This is the only species ever found in England, a few instances of which
only are on record. It is about the size of a blackbird: length nine
inches and a half. The bill is brownish red; irides red. General colour
of the plumage fine golden yellow; between the bill and eye a streak of
black; the wings black, marked here and there with yellow, and a patch
of the same in the middle of the wing; the two middle feathers of the
tail are black, inclining to olive at the base, the very tips yellow;
the base half of the others black, the rest yellow; legs lead-colour;
claws black.
The female is of a dull greenish brown in those parts where the male is
black. Wings dusky; tail dirty green; all but the two middle feathers
yellowish white at the ends.
This beautiful bird is not uncommon in France, where it breeds. The nest
is curiously constructed, in shape like a purse: it is fastened to the
extreme forked branches of tall trees, composed of fibres of hemp, or
straw mixed with fine dry stalks of grass, and lined with moss and
liverwort. She is said to be so tenacious of her eggs as to suffer
herself to be taken on the nest.—_Montagu._
GOLDFINCH, (_Carduelis communis_, CUVIER,) _s._ A singing bird.
This beautiful bird is rather less than the chaffinch. The bill is
white, with a black point; irides dusky; the forehead and chin rich
scarlet; top of the head black; cheeks white, bounded with black; hind
part of the head white; breast pale tawny brown; the coverts of the
wings black; quill feathers dusky black, barred across with bright
yellow; tips white; belly white; the tail feathers black; most of them
marked with a white spot near their ends; legs whitish.
The female differs very little in plumage from the male: in general, the
smaller coverts of the wings are not so black. Young birds are brown
about the head for some time after they leave the nest, and are by some
called grey-pates.
The goldfinch is subject to variety in confinement; sometimes wholly
black; others black and white, or quite white. A variety is sometimes
taken by the birdcatchers with white spots under the throat: such is
termed a cheverel. It makes a very elegant nest, formed externally of
bents, moss, and liverwort, woven together with wool; lined sometimes
with wool or hair, covered with thistle down, or willow cotton.
These birds will in general take the materials for building, which they
can most easily procure. On the tenth of May I observed a pair of
goldfinches beginning to make their nest in my garden; they had formed
the ground-work with moss, grass, &c., as usual, but on my scattering
small parcels of wool in different parts of the garden, they, in a great
measure, left off the use of their own stuff, and employed the wool.
Afterwards, I gave them cotton, on which they rejected the wool and
proceeded with the cotton; the third day I supplied them with fine down,
on which they forsook both the other and finished their work with this
last article. The nest, when completed, was somewhat larger than is
usually made by this bird, but retained the pretty roundness of figure
and neatness of workmanship, which is proper to the goldfinch. The nest
was completed in the space of three days, and remained unoccupied for
the space of four days; the first egg not being laid till the seventh
day from beginning the work. The eggs are four or five in number, of a
bluish white, with a few spots, chiefly at the larger end.
The goldfinch is easily tamed and easily taught, and its capability of
learning the notes of other birds is well known; but the tricks it may
be taught to perform are truly astonishing. A few years ago the Sieur
Roman exhibited his birds, which were goldfinches, linnets, and
canaries. One appeared dead, and was held up by the tail or claw without
exhibiting any signs of life; a second stood on its head with its claws
in the air; a third imitated a Dutch milkmaid going to market, with
pails on its shoulders; a fourth mimicked a Venetian girl looking out at
a window; a fifth appeared as a soldier, and mounted guard as a
sentinel; and the sixth acted as a cannoneer with a cap on its head, a
firelock on its shoulder, and a match in its claw, and discharged a
small cannon. The same bird also acted as if it had been wounded. It was
wheeled in a barrow, to convey it, as it were, to the hospital; after
which, it flew away before the company: the seventh turned a kind of
windmill: and the last bird stood in the midst of some fireworks which
were discharged all round it, and this without exhibiting the least
symptom of fear.
They may also be taught to draw up little buckets or cups with food and
water. To teach them this, there must be put round them a narrow soft
leather belt, in which there must be four holes—two for the wings, and
two for the feet. The belt is joined a little below the breast, where
there is a ring, to which the chain is attached, that supports the
little bucket or cup. We have seen both the goldfinch and lesser redpole
perform this action, but in a different manner. Their cage had no
wires,—only a back-board, a bottom-board, and one perch. To one foot of
the bird was attached a light slender chain, which allowed it more
exercise than it could have had in the common wire cage; at the outer
edge of the bottom-board was a ring, through which ran the chain, to
each end of which were fastened the little buckets that held the food
and water, which the bird drew up with its foot and bill; and as one
bucket was drawn up, the other sunk, thus lessening the difficulty, and
lightening the task.—_Montagu_—_Bolton_—_Syme._
GOOSANDER (_Mergus merganser_, LINN.), _s._ a species of diver.
[Illustration]
This is the largest species of merganser; weight about four pounds;
length two feet four inches. The bill three inches long, narrow,
serrated, or toothed, on the edges of both mandibles; the tip of the
upper hooked; colour red: irides the same; the head and upper part of
the neck glossy greenish black; the feathers on the crown and back of
the head are long and loose; the rest of the neck, breast, and under
parts, white; the sides, above the thighs, undulated with dusky lines;
the upper part of the back black; lower part of the back, rump, and tail
coverts, brownish ash-colour; the lesser wing coverts white; the rest
ash-colour, with some white; the greater quill feathers are black, with
ash-colour on the interior webs of some of the inner ones; the
secondaries white, margined with greenish black on the outer webs; the
scapulars nearest the body black, the others white; the tail consists of
eighteen ash-coloured feathers, with dusky shafts; legs orange; in some
specimens the breast is of a rosy buff-colour.
The goosander sometimes visits our rivers and lakes in severe winters,
but retires to the more northern latitudes of Greenland and Iceland,
where it breeds. In the Orkneys and Hebrides it is found the whole year
round, while in the other districts it is only a winter visitant. It is
not uncommon on the continent of Europe and Asia, but most plentiful
towards the north. It is a winter inhabitant of the sea shore, and fresh
water lakes of America, where they usually associate in small parties of
six and eight. They disappear from that country in the month of April,
and return in November. Its food consists entirely of fish, for which it
dives with great celerity, and holds its slippery prey with great
security, by means of its toothed bill, which is admirably adapted to
the purpose.—_Montagu._
GOOSE, _s._ A large waterfowl. _Vide_ ANSER.
[Illustration]
_Canada Goose_, (_Anas Canadensis_ LINN.; _L’Oie à cravate_, BUFF.)—This
is less than the swan goose, but taller and longer than the common
goose, and may be considered as the connecting link between that species
and the swan. Their average weight is about nine pounds, and the length
about three feet six inches. The bill is black and two inches and a half
long: irides hazel: the head and neck are also black, with a crescent
shaped white band on the throat, which tapers off to a point on each
side below the cheeks, to the hinder part of the head: the whiteness of
this cravat is heightened by its contrast with the dark surrounding
plumage, and it looks very pretty: this mark also distinguishes it from
others of the goose tribe. All the upper parts of the plumage, the
breast, and a portion of the belly, are of a dull brown, sometimes mixed
with grey: the lower part of the neck, the belly, vent, and upper tail
coverts, white; quills and tail black; legs dingy blue.
The English of Hudson’s Bay depend greatly on geese, of these and other
kinds, for their support; and, in favourable years, kill three or four
thousand, which they salt and barrel. Their arrival is impatiently
attended; it is the harbinger of the spring, and the month named by the
Indians the goose-moon. They appear usually at our settlements in
numbers, about St. George’s day, O. S. and fly northward to nestle in
security. They prefer islands to the continent, as further from the
haunts of men. Thus Marble Island was found, in August, to swarm with
swans, geese, and ducks; the old ones moulting, and the young at that
time incapable of flying.
The English send out their servants, as well as Indians, to shoot these
birds on their passage. It is in vain to pursue them; they therefore
form a row of huts made of boughs, at musket shot distance from each
other, and place them in a line across the vast marshes of the country.
Each hovel, or, as it is called, stand, is occupied by only a single
person. These attend the flight of the birds, and, on their approach,
mimic their cackle so well that the geese will answer, and wheel and
come nearer the stand. The sportsman keeps motionless, and on his knees,
with his gun cocked, the whole time; and never fires till he has seen
the eyes of the geese. He fires as they are going from him, then picks
up another gun that lies by him, and discharges that. The geese which he
has killed he sets upon sticks as if alive, to decoy others; he also
makes artificial birds for the same purpose. In a good day (for they fly
in very uncertain and unequal numbers) a single Indian will kill two
hundred. Notwithstanding every species of goose has a different call,
yet the Indians are admirable in their imitation of every one.
The vernal flight of the geese lasts from the middle of April until the
middle of May. Their first appearance coincides with the thawing of the
swamps, when they are very lean. The autumnal, or the season of their
return with their young, is from the middle of August to the middle of
October. Those which are taken in this latter season, when the frosts
usually begin, are preserved in their feathers and left to be frozen for
the fresh provisions of the winter stock. The feathers constitute an
article of commerce, and are sent into England.
_Common Wild Goose_—_Grey Lag Goose_, (_Anas anser_, LINN.; _L’Oie
Sauvage_, BUFF.) This wild goose generally weighs about ten pounds, and
measures two feet nine inches in length, and five in breadth. The bill
is thick at the base, tapers towards the tip, and is of a yellowish red
colour, with the nail white: the head and neck are of a cinereous brown,
tinged with dull yellow, and from the separations of the feathers, the
latter appears striped downwards: the upper part of the plumage is of a
deep brown, mixed with ash-grey; each feather is lighter on the edges,
and the lesser coverts are tipped with white: the shafts of the primary
quills are white, the webs grey, and the tips black: the secondaries
black, edged with white: the breast and belly are crossed and clouded
with dusky and ash on a whitish ground; and the tail coverts and vent
are of a snowy whiteness: the middle feathers of the tail are dusky,
tipped with white: those adjoining more deeply tipped, and the exterior
ones nearly all white: legs pale red.
This species is common in this country, and although large flocks of
them, well known to the curious, in all the various shapes which they
assume in their flight, are seen regularly migrating southward in the
autumn, and northward in the spring, yet several of them are known to
remain and breed in the fens of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, and, it
is said, in various other parts of Great Britain. Pennant says they
reside in the fens the whole year, breed there, and hatch about eight or
nine young ones, which are often taken, easily made tame, and much more
esteemed for the excellent flavour of their flesh than the domestic
goose.
_Egyptian Goose._—(_Anas Ægyptiaca_, LINN.; _L’Oie d’ Egypte_,
BUFF.)—This beautifully variegated species is nearly the size of the
grey lag, or the common wild goose. The bill red, about two inches in
length, tip black, and nostrils dusky; eyelids red, and the irides pale
yellow; the throat, cheeks, and upper part of the head, are white; a
rusty chestnut-coloured patch, on each side of the head, surrounds the
eyes. About two-thirds of the neck, from the head downwards, is of a
pale reddish bay colour, darker at the lower end; a broad deep
chestnut-coloured spot covers the middle of the breast; the shoulders
and scapulars are of a reddish brown, prettily crossed with numerous
dark waved lines; the wing coverts are white; the greater ones barred
near the tips with black; the secondary quills are tinged with reddish
bay, and bordered with chestnut; those of the primaries, which join
them, are edged with glossy green, and the rest of the first quills are
black; the lower part of the back, the rump, and tail, are black; the
belly is white, but all the other fore-parts and sides of the body, from
the neck near the vent, are delicately pencilled with narrow
rust-coloured zigzag lines on a pale ash-grey ground; each wing is
furnished on the bend with a short blunt spur. The colours of the female
are pretty much the same as those of the male, but not by any means so
bright or distinctly marked. This kind is common in a wild state in
Egypt, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in various parts of the
intermediate territories of Africa, whence they have been brought into,
and domesticated in this and other civilised countries, and are now an
admired ornament on many pieces of water contiguous to gentlemen’s
seats.
_Red-breasted Goose._—(_Siberian Goose_; _Anser ruficollis_.)—The
red-breasted goose measures above twenty inches in length, and its
extended wings three feet ten in breadth. The bill is short, of a brown
colour, with the nail black; irides yellowish hazel; the cheeks and brow
are dusky, speckled with white; an oval white spot occupies the space
between the bill and the eyes, and is bounded above, on each side of the
head, by a black line which falls down the hinder part of the neck; the
chin, throat, crown of the head, and hinder part of the neck to the
back, are black; two stripes of white fall down from behind each eye on
the sides of the neck, and meet in the middle; the other parts of the
neck, and the upper part of the breast, are of a deep rusty red, and the
latter is terminated by two narrow bands of white and black; the back
and wings are dusky; the greater coverts edged with grey; sides and
lower part of the breast black; belly, upper and under tail coverts,
white; legs dusky.
This beautiful species is a native of Russia and Siberia, whence they
migrate southward in the autumn, and return in the spring; they are said
to frequent the Caspian Sea, and are supposed to winter in Persia. They
are very rare in this country.
_White-fronted Wild Goose._—(_Laughing Goose_; _Anas albifrons_; _L’ Oie
rieuse_, BUFF.)—This species measures two feet four inches in length,
and four feet six in the extended wings, and weighs about five pounds.
The bill is thick at the base, of a yellowish red colour; the nail
white; from the base of the bill and corners of the mouth a white patch
is extended over the forehead; the rest of the head, neck, and upper
parts of the plumage, are dark brown; the primary and secondary quills
are of the same colour, but much darker, and the wing coverts are tinged
with ash; the breast and belly are dirty white, spotted with dusky; the
tail is of a hoary ash-coloured brown, and surrounded, like the lag
goose’s, with a white ring at the base; the legs yellow.
These birds form a part of those vast tribes which swarm about Hudson’s
Bay, and the north of Europe and Asia, during the summer months, and are
but thinly scattered over the other quarters of the world. They visit
the fens and marshy places in England in small flocks in the winter
months, and disappear about the beginning of March. It is said that they
never feed in the corn fields, but confine themselves wholly to such
wilds and swamps as are constantly covered with water.
* * * * *
Wild geese are very destructive to the growing corn in the fields where
they happen to halt in their migratory excursion. In some countries they
are caught at those seasons in long nets, resembling those used for
catching larks: to these nets the wild geese are decoyed by tame ones,
placed there for that purpose. Many other schemes are contrived to take
these wary birds; but, as they feed only in the day time, and betake
themselves to the water at night, the fowler must exert his utmost care
and ingenuity in order to accomplish his ends: all must be planned in
the dark, and every trace of suspicion removed, for nothing can exceed
the vigilant circumspection and acute ear of the sentinel, who, placed
on some eminence, with outstretched-neck, surveys every thing that moves
within the circle of the centre on which he takes his stand; and the
instant he sounds the alarm, the whole flock betake themselves to
flight.
The time that wild geese feed in this country is by night, and
particularly during moonlight. I have never known them either netted or
decoyed; and all the shooter has to rely upon is patience and a long
barrel.
* * * * *
M. Cuvier has published a brief description of a bird produced between
a swan and a goose, which in fact amounts to its being a perfect
goose, in every thing but size like its mother, which it greatly
exceeds.—_Bewick_—_Wild Sports._
GORGE, _s._ The throat, the swallow; that which is gorged or
swallowed; the craw or crop.
GORGE, _v._ To fill up to the throat, to glut, to satiate; to
swallow, as the fish has gorged the hook.
GORSE, _s._ Furze, a thick prickly shrub.
Furze-covers cannot be too much encouraged, for there cubs are safe.
They have also other advantages attending them: they are certain places
to find in; foxes cannot break from them unseen, nor are you so liable
to change as in other covers.
A fox, when pressed by hounds, will seldom go into a _furze-brake_.
Rabbits, which are the fox’s favourite food, may also be encouraged
_there_, and yet do little damage. Were they suffered to establish
themselves in your woods, it would be difficult to destroy them
afterwards. Thus far I object to them as a farmer: I object to them also
as a fox-hunter; since nothing is more prejudicial to the breeding of
foxes than disturbing your woods late in the season, to destroy the
rabbits.—_Beckford._
GOSHAWK, _s._ A hawk of a large kind.
[Illustration]
This is a large species, superior in size to the buzzard; length
twenty-two inches or more; the bill is blue, tip black; cere yellowish
green; irides yellow.
The head, hind part of the neck, back, and wings, deep brown; over the
eye is a white line, and a broken patch of the same colour on the side
of the neck; the breast and belly marked with numerous transverse bars
of black and white; the tail is long, and ash-coloured, with four or
five dusky bars; legs yellow; claws black.
The goshawk is rarely found in England, but is not uncommon in the wild
and mountainous parts of Scotland, where it is known to breed in the
forest of Rothemurchus, and on the woody banks of the Dee. They are said
to be numerous in the Orkney Islands, where they breed in the rocks and
sea cliffs. They more generally build however in lofty fir trees, and
lay from two to four eggs, of a bluish white, marked with streaks and
spots of reddish brown. Its flight is described to be very rapid,
generally low, and it strikes its prey on the wing, near the ground,
being incapable of mounting. If its prey take refuge, it will wait
patiently on a tree, or a stone, until the game, pressed by hunger, is
induced to move; and as this hawk is capable of great abstinence, it
generally succeeds in taking it. Colonel Thornton informs us, that he
flew one at a pheasant, which got into cover, and the hawk was lost; at
ten o’clock next morning the falconer found her, and just as he caught
her the pheasant ran and rose. According to Meyer, it will prey on its
own young, but its principal food is wild ducks, hares, and rabbits. In
the young, the head, neck, and belly, are of a rufous colour, with long
brown spots, and tips of the tail white. In this plumage they have been
termed gentil falcons. In the days of falconry, they were held in high
repute for hunting cranes, geese, and the larger sorts of game, and were
considered by falconers, the best and most courageous of the
short-winged hawks.
The goshawk is common in France, Germany, and Russia; it is also found
in America, but is rare in Holland.
* * * * *
The goshawk is taken by a net about eight feet deep, and of sufficient
length to inclose a square of nine or ten feet. It is suspended to
upright stakes, by notches cut upwards, so that it may be disengaged
from them, when the hawk strikes against it. This inclosure is left open
at the top, and in the middle a pigeon is to be tied to the ground for a
bait. The meshes of this net should not be too small, and the colour
should be as much as possible like that of the surrounding objects.
The goshawk is termed a hawk of the fist, because it is from thence, and
not from the air, that he flies at his game. He is never to be hooded
unless for a short time when first taken, or to keep him quiet in
travelling. The resting-place of short-winged hawks is called a perch.
It is a pole of about an inch and a half in diameter, fixed horizontally
about four feet from the ground. It is to be placed under a tree in fine
weather, and in some sheltered place when it rains. To the perch is
suspended a piece of cloth, or of matting, hanging like a curtain, which
assists the hawk in regaining the perch when he has _baited_ off, and
prevents him from twisting the leash round it by passing under. The
swivel that is fixed to the leash is to be tied close to the top of the
perch, and is attached to the jesses by a short leash, six or eight
inches long, in such a manner as to be easily taken off when the hawk is
to be prepared for flying. He is then to be held on the fist by the
jesses, in the same way as the slight falcon.
As the goshawk is carried without a hood, and as he is not to be brought
down by the lure, but must come to the fist at the falconer’s call, it
is essential that he should be made as tame as possible, and this can
only be done by almost constant _carriage_, and by allowing him
frequently to _pull upon_ a stump or pinion, from which he can get but
little meat. He will soon learn to come from the perch to the fist, if
held close to him when allured by meat. By persevering in this practice,
and by cautiously increasing the distance, he will at length be brought
to come to the fist, when he is thirty or forty yards off. It is hardly
necessary to say, that a creance must always be attached to the leash
when these lessons are given, until the hawk is sufficiently reclaimed
to be trusted at large, and with this precaution too much must not be
required of him at a time. In breaking hawks, and all other animals,
much additional trouble is occasioned, and much time is lost in
endeavouring to get them on too fast. When the goshawk will come freely
to the fist, not only from the perch, but from the ground, and from low
trees (on which he should frequently be placed), it will only be
necessary to give him a few live partridges in the way that I have
described, and he will be ready for the field.—_Montagu_—_Sebright._
GOSLING, _s._ A young goose, a goose not yet full-grown.
GOURDINESS, _s._ A swelling in a horse’s leg.
GOURNET, _s._ A sea-fish, commonly pronounced _Gurnet_. Of this fish
the red is excellent, while the grey sort is coarse and insipid.
GRAIN, _s._ A single seed of corn; corn; the seed of any fruit; any
minute particle; the smallest weight; anything proverbially
small; the direction of the fibres of wood, or other fibrous
matter.
GRAINED, _a._ Rough, made less smooth.
GRAINS, _s._ The husks of malt exhausted in brewing; the prongs of a
fish-spear.
GRALLA, _s._ That order of birds which Linnæus classifies as having
obtuse bills, and long legs, as the crane, stork, &c.
GRAMINIVOROUS, _a._ Grass-eating.
GRANIVOROUS, _a._ Eating grain.
_Granivorous birds._—Birds may be distinguished, like quadrupeds, into
two kinds or classes—granivorous and carnivorous; like quadrupeds, too,
there are some that hold a middle nature, and partake of both.
Granivorous birds are furnished with larger intestines, and
proportionally longer, than those of the carnivorous kind. Their food,
which consists of grain of various sorts, is conveyed whole and entire
into the first stomach or craw, where it undergoes a partial dilution by
a liquor, secreted from the glands, and spread over its surface; it is
then received into another species of stomach, where it is further
diluted; after which it is transmitted into the gizzard, or true
stomach, consisting of two very strong muscles, covered externally with
a tendinous substance, and lined with a thick membrane of prodigious
power and strength; in this place the food is completely triturated, and
rendered fit for the operation of the gastric juices. The extraordinary
powers of the gizzard in comminuting the food, so as to prepare it for
digestion, would exceed all credibility, were they not supported by
incontrovertible facts, founded upon experiments.
In order to ascertain the strength of these stomachs, the ingenious
Spallanzani made the following curious and very interesting
experiments:—
Tin tubes, full of grain, were forced into the stomachs of turkeys, and
after remaining twenty hours, were found to be broken, compressed, and
distorted in the most irregular manner.
In proceeding further, the same author relates, that the stomach of a
cock, in the space of twenty-four hours, broke off the angles of a piece
of rough jagged glass, and upon examining the gizzard, no wound or
laceration appeared.
Twelve strong needles were firmly fixed in a ball of lead, the points of
which projected about a quarter of an inch from the surface; thus armed,
it was covered with a case of paper, and forced down the throat of a
turkey; the bird retained it a day and a half, without showing the least
symptom of uneasiness; the points of all the needles were broken off
close to the surface of the ball, except two or three, of which the
stumps projected a little. The same author relates another experiment,
seemingly still more cruel; he fixed twelve small lancets, very sharp,
in a similar ball of lead, which was given in the same manner to a
turkey cock, and left eight hours in the stomach; at the expiration of
which the organ was opened but nothing appeared except the naked ball,
the twelve lancets having been broken to pieces, the stomach remaining
perfectly sound and entire. From these curious and well-attested facts
we may conclude, that the stones so often found in the stomachs of many
of the feathered tribes, are highly useful in comminuting grain and
other hard substances which constitute their food.
Granivorous birds partake much of the nature and disposition of
herbivorous quadrupeds. In both the number of their stomachs, the length
and capacity of their intestines, and the quality of their food, they
are very similar; they are likewise both distinguished by the gentleness
of their tempers and manners. Contented with the seeds of plants, with
fruits, insects, and worms, their chief attention is directed to
procuring food, hatching and rearing their offspring, and avoiding the
snares of men, and the attacks of birds of prey, and other rapacious
animals. They are a mild and gentle race, and are in general so
tractable as easily to be domesticated.—_Bewick._
GRANULATE, _v._ To grain; to break into small masses.
GRAPE, _s._ The fruit of the vine, growing in clusters.
GRASP, _v._ To hold in the hand, to gripe; to seize, to catch at.
GRASP, _s._ The gripe or seizure of the hand; hold; power of
seizing.
GRASS, _s._ The common herbage of fields on which cattle feed.
GRASSY, _a._ Covered with grass.
GRATE, _s._ A partition made with bars placed near to one another,
to prevent fish escaping from a pond; the range of bars within
which fires are made.
GRAVE, _v._ To carve on any hard substance; to impress deeply.