ese rroe noe iy cau Y e o een oo sire 4 : ea: Wt 2 gi Saray CO Cet eS Oe ee CR Cry Ee CO Le Oe oh BCE Base BCE Se eG ees Sta see ry E B 4 Bs oa oj a iter 4 4 x NOTTS ot ~ ELSTON HALL oad bs eee Wl ete xe J as SS 3 | zs > : = ss OSE a,GA0.+ 8% BN x eS SS Orr ee car CI) a 7) SS a Oopk ot o 2 4x S XS x R > CX X90 Ref ita Sl de a ee Bd br Xe er ted Sve 7 . No ie ee hed et Tony Arhe d Ne 2 Gh THE BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN. BY JOHN GOULD, F.RS., &c. IN FIVE VOLUMES. VOLUME IL. : NT LONDON: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. PUBLISHED BY ‘THE AUTHOR, 26, CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. 1873. a alah hed Weal A ( ANS Wi 4 sl a Ci i) LIST OF PLATES. VOLUME II. Norz.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publication was impracticable, the Numbers here given will refer to them when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them. INSESSORES. Caprimulgus europeus . : : : Nightjar, or Goatsucker . 1 ruficollis : Red-necked Goatsucker . 4 : 2 Cypselus apus . : : : : Swift : 3 Ce : : : : : Alpine Swift . : : o 4 Hirundo rustica... : : : ; Swallow : 5 Chelidon urbica. : : : ; : House- Martin. : : : , 0 Cotyle riparia . : : : ; : Sand-Martin . : ‘ : : aod le : : : : : ————— (young) . i : 525 Merops apiaster .. ; : : : Bee-eater : : : é : a7e79. Alcedo ispida . : ; : : : Kingfisher. : : : : el) Coracias garrula. 3 : : : Roller : 3 : : : sl Upupa epops . : : : d : Hoopoe . : é : ; F = 12 Lanius excubitor . : ; Great Grey Shrike . ; eels minor . : : : : : Rose-breasted Shrike. : : 4 Enneoctonus collurio : : : ‘ Butcher-bird . : . : : 4 15 ——_— rufus . : : : : Woodchat : : : : ; 76 Muscicapa atricapilla ; : : : Pied Flycatcher . : ; . = ; collaris . “ 5 : : White-collared Flycatcher . ; els Butalis grisola. : : Spotted Flycatcher . : : : 9 Erythrosterna parva : ; : : Red-breasted Flycatcher . : : 20) Ampelis garrulus”. : ‘ : : Waxen Chatterer . . : : ae il Sitta czesia : : : : : ; Nuthatch : : s : : oe, Parus major . : : 3 : ; Great Tit : : é ; : 223 —_ ceruleus : : ; ; : Blue Vit. ‘ : : A ; . 24 —— ater ; ; ; : : : Coal Tit . ; ‘ : ; : 3 25 cristatus : ; : : : Crasieol Ith : : : : 5 AG Peecile palustris : ; : : ; Marsh Tit . 5 : ; : 2d Mecistura caudata . ; : , : Long-tailed Tit : : ° : 2s aes ee — . : : - —-— (young) . : : 9 Calamophilus biarmicus . : : Bearded Tit : ; 30 Oriolus galbula : ; : : Golden Oriole. : : : : ol Turdus musicus Thrush . : : ‘ : : oe —— vyiscivorus . : : : : Missel-Thrush : : 5 : oS ——— iliacus : : : : ‘ Redwing. : : : : : eo ee pilaris : 2 é : : Fieldfare. : : : ; : 5 Ow —_— atrogularis Black-throated Thrush . : : 5 36 Merula vulgaris Blackbird : 5 : : : 5 ou aS onguava Ring-Ouzel_ . : ; : ‘ - 38 Oreocincla aurea White’s Thrush : : : » 8 Siberian Thrush . : : : . 40 Cichloselys sibiricus Cinclus aquaticus —_—— melanogaster Petrocossyphus cyanus Water-Ouzel, or Dipper . ; : . Al Black-bellied Water-Ouzel . : 5. 42 Blue Rock-Thrush . : : : , ais} Ly re: “s a0 we 9 n oe = - = = EXT 1 aN E = +B Atks nS i) ae In ied) C SI te ‘ YS F awry «@+oVo +02 sn * yy e' (3 ~ in 5 rd BO (OA ” Le td nd J WeVsk Hh 5 hers) (oe N ms - *o i ° SS Loa) Did ch ee +s - = S ie ei ie) oe ns ~ yee, S Uf ae a Ty BE ey a6 an’) ar 5 Xo QS * Ove oh Ee =A as bd BJ ae a ad Oo A A ra a oe he - oo a : 4 ae ae peel Petrocincla saxatilis Saxicola cenanthe rubetra Pratincola rubicola . Erythacus rubecula . Cyanecula suecica - leucocyana Ruticilla phoenicura tithys Aédon galactodes Accentor alpinus modularis Luscinia philomela . Sylvia cinerea . curruca . : Melizophilus provincialis . Curruca atricapilla —— orphea ——— hortensis Troglodytes europzus Certhia familiaris Phyllopneuste trochilus Ut —— sjbilatrix Reguloides superciliosus . Regulus cristatus ignicapillus Ficedula bypolais Acrocephalus turdoides Calamoherpe arundinacea —— ——— joallusiins Calamodyta phragmitis — aquatica Lusciniopsis luscinioides . Locustella avicula Opie ea lieved ebinS: Rock-Thrush . Wheatear : Whinchat 3 : : Stone-chat, or Furze-chat Robin, or Redbreast Red-throated Bluebreast . White-throated Bluebreast Redstart : Black Redstart Rufous Sedge- Warbler Alpine Accentor . : ; Hedge-Accentor, or Hedge-Sparrow Nightingale Whitethroat : Lesser Whitethroat Dartford Warbler Blackcap Orphean Warbler Garden Warbler Common Wren Tree-creeper Willow-Wren . Chiff-chaff Wood-Wren : Yellow-browed Warbler . Golden-crested Wren, or Kinglet Fire-crested Wren Melodious Warbler. Thrush- Warbler Reed- Warbler. Marsh- Warbler : Sedge-Warbler, or Chat . Aquatic Warbler Savi’s Warbler Grasshopper Watbler 56 or CO So oto NO SU UUM TN TNT ONT, na 2 { = \ \ \ a = = 3 > Rio Se ee eed oD 2 — = Et ea = YL or ca = \ e cs 8 PAGS cone coe | = = = SS =e \ S Soe a S PA tS) Gy tS SS \ \ ee cs mS Z Yi fe 2p LAYILLY DY dup uyopy pm uury © 3) WV ety ie i ra va Da be Te > ard 4 a 14 er; Sh SS ’ : oe ne “ aX vy IIt 5 Sy LVVULL YUAN AUT LTTp TOMA TTTTFTT AH 2 ‘ " MT | | | LEED RS all CAPRIMULGUS EUROPALUS, Lin. Nightjar, or Goatsucker. Caprimulgus euwropeus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. 1. p. 346. —— punctatus, Meyer, Tasch. Deutsch., tom. 1. p. 284. ——— maculatus, Brehm, Handb. der Nature. Vog. Deutsch., p. 131. ———— vulgaris, Vieillot. How often do we find that ideas of the ancients are founded upon a semblance to truth ! and thus the herdsmen of Greece and Rome seem to have concluded that this wide-mouthed bird could frequent the neighbourhood of goats and cattle solely for the purpose indicated in the name they assigned to it; whereas it seems more reasonable to suppose that it seeks those animals for the sake of the insects disturbed by them in the act of grazing. A similar habit obtains in the Common Yellow Wagtail (Budytes flava), which may be daily seen tripping round the cattle in our meads, and leaping up beneath them, for flies and other insects. There are hundreds of people in England who to this day believe that the hedgehog also sucks the teats of cows 5 some even assert that they have seen it in the act. Now the truth is that the animal is utterly incapable of such a feat; and, like the bird, it is doubtless attracted to the haunts of the cattle by the abundance of insect- food there found. The Starling leaps on the backs of sheep, the Buphaga on those of the African oxen, and the Zic-zac enters the mouth of the crocodile (so says Herodotus), all with the same object. The ridiculous notions so prevalent with regard to the Nightjar and the hedgehog must therefore be regarded as mere popular errors. The European Nightjar belongs to a very extensive group of nocturnal birds, to which the family name of es Caprimulgide has been given. With the exception of New Zealand and Polynesia, the Arctic and Antarctic regions, one or other of them inhabit the land portion of the entire globe. Their food, in general, consists of insects, for the capture of which their varied forms show an especial adaptation, however different the insects may be, from the huge Crcade and Phasmide to the most delicate moth. In their structure, these Nocturnes are wonderfully diversified, some species being armed with lengthened and very powerful vibrissee, as in Caprimulgus, while in others this character is entirely absent, as in Chordeiles ; some have a pectinated middle claw, others have not; some have exceedingly wide gapes and most delicate mandibles, as Nyctibius; others have stout horny bills, as Batrachostomus and Podargus ; some have very lengthened wings, especially formed for aerial flight, as in Chordeiles ; others have lengthened tarsi, showing that the ground is their natural province, as in Nyctidromus ; some are Owl-like, nest in the holes of trees, and lay white eggs, as the Australian genus Aevotheles; while the South-American cave-dweller, Steatorns, which is said to sally forth at night and vary its food with fruits and berries, has a toothed, Falcon-like bill: other genera have extraordinary appendages to the wings, as in the African forms Macrodipteryx and Semeiophorus ; while in the South-American genus Hydropsalis the tail-feathers are so enormously developed that we are lost in wonder how the birds capture their prey. I have merely mentioned a few of the more remarkable genera of the extensive family of which our bird forms a part 5 and, premising that it is to the birds of this form that the old classical name of Caprimulgus, as a generic appellation, is restricted, we will now turn to the history of this species, for it is that in which we are more particularly interested. In the British Islands, over the whole of which it is distributed, the Nightjar is strictly a summer visitant, arriving in the month of May, and taking up ‘ts abode in woods with open glades, fir and larch plantations with sandy and rushy bottoms, wide upland open game-covers, low copses in the neighbourhood of meadows, sterile heaths, and other waste lands. Highly cultivated districts, then, where the farmer and the Rook strive to keep down ‘nsect-life, are not in unison with the habits of the bird, and consequently it is seldom seen in such situations. Strictly nocturnal in its habits, the Nightjar lives upon insects of various genera, but especially moths and chafers, which it captures in the air or on the ground. Its flight is buoyant in the extreme, and all its aerial evolutions remarkably graceful. At one moment it may be seen diving round and among the branches of the stately oak, at another hawking over the meadow, performing, in the course of its flight, a thousand turns and dippings, similar to the evening gambols of the great noctule Bat. The air, however, is by no means the only place in which it seeks its food; for it runs over the ground and among the grass with the greatest facility, leaping up and capturing the moths and other insects which there abound, and for securing which its wide gape, beset with strong vibrisse, is admirably adapted. On the ground also it lays its two eggs; ng remaining blind for several days, its curiously marked couplets bush receive the twilight; and Here these little Nigbtjars are supplied with food until they are able to trip over the surface and catch insects for in the forest-glade, on the bare earth, are they incubated. Here, after Ty Tin Oe wy TRC Wx AC SA Aa aN Fy 7 j ; Brea AE NAN ENN NINES SESE NE ANE NS themselves; ultimately they hawk in the air, and, like their parents, perch lengthwise on ue rugged branches of the trees. Under the stimulating influence of the abundance of food uoe wie at midsummer, they quickly attain size aud strength, and by the end of August or beginning of September oe on heir first travels to the “unknown land” where their parents spent the previous winter, and which is doubtless Morocco. Pe. Independently of the British Islands, the Nightjar inhabits all the warmer and bemperate portions o Europe; I believe it also frequents the whole of Africa, and ranges as far east as Affehanistan. From the above remarks it will be seen that the Nightjar is plentifully diffused over nearly every part Great Britain; yet I venture to affirm that there is not one in a thousand persons who has ever Olsens it in a state of nature: they may have seen a skin or a mounted specimen a some museum ; and this is all the evidence they have of its being one of the birds of our island; of its history, habits, and economy they are totally ignorant. It is the ornithologist, inspired by a love for nature and poy a re seeks ons Mis whereabouts, silently watches its movements, and lends an earnest ear to its Sees vi eam or chirring notes, which, commencing precisely at the setting of the sun, are poured forth at intervals during tine Whole night. The pastor who rests him on yonder stile while returning from his visit to some sick parishioner, the village lad and lass whose evening walk has thoughtlessly led them far away, the cottager who takes a turn round his garden before retiring to his early rest, the watcher who seats himself under the hedge or in the glade of a copse, the stealthy poacher of the eggs of the Pheasant and other game birds, these are the persons who are acquainted with the Nightjar and its habits in a state of nature. May be the horse of the farmer, who is sleepily returning from the market-town, suddenly starts backward and throws his rider; the cause is probably unknown, but it most likely was the Nightjar, which has abruptly risen from the road under the horse’s nose. Let not this trait in the habits of the bird be doubted; for we know that it frequently squats in the road and pathway, and it is asserted that both rider and mule are in like manner often tumbled over the precipices in some of the more dangerous mountain-passes of South America by the sudden rising of the Hydropsalis psalurus, with its long whip-like tail. Superstitions of various kinds attach to most nocturnal birds, and our Nightjar forms no exception to the rule; for Mr. Smither informs me that the labouring classes round Churt, in Surrey, believe that it has the power of rendering any person annoying it “ puckeridge-struck,” and hence they have an objection to disturb either the bird or its eggs for fear of the consequences. Gilbert White mentions a similar superstition; but in this case cattle, and not human beings, were supposed to be the objects of their malevolence. The male may always be recognized by the presence of a series of white spots on the wings and tail; in all other respects the two sexes are alike in colour. The peculiar use of the pectinated claw of the middle toe has not yet been satisfactorily stated; it has been supposed that it was intended as a means of clearing the vibrissa from any matters that might attach to them during the act of feeding; but this cannot be the case, for the pectinations are so close to each other that the stout vibrisse could not possibly pass between them. The actual use of this pectinated claw must, I fear, remain for the present involved in obscurity. It is believed by some persons to be a means by which the bird rids itself of certain parasites. The usual resting-place of the Nightjar during the day is on the ground, where it sleeps like other nocturnal birds, but from which it is easily disturbed, when it flies off to some other part of the wood, and either settles again on the earth or lengthwise on some large branch of a tree. During the intervals of feeding, it perches on the tops of trees, on the summit of a heap of turf, a large stone, rail, or gate-post, where its chirring note, resembling the sound of a spinning-wheel, is constantly uttered from sundown until the shades of night are lost in the early dawn. While flying, it frequently claps its wings together over its head, thereby producing a sound very similar to the first flushing of a Woodcock. The throat of one of these birds which I examined was crammed with Xylophasia polyodon and one speci- men of the cream-coloured Tiger Moth (4rctia vilica), most of which were still alive, notwithstanding the bird had been dead two days. The eges are oval in form, and always two in number, beautifully clouded and veined with bluish grey on a white ground; they are 1 inch and 2 lines long, by 103 lines in breadth, The young are very easily reared, if taken at an early stage of their existence, by first cramming them with scraped beef, and afterwards supplying them with hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine, and insects ; they soon become very tame, run over the room with facility, and evince no desire to escape, unless a window be suddenly opened, when they are off in an instant. In this way a fine specimen was lost by my friend Dr. Gunther, after he had carefully reared it to the size of the mature bird. The Plate represents a male, a female, and two young ones a few days old, of the size of life. MU] SIP YL Utd “SITTO O Ta Yt] P+ 17 TM ITS PPeooy Ler CA PRIMULGUS RUFICOLLI Ss, Temm. Red-necked Goatsucker. Caprimulgus ruficollis, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 2nd edit., p. 438. rufitorquis, Bonn. et Vieill. Ency. Méth., Orn., part 11. p. 546. ————— rufitorquatus, Vieill. Faun. Frang., tom. i. p. 142. ————— torquatus, Brehm. An undoubted specimen of this fine Nightjar having been killed in England, it becomes necessary to give it a place among the Birds of Great Britain. With reference to its occurrence in this country I cannot, perhaps, do better than quote the brief account of it published by Mr. John Hancock in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1862, p. 39:—*‘So far back as the 6th of October, 1856, I obtained a fresh-killed specimen of this rare European Goatsucker, of Mr. Pape, a game-dealer of this town, It had been shot the previous day at Killingworth, near Newcastle. I was unable to determine the sex from dissection; but I think it is most probably a male, as the first primaries have each a spot upon their inner webs, and the first two spots are white. I have delayed until now making this announcement; for I found on comparison that the bird differed slightly from an Hungarian specimen in my collection, and I was consequently anxious to see others before doing so. I have now had an opportunity of referring to a specimen in the British Museum, and find that it quite agrees with my bird. Ihave therefore no longer any hesitation in stating that it is the C. ruficollis of authors, and I have much pleasure in adding this fine species to the British list of occasional visitors; though I am far from believing that this is really its first occurrence in our island. It very closely resembles the C. ewropeus, and is almost sure to be confounded with that species by the casual observer. Newcastle-on-Tyne, 12th Sept. 1861.” I concur in Mr. Hancock’s belief, that the specimen he has recorded is not the only example that has occurred in this country, but that others have probably been overlooked from their near resemblance to the common species. Had this species of Caprimuigus been a native of America (where it is never found) instead of Europe and Africa, I should have hesitated about including it in the present work ; and on this point I may quote some remarks in a note to myself by Mr. Alfred Newton, who is preparing a new edition of the late Mr. Yarrell’s ‘ History of British Birds’ :—“J have been thinking about including the Caprimulgus ruficoliis, but at present have not fully satisfied myself whether its normal range is sufficiently far to the northward to justify the step. This I must ascertain by consulting various Continental authorities. It certainly occurs in Hungary and in the South of France, but I should like to get information of its being met with further north before I can feel quite easy on the subject.” One thing is quite certain—namely, that since John Natterer killed the species in the South of Spain, and presented specimens to the Museum at Vienna, as recorded by Temminck in his ‘Manual,’ and by myself in the ‘ Birds of Europe,’ individuals in greater or lesser numbers have been met with in the same country by many of the rising generation of British ornithologists, particularly by Lord Lilford, Mr. Howard Saunders, Mr. Hume, and others. The figure of this bird in my ‘Birds of Europe’ was taken from one of the original specimens presented to the Museum of Vienna, which was kindly lent to me for the purpose by the Directors. It was accom- panied by the following notes respecting it by my valued friend Natterer :— “* Caprimulgus ruficollis, male. Shot the 14th of July, 1817, some miles distant from Algeziras, in the oak woods, by daylight. Iris dark brown, legs reddish grey, nostrils oval, with their borders much elevated. Length 12 inches 8 lines, extent of the wings 223 inches, the tail exceeding the wings by 14 inch. ‘Another male was shot on the 20th of July, in the valley of the Rio del Miel, near Algeziras, flying very low, an hour after sunset. Length 13 inches 3 lines, extent of the wings 23¢ inches, the tail exceeding the wings by 1 inch 8 lines. “The female I shot, while flying near the same spot, on the 2Ist of July. Length 12 inches 8 lines, extent of the wings 222 inches, the tail exceeding the wings by 2 inches. ‘The female closely resembles the male, differing only in having less white on the throat; the white tips of the two outer tail-feathers only 8 lines long, and tinged with brown on the outer web; the white spots on the first three primary quills smaller, and tinged with ochre, and without any corresponding mark on the outer web, as in the male; the remainder of the plumage is exactly the same as that of the male. «The name of the bird in the part of Spain where it was killed is Samala. It seems to be very rare; for I passed several nights in the adjacent woods without discovering any more examples.” NT Ee ae Le Pe) e information known respecting this species, [ cannot do better » frie ; -e having collected all th A ee ee ‘ History of the Birds of Europe not observed in the British than quote the account he has given in his Isles’ :— « The Red, or, as I prefer Cé found in various parts of Europe. of Montpellier are recorded as its European localities. . a I am able to add Malta, where a specimen was obtained by Charles Augustus Wright, Esq., from whose ‘lling it, the Russet-necked Nightjar, is a native of Africa, but 1s occasionally oe 7 5 . We r The south of Spain, and in France, Provence, Marseilles, Nismes, and To these, through the kindness of Dr. Leith Adams, notes I copy the following :— 7 «Tn the spring of 1861 a native bird-stuffer sent me word that a curious Goatsucker had been uo in the middle of May at Emtalitep, a valley situate on the southern coast of this ea When I a it, the bird had been set up; but the skin was quite fresh, and there was no doubt of its being fine specimen of In addition to the localities given by Degland, it is included in an unpublished ssion compiled from various sources by Mr. W. C. Medlycott. As been known to visit Sicily, or any part of Italy, except Nice, Caprimulgus ruficollis. list of Egyptian birds in my posse far as my information extends, it has never where it has been occasionally met with. There appears to be no previous record of its capture in Malta. I am glad to say the subject of this notice passed into my possession a occupies a Cue position among my Birds of Malta. C. ruficollis may easily be distinguished from C. europeus by its larger size, general rufous colouring, the difference in the proportionate length of the primaries, by two large white spots on the throat, and the reddish collar from which it derives its name. C. europeus is a very common bird in Malta during the vernal and autumnal migrations ; but, before the capture of the specimen above mentioned, C. rwficollis was unknown as a Maltese visitor.’ «©, yuficollis is apparently a rare and local bird in Europe, except in Spain. . . . In Mr. Tristram’s Notes from Eastern Algeria (Ibis, vol. ii, p. 3874), I find the following :—‘ As evening drew near, the Red-necked Goatsucker (Caprimulgus ruficolls ) flitted about the glades; and it is also mentioned by Captain Loche as inhabiting the three provinces of Algeria.’ “Dr, D. Antonio Machado, in his ‘ Catalogo de las Aves observadas en algunas provincias de Andalucia ’ (Sevilla, 1851), says of this bird, ‘It inhabits the woody flat ground of the mountains ; it appears in spring and leaves again in October: very common. It makes no nest, but places its eggs in hollows in the ground, or under the shelter of a shrub. It frequents the roads where there is much horse- or mule-traffic ; and the vulgar notion is that it feeds upon the dung which it finds there ; but it is much more probable that it is in search of the beetles which live among it, and which are its principal food.’ «‘T have no account to offer of the nourishment, habits, and nesting of this bird; but they are not likely, I think, to differ much from those of its European and closely allied congener. ‘There is the same wide mouth with its array of bristles, and the same comb to clean them with on the claw of its middle toe. What a beautiful adaptive provision is this comb! Looked at through a lens its teeth are seen to be placed with perfect regularity, and are admirably adapted to their evident use—to clean the bristles, an act which Dr. Maclean tells me he has actually seen performed by our Goatsucker. The bristles are required as a fence for the large mouth, out of which otherwise many an insect would slip away. But the bristles get clogged up; and the God who made this bird has provided it with as perfect a comb to clean them with as is to be found on the table of any lady in Europe.” The only additional information I find recorded respecting this species is comprised in the following brief notes from ‘ The Ibis’ for 1865, 1866, and 1867 :— In Mr. C. A. Wright’s second appendix to his List of Birds observed in Malta and Gozo, he says :— “ Caprimulgus ruficollis. A male specimen (the second I have met with of this fine Nightjar) was shot here on the 12th of May, 1865. It flew up against the balcony, and thus brought about its own destruction ; for the inmate, being a Bpartsmans immediately went out with agun and killedit. It was in beautiful condition, and had scarcely a feather injured by the shot.” In the Rev. H. B. Tristram’s Notes on the Ornithology of Palestine, he writes, “A skin of C. rificollis was offered to me for sale by a Greek at Jerusalem, who assured me he had bought it in the flesh in the market there; and as all his other birds were unquestionably natives, I had no reason to doubt bis statement : . . . . : : but his price was prohibitory.” Lastly, Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake, in his Notes on the Birds of Tangier and Eastern Mor at thi ies 1 occo, states that this species is known to breed at Ceuta. Or states The Plate represents both sexes, of the size of life. ss oak * on -— ae xt OE WAN eg ees PN She 5 Rs SL a I 5 2 omy VVAYLVAA ULL UANATTpOONE TTT y TTT TAT | a. oes cA ek 3 CYPSELUS APUS. Swift. Hirundo apus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 344. Cypselus apus, Ill. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 230. murarius, Temm. Man. d’Orn., p. 271; and 2nd edit. tom. i. p. 434. vulgaris, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. emh2e Micropus murarius, Meyer, Taschenb. deutsch., tom. i. p. 281. Brachipus murarius, Meyer, Vog. Liv- und Esthl., D> N43}. Apmirtine as I do that, in structure, habits, and economy, the Swifts differ considerably from the Swallows and Martins, I do not think it necessary or desirable, in a work of such limited extent as one on the ‘ Birds of Great Britain,” to place them far from each other, the more so as they are generally associated by every observer of our native birds. Structurally they are all admirably adapted for flight, but the Swifts much more so than the Swallows and Martins. The latter descend to and even spend a part of their time on the ground and on the branches of trees. The Swifts, on the other hand, as if disdaining this nether world, are strictly denizens of the air; it is in that element alone that they obtain their insect-food, and in the pursuit of which they will ascend to an almost incredible height, while they are equally expert in their pursuit when the state of the temperature induces insects to remain near the ground. The wing-powers of the Swift are indeed enormous, and the number of insects they must take to keep up their muscular condi- tion defies calculation. Its evolutions in the air are most perfect, and it often, while flying, forms lengthened sweeps and curves of the most graceful description ; so easy and buoyant, in fact, are all its movements that language fails to portray that of which the eye alone can convey to the senses a full conception. In the British Islands the Swift is a constant summer resident, and at that season may be seen in all parts of the country ; but in the northern districts, particularly in some parts of Scotland and in the Orkneys, it is less abundant than in England and Ireland. From the vast wing-powers which this bird possesses, it would naturally be supposed that its range is more extensive than it really is, but it is not so widely extended as that of many other birds whose power of flight is much more limited. Ihave a specimen in my collec- tion from Trebizond, but I have never seen examples from India. Mr. Adams states that it is common in Cashmere, which is probably its extreme eastern limit. The centre of its area would appear to be the middle of Europe: from this point it is distributed in summer over the other parts of the continent, as far north as Sweden, Norway, and Russia, while Northern Africa and Arabia as far as the tropics are probably its winter residence and the farthest extent of its range in that direction. I suspect that all migrants, whether in the northern or southern hemisphere, are guided by the sun,—that is, that at stated periods they impulsively follow its course, the genial rays of that luminary having, as is known to every one, an especial influence both on vegetable and insect life. In the northern hemisphere we know almost to a day the arrival of the Stork and the passing of the Crane to its summer home. The Swallow and the Martin visit us at the latter end of March or the beginning of April; the Swift, on the other hand, is more tardy in its arrival, for it is not until the first week in May, when the spring has far advanced and insect life is = almost at its height, that it makes its appearance in any number. Not only is it one of our latest spring birds, but it is also one of the earliest to depart, for it generally leaves us early in August; or, ifa solitary pair remain, the delay is due to some extraneous cause: their affection for a late-hatched brood will occasionally induce them to extend the period of their stay until September. I shall here give some remarks on the arrival and departure of the Swift, and on its nidification, which have been kindly forwarded to me by P. J. Martin, Esq., of Pulborough in Sussex, who, having a great partiality for this bird, always affords it his protection, and allows it to breed undisturbed under his hospitable roof. In a letter, dated August 16, 1858, this gentleman says,—‘‘I send you herewith some Swifts’ nests taken from under the eaves of my house, where from ten to twenty pairs have bred for the last ten or twelve years. They appear to appropriate for their own use the straw and feathers carried up by the Sparrows, for they are never seen to collect any of these materials themselves. I generally send my servant on to the roof to collect the Sparrows’ eggs when the Swifts arrive, which is generally in the second week of May, a few days earlier or later according to the season; but this is not done every year, and I do not observe but that they go on amicably enough together when let alone. My boy sometimes finds three eggs in a nest, but more usually two. We generally lose the Swifts before the 12th of August. In the box you will find some of the droppings, which always appear to me to be chiefly composed of the elytra of beetles. Do they emigrate as soon as this kind of food ceases to exist 2” It is evident that during the short stay of the Swift in this country, almost its whole time must be spent in e of itself and its progeny. Immea- of insects for the sustenanc His) as it feeds exclusively on ct life destroyed by this bird; and than if they formed even a part of f the bird’s economy, made 1 iet 1 ir larva state -anscribe a note ts diet in their larva state. I transcr! : . | see | Maidenhead and its neighbourhood .—“ June 28. Took two ony young or five days previously 5 they were round, black, heavy-bodied nest- ; but half open; no dilatation of the duties of reproduction and the capture surably great indeed must be the amount of inse ee perfect insects, it becomes a greater check to their undue preponder nies as illustrative of this part o during my annual summer visit to Swifts, apparently hatched about four lings, without feathers ; their eyelids w the gape, as in the Swallows and Tits (Hirundinde, July 8. Took from a neighbouring nest two youns ntire body and tarsi were covered with dark-grey ig and tail-feathers were much developed. July 12. Took age of these were greatly advanced over those last . fect feathers, resembling in colour ere much contracted, and their eyes Paride) and many other young birds; weight, ee Swifts, considerably advanced in eee 7 e oa down; stub-feathers were ap- size and plumage; the e pearing on the crown of the head, and the wi two other neighbouring Swifts. The size and plum the whole of the head and body was covered with per cy eloped, and the birds would have flown in four or ame time, as they probably mnentioned ; those of the adult; the wings were considerably dev Now if all these were hatched about the s Swift Te » ~) were, what a vast amount of insect life must have been taken by each young Swift petwiesy mt i ‘tnight alone y - birds had increased in weight Irom of June and the 12th of July! In this fortnight alone the young birds he 7 ; three-quarters of an ounce to two ounces ; and, bearing in mind that the adults as well as the young e of the amount of insects destroyed by sundown, and even later, the Swift 2 ees .2) five days; weight two ounces. have to be sustained, we may form something like an estimat these birds during the summer months. From the earliest dawn to through which its yarious journeys must, at the most moderate com- eposes for short intervals during the heat is constantly hawking in the ar, putation, amount to many hundreds of miles a day. It probably r me of the midday sun; but the time thus lost is made up by later evolutions in the evening, when ae males scream and chase each other from place to place, at one moment over water or a lofty church spire, at the next over the tops of houses, darting, circling, and joyously pursuing and rivalling oe other in the number and rapidity of their evolutions. When feeding their young, the parent birds dash into ao dark recesses with the quickness of thought, going in and returning a hundred, nay, many hundred times a day. The structure of its tarsi and feet quite unfits the Swift for moving on the ground, whence its specific name of apus (footless), and, ‘f once on a level surface, I question if it has the power of again rising in the air; but any slight inequality in the soil would enable the bird to effect its purpose. When roosting, or resting from the midday heat, the Swift retires to some lofty steeple or a more humble cottage roof, to the walls of which it clings with its curiously formed toes and hooked nails. From such places of rest, and on leaving the nest, it drops into the air, and, with a few strokes of its powerful wings, sweeps away with the utmost ease and grace. That an individual pair annually return for many years to the same site is certain, marked birds having proved this fact over and over again. And wonderful, indeed, is the instinct which directs this bird to return repeatedly to the same breeding-place. Going to and fro is the province of the Swift: in winter it flies over African soil; in summer it dwells in the more invigorating climate of England and the continent of Europe, which latter countries may be considered its native home, for it is there that it procreates its kind. The sites chosen for the purpose of nidification are much varied, cathedral spires, lofty towers, crevices in rocks, and the holes in lofty trees being alike resorted to; the eaves of church-roofs and the houses of the humble villagers are also much frequented by it; and the poorer the cottage, the more it ap- pears to be preferred. The space between the rafters and the roof, to which admittance is gained by a broken tile or any interstice through which the bird can squeeze its lengthened body, is a situation for which it evinces a decided preference. Within such openings as these in the roof of the humble tene- ment, the Swift either constructs its own shallow, saucer-like nest of the straws, feathers, and other materials caught while floating in the air on a windy day, or appropriates those collected by the common Sparrow ; whichever course is pursued, these light materials are agglutinated together with a viscous substance secreted by the salivary glands of the bird. I have even found fresh petals of the yellow buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) glued on the inner side of the walls, which the Swift must have taken while skimming over the mead. This thin crust of a nest is often placed near the entrance, but sometimes on a alter under the ceiling, at the distance of a yard from the inlet. The eggs are of an oblong form, about an inch in length, and of a pinkish white; two is the normal number, but I have heard of three, and even four, being occasionally found im one nest. he males and females ATE:SO closely alike in size and colour that, to be quite certain of the sex of any individual that may be shot, dissection must be resorted to. The young soon assume a plumage very like that of the adults the only difference being that they have more white about the face, and that some of the darker feathers of the body are very narrowly fringed with grey. ek a ea ee a aa on the eu. is very dark brown, glossed t 5 ack ; toes and claws blackish brown. Lichter del et bith CYPSELUS MELBA : Tr 777 4, STOULL & Walter, Lrgp CYPSELUS MELBA. Alpine Swift. Htrundo melba, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 345. Cypselus melba, Ill. Prod. Syst. Mamm. et Av., p. 230. Apus melba, Cuv. Rég. Anim. (1817), tom. i. p. 373. Micropus melba, Boie, Isis, 1844, D. 1G5. Hirundo alpina, Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat., tom. i. p. 166. Cypselus alpinus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., 1815, D270: Micropus alpinus, Mey. et Wolf, Taschenb. Deutsch. Vog., tom. i. p. 282. Cypselus gutturalis, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xix. p. 422. . melbus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. i. Do NOZ, yo, UHI, Hirundo gularis, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. x. p. 99. Turs fine Swift is a summer visitant to the central and southern portions of Europe. As its trivial name implies, it is also a denizen of the Alps, and, I believe, of the Apennine ranges also—rocky regions ap- pearing to be peculiarly attractive to it, although it is said also to frequent plains. In Berne and Fribourg, besides many other places, it is known to breed in the steeples of the cathedrals and churches of those fine old towns. Like the common Swift it is a migrant, and in the early part of autumn leaves all the parts of Europe it frequents, and passes into Africa; how far its range extends southward in the latter country is not known, the bird from the Cape Colony formerly supposed to be the same having been ascertained to be a distinct species. Besides being dispersed over Central and Southern Kurope, the Alpine Swift is abundant in the Holy Land, Asia Minor, Persia, and, doubtless, all the intervening countries to Afghanistan and Western India, where, as will be seen by Mr. Jerdon’s notes given below, it is very numerous. Almost every person who has had an opportunity of observing this bird speaks in terms of admiration of its vast powers of flight: it is not surprising, therefore, that an individual should now and then wing its way across the Channel to the British Islands, and course over our meads and fields until it is shot. Its occurrence here is almost exclusively confined to England ; for I find no record of its having been seen in Scotland, and only two instances of its being killed in Ireland. The first specimen known as British was shot early in June 1820, by the bailiff of the late R. Holford, Esq., at Kingsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, and is now, I believe, in the possession of R. B. Hale, Ksq., of Alderley Park, Gloucestershire. Since that date a few more examples have been killed in this country—one in Norfolk, another in Essex, a third in Kent, a fourth in Cambridgeshire, a fifth in Berkshire, and a sixth in Lancashire ; and there may have been others unknown tome. Having had no opportunities of studying the habits of the bird myself, I must refer to the writings of those who have been more fortunately placed. ; “During the past summer,” says Mr. Hewitson, in a note to myself, ‘‘ I noticed the Great Swift wherever I went in Switzerland, on the mountain-passes on both sides and at the top of the Gemmi, in the Canton Valais, and on the Righi. In former visits I saw it about the cathedral at Berne only. ‘There I have many a time watched its glorious flight, and witnessed how superior it is in speed to the common species : whilst the C. apus sweeps round you and below the promenade on which you stand, this bird pursues his wonderful flight high in the air.” Bailly states that it is quite as common in the rocky portions of Savoy during the months of summer as it is in Switzerland and the Tyrol, that it arrives there from the 15th to the 20th of April, and that it feeds exclusively upon insects, which it captures as it skims along with astonishing rapidity over bushes, trees, ditches, and the surface of the water, into which it occasionally dips to secure its prey. It commences the duty of incubation about the end of May, or beginning of June. Both sexes engage in the construction of the nest, which is usually placed in a nearly always inaccessible cleft of a rock, but occasionally among ruins or in a building situated on some mountainous ridge, and also under the stones on the roofs of the chalets. It is externally composed of small sticks and roots, intermingled with which are pieces of straw, which they seize with such address while skimming over the ground that the action is scarcely perceptible ; the interior is lined with the catkins of poplars, the down of flowers, &c., which they seize in a similar manner or when blown about in the air, the whole being cemented together with the bird’s glutinous saliva. The ege's are two or three in number, and of a pure white. ** Cypselus melba,” says the Rev. H. Tristram, “ though very abundant, is rather a local bird in the Holy Land, and only a summer migrant. The first time we noticed it was at daybreak, on February 12th, when, camped outside the walls of Jerusalem, we saw large flocks passing with amazing rapidity, at a great eT Pe ¥ a Se a al of these birds among the Hills of s, and often descending to the ground. They were probably preparing to i h run down towards the Jordan. From that time, throughout the The Wady Hamam, opening into the plain of Gennesaret, f the stupendous cliffs, hopelessly beyond abit of selecting chinks under the over- and could they have i 3 Ww iced sever i , » davs afterwards we notice height, towards the north. A few days Benjamin, disporting themselve breed in some of the deep ravines whic summer, we rarely lost sight of this noble bird. : E r 4 7. J Re urther Southern China; while those a : ea ore i : i F ass the Mediterranean, i é -abia: and those of Central Europe pa eee s ny es : N h America has a Swallow nearly allied to our own. This bird, like ours, 1s merely a summer to Algeria. North America has a owe ke ee eee ; i at s retiring to Mexico an é siti resorting Inited States at that season, ant g an Afri | > hand, and Australia on the other, we find migratory Crossing the equator to South Africa on the one hand, he) igre ah precisely the same offices, having similar natures, and whose ated by the sun, but of course performed, owing to the winter in opposite. ee Swallows in both those countries, performing movements, like those of the northern species, are regu : te ie : ; ie ir geogré , the opposite season of the yeé . their geographical position, at | : In fe autre as with us, the Swallow is the harbinger of spring, and the cheerful aac of t ose : L | ik Ane Tham ilds a similar nest in who have adopted that part of the world as a home; for, like the English bird, it builds ¢ Q ike i A P rkings : aturalist will for chimneys, barns, and outhouses, and lays eggs alike in character and markings: yet no nature = m2) o C a moment consider the Hirundo neovena to be identical with the H. rusézca. Ge al in England, the Swallow commences the task of reproduction; the places chosen 1 the inner side of a smoky chimney, the shaft of a mine, the rafters are commonly selected ; and many others might have been mentioned, Soon after its arriv for the nest are exceedingly varied : beneath a bridge, barn, or boat-house i * . . . . a : ‘ . ee The nest is most ingeniously built of wet mud, with layers of straw-like grasses precisely as the hair prevents the plasterer’s work from falling to pieces ; within ill or the rafter, is a lining of fine grasses and feathers. were it necessary so to do. to secure the mass together, this half cup of a nest, which is placed against the we The following description of the nest of this species is by my son Franklin. «When fishing at Denham, on the 25th of May, 1861, I observed several fine examples of the nests and eggs of this bird under the bridge. The exterior of These nests was, as usual, composed of mud mixed up with short pieces of hay or dried grass, with a few downy feathers of the Swan lining the interior. Some of the nests had evidently been constructed the previous year, and increased by the addition of an inch or two of fresh mud. They contained eggs in various degrees of forwardness, from those newly laid to those with the fully developed young in them. The eggs differed considerably in shape and marking, one set, before they were blown, being of a delicate pink, covered all over with minute spots of light reddish brown ; the others, on the contrary, were broader and shorter in form, and were of the same delicate ground-colour, but with a smaller number of spots, and those of a brown tint, running into large blotches at the broader end.” The young Swallows remain blind for several days ; still they grow fast, and rapidly fill the nest, their wide bills and bright-yellow fleshy gapes showing very conspicuously ; and about the middle of June they leave the nest, and perch on some neighbouring bare branch on the sunny side of a tree: here they are fed by their parents, who bring them insects every minute, from morn till night. There these nestlings preen their feathers, exercise their wings by taking short flights round the branches of the tree, or sally forth to meet their parents and receive the food in the air, as portrayed on the accompanying Plate. The young, after this time, begin to hawk flies for themselves; and the summer being still young, the old birds often reconstruct the nest and rear a second brood. I find, by my note-book, that some Swallows were sitting on their eggs under the little romantic bridge at Formosa, near Cookham, in Berkshire, as late as the 8th of August. These late broods, however, I imagine, are frequently overtaken by our chilly autumn, and suffer severely from cold; they are, however, only the remnant of our summer Swallows. These are the birds that linger to a later period in the autumn, some even to October and November : perchance they have not sufficient strength to perform the journey across the seas ; they therefore still remain. It is these birds which seek shelter in caves, crevices of rocks, and similar places ; here the increased cold of night benumbs their muscles, paralyzes their systems, and renders them torpid; still their hearts beat, though but slowly ; ultimately they get weaker and weaker, and, as a natural consequence, die. Under such circumstances their bodies are occasionally found ; and hence, perhaps, has arisen the fable of the of this bird. The sexes are precisely alike in colour ; supposed hybernation but they differ in size, the female being somewhat smaller, and having the outer tail-feathers shorter, than her mate. Forehead and throat deep orange-brown ; sides of the neck, back = > wings, and band across the breast deep bluish black own; tail-feathers black, all but the two and irides black; legs and feet purplish brown. adult, from the time they leave the nest until they are ; abdomen and vent reddish white, tinged with br middle ones, with a large white spot on the inner web ; bill The young gradually assume the colouring of the twelve months old. : The figures represent an < ay 1 i sures represent an adult and a young bird, of the natural size, SS re ie oY eg wel 3 CHELIDON URBICA. House-Martin. Hirundo urbica, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 98. ——— domestica, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Coll. Brit. Mus., p. 19. ——— sociabilis, Bailly, Orn. de la Savoie, tom. i. p. 268. Chelidon urbica, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 550. ——— fenestrarum et C. rupestris, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 140. Hwrundo (Chelidon) urbica, Keys. und Blas. Wirbelth. Eur., p. 61. I know of no group of our native birds the study of which would afford greater pleasure to the young student of nature than the family of Hirundines—the Swift, the Swallow, the Sand- and House-Martins— each being characterized by a peculiarity in their structure, habits, and economy, and their modes of incubation being strikingly different, as will be seen on reference to my account of the respective species. All these -birds are associated with summer ; for it is at that season alone that they appear among us, gladdening our hearts with their presence, and exciting our admiration by their graceful evolutions during flight. Occasionally the mead is visited by all the species at the same time; and it is then that the difference in their modes of flight may be observed to the greatest advantage. The bold, sweeping action of the Swift enables him to outstrip the others with ease; the Swallow, with its lengthened tail, makes many rapid and graceful turns when engaged in the capture of insects, while the flight of the Sand- and House-Martins, though not without many elegant movements, appears to be more laboured; when thus engaged, the fairy- like House-Martin, although shorter and more robust than its congeners, attracts greater attention than either of the others, in consequence of the white spot on the ramp showing very conspicuously as the bird glides away in the distance or glances about in the sun, and presenting a great contrast to the adjoining dark- tinted plumage and the water over which the bird may be flying. While it must be conceded that all the species evince but little fear of man, the Martin is by far the most familiar of them ; for it apparently loves to be among us, and seems to court our intimacy and friendship more than the others. If its neatly built mud nest be destroyed, it neither takes offence nor harbours malice, but immediately commences another near the same site, or on the other side of the house, but generally at the corner of a window. We may reasonably assume that there was a time when there were no houses under which to make its nest, nor man to afford it protection, in which case the sides of rocks and shelving cliffs were the places sought for the purposes of incubation ; and even at the present day such situations are resorted to; for Dr. Percy has very kindly called my attention to the circumstance of its still building in the rocks of Port Neath, Vaughan, in the vale of Neath, his authority for the fact being Mr. Edward Young, a very good observer, who has paid considerable attention to natural history. On the other hand, if a new dwelling be erected, far distant from other houses, the House-Martin soon appears, and commences building under the newly-formed eaves or at the angles of the windows ; at least I observed it so to do at a recently erected residence at Auch- nashalloch, in Ross-shire; and I trust that Mr. Tennant has afforded these welcome strangers a happy home during their sojourn in the beautiful valley of the Carron. That the Martin is neither capricious nor ungrateful for such protection, I can readily believe; for, if not overtaken by misfortune during its winter residence in foreign climes, the same individuals will return to the spot where, the last year, or for years before, it had been allowed to remain undisturbed ; and, in confirmation of this, I append a note forwarded to me by Mr. Philip Crowley, of Alton, in Hampshire, a gentlemen fully imbued with a love for nature, and intimately acquainted with our native birds. It is dated July 8th, 1852, at which time he was resident at Grove House, Tottenham, Middlesex. ‘* The two Martins I caught, labelled, and set at liberty last year, have returned. I tied a small piece of parchment to one leg of each, and wrote on it, ‘P. Crowley, Alton, Hants, England,’ and on the other side of one of them I now find, ‘Don Vangello, Barcelona.’ ” ««That the House-Martin not only visits the same place,” Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Regions in 1833-35,’ ‘ but the same nest year after year, is a fact which I ascertained by experiment. While residing in Kent, about ten years ago, having selected a detached nest, I fastened a small piece of silk round one of the legs of its inmate, then sitting upon eggs. The following season the bird returned, and, with the garter still affixed, was secured in the same nest—a convincing proof of the instinctive knowledge attributed to it.” In confirmation of the above statement, Mr. Durbam Weir informed Macgillivray that he caught several pairs of Martins at the windows of his house in September, 1838, says Captain King, in his ‘ Narrative of a and fixed small silver rings round their legs, and that one of them was shot, in his immediate neighbourhood, the following May. like its congeners, is a summer visitant only, arriving in spring, at the ave sté at the House-Martin, Biot late in the season, generally about the middle of this is neither early nor the Sand-Martin and Swallow, and earlier than the Swift, which Where, then, does the fairy little Martin spend its days when ote, that it certainly goes to Spain ; and, in my opinion, r quarters of by far the greater portion of our bird that it is scarcely necessary for me to state it appointed time, almost to a day 5 April; thus it is later in its arrival than does not appear until the beginning of May. not with us? We have seen, from Mr. Crowley’s 0 ds still further south to Morocco, the winte So much is generally known respecting this , and that it is equally numerous 1n the warm lowlands as on the sides of the it procee migrants. is found in all parts of Britain bleakest mountains; wherever human habitations e derer. In all these situations it rears one or two broods as the duty of incubation has been completed and the xist, there assuredly will be found this pleasing wan- a year, according to the more or less favourable state of the season. It is believed that as soon young are able to assist themselves, the old birds forsake their progeny and wing their way back to whence Py 5 : they came, leaving instinct to perform its wonderful power of Besides the British Islands, the House-Martin ranges as far ” guiding the young to the ‘‘ unknown land ” to which their parents have preceded them. north as the Ferroe Islands and Iceland ; it is also found in every part of Europe from the shores of the Mediterranean to Uleabourg; as with us, it is everywhere a summer sprite, whose appearance gladdens the hearts of the inhabitants, assuring them by its appearance that summer is not far behind. I am not satisfied that it is not found in other countries further east ; at the same time I much question whether the assertion of its being a native of Amoorland, Kamtschatka, and even China be correct; indeed I feel assured that the bird is not found therein, but that the species mistaken for it is probably the one I have called Chelidon Cashmiriensis, which may also be the bird Mr. Jerdon speaks of in his ‘Birds of India,’ under the name of English House-Martin, as having been found by him in small numbers, in one locality, on the Neilgherries. It may, however, extend its range throughout Persia, to the confines of India; but we have no direct evidence of the fact. The Rev. H. B. Tristram states that “it is the last of the Swallow tribe to return to Palestine, where it appears in great numbers about April 5th, and breeds in colonies on the sheltered faces of cliffs in the valleys of northern Galilee.” ‘The chief differences between C. Cashmiriensis and C. urbica is the smaller size of the former, and particularly the darker colours of its axillary feathers. “The ease and rapidity of its flight, however marvellous, excites no astonishment, as we are daily in the habit of witnessing them,” says Macgillivray ; “but a true lover of nature can, nevertheless, contemplate its airy windings for hours with delight. The evolutions of this species resemble, in all respects, those of the Swallow ; but its flight is perhaps somewhat less rapid, although it is certainly very difficult to decide with accuracy in a comparison of this kind. Its sweeps and curves, however, seem to me less bold, or, rather, less extended ; but its dexterity is equally remarkable. The influence of the weather on the flight of insects causes it to observe the same selection of places that they do; so that, in calm and cloudless days it flies more in the open air, in windy weather more in the shelter of hedges and walls, and in damp evenings it skims over the grass and corn.” To give some idea of the numbers of insects which these birds capture to feed their young, besides those taken for their own support, I may mention that one of Macgillivray’s correspondents informed him that a pair of Martins began to feed their young ones, four in number, at twenty-five minutes after four o’clock in the morning ; and at ten minutes after eight in the evening, when they ceased from their labours, they had oe : ; ’ iG ee a 307 times: this was on a bright sunny day ; on a subsequent dull rainy one, they only . Phe male Martin slightly differs from the female in size, being smaller, and having a less forked tail ; in other respects the two sexes are externally alike. . The nest, which is built of pellets of mud collected ys hed inrden inedinsttlienisy enon ammreiernllcan es times wool, and, lastly, a number of fe a ae ee er of feathers ; the eggs are four or five in number, of a pure white, without spots, but with a blush of flesh-colour showing through the almost transparent shell The two figures, in the upper part of the Plate, are of the natural size. ¥ = Se. — — omy # — << et we Fie PAP me Sak CPs : JboddandhRichier del. @ tit UIILITI AULA LATIN TTT a I, ¥ MI i Walter & Colo, rp COTYLE RIPARIA. Sand-Martin. Hirundo riparia, Linn, Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 344. Cotyle riparia, Boie. Tue Sand-Martin is the least of the British Hirundines ; it is also the most universally dispersed: like the Swallow, it spends the winter in countries near the tropics, and the summer in more temperate and northern regions. Those individuals which make the British Islands their summer home arrive at the end of March or beginning of April; hence they precede the Swallow by a few days. In many parts of its economy the Sand-Martin differs from its congeners ; for, small as it is, and frail as is its tiny body, it is a wondrous miner ; and it is the bird which excavates the numerous holes in upright sand-banks, the sides of railway-cuttings, and all similar situations. In every English county little colonies of these birds may be observed, the young members of which assemble, and form the great masses which we see congregated on many parts of the Thames during the months of August and September. Those who have not seen these vast assemblages can form but a faint conception of the sight: it must be seen, and the myriads of their twittering voices heard, to be understood. I have frequently observed masses of these birds collect high up in the air, and, having performed certain circular flights and other evolutions, descend, with a loud rushing sound, to the willow- beds like a shower of stones—the willows upon which they settle being completely covered and bowed down by the united weight of these little birds, which sit side by side for the sake of warmth and the occupation of the least possible space. If the night be cold, and the morning ushered in by frost, these little creatures suffer severely, and hundreds may be found benumbed by the sudden lowering of the temperature ; in this case, many of them die, while others take warning and, with wonderful instinct, wing their way southward, to the more congenial climates of Spain and Africa. A moment’s reflection is, I am sure, all that will be necessary to convince every one of the immense amount of good that has been effected during the short period of their existence; for, if the birds are in countless thousands, what myriads of insects must have fallen a prey to these little aérial wanderers ! It is an exceedingly interesting sight to see these fairy birds perch, every night and morning for two or three weeks in autumn, side by side in thousands, on the telegraphic wires of the fine railway bridge which crosses our beautiful Thames at Taplow. But let us now speak of the bird in its capacity of a miner. If for a moment we study its form, can we Sg feel otherwise than surprised that so frail a structure, and so feeble a bill as I consider it to be, should be able to perforate holes in the solid sand-bank to the depth they are known to do? Yet this is the case; and all the members of the genus Coty/e do the same; while the common Martin (Chelidon urbica) builds a dome- shaped nest of mud under the eaves, the Swallow (irundo rustica) in our chimneys, the Esculent Swallow (Collocalia esculenta) in caves, and the Swift in the church-steeple. Thus we see that each of these divisions or genera of the great family of the Hirundinide, or Swallows, construct their nests in a peculiar manner, and different from each other, both as to situation and materials; their eggs, too, are different. d «This little wanderer,” says Mr. Yarrell, ‘“ frequents, as its nesting-place, high banks of rivers, sand-pits, and other vertical surfaces of earth that are sufficiently soft in substance to enable the bird to perforate it to the depth necessary for its purpose. In such situations, this tiny engineer forms circular holes in a horizontal direction, boring to the depth of two feet or more, with a degree of regularity and an amount of labour that is rarely exceeded among birds.” The mode in which this perforation is accomplished has been well described by Mr. Rennie, in his ‘ Architecture of Birds,’ in the following terms :—‘‘ The beak is hard F and sharp, and admirably adapted for digging ; it is small, we admit, but its shortness adds to its strength, and the bird works, as we have had an opportunity of observing, with its bill shut. This fact our readers may verify by watching their operations, early in the morning, through an opera-glass, when they begin, in the spring, to form their excavations. In this way we have seen one of these birds cling, with its sharp claws, to the face of a sand-bank, and peg in his bill, as a miner would do his pickaxe, till it had loosened a considerable portion of the hard sand, and tambled it down amongst the rubbish below. In these preliminary operations it never makes use of its claws for digging; indeed, it is impossible it could, for they are indispensable in maintaining its position, at least when it is beginning its hole. We have further remarked that some of these Martins’ holes are nearly as circular as if they had been planned out with a pair of compasses, while others are more irregular in form; but this seems to depend more upon the sand crumbling away than upon any deficiency in the original workmanship. The bird, in fact, always uses its own body to determine the proportions of the gallery—the part from the thigh to the head forming the est \ &, a - Kaw, PAN. ey as trace this out, as we should do, by fixing a point for the centre, around iC y ’ radius of ircle. It does not ; ae peers © rches on the circumference with its claws, and 1 ° “ecumference: on the contrary, it pe which to draw the circumference : oe ce works with its bill from the centre outwards; and hence it 3s that in the numerous excavations recently = 5 5 ~ >» » * we have uniformly found the termination funnel-shaped, the centre nan the circumference. The bird consequently assumes all positions roof of the gallery with its back downwards, as often as commenced, which we have examined, being always much more scooped out tl while at work in the interior, hanging from the ae en © nr . 5 > TPP 4) c=! ie > W 1e De ~ T 7 o standing upon the floor. We have more than once, indeed, seen a Bank-Martin eling y 2 s ss =a 2 e way he « thta f a sand-bank, when it was Just breaking ground to begin its gallery. All the less tortuous to their termination, which is at the depth of from two e smaller breast-feathers of geese, ducks, or fowls this manner on the face o galleries are found to be more or 6 three feet, where a bed of loose hay and a few of th is spread with little art for the reception of the eggs. ant ‘th its feet the sand detached by the bill; but so carefully is this performed, that it plane of the floor, which rather slopes upwards, and It may not be unimportant to remark, also, that it always scrapes out w never scratches up the unmined sand, or disturbs the of course the lodgement of rain is thereby prevented.” A nest taken from a bank of the Thames, on the 4th of July 1854, was composed of a layer of grasses, a second layer of the Swan’s breast-feathers, so placed as to curl over the eggs, the above which was one of the calyx of a tulip or white water-lily ; although the hole was damp, appearance forcibly reminding the platform of grasses and feathers formed a warm and dried receptacle for the eggs, which were of a pearly white, and six in number. It is supposed that the Sand-Martin only rears one brood in each year, but I think it sometimes goes to nest a second time. This species, like the other members of the family, is very much infested with parasites, respecting which the following note has been kindly transmitted to me by Signor Henry Giglioli, a gentleman of Pavia, at Ten present residing in this country for the prosecution of his scientific studies :—‘In at least twenty nests ey of the Sand-Martin (Cotyle riparia) which I examined at the beginning of July, in Surrey, I found all of them infested with parasites, some living on the young birds, and others on the materials of which the nest was formed. These parasites were so numerous that the eggs, as soon as laid, were literally covered with their excrements, giving them a spotted appearance. What strikes me as strange in the matter is, that I have observed this in no other country. When in Paris last year, T examined at least fifty Sand-Martins’ nests, but no trace of a parasite was discoverable. On examination of the specimens I placed in spirits, I find they comprise five distinct species :—a Tick (Jvodes ——?), a Flea (Puler ——?), a larva, probably that of the flea, an insect very like the Ricinus hirundinis of Latreille, and a brachelytrous Coleopteron (Oxytelus rugosus?).” The Sand-Martin is found over all the British Islands, even to the outer Hebrides. The Duke of Argyll informs me that a considerable colony breeds opposite Balmoral Castle, and that it appears to be the most numerous species on the Upper Dee. It is also found in summer throughout the temperate parts of the Old World; for I find it in Schrenck’s ‘ List of the Birds of the Amoor,’ Swinhoe’s ‘ List of the Birds of China,’ in Blyth’s and Jerdon’s Lists of the Birds of India, and we know that it may be enumerated among the avifaunz of the northern portion of Persia and Africa. It is also equally abundant in all parts of North America, where, as with us, it is a summer visitant. Such, then, is a brief history of the little Sand-Martin, the most hardy of the Swallow tribe which visits our island. Like the Swallow, it comes to us from Africa, sometimes in March; but these early visitors are few in number ; indeed winged insects, upon which these birds solely live, are at this season very scarce, and quite insufficient to support a large number. ‘These early birds frequent in preference the sunny sides of cliffs on our south coast, although sometimes they may be seen inland, flying over rivers and such sheltered places ssiie likely to supply them with an abundance of midges, gnats, and flies. By the early part of April their migration is completed. The sexes are alike in colour, and may be thus described :— ; es pedis back, and upper a light brown ; primaries and tail-feathers very dark brown ; under surface white, crossed on the upper part of the breast by a band of hair-brown ; beak nearly black ; legs, toes, and claws purplish brown. a ns : : The young, from the time they emerge from the hole in which they have been bred, are very similarly but some- what darker-coloured than the adults, and each feather is narrowly edged with grey. The front represents the bird of the natural size, colony in the dist h ; ance, and the Enelish chi rns intybus. ance, é e English chicory, Cichorium ound and ently entre tions as id in l the two fowls . that at it , and asses, > the lamp, pearly but I Walter krop which via, at nests all of h the overed is, that ‘artins’ , 1 find | of the 7 a i sus?) | : uke of | s to be c parts » Birds COTYLI among North h visits rors are ree, and of cliffs | places ie 8 ril their S SS S ; . ; unde g's, toes, ut some- ‘chorium —-.e Z 3 e4 5 r, Pa a io Laer ia u 1 a Lp a rs 7 een A OE Se : wr a y TD \ @ MPD 2 UPILAS TE, R. Linn | J Walter, Lmp Ce MEROPS APIASTER, Linn. Bee-eater. Merops apiaster, Linn. Mus. Ad. Fr., tom. ii. p. 21. chrysocephalus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 463. — scheghagha, Forsk. Faun. Arab., 1. —— hungarie, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 146, tab. xi. fig. 1. 5 Tue members of the family A/eropide or Bee-eaters, so widely distributed over the Old World, are remarkable for the elegance of their forms and the gaiety of their colouring. Those constituting the restricted genus MMerops are seven in number ; of these, two, J. apiaster and MM. Abgyptius, inhabit Europe and Egypt, and extend their range westward to Affehanistan ; JZ. philippensis frequents ae the whole of India, Southern China, Formosa, Flores, and Timor; and JZ wridis is common in Burmah we and Siam ; J. bicolor is peculiar to the Malayan provinces ; JZ. quinticolor is a native of the Indo-Chinese countries, Southern India, and Ceylon, and MZ. ornatus of Australia and the Papuan Islands. Many of these beautiful birds are migratory, or at least change their locale according to the By ae seasons; the species here represented passes the greater portion of its life in the light ethereal air of subtropical regions, and the azure-blue skies of Greece, Italy, and Spain are far more con- genial to its habits and economy than the cold blasts of more northern countries ; its occurrence in the British Islands, however, has been sufficiently frequent to entitle it to a place in our avi- fauna. During the last century nearly fifty have been recorded as having been shot m England, and one or two in Ireland. The following are the instances enumerated by the late Mr. Yarrell :—One at Kingsgate, in the Isle of Thanet ; another at Goldalming, in Surrey; a third at Christchurch, in Hamp- shire ; a fourth at Chideock, in Dorsetshire ; three in Devonshire ; four in the parish of Madern, in Corn- wall; a flock of twelve near Helston, in the same county, of which eleven were killed; four or five in Suffolk and Norfolk ; and a few others, the localities of which are not mentioned. Since the completion of Mr. Yarrell’s work, others have from time to time made their appearance ; these, like their predecessors, must have been driven out of their regular route of migration, and alighted in England, the first land they came to. One of its most recent occurrences is recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for June 1866. Mr. George Harding, junior, there states that four specimens were shot near Bristol during the first week of the preceding month, and remarks I § S that when first observed “ they were hawking for bees round a number of fruit-trees in blossom, and in the neighbourhood of a number of beehives; at one moment soaring in circles at a great height, and at the g ) 5 5 5 next darting with velocity after their prey, which was often apparently some of the largest species of S , ) 8 I Bombus; when one of these was caught, it was carried for half a minute or more at the point of the bill, and then, with a sudden and peculiar turn of the head and neck, swallowed entire. At other times the birds sat upon the dead branches of a large elm and of a cherry-tree, whence they made short excursions after bees flying past or gathering round the fruit-flowers, sometimes returning to the same perch, like the flycatcher, but more often circling round for a short time before settling. The bees appeared to be always swallowed while the birds were on the wing.” ; So much information respecting the habits and economy of this bird has been recorded by the Rev. Mr. Tristram, Mr. Stafford S. Allen, and others, in ‘The Ibis,’ that it is but fair to those accurate observers to give a transcript of it in their own words. “The Bee-eater,” says Mr. Tristram, in his account of the Ornithology of Palestine, “ appeared simul- taneously in large flocks, and remained more or less gregarious throughout the summer in every part of the country. It does not frequently perch, but remains for hours on the wing, skimming, swallow-like, up and down a nullah or wady, or systematically ranging and quartering a barley-plain in pursuit of insects on the wing. Seen athwart the suubeams as they passed overhead, their colour has the appearance of burnished copper. They feed as well as breed in colonies, preferring low banks to the steeper declivities, and seeming to rely for protection against lizards and other enemies on the structure and turnings of their dwellings rather than on their position. I have taken the eggs from a nest in the side of a low sand mound on the plain, out of which I startled the bird by riding over its hole. “Tt does not, so far as I can ascertain, utilize the borings of the previous year; whether from the number of parasitic insects it leaves behind, or from the fact that the lizards generally squat in the vacant dwellings, I cannot say. It has been stated that it lines its nest with the elytra and legs of beetles. This I conceive to be mistake. When the eggs are first laid, there are no insect-remains to be found; but as the female continues to sit, the dédris of her meals becomes heaped around her, wm py 3 Fr & “A A tn Wah a a: SAE PRA ee Cc | Ly tre : ( optera on which the Ss ig > a fi a lar t With he els tra of the 7), ] 1 nests one migh genel c lly II c ql po y ft C ( yle UE and in old | : t is called ‘ warwar’ by the natives, from al its ery, and is mentioned by Russell young have been reare ae . as being considered delicate eating by the Syrians. | it ee < i ird as served by him in Keypt, state: at ¢ . ‘ord S. / speaking of the bird as observed by g Mr. Stafford S. Allen, speaking * tha : sarly in April ‘er part of that country ‘early in April, a ee ee i : 1 Asia Minor to Eastern Europe and the shores of the Black Sea, for Africa, across the Mediterranean and sista NAIn¢ 2 ae oe It mostly flies in flocks of twenty or thirty, but sometimes in much greatei 2 e . . . 2 s Me = daytime they keep ata considerable height, and sail about like Swallows, on its way from its winter-quarters im the equatorial regions of the purpose of breeding. numbers. While on their way in the though not so rapidly, descending at night to roost ou as often distinctly audible when the birds are almost out of sight. oe : Lieut. R. M. Sperling says, “this graceful bird is Se on the shores of the Mediterranean, and is certainly one of the most beautiful members of their avifauna. ! notes sound from far off as they float towards you, glittering like green flakes when the sun ee the ad They are generally seen in flocks of about ten or twelve; and I noticed that after They utter a sharp twittering ery, which is In the hottest days their bubbling bell-like tints of their plumage. a oe os they have been in one place about half an hour, they move off and ‘ beat’ in another locality. They leave Africa for Europe about the 10th of April.” . In his five months’ birds’-nesting in the Eastern Atlas, Mr. Salvin states that ‘ the Bee-eater is plentiful about Djendeli, and breeds, boring the hole for its nest, in banks of the river Chemora and the ditches that drain the low land near the lake. There the soil is alluvial and soft, and the bird finds little difficulty in making its excavation. During our stay, I took several nests, and latterly became an adept at knowing at once which holes were tenanted, and where and when to dig. A little circumspection is necessary at first; for not unfrequently the occupant is a toad or snake. The scratchings made by the bird’s feet in passing in and out, and the absence of fresh earth beneath the orifice, are generally sure indications of the excavation having been completed, and consequently of the probability of there being eggs within. The holes usually consist of a horizontal passage about three or four feet im length, with the entrance at various heights from the level ground. This passage, at first a circular opening, gradually enlarges horizontally, and ends in a domed chamber of about a foot in diameter; here the eggs are frequently deposited. Should, however, none be found, it becomes necessary to feel all round the chamber, when in many instances another passage of about a foot in Jength will be found communicating with a second chamber in all respects similar to the first, in this, if it exists, the eggs are placed. The bird makes no nest; but the floor of the chamber is strewn with the legs and wings of Coleopfera in such abundance that a handful may be taken up at once. In most instances I caught one of the old birds in the chamber containing the eggs; while the bole was being enlarged, it every now and then attempted to escape. The eggs are laid early in June, and are usually six in number.” “At Jaffa Mr. Chambers fell in with large flocks of Merops apiaster flying during the whole day at a great elevation, and only coming down late in the evening to roost in the orange-yroves.” Lord Lilford states that ‘“‘ the Bee-eater arrives in Corfu and Epirus in great numbers during the month of April, and breeds in the latter country on the banks of the Kataito River, near Morsyah, and many other similar localities. In all the holes examined, the eggs were laid on the bare sand, without any attempt at a nest. I several times observed three, and once or twice four birds fly from the same hele. The parents leave the country as soon as the young are able to fly. Ihave never seen them later than the beginning of August, and I observed also, during the same month in 1858, that although the banks of Guadalquivir, near an Juan de Alfarache, where there was a large colony of this species, were mined in every direction, and exhibited signs of recent occupation, not a Bee-eater was to be seen.” : Dr. Henry Giglioli, in his paper on the birds observed at Pisa and in its neighbourhood in 1864, says, “ During the first days of May large flocks of the Common Bee-eater ( : ; place, flying northwards. They continually betray their presence by their | near here, unless in the olive-plantations at the foot of the Monte Pi Little more need be said except that the sexes ar less brilliant than the male, and that the y time they leave the nest; but two years eli of their parents. Verops apiaster) passed over the loud rolling whistle, but rarely stop sano.” e very similar in colour, the female being merely a trifle oung assume a plumage like that of the adult from the apse before the central tail-feathers become as long as those Che Plate represents C c 4 y ° S an adult male f th Z f lit I 2 Dr nu stan A 49 O e€ size o cs a id a oung I It | ll he di C GE VACGAUA GUANA LUTOOOTGUTTGTAT ATT a " i a m ALCEDO ISPEDA, Lin. it \ i ee Walter Imp ALCEDO ISPIDA, Linn. Kingfisher. Alcedo Ispida, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 179. As the blue of the Turquoise forms a pleasing contrast among minerals, and the drooping blue-bell imparts colour to our shady woods, so is the Kingfisher conspicuous for its brilliancy among our native birds. _ Still, with all its beauty, it is by no means the finest of its family ; for in those countries where nature is more lavish of her gifts, other and still lovelier species exist. The great group of birds to which it belongs are so varied that they are naturally divisible into many distinct genera ; they are, moreover, so widely dispersed that not only each of the great continents of the globe, but all or nearly all the islands are also tenanted by Kingfishers, as these birds are generally called. This familiar term, however, is a most inappropriate one, inasmuch as but few of them take fish, or live in the vicinity of water,—some of the species even being found on the hot scoriz of volcanic mountains, such as occur in the Island of Ascension ; and I believe none of them ever drink. Our bird and its allies, for which the generic name of cedo has been retained, and the members of the genus Ceyr are the most truly aquatic of the entire family; for they frequent exclusively the neighbourhood of brooks and rivers, and feed principally on_ fish, aquatic insects, and diminutive Crustaceans. A sight of the Kingfisher on its native waters, transient though the view may be, is necessary before a just conception of its beauty can be formed; for the specimens generally seen in our museums, or as an ornament in our drawing-rooms, convey but a sorry idea of the loveliness of the living bird. By nature shy, and in habits solitary, few but naturalists or anglers have had an opportunity of noticing the speck of glancing blue which with arrow-like swiftness descends the gloomy beck or overtops the gushing waterfall, or the red gleam which shines forth from the stranded snag in the river or the post standing upright in the stream ; and none but those who are familiar with the actions and habits of our native birds are aware that the diminutive object hanging over the river on quivering wings is the Kingfisher, poising itself above a little fish, on which it presently darts with unerring aim. The observer of nature sees the stoop, if he awaits the rising, and can follow with his eye the flash of blue which skims away like a brilliant beetle; he will perceive it suddenly stop on a stone or dead limb of a tree, near the water’s edge, and, if near enough, may see the minnow, the glistening bleak, or young trout beaten to death before it is either swallowed or carried to the clamorous and expectant brood which are being reared on a shelving bank near at hand, or on the side of a pit in the neighbouring wood. In England the Kingfisher occurs in every district where there is water : even the smallest streamlet will attract it; and thus the clear swift-flowing Wandle, the murky Brent, the Colne, and the Kennett are all enlivened with its presence. Old Father Thames, however, feeds more Kingfishers than any of his tributaries; and on that beautiful river, particularly from Windsor to Henley, it is sufficiently abundant to admit of every one gratifying his wish who may be desirous of seeing the bird in a state of nature. That its numbers would be far greater, and that every mile would be enlivened with its passing flight and shrill note, there is not the slightest doubt, could the destructive hand of the collector be stayed ; for then our queen of rivers and its beautiful woods and meads would form a sanctuary wherein the bird might remain free from molestation. In Scotland, although it may be observed in every county, it is more scarce than with us; in Ireland it is occasionally met with in suitable localities throughout the island, but is nowhere numerous. For the following interesting note on the occurrence of the Kingfisher in Argyleshire I am indebted to the kindness of the Duke of Argyll :-— “This bird visits Argyleshire only occasionally, at distant intervals, and, so far as I have observed, never remains long. I attribute this entirely to one circumstance, viz. the absence in the rapid streams of our country of the numerous species of fish common in English rivers, and which constitute the chief food of the Kingfisher. The bleak, the dace, the roach, the minnow, and others whose fry swim in the shallows, or near the surface in lowland rivers, are entirely wanting in Argyleshire. We have nothing but the various species of Sa/monide ; and their fry conceal themselves so well among the stones and rocks of the rapid waters in which they are produced, that they must afford a very scanty supply to such methods of capture as those practised by the Kingfisher. ‘“«Two years ago a Kingfisher staid some weeks at Inverary, and frequented partly a lake of brackish water, which is well supplied both with trout and marine fish. The last time I observed the bird, it was sitting on a bunch of seaweed; and the brilliancy of its colouring, set off by so dark a background, attracted the eye from a great distance. I have never observed it except in autumn.” = 7 we I PS 5 ere = OE PE A aT a oe SX Cont et eth Ea EY EE NS | ND NS TT EE : hod. : sre are few situations, of whicl f the Kingfisher in all parts of England, that there are few situa : ch 5 even the wate ess in some nook or corner: yet how few of the busy denizens So general is the dispersion 0 lio ROTTS a part, where it may not be found ; seldom without a solitary example sitting motion over-crowded metropolis have ever seen it there ! . on the Thames, or indeed on any other river, If the water be clear, it may be seen over the main stream ; but rs in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are of our To find a Kingfisher bird must have been previously acquired. if turbid and heavy, and its favourite food not visible, ater: there he patiently sits on an overhanging bus There are times particularly in autumn, when a partial migration takes ovether for the salt marshes near the sea; here every ditch oD some knowledge of the habits of the the bird instinctively resorts to a neighbouring ditch h, and drops upon any aquatic insect, or some backw stickleback, or other small fish. place, and the young at least leave the river alt il fort keeps a sharp look-out for crustaceous or other aquatic creatures, crossed by a rail forms a perch, whence it I one Voracity, in fact, is one of the characteristics, not in the choice of which it is not over-nice or particular. | orem only of our bird, but of the whole race. The Australian Kingfisher will athicls asmall rat; the English Del bullhead or a gudgeon the length of its own body, by which means 1t 1s nol unfrequently choked. No greater proof can be given of the immense number of fish destroyed by these birds ha the fact that, of the hones cast up in the shape of lengthened pellets from the stomach of a single pair, a oe nest was formed in a few days. That such a quantity of bones should be cast up im so short a period may seem strange ; but facts Ae stubborn things, and I will now relate an incident of this kind which came under my own observation. On the 18th of April 1859, during one of my fishing-excursions on the Thames, I saw a hole in a preci- pitous bank, which I felt assured was the nesting-place of a Kingfisher; and on passing a spare top of my fly-rod to the extremity, a distance of nearly three feet, I brought out some freshly cast bones of fish, con- vineing me that I was right in my surmise. The day following I again visited the spot with a spade; and after removing nearly two feet square of the turf, dug down to the nest without disturbing the passage which led to it. Here I found four eggs, placed on the usual layer of fish-bones. These I removed with care, and then replaced the earth, beating it down as hard as the bank itself, and restored the turfy sod. A fortnight after, the bird was seen to leave the hole again, and my suspicion was awakened that she had taken to her old breeding-quarters a second time. I again visited the place on the twenty-first day from the date of my former exploration, and upon passing the top of my fly-rod up the hole, found not only that it was of the former length, but that the female was within. I then took a large mass of cotton-wool from my collecting-box, and stuffed it to the extremity, in order to preserve the eggs from damage during my again laying it open from above. On removing the sod and digging down as before, I came to the cotton- wool, and beneath it a well-formed nest of fish-bones, the size of a small saucer, the walls of which were fully half an inch thick, together with eight beautiful, translucent, pale pinky-white eggs, and the old female herself. This nest I removed with the greatest care; and it is now deposited in the proper resting-place for so interesting an object, the British Museum. This mass of bones, then weighing 700 grains, had been cast up and deposited by the bird and its mate in the short space of twenty-one days. Ornithologists are divided in opinion as to whether the fish-bones are to be considered in the light of a nest. Some are disposed to believe them to be the castings and feces of the young brood of the year, and that the same hole being frequented for a succession of years, a great mass is at length formed ; while others suppose that they are deposited by the parents as a platform for the eves, constituting, in fact, a nest; and I think, from what I have adduced, we may fairly conclude that this is the case ; In fact nothing could be better adapted to defend the eggs from the damp earth. Phe great Dacelones of Australia deposit their eggs in cavernous hollows in the boles of the Eucalypti; the Halcyones in the spouts of the branches of the same trees; both on the bare wood. Our Kinefisher, and : : nefisher, anc probably all the true A/cedines, on the other hand, like the S i hole in an upright bank, to the depth of two or three fe chamber, large enough for its seven or eight young and-Martin, drills a circular, upward-slanting et, at the end of which it excavates an oven-like to sit upright on the nest of bones, the slanting excrement; and hence the foetid odour from this cloaca It is also detectable by means of another sense ; for if the l voices of the young wheel, or the pea in a child’s rattle, may be heard. direction of the entrance serving as a drain for the often leads to the detection of the breeding-place. ear be placed to the opening, the shril resembling the noise produced by a spinning- When the young quit the hole, they sit about on the they arrive and supply by turns the ravenous brood. n colour ; they are therefore gaily dressed from the e; the male, however, is smaller than his mate in size, neighbouring branches, and greet the old birds as E : These young fliers generally resemble the adults ; ESAT LN An ce Cay a beginning. The adult of both sexes are much alik but brighter in colour. Independently of the British Islands, the Kinef . . . . 5 north ; it is also distributed over the allied species, the Alcedy Bengalensis, The Plate represents the two sexes sher j i x hee er inhabits every part of Europe, except the extreme African border of the Mediterranean ; in India it is replaced by anearly » of the natural size, on the Carex riparia. J Gould and HC. a des = Ee ee a a ee I Ne ee ee ee ee ee — eS Pe CORACIAS GARRULA, Linn. Roller. Coracias garrula, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 32. Galgulus, Briss. Orn., tom. ii. p. 64, pl. v. fig. 2 ———— garrulus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’ Hist. Nat., tom. xxix. p. 428. Coracias germanicus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 158. ——— planiceps, Brehm, ibid., p. 159. —— garrulus, Cab. Mus. Hein., Theil ii. p. 117. Aurunouen the avifauna of the British Islands is generally destitute of the gorgeous hues which distinguish the birds of the tropics, still some three or four species conspicuous for the beauty of their plumage either reside with or pay us occasional visits. The Roller is one of them; and but few of the birds of the torrid zone are more gaily attired, or more striking in appearance. That the clear blue skies and the pure atmosphere of the European continent are more in harmony with the tints which adorn this bird than the humid, uncertain, and foggy climate of our islands cannot be denied ; and it is in the countries across the Straits that it is most frequently found ; still we have been, and probably ever shall be, favoured with its occasional visits, the recorded instances of which, from the Land’s End to the northernmost part of Scotland, are already very numerous... Nor has Ireland been unvisited by this fine bird ; for Thompson informs us that the late «« Mr. R. Ball, when walking through the demesne at Carton, the seat of the Duke of Leinster, in the middle of Sep- tember 1831, had his attention attracted by a bird pursued by a great number of Rooks, which, instead of flying off to avoid, continued for a considerable time to dash into the midst of them, apparently for the sake only of annoyance. From the size, brilliant plumage, and singular flight of this bird, my friend was satisfied that it was a Roller.” Thompson was told of another being shot in the county of Sligo, and a third in the south of Ireland ; but adds, ‘as yet no example of the bird unquestionably killed in this island has to my knowledge come under the inspection of the naturalist.” In Mr. Rodd’s ‘ List of Cornish Birds’ it is stated that a specimen had been seen near the Land’s End, and that a female shot at St. Levan is in his own collection. I might continue to cite instances of its capture from this end of England to the Orkneys, were it worth while to do so; but such notices may be found in many, if not all, the works treating on our native birds, from Bewick to Macgillivray. As recently as the months of May and June 1865 I received three notes giving me accounts of its appearance, one in Devonshire, another in Essex, and a third in Dumfriesshire. The first, Mr. Gatcombe states, was killed by a farmer’s boy on Spriddlescombe Farm, near Plymouth, the property of J. H. Eccles, Esq. ; on dissection this proved to bea male, and its stomach contained the remains of beetles and the skins of several long whitish grubs or caterpillars ; a female was seen in its company, but was not obtained. The Essex bird, Mr. Travis of Saffron Walden informed me, was shot on the 17th of May, by the gamekeeper of G. Saunders, Esq., of Little Chesterford Park ; this was a male bird, and just before it was shot had been sucking an egg. The bird observed in Dumfriesshire, I learn by a note from Sir William Jardine, was seen during the previous November by the keeper of Mr. Yonstoun, of Torther- wold, flying about a thorny hedge ; it could not be approached within shooting-distance ; but its remains were afterwards found, and the wings and tail sent to Sir William. This poor straggler from a foreign land was evidently bewildered, and should have been in a more southern climate at that period ; for be it known that the bird is strictly migratory in all parts of Europe, and is only found there in summer, as in autumn it crosses the Mediterranean for the more congenial climate of Africa, where insect food is abundant, and a genial sun reigns, under which it may preen its beautiful feathers. Mr. Stevenson, after enumerating the numerous instances of the occurrence of the Roller in his county, remarks :—‘‘ The earliest record, however, is contained in the following remarkable note by Sir Thomas Browne, made just two hundred years ago :—‘On the 14th of May, 1664, a very rare bird was sent me, killed at Crostwich, which seemed to be some kind of Jay.’ After giving a desenpuon which proves that the bird was a Roller, Sir T. Browne assigns to it the name of Garrulus Argentoratensis.’ During the summer months the Roller is found in many parts of Spain, Italy, Germany, and Turkey, to the eastward of which country it proceeds as far as Affghanistan and Cashmere ; but I have not yet seen specimens from India proper, though Mr. Jerdon states that it is now and then found in its north-western provinces. “« About the wooded hills that skirt the elevated plains of the Eastern Atlas,” says Mr. Salvin, << the Roller may not unfrequently be met with. In these districts it breeds in the month of May, choosing for the position of its nest a hollow in a tree, and usually preferring one that has a side entrance. In this the eggs a oS) yy) 6 we —— ri “e ° et AS et ) AR eS PS Ue Tc > v5 B Te,