)F BRITISH PET BIRDS. - BIRDS' NESTS AND EGGS, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR BIRD-STUFFING, WITH INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THEIR MANAGEMENT. COLOURED AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: WARD, LOCK, AND TYLER, WARWICK HOUSE, PATERNOSTER ROW. NESTS AND EGGS. THE eggs of birds, like most of the pro- ductions of nature, are wonderfully perfect in the symmetry of their form, as well as beautifully rich and harmonious in their colouring. In form, they range in every curve of the line of beauty, from the round and almost spherical egg of many owls to the acutely pointed oval of the blackbird and most of the small birds. On this diversity of form in the eggs some authorities, thinking they had dis- covered the order of nature, have attempted to form a system of classification ; but a very brief examination dissolves this dream, 19 " 209104.6 NESTS AUD EGGS. tor, in the single family of the owls, about whose genera no doubts can exist, we find the widest diversity of form; the egg of the eagle-owl being nearly round, that of the long-eared owl an obtuse oval, while that of the short-eared owl presents a perfectly ovate shape. The rich and beautiful colouring of many of the eggs has also much engaged the attention of some inquirers, as we shall see. With returning spring all nature revives; the birds which remain with us all the winter seem restored to life by the first fine day ; those which departed on their journey to a warmer climate in the autumn return from their migration ; and once more the woods and fields re-echo with their song. The rook and the crow give the first intimation that the pairing season is at hand. Their cawing is incessant, as is also the industry with which twigs and branches are conveyed to their intended dwelling-place in the tree-tops. A little later, and the smaller birds make the grove sound musical, as their several songs of love are poured forth. From this time the male becomes the slave of the female. He sings to charm her ; he labours incessantly to aid her ; he gathers materials for the nest; he assists her in building, and super- intends the workmanship; and marvellous it is to see them, without other instruments than beak and claws, build and weave or sew the nest, according to their peculiar habits. Observe the materials which they employ with so much effect, and with a discernment which indicates something approaching to intelligence. Look how skilfully one weaves the catkins of the willow, the poplar, and thistle down, surrounding it by stronger fibres, and the address with which it is suspended at the extremity of some slender pendulous branch, beyond the reach of anything that only runs or creeps. Another, having made its calcula- tions, fixes its nest so near to the surface of the water, that aa the wind sweeps through the four reeds to which it is so firmly and yet so delicately attached, its bottom just touches the water without being immersed, even in the most violent storm. The eggs of birds vary again according to the species ; not only in respect to their colour, but in their form also. They are white, blue, grey, green, red, or ash -coloured ; and, besides the general predominant colour, they are covered with spots, dashes, or streaks of darker shades, which are regularly or irregularly grouped, sometimes towards one end, sometimes the other. Dr. Carus attempts to explain this diversity of colour : he considers it to be the result of a process of decomposition of VESTS AND EGGS. the blood in the ovary, mixing with the calcareous salts ot which the shell is composed. " It results not only from an excretion of the calcareous salt," he says, speaking of the shell ; " for the blood of the oviduct, being in a sort of inflamma- tory state, mixes itself with these salts, forming certain pro- dmrts, to which may be attributed the divers colours of the eggs of birds. All these varied tints are the result of the decomposi- tion of the blood." It is possible that the colour of eggs may be due to some such cause, but the subject is open to doubt ; for if the source of the colour and spots is in the blood mixing in the uterine vessels with the salts of the shell, it is difficult to conceive why all eggs are not spotted, and why those that are spotted vary in tint. Besides, the colour, whatever it may be, is only external, forming a thin coating only ; whereas, if it had been produced by a mixture of decomposed blood and the component parts of the shell, the whole shell would partake of the prevailing colour. In the meanwhile, the question is still one of doubt ; a doubt, perhaps, which chemical analysis would easily solve were the question one of any moment. It has been observed that eggs laid in cavities or dark places, where light is altogether absent, are generally white and free from spots ; such are those of the several species of owls, the kingfisher, the wood-pigeon, which builds its nest in the depths of some deeply-shaded wood, and some others which might be named. Those, on the contrary, which are laid exposed to the light, are generally more or less richly coloured. Might we not conclude from these facts that light has a marked action upon the colouring of the eggs, as it has on other productions of nature ? The flower which blooms in shade and obscurity, is it not pale and shrivelled, like everything denied the vivifying rays of the sun? The birds themselves being a proof of this simple fact; for those of the most brilliant and varied plumage are the inhabitants of inter- tropical countries. Now, as eggs are generally spotted, and as the notion pre- vails that the stains increase not in size but in intensity, in proportion as the embryo developes itself, some ornithologists have thought they could trace a resemblance between the spots of the eggs, the nest of the birds, and their plumage. All application, however, of a rule, which would deduce the colour of a bird from the colour of the eggs, appears to be unsupported by any number of facts ; on the contrary, all the facts are opposed to it. Thus, the golden pheasant, a bird so 5ESTS A1O) EGGS. richly marked, produces a pale-coloured egg. The colour of eggs has, therefore, no connection with the plumage of the bird. Whatever may be the explanation, it is obvious enough, of course, that the pigment is animal matter; but it would appear, from the investigations of M. Geoffrey de Saint-Hilaire and other scientific men, that the egg, immediately before it is deposited, is white. The colour may also be scraped off par- tially immediately after it is laid ; and when " blown " for preservation, that is, when deprived of its albuminous con- tents, the colour fades when exposed to the sun, as any one may satisfy himself by glancing at the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum, where the efforts of the obliging curator have altogether failed in devising means for preserving their markings ; so that the rich ruddy blotches of the peregrine and other falcons' eggs, which are the ^ JJ( : striking in their markings, as may be seen on our plate, are there reduced to a sober grey. The vividness of the colours also appears to depend on the bird being in a healthy state. Many variations are found in the colour of eggs of the same species, and the eggs of birds disturbed in the act of laying are always deficient in their markings; the animal ecoromy seems to be disturbed by the alarm, and imperfect colouring is the result. As to the form and size of eggs, nothing is more variable ; from that which the ostrich deposits in the sands of the desert to that of the wren, or the still more minute humming- bird, what a difference in size, and, above all, what variety in form ! Some experiments, undertaken by M. Geoffrey de Saint- Hilaire in Egypt, and by M. Florent-Prevost in France, enable them, as they assert, to declare, on seeing an egg, the sex of the bird which it contains. After numberless obser- vations, they conclude that the globular eggs, that is to say, those whose extremities are nearly round, are females, and that males come from those more pointed. It appears also, that if the void which appears on looking at an egg across a luminous body occupies one of the ends, the sex is male ; but if situated on either of the sides, it is a female. The great variety in their markings has given rise to another notion, that the colour of eggs accords with the locality as well as the materials of which the nest is composed, and that it is intended as a provision for their concealment from those animals which prey upon them. This is not supported, however, by observed facts; nothing can be more in con- M aSTS AND EGGS. trast with the brown clay and withered grass and moss of which the nest of the blackbird is composed than the light blue colour and brown spots of its eggs. Again, the brilliant white and delicate pink spots of the wren's or bottle-tit's egg would at once attract attention were the nests of each less care- fully concealed. The idea is, besides, at variance with the more rational doctrine, that the birds themselves are, like all other creatures, gifted with an instinctive power of selection, which is employed in securing the safety of their offspring. This faculty it is which leads them to build their nests in obscure and sometimes inaccessible places, and to cover them with materials calculated to conceal their stronghold from the pry- ing eye of curiosity. If the doctrine receives any support from the facts of natural history, these facts are found connected with those birds whose nest- building scarcely deserves the name. Those familiar with the haunts of the golden plover will have no difficulty in discovering the slight hollow which it has scraped in the wild moorland, but the colour of its four pear-shaped and grey-spotted eggs, the narrow ends of which all meet in the centre, will certainly not assist their search. Nevertheless, as a generally observed fact, the egg presents a decided con- trast to the surrounding colours of the nest. If anything were wanting, indeed, to enhance the pleasure of egg-hunting, it would be found in the wonderful skill which many of these little creatures exhibit in the construction of their nests, in the choice of situation, and in the choice of the materials employed. We recognize a provident instinct, which almost amounts to the higher intelligence usually termed reason, in the care with which they guard themselves and their young from the assaults of their enemies and from the weather. It exhibits the hand of the Creator giving its first direction to the art, which results in providing for the perpe- tuation of their species. It marks the all-pervading fiat which has declared that not a sparrow falls to the ground but with His permission. Among our home birds remarkable for the architecture of their nests, we may mention the magpie. As we have already seen, this bird's nest is quite an aerial fortress. Built on some tall tree, whose large and branchless stem renders it inaccessible to the most daring of school-boys, the magpie's nest is a conspicu- ous spheroidal mass, composed first of a layer of twigs, curiously interwoven and crossed, on which is spread a quantity of mud ; then is formed a dome of twigs of the sloe or hawthorn, loosely NESTS AST) EGGS. but securely interlaced, while the bottom of the interior ia lined with soft fibrous roots?, an aperture being left in the side of the nest, which is barely sufficient to admit the bird. Why this bird should find it necessary to render its nest so defen- sible, has been a mystery to the naturalist ; but it is probably explained by the fate of an unhappy colony of magpies, whose story is recorded in the Magazine of Natural History. The birds in question had built their nests on a lofty grove of trees, in the neighbourhood of which a pair of tawny owls had also established themselves. To feed their young, the parent owls had made several desperate assaults on several of the magpies' nests, which had been gallantly defended ; the assailing owls had been repeatedly repelled ; but at last the remains of young magpies were observed under the favourite perch of the young owls, an indication not to be mistaken that the strong- hold had been successfully stormed. One morning appeared there the head and feathers of an old magpie, which must have been (bragged from the nest while roosting. After this, a sort of truce would seem to have been con- cluded, and for a whole year the owls remained quiet ; but in 1845 the same pertinacious attack upon the nest of a pair of magpies, built on the very highest branch of a sycamore, near to their eyrie, commenced. One day Mr. Carr, who records the event, was roused by a shriek of agony like that of a hare caught in a snare ; he rushed to the spot, and arrived just in time to prevent another murder ! One of the owls was in the act of drawing the old magpie out of her nest by the head. By striking the trunk of the tree violently, he succeeded in separating the combatants for the time. In revenge, before the next morning, his only pair of young rooks had disap- peared from their nests, and a decree of doom went forth, the voung owls forthwith paid the penalty of their voracious appe- tites ! It is thus not without reason that the magpie fortifies her nest, and surrounds it with palisades ; for, besides the owl, it is subject to visits from weasels and other prying quadrupeds. The nest of the long-tailed tit (Parus caudatus) is ex- tremely beautiful, being of a very regular oval form, six to seven inches long and three and a half to four and a half broad; it is usually composed of moss and wool, crusted externally with grey lichens, the whole kept together by xaeans of the flaxen fibres of plants, some wool, and delicate filmy shreds interwoven in a transverse direction. It is usually attached to, and supported by the twigs of a branch of a tree. I NESTS AND EGGS. The small grey lichens with which it is covered all over form so close an incrustation with the branches of the tree from which it is suspended as effectually to conceal the numerous eggs it contains, for this little creature lays and hatches as many as sixteen eggs. The aperture is round, and only an inch and a quarter in diameter, with an inch and a half of dome above the opening. The outer shell of the nest is an inch and a half thick ; its inner surface is stuck all over with feathers, being not only lined but nearly filled with similar materials ; one nest, described in some MS. notes of the lamented Mr. Mac- gillivray, now before us, containing no less than six hundred and eighty-nine feathers, three-fourths of them large ones, being those of the domestic fowl, pheasants, turkeys, rooks, and other birds. But the most artistic specimens of nest-building among British birds are greatly exceeded by some of the tropical birds. The nest of the tailor-bird of Africa and Asia, so called from the skill with which the nest is constructed, is Bewn together by the long fibrous filaments of various plants ; the materials being selected with a wonderful degree of intelli- gence. In form it is not unlike the bottle-tit's nest, but infinitely more elaborate. Even 'this edifice is far exceeded by that of some of the toucans of the Philippine Islands, whose nest, suspended at the extremity of the most slender and flexible branches, and beyond the reach of any beast of prey, consists of a series of chambers, one built above the other, with an entrance from below; the same nest being used by several pairs of birds, all of whom have either laboured simulta- neously at its construction or added to it subsequently. The pensile grosbeak, another of these gregarious African birds, makes a basket-nest of straw and reeds, interwoven into the shape of a bag, with the entrance below, the top being fastened generally on trees that grow on the borders of streams, or on those which impend over precipices. On one side of this hanging edifice is the true nest. The bird does not build a distinct nest every year, but fastens its new basket to the lower end of the old one- a very singular arrangement. The object in choosing this position over a precipice or stream for the nest is obviously to secure their offspring from the assaults of their numerous enemies, particularly the serpent race. To increase the difficulty of access to these tree-rocked cradles, the entrance is always from below, and frequently through a cylindrical passage, of twelve or fifteen inches in NESTS AND EGGS. length, projecting from the spherical nest exactly like the tube of a chemist's retort. The whole fabric is most ingenioively wid elegantly woven of several species of very tough grass; and the wonderful foresight displayed is calculated to excite the highest admiration. Twenty or more of these beautiful nestn have been observed hanging from a single tree. Another species, the baya, or bottle-nosed sparrow, is re- markable for its pendent nest, uncommon sagacity, and bril- liant plumage the head and breast being of a bright yellow, giving it a splendid appearance in the rays of a tropical sun. They associate in large numbers, and cover extensive clumps of palmyras, acacias, and date- trees, with their nests. These are formed by long grass, woven together in the shape of a bottle, and suspended by one end to the extremity of a flexible branch, the more effectually to secure the eggs and young from serpents, monkeys, squirrels, and birds of prey. The nest contains several apartments, appropriated to different pur- poses ; in one the hen performs the office of incubation ; another, consisting of a little thatched roof, and covering a porch without a bottom, is occupied by the male. The real nest is concealed from exposure by a covering of hay, to secure itself and young ones from their deadly enemy, the squirrel, as likewise from injury by the weather, which it escapes by making the nest like a steeple hive, with winding passages, and before which hangs a penthouse for the rain to pass down. It is suspended by so slender a thread that the squirrel dares not venture on it. Hundreds of these pendulous nests, it is said, may sometimes be seen on the same tree. " The industry of these birds," says Paterson, " seems almost equal to that of the bee. Throughout the day they seem to be busily employed in carrying a small species of grass, which is the principal material they use for their ordinary work as well as for addition and repairs. Though my short stay in the country was not sufficient to satisfy me, by ocular proof, that they added to their nests as they annually increased in numbers, still, from the many trees that I have seen borne down by the weight, and with their boughs completely covered, it would appear that this is really the case. One of these deserted nests I had the curiosity to break down. There are many entrances, each of which forms a regular street, with nests on each side, about two inches apart. The grass with which they build is called Bushman's grass, and I believe the seed of it to be their principal food, NESTS AND EGGS. though I found the wings and legs of several insects in the nests. From every appearance, the nest which I dissected had been inha- bited for several im$mmmm\- more complete than others." The weaver- bird of India constructs a nest of vegetable fibres, which it interlaces in such a manner as to form a sort of purse, as re- presented in the engraving. It is suspended from the higher branches of trees overhanging rivers, and the en- trance is at the lower end. The first year the nest is a simple purse, but in the follow- ing year the bird attaches to this a second, and so it proceeds annually, with a similar ad- dition to the curi- ous fabric. This marvellous association of se- veral pairs labour- ing together is particularly apparent in the species to which the French naturalists have given the name of the republican gros-bec, the approaches to their nest being of the most artful description, while the nest is, externally, only one mass ot NESTS AND EGGS. vegetable fibre. These are onb/ a few of the facts which may be adduced to prove that birds are gifted with an instinctive power of selecting materials and positions calculated to conceal their eggs and progeny from their enemies. By far the most numerous class of birds build their nests in trees or bushes, and a nest, in spite of the arts of the builders, being a bulky excrescence, is easily discovered by a practised eye, and, once discovered, concealment of the eggs would be impossible. As to the eggs themselves, their well-known external cover- ing is a light, porous, and brittle shell, of chalky formation, which is pervious to the admission of oxygen and carbonic acid from the atmosphere, which are essential to the development of the vital principle which they contain. Within the shell is a thin membraneous lining, which covers the whole, terminating in a small bag at the obtuse end, which receives the air and communicates with the interior organism of the egg. Within this lining is the white, or albumen, which, under the microscope, reveals some very curious physiological forms, which it would be foreign to our purpose to enter on here. Within this layer is the yellow matter, known as the yolk or vitellus of the egg. An examination of the statistics of eggs leads to the conclu- sion that the birds useful to man produce them in the greatest numbers. The domestic fowl and the gallinaceous tribes gene- rally lay an unlimited number of eggs; those smaller birds which live on insects, as if for the purpose of keeping down these enemies to vegetation, lay a large but limited number of eggs. In falcons and owls the number varies from two to five, the largest and fiercest birds having the fewest eggs. But our present object is to collect and prepare eggs and nests. The pursuit is sometimes objected to on the score of inhumanity; but it is not impossible to gratify a rational curiosity and avoid the other alternative. One or two eggs taken from a nest does not, probably, much .affect the mother bird : taking the whole nest, indeed, in some species, only leads to their building a second ; for it seems pretty well ascertained that most birds, after a time, will build a second and even a third time, although at each successive laying the eggs are said to be smaller and less numerous. We cannot, then, advise our bird-nesters to take more than one or two eggs from any one nest, and the only excuse for taking the nest itself is when a collection is being formed ; even then, if possible, let the nest NESTS AND EGGS. remain till the young fledglings have left it on their own independent career. A collector can rarely pick np, with his own hands, any large proportion of even a small collection. " How many, for example," asks Mr. Macgillivray, " have robbed the eagle's or the osprey's, or scaled the magpie's nest, or laid their grasping hand on the eggs of the raven (which command half-a-crown apiece among the London dealers), or even the hooded crow or the chough ? Never- theless, let him who can, search for himself, otherwise he will miss much knowledge." It is told of the Abbe Manesse, who ren- dered great service to science by his observations on birds and eggs, and their manner of laying, that the whole of his superb collection was collected by himself; he confided in no one, and added no egg to his collection which he had not verified with his own eyes. His practice was to prepare himself for climbing by putting two spikes on his boots, and encircling the tree as well as his own body with a strong girth, and with this apparatus, when he was far on the shady side of forty, did the good abbe scale the loftiest tree that magpie, or rook, or wood-pigeon, chose for its castle. One of his rules was, to admit no nest or egg into his collection until he saw the bird in or flying out of the nest, thus identifying the species. His home career was cut short by the French Revolution, but, as an emigrant, he took every opportunity of enlarging his collection, which became the most perfect in Europe, and was presented, with his MSS. and drawings, in 1817, to the French Institute. The egg collector must pursue his task under many difficul- ties. In robbing the nest situated on lofty trees he will proba- bly have to descend with the treasure in his mouth, for the fewer incumbrances he ascends with the better. On reaching the ground the eggs should be carefully marked, and placed in one of the tin boxes he should carry in a bag. In order to preserve them, drill a hole near each end with a triangular needle, twirling the needle gently between the finger and thumb; then apply the mouth to one of the holes, and blow out the contents at the other, washing it afterwards with a solution of gum and water, gently injected from a syringe ; this gives strength and solidity to the shell, and preserves the membrane ; the holes may after- wards be filled with wax or covered with thin paper, but no gumming, varnishing, nor washing outside. When thus pre- pared, and perfectly dry, the eggs may be fixed upon pieces of cork, or, better still, in small boxes, just large enough to contain them, having glass tops, or they may be kept ia KESTS AND EGGS. drawers, having cotton or chopped moss for them to rest upon; but in whatever mode the collection is arranged, the eggs must be excluded from the light, otherwise the colours will inevitably fade. The names and description should be written on the box or a slip of paper, and not on the egg itself. Where there is a glazed case or case of drawers available, sufficiently large, and capable of having the light excluded, the most useful arrangement would be to place the eggs in the proper nest; but this could only apply to the smaller species of birds' nests. The following eggs are represented in the plate, and are described in the succeeding pages : 1. Chaffinch. 12. Greenfinch. 23. Jay. 2. Hawfinch. 13. Goldfinch. 24. Starling. 3. Siskin. 14. Titlark. 25. Redwing. 4. Bullfinch. 15. Wren.' 26. Missel Thrush. 5. Red Shrike. 16. Linnet. 27. Water OuzeL 6. Bottle-tit. 17. Yellowhammer. 28. Bhckcap. 7. Blue-tit. 18. Robin. 29. Fieldfare. 8. Cole-tit. 19. Kestrel. 30. Ring OuzeL 9. Nightingale. 20. Magpie 31. Song Thrush. 10. Woodlark. 21. Raven. 32. Blackbird, 11. Skylark. 22. Jackdaw. BIKD-NESTING IN FIELDS AND COMMONS. Away from the busy haunts of town-life, every hedgerow, field, and common, is alive with the song of birds ; the familiar sparrow chirps on the housetops ; a thousand songsters pur- sue their busy avocations in the garden, the orchards, and the hedgerows ; some searching, like robbers as they are, for the seeds just sown in the ground, but the majority of them aiding the cottager to subdue the larvae of insects, which would presently, without this help, overwhelm him with their ravages. It is a bright April morning. All the birds which breed with us are either building their nests, or, that office past, they are engaged in laying or sitting on the eggs, which it is our object to collect. It is to be feared that this our inten- tion is not to be defended on any fair principle of meum and tuum ; on what ground, then, can it be defended ? On scientific grounds surely, for it is one of the records of creation, which it is the object of science to preserve. In our case, let us call it the indulgence of a rational curiosity, which may serve the NESTS AND EGG5. useful purpose of training some future Cuvier or Linnaeus to enlighten the world; and let us add, we shall endeavour to attain our object harmlessly " the act shall please we without hurting she " for we shall deal generously, plunderers though we be, with the feathered owners of the nest. The preparations for a bird-nesting expedition are few and soon made : a game-bag of some kind, with boxes strong enough to protect the eggs collected from being crushed, lined with cotton- wool or moss. Once clear of streets and houses, we can hardly go astray. Here is the common ; flocks of sparrows harbour in the hedges, keeping up their incessant chatter ; a little farther off, linnets and chaffinches ; and the lark is already carolling high in the air; the hedge-sparrow also shuffles along; slightly raising and shaking its wings, it hops away very quietly and rapidly, till it gets among the roots of the brambles, where it feels secure. There is a nest in that bush, from which the bird has gone with such a sudden rush ; it is a linnet, as you may see by her rapid and undulating flight, which she executes in a curved line by alternate risings and fallings. You want a LINNET'S egg ; and as there are only four in the nest, they are fresh. Well, take two of them, not a very severe case of robbery, and the alarmed mother evidently dreads greater ravages. The nest is very neatly constructed of blades and stalks of grass, mixed with moss and wool, and lined with the fur of various animals, sometimes mixed with thistle-down, the breadth being about four inches. The eggs (fig. 16), of which there are usually five or six, of an oval form, three-quarters of an inch long, and about half an inch in their thickest part, are of bluish white, slightly spotted with brownish grey and red, the spots thickest at the larger end. It is a gratuitous piece of cruelty to rob the bird of all the eggs, and usually leads to th nest being deserted. It is a still more barbarous practice to shoot these small birds, except when they are wanted for some useful purpose connected with science, or at least with the rational intention of making a collection; and it may be doubted if a jury of birds would accept even that excuse for murdering one of their number. The YELLOWHAMMEK is widely distributed, and especially abundant in wooded districts, although it does not usually select the thicket for nidification; for the nest is usually placed on the ground, under a bush, or among the roots of the willow, overhanging a brook, or among its twigs. The nest ia BIKD-NESTING IN FIELDS AND COMMONS. composed, externally, of coarse grass and twigs, neatly lined with finer grass-fibres and hair of the horse and cow, well matted together. The eggs (fig. 17), four or five in number, are oval in form, of a purplish-white, marked with streaks and a few irregular dots of black, together with some faint purplish-grey markings ; their length about ten-twelfths of an inch by eight-twelfths in diameter. The GREENFINCH, sometimes called the green linnet, is a timid bird, but more easily approached than the linnet. It pairs and builds its nest in April, choosing the roots of a furze bush, a close hawthorn hedge, the lower fork of some bushy shrub, or even the ivy on a tree or wall, for its future habitation. The nest is formed of hypna or other vegetable fibre, which it interweaves neatly with fibrous roots and straws mixed with hair ; the external walls are strengthened with slender twigs ; and the lining is a mixture of hairs and fibrous roots and wool, felted together ; the whole forming a compact, well-constructed nest. The eggs (fig. 12), from four to six in number, are oval, about three-fourths of an inch in length, a little over half an inch in diameter, of a bluish or purplish white, spotted with purple and grey and blackish brown, more or less streaked with black : two broods are sometimes reared in a season. The REDPOLE, like its congeners, nestles among the brush- wood of the common, on the margins of streams, in rocky dells ; but the nest is not common. Mr. Selby describes it as built in a beech or low tree, and formed of moss and the stalks of dry grass, intermixed with the down of the catkin of the willow, which also forms the lining, a soft and warm receptacle for the eggs and young. The birds brood late in the season, the young ones not being fledged till the end of June. The eggs are four in number, of a pale bluish green, spotted with orange-brown towards the larger end. Early as we are, the LAKK is before us with his matin carol. There it is, rising against the wind, and pouring forth its song without intermission ; and there it shoots away to the left, in a wide curve, round the wind as it were, and whirling to the right again before it begins its descent into that cornfield, which it does floating, and with expanded wings. Its note is prolonged and more steady ; now it closes its wings, and down it comes with great rapidity, with the body slightly declining ; and now its wild fantasia ceases, as it drops on the ground, after hovering a moment in the air. In the long grass near to the spot where 303 NESTS AJTD EGGS. it has dropped, or very near to it, keen eyes will find its nest ; and there it is. Among the young blades of corn, which is its favourite nesting-place, the lark scrapes a hollow in the ground ; in pasture-ground or common, it selects a place among the long grass, where it builds a nest of stalks and blades of withered grass, rather loosely put together, lining them with softer and finer fibres. The eggs (fig. 11) are four or five, broadly oval in form, and over three-quarters of an inch in length, by about two-thirds in diameter ; they are greenish grey, irregularly freckled with a darker shade of brownish green, most densely at the broader end. The lark usually breeds twice in the season, in June and September, and the female sits so closely on her eggs that she has been taken there. The WOODLABK is smaller than the skylark, while it closely resembles it in other respects ; but it is observed to sing while perching on trees and bushes, which the skylark never does. Like the skylark, it may be observed to spring with the dawn from the field or pasture-ground in which it has reposed during the night, ascending perpendicularly, while it pours forth its cheerful song, which is even more melodious than its congener. The nest is generally placed in a cornfield, common, or pasture- ground, near a wood. It is composed of blades of dried grass, loosely put together, lined with finer blades, mixed with hair and wool. The eggs (fig. 10), four or five in number, are smaller than the skylark's, and more elongated, being three-quarters of an inch by four-sixths, of a pale yellowish brown, freckled with umber or greyish brown, with dusky irregular lines at the larger end. The TITLABK, or meadow-pipit, as it is more commonly called, is universally diffused from one extremity of the island to the other, sometimes perching on bush or tree, more commonly on a wall or stone, reposing at night on dry grass. The nest usually occupies a grassy bank or grassy tuif, or is so sunk into the ground as not to be easily observed. It is a neatly -constructed nest, formed of stems and blades of grass, lined with finer kinds and tender fibrous roots and hair. The eggs (fig. 14), four to six in number, are of an oval form, three-fourths of an inch by four-sixths in diameter, varying considerably in colour, but generally of a light grey or brownish white ground, dotted and freckled with a purplish grey, especially at the larger end, where they entirely conceal the lighter ground. On the verge of the common there is, sometimes, a narrow belt of young timber-trees, with a thick hedge beneath, en- closing a large growth of underwood ; on the skirts of the BIBD-NESTING IN FIELDS AND COMMONS. village green we find, occasionally, a venerable clump of trees ; sometimes a great extent of wall or paling incloses some richly- wooded domain, where the trees skirt the highway; or, in default of better accommodation, there is a tall hawthorn hedge. On each and all of these, in many parts of England between the Trent valley and the south coast, the NIGHTINGALE may be heard, night and morning, pouring forth its joyous song from the lower branches. Beyond these limits, the appearance of the nightingale, if not denied, is, at least, rare; foi, although it has been frequently heard as far north as York, anil, in very mild summers, even in Mid-Lothian, as a rule these are its limits. When the nest is sought for, keen eyes aaust be made use of, as the bird displays great sagacity in its concealment, choosing the root of the thickest and most impenetrable hedge for building and placing it, besides which it is completely surrounded by a clump of leaves and bushes similar in colour to those of which it is formed. The foundation of the nest is usually loose grass, rushes, or dry leaves ; the walls of the nest, which is large, and loosely put together externally, are a thick matting of leaves of the neighbouring trees, lined with a thin covering of fine grass, and, in many respects, resembling the nest of the robin. Here the nightingale lays its five or six broadish ovate eggs (fig. 9), three-fourths of an inch in length and seven-twelfths in diameter. They are generally of a brown uniform colour, but occasionally slightly mottled all over with reddish-brown spots. 20 BIRD-NESTING IN WOODS AND HEDGEROWS. Let the reader imagine the verge of a young plantation oi some thirty years' growth, to which memory calls us back after more years than we like to think of. In this plantation, which had been planted by a retired physician, a keen botanist and a lover of science, the rarest trees known eighty yean back were intermingled with the ash, the elm, the birch, and a sprinkling of spruce and other pine-trees. A limpid brook, just large enough to ornament the hanging woods and mingle its murmurings with the song of birds, traverses the wood in a meandering course for upwards of a mile, skirted by the once trim and still pleasant walk, although its gravel is now covered with weeds, and its shrubbery a tangled thicket; but all the better for its feathered inhabitants. Crossing the stile and penetrating the thicket, we are landed in a small triangular meadow, through which the brook meanders, after tumbling over BIRD-NESTING IN WOODS AND HEDGEROWS. a rugged cascade, worn in the bed of the river into a deep black pool, where a handsome trout may always be found. Here, in the days I speak of, a pair of WATER- OUZELS had built their nest in the crevices of the crumbling rocks which overlooked the pool. The nest is bulky and arched, composed externally of various species of moss, firmly matted together with mud, not unlike the swallow's nest, with an aperture in front, of oblong form, three inches and a half wide by one and a half high. Within this is contained the nest itself, a hemispherical mass of soft grass-moss and water-plants, lined with leaves of trees. The eggs (fig. 27) are five or six in number, of an oval form, and rather pointed, about an inch in length and three-quarters of an inch at their thickest end, and of a cream-coloured white. When these little birds have attached themselves to a locality, they are known to return to it for many years in succession, and the pair in question had built here for several years. This plantation is so favourably situated in all respects, that every songster of the grove may be found in it. And here, in this high copse, we have a JAY'S nest, occupying the lower branches of a young oak. It is formed of sticks, lined with fibrous roots, on which it deposits five or six eggs, broadly oval (fig. 23), of a pale bluish-green or grey colour, obscurely marked with a darker shade of yellowish brown and pale purple, but varying much in colour. The jay is an object of dread to some of the smaller birds ; for, although not exactly a bird of prey, opportunity offering, it does not hesitate to attack them, and they shun its neighbourhood accordingly. Mr. Durham Weir, a close observer, whose MS. notes are now before us, "trapped one in January, 1837, which he placed with some other birds in his tool-house ; but was astonished to find two of them destroyed in the morning. He soon had proof against their destroyer. A linnet alighting on a branch of a tree on which the jay was sitting, he caught it by the throat with his bill and killed it in a few minutes. Half an hour after, the jay seized upon a green linnet in the same manner, plucked off the feathers, and devoured it bit by bit, all except the head." The MISSEL-THRUSH has, however, no fears of this showy bird, but builds his nest where he lists, in the forked branch of some low branch, of a tree, generally at some inconsiderable height, the nest, a bulky mass some six inches and a half externally, and three inches and a half internally. The external walls are composed of twigs, straws, and grasses, intermixed 307 NESTS AW) 669. with leaves and mosses, and flattened patches of mud, between three and four inches thick, with a lining of grass and a few large feathers ; the mouth firmly constructed of interwoven panicles of hair or grass, mingled with twigs, root-fibres, and wool. In this nest the missel-thrush generally lays three to five eggs, of an oblong-ovate form, an inch and a quarter long, by a little over three-quarters thick (fig. 26), of a purplish-white or flesh colour, marked with blotches of light brown and ob- scure purplish red. The song-thrush and blackbird both abound in plantations of this description ; but neither of them confine themselves to the woods, a hedgerow or rough bank with moss, or the roots of a hedge, even a hole in a wall or the crevices of a rock, being selected, occasionally, in localities where there are no plantations. The THRUSH'S nest, which is bulky, is composed externally of various kinds of grasses and long tough roots of various plants, tufts of poa and stellaria, mosses, and other substances. Within this is a more elaborate structure of fibrous roots, tufts of straws, and beech leaves, interwoven with clay, or some other binding substance, the whole lined or plastered with a thin compact lining of some substance, supposed to be horse-dung, on the surface of which is a coating of chips of straw and slender grasses. The eggs (fig. 31) vary from four to six, of a broadly ovate shape, and of a bright bluish green, with scat- tered blackish-brown spots, more thickly placed towards the larger end, measuring about an inch and a sixth in length by ten and a half lines thick. The nest of the BLACKBIRD is scarcely to be distinguished from that of the thrush, and the locality is nearly the same. The eggs (fig. 32) are also from four to six, of a bluish or grey green, freckled with pale umber-looking or reddish-brown markings, denser towards the thick extremity, where the spots some- times form a sort of ring, slightly longer than the eggs of the thrush, but of the same thickness. The FIELDFARE is found in these plantations in great num- bers in the season ; but they do not breed with us. In a paper in the Magazine of Botany and Zoology, on " Birds of Norway," Mr. Hewitson describes them as breeding by hundreds in a very limited space, the nest being placed in the forks of spruce firs, some forty or fifty feet from the ground, the eggs (fig. 29) much resembling those of the blackbird, and being five and six in number. The KEDWDJG closely resembles the fieldfare in many of its Kte * BOLD-NESTING IN WOODS AND HEDGEROWS. habits, and especially in its nest and mode of breeding, the egg (fig. 25) being about the size of the blackbird's, of a pale greenish colour, slightly purplish toward the smaller end, with reddish brown spots at the other extremity. Let us skirt the plantation, and listen to the strains which issue from that sycamore ; they are loud, clear, and surpass- ingly melodious ; the notes gush out with rapidity, but always clear and distinct. It is the BLACKCAP warbler, and the nest is not far off, and there it is, in the fork of that bay -tree. It is composed of dried stalks of the goose or some other grass, woven together with tufts of wool and moss, lined with fibrous roots and long hairs. The eggs (fig. 28) are four or five, of a broadly ovate form, three-quarters of an inch long by seven- twelfths thick, nf a greyish-white colour, faintly mottlea with purplish grey, with streaks and marks of blackish brown. A little further on, a clump of wild birch and hazel over- hanging the brook gives shelter to a whole colony of the titmice, wrens, redpoles, siskins, and other songsters, whose notes, more or less musical, fill the air with an harmo- nious hum, as they mingle with the murmurings of the brook and with the harsh chir-r-r-iJc of the ox-tit, the twirik- twittJc of the chaffinch, and the alarm note of the robin and tke wren. Here, also, is the more familiar blue-tit, or tomtit, as he is more commonly called, skipping about with a frisking motion, as he peers into every chink and cranny, or behind every leaf, now hanging back downwards, now at the topmost branches, head-feathers erected, and chur-chur-ing with his petulant cry. The TOMTIT is the constant denizen of such localities as this ; but in the spring it also makes excursions into the neigh- bouring gardens, where it is a good friend to the gardener, devouring the larvae of many an insect which would otherwise destroy bis hopes of fruit or flower, although John does not always know it. At this season Tom is noisy and vociferous. The nest is built in the chink of a wall, under the thatched roof, in a hole in the trunk of a tree, or, indeed, in any, even the most unlikely localities. In the manuscript notes of Mr. B. D. Duncan, a good ornithologist and close observer, now before us, is described the nest of a pair which had been built in the shaft of a pump-well, at the bottom of his garden : Although the nest was drenched and partly carried away every time water was drawn, still they persevered in building there, endeavouring to fix their nest near to the piston. Gladly NESTS AND EGGS. would we have suffered them to remain, had they not kept the water in a continually muddy state by the materials they used. After their expulsion from the well, which was not very easily effected, they made choice of a hole in an old wall at the back of the house. One day, when passing the place," he says, " atten- tion was attracted by a loud hissing, somewhat like that emitted by a cat, an adder, or a weasel. On looking at the little crevice in the wall, I soon discovered whence the sound proceeded ; there sat the agitated Tom, employing this vociferous method of ridding himself of my presence. The nest was composed first of a layer of mixed moss, grass, and wool, with a lining of hair and feathers. The eggs (fig. 7) were very numerous, but I did not count them some authors say as many as twenty, of a regular oval form, five-eighths of an inch long, and half an inch thick, white, slightly tinged with red, and marked with irregular spots of darker red. When a family made its appear- ance in this dwelling, the parent birds were so anxious in supplying the wants of their little ones, that I have frequently stood so near, as the birds entered and left the nest, that I might have caught them by stretching out my hand. In the following year they again attempted to build in the well, re- newing their efforts for four successive years." All the tits are, more or less, birds of a social habit, the ox- tit being the most retiring, as it is the largest; the ox-tit mixing freely, not only with its own species, but with the blue- tit and cole-tit. A cole-tit's nest sent to Dr. Eobertson from Perthshire is thus described in a note from that gentleman : " It is rather loosely constructed, and of considerable size, measuring internally two inches and a quarter, externally four and a quarter. The outer part is composed of chips of decayed wood, small larch-twigs, fibres of various plants, and moss, then a thick layer of finer moss and fibre ; the inner layers are more compact, and formed of fibres intermixed internally with downy feathers, the fibre being the softer part of the bark of trees, and of the stems and leaves of herbaceous plants. The eggs (fig. 8), six or eight in number, four-sixths of an inch long, and three-sixths thick, white, thickly dotted with light red spots at the larger end, a few similar spots being scattered over the other parts. The nest is usually constructed in the hollow bole of some tree, or in the crevice of an old wall." But the most singular of this family is the BOTTLE -TIT, or long-tailed mufflin, poke-pudding, or mum-t*.ffin, and long- tailed mag, to all of which names it hails in different localities. BIRD-NESTING IN WOODS AND HEDGEROWS. Except the gold-crested wren, it is the smallest of British birds; at the same time, its frame is nearly buried in a mass of soft and bulky feathers, which are left loose and tufty, so that it seems to be muffled to the chin, the eyes and nostrils being nearly concealed by the bristly feathers at the base of the bill, while the tail is full six inches long. In such spots as we have described, that is, in plantations and straggling birch and hazel woods overhanging a brook, the long-tailed tit flits along the tops of the taller bushes, searching the leaves and twigs, restless and ever in motion, streaming along in undulating and rapid flight, in which it has been compared to a flying arrow or dart, to which its small body and long tail gives it the appearance. The nest has already been described; the foundation is laid in the cleft of a tree, after a careful examination of the situ- ation, and trying the hole they have chosen by flying in and out again several times. The foundation is formed of moss ; the walls are built up of small portions of lichens, white and grey, mixed with fine green moss, feathers, and the softer leaves of deciduous trees, intermixed and woven with wool and spider's webs, giving them consistence by pressing the whole with their breast, and by turning themselves round repeatedly in all directions. They are very jealous at first at being watched, but soon get tame and accustomed to the observer ; the male bird watching on the branch of a tree, as close to the nest as possible, while the hen bird is building ; when she has disposed of her contribution to the nest, the other goes in while she watches : when both have finished, they fly off to- gether to collect materials. Sometimes the nest is placed in the fork of a tree, a long pyriform, six inches long, formed exter- nally of lichens, bound together with blades of grass, downy filaments, and cotton threads, and lined with feathers. In this nest they lay as many as a dozen of the smallest of eggs (fig. 6) of an oval form, rounded at the smaller end, and about half an inch long and five-twelfths broad, of a colour white, marked with numerous faint-red dots at the larger end. Pursuing our walk, we soon come across the nest of the ROBIN-REDBREAST ; for, although Robin is a very domesticated sort of fellow when the snow covers the ground, and even earlier in the season, when the wild flowers have faded and the trees in the woods become bare, and the evenings chilly, with the first glimpse of spring he disappears from the haunts of men, be- taking himself to woods and thickets, where, doubtless, his pert, forward, and pugnacious character does not fail to exhibit VESTS AND EGGS. itself. Towards the end of April, and even so ear"/ as March in some well-sheltered places, young birds have been found in their nests. Robin is by no means particular where he builds his house; under a hedge or bush, on a mossy bank, in a ditch, even on the ground, but not in tree, shrub, or hedge. It is a bulky nest, rather loosely constructed ; in fact, Robin is not so skilful an architect as poets and naturalists have painted him. Its foundations are a layer of moss and decayed leaves of trees, with broad blades of grass, mosses of several species loosely interwoven with a few skeleton leaves ; the lining is of hair and wool, a quarter of an inch thick, so that it appears Eobin is partial to a soft bed. The eggs (fig. 18) are five or six ; they are of a regular oval form, about three-quarters of an inch long and four-sixths broad, of a delicate reddish white or brownish tinge, fading into a brownish white at the small end, and faintly freckled with palish red, the brownish markings sometimes forming a belt there. In our wood the GOLDFINCH is an habitual resident, but is by no means so plentiful as " in the days when we were young ; " for improved agriculture, whose aim is to root out weeds and thistles, from which the smaller birds draw much of their support, has not tended to their increase. They nestle in woods, in orchards, in gardens, and in hedgerows ; sometimes in the tops of tall timber-trees. The nest is composed of grass and moss, with an external covering of lichens elaborately interwoven with thread, twigs, and other substances, and lined with wool and hair, the down of various plants, and other delicate filaments, and will be ready for the reception of the young pair by the middle of April, or thereabouts. The eggs (fig. 13) are four or five, about three-fourths of an inch long, and half an inch thick, of a bluish-white, or rather pale bluish-grey colour, sometimes tinged with brown, and marked with a few spots of greyish purple and brown, and occasion- ally having a dark streak or two. Having traversed about half of the plantation, we reach a Bpot where the little river issues from a sort of defile and passes outside the wood, tinder the retaining wall which sup- ports the pathway. Under the banks of this wall, just on the edge of the wood, at the time I write of, Jenny (English) or Kitty WREN (as the Scotch say) had built her nest, and in trees overhanging it a whole colony of wrens made the woods re-echo again with their incessant roundelays as they flitted from branch to branch, or frisked about among the topmost Ml BIKD-NESTING IS "WOODS AND HEDGEBOWa. boughs, with their chirping and not over melodious note. This becomes a sort of prolonged chirr, as you approach nearer, while the bird hops from one bush to another, jerking its tail, which it keeps nearly erect, hopping about with great alacrity, continually uttering its rapid chit, chit, chirr: " Thou fairy bird, how sweet to trace The rapid flight of thy tiny race ; For the wild bee scarcely waves its wing More lightly than thine, thou fairy thing." In liveliness and activity, indeed, it rivals all its congeners, which has originated a pleasant little fable among the inhabitants of the distant Hebrides : " The birds are all assembled, and the eagle is boasting of his strength. He can mount higher in the air than any other of earth's inhabitants, but is flatly contra- dicted by the wren, which challenges him, and a trial of their powers ensues. Eyeing his piiny rival with great contempt, the majestic eagle spreads his huge wings, in sign of acceptance of the challenge, rises up into the air with rapid gyrations ; not so rapidly, however, but that the wren has nimbly perched on the eagle's back, where it concealed itself among the feathers. Up rose the royal bird, high above the mountain ; up beyond those cloudy streaks of grey vapour; up beyond cirri and cirro-cumuli that float in the blue ether; up till he seems a mere point to goshawk and peregrine; up till he is at last compelled to stop for breath, gasping with swollen eyes and palpitating heart ; he can rise no farther, and, spreading wide his wings and tail, he floats in the dazzling light; he is satisfied the little vain-glorious thing which had defied him is left a mile behind at least. But lo ! up starts the wren from its concealed perch ; with a hop and a jerk of its tail, and with a glance of pride, it springs up into the regions, higher still, where it floats for a moment, and sings its song of triumph ; it seizes a feather from the eagle's neck, and descends to receive the prize, ' for strength is no match for cunning.' " Such at least is the Hebridean moral, as related by Macgillivray. In this " bosky dell," just under a mossy bank, which formed a coping to the wall, where a stone had given way, the nest was placed. It was large for so small a bird. Outwardly, it presents the appearance of a mass of decayed vegetable fibre, of an irregularly rounded form; its foundation is a layer of decayed ferns and other plants, herbaceous and voody. The outer wall of the nest is of the same kind of KESTS AND EGGS. material, interwoven with mosses of several species, which are fresh and green, curiously interwoven with fibrous roots and hair of various animals ; the inner surface is spherical, and smooth as a piece of felt, some three inches in diameter, and it is arched over with fern leaves and straws. To the height of two inches there is a lining of soft large feathers, chiefly pheasants and wood-pigeons' with a mixture of ducks' feathers. The oblong aperture in front is low and arched, two inches wide by one and a half in height ; its lower edge formed of slender twigs, herbaceous stalks and grasses, the filling or plastering being " made good," as a workman would say, in a very workmanlike manner. Some wren's nests are without the internal layers, and en- tirely of the hypna moss, others have the lining of the feathers of the domestic fowl ; and far away from human habitations, in the wild glens of the Grampians, the nest is found, in some rocky chink, in which an Alpine torrent flows between rough heathery banks, with overhanging blueberry twigs. Nor does the wren disdain altogether the haunts of men for its nest : a hole in a wall, in the thatched roof, in a tree, in an ivy-covered wall; in fact, it is not capricious in its choice, but readily adapts itself to circumstances. The eggs (fig. 15), five or six in number, are extremely delicate and pretty, of a rounded oval form, four- sixths of an inch in length and half an inch in thickness ; pure white, with some scattered dots and streaks of light red at the larger end, but varying in number of dots in different eggs even of the same nest. The CHAFFINCH is a constant resident on the skirts of such plantations as we have been describing ; avoiding the depths of the woods, and especially fir-plantations, orchards, and hedge- rows, the outskirts of copses and groves are its most favoured haunts. In the fork of a shrub, often on a tall tree, on the ivy-covered wall, or in a thick hawthorn hedge, its nest will frequently be found. Externally, it is composed of moss, covered with ashy -coloured lichens and interwoven with hairs and woolly fibres ; its interior is lined with feathers, mixed with cow and horse's hairs, and the seed-down of such plants as the thistle. The eggs (fig. 1) are four or five in number, of a regular oval form, about three-fourths of an inch long and half an inch thick, of a purplish-white or rather a reddish-grey colour, slightly spotted with reddish brown, with a few irregular lines of the same hue. 314 BIRD-NESTING IN WOODS AND HEDGEKOTTS. The HAWITNCH, or grasbeak, is becoming a rare bird in this country, being shot down by collectors for stuffing whereve* it is seen, and naturalists have expressed great doubts of its breeding in this island. It has, however, been not unfrequently found of late years in the hornbeam pollards of Epping Forest, and also in Lord Clifden's grounds at Koehampton, where two nests were seen in 1835. The nest was built at the extremity of the branch of a horse-chestnut tree, near the lodge, and was composed chiefly of the twigs of privet and birch, and lined with hair and fine grass; the nest is shallow, and the twigs loosely put together. The eggs (fig. 2) are three to five, of an ashy-grey colour, tinged with green, and marked with brown spots and bluish-black lines. The nest of the BULLFINCH is found in similar localities, but later in the season; about the beginning of May it begins to build its nest, being a loosely-formed fabric of dry twigs, placed at no great height on the fork of a spruce-fir tree, or hawthorn-bush, lining it with fibrous roots of small plants. It is a denizen of the woods, and rarely found where roots are absent, for it lives the greater part of the year in thickets and hedges, only betaking itself to the fields in search of seeds, and to the gardens in search of the seeds of flowers and fruits. The eggs (fig. 4), four or five in number, are of a broadish oval form, of bluish or purplish-white colour, spotted and streaked with purplish grey and reddish brown, about three-quarters of an inch long and a little over half an inch in greatest width. The bird is remarkable for its undu- lating flight, occasionally protracted, as it flits along from the hedges and roads ; it is an active, lively bird. The SISKIN, while it is found among us in considerable numbers, does not seem to breed south of the Tweed ; at least none of our naturalists have recorded more than an occasional pair. Macgillivray and his correspondents were more fortu- nate ; Mr. Weir, of Boghead, having observed the small nest of a pair built in the fork of a spruce fir. It was built on a branch, about four feet and a half from the ground, one side resting against the stem, and one of the best concealed nests he had seen. The nest is cup-shaped, with walls an inch and a half thick, and the interior of the nest an inch and a quarter in diameter, formed, externally, of hypna moss, held together by hairs and fibrous roots interwoven; the edgss interlaced with grass and root fibre ; the lining, half an inch thick, formed of seed-down and hairs densely matted together. 815 NESTS AND EGOS. The eggs of the siskin (fig. 3) are five or six in number, of an oval shape, five-eighths of an inch in length and half an inch in breadth. They vary considerably in their colour and markings, but the prevailing colour is a pale bluish-white, shaded at the thick end with purple and a few reddish-brown dots. BOCK AND WALL-BUILDING BIKDS. There are some birds whose breeding-places are neither woods nor commons, but wild rocky places, old nuns, walls near dwelling-places, and lofty trees near to houses. Most of the falcons and the raven belong to the first of these ; jackdaws and owls belong to the second ; starlings, redwings, sometimes the robin and the whitethroat, belong to the third ; the magpies and others of their congeners to the fourth. A vision of the past rising before us, presents the ruins of an old sixteenth-century castle, with pointed turrets ; the ancient * pleasaunce" has returned to a state of nature, overgrown with thickets ; a grove of ancient plane-trees, of the largest dimensions, occupy one of its sides. The castle is the haunt of the barn-owl, the jackdaw, and a colony of pigeons, which have almost become wild from the deserted state of the place. Among the trees a colony of magpies had established their home, as long as we can remember, and many a fruitless effort had been made to scale the trees, but their girth was all too large and the branches too high for tiny limbs to accom- plish the adventure. In the mean time, from this vantage- ground, Mag, watching her opportunity, had pounced upon and carried off to her castle many a young chicken, almost from beneath their owner's eye. At length the depredations could no longer be borne ; a war of extermination was declared, which only terminated when the last of the magpies was destroyed. The nest of the MAGPIE has been described ;j_ page 293. The eggs (fig. 20), from four to six, although differing" greatly, are generally oval in form, an inch and a half long, rather pointed, and about an inch in diameter. They are frequently of a pale green, freckled all over with brown and purple, rather a dusky looking egg, but handsomely shaped. The JACKDAW as well as the owl was a constant inhabitant in the ruins we have indicated. The former's nest is built in some dark recess, but generally beyond the reach of the curious, under 316 HOCK AND WALL-BTJODHfO BIRDS. some projecting coping or ancient waterspout. On a founda- tion of sticks a quantity of straw is laid, and a lining of feathers and other softer materials; here are deposited from four to seven eggs (fig. 22), of a broadly oval form, an inch and a half long and an inch in diameter, of a pale greenish blue or bluish white, with small round spots of dark brown or purple at the larger end, laid about the middle of May. The JER- FALCON never having been known to breed in this country, its nest is only known to us by description, and the eggs by imported specimens ; they are, in size and shape, like those of the domestic fowl, of a reddish brown, dashed over with irregular markings and spots of a darker shade. The peregrine falcon is becoming very rare with us, but breeds on many parts of our shelving rocky coasts, from the Isle of Wight to the Murray Frith, and at many intermediate stations. It is by no means particular as to its nest, and very commonly appro- priates one deserted by the raven, or some other bird, in which it lays its three or four eggs, of a deeper reddish brown than the jer -falcon ; two inches and an eighth in length, by an inch and three-quarters in diameter, blotched with a deeper brown and in larger blotches than the former. The elegant Falco ^salon, or MERLIN, haunts the heaths and moors which abound in the North of England and in Scot- land. Some authors say it builds a nest of sticks externally, thickly lined with wool, in the pine woods of Norway, which is at variance with the habits of the bird, as far as is known in this country, where it lays its four or five eggs in a hollow in the ground, without further preparation. Of the same reddish- brown with those of the peregrine and jer-falcon, but without the blotches, being slightly dotted over with greenish-black spots, the egg is about an inch and a half in length by an inch and a quarter in diameter. The KESTREL, which is the only falcon's egg our space per- mits us to illustrate, is more widely diffused, and better known than any of the other hawks. Breeding in rocks, in some old crumbling ruins, or in the trunks of hollow trees, and gene- rally appropriating the deserted nest of the jackdaw or the magpie, it lays four eggs (fig. 19), smaller than any of those previously described, being only an inch and a half long and an inch and a quarter in breadth, but strongly resembling that of the peregrine falcon in colour and markings. The eggs vary from three to five, are of a broadly elliptical or roundish shape, of a pale reddish-orange, patched all over 317 NESTS AND EGGS. with a dull brownish-red. The GOSHAWK has the largest egg of all the falcons, being in shape and colour as well as size very much lite that of the common duck ; it is scarce with us, but common in the North of Scotland, breeding, as Mr. Low informs us, on the rocks of the sea-coast, on the rocky Gram- pians, and on the wooded banks of the Dee. In the forests of Germany it builds in a high tree on the outskirts of the forest, laying three or four eggs of a bluish-white colour, two inches and a quarter in length by an inch and a quarter in diameter, and without spots. The egg of the SPARROW-HAWK is the most marked of all the falcons' eggs, but remarkable also for its variations ; it forms a roundish oval, an inch and four-eighths long by an inch and three-eighths broad, of an ashy -grey colour, covered at the larger end with brown blotches and streaks. The sparrow-hawk is most frequently found to appropriate the deserted nest of a crow or magpie. Sometimes the eggs are found on the ledge of a rock or some lofty cliff. Mr. Selby says it also builds a shallow nest in some low tree or thorn-bush, the material used being slender twigs, on which it lays. The OWLS make little preparation in the way of nests ; a hollow in the ground, lined with the compressed castings of the birds, or a similar accommodation in the hollow of some tree, the ledge of a rock or a hole in the wall of some ghostly ruin, seems all the preparation to which they have recourse ; on this bed, sometimes so shallow that the wind would seem able to roll their eggs away, the owls lay their two or three eggs, which vary much, both in size and shape, but are almost invariably of one colour ; a whitish blue, without spots, some of them round, others oval, more or less acute. He who would find the nest of the RAVEN must now follow him far from the abode of men, scale the rocky cliffs of the seashore, or the shelving rocks of remote hilly countries, the centre of a grove, or some ancient oak ; for persecution has driven this " bird of evil omen," as it is sometimes considered, away from its old haunts, the ruined tower or ancient steeple. Sometimes, however, it is still known to build its nest in some lofty tree, and if left undisturbed it will return successively for many years, refurnishing its nest annually with a lining of the fur of the rabbit and other animals. The nest is large, com- posed of a foundation of sticks crossed and plastered together with clay, with a lining first of fibrous roots, and inside a carpet of fur, wool, or hair. The eggs (fig. 21) are four, five, 318 ROCK AND WALL-BTJILDING BIRDS. or six in number, two inches in length and an inch and five- twelfths in diameter, of a dirty greenish brown, with thick blotches on the larger end, but with several important varia- tions, from a greenish grey with streaks of reddish brown, up to greenish brown in different eggs. The STARLING builds its nest early in May or towards the end of April, in the crevices of rocks, in caverns, in holes under grassy banks, in holes in a wall, or in the trunk of trees. It is a bulky structure, composed of grass and other plants, with a rough lining of hair and feathers. The eggs (fig. 24) are five or six, of an elongated oval form, of a delicate feeble greenish blue, and about an inch and a quarter long by three-quarters in diameter. The REDSTART, like the starling, places its nest in the cavity of a wall or the trunk of a tree, in the chink of a rock, or among stones. The nest is bulky, composed of fibrous roots and moss, plentifully lined with hair and feathers ; the eggs, six or seven, of an oval form, three-quarters of an inch long by half an inch in diameter, and of a light greenish-blue, and the favourite locality which it affects for nidification is the old wall of a garden. The RiNG-OuZEL, on its arrival in April, betakes itself to the open hilly country, sheltering itself in the furze and juniper bushes, i'" within its reach, in preference to any other. In this situation its nest is usually found; sometimes also under the face of a rough bank or in fragments of rock. It is composed of rough coarse grass, plastered internally with mud and lined with finer grasses. The eggs (fig. 30) are from four to six, of an oval form, about an inch long by over three-quarters in diameter, of a pale bluish green, freckled all over with pale brown. The red-backed shrike BUTCHER-BIRD, or fly-catcher, as this bird is sometimes called, is common enough round London, and in the western counties, especially among the orchards of Gloucestershire. It frequents the margins of woods, thickets, and tall hedgerows, furze-covered commons, and open downs in the north as well as the south, being, in fact, very widely diffused. About the middle of May, When buttercups and daisies deck the ground, And blackbirds whistle clear, by the borders of some grassy meadow, ere the oak or the ash have yet unfolded their buds, when the apple-blossom and the 319 NESTS AND EGOS. pink-eyed florets of hawthorn rival each other in the hedge- rows, the sparrow-like note of the shrike may be heard, and the bold black head seen, as he perches, sentinel-like, on some twig or spray. The nest is also found in some shady locality, a laige mass of twigs on the outside, with fibrous roots of plants and green moss, with an internal lining of hair, put together in a somewhat slovenly manner, not very unlike the nest of the missel-thrush, is the butcher-bird's performance. In this nest the red shrike lays four or five eggs, of an oval shape, about an inch in length by about five-eighths in breadth, of a reddish white, covered with brown spots, which form a band round it at the thick part. The nest is sometimes selected to receive the egg of the cuckoo, and the bird even bestows its paternal care on the young cuckoo when hatched. In the Linnean Transactions for 1861, a paper states that a pair of red shrikes were observed feeding a young cuckoo which was perched on the branch of an oak, a fact which has been confirmed by Temminck, who says that the cuckoo will sometimes lay its agg in the nest of this bird. SKELETON OF THE OSTRICH. PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. THE art of preserving objects of natural history, to which the name of taxidermy is sometimes given, from the Greek word implying the arrangement of skins, is of French origin and of recent date, probably not later than the present cen- tury ; the more ancient collections, including the celebrated one of Keaumur, having been only a simple collection of dried skins suspended on the walls of the saloon. The Germans appear to have been the inventors of a mode of preparing and setting up birds by placing feather over feather upon paper so as to imitate nature ; but they were very imperfect imitations, scarcely conveying an idea of the bird represented. In our day the taxidermist rivals Nature herself, studying the passions as well as the attitude and shape of the object he wishes to preserve. At the same time he has, by the use of scentless disinfectants, overcome much of the disagreeable smell which 21 PBEPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. lonnerly rendered a collection of preserved animal forms so offensive in a private house. Looking back, then, for about 200 years, we come to the age when the germ of the art of taxidermy was practised by Reaumur. In the cabinet of this learned Frenchman the first traces of taxidermy seem to have been found as now prac- tised, although it was in truth of a most imperfect kind. The ideas of Re*aunmr were caught up and described by Manduyt. The letters of Kuckau on the method of embalming birds succeeded. Several zealous disciples followed, and in 1797 the Abbe Manesse published a method of collecting and arranging animals, and preserving their skins. The poisons and aromatw products were the materials he employed at first, but he after* wards abandoned these for the acids and alkalis. Daudin, in his " Ornithology," quotes all these processes, and adds to them those of Dufresne. About 1801, Nicolas published his method of preserving animals of all kinds, for which he made use of a paste or pomade consisting of camphor, potash, alum, oil of petral, and a kind of liquor which had the property of tanning the skin. But these preservatives, and many others, have been superseded by the composition of Becoeur,* which is the only one employed in the present day, especially for large The art of preparing and stuffing any animal is one of great simplicity, but requiring clever manipulation, good taste, and habits of observation so as to note the attitude assumed by the different animals. Every one can, with a very little preparation, be made to perform the process ; but this is not sufficient; as in painting and other fine arts, so there is an immense gulf between the mere mechanical process by which a bird or animal is set up and mounted, and another in which the exact form and attitude is imitated, and the divers colours which ornament it are preserved. In order to imitate its attitude, the manners and habits of the species must be * The arsenical soap prepared by Be"cceur was as follows : Five ounces of camphor, two pounds of arsenic (in powder), two pounds of white soap, four ounces of white chalk (in powder), and two ounces of salt of tartar. Mix the ingredients by melting the soap, previously cut into thin slices, in a pipkin, with water, and over a gentle fire. When melted, add the salt of tartar and chalk, and withdraw the pipkin from the fire ; now add the arsenic, stirring it in by degrees with a wooden spatula ; then, having reduced the camphor to a powder in a mortar, add it to the mixture, and stir till thoroughly incorporated, adding spirits of wine, till it is of the consistence of a thick paste ; pour it into jars, and cover, when cool, with a bladder, and put it away for use, marking it " Poison." PEEPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. studied profoundly ; not less so, indeed, than is required from the painter ; and he who would succeed in the art of mounting animals, must have something nearly approximating to the painter in his powers of observation and representation. Some writers have attempted to reduce the various attitudes assumed by animals to a rule. Conventional arrangements of this nature have no counterpart in nature, and must result in abortions outrageous to good taste. There is only one rule to be followed by those who would follow and represent nature. Study the habits of your model, and understand well the anatomy of the animal to be reproduced. Then only can you hope to impress the natural and life-like character which really belongs to it. The means of preserving the skins of vertebrated. animals from insects is now pretty well understood. The Memoirs of Duhamel, Pinel, Chaptal, and some others, possess informa- tion of great value. To these Dupont has added his own practice, to which Swainson, the Bowditches, the late Captain Brown, and Mr. Waterton, and some of their more humble practical followers, as the Gardeners, Wilson, Cooke, and some others, have scarcely left anything undiscovered. And now taxi- dermy, in the hands of many men of great ability and obser- vation, has reached a point of great perfection. I must not forget, in my enumeration of artists, the ad- mirable collection of life-like animals which ornamented the German section of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Those re- markable specimens of the taxidermist's art were exhibited by H. Ploucquet, of Stuttgart, and represented a boar-hunt and a stag-hunt of the natural size, and the same in miniature; groups and nests of different birds of prey ; several hawks pouncing upon their prey; numerous groups, in which stuffed animals are made to imitate the attitudes and actions of men, with such an expression of comic intelligence as will not soon be for- gotten by the spectators who gave their attention to the subject. They were, perhaps, the most beautiful specimens of the art ever produced ; at the same time, the mirth-exciting groups owed quite as much to the comic invention of the artist as to the taxidermist's art. It is almost impossible to estimate the extent to which a taste for natural history has been promoted' by this art ; for if, at first, curiosity has been the chief motive which led to its pur- suit, that motive has been inevitably followed by a higher one, namely, the study of the habits and actions of animals, which A5D STUKTWe ANIMALS. leads to other habits of observation; and many a collection com- menced from motives of mere curiosity, as it increased in ex- tent, has of necessity led more or less to the study of compara- tive anatomy. The art which brought the facts together, and which necessarily leads to analysis, conducts insensibly to synthesis to tracing effects to their cause. Even the capture of the animals makes the collector acquainted with the peculiar habits of different species. The chase makes him acquainted with the instinctive shifts by which animals of all kinds evade their pursuers. HINTS TO TKAYELLEES. An internal decay, named putrefaction, tending to sepa- rate, and resolve the components of the body to its elements, attends all animal and vegetable substances immediately after the vital principle crtos ; and unless this tendency to decay is counteracted, the form and characteristics of these bodies would soon become valueless, either for the investigations of science or as the objects of a rational curiosity. There are various processes by which this is accomplished. In the case of birds, and most animals, this is done by removing the skin and drying it, after purifying it by preservatives. Others, as serpents and smooth-skinned animals, are preserved by being plunged in liquids which have the power of checking this tendency to decomposition. Water dissolves divers parts of certain bodies, not by checking decomposition, but, on the contrary, by accelerating it in some cases. Water charged with alum acts as a preser- vative on skins of animal fibre, but in so weak a manner that it cannot be relied on for any constant results, especially when the skin is charged with common salt ; its use is limited to fruits, which it will preserve for some time. The spirits of turpentine, sometimes employed, damages the tissues, and has a tendency to become thick and viscous, and should be avoided. Oil may preserve some animals, as mollusks and certain fish. Sea-salt, or muriate of sodium, presents no advan- tages as a preservative ; it alters both the form and colour of objects submitted to its influence. Some fishes with very thick and hard ski is are subjected to it with advantage ; however, in such cases it should be frequently changed and fresh salt added. Employed with care, it may be used when arsenical HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. eoap or paste cannot be obtained in sufficient abundance. A solution of the finest table- salt in water is even recommended by some as a substitute for alcohol ; but it is doubtful 1 if this has been yet sufficiently tested. Corrosive sublimate has been proscribed by Peron, the French naturalist, who enumerates its defects ; but, carefully employed, and taking proper pre- cautions to avoid its poisonous effects, it is highly effective in a variety of eases. The sublimate salt operates as a rapid, enduring, and energetic desiccating medium, reacting power- fully upon all animal matter, modifying its character in a peculiar manner, and rendering the matter subjected to it unalterable when it has been sufficiently saturated. Exposed in the open air, it facilitates drying and prevents the slightest movement towards decomposition in the skins. The sublimate seems to combine entirely with the air; the liquor, which contains only a weak proportion of this very insoluble salt, is soon exhausted unless the precaution is taken to add fresh sublimate from time to time, as the process of saturation goes on. Filially, when the skins will no longer absorb the liquor, the preservative process is complete ; they are then laid out to dry. But the medium for preserving on which we may rely most securely is alcoholic liquors, especially brandy or spirit dis- tilled from the vine. Arrack, rum, and spirits distilled from grain, while they serve the purpose, are less adapted for Ecological preparations than the spirits obtained from the vine; and where it is necessary to employ the alcohol of the country, the most highly rectified spirit will be found best adapted to the purpose. Nevertheless, alcohol has the dis- advantage of deteriorating the tissues as well as disfiguring them, and tte strength of the liquor should be reduced in order to avoid this. The more perfect the transparency of the liquor the better is it adapted for the purpose. Pure alcohol destroys the colour of animals immersed in it ; much concentrated, it destroys the animal tissues. Alcohol united with acids has been very successful, when diluted with water. For larger animals, however, the strongest alcohol may be used. In the absence of pure alcohol or spirits of wine, add to the spirits of the country some dissolved camphor, which, without adding to the strength of the liquor, is found to be sufficient for the preservation of most animals ; while the camphor protects the colours from change. A mixture in the proportion of two parts distilled water and one part alcohol, adding two ounces of sulphate of aluminum to every quart of the liquid, is recom- PBEPABING AND STRIPING ANIMALS. mended; bnt the liquor prepared by M. Guyot, having a high reputation in France, is made as follows : Take twenty pints of the best Cognac brandy, and withdraw by distillation five pints ; add to what remains equal parts of well water and a pound of the green flowers of lavender, and again distil them to dryness. This done, take twelve parts of the spirits of wine which has been distilled. Mix them with sixty -nine pints of well water, and add to the mixture equal parts of the liquid furnished by distillation. This is the Guyot preserving fluid, which is per- fectly pure and limpid, and of a bitter taste and slightly aromatic smell, containing only one part of alcohol to thirty of water. Monro adds small doses of nitric or muriatic acid to this liquor. Euysch used spirits of wine distilled with the black powder of cardamine ard camphor. Before immersing objects of natural history in this liquid, they should be carefully washed in many baths of pure water at a moderate temperature, more especially all marine animals and Crustacea, which would be destroyed without this precau- tion. When immersed they require to be watched, and the liquor rendered weaker or stronger, as may be required. " The spirituous liquor," says Dufresne, " is still preferable to all other modes of preservation." We recommend to travel- lers to put into the spirit all the fish they preserve ; but let us indicate the precaution to be taken for their transport. In long voyages furnish yourself with little barrels, holding from thirty to sixty pints, with iron hoops. At one of the ends make a species of valve, with a bevel about six inches long, fill the cask with the liquor to about two-thirds. When you have a fish to preserve, and having taken note of all connected with it, roll it up in a piece of linen and tie it, attaching to it a piece of wood on which a figure has been carved corresponding with that in the note-book, and plunge it into the liquor through the valve, which is again hermetically closed. Should the fish show by the swelling ovarium that she is full of eggs, they should be removed by an incision in the anus, plunging the knife towards the anterior part of the ventre, and extracting the eggs, which would soon escape, and reduce the liquor below the required strength, if left in the fish. Aa a layer of fish is deposited in the barrel, a layer of cotton should follow, so as to prevent them from shaking with the motion of the ship. The barrel should net contain more than two-thirds of fish, the remainder being made up with cotton and liquor PROCURING SUBJECTS. The preservation of serpents requires still fewer accessories. Smaller species are usually plunged at once into a bottle of spirits, previously making a cut in the abdomen, by means of which the spirits can be introduced so as to preserve the intes- tines from decay. In the larger species skinning becomes necessary, when great care is required to avoid injury to the scales, as much as must be taken with the tails of lizards. The head also requires some care, being the most valuable characteristic of its zoological character. PKOCUKING SUBJECTS. He who would be his own procurator as well as his own curator must rise with the sun, or, rather, before it. The equipment required, supposing the locality fixed upon to be within walking distance, is a warm rough coat, which is not too cumbersome and which will not be damaged by brushing through the underwood, for the objects of our search lie in the depth of the woods ; strong boots and leather gaiters, for he will have to dash the early dew from many a blade of grass ; a game-bag well furnished with inside-pockets, in which the smaller birds or animals may be placed when secured, and subjected to such necessary preparation as can be bestowed on them on the spot. Besides these, a box or boxes in which such eggs as fall in his way can be deposited. He has next to provide himself with a gun, that indispens- able object of the fowler's occupation. My own practice is to keep a gun at two or three farmhouses in the country where I am known, choosing the best localities I can conveniently select, and when I require specimens or my leisure permits, I can either slip down by a very late or very early train, and be on the ground I have selected by early dawn. My gun is a double-barrel, 13 bore. I load one barrel with two drachms of the best powder and an ounce and a half of No. 8 shot; the other with the same quantity of powder and No. 6 shot. I am thus prepared for whatever may turn up : with the smaller shot I can bring down any of the smaller birds without injury to the plumage, and should any of the larger kinds come in my way, I am also prepared for them advantages which are obviously unattainable with a single barrel; for, to shoot a small bird with the larger shot would be to tear it all to pieces, and render it quite unfit for stuffing. The bird being shot, I AND STUFFING ANIMALS. have found by experience that it is best to let it lie until the blood round the wound has coagulated, and then, carefully pulling the surrounding feathers on one side, I remove it with a penknife, put a little cotton-wool into the wound and also into the mouth. After this I smooth down the feathers, wrap it carefully in a sheet of soft paper, and place it in one of the pockets of my knapsack, while I pursue my sport. I am quite aware that some fowlers prefer the smaller dust- shot ; and for some of our more delicate birds, as the golden- crested wren, the bottle-tit, and some others even in our own country, and the humming-birds of the tropics, I believe that the concussion of the powder and wadding is enough to bring them down. But I think less damage arises from No. 8 than even the smaller shot, inasmuch as the latter is thrown in a denser mass against the bird, and does infinitely more damage to the plumage. Having provided himself with the necessary appliances of his intended sport, the young naturalist has next to consider the character of the object of his pursuit. All animals have their assigned place in creation. Some are only to be found in the corn-fields ; others haunt the woods ; while others again abound in rocky and mountainous districts, on the sea-shore, or on the river's bank ; and he who has set his mind on any par- ticular object must acquaint himself with the locality which it affects most. It is equally indispensable to know the best season for its capture or destruction ; that is, the season when its fur or plumage is brightest, or when the skin is in the most proper state for preservation. Nor is it unimportant, in anticipation of a successful search, to know the hour of the day at which it is abroad. It has been attempted to construct a floral time-piece ; another might be constructed of greater exactness, calculated upon the basis of the regularity with which animals pursue their avocations : some creatures are only abroad at noon-day ; others, like the lark, are abroad with the dawn. At night the nightingale becomes the most prominent songster of the grove : " An April night Would be too short for him to utter forth His love-chant, and disburden his full soul Of all its music 1 " Accordingly it is pretty well established that the nightingale, if it does not sing all night, sings late in the summer even- ing and early in the dawn. Farther on in the night the owl is PBOCUBING SUBJECTS. heard haunter of ancient ruins he flits about with melan- choly, sepulchral sounds, with his Too-whoo, too-whoo ! fitting sounds for the " ivy-mantled tower," his usual abode. Some knowledge of the animal or bird which is to be the object of pur- suit is thus indispensable. In the season of reproduction, when incubation has made some advance, it would be both wicked and cruel to destroy the female. Again, in the moulting season, it would be waste of time as well as cruelty to attack them. The best season, perhaps, is the early pairing season : the plu- mage or fur is then most brilliant ; the migratory species have recovered from the effects of their long journey, and their lives are redolent of hope and joy. It is, perhaps, a piece of cruelty to intercept so much happiness ; but then how are collections to be made without exposing collectors to the -charge ? In my own experience I have found the best localities to be some one or other of those long green lanes, between high hedgerows, which form the charm of our rural scenery. If an occasional clump of young plantations intervene, there will be found the titmouse, chaffinch, yellowhammer, and most of our songsters, in great abundance ; and should there be a watercourse by the side of the hedgerow, blackbirds and thrushes will be found. For larks you must look in the open grassy fields, or among the waving corn in summer ; in winter they nestle and shelter themselves under the broad leaf of the turnip and other green crops. Magpies, jays, woodpeckers, and the wood-pigeon haunt the more densely -wooded districts ; and there also must the owls and the falcon tribes, which breed with us, be sought. Books, as is well known, affect some ancient grove near some ancestral home, the loftiest branches of which they colonize, hundreds of them together ; whilst the carrion crow, often confounded with the rooks, builds in some solitary tree in a hedgerow. Star- lings are found in short decayed trees and deserted towers, when not assembled in flocks. I have a kindly recollection of one of these amusing birds which I once possessed. His usual morning's salutation to me was a " Good morning, sir. Pretty creature. Jacob's mistress pretty creature," Jacob being his own name. He would then imitate the canary so closely as to render it nearly impossible to distinguish one from the other in the lower notes. The haunts of the moor-fowl, dabchick, and coot, and other fresh-water birds, are, of course, widely different from these localities. Among the flags and reeds by the river-side their PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. neete will be found. There also the reed-warblers build a nest, which they suspend by means of a glutinous clay to the stumps of four reeds, idjusted to it so exactly, that while it almost touches the water, the most boisterous wind rarely immerses it. The water-ouzel builds a nest and lives in it under some old mossy bank overhanging the water of some running stream, and in similar situations the kingfishers are found to nestle under the bank sometimes in the hole of a water-rat. Nests and eggs are somewhat foreign to my present pursuit, but I cannot avoid giving a word of advice on this subject. Both are important accessories to mounting birds, and I find great advantage in using the real nest and eggs in that way; unfortunately the nests are generally too bulky to be easily moved. I find the most convenient way of preserving the nest is to wrap cotton round it until I get home. As for the eggs, I dispose of them for the moment in round wooden boxes filled with cotton-wool, which I provide myself with for the purpose. On reaching home, I take the eggs and bore a small hole at each end with a small drill, which I make myself by filing a piece of wire to four square sides, and then to a sharp point ; having drilled a hole with thia point, I blow out the contents of the egg with a small pointed blow-pipe and place a label over the hole containing the name of the bird. I recommend the young collector to do what I did place the eggs back in the nest until he gets perfectly acquainted with it. In this manner I preserved, and made myself acquainted with a large collection of good eggs. While on this subject I may mention some of the various places in which many birds construct their nests, so that the learner may have some idea where to look for such birds or eggs as he may require. The kestrel and sparrow-hawk usually build in trees in woods, or they take the deserted nest of a rook or crow ; owls, woodpeckers, titmice, wrynecks, nuthatches, and starlings, frequently build in the hollows of old trees ; blackbirds and thrushes in old stumps, a little above a bank near to some watercourse; nightingales nestle among the dead leaves at the bottom of a thick hedge, requiring sharp eyes to distinguish them from the mass of leaves ; the missel- thrush, or storm-cock, as he is sometimes called, chaffinches, goldfinches, and greenfinches, build in orchards, near dwelling- houses ; while the larger falcons and eagles build on precipitous and nearly inaccessible rocks. The kind of cabinet I would recommend for eees is a stout ? .. oo PKOCUKTNG SUBJECTS. case, three feet high, a foot and a half wide, and a foot deep, the four top drawers two inches deep, with twenty-seven divi- sions for eggs, the fifth drawer three inches deep, with forty- five divisions, the bottom drawer four and a half inches deep, with six divisions : in all making nine drawers. A small piece of wadding should be put into each compartment, to keep the eggs from contact with the wood, and cracking. I have already said that winter is a good season for procuring birds in fine plumage. On the approach of winter those birds that remain the whole year with us assume their thick wintry garb ; but except in very severe weather most animals are difficult to discover at this season. The animals which hybernate have now sought refuge in their holes ; the mice and reptiles are concealed in the bosom of the rocks and crevices of walls ; nature has sealed up in her frozen caves the fish and other inhabitants of the deep. The season of love, therefore, is the most favourable one for the naturalist, as the moulting season is the worst. The sexes have then assumed the nuptial robe. They are more easily approached at that season also ; there is, therefore, reasonable hopes of a successful expedition. With the exception of the hare, fox, and rabbit, there are hardly any of the mammiferse of this country on which it is necessary to hunt with the gun ; and to shoot a fox is, in most English counties, a high crime against the social laws. But if Reynard is wanted he must be found. His den is in hilly countries crowned with copse wood, over the bank of some stream or under a bank of furze, and, ten to one, if there is a retired hen-roost within a reasonable distance of it, he will not require to be sought, but may be met prowling about it half way, at early dawn ; in this case he is fair game, at least to the naturalist who wants a specimen ! We need hardly tell where a hare or rabbit is to be found ; in a corn or turnip field, or in young plantations and grass meadows, they will be found gambolling about at early dawn, from September to March, after which they are sacred till the season rolls round again. Mice, rats, weasels, and other mammiferae, may be taken in traps, or destroyed in many ways when found. Some of them, however, as the weasel, are difficult to find when wanted. It is generally during the night or evening such creatures venture abroad. There are a few precautions to be taken with skins of ani- mals. To prevent damage to the fur large shot is used, as we have seen. Spots of blood may be washed from the fur either PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. before or after skinning, and generally the same steps may be recommended for the feathers of birds. It sometimes happens that after death a viscous humour issues from the beak and nostrils, moistening and .injuring the head feathers. It also happens that some of the birds of prey, and certain water-birds, will disgorge portions of the food which remains undigested in the crop, and this is calculated to damage their plumage. To prevent these accidents, the fowler, as soon as the bird falls, should either proceed to arrest the flow of blood, or leave it to congeal, and then proceed to stuff the beak with cotton, and tie the upper and lower mandibles together by means of a thread, the object being to prevent the plumage from being soiled by any evacuations whatever. After this, if the bird is a large one, dispose of it in such a manner that the feathers are not disturbed ; if, on the contrary, it is small or of middle size, and delicate plumage, slip it head foremost into a paper bag, or cornet, such as grocers use for small packages, and place it in the pockets or boxes in the bag. Birds taken in the snare require the same care ; they are easily killed by pressing the sides of the breast opposite the heart, or even the throat, between the finger and thumb, and placing them in the paper-bag when dead. Birds taken by means of limed twigs generally have the plu- mage much soiled by the bird-lime, which it is necessary to re- move before it gets hard. It is removed by using a little fresh butter or olive-oil, rubbed on the feathers. When the lime and the butter are thoroughly mixed which is indicated by the lime losing its adhesive power scrape the feathers one by one with the edge of a scalpel, or knife, until every particle of the grease is removed, when it may be washed with water containing a strong solution of potash, and finally with pure water, drying them by dusting plaster of Paris over them. Soap lees or sulphuric ether are better adapted for washing feathers im- pregnated with fatty matter. One thing the naturalist fowler should not forget is to note the colour of the eyes of the animal, in order to replace them in the stuffed specimens ; for all species confined in cages lose part of their natural colours in confinement, and present little of the freshness either of eye or plumage which distinguishes the wild animal. REPTILES are chiefly to be sought for in May and June ; in these months they have generally just changed their skin. They require less care than either of the preceding class of PBOCTJKING SUBJECTS. as the glossy skin which covers them requires fewer precautions for its preservation. The species which can be captured with least injury, as the chelonians, or tortoises, have their softer parts protected by a special organization or shell. It is other- wise with the saurians and ophidians, or lizards and serpents. Here, to real danger in the pursuit, is added the difficulty of taking them without injuring the external skin. In the lizards, for example, especially those of small size, the skin is so deli- cate that the slightest blow damages it ; and it is extremely difficult to procure them without such violence. Some persons recommend that they should be approached without being dis- turbed, and struck on the back by a slight blow with a small pliant twig or cane. This blow, could it be delivered, would suffice to break the vertebral column, and thus effectually pre- vent them from running away. But the first difficulty is to approach them unperceived. It is like putting salt on the bird's tail ; and when they can be so approached, the blow must be very slight indeed, in order to avoid breaking the skin, and yet strong enough to accomplish the end in view, which requires discrimination. In fact, they are not easily obtained. The spring is the period when it is most desirable to attack them. At the commencement of this season, the sun, for which they crave, leads them to issue from their winter retreat, while the heat in which they display themselves seems rathei to render them torpid than to vivify them, as it does later in the season. Slow to move at this season, they will suffer themselves to be approached without stirring. In this state their hole may be covered with a handkerchief, and their re- treat cut off. Having no place of refuge, they may now be caught by the hand without injuring them, taking care at the same time to avoid their bite ; not that it is dangerous, but it causes a considerable bruise and a livid contusion. The tail is very fragile, and must neither be seized nor struck. Never- theless, in spite of every precaution, if it is separated from the body, it should be secured, and, with a little ingenuity and care, it may be replaced in mounting. The chase of ophidians is, without contradiction, a dangerous occupation, the bite of many of them being venomous, but their skin is less delicate than the lizard's. They are slower in their motion, and consequently more easily secured. Should any of my readers have a fancy for this pursuit, which, I confess, I have not, let them furnish themselves with a pair of long- handled pincers and a bag made of skin, with a mouth formed PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. with two semicircular rims attached, and tested and secured by a cord ; the bag being sprinkled over copiously with snuff, the trap being laid and baited, when the reptile approaches it the pincers are employed, and if they are adroitly used, the serpent is introduced into the bag, which instantly closes, and the serpent soon dies, for snuff is a deadly poison to it. BATRACHIANS, or frogs and toads, are neither dangerous nor difficult to take. They are cold-blooded, slow, and heavy, and cannot escape by flight. They haunt dark and humid places, and the safest way to take them, so as to avoid injury to the skin, is to seize them with the hand, either naked or gloved. With the exception of the larger species, reptiles are not usually mounted. The vivid and brilliant colours of the majority of them are extremely beautiful, and are best preserved in spirits of wine. FISH are captured by many different processes : in soft water by line and bait of many kinds ; in the sea these means are insufficient, but give place to other processes, on which we need not enter here. Fish are sometimes stuffed, but generally are only divested of the intestines, and plunged into alcohol ; sometimes the dead skins are mounted on paper. CRUSTACEA are preserved for a long time in salt water. After many years in this water their colours are only slightly altered. They may be transported to any distance in this preservation of colour. This process preserves the animal perfectly intact. MOLLUSKS are procured with equal ease, but they are un- fitted for mounting. The animal discolours, and even gets as hard as horn, without some means of preserving it in its natural state. They are generally sought for their shells. INSECTS. Among insects, butterflies and moths are the most attractive ; and in indicating the locality in which they are to be found, I might content myself with the well-known advice of an eminent entomologist, in reply to a similar question, " Search everywhere," I will, however, specify a few places where I have found some of the most beautiful of them. The white admiral, distinguished by the silvery blue and browr markings below, with bands and spots of pure white, is found in June and July, its favourite haunt being oak woods in Kent, Essex, and Sussex, and, I believe, also in the north of England. The purple emperor, so named from the splendid purple of its wings, is also a denizen of the woods, being found near Colchester in the Great and Little Stone Woods, in the Forest of Dean, in Darenth Wood, and other and similar locali- SKINNING AND PREPARING BIRDS. ties. Others, as the wood white, are found near fields of legumi- nous plants, and are very generally diffused. Another, which is often mistaken for it at a distance the marble white has, on a nearer view, streaks of black and a pale yellow, feeds chiefly on grasses, and is found in Sussex and Hampshire, and on the Surrey hills in July and August. But my space does not permit of my entering on this interesting subject further, and as I cannot return to the subject, I shall here say a few words on the best mode of killing and preserving insects. Some col- lectors carry chloroform in a small bottle. When an insect is captured, a little chloroform is dropped on the blotting-paper at the bottom of the box in which it is placed ; this kills the insect ; but the more usual way is to give it a quick nip between the finger and thumb just under the wing, which kills it instantly. It is then transfixed by passing a pin through the thorax, fixing the sharp point in the cork of the box. On returning home set it out in the following manner : Having provided yourself with a setting-board, which is sold at any of the naturalists' shops ; place the body of the insect in the centre of the board in which there is a groove to receive it, so as to let the wings spread out smoothly without any curve. Having spread out the wings very gently, take four pins and four small pieces of cardboard of an angular shape, with the base rounded off; place the pointed end over the four tips of the wings just far enough to hold them down, and fix each down firmly to the board by passing a pin through the card into the cork. All the beauty of the preparation depends on the wings being evenly spread and lying smooth on the board, and care only is required to make them lie so. SKINNING AND PKEPAEING BIRDS. In skinning and preparing the animals whose capture we have been plotting, certain instruments are necessary. These are, 1. a case of scalpels ; 2. a knife with toothed blade sharp towards the point, the other a straight blade ; 3. two pairs of scissors of different sizes, one six inches long, another ten inches, and one with a short blade, the other straight and sharp- pointed ; 4. two pairs of cutting-nippers ; 5. two pairs of pliers for stretching wire, one stronger than the other ; 6, a smith's portable vice for holding the wire ; 7. a scoop for removing the PREPARING AND STUTFIN& ANIMALS. brains ; 8. many files of different sizes and grains, from five to twelve inches long ; 9. a quantity of iron wire of different sizes ; 10. a hand-saw ; 11. a small hammer and some nails of different sizes ; 12. some flat files, needles of different sizes, bodkins with triangular blades; 13. pencils in horsehair and badger-hair, the one for spreading the arsenical soap, the other for smoothing the feathers; 14. thread and cotton for sewing up and stuffing the skins of animals; 15. three stuffing- wires about seven, twelve, and eighteen inches long; 16. a pair of caliper compasses; 17. several stilettos, or bodkins, varying in length, bradawls of different sizes, and a supply of arsenical soap or paste, which is prepared according to the following prescription: To four pounds of white curd soap add one pound of arsenic and one ounce of camphor; cut the soap into thin slices and dissolve it in one pint of water. When melted, add the arsenic and camphor, stirring them well up together, and boil again until the substance of a thick paste is attained, and pour it into jars while hot. When cold tie it up carefully with bladder, and it will retain its qualities for years in any climate. A useful preservative powder is prepared as follows : To four pounds of alum add one pound of arsenic and two ounces of the flour of sulphur; mix them well together and pound them in a mortar to break the lumps. The use made of this powder is to rub it into the skin during the process of skinning. The wire used in bird and animal stuffing varies from two sizes smaller than a pin, used for the smallest birds, as humming-birds ; to two sizes larger than a pin, used for sparrows, canaries, and similar sized birds and animals. Black- birds, thrushes, oreoles, and others of the same size, require two sizes larger again ; while squirrels, hares, and foxes among quadrupeds, and the eagle among birds, require a wire strong in proportion to their size.* With these implements all kinds of fl.nima.1a may be skinned and mounted whose size does not exceed that of the wolf. Larger animals amateurs will probably be disposed to leave to professional hands. In skinning a bird, having first provided all the articles for anointing the skin, a little fine tow cut short, a little cotton- * Arsenical soap, preservative powder, boxes containing all the requisite .instruments, corked boxes, and apparatus for butterfly collecting, and glazed cases of all sizes, may be obtained in great variety at Messrs. Buffon & Wilson's, Naturalists, 391, Strand, London. SKINNING AND PREPARING BIRDS. irool, and some absorbing powder, either burnt alum powdered, flour of sulphur, or plaster of Paris ; and having stuffed a little cotton into the mouth, and tied or sewed the mandibles together to prevent the mucous discharge which sometimes takes place, to the great injury of the plumage, lay the bird on its back on a bench or table covered with a clean white cloth, with the head towards the left hand of the operator ; part the feathers carefully on the breast, and with a sharp knife or scalpel, the handle of which it will be convenient to have with a spatula, make an incision from the sternum or breast-bone to the vent, just deep enough to cut the skin without penetrating the flesh or intestines. Eaise the edge of the skin with the sharp edge of the handle of the knife, and turn it back, cutting with the knife where necessary, until the thigh-bone is reached. Having done so, seize the leg and foot with one hand and the skin with the other, and push the skin forward over the thigh until the middle joint condyles of the thigh-bone become visible; cut this through so as to leave the thigh-bone and leg attached to the skin. Having done the same with the other side, the lower part of the bird is entirely divested of its skin as far as the tail. Having introduced the blade of a small knife between the skin and the back -bone, under the root of the tail, draw it upwards so as to cut through the rump-bone, taking care that the skin is not injured in so doing. Now lay hold of the carcase by the rump-bone with one hand, or, better still, attach a hook to the rump -bone and suspend the carcase by it, and draw the skin gently but forcibly towards the head ; the skin will readily peel off as far as the wings, the plumage being of course inverted. The wings are now separated from the bod/ by cutting off the humerus, or fore-arm, where it joins the body. The skin will now fall over the head, and, by gently pulling it over the vertebrae of the neck, the crown will be exposed. The bird is now as represented in the engraving ; the 22 m PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. kin inverted and drawn over the head, the femur or thigh- bone attached as well as the first .vertebrae of the tail b, the articulation of the humerus or pinion-bone c, where it was separated from the body, the membranes of the ear d, with- drawn from their cavities e, and the skin cut round the cavities of the eyes /. The head is now separated from the body at the last vertebrae, or rather a little beyond, being cut through the occipital opening a, to facilitate the removing the brains, which are withdrawn through the opening. The carcase is now entirely disposed of. The next operation is to remove the fleshy parts from th head and cheekbones, clean out the occiput or cavity, and fill the opening as well as the orbits of the eyes with cotton-wool, having first given them a good coating with the preservative paste. Having replaced the flesh removed from the cheeks and crown with soft tow, turn the skin back over the head. The wings are now to be skinned as far as the humeral bones by pushing the skin backward over them ; the bones are carefully cleaned, all flesh, muscles, and tendons removed, the bones as well as the skin covered with the preservative paste, and tow or cotton-wool wrapped round them to replace the flesh and give the appearance presented in life ; the skin is then replaced. The legs and thighs now undergo the same process. Taking hold of the feet, the skin is gently pushed back over the tibia, or leg-bones, to the knee-joint, and the flesh and tendons re- moved ; by passing the knife round the head of the bones, the flesh and tendons will be found to strip off cleanly from the bone ; a coating of soap is now given to the bone and skin, the bone is covered with tow so as to give its natural appearance, and the skin replaced ; the same operation is performed on the vertebrae attached to the tail, the flesh being removed as far back as the insertion of the tail feathers, the skin and bones stripped, covered with the soap, and the skin replaced as before. The entire skin now receives a coating of the preservative paste, and is ready for stuffing and mounting. It is impor- tant that, as these different parts are finished off, the feathers should be arranged and made to fall into their places while the skin is damp, otherwise it may be difficult to get them to lie smooth and in their nattaral order afterwards. ^ The process we have just described is applicable to all land- V)irds, and to most water-birds also ; but there are some, as the SKINNING AND PREPARING QUADRUPEDS. penguin, dabchick, and some others, whose natural position is nearly upright, and their breast plumage thick, white, and feathery ; from their upright attitude, sewing up the breast would leave a very obvious mark in the pure white plumage. To obviate this defect, the cut is sometimes made in the side under the wing; I myself prefer making it in the back, where I can rely on finding plumage to conceal the stitches. In other respects the process is the same ; but all sea-birds being very oily in their flesh, it is more necessary with them to use some absorbent for the fatty matter and blood a subject I have purposely avoided, in order to prevent confusion in my descrip- tion of the different processes. There are, indeed, several modes of performing the operation of skinning, differing in their details, but alike in all essentials, the object being to obtain cleanliness, and avoid soiling the plumage. Mr. Waterton employs for this purpose soft cotton- wool, with which he covers the carcase up to the knife, pushing it forward as the skin is raised ; others use burnt alum pounded to a powder, and flour of sulphur. The French naturalists use powdered plaster of Paris. For my own part, from long prac- tice, I can skin almost any animal without the slightest stain on the plumage ; but to those who have not had my experience I would recommend plaster of Paris, as perfectly efficient, and being the least offensive powder. It should not be too copiously applied, but just dusted over the body as the skin is removed in sufficient quantity to absorb the moisture, and no more. It is also useful in removing any stain from the plumage, and is easily brushed off when dry. Mr. Waterton also uses corrosive sublimate dissolved in Bpirits of wine as a substitute for the arsenical soap, and this composition is strongly recommended by other naturalists, but I have not found anything so perfectly satisfactory as M. Becour's soap. At the same time let me remind the reader that it is a very deadly poison, and should be applied with great caution, with gloves, on the hands, kept for the purpose, to prevent its getting under the nails or other parts, and that it should never be suffered to be about within the reach of children or animals ; moreover, that it should always be marked " poison " on the jars. SKINNING AND PREPAEING QUADRUPEDS. The fox admits of most picturesque attitudes and accesso- ries, and will admirably serve our purpose as an example. PKEPAKI5& AND STUFFING ANIMALS. Therefore, Keynard being procured, we need not say how, lay frm on his back in the same position a8 before recommended ; and, having first stuffed the mouth with cotton and tied it up, and measured his neck and body with rule and calipers, and noted them, proceed. Make an incision from the last rib nearly to the vent, but not quite up to it. Having done so, pro- ceed to raise the skin all round the incision as far as the thighs, first skinning one side and then the other, using the flat end of the knife in preference to the blade to raise the skin. Having reached the hind legs, separate the latter at the femur or thigh-bone close to the back-bone, leaving the legs attached to the skin. Now skin the head-quarters close up to the tail, and separate it from the body at the last vertebrae, taking care not to injure the skin. Pull the skin over the heads of the hip- joints, and now the carcase may be suspended by the hind- quarters, while the skin is stripped by pulling it gently and cut- ting towards the fore-quarters. The fore legs are separated from the body, as the hind ones had been, close to the shoulder-bone, and the skin fairly pulled over the head and close to the nose, when the head is separated from the body by cutting through the last vertebrae of the neck. Eeynard is now skinned, the head, legs, and tail being all attached to the skin, from which the carcase is separated. The flesh is now cut entirely away from cheek-bones, the eyes removed, the brains taken out by enlarging the occipital opening behind the cranium, the whole cleaned and suppled with a coating of arsenical paste, and stuffed with tow or wool to the natural size. The legs are now successively skinned by pushing out the bones and inverting the skin over them until the foot-joint is visible ; every portion of flesh and tendons must be cut away, and the bone cleaned thoroughly, and a coating of arsenical soap laid over it as well as the skin. Wrap tow, or cotton, or any other suitable material, round the bone, bringing it to its natural shape, and draw the skin over it again. Do this to each leg in succession, and the body itself is ready for stuffing and mounting. The utmost care will not prevent accidents: the fur and plumage will get sullied, and before stuffing it is well to ex- amine the skin, for stains and spots are calculated to deteriorate its appearance. Grease or blood-spots may be removed by brush- ing over with oil of turpentine, which is afterwards absorbed by dusting plaster of Paris over; Macgillivray recommends PREPARATIONS FOR REPTILES. that all skins, whether they are to be put away in a cabi- net or stuffed, should receive a washing of spirits of turpentine sprinkled on, and gently brushed in the direction of the feathers or fur. Not to trust too much to memory, it is desirable to measure and note the proportions of the animal before skinning, first taking the muzzle to the tail. Afterwards, from the junc- tion of the tail to the tip. Secondly, from the middle of the shoulder-blade, or scapula, to the articulation of the femur, or thigh-bone. Thirdly, the animal being placed on its side, measure from the upper part of the scapula to the middle of the sternum that is, to the spot where the two sides meet above, and finally from the socket of the scapula to the socket of the articulation of the femur or thigh-bone. In addition to these, note, by measurement with caliper compasses, the size of the head, the neck, the tail, and other points which affect the shape of the animal. These measurements will serve as a guide in stuffing, and for the size of the case and length of the mount- ing wires. In the process of skinning, it is important to avoid penetrating to the intestines, or separating any of the abdominal muscles which lead to the intestines : any such accident would be very disagreeable, as well as injurious to the skin. PREPARATIONS FOR REPTILES. In preserving reptiles, many different modes are adopted by different naturalists. The first and most simple of all usually employed by travellers, is to put them, when small in size, into a vase or bottle of spirits of spirits of wine, for example but before plunging them in, it is necessary to make an incision in the belly, so that the liquor may enter the interior of the body, and preserve the intestines. This may be employed for lizards, frogs, toads, serpents, and for all reptiles not too large. For the larger kinds, as the crocodile, for instance, it is neces- sary to skin them ; and this is done in the same way as in the larger mammiferse, only their skins being excessively hard and provided with scales, it is necessary to prolong the incision from the belly to the throat. Without turning the skin inside out, raise it from the body. For the turtles, it is necessary to have recourse to a hand-saw ; their envelope, especially in the terrestrial species, being so hard that it cannot be cut. The plastron, or breastplate, is separated from the carapace by making an incision on each side, and cutting through the skin which surrounds the anterior and posterior members with a MUSPAKENG AND STUFFING ANIMALS. scalpel, thus leaving the plastron free, and withdrawing all the intestines from the place. The skin ia now removed from the other members, which are furnished with a paw so hard that it is necessary to cut it open from top to bottom in order to remove the fleshy parts beneath the shell. With re- gard to the head, the skin need not be completely inverted, because the plates or scales upon it can be detached from the superficies ; it is only necessary, therefore, to scoop out the eyes without damaging the orbits and the brain, enduing all the parts thoroughly with arsenical paste before covering them with the tow on which the shell is to be replaced. The breastplate thus restored is held in its place by means of iron wire properly inserted. Some serpents are so large that it is necessary to skin them in order to their preservation. This is sometimes done by making a cut round the neck immediately behind the head, raising the edge of the skin round the incision, and drawing the body through it, thus turning the skin inside out, a process which might, in some instances, be attended with danger as well as difficulty. A more convenient process is to make a longitudinal incision into the belly, but a little on one side, taking care to avoid damaging the large scales by cutting on one side of them. This done, the skin is raised by means of the scalpel, the head separated from the body at its last vertebrae, leaving the head attached to the skin. When entirely sepa- rated from the vertebrae, the brain removed, and the cavity cleaned out, cover the inside of the skin with a coating of arsenical paste, or wash it with spirit of turpentine and sew it up neatly, placing a layer of cotton-wool under the seam, taking care not to catch it up with the thread so as to prevent the stuffing from showing itself through the interstices. This done, fill it with dry sand, or, better still, with sawdust or bran. It is important in all instances to preserve the head of serpents as perfect as possible, as on its construction much of the zoological character of the animal depends. PRESERVING AND SKINNING FISHES. The same means applied to serpents may be employed for preserving fishes ; but before putting it into practice the fish must be washed in a mucilage which prepares them for the spirit in which they are to be preserved. This is best done by PRESERVING AND SKINNING PISHES. making an incision under the belly, a little on one side, so as to avoid cutting the fins ; then, raising the skin from the sides by the handle of the scalpel, separate the body from the tail, and turn the skin towards the back in order to save the dorsal fin, detaching the body from the head near the occiput, and withdrawing the gills in order to wash and dry them. The skin is now ready either for stuffing, sewing up, and mounting, or for stretching between sheets of paper, which preserves its colours ; in this process the fins are afterwards fixed upon plates of cork or cartridge-paper by means of pins. There is not much to commend in this last> process, for the fins, which are the most striking characteristics of the fish, soon become defaced. PRESERVING CRUSTACEA. Small Crustacea are easily pre- served by plunging them into spirits, or even into chalky water, in which they may be preserved some time ; after which they may be taken out and dried. Marine salt also preserves them ; but for larger species other means must be employed, which approach to the skinning process although not quite belonging to it. In order to get rid of the fleshy matter and the gills, it is necessary to raise the shell which covers the back of most of the species. The carapace, as the shell upon the back is called, is replaced, after covering the bed with arsenical soap and stuffing with cotton to replace the flesh removed. The shell is held in its place by being gummed round the edges. When operating on species furnished with formidable claws, the smaller opposing claw may be removed, the flesh ex- tracted through the orifice, and the claw restored to its place. Mollusks, as the occupants of these shells are called, are some- times covered by a shell, in other species the body is always naked. Both the marine, fluvial, and terrestrial species, may be preserved in alcohol. The shelless mollusk may be other- wise preserved alive; but those with the shell, where it is desired to preserve that appendage apart from the animal, the only mode is to plunge it into some spirit in which it can only live a few minutes ; when dead, it is easily withdrawn from its shell by means of a piece of wire. When it is wished to preserve the shell and bring out its fine colours, a weak solution of nitric acid is employed, brushing it with a hard brush ; for a second washing use pure water. After which it is again plunged into fresh water to remove any of the acid which may remain, when it may be wiped dry with a soft rag, and a coating of oil applied which brings up its colours. PBESEBVING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. There are some marine creatures, such as the star-fish, echinites, and some others, which are dried with very littlo preparation. The echinites are difficult tc preserve, however, with their spikes, and the only certain mode is to place them in spirits of wine, and wrap them up in linen, which may b< double or even triple when they are to be carried any distance. It is necessary first, however, to put them in fresh water in order to make them disgorge certain saline matters, withdrawing them afterwards and putting them into a dry place. STUFFING AND MOUNTING BIEDS. Skins are sometimes kept so long as to have become hard and dry ; or they may be the skins of other climes which it is desired to stuff and mount. I have already given directions for preserving and moistening the skins of larger animals, but there are hundreds of skins of birds and small animals sent daily from India, Africa, America, and various other places, which re- quire a different mode of treatment from those that are stuffed immediately after being skinned. These skins, by the time they reach England, are of course very dry, and require to be thoroughly relaxed before they can be brought to a fit state for stuifing. One plan is to get an earthenware pan with a lid, and put three quarts of silver sand in it ; after well washing it, drain the water off and put a sheet of blotting-paper on the top of the sand, and on this place the dry skins, as many as will cover it without crowding, then put the lid on and allow them to remain several days, when they will be found quite fit for stuffing. Another method, which I find to answer very well in most cases, is to take the wadding carefully out of the skins, damp it, and replace it ; then get a clean damp cloth and roll the skins in it ; by this process, in the case of the skins of small birds, they will be ready in twenty -four hours, when they .can then be stuffed in the manner I am about to describe. In the case of birds of paradise and humming-birds, whose skins are extremely delicate, it is found sufficient in practice to suspend the skins over damp tow or moss after unstuffing them. The same remark applies to specimens requiring remounting, the old stuffing being drawn, out with a hooked wire and re- placed by wet tov, while a wet cloth is folded round, the skin Boon becomes moist and pliable, unless they have become very hard indeed, when hot water, or the bath already described STUFFING AND MOUNTING BIRDS. might be used. I assume, however, that we have to do with a recently removed skin which requires no such preparation. Having all the required materials at hand, which consist of some fine cut tow or cotton-wool, or both ; suitable sized wires, a stuffing wire (which consists of a strong wire, one end of which has been beaten out into a spoon-like shape), a pair of cutting- nippers and pliers, and the other tools already described; lay the skin on its back, as before, with its head to the operator's left ; take a piece of wire of suitable size, and of sufficient length to project an inch or so beyond the head and rump of the bird. Having filed both ends to a point, t ake a piece of cork long enough to reach from the rump to the si le bones of the wing, pass the wire through this piece of cork e_M double up one end of it so as to form a loop or staple, the loose end of which is also fixed in the cork. Now proceed carefully to stuff the head and neck if not already done, imitating the form of the head and the muscles of the neck to the best of your ability. This part of the process, as well as stuffing the head, requires great care ; no inequalities of surface must appear except those natural to the attitudes and natural muscles of the part. The head stuffed, let it be carefully examined, and any defects in the stuffing cor- rected ; this may be done by means of a hooked wire or pointed bodkin inserted through the openings of the eyes ; but it re- quires great care, otherwise the orbits may be irretrievably injured. Having arranged the head and neck in a satisfac- tory manner, bearing in mind that all parts of the skin and bone should be covered with soap or some other preservative, the pointed wire may be pushed up the stuffing of the neck, and through the crown of the head, until it projects an inch or so beyond the cranium. Two other wires are now selected of sufficient strength to support the bird ; these are also filed to a point at one end, and of a length suited to the legs of the bird, and are passed through the feet by the side of the leg-bone. One end of the wire is left projecting three or four inches through the foot ; the other end, after being regulated to a suitable length, and bent so as to accord with the shape of the body, is pushed through the cork at the point where the legs were separated from the body, and firmly riveted into it, or at least twisted at the opposite side. According to some methods, no cork is made use of, but a loop is formed in the body wire at this point, to which the wires of the leg are twisted on each side, and the place of the cork PREPARING AND STUFFING ANIMALS supplied by stuffing ; in either case the position of the legs is a very important element of success. In posing a bird, the talons should never extend beyond the rump-bone, but much will depend on the attitude the bird is to assume. Where the tail is a small one, and is intended for a sitting or perching bird, the single wire loop attached to the cork will generally support it. But where the tail is long, or is intended to be expanded, a second wire of smaller dimensions is used ; this wire, being filed to a point, is also bent in the form of a staple, with a broad or narrow exterior according to the shape of the tail to be supported. The sharp points of this staple are forced through the portion of the rump-bone left attached to the tail, and inserted into the cork, while the bone rests against the first wire, which thus acts as a fulcrum to the tail. The bird now shows, as represented in the en- graving, the body wire occupying the centre of the body, and coming jut zi *He tail and through the cranium bottfccr the eyes, while the wires of the lcgt> and wings are attached by a loop to the body wires. The process of stuffing the body now commences ; the tow or other material used being wound round the wires until something like the shape of the bird is attained. The legs and thighs claim particular care ; the wires which represent the tendons may be twisted in any direction, but considerable skill will be required to represent truly the form of the thighs and bend of the knees. The set of the tail also requires much care ; the flesh and bone removed are replaced by tow or cotton-wool, which is pushed in with the stuffing wire. The operation of sewing up is now performed, during whicl the stuffing is completed, all vacant places being filled in with, soft tow or cotton by means of the stuffing wire. As the work proceeds, the caliper compasses will now be found useful if the previous measurement of the dead bird were carefully made. The sewing should be very neatly done, with fine cotton-thread, taking care that none of the feathers are caught by the thread. STUFFING AND MOUNTING BIRDS. The stuffing and sewing up finished, and the feathers brushed and placed in their proper order, a perch is provided for the bird if it is a perching bird. Two holes are bored in the perch at proper distances, through which the wires of the feet are pushed and riveted on the other side. The wings are the next consideration. Having fixed upon the position they are to occupy, cut two pieces of wire of suf- ficient length to carry out the design ; if they are to lie close to the body, a small wire passed through the first pinion joint through the stuffing, and into the cork, will keep them in their position. When they are expanded as in flying, the tail must be expanded also ; in this case the wire should be long enough to support both joints of the wing, through which it is passed into the cork in the body. I am not sure that one wire long enough for both wings would not be an improvement on this arrange- ment. Each end of the wire being pointed, it could be pushed through the joints and the wire twisted into the required form, support being given to the wings by cardboard, cork, or by double wire, as with the tail, where they were too heavy for one wire. And now, it is only necessary to fix the eyes, which 13 done in various modes : some eyes, being provided with a shank, are stuck into the matter used for stuffing the head, using a little gum round the edges ; others fix them in with a little putty ; the orbits are dressed and painted, the feathers neatly arranged in their places ; and some naturalists wash the whole surface with rectified spirits of turpentine, both as a preserva- tive and to give gloss and brilliancy to the plumage. The operator's taste may now be displayed in giving the finishing touch to the setting of the bird. If the work has been well executed, and the wires firmly inserted and riveted, the neck, head, wing, feet, or tail, may be twisted in any direction without fear of dislocation, and a good memory will enable him to give it a natural and life-like appearance. The attitude must of course rest with the operator ; but a few words on the subject may direct his attention to certain ana- tomical results which should accompany particular attitudes. A bird seizing its prey, for instance, stretches out its leg with extended claw and with head and neck bent forward, wings raised in an arched form, and tail spread out vertically, and the body also bending forward. In flying, the wings are spread out to their whole extent, the tail in a line with the body and ex- panded, the claws closed, and the legs drawn close to the body. In a bird surprised, the side on which the alarm has originated PKEPABING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. is raised, the wing on that side slightly elevated, the head turned in the same direction, and the foot advanced, the tail drooping, but raised slightly towards the point of alarm. Perhaps, how- ever, the tyro will obtain a better lesson on this subject than we can give by studying the attitudes given to birds in the sketches of Mr. Harrison Weir, some of whose drawings illustrate the series of books to which this belongs. The Landseers, Ansdell, Wolff, and several artists of well-known repute as painters of animals, may also be studied with advantage. But his task is not yet finished ; however carefully the skin- ning may have been performed, there will be a difficulty with some of the feathers. In order to keep them in their place, and get them to be smooth, it is sometimes necessary to dress them with a modeller's iron, heated, taking care that the iron is not hot enough to scorch the feathers. Having got them into a proper state, the French curators bind long bands of soft paper round them to keep them in that position, fixing the paper by means of pins, as in the engraving. My own practice, and, I believe, that of most English naturalists, is to keep the feathers in their place and position by winding cotton- thread round them. By this (means, having smoothed a feather into its proper curve at the hollows and twists of the neck, for instance, by winding a thread round it in two or three places while it is damp I can be certain that it will retain that position when dry; the thread wound round the body keeps every feather in its place. This, I think, cannot be accomplished by a paper band, however skilfully placed. STUFFING AND MOUNTING QUADRUPEDS. Before commencing operations, it is necessary to have the materials which are to form the carcase at hand/as well as the wires which are to form the framework, which must be propor- tioned to the size of the animal. Cut the wire into five pieces, rf which four are for the limbs and the fifth for the body Thii STOPPING AND MOUNTING QUADBUPEDS. last is the frame to which all the others are attached ; for mam* mifers which have a tail of any length, it is necessary to have a sixth wire, a little slighter than the others, to represent that appendage ; each wire intended for the limbs and tail being, of course, as long as it is intended to make the member, with six inches over to insert in the board rm which it is to be placed ; the central wire or framework the length of the animal ; and a third longer, for loops and projections. Commencing with the tail, which is made up of the vertebrae cleaned as far as possible from all fleshy ligaments, whose office is now performed by the wire which has been thrust through them ; round these tow is wound in regular order, until it has acquired in its whole length the necessary degree of thickness : this done, cover it well with a coating of arsenical soap or cor- rosive sublimate, and, thus prepared, introduce it into the caudal envelope in such a manner as to resemble the natural tail of the animal. And now the wires for the fore legs, being reduced to the proper length, are inserted into the foot and pushed through by the side of the bone, and tow is wound round them in ouch a manner as to represent the muscles and flesh upon the limbs, terminating, as in the case of the tail, at the upper part; the limbs, being each, in their turn, thus shaped and covered with a coating of preserving paste, are inserted in the skin, the wire projecting through the centre of the foot ; but as it is not always possible to give the exact form to the limbs in this stage of the operation, it is attained afterwards by stuffing cut wool into the parts to fill out to the proper shape of the model. The hinder limbs are prepared in the same manner, but with greater difficulty, from the complicated character of the tendons. At the Musee de I'Histoire Naturelle at Paris, Madame Char- pentier gets over the difficulty by taking out the tendon and replacing it by a second wire, which is made to enter the bone of the foot, and is afterwards attached to the knee-bone. The bones of the hind leg being properly endued with preserving soap, the form of the limb is exactly imitated and inserted into the skin, as we have indicated for the others. The four members and tail thus disposed of, the head demands the utmost attention, especially the lips and eyes. The arrange- ment of the lips consists in replacing the fleshy parts, which have been removed, by stuffing. The cotton-wool is not suffi- ciently plastic for this operation, and requires to be well mixed with arsenical soap, so as to form a sort of thick paste of the fKEPAKING AND STUFFING ANIMALS. consistence of putty. With this the form of the animal's lips are moulded, or modeller's wax may be used for the same pur- pose, so as to fill up the more delicate fleshy parts, which have no hairy covering ; the cheeks being stuffed with fine cotton- wool, retained in its place sometimes by a piece of fine calico, which surrounds the head, the whole being covered with soap The skin is now drawn over the whole as far as the cartilages of the ears, which are sewed on and fixed in their place. The sixth wire or framework is now fixed in the middle of the body, from the neck to the tail, penetrating the bones of the head between the eyes, as represented in the engraving, the wires for the four feet and tail being attached in the following manner, having previously surrounded the wire with tow approximating to the thickness of the neck of the animal: At the junction of the anterior members with the body, a loop is made in the body wire to which those forming the limbs are firmly attached ; a cork is sometimes placed at the end of the body wire, to which the tail is attached, as in the case of birds, but in general the wire which forms the tail is only twisted round the central wire in such a manner as to form a sufficient fulcrum for carrying the tail. All the wires being attached, and the members placed in the position they are to retain when the animal is mounted, the stuffing may pro- ceed. We have now to do with the neck, which was roughly stuffed to receive the body wire. It now requires more careful stuffing with fine material to bring out the contour and mus- cular swellings. This should be stuffed with great care, first giving it a coating of soap; no void must be left near the head, nor must it be thicker than in nature. As the opera- tor approaches the body, as much natural form should be In sewing np, also, the suture of the two given as possible. STUFFING AND MOUNTING PISH. edges of the skin should be neatly executed so as to be covered with the hair, commencing at the breast, which permits the tow used to be more easily supplied when it fails, the stuffing should be finished as the sewing proceeds; using a stuffing- wire and fine tow or cotton-wool for the purpose. The animal is now fixed upon the board it is to occupy, four holes being pierced in it at proper distances, the lower extre- mities of the wires, forming the limbs, are placed in them, and riveted beneath the board in such a manner as to render the figure of the animal immoveable. And now the eye of the artist comes into play ; the attitude which is most natural to the animal when living is now to be imitated, and on the taste of the operator will depend whether the imitation is successful or not. The mouth is now to be arranged, and the lips moulded into form, the nostrils reduced to order and filled with cotton to hinder them from shrivelling. Finally, the orbits of the eyes are put in proper condition to receive artificial eyes, which are held firmly in their place by an application of gum to the edge of the pupils, while the ears are held to their places by pieces of cardboard or linen, occupying the place of the cartilages. And now the animal is left to dry, during which it should be looked at daily to see that the skin does not in drying get puffed out in some place, or show differences in another acci- dents which should be remedied at once by means of the bodkin already described. STUFFING AND MOUNTING FISH. In most fishes there is a line from head to tail in the middle of the body. Place the fish on its side, and, with a sharp knife or pair of scissors, clip the gills ; then proceed to clip the skin from head to tail down that line ; a paper-knife is the best thing for dividing the skin from the body. Having separated the skin from one side, cut the back -bone through at both ends, and proceed to skin the other in the same way. Remove tne eyes, and a little flesh under each eye, and rub the skin well in the inside with preservative, and sew up the skin again, begin- ning at the tail, and sew up by degrees, as it is fitted to its proper shape, using wet bran, putting a flat piece of wood in the middle of the body, with two pieces of wire fastened in it, to support the fish. The wood must be the length of the fish. Be careful to mould the fish to its proper shape while it is damp ; then let it dry. PBEPAKING SKELETON LEAVES. Gather the leaves from the middle of summer to September, put them in one gallon of soft water, let them soak for almost a month, and then take out a leaf and try it ; if it is ready, the green coat will rub off directly and leave the fibre ; some will take two months before they are ready; but you can always tell by rubbing the leaf rather gently. After ob- taining the skeleton of the leaves, place them in one quart of water, with two table-spoonfuls of chloride of lime, well mixed; let them remain about twelve hours, and they will be perfectly white. Keep them in a close box until you want to use them. The best and most ornamental way to mount them, is to get either round or oval shades and gilt or black stands ; cover the stand with velvet, black or coloured, accord- ing to taste, and then arrange the leaves so as to form a pretty group ; when the shade is placed over it, with chenille, it will be a very handsome ornament. SKELETON OP THE RKINDEBB. CRIES & CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. A POPULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE NOTES EMPLOYED BY OUR COMMONER BRITISH BIRDS IN THEIR SONGS AND CALLS. With JVCusieal Illustrations BY C. A. WITCHELL, Author of "Evolution of Bird Song," dec. LONDON : L. UPCOTT GILL, 170, STEAND, W.C. 1899. PRINTED BY THE " SURBITON TIMES," LIMITED, SURBITON HILL, S.W PREFACE. BIRD-LANGUAGE is a fascinating subject, expressed, as it often is, in pleasing tones, and accompanied by interesting gestures of the bird which employs it, or of that to which it is addressed. Unfortunately, this theme is a rather difficult one to investi- gate, necessitating much close observation before even the alphabet of bird-language the call-notes and the alarm-cries can be understood. It is with a view to lessen this difficulty that the present work has been undertaken, the immediate object of the author being to so describe the notes of our most familiar birds that the reader may easily acquire a tolerably intimate knowledge of them, and thus be led to make indepen- dent observation in a new and delightful region of scientific investigation. There is not the least doubt that in every part of the country many individual birds exhibit interesting variations from the common language of their species ; and these variations, which might be so suggestive and valuable to the scientist, are un- noticed, simply because the people in the vicinity have never troubled themselves to acquire a knowledge of the habitual notes of the species in question. To avoid repetition, the reader is here referred to the subsequent notes on the sparrow, chaffinch, and cuckoo, for illustrations of this argument. yiii PREFACE. The author hopes that readers who acquire a knowledge of the usual notes of the birds mentioned in these pages will proceed further in their investigations and observe and record the variations above mentioned, so that ultimately the much wider theme of the evolution of bird-song may rest upon a basis of observations conducted over a very large area by a pro- portionate number of investigators. This book contains no classification in the ordinary sense of the word; and yet the author has followed the common scientific method of passing from the general to the special. In this case, the commonest species (within certain limits) are treated first, and the commonest and most noticeable cries of each species have precedence, the object being to facilitate the observation of the reader rather than to impose upon him any particular method of conducting his investigations. The standpoint from which the relative commonness of species is surveyed is neither the sea nor the plain, but an ordinary English country town surrounded by a woodland district. With reference to the musical notation in this book, it must be borne in mind that there is no instrument which will auto- matically reproduce the different tones of birds, and that differ- ence of tone or of timbre is generally more important than difference in musical pitch. The thrush, for instance, often repeats two notes in the interval of the cuckoo's call, and in the same " time " ; but notwithstanding this, he never cries "cuckoo." I think that the notation in question is best in- terpreted by whistling it with the mouth, which is rendered easier by first playing the passages on a piano. In some instances syllables are written under the notation, to suggest the bird's tone. I have omitted notation of the blackbird, PREFACE. IX thrush, robin, and lark, because each one of these sings some- Avhat differently from others ; and in the case of a former publication containing the music of these birds, several readers, not hearing the particular birds in their gardens give my music, at once concluded that my records were wrong, whereas it would have been indeed wonderful if my birds had sung the same notes as theirs. CHAS. A. WITCHELL. Eltham, February, 1899. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. TOWN BIRDS. Birds heard in and near Town Gar- dens : SPAKKOW. ROBIN. STABLING. HEDGE-SPABBOW. BLACKBIBD. THBUSH. GBEAT-TIT. BLUE-TIT. COAL-TIT. CHAF- FINCH. GBEENFINCH. SWALLOW. HOUSE- MABTIN. SAND-MABTIN. SWIFT. BBOWN WREN. BLACKCAP. - - TBEE-CBEEPEB. - GOLD-CBEST. ROOK. JACKDAW. CBOW. OWL. REDWING - 1 40 CHAPTER II. WOODLAND BIRDS. Birds heard in and near Woodland Gardens: MARSH-TIT. LONG-TAILED TIT. NUTHATCH. SPOTTED FLYCATCHEB. PIED FLY-CATCHEB. BULLFINCH. REDSTABT. WHITETHBOAT. - GABDEN - WABBLEB. - LESSER WHITETHBOAT. CHIFFCHAFF. WILLOW- WHEN. NIGHTINGALE. YELLOW BUNTING, OB YELLOWHAMMEB. - - CIBL - BUNTING. - COBN-BUNTING, OR COMMON BUNTING. TREE-PIPIT. WOOD-PIGEON. TBEE-SPABBOW. LESSEE REDPOLL. GOLD- FINCH. HAWFINCH. CUCKOO. SKYL ABK. CONTENTS. X PAOK MlSTLE-THBUSH. LiANDKAIL. - - JAY. - MAGPIE. LINNET. WOOD-WKEN, OB WOOD- WABBLEB. - - WBYNEOK. - - PABTBIDGE. - LES&EB SPOTTED WOODPECKEB. GBEATEB SPOTTED WOODPECKEB. GBEATGBEENWOOD- PECKEB. TUBTLE-DOVE. - STOCK-DOVE. PHEASANT. FIELDFABE. STONECHAT. GBASSHOPPEB WABBLEB. NIGHTJAB. BuTCHEB-BlBD, OB RED-BACKED SHBIKE. KESTBEL. CBOSSBILL. MEALY REDPOLL - 41 70 CHAPTER III. UPLAND BIRDS. Birds heard from the Upland Gar- dens : PEEWIT. MEADOW-PIPIT. WHEAT- KAB. TWITE. WHINCHAT. QUAIL. RING- OUSEL. ROCK-PIPIT. RKI>G:ROUSE. RAVEN 71 73 CHAPTER IV. WATERSIDE BIRDS. Birds heard in and near Riverside Gardens : SWANS, DUCKS AND GEESE. WAG- TAILS. SEDGE- WABBLEB. REED- WABBLEB. - MOOBHEN. SISKIN. REED- BUNTING. - COMMON HKIION. KINGFISHER. DIPPEB. - COMMON SAXDPIPEB. REDSHANK. CUBLEW. - DUNLIN. RINGED PLOVEB. GOLDEN PLOVEB. COOT. COMMON SNIPE. LITTLE GBEBE, OB DABCHICK. HOODED CBOW. MABSH-WABBLEB - - - 74 80 Naturalist anfc Sayifcermist, TETBURY, GLOUCE^TEI^HIRE, BIRDS' EGGS, SKINS, SHELLS, LEPI- DOPTERA, & APPARATUS OF ALL KINDS For the use of Taxidermists, Oologists, Entomologists, Ac., Ac. BIRDS AND ANIMALS Stuffed and Mounted Naturally at Reasonable Prices. References to Collectors in all Darts of the Kingdom. DETAILED PRICE LIST ON RECEIPT OF STAMP. Established 1883. NATURALISTS, 36, STRAND* LONDON, W.C. (Fire Doors from Charing Cross.) Every description of Apparatus and Cabinets of the best make for Entomology and general Natural History, &c. Finest Stock of British and Foreign Butterflies, Beetles, Birds' Eggs, &o., in the Kingdom. A large Stock of live Pupae of British and Foreign Lepidoptera kept on hand from October to April. Collections of Natural History Objects, carefully named and arranged. New and Secondhand Works on Entomology. Our New Label List of British Macro-Lepidoptera, with Latin and English Names, Is. 6d. Our New Catalogue of British Lepidoptera (very species numbered), Is. ; or on one side, for Labels, 2s. Taxidermists' Took, Artificial Eyes, &c., kept in stock. Non-poisonous Preservative Soap, Is. per box. A magnificent assortment of Preserved Caterpillars always in stock. Birds ana Animals stuffed and mounted in the best style by skilled workmen. One each of all the British Butterflies, in a case, 25s. A FULL CATALOGUE SENT POST FREE ON APPLICATION. CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. CHAPTER I. TOWN BIRDS. Birds heard in and near Town Gardens. Sparrow. Robin. Starling. Hedye- Sparrow. Blackbird. Thrush. Great Titmouse. Blue Tit. Coal- Tit. Chaffinch. Greenfinch. Swallow. House-Martin. Sand-Martin. Swift. Brown Wren. Blackcap. Trec- Creeper. Golden-Crested Wren. Rook, Jackdaw, and Crow. Owl. Redwing. The Sparrow. THIS is the commonest bird of the town. It is noisy, and its language is therefore particularly suitable for preliminary investigations, the more especially because some of its notes may be usefully referred to in describing some similar notes of other species. The commonest cries of the sparrow differ with the seasons, but perhaps the most noticeable ^cry is that of spring, a sound which may be suggested by " chissick." It is the cry of the B 2 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. male, which, perched near his nest or the site of a nest, will repeat this cry at the rate of about one per second, for minutes without a rest. It is obviously addressed to the female bird, and sometimes, when she approaches, the cry is repeated more quickly and at a higher pitch indicating the excitement of the performer. The cry varies somewhat in different birds, but it nearly always contains only two syllables. On three occasions, however, I have heard three given (" chississick "), and this suggested the beginnings of a more elaborate cry. This variation should be carefully noted whenever observed. Although the adult female sparrow never cries " chissick,'' the young birds of both sexes utter it in practically the same tone as the adult male, though less sharply. From August to December this cry is abandoned. The next note which may be mentioned is one given by the adults at all seasons of the year, but never by the young. It is often employed as an alarm-note, and indeed it appears to be always of the nature of a warning, except when it is given in attempts at song. This cry may be called " tell " ; but it is not often uttered singly, and it may therefore be more aptly given as " tell, tell." This is especially used when a hawk is in the neighbourhood, though at some distance, or when the nest is threatened by another bird or by a cat. Both sexes utter it, but chiefly the male. When a male gives it repeatedly from an elevated perch, and the other sparrows are keeping near trees or low bushes, there can be small doubt that he is watching the movements of some hawk or other bird which he fears, and is acting as sentinel to his companions. A common incident of sparrow life is the noisy clustering, and what looks like fighting, of many birds around one. It is no fight properly so-called, but is a group of males around a TOWN BIEDS. O female, to whom they are " showing off," and whose attention they seek to engage, not only by display, but even by bumping against her and pushing her lightly with their bills. She resents these attentions, rattles her bill (thereby producing a sound like " gup-gup," which is analogous to the noise of the gnashing of teeth by an angry dog), and she certainly pecks and pinches her persecutors. They, be it known, never pecjc her in retaliation, but each seems fully satisfied if he can prevail on her to attack him rather than any of the others. I have twice seen the female in one of these clusters hold a male suspended in her bill, and a writer in the Field witnessed a similar incident. Finally, one male is left master of the ceremonies, and he continues to hop about and " play " to the female, undisturbed by rivals. The female, during these noisy riots, continually repeats one of the alarm-cries, a sound which may bs suggested by " shikikikik " pronounced very rapidly. This alarm-note is very commonly employed towards the young when they are in danger. It always consists of many syllables, never of one, like the " tell, tell " cry. There can be small doubt, however, that it originated in the repetition of one cry ; and, indeed, I nave heard the " tell " cry gradually repeated faster and faster until the " shikikikik " was produced. The most emphatic alarm-note of the sparrow is a curious rather low note, never repeated rapidly. It may be rendered " tourr," or " tear," or " tyaaa." This is the particular note always employed when a hawk is near. It is also given occasionally under other alarming circumstances, as when a sparrow is surprised by another animal, or when a man ap- proaches with a gun. In the autumnal months sparrows are very abundant in the B 2 4 CBIKS AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIKDS. fields,' and drift in large clusters along the hedges. When one of these companies is disturbed, it rises uttering quite a chorus of one cry a short note which may be suggested by " whee." The cry is often inflected slightly, so as to sound like " whea " or " wheey," and it is repeated with rapidity directly propor- tioned to the urgency of the occasion. This may be termed the autumn call ; but it is also heard at all other seasons. It is addressed to the young to lead them from place to place ; and in winter, when the sparrows are settling to roost in the thickets, the perched birds commonly call in this tone to the others which are passing above. Both sexes have this cry when adult ; but it is never uttered by the young. In the breeding season sparrows sometimes utter a repeated loud note of rather plaintive tone, which may be written " tew- tew-tew." It will generally be noticed that this note proceeds from sparrows hopping about in the spouting. It is the sparrow's love-note. Both sexes utter it, although, from the fact that the pair generally give it at exactly the same pitch, the whole seems to be produced by one bird. I have some- times, however, heard it given at a different pitch by male and female, proving that it is not solely the accomplishment of either sex. The female seems to make most use of it, and gener- ally accompanies it with a fluttering or shaking of her wings. The male sparrow, when perched comfortably in sunshine, often rehearses his vocabulary in a way which indicates an attempt at song. If reared under birds of another species in a cage, the sparrow has their notes, and not sparrow notes, though he retains the sparrow tone of voice, and he may then become quite a pleasing singer. The faculty of mimicry would nevertheless seem to be very latent in the wild sparrow, for though for many years I have closely listened for any sign of it, TOWN BIRDS. O I have only heard one bird imitate, and that one very cleverly reproduced the alarm-cry of the starling. Curiously, some time after, my brother, Mr. E. N. Witchell, to whom I had not mentioned the incident, heard a sparrow in the same place imitating the " twink, twink " alarm of the blackbird, and " the whistle" of the chaffinch. There is a curious note which I have heard from sparrows in London, as well as in many parts of the country : it seems to be a song-note, and is given only by the male. It is a short double cry, the first syllable descending rapidly in pitch, and the second, in fuller tone, ascending slightly. The whole may be suggested by " teeoo-woh." It undoubtedly indicates con- tentment. This cry I have written down as follows : Tee...uu woh. The Robin. There are very many country people who are fond of the birds and feed them daily, yet do not know the song of the robin when they hear it, unless at the same time they see the red-breasted singer. The common note of alarm, however, " lit-it-it-it," is very generally recognised, and we will therefore consider it first. In order to imitate this exclamation, take two pebbles, of about the size of a hazel-nut, and strike them to- gether many times as fast as you can. If the number of blows be varied very much, from one to twenty being given at one effort, a very good representation of the robin's alarm will result. {) CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The first feature which one notices in this cry is the extent to which the number of sounds constituting it is varied, as above indicated. The next incident is the varied emphasis which the bird accords to the ticking sounds, the accent being generally on the first and the last sounds. On close observation it will be discovered that the louder notes are at a slightly higher pitch than the others for this rattling cry has a " pitch," the key of which can be easily ascertained, although the notes are so exceedingly acute. If on the piano the note F, two octaves above the top line in the treble stave, or another note near this one, be struck very rapidly in the manner of the pebbles above mentioned, and if the repetition is preceded and followed by the striking of the next higher note, a very good suggestion of the robin's alarm-cry will be produced ; and if a robin in the garden can then be heard giving this cry, the observer will find that he is within a note or two of the actual pitch of the cry. But it will be found that the robin not only accentuates certain " ticks " in his cry : he varies the rate of repetition, the first few ticks and the last being generally given slower than the middle sounds. These observations on rate of repetition may seem very trivial, but the importance of the matter in question lies in this : the nightingale, which is a very near relation of the robin, has a note of alarm which is always called a croak and a croak it is, utterly coarse, harsh, and hideous one of the most unlovely sounds in nature. But the nightingale does not always give this croak in the same way ; it sometimes utters it even more coarsely than is usual, so that the cry is spread out, as it were, into a succession of ticking sounds, sharp and clear like the ticks in the robin's alarm. It should be borne in mind that several common allies of the nightingale, such as the white- TOWN BIKDS. I throats, sedge-\varbler, and some others, croak when alarmed ; that is, they utter a low " currr " or similar sound which, if a tiifle coarser, would be practically the same as the croak of the nightingale. The croak would therefore seem to be the original type of alarm for this class of birds, and the question is, whether the nightingale is gradually diverging from this mode of expression, and whether the robin has diverged, so as to give a succession of ticking sounds instead of the archetypal croak. Does the robin ever croak ? Habitually, never. But I hiave heard two robins near Stroud which croaked like a whitethroat, seemingly to express alarm ; and near Eltham I heard one wheeze in a peculiar manner. The last instance might have been the result of a cold ; but the others were not apparently due to this cause. It is quite possible that in some districts the robins croak like the warblers, and in the event of such birds being dis- covered, ornithologists might be able to establish the occur- rence of relative physical features of resemblance between these robins and the warblers. This would tend to prove that the robin's language has diverged, and that the ticking croak of the nightingale may now be diverging, from the warbler's note. Although the " lit-it-it-it " is certainly an alarm, it is often uttered when no cause for alarm exists as often before song ; but in this feature it resembles the rattling alarm of the black- bird, which is often given when the bird appears to be pleased rather than alarmed, especially at evening in January. The young robins do not acquire the cry until they moult ; but it is used by both sexes when adult. The first notes are accompanied by a rapid bow or dip, and the wings are also moved very slightly during the exclamation. It is often given during flight. 8 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. The song of the robin is familiar to most of us, and the red breast and olive-green plumage of the singer at once obviate any necessity to describe the song. When caged at a dis- tance from its natural habitat, the bird is found to be very imitative; and the young, if reared under foster- parents of another species, exhibit the same lack of inherited notes as occurs in the sparrow, and like that bird they acquire for a language the tones of the species by which they are reared. This fact affords material for interesting experi- ments with wild birds. Change the eggs between sparrows' and robins' nests in the garden, and write to the Zoologist, Field, or other journal, describing the result. The wild robin is very imitative, and will sometimes render the cry of another species so accurately that a listener might be puzzled to know which bird was near. An instance of this occurred in 1896 in my garden, where an old robin from the near thicket had perfectly acquired the double alarm of the swallow (which breeds close by), and would give it half-a-dozen times in succession. At first I thought it was a swallow calling. Later in the year this robin would include some repetitions of the cry in his song. The birds most frequently imitated by the robin seem to be the titmice, sparrow, gre3nfinch, and lark ; but the mimicry is always given in the song if at all, and I have never known an acquired note to be repeated many times by itself, except in the case of the swallow's cry above mentioned. The song of the robin may be heard from the first week in July till the middle of June, but it ceases during severe cold, after which the first strains are short and feeble, as they are in July. There is no difference between the spring song and the autumn song, except that the former is rather more vigorous, as might be expected. I state this because it has been authori- TOWN BIRDS. 9 itatively alleged that the robin " strikes up " a distinct spring .song in October, which is absurd. Although the songs of birds are generally supposed to be .addressed to their mates (actual or prospective), and in very many instances are clearly so employed, it is also certain that the song often answers the purpose of a battle-cry, and is vehe- ;mently uttered by fighting birds. This is especially the case with robins, which, in autumn and winter, are continually at war with each other, and precede and accompany each combat with .a song. The same incident may be observed in thrushes, nightingales, and willow-wrens in spring, and also in the brown wren. The call-note of the robin is heard much less often than the rsong or the alarm. It is a short squeak, not varied in pitch, .and never repeated quickly. It is also the cry of the young. It may be imitated by taking an ordinary cork, wetting it, and lightly striking it along a pane of glass so as to produce a sharp clear sound not a confused blurring note. If the squeaks are made at the same pitch, and about a half-second in duration, they will well represent the call-note of the robin, and also 'those of the hedge-sparrow and common flycatcher, which are very similar to the robin's note. This cry is heard very often in August and September, and especially in dull, foggy weather. It is also frequently heard in March, when the birds are thinking of nesting. There is another cry of the robin, which is particularly interesting because it is practically identical with a note of the ;same purport given by the blackbird. I have named this cry the " distress-note," for it is generally given when the nest or the young are threatened, or when a mate has been destroyed. Tt is a somewhat prolonged squeak, slightly inflected. It 10 CBIES AND CALL-NOTES OP' WILD BIBDS. occupies nearly a second and a-half in duration, and has a wailing accent, slightly descending in pitch. Like the call- note, this is often heard in the autumnal months, and with the call-note it c institutes some part of the first songs of the young robins. Sometimes this note is given very clearly at the com- mencement of the song a fact which suggests that the original songs of the robin may have principally consisted of repetitions- of these notes. In many other species the song has not advanced beyond this elementary method. Dr. A. G. Butler told me of a female robin which called her mate by uttering the distress-note when she quitted the nest. The reader should watch for incidents of this kind, and record them. The Starling. This is not the next species in order of abundance, but it seerns to be next in order of notableness ; and if the reader has not sufficient garden to attract the bird, he can, by walking a short distance, enjoy the songs of starlings on other premises. The song of this dusky, but glossy bird, will be easily ob- served, for it may be heard from the housetop in every month of the year except June and July, in which period most star- lings are abroad in the fields with their broods. But even here the birds seem to sing much, and in the first autumnal' months those that remain in flocks utter an almost continuous, chorus of mostly song-notes, which is abruptly terminated, how- ever, should any sign of danger be discovered. In the hazar- dous life of a country bird, this event often happens ; and the noisy gabbling of the starlings has therefore many pauses. There is no song more suitable for the first attention of an observer of mimicry than that of the housetop starling. If one- TOWN BIRDS. 11 be listened to carefully for a few minutes, it will almost cer- tainly be heard to utter (perhaps in a somewhat jumbled style, but still clearly) some sounds which the observer has noticed before, though he may not be sure of their nature. If he is familiar with a few of the commoner calls of wild birds he will probably recognise one or more of them in the song of the starling; and, in any case, he is. quite likely to hear occasion- ally an imitation of the quacking of a duck, the clucking of a fowl, or other similarly common sound. A common feature of the song is a drawled or slurred whistle, ascending or descending in pitch. This sound may be heard in many parts of the country ; for instance, I have heard it in Gloucestershire, Wilts, Oxon, Hants, and Kent; and Mr. Harting has noticed it in North Wales. The starling being so imitative, there is a possibility that this slurred whistle has been acquired by it from another bird. The only unimitative European species which I know to have a similar note is the nuthatch (see " Nuthatch "), which gives both the ascending and descending slurs. Starlings may also be sometimes heard to unite in uttering a part of their song and this is a feature well worth observing, as indicating an intention to sing in chorus. The female often sings with her mate. Often in spring, and occasionally in autumn, the starling ends its song with some squealing, toneless sounds, not unlike the noise made by inserting a corkscrew into a cork. These notes indicate the extreme of amorousness and are sometimes obviously addressed to the mate. They are generally accom- panied by a flapping of the wings, which is among birds a common sign of love. In raising the voice at this time the starling shows the common habit (in men as well as in birds) of 12 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. raising the pitch of the voice under the influence of excitement. Robins and thrushes afford a frequent example of this, especially when they are about to fight. When a flock of starlings is frightened off by a man, it takes wing to the accompaniment of a chorus of one cry which sounds somewhat like " whirr." It is at any rate a short, whirring sound, and is modified to accord with the imminence of the threatened danger. This cry is used at all times of the year, and is employed when the young are led about the fields. If the starlings are alarmed by the approach of a hawk, in- deed, if a hawk is in sight, or if a cat is near, a sharp clicking sound is heard, less loud than the noise made by a blackbird when a cat is near its young, but of much the same character. The starling's cry might be suggested by various letters, but " cack-cack " seems to me a fairly accurate rendering. A ready recognition of this cry is of use to any who enjoys the sight of a hawk or other bird of prey, for in the country there is no sound which more surely indicates the ap- proach of one of these birds. The sparrow-hawk is especially feared by the starling, which is often its victim. When the young are in the nest, and shortly after they have left it, the old birds frequently utter a loud " cah," in the tone of a jay, but much less noisily. This is the most vehement cry of alarm, employed also by a bird that has been seized by a hawk. The young seem to acquire this sound first, though they give it -rather hoarsely. Their cry has been rendered " square, square," and that of the old birds " spate, spate." It is interesting to note that in the extreme of danger the starling employs a tone which is prevalent in the alarm-notes of its allies. This happens in many other genera also, and indicates the antiquity of the origin of danger-cries. TOWN BIBDS. 15 I . The Hedge-Sparrow. This very common bird has retiring habits, and is therefore less familiar to ordinary folk than its abundance implies. Many country people imagine that this is the female robin; and some years since a correspondent, with a view to directing attention to the ignorance of ornithology in the artistic mind, wrote to a well-known "weekly" to say he had lately seen a picture of a pair of robins with their nest, both birds being shown with the red breast, whereas it was known to everyone that the female robin had no red on the breast, but was a little brown bird, often seen hopping about in gardens. The next week the artist (one of our best) replied that the critic evidently mistook the hedge-sparrow for the female robin, and that the picture represented a pair of robins and their nest in the artist's garden. The hedge-sparrow is certainly often the com- panion of the robin, and has the same partiality for shady spots. The call-note of the hedge-sparrow is very similar to that of the robin, and may be imitated in the same way (antea, page 9). It is, however, rather loud, and is much oftener employed. To express fear, it is somewhat lengthened. In August and September, when birds generally are most silent, the call of the hedge-sparrow may be heard from every hedge. Sometimes three or four repetitions are strung together, form- ing a cricket-like strain ; and the first efforts of the young birds towards a song result in mere repetitions of this note. This feature is highly interesting as suggesting the character of the original song of the species ; but in spring I have never heard a song of the ordinary length composed of only the call- note. 14 CBIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The song is a sprightly little warble, rapid, and with numerous "turns" It will generally be found that it contains several accented notes given at the same pitch, though separated by several other tones. These notes are similar to the call-note. Another curious incident is that the same song will often be heard from several hedge-sparrows in one locality, while at a short distance the birds, though singing the true song of their species, utter a quite different strain. I have never heard a hedge-sparrow imitate another bird, but it is possible that this may be found to occur. The young and the parents have the same call. The Blackbird. This bird is here mentioned earlier than its relative abun- dance ]>ermits, because its form and its loud voice are so noticeable. Its most striking exclamation is its " rattling alarm," which needs no description, and is very difficult to descril>e. It is the loud, clattering cry given by the bird when startled. This is a highly interesting cry, especially because different birds generally give it in different styles, though each as a rule keeps to his own particular method. Often several birds in one field will have the same cry. It is not difficult for a person who can read vocal music to write down the musical intervals rendered in these wonderful alarms. The cry, though really an alarm, is sometimes employed as if for the mere purpose of making a fuss. This is especially the case in January. Both, sexes have the cry ; but the female renders it the less loudly. When the blackbird's nest or young are threatened by a cat, a continuous sharp clicking sound is given the same sound TOWN BIBDS. 15 \vhich, rapidly repeated, constitutes the greater part of the "" rattling alarm." A note of suspicion is a short full whistle, as short as the bark of a dog, and sounding somewhat like " quilp." This note is often heard in August and September. Both sexes have these notes. The " distress-note " is a longish cry, of very high pitch, given when the mate, or nest, or young, have been destroyed ; it is also heard in heavy weather in autumn, and sometimes in very severe frost. It resembles the " distress-note " of the robin (antea, page 9). The bird has two call-notes, the one a short chirp, like the robin's call-note, and the other an almost toneless cry, which may be rendered "syou." It is given mostly during the autumnal months. The song of the blackbird, so loud and clear, is less easily recognised than many of the feebler strains of other birds, because it is only given at a period of the year when many other species are in full song, i.e., from the end of January till July. During this period every species which can make a noise does so, with the result that the strains of the blackbird (often given from some distance, the bird being a rather shy singer) blend with all the chorus of the woodland, and the notes, full and resonant as they are, may easily be mistaken by a novice. The general pitch of the strain is lower than that of any other of our singers, although the nightingale and the garden warbler have notes as low as those of any blackbird. In January and February the songs of the blackbird are much shorter than those heard in May, the young birds of the preceding year requiring some practice before attaining pro- ficiency ; but the strains are always longer and more varied than 16 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. those of the mistle-thrush (post). They are not given rapidly. They consist of full whistled notes, never repeated at the same pitch, but greatly varied, although each note is distinct from the others, and is very rarely slurred, as is the whistle of the starling (antea, page n). If a man whistles from six to twelve notes somewhere near the same pitch and at the rate of about three per second, he will give a fair suggestion of the song, which is pitched at about the ordinary pitch of the human whistle. When one is near the singer, it is noticeable that after the full whistled notes have been given, the song abruptly breaks off into some much higher and almost toneless squeaky sounds which have no beauty at all, but are of somewhat the same character as the toneless squeals of the starling (antea, page u), only they are much more rapidly uttered. The thrush never utters these squeally notes after its full tones,, and the mistle-thrush can only be heard to give them occasion- ally. They therefore serve to identify the singer. The observer should remember, however, that these squeally notes can only be heard at a short distance. In captivity the blackbird proves itself to be highly imita- tive, and can be taught to whistle a tune. It can also be taught to produce very sweet long notes, if the instructor will use a sweet-toned flageolet for a model. The mimicry of the wild bird is not often observable in the full song, though this sometimes includes sounds which have clearly been borrowed from other birds. If the song is ob- served from a short distance, however, the final squeaky notes will often be found to include some which seem to be mimetic. Very rarely the blackbird sings while on the wing. This only happens in the height of the breeding season. The cry of the young is at first a simple squeak or chirp, TOWN BIRDS. 17 but shortly after leaving the nest it changes ; the chirp is repeated once, or twice, or three times quickly, and is followed by a very rapid repetition of a lower note. The whole may be suggested by pronouncing rapidly "see, see, see, chiddiwi." The final sounds are particularly interesting, as being the in- fantile commencement of the wonderful " rattling alarm," and they prove it to be of very remote origin in the genus. The female blackbird, whose brown breast at once dis- tinguishes her, is less noisy than her mate, but has all his cries. I have never heard her sing. The blackbird's alarm-cry, as above indicated, is greatly varied; but the following examples, heard near Eltham, and written as near as possible to actual pitch, may be of interest. The first two strains were given by the same bird, the first being uttered during flight, and the second after the bird had pitched. The third example was heard at a place a mile distant from that where the others were recorded. 2 8vet. J=100. J=100. 8va.- 18 CRIES A>D CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIKIS. The Thrush. The thrush appears to be commoner than the blackbird, and it sings much the more ; but it is withal a far less noisy species, for when not singing it is one of our most silent birds. The song may be heard first in the early autumn, on fine, still days, though it is then very rarely given with full power, or from a prominent position, but it is uttered in a sort of sotto voce from the warm shelter of a shrub on which the sun. is shining. Sometimes, however, a few loud, full notes are given. In November the bird begins to sing in earnest, and the song, from being at first a frequent repetition of one or two cries at intervals, gradually develops in variety and prevalence until at Christmas, if the weather be very mild, a somewhat varied song is given. As a rule, however, a spell of cold interferes with these vocal exercises, and terminates them as it does the songs of the robin and hedge-sparrow, and even the chatter of the starling. If the winter be fairly mild, the thrush's song, though inter- rupted by spells of cold, gradually becomes more and more varied. The song will be found to consist of very short strains composed of a repeated cry of two or three syllables. The cry is generally repeated twice or three times. This method gives the bird plenty of opportunity for variation, but it does not allow of those long repetitions of a fine, full tone, which distinguish the strains of the nightingale and some other good singers. The notes of the thrush are so definite in character that writers have often suggested them in words, such as "pretty dick, pretty boy/' and so on. Indeed, the song is easier than most to syllabise. The following is an TOWN BIRDS. 19 attempt thus to render an actual song heard on the ist of July. The words should be pronounced quickly. " Kee kee. Whee ki. Kreeow kreeow kreeow. Keekow keekow keekow. Prettychoy prettychoy. Keechewy keechewy keechewy keechewy. Kreeow kreeow kreeow. Whillillill whillillill. Koosheeow koosheeow koosheeow. Tewy. Kee- koy keekoy. Chick keekee chick keekee." The thrush is very imitative, and much of its song consists of what seem to be borrowed cries. In the above record, for instance, the " kreeow " was given in the deliberate manner of the crow ; the " whillillill " was similar to the note of the wry- neck ; while the " tewy " was clearly the call-note of the chiff- chaff. An observer who is familiar with the cries of shore birds will often hear one or two of their cries in the song of an inland thrush, which doubtless acquired them during its winter migration, or learned them from another thrush. This mimicry in the wild thrush ,is a very interesting sub- ject. The bird is careful not only to accurately render the accent of the model, but also to preserve the " time," as well as the tone, of the original. The birds oftenest imitated are those uttering short, distinct cries, such as the nuthatch, great titmouse, greenfinch, sparrow, and the common owls, whose call- notes (not the hoots) are very often given in the song. Like the robin and some others, the thrush sings when fight- ing a bird of its own species, though not when' attacking or defending itself against another species. When a jay or a jack- daw nears the nest, the thrush utters a loud, rattling screech, in the manner of a mistle-thrush, and shows some boldness in pursuing the intruder ; but if a rival thrush is attacked, a con- stant high twittering is emitted, which is, curiously enough, very similar to the song of the redwing thrush. c 2 20 OKIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIEDS. The thrush is a very persistent singer, and may be heard on every fine day from October to June (inclusive). In the height of the breeding season it sings during the greater part of the day. One I carefully timed to sing for sixteen hours in the day. This bird seemed to sing while watching for food, for it would descend from its perch in a high acacia tree, seize a worm almost immediately after alighting on the lawn, and often recommence singing before it had regained the perch. A reliable observer informed me that during six succeeding spring seasons a thrush habitually sang from a certain branch of a young ash tree in his garden. In spring the bird habitually sings from an elevated perch in a tree, but never from a housetop. Towards nightfall, how- ever, it will sing from the shelter of a shrub. Like many, perhaps the majority of birds, it may occasionally be observed to sing while flying. The call-note of the thrush is aj very short " chick " or " sect," quite a soft note. In autumn it is sometimes less brief. The young have this chirp, and their cry is not changed, as is that of the young blackbird, when the birds quit the nest. The Great Titmouse. This bird is noisier and more noticeable than the commoner blue tit, and therefore has precedence of it in our list. The oxeye so named from the? white patch on the side of its head, which is supposed to resemble the white corner of a bull's eye is of about the size of a sparrow, and its charming colours of steely blue on the upper parts, and its yellow breast (with a black line down the middle), render it as attractive in appear- ance as its loud, clinking notes render its voice remarkable. TOWN BIRDS. 21 At any time of the year we may hear this bird repeating some favourite cry two or three times in succession, then giving a call to its companions, and again uttering the former cry. Some of these loud cries are quite easily suggested, such as the following: " Chissiching, chissiching. Bobolink, bobolink. Chingsee chingsee chingsee. Sin see doish." I remember that a quarter of a century ago, in the winter holidays, a bird used to pass a garden at Stroud, on its way to a roosting place. It always pitched for a minute or so in a certain high tree, and uttered very clearly the cry " bobolink." I did not then know it as a great titmouse, but the bird appear- ing regularly every evening, the note was remembered. It is interesting to find that in the same neighbourhood this cry is yet given in precisely the same tone as in my childhood ; and in Kent it is also to be heard. The cry " chingsee, chingsee," is oftenest uttered in March and April, at which time the other cries are also employed. They all seem to be song-notes. It is noteworthy that none of our other titmice have any of these cries. Individual oxeyes, however, have their own favourite utterances, but all have the same general tone. A very common cry is " pink pink," exactly like a cry of the chaffinch. This I have several times heard also from fighting tits. The alarm-cry of this bird is very commonly heard. It may be suggested by holding a dozen small pebbles or marbles loosely in the clasped hands, and shaking them as rapidly as possible. The cry may also be imitated by a very rapid pro- nunciation of " shashashashasha." Dr. Butler, the well-known entomologist, calls this cry a " bleat " ; but I think it may best be named the " shaking alarm." It is constantly uttered by the old birds which are leading forth a family. Both sexes have the cry. 22 CRIKS AND CALL-XOTES OF \VILD BIHDS. The ordinary call-note between the sexes is a very slight squeak, which may be imitated by lightly flicking glass with the edge of a wet cork. This note is also given as a call-note by the other titmice, and by the tree-creeper, the nuthatch, and golden-crested wren, all of which birds are often near each other in fact, in thickets these birds seem to prefer to seek their food in company. Under these circumstances the mutual aid of the individuals in detecting danger doubtless protects the whole company. When a hawk or a predaceous quadruped approaches one of these assemblies, there is a great outcry, and a common form of alarm-note is a simple prolongation of the little call-squeak. The great tit, indeed, will then keep up a long shrill scream of very high pitch, especially if the cause of trouble is a hawk ; and the bird, with bill wide open, expresses by a crouching attitude, as well as vocally, his sense of dread. The long cry is really an exaggeration of the slight squeak, for when danger threatens the cry may be heard of any length, proportionate to the intensity of the bird's fear. In the nest a hiss of alarm is given. The bird has also a brief cackling sound, which is a very common means of indicating danger. Some of the other tit- mice have similar notes for the same purpose. The young of the great tit, after leaving the nest, have a peculiar cry, which the parents never give, except perhaps in the form of the long scream of alarm. The note of the young is a prolonged "kull, kull, kull," which reminds one of a call- note of the butcher-bird, and of the much shorter shriek of the kestrel. The following are some of the commonest song-cries of the great tit : TOWN B1BD3. 23 Sra. Chissi chingching chis i ohing ohing Sin see doish Sin ste Sprecken see doish Bobbo .link Bobbo . link Bjbbo...link. The Blue Tit. This sprightly little bird, with blue back and yellowish-grey breast, is common everywhere, and its lesser size at once dis- tinguishes it from its usual companion, the great tit. The most remarkable cry of the blue tit is one uttered chiefly from an elevated perch, and, from the circumstances under which it is employed, it teems clearly to be a call-note. It is quite a little strain, with a peculiar metallic tone throughout, and may be rendered " pim-im-imimim." The first two or three sounds are rendered slower and at a higher pitch than the latter. On the piano we may suggest the strain by striking G, an octave above the treble stave, three times in one and a-half seconds, and immediately following it with five or six sounds of E next below it, given twice as quickly as the leading three notes. This cry is rarely heard in autumn, and is not often given before February ; but during the whole spring it may be heard very day. It seems to me to be the true love-song of the species, and in support of this may be instanced the fact that the cry is never uttered by fighting tits. 24 OKIES AND CALL-NOTES OF \VILD BIRDS. From what has been said, it will be seen that the following example, heard in January, was of the usual kind. J=80. p-*zg^^^j * " jp ^ if-f^ if t^ ty Pirn im im im im im im im im. The alarm-note of the blue tit is a chattering cry impossible to syllabise. This cry is employed also during combat. The call-note is a very slight squeak, which may be imitated with a wet cork and glass as described for the call of the great tit. When disturbed on the nest, the old birds hiss. The young have a peculiar cry, frequently uttered, which seems to be an infantile form of the " pim-im-imimim " of the parents. The Coal-Tit. This may be looked for in hilly districts rather than in the swampy levels which the marsh-tit principally affects. It is easily distinguished from the latter by a white patch on the back of the neck, this being absent in the latter bird. The chief note is a little sharp chirp, clear, and inflected upward slightly. It is often uttered very softly. It is in constant use while the members of a group of these tits dodge about incessantly in the hunt for insects. There are also a chuckle of alarm, a long scream of terror, and sometimes in spring a little chuckling, which may be intended as a song. The alarm-chuckle is very similar to that of the great tit, which bird, however, looks nearly twice as large as the coal-tit, and is coloured so much brighter, that the two species could not be easily confused. TOWN BIRDS. 25 The Chaffinch. The male of this species is very noisy, the female rather silent. With his red breast and white fleck on the wing, he is often mistaken for the bullfinch ; but the latter has a black head, a redder breast, and a big white patch above the tail, where the chaffinch is greenish. The female chaffinch is very soberly clad, greenish, and with a white fleck on the wing for almost her only ornament. One note of the chaffinch (given by both, sexes, but commonly only by the male) is the cry " pink " or " tink." It is impossible to render this note exactly in the manner of the bird, for our vocal machinery is not the same as his ; but the word " pink " may be sufficient to suggest the cry. This exclamation does not vary much in tone, but the pur- poses for which it is employed are exceedingly diverse. It is certainly an alarm, and the battle-cry, for it is used to rate .an enemy, whether aerial or terrestrial, and also during combat with a chaffinch or with another bird. It is given by the female in similar circumstances. But it is also uttered when there is no danger, nor any chance of a combat. In winter afternoons, shortly before roost-time, this cry may be heard ; also at morning, so that it seems to be sometimes a general signal that all is well. The observer should listen for a rapid repetition of this cry, say, eight or ten times together, forming as it were one cry. Such a variation (which I have never yet "heard) would suggest that the bird giving it had advanced some- Avhat upon the vocal level of his fellows, and gained that development of repetition to which he is always tending, but never attains. The cry is habitually given singly, or two or three times in rather quick succession. 26 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The song may be heard from February to June, inclusive, and not often earlier, or later. It is a rapid strain al- ways following much the same order of tones, though it is- varied toward the close, not only by individual birds, but from minute to minute. The commonest type of the song is- rendered in the following notation, under which are the words- which Dr. Butler informs me the country folk apply to the song.. V . 9 In another month will come a wheat - ear. Very rarely the chaffinch ends its song with the " pink '" cry. This is called an " Amen," and is a local variation. Its. occurrence should be recorded. The two final notes, " wheatear," are the most interesting, especially the " wheat," for this sound is a very brief analogue to a coarse note of the greenfinch, lesser redpoll, and some other finches. In the neighbourhood of Eltham, Kent, this- hard sound is exaggerated by some of the chaffinches, so that: the song seems to run : " In another month will come a zee." But what is most remarkable about this is that the zee is also- given by the male chaffinch independently, as an alarm-cry. This is a purely local variation, and is the more strange, since of all the cries of birds, the alarms are the most restricted to particular tones. This new (or more probably old) alarm of the chaffinch I have heard addressed to a jay, a weasel, cat,, dog, and to myself when I intruded on a nesting couple. I respectfully commend this cry to the observation of ornitholo- gists as an alternative to the study of purely physical characteristics. And there is the more sense in this. TOWN BIRDS. 27 recommendation because the cry in question is loud, clear, and unmistakable. At first it puzzled me, for it could be heard at the distance of a hundred yards, and through all the spring chorus of the thickets, and I had never before heard such a cry. I have only heard it in April, May, and June. Though the chaffinch is very imitative when caged, in a wild state it prac- tically never mimics. I have only heard one utter the song of another bird. This one repeatedly gave the full flight-song of the greenfinch, and as one of these birds was then performing around the spot, the mimic could be accurately criticised. Sometimes a chaffinch will give a single cry closely like the " chissick " of the pied wagtail ; but as I have heard this from the chaffinch in one or two places, the cry may be natural to the species, and not a borrowed note. Those who are interested by these notes on the chaffinch, will find some further observations in the Zoologist for May and June, 1898. It should be noted that the hard note " wheat " is often replaced by a double sound which may l>e written " tissi," and this also is sometimes doubled. The following strain shows the interesting inclusion of the local alarm-note " zee " in the song (heard, 26th April.) J=100 LUlllill ilililil ililil zee. In the first four months of the year one may sometimes hear a male chaffinch uttering at intervals a short loud note, which may be rendered " whit." It may be imitated by whistling a very brief upward slur in the interval of a fifth or 28 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. sixth ; that is, say from C to G, or A. The bird gives this from the ground as well as from a tree ; but I have not observed it as being specially addressed to the female. On the other hand, it is certainly sometimes given as a note of alarm. It is probably used at other times merely for the purpose of making a noise and so attracting attention; and, being a loud, clear note, it has no doubt answered this purpose, and thus been retained in the vocabulary of the species. The love-note of the chaffinch is uttered by both sexes, and may be heard from February to June, inclusive. It is a short, soft cry, varying a little in different birds, but in its general tone the cry is closely like the "chissick " of the house-sparrow, but, of course, very much less loud. It is constantly uttered by the male when, in a straight cuckoo-like flight, he leads his mate from tree to tree. The young have the love-note of the parents for their call a fact analogous to that of the young sparrow having a similar cry derived from a love-call of its father. In the autumnal months the birds are generally silent, but a call-note may be heard a very short note often given during flight. It may be written "tyoh," and may be whistled by slurring as briefly as is possible from a note to the next whole tone below it. This note may be termed the "autumn call," but it may be heard at other seasons. The following shows the " twit " and " zee " alarms, as actually heard repeated. J=100. 3= Twit twit zee. TOWN BIRDS. 29 The Greenfinch. This clumsy, sparrow-like, but greenish bird, is common in most gardens, especially in the colder months, when it eats the berries of the yew and the buds of gooseberry bushes. It builds its nest preferably in evergreens. Its commonest note is a, call-note, uttered by both sexes, and constantly employed during flight. It may be syllabled " diditit," but is often a prolonged cry, consisting of many rapid repetitions of a short " twit." In January and February this cry is often repeated more loudly and at greater length than before; and it then forms part of the song. It always com- mences the strain, in which, however, it may recur several times, not always at the same pitch. This note is also the cry of the young, and the fact is worth observing that when the young are fit to leave the nest, they give, when about to be fed, a pro- longed repetition of the cry, exactly like the part of the song of the adult, to which reference has been made. Another common call of the greenfinch may be suggested as " yell, yell." The " yells " number from one to half-a-dozen given in succession. This is a more vehement call than the " diditit," for in winter, when the flocks of finches are hungering in the fields, this cry, even when imitated by the human whistle, will be found to be more effective than the other. The sound might be syllabled " tew " as appropriately as " yell," but it is a full sound, very short, and with a slight downward inflection. This note also constitutes part of the song, which might well be syllabled " diditititit, yell yell yell, didititititit, itititit- it, yell yell yell yell zshweeo." The final note is remarkable. It is a coarse wheeze so coarse, indeed, that it is almost a rattle. This never commences 30 CBIKS AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. the strain, and is never followed by other notes, but it is some- times given singly, and thus repeated at intervals of a few seconds, for minutes together. I have seldom heard it given during flight, while the other song-notes are often uttered in this way, the bird meanwhile flapping his wings slowly, but with a long stroke, so that he may be said to fly in the manner of a large butterfly or bat. There are many species which have been observed to sing flying, and probably most of our singers do this very occasionally ; but the greenfinch is one of the few which, like the swallow, may be said to habitually sing on the wing. I have never but once heard a wild greenfinch imitate another bird, but as the species shows a considerable mimetic faculty when caged, there is no reason why this should not sometimes affect the notes of the wild bird. The general character of the strain may be indicated as follows : Sva,- ! rn - r Did it it it it it it it it ii it it it yell jell it it it it it tooi ishweeze I once heard an unusual strain consisting ot the " tooi " alarm cry given with different inflections alternately, for minutes to- gether. The cause of alarm was a cuckoo. The strain ran : 8va. J=100. Tooi Towoo. Tooi Towoo. TOWN BI.I:US. 31 The Swallow. This graceful bird, with rich colours and deeply-forked tail, is especially interesting to a lover of birds, in that it is one of the chief heralds of a hawk or other bird of prey. The swallow's alarm-cry " clittit," is very often heard, and it seems also to answer the purposes of a call-note. The common call is a single " clitt " or " litt," and this, when the bird is excited, becomes " clittit." It is employed in exactly the same tone whether the cause of alarm be a hawk, a cat, or a human being. One morning I was watching in a lane near a barn where swallows nested. I suddenly heard the swallow's alarm close to my ear, and at the same moment a rush of wings. Looking tip, I was astonished to see a swallow mount close over me, turn, and deliberately swoop at me, coming within a foot or so of my head. It was a most peculiar incident, and could only be accounted for by the circumstance that I was wearing a new straw hat, which had excited the bird's alarm and anger. The song may be heard from the time when the bird arrives, in April, till September, when it leaves us on the southward migration. The swallow is the most persistent of all our summer visitors. It sings at dawn even more than most birds, and this not only when courting, but also when there are young in the nest. The song, a most pleasing twitter, will be found to consist mainly of two sounds : the one, a rapid cry which may be rendered " lewit," and occupies nearly the whole of the strain ; and the other, a coarse " wheeze," hard and metallic, which concludes most of the phrases. Each song is closely like the others, but often several are given without any pause between them, so that a continued warbling is heard. The song is uttered during flight quite as often as from a 32 CB1ES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. perch ; but the coarse final note is given most frequently from the perch. The note "lewit," which constitutes almost the whole song, is apparently a modification of the " clit " which the bird utters for a call-note. Young swallows have only this note. The House-Martin. This bird is more easily distinguished by the patch of white over its tail than by its notes. All its cries seem somewhat guttural in tone. The call " jigg " is like a coarse rendering of the " clit " of the swallow, and in danger the bird doubles the cry into " jiggig," in the same manner as a swallow doubles a sharper note. The young martins cry * chee " or " cheeo." The old bird sometimes sings on the wing, and not often from a perch. The notes are coarse and guttural, and are indeed nothing more than variations of the call-note. The Sand-Martin. This small, brown, swallow-like bird has very coarse notes, somewhat similar to those of the house-martin, but rather sharper in tone. It is no singer, although it sometimes chatters in a manner suggestive of an attempted song. It is more com- monly a riverside bird than the others of its kindred. The Swift. The note of this bird for it has practically but one is most noticeable when clustered swifts are rushing around the chimney tops, or at a higher level, speeding across the sky. Then a chorus of "swee-ree, swee-ree" is heard; and this TOWN B1KDS. 33 repeated scream is all the song our swift performs. Both sexes and the young have practically the same cry. It is sometimes shortened and repeated several times rather quickly, so that a " sisisisi " is heard. This variation is interesting as being the accustomed note of the North American chimney-swift (in form very like the European swift), which has not the long " swee- ree " of our bird. The chorus of swifts, heard at thirty-five minutes after sunset, indicates that a group of these birds is about to rise for the accustomed night-flight in the sky, which is one of the most extraordinary phenomena in the whole region of ornithology. The Brown Wren. This tiny brown morsel of a bird is with us throughout the year, and may be heard singing in every month, except per- haps July. It is most noticeable, however, as a winter singer. The song, like that of the hedge-sparrow, commences on a high note, to which a return is made once or oftener during the song. The strain is rapid and difficult to record in notation, and as the wrens in different localities sing differently, though all have the true wren-note, it is very difficult to give a typical transcript. Here is a song, however, heard in Septem- ber, which fairly represents the general style of the strains : 2 8ves. -- J=100. The rapid lowest notes in this strain represent a curious coarse sound which is included in most songs of the wren. It D 34 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. is simply the coarse call-note, which the bird often gives twice in one song. The song is usually given from the top of a hedge, or other elevated perch. The common call-note, as well as alarm-note of this bird, may be well suggested by striking a match-stick across half of the wide teeth of a hair-comb. The similar sound which one so often hears from the hedge in autumn proceeds from the wren, which then makes great use of the note. When greatly alarmed, the bird prolongs the note, so that it somewhat re- sembles the sound of a railway-guard's whistle, but is not nearly so loud or so musical. Ordinarily, the cry has but two syllables. It is given by the young as well as adults of both sexes. The love-note is a very soft squeak, sounding like a very faint kiss. The Blackcap. We now come to some birds which, like the cuckoo, are with us only during the warmer part of the year, and similarly are comparatively silent except in the spring months. The black- cap is not nearly the commonest warbler, but it is certainly the most noticeable as a garden bird, for its loud and clear, but rapid song, is particularly striking and beautiful, and may be heard from April to mid- July. A good idea of the song may be given by playing a few bars on the piccolo in rapid, but even time, and ending abruptly. The rapid variations in pitch in this strain are interesting. The bird sings high notes and low notes and medium ones with such quick alternation that the ear can hardly follow ; and it is a very difficult matter to remember, and afterwards whistle, the whole of the loud notes in one of the blackcap's strains. There are soft notes also ; but TOWN BIKDS. 35 these form the commencement of the song, and are not heard at any great distance ; so the loud notes form the whole of the song by which the bird is most easily detected. The bird is rather shy, and often darts off when observed ; but its clear black " cap " and slaty plumage are sufficient to identify it easily. The female has a dull reddish-brown "cap." Although the song is varied so much, the concluding notes are often the same in successive strains ; and it will be found that particular terminations are locally prevalent. Thus near Eltham (Kent) I have heard the same termination often given by the blackcaps, and this during three successive springs. It appears, almost without modification, in the two following strains, which are fairly typical. J- 100. 2E 2 Sees. J=100. The alarm-note is a loud " tack," which is repeated many times in succession if the danger is imminent. I have also heard a croak and a quiet " whit " (which may be called family cries of the genus) given as alarms. D 2 36 OKIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The Tree-Creeper. This is a common bird, but never a numerous species, and its habits are so retiring that it is seen much less often than it might be. This is the little brown bird which runs mouse-like up the stem of a tree till near the top, then descends to the base of another tree, and recommences the ascent, mean- while uttering from time to time a rather prolonged and plain- tive " syou." This cry may often be heard in the thicket as well as in the garden, and in the former situation the bird will generally be found in company with titmice and golden-crested wrens. The song is a pleasing little strain, which I have often heard given as follows : I'va. The Golden-Crested Wren. This is a very common bird, but one not very, often seen, because it is so exceedingly small almost reminding one of a humming-bird and frequents woods and thickets, where it is either mistaken for a titmouse in the tree-tops, or hidden in the tangled shrubs. Its common note is a simple, short squeak, like that of the tits, but louder and rather more prolonged. This is usually given from twice to four times in immediate succession (forming what may almost be termed one cry) ; but TOWN BIRDS. 37 the bird has also a pleasing little song. An observer, however, must be near enough to distinguish the golden crest of the bird, or he will not hear much of the song. This bird comes into small gardens, especially in the autumn The Rook, Jackdaw, and Crow. Although comparatively few gardens contain a rookery, yet the bird may be seen and heard from most rural gardens, and even from many in the suburbs of London. In flight the bird may be distinguished from its smaller relative, the jackdaw, not only by its superior size, but also by its slower stroke of wing. This is, perhaps, the most convenient of all points of distinction between the birds. The ordinary note of the rook is a caw, not very coarse or rough. The jackdaw's common note is a short "jack" or " jock." These notes are often modulated slightly, but no doubt sufficiently to convey different meanings to the birds addressed. The jackdaw seems sometimes to vary its cries as much as possible, as though the bird were trying to sing. It does this especially during flight. The rook also may occasion- ally be heard uttering unwonted sounds. But the general demeanour of the bird is so deliberate and sedate that one hesitates to allege that it sings. Young jackdaws have short cries, young rooks much longer ones, and it is curious that when in the nest the young rooks utter sounds exactly similar to those of young starlings, only much louder. Old rooks and jackdaws, in the extremity of danger, utter a low " cah." The note of the crow is much rougher than that of the rook ; 38 CRIES AND CALL -NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. and if the latter may be rendered " caw," the former should be written " horrr," and be pronounced with a curling of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. All three species are very imitative when kept in captivity. I have never heard either of them imitate when wild, and, if they did so, the incident would be difficult to detect, the birds being so suspicious of close observation ; but the crow of British Columbia, which has * much resemblance to our common species, is an accomplished mimic, and, being carefully pro- tected, the bird is not shy of displaying its powers in this direction. The Owls. Few of us have been abroad in the country without hearing at night the hoot of an owl. This extraordinary sound may be heard more in January and February than at other seasons. Why, I know not. The cry generally rises slightly in the middle, and this, I believe, is the note of the tawny (or brown) owl. But often the cry is slurred downward in a melancholy manner ; and this T understand to proceed from the barn (or white-breasted) owl. There is a variation of the hoot, which is particularly interesting. It consists of a rapid repetition of little hoots so rapid that a " water-bubble " roll is produced. This is certainly given by the tawny owl, and may be by the barn owl. The call-note of the tawny owl is " chewick," the first syllable rather prolonged, the second short. This is frequently em- ployed by the adults in the winter months, and in summer it may be constantly heard from the young which are abroad with their parents. TOWN BIRDS. 39 The call of the barn owl may also be often heard ; it is a " keck keck keck," much like a common cry of the moorhen, which bird also flies by night. The long-eared owl is a much less common bird, but its curious note may sometimes be heard in winter as well as in summer. This is a weird hissing or rushing sound, rather short. It may be written " sheea," and whispered as loudly as possible. The Redwing. This, a thrush, in general appearance is identical with the common thrush, but (has some flame-coloured feathers be- neath the wing, which afford the readiest means of distinguish- ing the two species. This bird is common with us only from October to April, and not even all that time, for at Christmas- time very few are to be seen, the majority having passed further south. The chief note of the redwing during its passage down England is its somewhat plaintive call, a kind of loud whisper, which may be written " see you " or " syou." This sound may be heard on most nights in October and November. It is never repeated except at short intervals, and by means of it one can detect the approach of the migrant from the north- ward, its passage across the zenith, and its farther progress as it drifts over the land. The cry is also given by day. Another cry of this bird, given by day and not at night, is a note of suspicion practically identical with the " quilp " of the blackbird. It is curious that this thrush, which breeds in the far north, should have this note in common with its black relation, while its brown one has not the cry. 40 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The song of the redwing may very rarely be heard in England. It is a very rapid high-pitched twitter, including, however, one or two whistled, thrush-like notes, which do not vary. CHAPTEE II. WOODLAND BIRDS. Birds heard in and near "Woodland Gardens. Marsh-Tit. Long-tailed Tit. Nuthatch. Spotted Fly- catcher. Pied Flycatcher. Bullfinch. Redstart. White- throat, Garden- Warbler. Lesser Whitethroat. Chiffchaff. Willow- Wren. Nightingale. Yellow Hunting, or Yellow- hammer. Girl-Bunting. Corn-Bunting, or Common Bunting. Tree-Pipit. Wood - Pigeon. Tree- Sparrow. Lesser Redpoll. Goldjinch. Hawjinch. Cuckoo. Skylark. Mistle- Thrush. Landrail. Jay. Magpie. Linnet. Wood- Wren, or Wood-Warbler. Wryneck. Partridge. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Great Green Woodpecker. Turtle-Dove. Stock-Dove. Pheasant. Fieldfare Stonechat. Grasshopper Warbler. Nightjar. Butcher-Bird, or Red-backed Shrike. Kestrel. Crossbill. Mealy Redpoll. The Marsh-Tit. This bird is of about the size of the blue tit, and has the same manners, but its prevailing slaty-grey tints, with black head, distinguish it no less clearly than its chief alarm-cry and call-note, which .is unlike that of any other of our titmice. The cry has been syllabised "cheeu sa sa sa"; but I am now in- 42 CBJES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. clined to adopt another rendering. When a little boy, I men- tioned this cry to a brother, who said it sounded like " chikabee- bee bee." In Canada there is a bird which is identical with our marsh-tit, and has exactly the same notes. This bird is called' a " chickadee " no doubt from its note. In order to indicate; the origin of this name, and resemblance between the Canadian bird and ours, the cry of the latter should preferably be- rendered " chikadee." The marsh-tit has other notes the soft call-squeak common; to our titmice, a chatter of alarm, and a long scream of terror. In March and April it has a kind of song consisting of two notes given alternately at an even pace. This may be imitated by striking two notes (say G and E) near the top of the piano alternately, at the rate of three couples per second, and continu- ing to the extent of five or six repetitions. The Long-tailed Tit. This little long-tailed bird has a call quite distinct from those of the other tits a coarse little note which may be rendered " jiggig." In order to express alarm this note is often pro- longed, according to the extremity of the danger. If, therefore,, a hawk or other source of terror approach, the note becomes quite a long rattling cry. There is also a very soft squeak, like- that of the other tits. This is a call-note. The Nuthatch. This is another tree-climber, less common but more notice- able than the tree-creeper on account of its loud call-note, which may be heard pretty often from October to June (inclusive). WOODLAND BIRDS. 43 It is a double cry, very short, but full-toned, and is perhaps especially noticeable when given from a bare elm, on which the observer cannot at first detect the source of the loud " tewit " or " tewutt tewutt " which he hears repeated at fre- quent intervals. The nuthatch has a few song cries, all of which are loud and distinct. The commonest of these consists of a mere repetition of the " tewit " call, so rapid that a water-bubble roll is produced almost as loud as- a railway-guard's whistle, and of much the same tone. This is especially given in February, March, and April. It is curious that the young, when being fed, repeat the call in exactly the same manner ; but in their case the exclamation is much less loud, and is almost toneless. Another springtime cry of the nuthatch is a loud, clear whistle, slurred upward in the interval of near a sixth just such a whistle as one would give to call a dog. It is never re- peated more quickly than about twice per second. When first the bird begins to acquire this note, he may be observed to de- velop it from the short " tewit " cry, by successive efforts, and with increasing success. Sometimes the cry, instead of being slurred upwards, is slurred downward through the same in- terval, the result being a melancholy and forlorn-sounding whistle. These note's, and the water-bubble cry, are un- doubtedly song-notes ; and when one nuthatch is giving either of them, another nuthatch will generally be heard giving the same notes at no great distance. In the cold months, the thrush seems often to imitate the song-cries and whistle of the nuthatch. The call-note of the bird is a very soft, slight chirp, like the squeak of a titmouse. The wherealvouts of this bird is often first indicated by a loud tapping the sound of its strong bill on some nut or 44 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIKDS. kernel which has been wedged in a crevice for convenience of cracking. The nuthatch is one of the very few birds which can run head first down a tree. It does this easily. One day I saw a commotion in an elm. A sparrow and a nuthatch seemed to be contending for the ownership of a hole in a big branch ; and other sparrows were around. But the combatants seemed afraid of each other. At last the nuthatch darted at the sparrow, but swerved up and clung upside down under a higher branch. The sparrow was plainly confused. The nuthatch then alighted on the stem of the tree and began to descend head first towards the enemy, uttering " tewit." The sparrow then retreated, leaving the gymnast in possession. The Spotted Flycatcher. This bird is particularly partial to shady nooks in gardens, where it may be seen throughout the warmer months, perched on some bare branch or other point of vantage, whence it darts into the air in pursuit of a passing insect, to return to the same perch. It is a rather silent bird, except when the young are abroad. Then the call-note (exactly resembling the robin's call), and the alarm-note "chick," may constantly be heard. The two cries are often blended into " squee-chick, squee-chick-chick," and the young meanwhile utter the call- note. When first the old birds arrive, in May, the call is often repeated rather rapidly and with some variety of pitch, so that a kind of song is produced. It is very interesting to observe these primitive repetitions, and very possibly an extended ob- servation of them might disclose evidence that some flycatchers have advanced upon the crude attainments of their fellows, not only in attempted songs, but also in prolonged alarm-cries. WOODLAND BIRDS. 45 The Pied Flycatcher. This is a northern and rather rare species with the manners of the common bird, but readily distinguished by the brightly- contrasted black and white plumage of the male as well as by its notes. The Rev. H. A. Macpherson informs me that the male has an alarm like the " tit-a-tat " (chick, chick) of the red- start; and that the female utters a note identical with the " whit " of the chaffinch. The song commences with notes resembling those of the great tit, and passes into a sweet strain suggestive of the song of the redstart. The Bullfinch. This is readily distinguished by its heavy lilting flight, and the conspicuous white patch over the tail. The common call is a very short full whistle ; and the song consists of little more than this whistle, given on two or three notes. The following may be considered as characteristic. -^-p-p-p r * f = F*H ^E^^^EK^tH The simple and unmelodious character of the song is indi- cated in this strain. It must be remembered, however, that the principal notes have a rich tone. It is curious that the call-note of the young in July and August is certainly louder than the note of the old birds. It is like one of the above quavers repeated at the same pitch but with long pauses in between. 46 CEIES AND CALL -NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The Redstart. A common summer visitor; but it is rather shy, and therefore is much oftener discovered by its pleasing song and its distinct cries than by its plumage, though this, in the male, is brilliant and beautiful, the black head contrasting with the golden glow of the breast. The most noticeable note is the cry of alarm, which is, of course, oftenest heard when the young have just left the nest. This cry consists of a little whistle followed by one or two repetitions of a hard sound like that of striking two small pebbles together. The whole sounds like " tewy-chick," or " tewy-chick-chick." The little whistle is very short, and may be imitated by whistling a slur or drawl upward in the interval of a fifth say from C to G. The whistle does not occupy more than a half-second of time. When the bird first arrives, in April, the " tewy " is generally given without the " chick." Increase of fear causes a repetition of the " chick," but not of the " tewy." The song is frequently given until mid-June. It is a short but cheery strain, consisting of a few slight jerky notes, followed by a brief water-bubble roll, and concluded with various notes, some of which seem to be of a mimetic character. I have, in fact, heard some very good imitating at the end of the redstart's song. The call-note of the bird is a simple short squeak, which might be mistaken for the call of the robin. When the young is being fed, there is produced the same hoarse whisper of "call cah cah " one hears when the young robin is being fed. This and the call-note connect the bird with its family relation the robin ; and its alarm, " tewy," relates it to the warblers. One should listen for a prolonged rattling alarm in the red- start. The bird has only to prolong its repetitions of the " chick WOODLAND BIRDS. 47 chick" to attain this; and it may already do so, unnoticed, in particular areas. The Whitethroat. Tr. nearly every hedgerow this bird is found, but it keeps nearer to its nest than is the case with the blackcap and the redstart, and therefore does not so often visit our gardens, where, indeed, the blackcap often breeds. It may be at once distinguished by its jerky flight during song ; for though it often gives successive short strains from a perch, it seldom sings its longer songs without occasionally indulging in a cha- racteristic jerky flight. The song is a rapid jumble of cries, sometimes indicating very clearly the mimetic tendency of the singer. The whitethroat is one of the many birds whose strains have greater variety of tone at the conclusion than at the commencement. Its strains are greatly varied, and yet the few harsh chattered notes which form the whole song when the bird arrives, are generally retained throughout the season as a prelude. The following three preludes are typical. 2 Svex. J=100. 3S To the countryman, however, the whitethroat's alarm-cry is much more noticeable tihan its song. Often may we hear from the fresh greenery of a hedgerow a curious little growling sound, slurred upwards and repeated, the whole sounding like " cruee- cruee-cruee-cruee," and so on. Sometimes a lower note " currr " is given singly. The " cruee " 48 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIKDS. certainly comes from a whitethroat ; but the " currr " may ema- nate also from a lesser whitethroat, or from a sedge-warbler. The whitethroat's most vehement alarm-cry is a very rapid " chuck-uck-uck-uck " prolonged. Both sexes have these alarm- notes ; and the young utter sounds like the last when demand- ing food from their parents. The alarm-notes seem to be most noticeable during the period ot song, which lasts from April till mid-July ; but they may also be heard till mid-September, when the bird leaves us for the south. The Garden-Warbler. Though perhaps a less common bird than the blackcap, yet its song so closely resembles that of its relation diat it is now mentioned, instead of the more distinct strains of some other species. The song is very like the loud part of the blackcap's strain, but is more rapid, so that if piccolo music, consisting of semiquavers rendered at the rate of four per second, would suggest the blackcap's song, the same music played in triplets and at the rate of six notes per second, would give a good idea of the garden-warbler's song. The blackcap's loud notes are rarely interrupted with harsh ones ; while the other bird does not give many full tones in succession, but varies them with a very rapid and sometimes harsh chattering. The pitch of the garden-warbler's full notes is often very low for so small a bird and equals the lowest notes of the blackbird. The song is also more continued than that of the blackcap. The bird is very common, and may be heard from early in May till mid-July, but it is even more wary than the blackcap, and one can but rarely identify this little brown and grey bird WOODLAND BIRDS. 49 when singing, unless a glass is used. Neither the blackcap nor the garden-warbler sings during flight, except on very rare occasions. In this they differ from a very common warbler, the whitethroat, whose song might be mistaken for theirs. The alarm-note is a hoarse " tack " ; but when not singing the bird is usually silent. The Lesser Whitethroat. A much less common bird than the last named. Its song consists of a few preliminary harsh notes followed by a loud water-bubble roll, given at one pitch, and not long con- tinued. This roll is also given in the same manner by the nightingale, and the song of the cirl-bunting is of much the same character ; but in the lesser whitethroat it is always pre- ceded by a few harsh chattered notes. The bird has a lovr "currre" of alarm, like that of the whitethroat. It is the smaller and darker of the two species and has no distinct white mark under the bill. I have never heard it sing on the wing. The full rattle concludes the following strain, which may be considered as typical. J=100. The Chiffchaff. Another summer migrant which, like the blackcap, often strays from its favourite woodlands into suburban gar- dens. Its song is not loud, but is remarkable in that it does 50 OKIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. not resemble in any way that of another British species. The bird has been named from its song, which may be rendered : " chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff, chip-chop,'' and so on. There is also a low cricket-like chirp given between spells of the other cry. It runs " tiddy tiddy tiddy," or sometimes "tiddydy, tiddydy." There is also occasionally some variation in the " chiff-chaff," the second syllable being doubled. Another note of the bird which, is noticeable, is the alarm. This may be imitated by whistling a little slur from one note to the fifth above, rapidly, so as to produce a sound something like " tewy." This little whistle may be heard in July in every thicket, for it is the call of the young birds as well as of the old ones. In September, also, when the birds are leaving us, it may be continually heard. At that time, and often in early October, the chiffchaff will sing its cheery song in our gardens. This is a very small and slender olive-green and yellow bird, which hunts for insects almost as busily as a titmouse. The Willow-Wren. Another very small bird, which closely resembles the chiff- chaff in tit-like activity as well as in colour, is the willow- warbler, or willow-wren. It is a persistent singer from mid- April to mid-June, and in early morning hours till mid- August. The song is particularly sweet and melodious. The first few notes are high and very rapid ; and then the strain descends through a succession of sweet whistled notes suggest- ing the syllables " cooi cooi " repeated. To close observation it appears that each bird varies his strains not a little, but all have the characteristic tone. It is curious that when a willow- wren commences a strain another near is likely to begin almost WOODLAND BIBDS. 51 at the same instant; and when several are in song at the same spot, the rapid succession of their descending strains produces a kind of "chiming," very sweet to hear. This chiming may be due to the pugnacity and rivalry of the birds. I have seen them fight desperately in the intervals of their lovely singing. The following strain is typical of this bird's song : wa The alarm-note is a " tewy," like that of the chiffchaff. The young have a simple squeak, which is sometimes inflected so as to resemble the note of the chiffchaff. The Nightingale. This is the most noticeable of all singers by night, but it sings also by day, and does so for some time after it has ceased from nocturnal performing. Let no one unacquainted with the song suppose that it is wholly melodious : on the contrary, many of the strains are composed of a sometimes toneless, some- times harsh repetition. A simple " sisisisisisi," uttered very rapidly, will be continued for two or three seconds. The next strain may be a rather fierce-sounding " rrrrr " ending abruptly. Then one may hear a strain exactly resembling a blackbird's rattling alarm, but having a better tone. There is one feature, however, which raises the character of the song above all others. It is the magnificent crescendo. This is particularly noticeable E 2 52 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. in the strains which are composed of long notes. If you whistle a high note and repeat it at a rather quicker rate than one per second, beginning as softly as possible and swelling it, in the course of eight or ten repetitions, to the loudest you can whistle, then you will have a very coarse and inartistic rendering of one of the bird's most beautiful strains. But when you hear the original you will perceive that you cannot whistle so softly as the bird, nor with so good a tone ; and you are equally unable to rival its splendid power of swelling the note with perfectly even gradation of tone. The nightingale is sometimes inclined to mimic, and one of its strains, a rapid " slip slip slip " pro- longed, is much like the sound made by the young perching nightingale when the parent is feeding it. The song may be heard till mid-June, some time after the young have left the nest. The repeated assertion that the bird sings only till the young are hatched is therefore incorrect. The songs of the nightingale are very difficult to record in notation, not because of quickness of utterance (for many of them are slow), but on account of the unusual intervals of pitch to which the notes approximate. Sharp fourths, fifths, and sixths are often given, while not infrequently the interval exceeds an octave. The tone also is greatly varied. Some notes are so unmusical that the pitch is not easy to detect ; and these, abruptly following some sweet tone, tend to confuse the listener. The following examples, selected from a large num- ber of similar records, may be of interest. The first strain is one heard commonly in Gloucestershire and near Eltham (Kent) at least; and it was heard, at the same pitch, near Vienna, by a friend of Mr. Harting. The second strain is one of the commonest, and it is given in any interval between a third and an octave. Curiously enough. WOODLAND BIRDS. 53 Glo glo glo glo glo glo. Fee pee pee pee. boblobloblobloblobloblobl* Tewy tewy tewy tewy tewy tewy tew tew tew tew. rf T" jj^^SjW^n^jj^^ji u a S S S S "^ ^ ^-fe 54 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIEDS. this strain, given with the tone of the nightingale, constitutes the entire song of a bush-warbler in Western Canada, where bird-songs are few and far between. The third strain shows how the nightingale sometimes elaborates a little call-note into his lovely long notes ; and the inference is that the transition which the bird now effects in five seconds may have taken the species five ages to traverse in acquiring its characteristic long notes. The remainder of the strains are of the ordinary kind, though the repetitions in the actual song are generally much more prolonged than is here indicated. The nightingale makes the sweetest, and also the most hideous, sound of any British bird. Its common alarm-cry is a croak exactly like that of a frog. This must not be con- fused with the high " work work " which in March we hear in the daytime from ditches ; that is the cry of the toad ; but it is a short, low, purring note. The nightingale's croak always suggests to me the sound of some small animal growling and "grinding its teeth" at the same time. The young nightin- gales also have this cry, which may be heard occasionally until mid-September. Another common cry is a brief note slurred upwards, which may be rendered " whit." This is certainly used sometimes to lead the young from danger ; and it is often immediately fol- lowed by the croak ; but as it is very commonly uttered by the birds immediately on arrival here in spring, it seems to be a call-note as well as an alarm. A very interesting feature in the song of the nightingale is the frequency with which the strains are begun with this little note, which is then given quite softly and rather slower than when uttered by itself. In Gloucestershire I found that an average of about one phrase out of four was commenced thus. WOODLAND BIRDS. 55 The bird has also a simple call-squeak like that of the robin, and a high " distress-note '' like that bird. The Yellow Bunting, or Yellow-hammer. The song of this bird is remarkably characteristic, and is a common rural sound. It may be imitated by giving ten or a dozen little whistles with the mouth, each as short as possible (staccato}, at the rate of four per second, each one a shade higher in pitch than the last, and the whole being immediately followed by two higher notes, each of a half-second duration, the leading note being slightly higher than the other. If the reader will follow these instructions he will obtain an idea of the song, which, once identified, will never l>e mistaken. The song is habitually given from an elevated perch, and may be heard as late a.s the end of July, when few other songs are sung. The call-note and alarm are the same note delivered with emphasis suitable to the occasion. The cry is a brief twitter, reminding one of the " tit-it-it " of the greenfinch, but it is briefer. It is commonly given when the birds are disturbed from a roadside hedge, as they often are of a winter's evening, when they have come in from the fields, where they feed, to the accustomed night-shelter of the hedge. The young have a brief squeak, thin and shrill. The song has been very aptly likened to the words " A little little bit of bread and no cheese." It generally runs in the following manner Sva.. 56 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIKDS. The Cirl Bunting. This bird's song is given on one note. It never has the high final notes of the yellowhammer. It is really a short, loud; rattle rather than a song, but with a musical tone, and anyone who knows the yellowhammer's strain can easily identify this one. It is barely two seconds in duration, and may be written as follows : J=100. The call-note:, as well as the alarm-note, is a soft but clear and not harsh " sip," like the call of the hedge-sparrow abbre- viated. The young have the same cry. The bird is by no means so common as the two allied species treated in this section. The Corn-Bunting, or Common Bunting. The song of this bird is very peculiar, and may be heard at a considerable distance. The bird being rather wary, one may follow the singer for some time without being able to identify it The song may be well suggested by holding a bunch of small keys loosely in the palm: of the hand and shaking ihem, not quickly at first, but increasing the vibration to the greatest possible rapidity the whole effort lasting not more than three seconds. The alarm-note is a simple " chip," hard and metallic. The call-note is a slight squeak, similar to the call of the pipits. The Tree-Pipit. This bird is very noticeable in the season of song, from mid- April to July, and inconspicuous at other periods. The song WOODLAND BIRDS. 57 is very often delivered during a short flight, in which the bird rises vertically and then descends with motionless wings and elevated tail. The notes uttered during the ascent are rapid and somewhat varied ; during the descent a prolonged " whee whee whee " is given. The whole strain may be written : " chee chee chee echaw echaw chee chee judge judge judge whee whee whee whee." The alarm-note is a quiet but metallic " chip." The call is a hoarse " see," sometimes prolonged in .a way suggestive of the redwing's call. This cry may be heard from the birds when migrating in autumn or in spring. The Wood-Pigeon. This bird may often be seen flying, when it is readily distin- guished by the white bar on each wing. Its cooing is a com- mon woodland sound, and may be rendered : "coo-roo, coo- co-roo, coo-roQ, coo-co-co-roo," etc. The notes vary some- what in pitch, but there is not usually an interval of more than a fifth between the highest and the lowest notes. The musical reader should listen for unusual intervals. The young squeak like those of the domestic pigeon, and the adults have a .grunt of alarm similar to the danger-signal of that bird. The Tree-Sparrow. Obviously this is a near relation of the house-sparrow, both .-sexes having a black mark under the bill, but having also a Avarm maroon colour on the upper part of the head. In voice -also this bird resembles the house-sparrow, but has a shriller tone. The song consists of a number of the ordinary chirps intermixed with some pleasing notes. 58 CRIES AND CALL-XOTES OF WILD BIBDS. The Lesser Redpoll. Like the linnet this is a noisy little bird. Its tones have the same character as those of the greenfinch, but in an ex- aggerated degree. Its " tit-it-it '' call is more rapid and con- tinuous than that of the other bird, its " tell tell " oftener uttered, its " tewy " frequently given, and its coarse wheeze even, coarser than the " zshweeo '' of the greenfinch, and sometimes, given in flight as well as from a perch. The ordinary call " tit-it-it," however, is uttered at a lower pitch than that of the greenfinch, and the tone is less sharp, so that the cry might be syllabled " twuttuttutt." The Goldfinch. Although this species is fast disappearing from its ac- customed haunts, the dweller in the country may sometimes hear a few of the little birds twittering while they pass over the garden, or perch to rest for a few minutes on some tall tree. The bird often breeds in large gardens, where there are plenty of shrubs. Its ordinary note is a " twitt-itt-itt," etc., and the young have a similar cry. The song chiefly consists of re- petitions and variations of the call-note, but often includes cries, similar to those of other birds. In captivity the bird is dis- tinctly imitative. It is interesting to note that when a gold- finch attacks another, he utters a grating cry " geeze," which is- of the same nature as the cry used on a like occasion by the lesser redpoll. The Hawfinch. This species is more, easily identified by its appearance short and stout, with an almon rectansr !ar bill than bv its WOODLAND BEBDS. 59 note, which is, however, fairly distinct. The call-note is a hard metallic " sit sit," reminding one of the sound made by breaking a strip of glass. In autumn a somewhat plaintive " pee-et " is uttered. In captivity the bird is imitative ; but in the wild state it is so wary that the song is almost inaudible. The Cuckoo. Although the cuckoo is not nearly so common as many sub- sequently mentioned, its note is no doubt much more familiar to tne reader than the birds. The cry needs no further descrip- tion than to be named. It may be heard from April to June (in- clusive), and is uttered by both sexes. It seems to be to some extent a song note ; it is certainly sometimes a call-note. A boy who can imitate the cry well by blowing against his clasped hands can bring a succession of these birds towards him. But this does not prove the note to be other than a defiance. The cry is uttered in flight as w T ell as from a perch. The cry alters gradually as the season advances, the musical interval between the notes becoming extended, sometimes to a fifth ; I have only once known it to attain the flat sixth. I have never heard a less interval than a whole tone (two half-tones) between the two syllables. The cuckoo has several other cries as well as that from which it is named. One of these is a full toned water-bubble ex- clamation consisting of a full round note repeated at the same pitch some 10 or 12 times per second. It is rather more than a second in duration. This appears to be the note of the female (and see the Zoologist, August, 1894, and the Field, 2oth June. 1896). I am informed that it is also uttered bv the voung. The ordinarv call-note of the voung is a short 60 CBIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. squeak, like that of the hedge-sparrow, but rather hoarse. Another cry is a kind of laugh, not unlike the laughing cry of the collared dove, which is so commonly kept as a pet. This cry seems to be used when cuckoos are very near each other. Mr. H. S. Davenport has noticed another cry, " whuff whuff whuff whuff whuff," which he states is not necessarily an alarm-note. It appears that in April the typical cry is mos- often given, and that, as the season advances the other cries are heard. In July the " cuckoo " is practically abandoned. In 1896 I heard two cuckoos giving their cry in continued and even alternation, and one bird's voice being pitched a tone higher than that of the other, a curious little strain was pro- duced, which is here given. What is more remarkable, however, is that I heard the same thing in '97 and in '98 at the same place. *=SS The Skylark. The song of the skylark, delivered throughout a lofty ascent and return, needs no description for identification; but the song is also given from the ground, especially towards the close of the season of song, which lasts from January to July, in- clusive. Although the lark seems to sing for a long while at a time, close attention reveals the fact that the bird rarely sings for more than five minutes ; and the songs do not generally ex- ceed three minutes in duration. The bird has an autumn song in October, November, and early December ; but this is usually a short song, though WOODLAND BIRDS. 61 occasionally a long performance is given. These autumn songs seem to be mostly those of young birds of the year, and con- sist mainly of repetitions of the call-notes, with the addition of a few more musical sounds. The call-notes are a rapid guttural "worryou," and a some what plaintive " eeuh," the latter being also the cry of the young. It is retained by the latter until September, when they acquire the "worryou." The lark is very imitative, whether wild or caged. In the latter condition it soon acquires the notes of near birds which are usually the sparrows. The wild bird's mimicry has more opportunity and is less readily detected by an observer. It is, however, clear, and will be found to be chiefly limited to imita- tion of the cries of birds common in the habitat of the per- former. The larks on Salisbury Plain, for instance, reproduce the cries of buntings, plovers, and other birds found on the Plain. They do not include in their songs the notes of the hedge-sparrow, great tit, blue tit, and other woodland species, which in a district of hedges and woods may often be heard from the lark. On the shores, again, the larks utter the cries of shore birds. A few days before writing I heard a lark give the song of a blackcap beautifully. The Mistle-Thrush. This bird is put next in our list in respect to its relative abundance. Although it is so similar to the common thrush in general appearance, its much larger size, longer tail, and undulating flight, should distinguish it at once. The chief distinguishing feature in the voice of this bird is the very loud rattling screech which it utters when its nest is 62 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. disturbed, or likely to be, by another bird. The common thrush makes a very similar but less noisy outcry on a like occasion. The song of the mistle-thrush is very loud, and equally brief. As heard at some distance as is usually the case, the biii being rather timid it consists of from three to five or six loud whistled notes, given rather hurriedly, so that tihe listener may be led to imagine that some very musical bantam or other such bird is crowing. The mistle-thrush varies its song but slightly, and will repeat its brief strain in the same way a dozen times in succession. It is curious that the young blackbird when first he acquires his full notes, sings very brief strains, with little variation, in the manner of the mistle-thrush, which thus appears to retain the most ancient style of the thrush song. The ordinary call-note is a rapid " tuc tuc tuc." In spring another note may sometimes be heard a soft, short "syou," which is practically identical with the winter call-note of another thrush, the redwing. The Landrail. The only cry of this bird which an observer can hear is the well-known " crake," which may be imitated by drawing a match-stick sharply across the narrow teeth of a hair-comb, and repeating the stroke once or twice per second, with a slight pause after every two or three strokes. The pitch does not vary. The cry may be heard from April to mid-July. The Jay. The loud " cah cah " of this bird, given repeatedly at a varying pitch, is an unwelcome sound to the gardener, who, however WOODLAND BIRDS. 63 early he may arrive to work, constantly finds that a marauder haj arrived yet earlier. The sound is also unwelcome to the sportsman, for it is a danger-signal to the whole wood. The young have the same cry, but utter it in a more squealing tone. In captivity the jay is exceedingly imitative, and readily reproduces any familiar sound, from the mewing of cats to the sounds made in raising a window. It learns words and pro- nounces them accurately, but seems to prefer other subjects for imitation. The Magpie. Another very imitative bird, not so common as the jay, but very plentiful in certain districts. The common cry which one hears from the wild birdi is a hoarse rapid " shushushushu." This is given sometimes as a call-note, and sometimes as an alarm. I have also heard the wild birds chattering together with a great variety of tone and emphasis, though in a manner suggestive of amicability. The Linnet. One of the birds oftenest kept in miserable captivity, the linnet, is familiar to us all. Its ordinary note is a curious rapid chuckle, followed by a twitter like the " dit-it-it-it " of the greenfinch. This is the call-note ; but it also answers the pur- pose of an alarm-cry. The song consists of a repetition of all the notes. It is a curious little chuckling kind of strain. In the early months of the year a flock of linnets may often be heard singing in chorus, all commencing and ending at about the same time. The young, after leaving the nest, have a loud cry " yell yell yell," closely resembling one of the cries of the greenfinch. In captivity the bird is very imitative. 64 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BERDS. The Wood-Wren, or Wood-Warbler. This is the little bird whose sibilous but passionate strain " see see see seesi sisisisisisisi " may sometimes be hea^ from the tree-tops in May, June, and July. It has also a louc. clear whistle repeated three or four times at the same pitch, and sug- gesting the syllables "kew kew kew." This cry seems to answer the purpose of an alarm-note. It is never delivered in flight, whereas the song is often given in the course of a slow hovering flight from branch to branch. The call-note is a soft unmodulated squeak, similar to that of the young willow-wren ; and the young wood-wrens also have this note. The most noticeable feature of the song is that it begins slowly, and with only a slight raising of the pitch gradually quickens until at the close the notes are hardly distinguishable. The bird itself, generally modestly retiring into the depth of the woods, is not often seen ; yet it is one of the most delightful of our summer visitors. Though so small (of about the size of the willow-wren), it has such pleasing tints of olive-green and yellow, and sings with such intense passion, that an observer who has once watched the bird at a short distance will never forget it. It visibly trembles in the ecstasy of its singing. The Wryneck. This slim and elegant greyish tree-climber is by no means rarely seen on orchard trees ; but its note should lead to its more frequent discovery. The cry is first heard at about the time of the arrival of the cuckoo, whence the bird has been called " the cuckoo's mate." The cry is loud, resonant, and rapid. It suggests the syllables " dillillillill," and may be imi- tated by whistling a note with a slight leading inflection and WOODLAND BIRDS. 65 repeating it at the rate of four times per second. The note is given not only in spring, but at intervals until the bird leaves us in autumn. I have heard it in October. The alarm-cry is a short, hard "tuck," which near the young is rapidly repeated, with different vowel sounds, and may be suggested by " kack kick kick kack kack kock kock kuck kuck kick," etc., given as quickly as possible. The bird hisses when alarmed on the nest. The young have a cry like the other alarm-note of the parents. The Partridge. The evening call of this bird may be heard at most times of the year. It is also given at other periods of the day, but is most noticeable at evening, and especially on winter evenings. It may be written " keeash " and seems to be a call-note. The young "cheep " like common chicks, but less loudly. The old birds when alarmed rise on the wing with a rapidly repeated cry" gug-ug-ug." The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. This is the commonest of the woodpeckers, and the smallest. Its whereabouts may be more readily discovered from the sound of its bill than from its cry. The sound of its bill is sometimes as slow as that of the nuthatch a distinct hammering ; or it may be a more rapid tapping; or, again, an exceedingly rapid vibrating blow-, causing a blurring or churring note. This may be given while the bird is ascending a tree. The male has been stated to utter a laughing cry, which is 66 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. important as relating this bird to the great green woodpecker. I have heard the common cry a shriek repeated s\ rapidly as to cause a sort of laughing cry, the more especially as the pitch of the notes was somewhat varied. The common cry is a very short shriek, in tone similar to that of the wryneck, but slurred upwards instead of downwards like that cry. There is also a quiet " tick tick " or " kink." The Greater Spotted Woodpecker. This is a rare bird, and may be distinguished by its size, which nearly equals that of a starling, and by its black and white colours, rather than by its notes, which are not loud. The call is " quet quet " or " gick gick," with, at intervals, a low " tra tra." This bird also makes a hammering noise with its bill. The Great Green Woodpecker. This handsome large green bird is common in some locali- ties. Its note is a loud laughing cry, not altogether unlike the neigh of a horse. The bird has also been observed to utter a soft but varied song (H. F. Witherby in Knowledge, June, 1897). The Turtle-Dove. This bird's soft purring may be heard from many country gardens. It consists of a repeated purring coo somewhat like the "churr" of the nightjar; but its strain is less prolonged than this. I have located the pitch at E and E flat, every alternative purr being slightly lower than the preceding one. The young have a cry similar to the note of the young pigeon, and the alarm is similar to that of the pigeon. WOODLAND BIRDS. 67 The Stock-Dove. A very simple coo is uttered by this bird ; in fact, the cooing is not more than a brief repetition of " hoop/' but it has the rare feature of a crescendo, the hooping getting louder and louder, until the bird makes a majestic bow to the object of his song, which is, of course, his mate. The coos are given at practically the same pitch. It would be interesting to find an instance of a stock-dove attaining a more elaborate song than is here in- dicated. Its other cries resemble those of the common pigeon. The Pheasant. The crowing of the pheasant may be heard at a long dis- tance. It is a simple " gurrrg," followed by a low thunderous sound caused by the rapid beating of the wings, while, immedi- ately after crowing, he stretches himself to the full height. The cry of alarm is very similar to the crow, but is shorter. The chicks " cheep" as do those of common fowls. The Fieldfare. This bird is most noticeable when it comes to us in flocks in autumn. The rapid cry "tuck uck uck uck" may be heard from the flocks. The Stonechat. This handsome bird, with black head and ferruginous breast, has a pleasing song, and, being not very timid, may be easily observed. It may sometimes be seen in a hedge bordering a country garden, but is nowhere a very common bird. The phrases are short, but are varied, and some of them are dis- F2 68 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. tinctly mimetic. The alarm is a repeated " chat chat," which, like others, is repeated rapidly under the influence of excite- ment. The Grasshopper Warbler. This is not a common bird, though one or two may be heard in most districts. It is a very silent bird except as to its song* which is a continued clicking or burring note, reminding one of the noise made in winding an angler's multiplying reel. Pass a match stick across the teeth of a comb at the rate of about twelve per second ; imagine the noise continued for five minutes without a break, and you have a fair idea of the song of the grasshopper warbler. Those who know the noise made by the great green grasshopper (Locusta viridissuna) will perceive the appropriateness of this warbler's title. The Nightjar. In many woodland districts the continued " burrr " of the nightjar may be heard. It is more like the continued rattling of a ratchet-wheel in motion than the note of any bird. It may be heard from May to July, inclusive, at any time between dusk and dawn, but it is given less often in the darkest hours than at dusk or dawn, when it may be repeated for a quarter of an hour at a time, with only very brief interruptions. There are toy rattles sold which are made on the same principle as the now obsolete police-rattle. One of these little rattles, whirled at even speed, will produce a noise very suggestive of the night- jar's song. The alarm-cry of the bird is a sharp clicking note WOODLAXD BIRDS. 69 sometimes accompanied by the smiting of the wings together above the back. Under the influence of excitement the note is repeated many times, so as to produce a rattling cry. The call- note is rarely heard. It may be syllabled " pee-ep." Th - bird has the habit of sometimes swooping from a height and pro- ducing a booming sound at the moment when the descent is con- cluded. The Butcher-Bird, or Red-Backed Shrike. This handsome bird is commoner than one would suppose from the infrequency of its vocal efforts. Excepting the groat occasion for the use of alarm-cries (when tihe young come abroad) the bird is usually of a silent habit, although its actual cries are loud and distinct. One of them is difficult to distinguish from the " tell " of the house-sparrow. The tone is the same, but the rate of repetition of the butcher-bird's cry is always slower than that of the sparrow. It might perhaps be syllabled " chell " rather than " tell." This cry has no doubt been the occasion for the statement that the bird imitates the cries of small birds for the purpose of attracting them. In captivity it has a pleasing little warble which seems to be partly mimetic. The cry in question seems to be a note of suspicion. A cry sometimes heard soon after the bird's arrival here, early in M y, is a prolonged "cull cull cull," the tone of which resembles that of the kestrel and the wryneck. I have sometimes heard this imitated by the thrush. On one occasion I was able to describe the original from this imitation, and so clear an idea was thus conveyed to the listener (my brother, Mr. E. Xortharn Witchell) that next day when he heard a similar cry behind him on open land, he immediately recognised it, and, turning, 70 CBIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. saw a butcher-bird passing from wood to wood the bird, un- doubtedly, which had uttered the cry. When alarmed for its young, the bird utters a loud harsh " chaack " repeated. The young squeal somewhat in the tone of )'oung jays, but less loudly. The pitch of their notes is varied. (Ante page 69). The Kestrel. The note of this bird is a very short, sharp shriek. It may sometimes be heard from the flying young rarely from the parents. The Crossbill. The call may be rendered "sit sit." The Mealy Redpoll. This rare little bird has a curious song, which has been rendered " zig-wig-chutta chutta che we we." In flight it sings "chicki chicki chicki wee wee." It also utters a "chizzzzz." (O.V. Aplin, Zoologist, vol. xxi. p. 69, and xx. p. 451). CHAPTEE III. UPLAND BIRDS. Birds heard from the Upland Gardens. Peewit. Meadow-Pipit. Whcatcar. Twite. Whinchat. Quail. King- Ousel. Rock-Pipit. Red Grouse. Raven. The Peewit. The broad, clubbed-looking wings of this bird, and its devious flight, distinguish it no less than its repeated cry of "pee-a- wit, pee-i-wit " from other species. The cry may be heard not only by day, but sometimes also at night. It seems usually to answer the purpose of an alarm cry ; but it seems occasionally to be given as a song. It is not, however, heard from large flocks of peewits, which doubtless obey some less noisy call from their leaders. The young have the same note, but this, of course, cannot be heard from them when in a state of freedom. The Meadow-Pipit. The tree-pipit is a woodland species ; the meadow-pipit pre- fers open country. The song of the latter consists of a double- syllabled cry " chewick " repeated during the ascent, and a pro- longed " see see see " given during the descent. The song-flight is similar to that of the tree-pipit. The call-note and the cry of the young are a short " see," not loud. The alarm is a short sharp chirp, " peet," not harsh, and not repeated quickly. 72 CBIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The Wheatear. This upland bird, though rare in the garden, is common enough on open downs, when its loud call-note, " tack," can be heard at a considerable distance, while the white patch above the tail allows of identification by the eye as easily as by the ear. The alarm-note, often heard when the young are about, is a hoarse squeak, similar to that of the pipits. The song is short, but varied, and the bird is very imitative. There is a good account of its mimicry written by Dr. Saxby in "The Birds of Shetland." The young have the parental squeak. The Twite. This is the little dark-looking bird which is commonly seen during the colder months flitting about the fields, and always descending on open ground, and uttering a frequently re- peated " wheet." The cry is rapidly repeated when the bird is alarmed. The song consists of but little more than repetitions of the call-note, and is often delivered in flight The young have the cry of the parents. The Whinchat. This is another inhabitant of uncultivated land, where it may be seen busily flitting about the furze-bushes, uttering meanwhile its alarm, " utick utick," the first syllable being somewhat pro- longed. The song is short, hurried, and varied. The bird is imitative in captivity, and Mr. Robert Godfrey describes the- same feature in the song of the wild bird. UPLAND BIRDS. 73 The Quail. The note of this bird may be heard in spring and until -August. It has been rendered " t\vit-me-dick " and " picker- wick," or " peek-wheet-wheet." Father Kircher gave it as "Bi-ke-bik, bi-ke-bik, bi-ke-bik." The Ring-Ousel. This bird not only resembles the blackbird in general appear- ance (possessing, however, a light gorget or band across the neck), but it has also a rattling alarm, a rapid " tack tack tack," which is of the same nature as the blackbird's rattling alarm, but not so modulated in pitch. It has a loud song, consist- ing of flute-like notes, somewhat slurred. This bird is only a passenger over the cultivated districts. It is oftenest seen in early spring. The Rock-Pipit. This species has the general manners of the other pipits, with SL call similar to theirs, and a similar song-flight, the song, how- ever, consisting of a single note repeated, followed by the usual "" see see see." The Red Grouse. Mr. Robert Godfrey gives the alarm of this bird as a loud cry, "" aAvk ko ko ko, ko-bek ko-bek ko-bek." The Raven. This bird can only be expected' in the garden as a captive, and a rather expensive one. The ordinary note is the coarsest croak imaginable, which may be suggested by striking a stick along an upright iron rail fence, thereby producing a rapid metallic rattle. CHAPTEE IV. WATER-SIDE BIRDS. Birds heard in and near Riverside Gardens^ Sicans, Ducks, and Geese. Wagtails. Sedge-Warbler. Reed- Warbler. Moorhen. Siskin. Reed-Bunting. Common Heron. Kingfisher. Dipper. Common Sand- piper. Redshank. Curleiv. Dunlin. Ringed Plover. Golden Plover. Coot. Common Snipe. Little Grebe ; or Dabchick. Hooded Crow. Marsh- Warbler. Swans, Ducks, and Geese. These are mentioned as illustrating family resemblances of voice. The young have always a peeting cry, like that of a young duckling, whatever may be the note of the parent^ They generally hiss when enraged, especially when on the- nest ; and none of them can sing. The mute swan, however,, has been heard to utter notes in the interval of a minor third (see Harting's "Ornithology of Shakespeare," p. 202). His- only note is usually a toneless grunt, or a hiss. The Wagtails. The common pied (black and white) wagtail has a very com- mon note, heard throughout the year : " chizzit," (uttered very quickly). Mr. Robert Godfrey tells me that this cry has some- WATER-SIDE BIRDS. 75 times three syllables instead of two ; and that is a very impor- tant variation. Has anyone heard it with four or five ? There is also a cry " cheeo," which is addressed sometimes to the young. Both of these cries seem also to answer the purposes of alarms. The pied wagtail is fond of singing, or rather of attempting to sing ; but its efforts rarely exceed a jumble of call-notes. The grey wagtail, which is less noisy than the common bird, and handsomer, is less often seen in gardens. It has a cry like the " chizzit," repeated several times rapidly ; and this emphasises the importance of an occasional duplication of the syllables in the cry of the common bird. The yellow wagtail is a field bird rather than a water bird. It has a soft monotonous alarm-cry or call-note; but it has also a very pleasing warbled song, which is, however, very rarely heard. The Sedge-Warbler. Dwellers by the river-side, or near marshy ground, may often hear at night in the spring a continued song, which they may possibly mistake for that of the nightingale, if (and only if) they are unacquainted with the latter song. The sedge- warbler sings almost as much by night as by day, and when several are near each other there is quite a charm. The song is hurried, and greatly varied. It generally begins with a " chiddy chiddy chiddy," and then passes into a succession of wonderful imitations of other birds. The cries of the sparrow, swallow, linnet, wagtail, etc., are repeated with marvellous fidelity. Different birds sometimes have particular strains consisting of these cries arranged in a certain order. If the bird be silent, at any hour, it will be sure to sing if disturbed, 76 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. though this be by the clapping of hands, or a stone thrown into the bush. The song is heard until mid-July. The call-note Mr. Holte Macpherson describes as "chiddy chiddy." The alarm-note is a croak, less harsh than that of the nightingale, and seeming lower in pitch than that of the whitethroat. The Reed-Warbler. This is another water-side bird whose song has much in common with that of the sedge-warbler. It begins in a rapid "churra churra churra," and continues in a great variety of rapid notes, in some of which may be found a resemblance to the cries of other birds. But there is not the wonderful (and one might say, emphatic) mimicry which is always noticeable in the song of the sedge-warbler. Mr. F. B. Whitlock has re- corded the imitativeness of the reed-warbler (Zoologist, vol. xvi -> P 333)- (NOTE: Jn a former work I quoted Mr. H. C. Playne as having observed the mimicry of this species. He tells me I misunderstood him, and that he did not say he had observed this incident. I regret the error.) The Moorhen. Still in the river-side garden one may often hear the moor- hen's call "keck keck," or its alarm "whirrrro." The female calls "gok gok" to her young, and these have a miser- able little squeak, which, however, may be imitated so as to effectually deceive the little ones and bring them to the feet of the performer. Mr. Robert Godfrey has done this in Midlothian and in Shetland. The moorhen often flies at night, and its cry "keck keck keck keck '' may then be heard. WATER-SIDE BIRDS. 77 The Siskin. This is by no means a common bird ; but it may sometimes be seen on alder-trees, busy like a tit, amongst the catkins, or in spring, on the ground beneath the trees. I have always heard these birds utter a twitter in flight of the same nature as the twitter of the goldfinch. The song is not loud, and is jerky. It is often given during a flight. In captivity the bird is imitative. The Reed-Bunting. In marshy districts this is by no means an uncommon species, where the jet-black head of the male may for the moment deceive an observer into the belief that he is watching the very rare black-headed bunting. I have only observed the song in Gloucestershire and Somerset, and there it had always the same character, though varied towards the termination. It commenced in a rapid repetition of one note, like the songs of the yellow-hammer and cirl-bunting, then passed into a brief " cheeo cheeo," often followed by " tink tink,'' and a few other notes. The whole song was quite a brief one. Mr. Godfrey describes the ordi- nary call as a twitter similar to that of the yellow-hammer. The Common Heron. The ordinary note to be heard from this great bird as it flaps across the sky, is a loud clear "honk" or "frank." It will, however, only be heard when two or more herons are within sight of each other. The cry is so loud that on a still morning I have certainly heard it at a distance of a mile. When alarmed near the nest the birds make a great outcry, reminding one of the trumpet-like note of the stork. 78 CEIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIBDS. The Kingfisher. The common note is a clear piping "kee, kee," which, in spring, I have heard given in the interval of a minor third apparently as a song. The Dipper. The sprightly song of this bird is heard throughout the year, except in the early autumn. It has been compared to that of the wren, and also to that of the canary. The com- mon note is a " chick " or " ching." The Common Sandpiper. The common cry is "wheet w.heet wheet/' which is an alarm-cry. The Redshank. " In spring the love-notes of the male form what may fairly be called a song, the constantly repeated refrain of which 'leero, leero, leero,' rings musically around, as with many gesticulations he hovers in attendance on the flight of his mate." (Newton, "Dictionary of Birds")- "Often the cry consists of one note, having a very slight leading note at a higher pitch." (H. F. Witherby). The Curlew. Out on the muddy banks of the wide river the loud whistle of the curlew may be heard. It somewhat resembles in its inflection the word "corlieu" (Fr.) whence the French name of "curlie" as Yarrell observed. WATER-SIDE BIRDS. 79 The Dunlin. This is a very noisy bird, especially in March, when its *' trui trui " may often be heard at the river side. The Ringed Plover. The common cry may be rendered " pen-y-et," or " pooree," with the accent on the last syllable. The Golden Plover. The common cry of this bird is " louee louee," the second exclamation being given at a slightly lower pitch than the first. The Coot. Mr. Godfrey gives the call of this bird as a bold " kow kow." The Common Snipe. The alarm-cry is given by Yarrell as "scape scape," or *' chissick." At the breeding-time the bird utters a piping sound. At this season it also makes a bleating or booming sound by means of its flight and tail feathers, in a descent. The Little Grebe, or Dabchick. The common note is a brief " whit whit." The Hooded Crow. The common note is a harsh "era." 80 CRIES AND CALL-NOTES OF WILD BIRDS. The Marsh-Warbler. This is a very rare bird whose presence will apparently be most readily detected by its song, which excels that of the sedge-warbler in accuracy of mimicry. The song has been described to me as being less rapidly delivered than that of the sedge-bird. It has a croak of alarm somewhat similar to that of the sedge-warbler. INDEX. B. Barn Owl, 38 Blackbird, 14 Blackbird's Alarm, 17 Blackcap, 34 Blue Titmouse. 23 Brown Wren. 33 Bullfinch, 45 Bunting, Cirl, 56 ,, Reed. 77 ,, Yellow, 55 Butcher-bird. 69 C. Chaffinch. 25 .. Song of. 26 Chiffchaff, 49 Cirl-Bunting. 56 Coal-Tit, 24 Common Heron. 77 ., Sandpiper, 78 .. Snipe. Coot, 79 Creeper, Tree, 36 Crossbill, 70 Crow. 37 .. Hooded. 79 Cuckoo. 59 Curlew. 78 1). Dabchick. 79 Dipper. 78 Dove, Stock, 67 Turtle, 66 Ducks, 74 Dunlin, 79 F. Fieldfare, 67 Flycatcher Pied, 45 Spotted, 44 Garden-Warbler, 48 Geese, 74 Golden-Crested Wren, 36 Golden Plover. 79 Goldfinch, 58 Grasshopper Warbler, 68 Greater Spotted Woodpecker. 66 Great Green Woodpecker, 66 Great Titmouse. 20 Grebe, Little. 79 Greenfinch. 29 Grouse. Red. 73 82 INDEX. H Hawfinch, 58 Hedge- Sparrow, 13 Heron. 77 Hooded Crow, 79 House-Martin. 32 Sparrow, i Jackdaw, 37 Jay, 62 Kestrel. 70 Kingfisher, 78 J K. L. Landrail. 62 Lark. 60 Lesser Redpoll, 58 Spotted Woodpecker. 65 Whitethroat. 49 Linnet. 63 Little Grebe, 79 Long-Eared Owl. 39 Long-Tailed Tit. 4^ M, Magpie. 63 Marsh-Tit. 41 Warbler, 80 Martin, 32 ., Sand. 32 Meadow-Pipit. 71 Mealy Redpoll, 70 Mistle-Thrush. 61 Moorhen. 76 N. Nightingale, 51 ,. Music of, 53, Nightjar. 68 Nuthatch. 42 o. Ousel. Ring. 73 Owls, 38 Partridge. 65 Peetvit. 71 Pheasant, 67 Pied Flycatcher, 45 .. Wagtail, 74 Pipit. Meadow. 71 Rock. 73 Tree, 56 Plover. Golden, 79 Ringed. 79 guail. 73 R. Raven. 73 Red-Backed Shrike. 69* Red Grouse, 73 INDEX. 83 Redpoll. Lesser, 58 Mealy, 70 Redshank. 78 Redstart, 46 Redwing. 39 Reed-Bunting. 77 Reed- Warbler. 76 Ringed Plover. 79 Ring Ousel. 73 Robin. 5 Variation in, 6 Mimicry of, 8 Call- Note, 9 Rock Pipit. 73 Rook, 37 Sand-Martin, 32 Sandpiper, Common, 78 Sedge- Warbler. 75 Shrike, Red-Backed, 69 Siskin. 77 Skylark. 60 Snipe. Common. 79 Spnrrow, i ,. Tree. 57 Spotted Flycatcher, 44 Starling, 10 Mimicry of, ro ,, Love-Notes of, 1 1 Alarm of, 12 Stock-Dove, 67 Stonechat, 67 Swallow, 31 Swans, 74 Swift, 32 . T. Tawny Owl, 38 Thrush, 18 ., Mistle, 6 1 Titmouse, Blue, 23 Coal, 24 Great, 20 Long-Tailed, 42 Marsh, 41 Tree-Creeper, 36 ,. Pipit, 56 ., Sparrow, 57 Town Birds, i Turtle-Dove. 66 Twite. 72 U. Upland Birds, 71 W. Warbler, Blackcap, 34 Garden, 48 Grasshopper. 68 Marsh. 80 Reed. 76 Sedge. 75 Willow, 50 Wood, 64 INDEX. Wagtail, Grey, 75 Pied, 74 ., Yellow, 75 Waterside Birds. 74 Wheatear, 72 Whinchat. 72 Whitethroat, 47 ,, Lesser, 49 Willow- Wren, 50 Woodland Birds. 41 Woodpecker. Greater, 66 Great Green, 66 ,, Lesser Spotted, 65 ,. Spotted, 66 Wood-Pigeon, 57 Warbler, 64 .. Wren. 64 Wren. 33 Golden-Crested. 36 ,, Willow. 50 Wryneck, 64 Y. Yellow Bunting. 55 Yellowhammer. 55 Yellow Wagtail, 75 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A 000 070 333