the irregular visitors to the British Islands, and hardly comes within
the scope of this book; but there is reason to believe that it is
present every winter, although sometimes in very small numbers, in
the seas around our coasts; and it has, therefore, some claim to be
described as a British species. Females and immature birds, called
red-headed smews by fishermen, are frequently met with on the east
coasts of England and Scotland; males in the beautiful mature plumage
are very rare, it is supposed because they do not approach the shore,
except in very severe weather.
In its breeding habits the smew resembles the goosander, laying its
eggs in the trunk of a hollow tree. Finnish Lapland is said to be the
western limits of its breeding range.
Wood-Pigeon, or Ringdove.
Columba palumbus.
Head bluish grey; sides and back of neck glossed with violet and
green, bounded on each side by a patch of white; upper parts grey,
the wing-coverts broadly edged with white, forming a conspicuous bar;
tail-feathers dark slate-grey; under parts reddish purple, pale on the
belly; bill orange, powdered with white at the base; legs and feet
bright red. Length, seventeen inches.
* * * * *
Of the four species of British doves, the wood-pigeon is the most
interesting, as well as the best known, on account of its large
size, its abundance, and general diffusion throughout the country,
and its plaintive music, so familiar to everyone; not in the rural
districts only, but even in London town, where this bird exists in a
semi-domestic state, and is seen to be actually tamer than the domestic
pigeons it frequently associates with. Like most widely diffused and
well-known species, it is called by various names: quest and cushat in
the north, and, in England, ringdove and wood-pigeon. The last name,
which it once shared with the stock-dove, is now becoming the most
general.
For many years past the wood-pigeon has been increasing in numbers,
and, in Scotland, extending its range; this is no doubt due to the
spread of cultivation and the planting of trees, and to the extirpation
of its natural enemies, the rapacious birds, by gamekeepers. But, in
spite of all this, it is really surprising that the wood-pigeon should
continue to increase, considering that it is one of the most persecuted
of wild birds, and is perpetually being shot at by everyone in
possession of a gun, from various motives. It affords good sport, and
is a good bird for the table, and is heartily disliked by the farmers.
It is an exceedingly voracious feeder, and as it is partial to grain of
all kinds, to young turnip buds and leaves, also to the roots in which
rooks or other birds have first pecked a hole, the amount of damage it
does is very considerable. It also devours gooseberries, green corn,
young clover, acorns, beech-mast, and wild fruit of most kinds. But the
pigeon is not purely a pest to the farmer; after the harvest, when it
resorts to the stubbles, it consumes an immense quantity of seeds of
charlock and other noxious weeds.
In autumn and winter the number of wood-pigeons is greatly increased by
the arrival of large flocks from the Continent; and at this season, and
until March, it is not uncommon to see them congregated in thousands.
The wood-pigeon is the handsomest, as well as the largest, of the
British doves, its dove-grey tints being singularly delicate, soft,
and harmonious, and their effect heightened by the white marks and
touch of iridescent colour on the neck. On the ground its motions
are deliberate, and have a graceful dignity which contrasts strongly
with the hurried, eager manner of the rock-pigeon and stock-dove.
When startled from its perch it rushes out with great violence and
loud clapping of the wings. Its flight is easy and powerful; and
before alighting, when it sweeps swiftly and silently on its long,
sharp-pointed wings through the glades of a wood, it sometimes has a
singularly hawk-like appearance. Even the wild birds in the wood may be
deceived by it, and thrown for a few moments into a violent commotion.
The wood-pigeon’s familiar song may be heard in favourable weather
throughout the year, but its voice gains greatly in beauty in the
breeding season. In May and June the love-note of this pigeon is one
of the woodland sounds that never fail to delight the ear. It commonly
happens that birds improve in voice in the season of courtship; and
not only do they acquire greater richness and purity in their strains,
but there is at this season an increased beauty and grace in their
gestures and motions, and in most species the male indulges in pretty
or fantastic antics--a kind of love-dance, in which he exhibits
his charms to the female he is desirous of winning. All doves have
performances of this kind, and that of the wood-pigeon is not the least
graceful. On the ground, or on a branch, he makes his curious display
before the female, approaching her with lowered head, and with throat
and neck puffed out, in a succession of little hops, spreading his tail
fanwise, and flirting his wings so as to display their white bars. All
at once he quits his stand, and rising in the air to a height of thirty
or forty yards, turns, and glides downwards in a smooth and graceful
curve. This mounting aloft and circling descent is very beautiful to
see, and produces the idea that the bird has been suddenly carried away
by an access of glad emotion.
Breeding begins in April, and, in very favourable seasons, even as
early as the first week in March. The nest is a slight platform of
slender sticks laid across each other on the smaller branches or twigs
of a tree, usually at a good height from the ground, and the eggs are
two, with pure white, glossy shells. Two, and sometimes three, broods
are reared in the season.
The young are fed on a substance called ‘pigeon’s milk,’ a thick
white, curd-like fluid, consisting of the partially digested food the
parent bird has swallowed, and which is regurgitated from its crop. In
feeding, the young bird thrusts its beak deep down into the mouth of
its parent and literally drinks. The pigeons alone among birds feed
their young in this way; and they also differ from other birds in
drinking like mammals, taking a continuous draught instead of a series
of sips.
Stock-Dove.
Columba œnas.
Head, throat, wings, and lower parts bluish grey; the lower parts of
the neck with metallic reflections; breast wine-red; a black spot on
the last two secondaries and some of the wing-coverts; primaries grey
at the base, passing into dusky; tail grey, barred with black at the
extremity, the outer feather with a white spot on the outer web, near
the base; iris reddish brown; bill yellow, red at the base; feet red.
Length, thirteen and a half inches.
* * * * *
The stock-dove is a third smaller than the wood-pigeon, and in size,
colouring, and appearance when flying, so closely resembles the common
pigeon, or rock-dove, as to be often mistaken for it. But it differs
from the better-known bird in the uniform blue colour of the back: the
rock-dove has a white patch on the rump. It is not so abundant nor so
widely diffused as the species last described, being most common in the
southern and eastern counties of England; but it is found in suitable
localities throughout England and Wales, and is extending its range
in Scotland; also, in a less degree, in Ireland. In some localities
in the south it is so abundant that its low, monotonous, crooning or
‘grunting’ voice may be heard all day long in summer like a continuous
murmur in the woods. It prefers ancient woods, and breeds in holes
in trees and pollard tops, and from this habit it is said to derive
its name of stock-dove. It is also an inhabitant of seaside cliffs,
like the rock-dove; and at Flamborough Head, on the Yorkshire coast,
both species may be found breeding in the same caverns, and sometimes
associating in flocks together. In districts with a sandy soil it nests
on the ground in a rabbit-burrow, or under a thick furze-bush. A very
slight nest is made of twigs and sticks, and in many cases no nest at
all. The eggs are two in number, and of a light cream-colour.
Rock-Dove.
Columba livia.
Bluish ash, lighter on the wings; rump white; neck and breast lustrous,
with green and purple reflections; two transverse black bands on the
wing; primaries and tail tipped with black; outer tail-feathers white
on the outer web; iris pale orange; bill black; feet red. Length,
twelve and a half inches.
* * * * *
[Illustration: FIG. 88.--ROCK-DOVE. ⅐ natural size.]
The rock-dove, or blue rock, the wild form of the domestic pigeon,
is very rarely found breeding in any inland locality in the British
Islands; in Spain and Italy, and other parts of continental Europe, it
is an inhabitant of the mountainous districts. With us it inhabits the
rock-bound coasts of Scotland and its islands, and of Ireland, and,
very sparsely, the south and east coasts of England, and breeds in
caverns, making its nests on the ledges of the rock. In its language,
flight, and habits it is indistinguishable from the bird familiar to
everyone in a domestic state.
Turtle-Dove.
Turtur communis.
Head and nape ash tinged with wine-red; a space on the sides of the
neck composed of black feathers tipped with white; neck and breast pale
wine-red; back ash-brown; primaries dusky; secondaries bluish ash;
scapulars and wing-coverts rust-red, with a black spot in the centre of
each feather; belly and under tail-coverts white; tail dusky, all but
the two middle feathers tipped with white, the outer feather edged with
white externally; iris yellowish red; feet red; bill brown. Length,
eleven and a half inches.
* * * * *
[Illustration: FIG. 89.--TURTLE-DOVE. ⅙ natural size.]
The turtle-dove differs from other British doves in its much smaller
size and in being a summer visitor to England. It arrives in the
southern counties at the end of April, and ranges as far north as
Westmorland and Cumberland; in the west of England, and in Wales and
Ireland, it is a somewhat scarce bird. Like the wood-pigeon and the
stock-dove, it is believed to be increasing its numbers. It inhabits
woods and plantations, and being of a shy disposition, is not often
noticed. In the autumn it may be seen in small companies, usually
composed of a pair of old birds and their young; at other times it
goes alone or with its mate. Its spring song is a cooing note, very
soft and agreeable, and somewhat plaintive in sound. The nest is made
at no great height, a large bush or a hedge being as often selected
for a site as a tree. It is a slight structure of slender sticks and
twigs laid crosswise, and the two eggs are creamy-white. Two broods are
reared in the season.
In September the turtle-doves take their departure to their winter
haunts in Africa.
A few specimens of the handsome and elegant passenger-pigeon
(_Ectopistes migratorius_), a North American species, once
excessively abundant in that continent, but now nearly extinct, have
been obtained in this country.
* * * * *
Pallas’s sand-grouse (_Syrrhaptes paradoxus_), a curious and handsome
bird, related structurally to the pigeons, is also included in works on
British birds. Its home is the steppes of Central Asia, but from time
to time visitations of this species, sometimes in very large numbers,
have occurred in Europe, extending to the British Islands. The last and
largest visitation of this kind occurred in 1888.
Pheasant.
Phasianus colchicus.
Head and neck glossed with metallic reflections of green, blue, and
yellow; sides of head bare, scarlet, minutely spotted with black;
plumage spotted and banded with red, purple, brown, yellow, green,
and black. Length, three feet. _Female_: light brown marked with
dusky; sides of head feathered.
* * * * *
The pheasant has had a remarkable and a very long history, extending
back into the period of myth and fable to the famous expedition of
the Argonauts, who brought back this bird, with some other curious
and beautiful objects, including the golden fleece, from the banks of
the river Phasis, in Colchis. That, at all events, is the tradition
which science has preserved in both names of the species. It is not
incredible that the pheasant was introduced into Europe twelve and a
half centuries before Christ; for we know that our familiar homing
pigeon was employed as a letter-carrier by the Egyptians at an even
earlier date. When and by whom it was first introduced into England
is not known. There is evidence that the bird existed and was held in
great esteem in this country before the Norman Conquest; and the belief
is that it was brought hither by the Romans, who were accustomed to
introduce ‘strange animals’ into the countries they conquered, and
who gave the fallow-deer to Britain. That the first pheasants brought
to Europe were obtained on the banks of the Phasis--now the Riou--is
highly probable, since the marshy woods in the neighbourhood of that
stream are still the headquarters of the aboriginal wild bird. Its
habits appear curiously persistent: it must have wood, dense cover, and
water in abundance to thrive. In Britain, where it has been permitted
to run free in the woods for the last sixteen or seventeen centuries,
it is still scarcely able to maintain its existence without the
strictest protection and a great deal of attention on the part of man.
It is known that when the birds are left to shift for themselves they
soon decrease in numbers, and eventually die out, except in a few rare
cases where the conditions are extremely favourable. How heavy the cost
is of keeping pheasants in numbers sufficient for the purposes of sport
is well known to all those who have preserves.
[Illustration: JAY. WOOD-PIGEONS. PHEASANTS.]
An interesting fact about the pheasant is, that the various species
forming the group to which our bird belongs freely interbreed when
they come together, and produce hybrids which are fertile. A Chinese
species, the ring-necked pheasant, which is a little smaller than the
British bird, was introduced into this country at the end of the last
century, and everywhere the two species have interbred so freely that
it is now scarcely possible to find a bird which does not show traces
of hybridism.
An account of the habits of the pheasant would be superfluous here,
as this bird, in the nearly semi-domestic state in which it exists
throughout the country, is as familiar to most persons as the fowl.
Red-legged Partridge.
Caccabis rufa.
Throat and cheeks white, surrounded by a black band, which spreads
itself out over the breast and sides of the neck in the form of
numerous spots and lines, with which are intermixed a few white spots;
upper parts reddish ash; on the flanks a number of crescent-shaped
spots; the convexity towards the tail rust-red; the centre black
bordered by white; beak, orbits, and feet bright red. Length, thirteen
and a half inches.
* * * * *
The red-legged partridge, or French partridge, as it is often called,
is, like the pheasant, a naturalised species, introduced by man; but
its history as a British bird is comparatively a short one and devoid
of romance. A first attempt to naturalise it was made in the reign
of Charles II., but was not successful; on its reintroduction about
a hundred and twenty years ago, it proved well able to maintain
existence in its new surroundings. Owing to its swiftness of foot and
excessive wildness it was difficult for the sportsman to get within
shooting distance of it, when partridges were shot over dogs. On this
account it was disliked; so much so in some cases that attempts were
made to extirpate it. But in spite of persecution it continued to
increase, and is now found distributed over a large part of England,
from the southern counties to Westmorland.
[Illustration: FIG. 90.--RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. ⅐ natural size.]
It differs from the common partridge in language and habits, as well
as in its more conspicuously marked plumage and bright red legs. It
is not a bird of the homestead, being partial to dry, sandy soils, to
commons, and uncultivated lands. Its call-note is a musical, piping
cry. It breeds early, and makes a slight nest on the ground. The eggs
are fifteen to eighteen in number, yellowish white in ground-colour,
and blotched with brown.
* * * * *
An allied species, the Barbary partridge (_Caccabis petrosa_), has
been included, as a rare straggler to England, among British birds.
Partridge.
Perdix cinerea.
[Illustration: FIG. 91.--PARTRIDGE. ⅙ natural size.]
Plumage grey and reddish brown, the male with a chestnut horseshoe
patch on the lower breast. Length, twelve and a half inches.
* * * * *
The partridge is a favourite of the ornithologist, and of all
lovers of our wild bird life. A handsome and interesting bird, he
is the only indigenous gallinaceous species in Britain that is not
adversely affected by the reclamation of waste lands and the spread
of cultivation. On the contrary, the changes that prove fatal to
other game-birds are advantageous to him, since he flourishes most on
rich soils, and where agriculture is most advanced. As a bird of the
homestead he is made dear by association to those who have passed their
early years in rural England; to the sportsman he is more, in the long
run, than any other game-bird we possess, on account of his greater
abundance and more general distribution.
Except during the breeding season, the partridge is gregarious,
keeping in coveys of half a dozen to twenty or more birds. Their
feeding-times are early in the morning and in the afternoon. Towards
noon they repair to some secluded spot to take their ease and dust
themselves; and, if the weather be genial, to lie basking in the
sunshine. At dusk they resort to some open place, usually the central
part of a field of grass, to roost, or ‘jug,’ as it is called; and
it may then be seen that the covey is not a mere chance assemblage,
but a community, under the leadership of one individual, presumably
the oldest and most sagacious cock bird among them. At the approach
of sunset, and until dark, the call of the leader may be heard from
the chosen roosting-ground. It is a familiar sound to everyone in the
rural districts--a harsh and powerful cry; but, like the clamour of
blackbirds and redwings on going to rest, and the cawing of rooks at
eventide, it has a great charm for the lover of nature. In character it
resembles the call of the guinea-fowl, but is somewhat more metallic,
and is more powerful and far-reaching. When the birds are assembled,
they settle down for the night a little distance apart from each other,
disposed in a circle, all with faces turned outwards. Disposed in this
form, it must be difficult for any prowling animal to come upon them
without being detected by some one bird in the covey.
In spring, usually in March, pairing takes place, and the coveys break
up; but if snow or frost supervenes the birds pack again, and wait in
company for the return of milder weather. In the pairing season the
males are jealous and pugnacious, and two cocks are often seen engaged
in fierce fight, making the fields resound, meanwhile, with their angry
cries.
The nest is placed on the ground, among the growing corn, or under the
shelter of an untrimmed hedge, and is a mere hollow scratched in the
earth, with a slight lining of dead grass and leaves. The eggs vary in
number from six or seven to eighteen, and are of a uniform olive-brown
colour. When the young have been hatched by the female the male assists
in rearing and protecting them, and both birds display intense anxiety
and great boldness in the presence of danger, and will drag themselves
over the ground, with flapping and trailing wings, within a few yards
of a man or dog, to entice him away from their chicks. The young feed
principally on insect food, small caterpillars, and larvæ of ants, of
which they are extremely fond. The old birds include green leaves,
buds, grain, and seeds of weeds, in their dietary.
Quail.
Coturnix communis.
[Illustration: FIG. 92.--QUAIL. ⅕ natural size.]
Head mottled with black and reddish brown, with three parallel,
longitudinal, yellowish streaks; upper parts ash-brown variegated with
black and straw-colour; neck reddish yellow, with a double crescent of
dusky brown; breast pale reddish brown streaked with white; bill and
feet yellowish brown. Length, eight inches. _Female_: paler, and
wanting the double crescent on the neck.
* * * * *
The quail is a summer visitor to this country, arriving in May. It is
nowhere a common bird, although widely distributed, and it has been
found breeding in most parts of the British Islands. Occasionally it
is met with in winter, most often in Ireland. Immediately after its
arrival the call of the male is heard morning and evening, a shrill,
piping note of three syllables, supposed to resemble the words _wet my
lips_, or _wet my feet_, according to the hearer’s fancy. This call
is repeated again and again, with some slight variation in the sound.
The nest is a slight hollow scratched in a cornfield, among grass
or clover, and the eggs number seven or eight to twelve, and even a
larger number is sometimes found. They are speckled and blotched with
umber-brown on a yellowish white ground. Two broods are reared in the
season. The quail prefers open, rough grass country to cultivated land.
Its food consists of seeds, grain, and insects.
The quail is in appearance a very small partridge, being little
more than half the size of that bird. It is singular that in the
very limited number of gallinaceous birds that exist wild in this
country there should be included the capercaillie, the largest of the
order, with, perhaps, the exception of one American species, and the
diminutive quail--a giant and a pigmy.
Historically, the small species is the more important of the two. He
is a Bible bird, and was as familiar as the eagle and the crane to the
civilised nations of antiquity in Asia and Africa, where letters and
arts had their origin, when the great wood-grouse was known only to the
barbarians of Europe.
When we consider how bound to earth (like our unfortunate selves) the
gallinaceous birds are, seldom using their wings, unless to escape from
some sudden, pressing danger into the nearest cover, it strikes us as
very wonderful that the plump little quail should be as great a migrant
as the most aërial kinds--the swallows and the warblers. When with us
in the summer he is a dweller on the ground, an earth-lover, like his
stay-at-home relation, the partridge; yet in his wide wanderings he
crosses seas, vast deserts, and the loftiest mountain chains; and by
means of this migratory instinct he has diffused himself over the three
great continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Ptarmigan.
Lagopus mutus.
Winter: pure white; a black line from the angle of the beak through
the eye; outer tail-feathers black; above the eye a scarlet fringed
membrane; beak black; tarsi and toes thickly clothed with woolly
feathers. _Female_: without the black line through the eyes.
Summer: wings, under tail-coverts, two middle tail-feathers, and legs
white; outer tail-feathers black, some of them tipped with white; all
the rest of the plumage ash-brown marked with black lines and dusky
spots. Length, fifteen inches.
* * * * *
[Illustration: _PLATE XIII._ PTARMIGAN (WINTER AND AUTUMN
PLUMAGE). ²⁄₇ NAT. SIZE.]
In the British Islands the ptarmigan is at present confined to the
Highlands of Scotland, the ‘region of stones,’ and to some of its
islands, where, however, it is decreasing in numbers.