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GIS3X A HISTORY His
VV. Di
Dirk OF
BRITISH BIRDS,
WITH COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
OF THEIR
EGGS. /
BY
HENRY SEEBOHM.
tte
=a Ae
LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR
k. H. PORTER, 6 TENTERDEN STR
AND
DULAU & CO., SOHO SQUARE, W.
1884.
aes
-- gis
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
CONTENTS OF VOL IL
DOLLOP OPIOIDS LLLP LPIP IU
Plate Page
INTRODUCTION (On the Protective Colour of Eggs) ........ = ix
Subiamily AMPH LIN AG 20s. couelt- lbs vu. Noa aera i!
Eine LUIS eaepe te oh kee 2
Ampelis garrulus. Waxwing ...........00000: ali! 3
Sumbeamalive S UO RINEN AG oon 5 oer dhess sya pele neteloins oe 10
Comat SME LUN US stants Serio « ails oid vel share dv Hig ees 10
Stummus vulgaris. Starline ...54..05 660k. caedkecs 11 12
PTET Se Et IO) Beasts aoa ato} “acs aoey Sig Biel Gael Sleds wresd , oraeaie Wi 5 19
Pastor roseus. Rose-coloured Starling............ gale 20
Snibtaniby. RUN GEELEN AGacinniict) .. ial enenuees we 28
Chemis Oe Meat aara sy cites acite ana ohayn pel A shgie adhe wie geeks a 28
Lowxia curvirostra. Common Crossbill F
pss } Bee hoe 13. 30
pityopsittacus. Parrot Crossbill
bifasciata. European White-winged Crossbill } 19 37
leucoptera. American White-winged Crossbill
enucleator. Pine-Grosbeak ................ 12, 41
Gongs CANPODACUBY . sakes ose o's « Supe cies «aw eee s es ute 45
Carpodacus erythrinus. Scarlet Rose-Finch ...... 12, 46
Eremnee WRU En UAL xs eel et, diiajaie evs geveier aisle ais aes 50
Pyrrhula vulgaris. Bullfinch ....:.....0.+..... 12 51
Genuna COCCOTHRAUSIBS oc. 5666 conte eee a we Ae 56
Coccothraustes vulgaris. Hawfinch ..... ........ 13. 57
Gennes, Se cite Ga is as cadet ieee ceabes a 62
Passer domesticus. House-Sparrow ...........005 13. 63
montanus, Tree-Sparrow .......6-.s6sec0e 13. 69
Ay,
CONTENTS.
Plate Page
CF eriTIs ERIN GLA opis oe eee oitinis io Gers aide sVarvion acne Tonee ae 73
Fringilla chloris. Greenfinch .................. 12, 74
a= CONT. “GONE. cieterse son eens a Se 12: 79
serumus. ‘Sevin Binch) (4: -97-6 foee 2 ese ia s 12. 83
=== porauens. ‘Goldiinch: "5.22.4 scene oe 12. 87
SPUlUs.), SISK ey cree eee ei e Bee eee ene 12. 92
montifringilla. Brambling ................ 13. 96
celebs.. Chattineh ..... ..25.04 nes -o mate eee 13. 100
cannabing. TLammet 2250.0. .eenen eas 6 ates 13. 106
flamimostris) (MEWALC. UI... eh betas seit Nee aie 13. 111
rufescens. Lesser Redpole ....
linaria. Mealy Redpole eWevietctog te 12. 115
hornemanni. Greenland Redpole
Gone Me NEBECIZA® Ou Proce ca) aes ater tise ie eee ae ete nt 123
Emberiza nivalis. Snow-Bunting................ 15. 125
lapponica. Lapland Bunting .............. 15. 131
scheniclus. Reed-Bunting ...........-..+- 15. 135
rustica, Rustic Bumtime : . 27. eee ce see 15. 140
pusilla: StattlesBumtane) yeni crt oe ee ee 15. 144
novara. “Com-=Bunting 226.0055 oss er 13. 148
hortulana. Ortolan Bunting ............. 15. 153
cirlus: Cir] Bunter nee cies oe creo ee 13. 156
ctrmella. Yellow Hammer. .23.0.2..-....- 13. 160
melanocephala. Black-headed Bunting ...... 15. 165
Subfamily HIRUNDININAE .... 1. cece eee eee ees oe 169
Genus TR UINDO Aer onc os S scieetenn eters Avmeammcaremn oer ae 169
Hirundo rustica, | Swallow? 72)... us chee eee 17, 17.
wroica. HMouse-Martwl. ine ce eae kre 178
riparia. Sand-Mantin | 200. eines eee ate ike 184
GenupPROGNE ie: .cdsicseics eyes mage ee ees cate oe He 188
Progne purpurea. Purple Martin................ 18. 189
Subfamily MOTACILLINAL ......-: sie eeceeeaees ie 192
Genus: MODPACELGA. «5: sonata ature em eee) ee eee ae 192
Motacilla yarrellii. Pied Wagtail.............. ~~ CO, 194
ailoa., White. Waste a: 23.
battlon?. Baillon’s Crakeii ans mee . eels 23:
parva. little Crake 2.2. tos er ee 23.
Gens (RA LEUS i. SO eee eee ee Ce ence a
Ratlus aquaticus. Water-Rail............).....- 23
Genus: GALLINUDA. «5 2s sel ee ee ee
Gallinula chloropus. Waterhen ........-....... 23.
Genus Se UGG A ee een eon Oe ee Rae eee
Fulica atra. Coramon-Coot:..:0..5. 0.050. ae eee 23!
Family GRUIDE 0.0.0... ccccceceeceeeee
Genus GRU Seti sittin aoe see chs a ee ea
Grus cinerea. Common Crane.................. 36.
virgos, Demoiselle/Crane. ....)..... 2.6m 36.
Family OTIDIDA..0..00..00.ccccccceccecceeee
GemisvO TL SF «cows eed aad eee ee ee
Oistarde.., ‘Great Bustard) seh). Gee nee Pape
(Gina Little Busvards Haeneeittee eae By,
—— macqueent. Macqueen’s Bustard .......... ill
Genus CE DICNE MUS: < fe. 6 oe ee eee oe eee
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INTRODUCTION.
ON THE PROTECTIVE COLOUR OF EGGS.
[THis chapter has been written for me by Mr. Cuaruxs. Drxon, and is sufficiently
elaborated to post my readers up in the questions which have arisen on this subject since
it has been regarded from the evolutionist point of view. It is, of course, partly based
upon Darwin (‘ Descent of Man,’ ii. p. 166) and Wallace (‘ Natural Selection,’ pp. 211,231),
who have endeavoured to explain, by the laws of Natural Selection, the facts (long
ago remarked by Gloger* and others) respecting the colour of eggs.
The results of the investigation are not quite so satisfactory as might have been
expected. There are so many cases which cannot be explained by protective selection,
that the student, not being able in this instance to fall back upon sexual selection, is
obliged to assume that many effects are the results of extinct causes. To my mind they are
suggestive rather of other powerful factors in addition to protective and sexual selection.—
ES: ]
Ootoey has until lately been a much neglected science. Looked upon as
an occupation which has for its object the mere collecting, labelling, and
arranging in a cabinet the eggs of birds, or threading them on strings like
beads, or, worse still, sticking them on cards in all kinds of fantastic
patterns, egg-collecting has long been regarded as a schoolboy’s hobby,
and quite beneath the dignity of the man of science. But since the
great discoveries of those illustrious naturalists Charles Darwin and
Alfred Russel Wallace have placed the study of natural history on a
different basis, and completely revolutionized scientific research, oology
may be said to have slowly risen from a schoolboy’s pastime or a collector’s
craze to a science so fascinating and so instructive as to claim the careful
attention of many of our ablest naturalists. Such hitherto despised objects
as birds’ eggs have a tale to tell quite as interesting as that of any other
object in the organic world; they have a history to reveal which assists
in pointing out the line of march which organic life has taken from its
earliest dawn to its present endiess and varied ramifications. But a study
of eggs cannot be made satisfactorily without including the birds; the
two subjects are inseparably linked together, and it is necessary to have
the bird and its life-history before us when studying the egg with its
* In the ‘ Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical Science’ (i. p. 303), published
in 1880, a short résumé of Gloger’s paper of the previous year is given, translated from the
‘Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft naturforschender Freunde in Berlin.’
VOL. II. ; b
x INTRODUCTION.
varied markings, and the nest which contains it with its infinite diversity
of structure and position.
Until very recently the great variety of colour in the plumage of birds
was looked upon as so much ornament of no particular use to the species,
but for the sole purpose of gratifying the eye and adding to the general
harmony of animated nature. Within the last thirty years scientific
research has shown that many of the beautiful colours on the plumage of
birds materially affect not only their welfare, but, as will shortly be seen,
that of their young, and consequently the very existence of their species.
This beauty is not given aimlessly, it has a fixed and definite object—the
benefit of the species acquiring and possessing it. The student of birds
must therefore view each varied tint on their plumage not as so much mere
ornament, but as a factor which is or has been essential to the safety or
well-being of the species possessing it, which has had its origin in the
struggle for existence to which each bird is subject, either through natural
or sexual selection. In like manner the infinite variation of colour, and
to some extent of form, in the eggs of birds and the endless diversity of
their nests have had their origin in the subtle laws of variation and
inheritance, aided by natural selection and the survival of the fittest.
No writer has investigated this interesting subject so closely as
Mr. Wallace ; and the views he has taken, together with the conclusions at
which he has arrived, are probably well known to most of our readers.
Mr. Wallace’s theory of birds’ nests is said to be far too sweeping and
arbitrary ; and certainly it does not explain all the facts. He divides birds
into two great classes—one in which the sexes are alike and of conspicuous
or showy colours, and which nidificate in a covered site; and the other in
which there is a marked difference between the colour of the sexes, the
male being showy and the female sombre, and which nidificate in an open
site. Nearly all known birds are supposed to come into one or the other
of these two groups. In each of these great divisions, however, there are
almost as many exceptions as there are cases that conform to the rule;
and this has been taken advantage of by Mr. J. A. Allen, the well-known
American ornithologist, who endeavours, by a critical study of the nidifi-
cation of North-American birds, to overthrow the whole theory (Bull.
Nutt. Orn. Club, 1878, p. 23). In treating the subject so far as birds and
their nests are concerned, I propose to divide birds into the same two
great groups as Mr. Wallace ; but I shall subdivide them into several mimor
groups, which will include all the “exceptions” to either great rule. I
purpose specially to take examples of each, as far as possible, from birds
inhabiting our own islands, as being most interesting to the student of
British oology. In the birds belonging to the class which build open nests
we will notice as the first group
Birds in which the plumage of the male is bright and conspicuous
INTRODUCTION. xi
in colour, and that of the female dull and sombre, and which nidifi-
cate in open sites.—The merest tyro in ornithology is aware that the
plumage of the female bird is in a great many cases far more sombre than
that of the male. Until comparatively recently the cause of this pheno-
menon was never dreamed of. It is an ascertained fact that the colour of
many female birds is connected in no small degree with their mode of
nidification, and that the sitting bird is protected by the harmony which
exists between its own sober plumage and the colour of the surroundings
of its nesting-site. Let us glance over the nesting-habits of some of our
best-known birds, and learn the working of this law. The males of many
of our common birds possess extreme brilliancy of plumage, whilst their
females are of such dull and inconspicuous colours that an inexperienced
person would suppose them to belong to different species. The gorgeous
Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), for instance, has a mate whose garb is dingy
and subdued in the extreme. Her sober plumage, however, is of the greatest
importance ; for on this cirenmstance in part depends the very existence of
her species. She builds her slight nest on the ground, and her plumage
harmonizes with the dead bracken and dry herbage around, and most
effectually conceals her from her enemies. A still more striking instance
is to be found in the Black Grouse (Tetrao tetrix). The male bird is
dressed in a rich garb of purplish black, but his mate does not resemble
him in the least degree ; indeed, so widely does she differ in the colour of
her plumage as to defy even the most expert ornithologist unacquainted
with the matter, so far as outward appearances go, to class her as the same
species as her mate, her plumage being mottled brown of various shades.
But this diversity of plumage between the sexes serves the great purpose
of shielding the female during the season of nidification on the brown
heathery wastes where she rears her young. Take another instance. The
Mallard, or Wild Duck (Anas boschas), exhibits such brilliant tints as to
render him one of the showiest of our native birds; but his mate is of dull
and inconspicuous colours, which harmonize closely with the tints of her
nesting-site, which is an open and exposed one. Again, the male Teal
(Anas crecca) is richly adorned, but his mate is so dull in plumage as to
suggest the idea of their being distinct species. By this great differ-
ence in the sexes the same end is served; for the female Teal builds
an open nest, and the safety of that nest and its eggs depends on her dull
and sober plumage. Amongst our smaller birds we have many instances :
the Blackbird (Merula merula) mated to a dull brown spouse, who sits in
an open nest, and the Ring-Ouzel (M. torquata) may be cited. The male of
the latter species is showy, rich black and grey, with a snow-white band
across the breast; the female is brown, and the band across the breast is
dull—a plumage in harmony with the brown tints of the moorland, where
she sits upon her open nest comparatively safe. The male Chaffinch
62
xil INTRODUCTION.
(Fringilla celebs) and the Bullfinch (Pyrrhula vulgaris) are showy birds ;
their mates are more sombre in appearance, and they build open nests,
where conspicuous or showy plumes would only lead to their destruction.
The charming Stonechat (Pratincola rubicola), in his garb of chestnut, black,
and white, is mated to a dull unassuming spouse, who derives her chief
safety during the trying period of nidification from the dull and sombre
hues with which she is arrayed. Our second group consists of
Birds in which the plumage of both sexes is showy or brilliant in
colour, and which nidificate in open nests.—This group forms one of
those exceptions which, at first sight, appears seriously to affect the validity
of the whole theory; but I think it can be shown that the birds included
in it may possibly secure their safety in other ways. It is unfair to suppose
that every species is equally liable to the attacks of enemies. Some gaily
attired female birds may have no special enemies against which to guard—
their brilliant or showy dress is no disadvantage to them, as is the case
with many conspicuous insects; and this fact may in itself explain why it
is that they have assumed such tints. Again, as some female birds became
more brilliant through natural selection, it is very possible that they
gradually altered the form of their nests (from an open one to a covered
one), or if the acquisition of a showy dress did not render them more liable
to the attacks of any special enemy (and we know that many animals are
singularly free from persecution), no change in the manner of nesting
would be required ; and this would explain many of the apparent exceptions
to the gencral rule that gaily dressed female birds sit in covered nests.
We must also take into consideration what colours are showy in certain
haunts. Bright colours that would be very conspicuous in some places
may be specially protective in others. Take the case of the Tiger’s stripes,
conspicuous enough in the open or the green forest, but blending beauti-
fully with the jungle; the light sand-coloured plumage of many desert-
birds would be conspicuous enough in fertile districts, but on the burning
sands it is invisible ; many other brightly plumaged birds are safe enough
in the localities where they build their nests or deposit their eggs; but
these facts are too often overlooked for want of careful investigation.
Again, aud most important of all, the colour of the eggs in many cases
plays a prominent part ; for the moment danger threatens, the ever-watchful
and conspicuously coloured female quits her charge and seeks her own safety
in flight, leaving her eggs or young to the safety which their tints insure.
In this group may be instanced the Orioles, represented in this country by
the Golden Oriole (Oriolus galbula). All these birds build open nests, the
sexes are almost alike in colour and of brilliant tints; but they conceal
their nests amongst the thickest foliage, and, as Mr. Wallace states,
protect their offspring by incessant anxious watching.
To this group also belong the Jays, the Crows, the Birds of Prey, the
INTRODUCTION. Xlll
Gulls, the Herons, and many other large birds, all of which are more or
less conspicuous and make open nests. In most of these cases, however,
the birds are well able to defend themselves and their nests from enemies ;
but the more helpless species (as, for instance, the Sandpipers) seek safety
for themselves in flight, relying wpon the protective tints of their eggs or
young. I shall, however, return more specially to this group of birds
when I treat on that part of the subject which concerns eggs and young
birds. We now notice a small group of
Birds in which the male is less brilliant than the female, and which
nidificate in open nests.—The birds in this group are exceedingly few in
number, but are nevertheless very interesting. Let us take, for instance,
the Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus) ; although the differences between
the sexes of this species are not very striking, they exist, and the female »
‘is more showy than her mate: or, better still, take as examples several
of the Phalaropes (Phalaropus), where the females are more brilliant
in their nuptial dress than the males, the Common Cassowary (Casuarius
bennettii) or the Emu (Dromeus irroratus), a Carrion-Hawk (Milvago
leucurus) from the Falkland Islands, an Australian Creeper (Climacteris
erythrops), and an Australian Goatsucker (Ewrostopodus albogularis), in
all of which the females are of more decidedly conspicuous colours than
the males, and the nests are open and exposed. Curiously enough we
find in all these cases that the male bird performs the duties of incu-
bation, and in several instances is known to show much more solicitude
than the female for the young! We have, however, an exception to this
in the African Ostrich, where the male is more showy than the female ;
nevertheless he performs the duties of incubation (Sclater, Proc. Zool.
Soc. 1863, p. 233). The Ostrich has few enemies; and this fact, together
with that of its peculiar manner of nidification, is probably the reason
that its plumes have had no check to their present development. It
is also worthy of remark that the young of probably all these birds,
instead of resembling the females, as is the case with most species, more
closely resemble the males, a circumstance which seems to prove abso-
lutely that sexual selection has been exclusively confined to the female in
these cases.
Having now treated of those birds which rear their young in open nests
we pass on to the second great group, in which the nests are concealed, first
on our list being
Birds in which both sexes are brightly coloured and which rear
their young in holes or covered nests.—QOne of the most striking
instances in our, for the most part, dull-plumaged northern birds is that
of the Kingfisher (Alcedo ispida). The male and female are exactly alike in
colour, and both are adorned with the same refulgent dress. But how
does Nature shield the sitting bird during the nesting-period ? Why has
XIV INTRODUCTION.
she allowed such brilliant tints to be developed in the female? By sending
the Kingfisher to a hole in a bank to lay her eggs and rear her young in
darkness, Nature provides most admirably a means of safety for this bird,
one of the brightest of her gems. The gaily dressed Woodpeckers ( Picide)
have the sexes nearly alike, and the females nest shielded from view in
holes of trees. The Tits (Parine) are another mstance. Both sexes in
this group of birds are alike, and generally gaily attired; they lay their
eggs and rear their young in holes of trees, stumps, and walls, where the
beautiful but conspicuous plumage of the female does not affect the safety
of her brood. In the delicate and somewhat showy Goldcrests (Regulus)
the sexes are but slightly different in colour, and the female hides her showy
crest in a well-concealed nest. The homely Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is
another instance where the sexes are similarly adorned with bright and showy
tints, and, as is well known, it nests in holes well concealed from view.
The showy Swallows and Martins also have the sexes alike, and build
covered nests in which the brightly adorned females are protected. The
gaudy Rollers and brilliant Bee-eaters (Meropide) have both sexes
similarly bright and conspicuous, and they nest in holes. The showy
Hoopoe (Upupa) and charming Wall-Creeper (Tichodroma) and Nuthatch
(Sitta) have the sexes almost alike in colour, and rear their young
in holes. The Common Sheldrake is another instance, from a widely
different group of birds *.
It has been urged by Mr. Allen (in his article already mentioned) that
many domed nests, in which the showy parent bird is concealed from view
whilst incubating, are in reality not so safe as many open, but better con-
cealed, nests. But this I think cannot be regarded as an objection. Among
North-American birds that build purse-shaped or pensile nests may be
cited the American Orioles (Icteridz), which construct a nest, Mr. Allen
says, “most illy adapted for protection from the most dangerous foes of the
species, the predatory Crows, Jays, and Cuckoos, being often a conspicuous
object, with, so far as the United States species are concerned, no com-
pensating feature of security.” But I venture to assert that these pendent
purse-shaped structures, which are built by so many birds in the tropics,
are very secure from such enemies, and even more so from snakes, weasels,
monkeys, wild cats, and other animals. ‘They are often hung at the ex-
tremity of long slender branches, in many cases over water, or the nest
itself is suspended by a long neatly-woven cord, or, in some cases, a narrow
* It is worthy of remark that the brilliantly dressed males of so many of the Ducks
assume a dull inconspicuous garb during the period when the young are being reared.
These birds have probably acquired this peculiarity through the fact of their young being
yeared in the open. Showily dressed polygamous males desert the female during this
anxious period; others, which are not polygamous, in the majority of cases, rear their young
in covered nests.
/INTRODUCTION. XV
tube. In Australia there is a very conspicuous black-and-white Pigeon
(Carpophaga luctuosa) which always, it is said, prefers to build its slight
nest on a branch over water. How is it possible for even winged enemies
to take such a citadel by storm, or harm the parent safely swinging in her
wonderful cradle? ‘This is undoubtedly the true reason that these nests
are hung so conspicuously ; the eggs, the young, and the brooding (often
brightly coloured) parent are all equally safe in such a structure, where
concealment could serve no special end in shielding them from their
natural enemies. It seems also a most interesting fact that these domed
pensile nests are not always so conspicuous as might be imagined. As an
example, I will take the by no means brilliantly arrayed little Sericornis
citreogularis of Australia, whose nest is built in the dense and humid
forests, where the trees are covered with moss, often accumulated in large
masses at the extremities of the drooping branches. In these masses of
moss, or suspended to them, the little bird places its nest with so much
skill that it is impossible to say which are really nests, and which are mere
festoons of moss, until each is minutely examined. Our next group
consists of
Birds in which both sexes are dull in colour, and which build
covered nests from motives of safety other than concealment.—|[ do
not think that the fact of dull-coloured females sitting in covered nests can
be taken as a serious objection to the law of bright-coloured females sitting
in covered nests; for, as Darwin remarks (‘ Descent of Man, ii. p. 168),
other advantages may be gained irrespective of concealment, such as
shelter, greater warmth, or in hot countries protection from the sun, or
sudden changes of temperature, or, in the case of many domed pensile
nests built on slender branches, protection from certain enemies, as is the
case with the Indian Ploceus baya, which makes the entrance to its bottle-
shaped pendulous nest inverted, so as to baffle the approaches of tree-
snakes and other enemies. Another explanation may be that these plain-
coloured birds of both sexes are the descendants of some showy ancestor
that built in a covered nest ; and this peculiarity has been transmitted to
an entire genus, and retained, even in cases where the plumage of the bird
has assumed a more sombre tint, through the laws of Inheritance. It is
easy to believe that if no direct and special cause for a change arises, the
nesting-economy will remain unchanged even if the plumage of the bird
or of any of its descendants changes to less showy tints.
The Swift (Cypselus apus) and the Sand-Martin (Hirundo riparia) are
both dull-coloured birds, the sexes are alike, and they build nests concealed
in holes. But in these cases the colour of the plumage does not influence
the conditions of nidification. The Swift makes its rude nest in a hole, it
has, so far as we can determine, no means of protecting itself or its eggs
from enemies, and consequently retires to such a site where it can rear its
XV1 INTRODUCTION.
young in comparative safety. Soin like manner the sombre Sand-Martin,
for a similar reason, seeks the sand-banks. Sparrows (Passer domesticus) do
not nest in holes because the plumage of the female demands concealment
during the nesting-season, but from other motives, perhaps the result of a
deeply rooted habit acquired during different conditions of life or inherited
from a common ancestor of far more brilliant tints requiring concealment
during the nesting-season. Again, we have the case of the Wren (Tro-
glodytes parvulus), which builds a domed nest, and is yet one of the most
soberly arrayed of our native birds. But this is undoubtedly from other
motives of safety than concealment ; for from the peculiar structure of
her nest few enemies indeed are able to storm her little citadel. Weak
and defenceless as this little creature is, she attains by subtlety what she
would fail to procure by prowess. The Dipper (Cinclus aquaticus) builds a
domed nest, possibly for the purpose of shielding her eggs and young
from the spray which so often surrounds them in her rock-bound watery
haunts, as is also the case with a little dull-coloured Australian bird
(Origma rubricata) which also frequents rocky streams and gullies. The
Willow-Warblers (Phylloscopus) build domed or partially domed nests,
perhaps because a remote ancestor built a domed nest, but more probably
to shield their tender offspring from the moisture which surrounds their
usual nesting-places amongst herbage or tall vegetation. The Willow-
Warblers are an Arctic group of birds breeding in a climate subject
to sudden changes of temperature; and this, I think, may explain their
domed nests. As another instance we have the Owls (Strigidz), which,
as a rule, rear their young in holes in buildings, rocks, or trees, from
no motive of safety, but simply because they dislike the light of day,
and naturally breed in situations which are their daily haunts. Our next
group consists of
Birds in which the female is duller in colour than the male, and
which nidificate in covered nests.—This group is one of the most in-
teresting, and furnishes convincing proofs of the truth of the theory of
sexual selection. We will take as our first example the gay little Redstart
(Ruticilla phenicurus). The female of this bird is dull indeed in com-
parison with the male, yet the young are reared in all cases in a concealed
nest in a wall, tree, or the crevice of a rock; but I can assert from
personal observation that the bright-plumaged male assists im no small
degree in the duties of incubation. The Pied Flycatcher (Muscicapa atri-
capilla) is a similar instance. Others may be found in the Rock-Thrushes
(Monticola), the Chats (Saxicola), and the Robin Chats (Thamnobia), in
most of the species of which genera the female is far less brilliant than
the male; nevertheless she sits in a covered nest, although we cannot. see
any valid reason why she should require concealment during the period
of incubation; in all cases her colours are dull and well adapted for
INTRODUCTION. xvil
/
safety in an open nest. One of the most striking instances is to be
found in the birds forming the genus Malurus. The males are often of
the most gorgeous tints, which are assumed exclusively in the nuptial
season ; and in many cases, at least, it is known that they do not assist in
incubation. There are several possible explanations of these interesting
facts. The domed nests may be for the purpose of shielding the sitting bird
and its charge from cold, or rain, or from some special enemies. It must also
be borne in mind that throughout this group the eggs are conspicuous, and
this may to some extent influence the mode of nidification. If we grant
that these domed nests are built for other purposes than the concealment
of the sitting female, it is easy to explain the great difference of colour
between the sexes. The more brilliant colours of the males have been
obtained by sexual selection ; for in genera nearly allied to Malurus, such
as Séipiturus, Dasyornis, Spheneacus, the sexes are alike and dull in
colour, but the nests are always domed and the eggs more or less con-
spicuous—a convincing proof, I think, that the nests are not so built to
conceal any showy colours in the parent birds. As previously stated, in
many cases the showy male bird of many of the species belonging to this
group assists in incubation, the domed nest allowing him to do so with
safety. It is necessary now briefly to notice those
Birds which do not hatch their own eggs.—The birds that come
into this division may be divided into two groups: of one our Common
Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) is a good example, and the other contains
the Megapodes (Megapodidz) or Mound-birds of the Australian Region.
The former group will be more fully discussed in the article on the Cuckoo ;
and of the latter so little is known that to Gould’s and Hume’s interesting
descriptions little more can be added. It is a wonderful instinct for a
bird to bury its eggs in the sand or amongst decaying vegetable matter,
and leave them to be hatched by the heat of the sun or the warmth
generated by putrefaction. The young, when hatched, are said to break
out of their prison and to be able to take care of themselves almost directly
afterwards. May not this singular habit, which so closely resembles the
mode of propagation of the Turtles and Snakes, be an unchanged inheritance
from some semi-reptilian ancestor?* Let us now glance briefly at
Birds’ Nests.—These structures have long been regarded as one of the
most convincing proofs of an instinctive power, a power which is popularly
supposed to be almost supernatural, of spontaneous origin, and nearly
infallible. Such a belief, as Mr. Wallace very justly remarks, one would
naturally expect to find supported by incontestable facts ; but little or
nothing can be brought forward in its favour, and the evidence in support
* Lizards’ eggs have been taken from these mounds by Davison (‘ Stray Feathers,’ ii.
p- 278).
Xvili INTRODUCTION.
of blind Instinct* being solely employed in the fabrication of birds’ nests is
not supported by one particle of proof. I do not for one moment deny the
existence of true instinct in some cases; but so far as birds’ nests are
concerned, no powers are revealed in their fabrication beyond those which
we ourselves possess in a higher or lower degree. A young Duck taking
to the water or a nestling Plover crouching to the earth and remaining
motionless are good examples of true instinct, or action performed without
instruction, experience, or previously acquired knowledge. In the same
manner a bird’s impulse to build a nest is instinctive; but the means it
adopts to carry out such an impulse are controlled by similar mental
faculties to those possessed by man. Mr. Wallace’s theory that birds
do not make their nests instinctively, but by imitating the nests in which
they were reared—that if they never saw or were not brought up in a nest
peculiar to their species they would be unable to construct one for them-
selves similar in position, form, and materials—is probably the true solution
of this interesting problem.
The question arises, How do birds build their nest, and especially their
first nest? is it by blind Instinct or by other mental faculties? To credit
the bird with such instinct, which because it seems so self-evident is taken to
be matter of fact, is to admit that it possesses intellectual powers infinitely
superior to those of man; whilst the evidence that can be gathered on the
subject all goes to show that its intellectual powers are of precisely the
same kind as man’s, but some of them, of course, are infinitely inferior in
degree, whilst others are unquestionably superior. Reason in birds can
only be regarded as rudimentary, though there is undoubted evidence of
its existence. The faculties a bird brings into play in nest-building are
probably these: the one that plays the greatest part is imitation, and the
next important faculty of the mind is memory, both of which are distinct
from what is popularly cailed reason, which together with hereditary habit
play the minor parts. All these powers are found in man, but, with the
exception of reason, in a much less pronounced degree, especially in civilized
man, in whom it has to a large extent replaced the lower faculties ; for the
[(* Iam not able to understand what Mr. Dixon means by Instinct, and therefore do
not agree with his remarks on this faculty in various parts of the chapter. I regard the
word Instinct as the popular term for the mysterious impulses which scientific men call
Hereditary Habit; and I think that it plays a great part, an overwhelmingly great part,
not only in Bird-nest building, but in every other action of every animal, man included.
Whether the explanation of Hereditary Habit be that it is transmitted unconscious
memory (see Butler’s ‘Life and Habit,’ p. 198) is another question, All one can say
is, that this isa plausible hypothesis which, in the entire absence of any other, may
provisionally be accepted. If Hereditary Habit have the lion’s share in the production of
a bird’s nest, we must also allow that Memory, Imitation, and a rudimentary form of
Reason also play their subordinate parts.—H. 8.]
INTRODUCTION. xix
more reason is developed the less are the other powers employed ; conse-
quently, so far as man is concerned, they have lost much of their force
through disuse. To credit birds with such a marvellous power as blind and
infallible instinct in building their nests would be to place them far beyond
man himself in intelligence, and allot to them a faculty which is super-
human. The evidence that we are able to collect all tends to disprove
such a mysterious power. Birds brought up in confinement do not make
a nest typical of their species, and in most cases content themselves with
forming the merest rudiments of a nest, merely heaping a lot of material
together on which they lay their eggs ; and in some cases they do not make
even this slight provision. This may be Instinct (or, more properly
speaking, Hereditary Habit)—the blind impulse to make a nest ; but with-
out tuition, or some standard to work by, it is a failure. The same remarks
apply to man ; for with all his boasted reason he is equally as incapable
of building a habitation peculiar to his race, if he has not seen one or
been initiated in the secrets of its construction. Savage man neither alters
nor improves any more than the birds; and each of his great races has a
peculiar style of architecture. The Arab and the American Indian dwell
in tents, the negro builds a hut, and the bushman lives in caves, whilst the
Malay erects his house on posts. Transfer an infant of any one of these
races of men, say to civilized Europe, and is it conceivable that when grown
up to manhood he would set to work to build a tent, a hut, or a house on
posts, according to the particular race to which he belongs, instinctively,
and with no instruction? If man is so helpless in such a case, why should
not the bird be the same ? Why should a creature infinitely below man in
so many of its intellectual attributes be so far in advance of him in this
particular respect? ‘The same remarks equally apply to a bird’s song and
to the language of mankind—each have to be learnt. A bird’s intellectual
powers advance towards maturity much more quickly than in the human
species. A young bird three or four days old is capable of considerable
powers of memory and observation, and during the time that elapses in
which it is in the nest it has ample opportunity of gaining an insight into
the architecture peculiar to its species. It sees the position of the uest,
it notes the materials, and when it requires one for itself, is it so very
extraordinary that, profiting by such experience, it builds one on the same
plan? Again, birds often return to the place of their birth the following
season, and possibly see the old home many times ere they want one for
themselves. This, aided by the strong hereditary impulse to build a nest
similar to the one in which they were born, inherited from their parents,
aids them in their task. Further, we know that some birds do not breed
for several seasons after they are hatched, and consequently see the older
birds at work and profit by the experience. The nests they build may,
and do often, vary from the original type in many slight particulars ; and
XX INTRODUCTION.
it is by these slight variations, which, when beneficial, are preserved by
natural selection, that birds adapt themselves to any changed conditions
of life.
With birds, as with man, “ when once a particular mode of building has
been adopted and has been confirmed by habit and by hereditary custom
it will be long retained, even when its utility has been lost through changed
conditions ” (Wallace). Although many habits have long since ceased to
be of any service, they are retained. Witness the fact of the hole-building
Ducks covering their eggs like their congeners nesting in the open; the
Jackdaws often elaborate a nest in a position where one even of the
slightest description is of small necessity ; and our domestic Swan adds
to its nest (undoubtedly a habit originally acquired for its protection from
floods) when that nest is far removed from the waters. Neither birds nor
men can change old habits suddenly. Witness how we still retain the
side-straps and the arms in our first-class railway carriages (a custom
handed down from the old coaching days), or the buttons on the backs
of our coats (which were formerly used to fasten up the long tails), and
many other cases which are now quite as useless as the instances noticed
among birds. Another instance, the Apteryx of New Zealand (Apteryx
australis) when it sleeps goes through the formality of placing as much of
its head as possible under its rudimentary wings*. With regard to birds,
however, these superfluous actions are in no way injurious to the species
performing them—were they so, natural selection would assert its influence
and would eliminate those individuals who did not conform to their
changed conditions of life.
It is thought a remarkable fact by some naturalists that species of very
wide range should build typical nests throughout their distribution. But
surely there is nothing extraordinary in this if the area of distribution is
continuous! Cetti’s Warbler (Cettia cetti) is a good instance. This bird
breeds from Spain and Algeria to Turkestan, and examples of its nest
almost from these two extremes do not differ in the least in their con-
struction ; but I do not see any thing remarkable in this, even though this
bird is not migratory, for it breeds “ along the whole line,” and there is
nothing to prevent one style of architecture being common to the speciest.
The Woodchat Shrike (Lanius rufus) is another good instance.
One of the great points brought forward in favour of instinct is the
uniformity of the nests of the birds of each species, even though they be
* Trans. New Zealand Institute, ii. p. 75 (1869).
+ It would be very interesting to know if those non-migratory species that are separated
by discontinuous areas of geographical distribution build typical nests throughout. This
is a subject of which we possess no information, and is well worthy the attention of
those observers suitably situated for studying this interesting question,
INTRODUCTION. a
widely spread, in localities where they are subjected to various conditions.
If this was strictly true, I think it would go far to prove the existence of
instinct ; but it is not; for birds, even within the memory of living men,
have been known to change and improve their nests under the influence of
altered conditions. If a bird built by instinct, it is fair to assume that that
instinct is unchangeable, and only allows the bird to build on a certain
plan. Instinct practically remains stationary ; reason, however, advances.
What proof have we of this? Swallows are a most interesting instance,
they having partially ceased to build on rocks or in caves, choosing houses
and sheds instead. Starlings and many other birds will readily take
advantage of a box placed on the house-side for them, and abandon their
hole in the trees for the new quarters. The House-Sparrow is another
instance of a recently changed mode of nest-building ; so is the Waterhen,
which often builds in trees in districts liable to sudden floods. Another
instance: the Penguins on the Tristan d’Acunha group of islands have
changed their mode of nesting from an open to a covered site, in conse-
quence of the incessant persecution of the recently introduced wild pigs
with which these islands now abound*. Many other instances might be
cited all tending to prove that birds take advantage of any favourable
circumstances to alter and improve their nests—a fact which can only be
accounted for by the direct influence of their reasoning faculties. What
may be regarded as direct evidence of a reasoning power employed by
birds in making their nests may be seen in the wonderful way that many
species assimilate their nests so closely to surrounding objects as to render
their discovery very difficult, and the admirable plan on which some nests,
especially of tropical species, are constructed. A good example is to be
seen in the nest of the Common Tailor-bird of India (Orthotomus longi-
cauda). This bird selects a broad leaf and draws the edges together with
fibres, lining the cone, thus formed, with fine grass and vegetable down, and
the ends of the fibres with which it is sewn are knotted as a tailor knots
his thread !
I do not think, however, that Mr. Wallace is correct in all his details
respecting the manner in which nests are built. I think we should be
very careful in imputing the various apparent imperfections (and the per-
fection, too) in the architectural qualities of birds’ nests to the appliances
or tools with which they are constructed. To far more important causes
I believe the many differences in these structures may be safely attributed ;
and instead, therefore, of viewing the Swift’s rude nest, or the Ring-Dove’s
wicker cradle as the inevitable results of imperfect natural appliances, they
should be viewed as structures made perfect for the purpose they serve, and
completely in harmony with the requirements of their builders. Instead
of viewing the nests of the Chaffinch and the Wren as mere structures the
* Notes by a Naturalist on the ‘Challenger,’ p. 125,
XXll INTRODUCTION.
paragon of perfection and architectural skill, the results of perfect natural
tools, they should be regarded as nests, the only object their beauty and
perfection serves beinga useful and protective one.
A bird’s beak and its legs and feet are the tools with which its nest is
made; yet neither on the form, the length, or any other peculiarity of
these parts does the comparative beauty and perfection of the nest depend.
The Wren has a finely pointed bill and long legs: with these tools she
builds a well-made nest which seems to owe its perfect form and well-wove
walls to the little creature’s natural nest-building tools. But the Chaffinch,
with her comparatively clumsy bill and short legs, also makes a nest equally
well woven, and even rivalling in its external appearance the Wren’s
abode. The Tits, with their short bills and clumsy legs, build nests in
holes in trees and walls—structures so poorly made that it is impossible to
remove them entire. But the Long-tailed Tit (Acredula caudata and its
allies), we know, with similar tools builds a nest in the branches the para-
gon of beauty and well-wove perfection! The Dipper is another instance.
The Swift, with its weak bill and short legs, seems unable to make an
elaborate nest; but we know it seeks a hole for its purpose from other
motives than its seeming inability to make one, and, as is the case with
nearly all hole-building birds, irrespective of their natural tools, it is poorly
made. ‘The Swallows and the Martins possess similar tools to those of the
Swift, yet they build weli-made structures, either fastened to the eaves of
buildings or on the beams and ledges in sheds and chimneys. The deli-
cate Warblers (as, for instance, the Blackcap, the Whitethroat, and the
Garden-Warbler), all with appliances similar to those of the Wren, make
slight net-like nests; whilst the Finches (as, for instance, the Goldfinch,
the Bullfinch, the Redpole, and the Chaffinch), with clumsy beaks and some-
what short legs, weave nests well made and beautifully adapted to the
purposes they serve.
The Jay and most birds of the Crow tribe, particularly the Magpie
(whose well-made and intricately woven nest is a masterpiece of nest-build-
ing art), have powerful and somewhat clumsy bills and feet; yet we know
their nests can compare favourably with those of any other class of birds.
Many of the clumsy-billed Gulls with webbed feet make well-made nests ;
as also do certain Raptores, Herons, the Coot, the Moorhen, the Grebes,
the Ducks, and the Swans—nests that exhibit the same principles as those
of the smaller birds, but of course carried out on a much larger scale.
Again, what difference is there between the nest-building tools of the
Sparrow-Hawk and the Kestrel? None whatever; yet the one builds a
fairly made nest, and the other never makes a nest at all, and rears its young
either in the deserted nests of other birds or on the ledges of the beetling
cliffs, on no other resting-place than the bare rocks or the refuse of its
food. The Woodpeckers, the Kingfisher, the Starling, and sometimes the
INTRODUCTION. Xxill
Jackdaw, well provided with the requisite appliances for building an elabo-
rate nest, rear their young in structures poorly fabricated in the holes of
trees, rocks, banks, or buildings, or do not make a nest at all. From the
above-mentioned facts I think that we are perfectly justified in drawing
the inference that birds are in no way influenced by the appliances they
possess in building their nests. We have seen that birds are capable, quite
irrespective of the form of their bills and feet, of making elaborate nests of
matchless beauty, or poorly fabricated and very plain in appearance,
respectively, and according to circumstances ; and we may therefore
‘rest assured that the nest-building capabilities of birds are not in any
way subordinate to their natural appliances or tools for making their
nests, but are regulated by, and subordinate to, the various conditions
under which their young are produced, and especially by the colour of the
eggs. Why does each species build a different kind of nest? Iam at
present quite unable to say what influences birds in the choice of their
materials. Mr. Wallace says that birds select those materials which are
nearest to hand and easiest to obtain. He may be right; but when we find
very differently constructed nests in the same localities, almost side by side,
this explanation does not seem reasonable or sufficient. ‘The above re-
marks on the nests of birds naturally draw our attention to
Birds’ eggs studied in relation to their colour.—In these objects
the chief peculiarity which claims our notice is their beautiful ground-
colours and varied markings. Why, we naturally ask, do these eggs exhibit
such diversity of colour? Why are some eggs white, whilst others are
painted in tints rich and beautiful? or why are some spotless and others
thickly marked? Some persons may urge that these colours are deve-
loped for no object beyond that of adding to the beauty and harmony of
Nature’s works, as they similarly urge the colours of the plumage of the
birds themselves ; but let us see what an important part the colouring-
matter of birds’ eggs plays in the economy of the birds—let us see how
their complex and ever varying colours conform to the subtle influence of
Law. ‘The colouring-matter of birds’ eggs is influenced by the bird’s
mode of nidification, and is partly subordinated to the colours of the parents’
plumage. For convenience of treatment it is advisable to divide birds’
eggs into two great classes, quite irrespective of the affinities of the birds
themselves, but solely in accordance with the fact of their being coloured
or uncoloured, spotted or unspotted. Each of these great groups may be
further subdivided into two subgroups which will include the exceptional
cases to each. As regards white eggs, our first division will be
White eggs laid in covered nests.—I think we must start with the
very probable supposition that the eggs of the earliest forms of bird-life
were white. Colour is a development for protective purposes, and to that
cause alone must be ascribed all the wonderful and beautiful diversity of
XXIV INTRODUCTION.
tints with which so many birds’ eggs are now adorned. In most birds
where the eggs are hid from sight, either in domed nests or in nests in
holes, we never find their eggs exhibiting much colouring-matter—it is not
required, therefore it is not developed. Eggs brought to maturity in such
places are mostly pure white or pale blue, and only in the minority of
cases more or less faintly spotted. As instances coming into this
particular group we have the eggs of the Woodpeckers, the Kingfishers,
the Rollers, Bee-eaters, Tits, Willow-Warblers, Wrens, nearly all the
Owls, and the Martins, all of which are pure white or, in some few cases,
sparsely spotted, and are laid in covered nests. ‘This law is almost universal,
and, curiously enough, white eggs are correlated to a great extent with the
brilliant plumage of the bird; for we have already seen how so many of.
these showy birds breed in covered nests. Indeed it may almost be laid
down as an axiom in oology that brilliant birds do not lay handsome eggs,
and most of the finest marked eggs are laid by species of dull and sombre
plumage. Every rule, however, has its exceptions; and we now have to
notice
White eggs laid in open nests.—If these examples are sufficiently
numerous to merit the importance of a separate group, the existence of any
laws of colour might be doubted by the casual observer. These instances are
both striking and numerous; but when we come to study and investigate
them, we find that they only tend to prove the-existence of such laws in
a very marked degree. The Ducks all lay spotless eggs, light in colour,
greenish white, cream-colour, and pure white, and as they lay in the nest
are very conspicuous and readily seen at long distances. The Pheasant
and the Partridge also lay eggs of colours not much aiding in their
concealment. The Grebes may also be cited as instances. But all
these birds possess the singular habit of covering their eggs with materials
similar in colour to surrounding objects when they leave their nests.
Take, as an instance, the Little Grebe. The nest of this bird is rarely
indeed placed far from the water, to which the sitting bird instantly retires
on the approach of danger. The eggs of this bird are very conspicuous ;
but the moment danger threatens she adroitly covers them over with the
materials around ere she glides hurriedly away. So perfect is this decep-
tion that the nest is often passed by as a mere mass of reeds and rubbish,
yet under it les the treasure she has so cleverly concealed. This little
bird is ever on the alert for enemies; her mate also gives the signal of
alarm, and so quickly does she accomplish her purpose that rarely indeed
are her eggs seen exposed, except when the full complement is not laid.
It has been urged, and several accomplished naturalists are still of the
opinion, that birds do not cover their eggs for concealment, but for
warmth. The Pheasant covers her eggs when she leaves them; but the
Grouse is never known to do so. Now the former bird’s eggs are certainly
INTRODUCTION. XXV
conspicuous in an open nest, and those of the latter are well adapted
by their colour to harmonize with surrounding tints. If warmth is
required in the one case, certainly it should be in the other also. Again,
I have known the Wild Duck cover her eggs so completely as almost to
defy detection, and that, too, long before she had commenced to sit, and
when no warmth was required. I think, therefore, that there can be little
doubt that it is solely from motives of concealment that these conspicuous
eggs are covered. Stevenson, in his ‘ Birds of Norfolk’ (11. p. 417), also
confirms this opinion, and says that (in the case of the Moorhen) the pre-
caution of covering the eggs is more particularly adopted when the nest is
in an exposed situation.
“But we find many conspicuous eggs laid in bare open places that are not
concealed in such a cunning manner. We can take as an instance the
Short-eared Owl, who lays her white eggs on the open fens and marshes,
or many of the Goatsuckers, who deposit their white eggs in flimsy open
nests, or certain Ground-Pigeons (Geophaps) of Australia, who lay their
buffish-white eggs on the bare ground. How are such eggs protected ?
In this manner :—The plumage of all these birds is remarkably protective
and assimilates very closely with the surroundings; moreover, they
possess the habit of sitting very closely, conscious that they resemble the
ground or branches and cannot readily be seen; and so they brood over
their conspicuous eggs, shielding them by their sober plumage until
almost trodden upon, ere they rise from them. We might also notice
another rather puzzling instance belonging to this group, and that is
to be found amongst the Pigeons. The nests of nearly all these birds
are remarkably similar—platforms of twigs built in trees, rocks, or on the
ground ; and the eggs are in all cases, so far as is known, white, or nearly
so, and spotless. Pigeons’ nests are very slight and inconspicuous, and, as
a rule, built in the dense cover ; moreover, the birds themselves are exces-
sively wary. Again the very fact that these birds are so abundant and so
widely spread over the world, notwithstanding their open nests and white
eggs, is, in itself, strong evidence that these birds and their eggs are not
much exposed to enemies or are well able to elude them, and also shows
us how cautious we should be in looking upon such facts as serious objec-
tions opposed to laws of nidification and colour. As an instance of how
complex this subject is, we might take the great family of the Goatsuckers.
Some of these birds (Aigotheles, or Owlet Nightjars of Australia) lay white
eggs in holes of trees; others, as the Frog-mouths (Podargide), build a
Pigeon-like nest on a branch and lay white eggs, depending for safety on
the protective colours of their own plumage ; whilst the true Goatsuckers,
of which our Common Nightjar may be taken as an example, lay eggs on
the bare ground of protective tints, as well as depending on the sober colours
of their plumage for safety. It remains now but to notice in this group
VOL. II. c
XXV1 INTRODUCTION.
~such birds as the Herons, the Cormorants, Pelicans, and Storks, all of
which lay conspicuous eggs in an open nest. It is quite evident in these
cases that the birds by their own prowess alone shield their eggs from
danger; besides, most of these birds are gregarious, and are well able to
beat off any enemy that is likely to approach, if not singly, by uniting for
the purpose, so that it is of no special advantage for them to conceal their
eggs. We must also remember that these birds may have descended
from a hole-building ancestor—most probably from an ancestor that laid
colourless eggs. The coloration of eggs is characteristic in many groups
of birds; and in these instances the eggs of the various species conform
to those colours peculiar to their special~group, although they depend
upon other sources for the requisite amount of protection than those which
a remote ancestor practised. We now come to our second great division,
in which the eggs are beautifully adorned with various hues; and, as our
first group, we will take
Spotted eggs laid in open nests,—As our first instances we notice
two birds nesting on sandy shores, the Lesser Tern and the Ringed Plover.
Both these birds lay eggs more or less sand-coloured, which circumstance
effectually conceals them from view. A still more detailed account of the
nesting of these two birds will serve to show even more closely the import-
ance of this fact. The Ringed Plover’s eggs are far more minutely speckled
than those of the Lesser Tern, and as a consequence we find them laid on
the finest sand; but the Lesser Tern’s are more richly and elaborately
marked, and they are only found amongst the coarser shingle, where their
larger markings harmonize with surrounding tints most effectually. Take
another instance. The Common Sandpiper’s eggs assimilate so closely with
the tints around them as to make their discovery a matter of no small
difficulty, as every oologist can testify who has searched for them. The
Peewit’s eggs, dark in ground-colour and boldly marked, are in strict
harmony with the sober tints of moor and fallow, and on this circumstance
alone their concealment and safety depend. Another instance may be
found in the eggs of the Dotterel, far up the hillsides, amongst the inces-
sant mists, where their rich brown markings and stone-coloured ground-
tints harmonize closely with the colours of their mountain resting-place.
The Diver’s eggs furnish another example of protective colour; they are
generally laid close to the water’s edge, amongst drift and shingle, where
their dark tints and black spots conceal them by harmonizing closely
with surrounding objects. The Snipes and the great army of Sandpipers
furnish instances innumerable of protectively coloured eggs. In all the
instances given the sitting bird invariably leaves the eggs uncovered when
it quits them, and consequently their safety depends solely on the colours
which adorn them. A passing word should here be given to the eggs of
the Gulls. Some of these species depend for the safety of their eggs upon
INTRODUCTION. XXVil
the colours which adorn them ; but some species do not require such pro-
tection, the birds being well able to guard them from any enemies by their
own prowess. The law of imheritance explains this:—The Gulls have
descended from a common ancestor—a form probably intermediate between
a Gull and a Plover, which depended on the colour of its eggs for their
safety ; and consequently we find a certain type of eggs peculiar to the
whole group, of benefit to the majority of species, of little or no service
to a few, but still retained by the law of inheritance.
Those birds building open nests amongst the foliage of trees and shrubs,
as a rule, lay eggs more or less of a green colour. The Crows in the top-
most branches, the Thrushes in the lower shrubs, and many of the Warblers
in the dense undergrowth may be cited as instances. Again, the Bullfinch
and the Greenfinch lay bluish-white eggs, spotted with red, in open nests ;
but these birds build in the darkest thickets and hedgerows and amongst
evergreens.
A word as to the marvellous variation and beautiful colours of the eggs
of the Guillemot. The extraordinary amount of variation in the colour
of these eggs appears to be a grave difficulty, and one which utterly refuses
to conform to those laws that govern the tints with which so many birds’
eggs are adorned. It is one of those very few instances where Nature has
seemingly run riot in her variations, in a similar manner to those which
occur in domesticated animals; for once let the checks to variation be
removed, and its ramifications are infinite and endless in a few generations.
Why, we are apt to ask, do the Guillemot’s eggs vary so considerably ?
Why are they allowed to present such diversity of colour whilst the eggs
of most other birds are strictly confined to certain tints? We may attri-
bute the vast variation in the colouring of their eggs to the comparatively
easy conditions under which they are brought to maturity. The birds’
haunts are practically inaccessible ; they have few enemies of their eggs
and young, and the variations which occur in their eggs are consequently
of small moment. Each variety, according to the Guillemot’s present con-
ditions of life, has no more favour than the other; but should the conditions
of their existence change, should their eggs be exposed to some new danger,
the variety best suited to those changed conditions would doubtless be most
favoured—the others not so suitably coloured would, in the course of time,
ultimately be weeded out by a rigorous selection, and the colours would
most probably be confined to certain uniform protective tints. The colour
of birds’ eggs is hereditary. A Guillemot that lays a green egg, always
lays a green egg, and it will transmit. the faculty of laying a green egg to
its offspring. This circumstance is not peculiar to the Guillemot, but is
common to all birds; and the variation we see in every species is the
produce of certain individuals and is transmitted to their young. Hence
it is easy to imagine how thé Guillemot’s eggs would soon revert to a
XXVill INTRODUCTION.
uniform and protective tint were their conditions of life to demand it;
birds laying eggs unadapted in colour to their changed conditions of life
would have small chance of transmitting those injurious colours to pos-
terity, would soon die out completely; and the birds that laid eggs most
suitable to the changed conditions and in harmony with them would in-
crease and multiply, and the colours on their eggs be preserved. This, I
believe, is how all eggs have got their beautiful tints, and how they are
preserved or changed as circumstances arise.
Again, the young birds of many species absolutely depend for safety on
the colour of their down. The Lapwing is arrayed in tints that put us in
mind of the tropics; the sexes are alike; yet they build an open nest on
the bleak common, moor, or pasture, where sometimes not a shrub or
heath-tuft affords a haven of safety. Both birds lack weapons of defence ;
but note how the safety of their young is insured: their sombre plumage
of brown effectually conceals them from view. Upon the least alarm the
brightly-coloured parents leave their helpless young, who instantly crouch
to the ground and remain motionless ; their colour so closely harmonizes
with surrounding tints as to hide them effectually from the enemy that
menaces them. The young of the Game Birds, all the Sandpipers, and
many sea-birds might also be given as instances, all of which (where the
parents’ plumage is conspicuous and dangerous to the welfare of their
eges or young, and which nest in an open site) have young of protective
tints. As our last group we notice
Spotted eggs laid in covered nests.—As we found the anomaly of white
eggs in open nests, so we also find that of spotted and highly-coloured
eges in covered nests. We will first notice a few instances amongst
British birds. We take as our first example the Jackdaw, whose eggs
are spotted and coloured in a remarkable manner, considering they are
laid in a covered nest. The Chough is another instance, and the Magpie
a third. I am inclined to believe that ‘these three birds have changed
the form or position of their nest from an open to a covered one, and the
eggs are consequently gradually losing their colours. The eggs of the
birds just noticed are generally much paler than the eggs of the Crows
laying in open nests, and they seem slowly reverting to a colourless type.
When once any particular development ceases to be of any service, its
tendency is gradually to die out; and this, I think, is the reason that so
many birds nesting in covered sites lay eggs only slightly spotted, or, as in
many cases, when compared with the eggs of the family. of birds to which
they belong, show a marked decrease of coloration. The Robin’s eggs, as
compared with those of its ally the Bluethroat (Hrithacus cerulecula),
furnish another instance. The Robin’s nest is well concealed and often
built in holes, and its eggs are often white or only faintly spotted; the Blue-
INTRODUCTION. | Xxix”
throat’s nest is open and more or less exposed, and its eggs are dark green
and protective in colour.
One of the best examples coming into the present group that I know of
is to be found in the Grass- Warbler (Cisticola cursitans). This bird builds
a purse-shaped nest amongst the grass, in which the eggs are hidden from
view; and these eggs exhibit several very distinct types—white or blue
spotted with rufous, and sometimes unspotted blue or white. Another
instance may be found in the Australian genus Chthonicola, i which the
nest is domed and the eggs are red or chocolate in colour.
What do these facts teach us? I think that their explanation is to be
found in the fact that these domed nests have only comparatively recently
been adopted by these species, and the eggs have not yet lost their colour.
These coloured eggs show a changed mode of nesting. Their colour remains
unchanged, or alters very slightly; and we know many other contrivances are
retained long after their direct use has passed away, because they are not
in any way injurious to the welfare of the species, yet they have always a
tendency to die out; in the case of eggs this, I think, is shown in such
instances as Cisticola, in which we so often find a colourless or plain type.
We may rest assured that these ‘colours have not been acquired since the
nest has been covered; they are a previous development, most probably
destined in time to pass completely away if the present conditions under
which the eggs are brought to maturity remain unchanged for any length
of time.
From a study of all these interesting facts we learn that birds’ eggs ex-
hibit such great diversity of colour for other and far more important ends
than that of mere beauty; and their varied tints must be viewed (with all
other beauty of colour in nature) as an object by means of which great
ends are attained. A few words should now be given to
Generic types of eggs, and what they teach.—The true relationship
of birds is often demonstrated by a study of their eggs. The family like-
ness of birds, which extends through an entire natural group, is stamped
indelibly on their eggs. Thus the experienced oologist, guided by their pecu-
liar characteristics, is able to separate at a glance the eggs of the Shrikes,
the Crows, the Snipes, the Birds of Prey, or those of any other large natural
group of birds. ‘This is almost as apparent in shape as in colour. Snipe’s
and Plover’s eggs are extremely pyriform; Kingfisher’s and Roller’s are
round ; Pigeon’s, Goatsucker’s, and Sand-Grouse’s are oval; Grebe’s are
pointed at each end. We find these characters constant in each group
respectively. Take, for instance, the great family of the Ducks (Anatide),
numbering nearly two hundred species distributed throughout the world.
All their eggs possess certain characteristics which enable us readily to
identify them. The same remarks apply to the Sandpipers (Scolopacidz)
XXX INTRODUCTION.
and the Plovers (Charadriide), each of which great natural groups numbers
upwards of a hundred species, which are as cosmopolitan as the Ducks ; and
the eggs of both are so characteristic that a glance is sufficient to recognize
them. Take, as another instance, the eggs of the great cosmopolitan family
Laridz: those of the Gulls (Larinz) most nearly resemble those of the
Sandpipers in colour, whilst those of the Terns (Sternine) show more
affinity to the true Plovers ; and this may probably be accounted for by the
nidification of each group resembling most closely that to which the eggs
are allied in general appearance. The Game Birds are also another instance.
So far as I know, the eggs of these birds never have any underlying mark-
ings, all the colour is on the surface; and this is one great reason why the
aberrant Hemipodes (Turnix) should be excluded from this group of birds,
for their eggs possess both characters of markings, and therefore show the
birds’ affinity to the Rails, the Plovers, or the Bustards*. Canon Tristram
is probably right when he says that the style of architecture and coloration
and form of the egg cast as much light on the true grouping of species
and the arrangement of genera in the great subfamily of the Warblers
(Sylviinze) as in any other class of birds. I think that it is even a better
generic character than any the birds themselves are known to possess.
This group of birds exhibits in a wonderful manner certain distinct types
of eggs, a study of which alone will place the birds in almost the same
position as that to which they have been assigned by the best systematists.
Details cannot well be given here, but the remarks on this subject by
Canon Tristram (‘ Ibis,’ 1867, p. 74) are worthy the perusal of all inter-
ested in oology: it has been briefly noticed in the present work (vol. i.
p. 373). The subfamily of the Thrushes (Turdine) is another remarkable
instance, and might almost be split up into fairly natural genera by the
coloration of the eggs alone.
It is also very remarkable how the eggs of some birds resemble those of
species belonging to very distantly related groups, where the conditions of
nidification are similar; and this I think is one of the strongest proofs of
a universal law of colour governing these objects. The Sand-Martin and
the Woodpecker, or the Dipper and the Weaver-bird are good examples in
which a covered nesting-site is peculiar to each and the eggs are uniformly
white. In cases where the eggs differ considerably from those typical to
the group, we generally find that the mode of nidification adopted by the
species is from some cause different and aberrant too.. Take, for imstance,,
the eggs of the American Quail (Ortyx virginianus), which are white and
laid in a domed or covered nest, whilst those of the allied Plumed Quail
(Lophortyx gambeli) are normally spotted and blotched, and, it is needless
to say, laid in an open nest.
* Conf. Hume, ‘ Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds,’ p. 554.
INTRODUCTION. XXxl
What do we infer from these interesting facts? What do they teach us ?
I think they show beyond the possibility of doubt the more or less close
relationship of one bird to another, and prove the community of origin of
birds in each great natural group, in each family, and in many genera,
Again, I feel convinced that community of origin and inheritance will
account for, if it does not fully explain, much of the difficulty one meets
with in a scientific study of oology.
Concluding Remarks.—We have thus seen that birds, aided by a
rigorous natural selection, strive to the utmost of their ability, in many
different ways, to insure the protection of their eggs and young from
danger until they reach maturity—
“ Hach its well-chosen site selects where Nature
To its best concealment aids and favours it.”
Enemies numerous and deadly continually surround them—the prying
Magpies and Jays, the subtle snakes and lizards, the active field-mice, rats,
aud weasels are all passionately fond of eggs and search incessantly for
them. We have seen that all the wiles birds display during the period of
nidification, all or nearly all the beauty in their nests, all or nearly
all the beauty in the colouring of their eggs and in much of the old and
young birds’ plumage (in the former through the subtle working of sexual
selection) are subservient to the conditions of reproduction, and may safely
be attributed to a one great Protective Cause.
The instances adduced in this paper in support of the laws of Inheritance
and Bird-nidification have chiefly been selected from the birds of our own
land. But were we to seek instances from other climes, where bird-life
under favourable conditions exists on a much wider and more comprehen-
sive basis, stil] more startling would our proofs become. As regards eggs,
perhaps, but little more could be said; but as regards the plumage of
birds and their nests—say in the Tropics—instances almost innumerable
might be found showing how universal are those laws which govern the
nidification of birds. Sufficient, however, I think has been said to show
what an important part Colour plays in the nidification of birds, and that
this part of their economy is governed most closely by law. If I have
succeeded in showing, in this meagre paper, that Birds’ Eggs and Nests
are not the unimportant objects they are so popularly believed to be, and
that.a careful study of them, in conjunction with the birds themselves,
helps to elucidate some of the grandest questions affecting organic life, my
end has been amply attained. For no matter how unimportant an object
or a series of facts may seem, we must not despise them and pass them by.
Nature’s system is one mass of intricate complexity, becoming more evi-
dent the more we study it ; and the only means of gaining an insight as to
how that system works is by dealing with each phenomenon, not separately,
xxxii INTRODUCTION.
but as a relative part which assists in forming an almost perfect and har-
monious whole. In the words of the illustrious Darwin :—“ When we no
longer look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as something
wholly beyond his comprehension, when we regard every production of
Nature as one which has had a long history, when we contemplate every
complex structure and instinct as the summing-up of many contrivances,
each useful to the possessor, in the same way as any great mechanical
invention is the summing-up of the labour, the experience, the reason, and
even the blunders of numerous workmen; when we thus view each organic
being, how far more interesting (I speak from experience) does the study
of natural history become ! ”
Oology, as a science, is almost virgin ground for research, and its import-
ance in elucidating much that is strange in the economy of birds is great.
It is when Oology becomes more generally and comparatively studied, and
an interchange of observations by oologists in various parts of the world
effected, that the importance of protective colouring, mimicry, bird archi-
tecture, &c. will become manifest, the present insufficiency of data bearing
on the subject being a very great obstacle to its scientific progress. Every
little detail, however insignificant it may seem, must be recorded ere we
can gain a complete knowledge of this interesting branch of research; and -
the remote history of a species must not be neglected where it can be
traced with reasonable certainty.
I hope to return to this fascinating subject at no distant date, treating it
on a wider basis by including the nests and eggs of birds from all parts of
the world. I shall be extremely obliged for any notes from any part of
the world bearing on the subject of Birds’ Nests, Eggs, and Nidification ;
for Iam convinced that it is only by collecting an immense variety of
such facts that the subject can be successfully investigated.
XXXII
ADDENDUM.
Page 142. Since writing the article on the Rustic Bunting, in which I copied the descrip-
tion of the supposed eggs of this species given by Dresser in his ‘ Birds of
Europe,’ I |have seen three clutches of eggs, said to be of this species, also
collected in the neighbourhood of Archangel. As they agree with each other
and differ from eggs of any other North-Russian species, it seems probable
that they may be genuine eggs of the Rustic Bunting, though this cannot
be regarded as proved until properly authenticated eges have been taken.
The ground-colour varies from greenish white to bluish white, and the over-
lying spots are greenish brown and the underlying spots greyish brown. The
spotting is very profuse and more or less confluent at the large end of the
egg; but there are no streaks, the character of the ege being that of a
Sparrow rather than that of a Bunting. In this respect they show an
affinity with the eggs of Emberiza melanocephala and E. luteola, and, to some
extent, with those of Z. nivalis, though the latter often have some small
streaks. They vary in length from ‘86 to ‘76 inch, and in breadth from
‘6 to ‘56 inch. The egg figured on Plate 15 is probably that of EF. dwteola, and
those described by Dresser are probably eggs of FE, pusilla. I intend to
figure one of these eggs on Plate 68.
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me EST ORY
OF
Bee boleh S Fe BARDS
Subfamily AMPELIN A, on WAX WINGS.
Tue Waxwings are a very small subfamily, consisting of birds having the
wing of a Starling, the foot of a Shrike, and a bill intermediate between
that of a Shrike and a Swallow. They are probably most nearly allied to
the Shrikes and the Starlmgs: from the former they may at once be
distinguished by the minuteness of their bastard primary, their short
tarsus, and their nearly obsolete rictal bristles. Although they agree with
the Starlings in having their bastard primary very small and their second
primary long, combined with a short even tail and almost obsolete rictal
bristles, ornithologists are perhaps justified in placing them in a distinct
subfamily, in consequence of the shortness of their tarsus, their shorter,
wider, and notched beak, and the presence of small bristles which cover
the nostrils. The Waxwings only moult once in the year, in autumn. The
young in first plumage differ from their parents in many respects, and are
streaked on the underparts ; but this plumage is moulted during their first
autumn.
The Ampeline were in all probability originally an arctic group of
birds, of which only eight species are at present known to exist. One of
these is cireumpolar, one is confined to Japan, whilst a third inhabits the
temperate portions of the Nearctic Region. The remaining five species
inhabit the Neotropical portion of North America; only one species is
European.
MOL LL. B
2 BRITISH BIRDS.
Genus AMPELIS.
In the tenth edition of the ‘Systema Nature’ of Linneus, published in
1758, the Waxwings were included in the genus Lanius. In 1760 Brisson,
in his ‘ Ornithologia,’ placed them in the genus Turdus; but in 1766, in
the twelfth edition of his great work (1. p. 297), Linneeus associated them
with half a dozen very distantly allied birds in a new genus, Ampelis.
These strangers were subsequently removed to other genera by later writers,
leaving the Common Waxwing as the type.
In the birds of the genus Ampelis the shafts of the secondaries are either
prolonged into wax-like appendages, or each feather has a red terminal spot
to the outside web; the tail-feathers are broadly tipped either with yellow or
red; and the throat, lores, and the feathers behind the eyes are black. They
have also a well-developed crest. This genus contains only three species,
one of which is confined to North America, one to Japan and the adjoin-
ing mainland, whilst the third is circumpolar ; the latter is the only species
found in Europe, and is an irregular winter visitor to the British Islands.
In many of their habits the Waxwings resemble very closely the Rose-
coloured Starling. They are very erratic in their migrations, and appear
irregularly in certain districts often in considerable numbers. They
chiefly frequent pine- and larch-woods; but when wandering far from
their breeding-grounds in winter, they seem to have no preference for any
particular haunt. They are comparatively tame birds, and resemble the
Titmice somewhat in their actions. They possess scarcely any song. Their
food consists of fruit, berries, and insects. They build open cup-shaped
nests placed in the branches of trees, and made of twigs, moss, feathers,
lichens, &c. Their eggs are from five to seven in number, varying from
French white to sea-green in ground-colour, spotted, blotched, and speckled
with deep brownish black and pale underlying markings of lilac.
WAXWING. 3
AMPELIS GARRULUS.
WAXWING.
(Puatre 11.)
Turdus Bombycilla bohemica, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 333 (1760).
Ampelis garrulus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 297 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Bonaparte, Temminch, (Keyserling § Blasius), Degland, Salvadori, Baird, Ridg-
way, Dresser, Newton, &e.
Bombyciphora polioccelia, Meyer, Vog. Liv- u. Esthi. p. 104 (1815).
Bombycivora garrula (Linn.), Temm. Man. d@ Orn. p. 77 (1815).
Bombycilla garrula (Linn.), Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. Xvi. p. 523 (1817).
Parus bombycilla, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat, i. p. 048 (1826),
This charming and interesting bird may be regarded as an irregular
winter visitor to Great Britain, having been met with in almost every
county, in some years in considerable numbers. It was first made known
as a British bird by Lister in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ (1685,
no. 75, p. 1161, fig. 9), from specimens shot at York in January 1681.
From this early date down to the present day the Waxwing has occurred
almost yearly in some parts of Great Britain. Among the years when it
appeared in extraordinary numbers may be cited the winters of 1830-31,
1834-35, 1849-50, and 1866-67. This latter will long be remembered by
British ornithologists as one of the great Waxwing seasons. The whole
of 1866 (the year of the eattle plague) was wet, the mild winter at each
end being scarcely distinguishable from the cold Summer between. On
New-Year’s day frost and heavy snow set in. Early in November great
numbers of the Bohemian Waxwing made their appearance. The largest
flocks were seen in Norfolk; but north of that county many birds were
shot at Scarborough, Newcastle, Berwick, up to Aberdeen and Inverness,
and to the south they were obtained as far as Dover and Rye.
It is of far more frequent occurrence in the eastern counties than in
the midland and western; this is doubtless because the birds are so
eagerly sought after and shot upon their arrival on our eastern coasts that
comparatively few succeed in reaching the more distant parts of the king-
dom. In Scotland the Waxwing is almost as well known as it is in
England as an uncertain and irregular winter guest. It has not been
obtained in the Outer Hebrides, but has occurred on Skye and the Orkney,
Shetland, and Faroe Islands. In Ireland, as might be expected, it is of
much less frequent occurrence, most probably for the reasons above cited.
The Waxwing is almost a circumpolar bird, breeding in the pine-regions
of both hemispheres at or near the Arctic circle. It is common, though
very local, in Lapland ; and most of the eggs of this bird in collections have
B2
I BRITISH BIRDS.
been obtained there. I have seen it in its breeding-season in the valleys
of the Petchora and the Yenesay; and Middendorff met with it during
winter on the shores of the Sea of Ochotsk. Mr. Dall states that its eggs
have been obtained near Fort Yukon in Alaska; and it has been found
during the breeding-season in the valley of the Anderson River, north of
the Great Bear Lake. It possibly may not breed further east in America ;
but very little is known of the arctic regions of either continent, and the
Waxwing is so erratic in its habits, breeding in enormous numbers in a
certain district for some seasons and then almost deserting it for several
years, that it may easily have been overlooked.
The Waxwing is as erratic in its choice of winter-quarters. It is a
very irregular migrant, wandering southwards on the approach of cold
weather, and revisiting the north whenever a thaw of sufficient length
occurs. Throughout Central Europe it isa tolerably regular winter visitor.
It occurs accidentally on Heligoland, and occasionally strays as far west
as France and as far south as Lombardy and Turkey, but has not yet been
recorded from Spain or Greece. It winters in South Siberia, occasionally
straying as far as Turkestan, Mongolia, North China, and the north
island of Japan. In America its winter range extends as far south as
Lakes Michigan and Erie ; but it appears to be only an accidental straggler
further east, and it is doubtful if it has ever occurred west of the Rocky
Mountains.
One of the nearest allies of the Waxwing is the Japanese Waxwing
(A. phenicoptera), which breeds in Japan and wanders in winter to the valley
of the Lower Amoor and North China, and occasionally to Formosa. This
species may be easily distinguished from its arctic ally by having the
yellow at the tip of the tail replaced by red, and by having no “ wax ”
tips to the secondaries, the white tips on their outside webs being replaced
by red. A still nearer ally is the American Waxwing or Cedar-bird,
A. cedrorum, which is said to inhabit the whole of North America as far
north as lat. 52°, extending southwards to Guatemala, Jamaica, and Cuba
in winter. This bird is somewhat less than the northern species, and like
it has the “wax” tips to the secondaries and the yellow tips to the tail,
but is without the white on the wing. The Cedar-bird has been erroneously
included in the British list, in several cases skins of this species having
been substituted by dishonest bird-stuffers for specimens of the Waxwing
shot in this country.
I was fortunate enough to meet with a small party of Waxwings as
IT was walking down the Glossop Road to business into Sheffield on
the morning of the 29th of December, 1866. My attention was arrested
by three or four birds which flew across the road and alighted in a
Jaburnum tree in Miss Ray’s garden. I imagined from their flight that.
they must be Starlings; but fancying that they showed white marks on the
WAXWING. 5
wing, I had the curiosity to step across the road to get a nearer view of
them. The tree on which they alighted was only a few yards from the
road, and I watched them over the wall for some time. I recognized them
at once by their crests. The yellow markings on the wings and tail were
very conspicuous, and I fancied I could distinguish the red wax-like
appendages. They were very active, putting themselves in all sorts of posi-
tions, and did not seem at all disturbed by my scrutiny ; and when at las:
they flew away, and I turned round to continue my walk, I found that
quite a small crowd had collected behind me, one of whom (probably a
Sheffield grinder, and consequently well up in pigeons, dogs, and other
branches of sporting zoology) volunteered the information that they were
French Starlings. I sent a short notice of the appearance of these illus-
trious strangers in our town to one of the local papers ; and the followmg
day more than one gentleman assured me that birds agreeing with my
description had been seen in Broomhall Park, and on the 31st two speci-
mens were shot there by the gardener of Mr. Willis Dixon; so that it is
probable that the flock continued in the neighbourhood for some days. A
few months afterwards I bought a pair of these birds and kept them in a
cage for some time. They were most voracious eaters, and the cage
required cleaning several times a day. They were very active and restless,
and even when perched at rest seemed to be continually moving their
heads. If alarmed they would stretch out their necks to almost double
the usual length. They were remarkably silent birds; the only note I
heard was a cir-ir-ir-ir-re, very similar to a well-known note of the Blue
Tit. Occasionally this succession of notes was repeated so rapidly as to
form a trill like the song of the Redpole. The Waxwing is almost omni-
vorous. Mr. Gunn, of Norwich, through whose hands more than a hundred
birds passed in the winter of 1866-67, found their food to consist of the
berries of the guelder-rose, dog-rose, whitethorn, and privet ; those of
the dog-rose, being too large for one mouthful, were picked to pieces.
Collett, who dissected birds shot at their breeding-grounds in Finmark in
July, found the stomachs filled almost exclusively with entire or dismem-
bered bodies of a species of crane-fly allied to our ‘Tommy long-legs.”’
One of the males had some juniper-berries in his gullet. Other ornitholo-
gists have found various berries and insects in the stomachs of these birds;
and in confinement they feed greedily on bread and carrots.
The Waxwing is generally very fat in winter, and is highly esteemed as
an article of food. Hundreds are sold in the frozen market of St. Peters-
burg at three-halfpence each.
Although this bird has been well known to ornithologists for some
centuries, its breeding-grounds were only discovered as recently as 1856.
Before that date various legendary stories of its breeding in holes of trees
and amongst rocks were recorded; and, incredible as it may seem, were
6 BRITISH BIRDS.
repeated as late as 1870 in what professed to be a scientific work on the
History of British Birds. The merit of the discovery belongs to John
Wolley. This indefatigable ornithologist spent five consecutive summers,
and two out of the four intervening winters, in Lapland in searching for
the eggs of this and other rare birds; but, owing to the erratic habits of
this species, he did not succeed in his object until the fourth summer.
Like the Rose-coloured Starling, the Waxwing continually changes its breed-
ing-grounds. These two birds breed in enormous colonies in localities
which they probably choose from year to year, in places where an abundant
supply of food can be obtained. Wolley’s headquarters were at Muoniovara,
a Swedish village on the river Muonio, opposite the Russian village of
Muonioniska, about halfway between the Gulf of Bothnia and the
southern extremity of the Porsanger fjord. During the first three
summers, although he was very successful in obtaining eggs of many birds
of which authenticated specimens were then unknown, it was not until
the summer of 1856 (his fourth season) that the nests of the Waxwing
were obtained by his faithful servant Ludwig Matthias Knoblock. Six
nests were brought in to him, but he himself did not see one én situ.
In 1857 he succeeded in finding a nest, which had been deserted a day or
two before, and beneath which the broken eggs were lying on the ground ;
but during that season eight nests were brought to him. The followiig
summer this district was apparently chosen by the Waxwings as their
headquarters ; and Wolley’s collectors obtained nearly a hundred and fifty
nests containing nearly seven hundred eggs, most of which were sent to
him in England, he having visited Iceland that year in search of the Great
Auk. On his return from this expedition his health began to fail, and in
November 1859 British Ornithology lost its most promising student at the
early age of thirty-five.
The first discovery of the nest of the Waxwing was made in the valley
of the Kemi in Russian Lapland. Ludwig made an expedition to the
Kittila river early in June, having in some places to wade up to his middle
in snow. Arrived at Sardio, where he had apparently commissioned the
natives to search for him, he found, as would naturally be the case whilst
the snow was in process of melting, every one at home “ deep in dirt and
laziness.” He soon ascertained from them that a pair of Waxwings had
been seen in the neighbourhood ; and accordingly he started off at once
into the forest, and there he saw a bird which he took to be a Waxwing,
but he was not quite sure, for in the sunshine the end of its tail looked
white, instead of yellow as in the picture with which Wolley had provided
him. On the following day it was cloudy, and Ludwig saw the yellow on
the tail, and had no longer any doubt. He engaged the Russian boys by
the day, telling them that they must search, even if it were for a week, till
they had found the nest. They sought all that night and the next day till
WAXWING. 7
about noon, when a lad called out that he had found the nest ; and there it
was, about nine feet high on the branch of a spruce. Ludwig succeeded
in snaring the old bird, a beautiful cock, at the end of five days, and packed
up the nest, eggs, and bird in a strong box until Wolley’s arrival. Wolley
writes :—‘‘ You can fancy how eagerly I waited for Ludwig to produce the
eggs. With a trembling hand he brought them out—but first the nest
beautifully preserved ; it is made principally of black ‘tree-hair’ (lichen),
with dried spruce-twigs outside, partially lined with a little sheep’s grass
and one or two feathers—a large deep nest. The eggs—beautiful !—
magnificent !!—just the character of the American bird. An indescribable
glow of colour about them! ..... Almost every day (and it is now
the sixth since that of my arrival here) Ludwig has told me the whole
story of the Sidensvan’s nest, and I am never tired of hearing it :—how
the season was very backward ; how in their expedition he and Piko Heiki
were getting very much out of spirits at the little success they met with;
how he saw the bird in the sunshine; how, when at last the nest was found,
he could scarcely believe his eyes; how he went to it again and again, each
time convinced when at the spot, but believing it all a dream as soon as he
was at a distance; the rising and falling of the crest of the bird; its curious
song or voice. All he is eager to tell over and over again ; and I have the
fullest version, with all the ‘I said,’ ‘ Heiki said,’ ‘ Michel said,’ ‘ Ole
said,” &c. Since Wolley’s great discovery many other nests of the Wax-
wing have been obtained by various ornithologists. In 1857 Dr. Nylander
obtained a nest with five eggs from the island of Ajos at the head of the
Gulf of Bothnia, off the coast of Finland. In 1858 Dresser obtained a
nest with unfledged young from the island of Sanden, twenty-seven miles
from Uleaborg, a little to the south of the previous locality. In 1862
Wheelwright obtained a nest with two eggs near Quickiock ; in 1868
Nordvi procured its eggs in north-east Norway; and in 1872 Mr. Berlin
discovered two nests containing eggs in the same district.
A nest of the Waxwing, which Mr. Nordvi procured for me from
Muonioniska, is a large and very compact structure. The outside
diameter is seven inches, and the inside four inches. It is about four
inches high outside, and nearly two inches deep. The foundation is made
of twigs of the spruce-fir and reindeer-moss. The nest itself is composed
of feathers and black hair-lichen, interwoven together with very slender
twigs and a little moss and inner bark, the feathers being most numerous
in the lining. Five or six, and occasionally seven, is the number of eggs
laid. Newton (in whose collection the greater part of the enormous series
obtained by Wolley still remains) describes them as measuring from 1:11
to ‘82 in length by ‘73 to ‘64 inch in breadth. He writes :—“ The ground
is most generally of a delicate sea-green, sometimes fading to French white,
but very often of a more or less pale olive, and occasionally of a dull
8 BRITISH BIRDS.
purplish grey. On this are almost always bold blotches, spots, and specks
of deep brownish black, though sometimes the edges are blurred. Beneath
these stronger markings there is nearly always a series of blotches or
streaks of greyish lilac, and among them well-defined spots or specks of
yellowish brown are interspersed. In some eggs the darkest markings
are quite wanting, in others the ground is of a deep olive-colour.”
The adult male Waxwing is an exquisitely beautiful bird. The upper
parts are a delicate vinaceous brown, gradually shading into chestnut on
the forehead, and into pale slate-grey or dove-colour on the rump and
upper tail-coverts. A narrow frontal band, the lores, and the feathers
behind the eyes are black. The quills and tail-feathers are dark brown,
nearly black, varied with a broad yellow band across the tips of the tail-
feathers, and a narrow band of the same colour on the outside webs of the
primaries at the tip, and a white band across the tips of the primaries on
the inside webs, and on the outside webs of the secondaries at the tips. The
primary-coverts are tipped with white, and the shafts of the secondaries are
prolonged and flattened into scarlet tips. A similar development of the
shafts of the tail-feathers frequently occurs. The underparts are vinaceous
brown on the breast and flanks, shading into greyish white on the centre
of the belly and into chestnut on the cheeks. At the base of the lower
mandible on each side is a white streak. The chin and upper throat are
black, and the under tail-coverts chestnut. Bill nearly black, paler at the
base; legs, feet, and claws black ; irides hazel.
The difference in plumage between the sexes of the Waxwing is still a
disputed question amongst ornithologists. A great proportion of males
have large wax-like appendages to the tips of the secondaries, broad bright
yellow tips to the tail-feathers, and have the bright yellow tips of the out-
side web of the primaries connected with a white tip at the end of the
inside web, making the marking on the primaries V-shaped. Most of the
females have the wax-like appendages smaller, the tips of the tail-feathers
narrower and paler, and the tips of the outside webs of the primaries pale
and entirely wanting at the end of the inside webs, thus causing the
markings on the primaries to be I-shaped. Males of the year generally are
indistinguishable from females, but frequently are slightly intermediate
between the two sexes when adult in one or all of the points alluded to.
The presence of wax on the tail-feathers and on the eighth secondary, which
is without the white stripe on the outside web, is apparently a question of
vigour or age, and not of sex. The richness of the chestnut of the under
tail-coverts and of the black of the throat appears to be a question of age.
The Waxwing is most brilliant in plumage immediately after the autumn
moult, which takes place late in October. I have an example in my
collection in full moult obtained at Krasnoyarsk on the 3rd of November ;
examples from the same locality in May are already considerably faded.
WAXWING. 2
The alleged females in collections with V-shaped markings on the primaries
are so rare that we may suppose them to be old and barren females which
have assumed the male plumage, or it is possible that a mistake in the
sexing or labelling may have occurred. Young in first plumage resemble
females, but are paler in colour, and are without the black on the throat ;
the underparts are streaked, and the wax-like appendages to the secondaries
are few and small.
10 BRITISH BIRDS.
Subfamily STURNIN A&A, on STARLINGS.,
The minute bastard primary and the great length of the second primary,
which is the longest in the wing, together with the absence of the nasal
bristles and of scutellations at the back of the tarsus, are characters which
diagnose the Starlings from the other subfamilies of the Passeride. The
tarsus is moderately long and scutellated in front, and the bill is straight,
slender, and unfurnished with rictal bristles. The Starlings moult once
a year in autumn, the spring plumage being attained by casting the ends
of the feathers. The young in first plumage differ considerably from
their parents, being a nearly uniform brown more or less streaked on the
underparts ; but this plumage is lost by the first autumn moult.
The Sturnine are an Old-World group of birds, found in every part of
the eastern hemisphere, except in the arctic and antarctic regions and
on the continent of Australia. Wallace includes 124 species in this group
of birds. Four only are found in Europe, of which one is a resident in
the British Islands and a second is a rare straggler to our shores.
Genus STURNUS.
Linneeus included the genus Sturnus in the 12th edition of his ‘ Systema
Nature,’ published in 1766 (vol.i. p. 290). The Common Starling, because
it is the Sfurnus sturnus of Brisson, has indisputable claims to be considered
the type.
The most striking peculiarity in the Starlings is the metallic tint of
their plumage—purple, green, and bronze. This character is sufficient, in
conjunction with their size, to distinguish them from all other European
birds. The rictal bristles are obsolete, and the nostrils are bare of
feathers, but half-covered with a-soft horny operculum. The forehead is
very depressed ; and the feathers on the head, throat, ant breast are Ego
gated something like the hackles of a Cock.
The genus Sturnus contains about eight or nine species and aes
confined to the central and southern portions of the Palearctic Region and
the extreme north of the Oriental Region.
In their habits the Starlings are gregarious. They frequent pastures,
STURNUS. 11
where they are very fond of closely attending cattle while feeding, and almost
every other kind of haunt, both mland and on the coast, notably near
houses and ruins. Their food consists of insects, worms, grubs, fruit,
berries, and various kinds of seeds. Their call-notes are harsh; but they
have considerable powers of song, and in confinement readily learn to
imitate different tunes and even words. Their flight is very strong and
powerful, and on the ground they walk orrun. They build bulky slovenly
nests of grass, straws, roots, feathers, and almost every kind of material
to hand, placing them in holes of walls, rocks, trees, or buildings. Their
eges are from four to six in number, greenish blue in ground-colour,
without any markings.
12 BRITISH BIRDS.
STURNUS VULGARIS.
STARLING.
(Pirate 11.)
Sturnus sturnus, Briss. Orn. il. p. 489 (1760).
Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 290 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Latham, Scopoli, Bonaparte, Salvadori, Degland § Gerbe, Newton,
Dresser, &c.
Sturnus varius, Wolf, Taschenb. i. p. 208 (1810).
Turdus solitarus, Lath. apud Montagu, Orn. Dict. Suppl. (1818).
Sturnus solitarius (Lath.), apud Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus, p.18 (1816).
Sturnus guttatus, Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 595 (1837).
Sturnus europeeus, Linn., fide Blasius, Journ. Orn. 1863, Bericht, p. 60.
Sturnus faroensis, Feilden, Zoologist, 1872, p. 3257.
The Starling is one of the commonest and most widely distributed of
our indigenous birds. It is of less frequent occurrence in the breeding-
season in Wales and in Cornwall; but otherwise nests commonly in
almost every county of England. In Scotland it has considerably increased
in numbers within the last half-century. According to Mr. Gray, thirty
years ago it was comparatively a scarce bird throughout the Scottish
mainland, although in the Western Isles, Orkney, and Shetland it appears
to have always been a common resident. At the present time, however, it
is aresident bird near all the large Scotch towns, generally distributed over
the cultivated districts, and breeds in almost every county. In Ireland
the Starling is not so widely distributed, and is best known as a winter
visitor, its breeding-places being somewhat local. On the Faroes it is a
common and resident bird; and a specimen was sent from Greenland by
Holbdéll to Copenhagen in 1851; but it does not appear to have ever been
noticed in Iceland. The Starling has been introduced into New Zealand ;
and being such a hardy and favourite cage-bird, its colonization in other
parts of the world is probably only a question of time.
The Starling breeds throughout Europe north of lat. 44°, and is a resident
in the Azores. In Scandinavia it is found as far north as lat. 69°, in
Sweden and Finland up to lat. 65°, and in the Urals only up to lat. 57°,
which also appears to be its northern limit in Asia, The European birds
that are migratory winter in the south of France, the Spanish peninsula,
Italy, Greece, North Africa, and Palestine. In Asia it. breeds in South
Siberia, Persia, and Turkestan, ranging as far east as the sources of the
Amoor, passing through Mongolia on migration, and wintering in India.
The Starling has two very near allies. In eastern Asia Minor, where it
is probably a resident, and in Turkestan and Afghanistan, whence it
STARLING. 13
migrates in autumn to the Punjaub and North-west India, Sturnus purpu-
rascens occurs, distinguished by its bronze-coloured wings and flanks, and,
on an average, longer beak. In Sindh, Cashmere, and Nepal S. indicus is
a resident, distinguished by its small size, the wing measuring from 4°25 to
4°75 inch (the wing of S. vulgaris measures from 4°85 to 5°3). In all
these species the colour occasionally changes from green to purple,
according to the position in which the bird is held as regards the light ;
they are also probably subject to some slight local variations in colour.
The Starling is almost as closely associated with man as the Sparrow ;
but, unlike that bird, it seems to have a peculiar way of accommodating
itself to its surroundings with the greatest ease. Thus we sce it almost
everywhere and in every variety of scenery. It will share the eaves and
the dovecot with the Sparrows and Pigeons; it will nestle in the hollow
trees far away from houses, or make its home just as easily in the sides of
the stupendous ocean-cliffs in company with the noisy crowd of sea-birds,
or on the limestone rocks further inland. After the breeding-season the
Starling becomes even more widely distributed, and from August until the
following spring haunts fields and marshes, commons, gardens, and the
low-lying shores, as its food-supply may be the most abundant. The
Starling is a gregarious bird at all seasons of the year; but this habit is
most marked after the nesting-season, for in spring the scarcity of suitable
breeding-places usually disperses them.
Early in the year, sometimes as soon as the middle of January, the
Starling returns almost daily to its old nesting-place, and in a week or so
the male begins his unpretentious song. He usually sings when perched
on a chimney or on the eaves near his nesting-hole, or on the tree-tops
near at hand; and his song is warbled forth as he ruffles the feathers of
his head and throat and shakes and droops his wings, as though full of
nervous excitement. Although many of the Starling’s notes are harsh,
still some of them are very full and pleasing, and heard as they are, at a
season when every sign of returning spring is eagerly looked for and
welcomed, are certainly one of the most cheerful sounds that greet the ear.
Each note is uttered in seeming caprice; the harsh ones are mingled with
the sweet ones with no approach to order. It is indeed a strange song,
and cannot be mistaken for that of any other British bird, the Rose-
coloured Starling excepted. The Starling’s alarm-notes are very harsh
and rapidly repeated, resembling somewhat those of the Missel-Thrush.
Its call-note is a clear long-drawn piping cry.
Karly in April, sometimes not until the beginning of May, the Starlings
have mostly mated and gone to their breeding-holes. Previous to this,
however, much quarrelling goes on for the choice of suitable sites ; the
strong gain the best located holes, whilst the weak seek quarters elsewhere.
The Starling will build its nest almost everywhere, and it needs but slight
14 BRITISH BIRDS.
encouragement to take up its quarters in any suitable hole or box placed
for its reception. It will even dislodge large tiles and burrow considerable
distances under the eaves; and its bulky nest often stops up some spout,
to the dismay of the householder. A hole in the gable or inside the
dovecot are also favourite places, whilst its partiality for holes in trees
is none the less. It also commonly breeds in ruins, churches, and old
masonry of every description. In the wilder portions of the country the
Starling selects a hole either in a tree or rock for its purpose; and it will
often breed in great numbers in caves or in the crevices of the ocean-
cliffs. The nest is sometimes but a few inches from the entrance to the
hole, at others it is several feet, and in many cases, especially in trees and
rocks, is absolutely inaccessible. In the Outer Hebrides, where trees are
absent, the Starling breeds, according to Mr. Gray, under the stones on
the beach, in disused rat-holes, in turf-dykes, and in holes in walls.
Saxby states that in Shetland it breeds in peat-stacks and rabbit-holes.
It has also been known in one or two instances to build an open and
exposed nest in trees, to rear its young in a hole in the ground, and to
share the same nest with a Magpie.
The Starling’s nest is a somewhat slovenly structure, made of straw,
dead grass, and rootlets, sometimes a twig or two, and is lined with a few
feathers, a little wool, or even a scrap or two of moss, paper, rag, or twine.
In many cases the birds do not trouble about a lining at all; and the cup
of the nest is entirely composed of straws, arranged very evenly and
smoothly, but with a lot of straggling bents around it. The nest is in
some cases much more elaborately made than in others ; and in some holes
the dry and powdered wood at the bottom almost does sole duty for a bed.
With great perseverance the Starling will continue to build in the same
hole, although its nest is repeatedly removed, and each year the birds will
return to their old quarters.
The eggs of the Starling are from four to seven in number, six being an
average clutch. They are slightly elongated and rough in grain, but very
highly polished, and are a delicate greenish blue, sometimes very pale
bluish white. They vary in length from 1:25 to 1°] inch, and in breadth
from *88 to ‘80 inch. From the eggs of the Rose-coloured Starling, those
of the present species may always be distinguished by their greenish or bluish
tints ; those of the former are shining white, almost like a Woodpecker’s.
The Starling, in most cases, rears two broods in the year, sometimes
three, though this has been denied. As soon as the young of the first
broods can shift for themselves they are abandoned and roam about in
flocks, and their parents go off to their nesting-holes again. As is usual
with life-paired birds, the Starling will continue to lay in its old nest,
although its eggs are repeatedly taken. Dixon, in a single season, has
taken from a nest of this bird as many as forty eggs; and he has every
STARLING.. 15
reason to believe that they were laid by one pair of birds. In the
Starling’s laying-season, as most egg-collectors are probably aware, the
bird often drops an egg upon the fields. During the hatching-period the
female, who sits very closely, is fed assiduously by the male. Dixon has
known this bird remove its eggs from a hole from which they were con-
stantly being taken. Few birds are more noisy than young Starlings; and
throughout the rearing-period their nest-hole is betrayed to any passer-
by by the clamouring young within, who greet their parents’ arrival with a
chorus of cries. But far different is the case with the old birds, who
are usually very wary, and always silent at the nest.
As previously stated, the Starling is gregarious. It looks a remarkably
handsome bird as it wanders about the grass-plot or the meadows, pro-
gressing with slow and regular pace, every now and then stopping to pull up
aworm or dislodge a beetle from the little heaps of manure. It is also very
fond of searching the ground where cattle are feeding, and may repeatedly
be seen perched on the backs of sheep, which it rids of various vermin. If
alarmed, the whole of the flock generally take wing simultaneously, and
alight in the nearest tree-tops, where they keep up an incessant chorus of
mixed harsh and musical notes. The flight of the Starling is very rapid
and well-sustained, performed by a series of rapid beatings, occasion-
ally varied by smooth gliding motions with the wings expanded. As a
proof of the Starling’s great powers of wing may be mentioned the fact
that it may very often be seen high in the air coursing about in search of
insects, like the Swallows and Swifts. It will sometimes mount to a great
height and perform evolutions which we are apt to think astonishing from
any bird save those just mentioned. When in the air thus, the bird
seldom utters a note, and it will often keep flying about for an hour or
more.
The food of the Starling is for the most part of the year composed of
worms, slugs, and beetles; but in winter these birds are often seen to feed
on grain aud seeds. In autumn they are very fond of fruit and berries.
Elderberries are part of their favourite food, and soon the trees,
which had previously bent under the weight of their clustering branches
of black fruit, will be totally denuded. In severe weather they will
sometimes feed on hips and haws; and are often seen on the low-
lying coasts searching for sand-worms and various small mollusks. The
Starling, like most other birds, has not escaped a certain amount of
persecution, and is charged with several offences. The gardener says it
robs his fruit-trees ; the farmer, that it destroys his Pigeons’ eggs; whilst
very recently the poor bird was accused of eating Larks’ eggs to such
an extent as to cause a perceptible decrease of those fine choristers in
certain districts! To the former of these charges the bird must
perhaps plead guilty, but its depredations are small and amply repaid by
16 BRITISH BIRDS.
its good offices for the rest of the year; whilst of that of egg-stealing,
there can be little doubt that it is most wrongfully accused. Gray and
Saxby bring forward very conclusive evidence of this bird’s evil propen-
sities, but such instances are only exceptional. Waterton’s defence of the
Starling leaves no room for further remark.
In autumn, when the young are all reared and family cares are over for
the year, the habits of the Starling are the most interesting and easiest to
observe. ‘The birds are now at liberty to follow their gregarious instincts
to the full, and the size of the flocks is sometimes almost beyond belief.
The smaller flocks, chiefly composed of young birds, join together; the
old birds unite with them, until each district possesses its flock. In the
daytime they may be seen on the fields and marshy lands in search of
food, or on the tree-tops, which they almost blacken with their numbers,
keeping up an incessant babel of sounds. Their evolutions in the air at
this period are also highly interesting, especially at nightfall, ere they
finally settle down to roost. It is astonishing how regular the flock will
wheel and gyrate in the air, as though moved by one common impulse.
They appear like a huge net as it hovers for a moment above the reed-bed
where they roost—now the horizon seems clouded with their numbers as
they turn full towards the observer; the next moment they will turn
rapidly, seeming to disappear; then appear again in a clustering mass,
to turn and poise, spread, close up, rise, and descend ere alighting.
Regularly each night the birds repair to certain roosting-places. Some-
times the flock will divide into several portions, each to seek a different
roosting-place, uniting again at dawn. These clouds of Starlings often
assume various shapes as they pass through the air, sometimes like huge
balloons, then changing to a spiral, or spread out like a net, and some-
times like a thin indistinct wreath of smoke. Sometimes a flock will
roost in a large wood, a plantation, or more frequently in a low shrubbery.
These places are a common rendezvous for all the birds in the district ;
flock joins flock; and their aerial movements and babel of cries make the
place, ornithologically, a most interesting one. At this season of the year
Starlings often congregate with Rooks and Jackdaws on the pastures, and
later in the year with Redwings. When alarmed, the Starlings, as if to a
bird obeying a commander’s voice, fly off in a compact mass, and if the
danger soon passes they will wheel and return again in the greatest order.
The Rooks and Daws will scurry off in all directions, and the Redwings
will seek the nearest trees in a long straggling train, but the Starlings seem
to act under one common impulse. During the whole winter Starlings are
very erratic in their movements; they lead a nomad kind of life, wandering
about the country in search of food, or even extending their journeys
across the sea if the winter be severe. A few individuals, who prefer to
lead a hermit-life instead of joiming the bustle of “ Society,’ may almost
STARLING. 17
always be seen, no matter how hard the frost; but the great majority of
birds retreat before it.
In this country the Starling may be fairly considered a resident bird ;
but there is no doubt that it receives large additions to its numbers from
Northern Europe every season. It is also a well-known bird at Heligo-
land, and passes that isolated rock yearly on its migrations. Flocks of
Starlings are also believed to cross over from the south-west of Scotland
to Ireland, where, as previously stated, the bird is best known as a winter
visitor. On our coasts during the period of migration the Starling is
often seen at the lighthouses, and numbers perish by dashing against
the lantern, dazzled by its glare.
The adult male Starling in full breeding-plumage is a very handsome
bird. Almost all the small feathers are dark metallic purple or green,
those on the upper parts below the nape having arrow-shaped buff tips,
most conspicuous on the sides of the rump, but almost obsolete on the
centre of the back. The underparts are unspotted, but the under tail-
coverts have broad buff edges. The wings and tail-feathers are brown,
with broad glossy black margins. The distribution of the purple and
green on the small feathers is subject to some variation; but generally
the entire head except the ear-coverts, the nape, upper breast and upper
back, and the flanks are purple—the ear-coverts, scapulars, lower back,
rump and upper tail-coverts, the lower breast, and belly being green; but
by altering the position in which the bird is held, green reflections to a
limited extent may often be seen on the purple feathers and purple re-
flections on the green ones. Examples, however, occur, even in the British
Islands, in which this distribution of colour is exactly reversed, except that
the greater and median wing-coverts always show some green reflections.
The wing-coverts occasionally show bluish-purple reflections, but are never
iridescent bronze like those of S. purpurascens. There seems to be no
reason to suppose that any of these variations in the colour of the plumage
are produced by interbreeding with the latter species, as they appear to
occur irrespective of geographical distribution. The Starling’s bill is lemon-
yellow; legs and feet reddish brown; irides hazel. After the autumn
moult, the bird presents quite a different appearance. All the metallic
colours of the plumage are half concealed, in consequence of each feather
of the upper parts having a buff tip and those of the underparts a white
tip, whilst the wing and tail-feathers have buff margins; the bill has
changed to dark brown. As the spring approaches, these margins are
almost entirely cast from the head of the male, and usually completely so
from the underparts. The female somewhat closely resembles the male ;
but the tints are usually not so purple, the spots are much larger and do
not abrade so much, and the long hackle-like feathers on the throat are less
developed. In the female the bill is yellow, tipped with blackish brown.
VOL. II. c
18 BRITISH BIRDS.
The young differ still more in appearance from their parents-—so much
so that they have been erroneously described as a distinct species under
the name of Turdus solitarius. They have the general colour greyish
brown, much paler on the margins of the feathers of the throat and belly ;
the quill- and tail-feathers have ight brown margins. This brown plumage
is changed during the first autumn for the showy dress of the parents ;
and in the moult, when the feathers are in process of being changed,
these young birds present a very singular piebald appearance.
PASTOR. 19
Genus PASTOR.
The Rose-coloured Starling was included by Linneus and Brisson in
the genus Turdus. Scopoli removed it into the genus Sturnus; but in
1815 Temminck somewhat unnecessarily placed it in a separate genus.
In the first edition of his ‘ Manuel d’Ornithologie,’ p. 83, he invented the
genus Pastor, where the Rose-coloured Starling reigns supreme as the
typical and only species. The characters which distinguish this genus
from Sturnus are of the most frivolous kind: the upper mandible is not
quite as straight, the nostrils are rather more concealed by feathers, and
the head is furnished with a crest. In its habits, food, and nidification the
Rose-coloured Starling differs very little from the so-called true Starlings.
The Rose-coloured Starling is confined to the southern portions of the
South Palearctic Region during the breeding-season ; but in winter wanders
into the Oriental Region.
20 "BRITISH BIRDS.
PASTOR ROSEUS.
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING.
(Puate 11.)
Turdus merula rosea, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 250 (1760).
Turdus roseus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 294 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
(Scopoli), Latham, Gmelin, (Bonaparte), (Temminck), (Degland § Gerbe)
(Salvadori), (Newton), (Dresser), &e.
Sturnus roseus (Linn.), Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 180 (1769).
Turdus seleucis, Forskal, Descr. Animal. p. vi. no. 16 (1775).
Sturnus asiaticus, Wirsing fide Lath. Ind. Orn, i, p. 844 (1790).
Pastor roseus (Linn.), Temm. Man. d’ Orn, p. 83 (1815).
Psaroides roseus (Linn.), Vierll. Analyse, p. 42 (1816).
Merula rosea (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. p. 242 (1816).
Acridotheres roseus (Linn.), Ranz. Elementi di Zoolog. iii. pt. v. p. 177 (1828).
Gracula rosea (Linn.), Cuv. Regne Anim. i. p. 378 (1829).
Pastor peguanus, Less. Bélanger’s Voy. Ind. Orient., Zool, p. 268 (1834).
Pecuarius roseus (Linn.), Temm. Man. @’ Orn, iii. p. 76 (1835).
Thremmaphilus roseus (Linn.), Macgill. Brit. B. i. p. 613 (1837).
Nomadites roseus (Linn.), Petenis fide Bonap. Cat. Met. Uc, Eur. p. 44 (1842).
Although this handsome bird has been often shot in our islands, it can
only be looked upon as an accidental visitor of frequent occurrence. The
Rose-coloured Starlings which reach our shores are principally birds of
the year on their first autumn migration, who have lost their way, and
have wandered into Western Europe instead of migrating eastwards into
India. Willughby and Ray were apparently unacquainted with the occa- _
sional visits of this bird to our islands, and copy the account given of —
it by Aldrovandus. ‘The first British-killed example of which we have any
record was the one described by Edwards in 1743, which was killed at
Norwood, uear London, and was figured in his ‘ Natural History’ (i. p. 20,
pl. xx.).. He quaintly tells us that ““we may see this bird very perfect,
curiously stuffed and set on a perch at Salter’s coffee-house in Chelsea.”
It is unnecessary to enumerate the many examples that have since wan-
. dered to our shores. It has occurred in almost every county of England,
principally in those bordering the east coast ; but examples have repeatedly
been obtained in the extreme west, in Wales, in Cornwall, and the Scilly
Isles. In Scotland, although it has not yet been noticed in the outer
islands, it appears to have occurred in almost every county from Wigtown-
shire to Sutherland in the west, and from the Orkneys and Shetland to
Berwickshire in the east. In Ireland the bird, although quite as un-
certain in its appearance as in England, has nevertheless been met with in
most parts of the country, even in the extreme western districts. Muller
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 21
states that it has twice been killed on the Faroes; but its occurrence in
Iceland has not yet been noticed.
Like the Waxwing, the Rose-coloured Starling is preeminently gre-
garious in the breeding-season; and, like that bird, it seems to vary its
nesting-locality according to the abundance of food, generally selecting
some district where locusts and grasshoppers abound. It breeds more or
less regularly in Asia Minor and on the western shores of the Black Sea.
The most westerly recorded instance of its breeding in large numbers is
in Lombardy. At Villafranca, near Verona, in 1875 great numbers bred
in the castle, having followed in the wake of a flight of locusts. They
have not been known to breed in Palestine; but Tristram describes
enormous numbers passing through on their spring migration. Eastwards
they breed in South Russia and the Caucasus, Turkestan, and South
Siberia, as far east as Lake Saisan. They have also been observed in
North-west Persia and Afghanistan in spring. They winter in India in
enormous numbers, and are occasionally found as far south as Ceylon.
The most easterly locality recorded of this bird is the Andaman Islands,
where flocks were seen by Col. Tytler in January (‘ Ibis,’ 1867, p. 331).
At this season of the year, and on the spring and autumn migrations, they
have occurred in almost every country of Hurope, from Spain in the west
to Sweden in the north, and have been known to stray as far south as
North Africa, one or two examples having been recorded from Egypt and
Algeria.
The Rose-coloured Starling, like the Black-headed Bunting, is one of
the few birds which migrate east in autumn. The natural inference to be
drawn from this fact is that when its habits of migration were formed
it was exclusively an Asiatic species, which has gradually extended its
breeding-range westward in comparatively modern, that is in post-glacial,
times. Amongst Arctic birds, the Petchora Pipit (Anthus gustavi) and the
Arctic Willow-Wren (Phylloscopus borealis) migrate in the same direction,
probably from similar causes. The Rose-coloured Starlings are very late
breeders. They seldom arrive at their breeding-quarters before the end
of May, and do not begin to breed until the middle of June. They
migrate in enormous flocks. During his last visit to Palestine Canon
Tristram had the good fortune to cross the line of migration of these
interesting birds. His party were travelling in a north-easterly direction
across the plains of Syria, in the valley of the Orontes ; and for three days,
during the last week in May, flock after flock of Rose-coloured Starlings
passed them, flying due west. They chattered incessantly as they flew;
and sometimes the noise of the myriads of voices, as the flock passed over,
was quite deafening. They fly in dense clouds like Starlings, and Canon
Tristram describes them as forming into a balloon before alighting. The
party had just crossed some acres of young locusts, which “ rose at every
22 BRITISH BIRDS.
step of their horses, like sand-lice on the sea-shore from a piece of seaweed
left by the tide.” After they had passed they saw “a great globe in the
air, which suddenly turned, expanded, and, like a vast fan, descended to
the ground,” which was in a few seconds covered with a moving black
mass, dappled with pink. After watching them for some minutes, the
party turned back and rode up to them. They rose quietly, but not till
they were close on them. So eager had the birds been in search of their
prey that not a locust was to be seen. At another place the party came
suddenly, after mounting a gentle ascent, on the crater of an extinct
voleano, full of water, and surrounded with basalt boulders. As they
approached, their attention was attracted by one of these flights of Rose-
coloured Starlings, which had alighted to drink, and which rose in alarm
and darkened the air overhead. At another place a solitary tree over a
well was so covered with them that the colour of the tree changed from
black to green as they approached and frightened the birds away. The
natives all declared the visits of these birds to be most uncertain and occa-
sional, and said that they had not met with them for three years. They
only see them on the spring migration, when their flight is always from
east to west. Canon Tristram adds that they were all apparently in full
breeding-plumage.
The mystery which for some time shrouded the breeding of the Rose-
coloured Starling has been at length completely dispelled. The old
stories of their breeding in hollow trees, and the modern Greek or Bulgar
fables of their boring holes in banks like Sand-Martins, are entirely
unsupported by evidence. The Rose-coloured Starling is essentially a
Rock-Starling in its breeding-habits. When I was in the Dobrudscha in
the spring of 1883, I visited a village about three miles north of Kustendji,
where these birds had bred in great numbers the preceding year. They
had occupied a pile of rough building-stone, most of which was, unfortu-
nately, removed during the following winter. A small heap near a cottage
still remained, and I was informed by the peasant who lived there that it
had been full of nests. After removing a few stones from the top I soon
came upon the old nests. They were more carefully made than those of
the Starling, and might easily have been mistaken for nests of the Ring-
Ouzel; they were chiefly composed of dry grass, but in several of them
a few feathers were interwoven. Mr. Barkley, in his ‘ Bulgaria before
the War,’ describes two similar breeding-places between Rustchuk and
Varna, where thousands took possession of a mound of broken stone and
rock thrown out of a cutting on the railway. In several parts of the
Dobrudscha I met German emigrants from Bessarabia who told me that
the Rose-coloured Starling not unfrequently bred in thousands in the
peasants’ gardens, which are surrounded by rough stone walls, in the holes
of which the nests are made. These birds also often breed between
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 23
Tchernavoda and Kustendji; but I had the misfortune to drop upon a blank
year. The railway from Tchernavoda to Medjidi is across a series of
swamps full of reeds some twelve feet high. Ducks and Geese come down
here to feed, and the Great Reed-Warbler and the Bearded Tit make the
reeds their home. Now and then a Purple Heron, a Stork, or a Demoiselle
Crane gets up, and Marsh-Harriers range over the swamp. On the out-
skirts of the reed-bed luxurious grass grows, leading up to perpendicular
cliffs from 50 to 100 feet high. Some of these are white chalk, and some
consist of a buff calcareous conglomerate ; but most of the cliffs are sandy
earth, full of Bee-eaters’ holes. The valley is about a mile wide, and has
evidently within a comparatively recent date, geologically speaking, been
the main mouth of the Danube. The lakes north and south of Kustendji
are as evidently the silted-up mouths of the various arms of the river
which formed the ancient delta of the Danube, which was probably
destroyed by the drifting sand driven by the east winds from the shores of
the Black Sea. Where the cliffs are rock the action of the water, and
possibly of the ice, has hollowed them into caverns and ledges and _ holes,
usually tenanted by Jackdaws, Starlings, Tree-Sparrows, and Rollers, and
every two or three years by Rose-coloured Starlings. In driving across the
steppes between the Danube and the Black Sea we now and then came
upon small flocks of these birds. At a distance they are indistinguishable
from Common Starlings; they run along the ground in’the same way,
they have the same rapid straight flight, and the same habit of clustering
together. On the ground they feed with the same eager anxiety, but
frequently perch on the stunted bushes, when their pink colour is very
conspicuous. ‘The notes of this bird are almost exactly the same as those
of the Starling, they chatter together in the same way ; and in confinement
the low warble mixed with the chatter is very similar in both species. In
most places where this bird breeds it is protected on account of the
enormous number of locusts it devours. In autumn it takes its toll on the
fruit (mulberries, cherries, &c.) ; but its usefulness in spring is so apparent,
that the Greeks and Turks do not begrudge it so small a trifle. In Asia
Minor, as in the Dobrudscha, I had the misfortune to arrive the day after
the fair. Dr. Kriiper and I were informed by our friend Guido von
Gonzenbach that the Rose-coloured Starlings had bred in the previous
spring (1871) in enormous numbers in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and
had devoured the grubs and locusts to the admiration of the peasantry.
They fixed upon some village unknown as a central breeding-place, and
more than 200 of their eggs were brought in to Mr. Gonzenbach ; but all
his information being Greek, he was unable to find the locality. After
many inquiries we succeeded in discovering it amongst the hills. It
appeared to be deserted, not a soul could we find ; everybody was down in
the valley harvesting. At last we met an old man travelling with a mule,
24: BRITISH BIRDS.
buying up fleeces of sheep from the peasants. He told us that he had
travelled all the country round, and could assure us that there was not a
bird to be found of the kind we sought. He told us that last year the
birds swarmed in thousands in the valley below, and had built nests like
Blackbirds’ in the clefts of the rocks and on the stony ground on the steep
hill-sides. That year (1872) he said that they had arrived in great numbers,
but at the expiration of a week had suddenly disappeared. A very inter-
esting account of the breeding of these birds in the same district sixteen
years previously is to be found in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1857, p. 5668,
translated from an article in ‘Naumannia’ by the Marquis O. Antinori.
He and Mr. Gonzenbach did not discover the locality until the young had
left the nests. The birds arrived during the last week of May, and fresh
eggs must have been laid about the 10th of June; but by the end of that
month the young had left the nest, and by the middle of July both
old and young had left the locality. The breeding-place was a rocky
mountain-side, and long before it was reached they noticed that every rock
.and stone was covered with the white droppings of the birds. The nests
were in thousands, some quite open and uncovered, others so concealed
amongst the blocks of stone that it was necessary to turn the rocks over
to find them. Some were more than a foot below the surface, and others
beyond arm’s length. The nests were often so close together as to touch
one another ; they were carelessly made of dry stalks and leaves, occa-
sionally lined with fine grass. Many eggs were laid on the bare ground.
The great number of birds naturally attracted many enemies; and the
remains of birds were lying about in all directions which had fallen a prey
to jackals, martens, wild cats, rats, &c. In these ravines the oleander is
very common ; and a small flock of Rose-coloured Starlings often suddenly
becomes invisible as it drops on one of these shrubs, the pink backs and
breasts of the Starlmgs being scarcely distinguishable from the pink
flowers of the oleander. During the breeding-season the females of the
Rose-coloured Starling sit very close and are assiduously fed by the males ;
and during the short time that the young are in the nest they are most
carefully tended by both parents. They are said to take pleasure in killing
locusts even when their appetites are satisfied.
In the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1878, p. 16, is a most interesting account of the
visit of these birds in 1875 to Villafranca, translated from the Italian of
Edoardo de Betta. About four o’clock in the afternoon of the 8rd of
June about a score Rose-coloured Starlings arrived at the castle, and
were followed in about half an hour by a much larger flock of perhaps a
hundred birds. ‘Towards evening some thousands arrived, and at dusk
dispersed in flocks over the country. The next day the numbers increased
to about fourteen thousand ; and they soon ejected the Common Starlings,
Swallows, Sparrows, and Pigeons from the holes in the battlements of the
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. 25
castle. The following day these holes were cleaned out, and nest-building
began on the 5th. It was not until the 17th that it was ascertained for
certain that eggs had been laid ; but by the 14th of July the young were
seen migrating with their parents, and soon afterwards the birds had
all disappeared. The nests were described as roughly composed of small
sticks, little branches, straws, hay, grasses, and other dry herbs disposed
in a shapeless mass, with a limited hollow space in the middle to contain
the eggs, and irregularly lmed with herbaceous fibres, leaves, mosses, and
feathers. ‘The males went out to feed in small parties, returning together,
The Rose-coloured Starling arrives in India early in August, and appears
in some districts in such numbers as to be injurious to the crops of white
“ Jowaree,’ and before it leaves in spring it feeds on the fruit of the mul-
berry. During the cold season it eats insects of various kinds, the seeds
of grasses and plants, and any kind of fruit it can obtain.
The eggs of this bird vary from five to seven in number, and are so
pale a grey in colour as to be scarcely distinguishable from white; they
are very fine-grained, smooth, and glossy, and vary in length from 1°15 to
1:07 inch, and in breadth from ‘83 to ‘8 inch.
The male Rose-coloured Starling is a very conspicuous bird, with the
head, neck and breast, wings and wing-coverts, axillaries, tail, upper and
under tail-coverts, and thighs glossy black, the head, neck, and breast
with purple reflections, and the wings and tail with green reflections, the
rest of the upper and underparts being a delicate rose or salmon-colour.
Beak rose-coloured, dark at the base; legs, feet, and claws dull brown ;
irides rich brown. The female is everywhere dullerin colour. This bird
only moults once in the year, in autumn, when almost every feather is
margined with pale brown, so that the whole bird looks brown, with black
wings and tail. The breeding-plumage is assumed by casting the brown
margins of the feathers. Young in first plumage are very similar to adults
in autumn, but have paler wings and tail, and are without the concealed
black or rose-coloured bases to the feathers ; they are very similar to the
young of the Common Starling, but are much paler in colour. The adult
plumage is assumed in the first September by a moult.
Three species belonging to the subfamily Icterine have been known
to visit this country. This subfamily is intermediate between the Sturninze
and the Fringillinz, and is strictly confined to the American continent.
Of the first of these, the Red-winged Starling or Red-winged Oriole
( Ageleus pheniceus), nearly a dozen examples have occurred in the British
Islands; but as it is a very common cage-bird, it is probable that most of
them had escaped from confinement. This species appears to be found
throughout North America as far north as the Great Slave Lake. In the
south it is a resident, but in the north it is a migratory bird, and it is
26 BRITISH BIRDS.
possible that occasional examples may have gone astray on migration and
wandered as far as Europe. In winter they are gregarious, but in spring
they pair and separate for breeding-purposes. The nest is usnally placed
on low bushes, but occasionally in high trees and sometimes on the ground.
It is pensile, the framework, usually made of rushes and the strong leaves
of the iris, being carefully and strongly interwoven with the adjacent
twigs. The inner nest is composed of grass and sedges. The number of
eggs is said to be five, varying considerably in size from 1-08 to “9 inch in
length, and from *82 to “65 inch in breadth. The ground-colour varies
from greyish white to pale greenish blue, sparingly but generally very
boldly blotched and streaked, principally at the large end, with very dark
brown; the underlying spots are very indistinct (Plate 11). In summer
these birds feed principally on insects, but in autumn they commit great
havoe amongst the grain-crops. Wilson describes their notes as “ not
remarkably various, but very peculiar; the most common one resembles
the syllables conk-quer-ree, others the shrill sounds produced by filing a
saw, some are more guttural, and others remarkably clear. The usual note
of both male and female is a single chuck.” 'The male Red-winged Oriole
is black, with crimson shoulders and lesser wing-coverts ; the female is
brown, streaked on the upper parts with buff and on the lower parts
with white.
Of the second species, the Rusty Grakle (Scolecophagus ferrugineus), a
single example was obtained near Cardiff on the 4th of October 1881
(Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 968). This species breeds in the arctic
regions of America up to the limit of forest-growth. It passes through
the Northern States on spring and autumn migration, where a few remain
to breed, and winters in the Southern States. In its habits, food, and
mode of constructing its nest it is said to resemble very closely the Red-
winged Oriole. The eggs are light bluish green in ground-colour, spotted
and blotched with purplish brown of various shades, and very rarely
streaked with rich brown (Plate 11) ; they measure from 1:02 to °98 inch
in length, and from ‘82 to *75 inch in breadth. The notes of this bird are
said to be musical and more melodious than those of the allied species.
The male Rusty Grakle has the general colour black, with green and purple
reflections. After the autumn moult the broad brown margins to the
feathers give the bird a very dingy appearance. The female is blackish
grey, the wings and tail sometimes having a greenish tinge.
Of the third species, the American Meadow-Starling (Sturnella magna),
one was seen in Norfolk in October 1854, and another was shot in Suffolk
in March 1860, whilst a third was obtained near Cheltenham. It is common
in the Eastern States of North America, being migratory in the north and
more or less gregarious in winter. In the west it is represented by a
nearly allied form, which is only subspecifically distinct, S. magna, var.
ROSE-COLOURED STARLING. Q7
neglecta. It frequents pasture-lands, being very rarely found in woods.
It is celebrated for the sweetness of its song. The nest is domed, and
always built on the ground. This bird lays four or five eggs, white in
ground-colour, spotted all over, but principally at the large end, with
conspicuous reddish-brown blotches ; the underlying spots are generally
somewhat indistinct, but occasionally they form an important feature in
the egg and are slate-grey (Plate 11). They vary in length from 1°2 to °95
inch, and in breadth from ‘9 to ‘68inch. It is said to feed both on insects
and seeds. The male Meadow-Starling is pale brown, spotted and barred
with dark brown and reddish brown; the lores, the breast, and belly are
yellow, with a conspicuous black crescent below the throat. The female is
slightly duller in colour.
28 BRITISH BIRDS.
Subfamily FRINGILLIN&, or FINCHES.
The Finches form a large group of birds, which may at once be distin-
euished from all the other subfamilies of the Passeride by their combina-
tion of a stout conical bill with the entire absence of a first primary. The
wings are long and pointed, the second, third, and fourth primaries being
nearly equal in length. The tarsus is short and scutellated in front, but
not at the back.
The Finches only moult once in the year, in autumn. The spring
plumage, where it differs from that of autumn, is attained by casting the
ends of the feathers and the small, so to speak, pmnules of the leaflets or
pinnz, and sometimes by a simultaneous increase of brilliancy im the
colour of the feather itself. The plumage of the young is more spotted
and streaked than that of adults, but is moulted in the first autumn.
The Fringilline are almost cosmopolitan, beg found throughout the
world except in the Australian Region, where they are represented by the
Weaver-birds (Ploceine), which are also found throughout the tropical
regions of the Old World. There are upwards of 500 species of Finches,
which have been divided by ornithologists into upwards of seventy genera.
The characters of most of these are, however, of such a trivial nature
that to retain many of them, even as a matter of courtesy to their founders,
would only bring the science of ornithology into contempt. In the present
neglected state of this group of birds it is impossible to form any key to
the genera. Sixty species of Finches are found in Europe, of which half
are included in the British list.
Genus LOXIA.
The genus Lovia is recognized by Linnzus in the twelfth edition of his
‘Systema Nature,’ i. p. 299, and consequently dates from 1766. The
Common Crossbill (L. eurvirostra) has by common consent been accepted as
the type. It is the Lowia loxia of Brisson, and the first species named by
Linneeus, though the Hawfinch, the Grosbeak, the Bullfinch, and other
more distantly allied birds are included in the same genus.
LOXIA. 29
The chief characteristic in the present group of birds is their parrot-like
‘bill, the upper mandible being curved to such an extent that it overlaps
the under mandible at the point, in some species crossing its point. An
almost equally important character is the change which takes place in the
colour of the plumage from the young to the adult, beginning with green
and passing through yellow into red.
This genus probably contains only four well-defined species, several of
which are, however, subject to considerable local variation. The range of
this genus is principally confined to the Paleearctic and Nearctic Regions,
extending in the former to the Himalayas and in the latter to the Mexican
plateaux.
The Crossbills frequent fir-, pine-, and larch-forests during the breeding-
season ; but at other times of the year they frequently haunt gardens,
orchards, deciduous woods, and small plantations and shrubberies. After
the breeding-season they are more or less gregarious and often associate
with other birds. Their song is low and somewhat sweet, and their call-
notes are harsh, but sometimes more musical. They breed very early,
often before the snow is melted. Their nests are open and cup-shaped,
made of twigs, moss, rootlets, wool, &c., and placed at various heights
in conifer trees. Their eggs are five or six in number, white or bluish
white in ground-colour, spotted and blotched with reddish brown of
different shades. Their food consists of seeds, fruits, berries, and insects
of different kinds.
30 BRITISH BIRDS.
LOXIA CURVIROSTRA ann LOXIA PITYOPSITTACUS.
COMMON CROSSBILL and PARROT CROSSBILL.
(Puate 13.)
English ornithologists, having voluntarily cramped their ideas by putting
on the straight jacket of a binomial nomenclature, have for the most part
treated the Common and Parrot Crossbills as distinct species. The facts
of nature do not warrant such a conclusion in the least. A large series of
examples from Europe, Siberia, China, Canada, and Mexico show some
differences in size, especially in the bill, which varies almost as much as
that of the Lesser Redpole or the Reed-Bunting. Crossbills from the
pine-forests of Europe have the largest bills ; those from Mexico have
nearly as large bills, but the upper mandible is slightly weaker. Ex-
amples from the larch- and spruce-forests of Europe and Asia have both
mandibles weaker; whilst those from Canada have still smaller bills, and
approach very near to the Himalayan Crossbill in this respect. The
length of wing varies much less, being as under :—
Length of wing. Height of bill.
L. pityopsittacus . . 4°3 to 4:0 inches. ‘6 to ‘5 mech.
emecwcana . a 2 Al ew 5; (DD ay) mes
L. curvirositra. . . 39 ,, 37 ,, ess ee lene
L. americana. . . 35 ,,33 _,, SOG (8 yas
L. himalayana . . 3'1,,30 ,, 500) By (Ors
It is probable that in a sufficiently large series the measurements of
each of these supposed species would be found to overlap that next to
it, and that all these forms are conspecific and nothing but local races.
It is not known that they differ in colour or in any other respect
except in size, thickness of bill, and choice of food. The two last-
named peculiarities are probably cause and effect. In ‘ Naumannia’ for
1853, p. 78, is a plate of twenty bills of Crossbills to illustrate a paper
by Brehm, who attempts to discriminate between six species of Parrot
Crossbill and eight or more species of Common Crossbill. Scotch
examples are intermediate between the Parrot and Common Crossbills
of the continent; they probably feed on both kinds of cones. The fact
that the tropical form of the Old World is a small weak-billed race, whilst
that of the New World is larger and stronger-billed than its northern
representative, is probably also merely a question of food. The synonymy
of the two forms which are found in our islands is as follows :—
COMMON CROSSBILL AND PARROT CROSSBILL. dl
LOXIA CURVIROSTRA.
ComMMOoN CROSSBILL.
Loxia loxia, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 829 (1760).
Loxia curvirostra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 299 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Scopoli, Latham, Bonaparte, Schlegel, Degland § Gerbe, Temminck, Newton,
Dresser, Sc.
Crucirostra europea, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus. p. 12 (1816).
Crucirostra abietina, Meyer, Vig. Liv- u. Esthl. p. 72 (1815).
Loxia europea (Leach), Macgill. Hist. Brit. B. i. p. 417 (1837).
Crucirostra curvirostra (Linn.), var. balearica, Homeyer, Journ. Orn. 1862, p. 256.
Crucirostra balearica (Homeyer), Homeyer, Journ. Orn. 1864, p. 224.
Loxia balearica (Homeyer), Newton, Zool. Record, 1864, p. 84.
Loxia albiventris, Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 437.
LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, var. PITYOPSITTACUS.
PaRRoT CROSSBILL.
Loxia curvirostra, var. y, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 843 (1788).
Loxia pityopsittacus, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. p. 106 (1802); et auctorum pluri-
morum—Temminck, Bonaparte, Salvadori, Degland § Gerbe, Dresser, Newton,
&e.
Crucirostra pinetorum, Meyer, Vog. Liv- u. Esthl. p. 71 (1815).
Crucirostra pityopsittacus (Bechst.), Brehm, Vog. Deutsch. p. 241 (1831).
The Common Crossbill is a somewhat rare and local resident in our
islands, but is best known as an irregular winter visitor, often appearing
in large flocks ; and at this season of the year 1t has either been obtained
or seen in every county. In Scotland it is a resident in some districts,
and, according to Mr. Gray, breeds most numerously in the central
counties. It is also well known as a winter visitor, often appearing in
immense flocks, although it is not known to have visited any of the outer
islands. In Orkney it is less regular in its appearance; but in the
Shetlands, especially of late years, it has been frequently seen in large
numbers, and was said by Saxby to have visited the islands every year
between May and December during his residence at Unst. Of its
breeding in England much has been recorded; and nests have so fre-
quently been discovered in various parts of the country, that it is needless
to enter into a detailed account of them. It has been known to breed in
Devonshire, Somerset, Hants, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex, Herts, Bed-
ford, Norfolk, Suffolk, Gloucester, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland,
and Cumberland. In Ireland, according to Thompson, the bird has long
been known as an occasional visitor in late autumn or winter, leaving
again early in the spring. He also states that it has bred there.
The Parrot Crossbill was first noticed as a British bird by Pennant in
Sone BRITISH BIRDS.
1766, in his ‘ British Zoology’ (p. 106). He received a male and female
“out of Shropshire.” Upwards of a score examples of this bird have
since Pennant’s day been taken in our islands. Most of these specimens
have been captured in England, a few in Scotland, and one in Wales.
The typical form of the Crossbill breeds in most of the pime-forests of
the Palearctic Region, in Norway occasionally ranging north of the
Arctic circle, but in North Russia not ranging above lat. 64°, and in Asia
probably not above lat. 62°. It breeds in the Pyrenees, the Alps, and
the Carpathians, and probably also in the Urals; but it has not been
recorded from the Caucasus. It is said to be a resident in the Balearic
Islands, and in the Atlas Mountains m Algeria. It has not been recorded
from Persia or Turkestan, nor did Finsch or Tancré’s coHector find it in the
Altai Mountains. It certainly breeds in Kamtschatka, and probably also
in other pine-regions in Eastern Siberia. In winter it is a very irregular
migrant to most parts of Europe, having been obtained in Denmark,
Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and Greece; but Sharpe and
Dresser’s statement, which Newton * appears to have copied, that Dr.
Kriiper found its nest in the Parnassus, is probably based on a mis-
translation. Eastwards it winters in South Siberia, North China, and
Japan, in which islands it is said to be very abundant; but ornithologists
have omitted to say at what season of the year.
The large form of the Common Crossbill, generally known as the Parrot
Crossbill, breeds principally in Scandinavia, the Baltic provinces, and
North Germany. It does not appear to wander far in winter; but at
this season it occasionally visits Denmark, Holland, France, Southern
Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.
The Crossbill is one of the few migratory birds which do not
wander further from home in winter than the inclemency of the season
or the scarcity of food compels them. They have consequently been
called gipsy migrants—irregular visitors who may be very common one
year and very rare the next, sometimes coming early, sometimes late,
and sometimes not at all. They are preeminently gregarious birds. In
winter they wander about in large flocks ; and even in the breeding-season
small parties of males may be seen seeking food in company. They are
very early breeders; and fresh eggs are usually found in February and
March. Eggs have been taken in April and May; but these are probably
laid by birds whose first nests have been destroyed by their numerous
enemies or by heavy falls of snow, and are not second broods, as some
ornithologists have supposed. If these birds are successful in rearing a
brood, the family-party appear at once to commence their gipsy life. If
* Professor Newton appears also to have copied Sharpe and Dresser’s assertion that
Swinhoe found the Crossbill on the island of Formosa, a statement for which I am unable
to find any authority.
COMMON CROSSBILL AND PARROT CROSSBILL. 33
they meet a similar family-party they appear to fraternize at once, and
form the nucleus of a flock, which is sometimes seen far from home as
early as June, wandering in search of food. It is a very pretty sight to
see these flocks feeding upon the berries of the mountain-ash, or stripping
the larch or spruce trees of their cones. In winter they are exceedingly
tame, and will allow the observer to approach very near and watch them
without showing any signs of alarm. They are very active, and when
busily engaged in feeding place themselves in all sorts of positions, like
a Tit or a Willow-Wren. They pass from tree to tree with strong
but undulating flight, continually calling to each other. In late winter
or early spring the males have a low warbling song, which reminds one
somewhat of that of the Starling. The female is said also to sing nearly
as well as the male.
The note is short and clear, aloud shrill ¢tstp, tsip, tsip, far louder than
the similar notes of the Chaffinches and Linnets by which it is surrounded ;
it is subject to slight modulations, occasionally sounding almost like. ¢sup,
and sometimes like ¢sop. This note is principally uttered when the birds
are on the wing, and is apparently the common call-note by which the
flock is kept together. The call-note of the male to the female is quite as
loud, but more prolonged; it may be represented by the word ftso,
occasionally modified almost to ¢sow on the one hand and to ¢soo on the
other. I hav: generally heard this note when the bird was sitting alone on
or near the top of a pine tree. The valleys of the Upper Engadine are an
excellent locality in which to watch the habits of the Crossbill; they lie
about six thousand feet above the level of the sea, and are hemmed in by
mountains which rise to twice that height. Whenever the ground is
smooth enough it is used as meadow, and where it is rocky it is covered
up to the mouth of the glaciers with larch trees intermixed with a few
spruce-firs and Siberian cedars (Pinus cembra). It is impossible to walk
through the forest from Pontresina to St. Moritz, even in August and
September (a time of the year when birds are most skulking in their habits
and almost silent), without seeing many birds specially interesting to the
British ornithologist. At first, perhaps, the forest may look empty, not a
bird to be seen or heard ; for at this season forest-birds are not only gre-
garious but social, and you may perhaps have to walk a mile before you
meet with the flock. Then all at once you hear the call-notes of Titmice
and distinguish the Crested Tit and the continental variety of the Marsh-
Tit. Amongst them may be a few Chaflinches and Mealy Redpoles, and
almost certainly a pair of Nuthatches and Creepers. The main flock will
consist of Thrushes, principally Missel-Thrushes, feeding on the bilberries
and other ground-fruit, and rising one by one from the ground as you
disturb them. Then you may come across a small party of Nutcrackers,
which are not nearly so shy as the Thrushes, and may be seen both in the
VOL. II. D
34 BRITISH BIRDS.
trees, on the rocks, and on the ground. At last the loud ¢sip of the Cross-
bills is heard, and a small compact party of perhaps a dozen birds, con-
spicuous amongst the Thrushes by their smaller size and shorter tails, pass
by, and you may remark the brick-red of the rumps of many of them,
which glisten in the sun as they fy away. However tame the Crossbills
may be in our country in winter (and I have approached them within a
few feet and watched them feeding undisturbed), in the Engadine in their
summer-quarters they are wild enough. They associate with the Thrushes
as Starlings do with Rooks, in a flock within a flock, and like them cover
square yards of ground, whilst their companions spread over acres. Some-
times I saw an isolated male or two flying over the trees with rapid steady
flight, but broken by continual short pauses, giving it an undulatory
character. I found them extremely shy; and although I could slowly
follow a flock of Thrushes for a mile, I never came again upon a flock of
Crossbills when I had once put them up. I only once observed them on
the ground; and this was in an open space in the forest abounding with
ripe bilberries, upon which they probably had been feeding.
The bill of the Crossbill has become specially adapted for extracting the
seeds from the cones of the larch and various species of pine. The strongest-
billed birds, to which the name of Parrot Crossbill has been applied, form
a local race which live in the pine-forests and feed principally on the
cones of the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris). The more slender-billed birds
choose localities where spruce-fir and larch cones are obtainable ; they
range further north durmg the breeding-season than their thicker-billed
cousins—not because they are able to withstand a greater degree of cold
but because the trees whose fruit form their favourite food are found
further north. In the valley of the Yenesay the larch and spruce range to
lat. 69°, whilst the Scotch fir only grows as far north as lat. 624°. The
Crossbill breaks off the cone with his beak and flies with it to a thick bough.
The cone is held firmly against the bough with one claw, exactly as a
Raptorial bird holds its prey, and the cone is torn to pieces and the seed
extracted with the bill, the outside covering or shell being removed and
the kernel only eaten. The Crossbill also feeds on many other seeds,
and is very fond of apples. Meves found them feeding in South Sweden
on the caterpillar and chrysalis of a small green moth (Yortrix viridana)
which is very destructive to oak trees, and it is said that the Crossbill
generally feeds its young upon insects.
The nest is generally placed in a pine tree of some kind, occasionally
not more than five feet from the ground, but more often at a much greater
elevation. ‘The favourite position seems to be almost at the top of the
tree in the cup formed by the forking of the branches ; but it is not un-
frequently built on a horizontal branch at some distance from the trunk.
It is formed on the same model as the nest of the Bullfinch, an outside
COMMON CROSSBILL AND PARROT CROSSBILL 35
nest of sticks, and an inside nest of soft material, the latter rising some-
what higher than the former. - The outside nest is made of twigs of Scotch
fir, about 3, of an inch thick, somewhat loosely interlaced together, and
has an inside diameter of four inches, and an outside diameter of six ches
or more. The inside nest is composed of dry grass and hair-lichen, with
occasionally a little moss or wool or a few feathers in the lining ; the
cup has a diameter of 23 inches, and is about 1g inch deep. The usual
number of eggs is four, but five are sometimes found ; they vary in length
from ‘95 to ‘85 inch, and in breadth from ‘7 to ‘65*. Eggs of the Parrot
Crossbill do not differ in size from those of the Common Crossbill. The
ground-colour of the eggs varies from pale greenish blue to almost white.
The overlying spots are dark brown, principally at the large end, most of
them very small, but some as large as No. 10 shot, and many elongated
into streaks; the underlying spots are pale reddish brown, but do not differ
in size, shape, or distribution from the overlying spots.
The female sits very close, and is fed on the nest by the male. In
confinement these birds are very amusing, climbing about their cages, both
with claws and bill, like Parrots.
The general colour of the adult male Crossbill is intermediate between
scarlet and crimson, somewhat shaded with brown on the back, and most
brilliant on the rump. The wings, tail, longest tail-coverts, and hindmost
ear-coverts are brown. ‘The centre of the belly and the under tail-coverts
are pale grey, the latter with dark centres. Bull, legs, feet, and claws
brown; irides dark hazel. The adult female differs from the male in
having the red replaced by greenish yellow. Males of the year are inter-
mediate in plumage between adult males and females ; in some examples
the red feathers predominate, and in others the yellow feathers. Females
of the year only differ from adult females in having much less yellow on
the plumage. Young in first plumage of both sexes are plain brown, each
of the small feathers having a dark centre; they moult in the first
autumn into their respective plumage ‘of males and females of the year.
The variation in the plumage of the Crossbill is a question upon which
great difference of opinion has existed, and, strange to say, still exists
amongst ornithologists who have had the best opportunities of forming a
judgment on the matter. Bechstein and Hancock describe the males of
the year as red, which gradually changes to yellowish green as in the adult
and immature female. Wheelwright thinks that the red plumage of the
male is only assumed after the second moult, but he looks upon it as an
intermediate stage, though lasting through several seasons, between the
mixed plumage of birds of the year and the yellow plumage of what he
considers to be fully adult males. Naumann, Brehm, Wolley, Meves,
* Abnormally small eggs may measure *73 by ‘57 (fide Newton), but the eggs measuring
1 inch by *75 (see Dresser) are larger than any I have ever seen.
D2
36 BRITISH BIRDS.
and others hold an intermediate view, which appears to me to be the
correct one. It cannot, however, be denied that, in confinement, red males
change to yellow after their first moult, and only differ from females in
not being quite so green ; they never reassume the red plumage. Yellow
males occasionally occur in a wild state, and are possibly old and barren
birds.
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WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS. 37
LOXIA BIFASCIATA ann LOXIA LEUCOPTERA.
EUROPEAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL and AMERICAN
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.
(PLatE 19.)
The two White-winged Crossbills are so nearly allied that many ornitho-
logists have considered them to be specifically identical. The points relied
upon to distinguish them are as follows :—The birds of the Old World are
said to be larger and to have a stouter bill. This is, on an average, un-
doubtedly the case. European examples vary in length of wing from 3°8
to 3°4, whilst those from America only measure 3°5 to 3:2 inches. The
average height of the bill in European examples is ‘4 and that of American
examples ‘3 inch. The scapulars and the middle of the back of European
examples are dark red with brown centres in the adult male, whilst the
same feathers are nearly uniform very dark brown in American examples.
European examples are said to have the tail less forked than in American
birds ; but I cannot find the slightest difference in this respect. Our birds
are also said to have more distinct white edges to the tail-feathers ; but, so
far as my observations go, I find that newly moulted birds from both
localities have equally white edges, which disappear in both forms before
the next autumn. It is also stated that the red of the adult male inclines
to scarlet in the European bird and to crimson in the American; but this
appears to be an unreliable character, the former being probably younger
or less vigorous birds. It is not known that there is any difference
whatever in the notes or habits of the two forms, and it will perhaps be
best to treat them as local races of a common species. The synonymy
of the two races is as follows :—
LOXIA BIFASCIATA,
EUROPEAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILUL.
Crucirostra bifasciata Brehm, Isis, 1827, p. 714; et auctorum plurimorum—
Bonaparte, Degland § Gerbe, Taczanowsky, Newton, Dresser, &c.
Crucirostra tenioptera (Giloger), Brehm, Isis, 1827, p. 716.
Loxia teenioptera, Gloger, Isis, 1827, p. 419.
Loxia bifasciata (Brehm), Selys-Longch. Faun. Belge, p. 76 (1842).
Loxia leucoptera, Gmel, apud Middendorff, Schrenck, Radde, &c.
LOXIA LEUCOPTERA.
AMERICAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.
Loxia leucoptera, G'mel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 844 (1788); et auctorum plurimorum—
Temminck, Audubon, Bonaparte § Schlegel, ( Wilson), (Baird), Gould, Newton, &c,
38 BRITISH BIRDS.
Loxia falcirostra, Lath. Ind. Orn. i. p. 871 (1790).
Curvirostra leucoptera (Gmel.), Wils. Am. Orn. iv. p. 48, pl. xxxi. fig. 3 (1811).
Crucirostra leucoptera (Gmel.), Brehm, Isis, 1827, p. 720.
The first record of the occurrence of the European White-winged
Crossbill in the British Islands is that of Templeton, who, in a communi-
cation to the Linnean Society, stated that a specimen had been shot at
Grenville, near Belfast, on the 11th of May, 1802. Although the speci-
men has apparently been lost, a coloured drawing of it is still in existence,
and assisted Thompson in his identification of the species. In 1848
Mr. Rodd records, in the ‘Zoologist’ for that year (p. 142), a second
specimen killed a few years previously at Larrigan, in Cornwall.
In the autumn of 1845 there appears to have been a remarkable
migration of European White-winged Crossbills to this country; for a
female was shot out of a flock of about fifteen near Brampton, Cumberland,
in November, and two or three others were killed about the same time and
place (Hancock, Cat. Birds Northumb. and Durh. p. 50). They appear to
have remained in this country during the winter; for in May 1846 a flock
was seen at Thetford, in Norfolk, and one specimen was killed, whilst a
second was obtained in the neighbourhood of Bury St. Edmunds *.
Another specimen, a young bird, is recorded by Yarrell as having been
shot about this time by Doubleday in his garden at Epping. A second
example occurred in Ireland in 1868, and was mentioned in the ‘ Zoologist ’
for that year (p. 1876) by Mr. Blake Knox. It was obtained in county
Dublin in July or August. The occurrence of this species in Scotland is
very doubtful, as the “ White-winged Crossbills” which have at various
times been obtained there have not been sufficiently well identified.
Owing to the imperfect identification of the species, it 1s difficult to
determine the exact number of specimens of the American form of the
White-winged Crossbill which have found their way to our shores. As
this species is said to be common throughout the year in Newfoundland,
and is occasionally found in Greenland, it may reasonably be expected to
visit our northern coasts. The earliest known instance of its occurrence
in the British Islands is that of a female now in the Strickland collection,
Cambridge, and which was obtained near Worcester in 1838 (Salvin, Cat.
B. Strickl. Coll. p. 203). In 1845 Mr. E. B. Fitton exhibited, at a meeting
of the Zoological Society, a second example, an adult male found by him
on the shore at Exmouth on the 17th of September of that year.
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HIRUNDO. 169
Subfamily HIRUNDININ&A, orn SWALLOWS.
The Swallows are distinguished by their long, pointed wings, slender,
wide bills, and small legs and feet. They have no bastard primary, and
the second primary is generally the longest. The tarsus is scutellated in
front, and the tail is generally forked. The most marked feature in the
Swallows is that they have no autumn moult, their new dress being assumed
in February*.
In their distribution the Swallows are cosmopolitan. The number of
species and subspecies known is nearly a hundred, which have been by
some ornithologists divided and subdivided into more than five and twenty
genera. Hight species are found in the Western Palearctic Region, four
of which are included in the British list.
Genus HIRUNDO.
The genus Hirundo was admitted by Linnzeus, in 1766, in the twelfth
edition of his ‘Systema Nature,’ vol. i. p. 343. The Barn-Swallow, the
species named first both by Linnzus and Brisson, has been by common
consent accepted as the type. -
The chief characteristic of the species in this genus is said to be that
the nostrils are not only bordered behind and inside, but also overhung
internally by a membrane. Many species have the upper parts glossy
blue-black, but others are plain brown. The rictal bristles are almost
obsolete.
This genus probably contains about sixty species, and is cosmopolitan in
its distribution. Only five species are found in Europe, three of which are
regular summer migrants to the British Islands.
In tropical countries Swallows are generally resident, but are only
summer visitors to colder countries. They chiefly frequent the well-culti-
vated districis, and are especially fond of the neighbourhood of water.
* In treating of the Shrikes, I remarked that the Woodchat, the Red-backed Shrike,
and the Lesser Grey Shrike appear to moult only in spring; but I did not at the time
realize the significance of the fact. It appears to me that these birds, which have no
autumnal moult, must be comparatively recent importations from the southern hemisphere.
On their arrival in their new northern home they were compelled to change their time of
breeding with the changed seasons, but they have not yet altered the period of their annual
moult to correspond.
170 BRITISH BIRDS.
They are gregarious in their habits, and often congregate into enormous
flocks to perform their migrations. Swallows perch but little, and spend
most of their time in the air, except when incubating or sleeping. Their
powers of flight are very great ; but on the ground they can only progress
in a very awkward manner, owing to the shortness of their tarsi. Their
usual note is a twitter, but many species are also capable of singing very
sweetly. Their nests are built of mud, straw, feathers, &c., and placed on
beams or ledges in buildings, under eaves, in caves, and on rocks; but
some species burrow deep into earthy cliffs, and make very slight nests at
the end of the passage. Their eggs are white, sometimes unspotted, but
more frequently marked with rich brown and lilac-grey. Their food consists
entirely of insects.
;
44
I
i
ij
SWALLOW. 171
HIRUNDO RUSTICA.
SWALLOW.
(Piate 17.)
Tlirundo domestica, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 486 (1760).
Hirundo rustica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 343 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Scopoh, Latham, Bonaparte, Temminck, Naumann, Degland & Gerbe,
Newton, Dresser, &c.
Cecropis rustica (Linn.), Bove, Isis, 1826, p. 971.
The Barn-Swallow, one of the best known and most familiar of our
native birds, 1s generally distributed throughout the United Kingdom, in-
cluding the Channel Islands. It is almost as common in Scotland as in
England, but is said not to breed on the Outer Hebrides, although seen
there every year. It is a regular summer visitor to Shetland, but the
instances of its breeding there are rare. In Ireland the Swallow is quite
as common and widely distributed as in England; it is a rare straggler to
Iceland ; and Capt. Feilden states that in the Faroes considerable numbers
appear in May, but are never known to nest there.
The Barn-Swallow, in one of its forms, is found throughout the Pale-
arctic and Nearctic Regions. The typical form breeds in Scandinavia up
to lat. 68°; Finsch obtained it in West Siberia as far north as lat. 65°;
Middendorff states that it occasionally occurs in lat. 63°, on the Yenesay ;
and I shot a solitary example in lat. 664° in the same valley. North of
the Desert of Sahara it isa summer migrant; but, according to Canon
Tristram, occasionally winters in the oases. Throughout Africa south of
the Desert it appears to be only a winter visitor. In Asia it breeds in
Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, Gilgit, Turkestan, and West Siberia as
far east as Krasnoyarsk, and winters in Scinde and West India. In the
valley of the Yenesay it meets and apparently interbreeds with H. rustica,
var. gutturalis, which differs in being slightly smaller and in having the
dark pectoral band interrupted in the middle by the chestnut of the throat.
This form breeds throughout Mongolia, the Himalayas, China, and Japan,
and winters in India and Burma. In East Siberia, ranging as far west as
Lake Baikal, and eastwards across Behring’s Straits and throughout the
Nearctic Region as far south as the plateaux of Mexico, H. rustica, var.
horreorum, breeds. The East-Siberian birds winter in Burma, where they
have been re-christened H. tytleri ; but the Mexican Swallows are said to be
resident, whilst those breeding in North America are said to migrate to
172 BRITISH BIRDS.
Central America and Brazil. This form differs from the preceding only
in having the underparts below the breast pale chestnut. In Egypt and
Palestine a form occurs having the underparts below the breast a slightly
darker chestnut than in the American form, from which it differs most
conspicuously in having the broad dark band across the breast like the
typical form. This form may be called H. rustica, var. cahirica; it is
probably only subspecifically distinct, as intermediate forms frequently
occur in Europe. In Australia H. rustica, var. frontalis, breeds and
winters in New Guinea. This is probably the parent stock from which all
these Swallows are derived, and may be easily distinguished by the almost
total absence of the pectoral band, the lower breast and belly being nearly
white, as in the European and Chinese forms.
No bird is more highly prized or more jealously protected than the
Swallow; and of all the harbingers of spring it is the most warmly
welcomed. Very rarely indeed is it molested; the bird-nesting school-
boy will tell you that it is ‘unlucky ” to take its nest, and even the game-
keeper, that arch slaughterer of ail our fairest and most interesting birds,
ean bring no accusation against it, and suffers it unmolested to wing its
happy way in peace. Wherever this charming little bird takes up its
quarters it is always welcomed and protected, especially amongst our rural
population, who regard its annual visits to their humble cottages as fore-
telling good fortune, and in many cases will inconvenience themselves
rather than turn the little southern wanderer away.
The Swallow generally arrives in this country a little earlier than the
House-Martin. It arrives in some parts of Southern Europe, as, for instance,
at Gibraltar, about the middle of February, and continues to cross the
Straits up to the middle of April; but in the extreme north of Europe
it is said not to arrive until the first week of June. Its first arrival in
the south of England takes place early in April, but it does not reach the
north of England until about the middle of that month. In the south of
Scotland it does not arrive before the last week of April, and in the north
of that country seldom before May. The Swallow loves to frequent the
neighbourhood of houses, and is consequently the commonest and most
widely dispersed in well-cultivated districts. Not that the bird dislikes
the wilder country ; for where is the shepherd’s cot, the mountain-farm,
or the gamekeeper’s house, even on the barren moors, where this little
bird is not to be seen? It is very common in all country villages, but
does not enter the large towns as much as the House-Martin. Like the
rest of our British Swallows, the present species is a gregarious bird, and
not only lives in company with its own species, but repeatedly flocks with
House-Martins, and also with Sand-Martins and Swifts. The Swallow is
usually seen on the wing. Sometimes they skim over the ground only a few
inches above the surface, seldom attempting a higher flight; but more
~
SWALLOW. 173
often, especially in clear fine weather, they may be seen high up in the air,
almost like specks, wheeling in everchanging gyrations. The Swallow
catches as much of its food over the dry land as it does over water,
more so perhaps than the Martin, and is fond of large meadows sprinkled
with trees, especially those containing a fish-pond or a sluggish stream.
The Swallow certainly has more command over itself in the air than the
Martin ; its wings and tail are longer, and enable it to twist and turn
with surprising quickness. Its general flight also seems performed with
less labour ; it appears to swim through the air propelled by an invisible
power. Dixon thus writes of the flight of this bird :—“ How gracefully the
Swallows fly. See them coursing over the daisy-spangled grass-fields—
now skimming just over the surface of the grass, then with a rapid stroke
of their long wings mounting into the air and hovering a few moments
just above your head, displaying their rich white and chestnut under
plumage. Then they chase each other seemingly for very joyfulness,
uttering their sharp twittering notes as if exulting in the bright sunshine
and the abundance of food. Now they hover for a moment just like a
little Kestrel, or, closing their wings, dart downwards with the velocity
of a Sparrow-Hawk; anon they flit rapidly over the neighbouring pool,
dipping themselves in its unruffled surface, and marking each dip witha
ring on the water. How easily they turn and glide over the hedges,
speed across the pastures and return, dart under the hanging branches of
the tall elms, or chase the flies round the feeding cattle ; never resting,
never weary. You frequently see them glide rapidly along a few inches
from the ground, then with a sidelong motion mount aloft, to dart down-
wards, like an animated meteor, their plumage glowing like silver in the
sun, and the row of white spots on the fully spread tail coming out in
bold contrast with the darker feathers.” The Swallow not unfrequently
alights upon the ground, on a roof, or the dead branch of a tree, but is
exceedingly awkward, especially when on the ground. Its short legs
prevent it from walking or hopping, and every movement that it essays
is always accompanied by a motion of the wings. It sometimes alights
at little pools on the, roadside, but usually drinks on the wing when
skimming over the water. ‘The Swallow is a very early riser, and may be
seen abroad at dawn almost before the Goatsucker has gone off to its
retreat ; and he continues his labours into the dusk, until he can no longer
detect the passing flies. Swallows often amuse themselves by mobbing
large birds, and at such a time their powers of flight may be witnessed to
perfection. It is a pretty sight to see a swarm of these little creatures in
wrathful but perfectly harmless chase of a Hawk or a Cuckoo high up in
the blue sky.
The usual note of the Swallow is loud, somewhat resembling the word
hwet, occasionally, if the bird is excited, repeated once or twice; but
174 BRITISH BIRDS.
it also possesses a song both rich, sweet, and varied. It may be heard
breaking out into snatches of melody as it courses through the air, espe-
cially the young birds in autumn ; but it often warbles when at rest, either
sitting on a bare twig or a building.
The food of the Swallow consists entirely of insects. It feeds perhaps
more on coleopterous insects than the Martin does—a fact noticed long ago
by Gilbert White. In proof of this the bird is very often seen to alight in
fields on heaps of dung, or on turnips, where it catches little beetles ; and
it not unfrequently alights on the roads, and even on the fields, especially
in dull windy weather, to pick up these insects, which will not fly in such
a state of the atmosphere. Sometimes it catches an insect lying on the
water as it passes rapidly overhead. Gnats are very much sought after
by this bird, as are also crane-flies, and sometimes dragon-flies. Its
mouth is filled with a sticky saliva, which holds the insect when caught ;
and it seems that the bird does not swallow its captures until it has got
a mouthful. Certainly when the birds are feeding their young they do
uot return to the nest after capturing each successive fly, but only when
a considerable number are collected together in a sticky mass in the
mouth.
There can be little doubt that the Swallow pairs for life. Unlike so
many of our migratory small birds, the sexes appear to travel in company
(in pairs) and return each season to their old haunts.
The nest of the Swallow is generally placed on the joist which supports
the rafters of a barn or other outhouse, a few inches below the tiles or
slates which form the roof. In this position it rests upon the horizontal
surface of the joist, and is a ring of mud lined with dry grass and a few
feathers. By far the greater number of Swallows’ nests which I have
seen in this country have been built in this position and on this model.
Curiously enough, this is not the case on the continent. There the
Swallow generally builds against a perpendicular wall, but also only a few
inches below some horizontal shelf or roof; in this situation the nest is
in the shape of a quarter of a hollow globe of mud. ‘To increase the
security of the structure it gladly avails itself of any little projection or
nail or peg to begin upon. But the usual nest of the Swallow on the conti-
nent only differs from that of the Martin in having the sides as well as
the front open instead of built up to the projecting shelf or roof. At the
railway-station at Rustchuk dozens of Swallows’ and Martins’ nests may
be seen side by side, and differing only in the manner I have described.
In the large building where my friend Oberamtmann Nehrkorn stall-feeds
his cattle, near Brunswick, the roof is supported by iron pillars, and many
Swallows build their nests under the heavy beams which rest upon them,
using the iron ring which does duty as a capital to lay the foundation mud
upon. The continental system approaches nearest to the habits of the
SWALLOW. De
Or
Swallow in a state of nature. When Mr. Young and I were in the
Dobrudscha we twice had the good fortune to find small colonies of these
birds, so to speak, wild. In one case the nests were built against the
perpendicular cliffs under an overhanging ledge of rock, leaving perhaps
an inch of space all round for the ingress and egress of the bird. In the
other case the nests were built in exactly similar situations on the roofs of
caves. In one nest the eggs were nearly hatched, and we watched the
birds flying in and out, so that no possible doubt as to the species could
arise. One of the nests was in the occupation of a Sparrow. Several
other instances of the breeding of the Swallow in cliffs and caves have been
recorded. Edward made similar observations on the coast of Banffshire ;
and Ridgway found the American form of the Swallow breeding in
caves in Nevada, one of the Pacific States, and also mentions that in
America it often builds against a perpendicular wall if it cannot find a
suitable horizontal rafter. Other localities are also chosen in England.
It often breeds in a chimney, -and occasionally down a well or an old mine,
or under a bridge or a doorway, in all of which situations the nest is
generally built on the continental model. Dixon has seen its nest in
buildings on stones projecting from the wall several feet from the roof or
any other shelter. Blyth records one instance of the Swallow building in
the hole of a tree about thirty feet from the ground; and Yarrell figures a
nest built in the fork of the branch of a sycamore tree. To make the nest
. strong, the Swallow mixes with the mud of which the walls are composed dry
grass, straw, or hair. The mud-made shell or cup is neatly lined with dry
grass and a few feathers, generally obtained as the bird flies through the air.
In shape the nest is very shallow, and, unlike the House-Martin’s, is always
open, leaving the sitting bird exposed to view. Some nests are much more
carefully made than others, depending to a great extent on the peculiarities
of the chosen site. In some cases lttle more than a rim of mud is
formed, in which the softer materials are placed, whilst in others a perfect
saucer is formed of mud, straws, and little sticks before the lining is
put in.
The Swallow builds a fresh nest every year, generally close to the one of
the previous year, consequently many old nests may be seen close together.
The eggs of the Swallow are from four to six in number, and vary con-
siderably in shape and markings. The ground-colour is always pure
white, and the markings are rich coffee-brown, violet-grey, and light
reddish brown; these are usually distributed over the entire surface
of the egg, but most thickly at the large end. The grey underlying
markings are far more numerous and larger on some eggs than on
others. The spots vary considerably in size: on some eggs they are
small specks, on others large spots and blotches, sometimes confluent on
the larger end, forming a broad irregular zone. The eggs vary in length
176 BRITISH BIRDS.
from ‘9 to ‘75 inch, and in breadth from ‘58 to ‘52 inch. The eggs
of the Barn-Swallow very closely resemble those of the Rock-Martin
(C. rupestris), indeed so much so that they cannot with certainty be
distinguished.
The sitting bird is fed by its mate, who constantly visits her with joyous
twittering cries during the whole period of incubation. The Swallow
usually rears two broods in the season. The eggs of the first clutch are
generally laid early in May, and the young are able to fly by the end of
June; those of the second clutch are laid early in July, and the young are,
in most cases, fully fledged by September; but exceptionally late broods are
frequently deserted by their parents. The young are tended some little
time after they quit the nest, and are often fed on the wing.
The young of the first broods soon leave their birthplace and collect into
flocks, spending their time in incessant ‘search for food, or sitting twittering
to each other on telegraph-wires, fences, or dead branches. At this time
they roost in trees, and often in rushes near water. The earlier broods are
probably the first to migrate, leaving this country very early in September,
whilst those of the second brood with their parents linger on into late
autumn. The second broods and the old birds form the large flocks which
are seen in autumn, and at this season of the year their gatherings are most
interesting. A great number are young birds, which are fed and tended
assiduously by their parents, who catch insects for them whilst they sit and
wait on the fences and wires. Most Swallows leave this country early in
October, but many still tarry—some still too weak to attempt the long
journey, and others whose young are not yet able to fly; whilst a
few may be loth to leave some favoured spot where insect-life is still
abundant. A few Swallows are generally seen in this country in November,
and they have been recorded at different times in December, January, and
February ; so that it seems that individuals occasionally almost succeed m
braving the rigours of a northern winter. Respecting the supposed hiber-
nation of Swallows, little need be said. My friend Dr. Elhott Coues, to
whom I could not pay a higher compliment than to call him the American
Naumany, still considers the subject an open question; but all other
ornithologists have long ago consigned the theory to the limbo of forgotten
superstitions.
The Swallow in summer plumage has the forehead and throat rich
chestnut ; all the upper parts and a broad band across the breast are steel-
blue, with a purplish gloss; the wings and tail are brown, glossed with
bluish green on the outer webs; the inside web of the innermost greater
wing-covert is greyish white ; all the tail-feathers, except the two centre
ones, have a large spot of white on the inner web about a third from the
end. The general colour of the underparts is nearly white. Bill black ;
legs, feet, and claws brownish black; irides hazel, The female some-
SWALLOW. 177
what closely resembles the male in colour, but the chestnut on the forehead.
and throat are not so rich, the chest-band is narrower, and the outermost
tail-feathers are shorter. Young in first plumage have the forehead, throat,
and eye-stripe pale chestnut, which fades durmg the winter into nearly
white ; the upper parts are not so bright asin adults, the spots on the tail-
feathers are tinged with rufous, and the outermost tail-feathers are much
shorter. These long tail-feathers do not assume their full length until
after the first moult in February, when the adult plumage is assumed.
After the spring moult the underparts below the pectoral band are slightly
suffused with rufous, which gradually fades into the adult summer plumage.
The Swallow may be readily known from its congeners by its uniform steel-
blue upper parts, its chestnut throat and forehead, and its acutely forked
tail—characters which on the wing serve at a glance to distinguish it from
the Martin or the Sand- Martin.
VOL. Il. N
178 BRITISH BIRDS.
HIRUNDO URBICA.
HOUSE-MARTIN.
(Puare 17.)
Hirundo minor, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 490 (1760).
Hirundo urbica, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 344 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Scopoli, Latham, Temminck, (Bonaparte), Naumann, (Degland § Gerbe),
(Salvadori), (Dresser), (Newton), &e.
Chelidon urbica (Linn.), Bove, Isis, 1822, p. 550.
The House-Martin, better known as the Martin, is almost as popular a
favourite as the Swallow, for which it is often mistaken; but it may be
readily distinguished from that bird, even on the wing, by its white rump
and shorter tail. It is distributed throughout England, and is a common
summer visitor to the Channel Islands. In Scotland it is almost as widely
dispersed as in England; but, according to Mr. Gray, it is absent altogether
from the Outer Hebrides, although common enough in the inner islands.
It is said by Baikie and Heddle to breed in Orkney; and although most
numerous in Shetland at the periods of migration a few remain to breed.
In Ireland it is quite as well known and as common as in England. It
is said to be a rare visitor to Iceland, where, in 1819, Faber states that nests
of this bird were commenced, but left unfinished. It is also found on
the Faroes in spring, but does not appear ever to remain to breed.
The House-Martin breeds throughout Europe, ranging somewhat
further north than the Barn-Swallow. It has been recorded in Scandi-
navia as breeding in the most northerly towns, for example in Vard6 in
lat. 704°, and in Vadsé in lat. 70°. In Archangel, however, it is much
rarer than the Barn-Swallow ; and Harvie-Brown and I did not meet with
it in the valley of the Petchora. It occasionally straggles to the Canaries
aud Madeira, and breeds abundantly in North-west Africa. In Egypt and
Nubia it is only known on migration; but it breeds in Palestine, Asia
Minor, and Persia. Scarcely any thing is known of its winter-quarters,
which probably are somewhere in Central Africa. A few birds are
supposed to winter in Algeria, and stragglers are. said to occur in
Turkestan and India.
Some doubt attaches to the occurrence of the House-Martin east of the
Ural Mountains. Finsch observed a colony in the valley of the Obb in lat.
64°; but, as he neglected to obtain any specimens, it is impossible to say to
which species they belonged. They probably were the European species,
HOUSE-MARTIN. M2)
as he failed to detect any difference from our bird in some examples in the
museum at Omsk.
The House-Martin has no ally so near as to make it probable that it
interbreeds with any other species; but in Eastern Siberia it is replaced
by Pallas’s Martin, H. lagopoda, which has frequently been mistaken for
it. This is a well-defined species, with a shorter and squarer tail than our
bird: it also differs in having the longest upper tail-coverts white instead
of black, and the axillaries and under wing-coverts dark brown instead of
very light brown. I found it extremely common in the valley of the
Yenesay, swarming in thousands on the Arctic circle, and breeding as far
north as lat. 69°. It probably breeds throughout Eastern Siberia, as
Middendorff observed it in the Stanovoi Mountains, and Pallas records it
from Kamtschatka. It breeds throughout South-eastern Siberia, and is
probably the species found in such numbers by Prijevalsky in Mongolia.
Severtzow records it as passing through Turkestan on migration; but it
breeds in- North China, and probably winters in the Burma peninsula,
where it has been mistaken for the European species *.
Between these species two intermediate species occur, doubtfully distinct
from each other, but both of them distinct both from the House-Martin and
Pallas’s Martin. The larger of the two, H. dasypus, with a wing exceed-
ing four inches in length, breeds in Japan and winters in Borneo; the
smaller one, H. cashmiriensis, with a wing less than four inches, appears
to be confined to the Himalayas, breeding in the higher valleys and
wintering in the lower ones. Both these forms have the short, slightly
forked tail of the eastern Martin, and the black upper tail-coverts of the
western species. The only other Swallow with feathered tarsi and feet
is the Himalayan Martin, H. nipalensis, a much smaller bird, which may
at once be distinguished by its black under tail-coverts. Our knowledge
of the geographical distribution of this section of the genus Hirundo is in
great confusion, owing to the carelessness of collectors, who in too many
instances have not thought it worth their while to shoot such a commen
bird, taking it for granted that no mistake could possibly arise in the iden-
tification of so well known a species as the House-Martin.
The House-Martin is a spring migrant to our islands, and reaches us
about a week after the Swallow has announced the coming of summer. In
the south of England it usually arrives about the middle of April; but in
cold and backward seasons it sometimes does not appear until the end of
that month. In Greece and Asia Minor, Dr. Kriiper informed me that it
arrived regularly during the first week in March; whilst in the north of
* In Colonel Tickell’s manuscript Illustrations of Indian Ornithology, presented by him
to the Zoological Society of London, the figure and description of the example of Chelidon
urbica obtained in Tenasserim unquestionably refer to Pallas’s House-Martin. The upper
tail-coverts are not only described as white, but are also figured so.
N2
180 BRITISH BIRDS.
Norway, in the few places where it is found, as in the sheltered villages
on the Varanger Fjord, Mr. Nordvi told me that it did not make its
appearance until May. It departs from this country in autumn, many
birds leaving Scotland in the last week of September, but most of them
leaving England during the first half of October. Many birds, however,
linger even longer than this, especially if their broods are unable to fly.
Martins have been seen repeatedly in November, and in very rare instances
in December.
The Martin is perhaps even more gregarious in its habits, especially
during the breeding-season, than the Swallow. The nesting-colonies of
the latter bird are usually smaller, and the numbers which form the flocks
during migration are less. The Martin does not fly so rapidly as the
Swallow, nor is its flight marked with so many turnings and twistings.
It sometimes flies at a considerable height, at other times it skims the
surface of the meadow or pool, ever and anon dipping in the water to
drink. The elevation of its flight varies according to the state of the
atmosphere, which affects the insects on which it feeds. It frequents
its breeding-place from the time of its arrival; and those fortunate birds
whose nests have withstood the buffetings of winter roost in them at night.
The song of the Martin is rarely heard. It is uttered as the bird sits on
the dead branch of a tree or on a roof, or even when it is on the ground.
It is a low twittering song varied by a few full rich warbling notes, and
much resembles that of the Swallow, but is not so rich or so varied. Its
call-note is entirely different from that of the Swallow, a sort of spritz,
impossible to express by letters. Although the Martin spends the greatest
part of its time in the air, it frequently alights. When at rest it usually
perches on ledges, roofs, dead branches, or on telegraph-wires. When it
is collecting mud for its nest on the roads its wings are ever in motion,
and when they are at rest it never attempts to progress by its feet. Its
legs are too short to allow it to walk ; and even if the bird only move for a
few inches its wings are invariably erected to assist it.
There can be little doubt that the Martin pairs for life, and every season
returns to its old nest and uses it again. This interesting fact has been
proved by marking birds in various ways, and in some instances they have
been found in their old haunts the followimg year. There can be little
doubt that the bird formerly used to breed exclusively on rocks, and that
its habit of frequenting buildings is comparatively only a recent one.
Thousands of Martins breed on the limestone rocks in Dovedale and in
other parts of the Peak of Derbyshire, at Malm Cove near Settle in York-
shire, and in many other places, especially on the cliffs of the sea-coast at
Flamborough and other places in England and Scotland. It frequents alike
the wildest portions of the country and the highly cultivated districts, and
very often breeds in considerable numbers even in our largest towns.
HOUSE-MARTIN. 181
There is a curious nesting-place of this species in the Peak. The stone
railway-bridge that spans Monsal Dale is lined with Martins’ nests, and the
birds seem to be not at all inconvenienced by the passing trains. The
nests are built outside the bridge, under the coping which projects over
the walls.
In the Parnassus they breed both on rocks and on houses. At Castri
(the ancient Delphi) the nests of this bird are common under the eaves of
the houses in the village; and there is a large colony occupying the cliffs,
in company with the Rock-Sparrow (Passer petronia), in the picturesque
gorge from which the famous spring flows. I have also seen other large
colonies in the mountain-limestone cliffs at Agoriane and Belitza; but by
far the largest colony I have ever seen is in a romantic glen in the
mountains overlooking Missolonghi. The rocks overhang very much;
and when I was there hundreds of nests were to be seen under the over-
hanging part, whilst outside and in the valley the birds were flying in
thousands, hke a swarm of bees. In a cleft of the rock, in the midst of
the Martins’ nests, was a huge nest of the White-tailed Eagle, and many
of the Martins’ nests were in the possession of the common House-
Sparrow.
The Martin breeds in enormous numbers in some parts of Algeria.
Dixon writes as follows :—‘‘ It was very common in the Arab settlements
in the mountains, and also in the palm-oases on the plains. At Batna
the bird is far more frequent than in any other place where I have
met with it. The greater. number breed on the barracks there; every
coping, every window, in fact every ledge that could support a nest was
occupied, in some parts in rows three or four deep. At Philippeville most
of the mud was baked hard by the hot sun; and it was only in one or
two places on a bank, where some water trickled slowly down, that the
birds were able to obtain their materials. It was avery curious sight to see
these charming little creatures clustering on the mud, giving it the appear-
ance of a moving mass of birds; the air was also full of them busy catching
insects in the bright African sunshine, and every moment they were either
alighting on or leaving the mud-bank. It seemed to me that all the
Martins in Philippeville had congregated here to get mud for their nests.
The Arabs never molest the Martin or the Swallow; they are almost as
sacred to them as the Stork and the Ibis, and breed on their mud houses
in abundance.”
In this country the bird usually builds under the eaves of houses or
other overhanging ledge. In May they may be seen gathering the mud
which forms the outside of their nests; they visit the little pools, the
roads, and, in fact, every situation where they can collect mud, and many
birds repair to the same place. In dry seasons they are often sorely
pressed to obtain this material, and have to fly considerable distances to find
182 BRITISH BIRDS.
it. Sometimes they will visit heaps of mortar, or the dusty roads which have
just been watered. The outside shell of the nest is almost entirely com-
posed of mud. The birds do not build much at a time, but allow one layer
to dry before another is placed, so that each nest takes ten days or a fortnight
to finish. The mud is brought in little pellets, and a few straws or dry
grass, or even hair, are intermixed to bind it together. Sometimes two
or three nests are built together; and in some localities they are placed in
rows one under the other. The inside is lined with dry grass and a few
feathers. The nest is rounded in form, the quarter of an upright oval
globe, and the hole which admits the birds is at the top, generally in the
middle, but often in one corner. The lining materials are chiefly collected
as the bird is on the wing—straws and feathers which the wind blows into
the air. If their nest is destroyed the birds soon commence another on
the ruins of the old one, and this has been known to be repeated many
times in succession. The nest is a somewhat large structure, often
measuring eight or nine inches in external diameter; the mud walls vary
from half an inch to three quarters of an inch in thickness. It has been
said that the bird sticks the little mud pellets that form the outside of its
nest together with its saliva.
The Martin begins to build its nest or to repair its old one about a month
after its arrival, and fresh eggs may be obtained in Greece and Asia Minor
as early as the end of April, but seldom in this country before the end of
May. In the extreme north of Europe eggs are not to be obtained until
several weeks later. Curiously enough, in Algeria the Martin does not
appear to breed any earlier than in this country ; at Philippeville, on the
coast, Dixon remarks that their nests were unfinished in the middle of May.
The eggs of the Martin are from four to six in number. They are pure
glossy white, and the shell is very smooth. They vary in length from ‘8 to
‘7 inch, and in breadth from *55 to ‘52 inch, and very closely resemble those
of the Sand-Martin, but are a trifle larger, somewhat coarser grained, but
more polished.
Both birds assist in incubating the eggs ; and when the young are hatched
the exertions of the parents are taxed to the utmost to find them a suf-
ficient supply of food. A correspondent of Macgillivray’s (Mr. T. D.
Weir) states that in one day they fed their young three hundred and seven
times! During the whole period of incubation the male roosts in ,the
nest with the female. When the young can leave the nest they are fed
and tended by the old birds until they are strong on the wing, and during
this time the little family-party always sleep in the nest at night. The
young birds are fed upon the wing by their parents, and often perch on
posts, fences, or even telegraph-wires, waiting for the old birds to catch
flies for them. Probably most pairs of birds attempt to rear a second
brood in the season; but in some cases the hereditary impulse to migrate
HOUSE-MARTIN. 183
overcomes the parental instinct, and the young birds are left to perish in
the nest.
In autumn the gregarious habits of these birds are especially striking,
and they may often be seen in large flocks on houses, trees, or tele-
graph-wires. As the season advances these flocks increase in numbers,
and the birds are far more garrulous than at any other time of the year,
as if they were busy preparing for departure. The nests are frequently
deserted, and they roost at night in trees and bushes. They take more
or less prolonged journeys, and as the eve of their departure draws
nigh they congregate in twittering masses on the house-tops. These large
flocks, mostly young birds, are the first to migrate southwards, and are
afterwards followed by the young of the second brood and their parents,
a few stragglers only being left behind, probably weakly birds, or those
whose broods are still in the nest. The food of the Martin is composed
entirely of insects; and the refuse of this food, such as wing-cases &c., is
cast up in the form of pellets. In June it may often be seen alighting
in turnip-fields, for the purpose of feeding on small beetles and flies ; whilst
it often catches various insects by hovering above the tall grass-stems and
dexterously picking them off. It feeds largely on gnats, which often swarm
in clouds over the water.
The Martin in spring plumage has the head, nape, back, scapulars, and
some of the small wing-coverts glossy steel-blue, with greenish and purplish
reflections ; the wings and tail are blackish brown, with a greenish tinge ;
the tail is considerably forked, but the outermost feathers are not elon-
gated like those of the Barn-Swallow; the rump and some of the upper
tail-coverts are white, but those next the tail are blackish blue; the whole
of the underparts are pure white. Bill black; legs and feet covered with
hair-like white feathers, claws yellowish grey; irides hazel. The female
does not differ in colour or size from the male. Young in first plumage
have the dark parts brown, with scarcely any gloss, the white parts tinged
with pale brown; the innermost secondaries are broadly tipped, and most
of the quills narrowly margined, with white, and the tail is shorter and not
so forked. The pale tips of the inuermost secondaries are retained until
the second or third moult. The Martin moults in early spring, whilst in
its winter-quarters and during its residence in this country no important
change takes place in the colour of its plumage.
184. BRITISH BIRDS.
HIRUNDO RIPARIA.
SAND-MARTIN.
(Piate 17.)
Hirundo riparia, Briss. Orn. ii. p. 506 (1760); Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 344 (1766); et
auctorum plurimorum—Gmelin, Latham, Temminck, (Bonaparte), Naumann,
(Degland & Gerbe), (Heuglin), (Newton), (Dresser), &c.
Hirundo cinerea, Vieill. N. Dict. @ Hist. Nat. xiv. p. 526 (1817).
Cotyle riparia (Linn.), Bote, Isis, 1822, p. 550.
Cotyle littoralis, Hemp. § Ehr. fide Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 61 (1854).
The Sand-Martin is perhaps the least known of the Swallows, and is
very often overlooked, or confused with its larger and more showy relations.
From the peculiarity of its haunts, it is more local in its distribution than
the Swallow and the Martin; nevertheless it is found throughout the
British Islands, in some districts in immense numbers. It appears only
to visit the Channel Islands on migration; but it is as common and as
widely distributed in Scotland and Ireland as in England. It breeds in
the Outer Hebrides and in the Orkneys, but is only seen occasionally in
the Shetlands, and has not been recorded from the Faroes.
The Sand-Martin is a circumpolar bird, except that in Greenland the
severity of the climate appears to have driven it out of the country. In
Scandinavia its colonies are found as far north as lat. 70°; but in the
valleys of the Petchora, the Obb, and the Yenesay the most northerly
colonies are in about lat. 67°. Middendorff found it on an island on the
Pacific coast of Asia, in lat. 55°; and Dybowsky obtained it in Kamtschatka.
In North America it breeds from Behring’s Straits to Baffin’s Bay, up to
about lat. 68°. South of these limits it breeds throughout Europe and
North Africa, and in Asia as far south as Palestine, Central Persia,
Turkestan, South Siberia, East Mongolia, Japan, and the northern half of
China. Very little is known respecting its winter-quarters ; but occasional
stragglers are met with in Teneriffe ; and on the east coast of Africa it has
occurred at Zanzibar, and as far south as the Transvaal. In Asia it is
sparingly found during the cold season in India and Burma; and the obser-
vations of ?Abbé David tend to prove that it also winters in Central and
South China. On the American continent Dall found enormous colonies
in Alaska up to lat. 65°; and Richardson found it equally abundant at the
mouth of the Mackenzie river, in lat. 68°. Its southern breeding-range
on this continent is not very accurately determined; but it is said to
winter in Mexico, and is found at that season in Central America and in
the valley of the Amazon. In the Ethiopian and Oriental Regions the
Sand-Martin has several allies, but none with which it is likely to be con-
SAND-MARTIN. 185
fused. Its nearest ally is probably H. cincta, from Africa, a larger bird
with white instead of brown axillaries, and a white patch on each side of
the forehead.
The habits of the Sand-Martin differ in several points from those of
the House-Martin and the Swallow. The comparative rarity of suitable
breeding-places makes it a much more local bird, and causes it also to
appear much more gregarious; and the fact that it rarely breeds except in
perpendicular earth-cliffs, which are seldom found except on the banks of
rivers or lakes, makes it appear to be more partial to the neighbourhood
of water than is really the case, though in this country the increasing
number of railway-cuttings provides the Sand-Martins with other breeding-
places, of which they are ready enough to avail themselves. In some
localities the Sand-Martin is said to be the first Swallow to arrive in this
country ; but in most places where migratory birds are observed on passage
it is recorded as being somewhat later than our other two species. The
arrival of all the Swallows in spring is somewhat irregular: they seem to
cross the water in small parties, and to fly very low, frequently even fol-
lowing the sweep of the waves. Krtiper gives the end of March as the
earliest appearance of the Sand-Martin in Asia Minor ; but Irby: frequently
saw them at Gibraltar before the end of February. Wright says that they
pass through Malta a little later than the other Swallows; and Naumann
asserts that they seldom arrive at their breeding-quarters in Germany until
early in May. In England they are frequently seen early in April. There
seems to be little doubt that the Sand-Martins are the earliest Swallows
to leave this country in autumn. During August their numbers rapidly
decrease, and by the middle of September very few remain, though I have
seen them on the Sussex coast as late as the middle of October.
Immediately after its arrival in this country the Sand-Martin repairs to
its breeding-place, and the old holes are used as sleeping-places at night.
These holes are made in perpendicular earth-cliffs on the banks of rivers or
lakes, on the sea-shore, or in railway-cuttings, sand-pits, gravel-quarries,
or wherever a steep enough bank of suitable soil can be found. Sandy
ground is usually chosen because it is easiest to excavate; but it must not
be too loose, otherwise the sand would fall and bury the bird or her eggs,
Sometimes very curious sites are chosen. I have seen Sand-Martins flying
in and out of their holes which they had excavated in some enormous heaps
of half-rotten sawdust lying near the Brandon station of the Great Eastern
Railway. In Norway, between Lillehammer and the Dovrefjeld, many of
the peasants’ houses are roofed with turf, and some of these thick roofs of
dry sandy peat are burrowed with nests of the Sand-Martin.
In all cases the bird excavates its own abode, and generally returns to
it several years in succession; but I noticed on the banks of the Danube
many deserted colonies close to others where the birds were swarming.
186 BRITISH BIRDS. -
Both male and female assist in the process of excavation, which usually
occupies only the early hours of the day, the rest being devoted to coursing
through the air in search of food. The little creatures begin by forming
a small hole with their bills as they cling to the surface of the bank, some-
times with head downwards. As this hole increases in size they stand in
the excavation, and throw out all the loose sand or chalk with their feet,
boring away at times as much as four feet into the solid bank, but at
others only two or three feet. In some cases a single pair of birds
make two or three holes before they are suited. Occasionally a large
boulder stops the way ; or perhaps the sand is too hard or too soft ; whilst
many holes are abandoned at a depth of a few inches for no apparent cause
whatever. The birds seem well aware of the principles of drainage, and
provide for it by making their holes slant slightly upwards. The holes
vary considerably in size and shape; some will run almost straight, others
turn to the right or left, not in acute angles, but seemingly by accident or
to avoid obstructions in their way. Sometimes the holes are perfectly
round, at others they will be rectangular, and often oval, and are usually
two or three inches in diameter. The end of the hole is widened and
hollowed into a kind of chamber, about six inches in diameter; and here
the nest is formed. It is usually very slight—a mere bed of dry grass,
coarse twitch, a few straws, and lined with one or two large feathers. The
eggs of the Sand-Martin are from four to six in number. They are
scarcely so polished as the eggs of the House-Martin, but are as pure a
white, and vary in length from °76 to ‘62 inch, and in breadth from
51 to ‘46 inch.
Early in June or late in May, in favourable seasons, is the time to
collect fresh eggs of this bird; but many Sand-Martins have a second
brood, which are rarely on the wing before the middle of August. Some
of the colonies of these birds consist of enormous numbers, and on the
front of the cliffs where they breed they have all the appearance of bees
in the process of swarming. On the banks of the Danube, the Volga, and
the great Siberian rivers the numbers are sometimes almost incredible.
One of these colonies is a most animating sight; the air is full of birds
coming and going, and in front of the nests the crowd is so great that it
is difficult to understand how each bird can thread the labyrinth. The
Sand- Martin is almost as nimVie on the wing as the Swallow, perhaps more
so than the House- Martin; and, like both these birds, it often dips for a
moment in the water as it skims over the surface to drink or to bathe.
Now and then the birds cling to the face of the cliff, and the nearly fledged
young often sit at the mouth of the hole to be fed by their parents. Sand-
Martins are bold in defending their colony from intruders; and I have seen
them leave the bank in a body to drive away a Merlin, which they pursued
with great pertinacity.
SAND-MARTIN. 187
I have never heard the Sand-Martin sing, but it is said to twitter occa-
sionally. Its call-note is a loud and harsh cry, almost a faint scream.
Naumann represents it by the word share; but the consonants, to my ears,
are imaginary.
The food of the Sand-Martin is composed entirely of insects, chiefly the
smaller ones, such as gnats, which fly most abundautly over water. Gilbert
White, however, states that the young are sometimes fed on large dragon-
flies. The inside of the mouth of the Sand-Martin is full of a viscid saliva,
which aids it in capturing its prey, the little flies sticking to it as the bird
courses through the air.
As soon as the young of the first broods can take care of themselves
they unite into large flocks, and flit all day long over the fields and waters,
feasting upon the boundless store of insect food. These young birds
probably never visit the nest again, and roost at night in reed-beds,
marshy plantations, and other suitable places; they are the earliest birds
astir in the morning, and almost the last to retire to roost at night. ‘After
the young have flown, they and their parents often desert the sand-banks
altogether, and wander about in search of the best localities for food;
they gather in immense flocks, skimming over the large rivers and lakes,
or sometimes perching on the telegraph-wires. Stevenson gives some
interesting particulars of these autumn flights of Sand-Martins, which
roost like Starlings in the reed-beds.
The Sand-Martin is a very sombre-coloured little bird. The general
colour of the upper parts and a broad band across the chest are an almost
uniform mouse-brown, very slightly darker on the head and somewhat
paler on the rump. The wings and the somewhat forked tail are blackish
brown ; the underparts generally, except the chest-band already alluded
to, are dull white. Biull black; legs, toes, and claws dark brown ; irides
hazel; at the back of the tarsus are a few feathers. The female does
not differ from the male in colour, nor is there any seasonal change of
importance. Young in first plumage resemble the adults, but have most
of the feathers of the upper parts, especially the wing-coverts, the inner-
most secondaries, the feathers of the rump, and the upper tail-coverts
tipped with pale buff, and the chin and throat are suffused with buff ; but
in many examples this buff fades into almost white, even before the birds
leave this country. This species is easily distinguished from the House-
Martin by its bare feet, and both from this bird and the Swallow by its
dingy-brown plumage.
It has been said that examples from Siberia and Arctic Europe are
somewhat darker above and whiter below than our birds. This idea has
probably arisen from the excessive cleanness of the underparts of birds
living in very thinly populated districts where no coal is burnt.
188 BRITISH BIRDS.
Genus PROGNE.
The genus Progne was established in 1826 by Boie, in the ‘ Isis’ for
that year (p. 971), for the reception of the Purple Martin, which thus
became the type. The birds in this genus may be distinguished by having
the nostrils opening upwards and exposed, without any internal overhanging
membrane. Some of the species have a metallic gloss on the feathers of
the upper parts, whilst others are uniform brown. It is impossible to
state how many species there are in this genus, many Swallows pre-
senting characters intermediate between it and Hirundo. On the widest
estimate the number of species would be between thirty and forty, which
are confined to the Nearctic, Neotropical, and Ethiopian Regions. The
narrowest estimate would reduce the number of species to four, belonging
to the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions only. The sole representative of
this genus in Europe is the Purple Martin, which is supposed on more than
one occasion to have accidentally strayed as far as the British Islands.
It is not known that the species of this genus differ from those of
Hirundo in habits, food, or nidification.
PURPLE MARTIN. 189
PROGNE PURPUREA.
PURPLE MARTIN.
(Pirate 18.)
Hirundo apos carolinensis, Briss. Orn, ii. p. 515 (1760).
Hirundo subis, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 344 (1766).
Hirundo purpurea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 344 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Latham, Audubon, (Boie), (Degland § Gerbe), (Brewer), (Baird),
(Newton), &e.
Hirundo violacea, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1026 (1788).
Hirundo ceerulea, Vierdd. Os, Amér. Sept. i. p. 57, pl. 26 (1807).
Hirundo versicolor, Viedll. N. Dict. d Hist. Nat. x. p. 509 (1817).
Hirundo ludoviciana, Cuv. Regne An. i. p. 396 (1817).
Progne purpurea (Linn.), Bote, Isis, 1826, p. 971.
Progne subis (Linn.), Baird, Rev. Am. Birds, p. 274 (1864).
The Purple Martin has a very slender claim to be considered a British
bird. A single specimen is said to have been shot, early in the year 1840,
near Kingstown, co. Dublin. The late Dr. Scouler examined and dissected
it, and it eventually found a place in the Royal Dublin Society’s Museum,
where it still is. Two other examples were said to have been obtained at
Kingsbury Reservoir, Middlesex, in September 1842, one of which went
into Mr. Bond’s possession. Another example is said by Mr. Clarke
(‘ Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata,’ p. 39) to have been shot at Colne
Bridge, Huddersfield, in 1854; but the statement requires confirmation.
The Purple Martin is a summer visitor to the United States and Canada,
ranging northwards above the Arctic circle. It winters in Mexico, where,
however, a few retire to the mountains to breed. Stragglers have occurred
in the Bermudas.
The Purple Martin is as well-known and familiar a bird in America as
the House-Martin is in England. It arrives, according to Wilson, on the
south-eastern borders of the United States, from its winter-quarters, late in
February or early in March, reaches Pennsylvania about the first of April,
but does not arrive at Hudson’s Bay until May, and leaves the latter
district again in August. Richardson states that it arrives within the
Arctic circle before the snow is off the ground, and when the waters are
still ice-bound. The Purple Martin seems almost as closely associated with
man in America as the House-Sparrow is in England, with the difference
that it is a very popular favourite and is encouraged in various ways.
Wilson states that even the solitary Indian seems to have a particular respect
for it, and fits up hollow gourds on the tops of the trees near his cabin for its
reception. It haunts the largest and busiest towns of America and seems
190 BRITISH BIRDS.
as much at home amidst the bustle and confusion as in the quiet country
districts. .
Wilson states that about the middle or the 20th of April, the Purple
Martin sets about preparing its nest ; and the first brood appears in May,
and the second late in July. It used formerly to breed in holes in rocks
and trees, but now buildings seem to possess the greatest charm for it.
The nest appears to be a very loosely made structure of dry leaves and
grass, fine straws and twigs, and is lined with a considerable quantity of
feathers. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway state that rags, string, and other
rubbish often form part of the nest, which is thoroughly repaired after
the first brood has flown, and is occupied, presumably, by the same pair of
birds every year. The eggs are from four to six im number, pure white
and very glossy, and measure from 1:0 to ‘93 inch in length, and from
°8 to 65 inch in breadth. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway state that eggs
from Florida are proportionately smaller than those from the Northern
States. Wilson writes :—‘‘ During the period in which the female is lay-
ing, and before she commences incubation, they are both from home the
greater part of the day. When the female is sitting she is frequently
visited by the male, who also occupies her place while she takes a short
recreation abroad .... He sits on the outside, dressing and arranging
his plumage, occasionally passing to the door of the apartment as if to
enquire how she does. His note at this time seems to have assumed a
peculiar softness, and his gratulations are expressive of much tenderness.”
The Purple Martin is said to be a very bold and courageous bird, and
never fails to attack an intruder on its domain. He is even said to mob
such large birds as Crows, Hawks, and Eagles, attacking them with such
vigour as to make them instantly resort to flight. The song of this bird is a
succession of twittermg notes heard at the earliest dawn, and during the
early period of incubation incessantly uttered. Its flight is very rapid ; and
it glides very often like our Swift. Wilson writes :—‘‘ He passes through
the most crowded parts of our streets, eluding the passengers with the
quickness of thought; or plays among the clouds, gliding about at a
vast height, like an aerial being. His usual note, pewo, peuo, peuo, is loud
and musical; but is frequently succeeded by others more low and gut-
tural.”
The food of the Purple Martin is principally composed of bees, wasps,
and large beetles, a fare very different from that of most Swallows. ‘These
birds do not winter in the United States; and their departure is said to
vary according to the state of the season. ‘They move southwards in large
flocks, occasionally halting for a few days on the hill-sides near the sea,
then passing on again.
The Purple Martin has the general colour of the plumage lustrous steel-
blue with a purplish gloss; the wings and tail are dull black; on the sides
PURPLE MARTIN. 191
under the wings is a concealed patch of white. Bill black ; legs, feet, and
claws dark brown; irides brown. The female very closely resembles the
male in colour, but is much duller above and the underparts are browner and
greyer, sometimes almost white on the belly. Young birds are said to
resemble the female. The general black colour and large size readily
distinguish this bird from our British species.
Three other Swallows have been included in the British list, but on
evidence that is altogether unsatisfactory. The Red-rumped Swallow,
Hirundo rufula, was recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1853 (p. 38753) by
Mr. Rodd, as seen by him at Penzance, in Cornwall. It may easily be
distinguished from the Barn-Swallow by its chestnut-coloured nape and
rump and its streaked underparts. It breeds in South-eastern Europe,
Asia Minor, and Palestine, wintering in North-east Africa. Its eggs are
_ indistinguishable from those of the House-Martin.
An example of the Barn-Swallow more rufous than usual on the under-
parts was erroneously recorded in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1866, p. 428, by Mr. J. H.
Gurney, Jun., as a Chestnut-bellied Swallow, H. cahirica, the geographical
distribution and description of which is given amongst the allied species
of the Barn-Swallow. The eggs of the two species are indistinguishable.
The White-bellied Swallow, A. bicolor, was recorded as a British bird
by Wolley, in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1853 (p. 3806), from a specimen said to
have occurred near Derby in 1850. It is a bird somewhat resembling the
House-Martin in general appearance, but is without the white rump and
the feathered legs and feet. It is common throughout North America,
breeding from lat. 88° to the Arctic regions, and is also a resident on the
tablelands of Mexico. It winters in the West Indies, in Central America,
and the northern portions of South America. Its eggs are pure white.
192 BRITISH BIRDS.
Subfamily MOTACILLIN &, on WAGTAILS.
The Wagtails and the Pipits are a group of slender-billed insectivorous
birds. The absence of a bastard or first primary sufficiently distinguishes
them from the Thrushes, Warblers, Tits, Crows, or Shrikes, and also from
the Waxwings and Starlings, in which the bastard primary, though very
small, is always present. From the Finches the slender bill is a
distinguishing character, and from the Swallows the narrow bill and
longer legs separate them sufficiently.
The Larks, which are probably their nearest allies, differ in having the
back of the tarsus scutellated, and in only moulting once in the year.
The Wagtails and Pipits have a partial spring moult, which does not,
however, extend to the quills and tail-feathers. In both genera the tarsus
is scutellated in front.
The Motacillinz are almost cosmopolitan, and are found throughout the
world, except in the Polynesian Subregion, which consists of all the
tropical Pacific islands. They are most abundant in the Palzarctic,
Ethiopian, and Oriental Regions, and least so in the New World. Only
one species of Wagtail enters the New World, in the extreme north-west
of the Nearctic Région ; but the Pipits are rather more numerous. There
are upwards of eighty species and subspecies in this group of birds, which
has been subdivided into numerous genera, many of which are founded
upon characters of a more or less trivial nature. Highteen species are
found in the Western Palearctic Region, fourteen of which are included
in the British list. Of these, two have been included on insufficient
evidence.
Genus MOTACILLA.
The genus Motacilla, as defined by Linnus in the twelfth edition of
his ‘Systema Nature,’ vol. i. p. 328, published in 1766, was a very com-
prehensive one, including the Robins, the Accentors, the various groups of
Warblers, some of the Flycatchers, the Chats, the Wagtails, the Wrens,
MOTACILLA. 193
and the Goldcrests. It is impossible to guess what species was considered
typical by Linnzeus ; but subsequent writers in subdividing the genus have
restricted it to the Wagtails, the White Wagtail being accepted as the
type because it is the Ficedula motacilla of Brisson.
It is not known that there are any structual characters by which the
Wagtails may be separated from the Pipits, except that the former have
longer tails in comparison with their wings than the latter. In the general
style of coloration there is, however, a great difference between the two
genera. There are two extreme types of coloration in the Wagtails, be-
tween which are several intermediate ones. In one extreme the upper
parts are black or grey, the throat and breast black, and the remainder of
the underparts white; in the other extreme the upper parts are olive-
green and the underparts yellow. On the other hand the prevailing
colours of the Pipits are brown, more or less spotted above and below.
The Wagtails are found throughout the Old World, with the exception
of the Australian Region; but one species crosses Behring’s Straits into
Alaska. This genus contains about thirty species and subspecies, of which
eight are European ; of these, five are included in the British list.
The Wagtails frequent open and well-cultivated districts, the banks of
streams, and pastures; they are most frequently seen on the ground,
where they run with great ease, continually vibrating their tails. Their
flight is very undulatory, and their powers of song are very feeble. They
feed, so far as is known, upon insects and small shellfish. Their nests
are built upon the ground or in holes in rocks and buildings; and their
eggs vary from bluish white to brown in ground-colour, profusely spotted
with brown or grey of various shades.
VOL. If. 0
194 BRITISH BIRDS.
MOTACILLA YARRELLII.
PIED WAGTAIL.
(PLatE 14.)
Motacilla alba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 331 (1766, partim).
Motacilla lugubris, Pallas, fide Temm. Man. d Orn. i. p. 253 (1820, partim).
Motacilla lotor, Rennie, Mont. Orn. Dict. p. 377 (1888).
Motacilla yarrellii, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1837, p. 74; et auctorum plurimorum
— Bonaparte, Degland § Gerbe, Salvadori, Savi, Homeyer, Blasius, T aczanowsky,
Varrell, Gray, Macgillivray, Thompson, Irby, Sharpe, Harting, Stevenson, &c.
Motacilla alba lugubris, Schlegel, Rev. Crit. p. 87 (1844).
The Pied Wagtail is very widely distributed throughout the British
Islands, and, except in the extreme north, is a resident species. It appears
to be migratory in the Hebrides, and is also a summer visitor to St. Kilda.
To the Shetlands it is a spring and autumn visitor, most numerous at
the latter season; but it is not known to have visited the Faroes or
Tceland.
On the continent the distribution of the Pied Wagtail is extremely
limited. It breeds sparingly in the south-west of Norway, frequently
occurring on Heligoland on migration; and it occasionally breeds in
Holland, and more abundantly in North-west France. It is a common
winter visitor to South-west France, Portugal, and Western Spain, and
occasionally crosses the straits into Tangiers. Stragglers have been
obtained in Belgium, and as far east as Italy and Sicily.
Although Temminck and Vieillot were acquainted with the Pied Wag-
tail as early as 1820, and recognized its distinctness from the White Wag-
tail, English ornithologists confounded the two together until 1837, when
Gould, with his habitual keen eye for a species, pointed out the difference
between them. The confusion arose from the imperfect diagnosis of
Linnzeus, who doubtless himself knew both forms, and considered them
identical, since he not only refers both to the Motacilla alba of Willughby
and of Albin, which are unmistakably black-backed birds, but also adopted
the name which these ornithologists had used, and apparently so worded
his apology for a description as to include them both.
The Pied Wagtail, although it is so common, from its neat appearance and
lively cheerful habits is always admired. It loves to frequent the neigh-
bourhood of water, which is almost as essential to its presence as it is to
the Dipper. It frequents every variety of scenery, and may be seen
daintily running round the margins of mountain-pools and upland-lakes
as well as near the horse-ponds, brooks, and large sheets of water in the
PIED WAGTAIL. 195
low-lying and richly-cultivated districts. It is very fond of frequenting
meadows and old pastures, is often seen in the farmyard or running along
the roofs of out-buildings or on the country roadside, bathing in or
wading through the little puddles, busy in search of food. Although
many Pied Wagtails remain in this country throughout the year, its
favourite haunts rarely being quite deserted even in midwinter, many
retire southwards in autumn and leave our islands. These birds return
in flocks very early in the following spring. During the cold days of
early March, when the air is still frosty and bracing, and the cold east
winds are drying up the moisture of February, the Pied Wagtails may be
often seen in flocks on the ploughed fields, sometimes accompanied by
Meadow-Pipits, on their way from the lowlands to the moors. They run
along the ridges, dipping into the furrows, then appearing again, tame
enough to pass under the horses’ noses, or come within arm’s length of the
ploughman as he rests his team at the headland. Few birds are more
tame and confiding than these fairy-lke little creatures. Stevenson, in
his ‘ Birds of Norfolk,’ mentions a migratory arrival of these birds which
he noticed at Teignmouth in Devonshire. They appeared on the morning
of the 20th of March, and the grassy slopes near the sea were soon covered
with them; but on the following day they had passed on, probably to
their breeding-grounds further north. The Pied Wagtail may be often
seen wading in the shallows near the shore, or running nimbly along the
little islets of mud in the centre of the stream, passing over the treacherous
surface without the slightest inconvenience. It is never seen to hop; but
always runs, sometimes aided by its wings. Its tail is constantly in
motion, as if serving as a kind of balancing-pole, and is usually spread
out like a fan when the bird alights or takes wing. Its flight is a droop-
ing one, performed in a long succession of curves or dips. It is capable
of flying with very great rapidity, as, for instance, in the spring, when it
is chasing its mate or a rival to her affections, or when in pursuit of some
predacious bird. Pied Wagtails stand well upon their legs, the tail is held
almost horizontal to the body, consequently they can wade to some little
distance without wetting their plumage, or run over the softest mud with-
out soiling it. They run hither and thither with wonderful ease, tripping
daintily along, ever and anon taking little flights to catch passing flies, or
turning incessantly from left to right in busy search for food. Now they
run into the shallows for a little way and snap at a gnat on the surface ;
then, returning, they will pause for a moment, with rapidly quivering tail,
to preen their plumage. Sometimes they rise into the air and settle on the
branches overhead, perching just as comfortably as a Sparrow, and evi-
dently quite at home amongst the twigs. They are very fond of alighting
on the roof of some out-building, and of running nimbly along calling
incessantly to each other, or making little sallies into the air like a Fly-
o2
196 BRITISH BIRDS.
catcher. Then perhaps they will flutter down to the mud-banks in the
centre of a pool or half-emptied mill-dam, alighting gracefully, without
soiling a feather of their pure white under plumage. :
The Pied Wagtail is often seen in the meadows, and runs about quite
fearlessly amongst the grazing cattle, seeming to know full well that they
will not harm it, and that they are conscious of its good offices in ridding
them of their insect pests. In the autumn many Pied Wagtails may be
seen on the sea-coasts, even wading in the shallow water. Here the chief
objects of their quest are the small sand-flies, swarming in countless
myriads on the heaps of decaying seaweed or sporting over the sands.
The song of the Pied Wagtail is only heard at rare intervals, most fre-
uently in the spring; it is a short, loud, and varied strain, putting you
in mind of the twitter of a Swallow, and is generally uttered when the
bird is fluttering in the air like a Pipit. Sometimes he will sing when
daintily poised on a water-encircled stone or even on a clod of earth. Its
call-note is generally a sharply-uttered chiz-zit; but it has also a pro-
longed note, which is probably used from one sex to the other.
The Pied Wagtail is a somewhat early breeder, generally beginning
operations in April; and Gray remarks, in his ‘ Birds of the West of Scot-
land, that he has observed young birds in full feather as early as the
middle of May. The nest is built in various situations. Sometimes it
is placed far under a convenient stone, at other times under a tile in
a brick-field or even in a disused drain-pipe. More general situations for
it are in holes of walls or rock-crevices, amongst the gnarled roots of
trees, on the margin of a stream, in a rugged bank, or on the wall-plate of
a cattle-shed, whilst less frequently a hole in thatch, a pile of wood, a
haystack, or a heap of stones will be chosen. The nest is a somewhat
bulky structure, thickly matted together, and made of dry grass, roots,
moss, and leaves, and lined with wonderful neatness with wool, hair, and
often with feathers. The eggs of the Pied Wagtail are from four to six in
number, greyish white or the palest of blue in ground-colour, profusely
speckled and spotted with greyish brown, and with underlying markings of
French grey. Some specimens have the markings more or less streaky, and
on many there are a few hair-like streaks of rich blackish brown. They
vary in length from ‘86 to ‘75 inch and in breadth from °68 to ‘56 inch, and
many specimens closely resemble certain varieties of those of the House-
Sparrow, but are seldom so e:ongated.
Dixon writes :—‘ Young Pied Wagtails stay in their parents’ company
some time after they quit the nest ; indeed in some cases they will keep in
company through the autumn and winter. It is a pleasing sight to see a
young brood of these Wagtails and their parents. The little creatures,
some time before they are able to fly, will leave the nest and wait
patiently the arrival of their parents with food; but upon the least alarm
PIED WAGTAIL. 197
they take refuge im the nesting-hole, as they do at nightfall. In the
breeding-season the trustfulness of this Wagtail is often very considerable,
and it will repeatedly build its nest in the most frequented and busy situa-
tions. I once knew a nest of this bird in a hole of a wall bordering a
large sheet of water, in fact the nest was but afew inches from the margin.
It contained four young ones, which were continually running in and out
of the hole which contained their nest ; and by keeping perfectly stili they
approached me closely, and I had the pleasure of seeing the birds feed
their offspring with a few crumbs that I scattered for them. When the
young have gained the full use of their wings the nest is abandoned for
ever, and we see them on the fallows and pastures. Here they are still
fed by the old birds; and it is pleasing to observe the actions of both
old and young at this period, as the latter with drooping wings welcome
the arrival of their parents with food. See them, now walking, now
running, in all directions, making sad havoc amongst the clouds of
insects. Gifted with the most acute sight, the Wagtails can distinguish
the smallest insect at incredible distances. Now running, aided by their
wings, they capture an insect, and with notes of exultation call their
young, nestling closely and motionless amongst the earth-clods at hand.
With quick motion the little creatures bound forward and receive the
proffered food with all the graceful actions so prominent in this charming
group of sylph-like birds.”
The food of the Pied Wagtail consists of insects of various kinds, both
picked up from the ground and caught whilst flying in the air. It will
also eat small beetles, for which it searches amongst manure and the
leaves of plants, and it finds great quantities of larvee whilst following the
plough.
Numbers of Pied Wagtails move southwards in autumn. They appear
to migrate principally along the coast-line ; and Gray remarks that
immense numbers may be observed passing down the Clyde at Glas-
gow. This gentleman has seen in September and October as many as
three or four hundred assembled on the timber-rafts in that river. In
this way the birds probably wander down the coast southwards, great
numbers being regularly observed on the southern shores of Hngland,
whence they cross to their winter-quarters on the continent. On the
return migration I noticed them very common both at Biarritz and at
Bordeaux early in March; and Mr. Knox records the arrival of small
parties of these birds on the coast of Sussex in the middle of that month.
The adult male Pied Wagtail in full breeding-plumage has the forehead
extending along the sides of the head and neck pure white; the rest of the
upper parts is black, except the tips of the median wing-coverts, the mar-
gins of the greater wing-coverts and innermost secondaries, and the greater
portion of the two outside tail-feathers on each side, which are pure white,
198 BRITISH BIRDS.
and the wings, which are dark brown. The chin, throat, and upper breast
are black, which joins the black of the back at the shoulder, isolating the
white on the sides of the neck from the white of the rest of the under-
parts. Bill black; legs, feet, and claws black ; irides dark brown. The
female in summer plumage closely resembles the male; but the upper
parts are much greyer and mottled only with black. After the autumn
moult the black on the throat and breast is reduced to a crescentic band
across the latter, and the white on'the throat is only separated from the
white of the underparts by the grey on the back, which extends to the
sides of the neck and flanks.
The changes of plumage which this bird undergoes appear never to have
been fully described, though it is somewhat extraordinary that they should
have been overlooked, since those of the nearly allied White Wagtail have
been so accurately pointed out by Naumann. Young in first plumage
have every feather of the upper and underparts, except the wings
and tail, grey, shading into nearly black on the upper and into nearly
white on the under tail-coverts. They moult this plumage in the first
autumn ; but the colour of the upper parts is scarcely changed, except
that the forehead and the sides of the head have become white, more or less
suffused with yellow*. The underparts are much whiter, the chin and
throat being white, more or less suffused with yellow, the black cres-
eentic band appears on the breast, and the head is more or less mottled
with black in the male, but not in the female. In the following spring
they moult into fully adult plumage, except that the black on the back
is more or less mottled with grey. At the second autumn moult, when
the birds are a little more than a year old, the fully adult winter plumage
is assumed.
Apparently, at all seasons and at all ages, after the first moult, the Pied
Wagtail may be distinguished from the White Wagtail by its very dark
rump, the upper tail-coverts only being dark in the latter species. Strange
to say, in the extreme east of Asia, breeding in the lower valley of the
Amoor and North China, and wintering in South China and the Burma
peninsula, M. leucopsis, a still nearer ally of the Pied Wagtail, occurs.
When fully adult it appears to differ only in having the white on the wing
developed to a much greater extent.
* Some writers have attempted to discriminate between M. alba and M, dukhunensis on
the ground that the young of the former are yellowish about the head, whilst the young
of the latter never have this yellow tinge. There can be no doubt that birds of the year,
both from Eastern Asia and from Western Europe, are sometimes with and sometimes
without this yellow tinge.
WHITE WAGTAIL. 199
MOTACILLA ALBA.
WHITE WAGTAIL.
(Prat 14.)
Ficedula motacilla, Briss. Orn, iii. p. 461 (1760),
Ficedula motacilla cinerea, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 465 (1760),
Motacilla alba, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 331 (1766, partim); et auetorum plurimorum
—Gmelin, Scopolhi, Latham, Bonaparte, Naumann, Degland §& Gerbe, Savi,
Salvadori, Newton, Dresser, &e.
Motacilla cinerea (Brvss.), eek Syst. Nat. i. p. 961 (1788).
Motacilla albeola, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 506 (1826),
Motacilla dukhunensis, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p- 91.
Motacilla brissoni, Macgill. Man. Brit. B.i. p. 160 (1840).
Motacilla baicalensis, Swinhoe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 363.
The White Wagtail was first noticed in England in May 1841 by
Mr. Bond, who found it breeding at Kingsbury reservoir. Since that date
many other specimens have been obtained, chiefly in spring, leading to the
conclusion that a few come every year to this country to breed. Amongst
other localities where it has been found breeding may be mentioned North
Devon, the Isle of Wight, Sussex, Kent, and Huntingdonshire. It is of
far less frequent occurrence in Ireland, but may have been overlooked. In
Scotland the only specimen which has come under Mr. Gray’s notice was
shot in the winter of 1847 at Dunbar, in East Lothian, whilst Saxby states
that he saw a pair at Lerwick in 1854. A specimen of this bird has been
sent from Greenland ; and it is common in summer in Iceland and the
Faroes.
The White Wagtail breeds throughout Europe as far north as land
extends. In the northern portions of its range it is a migratory bird, and
winters in South Europe, where some remain to breed on the mountains.
It also winters in North Africa, in the west as far south as Senegal, and in
the east as far south as Zanzibar ; but a few are said to remain to breed in
Egypt. It occasionally visits the Canaries in winter. It breeds in Siberia,
as far east as the valley of the Yenesay and as far north as land extends,
In Palestine, Asia Minor, and Persia it is principally known as a winter
visitor, but many remain to breed in the highlands. Its breeding-range
also extends throughout South-west Siberia; but in Turkestan it is
chiefly known as passing through on iets fan, except in the south-west,
where a few remain to winter. A somewhat nearly allied species, MW.
personata, having the grey back of the White Wagtail, but the white
on the head joined to the white on the throat as in the Pied Wagtail, ranges
200 BRITISH BIRDS.
from Persia, through Turkestan and Cashmere, along the mountains
of South-west Siberia as far east as Krasnoyarsk and Yenesaisk ; and
in the latter locality appears to have driven out the White Wagtails and
to have divided them into two colonies. As I ascended the Yenesay
from the Arctic circle the White Wagtail abounded on the banks of the
river until I neared Yenesaisk about lat. 59°, when suddenly it disappeared,
and its place was taken by M. personata; but about halfway between
Yenesaisk and Lake Baikal, Middendorff found the White Wagtail again,
and Taczanowsky describes it as common near Lake Baikal and in West
Dauria. The isolation of this colony appears to have been facilitated by
the fact that in autumn the birds migrate eastward instead of westward to
winter in West China, Burma, and India. Some ornithologists have
described birds from this colony as distinct under the name of M. duk-
hunensis; but I am unable to detect any difference between examples from
Lake Baikal, North Siberia, India, or Spain. North-west European
examples have somewhat narrower white margins to the wing-coverts.
The British ornithologist who leaves his native island and crosses over
to the continent may ramble over any farm on the shores of the German
ocean without finding much difference between the birds of the two
countries. Most of them he will recognize as old acquaintances ; a few
which he looked upon as great rarities im England he will find to be
common on the other side of the water; and some which at the first glance
he may suppose to be common British birds, he will find on closer exami-
nation to differ slightly from their insular representatives. To the latter
eroup belongs the White Wagtail. On the continent from Calais to
Hamburg this bird everywhere takes the place of the Pied Wagtail. The
two birds have the same habits, nearly the same song and call-notes, make
a similar nest, and lay similar eggs. There seems to be no difference be-
tween them whatever, except in the colour of the back and the sides of the
neck. The Pied Wagtail is obviously an island form of the White Wag-
tail, and has probably been differentiated since the passing away of the
Glacial epoch. During the warm climate which appears to have succeeded
this cold period in these latitudes, the White Wagtails of the British
Islands were probably ‘isolated from their continental brethren, and
possibly having fewer enemies (both birds and beasts of prey being com-
paratively less abundant on islands than on continents) sexual selection
was not prevented by protective selection from providing them with a
special bridal dress at the spring moult. In those days the isolation of the
two areas of distribution was probably complete ; and we may fairly assume
that the two species only began to invade each other’s territory 1m com-
paratively recent times, since the winters have become sufficiently cold to
compel them to be more or less migratory in their habits. Hence we find
that although the White Wagtail is so rare in our islands, it is not, like
WHITE WAGTAIL. 201
most common continental birds who seldom visit us, a late migrant to its
breeding-grounds. On the contrary it is one of the earliest birds to arrive
in North Germany, frequently appearing before March, and even occa-
sionally remaining during the winter.
In Siberia I found that the White Wagtail was the first of the soft-
billed birds to arrive on the Arctic circle in any numbers, the great break-
up of the ice on the Ist of June being the signal for its appearance on its
breeding-grounds. In the valley of the Petchora it appeared for the first
time on the 12th of May, and we got the first eggs on the 15th of June.
The nesting-site selected by the White Wagtail is precisely similar to that
chosen by the Pied Wagtail, and the nest is made of similar materials. A
nest of this bird I found at Alexievka was lined entirely with reindeer’s
hairs and two or three spider’s cocoons. The eggs of this species are five
or six in number and vary considerably. The specimens I have in my
collection may be fairly divided into three distinct types. The first and
ordinary type is pale greenish blue in ground-colour, spotted and thickly
speckled, chiefly at the large end, in the form of an irregular zone, with
greyish brown and with underlying markings of French grey. The second
type has the ground-colour almost pure white, and the spots and speckles,
distributed in the same manner as in those already described, are a much
richer brown. ‘The third type is dull white in ground-colour, thickly
marbled, splashed, and spotted over the entire surface with reddish brown
and pale brown. This latter type might almost again be subdivided into
two, for sometimes the markings are very rich brown and finely powdered
over the surface, leaving the ground-coiour very strongly appareut, and at
the larger end of the egg are sometimes a few streaky spots of dark brown
almost black. The eggs vary in length from 88 to ‘7 inch, and in breadth
from *62 to 55 inch. It is very difficult to distinguish the eggs of the
White Wagtail from those of the Pied Wagtail ; but generally the latter are
not so blue in ground-colour, and the brown, or third type above men-
tioned, does not seem to occur at all. In temperate Europe the White
Wagtail rears two broods in the year, the first eggs generally being laid in
April, the second in June.
The habits of the White Wagtail are not known to differ in any im-
portant respect from those of its very close congener the Pied Wagtail, and
the haunts it frequents are similar. There can be little doubt that this
pretty little bird is overlooked in this country and confused with the
common species. Mr. J. Cullingford writes to me, respecting Lincoln-
shire and Cambridgeshire, that the bird is much more plentiful than
formerly. He has seen nests of this species, and, as far as his experience
goes, he says that it breeds later than the Pied Wagtail. Among the spring
flocks of Pied Wagtails an occasional White Wagtail may not unfrequently
be seen on the fields with the Rooks following the plough ; they run about
202 BRITISH BIRDS.
as nimbly as their congeners, often chasing each other through the air
and very often flying in search of an insect. The White Wagtail often
perches on trees and is fond of running along roofs of buildings or on
walls. It roosts in trees, generally selecting some bare slender twig for
the purpose, and before and after the breeding-season frequently repairs to
old reed-beds, where it spends the night with the Starlings and other birds.
Its food consists of insects, small beetles, larvee and small worms,
mollusks, and grubs. It is a very active lively little bird, running hither
and thither, and repeatedly taking a short flight like a Flycatcher. Its
song- and call-notes appear scarcely to differ from those of the Pied Wag-
tail, although some naturalists have asserted that there is a recognizable
difference in the call-note of the two species.
The adult male White Wagtail in breeding-plumage has the forehead,
the sides of the head and neck, and the underparts below the breast pure
white, shading into slate-grey on the flanks. The rest of the head and the
nape is jet-black ; the general colour of the upper parts below the nape,
including the lesser wing-coverts, is slate-grey, shading into nearly black
on the upper tail-coverts; the quills are brown ; the innermost secondaries
and the greater wing-coverts are brownish black, broadly margined with
white, and the median wing-coverts are tipped with white; the tail is
black, except the greater portion of the two outermost feathers, which are
white. The chin, throat, and breast are black. Bull, legs, feet, and claws
black ; irides dark brown. The female somewhat closely resembles the
male; but the black on the head does not extend so far on the nape and is
suffused with brown, and the slate-grey of the back is not so blue. The
changes which take place in the plumage of this bird are similar to those
of the preceding species.
GREY WAGTAIL. 203
MOTACILLA SULPHUREA.
GREY WAGTAIL..
(Piate 14.)
Ficedula motacilla flava, Briss. Orn, iii. p. 471, pl. xxiii. fig. 3 (1760).
Motacilla melanope, Pall. Reis. Russ. Reichs, iii. p. 696 (1776).
Motacilla tschutschensis, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 962 (1788).
Motacilla boarula, Scop. apud Gimel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 997 (1788).
Motacilla sulphurea, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschi. ii. p. 459 (1807); et auctorum plu-
rimorum—(Kaup), Bonaparte, Degland § Gerbe, (Horsfield §& Moore), (Jerdon),
(Holdsworth), (Legge), (Hume), Irby, Shelley, Newton, &e.
Motacilla cinerea, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. §c. Brit. Mus. p. 22 (1816).
Motacilla bistrigata, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc, xiii. p. 312 (1821, partim).
Calobates sulphurea (Bechst.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 83 (1829).
Budytes boarula (Scop.), apud Eyton, Cat. Brit. B. p. 15 (1836).
Motacilla xanthoschista, Hodgs. Gray's Zool. Miscell. p. 83 (1844).
Pallenura sulphurea (Bechst.), Bonap. Consp. i. p. 250 (1850).
Pallenura javensis, Bonap. Consp. i, p. 250 (1850).
The Grey Wagtail is sparingly distributed throughout England and
Wales, breeding in the mountainous districts and migrating into the lower
valleys and into the plains for the winter. In the Channel Islands it is
probably a resident. In Scotland it is more generally distributed than in
England, and though not found on the Outer Hebrides it occurs on several
of the inner islands. It occasionally visits Orkney in summer, and is
frequently driven by storms to the Shetlands in autumn. In Ireland it is
widely although locally distributed.
The range of the Grey Wagtail extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
but does not appear to include either the Scandinavian or Kamtschatkan
peninsulas. It breeds throughout Central and Southern Europe, the
northern limit of its range being Holstein, West Russia south of Moscow,
and Hast Russia south of lat.59°. In Siberia Finsch found it in the valley
of the Obb in lat. 67°; but in the valley of the Yenesay I only obtained
one example in lat. 664°, and Middendorff did not find it east of the Lena
north of lat. 62°. It breeds in Asia as far south as Persia, Turkestan, Cash-
mere, South Siberia, and Japan. It is a resident in the Canaries, Madeira,
and the Azores ; but in most parts of its range itis a partial migrant, breed-
ing on the mountains and wintering in the plains, and many of the
European birds cross the Mediterranean to winter in North Africa and
Palestine. To Siberia it is only a summer visitor, passing through Mon-
golia on migration and wintering in India and Ceylon, the Andaman Islands,
Java, the Burma peninsula, some of the Philippine Islands, Formosa, and
China. Some ornithologists distinguish the eastern race of this bird from
204: BRITISH BIRDS.
the western, the former having on an average a slightly shorter tail than
the latter. The extremes vary from 3} to 44 inches; but every inter-
mediate measurement is found, and occasionally the measurements do
not agree accurately with the geographical distribution.
The haunts of this fairy-like and graceful little bird are never far from
running waters. It appears to love them best when in their wildest moods ;
and it frequents the rocky banks of mountain-rivers and streams, espe-
cially if they are well wooded, living in scattered pairs, each appearing to
have its own range.
The Grey Wagtail has always been one of my special favourites. In
spite of its name, the delicate brilliancy of its plumage entitles it to be
considered one of our most elegant native birds. All its movements cor-
respond ; nothing can be more graceful than the way in which it will run
along the margin of a still pool, leaving the impression of its delicate feet
on the sand, or daintily flit from stone to stone in the running stream. It
rarely, if ever, frequents pastures, as the other Wagtails are fond of doing ;
nor have I ever seen it on the lawn or in the farmyard; it confines itself
almost entirely to rivers and brooks. I first became acquainted with these
charming birds in the neighbourhood of Saffron Walden. Between this
town and Audley End lies Lord Braybrooke’s park ; a winding brook runs
through it, by the margin of which you might stroll any winter’s morning
with the certainty of seeing one or two pairs of Grey Wagtails. They
were regular winter migrants, appearmg about the middle of October and
disappearing as regularly towards the end of March. Every autumn the
Fieldfare, the Redwing, the Royston Crow, and the Grey Wagtail were the
most conspicuous heralds of winter; and every spring they vanish as
completely. I next met with this bird among the Derbyshire moors, near
Sheffield, but this time as a summer visitor. You may stroll along the
banks of the Derwent any summer day, from Ashopton to Yorkshire Bridge,
with the certainty of seeing one or two pairs of Grey Wagtails, and with
almost equal certainty of finding one of their nests. The river is broad and
full of rocks and stones, and the banks are often steep and rocky. A good
fly-fisher wading up stream will, on a lucky day, soon fill his creel with
trout, and have ample opportunities of watching the Common Sandpiper,
the Dipper, and the Grey Wagtail, which all breed close to the river-side.
The Pied Wagtails are especially numerous, flitting from stone to stone,
allowing you to approach almost close to them before they will fly off to
another stone or perhaps to a tree, uttering their alarm-note of chiz-zit,
chiz-zit. The Grey Wagtails are much less numerous and very much
more shy; and if you wish to watch their graceful movements you must
conceal yourself or be very quiet. In their habits they resemble the other
Wagtails, running very rapidly and gracefully, continually moving their
tails up and down, and now and then taking a snatch at an insect, assisted
GREY WAGTAIL. 205
by a slight effort of the wings, and displaying at the same time the yel-
lowish green of the upper tail-coverts and the conspicuous white feathers
in the tail. When alarmed they will generally fly up from the stream with
an undulating desultory flight, and, as often as not, take refuge in a tree,
from which, if you happen to be too near their nest, they will keep up an
incessant chiz-zit, often preceded by a prolonged plaintive note, like hoo-in.
As the summer advances they leave the localities where they have reared
their young, as I believe most other birds do, and, still following the
streams, slowly migrate towards warmer regions. Late in the summer I
have seen them on the stones in the Porter and the Don, sometimes run-
ning along the roof of a steel warehouse by the river-side in the centre of
Sheffield. I have almost always found the nest of the Grey Wagtail under
an overhanging ledge of rock, built upon the clay or rocky bank, and well
concealed behind grass and other herbage. Once only I saw one built in
the fork of three stems of an alder, close to the ground, almost overhanging
the river. I remember once being shown the place in which a Grey
Wagtail’s nest, containing four eggs, had been taken the day previously
by my friend Mr. Charles Doncaster, who substituted for them four Wren’s
eges. We were surprised to find the four Wren’s eggs gone, the white
cow-hair lining having been ejected with them. A fifth Grey Wagtail’s
egg had been laid in the damaged nest, which turned out to have been
built upon the ruins of an old Thrush’s nest containing broken egg-shells.
The Grey Wagtail seems to have a great attachment for its favourite breed-
ing-places. I have found the nest year after year upon the same ledge of
a rocky bank. The eggs are laid towards the end of April or early in
May. The nest is very similar to that of the Pied Wagtail, a trifle smaller
inside, and perhaps a little deeper, and even more carefully made. It is
almost entirely composed of fine roots, with a few stalks of dry grass in the
outer and coarser portions, and is lined with cow-hair, the prefereuce
being given to white. I have never seen any feathers used, although
Macgillivray, Yarrell, and other naturalists assert that such help to form
the lining of the nest.
In the spring of 1873 I had the pleasure of renewing my acquaintance
with this charming bird in the classic region of the Parnassus, in a locality
very similar to the wilder Derbyshire dales. The little village of Agoriane,
between three and four thousand feet above the level of the sea, enjoys a
climate very similar to that of the High Peak of Derbyshire. The foliage
in the neighbourhood is also very similar ; you meet with the hawthorn, the
oak, and the holly, as well as the bramble, ivy, and the dog-rose. Many
of the birds, too, are the same. Not far from the village flows a mountain-
stream, conveying the melted snow of the Parnassus down to the Topolais
Marsh, the Dead Sea of Greece. This stream runs at the bottom of a
deep mountain-gorge, singularly wild and picturesque, in many places all
206 BRITISH BIRDS.
but inaccessible and frequently concealed by dense foliage. I explored
its course for some distance up into the pine-region and down almost into
the valley, the region of the vine, and could almost fancy myself to be
scrambling along one of the wilder branches of the Derwent. I found my
old friend the Dipper breeding exactly as if he were in Derbyshire, and
keeping him company was my special favourite the Grey Wagtail. The
nests of the latter were in similar situations to those I have described, but
the materials slightly varied. Moss and soft grass took the place of roots,
and the lining of hair was very thick, as if to protect the young birds from
the night air, which is much colder in the Parnassus than in Derbyshire.
Of one nest I noted down at the time that it was profusely lined with black
goat’s hair, but that the bird followed the Derbyshire fashion of a final
lining of white hair. I obtained several nests of fresh-laid eggs in the
middle and end of May; but these appeared to be second broods, as I shot
several young birds of the year. Dr. Kriper told me that the migrations
of the Grey Wagtail in Greece are similar to those of our English birds.
In summer it frequents the mountain-gorges, and in winter is found on
the banks of the streams in the valleys.
The eggs of the Grey Wagtail are five or six in number, generally five,
and may be divided into two distinct types—one in which the ground-
colour is pale French grey mottled with light brown, and the other of
a much warmer tint, more nearly approaching cream-colour, mottled and
spotted with a much richer brown. On many specimens there are one or
two rich dark brown, almost black, streaks on the large end. The eggs
vary in length from ‘79 to °65 inch, and in breadth from ‘59 to ‘54 inch.
It is extremely difficult to distinguish the eggs of this bird from those of
the Yellow Wagtail or the Blue-headed Wagtail; but those of the Grey
Wagtail are, on an average, slightly smaller. The Grey Wagtail rears
two broods in the year, the second, according to Macgillivray, being
abroad in July. The male relieves the female in the duties of incubation.
The song of the Grey Wagtail, like that of its congeners, is not very
often heard, but it resembles very much the twittering of a Swallow. Its
food, which is sought for both in the air and on the pebbly shores of its
favourite waters, consists principally of insects, small beetles, and fresh-
water mollusca. In autumn the young birds and their parents form little
family-parties, which often keep together far into the winter. At this
season the bird often repairs to the neighbourhood of the coast, following
the river from its mountain-sources to its junction with the sea. The Grey
Wagtail is perhaps more often seen in trees than any other species of
British Wagtail; it seems to prefer to alight in them, and, in spring
especially, its monotonous call-note is heard incessantly from the branches.
The adult male Grey Wagtail, in full breeding-plumage, has the general
colour of the upper parts slate-grey, darkest on the head, and shading into
GREY WAGTAIL. 207
greenish yellow on the rump and upper tail-coverts; the wings and wing-
coverts are blackish brown, the latter with pale margins ; the secondaries,
including the innermost, with the basal half white and the outer web of
the latter margined with buffish white; the six centre tail-feathers are
brownish black margined with greenish yellow, the outermost feather
on each side white; the next two with the inner web white, but the greater
portion of the outer web brownish black; a narrow white eye-stripe ex-
tends from the base of the bill to about half an inch behind the eye, and
another stripe of the same colour extends downwards from the base of the
lower mandible along the sides of the throat and the upper breast, which
are black; the remainder of the underparts are canary-yellow. Bill
black; legs, feet, and claws brown; irides dark brown. The female closely
resembles the male, but is rather duller in colour, and generally has the
throat nearly white; but occasionally more or less dark brown feathers
appear, principally on the sides.
After the autumn moult there is very little difference between the sexes ;
the upper parts are slightly suffused with olive, and the throat and upper
breast are white. Young in first plumage and birds of the year closely
resemble their parents in winter plumage ; but the upper parts are suffused
with sandy brown, and the eye-stripe and the underparts are suffused with
buff. After the spring moult, when the black throat is assumed, each black
feather has a white margin, broad in males of the year, but narrow in adults.
In the latter these margins disappear almost entirely during summer.
The Grey Wagtail of both sexes, and at every age and season, may
be distinguished from all the other British Wagtails by its uniting the
characters of a grey back with a green rump and upper tail-coverts. It has
no very close ally ; but its nearest relation is probably M. flaviventris, from
Madagascar, which differs in having the black on the throat confined to a
crescentic gorget, and in having the upper tail-coverts black.
208 BRITISH BIRDS.
MOTACILLA FLAVA.
BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL.
(Prate 14.)
Ficedula motacilla verna, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 468 (1760).
Motacilla flava, Zinn. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 3831 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, Latham, Naumann, Temminck, (Salvadori), (Degland § Gerbe), Newton,
Dresser, &c.
Motacilla boarula, Scop. Ann. I. Hist. Nat. p. 154 (1769).
Parus luteus, S. G. Gmel. Reise, iii. p. 101, pl. 20. fig. 1 (1774).
Motacilla campestris, Pall. Reise Russ. Reichs, iii. p. 696 (1776).
Motacilla chrysogastra, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 406 (1807).
Motacilla flavescens, Steph. Shaw's Gen, Zool. x. p. 559 (1817).
Motacilla bistrigata, Raffles, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 312 (1821, partim).
Motacilla flaveola, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 501 (1826).
Budytes flavus (Linn.), Brehm, Vog. Deutschi. p. 344 (1881).
Budytes beema, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 90.
Motacilla neglecta, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 129.
Motacilla flava, var. vulgaris, Sundev. Vet. Ak. Handl. 1840, p. 53.
Budytes gouldi, Macgill. Man. Brit. B. i. p. 163 (1840).
Budytes schisticeps,
Budytes dubius, Hodgs. Gray’s Zool. Mise. p. 85 (1844).
Budytes anthoides,
The first British ornithologist who appears to have discovered that the
Yellow Wagtail of our islands was distinct from the ‘‘ Gelbe Bachstelze ”
of Germany was Gould, who as long ago as 1832 pointed out the difference
between the two species. Two years later Doubleday shot an example of
the continental species at Walton-on-the-Naze, and since then it has been
frequently observed in various parts of the country.
The Blue-headed Wagtail is chiefly known as an accidental straggler on
migration to our islands. It is usually found in the southern, south-
western, and eastern counties of England, generally in the spring or early
summer. Nests of this species have been found near Gateshead, and
doubtless it breeds in several other localities. It is a much rarer visitor
to Scotland, only one or two specimens having been recorded ; and Saxby
states that it has been observed late in autumn in Shetland. Although
not known to Thompson, it has been ascertained to occur in Ireland by
Mr. Blake Knox. It is said to have been twice found on the Faroes.
The Blue-headed Wagtail, subject to some local variation, has by far
the largest area of geographical distribution of any species in the genus,
extending from the British Islands across Europe and Asia at least as far
as the Rocky Mountains of America. It is common across the Channel,
and is found in Scandinavia south of lat. 60°, which appears also to be the
BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 209
northern limit of its range in Russia. In Western Europe it is found
down to Gibraltar, and crosses the straits into Tangiers; but m Eastern
Europe it does not breed so far south. It passes through South Russia,
Greece, and North-east Africa on migration, and winters in South Africa,
whence it has been received from Damara Land, Natal, and the Transvaal.
In Asia it is said to have about the same range to the north, but in Alaska
it breeds up to lat. 64°. It breeds throughout South Siberia, Mongolia,
and North China, wintering in India and Burma. In Turkestan it is only
known on migration. It is doubtful whether it has occurred in Persia,
but it breeds in the Caucasus. The Asiatic form, to which Pallas gave the
name of Motacilla flaveola, differs slightly from the European form. The
green on the back is yellower; the white on the chin extends to the upper
throat and more or less to the ear-coverts ; the grey on the head is paler
and bluer, and on an average the tail is slightly shorter. At most it can
only claim subspecific rank, as many examples from Eastern Europe and
Western Asia are intermediate. A more marked local race, which may
possibly be specifically distinct, is resident in the island of Formosa and
on the adjoining mainland of China, and is distinguished by its canary-
yellow eye-stripe. The olive-green of the back is slightly darker than in
European examples, and also replaces the slate-grey of the head. Swinhoe
named this form M. taivanus; but as Dybowsky found two examples near
Lake Baikal, and Meves obtained one near Stockholm, its specific distinct-
ness can scarcely be regarded as established. An Arctic form of the
Blue-headed Yellow Wagtail, M. cinereocapilla, breeds in North Europe
and Asia, between lat. 63° and 68°, passes through Central and
Southern Europe on migration, and winters in Africa somewhere south
of Abyssinia. A colony of these birds also breeds in the Lombard Alps.
The Asiatic birds pass through Turkestan and China on migration, and
winter in India, Ceylon, and Burma. This form has not yet been recorded
from the British Islands, although it was erroneously inserted in the British
fauna by Mr. Gould. It differs in having no eye-stripe, and in having the
lores and ear-coverts nearly black. A tropical form, M. melanocephala,
also with no eye-stripe, and having the crown as well as the ear-coverts
and lores black, is a summer visitor to Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, the
Caucasus, Persia, and Turkestan. The European birds winter in North-
east Africa, where a few remain to breed; whilst the Asiatic birds pass
the cold season in India. Intermediate forms between this bird and both
M. flava and M. cinereocapilla occur, so that probably none of them are
specifically distinct.
The Blue-headed Wagtail is strictly a migratory bird in Europe, and
does not reach the southern shores of the German Ocean until April, a
month later than the arrival of the White Wagtail in the same locality,
and long after the Yellow Wagtail has found its way to our islands. ‘The
VOL, II. P
210 BRITISH BIRDS.
last Wagtail to arrive, it is the first to leave, most of them having disap-
peared by the middle of September. Every meadow in Holland abounds
with these charming little birds, running along the banks of the dykes or
among the grazing cattle, and occasionally perching on the wooden boun-
dary-posts, whence they will suddenly take wing to catch a passing fly.
But perhaps their beauty is seen to still greater advantage on the marshy
banks of ‘the lower Danube, where the brilliant sunshine gilds the deep
rich yellow of their breasts as they sit on the top of a willow or tall thistle,
or other rank herbage which flourishes in this semi-tropical climate, dis-
playing the white outside feathers of their quivering tails as they balance
themselves on their uncertain perch.
The habits of the Blue-headed Wagtail are very similar to those of the
other Wagtails. It is partial to swamps, and frequents wet grass-lands,
especially meadows containing cattle. In these situations it may be seen
running hither and thither, incessantly beating its tail up and down, and
feeding in the same manner as the other Wagtails. Its flight is also per-
formed in a succession of droops or long curves.
The song of this bird, like that of its congeners, is scarcely more than
a musical twitter. Its common call-note is a chit-up, similar to that of
the Yellow Wagtail, but certainly shriller than that of the Pied Wagtail. It
has also a prolonged plaintive double note, occasionally heard when the bird
is perched. The food of the Blue-headed Wagtail is composed of insects,
beetles, small freshwater mollusca, caterpillars, and grubs.
The Blue-headed Wagtail is a rather late breeder, and its eggs are
seldom laid before the middle or latter end of May, often not until the
beginning of June, so that probably one brood only is reared in a season.
The nest is built on the ground, and is generally well concealed amongst
rank herbage. A bank is a favourite situation, beneath a tuft of grass or
amongst the gnarled and half-exposed roots of trees standing in open fields.
The nest is made of dry grass, rootlets, and scraps of moss, and lined with
fine bents, hair, and sometimes a little wool, and more rarely a few feathers.
The eggs are from five to six in number, yellowish white or pale bluish
white in ground-colour, mottled, spotted, freckled, and clouded with pale
brown, and sometimes streaked on the larger end with rich blackish brown.
They vary in length from -83 to ‘73 inch, and in breadth from ‘59 to
‘53 inch. Many of the eggs of this bird are absolutely indistinguishable
from those of the Yellow Wagtail and the Grey Wagtail.
The Blue-headed Wagtail often joins flocks of the Yellow Wagtail, and
there can be no doubt that the two birds often keep company during
winter. The most northern birds generally quit their haunts in August
and September, retreating slowly southwards.
The adult male Blue-headed Wagtail in breeding-plumage resembles the
other British Wagtails in the colour of the wings, wing-coverts, and tail.
i
a
BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL. 211
The general colour of the rest of the upper parts is yellowish green, shading
into greenish brown on the upper tail-coverts, as in the Yellow Wagtail ;
but, unlike that bird, the forehead, crown, nape, ear-coverts, and lores are
slate-grey, with a conspicuous white eye-stripe. There is no difference in
the colour of the soft parts or of the underparts; but the brilliant yellow
of the latter often shades into white on the chin and upper throat. The
female has the head greenish brown, with a white eye-stripe; the yellow
of the underparts is not so brilliant, and the breast is more or less mottled —
with brown. The male of the year scarcely differs from the female; but
in the adult male after the autumn moult the slate-grey of the head may
be detected under the brownish green.
212 BRITISH BIRDS.
MOTACILLA RAIL.
YELLOW WAGTAIL.
(Puate 14.)
Motacilla flava, Linn. apud Donovan, Hist. Brit. B. i. pl. xv. (1794).
Budytes flavissima, Blyth, Mag. Nat. Hist. vii. p. 342 (1834),
Budytes flava (Linn.), apud Eyton, Cat. Brit. B. p. 15 (1836).
Budytes rayi, Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. and N. Amer. p. 18 (1838); et auctorum
plurimorum— Yarrell, (Degland), (Gerbe), (Macgillivray), Gray, Dresser,
Newton, &e.
Motacilla flava, var. anglica, Sund. Vet. Ak. Handl. Stockh. 1840, p. 53.
Motacilla flava rayi, Schlegel, Rev. Crit. p. xxxviii (1844).
Motacilla anglorum, Florent Prévost, fide Degl. Orn. Eur. i, p. 442 (1849).
Budytes rayi, var. flavifrons, Severtz. Turk. Jevotn. p. 67 (1873).
The Yellow Wagtail is a summer visitor to the British Islands, but only
appears to pass the Channel Islands occasionally on migration. It is
commonly distributed in England, except in the extreme south-west. In
Scotland it is most common in the southern counties; but it breeds
sparingly in Inverness and Aberdeen, and has been met with in Suther-
landshire. It has occurred several times in Orkney, and is a rare straggler
in autumn to the Shetlands. In Ireland it is only known to breed in one
locality, Lough Neagh ; but has occurred as a straggler in other places.
On the continent of Europe it breeds in the north of France, passes
through the south of France, Spain, and Portugal on migration, and occa-
sionally strays into North-west Italy, in all of which districts it is possible
that a few remain to breed. In Africa it has been found in winter as far
south as the Transvaal on the east coast, and has occurred in Gambia,
the Gold Coast, and the Gaboon on the west. An isolated colony appears
to exist in South-east Russia and West Turkestan.
The Yellow Wagtail has no very near ally with which it is likely to be
confused. From the green-headed variety of Motacilla flava found on
Formosa it may at once be distinguished by the colour of its ear-coverts,
which are yellow or yellowish green instead of greenish brown.
The Yellow Wagtail bears the same relation to the Blue-headed Wagtail
that the Pied Wagtail does to the White Wagtail. There is scarcely any
difference between the two former birds, except in the colour of the head.
It would be impossible to say to which species an albino of either of them
belonged. Their habits are precisely the same, and their nests and eggs
are indistinguishable. Their favourite haunts scarcely differ. A meadow
amongst the Norfolk Broads is, or used to be, an almost exact duplicate in
YELLOW WAGTAIL. 213
its bird-life of a meadow amongst the Dutch dykes, except that in the
former the commonest bird is the Yellow Wagtail, and in the latter the
Blue-headed Wagtail. The Yellow Wagtail is the island form of the Blue-
headed Wagtail; but unfortunately the hypothesis which seems to explain
the relative positions of the Pied and White Wagtails will not account for
the existence of the Yellow Wagtail in Britain. The Yellow Wagtail is
an eastern bird; its geographical distribution, like that of the White
Wagtail, presents the anomaly of a discontinuous area. The true home
of the Yellow Wagtail is in the basin of the Caspian Sea, and the
colony in Great Britain appears to be comparatively small and isolated.
Two explanations of this remarkable geographical distribution present
themselves. So far as is known, the birds from both districts winter only
in Africa, south of the Great Desert. From this vast winter home of so
many Palearctic birds it is well known that there are two great streams of
migration, one reaching Great Britain and the other Central Asia. It is
possible that, in some distant age, a large body of Yellow Wagtails took
the western instead of the eastern line of migration, and finding a suitable
breeding-ground in the British Islands, returned thither every succeeding
year: or we may imagine that an emigration of Yellow Wagtails from Tur-
kestan, similar tothe great emigration of Pallas’s Sand-Grouse from the
same district in 1868, reached our islands before the Blue-headed Wag-
tail had crossed the Channel in any numbers. ‘The latter theory is
supported by the fact that even at the present time stragglers occur on
this route, and occasionally are captured on the island of Borkum, as well
as on Heligoland.
This common and graceful little bird is one of the first to make its
appearance in spring. It arrives early in March in England, but does not
appear to reach its Scotch haunts before April. The Wagtails yield the
palm of gracefulness to none of the feathered tribes, and the present
species is one of the most graceful. Its active sylph-like movements
and its delicate form and lovely plumage make it a general favourite.
It is found in well-cultivated districts, in pastures, open downs,
sheep-walks, and commons. Early in the year, immediately after its
arrival, it often frequents the open country near the sea on the low-
lying coasts; but the locality in which it may always be found at this
season is the fields where spring sowing is going on. From this fact
observant countrymen have given it the local name of “ Seed-bird;” and
in Scotland it is known by the name of “ Seed Lady.”
The Yellow Wagtail is fond of associating with cattle. In summer
almost every field, in its accustomed haunts, where cattle are grazing, is
tenanted by a pair of these birds. They daintily run amongst the grazing
animals, round their legs, under their bellies, and often within a few inches
of their mouths, all the time searching busily for the insects which are so
214 BRITISH BIRDS.
troublesome to the cows, the sheep, and the horses. Its actions are pre-
cisely similar to those of the other Wagtails. It possesses the same active
movements, its tail is also incessantly beating up and down, and it runs
about with the same marvellous speed, and repeatedly flies into the air
to catch passing insects. It is not at all a shy bird, and shows great agility
in picking insects from the tall grass-stems, often fluttering up to the top
of a stalk to take them from a flower.
The Yellow Wagtail follows the plough with as much perseverance as
the Rook, often approaching within a yard of the ploughman, running up
and down over the rugged upturned ground, every now and then taking
a short flight to another part of the field, where its useful labours are
resumed. It is not at all of a wandering disposition, and when once it
makes its appearance on a pasture it usually remains there until its
broods are safely reared. It often alights in trees; but is not so frequently
seen on the roofs of buildings, for it seems to prefer the open fields rather
than the neighbourhood of houses, although I have often seen it near
country railway-stations.
The song of the Yellow Wagtail is a short and lively little strain, some-
thing like that of the Pied Wagtail. Dixon thus writes of it:—‘In the
breeding-season this bird is occasionally heard to sing. Only occa-
sionally is his melody given forth. No moruing or evening lay escapes
from this Wagtail, and his notes are uttered seemingly in sudden outbursts
of gladness. Suddenly, and as it were by resistless impulse, he soars from
the meadow-grass, and, fluttering in the air, warbles a delightful strain
and alights, probably to remain silent for days ere another thrill of glad-
ness causes him to carol forth anew.” Its call-note is a double one, a
shrill and sharply-uttered chit-up. This note is almost invariably uttered
as the bird takes wing. The flight of the Yellow Wagtail is, like that of
all the Wagtails, very undulating, performed in large and equal curves ;
and when the bird alights it usually spreads out its tail like a fan.
The Yellow Wagtail pairs annually, a little after its arrival in spring.
It is, however, possible that many pairs never separate; for some often
return yearly to their old haunts, and the pairing which takes place in
spring may be confined to the young birds, or to those that have lost their
mates. It is rather an early breeder, and the nests destined for the use of
the first broods are usually made by the middle or third week in April,
and the young birds may often be noticed abroad by the latter end of May. -
The nest is always built upon the ground, generally in a well-sheltered
situation, and concealed by a clod of turf or a clump of herbage. Some-
times it is built in the tall grass at the foot of a rough stone wall
bordering a grain-field; at others it is on a mossy bank gay with spring
flowers, and clothed with a luxuriant growth of herbage. The material
of which the nest is composed vary according to the locality; externally
YELLOW WAGTAIL. 215
it is generally made of dry grass or twitch. Mr. J. Cullingford writes
to me respecting the nest of this bird in South Lincolnshire :—“ This
is a bird whose nest varies very much, and scarcely ever do you
find two nests made of the same materials, even if within fifty yards of
each other. I have had some lined with feathers, some with hair, and
some with roots.” The eggs are five or six in number, greyish white
in ground-colour, very thickly mottled and speckled with pale brown or
olive-brown, often so thickly as to hide all traces of the ground-colour.
Many specimens have one or two rich blackish-brown streaks on the larger
end. The eggs in a clutch in my collection from Hickling Broad are
suffused with a delicate rosy tinge. Many of the eggs of this bird cannot
with certainty be distinguished from those of the Sedge-Warbler, and it is
absolutely impossible to separate them from those of the Blue-headed
Wagtail. They vary in length from ‘82 to *73 inch, and in breadth
from ‘63 to ‘55 inch. The young are tended by the old birds for a
short time after they leave the nest, when they are left to take care of
themselves, and their parents rear a second brood, always building a fresh
nest for the purpose.
The Yellow Wagtail feeds on insects, grubs, and small worms; it also
eats a considerable number of small beetles, for it seems to search the
stems and leaves of vegetation more closely than its congeners do. It
may also be seen repeatedly amongst the droppings of the cattle—places
where considerable numbers of beetles may be found. In spring it
searches eagerly for larvee of different kinds.
When the second broods are capable of taking care of themselves, Yellow
Wagtails often congregate into flocks of considerable size and wander
away from their usual haunts. In autumn numbers of these birds may be
seen at the mouths of tidal rivers, doubtless following the stream to the
sea. These flocks have congregated for the purpose of migrating to their
winter-quarters. Many birds leave us in September; others remain
lingering in seductive haunts until October ere they pass southwards. It
is, however, a fact that this bird does not entirely quit our shores in
winter. Dixon has repeatedly seen it in the depth of winter in the
hardest weather, frequenting the banks of running streams; and when
the snow has been lying inches deep, he has noticed this gay little bird
tripping over the frosted surface apparently as much at ease as if on
the summer pastures. Macgillivray states that it leaves Scotland about
the middle of August. It is very common on the south coast -at the
periods of migration, probably crossing the channel at its narrowest part.
The aduit male Yellow Wagtail in breeding-plumage has the general colour
of the upper parts yellowish green, brightest on the forehead and darkest on
the upper tail-coverts; the wings, wing-coverts, and tail scarcely differ in
colour from those of the other British Wagtails. A streak over the eye
216 BRITISH BIRDS.
and the entire underparts are bright yellow. Bill, legs, feet, and claws
black; irides hazel. The female is much browner above and paler
below than the male, and the eye-stripe is buffy white; the wing-bars
are also much less distinct and buffy white. Birds of the year have the
upper parts similar to the female, but browner, the throat is buffy white
tinged with yellow, the breast is brownish buff, and the remainder of
the underparts are pale yellow. After the autumn moult the old birds
resemble the young somewhat, but are without the dark band across the
breast. A very important character of this species is that the ear-coverts
and lores are pale yellowish green, like the crown.
HELIGOLAND.
ANTHUS. 217
Genus ANTHUS.
Linneus and some of the other earlier ornithologists included
the Pipits amongst the Larks in the genus Alauda. Bechstein appears
to have been the first writer who separated them from this genus. In
the second edition of his ‘ Naturgeschichte Deutschlands’ (published in
1807), vol. mi. p. 704, he established the genus Anthus, placing the
Meadow-Pipit as the first species of his new genus. This bird has con-
sequently been generally accepted as the type.
There are no structural characters by which the Pipits may be distin-
guished from the Wagtails, and even in the pattern of colour they have
many characters in common. In both genera the bills are slender and
insectivorous. The Wagtails generally have dark feet, and the Pipits pale
feet ; but in both genera the hind claw is sometimes short and much
curved, and sometimes long and only slightly curved. The general colour
of the upper parts varies in the Wagtails from brownish green to slate-
grey and black, whilst in the Pipits it is always brown of some shade,
either greenish or sandy. In the Pipits the head is generally of the same
colour as the back, and the feathers of both have more or less conspicuous
dark centres; whilst in the Wagtails the head is often quite different in
colour from the back, but each feather of both is uniform in colour. The
pattern of colour of the wing is nearly the same in both genera. The
Pipits have the quill-feathers a uniform brown, without the white bases
which are often found in the Wagtails; but in both genera the outside
webs have narrow pale edges and the inside webs broad pale edges. In
both genera the wing-coverts and innermost secondaries are darker than
the quills, the median wing-coverts have pale tips, and the greater wing-
coverts and innermost secondaries pale margins to the outside webs.
In both genera the two centre tail-feathers are generally concolorous
with the back, and the rest very dark brown, with the exception of
the two outermost on each side, which are almost wholly white in
the Wagtails, but vary much in this respect in the Pipits. The under-
parts of the Wagtails are either white or yellow, shading into brown or
grey on the flanks, with black on the throat or breast in some species,
but spotted on these parts only in the young; whilst the underparts
of the Pipits are uniform light or dark buff, darkest on the flanks,
oceasionally without spots in the adult, but often streaked on the sides of
the throat and across the breast and along the flanks in the adult, and
218 BRITISH BIRDS.
always so in the young. The Pipits always have a pale eye-stripe, but the
Wagtails vary in this respect.
The Pipits being so constant in their pattern of colour, it is not
necessary to give a long detailed description of each species, which would
only confuse the student. All that is necessary is to point out the specific
characters of each.
This genus contains about forty species, and may be practically re-
garded as cosmopolitan, being only unrepresented in the Polynesian
subregion, which consists of all the tropical islands in the Pacific. Seven
species breed in Europe, and two others are occasional visitors. Three
only breed in the British Islands; but four others accidentally visit our
shores.
In their habits the Pipits do not differ much from the Wagtails. They
frequent most kinds of scenery, the well-cultivated districts, the uplands,
the rocky coasts, mountains, and broad plains. They are moderate
songsters, but differ considerably in this respect. Their nests are always
placed on the ground, and are made of dry grass, hair, roots, &c.; and
the eggs are from five to six in number. The ground-colour is generally
almost concealed by a profusion of markings of various shades of brown.
Their flight is rapid and undulating, and most of the species sing on the
wing. They are partly insectivorous and partly granivorous.
MEADOW-PIPIT’S NEST.
TREE-PIPIT. 219
ANTHUS ARBOREUS.
TREE-PIPIT.
(Pirate 14.)'
Alauda arborea, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 340, pl. xx. fig. 1 (1760); et auctorum pluri-
morum—(Tenninck), (Naumann), (Degland § Gerbe), (Bonaparte), (Salvadori),
(Gray), (Stevenson), (Macgillivray), (Savi), (Jerdon), (Tristram), (Godman),
(Hume), (Severtzow), (Goebel), (Kriiper), (Sachse), &e.
Alauda trivialis, Zinn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 288 (1766),
Alauda plumata, Mill. Natursyst. p. 137 (1776).
Alauda minor, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 793 (1788).
Spipola agrestis, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Sc. Brit. Mus. p. 22 (1816).
Motacilla spipola, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 512 (1826).
Anthus trivialis (Zinn.), Heming, Brit. An. p. 75 (1828).
Pipastes arboreus (Briss.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 33 (1829).
Anthus agilis, Sykes, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1832, p. 91.
Fringilla agilis (Sykes), Tickell, Journ, As. Soe. ii. p. 578 (1883).
Dendroanthus trivialis (Linn.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. As. Soc. p. 135 (1849).
Pipastes agilis (Sykes), Gould, B. Asia, part xvii. (1865).
Pipastes montanus, Blyth, Ibis, 1867, p. 312.
Anthus plumatus (Mill.), Shelley, B. Egypt, p. 130 (1872).
Pipastes plumatus (Miill.), Hume, Stray Feathers, 1873, p. 202.
The Tree-Pipit is a summer migrant to our islands and is very widely
distributed. It is found commonly in all suitable localities in England
with the exception of the extreme south-west, but becomes far less common
in Wales. It also breeds in the Channel Islands. @n Scotland Gray
remarks that the only place in which he found this species at all abundant
was within a few miles’ radius of Glasgow, although it is distributed
from Inverness to Galloway, but nowhere in great numbers. On the
east coast he remarks that it is dispersed from Berwick to Banffshire,
and is also found in some of the inland counties. It occasionally
wanders as far as the Orkneys, but does not appear to have been noticed
in Shetland. In Ireland the Tree-Pipit is a very rare species, although it
is quite possible that it has been overlooked. Thompson had no satis-
factory evidence of its occurrence there ; nor was it with certainty detected
until Mr. C. W. Benson met with a pair on the north side of the city of
Dublin (‘ Zoologist,’ 1878, p. 348). In the same periodical for the same
year (p. 454), Mr. H. Chichester Hart, in referring to the above, states
that he found a nest near Raheny, co. Dublin, about thirteen years pre-
viously, which, there can be little doubt, belonged to this species.
The Tree-Pipit, hke many other Palzarctic birds, has two forms, an
eastern and a western, which meet together in the valley of the Yenesay.
220 BRITISH BIRDS.
Newton and Dresser regard them as one species ; but in autumn plumage
the two birds are very distinct. The eastern form, A. maculatus, has the
general colour of the upper parts very much greener, and the dark centres
of the feathers of the back are almost obsolete. In spring plumage they
resemble each other very closely, and in summer much more so—a fact which
has given rise to much confusion between them. It is not known that
any intermediate forms occur.
The Tree-Pipit breeds in Northern and Central Europe, and in Western
Siberia as far east as Krasnoyarsk. In Norway it extends as far north as
lat. 69°, in the valley of the Petchora to about lat. 65°, and in the Ural
Mountains and the valley of the Yenesay to lat. 62°. South of these
limits it is a summer visitor throughout Hurope north of the Pyrenees and
the Balkans, and eastwards throughout Turkestan as far as the Altai
Mountains. In Spain, Portugal, and Italy it is principally known as a
winter visitor, but a few remain to breed on the mountains. It passes
through Greece and Asia Minor on migration, and winters in Palestine,
Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, and Algeria, and has been recorded from Africa
as far south as Caffreland. The eastern Tree-Pipit breeds throughout
Siberia south of lat. 62° and east of Krasnoyarsk. It also breeds in Japan.
It passes through Mongolia on migration, and winters in China, Burma,
and India.
Although the Tree-Pipit bears a very close resemblance to the Meadow-
Pipit, it may generally be distinguished, even on the wing, by its slightly
longer tail and larger size. The Meadow-Pipit does not perch much on
trees, hence its hind claw is long and comparatively straight, whilst
that of the Tree-Pipit is short and curved to enable it to perch securely
on the branches. In spite of these distinctions, and the great difference
in the haunts and the eggs of the two birds, they were very often
confused together by early ornithologists. So far as is known, the Tree-
Pipit was first distinguished from the Meadow-Pipit by Francis Jessop,
of Sheffield, who carefully pointed out the differences between the two
species to Mr. Willughby, in whose ‘ Ornithologia’ it appeared under the
name of Lesser Field-Lark. Both species are still common within half an
hour’s walk of Jessop’s old residence, which is still known by the name of
Broomhall.
The Tree-Pipit arrives in the southern parts of England during the
second or third week of April, a week later in Yorkshire, and in the south
of Scotland not until the beginning of May. Mr. Cordeaux has observed
it in North Lincolnshire on two occasions as early as the 5th of April.
It is a woodland bird, and is fond of open pieces of forest-land well
studded with old trees intermixed with birches. It is also very partial to
the outskirts of woods, and is especially common in fields where there are
tall trees in the hedges. It is rarely seen in bare and exposed tracts of
TREE-PIPIT. 221
country, and is common near houses and in parks. Soon after its arrival
in its breeding-haunts the cock bird devotes the greater part of his time to
his charming and characteristic song. It is a very beautiful sight in early
spring to watch the Tree-Pipit essaying his short flight on his arrival from
a warmer climate. He springs up from the topmost twig of some branch,
and mounts nearly perpendicularly into the air, warbling his pretty song.
He soon begins to hover in the air, and, as if fatigued by his recent
journey, almost immediately descends, with tail and wings expanded like a
parachute, and at last finishes his song on the ground, in a tree, or ona
wall. His downward course is in a semi-spiral curve, and he alights where
the curve of his flight would make a tangent to the surface of the ground,
All this time he has been singing melodiously, the clear, rich, joyous notes
following each other in rapid succession until, as he reaches his perch, he
concludes his song with several long-drawn notes, expressive of almost
impatient anxiety. These plaintive notes may be expressed by ¢see-a,
tsee-a, tsee-a. Ifthe season be not far advanced he will often glide from
one tree to another, singing as he goes; and thus he continues soaring
and warbling the whole day through, occasionally visiting the ground for
food or fluttering after a passing insect like a Flycatcher. The Tree-Pipit
often warbles on his perch; but Dixon has noticed that he does not utter
the long-drawn concluding notes unless in the air. The Tree-Pipit con-
tinues his song until the moulting-season commences, in the middle of
July; it may be heard at all hours of the day, and sounds particularly
charming after a summer shower. Its call-note bears some resemblance
to that of the Greenfinch, and the alarm-note is a sharp and oft-repeated
tick, tick.
When once the Tree-Pipit has paired, which it does usually by the end
of April, it rarely strays far from its haunt all the summer. It generally
selects some tree as a starting-place for its song-flights, and may be seen
there during the whole breeding-season. It is not improbable that this
bird pairs for life ; and in some localities a pair of these birds will be found
every season for years in succession, the same favourite tree being returned
to with unfailing certainty. The nest is always built on the ground,
generally amongst herbage, sometimes on a bank in a wood, and often in
the grass or corn-fields, fifty yards or more from the hedge. Sometimes
a site is selected on a bluebell-covered bank in a secluded lane, or ina little-
used cart-road, or beside a “ drive” in a wood. The nest is usually made
in a little hole, often excavated by the parent birds, and is constructed of
dry grass, moss, afew.rootlets or a tuft or two of twitch, and is lined with
finer grass and a little horsehair. Some nests are much more elaborately
made than others, and sometimes dry grass forms the whole structure. It
is moderately deep and well rounded, and does not differ much in general
appearance from the nest of the Meadow-Pipit.
222 BRITISH BIRDS.
The eggs of the Tree-Pipit are from four to six in number, and differ
so much that it is almost impossible adequately to describe their
variations. The eggs in each clutch are nearly alike, and it is most
probable that each bird lays a peculiar type, which it has inherited from
its parents and transmits to its offspring. The eggs of this bird may be
classified into two groups—one in which the spots are very small and so
profusely scattered over the surface as almost entirely to conceal the
ground-colour, frequently becoming confluent at the large end; the other
in which the spots are bold blotches and streaks, principally confined to
the large end of the egg, leaving the rest of the ground-colour distinctly
visible where the spots are smaller and further apart. Each of these two
groups may again be subdivided according to colour, one extreme being
pinkish white and the other pale greenish blue in ground-colour, the spots
on the former being reddish brown and on the latter sometimes olive-
brown and sometimes dark reddish brown. Between these extremes
numerous intermediate varieties occur. The eggs vary in length from ‘9
to ‘7 inch, and in breadth from ‘65 to 58 inch. What purpose this great
diversity of colour serves is hard to divine, but it is probably a protective
one. Dixon has noticed that the darker-coloured eggs are generally found
in nests in dark situations, as, for instance, under trees or by hedges,
whilst those of lighter tints are found in the barest situations in the bright
sunlight, and almost invariably in pasture-fields. The Tree-Pipit may
sometimes rear two broods in the year; but this is by no means generally
the case, for after the young are fledged they keep in company with their
parents for a considerable time.
The Tree-Pipit is a very wary bird in approaching its nest, and rarely
betrays its whereabouts. When visiting it the parent bird generally drops
into the cover some distance from it, and runs through the grass to the
nest. The female sits very closely, often allowing the mowers to pass
their scythes over her ere she takes wing. During the whole time the
female is engaged in incubation the male rarely wanders far from the nest.
He keeps to his favourite tree, spending his time in song-flights, every
now and then conveying food to his sittmg mate. He also roosts on the
ground near his nest; and when the young are able to fly they always
roost amongst the herbage on the ground. In early autumn the Tree-
Pipits do not resort to the trees as much as in the earlier part of the year,
and are never seen to engage in those soaring flights so characteristic of
the bird in the breeding-season.
The food of the Tree-Pipit is largely composed of insects, picked up
from the ground or from the stems of herbage. The bird may often be seen
on the pastures near grazing cattle, turning over the droppings in search of
little beetles ; and its young are chiefly fed on caterpillars, small worms,
and flies. Upon the ground it is very active in its search for food, run-
TREE-PIPIT. 223
ning about like a Wagtail, but seldom so quickly. Dixon writes :—“ In
August, when the corn is soft and milky, and, indeed, up to the period of
ripening, the Tree-Pipit is repeatedly seen amongst it. Formerly I was
somewhat puzzled by the visits of several soft-billed birds to the corn-fields,
and it was not until I had spent much time in observation and dissection
that I discovered that these visits were for the purpose of feeding on the
corn. The Tree-Pipit is one of the insectivorous birds most commonly
found in corn-fields, and by exercising a little caution you may see it shell-
ing out the wheat with as much dexterity as the Sparrow. This observa-
tion is also confirmed by the observant Macgillivray, who found in the
stomach of a bird of this species husks of small seeds and a considerable
amount of mineral fragments.”
The Tree-Pipit congregates into little parties early in September, and
leaves our shores by the end of the month or early in October; but a few
linger still later, and examples have been shot in November.
The general colour of the upper parts of the Tree-Pipit in spring plumage
is an almost neutral brown, and the dark centres of the feathers are well
defined except on the rump; the general colour of the underparts is buffish
white, which fades considerably during the summer; the spots on the
breast are always well developed, but those on the flanks less so. Nearly
half of the outside tail-feather is white, but that on the penultimate feather
measures little more than half an inch, and in both the white is very slightly
suffused with brown. Bill brown, paler at the base of the lower mandible ;
legs, feet, and claws pale yellowish brown, much lighter than those of the
Meadow-Pipit ; irides dark hazel. The tarsus is somewhat short, measuring
less than an inch. The most important character in the Tree-Pipit is its
short hind claw, which only measures °35 inch and is much curved. The
female is scarcely distinguishable from the male. After the autumn moult
the brown of the upper parts is somewhat richer in colour, and the breast
is more decidedly suffused with buff. Birds of the year are somewhat
more profusely spotted on the breast and flanks, which is still more the
case with young in first plumage.
224 BRITISH BIRDS.
ANTHUS PRATENSIS.
MEADOW-PIPIT.
(Prats 14.)
Alauda pratensis, Briss, Orn. ili. p. 848 (1760); Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 287 (1766) ; et
auctorum plurimorum— Latham, (Temminck), (Naumann), (Degland § Gerbe),
(Bonaparte), (Salwadort), (Dresser), (Newton), &c.
Anthus pratensis (Briss.), Bechst. Orn. Taschenb, iii. p. 564 (1812).
Spipola pratensis (Briss.), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. Se. Brit. Mus. p. 21 (1816).
Alauda sepiaria, Briss. apud Steph. Shaw's Gen. Zool. x. p. 542 (1817).
Leimoniptera pratensis (Briss.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 89 (1829).
Anthus tristis, Baill. Mém. de la Soc. @émul. d Abbev, p. 14 (1838).
Anthus communis, Blyth, White’s Nat. Hist. Selborne, p. 261 (1850).
The Meadow-Pipit is common throughout the British Islands, including
the Channel Islands, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, and
St. Kilda, in all of which it is more or less a resident, merely shifting its
quarters in winter from the mountains to the low-lyimg districts. It is
also a very common bird on the Faroes and Iceland, and a single example
has been met with in Greenland.
The Meadow-Pipit appears to be strictly confined to the western portion
of the Palearctic Region from Iceland to the Ural Mountains in the north,
and from Morocco to Nubia, Asia Minor, and Palestine in the south. In
North Europe it is principally known as a summer visitor, but a few
remain during winter in Germany. In the south of France, as with us,
it is a resident; but in Spain, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine, and
North Africa it is a winter visitor, a few only remaining to breed in the
mountains. It has been recorded from Turkestan, and even from India
and Siam; but it seems probable that in all these cases the Red-throated
Pipit in winter plumage has been mistaken for it.
The Meadow-Pipit is very nearly allied to the Tree-Pipit ; and Severtzow
says that on the mountains of Turkestan a Pipit breeds which is inter-
mediate between them. In connexion with this it may be remarked that
Harvie-Brown and I were surprised to find that in North-east Russia the
Meadow-Pipit was so much more arboreal in its habits than it is in this
country. The Meadow-Pipit is still more nearly allied to the Red-throated
Pipit, and examples in winter plumage are difficult to determine. The
few distinctive characters are carefully pointed out in the description of
the bird. It is notknown that intermediate forms between the two last-
mentioned species occur. There are resident Pipits both on the Canaries and
Madeira; those from the latter island are a dwarf form of the Meadow-Pipit,
measuring only from 2°3 to 2°6 inch in length of wing, that of the Meadow-
MEADOW-PIPIT. 225
Pipit varying from 2°9 to 3°3 inch. Pipits of similar size from the Canary
Islands are probably dwarf forms of the Water-Pipit ; but the Pipits from the
islands on the west coast of Africa have never yet been examined by any
competent ornithologist, and at present they are confused together under
the name of Anthus bertheloti.
Few birds are so common or well known as the Meadow-Pipit, or Tit-
lark as it is -usually called. Although great numbers of Meadow-Pipits
may be found in summer in the low-lying and richly cultivated districts,
in marshy pastures, on commons, and lands near the sea, they are most
abundant during the breeding-season on the moors. In the wildest soli-
tudes of the mountain-heights, in company with the Dotterel and the
Ptarmigan, or lower down the hill-sides on the broad tablelands of heath
with the Red Grouse and the Curlew, this bird is equally at home, and
there is scarcely a marshy spot that does not contain a pair. In the
remotest parts of the Highlands and on the islets of the rough wild
western sea the Meadow-Pipit is often the only land-bird to be seen.. It
is a restless little creature, and seems bent on thrusting itself into notice.
The favourite haunt of this bird is the breezy moors, and there, perhaps,
its habits, at the most interesting period of its existence, are best observed.
In early April, when the uplands first show signs of spring, the Meadow-
Pipits in great numbers quit their low-lying winter-quarters and repair to
them for the purpose of rearing their young. Soon after their arrival the
male bird commences his song, and in some districts so abundant are they
that the air is alive with fluttering Pipits, and their simple little strain is
heard borne on the breeze from all parts of the moors. They may be seen
sitting on low walls, boulders of rock, stunted bushes or heather-stems,
ever and anon sallying into the air, fluttering upwards for a short distance,
then returning to their perches, warbling as they descend. Sometimes,
but not often, the bird will warble as it sits. In many respects the song
and habits of the Meadow-Pipit resemble those of the Tree-Pipit, but are
much less interesting. The song is not nearly so rich nor so loud, and is
much less varied; it is also much shorter, and, according to Dixon’s
observations, is only warbled on the bird’s downward flight, the preliminary
notes which it often utters in ascending being repetitions of its call-note.
Its call-note is a low but very clear ist, often rapidly repeated, and its alarm-
note is a short whit. The Meadow-Pipit does not perch on trees so much
as the Tree-Pipit, and its flight is swift and undulating, somewhat like
that of a Wagtail, but the curves are shorter.
The Meadow-Pipit pairs very early in the season, soon after its arrival
at its breeding-place, but the nest is not generally commenced before the
middle or end of April. The nest is always on the ground, and generally
well concealed; it is often placed on a slope amongst rank herbage,
sometimes at the foot of a little willow bush, or under a bank, in a similar
VOL. II. a
226 BRITISH BIRDS.
situation to that often chosen by the Robin. Sometimes it is placed in a
meadow amongst the grass, at others in a hollow under a stone, and very
often under the shelter of a reed-tussock in a little swampy patch of
ground. Dixon has known this bird build its nest amongst a tuft of reeds
surrounded by water, where the foundation of the nest was saturated with
moisture. The nest is made of moss and dry grass, and lined with finer
grass, hairs, and sometimes a few rootlets; it is rather loosely put
together, but always carefully finished inside, and varies considerably in
size and form, according to the peculiarities of the site. The eggs of the
Meadow-Pipit are from four to six in number, and are pale bluish or
brownish white in ground-colour, profusely mottled and speckled with
spots of brown, amongst which the paler underlying markings can usually
be detected. The variations are not very important, and the eggs of each
clutch are generally alike. When the eggs are very thickly spotted,
many of the spots become confluent and there is little variation in colour ;
but when the spots are fewer the difference in the ground-colour makes
an important difference in the appearance of the egg. On many eggs fine
hair-hke streaks occur, principally on the large end. They vary in length
from *85 to *75 inch, and in breadth from ‘62 to ‘55 inch. The eggs of
the Meadow-Pipit very closely resemble those of the Water-Pipit and many
varieties of the Rock-Pipit; but the eggs of both are usually a more olive-
brown, and those of the latter species are larger and rounder. The
Meadow-Pipit is said occasionally to rear two broods in the season. The
male is often very bold when the nest is approached, and flutters in the
air, uttering his alarm-notes in anxious tones. The female sits very closely,
and often allows herself to be almost trodden upon ere she quits her eggs or
helpless young. Sometimes, when she is disturbed, she feigns lameness,
and endeavours to lure the intruder away by fluttering helplessly along the
ground as if wounded. The Cuckoo often selects the nest of this bird for
its nursery ; in fact in many localities there are no other suitable nests at
hand, as, for instance, on the Grouse-moors and mountain-tops, in both
of which situations the Cuckoo is a common bird. The Meadow-Pipit
may be seen tending her young for some time after they have left the nest,
and, in some cases, the family-party keep together during the winter.
Dixon writes :—“'The summer passes quickly away, and the hill-sides don
their purple tints, an unfailing sign of autumn. The Lapwings and Curlews
leave the bleak uplands as the season wanes, and descend to the coasts for
the winter; the Meadow-Pipits also retire to the lowlands, appearing on
the pastures in September and October. Here they go about solitary or
in little parties. As you stroll over the turnip-fields and grass-lands you
will often see them flying up before you, uttering their feeble and com-
plaining notes of peep, peep, peep, to alight a little distance away, and again
tarry till almost trodden upon ere they take wing, their sober garb harmon-
MEADOW.-PIPIT. 227
izing with surrounding tints. In the autumn by far the greater number
of Meadow-Pipits frequent the turnip-fields, where, with feeble call-notes,
they alight on the broad leaves im search of grubs and insects. When dis-
turbed, as, for instance, by the report of a gun, the whole flock will rise
into the air and flutter here and there in a very uncertain way, the wind
often beating them about like leaves. They soon settle again into the
cover, flymg down two or three at a time. When thus disturbed they are
never seen to alight in trees; they keep fluttering about in the air, flying
hither and thither until they alight again on the ground. The Meadow-
Pipit is a very active little bird, and runs about almost as quickly and
gracefully as a Wagtail, and repeatedly jerks its tail like those birds. It
is by no means shy, yet if repeatedly disturbed will either skulk amongst
the herbage or flit rapidly away long before you are within gunshot.
Sometimes in winter the Meadow-Pipits are very hard pressed for food.
When the ground is covered deep in snow they repair to the manure-heaps,
kept free from snow by the heat of the manure, to catch the small flies
and worms and beetles. This bird when in a helpless state will often try
to hide itself. I have seen one when wounded bury itself for some con-
siderable distance in a snow-drift, and then remain motionless, allowing
itself to be taken in the hand without the least movement. It is only in
autumn that. the Meadow-Pipit is gregarious to any great extent, the flocks
at that season often being of immense size. In winter rarely more than
half a dozen birds flock together ; but im the spring the bird again becomes
to a certain extent gregarious, and may then be seen in company with the
spring flights of Wagtails.”
The food of the Meadow-Pipit is largely composed of insects, larvee,
small worms, and freshwater shells. It may often be seen catching sand-
flies on the coast, and repeatedly sallies into the air like a Flycatcher to
chase an ‘insect on the wing. In winter it varies this fare with little seeds,
and has been known to feed on grain; but at all seasons an insect diet is
undoubtedly preferred, for when the weather is severe, and insects are
scarce, almost every little swampy place in its haunts will be searched for
food, and it then frequents the sides of running streams and manure-heaps.
and often comes to sheepfolds and farmyards to seek for insects.
In autumn vast numbers of Meadow-Pipits pass along our eastern and
southern coasts, evidently on their migration southwards. During Sep-
tember and October countless numbers frequent the Sussex coasts previous
to their departure for the continent, generally moving from west to east,
About the middle of March the return flights are noticed, not so large as
the autumn ones, for the perils of migration cause many of the birds to
perish. There can be little doubt that numbers of Meadow-Pipits leave
this country in autumn and return in spring, but many may possibly be
birds passing our coasts on their way south from Northern Europe. Mr.
Q 2
228 -BRITISH BIRDS.
Booth, in his ‘Rough Notes,’ gives many interesting remarks on the
migration of this bird from his own observations, to which I would refer
those of my readers who wish to enter more fully into this portion of the
bird’s life-history.
The Meadow-Pipit has the general colour of the upper parts olive-brown,
and the dark centres of the feathers are well pronounced, except on the
rump and upper tail-coverts. The white on the outside tail-feathers
resembles that of the Tree-Pipit, but is generally purer and less developed
on the penultimate feather. The general colour of the underparts is nearly
white, thickly streaked with blackish brown on the sides of the neck, breast,
and flanks. Bill dark brown above, pale at the base of the lower mandible ;
legs, feet, and claws pale brown, the hind claw being much elongated (as
long as the toe) and slightly curved; irides deep blackish brown. The
female resembles the male in colour. After the autumn moult the general
colour of the upper parts is a yellowish olive-brown, and of the underparts
a yellowish buff. Birds of the year are suffused both on the upper and
under parts with chestnut-buff, and are more profusely streaked on the
breast and flanks—characters which are still more pronounced in young in
first plumage.
The Meadow-Pipit may be distinguished from the Red-throated Pipit
by the following characters :—Adult A. cervinus in full breeding-plumage,
with its pale buffish-chestnut throat and breast and nearly white margins
to the feathers of the mantle, appears to be very distinct from the same
plumage of A. pratensis, with nearly white throat and almost olive-green
margins to the feathers of the mantle. Adult A. cervinus in winter may
be distinguished by the white margins to the feathers of the mantle; but
the underparts are the same in both species at this season of the year,
except that in very rare instances the chestnut is retained on the throat.
Birds of the year of the two species are scarcely distinguishable, both
having very buff underparts and olive-green margins to the feathers of
the back, but the general colour, especially of the rump and upper tail-
coverts, is greyer in A. cervinus than in A. pratensis. Examples occasion-
ally occur in spring of birds which from the general colour of the upper
parts are evidently A. cervinus, but which have no chestnut on the throat.
These are unquestionably examples of A. cervinus which, from some reason
or other, have not moulted the feathers of the under parts in spring ; but
they may be distinguished at once by the dark shaft-lines on the under tail-
coverts and the almost black centres of the upper tail-coverts, as well as of
those of the rest of the upper parts—two characters which are, perhaps,
the best to discriminate between the two species, though the latter is not
so marked in birds oi the year.
RED-THROATED PIPIT. 229
ANTHUS CERVINUS.
RED-THROATED PIPIT.
(Prats 14,)
Motacilla cervina, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 511 (1826); et auctorum pluri-
morum—(Bonaparte), (Degland § Gerbe), (Savi), (Salvadori), (Hume), (Oates),
(Dresser), &c.
Anthus cecilii, Aud. Deser. de 0 Egypte, p. 360, pl. 5. fig. 6 (1828).
Anthus pratensis nubicus, Hempr. § Ehr. Symb. Phys. fol. dd (1829).
Anthus rufogularis, Brehm, Vig. Deutschl. p. 340 (1831).
Anthus cervinus (Pall.), Keys. u. Blas. Wirb. Eur. p. xlviii (1840).
Anthus ruficollis, Vieill. fide Heugl. Orn. N.O-Afr. p. 323 (1869).
The Red-throated Pipit has scarcely any valid claim to be regarded as
British bird. The only authority upon which it is inserted in the British
list is that of a single individual in the possession of Mr. Bond, who
obtained it from the Troughton Collection, labelled “Isl. Unst, May 4th,
1854.” There can, however, be very little doubt that it occasionally visits
our islands, as it has frequently occurred on Heligoland and in most other
countries in Europe.
The Red-throated Pipit breeds on the tundras above the limit of forest-
growth from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but it becomes rarer west of the
Ural Mountains, and in North Scandinavia is very local. It passes through
Finland and Russia, Turkey, and Asia Minor on migration, and winters in
Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia. To the west of these limits it can only be
considered a straggler ; but it has occurred in autumn on Heligoland, and
in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. A few of the Siberian birds pass
through Turkestan and winter in Persia and India; but the main stream
apparently passes through South-eastern Siberia into China, Burma, and
the Andaman Islands.
I first made the acquaintance of the Red-throated Pipit on a bit of
swampy ground not far from the little village of Kistrand, on the shores
of the Porsanger Fjord in Finmark. I had everywhere found the
Meadow-Pipit very common, when I suddenly came upon a little colony
of the red-throated species, and shot three of them in five minutes. At
Vads6 I had abundant opportunity of watching the bird. The spring was
very late; and in the last week of June the birds were only Just beginning
to breed, and were in full song. The Red-throated Pipit is not so shy as
the common species, does not take alarm so easily, and is much less
difficult to approach within easy gunshot. Its song is more melodious and
prolonged, more nearly resembling that of the Tree-Pipit, which bird it
230 BRITISH BIRDS.
also much more resembles in the colour of its eggs. Its call-note is very
similar to that of the Meadow-Pipit, but is rather louder and a little baser
in tone. It is very decidedly a swamp-bird, being rarely seen on the dry,
grassy hills or on the rocky slopes.
In the valley of the Petchora Harvie-Brown and I found it very abun-
dant. At Ust Zylma it arrived a couple of days after the sudden break-
up of winter, together with the Golden Plover, Fieldfare, Redwing, Grey-
headed Yellow Wagtail, Lapland Bunting, &c., on the 17th of May, a
week later than the Swans, Geese, and Shore-Larks, and a week earlier
than the Stints and Sandpipers. They were in small parties, generally
flying up wind, the bright sun glancing on their breasts, enabling us easily
to identify them. ‘They seemed to be in a hurry to get to their breeding-
grounds, and rarely alighted to feed. During twelve days we only suc-
ceeded in shooting now and then an odd bird. On the 29th of May the
wind was nearly eastand warm. In the afternoon it was very hot, but there
had been a smart frost during the night. We turned out at five, and worked
hard till ten without getting a bird. I had taken down notes of the songs
of the Arctic Bluethroat and the Siberian Chiffchaff, but otherwise had an
empty bag. After breakfast and a pipe in our hammocks, I turned out
again along the banks of the Petchora, which was then full, almost to
overflowing. On “ Vautre cété” (as Piottuch and we always called the west
bank) it had in many places overflowed, and we could see some square
miles of willow and birch forest under water. I bagged a brace of Wood-
Sandpipers and a Ring-Dotterel, and then crossed a sandbank to a marshy
pool, where numerous frogs or toads were croaking in a muffled tone like
bubbling water; they were extremely shy, and hid themselves in the
mud at my approach. After waiting some time, three noses appeared
above the water. I fired, but without effect on the reptiles; but started
seven or eight Sandpipers and a Red-throated Pipit. I went in pursuit of
the latter bird, and found myself upon a flat marshy piece of ground
covered with hillocks of grass almost close to each other. Many Pipits
were sitting in the narrow trenches between these hillocks, and rose at my
feet on all sides as I walked on, and very soon half a dozen were within
thirty paces of me. I chose a double shot, reloaded, and, as I walked up
to my birds, actually rose two or three Pipits between me and them;
they had allowed themselves to be shot over, but evidently objected to be
walked over. Unfortunately I had only two cartridges left, so I shot
another brace and returned to our quarters for more ammunition. Once
again on the marsh I found the Pipits still there, and bagged half a
dozen more. My attention was then taken off for some time in secur-
ing a Sparrow-Hawk, the only specimen we shot in the Petchora. A
couple of days afterwards we twice cressed the same piece of ground,
but did not see a bird; they had evidently been resting after a long
_~RED-THROATED PIPIT. 231
stage of migration, and probably continued their journey northwards
the same night. In twelve days, although we had seen plenty of birds,
we were only able to secure five males and one female. On this occasion
we bagged ten males and one female in a couple of hours. Occa-
sionally we heard them singing on the ground. When disturbed, after
repeated shots they settled, some on the railings, some on the house-
roofs, and some in a willow tree. We saw nothing more of this bird at
Ust Zylma nor for a hundred and fifty miles down the great river. When
we reached the tundra the Red-throated Pipit was again common and
busily engaged in breeding. We found plenty of their nests. The com-
monest bird on the tundra was the Lapland Bunting, and the next
commonest the Red-throated Pipit. The nests of both these species were
placed in recesses on the sides of the tussocky ridges which intersected the
bogs. The eggs of the latter bird varied from the reddish variety of the
eggs of the Tree-Pipit to those of the Lapland Bunting; but the nests
were always easily to be distinguished from those of the last-mentioned bird,
being lined with fine dry grass instead of a profusion of feathers. The
Red-throated Pipit was very fond of perching in the willow bushes in
the sheltered hollows of the tundra and on the islands of the delta.
I found the Red-throated Pipit equally common in the valley of the
Yenesay. It arrived on the Arctic circle on the 6th of June, in the second
half of the great spring migration in this district, a month after the Swans
and the Geese, about the same time as the Plovers and Sandpipers, but a
week or more earlier than the Sedge-Warbler, the Arctic Bluethroat, and
the Petchora Pipit.
The nest of the Red-throated Pipit is entirely made of dry grass, the
coarser pieces being used for the foundation and the finest reserved for
the lining. The eggs of the Red-throated Pipit are from four to six
in number; they bear a general resemblance to those of the Tree-Pipit,
and, like the eggs of that bird, may be divided into two types. One of
these, like its representative in the Tree-Pipit’s eggs, 1s very similar to
the eggs of the Meadow-Pipit, but the markings are seldom so profusely
distributed over the whole surface of the egg; the other type, im which
the spots are darker and much more distinct, and partake frequently of
the streaky character of a Bunting’s egg, resembles more the eggs of the
Lapland Bunting than the other type of the eggs of the Tree-Pipit. The
ground-colour in both types varies from buffish or pinkish white to very
pale greenish blue, and the surface-markings vary from neutral brown
to reddish brown ; the underlying markings vary from pale brown to pale
grey. On one type the spots are large and confluent, but sufficiently wide
apart to show a considerable amount of the ground-colour between them ;
but on the other the spots are small, and so thickly dispersed over the
entire surface as almost to conceal the ground-colour. On some eggs
232 BRITISH BIRDS.
the surface-colour is evenly clouded over the entire surface, with here and
there a few spots of darker colour. Sometimes the markings take the
form of streaky lines and spots. Occasionally one egg in a clutch is
much paler than the rest. The eggs vary from ‘82 to ‘68 inch in length,
and from °62 to ‘55 inch in breadth.
The food of this bird consists principally of insects, small worms,
and larvee, and is not known to differ from that of the Meadow-Pipit.
In winter the Red-throated Pipit becomes gregarious. Writing of this
species in Tenasserim, in winter, Mr. Davison remarks (‘ Stray Feathers,’
vi. p. 367):—“I have only found this species in flocks. As a rule
they keep to the rice-fields, or other planted fields where there is cover.
When disturbed they rise quickly one after the other with a very sharp
clear note, which they continue to utter as they fly. They generally
fly a couple of hundred yards or so and drop again, one after the other,
and commence to creep about among the stalks, one occasionally showing
itself for an instant on the top of a dyke or clod of earth, but diving
rapidly again into cover. Occasionally I have seen them on the banks
of rivers along the water’s edge. I have always found them very shy; and
after they have been fired at a few times, they fly right away out of sight.”
The adult male Red-throated Pipit in breeding-plumage differs from the
Meadow-Pipit by having the general colour of the upper parts much more
rufous (sandy instead of olive), and the whole of the upper parts have
dark centres to the feathers. The white on the two outside tail-feathers is
the same in both species; but the throat and breast are pale buffish chest-
nut, the remainder of the underparts being pale buffish brown, palest on the
under tail-coverts, the longest of which have dark centres. ‘The streaks on
the underparts are not so numerous as in the Meadow-Pipit, and are chiefly
confined to the flanks. Bill brown above, pale below; legs light brown ;
eet and claws darker brown; irides hazel. The female and male of the yearf
in breeding-plumage very closely resemble the male on the upper parts ; but
on the underparts the pale buffish chestnut is confined to the throat, and the
remainder of the underparts are pale buffish brown, boldly streaked on the
flanks and breast with brownish black. After the autumn moult the
upper parts are a slightly richer brown, and the chestnut on the throat
and breast is absent, the underparts beimg yellowish buff, streaked on
the breast and flanks with dark brown. Birds of the year are suffused
both on the upper and under parts with chestnut-buff, and are more
profusely streaked on the breast and flanks. The points of distinction
between the present species and the Meadow-Pipit in these latter plumages
have already been pointed out in the article on the preceding species.
RICHARD’S PIPIT. 233
ANTHUS RICHARDI.
RICHARD’S PIPIT.
(Puate 14.)
Anthus richardi, Viel. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat, xxvi. p. 491 (1818); et auctorum plu-
rimorum — (Bonaparte), (Degland § Gerbe), Salvadori, (Jerdon), Dresser,
Newton, &c.
Corydalla richardi (Vieill.), Vigors, Zool. Journ. i. p. 411, pl. xiv. (1825).
Anthus macronyx, Gloger, Handl. Vog. Eur. i. p. 269 (1834).
Anthus longipes, Hollandre, Faune de la Moselle, p. 85 (1836).
Cichlops monticolus, Hodgs. Gray’s Zool. Misc. p. 83 (1844).
Corydalla sinensis, Bonap. Consp. i. p. 247 (1850).
Anthus maximus, blyth, White’s Nat. Hist. Selborne, p. 262 (1850).
Agrodromas richardi ( Veerll.), Saunders, Ibis, 1871, p. 216.
This fine Pipit was discovered in 1815 by M. Richard, of Lunéville, who
sent examples from Lorraine to Vieillot, who named it in honour of its
discoverer. Richard’s Pipit was first described as a British species by Vigors,
who exhibited, at a meeting of the Zoological Club of the Linnean Society,
on the 13th of April, 1824, an example which had been netted in the fields
near London, in October 1812. Rennie, in 1831, in his edition of Mon-
tagu’s ‘ Ornithological Dictionary,’ records a second British example taken
at Oxford; and Yarrell was informed by Mr. Proctor, of Durham, that he
had shot one near Howick, Northumberland, on the 13th of February,
1832. Since that date so many examples of this bird have been obtained,
that we may now regard it almost as a regular straggler on autumn migra-
tion to our islands. It has been obtained in Norfolk and Shropshire, but
more frequently on the south coast. Edward states that he once saw this
bird in Banffshire, but there is no other Scotch record. It does not
appear to have ever been obtained in Ireland.
So far as is known, Richard’s Pipit is confined during the breeding-
season to the central portions of Asia. The northern limit of its range
appears to be lat. 58° in the valley of the Yenesay, whence it extends
south-east through Dauria as far as the mountains of Eastern Thibet on
the confines of China, and south-west as far as Eastern Turkestan on the
confines of Cashmere. It winters in India, Ceylon, the Burmese penin-
sula, and South China. A considerable number, principally birds of the
year, appear annually to join the western stream of migration, and find
their way into Europe. It has occurred accidentally in Persia, and passes
Heligoland regularly every year. It has also been found in Norway,
Sweden, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Asia Minor, and even in
Algeria. Richard’s Pipit has several near allies, with some of which it
234: BRITISH BIRDS.
may be conspecific. The most distinct of these is Anthus rufulus, a small
race, which appears to be confined to India, Burma, Siam, the Malay
peninsula, Sumatra, and possibly some of the other islands of the Malay
archipelago. It is not known that this form differs from its near ally in
any particular except in size. It varies in length of wing from 3 to 34
inches, whilst that of Richard’s Pipit varies from 33 to 4 inches. Inter-
mediate forms, however, occasionally occur both in India and in China,
which vary in length of wing from 8} to 34 inches. In the latter country
they have been named A. chinensis. Another species which has been still
more confused with Richard’s Pipit is not quite so nearly allied. A.
striolatus * has almost the same geographical distribution, breeding in
Dauria and Eastern and Western Turkestan, and wintering in India, British
Burma, Ceylon, and the Andaman Islands. This species differs in being
on an average slightly smaller than A. 7ichardi, and varies in length of wing
from 3} to 3$ mches. It has also a relatively shorter tarsus, which varies
in A. striolatus from ‘95 to 1:1 inch, and in A. richardi from 1:1 to 1°3 inch.
The hind claw of A. striolatus varies from ‘42 to ‘6 inch in length, whilst
that of A. richardi varies from °6 to 75 ich. The amount of white on
the penultimate tail-feather is generally less than an inch in A. striolatus,
and from an inch and a half to two inches in A. richardi; but exceptions
to this rule often occur. The other characters are scarcely more constant,
and it is often impossible to say to which species some examples ought to
be referred. A. striolatus is represented in South Africa by A caffer, a
species so closely allied to it that I am unable to find the slightest difference
between them.
Richard’s Pipit is essentially a steppe bird, like the Tawny Pipit, but,
unlike that species, it neglects the dry and sterile plains and chooses only
those which are well watered. It delights in wet pastures and rich
meadows left for hay in northern climates, where the harvest is late and
it can build its nest in the long grass, and rear its young before the mowers
come to disturb it, and where it can find abundance of food on the short
grass after the hay is cleared away, just when its young are most voracious.
These conditions it finds to perfection in the flat meadows that stretch
away, often for miles, on the banks of the great rivers of Central Siberia,
and which are overflowed for some days when summer suddenly comes,
and the snow melts, and the ice on the river breaks up. I found Richard’s
Pipit extremely abundant in the meadows on the banks of the Yenesay,
near Yenesaisk. ‘The country is almost a dead flat for miles, and is inter-
sected with half dried-up river-beds and chains of swampy lakes, full of tall
sedges and reeds and water-plants of various kinds, and half concealed by
willow bushes and alders, whilst far away in the distance the horizon is
* This species is the A. godlewskii of Taczanowsky and Severtzow, also probably the
A. campestris of Prjevalsky, and possibly the A. campestris of Finsch.
RICHARD’S PIPIT. 235
bounded on every side by the forest. These oases of grass in the boundless
forest are the paradise of Richard’s Pipit. As I wandered away from the
town this bird became more common. I found them difficult to shoot
on the ground, as they ran about in the grass; but I soon obtained as
many examples as I wanted as they hovered in the air, almost like the
Kestrel.
It is absolutely impossible to express the note of this bird on paper;
but some idea of it may be formed by trying to whistle the Italian word
degli welodiously and loudly.
Dybowsky found them equally common on the “plateaux near Lake
Baikal, at an elevation of 5000 feet above the level of the sea. They arrive
about the middle of May, and build their nests on the ground in the grass.
They usually choose a hollow in the meadows, such as the footprint in the
soft earth of a cow or a horse. ‘The first nest is made in the first half of
June; and frequently a second brood is reared, the eggs being laid in the
second half of July. The nests are said io be very difficult to find. ~ The
male keeps watch, and on the approach of danger he gives the alarm to
the female, who leaves the nest and runs along the ground for some dis-
tance, when she rises and joins the male in endeavouring to entice the
intruder from the nest with anxious cries. If their little manceuvres are
successful the female drops to the ground and runs back to the nest
through the grass. In this district the nest of Richard’s Pipit is the one
usually selected by the Cuckoo in which to deposit her egg. They leave
for their winter-quarters late in September.
Prjevalsky met with Richard’s Pipit’ breeding on the steppes of Eastern
Mongolia, on the north-west frontier of China. He describes it as
tolerably abundant from the end of April till the beginning of September,
and notices that it avoided the tall and thick grass of the marshes and
frequented the wet grassy land sprinkled over with bushes. He states
that, when rising in the air, its movements are similar to those of the
Meadow-Pipit.
Richard’s Pipit was met with during the breeding-season on the plateaux
of Eastern Turkestan by my friend Dr. Scully, whose careful bird-work
stands out in marked contrast to so much of our recent slipshod ornitho-
logical literature*. He found this bird near Yarkand, in June, frequenting
moist ground covered with short grass, and observed young birds at the
end of July. He describes its note as it rises from the ground as a sweet
soft twitter, and also notices the shyness of the bird.
* The gold medal for the best example of slipshod literature must be awarded to the
volume popularly known as the ‘ Ibis List of British Birds,’ which bristles with errors on
almost every page. It is difficult to say which part of the work is the worst. No sort of
judgment has been exercised in the selection of species to be included, and birds are
admitted or rejected in the most arbitrary manner. The nomenclature adopted follows
236 BRITISH BIRDS.
L’Abbé David also met with Richard’s Pipit in Mongolia, a little to
the south of where Prjevalsky found it, and describes it as breeding on
the ground in the grass near water, and as frequently perching on bushes
and tall plants. Early in the breeding-season it may often be seen rising
in the air after the manner of other Pipits, and singing a short song, which
is said to be extremely commonplace. L’Abbé David describes these birds
as quarrelsome, especially during migration.
When I was in Heligoland we met with several small parties of Richard’s
Pipits during the last week of September ; they were easy to recognize
by the loudness of their call-notes. They came with north-east and south-
west winds in company with Golden Plover, Little Stints, Bluethroats,
Dunlins, and other birds, and were very wild and difficult to shoot.
Richard’s Pipit is common in the plains of India and Burma in winter.
It arrives early in October in flocks which disperse over the country, and
remains during the winter in small parties or scattered pairs, which frequent
marshy, swampy land, and are specially partial to the rice-fields. Col.
Legge, describing its habits in Ceylon, says that it frequents pastures,
especially those on which cattle are much fed, and is very fond of dusting
itself on the roads. Soon after its arrival, and also shortly before its
departure, he found it common in the long grass on the marshes. He
describes it as a handsome bird in its carriage, holding itself erect, running
swiftly, and frequently mounting on some little eminence, where it stands
pluming itself. It is constantly uttering its soft but loud note both on
the ground and when flying. Brooks, speaking of this bird in Bengal,
writes :—“ The usual note of this species is not a loud, harsh, discordant
one, as described by some author or other, I forget whom now, but is a
soft double chirp, reminding one strongly of the note of a Bunting. The
flight is very undulating and strong. Of all small birds this one is the
most difficult to shoot from its excessive shyness; and unless the ground
permits of a successful stalk, an approach within shot of a small-bird gun,
such as I use, is almost impossible. There the large wary Pipit stands,
with his head as high as possible, and his neck stretched to the uttermost
to enable him to keep the best of all look-outs; and the moment forty
no scientific rule, unless we admit that the law of compromise comes under that category.
The classification adopted is of the same kind, a compromise between what has been called
the old rostral system and some of the more modern attempts to place ornithological classi-
fication on a scientific basis, none of which have yet passed beyond the stage of provisional
or tentative hypotheses, and the recognition of which is, at the least, premature. The
etymology of the scientific names is pronounced by competent authorities to be generally
very weak, often wrong, and sometimes pedantic. The geographical distribution, both
home and foreign, is carelessly written, full of errors, and often very misleading. The
whole work is a splendid example of the truth of the old proverb, that “too many cooks
spoil the broth.” The volume is well worth purchasing as a literary curiosity.
RICHARD’S PIPIT. 237
yards is passed, that moment he flies, accompanied by any others within
hearing of his note of alarm. However, by dint of extra heavy charges,
and by creeping along under the edge-bunds of the paddy-fields, I managed
to secure a few of this very fine Pipit. The places frequented were low
grounds occurring below jheels or talaos ; the water constantly percolating
through the reservoir-bank kept the low grounds adjacent rather damp,
and in many places quite wet. Over a greater part of this low ground,
the rice-crop having been gathered, there now grew a small vetch with
blue flower, entirely covering what had been the paddy-field a couple of
months before ; and in these vetch-fields, the larger Pipit of which I am
speaking delighted. Before retiring among the vetches to feed, they sat
for some time, as a rule, upon the little bunds which divided the fields ;
and when they did this, I found the best plan was to wait till the look-out
was over, and the birds had retired among the crops to feed. It was then
possible to creep up within shot.”
The nest of Richard’s Pipit has never been described, but probably
differs very little from that of other Pipits. The eggs vary in number from
four to six. Some are profusely spotted all over with minute specks and
blotches of greenish brown upon a pale greenish-white ground-colour,
whilst in others the spots are reddish brown upon a pinkish-white ground-
colour. They vary in length from ‘9 to ‘82 inch, and in breadth from :7 to
‘65 inch. Except in size, the eggs of the present species scarcely differ
from those of the Rock-Pipit and the Water-Pipit.
Like all the other Pipits, this species is principally insectivorous.
Colonel Legge says that in Ceylon it feeds on worms and grasshoppers, and
often seizes a passing butterfly on the wing.
Richard’s Pipit is one of those Siberian birds that are in the habit of
migrating eastwards in autumn to China and India, but which occur so
regularly in Europe that, in many localities, its appearance may be looked
for with confidence every year. ‘The positive statements of Dresser and
others that this bird breeds in Europe are entirely unsupported by evidence ;
and it is much to be regretted that Oates, in his excellent ‘ Handbook to the
Birds of British Burmah,’ should have repeated the myth. The birds
described and figured by Dresser, from Antwerp, in his ‘ Birds of Europe,’
are adult and young immediately after the autumn moult. The opinion
that these birds breed in Europe has arisen in consequence of their late
stay in spring. Ornithologists seem to have been quite unaware that the
breeding-grounds of Richard’s Pipit, the Red-throated Pipit, the Blue-
throated Warbler, the Little Stint, and many other birds are buried in
snow until late in May or early in June.
The adult male Richard’s Pipit in breeding-plumage has the general
colour of the upper parts an almost neutral brown; the dark centres on
the feathers of the head and back are well developed, but are absent from
238 BRITISH BIRDS.
those of the rump, although obscurely defined on the upper tail-coverts ;
the underparts are very pale buffish white, darkest on the breast, which
is streaked with dark brown; the white on the two outermost tail-
feathers is almost pure. Bill dark brown, paler on the lower mandible ;
legs, feet, and claws pale brown; irides hazel. The female resembles the
male in colour. After the autumn moult the whole of the plumage of
both upper and under parts is more sandy. Birds of the year are very
dark brown, the pale margins of the feathers are very white, and the spots
on the breast are larger. Young in first plumage have the pale margins
of the feathers still whiter, and the flanks as well as the throat and breast
are streaked. Richard’s Pipit may always be recognized by its long tarsus,
enormously developed hind claw, the nearly pure white on the outer tail-
feathers, and the streaked breast.
TAWNY PIPIT. 239
ANTHUS CAMPESTRIS.
TAWNY PIPIT.
(Puate 14.)
Alauda campestris, Zinn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 288 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum
—Gmelin, Latham, (Naumann), (Bonaparte), (Degland § Gerbe), (Newton),
(Dresser), &e.
Alauda mosellana, Gimel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 794 (1788).
Motacilla maculata, Gmel, Syst. Nat. 1. p. 965 (1788).
Motacilla massiliensis, Gmel, Syst. Nat. 1. p. 965 (1788).
Sylvia massiliensis (G'mel.), Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 531 (1790).
Sylvia maculata (Gmel.), Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 532 (1790).
Anthus campestris (Linn.), Bechst. Orn. Taschenbd. iii. p. 564 (1812).
Vitiflora massiliensis (Gimel.), Steph. Shaw’s Gen. Zool. x. p. 570 (1817).
Vitiflora maculata (Gmel.), Steph. Shaw’s Gen. Zool, x. p. 571 (1817).
Anthus massiliensis (Gmel.), Vieill. N. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 503 (1818).
Anthus maculatus (G'mel.), Vieil. N. Dict. d Hist. Nat. xxvi. p. 504 (1818).
Anthus rufescens, Temm. Man. d’ Orn. i. p. 267 (1820).
Agrodroma campestris (Linn.), Swains. Classif. B. ii. p. 241 (1837).
Corydalla campestris (Linn.), Brehm, Vogelf. p. 188 (1855),
Corydalla rufescens (Zemm.), Brehm, Vogelf. p. 188 (1855).
The first British specimens of the Tawny Pipit were recorded by Mr.
Dawson Rowley in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1863 (p. 37). A male was shot by a
man named Harding, on the 17th of August, 1858, close to a shallow pool
near Shoreham Harbour, the man’s attention being drawn to it by its
peculiar note. A second specimen of this bird was brought on the 24th
of September, 1862, by a person named Wing, to Swaysland of Brighton,
for preservation. Swaysland saw at once that it was some “ distinguished
stranger,” and acquainted Mr. Dawson Rowley of the circumstance. It
was shot on the cliff, about a mile and a half from Rottingdean, near
Brighton. Since this date about a dozen other examples have been
obtained, mostly near Brighton; one was shot on Trescoe, one of the
Scilly Isles; and a specimen, said to be of this species, was shot near
Bridlington by Mr. Boynton. ‘This species does not appear to have been
observed in Scotland or Ireland.
The Tawny Pipit is a summer visitor to Europe, and breeds in suitable
localities as far north as lat. 57°. It winters in Algeria, where, however,
many remain to breed, and passes through Egypt on migration to winter
in Nubia and Abyssinia. It is a summer visitor to Asia Minor, but is a
resident in Palestine. In Asia this species is on an average smaller in size,
the western race varying in length of wing from 3:8 to 3°4 inch, and the
eastern race, 4. campestris var. similis, from 3°5 to 3:2 inch. The latter
240 BRITISH BIRDS.
breeds throughout Turkestan and South Siberia, as far east as Krasnoyarsk,
and winters in South Persia and India. It seems probable that examples of
the eastern Palearctic race occasionally wander into Europe, as I have a
specimen from Heligoland of which the wing measures only 3°3 inch.
The reputed occurrences of this species in Hastern Siberia, Mongolia, and
China appear to refer to A. striolatus, which may easily be distinguished
by the pure white instead of sandy brown on the outer tail-feathers.
There are two tropical forms of the Tawny Pipit, one of them (4. pyr-
rhonotus) being a resident in South Africa, and the other (A. jerdoni) in
India. Both these species are slightly larger than the Tawny Pipit, and
in both of them the striations on the upper parts are almost obsolete,
except on the head. In both species the fourth primary is nearly as long
as the first, second, and third; and the fifth primary is emarginated on the
outer web; whilst in the Tawny Pipit the fourth primary is relatively some-
what shorter, and only the second, third, and fourth are emarginated.
These tropical forms have been considered identical by Blyth and
Blanford ; but they may be distinguished from each other by the prevailing
colour of the upper parts, which in the Indian bird varies from neutral
brown to isabelline brown, whilst the South-African bird is at all seasons
of the year much more fulvous, and may be further distinguished by the
dark centres to the longest under tail-coverts and by its shorter innermost
secondaries.
The Tawny Pipit is almost a desert-bird, and is rarely seen except
on dry sandy heaths and plains. England appears to have too damp a
climate to suit its constitution, and is also situated almost at the extreme
limit of its breeding-range. Even on the sandy plains of South Holland,
where the soil is so poor that in the most fertile districts the farmers
are seldom able to live entirely on the land, and possess a few tan-pits
as an additional source of income, the Tawny Pipit is a somewhat rare
bird, though it is common enough on the “dunes” or sand-hills on the
southern shores of the Baltic as far north as Riga. It must be looked
upon as a southern bird which never winters north of the Mediterranean,
and only migrates in spring as far north as our latitude to exceptionally
favourable localities, where something approaching a desert may be found.
I found it very common in Greece, and it is the only species of this
genus that breeds there. The Meadow-Pipit, and probably also the Red-
throated and Water-Pipits, spend their winters in that country ; the Tree-
Pipit passes through in spring and autumn on migration ; but the Tawny
Pipit makes Greece its summer home. This bird frequents the valleys in
Greece and Asia Minor, and is rarely seen in either country much more
than a thousand feet above the level of the sea. It seems to prefer the
open plains, and is very common in the almost treeless valley between the
Parnassus and Thermopyle; but in the valleys south of the Parnassus,
TAWNY PIPIT. 24)
where olives and vines are cultivated, wherever the rocks permit, I did not
meet with it at all. It is especially common on the undulating prairie
country, half rock and half grass and heath, between Athens and Marathon.
The Tawny Pipit is a somewhat early migrant for a bird having such
a southern range. It crosses the Mediterranean during the month of
April, a few even appearing as early as the last week of March. It arrives
on the southern shores of the North Sea and the Baltic late in April; but
Nilsson says that it does not reach South Sweden before May. The
return migration commences late in August, and is said to be all over by
the end of September.
In many respects the habits of the Tawny Pipit resemble those of a
Lark. It runs with great swiftness on the ground, then suddenly mounts
some stone or little elevation, looks round, calls to its mate in a prolonged
double note (something like zer-vee), moves its tail up and down, dis-
appears, and runs on again. ‘This monotonous double note is often heard
during the breeding-season, as the male is perched on a bunch of heath or
some other conspicuous tuft of herbage. Of its habits in Algeria Dixon
writes :—“The Tawny Pipit in the more elevated parts of Algeria is very
common, and is a bird that cannot easily be passed unseen. To look at its
plumage one might almost expect to meet with it only in the Desert; but
in summer, at any rate, it does not frequent that sandy waste, and we only
met with it on the elevated plateaux beyond Constantine and in the neigh-
bourhood of Batna and Lambessa. The road between these two latter
places runs through rich meadows and _ barley-fields, and abounded with
Tawny Pipits in abundance. I saw them only in pairs ; they were very
tame, and often allowed themselves to be almost trodden upon before
they would take wing. I often saw them running about very quickly over
the bare pieces of ground, stopping now and then to look round to see if
they were being pursued. When flushed they would often fly for a littie
distance in a very straightforward manner, not undulating, as their usual
flight is, and perch on a little tuft of higher vegetation, or ona boulder,
or even a paling. Many of the birds were on the road, where you
could witness their actions very closely as they ran up and down like a
Wagtail, often giving their tail a sharp jerk, accompanied by a flicking
movement of the wings. They seemed to especially prefer a large un-
enclosed plain of rough land on which no crop was sown, what we
should call summer fallow in England. Here I repeatedly saw the birds
soar into the air for a little way and sing their loud but simple song,
which put me in mind of the Sky-Lark’s notes, although not go rich or so
sweet. It does not soar so high as the Tree-Pipit, and seems anxious
to get to the ground again. When alarmed by the report of a gun,
the birds close at hand would generally rise for some distance into the air
and betake themselves to safer quarters in a drooping flight, uttering
VOL. Il. R
24:2 BRITISH BIRDS.
a short whit or yhit as they went. I found an empty nest, which could
only have belonged to this bird, placed amongst the growing barley, which
was about twelve inches high, in exactly a similar place to that in which
the Sky-Lark often builds, made of dry grass lined with hair.”
The Tawny Pipit breeds. only once in the year, and fresh eggs may
sometimes be obtained in Greece late in May, but in Germany seldom
before early in June. The site for the nest is sometimes under a bush,
sometimes beneath a tuft of dense herbage or under the shelter of a clod
of earth; at others in the open plain amongst the growing crops, and
often near a dried-up streamlet on a bank beside a convenient stone. The
nest is made of dry grass, often intermixed with a few stems of coarse
herbage or straws, together with roots, and lined with horsehair, although
in many cases fine roots alone serve the purpose. The eggs are five or six in
number, and are subject to some little variation ; the more boldly spotted
eges very closely resemble those of the Rufous Warbler, whilst others
might be mistaken for eggs of the Crested Lark. The ground-colour
varies from very pale greenish blue to creamy white, which is always
profusely spotted, but never sufficiently so to hide it. The overlying
spots are reddish brown, and the underlying spots are grey. The spots are
generally elongated, more or less, into streaks, and largest at the large
end of the egg; they are sometimes large, bold, irregular-shaped
blotches, but not unfrequently small streaks or nearly round spots, and
are sometimes dark and rich in colour, but more often somewhat paler and
dull. The number of variations is very great, but the range of variation is
comparatively small. They vary in length from ‘95 to ‘8 inch, and in
breadth from ‘69 to ‘6 inch.
The food of this bird consists of various kinds of insects, especially small
beetles, larve, &c., for which it searches amongst the herbage on the
ground, and it is said seldom, if ever, to eat seeds.
The habits of the Tawny Pipit in winter are very similar to those in
summer. ‘There does not seem any record of its collecting into large flocks
even during the periods of migration. In its winter-quarters it is described
as a comparatively solitary bird, occasionally consorting with Crested
Larks, and frequenting the borders of the desert, but also visiting the
stubbles, the fallows, and even bare places in forests and the banks of
lagoons and canals, but preferrimg sandy wastes where some scant vegeta-
tion is to be found.
The Tawny Pipit varies very much in the colour of its plumage, even in
the same locality. The general colour of the adult male in breeding-
plumage varies from an almost neutral brown to a sandy brown; the dark
centres of the feathers of the upper parts are conspicuous on the head, very
obscure on the back, and entirely absent on the rump, and almost so
TAWNY PIPIT. 243
on the upper tail-coverts; the underparts are uniform buffish white,
darkest on the breast; the lores are very dark brown ; the white on the
two outside tail-feathers is suffused with sandy brown; bill with the
upper mandible dark brown, paler at the tip, and the lower mandible
pale brown; legs, feet, and claws light brown; irides dark brown. ‘The
female very closely resembles the male in colour. After the autumn
moult both the upper and under parts are somewhat more rufous. Birds
of the year are more or less streaked on the breast and the sides of the
throat, a character which is still more pronounced in young in first
plumage. The hind claw is somewhat more developed than that of the
Meadow-Pipit, but not so much so as that of Richard’s Pipit.
R2
244 BRITISH BIRDS.
ANTHUS OBSCURUS.
ROCK-PIPIT.
(Puate 14.)
Alauda obscura, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii. p. 494 (1790); et auctorum plurimorum—
(Bonaparte), (Leach), (Gould), (Keyserling 5 Blaisus), (Salvadori), (Newton),
(Dresser), &e. ,
Alauda petrosa, Mont. Trans. Linn. Soc. iv. p. 41 (1798).
Spipola obscura (Lath.), Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. §c. Brit. Mus. p. 22 (1816).
Anthus rupestris, Nelss. Orn. Suec. i. p. 245 (1817).
Alauda campestris (Linn.), apud Bewich, Brit. B. i. p. 217 (1826).
Anthus petrosus (Mont.), Flem. Brit. An, p. 74 (1828).
Anthus littoralis, Brehm, Vog. Deutsch. p. 831 (1851).
Anthus aquaticus, Bechst. apud Selby, Brit. Orn. 1. p. 258 (1883).
Anthus obscurus (Lath.), Keys. § Blas. Wirb. Eur, p. xlviii (1840).
Anthus spinoletta (Linn.), apud Macgill. Man. Brit. B.i. p. 169 (1840).
Anthus immutabilis, Degl. Orn. Eur. i. p. 429 (1849).
The Rock-Pipit is a resident on all the coasts of the British Islands,
with the exception of the low-lying eastern shores south of Spurn,
where it only appears as a straggler or on migration. It is found
commonly in the Channel Islands, in the Hebrides, St. Kilda, the Orkneys,
and Shetland, and is also common in the Faroes, although not known
to visit Iceland or Greenland.
The Rock-Pipit is little more than a coast-form of the Water-Pipit,
and appears to be confined to the rocky portions of the coasts of North-
western Europe, from the White Sea to the Bay of Biscay. It is found
on the shores of the Baltic; but there is no satisfactory evidence of its
frequenting those of the Mediterranean. It is a resident throughout
its range, except in the extreme north.
The haunt of the Rock-Pipit or, as Macgillivray more aptly terms it,
the “ Shore-Pipit,” is on rocky coasts, even the most dreary and deso-
late being enlivened with the presence of this soberly dressed little bird.
It is strictly a bird of the rocks, and during the breeding-season only
frequents that part of the coast close to the sea between the incoming
tide and the summits of the cliffs, on which the true sea-birds cluster
in myriads. It frequents rocky islands as much as the mainland; and
numbers breed, and are resident throughout the year, on the Farnes, the
Bass Rock, the Isle of May, and perhaps every other rocky islet beyond
including the most isolated ones, far into the stormy Atlantic. Waren
its haunts are invaded it becomes very restless, and flits fwom rock to
rock before you, the wind often driving it along like a fleck of foam. It
ROCK-PIPIT. 245
is not a very shy bird, and will usually allow you to approach it within
gunshot. Sometimes when disturbed from the beach, it will flutter into
the air and fly about in a very erratic manner, often hovering above
the observer’s head, incessantly uttering its call-note, and will often
finally wing its way to the cliffs, and perch midway up them on a little
ledge, where you can see it moving its wings and tail in an uneasy
manner. Its flight is wavering, very uncertain, and sometimes it seems
as though the bird were either perfectly helpless or willingly allows itself
to be tossed hither and thither by the stiff ocean breeze. It is not gre-
garious during the breeding-season ; but in winter it is generally seen in
small parties, which become large flocks at the two periods of migration.
It is very active, and runs up and down over the shingle in true Pipit style,
and repeatedly perches on rocky boulders, masses of seaweed, or even
on portions of wreckage washed ashore.
The Rock-Pipit pairs in the middle of March, and a day or two pre-
vious to that event its song is renewed for the season. Like all the
other Pipits, the Rock-Pipit seldom sings except on the wing. When
it is in full song its notes are very musical, and rival those of the
Meadow-Pipit, but can scarcely compare with those of the Tree-Pipit,
either in variety, richness, or duration. In the pairing-season the
Rock-Pipit sings mcessantly, mounting into the air and gliding down
again to his rocky perch on fully expanded wings and tail. The first
really fine day in early spring is the signal for the commencement of
the song, and it is continued until the young are hatched. The call-note
of this bird is a shrill hist or pst, most pertinaciously kept up if it is
seriously alarmed or its nest is in danger. This call-note is uttered
both when the bird is sitting on the rocks or the ground or when flut-
tering in the air; and it often soars to the zenith of its flight uttering
it quickly, and then returns to its perch in full song. In the Varanger
Fjord, in the extreme north of Norway, where the bird is as common
as it is in this country, I have heard them in full song at the end of May.
Although the Rock-Pipit pairs so early it does not begin nesting until
the middle or end of April, and eggs are rarely found before the end of
that month or early in May. The nesting-site is always selected
not far from the sea, sometimes almost within arm’s length of the
waves ; it is generally in a well-sheltered situation, such as under a stone,
in a crevice of the rocks, or in a hole ina bank, behind a tuft of sea-
campion or under a heap of seaweed; and on one of the Farne Islands
I found its nest on the wreck of a boat washed ashore. Sometimes a
rabbit-burrow is selected or a loose stone wall; whilst in some instances
it is quite maccessible, in a niche on the face of a beetling cliff. Saxby
states that he has occasionally found the nest several hundred feet above
sea-level amongst grass and heather. The nest differs considerably in the
246 BRITISH BIRDS.
material of which it is composed. Sometimes it is entirely made of dry
fine grass, at others seaweed is intermixed or the stalks of various plants
growing near the sea, and it is frequently lined with hair. Some nests
have a considerable amount of moss in them; and Dixon has taken a nest
on one of the Farne Islands in which there was a large white Gull’s
feather in the lining. This difference of material is to a great extent
dependent upon locality. Where the birds can obtain hair they do so;
where fine grass only can be obtained it is generally used; whilst m
localities affording a more extensive choice the materials are more varied.
The eggs of the Rock-Pipit are four or five in number, but do not differ
very much in colour. The ground-colour is generally so much obscured
by the profusion of spots and streaks as to be scarcely discernible, but
appears to be nearly white, occasionally slightly tinged with brown or
ereen. The overlying spots vary from reddish to greyish brown, but the .
underlying spots are always pale grey. On most eggs the markings are
very small and almost confluent, sometimes forming a zone round the
large end. Examples which are somewhat more boldly blotched, and
others which are more sparingly spotted, are not uncommon. Occasionally
a few very dark hair-like streaks occur, principally on the large end.
They vary in length from °9 to °8 inch, and in breadth from ‘66 to ‘6
inch. The eggs of this bird very closely resemble those of the Water-
Pipit, but are on an average much browner and a trifle larger. Two
broods are commonly reared in the season. The old birds are often very
anxious when their nest is menaced. The female usually sits very close,
often allowing herself to be almost touched ere she quits the nest, when
she will sometimes flutter along feigning lameness to draw attention from
her eggs or young.
The food of the Rock-Pipit is chiefly composed of insects and their larvee
and small shells, but it also feeds to some extent on small seeds. Much
of its food is obtained on the seaweed which has been cast up by the storm
above the usual high-water mark, and which in the glaring sun soon
putrifies and abounds with millions of a little black fly. These flies are
eagerly sought after by this industrious little bird, who sometimes
pursues them a little way into the air. It also searches about on the
sandy spots amongst the boulders, especially when the tide is out; and in
winter Saxby states that it will even come to the doors and feed with the
poultry, sometimes perching on the window-sills. The same writer also
states that he has observed it regularly in autumn under the trees
searching for insects, and especially for a small land-shell, amongst the
dead leaves and twigs. It will sometimes follow the receding waves so
closely as to be compelled to wade, and is doubtless often mistaken for the
moment in such a situation for a small Sandpiper or Stint, until it rises
and drifts away, uttering its complaining Ais¢ as it goes.
ROCK-PIPIT. 247
After the breeding-season the Rock-Pipit often wanders from its
accustomed haunts; and in autumn especially it is often seen on the low-
lying marshes on the coasts of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Sussex. Many
of the birds seen in such situations are probably migrants from the high
north, either passing our islands on their journey southwards or staying
here for the winter. In low-lying districts their favourite haunts appear
to be marshes and shingle-banks and the grassy portions of mud-flats.
Early in March these birds generally forsake such places for the more
rocky portions of the coast, where their young are reared, or they pass on
to similar localities further north.
The ordinary form of the adult male Rock-Pipit in breeding-plumage
has the general colour of the upper parts olive-brown streaked, except on
the rump, with dark brown; over the eye is a dull and indistinct buffish
stripe ; the outermost tail-feather on each side has a broad oblique spot
of smoke-grey on the inner web; the chin is dull white, the throat and
remainder of the underparts are sandy buff, most pronounced on the.breast
and shading into olive on the flanks; the throat, breast, and flanks are
streaked with dark brown; bill dark brown, paler at the base of the lower
mandible; legs, feet, and claws brown; irides hazel. The female does not
differ in colour from the male. After the autumn moult the upper parts
are much greener, and the underparts more strongly suffused with yellow.
Birds of the year resemble adults in autumn plumage, but are more
streaked on the flanks, a character which is still more apparent in young
in first plumage. The smoke-coloured patch on the outermost tail-feathers
in this species will always readily distinguish it from the Water-Pipit, in
which this patch is pure white.
In addition to the form the summer plumage of which has already
been described with the streaked sandy-buff underparts, two others occa-
sionally occur. One of these, which I found together with the typical
form in the Varanger Fjord, has the ground-colour of the underparts almost
pure white, possibly the effect of continuous daylight; the other,
which is connected by a series of intermediate examples with the typical
form, has the underparts scarcely differing from those of A. spinoletta, the
streaks being nearly obsolete and the colour of the breast pale chestnut-
buff. The explanation of this singular variation can scarcely be reterred to
interbreeding, because the colour of the outer tail-feathers remains quite
typical. It seems to me that the fully adult male of the Rock-Pipit, like
those of its very near allies the Water-Pipit and the renusyivanian
Pipit, has the underparts unspotted ; but from the rarity of suca examples
in collections, I am disposed to think that the fully adult plumage is only
attained by very old birds in exceptionally sunny climes,
248 Z BRITISH BIRDS.
ANTHUS SPINOLETTA.
ALPINE PIPIT.
(Prate 14.)
Alauda campestris, Briss. Orn. iii. p. 349 (1760).
Alauda spinoletta*, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p> 288 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum—
Gmelin, (Bonaparte), (Degland § Gerbe), (Salvadori), (Newton), (Dresser), &e.
Anthus aquaticus, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 564 (1812).
Anthus montanus, Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. 1. p. 179 (1816).
Anthus coutellii, Aud. Descr. de l’ Egypte, p. 360, pl. 5. fig. 5 (1828).
Anthus spinoletta (Zinn.), Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. § N. Amer. p. 18 (1838).
Anthus nigripes, Eh. fide Dresser, B. Eur, iti. p. 835 (1874).
The Alpine Pipit has only been obtained in our islands, without doubt,
three or four times. The first clearly identified specimens were recorded
by Mr. J. Pratt in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1864 (Gould, ‘Ibis,’ 1865, p. 114).
One was killed near Worthing, and another some time previously on the
beach near Brighton. A third specimen was killed at Shoreham on the
26th of October, 1868 (Dawson Rowley, ‘ Zoologist,’ 1869, p. 1682).
The Alpine Pipit may almost be said to be a circumpolar bird. It will,
however, be more convenient to subdivide it into three forms—a Western
Palearctic, an Eastern Palearctic, and a Nearctic form, the first two
differing only in size and the last two differing only in colour, and all of
them connected by intermediate forms and overlapping each other’s ranges
in a very extraordinary manner. The European Alpine Pipit (A. spznoletta)
is a very local resident in most parts of mountainous Europe. It has not
been recorded from Scandinavia or North-west Russia; but it is said to
pass through Denmark and Heligoland on migration, and it appears to
breed in the Ural Mountains up to lat. 64°. It winters in South Germany,
Holland, Belgium, Asia Minor, Palestine, Algeria, and Egypt. In the
mountainous parts of Spain, France, North Germany, and especially in the
Alps, it is found in winter only on the plains, breeding on the mountains.
It breeds in the highlands of Persia and Baluchistan, and winters in
Afghanistan. It is a resident in Turkestan, and has been obtained from
the Altai Mountains. The eastern form of the Alpine Pipit, 4. spinoletta
var. blakistoni, is a very common summer visitor to the mountains near
Lake Baikal, but is a resident in China, retiring to the mountains to
breed. In Mongolia it is said to be a summer visitor in some parts, and
to remain during the winter in others. It also winters in Scinde and the
* Linneus founded this species upon-“ the bird called Spipoletta at Florence ” of Ray
and Willughby. It is spelt “spinoletta” both in the tenth and twelfth editions; and as
the name has been so universally employed it does not seem worth while to alter it.
ALPINE PIPIT. 249
plains of North-west India. The Nearctic form of the Alpine Pipit,
A. spinoletia var. ludovicianus, breeds in Alaska, Canada, and Labrador,
and the most northern and westerly United States. It winters in the
States and Central America, and has occurred in Greenland and the
Bermudas. Its alleged occurrences in the British Islands appear to be
doubtful; but it has certainly been found on Heligoland, and I have there-
fore deemed it expedient to figure its egg (Plate 14). Westwards its range
extends across Behring’s Straits into North-east Asia, as it is a common
winter visitor to the Kurile Islands and Japan, and was obtained by
Swinhoe in South China. Strange to say, Brooks found this form in
winter in the Himalayas and the valley of the Indus: one of these
examples in my collection is absolutely indistinguishable from skins
from Japan and Massachusetts. The European Alpine Pipit varies in
length of wing from 3°6 to 3°3 inch, and in length of tail from 2°85 to
2°55 inch. Indian birds vary in length of wing from 3°4 to 3:1 inch, and
im length of tail from 2°65 to 2°45 inch. The Nearctic and Japanese birds
do not differ from the eastern birds in size, but are darker and less sandy
in colour on the upper parts, and in winter plumage slightly buffer on the
underparts *.
The Alpine Pipit has often been called the Water-Pipit, a title which is
not only misleading, but has so often been applied to the Rock-Pipit,
which really deserves the appellation, that, to avoid confusion in the future,
I have adopted a name which is expressive of the habits of the bird.
Although the Alpine Pipit is very closely allied to the Rock-Pipit, the
breeding-haunts of the two birds are very distinct. The latter keeps to
the rocky coasts throughout the year; but the Alpine Pipit, although
* The affinity between A. spinoletta and A. ludovicianus has been overlooked by
ornithologists, in consequence of the omission of American writers to describe the summer
plumage of the latter bird. It is very extraordinary that two such careful writers as
Messrs. Baird and Ridgway should have been guilty of such an unpardonable omission.
It is true that a bird in nearly full summer plumage was figured by Swainson and
Richardson (Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii. pl. 44); but so absolutely ignorant were English
ornithologists of the summer plumage of this species that Dresser, in his ‘Birds of
Europe,’ actually suggests that the figure is taken from a European example of the Alpine
Pipit which was exchanged for the original skin after the collection was forwarded to
England. Fortunately, however, Mr. Frank M. Drew, in his ‘Field Notes on the
Birds of San Juan County, Colorado” (Bull. Nutt. Orn. vi. p. 88), remarks that “some
birds,” doubtless adults in full breeding-plumage, “ have not the least trace of a spotting on
the breast,” while others, doubtless September and October birds and young birds in
breeding- plumage, “ are heavily spotted.”
It is impossible to suggest any explanation of the unaccountable blunder of Professor
Newton, who states positively, in his article on the Meadow-Pipit, that the Anthus
pratensis japonicus of Temminck and Schlegel is the Red-throated Pipit. To this species
the Japan bird has no resemblance whatever ; it is absolutely indistinguishable from the
Pennsylvanian Pipit, but might be confused by a careless observer with the Alpine Pipit.
250 BRITISH BIRDS.
more or less a rock bird, breeds on the highest mountains, above the limit
of forest-growth, on the borderland of a region of perpetual snow. It is
said to leave its lowland haunts in March or early in April, ascending the
mountains in small flocks, and waiting on the borders of the frost until
summer clothes the mountain-sides with brilliant flowers and a luxuriant
alpine flora. It is a somewhat shy bird, frequenting the ground or perch-
ing on the rocks, running about like a Wagtail in search of its food, and
ever and anon essaying short fluttering flights into the air to warble its
song, which somewhat resembles that of the Meadow-Pipit, but is louder,
though not so sweet. Its call-note resembles the word ést, and scarcely
differs from that of the Meadow-Pipit or the Rock-Pipit. Its song-flights
are often taken from the top of a stunted bush, a boulder, or large stone.
Like all the rest of this subfamily of birds, it runs along the ground, never
hops, and often wades into the little pools in search of its food. Its flight
is undulating and uncertain, like that of its congeners.
The Alpine Pipit is very common in the Engadine, and frequents the
higher mountain-slopes above the limit of forest-growth, seven or eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea. At a distance these moun-
tain-slopes look like barren rock and snow; but when you climb up to
them the alpine flora, though somewhat sparsely scattered, is brilliant
enough. On the outskirts of each snow patch the delicate little Soldanella
abounds, and its pale purple flowers may often be seen growing out of the
snow itself. In the more sheltered crevices in the rocks the crimson rho-
dodendron blooms, but is represented on the more exposed knolls by the
richly scented Daphne. On the dry limestone slopes the Edelweiss is com-
mon enough, and on the banks of the streams the gentians almost dazzle
the eye by the deepness and intensity of their brilliant blue. Other
flowers not less remarkable abound—the delicate bird’s-eye primrose with
its pale pink flowers, and a dozen others, saxifrages, asters, and the white
and the blue aconite, reminding one continually of the flowers of the
Siberian tundras. Here the Alpine Pipit is by far the commonest bird,
and you may contrast his gentle ist with the loud mee-ik of the Marmot,
which are almost the only signs of animal life in these regions. i @
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