UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOENIA Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/britishbirdswith01butlrich • ••ys 7V 75 PLJII. 7fc 7 '.-J 77 /05 *■*••! BPUMBV A CLARKE, LTf . L1TH09. MULL A T, u LONDON Figs. 73—75 Coai,-Tit. 76—77 Marsh-Tit. 78—81 Blue Tit. 82 Crested Tit. 83—84 Nuthatch. 85—87 Wren. 88—90 Tree Creeper. ^ % 34 100 *i& /u; 'V* /0£ 9 Figs. 91 Pied Wagtaii,. 92 White Wagtail. 93 Grey Wagtail. 94 Blue-Headed Wagtail. 95—96 Yellow Wagtail. 97- -100 Tree-Pipit. loi Meadow-Pipit. Figs. 102 Rock-Pipit. 103 Golden Oriole. 104 — 108 Red-Backed Shrike. 109 WooDCH.\T Shrike. no Pied Flycatcher. Ill— 113 Spotted Flycatcher. PL. II. SRUUtV 4 CkAPKC. LTD.. LITHOS. HULL «N0 LONDON Figs. 32 — 34 Whitethroat. 35—37 Lesser Whitethroat. 38 — 41 Blackcap. 42 — 44 Garden Warbler. 45 Dartford Warbler. 46—48 Golden-Crested Wren. Figs. 49—51 Chiffchaff. 52—54 Willow-Warbler. 55 Wood-Warbler. 56 — 57 Reed-Warbler. 58—60 Marsh-Warbler. 61—62 Sedge-Warbler. 63 Grasshopper Warbler. Figs. 64 Savi's Warbler. 65—67 Hedge-Sparrow. 68 Bearded Reedling. 69 Long-Tailed Tit. 70 Dipper. 71—72 Great Tit. PL.;. • ft • •'■7^ 10 12 U> zi 27 23 X8 • Figs. I — 4 Missel Thrush. 5 — 9 Song Thrush. lo — 17 Blackbird. Figs. 18 — 19 Ring Ouzei.. 20 Whe.\te.4R. 21— ^j Whinchat. j 23 Stonechat. Figs. 24 Redstart. 25—28 Redbreast. 29 — 31 Nightingale. BRITISH BIRDS WITH THEIR Rests akd Eggs IN SIX VOI.UMES ORDER PASSERES (First Part) . By ARTHUR G. BUTLER, Ph.D., F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S., Corresponding Member of Various Foreign vSocieties Author of "British Birds' Eggs, A Handbook of British Oology" (Illustrated by the Author) "Favourite Foreign Cage-Birds" And numerous vScientific Works and Memoirs DEALING WITH various BRANCHES OF ZOOLOGY ILLUSTRATED BY F. W. FROHAWK, M.B.O.U., F.E.S. VOLUME I, BRUMBY & CLARKE, Limited, Baker Street, Hull, and 5, Farringdon Avenue, London, E.C. CONTENTS Those marked thus, * not being recognised as British Birds, are not figfured. Acce7itor collar is Accentor viodularis - Acredula caudata Acrocephalus aqjiaticus Acrocephahis pal list r is Acrocephalus pkragmitis - Acrocephalus strepencs *Acrocephalus turdoides *A'edon galactodes Alpine Accentor *American Robin An thus campestris *Anthus cervinus Anthus obscurus Anthus pratensis Anthus richardi * Anthus spipoletta Anthus ttivialis Aquatic Warbler Barred Warbler Bearded Reedling - Blackbird - - - - Blackcap - - - - Black Redstart *Black-Tliroated Thrush - *Black -Throated Wheatear Blue-Headed Wagtail Blue-Tit - - - - Cert Ilia familiar is Chiffchaff- Cinclus aquaticus Coal-Tit - - - - Crested-Tit Cyanecula suecica Dartford Warbler Daulias luscinia 133 129 145 121 112 117 108 116 106 133 28 199 199 205 195 202 205 191 121 77 141 19 69 44 27 33 184 157 172 96 137 151 161 48 81 57 *Desert Wheatear Dipper - - - Erithacus rubecula - Fieldfare - - - Fire-Crested Wren - Garden Warbler Golden-Crested Wren Grasshopper Warbler *Great Reed- Warbler Great Tit - Gre3' Wagtail - Hedge-Sparrow *Hypolais icterina *Icterine Warbler Isabelline Wheatear- Lesser Whitethroat - Locustella lusci^iioides Locustella nczvia Long-Tailed Tit Marsh-Tit Marsh-Warbler Meadow- Pipit - Missel Thrush - Motacilla alba - Motacilla /lava - Motacilla lugubris Motacilla melajiopc - Motacilla rail - ^Monticola saxatilis Nightingale Nuthatch - *Orphean Warbler 33 137 52 14 89 73 84 123 116 147 181 129 107 107 32 65 127 123 145 154 112 195 3 180 184 176 181 187 28 57 165 69 CONTENTS. Panurus biarmicus - Parus ater - - - Parus ccBfulcus - - - Parus cristatus- Parus major - - - Parus palustris Phylloscopus rufus Phylloscopus sibilatrix Phylloscopus superciliosus - Phylloscopus trochilus Pied Wagftail - - - Pratincola rubetra Pratincola rubicola - Redbreast- - - - Red-Spotted Bluethroat - Redstart - - - - *Red-Throated Pipit - Redwing . . . Reed-Warbler - Regulus cristatus Regulus ignicapillus - Richard's Pipit Ring-Ouzel Rock- Pipit *Rock Thrush - *Rufous Warbler Ruticilla phoenicurus - Ruticilla titys - Savi's Warbler - Saxicola cenanthe *Saxicola descrti *Saxicola isabellina *Saxicola stapazina - Sedge-Warbler *Siberian Ground Thrush Sitta ccesta 141 151 157 161 147 154 96 103 92 99 176 33 37 52 48 40 199 II 108 84 89 202 25 205 28 106 40 44 127 29 33 32 33 117 28 165 Song Thrush - Stonechat Sylvia atricapilla Sylvia cinerea - Sylvia curruca - Sylvia hortensis Sylvia nisoria - *Sylvia orphea - Sylvia undata - Tawny Pipit *Tichodroma muraria - Tree-Creeper - Tree- Pipit Troglodytes parvulus - *Turdus atrigularis Turdus iliacus - Turdus nierula - *Turdus 7nigratorius - Turdus musicus Turdus pilaris - * Turdus sibiricus Turdus torquatus Turdus varius - Turdus viscivorus *Wall-Creeper - *Water-Pipit Wheatear Whinchat - - - White's Thrush Whitethroat White Wagtail - Willow Warbler Wood Warbler - Wren - . . Yellow-Browed Warbler Yellow Wagtail 7 37 69 62 65 73 77 69 81 199 175 172 191 168 27 II 19 28 7 14 28 25 17 3 175 205 29 Z2, 17 62 180 99 103 168 92 187 ERRATA ET CORRIGENDA. Plate I of Eggs— figs. 21 and 22 Stonechat ; 23 Winchat. Page 37, line three from bottom— /or "Whinchat," read Stonechat. Page 41, line ten from hoVlora.— before "lateral," insert often. (The fact times both lateral and vertical at the same moment.) Page 56, line two from top— /or " become," read became. Page 83, line six from bottom— /)>- " is somewhat," read is a somewhat Page 119, line twelve from top— /)r " similiar," read similar. that the movement is some- BRITISH BIRDS, With their Nests and Eggs. ORDER PASS E R ES. THIS group of Birds has always been a favourite with me, as Avith most students of the feathered race. I have taken and preserved both nests and eggs of most of the British species, and have studied the habits of mau}^ of them in captivity, as well as in a wild state : possibh- for this reason, the task of preparing this portion of the present Work has fallen to my share, instead of that of some more erudite Ornithological writer. The Order Passeres (following the classification adopted by Howard Saunders in his admirable " Illustrated Manual ") includes seventeen families, the members of which are mostly suitable for aviarj^ or cage-life ; of these the Turdida (Thrush- like birds), the Fringillida: (Finches), and A/aiididcc (Lark-like birds) find favour with the larger number of Aviculturists. The famil}^ Turdidcr, the first on our list, has been sub-divided into three sub-families : — I. — Turdina (Thrushes) in which the first plumage is spotted above and below. 2. — Sylviincc (Warblers) in which the young closely resemble their parents excepting in their paler or dxiller colouring. 2 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. 3. — AccciitoriiHc (Accentors) including our so-called "Hedge-Sparrow," birds which, though spotted after the manner of true Thrushes when the}' leave the nest, exhibit aiifinity to the Titmice in their strong straight subconical bills, rounded wings witli short bastard-primary (the first feather in the wing), and strong scaled feet : the latter have the outer and middle toes united and the upper extremity of the tarsus is feathered. In their habits the Accentors seem to me more nearly to resemble the Tits than the Thrushes. Not only do their quick jerk}- movements and acrobatic actions remind one of the former ; but, like the Tits, they are largely seed-eaters. The Thrushes of Great Britain are represented by eight genera: — Tiirdiis (Thrushes so-called) ; Moiiticola (Rock-Thrushes) ; Saxicola (Wheatears) ; Pratincola (Chats) ; Kitticilla (Redstarts) ; Cyanecula (Blue-throats) ; Erithacits (Redbreasts) ; and Daulias (Nightingales). The more typical Thrushes are the largest members of the Sub-family ; they are bold, handsome, strongly-built birds, with a vigorons direct flight, at times somewhat sinuous but generally in a straight line. On the earth they proceed, either by running for short stages, with the head depressed and neck somewhat extended (but, at the end of each stage, assnming an erect and attentive posture, sometimes with a simxiltaneons elevation of the tail) ; or, if in a hurry, they clear the ground by long hops. Some of these are admirable songsters, and consequently are greatly sought for as cage-birds. — Excepting in ver}' se\'ere weather. Thrushes are ver}' shy of entering traps ; they also show considerable cunning in upsetting some forms of net-traps, especially that known to bird-catchers as the 'Caravan': indeed it is rare to find any but birds of the year caught by this ingenious contrivance. This fact is perhaps rather an advantage than otherwise to the trapper, for young birds not onl}' become more rapidly reconciled to captivity, but naturally last longer, as song-birds, than those which have spent several years of their lives in freedom. All the typical Thrushes build open cup-shaped nests, the walls of which are strongly built, usually with a lining of mud, clay, or cow-ditng, and in most cases with a thick outer lining concealing the mud : the eggs usually number from four to six and, more frequently than not, are of some shade of green marked with some shade of brown. A. G. BUTLER. X m a: X H UJ m CO Family— TURDIDAl. Siibfamily—TURDINAl. The Missel Thrush. Turd lis viscivorus, LiNN. THIS, the largest of our resident Thrushes, breeds throughout the suitable districts of temperate Europe, from Norway southward to Spain, and even to Northern Africa. Eastward, its range extends through Turkestan to the North-western Himalayas and Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is resident in many of the milder regions, but the greater number winter in Southern Europe and Northern Africa, the Siberian birds migrating to Northern India, Persia, and Africa north of the Sahara. In Great Britain the Missel Thrush is generally distributed throughout England and Wales ; in Ireland also, since 1800, it has become tolerably common; in Scotland its range has gradually extended northwards throughout most of the Hebrides; in the Orkneys it has appeared after easterly gales, tut from Shetland it has not been recorded. The upper parts of the adult bird are greyish olive brown, slightly darker on the head, and slightly more golden on the lower back; the variation of tint is, however, barely perceptible; the under parts (excepting the chin and throat, which are white, and the cheeks which are huffish white) are buff, strongly pronounced in young birds, but growing paler year by year until, in old birds, it becomes huffish white; the fore-chest and flanks are of a deeper buff, the cheeks and sides of neck indistinctly streaked with greyish brown and a few spear-shaped spots; on the chin and throat the spots are 'more arrow-shaped, on the fore-chest black and spear-shaped, and on the remainder of the itnder parts fan-shaped; the upper wing-coverts are broadly edged at the tips with dull white, the flights are slaty-grey, the primaries with white outer edges, the secondaries externally suffused with buflfish, and nar- rowly tipped with white; under wing-coverts and axillaries pure white; tail feathers smoky-grey, narrowly pale-edged towards the tips; bill dark brown, paler towards the base, especially on the lower mandible; legs pale brown; iris dark brown. 4 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. The Missel Thnish may be met with in ahiiost any locality where trees are to be fonnd, in woods, coppices, plantations, parks, pleasure-grounds, shrubberies, large gardens and orchards; in such places it makes its home and brings up its family. The nest is frequently built either in the fork of a branch or on the top of a strong horizontal bough, but perhaps the favourite site is in the central hollow, formed by the branching off of the lichen-covered boughs of some old apple tree. In the experience of the writer it is rare to find this nest either in a very lofty or lowly position, but on one occasion he saw it in a forked branch near the top of a tall elm tree in Hyde Park ; whilst, on the other hand, the late Mr. E. T. Booth once observed it in a small stunted bush within three feet of the ground. Iiastances of this bird building in bushes are, however, extremely rare. Most nests will be found at an altitude of from ten to fifteen feet. The structure of the nest of the Missel Thrush is very solid, not un- like that of the Blackbird. It is frequently placed upon a foundation of mud, sheep's wool and twigs. The outer walls are usually formed of twigs, roots, straws, and grasses, sometimes interwoven with wool and coarse moss; within this is a lining of mud or clay, brought in pellets and mixed with grass or roots. The inner lining is composed of finer grass, roots, and sometimes a little moss. When lichens abound on the tree where the nest is situated a few pieces are occasionally used to ornament the exterior, but one can hardly suppose that a bird which places its nest almost invariably in a conspicuous position, would make this addition with a view to concealment, although, by rendering the outer walls of its domicile more like the branch on which it rests, this result is, in a measure obtained. The number of eggs laid by the Missel Thrush varies from three to five, but four is the usual number. The colouring is rather suggestive of those of the Chafl&nch, the ground colour being either pale greenish blue, yellowish green, or brownish flesh tinted, boldly speckled, spotted and often blotched with deep chocolate brown, and showing pearl grey or lavender underlying spots; in size they correspond very nearly with those of the Blackbird, but as regards their outline they more often give one the impression of being widest near the centre, than the eggs of that species. The pairing time of the Missel Thrush is earl)' in February, and at this season, like most birds, they are exceedingly quarrelsome; the first nest is occasionally commenced before the end of the same month, but only in the South of England, where the bird is generally double-brooded; in my own experience its nidification extends from March to May, April being the month when The Missel Thrush. s most nests are to be found. If disturbed when sitting, the Missel Thrush is very noisy, but an}' attempt to interfere with the young is the signal for a perfect uproar; then too is the time to watch the perfect flight of this powerful bird as he sweeps round in wide circles, or, as the intruder stoops to examine the nest, flashes through the very branches close to his head, uttering wild guttural curses and shrieking out horrid oaths: well has this bird earned its titles of "Screech Thrush" and " Holm screech.'' The song of the Missel Thrush is wild, powerful and not without melody, although somewhat monotonous; it is uttered from earl}' autumn until its nesting duties commence; and, wet or fine, from earlj- dawn to dewy eve, its rich notes may be heard; in the wildest and stormiest weather, it tries to raise its voice above the uproar of the elements; on which account the well- known name of "Stormcock" has been bestowed upon it. In the East Riding of Yorkshire it is called " Charley Cock." The food consists of berries, small fruits, seeds, snails, slugs, worms, larvae and insects. It is especially fond of the berries of the mountain ash, and after these it chooses those of the hawthorn or ivy; the berries of the mistletoe, to which it owes its name of Mistletoe Thrush, or Missel Thrush, are rarely eaten by it; during the autumn when grain is being sown, this bird eats it greedily, a fact which should be borne in mind by those who keep cage birds, many of whom labour under the delusion that, because a bird is called "insectivorous" it should have no farinaceous food. As a matter of fact, many "insectivors," when kept in the same aviary with seed-eating birds, swallow quantities of seed. Excepting when feeding, the Missel Thrush spends most of its time either in trees or shrubs, it is a somewhat shy bird, though bold in defence of its young, it having been known to drive predaceous birds from the vicinit}^ of its nest by the impetuous and noisy attacks which it has made upon them. Moreover, it always seeks its food in the open fields, not skulking along under hedges and shrubs after the manner of the Song Thrush. In captivity it soon becomes tame and confiding, and if reared from the nest, it is quite as friendly and playful towards its owner as a Canar\-. In May, 1886, during a birdsnesting expedition in Kent, I came across a nest of the Missel Thrush containing two young birds, in an old apple orchard. With the assistance of the owner, upon whose shoulders I climbed, I succeeded in pulling myself up into the lower branches, when it was easy to climb to that which bore the nest: the question now was, how to get the young birds into my basket without injury; however, as I leaned over the 6 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. nest, the youngsters quickly settled the difficulty by leaping out and fluttering to the earth, screaming loudly the while. What with the old and young birds together, the noise was something to be remembered. I reared both these birds without the slightest trouble, iipon snails (dropped into boiling water, taken from their shells, and cut into small pieces,) small worms, and a paste made of oat-flour, known as " fig-dust," and fine pea- meal; as they grew older, however, they refused both worms and large snails, though they would readily swallow small living snails in their shells. They also ate both hawthorn berries and wheat greedily, subsequently ejecting the seeds of the former and the tough skin of the latter from the crop with considerable force, so that I have frequently found the ejected pellets several feet from their cage. These two birds proved to be unmistakably a pair, the male having a distinctly narrower head, slimmer build, more alert carriage and more master- ful disposition; indeed, after a time, he so tormented his companion, pulling out her feathers and scolding, whenever she approached him, that when a friend took a fancy to her, I gladly gave her away. As the male bird gained strength, I gave him, as staple food, a mixture of oat-flour, pea-meal, and Spratt's food (crushed dog biscuit), moistened with sufficient water to form a crumb-paste; on this diet he lived, with the addition of an occasional insect or earthworm, and throve amazingly for nearly four years, never having a day's illness, and always being ready for a frolic. If I put my finger into his cage he would put one foot on it and thus holding it down would flap his wings and hammer it with his bill; when I wished to move him from one cage to another, he never attempted to get away until I had grasped him firmly, then indeed he would kick a bit and utter his harsh guttural call. At length, in 1890, when my friend was three years and nine months old, I was persuaded to send him to a show, but, unhappily, he who had never tasted a particle of flesh was fed entirely on a mixture of finely minced raw beef mixed with breadcrumbs; the result may be imagined — he had in- cessant fits during the week of the show, was returued to me in a state of apoplex}' and died in a fit about an hour after he reached home. Never give raw flesh to anj- but predaceous birds. Although hand-reared birds may make amusing pets, unless taught by a wild bird, they never learn the wild song; my Missel Thrush only sang two notes, one high, the other low, its song was far behind that of the Ox-eye Tit for melody. There is not the least trouble in keeping and taming I I/) CC I H o z o CO The Song Thrush. 7 wild Thrushes. They sulk at first, but a few lively worms quickly induce them to feed. Family— TURDID/Ii Subfaviily—TURDINAL. The Song Thrush. Tiirdiis iiiiisiciis, LiNN. FOUND throughout the Palaearctic Region, but rare in the extreme East, generally migrator}' in Western Europe, though resident in some countries; generally distributed throughout the British Islands, though of rare occurrence in the Shetlands. In England this bird is a partial migrant, great numbers travelling southward late in the autumn but returning to their old haunts at the first sign of spring weather; nevertheless, a considerable number remains with us during the winter. The adult bird above is deep olive-brown, the wing coverts tipped with bright deep buff, under parts mostly white, the cheeks somewhat yellowish, streaked with brown; the breast and sides ochraceous buff, boldly marked with fan-shaped black spots ; spots on the white ventral surface of the body more elongated, spindle-shaped and less numerous ; bill dark brown, paler at the base of the lower mandible; legs pale brown, iris brown. The female resembles the male, but has a slightly broader head. Nestlings differ from adults in having the upper parts mottled with buff. Wherever there is cover, you may expect to see the Song Thrush, he is fond of shrubberies, hedgerows, and all places which afford partial conceal- ment. Watch him in the garden, you will see him running down a path, stopping after every few feet to look cautiously around; now he spies a large bush or evergreen upon a bed to right or left and suddenly darting under it commences to dig vigorously for worms ; presently he appears again upon another path running as before and again disappearing in like manner, he 8 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. rarely remains very long in the open, yet is less skulking than his cousin, the Blackbird. Sometimes the Song Thrush proceeds by a series of hops, but certainly not always. He frequentl}- runs as above described, but never walks sedately after the manner of a Starling; even when seeking for worms in a meadow or on a grass-plot he hops, and so he does when crossing a flower bed; but on a path, I have rarely known this Thrush to move in anj- other way but by running. The nest of the Song Thrush is usually built low down in the fork of a young tree, a shrub, especialh' an evergreen, the lower branches of old yew trees are also frequentl}' selected as a building site. Occasionalh', a nest may be seen among matted creepers, or even in the upper twigs of a rude wattle fence forming the walls of a conntr}- cart-shed. In hawthorn hedges, on ivy- covered walls, among stunted willows by streams, in crevices of rocks, or at the roots of a tuft of heather it ma}' also be met with. The formation of the nest is somewhat different from that of the other British Thrushes. Bxternally, it is somewhat similar, being formed of slender twigs, roots, grasses, dead leaves, and moss; but internally it has a lining of mud and rotten wood or cow dung, so neatly rounded and smoothed off, that it much resembles the interior of half a large cocoa-nut shell. This deep smooth cavity is pro- duced in the most simple manner, namely' : by the hen bird squatting down and turning round and round in it whilst the lining is soft. The number of eggs laid bj^ the Song Thrush varies from three to six, but five is the usual nimiber; where only three eggs are deposited, it is probable that the first nest has been taken and a second one built immediately. In such cases I have known the new home to be built and lined in two days, the first egg being deposited whilst the mud lining was still moist; but the Song Thrush rarely builds in less than three days. In the case of this and all species at the beginning of the breeding season, a commencement of building operations is frequently made before the mother is nearly ready to lay. A nest is started and pulled to pieces, or deserted in an unfinished condition; this playing at building has given careless observers, or such as have not noted, year by year, the building of nests by the same species, an exaggerated idea of the time required for the construction of bird-homes.* The colouring of the eggs of Turdiis musicus is greenish blue, with distinct deep brown (almost black) spots ; usually scattered sparsely over the larger end, •Uixon mentions the fact of the Song Thrvish, after being robbed of its first uest. building in succession no less than three perfectly constructed nests within five days. The Song Thrush. 9 though sometimes over the whole surface, or only on the smaller end; spotless examples occur also, but rarely, though I have taken entire clutches without marking ; on the other hand some eggs are heavily blotched, and one, which I have represented on Plate xxxvii. of my " Handbook of British Oology," has these blotches so arranged as to form an irregular half-zone towards the larger end. The form of the eggs of this species usually varies between a short pear- shape and a true oval; in size they differ a good deal, probably the largest eggs are deposited by the older birds. When sitting, the hen Song Thrush is not easily scared from her nest; possibly she may dread to uncover her very conspicuous eggs, and may hope that her protective colouring and absohite stillness will serve to protect them; so she sits close, her bill pointed upwards above one side of her castle, her tail cocked up over the other, until one may almost put one's hand upon her; then suddenly she is gone like a shadow,' usually without noise,* and the bright spotted eggs are exposed to view. Without doubt the comparative difficulty of flushing the Song Thrush does tend to its preservation : even a Naturalist, unless he is a bird-nester, often fails to notice the nest; though, when one has acquired eyes to recognize birds' homes at a glance, it seems marvellous that so conspicuous an object, and one so common in well-wooded country, can fail to be observed. The Song Thrush is one of the earliest birds to sing and also go to nest ; in unitsually mild seasons it will build as early as February, but March to Aiigust may be considered its breeding season. May and June being the months when nests of this bird are most abundant. The song of the Throstle or Mavis (as North countrymen call it) is very loud ; so much so, that in a room or conservatory its notes are almost unbearable ; in the open, however, they are cheerful and inspiring, though somewhat monotonous, each phrase being repeated at least four times in succession, and occasionally (more especially when the musician has hit upon something novel), as many as seven or eight times. To my mind the song is rather joyous and vigorous, than melodious : when heard at early dawn as one wakens, it pleases the first time, annoys the second, irritates the third, and finally becomes an intolerable nuisance: the Blackbird's melody, on the contrary, is always welcome. As one lies in bed trying to sleep, the whistle of the Song Thrush resolves itself into short sentences. I • Seebohm slates that, when put off her nest " her harsh cries and active motions, with tliose of her mate, awaken the silent woods, and speak most plainly of the anxiety of the birds for their treasure." I have not found this to be the case, excepting where the young were almost ready to fly, and only when they have uttered a cry of alarm. Vol. I. C lo British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. remember one particular bird which bothered me for weeks ; in all weathers he would sit on a tree, within sight of my bedroom window, shouting as follows: — "Deal d ivet, deal d tvct, deal d wet, deal d tvct ; I do, (pronounced dough as if he were trying to sa}^ knmv with a cold), / do, I do, I do; Whdd do it? Who d do it? Who d do it? Who d do it? Pretty dick, pretty dick, pretty dick, pretty dick;''^ and so on ad nauseam. The food of the Song Thrush, when at liberty, consists of insects and their larvas or pupae, worms, snails, berries, and seeds; in the spring and summer living food is preferred, but towards autumn and throughout the winter, berries and grain when procurable, are devoured, husks and hard kernels being ejected some five or ten minutes after the food has been swallowed; thus it is that woody seeds like that of the hawthorn are carried far from the parent tree, to spring up and make the unthinking wonder whence they came. In captivity the Song Thrush sings quite as well as in its native haunts, indeed, a good bird often continues his song from November to the end of July; but if it is to reproduce the wild notes, it must be a wild-caught bird; for a nestling, brought up by hand, either sings a few short monotonous sing- song phrases; or, if it be a vigorous bird, brought up amongst other feathered companions, it shouts out the most deafening, though sometimes comical jumble of notes imaginable. My experience of hand-reared birds as compared with those caught wild is also unfavourable to the former in other respects, I have found them vicious and domineering in an aviar3% dirty and wasteful in a cage; they are always more wild than a cage-moulted trapped bird. The latter, after its first moult, becomes gentle, confiding, and neither wasteful nor dirty ; it has even been trusted in an aviary with small Finches, and I have never seen it molest them. As to the cruelty of caging up wild birds, it is more fanciful than real, a bird does not sing when it is unhappy, much may, however, be said as regards the cruelty of rearing birds from the nest ; the parents' anger and annoyance is the least part of it, the bungling method of feeding the 3'oung, often upon the most unsuitable food, is its worst feature. The best staple food for this, and all other insectivorous birds, is composed of stale household bread crumbled, mixed with half the quantity of preserved yolk of egg, preserved ants' cocoons, and Abrahams' food (or one of the many advertised &g^ foods), the mixture being moistened by the addition of potatoes, boiled the day before, and passed through a masher when required for use; on this mixture with the addition of a few insects, or worms, and =♦> a z Q m a: The Song Thrush. h a little fruit, I have kept Thrushes, aud maity other birds, in perfect health for years; grocers' currants, which are often recommended, should be avoided, they have a tendency to irritate the intestines and often produce diarrhoea; thin slices of apple, over-ripe pears, sweet-water grapes, sweet oranges, or ripe strawberries and currants, when in season, are as good as anything. In an aviary Thrushes and man}- other so-called "soft-billed" birds will swallow seed whole, and it seenis to agree wonderfully well with them, rendering their flesh firm and their plumage gloss}' ; but to feed a Thrush on bread and hempseed alone is the height of folly, and usually results in the earl}^ death of the captive. This, like most of the British Thrushes, has been bred in aviaries, and, from experiments made during the last few years, it appears that they will even go to nest in comparatively small cages. Family— TURDIDAi. SubfaviUy~TURDIN/E. The Redwing. Turdus iliaciis, LlNN. THIS, the smallest British Thrush, breeds from the Arctic circle through- out the Palsearctic region, and winters in Westeni and Southern Europe and Northern Africa; it visits the Volga islands when on migration. West- ward it has straggled to the Canaries and Madeira. In Asia it has wintered in Persia, Turkestan and N.W. India, and in Siberia as far as Lake Baikal. Mr. Seebohm found it in the valley of the Petchora as far North as latitude 68°, he observes: — "The Redwing frequents the birch region and the upper zone of the pine region, occurring in limited numbers South of the Arctic circle in many places where these trees are found, in South Norwa}' and Sweden, and on the Russian shores of the Baltic. It is the most northerl}^ la British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. in its range of any of the Thrushes, and occasionally wanders as far as Greenland." To the British Islands the Redwing is a regular winter visitant, arriving on our Eastern coasts either towards the end of October or early in November; it is supposed to linger longest in the Hebrides, the last examples probably leaving us during the month of April. The assertions which have, from time to time, been made, that this species has remained to breed in Great Britain, are not satisfactory, neither the birds or eggs having been secured as evidence of the fact. The Redwing, when in breeding plumage, is, next to the Blackbird, the most strikingly coloured of our Thrushes; its upper surface is olive brown; a clear creamy white eye-brow stripe extends backwards to the nape; wing- coverts with pale tips; the under surface is buff, gradually fading off" into almost pure white on the belly; the breast and throat broadly streaked with dark brown; the ilanks and under wing-coverts chestnut red, spotted with deep brown. The sexes are very similar, the young, however, differ in having their upper and under surfaces spotted. In general appearance the Redwing is like a small Song Thrush, but its whitish eye-stripe and red flanks give it a very distinctive character; when seen from the front it has a curious resemblance to a frog. Soon after their arrival in this country Redwings may sometimes be seen, even in our suburban gardens, feeding at twilight upon the berries of the hawthorn. I remember on one occasion, chancing to look out shortly before dusk at my garden, I was puzzled to see the entire length of a thick hawthorn hedge which closed in the end of my plot of ground covered with moving shadows. I ran for a field glass and discovered that no less than thirty Redwings were fluttering up and down like huge moths in front of this hedge, eagerly snatching off" and swallowing the berries. The following day I discovered that an unusually fine crop of haws had almost entirely disappeared.* Seebohm says that " The favourite haunt of the Redwing is a sheltered valley down which a little brooklet runs, with trees scattered here and there, and tall hedgerows of thorn and hazel. They are very partial to small parks thickly timbered and studded with clumps of white thorn trees, with here and there a cluster of hollies or a dense shrubbery, whither they repair at nightfall to roost." • The birds were clearly distinguishable with the glass as Redwings, not Fieldfares, the latter arrived some weeks later and found hardly a berry left. The Redwing. 13 In wooded districts the Redwing usually builds in bushes or low-growing trees, but in more desolate regions a low fence, a hollow between stones, or a sloping bank serve as a nesting-site. The nest itself is a neat structure formed of plaited twigs, grass and reindeer-moss, plastered inside with mud or clay, and lined with fine grasses and root- fibre. The number of eggs varies from four to six, some writers giving the former, and some the latter, as the usual number. In colour they are pale green, either finely and closel}^ streaked with reddish brown, like small specimens of some Blackbird's eggs, or zoned with brown blotches; but, as with other Thrushes, eggs are some- times found of a uniform green colour. When the nest is approached, but especially when it contains young birds, the Redwing becomes much excited, flying angrily round the intruder and snapping its bill after the manner of its kind. It frequently produces two broods in a season. The food of the Redwing consists preferably of insects, worms and snails, but when frost and snow deprive it of these it feeds on various berries, more particularly those of the service tree and hawthorn ; it is distinctly more insectivorous in its tastes than other Thrushes, nevertheless in confinement it thrives well upon the same soft food. One winter a bird-catcher brought me a bag, containing six Redwings and a Fieldfare which he had just caught. I would not, however, be persuaded to take the whole of them, but, selecting two of the Redwings (which fortunately proved to be a pair) and the Fieldfare, I sent the man away. The Red- wings I turned loose in an unheated aviary with other British birds. At first the new-comers were somewhat wild, but they soon settled down in their new home. They never showed the slightest uneasiness at the season of migration, as I had been informed they would do, but early in the year assumed such rich colouring, that Naturalists who saw them in my aviary, expressed astonishment at the beauty of their plumage. Very early the male began to record his song, but usually in the morning only; in the evening its call- note — a soft plaintive whistle, which reminded me of that of the American Blue-bird, was all that I heard at that time; later, however, he began to sing out loud. As an aviary bird, I found the Redwing ornamental, and most inoffensive, but by no means lively; it would sit in one place on the earth without moving for half an hour at a time, still as a breathing statue — a frog in behaviour and appearance ; but, throw a spider or a smooth-skinned caterpillar into the aviary, and, like that Batrachian, it was instantly alert. In spite of 14 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs, its beauty I should imagine that the Redwing, if kept in a cage, would be intolerable; after two years I wearied of my pair, and sold them for a small sum to a friend, who immediately entered them for a show and carried off a first prize with them. Poor Redwings! I fear that their life after they left niv home was not an enviable one. Although the breeding of the Redwing in Great Britain needs confir- mation, there seems to be no reason why it should not be possible, inasmuch as it has been proved that stragglers have remained with us throughout the summer. It has been known to nest in the Faroes. Family—TURDIDyE. Subfamily— TURD IN A<. The Fieldfare. Tiirdus pilaris, Lixx. RESPECTING the Geographical distribution of this species, one cannot do better than quote Seebohm, he says: — "A regular winter visitant to the British Islands, the Fieldfare is commonly distributed over the cultivated districts, and as far on the uplands as the mountain farms extend. The arrival of Fieldfares in Scotland is usually noticed first in the eastern counties, as it is quite natural to expect it would be, for their path in autumn is south and south-westwards. A few birds are said to be found on the Orkneys throughout the year, but they do not breed there. On the Hebrides the Fieldfare does not arrive till mid-winter, and is only found on the farms and pastures ^in the little oases of cultivated land so sparingly scattered amongst the wide- stretching moorland wastes. In Ireland these birds also arrive late, and are foiind commonly distributed over those districts suitable to their habits and needs — the cultivated tracts. Fieldfares have been said to have bred in the British Islands; but until definite proofs are forthcoming it is not safe to admit the truth of the statement, the .birds being ver\' liable to be confounded with til a: < Q Lu '■t r i The Fieldfare. 15 Missel-Thrushes bj- careless observers. The Fieldfare has a somewhat more southerly breeding-range than the Redwing. It breeds in the Arctic circle, extending up to, and occasionally beyond, the limit of forest growth, and in north-temperate Europe as far South and West as the basin of the Baltic, and throughout Siberia as far East as the watershed of the Yenesay and the Lena. Its occurrence in Iceland is doubtful,* but it has been occasionally met with on the Faroes. It winters in Southern Europe, occurring very rarel}- in the Spanish peninsiila, but crossing the Mediterranean to Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, and Nubia. In Asia it winters in Turkestan and Cashmere; and one specimen at least has been obtained at Simla, in the North- West Himalayas." The Fieldfare in breeding plumage is slaty-gre}' on the upper parts with the exception of the mantle which is chestnut brown, and the wings and tail, which are dark brown ; the head is streaked with black ; the throat and breast are rich golden brown, spotted and streaked with blackish brown; the flanks are similar, but more orange internally ; the centre of the belly is pure white and unspotted ; the bill yellowish; feet black; iris deep brown. The female greatly resembles the male, but the young on leaving the nest are spotted with buff" on the back, though after the first moult they much resemble their parents. The Fieldfare's season of migration varies somewhat in accordance with the milder or colder temperature of its breeding-haunts; in like manner its time of departure from our shores depends greatly upon the appearance of spring weather; there is no defined appointed time for its migration. Cold and scarcity of food in its native home represent the voice of Nature calling upon it to seek comfort in somewhat milder regions; then again, the return of warmth and living food remind it that the season of love is at hand, and the inherited habit of centuries teaches this bird to seek for the fulfilment of its hopes in the land of its birth; doubtless this is largely the cause of the so-called migratory instinct in all birds, the weaker and more sensitive to cold and hunger being the first to migrate ; therefore it is that the Redwing precedes the Fieldfare. It is easy to distinguish a Fieldfare from a Missel Thrush when it is on the ground, for, although it frequently associates with the latter bird, its grey rump, thrown into strong relief by the dark wings and tail, looks almost white. This species, however, is far less frequently seen upon the earth than our native Thrushes. Its favourite resort is a berry-laden hawthorn, upon which it will eat its fill unless disturbed, when with a clatter of chacks and chicks it shoots off" in a straight line towards another of Nature's restaurants. Among the birches and pines of Norway the Fieldfares breed in colonies, in * There seems, however, to be very Httle question that this species is an occasional Icelandic visitant. — A.C'j.B. i6 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. the former the nests are said to be situated in a cleft between the trunk and a large branch, but further north these birds become less gregarious, and their nests are then situated in low bushes, heaps of firewood, on fences and similar places, after the fashion of our Blackbird ; whilst on the bare tundras of Siberia they select a hollow under the grassy edge of a cliif or bank for a breeding-site, like the Ring-Ouzel. The nest is very like that of the Blackbird, externally it is constructed of coarse dry grass, sometimes interwoven with birch twigs and a little moss, plastered inside with mud, and thickly lined with fine grass. The number of eggs varies from three to seven, but usually from four to six ; according to Seebohm, they vary more than those of any of our British Thrushes; but I think most of those which I have seen could be matched among the almost endless variations of our Blackbird's eggs; their groiind-colour is either paler or deeper green, blotched, mottled, and speckled with reddish brown, sometimes over the entire surface, but more frequently concentrated at the larger end. The markings of some examples (as with our Blackbird) are indistinct, evenlj'^ distributed, in others they are few and rich brown upon a deep blue ground (a variety which I have not seen in eggs of the Blackbird; though they are sometimes as blue as those of the Song Thrush). The food of this species consists in summer of worms, insects, as well as their larvae and pupae and small wild fruits; in winter, principally of berries, especially those of the hawthorn, also insects, snails and worms when procurable, and seeds of grain and grasses. The Fieldfare is a poor songster. He rarely sings excepting in the breeding season, and his performance consists of a wild warble, at times interrupted by chattering somewhat similar to that of the Starling. The example which I had for two years never sang at all, but occasionally uttered a harsh guttural sound like that of the Missel Thrush. As a cage bird the Fieldfare is most uninteresting, he soon becomes tame, and, if allowed to bathe, keeps his plumage in beautiful condition; but, excepting for show purposes, is only an expense: like all Thrushes, he is a large eater, and therefore needs frequent attention. I parted with mine when I sold my Redwings, and have never wished to keep another. I fed him on the same food as my other insectivorous species, adding a few worms, snails, caterpillars, and berries when obtainable; he was always in perfect health, even when moulting, and never showed restlessness at the seasons of migration ; in fact, he was one of the steadiest and most apathetic birds I ever possessed. C/) (- en H I White's Thrush t? His name has been corrupted to " Felfer," " Felt," " Pigeon Felt," or "Blue Felt" by country folk. Family— TURD ID. E. Subfamily— TURDINAL. White's Thrush. Turdus varins, Pallas. THIS bird, also known as " White's Ground-Thrush " and placed in the genus Geociclila, is only an accidental straggler to our shores ; about a dozen examples having been obtained in the southern and midland counties of England and two in Ireland. Therefore, although, from the writer's standpoint, it has no more claim to be called British, than au}^ foreigner stranded on the British coast has to be called an Englishman, its claim to the title is stronger than in the case of the " Black- Throated," the " Rock Thrush," and many other species usually included in the British list on the strength of single examples which have come to hand. White's Ground-Thrush is a native of South-central and South-eastern Siberia and of North China: at the approach of winter it migrates to South Japan, South China, the Philippines and even to Sumatra. The first example obtained in Great Britain was shot in Hampshire in January, 1828 ; and, being supposed to be new to science, was named Turdus whitci by Eyton, in honour of White, of Selbourne : thus the trivial name of White's Thrush was first applied to it. The upper surface of this species is ochraceous brown, with black tips to the feathers; the wing feathers are darker and tipped with buff; the tail \\2& fourteen feathers, the four central ones ochraceous brown, the others dark brown, all tipped with white ; the under surface is white, tinged with buff on the breast, and boldly spotted with black crescent- shaped markings : the bill is brown, the lower mandible paler; the feet yellowish brown, the iris dark brown. The sexes are supposed to i8 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. be alike. In size, this species rather excels the Missel-Thrush. The nidification of White's Thrush was observed in 1872, at Ningpo, by the late Consul Swinhoe : the nest was roughly built, and situated on a fork of a horizontal pine-branch ; its outside consisted of dead rushes, grasses, a few twigs, dead leaves and a little moss ; it was thickly plastered with mud, amongst which were fragments of some green weed ; the inside, like that of the Blackbird, was thickly lined with mud, covered with an inner lining of coarse rootlets and sedgy grass. Three eggs only were in the nest ; but the complete clutch would probably number four or five ; Mr. Seebohni, who secured the nest and two of the eggs for his collection, thus describes them : — " They resemble those of the Missel- Thrush ; but the ground-colour is slightly paler, and the spots much finer, more numerous, and more evenly distributed." The flight of White's Thrush, unlike that of our common species, is said to be " very undulating, like that of the Green Woodpecker, and low, often settling on the ground, and only making choice of a tree when it happened to pass under one, into which it rose almost vertically." It is more strictly insectivorous than the true species of Tiirdus, living principally upon insects, their larvae and pupae, spiders, worms, and such mollnsca as are found in moist situations. In China it is known to feed also on berries, especially those of the banyan ; nevertheless most of its food is obtained on the ground amongst decayed vegetation, in ditches, under bu.shes, or among the roots of trees. It is not known whether this species has any song ; its call-note is said to be " a soft plaintive see, audible at a long distance," and when on migration it some- times " litters a melodious whistling cry." As a cage-bird, White's Thrush would probably prove an utter failure ; whether it sings or not, it can hardly be an industrious performer, moreover it would probably pass much of its time on the floor of its cage or aviary. The Blackbird. 19 Family— rURDID^. Subfamily— TURD IN^. The Blackbird. Turdns meriila, LiN'N'. THIS handsome Thrush is generally distributed over nearly ever}- country of Europe and North Africa. In Norway at about 67° N. lat. it appears to reach its highest breeding range ; it also occurs in Asia Minor, Palestine, Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan and Cashmere, being somewhat larger in the three last mentioned countries, and, on that account distinguished by Mr. Seebohm as a race to which he has given the name of Menila maxima. In Great Britain it is generally distributed and partialh^ resident, but in the Shetland Islands it occurs only in the winter ; and, in the Hebrides its appearance is irregular, although on some of them it is recognized as a rare resident. In the southern counties in winter its numbers are largely increased by immigrants from the north. The aditlt male is entirely glossy black in plumage ; the bill in young birds golden ochreous, gradually becoming deep orange with age, feet brownish black, iris hazel, edges of eyelids golden yellow. The adult female, when young, is deep brown ; somewhat rufous on the throat and breast, which are streaked with smoky black ; the bill brown : as the bird grows older, the gape becomes more or less edged with ochre yellow, the black throat- streaks become more pronounced and the chin sometimes becomes whitish. In the nestling birds most of the feathers have pale shaft-streaks, and those of the upper parts have dark tips ; whilst those of the under parts have dark bars ; in other respects they resemble young hen birds : young males are said to be slightl}' more dusky than females ; but if such a diflference exists, I never could satisfy myself of the fact in the case of the young birds which, from time to time, I have hand-reared : the more active and pugnacious disposition and narrower crown would be far better guides in the selection of cock nestlings. Talking of pugnacity, it is pre-eminentl}' a characteristic of the Blackbird, and especially at the pairing season : the Song- Thrush is combative enough, but the Blackbird will fight to the bitter end. I remember, on one occasion when in my garden, hearing a violent rustling and flapping of wings and supposing that some unfortimate Thrush or Blackbird had been seized b}' a cat, I slipped up as 20 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. ■quickly and quietly as possible to the scene of the disturbance ; there I saw two cock Blackbirds firmly clutching one another and tearing out feathers by the mouthful, violently flapping the while and so intent upon murder that, until I was almost within reach of them, they were not aware of my approach ; then just as I was meditating a double capture, they saw me, and simultaneously letting go of one another, flew off in opposite directions with loud chattering cries. Fighting is not the only sin of which the Blackbird is guilty ; some individuals of the species have ovivoroiis tendencies : at a house where I was once staying, a pair of Blackbirds had built a nest on a trained plum-tree ; as usual, I had inter- ested myself in noting the time occupied in building and in the deposition of the eggs : on the third day the nest was completed and the hen settled down in it for the night. I rose early in those days, frequently taking a country ramble before breakfast ; that morning, before starting, I looked in the nest, and there was the first egg ; but, when I returned an hour later, the shell alone lay on the earth below the nest. Determined to discover the thief, if possible, I took a pair of opera-glasses upstairs that night, and, getting out of bed about 6 a.m., I waited and watched : presently I heard the cock Blackbird singing, and then he flew on to the end wall of the garden — " Chi)ik, cliinka chuck, chuck, chuck, chack ; swee ; szvce.'' Out flew the hen and on to the nest went the old wretch, deliber- ately pecked and picked up the egg, and devoured the contents, dropping the shell as before. This trick was repeated again the following day, and then the hen deserted her nest. In all well-wooded districts the Blackbird is extremely abundant, and where wood and water are combined it is so common that, on one occasion, I came across nearly forty nests in the course of a single morning's ramble. In suburban gardens it is also common, but not nearly so much so as the Song- Thrush : this can be easily proved, not merely by the numbers seen, for with so skulking a bird many might be overlooked ; but, by the relative number of nests built in such places in spring, and the largely disproportionate number of Thrushes trapped in winter. The nest of the Blackbird is built in the most diverse situations, such as hedges, shrubs, trees, faggot- stacks, holes in walls or rocks, niches in sides of gravel- or chalk-pits, or even in very low banks ; its favourite sites are perhaps in wattle fences overgrown with bramble or ivy, in evergreen shrubs, or on branches of fruit-trees trained against walls. It is a bulky cup-shaped structure, usually placed upon a foundation of twigs, dead leaves, rags, paper, sometimes a draggled quill feather or two, and mud ; the form of the outside walls varies according to the position of the nest ; they are constructed of stalks of grass and The Blackbird. 21 twigs intertwined and compacted with moss ; the inside of the cup plastered with mud in pellets, almost or entirely concealed by dead leaves, rootlets and fine grass: occasionall}- the mud plastering is entirely absent, but the only two nests having this peculiarity which I have seen, I met with on the same morning ; one of these I retained for my collection. The eggs are marvellously variable, both in size, shape and colouring ; they number from four to six, but usually five. The following are some of the more distinct varieties which I have taken: — i. Greenish blue, precisely like some eggs of the Song- Thrush in tint ; but, when examined through a lens, showing ver}^ minute and indistinct reddish longitudinal dashes over the whole surface ; 2. Greyish olive, showing (under a lens) extremely fine dust-like brownish speckling, a few black dots near the small end, this form somewhat reminds one of some eggs of the Jay. 3. Large and broad, pale chalk}- blue, with' indistinct rusty spots and dots scattered sparsely over the entire surface, the larger half sprinkled with little rugosities. 4. Much elongated, pale blue, mottled all over with pale rusty reddish. 5. Short and broad, greenish blue, mottled and blotched all over with reddish-brown. 6. Very broad; pale chalky blue, speckled sparsely all over, and heavily blotched at both ends, with rust- reddish and greyish lavender. 7. Similar, from same nest, but only heavily blotched at the larger end. 8. Pale sandy brownish with very indistinct rust- reddish marbling all over : this is a small egg, evidently laid by a young bird. 9. Pale greenish blue sparsely but boldly spotted from the shoulder (or larger terminal third) and heavily spotted and clouded at the larger end with rusty brown leopard-like markings. 10. Pale greenish, so covered with indistinct reddish smears and speckles that the green is almost lost. II. Deep blue-green, boldly spotted with rusty brown, which collects into a large patch at the small end. ,12. Flesh-whitish, densely speckled and marbled with rust red. 13. I also have a chalky white egg, with faint indications (visible through a lens) of olivaceous mottling. This egg was given to me by a lady friend and was obtained by her from an ordinary nest, at Wateringbury, near Maidstone. Of the above (which I have selected for description from a picked series of forty-four in my egg-collection) Nos. i, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 13 are all rare varieties, not very characteristic of the species : possibly No. 1 , which is not unlike a very deep-coloured Starling's egg, may, as Howard Saunders suggests, be the result of a union between the Song- Thrush and Blackbird, the fact that these two species do sometimes interbreed in a wild state being thoroughly well established. In the winter of 1894-5 a bird was caught in one of my traps which 1 firmly believe was a hybrid Thrush- Blackbird : when first captured it was very dirty, British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. and I then supposed it to be an old hen Blackbird; but, after a good wash, its true colouring came out clearly ; the whole upper parts being deep smoky brown, the chin and throat white streaked with dull black ; the breast, in certain lights, showing traces of the true Song- Thrush spotting ; the bill deep orange with the basal half of the culmen black ; feet yellowish horn-brown. This bird, of which Mr. Frohawk made a careful sketch, became very tame in a few weeks and I should certainly have kept it up to the present time, had not a friend, who had given much attention to British cage-birds, visited me and asked me wh}- I was keeping a hen Blackbird. I pointed out the orange bill, the extent of white on the throat, the heavy black streaking and ill- defined breast spots, and he admitted that he had never seen a similar hen Blackbird. Unfortunatel}' I wanted the cage, in which I had kept this supposed hybrid, for my Mocking-bird (which I found too tyrannical for an aviary) therefore I gave the Thrush its liberty: but, on the following day, one of ni}- neighbours was walking round my garden, when a bird in the adjoining plot began to sing a most marvellous song, which my neighbour characterized as neither like that of Blackbird or Song Thrush, but a combination of both. I have no doubt, as I told him, that my recently liberated bird was the singer. The song of the Blackbird is quite unlike that of any other British Thrush, clear, mellow and melodious, it is one of the finest productions of our feathered choir: it however varies wonderfully in merit in different individuals, and no two Blackbirds sing precisely alike. The finest singers are rarely heard, their per- formance is continuous, flowing, ever changing, somewhat reminding one of the Blackcap's song; most Blackbirds, however, sing set phrases, more or less plaintive but always vigorous in character. Frequently, in the middle of its song, a Blackbird stops abruptly and ridicules its own performances, singing over the last phrase in a minor ke}' and following it up with derisive caricatures ending in meaningless squeaks: some- times it pauses abruptl}' and (perhaps for five or ten minutes) repeats, at intervals its dismal ear-splitting call note — a shrill reedy tseet; or it will break off into its noisy go-to-roost rattle — " Chink, cJiink, chink, chink, chink; cJiacka, chack- a-rack, chack, chack, chack, chack ; chuck, chuck, chuck." Passing through shrubberies The Blackbird. 23 at twilight, this good-night greeting may be heard on all sides; sometimes a little varied, but usually commencing with " chink " and terminating with ^' chuck'''' : at dawn it frequently leaves out the harsh " chnck" The flight of the Blackbird is usually very direct, it may be seen passing over garden after garden with steady regular beat of wing, until perchance it nears some favourite tree, when its course is almost imperceptibly changed to an upward slant which lands it on its chosen branch ; when suddenl}- flushed from the nest, the flight is usually direct at first, bxit with a rapid swerving to right or left and a return to roost in some neighbouring cover. When it alights, the Blackbird throws its tail up almost at right angles to the body, stretches the neck and holds its legs wide apart ; this gives it a wonderfuU}' alert and attentive aspect. In this respect it somewhat resembles Magpies, or Ja3^s of the genus Cyanocorax, which always throw up the tail when they alight, but assume the attitude of attention as this appendage drops back to its ordinary level. Although usually a very skulking bird, seeking its food mostly under hedge- rows, in ditches, or among shrubs and bushes ; when it has young to feed the Blackbird may often be seen among Starlings and Thrushes upon our lawns, busily engaged in the pursuit of worms. In fields of turnip or cabbage it may also be seen seeking for worms and caterpillars ; for the common garden snail and slugs the Blackbird seems to care less than does the Song-Thrush, but the prettily banded hedge-snails it delights in : like all insectivorous birds, its favourite morsels are spiders, insects and their grubs. Mr. Frohawk tells me that, in the late autumn, he has watched a Blackbird slowly hopping down a garden path and carefully turning over every fallen leaf in its search for insect food. Unfortunately for the Blackbird's peace of mind, it is not exclusively insectivorous ; it is also to some extent graminivorous and largely frugivorous, being especially fond of strawberries, in pursuit of which it often loses its life at the hands of the short- sighted fruit-grower; it also devours a good many currants, gooseberries, cherries, and peas in their season, whilst the raspberry, blackberry and sloe are not despised. Late in autumn when the more pleasant fruits are becoming scarce, the Blackbird turns its attention to hips and haws, as well as the berries of the ivy and mistletoe. Upon the earth the Blackbird proceeds by a series of hops, then a pause at attention and on again : in its actions it strongly reminds one of the Robin ; but it does not appear, like our little Christmas favourite, to suffer from chronic epileps}^ fidgets, St. Vitus' dance, or whatever it is which makes the latter give that absurd little duck everj' half minute, when sitting on a branch : no, the Blackbird is far too sedate for such frivolity. 24 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs, The Blackbird is especially bold in defence of its young ; even when the nest contains eggs alone, I have known this bird to sit so close, that it has been caught upon the nest and ruthlessly killed by its heartless captor. To some creatures having the outward form of man, a few cherries, hastily swallowed and forgotten, are of more importance than months of woodland music : unhappily many such mere animals are trusted with firearms, and do their utmost to destroy the farmer's and fruit-grower's most useful and industrious assistants ; either not knowing, or not caring to know, that the birds are only taking wages in kind for the fruit which they have worked hard to save from the ravages of insect enemies. As a cage-bird, the Blackbird is without a rival among our Thrushes ; clean, lively, pleasing both in form and in his simple colouring, readil}' tamed, easily kept in health for years, it is no wonder that he is a general favourite : but, if he is to turn out a good songster, he must be caught, not reared from the nest. A hand-reared bird never sings the wild song, and hardly ever pleases with his per- formance ; indeed I have only known one bird (reported to be hand-reared, and fed upon sopped bread only) which really had an attractive song. Of the numbers which I reared when I first began to study aviculture, the best singer never got beyond six notes of a dismal psalm-tune. On the other hand, every trapped cock Blackbird, if properly fed, is sure to sing the true wild song sooner or later ; xisually in the first spring after his capture. Like many other birds when first caught, the Blackbird often refuses to feed at all the first day ; and, if in good condition when caged, he ma}- continue to sulk for a day or two longer ; but even a sulky Blackbird cannot resist the attractions of a lively mealworm, spider, or even earthworm, and when he once begins to eat, he will continue ; so that there is never much difiiculty in inducing him to empty his pan of soft food. The latter, as already hinted previously, should be largely farinaceous, but with an admixture of yolk of egg and ants' cocoons ; slices of apple or pear, and berries, as well as insects and worms, should also be given from time to time ; but meat nnvr, if you value the health of your bird : if given, it will assuredly produce diarrhoea, resulting sooner or later in cramp, or fits. I tried it with fatal results, for several years. _1 LlI N o 6 z The Ring-0u2el *5 Faviily— TURDIDyE. Subfamily— TURDINAi. The Ring-Ouzel. Turdus torquatus, LiNN. UPON the Continent of Europe this bird is a summer visitant to the more desolate portions of the pine districts ; it nevertheless breeds freely in the mountainous regions of the South. Eastward its range appears to be limited by the Ural Mountains. It winters in the lowlands and alpine districts of South Europe, in North Africa, Asia Minor, and Persia. In Great Britain it is rarely resident ; indeed during the winter it is usually the only British Thrush which is absent. Though in mild seasons it has been known to remain with us up to Christmas, as a rule the Ring- Ouzel leaves us in September or October, returning in April to breed. Although far more abundant as a breeding species in the wild moors and mountainous districts of the North, it is known to have bred in rocky parts of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Warwick, Leicester, Gloucestershire, Mon- mouthshire, Wales, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire : in the wilder portions of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Wales it breeds freely. The general colour of the male Ring- Ouzel is a dark sooty brown inclining to black, with the exception of a broad white crescentic gorget ; the wing feathers edged externally with grey ; under wing-coverts and axillaries mottled with grey and white : bill yellowish, black at the tip ; feet brownish black ; iris dark brown. The female paler and browner than the male and with somewhat brownish gorget. Birds of the year have broad pale margins to the feathers of the under surface, the gorget in the male is brownish and in the female barely discernable. Nestlings have the feathers of the back and breast barred with black and pale brown, and the wing-coverts tipped with ochraceous buff. The nest of this species is not at all unlike that of the Blackbird, but it is somewhat looser in construction : externally it is formed of dry bents and grass, frequently intertwined with twigs of heather or larch and compacted with dead leaves, moss and mud ; inside it is lined with clay or mud, concealed by a thick inner lining of fine grass. It is almost always built on the ground, most frequently amongst ling on the sharp edge of an embankment; also under furze, Vol. I. F a6 British Birds with their Nests and Eggs. or among heather upon steep declivities, very rarely in a low bush or tree. The eggs number from four to five, usually four, and are extremely similar to those of the Blackbird and Fieldfare ; indeed, unless the collector takes them himself, I do not for a moment believe that he could be assured of their origin. I obtained eggs from two nests in Kent, in both cases 'flushing the bird from them ; she flew off with harsh cries — ''chack-chack-chack"* after the manner of a Blackbird, but did not go far away ; probably had the nest contained young she would have flown round my head with loud cries after the manner of the Missel Thrush ; but I have rarely found birds so devoted to their eggs as to their young, unless they have actually commenced incubation. I found my second nest amongst a clump of heather growing under a furze bush, on the edge of a wild plantation bounding part of a large park at Tunstall, near Sittingbourne, on May 17th, 1879: the nest unfortunately only contained one e.^g. My first nest was found on the margin of an unreclaimed bit of heathery moorland in the Stock- bury Valley under a straggling tuft of ling overhanging the edge of a steep embankment at the side of a little frequented road, on May 24th, 1875 : ^^^^^ nest contained two eggs. In both cases I omitted to take the nest, and consequently this is a desideratum to my collection ; probably the birds continued to utilize them. The habits of the Ring-Ouzel are very similar to those of the Blackbird ; its flight is very similar and its trick of throwing up the tail as it alights, its method of searching for food, characterized by a shy, alert, almost nervous manner, and its harsh cry uttered when the safety of its nest is threatened and at roosting time. Even its song bears some similarity to that of. its ebony relative, though harsher in character and in some respects more nearly approaching that of the Song Thrush ; its habit of interrupting and criticizing its own performance is also eminently characteristic of the Blackbird : its call-note is a thin piercing whistle, like that of our other Thrushes. The harsh gurrrh, characteristic of the Missel and Song Thrushes, can hardly be the true call note, since they certainly call to one another in the still more unpleasant whistled note above mentioned. The food of the Ring-Ouzel consists of worms, slugs, snails, insects and their grubs, many kinds of berries, small fruits such as currants, gooseberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes and also plums. Seebohm says : — "A true bird of the wilderness, it prefers the deepest solitudes that our land affords. Truly, indeed, the Ring-Ouzel's home is a wild •This sound is usually rendered by the word talc: >)ut there is a thickness about the initial letter better represented \yy ch: the almost metallic flint splitting sound which I render t/!!'«/.-, in the account of the Black- bird, has been incorrectly written as "pink" : a Blackbird is as likely to say "purple" as "pink" The Black Throated Thrush. a? and romantic one. You will first make his acquaintance where the heath begins, where the silver birch trees are scattered amongst the rock fragments, and the gorse bushes and stunted thorn and bracken are the last signs of more lowland vegetation. The scenery gets wilder, but still the bird is your companion ; he flits from rock to rock before you, or, by making long detours, returns to the place whence you flushed him, uttering his loud, harsh, and discordant call-notes. The hills of Derbyshire are one of his favourite haunts : almost on the very summit of Kinder Scout, the highest peak of the High Peak, nearly two thousand feet above the sea level, the Ring-Ouzels rear their young." I cannot speak personally as to the Ring-Ouzel's suitability for cage life ; so far as I have been able to judge, from the specimens occasionally exhibited at bird shows, it appears to be as easily tamed as our other Thrushes ; but it is possible that these specimens may have been hand-reared birds : I certainly never heard one of them attempt to sing. There are several reasons for this dumb behaviour in captive birds ; some that will not sing at all in a cage, warble splendidly in an aviary ; then, insufiiciently nourishing, or unnatural food may be the cause, the first from its lowering effect and the second by making the prisoner feel positively ill. Birds which are accustomed, when wild, to feed almost entirely on insects and fruit, are provided at our shows with a mess of finely grated raw beef and bread crumbs : on such hopelessly unnatural diet, it is no marvel, not merely that they feel disinclined to sing, but if they die before their term of punishment is completed. With the Ring-Ouzel, in the writer's opinion, the true British "Thrushes," so called, should terminate. Other species recorded as belonging to our fauna, in works upon the Birds of Great Britain, are : — Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURD I N^. The Black Throated Thrush. I Turdus atrigularis, Temm. NTRODUCED, because one young male was shot near Lewes in 1868. 28 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURBINE. The Rock Thrush. Monticola saxaiilis, Linn. A DMITTED, because one specimen was shot at Therfield, Herts., in 1843. So far as I can see, there is no more reason for admitting these birds to our list, than for excluding the following : — Family— TURD I D^. Subfamily— TURBINE. The American Robin. Turdus viigratorius, LiNN. OBTAINED at Dover; but excluded, on the ground that it may have escaped from captivity. In these days of aviculture, even the rarest and least suspected birds may have reached our shores in this manner. Family— TURDIDAL. ■ Subfamily— TURBINE. The Siberian Ground Thrush. Turdus sibiricus, Pall. SOME writers admit, and others exclude this species; one example only having been obtained (on the authority of a dealer) between Guildford and Godalming, in the winter of 1860-61. In other branches of Zoology, we should not necessarily regard a species as British, on the score of one or two examples having been obtained on our shores : the fact of their occurrence would be recorded, and possibly an illustration published, but subsequent works would not be considered incomplete which did not describe them as British. cc < Hi H < X The Wheatear. a9 Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURDIN^E. The Wheatear. Saxicola ananthe, LiNN. ALTHOUGH Howard Saunders associates the Wheatears with the "Bush- chats," he points out the fact that they differ in their longer tails and white rumps, and states also Dr. Sharpe's belief that the members of the genus Pratincola are Flycatchers (Muscicapidce) : the habits and actions of Saxicola and Pratincola are certainly not exactly similar, although a general likeness in the distribution of colours on the head, gives one the impression of relationship between them. The Wheatear is a very remarkable bird in appearance, its head appearing to be far too large for its body : in stuffed specimens its whole character is invariably lost by the taxidermist, who produces an indentation, where none exists in life, just at the back of the skull : illustrations also, being mostly taken from prepared skins, do not usually do justice to the bull-headed Robin-like aspect of the living bird. Occurring all over the Western Palsearctic region from Greenland to Africa, and eastward through Siberia to North China, the Wheatear is also found in Eastern N. America and Behring's Straits ; it is common, though local, throughout Great Britain, arriving early in March and departing in September; but its numbers increase as one travels northward, comparatively few pairs breeding in the southern counties. In winter it occurs both in North and West Africa, whilst Asiatic examples migrate to Mongolia, N. India and Persia, and American birds travel as far as the Bermudas. The male Wheatear in breeding plumage has the upper parts grey, the wings dark brown and black, the rump white, the two central tail-feathers black to near base, the others white, broadly tipped with black ; forehead and superciliary streak white ; lores and ear-coverts black ; under surface of body pale buff, slightly deeper on throat and breast ; but in old birds almost white, with throat and breast buff; under wing-coverts and axillaries mottled with dark grey and white; bill black, feet black, iris dark brown. The female is huffish brown, darker above, the ear-coverts dark brown instead of black. In autumn owing to the broad pale buff borders to the new feathers, the male nearly resembles the female; but during the winter these borders seem to be partly lost and the colour (as with that in the plumage of many other birds) 30 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. grows in the feathers themselves without a further moult.* Young birds are spotted above and below, the feathers of the wings and tail being also edged and tipped with biiff. The name Wheatear is derived from the words white and the Anglo-Saxon cers (rump); I believe the bird is still called '■'■ Whitus'" by the peasantry in some parts of England; it is also known by the names of "Stone c/atter" and "■ Clacharan" (Little mason.) In Kent I have seen this bird but once, and then only on a wild neglected piece of grass-land close to a cultivated watercress stream ; in the side of a bank overhanging this stream was a hollow, probably the end of a mole burrow, which had been cut across to lengthen the bed of the stream ; and, in this hollow was the Wheatear's nest ; unfortunately she had not commenced to lay. In the same place a lady friend obtained eggs of this species the year before. In June, 1886, I saw a considerable number of Wheatears : they were flying about the broken cliffs between Yarmouth and Caister, where sand and patches of reedy grass are commingled over irregular slopes and hollows ; an expanse desolate indeed in appearance, but the home of numerous rabbits, whose burrows in every direction form traps for the heedless pedestrian. I looked in many a hole for nests, but my search was not rewarded. I thought of, and put into practice, the advise given in the following extract from Yarrell, 4th edition, to no purpose. "When the nest is in a rabbit-burrow it is not unfrequently visible from the exterior, but when under a rock it is often placed a long way from the entrance, and out of sight. It can nearly always be found with certainty, by watching the hen-bird ; and Salmon says that on the large warrens of Suffolk and Norfolk its position is easily detected by the considerable number of small pieces of the withered stalks of the brake amassed at the entrance of the burrow. When the place of concealment, however, is beneath a rock or earth- fast stone, the nest is often inaccessible to the finder." In addition to its favourite rabbit-burrow, the Wheatear utilizes heaps of stones, niches in walls, peat-stacks, or banks ; or even hollows partly sheltered by a large clod or stone, as building sites. The nest is a rather large and flattish structure, losely formed of very fine dried grass, sometimes rootlets and a little moss, and lined with feathers and hair, or hair alone. The eggs are said to vary from four to eight in number, six being the usual clutch ; they are somewhat elongated, pale greenish blue, and (almost invariably) unspotted, but very rarely * In the case of the Indigo Bunting of N. America, the change from brown winter plumage to the bright blue and green of the breeding dress, is chiefly due to a gradual growth of the bright colouring in the feathers, comparatively few feathers being shed : I have the skin of a bird which died half through its spring change, showing the feathers in their transitional stage. The Wheatear. 31 there are a few very indistinct purplisli dots at the larger end. The Wheatear is largely insectivorous, capturing much of its food on the wing after the manner of the Flycatchers. It also eats larvse of various insects, spiders, small worms and molluscs, but in the autumn it also eats the wild moor- land fruits : it is a pretty sight to watch this bird perched upon a wall, its tail swaying up and down like that of a Wagtail : presently you see it jerk its head upwards and off it darts with graceful fluttering flight after some passing beetle or fly, which it captures without difficulty. If you creep up to watch more closely, it waits until perhaps only a few yards intervene between you and it, then away it flits, somewhat after the fashion of a Wagtail, to some more distant rock. When searching for the nest in Norfolk and hoping that the bird would reveal its proximity by returning, after a short journey in one direction, to some previously occupied rock, we found that it still flew before us from rock to rock ; it became evident that our fruitless search could only be explained by the fact that we were too late upon the scene. The Wheatear first arrives in the south of England towards the end of March, the males reaching our shores a little earlier than the females, but they usually begin to build about the middle of April and the nest may be found from this time to about the middle of May, but although the species is double-brooded, the June nests seem less easy to discover, possibly they may be more carefully concealed, or the increased power of the sun makes stooping more irksome to the searcher. In August and September numbers congregate together, in preparation for their migration to the south ; at this season many are snared by the shepherds on the Sussex Downs and destroyed for food ; by the beginning of October most of the survivors have left the country. The song of this bird is a short, but not unpleasant warbling, but its call notes are less musical, resembling the sharp chink, chack, chack produced by the concussion of a flint and steel. In confinement the Wheatear or "Clod," as the London birdcatchers call it, soon gains confidence in the goodwill of its owner and flies up to the wires to take flies or mealworms from his fingers; it is a peaceful law-abiding subject; but when some favourite morsel has been snatched from under its very bill, it sometimes shows its annoyance by the sharp click of its mandibles, characteristic of most insectivorous birds. The first Wheatear I ever possessed was brought to me one evening by a small bird-dealer, who informed me that it had been caught that afternoon and that, if I did not care to give ninepence for it, he meant to kill and stuff it for one of his customers. Of course I bought it, turned it into a large flight cage in my study and hoped to reconcile it to captivity. Unlike 32 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. many birds when newly caught, this Wheatear appeared to be quite at home at once, but I could not succeed in inducing it to eat anything but mealworms and house-flies ; berries it would not look at, and soft food it regarded with utter contempt : in three days it died. A second specimen was brought to me, about nine years later, by a friend who had already kept it for about a week, in a room with other British Birds. I turned it out with Wagtails and other birds in a large unheated aviary ; it took kindly to the soft food from the first, and ate a good many cockroaches daily ; passed through the winter without mishap, came into full breeding plumage and commenced to sing in the spring : sometimes, but rarel)', it sang on the wing ; it usually preferred to sit close to a wide casement, which is kept open during the mild weather, and warble at intervals. When a fly passed into the aviary, it had little chance of escaping ; the Wheatear, a Redstart and a Grey Wagtail were all after it at once, and the Redstart was generally the winner ; the Wheatear coming in second, and the Wagtail rarely getting a chance, in spite of its marvellous aerial acrobatic powers. Unfortunately this bird did not live many months ; before I had kept it a year it died suddenly ; although, the day previously, it had appeared to be in excellent health. Other species of Wheatears have been admitted into the British list, but their claim to this position is based upon the chance occurrence of one or two examples in this country. Whilst denying that this gives them a title to the name of Britisher, it may perhaps be as well to record their names : — Family— TUDID^. Subfamily— TURDIN^. The Isabelline Wheatear. Saxicola isabellina, RuPP. ADMITTED to be an English bird on the ground that a single female example was shot at AUonby, in Cumberland, on the nth November, 1887. The Black Throated Wheatear. The Desert Wheatear, The Whinchat. 33 Family— TURDIDAL. • Stcbfamily—TURDIN/^. The Black Throated Wheatear. A Saxicola stapazina, ViEILL. SINGLE male specimen was shot near Bury, in Lancashire, about the 8th May, 1875 ; it belonged to the Eastern race of the species. Family— TURDIDAi. Subfamily— TURDINyE. The Desert Wheatear. Saxicola deserti, RtJPP. A MALE was shot near Alloa in Clackmannanshire, on the 26th November, 1880, a female on the Holderness coast, Yorkshire, on the 17th October, 1885, and a second near Arbroath on the 28th December, 1887. Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURDINAi. The Whinchat. Pratiyicola rubetra, LiNN. BREEDS in suitable localities throughout Northern and Central Europe, its eastern boundary in European Russia being probably the Ural Mountains ; it winters in Southern Europe and Northern Africa, extending its range west- ward to Fantee and eastward to Abyssinia. It also occurs in Arabia, Asia Minor and Northern India : but in the Indian examples the relative length of the primaries is said to differ, and the birds themselves are larger than ours. In Great Britain the Whinchat is pretty generally distributed; being abundant in certain localities, but absent from many districts of Scotland, and somewhat local in Ireland. Vol. I G 34 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. The Whinchat above is blackish brown, the feathers edged with sandy buflF, slightly redder on the upper tail-coverts; wings dark brown, smaller coverts white; two central tail-feathers dark brown, white at base; other tail-feathers with the basal half white and the terminal half dark brown, with buff margins ; a clear white superciliary streak ; lores, ear-coverts and cheeks dark brown : chin white, continuous with a streak bounding the lower part of the cheek and sides of neck ; throat and breast reddish fawn colour, shading into buff towards centre of belly; under tail-coverts also buff; bill and feet black; iris brown. This bird is most commonly seen on broad open commons, heathery mountain slopes, pastures (whence its local name of "Grass -chat,") meadows and wild briar-clad wastes ; it haunts both mountain and valley, hill and dale, and wherever vast tracts of furze-covered land exist, it may be confidently looked for: to this it owes its common nickname of "Fuz-chat," the only title, I believe, by which the London birdcatchers recognize it. In some districts it is also known by the name "Utick" on account of its call note u-tic, u-tac or u-chack. I first met with the Whinchat in fair numbers, about the middle of May, amongst the gorse bushes covering a wide expanse not far from Detling, on the road from Sittingbourne to Maidstone. The birds were dotted about here and there on the topmost sprays of the gorse, whence every half minute or so they darted off after some insect, returning almost invariably to the same perch. Every few minutes one of them would flit off, warbling softly, to some distant bush, under which it would dive ; but when I imagined that its nest was there concealed, and walking straight to that point, began carefully to seek for it, I invariably found that there not only was no trace of a nest, either in or under the bush, but that the mischievous bird had simply passed through an opening and onwards, perchance in some new direction with the distinct purpose of misleading me, or else had sought some fresh article of diet below the shelter of that prickly cover. The Whinchat is very largely insectivorous, its food consisting chiefly of insects, their larvae and spiders : it also eats small worms, small molluscs, and it has been known to feed upon growing corn : it is a great friend to the farmer, on account of its fondness for wireworms (the larvae of spring-back beetles) ; these it obtains in considerable numbers in the Spring when the land lies fallow ; and later, when the young turnips are opening their first leaves, it is a great enemy to the destructive turnip fly. I have tried it with the turnip beetle, but the offensive red ink flavour of this insect was too much for it, and it turned away in disgust after tasting the first sample: berries, which (I The Whinchat. 35 believe) the Whinchat has been credited with eating, and red or white currants, it refused even to glance at. The nidification of the Whinchat commences early in May and I have seen nests of fresh eggs which were taken quite a month later; but, in that case, the first nests had been robbed: although this species has been stated to be double-brooded, the evidence in support of that belief requires confirmation; the male bird certainly ceases to sing in July ; this, one would not expect to be the case, unless it had concluded its domestic duties. The nest is usually placed on the ground among grass or heather; sometimes in the middle of a field or under shelter of a hedge, freqently under a furze bush, either on the ground or just above it among the branching stems : it is a large and rather loose structure formed of bents, fibrous roots and somtimes a little moss, and is lined with fine dry grass and hair. The eggs vary from four to six, the latter being the usual number; they are greenish blue, in tint not unlike those of the Hedge Accentor, but generally of a less perfect oval, the larger, as well as the smaller extremity being some- what pointed ; they are finely speckled with reddish brown, the dots forming a pale zone round the larger end. The parents are very wary in discovering the position of their treasures, and will not approach the nest when they discover the presence of an intruder ; but, if by chance you wander towards it, they fly round your head in the greatest anxiety uttering a thin dismal cry, which to me sounded like the word is7vee, varied at times by their call note u-tic : I have also seen them drop on the grass and scramble along as if injured, apparently with the object of inviting pursuit; a trick which, did they but know it, only renders the bird'snester more satisfied that he is on the right scent. The flight of the Whinchat is graceful and undulating, and during the breeding-season consists of short journeys from bush to bush, varied by aerial evolutions in pursuit of gnats or other small winged insects. Suddenly it swoops downwards as it perceives some tiny beetle on a grass stem, to which as it seizes its prey, it clings for a moment with fluttering wings, then darts away to the topmost spray of a whin bush, and watches with ever springing tail for another victim. To the novice in the study of bird life this active little fellow is a revelation. Seebohm says: — "Although the Whinchat so often chooses a perch near the ground, it by no means shuns the trees, and, especially towards the end of summer, it is seen with its young brood high up amongst the branches. The bird does not show that partiality for walls and rocks which is so marked a feature of the Redstart or Wheatear. In the pastoral districts the Whinchat, 36 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs directly after its arrival, frequents the fallows which are being worked for the turnip crops, and on these places is found almost continuously until the neigh- bouring pastures afford it sufficient shelter. The Whinchats never roost in trees, but always on the ground. When they first arrive we find them at night on the fallows, but for the remainder of the season grass fields and turnip lands are frequented. In the wilder parts of its haunts the Whinchat roosts amongst the heath and the tangled undergrowth of gorse covert and brake. Another remark- able trait in the character of this bird is its activity in the dusk of the evening, a time probably when some insect that forms its favourite food is abundant ; and its well known call notes may be heard long after the birds themselves are con- cealed from view by the falling shadows of night." This species is not a resident bird, although a few instances have been recorded of its passing the winter in England. It arrives in the South of England about the middle of April, reaching our northern counties a week or two later: late in September it again journeys southwards. My second captive Whinchat was given to me early in September, 1893, and I turned it into an aviary with other British birds and a pair of Rosa's Parrakeet. I found it very shy ; but unfortunately I was unable to keep it long enough to judge whether it was likely to overcome its want of confidence ; for, within a week, one of the Parrakeets caught it and crushed its skull, thus not only killing it but rendering it useless as a cabinet specimen. . It took readily to the usual soft food mixture, commencing, like all soft-billed birds with the egg and ants' cocoons and only eating the bread and potato when these failed ; it was especially keen on mealworms, probably not discovering any difference between them and its natural diet of wireworms, and it devoured a considerable number of small cockroaches ; flies and small moths it pursued and caught on the wing. It usually passed the night either on the earth or upon some twigs stuck into the earth. At times it uttered its thin piercing cry and its singular call-note; but, at that season, I, of course, could not expect it to sing. When anyone entered the aviary it flew wildly from side to side ; but, at other times contented itself with keeping at a respectful distance, never showing any anxiety to escape, or even that restless impatience of captivity characteristic of the Hedge Accentor and many other small birds, when freshly captured. < X o z o H C/5 The Stonechat. , 37 Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURBINE. The Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola, LiNN. INHABITS the central and milder parts of Northern Europe and southwards to Asia Minor, Palestine and North Africa ; specimens have also been obtained south of Senegal. In Great Britain the Stonechat is resident and breeds locally in every county of Great Britain and Ireland, as also in the Hebrides : in the Orkney and Shetland Islands it is known to occur, but not to breed. The Stonechat is a very handsome little bird, especially when in breeding plumage. The male has the whole of the feathers of the upper surface (excepting those of the upper tail-coverts which are white) dull black fringed with tawny brown ; the head from a line above the eye and the throat velvety-black ; wings and tail blackish brown ; smaller wing-coverts, bases of inner secondaries and sides of neck broadly white ; under parts tawny-rufous, deepest on the breast and sides, almost white at centre of chest, but shading into buff on abdomen ; bill and feet ebony-black, iris dark brown. The female is altogether duller in colouring ; the white wing-patch smaller, the tail-coverts reddish brown, the throat mottled with black. In winter the white on the sides of the neck becomes mottled with tawny, the secondaries have broad tawny borders and either whitish or tawny tips, the tail-feathers are also broadly bordered with buff; the ear-coverts, chin and throat feathers are also slightly tipped on the fringe with tawny or white, and the upper part of the white neck-patch is mottled with tawny. The nestling is spotted above and below, and does not show the dark throat, or white patches of the adult bird; but, in other respects, resembles it in its winter plumage. Though so different from the Whinchat in pattern, this species resembles it greatly in form and in its habits ; it frequents similar localities — wild heathery moorland, gorse-clad commons, uncultivated broken ground, dotted with bush and bramble, with here and there loose stones, or bedded rocks moss-grown and venerable : in such haunts the Whinchat breeds, and there he may be seen poised on the topmost spray of the flowering furze with ever restless tail, anon darting from bush to bush with undulating flight, or hovering mothlike to seize some Vol. I. ' ■ H 38 British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs. fluttering insect. All attempts of the stranger to investigate its family concerns are met by the Stonechat with alarm and resentment ; to anyone seeking the nest it is most confusing to hear the two parent birds chacking in different places, rarely in the same bush ; the male also from time to time uttering a queer double note, in which he seems to proclaim himself a Wheatear.* The nest is frequently placed in some depression of the soil partly or wholly concealed by herbage, below a furze-bush, or shrub ; so that one may look beneath the very cover where it is situated, and not perceive it ; it is always on the ground: its construction is loose, but tolerably neat, dry grass or rootlets and a little moss being used for the outside; finer grass, hair, feathers and sometimes wool, for the lining. The eggs vary from four to six in number, and are not unlike those of the Whinchat; but they are greener in tint, and usually much more heavily zoned and spotted with red-brown ; the spotting sometimes covers a much larger area ; but frequently forms a suffused patch on the larger end, or a broad belt near the end ; occasionally it is barely indicated : I once took eggs of the Spotted Flycatcher similarly marked, and which, but for their slightly paler ground-tint, might have been mistaken for eggs of this species. The song of the Stonechat is soft, low, irregular but rather pleasant to listen to ; it reminds me somewhat of the first efforts of the Indigo- Bunting of N. America, when that bird is "recording" his song. The call-note, which has nothing to do with his scolding, or complaining notes, is a sharp tsik, tsik, tsik, almost like the sound produced by striking two flints together. The Stonechat feeds on insects, their larvae, spiders, small worms, and during the winter on seeds : moths and butterflies it catches on the wing, and I was much interested, on one occasion, in watching it in pursuit of a Vapourer-moth, the circling onward flight of which seemed for some time to bafile it, though success at last rewarded its efforts to seize it. I have seen a House-Sparrow utterly nonplussed by the progressive gyrations of this little moth ; the difficulty of catching it being increased by the fact that, when pursued, it constantly rises higher and higher; in the capture of such a moth only a bird with the agility of a Flycatcher or Wagtail can hope for success. The flight of this species is short and undulating, its greatest efforts being made in pursuit of prey : when roosting or hopping, its tail is incessantly in motion : if terrified, this bird seems to prefer concealment to flight, always seeking the densest cover in the immediate neighbourhood, but sometimes revealing its whereabouts by uttering its alarm cry : even when the nest is approached, as already * This scolding note is best expressed by the words hweet-jurr, the terminal r having a vibrant sound. The Stonechat, 39 hinted, the Stonechat is only seen when flitting from bush to bush, but it is heard incessantly. I have only once had an opportunity of studying this species as an aviary bird. Mr. E. P. Staines of Penge, an enthusiastic student of British cage-birds gave me a specimen, at the same time that he also brought me my Whinchat, in September 1893 : I turned it into the same aviary, and although I kept it for over a year, it ultimately lost its life from a similar cause, a Rosa's Parrakeet breaking one of its legs at the mid-tarsal or so-called knee-joint. I caged the bird up separately, after binding the limb up, but it only survived two days. In the aviary the Stonechat is gentle and extremly lively ; never quarrelling, but often obtaining a delicacy by superior activity : thus I have seen it seize a spider from under the very bill of a Wagtail and carry it half across the aviary before the larger bird had solved the problem as to how it had disappeared : it was also very expert in catching white butterflies on the wing, though it frequently lost them through getting hold of their wings only. The Stonechat took to soft food without hesitation, and, many a time when the other inhabitants of the aviary were waiting for a fresh supply, I have seen him alight on the edge of the Parrakeet's seed-pan and swallow canary and millet : possibl}^ it was in this manner he got in the way of one of these treacherous birds, and so lost his life. Of cockroaches he was inordinately fond, jumping into the beetle-trap and flinging them out, or swallowing the smaller ones at a gulp : sometimes he would snatch out a large female by one leg and fling the body away, following it up and again catching at a second leg with the same action, until he had completely dismembered the body, which would then be swallowed entire : it is astonishing to see what large morsels can be gulped down by these little birds ! This bird often sang in the early spring ; but, as in its wild state, its warbling ceased entirely before the end of June : it was fairly tame, but would not actually take an insect from my fingers, always waiting until I dropped it, before attempt- ing to secure it : like all insectivorous birds, it was more keen on spiders than anything else, and the larger they were the better it was pleased. 40 British Brids, with their Nests and Eggs. Family— TURDID^. Subfamily— TURDIN At. The Redstart. Ruticilla phcenicurus, LiNN. BREEDS tlirougliout Central Europe as far as the North Cape and in the Pine regions of Southern Europe; where, however, it is rarely seen excepting on migration ; in winter it migrates to Northern Africa, the Canaries, Madeira, Senegal, Abyssinia, Arabia and Persia. It is pretty generaly distributed throughout Great Britain, though locally scarce ; its occurrence in the Orkneys and Shetlands and in Ireland is rare, and it is unknown in the Hebrides. The male bird in breeding plumage is very attractive, vaguely resembling the Robin in front and the Nightingale at the back. The upper surface is slaty grey, with rufous-brown tips to the feathers; the back of forehead and an irregular line over the eye white ; rump and upper tail-coverts chestnut red ; the two central tail feathers dark brown, the others chestnut red ; wings smoky brown, secondaries with pale buff margins to the outer webs ; base of forehead, face, ear-coverts, chin and throat black ; chest and axillaries chestnut red ; abdomen and flanks tawny buff: bill and feet black, iris brown. The female is altogether duller in colouring without the bright hues on the head and with the under surface paler. Both sexes in autumn have long white fringes to the feathers, giving them a greyish appearance which disappears in the Spring.* Nestlings are spotted both above and below and, but for their redder tails, might be almost mistaken for young Robins. The Redstart is a summer visitant to Great Britain usually arriving in April, though its advent is somewhat dependent on the state of the temperature. It goes to nest in May, and in September flits by night to its winter quarters. The favourite haunts of this species are ivy-grown rocks and ruins ; old walls round gardens and orchards ; plantations ; shrubberies ; scattered open wood- land with ancient timber ; groves of birch ; wild commons, on poor and rocky ground strewn with bramble and brake. I first met with it in the Stockbury ♦ It is usually supposed, that when the plumage of birds alters in the spring, it is done by casting the pale or dull tips; but, judging from birds of various species which have died in the middle of their tarnsfor- mation, I feel certain that in many cases the colouring grows in the feathers themselves. I have a Redstart before me in which the long fringes are partly buff and partly white, whilst the throat feathers are black excepting at the extreme tips. I Redstart The Redstart.