KKAHARARARAKAKAKAKATAKAKAT ATA Ki 79,6, 9, 6,0,6 8.4 eS, 59 69,69 ,6.0,6. 9.6.9.6, 9.6, 8.6,0.5.0,6.9.6.8 6 96.96.9,6.9.6, 969,69 6.060,695 90969606 9,4 LISP I EIEIO VED CVC PE VOLO VE ICI CAC VOVE VVC VE SE VE VES, Se | 3 2 . at (KG as MG a1 Chiat LY am CS C : LY Cay S37 aC & LY e j 2 y x SS © , " 2 \ NZ = x \ “z 2c yy = (ac AGS La OY) CLC NS & ee Cc NOS ‘ CS. . Ls G SS aaa =~ ; > aes Dd yj Oe en Net ~ ZS 1B) Aa A Nese < WIS CXS A 1 Ox f fs tates Os >ffe wes eh Ae oe Des ke 2 DY OM OO) CM OWS) CLO eto) OR ON Ce Oro) COMO OM Oy OU. / OR C8 GX ‘a WO | Fj os A ey NEA 7 OM OT VEX LS ron @ _ ad ae a " 2 ole > I Bs Catia - is re aS a> s >" O) o eho a £t a ~ ay ¥- A Se AAS a7 ce 7 Ys tid bral) Ae “ow VF rs x OY a. “h@ che Oo. 4 oy Sol chore we as Oe a> o) PRO” CAD “BINH? 4 do* CHO CAD“ C) 7 7 \OMC WO, Oy Ow PA+.@8 PDP PIONS SN ok x » he BD R-P,X- oe }, yy! id bea! ANS 4 bes eS \ ~* to ee. SAN _ ey tN v7 .. BAA AF 4 XS dh . XD ia, a Pica ~ Wats Ty ay ALL H BIESHON AN. "ef A THE BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN. BY JOHN GOULD, F.RS., &c. IN FIVE VOLUMES. VOLUME I. LONDON: PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEBT STREET. PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 26, CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE. 1873. TO PE RIGHT HONOURABIE® mOwreNP VISCOUNT HILT. OF HAWKSTONE, LORD LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM, COUNTY OF SALOP, ins Wolk ON THE BIRDS OF GREAT BRITAIN 7 Js Dedicated, Be Een A wer Om TESTIMONY OF HIS SINCERE RESPECT AND REGARD AND IN COMMEMORATION OF AN UNINTERRUPTED FRIENDSHIP OF MORE THAN FORTY YEARS. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN. HIS HIS MAJESTY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS Ackroyd, E., Esq., Halifax, Yorkshire. Advocates, the Library of the Faculty of, Edinburgh. Ailsa, The Most Hon. The Marquis of, Culzean Castle, May- bole, Ayrshire, N.B. Allford, Mrs., Albert Road, Dyke Road, Brighton. Allison, R. A., Esq., Scaleby Hall, Carlisle. Allport, Morton, Esq., Hobart Town, Tasmania. Amhurst, W. Amhurst T., Esq., Didlington Park, Brandon, Norfolk. Anstice, J., 2 Copies. Argyll, His Grace The Duke of, Inverary Castle, Argyll- shire, &ce. Arkwright, Miss C. E., Mark Hall, Harlow, Essex. Armstrong, Sir W. G., Elswick, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Army and Navy Club, The, Pall Wall. Atheneum, The, Pall Mall. Australian Museum, The, Sydney, New South Wales. Aylesford, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Packington Hall, Coventry. Backhouse, A., Esq., Darlington, Durham. Bagot, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Blithfield, Rugeley, Staffordshire. Bailey, Mrs. Henry, Rosedale, Tenbury, Worcestershire. Baker, W. R., Esq., Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire. Balston, The Rey. Dr., The Vicarage, Bakewell, Derbyshire. Bamard, H. R., Esq., Worstead, Norwich. Barclay, Hanbury, Esq., Widdleton Hall, Tamworth. Barclay, J. G., Esq., Lombard Street, and Leyton, Essex. Barclay, R., Esq., Lombard Street. Baring, E. C., Esq., 87 Charles Street, Berkeley Square. Barlow, F. P., Esq., 26 Rutland Gate, Hyde Park. Barthés, Mons. P., Paris. Bass, M. T., Esq., 101 Eaton Square, and Rangemore House, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Basset, J. F., Esq., Tehidy Park, Redruth, Cornwall. Bateman, J., Esq., 9 Hyde-Park Gate South. Bateson, J., Esq., Shieldaig of Gairloch, Achnasheen, Ross- shire, N.B. Bayne, W. T., Esq., York Terrace, Regent's Park. Bazley, T. Sebastian, Esq., Hadtherop Castle, Fairford, Gloucestershire. Beaumont, A., Esq., Greave, Weltham, Huddersfield, York- shire. Beckwith, W. E., Esq., Haton Constantine, Wellington, Salop. Bedford, His Grace The Duke of, Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. Esq., Madeley Wood, Wellington, Salop. ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE CONSORT. LEOPOLD I., KING OF THE BELGIANS. THE DUKE DAUMALE. Bennett, Dr., Sydney, New South Wales. Berlin, the Royal Library of. Betts, Edw. Ladd, Esq. Bidder, G. P., Esq., Ravensbury Park, Mitcham, Surrey. Bird, W. F. W., Esq., Wilmington House, Dartford, Kent. Birkbeck, E., Esq., 10 Upper Brook Street, Grosvenor Square. Birkbeck, R., Esq., 20 Berkeley Square. Birmingham Public Library, The. Blake, H. W., Esq., 8 Devonshire Place, Portland Place. Bodleian Library, The, Ozford. Bond, F., Esq., 203 Adelaide Road, South Hampstead. Booth, E. T., Esq., 18 Vernon Terrace, Brighton. Boynton, Sir Henry, Bart., Burton Agnes, Yorkshire. Bradford, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Belgrave Square. Braikenridge, The Rey. G. W., Clevedon, Somersetshire. Braithwaite, Dr., Clapham Rise. Brassey, T., Esq., 156 Lowndes Square. Braybrooke, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Audley End, Saffron Walden, Essex. Bree, Dr., East Hill, Colchester, Essex. Bree, The Rev. W., Allesley Rectory, near Coventry. Brenchley, Julius L., Esq., Milgate, near Maidstone, Kent. Brewin, R., Esq., Ide, Exeter. British Museum, The. Brooke, The Rev. J., Haughton Hall, Shiffnal. Brooke, T., Esq., Sheffield. Brooke, Sir Victor A., Bart., Colebrooke Park, Brookeboro’, Fermanagh, Ireland. Brown, J., Esq., Copgrove Hall, Borobridge, Yorkshire. Brown, W. R., Esq., Belmont House, Liverpool. Brownlow, The Rt. Hon. The Earl, Belton House, Grantham, Lincolnshire. Brussels, The Royal Library of. Buccleuch and Queensbury, His Grace The Duke of, Dalkeith Palace, near Edinburgh. Buchanan, Mrs., Auchentorlie, Bowling, Dumbartonshire, N.B. Buckley, H., Esq., Hdgbaston, Birmingham. Buckley, T., Esq., Westwood House, Beverley. Buckley, Miss, Bank House, Hanley, Staffordshire. Buffalo Natural History Society, The, N. America. Burnett, F. C., Esq., Vaurhall. Busk, J., Esq., Codicote Lodge, Welwyn, Hertfordshire. Butler, C., Esq., 3 Connaught Place. Buxton, Sir T. F., Bart., Warlies, Waltham Abbey, Essex. Buxton, S. Gurney, Esq., Norwich. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Cabbell, B. B., Esq., Cromer Hall, Norfolk. Calthorpe, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Grosvenor Square. Cambridge University, The. Campbell, Colonel, Blythswood, NEB: : Campbell, Sir George, Bart., Garscube, Glasgow, N.B. Canada, The Library of the Parliament of. Cator, A., Esq; Woodbastwick Hall, Norwich, and Trewsbury, Cirencester, Gloucestershire. Chesham, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Chesham, Latimers, Bucking- hamshire. Childers, J. W., Esq., Cantley, Doncaster, Yorkshire. Cholmeley, The Rey. J., Magdalen Hall, Oxford. Clamorgan, The Chevalier, Normandy. Clark, E., Esq., 3 Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street. Clarke, J., Esq., Fairy Croft, Saffron Walden, Essev. Climenson, The Rey. John, Shiplake Vicarage, Henley-on- Thames, Oxon. Codrington, Lady Georgiana, Doddington Park, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Collin, J. T., Esq., Wenden, Saffron Walden, Essex. Collins, Edward, Esq., Newton Ferrers, Callington, Cornwall. Cooper, Lieut.-Col. Edward F., 5 Bryanston Square. Cooper, Sir Daniel, Bart., 20 Princes Gardens. Cotes, Lady Louisa, Woodcote, Newport, Salop. Cotton, H. P., Esq., Quea Park, Isle of Thanet. Coulthurst, W. M., Esq., Streatham, Surrey. Cowper, The Rt. Hon. The Dowager Countess, 4 S¢. James's Square. Craufurd, The Rey. C. H., Old Swinford, Stourbridge, Wor- cestershire. Craven, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Charles Street, Berkeley Square. Crewe, Sir John H., Bart., Calke Abbey, near Derby. Crewe, Lady, Calke Abbey, near Derby. Crewe, The Rey. H. H., Zhe Rectory, Drayton Beauchamp, Tring, Hertfordshire. Crichton, A. W., Esq., Broadward Hall, Aston-on-Clun, Salop. Crokat, C. F., Esq., Bayswater. Crommelin, J. P. A. Van Wickevoort, Esq., Haarlem. Crompton-Roberts, C. H., Esq., 16 Belgrave Square. Crossfield, H., Esq., Oaklands, Aigburth Road, Liverpool. Crowley, A., Esq., Croydon, Surrey. Crowley, P., Esq., Waddon House, Croydon, Surrey. Cubitt, J., Esq., Great George Street, Westminster. Czarnikow, C., Esq., Gien Court, Mitcham, Surrey. Darbishire, R. D., Esq., Victoria Park, Manchester. Darby, Mrs. A., Stanley Hall, Bridgenorth, Salop. Darnley, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Hill Street, Berkeley Square ; Cobham Hall, Kent, Sc. Dartmouth, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Patshuli Hall, Wol- verhampton. Daubuz, The Rey. J., Killion, Truro, Cornwall. Davey, R.., Esq., Bachym House, Helstone, Cornwall. Deacon, J., Esq., Birchin Lane, Lombard Street. Deedes, W., Esq., Sandling Park, near Hythe, Kent. Denison, A.. Esq., 6 Albemarle Street. Denison, Mrs., 33 Wilton Place, Belgravia. Dennistoun, AY Hi; Bsq:; Rosslea, Helensburgh, N.B. De \ itré, Mrs., 10 Upper Brunswick Place, Brighton. Devitt, 'T. is EISq., Lower Clapton. Devonshire, His Grace The Duke of, Chatsworth, De i Dees rbyshire. Dickens, C. S., Esq., Coolhurst, Horsham. Sussex Dickinson, J., Esq., Abbo¢s Hill, Hemel Hempstead, Hert- fordshire. Dickinson, J. D., Farncomb Place, Godalming, Surrey. Dod, The Rev. C. Wolley, Eton College. Dorchester, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Greywell Hill, Odihan, Hampshire. Dowsett, A., Esq., 16 North Street, Brighton. Drummond, R., Esq., Charing Cross. Drummond-Hay, Col., Seggieden, Perth, N.B. Ducie, The Right Hon. The Earl of, Zortworth Court, Glou- cestershire. Dusacq, The Baron, Virginia. Dutton, The Hon. Edward Lennox, 2 S¢. James’s Place. Eckersley, Jas., Jun., Esq., Burnt House, Chorley, Lan- cashire. Edinburgh, The Royal Society of. Edinburgh, The University of. Edwardes, Capt. J. T. Hope, Netley Hall, Salop. Edwardes, Sir Henry, Bart., Orleton Hall, Salop. Elger, J., Esq., Lewes Crescent, Brighton. Elliot, D. G., Esq., New York. Elliot, G., Esq., Great George Street, Westminster, and Betley Hall, Betley, Staffordshire. Ellis, J. H., Esq., Knighton, near Leicester. Elwes, J. W., Esq., Coleborne Park, Cheltenham. Enniskillen, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Florence Court, En- niskillen, Ireland. Erle, The Rt. Hon. Sir William, Bramshott Grange, Liphook, Hampshire. Errington, G. H., Esq., Leaden Park, Colchester, Essex. Evans, J., Esq., Nash Mill House, Hemel Hempstead, Hert- Sordshire. Eyton, T. C., Esq., Zyton-on-the-Vealdmoors, Wellington, Salop. Falmouth, The Rt. Hon. The Viscount, 2 S¢. James’s Square, and Tregothnan, Cornwall. Fanshawe, J. G., Esq., Halkin Street, Belgrave Square. Farlow, C., Esq., S¢. Edmund’s Terrace, Primrose Hill. Finney, W., Esq., Formosa Place, Cookham, Berkshire. Fitz-Gerald, Mrs., 2 Portland Place. Fitzgerald, R., Esq., Adraville, Balmain, New South Wales. Fitzwilliam, Rt. Hon. Earl, 4 Grosvenor Square. Fleming, J., Esq., Queen’s Gate, Kensington. Flower, E. F., Esq., The Hill, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick- shire. Foley, The Rt. Hon. Lord, 26 Grosvenor Square. Foljambe, F. J. 8., Esq., Osberton, Worksop, Nottingham- shire. Ford, J. W., Esq., Enfield Old Park, Middlesex. Foster, 8. L., Esq., Old Park Hall, Walsail, Staffordshire. Foster, R., Esq., The Castle, Lostwithiel, Cornwall. Foster, W. O., Esq., Apley Park, Bridgenorth, Salop. Fountaine, E., Esq., Easton, Norwich. Fowler, F. 8., Esq., Wannamead, Plymouth. Fowler, J., Esq., Thornwood Lodge, Campden Hill, Ken- sington. Fowler, W., Esq., Whittington Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Franklin, Lady, 2 Upper Gore, Kensington. Fraser, W.., Esq., Shipness Castle, Argylishire. Fuller, F., Esq. Gardner, C. D., Esq., The Cedars, Putney. Gardner, S., Esq., Archer House, Abbeydale, Sheffield, York- shire. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Gassiot, J. P., Esq., Jun., 6 Sussex Place, Regent's Park, and The Culvers, Carshalton, Surrey. Gibbs, H. H., Esq., S¢. Dunstan’s, Regent's Park. Gibson, G. S., Esq., Saffron Walden, Essex. Glasgow University, The. Glyn, Mrs. St. Leger, Bramble Hill, Lyndhurst, Hampshire. Glyn, Sir Richard Carr, Bart., Leweston, Sherborne, Dorset. Godfrey, T. S., Esq., Balderton Hall, Newark, Nottingham- shire. Godman, F. Du Cane, Esq., Park Hatch, Godalming, Surrey. Gesford, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Gosford Castle, Armagh, Ireland. Gould, The Rev. A., Biddicot, Banbury, Oxon. Gower, The Hon. E. F. Leveson, 14 Sowth Audley Street. Gower, W. Granville Leveson, Esq., Titsey Park, Godstone, Surrey. Graham, The Rev. M. R.., Arthuret, Carlisle. Gray, A., Esq., Stamford Hill, Middlesez. Greene, The Rey. R., Highlands, St. James Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Grenfell, Mrs., Tuplow Court, Taplow, Bucks. Griggs, M., Esq., Plymouth. Grosvenor, The Lord Richard, 76 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square. Gulson, J., Esq., Priory Row, Hamilton, Dr., 9 Portugal Street, Grosvenor Square. Hamilton and Brandon, His Grace The Duke of, The Palace, Hamilton, N.B. Hammond, W. O., Esq., S¢. Alban’s Court, Wingham, Kent. Hamond, A., Esq., Westacre, Swaffham, Norfolk. Hanbury, Robert, Esq., Poles, Ware, Hertfordshire. ‘oventry. Harcourt, E. W. Vernon, Esq., Nuneham Park, Abingdon, Berkshire. Hardy, C. 8., Esq., Childham Castle, Canterbury. Hardy, H. C., Esq., Anstey Manor, Hampshire. Harrison, W., Esq., Samlesbury Hall, Preston, Lancashire. Hartley, L. L., Esq., 13 Great Cumberland Place, Hyde Park. Hartmann, James, Hyndburn, Accrington, Lancashire. Hartopp, Sir John, Bart., Four Oaks Hall, Sutton Coldfield. Hartree, Mrs., Lewisham Road, Greenwich, Kent. Harvey, N., Esq., Hayle, Cornwall. Hawkshaw, Sir John, Hollycombe, Suffolk. Hawkshaw, J. C., 25 Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington. Hawley, Sir Joseph, Bart., 34 Haton Place, S.W. Hemans, G. W., Esq., 11 Roland Gardens, South Kensington. Hesketh, Sir Thomas, Bart., Rufford Hall, Ormskirk, Lan- cashire. Hewitson, W. C., Esq., Oatlands, Walton-on-Thames. Hill, The Rt. Hon. Viscount, Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury, Salop. Hoare, 8. G., Esq., Hampstead, Widdlesex. Holford, R. §., Esq., Dorchester House, Park Lane. Holland, Wilmot, Esq., Bread Street, Cheapside. Holmes, A. W., Esq., Makeney Lodge, Derby. Holmesdale, The Rt. Hon. Viscount, Linton Park, Staple- hurst, Kent. Hope, The Lady Mildred Beresford, 1 Connaught Place. Horsfall, W. C., Esq., Horsforth Low Hall, Leeds, Yorkshire. Hudson, R., Esq., Clapham Common. Hull Subscription Library, The. Hussey, H., Esq., Hyde Park Gardens. Huthwaite, The Rev. T. W., Backwell Vicarage, Bristol. Ingram, Mrs., Mount Felix, Walton-on-Thames. Irving, Professor, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Isham, Sir Charles E., Bart., Lamport Hall, Northampton. Jeffery, G. A., Esq., Zrinity House, Eastbourne, Sussez. Jervoise, H. B., Esq., 11 Haton Terrace. Johnstone, Sir Harcourt, Bart., 34 Belgrave Square. Jolliffe, The Hon. H. H., Merstham, Surrey. Jones, Mrs., The Vicarage, Baschurch, Salop. Jones, H., Esq., Birmingham. Kelk, J., Esq., Zhe Priory, Stanmore, Middlesex. Kelsall, H., Esq. Kemp, J. Y., Esq., 41 Weymouth Street, Portland Place. Kennard, H. M., Esq., Crumlin Hall, Newport, Monmouth- shire. Kershaw, S., Esq., Heywood, Manchester. King’s College, Cambridge, the Provost and Fellows of. Knight, E., Esq., Chawton House, Hampshire. Kyngdon, Boughton, Esq., Zregeare, Croydon, Surrey. Larking, J. W., Esq., The Firs, Lee, Kent. Laver, H., Esq., Trinity Street, Colchester, Essex. Lawley, The Hon. and Rev. 8. W., Escrick, near York. Lawrence, E. H., Esq., Abbey Farm Lodge, New Finchley Road, Hampstead, Middlesex. Lawrence, G. N., Esq., Pearl Street, New York. Leaf, C. J., Esq., Old Change, City. Leigh, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Stoneleigh Abbey, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. Lilford, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Lilford Hall, Oundle, Northamp- tonshire. Liverpool Library, The. Liverpool Free Library, The. Llewelyn, J. D., Esq., 89 Cornwall Gardens, Kensington. Londonderry, The Most Hon. The Marquis of, Mount Stewart, Newtownards, Co. Down, Ireland. Longman, C., Esq., Shendish , Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. Longman, T., Esq., Farnborough Hall, Farnborough. Longman, W., Esq., Ashlyn’s Hall, Berkhampstead, Hertford- shire. Lucas, T., Esq., 12a Kensington Palace Gardens. McConnel, Miss J. C., Cressbrook, Bakewell, Derbyshire. Major, O. M., Esq., Cromwell House, Duppas Hill Terrace, Croydon, Surrey. Malta, The Public Library of. Manchester, His Grace The Duke of, Great Stanhope Street, and Kimbolton Castle, St. Neot’s, Huntingdonshire. Mansel, G. P., Esq., Langton Lodge, Blandford, Dorset. Mansfield, H., Esq., Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall. Marjoribanks, Miss Emma, 34 Wimpole Street, Cavendish Square. Marlay, C. B., Esq., St. Katherine’s Lodge, Regent's Park. Marshall, J., Esq., Belmont, Taunton, Somersetshire. Marshall, W., Esq., Clay Hill, Enfield, Middlesex. Marshall, W., Esq., Patterdale Hall, Penrith, Cumberland. Martens, G., Jun., Esq., Hamburg. Matheson, of Ardross, Mrs., 38 South Street, Grosvenor Square. Mercer, D., Esq., West Drayton, Middlesez. Michell, J., Esq., Forcett Park, Darlington, Durham. Micklethwait, The Rev. J. N., Zaverham Hall, Norwich. Mildmay, H. B., Esq., 46 Berkeley Square. Mildmay, Sir Henry St. John, Bart., Dogmersfield Park, Hampshire. Milles, The Hon. George, Lee's Court, Faversham, Kent. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Milner, Sir William M.E., Nunappleton, Tadcaster, Yorkshire. Milton, The Rt. Hon. Selina, Viscountess, Carlton House Terrace. : Mitchell, A., Esq. 6 Great Stanhope Street, May Fair. Molyneux, Sir Capel, Bart., Castle Dillon, Armagh, Ireland. Montfort, C., Esq., 38 Marine Parade, Worthing, Sussea. Monk, T. J., Esq., Mountfield House, Lewes, Sussex. Moore, J., Esq., Grasmere Lodge, Lower Tulse Fill. | Morella, The Countess de, Wentworth, Staines. | Morley, Miss L., Windmill, Blackheath, Kent. Morrison, of Bognie, A., Esq., Vountblairy House, Inverness. | Morse, C., Esq., Lhe Orchard, Aylsham, Norfolk. | Murdoch, J. B., Esq., 83 Lynedoch Street, Glasgow, N.B. | Musgrave, Sir Richard C., Bart., Eden Hall, Penrith, Cum- | berland. | Naylor, J., Esq., Leighton Hall, Welchpool. | Necker, F., Monsr., Geneva, Switzerland. Newcastle, His Grace The Duke of, Clumber, Nottingham- shire. Newdigate, Lieut.-Col., Grenadier Guards, Byrkley Lodge, Needwood Forest, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. Newdigate, Major. Newman, E., Esq., Barnsley, Yorkshire. Nichol, J. C., Esq., Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend. Nicholson, F., Esq., Bowden, Cheshire. Noble, J., Esq., Park Place, Henley-on-Thames. 2 Copies. Nolan, Dr., Gerald’s Town, Ireland. Norris, W. G., Esq., Colebrookdale, Salop. North, The Rt. Hon. The Baroness, 16 Arlington Street, Piccadilly. Northampton, The Most Hon. The Marquis of, 145 Pic- cadilly, and Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire. Northumberland, His Grace The Duke of, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. Ouvry, F., Esq., 12 Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square. Owen, Professor, Sheen Lodge, Richmond Park. Oxford and Cambridge Club, Pall Mall. Packe, J., Esq., Melton Lodge, Woodbridge, Suffolk. Palatine Library, The, Florence. Parker, Mrs., Whiteway House, Chudleigh, Devonshire. Peabody Institute, The, Baltimore, N. America. Peek, H. W., Esq., Wimbledon House, Wimbledon, Surrey. Pender, J., Esq., 18 Arlington Street, Piccadilly. Penrhyn, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Penrhyn Castle, Bangor. Penrice, T., Esq., Kilvrough House, Swansea, South Wales. Perkins, J., Esq., Downing College, Cambridge. Peters, W., Esq., Ashfold, Crawley, Sussex. Peto, Sir 8. Morton, Bart. Philadelphia Academy of Science, The, North America. Pinwill, Captain, Trehane, Tresilian, Probus, Cornwall. Plymouth Public Library, The. Pocock, Mrs., Puckrup Hall, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Portland, His Grace The Duke of, Cavendish Square. Portman, The Hon. Mrs., Durweston, Blandford, Dorset. Powerscourt. The Rt. Hon. Viscount, Powerscourt House Wicklow, Ireland. < Powys, P. Lybbe, Esq. Prentice, Walter, Esq., Rainham, Kent. Pryor, R., Esq., High Elms, Watford, Hertfordshire. Radcliffe Library, The, Oxford. tamsey, E. P., Esq., Dobroyde, New South Wales. Ravensworth, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Ravensworth Castle. Gates- head, Durham. Reed, W., Esq., York. Reeves, J. R., Esq., Woodhays, Wimbledon, Surrey. Ridgway, J., Esq., Brandfold, Goudhurst, Kent. Rigby, S., Esq., Warrington. Rimmer, R., Esq., Zhe Gables, Last Bergholt, Colchester, Essen. Ripon, The Most Hon. The Marquis of, Carlton House Gardens. Rocke, J., Esq., Clungunford House, Aston-on-Clun, Salop. Rodd, D. H., Esq., Penzance, Cornwall. Rolle, The Rt. Hon. Lady, Upper Grosvenor Street, and Bicton, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. Rolle, The Hon. Mark, Stevenston, Devonshire. Rooper, G., Esq. 2otherham, Mrs., Conuden, Coventry. Rothschild, Sir Anthony de, Bart., Grosvenor Place Houses. Rothschild, Miss Alice de, Aston Clinton, Tring, Hertford- shire. Rothschild, The Baroness, 107 Piccadilly. Rowley, G. Dawson, Esq., Chichester House, Hast Cliff; Brighton. Rowley, J. T., Esq., Tendring Hall, Stoke-by-Nayland, Col- chester, Essex. Royal Artillery Institution, The, Woolwich, Kent. Royal Institution of Great Britain, The, Albemarle Street. Rucker, 8., Esq., West Hill, Wandsworth, Surrey. Ruskin, J., Esq., Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Russell, J. Watts, Esq., Ilam Hall, Ashborne, Derbyshire. St. Andrews, The University of. St. Petersburg, The Imperial Academy of Sciences of. St. Aubyn, Sir John, Bart., Zrevethoe and Pendrea, Corn- wall. Sanford, W. A., Esq., Nynehead Court, Wellington, Somerset- shire. Saunders, Howard, Esq.,7 Radnor Place, Gloucester Square. Schreiber, Mrs., Woodchurch, Ashford, Kent. . Scott, A. J., Esq., Rotherfield Park, Alton, Hampshire. Scott, E. H., Esq., 27 Grosvenor Square. Scott, T., Esq., dan Street, Birmingham. Sefton, The Right Hon. The Earl of, Belgrave Square. Shaw, Mr. Henry, Shrewsbury. Shuttleworth, R. J., Esq., Berne, Switzerland. Sibthorp, Mrs. Waldo, Washingboro’, Lincoln. Simmons, G., Esq., Hast Peckham, Tonbridge, Kent. Sion College, London Wall. Skaife, J., Esq., Union Street, Blackburn, Lancashire. Skinner, C. B., Esq., 57 Eccleston Square. Slater, Edwin, Esq., Manchester. Smith-Dorrien, Thos. Algernon, Esq., Tesco Abbey, Isles of Scilly. Smith, A. H., Esq., Flexford House, Guildford, Surrey. Smith, Rev. Oswald, Crudwell Rectory, Tetbury, Glouces- tershire. Smith, W. C., Esq., Shortgrove, Newport, Essea. Smyth, Percy, Esq., Headborough, Ireland. Smyth, Sir J. H. Greville, Bart., Ashton Court, near Bristol, Somersetshire. Solly, W. H., Esq., Serge Hill, Hemel Hempstead, Hert- Sordshire. Sondes, The Rt. Hon. Lord, 32 Grosvenor Square. Sotheran, Messrs. H., & Co., 136 Strand. 2 Copies. Spicer, Major, Spye Park, Chippenham. Spottiswoode, W., Esq., 50 Grosvenor Place. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Stamford and Warrington, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Zn- ville Hall, Staffordshire. Stane, Bramston, Esq., Buckfield, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Stanhope, J. Banks, Esq., Revesley Abbey, Boston, Lincoln- shire. Staniforth, The Rey. Thomas, Storr’s Hall, Windermere, Westmoreland. Stapleton-Cotton, The Hon. R. Stevenson, H., Esq., Norwich. Stewart, Captain. Stewart, H. G. Murray, Esq., Cally Gatehouse, N.B. Stewart, M. J., Esq., Arkwell, Stranraer, N.B. Stracey, Sir Henry, Bart., Rackheath Hall, Norwich. Stuart, R. L., Esq., New York, N. America. Stuart, The Rev. H. C., Weagly Vicarage, Wakefield, York- shire. Sturt, H. G., Esq., Crichel, Wimborne, Dorset. Surgeons of England, The Royal College of, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Sutherland, His Grace The Duke of, Stafford House, St. James's. Sutton, E. G. G., Esq., Grange Villa, Tring, Hertfordshire. Tankerville, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, Chillingham Castle, Northumberland. Tarratt, J., Esq., Duddon Hall, Broughton-in-Purness, Lan- cashire. Taylor, E., Esq., Castle Cottage, Hockerill, Essex. Taylor, J. E., Esq., Manchester. Taylor, W., Esg., Thorne House, Hastbourne, Sussex. Temple, The Rey. G., Canterbury, Kent. Teylerian Library, The, Haarlem. Thomasson, J. P., Moorfield, Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire. Thompson, J., Esq., Bowden, Cheshire. Thompson, W., Esq., Gloucester Row, Weymouth, Dorsetshire. Tindal, Mrs. Acton, Manor House, Aylesbury, Buckingham- shire. Tipping, Mrs., Brasted Park, Seven Oaks, Kent. Tomline, G., Esq., 1 Carlton House Terrace. Tottenham, Lt.-Col., Talbot Hall, New Ross, Ireland. Tremayne, J., Esq., Heligan, St. Austell, Corniall. Trevor, Lord A. Hill, Brynkinholt Park, Salop. Trinity College, Dublin. Tufton, Sir Richard, Paris. Turnor, C., Esq., Stoke Rochford, Grantham, Lincolnshire. Tweedie, A. F., Esq., Bickley, Bromley, Kent. Tweedie, J., Esq., Rachan House, Peeblesshire, N.B. Victoria, The Public Library, Museum, and National Gallery of, Melbourne, Australia. Victoria, The National Museum of, Welbourne, Australia. Walden, The Rt. Hon. Viscount, Walden Cottage, Chisle- hurst, Kent. Walker, Fountaine, of Foyers, Esq., Muirtown House, Inverness. Walker, Mrs., Arnot Grove, Southgate, Middlesex. Waller, E., Esq., Farmington Lodge, Northleach, Gloucester- shire. Walton, C., Esq., Manor House, Acton, Middlesex. Ward, Ellis H., Esq. Warde, Col., Squerryes Court, Westerham, Kent. Waring, S. L., Esq., The Oaks, Norwood, Surrey. West, —, Esq., Hecleston, Liverpool. Wellington, His Grace The Duke of, Apsley House, Pic- cadilly. Wenlock, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Lscrick Park, near York. Westerman, G. F., Esq., Amsterdam. Westminster, The Most Hon. The Marquis of, Grosvenor House, Upper Grosvenor Street. 2 Copies. Wharncliffe, The Rt. Hon. Lord, Wharncliffe House, Curzon Street, May Fair. White, F. M., Esq., 4 Sussex Place, Regent's Park. White, The Rey. H., Stanhope Place. Whitehead, J., Esq., Barfield Lodge, Bickley, Bromley, Kent. Whitworth, Sir Joseph, Bart., Chorlton Street, Manchester. Wigram, L., Esq., 48 Berkeley Square. Wigram, M., Esq., Moor Place, Much Hadham, Hertford- shire. Williams, C. H., Esq., Pilton House, Barnstaple, North Devon. Williams, E. M., Esq., Flushing, Falmouth, Cornwall. Williams, Sir Frederick M., Bart., Goonvrea, Cornwall. Williams, G., Esq., Trevince, Truro, Cornwall. Williams, J.G., Esq., Chequers Court, Tring, Hertfordshire. Williams, The Dowager Lady, Tregullow, Cornwall. Willyams, E. B., Esq., Nanskeval, St. Columb, Cornwall. Wilson, Colonel F. M., Stowlangtoft Hall, Bury St. Ed- munds, Suffolk. Wilson, G. H., Esq., Redgrave Hall, Botesdale, Suffolk. Wolf, J., Esq., 59 Berners Street, Oaford Street. Worthington, Jas., Esq., Sale Hall, Manchester. Wright, S. Beresford, Esq., Aldercar Hall, Nottingham. Wright, Francis, Esq., Osmaston Manor, Derby. Wrottesley, Lord, 18 Chapel Street, Park Lane. Windsor-Clive, The Lady Mary, Oakly Park, Brooméeld, Salop. Wingfield, Captain C., Onslow Hall, Shrewsbury. Yarborough, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of, 17 Arlington Street, Piccadilly. Zoological Society of London, The, Hanover Square. PREFACE. THE question may naturally suggest itself to some of my readers, what object I had in view in publishing a work on the Birds of Great Britain, when I had already completed a similar publication on the avifauna of Europe. My reasons are simply these:—Before the latter was completed the entire edition was all or nearly all sold ; and very many persons interested in this department of science were disappointed in not being able to procure a copy of a work which they saw in the hands of so many others. Consequently, on the completion of my ‘ Birds of Australia,’ at the solicitation of a large number of private friends and others, and influenced by the increased taste for natural history that had sprung up in the interim, I “ returned to my old love ” by publishing the British Birds, excluding those of the continent, thus complying with the wishes of those persons who have especially paid attention to our native ornithology. TI also felt that there was an opportunity of greatly enriching the work by giving figures of the young of many of the species of various genera—a thing hitherto almost entirely neglected by authors; and I feel assured that this infantile age of bird-life will be of much interest for science, to my subscribers, and to readers generally. That my efforts to render this publication a standard work have been successful js evidenced by its sale being double that of any other work I have given to the public. Many of the numerous ornithologists who have arisen within the last few years have rendered me much valuable information—a kindness which I duly acknowledge, and trust that, although not specially mentioned in this short Preface, they will take it for granted they have not been forgotten, and that their names have been generally associated with the various subjects to which their communications have reference. Many of the public are quite unaware bow the colouring of these large Plates is accomplished ; and not a few believe that they are produced by some mechanical process or by chromo-lithography. This, however, is not the case ; every sky with its varied tints and every feather of each bird were coloured by hand; and when it is considered that nearly two hundred and eighty thousand illustrations in the present work have been so treated, it will most likely cause some astonishment to those who give the subject a thought. PREFACE. I am truly and sincerely thankful for the blessing of health which has attended me during the course of my twelve years’ labour on the present work; and it was only while the Introductory matter was going through the press that a severe blight fell upon me (the untimely death of my youngest son, Dr. Franklin Gould *), and cast a gloom over my future happiness. I should not have alluded to this painful subject here did I not feel it was only doing justice to his memory, as he rendered me great assistance in the composition of the following Introduction, which, from his varied acquirements, he was well qualified to give. His loss has called forth the sympathy of many kind friends, which has in some measure assuaged the sad affliction which has befallen me. If I am spared it is my intention not to be idle; for although I do not entertain the idea of entering upon any new enterprise, I shall still pursue the subject with the same energy I have hitherto done,—at one period of the year attending to the Birds of Asia, at another to the recent discoveries in the ornithology of Australia, pursuing the subject to New Guinea and the adjacent islands, the avifaunas of these latter countries being inseparable. It gives me great pleasure to state that my Secretary, Mr. Prince, after twelve months of very severe illness, is again able to render me his assistance, that Mr. Wolf affords me the benefit of his talented pencil, and that Mr. Richter and Mr. Hart continue their services as heretofore. JOHN GOULD. 72 fv November 1, 1873. * Dr. F. Gould died of fever on board the Steamship ‘ Behar’ on the 19th of March last, during his passage from India to Suez, and was buried the same day in the Red Sea. Ne OU Osi ON, In the olden time when the wolf and the wild boar roamed over the primitive forests of Great Britain, when the beaver held its own in our silent and undisturbed streams and lakes, when the red deer followed our mountain-tracks in all the vigour of its pristine condition, when our marshes and great sedge-covered watery wastes were yearly visited by the Crane and the Spoonbill, the earliest dawn of natural history which was to herald the light of future ages had not yet broken upon the untutored Celt, who alone shared with those animals the possession of our islands. With the progress of civilization that obscurity has been gradually dispelled ; and, happily for our country, from the time when Gilbert White wrote his charming account of Selborne, the study of natural history, more particularly with reference to our native birds, has gradually increased, until its pleasures have become widely known to both young and old. The talented Bewick rendered the subject still further attractive by his inimitable and truthful drawings; then followed in the same path Selby, Macgillivray, Thompson, and Yarrell, whose writings have made this branch of science so popular that it now engrosses the minds of thousands. Of the truth of this statement ample evidence is afforded by the numerous works (both great and small) which have been recently published, by the many local faunas which have lately appeared, and by the establishment of naturalists’ clubs and associations in many parts of the country. Such has been the impetus given by these means to the study of natural history that it will scarcely be presumptuous in me to foretell that a period is not far distant when our native birds will be far more familiarly known to the people than they now are. For, although it may appear surprising to many of my readers, I assert that at the present time there are but few persons who could enumerate by name even a fourth part of the birds by which we are surrounded. Country people are familiar enough with the call of the Wryneck, the voice of the Cuckoo, and the crake of the Landrail ; but few, very few, would recognize those birds if placed before them. Will it not, then, be well to encourage the formation B ll INR OF De Cn 1 ON, of natural-history societies to the utmost, and doing so enlighten the minds of those who bave bitherto been much in ignorance? With this spread of knowledge, mythical traditions such as that of the hibernation in caves or under water of such a bird as our common Swallow (traditions not confined, as might be presumed, to aremote country village, but which from time to time have found utterance from the lips of educated people) will happily cease to exist; while the timid rustic, gradually freeing himself from the countless superstitions connected with many of our birds, will no longer pause with bated breath when started at night by the not very cheerful cry of the Screech-Owl. To be in the country and not to care to recognize or be able to discriminate between the musical notes of the Thrush, the plaintive song of the Blackbird, the carol of the Lark, or the exquisite lay of the Nightingale, is to me surprising; yet that such people exist is but too well known. Shakespeare and our earlier poets duly appreciated, however, the varying melodies of our feathered songsters, and have never been slow to accord to each its well-earned tribute of praise :— “Tt was the nightingale, and not the lark, That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate tree ; 3elieve me, love, it was the nightingale.” — Romeo and Juliet, act iii. scene 5. Again :— “The busy larke, messager of daye, Salueth in hire song the morwe gray ; And fyry Phebus ryseth up so bright, That al the orient laugheth of the light.’”— Cuaucer, Knightes Tale. Or :— ‘‘ Hark how the cheerefull birds do chaunt theyr laies, And carroll of loves praise. ‘The merry larke hir mattins sings aloft, The thrush replyes, the mavis descant playes, The ouzell shrills, the ruddock warbles soft ; So goodly all agree with sweet consent To this dayes merriment.” — SPENCER, Epithalamion, 1595. The study of natural history reveals to us a wide field, pregnant with interest and pleasure. The geologist, who, from ‘arious aspects ee . . : ; the various aspects of nature, attempts to form a conception of how this planet has been formed, and the naturalist, whose senses are keenly alte . é aturalist, whose senses are keenly alive to the beauty and importance of the manifold living objects which meet his 2 on Be fe S gaze on every side, are pursuing a course calculated to lead to the highest and happiest results. Even the eS oe : the humble cottager who decorates his windows with flowers, and the artisan who keeps and encourages his lj irds ee . 3 : g S little birds to sing and to solace him, are imbued with tastes of a superior order, which, if properly cultivated, ¢; al i ater : perty ated, cannot fail to induce a greater intellectual development, and consequently an increase in happiness. ; ENO Dw CC LEro N ill Granted that the antiquary in poring over some dusty relic ofa by-gone age experiences a thrill of pleasure denied to others, or that the wealthy man filling his rooms with the finest efforts of the artist’s pencil, and his cabinets with articles of rare and costly workmanship, thereby experiences a very high degree of gratification, or even that the man of pleasure, fulfilling the daily routine demanded by fashion, finds in it some irresistible attraction—yet what are these enjoyments compared with those daily and hourly offered to the student of nature! Does he not see in the growth of a blade of grass, or in the mechanism which enables the tiny gnat to effect the countless vibrations of its gauzy wings, or in the majestic ease of the soaring eagle, evidences of a power and_ skill immeasurably superior to those ever originated by man ? Can he walk in the fields without seeing and hearing around him sights and sounds which, while tending to make him more and more thoughtful, deeply impress him with the sense of the wisdom, the power, and the beneficence of his Creator? That man who has passed his allotted time in ignorance of the teeming worlds of life around him, bas had denied to him pleasures and delights the experience of which must have gone far to elevate the noblest of God’s created beings. ‘The study of ornithology has always been a favourite one with me,” says the late Mr. Wheelwright, “and is one of the few innocent pleasures of youth which follow a man into maturer years, and upon which he can look back in the decline of life with feelings of pure and unalloyed delight. Man’s constant companions in every outdoor occupation, cheering bim with their presence and their songs, and often affording him a principal means of subsistence, it is little wonder that the study of the habits and instincts of birds should be a favourite one with most persons ; and to him whose time is quietly and happily spent in the forests and fields it adds one of the truest zests to rural life.” Notwithstanding the limitation of area implied in a work entitled ‘ The Birds of Great Britain,’ the most elementary student of natural history must acknowledge that in numbers and in interest, if not in beauty of marking, our avifauna will bear a favourable comparison with that of other countries of similar extent. The one most closely approximating to it would appear to be that of Japan—a fact sufficiently surprising when we remember the vast continent embracing many degrees of longitude stretching between the two. But the resemblance may possibly be explained by the similiarity existing in their physical conditions and in the general character of their natural productions. Both countries are blessed with a temperate climate especially suited to similar forms of bird-life, some species identically the same occurring in each; but, in addition, Great Britain offers in its numerous islets, its rocky promontories and extensive marshes, its natural forests and heathy expanses, certain advantages of locality not perhaps enjoyed by Japan to the same extent, and which are singularly well adapted to forms of the most opposite kinds. One feature of especial interest must always strike the naturalist in studying the birds of the temperate zone, viz. the alternation of its feathered immigrants, which lends such a charm to the scenery, a charm which is greatly enhanced when we reflect that these migratory movements are governed by certain infallible leNcin OD WC FON: | Thus the arrival and departure of the Swallow, the Cuckoo, the Landrail, &c. are as strictly regulated aws. ) ae ¢ c as the recurrence of the seasons: i 1 imes ; Turtle and the Crane and the Swallow observe the time «“ Yea, the Stork in the heavens know eth her appointed times; and the of their coming.” Besides being tenanted by about one hundred and fifty stationary species, Great Britain has migrants and oe 5 J occasional visitants from the four points of the compass. ‘Thus in spring nearly fifty species visit us from the as c . south: whilst in the autumn our milder and more equable climate attracts a still larger number from the s : s north, who instinctively know they will here find that food and shelter which the rigorous winters of more northern regions deny to them. In addition to this true and characteristic migration, our islands are occasionally resorted to by certain species which, from some unknown cause, make a movement from east to west; whilst the pseudo-migration from west to east is exemplified in the rarely occurring American forms which from time to time have been recorded, and which, blown off from their native shore, find in the masses of seaweed, uprooted trees, and portions of wreck constantly approaching our coasts through the agency of the Gulf-stream, that means of rest and recruitment which finally enables a few of them to reach a welcome though far distant haven. A remarkable degree of capriciousness, which to me _ has always appeared mysterious, occurs in the choice of localities affected by certain of our migrants: thus the Pied Flycatcher will not rest until it has reached the middle and northern counties of England, while the Nightingale almost restricts its visit to the southern, eastern, and central ones, never favouring Cornwall with its presence, and but rarely going into Devonshire or Wales, or further north than Yorkshire or Durham. Again, some species, exemplified in many of the Plovers and Sandpipers, make our islands but a halting-place, pausing for rest only on their way to unknown and probably far distant regions. r i 1 j . . The mysterious law or laws which govern migration must always be regarded by the naturalist with the utmost interest. Within our own islands hardly a month passes by without the movement of some species occurring to remind us of the existence of such a principle. In the early spring, before the Wheatear, that earliest of our visitors from the sunny south, has arrived, the Fieldfare and Redwing which during the winter have peopled our hedgerows and fields, the Geese, Ducks, and numerous wading-birds which have been frequenting our broads ‘ivers, have. j one . juenting our broads and rivers, have, in obedience to nature’s prompting, commenced a movement uorth- ward, en route for localities better suited, by their quietude and by the nature of the food found there, for the propagation and rearing of their progeny. Then, as the rays of the life-inspiring sun strike upon our earth with daily increasing strength, we begin to welcome in quick succession those little feathered arrivals which make the spring and early summer seasons of so much enjoyment and anticipation to all true lovers of nature. March, besides the Wheatear, brings us the Chiffchaff and the Sand-Martin ; April’s earliest days herald in the Swallow, Wryneck, and Martin ; by the middle of that month the Nightingale has made its ENE ROD U CT ON. Vv appearance, together with a host of other sylvan species ; soon after, the Cuckoo and Landrail arrive ; and on the joyous First of May the latest of all comers, the Swift, the Nightjar, and Flycatcher may be looked form =A pause of a few weeks follows ; and, reproduction having been accomplished, then commences, as it were, the ebb of the great tide of migration. The Swift, which, as we have seen, was one of the latest to arrive, is the first to depart; then the Landrail makes good its retreat to the more southern country of Africa ; other kinds follow in succession, all hastening to make their escape before such changes of climate and natural conditions have set in as would prove fatal to their existence, either on account of the lowering of the temperature or the cessation of suitable food. By the end of September the great mass have departed, and only a scanty remnant are to be met with. With this same ebb, the autumnal months bring to our sight again strings of grallatorial and natatorial birds, urged by similar causes from the northern regions back towards the south in search of that food and aquatic life which the icy hand of winter had already begun ae Oo grudge them and their progeny in their summer location. To follow the sun appears to be the course of true migration; but the promptings of instinct which lead the Swallow and many other species to quit our shores, after a brief sojourn, for Africa, or those which lead the Fieldfare and the Redwing to quit the Norwegian ‘fjelds’ for our cultivated lands, must surely be connected in some way with, if they have not for their sole object, the provision of food and climate suitable to the species. The Rev. H. B. Tristram remarks that ‘those species which have the most extended northerly have also the most southerly range, and that those which resort to the highest latitudes for nidification also pass further than others to the south- ward in winter. Thus the migratory Fieldfare and Redwing, visiting regions north of the limits of the Thrush and Blackbird, on their southern migrations likewise leave their more sedentary relatives behind. The Brambling, which passes the Chaffinch in Norway, leaves it also in Europe, and crosses the Mediterranean every winter to the Barbary states.” —J/his, 1865, De die The regularity, however, which occurs in the arrival of our summer visitants is not quite so strictly adhered to in their departures, Having accomplished the purpose for which they came, these depart again at varying periods, but mostly as soon as the renewal of their primaries will admit of their flying across the channel, leaving their young to follow instinctively (when their muscular development has been sufficiently matured) the same route by which their parents have preceded them. ‘This apparent desertion of the young birds at a period when one would imagine the presence of their parents as leaders would be absolutely essential, Seems to prevail amongst many of our migratory species. That the old birds should be able instinctively to wing their way back to whence they came is not half so marvellous as that the newly fledged nestling, urged by some mysterious power, should undertake a flight extending over hundreds of miles and many variations of climate in search of a temporary home it has never seen. This irresistible impulse, which prompts the necessity of a migration somewhither, is but too sadly seen in the restless actions and almost frantic efforts Cc INTRODUCTION. v1 ¢ the caged Turtle Dove, Nightingale, or Whitethroat during the period at which, were they free, they of the cage ee ° a aOR a Ae an8e and appar nt resignation to would be leaving our shore 5 Ouce let that period be passed, their effo1 [Se GeasGanc c ] ] are 5 5 their prison ensues.“ It sometimes happens,” says Mr. R. Gray, ‘ that Swifts, obeying their unconquerable jer Ss ‘ Se S * . ‘astincts, will at the close of a stormy season desert their unfledged young, and leave them to perish of Ss Sy € YS . ed hunger. Late breeds especially are subject to this unnatural desertion. Oftener than once I have seen the Bs . : re gee neo ae 7 7 ed o a “ar little round sooty faces of the young ones peering out of their holes and plaintively crying for food, after which they have crept back to die. In these very nests, on the return of another season, the same old birds have been known to rearrange their building-materials, a few straws being merely laid over the bones of the : . Ss, 99 abandoned to receive a new family. It is a matter of surprise to some persons, as indeed it may be to the most astute philosopher, how such frail little birds as the Chiffchaff and its allies can cross the sea from France or Portugal without exhibiting any very apparent signs of fatigue ; yet we know that they do so, and moreover that a still smaller species, the Goldcrest (Regulus cristatus), effects a much longer passage when crossing the German Ocean in its migration from the opposite parts of the continent. I must not omit to mention, however, that occasionally hundreds of these diminutive birds are found in an exhausted state in the early morning on the Northum- berland and Norfolk coasts; and in support of this I may quote here a very interesting passage from the work of the late gifted Mr, Selby, which runs thus :— On the 24th and 25th of October 1822, after a very severe gale, with thick fog, from the north-east (but veering towards its conclusion to the east and south- east), thousands of the Goldcrests were seen to arrive upon the sea shore and sandbanks of the Northumbrian coast, many of them so fatigued by their flight or perhaps by the unfavourable shift of the wind, as to be unable to rise again from the ground; and great numbers were in consequence caught or destroyed. The flight must have been immense in number, as its extent was traced through the whole length of the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. There appears little doubt of this having been a migration from the more northern provinces of Europe (probably furnished by the pine-forests of Norway, Sweden, &c.), from the circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of large flights of the Woodcock, Fieldfare, and Redwin oO ~e Woodcocks, we know, generally arrive in fair condition on our north-eastern shores at dawn, with a wind that is either easterly or within a point or two of that direction ; but should the wind shift after their flight has commenced, the increased muscular effort required lands them on our coast in an exhausted and emaciated state. suming ‘ever re ede ; : state. Assuming, however, that birds, both great and small, have availed themselves of a favourable sl: WY ee > 2 oo irable slant of wind, no great amount of muscular effort would be requisite, Inasmuch as those arriving from the s Tle ciniie eles ce om the south will require little more than an hour to cross the Channel, while the passage of the German 5 ON ER OLD) 0; Cor 1. © N: or Ocean by those coming from the north may occupy a short night*. It is interesting to note that some of our migrants effect the passage to our shores during the night, and others by day: as a ruale, it is the small oe birds which come at the former time, as is evidenced by numbers being found at the base of the various lighted beacons of our southern and south-eastern coasts, against which, attracted by the light, they have flown and killed themselves; the Swallows, the Cuckoo, and the Turtle Dove, on the other hand, wing their way across in broad day-light. Besides the regular migration of certain species, a remarkable shifting of locality occurs with others, not only in our own, but in many other parts of the world, the cause of which is totally unknown. Starlings are now very abundant in Cornwall, and Missel-Thrushes in Scotland—in which they were formerly not to be seen. Such interchanges of locality are doubtless occasionally due to alterations in the face of the country : but this was not the cause in the case of Cornwall; for no county can have undergone less alteration ; as it was in the days of Julius Cesar, so it is now, unless we except the operations of mining, which naturally only affect the surface of a district to a small extent. The sudden appearance of Pallas’s Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) in our islands and on various parts of the Continent, in 1859-60, must be in the recollection of every one. This irruption of a strange bird from the distant country of Siberia, perhaps from China, was very astonishing; and it well illustrates my meaning, which may be further exemplified by the mention of two similar occurrences in Australia. In the year 1839 the whole of the southern and eastern portion of that country was suddenly visited by millions of the little Grass-Parrakeet (Melopsittacus undulatus) ; and a year or two later swarms of a species of Water-hen (Z?ibonywx ventralis) spread themselves like a cloud over the Swan-River district, destroying fields of corn and garden-produce and committing ravages unheard of before; and both these species have kept their hold until the present day, but of course in much smaller numbers. Although not necessarily bearing upon the preceding 5 * As an evidence that birds are capable of taking very long flights with apparent ease, I may quote a letter to ‘The Times’ of June 27, 1872, which further shows that the electric telegraph has not wholly deprived us of the usefulness of the Carrier Pigeon. The commuuication alluded to runs as follows :— ““Sir,—The promoters of the system of electric telegraphy insist on its immense superiority over the older plan of pigeon- despatches. How far these pretensions are founded on facts is shown by the results of the pigeon-race to Brussels, which started from the Crystal Palace on Thursday last, when 72 birds were flown at noon. Immediately on their departure I telegraphed to the secretary of the society whose members had forwarded the birds, announcing their departure. The first birds arrived in Brussels at 9.28 P.M., and the telegram at 5.30 p.m. ‘‘ Another example, and I have done. During the Crimean War the intelligence was conveyed to Colombo, Ceylon, 70 miles north of Point de Galle, where the ships to India landed their despatches; and the salute fired on the news of the fall of Sebastopol resulted from information brought by them. ‘The electric telegraph was established, and the pigeon-post abolished. I have recently been requested to restock Colombo with Belgian “ voyageurs,” as the information brought by the electric wire is neither so speedy nor so correct as that conveyed by the birds. The Prussians, wise in their generation, have taken lessons from the Parisians, and established pigeon-posts in Metz and their other fortified towns. In the event of a war in which we may be engaged, what would be the value of birds that would convey messages to Jersey, Guernsey, &c. when the telegraphic wires had been cut by the enemy! W. B. TEGETMEIER.” fon OD WC ON: ks, it may be here mentioned that young birds appear to wander further from their native homes remarks, aly : 0 ; ‘ Gj - year ‘ir existence thi ‘y do afterwards, going out, as it were, to see the during the first autumn or year of their existence than they c , going : ; n : Soe n RS ee ape | Ss it is that th f a a world before settling down for the proper business of their lives; hence, doubtless, , the € young of wy of the rarer northern species (Eagles, Gulls, Divers, &c.) are found further to the south than the SO Wc at : s & old birds. With respect to the autumnal departure of many kinds of our smaller migrants, it would appear that most, if not all, of them assemble along our south coast ready for departure on the occurrence of a favourable wind. Having once crossed the Channel to France or Portugal, their further southern journey becomes an easy one, and is doubtless performed by short stages until they reach the shores of the Mediterranean, which in the case of our own birds is probably crossed at the narrowest portion, viz. Gibraltar, or some other promontory of Southern Spain, their destination being the coast of Morocco. On the other hand, those of Central Europe migrate by the way of Sicily and Malta to Algeria, while those which have passed the summer still further east proceed in a direct line to Kegypt. North and south, and vice versa, is in my opinion their instinctive movement; and tbis natural impulse is so blindly followed that the Quail, when migrating, will, if possible, fly through a house or over a mountain rather than turn aside from its course, which would not be the case were reason its guide; in this respect it resembles the Norwegian Lemming, whose onward course is stopped neither by lakes nor hills, and some species of ants, whose movements are equally undeviating. The British Islands and Europe generally, however, to which the foregoing remarks on migration almost solely refer, are not the only portion of the globe subject to such interchanges of bird-life at different seasons of the year; the avifauna of the great continent of Asia, a continent having the loftiest mountains, the most elevated plateaux, and the richest forests in the world, exhibits similar phenomena. So, again, if we cross the equator and take a view of what occurs in the southern hemisphere, we shall find that a precisely analogous movement. takes place there, but of course at opposite seasons, the antipodean summer being coincident with our winter. In many instances bird-life js there represented by species of a similar form to those we find in our own country, and which evince a tendency to a movement north and south at certain periods of the year as with us. Although in the foregoing remarks I have used the terms migrant and migratory in their ordinary acceptation, it will be as well before quitting the subject of migration to place before mny readers what I consider should be the strict meaning of the word migrant. The country a bird resorts to for the propa- gation of its species should be regarded as its true habitat: thus the Swallows and others, although they ass only half the year j ees poor : | j year in the British Islands, are really not migrants in the same sense of the term as that in which we should so regard the Fieldf, g reeRiela fare: wecveiintone ; i 1 QX eldfare and Redwing, who, although resident with us during the winter, ION Ae © DAW, Can i OF Ne 1X retire to Norway and other northern regions for the purpose of breeding, and who are impelled to visit our country solely to obtain the food necessary for their existence. But whilst regarding the species visiting us from the north during the winter months, such as the Woodcock, Ducks, Fieldfares, Redwings, &c., as true migrants only, it must be recollected that the Swallow, Chaffinch, Cuckoo, &c., species leaving us at the same portion of the year, are migrants so far as the countries they respectively winter in are concerned. S S$ ) ] , Could a census be taken of the smaller birds inhabiting Great Britain, such as Sparrows, Chaffinches, Buntings, &c., and of the same birds frequenting a similar area on the Continent, there can be little doubt that the former would greatly outnumber the latter—a circumstance which may be partly due to our islands affording many more favourable localities, and partly to the fact that our smaller birds are not, as a rule, killed or captured for the purpose of the table, a practice which prevails abroad. Of these the Wheatear and the Lark are almost the only kind that are thus utilized; but to form an estimate of the numbers of the latter obtained by means of the trammel nets of the birdcatcher, or of the former captured on the downs of Sussex and Kent, is quite impossible. The numbers of many species are, indeed, so great that no just estimate of the whole can be formed. Thus it has been computed that the Ganuets frequenting the Bass rock cannot be less than twenty thousand; how vast, then, must be the number of that species alone around our coasts, wheu we take into consideration that they are proportionally as numerous on Ailsa Craig and the other rocks on which they are known to breed! the myriads also of the Dunlin and other strand-loving birds frequenting our bays and inlets are beyond all computation. Unfortunately, however, of late years vast numbers of certain species have been destroyed, either wantonly, or for senseless purposes of decoration instigated by fashion ; and to such an extent has this been carried that it has become necessary to enact laws for their protection. Whether such enactments will tend to prevent the wholesale and cruel destruction of Robins, Kingfishers, Chaffinches, &c., is vet to be seen; at all events, if a law can be framed to put a stop to these proceedings, it will be most desirable. The magistrate, however, should have the power of acting according to his judgment when such malpractices are brought under his notice; for to say that the St.-Kildan (for whom, however, special exception has been made) should not take the Fulmar or its eggs, which constitute almost his sole subsistence, or that the proprietor of the Farn Islands should not collect the down of the Eider, though it may interfere with the health of the birds, or that those delicate morceaux, Plovers’ eggs, should not be taken, would be absurd. Bird-catcbing should be restricted to certain seasons; the idler who spreads his net for the capture of the Swallows that skim over the mead, or who hangs his invisible snare across the brook for the beautiful Kingfisher to fly into, the man who professedly catches every Chaffinch in a lane, and the clever scamp who prowls round the edge of every shrubbery at daybreak for the newly arrived Nightingale should be made to know that such practices D INTRODUCTION. are inadmissible, and that they have no moral right to such a course of procedure, compared with which the c C SS ’ « Thitec >] bird-cate Sie nest calling. conduct of the old W hitechapel bird-catcher is an hone alling . ; Tene 2 dying a letter to ‘The Times,’ The following extract from ‘ Land and Water’ of August 29, 1868, embodying ¢ e Times, ‘lous remarks > wholesale ‘uction recently dealt out to certain species. aptly bears out my previous remarks on the wholesale destruction y dee | «No words can convey any adequate idea of the wanton, wicked cruelty perpetrated by these ruthless slavers of unoffending birds. Broken-winged birds are abandoned, and drift away to perish by slow deerees ; badly wounded birds are allowed to flutter and struggle in the bottom of the boat, their sufferings unheeded and uncared for; while many fearfully hurt manage to reach the shore to die in lingering agony : and, lamentable to say, all this butchery is committed for no good purpose. We find a letter in ‘The Times’ headed «A Plea for the Kittiwake,’ in which it is remarked that ‘some months ago a contributor to a popular journal of natural history, writing from Lincolnshire, disclosed the fact that London and provincial dealers now give one shilling per head for every “ White Gull” forwarded—that one man (a stranger drawn thither for profitable occupation ) boasted of having last year killed with his own gun at Flamborough Head 4000 of these gulls—and that another seafowl-shooter had an order from a London house for 10,000, all for the “ plume trade.” During the present summer,’ it is added, ‘ one of these plumassiers lias visited various breeding-stations of the Kittiwake in Scotland, and laid his plans for having supplies of birds sent to him. At Ailsa Crag alone, he gave an order for 1000 Gulls per week, and stated that he was prepared to take any quantity. To meet this demand the tacksman of the rock spread his nets while the birds were sitting on their newly hatched young, which were left in hundreds to perish on the ledges.’ By reference to the letter from which the above is extracted, and which appeared in ‘The Times’ for August 21st, it will be seen that an act has this year received the Royal Assent for the preservation of sea-fowl in the Isle of Man, and that its preamble states that ‘the said birds are considered of great importance to the fishermen in guiding them to shoals of fish, and also for sanitary purposes by removing offal of fish from the harbours and shores.’ ’ Again, in a communication addressed to the ‘ Zoologist’ for January 1869, Mr. Johu Cordeaux says :— “The following paragraph is copied from the ‘ Guardian’ of November 18, 1868. Comment is unnecerenae ‘On a strip of coast 18 miles long, near Flamborough Head, 107,250 sea-birds were destroyed by pleasure parties in four months, 12,000 by men who shoot them for their feathers to adorn women’s hats, and 79,500 young birds died of starvation in emptied nests. Commander Knocker, there stationed, who reports these rans killed 1100 facts, saw two boats loaded aboy > ounwales wi i i é aded above the gunwales with dead birds; and one party of eight g in a week.’ ” Nature on tl Re ee , ie other hand herself ; Saar ene , ‘- : é erself at times effects similar wholesale destruction. Thus a severe winter may h th TNC TER O} 1) Wi Cee Oy NE xi prove fatal to many thousands of the feathered creation : in support of this assertion I annex some extracts from various sources. Under the heading ‘ Severity of the Weather” we read in ‘Land and Water’ for January 26, 1867. ‘“We receive from various parts of the country accounts of the effects of the recent cold upon all kinds of game. A correspondent of the ‘ Inverness Courier’ says that in Strathnairn, in common with other parts of the country, not a sprig of heather is visible anywhere ; and there can be no doubt that if the snow and frost continue any length of time the destruction among all kinds of game will be beyond all precedent. Already Muirfowl are flocking in thousands to the low-lying grounds; and on Saturday last we noticed the birch-wood around Craggie literally swarming with them. A farmer in Strathnairn told us that one day lately, as he entered his stable, the entire area of his courtyard was covered as ‘ thick as they could stand’ > with grouse picking up any thing they could get among the dung-heaps; and similar ‘gatherings’ could be told by many other farmers.” Again, in the same journal, for August 3, 1867, Mr. Henry Lee, writing of the ‘destruction of small birds by rain,” says :— a 3 ‘* My friend Dr. Millar, of Bethnal House, Bethnal Green, writes me as follows :-—< Good evidence of the severity of the rain during Thursday night (July 25th) has been afforded here in the destruction of nearly all the sparrows which congregate in our trees. My under-gardener picked up one hundred and twenty-four on the following morning; and in sweeping up the fallen leaves of to-day the dead birds are being found in 5 considerable numbers. We estimate that more than two hundred were killed.’ ” Mr. E. H. Rodd, writing to me from Penzance under the date of January 8, 1867, says, “I foresaw that there was hard weather somewhere, although the thermometer never showed a greater amount of frost than one degree, which was the lowest reading here; 60 miles to the eastward the reading was on Wednesday nine degrees above zero, and on Thursday only five: so much for our climate. The heavy weather to the eastward has driven millions of Linnets, Starlings, Larks, Redwings, Fieldfares, Peewits, and Golden Plovers to this district.” As I was at the time on a visit to Lord Falmouth at Tregothnan, most of the facts mentioned by Mr. Rodd came under my own observation ; and I may add that the destruction of these birds was immense ; I myself saw lying dead on the frozen snow hundreds of Starlings, Song-Tbrushes, Missel- Thrushes, Redwings and Fieldfares, but none of the Common Blackbird, and noticed that several of the weakly birds were attacked and eaten by the Rooks, which, themselves in an exhausted state, flocked round the house, and at times even approached the drawing-room windows. Violent and heavy gales also frequently lend their aid towards the destruction of bird-life, as evidenced by INTRODUCTION. our shores being often found after their occurrence literally strewn with Guillemots, Razorbills, and other > = 5 a : ee er aonrded I ‘ ost’ [2 \ j sea-birds ; in proof of which the following instances recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1872 may be cited. « After the severe storm of January,” says Mr. H. Rogers (writing from the Isle of Wight), ‘‘ our shores from Compton Bay to Watercombe Bay were lined with Razorbills, Guillemots, &c. I had upwards of a hundred brought to me between the 25th and 3lst, most of them in a very bad condition, which had evidently perished for want of food. Seven Gannets were also picked up and brought to me: this I consider very remarkable. We do occasionally get a specimen in very hard winters ; but for seven of these powerful =, eer x © . 9 birds to be driven dead upon our shores shows the severity of the storm. Mr. Stephen Clogg, writing from Looe two days later (February 20), says, “ The south-eastern shores of Cornwall have been covered with the dead bodies of various birds during the present month. In a walk of about a mile I numbered no less than sixty-nine dead bodies of Razorbills, in various stages of decay. This state of things extends for upwards of ten miles; and when we consider the great numbers that have been carried away for the purpose of making plumes for ladies’ hats, and others that did not come ashore, I think we may safely conclude that thousands of the above-named species of birds have perished in this immediate neighbourhood within a fortnight ; and if such has been the case in other parts of England, how vast must > have been the mortality amongst them !’ To the above instances Mr. Newman, the indefatigable editor of the ‘ Zoologist,’ adds in a note, ‘ This morning (February 21st) I met a man going over London Bridge with a clothes-basket full of Razorbills : he could not, or would not, tell me how he came by them ; but, by the blood on the plumage, I think they had come by a violent death.” Lastly disease, the greatest of all misfortunes, plays its sad part among birds as well as among quadrupeds and man. Grouse, as we all know, are frequently visited with great severity, and the sweeping hand of death is not satisfied until all but a remnant have succumbed to its ravages. Nature, in her wisdom, may cause all these various modes of destruction to take effect for some good end—to check, perhaps, an inordinate increase of a particular species : quite certain it is that she never intended that five thousand Grouse should be bred on a Lancashire moor, or that a thousand Blue Hares should inhabit the crown of a single Scottish bill, as is often the case. This unnatural over-crowdi ‘ I : : : s unnatural over-crowding of the Grouse and Hares may have arisen in the case of the former from the extreme Care ¢ attenti a : pits are and attention bestowed upon them, and, as regards the latter, from the killing down of the Golden Eagles and Foxes Lagles oxes, of whose ve peer eee . 2 , of whose food the Blue Hare constitutes a large proportion ; and upon its undue increase they were doubtless intended to afford a wholesome check ‘The jealous care,” says . ce are says Mr. ay oy ie : Ps A x i : - 2 ys Mr. Robert Gray, in his ‘Birds of Western Scotland,’ ‘with which this EN ER OD UC REON. xii beautiful bird is protected appears of late years to have affected the wellbeing of the species ;” and ‘I cannot withhold expressing a fear that the Red Grouse of Scotland, if not soon left to its own resources, may ultimately become a victim to overprotection. The great changes that have taken place within the last thirty years in the management of moorland tracts, and the excessive rents now derived from such properties, induced both land-owners and lessees to clear the ground of all kinds of animals that would prey upon those birds which are not strong enough to protect themselves ; hence sickly broods of Grouse perpetuate other broods, that year by year degenerate until disease ensues and in some instances almost depopulates an entire district. There can be no doubt that this unwarrantable destruction of Hawks and Buzzards affects adversely the condition of the birds with which our Scottish mountains are stocked—the number of wounded birds alone which survive the unprecedented annual slaughter through which the Red Grouse is now obliged to pass being an argument sufficient to show that such merciful agents are wanted to prevent the spread of enfeebled life. In other sections of the animal kingdom epidemics similar to that affecting Grouse have been noticed ; and, so far as my own observations have enabled me to judge, I am diposed to regard these periodical outbreaks of disease as more or less associated with a derangement of Nature’s laws. In almost every case where undue protection is given to certain animals by the rigorous destruction of others, man’s interference is followed, sooner or later, by evils of a graver nature than those which the protective measures were intended to cure; and until some more rational plan is tried for the restoration of the Red Grouse to its original vigour, no one can say what may be the final issue of the somewhat anomalous position in which, as a species, the bird is now undoubtedly placed.” I can fully indorse the general remarks of Mr. Gray respecting the inconvenience arising from the undue protection afforded to certain species by the rigorous destruction of others. Strange as it may appear, the keeper who supposes that he is zealously guarding the interests of his employer by rathlessly destroying all vermin from the estate is in some instances committing an error. As an example in point, and one not mentioned by the writer above quoted, I may remark upon the destruction of the White Owl, which, injuring the game toa very small extent, confers much compensatory benefit in the destruction of the mice, rats, and weasels upon which it feeds. Our pretty Kestrel, too, often suffers an ignominious fate without a reasonable excuse, its food generally consisting of moles, mice, lizards, frogs, and the larger insects. Considerable latitude, however, must be accorded to the keeper, who, with all his care and anxiety, is frequently nonplused by the continued loss of his young game, and that coming from a quarter little to be suspected. Some of the more intelligent of his class have, by constant watching, detected the Brown Owl habitually haunting the vicinity of their pens, and seizing, as occasion offered, two or three of their chicks. The Moorhen (Gallinula choloropus), too, stealthily threading its way through the grass, is no less to be dreaded, its presence among the coops not resulting solely in the abstraction of the scattered grain, but frequently in the E INTRODUCTION. : : . Hips “t] ict ing afterwards : a blow of its pointed bill, a considerable portion of the victim being afterwards eaten death of a chick from | lities frequented by this bird, can have failed to be No one who has lived much on the Thames, or other loca ‘| hich it wi ack a rat. a duck, or even so large a bird as a swan struck by the fury and boldness with which it will attack a rat, < i g if it approaches its nest. r re . + «At the beginning of July,” says H. J. Partridge, Esq., of Hockham Hall, near Thetford, in Norfolk, Z 5 5 . ° e “the keeper having lost several Pheasants about three weeks old from a copse, and having set traps in vain for winged and four-footed vermin, determined to keep watch for the aggressor, when, after some time, 5 a Moorhen was seen walking about near the copse. The keeper, supposing 1¢ only came to eat the young Pheasants’ food, did not shoot it, until he saw the Moorhen strike a young Pheasant, which it killed imme- sants ; i - diately and devoured, except the leg- and wing-bones. The remains agreed exactly with eight found before. Perfect confidence may be placed in the correctness of this statement.”— Zoologist, 1854, p. 4250. For further evidence in proof of the correctness of these statements see my account of the Moorhen in the fourth volume. In case what I have here and there said respecting the pugnacious and carnivorous propensities of the Moorben should excite surprise, I may mention that they appear to be shared in common with all the other members of the group to which it belongs, from the delicately formed Rail to the most robust Porphyrio ; and that they are all ofa combative disposition is evidenced by the possession of a sharp spur on the wing, short in some of the species, and prolonged in others. The question has arisen whether, when we consider the present comparative scarcity of the Peregrine and other of their enemies, it will be really advisable to encourage the breeding of the marine or cliff birds, many persons being fearful that such a measure would lead to a great decrease in our edible fish, upon which they solely subsist. The daily quantity consumed by the Gannet and Cormorant, to say nothing of the Guillemots, Terns, &c., is greatly beyond conception, thus showing that both care and judgement are necessary with regard to the new laws about to be enacted. Had a measure been passed fifty years ago and penalties enforced for killing the Great Auk and the few remaining Bustards stalked over our er ane ‘ aining ards that then stalked over our great plains, we should doubtless have still had these two fine birds gracing our islands; as it i } sg slands 3 as it is ‘mer (Ale ee An . . g é 5 é is, the former (4/ca impennis or Gare Fowl) is wholly extirpated from the waters, not only ; a oe ; y of own country, but of the universe. The Bustard still holds its own on the Continent, SI dle by t Coy ad c ] lise earance ] le ( ult Ve Oo > vast | le nS al | W ls ovel which it roau whereby they have been r Be : erates : \ y have been rendered incompatible with its existence. The Capercaillie, which probably died > ° EN Or DU Ci EF ON: XV out from natural causes, was wholly absent for a hundred years ; but, owing to the replanting of pine-forests, the conditions favourable to its welfare are returning, and a fresh introduction has reinstated it. Other birds, such as the Crane, Spoonbill, Bittern, Avocet, and the Ruff, which were once very common, have now, owing to the draining of our fens and marshes, no resting-places where they could dwell in peace and unmolested. Thus it will be seen that by man’s industry in effecting improvements certain natural yroductions are greatly interfered with. ] S S With regard to the exact enumeration of the birds frequenting the British Islands there must always be considerable difficulties, inasmuch as many persons would hesitate to include in our lists such species as have from time to time strayed over from America, or others which we may reasonably suppose to have escaped from confinement. With these difficulties in view I have restricted the additions to our list of native birds, with only a few exceptions, to those species pertaining to the fauna of the Old World which, without constantly residing in our islands, have from time to time appeared therein, and whose visits oft repeated may ultimately entitle them to a permanent place in our lists. I may state with tolerable accuracy that the total number of our species is about three hundred and fifty. If the supposed number of birds inhabiting the globe be about 10,000, it must be admitted that the British Islands have their due proportion of them. Of course it would be quite out of place to institute a comparison between our country, or even the whole temperate region of either hemisphere, and the tropics, where bird- life is so redundant, in accordance with the profusion of fruits and insects upon which they mainly subsist. It must be conceded by every one who bas paid attention to general ornithology, that very considerable difficulties exist in the formation of a perfect scientific arrangement of the birds of the British Islands, since these are but an appendage of a vast tract embracing the two continents of Europe and Asia, sections of the world assimilating in their bird-life, not only as regards genera, but in many instances also with respect to species. Hence in our own lists there will be occasionally breaks, as it were, that would be filled up by forms which, while found not far distant from us, still have never been actually killed in our islands. Far wider gaps will of necessity occur through the absence of such genera as are peculiar to Australia (the Bower-, Lyre-, and Mound-raising birds), or of those which are confined exclusively to the New World (Toucans, Trogons, Humming-birds, &c.). Man has frequently been induced to try his hand at the introduction of certain species the acquisition of which he has considered desirable; such attempts have generally proved futile. Nature having adapted each for a certain locality, the climate and the condition of the country must be altered and rendered fit for the reception of either bird or quadruped before there is the slightest chance of their successful naturali- zation. Many persons have been desirous of establishing the North-American Prairie-Hen (Cupidonia cupido) ONG OD Cl 1 ON. XV1 on our moors, and the Ortyxr virginianus, or American Partridge, in our fields and coverts; but what good would be effected thereby ? the Prairie-Hen would but displace a better bird, the common Grouse ; and the little Partridge would be no improvement upon our familiar species. There is no fear, however, that this will ever be accomplished; and the sooner such fallacies are ended the better. It would be far wiser were the efforts of our well-meaning patrons of acclimatization directed rather to that interchange of blood among the same species which is essential to the maintenance of a healthy stock. I am sure it is all-important with regard to our birds, particularly those that are stationary. It is well known that species which have lived long on an island without a sufficient interchange will diminish both in size and brilliancy of tints: and hence, perhaps, may be explained the smaller size and more subdued colouring of many of our birds, compared with continental examples. The Blackcock of Norway and Switzerland will be found to have the tone of its plumage more intensified than those inhabiting Scotland, the black being unmistakably of a darker hue, and the gloss of the feathers more resplendent. The Norwegian Ptarmigan, too, is of a purer white compared with our own bird, while its full summer dress is much darker. So, again, the Long-tailed Tit (Mecistura caudata) of Norway and Denmark differs in having a white head, while that of Great Britain has the crown and face dark or obscurely striped ; and the Cole Tit (Parws ater) of Belgium in having the back grey, instead of the slight olive tint seen in British examples. To make such differences, however, grounds for specific distinction, as has in some cases been done, is in my opinion playing with science. That the drier and more rarified air of the Continent, coupled with the more direct influence of the solar rays, contributes to cause these slight differences, seems to me highly probable; and I am strengthened in this view by noticing that, among such groups as the Zyochilide or Humming-birds of America, some of the richest and finest colours are seen in species that frequent lofty situations. Most of the Pheasants now spread over every county of the British islands are mongrels, brought about by the interbreeding of three kinds; and their progeny are but too often rickety and sickly creatures. Those of our sportsmen who have flushed a true Phasianus torquatus in England, or killed the same bird in China, S native country, must have been astonished at the quickness of its arrow-like flight, and the wildness of its actions. Th S 1 _ i y C re j + = s 2. e scientific naturalist, of course, repudiates all varieties such as the Pheasants alluded to, no two of which are alike in ¢ r or markines : : . . : é ke in colour or markings, and whose promiscuous interbreeding can lead to no important result. We see this intercross} arrl $ . e this intercrossing carried to a still greater extent in our domesticated Pigeons and Fowls ; but beyond the < isitic i : 1€ acquisition of cert variations j ao = a : iohly 1 ain variations in plumage, or of qualities rendering them more highly esteemed for the table i i 1 1 the table, nothing of interest is attained. Whilst on the subjec aR a : subject of interbreeding, I should wish to draw the attention of sportsmen to the advan- Ne OW © Wi ON: XVil tages likely to accrue from the interbreeding of our Grouse with that of Norway ( Tetrao saliceti). Orni- thologists are questioning whether these are not one and the same species, and if the differences existing between the two may not be due to the influence of climate. Should such be the case (and I think it probable), then the introduction of the original stock would doubtless effect an improvement in the health and vigour of our birds. Prof. Rasch, of Christiania, believes the two so-called species to be identical, and is introducing our Grouse into his country, partly to determine this point, and partly for the sake of the infusion of fresh blood; but more on this subject will be found in my account of the Red Grouse. As bearing upon their unity, [ may mention that I made a Journey to Norway for the sole purpose of studying the habits of Zetrao saliceti, and dienied that they differed in little or no respect from those of our Grouse, and that its crow was-also similar. Mr. Robert Gray remarks that, as a rule, all the Grouse from Lewis, Harris, North and South Uist, Barra, &c. ‘‘may be said to be smaller and lighter in colour than those from moors on the mainland, especially the mountain-ranges of the north-east of Scotland, which invariably yield in good seasons the largest and most beautifully marked birds. In many districts the native Grouse partake of the coloration of the ground in their markings: thus the finest and darkest birds are those frequenting rich heathy tracts ; while on broken ground of a rocky character, such as may be seen in Wigtownshire, the grouse are either more or less mottled, or are altogether lighter in colour, and less in size and weight.” Before closing my remarks on the Zétrao saliceti and the English Grouse, it may be interesting to note that the extent of the southern range of the former, whether we look at it in Norway, Sweden, or Russia, is restricted to much about the same degree of southern latitude as that of our own bird in England and Wales, thus adding one more indirect proof of their probable identity. On the other hand the Blackcock and Ptarmigan have a more extended southern range, both being found in Switzerland, if not in Northern Italy. Although in a previous page I have discountenanced the introduction of new species, I may be here permitted to make an exception by advocating the claims of the Gelinotte or Hazel-Grouse (Bonasa betulina) to a trial of acclimatization in this country. Without putting forth this suggestion as original, I may state that having seen much of this excellent bird in Norway and other parts of Europe, and noticed that it there dwells in woods very similar to those which occur in Kent and other counties of England and Scotland, I see no reason why it should not be successfully naturalized ; and I would suggest that those who are of the same opinion and have the means of making the experiment should do so. “It is to me a mystery,” says Mr. Lloyd, in his ‘Game-birds and Wild Fowl of Sweden and Norway, “why the Hazel-Hen, which, from its English name, would almost seem to have been a former inhabitant F il] INTRODUCTION. xXVll ‘the British Isles, has not been naturalized with us, inasmuch as it is, of all game-birds, the most delicious, of the British Isles, Ne | I a t Ir re O i ardi ada ) ed noreover according Oo \V Geor e = ‘ = - woe. 6 aes nee Chichester Oxenden, who bas seen and shot these birds in most European countries, ‘to every variety of yichester O: ; S see ’ . oi E ° 7 av e he Acclimatization | : I t= f ak-copses ut it 1s not too late in the day fom ti cover, from pine-forests to hazel- apd oak copses. B Society to take the Hazel-Hen in hand ; and if the localities were suitable for the purpose (and such there society c az are, no doubt, in England and Scotland), and the attempt were made with from twenty to fifty brace of c 3 ’ 5 < . ” these birds, I see no reason why it should not succeed. That the introduction of the Pheasant, the Guinea-fow], and the Turkey has been to a certain extent c successful must be admitted; but it is toa certain extent only ; for it is believed by competent authorities that the Pheasant if left to itself would die out in thirty years, and the Guinea-fowl and Turkey in a much shorter time. Nursers, feeders, and watchers are absolutely necessary for the preservation of these three birds, just as the safety and health of the Elands in Lord Hill’s Park at Hawkstone are dependent upon the keeper who feeds and nightly shelters them during inclement seasons. Had I not had ample experience on the subject of naturalization, I should not have prolonged these remarks ; but having for the last forty years been a close observer of the denizens of the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, a Society justly popular for its interest and usefulness, I have not failed to note that, however high our hopes may have been raised respecting the probability of the successful intro- duction of many valuable species, nothing but bitter disappointment has been the result. Two or three instances will suffice. Soon after the arrival of the beautiful Mandarin Ducks they commenced laying, and hatched out several clutches of young. It was therefore only natural to infer that this lovely denizen of the Celestial Empire would hereafter grace our ponds and lakes; but such has not been the case, and very sparingly indeed does the bird breed after the second or third year of its introduction. Three species of the equally beautiful Ceriornithes, or so-called Horned Pheasants, have at one time or other also graced the gardens. They gave early evidence that they would reproduce their kinds; and many of them did so; but, alas! the same result followed ; for in a very few years all, both old and young, sickened and died. A like fate attended the fine Crossoptilons : they laid freely, and a numerous progeny were raised during the first two or three years; but they ultimately all perished; and thus these fine and rare members of the Phasianide, which formed “Ve ee i - : d unrivalled ornaments to the Gardens in 1870, were in 1872 not to be seen. Many other instances might be cited in Support of this view of the impossibility of naturalizing a foreign species. Nature, as a rule, places each species in the locality best adapted to it; and its removal to any other is pretty certain to end in failure. The attempts at introduction of these and othee bine Meee society as the Zoological, however, have this good end: they enable the public and the scientific ornithologist to view in a living state objects of which otherwise they could only inspect the dried skins— [NLR OD U CLRLEON. XIX and when they breed, to make themselves acquainted with the colour and markings of their eggs, the downy state of their young, and the changes of plumage they undergo until they attain that of the adult. Still it is to be regretted that their existence is not further prolonged. Each season of the year possesses its peculiar attractions ; but spring has especial claims upon our notice. The sun, awakened from its wintry lethargy, ushers in this delightful season with its genial warmth ; and all nature greets with joy the presage of coming summer, and its many pleasing and interesting associations. The smaller birds are now prompted to exercise their vocal powers, filling the woods and hedge-rows with their joyous harmony; and preparations for pairing forecast the breeding-season. The Grouse tribe resort to their “lek-stalles”*, the Ruffs to their hillocks; the Rooks return to their ancestral elms, and the Daws to the nooks and crannies of the castellated tower. It is at this particular season that birds assume their gayest colours, and oftentimes appear in accessory plumes. The Peacock now spreads his magnificent train to the greatest advantage ; the Ruffs display their curious neck-plumes, the Grebes their tippets, and the Egret its flowing back-feathers. In short, every species is now arrayed in its newest and most showy dress. Pairing having been accomplished, each species sets about the serious responsibilities implied in the propagation of its kind. Some, during this season, delight to nest in company, as seen in our own familiar Rook, which will occupy in immense numbers the lofty trees of many a noble avenue, returning, year after year, for centuries, to the same spot. Such places, again, as Ailsa Craig, Handa, and Flamborough Head attract myriads of cliff-haunting species, which evince a similar tendency to reproduce in colonies. Few more wonderful sights can be seen during the month of June than the precipitous face of one of these places, say Handa. Viewed from the sea, there may be descried tier upon tier of Guillemots and Razorbills, &c., almost jostling one another, from the manner in which they are closely packed. Each species constitutes a separate community, and strictly confines itself to its own ledges. The Cormorants and Gulls have also their selected situations. Far above all, in their curious rabbit-like burrows, in the sandy earth constituting the summit, congregate those oddest of all birds, the Puffins. The din and noise of such an assemblage is indescribable, and, when a gun is fired, almost unendurable ; while the circling, swooping flight of the countless myriads thus disturbed communicates the sensation of complete bewilderment. Usually among these great gatherings will breed a pair of some raptorial bird, such as the Peregrine, or more rarely the White-tailed Eagle, while in some of the more southern cliffs the Chough nestles, and adds its cackling cry to the universal hubbub. The Common Heron, again, is a bird nesting in communities, choosing, as a rule, large pine-woods,—notable examples being the * Lek and lek-stalle are Norwegian terms, applied to localities “where affairs matrimonial are carried on.” We find them frequently used by Mr. Lloyd in his ‘ Game-birds and Wild Fowl of Sweden and Norway,’ when alluding to the courting assemblies of the Capercaillie, Blackcock, Snipe, &c. INTRODUCTION. cele yratec 1€ I = I cS rs Sq. at Di llineton Park in ises | | rec pests and th estate of ° Ambut st I . Ambut st ; I Sq ; ( ‘ ‘ comprises about one bund! ZOUS, ( Vi > = 2S ( ie 1 Sic b > mS Su h as ho e oO 1 Bla Ke neade d Nor OLK. Si v : Cc : < . sr meres in Norfolk. Gulls, in various counties, particularly at Scoulton and other 1 TUILIS, c . ” 7 Lede offer manv interesting peculiarities. Som A t to the receptacles for their eggs when laid, birds offer many interesting peculic e With respect to aches Ss ; : . . pvriform shape of their eggs being the only safe- ‘ll content themselves with the bare ledge of a rock, the pyriform shape 55 5 J Wi ; g S j e oe s deposi ir egos a mass of sea-weed or in a d against their falling over the precipice ; others deposit their eggs on a me é é guard agains g - : ; ‘ase WI > Grebes. ere a more ambitious floating nest composed of rotten aquatic plants, as is the case with the Grebes. Where @ é a: 2 : : . = ’ ication, from the loosely-built platform of the Wood- is erec syery degree of complication, j structure is erected, we find every deg . rp : rs Sacks = S 5 os Ss Piceon to the elegant lichen-crested nest of the Long-tailed Tit. Each species shows in its nesting a most : . : eee A ee ale st of the Sedge-Warblers, it is perfect adaptation to the exigencies of the situation. Where, like the nest of the Sedge-Warble auc C - 5 . . heey nase wi » deep purse-like shape of the interior is a safe swaved to and fro amidst the reeds by every passing wind, the deep } | provision against the eggs being blown out ; under our eaves the homely Martin plasters its nest of mud; : So 2 5 ? the Goldcrest hangs its hammock-like cradle beneath the tip of a pendent fir bough; and in holes of trees and walls the Tits delight to construct their felted nests. I should fatigue my readers and exceed the latitude allowed me in this introduction, were I to dwell longer upon the situations affected by various species in their midification, or the wondrous forms shown in the construction of their homes. Otherwise I might dilate upon the ingenuity displayed in the dome-like nests of the Magpie, in the approach to that shape seen in those of the common House-Sparrow when built in trees, or in the fish-bone floor of the Kingfisher’s retreat ; but all these will be found more fully dwelt upon in the descriptions attached to the representation of each species in the body of the work. I may, however, remark in passing that the structural skill displayed by many of our birds is far surpassed by that of certain foreign species ; and we are struck with astonishment when we gaze upon such nests as those of the Tailorbird, the Sociable Grosbeak, the Weaverbird, the Zeteri or Hang-nests. In writing upon subjects connected with ornithology I find the associations of my boyhood ever flitting before me. Well can I recollect the dried body of the brightly coloured Kingfisher hanging from the cottager’s ceiling, and supposed by its movements to point the direction of the wind*—a superstition now, like many others, happily abandoned. Well do I recollect also the particoloured strings of eggs with which I and ny companions delighted to festoon the walls, and which were 1 ‘igorously destroyed in our games before the termination of the year, 1D order to ward off the ill-luck otherwise supposed to ensue. I can still * “But how now stands the wind ? Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill ?” Martowe’s Jew of Malta. IGN ER OVD Ct ON: Xxl remember with what intense admiration I was filled in gazing upon the nest and lovely blue eggs of the common Hedge-Sparrow, and the pride I had in consigning them, when blown and thus bereft of half their beauty, to that string which was to hold so many of my subsequent findings. Coequally with the spread of natural history generally, has advanced the interest felt in the collecting of eggs—so much so that even amongst school-boys they now find their way into carefully appointed cabinets, in place of being used only as the plaything of an hour. The study of Oology at the present day may fairly claim an important place amongst the sciences; and, to speak more specially on the subject, I could name several men, whose studies have taken this direction, who follow their taste with such ardour that neither distance nor expense suffice to deter them. One of the most enthusiastic of these was the late Mr. Jobn Wolley, who immured himself in the heart of Lapland for two or three winters for the sole purpose of being sufficiently early on the breeding- grounds to procure such rare eggs as those of the Gyrfalcon, Pine-Grosbeak, Waxen Chatterer, and Smew. To enhance still further the interest attaching to the study of oology, I have only to refer to the beautiful form, colour, and markings of most egos, and to the difference in the number that are laid by various species. The Common Guillemot and the Razorbill lay but one, and that very large in comparison with the bird ; on the other hand the Grouse will lay nearly a dozen; the Swift lays invariably two, and the Swallow four, while some of our Tits deposit from twelve to fourteen. Those eggs which are white are frequently placed in dark situations ; but this is by no means a constant rule, since in the case of the Wood-Pigeon and Turtle Dove the eggs are not only fully exposed to light, but, owing to the slight structure of the nest, may be frequently descried through it. Their allies the Stock-Dove and Rock-Pigeon, however, lay theirs in the dark, as does also the Wryneck, all three having white eggs. On the other hand the Nuthatch, Creeper, and many of the Tits, producing speckled eggs, deposit them in holes of trees and other places inaccessible to the light of day. From the egg to the chick is a natural sequence ; and here commences a stage in the life of birds which has been regarded by myself with more than ordinary interest. If any one feature in my illustrations to the ‘ Birds of Great Britain’ has special claims to originality, it is the representation of the young or rane state of many of the species; and this, I trust, will be duly appreciated by those who possess the work. In the imagination of most people young birds are blind, callow, helpless creatures, depending in every way on the fostering care of their parents, and instinctively opening their gaping bills to receive the food assiduously brought to them. Such a helpless condition as this undoubtedly prevails amongst the young of nearly all, if not all, the Znsessorzal birds: but compare these with those of other forms, and what vast differences are seen! The tiny offspring of the Grebe, emerging from its bursting shell in all the vigour and activity of a fully organized being, is immediately capable of clambering, should danger approach, upon its mother’s back, or of seeking security and concealment by diving under a floating leaf. Who is not familiar with the Duckling, which, from birth, equals, if it does not surpass, its parents in the quickness of its movements, and in the skill with which it darts over the surface of the water in pursuit of flies or other insects? Asa G INTRODUCTION. XXil means to an end (that of continuing its existence unaided), the young Duck is as perfect as the old bird, ; : . ie Sonn i reafter. What the webbed though destitute of the power of flight, to be accorded to it herea feet and swimming-capabilities are to the immature birds above mentioned, the organs of flight are to the chick of 8 5 the Gelinotte or Hazel-Hen, which, within a day of its exit from the shell, is endowed with such a develop- ment of its primaries and secondaries that it can fly from branch to branch, or dart after its parents through the wood, with an ease and rapidity equal to that of any other little bird. At this early stage the Gelinotte appears all wings, and, from the down which alone covers its body, presents somewhat the appearance of a gigantic moth. The young of the Heron exhibits a very low degree of perfection ; but those of the Crane, 5 the Bustard, and the Plover are agile on exclusion. The colouring of the downy stage of young birds is, in many instances, very beautiful, and fantastic indeed in form—exhibiting itself in stripings amongst the Grebes, yellow moss-like marblings amongst the true Plovers, paintings on the face of the Coot, and tortoise- shell blotches on the Black-headed Gull. This peculiar phase in bird-life exists but for a short period, six or eight days; a change then takes place, in the course of which the downy dress, with all its pretty markings, is thrown or, rather, pushed off by a succession of real feathers. In the Starling, among the Insessorial birds, it is exchanged for a uniform coat of brown, which, before the summer is over, is again transformed into a spangled dress of great beauty. In the Golden Plover the moss-like marbling is exchanged for a yellow speckled plumage; the Grebe loses its dorsal stripes, and assumes a silken white breast ; the young Coot, deprived of its painted face, soon presents an approach to the colouring of its parent ; the grey middle dress of the young Heron gradually merges into that of the adult; and the newly hatched Falcons, which are blind, sprawling creatures covered with white down, pass through a variety of changes between their birth and the commencement of the second year of their existence, when they attain their perfect adult plumage, never again to be altered. Changes of a similar description also occur among the Owls. Many, if not most, birds, in fact, undergo a succession of alterations in their costume between birth and maturity; but as there is no rule without an exception, so there are some birds which are not subject to any great change of this kind: for instance, the Kingfisher from the first is nearly as fine in colour as when adult, as are also the Roller, the Waxen Chatterer, the Tree-creeper, and the Nuthatch. In the foregoing passages I have described some of the remarkable changes which birds undergo between youth and maturity : —FEVETTITORORIS cy . ; ae : . 1 and maturity; but however interesting and curious may be the details of their infantine states, their rovress throug Tddlemlitenrc ce ee a : : prog ough middle life is not less so; while the culminating point, so far as costume is concerned, as nothing compar 7] ae . : = g compared with the assumption of the richer dress and colouring that obtains at the pairing- season. The transformations that fal . : ransformations that take place in the Plovers and many other species at this period are FONG O DAU Cart © Ni: Xxill the Lesser Gulls have hoods of brown, and the Terns caps of glossy black, presenting a striking contrast to their coral-red feet; the Divers doff their brown dress for a chequered one of black and white; the Sparrow acquires a black bill, the Chaffinch and the Hawfinch blue ones; and the whole are now decked for their summer duties, after the performance of which they again resume the garb of winter, and retain it until the following spring. Of the myriads of created beings which adorn our globe, birds must necessarily rank highly in the estimation of man, and be to him at all times objects of the greatest interest, inasmuch as they not only contribute in a hundred ways to his delight, but many of them to his sustenance. The buoyant Eagle, soaring in aérial evolutions towards the sun, elicits his admiration ; and the rapid stoop of the Falcon excites his wonder. The Owl, which with noiseless flight crosses his path during its nocturnal prowlings, induces his surprise at the readiness with which it discerns the agile mouse and other small quadrupeds among the grass. If the fields attract him to roam in the daytime, the Lark and the Corn-Bunting are his companions ; and he hears the voice of the Yaffle, proclaiming the approach of rain. If in the woods he is induced to stroll, the coo of the Pigeon strikes his ear, or the tapping of the Woodpecker arrests his atten- tion, the songs of the Thrush, the Ouzel, the Blackcap, and other sylvan birds, with the Nightingale at their head, afford food to his mind and sweet music to his ear ; the Crows, the Rooks, and the Daws attract his notice; and he does not fail to observe the difference in their cries, actions, and economies. In the neighbourhood of streams the bright meteor-like flash of the Kingfisher, the heavy flutter of the Moorhen, and the skimming flight of the Summer Snipe induce him to note how differently birds pass through the air, and to contrast the comparatively slow movements of the latter with the sweeping flight of the Swift, which nearly outstrips the wind. On the shores of the ocean a flood of new objects meet his gaze—the fairy-like Tern, the more robust Gulls, with Cormorants and many other aquatic species. In the marsh he hears the Snipe drum, the Bittern boom, and the plain-coloured Reed Warblers pour forth a succession of querulous sounds when intruded upon. While enjoying the invigorating air of the downs, though now deprived of the pleasure of seeing the stately Bustard, perchance his attention is arrested by the trippings of the Dotterel ; the Stone-Plover may rise at his feet, and wing its way over the bill to a place of security ; or the Wheatear and the Furze-Chat may attract his notice, the former by the whiteness of its rump, and the latter by being perched on the very top of a furze bush; and if it be autumn, the heavy, flapping flight of the Pewit will show him that its structure is not so well adapted for passing through the air as that of the sharp-winged Golden Plover. In studying the denizens of our inland waters other opportunities for drawing a comparison will present themselves; he will not fail to remark the wondrous principle of adaptation which enables the frightened Grebe after its plunge to progress with the aid of its wings as rapidly beneath the surface as the Coot with IN BRO DU Clr ON XXIV | ‘jo legs over it. Instances almost without end of the delight which the study of birds affords might ( roopiug egs ° STc S be cited; but I will now say a few words on their uses as articles of diet. ili 1 is PV n the Continent, wh re Even the smallest are As a rule, birds are fat less O eaten the Robin the Wrvveck, and the Wren not excepted, as a visit to the markets of Pa ris and Rome 36 > 5 5 i will testify, the sylvan Beccaficos and the Ortolans being specially regarded as bonnes bouches. Ss ’ a) Among the water-birds, the Scoters and other diving ducks, being regarded as partly fish and partly fowl, are allowed to be eaten on fast-days, and are therefore in great request ; and Mr. Augustus Smith, of Scilly, tells me that the French sailors who land on those islands frequently ask his permission to kill Cormorants and Shags, considering them, as they do, the best of fowl. The Gannet is largely eaten in the northern parts of the kingdom ; while the Fulmar not only forms the principal diet of the St.-Kildan, but its feathers constitute his bed, and its oil furnishes him with medicine and the means of light. The late Mr. John Macgillivray states that the eggs “are much esteemed by the natives, who gratify their partiality by robbing all the nests in the month of May, and apparently trust to the bird laying a second time;” “and,” adds Mr. Robert Gray, “ the young is valued more than all the other tribes of birds taken together ; it may be said to be their staff of life. The 12th of August, if a notable day on the moors, is more so on the rocks of St. Kilda; for it is the harvest of the people, who are aware that it will only last eight days ; and therefore sleep itself is banished for this space, seeing that the millions that may be left on the eighth day after the 12th are sure to be off to their own fairy world for a season. The number killed in this one week may be from eghteen to twenty thousand.” In a valuable paper on the Solan Goose or Gannet by Dr. R. O. Cunningham, published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1866, it is stated, on the authority of the celebrated Harvey, that ‘the young, when they attain the magnitude of the domestic Goose, are sweet and fit for eating ; but the flesh of the old birds is hard, lean, and dry.” And Ray in his ‘ Itineraries’ mentions that the young ones are esteemed a choice dish in Scotland. As the bird feeds upon mackerel and herring, the flesh of the young smells and tastes strong of these fish.” At the present time, according to Dr. Cunningham, ‘ from one to two thousand of the young birds are killed annually for sale, and after being plucked obtain prices of from sixpence to a shilling each, At one tine they figured at the tables of the Scottish monarchs, and more recently were esteemed by the citizens of Edinburgh and other towns, being ro: ; Edinburgh and other towns, being roasted and eaten as a relish before dinner. Now, I believe, their consumption 1s chiefly limited to the lower classes ; and I have been informed on good authority that, after yeing parboiled and having had their legs cut off, they are sold in considerable numbers to the Irish peasants who come over to Scotland at harvest time.” It is quite impossible to give an estimate of the numbers of wild Ducks and Geese that are yearly ENR OD) UC EEO N: XXV consumed in the three kingdoms ; but that they are immense will be readily conceived when it is stated that from the various decoys, and from the Continent, hundreds, if not thousands, are weekly sent to the markets of the metropolis and other large towns, to which the professed wild-fowl shooter also transmits his quota of Widgeons, Pochards, and Brent Geese. The Common Pewit and the Golden Plover are largely consumed, as are also the Stints and other strand-loving birds. The supply of Snipes and Wood- cocks is dependent in a great measure upon the nature of the season, as is also, to a certain extent, that of the Wood-Pigeon, the Partridge, the Grouse, the Pheasant and other game-birds. The Dottrel, which passes over our islands from south to north during the month of May, is subjected to a large annual toll, and, with the imported and fattened Quail and the Ortolans, form delicate viands for the tables of the wealthy and of the epicures who require such whets for their appetites, and who can afford their purchase. Besides the species above mentioned, many other kinds, and even the eges of several, are diligently sought for—those of the Lapwing, Black-headed Gulls, and Guillemots, especially the former, being in great request. These remarks may appear trite, but they serve to show that many of our birds are extensively utilized, Much has been written upon the classification, general structure, power of flight, and senses of birds ; but were I to go into detail upon these matters I should only be reproducing what has been so ably treated by such men as Macgillivray, Owen, Jerdon, Flower, Huxley, Parker, and others. I cannot, however, conclude the present introduction without touching lightly on some of these points, Most writers on Natural History have placed the class Aves immediately above the Reptiles and below the Mammals, from either of which they are clearly separated by the distinctive characteristics shown in their general form, habits, feathered covering, and powers of flight. It is in regard to some of these that I would now wish to say a few words. All those who have studied the anatomy of birds, even but cursorily, must have become specially aware of the wonderful adaptation shown by nature in fashioning the skeleton so as to enable the creature to support itself in the air with the least possible exertion, and propel its body with varying degrees of swiftness through that element; they will have noticed that this power of flight is aided to a considerable extent by the fact of the bones being bollow, and their cavities communicating for the most part with the cells of the lungs—a provision ensuring the maximum of strength with the minimum of weight. The wings of birds modify in various ways the velocity with which they are capable of cleaving the air. Some, like the Land-Rail and the Bittern, with rounded Wings, evince considerable reluctancy to quit the ground, and, when they do so, merely fly to a short distance ; others, such as the Auks and Penguins, have indeed but the rudiments of those organs ; while others, again, have their wings and pectoral muscles H INTRODUCTION. XXV1 developed to such an extent that extraordinary rates of velocity and distances traversed have been recorded. Thus Mr. Charles Boner states, 1n his ‘ Forest Creatures,’ that the flight of the Eagle is sixty feet per second, being at the rate of somewhat more than forty miles per hour 5 and my friend Mr. White Cooper mentions, in his ‘ Zoological Notes and Anecdotes,’ that “ the flight of a Hawk is calculated at one hundred and fifty miles an hour ; and the anecdote of the Falcon belonging to Henry IV. of France, which flew, in one day, from Fontainebleau to Malta, a distance of thirteen hundred and fifty niles, is well authenticated.” me day, i a . Bae ee : : “ Mr. Harting, in his interesting * Ornithology of Shakespeare, mentions that the flight of the Common Swallow (Hirundo rustica) has been computed to be at the rate of ninety miles an hour. If this be a just Swift must be twice as great; but these are as nothing when compared with computation, that of the Alpine the velocity of the Frigate bird ( Tachypetes aquilus ), which, says Audubon, ‘is possessed of a power of ; - ie flieht I conceive superior to that of perhaps any other bird. However swiftly the Cayenne Tern, the smaller o : + ee s Gulls, or the Jager move on the wing, it seems a matter of mere sport to it to overtake any of them. “There are two facts observable in all birds of great and long-sustained powers of flight,” remarks the Duke of Argyll, in his admirable ‘Reign of Law. “The first is that they are always provided with wings which are rather long than broad, and sometimes extremely narrow in proportion to their length; the second is that the wings are always sharply pointed at the ends. Let us look at the mechanical laws which absolutely require this structure for the purpose of powerful flight, and to meet which it has accordingly been devised and provided. One law appealed to in making wings rather long than broad is simply the law of leverage... .. anda long wing is nothing but a long lever. The mechanical principle or law, as is well known, is this—that a very small amount of motion (or motion through a very small space) at the short end of a lever, produces a great amount of motion (through a long space) at the opposite or longer end. This action requires, indeed, a very intense force to be applied at the shorter end; but it applies that force with immense advantage for the purpose in view, because the motion which is transmitted to the end of a long wing is a motion acting at that point through a long space, and is therefore equivalent to a very heavy weight lifted through a short space at the end which is attached to the body of the bird. Now, this 1s precisely what is required for the purpose of flight.” The preceding extract is sufficient for my present purpose ; but my readers will find many other interesting remarks on the laws affecting and governing the flight of birds, in the work above mentioned, to which I would earnestly direct their attention. Birds, like other animals, are endowed with the usual senses; but these vary in degree of perfection in accordance with the variety in their habits. That that of sight is very highly developed is amply testified in the Kestrel, whose eyes must be almost telescopic to enable it to see an insect or a mouse on the eround from the great elevation at which 1 aioe eee . : ona gre c at which it usually hovers ; the familiar Robin, who discovers the wriggling worm PN ER OD UC PI ON. XXVll at a distance of many yards, must also be endowed with acute powers of vision; nor can it be less perfect in the Shrike, who sallies forth from his chosen branch to secure with unerring aim the passing fly or beetle. The Vulture, provided with organs of equal if not even greater power, descries from an enormous distance a dying camel, a stranded sheep, or any other earthly creature which has met with misfortune, and by his peculiar motions gives the cue to others of its kind from still greater distances and various points of the compass ; for ‘“‘ wheresoever the carcase is, there will the Eagles be gathered together.” The sense of smell is most acute in the Anatide or Duck tribe, but, according to my experience, seems to be entirely wanting in the Raptores (Vultures, Eagles, &c.). That of hearing would appear to be most perfect in the Owls, as testified by their highly developed auditory conch; at the same time it is by no means wanting in many other families of birds. Neither can the sense of feeling be absent from the probing bill of the Woodcock and the members of the Scolopacide generally. Should any of my readers wish to enrich their knowledge in this direction, I must refer them to the give works of the writers mentioned above. In ‘The Birds of Great Britain’ my chief aim has been to g a faithful representation of the various species, and to record, in addition to the notes of others, such observations as my lengthened study in this branch of science has enabled me to make. The following arrangement will give a general view of ‘The Birds of Great Britain,’ with some additional information respecting them obtained during the progress of the work, and notices of those species which have occurred in the British Islands, but which are not, in my opinion, entitled to a place in our fauna and consequently have not been figured. The Vultures, a family of birds whose proper home is the warmer countries of the world, are but feebly represented in the British Islands, where, indeed, the appearance of the two species which have occurred therein must be regarded as purely accidental, our islands being fortunately exempt from those visitations which render the presence of these useful scavengers a matter of great importance. The family comprises about twenty-four species, divided among ten or twelve genera, the greater part of which inhabit Eastern Europe, Africa, and India; the remainder frequent America, and extend their range from the United States to Chile. INTRODUCTION. xxviil ORDER RAPTORES. Family VULTURID. Genus NEorHRON. 1. NEOPHRON PERCNOPTERUS : : : g : : ‘ : : : Vol Ban EayptTian VULTURE. We have very positive evidence that this bird has been killed in Somersetshire and Essex, of which occurrences the particulars will be found in my account of the species. Genus Gyps. 2. Gyps FULVUS. Griffon Vulture. This bird has still Jess claim to a place in the British Fauna than the Egyptian Vulture ; I have there- fore not given a plate of it, notwithstanding that its occurrence has been recorded by Thompson, and that Yarrell has figured it from a specimen “caught by a youth on the rocks near Cork harbour in the spring of 1843. The bird was full-grown ; the plumage perfect, without any of the appearances conse- quent on confinement ; it was very wild and savage, and was in perfect health.” This Vulture is of large size and proportionate strength, possesses great sustaining powers of flight, and enjoys a widely extended geographical range, being found in Germany, France, on the Pyrenees, in Spain. It also occurs in the Grecian archipelago, Candia, Egypt, and other parts of North Africa ; and Dr. Jerdon states that it also inhabits Western Asia and the Himalaya Mountains. It makes a large nest, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, on rocks and high trees, and lays two, or sometimes three, elongated white eggs nearly as large as those of a Goose. Family FALCONIDA. Subfamily AQUILINA. Eagles are very generally spr ; é y generally spread over the temperate and warmer portions of the globe. Four species reque } e Di } Is I ee < 5 L a 2 l t t J 1U1S slan Ss VC t ds hamely, ty ) of he genus Aquila, one ot Hahai TUS, and a 1 andi n IL IN/ WP 18, @) 1D) WC 4h It ©) IN XX1X Genus AgulILa. 3. AQUILA CHRYSAETOS : : : : : e Voll Pe It GoLpEN EAacte. A bird of the northern portion of Britain, where it still breeds, as it formerly did in Derbyshire and is also said to have done in North Wales. The young are apt to wander southwards; and hence we occasionally see immature examples in England, but seldom adults. 4, AQUILA NEVIA ; : . : ; : : 5 = Vole Ie Rie ile Sporrep Eac.e. The native home of this bird is the eastern portion of Europe, North Africa, and India. To England its visits are purely accidental; yet it has been killed therein six or seven times—namely, once in Hampshire, twice in Cornwall, and thrice in Ireland. When mentioning in my account of this ‘species that the second Cornish example, killed near Carnanton, is now in the Truro museum, I ought to have added “to which institution it was presented by E. Brydges Willyams, Esq.”—an omission which I now rectify. Genus Hautarus. 9. HALIABTUS ALBICILLA . : : : é : : : Vor RE lv. SeA-EAGLeE. Inhabits Greenland, Europe, aud North Africa. More maritime i 1 its habits than the Golden Eagle. Breeds in the north. Feeds on fish and garbage of any kind thrown up by the sea. Since my account of the Sea-Eagle was printed, Captain Elwes has published, in ‘The Ibis’ for 1869, an By 5 interesting paper on the bird-stations of the Outer Hebrides. Speaking of the Shiant Isles, ‘‘a small group lying in the Minch, about six miles from the coast of Lewis,” he says :—‘ There is a celebrated eyry of the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaetus albicilla) here, which has been used from time immemorial and is mentioned by Martin, who wrote nearly two hundred years ago. I think it is as perfectly inaccessible as any nest can be, owing to the way in which the rock overhangs, and, if the birds are not destroyed, will remain in use for centuries.” + TONG re ©) 1): WC eT ON: Genus PAnpIon. : Vol..I. Pl. V: 6. Panpron Ha iaETus : : : : . : Osprey. Formerly common in Scotland (where its eyry might have been found on most of the ruined castles in the neighbourhood of, and on the islands in the lochs), it has now become scarce, and, unless it be protected, will soon be extirpated. If, as has been supposed, there is but one species of this form, then it may be said to be almost universally distributed over the other parts of the Old World, as it also is in the greater part of the New. Lives almost wholly on fish. Is a summer visitant, arriving at its breeding-places in the spring, and departing southward in autumn. Subfamily BUTEONINA. Buzzards are found in nearly every country of the globe. The fauna of Europe comprises three or four species, all of which have been killed in Britain ; but of these, one has but slender claims to be enumerated among the birds of our islands. Genus Burro. 7. BuTeo VULGARIS . : : ‘ : . . . ‘ ; : : ; Vol. 1 EE Common Buzzarp. Formerly very common in many of our counties, it still breeds in some of them, particularly in certain = parts of Kent. 8. Bureo DESERTORUM. Falco desertorum, Daud. Traité d’Orn. tom. ii. p. 162. —— cirtensis, Levaill. —— vulpinus, Licht. —— capensis, part., Schleg. —— tachardus, Bree, Birds of Eur. vol. i p97: —— anceps, Brehm. M . J. Clarke Hawkshaw Clarke Hawkshaw has favoured me with the skin of a Buzzard wl September 1864. After having : co uich, he tells me, was killed at Everley, in W iltshire, in made a careful examination of the specimen, PNR OD Ur CD LON. XXX1 Mie Js ie Gurney assures me that it is an example of the species to which the above names have been assigned by the various authors mentioned, that of desertorum having the precedence. The countries frequented by it are Algeria, Mogador, European Turkey, the mouths of the Volga, Syria, India, and Ceylon. Mr. Gurney considers that there is no specific difference between this bird and that which is named in collections Buteo cirtensis. He came to this conclusion after examining specimens from Mogador, Tangiers, Erzeroum, and the mouths of the Volga. It is included by Schlegel in his «Fauna Japonica ;’ so that it has a very wide range. ‘The appearance of this bird when alive,” says Mr. Gurney, ‘is less heavy and more elegant than that of B. vulgaris. My living specimen, which was dull-brown when I bought it, has moulted into a rich rufous plumage; and one that was alive in the Zoological Gardens a few years since, underwent a similar change.” According to M. Favier, it nests among the rocks, and the male takes its turn in sitting. The egg has a strong resemblance to that of the Black Kite, but is a little more pointed, and the ground-colour a cream- white, that of the former having a greenish tinge. Mr. Gurney states that ‘the cere, tarsi, and feet of this Buzzard are lemon-yellow ; the irides are sometimes light-hazel, and at others yellow, probably assuming the latter colour as the bird advances in age ; a similar variation, however, which exists in the irides of the Common Buzzard is not always referable to age, as I have ascertained by experience.” 9. Bureo LINEATUS. Red-shouldered Buzzard. It becomes necessary to notice this species, a single example having been shot at Kingussie, in Aberdeenshire, on the 26th of February, 1863. It is now in the collection of Mr. Newcombe, of Feltwell Hall, Brandon, Norfolk. As this is a strictly North-American species, I do not consider it necessary to figure it; but such of my readers as may desire to know its history can refer to the writings of Wilson, Audubon, and other authors on American birds. Genus Arcuisureo. 10. ARrcHIBUTEO LAGopUS : : ‘ : : : : : Vole le PE Vil Rovueu-Leccep Buzzarp. Arrives in the British Islands in autumn, occasionally in considerable numbers, when moving in INTRODUCTION. XXXil ‘oratory flocks. Its nest is stated to have been once found near Hackness, In Yorkshire, and also in nlgra ory ‘KS. S s S'S the neighbourhood of Banff (vde ‘This,’ 1865, p. 12). Genus PERNIS. are two very distinct species—one, the P. apivorus, inhabiting Europe, and Of this form there The natural food of both, besides small quadrupeds, birds, the other the P. cristatus of India. and their larvee and garbage, is honey, bees and wasps, Vol: 1; PEOVINE 11. PrerRnis APIVORUS Honey-BuzzarD. A summer visitant to us and to Central Europe, which, after breeding, migrates southwards to pass the winter. Subfamily ASTURIN/E Genus Asrur. Of this form two species have been regarded as pertaining to the British fauna—namely, the Astur palumbarius of Europe, and the A. atricapillus of America. In the present work only the former has been figured. Vol. 12RE ]2. AsTUR PALUMBARIUS : ; : , GosHAWK. Very generally dispers oon a NG mare eee oe : ; ; y generally dispersed over Europe, North Africa, India, and China; occasionally killed in Scotland, where it sometimes breeds. 13. AsTUR ATRICAPILLUS. American Goshawk. This Americ: Pda ae acre: : s American wanderer has certainly been killed at least three times in the British Islands—once in Scotland < ice | “al: . 1 and twice in Ireland. Respecting the first of these examples, Mr. R. Gray, in bis recently published ‘Birds of the West of Scotland.’ says -— “Tn May 1869, when visiti oe ¥, when visiting the 7 ee oe eae : : g the town of Brechin, in Forfarshire, I was fortunate in finding a very PVR Oo UC © N. XXXUi handsome specimen of this Goshawk in the hands of a bird-stuffer there, who had obtained it a short time previously from a keeper in Perthshire, along with a number of Snow-Buntings and other birds shot by him on the flanks of Schiehallion, and all recently skinned.” The following notes respecting the second example were published by Sir Victor A. Brooke in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1870. ‘I have the pleasure of informing you of the occurrence in Ireland of Astur atrica- pillus, aun example of which was shot in “the Galtee Mountains in February last, and was at first believed to be a common Goshawk (4. palumbarius) ; but having since had the opportunity of examining some specimens of that species in Lord Lilford’s collection, I immediately detected the difference between them and the Galtee bird. Upon returning to Ireland, with the kind permission of Dr. Carte I compared it with a specimen of A. atricapillus in the Dublin Society’s collection, and cleared up any doubt that remained on my mind, the closely set transverse bars, the longitudinal streaks (stronger and bolder than in the European species), the general dusky appearance of the breast, and the dark slate-blue head removing all question on the subject. The bird was a mature female, and weighed 3lb. 7oz.; the ovary was somewhat enlarged ; and the stomach contained the remains of a rabbit.” Of the third example, all that has been recorded is that it was shot shortly after the above, near Parsonstown, King’s County, and was also a female. A certain amount of interest attaches to the occurrence of these Goshawks, inasmuch as it tends to show how frequently American birds cross the Atlantic to our shores ; but if all such visitants were to be figured, how greatly extended would be the ‘ Birds of Great Britain.’ Subfamily ACCIPITRIN A. Genus AccIPITER. Of this genus only one species frequents the British Islands; but several others are found in Africa, India, China, North and South America. The whole of them are active, dashing birds, often flying near the ground and suddenly surprising the smaller insessorial species, upon which they principally prey. The sexes differ considerably in size, the males being much smaller than the females. A character by which they are at once distinguished from the 4sturime consists in the great length of their middle toes. 14, AcciPITER NISUS. 5 ‘ : : : : : : : : : : Vol Rik Xx. Sparrow-Hawk. A common, stationary species, breeding in all our counties, INTRODUCTION. Subfamily FALCONIN Genus Fa.co. The members of this genus are preeminently bold, courageous, and sanguinary, many of them, the air birds much larger than ly the Gyr Faleons and Peregrines, not hesitating to attack in especial Be ee ie > . ime immemorial, their courag themselves; and when trained for hawking, as they have been from t1 ae age and daring is so much enhanced that they will engage with birds of even larger size than they do in their c py Nis) te) ’ od wild state. Structurally they are better adapted for a quick and arrow-like flight than any other of the Raptores. One or other of the numerous species of this group inbabit nearly every portion of the globe. The Gyr Falcon and its immediate allies are almost solely confined to the high northern regions, whence they migrate during autumn and winter towards the equator, but never across It. The Peregrines are much more generally dispersed than the Gyr Falcons, the various species frequenting most countries both north and south; thus the form exists in Europe, Asia, and Australia, in Africa also from the Atlas range to the Cape of Good Hope, and in America from the latitude of Hudson's Bay to Tierra del Fuego. The smaller Falcons, such as the Hobby and Merlin, are also more or less represented in each country, but generally, although not exclusively, are of different species. 15. Fatco 1sLanpus : : ; : : : : : : : : : Vol. I. BEXG IceLanp Faucon. The subject of the great northern Falcons will be found so fully treated of in the body of the work that it would be mere tautology to say more here than that this bird is, as its name implies, a native of Iceland, and, but more sparingly, of Greenland. It is also said to be found in Hudson’s Bay and other of the extreme northern parts of America. Occasionally adults, but more frequently young birds of the year, wander as far south as the British Islands. 16. Fauco tsuanpus : y : Volz EF BPE il IcELAND Fatcon (young). Appears > darkly c ered a ppears to be darkly coloured from the nest, but never so deep in tint as that of the true Gyr Falcon. NE OD FOr Cale Ik Ome XXXV 17. Fatco cANDICANS : : : : : : i : é : o> 2) Volel BE XT: GREENLAND Fatcon. This species inhabits the icy regions of Greenland, Hudson’s Bay, and other parts of Arctic America, and is less frequently seen in the British Islands in the adult state than the F. tslandus, from which it is distin- guished by the extreme whiteness of its plumage, and by the young being lightly coloured from the nest. 18, Fatco canpicans ; : : : ; é : : : : : - Vol, I. BR oxivz GreenLanp Farcon (dark race). My plate represents a supposed dark race of the preceding species ; but as the strongly defined marks on the back vary considerably in different individuals, and the tail-feathers differ still more so, some being wholly white, others barred, and others, again, having irregular dark markings, I am induced to regard these darkly marked birds as the result of a cross between I’, islandus and F. candicans. The young appear to be lightly coloured from the nest ; but a considerable difference takes place at the first moult, when the feathers of the back are ornamented with long and broad blotches, offering a strong contrast to the narrow lunate cross markings of the old bird. I have been induced to give two figures of these unusually marked birds. 19. Fatco canpicaNns ; : ; : : : : : : : : : Vol. Bieexwe GREENLAND Farcon (dark race, young). Lord Cawdor’s bird, now in the British Museum, from which my figure of the Gyr Falcon in the ‘ Birds of Europe,’ and Mr. Yarrell’s in his ‘ British Birds,’ were taken, is a young specimen of this race ; and it is in this stage that most of the individuals are found with us. 20. Fatco e@yrFaLco : : ‘ : : ; : : , : ! : Vol. I. RIP Xue Norwegian or Gyr Faucon. The true Gyr Falcon of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Western Russia is a smaller bird than the three preceding ; and both the adult and young are darker in colour. As yet, it has not been found in the British Islands, although its native country is so near at hand. The plate has been given to show the differences which exist among these northern Falcons, to which Professor Kaup has applied the separate generic appellation of Merofalco. INTRODUCTION. XXXVl Vol. I) PL XVEG 9], Faico PEREGRINUS- PEREGRINE FALCON. Besides Great Britain, the Peregrine frequents Greenland, Iceland, the whole of Europe, North Africa, esides Grei ain, @ India, and China. The following note ‘Ilustrative of one of the habits of this bird, kindly communicated to me by the Duke of Argyll, will prove of interest. It 1s dated from Inverary, June 4, 1868. > The Long-eared Owl,” says Mr. Stevenson, “ is another instance of the changes which have taken place in a few years from local causes in the habits of some of our feathered visitants. Whilst drainage and the jlough are fast driving the Harriers « YY ‘eeders fr i id 1 ploug g ers and other fen-breeders from their accustomed haunts, the rapid increase in our 3 r : BS te , E ~ : = our fir plantations, especially near the coast, affords such inducements to this species to remain and breed with us that the autumn visitant of ry i of a few years , know stay 1 é years since, only known to stay through the summer occasionally, may now be more properly termed a ; 1 IVI i \ nu . ¥ a , a : S . properly a numerous resident, receiving additions to its numbers in autumn.” Genus Bracuyorus. Of this . 7 aCuenenle 3 but few species are known. They mostly fly near the ground, but will often mount high in the air. The acti their wings ¢ ; i “ i a their wings appears to be of a heavy flapping character, due probably to the rounded 38. Bracuyorus paLustris : : Vol. I. Pl. XXXII . ; : : ; : : fol. I. Pl. XXXII. SHoRT-EARED Owt. This is both a resid : sident and a ‘ratory spec} : migratory species; for, although it breeds in many parts of the British DGLR OD U CrTON xlv Islands, particularly in Scotland, great numbers arrive in autumn, at the same time that the Woodcock appears ; and hence it is known in some of our counties by the name of the Woodcock-Owl. Full particulars will be found in the pages of letterpress opposite the plate. Inbabits the moorlands and not the woods, lives upon small quadrupeds and the young of the Grouse and other birds frequenting similar districts. In Norway it feeds upon lemming; it doubtless eats lizards also ; and insects probably form part of its diet. Mr. Robert Gray states that in the west of Scotland he has seen this bird “ hawking for prey in dull weather at midday over turnip-fields, looking probably for field-mice, which in the autumn months become rather numerous in some places. This Owl, indeed, may be looked upon as a useful friend to the farmer in the localities it frequents.” Genus Scoprs. Several members of this genus inhabit the northern portions of the Old World; and others are found in the New. They are generally very prettily ornamented ; and their bright yellow eyes, conspicuous ear-tufts, and the harmoniously blended grey and brown moth-like markings of their plumage render them objects of especial interest. 39. Scops zorca : : : : : : : . ; : : g Wole Te RIE XexXexeiitie Scors Ow. As is the case with many other species of birds, it is difficult to define what is the proper home of this beautiful little Owl; but we may with certainty state that it is common in France and all the southern states of Europe. Although it may occasionally breed in England (and Mr. Harting has enumerated twenty instances of its occurrence), it can only be regarded as one of our chance visitors. Mr. Robert Gray remarks :—“‘ It is a somewhat curious feature in the history of the Scops Eared Owl that it lives wholly upon insects. It is therefore, in temperate countries, strictly migratory in its habits; and in France, where it is not uncommon, it is said to come and go with the Swallow.” 40. Scors Astro. Mottled Owl. A native of North America and Canada, which it is necessary to notice because it is said to have been twice killed in this country; but, as Mr. Harting remarks, ‘its occurrence in England must be considered doubtful.” INTRODUCTION. xlvi Thi ll North-American species,” Says Mr. Stevenson, ‘ was first included among the accidental «This small North-- j © Varrell. in the third edition of bis ‘ British Birds,’ in which will be isl is C -y by the late Mr. Yarrell, in visitants to this country D} found the notice of a specimen shot in the neighbourhood of Leeds in 1852, of which a figure and description ound the notic as ‘Naturalist’ for the same year (p. 169). Mr. Gurney informs me that some years back were given in the | hased from the late Mr Thartell an adult specimen of this rare Owl, said to have been killed near ie purchas Mr. -a Euronean Scops Owl. This bird was unfortunatel ‘OV Yarmouth, but till then supposed to be only a European Scops Ow y destroyed . Be esd = 2 ” after it came into Mr. Gurney’s possession. Genus NycrTea. Of this form the single species known is exclusively an inhabitant of the high northern regions of both the Old and the New World. : ; , : : Vol. ¥. PIE xoxox 41, Nycrea NIVEA Svowy Ow . I have always regarded this bird as an accidental visitor to England, Scotland, and Ireland; but Mr. J. H. Dunn informs me that forty-five years ago it bred every year on the hills about four miles from Strom- ness, and Mr. Robert Gray says it may almost be regarded as a regular spring visitant to the Hebrides. _ Its great size and powerful claws indicate that quadrupeds of considerable bulk are within the compass of its destructive powers ; and hence the hare, the lemming, white grouse, and the ptarmigan have but little chance of escape when once enclosed within the grasp of its talons. Its proper home is the icebound regions of the north; in Lapland it follows the lemmings in their migration southwards. “So little has been published in England,” says Professor Newton, when exhibiting some rare eggs at a meeting of the Zoological Society (Dec. 10, 1861), “ respecting the Snowy-Owl’s manner of nidificatmoneghen I hold myself excused for presenting the information I have been able to collect on the subject: gene According to Herr Wallengren, Professor Lilljeborg, on June 3rd, 1843, found on the Dovrefjeld a nest of this bird containing seven eggs, placed on a little shelf on the top of a bare mountain far from the forest and easy of access. Professor Nilsson mentions, on the authority of Herr A. G. Nordvi, that the Lapps in Kast Finmark assert th: Ss iat the Snowy-Owl lays from ej . ; . é Snowy-Owl lays from eight to ten eggs, in a little depression on the bare ground on oo od the high mountai nes a ae ; g ains. ‘These accounts were in every way corroborated by the information obtained by Mr. John Wolley during hi during his : : : es long sojourn in Lapland. He several times met with persons who had found nests of this Owl, and states ri i states that he was told the old birds sometimes attack persons that approach their nests. . .. They seem to br ; ys 0 breed ¢ Fenner : cmmonly, in the districts explored by him, only when the lemmings are unusually ENR O DU CLO N. xlvii abundant. From the 16th to the 24th of May is supposed to be the time when they usually breed; and in 1860 a Lapp, who was unfortunately not one of bis collectors, found a nest with six eggs, which, instead of preserving, he ate. ‘Many specimens, said to be eggs of this bird, have lately been received by European oologists, the majority of which are from the missionaries in Labrador. One of those I now exhibit I obtained from Herr Moschler. He received it with several others, in 1860, from Okkak, one of the four stations maintained on the coast by the United Brethren. He has had in all more than two dozen from that quarter. The Esquimaux find and bring them to the missionaries ; and the accounts they give tally exactly with those I have just quoted from other sources. The bird always breeds on the ground in bare places, and often lays a considerable number of eggs.” Genus Surniu. Hitherto the birds of this form inhabiting Northern Europe and the northern parts of America have been regarded as identical, in which case the genus would consist of a single species ; but at a recent meeting of the Zoological Society, Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser have endeavoured to show that the American bird is different from the European. 42. SuRNIA FUNEREA : é 5 : : : : : : : ; Vol. I. Pl. XXXV. Hawk Owt. Six or seven instances of the occurrence of the Hawk Owl in Britain are on record. Genus NycTa.e. The only member of this genus known to have been found in England is the Myctale Tengmalmi, of Northern Europe and North America. 43. NycraLe TENGMALMI , : , : : . ; : : : Wale Cdl .0:0.74 TrenGMALM’s Ow1. Although Mr. Harting enumerates twenty instances of the occurrence of this bird in various parts of our islands, it must still be regarded as a rare and uncertain visitor. Its range extends over Europe and Northern Asia, as far south as Nepaul; and if, as Mr. Elliot believes, the species known as N. Richardsoni is identical with it, then the northern and arctic portions of North America must be included within the circuit of its domain. INTRODUGEION xlvill Genus ATHENE. i 1S IFISeS - species, distributed over Europe, India, and other ortions Ae This section of the Owls comprises many species, p = re 5 ivided into no less than fifteen sub the Old World. By modern systematists these have been subdivided in genera, the iculars of which need not be detailed here, inasmuch as we have only to deal with the single species particu ars O which visits our country. , : Vol. I. Pl. XXXVIL. 44, ATHENE NOCTUA Litrte Ow. A very common bird in France and other parts of Europe. In England it may have and doubtless has occurred more frequently than has been supposed ; but it is a bird which cannot be easily detected, however diligently it may be searched for. Numerous instances of its occurrence are on record; and besides the nest mentioned by Hunt as having been taken at no great distance from Norwich, another is reported to have been met with in the New Forest, and the young taken and reared at Harrow. ORDER INSESSORES. Family CAPRIMULGIDA. Members of this great family of nocturnal birds frequent the warmer portions of almost every part of the globe, and are nearly as varied in structure as they are numerous in species. In the New World the cave- loving Steatornis and the long-tailed Hydropsales are among the most conspicuous of the forms inhabiting that section of the world, as the great Podargi and the eared Lyncornithes are of those inhabiting the Old. Their food mainly consists of insects and their larvae, with occasionally fruits and berries. Genus Caprimuteus. The birds of this restricted form are confined to the Old World, over the greater portion of which they range. Two are found in Great Britain. 45. Caprimuieus EUROPEUS : : ; Vol. Ne let - ° . ° ° . ° 8 Nieutsar or Goat-s UCKER. The Nightjar G ( Suck ( , | Cc ora ~ O \f-su kk iF Tye , veces hats osee . . . . : akc! ? ¢ Cr; or hu n O; il, by W hich trivial hames this species 1S islands ayileerr a “ : : frica, and the islands of Madeira and Teneriffe, in which latter island I have myself shot examples. Genus CyanecuLa Two or three verv differently marke ooo : a : ; lwo or three very differently marked birds of this form exist in Europe, Africa, India, and China. By les— XLVI. ON RO DWC iO Ne Ixv some writers they are considered to be one and the same species ; by others each has been regarded as distinct. In habits and disposition the Bluethroats are peculiar : they exhibit none of the bold daring of the Wheatear and the Robin ; neither do they sit on a twig and show their breasts like the Whin- and Stone- Chats; on the contrary they skulk among bushes and dense herbage of hill-sides, or among the grasses in a meadow, concealing rather than showing their beautiful colouring, as if conscious that its exposure would be adverse to their well-being. 99. CYANECULA SUECICA : : : : : : : : : ; Vol Te Bie XInpxe Rep-ruroatep BiueBREAst. A lovely little bird, which lives in Eastern Europe and probably in Africa. In the summer it is to be seen ou the Dovrefjeld, in the winter in the sunny south. It sometimes pays England a visit, and hence is included in our avifauna; but its occurrence must be regarded as purely accidental. 100. CyanecuLA LEUCOCYANA . : : , ; i ‘ : ; : : Vol. II. Pl. L. Wuite-THROATED BLUEBREAST. A native of France and Southern Europe, accidental in England. Genus Ruriciiua. Redstarts, as the members of this genus are trivially called, not only inhabit Europe, but are abundant in India and China. 101. Rurictnta pHeNICURA : : é 2 : ; : é Vol Pr Repstarr. Arrives from the south in April, frequents our gardens, breeds in our apple-trees, and renders its visits agreeable by its pleasing song, the sprightliness of its actions, and the beauty of its plumage. It also visits the southern and central parts of Europe generally. 102. Ruricitya Trrnys . : : : : : : ; ‘ : ; ; Wolk JW IBL IDE Buack Repstarr. A native of Central Europe and the countries to the southward and eastward thereof, pays England almost annually a visit during the months of autumn, when other migrants have gone south to winter in Africa ; still it must be reparded as an accidental visitor only. With us it frequents rocky situations ; but on the Continent it takes up its abode in gardens, just as the Redstart does here. Genus AEpon, Bote. The members of this genus are inhabitants of the Old World, where their head quarters appear to be Eastern Europe and Northern Africa. y, oc . BS = y = & INTRODUCTION. Ixvl Vol. I. Pl. LIT. 103. AEDON GALACTODES a = ar $ : y is ‘| S ‘hich S G eece Asia i or a t re among he countries fi quen ed b this spec es, W : , i . ASIc | and Nor h Aft 1¢ca a - Spalb, Eee ome le In ; { ft re t b ty ] e ki e( i K rlan¢ S e enumera ed among ifs rarest visitan S. l j ee Vy VIC x ll | 1n nela D i mus b ; S est t t he Ving en only ] 1 5 - . ae 7 T I n ic rant in the nor h O Hs lo iy a. On ny re urn mn i R { S 3e( iC \ rbier 1S evidently only a summe } S { f A erl j sc h 2 u ou WO lo al bl I ’ . VI A yu \ 1 \ V Ws i i i ae he a pot pre ‘iously b n one, al d generally away 1 Ze By L Ta f I saw scores her there S , ce rom he zab coun ry 10 yo SW € 1 | V 1 i iSl its i 7 1 is ar I re ils S n in any O h ah pos! 10n. Our common f V a cur S habit of raising its tail 3 1U Is harc My eV SEE ; the t rom water. It has a curious = Cis . . Pee “7 fe ue a oO W: rbler it appears British Nightingale has the same habit Ina less degree 3 bu with the Rufous Seds e 1 I 0 a rapt, = € pe ars f | itural to keep it raised 5 whether he bird is in n 10n av Ges 5 h al IS On Mi depressed at ye Ne 5 { S l 10 O est. the t l | intervals.” —J. H. Gurney, Jun. Family ACCENTORIN A. A group of Old-World birds, some species of which inhabit Europe and Asia, from the British Islands to Kamtschatka and Japan. They have been subdivided into three genera, decentor, Spermolegus, and Tharrhaleus, the types of the first and third of which are natives of Britain, namely 4. alpinus and ( : \ T. modularis. have, however, kept them both in the genus Accentor. Genus AccEeNTOR. 104. AccENTOR ALPINUS : : : E ; Vok I BE aie ALPINE ACCENTOR. Common in Switzerland and other rocky countries of Southern and Eastern Europe. An accidental visitant to England, where it has been killed or seen about a dozen times. 105. Accenror MODULARIS Vol. 1, BE Oe Hepce-Accenror or Hepce-Sparrow. Resident in the three kingdoms ; common in gardens. near Cheltenham, 11th Oct. 1867 : Gould, Ibis, 1869, p. 128.” INA OD UC il © Ixxi Hab. Northern Asia, India, Nepaul, China, Japan, and Formosa. Has occurred accidentally in Sweden, in Heligoland, and Berlin, and near Leyden. 5 119. ReceuLomweEs cALENDULA. Ruby-crowned Wren. All that is known respecting the occurrence of this species in our islands is comprised in the following note from Mr. R. Gray’s ‘ Birds of Western Scotland ’°— “In the summer of 1852, Dr. Dewar, of Glasgow, shot a specimen of this North-American species in Kenmore Wood, on the banks of Loch Lomond. The bird was exhibited at a meeting of the Natural- History Society of Glasgow on the 27th of April, 1858, and identified by me. Dr. Dewar stated that he had found it in company with a large flock of Goldcrests, and that he had shot a dozen birds altogether before he recognized the differences which this one presented. Dr. Bree, in his work on the birds of Europe, states that the Rev. H. B. Tristram bas a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in his possession, which was given him in the flesh, and which was killed by a Durham pitman, in 1852, in Brancepeth woods; from this it would seem that a second example has occurred in this country.” Genus Recutuvs, The Golden-crested Wrens or Kinglets are a charming group of small birds inhabiting the northern regions of the Old and New Worlds. In their actions and in their mode of nidification they remind us of the Paride, or Tits; but no one has yet, I believe, removed them from among the true Sylvian birds, nor shall I do so in the present work. England is tenanted by two species, which, with one or two others, are all that are known in the Old World ; in the new portion of the globe there may be as many more. In disposition they are as tame as they are sprightly and pleasing in their actions. They suspend a neat hammock-shaped nest beneath the branches of fir or other trees. Their eggs are numerous; and the progeny soon acquire the plumage of the adult. 120. ReeuLus cristatus . : , 3 . ; : ; : Vole WERE IpXaxe GOLDEN-CRESTED Wren. A native of Europe, and doubtless other countries to the south and eastward. With us it is a resident species, and frequents alike the three kingdoms. 121. RecGuLus I1GNICAPILLUS p : : : : : : Vol 1k PE iExXXxe FirEe-crRESTED WREN. Very generally dispersed over the continent of Europe and North Africa; it is purely an accidental visitant to Britain. IN TRO DU Cm GO Ixxil Genus FicepULA. re Tt B Sa 4 form which appears to be ‘ntermediate between the Willow-Wrens and Sedge-birds. . ’ Vol. 1, BI ipxean 122. FicepULA HYPOLAIS YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER. : fe ‘ ata a é T An accidental visitor to England and Ireland ; common in Holland and other parts of Europe and North Africa, from which latter country it migrates north in spring, filling the dwarf woods and osier-beds of f da, ’ France and Holland with its melodious voice. Family CALAMODYTID. Ornithologists will, I am sure, agree with me in considering that the Sedge-birds constitute a very distinct family. The numerous species, which have been divided into many genera, are very generally distributed over the older-known portion of the earth’s surface. They are semiaquatic in their habits; the greater number frequent both large and small beds of sedges and other herbage growing in the vicinity of water, and feed upon insects. They are well represented in the British Islands, over which the species are generally distributed. In the present work these birds have been classed under the generic titles of Acrocephalus, Calamoherpe, Calamodyta, Lusciniopsis, and Locustella. Genus AcROCEPHALUS. The members of this genus are the largest birds of the family ; and one or other of them form part of the avifaunee of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Vol. If. Pl. LXXIL 123. AcROCEPHALUS TURDOIDES Turusu WarBLeER. Besides inhabiting the continent of Europe and the neighbouring countries, the Thrush Warbler finds its way to England, as will be seen on reference to the letterpress opposite the Plate on which the species is represented. It can only be regarded as an accidental visitor. Genus CaLaMouERPE. What has been said respecting the distribution of the members of the last genus is equally descriptive of those of the present one. Vol. If. Pl. LXXIL 124. CaLaMonERPE ARUNDINACEA : : Reep-Wars er. A true migra aero : E 2 : grant, arriving late in April. Nests in the lilac and other trees of the shrubberies, and in most Hive Ol ENERO Dew Cl ON: Ixxul of the gardens of the central portions of England ; its nest is also frequently found among reeds and bushes overhanging water. Besides our own country, this species frequents Central Europe and Northern Africa. 125. CaLAMOHERPE PALUSTRIS. . : : : : : : Vol. II. Pl. LXXIV. Marsu-Warp_er. Supposed to inhabit many parts of England, and to have been often confounded with the preceding ; said to arrive at the same time and to be more exclusively ayuatic in its habits. Is considered always to have lighter-coloured legs and to present other, minor differences, which may be more easily seen by consulting the respective Plates than by the most miuute description. Should it ultimately prove that the C. palustris is found here, it must be regarded as a regular summer visitant. Genus CaLamopyra. The members of this genus are smaller in size than the Calamoherpe, aud are less uniform in the colouring of their plumage. The situations affected by both are identical, reeds and aquatic herbage being apparently necessary to their existence; at all events it is in such situations that they pour forth their querulous songs both by day and by night. The Calamodyte are very generally distributed over the temperate portions of Europe, Africa, and Asia. 126. CaLAMODYTA PHRAGMITIS. : : : ; : : 2 : Vol. If. Pl. LXXV: Sepce-WarBLer or Cnar. A bird of the summer, which arrives early in May and spreads itself over England and Ireland, but not, according to Sir William Jardine and Macgillivray, visiting Scotland. After breeding, it departs again to Morocco or some other part of Africa. 127. CaLaMopyTA AQUATICA : : : : : : : : : : Vol. I. Pl. LXXVI. Aquatic WARBLER. Somewhat rare in Central and Southern Europe. Has been killed two or three times in England, where it must be regarded merely as an accidental visitor. Genus Luscrntiopsis. According to Mr. Gray’s ‘ Hand-list of Birds,’ two generic titles bave been proposed by Bonaparte for the single known species of this form, viz. Psexdoluscinia and Luscinopsis ; the latter term has been employed in the present work. INT ROD UCHTON Ixxiv : : ; ; Vol! = 128. LuscINIOPsIS LUSCINIOIDES : UL. Pl. LXXvI. Savi’s WarBLER. Has many times been killed in England, where, however, it must be considered a rare visitant, and c c g principally to the eastern counties. Genus LocusTE.LLa. About five species of this genus are known; of these one or other frequent Central and Southern Europe, Asia, Siberia, and China. 129. LocusTELLA AVICULA : d : s : : : ; : : Vol. If. Pl. LXXVIIL GrassHoprpeR WARBLER. A yearly summer visitant to England, some parts of Scotland, and Ireland, in all of which countries jt breeds, and afterwards stealthily departs southwards in autumn. Family MOTACILLID. The Motacilide are among the most graceful of birds, and, from their familiarity, tameness of disposition, and the sprightliness of their actions, are great favourites with every one who lives in the country, - They have been judiciously separated into two distinct groups, the Pied and the Yellow Wagtails, the generic term Motacilla being retained for the former, and that of Budytes for the latter. There is also another form, to which the term Ca/obates has been applied ; of this only one or two species have yet been discovered ; of the other genera many are known. All, both Pied and Yellow, are strictly confined to the Old World, more particularly its northern portions. Genus Moractiua. I'wo species of this form inhabit Britain—one of which is resident, the other migratory ; in India there are three or four; and in China and Japan we meet with as many more. Their natural province is the ground ; but they readily perch on the branches of trees. 130. Moracinia Yarrent ! I : ‘ : : ; : : . : . Vol. III. Pl. I. Prep Waerarn. A resident species in the thre e kingdoms, breeds freely in the neighbourhood of dwellings, and is one of the foster-par Sy } | Ster-parents of the young Cuckoo. FN ah OD UC i it ON Ixxv 131. Moracitna aLBa si. : : ; : : : é : 3 Vol. IE. Pl. WH. Wurre Wacratt. A common migrant on the continent of Europe, but only a rare strageler in Britain, in various parts of 8 J gs which it has been seen and taken. Genus Bupyres. The Yellow Wagtails, as already stated, frequent the same countries as the Pied, and are equally numerous 5 2 in species. Of the three pertaining to the British avifauna, one is a constant spring visitor, the other two occur but seldom. 132. Bupytes Ray 3 ; : : : : ; : : : : : Vor tT Pat. YeLLtow Wactaln. Arrives in April, spreads over our fields and meadows, breeds, and returns to Africa for the winter. Generally distributed over the three kingdoms, 133. Bupyres FLAVA : i ; . , ; : : : : 7 : Vor Ei RE iv. GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. A common bird on the Continent, but so rare with us that it can only be regarded as an accidental visitor. 134. Bupyres cINEREOCAPILLA . : : . : ‘ ; é ‘ : Vol lik BE V2 GreEyY-CAPPED WaGrTAIL. A bird which passes from Africa, by way of Malta, through Central Europe to breed on the Dovrefjeld and other northern parts of this quarter of the globe. Has been killed only once or twice in England, and consequently is only an accidental visitor. Genus Catopares. This peculiar form of Wagtail is more elegant in appearance than the members of either of the two preceding genera; its legs are shorter, and its tail longer; in colour it closely assimilates to the members of the genus Budytes. While the Motacille are circumscribed in the range of their area, the Calobates sulphurea is found at one season or another in nearly every portion of the Old World, Australia and New Zealand excepted. 135. Carospares sutpnurea (Summer plumage) ¢ Vole Tie Bik Vir (Winter plumage) : ‘ : : ; : ; Vol. III. Pl. VII. Grey WacrTaltn. A resident in the three kingdoms. Evinces a preference for mountainous districts. Breeds in May, constructing, like the others, a cup-shaped nest, and laying four or five eggs. 1 NR © D0 Ct BORNE Ixxvl Family ANTHID/. Pirrrs. We have here a group of birds which are more generally spread than the Wagtails, inasmuch as they are diffused over both divisions of the globe, but which are far less numerous in the older portion than the new, ee on divi and subdivided into many genera; those fr i Like most other large groups they have been divided and s ae 4 : ae . ze a J as a ’ a 8 s - 7 . © England I have retained under the old genus duthus, and commence with one of the finest known species. 136. Anruus Ricuarp! ; i : ; : : : : ; Vol. I. Pl. VI. Ricuarp’s Pirrr. An accidental visitant to the British Islands, where it is generally seen in winter and spring. The other countries frequented by it are Continental Europe, India, China, and in fact the whole of the temperate regions of the Old World. 137. ANTHUS CAMPESTRIS ; : : : : Vol. iE Riaixe Tawny Prrrr. Common in the champagne parts of France and other portious of Central Europe. Has been killed in England, and may therefore be regarded as forming part of our avifauna; but its visits must be considered purely accidental. 138. AnrHUS OBSCURUS . : ; : i : : ; ; : : : Vol. IIE Bi Rocx-Prrrr. A’ stationary species, frequenting the shores and rocky parts of Britain—sparsely in Norfolk, but plentifully in Western Scotland and all the western islands, including the Outer Hebrides, Monach Isles, Haskar Rocks, and St. Kilda—keeping strictly to the sea-margin (2. Gray). 159, ANTH US SPINOLETTA Vol. UI. Pl. XI. Vinous Piprr. A bird of France ; : - d of France and the southern and eastern parts of Europe. Although it has been killed on our coast many ti i : consi 1 i ast many times, it must be considered an uncertain and accidental visitor. 140. Antuus Lupovicranus. Seether ie ae See the remarks respecting this sneciec * s Ing this spec aes . : He ] 8 pecies in my account of the Vinous Pipit (Anthus spinoletta). 141. Anruus CERVINUS Vol. Ti, PLE RED-THROATED Piprr, Mr. Harting has recorded, in the « Field’ for the 26th of August, 1871, the occurrence of two examples NE OU Crh TOON Ixxvii of this bird in our islands—one at Unst in Shetland on the 4th of May 1854 (now in the collection of Mr. Bond), and another in September of the same year at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight. 142. ANTHUS PRATENSIS : ; ; ; : : : : Volt, Bi Xie Meapow-Prrit or Tiruark. A truly resident species, breeding in all the moorland counties of the three kingdoms, often the foster- parent of the young Cuckoo in this and the other European countries in which it is found. A large race of Meadow-Pipits arrive on our south coast in spring, and, it is believed, spread themselves over the central and perhaps the northern portions of the country. 143. ANTHUS ARBOREUS : : : : : et : ; : ; Wolk iit Pl XLVe Tree-Prrerr. A summer migrant to England and Scotland, but ‘ not,” says Thompson, ‘“ satisfactorily known as an Irish species ;” arrives in spring, and departs in September. 3? Family ALAUDID. The Larks constitute a very large family of birds, and are perhaps less understood than any other group in the whole range of ornithology. Those species which frequent Britain are arranged in the genera Alauda, Galerita, Otocoris, Melanocorypha, Calandrella. They are chiefly inhabitants of the Old World. -Of the genus Aauda, under which term all that were known when Linneus wrote were included, our well-known Sky-Lark is a typical example. In America these birds are but feebly represented. Genus ALaupDa. 144. ALAUDA ARVENSIS . : : : : : : : : : Vol; is BE OXY: Sxy-Lark. A strictly resident species in Britain, the numbers of which are greatly increased by arrivals from Scandinavia in autumn, the whole forming immense flocks in the winter season. This species is also widely dispersed over Central and Southern Europe ; and its range may even extend further in those directions. In the preceding portion of this Introduction I have mentioned the great destruction of small birds which occasionally takes place from the severity of the weather, in further confirmation of which I may here give a passage from a note received by me from John St. Aubyn, Esq., of Pendeen, in Cornwall, dated January 15, 1867 :—‘* Owing to the severity of the cold, Larks and other small birds are beginning to die rapidly of starvation, judging from the number my children pick up.” INTRODUCTION. Ixxvul ; : ; ‘ Vol. TIT. Pl. XVI. 145. ALAUDA ARBOREA . Woop-Lark. A cheery little songster, very local in its habitat, breeds in many of the English counties ; supposed to A cheery gster, ' migrate from us to the southward in the winter; but Mr. Blake Knox states that it is abundant at that eason in the county of Dublin, and also that it breeds there. It is about as numerous in Scotland as it is seas j in England; and Mr. Harting states it has been found as far north as the Orkney Islands. Genus Gavenira. 146. GaLertra cristata. ; . : : : : : ; : : Vol. III. Pl. XVIT. Crestep Lark. A bird of France and many other parts of the European continent, and even of other more distant countries. Although common on the roads between Calais and Boulogne, it seldom crosses the Channel to pay Albion’s shores a visit; here, indeed, it is so scarce that it must be enumerated among our accidental visitors. Genus Oroconis. Of this ornamental section of the Larks there are about ten known species, six or seven inhabiting the Old World, and three the New. All are more or less ornamented with small pencilled plumes springing from above the eye, and have much of their plumage suffused with yellow and pinky brown. Their head quarters are Eastern Europe, Palestine, Afghanistan, the Altai, and the highlands of Asia generally. 147. Orocorts ALPESTRIS : : ‘ Vol. Ii BE Suore-Lark. Lhis bird has appeared here so frequently of late that it may almost be termed a regular winter visitant. . ; - 7 S xe ’ ~<¢ . ° . ° . Lord Lilford has recorded, in the < Zoologist for 1852, an instance of its nesting in Devonshire. Genus MELANocorypna. A little or thick-hj Brat iets : . : ; i Sroup of thick-billed Larks, comprising five or six species ; almost exclusively inhabit the central and eastern regions of Asja. 148, MELANocorypna CALANDRA . : . . : : : : ; Vol. III. Pl. XIX. CaLanpra Lark, PN ER ODUCT LON: Ixxix 149. MeLanocorypHA LEUCOPTERA : : ; Z : ; : ‘ : Volk thle Pi: -xexe WHITE-WINGED Lark. The native country of this bird is Siberia and the eastern portions of Europe. In a single instance only has it been killed in England, for the particulars of which see the letterpress opposite the Plate. Genus CALANDRELLA. 150. CaLANDRELLA BRACHYDACTYLA : : ; ; ; ; i : ; Vols Tile Pl xexde SHortT-TOED Lark. A native of Central and Southern Europe, India, and China. Only four or five instances of its having been killed in England have been placed on record ; consequently it must be regarded as purely an accidental visitant. Family EMBERIZIDA. The members of this great group of birds extend over Europe, Asia, and Africa, to which sections of the globe they appear to be confined, inasmuch as no true Bunting has yet been discovered in America, Australia, New Zealand, or, I believe, the islands of the Eastern archipelago. The numerous species of which the family is composed are divisible into many genera; and the ten species recognized as inhabiting Britain have been divided into six or seven. The food of all, both of those which frequent our islands and of those found in other countries, is of a mixed character, seeds of various kinds constituting its main portion; but insects and their larve are largely partaken of, and probably form at first the sole nourishment of the young, Genus Empeniza. 151. EmBERIZA CITRINELLA . : : : ; : : : : : ? Vol. III. Pl. XXII. YELLOWHAMMER or YELLOW BuntINe. Very generally dispersed over the three kingdoms; breeds and rears its young between spring and midsummer. British specimens differ considerably in the colouring of their plumage, and are very much less in size than continental examples. 152. EmBERIZA CIRLUS : : : 2 : F , : é : ; Vol Ty BEX Cirt Buntinc. A resident, but somewhat local; breeds in most of our southern counties, particularly in chalky districts, and annually as near to London as Cookham, in Berkshire; very scarce in Scotland, and never seen in Ireland. INT RO DU Cal LO ixoxexe . . , . ‘ Vol. III. Pl, 153. EmBerizA RUSTICA > : : : 3 : ‘ L. XXIV, Rustic BuntTING. The native habitat of this bird is the eastern part of Europe and the neighbouring countries. Has been killed near Brighton, for the particulars of which circumstance see ‘The Ibis’ for 1869, p. 128, and the \ c 5 > letterpress facing the figure in the present work. 154, EmMBeriza PUSILLA : : . . : . . , ; ; : Vol. TIT. Pl. XXY, Dwarr Bunting. Inhabits Northern and Eastern Europe, Siberia, China, and the Himalaya Mountains. Has been once killed in England, ede * Ibis,’ 1865, p. 113, and the account opposite the present Plate. Genus CrirHopHaca. 155. CrirHoPHAGA MILIARIA : : . : Vol. TI, BEsxexwae Common Buntine. A truly British species, which is also found in Central and Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Asia Minor, and Persia. Breeds in our three kingdoms ; is solitary in its habits, being generally seen sitting alone on the topmost twig of ahedge-row. The sole representative of its genus, or genera ; for it has had no less than five generic terms applied to it—Emberiza, Spinus, Cynchremus, Miliaria, and Crithophaga. Genus Guycispina. Comprising about six or seven species inhabiting Europe, Asia, and Africa. 156. Guycispina HORTULANA : : : ; Vol. III. Pl. XXVII. Orroian Bunting. wnicdemhich@rances corse tac. : hich ranges very extensively over Europe, being common from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Dovrefjeld in Norway: : Oy . : ‘ ovrefjeld in Nory ay; in the latter Country it breeds in abundance. It is but an accidental visitor to England, has once only, I believe, been killed in Scotland, and never in Ireland Genus Eusprza. 107. Evuspiza MELANOCEPHALA : : : ; Vol. TIT. Pl. XXVIII. Buack-HEADED Bunting. Common in Easter i rn Europe, Persia and Wester : r . : pe, » and Western India. The male is a beautiful showy bird, the female TEN te OD Ue, Pel OUN: Ixxxi more plainly dressed, as will be seen on reference to my Plate, which represents an individual of the latter sex, said to have been killed on the Brighton race-course on the 3rd of November, 1868. Genus ScHenico.a. The members of this marsh-loving section of the Buntings are about three in number, all inhabitants of Europe and the countries to the eastward of it. 158. ScH@NICOLA ARUNDINACEA : : : : : : : ; é Vol. III. Pl. XXIX. Reep-Buntina. A resident and generally distributed species; breeds in the Thames aits and in the osier-beds of other rivers. Genus CeNTROPHANES. Comprises about five species of very interesting mountain-loving birds, mostly American, and always in high northern latitudes, the species inhabiting Lapland occasionally paying the British Islands a visit. : : : ; Vole UE RIE NOXexe 159. CENTROPHANES LAPPONICA . 5 : z : - LapLtaNp BuntTING. A rather frequent winter visitant, often caught in the clap-nets of the bird-catchers. Genus PLEcTROPHANES. A genus composed of the single species known by the trivial names of Snow-Bunting and Snowflake. Vol. III. Pl. XX XI. 160. PLecTROPHANES NIVALIS . ; ‘ ; : : : ; e Snow-BuntTInG or SNOWFLAKE. This very interesting bird is an autumnal and winter visitant to the British Islands. Its summer quarters are the countries near to and, not unfrequently, within the arctic circle. It breeds in Lapland, and probably in suitable situations in all other countries of a similar latitude round the globe. Genus ZoNoTRICHIA. A purely American form, comprising about twelve known species, one of which has strayed across the Atlantic to the British Islands. 161. ZoNoTRIcHIA ALBICOLLIS. White-throated Sparrow of American authors. «© A female specimen of this bird,” says Mr. R. Gray, in his ‘ Birds of Western Scotland,’ ‘‘ was shot near Y INTRODUCTION. Ixxxil the Broadhill, on Aberdeen links, on the 17th of August 1867.” This specimen was subsequently sent to Ie roc ’ 2 5 oe oe rical Society of London on the 27th January Professor Newton for exhibition at the Meeting of the Zoological S$ J uary, 1870. More recently a second example, taken near Brighton, was exhibited at a Meeting of the same O/U. 1 4) oe : 7 Society by George Dawson Rowley, Esq. Family FRINGILLID. The Finches are a family of birds comprising a larger number of members than the Buntings and the Larks, and are even more widely dispersed over the earth’s surface than those of any other group. Ina work limited to the birds of our own islands, it would be out of place to give an enumeration of even the genera into which they have been separated ; and I therefore confine my remarks to sucli forms as are found in Britain. Subfamily FRINGILLIN. Genus Passer. The true Sparrows are principally confined to the northern parts of the Old World. Asia is inhabited by several species, and Europe by four or five, two of which frequent the British Islands. 162. Passer DOMESTICUS . : : 3 : : E : : : : Vol. TI. Bl. xoxo Common or House-Sparrow. Distributed generally, but somewhat scarce in the northern parts of Scotland. A bird whose faults are few in number, and respecting which a sad mistake was made when certain parochial authorities placed a price upon its head; for the good it effects in spring by the capture of insects far outweighs the value of the few grains of corn in a pulpy state which it occasionally takes. 163. Passer monranus . : : a : : : : : . Vol. III. Pl. XXXII. Tree-Sparrow. A local species, and consequently much less widely diffused over the British Islands than the preceding : not so, however, with regard to its general distribution; for it is as common at Shanghai and other parts of China as it is in Europe. Both in Scotland and Ireland it is local and rare. Genus Frineriya. The members of this cenns ee : ers of this genus of pretty birds as now restricted are but few jn number. They all inhabit the northern ; ae Bac : : 1e northern and western portions of the Old World. England is frequented by two species. ALN SD AIS ONE OD OCHO r Ne: Ixxxill 164. Frinciuua ceLesBs . : : ‘ : , ‘ . : : Vole STL RL XOXONeny, CHAFFINCH. A bird of general distribution over the three kingdoms; but Mr. Augustus Smith tells me that in the Scilly Islands it only appears in winter. 165, FRiInGILLa MONTIFRINGILLA : : ; . : : : : : Vol. III. Pl. XXXV. BraMBie-FIncu. A true winter visitant ; gregarious. Arrives in autumn, probably from Norway and Lapland, where the process of reproduction has been accomplished. Genus CarpvueELis. A limited genus, of which our beautiful Goldfinch is the type, and whose only associates are the C. caniceps of the Himalayas and the C. orzentalis of Central India. 166. CarDUELIS ELEGANS : : : : : : \ ; : ; Vole WHE BIE XOxexeViie GOLDFINCH. A resident species, common and almost universally distributed over the British Islands, and equally plentiful on the neighbouring continent. Gen us CurysoMITRIS. Of this genus one species inhabits the Old World, and some seven or eight are distributed over America, from California to Chill. 167. CurysoMITRIS SPINUS . : : ; : : : i : : Vol. III. Pl. XXXVITI. SISKIN. As regards this beautiful little bird, Scotland has the advantage over England; for it regularly breeds there, while with us it is a winter visitant ; and in Ireland it is only seen at that season. Genus SERINUS. A small group of about three species, one of which, the Common Canary, is the type. They inhabit Europe, Palestine, Madeira, and the Canary Islands. Vols HE RE DOOVILE 168. SeRINUS HORTULANUS . 3 : ; : : : Serin Fincu. Has been several times killed in England. Mr. Harting enumerates ten instances of its occurrence ONG OeD) 0; Cat IO ANE |x xxiv Pere; vizj-=sfive vAt or pear Brighton ; one in Hampshire ; one in Somerset; one in Sussex; one near i 3 ee g London; and one, locality not noted. Genus Ligurinus. Four species of this form, to which the generic names of Ligurinus, Chloris, and Chlorospiza have been applied, are all natives of Europe and Asia. Japan Is tenanted by one, China by another, Persia by a third, c > A while Europe is the home of the type, our well-known Greenfinch. Vol. JIT. PI xexexixe 169. Ligurinus CHLORIS : : : : ; : ; ; : : GREENFINCH. A resident species in Britain, over which, says Mr. Harting, ‘ it is generally distributed, even to the Outer Hebrides, where it is found in North Uist and Harris and the Orkneys.” On the continent of Europe it is almost equally dispersed: and I have a specimen from Erzeroum, in Persia; but I must mention that, although a fully adult male, it is of smaller size than examples killed in England. Genus CoccoTHRaAuUsTEs. I believe the bird inhabiting Europe to be the only representative of its genus; for I very much question whether the Japan bird is really different. 170. CoccoTHRAUSTES VULGARIS . : : : ; : : : : Vol. TE EE xe Hawrincu. Phis bird, which has become more plentiful of late years, is a permanent resident in England. In Scotland it is more scarce, and is probably confined to its southern and eastern provinces. In Ireland it is only occasionally found. Subfamily PYRRHULINA. The well-known Bullfinch of the British Islands is placed at the head of this subfamily, of which there are about seven species, inhabiting various parts of the world. The countries where one or other of them are found are Europe shmere > Himalay i pe, Cashmere, the Himalayan regions, Bhotan, Japan, and the Azores. Genus Pyrruuta. 171. Pyrrwuia vutearis : : Vol. II. Pl. XL! : : : ol. TE, BJ; oxar BuLLFINCH. PNR OD UC ON Ixxxv 172. PyrrHuLa vuLGARIS . ; : : : : , : : : Vor ie Ble Xaoe Buiirincy (young). Very generally dispersed over England, Scotland, and Ireland, and, as it breeds therein, must be regarded as a stationary species. Genus Carpopacus. Although the propriety of placing the Scarlet Bullfinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) and the Pine-Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) in the subfamily Pyrrhuling may be questioned, it is certainly the best situation I can assign to them in the British avifauna. Of the genus Carpodacus about nine species are known, some of which inhabit America. 173. CarRPODACUS ERYTHRINUS . : i : s : é : : : Volk Ti Re Xi Scarter BuLurincu. A native of North-eastern Europe and Asia, only two instances of the occurrence of which in this country are on record—one near Brighton, and another in Caen Wood, Hampstead, Middlesex. Genus Pinicoua. Two or three very distinct species of Pine-Grosbeaks are now known, one of which frequents Norway, Lapland, and Russia; the other, P. canadensis, is as exclusively an inhabitant of the northern portions of America, Canada, and Hudson’s Bay. 174. PrinicoLta ENUCLEATOR : : : : : : : : ; : Vol. III. Pl. XLIV. Prine-GrosBEak. A very rare and inconstant visitor to the British Islands ; still many instances are on record of its having been killed here. Subfamily LOXIANAL. As the great forests of conifers are peculiar to the northern portions of the globe, so also are the members of the present remarkable group of birds, whose singularly constructed bills are especially adapted for extracting the seeds from the cones of these trees. Six or seven ‘species are all that are known; and these are spread over the Old World, from Europe, throughout Northern Asia, to Japan, and in the New World from the Arctic regions to Mexico. Two species come to Britain at uncertain intervals to breed. Z IN RO DUCT ON: Genus Loxts. Vol- I> Pirsxanve 175. Loxra CURVIROSTRA Common CrossBILL. in Scotland, where it sometimes breeds. A pretty regular visitor, if not a stationary species, Vol. TL Bipxine 176. Loxta PITYOPSITTACUS Parrot CrossBILL. Has occurred many times in Britain, and may have remained and bred; but if so, no authentic instances of such au occurrence are on record. Vol. IIL BE xXiayie 177. Loxta BIFASCIATA W HITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. Hab. Northern Europe and Asia. Manv instances are on record of this bird having been killed in the central portion of Europe ; and it has frequently occurred in England, and twice in Ireland. 178. LoxtA LEUCOPTERA . : : : : : : ; : : ; Vol. ILL PL Xana American Wuire-wiInGeD CrossBILL. Inhabits North America, and is of rare occurrence in England. Besides the specimen alluded to in wy account of the species as having been found on the shore at Exmouth, Mr. Harting mentions other instances of its appearance in England, and Mr. Gray one near Jedbargh in Scotland. Genus Linora. Lhe generic term Linota, proposed by Bonaparte, and that of Zinaria, by Bechstein, appear to have been both applied to this small group of Fringilline birds, the members of which are principally, if not solely, confined to the northern parts of Europe and Asia. 179. Linora caNNaBINA : : ; ; Vol. Il. Pl. XLIX LINNET. Resident in < ee eee ae ce oe : sident in and very generally distributed ove Britain ; partially migrates south on the approach of winter. 180. Linora montium : ; ; : : Volo I Elen Pwrre or Mountain-Liyyer. A winter visit Sols eee eee aii isitant to England, remaiuing to breed in its northern counties, and also in Scotland. Phompson states that it is resident from the north to the south of Ireland. EN nO DU ©) OcN: Ixxxvil Genus Acioruus. The members of this genus, familiarly known by the name of Redpoles, are inhabitants of the boreal regions of both the Old and the New World—some of them affecting very high latitudes, and even breeding within the arctic circle. 18]. AScioTHUS LINARIA 3 : : : : : : : : Vole RELI. Meaty Reppo.e. The native countries of this bird are Norway and Lapland, whence it migrates to England and Scotland in autumn and winter. Is said not to have been seen in Ireland; but it certainly must occur there, as it also does in America. 182. AiGIOTHUS RUFESCENS . : : : : : ‘ : : : : Vol. HI. Pl. LI. Lesser RepPoLe. A stationary species in Britain ; winters in all our southern counties, and retires to the northern parts of England and Scotland for the purpose of breeding: according to Thompson it also nests in Ireland. With respect to the range of this bird, see Professor Newton’s remarks in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1870, p. 2223. Family STURNID. The Starlings and Pastors constitute a very natural group of birds which chiefly inhabit Asia, Africa, and Europe. ‘Two, belonging to different genera, form part of the British fauna. Genus Sturnus. The true Starlings are few in number, only six species being enumerated in the most recently compiled list. .They are all denizens of the northern parts of the Old World, and are found in Europe, Asia Minor, Persia, Afghanistan, and China. 183. Srurnus VULGARIS : ; ‘ ; é : a : : : : Vol. III. Pl. LIU. STARLING. 184. Srurnus VULGARIS : ; ‘ : : : ‘ : : : é Wolk, U0, JP, ILINY. STARLING (young). A resident species. Breeds in the three kingdoms, and is gregarious in autumn, winter, and spring. Genus Pastor. The birds of this form, which are almost peculiar to the European, African, and Asiatic portions of the globe, LN RO DAU CO Ne IXXXV1L are at once interesting and useful,—interesting on account of their beauty, and useful from the good they c c c ffect in the countries they frequent by the destruction of the locusts and other insects and their larve, upon effec 5 . which they feed. 185. Pasror ROSEUS. : : ; : : Vol. II. Pl. LY. Rose-coLoureD Pasror. 186. Pasror rosEUS . : : : : : : ; 3 : Vol. I. Pl. LYE. Rose-coLourep Pasror (young). A beautiful but unusually-coloured bird, which is very plentiful in Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, and Western India. It is merely an accidental visitor to England, Scotland, and Ireland. Family ICTERID. This is a purely American family, comprising considerably more than a hundred species, which are spread over the continent of America and the approximate islands. Two of them have from time to time wandered far from their native homes and sought a haven in the British Islands. Genus AGELatus. Of this section of Icterine birds about five species are known, the habitats of which are almost exclusively confined to the temperate and northern parts of the American continent. 187. AGELAIUS PH@NICEUS. Red-winged Starling. 5 Nine instances are on record of the occurrence of this species in Britain, namely seven in England and two in Scotland. The earliest of these appears to be the one mentioned as having been taken near London, by Albin, in his ‘ History of British Birds,’ published in 1731-38, after which the bird seems to have remained unnoticed until the year 1843, between which date and 1871 eight others are described as having been met with in various parts of the country. The late Mr. Yarrell figured this transatlantic species in the supplement to his ‘History of British Birds,’ to which work, as well as those of Wilson and Audubon, I must refer my readers for its history; for, as I do not consider the bird pertains to our fauna, I have not included a figure of it in this work. Genus Srurnewva. A yee Westen eer Ia aeeatice 5 1 j peculiar group of grass-loving birds, strictly confined to America, over which country the five known species are distributed. LONGER O DEW CW I ON: Ixxxix 188. Srurnetyta Lupovicrana. American Meadow-Starling. Three instances of the occurrence of this bird in England have been recorded—Mr. Sclater mentioning, in ‘The Ibis’ for 1861, one that had been shot at Thrandeston, in Suffolk, and another seen at South Walsham, in Norfolk, and Mr. Lloyd the third, in the ‘ Field’ for March 1871, as having been obtained near Cheltenham many years ago; this latter specimen was seen and verified by Mr. Harting. This species, like the preceding, being purely American, I have not included a figure of it in my work. For all particulars respecting it, see the works of Wilson and Audubon, and Mr. Sclater’s paper in ‘ The Ibis’ above referred to. Family CORVIDZ. The members of this family, comprising some of the very largest of the Insessorial birds, are distinguished by several characteristics, and are divided into many genera. The Crows, the Daws, the Rooks, and the Choughs may be regarded as the more typical forms, and the Jays, Pies, and Nutcrackers as the more S § YI d aberrant; still they, with many other genera, are placed in this large and all but universally spread family. Genus Corvus. One or other of the true Crows are dispersed over all parts of the globe, with the exception of the southern portion of America, New Zealand, and Polynesia, where none are to be found. Structurally they are considered by many writers to be among the most perfectly formed birds which exist, their organization enabling them to fly through the air, perch on the branches of trees, and walk over the surface of the ground with equal facility, and the muscles of their throats permitting them to utter connected sentences scarcely equalled by the members of any other group of birds. 189. Corvus corax . : ; : : ; ; . ‘ ; ‘ : Vol Ti PL LVI: Raven. A resident species, generally dispersed over the three kingdoms—plentiful in the north, more scarce in the south, where its great size and questionable habits procure it many enemies. Besides Britain, the northern portion of Europe, Asia, and America are countries which may include it in their avifaunas. 190. Corvus cORONE ; : ; : : ‘ : ; . . Vol. IL. Pl. LVN: Carrion-Crow. A resident species, generally diffused over the three kingdoms ; is also found in most parts of Europe. aN a ENan EOD Ui Ome XC Jerd the authority of Dr. Adams, assigns it a place in the fauna of India, and Swinhoe in that of erdon, on é j oH C China; while it frequents at least the northern portion of Africa. , 191. Corvus coRNIx . : : : : : . . . . : Vol. III. Pl. LIX. Hoopep Crow. A resident species in the three kingdoms; breeds in Scotland and Ireland, and but very rarely in England ; is to be met with in many parts of the European continent, both north and south; and is particularly common in Palestine and Egypt, where it is often the foster-parent of the young of the Great Spotted Cuckoo (Oxylophus glandarius). 192. Corvus FRUGILEGUS : : : : : : : : : : : Vol. Il: RiSixe Rook. I have retained this bird in the genus Corvus; many other authors have adopted Lesson’s genus Frugilegus, and Prof. Kaup’s term of Zryphanocorax for it aud its immediate allies. Unlike the Crows the Rooks are gregarious and associate in immense flocks; they differ from them also in the structure of their bills, the peculiar form of which seems adapted fur some special purpose, perhaps for the procuration of a particular kind of food, such as large underground-deposited larvee of insects, grain, and tuberous roots, as the husbandman well knows to his cost. The Rook is even still more omnivorous ; for it will not refuse worms, crustaceans, or carrion thrown up by the waves of the sea. Generally dispersed over England, Scotland, and Ireland. Rooks are only found in a limited portion of the Old World. 193. Corvus MonEDULA : : : : ; . : : ; Vol. III. Pl. LXI. JACKDAW. Even this indigenous species and its several near allies have been subjected to a generic separation from the genus Coreus, the term Lycos having been bestowed upon it by Boie, the specific names of the others being collaris for the Macedonian bird, dauuricus for the Daurian and Chinese species, neglectus for that inhabiting Japan. All are of small size when compared with the true Crows; they affect different situations for the purpose of breeding, resorting to rocks, old towers, and holes in the ground rather than to the trees. They are strictly denizens of the Old World. Genus Freciuus. Phe Red-legged Crows differ considerably from any of the species above noticed, and are certainly entitled to as ; , rie; : . : 4 f 0 a separate generic appellation, and accordingly have received three or four. The genus comprises but few species ee ee : : aa . species, only two being recognized, namely the bird inhabiting Europe, #. gvaculus, and the F, himalayensis of the Himalayas. EN ROD U CL LON Xcel 194. FreaGitus GRAcULUS . ‘ : ‘ ; : : ; ‘ : ; Voll: Pi-Lxt CHOoUGH. Lhis truly indigenous species is spread over the three kingdoms, but is more rare in Scotland; breeds in the rocks on the sea-shore, in company with Cormorants, Gulls, Puffins, and Guillemots. Found also in many of the hilly and Alpine parts of the European continent and North Africa. Genus Pica. A very elegant group of birds, whether seen among the branches of trees or on the ground. Their powers of flight are not so great as those of the preceding members of the family. All are similarly coloured, black, white, and green with bronzy reflections being the prevailing tints. Two species inhabit the northern portions of America; one is peculiar to Africa; the remainder frequent Europe, Asia, and Japan,—each being confined to its own limited area, beyond which it is seldom found. 195. Pica caupaTAa . : : , : : : : : ; s i Vor, Bie xii Macptie. An ornamental and stationary species, inhabiting most of the counties of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Genus GarruLus. If we restrict this genus to the birds of the Old-World form, of which our familiar Jay is a typical example, it will be found to consist of nine or ten species, and, as is the case with the Magpies, that Europe and Asia are their head quarters; at the same time North Africa is not destitute of its own peculiar Jay. Structurally they are especially adapted for frequenting the branches of trees, and not for the ground, although they are often seen there. They are a sly, crafty race ; and much obloquy attaches to them for their habit of pilfering the eggs and the young of other birds ; fruits and berries, insects, snails, worms, and other of the lower animals afforded by forests constitute, however, their chief food. 196. GarRULUS GLANDARIUS é : y : : ; . : : 5 Vol. TERE EXE: Jay. A resident species, more common in England than in Scotland. Thompson says it is only indigenous the southern parts of Ireland. Mr. J. H. Gurney considers that an autumnal migration takes place —e to our eastern coasts. On the continent of Europe the Jay is generally dispersed wherever the country is suited to its habits. I have a specimen killed in Spain which does not differ from examples obtained in this country. Genus Nucirraga. Only three or four species of Nutcracker have yet been characterized. They are inhabitants of Europe and Asia. [ONE OsDEUIC ET Oe XCll : ; Vol. II. Pl. LXy, 197. NucIFRAGA CARYOCATACTES . : 2 : : NuTcRACKER. e ° a A Vol. lie Pl TIT 198. NuciFRAGA CARYOCATACTES . ; ; : ; : iLxXw NuTcrACKER (young). Indigenous in most of the mountainous and woody countries of Europe: breeds abundantly in Switzerland. 5 . C ue, 3 oN ae ( fe - aoe In England it can only be considered an accidental visitor. Mr. Harting, in his ‘ Handbook of British 5 - id = c afew eH EPr > sre * a ‘ > Jo ey wr Po Birds,’ enumerates about twenty instances of its occurrence here from the date Pennant wrote, 1753, to within a few years of the present time, 1872; still these visits can only be regarded as accidental. Family CUCULID. The members of this great family of birds are rendered especially remarkable and interesting from the circumstance of the greater number of them having parasitic habits. The entire family comprises about two hundred species, which are subdivided into several subfamilies and many genera. They are universall dispersed over the temperate portions of the globe ; but not more than a fourth part of the whole number are found in America. Genus Cucu.us. The members of this genus, restricted to the true Cuckoos, are tolerably numerous. One species inhabits Europe; and there are others in India, China, Java, Sumatra, the islands of the Indian archipelago, and Australia ; they are also well represented in Africa. 199. CucuLus canorus . : . 3 : : : : é ; : Vol. I. Pl. LXVIL Common Cuckoo. 200. CucuLus canorus : : : : : : ‘ : ; : - Vol. I Pe ioxaaine Common Cuckoo (young) i Y 1 aE : ‘ : . ne . e : : a . . ® he Common Cuckoo is a true migrant, coming to us from the south in May, and departing again in September, the young being frequently left behind to a later period of the year, I now find that the opini entured j ale : : shale é opinion ventured in my account of this species as to the impossibility of the young Cuckoo ejecting the young of its foster-parents at the early age of three or four days is erroneous ; for a lady of undout "eracity ¢ Be eat ts ee doubted veracity and considerable ability as an observer of nature and as an artist has actually seen the act performed, and has illustre F S lilustrat ‘+ state > fai ; : ; ine a ated her statement of the fact by a sketch taken at the time, a tracing of me by the Duke of Argyll, which has been kindly sent to and I have considered it of sufficient interest to ENA OLD Clk ON: XCclii reproduce here in a woodcut. The sketch was accompanied by Mrs. Blackburn’s account of the circum- stance as it came under her observation—which is here given from No. 124 of « Nature,’ a weekly illustrated journal of science. “Several well-known naturalists who have seen my sketch from life of the young Cuckoo ejecting the young Pipit (opposite p. 22 of the little versified tale of mine)* have expressed a wish that the details of my observations of the scene should be published. I therefore send you the facts, though the sketch itself seems to me to be the only important addition I have made to the admirably accurate description given by Dr. Jenner in his letter to John Hunter, which is printed in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1788 (vol. Ixxvil. pp. 225, 226), and which I have read with pleasure since putting down my own notes. “The nest (which we watched last June, after finding the Cuckoo’s egg in it) was that of the common Meadow-Pipit (Titlark, Moss-cheeper), and had two Pipit’s eggs besides that of the Cuckoo. It was below a heather bush, on the declivity of a low abrupt bank on a Highland hill-side in Moidart. “At one visit the Pipits were found to be hatched, but not the Cuckoo. At the next visit, which was after an interval of forty-eight hours, we found the young Cuckoo alone in the nest, and both the young Pipits lying down the bank, about ten inches from the margin of the nest, but quite lively after being warmed in the hand. They were replaced in the nest beside of the Cuckoo, which struggled about till it got its back under one of them, when it climbed backwards directly up the open side of the nest, and hitched the Pipit from its back on to the edge. It then stood quite upright on its legs, which were straddled wide apart, with the claws firmly fixed halfway down the inside of the nest; among the interlacing fibres of which the nest was woven ; and, stretching its wings apart and backwards, it elbowed the Pipit fairly over the margin so far that its struggles took it down the bank instead of back into the nest. * «The Pipits,’ illustrated by Mrs. Hugh Blackburn. Glasgow: Maclehose, 1872. bo we DNIER OD U Ci CON XC1Y “After this the Cuckoo stood a minute or two, feeling back with its wings, as if to make Sure that the Pipit was fairly overboard, and then subsided into the bottom of the nest. « As it was getting late, and the Cuckoo did not immediately set to work on the other nestling, I replaced the ejected one, and went home. On returning next day, both nestlings were found dead and cold, out of the nest. I replaced one of them; but the Cuckoo made no effort to get under and eject it, but settled itself contentedly on the top of it. All this I find accords accurately with Jenner’s description of what he saw. But what struck me most was this: The Cuckoo was perfectly naked, without a vestige of a feather, or even a hint of future feathers; its eyes were not yet opened, and its neck seemed too weak to support the weight of its head. The Pipits had well-developed quills on the wings and back, and had bright eyes, partially open; yet they seemed quite helpless under the manipulations of the Cuckoo, which looked a much less developed creature. The Cuckoo’s legs, however, seemed very muscular, and it appeared to feel about 6 . oe : with its wings, which were absolutely featherless, as with hands, the ‘ spurious wing’ (unusually large in proportion) looking like a spread-out thumb. The most singular thing of all was the direct purpose with which the blind little monster made for the open side of the nest, the only part where it could throw its burthen down the bank. I think all the spectators felt the sort of horror and awe at the apparent inadequacy of the creature’s intelligence to its acts that one might have felt at seeing a toothless hag raise a +? s cS . “" re ne ghost by an incantation. It was horribly ‘ uncanny ’ and ‘ grewsome. A few words more on this subject. My friend Mr. Noble, of Park Place, Henley-on-Thames, wrote to me thus on the 4th of May, 1871 :— “Mrs. Noble told me this morning that a Wagtail had built a nest in our dining-room balcony ; on going thither I found the nest in a corner quite exposed, with three eggs in it, one much larger than the others; the two smaller ones were of a greenish colour with minute spots, the larger of a deeper green and more largely blotched. Can this be a Cuckoo’s ?” On Sunday, May the 21st, I saw this nest with four young birds, three lying by the side of the nest, from which they had evidently been but recently thrown, as they were plump and fresh. Allowing, therefore, that the Wagtail had laid a third egg on the 15th of May, and thirteen or fourteen days for the hatching of these birds, they must have been ejected in about three days after exclusion. On the 3lst of the same month Mr. Noble again wrote :—* The Cuckoo is nearly fledged; he rises in the nest in the most hideous way, extending his ueck like a serpent.” Were we in possession of similar positive evidence of the means by which the Cuckoo’s egg is deposited in the dome-shaped nest of the Wren and in those of other birds, as we now have of those by which the young of the foster-parents are ejected, the history of the breeding-habits of this remarkable bird would be complete. ENE OD WC TT ON, Genus OxyLoruus. There are several species of this genus, which inhabit Africa, India, and some of the islands to the southward. They are, I believe, all parasitic, laying their eggs in the nests of Crows, Magpies, and other large birds. 201. OxyLopuus GLANDARIUS ; : : : ; ; : : Vo Ene EE IDNXe Great Srorrep Cuckoo. Two individuals of this species having been killed in. our islands, one in Ireland and another in Northum- berland, it becomes necessary to figure it in the present work Respecting this latter example, I received the following note from Lord Ravensworth, Dec. 5, 1871 :—.- “You will no doubt be interested to hear that a specimen of the Great Spotted Cuckoo was shot last summer, in July or August, upon the moors at Hesleyside, the noted seat of W. H. Charlton, Esq., on the banks of the North Tyne. It has been preserved, but unluckily is indifferently set up.” The Rev. H. B. Tristram informs me that he handled this bird in the flesh before it had been skinned. In Southern Europe this bird is plentiful during summer, and in North Africa it is to be seen at all times. Even the rapacious Hooded Crow does not disdain to become the foster-parent of the young of this species. Genus Coccyzus. Composed of a limited number of species, all American, of which two have been killed in our islands. 202. Coccyzus AMERICANUS. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Five instances of the occurrence of this species with us have been recorded by Mr. Harting in his ‘ Hand- book of British Birds’-—two in Ireland, two in Wales, and one in Cornwall. A figure will be found in Yarrell’s ‘ History of British Birds,’ vol. ii. p. 210. 203. Coccyzus ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. Black-billed Cuckoo. One killed in the county Antrim, Sept. 25, 1871 (see ‘ Zoologist,’ 1872, p. 3022). I have not considered it necessary to figure these two American species, as they certainly do not belong to our fauna. Family PICID. With the exception of Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia, Woodpeckers are distributed over the temperate and warmer regions of every country both of the Old and the New World. About 300 species i ENE R OD C On xCyl are enumerated in the useful ‘ Hand-list of Birds’ of the late Mr. G. R. Gray, of the British Museum. As Se ee pee : ists o« the members of so vast a body irds might naturally be supposed, much diversity of form exists among ody of birds, > « each form being especially adapted to some given purpose or locality, the boles and leafy foliage of trees, rocky parched plains and humid grassy meadows being alike resorted to by one or other of them. They are all zygodactyle in the form of their feet, although, in some cases, only a rudiment of one of the hind toes is found to exist. So far as my knowledge extends, they one and all deposit their beautiful shining white egos in the boles of trees; but I think it probable that some few may occasionally place theirs in crevices of rocks. Their principal food consists of insects and their larvae; the ground-frequenting species consume 5 . . = r . ants and their eggs in great numbers; and fruits and berries are not rejected by others. The species inhabiting Europe are about ten in number, four of which are represented in the present work; and I here subjoin notices of the occurrence of two or three other accidental visitors from America. Subfamily PICINA. Genus Picus. Members of this truly arboreal form are found both in the Old and in the New World. They feed almost exclusively on insects and their larvae, but probably partake of spiders also, which they search for and extract from the bark of trees. 204. Picus mason . : : : : ; ; : . : : : Vol. UE Pee Great Sporrep WoovpEckER. A resident species. Common in England, but more rarely met with in Scotland and Ireland. 205. Picus LEUcONoTUS . : ‘ : ‘ : . : : . : Vol. III. Pl. EXXI. Wuire-BackeEp WoopPeEcKER. An accidental visitor to the Hebrides. 206. Picus minor . : : : : ; : : : ; Vol. II. Pl. LX XII. Lesser Sporrep Woopprcker, A resident species in England, extremely rare, if at all to be found, in Scotland, and never occurs in Ireland. vend: or ee Ts i Bo ; : e late Mr. Briggs, of Cookham, in Berkshire, who was a close observer of nature, and especially of our native birds, infor ere ro : . : : : rds, informed me just prior to his death that he had witnessed many éurious actions and displays verformed by this species whi itting ¢ ana ; : ] y this species while flitting and hovering with outspread wings around the leafy branches and IGN, IR OLD WU Cl tO Ne XcVli crowns of high trees, apparently engaged in capturing small insects. I deem it necessary to mention this, because we really know but little respecting the actions of even our commonest Woodpecker. 207. Picus viLuosus. Hairy Woodpecker. There is no doubt about this American species having been killed several times in Britain. Latham mentions a pair from Halifax, in Yorkshire, in the collection of the then Duchess of Portland ; and one was killed in 1849 at Whitby, in Yorkshire, as stated by Mr. Higgins in the ‘Zoologist’ for that year, p. 2496. This latter specimen I have examined, and have no doubt of its identity, nor of the authenticity of its occurrence. It is not figured, because it is purely American and only an accidental visitor. 208. Picus PpuBESCENs. Downy Woodpecker. Mr. Harting mentions the occurrence of a single example of this bird at Bloxworth, near Blandford, Dorsetshire, in December 1836, as reported by the Rev. O. P. Cambridge in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1859, p. 6444. Owing to this species being a native of the New World, and its having been only once seen in England, I have not given a figure of it. Genus Dryocorus. As restricted, this genus contains but a single species. 209. Dryocorus mMaRTIUS : : : : ’ : ; : : : Wolke tie BE xXx: Great Buack WooppEckER. This bird is of large size ; and the prevailing tint of its plumage is sooty black, relieved by red on the crown. Its native localities are the pine-woods of Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. Many instances of its having been killed in Britain are recorded ; but it is probable that not one of them is authentic. At all events there is not a certified British-killed specimen in any of our Museums or private collections ; consequently it is a very doubtful visitor. For further information respecting it I refer my readers to the letterpress accompanying the Plate. Subfamily GECININA. Genus GecINUs. The members of this genus (known as Green Woodpeckers) being less arboreal than the true Pic, spend much of their time on the ground. In Britain the trimly kept lawns and meadows are favourite places of 2 C IeNerE RO WW € A Own: XCVlil resort. Their food mainly consists of ants and their larvae. Besides G@. viridis, three more species inhabit Europe ; and others are to be found in Asia and Africa. Vol. 10, PE Oxo 210. GECINUS VIRIDIS Green WooprEckerR or YAFFLE. A resident species in England, in many parts of which it is known by the name of * Yaffle.” It is rare in Scotland, and has not yet been seen in the sister kingdom of Ireland. Vol. IIL, BE ipxexqu 211. GEcINUS VIRIDIS Green Wooppecker or YAFFLE (young). Subfamily COLAPTIN-E. Genus CouaprTes. A purely American form, comprising about six or seven species, ranging from the United States to Bolivia 212. CoLapTes AURATUS. Golden-winged Woodpecker. A native of the eastern parts of North America, a single example of which was killed in Amesbury Park, Wiltshire, in the autumn of 1836, as recorded by Mr. George S. Marsh, of Chippenham, in the ‘ Zoologist ’ tor 1859, p. 6327, where he says, ‘ My brother saw this bird in the flesh, just after it was shot. It was preserved by Mr. Edwards, of Amesbury, and has never been out of my possession.” Subfamily YUNGIN. Genus Yunx. Onlvechree on four cnecies auc denac.. ofa: : y three or four species are known of this very anomalous Old-World form. Their range extends over ge e} a great porti Cann ee A ; a great portion of the northern regions of Asia, entering Japan, and one species Eastern and Southern Africa. 213. Yunx roreumia Voll THE WryneEck. \ true harbinger i . : é er of spring, arrives before the Sw: ie 2 pring, arrives before the Swallow, serenades us with its peculiar cry of Pee-pee-pae, and but seldom exposes its fe : xposes its body to view. Is generally distributed over England and the southern portion of Scotland. Our Irish ornithologists must regret that it does os ; 5 Sg at it does not visit their country; for a more curious creature does not exis Manv of ; : s not exist. Many of its actions, and the character of its mark; ee racter of its markings, have procured for it the trivial name of « Suakebird.” NE ROD) UC it OLNe XC1X ORDER RASORES, Family COLUMB&. The members of the Columbe, or Pigeons, may be said to be more universally dispersed than any other family of birds; for there is no portion of the globe, favoured with a temperate or warm climate, where round representatives of one or more of the various genera of which it is composed do not exist. Ih numbers, between three and four bundred species are now known; of these, four are inhabitants of Britain, one of which is a summer migrant. Genus Patumpsus. — IV EO 214. PaLuMBUS TORQUATUS : : : ; : : ‘ : : ; : Vol. Woop-Piceon or Cusnat. A stationary species, universally dispersed over Britain and most parts of Europe and North Africa. Genus CoLtumsa. A form the members of which are chiefly confined to the Old World. 215. CoLUMBA NAS : : : ; : ; : : ; : : : Vol lve PE Ik Srock Dove. Partially migratory, but breeds with us. 216. CoLuMBA LIVIA : : ‘ : : : ; : : : : Vol ive Rie lie Rocxk-PicrEon. Common and stationary in all the rocky portions of Britain; the supposed origin of our domestic Pigeon. Genus Turrur. This genus is represented by the well-known Turtle Dove, that visits Britain in spring, to which several eastern species might be added. 217. Turrur auritus ; ‘ : Vol. lV PE iw Turrie Dove. A true summer resident in all the southern and midland portions of Britain. Pek © DW Ci FON. Genus EcropisTEs. 218. EcropisTES MIGRATORIUS. Migratory Pigeon. A native of North America: three or four instances of its occurrence in England and Scotland are on record. Not figured. Family TETRAONID. The Grouse (the trivial name for the members of this family) are among the most important of edible birds. They exist in very circumscribed limits, namely the northern portions of the Old and New Worlds. Those which frequent Britain are the magnificent Capercailzie, the Blackcock, the Red Grouse, and the Ptarmigan. Neither the Capercailzie nor the Blackcock is found in America; but that country is inhabited by species equally fine which are not found elsewhere. Genus TErrao. 219. TeTRAO UROGALLUS . : : ae. ; : : ‘ : E : Vol. TV-RE we CaPERCAILZIE or Cock OF THE WOOD. Breeds in Scotland in abundance. 220. Trerrao TETRIX : . : a : : : : : ‘ : : Vol. 1V- BE VE BLAcKcock. A stationary and breeding species in the three kingdoms. Genus Lagorus. lhe well-known Red Grouse of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland may be regarded as the type of the present genus. 221. Lacoprus scoticus . : : : : : : : ; Vol. IV. Pl. VII. Rep Grouse. Inhabits England, Scotland, and Ireland, but not south of Wales. 222. Lacopus mutrus Vol. TV. PL Vie PTARMIGAN. Stationary. 223. Lacorus mutus : Vol. IV. Pl. IX. J, ; PraRMIGAN (summer plumage). PNA On) UC © FON Cl 924. Lacorus MUTUS : ; : : : 3 Vol. IV. Pl. Prarmican (autumn plumage). I have considered it desirable to give three Plates, illustrating three very distinct states of plumage, of this very variable bird. Genus Syrruarres. An Old-World genus of Sand-Grouse, comprising two species, the native haunts of which are the Steppes of Russia, China, and Thibet. A large number of individuals of the J. paradoxus inade an extraordinary visit to various parts of the European continent and Britain in the years 1859 and 1860. 225. SyRRHAPTES PARADOXUS Vol. IV. Pl. XI. Pauias’s Sanp-Grovse. For particulars see the text of the Plate referred to. Family PHASIANIDA. Genus Puastanus. A genus of six or eight species, all of which are natives of the northern regions of the Old World, from Asia Minor to Japan. Although India, particularly its hilly portions, abounds in Gallinaceous birds, no true Pheasant is found there. 226. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS : : : : Wolk IWe Bik xd Common Pueasanv. A former introduction, probably from Turkey or some part of the neighbourhood of the Black Sea. Family PERDICIDZ. In this division of the Gallinacee is comprised a great number of varied forms, most of which are natives of the northern portions of the Old World. In England we have two which may be considered indigenous, the Grey- and the Red-legged Partridge ; the migratory Quail also frequently spends the summer in these kingdoms. Genus Perpiy. A genus of three species, namely :—Perdix cinerea, habitat Europe; P. barbatus, habitat China; and P. Hodgsonie, habitat Thibet. ho o INTRODUCTION. : : Vol. IV. Pl. XIII. 227. PERDIX CINEREA ParTRIDGE. A stationary species. Genus CaccaBIs. A genus instituted for the Red-legs, which differ conspicuously by their finer plumage and the presence of spurs on their tarsi. Vol. 1Ve Bix 228. CaccABIS RUBRA . : ; : ; : : ReEpD-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. A stationary species. 229. CaccaBIS PETROSA. It is stated that wild specimens of this bird have been killed in England ; but as this is questionable I do not figure it. Genus Corurnix. A form comprised of a limited number of species, which range generally over the Old World—Europe, India, China, the southernmost parts of Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. ‘ 1 7 7 7 230. CoruRNIX COMMUNIS . ; i ; . ; . ; ; : : Vol. EV. -2)5 ae Common Quai. A summer but uncertain migrant to England, while in Ireland it appears to be stationary ; at least Quails are frequently seen there in winter. Family TURNICID&. The Turnices (or Hemipodes, as they are frequently called) constitute a distinct group among the Gallinaceze. About fifteen species are known, all of which inhabit the sandy portions of the Old World, but are most abundant in Australia. The European fauna comprises but one, individuals of which have now and then wandered to Britain, probably from Spain. Genus Turnix. 231. Turnix aArricana : ; : : : ; Vol. IV. Pl. XVI. ANDALUSIAN Turnix. An accidental visitor. ENE OD UC RION cll Family OTIDID. The Bustards, from their large size and noble bearing, constitute one of the most remarkable groups in ornithology. They are all inhabitants of the sandy plains of the Old World; and many of the most conspicuous species are natives of Africa. Genus Oris. Formerly Great Britain enumerated a very fine bird of this genus; now and then, however, a solitary individual flies over to us from Spain or France, where it is still tolerably plentiful. 232. Oris TARDA : : , : : , : : ‘ Vole lve BE XVile Great Bustarp. Accidental visitant. 233. Oris TETRAX . : : : : : : : Volk Wve Er xevaliile Lirtie Busrarp. Accidental visitant. 234. Oris MacquEeEnlit. Macqueen’s Bustard. Quite accidental. A native of Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries. A specimen of this bird, now in the possession of the Philosophical Society of York, was killed at Kirton Lindsey, in Lincolnshire, on the 7th of October, 1847. Still, with so slight a claim to be considered British, [ shall content myself with this notice of it and a reference to a figure which will be found in my ‘ Birds of Asia.’ Specimens have also been met with in Holland and Denmark. ORDER GRALLATORES. Family GRUID. As must have been noticed by every one who has given a moment’s thought to the subject, the Gruide, or Cranes, differ from the Herons and every other group of birds of which this great order is composed. The larger number of the known species are inhabitants of the Old World, over which they are widely spread, the plains of Australia on the one hand and those of Hindustan on the other being frequented by ENT © DU C ELON: clv i ; so occurs in Africa, from north to south. In the New World, the northern one or more species; the form also occurs in Africa, fro tions only are tenanted by Cranes; one species inhabits, or did rather inhabit, the British Islands, portions only a j ; Genus Grus. : ; ; Vok lV" PP Xt 935. GRUS CINEREA. : : : ‘ ; : . Xx Common CRANE. An accidental visitant. 236. GRus VIRGO. Demoiselle Crane. A native of Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and India, has been seen and one shot in Orkney, in May 1863 (Saxby, ‘ Zoologist,’ p. 8692). Not figured. 237. GRUS PAVONINUS. Balearic Crane. This bird has also been captured within the limits of Britain, and by some included in our lists of species —wrongly, however, as I think, since its true home is north-western Africa, and its occurrence here must have been quite accidental. Family ARDEID. If the Bitterns are included among the members of this universally dispersed family, then the species amount to nearly a hundred in number. Unlike the Cranes, they are generally sedentary in their habits and affect watery situations. In the British avifauna there are ten species. Genus ArpEa. 238. ARDEA CINEREA . : : ; : : : : : : Vol. IVR xexe Heron. Resident and very generally dispersed. 239. ARDEA PURPUREA. : : : : : ‘ : : : : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXI. Purpie Heron, This fine bird, which js ; : : 3 ses is fine bird, which js abundant in Holland and France, can only be considered an accidental visitor to Britain. ENO OD 0 Can ieoone CY Genus Heropias. 240. Heropias ALBA : : : : : : : : : : Wolk RV PE XX Great Wurre Eorer or Wuire Heron. Quite an accidental visitant, arriving at very uncertain periods. 241, Heropras GArzerra ; : ‘ : : : ‘ 4 : : Vol IVE Rie XOX Lirrite Eerer. This, like the last, is merely a strageler to Britain. Genus Busuucus. 242. Busuxtcus russatus : : : : ; : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXIV. Burr-BackED Heron. An accidental visitor. Genus Bupuus. 243. Buruus comatTus : : : : : : : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXV. Seuacco Heron. The visits of this bird are very infrequent, and its appearance not to be depended upon. Genus Nycricorax. 244. Nycricorax GRISEUS . : ' : : : ; ; : : Vol lV. PE XXXVI. Nicut-Heron. This bird must be considered among our accidental visitors. Genus Boraurus. 245. Boraurus sTELLARIS ; ; e : : 3 : : A : Vole Ve RE XOX Birrern. Formerly a common stationary form in our marshes and fens ; now seldom seen, and mostly in winter. 246. Borarus LENTIGINOSUS . : : : : : : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXVIII. AMERICAN BirTern. The frequent occurrence of this bird in the British Islands demands a place for it in our avifauna; and hence I have given a figure of it. QE INTRODUCTION. CVl Genus ARDETTA. : Vol. IV. Pl. XXIX. 947, ARDETTA MINUTA : : ; 2 : ; Lirrie Birrern. Although never to be found with certainty, it is probable that we are seldom without the presence of this interesting marsh-lover; it cannot, however, be considered other than a chance visitor. Family CICONIITD. This family includes among its members not only our well-known White and Black Storks, but at least twenty other species of those useful birds. Whatever the condition of Britain may formerly have been, it is no longer suited as a resting-place for either of the two species just mentioned ; still scarcely a year passes without one or other of them accidentally dropping down on our marshes during their wanderings from one country to another. Genus Crconta. 248. CIcONIA ALBA. 3 : : . 5 : : : : ‘ Vol. IV. Pl. XXX. Waite Srorx. A chance visitor. 249. CIcONIA NIGRA . Z : : : : : : ; y ! . Vol. TV. BE SON Brack Stork. An accidental visitor. Family PLATALEID/. I'he seven or eight known species of Spoonbills have been separated into a distinct family by Bonaparte. lhey are found both in the Old and the New World. Although so limited in species they are numerous in individuals, and are very widely dispersed over the surface of the globe. Genus PLATALEA. 250. PLATALEA LEUCORODIA ., : . ,; . : Vol. TV. Bl. xoxox: SPOONBILL. An accidental visitor from the Continent. Family CHARADRIIDA. Mr. Harting, in his § 2 P g, his ‘ Handbook,’ has placed icnemus, Squatarola, Vanellus, Eudromias, AZgialitis, NER ODE. Cl ON: evil Strepsilas, and Hematopus as a part of this great family of ground-birds ; and I shall here follow his arrangement, since no one has paid greater attention to this subject than that gentleman. At the same time I must remark that perhaps no two persons will agree as to the position of Vanellus. Genus VANELLUS. 951. VANELLUS CRISTATUS : : : : : ; Vol. IV. Pl. XXXII Lapwine or Peewir. Resident and generally spread over the three kingdoms. About four or five of this genus are known ; they inbabit both the Old and the New World. Genus Himanropus. Of this form six or seven species are found in the Old and the New World respectively. They are generally termed Stilts or Stilt-Plovers, and characterized by elegance in all their actions. Vol. IV. Pl. XXXIV. 952. HimMANTOPUS CANDIDUS Sritt or Lonc-LEGGED PLoveEr. An accidental visitor to Britain. Genus CipIcNEMUS. From four to six species of this form inhabit each side of the Equator in the Old World; two or three are similarly dispersed over America. 953. CEDICNEMUS CREPITANS . : ; : : : : : 3 : W/o VE IE XONONGVE THICK-KNEED BustarpD. Common and stationary in Britain. Genus SQuATAROLA. Our well-known Grey Plover is almost, if not the sole member of this Genus. : : ee 254. SQUATAROLA HELVETICA . : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXXVI. Grey PLover. A bird remarkable for the seasonal changes to which it is subject. In summer the breast is jet-black, while in winter the same part is striated or pure white. A bird of passage In Britain, proceeding northward in spring and returning southward at the opposite season. cylil IN TROD U CLT ON : : : : Vol. IV. Pl. XXXVI. 255. SQUATAROLA HELVETICA . : : . Grey Piover (winter plumage and young). Genus Cuaraprius. The well-known Golden Plover of England may be regarded as the type of this genus as now restricted, About five species are known, all characterized by the flavour of their flesh and the great seasonal changes to which they are subject in summer and winter, and which have induced me to give two Plates illustrative of them. One or other of the five species inhabit most parts of the entire globe, but are more abundant in the Old than in the New World. ae i 7 ; 256. CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS Vol. IV. Pl. XXXVIII. Gotpen Prover (in summer plumage). A resident species. 257. CHARADRIUS PLUVIALIS . : : : E : . ; ; : Vol. IV. Pl. XXXIX. GoxpEn Puover (in winter plumage) Genus A.GIALopuiuus. A genus formed for the Kentish Plover and other allied species. 258, JEGIALOPHILUS CANTIANUS : : : é . : ; ; ; : Vol. IV. Exe Kentisu Prover. A spring and summer resident, coming here to breed in May. Common on the south coast. Genus Matauirts, Of these little Plovers (or Ringed Dotterels, as they are more commonly called) numerous species are spread over both the Old and the New World, Two are found in Britain—one of which is stationary, the other an accidental visitor. D5 ( 4 ATS 1 r y 209. ANGIALITIS HIATICULA . : : : ; : : : ; : Vol. WV. EE ae Rincep Prover. A resident Species, abundant in most parts of the three kingdoms. 260. Meiauitis minor : : : 5 : . . Vol. TV. PE XG Lirrte Ringep PLover. An occasional visitant, the native Country of which is Eastern Europe, Africa, and India. NEDO PD UL Can IO N: 96]. ANGIALITIS VOCIFERA. Kill-deer Plover. This American bird has been added to the list of our fauna from the circumstance of a specimen having been killed in Hampshire in 1857. Genus Eupromias. The type and almost the only representative of this genus is the well-known Dotterel, which passes over the British Islands in May. 262. EuDROMIAS MORINELLUS : ; : . : : : Wolk We BE NnuIE DotrereEL. Spring and autumn migrant ; breeds in Westmoreland and the adjoining counties. Genus Cursorius. A small genus of highly interesting birds which persistently keep to the regions of the Old World, and almost exclusively to Africa and Asia. Swift of foot, they have been called Coursers. They are said to trip over the ground with great nimbleness, their movements then presenting no inapt resemblance to pieces of paper blown about by the wind. They naturally inhabit great sandy wastes rather than cultivated and arable lands; and hence the only European species is but seldom seen. 263. Cursorius GALLICUS . : : : : ; é : Vole RIEL. CreAM-COLOURED CourRsER. Quite an accidental visitor to the British Islands. Genus Hamaropus. Although not very numerous in species, there is scarcely any country on the face of the globe where this form is not represented. In the southern hemisphere, at Cape Horn in America, the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, in the southernmost portion of Tasmania and in New Zealand, a bird of this form is certain to be seen, while in the opposite hemisphere they are nearly as constant. These birds are commonly known by the misnomer of Oyster-catchers. 264. HaMArTorus OSTRALEGUS : ; : : : : i j Vole Pie xine OysTER-CATCHER. A resident species round our coasts. bo hy PN RO DU Cl LON Genus GLAREOLA. ; i ee ‘ies known are all confined to t Tor An isolated form among the Plovers. The six or seven species known are all c he Old World. Their chief food consists of insects, which they capture on the wing, after the manner of the Swallow. In speaking of an allied species (G. melanoptera), Mr. J. H. Gurney, in Andersson’s ‘ Birds of Damara Land,’ quotes the following from ‘The Field’ newspaper of February 26th, 1870:—* mia oe ee s = In Mr. Harting’s ‘ Handbook of British Birds (p. 144) no less than fifteen instances are given of the occurrence of this North-American species in England and Scotland. In every case, so far as can be ascertained, the specimens were procured in autumn, indicating that their presence here is in some way dependent upon a divergence from the route of their migration southward. Under the terms Scolopar, Gallinago, and Limnocryptes those members of the true Snipes which visit Britain have been figured. They form part of a group of universal distribution. Genus Scoropax. 298. ScoLopax RUSTICOLA ‘ : ; : : ; : : : : Vol Ve BE IDxeaville Woopcock. This well-known species of late years has become so much more numerous here as a resident, that although numbers still migrate to this country in the autumn, it is difficult to say whether “ the first cock of the season” is an early arrival or a home-bred bird. Genus GALLINAGo. 299. GALLINAGO MAJOR. : : : : : : : : Vole hve BE Ip Oxcvalliie GREAT SNIPE. Although this species does not, like the next, breed in this country, it visits us regularly every autumn, but always earlier than does the Common Snipe; and its occurrence during the spring months is rare. Vol. IV. Pl. LX XIX. 300. GaLLINAGO SCOLOPACINA Common Snipe. A regular winter visitant ; but in favourable localities many annually remain to nest and rear their young. x : : a > oenerally reo: S slanis he common With regard to the so-called Sabine’s Snipe, 1t 1s now generally regarded as a melanism of the c : : : pees ie ‘Field’ 7 ypeared a species, but is of sufficiently rare occurrence to attract notice. In the ‘ Field’ of Dec. 10, 1870, appez F list to that date of all the known examples which had been obtained, since which time two or three others : e see e nace i scotland. Mr. Brydges have been killed in the south of England, and, for the first time, one recently in Scotland. Mi yas aH ENO.) 0, Cr 1 OeNe CXVil y E Seas »6 Aa ore ! ? Williams’s specimen was shot at Carnanton, Cornwall, in January 1862. As to this, see ‘Zoologist, ’ 1862, pp. 7883 and 7938. 301. GALLINAGO RUSSATA. Russet Snipe. This remarkable Snipe, which often weighs six ounces, not unfrequently occurs in our markets. Mr. Rodd, of Penzance, and Sportsmen generally, often speak of this bird when writing toa friend, asking its name &c. The term russata will be found mentioned in the folio edition in the letterpress to the Common Snipe. Genus Limnocrypres 302. LimnocrypTes GALLINULA . : : : : : : : Vol. IV, Bip xexexe Jack SNIPE. Although instances are on record in which this bird has been met with in this country in summer, there is no sufficient evidence of its having bred here, and it must continue to be regarded as a regular winter visitant. The generic terms Phalaropus and Lobipes have been instituted for the fairy-like Phalaropes, of which there are three_species, two of which frequent Britain. Genus Puararopus. 303. PHALAROPUS FULICARIUs . : : : ; ; : ‘ : Vol. IV. Bl oxexed: Grey Puararope (summer plumage). This beautiful little bird has of late years been noticed as a regular autumn visitant, occasionally appearing in considerable numbers. It is remarkable that although flocks pass through England in the autumn when the species is moving southward for the winter, none are seen here on the return journey in spring, which shows that they go back by a different route. 304. PHaaropus FuLICARIUS : ; : é : ; Vol. IV. Pl. EXXoader Grey Paararope (winter plumage). Genus Losirgs. 305. Losiprs yypeRBorEus : : : é : : : ; : Vol. IV. Pl. LX XXIII. RED-NECKED PuaLarope. In England this graceful little bird is an occasional winter visitant. Never seen in such numbers as the HO, ENERO) WU Clk ON: CXix last named, but generally singly or in pairs. It has been found breeding in Orkney, the Hebrides, Perthshire, Inverness, and Sutherland ; but in Ireland it appears to be unknown, Genus Futica. Coots are so generally dispersed over the globe as to render it difficult to say where one or other of the fifteen species are not to be met with. 306. Fuica aTra : : : : : ; : : : : Vole IVE RIE IDXOCXahy, Coor. This well-known species, although generally regarded as a resident, is nevertheless migratory to a certain extent in autumn, and assembles often in large flocks in the winter, in our estuaries and tidal harbours. Genus GaLLinua. Like the Coot, the members of the genus Gallinula are very generally dispersed over both the Old and the New World. 307. GALLINULA CHLOROPUS .. : : : 5 : : : : 2 Vole iV. BIE Ipxexexeye Mooruen. Of this familiar bird it will suffice to say that it is resident and generally distributed. Genus Ratuuus. Rails are, like the Coots and the Moorhens, inhabitants of marshes of the entire globe 308. Rauius aquaticus : 7 d : ; : : : : : Volk IV, BE EXexxvie Warer-Ram. There can be no doubt that, although many birds of this species remain with us throughout the year, considerable additions to their numbers are made in the spring. Genus Crex. Allied in form and very similar in distribution to the three foregoing and the next following genera. 309. Crex pRATENSIS . : : : , . . . . . : Vol. TV. Pl. LXXXVIL Lanp-Rarz or Corn-Crake. A regular summer migrant; but occasionally individuals have been found loitering bebind and spending the winter with us in sheltered situations. END ROD Cron Genus Porzana. Vol. IV. Pl, LOXoxvaie 310. PorzANA MARUETTA . 5 : ; : ; : : Sporrep Crake. Whatever may have been the case formerly, when our fens were the regular nesting-haunts of this and many other marsh-loving birds, the Spotted Crake can now only te considered a spring and autumn migrant, occasionally remaining to breed in favourable situations. Vol. IV. Pl: Ixexexxe 311. Porzana PYGMmA . ; : : : : : : : : : Baituon’s Crake. This little bird has so frequently been met with in England and at almost every season of the year, that an enumeration of particular localities for it is unnecessary. It may be regarded as a local resident. It has, however, been only obtained once in Scotland and once in Ireland. Vol. IV. Pl. XC. 312. Porzana MINUTA . : . . Ouivaceous Crake. Almost the same remark will apply to this as to the last-named species, although the seasons at which it has been generally met with seem to indicate that it is a spring and autumn migrant. ORDER NATATORES. In this order Vigors and others have included all the swimming birds—Geese, Swans, the two great divisions of the Ducks, Mergansers, Cormorants, Auks, Grebes, Penguins, Divers, Gulls, Terns, and Petrels. my Their distribution is almost universal, the icy poles being the only part of the globe from which they are absent. If we institute a comparison between the ornithological productions of the different parts of the earth’s surface, we find that water-birds are much more rife in some countries than others, and that they are more numerous in the northern than in the southern hemisphere; and if we compare those frequenting the area of the British Islands and the surrounding seas and fresh waters with those frequenting a similar extent of any other portion of the globe, we shall find a greater variety of forms than elsewhere, due doubtless to the peculiar position of our islands, lying as they do between the two great northern continents, and to a certain extent under the influence of the Gulf-stream. I now proceed to the enumeration of the species contained in the fifth volume, and commence with the Geese, two or three of which grace our wolds and marshes. CNERO DU CELON Subfamily ANSERINA. - , umbers about thirty species of G . > know anitholeere yee In round n y species of Geese are now known to o1 nithologists. They admit of being divided into many genera, of which Cereopsts, Anser, and Nettapus are conspicuously distinct from each other : d > it is, however, with the genera Anser and Bernicla only, or true Geese, that we have to do with in the ‘ Birds of Great Britain.’ Genus Anse. 313. ANSER FERUS. : : , : : : . : : : : Vol Ve-EIe in Grey Lac Goose. A stationary species. Breeds in many parts of Scotland and Ireland. The original of our Common Goose. 314. ANSER SEGETUM : : : : : ; ; VoleVe Bir iit Bran-Goose. A winter visitant. More common on the western than the eastern parts of Scotland and England. 315. ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS . : : : : ; : : : : : Wolk Wo JBL Wot Pinx-FOOTED Goose. A winter visitant, arriving from the north in autumn ; plentiful in the wolds of Yorkshire at that season. 316. ANSER ALBIFRONS. : : : : : : : : : : ; Vol VE Rie LV. WHuiTE-FRONTED Goose. This is also a winter visitant to the British Islands. 317. ANSER ©GYPTIACUS. Egyptian Goose. Supposed by some to be an occasional visitor, by others that those which are occasionally seen are stray individuals from some domestic home. 318. ANSER ALBATUS. Cassin’s Snow-Goose. ; : ce ee ee 7 ’ sa Deel re See Howard Saunders, in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,’ March 1872, for an account of two specimens of this bird killed in Wexford Harbour in November 1871. NTR OD Ui CaO we CXxll Genus Bernicua. Vi if 7 319. BernicLa LEUCOPSIS . ; ; : ; : s : : . : : Vol VeRiay: Bernicie Goose. Plentiful in winter, keeping to certain districts on the flat shores of Lancashire. Retires northward beyond our country to bred. 320. BerNnicLa CANADENSIS. Canada Goose. This bird is said to have occurred wild in England ; it being purely American, I have not figured it. 321. BernicLa RUFICOLLIS : : : : : 3 : : : ; : Vol. V. Pl. VI. RED-BREASTED Goose. An inhabitant of northern Russia and Siberia, and a chance visitant to Britain. 322. BERNICLA BRENTA . : : : , : : ; : : : : Vol. V. Pl. VI. Brent Goose. Plentiful in winter on the muddy flats at the mouths of rivers from the Thames to the Tamar; equally numerous ina northerly direction, including Ireland. Subfamily CYGNINA. Of this subfamily there are nine or ten species—three or four of which pertain to the fauna of Great Britain, two or three to that of North America, the celebrated Black-necked Swan of Chili, and the Black Swan of Australia. Genus Cyenus. 323. Cyenus oLor ; : : : : : 5 i : : Vol. Vv. PIE VE Mure Swan. Supposed to be still living in a wild state in Eastern Europe ; strictly stationary in Britain. 324. Cyanus Ferus : : : Vol Ve Riise Witp Swan or Wuooprr. A winter vis} arrivine in ; arting j i 1 nter visitant, arriving in autumn and departing in spring, to breed in Iceland and many parts of the arctic circle. 325. Cvenus min YGNUS MINOR . : : ; ; : ; Vol: V2 Rie xe Bewicr’s Swan, itisits also-a winter visitor acc ‘ irl i 1 é a winter Visitor, arriving In autumn and retiring northwards In spring. — NFR OD UC Orne CXXill 326. CyGNUS IMMUTABILIS. Polish Swan. ‘nithologists are at vari: ‘ ‘opri Shee re ke Or g are at variance as to the propriety of considet ing this bird a distinct species from C. olor, the difference between them being but trifling. The Polish Swan is a somewhat larger bird, with a smaller frontal knob, while the naked space between the bill and the eye is larger ; and the feet are grey instead of ~ ‘ = ] . ee Eve ee Cie oy ss OG : x = olive-black. Mr. Bartlett has weighed several Polish Swans living at the Zoological Gardens, which turned the scale at twenty-seven pounds ; and he assures me they would be two pounds heavier after moulting. He d Oy considers there are tangible differences between the two birds; and I must confess I do also since I have been able to make some observations on a fine example recently shot, as detailed in the following note sent to me by Viscount Holmesdale :— “‘ Househill, Nairn, N.B., Sept. 28th, 1872. ‘Dear Mr. Goutp,—I send you a bird which I believe to be a Polish Swan. First a pair and then three others came to a wild loch by the sea here in the northerly gales we have had lately. The keeper took them to be common Whoopers; and we went out yesterday and stalked them. Whoopers they certainly are not ; but they answer exactly to the description of the Polish Swan in Yarrell. ash-grey legs and feet small ; tubercle at base of bill, and the black of the nostrils well divided from the base. If this is so, it may be of interest to you; and Colonel Baillie hopes you will accept the bird. If, after all, we are wrong as to the species, it may be of interest from the culinary point of view. “Yours very faithfully, ‘© HOLMESDALE.” The very fine specimen above alluded to is now mounted in the British Museum; and I have a note on it dissection from Professor Owen, who states ‘‘ the Swan was a young male, testes very small, flesh tender and ., good eating. If the young of this bird is always white from its downy state upwards, it is a remarkable characteristic, and one that will tend to confirm the propriety of considering it a species. The weight of this individual was 242 lbs. ft. in Across the wings, from tip to tip 6 Total length, from tip of bill to end of tail . zl Tip of bill to corner of the eye 0 5: 0 4 Tip of bill to base... IN BORD UC 1 OGN CXXIV Bill deep reddish flesh-colour, with a tolerably well-developed knob and broad triangular space between the bill and the eye. Breadth of the black space, including the part behind the knob, 2 inches. Eye dark brown. Feet olive-grey, even to the joints ; interdigital membranes darker. Length of true tarsi 4% inches ; bare space above the joint 12 inch ; middle toe and nail 64 inches ; breadth of the foot 62 inches. Having disposed of the Geese and Swans, we naturally turn to the true grass-feeding Ducks, after which will be noticed those species which almost exclusively feed under the surface of the water—the Fuligulinee &c. Subfamily ANATIN ©. Genus Taporna. An Old-World group of five or six species. Vol. V. EE xe 327. TADORNA VULPANSER : . 2 : : : : i : : : SHELDRAKE. A stationary species, breeding in the holes of warrens and sandy wastes by the sea-side. Genus Casarca. 328. CasARCA RUTILA.. ; : : : : . : : : Vol. V. Pl. XII. Ruppy SHELDRAKE. An occasional and very rare visitant. Among other places, builds in rocks on the borders of the Mediterranean. Genus Mareca. A genus of which our common Widgeon is the type, and of which an allied species is found in North America and another in Chili. 329, Mareca PENELOPE : : ; : : : : ; Vol. V. Pl Xan WipGeEon. A migrant which is plentiful in winter, and sometimes, but not very regularly, stays to breed in England and Scotland. 330. Mareca AMERICANA. American Widgeon. An occasional visitant to England. It is not figured. INTRODUCTION Genus Sparuta. A well-defined form, comprising about six species, one being found in Australia, another in New Zealand others in Chili, and the rest in the northern hemisphere of both the Old and New Worlds. 331. SpaTULA CLYPEATA : ; : : : ; : VoleVe BE Xie SHovELLER Duck. Frequent in summer, sometimes breeds, Genus Anas. The Wild Duck, which is the type of this genus, is generally diffused over Asia, Africa, and North America. 332. ANAS BOSCHAS : : : : : : : : : : Volk Ve BI Ny. Mauuarp or Witp Duck. Resident and breeds everywhere. The supposed parent of all our domestic breeds of Ducks. Genus QuEerQuEDULA. A genus formed for the Teal and Garganey and some allied species in other parts of the world. 333. QUERQUEDULA CRECCA Vol. V. Pl. XVI. TEAL. Common, resident ; breeds everywhere. 334, QUERQUEDULA CIRCIA . : : : : : : : Voll ve BI Xvi GARGANEY. A spring and autumn migrant, occasionally remaining in the summer to breed. Genus Dariua. Formed for the reception of our well-known Pin-tailed and two or three South-American species of elegantly formed Ducks. 335. Daria acura : ‘ : 5 : Vol: Vi RIE XV IEE Pin-rartep Duck. A winter visitant, arriving in sufficient numbers to be regarded as common. LON RO) Use ai ON: CXxvi Genus CHAULELASMUS. The bird characterized under this term is almost the sole type of the genus. : : : : : Vol. V_ BI xibxe 336. CHAULELASMUS STREPERA : : : ; GADWALL. A somewhat rare winter visitant. Genus Nyroca. In Britain there are two species of this genus; in North-America there are others, and others again in Australia. 337. NyRoca FERINA : : : ‘ : : : 2 : : : : Vol. V. El Xx PocHarp. A winter visitant, frequently taken in our decoys, and the flesh held in some esteem as representing the celebrated Canvas-backed Duck of America. 338. Nyroca LEUCOPHTHALMUS . : : ; : : : : : ; Vol. V. BES Wuirtr-eyYED or Ferrucinous Duck. A spring visitor, almost exclusively so in England, but unknown in Ireland. Genus Branva. A fine form, the native country of which is Eastern Europe and India. 339. BRANTA RUFINA . : ; : : . : : , : : ; Vol. V.. REX: Rep-crestep Duck. The occurrence of this bird in England is very seldom and uncertain; still there are many British specimens extant. Subfamily FULIGULINA. The birds of this subfamily, or the Diving Ducks, form an extensive group, members of which are found in most parts of the globe, and which is well represented in the British Islands. Genus Furieuia 340. FuLiguLa crRIsTaTaA ; : E ; : : . ; : : Vol. V. Pl. XXIII. Turrep Duck. A tolerably common winter visitant to the British Islands ; many remain to breed on the lakes at Clumber and Osberton in Nottinghamshire, and doubtless on other similar sheets of water. PNR OD U Gr Orn: CXXVil 341. FuLigULA MARILA . : : é : ; ; : : : Vol. V: Pl. XXIy. Scaup Duck. A winter visitant. Genus Entconerra. A genus established for the fine Steller’s Duck, a species nearly allied to the Eiders. 342. ENniconetra STELLERI . e . aA 4 oS 5 V7 Ri xOne Sretter’s Ducx. An accidental visitor to the northern parts of Britain; its native countries are Lapland, northern Scandinavia, and Russia. ~ Genus Somarerta. wi | Of the Eiders, a very natural and distinct group of Ducks, there are but four or five species, inhabiting the WN northern portions of both the Old and the New World. 343. SOMATERIA MOLLISSIMA : : : : : : : 3 : : Voli Ve BESO. Ewer Duck. Stationary. Breeds on the Farn Islands and many other similar situations round our northern coasts. "| 344. SomMATERIA SPECTABILIS ; : : : ‘ i ; : : ‘ Vole Ve RE XO Kine Duck. A rare and accidental visitor from the north. Genus Orpemra. The members of this little division of the Diving Ducks are rendered remarkable by their velvety black covering,.as well as the bright colouring of some of the soft parts, particularly of the bill and the naked portions of the head of one species. They are strictly denizens of the salt waters, resorting to freshwater lakes only for the purpose of breeding. 345. OIDEMIA NIGRA : : : : : ; 3 ° Vol. V. PI. XXVHI. Scorer. eee : or stay ‘eed in Caithness and Sutherland. I Very common along our coasts in winter; a fair number stay to breed in Caithness é I CXXVIlil INGER ORD: UsCul Ie OeNe 346. OmeEMIA FUSCA . : : Vetvet Scorer. A common winter bird in the Orkney and Shetland Islands ; solitary individuals have been killed on the Thames and even further south. é 347. OWEMIA PERSPICILLATA ; Vol. V. Pl Nexexe Surr-Scorer. Quite an accidental visitor from the coasts of North America ; has been killed about ten times in Britain. Genus CLaNnGuLa. The Golden-eye, Barrow’s Duck, and the Buffle-headed Duck are about the only members of this genus ; like several of the preceding forms they seek their food at the bottom of the shallow parts of the seas, the inlets of rivers, &c. 348. CLANGULA GLAUCION : ; 5 : : Vol. V. Pl. XXXL GOLDEN-EYE. A true winter visitant, said to have once found a breeding -place on Loch Assynt in Sutherland. Breeds in Lapland. 349. CLANGULA ALBEOLA. Buffle-headed Duck. This American bird having been killed four or five times in England, some have included it in our avifauna lis sts; and so do I, but withont figuring it. Genus Hisrrionicus, The fantastically marked Harlequin Duck is the type and only known species of this genus. 390. Histrionicus TORQUATUS i : : : Vol. V. Pl. XXXII. Harrequin Duck. A very rare visitant to Britain ; and when examples do occur, they are either females or young males of the first year. Genus Harezpa. A northern form of a single species. ; s : : : : Vol. VBE ext ENR OD U CTO N. CXX1x 351. HarELDA GLACIALIS . : : > : ‘ : : Vol. V. Pl. XXXII. Lone-TAILED Duck. A common winter visitant; arrives in the Scottish firths in great abundance during the months of autumn. Subfamily MERGINA. The Mergansers are a very distinct family, differing in structure and mode of life from the Ducks or Cormorants, to which otherwise they are nearly al lied. They live on the waters of both the Old and the New World, and consist of about ten species, Genus Mercus. 352. Meraus castor ee SS eee vee GoosaNDER. A winter bird, frequenting our lakes when they are not frozen over; very destructive to freshwater fish. Always to be seen at Clumber in autumn and Winter, goes north in summer. | | | 303. MERGUS SERRATOR : : . : : | : : : ; > Volk Ver xcs MeErGANSER. Found in Britain at all seasons ; common in the north of Scotland. 304, Mereus cucutiatus : ; : : ; : ‘ : : z Volk V— BIE XVI. Hooprep Meraanser. An American species, which has occasionally been found in Europe and Britain. P l 359. Meraus ALBELLUS . : : : : ; : ; : : Vole Ve RE XXX Smew or Nun. A winter bird, rather scarce. Breeds in Lapland and the adjoining countries. Family PODICIPIDZ. When the birds of the world are taken in review, it is interesting to note that certain forms are restricted to very limited areas, while others are as widely distributed. It is to the latter category that the Grebes or members of this family pertain ; for my experience tends to prove that one or other of the numerous species are found throughout the entire globe; even in the islands of the South Pacific they are to be met with, and also all over North and South America. They do not appear to be limited by elevation, but tenant the ioe = Nk 1) ID AW G dy EON CXXX lowest waters and the highest lakes, one of the finest being an inhabitant of the celebrated Lake of Titicaca +) Peru. Grebes are characterized by a peculiarity of structure which enables them to chase the nimble fishes and other aquatic creatures under water in a different manner from other birds. They construct their floating nests on the lakes; and the eggs are frequently incubated in the water. Although divided into many genera, those inhabiting Britain have been retained in the genus Podiceps. Genus Popiceps. 356. Popiceps CRISTATUS Vol. V. Pl XX Great Crestep GREBE. A summer resident, breeding on many of our large lakes and inland waters. Vol. V. Pl. XXXIX. 357. PopicEPS RUBRICOLLIS : : : é : RED-NECKED GREBE. An occasional visitor, not rare on the east coast in the winter season. : : : : : Vol. VRE xd 358. Popicers AURITUS . : : . : Hornep Grebe. A chance visitor to Britain, most common in its immature and winter plumage; inhabits Sweden, Lapland, and other countries to the northward of our islands. Vol: V2 El Sxdle 3099. PoDICEPS NIGRICOLLIS . : : : : . ; : : ; : Earep Grese, More numerous than the last ; sometimes found on the eastern broads in its finest state of plumage. One of its native countries is Spain; it is also abundant in Northern Africa, and but seldom, I imagine, found so far north as the Baltic. Probably unknown to Linneus. Vol. V. Pl. XLII. 360. Popicers MINOR Lirrte Grese, or Dascuicr. A resident, stationary, and universally distributed species. Family COLYMBIDA. Thao ee "). mle oe : 7 . . . Ne Phe Divers, unlike the Grebes, are only found in the northern hemisphere. They frequent the countries bordering on the arctic circle, and are as abundant in America as in Europe and Asia. In Britain we have three distinct species. rVERODUGPLON Genus Cotymsus. 361. CoLYMBUS GLACIALIS . ; ; : ‘ Vol. V. Pl. XLITL Great Nortaern Diver. One of the finest of our native birds, but does not breed with us. 362. CoLYMBUS ARCTICUS. ; : ; ; ; . : : Vol. V. Pl. XLIV Buack-THROATED Diver. r = s os . ~ ss oO 7 z Sie . [his may be considered a resident species, although it is but sparingly observed at any time. In winter the young are frequent along our southern coasts, while in summer most of the northern lochs of Scotland have each its breeding pair of birds—among other places, Loch-y-vraon and Loch Drome in Ross-shire, part of the fine property of John Fowler, Esq. 363. CoLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS . : : : : ; Vol ve RL Xie Rep-THROATED Diver. Like the last a resident species, breeding in the same parts of the country. Family ALCAD. Formerly Britain could boast of having five species of this remarkable family of northern sea-birds ; but the finest of them, the Great Auk, is now gone from the face of the waters; and if it is still enumerated in the present work, it is because we cherish the recollection of so singular a bird. Genus Aca. 364. ALCA IMPENNIS . : : : ; Vol. Vv. PEXEVE Great AUK. 365. ALCA TORDA ; : : : : : : ; : ; : : Vole Ve Lie NUGVAle Razorsi.u. A common cliff-bird, breeding all round our coasts, and a constant resident on our seas. Genus Urta. 366. Urta TROILE .. : : : : : : : : ; Volk V. Rin XnVInE Common GuILLEMorT. Like the last very numerously dispersed round the whole of the islands and islets of Britain; breeds on the rocks; lays but a single egg. (7) Ve) ba AN ey CXXXxil if IN IP 18 ©) 1D) Wy G AW Il © IN: 367. Uris GRYLLE : : 5 z és P é 2 ° ° ° : Vol. V. PE XLIX. Buiacx GuiLiemor. A resident species, often breeding in company with the last ; lays two eggs. Genus Mercuuvs. ms Sot 368. MerGuius ALLE : : : : ‘ . ; : 4 : : ; Vol Vv. Bee Litrie Aux. Sometimes abundant with us in winter, while in summer it is engaged in breeding within the arctic circle. Genus FrRATERCULA. 369. FRATERCULA ARCTICA ; ; ; : ; : : : ; : 4 Vol. V. BIA PurrFin. Numerous among our sea-bounded rocks in summer, and in winter may be found fishing in the bays and shallow portions of our seas. Family PELICANID. Subfamily GRACULIN. That portion of this family forming the Cormorants comprises about thirty species. They are spread over the rocky sea-shores of the entire globe, with the exception of the ice-bound poles. In Britain we have two SDeGies- Genus Puatacrocorax. 370. PHALACROCORAX CARBO. : ; : : , : : : : : Vol. VB ie Cormorant. A denizen of the British waters generally, from which it is never absent. 371. PHALACROCORAX GRACULUS : : ; : : : : : , : Vol. Vo BISciie CrestepD Cormorant, or Suac. Also a constant frequenter of every part of the British coasts, where it annually breeds. Subfam ily SULARINA. Che Gannets forma small section of the Pelicanide. They are truly oceanic in their habits, and are ENS FORD OE CUn IE OnE CXX Xi almost as widely distributed as the Cormorants. In species, however, they are far less numerous, only six v U9 he or seven being known; and should the Australian bird be ultimately proved to be identical with our own Py a ’ then the number will be still less. Genus Sura. 3/2. SULA BASSANA , : : : : ‘ : Vol. V. Pl. LIY. GanneT, or Souan Goose. I must refer my readers to the body of the work for full information respecting this predaceous bird, for ; 2 out of plac snter I articulars here in w . : ae : it would be out of place to enter into particulars here in what ean only be regarded as a mere list of the species inhabiting Britain. I nay mention, however, that its specific name is derived from one of its breeding- places, to which may be added Lundy Island, Ailsa Craig, St. Kilda, Suliskerry in Orkney, &c. Family LARIDA. Mr. Harting, in his ‘ Handbook of British Birds,’ has included the Gulls and Terns in the same family, with which view I acquiesce, for it would be difficult to draw the line between the termination of the one and the commencement of the other. Whether we regard the Gulls, Terns, and Skuas separately or collectively, they may be described as coast-wanderers over the entire globe, but more abundant in the northern than in the southern hemisphere. Their principal food is fish, crustaceans, and other marine animals, but some of them readily eat worms, insects, and garbage. In their plumage they are perhaps the most cleanly of all birds, always maintaining their pure and delicate tints unsullied. There are over one hundred species inhabiting various parts of the globe. Subfamily LARINA. Genus Larus. The members of this genus comprise all the large Gulls—birds which, as scavengers alone, play an important part in keeping a wholesome atmosphere. They also prey upon fish, crustaceans, small mammals, and weakly birds. : Wolk Wo, IB IL. 373. Larus MARINUS ; : : : : : ; : ; : : O Great Buack-Backep Gut. A resident species, breeding round our coasts. RNR O DP UCL TON: CXXX1V ij 7 7 374. Larus Fuscus . : : : ; é , : : Vol. V: ‘Pl: LVI: Lesser BLAcK-BACKED GULL. Also a resident and breeding species. | Vol. V. BE vale 37H, ILARWS GLAWOUS : : : . : : : , : : Guaucous GULL. A bird of the northern hemisphere generally, whence it is driven southward on the approach of winter, at which season it arrives here, as well as in similar latitudes in America. : : Vol. V. PE ale 3/6. LARruUS ISLANDICUS : : : : : : : : IceLAND GULL. \ beautiful species belonging to the regions of the arctic circle, but frequently coming hither in winter, where it finds a more bearable climate. : Vol. VR tixe 3/7. LARUS ARGENTATUS : : : : : : : ; : : Herrine-Gutu. A bird we may call our own, since it always enlivens our seas and rocks, especially at the breeding-season. Vol. V. Pl. LX. 378. Larus CANUS . : : : : ; Common GuLu. A native species, abundant both in summer and winter. Genus Rissa. Established for our pretty Kittiwake. 379. Rissa TRIDACTYLA . ; : i : Vol. V2 Bixee Krriwake. A local resident. Uy Genus Pacgopnina. : Vol: Vo Eiaxdie 380. PaGopHina EBURNEA : : : : : : Ivory Guu. Abundant at Spitzbergen and many parts of Greenland. Here in Britain it is rare, and quite accidental in its occurrence. INTRODUCTION. CXXXV Genus Ruoposreruta. Established for the beautiful Gull named after Captain James Ross, the celebrated navigator. 381. Ruovosreruta Rossi : : : ‘ 2 : ; : Vol. V. Pl. LXUIL. Ross's Guu. Has been killed two or three times in Britain. The plate should be referred to to form a just idea of this fairy Gull, whose natural home is within the arctic circle. Genus CurorcocernaLus. The members of this section of the Gulls have many pleasing traits in their character; thus they have the habit of spending their summer in large communities, and of selecting as a site for their breeding-place the inland waters of some marsh or swampy island in the interior of the country. Their interest is also much added to by the circumstance of their being subject to seasonal clianges in the colouring of their plumage. 382. CHROICOCEPHALUS RIDIBUNDUS ; : : : : : : : : Vol. V. Pl. LXIV. BLack-HEADED GULL. A common and resident species. Wolk, We JA ILA, 383. CHROICOCEPHALUS PHILADELPHIA Bonaparte’s Guu. An occasional visitant from its native country, North America. Genus Hyprocoiaus. Instituted for our well-known Little Gull. 384, HyprocoL@us miINnuTUS : : : , : : : Vol. V. Pl. LXVI. Lirrie Guut. A tolerably regular winter visitant, never breeding in Britain. Genus XEMA. The beautiful arctic Gull named after the late Mr. Sabine is the type of this genus. (ONT OD UC LL OWN: DROey UH] CXXXV1 F : : Vol. V. PI-Ixvale 9g], 1 385. Xema SaBINI . ARK Sapine’s GuLu. A resi An occasional visitor to our islands. 99), STI Subfamily STERNIN 2. Soot In this subfamily are contained the various forms of Terns or Sea-Swallows as they are popularly termed. rd Ten species are figured under six genera :—AHydroprogne, Actochelidon, Sterna, Sternula, Gelochelidon, and ° lV ' HHydrochelidon. Walling Genus Hyproproene. Sor 7 7 17 386. HyproproGne CASPIA Vol. V. Pl. LXVIII. Caspian TERN. ), STERN An accidental visitor. Genus AcTocHELIDON. . Se Se a 38/7. ACTOCHELIDON CANTIACA . : : : : : . : : . Vol. V. Pi axaixe SanpwicH Tern. A summer visitant and breeding bird. aU 388. AcTocHELIDON (?) VELOX. Swift-flying Tern. A specimen of this bird is said to have been killed in Ireland (see Blake Knox in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1866). Strictly an eastern bird, and therefore not figured. Genus Sterna. 389. STeERNA HIRUNDO : 3 : i : ; : : Vol. V. Pl. LXX. Common Trrn. ). Hyproce A resident species. Breeds in many parts of our southern coasts. Buick T 300, Sin ee ; 390. STERNA PARADISEA : : . : : : : é Vol. V. Pl. LXXI. Roseare Tern. 6, A summer visitant. Breeds sparingly on the Scilly and Farne Islands. Wer, ON ER © 1D WC Wi © N. 391. Srerna MACRURA : : : : ; Wall, Wo J8L ILRORTI. Arctic Tern. A resident species, breeding abundantly around our northern coasts. 392. STERNA FULIGINOSA. Sooty Tern. ° It AN S ay 1re¢ WI 1 1 S \ 1S1 S < l A Oo NIV 1 f has occas 1onall | C \ 1 1 s y S 3 St ll he re are few who would give it more than a passing notice in any list of the British birds. One was shot at Wallingford, on the banks of the Thames, on the 2]st of June, 1869, and kindly sent for my inspection before it was skinned by Mr. James Gardner, Jun., of Holborn and Oxford Street. Genus Srernuna. 393. STERNULA MINUTA Vol. V. Pl. LXXIII. Lirtie Tern. A summer visitor. Breeds at Dungeness and many other parts of the south coast of England. Genus GELOcHELIDON. 394. GELOCHELIDON ANGLICA Vol. V. Pl. LXXIV. GuLL-BILLED Tern. A bird of the eastern portion of Europe, Africa, and Asia, and quite an accidental visitant to Britain. Genus HyprocueE.ipon. The members of this genus frequent marshes for the purpose of breeding, and deposit their eggs in regular-formed nests of herbage. The entire group consists of about ten species, which are widely distributed over the globe. 395. HyprocuELIpoN NIGRA . Vol. V. Pl. LXXY.- Buacx Trrn. A summer visitant, breeding in several of the marshes of England. Vi aw 7 396. HyprocHEeLipon LEUCOPTERA : : . . . 5 : : Vol. V. PI. LXXVI. Wuite-wincep Tern. An accidental visitor from countries to the south-eastward of our islands. CXXXVil INVER OD UC £1 ON, CXXXViil 397. HypRocHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA WauiskERED TERN. An accidental visitor from Eastern Europe. Genus Anous. 398. ANoUS STOLIDUS. Noddy Tern. Vol. V: Pl. EXXVie A bird common to many seas; it is not therefore surprising that a solitary individual has now and then wandered to fish in our waters. It is a common species, very generally known, consequently not figured. Subfamily STERCORARIIN A. Genus STERCORARIUS. Parasitic Gulls are to a certain extent affined to the Petrels, and for this reason have been placed next them in the present volume. Members of this group, which are eight or ten in number, frequent the seas of both hemispheres, are tyrants of the ocean, waging war and domineering over all the birds, and robbing them of the fish they have taken. 399. SrERCORARIUS CATARRHACTES GREAT Sxkua. Found all round our seas at one season or the other. Breeds in the Orkneys. 400. SrercoraRIus POMATORHINUS PoMATORHINE SkKUA. A constant winter visitor. Breeds in Lapland and Finmark. 401. SrercoraRIus PARASITICUS Arctic Skua. Resident around our coasts. Breeds in Orkney and Shetland. 402. SreRCORARIUS LONGICAUDUS LonG-TAILED Sxkua. A rare winter visitant from the north-eastern seas. Vol. V. Pl. LXXVUI- Vol. V. Bl: TaxOxixe Vol. V. Pl. LXeexe Vol. V. Pl. LXXXI. TON 8 © 1) U OT 1 © WK CXXXI1X Family PROCELLARIDA. This truly oceanic family is but feeb “pres i > Briti i i 1 y amily bly represented in the British seas, six or seven species being all that we enumerate; whereas with those frequenting the waters of the other parts of the globe they amount to double that number. Genus Proce.uaria. f f iL S c ¢ 403. PRrocELUARIA GLACIALIS. : é : ‘ ‘ : : . : Vol. V. Pl. LX XXII. Fuumar. Frequents the British seas generally. Breeds on the island of St. Kilda in countless multitudes. one aC — GS Ba Genus Purrinus. Ned ze Oem Three or four birds of this form frequent the seas of the British Islands, two of which have been figured, Xs G7) and there can be no doubt as to the propriety of so doing ; but I may state that there are others occasionally vA found here which are not well understood, or have not been properly worked out. Having myself collected these birds round the entire globe, I could not fail to remark the vast number of species I met with, In my WA ‘Birds of Australia’ forty species are either figured or enumerated, and I feel assured that the list may be greatly added to on a closer research than I could give of the seas I had at that time (1838-41) the | | | opportunity of traversing. il 404. Purrinus mason . ; : : ‘ ‘ : é : : Vol. V. Pl. LX XXIII. GREAT SHEARWATER. A bird which almost yearly visits the seas of the Land’s End. 405, Purrinus ANGLORUM Vol. V. Pl. LXXXIV. | i WA | Manx SHEARWATER. HH Breeds commonly on one or more of the Scilly Islands ; and, as it is also found here in winter, it may be AI Hh considered a resident species. Genus AMSTRELATSA. HH 406. AAsTRELATA HAESITATA. HAH Il | Capped Petrel. WH | I Has once been taken in England. cx] NR OD Cron, Genus THALASsIDROMA. A genus in which Vigors and others have placed the smaller members of the Procellaride, the Storm-Petrels. In the British seas we have two breeding species, and a third looks in upon us now and then when it has crossed the Atlantic to our side of the globe. 407. Tuavassiproma Leacui . ‘ ; : : . : : : Vol. V. PI Iaxexexwe ForKkED-TAILED STorM-PETREL. Breeds in the Outer Hebrides, and frequently found dead on inland properties, apparently from exhaustion, from the exertion of crossing overland from sea to sea. 408. THA assiIDROMA PELAGICA ; : : : : : i ; Vol. Y. PL XOXO SrormM-Petre.. This little sprite of the waters is known to breed on many parts of our western coasts from the Scilly Isles to the Orkneys, and on some of the rocky islets of the west coast of Scotland. 409. Tuarasstproma Butwenrt. Bulwer’s Petrel. This bird, which inhabits Madeira, sometimes visits our seas, and by Yarrell and others has been included in our avifauna, LIST OF PLATES, VOLUME I, Nors.—As the arrangement of the Plates in the course of publ refer to them when arranged, and the Plates may be quoted by them. Neophron percnopterus Aquila chrysaeétos SOC Haliaetus albicilla Pandion haliaetus Buteo vulgaris Archibuteo lagopus . Pernis apivorus Astur palumbarius Accipiter nisus Falco islandus — candicans — gyrfalco . —— pereprinus —— subbuteo —— esalon Erythropus vespertinus Tinnunculus alaudarius Milvus regalis migrans Circus eruginosus cyaneus cinerascens Strix flammea Syrnium aluco Bubo maximus Otus vulgaris Brachyotus palustris Scops zorca Nyctea nivea Surnia funerea Nyctale Tengmalmi . Athene noctua RAPTORES, Egyptian Vulture Golden Eagle . Spotted Eagle . Sea-Eagle Osprey : Common Buzzard Rough-legged Buzzard Honey-Buzzard Goshawk Sparrow-Hawk Iceland Falcon = = — (joumne) Greenland Falcon ———— — (dark race) —= = (Ghik mews, youn) Norwegian or Gyr Falcon Peregrine Falcon Hobby Merlin : ; Orange-legged Hobby Kestrel : Kite or Glede . Black Kite Marsh- Harrier : : —__—— (young) . Hen- Harrier : : Ash-coloured Harrier Barn-Owl : Tawny or Brown Owl Eagle Owl Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl Scops Owl Snowy Owl Hawk Owl Tengmalm’s Owl Little Owl ication was impracticable, the Numbers here given will mow he On 20 22 23 CNOPRTERUS . PE) COR ON + YE OP N NEOPHRON PERCNOPTERUS. Egyptian Vulture. Vultur percnopterus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. J. WAY. stercorarius, Lapeyr. Neue Schwed, Abhandl. leucocephalus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 466. fuscus, Bodd. Tab. Pl. Enl., p. 28. albus, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii, p. 20. tom. iil. p. 100. albicans, Meissner. Cathartes percnopterus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., nS) tone paee Percnopterus egyptiacus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 7. Neophron percnopterus, Savig. Descr. de Egypte, Hist. Nat., Do 1G. _As might be supposed, the British Islands are not a favourite place of resort for any of the Vultures, their peculiar habits and modes of life being more especially adapted for the southern countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa; but that the present species has undoubted claims to a place in the avifauna of Great Britain cannot be questioned, inasmuch as, according to Selby and Yarrell, a specimen was shot near Kilve, eding upon the carcass of a dead sheep, and had so gorged itself with the carrion as to be unable or unwilling to fly to any great distance at a time, and was therefore approached and shot without much difficulty. Another bird, similar to it in appearance, was seen at the same time upon the wing at no great distance ; it remained in the neighbourhood a few days, and was supposed to be the mate of the one killed. he state and colour of the plumage of this individual, judging from the description of M. Temminck and others, indicate a young bird, probably of the first or, at the furthest, of the second year.” Much more recently, namely in 1868, the acquisition of a second example is thus recorded by Dr. Bree in the ‘ Zoologist ’ for that year. “On the 28th of September last the labourer who had charge of an off-hand farm of Mr. Woodward, ‘of Stanway Hall situated at Peldon, in Essex, had been killing his Michaelmas geese: on going some time in Somersetshire, in October, 1825, which “ when first discovered was fe after into the yard he saw a strange bird feeding upon the blood. ‘The bird flew away, and the man loaded his gun. Presently it came again and hovered over the spot in hopes of another spell at the blood ; but his fate was sealed, and he fell dead to the labourer’s shot. I saw the bird next day at the bouse of Mr. Ambrose, to whom it had been sent for preservation. As far as I know, this is only the second instance of the capture of Vultnr percnopterus in Great Britain. It is quite possible that it has more frequently visited our shores, though not captured ; for Mr. Laver, of Colchester, informs me that many years ago his father, who lived near Burnham, further up the Essex coast than Peldon, had a flock of Vultures for several days among the large trees on his farm. They were known by their bare heads, and were most probably the Egyptian. At all events this bird must now, I think, be ranked without doubt among the strangers which occasionally visit our shores. The specimen now shot was in immature plumage.” Respecting the two British-killed examples above mentioned, Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., has favoured me with the following note :—‘ Mr. Yarrell was in error when he stated that the first-mentioned specimen was in the possession of the Rev. A. Mathew. Such is not the case; it belongs to the Rev. Mr. Mathew, of Chalvey, who informs me that it was obtained on the cliffs bordering the British Channel, about half a mile from Kilve.” Through the intercession of my friend Dr. Bree, Mr. Woodward was so obliging as to send his bird to London for my inspection. It was from this specimen that the reduced figure in my Plate was taken; and I would here tend my acknowledgments to both gentlemen for an act of courtesy whereby the interest of my delineation of the species has been much enhanced. a: n where this bird is common are Southern France and Spain : there it is The nearest countries to our ow and Egypt, and mee . om ere gree strc sin Turke tolerably abundant, as it also is in all the more eastern parts of Europe; but it 1s y particularly in the Nile district, that it is more numerous than elsewhere. : é ‘age i +t] ano thi ird in < f rature must now avail mysell oO Not having had opportunities of observing this bird in a state of née , observations of those who have written respecting it. : itl | ° . <. / ra Y y “ The Egyptian Vulture,” says Yarrell, ‘‘ does not live in flocks like other Vultures, although, when The wale and female seldom separate. In the districts which it inhabits, every group of the together. in the vicinity, or on the natives has a pair of these Vultures attached to it. The birds roost on the trees in the v ys 5 fences which bound the enclosures for their cattle. They are, to a certain degree, domiciled and harmless. The people do them no injury; on the contrary, they are rather glad to see and encourage them, because they clear the premises of all the offal and filth they can find. In default of other food they eat frogs, lizards, and snakes.” In the Eastern Atlas, according to Mr. Salvin, ‘wherever a cliff exists in the mouneyHs that surround the tablelands, sure enough it will be occupied by a pair of these birds ; generally Spe the nests of N. percnopterus are not so inaccessible as those of Gyps fuleus. One nest I visited, near Kef Laks, I could reach with my hand from a perfectly accessible ledge ; it was in a crevice of a rock, and entirely composed of sticks, The bird begins to lay about the 10th or 12th of April.”— dis, 1859, p. 180. / Speaking of the bird as observed by him in Palestine, the Rev. H. B. Taste informs us that Neophron percnopterus is “ universally distributed, and is equally abundant in the plains of Sharon and the naked hill- district of the south. Breeds in great numbers in the valley of the Kedron, heaping up its enormous nest of sticks, rubbish, aud old rags on every convenient ledge. While the adult bird was to be seen throughout the whole country, I never observed a single specimen in the sombre livery of youth. One very fine bird paid the penalty aa its curiosity while we were sitting on a rock on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. It made several swoops, as though anxious to share our chicken, and, hovering over us, fell dead at a discharge of No. 7 shot.”—ZJbis, 1859, Dp: 23: “That very useful but despicable scavenger ‘ Pharoah’s hen,’ as Europeans term the Egyptian Vulture, is a handsome bird on the wing ; and the distribution of the black and white in its plumage has a fine effect as it circles over head, or sweeps past the traveller down some deep ravine. It never breeds in colonies, and seldom are two nests to be found very near together; but it is the most universally diffused of all the Raptores of Palestine during summer, it being impossible to travel a mile or two in any part of the country without putting upapair. It has no dislike to the neighbourhood of man, and fearlessly resorts to the -dunghills of the villages to feed. No filth, vegetable or animal, seems to come amiss to it; and I once surprised a pair in the act of gorging at a heap of spoilt figs. The Neophron is strictly migratory, begins to return about the end of March, and by the middle of April the country is full of them. The first egg obtained was laid near the plain of Gennesaret on April Ist ; and our last pair of fresh eges were found on May 24th in the mountainous region near Hermon. The nests, though always in the cliffs, were generally low down, and comparatively easy of access. I took an egg from a nest in an arched passage through the rocks, close to the village of Mejdel, and so little concealed that every passer-by could see it ; anda child might have climbed up to it. The eggs are rarely alike, one being invariably much more richly coloured than the other, though, before incubation has been long continued, both become alike sodden and discoloured by filth. There is a rich variety in the colouring of the fresh eggs, from a deep russet-red to a paler red, uniformly diffused over the whole surface ; sometimes they are mottled and blotched, at others faintly spotted, and even almost a pure white. The nest is an enormous congeries of sticks, clods of turf, bullocks’ ribs, pieces of sheepskin, old rags, and whatever else the neighbourhood of a village or camp may afford, and is generally somewhat depressed in the centre. The Neophron is more plentiful in Gilead and Moab than elsewhere ; at least we obtained more nests in those regions, to which the birds seem to be attracted by the enormous flocks and herds of the Bedouin, on the ordure of which they largely feed.” —Tristrram in Ibis, 1865, p- 249. Messrs. Elwes and Buckley state, in their “ List of the Birds of Turkey,” that they saw “ only one or two of these birds in Greece, and that in Macedonia they are by no means common during the winter months. The ‘4h baba,’ as it is called by the Turks, does not associate with the other Vultures during the breeding- season. M. Alléon says that the Egyptian Vulture arrives in spring, and remains till the beginning of autumn, but is found during that time in great numbers in the town of Constantinople. It seems to distinguish between Turks and Christians; for in Pera, which is chiefly inhabited by foreigners, it does not breed ; while in Stamboul it breeds on the cypresses, mosques, and roofs of the tanneries, where it is never molested by the Mussulmans, and repays its hospitable treatment by carrying off the garbage in the streets.” “The Egyptian Vulture,” says Lord Lilford, «is very common in Andalucia and, probably, all other parts of Spain, and follows the plough, as observed by Captain Widdrington. In fact, during my last visit to Andalucia, in almost every instance when I observed ploughing, there were a pair or more of these Vultures waiting about, and picking up the grubs turned up by the ploughshare. They are very fearless of man, and are conspicuous objects against the tawny-brown hills so characteristic of Southern Spanish scenery.” Modern research has determined that this bird does not go to India, its place there being supplied by a very nearly allied species, the Neophron ginginianus. The Plate represents :—an adult, about two-thirds the natural size; and the young, from Mr. Woodward’s specimen, very much reduced, iD 7G GR 9 oO : m = a Bagh GMCS: SOS =o" IRD C - Lo) IN % lp hj lier & Co) Wa. - del ef bith “7 A Sai / Wolf andHl R ny AIT HH 3 2 mi —— Pi a —— l oie up Pa: is \ aa} SN +" ASN a) ox} a «| ba Py Golden Eagle. falco chrysaetos, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i, p- 125. Julvus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 125. Aquila chrysaétos, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 431. Barthelemyi, Jaub. As civilization advances, this noble bird, the lord of our driven to seek an asylum in parts of the country whe cultivation-and its presence are incompatible; the lamb neither can the fawn or the roebuck live without mole ancient forests, will either become extirpated or re nature still preserves a savage aspect. High and the Eagle can never dwell together in peace ; station within the range of its haunts. The Highland shepherd and the keeper therefore do their utmost to destroy it; and the time is probably not far distant when it will no longer have a place in the avifauna of the British Islands: hence a bird so frequently referred to in the Sacred Writings, which has ever been the theme of the poets, which some of the most powerful majesty and greatness, the flight-feathers of which are worn for the like reason in the bonnet of the Highland chieftain, and whose tail-feathers are employed by the sanguinary Indian to bedeck his head when dressed in battle array, will be entirely lost to us—a loss which would, I am sure, be a source of regret to every one who has nations of the earth have employed as an emblem of their a taste for nature; and I therefore hope that our great landed proprietors will exert their influence to preserve the remnant of our Golden Eagles. To effect this, however, without some combined efforts, will, I fear, be impracticable; but as a love for and interest in the welfare of our indigenous animals is now animating the breasts of many among us, I trust that it will, for the future, rather be the object of protection than, as at present, of foolish destruction ; if it be, I feel assured that none other than the best results will follow. The Blue Hare, now so numerous, will furnish it with an abundance of food, and thus the numbers of an animal which of late years has increased to such an extent as to have become a pest, wil! be diminished, and the balance of animal life, which the wanton destruction of our birds of prey has disturbed, will again be in part restored. That the Fagle, the Kestrel, and the Owl are essentially necessary to the equalization of the numbers of our indigenous mammals is certain; and this I shall have constantly to speak of in the course of the present work. To show the amount of destruction dealt out to this noble bird and the Sea Eagle, the Sutherlandshire Expedition of Naturalists state that the number of Eagles paid for between March 1831 and March 1834 was 171, besides 53 nestlings or eggs; and a gamekeeper in the south-west of that county trapped 15 Eagles in three months of 1847, and almost as many in the winter of 1850-51. In times past the Golden Eagle was the regular denizen of all the hilly and mountainous districts of England, particularly those of Derbyshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, many parts of Wales, the whole of Scotland and Ireland, including their islands; it is now only found in Argyll, Sutherland, and Ross shires in Scotland, the islands of Orkney and Skye, and the counties of Donegal, Kerry, and Mayo in Ireland. Up to the last year (1862), two eyries at least were to be seen on the Black Mount, the property of the late Marquis of Breadalbane, who made it a sine gua non that his foresters should at any time show him an Eagle; were this laudable conduct imitated by other enlightened proprietors, we should not have occasion to lament the gradual disappearance of this noble bird. It is one of these eyries that is represented in the fine drawing made by Mr. Wolf, fom which the accompanying Plate was taken. Its more frequent haunts are in such districts as those mentioned; but the bird is often to be met with in rocky situations in the neighbourhood of the sea, wherever it is likely to obtain an abundance of food. Although I have stated that the Golden Eagle is now eons to 3 limited area, it must not be understood that examples are not occasionally found in many Of; indeed, in nearly every English county; these chance visitors are, however, in almost all J BBLEMNeES, birds of the a or ie more than two years old; they are probably the offspring of parents resident in Scotland: but they may : distant countries; for it is well known that the young of both ou ars to influence the whole of the Falconide, wander further main unmolested instead of being migrants from Norway, Sweden, or other great Hagles, in obedience to a law which appe from their native home than the adults: were these birds allowed to re . ruthlessly shot, they would doubtless retire northward at the proper season, and fonm ne eee abited by this fine bird ? is a question which will naturally be as et y t it is found throughout the whole of Europe, but is more ous parts of the Continent, from Italy to What are the other countries inh many of my readers; to which I would answer, tha numerous among the Alps, the Pyrenees, and other mountain or i er countries are, however Norway, than in the lowlands of Holland and many parts of Germany, which latter c are, : like England, occasionally visited by the young birds. Out of Europe, the Atlas range of mountains in North Africa is one of its places of abode, while in the East it frequents the great ranges of the Himalayas, and doubtless the Steppes of Tartary; for it is probably the ‘‘ Bear-coot” so frequently spoken of by Atkinson, as standing at the tents of the wandering Kirghises and other tribes of that country. Mr. Gurney has no doubt that it also frequents all the countries of North America that are favourable to its habits, from Labrador to Texas, but believes that it is never found on the Pacific side of that continent. The powers of flight of this king of British birds are commensurate with its large size and ample wings. It may often be seen in fine weather sailing to a vast height toward the blue vault of heaven, apparently for no other purpose than that of pleasure; and its evolutions are graceful and majestic while thus engaged ; at other times it may be observed hunting the hill-side in couples and in concert, one flying directly over their intended prey, and the other following near the ground; and it has been known to stoop and carry off a hare from before the hounds. Such is the alarm its presence creates, that the swift-flying Golden Plover and the fleet Mountain-Hare appear as if spell-bound when overshadowered by the wings of their terrible enemy. It preys alike upon Grouse, black game, Curlews, Partridges, and Plovers among birds, to which may be added the flesh of hares, rabbits, lambs, fawns, moles, and carrion of all kinds, particularly stranded sheep, fatally struck deer, &c.; and I see no reason for doubting the possibility or pro- bability of its occasionally pouncing upon and carrying off a sleeping infant or shepherd’s child, if left unprotected on the hill-side: many such occurrences have been recorded, and doubtless some of them are founded in truth. Lord Hill informs me, on the authority of the shepherds on his fine estate in Ross-shire, that the Golden Eagle, while hunting the hill-side, will frequently swoop down upon a lamb, playfully take it up in his talons, and drop it again, and then another and another, apparently trifling with its victim after the manner of a cat with a mouse. The shepherds also assert that it occasionally takes the lambs over to the smaller islands between the mainland and Skye; and as no sheep are kept on those islands, there can be no doubt that the lambs occasionally found there are thus conveyed thither. The situations selected by the Golden Eagle for the purposes of nidification are very varied: sometimes a bold precipitous overhanging rock is selected; at others merely an escarpment on the hill-side, where, without any great amount of prowess or trouble on the part of the collector, the nest may be robbed of its eggs or young; at other times, and doubtless formerly more frequently than at present, the large stump or forked branch of a towering tree is chosen for the site of its large plateau of sticks, branches of heather, and other materials, the centre being usually formed of finer substances, such as wool, moss, fern- grass, and tufts of Lwzula sylvatica. If left unmolested, the birds frequently resort to the same eyrie for years, annually adding fresh materials, until at length, like the huge structures of their representative the Wedge-tailed Eagle of Australia, the nests become of gigantic dimensions. The eggs, mostly two and sometimes three in number, vary considerably in their markings, some being of a nearly uniform dull white, while others are most beautifully blotched and clouded with grey and brown over a light stone- coloured ground. To give a minute description of any one egg would answer no good end, they are so variable ; the reader will find some splendid varieties figured in Mr. Hewitson’s fine work on the egos of our native birds, and in the ‘ Ootheca Wolleyana.’ Those who take especial interest in British oology should endeavour to gain access to the collection formed by the late Mr. John Wolley, which was bequeathed by him to Alfred Newton, Esq., and contains a very large series of the eggs of this species. Besides varying so much in colour, the eggs also differ considerably in size and shape; Mr. Alfred Newton informs me that the largest egg in his collection measures 3:23 inches by 2°59, and the smallest 2°85 by 2:16. When first hatched, the eaglets are covered with white down, in which state they remain for a considerable period, day by day increasing in strength and stature; brown stub feathers next begin to appear in their wings and tail; and if the eggs have been hatched about the usual time the end of April, the summer has far advanced before they have gained sufficient power to exercise their pinions. The young, during the first two years of their existence, present a marked difference from the adult in the colouring of the tail,—the basal three-fourths of its length being white, and the apical fourth of a rich brown, which has obtained for the bird the trivial name of the Ring-tailed Eagle. As they increase in age, the white gradually darkens into the hue of the tip; and when fully adult, the tail is of a uniform dark brown, except at the base, where it is marbled with grey. The female, as is usual with birds of prey, is by far the largest, often attaining a weight of fourteen pounds. When adult, the whole of the body and wings are of a dark rich vinous brown; the lanceolate feathers clothing the head and neck rich golden brown; tarsi, which are covered with feathers to the toes, greyish white; tail the same as the body, except at the base, where it is grey marbled with brown; bill horn-colour ; cere and toes yellow; irides brown. The front figure of the Plate represents the bird about one-third of the size of life, taken from an example about three or four years old. wha, Pio OOM) CMV) eg) BRP BSI bs ov Ld bith, ¢ J Wolf & HCRichter Walter bmp iit i 2 3 om TO \ | | AQUILA NAVIA. Spotted Kage. Falco nevius et maculatus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 258. Aquila nevia, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutschl., Vog., tom. i. p. 19. pomarina, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. eee planga, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part iii. p. 1190. —— bifasciata, Hornsch. melanaetos, Savig. Descr. de Egypte, Hist. Nat., tom. —— wittata, Hodgs. in Gray’s Zool. Misc., 1844, p. 81? ——— anatraja, Savi, Orn. Tosc., tom. ii. eee Spizaetus fuscus, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xxxii. p. 60. oon AurnoucH the Spotted Eagle is one of the smallest membe rs of its genus, it is in every respect a true dquila; and had it been a native of the B ritish Islands instead of an accidental visitor, it would have been an important species in the Raptorial division of our avifauna. In Mr. Rodd’s useful ‘List of British Birds as a guide to the Ornithology of Cornwall,’ two instances are given of its occurrence in that county in the following words :— “The capture of the first English example of this rare Eagle took place on the 4th of December, 1860, in the eastern part of Cornwall, at a large covert called Hawk’s Wood, the property of Francis Rodd, Esq., of Trebartha Hall, adjoining the large moors between Hawk’s Tor and Kilmar, and not very far from the well-known Cheese-wring. Hawk’s Tor and Kilmar Tor rank amongst the highest hills in Cornwall, reaching in altitude from 1000 to 1200 feet; the characters of these hills and the moors about them in every direction are exactly similar to those on Dartmoor; in fact, the range is a continuation of the great granite tract extending, with some few interruptions, to the Land’s-end. The bird was first observed in a tree, from which, on the approach of the shooting party, instead of soaring, it shuffled down, and scrambled under some rocks; its condition was beyond the average of birds of prey, large masses of fat encircling the gizzard, which, on dissection, was entirely empty; one of the wing-bones was broken, but whether with shot or otherwise I could not determine; the body, wings, and every part of the bird exhibited the most perfect form; but probably the injury above mentioned prevented it from taking flight. It was a male in the first year’s plumage, and weighed 4 lbs. 1 2. **A second example, almost in a similar state of plumage, was killed near Carnanton, in November, 1861; it is now in the Truro Museum,” whence it was kindly sent up to London for my use; and my best thanks are here offered to Dr. Barham and the Council of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for the service they thus rendered to the present work. It will be seen by the binder fgure how much the young and adult differ in plumage. No other species of Aguila, in fact, ofiens) se great a contrast, the livery in the latter state being nearly uniform in colour, while the other is so much marked and Merentenced. It is somewhat strange that this continental species should have visited one of our southern counties, while, according to Mr. Rodd, the Golden Eagle, a bird which commonly breeds in Scotland, should never have been seen there; it forms another instance in exemplification of the western movement of Continental species. Although I have given precedence to the English-killed specimens of the epottey Eagle, I ayes not fail to state that a place in our avifauna was first assigned to He lay Mr. Yarrell me ie supplement to his ‘History of British Birds,’ where he says, ‘ For the particulars of the Gceumience of this fe addition to the ornithology of the British Islands, I am indebted to MTC he Oo : a : “This specimen,” observes Mr. Davis, “ was shot on the CSHeNe of the Earl of ee ve ee ae time in a fallow field devouring a rabbit. Another bird similarly marked, but reported to ie ake é shade of brown, was shot at the same place within a few days, but unfortunately ae not ei ; o had been noticed during the two previous months, sweeping over the low grounds in the neighbourhood, ‘ Ne = ~ ? which is near Youghal, and between Castle Martyr and Clay Castle. te is the southern and eastern countries of Europe, North Africa, The proper home of the Aguila nevia ee . : hor : ly, because the bird inhabiting the Indian Asia Minor, Palestine, and probably Western India; I say probab ah auglontes Delicues Peninsula has by some writers been considered distinct; but Mr. Blyth, no ee a . 7 ie ° Tomnalavas eerie wooded and water in their identity, and says the bird is also abundant in the Himalayas, and in the y portions of Central and Southern India. Not having enjoyed an opportunity of seeing this bird in a state of nature, I must now avail myself of the notes of those who have been more fortunately situated. “The Spotted Eagle appears to be rare in Spain,” says Lord Lilford, ‘and : ie saw it alive in any part of the country ; but there was a specimen in the University Museum at Seville, said to have been sailed near that town, and I found another in the collection at Valencia. I do not find this species mentioned in any of the Spanish Catalogues of the Birds of Andalucia or Valencia. It was very abundant in the Ionian Islands in January and February, 1857 ; I have seen the bird several times in Corfu; and it appears to be a regular winter olen to Epirus. I never saw one of this species, except in or near marshes; and it is certainly the most tree-loving Eagle with which I am acquainted. ine The Ibis’ for 1861, Mr. Simpson says :—‘‘ The Aquila nevia mostly haunts the plateau or open down-country of the Dobrudscha, and places its nest upon the ground. I found, or was directed to, no Jess than four, two of which were on the ground under the shelter of bushes, and two were on the bare plain. Out of the four I only got two eggs, and these very poorly marked specimens. The eggs were generally broken, the fragments being sometimes trailed several yards from the nest, which is a slight structure composed of a few sticks with a lining of wool carefully arranged. In one was a coloured piece of cloth. The Spotted Eagle is generally a tree-building bird ; but here it seems to confine itself to the open country, where probably it feeds largely upon the lizards and small animals that are so numerous.” In another volume of ‘The Ibis’ (1869), Mr. C. Farman remarks that the bird is ‘* not uncommon in any part of Central Bulgaria, but is most numerous in the neighbourhood of the Devna lakes and the Pravidy Valley. In its habits it strongly resembles the Buzzards, generally flying low in pursuit of its prey, which, if belonging to the feathered tribes, it strikes in the air. It seldom soars to any great height, although on rare occasions I have seen it rise until it was hardly distinguishable. It generally rests on trees, preferring a dead or sear bough, whence it watches its prey, and, when the opportune moment arrives, dashes off in pursuit, and again returns to the same resting-place if unsuccessful. When thus engaged it will permit a very near approach and is therefore easily shot. “In the spring of 1865 I observed a nest of this bird placed on an ash-tree overhanging the stream at the southern entrance of the Pravidy valley : it was more neatly put together than most Eagles’ nests, and was -warnily and softly lined with blossoms of the ash-tree ; it contained one young bird just hatched, and two eggs already cracked by the young birds within. On the edge of the nest were the two fore legs of a leveret.” “The Aquila nevia,” says Dr. Adams, ‘is the most common Eagle in Egypt, and is very generally dis- tributed over the country. It may often be seen in fields, hunting after reptiles and small quadrupeds, or feeding on fish on the sandbanks. I found portions of a large snake in one killed near Thebes, and on another occasion surprised a pair intently devouring a large Lepidote (Characinus dentex, Sav.).”—The Ibis, 1864. ‘* Kgypt seems to be the favourite winter-quarters of this species; it is then so plentiful that I have seen as many as twenty together in a grove of palm-trees. I think it probable that they do not remain to breed ; for they showed no signs of pairing as late as the end of March. This is an eminently arboreal Eagle, and is seldom seen among rocks. Reptiles and carrion are its usual food. The name Spotted Eagle is applicable only to the immature bird. With the exception, perhaps, of Circaetus gallicus, the species is much tamer and more easily approached than any other large raptorial bird in Egypt.”—R. C. Tayzor, in ‘ The Ibis,’ 1867. Aquila nevia, though only a cold-weather visitant to the north-western provinces of India, breeds on the side of the Himalayas in the Sahrunpore district. In the crops of all those we examined we found only frogs. This is, perhaps, the reason why the bird is so seldom seen except where water is plentiful. It may frequently be observed seated among the half-submerged grass, where it watches for its prey much as a Heron does. The bills and claws of those I shot were often covered with mud; and their crops could hardly have held another frog.’”—Brooks, in ‘ The Ibis,’ 1868. The Plate represents a young bird, about two-thirds of the natural size, with a very much reduced figure of the adult in the distance. ; ‘ HALIAETUS A LBICILLA. Sea-Eagle. Aquila albicilla, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 427. ossifraga, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 437. Vultur albicilla, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i, pe 123. Falco ossifragus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. [eels albicilla, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom, i. p —— melanotus, Id. ib. id., p. 254. albicaudus, 1d. ib. id., p. 258. —— pygargus, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. ols Haliaétus albicilla, Cuv. Régne Anim., ed, i. Do B55. Oo eee Or the two great Eagles which inhabit the British Islands, the Halivétus albicilla is wow by far the most numerous, whatever may have been the case in former times. ce : : : Unlike the Aquila chrysaétos, which affects he rocky shores of « sea-girt Albion,” from and in some Highl abundant supply of food, and rear its young without fear of mole ts and inland mountain districts, the Sea-Eagle resorts to t ores g which it rarely departs, except to take possession of an isl and loch, where it may obtain an At the present time it is mostly to examples are, however, occasionally shot in station. be met with on the north-western shores of Scotland and Ireland : nearly every English county, from Cornwall to the Scottish border ; but these are mostly immature birds, and very few, I believe, have ever been killed with the pure white tail and yellow bill characteristic of the adult. Eastward of Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Western Siberia are countries in which it takes up its abode. It evidently affects more northern climes than the Golden Eagle ; evidence that it ever crosses the Mediterranean, or proceeds far in the direction of the tropics. The habits of this Eagle clearly indicate that it is especially adapted for feeding upon fish, both living and dead; but although this may be the staple, its diet would seem to be somewhat for it will readily eat carrion of all kinds, and will doubtless occasionally fall upon mountain-hare, goose, cormorant, guillemot, or any other rock-breeding birds. varied, a lamb or a The following very characteristic note on this part of the bird’s economy has been obligingly forwarded to H. Osborne, Jun., Esq., of Wick :— “An observer, who carefully watched this depredator while beating the margin of a loch, not far from the me by edge of the rock, saw him slip over the precipice and shoot along about halfway between the top of the cliff and the sea. Hardly had he made his appearance when a rush of birds seawards took place. Everything that could fly left the rocks; and the terror and confusion that ensued was remarkable. This continued 5 : eae : eta ere as during the whole course of his flight ; and his appearance was the signal for a hurrying of the scared masses out of the reach of danger. So numerous and so very much frightened were the birds, that the progress of : chan ste Belk epee ie eee cle aise oh gmc ap the Eagle could be traced, long after he himself was invisible, by the strings of sea-fowl, of various kinds, that persistently continued to seek safety in flight. It was long before gull and guillemot got over their eg 299 fright, and matters assumed ‘ the even tenor of their way. oe . eee ween Geannencena s species in Norfolk, says Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich, who has carefully noted the occurrence of this spe i | a i ‘ ee st every al * winter ; the adu a Specimens, in immature plumage, occur on this coast almost every autumn o1 os but t ; ac m . : : . ees ae as »males and one male were shot in bird, with a white tail has never been taken in this county. Two females < a E i : 5 "1855-56: ; i ‘ing’ winter 306-07, between November different parts during the winter of 1855-56 ; and in the following winter of 18 27 ee and January, three more were obtained on the coast. Two of the latter were killed at Winterton, near y; : havea : : sine at date or re been seen, and in Yarmouth, a favourite locality, and nearly at the same spot. Since that date oe een seen, ¢ ; : tae 59. Holkham i and at Westwick in Ie some instances killed, at Horning in 1859, Holkham in 1860, ne a Se ne of any during the mild winter of 1862-63.” That it occurs as far west as Cornwall is certain, since , ses ; se 2 sea-coas at county. states, in his ‘ List of Cornish Birds,’ that it is sometimes seen on the sea coast of tha | y a a ae: and wherein Mr. Wolley obtained eggs of this species, as recorded m the The principal localities in Scotland wherein Mr. ; or ! oe ‘al ss: the bird also breeds in the Orkneys, Shetland, “Ootheca Wolleyana,’ are Argyll, Sutherland, and Caithness: the bird als gS ae x | : ce ee ; situ s which are similar to and Western Islands. Mr. Thompson states that, in Ireland, it frequents all situations i mila : in Iceland, is very common 1n Greenland, and, I believe, in c sees 2) I have not heard those it inhabits in Scotland ; it also occurs Labrador. “The Sea-Eagle is now on the wing; and as : a a is With his feet concealed among the feathers of the abdomen, his ngs spread out to their full extent, and even oh eo “ves, sailing at intervals, you he gradually mounts in wide curves, sailing ¢ aie) cannot fail to gaze on him with delight. head drawn close to his shoulders, and his magnificent wi : P >» hills, advancing with apparently eemine t Is at the points he sweeps along the sides of the hills, advancing w appé J seeming to curve upwards at the ; sweeps 5 5 for we have no° little effort, and should he spy a carcase, hovers over it in short curves, until satisfied as to his security should he alight upon it. «The cry is so shrill, that in calm weather one may hear it at the distance of a mile; and it often emits a kind of clear yelp, which resembles the syllable Alick, kick, klick, or queek, queek, queck, and which seems i . . : . . pies es i a . 4 “ ’ z eee 99 99 to be an expression of anger or impatience.” (Macgillivray, ‘ British Birds,’ vol. iii. pp. 228, 229.) . ; 7 renerally makes its nest 1 igh cliffs of the coast, but also «The Sea-Eagle,” says Mr. Wolley, ‘‘ generally makes its nest in the bigh cliffs of the coast, but als occasionally breeds inland. In the former ? Two other nests were made principally of sea-weed, and were in such ‘tremendous cliffs” that my informant’s hair ‘ gets strong’ when he thinks of them. In the Shetlands an inaccessible eyrie was pointed out to me on the top of a stack, or steep detached rock ; and I have situation an eyrie had nothing but a very little heather, grass, and moss used in its construction. seen another such stack on the north-east coast of Scotland, which was also said to have an eyrie at its In inland situations, the Sea-Eagle generally establishes itself upon a rock or islet in the middle Here it builds, upon the ground or in a tree, a nest whose construction does not differ from that summit. of a loch. i of the Golden Eagle, there being always in it a certain amount of Luzula syleatica. The tree is not always a large one; I have seen two nests of different years in trees on separate islands in oe OE. each only about four feet from the ground. I can call to mind nine instances of such island eyries. The old birds do not always calculate the depth of the water, as there is one place at least to which a man can wade. Where swimming is necessary to get at the eggs, it is often an affair of danger, as the birds will do their best to drown the enemy with their wings. In two spots I have seen large Scotch firs, which have been formerly tenanted by Sea-Eagles—one by the side of a loch, the other several miles away from any piece of water, a a sort of open wood of similar trees. The nest had been in a fork where three branches met, 20 feet high, and, as in other cases, the main trunk bore its weight. In one instance the crossed and nearly horizontal trunks of two small trees formed the support. The eggs, two or three in number, are always probably, when first laid, of a spotless white, and afterwards receive as stains the slight colour with which they ae marked. They are laid a week or a fortnight later than hose of the Golden Eagle, and are generally smaller.” (Hewitson’s ‘ Eggs of British Birds,’ 3rd edit. vol. Lp. 1:2) Macgillivray states that toward the middle of spring these Eagles begin to construct their nest, which is of great ao being about 5 feet in diameter, flat, and composed of sticks, twigs, heath, dried sea-weeds, tufts of grass, wool, and other materials, and that “the young make their appearance at the beginning of June, and are then covered with a down of a greyish-white colour. They are plentifully supplied with food, and grow rapidly, but do not leave the nest until the middle of 4 agust, when they are enticed abroad by their parents, who continue to supply them with food for many days. When the breeding-season is over, the young disperse ; and although these birds are not of social habits, several individuals may often be seen, at no great distance, traversing the hills or shores where there is plunder to be obtained. Their food consists of carrion of every description, stranded fish, young sea-birds, and small quadrupeds, for which they search the moors and pastures. Their sight must be keen; but in looking for prey they do not rise to a vast elevation, as has been alleged, but fly at the height of a few hundred yards, sw eeping along the bill-sides with a steady motion, or winding in curves with outspread wings. I have often seen them, far out at. sea, hovering and sailing in this manner; and several persons have told me that they sometimes clutch up fishes that happen to come to the surface. They may also occasionally be observed w atching on the banks of a river and attacking the salmon and trout when they come into shallow water. That they fare well is evinced by the abundance of provision which they bring to their young; but ee courage and address do not seem to be equal to their powers; for, unless pressed by famine, they scarcely venture to molest an animal larger than a hare. Grouse are sometimes destroyed by it, and instances have been known of its carrying off a domestic fowl that had straggled to a distance from the house; but the Sea-Eagle has more of the Vulture than of the Falcon in its character, and at all times would be w ell content with mere carrion.’ The adults have the lanceolate feathers clothing the bead and neck pale brown, with a narrow line of dark brown down their shafts ; all the upper surface dark brown, each feather broadly edged with whitish brown ; wings dark brown, with light shafts, and the tertiaries narrowly edged at the tip with light brown ; breast mottled light brown and whitish, and with a str ipe of dark brown down the shafts ; under surface lighter than the upper, and the feathers less conspicuously margined; tail white, stained with brown at the base, the longest coverts also white, mottled with brown at the base, with an irregular crescent of brown at the tip; cere wine-yellow ; bill and legs straw-yellow ; claws black. The young birds have the feathers of the fe and neck dark brown, with paler tips; upper surface reddish brown, with dark shafts; under surface brown, of different tints, with a few white feathers interspersed ; primaries brownish black; tail variegated with hair and clove-brown, deepening towards the tip. The foremost figure represents a female, about one-third of the natural size. Kilt bg ~ N § ¥ a —— Lie) ‘s Ss — £ K — OS & z Ss =~ SS peed \ a =n 4 RS = p> Ss — = =nN = “ital — Pi =-=| = ° — Fa : NS a - nC vr} 4 oopaie — — = Sea 9 BOOS OX ~ No" eh IOS Orso IX) SER ERA ue CBRE Se Se OS OC Se OS OC OSI oe ee f i . % : y 7A s a TANS PANDION HALIAETUS. Osprey. Falco hahaétus, Linn. Faun. Suec., eee piscator, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 361. ~~ 4arundinaceus, Gmel. ed. Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 263. Pandion hahaétus, Cuv. Regn. Anim., edit. 1817, tom. i. eoloe ——— funiatilis, Savig. Deser. de lEgypte, Hist. Nat., tom. i. p. 96. wcthyaétus, Kaup, Classif. der Saug. und Vog., 2 alticeps, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i, pees ———— planiceps, Brehm, ib., tab. 2. homes indicus, Hodgs. Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng., 1837, p. 366. Aquila hahactus, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutsch. Wo oa vOnan nie —— balbuzardus, Dum. Dict. des Sci. Nat., tom. i. p. 351. Accipiter haliaetus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom. i. p. 355. Balbusardus halieetus, Flem. Hist. of Brit. AMID, JO, Bil, Triorches fluvialis, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mamm. and Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 10. Norwirusranpine the persecution to which this interesting bird has been subjected, especially of late years, a persecution so unrelenting that it has almost amounted to its extirpation from the British Islands, the Osprey still forms a part of their avifauna, especially of that portion of them denominated Scotland, and will ever remain associated with the fine lochs and deserted castles of that country. At the head of that queen of Scottish lochs, Assynt, there still stands the crumbling castle of Ardvreck ; but no longer does the Osprey come to it in spring, rear its young on its turrets, and again depart in the autumn; no longer does the Fish-hawk circle over that fine sheet of water; no longer can the tourist have the pleasure of seeing the Fishing Eagle hovering over a trout, or witness its unerring stoop; no longer need he direct his glass towards the highest tower of the fine old castle, for the eyry of the Osprey is no longer there, the last pair having been ruthlessly killed about 1860; so says Mr. Sutherland, the landlord of the Tourist’s Inn. The same remarks apply with equal force to many, if not to all the other Lochs, the neighbourhood of which was formerly the Osprey’s summer home. Lochs Lomond, Maree, Awe, and Loch Fyne, with its ruined castle of Dunderaw, have lost their summer visitant, and their waters are no longer disturbed by the plunge of the Leaden Eagle, as it is sometimes termed. How much do I regret to write in this strain respecting one of the finest of our indigenous birds! but change in the destiny of birds as well as of man appears to be one of nature’s laws. My readers may here naturally ask, Well, then, what other countries does the bird inhabit 2 This is a question not easily answered ; for naturalists are divided in opinion as to whether there is one, two, or three species of this particular form, individuals of which are so universally distribated over the globe that there are few countries wherein they are not found. From Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, from India to the southern limit of Australia, and in most of the temperate portions of America north of the line, Ospreys, either identical with or nearly allied to our own, are as plentiful as they used to be in Scotland. In the absence of castles and ruined buildings, they take up their abode on rocky promon- tories, the giant branches of old trees bordering the bays and larger inlets of the seas, and in rocky islands in the centres of lakes and lagoons. There, as with us, they construct a large nest in the midst of a platform of sticks and herbage, deposit two beautifully blotched eggs, hatch and bring up their young, just as they would do here. It must be understood that the forcible expressions I have employed respecting the destruction of the Osprey have special reference to the bird in its former breeding-baunts in Scotland during the months of summer; for the Osprey is still frequently seen during autamn in many parts of Britain, and on most of our larger rivers and sheets of water from north to south; but these are probably birds of the year which have been bred in Norway or some part of the Continent, and driven out of their proper track during their southern migration. Such birds are easily recognizable by having the feathers of the upper surface more lanceolate in form than in the adult, and margined all round with white. The Duke of Argyll, in a note to me dated June 13, 1863, says :— . “Iwas much interested by seeing a fine Osprey the other day, hawking over the Dee, nea Balmoral. I had never seen this bird alive before, so rare has it now become in Scotland. His hovering, Kestrel-like, over the pools of the river was very peculiar ; but the movement or, rather, the cessation of movement was much less gracefully performed than in the case of the Kestrel, the wings having rather a heavy flapping motion. I saw it make a descent into the bed of the river, which was ve. and ce donee but buslies concealed the surface of the stream, and, if the bird touched the water, I did not cee it OSE, apparently without a fish. It was interrupted by a Heron coming from a great height in the air, So round it with outstretched neck, and every sign of indignation and alarm. The Osprey wheeled up in spiral circles to get above the Heron, and then soared off across the hills towards the valley of the Don. It appeared to ee amine carefully a bit of moor over which it passed, but did not hover.” Mr. St. John, in his Tour in Sutherlandshire, says, “I generally saw the Osprey fishing about the lower pools of the rivers, near their mouths; and a beautiful sight it is. i¢Uhe long-winged bird hover (as a Kestrel does over a mouse) at a considerable distance above the water, sometimes on perfectly motionless wings, and sometimes wheeling slowly in circles, turning her head and looking eagerly down at the water ; Bence. a trout when at a great height, and, suddenly closing her wings, drops like a shot bird into the water, but seldom failing to rise again with a good-sized fish in her talons. The feet of the Osprey are extremely rough, and the toes placed ina peculiar manner, so as to give the best possible chance of holding her slippery prey. Sometimes in the midst of her swoop the Osprey suddenly stops herself in the most abrupt manner, probably because the fish, having changed its position, is no longer within her range; she then hovers again stationary in the air, anxiously looking below for the reappearance of her prey. Having well examined one pool, she suddenly turns off, and with rapid flight takes herself to an adjoining part of the stream, where she again begins to hover and circle in the air. On making a pounce into the water, the Osprey dashes the spray up far and wide, so as to be seen for a considerable distance.” The late Mr. Wolley sent the following note to Mr. Hewitson :—* IT have seen several nests of the Osprey upon the highest points of ruins in and about lochs in Scotland, and several more upon small isolated rocks projecting out of the water. There is something in the general appearance of the nest which reminds one of those of the wood-ants: it is usually in the form of a truncated cone; the sticks project very slightly beyond the sides, and are built up with turf and other materials ; the summit is of moss, very flat and even, and the cavity occupies a comparatively small part of it. I know no other nest at all like it. The birds are very constant year after year in returning to their old stations ; and, even after one or both birds have been killed in the previous season, I have frequently seen individuals flying near the now deserted eyry.” —Col. Ml. of Eggs of Brit. Birds, 3rd edit., vol. i. p. 19. St. John describes a nest built in a birch-tree, so near the ground that he could see it without climbing. It consisted of a perfect cart-load of sticks, varying from the size of a very stout walking-stick to the twigs of birch and heather of which the inner part of the fabric was composed. He did not measure it; but, as near as he could guess, it was not less than eight feet in length and nearly four in width; the depth, too, was very great; the inner lining was composed of a coarse kind of grass. Mr. Hewitson says, the eggs are laid in the beginning of May, and are sometimes two, but almost always three in number. They are more oval in form than those of any other of our British Falconide, and do not differ much. He has represented the eggs with a pinky cream-coloured ground, covered with numerous large and small patches of chestnut-red and black, the smaller spots appearing as if beneath the surface. Lord Lilford informs me that a pair of this species had a nest with young on the Mediterranean side of the Rock of Gibraltar, in June 1869 ; and with a good glass, he could easily make out the young birds in the nest, from the battery at the so-called Monkey’s Cave; he further states that the Osprey is common on the shores of the Lake of Geneva during its vernal migration, and adds :—‘* We generally have one of this species, for a few days in August or September, haunting the lochs at Gaick, Inverness-shire.” Numerous notes on this bird, as seen in various parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, will be found in ‘ The Ibis,’ to which I must refer my readers, as they are too lengthy for transcription here. The front figure in the Plate represents a bird, about half the natural size, with a Scottish Trout (Salmo fario) in its talons, from a sketch by Mr. Wolf. {( A iH <4 Ui Ss .( ca 4 é es L(( | ttl = ==>) S| f | 2 p i £4 = x = = = a ——= Do = Ds — eat = / = aX =a| Be — i = ia = t- —— oH =* " ONS CM OS On BS ORIES OS Sy) a BUTEO VULGARIS. Common Buzzard. Falco buteo, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. Pate —— communis fuscus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom, i. p. 270. cinereus, Gmel. ib., p. 267. —— variegatus, Gmel. ib., p. 267. versicolor, Gmel. ib., p. 267. obsoletus, Gmel. ib., p. 268. —— glaucopis, Merr. Beytr., ii. p. 7. —— pojana, Savi, Orn. Tosc., tom. i. D2 oe mutans, Vieill. Faun. Franc., p. 17, [oleeS eatiome 2. —— fasciatus, Vieill. ib., pl. 8. fig. 1. Buteo vulgaris, Bechst., Flem. Brit. Anim., vol. i. one cinereus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 18, Buteo, sp. 1. —— communis, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 78. Juscus, Macgill. Hist. of Brit. Birds, vol. iii. p. 183. variabilis, Bailly, Orn. Sav., tom. i. p. 127. Accipiter buteo, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 406. Tuose who have travelled through Germany, France, and the central parts of Europe must have frequently seen a large heavy-looking bird perched on a dead stump, or on an exposed branch of a tree by the roadside or ina neighbouring field. This is the Common Buzzard, which eighty or a hundred years ago, before our forests had been enclosed or crossed by the fire-king, when every journey had to be made on horse- back, daily met the gaze of the traveller in every English county; for the bird was then plentiful, from the Land’s End to John o’ Groats. At the present moment it is rarely, if ever, seen; in fact it has so nearly departed from among us, that it may almost be considered as a bird of the past, for it is only in great woods like the New Forest, the more thickly timbered parts of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland that it may be looked for with any certainty of its being found. Twice have I seen it sailing over the great woods of Tregothnan in Cornwall, the seat of Viscount Falmouth: but these I suspect were only chance visitants ; for the keeper was alert, and intended a closer acquaintance the first spare moment he had to devote to them. ‘This is the line of conduct of all keepers—a class of men assiduously devoted to the interests of their employers in the preservation of their game, but in many cases profoundly ignorant of the highly important offices our English birds are destined to fulfil. It is surprising that the buoyant and elegant evolutions of the larger Raptorial birds should not be regarded by them with interest and pleasure ; but this is never the case, and I fear they are the most deadly enemies our birds have to encounter, their greatest pride being a well-stored larder of Hawks, Jays, and Pies, and a wood full of Pheasants. The Buzzard has but few friends; his stealthy, prowling habits are against him. A leveret is never safe in a field overshadowed by his huge wings; a rabbit, a young pheasant, or other game-bird is equally acceptable ; so that he really is a troublesome fellow. One would like, nevertheless, that even this vagrant among the Falconide should not be entirely struck out from the Birds of Great Britain. I fear, however, that such will soon be the case. The Common Buzzard is subject to so many variations, both in size and colour, that it is very difficult to find two examples precisely alike. It not unfrequently happens that while one may be of a nearly uniform purplish black, others are narrowly rayed with brownish white on their pieaes and thighs, and others, again, have light breasts, richly blotched and guttated with brown. These differences do not appear to be regular stages in the change of plumage, but to be variations subject to no foxed Ce Some of these varieties may be seen among the individuals in the menagerie of the Zoological poco Mie finest pair I have ever seen are now living at Berry Hill, the seat of John Noble, Esq., at Taplow, in Buck- inghamshire. It is from this pair that Mr. Wolf made the fine ee copied on the seco aaiue Plate ; and my thanks are due to Mr. Noble for his kindness in permitting them to be figured in the present work: they have been tenants of a large cage for three or four years, and are fully oe they appear to be of different sexes, and, as will be seen, are very light in the colouring of the breast. The chocolate-coloured bird represented in the reduced figure was killed at Somerleyton, and is, I believe, a bird of the year, and an unusually dark variety. ee PR ee de As my friend, Sir William Jardine, has written a very characteristic sketch of the Buzzard in his ‘ British Birds,’ I feel it is only an act of justice to him, to quote the most important passages. ‘The Common Buzzard frequents the more cultivated plains and oe in England, and the very wildest parts of Scotland. In the former it is decidedly a oe of sylvan habits, delighting in the more ex- tensive chases and parks where there is abundance of aged mney or in the tracts which oH bear the name of forests—in the latter, frequenting the alpine districts, and breeding on the edges of Hite ravines Cae which they are so abundantly intersected. In either case, the nest is built of large SHELS, with a scanty lining of 00 or hair, the site an aged tree or some ledge of rock ; the eggs, three or four in number, of a rounded form, bluish or greenish white, with pale brown blotches and spots or streaks most crowded at the thicker end. Inits habits it is sluggish and inactive, or rather it appears to be so; the flight is heavy, but buoyant, and when hunting it is performed in low sweeps, during which it surveys the ground and pounces on any living thing which may attract its attention. It never attempts to secure its prey by pursuit on the wing. Its teen consists of almost everything—the smaller Mammalia, such as mice or moles, the young of game or moorland birds, frogs, toads, &c. It has been often described as watching from an eminence or decayed tree, thence sweeping down on the prey when discovered, and for this purpose remaining for hours in one situation; we have never seen it so employed, and have always considered its long stationary perches as the result of repletion, and as a resting-place after the exertion of hunting and feeding ; and we have known the same station taken up day after day, and hours spent in a motionless doze. On quitting this perch, and during the season of incubation, the flight is slow and majestic—the bird rising in easy and graceful gyra- tions, often to an immense height, and uttering occasionally its shrill and melancholy whistle. At this time, to a spectator beneath, and in particular lights, they appear of immense size; the motions of the tail, when directing the circles, may be plainly perceived, as well as the beautiful markings on it and on the Wings, which are sometimes rendered very distinct by the body being thrown upwards, and the light falling on the clear and silvery tints of the base of the feathers. The Buzzard is a fine accompaniment to the landscape, whether sylvan or wild and rocky. In confinement it becomes very familiar, is easily tamed, and as easily kept.” Mr. Thompson states, in his ‘ Natural History of Ireland,’ that the Buzzard “is generally to be found in suitable localities. Specimens are procured at all seasons of the year in the more extensive and best-wooded demesnes in Down and Antrim. In such haunts the Buzzard builds in trees; but in the retired and moun- tainous parts of the country, where not a tree is to be found, it is equally at home, and forms its nest in the cliffs.” The bird had also come under his notice ‘at Rosheen Mountain, near Dunfanaghy, at Magilligan in Londonderry, at the headlands above the Giant’s Causeway and those near Carrick-a-rede in Antrim, in the cliffs at the Knockagh Mountain near Carrickfergus, and other places.” ‘During incubation,” says Mr. Macgillivray, * the male brings food to the female, and sometimes takes her place on the eges. The young are at first covered with whitish down, and, after leaving the nest, are assisted by their parents until able to shift for themselves. Mr. Hepburn informs me that it hunts the fields in a wavering direction, often turning and twisting, about a dozen or sixteen feet from the ground, dropping down on the unsuspecting mouse, and seizing the unwary bird perched on the hedge. So far as I have seen, it does not come near the dwellings of man in search of its food. Besides devouring mice, the Buzzard is of great service to the farmer in driving off the Ring-Doves from the corn. Here you may see them feeding in flocks, often comprising as many as 000, and sometimes above 1000. He is accused of killit g game, and suffers accordingly ; but the gleanings are not left to maintain game alone, being shared by mice and small birds, and yet the poor Buzzard is shot when endeavouring to fulfil one of the great ends for which he was created, namely, setting bounds to their increase. When will our senators see the error of game-laws, and the moral evils they inflict upon the lower orders ? Not till then will the farmer and nurseryman experience the full benefit of our Rapacious birds.” Independently of Central Europe, over the whole of which jt is dispersed, it is nowhere more numerous than in Africa: Captain Loche states that it is found in all parts of Algeria; Dr. Ruppell saw it every- where in the north-eastern parts; Dr. Heuglin mentions that jt is occasionally seen in Egypt during winter ; and the Rev. William Scott brought examples from Madeira, whither he states they frequently fly over from Africa. In India Mr. Jerdon shot the specimen he describes in his work on the birds of that country, and saw several others on the Neilgherries, and remarks that it has also been found in Nepaul and Sikim, but it appears to be a rare inhabitant of the hilly regions of India. Richardson and Swainson state, in the * Fauna Boreali-Americana,’ that this bird countries of America: but the example they have figured must have re have no reason to believe that it is ever found in America, published list of the birds of that country. also inhabits the fur- ference to some other species ; for I and it is not included in Dr. Baird’s recently The figure is about two-thirds of the natural size. X Oh a (eo oe Dy ) rey, OU and l Richter del ob bith =m ni il MM 3 4 2 ee 1 NAL UA IU ARCHIBUTEO LAGOPUS. Rough-legged Buzzard. Falco lagopus, Briinn. Orn. Bor., p. 4. —— plumipes, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 163. Buteo pennatus, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p- 156. lagopus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii, pt. il. p. 47. Archibuteo planiceps et alticeps, Brehm, Vog. Deutsch., pp. 40 & 41, commen (egopus, Gray, List of Gen. of Birds, 2nd edit. Doce Butaétes buteo, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 83. lagopus, Bonap. Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer., pase Dr. Barro, in his ‘Catalogue of North American Birds,’ gives the temperate portions of Europe and America as the habitat of the 4rchibuteo lagopus. If this be the true state of the case, then the bird enjoys a wide range; but Mr. J. H. Gurney, our highest authority with respect to Raptorial birds, considers that it is not found in America, and inclines to the opinion that the American individuals, hitherto supposed to be identical with the European bird, were the young of the allied species Archibuteo Sancti-Johannis. I do not find it in Schrenck’s « List of -the Birds of the Amoor,’ and Mr. Swinhoe did not meet with it in Northern China. Its separation from the genus Buteo has mainly been suggested by the feathering of the tarsi, a difference very similar to that seen between the Golden and Sea Eagles. The Common and Rough-legged Buzzards also differ considerably in their habits, particularly in the situations they frequent. The latter is less of a woodland species than the former, and in Norway will be found among the bleak open moorlands, hunting the mountain-sides for hares, lemmings, moles, &c., and, when not on the wing, sitting on a large stone in the middle of the moor, watching the Ptarmigan and Willow-grouse, upon which it makes a stoop when inclined to feed. I have seen it, with its long flapping wings, hunting over the wild uplands of the Dovrefjeld, when its actions, as seen at a distance, so much resembled those of the Harriers, that for a time I mistook it for one of those birds. In England it must be considered an irregular visitant, for its occurrence here is very uncertain; when it does come, it generally makes its appearance in autumn, and takes up its quarters in the great rabbit-warrens of Norfolk and Suffolk, where its lives until it has been trapped or received an unequivocal notice to quit. It not unfrequently happens that as many as thirty or forty appear at a time, and it is on record that even a larger number have been killed in a single season. Most of these wanderers from their native moors are young birds of the year, which have attained their full size, but which are very differently coloured, being marked with longitudinal tawny blotches, while the adults are barred with brown and buffy white, particularly on the lower part of the abdomen and the thighs. With reference to the occurrence of the bird in Norfolk, Mr. Stevenson says, “‘ The Rough- legged Buzzard appears here in autumn and throughout the winter, their numbers varying greatly in different seasons ; and though at times very scarce, they have been known to visit us in very considerable numbers. During the months of November, December, and January, 1839-40, no less than forty-seven specimens were obtained within eight miles of Thetford, and many more were killed in other parts of the county. From that time until the autumn of 1858, they were rather scarce ; between October and January of the following year about twenty were obtained, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Thetford and Yarmouth. They have ae been plentiful during the present winter (1862-63), though not to the extent above alluded to: one bird- stuffer in Norwich has had four or five, and a game-dealer at Yarmouth seven or eight more; they have also, I learn, been procured in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and other adjoining counties. Nearly all the specimens obtained on this coast, however, are in immature plumage ; indeed I know of but four or five adult birds, with the cross bars on the thigh-feathers, in our local collections.” oe It must not be supposed that the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk are the only parts of Great Britain in which this bird is found ; for examples have been obtained in Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Kent; it has also been found in Scotland and in various parts of Ireland. It is evidently a northern rather fen a southern Species ; for it rarely, if ever, crosses the Mediterranean, and, in our own island, seldom visits the south- western counties of Devonshire and Cornwall. | Mr. Wheelwright states, in his ‘Spring and Summer in Lapland,’ “that the Rough-legged Buzzard was by far the commonest of all the birds of prey in the Quickiock district during the summer, probably mn conse- They appeared as spring migrants early in quence of the number of lemmings which swarmed on the fells. | ne I have obtainec May, and the first nest I obtained was on the 21st of that month: it contained three eggs. : a nest with five, and one with six; but three is the usual number. ‘The nest, a coarse euinioe of sticks, moss, and grass, loosely put together, was often on a fell ridge below the snow-region, often in a tree, but never gd p>. o 5 Co © DB ~ O) rag et >” down in the forest. It is nearly as large as that of the common species, and presents one peculiarity which I never observed in that of any other Buzzard: there are always some green bireh-branches interwoven with the sticks with which it is formed. The bird incubates the latest of the whole tribe. We never find a nest with eggs until June, and in 1863 I obtained one as late as the ie of August. The eggs vary much in coltoure, and are certainly finer and deeper-coloured than those of any other Buzzard. I have occasionally seen Rough-legged Buzzards beating over the lower meadows after the young ducks, at the end of July: but I never saw one in the forest. The fells appear to be their peculiar summer home, for « ’ - they breed in no other part of Sweden; and on the 18th of August (the last day I was there) I counted Peroece on the wing soaring very high ; and that they were common here may be gleaned from the fact that more than fifty nests were destroyed in this district in the spring of 1862. The habits, flight, and appearance of the Rough-legged are much like those of the Common Buzzard ; bat it may aves. be cea guished from that species, when in the air, by the white root of the tail. Its cry is aloud ‘ ka-haa,’ not unlike the melancholy call of the Common Buzzard, and is in perfect harmony with the wild, lonely fell-tracts it frequents. I do not think this bird is so sluggish in its habits as its ally; and although lemmings and field- mice doubtless form the principal part of its food, Iam certain that it destroys many Ptarmigan, for I have seen the ground beneath the nest thickly strewed with the feathers of that bird.” Some neat interesting remarks on the range of this species towards the north, on its eggs, and the pains taken by the late Mr. Wolley to secure their accurate identification, will be found in Mr. Alfred Newton’s < Ootheea Wolleyana;’ but, as they are too lengthy for insertion here, I shall content myself with stating that we learn from them that the Rough-legged Buzzard is the only species which breeds in the far north, that it is one of the commonest birds of prey in Lapland ; and so enormous is the extent of the district from which Mr. Wolley’s specimens were collected, that no sensible diminution was thereby made in their numbers. ‘I am not acquainted,” says Mr. Newton, “ with any British author who has described the changes of plumage in the Rough-legged Buzzard correctly, or who has figured an adult bird. This can be easily explained by the fact that the generality of examples obtained in this country are young birds in their first dress; an examination, however, of Mr. Wolley’s spoils convinced me that in the adults of this species, as in so many other Accipitres, the markings are disposed transversely instead of longitudinally, —in other words, that the young are striped, and the old are barred.” Mr. Wolley ‘ climbed up to a nest which was in a Scotch fir of no great size. There were in it two young ones—one which was not many days hatched, the other much larger. They were white, and just like young eaglets. The nest was small, made of old sticks, with two or three sprigs of Scotch fir, and a little of the black hair-like lichen which hangs so abundantly from the trees.” Mr. Hewitson informs us that some eggs are nearly white, while others are of a cream-colour, largely blotched with reddish brown. They differ so little from those of the Common Buzzard that no dependence can be placed upon the identity of any that have not been obtained by a careful collector; hence the great value of Mr. Wolley’s researches. The under surface of the Rough-legged Buzzard is always deeply stained with buff in the young birds, the thighs and tarsi of which are marked with longitudinal arrowhead-shaped spots, while in the adults both the thighs and the tarsi are distinctly and alternately barred across with dark brown and buffy white. In some specimens the throat, chest, and flanks have a large amount of purplish brown, while in others these parts are interspersed with greyish buff. The plumage is more soft and owl-like than in the Common Buzzard. The under surface of the basal portion of the wing exhibits a great amount of white, showing very conspicuously when the bird is in the air. The tail has much more white at the base, and the bars, so nume- rous in the Common Buzzard, form a very inconspicuous feature in the present bird ; these bars, in fact, and the broad band of purplish black near the tip are almost obsolete in the young birds, whose tails are almost uniform buffy brown. The sexes are very similar at all periods of life; but the female is the larger bird of the two. The figure represents a very dark and somewhat unusually-coloured specimen, which I received from Mr. Wheelwright, about two-thirds of the natural size. eeeemeen ro » ht M i f , . S 8 Ss i WY y ) ( b . 2) Ae eI ( ( b .} —* i = - contusion it has been confounded with the cognate forms, the point cannot at present be decided. The same co ao BA ATIGe aroe Falcons in the United Kingdom. renders useless many of the records of the appearance of large Fe . y : {* , pe ‘ ses ‘ 1 > . 7 ahr re We “ Midway between Asia and America this white Falcon was seen at sea, a little north of Behring’s Island, by Mr. Bannister. Crossing the Pacific, it is, according to Professor Schlegel, known to the Japanese ; and Mr. ster. ssing it certainly occurs on the continent of Asia, though whether its character in Siberia is that of a native, or So a visitor only, there is not at present enough evidence to decide. . . . Captain Salvin and Mr. Brodrick, in their ‘Falconry in the British Islands,’ state that they ‘have been informed by travellers that some few large white Be icane: which must be Greenland Falcons, are caught annually in their passage over the Caspian Sea, and that they are highly prized by the falconers of Syria and Persia.’ ” Two very distinct phases of plumage are found among individuals of this bird, one of which may be characterized as light, the other as dark; these, by some naturalists, are regarded as races only, and not as indicative of a distinction of species. Examples of both have from time to time made their appearance in our islands ; indeed these occurrences are too numerous to be detailed here zm extenso : but I may mention two of the more recent instances. In June 1865 Mr. R. C. Musgrave informed me that a fine example in the possession of his father ‘‘ Sir George Musgrave, Bart., of Edenhall, in Cumberland, was shot in the preceding January by a blacksmith near Crosby Ravensworth, in Westmoreland, whilst in the act of eating a Grouse. tise very fine specimen of a Greenland Falcon, and is remarkable for its extreme whiteness, the breast being perfectly white and the leg-feathers nearly so.” In the autumn of 1867 another fine individual was observed at Loch Stack, in the western part of Sutherland, by Lord Belgrave (now Earl Grosvenor), who informed me that he saw it strike down a Grouse before bim, both falling in a little hollow ; he crept up to within ten yards, and threw his stick at the Falcon as it flew away. Lord Grosvenor tells me it was a splendid white bird. Both these individuals were probably young birds of the year, of the white race, as the British Museum, is of the the bird killed by Lord Cawdor’s gamekeeper in Pembrokeshire, and now 1 dark one. It was from this latter specimen that the figure of what is termed the Jerfaleon in my ‘ Birds of Europe’ was taken ; it is also the original of the figure, likewise so termed, in the three editions of the late Mr. Yarrell’s ‘ History of British Birds ;’ it has therefore an historical value. Little is known of the nidification of this Falcon ; but it probably differs bat slightly from that of its ally the I. tslandus. Three eggs in Mr. Wolley’s collection, said to have been procured by Captain Holboll in Greenland, are described by Professor Newton as being ‘** suffused with pale reddish orange, having a few spots of a darker orange-red, or dull red, or are mottled with pale brownish orange on a white ground.” A few words of explanation are necessary to enable the reader to understand the accompanying Plate. The middle figure represents an unusually light and beautiful young bird of the year, with tear-drop-like markings on the whole of the upper surface; the larger figure the adult, distinguished by having a small, somewhat heart-shaped spot at the tip of each feather of the upper surface, faint specks of brownish black on the under surface, and the tail creamy white. Walter Lrp. ey FA co Ce ( SJ Oo A eae = ee a> pan _ ee =» 3 => = —— = im a oa 2 Sa as = — = = az Es — eS — ee = — 2a = = — Sa —— — es = al =e 3 a Fas SS = Ss = — = = ———— = = = oS a = So S ss = s — = Se BS eg —- = = eS eee a -—> — = — = —S ae Se ee ae ee) aS SS ee P ’ ———_ ae i IZ a a — = ie Jl N = (? *a We “ ee ee RR ee TR SOC WG) (OG) (HG wey ONO" SD Ng o 7 od) c Me 4 C0 Refi PH CeCe OOM I OS SI alcon, CO GYRFALC OQ, Linn ‘orwegian F J A N Be § s Q Ss 8 UAL ¢ (AC. nyt 4| 5 Il I ie mi (2 FALCO GYRFALCO, rinn. Norwegian or Gyrfalcon. Falco gyrfalco, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 64. norvegicus, Wolley, Sale Cat. of Eggs, 1858. —— (Leerofalco) candicans, var. y. gytfalco, Blas. List of Birds of Eur. Ce) 9y?/alco, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, p. 18. » Eng. edit., p. 3. Wrrnour a few words of explanation it might appear to some of my readers that I am extending the present work beyond its proper limits by figuring on the opposite Plate a bird which has neve r yet been identified as a visitor to the British Islands ; but such is not my wish, It is given because the chances are that, although not recognized, the bird does occasionally visit us, and that I ma y be enabled to throw a clearer light upona subject of great importance than I could do by leaving it undelineated. To render my meaning more apparent, I must inform those of my readers who are not well versed in ornithology that it is a question among naturalists whether the Norwegian, the Iceland, and the Gre enland Falcons are one and the same species, or whether each possesses characters of sufficient importance to distinguish it from its congeners. Whatever conclusions some may have arrived at with regard to their specific value, I for cannot but regard them as distinct from each other. The true Gyrfalcon or Norwegian bird is by far the darkest in colour, and somewhat the smallest in size, the fully adult male being but little larger and having wings scarcely longer than the female of Falco my own part peregrinus, to which it assimilates rather closely in colou ring and in possessing the beautiful greyish bloom which pervades the plumage of that species. These differences (by which the bird may be at once distin- guished from its congeners) being so much more readily appreciated by the eye than they can be conveyed to the mind by the most accurate description forms an additional reason for giving the accompanying Plate. The young Gyrfalcon, on leaving the nest, is much darker than a young Icelander of the same age—the back, wings, and tail being of a nearly uniform blackish brown, while the feathers of the under surface (which are also of the same colour) are but narrowly edged with white. ““No faleoner in time past or present,” says the reviewer of Dr. Bree’s ‘ Birds of Europe,’ in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1859, ‘‘ would ever think of calling an ‘Icelander’ a ‘Gyrfalcon.’ With him the Gyrfalcon is and always has been the large Falcon obtained in Norway, with dark, almost Peregrine-like cheeks, a stout body, short tail, and other distinctive marks which it is unnecessary here to describe. At the present time many people have but a faint idea of what a Gyrfalcon is; but we beg to assure our readers that the different words ‘Gyrfalco,’ ‘ Gyrfalcon,’ ‘ Gerfaut,’ and ‘ Geierfalke’ should never be applied to any but the great Falcon of Scandinavia. That the true Gyrfalcon has occurred in this country we certainly think probable ; but it must be borne in mind that nearly all the large northern Falcons killed here are young birds of the year, and that it is not easy, though, we think, always possible, to detect the Icelander from the Gyrfalcon when immature.” The countries inhabited by the Gyrfaleon are Norway, Lapland, and Finland; in all probability it is also found in the northern parts of Russia, if not in Siberia. It habitually breeds in the three countries first mentioned, and probably also in the two latter. In autumn many of the young and; doubtless, some of the old birds proceed directly south, and winter in more temperate latitudes ; thus it is at that season that it appears in Holland. ae With respect to the habits and manners of these large Falcons as detailed by the older authors, it is by no means an easy matter to distinguish to which of them some of their remarks apply; but there can be no doubt as to nha has been written respecting the nidification of the Gyrfalcon by that very estimable oy and correct observer of nature, the late Mr. John Wolley, who not only sought out the breeding-places of this noble Falcon and many other of our rarer birds, but passed several winters in Lapland for the purpose of carrying out his researches in the ensuing springs. “Mr. Wolley was, I believe,” says Professor Newton, “the first naturalist able to give from his own observa- tion any particulars of the breeding of this noble bird. The curious fact that the Gyrfalcon, like so many other Accipitres, adapts itself to circumstances (breeding in trees when rocks are wanting near places that abound with > food for its offspring) will not escape notice. It was not until the fourth summer of Mr. Wolley’s residence in Lapland, that he became acquainted with this fact ; and then, as his remarks show, he was justly sceptical con- cerning it at first.” “On my way from Hammerfest ” says Mr. Wolley, “I inten led to visit the Falcons’ nests of which I had heard from Lassi; but when | got to enteaiine I hes ee. for several reasons: the snow might go any day; and I had some cause to doubt the truth of the account. However, I had the good luck to find his dréng, who said that his master had the day before pointed out the rock where the nest was. Getting three Reindeer, we started at se of time came to the small cliffs in the narrow valley where the river lay. . We had not up from the rock where the nest was supposed to be, and soon I now knew there was a nest; ; andin once, and in the cour long left the tr ack on the river, when a Falcon flew afterwards settled on the trunk of a dead tree, once or twice uttering a cry. - large and with a black space about it, as though it was in the mouth of a few moments more I saw it, looking very a little cave in the face of the rock. This was a joyful moment, but not so much so as when the hen bird flew off and settled on a little stump some thirty yards from the nest. We were ascending the hill, and might be about fifty yards off when she left the nest. I took off my shoes, though there was deep snow everyw here except just on the face of the rock, and first tried it from above ; butit seemed scarcely practicable. Then I went below; and with the Lapp to support my feet, and Ludwig to give me additional help with a pole, | managed to climb up. Just at the last bit Lhad to rest some time. Then I drew myself up, and saw the four eggs to my right hand looking small in the middle of a large nest. Again I waited, to get steady for the finalreach. I had only a bit of stone to stand upon not bigger than a walnut, and frozen to the surface of the ledge, which sloped outwards. I put two of the egys into my cap and two into my pocket, and cautiously withdrew. The nest appeared to have been quite freshly made. The sticks of which it was composed were thick, barkless, and bleached; and the lining was a bundle or two of coarsish dry grass. The eggs were handed down in a glove at the end of a pole; and when they were placed in a safe corner my feet were put in the right places and I descended in safety. I had luckily brought a box, with hay, and on the 12th of May had the eggs safe at Muoniovara. There were young inside, perhaps an inch and a half long, with heads as big as horsebeans. “An egg, from a nest in a tree, was brought to Muoniovara on the 18th of June, 1857, by a man who said it was the ee of Astur palumbarius. The tree in which the nest was placed was on the north side of a very large marsh, with no pines between it and the tree; and the nest was placed just at the top. It might be seven fathoms high. I can hardly doubt the egg is a Gyrfalcon’s.” The above passages are extracted from the first volume of the ‘Ootheca Wolleyana,’ to which I must refer my readers for many other interesting details respecting the discovery of the eggs of this species. “JT have not had the luck,’ says the late Mr. Wheelwright, in his ‘Spring and Summer in Lapland,’ “to examine many specimens of this Falcon; but all I have seen appeared to be smaller than the Iceland Falcon, and more resembling the Peregrine ; andin my mind it is clearly a distinct species, entirely confined to the Scandinavian fells, but not to Lapland alone, for it is met with as far south as the Dovre fell in Norway. The eggs brought to me from a high cliff on the shore of Lake Wihrigaur on the Norwegian frontier, about fifty miles west of Quickiock, were of a uniform brick-dust-red colour. “The Lap name of this Falcon is ‘ Rip Spenning.’ Spenning is the name for every bird of prey—Hawks, Owls, &c.; and the word ripa is added on account of the havoc this Gyrfalcon commits among the Ptarmigan. 9? I can confirm Mr. Wheelwright’s assertion that the Gyrfalcon inhabits the Dovre fjeld ; for, although I did not see it during my visit to that elevated region in July 1856, a large tock was pointed out to me by a most trustworthy person as a place where the bird annually constructs its nest and rears its young. It may be expected that I should give some account of the estimation in which this noble bird was formerly held in the palmy days of falconry, when it was commonly employed to capture the Crane, the Wild Goose, and the Bustard; but as that sport is now nearly extinct, at least in Europe, I can of my own knowledge have nothing of interest to conimunicate on the subject, but must content myself by referring those of my readers who desire information respecting it to the many treatises which have been published from the days of Dame Juliana Berners to the present time, and especially to Messrs. Salvin and Brodrick’s ‘ Falconry in the British Islands’ and my friend Professor Schlegel and Mr. A. Verster van Wulverhorst’s magnificent ‘ Traité de Fauconnerie.’ It will not, however, be superfluous to mention that the present bird was held in as great, if not greater, estimation than any other member of the family to which it belongs. I cannot consistently close these remarks without recording the kindness of the late Mr. Wolley presenting me with two beautiful adult Gyrfalcons obtained during his sojourn in Lapland. These specimens still grace my collection, and will ever be regarded with interest as the gift of an amiable and lamented friend. The Plate represents an adult, and a young bird of the first autumn, about the natural size. HANAUULH nu 4 i Walter & Cohn Lip canenenecatia FALCO PEREGRINUS. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus et communis, Gmel. et auct., F. calidus, Lath. ; F. abietinus, Bechst. ; F. micrurus, Hodgs. Bhyri of the Hindoos ; Bas of the Bucharians ; and Basi of the Persians. To enumerate the parts of Great Britain and Ireland frequented by the Peregrine would be superfluous, since it is universally, though sparingly, dispersed over the three kingdoms wherever situations occur adapted to its habits; these are generally, though not exclusively, precipitous rocks in the neighbourhood of the ocean, and bold headlands, such as Beachy Head and the cliffs of the Isle of Wight, Lulworth Cove, Wales, and Holyhead. In Scotland, the Bass Rock and all similar situations, both on the mainland and in the islands, are frequented by it; and the same may be said of the sister kingdom of Ireland, where its numbers are neither diminished nor augmented, similar conditions alone being necessary for its presence. The other countries inhabited by this bird are the continent of Europe generally, Greenland, and probably Arctic America. That it also extends its range to Northern Africa, India, Borneo, the Amoor, China, and Japan is certain, from the evidence of various writers, and from the fact of my having received specimens from nearly all those countries. Birds intimately allied to the Falco peregrinus are also found in North America, Cape Horn, at the Cape of Good Hope, in India, and in Australia, all of which, although closely resembling each other, possess distinctive characteristics, and have rightly, I think, been regarded as so many species; they are the Kaleo anatum of North America, the /. minor of South Africa, the F. tunetanus of North Africa, the F. peregrinator of India, and the F. melanogenys of Australia. These distinctions being admitted, the Peregrines form an important section of the Falconidz, instead of constituting a single species, as was formerly supposed; they are all of similar habits, and they are alike destined to perform similar offices in the great scheme of nature. The Peregrine is the Falcon ‘ par excellence” employed in the noble sport of Falconry; but into this part of its history it will not be necessary for me to enter, so many excellent works having been written on the subject, to one of which I would, however, especially direct attention, namely, the magnificent ‘ Traité de Fauconnerie’ of my friend Dr. Schlegel of Leyden. In days gone by, our ancestors devoted much of their time to this noble sport, preserved and cherished the Peregrine by every means in their power, and punished its destruction or molestation with great severity, many instances of which are on record. During the period of incubation and the rearing of its progeny, when the oceanic cliffs are resonted to, it preys upon Gulls, Guillemots, Rock Pigeons, Plovers, and nearly every ciheavag which occurs within the area of its particular beat, and vast indeed is the destruction of life in the neiphbounhood of its eymies In autumn the Peregrine often retires inland and takes up a position in parts likely to afford it a plentiful supply of food, particularly wooded parks and domains in the Bets Houmieo of large waters mreqnicmaeH by ducks, coots, and other water-fowl, to which it appears to be especially partial ; and in such localities it would probably always remain until the next breeding-season, if left unmolested. Of this feature in the bird’s economy I have some certain and curious evidence forwarded to me from Coombe Abbey, Warwickshire, by Mr. James Burdett, keeper to the Karl of Craven, who, unlike keepers in general, has, much to his credit, evinced a desire to preserve rather than to destroy this fine bird, —a line of conduct which has not only met with Lord Craven's approval, but which will be duly appreciated by every lover of a o the 25th of March, 1856, Burdett writes, “‘ There has been for the last four or five years a Foregony) anc sometimes two, on the trees skirting the large water at Coombe Abbey. I have often Been them take Coots, On Sunday the 13th I saw one of them strike six Bald Coots quite dead, but it did Moor-hens, Ducks, &c. : While Charles Lachlan Harris, Esq., and not take any further notice of them as regards taking them or food. ee ae I were fishing yesterday, the 24th, the Peregrine came within five or a yards o a “ oF te moe a Bald Coot by the head and carried it nearly ashore, but, on my calling out, droppec it; in two oF e ized another Coot by the head as before, and took it in his talons to the shore, a ards; I pushed after him, and when I had arrived yatnnabour - he had dislocated its neck, and commenced picking its On dissection I found the neck dislocated at the third joint minutes he came again, se distance of about one hundred and fifty y thirty yards, he flew off, leaving the Coot behind Peels ee breast. I send you this bird for examination. ! . | ; arance as if the sharp point of the hind claw had penetrated the brain at the alia ic from the head, and an appe ; ae ue as the amazing rapidity with which the Peregrine skimmed i i . h w occiput. Burdett informed me that suc ve ae a surface of the water, that the Coot had no chance of escaping either by diving or by flight. Dr. ‘ 30. savs, “The Peregrine has returned to Coombe, Troughton of Coventry, ina note dated October 12th, 1860, says, The Peregri ; : % reoar regoing information with much pie : : Dieeons.” Now I regard the foregoing in committing devastation among the Coots and Pigeo g interest, since it affords us an insight into the natural habrts and economy of this destructive though noble bird; at the same time it must be admitted that this trait in its chacl ee that of killing in mere wane tonness or sport, is not commendable. Independently of Ducks, Cvots, a Moor-hens, many other birds fall to the powerful stroke of the Peregrine’s hind claw, such as Grouse, fe Plovers, Pigeons, &c. When used in falconry, it is flown at Herons, Crows, and other birds of eae magnitude; but as these are usually victims selected by the falconer, any details respecting its prowess in ae cases would be somewhat out of place in a memoir on its natural history: but I may mention that there is no bird which is more easily tamed or rendered subservient to the desires of man, nor one ae becomes more docile ; for not only will it, at his will, pursue the quarry until it becomes a mere Te In ue Reavene, but os that altitude will respond to his lure and immediately descend, to be fed, and blinded by its stiff and nncoroa hood ; the cravings of its appetite appeased, it sits content oan! accustomed block of wood, or rides with equal patience on the hand of the falconer or its ‘faire ladye.” One The whole structure of the Peregrine is admirably adapted for aérial progression, its powerful pectoral muscles, unparalleled among birds of its size, together with its long and potted wings, enabling it ona to pass through the air with a rapidity estimated by some writers at the rate of 150 miles an hour ; but this rate of progression is as nothing compared with the impetuosity of its stoop when descending upon its quarry. Wonderful indeed is the rapidity with which this winged thunderbolt descends from aloft on any bird which may unwittingly pass beneath the rock or mountain escarpment upon which it has been reposing. Such a stoop as this I once witnessed in the Highlands. A flight of Ducks, which I had driven across the moor, caught the piercing eye of a Peregrine seated on a high rock about a mile distant. Down he came with meteor-like swiftness, when the Ducks, as if aware that it was their only chance of safety, doubled at once in the direction of the water they had left, both Ducks and Peregrine passing immediately over my head with the quickness of lightning and a rushing sound not easily to be described. Such a momentary scene as this can only be understood by those who have witnessed it; Mr. Wolf has endea- voured to convey some idea of it in the accompanying illustration. It will be seen that a Mallard has been struck dead, its back being ripped open by a stroke of the Peregrine’s hind claw—a mode of striking in the air which I believe it always adopts. If perchance its aim should not be certain and effective, the Falcon usually mounts gracefully, sulkily seats itself on some neighbouring rock or tree, and patiently awaits another opportunity for repeating the same manceuvre. During my travels over the plains of Australia, Falcons frequently followed me for days together, on the chance of my raising a quail or other bird; and many fine stoops have I there witnessed. Before leaving this part of the bird’s economy, I may mention a remarkable stoop witnessed by my friend John Fowler, Esq., while shooting in Scotland. A small pack of Grouse being flushed, they descended to cross one of the deep gorges between the hills of the upper Findhorn, when a Peregrine, which had been quietly seated on a neighbouring high rock far above the birds, immediately gave chase, and almost with the quickness of thought was down upon his bird, and bore it away in his talons in face of the spectators above him. The consternation this sudden attack produced, not only in the pack of birds alluded to, but among all the Grouse on the hill-side, was such, that Mr. Fowler had excellent shooting for the next hour, whereas before the Grouse laid so badly that he could get no sport. Few birds differ more in the size of the sexes than the Peregrine, and I have been very careful in ascertain- ing the relative weight of each whenever an Opportunity offered ; in this respect I have been most kindly aided by Mr. Benjamin Leadbeater, of Brewer Street, London, who has always submitted to my inspection any freshly killed specimens that have been sent to him; and I should be wanting in courtesy were I not to state that not only in this but in many other instances has Mr. Leadbeater been most obliging to me. The average weight of several females was 2 lbs. oO ozs.; and the total length 19 inches, of the wing 142, of the tail 73, of the tarsi 22, and of the middle toe and nail 23. There is no difference in the colour and markings of the male, of sufficient importance to be noticed. The average weight is 1 lb. 7 ozs., and the total length 16 inches. The Peregrine breeds in April and May. The nest is usually placed upon the shelf of a rock, or near the top of a lofty tree; it is composed of sticks, sea-weed, hair, and other materials. The eggs are two or three in number, somewhat round in form, and of a deep russet-red, blotched and lined with a deeper hue. The accompanying illustration represents an adult female about three-fourths of the natural size. It will be seen that the back is of a nearly uniform deep-blue grey, while the feathers of the abdomen and flanks are buffy white, barred with blue-grey. The young of the year is very differently marked,—all the upper surface being slaty brown, with a rufous border to each feather; the tail dark grey, crossed by five rows of sandy-buff spots assuming on the inner webs the form of bars; the breast and abdomen buffy white, with a broad longitudinal stripe of dark brown down the centre of every feather ; the axillaries, too, which are regularly barred in the adult, are marked on each w eb with large spots of buffy white. This plumage is carried to the first moult, when it is exchanged for that of the adult. ump Walter H.C} are na lWolka TM 4 MO 3 2 cm 4 HULU T UAT FALCO SUBBUTEO, Linn. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. Deelore — Barletta, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 129. - subbuteo major, Lath. Ind. Orn. Suppl., p. 10. —— hirundinum, Brehm, Isis, 1832, p. 740. — (Hypotriorchis) subbuteo, Kaup, Classif. der Saug. und Vog., p. 111. Dendrofalco, Briss. Orn., tom. i. DamSiion Hypotriorchis subbuteo, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 976. Dendrofalco subbuteo, G. R. Gray, List of Gen. of inden mse Hypotriorches subbuteo, Blas. List of Birds of Eur., Engl. edit. p. 4. Ir an ornithologist were requested to name the most elegant species of Falcon inhabiting the British Islands, he would unquestionably reply, the Hobby; for the proportions of no other raptorial bird are more evenly balanced, or the colours more harmoniously distributed. — Its long, pointed wings indicate that its powers of flight are fully adequate to the performance of the lengthened journeys it makes from one country to another, and to enable it to overtake the Snipe, the Lark, and other swift-flying birds: it is true that its legs are not so strong, or its hind claws so powerful, as those of the Peregrine ; but they are amply sufficient for the seizure of the small-sized species upon which it chiefly preys. Unlike the little dashing Merlin, which frequents the northern portions of this country, the Hobby affects the open fields and champaign parts of our southern districts, and evinces a preference for the woodlands. It differs from the Merlin also in the nature of its food; for, while it does not hesitate to give chase to the Snipe and the Plover, or to harry over the fields in pursuit of the Lark, it lives much upon insects. The dragonfly of the water-side is not free from its attacks by day, nor the hard-winged chaffer, which buzzes round the chestnut-blossoms, in the evening. In the capture of the latter insect, its movements are most graceful, and strongly remind one of those of the Nightjar. To carry the comparison between the Hobby and the Merlin still further, I may state that one is a migrant, the other is not; and to make the matter more clear, the former is a bird of the south, coming to the central parts of England in the spring, and departing again in the autumn, while the other dwells more exclusively in the north: further still with the comparison, the Hobby nests in trees, and the Merlin generally on the ground. The counties of England most favoured with the presence of the Hobby are Devonshire, Dorsetshire; Hants, Sussex, and Oxfordshire ; it does, however, occasionally frequent all the midland counties to York- shire and Durham, beyond which it is seldom seen. It is considered a rare bird in the sister kingdom of Ireland, only one or two instances of its occurrence there being recorded. The Hobby, as I bave said, is a migrant to our islands, and these islands appear to be the extreme verge of its eestenn range; on the continent of Europe it is abundant in Spain, Italy, Hrcuce, and Germany, north of which its numbers become gradually less. In all of these, as with us, it is a summer visitant, proceeding south in winter. Captain Loche informs us that it as ee three provinces of Algeria, where other species of this particular form also occur, such as the Falco a and the F. conan these, with the present bird, have been distinguished by a separate generic title—that of Hypotriorchis. Eastward the Hobby extends from North Africa, through Persia, to India, where Mr. Jerdon states it is a winter visitant, but is not very common: he has killed it near Jalna, and it has been taken at Calcutta and in various parts of the Himalayas ; there, as in this country, it preys upon Larks and other small birds, and not unfrequently upon insects. The one procured a Mr. Jerdon near Jalna had its stomach crammed with dragonflies, which he had seen it hawking for over a tank just after sunset ; he adds that it does not breed in India. : ae ; M. Bailly, in his ‘Ornithologie de la Savoie,’ states that the Hobby dvells in the forests of a ¥ a it builds in the highest trees or in the cleft of a rock in the neighbourhood. Toe nest 1s ae i a and is formed of the same materials as that of the Peregrine : by the end of the month, the full comp a of eggs is laid; they are four or five in number, of a dirty we covered with ee de cae about 1 inch 8 lines in length, by 1 inch 4 lines in breadth. The young are ae ee ae Bee days, and are then entirely covered with a unas down; they remain in the vicinity o . nes ee : ae ‘othe parents bring them food and teach them to fly. In autumn, with the first month, during which time the parents bring : 7 anereee OVed Thicmolaine ‘fcularl Thrushes, the Hobby abandons the mountains, and disperses over the plains, particularly migration of the ; . irds fly towards the a At times, especially in the morning, the old birds fly towards the se which are studded with small hills. " Re : hunt the Lark, the Wagtail, and the Swallow. It does not fear to follow the sportsman, and will elds to hunt ark, ag tail, even seize a rising bird in front of the gun. When birds fail, the Hobby has recourse to insects, reptiles, sing Q and field-mice. M. Bailly adds that young Hobbies are gentle and easily tamed, but that, with all his care and attention, he could not obtain the same result with the old. : “We believe,” says Latham, “this to be the most rapid in its flight of all the Hawks: Larks will not trust to their wings when the Hobby is in sight ; and we remember to have seen a Swallow pursued and overtaken while on the wing by this bird. This species was formerly used in falconry, but not known to attempt a larger bird than a eee ee it is a great enemy to Larks, and is frequently taken in pursuit of them by the Nini -aatahhens in their nets ; hence it is successfully used in the luring of Larks, for which purpose the Hawk is cast off, on seeing which the Larks keep to the ground through fear, and the fowler draws his net over them.” ‘Unlike the Peregrine,” says A. E. Knox, Esq., the Hobby “ prefers the wooded district of the Weald of Sussex to the orneiae the open country near the coast, being there a summer visitor. Yet even in these its favourite haunts he must be considered scarce ; for you will rarely discover his decaying form among the rows of defunct Hawks which garnish the gable end of the keeper’s cottage—a sort of ornithological register which indicates, with tolerable accuracy, the prevalence or scarcity of any species of raptorial bird in its irhood. JOU immediate neigh “The courage and address of this Hawk are remarkable. When shooting with a friend, a few years ago, . during the early part of September, we observed a Hobby pursuing a Partridge, which, having been wounded, was then in the act of ‘ towering.’ The little fellow proved himself a true Falcon by the quickness with which he rose above his quarry in rapid circles, ‘climbing to the mountee,’ as our ancestors termed this manoeuvre, with all the ease of a Peregrine. Unfortunately, at this juncture the Partridge became suddenly lifeless, as is the case with all towering birds, and fell to the ground; while the Hobby, apparently disdaining to accept a victim which he had not obtained by his own exertions, scudded away after a fresh covey.” The usual disparity in the size of the sexes seen in other Falcons also occurs with the Hobby, the female being considerably larger than the male. Both are alike in colour when adult ; but the young of the first autumn are different, having the feathers of the upper surface margined with yellowish buff, and the general ground-colour darker than that of their parents. The Plate represents an adult male, of the size of life, with a Dragonfly (4shna grandis) in its claws. nH TTL m4} ‘9! '3 4 S FALCO ASALON, Linn. Walter: inp FALCO ASALO N, Gmel. Merlin. Aceipiter lithofalco, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 349, esalon, Briss. ibid., p. 382. Falco lithofalco, Gmel. edit. of Linn. Syst. Nat., esalon, Gmel. ibid., p. 284, sibiricus, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p. 207. cesius, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutsch. Vogelk., tom. i. p. 60. subesalon, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 60. Aisalon lithofalco, Kaup, Ueb. Falk. Mus. Senck., p. 258, Hypotriorchis esalon, Gray and Mitch. Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 20, Hypotriorchis, sp. 10. tom. i. p. 278. Ni a ee Tue persecution to which the Falconide have of | ate years been unrelentingly subjected has reduced the numbers of the various species to a par ; but, if there be any difference in this respect, perhaps the Merlin is more frequently seen than any other of them, with the exception of the Kestrel and the Sparrow-Hawk. Not that the individuals are more numerous than in former years, but that its secluded habits, the it affects, and its power of rapid flight have tende own, while the other Hawks have fallen wild situations d to its preservation, and enabled the Merlin to hold its victims to the traps and destroying devices of the keeper. The destruction of so many of the Raptorial birds is, in my opinion, greatly to be regretted ; for without them the smaller birds are not under that salutary check necessary for the balance of nature. It must not be understood that I am advocating the wholesale slaughter of the little birds ; neither do I wish to assert that man should not exercise his judgment on this point, and take upon himself the office the Raptorial birds were designed to perform: if his measures be tempered with mercy, no great harm will be done. Asa proof that we are wrong in extirpating the predatory animals, I may state that one consequence of the persecution to which the Weasel has been subjected is the increase of the destructive Norway rat to such an extent that on some estates it has become a positive pest. A better animal for freeing the wheat-rick of rats and mice cannot be found than the Weasel: what folly then to utterly extirpate an animal whose only offence is that of now and then causing the death of a hare or young pheasant, and that only when the destructive rabbits, rats, and mice do not afford opportunities for its peculiar mode of sustenance ! Unlike the Hobby, whose habits lead it to frequent woodland districts, or the Peregrine, which gives preference to rocks and trees in the neighbourhood of water, the Merlin affects the open moor and the fell ; and the more wild and desolate the district, the greater is its charm for this bold little Faleon. In such situations it breeds and nurtures its young, making its nest (if a few crossed stalks of ling can so be called) generally on the bare ground, often by the side of a stone or bunch of heath. Here, on the bleak hill-side, the white nestling first sees the light ; here, far away from the haunts of man, do the parents sally forth to keep their charge supplied with fresh-killed Titlarks, Linnets, or any other small species that may catch the eyes of these vigilant birds. The romantic hills of Wales, the Peak and other wild districts of Derbyshire and the neighbouring counties, the stony moorlands of Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, the Cheviots, the Grampians, the savage hills of Ross-shire and Sutherland, and all similar districts in Ireland are the summer resorts of the Merlin. In winter both old and young leave these wild retreats for the more genial climate of the lowlands. It is then that we see him in the more cultivated districts ; it is then that the little birds of the hedge-row and the stubble-field—the Greenfinch, the Bunting, and the Lark—have their numbers lessened by the sudden dash of the Merlin ; it is then that the flock of Starlings, so busily engaged in searching for grubs in the grass-field, is stealthily approached, and scattered, terror- stricken, by his successful raid upon one of its members. Slily indeed aoe: the Merlin sweep close to the ground, with noiseless wing, toward the flock he has espied from some neighbouring tree ; to ite sea-shore, where the Dunlin and the Stint trip over the bare shingle, or patter over the oozy mud, the Merlin also pays a foraging visit. To say that it is more numerous in one part of England than another would not be conser with truth ; for, although nowhere abundant, it is found during winter in every quarter, from the Scilly Islands to Northumberland, whence it retires in summer to the uplands, and particularly to the northern counties of Scotland, the Orkneys, and Shetland. Its range also extends to eden In IC it is replaced by the nearly allied, but yet perfectly distinct, Fa/co columbarius. In Norway, Sweden, and oe it is numerous in summer, and even far beyond, within the arctic circle. On the continent of Europe it is a bird of the wilder part of the various countries, as it also is of Algeria and many other portions of North Africa. Mr. Jerdon states that it is a very rare visitor to the north part of Western India, whither it resorts in the cold season from Siberia and the high plains of Central Asia; and Mr. Swinhoe states that he has seen specimens from Pekin, Amoy, and Foochow, in China. Much difference occurs in the size and colouring of the sexes: Latham states that the male weighs five, and the female nine ounces. The former is distinguished by the blue colouring of the upper surface and the broad band at the extremity of the tail, while the latter is usually browner, transversely rayed with a darker colour on the back, and the tail is crossed with distinct bars of pale buff; in some very old individuals of this sex a wash of blue, similar to that of the male, is found to occur on the back and rump. The young differ from the adults in being more suffused with reddish brown, particularly the striae down the breast. The strength of the female corresponding with her greater size, she is said to attack much larger birds than her ae and, if pressed by hunger, to strike down a Partridge or a Pigeon. The Merlin is frequently employed in the sport of Falconry, and is flown at the Lark, the Thrush, and the Blackbird—in former times, however, rather for the amusement of the lady than of her lord, whose pride was in his well-trained Falcon and Tiercel. ‘¢ A gentleman, residing at Moyallen (county of Down),” says Mr. Thompson, “ who has Merlins trained for the chase, frequently flies them at tame pigeons, which they kill well. Mr. W. Sinclair bas remarked to me that, when living prey was given to his Merlins, they instanta- neously extinguished life, whether or not they at the same time began feeding ; while, under similar circum- stances, the Peregrine Falcon has retained a bird in his grasp for some time, putting an end to its existence only when urged by hunger, though, like the Merlin, when it did commence, the most vital part was in- variably first ‘entered upon.’ His Sparrow-Hawks, it need hardly be added, began feeding indiscriminately on any part of the living objects offered them.” Although I did not succeed in finding the nest of the Merlin when I visited the Dovrefjeld, I am certain that the bird was then engaged in feeding its young ; for the old birds passed and repassed certain parts of the moor with a degree of regularity that attracted my attention ; and as I sat on a stone watching them, I observed that they always took the same direction coming and going from the scrubby parts of the country to the hill-side. The kind of food they carried home I was unable to ascertain ; probably small birds. I did not perceive that they ever attacked the Fieldfare or the Redwing, although these were plentiful in the immediate neighbourhood. Mr. Alfred Newton, writing of the series of Merlin’s eggs contained in the ‘Ootheca Wolleyana,’ states that it is “selected from about two hundred trustworthy specimens, more than three-fourths of which have been sinultanecusly compared in forming it. As it stands, it may therefore be held a fair representation of what the eggs of this species are really hke. There are not many specimens in it which, taken singly, could be pronounced, from their appearance alone, to be certainly Merlins’; but, taken as a whole, a purple tint is seen to be prevalent, which is not discernible in the series of Kestrels’ eggs lying in the same drawer, while the average size of these latter is also greater. It will be seen that the Merlin is also one of those birds of prey which are not constant in the choice of a locality for their nests, sometimes breeding (as in > the British Islands is, I believe, its usual habit) on the ground, at others in trees.” It also appears from the same work, that in Northern Lapland Mr. Wolley found the Merlin not unfrequently using the old nests of the Rough-legged Buzzard, which are built in high trees, for its own purposes. Speaking of the Merlin, as seen by him in the Quickiock district, between 400 and 500 miles north of the Dovrefjeld, Mr. Wheelwright says it was the common Hawk, and must have been one of the early spring migrants ; for he shot a female on the 19th of April.‘ It was impossible to walk on the fells without meeting this bold and pretty Hawk, which I have even seen chasing the Ptarmigan. I never found the nest here anywhere but on the ground, either on a bare cliff or in the heather, always on tolerably high fells. The earliest taken was on June the 9th. When first laid, the eges have a beautiful violet-red tinge, with reddish-brown spots ; this, however, soon fades, and they become of a reddish-brown hue, with dirty-brown spots. The Laps say that it sometimes builds in trees. The eggs appear to vary in number from four to six; and so much do they resemble those of the Kestrel, though generally a trifle smaller, that the two mingled together could never be accurately separated, unless each egg had been numbered.” “During flight,” says Macgillivray, ‘ this species sweeps along at no great height, glides over the fields, shoots by the edge of the wood, examines the thorn fence, and sometimes alights on a tree or wall, as if to survey the ground. Although it may occasionally pounce on a partridge, it usually preys on smaller birds, such as larks, thrushes, chaffinches, sandpipers, snipes, and plovers.” Phe Plate represents a male and a female, with their four young of a few days old, of the size of life. © Ks B Xe {o yy a 9 S| 4S Richter, del et: bithy. Walter, Lmp. ERYTHROPUS VESPERTINUS, Orange-legoed Hobby. Falco vespertinus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 129. — rufipes, Beseke, Vog. Kurlands, p. 13, tab. 3, 4, Cerchneis vespertinus, Boie, Isis, 1828, p. 314. Erythropus vespertinus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 76. Pannychistes rufipes, Kaup, Nati). Syst., p. 57, Tinnunculus (Erythropus) rufipes, Kaup, Class. der Saug. und Vég, ( ———_ ) vespertinus, Kaup, Mus. Senckenb., : vespertinus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. p. 21 , p. 108. 1845; p. 257, Tinnunculus, Spal: SRR ecm Turs remarkably pretty species, whose natural home is in countries f; ar warmer than our own, has been killed in England so many times that no question can arise as to the propriety of assigning it e : Se sO rip Re YS) ; cs : = 5 = “ Birds of Great Britain.” Here, as well as in all the parts of Europe in which it has yet been discovered, it is rendered remarkable by its peculiar habits: in the first place, it is gregarious, many often breeding In Company; in the next, it is so fearless of man that = ~ ? of a number be killed, the remainder remain a place among the is strictly a migrant, and, moreover, if one or more apparently regardless of danger ; thirdly, it is said to some- times breed under the roofs of houses, and even to construct its nest in their interiors ; and, lastly, it is crepuscular, feeding on insects captured in the twilight, and but seldom on birds; much diversas moreover, occurs in the colouring of the sexes and immature examples. ’ It is somewhat doubtful whether there be not two or three species of this particular form inc luded under the specific term vespertinus, inas- much as the dark-coloured males from China and South Africa have the under part of the wing white, and not plumbeous as seen in European specimens; but, in their size and markings, nothing is ob- servable which would enable the ornithologist to determine the plurality or unity of these birds specific sense. In 2 The first recorded notice of the occurrence of this Falcon in our islands will be found in the fourth volume of Loudon’s ‘Magazine of Natural History,’ where the late Mr. Yarrell states that three indi- viduals (an adult male, a young male, and an adult female) were obtained in May 1830, at Horning, in Norfolk, and that a fourth specimen was shot at Holkham Park. Besides these he mentions, in his ‘History of British Birds,’ that a fifth example was shot in the same county in 1832, three more in York- shire, one in Durham, one near Devonport, and that a female was struck down by a Raven in Littlecote Park, near Hungerford. Since the publication of Mr. Yarrell’s work, several other specimens have been procured ; thus W. Oxenden Hammond, Ksq., of St. Alban’s Court, Wingham, Kent, records, in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1862, the killing of an adult female at Sandling Park, near Hythe, in the early part of the same year, and Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich, in the ‘Zoologist’ for 1863, that he- had recently purchased a young male which had been killed at Somerleyton Station, near Lowestoft, on the 12th of July, 1862. In a letter received from the last-mentioned gentleman, dated June 20, 1868, he informs me that an adult female had been killed on Yarmouth Broad a fortnight before ; and, more recently, Mr. H. Smither, of Churt, states that another adult female had been shot near Farnham. The above comprises all the British examples with which I am acquainted ; but there may be others which are unknown to me. There is no verified instance of its having been found in Scotland, and but one of its occurrence in Ireland. lisa constant visitant to Silesia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, the Tyrol, Switzerland, and the disumeie on the nonilicas side ot the Apennines, whence it passes to Provence and Tuscany. In France, as in this country, it is of rare occurrence, and is unknown in Holland. Mr. Jerdon states that, “although generally spice throughout India, it is nowhere very common; I killed it on the Neilgherries, in the Carnatic, and in Central India ; it is not very unfrequent in Lower Bengal and the neighbourhood of Calcutta ne the rainy season only. It is found all along the Himalayan range; and I procured examples at ae ee As Mr. Jerdon justly remarks, not much is known of its habits; but that little I will here g : -¢ RE conechinoa allas states that the birds he saw hunt language of those who have written a few brief notes respecting it. Pallas ste towards evening, killing spiders, water-insects, and, occasionally, swallows, ane Be 7 deserted crows nests ; the stomachs of those examined by Mr. Jerdon contained the remains a : ee ae it is very common in Asia Minor, and that it builds its nest under the roots, 2 a : am ae interior of houses. The Rev. H. B. Tristram, in his ‘ Notes on Birds a = i | Tl : but returns earlier than the common species. 1€ Fellowes says states that this pretty little Hobby is a summer migrant, - ‘no a rare bird ¢ ‘onfined to the central districts ; absence of suitable woods is probably the reason of its being a rare bird and confine ; a few pairs were seen among the large terebinth trees near the foot of the hills of Judea. They seem to roost and build there, feeding on habits and flight rather than the Hobby. ioe | “The Orange-legged Hobby (Erythropus vespertinus),” says Lord Liliord, i his ‘ Notes on the Birds observed by him in the Tonian Islands, &c.,’ ‘arrives in Corfu, occasionally in great numbers, about the latter end of April. In the spring of 1858 it was very abundant, particularly ag Rene a Sue co island to the north of Corfu, celebrated as a favourite resting-place for immense flights of quails during their vernal migration. It appears to be very fearless of man. I have watched a flock of five or six ly in the plains, over which they hover, resembling the Kestrel in their a for upwards of an hour, during which time they often approached within ten or ae yards ou where I sat, though 1 was in no way concealed. As far as my observation goes, this species only SELL for a few days in Corfu, on its passage northwards ; and I have never heard of its occurrence in the island, except in April and May. The stomach of a specimen I saw skinned contained the eeTEN of large night-flying moths. Both this species and the Common Hobby are to be observed on the wing as late as S.or 9 pam. Whe Orange-legged Hobby often alights on the ground, and runs with great ease and speed.” About Talien Bay, in North China, ‘* This handsome little bird-slayer,” says Mr. Swinhoe (his remarks probably applying to the white-winged bird), “was not unfrequently met with flying along overhead or hovering poised in the air. Judging from the contents of the stomachs of the two I procured, I should say it committed great havoc among the Larks and other field-birds. It certainly caused considerable conster- nation wherever it appeared among them. I have had two opportunities of observing the nest of this species ; one was placed among the topmost boughs of a willow, the other amid the leafy foliage of some umbrageous tree. The nests were large and round, and built of sticks, resembling somewhat those of the Magpie. When the old birds visited the nest, the young (balls of white down, with bluish bills) set up a chattering cry.” ‘This pretty little Hawk,” says Mr. Wright, in his ‘ List of the Birds observed in the Islands of Malta and Gozo,’ “visits us in the vernal and autumnal periods of migration, and in some years in much larger numbers than in others. It is sometimes to be met with in small flocks, when they will allow repeated shots to be fired at them without taking alarm.” Lord Lilford remarks that he once saw an Evythropus vespertinus in Andalusia, and that there is a spe- cimen in the Museum of Valencia ; but it is not, he thinks, a common bird in any part of Spain. Turning to another part of the world, Africa—‘* The birds of this species,” says the Rev. H. B. Tristram, ‘“ have the same gregarious habits in Algeria that Mr. Cochrane has stated them to have in Hungary; they are, however, very rare. The only breeding-place known to me is on the edge of a pine forest, near Djelfa, in Algeria proper; and there there are not more than four or five pairs; while in the eastern province of Constantine they do not seem to occur, except as stragglers. They return late from the south ; and on my visiting their rookery in June, 1856, they were employed in repairing old nests, and had not yet com- menced laying.” In Dr. Kirk’s paper ‘ On the Birds of the Zambesi Region of Eastern Tropical Africa,’ it is stated that ‘this pretty little Hawk is found near the river. It appears only at sunset and in the dusk, when, coming in great numbers from the shady forest or from among the fronds of the lofty Borassus-palm, it hovers, swallow-like, over the plains and water, catching dragonflies and locusts, which, with other insects, caught on the wing, seem to constitute its chief or only food. In February and March it was seen in numbers on the Shiré, where the bush-vegetation and palm-forest come down to the river.” This note also probably refers to the bird with white under wing-coverts. With respect to the nidification of this species, Mr. Cochrane (who had the good fortune to meet with it in Hungary during the breeding-season) informed Mr. Hewitson that it arrives in that country about the middle of April, and lays its eggs early in the following month. ‘They make no nest for themselves, but, after a fight with the lawful owners, take possession of those of the Crow, Rook, or Magpie, altering or re- pairing them to their own taste. Mr. Cochrane says he has found their eggs in a nest of Corvus corone, that they are sometimes six in number, but most commonly four or five. ‘ Sometimes in isolated trees, at others as many as six or seven pairs in one tree, in a rookery, exactly as Rooks in England.’ The eggs most nearly resemble those of the Kestrel, being, however, for the most part considerably less ; like the eggs of that bird they are sometimes finely freckled throughout, and much resemble those of the red Grouse.” The Plate represents an adult male and a female, of the size of life. 7p lier ¢ Cohn, ?7 Ni > 5 r¢) = a b , : 4 f b “4 " ' aed j — Dy / ‘ A NK 6 y « & x 8 8 : \ s =6 ‘ — NS = : = Rw = r} 8 = 7 S = { ; =e cart Ly i oe = ~« = f —" =) = AR TINNUNCULUS ALAUDARIUS. Kestrel. Falco tinnunculus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. pe tee aureus, Klein, Av., 49, 52, 53.—Id. Ov. t. Vi. fig. 4. interstinctus, M‘Clell. Proc. of Zool. Soc. 1839, 154. fasciatus, Retz. Faun. Suec., p. 70. —— brunneus, Bechst. Taschenb. Deutsch., tom. i. p. 38. —— alaudarius, Gmel. Syst. Nat., tom. i. pe 279) Accipiter alaudarius, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 379. tumunculus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 393. Tinnunculus alaudarius, Vieill. interstinctus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. i. Deezieesparse Cerchneis tinnunculus, Bonap. Comp. List of Eur. and N. Amer. Birds, p. 5. So much has been written respecting the habits and economy of the Kestrel by both British and Continental authors, that it will not be necessary to give any lengthened details on these points, as they must be well known to every one at all acquainted with the history of our native birds; I shall therefore conten) myself by stating all that it is necessary to say respecting it in as succinct a manner as may be. First, then, as to its distribution : no one of the British Falcons and Hawks is so widely and so generally spread over England, Ireland, and Scotland—every locality being alike frequented, whether it be barren wastes, heathy moorlands, or districts under cultivation; on the continent of Europe it is equally diffused from east to west, and from south to north ; it is justas abundant throughout Africa northward of the Tropic, Asia Minor, and the entire peninsula of India, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin ; and that its range extends even still further east has been proved by the receipt of specimens collected by Mr. Swinhoe in China, which do not materially differ from those killed in England. Why are Kestrels so numerous when compared with other Falcons and Hawks? Our acquaintance with them tells us that of all the members of the Falconide they are the most omnivorous, and that instead of confining themselves to birds and small quadrupeds, insects, which are preyed upon almost indiscriminately, form a considerable part of their diet ; and hence, as the abundance of this kind of food is greater, the greater is the number both of the individuals and of the various species of Kestrel to which the generic name of Tinnunculus has been given. But to return to our own bird, the only one of its genus which visits Great Britain: what are its habits ? what are its peculiarities? The first and most striking is undoubtedly its manner of hovering and sustaining itself in the air at one fixed position. Few, I conceive, who have left the town, the mansion, or the cottage, and gone out for a country ramble, but must have noticed a stationary object between them and the sky. This is the Kestrel in pursuit of his daily calling, scan- ning the earth for a mouse, an insect, a lizard, or, if it be the season of summer, a young lark or other bird. For several seconds (sometimes for a minute or more) this speck in the sky appears motionless ; his next movement will tell us if his penetrating eye has been attracted by some living object below; for if so, he descends like a stone towards the ground; if not, his beautifully constructed wings bear him away in a succession of graceful sweeps to another part of the heath or common, where he again enacts the scene I have endeavoured to describe, but which will perhaps be rendered more intelligible by a reference to the accompanying Plate, where the bird figured is shown to be a male by the black bar across the end of its outspread silvery tail. Independently of these peculiar aérial evolutions, the Kestrel sometimes gives chase to small birds, or hunts near the ground for the nestling partridge, or perhaps a leveret ; but this is not the rule, and pray let not my mentioning that he occasionally destroys a partridge chick be arraigned against him, and his doom sealed in the mind of every keeper of game ; rather consider the good he undoubtedly performs by destroying the voracious Shrew, the Field-Mouse, the young Weasel, Snake, and Adder, all of Shiehheias been known to kill. “In summer,” says Mr. Selby, “ the Cockchafer supplies to this species and the following curious account Is given by an eye-witness of the fact. an object of pursuit and food ; ccupation entirely new 1 seeing cestr igaged in an oO ‘I had,’ says he, ‘ the pleasure, this summer, of seeing the Kestrel engag i 1 im throug ass saw him dart to me, hawking after Cockchafers late in the evening. I watched him through a ce and sé 4 : through a swarm of the insects, seize one in each claw, and eat them whilst flying. He revised to the a I ascertained it beyond a doubt, as I afterwards shot him. In taking its prey, ashing, low, skimming flight charge again and again. see the Kestrel neither affects the bold, impetuous swoop of the Peregrine, nor the ¢ eae ; of the Sparrow-Hawk. In his disposition it is more tame and docile, or less bold than other Falcons. In confirmation of which trait in his nature I may cite the recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ by the Rev. H. H. Crewe, of Bre following interesting instance, which has been adsall Rectory, Derbyshire :—‘* About four years ago my children procured a young male Kestrel, which, when able to fly, I persuaded them to give its liberty; but it never left the place, and became attached to them. In the spring of the following year we missed him for nearly a week, and thought he had been shot; but one morning I observed him soaring about with another of his species, which proved to be a female. dove-cote, about a hundred yards from the Rectory ; but being disturbed that season, as I thought by some White Owls, the eggs were never hatched. The next spring he again brought a mate; they again built, e Last year they did the same; but some mischievous boys took the young They paired, and laid several eggs in an old and reared a nest of young ones. ones when just ready to fly. Though in every respect a wild bird as to his habits in the fields, he comes every day to the nursery window, and, when it is opened, will come into the room, and perch upon the chairs or table, and sometimes upon the heads of the little ones, who always save a piece of meat for him. His mate will sometimes venture to come within a yard or two of the house, to watch for him when he comes she will then give chase and try to make him drop it, both of them squealing The male never leaves us; indeed he is so attached to the out of the room with his meat ; and chattering, to our great amusement. children, that if we leave home for a time he is seldom seen; but as soon as we return, and he hears the voices of his little friends calling him by name, he comes flying over the fields, squealing with joy to see them again. He is now so well known among the feathered tribes of the neighbourhood, that they take no notice of him, but will sit upon the same tree with him; even the Rooks appears quite friendly.” That the Kestrel is a constant resident with us, 1 apprehend no one will doubt; for it may be seen at all seasons, the cold of even our severest winters not driving it to more distant lands ; but that it changes its position from one part of the country to another in search of a more abundant supply of food is very probable , and on this pomt Mr. Macgillivray, after remarking that it is more numerous near the Frith of Forth in winter than in summer, says, ‘‘ Probably, like the Merlin, it merely migrates from the interior to the coast ;” and ‘in the North of Ireland, generally,” says Mr. Thompson, ‘‘ Kestrels seem to be quite as numerous in winter as in summer.” The following remarks on the habits of the bird, as observed in India, are from the pen of T. C. Jerdon, Esq., one of the most accurate and careful of the many officers who have written on the Natural History of that country, and are taken from the first sheets of his forthcoming work on the ‘ Birds of India.’ «The Kestrel,” says Mr. Jerdon, “is a cold-weather visitant to India, one of our earliest, indeed ; and does not leave till April. It is most abundant, being found in every part of the country, and at all elevations. It chief food is lizards; but it also eats rats and mice, insects, especially grasshoppers and locusts, and, rarely, young or sickly birds. It constantly hovers over a spot where it has observed something move, and, when certain of its presence, drops down upon it with noiseless wing. Mr. Blyth mentions that parties of twenty or thirty may be seen together beating over the cultivated lands in Lower Bengal. This I have never witnessed. It does not breed in this country. It used to be trained occasionally in Europe to hunt larks, quails, and other small birds, but it is scouted by the Indian falconers as an ignoble race.” I observe that Indian specimens are somewhat smaller and lighter-coloured than those inhabiting England ; the whole of the under surface is whiter or more silvery, and the longitudinal streaks narrower, as are ee the arrow-head-shaped marks of black on the back. I further find that this remark equally applies to specimens from Trebizond and Malta, males from both of which localities are now before me side by side with others killed in England. The site chosen by the Kestrel for laying its eggs is much varied; sometimes it selects the nest of a Crow, or other large bird, at others the shelf of a rock, or a crevice in a tower or other building—its four or five eggs being laid without any pretence of a nest of its own making. The eggs of the Kestrel are of a pale reddish white, mottled all over with dark reddish brown, and occa- sionally with blotches of reddish brown ; they are one inch and seven lines long, by one inch and three lines broad. The young, when first hatched, are covered with white down ; this soon gives place to feathers which are alternately barred with black and buff, a character of plumage which is always retained by the female, but which is only carried by the male to his first moult, when it is exchanged for a very different dress ; the head, lower part of the back, and tail are now aniform grey, with the exception that the latter is crossed near the tip by a conspicuous black band ; the breast is longitudinally streaked and spotted, and the feathers of the back tipped with lancet-shaped ee . This dress is accurately figured on the accompanying illustration, which represents a male more strongly marked than usual; it was taken from a fine Welsh specimen, kindly sent to me by my friend Colonel W atkyns, who informed me that it had been killed by a blow with a stick. The reduced figure of the female, which sex is always larger than the male, will give the reader an equally curate idea of her colouring and markings, and render a description of this common English bird almost unnecessary ; let me beg, however, that it may not be confounded with the Sparrow-Hawk, a bird of very different stamp and character: I mention this because I have often heard the Kestrel so called. The front figure represents a male of the natural size on a branch of a Scotch Fir. iO Ow ised 2 Ba 9, NEIL s LON) BAY es iG LHC Kichi T 7 TL ¥OU / Kalter Imp I 5 if tiiiii 4 3 2 gg MILVUS REGALI Kite or Glead. Tn Falco milvus, Linn, Faun. Suec., p. 20. Milvus regalis, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 414, pl. xxxiii. ictinus, Savig. Descr. de lEgypte, Hist. Nat. tom. —— castaneus, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 146. —— russicus, Daud. ibid., p. 188. —— vulgaris, Flem. Hist. of Brit. Anim., p. 51. Semmee ler, Brehm, Vor. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 50. ——— regalis, Kaup, Classif. der Saugeth. und Vog. pe lad. ee pDSSe I wave od elsewhere that, by Linnzeus and the other ornithologists of his day, the Crows, Jays, and Pies were all included under the one generic term of Corvus; and I may here state that in like manner the Eagles, Buzzards, Hawks, Falcons, and Kites were comprised in the single genus Falco. Since the period when the great Swede lived, men of science in every department h ave studied nature more closely, have become more intimately acquainted with the habits and economies of those birds, and have perceived that they constitute so many distinct forms, to which generic terms should be applied ; and this has accordingly and very appropriately been done; for the Hawks differ from the Falcons, the Falcons from the Kites, and the Kites from the Eagles. Each of these groups, again, has been further subdivided ; for instance, the forest-loving Golden Eagle has been separated from the rock-frequenting Sea-Eagle and the lake-haunting Osprey, each of which, besides differing greatly in size, is characterized by peculiar habits; but these need not be dwelt upon. The short-winged Hawk, with its quick-dashing low flight, differs from the hovering Kestrel; the impetuous stoops of the true Falcons differ from the soaring, buoyant, and gracefully circling flights of the Kites, birds which suddenly descend upon, but never pursue, their prey, which live partly on carrion, dead fish, insects, small rodents, and fledgeling gallinacez, but have neither the courage nor the disposition to encounter even so little formidable an opponent as the domestic Hen, the Pheasant, or the Partridge. They have been called ‘docile ” birds, because it is the nature of some, if not of all the species, to sit about on the branches of trees near cities, villages, cantonments, and farm-steads, and thence to make forays into the very streets, and sometimes to become so bold as to suddenly descend and clutch the passing joint while being carried from the kitchen to the house or tent. Many such acts of daring are described as having been performed by some of the species. That something like this was the conduct of our bird in olden times, we may justly conclude from a statement of Clusius, who, according to Mr. Harting’s ‘ Birds of Middlesex,’ visited England in 1571, during the reign of Elizabeth, and who says that the Kite was formerly abundant in the streets of London, and that it was forbidden to kill it on account of its acting the part of a scavenger. The late Mr. John Wolley informed Mr. Hewitson that it was formerly so abundant in our Metropolis that several visitors from the Continent, besides the one above mentioned, have made a note of their surprise at its numbers and familiarity. ‘*A learned writer in the ‘Quarterly Review,’ in an article upon the Bohemian Embassy in England some four hundred years ago, supposes that the word ‘ Milvi,’ in Schassek’s Journal must have been a mistake for ‘ cygni,’ as London had always been celebrated for Swans; but other old writers leave no room for doubt that the Kite was the most familiar bird with the citizens of Old London. How few of the persons who see the paper toys hovering over the parks) on fine days in summer have any idea that the bird from which they derive their name used to float all day in hot weather high over the pan of their ancestors !”——Hewitson’s ‘ Coloured Illustrations of the Eggs of British Birds,’ 3rd edit., vol. 1. p. 36. In further confirmation of how common the Kite must have been, and how intimately its disposition and habits were known, especially to Shakespeare, we have abundant evidence in them any ae vee a a reproachful terms applied by him to the bird. Mr. Harting, in his communication to he ; anes | z the Birds of Shakespeare,” speaking of the Kite, says :—" Although a large bird, and called by some the Royal Kite (Milous regalis), it does not seize living sickly or wounded victim, or for offal of a oe ‘ts habits in ‘Julius Cesar ’ (Act V. Scene 1) he says :— Kite’ (Henry V., Act II. Scene 1) ; and in alluding to its habits in ‘Ju esi “ And kites Fly o’er our heads and downwards look on us As we were sickly prey. “ Again, in Part II. of ‘Henry VI.’ (Act V. Scene 2):—'A prey for carrion kites. and strong prey, but glides about ignobly, looking for a Our poet, therefore, has not inaptly called it ‘ the lazar From the ignoble habits of the bird, the word ‘kite’ was often used as a term of reproach. For example :—‘ You kite’ (Anthony and Cleopatra, Act III. Scene 2); and ‘ Detested kite’ (King Lear, Act I. eae 4). «The intractable disposition of the bird is thus noticed in the ‘ Taming of the Shrew,’ Act IV. Scene 1 :— * * © Watch her as we watch these kites That bate and beat and will not be obedient. «Another curious fact in its natural history is adverted to in the ‘ Winter’s Tale’ (Act IV. Scene 2), where it is said:_——‘ When the ie builds Zook to lesser linen.’ “This line may perhaps be best illustrated by a description of a Kite’s nest taken in Huntingdonshire, and still in the possession of a friend at Newcastle. The outside is composed of strong sticks; the lining of small pieces of Zen, part of a saddle-girth, a bit of a harvest-glove, part es a straw bonnet, pieces of paper, and a worsted garter ; and in the midst of this singular collection of materials were deposited two eges.” & The Rev. H. B. Tristram, speaking, in his work entitled ‘ The Great Sahara,’ of the habits of the Egyptian Kite Ihhus Lgyptius), says :—“‘ Its nest, the marine-store-shop of the desert, is decorated with whatever scraps of bournouses and coloured rags can be collected ; and to these are added on every surrounding branch the cast-off coats of serpents, large scraps of thin bark, and perhaps a Bustard’s wing.” —‘ Zoologist,’ 1866, p- 409 e¢ seg. In olden times the Kite was not only around and in the metropolis, but the citizens could not take a jaunt to Highgate or Epping Forest without witnessing its charming aerial flight and circling evolutions between them and the azure sky, a sight that would gladden the eyes of every naturalist, but which is not now to be seen. Of course in the great forests and large clumps of trees in every English county the bird was equally numerous, and not less so in most parts of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland ; sanitary science, the clearance of woods and forests, extended cultivation, and the preservation of game have, however, so thinned its numbers that it is almost extirpated. From the moment these measures commenced, the fate of the bird was sealed; and were I to affirm that now, in 1868, there are not five pairs of Kites in the British Islands, I should scarcely exceed the chances of probability ; and where to look for a breeding pair, either in the New Forest or in any part of the Highlands, Wales, Scotland, or Ireland, I know not: but that the bird still clings to some of its old haunts is certain ; for Mr. Henry Nicholls, jun., records in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1863 the shooting of a fine old male on the banks of the Avon, near Kingsbridge, in Devonshire, on the 13th of October, 1862 ; and in a communication to the same volume, p. 8441, by W. Christy Horsfall, Esq., dated Horsforth Low Hall, near Leeds, Jan. 2, 1863, that gentleman says, ‘‘We have had a Kite in the woods here for the last eighteen months. I gave orders that it should not be molested, in the hope it would find a mate; but although it is still about, it has not yet met with one.” Montagu, when he wrote, had seen but one in Devonshire in twelve years ; and Mr. Couch mentions two instances of its appearance in Cornwall. Waterton has noticed the bird and its habits in Yorkshire; and Selby stated forty years ago that, “though rare in Northumberland and Durham, it is more frequent in Westmoreland and Cumberland. Dr. Heysham says that the Kite bred about the same period in the woods near Armathwaite, and also in those near Ullswater.” In the interval that has elapsed, all this has become changed, and Lincolnshire is the last part of the eastern portion of England in which it has bred; several instances are mentioned in Professor Newton’s ‘ Ootheca Wolleyana,’ to which my readers are referred. The persecution to which the bird has been subjected in Britain has been less relentlessly carried out on the continent of Europe; and in North Africa and many other countries it still holds its own. Lord Lilford observed it to be rather abundant in Acarnania, and states that it is very common and a constant resident in Sicily and Calabria. It is not found so far to the eastward as India, its place there being occupied by the AZileus govinda. Species of the same form inhabit China, Japan, Africa, and Australia; but, so far as I am aware, no true Kite (AZ/eus) occurs in Polynesia or America. To this short history of our Kite I may add that it is the finest species of its genus, that the sexes are very similar in colour, that it usually builds its nest on the fork of a large tree, of sticks, lined with dry grass, wool, and other soft materials, and lays two, and sometimes three eggs, which are subject to much diversity of colouring: they are of a short oval form, measuring two inches and two lines in length by one inch and nine lines in breadth; of a dull white hue, marked with a few reddish spots over the larger end. Mr. Hewitson mentions one that was closely covered all over with light rufous blotches, and another with beautiful tints of lilac and purple relieved with brown. The Plate represents a male about two-thirds of the size of life, from a beautiful sketch made for this work by Mr. Wolf. Pyalter Lryp YS, Bodd N MOCGRA i < P te .¢ K es bE | ee => eI ZA 5 Sholt &W Hart. dd a kth: - = =) =] =*} TI Our, OMG: MHS i 9°42" COMO CGO Og"A)o" “ ' BP EL a ile Nee a A MILVUS MIGRANS. Black Kite. Falco migrans, Bodd. Tab. de Pl. Enl., p. 28, no. 472. Accipiter milvus, Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat., tom, i. p. 3 Falco ater et F. austriacus, Gmel. edi i Svst. Ne 5 . —— fusco-ater, cee ee eae i : a a j - ae er a ee $., tom. 1. p. 27, et tom. viii. ee ole — ater et F. fuscus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., p. 53. Milvus nger, Briss. Orn., tom. i. Des Alta ——— austriacus et F. ater, Daud. Orn., tom. ii. p- 149. Hydroictinia atra, Kaup, Class. der Sdug. u. Vos: p: 115. Milvus (Hydrotctinia) migrans, Gray, Hand-list of Birds, p. 26. DOF eee Hye Cee of a individual of this cee having been killed in ao s aneously a specimen was transmitted to me from Northern Australia,— facts which will give the reader an idea of how widely this species ranges over the globe. That there might be no mistake in the matter, I submitted the Australian bird to the inspection of or H. Gurne , immediately said it was identical with the European Milous migrans ; and Mr. Hancock’s testimony will, I am sure, be deemed sufficient as to the identity of the British-killed or Northumberland ex y, Esq., who ample. Either as a bird of passage or as a migrant this species is said to inhabit most of the central portions of I curope, Asia Minor, and almost the whole of Africa; we also find it in the lists of the birds of many other countries. “The geographical distribution of the Black Kite ” says Professor Newton, in his edition of Yarrell’s ee | ee ; i : : i ; ee ‘British Birds,’ ‘‘is extensive. Though not found in Norway, Sweden, or Finland, in Russia it reaches far to the north as Archangel, and thence across Siberia, becoming rarer to the eastward, and hardly observed as beyond the Lena. It is said by Pallas to winter in Persia, where De Philippi also found it. It is very common in the Caucasus; and Messrs. Dickson and Ross obtained it at Erzeroum. In Palestine, according to Canon Tristram, it arrives about the beginning of March in immense numbers, and scatters itself over the whole country. There is much discrepancy in the accounts of recent travellers as to its occurrence in Egypt, some stating that it is very abundant there, and others that they never met with it, and that a near ally (Ahieus egyptius) must have been mistaken for it. The explanation of the difficulty: probably lies in the fact that, while JZ. egyptius is a resident in Egypt, AZ megrans is a bird of passage only and may not always stop for the convenience of other travellers on its way down or up the Nile valley. Drs. Von Heuglin and E. A. Brehm include it as a bird of Eastern Kordofan and Abyssinia; and Mr. Blanford found it to be extremely common both in the highlands and lowlands of the latter country. Mr. Chapman sent specimens procured on the Zambesi to Mr. Layard ; and Mr. Edward Newton shot a bird, pronounced by Mr. Gurney to be of this species, in Madagascar. Mr. Layard also records an example killed at Colesberg, in the Cape Colony ; and Andersson met with it in Damara Land, where it arrives in autumn in large numbers, and remains throughout the breeding-season. In Western Africa it has been obtained at Bissao and on the Niger. It occurs in Morocco, and is very common in Algeria, breeding in the Atlas, but not occurring to the south of that range of mountains. In Europe it is said to be met with occasionally in Portugal and in Spain, where it breeds, as it also does in several parts of France. It does not seem to have occurred in Belgium ; but the Leyden Museum contains a specimen killed in Holland.” = ae i With respect to its solitary occurrence in England Mr. Hancock says (in ‘The Ibis for 1867, i 203) :— « earliest appellation ig southward in autumn—thereby fully meriting the earliest appellation, d in its wide range the Black Kite 1s migratory, proceeding northward in spring and returnu : . Pp An that of migrans, bestowed upon it by Boddaert. Mr. Salvin, writing of the bird as seen by him in the Eastern A ee oe ee ee i 7 it i re ant in the Souk-Harras district than J2. regats. ‘During the breeding-season 1t 1s much more abundant tlas, says, in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1859, p. 184 :— a Tr ZX = ~ oA ie a a O4ZOC « = cae CAG * -A Indeed, with the single exception of the Kestrel (Tinnunculus alaudarius), it is the commonest rapacious ’ a So . ei bird in the Eastern Atlas. Like JZ regalis it selects for the position of its nest the roots of a shrub growing out of a rock, and builds a structure ccmposed principally o sticks, with a lining a rags, wool, &c., while on the surrounding branches are fantastically bung old pieces of burnouses of various colours. The Black Kite plays the part of scavenger in the districts where it abounds; and over every French settlement and Arab village several may be seen flying boldly around, on the look-out for any fragment of carrion that may be lying about. Its fearless and familiar manner and beautiful flight render this bird decidedly one of the most interesting in the country. The eggs are laid from the middle to the end of April, and are more distinctly and deeply marked than those of the other species. A series of the eggs of the two from the same district present a marked contrast. This bird is known to the Arabs by the name ‘Hadayia soda ’—the ‘ Black Hadayia’” Of the Black Kite in Palestine, Tristram remarks (in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1865, p. 256) :—** No sooner has the Red Kite begun to retire northwards than the Black Kite, never once seen in winter, returns in Immense numbers fon the south, and about the beginning of March scatters itself over the whole country, preferring especially the neighbourhood of villages, where it is a welcome and unmolested guest, and certainly does not appear to attack the poultry, among which it may often be seen feeding on garbage. It is not strictly gregarious, though very sociable; and the slaughter of a sheep near the tents will soon attract a large party e Kites, which swoop down, regardless of man and guns, and enjoy a noisy scramble for the refuse, chasing each other in a laughable fashion, and sometimes enabling the wily Raven to steal off with the coveted morsel during their contention. [tis the butt of all the smaller scavengers ; and it is evidently most unpopular with the Crows and Daws, and even with the Rollers, who enjoy the amusement of teasing it in their tumbling flight, which is a manoeuvre most perplexing to the Kite. The nest, generally in a tree, often in a glen, is a grotesque, untidy structure, decorated with all sorts of rags and rubbish, apparently to attract observation. The eggs are invariably two, and, as a rule, are more richly coloured than those of the Mileus regalis.” « This species, which does not remain [in Southern Spain] throughout the winter,” says Mr. Howard Saunders (in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1871), ‘ breeds a full fortnight later than JZ regalis; and the first week in May a patch of wood of an acre or two in extent will certainly yield upwards of a score of eggs, it being a sociable bird. Even when nesting somewhat apart, it has always a colony of Spanish Sparrows to keep it company. The usual number of eggs is two.” This association of the Spanish Sparrows with the Black Kite is also mentioned by Lord Lilford, who says (in ‘ The Ibis’ for 1866) :—** The Black Kite’s nest contained three eggs; and in its foundation were three nests of the Spanish Sparrow. In almost every nest of the two species of Kite we find in Spain there were one or more nests of this Sparrow, besides, in most instances, a large colony in the immediate vicinity.” Messrs. Elwes and Buckley, in their ‘List of the Birds of Turkey,’ published in ‘The Ibis’ for 1870, state that the Black Kite is “ extremely common on some parts of the Danube, where it breeds on the islands, which are covered with a dense thicket of willows and a few poplars. In these trees it begins to build in April, and lays about the first week in May—in a very small nest, which, at first sight, would not seem large enough for the eggs of a Crow. It is also found in the interior of the country, and in the large towns, where it acts as a scavenger.” Respecting the AL/eus migrans in South Africa, Dr. Exton wrote to Mr. Layard :—* This Kite is said by the Matabili to be ‘the king’s bird,’ and is in consequence much respected by them. A chief’s son examining my specimen said, ‘ We never kill that bird.’ “Tt is remarkably bold and fearless, dashing down at your very feet for a stray scrap of flesh, or attempting to carry off meat hung up to dry in the native fashion. It does not seem very choice in its food. The stomachs of those I examined contained locusts and lizards; and I have seen family parties dining, after the manner of Vultures, off the putrid carcass of an ox. They breed about the time the locust-larvee become developed, the young birds taking wing when the ‘hoppers’ are becoming strong on the ground. They then congregate in flocks; and I have counted between eighty and ninety hovering over an army of infant locusts—and have seen them in still greater numbers, some on the ground busily devouring the ‘ hoppers,’ others perched on the neighbouring trees gorged with a full repast.”—ZJbis, 1869, p. 362. The figure is about three fourths of the natural size. hy La7tYY ™ YI] PEP 2A ON ® PIN: “SOSONIDOOUHY SHOUIO 4 i 3 IMIIy 2 oni ng CIRCUS AERUGINOSUS., Marsh-Harrier. Falco eruginosus, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 23. rufus, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 266. Circus eruginosus, Savig. Descr. de l’Egypte, Hist. Nat., tom. i. p. 90. rufus, Savig. ibid., p. 91. Falco arundinaceus, Bechst. Kramert, Kram. Accipiter circus, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. i. p. 362. Circus variegatus, Sykes, Proc. of Comm. of Sci. and Corr., 1832, p. 81. rufus, var. indicus, Less. Compl. Buff., tom. vii. aloe ——— Sykesi, Less. ibid., p. 161. Buteo eruginosus, Flem. Hist. of Brit. Anim., p. 55. Accwiter erugmosus, Koch, Syst. der Baier. Zool., De lelo: Pygargus rufus, Kaup, Class. der Saugeth. und Vég., p. 113. Buteo rufus, Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. Anim., p. 88. Tuat the physical condition of a country determines the birds, reptiles, and insects which resort thereto, is evident to every naturalist ; for he sees that the low fenny portions of our globe, its hills, and woodlands are frequented by forms peculiar to each. Harriers generally inhabit open wastes, moorlands, and flat sedgy districts ; but the bird here represented, which is one of the largest members of the genus Circus, resorts ‘more particularly to the great marshy depressions of the countries wherein it is destined to dwell. In Britain it was always more abundant in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Lincolnshire than elsewhere, those parts, in fact, which are opposite to the Low Countries (Belgium and Holland) ; but the draining process, which has converted our fens and rush-beds into fields of waving oats, has sadly interfered with its comforts by depriving it of its natural feeding-grounds; wherever such transformations have been effected, a death-blow to the Marsh-Harrier was the consequence. In Holland, however, there are districts in which the conditions favourable to its existence remain unchanged ; and there it still dwells in comparative security, and readily obtains its usual food of reptiles, insects, small quadrupeds, fish, and young marsh birds; there it still flaps over the tops of the reed-beds, or buoyantly flies up and down the open marsh in pursuit of its prey. How different are its actions from those of the fleet chase- giving Falcons, the lazy offal-feeding Kites, or the pouncing Hawks! The Rev. R. Lubbock, in his ‘Observations on the Fauna of Norfolk,’ published in 1845, says :—‘‘ The Marsh-Harrier might, twenty years back, have been termed the Norfolk Hawk, so generally was it dispersed among the broads. Almost every pool of any extent had its pair of these birds ; they consumed the day in beating round and round the reeds which skirted the water ; this was done for hours incessantly. All the birds wounded by the sportsman fell to his share. He was, as it were, the genius loci, the sovereign of the waste; but although still often to be met with, he has, like all his congeners, receded before the gun of the gamekeeper; the curse of his race is upon him. I once kept one of these birds in confinement. It was full-grown when taken ; its courage and ferocity were very great, perpetually endeavouring to attack those mite went close to its mew It killed a large land-rat, put into its cage uninjured, in an instant. Sin: T. Buoys represents it as occasionally carrying off the young of the otter to feed its nestlings with. I have found the nest amongst a bunch of reeds on Barton fen with two young. Mr. Gould first, I believe, noticed the grey tinge which old somewhat similar to the colouring of the Hen-Harrier. ‘This, I think, must occur only in very old specimens. I never remember having seen it but once in any specimen upon the he ; and formerly on the larger broads one or two were sure to be observed in the course of a pe cf - time I thought the reflexion of the sun caused the bird to look greyish, but am ee ag ae it was in the stage of plumage mentioned by Mr. Gould. In decoys this isa most cont esome bird, keeping the fowl in such continual restlessness that the decoy man can do nothing with them. If we consult the various writers on British Birds (Yarrell, MacGillivray, Thompson, and Morris), or the local faunas that have been written of most of our counties, we shall find that the Marsh-Harrier has a place {r ; “. i5 pare throughout the whole county; a few in the whole of them. In Cornwall, Mr. Rodd tells us, it _ é He § i eee 1 ‘ 5. -harton Moor, and Lamorna ; species < ars specimens have been procured at the Land’s-end, Boswhar ; eee ae Thompson states that itis found and 1s resident in all suitable localities males of this species assume, to become more rare every year.” Ireland, and, as might be expected from the nature of the country, 7 one : »t if is very rare in in Scotland, where MacGillivray informs us that 1t 1s very Tr is of more frequent occurrence there than the northern and middle divisions, but oeee RS ") S i Me ies; ing agu it is the most appears to be more numerous in the southern counties ; and according to Montagu it is the most common of the Falcon tribe about the sandy flats of Caernarvonshire, in Wales. with us, Mr. Stevenson says that the localities selected for this purpose are almost entirely confined to Ramworth, Barton, Horsey, and Hickling, where the shriek of the railway-whistle has not yet scared them In the above districts a few pairs of the Marsh-Harrier, as I learn from the Respecting its still breeding from their natural haunts. most reliable sources, remain throughout the year; and I feel justified, therefore, in still retaining the Moor-Buzzard, as this species is frequently termed, in the list of residents, whilst at the same time I believe that some migratory specimens occur at times. A nest with three young ones was taken near Yarmouth, in the summer of 1862. It is more or less numerous, according to the nature of the localities, in all the temperate parts of Europe. Lord Lilford tells us that it is “ perhaps the most abundant of the Raptorial Birds in European Turkey and Greece. From two to a dozen were almost always to be seen in every marsh in Epirus, Acarnania, Albania, and Corfu. Very few remain there to breed, the main body making its appearance in the beginning of November and disappearing in March. I once counted twenty-six on the wing together near Butrinto.” North Africa as well as Europe is included in the area of range of the Marsh-Harrier, as are also Egypt and all other countries thence to India, where, according to Mr. Jerdon, it ‘fis very generally spread, frequenting banks of rivers, lakes, marshes, and inundated fields, or wet meadow land, occasionally hunting over grass or dry grain-fields. It feeds chiefly on frogs, fish, water-insects, rats, shrews, and various young or weakly birds. It not unfrequently carries off wounded snipe, and even teal, and often follows the sportsman.” An old sporting friend assured Mr. Thompson that “ he had often seen the Marsh-Harrier ‘quarter’ its ground like a setting dog, as the Hen Harrier is well known to do, and that he considers its performance in this way equal to that of the latter species.” Much difference occurs in the colouring of the plumage of this species during the first few years of its existence ; and several must elapse before it attains the perfect state represented in my first Plate; but it is evident that the bird breeds long before this state of plumage is acquired, since we seldom see a Specimen thus attired in our islands. Mr. J. H. Gurney is, I believe, inclined to think that the chocolate-coloured birds represented with a snake, in the foreground of my second Plate, are old females; in that case very young males will most likely resemble the female. The bird sitting on its nest is probably a male that has not yet attained its fully adult garb; still this is a point in the history of the Marsh-Harrier that yet requires determination, but which can only be satisfactorily ascertained by observers in the countries where it is still plentiful. «The eggs of the Marsh-Harrier,” says Mr. Hewitson, ‘ are most commonly white, but sometimes spotted ; and all those I have seen, upon the identity of which reliance could be placed, are considerably less than those of the Common Buzzard. The bird almost always breeds on the ground, but will sometimes build in the fork of a large tree; in such a situation the nest would be formed of sticks and such-like materials. In the fen countries, its usual resort, the nest is composed of so large a quantity of flag, reeds, and sedges, as to raise it a foot, or a foot and a half above the ground. The eggs are usually four, sometimes, though not often, five in number; the time of incubation early in May.” In the adult male the head, cheeks, and nape of the neck are tawny yellow, tinged with rufous on the crown and ears, and streaked with dark brown; facial disk yellowish-white and brown; back, wing-coverts, and tertiaries dark reddish-brown, with lighter margins; primaries brownish black; secondaries and tail ash-grey ; thighs, abdomen, and under tail-coverts deep rufous ; bill bluish black ; cere, irides, legs, and feet yellow ; claws black. During the first year the plumage is chocolate-brown, each feather tipped with lighter reddish brown, and the irides are of a darker colour than in the adult; crown, sides of the face, and throat delicate buff; gape and sides of the bill and lores blue. My Plates represent the Marsh-Harrier in the states of plumage above described, about two-thirds of the size of life. The snake is the Coluber natrix of Linneus, the Common Snake of our island. te he ty lia i to than ln rly 13 oe ich om it ii LL Oe Teles ALE LE Ra Le aL, Luly AIATTOY SLO eu TY @ Ur, OM &) @, @°eh oe" @hs @& y 2 Rida V pepe SS oo \ arn a CIRCUS CYANEUS. Hen Harrier. Falco cyaneus, et pygargus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. strigiceps, Nilss. Faun. Suec., tom. i. pee Circus Aigithus, Leach, Syste Cat. of Indig. Mamm. & Birds in Brit. Mus., p. 9. gallinarius, Savig. Descr. de ’Egypte, Hist. Nat., tom. i. p. 92. pygargus, Cuv. Réen. Anim., edit. 1817, tom. i. p. 324, —— (Sirigiceps) cyaneus, et uliginosus, Kaup, Mus. Senckenb. cyaneus, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 549. Pygargus dispar, Koch, Syst. der Baier. Zool., p. 128. Strigiceps pygargus, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List. of Birds of Eur. Buteo cyaneus, Jenyns, Man. Brit. Vert. Anim., p. 89. 1. pp. 126-128, > P: 258: Oo and N. Amer., p. 5 Wenz I to say to the rising ornithologists of the present day, ‘If you wish to see the Hen Harrier and its consort the Ringtail performing their buoyant and elegant flight, and hunting in concert over an open part of the country, go to the Gossmoor of Cornwall, the lofty hills of charming Devon, the great heaths of Surrey, Sussex, and Hampshire, the flat fenny districts of Suffolk, Norfolk, Huntingdon, and Lincolnshire, the York- shire wolds, the fells of Westmoreland and Cumberland, the rushy hill-sides of the Scottish border, the Cheviots, and the Grampians, as far north as the land trends,” I fear I should be sending them on a bootless errand; yet there was a time, and that within the present century, when the birds might have been seen in any of the localities above enumerated. Such, however, is now rarely the case. Nature and her productions have been greatly interfered with; some species have been extirpated from districts where they were formerly plentiful, while others have become abundant in situations where previously they were but little known. That the Harriers and other large predatory birds are no longer to be found in their wonted haunts is not to be wondered at when we remember how large a portion of the country formerly in a natural condition has now been brought under cultivation, and that the keeper and the shepherd exterminate them whenever they can. It is not to be expected that such people are imbued with the love for nature and her wonderful works which reigns in the breast of the true naturalist; they do not even care to read the many beautiful passages which have been written on our native birds, from the time of Gilbert White to that of those authors who have but recently passed away, among which none are perhaps more truly descriptive of the habits and actions of birds than Macgillivray’s,—who, speaking of the Circus cyaneus, says :— “ Having examined the form, and somewhat of the structure of the Hen Harrier, we are prepared for the exhibition of its faculties. Kneel down here, then, among the long broom, and let us watch the pair that have just made their appearance on the shoulder of the hill. Leave these beautiful flowerets to the bd of yonder botanist, who, should be wander hitherward, will be delighted to cull the lovely tufts of maiden- pinks that surround us. a ane — : : ° ir circling fle 1 rentle fle 4r expanded wings ‘How beautifully they glide along, in their circling flight, with gentle flaps of the : gs, : : . neat ajls incli from side ide, as they balance themselves or floating as it were in the air, their half-spread tails inclined from side to side, as y bale ae S istinguls > male fr > female. ley alter their course! Now they are near enough to enable us to distinguish the male from the femé ae ; i ; ar ees, jmes s 7 ast S ‘nh the seem to be huntine in concert ; and their search is keen ; for they fly at times so low as Ae to a | 5 5 . . ae may Ds : re : ; : oT re . vers, fixing himself in the air like the bushes, and never rise bigher than thirty feet. The grey bird Rey fixing at eS folte a Heme a ' are reak i 2 COVGIe UU yey TOHOW Her not, Kestrel ; now he stoops, but recovers himself. A hare breaks from the a j 2 ‘t would not escape so well. The female now hovers for though doubtless, were they to spy her young one, 1t woulc cu ‘db. closed Hee aviade ane oe : Hotah lickjspe ier rp a few seconds, gradually sinks for a short space, ascends, turns a little to one side, c F oF : nase Ade (pole ‘ , > es WALe IG comes to the ground. She has secured her prey ; for she remains concealed among the furze ; L _ e KR C d g 7 : s fs -oe or four vards, sweeps alon male shoots away, flying at the height of three or four yards, sweeps ¢ while: “Henowienias ; . the sedgy pool, and hovers there a short while. e s sdgy pc o the bawthorn hedge, bounds over Oo g it to the other side, turns away to skim over ‘pwith’e rapid pliding fight bibdieyhave upon the grass field, when a Partridge springs off, and he pursues | c : é ase isha f “view the meantime the ‘ as | ¢ up, i 7 conceals them from our view, In s § turned to the right, and the wood concea nite eee ‘ SS - presence that she passes within \ and advances, keenly inspecting the ground, and so heedless of our presence thé | ey eee er A : : in s ‘ecovers herself, and, rising ‘ 1 ssing the l again stoops, but recoy [ g Pai ‘ay she speeds, and in passing the pool ag yards of us. Away she speeds, Q : j is sight. Mc all bn = a ae f larger, on young hares and rabbits, on mice, farrier feeds g irds and the young of larger, j g 5 “The Hen Harrier feeds upon small birds an young rec ay For the most part it pounces upon its ed a 2 o far from confining itself to feeble game, it has been kno so fi g is they repose upon the ground; frogs, lizards, and serpents. but it also pursues birds In open flight and, ; to seize the Red Grouse, Ptarmigan, and Partridge. sh in LA corer nM ‘When flying from one place to another, without searching the ground it moves with considerable rapidity, at such a height as to clear the trees and other elevated objects Seo deviating. It eee bowie to soar to a great height. On obtaining its prey it usually devours it on ao spot, carrying it off only when it judges that it is liable to be molested. When satiated, it retires to some quiet place, or perches on a wall, a stone, or a stump, until digestion is advanced. In its rambles it searches the cultivated fields ae pastures, but in summer and autumn is partial to heaths and commons ; and in such places it reposes at night and rears its young. Although nowhere very common, it is generally dispersed, and in some districts Pe HUHECOUS; in the breeding-season. In Scotland it betakes itself to the billy tracts and moors from the middle of spring to the end of autumn, but in winter frequents the lower cultivated districts. It is a permanent resident, and does not appear to receive any accession of numbers, or to undergo any periodical diminution.” Like Macgillivray, I have never had the good fortune to find its nest. I shall therefore transcribe a very valuable account of its breeding given by Sir William Jardine. «In a country possessing a considerable portion of plain and mountain, where I have had the greatest opportunities of attending to them, they always retire at the commencement of the breeding-season to the wildest hills; and during this time not one individual will be found in the low country. For several days before commencing their nest the male and female are seen soaring about, as in search of or examining a proper situation, are very noisy, and toy and cuff each other in the air. When the site is fixed, and the nest completed, the female is left alone, and, when hatching, will not suffer the male to visit the nest, but on his approach rises and drives him with screams to a distance! ‘The nest is very frequently made in a heath- bush by the side of some ravine, and is composed of sticks, with a very slender lining. It is sometimes formed on one of those places called scars, or where there has been a rut on the side of a steep hill after a mountain thunder-shower ; here little or no nest is made, and the eggs are laid on the bare earth, which has been scraped hollow. In a flat or level country some common is generally chosen, and the nest is found in a whin or other scrubby bush at a short height from the ground. The young are well supplied with food, I believe by both parents, though I have only seen the female in attendance ; and I have found in and near the nest the common small lizard, stone-chats, and young grouse. «When the birds are perfectly grown, they, with the old birds, leave the high country, and return to their old haunts, bunting with regularity the fields of grain, and now commit great havoc among the young game. At night they seem to have general roosting-places either among whins or long heath, and always in some open spot of ground. Ona moor of considerable extent I have seen seven in the space of a acre. They began to approach the sleeping-ground about sunset, and, before going to roost, hunted the whole moor, crossing each other often, three or four in view at a time, gliding backwards and forwards in easy graceful circles, with seemingly little effort or flapping of the wings. Half an hour may be spent in this way. When they approach the roost they skim three or four times over it to see that there is no interruption, and then at once drop into the spot. These places are easily found in the daytime; and the birds may be caught by placing a common rat-trap, or they may be shot in a moonlight night. In both ways I have procured many specimens.” The eggs, which vary from three to five in number, are bluish white, sometimes faintly dotted with brown, and are generally about an inch and three quarters in length by an inch and a third in breadth. The preceding extracts from the writings of Macgillivray and Sir William Jardine must be regarded as descriptive of the bird at the time they wrote, some thirty years ago; but, as I have already said, it is now not nearly so numerous. Still it is to be found in many parts of England and Scotland; and the Duke of Argyll informs me that a pair of this species nested on one of the moors near his seat at Inverary in the spring of 1867. Besides the British Islands, the Hen Harrier inhabits the whole of Central Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor, and Persia; and Jerdon states that it is a ‘‘ winter visitant to India, Bootan, Kumaon, and the north- western Himalayas, perhaps extending to the plains in the Punjab only.” So much difference exists in the size and colouring of the sexes of this and other Harriers, that, had we not abundant proofs to the contrary, we might readily assume that they were distinct species. The adult male is always of a delicate grey; but the young of this sex, for the first, and probably the second year, is brown, like the female, and in this respect resembles the Kestrel and many others of our rapacious birds; and those from foreign countries require as close an investigation to arrive at as intimate a knowledge of them as has been achieved with regard to our own species. The Plate represents a male, somewhat less than the natural size, with a reduced figure of the female or Ringtail in the distance. uty eroy YP] PPP LOPYIRT DB PND [' uli JOVANI SOOM OMY, 7h c f , , J A Nay ca CIRCUS CINERACE US. Ash-coloured Harrier. Falco cineraceus, Mont. Orn. Dict. cinerartus, Mont. ibid. Supp. — emacs Mont. Trans. of Linn. Soc., vol. ix. p. 188 —— ceinerascens, Barb. Rev. Zool. 1838, amie oe : ras Penn. Brit. Zool., edit. 1812, vol. i p. 243 Circus BAai tis, Leach, Syst. Cat. of Indig. Mami & Birds in Brit. 4 GL ASCnS, Steph. Cont. Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii ae ee cineraceus, Naum. Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. p. 402 i " ee eae Ue Vieill. Nouv. Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. a D 411 cinereus, Kaup, Ueb. Falk. Mus. Senck., p. 258 nea se Buteo cineraceus, Flem. Hist. Brit. Anim., p. 55. Sirigtceps cineraceus, Bonap. Comp. List of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer Circus (Glaucopteryx) cineraceus, Kaup, Classif. der Saug ital viene t ‘ Glaucopteryx cinerascens, Kaup, Mon. Fale. in Jard. Om Cait v0 5 a | Dee On a superficial view this species might be mistaken for the Hen Harrier, but 2 would soon prove to the most sceptical that it is really distinct ; Dr. sai spiel a of the two birds type of a eee genus, to which he has given the name of Glaucopteryx. It : a sm: bite a ee lighter bird than the Hen Harrier; and its longer wings are crossed _ a inal . - eee its tail are different in form and richer in colour, as are also the flanks and thighs : ais ee : 5 > S, moreove eupject to so many changes of plumage between youth and maturity that two specimens can rarely be fi ; alike; the young males in particular are extremely variable, some being marked very like ae _ 2 ee others are of a nearly uniform rufous brown, and others almost black. As to manners a nee . ene pretty much on a par; and their distribution over England is very similar. Like the H HL, ‘ri ible species was more common in former times ; and it is now, I believ re iil abel RE es ecibutable toi 3 | oi leve, more HUMETOUS than its ally—a cir- ep ecanice whic ie utable to its greater powers of flight, and probably to its disposition to wander hither from other countries, to fill up, as it were, the void caused in its numbers by the destructive hand of the keeper. It is therefore occasionally to be met with in all parts of England, from the western county of Cornwall to as far north as Northumberland. In June 1867 Col. Napier Sturt submitted to me sata female killed on Poole Heath, in Dorsetshire. ‘Thompson remarks that “it is not known as an Irish species ; nor has it a place among Scottish birds, according to Macgillivray and Jardine.” o The examples of the Ash-coloured Harrier most frequently met with are in the plumage of immaturity; but individuals in the perfect grey dress are sometimes seen. In speaking of its general distribution over hae land, I ofcourse mean in such districts as are suited to its habits and economy ; for it would be as useless to seek it among our woodlands as to look for a Kite over the fens. Like the Hen Harrier, it loves the open country, whether it be the high fell or the low marsh, where it may readily procure the snakes, frogs, newts, and insects which constitute its favourite diet,—not that it refuses to prey upon moles, rats, and ie young of rodents of a larger kind, the hare and the rabbit, to which may be added the youthful game-birds of all kinds, its propensity for killing which destruction. apart from England the Ash-coloure It is abundant in Holland and Holstein, and in all induces the keeper to include it in his list of vermin and to resort to every artifice for its In other parts of the world idely spread than the Hen Harrier. sons of the Continent from France orth Africa, Asia Minor, and India, d Harrier is, I believe, both more numerous and more w the fluviatile port distributed over N dance in every part of the country. As might be supposed, the flight of this species is very simil remarks that it is more rapid and more strikingly buoyant. Speaking of Circus cineraceus as seen in Norfolk, Mr. Steve generally supposed, and has been known to breed with us in seve the entire drainage of the south-western fens, this Harrier was not only the most was the last to quit alt For many details respecting the nesting of this species and the specimens aders to the first volume of Mr. Stevenson's ‘Birds of Norfolk,’ p. 40. Mr. Alfred Newton states, in his to Bulgaria and the Crimea ; and it is very generally where, Mr. Jerdon informs us, he has found it in abun- ar to that of the Hen Harrier; but Mr. Selby ison says “it is certainly less rare than is ral instances of late years 3... - previously to plentiful in that locality, but ne ogether those once favourite haunts.” taken in the county, I must refer my re ‘Qotheca Wolleyana, that Vipers, of Upware, in Cambridgeshire, told him many curious particulars as to the habits of the Ash-coloured Harriers, “their action in choosing a nest the male selecting a spot, the female approving or disapproving of it as she thought fit; of the male coming to feed the female, and of her sometimes going to meet him, turning on her back and catching the prey he brought her, which, however, was occasionally dropt on the nest ; of the youn: peeking one of their fellows to down when bloody ; of the habits of the old birds, their cries, and the like.” It is phn that Mr. Newton should not have published these particulars 7 extenso, but contented himself a alluding to them in the above cursory manner, as their perusal could not have been otherwise than interesting. The nest is placed upon the ground, generally among furze, and the eggs are penally four, but sometimes five, in number; they are of a bluish white, one inch and seven lines in length by one inch and four lines in breadth; they are laid in May, and, according to the Rev. L. Jenyns, the young are hatched out about the second week s June. The Rev. John Daubuz tells me that a nest taken on his estate at Killion, in Cornwall, in 1862, was composed chiefly of dried grasses, placed on the ground among furze oc heath, and contained four white eggs. Mr. Alfred Newton informed Mr. Hewitson that “ the Hanniets: like the Owls, the Eagles, and probably all the Hawk tribe, begin to sit as soon as the first egg is laid; and as it is most likely that there is an interval of some days between the production of the eggs, the young are of very different ages, and therefore much more easily supplied with food.” The late Mr. Yarrell was of opinion that, as the name given to this species by Montagu had by mis- take or an error of the press been spelt in three different ways, it would be an advantage, as well as a gratification, to designate the bird in future by the specific name of Montagui, assigned to it by Vieillot ; but this the law of priority forbids ; and we must therefore adopt that of cineraceus, applied to it by Montagu, who, as the first discriminator of the species, would naturally have wished the name he proposed to be retained for it. And here let me say a word in praise of a departed ornithologist, whose writings must always be regarded with interest. Colonel Montagu was a true lover of nature, who employed his discriminating faculties to a good and useful purpose, and in no instance more effectually than when he pointed out the distinctions between the present bird and the Hen Harrier, except perhaps when he so clearly described the changes of plumage which take place in the latter bird. Nor are the details of the measures he took to ascertain whether or not the Hen Harrier and Ringtail were sexes of the same species less interesting ; these I shall quote to show how painstaking was this worthy country-gentleman and gallant soldier, and because they are equally descriptive of the changes which take place in the present species. ‘‘T undertook,” says Montagu, ‘the care of a brood of three young Hen Harriers found in a nest in a furze- bush, and only covered with white down. At this time the two largest had thrown out many feathers, sufficient in fact to discover the plumage of the Ringtail approaching ; the other, by its appearance, must have been hatched much later. In about a month it was evident from the size that there was but one male ; so that all my hopes rested on this single life. As they became full-feathered there was at first no distinction in plumage; but the eyes of the supposed male were always lighter than those of the others, whose irides were so dark as not to be distinguished at a small distance from the pupil. In the dress of the Ringtail the whole continued through the winter, when the one which had been weakly from the first died. This circumstance induced me to force a premature change in some of the quill- and tail-feathers of the others, fearing some accident might frustrate my earnest desire of bringing the matter to a decisive proof; and about the middle of June I was highly gratified by discovering an appearance of new feathers in the place of those which had been plucked out, that clearly proved the smaller bird to be a Hen Harrier, and the larger a Ringtail. Thus I had compelled nature to disclose her secrets before the appointed time; for in every other respect their plumage was yet similar, excepting about the sides of the face, which were paler in colour in the former, in which also the irides were of a dull yellow, somewhat mottled, whereas in the latter they still continued dark. About the 20th of July the male had thrown out many of the new feathers naturally, especially the greater coverts of the wings and a few grey feathers in different parts of the body. On the 20th of August the greater part of the quill- and tail-feathers were grown to their full length, and a gradual increase of grey feathers appeared on most other parts ; the eyes also became more orange; but it was not till the middle of October that it had attained that state which made it desirable to be retained as an existing - proof of the change. It was then killed, and placed in my museum. “From the account here given it is quite clear that the change of plumage is affected in the autumn of the year after the bird leaves the nest, and not in the same year.” The Plate represents an adult male, of the natural size, and a reduced figure of a female, or a young male, in the distance. The quadruped under the foot of the male is the common mole, Zalpa europea. \., Jann 7 q A AUTE WN AVI, AY A UNG 1G 4 I x st ao net et velar er S TRI JIGould& HC Rider ded et lith STRIX FLAM MEA, Zan. Barn-Owl. Stria flammea, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom, i. De 33. — guttata, Brehm, Vog, Deutschl., tom. i. 1D. HOO, ttealo, 77, fies, SP Aluco flammeus, Flem. Hist. of Brit. Anim., p. 57. Tus Owls form a large group of birds, of which some are strictly nocturnal, while others seek their prey in the daytime; a few feed exclusively on insects, others on small animals of various kinds. As may be naturally supposed, many generic terms have been proposed for the various forms which occur in this extensive family; the old Linnean name of Strix, however, is retained for the Barn-Owl and its immediate allies. It is the members of this genus that are most universally dispersed over the globe, there being no continent, and scarcely any large island, in which it has not a representative. Some of the species are exceedingly well-defined, while others assimilate to such a degree that it becomes extremely difficult to point out their distinguishing characteristics. The range of the Strix flammea is generally considered to be a very wide one ; and although the bird does not go to Australia, where several other species of the same form are found, it certainly extends over all the temperate portions of Europe, and many parts of Africa, and Mr. Gurney is of opinion that it is also found in Madagascar. The American bird, formerly considered identical, has lately been separated, and received a distinct specific appellation, on, I fear, very slender grounds. In India it has not yet been detected, but, asin America, is there represented by a very nearly allied species. On the con- tinent of Europe as in the British Islands, over every part of which the Barn-Owl is spread, barns, towers, churches, hollow trees, and rocks are its habitual places of abode; there, generally in pairs, it snoringly sleeps through the day; on the approach of evening its slumbers terminate, and it sallies forth and wings its way noiselessly in search of food over the parson’s glebe, around the park of the nobleman, the grass-field of the farmer, and the open heath, all of which constitute good hunting-grounds ; wherever mice are plentiful and insects abundant, there this nocturnal bird may be seen, and its ‘ ill-omened” screech heard. The enactment which passed through the Houses of Legislature in May 1869, for the protection of our beautiful rock-birds is considered by most persons a laudable one; but ought we to stop here? should the feathered creatures of the ocean solely claim this attention ? should not a like protection be accorded to some of our equally interesting land-birds, and, among them, to the Barn-Owl? I fear that few game keepers are real lovers of nature, or take an interest in the beautiful ; if they were, they would never injure this highly curious species ; for the commonest observation would inform them that it is only during two or three weeks in the spring that it can possibly do harm to the young game, that even then little is effected, and that the remainder of the year is spent in the destruction of insects, reptiles, mice, moles, &c. The short-tailed field-mouse, so destructive to the young trees of our plantations, it often devours by thousands—a fact with which every owner of land ought to be acquainted. The late Mr. Waterton has shown most clearly the enormous number of our small quadrupeds a pair of Barn-Owls will destroy in the course of sixteen months; and many other authors testify to the value of the bird’s services in keeping in check the inordinate increase of these mischievous little seal The Barn-Owl ke in ae one of the birds whose protection would not only be highly beneficial to us in an economic ane view, but would add much to our pleasure, since we should then doubtless more frequently meet with it during our evening rambles in the districts it frequents. Ri “The Barn-Owl,” says Macgillivray, ‘chooses for his place of EDO some 0 sea a 8 building, the steeple of a church, a tower, a dovecot, or a hollow tree. a pe reat rom sunrise to sunset, in a nearly erect posture, with retracted neck and closed eyelids, dozing a eo ee :, : ‘ is eves is unable to perceive his prey, and waiting for the return of twilig It from the structure of his eyes, he is une | - hits fosthera’ Dieses, I(le-an arin, deed iain nstead of flying off, he raises his feathers, hisses like an angry a : by any accident be driven abroad, be seems dazzled and bewil- ae he flits about with an unsteady flight, and nook in an old hours in which, approached in this state, 1 and thus threatens the intruder. Should he dered. Incapable of distinctly perceiving the objects around him, nets is glad to betake himself to some dark retreat where he may be she ae oe ie ct ae his numerous enemies. The appearance of an Owl in open day is 2 P lenomeng ‘a : ) ’ J ee oa s of birds, even the smallest of which will gather AaPOUnK , chide and ba : bills and wings. The Blue Tit, being and the Chaftinch, gentle ight as well as from as well as hatred of many specie . ee j i attack / er i hi areer W ssitate to attack him with him, while the larger will not hesita ‘ Len, among the boldest of our little birds, takes a prominent pi ae see mee c ; , otimes ; ‘| reposes > ‘ as it is. distineuishes itself by its vociferous animosity. Sometimes this y | a : a : ae ; Id it be discovered in the latter situation by any o i - ey a thicket; and should it be di tree in a dense wood, or even 1 a ; these birds, their outcries presently bring a band of enemies around it. But although the Barn-Owl is thus so imbecile by day as to suffer itself to be insulted with impunity by the pettiest aggressor, it assumes a very different character when darkness restores to it the faculty of clearly distinguishing objects. taking up a station in the neighbourhood of some farm-steading fre- “By watching near its haunts, or the fields, shooting 5S quented by it, one may dimly see it advance with silent and gliding flight, skimming over along the hedge-band, deviating this way and that, and now perhaps sweeping overhead, without causing On perceiving an object, it drops to the ground, the slightest sound by the flappings of its downy wings. its claws. In a little time it secures its prey in a moment, and, uttering a shrill cry, flies off with it in returns, and thus continues prowling about the farmyard for hours. The domestic Mouse, Wood-mouse, common Arvicola, Shrew, Lark, and young birds of different species are the objects which I have found in its stomach. The mice are generally swallowed entire, often without their bones being broken ; but the birdg are torn to pieces. Young hares and rabbits, as well as lepidopterous and coleopterous insects, are said to form part of its food; and Mr. Waterton informs us that it carries off rats, and occasionally catches fish. ‘Some years ago,’ he says, ‘ on a fine evening in July, long before it was dark, as I was standing on the middle of the bridge, and minuting the Owl by my wateb, as she brought mice into her nest, all on a sudden she dropt perpendicularly into the water. Thinking she had fallen down in epilepsy, my first thoughts were to go and fetch the boat ; but before 1 had well got to the end of the bridge I saw the Owl rise out of the water, with a fish in her claws, and take it to the nest.’ It has been alleged that it does not prey on Shrews ; but I bave found four skulls of these animals, along with two of an Arvicola, in the stomach of one. The number it swallows may seem surprising to a person who does not consider how many mice may be squeezed into a sack two inches in diameter. Remains of eight or ten animals may sometimes be found in its stomach, but in various degrees of decomposition, the greater part of some having passed into the intes- tine before the rest have been procured. The skulls and other bones, enveloped in the hair, are ejected in pellets after the bird has retired to its resting-place. ‘ When it has young, says Waterton, ‘ the Barn-Owl will bring a mouse to its nest about every twelve or fifteen minutes. But in order to have a proper idea of the enormous number of mice which this bird destroys, we must examine the pellets which it ejects from its stomach, in the place of its retreat. Every pellet contains from four to seven skeletons of mice. In sixteen months from the time that the apartment of the Owl on the old gateway was cleaned out, there has been a deposit of above a bushel of pellets.’ ” The sexual difference is not very apparent, for externally the male and female are very similar. The young, during the first three or four weeks of their existence, are clothed in an immaculate white down ; next come feathers, first in the form of a frill round the face, then the primaries appear ; and by the end of six weeks, the brood, which is generally four in number, are very like the adults ; sometimes, however, a tawny tint pervades the breast and under surface, while usually these parts are pure white. Mr. Stevenson states, in his ‘ Birds of Norfolk,’ that a dark variety, supposed to be migrants from the Danish Islands, some- times occurs in this country; an example of this variety, if I imagine rightly, was kindly shot for me by the Earl of Ducie, on the 6th of October, 1868, at his seat at Sarsden, in Oxfordshire, and is at once the smallest and most beautifully marked Owl I have ever seen: all the under surface was delicate buff, nume- rously speckled with grey ; it weighed 8} ounces; measured 11 inches in length, 27 inches from tip to tip of the wings ; the length of the wing from the tarsal joint was 10% inches, of the tail 42, and the tarsi 2¢ ; it was apparently a fully adult bird, and dissection proved it to be a female. I have little doubt it was a migrant, as it rose out of a dry ditch at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and had two freshly caught field-mice in its stomach. To test the verity of this opinion, I asked Lord Ducie to have another Owl shot in the same neighbourhood ; and on the 18th of November a female was sent me which proved to be of the ordi- nary kind. Jn this specimen all the under surface was snow-white, with a few specks of grey on the flanks and under the shoulders: its weight was 123 ounces ; the expanse of its wings 29 inches, the length of the wing from the carpal joint 10, of the tail 4, and of the tarsi 22 ; this was in every respect a very different bird from the buff-coloured one which preceded it. Mr. Henry Shaw, of Shrewsbury, who has paid great attention to the change of plumage undergone by various birds, writes to me—‘ From experience and dis- section I have found all the young female Owls to be more or less spotted, their wings strongly marked, and the webs of the first quill-feathers broader than when the bird is adult; they are also a trifle longer than the corresponding feathers in the opposite sex. The males have the breast white from the nest, and the markings of the wings and back less numerous. In the adults of both sexes the markings decrease as they advance in years; and very old males entirely lose the markings of the quills.” | The eggs, which are four or five in number, are pure white, and differ considerably in form, some being much more lengthened than others. The figures, which represent old and young, are of the size of life. W\O) TD OA IS fC AS a a SAS at ) . XS) ChE With ¢ lt and Hb Fa Lohn, Srp & I|\| 5 4| | INN Il | 3 TIN TATH TT my Ih SYRNIUM ALUCO Tawny or Brown Owl. Strix aluco, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. pe loz stridula, Id. ibid. p. 133. Syrnium ululans, Savig. Desc. de ’Egypt, pt. i. p. 112. stridulum, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. pt. ii. p. 62. aluco, Cuv. Régn. Anim., 2nd edit. tom. i. D543. Ulula stridula, Selby, Ill. Brit. Orn., vol. i. Pel02. Aluco stridulus, Macgill. Desc. of Rap. Birds of Gt. Brit., p.: 367, Ulula aluco, Macgill. Hist. of Brit. Birds, vol. iii. p. 438. Tuar the Brown Owl has many persecutors and but few friends is quite certain, his destructive propensities, particularly during the breeding-season, having called down upon him the maledictions of the game-preserver and the keeper; but this one-sided Judgment is just the ‘Farmer and the Rook’ over again, no consideration for the good he effects being taken into the account. Were it possible for a pair of Brown Owls to produce a yearly record of the number of nocturnal moles, Norway rats, and destructive field-mice they have destroyed, against a similar account of what has been done in this way by any five keepers, I question whether the balance would not be in favour of the Owls. Let us remember that the whole face of our country is gradually changing—woodland districts giving place to arable lands; and that the situations favourable to the habits of this bird are becoming more and more circumscribed, and consequently that it is to our interest to protect, rather than to extirpate, the remnant of the species which remains. Let us then cherish the Brown Owl as a bird designed for an especial purpose; let us still hear its hollow, rolling hoot in the twilight, or listen to the challenge-note of the males—the only sound which breaks the stillness of midnight in those woodland parts of the country where it still lingers. For myself, and doubtless for many other persons, the hoo-hoo-hoots of this bird have a great charm, and, in my opinion, amply compensate for the loss of the few leverets it may take home to its craving young during the months of April and May. I believe the brown rat to be far more destructive to leverets and young pheasants than this Owl ever can be. Let the preserver of game, then, bear this in mind, and not raise his gun at every Owl that blindly tumbles out of a tree when the covers are shot over: if he mistake the Owl for a Woodcock, which I have heard offered as an excuse, his destructive propensities and want of judgment are about upon a par. Having said thus much in favour of the Brown Owl, I must now proceed to speak more particularly of its habits and economy, and especially of its varied diet. It not only kills the smaller quadrupeds above enumerated, but its prowling habit leads it to pounce, during the stillness of the night, upon sleeping Black- birds, Thrushes, or any other species it can master ; and, strange as 1t may appear, it also hunts the edges of pools and rivers and captures living fish; in support of which latter assertion, I shall quote some oe which have appeared in works on natural history and in the daily Devspane I Te on greater portion of a note on the subject, which appeared in the ‘ Magazine of ae a a : year 1828, p. 179 :—‘ Probably it may not be generally known to naturalists aide t . ee ui Owl is in the habit, occasionally at least, of feeding its young with live fish—a fact which I have ascer- tained beyond doubt. Some years since, several young Owls were taken Hn 1 nie a ae a yew tree in the rectory-garden here; in this situation the parent birds repeatedly wes : n io fish, Bull-heads (Cottws Gobio) and Loach (Codes barbatula), which bad ee te err aa a neighbouring brook, in which these species abound. Since the above ane a ae io occasion found the same fish, whole or in fragments, lying under the trees in which I have obs young Owls to perch after they have left te (Rev. W. T. Bree, Allesley Rectory, near Coventry.) » Magazine, ‘is ioned in Jennings’s ‘ Orni- J. M., on the same page of the Magazine, “1s ment ‘ : ! who was employed to watch the fish-pond in . . ” nest, and where the old birds were accustomed to feed them. by «This circumstance,” says thologia,’ and corroborates a declaration made by a Liban: old land silver she! Had beni rameeat + nA the flower-garden at Bulstrode about fifty years ago. The gold and s1 é ; Duchess Margaret of Portland, being a lady of distinguished oe See eae ee n poached, ordered the gardener, Mr. ghew, o employ 7 cn i m alight on the edge of the pond, and there waiting the The Common Brown Owls were the robbers ; at least, or every curious object of natural history, suspecting the pond had bee | watchmen detected the robbers, when they saw t . approach of the fish, captured and devoured them! iat so the men reported, but they were not ee - a ,ppeared in the ‘Times’ of October 29, 1858 :-— j ied fr ‘Bath Journal, ¢ é ‘ The following paragraph, copied from the ; «© 4n Owl’s Larder.—A few days since roi ti . et ? te? an Owl’s nest was taken upon the farm of Mr. Parker, Burnett’s Cc Farm, near this city, with three young ones in it. The luxurious and voracious habits of the Owl may be imagined from the contents of this nest, which consisted of two leverets, one rabbit, three blackbirds, one thrush, and two large trout. They were all fresh, and had been apparently caught during the night.” This statement interested me so much, that I requested a friend then living in Bath to ascertain who was its author; and the following is an extract from a letter of the writer, which was immediately transmitted to me :— is strictly true: when I sent it to the > ‘You may rely upon it that the article entitled ‘An Owl’s Larder ‘Bath Journal,’ I felt convinced that most persons would doubt its being so. The pair of birds alluded to built their nest and fostered their young in the spring of this year at Burnett’s Farm, near Saltford. It was the great quantity of fresh-killed food which attracted my attention and induced me to make a note of it.” Were I to enumerate all the localities in England and Scotland which are inhabited by the Brown Owl, I might fill many pages to no purpose; I may mention, however, the great woods of Tregothnan, the seat of Viscount Falmouth, in Cornwall, where, if it be not strictly preserved, it at all times enjoys the friendship of the noble proprietor. Keepers will, however, often retain their own opinions, in spite of advice and remon- strance, and I fear the poor bird finds but little favour in that quarter. In the romantic and beautiful woods on the banks of the Thames, at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, the Brown Owl lives in comparative safety, breeding yearly in the deserted fox-holes and hollow trees; and it gives me great pleasure to say that the Duchess of Sutherland extends to it the most friendly protection. Within a week of the time I am writing (April 8, 1864), at the close of the most wonderful evening carols of Thrushes and Blackbirds I ever heard, the Brown Owl commenced his nightly serenade, his hollow hoo-hoo-hoo resounding over the water until it was lost in the distance. At Elveden, in Norfolk, the bird has always been befriended by those excellent ornithologists Alfred and Edward Newton, Esqrs., as will be seen from a note given below from the ‘ Ootheca Wolleyana.’ I might go on particularizing many other friends whose estates the bird frequents, and who favour it with their protection. If allowed to do so, the Brown Owl would coutentedly live in any of the wooded districts of England and Wales and the southern parts of Scotland. In the far north of the latter country it becomes more scarce ; and I believe we have no authentic account of its having been killed in Ireland. On the Continent the Brown Owl enjoys a wide range, for it is found everywhere except in the extreme north ; it also occurs in Northern Africa, and doubtless in Asia Minor and Persia; while the Hima- layas are frequented by an Owl so closely resembling it, that it can scarcely be regarded as distinct. ‘From 1844, and probably for a much longer time,” says Mr. A. Newton, “a pair of Brown Owls had frequented some clumps of old elms near the house at Elveden. There were three of these clumps, in one or the other of which they invariably laid their eggs. The trees were of considerable age, and mostly quite hollow, with an abundance of convenient nesting-places. By waiting quietly about an hour after sunset, my brother Edward or myself could generally discover whereabouts the Owls had taken up their quarters for the season; but it sometimes happened that we did not find the nest until the young were hatched. Throughout the winter the Owls kept pretty much in company; but towards the middle of February they used to separate, the cock often passing the day in a tree at some distance from the hen. As soon as he came out in the evening to hunt, he announced the fact by a vigorous hoot. Upon this the hen would emerge silently, and, after a short flight, reply to her mate’s summons by a gentle note. He then generally joined her, and they would fly off together to procure their food. The eggs were commonly laid about the second week in March, and the nests were almost always easily accessible. I never knew these birds occupy the same hole for two successive years; but, after an interval of two or three years, they would return to the same spot. There were never any materials collected to form a nest, the large white eggs being always placed on the rotten wood, which in most cases formed a sufficient bedding. We never found more than four eggs in the nest. These often, but not always, proved to have been incubated for different lengths of time, showing that the hen bird sometimes began to sit as soon as the first egg was laid; but we could never divine what might be the cause of this irregularity of habit. After the young birds had left the nest, it was some time before they began to shift for themselves ; and they used to sit in the shadiest trees for the best part of the summer, uttering a plaintive note, like “ keewick,” night and day, almost without cessation, to attract the attention of their parents, who assiduously brought them the spoils of the chase.” Kvery ornithologist who has directed his attention to our native birds must have noticed the great variation which occurs in the colouring of different examples of the Brown Owl—differences so ereat as to have induced even Linnzus to regard them as specific, and to characterize them as such under the terms a/uco and stridula ; and I must admit that I was for a long time sadly puzzled respecting them ; the generally received opinion, however, is that the rich russet-coloured birds are the young of the year, and that this colour gradually disappears as the bird attains maturity, when it gives place in both sexes to a greyish brown : fhe Fonten state has given rise to the trivial name of Tawny Owl, the latter to that of Brown Owl. When first hatched, the young birds are clothed with a grey down, upon which, as they progress in stature, crescentie and circular markings of reddish brown gradually appear, until they assume the colouring which has obtained for them the former appellation. The front figure in the accompanying Plate is somewhat less than the natural size. Ss NS wW S aN & S S 2 SS Ry ® 8 if S Wol, APP ING) WEY CO) AS) CAG BD NS its PO Ws BUBO MAXIMU S, Sibd. bed Kagle Owl. Bubo maximus (Sibb.), Flem. Hist. Brit. Anim., De Or, Strix bubo, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 24. Bubo, Bubo Italicus et B. Laponicus, Briss. Orn., tom. i. pp. 447, 482, 486. nudipes, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 209? —— Atheniensis, Daud. ib., p. 209. albus, Daud. ib., p. 210. —— microcephalus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. pt. 11. p. 55. —— Europeus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 115; Atlas, pl. 17. iol, —— Germanicus, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. eelel oe —— septentrionalis, Brehm, ib., Peo pl Gets. 1. Asio bubo, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. D7. Otus bubo, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., We ts Ir I were to indulge in a poetic vein while writing the history of this noble species, which stands at the head of all the European Owls, I might speak of its selection as the emblem of all that is wise and learned, or I might take up another strain and write upon its midnight voice, or upon its presence being regarded as an omen of death and other evil forebodings ; but I will let such fancies and fallacies stand for what they are worth and write a page on its history—not that I have any additional information to communicate respecting its natural habits and economy. The Great Horned or Eagle Owl, which is unquestionably the largest and finest species of the birds for ) which the generic term of Budo is now employed, is a native of the northern regions of the Old World, and is represented in the New by the Bubo Virginianus. The two species bear a very general resemblance to each other, but each possesses well-defined characters by which they may be distinguished. The regions of the Old World in which the present bird dwells are the forest- or mountain-districts of Central Europe, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Siberia, as far as the Amoor land. In England, Ireland, and Scotland it is extremely scarce, and its presence, when it does occur therein, must be regarded as purely accidental. In fact, should the traveller consider that if he made a journey to the European continent, whether it be to Norway or Switzerland, he would meet with this noble bird, and see its great fiery eyes blazing from the branch of a forest-tree, or its egrets standing erect in the sky-line when surmounting a rock, or hear its hollow hooting from a gully, he would probably be disappointed ; for nowhere is the bird abundant, and it is only in some favoured locality, far from the abode of man, that it takes up its quarters for the purpose af breeding. The areas over which the mated pairs range must be of considerable extent, and the amount of food necessary for their existence commensurately great. I should suppose that there is Do one of my readers who has not seen this bird in a state of captivity ; for there are not many parts of England, from the renowned Castle of Arundel in the south to the successful rearing in cages of my friend Edward Fountaine, Esq., of Easton near Norwich, in the north, where living examples may not be: seen, and nowhere to greater advantage than in the fine Menagerie of the Zoological Society in the Regent dee - The food of this powerful Owl consists of fawns, hares, grouse, and other birds, which are pounced upon on the ground and seized with its feet, the head being rarely advanced towards the prey until its struggles | y 1 | t fi 1 | d Mr Hewit sOn by he B fa t oO { > Ss OOS i t 3 agile fj S c urnisne Ol Ne > ‘ i late Mr. John Wolley, and published in the third edition of his wor on the ‘ Eggs of British ae ee | am sure I shall be held excused for copying his graphic description instead of attempting to describe wha I have not seen myself. | , on M After expressing the great difficulty of “ hunting up the ornithological ae 5 siti Norway, where the birds are few and the area over which they are scattere¢ vast ¢ | alt . | ' = | 1 to find a nest of Striv bubo ; many expeditions of some niles, anc nest with two young ones and an egg just hatching, It was on the 20th of May, and after climbing to tain-side broken up into crags he writes—* First, I was determinec several days lost, have resulted in the finding of a single and this after inquiries at every place I have been to. the mysterious cave of Skulberg, that our road lay under oe ee and ledges of the character which is usually 80 attractive to ae ; | ae patie the foot ; and an old man pointed out the direction from which the hooting: ' i i istening consultation and taking evening. Whilst I was listening to the consultation < aking if. at a ere ‘+ht above us, and, mellowed 1 along the edge of the cliff, at a great height abov , and, There was a little village at a survey with my glass, an Osprey flew , the distance, there came a full note from a Berg-ufo, who no doubt had seen the stranger bird. This was very encouraging, and it did not take long to arravge the order in which the various likely rocks were to be visited. An active wood- man accompanied me axe in hand. When we were fairly in the cliffs, we came to a point where some large bird was in the habit of sitting to tear its prey, and feathers and white feet of hares were lying about. A great Owl flew below us, showing a beautiful expanse of back and wings ; and as we proceeded in the direction from which it came, another large Owl rose from the face of the cliff, flew a hundred paces forward, turned its wide face towards us, and came a short distance back, I stopped to examine it with my glass, to be quite certain it was S. dud0. Satisfied on this point, we had only to walk a few paces along a ledge before the family group was in sight—two blind little puffs covered with down just tinged with yellow, and an egg with the prisoner inside, uttering his series of four or five chirps through the window he had made in the shell, with a voice scarcely more feeble than that of his older brothers. There did not seem to be much difference in the ages of the three: they were lying upon a small quantity of com- pressed fur, principally of rats, the remains of the castings of the parent birds, their bed nearly flat, for there was not more than two inches of soil. Uva-wrsi and several other plants grew near, and a small Scotch fir tree had its bark curiously flattened to the perpendicular rock at the back ; the ledge was not more than two feet wide, and terminated abruptly just beyond the nest ; the rock beneath was also perpendicular. A party of village ladies watching us from below were very successful in imitating the Owls, but the Owls themselves would not answer. We waited at the nest a long time in the hope that they would show them- selves ; but it was not till we had left it that we saw them again, sitting on the topmost shoots of spruce firs, with their ears finely relieved against the sky ; and when we were nearly in the village again, they hooted with a troubled note. I have visited three other sites of nests of this bird; and they were all of the same character, upon ledges in or over the cliffs. They were all unsheltered overhead. Sunshine seems to be courted rather than avoided.” ‘«« Although,’ > says Mr. Wheelwright, ‘I neither saw the bird nor obtained its nest in Lapland, it bred ona high mountain just opposite Quickiock, on the other side of the river; and the deep-measured ‘ boo, boo’ of the old bird, resembling the distant bark of a gruff old watch-dog, might be heard on any evening when we were out in the neighbourhood of its eyrie. I have not unfrequently taken the nest in Wermland, and it breeds commonly both around Gothenburg and in the south of Sweden; but I think its proper home is 5 more in the midland than in the northern districts of the country. The egg is the largest of all the S European Owls’ eggs, often measuring 23 by 2 inches.” The Eagle Owl, however, does not always breed on rocks. A nest containing young ones and a single addled egg is mentioned by Mr. A. Newton in his ‘ Ootheca Wolleyana’ (p. 164). In his notes on the birds observed by him in the Ionian Islands, Lord Lilford says, “1 very often heard and occasionally saw this species in Epirus and Albania proper, in which provinces it is common and breeds. One of our party killed a fine specimen near Prevesa, on the Gulf of Arta, in March 1857. I shot a female near Butrinto, in February 1858, and was in at the death of another near Santa Quaranta shortly afterwards. I was watching a pair of Bonelli’s Eagles one day near Butrinto, when aun Eagle Owl came flying past me in a much more hurried manner than is its wont, and took refuge in a thorn-bush, about a gun-shot from where I stood. He had hardly reached this shelter before a Peregrine Falcon stooped at, and just missing him, rose and ‘ made her point.’ I drove the Owl out, and was witness of a beautiful flight across an open plain of considerable extent—the Falcon making repeated feints, the Owl flying low and dodging round the scanty thorn-bushes, till he at length reached a hillside thickly covered with wild olives, and set his pursuer at defiance.” (¢ Ibis,’ 1860, p. 183.) No person in England has been so successful in breeding this bird as Mr. Edward Fountaine, who informs me that he has reared thirty-five birds out of forty-six eggs—a fact of considerable interest. The localities in the British Islands in which this bird has occurred are, according to Mr. Yarrell, Kent, Sussex, and Devonshire, Suffolk, Yorkshire, and Durham. It does not appear to have been seen in Scotland, and the only record of its occurrence in Ireland appears in Mr. Stewart’s ‘ Catalogue of the Birds of Donegal,’ in the following words :—‘ Four of these birds paid us a visit for two days after a great storm from the north, when the ground was covered with snow. They have not been seen since.” The colouring of the soft parts of the young at one day old is as follows: cere and bill purplish blue, with a distinct white projecting knob about an eighth of an inch from the point; body covered with buffy white down ; soles of the feet flesh-colour. : The sexes are alike in colour; but the female is somewhat smaller than the male. The figures in the Plate are about two-thirds of the natural size. Lo Bes DNs eS EP EE WOE BEN oe ES BIG AW ITD Fa — —— rn 8 = ° ——| AZ = ZF iI 4 r BR f —Z a = i Pp i] ‘ ae i q ap 4 \ 4 wy (| = i ~S oo 8 | Ry | NS ( 8 % A | Ss < 1 Ny ol 4 fe} Nn eT 3 a | 3 iT ee a YRS) Nees OTUS VULGARIS. Long-eared Owl. Otus albicollis, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p- 213. — Italicus, Daud. ibid., p. 213. — vulgaris, Flem. Hist. of Brit. Anim., p. 56. — Europeus, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. pt. ii. p. 57 —— communis, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 110. — — aurita, Mont. Orn. Dict. Renn. edit., p. 262. —— asio, Leach, Syst. Cat. Brit. Mus., p. 11. —— sylvestris, Brehm, Vog. Deutsch. p. 121. — arboreus, Brehm, ibid., p. 122. — gracilis, Brehm, ibid., p. 123. Asio italicus, Briss. Orn., tom. 1. p. 491. — otus, Less. Man. d’Orn., tom. 1. p. 116. Strix otus, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 132. Ulula otus, Macgill. Rapt. Birds of Brit., p. 403. Why one group of Owls should have elongated tufts on the forehead, like the Otus vulgaris, others short plumes, as in the Brachyotus palustris, while other groups have no trace of these appendages, is a matter for speculation among naturalists. These lengthened feathers have obtained for the two birds above mentioned the trivial names of the Long- and Short-eared Owls; but it must be understood that they are totally unconnected with the ears, and are, in fact, nothing more than a prolongation of that particular part of the bird’s plumage. Of course the anatomist would find a particular muscle for the erection and depression of these tufts, for nature never bestows such a feature without the means of showing it off to the best advantage: thus the fine colours on the side of the Red-legged Partridge are displayed to the utmost, so that every band falls into its right place, and so that the varied colours are in perfect harmony; and this law prevails with every bird, from the Peacock, with its gorgeous train, to the humble Sparrow on the house-top, who, in bis manifestations of love, exhibits to his mate far more varied markings than he is generally supposed to possess. My own opinion 1s, and always has been, that ornamentation is the chief design and intention of these beauties, and that they have little or no ‘fluence whatever on the bird’s well-being and economy. It is remarkable, too, how one group represents another in the great scheme of creation ; how Falcons, among birds, answer to the salmon and the trout ; and the Owls the cats among Mammals, even to the appearance of in their disposition and many of their actions. The poor mouse the ears, to say nothing of the resemblance |, the Stork, and the Heron, among birds, the cat and the has, indeed, many enemies—the Owl, the Kestre ds, and the snake and lizard among reptiles. But let us revert to the history of the weasel among quadrupe Does it constantly live in England ? Long-eared Owl, one of the most interesting members of its group. Is it strictly an indigenous bird 2? Is its dispersion general, from the most southern to the most northern Does it inhabit the sister kingdom of Ireland, as well as the islands I answer, Yes. Every extensive wood, nearly Long-eared Owls; or if it be not so, it is ling the poor bird, strive to extir- parts of England and Scotland ? contiguous to Britain 2 To all and every one of these queries Scotch, or silver) has its pair of , and the collector, instead of befrienc ap forth when the covers are beaten for the stealthy onvince every one of the folly every plantation of firs (larch, because the keeper, the sportsman ry individual that may fl s reflection only is necessary to C ful a denizen of our woods and pastures, young weasels, and smaller pate it by ruthlessly shooting eve Woodcock and the Pheasant. A moment’ of destroying so beautiful an ornament of the country, and so use which is evidently designed to keep in check the numbers of the field-mice, | birds, all of hich it readily devours. ‘To show the great amount of good it effects in this way, I may cite from Mr. Selby’s account of this species :—" In the stomach of one individual I found hout doubt, the relics from its repast of the previous night.” the Long-eared Owl is found in all parts of Europe, from Prussia to é for we know that it frequents the wooded ‘thin the Colony of the Cape. It has in his recently published work on ashmere, but is not very common : s that neither this species nor the following passage five skulls of mice, which were, wit Independently of the British Islands, Italy. The chances are that it is generally dispersed over Africa 5 i of that country, and that it also occurs W but Mr. Jerdon states, ayas from Nepaul to C Mr. Wheelwright state regions of the northern parts not yet been discovered in the Indian peninsula 5 the birds of that country, that ‘t inhabits the Himal towards the east it evidently becomes more scarce. the Brown Owl are met with in Lapland. either this bird or a most nee parts of that country than in the southern and western. Dr. Baird gives the whole of the temperate 5 : S - eo 7 7 ec Io € » iS Vrlso han. . regions as the range of the American bird, and moreover adopts Lesson’s name of Otus Oa but I cannot agree with him and the late Prince Charles Bonaparte in considering the American bird distinct from our own. . : The colouring of the eyes of this Owl would indicate that it is a day and not a night flier; this, however, 2 : am . . ° ie : e is not strictly the case, for darkness, rather than the bright sunlight, is more in unison with its way of life ; but on this point Mr. Hepburn informed Mr. Macgillivray that ‘* Sol will sometimes surprise the nocturnal wanderer, feasting on his prey in the meadow. He seeks the friendly shelter of the hedge-row or neighbouring wood, where he hopes to remain in peace until night again throws her veil over nature. Vain are his hopes ; for a pryiug Wren has discovered the intruder, and sounds an alarm. The Hobmn; the White- throat, and other birds hasten to the spot. First and foremost are the Chaffinches. They buffet him, peck at and menace him on every side, while the Owl turns his eyes from party to ea evading their blows as well as he can. The uproar is now great, each bird, in its mother-tongue, venting its execrations against the poor Owl. On such occasions, one may get within a few feet of it; the distance varying according to the depth of shade in which he may be sitting. At length he takes wing, generally flies a short distance, often pursued by a Chaffinch or two. On alighting, he is still persecuted ; and unless he gains some suitable roosting-place, the alarm-notes of these watchful birds are heard the livelong day.” Mr. Alfred Newton has sent me the following notes :—*‘I do not know many sights more engaging to a naturalist than one which often presents itself on peering into a thickly growing Scotch fir-tree. A family party of some half-dozen Long-eared Owls may be descried perched in close proximity to the obseryer’s head. Their bodies are drawn up perpendicularly and attenuated in a most marvellous manner, the ear- tufts nearly erect, or, if not exactly parallel to one another, slightly inclined inwards. Except these, there is nothing to break the stiff rectangle of the bird’s outline. Thus they sit, one and all, swaying slowly upon one foot, and gravely winking one eye at the intruder. Underneath such an Owl-roost as this, is certain to be found a large quantity of the pellets ejected by its frequenters ; and a good notion of their usual food is to be gathered from an examination of the same. Half-grown rats and mice, chiefly the former, constitute the staple ; but small birds contribute no small share ; and I have recognized among the remains unquestionable bones of the Wheatear, Willow-Wren, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Bullfinch, and Yellow Bunting. How the Owls catch them I am unable to say ; but I am bound to mention that never ina single instance have I discovered a trace of any game-bird, and I feel assured that the keepers who wage war against the Long-eared Owl for the protection of their young Pheasants or Partridges are not only giving themselves unnecessary trouble, but are also guilty of the folly of exterminating their best friends ; for the number of rats destroyed by this species is enormous, and I look upon the rat as the game-preserver’s worst enemy.” It breeds in March and April; and if ever it constructs a nest for itself, it isa very slight platform of sticks, placed on the horizontal branch of a fir or other tree ; but it generally appropriates the deserted drey of a Squirrel, or the nest of a Pigeon, a Crow, or a Magpie, on which to deposit its four or five white eggs. The two sexes are so much alike that a description of one will serve for the other. When first hatched, they are clothed ina closely set white down, which gradually puts on a fawn-coloured hue, rayed with a darker tint. On the assumption of real feathers, they assimilate to the colouring of the adult ; and the full plumage being once attained, no material change takes place at any season. Mr. Selby states that the young ‘‘remain in the nest for more than a month before they are able to fly. If disturbed and handled, they hiss violently, strike with their talons, and at the same time make a snapping noise with their bills. When they quit the nest, they take up their abode in some adjoining tree, and for many subsequent days, indeed for weeks, may be heard after sunset uttering a plaintive but loud call for food, during which time the parent birds are seen diligently employed in hawking for prey.” The anterior portion of the facial discs is white; to this succeeds a lengthened mark of blackish brown, in the centre of which the eyes are seated; beyond this the colour is deep fawn, fading into white on the A outer margin; ruff surrounding the discs mottled buffy white and dark brown; ground-colour of the plumage fawn-colour, each feather with a broad stripe of dark brown down the centre; the apices of all the feathers freckled and transversely rayed with greyish white and dark brown 3; spurious wing dark brown ; primaries rich fawn-colour at the base, and crossed alternately on their apical portions with broad bands of dark brown and greyish buff, freckled with dark brown 5 tail similarly marked, but the bands are narrower and more confused than those of the wings; under surface buff, becoming paler on the centre of the abdomen, vent, and under tail-coverts ; feathers of the breast and flanks, and those in front of the thighs, with a conspicuous streak of dark brown down the centre, from which proceed at intervals on either side narrow irregular rays of the same hue; frontal tufts blackish brown, bordered externally with deep fawn- colour, and internally with white, freckled with brown ; irides rich fiery orange. The Plate represents an adult of the natural size, and a nest of young ones, about a fortnight old. atuy uyo? yp Ley iy YO? TO LAYRY DY PLD PP “SIULSOATVd SOLOLMOV add 5 | 4 3 2 (UNG IIEETY vt IMT]HUUT| IN Md Wa rok a Pal BRACHYOTUS PALUSTRIS Short-eared Owl. Strix brachyotus,”Gmel. edit. Linn, Syst. Nat., tom. i, p. 289, egolius, Pall. Zoog. Ross. As., tom. i. p. 309. —— ulula, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 294. —— accipitrina, Pall. Itin., vol. i. p. 445. —— caspia, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. p: 272. palustris, Bechst. Vog. Deutsch., tom. ii. p. 344, brachyura, Nils. Faun. Suec., tom. i. p- 62. arctica, Sparm. Mus. Carls., le ole Otus brachyotus, Steph. Cent. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. Dee Brachyotus palustris, Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. i. pl. 40. Daou europeus, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 51.—Brachyotus, sp. 1. Tuere are in nearly every group of birds certain species which are eminently cosmopolitan—wanderers, as it were, over the whole (or nearly the whole) surface of our globe; and the present bird may be regarded as the cosmopolite among the Owls, since it ranges so widely that there are few countries which it does not inhabit. It is true that the ornithologists of the United States consider their bird to be distinct from the Short-eared Owl of the Old World; but the difference between them is, In my opinion, too slight to warrant their being regarded in that light. Wherever a bird breeds, that country may justly claim it as one of its indigenous inhabitants: hence this Owl may be so considered in the British Islands; for although there is an immigration from the north about the end of October, and a corresponding diminution in spring, yet considerable numbers did formerly, and many now, remain to breed in England, ‘Scotland, and Ireland. We have abundant evidence that this bird inhabits the African continent, from north to south. Mr. Jerdon states that it arrives in India at the beginning of the cold weather, and leaves again about March, spreading itself in the interval over the entire Peninsula, from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, and being often flushed and killed by the florican-hunters. Every country of the European continent enumerates it in the list of its avifauna. It is common on the Amur, and doubtless in every part of China. In America, it frequents the fur- countries in summer, and at other seasons the whole of the northern States, from east to west. When speaking of this species in my ‘ Birds of Europe,’ I stated that I had seen examples from other portions of the New World, even as far as the southernmost parts of Chili; and although I cannot now refer to the specimens, I am inclined to believe that I was correct in so saying. In Australia, New Zealand, and Polynesia it has never been found ; neither have I any reason to suppose that it is a native of any of the Indian Islands, such as Borneo, Java, the Philippines, and Japan; everywhere else this flapping diurnal Owl appears to be either a constant resident or a migrant. 7 - In England, this bird is known to sportsmen as the Cocco Oe the ee a a being greatly augmented about the time of the arrival of that bird in November; in all probability, both : : é : es save the coast of Norway with the first favourable species are under the same influence, and compulsorily leave the coast of ! ay wind. In November, then, great accessions to the numbers of this bird are observed to take place on our eastern shores, whence they spread themselves over the entire country, and are frequently to be met with, ‘ i ‘ r the eres “‘nip-fields and low sedgy flats of Norfolk in the latter part of the Partridge-season, among the great turnip-fields ; sninrts ; S S livia etal istricts are ACh siona y overrun with the common Suffolk, and Cambridge and Huntingdon shires. Certain districts are occa | 1 | : | , 2 ati 5 W 2a G ir ‘ly destroyet were their numbers Field-Mouse to such an extent that the young plantations would be ent ely ‘ | ae , ances ar ‘ecord of from ten to twenty being seen together ; not kept down by the Short-eared Owl. Instances are on record fe oe | ) Se : ~ 4 opeoarious bird, which indeed it 1s, so long as there Is an ¢ ~ and hence it has been regarded by some as a gregarious bird, whic , ; : g ea ae , ice failing, it feeds upon any other sma é ds ¢ dance of this kind of food, but no longer: the mice failing, it feeds upon’an} q e i 1M oy found the remains of a Skylark and a \¥ ellowhammer in birds it may be able to obtain. Colonel Montagu Tess ancit Vin» Yeorretle alivetennaaet at the stomach of one he examined, Mr. ‘Thompson the legs of a Tringa, and Mr. Yarrell ¢ 2 and portions of a bat. These terrestrial habits will inform my reader and this difference in the situations they frequent, ¢ me to consider them as generically distinct. ; Sir William Jardine states, ‘On the extensive moors shire, I have, for many years past, met with one or two pairs a eee of their young first turned my attention to the range of thei g s that this is not a woodland bird, like the Long-eared Owl; o c a X ovether with certain variations in their structure, induces 5 at the Head of Dryfe, a small rivulet in Dumfries- ; z . f these birds; and the accidental discovery The young was discovered by one of my dogs pointing it; and the following year two nests, with five eggs, were found. They were upon the ground, among the heath, the bottom of the nest scraped until the fresh earth appeared, on which the eggs were placed, without any lining or accessory covering. When approaching the nest or young, the old birds fly and hover round, uttering a shrill cry, and snapping with their bills ; they will then alight at a short distance, survey the aggressor, and again resume their flight and cries. The young are barely able to fly by the 12th of August, and appear to leave the nest some time before they are able to rise from the ground. I have taken them, on that great day to sportsmen, squatted on the heath, like young black game, at no great distance from each other, and always attended by the parent birds: last year (1831) I found them in their old haunts, to which they appear to return very regularly.” That the bird breeds still further south in the British Islands is proved by the following remarks of Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich :—‘* While planting and cultivation have induced the Long-eared Owl to become a regular denizen of this country, drainage and the enclosure of commons and waste lands have banished the Short-eared Owl from its former breeding- grounds. In the south-western parts of Norfolk, where fens are now almost entirely done away with, this species bred regularly ; and its nests were also taken occasionally in the vicinity of the coast. It still visits us regularly, and very numerously, in autumn.” Mr. F. Bond has taken several nests in Wicken and the adjoining fens near Burwell, in Cambridgeshire ; but these fens are now drained. Mr. Wheelwright, who writes so interestingly in the ‘Field’ under the name of ‘*An Old Bushman,” says :—‘‘ The Short-eared Owl is a summer migrant in Lapland, arriving towards the end of May, and during the whole season it is very common on the fells. It frequents exactly the same tracts as the Merlin, and, although perhaps more nocturnal than diurnal in its habits, is very often seen hawking over the fells in broad daylight. Its flight much resembles that of the Goatsucker. It is a very bold bird; and I once saw a Short-eared Owl actually beat off a Golden Eagle from the vicinity of its nest. I have often been amused, while lying by my camp-fire on the fells at midnight, by watching the curious evolutions of this bird in the air, which greatly reminded me of those of the Common Lapwing. Its loud ery, ‘* Wau-swau,” much resembles the barking of a dog. We took one fresh nest, May 29.” Mr. Wolley, in a paper read at the Meeting of Scandinavian Naturalists, at Christiania, in 1856, mentions that ‘This bird has a singular habit, when in fear for its nest, of suddenly casting itself down on the ground, in a place where it is hidden from the sight of the passer-by, and there wailing like a woman in fright or danger.” This fact, he adds, has no doubt given rise to a story which he had heard among some of the Lapps, relating to a supernatural bird, which they say sometimes makes a visit to their encampments, darting down upon a spot whence a tent has lately been removed, seizing a fragment of skin or fur from the dress of one of the family, and flying away with it.‘ Presently it returns and again darts down, but this time on the spot where the owner of the fragment will be buried. There it cries and moans like one in the agonies ef death, and just as that person whose fate is thus indicated will, at his or her end, wail and moan.” Mr. Alfred Newton informs me that, during the first week in August 1854, his brother Edward and himself, when riding over a heath at Elveden, disturbed a Short-eared Owl, which made a great outcry, rising high into the air, and then dashing down with a piercing scream. ‘‘ We proceeded to search, and soon came upon a half-fledged young one, sheltered in the heather, by the side of which a freshly-killed rat had been deposited. A day or two after, we found that, notwithstanding the anxiety shown by the parent bird, this young one had been abandoned by it since our visit, and was dead. We, however, discovered another of the brood close by; but this too was in like manner deserted, though we had been careful not so much as to touch it. Not wishing to cause the deaths of the remainder of the family, for there were doubtless some more hidden in the heather, we made no further search; and though the jealous temper of the old bird hardly deserved to be rewarded, I trust the rest of the brood attained to maturity. The Owlets we found had probably strayed to a considerable distance from the nest; for we looked over the ground so carefully that, had it been near at hand, it could not have escaped us.” Mr. Jerdon considers it probable that this is the Owl that is not unfrequently hawked at by faleoners in the North-western provinces of India; and in confirmation of this view, Mr. Wolf informs me that he once released a Short-eared Owl from a springe, which, on flying away, was pounced upon by a Goshawk that had been secretly sitting on a neighbouring tree, and carried it off in its talons. The buffy tint of the breast varies from yellowish red to light buff and yellowish white. In some specimens the longitudinal stripes on the centre of the breast and flank-feathers are very narrow, in others broad. When fully adult, the colours of the two sexes assimilate very closely; and the young, from their first assumption of feathers after the downy state, partake of the colouring of the adult. The Plate represents the bird, with its nest and eggs, of the natural size. K Al 4 rsPy 4 WY Au eY q q 0 | q C ) C ) 4 Py i r i a] G i \ BES OE CN > Be sh tor (hel) Of J w WW & u l Gold, J-UOCWL Sy, gas, Coy » eppehes zi vy ee ae wee, A rot SCOPS ZORCA. Scops Eared Owl. Strix scops, Linn. Syst. Nat., xii. edit. tom. i. p. 132. zorca, Cetti, Ucc. di Sardegn., p. 60. carniolica, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 290. gut, Scop. Ann. Hist. Nat., tom. i. no. 9. Asio scops, Briss. Orn., tom. i. p. 495, pl. xxxvii. fig. 1. Scops zorca, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. jo ealyy: Aldrovandi, Willugh. Orn., p. 65, tab. xii. ephialtes, Savig. Descr. de Egypte, Hist. Nat. tom. i. p. 107. europeus, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 106. asio, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. part. 2. p. 51. Bubo scops, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 549. scops, Schleg. Rev. Crit. des Ois. d’Eur., p. xiv et 38. Ephialtes scops, Keys. und Blas. Wirbelth. Eur., p. 33. We find in the great family of Strigide as much diversity of form and colouring as in any other group of birds of similar magnitude and equally general distribution ; and it is especially interesting to study their structural variations and marked differences. Although generally nocturnal, many are dinmmal; the visionary powers of some of the genera enabling them to see as well by day as by night: some, as we all know, have bright yellow or orange irides, while in others they are as black as sloes. Some genera, such as Bubo and Scops, are adorned with graceful tufts of feathers springing from above the eye, while the Surnie have full and rounded heads, without a trace of such appendages. The members of the genus Strix, of which our Barn-Owl may be cited as a typical example, are distinguished by the extreme delicacy, softness, and lovely pencillings of their plumage. Some genera have bare tarsi, as Aefupa ; while others have enormous feathered tarsi and toes—for example, Scotopelia. Now each of these diversities of structure is adapted to some special purpose; thus the huge bird just alluded to and the great Australian ieracoglaux strenuus prey upon large quadrupeds and birds, while the greater part of the food of the more delicate Scops consists mainly of insects. The forms above mentioned, however, are only a part of the great family of Owls, whose distribution over our globe is so general that no portion of its surface is entirely destitute of them. The area over which the present species ranges was formerly considered to be much more extensive than it really is: thus, instead of being spread over the whole of Africa, its range on that continent is somewhat circumscribed ; for it would seem that it does not cross the equator, and that the birds from Senegal and the Cape of Good Hope, which were formerly regarded as identical with it, are really distinct. The same ow excluded from the fauna of that country, and the name Scops pennatus remark applies to India; for it is n In North Africa, Egypt, Persia, the Holy Land, Asia Minor, no longer placed as a synonym of Scops zorea. Europe, including the ‘slands in the Mediterranean, it is tolerably common ; 1t 1s and the whole of Southern e parts of Germany ; while in Belgium and Holland it is rare, and equally numerous in France and som becomes still more so in Sweden and Norway, which constitute the boundary of its range in a northern direction. In England, Scotland, and Ireland its its having bred therein have been recorded, they are few in numb If we consult some of the works relative to European ornithology publ ( . : omy of this bird with which, for want of opportunity, our native acquainted, and have therefore had to be content with giving and, which are too numerous to be recapitulated er, and have not been satisfactorily verified. ished on the Continent, we shall find many details respecting the habits and econ writers have not been able to make themselves little more than a list of its various occurrences in our isl here; I must not, however, omit to mention two or three that have been kindly forwarded to me for the Mr. E. H. Rodd’s specimen from the Scilly Islands was especially beautiful, ose of the most delicately marked Nightjar or of the d to me by the late amiable Earl of Craven, which had estate at Ashdown, in Berkshire, I believe, purposes of the present work. its pencilled markings rivalling in minuteness th Wryneck 5 and another, equally beautiful, was presente Jeaf in a field on bis Lordship’s 1 June 1868, Mr. Roche, of Clungunford House, ntly killed by John Hurleston Leche, been caught alive under a turnip is the year 1858. Lastly, at the moment I am writing, 7 Shropshire, sends me word that a fine male specimen has oe es lee Esq., of Carden Park, Cheshire. It had been heard, several evenings before 1 peculiar note of “‘kew, kew.” ae “Tp the Djendeli district we found this Owl abundant ; every Dis Several, which had been caught on their ne as obtained, uttering its ht its peculiar ery might be heard from ‘ndividual sts, were brought to us by the Arabs ; one or more individuals. occurrence is purely accidental ; and if any instances of one of these, whose wing had been injured, we kept for some days in the tents; but after a time it dis- appeared, having probably hopped off in the night.”—Osdbert Salvin. “Very common in Corfu during the summer months, arriving about the beginning of April, and breeding jn the old olive-groves, which, from that time till the middle of October, resound with their melancholy and monotonous cry. The favourite food of a Scops Owl which I kept alive at Corfu for some months was the Humming-bird Moth, which abounds in the island in August and September. In the year 1857 I observed one of this species in the island as late as the 17th of November. I was gravely assured by a Spanish lady that this species and the Barn-Owl enter the chapels and churches in Andalusia to drink the oil in the lamps which are kept burning in the shrines of the saints, and that it behoved all good Christians to slay them whenever they found them—adding, ‘Son las gallinas del demonio, Senor.’ ”—Lord Lilford. “Mr. Howard Saunders informs me that ‘“ the Scops-eared Owl is abundant near, and almost in Seville : five minutes’ walk from the Cathedral you may hear the male’s clear ringing ‘ Kiou’ any evening; the female’s note is said to be merely ‘ Cu,’ not the rounded ‘ Coo’ of the Wood Pigeon. Athene noctua, on the contrary, mews like a cat, and also utters ‘ Cu-Cu,’ always double and often repeated.” “During my ramble in the grounds of the Casa de Campo, to the south of Madrid, I suddenly came face to face with a Scops Owl which was sitting tightly drawn up against the trunk of an elm, about 5 feet from the ground. We contemplated each other, no doubt with mutual admiration, for some minutes, till the Owl, after bowing politely several times, retired to a thick ilex at some distance, where I left him. This species was then beginning to make its appearance in Castile ; a fortnight later it was very abundant, and its melancholy ‘ keeyou, keeyou’ to be heard throughout the night, and often during the day, in all parts of the country.”—Lord Lilford, ‘The Ibis,’ 1866, p- 176. “Very plentiful in the seasons of its migrations, and by far the commonest Owl found in Malta. It commences arriving towards the end of February or beginning of March, and continues passing till May, reappearing in September, October, and November. It is sold in the market. in great numbers with Nightjars and other birds for the table, and is considered good eating by the natives. It is easily tamed and becomes very familiar in captivity. A few probably winter on the island, as individuals are taken in December and January. In 1862-63 I obtained nearly a dozen specimens in the market at different times during these months.” —Mr. Wright, 1864. “On the 27th of November, 1861, an adult male of this pretty little Owl was picked up dead near the Lighthouse at Cromer, in Norfolk, against which it had in all probability flown with great force, attracted by the glare of the lamps. The head was uninjured, and the plumage perfect, but the flesh on the breast and the point of one wing showed symptoms of having sustained a very severe blow. The stomach contained a mass of fur about the size of a walnut, amongst which was discernible an almost entire skeleton of a mouse, the heads and forceps of several earwigs, and three stout caterpillars, nearly an inch in length.” Stevenson. “Very common in spring in old ruins and olive-groves, returning to Palestine about the middle of April. We found the nests both in the walls of ruins and in hollow trees. No less than four birds were caught on their eggs in holes of olive trees. It does not come out so soon as the Athene persica, indeed is seldom heard until after sunset.”— Tristram, ‘The Ibis, 1865, p- 261. The late Mr. W. Spence, the well-known entomologist, recorded the following account of its summer habits in the 5th vol. of ‘Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History :’—* This Owl, which in summer is very common in Italy, is remarkable for the constancy and regularity with which it utters its peculiar note or cry. It does not merely ‘to the moon complain’ occasionally, but keeps repeating its plaintive and monotonous cry of ‘ kew, kew’ (whence its Florentine name of Chit, pronounced almost exactly like the English letter Q), at regular intervals of about two seconds the livelong night ; and, until one is used to it, nothing can well be more wearisome. ‘Towards the end of April 1830 one of these Owls established itself in the large Jardin Anglais, behind the house where we resided at Florence ; and until our departure in the beginning of June, I recollect but one or two instances in which it was not constantly heard (as if in spite of the Nightingales which abounded there from nightfall to midnight, and probably much later) whenever I chanced to be in the back part of the house or took our friends to listen to it, and always with the same unwearied cries, and the intervals between each as regular as the ticking of a pendulum. This Owl, according to Professor Savi’s excellent Ornitologia Toscana, vol. i. p. 74, is the only Italian species which migrates, passing the winter in Africa, and the summer in the south of Europe. It feeds upon beetles, grasshoppers, insects.” The Plate represents a male and a female, of the size of life, on a branch of the common Yew, Zaazus baccata,—the grey bird being the former, and the brown one the latter. The moth is the Death’s-head of English collectors, the Sphina Atropos of Linnzeus. J Woltand Kl Rudkior dd. a bith: gn Le 1 2 3 4 FE NYCTEA NIVEA. Snowy Owl. Strix nyctea, Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 132. —— nivea, Daud. Traité d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 190. —— candida, Lath. Ind. Orn., Suppl. p. 14. —— wapacuthu, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 291. arctica, Bartr. Trav., p. 285. Nyctea erminea, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. vii. Denote —— cinerea, Steph. Cont. Shaw Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p- 63. _Surnia nyctea, Edmonst. Mem. Wern. Soc., vol. iv. p. 157 .—Thomps. Ann. N Noctua nyctea, Boié, Isis, 1822, p. 770. Nyctea nivea, Brehm, Isis, 1834. candida, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. eile at. Hist. vol. i. p. 241. Tue Snowy Owl belongs to a great group of birds, so universally dispersed that I believe no portion of the world is destitute of one or other of its members. This universal distribution of the Strigidee, some of which are nocturnal, while others are diurnal, is no less interesting than are the diversities of structure observable among them: some are adapted for the capture of living prey of large size, others for seizing the smaller quadrupeds and birds, and others again for insects and their larvee. Thus the huge Athenes of Australia destroy the Koalas, the Phalangers, the smaller Kangaroos, Perameles, and other less important Marsupials; the Huhua nipalensis of India is said by Mr. Jerdon to prey on hares, cats, rats, and fish; and in Africa we find the Scotopelia Peh, whose great size and extraordinarily developed talons, we may be assured, are adapted either for a similar purpose or, perhaps, for the destruction of the Co/odi and other Monkeys of that country. In the northern regions of the Old World, we have the two powerful species of the genus Budo. Of the natural food of these Great Owls we know but little, except that they are said to feed on fawns, hares, rats, and small quadrupeds, and birds of many kinds, particularly Ptarmigan and Grouse. The members of the restricted genus S¢ri# are more universally dispersed than those of any other form of the entire family, and feed almost exclusively on mice and other small Rodents. The diurnal Owls, forming the genus Noctua, prey upon birds and insects ; and it is probable that the numerous minute species found in South America are mortal enemies to the Trochilide, in confirmation of which I may mention that these little birds show their aversion to the Owls, by attacking them with the utmost fury whenever they come in contact with them. To generalize further on the Strigide as a whole would be out of place; and I have merely made these few remarks on their distribution and varied habits for those of my readers who are not professed ornithologists, and to state that the Snowy Owl is a denizen of the ice-bound regions of northern Europe, Siberia, Iceland, Greenland, Labrador, and the country north of Davis's and Barrow’s Straits between America and the unknown land; it also tenants the icebergs which become separated from the mainland and ioe towards warmer regions: the Snowy Owl finds a plentiful supply of food in tie numerous birds which settle on these floating masses ; here, in company with Polar Bears, with which it shares the seal and the walrus, it spends much of its time; and its whole structure, colouring such a mode of life. Cold has no effect upon it; on the contrary, it is what it covets. During the breeding-season it proceeds further south, and seeks the milder countries of Norway, Finland, Heine. and the fur-countries of America. On the bleak moorland, where none other but the Lapp or the Esquimaux sets his foot, the Snowy Owl performs the duty of reproduction, its mest being Ce 2 eo ee and its numerous progeny reared among Hares, Lemmings, Ptarmigans, &c., which alford them an , and thick plumage are wonderfully adapted for abundance of nutriment. Dr. Falconer has called my attention to a pass flight of geese going N.N.W., and a White Owl (Strix nyc beyond the Paranon Rocks, and north of the coast-line of Arctic “the Owl is a carnivorous bird, and follows the White Bear to that he follows the Bear out upon the ice away from the land. In the British Islands, therefore, my readers will be prepare s the following notices of its occurrence Se ; es age In Wrangel’s ‘ Expedition to the Polar Sea ’—‘‘ Saw a tea), On the 1st of May, 150 werst, ?.e. 100 miles, Siberia.” .... At page cxxili, he says that feed on the remains of his prey,’ meaning d to learn that it is only a chance visitor ; still its visi (which I give on the authority its visits are by no means unfrequent, a of their authors) will testify. “As a British species,” says Macgillivray, who met with it in the course of a tour through Dr. Lawrence Edmonston, of Shetland, who, in 18 «the Snowy Owl was first described in 1812 by Mr. Bullock, Orkney and Shetland ; but it had previously been found by 22 published a detailed account of its habits in the fal hal ‘Transactions of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh.’ . . . . Ibave recently been favoured by Dr. Edmonstone with the following notice respecting this beautiful bird:—‘ The first time I saw it was in 1808, when an individual had been shot by a lad, and hung up as a scarecrow. My next opportunity of seeing one was in the spring of 1812, when I succeeded in shooting the individual, the skin of which I presented, about a month or two afterwards, to my friend Mr. Bullock. He had seen the bird in Orkney in 1812; but this was the first specimen he had obtained, and it was the first recorded instance of its being killed in Britain. It continued to be exhibited in his collection till its dispersion.’ ” Mr. Stevenson, of Norwich, informs me that “ this beautiful species has occurred in Norfolk in several well-authenticated instances, although an interval of nearly thirty years elapsed between the appearance of the earlier specimens and those more recently obtained. Two examples are recorded in Hunt's ‘ Norfolk Birds’ to have been taken in this county—one in April 1814, and another in January 1820. Of these, the former was killed at Felbrigg, the latter at Gunton, both in the vicinity of the coast near Cromer. From that time I can find no record of its appearance until 1844, when a fine specimen was shot at Beeston, also near Cromer. In the early part of 1847 a large White Owl was seen more than once in the neighbourhood of Brooke ; and in 1849-50 no less than three were met with in different parts of the county.in the short space of six months. Of these, the first was seen, but not shot, at Swannington, during the autumn of 1849 ; the second, a young male, was also shot at Beeston; and the third, a young male, though more advanced in plumage, was killed at St. Faith’s, in February of the same year. I know of none since.” Similar instances might be given of the accidental occurrence of this bird im nearly every county of England and of its still more frequent occurrence in Ireland; but these visits do not appear to be regulated by any fixed laws: to detail, therefore, where every specimen has been killed, would be useless; but I may mention that the ‘Morning Advertiser’ of November 10, 1859, contained the following paragraph respecting this bird :— “Snowy Owl (Surnia nyctea).—A very perfect specimen of this beautiful Owl was lately shot on the open moor at Knockie, in Invernesshire ; it was stalked and shot with a rifle at eighty yards’ distance. The extent of the outspread wings is 4 feet 9 inches; length 22 inches; weight 3 lbs. 5 0z.; plumage pure white, barred and spotted with dark brown.” Speaking of the Snowy Owl, as observed by him in Lapland, Mr. Wheelwright says :— ‘Considering the number of eggs—eight or nine—that the Snowy Owl lays, and the wild inaccessible nature of the country in which its nest is usually built, I cannot help wondering that this bird is not more common on these fells ; but if we take into consideration the immense fell-tract stretching from the Dovre- fell, in Norway, right up to the North Cape, and think of the thousands of acres whereon human foot never treads, but over which these birds have almost an undisputed range, our wonder ceases. The old birds appear rarely to leave the high fells; and if we want them, we must seek them in their wild mountain home. They appear, however, to make periodical migrations after the Lemming, and therefore, in some seasons, are common in districts where they have perhaps not appeared for years. Still I fancy the Snowy Owl is more local than erratic. “An opinion is held here that the Snowy Owl becomes whiter in the winter (which I think very probable), and that the female is always purer in colour than the male. It is clearly a diurnal bird ; for any day when we went out on the fells we could see the White Owl perched on a distant rock watching us, or beating over the fells with a stately measured flight—always, however, out of gunshot. Its shriek, when on the wing, resembles a loud ‘krau-au,’ repeated three or four times; but it is seldom heard except when the bird is excited. Some of the movements of this bird are very extraordinary, and I once saw one fall from a considerable height on to the ground, where it lay for a time perfectly motionless, with outstretched wings, as if it were shot. I tried to creep up within gunshot; but it rose out of distance, and sailed away, uttering a wild loud cry, ‘‘ Rick, rick, rick,” as if mocking me. “The egg of the Snowy Owl measures just the same in length as that of the Eagle Owl (23 inches) ; its breadth is 12 inch, that of the Eagle Owl being 2 inches full. The nest was nothing more than a large ball of reindeer moss, placed on the ledge of a bare fell. The old birds appeared to guard it most jealously ; Field, Jan. 31, 1863. The Snowy Owl bears confinement remarkably well, as evidenced by the state of contentment in which in fact the Laps often kill them with a stick when they are robbing the nest.” several examples have lived, in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, for many years. Much variation occurs in the plumage of this species, some individuals, of both sexes, being entirely white, while others are more or less numerously marked and barred with brown. The front figure in the Plate represents a female, in the barred (and probably adult) state of plumage, about two-thirds of the natural size. 3 4 Wyte 3 HV CVNATN 2 A —- intl Hawk Owl. Strix funerea, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 25. —— ulula, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 26. — doliata, Pall. Zool. Ross.-Asiat., tom. i. p. 316. —— hudsonia, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. p. 295. —— nisoria, Meyer, Taschenb. Deutschl. Vog., tom. i. p. 84. — arctica, Sparrm. Mus. Carls. p. 51. Noctua (Surnia) funerea, Cuv. Régn. Anim., edit. 1817, tom. i. De doe Surnia funerea, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., tom. i. pe LOL. borealis, Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 100. ulula, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., tom. i. p. 36. Syrnium nisoria, Kaup, Natiirl. Sys. der Eur. Thier., p. 59. Tus diurnal Owl, so commonly spread over many parts of Northern Europe, Siberia, and America, having been twice captured in England, ornithologists generally agree in the propriety of giving it a place in our avifauna: its visits, however, must be regarded as pnrely accidental ; and destitute as these islands are of the peculiarly wild and sterile districts so frequent in the countries it inhabits, it is not likely that it will ever become a resident here. Its first occurrence in Britain was recorded by the ite Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for 1835, in the fol- lowing words :—‘‘ Surnia funerea. An Owl of this species, preserved in the collection of Dr. Birkitt, of Waterford, was taken on board a collier, a few miles off the coast of Cornwall, in March 1830, being at the time in so exhausted a state as to allow itself to be captured by the hand. On the arrival of the vessel at Waterford, whither she was bound, the bird was given to a friend of Dr. Birkitt, with whom it lived a few weeks, and then came into his possession.” The second instance of its appearance was recorded in the ‘ Zoologist’ for 1851, p. 8029, by Mr. E. ‘T. Higgins, who says: “ The subject of this communication was shot on the 25th or 26th of August, 1847, about two o’clock in the afternoon (the sun shining brightly at the time), whilst hawking for prey on Back- well Hill, near the Yatton (Clevedon) Station, on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and on the day following, whilst still in the flesh, came under my observation ; for the genuineness of the specimen I can therefore vouch. The delay in the record of its capture has arisen from my inability to obtain the bird for description sooner. Having at length had it placed im my hands, I hasten to bring it before your readers.” After giving a minute description, and a very good woodcut of the specimen, he continues: ‘ This is in all probability a ‘in all probability,’ because the rare birds, which have at different times been obtained first or second year. May we not, from young bird; I say in England, have, with scarcely an exception, been examples of the this remarkable but well-known fact, reasonably conclude that the occurrence of these accidental visitors is to be attributed to their instincts not bemg sufficiently developed to enable them to retrace their way when carried to a distance from their natural habitat by a strong current of wind ?” For an account of the habits and economy of this elegant and singular Owl, which of course I have had myself, I must draw largely upon other ornithological writers ‘ Zoologist,’ and Mr. Wheelwright’s in his ‘Spring and Summer en nearest home, and because, in my opinion, their ne : and shall com- no opportunities of observing gh mence with Mr. Wolley’s account in the in Lapland,’ both because they treat of the bird as se remarks are particularly truthful and interesting. «¢ The Hawk Owl,” says Mr. Wolley, “ is not uncommon in Lapland. k flight, has a very hawk-like appearance in the : ar its nest, is also similar to a hawk’s ; It flies much in the day-time, and, ith its long tail, short wings, and quic air when the large and square form of its head is not seen. Its cry, when uttered ne on the bare top of an old dead fir to watch intruders, appare fashion of the more regular Owls ; is quite a ‘ table’ at the top of its head. : or turns its head round for a leisurely g any one with a single eye much beneath and it often sits ntly without any idea that it can be in danger. It carries itself much after the but, while the feathers at the back give a } . . : It casts its bright yellow eyes great breadth to its full face, there \ downwards with the true air of half-puzzled wisdom, direction ; to glance backwards is out of the question fe 5 S 2 . 7 . ‘ : m on ; ‘ ake its dignity. I have seen it from my window fly down from its stand, wn tak ue i tee obifiad ite place several times before 1¢ found a the tree before it began to eat it; but it shifted its place sevet ‘times J ; he alge When disabled, it at once « squares itself for defence, putting on i c vU, c i. its front to the enemy ; silently and calmly it aze in another , and to look at the mouse it caught back to convenient spot for finishing the meal. formidable countenance, guarding its back and presenting maintains its ground, or springs from a short distance on its foe. So, bravely, it dies, without a thought of glory, or without a chance of fame ; for of its kind there are no cowards.” Mr. Wheelwright describes it as by far the commonest Owl in the district of Quickiock ; and although lemmings form its principal food when they are ‘in season,’ he believes it does not migrate to any extent, but remains stationary throughout the year. In winter it is occasionally killed as far south as Wermland ; but these have merely strayed from their native baunts—the lower fir-forests at the foot and by the sides of the fells. He proceeds to say that “it is by no means shy, and in the breeding-season is one of the boldest of birds. Seated on the top ofa dead pine, close to the nest where his mate is sitting, the old male keeps a constant watch, and, as soon as any one approaches, raises his tail and head, after the manner of the cuckoo, and, uttering a shrill ery, not unlike that of the Kestrel, down he comes full on the head of the intruder. Dashing by with the speed of lightning, he returns to the charge again and again, till he has either driven him away or paid the penalty of his rashness with his life. The lad who attended me was really frightened at this bird, and always hated to go up to a nest; and well he might; for on one occasion, when taking the eggs out of a dead pine, without a branch to help him, holding on, as the sailors say, ‘by his eyelids,’ forty feet from the ground, the old bird made a swoop down on his head, struck off his cap (through the top of which a large slit was cut), and ina moment returned to the charge, tearing off a very fair-sized clawful of his hair. I was standing at the bottom of the tree with my gun; and had I not knocked the bird over, the lad might have been easily beaten off his hazardous perch. There is no trouble in shooting the Hawk Owl if you have a dog with you; for whatever time of the year it may be, as soon as the bird spies the dog, it descends to give battle. “Tn flight, manners, and appearance this bird is closely allied to the hawks. It is strictly diurnal in its habits, and to the stealthy quiet flight of the Owl adds the spirit and courage of the Falcon. Hardly a forest bird is safe from its attacks. I have seen it strike down a Siberian Jay, its nearest neighbour, on the wing; and more than once have disturbed it while feeding on an old Willow Grouse, a bird half as large again as itself. Its principal food appears to be birds, lemmings, and wood mice; but I have often found insects in the stomach. There is little difference in the plumage of the two sexes; but the female is rather the largest, and in the breeding-season has the breast and belly strongly tinged with reddish brown. I know the male takes his turn in sitting upon the eggs, for I have shot both sexes as they flew out of the bole in which they were deposited. “The Hawk Owl moults early; the old birds may be seen without tails before the young are able to fly, and the autumnal moult is complete by the time the young are fully feathered. The bird is then in its best plumage, and its clean, pure, shiny dress is very different from the dingy colouring of spring.” The number of eggs laid by this Owl seems to vary from six to seven or eight. Mr. Newton, in his ‘Ootheca Wolleyana,’ mentions one with eight, two with seven, and one with six. Their usual size is 13 inch by 13. The late Sir John Richardson states, in the ‘ Fauna Boreali-Americana,’ that this ‘« Owl, which inhabits the Arctic Circle in both continents, remains all the winter in high northern latitudes, and is rarely seen so far south as Pennsylvania, and then only in severe winters. It is a common species throughout the fur- countries from Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific, and is more frequently killed than any other by the hunters, which may be attributed to its boldness and its habit of flying about by day. In the summer season it feeds principally on mice and insects; but in the snow-clad regions which it frequents in winter neither of these are to be procured, and it then preys mostly on Ptarmigan. It is a constant attendant upon the flocks of these birds in their spring migrations to the northward. When the hunters are shooting Grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from its size to carry it off. It is also known to hover round the fires made by the natives at night.” Mr. H. E. Dresser informs me that the Hawk Owl is not uncommon in New Brunswick, and often to be seen on ‘“‘ rampikes ” (large dead trees so called) standing alone on the blueberry barrens. At certain seasons it occurs in large numbers, and is supposed (by the country people) to bring ill luck. My friend Mr. George Boardman, of St. Stephen, N. B., has found the eggs of this Owl in that neighbourhood ; but I myself never succeeded in finding them, though I have seen the birds all the year round on the Musquash river, where T resided. They appear to feed almost entirely on a small species of mouse that is numerous on the barrens ; for, though I have dissected many, I never found the stomach to contain anything but the remains of these animals. They seek their prey during the daytime, and seem to enjoy sitting on the very top of an old scathed tree in the full glare of the sun. The front bird in the Plate is of the natural size ; the other is somewhat reduced. J Gould HC Richter, del at lath Walter: Lng NYCTALE TENGMALMLI. Tengmalm’s Owl. Strix Tengmalmi, Gmel. edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., tom. i. pe2ol, Noctua Tengmalmi, Cuv. Régn. Anim., edit. 1829, tom. i. p. 345. Athene Tengmalmi, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 549. Afgolius Tengmalmi, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst., p. 34. Scotophilus Tengmalmi, Swains. Class. of Birds, vol. ii. p. 217. Nyctale Tengmalm, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List. of Birds of Eur. and N. Amer., p. 7 In size and general appearance the Nyctale Tenymaimi is very similar : to Athene noctua ; so much so, says Naumann, that superficial observers have confounded it with that bird ; ' the ornithologist, however, sees at ‘ace is whiter, the facial disk more complete, the plumage more dense and silky; the arrangement of the markings is different, and the tarsi and toes, instead of being bare, are thickly clothed with feathers. a glance that it is not only specifically but generically distinct—the { The situations the bird affects and the countries it inhabits are also very different; it keeps to the great primeval forests of spruce and fir clothing the mountains of various parts of Europe, particularly those of Norway, Lapland, and Russia; it is true that it is sparingly found in the central parts of Germany, in Switzerland, and occasionally in England, but its visits to this country must be regarded as purely accidental. Naumann states that it is not so wild in its disposition as 4. noctua, that it sleeps more soundly during the day, and is not so easily aroused and driven from the holes in the trees in which it rests, putting up iil good deal of Henkin before it will leave its retreat. Its flight is said to be like that of Orus vulgaris, but with a quicker flapping of the wings. Its food consists chiefly of small quadrupeds, particularly wood- and field-mice, shrews, and bats, which latter it probably takes while in a state of rest, or when leaving their lurking-places. Naumann says it is a true nocturne, and that it retires to its resting-place before sunrise, and remains secluded therein until the close of day. Mr. H. E. Dresser has kindly furnished me with the following extracts from letters addressed to him by his friends and correspondents in the countries mentioned below ; and I insert them as an interesting addition to our small stock of knowledge respecting this species. Mr. Edward Leidensacher, of Cilli, in Styria, says, “ Myctale Tengmalmi is very rare here, still it is occasionally found nesting. On the 4th of May, 1863, I received two fully feathered little owls, taken out of the nest the day previous. They were dark brown, whitish round the facial disk ; the wings had whitey- grey spots, the bill was bluish, and their irides light yellow. I took care of them, and in the month of October they cast off the brown plumage, and became coloured and marked as Tengmalm’s Owls nsually are. They were taken out of a hollow tree, on the edge of a wood near Prekorje, about an hour's walk from Cilli. The female must certainly have had eggs in March.” Dr. Kutter, of Transtadt, in Posen, wrote on the 27th March, 1867, “I have found this Owl breeding five times,—twice in 1862, when I obtained three eggs on the 11th of April, and four on the 15th ; and three times in 1866, viz. on the 25th of April three eggs incubated, on the Ist of May four fresh, and on the 14th of the same month four others also fresh. All were found in holes in trees at the height of about 20 feet from the ground, chiefly on the pine-thickets on the mountains. | ‘«‘T have never observed the Wyctale Tengmalmi in the low lands, whereas, on the other hand, its relative, r found the latter breeding in the larger forests, but invariably Athene noctua, occurs there ; and I have neve - As to whether Nyctale Tengmalmi also nests in trees, or buildings standing alone in fields or fruit-orchards. | S yve 2enN assure r ‘ f F worthy in rocks I cannot say from my own personal observation ; but I have been assured from a most trustworthy I have always found the eggs at the bottom of a hole in a tree, source that such is exceptionally the case. without any regular nest under them, but sometimes surroun but is not so fearless as thene noctua, from under The number of the eggs seems to vary between ded with a slight wreath of straws and feathers. The bird it hard which I have several times ie bird seems to sit hard, drawn the eggs without apparently disturbing the bird. ee. as is generally stated. three and four, and not two and three, as 1s generally state rene » eoos whe rely passing I cannot say, as I have always procured the eggs when merely passing As to whether they have a second brood through the mountainous part of the country.” : The recorded instances of the occurrence of Tengmalm : re | ‘ i . Ireland is not yet able five in England, and one in Scotland ; é } >. che cccond, « nite NG: sland, in 1812 lish examples, the first was shot near Morpeth, 1n Northumberland, in : s Owl in the British Islands are only six in number— to include it in her avifauna Of the five Eng- example, was purchased at a poulterer’s shop in London in 1836, in which year a third was killed in Kent ; a fourth was shot at Hunmanby, near Scarborough, the seat of my excellent old friend Admiral Mitford, in 1847, and the fifth near Marsden, in the county of Durham, in 1848; the only Scottish example was killed at Spinningdale, in Sutherlandshire, in May 1847. For the knowledge of a sixth British example I am in- debted to the kindness of the Rev. George Weare Braikenridge, who sent me the following extract from a letter addressed to him by Charles Edwards, Esq., of the Grove, Wrington, Somersetshire :—‘‘ The Teng- malm’s Owl in my collection was killed at Winscombe, on the north side of the Mendip Hills, about six miles from hence, in the winter of 1859-60; and I had it in the flesh the same day from the person who shot it. Two were seen; but although I offered for the second, it could not be procured.” Bailly, in his ‘ Ornithologie de la Savoie,’ says, “ Tengmalm’s Owl inhabits the more thickly wooded districts of Switzerland, especially those of the Valais and the lower part of the Jura ; and that it is also common in the northern parts of Savoy, particularly in the thick woods of larch and fir in the neighbourhood of Albertville, the whole of the Tarentaise, the Maurienne, and Chamounix, and remains there all the year round. It does not affect old buildings and the interior of towers, like the Little Owl, but prefers the solitude of the thick woods of the mountains, particularly those in which it can find old and hollow pine trees wherein it may hide itself during the day, and the female deposit her eggs. There it continues to dwell all the summer, the greatest part of autumn, and, whenever the weather may continue mild, the greater part of winter. At all times, but espe- cially when it has its young to feed, it kills great numbers of the smaller birds, such as warblers, tits, &c., which abound in the thick woods spoken of. It pairs at the end of March or the beginning of April; but the eggs are not laid until early in May in the woods or the middle part of the mountains, and not until the 5th or 10th of June in the more recluse forests. The eggs, which are four or five in number, are placed on the rotten dust at the bottom of a hole in a tree, a fir tree being gene- rally preferred; they are of a dull white, stained occasionally with the hue of the damp material on which they are laid. The bird does not quit the mountain forests until snow and the intensity of the cold has compelled the small birds upon which it feeds to seek more genial localities ; it then roves about at night in the woods of the low hills and plains, and in dull weather may be seen fluttering about at midday. Besides birds it devours insects, particularly beetles, grasshoppers, the sphinx, and other large twilight- loving moths, lizards, and slugs, which it finds among grass, bushes, and stones, and on small quadrupeds, frogs and their spawn, and terrestrial mollusca, which it hunts for in the fields, meadows, and fens. It is easily domesticated, if it be not allowed to suffer from hunger. One kept by Mr. Thabuis, at Moutiers, in 1852, evinced a great partiality for Helix pomatia, H. hortensis, and several other mollusks when given fresh, and preferred them to pieces of raw meat.” Mr. Wolley obtained eggs of this bird during his stay in Lapland. Some of them were found in the ¢y//as, 1. e. the egg-boxes set up by the inhabitants for the use of the Golden-eyed Duck and other aquatic birds ; while others were taken from a hole made by the Black Woodpecker, Picus martius, in a Scotch fir, at about seven or eight feet from the ground. It has been remarked by Wheelwright that ‘“ whenever this Owl has appeared during autumn in the very south of Sweden a severe winter has always followed. It occupies in the Quickiock forest precisely the same range as the Hawk Owl, and we never saw one on the fell sides higher than the fir region. It is a bold voracious bird; one night I shot a female in full chase after lemming on a frozen lake; and another female, which I caught on her eggs in Wermland and placed in a fishing-creel, had, by the time I reached home, nearly devoured a tit-mouse I had thrown in. I kept this bird for a long time in a cage; she became very tame, and was a very pretty little pet. The call-note is a very musical soft whistle, never heard except in the evening and night. I could never detect the slightest difference. “Next to the Hawk Owl, Tengmalm’s is the commonest species found in the Lapland forests ; but, being much more nocturnal in its habits, is not so often seen; not that the light appears to affect its vision, for there the summer nights are as light as day; and we rarely went into the forest any night without seeing this pretty little Owl hawking after its prey. Its eggs vary much in shape, but not so much in size. In the same hole you will find some as round as musket-balls, others oval and elongated. The usual size is about 1$ by 1 inch. This species has a much more southern range than the Hawk Owl, for we not unfrequently take eggs in Wermland; but, strange to say, they are met with only about every third year.” The Plate represents the bird of the natural size, with a Harvest Mouse (Jdus messorius) in its bill. afy i | i TWolf & HC Richter del. et. lith ee NOCTUA Walter lmp i | | i ATHENE NOCTUA. Little Owl. Striv noctua, Retz. Faun. Suec., p. 85. —— passerina, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. i. Pp. 65. Noctua passerina, Cuv. Régn. Anim., edit. 1817. tom. i. p. 332 —— glaux, Savig. Descr. de Egypte, Hist, Nat., Athene noctua, Boie, Isis, 1826, Deroiltoee Stria nudipes et S. psilodactyla, Nilss. Orn. Suec., tom. i. p. 68, tab. 2 Athene psilodactyla, Brehm, Voég. Deutschl., tom. i. pe LO; fab} 8. ras Scotophilus nudipes, Jard. Nat. Lib. Brit. Birds, vol. i. p. 274. rr Athene passerina, Boie, Isis, 1822, p- 549. Cephaloptyne noctua, Kaup, Mon. Strig. in Jard. Cont. Orn., 1850, Carine passerina, Kaup, Natiirl. Syst., p. 29. Syrnia psilodactyla, Macgill. Hist. of Brit. Birds, vol. iii. p. 417. Surma noctua, Keys. et Blas. Wirbelth. Eur., p. 32. tom. i. p. 105. p. 105. Ir this little Owl were indigenous to Britain instead of an accidental visitor, it would doubtless be a general favourite ; for its economy is interesting, and its manners somewhat singular. It is a very common bird, even so near to us as Holland, whence specimens in the flesh are frequently sent to the London markets, and I fear often palmed upon our collectors as British killed. On the continent of Europe it attracts especial notice by its habit of resorting to villages and towns, and taking up its abode in old ruins, church-steeples, and other lofty buildings. During the breeding-season, it is often seen flying about in the evening before the shades of night have closed in upon the day, and in the dawn before the sun has fairly risen. Its notes are singular and unearthly, so much so that it is regarded by superstitious persons as a bird of ill omen; in the mind of the ornithologist no such feeling exists, and, as before stated, we should be pleased if its visits to this country were more frequent ; as it is, however, they have been sufficiently numerous to entitle it to rank among British birds, and there is at least one instance on record of its having bred with us. So far back as the time of Edwards, a specimen was caught in a chimney in London; and Mr. Yarrell states that a second was taken about the same time in a similar situation in the parish of Lambeth; and from that time until the present day instances of its having been shot in nearly every county are on record. Rennie saw one nailed to a barn-door in Wiltshire, doubtless with other spoils of a gamekeeper who regarded it as pertaining to his catalogue of ‘ vermin ;” and Mr. Hunt, in his ‘ British Ornithology,’ says, ‘‘ we recollect a nest of these birds being taken at no great distance from Norwich.” The most recent historian of the birds of Norfolk county (Mr. Stevenson) states that two examples have come under his notice—one taken alive at Easton in 1846, which lived in confinement till December 1848, and another captured on board a fishing-smack, about ten miles off Yarmouth, in February 1862. Mr. Bond has a specimen which was shot at Sevenoaks, in Kent, in May the same year; Mr. E. H. Rodd, of the western county of Cornwall, records one killed near Helston, and two near Plymouth ; as yet, however, no example has been seen either in Scotland or Ireland. In Bailly’s ‘ Ornithology of Savoy ’ it is stated that this species, ‘‘ instead of dwelling in the forests, evinces a preference for the ruins of old edifices, houses, towers, and abandoned chateaus, the steeples of churches and convents, and the hollow trees in their neighbourhood ; in such situations it breeds and passes the greater part of its life. Towards the end of March or April, the female lays four or five eggs on any soft deposit in a hole in a wall, or the inner timber of houses, and sometimes on the debris of roots, dried leaves and rags collected by the rats for their own use, but very rarely in the ge of trees. The eggs, which are white, are of a rounded form, and a trifle larger than those of the Scops. | The Little Owl being able to see in the daylight better than its congeners, hunts for its prey during the twilight of evening and on dull morn- ings in the woods around its residence, and when breeding is observed to gO out earlier in the ev ening and to return later in the morning than other Owls. During autumn and winter, it 1s met with at those times in the hedges and on the trees bordering the roadside, and those centre of towns and villages. When the ground is covered with snow, it ise pee the excrements of animals; at this time ‘t also enters isolated buildings, caverns of rocks, vau ts of ol d to by rats and bats. From such places its voice, which is less which occur in the middle of fields and in the approaches the farms, and lives upon castles, and other similar situations resorte hollow than that of most other Owls, is frequently heard to resound. , | | ion at intervals of two or three seconds, as one man The cry, which generally resembles the words heme or eedm, is repeated several times 1n ae a intel ee fn . mm 2 eae aes ’ - uttered Inas “ong g sh; ‘ attenti or. These cries, distinctly | calls to attract the attention of anothe i se great alar ose persons who are weak enough to night, cause great alarm to those ] of evening and in the stillness of the believe in ghosts, especially during its breeding-season, when it also emits a peculiar kind of languishing : aa . J 5 ¢ sigh. Like the Scops and Barn Owls it has also the habit | the roads bordered with trees near the places in of pursuing by night, and especially in the early morning, with loud cries all who may pass along which it is searching for prey. I have several times been accomps . | Near Chambery one followed me for half an hour, jumping fired at it, at random, did not prevent its following nied by this Owl along the pathways and fields when going out shooting in the autumn. i ie. oO TT r ~ ~ from tree to tree, and from house to house. Iwo shots | me; on the contrary, they caused it to redouble its cries ; and in an instant afterwards I found myself accom- panied by two others, which had doubtless been attracted thereby. The Little Owl seems to feed on small . ae ° . eee ee i) lear ae a - araile A birds, mice, young rats, large insects, especially grasshoppers and crickets, small reptiles, especia ly the wall lizard (Lacerta muralis) and the spotted salamander (Salamandra maculosa), A living one I had in 1847 was sensible of kindness, and would little frogs, fish-spawn, but rarely upon anything destitute of life. nis allow me to rub its breast, back, and head, during which operation, which seemed to give it pleasure, it sometimes lying on its back, at others on its breast. , but prefer for that purpose the Scops Owl.” remained as without life, The fowlers of our country do not make use of this species to attract birds to their snares Naumann, in his ‘ Vogel Deutscblands,’ confirms much of the preceding account of this bird, and says that its true home is Central Europe, but that it is sometimes found in Sweden and Livonia. In Germany it is a bird of passage, although a number remain there all the year; it is fond of the neighbourhood of man, dwells on old town-walls, at a moderate height in church-steeples, and in the holes o about the heads of pollarded willows, and sitting on old stone bridges and on the upright gravestones in a bird of ill omen; during the nesting-season it f trees, is often seen church-yards, and is therefore considered by some people often utters its discordant cries in the daytime, is of an untamable disposition, and in its flight differs from that of other Owls in its being less easy and soundless, and of an undulating character like that of the W ood- pecker and Hoopoe. It food consists of mice, bats, small birds (such as sparrows and larks, which it sur- prises in their sleep), and insects; of mice it is said to eat as many as five or six at a meal, and it frequently hoards up a supply of food, apparently in anticipation of inclement weather. As in Italy, it is used by the bird-catchers as a decoy to attract the smaller birds towards the limed twigs. Old birds are sometimes em- ployed for this purpose, but young ones are more easily tamed and answer better. The Athene noctua is generally spread over central and southern Europe, and, if the Noctua bactriana of Blyth be the same, Thibet and Affehanistan. I am aware that some ornithologists consider the Little Owls of Eastern Europe and Northern Africa distinct, and have applied to them the specific names of persica, meridionalis, and numida; but whether they are really different is still undecided ; if they are not, then the range of this species is indeed an extensive one. Temminck says that it does not go further north than the fifty-fifth degree of latitude, which proves that it is a southern species, Lord Lilford having found it nesting in the ruins of Nicopolis, in Epirus, in March, and at Santa Quaranta in May. I may remark that by Latham, Cuvier, and others this species has been treated of as the Striv passerina of Linnzeus ; but this is an error, the bird characterized by the learned Swede under that name being a still more diminutive one. The sexes are alike in colour, and the young differ merely in being less bright, and by the redder tint of the spots on the neck. The Plate represents the bird, of the natural size, with the nearly fledged young, from a drawing by Mr. Wolf. The little quadruped is the Short-tailed Field Mouse (A4rvicola agrestis). ~ / s- ra a - " , ro So. . — -- > A aS > ; fo $ 7 $i. nd ~ | De A Ge AT an de eS i ee ae et Go A , RE RARE > ¥- Ot iO x Cae oF ae IOs ? 7 , KS Ox CK OKO OX 10 Ot 62K © ox . MS OX ee O CG; > G VPP AAPA PAE APIO FAN. BNP 4 iu he aks cx = Se 6¥a.aye.ap cr) Co J “WW CRO CP + ro ~' 7 Blt AO » oe wo AP ee oP t b cN SS ~~ oo Ae oye. ©) ET ey J oe > J Ps adden “ — a> or — : Se ee ee ee a a cn See Te ets = fl ca y i awe Sy ee = e Cy, wae S.; <= = - ). 18%, eG 1 meat sn Sas Sas aatategntn