish brown. Length, eight inches and a half, breadth thirteen inches. Eggs blue with a few black spots mostly at the larger end.The Thrush holds a distinguished place among British birds, as contributing, perhaps, more than any other to the aggregate charms of a country life. However near it may be, its song is never harsh, and heard at a distance its only defect is, that it is not nearer. It possesses, too, the charm of harmonizing with all other pleasant natural sounds. If to these recommendations we add that the Thrush frequents all parts of England, and resorts to the suburban garden as well as the forest and rocky glen, we think we may justly claim for it the distinction among birds, of being the last that we would willingly part with, not even excepting its allowed master in song himself, the Nightingale. Three notes are often repeated: Did he do it? Shut the gate, Kubelik.The food of the Thrush during winter consists of worms, insects, and snails. The first of these it picks up or draws out from their holes, in meadows and lawns; the others it hunts for among moss and stones, in woods and hedges, swallowing the smaller ones whole, and extracting the edible parts of large snails by dashing them with much adroitness against a stone. When it has once discovered a stone adapted to its purpose, it returns to it again and again, so that it is not uncommon in one's winter walks to come upon a place thickly strewn with broken shells, all, most probably, the 'chips' of one workman. As spring advances, it adds caterpillars to its bill of fare, and as the summer fruits ripen, it attacks them all in succession; strawberries, gooseberries, currants, raspberries, cherries, and, on the Continent, grapes suit its palate right well; and, when these are gone, pears and apples, whether attached to the tree or lying on the ground, bear, too often for the gardener, the marks of its beak on their ripest side. During all this period it relieves the monotony of its diet by an occasional repast on animal food; as, indeed, in winter it alternates its food whenever opportunity occurs, by regaling itself on wild berries. Yet, despite the mischief which it perpetrates in our gardens by devouring and spoiling much of the choicest fruit—for your thrush is an epicure, and tastes none but the ripest and best—the service which it renders as a devourer of insects more than compensates for all. So the gardener, if a wise man, will prefer the scare-crow to the gun, the protecting net to that which captures.I know two adjoining estates in Yorkshire. On one the gardenershoots blackbirds and thrushes in fruit time. On the other they are protected. The latter yields always more fruit than the former.The Thrush holds a high rank, too, among birds as an architect. Its nest is usually placed in a thorn-bush, a larch or young fir-tree, a furze-bush, an apple or pear tree, or an ordinary hedge, at no great elevation from the ground, and not concealed with much attempt at art. Indeed, as it begins to build very early, it is only when it selects an evergreen that it has much chance of effectually hiding its retreat. The nest externally is composed of feather-moss, intermatted with bents, twigs, and small roots, and terminates above in a thicker rim of the same materials. Thus far the bird has displayed her skill as basket-maker. The outer case is succeeded by a layer of cow-dung, applied in small pellets, and cemented with saliva. The builder, with a beak for her only trowel, has now completed the mason's work. But she has yet to show her skill as a plasterer; this she does by lining her cup-like chamber with stucco made from decayed wood, pulverized and reduced to a proper consistence, kneading it with her beak. With this for her sole instrument, except her round breast, to give to the whole the requisite form, she has constructed a circular bowl sufficiently compact to exclude air and water, as true and as finely finished as if it had been moulded on a potter's wheel, or turned on a lathe.The Thrush lays four or five eggs, and rears several broods in the season, building a new nest for each brood. During incubation the female is very tame, and will suffer herself to be approached quite closely without deserting her post. In the vicinity of houses, where she is familiar with the human form, she will even take worms and other food from the hand.THE REDWINGTURDUS ILÍACUSUpper plumage olive brown; lore black and yellow; a broad white streak above the eye; lower plumage white, with numerous oblong dusky spots, middle of the abdomen without spots; under wing-coverts and flanks bright orange red; bill dusky; feet grey. Length eight inches, breadth thirteen inches. Eggs greenish blue mottled with dark brownish red spots.The Redwing (called in FranceMauvis, whence an old name for the Song-thrush, 'Mavis') is the smallest of the Thrushes with which we are familiar. It is, like the Fieldfare, a bird of passage, reaching us from the north about the same time with the Woodcock, in October. It resembles the Song-thrush more than any other bird of the family, but may readily be distinguished even at some distance by the light stripe over the eye, and its bright red under wing-coverts. In some parts of France it is much soughtafter by the fowler, its flesh being considered by many superior to that of the Quail and Woodcock. It owes perhaps some of this unfortunate distinction to the fact of its arriving in France in time to fatten on grapes, for in this country it is often too lean to be worth cooking. Being impatient of cold, it is less abundant in the north of England than the south; but even in the mild climates of Devon and Cornwall, where it congregates in large numbers, it is so much enfeebled by unusually severe weather, as to be liable to be hunted down by boys with sticks, and a Redwing starved to death used to be no unfrequent sight in the course of a winter's ramble. As long as the ground remains neither frozen nor snowed up, the open meadows may be seen everywhere spotted with these birds, but when the earth becomes so hard as to resist their efforts in digging up worms and grubs, they repair to the cliffs which border the sea-coast, where some sunny nook is generally to be found, to woods in quest of berries, or to the water-courses of sheltered valleys. At these times they are mostly silent, their only note, when they utter any, being simple and harsh; but in France they are said to sing towards the end of February, and even in this country they have been known to perch on trees in mild weather, and execute a regular song. Towards the end of April or beginning of May, they take their departure northwards, where they pass the summer, preferring woods and thickets in the vicinity of marshes. Mr. Hewitson states that while he was travelling through Norway 'the Redwing was but seldom seen, and then perched upon the summit of one of the highest trees, pouring forth its delightfully wild note. It was always very shy, and upon seeing our approach would drop suddenly from its height, and disappear among the underwood. Its nest, which we twice found with young ones (although our unceasing endeavours to find its eggs were fruitless), was similar to that of the Fieldfare. The Redwing is called the Nightingale of Norway, and well it deserves the name', and Turdus Ilíacus because it frequented in such great numbers the environs of Ilion-Troy.THE FIELDFARETURDUS PILÁRISHead, nape, and lower part of the back dark ash colour; upper part of the back and wing-coverts chestnut brown; lore black; a white rim above the eyes; throat and breast yellowish red with oblong dark spots; feathers on the flanks spotted with black and edged with white; abdomen pure white without spots; under wing-coverts white, beak brown, tipped with black. Length ten inches, breadth seventeen inches. Eggs light blue, mottled all over with dark red brown spots.The Fieldfare is little inferior in size to the Missel Thrush, with which, however, it is not likely to be confounded even at a distance, owing to the predominant bluish tinge of its upper plumage. In the west of England, where the Thrush is called the Greybird, todistinguish it from its ally the Blackbird, the Fieldfare is known by the name of Bluebird, to distinguish it from both. It is a migratory bird, spending its summer, and breeding, in the north of Europe, and paying us an annual visit in October or November. But it is impatient of cold, even with us, for in winters of unusual severity it migrates yet farther south, and drops in upon our meadows a second time in the spring, when on its way to its summer quarters. Fieldfares are eminently gregarious; not only do they arrive at our shores and depart from them in flocks, but they keep together as long as they remain, nor do they dissolve their society on their return to the north, but build their nests many together in the same wood. In this country, they are wild and cautious birds, resorting during open weather to water-courses and damp pastures, where they feed on worms and insects, and when frost sets in betaking themselves to bushes in quest of haws and other berries; or in very severe weather resorting to the muddy or sandy sea-shore. They frequent also commons on which the Juniper abounds, the berries of this shrub affording them an abundant banquet. Unlike the Blackbird and Thrush, they rarely seek for food under hedges, but keep near the middle of fields, as if afraid of being molested by some concealed enemy. When alarmed, they either take refuge in the branches of a high tree in the neighbourhood, or remove altogether to a distant field. The song of the Fieldfare I have never heard: Toussenel doubts whether it has any; Yarrell describes it as 'soft and melodious'; Bechstein as 'a mere harsh disagreeable warble'; while a writer in theZoologistwho heard one sing during the mild January of 1846, in Devon, describes it as 'combining the melodious whistle of the Blackbird with the powerful voice of the Mistle Thrush'. Its call-note is short and harsh, and has in France given it the provincial names of Tia-tia and Tchatcha. This latter name accords with Macgillivray's mode of spelling its note,yack chuck, harsh enough, no one will deny. 'Our attention was attracted by the harsh cries of several birds which we at first supposed must be Shrikes, but which afterwards proved to be Fieldfares. We were now delighted by the discovery of several of their nests, and were surprised to find them (so contrary to the habits of other species of the genus with which we are acquainted) breeding in society. Their nests were at various heights from the ground, from four to thirty or forty feet or upwards; they were, for the most part, placed against the trunk of the Spruce Fir; some were, however, at a considerable distance from it, upon the upper surface and towards the smaller end of the thicker branches: they resembled most nearly those of the Ring Ouzel; the outside is composed of sticks and coarse grass and weeds gathered wet, matted with a small quantity of clay, and lined with a thick bed of fine dry grass: none of them yet contained more than threeeggs, although we afterwards found that five was more commonly the number than four, and that even six was very frequent; they are very similar to those of the Blackbird, and even more so to the Ring Ouzel. The Fieldfare is the most abundant bird in Norway, and is generally diffused over that part which we visited, building, as already noticed, in society; two hundred nests or more being frequently seen within a very small space.' Oddly enough two hundred was just the number of a colony of nests in Thüringen on the estate of Baron von Berlepsch, which were those of Fieldfares he had induced to come by trimming the trunks of a long row of Black Poplar trees so as to afford good sites for the nests. The present editor visited these in 1906. Some few instances are on record of the Fieldfare breeding in this country, but these are exceptional. In general they leave us in April and May, though they have been observed as late as the beginning of June.THE BLACKBIRDTURDUS MERULAMale—plumage wholly black; bill and orbits of the eyes orange yellow; feet black.Female—upper plumage sooty brown; throat pale brown with darker spots; breast reddish brown passing into dark ash brown; bill and legs dusky. Length ten inches; breadth sixteen inches. Eggs greenish grey, spotted and speckled with light red brown.With his glossy coat and yellow beak the Blackbird is a handsomer bird than the Thrush; his food is much the same: he builds his nest in similar places; he is a great glutton when gooseberries are ripe, and his rich mellow song is highly inspiriting. But he is suspicious and wary; however hard pressed he may be by hunger, you will rarely see him hunting for food in the open field. He prefers the solitude and privacy of 'the bush'. In a furze-brake, a coppice, a wooded water-course, or a thick hedge-row, he chooses his feeding ground, and allows no sort of partnership. Approach his haunt, and if he simply mistrusts you, he darts out flying close to the ground, pursues his course some twenty yards and dips again into the thicket, issuing most probably on the other side, and ceasing not until he has placed what he considers a safe distance between himself and his enemy. But with all his cunning he fails in prudence; it is not in his nature to steal away silently. If he only suspects that all is not right, he utters repeatedly a low cluck, which seems to say, 'This is no place for me, I must be off'. But if he is positively alarmed, his loud vociferous cry rings out like a bell, informing all whom it may concern that 'danger is at hand, and it behoves all who value their safety to fly'. Most animals understand the cry in this sense, and catch the alarm. Many a time has the deer-stalker been disappointed of a shot, who, after traversing half a mile on his hands and knees between rocks and shrubs, has just before the critical moment of action started some ill-omened Blackbird. Out bursts the frantic alarum, heard at a great distance; the intended victim catches the alarm, once snuffs the air to discover in what direction the foe lies concealed, and bounds to a place of security. A somewhat similar note, not, however, indicative of terror, real or imagined, is uttered when the bird is about to retire for the night, and this at all seasons of the year. He would merit, therefore, the title of 'Bellman of the woods'. Neither of these sounds is to be confounded with the truesongof the Blackbird. This is a full, melodious, joyful carol, many of the notes being remarkable for their flute-like tone—'the whistling of the Blackbird'—and varying greatly in their order of repetition; though I am inclined to believe that most birds of this kind have a favourite passage, which they repeat at intervals many times during the same performance.PLATES TO BLACKBIRD.A nest and eggs.The young just emerged from the egg and an egg (June 1).The day after hatching (June 2).Four days later (June 4).Sixth day out (June 5).Ninth day out.Eleventh day out.Fourteenth day out.We would draw attention to the extraordinary size of the bird just out as compared with the egg. On the sixth day the feather shafts with the tips of the encased feathers sticking out of them are quite formed, although two days earlier they were hardly more than indicated. On the ninth day feathers nearly cover the whole of the skin—on the eleventh day they do this completely. In No. 8 the bird was drawn after it had flown from the nest.Plate_03Plate_04The song of the Blackbird does not meet the approbation of bird-fanciers: 'It is not destitute of melody,' says Bechstein, 'but it is broken by noisy tones, and is agreeable only in the open country'. The art of teaching the Blackbird is of old date, for we find in Pepys' Diary, May 22, 1663, the following passage: 'Rendall, the house carpenter at Deptford, hath sent me a fine Blackbird, which I went to see. He tells me he was offered twenty shillings for him as he came along, he do so whistle. 23d. Waked this morning between four and five by my Blackbird, which whistled as well as ever I heard any; only it is the beginning of many tunes very well, but then leaves them and goes no further.'The song of the Blackbird is occasionally heard during the mild days of winter, but it is not until spring sets in that it can be said to be in full, uninterrupted song. It then repairs to some thick bush or hedge, especially at the corner of a pond, and builds its nest, a bulky structure, the framework of which is composed of twigs and roots; within is a thin layer of mud lined with small fibrous roots, bents, and moss. The nest contains four or five eggs, and the young birds are fed with worms. In the breeding season Blackbirds are far more venturesome than at any other time, as they frequently select a garden in which to build their nest, with the double object, perhaps, of procuring plenty of worms for their nestlings, and of launching them when fledged where they will have great facilities for regaling themselves on summer fruits. In such localities the appearance of a cat near their nest greatly excites their wrath. From being timid they become very courageous, scolding with all their might, darting down so near as almost to dash in her face, and generally ending by compelling her to beat a retreat.The female Blackbird differs materially from the male, its plumage being of a dingy brown hue, the breast light and spotted, the beak dark brown with yellowish edges. White and pied specimens ofboth sexes are occasionally met with. In a district of France not far from Paris they are very numerous, and here the title to a certain estate used to be kept up by the annual presentation of a white Blackbird to the lord of the manor. Large flocks from the Continent visit us in the autumn and winter.
FAMILY OTIDIDÆ(Bustards)
Bill flattened and obtuse; no hind toe; tarsi unarmed; wings very short; rectrices sixteen to twenty.
107.Otis(Bustard). Legs long, naked above the knee; wings moderate, hind quill longest.
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ORDER LIMICOLÆ(WADERS)
Leg and tarsus long, the lower portion of the former generally destitute of feathers; bill long or moderate; toes three or four, more or less connected by a membrane at the base, sometimes lobated. Primaries eleven; fifth secondary wanting; after shaft to contour feathers present.
Adapted by structure for feeding in marshes, on the muddy or sandy sea-shore, or on the banks of lakes and rivers. Some, which feed on fish, have unusually long legs and powerful bills; others, owing to their length of bill and legs, are able to search muddy places for worms and insects, without clogging their feathers; and others, again, are decidedly aquatic, and have considerable swimming powers, thus approaching the next order; the majority have great power of flight, and lay their eggs on the ground.
FAMILY GLAREOLIDÆ
108.Glaréola(Pratincole). Bill short, convex, compressed towards the point; upper mandible curved throughout half its length; nostrils basal, oblique; legs feathered nearly to the knee; tarsus long; three toes in front, one behind, the latter joined on the tarsus; wings very long; first primary longest.
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FAMILY CHARADRIIDÆ
Hind toe absent in most species; tarsus usually reticulate, sometimes scutellate.
109.Œdicnémus(Thick-knee). Bill stout, straight, longer than the head, slightly compressed towards the end; nostrils in the middle of the bill, narrow, with the aperture in front, pervious; toes three, united by a membrane as far as the first joint; wings as in the last.
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110.Cursorius(Courser). Bill shorter than the head, depressed at the base, slightly curved, pointed; nostrils basal, oval, covered by a little protuberance. Legs long, slender; toes three, very short, divided nearly to the base, inner toe half the length of the middle one; its claw serrated; claws very short; wings moderate; first primary nearly as long as the second, which is the longest in the wing.
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111.Charádrius(Plover). Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, somewhat swollen towards the tip; nasal channel reaching from the base through two-thirds of the bill, covered by a membrane; nostrils basal, very narrow; tarsi moderate, slender; toes three, the outer and middle connected by a short membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest.
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112.Squatárola(Grey Plover). Bill shorter than the head, straight, swollen and hard towards the tip; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the membrane of a long groove; legs slender; outer and middle toe connected by a short membrane, hind toe rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, not touching the ground; wings long, pointed; first primary longest.
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113.Eudromias(Dotterel). Bill shorter than head, slender, compressed; nasal channel reaching about half length of bill. Wings moderate; inner secondaries much longer than inCharádrius.
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114.Ægialitis(Ringed and Kentish Plovers). Bill much shorter than head, slender, straight to end of nasal channel, which extends beyond middle of bill, then slightly raised, but decurved at tip; wings long, pointed.
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115.Vanellus(Lapwing). Wings large, quills broad and rounded, the fourth and fifth primaries longest. In other respects resembling Squatarola.
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116.Hæmátopus(Oyster Catcher). Bill longer than the head, stout, straight, forming a wedge; legs moderate, stout; toes three, bordered by a narrow membrane; wings long; first primary longest.
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117.Strépsilas(Turnstone). Bill short, thickest at the base and tapering; nostrils basal, narrow, pervious; legs moderate; three front toes connected at the base by a membrane, fourth rudimentary, jointed on the tarsus, touching the ground with its tip.
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FAMILY SCOLOPACIDÆ(Snipes, etc.)
Bill long and slender; toes four, the hind one weak and elevated, very rarely wanting.
118.Recurvirostra(Avocet). Bill very long, slender, weak, much curved upwards, pointed; legs long, slender; front toes connected as far as the second joint; hind toe very small.
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119.Phaláropus(Phalarope). Bill as long as the head, slender, weak, depressed and blunt; front toes connected as far as the first joint, and bordered by a lobed and slightly serrated membrane; hind toe not bordered.
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120.Scólopax(Woodcock). Bill long, compressed, superior ridge elevated at base of mandible, prominent. Legs rather short, anterior toes almost entirely divided.
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121.Gallinágo(Snipe). Bill very long; legs rather long and slender; anterior toes divided to the base.
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122.Calidris(Sanderling). Bill as long as the head, slender, straight, soft, and flexible, dilated towards the end; nostrils basal, narrow, pierced in the long nasal groove which reaches to the tip; legs slender; toes three, scarcely connected by a membrane; wings moderate; first primary longest.
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123.Tringa(Sandpiper, Knot, Dunlin, Stint). Bill as long as the head or a little longer, straight or slightly curved, soft and flexible, dilated, and blunt towards point; both mandibles grooved along sides; nostrils lateral wings moderately long, pointed, first quill longest; legs moderately long; three toes in front, divided to origin; one behind, small, articulated upon tarsus.
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124.Machétes(Ruff). Bill straight, as long as the head, dilated and smooth at the tip; nasal channel reaching to nearly the end of the bill; nostrils basal; first and second primaries longest; toes four, the outer and middle connected as far as the first joint; neck of the male in spring furnished with a ruff.
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125.Tótanus(Redshank, Sandpiper). Bill moderate, slender, soft at the base, solid at the end; both mandibles grooved at the base, upper channelled through half its length; nostrils pierced in the groove; legs long, slender; toes four.
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126.Limósa(Godwit). Bill very long, slender, curved upwards, soft and flexible throughout, dilated towards the tip, and blunt; upper mandible channelled throughout its whole length; nostrils linear, pierced in the groove, pervious; legs long and slender; toes four, the outer and middle connected as far as as the first joint; wings moderate; first primary longest.
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127.Numenius(Curlew, Whimbrel). Bill much larger than the head, slender, curved downwards.
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ORDER GAVIÆ
Front toes entirely connected by webs. Primaries, ten large and visible, one minute and concealed.
FAMILY LARIDÆ(Gulls, Terns, Skuas)
SUB-FAMILY STERNINÆ
Bill straight, rather slender; mandibles of about equal length.
128.Hydrochelidon(Black, White-winged, and Whiskered Terns). Tail feathers rounded or slightly pointed; tail short, less than half length of wing.
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129.Sterna(Other Terns). Outer tail feathers longest, pointed; tarsus short; tail at least half length of wing; bill compressed and slender; tarsus never exceeds length of middle toe with claw.
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SUB-FAMILY LARINÆ
Bill with upper mandible longer and bent over tip of under one.
130.Larus(Gull). Bill moderate, strong, sharp-edged above, compressed, slightly decurved; hind toe high on the tarsus; first primary nearly equal to the second, which is longest; tail even, or but slightly forked.
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131.Rissa(Kittiwake). Bill rather short and stout, considerably decurved; hind toe minute and usually obsolete; first primary slightly exceeding second; tail perceptibly forked in young, nearly square in adult.
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SUB-FAMILY STERCORARIINÆ
Bill with a cere; claws large, strong, hooked.
132.Stercorarius(Skua). Bill moderate, strong, rounded above, compressed towards the tip, which is decurved; nostrils far forward, diagonal, pervious; hind toe very small, scarcely elevated; the middle tail-feathers more or less elongated.
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ORDER PYGOPODES
Wings short
FAMILY ALCIDÆ(Auks)
Bill much flattened vertically (compressed); wings short; legs placed at the extremity of the body; feet three-toed, palmated; tail short. Food, mostly fish, and captured by diving.
133.Alca(Razor-bill). Bill large, sharp-edged, the basal half feathered, the terminal part grooved laterally; upper mandible much curved towards the point; nostrils nearly concealed by a feathered membrane; tail pointed.
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134.UÚria(Guillemot). Bill strong, nearly straight, sharp-pointed, of moderate length; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first primary longest.
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135.Mérgulus. (Little Auk). Bill strong, conical, slightly curved, shorter than the head; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first and second primaries equal.
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136.Fratercula(Puffin). Bill shorter than head, higher than long, ridge of upper mandible higher than crown; both mandibles much curved throughout, transversely furrowed, notched at tip; nostrils basal, almost closed by a naked membrane.
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FAMILY COLYMBIDÆ(Divers)
Bill slightly compressed, not covered with a membranous skin; edges of the mandibles unarmed, or but slightly toothed; wings short; legs placed far behind; tarsi very much compressed; toes four. Food, fish and other aquatic animal substances obtained by diving. Females smaller than males.
137.Colymbus(Diver). Bill forming a pointed cylindrical cone; front toes entirely palmated; tail very short.
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FAMILY PODICIPEDIDÆ(Grebes)
Hallux raised above level of other toes; toes with wide lateral lobes, united at base. Tail vestigial.
138.Pódicipes(Grebe). Bill forming pointed cylindrical cone; secondaries, if any, very little shorter than primaries.
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ORDER TUBINARES
External nostrils are produced into tubes; anterior toes fully webbed; hallux small or absent.
FAMILY PROCELLARIIDÆ
Nostrils united exteriorly above culmen.
139.Fulmarus(Fulmar). Bill not so long as head; upper mandible of four portions divided by indentations, the whole large, strong, curving suddenly to point; under mandible grooved along sides, bent at end; edges of mandibles sharp; nostrils prominent, united, enclosed, somewhat hidden in tube with single external orifice; wings rather long, first quill longest; tarsi compressed, feet moderate.
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140.Puffinus(Shearwaters). Bill rather longer than head, slender; mandibles compressed, decurved; nasal tube low, both nostrils visible from above, directed forwards and slightly upwards; wings long, pointed, first quill slightly the longest; tail graduated; tarsi compressed laterally.
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141.Procellaria(Storm and Fork-tailed Petrels). Bill small, robust, much shorter than head, straight to nail, which is decurved; wings long, narrow, second quill longest, slightly exceeding third, first shorter than fourth; tail moderate, slightly rounded; legs moderate, claws rather short.
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ORDER PASSERES
FAMILY TURDIDÆSub-FamilyTURDINÆ
THE MISTLE (OR MISSEL) THRUSHTURDUS VISCIVORUS
Upper plumage ash brown; space between the bill and eye greyish white; wing-coverts edged and tipped with greyish white; under parts white, faintly tinged here and there with reddish yellow, marked all over with deep brown spots, which on the throat and breast are triangular, in other parts oval, broader on the flanks; under wing-coverts white; three lateral tail feathers tipped with greyish white. Length eleven inches; breadth eighteen inches. Eggs greenish or reddish white, spotted with brownish red. Young spotted on the head and back with buff and black.
The largest British song bird, distinguished from the Song Thrush not only by its superior size, but by having white under wing-coverts, and the whole of the under part of the body buffish-white, spotted with black. It is a generally diffused bird, and is known by various local names; in the west of England its popular name is Holm Thrush, or Holm Screech, derived most probably, not, as Yarrell surmises, from its resorting to the oak in preference to other trees, but from its feeding on the berries of the holly, or holm; the title 'Screech' being given to it from its jarring note when angry or alarmed, which closely resembles the noise made by passing the finger-nail rapidly along the teeth of a comb. Its French name, 'Draine', and German, 'Schnarre', seem to be descriptive of the same harsh 'churr'. In Wales, it has from its quarrelsome habits acquired the name of Penn y llwyn, or, master of the coppice. Another of its names, Throstle Cock, expresses its alliance with the Thrushes, and its daring nature; and another Storm Cock, indicates 'not that it delights in storms more than in fine weather, but that nature has taught it to pour forth its melody at a time of the year when the bleak winds of winter roar through the leafless trees'. The song of the Mistle Thrush is loud, wild, and musical, Waterton calls it 'plaintive', Knapp 'harsh and untuneful'. I mustconfess that I agree with neither. This note, generally the earliest of the Spring sounds (for the Redbreast's song belongs essentially to winter), is to my ear full of cheerful promise amounting to confidence—a song of exultation in the return of genial weather. The bird sings generally perched on the topmost branch of some lofty tree, and there he remains for hours together out-whistling the wind and heeding not the pelting rain. This song, however, is not continuous, but broken into passages of a few notes each, by which characteristic it may be distinguished alike from that of the Thrush or the Blackbird, even when mellowed by distance to resemble either. The Mistletoe Thrush is essentially a tree-loving bird. During winter its food mainly consists of berries, among which those of the Mountain Ash and Yew have the preference, though it also feeds on those of the Hawthorn, Ivy, Juniper, and the strange plant from which it derives its name.[1]Towards other birds it is a very tyrant, selfish and domineering in the extreme; to such a degree, indeed, that even when it has appeased its appetite it will allow no other bird to approach the tree which it has appropriated for its feeding ground. I have seen it take possession of a Yew-tree laden with berries, and most mercilessly drive away, with angry vociferations and yet more formidable buffets, every other bird that dared to come near. Day after day it returned, until the tree was stripped of every berry, when it withdrew and appeared no more.
As soon as the unfrozen earth is penetrable by its beak, it adds to its diet such worms and grubs as it can discover; and, if it be not belied, it is given to plunder the nests of other birds of their eggs and young. It may be on this account that Magpies, Jays, and other large woodland birds, robbers themselves, entertain an instinctive dislike towards it. Certainly these birds are its better enemies; but in the breeding season it eludes their animosity by quitting the woods, and resorting to the haunts of man. Its harsh screech is now rarely heard, for its present object is not defiance, but immunity from danger. Yet it takes no extraordinary pains to conceal its nest. On the contrary, it usually places this where there is little or no foliage to shadow it, in a fork between two large boughs of an apple, pear, or cherry tree, sometimes only a few feet from the ground, and sometimes twenty feet or more. The nest is a massive structure, consisting of an external basket-work of twigs, roots, and lichens, within which is a kind of bowl of mud containing a final lining of grass and roots. The bird is an early builder. It generally lays five eggs and feeds its young on snails, worms, and insects. The range of the Mistle Thrush extends as far as the Himalayas. In Great Britain it is a resident species.
[1]That this thrush feeds on the berries of the mistletoe was stated by Yarrell, but it is not now generally believed to be a fact.
Plate_01
Plate_02
THE SONG THRUSHTURDUS MÚSICUS
Upper parts brown tinged with olive; wing-coverts edged and tipped with reddish yellow; cere yellowish; throat white in the middle, without spots; sides of neck and breast reddish yellow with triangular dark brown spots; abdomen and flanks pure white with oval dark brown spots; under wing-coverts pale orange yellow; bill and feet greyish brown. Length, eight inches and a half, breadth thirteen inches. Eggs blue with a few black spots mostly at the larger end.
The Thrush holds a distinguished place among British birds, as contributing, perhaps, more than any other to the aggregate charms of a country life. However near it may be, its song is never harsh, and heard at a distance its only defect is, that it is not nearer. It possesses, too, the charm of harmonizing with all other pleasant natural sounds. If to these recommendations we add that the Thrush frequents all parts of England, and resorts to the suburban garden as well as the forest and rocky glen, we think we may justly claim for it the distinction among birds, of being the last that we would willingly part with, not even excepting its allowed master in song himself, the Nightingale. Three notes are often repeated: Did he do it? Shut the gate, Kubelik.
The food of the Thrush during winter consists of worms, insects, and snails. The first of these it picks up or draws out from their holes, in meadows and lawns; the others it hunts for among moss and stones, in woods and hedges, swallowing the smaller ones whole, and extracting the edible parts of large snails by dashing them with much adroitness against a stone. When it has once discovered a stone adapted to its purpose, it returns to it again and again, so that it is not uncommon in one's winter walks to come upon a place thickly strewn with broken shells, all, most probably, the 'chips' of one workman. As spring advances, it adds caterpillars to its bill of fare, and as the summer fruits ripen, it attacks them all in succession; strawberries, gooseberries, currants, raspberries, cherries, and, on the Continent, grapes suit its palate right well; and, when these are gone, pears and apples, whether attached to the tree or lying on the ground, bear, too often for the gardener, the marks of its beak on their ripest side. During all this period it relieves the monotony of its diet by an occasional repast on animal food; as, indeed, in winter it alternates its food whenever opportunity occurs, by regaling itself on wild berries. Yet, despite the mischief which it perpetrates in our gardens by devouring and spoiling much of the choicest fruit—for your thrush is an epicure, and tastes none but the ripest and best—the service which it renders as a devourer of insects more than compensates for all. So the gardener, if a wise man, will prefer the scare-crow to the gun, the protecting net to that which captures.
I know two adjoining estates in Yorkshire. On one the gardenershoots blackbirds and thrushes in fruit time. On the other they are protected. The latter yields always more fruit than the former.
The Thrush holds a high rank, too, among birds as an architect. Its nest is usually placed in a thorn-bush, a larch or young fir-tree, a furze-bush, an apple or pear tree, or an ordinary hedge, at no great elevation from the ground, and not concealed with much attempt at art. Indeed, as it begins to build very early, it is only when it selects an evergreen that it has much chance of effectually hiding its retreat. The nest externally is composed of feather-moss, intermatted with bents, twigs, and small roots, and terminates above in a thicker rim of the same materials. Thus far the bird has displayed her skill as basket-maker. The outer case is succeeded by a layer of cow-dung, applied in small pellets, and cemented with saliva. The builder, with a beak for her only trowel, has now completed the mason's work. But she has yet to show her skill as a plasterer; this she does by lining her cup-like chamber with stucco made from decayed wood, pulverized and reduced to a proper consistence, kneading it with her beak. With this for her sole instrument, except her round breast, to give to the whole the requisite form, she has constructed a circular bowl sufficiently compact to exclude air and water, as true and as finely finished as if it had been moulded on a potter's wheel, or turned on a lathe.
The Thrush lays four or five eggs, and rears several broods in the season, building a new nest for each brood. During incubation the female is very tame, and will suffer herself to be approached quite closely without deserting her post. In the vicinity of houses, where she is familiar with the human form, she will even take worms and other food from the hand.
THE REDWINGTURDUS ILÍACUS
Upper plumage olive brown; lore black and yellow; a broad white streak above the eye; lower plumage white, with numerous oblong dusky spots, middle of the abdomen without spots; under wing-coverts and flanks bright orange red; bill dusky; feet grey. Length eight inches, breadth thirteen inches. Eggs greenish blue mottled with dark brownish red spots.
The Redwing (called in FranceMauvis, whence an old name for the Song-thrush, 'Mavis') is the smallest of the Thrushes with which we are familiar. It is, like the Fieldfare, a bird of passage, reaching us from the north about the same time with the Woodcock, in October. It resembles the Song-thrush more than any other bird of the family, but may readily be distinguished even at some distance by the light stripe over the eye, and its bright red under wing-coverts. In some parts of France it is much soughtafter by the fowler, its flesh being considered by many superior to that of the Quail and Woodcock. It owes perhaps some of this unfortunate distinction to the fact of its arriving in France in time to fatten on grapes, for in this country it is often too lean to be worth cooking. Being impatient of cold, it is less abundant in the north of England than the south; but even in the mild climates of Devon and Cornwall, where it congregates in large numbers, it is so much enfeebled by unusually severe weather, as to be liable to be hunted down by boys with sticks, and a Redwing starved to death used to be no unfrequent sight in the course of a winter's ramble. As long as the ground remains neither frozen nor snowed up, the open meadows may be seen everywhere spotted with these birds, but when the earth becomes so hard as to resist their efforts in digging up worms and grubs, they repair to the cliffs which border the sea-coast, where some sunny nook is generally to be found, to woods in quest of berries, or to the water-courses of sheltered valleys. At these times they are mostly silent, their only note, when they utter any, being simple and harsh; but in France they are said to sing towards the end of February, and even in this country they have been known to perch on trees in mild weather, and execute a regular song. Towards the end of April or beginning of May, they take their departure northwards, where they pass the summer, preferring woods and thickets in the vicinity of marshes. Mr. Hewitson states that while he was travelling through Norway 'the Redwing was but seldom seen, and then perched upon the summit of one of the highest trees, pouring forth its delightfully wild note. It was always very shy, and upon seeing our approach would drop suddenly from its height, and disappear among the underwood. Its nest, which we twice found with young ones (although our unceasing endeavours to find its eggs were fruitless), was similar to that of the Fieldfare. The Redwing is called the Nightingale of Norway, and well it deserves the name', and Turdus Ilíacus because it frequented in such great numbers the environs of Ilion-Troy.
THE FIELDFARETURDUS PILÁRIS
Head, nape, and lower part of the back dark ash colour; upper part of the back and wing-coverts chestnut brown; lore black; a white rim above the eyes; throat and breast yellowish red with oblong dark spots; feathers on the flanks spotted with black and edged with white; abdomen pure white without spots; under wing-coverts white, beak brown, tipped with black. Length ten inches, breadth seventeen inches. Eggs light blue, mottled all over with dark red brown spots.
The Fieldfare is little inferior in size to the Missel Thrush, with which, however, it is not likely to be confounded even at a distance, owing to the predominant bluish tinge of its upper plumage. In the west of England, where the Thrush is called the Greybird, todistinguish it from its ally the Blackbird, the Fieldfare is known by the name of Bluebird, to distinguish it from both. It is a migratory bird, spending its summer, and breeding, in the north of Europe, and paying us an annual visit in October or November. But it is impatient of cold, even with us, for in winters of unusual severity it migrates yet farther south, and drops in upon our meadows a second time in the spring, when on its way to its summer quarters. Fieldfares are eminently gregarious; not only do they arrive at our shores and depart from them in flocks, but they keep together as long as they remain, nor do they dissolve their society on their return to the north, but build their nests many together in the same wood. In this country, they are wild and cautious birds, resorting during open weather to water-courses and damp pastures, where they feed on worms and insects, and when frost sets in betaking themselves to bushes in quest of haws and other berries; or in very severe weather resorting to the muddy or sandy sea-shore. They frequent also commons on which the Juniper abounds, the berries of this shrub affording them an abundant banquet. Unlike the Blackbird and Thrush, they rarely seek for food under hedges, but keep near the middle of fields, as if afraid of being molested by some concealed enemy. When alarmed, they either take refuge in the branches of a high tree in the neighbourhood, or remove altogether to a distant field. The song of the Fieldfare I have never heard: Toussenel doubts whether it has any; Yarrell describes it as 'soft and melodious'; Bechstein as 'a mere harsh disagreeable warble'; while a writer in theZoologistwho heard one sing during the mild January of 1846, in Devon, describes it as 'combining the melodious whistle of the Blackbird with the powerful voice of the Mistle Thrush'. Its call-note is short and harsh, and has in France given it the provincial names of Tia-tia and Tchatcha. This latter name accords with Macgillivray's mode of spelling its note,yack chuck, harsh enough, no one will deny. 'Our attention was attracted by the harsh cries of several birds which we at first supposed must be Shrikes, but which afterwards proved to be Fieldfares. We were now delighted by the discovery of several of their nests, and were surprised to find them (so contrary to the habits of other species of the genus with which we are acquainted) breeding in society. Their nests were at various heights from the ground, from four to thirty or forty feet or upwards; they were, for the most part, placed against the trunk of the Spruce Fir; some were, however, at a considerable distance from it, upon the upper surface and towards the smaller end of the thicker branches: they resembled most nearly those of the Ring Ouzel; the outside is composed of sticks and coarse grass and weeds gathered wet, matted with a small quantity of clay, and lined with a thick bed of fine dry grass: none of them yet contained more than threeeggs, although we afterwards found that five was more commonly the number than four, and that even six was very frequent; they are very similar to those of the Blackbird, and even more so to the Ring Ouzel. The Fieldfare is the most abundant bird in Norway, and is generally diffused over that part which we visited, building, as already noticed, in society; two hundred nests or more being frequently seen within a very small space.' Oddly enough two hundred was just the number of a colony of nests in Thüringen on the estate of Baron von Berlepsch, which were those of Fieldfares he had induced to come by trimming the trunks of a long row of Black Poplar trees so as to afford good sites for the nests. The present editor visited these in 1906. Some few instances are on record of the Fieldfare breeding in this country, but these are exceptional. In general they leave us in April and May, though they have been observed as late as the beginning of June.
THE BLACKBIRDTURDUS MERULA
Male—plumage wholly black; bill and orbits of the eyes orange yellow; feet black.Female—upper plumage sooty brown; throat pale brown with darker spots; breast reddish brown passing into dark ash brown; bill and legs dusky. Length ten inches; breadth sixteen inches. Eggs greenish grey, spotted and speckled with light red brown.
With his glossy coat and yellow beak the Blackbird is a handsomer bird than the Thrush; his food is much the same: he builds his nest in similar places; he is a great glutton when gooseberries are ripe, and his rich mellow song is highly inspiriting. But he is suspicious and wary; however hard pressed he may be by hunger, you will rarely see him hunting for food in the open field. He prefers the solitude and privacy of 'the bush'. In a furze-brake, a coppice, a wooded water-course, or a thick hedge-row, he chooses his feeding ground, and allows no sort of partnership. Approach his haunt, and if he simply mistrusts you, he darts out flying close to the ground, pursues his course some twenty yards and dips again into the thicket, issuing most probably on the other side, and ceasing not until he has placed what he considers a safe distance between himself and his enemy. But with all his cunning he fails in prudence; it is not in his nature to steal away silently. If he only suspects that all is not right, he utters repeatedly a low cluck, which seems to say, 'This is no place for me, I must be off'. But if he is positively alarmed, his loud vociferous cry rings out like a bell, informing all whom it may concern that 'danger is at hand, and it behoves all who value their safety to fly'. Most animals understand the cry in this sense, and catch the alarm. Many a time has the deer-stalker been disappointed of a shot, who, after traversing half a mile on his hands and knees between rocks and shrubs, has just before the critical moment of action started some ill-omened Blackbird. Out bursts the frantic alarum, heard at a great distance; the intended victim catches the alarm, once snuffs the air to discover in what direction the foe lies concealed, and bounds to a place of security. A somewhat similar note, not, however, indicative of terror, real or imagined, is uttered when the bird is about to retire for the night, and this at all seasons of the year. He would merit, therefore, the title of 'Bellman of the woods'. Neither of these sounds is to be confounded with the truesongof the Blackbird. This is a full, melodious, joyful carol, many of the notes being remarkable for their flute-like tone—'the whistling of the Blackbird'—and varying greatly in their order of repetition; though I am inclined to believe that most birds of this kind have a favourite passage, which they repeat at intervals many times during the same performance.
PLATES TO BLACKBIRD.
We would draw attention to the extraordinary size of the bird just out as compared with the egg. On the sixth day the feather shafts with the tips of the encased feathers sticking out of them are quite formed, although two days earlier they were hardly more than indicated. On the ninth day feathers nearly cover the whole of the skin—on the eleventh day they do this completely. In No. 8 the bird was drawn after it had flown from the nest.
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The song of the Blackbird does not meet the approbation of bird-fanciers: 'It is not destitute of melody,' says Bechstein, 'but it is broken by noisy tones, and is agreeable only in the open country'. The art of teaching the Blackbird is of old date, for we find in Pepys' Diary, May 22, 1663, the following passage: 'Rendall, the house carpenter at Deptford, hath sent me a fine Blackbird, which I went to see. He tells me he was offered twenty shillings for him as he came along, he do so whistle. 23d. Waked this morning between four and five by my Blackbird, which whistled as well as ever I heard any; only it is the beginning of many tunes very well, but then leaves them and goes no further.'
The song of the Blackbird is occasionally heard during the mild days of winter, but it is not until spring sets in that it can be said to be in full, uninterrupted song. It then repairs to some thick bush or hedge, especially at the corner of a pond, and builds its nest, a bulky structure, the framework of which is composed of twigs and roots; within is a thin layer of mud lined with small fibrous roots, bents, and moss. The nest contains four or five eggs, and the young birds are fed with worms. In the breeding season Blackbirds are far more venturesome than at any other time, as they frequently select a garden in which to build their nest, with the double object, perhaps, of procuring plenty of worms for their nestlings, and of launching them when fledged where they will have great facilities for regaling themselves on summer fruits. In such localities the appearance of a cat near their nest greatly excites their wrath. From being timid they become very courageous, scolding with all their might, darting down so near as almost to dash in her face, and generally ending by compelling her to beat a retreat.
The female Blackbird differs materially from the male, its plumage being of a dingy brown hue, the breast light and spotted, the beak dark brown with yellowish edges. White and pied specimens ofboth sexes are occasionally met with. In a district of France not far from Paris they are very numerous, and here the title to a certain estate used to be kept up by the annual presentation of a white Blackbird to the lord of the manor. Large flocks from the Continent visit us in the autumn and winter.