A HANDBOOK

OF

BRITISH BIRDS

J. E. HARTING

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A HANDBOOK

OF

BRITISH BIRDS

SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RESIDENT
AND MIGRATORY SPECIES IN THE

BRITISH ISLANDS .^ >0 \ ^ 2.

WITH

AN INDEX TO THE RECORDS OF THE RARER VISITANTS

BY

J. E. HARTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S.

MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION

NEW AND REVISED EDITION

WITH THIRTY-FIVE COLOURED PLATES, CAREFULLY

REPRODUCED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS

BY THE LATE PROFESSOR SCHLEGEL

LONDON
JOHN C. NIMMO

14 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND

MDCCCCI

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson 6^ Co.
At the Ballantyne Press

INTRODUCTION

Following upon the daily exigencies of official
work, the preparation of this volume has occupied
the leisure hours of many years, and as an attempt
to show in one volume the precise status of every
so-called British bird, distinguishing the rare and
accidental visitors from the residents and annual
migrants, it conveys information of a kind which is
not to be found in any other work ou British birds.
Divided into two parts, the first portion deals with
"British Birds properly so called, being residents,
periodical migrants, and annual visitants ; " the
second portion includes the "Rare and accidental
visitants," and a special feature of the book is that
in the case of every rare bird a list of occurrences
is given, from the publication of the earliest records
(so far as has been ascertained) down to the end of
the year 1900. The reader is thereby enabled to
estimate at a glance the precise nature of the claim
which any given species has to be considered
"British." Some notion of the labour entailed may
be formed when it is stated that the number of
references in Part I. amounts to 1500; in Part II.
to 2325, and in the whole work to 3825, or there-
abouts.

vi INTRODUCTION

The measurements of every species are given in
four dimensions, namely, the length from tip of bill
to end of tail ; length of bill ; length of wing from
carpal joint to end of the longest primary ; and
length of leg, or rather the exposed portion of it
(the tarsus) which is most readily seen. In some
instances a fifth dimension is given, as in the case
of the Godwits, the Avocet, and some of the Sand-
pipers, where the bare portion of the tibia is con-
siderable, and serves as a mark of distinction. In
all cases where it has been possible to obtain them,
the measurements (about 1600 in all) have been
taken during the course of many years from freshly
killed specimens, and the importance of this is
especially noteworthy in the case of the rarer foreign
visitants, specimens of which are seldom available
for examination in a fresh state, and are usually
reported after the skin has shrunk in drying, and
the colours of the soft parts have faded beyond
recognition. Thus, in the case of the American
Yellow-shanked Sandpiper (Totanus ftavipes), the
entire length of the bird, ascertained from American
skins in the British Museum collection, is catalogued
as 9 in., whereas the length of a freshly killed speci-
men shot in Cornwall was found to be 10'75 in. ;
the latter measurement, consequently, has been pre-
ferred. It is well to bear this fact in mind when
comparing the measurements set down in the follow-
ing pages with those given elsewhere, should any
marked discrepancy be observable, though it will be

INTRODUCTION vii

seen that this applies chiefly to the length of a bird
in the flesh, since the other dimensions of bill, wing,
and tarsus are not liable to greater variation than
arises from a difierence of age or sex. Where this
is considerable, as in the case of the Eagles, Falcons,
Hawks, Black Grouse, Pheasant, Bustard, Curlew,
Godwit, and some others, the dimensions of both
male and female are given, and in many cases the
expanse of wing has been added, as well as the
weight of both sexes.

It has been the practice of the author for very
many years to measure and weigh the game birds
and wild fowl shot by him in order to ascertain the
average and relative dimensions of each species, and
this plan has been also adopted when rare birds shot
by other persons have been obligingly forwarded
for examination/ These particulars were not given
in the former edition of this " Handbook," but are
now published as a useful addition to the volume.

As for the illustrations, they may be said to
speak for themselves. They have been executed
in response to a repeated demand for a book on
British birds with accurately coloured plates vn one
volume. This the booksellers have been hitherto
unable to supply, the expensively coloured works
of Gould and the late Lord Lilford each costing
not less than forty guineas, being altogether beyond

* Here it may be well to correct an error wliich appears on page
209. The expanse of wing in the Glossy Ibis measured was 33 in., not
3f) in., and the weight 12| oz., or about that of a partridge.

viii INTRODUCTION

the reach of those who cannot aifoid to pay more
than forty shillings for their desideratum. It is
obvious that if the whole bird were figured, in-
stead of merely the head and foot as here shown,
it would be not only impossible to produce the
work in one volume, but impossible also to pro-
duce it at the price. Such a departure from the
plan would defeat the object in view. Equally
impossible has it been found to deal with many
a point of interest except by reference to volumes
and pages wherein information on the subject may
be found. The author has had constantly to bear
in mind that his volume is intended merely as a
"Handbook" and not a " Histoiy." Had it been
otherwise, and the cost of production of no import-
ance, it is certain that the materials which have
been collected during the past thirty years, and
now only partially utilised, would have sufficed to
fill three goodly volumes. In view, however, of
the admirable fourth edition of Yarrell's " British
Birds," which was not completed until 1885, Mr.
Saunders' excellent "Manual," now in a second
edition, and the late Mr. Seebohra's volumes on
" British Birds and their Eggs," such amplification
seemed uncalled for, and accordingly the contents
of the present volume have been compressed.
Nevertheless the number of pages in the first
edition has been trebled, and the plates have been
added, so that the difference in bulk is consider-
able. In a great measure this has been due to

INTRODUCTION ix

the increased number of records of new or rare
species which have been collected during the past
thirty years, and to the enormous additions to
the literature of the subject which have been made
during the same period.

Since the first edition of this "Handbook" was
pubhshed in 1872, the following species have been
added to the list of so-called "British Birds," though
all have not equal claims to be thus designated : —

Falco gyrfalco, 4 Tichodroma mwraria, 4

„ cenchris, 6 Emheriza cioides, 1

JElanus casruleiis, 1 Fringilla serinus, 15

Lanius 'major, 5 Carduelis tristis, 1

„ meridionalis, 1 Liinotfi exilipes, 1

TurdtLS TTiigratorius, 4 Zonotrichia albicollis, 3

Saxicola stapazina, 1 CapriTnulgus s^yptius, 1

,, isahellioia, 1 Charadrius fulvus, 2

„ deserti, 3 „ doTninicus, 3

Sylvia nisoria, 12 Chmtusia gregaria, 2^

„ subalpina, 1 Eudromias asiaticus, 1

Phylloscopus proregvlii!-^, 1 Tringa. acuminata, 2
„ viridanus, 1 „ hairdi, 1

„ schwarzii, 1 Butorides virescens, 1

Hypolais polyglotta, 1 Colymbus adamsi, 3

^ By an oversight only one instance of tlie occurrence of Cheetada
gregaria has been noted (p. 414). Anotlier should be added, namely
a specimen procured near Navan, Co. Meath, Aug. 1, 1899. This will
be found recorded in the Irish Naturalist^ 1899, p. 23."3, with a photo-
graph of the bird which was subsequently exhibited at a meeting of
the British Ornithologists' Club, Nov. 22, 1899.

Similarly, a third example of Pufinus assimilis may be noted
(p. 486), one having been picked up, exhausted after a gale, at Bexhill,
Sussex, on Dec. 28, 1900. Bull. Brit. Orn. Cluh, Feb. 13, 1901. This
fact was made known too late for insertion in its ])roper ])lace.

X INTRODUCTION

Sterna ani&stheta, 1 Procellaria castro. 1

(doubtful) (piclced up dead)

Pufflnus assimilis, 3 Pelagodroma marina, 2

„ griseus,lZ (one found dead)

Of the foregoing thirty odd species, the ma-
jority of those which have occurred but once
in so many years, e.g. Elanus caeruleus, Lanius
meridionalis, Sylvia suhalpina, Phylloscopus viri-
danus, Emheriza cioides, Butorides virescens, Sterna
aniestheta, and Pelagodroma marina, are mere waifs
and strays, and may never occur again. Of the
rest, a few may possibly do so, either because
they are migratory over an extensive area, or be-
cause their breeding haunts are not too remote
from the British Islands. In the former of these
two categories might be placed Falco gyrfalco,
LaniiiH major, Turdus /tnigratorius, Charadritis
fulvus, and Tringa acuminata ; in the latter, Sylvia
nisoria, Fringilla serimis, Linota exilipes, Pujfjinus
assinfiihs, and P. griseus. The appearance of the
two small American land birds Carduelis tristis and
Zonotrichia alhicollis is probably attributable to
their having escaped from captivity.

One of the most noteworthy facts marking the
progress of ornithology in England during the last
quarter of a century, has been the repeated detec-
tion in the eastern counties of many species of
small warblers from the Continent which make
their appearance in autumn, and may perhaps be
found to do so annually now that they have been

INTRODUCTION xi

clearly recognised. The names of these, with the
dates of their occurrence, will be found in Part IT.
of this volume, pp. 354-362,

As for the additions which have been made to
the literature relating to British Birds during the
period referred to, the steady progress which has
been made in the publication of County Avifaunas
has been most remarkable, and very few counties
now are without one or more ornithological re-
corders.

It may serve a useful purpose to give here a list
of such books as have been published since 1872
on the birds of particular counties or portions of
counties, and larger areas within the British Islands,
if only to show the progress which has been made
in the exact study of British Ornithology, a fashion
which was inaugurated in 1866 when the publication
of the " Birds of Middlesex " and the first volume
of the " Birds of Norfolk " paved the way for an
investigation of the avifauna of other counties. Ar-
ranging them alphabetically, the following works
have appeared since the former edition of this
" Handbook " was published : —

Argyll and the Inner Hebrides, Harvie- Brown

and Buckley, 1892.
Bedb^ordshire, Steele Elliott, 1897-1901. In progress.
Belfast Lough, Lloyd-Patterson, 1880.
Berwickshire, Muirhead, 2 vols. 1889-95.
Breconshire, Phillips, 1882, 2nd ed. 1899.
Caithness, Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 1887.
Cardiganshire (Aberystwith), Salter, 1900.

xii INTRODUCTION

Cheshire (West, Denbigh and Flint), Dobie, 1894.

Coward and Oldham, 1900.
Cork, Ussher, 1894.
Cornwall, Rodd (ed. Harting), 1880.
Cumberland, Macpherson and Duckworth, 1886.
„ (Lakeland), Macpherson, 1892.

(Derwent Valley), Robson, 1896.
Denbighshire, Dobie, 1894 {see Cheshire).
Derbyshire, Whitlock, 1893.
Devonshire, Parfitt, 1876.

„ Pidsley (ed. Macpherson), 1891.

D'Urban and Mathew, 1892.
Evans (H. M.), 1897.
Dorsetshire, Mansel-Pleydell, 1888.
Dublin, More (Guide), 1878.
Durham, Hancock, 1874 {see Northumberland).
Essex, Miller Christy, 1890.
Flintshire, Dobie, 1894 {see Cheshire).
Glamorganshire, Nicholl, 1889.

„ Drane and others, 1899.

Gloucestershire, Witchell, 1892.
Guernsey, Cecil Smith, 1879.
Hampshire, Kelsall (List), 1890.

(Christchurch), Hart, 1895.
Hebrides (Outer), Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 1888.

„ (Inner), same authors, 1892.
Herefordshire, Bull, 1888.

Home (List), 1889.
Hertfordshire, Grossman (List), 1898.
HuMBER District, Cordeaux, 1872: List, 1899.
loNA AND Mull, Graham, 1890.
Ireland, Annals of Irish Zoology, Hartmg, 1881.
Irish Song Birds, Benson, 1886.
List of Irish Birds, More, 1885, 2nd ed.. 1890.
Breeding Range of Irish Birds, Ussher, 1894.
Migration of Birds, Barrington, 1900.
Birds of, Ussher, 1900.

INTRODUCTION xiii

Kent (East), Dowker (List), 1889.

(Rainham), Prentis (List), 1894.
Lakeland, Macplierson, 1892.

Lancashire, Mitchell, 1885 ; 2nd ed., Saunders, 1892.
Leicestershire and Rutland, Browne, 1889.
Middlesex (Hampstead), Harting, 1889.

„ (Harrow), Barrett-Hamilton, 1891.

Moray Basin, Harvie-Brown and Buckley, 1895.
Norfolk, Lubbock (ed. Southwell), 1879.
„ Gurney (Catalogue), 1884.

(Harleston) Candler, 1888.
Stevenson (vol. 3, ed. Southwell), 1890.
Northamptonshire (Notes), Lilford, 1880-83.

Birds, 2 vols., Lilford, 1895.
Northumberland and Durham, Hancock, 1874.
Nottinghamshire, Sterland and Whitaker, 1879.
Oxfordshire, Aplin, 1889.
Orkney, Buckley and Harvie-Brown, 1891.
Pembrokeshire, Murray Mathew, 1894.
Rutland, Browne, 1889 {see Leicestershire).
Scotland (West), Gray, 1871.

„ Notes on Fauna, Gray and Alston, 1876.

Shetland, Saxby, 1874.

Evans and Buckley, 1899.
Shropshire, Beckwith, 1879.
Paddock, 1897.
Forrest, 1899.
Somersetshire, Mathew (revised list), 1893.
Staffordshire, McAldowie, 1893.
Suffolk, Churchill Babington, 1886.
Surrey, Bucknill, 1900.
Sussex (parish of Harting), Gordon, 1877.

Borrer, 1891.
Sutherland and Caithness, Harvie-Brown and

Buckley, 1887.
Westmorland (Lakeland), Macpherson, 1892.
Wiltshire (Salisbury), Morres, 1878-85.

xiv INTRODUCTION

Wiltshire, A. C. Smith, 1887.
Worcestershire, Willis Bund (List), 1891.
Yorkshire (Wakefield), Talbot, 1877.

(Vertebrata), Clarke and Roebuck, 1881.

(Ackworth), Arundel, 1898.

In addition to these county histories we have
to take into account the publication of such im-
portant works as Professor Newton's " Dictionary'
of Birds" (1893-96); the late Herr Gatke's "Birds
of Heligoland" (1895), embodying a vast number of
observations on the migratory species which visit the
British Islands ; the " Reports on Migration," pub-
lished by the British Association Committee appointed
to collect statistics from the keepers of lighthouses
and lightships around the coasts of Great Britain
and Ireland, with Mr. Eagle Clarke's admirable Sum-
mary of the series ; Mr. R. M. Barrington's monu-
mental volume dealing with the " Migration of Birds
in Ireland," and the recently published work by
Messrs. Ussher and Warren on the " Birds of Ire-
land," so long expected and so extremely welcome.

An examination of all these works, embodying,
as they do, an enormous number of facts relating to
British birds, and a search through all the periodi-
cals which will be found mentioned in the following
pages, have resulted in the accumulation of a mass
of notes which it has not been possible to compress
into a volume of even 600 pages, although space
has been saved by omitting the geographical distri-
bution of all but the rarer visitants beyond the

INTRODUCTION xv

limits of the British Islands, a branch of the sub-
ject which has been thoroughly dealt with in the
pages of Yarrell and Saunders. As for facts bear-
ing on the life-history of the species enumerated,
it has been thought better to avoid the repetition
of statements which have been already made in
the two works just mentioned, and in lieu thereof
to publish original observations on points not pre-
viously elucidated. To do this at any length was
found impossible, for the considerations above men-
tioned, and where want of space has precluded the
discussion of interesting problems, reference has
been made to volumes and pages where fuller in-
formation may be obtained. In this way it is
hoped that the utility of this " Handbook " has been
enhanced to an extent not contemplated in the
former edition.

It remains to add a few words on the important
subjects of Classification and Nomenclature. It is
unnecessary to examine and contrast the various
systems of classification which have been put forth
from time to time by writers on ornithology, for
this has already been done by Professor Newton
in the exhaustive Introduction to his " Dictionary
of Birds." No more can be expected of the present
writer than to give reasons for the faith that is in
him. Suffice it then to say, that although to disciples
of the modern school it may appear old-fashioned
to adopt a scheme of classification which, com-
mencing with the birds of prey, followed by the

xvi INTRODUCTION

passerine and picarian forms, and proceeding to
the pigeons and game birds, passes by easy transi-
tion vid the grallatorial birds to the aquatic
wild-fowl and sea-fowl, it is nevertheless a scheme
which has received the sanction of leading orni-
thologists in England, France, and Germany, to
say nothing of other nations. The most striking
character which distinguishes birds from all other
vertebrates (save the Chiroptera) is the power of
flight, and since that peculiarity is most highly
developed in the Falcons, which are able to overtake
and capture the fastest birds upon the wing, not even
excepting Swallows and Swifts, it seems not un-
reasonable on this account, if for no other, to place
the raptorial birds as the highest type of the class
Aves at the head of any scheme of classification. So
thought Linnaeus and Cuvier, and long before their
time so thought Willughby and Ray. This view
has been shared by many English writers of the past
and present centuries : — Bewick,^ Selby, Jenyns,
Eyton, Macgillivray, Jardine, Hancock, Gould,
Gurney, Stevenson, Cordeaux, Rodd, Mansell Pley-
dell, Borrer, A. C. Smith, and others whose names
with ornithologists are " household words," not over-
looking the views of Professor Newton as indicated
in the fourth edition of Yarrell's well-known work,

1 Many people are perliajjs unaware that Bewick did not write the
letterpress of the work so beautifully illustrated by him, and his views,
if he had any, on classification can only be inferred on the assumption
that he sanctioned the arrangement of his woodcuts by his coadjutor,
Beilbv.

INTRODUCTION xvii

and those of Dr. Bowdler Sharpe as set forth in
the first volume of the " Catalogue of Birds in the
British Museum." ^

Leading ornithologists in America, including
Messrs. Allen, Brewster, Chapman, Coues, Hart
Merriam, and Robert Ridgway, have given their
sanction to a scheme of classification which com-
mences with the Pygopodes (Grebes, Divers, and
Auks), and ends with the Passeres (family Tur-
didae), a plan which has been more recently adopted
by Mr. A. H. Evans in his volume on Birds
in the "Cambridge Natural History" (1899), al-
though he prefers to end with the Fringillidae
and Emherizidae, between which and the Turdidse
he would interpose the Dippers, Wrens, Swallows,
Shrikes, Tits, Orioles, Crows, Starlings, and other
families.

In 1892, when the authorities of the U.S.
National Museum, Washington, had to give in-
structions for the systematic arrangement of the
series of mounted birds at the Chicago Exhibition,
a collection which numbered some 1300 specimens,
representing all the families (104) found in the

1 It is but fair to Dr. Sharpe to state that he does not now adhere
to the views held by him in 1874, the date of the catalogue referred to,
but, to judge by his treatise on " British Birds," published in Allen's
" Naturalist's Library" (reviewed by me in The Zoologist for Dec. 1894),
he prefers to commence with the Crows, and in this he has been fol-
lowed by the late Dr. Mivart ("Elements of Ornithology"), while
several of his contemporaries, though agreeing with him that the
Passerine birds should head the list in any scheme of classification,
consider that the Thrushes, as typical song birds, should take pre-
cedence of all others.

h

xviii INTRODUCTION

Western Hemisphere, it was decided to commence
with the Finches (Fringillidse), followed by the
Icteridse, Sturnidse, and Corvida^, and ending with
the Grebes, Penguins, and Tinamus, the last-
named family, Tinamid^, connecting the carinate
birds with the ratite Rheidae. In this scheme the
Thrushes, which certain modern writers place at the
head of the class Aves, stand 22 on the list,
separating the Swallows (8) by a long interval
from the Swifts (36), which are immediately pre-
ceded by the Humming-birds (35). The Owls
follow the Cuckoos, and are succeeded in their
turn by the Osprey, Buzzards, Eagles, and Falcons,
followed by the Pigeons, Curassows, and Game-
birds in the order named.

In the wide separation of the Swallows from
the Swifts here proposed, although it has the
approval of my friend Mr. Saunders, I am wholly
unable to agree, being convinced, for reasons
hereinafter stated (pp. 108-109), that, in the words
of the late Professor W. K. Parker, " The Swallow
and Swift are near akin." In addition to what
will be found stated at the pages just indicated, it
may be remarked that Mr. F. A. Lucas, in an instruc-
tive paper on the Tongues of Birds (Report U.S.
Nat. Mus., 1895, pp. 1001-1019, with two plates)
remarks : —

"The tongues of the Swifts have a very close
resemblance to one another, as do those of the
Swallows, and the two groups are so much alike

INTRODUCTIOX xix

in this respect that it is extremely difficult, if
not impossible, to tell them apart." From an
examination of the osseous structure of both, I am
convinced of the justice of Huxley's surmise that
Swifts would be found some day to be nothing
more than profoundly modified Swallows, having
no more affinity with the Humming-birds than
these latter.

Having regard, then, to the diversity of opinion
existing with respect to Classification, I see no
advantage to be derived by departing from that
adopted in the former edition of this " Handbook."
This, as above shown, has met with such general
approval that I have only so far modified it as to
mark the separation of the Passeres from the
Picariae by placing them in separate Orders, yet
so as to bring the families Hirundinidse and
Cypselidse close together, the latter being followed
(as in the former edition) by the Caprimidgidae.
A further modification will be noticed in bringing
together the Cranes and Bustards in the Order
Alectorides (as seems warranted by a more com-
plete acquaintance with their structure and habits,
their mode of nidification, and the resemblance of
their eggs and young), the inclusion of the Ibis,
Spoonbill, Storks, and Herons in one and the
same Order Herodiones, and the separation of the
Petrels (Tubinares) from the Terns, Gulls, and
Skuas.

In regard to the subject of Nomenclature, it

XX INTRODUCTION

may be remarked that when in 1878 a Committee
of the British Ornithologists' Union was formed
*' to draw up a List of British Birds in accordance
with the most approved principles of modern
classification," the Committee did me the honour
to include the first edition of this "Handbook"
amongst the eight works selected for reference,
and it was gratifying to find, when their " List of
British Birds" was printed in 1883, that the
majority of the names which I had employed were
approved and adopted, while in a few cases where
a change was made, as, for example, in the case
of the Purple Sandpiper (see p. 189), I was sub-
sequently able to show that the alteration proposed
was not warranted by the facts.

The increasing practice of changing well-known
names for newly discovered ones on the ground of
priority, I regard as a misfortune to science ; for
there is no finality in such a proceeding, and never
likely to be.^ It seems to me far less confusing and
embarrassing to adhere to names with which most
naturalists have been for years familiar, than to
adopt others which, to the majority of people, must
be quite unknown. Moreover, having in my first

1 In 1872 I thought otherwise, and then hoped that a gradual
acceptance of the Rules for Zoological Nomenclature devised by a
Committee of the British Association might have led to tlie general
adoption of a uniform system. But I had then no notion of the
lengths to which changes of name would be carried, and the subse-
quent experience of thirty years has convinced me of the futility of
attempting, to carry out such a scheme as that proposed, which it is
now evident can only result in hopeless confusion.

INTRODUCTION xxi

edition employed familiar names which have been
since approved by the Committee of the B.O.U., I
see nothing to be gained by the substitution of
others which would obviously hinder a comparison
of the elements of the British avifauna as viewed
from past and present standpoints.

Of course, when an obvious mistake can be
shown to have been made in attempting to identify
a species from an imperfect description, a change
in the nomenclature might be desirable, but when
a name, published with a recognisable description,
has become familiar by long usage there seems no
good reason for disturbing it. Still less justifiable
does it seem to adopt on the score of priority
from a mere Catalogue (such as that of Tunstal or
Leach) a bare name to which no description of
any sort is appended.

With these brief remarks on nomenclature, we
may pass to a consideration of the terms employed
to designate the various groups of birds which are
placed in Parts I. and II. of this " Handbook."
Of the total number of species enumerated 130 are
residents, 100 periodical migrants, and 32 annual
visitants, the remainder (167) being rare and acci-
dental wanderers.

As Residents are included those species which
rear their young annually in the British Islands,
and are to be found in some part or other of the
United Kingdom throughout the year. Of these
many are partially migratory, as, for instance, Falco

xxii INTRODUCTION

8esalo7i and tinntmcukcs, Otus brachyotus, Tiirdus
musicus, T. torquatus, Regtdus cristatus, Motacilla
luguhris, Linota cannahina and L. jiavirostris,
Corvus frugilegus and C. comix, Columba palumbus,
Charadrius "pluvialis, Tringa alpina, Scolopax
rusticula, Gcdlinago media, and others. Neverthe-
less, as specimens of all may be found here during
every month in the year, they may be regarded for
all practical purposes as residents.

Periodical Migrants are those which visit us
annually and regularly at particular seasons, and
vrhose advent and departure may be dated in ad-
vance with considerable precision. Of these we
have familiar examples in Philomela luscinia, Cu-
culus canorus, and the Hirundines, which come
here for the summer, and Turdus iliacus and pilaris,
which spend the winter with us ; while others, like
most of the Sandpipers, perform a double migration
and pass through the country twice a year, viz., in
spring and autumn.

The Annual Visitants comprise those which
occur in some part of the British Islands annually,
but in comparatively limited numbers, and at irre-
gular and uncertain intervals. The month in which
any of them may be expected may be named ; but
the uncertainty of their arrival in any particular
district precludes their being placed with the Peri-
odical Migrants. Amongst these may be mentioned
Oriolus galbula, Regulus igyiicapillus, Ampelis gar-
rulus, Emberiza lapponica, Linota linaria, Pastor

INTRODUCTION xxiii

roseus, Upupa epops, Coracias garrula, Merops
apiaster, Recurvirostra avocetta, Ciconia alba,
Grus cinerea, CEdemia fusca, Sterna dougallii, and
Larus minutiis.

The Rare and Accidental Visitants form a
large proportion of the total number of species in the
British list, comprising 167 out of 429, or nearly
one-third of the whole. But of these at least
one-fourth (distinguished by an asterisk in the
"Summary," pp. 495-508) may be regarded as
having no proper title to be styled " visitants "
in the sense of " continuing to visit." For many
of them have not been noticed oftener than once
or twice, while others have been evidently escaped
cage-birds, or foreign specimens palmed off as
"British" by unscrupulous dealers. Such birds as
Crowned Cranes, Flamingoes, Spur-winged Geese,
Carolina Teal, Purple Gallinules, and other " mena-
gerie birds " found wandering at large have obviously
no place in the British Ornis, while Albatrosses,
Sheathbills, Cape Pigeons, and dead Petrels washed
ashore after long immersion may well be relegated
to an independent category of ocean waifs and
strays.

It is extremely difficult to believe that the non-
aquatic visitors, which are natives of America, have
actually journeyed across the Atlantic, and performed
a voyage of at least 1700 nautical miles on the
shortest route, vid Newfoundland ; but that many
of them have actually done so seems proved by

xxiv INTRODUCTION

the fact that they have not been met with in
Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Isles — the only
countries through which they would otherwise have
passed by a change of route — and many which
have thus found their way to England or Ireland
(as, for example, Agelseus phoeniceus, Coccyzus
americanus and erythropthal'mus, ^gialitis voci-
fera, Totanus solitarius, Tringa bonapartii, Botau-
rus lentiginosus, and others) have not been met
with in any part of the European continent. As
might be expected, at least half the American
species found in this country belong to the orders
Limicolee and Anseres, while of the smaller Passe-
rine birds, none of them, with the exception of
Agela^us phceniceus, has occurred half a dozen times.
This plainly shows that their appearance on this
side of the Atlantic is the merest accident, and
not the result of any continued and successful
attempt at migration. In some instances at least
it is not unreasonable to suppose that these small
birds must have availed themselves to some ex-
tent of the rigging of passing vessels, or have been
brought to this country in cages, from which they
have been allowed, accidentally or designedly {vide
pp. 333, 362), to escape ; and there are many birds,
for example the Woodpeckers, whose importation in
cages is rarely, if ever, attempted.

Those who find it difficult to believe in the
appearance of Pious martius in England after so
short a journey as the passage of the German

INTRODUCTION xxv

Ocean, must feel still greater difficulty in admitting
the claims of any American members of this family
to a place in the British list : and yet there are
records of the capture of no less than three different
species in England {vide pp. 398, 399), all of which
are inhabitants of the New World.

In attempting to ascertain the claims of such
species as these to be admitted in a list of British
birds, there are two difficulties which constantly
beset the conscientious historian who meets with
records of their capture here. These are : first, the
published communications of over-zealous collectors,
who, anxious to record their possession of a species
which they deem rare, hasten to give it a name
before they have satisfactorily identified it ; and,
secondly, the results of the many attempts which
unscrupulous dealers make (unfortunately too often
with success) to palm off foreign species upon un-
wary collectors, with the assurance that they have
been killed in some part or other of the British
Islands. There can be little doubt that many of
such records, to which of necessity reference has
been made in the second part of this work, are,
for the reasons above mentioned, worthless, although
perhaps originally published in perfect good faith
by the owners of the specimens. It has been
practically impossible, through lapse of time, death
of parties, or ignorance of their addresses, to test
the value of every reported occurrence of rare visi-
tants ; yet, whenever this was possible, it has been

xxvi INTRODUCTION

done, and sometimes with the best results. In
cases where this could not be effected, the name
of the recorder may often be taken as a sufficient
guarantee for the genuineness of the record ; and
it would be obviously unfair to omit all mention
of a report because the truth of it could not now
be satisfactorily ascertained. Further than this, it
has been deemed more prudent to notice erroneous
reports for the sake of showing them to be so, than
to incur a risk of being supposed to have overlooked
them by omitting all allusion to their existence.

It has been already stated that in order not to
extend the limits of this book unreasonably by
going over ground which has been already well
worked, many details as to haunts and habits have
been purposely omitted. Nevertheless, in a search
for what has been really required, it has frequently
happened that important essays and short notices
of a valuable nature have been met with ; and to
preserve a note of these for future reference has
appeared almost as desirable as to index the records
of rare visitants. On this account therefore, and
especially when they have not been alluded to in
the standard works before mentioned, a brief re-
ference to volume and page has been given, the
object being to save time and trouble to the reader
by referring him direct to valuable sources of infor-
mation which might otherwise be unknown or
overlooked.

In bringing this Introduction to a close, I

INTRODUCTION xxvii

cannot withhold some expression of my indebted-
ness to my friends Professor Newton, Mr. Howard
Saunders, and Mr. J. A. Harvie-Brown, all of
whom have been kind enough to revise " proof-
sheets " submitted to them, and to make many
useful suggestions and corrections. My obligations
to Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley for the infor-
mation derived from their beautiful volumes on the
** Vertebrate Fauna of Scotland," and to Messrs.
Ussher and Warren for the many facts gleaned from
their " Birds of Ireland," will be perceived from the
frequency with which their names are mentioned
in the following pages. It is not pretended that
the present work is free from errors, but it is
hoped that the author's shortcomings may be to
some extent condoned in view of the enormous
labour which its preparation has entailed.

J. E. HARTING.

Burlington House,

March 25, 1901.

*,y' Reference to the figures will be facilitated by
referring to the page at which the Plate
is inserted given in the List of Plates
or in the Index.

LIST OF COLOURED PLATES

From Original Drawings by the late
Professor Schlegel

PLATE

1. Golden Eagle — White-tailed Eagle — Osprey — Montagu's Har-

rier — Marsh Harrier To face p. Q

2. Peregrine — Gyrfalcon — Hobby — Merlin — Kestrel — Gos-

hawk — Sparrowhawk Frontispiece

2: Honey Buzzard — Common Buzzard — Rough-legged Buzzard —

Kite To face p. 16

4. Long-eared Owl — Short-eared Owl — Barn Owl — Tawny Owl —

Little Owl — Snowy Owl To face p. 32

f). Spotted Flycatcher — Pied Flycatcher- — Collared Flycatcher —
Waxwing — Great Grey Shrike — Woodchat — Red-backed
Shrike To face p. 48

6. Blackbird— Ring Ousel — Mistletoe Thrush — Fieldfare — Song

Thrush— Redwing — Siberian Thrush . . . To face p. 58

7. Nightingale — Blue-throated Warbler — Redbreast — Black Red-

start — Redstart— Wheatear — Black - throated Wheatear —
Whinchat — Stonechat To face p. 64

8. Blackcap — Garden Warbler — Whitethroat — Lesser White-

throat — Wood Wren — -Willow Wren — Chiff ChaflF — Icterine
Warbler — Great Reed Warbler — Marsh Warbler — Reed
Warbler — Sedge Warbler — Grasshopper Warbler— Savi's
Warbler ^ . .To face p. 80

9. Great Tit— Blue Tit— Coal Tit— Marsh Tit— Crested Tit-

Bearded Tit — Long-tailed Tit — Nuthatch — Gold crest — Fire-
crest — ^Hedge Sparrow To face p. 96

10. Richard's Pipit — Tawny Pipit — Rock Pipit — Meadow Pipit —

Tree Pipit— White W^agtail— Yellow Wagtail— Grey Wag-
tail Tofacep. 106

11. Hawfinch — Bullfinch — Parrot Crossbill — Crossbill — Skylark

— Woodlark — Crested Lark — Shore Lark . . Tofacep. 112

XX LIST OF COLOURED PLATES

PLATE

12. Common Bunting— Yellowhammer — Cirl Bunting — Ortolan

—Reed Bunting— Little Bunting— Snow Bunting— Lapland
Bunting To face p. 128

13. House Sparrow— Tree Sparrow— Rock Sparrow— Greenfinch

—Chaffinch— Brambling—(joldfincli— Siskin— Mealy Red-
poll— Linnet— Twite Tofacef.lAA

14. Roller— Kingfisher— Golden Oriole— Starling— Rose-coloured

Pastor— Hoopoe To face jp. 160

15. Raven — Carrion Crow — Hooded Crow — Rook — Jackdaw —

Magpie— Jay — Nutcracker .... To face f. lid

16. Great Black Woodpecker — Green Woodpecker— Grey AVood-

pecker — Greater Spotted Woodpecker — Middle Spotted
Woodpecker — Lesser Spotted Woodpecker . To face p. i76

17. Cuckoo — Wryneck — Swallow — Martin — Sand Martin — Swift

— Nightjar — Wren — Creeper — Dipper . . To face p. 192

18. Partridge — Quail — Black Grouse — Wood Pigeon or Ring Dove

—Stock Dove— Turtle Dove .... To face p. 208

19. Stone Curlew — Golden Plover — Dotterel — Ringed Plover —

Kentish Plover — Little Ringed Plover — Lapwing or Peewit
—Grey Plover To face p. 218

20. Sanderling — Common Sandpiper— Dusky Red.shank— Green-

shank — Redshank — Green Sandpiper — Wood Sandpiper —
Avocet To face p. 224

21. Knot — Purple Sandpiper — Curlew Sandpiper — Little Stint —

Temminck's Stint — Dunling .... To face p. 2^0

22. Turnstone— Oyster-catclier- Woodcock — Great Snipe — Com-

mon Snipe — Jack Snipe — Curlew — Whimbrel — Esqui-
maux Curlew To face p. 2bO

23. Black-tailed God wit — Bar-tailed God wit— Ruff and Reeve —

Grey Phalarope To face p. 256

24. Spoonbill or Shovelard — Glossy Ibis — White Stork — Black

Stork — Great Bustard — Little Bustard — Macqueen's Bus-
tard—Courser To face p. 272

25. Common Heron — Purple Heron — Little Egret— Great White

Heron — Squacco Heron — Night Heron — Bittern — Little
Bittern To face j). 288

26. Coot — Moorhen — Spotted Crake — Baillon's Crake — Little

Crake — Corncrake — Water-Rail — Crane — Puffin — Razorbill
—Little Auk— Guillemot To face p. 298

LIST OF COLOURED PLATES xxxi

PLATE

27. Grey Lay Goose — Bean Goose — White-fronted Goose — Pink-

footed Goose — Bernicle Goose — Brent Goose — Red-breasted
Goose — Mute Swan — Polish Swan — Bewick's Swan —
Whooper ........ To face p. 304

28. Duck and Mallard — Shoveler — Teal — Garganey — Gadwall —

Wigeon— Pintail— Sheld-drake . . . . To face p. 320

29. Long-tailed Duck — Scaup — Pochard — Ferruginous Duck —

Goosander — Red-breasted Merganser —Smew . To face p. 330

30. Eider Duck — Velvet Scoter — Common Scoter — Golden-eye —

Tufted Duck — Red-crested Whistling Duck . To face p. 336

31. Great Northern Diver — Black-throated Diver — Red-throated

Diver — Great Crested Grebe — Red-necked Grebe — Sclavo-
nian Grebe— Eared Grebe — Little Grebe . . To face pi. 352

32. Gannet or Solan Goose — Cormorant — Green Cormorant or

Shag To face p. 368

33. Common Tern — Arctic Tern — Lesser Tern — Sandwich Tern

— Casi)ian Tern— Gull-billed Tern— Black Tern To face p. 384

34. Herring Gull— Lesser Black-backed Gull — Common Gull —

Kitti wake— Black-headed Gull .... To face p. 400

36. Fulmar — Storm Petrel— Fork-tailed Petrel — Manx Shearwater
— Pomatorhine Skua — Arctic Skua — Buffon's Skua — Great
Skua To face p. 416

PART I

BRITISH BIRDS, PROPERLY SO CALLED,

BEING RESIDENTS, PERIODICAL MIGRANTS,

AND ANNUAL VISITANTS

HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Order I. ACCIPITRES
Fam. FALCONIDiE

GOLDEN EAGLE. Aquila chrysaetus (Linnseus). PI. 1,
figs. 1, la. Length, ^ 32 in., $ 35-5. in.; wing, ^
24-5 in., $ 27-5 in. ; tarsus, ^ 3-7 in., $ 3-8 in.

Now resident only in the Highlands and islands
of Scotland, and Ireland ; though formerly nesting
in Orkney, the Lowlands of Scotland, the moun-
tainous parts of Cumberland and Westmorland,
the highest part of Cheviot, the Peak of Derby-
shire, and in North Wales. As to the former
existence of Eagles in Cumberland and Westmor-
land, see a very full and interesting account in
Macpherson's "Fauna of Lakeland," 1892, p. 186.
As a wanderer, the Golden Eagle is occasionally
met with in England during the autumn months,
but has not been known to breed south of the
Forth and Clyde for the last sixty or seventy years.
As to its present status in Scotland, it is satisfac-
tory to know that in many deer-forests orders have
of late years been given for its protection, and the
fears which ten years ago were entertained for its
extermination are now happily removed.

4 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Although it is the usual habit of the Golden
Eagle to breed in cliffs, the nest is occasionally
placed in a tree. One such is figured in Harvie-
Brown and Buckley's " Fauna of the Moray Basin,"
vol. ii. p. 54. Dr. John Hill, in his "History of
Animals," 1752, states that he shot a Golden Eagle
in Charlton Forest, Sussex, and once found a nest
there. He describes the bird as " the size of a
turkey, of the weight of not less than 10 lbs. or 12
lbs., and with legs feathered down to the toes."

In The Zoologist for 1889, p. 232, is reported a
remarkable capture of a Golden Eagle alive, owing
to a pair having fought and got their talons in-
extricably interlocked. The incident occurred at
Stratherrick, on the estate of Captain Fraser of
Farraline, and the captive was purchased by Mr.
Henderson of Inverness, and presented by him to
the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park.

In October 1892 I received a female Golden
Eagle in the second year's plumage that had been
trapped in Argyllshire : in expanse of wing it mea-
sured 7 ft, and its weight was 9 lbs. 10 oz. ; one
from Ross-shire in September 1897 weighed 11 lbs.,
and another from Gal way in October 1889, 12^ lbs.

An immature Golden Eagle preserved in the
British Museum has patches of white on the shoul-
ders like an Imperial Eagle, It was shot in Berrie-
dale in February 1878.

Several cases are on record of captive Eagles
having hatched the eggs of geese and poultry, and
reared chickens. The late Duke of Argyll reported

EAGLES 5

in Nature, April 1879, an instance which occurred
in 1877 in xlchill Island, co. Mayo, where an eagle
belonging to Mr. Pike of Glendarary hatched two
goose eggs and fed the young on flesh. Other cases
are mentioned in The Field, May 18, 1889, April 27,
1895, and Feb. 22 and 29, 1896. The Common
Buzzard {q.v.) has a similar propensity.

WHITE -TAILED EAGLE. Haliaetus albicilla (Lin-
naeus). PI. 1, figs. 2, 3, 3a. Length, ^ 33-5 in.,
$ 38 in. ; wing, ^ 24-5 in., $ 26 in. ; tarsus, $ 4 in.,
$ 4-5 in.

Resident in Shetland, the north and west of
Scotland and Ireland ; nested formerly in Orkney,
in Westmorland, the Isle of Man, and Lundy Island ;
reported also to have nested formerly on the Dewer-
stone Rock, Bickleigh Vale, Devonshire (Rowe,
" Perambulation of Dartmoor," p. 232 ; and D'Urban
and Mathew, "Birds of Devon," p. 151); and in
1780 in the Isle of Wight (Warner, Hist. Isle of
Wight, 1795). Birds of the first year are regular
autumnal visitants to the south and south-east of
England, and when captured, or observed, are
almost invariably reported as " Golden Eagles."
The two species may be distinguished at any age
by their feet. The Golden Eagle has the legs
feathered to the base of the toes ; in the Sea-
Eagle the legs are bare. The average length of
an adult Sea-Eagle is 3 ft. to 3 ft. 4 in. ; expanse
of wing, 7 ft. 6 in. to 7 ft. 10 in. Weight, one from
Brighton, lOi lbs.; another from Arundel, barely

6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

10 lbs. ; a third from Stornoway, a fine adult bird,
a trifle over 13| lbs.

In January 1875 Mr. Heathcote reported a tame
Sea-Eagle at Dunvegan, which used to fly loose and
come down when called. When the steamer came
in, they used to put bits of meat for it on the paddle-
box, and it would come on board to feed. It was
eventually killed out of revenge for certain ducks
abstracted. At the present time Mr. George Long
of Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, has a tame Golden
Eagle which is occasionally allowed its liberty, and,
as I have seen, comes to a lure like a trained falcon.

Eagles are not subject to much variation of
plumage, except that which is dependent upon age.
An albino Sea-Eagle, however, was killed at Achin-
duich, in the parish of Lairg, in November 1857.

OSPREY. Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus). PI. 1, figs. 4, 4a.
Length, 24 in. ; wing, 19-5 in. ; tarsus, 2-5 in.

Still breeds in Scotland, where it is a summer
migrant ; visits England in spring and autumn, and
is occasionally met with in Ireland in autumn.

According to Willughby ("Ornithology," 1678,
p. 21), the Osprey used to nest in Westmorland. He
writes : " There is an aery of them in Whinfield Park,
preserved carefully by the Countess of Pembroke."
This account, for reasons stated, is accepted by
Macpherson (Zool 1889, p. 256, 1892, p. 75; and
"Fauna of Lakeland," p. 214), but Professor New-
ton and Mr. A. G. More (Zool. 1892) have expressed
the opinion that the nest was probably that of a

o

OSPREY 7

White - tailed Eagle. The Osprey still breeds at
Loch-an-Eilan, Rothiemurcus, Inverness-shire, where
it is protected by Sir P. Grant ; also at Glencarwick,
in the same county, and at Lochluichart in Ross-
shire, where the keepers of Lady Ashburton have
strict orders to see that the birds are not molested.
In 1891 a pair nested at Loch Morlich, a few miles
from Loch-an-Eilan. A view of Ardvrack Castle,
on Loch Assynt, Sutherland, the old site of an Os-
prey's nest, is given in the " Fauna of Sutherland
and Caithness," p. 177.

In June 1893 the Zoological Society awarded
two silver medals for the protection of the Osprey
in Scotland : one to Donald Cameron of Lochiel, the
other, intended for Sir J. Grant of Rothiemurcus
(then lately deceased), to Lieut.-Gen. Strachey, on
behalf of the relatives.

Respecting the identity of the American and
European species, J. H. Gurney, sen., wrote: "The
Norwich Museum possesses an extensive series
of Ospreys from various parts of the world, and I
have no hesitation in expressing my belief that the
species is identical, not only on the coasts of North
America and Europe, but also on those of Africa,
Asia, and Australia" (Ibis, 1867, p. 465).

PEREGRINE FALCON. Falco peregrinus, Gmelin.
PI. 2, figs. 1, 2, 2a. Length, $ 16 in, $ 19 in. ; wing,
$ 12-5 in, $ 14-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 2 in, $ 2-3 in.

Breeds in the sea-cliffs on many parts of the coast,
migrating to the east and south-east in autumn.

8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Recorded as breeding at Beachy Head {Zool.,
1849). Very rarely nests in trees, but does so,
according to Mr. R. L. Patterson, at Glenarm in
county Antrim. In the middle and western prairie
regions of North America, where there are no suit-
able cliffs, the Peregrine (or Duck Hawk, as it is
there called) often nests on the tops of large syca-
mores. That it occasionally preys on small birds is
certain : a male brought to Swaysland, the Brighton
birdstuffer, on January 5, 1864, had eaten a Green-
finch, and the crop also contained the legs of a
common Bunting, as well as portions of four other
small birds. I once saw a Peregrine kill a Snipe,
which it took at the first stoop ; this was on Riddle-
hamhope Moor, in Northumberland.

The average weight of the tiercel or male is
1 lb. 10 oz. ; of the falcon or female, 2 lbs. 8 oz.
Expanse of wing, male, 38 to 39 in. ; female, 46 in.

HOBBY. Falco suhhuteo, Linnaeus. PL 2, fig. 4. Length,
$ 11-5 in., $ 13-5 in.; wing, $ 10 in., $ 10-5-11 in.;
tarsus, $ 1-25 in., $ 1*4 in.

A summer migrant to England and Scotland,
arriving in April, but not common ; still rarer in
Ireland {Zool, 1877, p. 471; 1883, p. 122; 1890,
p. 357). Of more frequent occurrence in the east
than the west of Scotland (Gray, "Birds of West
of Scotland," p. 29). As to nesting in Scotland,
see Sir E. Newton, Zool, 1889, p. 32.

The Hobby breeds later than any other hawk
[Naturalist, 1853, p. 274), generally occupying the

FALCONS 9

deserted nest of a Crow or Magpie. In Yorkshire
it has nested at Rossington, near Doncaster ; at
Bishop's Wood, near Selby, in 1869, and at Evering-
ham Park, near Market Weighton, in 1875. In
North Lincolnshire it nests annually in the wood-
lands near Louth, and also between Langworthy and
Wragby. As to its breeding in Norfolk, see Nor-
gate, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iii. p. 351. It used
to breed formerly in Oakley Wood, near Hathern,
Leicestershire. In Essex, in 1877, a nest with four
young was found at Felstead. In 1878 and 1879
there were nests at White Notley, near Witham,
Essex, from which the young were taken and flown
" at hack" by W. Brewster. He and I trained them
to fly at Larks, and I kept one of them until the fol-
lowing winter, when it died during a frost. In May
1881 a nest of the Hobby with four eggs vTas found
by a gamekeeper of Lord Ebury in a fir tree in Moor
Park, Herts.

There can be no doubt that the Hobby of late
years has become much scarcer in England, from its
coming to the woods to breed at a time when game-
keepers are anxious about the young pheasants.
Ignoring the fact that it leaves the woods to feed,
takes its prey on the wing, and feeds largely on
insects, they lose no opportunity of destroying both
old and young by shooting into the nests. Where
more enlightened proprietors forbid such wanton
destruction, the Hobbies live to afford pleasure and
amusement to many by their beautiful evolutions on
the wing. Between the years 1882 and 1890 inclu-

lo HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

sive, the late Lord Lilford, who protected these birds,
had evidence of the hatching out of no less than ten
broods of Hobbies in his own neighbourhood in Nor-
thamptonshire, and sixteen nestlings were brought
to him without the destruction of any of the parent
birds. In 1898 Major C. H. Thompson secured
a nest of three young birds in Essex, which he
trained for Lark-hawking.

The speed of the Hobby is considerable. On
May 15, 1888, one was taken alive whilst feed-
ing on a Swift which it had captured at Mistley,
in Essex. The Hobby has a much longer wing
than the Merlin, and may be distinguished by its
resemblance to a small Peregrine, with a black
cheek-patch, which is wanting in the Merlin. In
the Hobby the wing measures 10-11 in., in the
Merlin 7^-8^ in.

Hobbies are sometimes, though rarely, seen in
winter. In October 1878 one was killed in the
Edmonton marshes, and another at St. Leonards ;
and in the following year a female Hobby was shot
at Bridgend, South Wales, on Nov. 30.

MERLIN. Falco sesalon, Gmelin. PL 2, figs. 5, 6. Length,
^10 in., $ 12 in. ; wing, ^ 7-75 in., $ 8-5 in. ; tarsus,
^ 1-4 in., $ 1-5 in.

Resident in Scotland, Ireland, and on the moors
of England and Wales, where it breeds. A winter
visitant to the south.

This bird almost invariably nests upon the ground,
like the Short-eared Owl ; but Mr. Harvie-Brown

FALCONS 1 1

has noted that, in 1885, a pair took possession of a
deserted nest in a tree at Loch Gruagach, Assynt,
and were taken by Mr. Tennent and the keeper
("Fauna of Sutherland," p. 176). Mr. Aplin also,
in Norway, found a pair of Merlins occupying an
old nest in a birch-tree some thirty feet from the
ground (Zool, 1896, p. 452).

The adult male Merlin weighs from 5 to 6 oz.,
the female 7 oz. Its prey consists of Meadow Pipits,
Linnets, Twites, Stonechats, and other small moor-
land birds, and occasionally Snipe ; but not, as some
gamekeepers assert, Grouse, which are too strong
and heavy to be captured, being four times the
weight of a Merlin. Grouse chicks, however, are
no doubt occasionally carried off when straying from
the protection of the hen.

KESTREL. Falco tinnunculus, Linnseus. PI. 2, figs. 7, 8.
Length, 12-5 in. ; wing, 9 in.; tarsus, P5 in.

Resident, migrating to the east and south-east in
autumn. Common on the hill-farms in the south of
Scotland, where it preys much on the short-tailed
Field Vole {Arvicola agrestris). See the "Report
of the Committee appointed by the Board of Agri-
culture to inquire into a plague of the Field Voles
in Scotland," 1893.

Kestrels occasionally nest in hollow trees, as at
Bromley, in Kent, in 1876, when six eggs were
found in one nest, the usual number being five
(Field, June 3, 1876). They have also been known
to build in wheat-stacks (Field, June 5, 1875, and

12 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Zool., 1889, p. 232). A pinioned Kestrel, kept in
a walled garden at Burnley Hall, East Somerton,
Norfolk, built a nest in the corner of a tool-house
and hatched five young ones. Mr. W. H. St. Quin-
tin, of Scampston Hall, Yorkshire, had a pair of
Kestrels which reared their young in an outdoor
aviary, and were eventually allowed their freedom.

That this hawk is migratory is shown by its
occasionally perching on the rigging of ships at
sea, sometimes at a considerable distance from land.
During a fog in the autumn of 1891, a steamer in
the Baltic, bound for Newcastle, was boarded by a
number of Kestrels. They were either so exhausted,
or so stupefied by the fog, that a great many were
captured, and on the arrival of the vessel at New-
castle nine of them were taken alive to the Museum.

In 1865 Mr. Howlett, the birdstuffer at New-
market, had a white Kestrel, which was shot that
year on Newmarket Heath.

SPARROW-HAWK. Accipiter nisus (Linnseus). PI. 2,
figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, $ 13 in., $ 15-5 in. ; wing,
$ 8 in., $ 9-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 2-3 in., $ 2-5 in.

Resident, and generally distributed, although
annually becoming rarer in consequence of the
numbers shot and trapped b}' gamekeepers. So
far as my experience goes., the Sparrow -Hawk
generally builds a nest for itself; but sometimes
takes possession of the deserted nest of another
species, usually that of a Crow, Magpie, or Wood
Pigeon, if placed at a sufficient height. The adult

HAWKS 1 3

female Sparrow-hawk sometimes, though rarely,
becomes blue on the back like the male. I have
seen instances of this. White specimens are very
rare. In The Zoologist, 1851, p. 3276, one was re-
corded by the late Sir Edward Newton as having
been taken near Elveden ; in 1876 Mr. Howlett,
the birdstufter at Newmarket, preserved a white
Sparrow-hawk that was shot at Garely, and a third
was in the collection of the late Frederick Bond
(ZooL, 1889, p. 419). Instances of albinism in the
Falconidse are rare ; in the case of the Northern
Jerfalcons and the Snowy Owl the white plumage
is normal, and of advantage to the species, favouring
an approach to their prey over snow-clad fells.

GOSHAWK. AstuT paluvibarius (Linnasus). PI. 2, figs.
9, 10, 10a. Length, $ 19-5 in., $ 23 in.; wing,
^ 12 in., $ 14 in. ; tarsus, ^ 3 in., $ 3-5.

Formerly resident in the north of England and
Scotland, as well as in Ireland : Irish Goshawks
are mentioned by several authorities as having been
formerly held in great esteem by falconers. This bird
used to breed in the Forests of Darnaway, and Glen-
more, near Grantown on the Spey (St. John), and in
the Forest of Rothiemurcus, where Col. Thornton, who
died in 1823, procured one which he trained; also
in Kirkcudbrightshire (Lee, Naturalist, 1853, p. 45),
and in the woods of Castle Grant, Inverness, and Aber-
nethy and Dalnane Forests (Dunbar, Ibis, 1865, p. 10).
In Sept. 1862 the late A. E. Knox twice saw a Gos-
hawk in the Forest of Mar {in litt. Oct. 20, 1862).

14 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

According to Mr. Tottenham Lee, a pair of Gos-
hawks once took possession of a Raven's nest in
Roxburghshire [Nat., 1853, p. 45), and the late
Edward Hargitt had two eggs of the Goshawk
which were taken from a nest at Balmacara, Ross-
shire, in April 1871. This bird used to frequent
Oakley and Piper Woods, Leicestershire (Harley),
and Selby has noted its former occurrence on the
wooded banks of the Dee. Dr. John Hill, in his
" History of Animals," 1752, mentions a Goshawk's
nest in the Forest of Rockingham, Northants, and
states that a servant of his who climbed to the nest
was attacked with fury by the old birds.

Although old works on Falconry state that
" the best Goshawks were procured in the north
of Ireland, as in the province of Ulster, but more
especially in the county of Tyrone," ^ Thompson
asserts (" Nat. Hist. Ireland," i. p. 62) that the
Goshawk " cannot be included in the Irish fauna
with certainty." This may have been true in his
day (1850), but could not have been so in the time
of Elizabeth and James L, when it is certain that
Goshawks were procured there for hawking in
England. The scarcity of this bird in Ireland at
the present day, and for some years past, is probably
due to the increased use of guns, and the consequent
destruction of large birds of prey, as well as to the
increased scarcity of timber ; for the Goshawk is a

1 See Turbervile's " Book of Falconrie," 2nd ed., 1611, p. 60 ; Cox,
"The Gentleman's Recreation," 1697, p. 59; and Campbell's "Treatise
on Modern Falconry," 1780, p. 214.

KITE 1 5

" woodlander," and invariably nests in a tree. In
1844, according to the late Dr. J. R. Kinahan, a
Goshawk was killed at Kilrudden, Co. Wicklow,
and another in 1846 in Co. Longford (Watters,
"Birds of Ireland," 1853, p. 8). An adult female
Goshawk shot in the Galtee Mountains, Tipperary,
Jan. 17, 1870, as recorded by Sir Victor Brooke
{Land and Water, March 5, 1870), proved to be
the American Astur atricapillus. (See Part II.)
A young male, however, of Astur palumbarius was
seen in Ballymanas Wood, Co. Wicklow {ZooL, 1870,
p. 2283). Low was doubtless mistaken in asserting
in his "Fauna Orcadensis " that the Goshawk fre-
quents Orkney ; his reference to sea-cliffs points to
the Peregrine. Edmonston thought that it nested in
Shetland {Zool, 1844, p. 459), but Saxby ("Birds of
Shetland ") considers him to have been mistaken,
although he himself had seen a Goshawk there in
April 1859 in the rabbit warren on Balta Island,
and one was shot in Unst during the winter of
1860 (Evans and Buckley, "Fauna of Shetland,"
1899, p. 117).

KITE. Milvus regalis, Roux. PI. 3, figs. 6, 6<x. Length,
24 in. ; wing, 20 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

Formerly common over all the open heaths and
waste lands, and much esteemed by falconers for
the royal flights which it afforded when pursued
by trained gerfalcons. Hence the name regalis,
bestowed on it by Roux in 1825, and adopted by
Macgillivray, Gray, Gould, and many Continental

1 6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

authors. In the first quarter of the present century
the Earl of Orford and Colonel Thornton, with the
members of the Falconers' Club, used to range for
Kite near Elveden Gap and Eriswell in Suffolk, and
over Thetford Warren. In Dr. Heysham's time
(1796) the Kite used to breed in the woods near
Armathwaite, and from its gliding flight was known
in Cumberland as the glead, from the Anglo-Saxon
glidan, to glide (Macpherson, " Fauna of Lakeland,"
1892). It is not known that any Kite has been
killed in that district during the last thirty-five
years. In Yorkshire, in Edlington Wood two were
taken from the nest by Hugh Reid of Doncaster
about 1824 ; also in Murton Wood near Hawnby,
where birds were procured (Clarke, ** Yorkshire
Vertebrates," p. 45). In Lincolnshire, Bullington
Wood, near Wragby, eggs were taken in the spring
of 1870 (Cordeaux). Charnwood Forest, Leicester-
shire ("Annals of Sporting," 1824, p. 308); Monks
Wood and Alconbury Hill, Huntingdonshire, until
1844 (Wolley). About Alconbury Hill between
1824 and 1829 Kites were quite common (Birch
Reynardson, "Reminiscences," 1875, p. 74). In
Worcestershire at Alfrick, near Great Malvern till
1850 (Jabez Allies). Kites used to nest in Tolvern
W^ood, Cornwall (Bullmore) ; in North Devon (Lord
Lilford) ; in Brampton Brian Park, Herefordshire
(Armitage ^) ; and in 1834 about Newport, Mon-
mouthshire (Conway)." Two young Kites were

1 Trans. Woolhope Nat. Field-Chih, 1869.
- Mag. Nat. Hist, 1834, vii. p. 334.

«
<

u

c^

«X)

KITE 17

taken in Eadnor Forest in 1868 [Trans. Woolhope
Nat. Field-Club, 1869, and Zool, 1871, p. 2519).
These birds were common there until the neighbour-
ing warren was destroyed. In 1887 a nest was
discovered in Breconshire by Capt. Swainson. It
was built in a nearly branchless oak about forty-five
feet from the ground, and contained three young
birds about ten days old. In 1891 and 1892 Kites
were nesting in that county. In 1893 two pairs and
a single bird were found in Cardiganshire ; the eggs
of one pair were taken on April 25, and my infor-
mant, Dr. Salter of Aberystwith, saw the nest of a
second pair on May 23, from which the eggs had
been taken a few days previously {Zool., 1893, pp.
311, 355). In 1895 a pair nested not far from
Shrewsbury (Marchant and Watkins, p. 76). See
my article on " The Disappearance of the Kite " in
The Field, Dec. 11, 1897.

In Scotland, where this bird was once common,
it is now rarely seen. It used formerly to breed in
Stirlingshire, Ayrshire, and the Isle of Arran.

Kites were breeding in Inverness-shire in 1850
(Wolley), in Argyllshire in 1858 (R. Gray), and in
Perthshire in 1871. In July 1876 I saw two young
Kites in the possession of the late E. T. Booth of
Brighton, who had just brought them from Glen
Lyon. They were " branchers," and would soon
have been able to fly well. They had nearly got
rid of their down, but the tail was not yet forked.

In Ireland the Kite is very rare, and according
to A. G. More (" List of Irish Birds" ), has not been

1 8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

observed there more than half-a-dozen times. One
was shot on the Cashen river, Co. Kerry, in the
winter of 1880-81 ("Fowler in Ireland," p. 307).

COMMON BUZZARD. Buteo vulgaris, Leach. PI. 3,
figs. 3, 4, 4a. Length, ^ 22 in., $ 23 in. ; wing,
$ 15 in., $ 16-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 2-75 in, $ 3 in.

A local resident, migrating to the east and south-
east in autumn ; gradually being exterminated by
gamekeepers and collectors. Some idea of the num-
ber of Buzzards that formerly haunted the woods
around the English Lakes may be gathered from
the fact that a keeper in the employ of General
Wyndham in 1841 destroyed no fewer than fifty
of these birds within a short time of his engage-
ment. Fortunately a few still linger about their
old haunts, and continue to nest in Westmorland
(Macphcrson, "Fauna of Lakeland," 1892, p. 184).
In 1852 the Buzzard nested at Sedburgh, near
Kendal, and three eggs were laid (Nat., 1853,
p. 108). The following year a pair nested on a
crag known as the Red Scar, near Richmond,
Yorkshire, and hatched five young (Nat., 1854,
p. 81). In 1876, and from that year until 1880,
there were nests at Gosforth in Cumberland (Zool.,
1881, p. 106), and from 1880 until the present time
a few pairs have nested regularly in some of the
more unfrequented parts of Wales. I have recently
heard of nests at Ponterwyd and Pistyll-y-Llyn, at
the head of the Llyfnant Valley. In 1895 the young
were successfully reared in the New Poorest.

BUZZARDS 19

As to the food of the Common Buzzard, W. T.
Andrews, taxidermist of Swansea, having examined
many specimens at all seasons of the year, states
that he has never found any feathers in the crop,
but invariably partly-digested fragments of the com-
mon mole {Field, Jan. 1877). In 1898 I watched
a Common Buzzard in Wales feeding on earth-
worms. It hopped about on the ground looking
for them, and on seeing one, would draw it out
of the soil, bite it in several pieces about an inch
in length, and swallow each separately. Several
instances are on record of tame Buzzards hatching
hens' eggs. (See Yarrell, "Brit. Birds," 4th ed. i.
p. Ill; Zool., 1881, p. 106, and Proc. Linn. Soc,
1898, Nov. 3.) These cases show a conflict of two
distinct impulses of instinct, that of killing prey
and that of rearing young : since the former be-
came modified by altered conditions of life which
provided the birds with sufficient food, the maternal
instinct proved the stronger of the two.

The average weight of the Common Buzzard
is from 1 lb. 15 oz. (male) to 2 lbs. 8 oz. (female).
The expanse of wing in a male bird which I
measured was 3 ft. 9i in.

ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD. Buteo lagopus (Gmelin).
PL 3, fig. 5. Length, $ 22-5 in., $ 26 in. ; wing,
$ 17 in., $ 18-5 in. ; tarsus, ^2-8 in., $ 3 in.

An autumn migrant. On the east coast of Scot-
land it sometimes appears in considerable numbers
in autumn, when moving in migratory flocks (Gray,

20 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

"Birds West Scot.," p. 47). The late Mr. Scales of
Beechamwell, near SwafFham, remarked that the
Rough-legged Buzzard annually visited the warren
there in November and remained for some time in
quest of rabbits. On the authority of the late Mr.
Williamson of Scarborough, the nest of this bird is
said to have been found near Hackness, Yorkshire ;
and the late Thomas Edward reported one near
Banff (Ihis, 1865, p. 12). Sir William Jardine
informed me that the Rough-legged Buzzard once
bred near Twizel, Northumberland, and that he
accompanied the late J. P. Selby to look at the
nest. This must have been subsequent to the
publication of Selby's " Illustrations of British
Ornithology" in 1833, or the circumstance would
certainly have been noticed in that work. Eggs of
this bird, taken by Wolley in Lapland, are beauti-
fully figured in Newton's Ootheca Wolleyana.

HONEY-BUZZARD. Pernis apivorus (Linnseus). PI. 3,
figs. 1, 2, 2a. Length, 23-5 in. ; wing, 17-25 in. ;
tarsus, 2 in.

A summer migrant from the south, sparingly dis-
tributed. Formerly nested in Selborne Hanger, as
recorded by Gilbert White (Letter xliii. to Pennant),
at Burnham Beeches {Mag. Nat. Hist., 1837, p.
539), in Wellgrove Wood, Oxfordshire {Zool, 1844,
p. 237), and in several parts of the New Forest. I
have seen eggs of the Honey-Buzzard from the New
Forest taken at the following places and dates : —
Two, South Bradley, 3rd July 1870 ; two, Crookley

BUZZARDS 2 I

Enclosure, 7th June 1871 ; and two, Stoney Cross,
17th June 1872, besides others taken in previous
years. The young were hatched there as lately as
1895. The late Dr. Eooke of Scarborough had the
eggs from Hackness, Yorkshire, two of which I saw.
In July 1877 two young birds were taken from a
nest in an extensive oak wood at Whitfield, near
Hereford, where a few days later the female bird
was trapped (Zool, 1879, p. 132).

According to Macgillivray and Robert Gray, the
eggs of the Honey - Buzzard have been taken in
Aberdeenshire. In Ireland it is a very rare visitor.
One in the Dublin Museum was obtained in Kildare
in 1882, and another was shot in a wood near Gorey,
Co. Wexford, in Oct. 1892.

Mr. J. H. Gurney states that, besides being a
summer visitant, this species arrives as an early
autumnal migrant on the east coast, and the birds
so arriving are mostly birds of the year.

The late Mr. E. Clough Newcome, who died in
September 1871, introduced some young Honey-
Buzzards from France, and allowed them their
liberty in Norfolk, where he resided ; but although
they became tame and remained for some time about
the house, they disappeared in the autumn. As a
rule, the Honey-Buzzard departs in September, but
in 1863 one was shot at Priory Hall, St. Neots, by
Mr. Dawson Rowley's keeper (W. Pearson), as late
as Oct. 20. A female bird of this species which I
examined in the flesh measured 23 inches in length ;
expanse of wing, 52 inches ; weight, 1 lb. 14 oz.

22 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

MARSH HARRIER. Circus ieruginosus (Linnseus). PI. 1,
figs. 7, 8. Length, ^ 22-5 in., $ 23 in. ; wing, $ 16
in., $ 17 in, ; tarsus, $ 2-75 in., $ 3 in.

Formerly common in the English Fens, where it
was known as the Moor Buzzard, but now seldom
observed, except as an irregular visitant, and gene-
rally in autumn. In 1825 Messrs. Sheppard and
Whitear reported these birds breeding in some of the
marshes of Norfolk (Trans. Linn. Soc, xv. p. 6).
Mr. John Baker of Cambridge wrote in 1857: "It
is very doubtful if the Marsh Harrier at the present
day breeds anywhere in Great Britain : most cer-
tainly none do so in the Huntingdonshire or Cam-
bridge Fens, nor have any nests been found in that
locality since the draining of Whittlesea Mere
in 1851." Nevertheless it continued to breed in
other counties, such as the eastern side of Norfolk
(where a nest with three young was taken near
Yarmouth in 1862), and some of the wilder parts of
Wales and the west of England. In 1866 when
Stevenson published the first volume of his " Birds
of Norfolk," he described the breeding haunts of the
Marsh Harrier in that county as being then confined
almost entirely to such quiet and preserved localities
as Ranworth, Barton, Horsey, and Hickling, where a
few pairs remained throughout the year. One of the
latest instances of its breeding known to me occurred
in 1877, when a nest of the Marsh Harrier was found
on the Berwyn range of mountains in Denbighshire
(Dobie, " Birds of Cheshire, Flint, and Denbigh,"

HARRIERS 23

p. 312). Thompson, forty years ago, considered it
resident in Ireland, where he found it generally
distributed in suitable localities; and in 1885 Mr.
A. G. More wrote of this bird (" List of Irish
Birds"), "Still breeds in some of the bogs, espe-
cially in the midland counties and along the shores
of the Shannon." In Scotland it is much rarer,
but is believed to breed still in Aberdeenshire,
Perth, and Banff. An adult male was shot in the
parish of Kirkmichael, Dumfriesshire, early in May
1898, and was examined in the flesh by Mr. Robert
Service of Maxwelltown, who kindly informed me
of the fact.

HEN HARRIER. Circus cyaneus (Linnaeus). Length,
$ 22 in.,? 21-5 in.; wing,^ 13-5 in.,? 15-15-5 in.;
tarsus, ^2-9 in., $ 3 in.

A scarce local resident ; occurring as an autumnal
migrant in small numbers to the eastern counties.
Formerly in parts of Scotland it was one of the
commonest birds of prey, particularly in Sutherland,
Caithness, and about the Loch of Spynie in Elgin-
shire, as well as on Billie Mire in Berwickshire.
It is now nearly extinct.

In an article entitled, "The Hen Harrier in
Lincolnshire Sixty Years xigo" (Field, Nov. 27,
1886), the Rev. Edward Elmhirst, of Shawell
Rectory, Rugby, has given a most interesting
account of the status of this bird in the parishes
of Market and Middle Rasen, Osgodby, Claxby,
and Usselby, where he lived from 1821 to 1825.

24 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

At that date in Lincolnshire barren moors or
commons, almost continuous, extending over ten
parishes, and great tracts of unproductive land,
afforded most congenial haunts for these birds.
Before the writer and his family could reach
their destination at the village of Usselby in 1821,
they had to descend from their carriages and
travel on foot through deep sand for three or
four miles. On one of these great commons —
Middle Rasen — there was considerably over sixty
acres of gorse, with here and there small open
spaces wherein the Hen Harriers built their nests.
On this common alone, to the writer's knowledge,
there were at least ten pairs of Harriers nesting
at one time (1824-25). They were regarded as
very destructive to game, and altogether no fewer
than fifty of these birds were captured in one year
on the Middle Rasen Moor.

On the moorlands of North-East Yorkshire and
the carrs near Doncaster the Hen Harrier formerly
bred every year. The last reported nest was found
on the Danby Moors about 1850. None have been
seen there since 1860. (Atkinson, "Forty Years in
a Moorland Parish," p. 330.) In 1861, according to
Stevenson, a pair of Hen Harriers bred at Horsey,
Norfolk. In Huntingdonshire about that date Mr.
G. D. Rowley bought three eggs of this bird for
half-a-crown from a fen-man, named Charles Vessey,
at Ramsay.

In May 1890 a nest with four eggs was taken
at Shawbury Heath, Shropshire, and together with

HARRIERS 25

the hen bird came into the possession of Mr. J. W.
Lloyd of Kington, Herefordshire. Formerly when
common enough to have a local name, the female
Harrier was known as the " Ring-tail," from the
white feathers encircling the base of the tail.

MONTAGU'S HARRIER. Circus cineraceus (Montagu).
PL 1, figs. 5, 6, 6a. Length, ^18 in., $ 19 in. ; wing,
^ 15 in., $ 15-5 in. ; tarsus, $ 1*5 in., $ 1-75 in.

A spring and autumnal migrant, occurring an-
nually in the south of England, where it breeds.
Rare in Scotland, and seldom seen in Ireland, where
the few specimens procured have been met with
between Dublin and Wexford {Irish Naturalist,
1898, p. 50 ; 1899, p. 232 ; and 1900, p. 21).

In ]\Iontagu's Harrier the outer web of the fifth
primary is not notched as in the Hen Harrier,
and the third primary is one inch longer than the
fourth. Occasionally a sooty - black variety is met
with. Montagu's Harrier has been known to breed
in Yorkshire on several occasions, as on Thorne
Waste; at Hackness near Scarborough; near Whitby;
on Barden Moor in Upper Wharfdale, where both
old and young birds were taken in 1860 ; and near
Bridlington as late as 1871. In June 1875 a pair
of Montagu's Harriers nested on the furze-covered
downs above Ventnor in the Isle of Wight. I ac-
companied Mr. Howard Saunders expressly to see
the nest 171 situ, and we had a good view of both
the parent birds. One of the young ones was reared
and sent to the Zoological Gardens. (See Field,

26 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Sept. 18, 1875, and Zool, 1875, pp. 4653 and
4672.)

In July 1875 a hen bird of this species and live
young were taken in a marsh at Upton, Norfolk
(Stevenson), and in June 1876 a nest with five eggs
was taken, and the hen bird captured amongst furze
about five miles from Brighton (Dawson Rowley).

In Dorsetshire, in June 1887, a nest containing
four eggs, from which the hen bird rose, was found
in a clover-field at Winterbourne, Kingston (Mansel
Pleydell) ; and in 1895 at least two broods were
reared in the New Forest (E. Meade Waldo).

Fam. STRIGID^.

WHITE or BARN OWL. Strix flammea, Linngeus.
PI. 4, fig. 3. Length, 14 in.; wing, 11 in.; tarsus,
2 in.

Resident and generally distributed in England,
Wales, and Ireland. Less common in Scotland,
though met with as far north as Caithness, as well
as in the Inner Hebrides and Skye.

As to the food of the Barn Owl, see Zool., 1888,
p. 83, where Mr. J. H. Gurney has given the result
of an examination of ninety-eight pellets, which
contained the remains of twenty-one sparrows and
finches, eight rats, numerous field-mice, and a few
shrews. A pair of Barn Owls have been observed
to bring as many as seventeen mice to their young
in one evening.

Whenever these useful birds are killed ofi" by

OWLS 27

gamekeepers and farmers, there always follows a
rapid increase of mice, and consequent injury to
farm produce. An Owl and rat have been caught
in the same trap, which the rat had just reached as
he was seized by the Owl [Field, Dec. 14, 1895).

Occasionally Owls have been known to take
fish. (See Jennings' Ornithologia, 1828, p. 55 ; Rev.
W. T. Bree and Charles Waterton, Mag. Nat. Hist.,
1829, p. 179; Bolles, The Auk, 1890, pp. 101-144;
Bendire, "Life-Histories of American Birds," 1892,
p. 377 ; and editorial note in The Field, March 18,
1899.) The Tawny Owl, it would seem, is even
more addicted to an occasional fish diet than the
Barn Owl. In the East certain Owls of the re-
stricted genus Ketupa habitually prey on fish.

Allusion is made by Shakespeare and Tennyson
to " the Owl and his five wits." With our early
writers — e.g. Chaucer in the " Parson's Tale " — the
five senses appear to have been generally called the
five wits ; but it is not clear how this proverbial
phrase became connected with the Owl. (See " The
Ornithology of Shakespeare," p. 95.)

TAWNY OWL. Syrnium aluco (Linnseus). PI. 4, fig. 4.
Length, 16 in. ; wing, 11-12 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in.

Resident in England and Scotland, and increas-
ing in many of the Scottish counties. Thompson
states ("Nat. Hist. Ireland, Birds," i. p. 94) that,
if included at all in the Irish fauna, it must be
considered extremely rare. It is mentioned, how-
ever, in a list of birds in Smith's " History of

2 8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Cork," and the author distinguishes the sexes,
describing one as brown and the other grey. The
Tawny Owl is also recorded by Mr. R. J. Mont-
gomery to have been received by him from Queen's
County (Zool., 1848, p. 2141), a fact apparently
overlooked by Mr. A. G. More when preparing his
"List of Irish Birds" in 1885.

This species nests earlier than either the Barn
Owl, or the Short-eared Owl. Even as far north
as Yorkshire eggs are often laid during the third
week in March. Two or three instances are re-
corded in which these birds have built their nests
on the ground ; one of them, in Co. Durham, in April
1874, occupied the same spot in which a pheasant
had nested the previous year, and was found sitting
on three eggs ; another nest was found on the top of
a heap of fir-needles at the foot of a fir tree.

Prof. Newton is of opinion that the Tawny
Owl is the type of the genus Strix of Linnaeus,
being his Strix aluco, and that the Barn Owl
should stand as Aluco Jiammeus (Linnaeus). See
Yarrell's "Hist. Brit. Birds," 4th ed. vol. i. p. 146.

Mr. Herbert Playne has given an interesting
account of a Tawny Owl which he tamed, and
which would fly in and out of his bedroom window
(Zool, 1892, p. 444).

LONG-EARED OWL. Asio otus (Linnffius). PI 4, fig. 1.
Length, 14-5 in.; wing, 12 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in.

Resident, chiefly in wooded districts of the north
and east of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Mr.

OWLS 29

Gurney informs me that *' some always breed in
young fir plantations in Norfolk, but by far the
greater number occur as regular autumnal migrants."

A specimen was shot near Loch Maddy, in North
Uist, by Col. W. C. Verner in January 1897, the
first recorded for the Outer Hebrides. It has been
stated that both the Long -eared and Short -eared
Owls breed in North Uist, but the statement re-
quires confirmation. (See Irby, Ann. Scot. Nat.
Hist, January 1898.)

For an interesting note on the habits of this
species, see Brockholes, Zool., 1859, p. 6752 ; and
for a curious story of a Long- eared Owl coming
down to feed amongst trained falcons, see Trans.
Norf. Nat. Soc, iii. p. 92.

SHORT-EARED OWL. Asio brachyotus (Forster). PL 4,
fig. 2. Length, 14 in. ; wing, 11-75 in. ; tarsus, 1-75 in.

This bird is the Strix accipitrina of Pallas,
"Reise Russ. Reichs.," i. p. 455 (1771), and the
Strix hrachyotus of Forster, Phil. Trans., Ixii. p. 384
(1772) ; the genus Asio of Brisson is that now gene-
rally adopted for the reception of the eared owls.

The Short-eared Owl nests regularly in Scotland
and the north of England, and is resident all the
year in the west of Scotland north of Ayrshire.
Breeds occasionally in Norfolk (Stevenson) and in
Yorkshire (Clarke, "Yorkshire Vertebrates," p. 41),
in Sufi'olk [Zool, 1882, p. 232), Cambridgeshire
(Zool, 1881, p. 336), Huntingdon (F. Bond), Essex
{Zool, 1889, p. 453), and Devonshire {Zool, 1893,

30 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

p. 231); but it is usually a winter visitant to the
south of England, and to Ireland. It has been
known to breed in Cardiganshire for several years
{Field, Jan. 21, 1880). In the summer of 1893 I
saw several nests in Roxburghshire. The Lowlands
of Scotland were in that year overrun with a plague
of field-voles, and there was a marked increase in
the number of Short-eared Owls over the affected
area, while the nests almost invariably contained
more than the average number of eggs.

These birds being migratory, it is not unusual
to find an assemblage of them on their arrival in
October. Several such cases are noticed in Mathew
and D'Urban's " Birds of Devon," where flocks of
six, twelve, and even twenty are mentioned. Messrs.
Sheppard and Whitear, writing of the appearance of
these birds in Norfolk, remark: "They arrive in flocks
of from ten to twenty, and frequent heaths ; in which
respect they differ from the long-eared species, which
is fond of the gloom of fir plantations."

Oeder II. PASSERES^
Fam. LANIID^

GREAT GREY SHRIKE. Lanius excuhitor, Linnaeus.
PL 5, fig. 6. Length, 9 in.; wing, 4-5 in.; tarsus, 1 in.

The specific name excuhitor (i.e. the sentinel)
was bestowed by Linnaeus from having observed
in 1734 that the Dutch falconers made use of this

1 See Newton's " Dictionary of Birds,"' s.v. Passeres, p. 697.

SHRIKES 3 1

bird (as they still do) to give notice of the approach
of a hawk, which they then captured by means of
a bow-net and a decoy pigeon. The circumstance
is noted in the journal of his tour in Dalecarlia,
1734, the original MS. of which is preserved in
the library of the Linnean Society.

Although an autumn and winter visitant, the
Grey Shrike has been very rarely seen in England
in summer (Ibis, 1859, p. 330). Amongst the
Grey Shrikes which are found here in winter, some
have the basal half of the primaries white, giving
the appearance of a single white bar across the
wing when closed ; in others, the bases of the
secondaries are also white, causing the closed wing
to appear double-barred. The latter form is the
typical excuhitor ; the former is Lanius major of
Pallas, a more eastern race. Both forms meet in
Scandinavia, where they interbreed, as shown by
Prof. Collett, who states {Ihis, 1886, pp. 30-40) that
both forms have been found in the same brood, and
that intermediate forms have also been met with.

In regard to its singing powers, see Kerry,
Zool., 1880, p. 70; as to migration, nesting, and
habits in confinement, see Macpherson, Zool., 1891,
pp. 96-100.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE. Lanius collurio, Linnaeus.
PL 5, figs. 8, 9, 9a. Length, 7 in.; wing, 3 -5 in.;
tarsus, 1 in.

A summer migrant, most numerous in the south
of England ; rare in Scotland, occasionally nesting in

32 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the south-east. Has once been met with in Ireland,
where one was shot near Belfast in August 1878.

As to the distribution of this bird in Great
Britain, see Aplin, Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc, vol. v.
(1892), p. 286, and Zool., 1896, p. 70.

In the south of England it is not nearly so
numerous as it used to be thirty years ago, owing
to the increased practice of cutting and laying the
tall tangled hedgerows in which it delights to nest.
To judge from the accounts given of the Red-backed
Shrike in various bird-books, it would seem to be
not generally known that the cock bird has " a song,"
and that the hen occasionally assumes the male plu-
mage, as in the case of the female Sparrow-hawk.

The habit of all the Shrikes to impale their prey
— beetles and other insects, small birds and young
mice — on thorns when captured explains the pro-
vincial names, " flusher," corruption of " flesher "
(German Jleischer), and "butcher-bird" commonly
bestowed in this country on the red-backed species.

WOODCHAT. Lanius rufus, Gmelin (ex Brisson).
PL 5, fig. 7. Length, 7 in. ; wing, 3"75 in. ; tarsus,
nearly 1 in.

This bird is the Lanius rufus of Brisson, 1760,
the name revived by Gmelin, 1788 ; auricidatus of
Miiller, 1776 ; pomeranus of Sparrman, 1786 ; rutilus
of Latham, 1790 ; riificeps of Bechstein, 1805 ; and
ruficollis of Shaw, " Gen. Zool.," 1809 ; all of which
names have been employed in turn by English and
Continental ornithologists. Mr. Howard Saunders,

y

o

i^

SHRIKES 33

writing on the earliest available scientific name for
the "Woodchat (Ibis, 1883, p. 83), states that auricu-
Icttus, Mliller, adopted by Prof. Newton in his edition
of Yarrell, and by Dr. R. B. Sharpe in the Brit. Mus.
Catalogue of Birds, vol. viii. p. 283, is a Grey Shrike,
and probably Lanius minor; that rutilus, Latham,
though certainly applicable to the Woodchat, and so
employed in the former edition of this "Handbook,"
is forestalled by 2^07neranus, Sparrman, which name
he considers should be selected for general use.
Brisson's name, rufus, however, is here adopted as
being the oldest for the species ; for although, as
Mr. Saunders states, it antedates the ornithological
era, 1766 (fixed by the date of the 12th edition
of Linnd's Systema Naturae), yet its revival in 1788
by Gmelin, who in that year edited the thirteenth
edition of that work, may be said to have restored it
to favour.

It is a rare summer visitant to England. The
only record of its occurrence in Scotland is that
given in Don's " List of the Birds of Forfarshire,"
and there is no instance known of its having been
found either in Ireland or in Wales.

In an excellent paper entitled " The Status
of the W^oodchat in Great Britain" {Zool., 1892,
pp. 345-352), Mr. O. V. Aplin has shown that, even
including doubtful occurrences, not more than thirty-
five or forty examples have been killed in this
country, and those chiefly in the eastern and southern
counties. There is no doubt, however, that the
Woodchat has occasionally bred in England. The

34 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

nest and eggs have twice been taken at Freshwater,
Isle of Wight (More, Zool, 1860, p. 6851), and
once in Dorsetshire (Mansel Pleydell, " Birds of
Dorset," p. 17) ; while young birds have been
obtained in other counties. This was one of the
rarer birds noticed at Selborne by Gilbert White.

Fam. MUSCICAPID^.

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa grisola, Lmnceus.
PI. 5, figs. 1, la. Length, 5'5 in. ; wing, 3*3 in. ; tar-
sus, -75 in.

A summer migrant, generally distributed, but
less common in Scotland than elsewhere in the
British Isles. The young differ from the adult birds
in being spotted all over ; hence the familiar name.

Flycatchers, like Shrikes and birds of prey,
have a habit of ejecting from the mouth, in the
shape of small pellets, the indigestible portions of
their food. These pellets, or " castings," as they
are termed by falconers, resemble, in the case
of the Spotted Flycatcher, small blue pills, and on
examination have been found to be composed of
the hard and shining wing-cases of small beetles.
A similar habit of ejecting pellets has been noticed
in Eooks, AVood Pigeons, and some other birds.

PIED FLYCATCHER. Muscicapa atricapilla, Linnaeus.
PI. 5, figs. 2,3,3a. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, -6 in.

A summer migrant, but more local in its distri-
bution than the Spotted Flycatcher, being confined

FLYCATCHERS 35

chiefly to the northern and midland counties of
England and Wales, and rarely found in the south.
In Ireland it is reported to have occurred at Moy-
view, Co. Sligo, in April 1875, and at the Blasquet
Islands, off the Kerry coast (Warren, Zool., 1875,
p. 4498; 1877, p. 237; and 1888, p. 267). It is
almost as rare in Scotland, where, however, it has
been known to breed in a few instances. Mr. R.
Service once found in Dumfriesshire a nest of the
Pied Flycatcher containing seven eggs, situated in
a deep hole in an alder tree ; and on another occa-
sion saw a brood of young ones which had just left
the nest. Mr, Harvie-Brown informs me that in
1872 specimens were obtained in Sutherlandshire
and Berwickshire.

The Pied Flycatcher breeds annually in the
woods about Lowther Castle, Westmorland, and in
Yorkshire at Castle Howard, Duncombe Park, and
Bolton Woods. I once saw a male bird of this
species in Exton Park, Rutlandshire, during the
first week of September. Of late years, more
attention having been paid to the distribution of
birds in the nesting season, the Pied Flycatcher
has been observed in many parts of Wales, as, for
example, Pembroke, Brecon, and Glamorganshire,
and has been found nesting in Gloucestershire,
Hereford, North Devon, and the Isle of Wight. In
Cornwall it is seen in autumn on migration.

The Collared Flycatcher [Muscicapa collaris) of
Europe, not unlike the Pied Flycatcher in general
appearance (see PI. 5, fig. 4), might well be mistaken

36 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

for it at a little distance. Included by Gould in the
British list, it has not yet been satisfactorily identified
in this country, though it might well occur here as
an occasional summer visitor.

Fam. ORIOLID^.

GOLDEN ORIOLE. Oriolus galbula, Linnasus. PI. 14,
figs. 3, 4, 46. Length, 9 in. ; wing, 6 in. ; tarsus, *8 in.

An annual summer migrant. The nest has been
found in Kent several times, in Dorsetshire, Devon-
shire, and Suflfolk. In 1849 a nest containing three
eggs was taken, together with the parent birds, at
Elmstone, in Kent. Another nest and eggs were
taken at West Mill, near Wingham, Kent, in 1851,
and were long preserved at the Rectory there (Rev.
H. L. Jenner).

Orioles are believed to have nested in 1871 in
Surrey, and in Northamptonshire, according to obser-
vations made by Mr. Howard Saunders and the late
Lord Lilford. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear have
referred to a nest found near Ormsby, in Norfolk.

In 1874 a pair of Orioles bred in Dumpton Park,
near Ramsgate, and on July 12 1 saw the hen bird
sitting on the nest ; on the 22nd of July the young
had flown, and were afterwards seen in the park
in company with the parents. A detailed account
of the occurrence will be found in " Our Summer
Migrants," p. 268.

There is some circumstantial evidence of this

DIPPER 37

bird having nested also in Essex (Miller Christy,
''Birds of Essex," p. 102).

In Scotland it has been occasionally met with on
passage, chiefly in the south, and in the east and
south of Ireland it is regarded as an occasional
visitor.

Fam. CINCLID^.

DIPPER or WATER OUZEL. Cinclus aquaticus, Bech-
stein. PI. 17, figs. 11, 11a. Length, 6-75 in. ; wing,
3-5 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Resident in Scotland, the north and south-vs^est
of England, Wales, and Ireland, frequenting moun-
tain and moorland streams which have a rocky or
stony bed.

The Scandinavian form, Cinclus melanogaster,
characterised by an absence of chestnut colouring
on the underparts, appears to be an occasional
migrant to Norfolk and Sufi'olk (Stevenson's "Birds
of Norfolk," vol. i. p. 69). Mr. J. H. Gurney has a
specimen of this variety which was shot in York-
shire near Bridlington, and others have been pro-
cured in the same county, at Welwick, Oct. 24,
1874 ; at Beverley, Oct. 29, 1875 (Boyes, Zool,
1876, p. 4871); and near Filey, Dec. 8, 1875
(Tuck, Field, Jan. 1876).

The Dipper, though rare in the Midlands, is
seen occasionally on the streamlets that rise in
Charnwood Forest (Harley, " Birds Leicester.").
It is said to have nested in Middlesex and in

38 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Hampshire (ZooL, 1882, p. 109). An exceptional
case of a Dipper's nest in a tree is mentioned
{Zool, 1888, p. 309).

As to its alleged destruction of Salmon and Trout
ova, the observations of St. John, Colquhoun, and Sir
James Maitland leave no room for doubt that the
charge is true. But, as St. John remarked, it attacks
Trout spawn more frequently, and in this v^ay does
some good, for the most deadly enemy to Salmon
ova is the larger burn Trout. The Dipper feeds,
moreover, on the destructive larvae of aquatic beetles,
as well as on fresh-water limpets.

Attempts have sometimes been made to rear
Dippers from the nest, and the late Mr. A. D.
Bartlett published some useful remarks on his
successful treatment of the young in captivity
[Zool, 1878, p. 293).

Fam. TURDID^.

MISTLETOE THRUSH. Turdus viscivorus, Linnaeus.
PL 6, tig. 4. Length, 11 in.; wing, 5-75 in. ; tarsus,
1-3 in.

Resident, and during the last forty years has
greatly increased in numbers. (See Beckwith,
"Birds of Shropshire," 1879, p. 6, footnote.)

In the autumn Mistle Thrushes assemble in
flocks, and from this circumstance inexperienced
observers mistake them for Fieldfares, and report
the appearance of the latter often many weeks
before the date of their usual arrival. Although

THRUSHES 39

commonly building in a tree at some height from
the ground, this bird in the neighbourhood of the
Fells occasionally nests in the tops of dry stone
walls (Mitchell, "Birds of Lancashire," 2nd edit.,
1892, p. 2).

As to the proper mode of spelling the English
name of this bird, see the note by Prof. Newton in
Yarrell's "British Birds," 4th edit., vol. i. p. 260.

SONG THRUSH. Turdus musicus, Linnaeus. PI. 6,
fig. 6. Length, 9 in. ; wing, 4-5 in. ; tarsus, 1-2 in.

Resident ; migrating in autumn to the east and
south-east. For remarks on its migratory habits,
see Newton, Ibis, 1860, p. 83.

In dry summers Thrushes' nests are sometimes
found without the usual mud lining {ZooL, 1887,
p. 268; 1889, p. 312; 1893, p. 225), and are not
unfrequently built on the ground (Zool, 1887,
p. 112; Field, April 22 and 29; May 6, 13, and
20, 1899). It has been stated that Thrush and
Blackbird occasionally interbreed (Loudon's Mag.
Nat. Hist., 1834; Macgillivray, "Hist. Brit. Birds,"
art. "Thrush;" Zool, 1883, p. 123; 1884, p. 146;
and Christy, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iii. p. 588).

FIELDFARE. Turdus inlaris, Linnaeus. PI. 6, fig. 5.
Length, 10 in. ; wing, 5-75 in. ; tarsus, 1-3 in.

A winter visitant, arriving with Redwings in
October and leaving in April, but occasionally
remaining as late as the end of May. Several
alleged instances of its nesting in England and

40 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Scotland are on record, but are not free from doubt;
for example, in Selkirkshire (Fairholme, Mag. Nat.
Hist, 1837, p. 339; Blyth, op. cit., p. 43.9); at
Merton, Surrey (Blyth, Field, June 17, 1871). See
also A. G. More, Ihis, 1865, p. 19 ; and Bree, Field,
June 12 and 19, 1869.

REDWING. Turdus iliacus, Linna3us. PI. 6, fig. 7.
Length, 8-75 in. ; wing, 4-5 in. ; tarsus, 1*1 in.

A winter visitant, arriving with Fieldfares in
October and leaving in April. Reported to have
nested in Surrey, Middlesex, Leicestershire, Shrop-
shire, North Wales, Orkney, and the Outer Hebrides
(see A. G. More, Ibis, 1865, p. 19); in Yorkshire,
at Kildale (Zool., 1845, p. 1056), at Glaisdale (Zool.,
1873, p. 3411), and near York (Zool, 1879, p. 460).
Blyth reported [Mag. Nat. Hist., 1834, p. 242) that
"both the Redwing and the Fieldfare have been
repeatedly seen throughout the summer in a wood
called the Wood of Logic, upon the estate of Sir
John Forbes, at Fintry, in Aberdeenshire." A hybrid
Redwing and Fieldfare is described and figured in
the Ibis, 1898, p. 317.

BLACKBIRD. Turdus merida, Linnaeus. PI. 6, figs. 1, 2.
Length, 10 in. ; wing, 5 in. ; tarsus, 1'3 in.

Resident ; migrating eastward and southward in
autumn, at which season sportsmen when partridge
shooting find numbers in the turnip fields.

Pied Blackbirds are not unfrequently met with,
and more rarely specimens entirely white, but with

THRUSHES 41

eyes of the normal colour and straw-coloured legs.
An interesting case is reported in The Field, Jan.
2, 1897, in which a pied hen Blackbird frequented
the same garden for four consecutive years, and
each year its plumage became whiter. In another
case three albinos, Avith pink eyes and yellow
bills, were found in the same nest {Zool., 1892, p.
400). That Blackbirds and Thrushes occasionally
run as well as hop, is a fact that may be easily
verified by any observant person, in spite of popular
belief to the contrary. As to the occasional inter-
breeding of the two species, see the remarks under
" Thrush."

RING OUZEL. Turdus torquatus, Linnfeus. PI. 6, fig. 3.
Length, 11 in.; wing, 5 '5 in; tarsus, 1*3 in.

Resident, chiefly in moorland districts, nesting
regularly in the hilly parts of the west and north
of England, on the Longmynds and other hills on
the Welsh borders, and throughout Scotland, as well
as on the mainland of Orkney (Trail, Zool., 1889,
p. 35). In the eastern and south-eastern counties
of England it is a spring and autumn migrant.
Reported to have nested in Essex (Zool., 1879, p.
267). Prof. Newton describes the Ring Ouzel as a
summer visitant (Yarrell, " Brit. Birds," 4th ed., i.
p. 287), but many remain here all the winter (see
Zool, 1879, pp. 174, 203, 266; 1886, p. 490; Han-
sel Pleydell, " Birds of Dorset," p. 22 ; Beckwith,
" Birds of Shropshire," p. 6 ; and Bull, " Birds of
Hereford," p. 9). The Rev. C. L. Eagles writes that

/

42 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the Ring Ouzel "lives all the year round on the
slopes of the Black Mountains in Herefordshire,"
and adds, " I have shot them in winter, and have
often found their nests in summer," Mr. R. Service
testifies to its appearance in winter (Dec. 9) in Gal-
loway (ZooL, 1893, p. 27). In 1895 one was ob-
served at Berwick - on - Tweed on January 7 (Ann.
Scot. Nat. Hist., 1897, p. 6). According to Mr.
P. D. Malloch, the Ring Ouzel remains in some of
its haunts all the year round ; a specimen in the
Museum at Perth was shot on the Ochils on Feb. 5,
1882 (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1893, p. 113). Mr. Cor-
deaux saw two at Kilnsea, in Holderness, on Feb. 25
{Zool, 1893, p. 192). In Ireland, according to A. G.
More, the Ring Ouzel breeds in all the mountainous
districts.

Fam. SYLVIIDiE.

HEDGE-SPARROW. Accentor modularis (Linnaeus).
PI. 9, figs. 15, 15a. Length, 5*5 in.; wing, 2-75 in.;
tarsus, '8 in.

Resident and generally distributed. One of the
commonest foster parents of the Cuckoo ; and so
noticed by Shakespeare ("King Lear," Act i. sc. 4).
In some counties known as " dunnock," in allusion
to its dun colour.

REDBREAST. Erythacus rubecula (Linnaeus). PI. 7,
figs. 5, 6. Length, 5*75 in. ; wing, 2*9 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Resident and generally distributed. An old
English name for this familiar bird is "ruddock,"

WARBLERS 43

A.S. rudduc. It is employed by Chaucer ("Parlia-
ment of Foules," 1. 349), Spenser (" Epithalamium,"
i. 82), and Shakespeare (" Cymbeline," Act iv. sc. 2).
To Cornishmen it is known as ruddoc, and to
Welshmen as rhuddog. Similarly the dun-coloured
hedge-sparrow in some parts of the country is
known as " dunnock."

The pretty legend of the Robin covering
the dead with leaves and flowers, " the friendless
bodies of unburied men," as John Webster wrote
in 1638, has been elegantly alluded to by Shake-
speare {I.e.), Izaak Walton, Drayton, and Collins
in his "Dirge in Cymbeline."

REDSTART. Ruticilla flKEnicurus (Linnagus). PI. 7,
figs. 9, 10. Length, 5-25 in.; wing, 3 in.; tarsus,
•9 m.

A summer migrant to England and Scotland ;
very rare in Ireland, but has nested in co. Wick-
low, at Powerscourt, in 1885, and has since been
observed there annually. For some remarks on a
female Redstart assuming the plumage of the male,
see Gurney, Trans. Norf. Soc, iv. (1889), p. 182.
The young in their first plumage are spotted like
young Robins.

BLACK REDSTART. Ruticilla tithys (ScopoH). PI. 7,
figs. 7, 8. Length, 5-75 in. ; wing, 3*3 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

A winter visitant to England ; well known in
Devon and Cornwall ; rare in Scotland and Ireland.
In a few instances reported to have nested in

44 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

England and Wales, e.g. near Rugeley, Stafford-
shire (Hawkins, Zool., 1852, p. 3503); in Durham
(Ormsby's "Sketches of Durham"); in Notting-
hamshire, three nests (Sterland, " Birds of Sher-
wood Forest," p. 67) ; in Pembrokeshire (More,
Jide Tracy, Ihis, 1865, p. 21); and in the Isle
of Wight (Bond), Said to have nested also in
Essex (Zool, 1888, p. 390); but see Christy,
"Birds of Essex," pp. 79-80, Zool, 1889, p. 151;
and Essex Nat., ii. p. 256.

It is a scarce bird in Scotland, where, however,
it is said to have nested once, near Dumfries
(Gray, "Birds of West of Scotland," p. 85). In
Ireland Mr. R. Ussher writes that the Black Red-
start is not uncommon in winter on the south
and east coasts, and reaches the Blasquets, off
the coast of Kerry. Mr. A. G. More also states
that (in small numbers) it is a regular winter
visitor to Ireland. It has also been met with at
Roscrea, King's Co., Nov. 6, 1897 {Irish Nat., 1898,
p. 50).

As to the derivation of the specific name, tithys,
see "Our Summer Migrants," pp. 79-80.

STONECHAT. Saxicola ruhicola (Linnteus). PI. 7,
fig. 16. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 2*6 in. ; tarsus, "9 in.

Resident in many districts, frequenting commons
and furzy wastes, throughout the year, particularly
in Scotland ; at the same time partially migratory
in spring and autumn. It does not breed in
Orkney or Shetland.

WARBLERS 45

By some authors the Stonechats are separated
from the Wheatears {Saxicola) and placed in the
genus Pratincola of Koch. I am content, how-
ever, to leave them in the genus Saxicola of
Bechstein, following Prof. Newton in his edition
of Yarrell's work.

WHINCHAT. Saxicola ruhetra (Linnaeus). PL 7, figs.
14, 15. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 3 in, ; tarsus, 1 in.

A summer migrant frequenting meadows ; less
common in Ireland than in other parts of the British
Islands, and not found in Orkney or Shetland.

WHEATEAR. Saxicola osnanthe (Linnaeus). PI. 7, figs.
11, 12, 12a. Length, 6 in.; wing, 3*75 in.; tarsus,
1-1 in.

A summer migrant, frequenting the downs and
warrens both inland and by the sea. A few occa-
sionally remain the winter in England — as noticed
by Gilbert White, Letter xiii. to Pennant — and
Scotland, but not in Ireland.

One of the good things of Sussex enumerated by
John Ray in his "English Proverbs" (ed. 1742, p.
262) was a Bourne Wheatear, by which he intended
a Wheatear taken on the downs near Eastbourne by
a device formerly much in vogue with shepherds on
the South Downs. See an illustrated article by the
present writer, entitled, " The Wheatear on the
South Downs," in The Field, July 28, 1894, in which
also will be found some remarks on the derivation
of the name "Wheatear."

46 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Since the publication of the first edition of this
"Handbook," closer attention having been paid to
the outdoor observation of birds, three new species
of Wheatear have been added to the British list :
the Black-throated, the Isabelline, and the Desert
Wheatears. These will be found included in the
second part of this volume, and for the habitat of
each see Blanford and Dresser's monograph of the
genus Saxicola {Proc. Zool. Soc, 1874).

V REED WARBLER. Acrocephalus streperus (Vieillot).
PI. 8, fig. 12. Length, 5*3 in. ; wing, 2*7 in. ; tarsus,
•8 in.

A summer migrant to England, where it is
chiefly confined to the midland, eastern, and south-
eastern counties ; very rare in Scotland, and almost
unknown in Ireland. It is included in Templeton's
" Catalogue of the Birds of Ireland" as having been
seen in the vicinity of Belfast, and a bird of this
species is stated to have been shot at Raheny, near
Dublin (Thompson, "Nat. Hist. Ireland, Birds," vol. i.
p. 183). See also Kinahan {ZooL, 1860, p. 6961)
and Blake Knox (Zool, 1870, p. 2018).

MARSH WARBLER. Acrocephalus palustris (Bechstein).
PI. 8, fig. 11. Length, 5*5 in.; wing, 2*5 in.; tarsus, -9 in.

For a long time confounded with the Reed
Warbler, which it closely resembles, but now
believed by many good observers to be, like that
species, an annual summer visitant. See remarks
on this bird by Victor Fatio, Bull. Soc. Orn. Suisse,

WARBLERS 47

1866, "Our Summer Migrants," 1875, pp. 97-99,
and Seebohm, " Field Notes on the Reed and Marsh
Warblers," Zool, 1880, p. 377. It has been
identified, and even found nesting, in Cambridge-
shire, Oxfordshire {Zool, 1892, p. 303; 1893,
p. 308), Middlesex, Somersetshire {ZooL, 1875,
p. 4713; 1882, p. 265; 1889, p. 450), and Notting-
hamshire (Zool, 1892, p. 332). Blyth detected this
bird in several localities near London, and distin-
guished the song of the two species (Field, May 13,
1871). His observations have been confirmed by
Bond, Mitford, and myself. (See Yarrell, " Brit.
Birds," 4th ed., vol. i. pp. 373-374.)

The eggs diff"er from those of the Reed Warbler,
having a much whiter ground colour, blotched and
spotted with dark purple and greenish marks ; the
nest also difi'ers in being less deep, not entirely
suspended, and -svith no support at the bottom, as
is the case with the Reed Warbler.

SEDGE WARBLER. Acrocephalus phragmitis (Bech-
stein). PI. 8, fig. 13. Length, 4'75 in. ; wing, 2*5 in. ;
tarsus, "75 in.

A summer migrant, generally distributed. May
be known at a glance from the Reed and Marsh
Warblers by its having the top of the head and
wing coverts streaked instead of plain, while the
Aquatic Warbler, to be noticed in Part II., which
also has a streaked head, has the distinguishing
mark of a white central stripe between the two
white ear-stripes. The nest, instead of being sus-

48 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

pended between reed stems, like that of the Reed
Warbler, is placed on or near the ground, and the
eggs are of a pale yellowish-brown, clouded with
darker brown, and sometimes streaked at the larger
end with short hair-like black lines,

GREAT REED WARBLER. Acrocephalus arundinaceus
(Linnteus). PI. 8, figs. 10, 10a. Length, 8 in.; wing,
3"75 in. ; tarsus, I'l in.

An occasional summer migrant to England,
where the nest has been found in Surrey, Kent,
Hants, Herts, and Northamptonshire. It has also
been recorded as nesting in Northumberland (Rob-
son, ZooL, 1861, p. 7430), and as having occurred
at Wingham, Kent (Hammond, Zool, 1881, p. 463),
and at Ringwood, Hants (Mann, Zool, 1884, p. 343).
It is unknown in Scotland and Ireland.

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. Locustella ni&via (Bod-
Y daert). PI. 8, fig. 14. Length, 5-5 in. ; wing, 2-5 in. ;

tarsus, '8 in.

A summer migrant to England, generally distri-
buted ; common in Durham and Northumberland,
but rare in Westmorland, about Kirkby Lonsdale ;
only heard there twice by Mr. Hindson, who resided
in the parish more than fifty years. Farther north
it is sporadically met with as far as Arisaig, and
even in Skye. More local in Ireland, being oftener
seen in the eastern and southern counties.

Remarkable for the character of its song, which
resembles the trill of a Grasshopper long continued.

WARBLERS 49

Its attitude whilst singing has been well described
from observation by Rev. C. A. Johns in his
" British Birds in their Haunts," p. 112.

In West Sussex I have known nests to be found
every summer, generally cut out by the mowers.
They are not built close to a hedge or at the foot
of a bank, as some writers allege, but always out
in the open grass in a depression, so that the
scythe cuts over them ; and there is always a " run "
to the nest, like that of a mouse.

In the Avicultural Magazine, 1898, p. 189, Mr.
P. W. Farmborough has related his experience in
rearing the young (which soon died) and keeping
the adult bird in captivity for three months.

SAVrS WARBLER. Locustella luscinoides (Savi). PI.
8, fig. 15, Length, 5-5 in. ; wing, 2*5 in. ; tarsus, '8 in.

Formerly a regular summer migrant to the
eastern counties until the fen - lands were drained,
and used to nest annually in the fens of Wicken,
Burwell, and Whittlesea. The eggs have also been
taken at Dagenham, Essex, 14th May 1850 [Zool.,
1850, p. 2894); at Erith, Kent, 28th May 1853
{ZooL, 1853, p. 3945) ; and in Devonshire {Ibis,
1865, p. 23). A nest of Savi's Warbler, described
as being composed of the long narrow leaves of
the common reed {Arundo phragmites) , and taken
at Baitsbight, Cambridgeshire, is figured in the
ZooL, 1846, p. 1307. On subsequent more care-
ful examination of this nest, which is preserved
in the British Museum, and has been refigured by

D

so HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Prof. Newton in Yarrell's 4th ed., vol. i. p. 397, it
was found that, with the exception of a single leaf
of Cladium, the whole fabric consists of Glyceria
aquatica. See the notes on this species in a me-
moir of Frederick Bond (Zool, 1889, p. 413).

The last recorded specimen of Savi's Warbler met
with in England was obtained at Surlingham Broad
in June 1856. (Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk,"
vol. i. p. 386.)

NIGHTINGALE. Philomela luscinia ^ (Linnaeus). PI. 7,
figs. 1, la. Length, 6-5 in. ; wing, 3-3 in. ; tarsus,
1 in.

A summer migrant ; very rare north of York-
shire, and a fortiori in Scotland. Unknown in
Ireland. In Wales has been recorded as having
occurred once in Montgomeryshire [Field, Dec. 30,
1882), and once near Llandyssil, in Cardiganshire,
on May 18, 1894 {Field, June 2, 1894). Said to
be unknown in the extreme west of Devon and in
Cornwall.

In the Channel Islands one was heard in full
song in April 1894 by Mr. E. D. Marquand at
Saints Bay, Guernsey. [Trans. Guernsey Sac.
Nat. Sci, 1894.)

That the Nightingale returns at times to the
place of its birth has been proved by birds being

^ I cannot bring myself to discard, as some have done, the time-
honoured and classic name of "Philomel," associated as it is with
the observations of many old English naturalists, and referred to in
some of the most beautiful poems in the English language.

WARBLERS 5 i

caught and silver wire put round the legs. See
Field, April 18, 1863. Some practical remarks on
catching and keeping Nightingales will be found in
Rennie's Field Naturalist, i. p. 224.

There is no evidence to show that the Greater
Nightingale of Eastern Europe, the Sprosser of
German naturalists, has ever visited this country.

BLACKCAP. Sylvia atricapilla (Linna3us). PI. 8, figs.
1, 2. Length, 5-75 in. ; wing, 2-75 in. ; tarsus, -9 in.

A summer migrant, but occasionally met with
in England in the winter, though the Marsh Tit is
sometimes mistaken for it. In the hen bird the
cap is brown instead of black. Rare in Scotland ;
a specimen was captured at Balta Sound, Shetland,
in October 1865 (Saxby, Zool, 1865, p. 9438).
Also rare in Ireland, and apparently unknown in
the north-west (Brooke, Field, April 1871). A
good account is given of this bird by Blyth in an
article on British Warblers in Rennie's Field Natu-
ralist, vol. i. pp. 134-138.

GARDEN WARBLER or PETTYCHAPS. Sylvia
hortensis (Bechstem). PI. 8, figs. 3, 3a. Length,
5*5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, '8 in.

A summer migrant to England and the south
of Scotland. In Wales it is common in Cardigan-
shire in suitable localities, but rare in Pembroke-
shire, although it has been found breeding in the
latter county, and in Breconshire. In Ireland it
is stated by Thompson to be extremely rare ; and

52 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

he refers to its occurrence in only two counties,
Cork and Tipperary. Mr. Blake Knox, however,
has met with it in the county of Dublin ; I have
seen it in Wicklow ; and the late Sir Victor
Brooke informed me that in the co. Fermanagh,
about Lough Erne, it is common in summer, and
nests regularly in the neighbourhood of Castle
Caldwell, to the north-west of that county.

This is the pettychaps, heccafigo, and fig-eater of
Willughby and Ray {Oiii., pp. 216, 227). Jesse was
assured by a resident at Worthing, " that the hecca-
Jlco annually visits the fig-orchard near that place,"
and he supposed (erroneously) that it was found in no
other part of England ("Gleanings," iii. p. 78). In
Italy the name heccafico is applied to other small birds;
for example, near Florence, to the Sedge Warbler.

AVHITETHROAT. Sylvia cinerea, Latham. PI. 8, fig. 4.
Length, 5*5 in. ; wing, 2'75 in. ; tarsus, '8 in.

A summer migrant ; generally distributed, but
scarce in the north of Scotland. One of the best
accounts of this bird ever published was contributed
by the late Edward Blyth to Rennie's Field Natu-
7'alist, vol. i., 1833, p. 316. For an instance of a
Whitethroat nesting at the unusual height of twelve
feet above the ground, see ZooL, 1875, p. 4298.

LESSER WHITETHROAT. Sylvia curruca (Linnseus).
PI. 8, fig. 5. Length, 5'25 in. ; wing, 2*5 ; tarsus, '7 in.

A summer migrant to England. Especially
common in the south, where it is known as the

WARBLERS 53

Nettlecreeper, from its habit of nesting amongst
nettles and rank herbage in ditches. The older
name of Bahillard seems to have died out. It is
rare in Scotland, in Dumfriesshire, near Aberdeen
Nov. 1880, and twice in Orkney in the autumn of
1893 and 1896 {Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1897, p. 160,
and Ihis, 1898, p. 157). Until lately unknown in
Ireland. On Oct. 1, 1890, at 4 p.m., wind light,
S.W., Mr. James, light-keeper on the Tearaght Rock,
off Kerry, shot a Lesser Whitethroat, which he for-
warded to Mr. R. M. Barrington {Zool, 1891, p. 186,
and Irish Nat., 1892, p. 3). A circumstance not
noticed in the text-books is that this bird does not
acquire the beautiful pearly-white iris until it is two
years old, which has caused it to be generally over-
looked. The breast of the cock bird also does not ac-
quire its full roseate tinge until the second summer.

DARTFORD WARBLER. Sylvia undata, Boddaert.
Length, 5 in, ; wing, 2*25 in. ; tarsus, '8 in.

So named on being first noticed as a British
bird at Dartford in Kent by Latham in 1773.
Resident in the south of England ; rare in the
midland and northern counties ; unknown in Scot-
land and Ireland. Frequents large furzy commons,
and patches of gorse on the downs, chiefly in Kent,
Surrey, Sussex, and Hants, and the heath-lands of
Dorsetshire. The following localities for the species,
which is seldom met with farther north than lat. 52",
may be mentioned as indicating the northern limits
of its distribution : —

54 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Norfolk. — See Southwell's remarks in his Appendix to
Stevenson's " Birds of Norfolk," vol. iii. p. 387.

Suffolk. — See Babington's " Birds of Suffolk," pp. 59, 251.

Leicester. — Although included by Harley in his " List
of Leicestershire Birds" as having occurred at Melton
Mowbray, this proved to be a mistake.

Stafford.— Qdiimodk Chase (M'Aldowie, " Birds of Staf-
fordshire," 1893, p. 47).

Derbyshire. — Melbourne Common (Briggs, Zoologist,
1849, p. 2486).

Yorkshire. — Rivelin Valley, South Yorkshire (Clarke
and Roebuck, " Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrates," pp.
21-22).

This observation is remarkable, inasmuch as the late
Mr. Cordeaux, so long resident in North Lincolnshire, never
detected its presence in that county.

In regard to the distribution southward, it may
be noted that the Dartford Warbler has been met
with in Cornwall, the Isle of Wight, and Jersey
(Harvie-Brown, Zool, 1869, p. 1560).

This little bird is quite unlike any other British
Warbler, though in its actions and general appear-
ance it somewhat resembles the Lesser Whitethroat,
from which it may be distinguished by the darker
tone of the dorsal plumage, and the vinous colour of
the underparts. It has a very long tail (2i in.),
which forms half its entire length, while the
wings are remarkably short, measuring barely 2^ in.
Another conspicuous feature is the bright orange
colour of the orbits, which resemble those of the
Long-tailed Titmouse. An excellent account of its
liabits in a state of freedom and captivity, by the
late Edward Blyth, will be found in Rennie's Field

WARBLERS 5 5

Naturalist, i. p. 317. Although generally able to
withstand the cold of an ordinary English winter, it
is stated on good authority that the severe winters
of 1880-81 and 1886-87 had the effect of exter-
minating this little bird in parts of Hants and
Dorset where it was once common.

WOOD WREN. Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Bechstein). PI.
8, fig. 6. Length, 5*5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, "75 in.

A summer migrant to England and Scotland.
In Ireland it is extremely local [Zool., 1866, p.
300). Mr. H. B. Murray of Clonmel, Co. Tip-
perary, identified it in his neighbourhood {Field,
May 25, 1867) ; the late Sir Victor Brooke informed
me that he shot a Wood Wren in his park in the
Co. Fermanagh in June 1870 ; and Mr. Blake Knox
of Dalkey had a specimen which was killed with a
catapult at Glen Druid, Co. Dublin.

Mr. H. Chichester Hart obtained a specimen
in beech woods at Glenalla, Co. Donegal, in June

1878, and saw several pairs in the oak woods of
Derrybawn, Glendalough, Co. Wicklow {Zool., 1878,
p. 348). In June 1879 he again met with this
species in the oak plantations of Derrybawn {Zool.,

1879, p. 341 ; 1891, p. 302), and in May 1896 saw
and heard several at Carrablagh and Glenalla, in
Co. Donegal {Zool, 1896, p. 195).

The Wood Wren is much greener on the back
and whiter on the underparts than either of its con-
geners, and has a well-defined superciliary streak
of sulphur-yellow, which in the Willow Wren and

I

<,6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Chiflf Chaff is much shorter and paler. The legs of
the Wood Wren and Willow Wren are brownish flesh-
colour, while those of the Chiff Chaff are dark brown.

WILLOW WREN. Phylloscopus trochilus (Linnseus).
PI. 8, fig. 7. Length, 5 in. ; wing, 2*6 in. ; tarsus,
•75 in.

A summer migrant, generally distributed, arriv-
ing in April and leaving in September. Although
difficult to distinguish at a little distance from the
Chiff Chaff, which it resembles in general appear-
ance, it may be detected by its notes, which are more
varied and songlike than the monotonous disyllabic
call of the Chiff Chaff, which has obtained for the
latter its English name.

CHIFF CHAFF. Phylloscopus rufus (Bechstein). PI. 8,
fig. 8. Length, 4-75 in. ; wing, 2*4 in. ; tarsus, -6 in.-

A summer migrant, generally distributed, although
rare in the north of Scotland.

Not only is the Wood Wren the largest of the
three, but it has comparatively the longest wings
and the longest legs. The wings when closed cover
three - fourths of the tail. In the Willow Wren,
under the same circumstances, less than half the tail
is hidden. The Chiff Chaff's wing is still shorter.
After examining a large series of these birds, I
have come to the conclusion that, as regards the
wings, the following formulae may be relied on (the
first primary is quite rudimentary, and is therefore
not taken into consideration) : — Wood W>en, 2nd

WARBLERS 57

primary = 4th ; 3rd and 4tli with outer webs sloped
oif towards the extremity. Willow Wren, 2nd
= 6th ; 3rd, 4th, and 5th sloped off. Chiff Chaff,
2nd = 7th ; 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th sloped off.

GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. Regulus cristatus, Koch.
PL 9, figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, 3-5 in. ; wing, 2 in.

Resident in fir woods, chiefly in the northern
and eastern counties. Great numbers arrive in
autumn from the Continent, crossing the North
Sea, where they are well known to the fishermen
from their repeatedly resting on the herring-boats.
See Selby, " Illustr. of Brit. Orn.," i. p. 230; Blyth,
Field Nat., i. p. 467 ; Stevenson's " Birds of
Norfolk," i. p. 136; and Booth's Catalogue of Birds
in his Museum, 2nd ed., 1896, p. 19. On the York-
shire coast, near Redcar, a Gold Crest was seen to
arrive in October on the back of a Short-eared Owl
(Nelson, Zool, 1882, p. 73. See also Field, March
31, 1888). In Scotland it remains throughout the
year; in Ireland it is also resident and common.

FIRE-CRESTED WREN. Regulus ignicapillus (Brehm).
PL 9, figs. 13, 14. Length, 3-75 in. ; wing, 2 in.

Occasional late autumn and winter visitant,
chiefly to the eastern and southern counties of
England — seldom north of the Thames. Reported
to have been once met with in Scotland, in East
Lothian, and unknown in Ireland.

This species has a much less extended range
northward than R. cristatus ; is unknown in Scandi-

58 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

navia, barely reaches Denmark, and does not occur
to the north-east of the Baltic provinces of Germany.
Its status as a British bird has been discussed by
Mr. J. H. Gurney {Zool., 1889, p. 172), who regards
it as a winter visitor, arriving by a lateral migration
from Germany.

Prof. Newton informs me that the supposed nest
of this bird, found at Blonorton, particulars of which
were communicated to Hewitson for his " Eggs
of British Birds," proved to belong to the Golden-
crested Wren.

Fam. TROGLODYTIDiE.

COMMON WREN. Troglodytes parvulus, Koch. PI. 17,

figs. 9, 9a. Length, 4 in. ; wing, 2 in. ; tarsus, '75 in.

Resident, and everywhere common, but to a
certain extent migratory in spring and autumn : see
my note on Wren observed crossing a grouse moor,
Zool., 1887, p. 431.

The Wren of Shetland is, on an average, larger
than the typical bird, though usually rather smaller
than the Icelandic and Faroese form. Troglodytes
horealis {Zool, 1891, p. 294). The St. Kilda Wren,
described and figured by Seebohm {Zool., 1884, p.
333), and by Dixon {Ibis, 1885, p. 80, PI. 3), as
Troglodytes hirtensis, so far from being, as supposed,
a newly discovered species, was long ago noticed by
Martin in his "Voyage to St. Kilda" (1698), and by
the Rev. Kenneth Macaulay in his " History of St.
Kilda" (1764). Moreover, the supposed points of

OJ

■j:

to

*o

CREEPERS 59

difference are all observable in specimens from vari-
ous parts of Europe, so that it cannot be regarded
as specifically distinct from our well-known Troglo-
djjtes parvulus. See Dresser, Ihis, 1886, p. 43; ZooL,
1889, p. 116 ; and Saunders, "Manual," p. 107. See
also the remarks on the Wren observed in St. Kilda
by R. M. Barrington, Zool, 1884, p. 383.

Fam. CERTHIID^.

TREE CREEPER. Certhia familiaris, Linnsius. PI. 17,
V figs. 10, 10<x. Length, exclusive of curved bill, 4*5 in. ;

wing, 2*5 in. ; tarsus, -65 in.

Resident and generally distributed. As to the
differentiation of the British from the Continental
form, see Ibis, 1897, p. 615, and 1898, p. 177.

Fam. SITTIDiE.

NUTHATCH. Sitta c^sia, Meyer. PI. 9, figs. 10, 10a.
Length, 5*5 in. ; wing, 3*25 in. ; tarsus, '8 in.

Resident in England, rare in Scotland, and not
found in Ireland. Col. Edward Cooper turned out
some at Markree Castle, Co. Sligo, which I pro-
cured for him from the late Mr. Borrer of Cowfold,
Sussex, but they were not seen again {Zool., 1879,
p. 424). Some young Nuthatches, carried from
Cowfold to Henfield (five miles), where they were
placed in an outdoor aviary, were followed by the
parent birds, which continued to feed them through-

6o HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

out the summer ("A Story of Nuthatches," Field,
Oct. 4, 1873).

This bird does not invariably nest in the hole of
a tree, bank, or wall, but occasionally builds a nest.
See F. Bond's account, with illustration, of nest
built in a haystack at East Grinstead {Field, Oct.
28, 1871, and Zool, 1871, p. 2850). Two pairs were
found nesting in a sandbank at Farncombe, Surrey
{Zool., 1888, p. 309), and another pair in the old
nest of a magpie, lining it with mud, leaving an
aperture on one side (Field, May 13, 1893).

The Scandinavian Nuthatch described by Linnaeus
as Sitta europwa (Syst. Nat., i. p. 177) differs from
that found in Great Britain ; and the latter, there-
fore, should be distinguished as Sitta csesia, that
being the oldest name applied (by Meyer, " Taschenb.
Deutsch. Vogel," i. p. 128) to the same species as
observed in Germany.

Fam. PARIDiE.

GREAT TITMOUSE. Parus major, Linnseus. PI. 9,
figs. 1, la,. Length, 5*5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, '75 in.

Resident, generally distributed, and common.
As to its alleged destruction of honey - bees, see
Zoologist, 1876, p. 4873, and Field, January 1890.

BLUE TITMOUSE. Parus OBruleus, Linneeus. PI. 9,
fig. 2. Length, 4*5 in.; wing, 2'5 in. ; tarsus, -65 in.

Resident, generally distributed, and common.
The most characteristic traits in its life-history are

TITMICE 6 1

its destructiveness to fruit, especially pears, and its
partiality for nesting in odd places, such as a pump,
letter-box, lamp, or an inverted empty flower-pot, it
being the habit of all Tits to nest in holes, generally
in decayed trees.

CRESTED TITMOUSE. Pams cristatus, Linn^us. PI.
9, fig. 5. Length, 4*5 in. ; wing, 2-5 in. ; tarsus, 75 in.

Resident in Moray, Ross, Inverness, Elgin, and
Banff (where I have seen it in the beautiful woods
bordering the Spey), and in Aberdeenshire. The
hen bird has a shorter crest and less black on
the throat. For a note on its habits as observed
in Scotland, see Saxby, ZooL, 1862, p. 7998.
In regard to England, there are a few scattered
records of its occurrence in Durham, Cumberland,
Yorkshire (confirmed Zool, 1872, p. 3021), Suffolk,
Middlesex, and Hampshire where it has once been
obtained in the New Forest. Its appearance so far
south, however, must be regarded as purely acci-
dental (see Gurney, Zool., 1890, p. 210), although
it is to be found in parts of France, and throughout
Spain, where it is common in the cork woods.

COAL TITMOUSE. Parus ater, Linn^us. PI. 9, fig. 3.
Length, 4-25 in.; wing, 2*4 in.; tarsus, "65 in.

Resident and generally distributed. The British
form has been distinguished from the Continental
species under the name Parus hritannicus (Sharpe
and Dresser, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 4, viii. p.
437), but so many intermediate links occur between

62 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the two forms, that it is impossible to regard them
as specifically distinct. Moreover, Mr. J. H. Gurney
has obtained specimens in Norfolk which are indis-
tinguishable from the Continental form.

As to the altered distribution of the Coal and
Marsh Tits in Dumfriesshire, see Zool., 1895, p. 349.

MARSH TITMOUSE. Parus jmlustris, Linnteus. PL 9,
w fig. 4 Length, 4*4 in. ; wing, 2-4 in. ; tarsus, -65 in.

Resident, and not uncommon in England, but
scarce in Scotland, where it is found chiefly in the
Lothians. (See Harvie - Brown, Trans. Perthshire
Soc. Nat. Sci., 1894, p. 97.) Rare in Ireland, where it
has been met with in Antrim, Dublin, and Kildare.

The Marsh Tit may be always distinguished from
the Coal Tit by the absence of white on the nape
and on the wing coverts.

The British form of the Marsh Tit has been
distinguished from the Continental type as Parus
palustris dresseri, Stejneger (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus.,
ix. pp. 201-202, and Zool, 1887, p. 379), but in a
large series of both forms it is impossible to sepa-
rate them.

LONG-TAILED TITMOUSE. Acredula caudata (Lmn.).
PI. 9, figs. 8, 9. Length, 5-5 in. ; wing, 2-5 in. ; tarsus,
•65 in.

Resident and generally distributed. A good
account of its habits is given by Blyth, Mag. Nat.
Hist., 1837, p. 199. See also the remarks on
British Tits in Rennie's Field Nat. Mag., i. p. 262.
The propriety of separating the Long-Tailed Tits

TITMICE 63

from the true Pari has been long since admitted
by naturalists ; and, as Dr. Giinther has pointed
out {Ibis, 1865, p. 97), the employment of the
generic term Acredula of Koch to designate the
former group is strictly in accordance with the
rules of zoological nomenclature laid down by the
British Association. Dr. Sharpe has suggested {Ibis,
1868, p. 295) that, as the Long-tailed Titmouse
of Scandinavia (described by Linnaeus as Panis
caudatus) differs from the British species in having
a white head, the latter should be distinguished as
rosea of Blyth, that name being the next in order
of precedence. The white-headed form, however,
occasionally occurs in this country. I have seen two
specimens, as recorded in my "Birds of Middlesex,"
p. 59, which were taken in the north of England ;
it has been found in Cumberland (Macpherson,
"Fauna of Lakeland," p. 105), and the late Mr.
Gatcombe saw one in Somersetshire {Zool., 1872,
p. 2943). Moreover, the British form, A. rosea,
occurs in France, the Netherlands, and Western
Germany. A noticeable feature in both is the
colour of the orbits, which is bright orange, as in
the Dartford Warbler.

Fam. PANURID^.

BEARDED TITMOUSE. Panurus biarmicus (Lmnseus).
PI. 9, figs. 6, 7. Length, 6-25 in. ; wing, 2-25 in.

Resident only in the eastern counties of Eng-
land, where it was formerly much more abundant

64 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

(Gurney, ZooL, 1889, p. 291). In February 1819
large flocks were seen at Burlingham [Trans. Norf.
Nat. Soc, iii. p. 260). It used to be found in
Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire before Whittlesea
Mere was drained in 1851, and was abundant in
Lincolnshire (Cordeaux, p. 40). In Essex it was
once common in the marshes below Barking Creek,
where it was known as the Reed Pheasant, and
in the reed beds at Dagenham and Tollesbury until
the year 1858.

When Graves published the 2nd edition of his
"British Ornithology" in 1821, he wrote: "The
Bearded Titmouse is found in considerable abun-
dance in the extensive tracts of reedland from Wool-
wich to Erith in Kent, and is occasionally seen in
the like situation in various places adjacent to
London. " We have found it," he says, " on the
side of the Surrey Canal on Sydenham Common,
also on the roadside leading from Bermondsey to
Deptford, called Blue Anchor Lane, and have seen
it in numbers about Erith." From all these locali-
ties it has long since disappeared.

In Sussex, Montagu met with it amongst the
reed beds near Winchelsea, and Borrer procured
specimens from Amberley and Lancing. In Devon-
shire, Topsham and Thorverton, on the Exe, were
formerly localities for this bird, and it has been met
with on the Fleet at Abbotsbury, Dorsetshire, as well
as accidentally in Cornwall.

Its present status in Norfolk has been recently
(1899) traced with much care by Mr. J. H. Gurney

S 2

^1,

WAXWING 65

{Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vol. vi. pp. 429-438).
Mr. John Young has been very successful in his
treatment of the Bearded Tit as a cage bird, and
has induced it to breed in confinement {Field,
Oct. 1875, and Zool, 1875, p. 4693).

In a state of freedom it feeds on insects, small
thin-shelled mollusca, and the seeds of the reed. Its
singular, tinkling notes may be well imitated by
balancing a penny on the middle finger of each hand
and striking the edges together.

Fam. AMPELIDiE.

WAXWING. Ampelis garrulus, Linnseus. PL 5, figs.
5, 5a. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 4'5 in. ; tarsus, 0-9 in.

An irregular winter visitant, occasionally appear-
ing in the eastern and north-eastern counties in
large flocks. It was particularly numerous in the
winters of 1830-31, 1834-35, 1849-50, 1866-67,
1872-73. Although more frequently met with in
the north and east, it has been observed in almost
every county in England to the south and south-
west ; but it is of very rare occurrence in Ireland.

Stevenson's account of the plumage of the Wax-
wing {Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iii. pp. 326-344)
should be referred to. He dissected 69 specimens,
41 males and 28 females, and found that the
number of waxlike tips on the secondaries is vari-
able. Of the males examined, 3 had 4 tips, 7 had 5,
14 had 6, 14 had 7, and 3 had 8; of the females,
1 had 2, 4 had 3, 7 had 4, 6 had 5, 7 had 6,

66 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

2 had 7, and 1 had 8, thus disproving Yarrell's
statement (since corrected in the 4th edition), that
the female Waxwing "has never more than five."
Macgillivray was nearer the mark when he stated
that the greatest number is seven.

Sir Oswald Mosley, of Rolleston Hall, near
Burton on Trent, has recorded in the Zoologist,
under date June 13, 1868, having watched a pair
of these birds with their young ones for upwards of
a week in the grounds near the house. One of the
young birds was caught, and both the parents came
to it. The nest was built in a Douglas's pine, about
twenty yards above the ground, and consisted of
wool intermixed with fibres of grass and bits of fir.

John WoUey's account of the discovery of nests
and eggs of the Waxwing in Russian Lapland, as
narrated by Prof. Newton {Ihis, 1861, pp. 192-06),
is one of the most interesting stories of bird-nesting
on record.

Fam. MOTACILLIDiE.

PIED WAGTAIL. Motacilla luguhris, Temm. PL 10.
Length, 7"3 in. ; wing, 3-5 in, ; tarsus, 0'9 in.

Resident, migrating southwards in autumn.
Flocks of 70, 150, 200, and 300 have been ob-
served in Scotland and in Yorkshire. See Fourth
Report on Migration, 1882, pp. 67-68. Its arrival
from the Continent on the shores of Sussex about
the middle of March was carefully observed by
the late A. E, Knox, and described by him in

/

WAGTAILS 67

his "Ornithological Rambles in Sussex," 1855,
pp. 81-82.

WHITE WAGTAIL. Motacilla alba, Linnseus. PL 10,
figs. 7, 8, 8a. Length, 7*3 in. ; wing, 3"5 in.; tarsus,
0-9 in.

A summer migrant, but by no means so common
nor so widely distributed as the Pied Wagtail. It
may be distinguished from the latter by its well-
defined black hood, and by the white on the cheeks
separating the black of the head from that on the
throat and breast, there being no black before the
shoulders. It should be observed, however, that
the plumage of the Pied Wagtail in winter is not
unlike that of the W^hite Wagtail ; for at that season
the black of the head and nape does not extend to
the back, which is then nearly uniform ash-grey.

In Ireland the White Wagtail is regarded as
a rare summer visitor. It has been obtained by
Mr, R. Warren near Ballina, Co. Mayo, and ob-
served on the island of Bartragh, Killala Bay, at
the end of April and beginning of May. It has
also been met with near Wexford {Zool., 1866,
p. 95), and on the river Lee, Co. Cork, on April 20,
1899 (Zool, 1899, p. 418).

GREY WAGTAIL. Motacilla sulphurea, Bechstein.
PL 10, figs. 11, 12. Length, 7-5 in.; wing, 3-5 in.

A local resident, breeding regularly in Scotland,
Ireland, the north of England, and Whales, but
generally observed as a winter visitant in the south

68 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

of England. It has, however, been found nesting
in Bucks, Sussex, Dorset, Gloucester, Devon, and
Cornwall. It is gregarious at roosting-time (Zool.,
1878, p. 390).

The late Lord Lilford observed that this bird,
although living chiefly on insects, is in the habit of
catching small fish on gravelly shallows {ZooL, 1896,
p. 47). It feeds also on small fresh-water mollusca.

GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. Motacilla fiava, Unn-jQus.
PL 10, figs. 9, 10, 10a. Length, 6-25 in.; wing,
3-25 in. ; tarsus, 0"85 in.

An occasional summer visitant. Has been found
nesting in Northumberland (ZooL, 1870, p. 2343,
and 1876, p. 4834). It is rare in Scotland (Ann.
Scot. Nat. Hist., 1898) and unknown in Ireland.

YELLOW WAGTAIL. Motacilla Raii (Bonaparte).
"^^^ Length, 6*25 in. ; wing, 3-25 in. ; tarsus, 0"85 in.

A summer migrant, arriving in April and de-
parting in September. A common bird during the
summer months in the Thames Valley, where num-
bers may be seen running about amongst the cattle
in the meadows by the river-side. In Ireland it
breeds regularly about Lough Neagh, and occurs
every year in the vicinity of Dublin, where the nest
has been found (A. G. More).

Under the generic name Budytes Cuvier proposed
a separation of the Yellow Wagtails from the Pied
Wagtails, on account not only of their prevailing
yellow colour, but also their possession of a much

PIPITS 69

longer hind-claw. In the absence, however, of any
other important structural difiference, such generic
separation seems scarcely necessary.

s/ TREE PIPIT. Anthus arhoreus, Bechstein. PL 10, figs.
' 6, 6a, Length, 6 in,; wing, 3-3 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

A summer migrant to England and Scotland ;
occurs also in Wales (Zool, 1890, pp. 20, 72).
Since the first edition of this work was pub-
lished, the Tree Pipit has been reported to have
been observed in Ireland (Benson, " Our Irish
Songbirds," p, 109, and Zool, 1878, p. 348 ; also Chi-
chester Hart, Zool, 1878, p. 454), but More, in his
"List of Irish Birds" (1885), casts some doubt on
the identification. Note the difference in the hind-
claw of this species and the next. PL 10. figs. 5a, 6a.

\ MEADOW PIPIT. Anthus 'pratensis, Linnseus. PL 10,
figs. 5, 5a. Length, 5*75 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, O'S in.

Commonly known as the Titlark, and resident,
migrating towards the east and south in autumn.
One of the commonest small birds on marshes bor-
dering the sea, as well as on moorlands and wastes,
where it is much preyed on by the smaller hawks.

ROCK PIPIT. Anthus ohscurus (Latham). PL 10, figs.
3, 4. Length, 6-25 in, ; wing, 3-5 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

Resident on most parts of the coast ; occasionally
found inland at the periods of migration in spring
and autumn. On the east coast of England the
Scandinavian form Anthus rupestris is often met

70 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

with in spring and autumn. Cordeaux states that
the migratory Rock Pipits which visit the Holder-
ness and Lincolnshire coasts in the autumn are
almost exclusively Anthus rujpestris, which differs
from the Welsh form in being more warmly coloured
underneath, with a rich buff or cinnamon-coloured
breast. This form occurs also on the Norfolk coast
in March, migrating eastwards (Zool., 1895, p. 96).

WATER PIPIT. Anthus spipoletta (Linnaeus). Length,
6*25 in; wing, 3*5 in. ; tarsus, 0-9 in.

An occasional, perhaps regular, visitant in spring
and autumn. Probably confounded with the Scan-
dinavian form of the Rock Pipit in many instances,
but undoubted examples have been obtained several
times on the coast of Sussex, as well as in Lincoln-
shire {Zool, 1895, p. 348).

The spipoletta of Italian authors was the name
which Linnaeus intended to adopt for this Water
Pipit, but by a printer's error the word was mis-
printed spinoletta, and the mistake unfortunately
has been copied by subsequent writers. Professor
Newton, however, has set the matter right in his
edition of Yarrell's "Birds," vol. i. p. 581.

RICHARD'S PIPIT. Anthus richardi, Vieillot. PI. 10,
fig. 1. Length, 7-25 in. ; bill, 0-5 ; wing, 3-5 in. ;
tarsus, 1*1 in.

An occasional visitor from Eastern Europe in
late autumn and winter. Its larger size, greater
length of leg, and long hind-claw serve to distin-

LARKS 71

guish it at a glance from the common Pipits. More
than fifty instances of its occurrence in England
have been noted. In Scotland Mr. J. G. Millais
obtained one near Dunkeld in August 1880. One
of the latest specimens was obtained at Caistor,
Norfolk, on 11th December 1894, and is now in
the Norwich Museum (Gurney, Zool., 1895, p. 102).
In Ireland it has not yet been recognised.

The rarer Tawny Pipit, Anthus campestris
(Linn.), has been met with several times in Eng-
land, but not so frequently as to entitle it to a place
here. It will be found included in Part 11. of this
volume.

Fam. ALAUDID^.

SKYLARK. Alauda arvensisy Linnseus. PI. 11, figs.
10, 10a. Length, 7 in. ; wing, 4*25 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Resident, yet migrating southwards in large
flocks in autumn. Between the end of August
and the end of December or beginning of January,
the native Larks receive great accessions to their
numbers from the Continent. The general line of
direction of the incoming birds is from east to
west, sometimes from north-east to south-west. See
Cordeaux, Report on Migration of Birds, 1880.

For an article on Lark-catching and the use of
Lark-mirrors, see my " Essays on Sport and Natural
History," pp. 190-200.

For an account of Skylarks nesting in an aviary,
see TJie Field, Aug. 25, 1900.

72 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

WOODLARK. Alauda arhorea, Linnaeus. PI. 11, fig.
11. Length, 5*75 in. ; wing, 3-0 in. ; tarsus, 0*8 in,

A local resident, far less common than the Sky-
lark ; migrating in winter to the south. Mr. A. G.
More, in his " List of Irish Birds," includes the Wood-
lark as local and scarce, but resident in small
numbers in the counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh,
Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford, and Cork. It occurs
also as a w^inter visitor on the east coast (Blake
Knox, Zool, 1870, p. 2018). In Sept. 1898 a small
flock was observed near Bray, Co. Wicklow, from
which one was shot for identification [Irish Nat.,
1898, p. 256).

The Woodlark is found in the southern and
midland counties of Scotland, and has accidentally
been met with as far north as Orkney, a specimen
having been shot at Stromness.

This was one of the favourite birds of Gilbert
White.

SHORE LARK. Otocorys alpestris (Linnseus). PI. 11,
fig. 13. Length, 6*5 in. ; wing, 4*25 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

An irregular winter visitant, arriving in small
flocks on the east coast ; of late years more plentiful
or more observed (cf. Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk,"
p. iii. 388).

It is a winter visitor to the east coast of Scot-
land, probably from Norway, where it is common
enough in the breeding season. In Ireland it is
unknown. It feeds on grass-seeds, the blossoms

BUNTINGS 73

of dwarf plants, and insects, which it sometimes
captures on the wing. It resorts much to the sea-
shore, where it feeds on small Crustacea and minute
beetles found under seaweed and driftwood.

A supposed instance of its nesting in Devonshire
was recorded many years ago by the late Lord Lilford
{ZooL, 1852, p. 3707), but there is reason to believe
that the bird referred to was the Rock Pipit.

An excellent photograph of a nest of the Shore
Lark is given in Pearson's "Voyage to Novaya
Zemlya," 1899, p. 76.

Fam. EMBERIZID^.

SNOW BUNTING. Plectrophanes nivalis (Linnaeus).
PI. 12, figs. 10, 11, 11a. Length, 6 5 in. ; wing, 4*5 in.;
tarsus, O'S in.

Chiefly known as a w^inter visitant ; often in
large flocks on the east and south coasts of England,
but resident and breeding in parts of Scotland.

E. Gray, writing in 1871 ("Birds, West Scot-
land," p. 126), was aware that it frequented certain
mountains in Aberdeen, Banff, Inverness, and Ross-
shire in summer ; and Dr. Saxby had discovered
nests in Unst, Shetland (Zool, 1861, p. 7709; 1863,
p. 8680; and 1864, p. 9237). Since then its breed-
ing in Scotland has been well established. Cf.
Harvie-Brown, ZooL, 1886, p. 336, and "Fauna of
Sutherland" (1887), p. 140. In the latter work a
view is given of the corrie in which a nest was
found, and a coloured figure of a young bird. In

74 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the summer of 1896 several broods were reared on
the summit of Ben Nevis (Science Gossip, Nov.
1896). The food in summer includes the larvae of
Noctua xanthographa, a common moth in the
haunts of this bird [Zool., 1881, p. 66); in autumn
and winter, seeds ; and in spring the buds of Saxi-
fraga oppositifolia. Prof. Newton has stated [Zool.,
1881, p. 103) that the nest of the Snow Bunting is
never exposed to the sky, but is always under cover.
In Novaya Zemlya, however, Mr. H. J. Pearson and
Col. Fielden found several nests of this bird on
slabs of rock fully exposed to view ("Beyond Pet-
sora Eastward," 1899, pp. 82, 85).

The Snow Bunting has been known to breed in
captivity, as in Mr. Stevenson's aviary at Norwich
(Zool, 1875, pp. 4290, 4380), and in Mr. John
Gatherer's aviary at Elgin, where I myself saw the
eggs that were laid (Zool, 1887, p. 391).

During the first week in May 1892 between 3000
and 4000 Snow Buntings were landed on Newcastle
Quay, and were afterwards hawked about for sale for
eating. The birds were in beautiful plumage, but it
is not recorded from whence they came.

LAPLAND BUNTING. Plectrophanes lapponica (Lin-
naeus). PI. 12, figs. 12, 13, 13a. Length, 6-25 in.;
wing, 3*5 in. ; tarsus, 075 in.

An uncertain visitor in autumn and winter,
usually on or near the coast, occasionally in consider-
able flocks (Cordeaux, Zool, 1894, p. 19 ; 1895, p. 59).
Sometimes associating with larks, and so taken in

BUNTINGS 75

lark-nets : a male thus captured by a Brighton bird-
catcher, Feb. 24, 1889, was shown to me shortly
afterwards.

Almost unknown in Scotland, where two speci-
mens only are recorded to have been obtained.

In Oct. 1892 one was shot on the mainland of
Shetland (Evans and Buckley, " Vertebrate Fauna
of the Shetland Islands," 1899, p. 92).

In Ireland it appears to be unknown.

COMMON BUNTING. Emheriza miliaria, Linnaeus.
PI. 12, fig. 1. Length, Tin. ; wing, 3-5 in. ; tarsus, 0-9
in.

Resident ; migrating southward in autumn.
From its general external resemblance to a Lark
it is locally known as the Bunting Lark, and
Corn Bunting from its partiality to the neighbour-
hood of cornfields. It may be readily distinguished
by its beak, which is that of a typical Bunting, and
by the short hind-toe in marked contrast to the
long " heel " of a Skylark. In plumage the two
species are so much alike that when crouching on
the ground they can scarcely be distinguished.

REED BUNTING. Emheriza schceniclus, Linnaeus. PI.
12, figs. 7, 8. Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus,
0-75 in.

Resident and generally distributed ; affecting
reed beds, patches of loosestrife, and bushes by the
river-side. In Scotland it is generally distributed ;
has been found occasionally in Shetland, and has

76 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

been known to have bred in Orkney (Baikie and
Heddle, "Fauna Orcadensis "). In Ireland it is
resident and common, but is less numerous in
winter, from which a partial migration is inferred.

^ YELLOW BUNTING. Emberiza citrinella, Linnseus.
/ ' PI. 12, figs. 2, 3, 3a. Length, 6*5 in. ; wing, 3-5 in. ;

tarsus, 075 in.

Resident and generally distributed, even to the
far north of Scotland. It has twice been found
nesting in Orkney (Baikie and Heddle, "Fauna
Orcadensis ").

GIRL BUNTING. Emberiza cirlus, Linn^us. PI. 12,
fig. 4. Length, 6*5 in. ; wing, 3'5 in. ; tarsus, 0'65 in.

Resident in the south and south-west of Eng-
land ; rare in the north and east. Has been found
two or three times only in Scotland, and is said to
be unknown in Ireland. In regard to the distri-
bution of this bird in the British Islands see Aplin,
Zool, 1892, pp. 121-128, and pp. 174-181.

ORTOLAN BUNTING. Emberiza hortulana, Linnseus.
PI. 12, figs. 5, 6. Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3-25 in. ;
tarsus, 0*75 in.

An occasional spring and autumn visitant. First
noticed as British from a specimen procured near
London, figured in Peter Brown's " Illustrations of
Zoology," 4to, London, 1776. It came into the
possession of George Allan, with whose collection
it passed into the museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

FINCHES J7

The specimen figured by Bewick was caught at sea
on the Yorkshire coast (Jardine, " Brit. Birds," ii.
p. 311); of rare occurrence in Yorkshire, where
one was seen on Guisborough Moor, Cleveland,
August 16, 1863 (Atkinson, ZooL, 1863, p. 8768).
In May 1883 Mr. Cordeaux noted its appearance in
North Lincolnshire, and in Sept. 1884 one was shot
at Cley, in Norfolk, consorting with Linnets. Several
instances of its occurrence in Sussex have been
noted by Mr. Borrer, and a few in Middlesex. Very
rare in Scotland; in November 1863 two were ob-
tained near Aberdeen ; two frequented the Isle of
May, Firth of Forth, from April 23 to May 2, when
one was shot (Migration Report, 1885, p. 26).
Harvie-Brown mentions one in Sinclair's collection
("Fauna of Sutherland," p. 136). Very rare in
Ireland ; a specimen killed in Clare, from R, J.
Montgomery's collection, is in the Museum of the
Royal Dublin Society.

Fam. FRINGILLIDiE.

, CHAFFINCH. Fringilla coelebs, Linnaeus. PI. 13, figs.
Y- 7, 8. Length, 6 in.; wing, 3*5 in.; tarsus, 0-65 in.

Resident ; generally distributed and common. >
The alleged separation of the sexes in winter,
which suggested to Linnseus the specific name
CGclehs, a bachelor, has been noticed by Gilbert
White (Letter xiii. to Pennant) and other ob-
servers ; but it is not universally the rule, for in

78 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

some parts of the country many individuals of
both sexes remain throughout the winter, and do
not flock. Moreover, there is reason to suspect
that in some cases the observers have confounded
the male birds in immature plumage with the
females which they then resemble.

Although a favourite cage-bird, the Chafiinch
rarely breeds in captivity. Mr. W. T. Page, in the
Avicultural Magazine, Nov. 1899, has described the
nesting of a pair in his own aviary. Materials having
been supplied, a nest was constructed, chiefly by the
hen bird ; four eggs were laid, and incubation lasted
fourteen days. The cock bird took no part in this,
but fed the hen on the nest.

BRAMBLING. Fringilla m,ontifringilla, Linnseus. PI.
13, figs. 9, 10. Length, 6*25 in. ; wing, 3*6 in. ;
tarsus, 0*75 in.

An annual winter visitant, often remaining till
late in the spring. It sometimes occurs in very
large flocks, as, for example, at Port Eliot in Corn-
wall, where one year, in January, many thousands
covered the beech trees, feeding on the " mast,"
which was more than usually abundant (Rodd,
"Birds of Cornwall," Introd., p. xlvi.). When
seen at a distance, either perched or on the ground,
the Brambling looks not unlike a Chaffinch, but may
be distinguished by the white rump, conspicuous
when flying. The late E. T. Booth of Brighton
reported his discovery of the nest of a Brambling
in June 1866 in Perthshire (Zool, 1877, p. 60).

FINCHES 79

The hen bird was seen on the nest, and Mr. Booth
was too good an observer to have been mistaken.
Under exceptionally favourable conditions the Bram-
bling has been known to breed in captivity (Hewit-
son, "British Birds' Eggs;" Gurney and Fisher,
who give a figure of a white variety, Zool., 1846,
p. 1312; and Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," vol. i.
p. 204).

GOLDFINCH. Carduelis elegans, Stephens. PL 13, figs.
11, 12. Length, 5"25 in.; wing, 3 in.; tarsus, 0*5 in.

Kesident and generally distributed, but to a
certain extent migratory in spring and autumn.
Reported to be much scarcer everywhere now than
formerly, owing to the enclosure of commons, the
cultivation of waste land (to which it is attracted
by the docks and thistle-heads), and the machina-
tions of bird-catchers.

As to its former abundance in the south of
England and its present scarcity, see Hussey, Zool.,
1860, p. 7144; Booth, "Rough Notes on British
Birds;" A. C. Smith, " Birds of Wiltshire," 1887,
p. 202 ; and Report of Parliamentary Committee
on Wild Birds, 1873. Mr. Mansel Pleydell,
however, reports that in Dorsetshire, since the
passing of the " Wild Birds Protection Acts," Gold-
finches have become more numerous. See the
remarks of Prof. Steenstrup (Ihis, 1866, p. 212) on
the preference shown by the Goldfinch for the pith
of the willow and lime, and the mode in which its
long conical beak enables it to extract it.

8o HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

SISKIN. Garduelis spinus (Linnoeus). PL 13, figs. 13, 14.
Length, 4-5 in.; wing, 2*75 in.; tarsus, 0*55 in.

Nests regularly in Scotland in the fir-woods,
but in England, as a rule, it is a winter visitant.
The nest, however, has been found exceptionally
in Westmorland, Durham (Zool., 1875, p. 4420),
Lancashire, Yorkshire (Walton Hall), Oxfordshire,
Gloucestershire, Surrey, and Dorsetshire (Ibis,
1865, p. 129); and also in Sussex and Middle-
sex.

In Ireland the Siskin occurs chiefly as a winter
visitor, but instances of its breeding in Antrim,
Wicklow, Sligo, and Waterford are recorded. See
Zool, 1852, p. 3708; 1872, p. 3235; 1874, p.
3914; 1876, p. 4957; 1885, p. 345; and 1886,
p. 489.

The name Siskin is derived from the Swedish
siske, a chirper or piper. In Germany it is known
as Erlenzeisig, or Alder-finch, an appropriate name,
from its partiality for the seeds of the alder. In
Sussex it is known as the Barley - bird, from its
appearance in the barley seed-time. Elsewhere
this name is applied to the Yellow Wagtail, but
the last-named bird does not usually arrive before
April 7th, while barley is generally sown in Feb-
ruary and March, when the Siskin is here, but the
Yellow Wagtail is not.

The name Aberdevine, applied to this bird in
1735 by Albin, appears to be quite obsolete; at
least I do not find that it is now anywhere in use.

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FINCHES 8 1

It is so called by Pennant, "Brit. Zool.," 1768; by
Gilbert White (Letter viii. to Barrington), by Mon-
tagu (" Orn. Diet SuppL," and Letter to White, 21st
May 1789), and by Markwick (Observations on
Migration, Trans. Linn. Soc, 1789, p. 125). In a
"New Gen. Hist. Birds," 2 vols. 12mo, 1745, it is
mentioned as " Aherdavine, in some places called the
Barley-bird." Rutty (" Nat. Hist. Co. Dublin," 1772,
i. pp. 315, 342) includes it as ''Abber de Vine."

LINNET. Linota cannabina (Linnaeus). PI. 13, figs.
17, 18. Length, 5*5 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, 0*65 in.

So called in allusion to its favourite seed, linum,
flax, and cannabis, hemp.

Resident and generally distributed, migrating
southward and eastward at the approach of winter,
when numbers are taken by bird-catchers. I have
seen a pure white one, which was taken near London.
Coues, in a monograph of the genus (Proc. Acad.
Nat. Sci. Phil., 1861, p. 373; additional remarks,
1863, p. 40), adopts ^giothus of Cabanis as the
name of the genus (Cabanis, " Museum Heine-
anum," 1851, p. 161), type F. linaria, L. ; but
Sclater, writing "on the correct generic name of
the Linnets" {Ibis, 1892, p. 555), with good
reason, on the ground of priority, prefers to retain
the earlier name Linota of Bonaparte (1831), adopted
in the former edition of this " Handbook."

82 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

TWITE. Linota fiavirostris (Linnaeus). PI. 13, fig. 19.
Length, 5*25 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, 0*65 in.

A winter visitant to the south, nesting in the
north of England and Scotland, and according to
Mr. A. G. More, in Ireland from north to south. A
pair nested in an aviary in Yorkshire (ZooL, 1895,
p. 381).

The name Twite, from its note, is significant ;
"Mountain Linnet," sometimes applied to this bird,
is a misnomer (ZooL, 1886, p. 220). It is a more
slender and elegant bird than the Common Linnet,
from which it may be distinguished by its relatively
longer tail, which is forked, and by its yellow beak,
whence its Latin n^ioae Jlavirostris.

MEALY REDPOLL. Linota linaria (Linnaeus). PL 13,
figs. 15, 16. Length, 5-26 in. ; wing, 2-9 in. ; tarsus,
0-6 in.

An irregular winter visitant to England and
Scotland. Rarely met with in Ireland, the first
recorded specimen having been shot on the 9th Feb-
ruary 1876 (Field, March 4, 1876) at Levitstown,
Athy ; others on the Tearaght Rock, Co. Kerry, Sept.,
Oct. and Nov. 1889-93 (Barrington, Zool, 1891,
p. 186, and 1897, p. 513). Two more were shot on
Achill Island in February 1893 (Zool, 1894, p. 152).

An unusual number of Mealy Redpolls visited
the south of England towards the end of 1895. At
Dover the bird-catchers took as many as 200 in

FINCHES 83

one day. As in the case of the Linnet, the specific
name linaria, another form of linota, has reference
to its partiality for the seed of flax (linum).

LESSER REDPOLL. Linota rufescens (Vieillot). Length,
4-25 in. ; wing, 2*75 in. ; tarsus, 0"5 in.

The smallest of our British finches ; resident in
the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; a
winter visitant to the south. With regard to the
northern range of this species, see a note by Prof.
Newton, Zool, 1870, p. 2223. Yarrell's statement
that this bird does not breed further south than
Halifax, in Yorkshire, is incorrect. Mr. J. J.
Briggs, of King's Newton, found it nesting eight
miles south of Derby. Even in Yarrell's time,
Wolley had found it breeding annually in Notting-
hamshire, where in 1894 Mr. H. K. Swann found
three nests. Since then nests have been found in
Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Leicestershire. Mr.
Peterson states that the Lesser Redpoll breeds com-
monly in Leicestershire, and throughout the entire
Midland district. According to Mr. H. A. Mac-
pherson [Zool., 1889, p. 229) it breeds in immature
plumage, i.e. before the male has acquired the rose-
pink breast of summer.

TREE - SPARROW, Passer montanus (Linnaeus). PI.
13, fig. 3. Length, 5*6 in. ; wing, 2*75 in. ; tarsus,
0-75 in.

A local resident, chiefly in the eastern and
southern counties, and migratory in autumn (Blyth,
Field Nat., vol. i. p. 467, and Rodd, "Birds of

iC

84 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Cornwall," p. 56). In parts of the New Forest
the Tree-Sparrow is plentiful, and there was a
colony for many years at Standlake, in Oxford-
shire. Of twenty nests taken there, one was in a
faggot-stack, one in a hole of a decayed elm, two
in holes of pollard ash, four in holes of pol-
lard willow, and twelve in holes in decayed apple
trees in orchards. Thompson (" Nat. Hist. Ireland,
Birds," i. p. 256) recalls the fact that the Tree-
Sparrow is included in Templeton s " Catalogue of
Irish Vertebrate Animals" as "a doubtful native,"
but adds that to his ornithological friends and him-
self it is " quite unknown." This was written in
1849 ; since that date Mr. Blake Knox (Zool, 1870,
p. 2018) has detected it in Ireland, where he says
it is known to the bird-catchers, and believed by
them to be resident. The nest is said to have
been taken near Sandymount, Dublin (A. G. More).
In Scotland it is local and rare, but has occurred
in Argyllshire, St. Kilda, and Skye (Zool., 1886,
p. 366).

The Tree -Sparrow is now a resident of the
United States, having been imported apparently
with the House-Sparrow (Field, Feb. 26, 1876).

HOUSE-SPARROW. Passer domesticus (Linnseus). PL
13, figs. 1, 2, Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, 0*75 in.

Resident, generally distributed, and common.
Breeds in almost every month of the year ; it is
not a rare occurrence to find nests and eggs during
the winter months.

FINCHES 85

The question whether Sparrows do more harm
than good is one which has excited much contro-
versy, and has given rise to a considerable literature
on the subject, especially in the United States,
where the " English Sparrow," as it is there
termed, was unwisely introduced in 1850, when
eight pairs were imported into Brooklyn, N.Y.

Amongst the more important publications on
the subject may be mentioned —

Colonel Russell's evidence in the Report of the Parlia-
mentary Committee on Wild Birds' Protection, 1873 ; and
his remarks in Wesley's book on the House-Sparrow, 1885,
mentioned below.

Riley, " Insectivorous Habits of the English Sparrow,"
Bull. y.S. Depart. Agricult. Division, Econ. Orn. and
Mamm. (1889).

Elliott Coues, " On the Present Status of Passer
domesticus in America," Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Survey,
vol. V. No. 2 (1879).

Report of Committee of Amer. Orn. Union, " Forest
and Stream," Aug. 6, 1885 : quoted in Miss Ormerod's
Ninth Report on Injurious Insects.

Wesley, " The House-Sparrow," containing observations
by various contributors, including Colonel Russell, Mr.
J. H. Gurney, and others (1885).

Gurney, " On the Misdeeds of the House-Sparrow," a
small octavo pamphlet published by Messrs. Gurney and
Jackson (1887).

Hart Merriam and W. B. Barrows, " The English
Sparrow in North America, especially in its Relations to
Agriculture," 8vo, pp. 405, with Map showing distribution
in America, Washington, 1889.

Mr. J. H. Gurney has tabulated the customary
and occasional food of adult Sparrows for every

86 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

month in the year, as well as the food of young
Sparrows to the time of leaving the nest, and thus
summarises the result : —

" It may be said that about 75 per cent, of an adult Sparrow's
food during its life is corn of some kind. The remaining 25 per
cent, may be roughly divided as follows : — Seeds of weeds, 10
per cent. ; green peas, 4 per cent. ; beetles, 3 per cent. ; cater-
pillars, 2 per cent. ; insects which fly, 1 per cent. ; other things,
5 per cent. In young Sparrows not more than 40 per cent, is
corn; while about 40 per cent, consists of caterpillars, and 10
per cent, of small beetles. . . . Sparrows should be killed for
dissection in the afternoon. ... If caught at night, they have
in a great measure digested their food."

Colonel Russell, of Romford, Essex, giving the
results of his examination of a large number of
Sparrows shot by him during a period of fifteen
years, reports as follows : —

"The food in the old ones was almost all corn during the
whole year; green peas were also found in them in summer;
and in May and June, when corn is scarce, a few wild seeds,
chiefly of grass. No insect has been found by me in a Sparrow
between September and March. I have not often found one at any
season (particularly between June and March) in a Sparrow old
enough to feed itself, and have very seldom found any number of
insects in one, even when corn could scarcely be got.

" Fifty old Sparrows, and Sparrows which could feed them-
selves, were killed one summer about my buildings and garden
with food in their crops. This food, carefully examined (as in
all cases, with a lens), was found to be corn, milky, green, and
ripe ; and sometimes green peas from my garden. Only two
small insects were found in the whole number. The food in
them has been much the same every year.

" On the whole, the deduction from the food-test, during
fifteen years, seems to be that Sparrows are useless, and that
the insects which would be given to their young by them, if they
were allowed to live in numbers, would be so much food taken

FINCHES 87

when they most want it, from better birds which live entirely,
or nearly so, on insects."

GREENFINCH. Coccothraustes chloris (Linnseus). PI.
13, figs, 5, 6. Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3"5 in. ; tarsus,
0-75 in.

Resident and generally distributed, even to the
Outer Hebrides, where it is found in North Uist and
Harris ; a winter visitant to the Orkneys. The
Greenfinch varies much in size and colour. In the
South of Europe the resident form is smaller and
brighter than the large race found in the British
Islands. The adult male may be known by the
yellow base to the tail, and by the yellow on the
primaries, extending to the shaft of the feather : in
the hen bird the primaries are only margined with
yellow, which colour does not extend to the shaft.
A wild hybrid between this species, locally known
as the Green Linnet, and the Goldfinch has more
than once been taken {Field, March 13, 1897), but
must be regarded as extremely rare.

HAWFINCH. Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pallas. PI. 11,
figs. 1, 2. Length, 7 in. ; wing, 4 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

Resident in the midland and eastern counties of
England, migrating in spring and autumn ; in Wales
has been observed in Pembrokeshire, Glamorgan,
and Brecon, where it breeds. In the south and east
of Scotland, but not in the west. Samuel Yuille,
head-keeper at Shotley Hall, Durham, writes that
he has occasionally shot Hawfinches in the woods
at Gartmore, near Aberfoyle, S.W. Perthshire. In

88 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Ireland it is an occasional winter visitant. Intro-
duced into Co. Sligo by Colonel Cooper (Zooly
1879, p. 425), Co. Antrim {Irish Nat., 1898, p. 51).
Of late years this species has become much com-
moner in England, nesting now in many counties
where formerly it was observed as a winter visitant
(Zool, 1895, pp. 272, 308). Note the curious falcate
shape of the central quill feathers. In summer the
beak of the adult male is leaden blue, in winter
livid flesh colour. H. Doubleday has given a good
account of the habits of this bird, as observed by him
in Epping Forest (Mag. Zool. and Bot., i. p. 448).

BULLFINCH. Pyrrhula europma, Vieillot. PI. 11, figs.
3, 4, Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3 in. ; tarsus, 0*65 in.

Resident and generally distributed. Has been
met with once in Shetland and once in Orkney. It
is known locally as Alpe, Alph, and Olph; in Nor-
folk Blood-olph (Sheppard and Whitear, Trans. Linn.
Soc, 1825, p. 25 ; Stevenson, i. p. 234 ; and Gurney,
Zool, 1878, p. 288), and Noj^e in Co. Dublin (Rutty),
but in Lancashire the Tits are all called Nopes,
sometimes with a prefix, as Blue Nope, Black-
headed Nope (Mitchell). Black varieties are occa-
sionally taken in a wild state ; one of the blackest
I have seen was trapped at Brentford in July 1875,
and the condition of its plumage and claws showed
that it was a perfectly wild specimen. Melanism in
this bird, as observed in captivity, is usually attri-
buted to an inordinate diet of hemp-seed.

CROSSBILL 89

^ CROSSBILL. Loxia curvirostra, Linnseus. PI. 11, figs.
* 7, 8, 9. Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3*75 in. ; tarsus, 0*6 in.

Generally, but erroneously, regarded as a winter
visitant, being, in fact, a spring and autumn migrant.
Many instances are on record of its nesting in
England, as, for example, in Northumberland and
Durham (Hancock), Cumberland (Hope), York
(Hewitson), Leicester (Harley), Suffolk (Sheppard
and Whitear), Bedford (Shelton), Herts (Bond),
Middlesex (Harting), Essex (Doubleday), Kent (Jell),
Surrey (Hewitson), Sussex (Borrer), Hants (Lew-
cock), Gloucester (Hewitson), Devon (Hall Jordan),
Somerset (Crotch).

To these nesting records published in the
former edition of this " Handbook " may be added
the following : — Saffron Walden (Clarke, Mag. Nat.
Hist., 1837, p. 166). Yorkshire, at Boynton, near
Bridlington ; at Bramham ; at Plumpton, near Har-
rogate, and at Gilling in Ryedale (Clarke and Roe-
buck). Leicester (Revs. A. and H. Mathews, Field
Calendar, Report, 1872). Suffolk (Norgate, Trans.
Norf. Soc, iv. p. 168). Devon (Matthew, " SuppL
Birds, Devon," 1895, p. 13). Somerset (Bath), the
young received by Bullock {Zool., 1843, p. 39).

In Scotland the Crossbill nests regularly in
several counties.

In Ireland some were turned out in Co. Sligo
by Col. Cooper {Zool, 1879, p. 425). Mr. Ussher
took a nest with four eggs at Cappagh, Co. Water-
ford, March 23, 1889, now in British Museum, and

90 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

others the following year (Zool., 1890, p. 199, and
Irish Nat., 1892, p. 6).

Crossbills feed on insects as well as seeds [Zool.,
1890, p. 414, and 1895, p. 228). Saxby ("Birds of
Shetland ") gives a good account of the way in which
they deal with rowan-berries, and feed on aphides
and small green caterpillars on the sycamore.

For some instructive remarks on change of plum-
age, see Wheelwright, Zool, 1862, p. 8001. The
male bird breeds in a yellow dress before acquiring
the red plumage of maturity, which is assumed
gradually after two or three moults.

The Parrot Crossbill (Loxia pityopsittacus, Bech-
stein), PI. 11, figs. 5, 6, which frequents the pine-
woods of Scandinavia and Northern llussia, is
regarded by some ornithologists as merely a large
race of the Common Crossbill, and not entitled even
to subspecific rank. See Sharpe, " Cat. Birds Brit.
Mus.," vol. xii. p. 439, and Saunders, "Manual,"
p. 194. On the other hand, see Blyth (who re-
garded the two forms as distinct), Zool., 1863,
p. 8327, and A. G. More, Zool, 1892, p. 76, with
editorial note. Prof. Newton regards them as
specifically distinct (Yarrell, 4th ed., vol. ii. p. 207),
and figures the sternum of each, in which there are
manifestly points of diiference to be observed. In
these circumstances it may be convenient to in-
clude the Parrot Crossbill in the second part of this
volume, in order to give a list of the records of its
occurrence.

STARLING 91

Fam. STUKNIDiE.

STARLING. Sturnus vulgaris, Linnaeus. PI. 14, figs.
5, 5a. Length, 8 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 5 in. ;
tarsus, 1 in.

Resident, yet to a certain extent migratory in
spring and autumn. The late E. H. Rodd observed
in Cornwall that Starlings had been gradually mov-
ing farther westward every year during the summer,
and were formerly quite unknown in the western
counties except as winter visitants (" Birds of Corn-
wall," 1880, p. 266). Mr. Harvie-Brown has noted
the increase of the Starling in Scotland (Ann. Scot.
Nat. Hist., 1895), where the decrease of Larks has
been attributed to the destruction of their eggs by
Starlings (R. Service, Zool, 1878, pp. 427, 451).

It is perhaps not generally known that Star-
lings devour many kinds of fruit, such as currants,
cherries, and rowan-berries.

They occasionally, though not invariably, rear
two broods in a season ; and although usually nest-
ing under eaves or selecting holes in trees, they
have been known to build occasionally in shrubs
and small trees. White varieties are not so rare
as many suppose ; some are reported every summer,
and cream-coloured, buff, and smoke-coloured varie-
ties are also occasionally met with.

During the late autumn months Starlings con-
gregate in large flocks ; as many as sixty or seventy
flights, estimated at 50,000 birds, have been ob-

92 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

served to assemble in one locality, near Nottingham,
within a few minutes of each other. They settle down
for the night, sometimes in reed beds, sometimes
in plantations. In such roosting-places they often
do considerable damage, and it becomes a serious
question how to get rid of them. When shooting
proves of little avail, it has been found effective to
light a fire to windward of the spot, so as to cause
the smoke to blow through the assembled flocks.
In fine weather Starlings may be observed hawking
for flies {Zool, 1866, p. 310; 1867, p. 593; 1895,
p. 381), and a tame Starling would fly from the hand
and catch moths and butterflies [Zool., 1881, p. 64).

ROSE-COLOURED PASTOR. Pastor roseus (Linnteus).
PI. 14, figs. 6, 7. Length, 8 in.; bill, 0-8 in.; wing,
5 in. ; tarsus, 1*25 in.

An irregular visitant during summer and autumn,
and met with throughout the British Islands, includ-
ing the Orkneys and Shetland.

No instance is on record of the nesting of the
Rose-Coloured Pastor in Great Britain, but the
birds have been seen and shot several times in the
middle of summer. Dr. Moore mentions one which
was taken in Devon in June, and a young one
without a crest in October. A pair were shot in
July at Rosemount, near Glasgow, where they had
been observed for some days previously.

For information on the breeding habits of the
Rose - coloured Pastor as observed abroad, see the
account given by the Marchese Antinori of an

CHOUGH 93

extraordinary assemblage of these birds in the
breeding - time near Smyrna {Naumannia, 1856,
p. 407, and Zool, 1857, p. 5668). See also Signor
de Betta's account, translated from the Italian
(ZooL, 1878, p. 16), of a similar but still larger con-
gregation at Villafranca in the province of Verona.

Fam. COKVID^.

CHOUGH. Pyrrhocorax graculus (Linnaeus). Length,
15 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 11 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in.

Resident in sea- cliffs in Ireland, the west of
Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, North Devon, and Dor-
setshire, where I got the eggs from two nests in
May 1865. Formerly also in Sussex and the Isle
of Wight. Some remarks on the last haunt of this
bird in the Land's End district will be found in the
Introduction to Rodd's " Birds of Cornwall."

The Chough is of sedentary habits, and rarely
wanders far inland. One was shot at Lindridge,
Worcestershire, while perched on the summit of a
building, where it was probably resting after a long
flight (Hastings, "Nat. Hist. Worcester," p. 66). In
August 1887, while watching the sheep-dog trials
at Llanberis, North Wales, I heard the note of the
Chough, and looking up saw four of these birds
passing overhead towards Snowdon.

Choughs are readily tamed, and a pair in the
possession of Lady Dorothy Nevill, at Dangstein,
Sussex, built a nest and laid eggs, but did not

94 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

hatch them. See Field, Sept. 23, 1882 ; Zool, 1882,
p. 431; Lord Lilford, Field, Sept. 30, 1882; and
Ralph Nevill, Field, Oct. 7, 1882.

In the Zoologist for September 1893, I have
shown that the *' russet-pated Chough " of Shake-
speare ("Mids. Night's Dream," iii. 2) was not the
red-billed Chough, but the grey-pated Jackdaw.
The latter was commonly called Chough, and russet
with some writers meant grey : the head of the
Chough, like the rest of its body, is perfectly black.

An example of the yellow-billed Alpine Chough,
Pyrrhocorax alpinus, was shot near Banbury, Ox-
fordshire, in April 1881, but had probably escaped
from confinement, as this species is not migratory
in its habits, and is confined to the mountains of
Central and Southern Europe.

RAVEN. Corvus corax, Linnaeus. PI. 15, fig. 1. Length,
24 in. ; bill, 3 in.; wing, 17 in.; tarsus, 275 in.

Locally resident, resorting to high cliffs some-
times inland ; more numerous in Scotland, par-
ticularly in the west. It is especially abundant in
Shetland, where Saxby has seen upwards of forty
within the space of a few acres, and hundreds feeding
on the carcases of whales that had been driven ashore
and were left to decay (" Birds of Shetland," p. 122).

Ravens, like birds of prey, pair for life ; and,
like Rooks, repair their old nests very early in the
spring. The nest is usually built in a cliff, and
often upon an inaccessible ledge, screened from
observation from above by overhanging rocks. But

V

CROWS 95

Ravens' nests in trees are also well known. Every
naturalist will remember the celebrated " Raven-
tree " at Selborne, described by Gilbert White, and
" The Raven's Clump " in Petworth Park, of which
the late Mr. A. E. Knox has left so pleasing an
account in his " Ornithological Rambles in Sussex."
In the same county there were formerly Ravens'
trees in Burton Park, near Petworth, and in Uppark
until 1866 (Gordon's "History of Harting in West
Sussex," pp. 257-259). Mr. Miller Christy mentions
others in his " Birds of Essex," and there was at
least one in Middlesex.

CARRION CROW. Corvus corone, Linnseus. PI. 15,
fig. 2. Length, 19 in.; bill, 2'25 in.; wing, 13 in.;
tarsus, 2-50 in.

Resident, but, owing to the increased preserva-
tion of game, rare in the eastern counties of Eng-
land, as well as in some parts of Scotland and
in Ireland. In 1533 (temp. Henry VIII.) crows
were so numerous, and thought to be so prejudicial
to the farmers, that an Act of Parliament was passed
for their destruction, in which Rooks and Choughs
were included (Zool., 1894, p. 47). The inhabitants
of every parish were bound for ten years to provide
crow-nets, of which I have given a description, Zool.y
1894, p. 48.

Although usually found in pairs and building
isolated nests, the Carrion Crow is sometimes gre-
garious like the Rook. In the hill districts of mid-
Wales, where the former bird to a great extent

96 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

replaces the latter, Corvus corone may be seen
feeding in ploughed fields, and scores resort to the
same plantation to roost (Salter, ZooL, 1895, p.
140). See also a note on Carrion Crows congre-
gating (Aplin, Zool, 1885, p. 183).

Both Crows and Rooks feed much on fresh-
water mussels, which they find by the river-sides
at low tide : they drop them from a height to break
them open. Crows have been observed taking food
from the surface of the water while flying. (Har-
rison, " Descript. England," prefixed to Holinshed's
"Chronicle," 1577; confirmed. Spectator, July
25, 1891, and Field, June 20, 1896.) A similar
observation has been made in the case of the
Jackdaw (Johnson's " Gamekeeper's Directory,"
1851, p. 95).

Crows will attack rookeries and drive away the
rightful owners of the nests (Field, April 18 and 25,
1891 ; May 2, 1891 (E. L. Layard), and Zool, 1896,
p. 144). So will Ravens and Herons (q-v.).

HOODED CROW. Corvus comix, Linnaeus. PI. 15,
fig. 3. Length, 18 in. ; bill, 2*25 in. ; wing, 12-5 in. ;
tarsus, 2-25 in.

Resident in Scotland and Ireland ; a winter
visitant to the east and south of England ; rare in
the south-west. In Scotland it is said to pair
habitually with the Carrion Crow, and on this
account has been regarded by some naturalists as
specifically identical with that bird. (See Sir W.
Jardine's " British Birds," vol. ii. p. 234 ; Mac-

CROWS 97

gillivray, vol. iii. p. 731 ; Thompson, vol. i. p.
309; Gray's "Birds of the West of Scotland,"
p. 170; and De Selys-Longchamps, Ihis, 1870, pp.
450, 451.) In Yorkshire also it is said to pair
habitually with the Carrion Crow (Williamson, Proc.
Zool. Soc, 1836, p. 7&). See also Naturalist, 1865,
p. 101; Hancock, " Cat. Birds, Northumberland," pp.
32, 36 ; Seebohm, " Siberia in Asia," p. 30 ; Newton,
Yarrell's British Birds, 4th ed., vol. ii. p. 274.

ROOK. Corvus frugilegus, Linnaeus. PI. 15, figs. 4, 5.
Length, 18 in.; bill, 2-25 in.; wing, 12-5 in.; tarsus,
2-25 in.

Resident and generally distributed. The British
Association Reports on migration show that it is a
regular autumnal migrant from the Continent to
the eastern counties of England. In Oct. and
Nov. 1893 an extraordinary number of Rooks
were observed on migration. See reports by J. H.
Jenkinson, R. M. Barrington, H. S. Byron, and
D. Mackenzie {Field, March 3, 17, 24, and April 7,
1894). As to the injury done to crops by Rooks,
and their propensity to steal the eggs of game birds
and wildfowl, see Zool, 1888, pp. 375-379. On
the other hand, their utility in destroying the larvae
of the Cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris, the Antler-
moth, Chareas graminis, and the Crane-fly, Tlpula
oleracea, so destructive to the roots of grain and
young clover, and in devouring the roots of the
couch-grass, a troublesome weed to the farmer, is
well vouched for {Zool, 1866, p. 297). They render

98 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

good service also by feeding on the caterpillars of the
Ofik-moth, Hyhernia defoliaria [Zool., 1887, p. 109).

Rooks rarely build in poplars, which are not well
adapted to carry their large nests ; but a few in-
stances of the kind have been noted, as at Hatherley,
four miles from Gloucester ; between Kirkburton
Church and Huddersfield ; and near the lodge gate
at Theydon Place, Epping, April 1898. At the
Tower of London nests were built on the weather-
vanes on each turret of the White Tower, and some
years ago two pairs of Rooks built their nests and
reared their young between the chimney-pots of
houses in George Street, Hull.

The nesting of Rooks in autumn has been occa-
sionally noted. In Nov. 1893 Colonel Troyte re-
ported a nest of young at Bampton, North Devon,
which the old ones were then feeding.

The interior of the mouth in old and young
Crows (both black and grey) is dull pink or flesh
colour at all ages, whereas in the Rook the interior
of the mouth is pale red on leaving the nest, and
eventually becomes dull slate-coloured when the
bird is adult. Young Rooks until after their first
moult have the face feathered to the base of the
beak like Crows, but Mr. Robt. Service procured
some which had the face only partially bared in
May. He obtained a singular variety in Dumfries-
shire, of a chocolate-brown colour, with indistinct
darker vermiculations. A similar specimen was
exhibited by Prof. Duns in 1889 at a meeting of
the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, Pied
and white varieties are annually reported.

CROWS 99

"How to form a Rookery," Field, March 11,
1893, March 16 and 23, 1895, and " Encyclopsedia
of Sport," 1898, art. Rook. Articles on the food
of Rooks, Zool., 1888, pp. 375-379 ; on the habits of
Rooks and Crows, Field, Dec. 20, 1895 ; and on
their concerted action in hunting field-mice, ZooL,
1892, p. 355. They pull acorns ofif the oaks, and
have been observed to plant them [ZooL, 1896,
p. 19; Proc. Linn. Soc, Feb. 1896; and Field,
April 26, 1879). Like birds of prey, they throw up
pellets containing the indigestible portions of their
food, Zool., 1866, p. 297, and Proc. Limi. Soc,
Jan. 1894. For an account of Rookeries in London
see Zool, 1878, pp. 191, 441.

JACKDAW. Corvus vionedula, Linn^us. PI. 15, fig. 6.
)f Length, 13 in.; bill, 1-3 in.; wing, 9-25 in.; tarsus,

1-75 in.

Resident, and especially numerous in the neigh-
bourhood of sea-cliffs, where it has been observed to
drive away the Choughs. A Jackdaw's nest built in
the bell-tower of Eton College Chapel was a mass
of sticks ten feet high. It is figured by Jesse in
his "Scenes and Tales of Country Life," 1844. A
similar nest twelve feet high was found in the tower
ofHillington Church, near Lynn (ZooZ., 1869, p. 1847).

Jackdaws occasionally build open nests in the
branches or forks of trees when ruins or hollow
trees are not available. See Field, May 15 and 22,
1875, and May 26, 1894 ; also Zool, pp. 185, 823,
9572. In Uppark, Sussex, in the spring I have

7

loo HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

often seen Jackdaws perched upon the backs of the
Fallow-Deer plucking out hair with which to line
their nests. White varieties are not very rare.

In former times the Jackdaw was commonly
known as the Chough, and so styled in the church-
wardens' accounts and in Acts of Parliament (ZooL,
1893, p. 333, and 1894, p. 48). It is probably the
russet-pated Chough of Shakespeare. See p. 94.

MAGPIE. Pica rustica (Scopoli). PI. 15, figs. 7, 7a.
Length, 18 in. ; tail, 10 in. ; wing, 7"75 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

Resident, and in many places common, notwith-
standing its persecution by gamekeepers. Intro-
duced into Ireland {Zool, 1881, p. 480; 1891, p.
247; M's/^iVa^., 1893, pp.96, 113). Although usually
to be seen singly or in pairs. Magpies have been
observed coming into plantations at roosting-time
in flocks {Zool, 1861, p. 7817; 1862, p. 7846; 1868,
p. 1405; 1876, pp. 4879 and 4907; Field, April 7,
14, 21, 1900; Stanley's " History of Birds," p. 193,
and Newton, ed. Yarrell, vol. ii. p. 316).

The normal colour of the beak in the Magpie
is black, but in two instances a variety has been
met with in England having a yellow beak, in this
respect resembling Fica nuttalli of California
{Zool, 1867, pp. 706, 757, 877, 1016).

JAY. Garruhts glandarius (Linnseus). PI. 15, fig. 8.
Length, 14 in.; bill, 1 in.; wing, 7'25 in.; tarsus, 1'75 in.

Resident and generally distributed, except in
Ireland, where, according to Mr. R. Ussher, the

SWALLOWS loi

stronghold of this species is in the basin of the
Suir, the Barrow, and the Nore, beyond which its
range becomes restricted. It has been met with
in Louth and Limerick (ZooL, 1896, p. 22), and I
have seen a specimen from Portarlington, Queen's
County, in Mus. Roy. Soc. Dublin. In England it
is a regular autumnal migrant to the eastern coasts.

Formerly a regular resident in Ayrshire and
Dumfriesshire, and fairly common, but now only a
casual visitant. It has once been met with in
Shetland.

Though usually a noisy and demonstrative bird,
it becomes one of the most silent and retiring during
the breeding season. It is well known to kill young
pheasants and partridges (Field, Aug. 7, 1875),
blackbirds, thrushes, and other small birds, and to
suck eggs ; hence the not unmerited retribution
exacted by gamekeepers. For different methods of
trapping Jays, see the Field, Aug. 5, 1876, and
Jan. 20 and 27, 1877.

Fam. HIRUNDINID^.

SWALLOW. Hirundo rustica, Linnaeus. PL 17, figs.
^ 4, 4rt. Length, 7"5 in. ; wing, 4-75 in. ; tarsus, 0'5 in.

Our three British Swallows have been placed by
systematists in three different genera, though they
all agree in having the bill short, depressed and
wide at the base, the nostrils basal, oval, and partly
closed by a membrane ; the wings with nine pri-
maries, long and pointed ; and the tail of twelve

I02 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

feathers much forked. What, then, are the differ-
ences which are now commonly regarded as generic ?
They are to be found chiefly in the structure of the
feet. In the Swallow these are slender and bare ;
in the Martin, slender and closely feathered above ;
while the Sand Martin has a little tuft of feathers on
the tarsus just above the hallux. A difference also
will be noted in the form of the tail. In the Swal-
low the outermost tail-feather is remarkably elon-
gated and attenuated ; in the Martin, this is not
so, and the tail is not so conspicuously forked ; in
the Sand Martin it is still less forked and relatively
shorter. On the wing the Swallow may be known
by its uniformly coloured steel-blue back and long
outer tail-feathers ; the Martin, by its white rump
and shorter forked tail ; the Sand Martin, by its small
size and dull brown plumage.

A summer migrant, arriving early in April and
departing in October and November. For dates of
latest stay in autumn and winter months, see sum-
mary of observations, Zool., 1881, p. 62, and an
article by the present writer, " Belated Swallows,"
Field, Jan. 30, 1892. For appearance in December,
Zool, 1881, p. 62, and 1887, p. 269 ; and from Dec.
25 to Jan. 3 in Cornwall, Couch, " Illustrations of
Instinct," p. 132. In The Field, Nov. 20, 1875, the
late Dr. C. R. Bree, of Colchester, wrote : "I have
a nest and eggs of the Chimney Swallow, taken
while the old bird was sitting on them in the middle
of December at Walton on the Naze ; " and in The
Field Dec. 14, 1895, Mr. J. C. Macaulay reported

SWALLOWS 105

that on Dec. 3 his son found a Swallow's nest
containing four eggs which were slightly incu-
bated. Two and even three broods are reared.

Some curious sites for Swallows' nests have been
recorded, e.g. one built of the usual materials was
placed on the slender branch of a horse-chestnut,
about twenty feet from the ground, at Sibsey Vicar-
age, Boston, Lincolnshire (Besant, Field, Sept. 5,
1885; Zool, 1886, p. 486). Another built on a
spray of jasmine, about eight feet from the ground,
against the house, but a foot away from the wall^
and anchored to some sprays of Japanese honey-
suckle, at Iden Parsonage, Rye, Sussex (Bates,
Field, Sept. 12, 1885). In both these cases the
young were reared. A nest built in a tree at Mag-
hull, Lancashire, was formed like the nest of a
Chaffinch amongst the twigs (Mitchell, " Birds of
Lancashire," 2nd edit, p. 56). Gilbert White men-
tions a Swallow's nest that was built on the wings
and body of an owl that hung dead and dry from
the rafter of a barn, and another that was placed on
the handles of a pair of garden-shears that were
stuck up against the boards in an outhouse (Letter
xviii. to Daines Barrington). Swallows' nests have
also been found on a hook hanging in a shed ; on a
curtain-pole in a house {Zool., 1888, p. 355) ; on a
hanging lamp (Zool., 1886, p. 416), and on a lamp-
bracket (Stanley, "Familiar Hist. Birds," p. 250);
against (glass (Jesse, " Gleanings in Nat. Hist.,"
ii. p. 157), and inside a schoolroom where nearly a
hundred children were in daily attendance. For

104 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

further curious situations see ZooL, 1887, p. 467, and
1888, pp. 25, 355.

White Swallows are occasionally seen. One
which I shot from a punt in Pagham Harbour,
Sussex, in Sept. 1871, as recorded in the Field,
Sept. 30, 1871, is preserved in the Natural History
Museum, South Kensington. An albino Swallow,
which had been wounded by a shot in the wing,
was captured at Westgate-on-Sea in October 1892,
and was kept alive for some time, becoming very
tame and taking flies from the hand (Times, Oct.
10, 1892). In the Zool, 1894, p. 59, Mr. Mansel
Pleydell wrote that during the previous summer a
brood of four Swallows was reared in a shed at Bere
Regis, Dorsetshire, all of which were white. Of
these, three were seen as late as October in company
with other Swallows, preparing for migration. Other
instances are noted, ZooL, 1894, p. 430, and 1896,
pp. 54, 305.

Hirundo savignii, a chestnut - breasted form
found in Egypt and Nubia, has been recorded to
have been shot at Teesmouth, Durham [Ihis, 1866,
p. 423), but Mr. J. H. Gurney subsequently corrected
the mistake (Ihis, 1875, p. 519).'

As to where Swallows go in winter and on what
they feed, see details in my " Summer Migrants."
They moult during their absence from this country,
and are in full plumage on their return in spring.

For reported cases of marked Swallows returning

1 Hirundo savignii, Stephens, 1817 ; cahirica, Liclitenstein, 1823 ;
aud riocouri, Audouin, 1825.

SWALLOWS 105

annually to their old haunts, see Field, Sept. 30,
1876 ; June 4, 1881 ; Dec. 10, 1887 ; Jan. 30, 1892 ;
and July 1, 1893 ; also Zool, 1895, p. 449.

As to the speed of Swallows, see Zool., 1886,
p. 299, 1888, p. 308, and 1895, p. 379. Trained as
letter-carriers, Zool, 1899, pp. 397-398. One killed
by a golf-ball. Field, Sept. 12, 1891 ; another struck
by a cricket-ball. Field, Aug. 25, 1894. Mr. Barrett
of Wintershall, near Godalming, has a stuffed speci-
men which was killed by a cricket-ball bowled by
F. Caesar, a well-known professional, during a match
played at Godalming in 1849 or 1850.

Anglers have repeatedly reported Swallows perch-
ing on their rods [Zool., 1886, p. 417), and have cap-
tured them with artificial trout-fiies (" Our Summer
Migrants," p. 192), and occasionally Swifts {Field,
June 3, 1899). Izaak Walton alludes to the pastime
of angling from lofty towers for Swallows in Italy,
and Washington Irving, in " Tales of the Alhambra,"
has a similar reference to Spain.

Why unlucky to kill a Swallow ? Probably a
pagan relique. ^lian states that these birds were
sacred to the Penates, or household gods of the
ancients, and so w^ere protected. They were hon-
oured as the nuncios of the Spring.

As to tame Swallows, and the rearing of young
ones by hand, feeding on raw meat and egg, and
crushed bees, see Field, Feb. 18 and Oct. 21, 1893,
and Jan. 26, 1895. See also Zool, 1887, pp. 347
and 372.

For the folklore concerning the Swallow's herb

io6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

(Chelidonium) and Swallow's stone said to be found
in the nest, see a chapter in my " Essays on Natu-
ral History," 1880, pp. 27G-284.

Swallows are infested by at least three genera
of parasitic dipterous insects — Ornithomyia, Ste-
nopteryx, and Oxypterum. Figures of these flies
are given in Walker's "Insecta Britannica, Diptera,"
vol. ii. tab. xx.

MARTIN. Hirihndo urbica, Linnseus. PI. 17, figs. 5, 5a.
Length, 5-25 in. ; wing, 4-25 in. ; tarsus, 0*4 in.

A summer migrant, arriving in April, and usually
departing some weeks before the Swallow, which
lingers here until October, and often until Novem-
ber. The difference in the mode of nidification
with the two species should be too well known to
need description here. Suffice it to state that it is
the House Martin which builds under the eaves, and
is often dispossessed by the Sparrow. Where House
Sparrows are destroyed. House Martins increase.
This was particularly observed by Colonel Kussell
at Stubbers, near Komford ; see also R. J. Howard
in Mitchell's "Birds of Lancashire," 2nd edit.

Before human habitations were constructed of
stone-masonry, the Swallows built their nests in
caves, and the Martins on the face of cliffs; in
several localities that could be mentioned they
still continue to do so. See Zool., 1882, p. 437;
1883, p. 34; 1884, p. 470; 1887, p. 373; and
1894, p. 400.

9, tD

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p b/l

4-. ^

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-• ^

SWALLOWS 107

SAND MARTIN. Cotile riparia (Linnteus). PI. 17,
fig. 6. Length, 4-75 in. ; wing, 4 in. ; tarsus, 0*4 in.

A summer migrant, generally making its appear-
ance in spring somewhat earlier than any other
Swallows, and departing earlier in autumn. Breeds
in colonies in sandpits and railway cuttings, where
the soil admits easily of excavation. As exceptional
nesting sites may be mentioned holes in walls
(Field, July 24, 1875; Zool, 1862, p. 7844, 1870,
p. 2344, and 1877, p. 450), sawdust heaps (Zool.y
1876, p. 5108), and a mound at the back of rifle-
butts [Zool., 1888, p. 279). For some remarks on
the treatment of Sand Martins in captivity, see
Butler, Zool, 1887, p. 347.

Order IIL PICARI^'

Fam. CYPSELID^.

SWIFT. Cypselus apus (Linnaeus). PI. 17, figs. 7, 7a.
Length, 7 in. ; wing, 7 in. ; tarsus, 0'6 in.

It is with some misgiving that, in deference to
the opinions of others, I adopt the modern location
of the Swifts in the order Picariw, removing them
from the Passeres, in which order they have been so
long associated with the Swallows. Prof. Garrod
more than twenty years ago (Zool., 1877, p. 217)
pointed out in what respect anatomically Swifts

1 See Newton's " Dictionary of Birds," s.r. Picarice.

1 08 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

differ from Swallows and agree with Humming-
birds, and in regard to their "feather tracts" quoted
Nitzch's " Pterylography " in support of his views.
Dr. Shufeldt, however, whose opinion as a well-
known authority on avine anatomy carries weight,
has shown that, although there are undoubtedly
points of resemblance between Swifts and Hum-
ming-birds, in all the most important osteological
characters the former are more nearly related to the
Swallows [Journ. Linn. Soc. ZooL, xx. 1889). So
that the old view, after all, was not incorrect, al-
though the classification since objected to was based
upon external characters, and upon similarity of
flight, habits, food, nidification, and general mode
of life. The late Prof. W. K. Parker, than whom
no one was better qualified to express an opinion
on such a subject, published an important paper on
the systematic position of the Swifts (Zool., 1889,
pp. 91-95), in which he characterised Dr. Sclater's
expression that the Swifts have no relationship
whatever to the Swallows (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1865,
p. 593) as " too emphatic to be true." The Swifts,
says Prof. Parker, lie between two groups of birds
that differ in the most marvellous manner — the
Passeres and the Picarise, and certainly lie on the
Passerine border of the Picariw. He adds, " I
agree with my friend Dr. Shufeldt that the Swallow
and Swift are near akin." Mr. F. A. Lucas of Wash-
ington has shown [The Auk, vol. vi. pp. 8-13) that
the wing in the Cypselidse is extremely variable ; in
some it is modified as in the Humming-birds, in

SWIFTS 109

others it comes much nearer to that of the true
Swallows {Hirundinidse). This also is confirmed
by Prof. Parker. In his monograph upon the
Humming-birds (Rep. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1890) Mr.
Robert Ridgway (in the words of Dr. Shufeldt
when reviewing it in the Awierican Naturalist, Oct.
1892) "still adheres to that now well-nigh exploded
notion that the Plumming- birds are more or less
closely related to the Swifts. He states (p. 290)
that ' except in the shape of the bill and structure
of the bones of the face, the Humming-birds and
Swifts present no definite difi'erences of osteological
structure.' " " This statement," says Dr. Shufeldt,
" is not only not true, but as wide of the mark as
it can be. ... As a matter of fact, when we come
to compare the skeleton of a typical Swift with
that of a typical Humming-bird, we find the most
radical differences existing in nearly every part. As
Huxley and other capable anatomists have long ago
shown, the skull and associate skeletal parts of a
Swift depart not very markedly from the correspond-
ing structures in a Swallow." Having regard to
these opinions, I have adopted the view of Prof.
Parker, and follow the systematic arrangement of
Prof. Newton by placing the Swallows at the end of
the Passeres and the Swifts at the head of the
Picarix. As to the employment of the generic
name Cypselus, see The Ibis, 1897, p. 290.

The Common Swift is a well-known summer
visitor to the British Islands, generally distributed —
though of irregular appearance in the north of

no HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Scotland and the west of Ireland — arriving usually
in the first week of May and departing in August,
sometimes in the first week of September. In
1896, one was seen at Worthing, Sept. 25 ; others
at Caistor, Lincolnshire, so late as Sept. 26 and
Oct. 25 (Field, Oct. 31, 1896). The Swift does not
travel quite so far north as either the Chimney Swal-
low or the Martin ; but Wolley saw it on the Faroe
Islands, and observed it in summer hawking over
the fells at Muonioniska, Lapland.

Swifts go a long way south for the winter,
travelling in large flocks (see Nature, Aug. 30, 1900).
Livingstone in his "Researches in South Africa," p.
124, says, " very large flocks of Swifts were observed
flying over the plains north of Kuruman (Bechuana-
land) : I counted a stream of them which must
have numbered upwards of 4000." Andersson also
(" Okavango River," p. 137) saw immense flocks in
Damaraland towards the end of November. From
that time until the month of May they are ex-
tremely abundant about Cape Town (E. L, Layard,
" Birds of South Africa," p. 50). Like Swallows,
they annually revisit their old haunts, as has been
proved by marking several birds and restoring them
to liberty (Jenner, Phil. Trans., 1824, p. 16.)

See my article on Swallows and Swifts, Field,
April 14, 1883.

They have been occasionally observed to take
possession of Martins' nests (Zool., 1887, pp. 348,
391, 428), but, as a rule, creep up under the eaves
of cottages and churches, where they make a loosely

NIGHTJAR 1 1 1

constructed nest of straws and feathers, in which
they lay generally two, rarely three, pure white eggs.
A white Swift is recorded. Field, Sept. 1, 1900.

Fam. CAPRIMULGID^.

NIGHTJAR. Capriniulgus europmus, Linnaeus. PI. 17,
figs. 8, 8«. Length, 10 in. ; wing, 7'25 in. ; tars., 075.

A summer migrant, generally dispersed through-
out the British Islands to the north of Caithness, and
extending even to the inner group of the Hebrides.
It is not uncommon in Islay, lona, and Mull, and is
generally distributed in Skye, in all of which islands
the eggs have been found. Very local in Ireland.

The most westerly point in England at which
the Nightjar has been found breeding is the moor
below Carn Galva, near Penzance, where, in July
1880, Mr. E. D. Marquand discovered the eggs,
from which the parent bird was disturbed (Trans.
Penzance Nat. Hist. Soc, n.s., vol. i. p. 283).

The Nightjar is said to move its eggs and trans-
port them in its large mouth if disturbed (ZooL, 1884,
p. 89), also to transport its young in the same way
{Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, v. p. 76, 1890). In the
article last quoted, Mr. J. H. Gurney states that
incubation lasts nineteen days, and that the young
are not fed exclusively on insects ; the stomach
of a nestling opened for examination contained
vegetable fibre and seeds.

The name " Goatsucker," applied by some writers
to this bird, is of course a misnomer, and has been
bestowed from inaccurate observation of its habits.

112 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

When seen to dash down about the legs of cattle,
its object is not to get milk from the udders, but to
catch the moths which are disturbed from the grass
by the cows and goats as they graze. The names
" Fern Owl " and " Churn Owl " — employed by Gil-
bert White — are far more appropriate in allusion to
its haunts and its remarkable notes, which in some
parts of the country have earned for it the names of
•'Eve-jar" and "Eve-churr."

Fam. CUCULIDiE.

CUCKOO. Cuculus canoriis, Linna3us. PI. 17, tigs. 1,
2, 2a. Length, 14 in. ; wing, 85 in.; tarsus, 0'8 in.

A summer migrant, generally distributed through-
out England, Ireland, and Scotland, extending even
to the Outer Hebrides.

There is no well-authenticated case on record
of the Cuckoo having been heard or seen in this
country before the 6th of April. The average date
of its appearance for the whole of England and
Scotland may be given as April 23, and for the
south of England April 15. The late Mr. Cordeaux,
writing from Lincolnshire on the 15th April 1899,
stated that, on looking through his notes of the
previous forty years, he found the Cuckoo seldom
recorded before the fourth week in April, that is,
after the 21st. The earliest heard was on April 8.

As to hatching its own e^^, see Adolf Miiller,
and criticism by Walter, Zool., 1889, p. 214 (trans-
lation). Instances of Cuckoos watching over their

CUCKOO 1 1 3

young have been occasionally reported (see J. E.
Gray, Analyst, 1839, p. 67 ; Briggs, Zool, 1849,
p. 2603 ; Field, June 24, 1876 ; Feb. 17, 1877 ; July
31, 1897; and May 28, 1898, the last being a par-
ticularly interesting case). For an instance of a
Cuckoo laying in captivity, see Field, May 20, 1893.
As to its sucking the eggs of other birds, H. L.
Wilson, Field, Jan. 28, 1882; Zool., 1897, p. 515;
Gurney, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vi. p. 373 ; and
turning out young birds from nest, " Our Summer
Migrants," 1875, and Hancock, Zool., 1886, p. 203.
For lists of birds in whose nests the egg of the
Cuckoo has been found, see " Our Summer Mi-
grants," 1875, p. 222; Bidwell, Trans. Norf. Nat.
Soc, iii. p. 526 ; Bladen, Trans. North Stafford.
Nat. Soc, 1896 ; in nest of Swallow, Zool., 1894,
p. 340. Blue eggs of Cuckoo, Zool., 1880, pp. 361,
400. As to variation of plumage, a white Cuckoo
obtained in Norfolk is described, Zool., 1896, p.
174; and the hepatic plumage of the Cuckoo is
discussed, Zool., 1895, pp. 257-263. An excellent
article on the " Economy of the Cuckoo," by J. H.
Gurney, is printed in the Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc,
vol. vi. pp. 365-384, with illustrations.

It has been stated that only the male bird cries
"cuckoo" (Newton, "Diet. Birds," p. 119); but
Sterland asserts that two were shot in the act of
calling "cuckoo," which proved to be hen birds
("Birds of Sherwood Forest," p. 157).

Cuckoos have been successfully kept in confine-
ment during the winter. See Field, Feb. 7, 1863;

H

114 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Aug. 29, 1868; Dec. 21, 1895; and Jan. 11, 1896;
where information is given concerning the food and
treatment adopted.

Fam. UPUPID^.

{ HOOPOE. Uioupa epops, Linnseus. PI. 14, figs. 8, 8a.

^ Length, 12 in. ; bill, 2-25 in. ; wing, 5-75 in.

An irregular spring and autumn migrant, but
on several occasions has been observed in w^inter.

Charlton in his " Onomasticon Zoicon" (1668)
gives a life-size engraving (p, 92) of a Hoopoe
killed near London in the winter of 1666-7, and
Dr. Charles Smith in his "Ancient and Present
State of Waterford," 2nd edit., 1774, records another
which was shot on the ruins of the old church of
Stradbally during the great frost of 1739. Hunt
Teceived specimens shot in Norfolk in November
and December ; and Graves records one killed at
Musselburgh in February {Nat. Journ., i. p. 22).
Others have been obtained at Scilly, in January
(Blyth, Mag. Nat. Hist., ii. p. 595) ; at Thetford, in
December (Zool., 1847, p. 1693); near Oxford, Feb-
ruary 1838 (Matthews); and at Hartfield, Sussex,
Dec. 14, 1897. Mr. W. H. St. Quintin reported
{Field, Jan. 25, 1896) having watched on Jan. 11
the movements of a Hoopoe which had been seen
for a week or more on an isolated farm at some
distance from Rillington, Yorks. It is regarded as
a straggler to Scotland (Gray, "Birds of the West
of Scotland," p. 198). Two were shot in Dumfries-

HOOPOE 115

shire in the winter of 1870-71, as I was informed
by Sir William Jardine.

During the spring migration Hoopoes are some-
times met with at sea. On the 21st April 1853 one
alighted on a mackerel-boat near the Eddystone
Lighthouse, and on April 15, 1854, another flew into
the saloon of a steamer in mid-channel, both birds
being taken alive, apparently much exhausted. A
third was captured by the lighthouse keeper at the
Isle of May on the 30th April 1898. In Ireland the
Hoopoe has appeared in all quarters of the island,
but chiefly in the south. Montagu states that
a pair began a nest in Hampshire ; and Latham
has referred to a young Hoopoe which was shot
in this country in the month of June. Jesse
has recorded that a pair bred close to the house
at Park End, Chichester (" Gleanings in Nat.
Hist.," 3rd series, p. 148). In Dorsetshire, ac-
cording to Mr. Turner, of Sherborne, the nest has
been taken on three or four occasions by school-
boys from pollard willows on the river banks at
Lenthay. These birds were known to the boys
as " hoops."

Dr. Muffett, who died in 1590, wrote: "Houpes
( Upujpw) were not thought by Dr. Turner to be found
in England, yet I saw Mr. Serjeant (sic) Goodrons kill
one of them in Charingdon Park, when he did very
skilfully and happily cure my Lord of Pembroke
at Ivychurch " ("Health's Improvement," 1655, p.
101).

See my article on "Tame Hoopoes" in The Fields

ii6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Jan. 20, 1900 ; and another by Dr. A. Giinther, "The
Hoopoe in Captivity," Field, Jan. 27, 1900.

Fam. CORACIIDiE.

ROLLER. Coracias garrula, Linnaeus. PI. 14, figs. 1, la.
Length, 12 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 8 in. ; tarsus, 0-9 in.

An irregular summer migrant, rare in Scotland,
and occasionally observed in Ireland, chiefly in
autumn {ZooL, 1891, p. 430; 1892, p. 33). Has
occurred several times in Orkney.

Dr. John Hill in his "History of Animals," 1752
(p. 369), mentions a Roller seen by him in Charlton
Forest, Sussex, in which county several others have
been from time to time obtained. Markwick made
a coloured drawing of one which was shot near
Crowhurst in Sept. 1790. According to W. E.
Clarke ten or twelve instances are known of the
occurrence of this bird in Yorkshire. One in the
collection of Mr. W. Borrer was shot at Bircham,
Norfolk, in September 1847. Two in Sir J.
Gooch's collection, killed at Benacre, Suff'olk, are
noticed by Jesse {"Gleanings," 3rd ser., p. 98); and
a male was shot at Raydon, near Ipswich, on June
14, 1876 {Field, July 15, 1876).

This bird feeds on insects and their larvas, small
molluscs, fruit, such as grapes and figs in summer,
and berries in autumn.

A specimen of the Indian Roller (C indicus) is
said to have been taken at Louth, Lincolnshire,
Oct. 8, 1883; cf. Cordeaux, Ibis, Jan. 1891, p. 147.

BEE-EATER 117

Fam. MEROPID^.

BEE-EATER. Merops apiaster, Linnseus. Length, 10 in. ;
bill, 1-5 in. ; wing, 575 in. ; tail, 4*5 in. ; tarsus, 0*4 in.

An irregular summer migrant to England. As
many as twenty have been seen together at one
time in Norfolk (Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," i.
p. 313), and a dozen were procured in one day in
May 1828 at Helston, Cornwall (Rodd, "Birds of
Cornwall," p. 68). Dr. Moore says the Helston
specimens were eleven, not twelve (Trans. Plym.
Inst., 1830, p. 315) ; so does Couch (p. 19) ; but the
exact number is not material. Four others were
shot at Madron (Couch, p. 19). Mr. Mansel Pley-
dell mentions the occurrence of two in his county
(" Birds of Dorset," p. 60) ; and a great many are
stated to have been met with at various times
in Devonshire (D'Urban and Mathew, p. 119). In
Somerset a small flock appeared at Stapleton, on
the banks of the Frome, in May 1869, and three
were shot. Amongst the more recent occurrences
of this species in England, i.e. since the publica-
tion of the first edition of this Handbook, the
following may be mentioned : —

One, Ingoldsby, near Bowes, July 1879 (ZooL,
1882, p. 149).

One, Tetney Lock, near Grimsby, August 16,
1880 (Field, Sept. 11, 1880).

Seven seen, three shot, Whitegate, Co. Cork,
April 1888. Two in Dublin Museum.

One, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, May 2, 1889. In

ii8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the collection of Mr. G. A. Tern pier {ZooL,

1889, p. 229).
One, out of six, seen at Delgany, Co. Wicklow,

Nov. 2, 1892 {Zool, 1892, p. 428).
Three, near Milfordhaven, Pembrokeshire,

May 13, 1896, Jide Captain F. Hughes,

Government House, Devonport, May 16,

1896.
One, seen at Haggerston Castle, Beal, North-
umberland, April 29, 1897 (C. J. Leyland,

Field, May 8, 1897).
Two seen and one shot in Caithness, May 12,

1897 (L. Dunbar, A7m. Scot. Nat. Hist.,

1897, and Ibis, 1898, p. 157).

Fam. ALCEDINID^.

KINGFISHER. Alcedo ispida, Linnaeus. PI. 14, figs.
2, 2a. Length, 7-5 in. ; bill, 1-5 in. ; wing, 3 in.

This is Tennyson's "sea-blue bird of March"
{Zool, 1884, pp. 117, 197).

Resident and generally distributed, migrating
to the coast at the approach of winter, when the
inland streams and marsh dykes become frozen, and
they are thus prevented from fishing. I have known
a Kingfisher to be caught in a lobster-pot into which,
when exposed at low tide, it had dived after a small
struggling fish.

Kingfishers scoop out for themselves the holes
in which they nest, and lay their eggs on the bare
soil, not on fishbones as generally supposed ; these
are accumulated by degrees and by accident, not

WOODPECKERS 119

by design (Scobie, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasgow,
n.s., vol. iii. p. 253, and Laver, Essex Nat., vol. iii.
p. 93). Several instances have been reported from
time to time of Kingfishers perching on an angler's
rod held in hand while fishing.

Fam. PICID^.

GREEN WOODPECKER. Picus viridis, Linngeus. PL
16, figs. 3, 4, 5. Length, 12-5 in. ; bill, 1*75 in. ; wing,
6 "5 in. ; tarsus, 1"25 in.

Resident in England, but rarely met with north
of the Solway or Tweed. It was formerly so rare in
Cornwall that Mr. Rodd had only once or twice met
with it in thirty years' experience [Zool., 1876, p.
4796). In 1882, however, it had become much less
rare, and was stated to be breeding in that county
("Birds of Cornwall," 1880, p. 65).

There is a specimen in the Dunrobin Museum
from Bonar, Sutherland. In 1876, according to the
late W. Reid, of Wick, the Green Woodpecker had
not been met with in Caithness. It is a rare visitant
to Orkney, where one or two specimens have been
procured.

In Ireland it has been obtained only twice, viz.,
at Granard, Co. Longford (Thompson, Nat. Hist. P-e-
land, App., p. 441), and at Sallymount, Co. Kildare
(Watters, "Birds of Ireland," p. 97).

The European Picus canus is figured (PI. 16,
figs. 6, 7) for comparison with P. viridis, and with
the Spanish form P. sharpii, which has a grey face.

I20 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER. Dendrocopns
irnajor (Linnaeus). PI. 16, figs. 8, 9, 10. Length,
9-5 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 5-5 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Resident in England, and in a few instances has
been noticed in Ireland. In the autumn of 1889
six were shot in Ulster, two in Leinster, one in
Munster; and in Jan. 1890, one in Co. Kerry. It is
a well-known winter visitant throughout Scotland,
and specimens have been obtained in almost every
county. " It has been known to breed in limited
numbers in Banffshire, Aberdeenshire, and a portion
of Inverness-shire " (R Gray). Numerous in Orkney
and Shetland in the autumn of 1861 (Saxby, Zool.,
1862, p. 7932) ; and in Caithness (W. Reid, of Wick,
Land and Water, Dec. 16, 1876), and has been met
with in Skye (Zool, 1889, p. 269).

In 1873 a curious variety of this Woodpecker
was shot in the New Forest by James Gulliver, a
woodman of Brockenhurst. With the exception of
the red feathers on the head and under the tail,
the bird was perfectly white (Zool., 1876, p. 4797).
As to habits in captivity, see Zool., 1883, p. 473.

LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER, Dendrocopus
minor (Linnaeus). PI. 16, figs. 12, 13, 13a. Length,
575 in.; bill, 075 in.; wing, 3-5 in.; tarsus, 0'6 in.

Resident in England. In regard to Scotland, it
is included in Don's "Fauna of Forfarshire" and in
Pennant's "Caledonian Zoology," and is stated to
have been observed in Caithness in a garden near

WOODPECKERS 121

Wick ; but E. Gray states that he has never been
able to examine a specimen killed in any part of
Scotland ("Birds West Scotland," p. 191).

This bird is very rare in Ireland, though it has
been met with there more often than the Green
Woodpecker. Glenuon of Dublin has preserved
six or seven at various times, sent to him from
different counties.

WRYNECK. Jynx torquilla, Linnaeus.^ PL 17, figs. 3,
y Sa. Length, 6-5 in. ; bill, 0-6 in. ; wing, 3-25 in.

A summer migrant to England, rarely seen in
Scotland north of the Forth. On two occasions,
however, it has been met with in Orkney (Ann.
Scot. Nat Hist., 1897, p. 43), and on the 30th
of April 1898, one was captured alive on the
Island of Foula, Shetland. It died about an
hour afterwards, and was sent to the Museum of
Science and Art, Edinburgh. It was not observed
in Ireland until 1877, but since then it has been
met with on at least five occasions, viz., in Water-
ford, near Dunmore, Oct. 5, 1877; Rathlin Island,
Donegal, Oct. 1878 ; Arran Island, north light-
house, Oct. 6, 1886; Ashford, Co. Wicklow, May
.31, 189.5; and Rockabill Lighthouse, five miles
off Dublin, Sept. 8, 1896 (Irish Naturalist, 1898,
p. 16).

The Wryneck has occasionally been seen in this

' In departing from the customary mode of spelling the above
generic term, it may be desirable to indicate its derivation — namely,
* Ivyl, vyyos, SO called from its shrill cry, th. Iv^io.

122 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

country in the winter, e.g. one was both heard and
seen in Norfolk on the 1st of January 1884 (Upcher,
Zool., 1884, p. 74); another was seen and heard
near Cambridge on Nov. 25, 1895 (J. L. Bonhote,
Field, Dec. 7, 1895).

Known in many parts of the country as the
Cuckoo's-mate from its habit of appearing about
the same time as the Cuckoo. Its call, composed
of five dissyllabic notes, is not unlike that of the
Kestrel.

Although usually selecting a hole in a tree for
nidification, the Wryneck has been known to occupy
a Sand-martin's burrow in the side of a sandpit in
Oxfordshire [Zool., 1885, p. 27), and another in a
brick-earth cutting in Kent {Zool., 1887, p. 299).

Order IV. COLUMB^
Fam. COLUMBID^.

RING DOVE or WOOD PIGEON. Columba palumbus,
Linnaeus. PI. 18, fig. 6. Length, 17 in. ; wing, 10 in. ;
tarsus, 1 in.

Resident and generally distributed, migrating to
the south at the approach of winter, when large
flocks arrive here from the Continent, particularly
in November. The home-bred birds, which begin
nesting early in April, and rear several successive
broods before September, quit their summer quarters
about the end of the latter month, and go south-

PIGEONS 123

ward, always flying head to wind. Mr. Abel Chap-
man, in his " Bird-life of the Borders," gives an
excellent account of the Wood Pigeon from personal
observation in the north of England, where this bird
is known as the Cushat. He states there is no
doubt that at some seasons, and under certain con-
ditions of weather, large flocks of Wood Pigeons
cross the North Sea, especially in the month of
November ; but as no great number are bred in
Norway, Sweden, or Denmark, it is probable that
many of our visitors come from the Scottish High-
lands, the Lothians, or elsewhere, merely shifting
their quarters in search of food.

Although the usual number of eggs laid by
pigeons is two, both the Wood Pigeon and the
Stockdove occasionally lay three {Zool, 1876, p.
4875, and Field, May 28, 1898). The two species
have been known to inter-breed, and more rarely
the Wood Pigeon has paired with a house-pigeon
(Field, July 22, 1876; Zool, 1894, p. 23). Several
cases are recorded of the Wood Pigeon breeding in
captivity (Field, Jan. 26, 1895), and occasionally in
a building (Field, Feb. 3, 1900). In July 1875 a
pair nested in the dome of the Infirmary at Elgin,
although there are large woods of Scotch fir in the
neighbourhood. Sometimes a nest has been found
on the ground (Zool, 1895, pp. 232, 275). I have
noted the following contents of crops in Wood
Pigeons shot in different months, chiefly between
Sept. 1 and Feb. 1 : — (l) 26 acorns and nearly 100
ivy-berries ; (2) 33 acorns and 44 beech-mast ;

124 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

(3) 65 beans; (4) 76 beans; (5) 87 beans; (6) 75
acorns; (7) 139 beech-nuts, a few grains of wheat,
and a small white slug, Limax agrestis ; (8) 46
horse-beans, as many field-pease, and a few elm-
buds ; (9) 1840 green seed-pods with calyx attached
of Veronica Buxhaumii ; (10) 13 shells of Helix
caperata; (11) Several shot on March 9 were
crammed with leaves of Lesser Celandine; (12)
llie crop of one shot by the late Canon Atkinson
of Danby in Cleveland burst on falling and dis-
played half a pint of holly-berries ("Forty Years in
a Moorland Parish," p. 345).

Wood Pigeons sometimes cast up " pellets " like
owls and other birds of prey, but probably only after
eating certain kinds of food, as is the case with
Rooks {Zool, 1887, pp. 193, 235).

In very hot weather Wood Pigeons (as well as
house-pigeons) may be seen alighting occasionally
on the surface of water to drink, and after a few
seconds flying off again [Field, June 26 and July 3,
1875). Large numbers of Wood Pigeons are netted
on migration in the Pyrenees [Field, Dec. 8, 1883;
Zool, 1885, p. 185; Field, Dec. 17, 1887), and
Turtledoves are similarly taken in the Medoc [Fields
May 20, 1899). Decoys for shooting pigeons
(Badminton Library, vol. " Shooting," p. 230). Lord
Walsingham's bag of 185 Wood Pigeons [Field,
Jan. 10, and Feb. 7 and 14, 1891). Albino Wood
Pigeons [Field, Nov. 3, 10, 17, 24, 1894). Disease
in Wood Pigeons [Field, Nov. 23 and 30, and Dec.
7, 1895; Zool, 1896, p. 260).

PIGEONS 125

STOCK DOVE. Columba oenas, Linnseus. PI. 18, fig. 7.
Length, 13-5 in. ; wing, 8-5 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

A local resident, migrating to the south in winter.
In the different county faunas and local lists to which
reference has been made, this species has been vari-
ously characterised as follows : — Common through-
out the year in Norfolk ; a permanent resident in
Leicestershire ; breeds in Cheshire and in AVorcester-
shire ; very common in Shropshire ; resident in
Berks and Bucks ; resident in Middlesex, but more
numerous in autumn and winter ; resident and
common in the New Forest ; resident in Sussex ;
rare in Somerset ; a winter visitant in Devon ; rare
in Cornwall ; rare winter visitant in the Isle of
Wight, where, however, it has twice been found
nesting ; and twice obtained at Scilly. Until re-
cently it seems to have been unknown in Durham,
and farther north it is extremely rare (Ibis, 1878,
p. 382). In Northumberland, near Hexham, June
1872, April 24, 1873, and May 10, 1873.

The extension northward of the range of this
bird during the last ten or a dozen years is note-
worthy. This has been particularly remarked by Mr.
Chapman in Northumberland (" Bird-life of the Bor-
ders," 1889, p. 145), and by Mr. Harvie-Brown (Ann.
Scot. Nat. Hist., 1894, p. 3). It has been met with
in Perthshire (Zool, 1884, p. 272), in East Lothian,
where it nested amongst the crags of Traprain Law
(Zool, 1887, p. 235), in Caithness (Harvie-Brown),
two or three times in Orkney, and once in Shetland.

126 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

In Ireland the Stock Dove is of rare occurrence,
but has of late years been observed more frequently.
One in the Belfast Museum was shot in Co. Down
in 1876, a second was obtained after it had left the
nest (Zool., 1877, p. 383). Others have been pro-
cured in Antrim {Zool. 1889, p. 309) and Wicklow
(Zool, 1893, p. 192).

Although commonly found nesting in stocks or
pollards, this bird occasionally resorts to sea-cliffs,
as in Dorsetshire {Field, April 14, 1866) and York-
shire {Field, July 7, 1877) ; also in rabbit-burrows,
as in Norfolk (Stevenson, vol. i. p. 356) and Wal-
ney Island {Zool., 1880, p. 244) ; phenomenally
in Magpies' nests {Zool, 1875, p. 4539, 1880,
p. 143), and, as I have myself observed, in the
wooden spire of a country church {Field, March
30, 1867).

Both the Stock Dove and the Wood Pigeon are
very common in Scandinavia in summer, but do not
winter there {Field, May 8, 1897). The former may
always be known from the latter by its smaller size
and sharper flight, as well as by the absence of
white collar so conspicuous in the Ring Dove. The
difference in size is shown in their respective weights.
An old Stock Dove will weis^h from 12i to 14i oz. :
a Wood Pigeon from 16 oz. to 24 or 25 oz.

ROCK DOVE. Columba livia, Temminck. Length,
13'5 in. ; wing, SS in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Resident, and in many places plentiful, especially
along the coast-line of the west of Scotland, in the

PIGEONS 127

Hebrides or Western Isles, and on the north and
west coasts of Ireland.

Although similar in size and weight to the
Stock Dove, it may be always distinguished from
that species by the white rump (instead of blue),
and by the black bars on the wings.

TURTLE DOVE. Turtur communis, Selby. PL 18,
figs 8, 8a. Length, 11 in. ; wing, 7 in. ; tarsus, -9 in.

A summer migrant to England and Wales,
occasionally to Scotland. One was shot near Ber-
wick in the autumn of 1872, as I am informed by
Mr. Thomson of Kelso, who saw the bird in the
flesh ; one near Haddington (Macgill, ii. p. 480) ;
and one near Thurso, Caithness, Nov. 2, 1878
(M'Nicol, Field, Nov. 9, 1878). In the Hebrides
specimens have , been shot in Islay and Skye, but
not in the outer islands. Several instances of its
occurrence in Shetland have been reported ; and it
has twice been procured in Orkney (Baikie and
Heddle, "Fauna Orcadensis," p. 223). In Ireland
it is stated by Thompson to be " an occasional,
almost an annual, visitant to the cultivated districts
in some parts of the island ; but is rare in the west
(Warren, Zool, 1882, p. 267). In the summer of 1882
one was shot and another seen in Co. Waterford.

In Oct. 1889 a bird identified by Mr. Seebohm
as an immature Asiatic Turtle Dove (Turtur orien-
talis) was shot near Scarborough, and is preserved
in the York Museum (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1890, and
Backhouse, Nat., 1890, p. 258).

128 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Order V. PTEROCLIDES

Fam. PTEROCLID^.

PINTAILED SAND-GROUSE. Syrrhaptes paradoxus
(Pallas). Length, 15 in. ; wing, 10 in. ; weight, lOi oz.

Although this species has on several occasions
and in different years visited the British Islands in
considerable numbers, and has even nested in this
country {cf. Ibis, 1890, p. 207, PI. 8), it can only be
regarded as an occasional and very erratic vranderer
from Turkestan and the Kirghis Steppes, and for
this reason should perhaps be relegated to Part II. of
this " Handbook." It may, however, be mentioned
here en passant, as the only representative of its
Order in the British Avifauna.

Order VI. GALLING

Fam. TETRAONID^.

CAPERCAILLIE. Tetrao urogallus, Linnaeus. Length,
32 in. ; wing, 15 in. ; tarsus, 2 '5 in.

As to the proper mode of spelling the name of
this bird, we have it on the authority of the Rev.
Dr. Maclauchlan, a well-known Gaelic scholar,
that it is derived from the Gaelic cahha7^-coiUe, or
" bird of the wood," the Snipe being cahhar-athar,
or "bird of the air" (ether). Dr. Maclauchlan con-
siders, therefore, that caher-coille is the orthography

CAPERCAILLIE 129

which comes nearest to the original. Mr. Harvie-
Brown writes, " Some people assert that to spell
it with a 2; is the best Scotch, but there being no
y nor z in Gaelic, and the word being distinctly
of Gaelic origin, it is best to adhere in form as
closely as possible to that origin." He accordingly
adopts the spelling Cajpercaillie, which is here fol-
lowed.

Originally indigenous to the north of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, dwelling in the great pine-
woods which have been gradually destroyed, it
survived longest in Scotland, where it is said to have
become extinct about 1769, in which year Pennant
ascertained that it still lingered in Glen Moriston
and in the country of the Chisholms, in Inverness
("Tour in Scotland," 5th ed., i. p. 218, and iii.
p. 23; "British Zoology," 4th ed., p. 225, pi. xh.).
Graves in his "British Ornithology" (1821) assigns
a later date than this to its extinction, observing
that one was killed near Fort William in 1815.
However that may be, the species was reintroduced
into Scotland in 1837-38 by Lord Breadalbane and
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, through the agency of
Mr. L. Lloyd, who sent over some of these birds from
Sweden. Interesting particulars of this enterprise
are given in Lloyd's " Game-birds and Wildfowl of
Sweden and ISorway," and in Mr. Harvie-Brown's
more recently published work, "The Capercaillie
in Scotland," 1879, with supplementary remarks in
TJie Scottish Naturalist, July 1880. The diary of
the gamekeeper, Laurence Banville, who journeyed

130 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

to Sweden to fetch the birds, is printed verbatim in
Blaine's " Rural Sports."

There can be no doubt that in ancient times this
bird existed in England in the great pine-woods, and
was killed and eaten by the cave-dwellers. Bones
have been found at Teesdale, in caves of mountain
limestone, and among Roman remains at Settle ;
moreover, it must have survived in England within
historic times, for the Britons had a name for it,
Ceiliog coed, cock of the wood, and it appears by
old grants (circa 1343-1361) that land was then
held in the county of Durham by the tenure inter
alia of paying yearly one wood-hen, gallina sylva-
tica (Zool, 1879, p. 468 ; Scot. Nat, 1880). Lord
Ravensworth attempted to reintroduce it into Nor-
thumberland at Eslington [Nat. Hist. Trans. Nor-
thumh., vol. V. p. 334), and a similar experiment was
made by Sir H. Graham at Netherby (Macpherson,
*' Birds of Cumberland," p. 126).

With regard to Ireland, Rutty, writing in 1772
(" Nat. Hist. Co. Dublin," i. p. 302), and referring
to the cock of the wood described by Pennant,
says : " One of these was seen in the county of
Leitrim about the year 1710 ; but they have entirely
disappeared by reason of the destruction of our
woods." According to Pennant, however, a few
were to be found about Thomastown in Tipperary
about 1760 ; so that the ancient race seems to have
become extinct in Ireland and Scotland about the
same time.

Hybrids between Capercaillie and Blackgame are

CAPERCAILLIE 131

mentioned by Pennant {ut supra) ; Field, March 15,
1863; Zool, 1878, p. 349; and Ann. Scot. Nat.
Hist, 1897, p. 45; and between Capercaillie and
Pheasant, Scot. Nat., 1891, p. 38. Examples of these
are figured by Mr. Millais in his '' Game-birds."

As to the food of this bird, the young when
following the hen, which scrapes for them like other
gallinaceous birds, feed largely on worms, insects, and
their larvae, and ants' eggs; later they live much
on blaeberries, and visit the oat-fields. The crop
of one shot in Perthshire, during the first week of
November, contained a handful of oak-leaves and
168 acorns; others contained shoots of the Scotch
fir, heather tops, and oats. A young cock Caper-
caillie in his first year will weigh from 4 lbs. (the
weight of an old Blackcock) to 6 lbs. or 7 lbs. ; when
three years old and upwards, from 10 lbs to 12 lbs.

As to the position of the Capercaillie under
English game laws, see my remarks Field, Nov. 25,
1882, and J. G. Millais, op. cit. 1894, p. 27.

BLACK GROUSE. Tetrao tetrix, Linnaeus. PL 18, figs. 4,
5, 5a. Length, $ 23 in. ; 18 in. to fork of tail ; $ 17
in. ; wing, cJ 10-5 in., $ 9 in. ; tarsus, c? 2 in., ? 1"6 in.

Resident in the greater part of Scotland and in
many parts of England, where larch and birch woods,
wide tracts of heath, and moist, rushy ground afibrd
sufficient shelter and natural food.

Northuviherland. — At Alnwick, Mouncer Moors, Kiel-
der, Morpeth, Riddlehamhope Moor, near Blanchland, and
within six miles of Newcastle.

132 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Cumberland. — Bewcastle, Naworth, Netherby, and
CrossthAvaite.

Westmorland. — About Shap, Raegill, and Lowther
Woods, and Julian Bower.

Durham. — On tbe Yorkshire border near Stokesley
and Lartington, Upper Teesdale, and Weardale.

Yorkshire. — Sheffield, Huddersfield, Wensleydale, Nid-
derdale, and Swaledale. Introduced at Lartington, and
forty years ago at Birk Brow, near Guisborough, Tryup
Head, and Leverton Moor (Field, Feb. 20, 1897).

Lancashire. — Winster, Cartmell, and Furness Fells
(ZooL, 1850, p. 2968). Unsuccessfully introduced at
Whitewell in Bowland in 1864, Easington Fell, near
Blackburn, Nov. 18, 1895.

Cheshire. — Formerly (1864) in Delamere Forest, now
cleared. At Boughton in 1892.

Derbyshire. — In the pine woods round Strines Edge,
Glossop, Hayiield, and Castleton in the Peak.

Nottinghamshire. — Sherwood Forest, Inkersal, New-
stead, Coleorton Corner, and Ratcher Hill.

Lincolnshire. — Introduced at Frodingham on Trent-
side, and Caistor, 1871-72.

Shro2)shire. — Formerly on Whixall Moss ; now on the
Clee-hills, Corvedale, Church Stretton, Stiperstones, and
Clun Forest.

Staffordshire. — Cannock Chace, Needwood (formerly),
Chartley Moss, Cheadle, Leek, and the Weaver Hills.

Leicestershire. — Formerly in Charnwood Forest, and
Sharpley, until 1850.

Rutlandshire. — One shot in Burley Wood, Jan. 1851.

Northamptonshire. — Near Cranford and Grafton Park
straying from Sherwood Forest {Zool, 1851, p. 3278).

Norfolk. — Supposed to be indigenous in the Downham
Market district; introduced with more or less success in
other parts of the county, as near Thetford, where up-
wards of 200 were turned out by Mr. Dalziel Mackenzie
{Field, Nov. 2, 1895).

GROUSE 133

Suffolk. — Introduced at Elveden, and Blackheath,
Friston, near Aldeburgh, 1850.

Warwickshire.— '^uiion Coldfield, Oct. 1888.

Worcestershire. — Wyre Forest, Bewdley, Clee-hills, and
the wooded banks of the Teme near Eastham.

Herefordshire. — Cusop Hill and the Black Mountains,
Bircher Common, Shobdon, Craswell, and Stoke Edith.

Oxfordshire. — Forest Hill, 1836; Tackley, near Wood-
stock, 1880 (Aplin, "Birds of Oxfordshire").

Berkshire. — Introduced at Windsor and Ascot Heath.
Several shot there in Oct. 1867 {Field, Oct. 5, 1867).

Biickinghamshire. — Hyde Heath, near Chesham, 1852
(Clark Kennedy, " Birds of Bucks ").

Surrey.— hQith Hill, 1871-72-76; Camberley, 1887;
and Farnham, 1888; Peperharrow, 1890; on the Pud-
moors near Godalming, Frensham Common, 1891-96 ;
and Hindhead, 1899.

Sussex. — Formerly in St. Leonard's Forest till 1850, near
Crawley, and Lewes, Oct. 1851 ; Ashdown Forest till 1862 ;
Blackdown, 1870, 1881, and 1890.

Hants. — New Forest, Holt, and Wolmer Forest (1878),
and Hurstbourne Priors, introduced by the Earl of Ports-
mouth.

Wilts. — Winterslow Woods and Ellesbourne for-
merly ; Redholm, Vale of Pewsey, and Compton Bassett ;
occasional stragglers from Hants and Somerset.

Dorsetshire. — On the heaths which are preserved
between Alderholt and Knighton. Bloxworth Heath,
Chamberlayne's Heath, and Hyde Heath (Mansel Pley-
dell, " Birds of Dorset," p. 68).

Somersetshire. — Quantock and Brendon Hills, the
northern skirts of the Mendips, Winsford, and Oare.

Devonshire. — On Dartmoor to the south and west;
Haldon and Blackdown Hills; and on the borders of
Exmoor.

Cornwall. — The Bodmin Moors, Kilmar and Dosmare
Pool districts.

134 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

In Wales the Black Grouse has been introduced
in Carnarvonshire at Vaynol, in Merionethshire at
Bala, in Montgomeryshire north of Lake Vyrnwy,
and in Pembrokeshire at Trecwm. In Cardigan-
shire it is probably now extinct (ZooL, 1895, p.
183). In Glamorganshire, where once common, now
extinct ; in Breconshire fairly plentiful near Tre-
castle, on the properties of the Marquis of Cam-
den, Lord Tredegar, Lord Glenusk, and Mr. Williams
Vaughan. The Welsh call it Ceiliog du, black
cock, and Ceiliog-ij-myyiydd, cock of the hill.

In Ireland the Black Grouse is not found natu-
rally, and it is still doubtful whether it ever
existed there except as an introduced species.
Pocock in his "Tour in Ireland," 1752, stated that
in Co. Antrim some had been brought over by
Lord Antrim from Scotland. Pennant in 1812
[Brit. ZooL, i. p. 353) asserted that some had
been shot in Co. Sligo, where the species had
been formerly introduced from Scotland. A few
were turned out at Claggan by Lord O'Neill in
1829; at Glenarm by Lord Antrim in 1839, and
others about the same time at Tollymore, Co.
Down, and Courtown, Co. Dublin, Col. Cooper of
Markree Castle, Co. Sligo, made several attempts
to establish Black-game in his neighbourhood by
importing birds from Norway, but they eventually
disappeared.

In Tlie Irish Naturalist, Feb. 1899, Mr. G. H.
Barrett-Hamilton has summarised the results of
these and other experiments, adding that in the

GROUSE 135

Dublin Museum Mr. Lydekker recognised some bones
of the Black Grouse from Bally namintra Cave, Co.
Waterford, from which it was inferred that this bird
was once indigenous in Ireland. But Mr. Ussher
("Birds of Ireland," 1900, p. 231), states that the
bones referred to resemble those of a small domestic
fowl far more closely than those of a Black Grouse.

Hybrids between Blackcock and Pheasant have
been frequently obtained and recorded.

In The Zoologist for Feb. 1885, I have described
and figured a curious variety of the Blackcock
spotted with white. Most writers agree in de-
scribing the Blackcock as having white under tail
coverts, but they omit to state that these coverts
are tipped with black markings, which vary in size
and intensity of colour with age, the older birds
having darker tips and more of them.

The weight of an old Blackcock is about 4J lbs. ;
a young male from 2J to 3 lbs. ; a grey hen 2 to 2|
lbs. Grey hens breed when a year old. For infor-
mation on rearing Black-game see The Field, Feb.
27, 1875; Aug. 15, 1891; Nov. 13 and 20, 1897;
Jan. 14 and Feb. 4, 1899; incubation lasts twenty-
eight days.

As to food, Black-game in spring feed much on
the cotton grass, Eriophorum vaginatum, and are
fond of the buds of the bog myrtle ; in summer,
heather, pine leaves and shoots ; in autumn, acorns,
oats, seeds of rush, and berries of Vaccinium Myr-
tillus ; in winter the catkins of the alder, and berries
of the rowan tree.

136 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

RED GROUSE. Lagopus scoticus (Latham). Length,
14-5 in. ; wing, 8 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in.

Resident in Scotland, the north and north-west
of England, Wales, and Ireland : this is regarded
as the only species of bird peculiar to the British
Islands, but it has been introduced into Sweden,
Denmark, Belgium, and North Germany. It breeds
in Derbyshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and in every
county north of lat. 54°, reaching the Outer Hebrides
and Orkneys. On the introduction of Grouse into
Shetland, see my notes in The Field, May 4, 1889.
Attempts to naturalise the Red Grouse on Bagshot
Heath (Field, Jan. 14, 21, 1871), on Dartmoor and
Exmoor, 1820-25, have failed (see Zool, 1891, p.
235), nor have similar experiments made on the
hea,th lands of Suffolk and Norfolk at Brandon,
1854; Elveden, 1864-65; and Sandringham, 1878,
been more successful. See Manley, " Notes on
Game," 1880, and Babington, "Birds of Suffolk,"
1884-86, p. 107 footnote.

As to the distribution of the Eed Grouse in
the West of England and South Wales, it is
found on the Black Mountains in Herefordshire,
the hills of Monmouthshire, and the moors of
Radnor, Brecon, Carmarthen, and Pembroke ; also
in Glamorganshire, on the Glyn Mountains be-
tween Dinas and Cymmer. The Welsh name for
Grouse is Grugiar. Wanderers have been found
accidentally in Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Wor-
cestershire.

GROUSE 137

As to the partial migration of Grouse, see
Harvie-Brown, "Fauna of Moray," ii. p. 153; Proc.
Glasgow N. H. Soc, 1879, p. 167; Clarke and
Roebuck, "Yorkshire Yertebrata," p. 62; Zool.,
1886, p. 107 ; and 1895, pp. 21, 69, 108. Marked
Grouse, Field, Sept. 16, 1893; Aug. 21, 1897;
Aug. 20, 1898. Grouse swimming, "Fauna of the
Outer Hebrides," p. 249 ; and carrying the young,
Field, Feb. 2, 1895.

As to variability of plumage, see Manley, " Notes
on Game and Game Shooting," 1880, p. 40; Buck-
ley, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1882, pp. 112-116; Grant,
Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1894, pp. 129-140 ; and
Slater, Zool., 1895, p. 107. Irish Grouse are lighter
in colour than those of Great Britain. See Ussher,
"Birds of Ireland," p. 230.

Grouse have been known to breed in confine-
ment {Field, Feb. 6, 1863). A tame one lived for
six years in captivity at Wilton House, Blackburn,
and in 1898 Mr. Assheton Smith showed me a tame
covey at Vaynol.

Hybrids between Red and Black Grouse are
reported. Field, March 15, 1863; Feb. 20, 1875;
Proc. Zool. Soc, Nov. 7, 1893 ; Field, Sept. 15, 1894 ;
and Sept. 5, 1896. Figured by Millais, op. cit.

A hybrid also between Red Grouse and Ptar-
migan has been described (see Newton, Proc. Zool.
Soc, 1878, p. 793; Chamberlain, Zool, 1892, p. 44;
and Millais, " Gamebirds," figure, p. 181).

With regard to the annual shedding of the
claws in the Grouse family, see under Ptarmigan.

138 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

The Grouse in Orkney are said to exceed in
weight those found in any part of Scotland. Aver-
age weight of old Grouse, 20 to 24 oz. ; best in
Scotland, 28 oz. ; Orkney birds up to 30 oz. In
England, on the Alston moors, old hens weigh 23 oz.,
old cocks, 26 oz. ; in Upper Swaledale 28 to 30 oz.

The following are some record bags : — On Aug.
30, 1888, Lord Walsingham shot 1070 driven
Grouse — 535 brace — on Bluberhouse Moor, York-
shire {Field, Sept. 8, 1888); on Aug. 20, 1872,
Sir F. Milbank, with five other guns, killed 2070
Grouse, or 1035 brace, on Wemmergill Moors,
Yorkshire, and in the same year Mr. Remington
Wilson and friends on one day bagged 1313 brace
by *' driving."

The subject of Grouse disease is one on which
a volume might be written, and cannot here be dis-
cussed. The following sources of information may
be consulted : —

St. John, "Nat. Hist, and Sport in Moray," 1863.

Colquhoun, " The Moor and the Loch," 1868.

Young, "Aspects of the Grouse Disease," Proc. Nat.
Hist. Soc. Glasgoiv, 1868, p. 225.

Gray, "Birds of the West of Scotland," 1871, p. 233.

Cobbold, " The Grouse Disease," 8vo, pp. 27, 1873.

Baton, Report on Grouse Disease, Field, June 17, 1882.

Harvie-Brown, Remarks on Grouse Disease, Zool., 1882,
pp. 401-404.

Macdonald, "Grouse Disease: its Causes and Re-
medies," 3rd ed., 1883, p. 190.

Harting, Review of the subject. Field, April 28, 1883.

Speedy, " Sport in the Highlands and Lowlands of
Scotland," 1884, pp. 182-201.

PTARMIGAN 139

Klein, Reports on Grouse Disease, Field, July 23, 1887 ;
Zool, 1887, pp. 327-337 ; Field, June 15 and Dec. 28, 1889.

Chapman, Notes on Grouse Disease in " Bird-life of
the Borders," 1889, pp. 65-71.

Carrington, " The Grouse-Fly {Omithohia pallida) in
relation to Grouse Disease," Field, Aug. 29, 1891.

Klein, " The Etiology and Pathology of Grouse Disease,"
8vo, 1892, pp. 130.

Harting, "The Causes of Grouse Disease," Zool., 1892,
pp. 337-341, and Chambers's Journal, June 11, 1892.

Tegetmeier, Grouse Disease exceptional in Ireland, in
Co. Antrim, Field, Aug. 21, 1897.

Shipley, Diseases of Grouse, " Encyclopaedia of Sport,"
1898, p. 491.

PTARMIGAN. Lagopus mutus (Montin). Length, 14
in. ; wing, 7 "5 in. ; tarsus, 1-25 in.

Resident only on the higher mountains of Scot-
land and the Hebrides. The best hills for Ptar-
migan in Scotland are in Ross-shire around Loch
Maree, and in the Auchnashellach Forest; Sutherland,
Caithness, and parts of Perthshire. Formerly in the
Isle of Rum, and in S.W. Scotland — Kirkcudbright-
shire and Dumfriesshire (Service, Zool., 1887, p. 81).
In Orkney the last were shot in Hoy in 1831.

As to its alleged former occurrence in Cumber-
land, see More, Zool., 1881, p. 44, and Macpherson,
"Fauna of Lakeland," 1892, p. 333. The assertion
that Ptarmigan once existed in Wales is without
foundation (Zool., 1881, p. 45).

As to hybrids between Ptarmigan and Red
Grouse, see P. Z. S., 1878, p. 793, and Zool, 1892,

140 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

p. 41. See also Millais, "Game Birds," 1894, p. 183,
for a detailed account of the seasonal changes of
plumage in the Ptarmigan. On the shedding of
the claws in Ptarmigan and Grouse, see —

Nilsson, Rep. Zool. Acad. Sci. Stockholm, 1828, p. 104.
Meves, Ofv. Svensk Vet. Akad. Fordhandl., 1871, p. 772.
Dresser, "Birds of Europe," vol. vii. p. 189.
Stejneger, Amer. Nat, 1884, p. 774 ; Zool, 1887, p. 258.
Newton, "Dictionary of Birds," art. Moult, 1894.
Tegetmeier, Field, Sept. 24, 1898, with figure.
Hartmg, Field, Oct. 1, 1898, and figure by J. G.
Millais in his " Game Birds," 1894, p. 138.

This singular process of shedding the claws has
been noticed in other birds of the Grouse family,
e.g. the Hazel Hen, Capercaillie, and Black-game.

The best bags of Ptarmigan in Scotland are
credited to the Hon. Geoffrey tlill, who in August
and September 1866, at Auchnashellach, shot, on
Aug. 25, 122 ; on Aug. 29, 82 ; and on Sept. 17,
60 birds. On Aug. 22, 1898, 45J brace were shot
in one day at Drumochter, Inverness-shire. The ave-
rage weight of a Ptarmigan is 20 oz., or rather less
than that of a E-ed Grouse.

Fam. PHASIANID^.

PHEASANT. Phasianiis colchicus, Linnaeus. Lengfth,
$ 36-5 in., $ 24-5 in. ; wing, ^10 in., ^ S-5 in. ; tarsus,
$ 2-75 in., $ 2-5 in.

The precise date of the introduction of the
Pheasant into Great Britain is uncertain ; but there

PHEASANT 141

is evidence to show that it was prior to the invasion
of the Normans, and that we are probably indebted
for this game-bird to the enterprise of the Romans
(see The Ibis, 1869, p. 358).

The species first imported was that which owes
its scientific name to the river Phasis in Colchis,
on the wooded banks of which it was said to
have been originally discovered, and where it is
still common, the river being the modern Rion
in Transcaucasia. In the eighteenth century the
Chinese Phasianus torqiiatus and the Japanese P.
versicolor were introduced, and the present race of
Pheasants of this country has sprung from the inter-
mingling of these three species. The precise date of
the introduction of each is uncertain, but there is
some evidence to show that the Ring-necked Phea-
sant from China was known in England before 1741,
and that the Japanese versicolor probably came
into England in that year. When Peter Collinson
visited Capt. Goff, " an East India director," in
Essex in 1742, he saw some "beautiful China phea-
sants, and a third sort different from them which
came over last year." ^ The bird which Dr. John
Hill in his "History of Animals" described in
1752 as "the East Indian Pheasant," was apparently
P. versicolor, which, he remarked, " is sometimes
brought over to us." In my " Ornithology of Shake-
speare" (pp. 210-216) I have collected from various
sources, some curious information relating to the

^ The Correspondence of Dr. Richardson of Bierley, Yorkshire.
Privately printed. 8vo. Yarmouth, 1835, p. 391.

142 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

early introduction of the Pheasant and its preser-
vation in England in former times.

In Scotland the first mention of the Pheasant,
presumably Phasianus colchicus, is to be found in a
Statute of James VL, 1594. As to Ireland, Giraldus
Cambrensis states that there were none there in his
day (1183-86), but Fynes Morrison found Pheasants
plentiful during his stay there in 1599-1603 (Zoolo-
gist, 1881, p. 437).

Another beautiful species which has been intro-
duced into this country of late years with some suc-
cess is the Bar-tailed or Reeves's Pheasant. It has
been turned out in Norfolk by Lord Walsingham,
in Suffolk by Lord Rendlesham, in Northampton-
shire by Lord Lilford, and in Scotland by Lord
Seafield at Balmacaan on Loch Ness, and Lord
Tweedmouth at Guisachan in Ross- shire, where the
rough nature of the ground is well adapted to its
requirements (Millais, Field, Feb. 9, 1896), Some
useful hints on the management of Reeves's Phea-
sant preparatory to turning out are given by Mr.
Sutherland, head-keeper at Burrill, near Bedale
(Field, Dec. 4, 1897), and for remarks on the fer-
tility of cross-bred Reeves's Pheasants see Field,
Jan. 21 and Sept. 2, 1899.

Hybrids between P. colchicus and P. reevesii
have been shot on Lord Rendleham's estate in
Suffolk, and elsewhere.

The so-called Bohemian Pheasant (a misnomer,
it having no connection with Bohemia) is a mere
variety, and often has a white collar.

PHEASANT 143

Numerous other topics in connection with
Pheasants cannot be discussed at length ; it must
suffice to give references to a few of them.

The speed of a Pheasant on the wing has
been estimated by Mr. Griffiths from a series
of experiments to be at the rate of 38 miles an
hour (Field, Feb. 19, 1887). Several instances
have been reported of Pheasants flying through
plate-glass windows, misled by the reflection of trees
on the glass {Field, Oct. 24, 1896, and March 13,
1897). Although not usually taking long flights,
they have been known to cross the Humber from
Yorkshire into Lincolnshire, near Grimsby (Cor-
deaux), though Mr. Millais saw five or six Phea-
sants which attempted to cross Loch Ness at Foyers,
where it is more than a mile wide, drop into the
water when about three-parts of the way across.
Pheasants if winged when crossing water will swim
ashore, and have been seen to take to the water
voluntarily [Field, Dec. 13, 1890). In a state of
nature they are polygamous ; eight to ten eggs are
usually laid ; the period of incubation is twenty-
four days. Sometimes a hen Pheasant will lay in
a Partridge's nest, and vice versa ; occasionally in a
tree many feet from the ground, in the deserted nest
of some other bird (ZooL, 1894, pp. 227, 266, and
Field, June 15, 1895, and May 1897); and in the
thatch of a straw-stack 10 feet from the ground
(Field, June 20, 1896). As to the suppression of
scent in a sitting Pheasant, so essential to its safety,
see Tegetmeier, " Pheasants," 3rd ed., p. 73, It is

144 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

said that the " assumption of male plumage by the
hen is invariably caused by disease of the ovary, and
the birds exhibiting this change are without any ex-
ception always barren and useless " (op, cit., p. 138).
This, however, is not always the case (see Fieldy
Nov. 1, 1884; Aug. 21, and Sept. 4, 1886; and
Gurney, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iv. pp. 184, 392).
The converse case of a male bird assuming hen's
plumage has been known to occur but rarely {Ibis,
1897, p. 438).

Amongst the diseases to which Pheasants are
liable, the most troublesome is that known as
" gapes," caused by the presence of small red
worms (Syngamus trachealis) in the windpipe, pro-
voking a spasmodic gaping in the effort to prevent
suffocation. The best published essay on the subject,
that of M. Pierre Megnin {Bull. Soc. Zool. France,
1880), was written at the instigation of Lord
Walsingham, and an English translation with two
coloured plates (1883) has been issued by Messrs.
West, Newman & Co.

"Tuberculous disease" of the lungs and liver is
the result of overcrowding, inter-breeding, breeding
from weak stock, and rearing on tainted ground.

" Cramp," which generally attacks chicks hatched
from purchased eggs and constitutionally weak stock,
is not a true " cramp," though causing lameness, but
a diseased condition of the leg bones, which become
brittle and are easily broken. The remedies for these
and other complaints may be found in Tegetmeier's
" Pheasants for Coverts and Aviaries," 3rd ed., 1897.

. ^

PHEASANT 145

As to " fowl enteritis," a fatal epidemic disease attack-
ing Pheasants, see the remarks of Dr. Klein in his
valuable work, " Grouse Disease and Fowl Enter-
itis," 1892, published by Messrs. Macmillan.

Instances of Pheasants being poisoned by eating
yew leaves are occasionally reported [Field, Nov.
25 ; Dec. 2 and 23, 1876 ; Dec. 20, 1890 ; Sept. 17,
1892; Nov. 11, 1893; and Zool, 1893, p. 146).
In some cases the birds were killed by eating the
common yew, in others by the Irish variety. The
poisonous alkaloid known as taxine exists in a
larger quantity in the leaves of the male than in
those of the female plant ; but the red mucilage
surrounding the ripe seed is innocuous, and many
birds are fond of it. See an article on yew
poisoning, Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc, vol. iii. p. 698,
715 (1892); Nature, 1893, p. 285, and Dr. Lowe's
recent work on yew trees (1897).

As to poisoning with bracken, see Field, Aug.
13, 1892, and Agric. Gazette, April 1894.

"Lead-poisoning," resulting in paralysis, from
swallowing grains of shot picked up in the coverts
is another cause of mortality amongst Pheasants
(Field, Feb. 19 and Mar. 4, 1876; Feb. 27, 1897;
May 20, 1899; and Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1899,
p. 112). "Wool-gathering" is a further source of dan-
ger to young pheasants, the result of setting coops
in a field where sheep have grazed. The young
birds pick up shreds of wool which choke the giz-
zard, and thus prevent the passage of food.

The normal weight of an adult cock Pheasant

146 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

varies from 3 lbs. to 3h lbs., a hen about 2^ lbs. ; but
birds fattened on maize have been found to weigh
upwards of 5 lbs.

PARTRIDGE. Perdix cinerea, Latham. PI. 18, fi^. 1.
Length, 12-5 in. ; wing, 6 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in.

Resident, and generally distributed. The pro-
tective efforts of game - preservers and the now
prevalent practice of Partridge "driving," by killing
off the old cocks which lead the coveys, have con-
tributed greatly to the increase of this species,
especially in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire.
St. John characterised November as " the season in
Scotland at which Partridges migrate from the high
grounds to the cultivated fields " (" Tour in Suther-
land," ii. p. 44) ; and elsewhere they are reported to
be to some extent migratory {ZooL, 1893, p. 433,
and 1894, p. 18).

The "horse-shoe" mark on the breast is not a
distinctive character of the cock bird. The sexes
are otherwise distinguishable. An old cock Part-
ridge has the sides of the neck grey, the hen has the
same feathers olive-brown with longitudinal buff
stripes, while the median upper wing coverts, which
in the cock are sandy-brown with transverse chestnut
and black lines, are in the hen dark brown with buff
cross-bars. Old birds have the first-flight feather
rounded and the legs grey ; in young birds the
first-flight feather is pointed and the legs olive.

Albino Partridges are occasionally reported ;
four in one covey (Col. Hamilton, " Reminiscences

PARTRIDGES 147

of an Old Sportsman," ii. p. 20), and eleven on one
property (ZooL, 1881, p. 471). Partridges with
white " horse-shoes " have been frequently noticed.
Occasionally an approach to melanism has been
observed (Field, Feb. 7, 1891, and Zool, 1894, p.
34), while a pale grey variety (Ibis, 1864, p. 225)
and a chestnut variety, Perdix montana, Jardine,
from time to time attract attention (Field, April 9,
1892), the last-named more often in Scotland, and
particularly in Forfar and Aberdeenshire.

The alleged enmity between Grey and E-ed-
legged Partridges is a fiction (ZooL, 1889, p. 119^
and Babington, "Birds of Suffolk," p. 109). The
two species occupy the same fields, and will some-
times lay in each other's nests. It is only in the
pairing time that the cock birds become pugnacious
and drive away intruders. Hybrids between the two
species have been reported (Field, Oct. 26, Nov. 9,
1895, and Oct. 6, 1900), but the specimens called
hybrids shown to me were young "Red-legs," which
before moulting resemble the grey species about the
scapulars and wing coverts. A young "Red-leg"
has no black gorget, but some black-edged feathers
on the breast ; the outer secondaries are sandy-brown
with buff crossbars edged with black ; wing coverts
sandy -brown with dark markings on their inner
webs, and pale buff stripes down the shaft.

The weight of a full-grown Partridge is about
14 oz. to 15 oz., but in Norfolk fine birds have
occasionally reached 17 oz. and even 18 oz. (T. J.
Mann, Field, Oct. 7, 1893). In Oct. 1885 two

148 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

unusually heavy birds, weighing respectively 19 oz.
and 19| oz., were shot in Norfolk (ZooL, 1886, p.
480).

The general impression that Partridges which
"tower" when shot have received an injury to the
brain is erroneous. In numerous cases examined,
the peculiar action known to sportsmen as "tower-
ing" was found to be due to partial suffocation,
caused by injury to the lungs and escape of blood
into the air-passages. When a shot pellet injures
the jugular vein and windpipe, the blood flowing
from the former into the latter causes suff'ocation
and a loss of the sense of direction : the bird beats
its wings aimlessly, rises to a great height, and falls
when suffocation is complete.

Great numbers of Hungarian Partridges, not
specifically distinct from ours, are annually im-
ported and turned out to increase and improve
the native stock. Those who have made such ex-
periments report favourably of the result (Field,
Oct. 28, and Nov. 4 and 11, 1893). Instructions for
turning out are given. Field, Jan. 16, 1897 ; Jan.
22, 29, and Feb. 5, 1898. Under natural conditions
incubation lasts twenty-one days ; but in an incu-
bator 80 per cent, of Partridges' eggs hatched on
the twenty-fourth day (Evans, Ibis, 1891, p. 75).

A good method of rearing Partridges, as adopted
by a Hampshire gamekeeper, is described, Field,
March 23, 1889. For an interesting account of "a
tame covey," reared under a bantam hen, taking to
the fields by day and returning to be fed, see Field,

PARTRIDGES 149

Oct. 1, 1881 ; and for other reports of domesticated
Partridges, Field, Feb. 7, 1891, April 8, 1893, and
March 3, 1894.

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.^ Gaccahis rufa (Linnjeiis).
Length, 13-5 in. ; wing, 6-25 in. ; tarsus, 1'75 in.

The introduction of this bird into Suffolk, which
was attempted about the year 1770 by the Marquis
of Hertford and Lord Rendlesham, was effectually
carried out by Lords Alvanley and De Ros at Cul-
ford in Suffolk in 1824 and following years (see
Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk," vol. i. p. 406). It
is now a local resident in the eastern and mid-
land counties, gradually extending its range. See
my article on the introduction of this bird into
England, Field, Jan. 27, 1883, and remarks on its
distribution in the west of England in llodd's
"Birds of Cornwall," pp. 77, 310. In 1888 a
large number were turned down for "driving"
near Wimborne and Poole, Dorsetshire. In regard
to its extension westward, it may be mentioned
that one was shot near Ross, in Herefordshire, in
Oct. 1881, several at Andoversford, in Gloucester-
shire, in Sept. 1896, one at Okehampton, Devon, in
Oct. 1882, and one at Kingston near Taunton in
Dec. 1882 (Zool, 1888, p. 176). In Oct. 1892 one
was obtained at Bagillt, in Flintshire {Field, Oct. 22,
1892). As to the extension northward, between

^ Red-legged Partridges of the genus Caccabis have fourteen feathers
in the tail, instead of sixteen to eighteen as in PercHx, and, moreover,
have spurs or wart-like protuberances on the legs, which is not the
case with the Grev Partridges.

ISO HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

1880 and 1890 coveys were hatched nearly every
year near Selby, in Yorkshire, and some were shot
there in 1894. In 1899 one was killed near Scar-
borough {Field, April 1, 1899). A few are re-
corded to have been met with in Scotland, e.g.
near Aberdeen (R. Gray) ; in Wigtonshire in Dec.
1892, where, as I am informed by Sir Herbert
Maxwell, some had been previously turned out ;
in Morayshire, in Dec. 1891 and Sept. 1892, near
Findhorn, where four pairs were liberated by Cap-
tain Dunbar Brander ; and in Forfarshire, Nov. 1898
(Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1900, p. 50). In Ireland it
is unknown, except as an introduced species in Co.
Galway. According to Baikie and Heddle ("Fauna
Orcadensis," p. 56), this species, together with the
Common Partridge, was introduced into Orkney
by the Earl of that ilk in 1840, but is no longer to
be found there.

As to the migratory habits of this species, see
Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," i. pp. 413-416, and
Cordeaux, Field, April 15, 1899.

The Red-legged Partridge is not so liable to
variation in colour as the Grey Partridge, but half-
a-dozen white ones have been found in a covey in
Suffolk (Field, Dec. 19, 1896).

The call-notes of the two species are very dis-
similar ; that of the Grey Partridge sounds like
ch-isick ; that of the red-legged bird is chuk-
chukor, perpetuated in the native name for its
Indian relative, which has a similar call.

Many instances of Red-legged Partridges nesting

PARTRIDGES 1 5 1

on stacks have been reported, and one case of nest-
ing in a tree {Field, May 29, 1897). These birds
will perch on fences and low boughs. I have heard
of one that was caught in a pole trap.

The average weight of a Red-legged Partridge
is from 16 to 18 oz. In Dec. 1879 I shot one at
Northwold, near Brandon, which weighed 22 oz.
One of 23 oz. was killed in Essex {Field, Nov. 19,
1881), and one of 25 oz. at Planworth, Norfolk
{Field, Nov. 26, 1881).

Ohs. — The Barbary Partridge, Caccahis petrosa
(Gmelin), having the nape and collar brown instead
of black, has been shot at Edmondthorpe near Mel-
ton Mowbray ; at Sudbourn, Freston, and Ipswich ;
at Beverley, Yorkshire ; and at Killiganoon, Corn-
wall ; but the occasional occurrence of this species
in England is due to the fact that birds have been
turned out or eggs have been imported as those of
the Red-legged Partridge, and hatched out here. It
has no claim to be included amongst British birds,
except as an introduced species.

Amongst other imported "game-birds" may be
mentioned the Virginian Quail {Ortyx virginianus),
of which an account is given below ; the Andalusian
Hemipode {Turnix sylvatica) (see p. 155) ; the Hazel
Grouse {Tetrao honasia), nine of which were turned
out by Colonel Cooper at Markree Castle, Co.
Sligo ; the Francolin {Francolinus vulgaris),^ thirty

1 See Lilford " On the proposed acclimatisation of the Francolin,"
Field, April 1.3, 1878, in which the results of his experiments with the
Virginian Colin are also given, and a plan put forward for the intro-
duction of the Hazel Grouse.

152 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

of which, imported from Kurrachee, were liberated
at Newmore, Ross-shire, by Mr. G. Inglis ; the
Tinamu [Tinamus rufescens) of which several con-
signments, imported at different times from South
America, were liberated at Brightlingsea, Essex, by
Mr. John Bateman ; and the Wild Turkey (Meleagris
gallojyavo), which has been successfully introduced
and naturalised in Richmond Park, Windsor Great
Park, Blickling, Norfolk, as well as in Dumbarton-
shire and at Invergarry in Inverness-shire. See the
chapter on Wild Turkeys in my " Essays on Sport
and Natural History," pp. 179-184.

QUAIL. Coturnix coinmnnis, Bonnaterre. PI. 18, figs. 2,
3, 3a. Length, 6-75 in. ; wing, 425 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

Generally regarded as a summer migrant to the
British Islands ; but years ago, when much com-
moner, many used to remain during the winter,
especially in Ireland (Fane and Cooper, Naturalist,
Dec. 1853). A good article by Mr. C. B. Moffat on
" The Quail in Ireland," will be found in the Irish
Naturalist, 1896, pp. 203-207. As to its former
abundance in that country, see the statistics given
by Mr. Barron Newell of Waterford, Field, Jan. 2
and Feb. 9, 1897, and by Mr. Ussher in his recently
published work.

On the east of Scotland, where it would be ex-
pected to arrive in spring, strange to say, it is by no
means so common as on the west, although met with
in nearly all the counties from Berwick to Orkney,
Shetland, and the Faroes. Its range northward and

QUAILS 153

westward extends to the Outer Hebrides, where the
nest has been found in Lewis and North Uist. In
Sept. 1900, Mr. Eagle Clarke unexpectedly found a
nest with eggs of this bird in Shetland. As the
Quail feeds almost exclusively on the seeds of weeds,
such as plantain, persicaria, dock, wild vetch, and
chickweed, it is a good friend to the farmer and
ought everywhere to be encouraged.

The number of Quails met with by Partridge-
shooters in England and Ireland has of late years
diminished very considerably, and there can be no
doubt that this is mainly due to the wholesale
manner in which they are netted for the markets in
spring along the Mediterranean coast, when on their
passage from North Africa to their breeding haunts
in Europe. If the netting of Quails and the shoot-
ing of Woodcocks in spring were prohibited by
international law, the sportsmen of Europe would
be vastly benefited, and so would the farmers. As
to turning out Quails in England to increase the
stock, see The Field, May 23, 1891.

VIRGINIAN QUAIL. Ortyx virginianus (Linngeus).
Length, 8-5 in. ; wing, 4-5 in. ; tarsus, 1-25 in.

This bird, a native of the Eastern United States,
can only be regarded as an introduced species.
Early in the present century several pairs Avere
turned out in Norfolk at Holkham by the Earl of
Leicester (Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk," vol. i. p.
436); and in 1833 many were introduced at Ted-
desley in Staffordshire by Mr. E. J. Littleton, M.P.

154 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

(Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iv. p. 153). In 1840 a
number were liberated in the neighbourhood of
Windsor by his Royal Highness the late Prince
Consort. In 1844 Mr. Thornhill of Riddlesworth
turned out a number in Suffolk, and in the same
year some were introduced at Ballindalloch. In
1857 four brace were turned out in East Lothian.

In April 1867 three males and four females were
set free by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales at Sandring-
ham (Field, Aug. 26, 1871). Since that time, the
Maharajah Duleep Singh and other game preservers
in Norfolk and Suffolk have turned out a great
number. On Dec. 5, 1879, I shot one at North-
wold, near Brandon, which had doubtless strayed
from Elveden. Lord Walsingham turned out a good
many at Merton Hall, near Thetford, where in the
summer of 1887 I saw a deserted nest containing
addled eggs. These, unlike the eggs of our Quail,
are pure white and larger.

Near Oundle, Northamptonshire, many hundreds
were turned out by Lord Lilford. Mr. Boulton has
one which was shot at Cottingham, near Bever-
ley, Yorks ; and Dr. Bree has recorded one killed
at Birch in Essex (Field, June 26, 1878). It is
thus easy to account for the appearance of the
specimens which have been shot at various times,
and chronicled as rare British birds. But though
hundreds have been liberated in this country,
all attempts to naturalise this species have
failed.

Montagu states that " the late General Gabbitt

CRANE 155

liberated many on his estates in Ireland, but in two
years the breed was lost."

Ohs. — Another species, known as the Andalusian
Hemipode, Turnix sylvatica (Desfontaines), a native
of Southern Spain and Barbary, is recorded to have
been met with at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire,
Oct. 29, 1844 (Zool, 1845, p. 872, and 1849, p.
2599), as well as at Fartown, near Huddersfield,
April 7, 1865 (Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1866, p.
210). But as this bird is not migratory in its
habits, its introduction must have been effected
by human agency.

Order VII. ALECTORIDES
Fam. GRUID^.

CRANE. Grus cinerea, Bechstein. PI. 26, figs. 10, 10a.
Length, 36 in. ; wing, 22 in. ; tarsus, 9-5 in.

The Crane was at one time resident in England,
and its bones are still found in our fens. Its eggs
were for some centuries protected by statute. In
the time of King John this bird was sufficiently
common in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire for
the king to capture as many as seven and nine in
one day with gerfalcons. The details are given in
my "Essays on Sport and Nat. Hist.," 1883 (pp.
77-78). Turner in his Avium Historia, 1544,
states that he had often seen the young ones
— in locis palustrihus earum pipiones swpissime
vidi. Leslie also in 1578 wrote of this bird as

156 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

being common (grues plurim^) in Scotland (De
07'igine moribus et rebus gestis Scotorwn, p. 25).

In Ireland the Crane was formerly so plentiful
that, according to Giraldus [Toj^og. Hibern., p. 705),
flocks consisting of a hundred individuals were
common. His words are, "In tanta vero numero-
sitate se grues ingerunt, ut uno in grege centum
et cii'citer numerum frequenter invenias." Flocks
were seen in Waterford and Cork in 1739.

Sir Thomas Browne in 1667 wrote of the Crane
as often seen in Norfolk in hard winters. In Ray's
time also (1678) Cranes might be observed in num-
bers during the winter in the counties above named,
and even a century later Dr. John Hill was able to
state that he had seen large flocks of Cranes in Lin-
colnshire ("History of Animals," 1752). Under the
provisions of an " Act to avoide destruction of Wilde
Fowle," passed in the reign of Henry VIII. (1534),
eggs of the Crane, as well as those of the Bustard,
Bittern, Heron, and Shovelarde {i.e. Spoonbill),
were specially protected under pain of imprison-
ment and fine, and in the case of the Crane this
prohibition was in force so late as 1780, in which
year amongst certain Fen laws passed at Revesby
was one decreeing that " no person should take any
Swans' eggs or Cranes' eggs, or young birds of that
kind, on pain of forfeiting for every offence 3s. 4d."
(Thompson, "Hist. Boston," p. 675). At the present
day this bird can only be regarded as a rare visi-
tant in late autumn and winter.

Amongst comparatively recent records of its

CRANE 157

occurrence in the British Islands the following may

be mentioned : —

Four at Inverernie, Nov. 1875 {Field, Dec. 4, 1875).
One at Scilly, April 1881 {Zool., 1881, p. 213).
One near Spalding, Lincolnshire {Zool., 1882, p. 463).
One near Lough Mask, Co. Mayo, Jan. 1884 {Zool.,
1884, p. 72).

One near Colchester, Nov. 1888 {Zool, 1889, p. 34).
One at Oakley, Essex, Sept. 1889 {Zool, 1889, p. 434).
One near Bridgewater, Dec. 1889 {Zool, 1890, p. 75).
One, South Cliff Farm, Flamborough, Feb. 1892 {Zool,

1895, p. 59).

One near Lowestoft, June 1893 {Zool, 1893, p. 313).
One near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, Sept. 1896 {Irish
Nat, 1898, p. 51).

Of four examples carefully examined, the weight
was ascertained to be 8 lbs. 12 oz. ; 10 lbs. 8 oz. ;
10 lbs. 13 oz. ; and 11 lbs., the expanse of wing in
the last-named being 6 ft. 9 in.

A graphic account of John Wolley's discovery of
the nest of the Crane in Lapland is given in The
Ihis, 1859, pp. 191-196. Mr. Howard Saunders
obtained the eggs of this bird in the marshes of
Andalusia in May 1868, and Mr. F. C. Selous in
May 1899 found several nests with eggs at a great
salt lake near Appa, in Asia Minor.

In regard to the subject of migration, see a note
on the southward flight of a Crane in autumn {Zool,

1896, p. 145). By means of a message enclosed in
a cartridge case, the bird was traced from Ascania
Nova, in Southern Russia, where it was bred, to
Dongola, where it was shot in December following.

In an article entitled "Small Birds carried on

158 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Migration by larger ones" {Field, March 31, 1888),
I have noted several cases of small passerine birds
being transported on the backs of Cranes — cases
vouched for by independent witnesses in countries
widely separated.^ But see Newton, " Diet. Birds,"
p. 550, art. Migration.

For an article on early records of this bird in
England, see Harting, Field, Dec. 23, 1882. Its
habits and migrations have been described at length
by Blyth in his "Monograph of the Cranes," 1881,
and by Prof. Newton, " Diet. Birds," art. Crane.

Both the Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo) and
the African Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina)
have been recorded to have been shot in the British
Islands, the former at Deerness, Orkney, in May
1863, the latter near Dairy, in Ayrshire, in Sept.
1871 ; but as both these species are imported from
time to time with other ornamental waterfowl, it
is probable that those referred to had escaped from
a state of semi-domestication.

Fam. OTIDID^.

BUSTARD. Otis tarda, Linnaeus. PL 24, fig. 5. Length,
$ 48 in., ? 30 in.; bill, 2 in.; wing, $ 24-5 in,
$ 20 in. ; tarsus, ^ 6 in., $ 5-25.

Towards the end of the last and beginning
of the present century the Bustard was one of

^ A year after this article had appeared it was abstracted and pub-
lished as a chapter (without acknowledgment) in a little book entitled
" Sylvan Folk : Sketches of Bird and Animal Life in Britain," by John
Watson, 1889.

BUSTARDS 159

the most characteristic birds to be met with on
the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire wolds, the wide
"brecks" of Norfolk and Suffolk, the heaths of
Newmarket and Royston, and the open down land
of Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hants, and Sussex. The
last examples of the native race were killed in
Norfolk in 1838, while in Suffolk none were known
to breed after 1832. In Yorkshire Bustards were
met with at intervals until 1832 or 1833, when
it is said the last was trapped at Boynton, near
Bridlington.^ Of Wiltshire, Montagu reported in
1813 that none had been seen in their favourite
haunts on Salisbury Plain for two or three years
previously ; while in Sussex and Hants the native
race of Bustards probably disappeared very soon
after Gilbert White wrote of them as being seen
" in the midst of the downs between Andover and
Winton." It would appear that the extension of
plantations broke up the open country which the
birds loved to frequent, and the introduction of
improved agricultural implements, such as the
"corn-drill" and the "horse-hoe," led to the dis-
covery and destruction of the eggs in the wide
" brecks," or fields of winter corn. (See Stevenson,
"Birds of Norfolk," ii. p. 11.) Since then the
Bustard's claim to be regarded as a British bird has
rested solely on the occasional arrival of wanderers
from the Continent, which usually make their ap-
pearance in winter. A remarkable immigration of

* See an article, by the present writer, on the former occurrence
of the Bustard in Yorkshire, in Tlie Field of March 6, 1897.

1 60 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Bustards took place in the winter of 1879-80, and
the occurrence then of eight or nine of these fine
birds (of which only one was a male) was noticed
at the time in the pages of The Field and The
Zoologist. The last visitation of note occurred in
the winter of 1890-91, when amongst the localities
visited the following were recorded : Southminster,
Essex, December 1890 ; Llanelly, Carmarthenshire,
December 1890; Romsey, Hants, January 1891;
Winchelsea, Sussex, January 1891 ; Stiffkey, Nor-
folk, Jan. 19, and Chippenham, Wilts, Feb. 4, 1891.
Details of all these occurrences will be found in
an article on the " Recent Visitation of Bustards,"
published in The Field, of Feb. 28, 1891. Since
that date one was shot at Costessy, Norfolk, Feb.
1, 1894, and a few others have been met with
in other parts of the country ; one of the latest
reported was shot in October 1897 near Market
Lavington, an ancient haunt of the species on the
Wiltshire downs. ^

The former existence of the Bustard in parts of
Scotland is referred to by Hector Boece in 1527
and Bishop Leslie in 1578. Fleming states ("Hist.
Brit. An.," p. 115) that in 1803 one was shot in
Morayshire by William Young of Borough Head.
Another was seen in Strath Skinsdale, Sutherland-

^ Aubrey, in his notes on the Natural History of Wiltshire, written
between 1656 and 1691 (ed. Britton, 1847, p. 164), has this remark:
" On Salisbury plaines, especially about Stonehenge, are bustards.
They are also in the fields above Lavington." Here in 1801 a nest
containing two eggs was found in a wheat-field shortly after a male
bustard had been captured in the neighbourhood. A. C. Smith,
" Birds of Wiltshire," p. 353.

BUSTARDS 1 6 1

shire, in August 1861, and at Stronsay Vale, in
Orkney, a hen Bustard was shot, March 29, 1876,
the first recorded visit of this species to those islands
{Field, April 8 and 15, 1876, and Zool, 1876, p.
4927).

The evidence bearing on the statement that
Bustards were formerly coursed with greyhounds
has been critically examined by the Rev. A. C.
Smith in his "Birds of Wiltshire," 1887, and the
fact established and explained.

It is worthy of note that just as the Bustard was
on the verge of extinction as a breeding species in
England it was granted a "close time" by Act of
Parliament ; but the protective legislation came too
late. In 1831 the principal Game Act was passed
(l and 2 Will. 4, cap. 32), and amongst other things
provided (by sect. 3) that no Bustard was to be shot
between March 1 and Sept. 1, under a penalty of £1
and the costs of conviction. The eggs also were
protected by sect. 24 of the same statute (as they
had been by 25 Hen. 8, c. 11), but within a very
few years of the passing of that Act the last of the
native race of Bustards, as above shown, had dis-
appeared.

About the time that Bustards' eggs were being
collected at Tilshead, in Wiltshire, for the purpose
of hatching them under hens, as related by Montagu
[Orn. Diet., 1802), another experimenter was making
similar attempts in Norfolk. Mr. George Hardy,
house-surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital
from 1793 to 1826, received in the years 1802-1808

L

1 62 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

many Bustards' eggs from different parts of the
county, which he placed under hens, and hatched
out in an enclosure at the back of the hospital.
Interesting details, too long to be quoted here, will
be found in the second volume of Stevenson's " Birds
of Norfolk."

Some years ago the Acclimatisation Society of
Paris offered prizes for the successful domestication
of the Bustard, one of the conditions being that the
birds should be proved to have laid and hatched
eggs in confinement. In the Bulletin of that Society
for 1861 (p. 318), M. Althammer communicated the
result of his attempts to domesticate this bird in
the Tyrol. Three eggs were laid, the hen bird sat,
and incubation lasted twenty-five days, at the end of
which time one young one was hatched.

In 1876 an attempt was made in Warwickshire
to domesticate the Bustard by Mr. F. Lythall, of
Offchurch, near Leamington, who turned out some
on his farm. On Dec. 10 in that year he wrote,
" The Bustards are tame, and eat out of the hand.
They are loose by day, and shut up at night. I
think they pair, but they have not laid at present,
or if they have, I have not found the eggs" [ZooL,
1880, p. 254). As no further news of them was
received, it was conjectured that the experiment
had not proved successful. In February of that
year (1876) strenuous efforts were made by Mr.
H. M. Upcher to protect a Bustard which had made
its appearance in Blackdyke Fen, Hockwold, and
which remained there for seven weeks. The steps

BUSTARDS 163

taken to provide it with a mate, which was pre-
sented for that purpose by the late Lord Lilford,
were described shortly afterwards in The Field of
April 8, 1876, and Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, ii.
pp. 307-311.

While these pages were passing through the
press a further effort was being made to reintroduce
the Bustard in what was formerly one of its favourite
haunts on the East Anglian "brecks." (See The
Field, March 3, 1900, and Mr. St. Quintin's experi-
ments, March 17, 1900.) This effort was due to the
zeal of an English sportsman in Spain, who at
considerable trouble and expense caused several of
these birds to be captured alive and sent to Eng-
land, where they arrived in the month of August.
With the co-operation of Lord Walsingham and
Lord Iveagh they were taken care of for some time
in a large enclosure before being allowed their
freedom on English soil. The result of this experi-
ment remains to be seen, though there is little
hope that it will prove successful.

As to the measurements and weight of Bustards,
see my article on the largest birds that fly, Field,
Sept. 16, 1899. Many other points of interest in
connection with the history and habits of the Bus-
tard, and its former distribution in Great Britain,
cannot be mentioned in ;the space here available,
and the reader must be referred to Stevenson's
" Birds of Norfolk," the second volume of which
contains an admirable coloured figure of this bird
by Wolf; Babington's "Birds of Suffolk;" Mansel

1 64 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Pleydell's "Birds of Dorset;" A. C. Smith's "Birds
of Wilts ;" and Prof. Newton's invaluable " Diction-
ary of Birds." An article by Mr. W. P. Pycraft in
Natural Science, Nov. 1898 (pp. 313-323), sums up
what is known concerning the gular pouch of the
Bustard, the existence of which has been alternately
affirmed and denied, and contains the latest results
obtained from a dissection made by him of a speci-
men in which a pouch was undoubtedly present, as
had been previously demonstrated by Cullen, Ihis,
1865, p. 143, and Flower, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 747;
see also Newton, Ibis, 1862, pp. 107-127, and
"Diet. Birds," art. "Bustard."

LITTLE BUSTARD. Otis tetrax, Linnaeus. PL 24, figs.
6, 7. Length, 18 in. ; wing, 9-5 in. ; tarsus, 2-5.

An occasional winter visitant. When the first
edition of this Handbook was published in 1872
more than forty instances of its occurrence in Eng-
land w ere known to me : since then I have noted
many others ; amongst the latest, one shot at Felt-
well, Jan. 25, 1898, and another, a male in summer
plumage, killed at Kessingland, near Lowestoft, in
May of the same year.

In Scotland it is very much rarer. One was
obtained near Montrose, Dec. 1833 ; a second near
St. Andrew^s, March 6, 1840 {Jide Macgillivray) ; a
third in the parish of Halkirk, Caithness, in June
1848, of which a detailed account is given by
Messrs. Buckley and Harvie-Brown ("Fauna of

STONE CURLEW 165

Sutherland and Caithness," p. 209)/ and a fourth
at Westfield, in the parish of new Spynie, near
Elgin, Feb. 8, 1861.

In Ireland the Little Bustard is only known
with certainty to have occurred four times : the first
was shot in the bog of Killough, Co. Wicklow, Aug.
1833 (Thompson); the second in Ballycotton bog,
Co. Cork, Dec. 24, 1860, as I was informed by
the late Lord Clermont ; the third near Youghal,
Nov. 14, 1883 {Field, Dec. 8, 1883, and Zool,
1884, p. 69) ; and the fourth in Co. Mayo, Dec.
1887 (Zool, 1888, p. 108).

For a note on the food of the Little Bustard,
see Zool., 1895, p. 228. The weight of one shot
on Drayton Moor, Somersetshire, Oct. 19, 1894, was
2 lbs. 2 oz., or the weight of a hen pheasant.

Order VIII. LIMICOL^

Fam. CHARADRIID^.

STONE CURLEW. (Edicnemus crepitans, Temminck.
PL 19, figs. 1, la. Length, 17 in. ; bill, r5 in. ; wing,
9*75 in. ; tarsus, in.

The Stone Curlew, Thick-knee or Norfolk Plo-
ver, is a summer migrant, especially to the chalk
districts, but is occasionally found in winter in
Cornwall (Kodd), Devon (M. A. Mathew), and the
Isle of Wight (A. G. More). These localities, there-

^ It is remarkable that this bird was shot in June, and tliat about
the same time John Wolley received from a man at Thurso (only five
miles distant from where the bird was killed) an egg undoubtedly that
of a Little Bustard.

1 66 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

fore, may be said to define the limits of its range
northward in winter. In the north of England and
in Scotland it is known only as a rare straggler ;
and the same remark applies to Ireland, where
less than a dozen specimens have been procured,
chiefly during the winter months.

This bird is crepuscular in its habits, more active
at early dawn and at twilight than in the middle of
the day, when it moves but little on the fallows and
flint-strewn parts of the open downs, which from
their complete harmony with the colour of its
plumage render it almost invisible even at a short
distance. In the evening, when it becomes very
clamorous (as noticed by Gilbert White), it quits
the hills and comes down into the valleys, where,
often in company with Peewits, it seeks its food in
the turnip-fields. As many as fifty have then been
seen in a flock (Gurney, Zool, 1876, p. 4801). In
the spring, when in pairs, they will allow a person
on horseback to approach very close to them before
moving. When hawking on the Wiltshire Downs
in spring, I have several times ridden within a few
yards of one, either squatting, or standing perfectly
motionless (with a large staring yellow eye), as if
trusting to escape observation from the resemblance
of its plumage to the natural surroundings. In
April 1876 I carried two of these birds, which were
captured with very little injury by our hawks near
Amesbury, to the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park,
where they lived for some months.

See an article by F. M. Ogilvie on the habits of

PLOVERS 167

the Stone Curlew, with photographs of eggs in situ,
Zool, 1891, p. 401.

GOLDEN PLOVER. Gharadrius pluvialis, Linnseus.
PI. 19, figs. 2, 3. Length, 11 m. ; bill, 1 in.;
wing, 7 "75 in. ; tarsus, 1'5 in.

Breeds on the moors in Scotland and the north
of England, and sparingly in Devon and Somerset.
To the eastern and southern counties of England
it is a winter visitant. Prof. Newton believes
that he has seen the Golden Plover on Thetford
Warren during every month in the year, but that
it does not breed there. Thompson noted this bird
as permanently resident in Ireland, and mentions
many localities where it breeds regularly. As
observed by Mr. Laidlaw in Peeblesshire, it some-
times carries its young like the Woodcock (Zool.,
1888, p. 301).

In August the birds which have bred here begin
to flock, and quit the moors for the lower grounds,
where in September and October their numbers are
augmented by the arrival of innumerable flocks
from the Continent. By that time they have lost
all traces of the black breast which is characteristic
of the breeding plumage. The axillary feathers
are at all seasons white.

The Golden Plover when in good condition will
weigh from 8 oz. to 10 oz.

For an article on "Plover-Catching in France,"
see my "Essays on Sport and Natural History," pp.
201-205.

1 68 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

GREY PLOVER. Squatarola helvetica (Linnaeus). PI.
19, figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, 12 in.; bill, 1-25 in.;
wing, 7*5 in. ; tarsus, 1-6 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, a few remaining
the winter. A single instance has come under my
observation of a Grey Plover remaining in England
throughout the summer. This was in Pagham
Harbour, Sussex. The bird was seen constantly
from the end of Ma}^ by which time all the migrat-
ing flocks had left, until the 29th of August follow-
ing, on which day I shot it. It exhibited no trace
of any former wound, and was in excellent condition.
In this same harbour during several years' observa-
tion I found that the Grey Plovers arrive in spring
in the first week of May, and are gone before the
end of the month. In the autumn they reappear
during the first week of October, when the flocks
contain many young birds. In their first plumage
they are spotted with yellow like the Golden Plover,
but may be always distinguished by the possession
of a hind-toe, and by having the axillary feathers
under the wing black instead of white.

Middendorf found the Grey Plover breeding on
the Taimyr Peninsula in lat. 74° N., as well as on the
Boganida, in lat. 71° N. Dr. Richardson reported
its breeding on Melville Peninsula, and Capt. Ross
to the S. W. of Fury Point (see Appendix to Narrative
of Second Voyage of Sir J. Ross). In 1875 Messrs.
Seebohm and Plarvie-Brown, travelling in North-
eastern Europe, found it breeding on the tundras of

PLOVERS 169

the Lower Petchora, and have published a graphic
account of their discovery of several nests. See
also Seebohm's "Siberia in Europe," 1880, chaps,
xvii.-xviii. Beautifully coloured figures of the eggs
of this species by C. J. Fleming are given in The
This, 1876, p. 222, and in Seebohm's latest work
on the Eggs of British Birds, 1896.

The weight of a Grey Plover averages from 8 oz.
to 10 oz., or a trifle more than that of a Golden
Plover.

LAPWING or PEEWIT. Vanellus cristatus, Meyer.
PI. 19, lig. 10. Length, 12 in.; bill, -9 in. ; wing, 9
in. ; tarsus, 1 -5 in.

Resident and generally distributed ; assembling
in large flocks at the approach of winter, when it is
to a certain extent migratory. It is gregarious and
crepuscular, feeding much in the turnip-fields at
twilight, as is the case with the Stone Curlew.
Although not web-footed, it can swim well on emer-
gency. In December 1894 a number of these birds
were observed resting on the surface of Lough Derg,
Co. Limerick, two miles from land, the wind blowing
very hard from the east (Field, Dec. 29, 1894).

Great numbers are taken in nets, especially in
Ireland, by professional plover-catchers. The modus
operandi is described, with illustrations, in Sir R. P.
Gallwey's "Fowler in Ireland," 1882. One taken
alive at Bintree, in Norfolk, lived fourteen years
in confinement (Barlow, Naturalist, 1853, p. 82).

The head of this bird, figured on PI. 19, shows its

170 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

appearance when in summer plumage ; in winter the
chin and throat are white. Occasionally white, or
nearly white, examples are met with. The weight
of this bird when in good condition is about the
same as that of a Grey Plover, about 8 oz. to 10 oz.

DOTTEREL. Eudrcnnias morinellus (Linnseus). PI. 19,
fig. 4. Length, 95 in. ; bill, -6 in.; wing, 6 in. ; tarsus,
I'D in.

A spring and autumn migrant, a few pairs
remaining to breed annually on the high ranges
of Westmorland and Cumberland, Forfar, Kin-
cardine, Aberdeen, Banff", and Moray. In Suther-
land and Caithness there is no recent evidence of
nesting. Three nests, each containing three eggs,
were found in Elginshire in May and June 1853
(Thurnall, Naturalist, 1853, p. 254). An interest-
ing account of its nesting -habits as observed in
Cumberland is given by Hey sham [Mag. Nat. Hist.,
1838, p. 295). He found three eggs on Whiteside,
contiguous to Helvellyn, on the 29th of June, and
two more on Robinson, in the vicinity of Butter-
mere, on July 5. A more recent account by Mr. F.
Nicholson is published, with a coloured figure of the
bird, in Macpherson's "Birds of Cumberland " and
" The Fauna of Lakeland," while a graphic descrip-
tion of the discovery of a nest in Morayshire in June
1873, by Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Feilden, is given
in "The Fauna of the Moray Basin," vol. ii. p. 171.

Although rare in Ireland, there is some reason to
suppose that this bird may breed annually, but in

DOTTEREL 171

very limited numbers, on the high mountains in
the county of Tipperary (Thompson, "Nat. Hist.
Ireland," vol. ii. p. 94). In that county on the 24th
June 1835, a Dotterel was shot by Mr. R Davis on
Slievenaman Mountain. In Co. Waterford several
have been obtained in August and September on
the mountains near Clonmel.

Although not strictly a shore bird, but an in-
habitant of the fells, it is to be met with on the
coast during the periods of migration in spring and
autumn. It does not, however, stay long there, but
goes inland almost immediately, resting on the up-
land pastures en route for its nesting haunts above
referred to. Cordeaux has given a good account of
the visits of small flocks or "trips" to the marshes
of North Lincolnshire, where formerly they arrived
with great regularity in May, but were not seen
there at any other time of year (Zool., 1866, p. 294).
When feeding these birds have a habit of elevating
their wings over the back, thus frequently betraying
their position to the gunner when otherwise they
might probably escape detection. When on the
wing they fly closely together, and constantly repeat
their wild and musical call -note, which somewhat
resembles that of the Ringed Plover. It is said
that the hen birds are larger and more brightly
coloured than the males ; but see Jenyns (" Observ.
Nat. Hist.," p. 178), with whom I agree.

In May 1870, as noted in Field, December 17
1870, I found in the stomach of a single Dotterel no
less than sixty-three wireworms and two beetles.

172 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

RINGED PLOVER. jEgialitii^ hiaticula (Linnseus).
PL 19, figs. 5, 6. Length, 7-75 in. ; bill, -5 in. ; wing,
5'3 in. ; tarsus, '9 in.

One of the commonest of British shore birds, and
next to the Dunling [Tringa alpina) perhaps the most
numerous. The two species are frequently found in
company ; but while the former, as a rule, breeds on
the coast, the latter goes inland to breed on the moors.
The Ringed Plover, however, breeds on the warrens at
Beechamwell, near Swaffham, and at Thetford, many
miles from the sea, as well as on the pebbly shores
of the lakes and larger rivers in Scotland ; and
although it may be found upon some parts of the
coast throughout the year, it is migratory in spring
and autumn, at which seasons I have constantly seen
small flocks so near London as Kingsbury Reservoir.

To show the protective coloration of the eggs,
which are usually laid (four in number) on the
shingle and sandhills of the coast, I have reproduced
a photograph of a nest and given some account of
the habits of this bird (Zool, 1891, p. 448).

An abnormal nest lined with leaves and stems of
Atriplex littoralis has been described by Col. Feilden
{^Zool, 1886, p. 418).

KENTISH PLOVER. jEgialitis cantiana (Latham).
PI. 19, figs. 7, 8. Length, 7 in. ; bill, '5 in. ; wing, 4-3
in. ; tarsus, -9 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, breeding annually
on the coasts of Kent and Sussex. It has been met

TURNSTONE 173

with in Cornwall (Rodd), Hants (Gurney), Suffolk
(Hele), Norfolk (Stevenson), and Yorkshire (Boyes,
and Boynton, Zool., 1869, p. 18-13), but is of rare
occurrence, except in the south of England. One
was shot by Mr. F. C. Hingston on Plymouth
Breakwater, May 7, 1861 (Rowe, "Cat. Birds of
Devon," p. 33). Mr. Gatcombe, who saw it shot,
identified the species.

According to Mr. Blake Knox (Zool., 1866,
p. 301), it has been observed in a few instances,
during migration, on the Dublin coast, but it is
at all times a rare visitant to Ireland. Two were
observed on Achill Island (A. H. Knapp, Field,
Aug. 27, 1881).

For remarks on the habits of this bird as
observed in Kent, see Dombrain, Zool., 1880, p.
138.

TURNSTONE. Strepsilas interpres (Linna?us). PI. 22,
figs. 1, 2, 2a. Length, 9-5 in. ; bill, -9 in. ; wing,
6 in. ; tarsus, -9 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, a few remaining
throughout the winter. It is believed to nest in
a few localities in Great Britain. In 1875 two
were seen on Drift Point, at the mouth of Poole
Harbour, Dorsetshire, as late as June 8, in company
with Ringed Plover and Whimbrel (T. M. Pike,
Field, June 26, 1875). Dr. Embleton,^ of Beadnall,

' See his paper on Eggs, with four coloured plates, Nat. Hist.
Trans. Northumb., vol. vii. pp. 1-47 (1877).

174 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Northumberland, who used to visit the Fame
Islands annually in the nesting-season, wrote to
me in 1865 as follows: — "The Turnstone breeds
on the Fame Islands, formerly plentifully, now
very few." When visiting these islands myself
in 1863, I purchased from a fisherman at North
Sunderland various eggs which had been taken
on the island the previous year ; and among them
was one which, in the opinion of experienced
oologists, could only have belonged to a Turn-
stone. On the 18th of May I shot two of these
birds in full summer plumage on the mainland-
opposite the F'arne Islands. They were figured
by Gould in his "Birds of Great Britain," part x.,
and are now preserved in the Natural History
Museum in South Kensington. Robert Gray writes :
** It was suggested by the late Dr. Fleming that this
species might breed in Shetland, as he had observed
it there at all seasons of the year ; and I find it
mentioned, in a MS. note by one of the authors
of the ' Fauna Orcadensis,' that it breeds in the
Orkney Islands." Saxby found a nest of the
Turnstone containing three eggs in Unst ("Birds
of Shetland," p. 171).

Wm. Thompson was " disposed to believe that
the Turnstone may breed in Ireland, though no
proof can be offered." Small flocks and pairs have
been observed in June on the Connemara rocks,
the Arran Isles, and the Keeraghs, off Wexford.

OYSTER- CATCHER i 7 5

OYSTER-CATCHER. Hxmatopus ostralegus (Linnaeus).
PI. 22, figs. 3, 3a. Length, 16 in.; bill, 2-5 in.; wing,
10 in. ; tarsus, 1"75 in.

The Oyster-catcher, Sea-pie, or Olive, as it is
variously called, may be found on some part of the
coast throughout the year. It is migratory in
spring and autumn, when it is sometimes met
with at a considerable distance from the sea ; as,
for example, in Warwickshire (ZooL, 1895, p. 22).

On every channel island on the Tay and its
tributaries, on the Spey and all the larger East
Coast rivers, far up towards their sources, pairs of
Oyster-catchers may be seen during the breeding
season. In some places they breed commonly, as
at Dalguise, between Dunkeld and Ballinluig, where
it is said their eggs are gathered for sale like
Plovers' ejigs (Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 1880,
p. Q7). In autumn they return to the coast. I
have often observed them in August and September
in small flocks on the shores of Loch Linnhe in
Argyllshire.

A curious variety of the Oyster-catcher, from
the Faroes, was in the collection of the late
Frederick Bond, and a similar one, also from the
Faroes, was in the possession of Mr. Harvie-Brown.
The head and neck were of a pale brown or coffee-
colour, a few brown feathers on the scapulars, the
rest of the plumage white ; bill, legs, and feet
yellow, instead of flesh-colour.

As to origin of the name. Oyster-catcher, see

1/6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Newton, Zool., 1884, p. 196. The provincial name,
Olive, applied to this bird by Albin, is still in use
with the fishermen on the coast of Sussex.

Fam. SCOLOPACIDtE.

AVOCET. Recurvirostra avocetta, Linnaeus. PL 20,
figs. 10, 10a. Length, 16 in. ; bill, 3-25 in. ; wing, 85
in. ; bare part of tibia, 1-8 in. ; tarsus, 3 in.

Formerly a regular, now an occasional summer
visitant. The neighbourhood of Rye in Sussex,^
Romney Marsh in Kent, Salthouse in Norfolk, West
Fen and Fossdyke Wash in Lincolnshire are upon
record as former breeding-places. To these localities
may be added Winterton and Horsey in Norfolk, the
neighbourhood of the Seven-Mile-House on the
Bure, near Yarmouth (Stevenson, " Birds of Nor-
folk," ii. p. 238), and the mere-lands at Thorpe,
near Aldeburgh (Hele, " Notes about Aldeburgh,"
p. 120); also near Orfordness (Trans. No7'/. Nat.
Soc, vol. iii. p. 258).

The occasional appearance of this bird in spring
and autumn in the marshes on the coast of Essex
is noted by Mr. Christy in his volume on the birds
of that county.

According to Dr. Moore, the Avocet was formerly

^ " That it breeds here," says Markwick, " I have been an eye-witness,
for I found in the marshes near Rye a young one of this species which
appeared to have been just hatched, and I took it up in my hand
whilst the old birds kept flying round me." — Aves Sussexienses, 1795,
p. 27.

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f U
O LO

t- Z'

'X)

6 "

•^ ♦x)

^>

J ii

SANDPIPERS 177

often seen on the Exe, and D'Urban and Mathew
in their "Birds of Devon" (pp. 312-313) give
numerous instances of its appearance in that county.
It has occurred several times in Cornw^all (Rodd),
and Mr. Mansel Pleydell has noted its appearance
at Poole, in Dorsetshire. So recently as the 30th
August 1897, a pair of Avocets were shot on
migration so near London as Kingsbury Reservoir,
and were sent for preservation to Mr. Cooper of
Radnor Street, St. Luke's, v^here I had an oppor-
tunity of seeing them. For remarks on the nesting
of the Avocet and its former breeding haunts in
England, see pp. 246-247 of a paper by the present
writer on the genus Recurvirostra, Ibis, 1874.

GREENSHANK. Totanus canescens (Gmelin). PI. 20,
fig. 5. Length, 12 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 7 in. ; tarsus,
2-25 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, nesting regularly
in some parts of Scotland, where the Gaelic name
for it is Teoch-vingh, from its cry. As to its dis-
tribution in the nesting season, see A. G. More,
Ibis, 1865, p. 436; Gray, "Birds of the West of
Scotland," p. 301, and Harvie-Brown (Zool, 1868,
p. 1308), who in that year procured two nests, each
containing four eggs, in Sutherlandshire. It breeds
also in Caithness, as well as in Ross-shire, Inver-
ness, Perthshire, and Argyllshire. See Buckley and
Harvie-Brown, "Vertebrate Fauna of Sutherland
and Caithness " (p. 223), and " Fauna of the Moray
Basin," vol. ii. p. 201.

M

178 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

In Ireland, it is a regular visitor in autumn,
remaining all through the winter and spring.

The average weight of a Greenshank is about that
of a Golden Plover, i.e., from 8 oz. to 10 oz., and
it is almost as good a bird for the table. I have
shot many out of the marsh-dykes in Sussex, Suffolk,
and Norfolk, and several at different times so near
London as Kingsbury Reservoir, and the river Brent.

DUSKY REDSHANK. Totanus fuscus (Linnaeus).
PL 20, figs. 3, 4. Length, 12-5 in. ; bill, 2-3 in. ; wing,
6*75 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in. ; bare part of tibia, Po in.

A spring and autumn migrant to England and
Scotland ; a rare visitant to Ireland, where it has
been procured in Co. Down, Belfast Bay (Thomp-
son), in Co. Mayo (Warren, Field, ^oy. 11, 1876;
Zool, 1887, p. 468 ; 1889, p. 35), in Co. Kildare,
near Sallins, in Sept. 1886 (Dubl. Mus.), in Co.
Dublin (Williams, Zool, 1891, p. 35), and in Cork
Harbour in Dec. 1898 (Barrington).

My experience of this bird is that it is commoner
in England during the autumn migration than it is
in spring. In autumn, when the dorsal plumage is
grey and the under parts white, it looks not unlike a
common Redshank, but somewhat bigger, and higher
on the legs, which are then lemon - coloured. In
spring, the dorsal plumage is marbled black and
white, and the under parts uniformly black, which
gives it a very striking appearance ; the legs at that
season are claret colour. I have only once met with
it in this plumage in England, namely, in the month

SANDPIPERS 179

of May, in Breydon Harbour, Norfolk ; but although I
was in a punt and had a gun with me at the time, I
was unable to procure it, owing to a falling tide which
prevented me from getting within shot of it. In the
winter plumage, I have obtained several at different
times in Sussex harbours, as at Pagham, Bosham,
and Chichester. Weight, 7 oz. to 8 oz.

COMMON REDSHANK. Totanus calidris (Linnseus).
PI. 20, figs. 6, 7. Length, 11 in. ; bill, 1-6 in. ; wing,
6'5 in.; tarsus, 1*75 in. ; bare part of tibia, '9 in.

Resident and generally distributed, but migratory
in spring and autumn. Birds of the year are inter-
mediate in colour between the summer and winter
plumages of their parents. A ivhite one was shot at
Shoreham in the autumn of 1875.

The Redshank breeds commonly in parts of
Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, and East Sussex ;
and Commander Gervase Mathew, R.N., noted seve-
ral pairs nesting in Chatham Dockyard, on a piece
of waste ground between the large basins and the
sea-wall {ZooL, 1886, p. 332). Some breed usu-
ally in the grassy meadows on the banks of the
Medway between Chatham and Sheerness, and I
have found their nests in Rye marshes as well as in
the old bed of Pagham Harbour, now, alas ! drained
and reclaimed. See my article on " Pagham Harbour,
Past and Present," Field, July 2 and 16, 1887.

In Yorkshire the Redshank used to breed on
Reccall Common near Selby, on Strensall Common
near Beverley, Pilmoor, Thorne Waste, and on Mai-

I80

HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

ham Tarn Moss. In 1886 several pairs nested in a
marshy field near Harrogate, to which they returned
on April 10, 1887. A few breed in the Winster Valley,
Lancashire, and on Walney Island ; also in Cumber-
land ; and in Northamptonshire on Lord Lilford's
ground near Oundle {ZooL, 1896, p. 53).

In Scotland and Ireland the Redshank breeds in
several counties, and is common on the coast in
autumn and winter. Weight 6 oz.

GREEN SANDPIPER. Totanus ochropus (Linnseus).
PI. 20, fig. 8. Length, 9-5 in. ; bill, 1*2 in. ; wing, 5-5
in.; tarsus, 1*25 in.; bare part of tibia, 07 in.

A spring and autumn migrant ; a few sometimes
remain the winter. The Rev. Richard Lubbock,
author of the " Fauna of Norfolk," in a letter to
Yarrell dated Sept. 14, 1840, wrote: "I am nearly
certain that they remain here all the year, with the
exception of that period in spring and early summer
in which they withdraw to hatch and rear their
young. I have shot them in extremity of frost,
and have seen one here and there during the
snipe-shooting in March, but the 11th of April is
the latest time in spring in which I observed them."
In Middlesex I have seen and shot Green Sand-
pipers much later in spring and earlier in autumn
than noted by Lubbock in Norfolk. Looking
through my notebooks, I find the following entries
of meeting with this bird at Kingsbury Reservoir : —

1864, April 24, 29, July 20, August 6. 1865, May 25.
1868, June 25, a most unusual date, when the bird ought

SANDPIPERS i8i

to have been nesting, and August 6. 1869, July 14 and
October 6. 1870, April 21 and July 12. 1872, July 27
and August 10. 1873, August 1 and December 8. 1874,
April 26, August 28, October 26. 1876, August 1 and
November 24. 1877, August 10. 1878, November 9.
Latest stay in spring. May 25 ; earliest return, July 12.

For a more detailed account of its habits see
"The Birds of Middlesex" (pp. 172-177).

The Green Sandpiper is reported to have nested
in Yorkshire, Mr. Roberts, of the Museum at Scar-
borough, having received specimens several times
from the neighbourhood of Hunmanby, in all cases
shot in June. The keeper there said they breed
in old crows' nests ; he had seen them come off from
the nests (Stevenson's " Birds of Norfolk," vol. ii.
p. 226, note). This is quite in accordance with
what has been observed of this species in Sweden ;
and it is now a well-known fact that, instead of
nesting on the ground like other Sandpipers, it
makes use of the deserted nest of some other bird,
and frequently lays its eggs at a considerable height
from the ground. An excellent account of the
nidification of this bird, by Professor Newton, will
be found in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society
for 1863, pp. 529-532 (reprinted in The Zoologist
for 1864, pp. 9115-9118, and in the Ann. and Mag.
Nat. Hist., 3rd ser., xiv. pp. 221-224).

The Green Sandpiper is reported to have bred
on the Gartmore estate, near Aberfoyl, Perthshire.
A very circumstantial account of his observation of
the bird has been published by Mr. Samuel Yuille,

1 82 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

who subsequently became head-keeper on the Shot-
ley Hall estate, Durham {Field, Aug. 21, 1875).

In Ireland the Green Sandpiper has been met
with in several different counties, but is regarded as
a rare visitor, occurring chiefly in autumn. In Sept,
1877 I received one which had been shot near Cork,
and on Feb. 26, 1890, another which had been shot
two days previously in co. Tyrone. Weight, 3i oz.

WOOD SANDPIPER. Totanus glareola (Lmnu^ns). PI
20, fig. 9. Length, 9 in. ; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 5 in. ;
tarsus, 1'4 in. ; bare part of tibia, O'S in.

A spring and autumn migrant, in exceptional
cases remaining to breed. A nestling bird was
found at Beechamwell, Norfolk, by the late Mr.
Scales, of Bustard celebrity (Gurney and Fisher,
Zool., 1846, p. 1324, and figure) ; and in June
1853 a nest and eggs were discovered by the late
John Hancock on Prestwick Carr, Northumberland.
(Hewitson's " Eggs of British Birds," 3rd edition,
vol. ii. p. 332). A third nest of this Sandpiper was
found in a birch plantation by a small loch-side in
Elginshire, May 23, 1853, and the eggs were iden-
tified by Mr. Bond, who received two of them
(Thurnall, Naturalist, 1853, p. 254). See also
W. Evans, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1899, p. 14.

The Wood Sandpiper is apparently a rare bird in
Scotland. Robert Gray had only seen one from the
West coast. This was shot near Bowling, on the
Clyde, in the autumn of 1853. The late Mr.
Sinclair of Wick had one which was shot in his

SANDPIPERS 183

neighbourhood. One procured at Heriot, Midlothian,
Aug. 14, 1856, was exhibited at a meeting of the
Royal Physical Society, Edinburgh. Mr. W. C.
Angus received one which was killed on the river
Yohan at Auchmacoy, Jan. 17, 1863 (an unusual
time of year at which to meet with it), and shot
one himself at Donmouth, Aberdeen, on Sept. 1,
1866. Another Aberdeenshire specimen was ob-
tained by Mr. G. Lees on July 8, 1867.

Since the first edition of this Handbook was
published, the occurrence of the Wood Sandpiper
in Ireland, where it was then unknown, has been
placed beyond doubt. One was shot at Calary
Bog, Co. Wicklow, on Aug. 23, 1885 (More, ZooL,
1885, p. 438), and two others have since been
obtained at the same place. In Sept. 1898 a fourth
was shot at Lough Cullin, Co. Mayo {Ibis, 1899,
p. 128), and on Aug. 25, 1899, a fifth near Tramore
Bay, Co. Waterford {Irish Nat, 1899, p. 231).

From its general resemblance to the Green
Sandpiper this bird is probably often mistaken for
it, and is perhaps not so rare as is generally sup-
posed. I have seen and shot several on the river
Brent and at Kingsbury Reservoir, Middlesex ; in
the salt marshes between Siddlesham and Selsea,
Sussex ; in the marshes adjoining the river Bure,
Norfolk ; and in the marshes around Thorpe and
Aldeburgh. It differs from the Green Sandpiper in
having a shorter bill and longer legs ; the axillary
plumes white with faint dusky bars, instead of
greyish black with narrow angular white bars ; all

1 84 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the feathers in the tail barred, and the shaft of the
iirst primary white. In the Green Sandpiper the
bases of the tail feathers are white, and all the
quills are dusky. The legs and toes of the Wood
Sandpiper are yellowish clay-colour ; in the Green
Sandpiper they are greyish-green.

Expanse of wing, 14 in.; weight, 2| oz.

RUFF and REEVE. Machetes pugnax (Linnaeus). PL
23, figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 8a. Length, 6 12 in., ? 9 in.; bill,
1-25 ; wing, ^ 7-25 in., ? 6 in. ; tarsus, 3 1-5, ? 1-25.

A spring and autumn migrant. Formerly nested
annually in the eastern counties of England ; now
a few pairs only remain to breed in favourable
localities, where they are professedly protected.

In 1869 Ruffs and Reeves were breeding in Lin-
colnshire in limited numbers, and twenty years later
were observed on their spring migration in the
marshes lying to the north of that county (Cordeaux,
Zool, 1884, p. 466; 1890, p. 204).

In 1870 Stevenson ("Birds of Norfolk," ii. p.
261) thought Hickling Broad was the only place in
Norfolk where they still continued to breed. In
1889 Mr. J. H. Gurney pubhshed a description of
two nests with eggs found on June 28 of that year
{Zool., 1889, p. 336), and Mr. Marchant has since
reported a nest found near Hoveton Broad in 1897.
As to the former breeding of the Ruff at Martin
Mere, Lancashire, see Howard, Zool., 1884, p. 446.

The name "Ruff" has been obviously bestowed
on account of the frill which is assumed by the

SANDPIPERS 185

male bird in the breeding season ; but I have no-
where found any explanation of the name " Reeve."
On showing one which I had just shot to a Norfolk
fenman some years ago, inquiring what bird he
took it to be, he replied, " A Dick-reeve," i.e. dyke-
reeve. Now amongst the officers of the shire who
had to render their accounts periodically at a Court
Baron were the "shire-reeve" (modern "sheriff")
and the " dyke - reeve," whose business it was to
superintend the repairs of the dykes to prevent
floods ; and it appears not unlikely that as this bird
was constantly to be found about the marsh dykes,
it came to be known as the " dick -reeve." See
an article " On the title of Reeve," Journ. Brit.
Archceol. Assoc, vol. xxviii. p. 35.

These birds were formerly held in great esteem
for the table, as appears by the frequent mention
of them in old " Household Books." See Bewick's
description of the nets used for taking them, and
the price paid for them in 1794. Montagu also, in
his " Ornithological Dictionary," has some interest-
ing remarks on the "combat" of Ruffs in the pairing
season. Five-and-twenty years ago T constantly saw
Ruffs and Reeves exposed for sale by the London
poulterers in April and May, Now they are very
seldom seen, owing, it is believed, to the enforce-
ment of the law for the protection of birds in the
breeding season both in this country and in Holland,
whence they were imported.

The weight of a Ruff is 6 oz. ; of a Reeve, 4 oz.

1 86 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

COMMON SANDPIPER. Tringoideshypoleucus{Urm.).
PI. 20, figs. 2, 2a. Length, 7*5 in. ; bill, 1 in, ; wing,
4-25 in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

A summer visitant breeding in the north of
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, in similar
haunts to those affected by the Dipper. More
rarely the nest has been found in some of the
south-western counties of England.

It seldom remains here throughout the winter,
and the following instances recorded by Mr. W. E.
Beckwith (ZooL, 1884, p. 73) are worth mentioning.
One killed on the Severn, near Leighton, on Nov.
27, 1879 ; one seen near Leighton on Dec. 19,
1882, and frequently afterwards up to the end of
March; one shot near Cound on Dec. 26, 1882;
one seen near Leighton on Dec. 8, 1883; and one
(probably the same bird) shot there on January 21,
1884. One was shot at Glandore, Co. Cork, on
Jan. 1.5, 1884 {Zool, 1884, p. 115), by Mr. C.
Donovan, who obligingly forwarded the bird for
my inspection.

KNOT. Tringa eanutus, Linnaeus. PI. 21, figs. 1, 2.
Length, 10 in. ; bill, 1'2 in. ; wing, 6-5 in. : tarsus,
1-1 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, some remaining
in flocks upon the coast throughout the winter.

The origin of the name " Knot " is uncertain.
Camden calls it the bird of Canute, because sup-
posed to fly here out of Denmark {Britannia, ed.

SANDPIPERS 187

1607, p. 408) ; but this is a mere surmise. Possibly
the name "Knot" may be derived from its habit
of sitting " bunched up," as the fowlers term it.
While waiting on the beach for the ebb-tide to
leave the mud-flats on which they feed, these birds
may be seen sitting knotted up, as it were, with
their heads buried in the feathers of their backs.
But see Newton, Diet. Birds, p. 498.

The Knot, like the Lapwing, was formerly held
in great esteem for the table, and large numbers
were taken in nets, kept in mews and fattened,
as appears by old "Household Books." A MS. in
the Sloane Coll. Brit. Mus., 1592, 8 Cat. 633, de-
scribes " The maner of kepyng of Knotts after
Sir William Askew and my Lady, given to my
Lord Darcy, 25 Hen. VIII."

In summer, the Knot, like the Bar-tailed Godwit
and Curlew Sandpiper, has the under parts of a bright
bay colour, and the back prettily variegated with
black and brown ; in winter the under parts are
white, the dorsal plumage grey. The young of the
year have buflf-coloured breasts.

A white Knot shot at Maldon, Essex, was in the
collection of the late F. Bond {Zool, 1883, p. 377).

Saxby had little doubt that this species occasion-
ally breeds in the northern parts of Shetland, for he
had observed and shot the birds in perfect summer
plumage in June, while later in the year he met
with the young so weak upon the wing that they
rather fluttered than flew. Eggs resembling those
of the Reeve, but not so sharply pointed, were once

1 88 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

sent to him from a locality where he had long sus-
pected that the Knot might breed. But see Evans
and Buckley, " Fauna of the Shetland Islands,"
1899, p. 169.

During the British Polar Expedition of 1876,
Col. Feilden, naturalist to H.M.S. "Alert," obtained
a male Knot and three nestlings (now preserved in
the British Museum), near a small lake on Grinnell
Land, in lat. 82° 33' N., and Mr. Chichester Hart,
naturalist to H.M.S. "Discovery," captured a brood
of four and another of three in lat. 81° 44'. For
further details see Zool., 1880, p. 205.

The weight of an adult Knot is about 6 oz.

CURLEW SANDPIPER. Tringa suharquata {Gvld^Qn^t.).
PL 21, figs. 5, 6. Length, 8-25 in.; bill, 1-5; wmg,
5 in. ; tarsus, 1*2 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, sometimes in
considerable flocks. In the spring plumage the
under parts are rufous, as in the Knot and God-
wits ; in the autumn and winter the under parts
are white. It then resembles the Dunling, from
which it may be distinguished by its decurved bill
and white rump. The discovery of a nest " in a
tract of sedgy bog round the Loch of Spynie, near
Elgin, on the 8th June 1853," has been chronicled
by Mr. Robert Gray in his " Birds of the West of
Scotland" (p. 318), but this observation probably
has reference to a nest of the Dunling {q.v.), and
is not quoted in the more recent work of Mr.
Harvie-Brown on the Fauna of the Moray Basin.

SANDPIPERS 189

Mr. Popham, while in Siberia, took a nest of the
Curlew Sandpiper containing four eggs, and shot the
hen bird, on an island at the mouth of the river
Yenesei, in July 1897 (P. Z. S., 1897, p. 890, pi.
li. ; Ibis, 1898, p. 142). Weight, 2h oz.

PURPLE SANDPIPER. Tringa maritima, Gmelin.i
PI. 21, figs. 3, 4. Length, 8-5 in. ; bill, 1-4 in. ; wing,
5-3 in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

A regular winter visitant, rarely seen between
April and September, although it is supposed to
breed within the limits of the British Islands,
as, for example, in Shetland (cf. Saxby, p. 214).
Hitherto, however, the nest has not been dis-
covered, though young birds hardly able to fly
have been found in the Fame Islands, and I have
observed the old ones on the opposite mainland
near North Sunderland. One which I shot there
so late as the middle of May is preserved in the
British Museum collection.

Messrs. Harvie - Brown and Feilden found the
Purple Sandpiper in the Outer Hebrides on the
27th of May, and procured several specimens.
They were not, however, in full summer plumage.
The weight of the bird I shot was 4 oz.

^ It is clear that the specific name striata, Linn., adopted by the Jbis
Committee in their List of British Birds, and by Mr. Saunders in his
" Manual," is not applicable to the Purple Sandpiper, but to the Red-
shank ; for the words of Linnaeus are, " rectricibus alhis fusco-fasciat-is,
remiijibm plurimis alhis; uropijgium album." Evidently, from the
barred tail, a Totamis, and not a Tringa. I accordingly retain the
name maritima adopted in the earlier edition of tliis Handbook.

190 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

DUNLING. Trimga alpina, Linnffius. PI. 21, figs. 10,
11. Length, 8 in.; bill, 1-3 to 15 in.; wing, 45 in.;
tarsus, 1 in.

In altering the usually accepted mode of spell-
ing the English name of this bird, I have ventured
to restore what I conceive to be the older, and
therefore preferable, form of the word. " Dunling,"
the little dun thing, a diminutive akin to grayling,
gravelling (a young salmon), groundling (an old
name for the gudgeon), brandling (a small red
worm), titling, reedling, sanderling, devilling (a local
name for the swift), duckling, and gosling. My
justification for the proposed change is to be found
in the entries relating to this Sandpiper in the
Durham Household Book (the accounts of the
Bursar of the Monastery of Durham), 1530-1534,
the price paid for them at that date being at the
rate of 4d. a dozen (Zool., 1881, p. 444).

The Dunling, variously known as Stint, Purre,
Ox-bird, and Plover's page, may be found on some
parts of our coast all the year round, but in spring
and autumn a regular migration takes place to and
from its breeding haunts, which are usually at some
elevation on moorland wastes, often at a considerable
distance from the sea.

This bird breeds annually in Scotland and the
Hebrides, as also on the Northumbrian moors,
whence I have procured the eggs. It used for-
merly to nest at Martin Mere, in Lancashire {Mag.
Nat. Hist., vol. vii. p. 599), and in Cheshire, where,

SANDPIPERS 191

according to J. F- Brockholes, a few used to breed
in suitable parts of Wirral. In the spring of 1871
he received eleven eggs which were taken on the
Dee marshes near Puddington and Shotwick {P^^oc.
Chester Soc. Nat. Sci., 1874, p. 12).

In the south-west of England the nest has been
found on the Bodmin moors in Cornwall (Rodd,
ZooL, 1868, p. 1319), and on Dartmoor in Devon-
shire (Moore, Mag. Nat. Hist, 1837, p. 322),
though not of late years.

In Wales the Dunling breeds in Cardiganshire
and Merionethshire {Zool, 18.93, p. 269, and 1895,
p. 275), probably also in Pembrokeshire (Tracy, ZooL,
1851, p. 3049, and Murray Mathew, "Birds of Pem-
brokeshire," 1894, p. 94).

In Ireland, nests and eggs have been found in
Wicklow, Mayo, Westmeath, and Donegal, where,
according to Mr. Ussher, the bird is common in the
breeding season. It then has a black breast.

As to the smaller race or variety of this species
which is sometimes met with on our coasts in
autumn, see Cordeaux, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc., vol.
ii. p. 562, and Newton, Diet. Birds, p. 172.

LITTLE STINT. Tringa minuta, Leisler. PI. 21, figs.
7, 8, 8a. Length, 6 in.; bill, O'S in. ; wing, 3*2 in.;
tarsus, 0-9 in.

A spring and autumn migrant. A few instances
have come under my notice in which this bird has
remained in England so late as the second week in

192 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

June, but, as a rule, it departs for its northern breed-
ing haunts long before that date.

It is sparingly distributed on the eastern coasts
of Scotland, but has not been met with on the
western shores. It appears in Ireland as a regular
autumnal visitant, but in limited numbers.

I have often met with this little bird in spring
and autumn at Pagham Harbour, Sussex ; at Kings-
bury Reservoir, Middlesex ; Breydon Harbour, Nor-
folk ; and Aldeburgh, Suffolk ; and at the last-named
place I once shot a Little Stint and a Temminck's
Stint out of the same flock in September.

The nest of the Little Stint was first discovered
by Middendorf on the Taimyr river, in Asiatic
Siberia, in 1872; but Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-
Brown were the first to take the eggs in Europe, in
68^° N. lat., near the mouth of the Petchora river, in
July 1875. See the account of their discovery, with
coloured figures of the eggs, Ibis, 1876, p. 294. Since
then, others have been obtained near Archangel, in
the Kola Peninsula, in Northern Norway, and in
Novaya Zemlya by Messrs. Pearson and Feilden, who
in the account of their journey "Beyond Petsora East-
ward " (1899), have given coloured figures of the eggs
with photographs of nest and eggs, and sitting bird.

TEMMINCK'S STINT. Tringa temminckii, Leisler.
PI. 21, fig. 9. Length, 5-75; bill, 0-6; wing, 3-75;
tarsus, 0'6 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, but much rarer
than the last named. In Scotland it has been met

a Q

1 "^

c^ o
^ d

CJ

SANDPIPERS 193

with in Caithness (R. Gray) and in Banffshire ("Fauna
of the Moray Basin," ii. p. 195). In Ireland one
examined by Mr. Ussher was obtained many years
ago near Tralee. Wolley has given a most pleasing
account of its nesting haunts north of the Gulf of
Bothnia, and Messrs. Seebohm and Harvie-Brown
found it much commoner than the Little Stint on the
same breeding-ground at the mouth of the Petchora
river [Ibis, 1876, p. 308). This graceful little bird, our
least British Sandpiper, is sometimes confounded with
the Little Stint [Tringa minuta), but may be distin-
guished by the white shaft of the first primary, the
white outer tail feathers, and the light-coloured legs,
as pointed out in my *' Birds of Middlesex." On Sep-
tember 4, 1869, I shot one of these little Sandpipers
at Kingsbury Reservoir, at which sheet of water on
that day at 6 a.m. I counted seven different species
of waders, namely, tieron, Greenshank, Green Sand-
piper, Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Dun-
ling, and Temminck's Stint. At the same place on
August 29, 1872, I found and shot another, after
observing its actions for some time. In mode of
flight and general appearance it resembles a minia-
ture Common Sandpiper. The Little Stint, which
I have observed chiefly on the coasts of Sussex
and Suffolk, is more like a miniature Dunling.

SANDERLING. Calidris arenaria (Linnaeus). PI. 20,
figs. 1, la. Length, 7 in. ; bill, 0"5 in. ; wing, 4"3 in. ;
tarsus, 0-9 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, a few remaining
throughout the winter. On the west coast of Scot-
land, as well as in Ireland, it is said to be common in

N

194 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

autumn. There is no evidence that the Sanderling
has ever nested in the British Islands. Eggs from
the barren grounds of North America, near the
Anderson River (found by Macfarlane), and from
Sabine Island (brought home by the German Polar
Expedition under Captain Koldevvy), have been
figured and described by Prof. Newton (Proc. Zool.
Soc, 1871, p. 56, pi. 4, and p. 546). Colonel Feilden,
also, when naturalist on board H.M.S. "Alert," in
June 1876, found a nest of the Sanderling, contain-
ing two eggs, in Smith's Sound, lat. 82° 83'. These
are figured in the appendix to Sir George Nares's
narrative of that expedition. This bird may be dis-
tinguished at all times from the Dunling by its short
straight bill and by the absence of a hind-toe. (See
PL 20, fig. la.)

GREY PHALAROPE. Fhalaridopus fulicarius (Lin-
nasus). PI. 23, figs. 9, 10, 10a. Length, 8 in. ; bill,
1 in. ; wing, 5 in. ; tarsus, 0'8 in.

This bird in summer plumage is the Tringafuli-
caria of Linnaeus, and in its winter dress his Tringa
lohata {Syst. Nat., i. p. 249). As to the proper mode
of spelling the name of the genus in which it is
now placed by common consent, it seems clear
that if we change Podiceps for Podicipes (q.v.), to
be consistent we must have Phalaridopus, from
(paXapig-iSo?, and not Phalaropus (see Murdoch,
Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iii. p. 150; Newtnr., "Diet.
Birds," p. 711).

The Grey Phalarope is an annual visitor in
autumn ; in some years unusually numerous, as,

PHALAROPES 195

for example, in 1866 (see Mr. Gurney's pamphlet
giving a summary of the occurrences in that year),
1869, 1889, and in 1891, when a great number
were reported from Sussex, Hants, and Dorset. No
instance of its occurring in England in the red
plumage peculiar to the breeding season is known
to me, although occasionally specimens obtained in
autumn have a few red feathers showing through
the winter dress. An egg obtained in Iceland has
been figured by Prof. Newton {Proc, Zool. Soc,
1867, p. 165, pi. XV.), and others have been since
procured in Spitzbergen and Novaya Zemlya.

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. Phalaridopus hyper-
horeus (Linnasus). Length, 7 in. ; bill, O'S in. ; wing,
4-5 in. ; tarsus, 0"8 in.

Breeds in Perthshire, Inverness, Sutherland, the
Hebrides, and Shetland ; ^ formerly also in Orkney.
It is an occasional autumn and winter visitant to
England, but very rare in Ireland, where it was
unknown until Nov. 1891, when one was shot at
Loughgilly, Co. Armagh (A. G. More, Irish Nat.,
1892, p. 4, and Zool, 1892, p. 28).

A small flock in S.W. Sutherland in autumn
{Zool, 1880, p. 506). One in Anglesea, Oct. 1893;
another near St. Leonards, Oct. 1895. The extreme
lightness of this little bird is remarkable, its weight
being only 1 oz. (ZooL, 1895, p. 449).

Wilson's Phalarope has been reported to have
been found at Sutton Ambian, near Market Bos-
worth (Proc. Zool Soc, 1886, p. 297, and Zool, 1886,

' The nest and eggs are figured by Pearson, p. 80.

196 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

p. 256), but there seems to have been some Diistake
(Browne, "Birds of Leicestershire," p. 151).

WOODCOCK. Bcolapax rusticula, Linnseiis. PI. 22,
figs. 4, 4a. Length, 14-5 in. ; bill, 2-75 in. : wing, 8 in. ;
tarsus, 1*5 in.

A regular winter visitant, but many pairs an-
nually remain to nest in favourable localities. See
T. J. Monk's statistics of the breeding of the Wood-
cock in East Sussex {Field, Feb. 25, 1871). In
seven districts, comprising twenty-one parishes, it
was estimated that there were annually from 150 to
200 nests of this bird. See also my notes on its
nesting in the south and west of England [Field,
June 10, 1871), on carrying its young [ZooL, 1879,
pp. 433-440, illustrated by Joseph Wolf), and cover-
ing itself with dead leaves to favour its conceal-
ment (Field, Feb. 29, 1896).

In Ireland, Mr. Ussher states that this bird
breeds in the woodlands of every county, having
greatly increased in such localities in summer. The
winter immigration, lasting from October until March,
is at its height in November and December.

The noticeable variation in the colour of the first
primary is not indicative of sex, as some suppose,
but of age, the young birds having the outer web of
this feather variegated, the old ones plain.

Albino and pied varieties have been frequently
met with. See my article on "White Woodcocks,"
Field, Nov. 20, 1897, and a note on Lord Gains-
borough's White Woodcock, Zool, 1869, p. 1645.

Woodcocks have been killed weighing as much as

SNIPES 197

16 oz., but the average weight is 12 oz. The heaviest
one on record was killed at Ramsay, Isle of Man. It
was very carefully weighed by Mr. D. H. Greenwood
of Glendaff, Ramsay, and scaled 17 h oz.

For notable *' bags " of Woodcock, and further de-
tails concerning weight, see Harvie-Brown and Buck-
ley, " Fauna of Argyll," pp. 172-173 ; Payne Gallwey,
" Fowler in Ireland," pp. 227-229 ; and the article on
AVoodcock in the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," 1898.

An unusual instance of a Woodcock " towering "
is reported, Field, Feb. 19, 1898.

Woodcocks have been occasionally kept for some
time in captivity (ZooL, 1884, p. 150):

GREAT SNIPE. Gallinago major (Gmelin). PI. 22,
fig. 5. Length, 11 in.; bill, 2-5 in.; wing, 5-.5 in.;
tarsus, 1"35 in.

The Great or " Solitary " Snipe visits this country
regularly every autumn from Scandinavia, and always
earlier than the Common Snipe. Instances of its
occurrence in spring are rare. It appears to seek
drier situations than does the Common Snipe : — e.g.
one shot by the Earl of Haddington in a dry grass
field near Mellerstain, Berwickshire, in the autumn
of 1865 (Turnbull, "Birds of East Lothian," p. 43) ;
two on high ground, Malham, Yorkshire, Sept. 6,
1862 (Christy Horsfall, Zool, 1862, p. 8196); one
on a stubble at Stewarton, Ayrshire, Sept. 15, 1868
(R. Gray, "Birds of Scotland," p. 311); one in a
piece of potatoes on dry sand, near Milton Pewsey,
Wilts, Sept. 23, 1868 {Field, Oct. 3, 1868) ; one on a

198 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

dry hean stubble at Thorpe, Northants (ZooL, 1880, p.
444) ; one in afield of clover at Thaxted, Essex, Sept.
3, 1896 (Field, Sept. 12, 1896). For additional occur-
rences see ZooL, 1895, p. 383, where the respective
weights of a dozen specimens from various parts of the
country are noted. The average weight is about 7h to
8 oz.,but I have notes of three that weighed 10 oz.each,
and one shot at Pickering in Yorkshire, 10| oz.

The Great Snipe differs from the Common Snipe
not merely by its superior size and weight, but in
having the underparts barred instead of white, with
sixteen tail feathers instead of fourteen ; the distal
half of the outermost one is pure white instead of
being barred as in the Common Snipe. A Great Snipe,
shot at Camelford, Cornwall, in November 1868, and
examined by Mr. E. H. Rodd of Penzance, had
eighteen instead of sixteen feathers in the tail
{Zool, 1868, p. 1482).

There is a record of this species having nested
near Wroxham (Zool., 1851, p. 3175), but the late
Mr. Stevenson, who inquired carefully into the
circumstances and saw one of the eggs, concluded
that the nest was that of a Common Snipe ("Birds
of Norfolk," ii. p. 300).

This is a rare visitor to Ireland in autumn. One
was shot at Ballycroy, Co. Mayo, Oct. 13, 1893
(Zool., 1893, p. 434) ; one near Clonakilty, Co. Cork,
Nov. 17, 1879 (Field, Nov. 22, 1879); another, Co.
Cork, Dec. 1883 (Zool., 1884, p. 149); and one
Co. Galway (Zool, 1888, p. 33).

In Scotland it is regarded as a rare autumnal

SNIPES 199

visitant. R. Gray has noted several instances of its
occurrence both in the eastern and western counties,
and Mr. R. Service of Dumfries informed me that
one was shot at Teregles in his county, Oct. 2, 1896,
weighing 7i oz.

COMMON SNIPE. Gallinago media, Leach. PL 22,
figs. 6, 6a. Length, 10-5 in. ; bill, 275 in. ; wing, 5-25
in. ; tarsus, 1*25 in.

A regular winter visitant, but many annually
remain to breed in suitable localities. As to the
large russet variety, for which Gould suggested the
name G. russata, see Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk,"
vol. ii. p. 331; Rodd, Zool, 1855, p. 4704; Gat-
combe, Zool, 1862, p. 7938 ; Blake Knox, Zool,
1866, p. 302; Brooking Rowe, Zool, 1866, p. 97;
and Rodd, Zool, 1880, p. 23.

A remarkable paper on the " drumming " of the
Snipe by Herr Meves, translated from the Swedish
by Wolley, will be found in the Proc. Zool Soc. for
1858, p. 199. In this paper the author attributes
the peculiar sound known as humming, drumming,
and bleating, to the vibration of the outer tail
feathers ; but from repeated observation I am per-
suaded that it is caused by the vibration of the
primaries, and in this opinion I am supported by
Macgillivray, Jardine, Selby, Saxby, John Hancock,
and Abel Chapman. (See " Essays on Sport and
Nat. Hist.," 1883, pp. 285-294, and Stevenson,
Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iv. p. 486, 1889.)

Stevenson states (vol. ii. p. 318) that the first

200 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

flights of Snipe from the north of Europe arrive
about the middle or end of August ; but I suspect
that the majority of those first observed in Nor-
folk and other English counties about that season
are the home-bred Snipe that have then left their
breeding haunts. So far as my experience goes, in
the south of England the foreign Snipe do not come
in until the first week of November.

The average weight of a Common Snipe is from
4 to 4i oz., and perhaps one in a hundred will pull
down the scale at 5 oz. Anything above this must
be considered an unusual weight. On Dec. 14,
1891, I received three Snipes from Tingwall, Ler-
wick, which weighed respectively 5f oz., 6^ oz.,
and 6f oz. I weighed them myself, and they had
probably lost something of their original weight,
having been shot a few days previously. For good
''bags" see the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," 1898.

With regard to the so-called Sabine's Snipe,
when Vigors, in Aug. 1825, received from Queen's
Co., Ireland, a very dark, almost black, specimen of
a Snipe, he took it to be an undescribed species, and
named it after a distinguished contemporary (Trans.
Linn. Soc, xiv. p. 557). At irregular intervals other
specimens were subsequently obtained, and although
in none of these did the measurements difi'er appreci-
ably from those of the Common Snipe, the singular
coloration seemed to justify its separation from that
species. In Dec. 1870 there were at least five-and-
twenty examples on record (Field, Dec. 10, 1870),
and since that date the number of recorded speci-

SNIPES 20 1

mens has been more than doubled. In the Irish
Naturalist, Jan. 1895, Mr. Barrett Hamilton, review-
ing the records, remarked that out of fifty-five
examples of Sabine's Snipe existing in collections,
thirty-one were obtained in Ireland, twenty-two
in England, one in Scotland, and one in France.
This bird is now generally regarded as merely a
melanistic form of the Common Snipe.

A ivhite Snipe was shot near Morpeth in Sept.
1888 {Zool, 1889, p. 35). F. Bond had another.

JACK SNIPE. Gallinago gallinula (Linnseus). PI. 22,
fig. 7. Length, 7-5 in.; bill, 1-5 in.; wing, 4-25 in. ;
tarsus, 0'75 in.

A regular winter visitant from Scandinavia,
arriving usually in the first week of October.
Cases are on record in which this bird has been
seen in England during the summer months, but
there is no satisfactory evidence of its having nested
here. John Wolley has given an excellent account
of its breeding haunts, and of several nests with
eggs found by him in the great marsh of Muonio-
niska in Lapland (Hewitson, 3rd ed., ii. p. 357).
Wheelwright also has some interesting remarks on
the subject {Field, Oct. 28, 1865).

A black variety, comparable to the melanistic
form of the Common Snipe, shot at Staines, was
recorded by the late Frederick Bond (Zool., 1862).

The Jack Snipe has only twelve feathers in the
tail, instead of fourteen as in the Common Snipe.
Its weight is 2J to 2^ oz.

202 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

I have known two instances in whicli Jack Snipe
shot at and only slightly winged have been carried
home alive and kept for some time in captivity.
Of one of these I have given a detailed account
("Birds of Middlesex," p. 193).

BAR-TAILED GODWIT. Limosa lapponica (Linneeus).
PI. 23, figs. 3, 4 Length, 16 in. ; bill, 3-25 in. ; wing,
8"5 in. ; tarsus, 2 in. ; bare part of tibia, 0'75 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, many remaining
throughout the winter, and much commoner than
the following species ; but although so numerous
at the period of its migration, no instance is known
of its having nested in the British Islands. It is
to be found during the breeding season on the
Siberian tundras from the Yenisei valley westward
to the marshes of Finland and Lapland. The Black-
tailed Godwit, on the contrary, although far more
rarely met with in England at the present time, used
formerly to breed in the fens and marshes of our
eastern counties.

To give some idea of the occasional abundance
of the Bar-tailed Godwit, it may be noted that Mr.
T. M. Pike, as he himself informed me, has seen
thousands of these birds together in Morayshire,
and a professional gunner there once killed 115 at
one shot. Mr. Abel Chapman has observed that
" thousands of Bar-tailed Godwits haunt the coast
of Northumberland throughout the winter," an asser-
tion which Sir E,. Payne Gallwey has disputed,
suggesting that he must have mistaken Knots for

GOD WITS 203

Godwits (" Letters to Young Shooters," 3rd series,
p. 388). Not only is this very unlikely, having
regard to Mr. Chapman's long experience as a wild-
fowl shooter, and his intimate acquaintance with
shore birds, but his observation has been confirmed
by Mr. Cordeaux {Field, Feb. 20, 1897).

In summer this bird has the dorsal plumage
beautifully variegated with black and brown and
the under parts bright bay ; in the winter the back
is nearly uniformly grey and the under parts white.
The young birds of the year have bufi' breasts, and,
generally speaking, a plumage intermediate in colour
between that of the summer and winter plumage
of the adults. I have shot scores of them in all
phases of plumage in the Sussex harbours and on the
coasts of Essex and Norfolk, several of which are pre-
served in my collection of wading birds in the British
Museum. The females are larger than the males.

The length of bill varies according to age and
sex. The weight also varies from 10 to 12 oz.

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT. Limosa iegocephala (Lin-
naeus). PI. 23, figs, 1, 2. Length 17 in. ; bill, 4-5 in. ;
wing, 8-5 in.; tarsus, 3 in. ; bare part of tibia, 1*75 in.

A spring and autumn migrant. Extremely rare
in Scotland, and in Ireland an occasional visitant in
autumn. Formerly nested annually in the fens of
Norfolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Lincoln. It
had ceased to breed in Lincolnshire in Montagu's
time (1813), and according to Stevenson became
extinct as a breeding species in Norfolk some time

204 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

between 1829 and 1835 ; although during the suc-
ceeding twenty years a pair or two occasionally
returned to their old haunts in the spring. The last
nest heard of was one containing three eggs, taken
at Reedham, Norfolk, in 1857. These eggs were sold
at Stevens's, March 23, 1858, and two of them are in
the collection of Professor Newton.

Although I have occasionally met with old and
young birds in September in the Sussex harbours,
and on Sept. 5, 1873, shot one in Breydon
Marshes, Norfolk, I have only once met with this
species on the spring migration. On April 23,
1868, I fell in with a party of eight of these Godwits
on the ooze at Canvey Island, at the mouth of the
Thames, and with some difficulty contrived to get
within range of them, and shot three.

The Black-tailed Godwit may be readily distin-
guished from the Bar-tailed species by its superior
length of leg, and black tail. Moreover, the uniform
colour of the under-parts does not extend to the
belly, as is the case with the other. The weight
varies with age and condition from 12 to 14 oz.

CURLEW. Numenius arquata^ (Lmndsus). PI. 22, Hg. 8.
Length, ^ 21 in., $ 26 in. ; bill, 5 to 6 in. ; wing, 11"5
to 12-25 in. ; tarsus, 3 in.

Resident ; breeding on the moors, heaths, and
wastes in Scotland, Northumberland, Derbyshire,
Yorkshire, Shropshire, Norfolk, North and South

1 Arqiuiia is a substantive in apposition and the mediaeval Latin
name for this bird. For an adjectival form we might have arcuatua.

CURLEWS 205

Wales, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, and in
many parts of Ireland. Coming down to the coast
in autumn, it frequents the mud flats in the tidal
harbours, sometimes in large flocks.

The first record of its breeding in Norfolk will
be found, Zool, 1889, p. 336, where Mr. J. H.
Gumey states that the Curlew has nested amongst
the ling on the Prince of Wales' estate at Sandring-
ham. In Dorsetshire Mr. Mansell Pleydell has noted
several instances of its nesting on the heath lands.

The velocity with which a Curlew flies is aston-
ishing. At Turnberry Lighthouse, on the Ayrshire
coast, during a storm at the end of 1893, a Curlew
dashed through one of the tower lights, completely
smashing the protecting plate glass, which was a
quarter of an inch thick.

The weight of this bird varies, according to age
and condition, from 1 lb. 12 oz. to 2 lbs. 8 oz. I
have shot and weighed many, chiefly in autumn and
winter, but occasionally in spring, in Pagham Har-
bour, Sussex, and Breydon Harbour, Norfolk.

I have seen a pure white Curlew which was shot
on the shore of the Dornoch Firth in December
1899, and another was shot in Co. Donegal in 1870
{Zool, 1870, p. 2141).

WHIMBREL. Numenius 2:)hssopiis (Linnaeus). PL 22,
figs. 9, 9a. Length, ^16 in., $ 18 in. ; bill, 3 to 3*5 in.;
wing, 9 '5 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

There is reason to believe that the name Whim-
hrel, generally employed by English naturalists to

206 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

designate the smaller species of Curlew found in
the British Islands, is a corruption of an older and
more significant word. Prof. Newton (" Diet. Birds,"
p. 1036), on the authority of Prof. Skeat, has : " Whim-
brel, the bird that keeps on uttering a cry imitated
by whim, a name made known to Willughby (1678)
as being used at the mouth of the Tees."

But long before Willughby's time, viz., in 1530,
the bird was known in the very county referred to
as the Whimpeyiiel (see the "Durham Household
Book," 1530-31, pp. 46, 129). To whimper, or
utter a querulous cry, is eminently expressive of this
bird's note, and if Willughby be responsible for the
name Whiinhrel, he must have been misled in the
spelling of it by the pronunciation of his informant.
The suggestion made by Mr. Furnivall in 1868 of
the existence of a French form, Whimhremi, so far
as I am aware, has not been verified, although the
name Brewe is to be found in Russell's " Boke of
Nurture" and in the "Boke of Kervynge" [carving],
printed in 1513 by Wynkyn de Worde.

On the Sussex coast this bird is known as the
Titterel, an equally expressive name, from its titter-
ing cry, and in Somersetshire Checker and Checherel ;
in Cumberland, Half Curleiv, Curletv Knave, and
Curleiv Jack (synonymous terms, as at cards ; see
the "Household Books" of Lord William Howard
of Naworth Castle, 1612, p. 164) ; in Norfolk, Spowe,
from the Scandinavian spoi and spou (see the " House-
hold Books" of the L'Estranges of Hunstanton,
1520, and Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," ii. p. 202),

CURLEWS 207

and May-bird, from the season of its regular appear-
ance in spring. It is a spring and autumn migrant.

According to W, Dunbar [Ibis, 1865, p. 435), a
few pairs remain to breed in Sutherlandshire and
Caithness, but no direct evidence of this has been
furnished. See Harvie-Brown, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc.
Glasgoiv, 1875, p. Ill, and "Fauna of Sutherland
and Caithness," p. 225 ; and E. J. Booth, " Cata-
logue of Birds," 1896, p. 26.

In the Outer Hebrides the Whimbrel is be-
lieved to have nested on North Ronay in June 1885
("Fauna O, Hebrides," p. 137), but the nearest point
at which it is known to breed with certainty is on
one of the southern isles of Orkney. Faroe and Ice-
land are the headquarters of this species in Western
Europe.

Although seldom met with in Great Britain
except in spring and autumn, when on migration
to and from its breeding haunts, the Whimbrel has
been occasionally observed in winter (Ann. Scot.
Nat. Hist., 1899, p. 113).

The weight of an adult bird is 16 oz.

Oeder IX. HERODIONES

Fam. TANTALID^.

GLOSSY IBIS. Ibis falcinellus, Linnaeus. PI. 24, fig. 2.
Length, 22 in. ; bill, 5 in. ; wing, 10'5 in. ; tarsus, 4 in.

When the Rev. Richard Lubbock, in 1845,
published his " Fauna of Norfolk," he wrote of this

2oS HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

bird : " Fifty years back it was seen often enough
in England to be known to gunners and fisher-
men as the Black Curlew. It is now a rare visi-
tant, appearing at uncertain intervals, generally in
autumn." ^

In Sowerby's "British Miscellany" (1806) a
coloured figure is given of a Glossy Ibis in the collec-
tion of Dr. Lamb of Newbury, described as " the only
British specimen known." " " This Ibis " (says Dr.
Lamb) "was shot Sept. 28, 1793, while skimming
with another over the river Thames between Henley
and Reading. I found nothing in his stomach but
undigested plants. He had many pedieuli and a
vast number of other small insects about him, which
I sent to my learned friend and patron, T. Marsham,
Esq., Treas. Linn. Soc." ^ It is noticed by Montagu.

Since the publication of the former edition of
this Handbook, I have noted the following occur-
rences of this species in the British Islands : —

One, Derrymore, near Tralee, Oct. 1872, in the collec-
tion of birds belonging to Mr. Neligan.

One, Brayton Bridge, near Selby, Yorkshire, May 1874
(Clarke and Roebuck, " Handb. York. Vert.," p. 52).

Four, Poole Harbour, Oct. 1877. Pike, ZooL, 1878, p. 296.

One, mouth of the Ythan, Aberdeenshire, Oct. 4, 1880.
Sim, Zool, 1881, p. 26.

^ It has no real affinity with the Curlews, with which, owing to the
shape of the bill, it was formerly associated. Its relationship is with
the Spoonbills. Possessing certain divergent characters from the
typical genus Ibis, it is placed by some in a distinct genus, Plegadis.

2 No British specimen is noticed by Willughby (1678), and it is
not mentioned by vSir Thomas Browne (1662). Latham (1790) refers
to one in the Leverian Museum, which was shot in Cornwall.

^ See Lamb's " Ornithologia Bercheria," Zool., 1880, p. 313.

fcuO

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o

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^

(y

SPOONBILL 209

One, Skegness, Lincolnshire, Sept. 9, 1881. Cullingford,
ZooL, 1882, p. 22.

One, Ball's Park, Hertfordshire, Sept. 10, 1881 (Trans.
Herts Nat. Hist. Soc, ii. p. 84).

One, Dogmersfield Park, Hants, Sept. 15, 1881. Hooper,
ZooL, 1881, p. 494.

One, on the Wolverton Marshes, near Lynn, Sept. 16,
1881. Southwell, ZooL, 1881, p. 469. Previously seen at
Cley, ZooL, 1883, p. 318.i

One, Tring Reservoir, Herts, Oct. 29, 1886 (Hon. W.
Rothschild in litt., Oct. 31, 1886).

One, Saltash, Devon, Oct. 4, 1900. Brought to me in
the flesh by Mr. John Cooper, by whom it was preserved.

The last-mentioned bird, which was exhibited
by me at a meeting of the Linnean Society, Nov, 1,
1900, measured in expanse of wing SS in., and
weighed /2^oz.

Fam. PLATALEID^.

SPOONBILL. Platalea leucorodia, Linnaeus. PI. 24,
fig. 1. Length, 31 in. ; bill, 7 in. ; wing, 14 in. ; tarsus,
5*5 in.

The Spoonbill, Shovelard, Shoveler, or Popeler
was formerly resident (or perhaps a regular summer
migrant from Holland), but it is now only an occa-
sional visitant at uncertain intervals.

Sir Thomas Browne, who died in 1682, wrote of
this bird, then known as the Shovelard, that it used
to build in the heronry at Claxton and Reedham in
Norfolk, as well as at Trimley in Suffolk.

' The reported occurrence of so many specimens of the Glossy Ibis
in different parts of the country about the same time shows how
quickly the appearance of a rare bird is detected at the present day.

2IO HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

For forty years (i.e. since 1835) this record of the
former breeding haunts of the Spoonbill in England
was the only one known to ornithologists ; but in
1877 I found evidence from a Survey of Manors
belonging to the Duke of Norfolk in Sussex, made
in 1570, that in that year Shovelers and Herons
were breeding in the woods called the Westwood
and the Haselette at East Dene, near Goodwood
{Zool, 1877, p. 425).

In 1886 I discovered the still more interesting
fact that in the time of Henry VIII. Spoonbills used
to build in the heronry which at that time existed
in the Bishop of London's park at Fulham^ (ZooL,
1886, p. 81). Since then, Prof. Newton {Trans.
Norf. Nat. Soc, vi. 1896, p. 158) has directed at-
tention to a curious passage in the Calendar of
Patent Rolls of Edward I., printed in 1895, show-
ing that in the year 1300 there were eyries of
Spoonbills {poplorum) in the woods at Whinburgh,
Cantley, and Wormgay in Norfolk ; this additional
evidence of the former breeding of this bird in
England being, it is believed, the oldest on record.
It is not surprising, therefore, to find it men-
tioned by its ancient and often overlooked name
Popeler, latinised to suit the language of the docu-
ment." The word is evidently cognate with or

1 In Nov. 1865 I examined! ^^^ took down a description and
the above measurements of two Spoonbills which had been recently
shot at Kingsbury Keservoir, within a very short distance of the
ancient haunt of this species at Fulham.

* In the PromptoriuTTb Parvulorum {apud Lynn, circa 1440) we find
" Popelere, a byrd (Schovelerd) populus," on which see an interesting
note by the editor.

SPOONBILL 21 r

corrupted from the Low Dutch Lepelaar (Willughby
has Lepelaer), and Prof. Newton {I.e.) suggests that
it may still survive in the name Poppijlot^ part of
Feltwell P^en, which was still undrained in 1853,
and would perhaps even then have afforded suitable
harbour for a company of Spoonbills had any been
left in the country.

In a "Description of Penbrokeshire," ^ written
by George Owen of Henllys in 1603, the author,
treating " of the abondance of foule that the country
yeeldeth and of the severall sortes thereof" (cap. 16),
remarks, "In the bogges breedeth the crane, the
byttur, the wild ducke, and teale ... on highe
trees the Heronshewes, the Shoveler, and the Wood-
questes." Commenting upon this passage {Zool.,
1895, pp. 241, 245), the Rev. Murray A. Mathew
aptly remarks that the former existence of these
breeding stations of the Spoonbill accounts for the
persistency with which the birds at the present day
pay visits to their ancestral haunts ; adding, that
flocks occasionally still appear on the mud-flats of
Milford Haven, and are not rare in the neighbour-
ing county of Cardigan on the river Dovey. On
May 16, 1893, a flock of fourteen Spoonbills were
seen to settle down in the river Dovey below
Glandyfi Castle (Salter, "Birds of Aberystwith,"
1900, p. 11), and Rodd has recorded the appearance
of flocks of more than a dozen at a time in Cornwall.

' This is the old spelling, and is said to be derived from the Welsh
pen, head, and hroch, foam, descriptive of the storm-vexed headlands of
that coast.

212 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Similar visits of Spoonbills in recent years to Nor-
folk, where they formerly bred, have been noticed by
Stevenson (Zool, 1882, pp. 370-373; 1883, p. 317).

In Scotland this bird is rarely met with in the
estuaries on the east coast. In October 1859 a
flock of ten visited the Bay of Kirkwall in Orkney,
where half-a-dozen of them were shot.

In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, the Spoon-
bill is regarded as a rare and irregular visitor, occur-
ring in the maritime counties, chiefly in autumn and
winter. It feeds much on shrimps, as well as on
small fish and mollusca. As to its mode of feeding,
see Knox, Zool., 1843, p. 226, and Wolley, Zool.,
1846, p. 1213.

The weight of two specimens examined by me
was 3 lbs. and 3^ lbs. ; expanse of wing, 4 ft. 4 in.
and 4 ft. 3 in. respectively.

Fam. CICONIID^.

WHITE STORK. Giconia alba, Bechstein. PL 24,
figs. 3, 3a. Length, 44 in. ; bill, 8-3 in. ; wing, 23 in. ;
tarsus, 8-75 in.

There is no evidence to show that the Stork ever
nested in the British Islands ; in fact, Ray has ex-
pressly stated that they did not do so in his time.
His words are, " In littoribus nostris interdum sed
rariils cernitur ; apud nos non nidificat " (Synopsis
Avium, 1713, p. 97). At the period of its migra-
tions, however, in spring and autumn, a few are
seen annually, and chiefly in the eastern counties,

HERONS 2 1 3

doubtless coming to us from Holland. An irregular
visitant to England, and rarer in Scotland, it has
been procured in Ireland on a few occasions in
Cork and Wexford. Two were killed in Shetland in
July 1865 (Zool, 1865, pp. 9767, 9772).

The weight of an adult Stork is 8 to 10 lbs.

The Kev. Hubert Astley of Benham Park, New-
bury, has published an interesting account {Field,
Aug. 25, 1900) of his attempt to domesticate young
Storks obtained from Holland in June. In the
summer of 1900 he liberated five. Every evening
about seven o'clock they would sail with widespread
wings in splendid circles towards their roosting-
place, and every morning about four o'clock they re-
turned to the park in the immediate vicinity of the
water. On August 14 they took their departure,
presumably for Africa ; a few days later their owner
learnt that they were seen near Portsmouth, where
three of them were shot by some local gunner.

Fam. ARDEID^.

COMMON HERON. Ardea cinerea, Linngeus. PL 25,
figs. 1, 2. Length, 38 in. ; bill, 5 in. ; wing, 18 in. ;
tarsus, 6 'To in.

Resident, and generally distributed. In the
Field of Feb. 17 and March 9, 1872, I published
a list (revised in the Zoologist, 1872, and again in
the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," 1897, ari. "Heron")
of all the Heronries ascertained to be then or lately
existing in the British Islands. A separate list of

2 14 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the Irish Heronries is given by Mr. Ussher in his
recently published " Birds of Ireland."

Modern statistics show that Heronries in Great
Britain, instead of decreasing in number, as some
writers suppose, are really on the increase, and this
in spite of the persecution to which the birds are
subjected at the hands of the fish-preservers and
holders of a ten-shilling gun licence.

That they are destructive to trout and salmon at
the spawning beds there can be no doubt, but they
may be driven or frightened away instead of being
killed, as too often happens. It is perhaps not
generally known that Herons are very useful in
killing rats. Selby, "111. Orn.," ii. p. 13; liarting,
" Sketches of Bird Life," p. 268 ; and Feilden, Zool.y
1892, p. 110.

As an object of sport, the Heron has come to
be almost forgotten. There was a time, and that
within the memory of those still living, when Heron-
hawking was practised by an English falconer, who
died in his sixty-second year no longer ago than
1871 — the late Edward Clough Newcome, of Hock-
wold, in the county of Norfolk. For an account of
this almost forgotten sport, as practised by him and
other falconers, contemporaries and predecessors, see
the " Encyclopsedia of Sport," 1807, art. "Heron."

Occasionally, when seeking to establish a new
colony, Herons will attempt to take forcible posses-
sion of a rookery, and pitched battles between the
two species will last for several days. A notable
instance of this occurred at Dallam Tower, West-

HERONS 2 I 5

morland, where a grove in which Herons built
having been cut down, the Herons endeavoured to
effect a settlement in a neighbouring rookery. The
rooks opposed this invasion, and desperate battles
ensued. Many of the rooks were killed, and several
of the herons also lost their lives ; but the latter
succeeded in holding some of the trees, and harmony
was at length restored.

The weight of a full-grown young Heron is from
3 lbs. to 3^ lbs. ; of a fine old one, 5 lbs. to 5h lbs.

PURPLE HERON. Ardea purpv.rea, Linnasus. PL 25,
figs. 3, 4. Length, 36 in, ; bill, 4'75 in. ; wing, 14-25
in. ; tarsus, 5-25 in.

An occasional visitant to England, presumably
from Holland, where it breeds in small colonies, as
at the Naarden Mere and Horster Mere, near Amster-
dam, in dense masses of reeds.

It is rarely seen in Scotland, where not more
than half-a-dozen have been met with at different
times ; one as far north as Caithness.

In Ireland a single example is recorded to have
been shot at Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, and is
preserved in the Science and Art Museum, Dublin.

NIGHT HERON. Nycticorax griseus (Linnaeus). PI. 25,
figs. 8, 9. Length, 23 in. ; bill, 3 in. ; wing, 12 in. ;
tarsus, 3 in.

There is good reason to believe that this bird
at one time nested annually in England in suit-
able localities. Although this is no longer the case.

2i6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

specimens are still met with at irregular intervals
every year (I have notes of its occurrence in upwards
of sixty instances), and it may accordingly be con-
sidered an annual visitant.

Half-a-dozen instances of its occurrence in Scot-
land are on record ; three in the south, one in
Aberdeenshire, and one in Argyllshire. In addition
to these, an immature male was shot on the east
coast of Barra, in the Outer Hebrides, on Oct. 12,
1896, after a heavy gale from the north-east (Peel,
Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist, 1897, p. 43).

In Ireland, where the Night Heron is regarded
as a rare and irregular visitor, Mr. Ussher states that
more than twenty have been recorded since 1834,
the majority of them immature birds, procured in
autumn. So many adults, however, have been met
with in April, May, and even June (the latest was
reported at Courtown, Co. Meath, on May 10, 1900),
that we cannot doubt the Night Heron would breed
annually in this country if left undisturbed in suit-
able quarters, e.g. by the overgrown banks of sluggish
streams, and in marshes and swamps, where reedy
pools with alders and bog- myrtle afford sufficient
concealment for the birds and their nests.

The birds of the year are quite unlike the adults
in plumage. The latter are grey, with greenish-
black head and back, and long white crest feathers ;
the former are dull brown, streaked and spotted
with white on the neck and back, and have no
crest. According to observations made by the late
Robert Swinhoe, the immature plumage undergoes

BITTERNS 217

little change until the second winter, or until the
bird is two years old ; and both sexes breed before
they have acquired the fully adult plumage.

BITTERN. Botcmrus stellaris (Linnaeus). PI. 25, fig. 10.
Length, 26 to 28 in.; bill, 275 in.; wing, 12-5 in.;
tarsus, 8-75 in.

At one time common in England and Ireland ;
but the drainage of marsh-lands has long since
deterred it from nesting here.

In the fourteenth century it was so common
in the Cambridgeshire fens, and so esteemed as an
edible wildfowl, that the taking of its eggs was
prohibited. At a Court Baron of the Bishop of
Ely held at Littleport in the eleventh year of
Edward II. (May 15, 1318), it is recorded that
several persons were fined for collecting the eggs of
Bitterns (ova hotorum), and carrying them out of
the fen (extra mariscam), to the great destruc-
tion of the birds (Selden Society, vol. ii., on the
Court Baron). In more recent times Graves, in his
"British Ornithology" (1821), mentions a nest on
the river Cam, which contained four young birds
and an addled egg, and gives a figure of the old
bird, which was shot before the nest was found. Both
Lubbock and Stevenson refer to the former nesting
of the Bittern in Norfolk, and in The Zoologist for
1846 (p. 1321) will be found a figure of a young
Bittern, which was taken, with an addled egg, from
a nest at Ranworth Broad. In 1849 or 1850 a nest
containing four eggs was found at Tring Reservoir,

2i8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Herts {Ibis, 1865, p. 433) ; and a few years later
another nest with eggs was taken, and the bird
shot, near Drayton Beauchamp, Bucks {Zool, 1868,
p. 1255). In the latest instance recorded, a nest
containing two eggs was found on Upton Broad,
Norfolk, on the 30th March 1868, and on the 25th
May following a nestling Bittern was captured at
the same place (Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk,"
vol. ii. p. 164).

Strange to tell, in an aviary at Lilford Hall,
Northamptonshire, a pair of Bitterns made their
nest, in which four eggs were laid : one bird sat
very steadily, but without result {Zool., 1893, p. 91).

At the present day the Bittern is best known in
England and Ireland as a winter visitant, at which
season it is often met with by sportsmen when snipe-
shooting in the bogs. In some winters these birds
are quite common in December and January, show-
ing that a considerable immigration takes place, and
occasionally they have been observed migrating. In
one instance, for example, forty or fifty were seen in
one flock {Zool, 1883, p. 223).

No bird is better adapted by the colour of its
plumage to escape detection in its natural haunts.
The yellow plumage striated with darker markings,
and the green beak, which is held pointed upwards
when the bird is at rest, render it almost invisible
amongst the green stems and yellow leaves of the
fading reeds amongst which it crouches.

The singular note of the Bittern, which has been
variously termed " booming," " bellowing," " bump-

14
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pi -^

BITTERNS 219

ing," and " bumbling," has given rise amongst old
writers to a variety of fables to account for the mode
b)^ which it is produced. Having stood within ten
yards of a Bittern while it was uttering this curious
sound, 1 am enabled to state from personal observa-
tion that the beak, so far from being plunged into
the mive {Jide Thomson, author of "The Seasons"),
or water (according to Chaucer), or within a reed
(as Dryden hath it), is pointed vertically upwards,
resembling at a little distance a green reed stem
amidst faded leaves. To my ear, the sound produced
is comparable to that which I have heard uttered by
the cock Bustard when " showing off" in the spring.
For further notes on this subject seeTorrey " On the
Booming of the American Bittern" in The Auk for
January 1889 ; " On the Vocal Organs of the Ameri-
can Bittern," Contrih. Sci., vol. i. pp. 59-68 ; and
Leverklihn, " Das Briillen der Amerikanischen Rohr-
dommel," Orn. Monats. Deutsch. Vereins zum Schutze
der Vogehvelt, xv. 1890.

The weight of an adult Bittern in good condition
varies from 2| to 2f lbs. ; but one shot near Lynn on
January 26, 1886, weighed only 1 lb. 2 oz. ; expanse
of wing, 46 in.

LITTLE BITTERN. Botaurus minutus (Linnaeus). PI.
25, figs. 11, 12, 12a. Length, 11 in.; bill, 1-9 in.;
wing, 5*75 in. ; tarsus, 1'75 in.

An occasional summer visitant to England ; much
rarer in Scotland and Ireland. Although no well-
authenticated instance of its having nested in this

2 20 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

country is on record, there is at least presumptive
evidence of its having done so (Zool., 1848, p. 1969 ;
"Birds of Middlesex," p. 165; and Gurney, Zool.,
1894, p. 88; 1895, p. 98). In the last-mentioned
case, a pair were observed at Rollesby Broad, Norfolk,
and probably nested, as they were seen there during
the months of May, June, and July. The skulk-
ing habits of these birds, and the almost impassable
nature of the swamps which they frequent, render
detection, except by accident, extremely difficult.

In The Zoologist for 1894 (p. 454) will be found
two figures of the Little Bittern, drawn from photo-
graphs of a living bird, illustrating the protective
coloration of the plumage, which, as in the case of
its larger relative, renders it almost invisible in a
reed bed at the distance of a few yards from the
observer.

Order X. FULICARIAE
Fam. RALLID^.

WATER-RAIL. Rallus aquaticus, Linnaeus. PI. 26,
fig. 9. Length, 10 in. ; bill, 1*25 in. ; wing, 4*75 in. ;
tarsus, 1*5 in.

Resident, but migratory also in spring and
autumn ; the birds which remain with us throughout
the winter receiving considerable accessions to their
numbers in March and April, these numbers being
again visibly diminished in the fall of the year.

It is especially abundant in summer about the
Norfolk Broads, whence a dealer at Yarmouth is in

CRAKES 22 1

the habit of receiving annually a great number of
the eggs for sale to collectors.

In Scotland and the Isles it is generally distri-
buted, and is found even in Shetland. The Migra-
tion Reports supply numerous instances of the
appearance of the Water-Rail at remote and isolated
lighthouses and lightships, thus proving its migra-
tory habits.

In Ireland it is considered to be a resident, breed-
ing in every county. It is generally to be found in
the haunts of snipe, and is more often met with by
snipe-shooters than by any other class of observers.
Its skulking habits give much trouble before it can
be made to take wing, and the remarkably narrow
form of the sternum and easily compressible ribs
enable it to run with ease through the thickest
herbage, a notable illustration of the correlation of
structure with habits.

Its weight varies from 5 oz. to 6 oz., or little
more than that of a Snipe.

LAND-RAIL or CORNCRAKE. Crex ^ pratensis, Bech-
stein. PL 26, figs. 6, 7, 8. Length, 10 in. ; bill, 0-75
in.; wing, 5'5 in.; tarsus, 1'75 in.

A summer migrant. Many instances, however,
are on record of its having been met with in Eng-
land and Ireland during the winter months. These
may be individuals of late broods unprepared to
leave at the proper time, or wounded birds unable to

1 Genus Crex, Bechstein, " Naturg. Deutschl.," iv. p. 470 (1803) ;
Porzana, Vieillot, "Analyse," p. 61 (1816).

222 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

take part in the autumn migration. In the north of
England this bird is called " Daker-hen," i.e. the
"acre-hen" or "field-hen," cognate with the Scan-
dinavian Ager hone. Under this name it is men-
tioned by Turner, Merret, and Willughby.

Mr. W. H. Henderson, of Nether Perkley, Lin-
lithgow, N.B., informed me that when shooting on
Ben Lawers, on the 12th August 1872, he bagged a
Land-Rail at an elevation of 2500 feet.

In Sept. 1892 a white Land-Rail was shot at
Keddleston, and is figured in Whitlock's " Birds of
Derbyshire," p. 190.

The average weight of this bird is from 7 oz. to 8
oz., or little more than half that of a good partridge.

SPOTTED CRAKE. Crex porzana (Linnaeus). PI. 26,
*}' fig. 3. Length, 9 in. ; bill, 0*5 in. ; wing, 4*5 in. ;

tarsus, 1*25.

A spring and autumn migrant, occasionally re-
maining to nest in suitable localities. Eggs were
found near Whittlesea Wash in Cambridgeshire in
1883 (Zool, 1891, p. 90). Before the fenlands were
so extensively drained it used to breed commonly in
the eastern counties of England, and also in the
marshes bordering the Thames in Kent and Essex.
Graves, in his "British Ornithology," 1821, observes,
"The Spotted Crake is met with in greater abun-
dance within a few miles of London than perhaps
in any other part of this kingdom. We have known
this bird to breed in the fields to the left of the
Kent Road, called Rolls Meadows."

CRAKES 223

The measurements above given were taken from
one which I shot in Sussex in Oct. 1872 (ZooL, 1890,
p. 410). I used to meet with it in the marshes lying
between Sidlesham and Selsea, where it might some-
times be seen in the broad dykes swimming like a
little Moorhen, nodding its head and flirting its tail.

The late Capt. A. Clark Kennedy wrote me word
that he had seen this bird on two occasions on the
Nith in Dumfriesshire, and had once found its nest
in Kirkcudbrightshire — often in Suffolk.

In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, it is a rare
visitor, chiefly in autumn, but has bred in Co. Ros-
common, and it is believed also in Co. Kerry.

The distribution of the Spotted Crake in the
British Islands has been well worked out by Mr.
O. V. Aplin; Zool, 1890, p. 401, and 1891, p. 88.

Weight, 4i to 5 oz., or the weight of a Snipe.

BAILLON'S CRAKE. Crex hailloni (Vieillot). PI. 26,
fig. 4. Length, 7 in. ; bill, 0-5 in. ; wing, 3-5 in. ;
tarsus, 1 in.

As the nest of this species has several times been
found in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk [cf. Sealy,
Zool, 1859, p. 6329; Overend, Zool, 1866, p. 389 ;
and Stevenson's *' Birds of Norfolk," ii. pp. 402, 403),
and the bird itself has been procured in almost
every month of the year, it is included in this part
of the " Handbook " as a local resident in England,
where it appears to be almost entirely confined to
the eastern counties. One was picked up under
telegraph wires near Nottingham on June 22, 1893

2 24 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

(Zool, 1893, p. 459). It has only once been ob-
tained in Scotland, and twice in Ireland, namely,
near Youghal and in Tramore Bay, both in Co. Cork.
Weight, 2 oz. ; expanse of wing, lOh in.

LITTLE CRAKE. Crex pusilla (Gmelin). PI. 26, fig. 5.
Length, 8 in. ; bill, 0-5 in. ; wing, 4 in. ; tarsus,
1-2 in.

Has been noticed sufficiently often in England
to justify its being placed in this part of the " Hand-
book." The seasons of the year at which it has
been killed seem to indicate that it is a spring and
autumn migrant. On the other hand, it may be a
scarce resident, whose small size and skulking habits
cause it to be often overlooked. I have only once
met with this bird in England. On the 25th Oct.
1867 I flushed one on a marsh adjoining the river
Bure, about five miles from Yarmouth, but having
just discharged both barrels at a snipe, was unable
to secure it. The bird rose so close to me that I
could mark the absence of white on the dorsal plum-
age, and from this and its small size I felt pretty
sure as to the species. It dropped in the water
amongst thick reeds, and, in spite of the exertions
of my dog, eluded all attempts to make it rise again.

In the adult plumage the Little Crake resembles
a miniature Land-Rail ; Baillon's Crake a miniature
Spotted Crake. Both have the typical beak of a Crake
— Crex of Bechstein, 1803 ; Porzana of Vieillot,
1816. For distinguishing characters of the two
species see Zool., 1867, p. 974. The measurements

t

WATER-HEN 225

of both species above given are taken from specimens
in my collection.

As a British bird the Little Crake was first
obtained by Markwick in Sussex, at Catshill, near
Battle, in March 1791, and was supposed by him to
be a Spotted Crake (see his " Catalogue of Sussex
Birds," p. 9), but a description and coloured drawing
of the bird in a MS. of Markwick's preserved in the
Library of the Linnean Society proves it to have
been the rarer species (see Zool., 1890, p. 343).
Since Markwick's day half-a-dozen other specimens
of this little bird have been procured in Sussex, as
noted by Messrs. Knox, Borrer, Ellman, Button,
and Parkin [Zool., 1895, p. 309). Three have been
obtained in Yorkshire ; a few in other counties.

The Little Crake has not been met with in
Scotland, and only one specimen has been reported
from Ireland. This was obtained at Balbriggan, Co.
Dublin, on March 11, 1854, and came into possession
of the Rev. Canon Tristram.

The weight of this bird is 2 oz., or barely that of
a Jack Snipe.

WATER-HEN or MOORHEN. Gallinula chloropus
(Linnaeus). PI. 26, fig. 2, 2a. Length, 13 in. ; bill,
1'5 in.; wing, 6"75 in.; tarsus, 1-75 in.

Resident, and generally distributed ; frequenting

weedy ponds and the overgrown banks of streams ;

often roosting in coverts at a distance from water,

and sometimes at a considerable height from the

ground.

P

2 26 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

The young Water-Hen, before it is able to fly,
makes its way along the ground on all fours, using
its undeveloped wings quite as much as its feet
to aid its progression. A similar thing has been
observed of the Little Grebe (Newton, Ihis, 1889,
p. 577), and of the Hoatzin, Opisthocomus cristatus
(Beddard, torn, cit., p. 286), although the last-named
bird finds additional aid in climbing by the use of
its '* wing-claws."

A curious "hairy " variety of the Water-Hen has
been described and figured by Mr. J. H. Gurney,
Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vol. iii. p. 581, and vol.
iv. p. 143.

The Water-Hen has been accused of eating fish,
but the charge has been disputed by a good observer,
Mr. Armistead, of the Solway Fishery, Dumfries,
who states, "The Water-Hen is often seen about
the fish-ponds, but I cannot find that it does any
harm" {ZooL, 1888, p. 269).

But if these birds do no harm by devouring young
fish in the streams, they are not regarded with much
favour by game-preservers ; for there is no doubt
that they eat a great quantity of the food intended
for pheasants, a practice which, notwithstanding their
ornamental appearance, does not commend them for
protection.

COOT. Fulica atra, Linnaeus. PI. 26, fig. 1, la. Length,
^ 16-18 in. ; bill, 1*3 in. ; wing, 8-5 in. ; tarsus, 1-3 in.

Resident, but migratory in autumn ; frequenting
large weedy ponds, and the reed beds which often

SWANS 227

fringe the shores of inland lakes ; and assembling in
winter in large flocks. They feed much on water-
weed, and will not remain on pools where it has
been removed. This was clearly proved by Charles
Waterton in Yorkshire.

In The Field of 9th November 1895, Mr. F. Fane
reported having seen, about the year 1880, a milk-
white coot amongst a flock of the ordinary colour
near Ross Castle, on the lower lake of Killarney ;
and a white Coot was shot at Kilravock, May 8,
1884 (Harvie-Brown and Buckley, "Fauna of the
Moray Basin," ii. p. 169). In The Zoologist, 1889,
p. 153, Mr. Whitaker has noted that at South-
well, Notts, in March 1888, a variety of the Coot
was shot which was " splashed all over with white,
and looked as if it had been in a snowstorm."

Coots vary considerably in size, and from their
habit of " flighting " at dusk like wildfowl, are often
mistaken for ducks in the uncertain light. But as
their long legs and toes are carried considerably
beyond their short tails, this gives them a more elon-
gated appearance on the wing, and serves to distin-
guish them.

Order XL AN SERES

Fam. ANATID^.

MUTE SWAN. Gygnus olor, Gmelin. PI. 27, fig. 8.
Length, 4 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. ; bill, 4*25 in. ; wing, 27 in. ;
tarsus, 4"5 in.

Although generally regarded as exclusively a
domesticated species, this bird is to be found in a

2 28 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

wild state in Southern Sweden and Denmark. It
has long been known to breed on the Danube, where,
according to the Crown Prince Rudolf, some nest
every year in a large swamp above Melkovic. Mr.
F. C. Selous found the Mute Swan breeding in a
wild state in Asia Minor, in a great marsh near
Sakizbounou, a Turkish village on the Menander
river {Ihis, 1900, p. 417).

This bird has been domesticated for so many
centuries in England that the precise date of its
introduction is unknown. Anciently proclaimed a
royal bird, it was ordained that when at liberty in a
public river or creek, no subject could claim owner-
ship in a Swan except by grant from the Crown.
The privilege of keeping Swans seems to have ex-
tended as far back at least as 1483, as appears by laws
and orders made in that year and in 1496. In creating
this privilege, the Crown granted " Swan-marks "
(cygni notw), notches or nicks on the bill to denote
ownership ; and the books or rolls of Swan-marks
that have come down to us are amongst the most
curious relics of the past. The names cob and pe?^,
applied to the male and female Swan respectively,
are traceable to those ancient " Laws and Orders for
Swans " in which the sexes are invariably so desig-
nated {Zool., 1895, p. 372). Those privileged at
the present time to keep Swans on a public river
(sc. on the Thames) are Her Majesty the Queen, the
Vintners' Company, and the Dyers' Company, and
the old custom of marking the birds [Swan-upping)
as soon as the young broods are sufficiently well

SWANS 229

grown is still annually observed. In August 1895
I was permitted to take part in the ceremony, and
steered the Vintners' boat to Windsor. My account
of the proceedings, with notes historical and descrip-
tive, will be found in The Field, Sept. 28, 1895.
Some idea of the abundance of Swans on the Thames
may be inferred from the fact that in August 1897,
between London Bridge and Henley, the number
taken up was 481. Of these, 168 belonged to the
Queen, 181 to the Vintners' Company, and 132
to the Dyers' Company. The respective marks of
ownership are given in the "Encyclopaedia of
Sport," 1898, p. 419.

Swans, it is said, pair for life, build a fresh nest
every year, and if left unmolested will frequent the
same locality. Stevenson states that young hen-
birds do not lay till their second year, some not until
the third or fourth, and commence by laying from
three to five eggs ; but the Swan-herd at Abbotsbury,
in 1878, after an experience of fifty years, declared
that they do not lay before their third year. The
period of incubation is about six weeks, or thirty-
nine days from laying the first e^^ on March 19
{Ibis, 1891, p. 185). The colour of the cygnets
is at first sooty grey above, which colour disap-
pears almost entirely after the second autumn,
and when two years old the birds become quite
white.

In the so-called Polish Swan, Cygnus immuta-
hilis of Yarrell (PI. 27, fig. 9), the cygnets are
white from birth, a peculiarity which suggested the

2 30 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

specific name immutahilis. Instances, however,
have been recorded in which ordinary tame Swans
have been seen accompanied by white cygnets,
and others which were followed by cygnets some
white, the rest grey (Newton, ZooL, 1887, p. 463 :
1888, p. 470). Opinions still differ as to whether
the Polish Swan should be regarded as specifically
distinct from the Mute Swan or not. See the
letters of Messrs. Macpherson, Saunders, South-
well, and Bartlett in The Field of August 25 and
September 1, 1894.

For an account of the famous Swannery at
Abbotsbury, see Mansel-Pleydell, "Birds of Dor-
setshire," 1888, p. 144, and for a notice of others
at Clarendon, Glastonbury, and Ely, see the article
Swan in the "Encyclopaedia of Sport," 1898.

For a description of the famous "Swan-pit" at
Norwich, see Stevenson's "Birds of Norfolk," and
Southwell, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vol. v. p. 265.
From this ancient institution the Governor of St.
Helen's Hospital supplies not only the tables of
the Mayor and Corporation of Norwich, but many
private owners in the neighbourhood, who consign
their cygnets to his care for the purpose of being
fattened.

As to the reported strength of wing in the
Swan, and the fracture of a sportsman's arm by a
wild Swan, see ZooL, 1896, p. 356.

SWANS 231

WILD SWAN or WHOOPER.i Cygnus musicus, Bech-
stein. PL 27, fig. 12. Length, 5 ft. ; bill, 4-25 in. ;
wing, 25*5 in. ; tarsus, 4-25 in.

Formerly nested in the Orkneys, as well as in the
Faroe Islands, but now only met with as a winter
visitant from Lapland, where Wolley found it
breeding, and countries farther to the north-east ;
most numerous in Scotland, but seen in most of the
harbours on the east and south coasts of England
during hard weather in January and Februaiy. See
my article on Wild Swans, giving dates of arrival,
Field, Feb. 20, 1886.

In Ireland the Whooper occurs as a winter
visitor in the proportion of one to twenty-five
of Bewick's Swan, and is therefore a rarer bird.

For an account of the breeding of Cygnus
musicus and C. hewickii, see Seebohm and Harvie-
Brown " On the Birds of the Lower Petchora " (Ibis,
1876, pp. 437-441), and of the inter-breeding of
Cygnus musicus and C. buccinator (ZooL, 1895, p. 24).

For descriptions of shooting Wild Swans in a
Sussex harbour see " Essays on Sport and Natural
History," 1883 ; and of catching Wild Swans in Ice-
land, Zool, 1887, p. 254; Field, Nov. 2 and 23,
1895; Zool, 1896, p. 356.

1 It would seem that "whoop" is the older form, from the Anglo-
Saxon hwopan, to cry out ; " hoop," from the French houper, with the
same signification, is of later introduction, and came in with other
Norman words relating to the chase. The former mode of spelling has
lon;^ been sanctioned by many authorities, and, for the reasons given,
thoui,'h both forms are to be found in standard English dictionaries,
it is here adopted

232 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

A remarkable capture of an immature Whooper
in Yorkshire is described by Mr. W. H. St. Quintin,
Field, Dec. 30, 1899.

The weight of a male is 20 to 24 lbs. ; of a
female, 18 to 19 lbs. ; expanse of wing about 8 ft.

BEWICK'S SWAN. Cygnus minor, Keys. & Blasius.
PL 27, figs. 10, 11. Length, 4 ft. ; bill, 3-75 m. ; wing,
21 in. ; tarsus, 4-75 in.

A regular winter visitant, and, as above stated,
commoner in Ireland than the Whooper. Thirty
or forty in a flock are often met with, and in
severe winters over a hundred have been seen assem-
bled. In 1880, on December 17, according to Mr.
E.. Warren, more than 200 were seen on Lough
Cullen, Co. Mayo, and during the severe frost of
1881 as many as 800 were reported to be on the
lake at Castle Gregory, Co. Kerry.

These birds usually arrive about the beginning
of December, that is to say, much later than other
wildfowl, and depart towards the end of February.
Their breeding haunts lie to the east of the White
Sea, where, amongst willow scrub on islands in the
delta of the Petchora river, Messrs. Seebohm and
Harvie-Brown were the first to discover their nests
and eggs {Ibis, 1876, p. 440).

This is said to be the commonest of the Wild
Swans on the Arctic portions of the mainland of
Siberia and the low islands to the north. Seebohm
saw many hundreds flying northwards in spring
during his visit to the Yenesei, and obtained the

GEESE 233

eggs in lat. 69° 30' N., where no other species of
Swan was to be seen. Considerably smaller in size
than the Whooper, the weight of Bewick's Swan
varies from 13 to 15 lbs.

GREY LAG GOOSE. Anser ferus (Gmelin). PL 27,
figs. 1, la. Length, 32 in. ; bill, 2-5 in. ; wing, 17*5
in. ; tarsus, 2*75 in.

Breeds annually, though in decreasing numbers,
on some of the lochs and islands of Ross-shire,
Sutherland, and Caithness, as well as in the Hebrides;
formerly also in the English fens. A winter
visitant to England and Ireland, but much less
common than either the Bean or the Pink-footed
Goose. It is a rare bird in Cornwall, where it
was first noticed by Rodd {Zool, 1862, p. 8002).
Charles St. John, writing in 1849 ("Tour in Suther-
land," vol. i. p. 139), observed: "The Grey Lag
Goose breeds on Loch Maddie, Loch Laoghal, Loch
Urigil, &c., but I am sorry to see that these fine
birds have every chance of being entirely driven
away from their haunts." In 1866 they were re-
ported as having almost entirely deserted Loch
Urigil (where, however, they nested in 1881), and
much diminished on Loch Loyal, where only one
pair bred in 1886 (Harvie- Brown and Buckley,
"Fauna of Sutherland and Caithness," 1887, p.
184). It is said that this Goose was not formerly
a migratory species in England, but permanently
resided and bred in the " carrs " of Yorkshire, and
probably in the fens of Lincolnshire. (See Strickland

2 34 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

on British Wild Geese, Naturalist, 1858, p. 271.)
It used to breed, according to Pennant, in Lin-
colnshire in 1769, in the fens between Cambridge
and Ely about 1773, and in Quy, Waterbeach, Swaff-
ham, and Wicken fens at the end of the last cen-
tury {Zool, 1879, p. 7Q ; 1883, pp. 384, 432).

The name Grey Lag, bestowed on this species
by most writers on British ornithology, is appa-
rently a corruption of the A.S. leag, that is, lea
or field-goose, possibly so named to distinguish it
from the marine root-goose (in old records rut-
goose), i.e. the Brent, which feeds much on the roots
of Zostera marina. This suggestion, however, does
not meet with the approval of Prof. Skeat, who
states that no Anglo-Saxon word ending in g still
preserves the g in modern English. The g, he ob-
serves, became a y before 1100 a.d. For other
suggested derivations of the word lag, see Ibis,
1870, p. 301, and Newton, "Diet. Birds."

The weight of a young Grey Goose is from 7 to
8 lbs. ; of an adult from 9 to 10 lbs.

BEAN GOOSE. Anser segetum (Gmelin). PI. 27, fig. 2.
Length, 34 in.; bill, 2-4 in.; wing, 19 in.; tarsus,
2-6 in.

A winter visitant from the tundras bordering
the Petchora River, where it breeds commonly.
It was stated by Macgillivray that this species fre-
quented the Hebrides in summer, but this proved
to be a mistake, although it is common there in
winter. According to Selby, it was found breed-

GEESE 235

ing on some of the lakes in Sutherlandshire ; but
later observers have shown this statement to have
been erroneous. To Ireland it is a regular winter
visitant.

As to the species which visits the Humber dis-
trict (whether Pink-footed or Bean Goose), see Field,
May 20 and June 10, 1893; Cordeaux, June 17, 1893 ;
Macpherson and Caton Haigh, June 24, 1893 ; Sharp
and Boyes, July 8, 1893. The result of this cor-
respondence shows that the common Wild Goose
of the Humber district is the smaller Pink-footed
Goose, and not, as was supposed, the Bean Goose ;
and so says Stevenson for Norfolk.

The weight of a Bean Goose is from 7J to 8 lbs.

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE. Anser hrachyrhynchus, Baillon.
PL 27, fig. 4. Length, 30 in. ; bill, 1-75 in. ; wing, 17
in. ; tarsus 2-5 in.

A winter visitant. Said to have been found by
Macgillivray breeding on the islands in the Sound of
Harris, and on the lochs of North Uist ; but subse-
quent observation showed that he had mistaken the
Grey Lag Goose for this species. Robert Gray
states that the Pink-footed Goose is only found in
Scotland in the winter months, and that, with the
exception of the western islands, no locality can
boast of it in any numbers. It is, nevertheless, the
commonest species of wild goose which visits the
Firth of Forth.

Since the first edition of this work was published
this bird has been found in Ireland, where one was

2 36 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

shot on Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal, October 19, 1891
(Patterson, Zool, 1892, p. 33). The late Sir Victor
Brooke had previously recognised the Pink-footed
Goose in Meath, but was unable to secure a speci-
men (A. G. More, Irish Naturalist, 1892, p. 4).

In winter, as above stated, this is the common
wild goose of the Yorkshire wolds and of the fens
of Norfolk.

Weight, 6| to 7 lbs.

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE. Anser albifrons (Gmelin).
PI. 27, fig. 3. Length, 27 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 16 in. ;
tarsus, 2-5 in.

A winter visitant to England, Scotland, and
Ireland, but somewhat local in its distribution. Has
once been shot in St. Kilda (Zool., 1895, p. 348).

It has been clearly shown by Professor Newton
{Proc. Zool. Soc, 1860, p. 339, and Ibis, 1860, p.
404) that Linnaeus applied the specific name " ery-
thropus " to the smaller race of White-fronted Goose,
known as Anser minutus of Naumann and Anser
temminckii of Boie, which inhabits Lapland, and
which very seldom comes to this country. The larger
White-fronted Goose, which visits the British Islands
regularly in winter, should therefore bear the name
Anser albifrons of Gmelin, that name being the
next in priority of date.

Since the former edition of this "Handbook"
was published, one of the small race of white-fronted
goose was shot in Northumberland by Mr. Alfred
Chapman in September 1886 (see Zool., 1887, p. 14,

GEESE 237

and Chapman's "Art of Wildfowling," p. 152), and
another specimen was subsequently obtained in
Somersetshire (ZooL, 1888, p. 227). The dimensions
of this smaller form are as follow : — Length, 21 in. ;
bill, 1-25 in, ; wing, 15 in. ; tarsus, 2'25 in.
The weight of A. alhifrons is 6i to 7 lbs.

BARNACLE GOOSE. Bernida leucopsis {BQQ\i&t&m). PL
27, fig. 5. Length, 26 to 28 in.; bill, 1-3 in.; wing
16 in. ; tarsus, 2-3 in.

So called from its fabled growth from barnacles.
See "The Ornithology of Shakespeare," pp. 247-256.

A winter visitant ; common in the West of Scot-
land and in the Outer Hebrides, and more abundant
on the west than on the east coast of England (ZooL,
1891, pp. 68, 193). Prior to 1862 it was common on
the Dee marshes ; now very scarce. On the coast of
Pembrokeshire it arrives early in October, often in
company with Brent Geese.

In Ireland this bird is a regular winter visitor to
the coasts and islands of Louth, Donegal, Sligo,
Mayo, and Galway.

Weight, 5 to 5f lbs.

BRENT GOOSE. Bernida brenta (Pallas). PI. 27, fig.
6. Length, 22 to 24 in. ; bill, 1-5 in. ; wing, 15 in. ;
tarsus, 2 in.

Called Brent, i.e. burnt, from the colour of the
dorsal plumage, which resembles charred wood.

A regular winter visitant ; in England commoner
on the eastern than on the western shores, and

238 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

throughout the West of Scotland much less abundant
than the Bernicle.

In Ireland it is, with the exception of Anser
alhifrons, the commonest of the wild geese found
there in winter.

This is the Rut-goose {i.e. Root-goose) of old
writers, so called from its feeding on the succulent
roots of the grass-wrack, Zostera marina. It is men-
tioned as the rut-goys in the Durham Household
Book, 1530-34, with a note by the editor which
confirms this interpretation. See also Zool., 1882,
p. 296, and JNewton, "Diet. Birds," s.v. Rode-goose.

In the stomach of one shot on the Yorkshire
coast were found specimens of a shell {Crenella
faber), the only known locality for which is the Sea
of Ochotsk (Gwyn Jeffreys).

As to the white-bellied form of Brent Goose
which breeds in Arctic America, and is occasionally
met with in this country, see Seebohm, " British
Birds," vol. iii. p. 508, and ZooL, 1887, pp. 29, 182.

The Brent is the smallest of all the wild geese
which frequent our coasts in winter, averaging in
weight from 3| to 4^ lbs.

CANADA GOOSE. Bernicla canadensis (Linn^us).
Length, 42 in. ; bill, 2 to 2-50 in. ; wing, 18 to 20
in. ; tarsus, 3 in.

Although frequently met with in a state of
liberty in winter, there is no evidence that this
species comes to us from America. On the con-
trary, the fact of its having been domesticated here for

GEESE 239

the last 200 years rather indicates that the birds shot
in winter have escaped from semi-domestication.

See a note on the migration of the Canada
Goose by the late Dr. John Rae, ZooL, 1884, p. 346.

There are said to be three forms, or even species, of
the Canada Goose : (l) The true Bernicla canadensis;
(2) A short-billed variety known as Hutchins's Goose;
and (3) A long-billed variety, leucolsema, described
and figured by Andrew Murray, Proc. Roy. Phys.
Soc. Edinb., vol. ii. pp. 51-53.

EGYPTIAN GOOSE. Chenalopex xgyptiacus (Linnaeus).
Length, 28 in. ; bill, 1*75 in. ; wing, 16 in. ; tarsus, 3 in.

Generally regarded as an annual winter visitant, but
really an introduced species, not known to have crossed
the Mediterranean without man's intervention.

The birds of this species found on our coasts in
winter are probably wanderers from private lakes
and pools on which ornamental waterfowl are kept
temporarily confined by having their flight feathers
cut. They recover the use of their wings on moulting
and make their escape, usually to meet the fate of
such wanderers by being shot and recorded as rarae
aves in terris. The young also when able to fly
often make their escape before they can be pinioned.

SHELD-DRAKE. Tadorna vulpanser (Linnseus). PI.
28, figs. 14, 15. Length, 26 in. ; bill, 2-4 in. ; wing, 13
in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

A local resident, frequenting the sandhills upon
the coast, where it usually, though not invariably,

240 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

makes its nest in a burrow ; hence the name
" Burrow-Duck " by which it is locally known. In
the Hebrides it has been observed breeding in rocky
holes, as well as in peat on Haskeir (Harvie-Brown),
and in Ireland in a sandbank bordering a fresh-
water lake, i.e. Lough INeagh.

The local term sheld, i.e. parti-coloured, adopted
by Ray in 1674, indicates the proper mode of
spelling the English name for this bird {ZooL, 1876,
p. 4846). But see Newton, "Diet. Birds," p. 834, note.
In an old Scottish Act of Parliament (16 Jac. VI.
cap. 23) the form Skaildraik occurs (Muirhead,
"Birds of Berwickshire," and Zool, 1896, p. 273).

On the west coast of Scotland and elsewhere
Sheld-drake's eggs are often hatched under common
hens, and successfully reared.

Intermediate in size between Mallard and Wild
Goose, a Sheld-drake weighs from 3f to 4 lbs.

WILD DUCK. Anas hoscas, Linnseus. PI. 28, figs. 1, 2.
Length, 24 in.; bill, 2*25 in.; wing, 11 in.; tarsus,
1-75 in.

A local resident, migratory in spring and autumn.

The so-called " Bimaculated Duck " of Pennant
is a hybrid between Wild Duck and Teal. The
reasons for this opinion are stated ZooL, 1892,
p. 149. One shot in Anglesey in January 1892 by
Captain Brooke was obligingly forwarded to me for
examination. In 1894 M. Suchetet, of Lille, pub-
lished in pamphlet form (pp. 48) his Histoire du
Bimaculated Duck de Pennant, with a coloured

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DUCKS 241

figure of the bird, and another of a hybrid between
Wild Duck and Gadwall, In a series of articles
entitled Oiseaux Hyhrides (Mem. Soc. Zool. France,
1891) he has also described a number of hybrids
between this and other species of wildfowl.

On the change of plumage in ducks, see Water-
ton's "Essays in Nat. Hist.," 1st series, p. 196, and
Blyth, Mag. Nat. Hist, 1837, pp. 259, 300; and
on the moulting of the flight feathers by the
Mallard in summer, Zool., 1886, p. 228. The old
fen-laws prohibited the killing of wildfowl while
flightless. The subject of decoys is not here dealt
with, since an entire volume has been devoted to it
by Sir R. Payne Gallwey.

It is commonly believed that Ducks always nest
on the ground, but the Wild Duck often nests in a
tree, commonly on the top of a pollard ash or willow ;
sometimes in the deserted nest of another bird, even
at some height from the ground, and often far from
water.

As to the mode in which the young are brought
down from such heights, see an article on " Bird
Life in Kensington Gardens" {Field, Jan. 14, 1888),
where observation was kept on a Wild Duck which
brought off her brood from the top of a dead elm
tree, by simply pushing them out of the nest.

Wild Ducks do not, as a rule, prey on fish, though
they may devour fish spawn when they find it ; but
it is on record that in the crop of a Wild Duck on
one occasion as many as thirty-three sticklebacks
were found {Field, April 1892).

Q

242 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

The weight of a Mallard is about 3 lbs. ; of a
Duck, 2h lbs.

GADWALL. Anas strepera, LinriEeus. PI, 28, fig. 9.
Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 11 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in.

A rare winter visitant, less common in Scotland
and Ireland than in England, though annually visit-
ing Tiree, and perhaps hardly so rare in Ireland as
supposed. It has certainly been obtained in Queen's
Co., Waterford, Cork, Kerry, and Mayo, and speci-
mens have been bought from time to time in the
Dublin market.

In Norfolk the Gadwall has of late years become
thoroughly established as a breeding species on
meres where it is specially protected ; and when
visiting Lord Walsingham at Merton, I have had
the pleasure of observing several of these ducks
with their young broods. I have never met with it
on the coast in winter, and regard it as essentially a
fresh-water Duck. The legs and toes are not en-
tirely dull yellow, as stated in some books, but have
the interdigital membranes dusky, or almost black.
In general appearance the Gadwall is not unlike the
female Wild Duck, but has a white speculum on
the wing, and the under tail-coverts spotted. Weight,
from 2 lbs. to 2 lbs. 6 oz.

The origin of the name " Gadwall " is uncertain.
It is so spelled by Willughby in 1678, but Merrett
in 1667 has " gaddel," which may be an error of
transcription for " gabble," bestowed on account of
its noisy cry ; hence the specific name strepera.

DUCKS 243

SHOVELER. Anas clypeata (Linnaeus). PI. 28, figs. 3,
4, 4a. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 275 in. ; wing, 10-25 in. ;
tarsus, 1-4 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, occasionally re-
maining to breed. The nest is reported to have
been found in Haddingtonshire, Elgin, Kirkcud-
brightshire (Zool, 1880, p. 406), and Dumbarton-
shire ; in Northumberland, Durham, Statfordshire,
Nottinghamshire, Norfolk, Kent, and Dorsetshire.
Yarrell states that it formerly bred in Romney
Marsh ; and Hewitson, in his " Eggs of British
Birds," mentions Hornsea Mere as a former nesting-
place. The drake incubates, and the young are
kept from the water till grown up, like Sheld-
drakes [Zool., 1886, p. 364), In the summer of
1889 I saw a nest of the Shoveler at Rainworth,
Notts — the drake flying round in circles at the
distance of about twenty yards — and young broods
at Stanford Mere, West Norfolk, in 1885.

In Ireland the Shoveler is resident, and, accord-
ing to Mr. Ussher, increasing ; breeding in every
province in small numbers.

Weight, 1 lb. 8 oz. to 1 lb. 12 oz.

PINTAIL. Anas acuta (Linnseus). PI. 28, figs. 12, 13.
Length, 26 to 28 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 11 in. ; tarsus,
1-85 in.

A regular winter visitant in small numbers, a
few remaining to breed in favourable localities.

Thus in Northumberland the late John Hancock

244 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

of Newcastle wrote in 1874: "There can be little
doubt that this species occasionally bred at Prest-
wich Carr," a famous place for birds before it was
drained, and he had in his collection a Pintail Duck
which had been shot there during the nesting season.

In June 1881 Mr. Harvie - Brown took four
duck's eggs on the island of Haskeir, Inner Hebri-
des, which he subsequently identified as those of the
Pintail by the appearance of the down and a feather
found in the nest {Froc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinh.,
1881-83).

The following year Mr. J. M. Wallis obtained a
nest and eggs of the Pintail on a loch in Sutherland
well known to Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley,
who have recorded the fact in their " Fauna of
Sutherland and Caithness," 1887, p. 190. In May
1898 Mr. William Evans of Edinburgh found six
or seven pairs of Pintails on Loch Leven in
Kinross-shire, and discovered four nests. He was
able not only to distinguish the ducks when put
off their nests — which were placed in tufts of grass
in dry and open situations at some distance from the
water — but by subsequently placing two of the eggs
in an incubator he had the satisfaction of disclosing
" two unmistakable Pintail ducklings " {Ann. Scot.
Nat. Hist., 1898, p. 162).

In Ireland, according to Sir R. Payne Gallwey
("Fowler in Ireland," p. 51), one or two pairs of
Pintails breed every year on Lord Castletown's
demesne at Abbeyleix, Queen's Co., and he adds
that he himself has seen female Pintails with young

DUCKS 245

broods in June both on Lough Mask and Lough
Corrib, Co. Galway. This testimony, however, is
considerably discounted by Mr. Ussher in his recently
published "Birds of Ireland," p. 196.

The weight of a Pintail drake is 2 lbs. 8 oz. to 2
lbs. 12 oz.; the duck, 2 lbs.

WIGEON. Anas penelope, Linnaeus. PI. 28, figs. 10, 11.
•^ Length, 18 in. ; bill, 1*5 in. ; wing, 10'5 in. ; tarsus,

1"5 in.

As to the etymology of the name " Wigeon,"
see ZooL, 1882, p. 110. Professor Skeat has shown
(Notes and Queries, 6th ser. v. p. 113) that the
spelling "Wigion" is to be found as early as 1570
in Levin's Manipulus Vocahulorum, and that the
insertion of the d in the word has no more
etymological significance than it has in judge from
the French juge. Hence there can be no doubt that
if we spell "Pigeon" without a d, we must spell
"Wigeon" by the same analogy, and "Widgeon"
with a d must be regarded as a violation of
established laws.

Best known as a winter visitant, and at that
season, next to the Brent Goose, one of the com-
monest of British wildfowl.

Although a good many pairs may be found nest-
ing in the North of Scotland, as in Sutherland and
Caithness, Ross and Cromarty, and fewer in Ireland,
the greater number retire to breed in Iceland,
Lapland, and countries farther to the eastward.
Small flocks begin to arrive on our east coast in

246 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

October (occasionally as early as the middle of
September), increasing in numbers until the middle
of November, by which date there are as many
probably as will be seen during the winter. (See
Chapman, Zool., 1887, p. 4.) They then afford
almost unlimited sport to the wildfowler both
ashore and afloat, the greatest number being killed
by the punt-shooters on such parts of the coast
as afford shallow water over mud flats, on which
the favourite food plant Zoster a marina grows
abundantly.

A large flock of Wigeon is termed by fowlers a
company, a smaller number they call a hunch. A
comjmny of Wigeon when first collecting may be
heard at a considerable distance by the whistling of
the drakes and purring of the ducks, but when
quietly settled down and busy feeding, the only
sound heard arises from the motion of their bills,
which is similar to that of tame ducks. They leave
us about the end of February or beginning of March,
although on the large inland pools of fresh water,
where they are but little disturbed, a few may linger
on till April. In exceptional cases nests and eggs
of the Wigeon have been reported to have been
found in England, as in Yorkshire (Clarke and Roe-
buck, p. 56 ; Knoivledge, Feb. 1, 1898, with photo-
graph of nest and eggs), Cheshire (Ihis, 1865, p.
444), Norfolk (Stevenson, iii. p. 188), and Sussex
(Borrer, p. 350), but the identity of the species
has not in all cases been satisfactorily established.
A hybrid brood resulting from a cross between

DUCKS 247

Wigeon and Wild Duck is stated to have been reared
two years in succession (Wellesley Taylor, Field,
Oct. 19, 1895).

The weight of a " cock Wigeon " varies from
1 lb. 12 oz. to 2 lbs. ; a " hen " 10 oz. to 12 oz. less.

TEAL. Querquedula crecca (Linnaeus). PI. 28, figs.
5, 6. Length, 14-5 in. ; bill, 1-5 in.; wing, 7-25 in. ;
tarsus, 1 in.

A local resident, and, like the Wild Duck, migra-
tory in spring and autumn, receiving at the latter
season considerable accessions to its numbers from
the Continent. I have several times found the
nest in West Sussex, on the heath lands sur-
rounding West Harting ponds on the Uppark
estate, and always at a distance from the water.

A hybrid between Teal and Wild Duck (de-
scribed as the Bimaculated Duck) was shot in
Anglesey in Jan. 1892 {ZooL, 1892, pp. 109, 148),
and another was taken in Captain Prettyman's decoy
at Orwell Park, near Ipswich (^.c). The former
specimen, which I had an opportunity of examining,
had yellow feet and partially upturned feathers in
the tail, clearly indicating its relationship to the
Wild Duck, and not to the Wigeon. '^

The weight of a Teal is from 12 to 14 oz.

As the American Green- winged Teal {Querque-
dula carolinensis, Gmelin) is reported to have
occurred in Devon and Hants (Field, Dec. 23, 1879 ;
Jan. 3, 1880; and ZooL, 1880, p. 70), though

1 See Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk," iii. p. 184.

248 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

the specimens obtained may have been imported
and escaped birds, it may be well to remark that
it differs from the European species in wanting
the white streak which extends from the bill over
the eye in the latter ; and the white line below
the eye is nearly absent, being very indistinctly
marked. It is also without the cream-coloured
band on the scapulars, while across the shoulder
there is a distinct transverse bar of white, no trace
of which is to be found in the European bird.

The American Blue- winged Teal (Q. discors,
Linnseus) is likewise recorded to have been shot
in Yorkshire {ZooL, 1852, p. 3472) and in Cam-
bridgeshire {Zool., 1889, p. 228), as well as in
Scotland at Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire {Nat., 1858,
p. 168) ; but as so many foreign wildfowl are annu-
ally imported for parks and ornamental waters, it
is impossible to say whether the solitary examples
occasionally found at large are truly wild or escaped
birds. The Blue-winged Teal was imported by
Lord Dunmore and turned out on a loch at Rodel,
in Harris. A bird recorded as the Blue-winged
Teal, shot in Cowpen Marsh, Redcar (ZooL, 1882,
p. 92), proved to be a young male Garganey (ZooL,
1885, p. 113).

GARGANEY. Querquedula circia (Linnseus). PI. 28,
figs. 7, 8. Length, 15-5 in. ; bill, 1-6 in. ; wing, 7-50
in. ; tarsus, 1*2 in.

A spring and autumn migrant, remaining to breed
in a few favoured localities, where it is known as

DUCKS 249

the " Summer Teal." The nest is reported to have
been found in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire,
Lincolnshire, and Huntingdonshire. It is of rare
occurrence in Scotland, and but very few examples
have been met vrith in Ireland. A pair appeared
on Lough Broad, Co. Wicklow, April 26, 1870
(Zool., 1870, p. 2284). The male was shot, and
is preserved in the collection of Sir Victor Brooke.
It is doubtful whether the female ever has the
speculum of the wing of a decided green colour,
as in the male.

Weight, 14 oz. to 16 oz.

POCHAKD. Fuligula ferina (Linnseus). PI. 29, figs. 5,
6. Length, 18 in. ; bill, 2-25 in. ; wing, 8'5in. ; tarsus,
1-4 in.

A winter visitant, a few annually remaining to
breed. The nest is recorded to have been found
in Yorkshire, Norfolk (frequently), and on the bor-
ders of Herts and Bucks. In May 1876 a Pochard's
nest was found on Lord Walsingham's estate at
Stanford Mere in West Norfolk, and a few days later
Prof. Newton showed me some of the eggs. (See
Stevenson, Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, 1876, p. 210.)
In Scotland the nest has been found in Fifeshire
(Evans, An7i. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1896, p. 191), and
also in Orkney (Buckley, "Fauna of Orkney," p. 174).
In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, the Pochard has
been found breeding in several counties.

Hybrids between Pochard and Tufted Duck have
been met with ; a bird of this description is in the

2 so HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

British Museum (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1886, p. 550),
and another in the Belfast Museum.

Having shot many of these Ducks at various
times, and occasionally as late in the spring as the
end of March, I have noticed that the colour of the
iris varies with age. In the young bird it is pale
yellow ; in an older bird, orange ; in a fine adult
male, crimson ; ^ but the colour has been observed
to change from red to yellow from excitement (see
Stevenson, "Birds of Norfolk," vol. iii. p. 207).

The weight also will vary, according to age, from
2 lbs. to 2 lbs. 6 oz.

WHITE-EYED POCHARD or FERRUGINOUS DUCK.

Fuligula nyroca vel jerruginea (Gmelin). PI. 29,
figs. 7, 8. Length, 16 in.; bill, 2-25 in.; wing, 775
in. ; tarsus, I'l in.

A spring visitant, generally to the eastern counties
of England between the Thames and the Humber.
The east of England would therefore appear to be
the western limit of its regular migration, the few
individuals which have been killed more to the
westward being stragglers. R. Gray, in his " Birds
of the West of Scotland," p. 385, says, "I know of
but one instance of the occurrence of this bird in
any part of Scotland."

In Ireland this Duck has occurred in winter on
the Dublin coast (Blake Knox, Zool., 1871, p. 2645),
two on the east coast in 1879 (Payne Gallwey,
"Fowler in Ireland," p. 101), one on the estate of

1 This is the case also with the Grebes.

DUCKS 2 5 1

Sir William Alexander, near Kells, Co. Meath, in
Dec, 1889, and one on the Shannon near Athlone in
Jan. 1893 {Zool, 1893, p. 106).

A specimen of the Ferruginous Duck, known also
as the White-eyed Pochard, sent from Yarmouth by
Dawson Turner, is figured in Sowerby's " British
Miscellany," 1806, tab. xxi.

A hybrid between F. ferruginea and F. ferina
obtained on Rollesby Broad in Feb. 1845 [Zool.,
1845, p. 1137), is figured in Messrs. Gurney and
Fisher's account of Norfolk birds [Zool., 1846, p.
1379), and others have been since recorded.

Weight, 1 lb. 6 oz.

SCAUP-DUCK. Fuligula marila (Linnseus). PL 29,
figs. 3, 4. Length, 18 in. ; bill, 1*75 in. ; wing, 9'25
in. ; tarsus, 1"5 in.

So named from its habit of frequenting the
beds of mussels, called scalp or scaup, on which
it feeds. A maritime species, seldom coming in-
land except in very hard weather. As a winter
visitant it is not uncommon on the north-eastern
coasts. The majority disappear in March, but it
is believed that a few pairs remain to breed on
some of the lochs. It is reported to have nested
in Sutherlandshire (see Selby, on the Birds of
Sutherland, Edhib. New Phil. Journ., vol. xx. p.
293; Harvie-Brown, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg.,
1875, p. 120 ; and Heatley Noble, Aim. Scot. N. H.,
1899, p. 215), and also on Loch Leven, Kinross-shire
(Stark, Proc. Roy. Phijs. Soc. Edinh., vii. p. 203).

25 2 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Proctor found it breeding commonly in Iceland,
where Shepherd saw one sharing the nest of a Long-
tailed Duck ("N.W. Peninsula of Iceland," p. 151).
Dann also found it in considerable numbers on the
swampy lakes towards the north of the Bothnian
Gulf, near Lulea. See also Wolley's experience
as related by Hewitson in the third edition of
his "British Birds' Eggs." On February 21, 1895,
Lord Lilford received a female Scaup-Duck which
was taken in the Borough Fen decoy, near Pea-
kirk (Zool., 1896, p. 50), a most unusual occur-
rence, as this species hardly ever enters a decoy.

The so-called American Scaup-Duck, Fuligula
mariloides, figured and described by Yarrell, is now
generally admitted to be a hybrid. The specimen
belonged to H. Doubleday ; and at the sale of his
collection in 1871 it was purchased by the late F.
Bond, in whose possession I saw it. From an exa-
mination of this specimen, I have little doubt that
it is a hybrid between Pochard and Scaup-Duck,
although this view was not shared by Mr. Bond,
who considered it a hybrid between F. ferina and
F. ferruginea. The broad bill, however, as well as
the dark colour of the head and dorsal plumage, are
points which seem to me to indicate a relationship
to F. marila.

The specimen recorded to have been shot on
Rollesby Broad, Norfolk (Fisher, Zool., 1845, p.
1137; 1847, p. 1778, and figure), is in the pos-
session of Mr. J. H. Gurney, who informs me that
"it is not the American Scaup-Duck, but the

DUCKS 253

so-called Paget's Pochard, Fuligula homeyeri vel
ferinoides, now believed to be a hybrid between the
Pochard and Ferruginous Duck." Of this cross
Mr. Gurney has a second example, shot at Little
Waxham, Norfolk, in February 1859; and a third
and well-marked specimen was in the collection of
F. Bond. Other examples have been obtained and
recorded. (See Bartlett, P. Z. S., 1847, p. 48;
Zool, 1847, p. 1779 ; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1847,
p. 422 ; and Stevenson, Zool, 1872, p. 2980.)

The bird shot near Scarborough in January 1855,
and stated (Zool., 1855, p. 4631) to have been an
American Scaup-Duck, was examined by John Han-
cock, who found it to be a female Pochard. Prof.
Baird has remarked ("Birds of N. Amer.," p. 791),
on the authority, I believe, of Prof. Newton, that
the F. mariloides of Yarrell is not the F. mariloides
of Vigors ("Voy. H.M.S. Blossom," 1839, p. 31),
although Yarrell himself thought it was {cf. " Hist.
Brit. Birds," 3rd ed., vol. iii. p. 349). And here I
would hazard the opinion that while the former is a
hybrid, the latter is not a good species, having been
founded apparently upon small specimens of the
well-known Scaup-Duck, an inhabitant of both
Nearctic and Palsearctic regions. (See Baird, op.
cit., p. 791, and Swainson, "Faun. Bor. Amer.
(Birds)," p. 453.)

Anas frenata, of which a specimen from York-
shire is figured in Sowerby's " British Miscellany,"
tab. Ixii., is the female of F. marila. (Cf. Sparmann,
Museum Carlsonianum, ii. pi. 38.)

2 54 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

The weight of a male Scaup-Duck is 2 lbs. 7 oz. ;
of the female, 2 lbs.

TUFTED DUCK. Fuligula cristata (Leach). PI. 30,
figs. 9, 10. Length, 16-5 in. ; bill, 1-75 in. ; wing, 8
in. ; tarsus, 1 in.

A winter visitant ; but several instances are on re-
cord of its having remained to breed in Northumber-
land, Yorkshire, Stafford, Shropshire, and Sussex.

In May 1876 a nest of eggs of the Tufted Duck
was taken at Stanford, West Norfolk, on the pro-
perty of Lord Walsingham. Prof. Newton, who
was present at the finding of the nest on May
30, showed me a few days later one of the eggs.
{Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, 1876, p. 210.) I have
seen nests at Rainworth and Newstead, in Not-
tinghamshire, where this Duck breeds regularly,
and, being protected during the nesting season, is
annually increasing.

During the summer of 1893 a brood of Tufted
Ducks was reared in North Warwickshire, near
Coventry {ZooL, 1893, p. 429), and another brood on
a piece of private water at the mouth of the Titch-
field River, Hants. This Duck has been found nest-
ing also at Lord Ashburton's, The Grange, near
Alresford. Some years ago, when residing much in
West Sussex, I constantly saw small parties of
Tufted Ducks on the ponds at West Harting during
the winter months, and have shot five or six in a
day by having them driven over me by the keeper,
while I remained concealed amongst the reeds.

DUCKS 25 5

As to its breeding in Scotland, see Long, Proc.
Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 1880, p. 53; Harvie-
Brown, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin., 1895, p. 144;
and Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1896. It is said to be
increasing as a breeding species in the Solway
district (R. Service, A7in. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1897).
In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, the Tufted
Duck is now resident in limited numbers, and is
extending its breeding range. It is common on
loughs in the North of Ireland, where many are
shot in winter and sent to the market in Belfast.

Weight, 1 lb. 10 oz. to 1 lb. 14 oz.

\^ GOLDEN-EYE. Clangula glaucion (Linnaeus). PI. 30,
figs. 7, 8. Length, 18 in.; bill, 1-4 in.; wing, 8-9
in. ; tarsus, 1*4 in.

A winter visitant to all parts of the British
Islands. Adult females and young of both sexes
are then commonly met with, but adult males more
rarely. The common Wild Duck will frequently
nest at some height from the ground, a favourite
site being the head of a pollard ash or willow :
the Golden-eye will discover a hole in the trunk,
and will lay its eggs inside on the rotten wood,
without any nest, after the fashion of a wood-
pecker. [A nest of this duck, with young birds,
was reported to have been found by a shepherd in
the hollow of an old larch tree on Loch Assynt,
Sutherlandshire (More, Ibis, 1865, p. 447.)] In
the summer of 1895 a pair of Golden - eyes
bred in a plantation on the margin of Fewston

2 56 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Reservoir, near Otley, Yorkshire, and reared four
young ones. Another pair bred on the margin of
Swinsty Reservoir; the male bird v^^as shot, and is
now in the collection of the Leeds Naturalists'
Club {Zool, 1895, p. 449).

Daniel, in the Supplement to his " Rural Sports,"
p. 627, has recorded the singular fact that in March
1810 no fev^^er than 170 Golden-eyes were taken in a
flounder-net in the River Eden, running into St.
Andrew's Bay, Fifeshire. They had alighted below
the net, and on the flowing of the tide were carried,
from the contraction of the channel, with great im-
petuosity into the net, where they were found the
next morning drowned.

The weight of an adult Golden-eye is from 2 lbs.
to 2 lbs. 6 oz. The Morillon of old writers is the young
of this species ; but the Morillon of Belon, described
by Willughby as having its bill cut on the edge
like a saw, legs and feet red on the inside, and its
head ferruginous, is apparently a female Goosander.

Barrow's Golden-eye [Clangula islandica), a
native of Iceland, Greenland, and Arctic America, is
reported to have been met with once at the mouth
of the Derwent {Zool, 1864, p. 9038), but it is ex-
tremely doubtful whether the species was correctly
identified. (See Newton, "Diet. Birds," p. 369.)
Robert Gray, in his " Birds of the West of Scot-
land," p. 396, writes: "For many years I have
carefully watched for the appearance of Clangula
islandica (Gmelin) in the Outer Hebrides, but with-
out success." It is a larger bird than our well-

•^J

DUCKS 257

known Golden-eye, and the male has a white specu-
lum on the wing divided by a black bar. The white
crescent-shaped spot on the side of the head also
is larger, and comes up in front of the eye. The
females of the two species are much alike, but in
the rarer bird the bill in both sexes is shorter and
not so deep at the base.

LONG-TAILED DUCK. Harelda glacialis (Linnseus).
PI. 29, figs. 1, 2. Length, 22 in.; bill, 1 in. ; wing, 9
in. ; tarsus, 1-25 in.

A winter visitant to both the east and west coasts
of Scotland, and common at that season in the Hebri-
des, Orkney, and Shetland, In England more often
met with in winter on the east than on the west coast.

Immature birds ivithout the long tail-feathers
are occasionally found during the winter months
in the estuaries and tidal harbours along the Eng-
lish Channel, whence they are sometimes reported
as Harlequin Ducks,

In Ireland Harelda glacialis is regarded as an
irregular winter visitor in small numbers.

Its breeding haunts are in Iceland,^ Lapland,
Spitsbergen, Novaya Zemlya, and probably a few nest
in the Faroe Islands, Two eggs taken in Shetland,
and given to Wolley as those of the "Calloo" Duck,
were believed by him to be those of the Long-tailed
Duck (see Ibis, 1865, p. 446, and Buckley and Evans'
"Fauna of Shetland," 1899, p. 139).

Weight, 1 lb. 8 oz. to 1 lb. 10 oz.

' In Iceland, Mr. C. \V. Shepherd found a Scaup-Duck and a Long-
tailed Duck occupying the same nest, which contained several eggs of
both species. (" North-West Peninsula of Iceland," p. 151.)

R

25 8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

SCOTER. (Edemia nigra (Linnaeus). PL 30, figs. 5, 6.
Length, 20 in.; bill, 5-25 in.; wing, 9-5 in.; tarsus,
1-25 in.

The name Scoter is probably a variant of Scouter
and Scout (O.F, escoute) in allusion, perhaps, to the
appearance of straggling parties of these ducks on
the coast before the arrival of the main body of
wildfowl.^

A winter visitant, occasionally remaining in Scot-
land till late in summer. Reported to have nested
in Caithness (ZooL, 1869, p. 1867) and Inverness-
shire ("Fauna of Sutherland and Caithness," p. 194).
Young birds in the down and the parent birds, shot
at the nest in Caithness, were seen in 1871 by A. G.
More at Small's, the birdstuffer, in Edinburgh.

As to the alleged breeding of the Scoter in
Sussex on the Earnley Marshes, near Chichester,
see Zool, 1892, pp. 151, 228, and 1893, p. 151.

In Iceland Mr. C. W. Shepherd found this bird
breeding in crevices of broken lava, and caught one
on the nest with a landing-net.

The extent of the orange colour on the bill of
the adult male varies considerably. (See Gurney,
Zool, 1894, p. 292, with figures.)

Weight, young male, 2 lbs. 5 oz. ; adult male,
2 lbs. 10 oz. ; female, 1 lb. 12 oz.

1 Jolin Macky, in his account of the Bass Rock (" Journey through
Scotland," 1722, pp. 27-29) says : — " When the Solan geese are coming
they send some before to fix their mansions, which for that reason are
called Scouts." In Orkney the name Scout is applied to the Guille-
mot, q.v.

DUCKS 259

VELVET SCOTER. (Edemia fusca (Linmeus). PL 30,
figs. 3, 4, 4a. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 1-9 in. ; wing, 11
in. ; tarsus, 1*25 in.

On the east coast of Scotland an annual winter
visitant, less often met with on the east coast
of England. Mr. Gurney thinks it is accounted
rare from its habit of keeping out some miles at
sea and thus escaping observation. When crossing
from Dover to Ostend and from Harwich to Rot-
terdam, I have several times seen a few Velvet
Scoters associating with flocks of Common Scoters
in the proportion of about five per cent. They
could always be distinguished with a glass by
the white spot under the eye, and the white bar
across the wing.

In Orkney the Velvet Scoter is an annual winter
visitant, arriving in September and October, re-
maining until the spring, and frequenting the
bays and firths, generally in flocks of from ten
to twenty.

In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, there are
some twenty records of the Velvet Scoter from
various parts of the coast, the majority from the
bays of Dublin and Louth, while the west coast
seems to be very seldom visited by this bird.

The colour of the legs and feet in the Common
Scoter and Velvet Scoter is very difi'erent, and is not
correctly described in the text-books. In the Com-
mon Scoter the legs and toes are green with the
interdigital membrane slate colour ; in the Velvet

26o HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Scoter the membrane is dark slate colour, but the
legs and toes orange-red. I noted this in two
birds shot on the same day (Nov. 6, 1897), at the
mouth of the Thames off Canvey Island.

The weight of the Velvet Scoter was 2 lbs. 8 oz.,
the Common Scoter one ounce less, both birds being
in good condition.

EIDER DUCK. Somateria Tnollissima (Linnseus). PI. 30,
figs. 1, 2. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2-25 in. ; wing, 12 in. ;
tarsus, 1-75 in.

Resident in Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, the
coasts of Scotland, the coast of Northumberland,
and the Fame Islands, where I have seen these
Ducks sitting on their nests, and so reluctant to
move for fear of having their eggs abstracted by
Gulls that they would allov^' themselves to be touched
before moving away. The southernmost breeding
station of the Eider is believed to be Coquet Island,
Northumberland. (See Zool, 1887, pp. 13, 108.)
Migrating down the east coast in November, they
wander as far south as the English Channel, enter-
ing the estuaries of the Stour, the Blackwater, and
the Thames on the way. I have occasionally come
across immature ducks of this species in November
on the Sussex coast off Pagham and Selsea.

The food of the Eider consists of mollusca
(such as cockles, periwinkles, and mussels) and
various Crustacea. In the gullet of one was
found a great spider crab [Hyas araneus) with an
unbroken carapace 2$ inches in length (Gurney,

DUCKS 261

Zool., 1893, p. 458). Attempts to domesticate the
Eider with other ornamental waterfowl are not
usually successful, owing to the difficulty of pro-
viding suitable food. Mr, W. H. St. Quintin, how-
ever, has described a mode of treatment which has
proved sufficiently satisfactory (Zool., 1888, p. 26).

The weight of an Eider Duck is from 5 to 5| lbs.

The names Eider (Welsh ydyr, i.e. downy),
applied to Cygnets in 1553 (Kirby, "Annals of
Winchester College," p. 276), and Dunter, applied
to this bird in Shetland and Orkney (from N. dun
and Icel. dunn), both have reference to the famous
down, which, from its lightness and elasticity, is so
much esteemed for quilts and coverlets, and which
is not white like swan's-down, but grey. It re-
quires about li lbs. to make a coverlet for a single
bed, and when unbleached the down is worth from
12s. to 15s. per lb. (Shepherd's "Iceland," p. 105).

SMEW. Mergus albellus, Linnaeus. PI. 29, figs. 12, 13.
Length, 16 in, ; bill, 1-25 in. ; wing, 7"5 in. ; tarsus,
1 in.

A winter visitant, but not numerous, and never
seen in large flocks like many of the other Ducks.
Adult males in their striking black and white
plumage are rarely met with ; the majority of those
shot on our coasts by wildfowlers being females
and immature birds of the year. They like the
brackish water of our tidal harbours, where they
get plenty of fish, and seldom come far inland
except in very hard weather. Weight, 1 lb. 8 oz.

262 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

By some old writers this bird is called the
Nun, presumably from its black and white head-
dress. The orimn of the name Smew is uncertain.
In Norfolk and Suffolk the Wigeon is known to
the coast gunners as Smee.

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. Mergus serrator, Lin-
naeus. PI. 29, iigs. 10, 11, lla. Length, 22 in.; bill,
2'25 in. ; wing, 10 in. ; tarsus, 1-5 in.

Resident in Scotland and Ireland, where it breeds
on the small islands in the lochs ; a winter visitant
to England. Mr. J. H. Gurney informs me that he
once saw an adult male of this species in summer
near Lowestoft. Some years ago, when shooting
much in Norfolk, I used to see these birds, as well
as Goosanders, in autumn and winter in Breydon
Harbour, but seldom fired at them (unless a
specimen was wanted for some friend's collection),
for, on account of their rank fishy flavour, they are
quite uneatable. Their swimming and diving power
seemed far superior to that of all other wildfowl
except the Colymbidw and the Grebes. An unusual
case of a female Merganser assuming the plumage
of the male is reported on the authority of Mr.
Dresser {Zool, 1893, p. 458). Weight, 2 lbs. 12 oz.

GOOSANDER. Mergus merganser, Linnt^us. PI. 29, fig. 9.

Length, 28 in. ; bill, 2-45 in. ; wing, 11*25 in. ; tarsus,

1-9 in.
A winter visitant to England and Ireland, fre-
quenting both fresh and salt water. Of more

DUCKS 263

frequent occurrence in Scotland, especially on the
west coast, and said to breed in the Hebrides
(Macgillivray, "Brit. Birds," and Ibis, 1865, p.
447), although Mr. H. J. Elwes, who spent two
months in the Hebrides during the nesting season
of 1868, made special search for this species
without seeing it {Ibis, 1869, p. 22); and Col.
Feilden and Mr. Harvie-Brown, who visited the
Long Island in the summer of 1870, were also un-
successful in their search for it. Dr. Dewar, how-
ever, found it breeding in North Uist in 1858, and
shot a female ojff the nest (Gray, " Birds of the
West of Scotland," p. 403). It has been found
nesting in Sutherlandshire (ZooL, 1868, pp. 1309,
1424), and Argyllshire. (See Hamilton Buchanan,
Froc. Roy. Fhys. Soc. Edin., v. p. 189, and
Booth, " Rough Notes on British Birds.") In
May 1871, Mr. Harv'ie-Brown received fresh eggs
of this bird from the north of Perthshire. The
nest, as he informs me, was placed in the hollow of
an old tree, and the eggs were taken on or about
the 20th of May. In July 1871, a female Goos-
ander with a brood was seen on Loch Awe [Field,
July 29 and August 12, 1871). In May 1876,
Mr. Osgood Mackenzie found a Goosander's nest
containing nine eggs in Ross-shire, on the Fiona
Loch {Field, May 20, 1876).

Weight, 3 lbs. 12 oz. to 4 lbs., varying according
to sex and age, and exceeding that of the Merganser
by 1 lb. to li lb.

2 64 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Order XII. PYGOPODES

Fam. COLYMBIDtE.

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Colymbus glacialis, Liu-
lueiis. PI. 31, fig. 1. Length, 32 in.; bill, 3-5 in.;
wing, 14 in. ; tarsus, 3*5 in.

A winter visitant, a few remaining throughout
the summer in Scotland and the Hebrides. Mr.
Harvie-Brown discovered a pair breeding on a wild
lonely loch in Assynt, Sutherland shire (ZooL, 1868,
pp. 1309, 1424). Saxby was satisfied that this bird
had nested in the island of Yell (" Birds of Shetland,"
p. 279), and Edmondston also believed that it was
occasionally to be found breeding in Shetland (Zool. ,
1843, p. 365), but there is no satisfactory evidence
of its having done so. (See Buckley and Evans'
"Fauna of Shetland," p. 205.) In Ireland it is a
regular winter visitor, the majority immature birds.

As to the distinction between this species and
the closely allied White-billed Diver {Colymbus
adamsi), and the claims of the latter to rank as a
British bird, cf. Seebohm {Zool, 1885, p. 144), Col-
lett {Ibis, 1894, p. 269, with plate), and Harting
{Zool, 1896, p. 16). A White-billed Diver was shot
at Pakefield, on the Suffolk coast, early in the spring
of 1852, and is figured by Babington in his "Birds
of Suffolk." Another specimen, now in the New-
castle Museum, was shot on the coast of Northum-
berland, but the precise date is unknown. There is

DIVERS 265

also a specimen in Booth's collection at Brighton
{Zool, 1896, p. 14).

Weight, 9 lbs. to 12 lbs. Dunn states that in
Orkney it attains a weight of 10 lbs. to 16 lbs.

BLACK-THROATED DIVER. Colymhus arcticus, Lin-
naeus. PI. 31, fig. 2. Length, 28 in. ; bill, 2-25 in. ;
wing, 12 in. ; tarsus, 3-25 in.

A rare winter visitant to England and Ireland
from October until April, but resident in Scotland
and the Hebrides, where it breeds in limited num-
bers. The late Lord Erskine gave me two eggs
of this species which his gamekeeper had taken
in North Uist. It is known to have nested in
Orkney, and has been met with in Shetland, al-
though it is not quite clear whether it remains
to breed there. (See Buckley and Evans' " Fauna
of Shetland," p. 206.) In Ireland one with a hlach
throat is mentioned by Mr. Warren as having been
seen at the mouth of the Moy River, Co. Mayo [Zool.,
1877, p. 329), and others on the Dublin coast in
April and May (Zool., 1879, p. 484). It may be
remarked that all three species of Diver occa-
sionally remain about their winter quarters long
enough to acquire the full breeding plumage.

iis to the simultaneous moulting of the flight
feathers in this species, see Farren, Ann. Scot.
Nat. Hist., 1899, p. 114. Divers use their wings
under water (Saxby, p. 279). Cormorants do not.

The weight of the Black-throated Diver varies,
according to age, from 5 to 7 lbs.

2 66 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

RED-THROATED DIVER. Colymhus septentrionalis,
Linnaeus. PL 31, figs. 3, 4, 4a. Length, 26 in. ; bill,
2-25 in. ; wing, 11-25 in. ; tarsus, 3 in.

Resident in Scotland and the Hebrides, where it
breeds ; a winter visitant to England, where it is
commonly known to the fishermen on the coast as
the Speckled Diver, and Sprat Loon. A white
one was obtained in Essex (Zool., 1862, p. 8002).
In Ireland it has been found breeding beside a
small mountain lough in Co. Donegal {ZooL, 1885,
p. 348, and 1887, p. 27; Ussher, "Birds of Ire-
land," p. 375). Nest and eggs figured by Pearson.

A Red-throated Diver, shot Nov. 17, 1887, on
the Wye, near Ross, weighed 3f lbs. ; length, 2 feet
2 inches ; expanse of wing, 3 feet 6 inches. A
finer bird shot on the Sussex coast in winter
weighed 4 lbs. 8 oz.

Fam. PODICIPEDID^.

GREAT CRESTED GREBE. Podicipes cristatus (Lin-
nffius). PL 31, fig. 5. Length, 20 in. ; bill, 1-75 in. ;
wing, 7'5 in. ; tarsus, 2*5 in.

Podicipes, not Podiceps, is the name used by
Linn^us, " Syst. Nat.," ed. 10, p. 136. See Babing-
ton, "Birds of Suffolk," p. 200, note. Podicipes,
moreover, is used by Willughby, Ornithologia, p.
257, and by Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina, i. p. 91,
and has been adopted more recently by Stevenson
and Southwell, "Birds of Norfolk," vol. iii. p. 233,

GREBES 267

note, as well as by Prof. Newton in his "Dictionary
of Birds."

This bird is a local resident, migrating southward
in winter ; partial to large inland pools surrounded
by reed beds, such as the broads of Norfolk and the
meres of Shropshire and Cheshire, where it breeds
regularly, as it does also on many lakes in Scotland
and Ireland. (Ellison, ZooL, 1892, p. 425.) During
the last few years a pair or two of Great Crested
Grebes have annually reared their young so near
London as the Penn Ponds in Richmond Park.

In Norfolk this bird is known as the Loo7i
(Stevenson and Southwell, vol. iii. pp. 223-254),
although this name is elsewhere bestowed on the
Red-throated Diver or Sprat Loon, and in Lincoln-
shire Gaunt {Zool., 1879, p. 76). For a suggested
explanation of the latter name see Zool., 1884, p.
350. Prof. Newton ("Diet. Birds," p. 381) derives
" grebe " from the French grebe : it seems more
likely that the name is indicative of its crest ;
Cornish and Welsh ci^ib and criban, a comb or
crest (Skeat). "The tall grib'' occurs in an L'ish
poem believed to be as old as the twelfth century
{cf. Wilde, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., vol.vii. p. 1857).
Grebes in preening their plumage habitually swallow
feathers, which are subsequently ejected in the form
of " pellets," similar to the " castings " of hawks
and owls.

The structure of the leg bones is deserving of
examination, as being curiously correlated with habit.
(See Newstead, Research, Jan. 1, 1889, and Proc.

268 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Linn. Soc., 1888). As to the mode of progression on
land, see the careful observations made by Messrs.
Coward and Oldham in their recently published
volume on the " Birds of Cheshire," p. 248.
Weight, 2 lbs. 12 oz. to 3 lbs.

RED-NECKED GREBE. Fodicipes griseigena (Boddsiert).
PI. 31, fig. 6. Length, 18 in.; bill, 1-5 in.; wing, 7
in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

Breeding in Norway, Denmark, and North
Germany, this bird migrates to England in the
autumn, and on the east and south coasts is not
uncommon as a winter visitant.^ It sometimes
(though rarely) remains late enough in spring to
display the complete breeding plumage. I have
occasionally obtained specimens in Pagham Har-
bour, Sussex, in the winter plumage, but with a
few red feathers appearing here and there on the
throat. The irides and base of the beak were then
lemon-yellow, giving the bird a very striking ap-
pearance. The colour of the back, when the bird
is swimming away from the punt-gunner and very
low in the water, is so similar in tone to the dark
wavelets of the tidal harbours which it frequents, as
to render it at a short distance quite invisible but
for the upright carriage of the head and neck as
seen when it emerges from a dive. It is of rare
occurrence in Ireland, where a few examples have
been met with on the eastern and southern coasts.

1 No fewer than twenty-eight were obtained off Scarborough in
Jan. 1891. {Zool, 1891, p. 193.)

GREBES 269

SCLAVONIAN or HORNED GREBE. Podicipes awritus
(Linneeus). PI. 31, fig. 7. Length, 13-5 in. : bill, 1 in. ;
wing, 5"75 in. ; tarsus, 1*75 in.

A winter visitor like the last named, but of
more frequent occurrence. Breeds commonly in
Iceland. In most parts of England it is the
commonest species in winter next to the Little
Grebe, and the same may be said of Scotland and
the north and north-west of Ireland.

Weight, 12 to 13i oz.

EARED GREBE. Podicipes nigricollis (Brehm). PI. 31,
figs. 8, 9. Length, 12 in.; bill, 0-9 in.; wing, 5-25
in. ; tarsus, 1'5 in.

Messrs. Gurney and Fisher have noticed the
Eared Grebe as a very rare summer visitor, possibly
sometimes nesting in Norfolk. Five in summer
plumage were killed in April at Wroxham, one of
which is figured {ZooL, 1846, p. 1381) ; one on
Kockland Broad, July 28, 1892 ; one in Anglesey,
Aug. 1, 1892; another in Merionethshire, Dec. 17,
1891 ; one on the Arun, in Sussex, in Oct. 1892 ;
and another off Weymouth in December 1894.

See the figure of the small black-chinned Grebe
[Colymbus hehridicus) taken in a pond on Chelsea
Common about June 1805, given in Sowerby's
"British Miscellany," part xii. tab. 70 (1806).

An adult bird in summer plumage, shot near
Dublin on Jane 15, 1847, was preserved in Watter's
collection, and another in Co. Armagh, near Ben-

)C

270 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

burb, in June 1849; but in Ireland, as in England,
the majority of Eared Grebes met with are seen
in the winter months — that is, between October
and March. Mr. R. Warren has only once met
with this species in Mayo, where he shot one in
Killala Bay in February. Mr. Ussher received one
from Dungarvan Bay in February 1890, which is
now in the Dublin Museum, and mentions a few
others in his recently published " Birds of Ireland."
The average weight is 12 oz.

LITTLE GREBE or DABCHICK. Podicipes minor
(Gmelin). PI. 31, figs. 10, 11, 12, 12a. Length,
9"5 in. ; bill, 0*75 in. ; wing, 3"75 in. ; tarsus, 1-3 in.

Resident throughout the year, and generally
distributed : migratory in spring and autumn. It
is a regular summer visitor to the London parks,
where I have several times seen the nests, and
watched the old birds covering the eggs before
leaving them. Two broods are sometimes reared.
The young for some time are carried on the back
of the parent, until able to shift for themselves.
The seasonal changes of plumage are indicated
on Plate 31. The weight of an adult is from 8
to 10 oz.

Fam. ALCID^.

PUFFIN. Fratercula arctica (Linnseus). PI. 26, figs.
11, 12. Length, 12 in.; bill, 175 in.; wing, 6 in.;
tarsus, 1 in.

The origin of the name " Puflin " is thus ex-
plained by Dr. Cains in his Libellus de rariorum

AUKS 271

animalium histoi^ia : " Hunc nostri Puphinum
dicunt, DOS Piipinum a natural! voce pwpin."

It is a summer migrant to all the precipitous
coasts of the British Islands, the majority going
south for the winter.

The island of Priestholm, off the coast of
Anglesey, was once frequented by such an ex-
traordinary number of these birds as to acquire
the name of Puffin Island. When the Rev. W.
Bingley, during a tour in North Wales, visited this
island at the beginning of the present century, he
found "upwards of fifty acres of land literally
covered with Puffins." " I speak much within com-
pass," he says, "when I declare that the number here
must have been upwards of 50,000." He adds :
" They arrive in the beginning of April, and
remain till about the 11th of August,^ taking
possession of burrows in the crevices of the rocks,
or on the sloping ground of the island, from which,
in many places, they have expelled the rightful
owners — the rabbits " (" Tour in North Wales,"
1804, vol. i. pp. 348-354). Dr. Caius, in the
work above quoted, states (p. 98), *' that in his
day (1570), Puffins were usually caught by means
of ferrets, as we now take rabbits. At the present
day, they are either dug out of the burrows, seized
by hand, or drawn out with a hooked stick.

The southernmost breeding-place of this species
appears to be the Berlengas or Farallones, a group

' On the Fame Islands, it is said, the Puffins arrive aliout the
5th of April and depart about the 5th of September.

272 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

of islands near the mouth of the Tagus, a trifle
north of the latitude of Lisbon (Saunders, Ibis,
1871, p. 402), otherwise known to mariners as the
Burlings (Feilden, Zool, 1884, p. 470).

In autumn the palpebral appendages and portions
of the beak are shed in a curious manner, causing
the beak to appear smaller and darker in winter
than it is in summer (Bingley, "North Wales,"
vol. i. p. 354). For a full description of this
change, translated by me from the French of Dr.
Bureau, see Zool., 1878, p. 233, with coloured
plate.

As to the appearance of Puffins in winter, and the
divergency exhibited at that season in the form of
the beak, see Zool, 1862, p. 8003, and 1863, p. 8331.
Beilby, who wrote the letterpress for Bewick's
" British Birds," thought it evident, on comparing
several specimens, that their beaks " increase in
size with their age ; " but, as will be seen from a
perusal of Dr. Bureau's paper, this is not the case.
The weight of an adult Puffin is 13 oz.

A larger species, from Spitsbergen, Fratercula
glacialis (Leach), has been reported to have been
met with in the Isle of Wight (More, Zool., 1860,
p. 6858, and Venables, "Guide to the Isle of
Wight," p. 434), but the identification of the speci-
men obtained was not subsequently confirmed.

An excellent account of F. glacialis, by Prof.
Newton, with a coloured plate by Wolf, will be
found in The Ibis for 1865, p. 212, pi. vi.

AUKS 273

RAZOR-BILL. Alca torda, Linnaeus. PI. 26, figs. 13, 14.
Length, 17 in. ; bill, 1-3 in. ; wing, 7-25 in. ; tarsus.
1-25 in.

May be found in limited numbers in the tideway
of the open sea all round the coast throughout the
year, but most conspicuous when frequenting the
cliflfs in hundreds during the breeding season.

These birds, which are nowhere so numerous as
Guillemots, have been observed to carry their young
on their backs over a rough sea, and to transport
them in the same way from the cliffs. They go
southwards for the winter to the Mediterranean.

One shot off Canvey Island at the mouth of the
Thames, Dec. 14, 1895, weighed 27 oz. ; the stomach
was full of sprats, which were then plentiful. The
weight varies from 24 to 27 oz.

LITTLE AUK. Mergulus alle, Linnceus. PL 26, figs.
15, 15a. Length, 8-5 in.; bill, 0*65 in.; wing, 4*5
in. ; tarsus, 0*9 in.

A winter visitant from Iceland and Spitsbergen,
where it breeds, and where it is known to sailors
as rotche or rotge} It is somewhat irregular in
its appearance. After storms at sea, great num-
bers are driven upon the coasts of the eastern

^ Wheelwright states that the Spitsbei'gen name for these birds
(rut-ges) is derived from their peculiar cry, rott-td-tet-tet (" Ten Years in
Sweden," p. 441). But I suspect some confusion here in applying
the Northern name to the wrong species — see Raine's note on the word
Rutgoys which occurs (pp. 327, 343) in the " Durham Household Book,"
1530-1534, published by the Surtees Society in 1844, and which from
its signification is more applicable to the Brent Goose, q.v.

S

274 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

counties, and are not imfrequently carried by the
gale to a considerable distance inland. This was
particularly the case in the winter of 1894-95
{Field, Feb. 9, 1895).

Specimens in summer plumage are rarely met
with in England. One in the collection of the late
F. Bond was picked up dead in the Solent in the
autumn of 1870. Another is in the Museum at
Cambridge ; and a third, with a black throat, was
shot at Wells, Norfolk, May 26, 1857 (Steven-
son, Zool, 1857, p. 5758), all of which I have
had opportunities of examining.

GREAT AUK or G ARE-FOWL, xilca impennis, Lin-
naeus. Length, 32 in. (Montagu gives 36 in.) ; bill,
3-5 in. ; wing, 6 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

This flightless sea-bird, once frequenting the
coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, and
the south-west of Iceland, was formerly a regular
inhabitant of the British Islands, but is now be-
lieved to be extinct, no living example having
been procured or seen since 1844, when the last
of its race, so far as is known, was killed off Eldey
Island, Iceland.

Under the name of " Gare-fowl," the Great Auk
was noticed by Sir George M'Kenzie about 1684, in
his account of Hirta (St. Kilda) and Rona, pub-
lished in Pinkerton's " Voyages," vol. iii. p. 730,
and is mentioned in Martin's " Voyage to St.
Kilda," 1698, as formerly breeding on St. Kilda;
it is also noticed in Macaulay's "History of St.

AUKS 275

Kilda," written in 1758. John Macgillivray in 1840
found that it was well known to the inhabitants
of that remote isle.

Wallis, writing in 1769 {"Nat. Hist, and Antiq.
Northumberland," vol. i. p. 340), remarked : " The
Penguin, a curious and uncommon bird, was taken
alive a few years ago in the island of Farn, and
presented to the late John William Bacon, Esq.,
of Etherstone, with whom it grew so tame and
familiar that it would follow him with its body
erect to be fed." In a footnote he has added the
description, " Alca rostro compresso ancipiti sul-
cato ; macula alba ante oculos " (Linn. Faun. Suec,
p. 43, n. 119).

The records of its occurrence in Great Britain
are so few that they may be shortly enumerated
here as follows : —

One taken alive, Fame Islands, before 1769. Wallis,
" Nat. Hist. Northumb.," 1769, vol. i. p. 340.

One seen off Fair Isle, Orkney, June 1798. Baikie
and Heddle, " Hist. Nat. Orcadensis," p. 88.

Two seen off Papa Westra, Orkney, 1812, one of which
was sent the following year to Bullock. At the sale of
his collection in 1819 it was purchased for the British
Museum, where it is still preserved. Montagu, " Orn.
Diet. Suppl." (1813). Mr, Harvie-Brown has given an
excellent account of the home of this bird in Orkney, with
a view of the ledge of rock from which the last specimen
was shot. " Fauna of Orkney," p. 246.

One taken alive off St. Kilda in August 1821 or 1822,
and examined by Fleming; afterwards escaped. Edinb.
Phil. Journ., vol. x. p. 97 ; Fleming, " Hist. Brit. An.," 1828,
p. 130, and Macgillivray, "Hist. Brit. Birds," vol. v. p. 361.

2 76 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

One picked up dead off Lundy Island, 1829. Moore,
" Catalogue of the Web-footed Birds of Devon ; " " Mag.
Nat. Hist.," 1837, p. 3G1, and "Orn. South Devon.," p. 293.

One taken alive, Waterford Harbour, May 1834, lived
about five months in confinement : preserved in the
Museum of Trinity College, Dublin. Thompson, P. Z. S.,
1835, p. 79, and " Nat. Hist. Ireland, Birds," vol. iii. p. 238.

One also on the coast of Waterford, about the same
time, but not preserved. Thompson, loc. cit.

One picked up on the long strand of Castle Freke,
Co. Cork, about February 1844, "having been water-soaked
in a storm." Thompson, loc. cit.

Two seen in Belfast Bay, 23rd September 1845.
Thompson, op. cit. ; possibly Divers (Colymbi).

The last three records are of doubtful value. See
Ussher, " Birds of Ireland," p. 358,

In addition to the instances above mentioned,
two others are on record, both of which are un-
doubtedly mistakes. Fleming ("Hist. Brit. An.,"
p. 130) states that Bullock informed him that "a
Great Auk was taken in a pond of fresh water two
miles from the Thames, on the estate of Sir William
Clayton in Buckinghamshire." The Great Auk,
however, being incapable of flight, such an occur-
rence would be an impossibility, and the bird re-
ferred to was probably one of the Divers. Again,
Messrs, Sheppard and Whitear, in their " Catalogue
of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds" (1826),i state that
they were assured by Sir William Hooker that a
bird of this species was some years since killed
near Southwold, Suffolk. Sir William Hooker,
however, informed Professor Newton that he had
no recollection of having made such a statement.

1 Trans. Lmn. Soc, vol. xv. p. Gl.

AUKS 277

He may have refened to a Little Auk, Mergulus
cdle, and have been misunderstood.

Besides the sources of information above indi-
cated, the following important articles relating to
the history of this singular bird should be referi'ed
to : — Dr. Charlton, " On the Great Auk," ZooL,
I860, pp. G883-6888; Professor Newton's "Abstract
of Mr. Wolley's Researches in Iceland," Ibis, 1861,
pp. 374-399 ; " On a Natural Mummy " of this bird,
P. Z. S., 1863, p. 435, reprinted Zool, 1864, p. 9122,
"The Gare-fowl and its Historians," JVat. Hist.
Revieio, 1865, pp. 467-488 ; and "Existing Re-
mains," Ihis, 1865, pp. 116, 336; 1870, pp. 256-
261 ; "Owen on the Anatomy of Alca impennis,"
Trails. Zool. Soc, 1865; Coues, "Monograph of
the Alcidw," Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia,
Jan. 1868; Steenstrup, "Materials for a History
of Alca impennis" (a French translation from the
Danish original), Bull. Soc. Orn. Suisse, 1868, tome
ii. pp. 5-70 ; and, in the same volume, Fatio,
" Remarks on Specimens existing in Switzerland,"
pp. 73-85; J. H. Gurney, "General Notes and
Corrections of Thompson's account of Irish Speci-
mens," Zool, 1868, pp. 1442-1453, and 1869, pp.
1639-1643; Wyman, "Remains found in Kitchen-
middens in Maine and Massachusetts," Amer. Nat.,
1868, pp. 561 and 622 ; Potts on an egg of Alca
impennis, Trails. N. Z. Inst., 1870, pp. 109-110;
R. Gray, " Resume of Scottish Records of the
Species," "Birds W. Scotland," 1871, pp. 441-453.
In the last-mentioned work will also be found an

278 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

allusion to the discovery, in 18G4, of the remains of
two Gare-fowls in a " kitchen-midden " on the coast
of Caithness. Milne, " Relics of the Great Auk,"
Field, March 27, April 3 and 10, 1875 (subse-
quently reprinted in 8vo, pp. 16) ; Lucas, (l)
" Expedition to Funk Island, with Observations on
the History and Anatomy of the Auk," Report U.S.
jYat. Mtis., 1887-88, pp. 493-529, and (2) "Ani-
mals Recently Extinct," op. cit., 1888-89, pp. 609-
649 ; Dr. J. A. Smith on the "Remains of the Great
Auk found in Caithness," Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot-
land, vol. xiii., 1879. A considerable number of
bones have been found at White Park Bay, Antrim,
and off the Waterford River. This bird must have
been at one time quite common in Ireland.

Since the first edition of this Handbook ap-
peared, Mr. Symington Grieve has published an
important monograph on this bird (4to, Edinburgh,
1885, pp. 141, and Appendix, pp. 41), reviewed
in The Zoologist, 1885, p. 390. Mr. Grieve
subsequently published some " supplementary in-
formation " in octavo form in a Presidential Ad-
dress to the Edinburgh Field Naturalists' Society,
1888.

In shape and colour the eggs of the Great
Auk resemble large eggs of the Razor - bill,
and measure on an average 4*9 in. by 275 in.
Coloured figures of several in different collections
may be found in the works of Thienemann, Badeker,
Hewitson, Meyer, Seebohm, and Symington Grieve
above mentioned, as well as in two memoirs Sur

GUILLEMOTS 279

VAlca impennis, by the late Baron d'Hamonville,
published in Mem. Zool. Soc. France, 1888.

An egg of this bird which was purchased at
auction by Sir Vauncey Crewe in Feb. 1894, has
been since figured by Mr. T. Parkin in a paper
on the Great Auk read to the Hastings and St.
Leonards Natural History Society in June 1900,
and subsequently printed at St. Leonards.

^ GUILLEMOT. Uria troile (Linnaeus). PI. 26, figs. 16,
17. Length, 18 in. ; bill, 1-9 in. ; wing, 7-5 in. ; tarsus,
1-5 in.

This bird, known in Orkney and elsewhere as
the Scout^ (see p. 258), may be seen in the tideway
of the open sea all round the coast at almost any
time of year, but is most conspicuous during the
breeding season, when assembling in myriads on
the cliff's. During the month of June thousands of
eggs of the Guillemot are taken from the cliff's on
the coast of Yorkshire. See the descriptions of
"egging" given by Messrs. Carter (Zool., 1884,
p. 438), and Clarke {Field, Oct. 6, 1900). Mr. E.
Drane of Cardiff" has published an excellent series
of sixteen coloured plates, in which are shown
forty-eight of the more striking varieties of the
eggs of this bird, and sixteen varieties of the
Razor-bill {Trans. Cardiff Nat. Soc, 1898-99).

The old birds transport the young before they
can fly from the ledges whereon they are hatched
to the sea below, by carrying them in the hollow

1 " In our mother toung named the Sko^it." — Bp. Leslie, 1578.

28o HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

of the back between their slightly elevated wings,
and on reaching the surface with them at once
dive, leaving the young one to float on the sur-
face (Zool, 1875, pp. 4342, 4666).'

The legs and toes of the Guillemot are not, as
stated by Yarrell, dark brownish-black, membranes
olive, but smoky flesh colour, the webs darker smoke
colour. In this respect Gould's plate is inaccurate,
the legs and toes being much too dark. The weight
of an adult bird is 2 lbs. 5 oz.

A curious and rare variety of this bird, having the
bill and feet yellow, was shot in Poole Harbour,
Dorsetshire, by Mr. T. M. Pike in December 1876,
and was exhibited by Prof. Newton at a meeting of
the Zoological Society on January 2, 1877. (See
Field, Dec. 16, 1876, and Zool, 1877, p. 57.) An-
other specimen was taken at Scarborough on Dec. 4,
1897 (Field, Jan. 1, 1898).

The so-called Ringed Guillemot ( Uria ringvia,
leucophthalmus, or lacrynians, as it has been vari-
ously styled) is now regarded as a variety of the
common species, from which it differs only in hav-
ing a white line encircling and extending behind
the eye. (See Newton, Zool., 1852, p. 3425, and
Wolley, ZooZ., 1852, p. 3477; also Newton, "Diet.
Birds," p. 149, footnote.)'

Miiller, in his " Bird-fauna of the Faeroes," says,
" This is certainly but a variety of troile, for I have

1 The Wood Duck of Australia transports her young in the same
way {Field, May 29, 1897).

2 An analogous variation is sometimes, but rarely, met with in the
Eazorbill {Field, March 23, 1872).

GUILLEMOTS 281

watched the one pairing with the other, and have
seen a Ringed Guillemot feeding a young one which
a Common Guillemot had under her wing." Mr.
Harvie-Brown has witnessed a similar thing ("Fauna
of the Outer Hebrides," pp. 160-161). See also
Gray, "Birds of the West of Scotland," p. 424.

In his recently published volume, "Eastward
from Petsora," Mr. H. J. Pearson reproduces a
photograph of a group of Briinnich's Guillemot in
one of its breeding haunts, a species which, from its
rarity in this country, will be found included in the
second part of this Handbook.

BLACK GUILLEMOT. Uria grylle (Linnaeus). Length,
13 in. ; bill, 1*4 in. ; wing, 6*5 in. ; tarsus, 1"25 in.

Resident in the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland
(where the local name is Tystie), on some parts
of the Scottish coast, and in Ireland. In 1886
Mr. Ussher found it breeding and obtained the
eggs on the coast of Waterford {ZooL, 1886, p.
370). It is occasionally found upon the Welsh
cliffs, and used formerly to breed on the coast of
Pembrokeshire as well as in Anglesey ; but it is
believed that none now breed south of the Isle
of Man (Mathew, " Birds of Pembrokeshire," p.
122). One was washed ashore on the coast of
Merionethshire, near Towyn, on Nov. 11, 1894,
after rough weather (ZooL, 1895, p. 22). On the
east and south coasts of England it is now of
rare occurrence, though formerly a few pairs used
to breed at Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, whence I

282 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

received in the summer of 1863 an adult bird in full
breeding plumage. It was sooty black all over with
the exception of a white patch on the wing ; the
inside of the mouth, legs, and feet, vermilion-red.
After the autumn moult the dorsal plumage becomes
mottled, and the under parts nearly white. The
sexes, as in the Common Guillemot, are externally
indistinguishable. This bird lays two eggs, generally
in some niche or crevice ; the Common Guillemot
lays but one on an exposed and bare ledge.

Order XIII. STE G AN P D E S ^

Fam. PELECANIDtE.

CORMORANT. Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus). PI. 32,
figs. 3, 4, 4a. Length, 36 in. ; bill, 2-75 in. ; wing,
13 in. ; tarsus, 2-5 in.

Resident and generally distributed, but most
numerous on the northern and western coasts.

In the summer plumage, assumed in March,
the top of the head and greater portion of the
neck are covered with long narrow white feathers,
and there is a large patch of white on each flank.
These are wanting in the winter plumage, and
are lost by a gradual moult.

The eye, both in this species and the next, is

^ The birds comprised in this Order, viz., Cormorants, Gannets,
Frigate-birds, Tropic birds, and Pelicans, differ from all others in
having all four toes connected by a web. See PI. 32, fig. 4a.

CORMORANTS 283

of remarkable beauty, being of a bright emerald
green.

Although the usual habit of this bird, as well as
the Shag, is to breed on the ledges of sea cliffs, the
Cormorant not only perches on trees, but even nests
in them. This was formerly the case at Reedham in
Norfolk, as noticed by Sir Thomas Browne (1682) ;
around the decoy at Fritton in Suffolk, as mentioned
by Richard Lubbock (1845), and at several fresh-
water loughs in Ireland (Zool., 1882, p. 67). On an
island in a lake in the Mayo mountains a large
colony of Cormorants breed annually in trees (yew,
birch, and holly of great age), the nests being
formed of coarse heather stems. These birds also
nest on trees (ash) on Lough Key, Co. Roscom-
mon. See Ussher, "Birds of L'eland," p. 153,
where a photograph of the nests is reproduced.

On the Fame Islands I found Cormorants breed-
ing on the ground, the huge nests of seaweed so
accessible that I had only to stoop to pick up the
eggs. At the Horster Meer in Holland, Seebohm
found Cormorants' nests in willow bushes {Zool.,
1880, p. 460). The birds themselves were there "in
hundreds," as well as a large flock of Spoonbills.
In 1882 a pair of Cormorants which had been
trained for fishing by Capt. F. H. Salvin were tem-
porarily deposited by him in the Zoological Gardens,
Regent's Park, where, to the surprise of every one,
they paired, made a nest, and reared their young
{Field, May 27, 1882).

Having had frequent opportunities of observing

284 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

trained Cormorants fishing, I can confirm the state-
ment made by my ohl friend F. H. Salvin {Ibis, 1891,
p. 150), that these birds never use their wings under
water, as Guillemots and Razorbills do. Mr. A. H.
Evans is mistaken in his assertion to the contrary
("Cambridge Nat. Hist. Birds," 1899, p. 78).

For a long chapter on the history and practice
of fishing with trained Cormorants, see my " Essays
on Sport and Natural History," 1883.

A remarkable peculiarity has been observed in the
nostrils of the Cormorant. Although at first open in
the young, the nares become closed so soon as the
bird is able to take to the water and feed itself,
and ever after remain so : it then breathes through
the mouth. (Sec Cossar Ewart, Journ. Linn. Soc.
ZooL, 1881, p. 455 ; Lucas, The Auk, vol. xiv. p. 87,
and Pycraft, Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool., 1899, p. 207.)
After continued submersion whilst fishing, these
birds may be seen perched, drying their extended
wings, and with their mouths wide open for in-
halation.

The weight of a Cormorant is from 7^ to 8 lbs.

GREEN CORMORANT or SHAG. Phalacrocorax cris-
tatus (Faber). PL 32, iig. 5. Length, 30 in.; bill,
2'5 in. ; wing, 10*5 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in.

So called from the Gaelic seahhag, a hawk,
pronounced she-ag. Resident, but not so numerous
as the last named, except perhaps in the northern
and western isles of Scotland. In the Dorsetshire
cliffs, however, it entirely takes the place of its

GANNET 285

larger relative. I found many pairs breeding there
in May and June 1864 {ZooL, 1865, p. 9675). The
time of laying appears to be very uncertain. I saw
young birds that could fly, others that could not,
eggs, and empty nests on the same day. Unlike the
Cormorant, the Shag has not been found nesting
away from the sea.

The changes of plumage which this bird under-
goes have been minutely described by Mr. Blake
Knox {Zool, 1866, pp. 243, 328). In the breeding
plumage it has a semi-erect crest, curved slightly
forward, the longest feathers measuring two inches.
This is absent in the winter plumage. The number
of tail-feathers in the Shag is twelve ; in the Cor-
morant, fourteen. In 1884 an albino shag was
killed in Shetland [Zool, 1884, p. 342).

Weight, 4 to 5 lbs.

GANNET or SOLAN GOOSE. Sula hassana (Linnaeus).
PI. 32, figs. 1, 12, 2a. Length, 36 in.; bill, 3-95 in.;
wing, 19 in. ; tarsus, 2"25 in.

It has been pointed out by Prof. R. Cunningham
in an excellent article on this bird [Ihis, 1866, pp.
L-23), that in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a.d. 975)
allusion is made to the sea as the ganote's hath.
The name Gannet, according to Prof. Newton (" Diet.
Birds ") is from an old base, gan (German gans), which
also supplied the Greek xnv and the Latin anser.
Solan, he adds, " is no doubt from the Scandinavian
sula, whatever that may mean." On this it may
be remarked that Solan is presumably the Icelandic

286 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

sicla-n, i.e. sula (gannet) +n (the), the article being
suffixed, as usual in Scandinavian languages. John
Major, writing of the Bass Rock in 1521, refers to
"the multitude of great ducks" there, "which for
the sake of distinction are called solans." Hector
Boece in 1527 alludes to "the crag callit the Bas,"
on which might be seen " an incredible noumer of
soland geis," and mentions also Ailsa Craig, "quhair
siclik plente of soland geis is." Bishop Leslie in
1578 refers to "a sey guse, commonlie now ane
solande guse" adding, " in the Basse they abund
maist, in Elissa nocht sa mekle." Farther on he
again mentions Ailsa, which " abundes in solend
geis, and monie uthiris sey foulis." Donald Munro
in 1549 writes of Elsay and its " aboundance of
soland geese" but in his description of the isles of
Rum and Eigg calls them ''solan geise." Here we
have an early example of the modern spelling, a
curious variation of which, namely, Sollem goose, is
to be found in the Household Book of Lord William
Howard of Naworth, 1633. By Willughby and Ray,
in 1678, the bird is called the Soland goose. The
modern variation Solent goose, suggesting a false
derivation, cannot be defended.

The Gannet is a resident species, and at its breed-
ing stations extremely numerous. These are: — Lundy
Island, in the Bristol Channel ; Grassholme Island,
Pembrokeshire, N.W, of Milford Haven ; Ailsa
Craig, off Ayrshire ; St. Kilda, in the Outer Hebrides;
Suliskerry, to the west of Hoy, in Orkney ; the
Stack, 40 miles west of Stromness ; the Bass Rock,

GANNET 287

in the Firth of Forth ; the Bull Rock, off Dursey
Head, Co. Cork ; the Fastnet Rock, Cape Clear ;
and the Skellig Islands, off the coast of Kerry. It
is stated to have nested also on the Stags of Broad-
haven, Co. Mayo {Zool, 1884, pp. 473-481).

Mr. Ussher writes that the Gannets are more
plentiful on the Little Skellig than on the Bull
Rock ; but this may be open to doubt, seeing that
in the breeding season of 1899 there were estimated
to be from 500 to 700 nests {Irish Nat, 1899, p.
251). A great many of the birds were driven away
from the latter place by the blasting that was carried
on during the erection of the lighthouse.

As to the building materials used by Gannets,
the assertion of Willughby (1678) that these birds
do not make their nests of sticks and straws, but
lay their eggs on the naked rocks, has been con-
troverted by Dr. Walker ("Essays on Nat. Hist.,"
Edinburgh, 1808, p. 287) who states that they make
use of sticks, and his remarks have been confirmed
by later observers. On the Bass Rock the Gannets
build large nests of seaweed and dry grass, built up
as incubation proceeds.

The late E. T. Booth of Brighton established
some Gannets on a private salt-water pool specially
prepared for the purpose, and having placed some
large boulders of rock therein, succeeded in getting
them to breed there and rear their young (Zool.,
1890, p. 94). He afterwards restored both old and
young to liberty by placing them in a boat and
rowing them out to sea.

2 88 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

The mode of fishing adopted by the Gannet
•when following a shoal of herrings or pilchards
has been well described by Robert Chambers {ZooL,
1875, p. 4342). The device of capturing these birds
by fixing a fish on a floating board, on which they
dive and break their necks, is a very ancient one,
and is repeatedly mentioned by old writers. See
Willughby's " Ornithology," p. 349.

The weight of a Gannet is about 8| lbs.

Order XIV. GAVIiE

Fam. LARID^.

COMMON TERN. Sterna fiuviatilis,N aumsinn. PI. 33,
fig. 1. Length, 14-25 in.; bill, 1*75 in. ; wing, 10-5 in.;
tarsus, 0-85 in.

This bird was long regarded as the Sterna
hirundo of Linnseus ; but the species described by
him under that name is evidently the Arctic Tern,
as may be inferred from his description of the bill : —
''rostrum suhulatum, versus apicem compressum,
rectum., coccineum, uti et pedes."

It is a summer visitor to this country, generally
arriving in the second week of May, and breeding
on sandy shores and shingle beds all round the
coast of England and Scotland, as far north as Skye
on the west, and the Fame Islands and the Moray
Firth on the east. Beyond this it comes into com-
petition with the Arctic Tern, with which species
it is found in the Outer Hebrides, as well as in
Orkney. As a summer visitor to Scotland it is to

TERNS 289

be found nesting on the pebbly shores of many
inland lochs and islands, where its graceful evolu-
tions on the wing, and its headlong plunges into
the water when engaged in fishing, aflford constant
diversion to the observant angler.

In Ireland, the Common Tern, though numerous
in summer, is rather local, breeding both on salt
and fresh water, often in company with the Arctic
Tern, and sometimes in close proximity to nests
of the Black-headed Gull. Mr. Ussher has remarked
that on marine islands the eggs of this bird are
rarely laid before June, and are chiefly produced
during that month ; but on inland lakes the Com-
mon Tern breeds earlier, and the full complement
of eggs may sometimes be found before the end
of May. Where grass is abundant on their breeding-
ground, these birds make their nests in it, but these
are seldom more than mere depressions. During its
migrations in spring and autumn the Common Tern
often comes up the rivers from the coast, and
wanders inland to fresh-water pools and reservoirs,
including the ornamental waters in the London
parks. By the middle of September the majority
have left us for the winter.

ARCTIC TERN. Sterna hirundo, Linnjeus. PL 33,
fig. 2. Length, 14-5 in.; bill, 1-5 in.; wing, 10-25;
tarsus, 0-75 in.

This is the sea-swallow on which Linnaeus
bestowed the specific name hirundo. It is the
Sterna macrura of Naumann, Isis, 1819, p. 1847 ;

T

290 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Sterna arctica of Temminck, "Man. d'Orn." (1820),
vol. ii. p. 742. Like the last-named, it is a summer
visitor to the British Islands, arriving in May and
departing in September, and is the northern repre-
sentative of the commoner species found sporadi-
cally along the more southern portions of our
shores. In June 1881, Mr. Eagle Clarke found
both species breeding in countless numbers on the
Longstone, one of the Fame Islands. In Ireland
it breeds, in company with the Common Tern,
on the islets in Lough Carra, Co. Mayo (A. G.
More, ZooL, 1860, p. 6891), and there is usually
a large breeding colony of the Arctic Tern on Horse
Island, Brown's Bay, about twelve miles from Sligo;
also on Lough Mask, on an island off Cushlough
(Warren, Irish Nat, 1896, pp. 150-151).

When near enough to be clearly distinguished,
it may be known from the Common Tern by its
shorter bill, which is wholly red, i.e. without a
black tip, and by its longer outer tail feathers, as
indicated by the specific name macrura. On closer
inspection it will be found to have shorter legs than
the common species. The young of both kinds
have the dorsal plumage mottled and barred with
buff; the bill yellow with a dark tip; the legs and
feet at first yellow, then orange-brown, finally red.

ROSEATE TERN. Ster^ia dougalli, Montagu. Length,
15*5 in. ; bill, 1'9 in. ; wing, 9*25 in. ; tarsus, 0'85 in.

A rare summer visitant. So named from the rosy
colour of the underparts in the breeding season, and

TERNS 291

in honour of a correspondent of Colonel Montagu,
Dr. M'Dougall of Glasgow, who first discovered it
as a British bird frequenting the Cumbraes in the
Firth of Clyde. Montagu, to whom he sent a
specimen, described and figured it in 1813 in the
Supplement to his " Ornithological Dictionary."
Selby subsequently found it breeding on the Fame
Islands, where, in his day (1826), there was "a
numerous colony which occupied a large space of
ground near to that selected by the Arctic species,
and a second station upon one of the ' Walmsies.' "
A few pairs, recognised by their long tails and
peculiar harsh cry, were seen in May 1863, when I
visited the islands in company with the late Dr.
Embleton. He had procured the eggs of this
species there the previous year, two of which he
gave me. In May 1864 I received another egg
of this Tern, which was taken there by a friend
at Newcastle who was in the habit of annually
visiting the Fame Isles, and was well acquainted
Avith the birds breeding there. In 1866 Mr.
Saunders heard of a single nest of Sterna dougalli
there, which contained three eggs (ZooL, 1866, p.
185). In 1880 and 1881 there were several pairs
on the Noxies, and at least two pairs are known to
have nested on these islands in 1892 {Zool., 1893,
p. 233). There is no breeding haunt in Ireland.

On Walney Island, on the coast of Lancashire, I
saw Roseate Terns on the 31st May 1864, and
found a nest containing two eggs, which from their
elongated shape and characteristic markings were

292 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

believed to belong to this species, but were not
satisfactorily identified (ZooL, 1864, p. 9156). The
nest was composed of small pieces of driftwood and
bits of sandgrass, while the other Terns laid their
eggs in mere depressions of the sand.

On migration the Roseate Tern is occasionally
met with in inland localities where it does not
breed. For example, on Aug. 16, 1866, two of
these birds visited Kingsbury Reservoir, one of which
I shot. It proved to be an immature bird with the
outer tail feathers not fully grown up, and the
scapulars much mottled. The irides were hazel,
the legs and feet brownish yellow. At Hunstanton,
in 1880, one was shot on July 12, and was for-
warded to the late Lord Lilford, who presented it
to the Norwich Museum. See ZooL, 1897, p. 165.

Unlike the Common and Arctic Terns, the bill
of this species when adult is black, with the gape
orange ; the legs and feet orange-red.

SANDWICH TERN. Sterna cantiaca, Gmelin. PI. 33,
fig. 4. Length, 16 in. ; bill, 2-5 in. ; wing, 12 in. ;
tarsus, 1 in.

So named from the locality where it was first
detected as a British bird by Mr. Boys of Sandwich.
It is a summer visitant, but very local ; seldom
nesting far from salt water, though it has been
found breeding in small numbers on low flat islands
in Loch Lomond and Loch Leven. I have seen
small colonies on the Fame Islands, and on Walney
Island, off the coast of Lancashire, at both of which

TERNS 293

places I obtained the eggs during the last week of
May. These, two or three in number, very hand-
somely marked (some the colour of tortoiseshell) are
laid on the bare ground, or in a slight depression
amongst a small collection of driftwood.

In Ireland the Sandwich Tern is a regular summer
visitor, chiefly to Killala Bay, Co. Mayo, on the west
coast. Mr. R. Warren, who has observed it there
for many years, has furnished some interesting details
of its habits in Mr. Ussher's recently published
"Birds of Ireland," noticing especially its wild
flight and strange cry, so unlike that of other Terns.
This I also remarked when invading its haunts
above named. It soars to such a height as to
become almost invisible, and would in consequence
pass unnoticed but for its loud and harsh scream.
It is at once distinguishable amongst other Terns
on the same breeding-ground by its superior size,
fuller wings, the expanse of which is 2 ft. 9 in.,
black bill with yellow tip, and black legs and feet.

LESSER TERN. Sterna minuta, Linnaeus. PI. 33,
figs. 3, 3(x. Length, 9-5 in.; bill, 1-4 in.; wing,
6-75 in. ; tarsus, 0*75 in.

A summer visitant, but local in its distribution.
Protected in Norfolk and at Spurn Point, where
in 1900 there were at least one hundred pairs
nesting. Breeds on the North and South Bull
rocks, Dublin Bay.

This species may be known from the Common
and Arctic Terns by its smaller size, yellow bill with
black tip, and orange-coloured legs.

294 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

For remarks on its habits as observed on Walney
Island, Lancashire, where I have found the eggs,
see Zool, 1865, p. 9161, and in Norfolk, Trevor-
Battye, "Pictures in Prose," 1894, p. 162.

During the period of its migration in spring and
autumn the Lesser Tern, like others of its con-
geners, appears on the Thames and on the waters
of the London parks. In April 1886 two were
obtained at Tring Reservoir, and three were
seen there, Sept. 10, 1895. It appears regularly in
spring and autumn (for a few days only) on the
reservoirs at Kingsbury and Elstree, as well as on
the Thames at a considerable distance from the
mouth of the river.

A Lesser Tern which was winged at Southend
in August 1879 was carried home alive and kept
all through the winter until the following May. It
became quite tame, and would come when called.

BLACK TERN. Hydrochelklon nigra, Linnaeus. PI. 33,
figs. 7, 8, 8a. Length, 10 in. ; bill, 1*25 in. ; wing,
8*5 in. ; tarsus, 0-6 in.

Formerly a regular summer visitant, breeding in
the marshlands of the eastern counties ; now a
spring and autumn migrant, ascending the rivers
from the coast, sometimes to a considerable dis-
tance inland.

In 1824, according to the Rev. Leonard Jenyns
(06s. Nat. Hist., p. 193), this bird was nesting in
Cambridgeshire, in Bottisham and Swaffham Fens.
"Immense flocks," he says, "appeared during that

TERNS 29ii

summer, which happened to be a very wet one."
On the 8th July he found a nest containing two
eggs which were in a forward state for hatching.
The nest was placed on the ground, about the size
of a saucer, quite fiat, and composed of roots and
dry grass trodden down so as to be quite firm and
compact. The eggs, barely an inch and a half in
length, were of an olive colour, thickly spotted and
blotched with deep brown, especially towards the
larger end. On the 8th of June 1853 three nests
(two with three eggs and one with two) were taken
in Felt well Fen, and, according to Professor New-
ton, these were the last eggs that were laid in West
Norfolk {Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, vol. v. p. 567).

On referring to my notebooks, I find that the
dates on which I have noted Black Terns on migra-
tion at Kingsbury Reservoir were the following : —
1863, April 25, Aug. 7; 1864, April 29, Aug. 11;
1865, May 7, Sept. 2; 1866, May 4, Aug. 9,
1867, April 27, xiug. 3 and 4; 1868, several in
Sept.; 1870, May 23, Oct. 7; 1871, May 12,' 13,
15, 23; 1872, Aug. 10; 1874, April 26, May 1;
1879, Aug. 18, I saw one on the Thames at Sun-
bury (Zool, 1879, p. 383). In 1895 Black Terns
were observed at Tring, Marsworth, and Wilstone
Reservoirs on April 17 and 20, May 6, Aug. 7 and
17. On May 7, 1896, a pair were seen at Kings-
bury Reservoir. This shows the persistency with
which birds continue to travel along the old lines
of migration. On the wing this bird may be readily

1 Several were shot on this day, and a Whiinbrel.

296 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

distinguished by its small size, its dark colour, and
short tail. It weighs but 3 oz., or little more than
a Jack Snipe.

KITTIWAKE. Rissa tridactyla, Linnaeus. PL 34, figs.
5, 6, 6a. Length, 15-5 in, ; bill, 1-75 in. ; wing, 12 in. ;
tarsus, 1*4 in.

A local resident ; to a certain extent migratory,
quitting its breeding haunts as soon as the young
are able to fly, and coming into the estuaries of large
rivers, up which both old and young often ascend
for some distance.

Mr. Howard Saunders has noted colonies of the
Kittiwake Gull on Lundy Island, off North Devon,
the Scilly Islands, Wales, the Isle of Man, Flam-
borough Head, and the Fame Islands, all of which
I have likewise seen ; on the east coast of Scotland,
at the Bass Rock, which I visited on my way to the
Fame Islands, the Isle of May, and Dunbuy in
Aberdeenshire ; while in the Orkneys, Shetlands,
and Hebrides, thousands of these birds whiten the
precipices. The "gullery" on the Shiant Isles is
said to be the most extensive in Great Britain.

On the loftier headlands of Ireland, especially
in the north and west, the Kittiwake is extremely
common in summer. Mr. E. Lloyd Patterson men-
tions it as found breeding in enormous numbers at
Horn Head, in Donegal, on Rathlin Island, and on
Ailsa Craig ('' Birds of Belfast Lough," p. 136).

On the Yorkshire coast, at Smeeton, Bempton,
and Flamborough, Kittiwakes were formerly very
numerous in the breeding season ; but during the

GULLS 297

last twenty-five years have considerably decreased
in numbers {Field, Oct. 20, 1900). Although a few
eggs may be found during the first week of May, it
is not until the third week of that month that the
birds generally begin to lay. The egg-gatherers
usually commence work about May 21, and collect
the eggs of Gulls and Guillemots all through the
month of June.

The Kittiwake has been reported as breeding in
the cliffs of Dorsetshire and the Isle of AVight, but
the only gulls I have ever seen there iu the breeding
season were Herring Gulls. These were common
enough, and during the last week of May I had no
difficulty in obtaining as many of their eggs as I
cared to take, with the aid of two fishermen, an
iron crowbar, and a few fathoms of rope.

The Kittiwake may be known from the Common
Gull in any plumage by the absence of a hind-toe.
(See PI. 34, fig. Qa.)

BLACK-HEADED GULL. Lams ridibundus, Linnaeus.
PI. 34, figs. 7, 8. Length, 15-5 in.; bill, 1-75 in.;
wing, 11-75 in; tarsus, r7o in.

A local resident, generally distributed through-
out the year on the flat portions of the coast, fre-
quenting the mudflats and neighbouring marshes
and often coming inland to follow the plough or
to feed in the water-meadows, a favourite resort
when the water is not too deep.

In the spring this gull becomes still more gre-
garious, and hundreds come inland to breed in

298 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

colonies on marsh-land, usually where some measure
of protection is afforded them. The nests are placed
on the ground, and often close together. Just as
the Black Tern is a marsh-haunting species in the
nesting-time, differing in this respect from the com-
moner Terns, which breed on the seashore, so the
Black-headed Gull differs in this respect from the
cliff-hannting species of Larus which are to be
found breeding within sight and sound of the sea,
on rocky ledges and precipitous cliffs.

The breeding haunts of the Black-headed Gull
in England are almost too numerous to mention.
I have visited colonies in Essex, Kent, Sussex,
Hants, Dorset, Norfolk, Lancashire, and Northumber-
land, and have heard of several in other counties.
See my article on " Gulleries," Field, Feb. 2 and 16,
1884, In winter these birds are quite common
on the Thames, and fearlessly visit the ornamental
waters in the London parks, sojourning there often
for many weeks, being well fed by visitors. In
Scotland and Ireland, owing doubtless to the wider
extent of unreclaimed bog land, there are many
more " gulleries " of this kind, and the birds are
proportionately more numerous throughout the
country at the close of the breeding season.

LITTLE GULL. Lams minuhts, Pallas. Length, 11 in. ;
bill, 1 -25 in. ; wing, 8*75 ; tarsus, 1 in.

An irregular visitant in autumn and winter; in
some years, as in 1866, 1868, and 1869, particularly
numerous on the east coast of England. The indivi-

GULLS 299

duals obtained are usually birds of the year or adults in
winter plumage, but in February 1870, after prolonged
easterly gales, the proportion of adults to immature
birds was reversed, and the former were remarkably
numerous. The nearest breeding haunts of the
Little Gull, according to Mr. Howard Saunders, are
probably those in the morasses of Esthonia, and be-
tween Lake Ladoga and Archangel. In a very few
instances the Little Gull has been found here in
breeding plumage, that is to say, with head and
upper portion of the neck black. One with the
black head fully developed was shot on the sands
at Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, June 28, 1854 (T.
Edward, Nat., 1854, p. 226); a second, seen in
company with it, escaped. Another specimen was
obtained at Churt, near Frensham, in February 1875
(Zool, 1875, p. 4459). In Oct. 1889 a white variety
was obtained off Flamborough Head {Zool., 1890,
p. 19).

The Little Gull is a rare bird in Scotland (see
"Fauna of Sutherland," p. 231), but is met with
irregularly along the east coast, and less frequently
on the west, as far north as Skye. Three have
been obtained in the Sol way Firth, in Oct. 1893,
Jan. 1894, and Sept. 1896 {Zool, 1894, p. 115;
1896, p. 385); and two in Mid-Wales in Oct. 1891
(Salter, Zool., 1895, p. 250). In Ireland, according
to Mr. Ussher, this bird occurs as an irregular
visitant in autumn and winter. It has been met
with in Guernsey {Zool., 1885, p. 262). The weight
of one shot in Rye Harbour, Sussex, was 4J oz.

300 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

COMMON GULL. Larus canus, Linnaeus. PI. 34,
figs, o, 4. Length, 17*5 in. ; bill, 1-85 in. ; wing, 14-5
in. ; tarsus, 2*25 in.

The term " common " is not generally applicable
to this Gull, which in many places is far less
numerous than the Kittiwake. I know of no
breeding-place of Larus canus in England. The
Kittiwake is often mistaken for it in the nesting-
time. In Scotland it is resident and abundant the
whole year round on the west coast, the Hebrides,
Orkney, and Shetland ; retiring to the hill lochs to
breed, Avhich it usually does in colonies like Larus
7idibu7idus ("Fauna of Sutherland," p. 231).

In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, the Common
Gull is resident, but confined in its breeding range
to the coast region of the north and west. It
wanders over the rest of Ireland in winter, when
its numbers are probably increased by immigration.

ICELAND GULL. Larus leucopterws, Faber. Length,
22 in. ; bill, 2-4 in. ; wing, 16 in. ; tarsus, 2-35 in.

A winter visitant ; not uncommon on the northern
and eastern coasts of Scotland, but less frequently
seen in England, Adult birds are not so often met
with as those in immature plumage.

In Ireland this gull is an uncertain visitor in
winter, occurring in small numbers. When seen
at close quarters it may be distinguished from the
Herring Gull, which it nearly equals in size, by its
white wings. Relatively it bears much the same

GULLS 301

proportion to the Glaucous Gull that the Lesser
Black-backed Gull does to the Greater Black-backed
species.

HERRING GULL. Larus argentatus, Gmelin. PL 34,
fig. 1. Length, 24 in. ; bill, 3 in. ; wing, 17'5 in. ;
tarsus, 2*5 in.

Resident, and common at all seasons on the
coast ; the most widely distributed of all our Sea
Gulls. Breeds commonly on the Dorsetshire cliffs,
and south-west coast generally. In Scotland it breeds
inland on the lochs, nesting side by side with Larus
fuscus (" Fauna of Sutherland," p. 232), and in Ire-
land it is regarded as generally distributed.

Albino specimens are very rare. One was taken
at Weston-super-Mare, January 18, 1896 (L. Hutton,
Field, January 25, 1896). Hybrids between this
species and the Lesser Black-backed Gull have
been reported (Cecil Smith, Zool., 1881, p. 450,
and 1883, p. 174). For remarks on Gulls feeding
upon grain, see Field, Sept. 23, 1893.

The Yellow - Legged Herring Gull {Larus
cachinnans, Pallas) which supersedes Larus argen-
tatus in the Mediterranean [Zool., 1894, p. 58), has
once been recognised in this country, one having
been shot in Breydon Harbour, Yarmouth, in Nov.
1886 {Zool, 1897, p. 572). The typical Herring
Gull of the British Islands has the legs and feet
flesh colour, like the same parts in the Great Black-
backed Gull, from which it may be readily distin-
guished by the pale grey colour of the mantle.

302 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

GLAUCOUS GULL. Larus glaucas, Gmelin Length,
25 in.; bill, 2*5 in.; wing, 18*5 in.; tarsus, 2-75 in.

A winter visitant from the Arctic regions, more
numerous in Shetland, Orkney, and the east coast
of Scotland, where most of those met with are birds
of the year. /

From the measurements above given, it will be
seen that the Glaucous Gull is nearly as large as
a Great Black-backed Gull, but with a pale grey
mantle like the Herring Gull, and white wings. A
pure white example of this species was shot in
March 1865 on the little island of Birnbeck, off
Weston-super-Mare. It was originally recorded as
an Ivory Gull (Zool., 1865, p. 9566), but the mis-
take was subsequently rectified and a second speci-
men of the kind was reported (torn. cit. p. 9784).
A third example of this variety was obtained also
at Weston-super-Mare, where, according to the Rev.
Murray A. Mathew, the species in winter is not
very rare, coming into the bay with countless other
gulls after the sprats. The late John Gatcombe,
an observant naturalist long resident in Plymouth,
considered the Glaucous Gull to be not uncommon
in winter in the waters of South Devon, where he
observed it to linger until quite late in the spring,
the latest date noted by him being April 30th, in
Plymouth Sound (Zool., 1875, p. 4491). From its
size and courage, this fine gull is the tyrant among
the wild-fowl and sea-fowl of the Arctic seas, prey-
ing upon the smaller species (especially on the Little

GULLS 303

Auk), and on account of this ruling habit is known
to whalers as " the Burgomaster."

GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Larus marinus,
Linna3us. Length, 28 in. ; bill, 2-6 in, ; wing, 19-5 in. ;
tarsus, 3 in.

Resident, but more particularly confined to the
north and west coasts, and more abundant in Scot-
land, where it breeds on the hill lochs, usually in
pairs, but sometimes in colonies (Harvie-Brown and
Buckley, "Fauna of Sutherland," p. 233).

In Ireland, according to Mr. Ussher, a few pairs
breed on the cliffs and islands off Donegal, Dublin,
Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Galway, and
Mayo, and there are larger colonies on the Cow
Rock, off Dursey Head, as well as on the Bell
Rocks, off Achill, Co. Mayo.

Mr. Howard Saunders is of opinion that the
adult plumage is not attained until the bird is in its
fifth year, and even then the amount of white on the
two or three outer primaries continues to increase
with age. For a description of the changes of
plumage observed in a bird of this species, which
was kept in the author's garden for three years, see
the "Birds of Middlesex," pp. 263-265.

The weight of an adult bird, shot in Pagham
Harbour, Sussex, I found to be 3 lbs. 4 oz. The
expanse of wing, 5 feet.

As to the former value of Gulls in Sussex, see
Zool, 1891, p. 194.

304 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. Lams fuscu8,Un-
nseus. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2*5 in. ; wing, 16-25 in. ;
tarsus, 2-5 in.

Resident ; more numerous in the north, being
very common on the west coast and in the Hebrides.
Breeds in numbers about the hill lochs of the east
of Scotland, and often away from the lochs on the
flow ground (" Fauna of Sutherland," p. 232). I
have taken the eggs on the Fame Islands, and
Mr. Willis Bund has found this species breeding
in South Wales. Other nesting haunts are Lundy
Island, and the north coast of Devon, by Bolt
Head.

In Ireland the Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds
in colonies on the sea cliffs and islands off Donegal,
Antrim, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Clare,
Galwa}', Mayo, and Sligo, and next to the Herring
Gull is the most abundantly distributed species in
the breeding season. On the Bog of Allen, in Co.
Kildare, between Edenderry and Rathungan, a
small colony was found nesting in June 1898
(Palmer, Irish Nat., 1898, p. 186).

The Lesser Black -backed Gull, when near
enough to be seen clearly, may be recognised by
its bright yellow legs ; the Greater Black-backed
Gull has the legs and feet flesh colour, as in the
Herring Gull, the two last-named differing in the
colour of the mantle, which in the former is dark
slate colour, in the latter pearl grey.

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SKUAS 305

GREAT SKUA. Lestris catarractes (Linnaeus), PI. 35,
figs. 9, 9a. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 2-5 in. ; wing, 15-5
in. ; tarsus, 275 in.

The name of this bird is said to be derived
from its cry shui-shui (" Fauna of Sutherland," p.
235). Sixty years ago there were three separate
breeding stations in the Shetlands : one is now
completely deserted, and in the other two (Unst
and Foula) the birds which resort there to nest are
now being as much as possible protected.

But for the protection afiforded in the nesting-
season by Mr. Thomas Edmonston in Unst, and the
difficulty of reaching the distant island of Foula by
bird collectors, the species would have been extinct
as a British bird years ago. See Mr. R. M. Barring-
ton's report on the Great Skua in Foula, as observed
in June 1890 [Zool., 1890, pp. 297, 354, 391, 434),
and an article by Prof. Newton {Field, March 21,
1891). See also a letter from Mr. Thomas Edmon-
ston on the protection of this bird in Unst in The
Times, August 1, 1891, reprinted in Messrs. Evans
and Buckley's "P^auna of Shetland," 1899, in which
last-mentioned work will be found the most com-
plete account yet published on the status of the
Great Skua as a British species, with a full-page
illustration of a nest containing one e^^ and a
nestling.

The Great Skua is supposed to have nested

formerly in Orkney, but the late Mr. Reid of Wick^

writing to me in November 1876, stated that he

u

3o6 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

had only known two instances of the Great Skua
having been met with in Orkney during the previous
forty years, namely, one shot near Kirkwall, and an-
other near Stromness. Messrs. Buckley and Harvie-
Brown in their " Fauna of the Orkney Islands," 1891,
mention a few additional instances of its occurrence
there, the latest having been seen at Stromness in
November 1887.

Towards the approach of winter this species
migrates southward from its breeding haunts in
Iceland, the Faroes, and Shetland, and it is at this
season of the year that it is most frequently met
with on our coasts. In Ireland it is a very rare
visitor in autumn.

RICHARDSON'S or ARCTIC SKUA. Lestris crepidatus
(Gmelin). PI. 35, figs. 6, 7. Length, 20 in. ; biU,
1*5 in.; wing, 13 in.; tarsus, 1'25 in.

Breeds in Sutherland and Caithness, and in all
three groups of the Scottish Isles. Migrates to
the more southern British coasts after the breed-
ing season. For some interesting remarks on this
species by Mr. L. Edmonston see Edinb. Phil.
Journ., vol. vii. (1822), and Buckley and Evans'
"Fauna of the Shetland Islands," 1899, pp. 196-
198. These authors remark: — "The form of the
Arctic Skua with white underparts is quite as com-
mon in Shetland as the sooty race, if not more so ;
and T. Edmonston, jun., who had every facility
for observing the birds, tells us that even the
nestlings differ greatly in their tints. The two

SKUAS 307

forms mate indiscriminately, though pairs which
match in colour are perhaps the most common."

BUFFON'S SKUA.i Lestris parasiticits (Linnaeus). PI.
35, fig. 5. Length, 22 in. ; bill, 1"5 in. ; wing, 12 in. ;
tarsus, 2 in.

An occasional visitant, chiefly in autumn, some-
times in considerable numbers, as in 1879 and 1880.
According to Robert Gray (p. 499), this bird used
formerly to breed in Caithness and also in Shetland,
but it is not unlikely that the Arctic Skua may have
been mistaken for it. At all events the statement
in question remains unsupported by any evidence.
See Buckley and Harvie-Brown, "Fauna of Caith-
ness," 1887, p. 236. A good account of the breeding
habits of this species, as observed in Lapland, will
be found in Wheelwright's " Spring and Summer in
Lapland," pp. 355-359. The measurements above
given were taken by me from a freshly killed
specimen shot in Skye, May 6, 1897.

POMATORHINE SKUA. Lestris pomatorUnus, Tem-
minck. PI. 35, fig. 5. Length, 21 in. ; bill, 1-75 in. ;
wing, 14*25 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

The specific name of this bird is generally
written " pomarine," '' pomarinus ;" but, as pointed
out by Mr. Sclater, the above is the correct ortho-
graphy, from -TTw/j.a, TTWjuaTog, operculum, and /o<?,
/5tvo?, nasus. It was first noticed as a British bird

1 Stercorarius longicaudus, Vieillot, Gould, 'and Newton {Ibis, 1865,
p. 511). Lestris buffoni, Boie, Bonaparte,'' Hewitson, and originally
Yarrell.

3o8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

in 1819 in the sale catalogue of Bullock's Museum,
wherein a specimen was included as " an un-
described Gull, much allied to the Arctic, but greatly
superior in size : killed at Brighton." Since that
date the species has been generally recognised, and
found to occur sporadically in autumn, chiefly on
the east coast, where in the autumn of 1879, and
again in October of the following year, an unusual
number of these birds were observed. During a
gale on Dec. 22, 1894, a bird of this species was
shot on the river Eden near Carlisle (Macpherson,
Zool, 1895, p. 22).

On the south coast a few sometimes remain dur-
ing the winter, and occasionally are driven inland
by storms. Of late years the Pomatorhine Skua has
been noticed in some numbers every summer in
the Hebrides (Harvie-Brown and Buckley, " Fauna
of Sutherland," p. 235). It is believed to breed
usually on the tundras of Asiatic Siberia, where, in
lat. 74° N., Middendorf found the eggs, and Mr.
Popham in 1895 found nests near the mouth of the
Yenesei.

Order XV. TUBINARES

Fam. PROCELLARIID^.

MANX SHEARWATER. Fuffinus anglorum (Tem-
minck). PL 35, fig. 4. Length, 15 in. ; bill, 1*75 in. ;.
wing, 9*5 in.; tarsus, 1-75 in.

The name Shearwater is an appropriate one, for
the birds of this genus have a peculiar mode of

SHEARWATERS 309

flight which distinguishes them at once from other
Petrels, as well as from Gulls and Terns. They fly
into and through the water without alighting on the
surface to plunge, as Guillemots and Razorbills do,
and in this way pursue and capture small fish with
great swiftness. The crepuscular habits of Shear-
waters and Petrels is another characteristic trait
which distinguishes them from other sea-fowl. The
Manx Shearwater owes its distinctive name to its
former abundance in the Isle of Man. Ray named
it the Puffin of the Isle of Man, and, like the Puffin,
it nests in holes and crevices instead of on the bare
ledges of cliff's.

It breeds in Orkney, Shetland, St. Kilda, and
the Outer Hebrides, North Wales, Isle of Man,
Caldy Island, Skomer, Skokham, Lundy Island,
and the Scilly Isles. In Ireland, according to Mr.
Ussher, the largest breeding colonies are on the
Skelligs and Puffin Island in Kerry, and on Rath-
lin Island and Arranmore in Donegal. Mr. R. M.
Barrington has taken the eggs on the Saltees, and
there are a few points along the coast of Wicklow
and Dublin where a very limited number nest.

With these numerous breeding stations it is
not surprising that the Manx Shearwater should be
found widely dispersed around the British Islands
throughout the year, and it is one of the commonest
sea-birds to be driven inland by storms, often to a
considerable distance from the coast. One has been
picked up exhausted after a gale in Warwickshire,
i.e. in the veiy centre of England, and I have seen

3IO HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

many that have wandered up the Thames a long way
from the mouth of the river, even into the midst of
the metropolis.

The weight of an adult bird is about 14 oz.

LEVANTINE SHEARWATER. Pujffinus yelkouanus
(Acerbi). Length, 15-25 in.; bill, 1-9 in.; wing, 10
in. ; tarsus, 1*9 in.

This is the Mediterranean representative of our
Manx Shearwater, and there is reason to suppose
that it may be met with annually on the south and
east coasts of England, though from its resemblance
to our bird it is probably often overlooked. An
example which I obtained at Torbay, Devon, in
August 1875, is in the British Museum, as also a
second specimen procured about the same time in
Plymouth Sound. Since then several have been
obtained on the Yorkshire coast, off Scarborough, in
Feb. 1899 and Oct. 1900. It is a larger bird than
the Manx Shearwater, browner in colour, and has
the flanks and under tail-coverts dusky-brown.

GREATER SHEARWATER. Pujffinus major, Faber.^
Length, 18 in.; bill, 2 in.; wing, 12-75 in.; tarsus,
2-25 in.

An annual visitant in autumn to the coasts of
Devon and Cornwall, and to the Scilly Isles ; met
with accidentally, and at uncertain intervals, farther
eastward, as in Swanage Bay and Poole Harbour,
Dorsetshire ; Seaford, in Sussex ; Debden, Essex

1 Puffim is gravis O'Reilly, " (lieenland," 181S, p. 140, pi. xii.

FULMAR 311

(once), Norfolk {ZooL, 1897, p. 131, not noticed by
Stevenson), Sufifolk (Southwell, Zool, 1899, p. 31),
Lincolnshire (Cordeaux, p. 211), Yorkshire (Clarke
and Roebuck, p. 86), Durham, one at Teesmouth, and
two off the Northumberland coast (Hancock, p. 136).

As to its occurrence in Scottish waters, see New-
ton, Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1900, p. 142. It was
observed to be abundant off Rockhall in June (Harvie-
Brown and Barrington, Trans. Roy. Irish Acad.,
xxxi.), and at St. Kilda in August [Ann. Scot. Nat.
Hist., 1898, p. 238). Yet its breeding haunts are
still undiscovered.

In Ireland the Greater Shearwater is a regular
visitor to Dingle Bay and the south-west coast,
where it has been most often observed in August
and September, although in one year many remained
in Dingle Bay from September until the beginning
of November [Proc. Duhl. Nat. Hist. Soc, 1855,
p. 83). This Shearwater's mode of fishing, as de-
scribed by Mr. R. Warren, is characteristic : "While
in full flight close along the surface, and without
the slightest pause, they dash into the water with a
splash, and disappear for some moments, reappear-
ing a few yards farther on. This they continue to do
while beating to and fro over the spot where the fish
were, like sporting dogs quartering a field for game."

FULMAR. Fulmarus glacialis (Linnseus). PI. 35, tig. 1.
Length, 18-5 in. ; bill, 2 in. ; wing, 13-25 in. ; tarsus, 2 in.

Breeds in the Outer Hebrides, and notably at
St. Kilda, on Borera and Soa, formerly also on the

312 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

south isles of Barra. In June 1878 about a dozen
pairs nested on Foula {Zool, 1879, pp. 380, 422).
It has now spread to Papa Stour, Esha Ness, and
Unst, and had reached the Noup of Noss by the
summer of 1898 (Saunders, Manual, p. 751).

After the breeding season the Fulmar migrates
to the more southern British coasts, but keeps a good
deal out to sea.

Between October 1878 and December 1885 at
least fifteen specimens of the Fulmar were obtained
off Yarmouth {Trans. Norf. Nat. Soc, iv. 1886,
p. 223). Hancock has noticed four which were
captured by hand on fishing-boats off Scarborough,
these birds being very fearless in seizing fish when
the nets are drawn, and this accords with the ex-
perience of the Greenland whalers, to whom the
Fulmar is known as the " MoUymoke."

In Ireland this bird is regarded as a rare and
accidental visitor in autumn, but almost all the
specimens obtained there have been found cast up
along shore after stormy weather.

The weight of an adult Fulmar in good condition
is about 16 oz.

V STORM PETREL. Frocellaria pelagica, Linnseus.^ PI.
35, figs. 2, 2a. Length, 6*5 in. : bill, 0*6 in. ; wing,
4'75 in. ; tarsus, 09 in.

Breeds in the Channel and Scilly Islands, on
Lundy Island, the Calf of Man, Ailsa Craig, lona,

^ The genus Procellaria, with P. pelagica as its type, having been
founded by Linnaeus in 1766 (Syst. Nat., i. 212), there can be no doubt
that this generic name should have precedence of Thalassidroma of

PETRELS 313

Staffa, and Treshnish, in Skye, and in all three
groups of the Western and Northern Isles. Mr.
J. H, Gurney was informed that it breeds on small
islands off the coast of Pembrokeshire, although this
has not been confirmed by Mr. Murray Mathew in
his volume on the birds of that county.

In Ireland this bird breeds on Mutton Island,
Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare {Field, Aug. 15, 1863),
and according to Mr. Ussher in great numbers off
the Kerry coast, on the Skelligs, the Blasquets,
Puffin Island, and Scariff. It is probably this species,
and not P. leachii, as has been asserted, which
nests on Slyne Head.

LEACH'S PETREL. Procellaria leachii, Temminck.
PI. 35, fig. 3. Length, 8-5 in. ; bill, 0-75 in. ; wing, 6
in. ; tarsus, 0-9 in.

The Fork-tailed Petrel, named after an English
naturalist, breeds at St. Kilda in the Outer Heb-
rides, where it was first noticed as a British bird
by Bullock in 1818. Messrs. Harvie-Brown and
Buckley report it as breeding on Borera, Mingalay,
Barra, and North Rona, as well as in the Isle of
Rum, A view of one of its nesting haunts on North
Rona forms the subject of a full-page plate ("Fauna
of the Outer Hebrides," p. 154). In Mingalay Mr.
H. J. Elwes found it breeding in holes and cracks
in the dry peat on the top of the cliffs.

Vigors, which, based upon the same type, was not founded until 1825
(Zool. Journ., vol. ii. p. 405). Yet the generic name Tludassidroma
is employed by Jardine, Bonaparte, Naumann, Gould, Gray, Mac-
gillivray, and other authors of repute.

314 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

This bird is described by R. Gray as " strictly a
western species in Scotland," although there is no
evidence of its breeding in the Inner Hebrides,
and two instances only of its occurrence on the east
coast are recorded by him. In Ireland it has been
repeatedly obtained in autumn and winter; and,
according to Thompson, it was accurately described
as breeding, in 1833, on rocky islets near Slyne
Head, Galway. Mr. Ussher states that it breeds on
the Blasquets, Co. Kerry, and on the Great Skellig
as well as on other islands off the coasts of Kerry
and Mayo ("Birds of Ireland," p. 386).

On the English coasts it is not uncommon in
the fall of the year, at which season, after a pre-
valence of north-westerly gales, it is often met with
inland at a considerable distance from the sea.

A single example of the Madeiran Fork-tailed
Petrel (P. cryptoleucura, Ridgway ; P. castro,
Harcourt) was picked up dead on the beach at
Littlestone, Kent, in Dec. 1895 {Ibis, 1896, p.
401), but this species has no claim to be included
amongst the periodical migrants, or even amongst
the rarer visitants to the British Islands.

PART II

BARE AND ACCIDENTAL VISITANTS

Order I. ACCIPITRES

Fam. VULTURID^.

GRIFFON VULTURE. Gyps fulvus (Gmelin). Length
40 in. ; bill, 3-75 in. ; wing, 30 in. ; tarsus, 4-5 in.

Hah. Southern Europe, North Africa, Western Asia.

One caught on the rocks near Cork Harbour, spring 1843 :
Thompson, " Nat. Hist. Irel. (Birds)," i. p. 84 ; Yarrell,
" Hist. Brit. Birds ; " Ussher, " Birds of Ireland," p. 119.
Preserved in the Museum, Trinity College, Dublin.

EGYPTIAN VULTURE. Neophron percnopterus (Lm-
nseus). Length, 25 in. ; bill, 2*75 in. ; wing, 19-25
in. ; tarsus, 3*5 in.

Hab. Southern Europe, Africa, Western Asia.

Two seen, one shot, Kilve, Somersetshire, Oct. 1825 :
Yarrell, " Hist. Brit. Birds ; " seen in the possession of
Dr. Matthew, a son of the original owner.

One, Peldon, Essex, Sept. 28, 1868 : Bree, ZooL, 1868, p.
1456; Christy, "Birds of Essex," p. 162. Figured by
Gould in his " Birds of Great Britain,"

Fam. FALCONIDiE.

SPOTTED EAGLE. Aqwila nxvia (Gmelin). Length,
24-5 in.; bill, 1-75 in. ; wing, 197 in.; tarsus, 3*5 in.

Hah. Central and Southern Europe, North Africa,
Syria, India.

One, Horn Head, Donegal, 1831 : Thompson, " Nat. Hist.
Ireland (Birds)," vol. i. p. 14.

3i8 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

One, Valentia Island, Kerry, May 1840 : Weaver, ZooL,

1846, p. 1246.
Two near Youghal, Cork, Jan. 1845 : Thompson, Ann.

Nat. Hist., 1845, p. 351; Ussher, "Birds of Ireland,"

p. 125. One in Museum, Trinity College, Dublin.
One, Lundy Island, 1858 : Mathew, ZooL, 1861, p. 7380.
One, Hawks Tor, Cornwall, Dec. 4, I860; Rodd, ZooL,

1861, p. 7311, and " Birds of Cornwall," p. 3.
One, Carnanton, St. Colomb, Cornwall, Oct. or Nov. 1861 :

Rodd, ZooL, 1861, p. 7817, and "Birds of Cornwall."
One, Somerley, Hants, Dec. 28, 1861 : Wise, "New Forest,"

1867, p. 313. Expanse of wing, 6 ft. ; weight, 8 lbs.
One, taken alive, Elmstead, near Colchester, Essex, Oct.

29, 1891 : Laver, ZooL, 1891, p. 470.
One, Sudbourne Hall estate, near Wickham Market, Suffolk,

Nov. 4, 1891 : Pratt, ZooL, 1892, p. 25.
One, Leigh, near Southend, Essex, Nov. 3, 1891 : Miller

Christy, ZooL, 1892, p. 76. In collection of Hon. W.

Rothschild. Figured by Lord Lilford.

Ohs. The late Mr. J. H. Gurney, who examined
the two Cornish specimens of the Spotted Eagle
above noticed, was of opinion that they were
referable to Aquila clanga, Pallas (Ibis, 1877,
p. 332).

GYRFALCON. Falco gyrfalco, Linnajus. PI. 2, fig. 3.
Length, 20 in.; bill, 1*3 in. ; wing, 14*5 in. ; tarsus,
2 m.

Hab. Northern Europe, extending across Northern Asia
and North America, migrating southwards in autumn.

One, Mayfield, Sussex, Jan. 1845 : in collection of W.
Borrer. Recorded as an Iceland Falcon, Ellman, ZooL,
1851, p. 3233 ; identified as Falco gyrfalco by Gurney,
ZooL, 1884, p. 271 ; and since figured by Borrer, " Birds
of Sussex," p. 5.

FALCONS 319

One, immature, Orford, Suffolk, Oct. 14, 1867: Babington,
" Birds of Suffolk," p. 231, with figure from photo-
graph ; Seebohm, " Brit. Birds," vol. i. p. 19.

One, Thetford Warren, Norfolk, spring 1883 : Babington,
op. cit, p. 254. In his collection.

One, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, Dec. 1891 : trapped with
a decoy pigeon by keeper, and seen stuffed in his
possession, July 21, 1897.

Obs. Of the Greenland and Iceland Falcons, it
would seem that the former has occurred more fre-
quently in Great Britain than the latter ; but in
many instances the two species have not been dis-
tinguished. As it is now impossible, without actual
examination of the specimens, to name correctly
all the large white Falcons which have been re-
corded as obtained in this country, those only can
be here noticed which have been seen and identified
by competent authorities.

For important remarks on the distinguishing
characters, habits, sequence of plumage, and geo-
graphical description of these Falcons, reference
may be made to Hoy, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. vi.
p. 108; Hancock, Brit. Assoc. Reports, 1838,
p. 106; Ann. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p. 241 (1839);
An7i. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., vol. xiii. p. 110
(1854); Ibis, 1862, pp. 43-53; Newton, Ootheca
Wolleyana, pp. 85-98 ; Yarrell, " Hist. Brit.
Birds" (4th ed.), vol. i. pp. 86-52; and Sharpe,
Proc. Zool. Soc, 1873, p. 417.

320 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

GREENLAND FALCON. Falco candicans, Gmelin,
Length, ^ 23 in. ; bill, 1"5 in. ; wing, 16*25 in. ; tarsus,
2-25 in.

Hah. ^Northern Europe and America ; Iceland ; Siberia.

One, Pembrokesliire : Yarrell, " Hist. Brit. Birds." In
the British Museum.

One, Port Eliot, St. Germans, Cornwall : Rodd, " Birds of
Cornwall," p. 7. In his collection.

One, The Lizard, Cornwall: Rodd, I.e. In possession of
Mr. Humphrey Grylls, of Helston.

One, Bungay Common, Suffolk : Hunt, " British Ornith-
ology," figured ; Sheppard and Whitoar, " Norfolk and
Sufiblk Birds ; " Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xv. p. 2.

One near York, Feb. 1837: Hancock, letter to W.
Thompson, " Nat. Hist. Irel. (Birds)," i. p. 31.

One, Sutton-on-Derwent, Yorkshire, Feb. 5, 1837 : Wood^
Nat, 1837, p. 53.

Two, Dunfanaghy, Donegal, Feb. 1837, and 1842: Thomp-
son, '' Nat. Hist. Irel. (Birds)," i. p. 31. Ussher, " Birds
of Ireland," p. 136.

One, Beeston, near Cromer, Feb. 1848 : Stevenson, " Birds
of Norfolk," i. p. 8.

One, Trimingham, Norfolk, Nov. 1851 : Buxton, Zool.,.
1851, pp. 2983 and 3028 (name of locality misprinted).

One, Robin Hood's Bay, Nov. 25, 1854: Roberts, Zool.,.
1855, p. 4558. In the Scarborough Museum.

One, Dechmont, Lanarkshire, 1835: Gray, "Birds of West
of Scotland," p. 21.

One, Foss, Loch Tummel, Perthshire, spring 1862. In the
collection of E. Clough Newcome.

Two, Islay, Feb. 1838 (Hancock) and autumn 1862 (Gray).
Harvie-Brown, "Fauna Argyll," p. 109.

Several in the Hebrides : Gray, op. cit, pp. 20-22.

Two, Shetland, Feb. 18, 1863, and March 3, 1866: Saxby,
Zool, 1863, p. 8484, and 1866, p. 288. Recorded as an
Iceland Falcon. See Evans and Buckley, p. 118.

o

00 2

<u

«y

FALCONS 321

One, Ireland, spring 1863 : Blake Knox, Zool, 1863, p. 8523.

Recorded as an Iceland Falcon.
One, Rathlin, co. Antrim, March 9, 1865. Seen and

identified by Mr. Howard Saunders.
One, Islay, winter 1867. Identified by Mr. H. J. Elwes.
One near Beauly, Inverness-sbire, winter 1871 : R. Gray,

op. cit. In the collection of Mr. R. M. Barrington.
One on the Skelligs, Sept. 28, 1887. In the collection of

Mr. R. M. Barrington.
One picked up dead on the Llanbedo Estate, Ruthin,

April 1, 1876 : Dobie, " Bu-ds of Cheshire," p. 315.
One, Balsdean, Sussex, Sept. 26, 1882 : T. J. Monk, Zool,

1883, p. 34, and Gurney, p. 80; Borrer, "Birds of Sussex,"

p. 6. In collection of Mr. Monk.
One on the Black Rock, co. Mayo, Nov. 9, 1883.
One, Black Rock, co. Cork, Nov. 23, 1883 : Ussher, " Birds

of Ireland," p. 137.
Two, Teraght Rock, March 23 and April 2, 1884. In the

Dublin Museum.
One, Moville, co. Donegal, Nov. 1, 1887. In the British

Museum.
One, Glenmore, Donegal, Sept. 13, 1882: Ussher, p. 137.
One m Achill, Dec. 12, 1891 : Barrington, Zool, 1892, p. 77.
One near Annestown, coast of Waterford, winter 1893-94.

In the collection of Mr. Ussher.

Ohs. In the Greenland Falcon the general colour
is ivhite marked with brown, and with no bars on
the flanks. In the Iceland Falcon the ground colour
of the upper plumage is ash-g7^ey, each feather
barred and tipped with white, and flanks barred.
In the Greenland bird the beak is yelloivish-ivhite
at all ages ; in the Icelander it is always dark. For
remarks on the sequence of plumage, see Sharpe,
Proc. Zool. Soc, 1873, p. 417; and for notes on
Irish specimens of the Greenland Falcon, see Warren,

322 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

Field, May 15, 1875, and Ussher, "Birds of Ire-
land," p. 135. The last-named author states that
in the winter, 1883-84, no fewer than eight were
obtained in Ireland ; one in Cork, two in Kerry,
two in Mayo, and three in Donegal, besides others
which were seen the same season.

ICELAND FALCON. Falco islandus, Gmelin. Length,
22 in. ; bill, 1-4 in. ; wing, 14*5 in. ; tarsus, 2'3 in.

Hah. Northern Europe ; Iceland ; Greenland ; Labrador ;
and Alaska.

One, Marston Moor, Dec, 1836. In collection of C. Oxley.
One, Normanby, near Guisborough, Yorkshire, March 1837 :

Hogg, Zool, 1845, p. 1052.
One, Winton, near Kirkby Stephen, Westmorland, in 1842:

Goodchild, Trans. Cmnberl. Assoc. Lit. Sci., pt. vi.
One, Bellingham, Northumberland, January 1845 : Bold,

Zool., 1845, p. 935.
One, Inverbroom, Ross-shire, May 1851: Bond, Zoo?., 1851,

p. 3275. In his collection.
Several in Scotland and the Hebrides : R. Gray, " Birds

West of Scotland," pp 22-23.
One, Poppleton, near York, Nov. 1860 : Graham, Zool.,

1861, p. 7312. In the Leeds Museum.
One near Crossfell, Cumberland, Oct. 13, 1860 : Duck-
worth, Trans. Cumberl. Assoc. Lit. Sci., pt. viii. p. 206,

figured. In the Newcastle Museum.
One, Filey Brigg, Oct. 4, 1864: Clarke, "Birds Yorkshire."
One near Thurso, Caithness, April 1, 1876 : M'Nicol, Field,

April 15, 1876.
One, Islay, 1876 : Lumsden, Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg.,

1876, p. 86.
Two seen, one shot, island of Herm, near Guernsey, 1876 :

Cecil Smith, Field, July 8, 1876.

FALCONS 323

One, Termoncarragli, near Uelmullet, co. Mayo, Sept,
1879 : A. G. More, ZooL, 1881, p. 488. In possession
of Mr. H. I. Richards of Barnagh, Belmullet.

One, Ollaberry, near Lerwick, April 6, 1898 : Harvie-Brown,
Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1898, p. 1032.

Ohs. In The Zoologist for 1870 (p. 2017), Mr.
Rodd reported the capture of a young Iceland
Falcon in the parish of St. Merryn, near Padstow.
This proved to be a trained falcon of Lord Bute's,
lost from Cardiff, and hung by its leash in a tree.
*' Birds of Cornwall " (p. 8) and letter from Capt.
F. H. Salvin.

BED-FOOTED FALCON. Falco vespertinus, Linnaeus.!
Length, 11*5 in. ; bill, O'To ; wing, 9*75 ; tarsus, 1 in.

Hab. Eastern and Southern Europe ; Western Siberia ;
Palestine ; Northern and Western Africa in winter.

One, Doncaster, April 1830, Foljambe, Trans. Linn. Sac,
vol. xvii. p. 553. Recorded as Falco rufipes.

Four, Hornmg, and Holkham Park, Norfolk, May 1830 :
Yarrell, Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. iv. p. 116.

One, Littlecote Park, near Hungerford : Yarrell, " Hist.
British Birds."

Two in Yorkshire, one in Durham, and one, Wembury,
Devonshire : Yarrell, op. cit.

One, Wicklow, summer 1832 : Thompson, " Nat. Hist. Irel.
(Bu-ds)," i. p. 50 ; More, " List Irish Birds," p. 6 ; Ussher,
" Birds of Ireland," p. 146. In Museum of Science and
Art, Dublin ; the only Irish example known.

One, Breydon, Norfolk, 1832 : Paget, " Sketch of the
Nat. Hist, of Great Yarmouth," p. 3.

Two, Clermont, near Esher, Surrey : Meyer, " lUustr. Brit.
Birds and their Eggs," vol. i. p. 47.

1 Falco vespertinus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., i. p. 129 (1766). Falco
rufipes, Beseke, Vogel Kurlands, p. 20 (1792).

324 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

One near Norwich, August 1843 : Stevenson, " Birds of

Norfolk," i. p. 20.
One in the Sheffield Museum, said to have been killed in

the neighbourhood : Heppenstall, ZooL, 1843. p. 247.
One, Stainer Wood, Selby, Yorkshire, May 1844: Zool,

1844, p. 654. In the collection of the Right Hon. E. R.

Petre.
One, near Falmouth, Cornwall, April 1851 : Bullmore,

"Cornish Fauna," p. 9.
One, Budock, Cornwall, May 1851 : Cocks, " Contrib. Faun.

Falmouth," Nat, 1851, p. 163. Possibly this and the

preceding record refer to the same specimen.
One, Rottingdean, Sussex, 1851 : Sharpe and Dresser,

" Birds of Europe," vol. i.
One, Buckingham, Jan. 1858 : Clark Kennedy, " Birds of

Berks and Bucks," p. 162,
One, out of six or seven seen near Somerleyton, Suffolk,

July 12, 1862 : Stevenson, " Birds of Norfolk," i. p. 20.
One near Hythe, Kent, summer 1862 : Hammond, Zool.,

1862, p. 8192.
One, mouth of the Humber, Nov. 1864 : Boulton, Zool.,

1865, p. 9415. Cordeaux, " Bu'ds of Humber District."
One, Shrewsbury, no date : Rocke, Zool., 1865, p. 9685.
One, Bempton Cliffs, near Bridlington, Yorkshire, July 6,

1865. In collection of J. Whitaker, of Rainworth.
One, Leicester, Jan. 1866 : Widowson, Field, March 10,

1866. In the Leicester Museum.

One, Foveran, Aberdeen, May 1866 : Gray, " Birds of West

of Scotland," p. 31.
One, Helston, Cornwall, autumn 1867 : Bullmore, MS., and

Bidwell, " Visit to Scilly," Trans. Norf. Soc, iv. p. 201.
One, Yarmouth, Norfolk, May 16, 1868 : Stevenson, Zool.,

1869, p. 1491.
One near Wrexham, Denbighshire, May 1868 : Kerrison,

Field, May 23, 1868.
One, Hauxley, Northumberland, Oct. 1868 : Embleton, in

Tate's " History of Alnwick," 1869.

FALCONS 325

One, Bempton Cliff, Yorks., June 18, 1869 : Cordeaux,

" Birds of the Humber District," p. 5.
One in collection of G. D. Rowley, Field, May 24, 1873.
One, Titchfield, Hants, Oct. 25, 1875 : Leggatt, Field, Oct.

30, 1875. In the collection of J. E. Harting.
One, Eyton Bridge, Whitby, 1876 or 1877: Clarke, " Birds

of Yorkshire," p. 17.
One, Kinghorn, Fife, Sept. 20, 1880 : Harvie-Brown, Proc.

Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb., 1880. In the Edinburgh

Museum.
One, Swinside, near Jedburgh, June 21, 1888 : Evans,

Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb., 1889, p. 168. In Museum

of Science and Art, Edinburgh.

LESSER KESTREL. Falco cenchris, Naumann. Length,
12*5 in. ; bill, 075 in. ; wing, 9 in.; tarsus, 1'25 in.

Hab. Southern and South-Eastern Europe, migrating
in winter to South Africa.

One, Suffolk, Field, Nov. 4, 1864, and Jan. 20, 1865.
One, Wilstrop, near York, Nov. 1867 : Clarke and Roe-
buck, " Handbook Yorks. Vert.," p. 48. In York

Museum.
One captured alive at Dover, May 1877: Gordon, Zool.,

1877, p. 298. In the Dover Museum.
One near Shankill, co. Dublin, Feb. 17, 1891 : More, Zool.,

1891, p. 152; Ussher, "Birds of Ireland," p. 148.
One, Tresco, Scilly, March 1891: Jenkinson, Zool, 1891,

p. 153.
One, BoynaUe, Aberdeenshire, Oct. 25, 1897 : Sim, Ann.

Scot. Nat. Hist, 1898, p. 51. Weight, U oz.; length,

111 in.

Ohs. For remarks on the priority of the specific
name cenchris, see Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 515.

326 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

AMERICAN GOSHAWK. Astur atricapillus (Wilson).
Length, 20-5 in. ; bill, 1-4 in. ; wing, 12-9 in.; tarsus,
2-9 in.

Hab. North America; rarer in the Southern States;
of accidental occurrence in Europe.

One, Schehallion, Perthshire, spring 1869 : R. Gray, Ibis,
1870, p. 292.

One, Ballinacourte, co. Tipperary, Feb. 1870 : Sir Victor
Brooke, Ibis, 1870, p. 538. In Museum of Science and
Art, Dublin.

One near Parsons Town, King's County, shortly after-
wards : A. B. Brooke, Zool, 1871, p. 2524.

BLACK KITE. Milvus migrans (Boddaert^). Length,
22 in. ; bill, 1*5 in. ; wing, 18 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in.

Hab. Europe, excepting Norway, Sweden, and Finland ;
Siberia ; Palestine ; Sinai ; Africa ; Madagascar.

One, Alnwick, Northumberland, May 11, 1866: Hancock,
Ibis, 1867, p. 253 ; Gurney, Zool, 1869, p. 1598.

Obs. Sir Robert Sibbald, in his " Scotia Illus-
trata," 1684, mentions "a black Gled" as formerly
inhabiting Scotland. In Don's " Fauna of Forfar-
shire " (1813) also allusion is made (p. 39) to '' Falco
ater," found " on heaths and low hills." But this
may have been with greater probability the dark
variety of Montagu's Harrier.

1 Falco migrans, Boddaert, Table PI. Enl. p. 28 (1783). Falco ater,
Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 262 (1788).

KITES 327

BLACK-WINGED KITE. Elanus aeruleus (Desfont.).
Length, 13"25 in.; bill, 1 in.; wing, 10*5 in.; tarsus,
1*4 in.
Hah. South-Eastern Europe; Africa; India, and Ceylon.

One, Bog of Horsetown, Beauparc, near Slane, co. Meath :
Sir John Dillon, Field, April 17, 1875, and Zool.,
1875, p. 4455; Ibis, 1872, p. 471; and A. G. More,
" List of Irish Birds," 1885, p. 6. In possession of Sir
John Dillon, of Lismullen.

Ohs. This bird is recognisable on the wing by its
greyish-white colour with black wings, and its habit
of hovering like a kestrel, which the common kite
never does.

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE. Nauclerus furcatus (Lin-
ngeus). Length, 21 in,; bill, Vo in.; wing, 16*25 in.;
tarsus, 1"4 in.

Hah. Southern United States; Central and South
America.

One, Ballachulish, Argyllshire, 1772: Dr. Walker, Adver-
saria, 1772, p. 87, and 1774, p. 153 ; Fleming, " Hist.
Brit. An.," p. 52 ; Yarrell, " Hist. Brit. Birds."

One, Shaw Gill, near Hawes, Wensleydale, Sept. 6, 1805 :
Dr. Sims, Trans. Linn. Soc, vol. xiv. p. 583.

One, Bishop of Winchester's Park, Farnham, Surrey,
summer 1833 : Holme, Zool, 1856, p. 5042.

One, Eskdale, Cumberland, April 1853: Robson, Zool, 1854,
pp. 4166, 4366, 4406.

One said to have been shot on the Mersey, June 1843 :
formerly in Macclesfield Museum, but sold with other
birds by auction at Stevens's, June 14, 1861, realising
£9, 10s., Field, June 22, 1861.

Ohs. Other specimens of this bird are said to

328 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS

have been obtained in Yorkshire, near Helmsley,
May 25, 1859, and in Bolton Woods forty or fifty
years ago ; cf. Clarke, "Birds of Yorks.," pp. 28, 29.
But these records probably refer to the Fork-tailed
Kite {Milvus regalis).

RED-SHOULDERED BUZZARD. Buteo lineatus (Gme-
lin). Length, 21 in. ; bill, 1-4 in. ; wing, 13*25 in. ;
tarsus, 3 in.

Hah. North America, east of the Rocky Mountains,
from Texas to Northern Canada.

One, Kingussie, Inverness, Feb. 26, 1863 : Newcome, Ibis,
1865, p. 549; Gray, "Birds of West of . Scotland,"
p. 49.

Fam. STRIGID^.

SNOW OWL. Nyctea scandiaca (Linnseus). PI. 4, figs.
6, Qa. Length, 23 in. ; wing, 17 in. ; tarsus, 2-25 in.

Hab. Northern Europe, and Asia as far eastward as
Amoorland ; North America, and Greenland.

One, Shetland, spring 1812 : Edmondston, Meon. Wern.
8oc. Edinb.^ 1822, p. 157. An adult male, presented by
Edmondston to Bullock for his museum in Piccadilly,
which was sold in 1819. See Evans and Buckley,
" Fauna of Shetland," p. 108.

One, Unst, Shetland, Sept. 1813 : Yarrell, " Hist. Brit. Birds."

One, Felbrigg, Norfolk, spring 1814, after a severe winter:
Hunt, "Brit. Orn." (1815), p. 148.

One, Gunton, Norfolk, Jan. 1820: Hunt, in Stacey's
"History of Norfolk" (1829). In the collection of
Lord Suffield.

Two, Rothbury and Elsdon, Northumberland, Jan. 1823:
Selby, " Illus. Brit. Orn.," i. p. 96 ; Hancock, " Cata-
logue Birds of Northumberland," p. 20.

OWLS 329

One, Inchigeela, 1827 : Harvey, " Fauna of Cork," p. 5.
Several in Ireland : Thomson, " Nat. Hist. Irel. (Birds)," i.

p. 95. Ussher has records of thirty at various dates.

See "Birds of Ireland," p. 117.
One, Sanday, Orkney, April 1835 : Neill, M