CHAPTER XVI.

_LARKS, TITMICE, HONEY-EATERS, AND THEIR KINDRED._

Confined almost entirely to the Old World, where they are represented by more than one hundred species, many of which have undergone considerable specialisation in the matter of plumage, so as to enable them to live in desert regions, the LARKS constitute a well-marked group, into the characters of which we need not enter here.

The best-known member of the group is the SKYLARK. Common throughout the British Islands, and of sober coloration, no bird is more universally beloved, and this largely on account of the sweetness of its song, which is second only to that of the nightingale. Poets and prose-writers alike have sounded its praises, many in passages that will be remembered as long as our language lasts. The skylark is one of the few birds which sing while on the wing; the peculiar nature of the flight at this time all must have watched, entranced the while by the beauty of the song.

Grahame, in his "Birds of Scotland," happily describes the nest as follows:--

The daisied lea he loves, where tufts of grass Luxuriant crown the ridge; there, with his mate, He founds their lowly house, of withered bents, And coarsest speargrass; next, the inner work With finer and still finer fibres lays, Rounding it curious with its speckled breast.

This bird displays great affection for its young, removing them under the fear of impending danger, or if the nest is meddled with. Occasionally, however, the bird sits close, instead of seeking safety by flight.

Brighton enjoys the credit of consuming more larks than any other place in England, except London. It has been estimated that the number of larks annually entering the metropolitan markets alone reaches a total of 400,000--20,000 or 30,000 being often sent together; and the numbers eaten elsewhere in the country must be enormous, quite as large, indeed, as abroad. Most are captured from the hosts which arrive on the east coast of Scotland and England from the Continent on approach of severe weather, the birds making their appearance in thousands, forming a constant and unbroken stream for two or three days in succession.

Close allies of the Larks, the WAGTAILS and PIPITS come next under consideration. The former range over the Old World, but are unknown in Australia and Polynesia. The pipits have a similar range, but one species is found in, and is peculiar to, Australia. Like wagtails, pipits are unknown in Polynesia; only two species occur in America.

The WAGTAILS are generally black and white, grey and white, grey with yellow breasts, or yellowish green with yellow breasts. In the last-mentioned case, as in some specimens of the YELLOW WAGTAIL, the yellow predominates. These birds frequent streams and stagnant waters, like the RED and GREY WAGTAILS; or corn-fields and meadows, as in the case of the YELLOW WAGTAIL. All these are commonly met with in the British Islands.

The PIPITS are duller-coloured than the Wagtails, have shorter tails, and evince less fondness for the water. The MEADOW-, ROCK-, and TREE-PIPITS are the commonest British species.

Neither Wagtails nor Pipits are much given to perching, but the TREE-CREEPERS spend their lives upon trees, some being specially modified for this mode of life, their tail-feathers being stiff and terminating in sharp points. By pressing its tail closely against the tree-trunk up which it is climbing, the bird obtains a wonderfully reliable support. Beginning at the bottom of a trunk, creepers quickly work their way up in a spiral direction, or sometimes in jerky zigzags, searching every crevice for tiny insects, their eggs and larvæ, and flitting from the higher branches, when these are reached, to the base of another tree.

Creepers are mostly dull-coloured, but the WALL-CREEPER has crimson patches on the wings. This bird, which has occurred in Britain, haunts mountain-cliffs. The TREE-CREEPER, a resident in Britain, builds its nest behind pieces of loose bark, or under tiles, or in crevices of trees, walls, or hollow branches. In this nest are laid from six to nine eggs, pure white, spotted with red, or with a creamy ground-colour, with the spots thicker round the large end.

Intermediate in position between the Creepers and the Titmice are the NUTHATCHES. Chiefly inhabitants of the northern parts of both hemispheres, they extend as far south as Mexico, whilst in the Old World they occur plentifully in the Himalaya. The largest species is found in the mountains of Burma. One species is frequently met with in England, and occasionally in Scotland, but is unknown in Ireland.

The ENGLISH NUTHATCH may serve us as a type of the group. "Its habits," writes Dr. Sharpe, "are a combination of those of the tit and woodpecker. Like the former bird, the nuthatch seeks diligently for its insect-food on the trunks and branches of trees, over which it runs like a woodpecker, with this difference, that its tail is not pressed into the service of climbing a tree, nor does it generally ascend from the bottom to the top, as a woodpecker so often does. On the contrary, a nuthatch will generally be found in the higher branches, and will work its way down from one of the branches towards the trunk, and is just as much at home on the under side of a limb as the upper. Its movements are like those of a mouse rather than of a bird, and it often runs head-downward, or hangs on the under side of a branch and hammers away at the bark with its powerful little bill. The noise produced by one of these birds, when tapping at a tree, is really astonishing for a bird of its size, and, if undisturbed, it can be approached pretty closely. Its general food consists of insects, and in the winter the nuthatches join the wandering parties of tits and creepers which traverse the woods in search of food.... In the autumn it feeds on hazel-nuts and beech-mast, breaking them open by constant hammering; and, like the tits, the nuthatches can be tempted to the vicinity of houses in winter, and become quite interesting by their tameness."

The nuthatch nests in hollow trees, plastering up the entrance with mud, and leaving an aperture only just sufficient to enable it to wriggle in and out. A remarkable nest may be seen at the British Natural History Museum. It was built in the side of a haystack, to which the industrious birds had carried as much as 11 lbs. of clay, and had thus made for themselves a solid nest in an apparently unfavourable position.

The TITMICE occur in one form or another all over Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in the New World as far south as Southern Mexico. The family may be divided into TRUE, CRESTED, LONG-TAILED, and PENDULINE TITS and REEDLINGS, all but the penduline tits being represented in England.

Of the true tits, the best known is the BLUE TIT, which is no stranger even in London parks. Travelling in small bands throughout the autumn and winter, they may frequently be met with during a country walk, their presence being made known by a pretty tinkling little note. This method of travelling is obviously advantageous, for the discovery of food at this time is an arduous task, and, if undertaken individually, many would surely starve, as Professor Newton points out: "A single titmouse searching alone might hunt for a whole day without meeting with a sufficiency, whilst, if a dozen are united by the same motive, it is hardly possible for the place in which the food is lodged to escape their detection, and, when discovered, a few call-notes from the lucky finder are enough to assemble the whole company to share the feast.... One tree after another is visited by the active little rovers, and its branches examined: if nothing be forthcoming, away goes the explorer to the next that presents itself, merely giving utterance to the usual twitter that serves to keep the whole body together. But if the object of search be found, another chirp is emitted, and the next moment several members of the band are flitting in succession to the tree, and eagerly engaged with the spoil."

These little birds display great affection for their old nesting-places. An instance is on record where, so far back as 1785, a pair built their nest in a large earthenware bottle placed in the branches of a tree in a garden at Oxbridge, near Stockton-on-Tees. With two exceptions only, this bottle was tenanted by a pair of these birds every year till 1873. In 1892 Professor Newton, who had this account from Canon Tristram, was informed that the occupancy had ceased for four years.

The LONG-TAILED or BOTTLE-TIT is a British species, deriving its name from the long tail. It is a pretty little bird, black and rose-colour above, with a rose-coloured abdomen, and the head, throat, and breast white. It enjoys the distinction of being one of the smallest British birds, and is found in woods and plantations all over England, though less common in Scotland. These tits have a curious habit of roosting during the winter, six or seven huddling together in a row, with three or four others perched on their backs, and two or three on the top.

The nest, which is placed in a tree or bush, is a model of industry. Oval in shape, and roofed, with a small aperture near the top, it is composed of moss, lichen, and hair, closely felted and lined with an enormous collection of feathers, Macgillivray having counted 2,779 in a single nest.

Other species of titmice occurring in Britain are the GREAT, MARSH-, COAL-, and CRESTED TITS.

Whether the REEDLINGS, or BEARDED TITS, as they are generally called, are really true titmice or peculiarly modified buntings is a moot-point. There is but one species, which is British, though found also on the Continent; but it is unfortunately becoming more and more rare every year. The general colour of the upper-parts is cinnamon-rufous, except the head, which is pearly grey: between the bill and the eyes hangs a tuft of long black feathers; hence the name Bearded Tit. The under-parts are white, tinged with yellow and pink, whilst the wings are variegated with white, black, and red. This tit lives in beds of reeds fringing the "broads" of the eastern counties of England, though even there it is now exceedingly rare.

The same uncertainty that obtains with regard to the position of the Reedlings confronts the ornithologist with regard to the affinities of the liliputian GOLD-CRESTS. About six species are known, from the northern and temperate parts of the Old and New Worlds, extending as far south in the latter as Mexico. Two occur in Britain: one, known simply as the GOLD-CREST, or GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN, is fairly common; the other, the FIRE-CREST, or FIRE-CRESTED WREN, is much rarer, but differs very little from its relative in general appearance.

The GOLD-CREST is olive-green above, yellowish grey below, with a conspicuous crest of bright yellow and orange, banded on each side by two black lines. It has the distinction of being the smallest British bird; and it is partly on account of its smallness, and partly owing to its shy, retiring habits, seeking concealment among the foliage, that it is so seldom seen, save by those who know where to look for it; and these may find it all the year round in suitable places.

In the spring this bird may be observed suspended in the air for a considerable time over a bush or flower, singing very melodiously, though few naturalists have ever witnessed this display. Mr. W. H. Hudson, one of these few, writes: "I have observed the male, in the love-season, hovering just above the bush, in the topmost foliage of which its mate was perched and partly hidden from view. It is when engaged in this pretty aerial performance, or love-dance, that the golden-crested wren is seen at his best. The restless, minute, sober-coloured creature, so difficult to see properly at other times, then becomes a conspicuous and exceedingly beautiful object; it hovers on rapidly vibrating wings, the body in an almost vertical position, but the head bent sharply down, the eyes being fixed on the bird beneath, while the wide-open crest shines in the sun like a crown or shield of fiery yellow. When thus hovering, it does not sing, but emits a series of sharp, excited chirping sounds."

The nest is a singularly beautiful structure, made of fine, dry grass, leaves, moss, and spiders' webs, woven closely together, lined with feathers, and suspended like a hammock beneath a branch of yew or fir. In this are laid from six to ten eggs of a pale yellowish white, spotted and blotched with reddish brown.

The numbers of British gold-crests are vastly increased by the arrival on the eastern coast of gold-crests from the Continent. "In autumn," writes Mr. Howard Saunders, "immense flocks sometimes arrive on our east coast, extending quite across England and the Irish Channel, and into Ireland. In 1882 the migration wave of this description, commencing on August 6 and lasting for ninety-two days, reached from the Channel to the Færoes; in 1883 the migration lasted eighty-two days; and again in 1884 for a period of eighty-seven days.... On such occasions bushes in gardens on the coast are covered with birds as with a swarm of bees; crowds flutter round the lanterns of lighthouses, and the rigging of fishing-smacks in the North Sea is thronged with weary travellers. In April a return migration occurs."

We pass now to the consideration of a few families of birds unknown in Britain, but interesting on account of the fact that they afford us another set of instances of adaptation to attain particular ends, so frequently to be met with in Nature. All the birds in question, though probably not related, have peculiarly modified tongues, apparently specially designed to aid in sucking up honey from flowers.

The first group for consideration are the HONEY-EATERS of New Zealand and Australia. So great is the transformation which the tongue in these birds has undergone, that it forms one of the most elaborate organs of its kind, surpassing even that of the Humming-birds. A description of this organ without the aid of anatomical terms and diagrams would be useless. Suffice it to say it is long, capable of being thrust out of the mouth, and brush-like. It is used to thrust up the tubes of honey-bearing flowers, as well for the sake of the juice as for the insects gathered in such situations to feed on it.

The best known of the Honey-eaters is the POE, or PARSONBIRD, of New Zealand. Glossy black in colour, with vivid green and blue reflections, it is rendered still more attractive by a pair of white tufts of feathers hanging from the front upper part of the neck, whilst on the back of the neck in the same region the feathers are of a loose structure, long, and curled forwards. Other honey-eaters are the WHITE-EYES, SUN-BIRDS, and FLOWER-PECKERS.

The WHITE-EYES, so called from a ring of white feathers around the eye, have a wide distribution, being found in Australia, India, Africa, Madagascar, and Japan. Besides honey they are very partial to fruit, particularly figs and grapes, and also capture insects on the wing, after the fashion of fly-catchers.

The SUN-BIRDS correspond in the Old World to the Humming-birds in the New, having, like the latter, a metallic plumage, varied in its hues and wondrous in its beauty; but they are not entirely dependent upon this lustre for their charm, for much of their splendour is gained from the non-metallic portion of the plumage, which is often vividly coloured. The females are dull-coloured, whilst the males lose their beauty in the winter season. These birds are inhabitants of the tropical regions of Africa, India, and Australia, and seem to revel in the burning rays of the noonday sun.

Nearly allied to the Sun-birds are the FLOWER-PECKERS of the Indian and Australian regions. These are all small birds, remarkable as much for the beauty of their nests as for the splendour of their plumage. The nests are purse-like structures, made of white cotton-like material, and suspended from a branch instead of, as usual, resting on it. One of the most beautiful birds of the whole group, which includes numerous species, is the Australian DIAMOND-BIRD. Of a general ashy-grey colour, this species is splashed all over with spots of red, yellow, orange, and black, whilst the tail-coverts are rich dark red.

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