ACCENTOR ALPINUS.
Alpine Accentor.

Motacilla alpina, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 957.
Sturnus moritanus, Gmel. ibid., p-. 804,

—— collaris, Gmel. ibid., p. 805.

Accentor alpinus, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iii, p. 700.

 

Tuose persons who have done me the honour to consult my work on the ‘ Birds of Asia’ will have observed
that all the species of this form contained therein are figured under the generic term Accentor; but I may
here remark that Professor Kaup has divided the birds hitherto placed in that genus into three genera,
reserving Accentor for the present species, with which its near allies 4, nipalensis and A. altaicus must be
associated, proposing the term Zharrhaleus for the common Hedge-Accentor of Europe, 4. modularis, with
which must be placed 4. zmmaculatus, A. rebeculoides, A. strophiatus, and the Japanese 4. rubidus,—and
Spermolegus for the A. atrogularis vel montanellus. Now, although I have not adopted these divisions, I
admit that the German savant has sufficient reasons for separating the Accentorine birds into two genera; but
I strongly object to the generic separation of the 4. atrogularis from Tharrhaleus, since, in my opinion, it is
identical in form. The species, then, of Professor Kaup’s restricted genus Accentor, of which the bird here
represented is the type, are three in number, namely 4. alpinus, A. nipalensis, and A. altaicus; all are
inhabitants of mountainous districts. Compared with the members of the genus Zharrhaleus, of which 7.
modularis is the type, these Alpine birds have longer wings, and more robust forms, and the marking of their
plumage is of a different character. They are said to be even more tame in disposition than our well-known
Hedgesparrow ; at least it is so reported of 4. alpinus. The birds of this latter form also affect very
different localities, rocky mountains being the situations wherein they love to dwell, rather than among the
lowlands. They and the Wild Rhododendrons live together—the European species with the Rhododendron
ferrugineum, on the Alps, while the others creep about among the plants of the same family in the Himalayas,
the discovery of so many species of which has made Dr. Hooker’s name so famous among botanists. The
European A. alpinus keeps true to its locality ; for it seldom leaves the Alps, and never intrudes upon the
haunts of those inhabiting the great Himalayan ranges, which, in like manner, are constant to their natural
abodes. The Accentors constitute a well-defined group of birds, the members of which are confined to
the Old World, and, as far as we yet know, to its northern regions. What claim, it may be asked,
has the Accentor alpinus to a place in the avifauna of Great Britain? If we look into the works of
Macgillivray, Yarrell, or Thompson, we shall find it recorded that a pair were seen in the garden of
King’s College, Cambridge, and one being shot, on the 22nd of November 1822, it was submitted to the
inspection of the ornithologists living at the time, accompanied by a scrap of information bearing out their
rock-loving disposition ; for it was noticed that when not on the ground they frequented the buttresses of the
surrounding buildings. ‘The second example was supposed to have fallen a victim to a cat. In Loudon’s
Magazine for 1832 is another record of the occurrence of this bird.

“TI am indebted,” says Mr. Yarrell, ‘‘ to the Rev. Dr. Goodenough, the Dean of Wells, for the knowledge
of the occurrence of a third example of this rare bird, which was shot in the garden of the Deanery, in
Somersetshire, in 1833. .. . The same character was noticed in the specimens both at Cambridge and
Wells, the birds allowing observers to approach unusually close to them, and, when at length obliged to
move, making very short flights and always settling on some part of the nearest building. The resemblance
of the steeple-crowned edifices of Cambridge and at the Deanery of Wells to the pointed and elevated rocks
of their own peculiar haunts was supposed to have been the attraction in both the localities referred (1@”
Still more recently Mr. Gatecombe has submitted to my inspection a very fine pair shot by himself in Devon-
shire, respecting which he has favoured me with the following note :—

“On the 20th of December, 1858, while walking on the coast in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, atter
some heavy gales from the south-west, I was much surprised and interested by seeing a pair of line
Accentors hopping about among the grass on the top of the cliffs. Having watched them for some time I
returned home for my gun; but when I came back they had disappeared, and, although I sedulously eee
the whole of the coast, I did not see them again until the 10th of the following month, January 1859,

when I had the good fortune to shoot them. Their actions closely resembled those of the common Hedge-

= . “ 1 aq] > > , o »apoekes
Accentor ; and they were tolerably tame, but, on being alarmed, immediately flew down among the rocks,

uttering a note which resembled th
made by some kinds of small birds when fighting.

e words tree, tree, tree, quickly repeated, reminding me much of the noise
They kept close together, and appeared when feeding to