Part 1

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BIRDS OF BRITAIN

BY J. LEWIS BONHOTE M.A., F.L.S., F.Z.S. MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION

WITH 100 ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR SELECTED BY H. E. DRESSER FROM HIS 'BIRDS OF EUROPE'

LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1907 _Published November 1907_

PREFACE

The study of Nature has of late years enormously increased, and there is probably no branch of its varied and inexhaustible interests which appeals more strongly to young and old than the fascinating study of Birds.

Every one feels more or less interested in Birds, whether it be from pure affection for the Robins and Tits which beg our hospitality during the winter months, or joy at the coming of the Swallow and Cuckoo as heralds of spring.

For some the interest is perhaps merely a passing regret at the shooting of one of our rare and beautiful migrants, while with others the real love of bird life makes it a moment of intensest pleasure when, for instance, the melodious note of the Nightingale makes us dimly realise something of the innate beauty of Nature herself.

In the following pages will be found not only descriptions and plates of the birds themselves, but, wherever possible, notes on their ways and habits have also been given. These notes having been taken at first hand straight from Nature, it is hoped that they may give a small insight into some of those beautiful mysteries which it is our ambition to unravel, and that, at the same time, they may awaken and stimulate a further desire to know still more of the workings of the great laws of the Universe and the part they play in the lives of even the least of the feathered creatures.

It has been thought best to include in this book every species which has been known to occur in Great Britain, with a description of their leading characteristics and true habitat, so that any bird met with may be easily identified; and the plates have been carefully selected so as to give examples of the most typical species.

For facts relative to geographical distribution and other technical details the author has freely consulted Mr. Howard Saunders' _Manual of British Birds_.

In conclusion, the author hopes most sincerely that this book may often prove to be of help and service to the genuine seeker after reliable information on British Birds, and also that it may encourage observation and further research in a branch of Natural History where discovery ever stimulates to fresh discovery and where interest never fails.

J. LEWIS BONHOTE. Gade Spring, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, _November 1907_.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Missel Thrush _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE 2. Song Thrush 4 3. Fieldfare 10 4. Blackbird 16 5. Ring Ouzel 20 6. Wheatear 22 7. Stonechat 30 8. Redstart 32 9. Robin 36 10. Nightingale 38 11. Whitethroat 40 12. Lesser Whitethroat 42 13. Blackcap 46 14. Dartford Warbler 48 15. Fire-crested Wren and Golden-crested Wren 50 16. Chiffchaff and Willow Wren 54 17. Reed Warbler and Marsh Warbler 60 18. Grasshopper Warbler 66 19. Hedge Accentor (Hedge Sparrow) 68 20. Bearded Reedling 72 21. Long-tailed Tit 74 22. Great Tit 76 23. Marsh Tit 78 24. Nuthatch 80 25. Common Wren 82 26. Tree-Creeper 84 27. Pied Wagtail 86 28. Grey Wagtail 88 29. Blue-headed Wagtail 90 30. Tree Pipit and Meadow Pipit 92 31. Red-backed Shrike 102 32. Waxwing 104 33. Spotted Flycatcher 106 34. Sand-Martin 112 35. Greenfinch 114 36. Goldfinch 118 37. Tree-Sparrow 124 38. Chaffinch 126 39. Linnet 130 40. Mealy Redpoll 132 41. Bullfinch 136 42. Crossbill 138 43. Yellow Bunting (Yellow Hammer) 142 44. Cirl Bunting 144 45. Snow Bunting and Lapland Bunting 150 46. Starling 152 47. Jay 156 48. Magpie 158 49. Jackdaw 160 50. Rook 166 51. Skylark 168 52. Common Swift 174 53. Wryneck 178 54. Greater Spotted Woodpecker 180 55. Kingfisher 182 56. Cuckoo 186 57. Barn Owl 190 58. Long-eared Owl 192 59. Tawny Owl 194 60. Golden Eagle 204 61. Peregrine 212 62. Kestrel 216 63. Shag 220 64. Bittern 228 65. Sheld-Duck 240 66. Mallard or Wild Duck 242 67. Shoveller 246 68. Wigeon 252 69. Tufted Duck 256 70. Common Scoter 262 71. Red-breasted Merganser 266 72. Stock Dove 270 73. Turtle Dove 272 74. Red Grouse 276 75. Partridge 280 76. Land-Rail 284 77. Water-Rail 286 78. Moor-hen 288 79. Stone Curlew 294 80. Ringed Plover 300 81. Golden Plover and Grey Plover 304 82. Lapwing 308 83. Oyster-Catcher 312 84. Grey Phalarope and Red-necked Phalarope 314 85. Woodcock 318 86. Dunlin 324 87. Redshank 342 88. Curlew 348 89. Common Tern 354 90. Black-headed Gull 360 91. Herring Gull 364 92. Greater Black-backed Gull 368 93. Kittiwake 370 94. Richardson's Skua 374 95. Razorbill 376 96. Common Guillemot 378 97. Black Guillemot 380 98. Red-throated Diver 386 99. Great-crested Grebe 388 100. Storm Petrel and Leach's Petrel 392

Wing. 1. Lesser Coverts. 2. Median " Greater or Major Coverts. 3. Primary " 4. Secondary " Quills, Remiges, or Flight feathers. 5. Primaries 6. Secondaries 7. Bastard-Primary. 8. " Wing. Leg. Tarsus. Ist or hind toe. IInd or inner toe. IIIrd or middle toe. IVth or outer toe. *This joint is the heel proper, but is commonly called the thigh.

BIRDS OF BRITAIN

THE MISSEL THRUSH Turdus viscivorus, Linnæus

It was by the sea-coast, on a bleak and wind-swept hill covered with short grass and patches of heather and gorse, that our attention was first directed to a light-coloured bird of fair size which rose at our feet from behind a tussock, and uttering a curious wild churring note, darted away against the strong south-west wind. Well has he earned his name of "Storm Cock" from his wild note and rapid flight. Watch him now, sustained by quick, continuous wing-beats, and now as the wind slackens carried along with a dipping motion and outstretched wings, the whole bird suggestive of strength and activity, and as fickle and changeable in his moods as the elements among which he delights to live.

It was in June that I first saw him, when he and others of his kind, who but a few months before were callow and helpless nestlings, were learning from the summer gale a taste of what they would have to face when winter brought its storms and tempests, for the Storm Cock is no migrant to warmer climes and softer breezes, but leads a regular roving gipsy's life over our Islands, wandering from the northernmost corners of Scotland to the south of England, obeying no will but his own, and guided by no special impulse beyond that of satisfying his own appetite,--by no means a difficult task, as little in the way of berries or insects comes amiss to him. His common name of Missel Thrush (Mistletoe Thrush) is derived from his supposed fondness for this berry, but this is a point on which doubt still exists.

On the day when we first saw him, however, he was engaged in picking up the flies, ants, beetles, and other live prey which the scanty vegetation on the hill enabled him to see and capture easily. In spots where the ground was loose he would dig in his bill and turn over a small bit of earth, then stand with head held expectantly on one side, literally waiting for something to turn up. Often he would repeat this several times with little or no result, then all of a sudden down would go his head and we would make out something between his mandibles, then would come a quick movement of his head and his beak would be empty again.

Suddenly one of his brothers near uttered an alarm-note, and in an instant he was up and across the valley, where for the moment we could not follow him.

Thus, then, he spends his life from May till January: on cliffs by the sea, on bare moorlands, in thick woods--where the mountain-ash berries in their season form a favourite food--over open, cultivated fields where the freshly-turned furrow has unearthed abundant delicacies--or in the country hedgerow where hips and haws, elderberries and sloe are not less appreciated. Here to-day and gone to-morrow, a restless, wandering bird.

As early as January, however, he begins to think of nesting, and having secured a mate, retires to what is for him a comparatively sheltered spot, either to a wood, or preferably to a row of trees along a hedge, and not unfrequently to some fruit-tree in an orchard or garden. Whether or not the Missel Thrush returns year after year to the same spot to nest we cannot say, but, as a rule, the same garden or row of trees will every spring shelter a pair of these birds if once they have nested there.

Although he may probably build his nest quite close to our house, yet the Missel Thrush is always wild and shy, and is rarely seen except as he flies over the garden uttering his unmistakable note, or as he sits on the topmost branch of some tall tree and sings his love-song to his mate below. The song is wild, and consists of a somewhat incoherent medley of notes, which, if not calculated to appeal especially to our musical ear, strikes at any rate a note of harmony with the winter's wind.

The nest is placed on a horizontal branch some 10 or 12 feet from the ground, and often at some distance from the trunk of the tree. The Missel Thrush is very conservative in its choice of a site, and seldom if ever chooses any other position. When built the nest is a fairly conspicuous object, with its foundation of twigs and mud and lined with grass and hay. Towards the end of February, however, we shall one day be surprised to see a large nest in some conspicuous position, and on examination will probably discover the hen, sitting on four to six eggs of a bluish colour with large reddish spots and blotches fairly evenly distributed over their surface. But even now, although we know exactly where the nest of these shy birds is, it will not be easy to see much of them.

When the young are hatched both parents attend most assiduously to the wants of the brood, feeding them on earth-worms, the favourite food of almost all the Thrushes. By the end of March the first brood is on the wing, and the parents busy themselves with a new nest for the reception of their second family. These, too, are hatched and on the wing by the middle of May, and then the whole family, young and old, leave their home to wander round the country until another January brings them back again to add their note of harmony to the winter's wind.

The upper parts are of a uniform ash brown, under parts buffish white thickly spotted with dark brown. The sexes are alike in plumage. The young has the upper parts spotted with buff, and the spots below are much smaller. Length 11 in.; wing 6 in.

THE SONG THRUSH Turdus musicus, Linnæus

One of the first signs that winter is thinking of releasing its grasp, and that spring, if still some way off, is nevertheless on the way, is the clear melodious song of the Song Thrush. Soon after daybreak (having breakfasted off the early worm) this bird may be heard in almost every garden that can boast of a shrub large enough to conceal him and his nest. Any sort of cultivated country forms his home, either the broad fields, scanty hedgerows, the carefully-cultivated garden of the wealthy, or even the small and dusty plot of the town-dweller.

His food consists chiefly of insects, though worms form a considerable part of his diet, and snails are a delicacy of which he is extremely fond.

There must be few people who have not noticed our brown friend hopping down the garden path with his peculiar sidelong leaps, now and then varied by two or three quick short steps as he conveys a snail to his favourite _abattoir_. This usually consists of a moderate-sized smooth stone, on which the unfortunate snail is beaten till his house falls from him; when this is accomplished there is a quick gulp, and he is gone! Thus refreshed, our friend will mount a near-by twig, clean his bill by rubbing it several times on either side of his perch, preen and shake out his feathers a bit, and then resting on one leg he will whistle his song, which has been rendered by some writers in the following words:--"Deal o' wet, deal o' wet, deal o' wet, I do, I do, I do. Who'd do it: Pretty Dick, Pretty Dick, Pretty Dick, Who'd do it." This will go on for some time until perhaps he happens to glance down at the lawn which he considers his especial preserve. Here he sees something which causes his song to cease in an instant. It is his rival openly flaunting himself before him. There is a swirl of wings as he rushes to the attack! They meet! Their bills snap violently, and there is every prospect of a fight. Then suddenly the rival retreats precipitately into the nearest bush, hotly pursued by our friend, and we have time to notice the peculiar way in which the tail and wings are spread as they disappear. Then we see no more.

Such is the life of one of our commonest birds as we may witness it any day in early spring. By the end of March, or even earlier, its nest may be found in some sheltered nook. It is not often more than 10 feet from the ground, and is generally in the fork of some tree or bush, or on the beam of some old barn or potting shed; perhaps it may be found in the middle of a hedgerow, or occasionally even on the ground. It is composed of rough grass and bents, and lined with mud pressed round and smoothed so as to form a fairly deep cup.

The eggs are five in number, and in colour are a beautiful pale blue, with a few small black or purplish-mauve spots towards the larger end, these markings being in some cases entirely lacking. After a fortnight's incubation the young are hatched; they are then almost naked and only slightly covered with down.

Incubation is carried on by the hen alone, but both birds assist in the feeding, the diet consisting almost entirely of earth-worms. In about a fortnight to three weeks after the young are hatched they leave the nest to find and earn their own living, whilst their parents busy themselves with the cares of another family, for a pair of birds generally rears three broods in the season. After the rearing of the last brood, which is over by the end of June or early in July, both old and young begin to moult. Consequently, at this time of year they are very quiet and skulking in their habits, but we may sometimes catch sight of them in the evenings and early mornings when they come out to feed on lawns and fields where the grass is short and where their favourite earth-worms abound. About the end of August a close observer will often miss his little friend for a few days or even weeks. Then one morning he will again see the familiar figure on the lawn and think that perhaps his companion has returned. But it is not so. The spring visitor has gone to another part of the country, probably not very far away, as this species is only a partial migrant, but nevertheless he has gone, and the bird which has taken his place has come from some more northerly locality to spend the winter. Probably we do not notice the change, and put down the temporary disappearance of our particular Song Thrush to the fact that we chanced not to see him. It is not so, however, for our friend of spring and summer has departed.

The general colour above, including mantle and wings, is uniform olive brown, some of the major and median covers having buffish tips. Breast yellowish, spotted with triangular olive-brown spots, the flanks uniformly olive, chin and throat white, margined with a row of dark streaks. Belly white. Bill brown, base of lower mandible paler. Legs pale flesh. Iris hazel. Length 9·0 in.; wing 4·6 in.

Young birds are spotted on the upper parts. This species is widely and generally distributed throughout the British Isles.

THE REDWING Turdus iliacus, Linnæus