MINOR BRITISH GAME BIRDS.
At the time of the heaviest bird migrations in autumn, vast flocks of
woodcocks pitch on the English coasts. They stay through the winter,
and in spring the majority again cross the wild North Sea _en
route_ to their northern breeding haunts. The woodcock is a
"shifting" species, and just as any bird is erratic in its wanderings,
so it is interesting to naturalists. The British Association is already
on the track of the "woodsnipe," as are several individual observers in
a more literal sense. There was a time when the nesting of the woodcock
in England was of such rare occurrence as to be recorded in the natural
history journals. We now know that it has bred in almost every English
county, and that the number of birds which remain in our woods to breed
is annually increasing. This fact proves that the woodcock's habits are
being modified, and ornithologists have now to discover the reasons of
its extended range.
In coming to this country, woodcocks generally travel in the night and
against a head-wind. Those which are exhausted pitch upon the east
coast, and here lie resting until nightfall, when they pass on. The
probability is that if these birds had not experienced a rough passage
they would not have touched the eastern seaboard, but would have kept
well in the upper currents of the air, and first dropped down in our
western woods or even those of Ireland. The migratory bodies are
usually preceded by flocks of tiny goldcrests; and so invariable is
this rule that the latter have come to be called "woodcock-pilots." The
males precede the females by a few days; the latter bringing with them
the young that have been bred that year. It is a point worthy of
notice, and one upon which much confusion exists, that the birds that
come to us are usually in the very best condition. Soon after their
arrival they disperse themselves over the leaf-strewn woods, the same
birds being known to resort to the same spots for many successive
years. They seek out the warmer parts of the wood, and in such secluded
situations sleep and rest during the day. At dusk they issue forth in
their peculiar owl-like flight, to seek their feeding grounds. Like
many birds they have well-defined routes, and daily at twilight may be
seen flying along the rides and paths of the woods or skirting along
certain portions of plantations. Coppice-belts they like best,
especially such as contain spring-runs. It is here that the bird most
easily finds food, the soft ground enabling it to probe quickly and to
a considerable depth in search of earthworms. These constitute its
principal diet, and the quantity that a single bird will devour is
enormous. The long mobile bill of the woodcock is a study in itself.
The rapidity with which the bird uses it in following a worm in the
ground is marvellous. It is extremely flexible--so much so as to be
bent and twisted into every shape without suffering harm--and it is as
sensitive as flexible.
Every sportsman knows that woodcocks are here to-day, gone to-morrow.
He often finds that where there were plenty yesterday not a single
'cock remains. Ireland, perhaps, affords the best shooting. It was here
that the Earl of Clermont shot fifty brace in one day. This feat was
the result of a wager; and the bag was made by two o'clock in the
afternoon, with a single-barrelled flint-lock. The birds were shot in a
moist wood; and it is in such spots on the mild west coast that the
woodcock finds its favourite haunt. In England the birds affect
coppice-woods, frequenting most those which are wet, and such as have
rich deposits of dead and decaying leaves. Most of these copses are of
oak and birch and hazel, and being only of a few years' growth are
thick in the top. Killing 'cock, as they dash through the twigs of
these and seldom rising above the bushes, is one great test of a
shooter's skill. Then the birds have a habit of dropping down at a
short distance, which almost invariably deludes the inexperienced
gunner. When they are put up from their resting places during the day
the flight is rapid; at evening it is slow. It is now that they are
easiest to shoot; though in some parts of the country they are still
taken in nets as they fly at dusk through the paths of the woods.
Netting woodcocks was at one time the common way of taking them; for
they have always been highly esteemed as food. Another method of
capture was by "gins" and "springs;" and it would seem that in times
past the "woodsnipe" was considered a stupid bird. None of the denizens
of the woods conforms better or more closely to its environment. The
browns and duns and yellows of its plumage all have their counterpart
in the leaves among which it lies; and it has been pointed out that the
one conspicuous ornament of the bird is covered by a special provision
from the gaze of those for whose admiration it is not intended. This is
the bright colouring of the tail feathers, which cannot be seen except
at the will of the bird or in flight. Its protection lacks in one
thing, however, and that is its large dark eye; this is full, bright,
and (so to speak) obtrusive. It is not often that a special provision
of this kind is injurious to its owner; but the lustre which beams from
the woodcock's eye is apt to betray its presence, and even to negative
the advantage of its protective colouring. This has long been known.
Hudibras has it that:
"Fools are known by looking wise,
As men find woodcocks by their eyes."
The woodcock is an early breeder, the eggs being found by the second
week in March. These are usually four in number; and the nest is placed
among dry grass, leaves, and fern. The young are able to run
immediately they are hatched, and are sometimes found with portions of
shell adhering to their down. In a few days they are led to the
vicinity of water, where they remain until they are able to fly. It is
said that a small bank of moss is sometimes constructed by the old
birds, upon which worms are placed. In its yielding substance they have
their first lesson in boring, and obtain the kind of food which
constitutes their chief diet in after life. One of the most interesting
traits about the woodcock is the fact of its occasionally conveying its
young through the air; which is done by only one or two other birds.
This is no recent discovery. The fact was known as early as the middle
of last century; though Gilbert White rightly surmised that those
observers were mistaken who fancied the young were conveyed either by
or in the bill. It is just as erroneous, however, to substitute the
claws, as some have done, for the bill. The truth is, that when the
parent bird wishes to convey her young one from a place of danger to
one of safety, the tiny thing is gently pressed between the feet and
against the breast, the aid of the bill being resorted to only when the
burden has been hastily taken up. In this way the whole of the brood is
sometimes removed from one part of a wood to another, if the birds have
been much disturbed. This trait may be confirmed by any one who will
look out the bird in its haunts, and is all the more interesting as it
seems to be quite an acquired one. The bird is in no way adapted to
transport its young through the air.
There are upwards of a dozen species of British plover; birds
interesting to the naturalist, dear to the heart of the shore-shooter
and to the sportsman of the marshes. Some of these are summer visitants
to our shores, others come in winter, while a few stay with us
throughout the year. The common green plover or peewit, with its crest,
its peculiarly rounded wings, its plaintive cry, is the best known; and
this species breeds with us, as the abundance of its eggs shows. In
autumn the old birds and their young descend from the uplands where the
latter are bred, and seek out the mud-banks and ooze-flats on which to
spend the winter. Plashy meadows and marshes are also favourite feeding
grounds; and here the lapwing makes "game" for an army of gunners. The
vast flocks of plovers that congregate in autumn are said to be growing
in numbers. Hundreds of thousands of eggs are collected annually;
bunches of green plover are displayed at the gameshops during the
autumn; and yet there are more of these birds in England than ever
there were. This may be accounted for by the closeness with which the
plover conforms to its environment through every season. The plover is
dainty eating, as are also its eggs. "To live like a plover"--meaning
to live on the wind--is a saying of no aptitude. All the species are
voracious feeders on substantials. Their chief food consists of insects
and worms from ploughed land; but immediately upon the setting in of
frost they betake themselves to the mosses and marshes, or even to the
coast and estuaries of rivers. Here they feed liberally and at large,
becoming plump and fat. On these grounds the birds often remain till
the return of spring. Although many are shot, most of the birds that
find their way to market are taken in nets by professional fowlers.
When the flocks are heaviest, and during hard weather, from fifty to
eighty plovers are sometimes secured at one raising of the net.
Flying with the lapwing may often be seen flocks or "trips" of golden
plover--one of the most beautiful birds of its family, and much less
common as a species than the last. Like the rare dotterel it breeds on
the highest mountains, and in the nesting season has the golden
markings of its back set off by the rich velvety black of its breast.
This is an adornment donned only for the summer season, and is changed
at the time of the autumnal migration from the elevated breeding
grounds to the lowlands. At all times it has a piping, plaintive
whistle, which conforms well to the wild solitudes where it is heard.
The flocks of golden plover are usually smaller than those of green,
and are more compact. When feeding together the two kinds are not
easily discriminated. The moment they take wing, however, a difference
is detected; the golden plover flying straight and quick, often in a
V-shaped bunch; the green going loosely and without apparent order. All
plover are restless and shifting before a change of weather, and when
this is for the worse the golden plover always fly south. They are
delicate birds, in fact, and little fitted to withstand the rigours of
our northern climate. As a table bird it is more dainty even than the
green plover, and fetches a higher price. The death-dealing punt-gun is
terribly destructive to this species, from the compact mode of flying
described above. As many as a hundred birds have been killed at a
single shot.
The beautiful little ringed plover, or sea-lark, is another of our
breeding species. It is permanently resident on our coasts, and is one
of the most interesting of British shore-birds. At no time infrequent,
there is a considerable accession in winter; and it is a pretty sight
to watch a flock of these feeding among sand or shingle, or even upon a
mud-flat. It is in such spots, too, that it lays its creamy-spotted
eggs (pointed like those of all plovers), often without the slightest
semblance of a nest. No shore bird is as nimble as the ringed plover.
It runs with the utmost grace and ease, picking up tiny crustaceans as
it goes. Although not uncommon, the ringed plover is somewhat locally
distributed, which may also be said of the Kentish plover. This is a
rare species, and is very seldom found in numbers far from the
south-eastern counties--from the saltings of Essex and Kent. In haunt
and habit it much resembles the "sea-lark."
Only one other shore bird is resident with us throughout the year; this
is the oyster-catcher. Sea-pie and olive it is also called on some
parts of our coasts. It is easily distinguished by its well-defined
black and white markings, and every shore-shooter knows its shrill
rattling whistle, its short uneasy flights, and its restless paddlings
up and down the ooze. Watch the sea-pie from behind some boulder and
see how admirably adapted is its bill to its wants. Flattened sideways
and as hard as stone, no bivalve can resist it. It breeds among the
weed and driftwood just above high-water mark, and lays three or four
eggs of a cream-coloured ground, blotched and spotted with varying
shades of rich dark brown.
The little ringed plover is an exceedingly rare British bird, and is
like our own ringed plover in miniature.
The grey plover and the turnstone are spring and autumn visitants,
having their breeding haunts in the far north, though it is probable
that the first has bred a few times within the British Islands.
Specimens have been seen in the London markets attired in summer
plumage, and the birds themselves have been observed about the Fame
Islands in June. The grey plover is fairly numerous after its advent in
September, keeping in small flocks and sticking closely to the coast
lines. It is larger than the green and golden plovers, is sometimes
seen in company with them, and like them assumes a black breast in the
breeding season. It occurs less frequently in the bags of the puntsman
than the birds just named; it is rarely obtained far inland. Like its
congeners it forms a delicate morsel to the _gourmet_. The
turnstone, also known as the Hebridal sandpiper, is a handsome bird in
black, white, and chestnut. In its haunts it feeds upon various sea and
sand haunting creatures, which it obtains by turning over the stones
with its bill. In this office the birds often assist each other. It
comes in September in limited numbers, going north to its breeding
haunts early in spring.
The dotterel and Norfolk plover are summer visitants. The former breeds
upon the tops of the highest mountains, and rarely stays more than a
few days during the times of the spring and autumn migrations. It is
every year decreasing in consequence of the persistency with which it
is hunted down for feathers for dressing flies. We have found it
breeding upon Skiddaw, Sca Fell, and Helvellyn. The Norfolk plover,
thick knee, or stone curlew, is a summer visitant, coming in small
numbers, and being only locally distributed. It breeds in a few of the
eastern counties.
December, with its frost and snow, its cold grey skies, and biting
northern weather, always brings with it skeins of swans, geese, and
wild-fowl. The heart of the fowler warms as he hears the clangour and
wild cries of the birds afar up, for although he cannot see their
forms, he easily determines the species. He hears the gaggle of geese,
the trumpetings of wild swans, and the cry of the curlew as it hovers
over the lights. Among the fowl that are driven down by stress of
weather are wisps of snipe, and, although comparatively small, no game
is dearer to the heart of the inland sportsman or shore-shooter. Four
species of snipe are found in Britain, though one of these, the
red-breasted or brown snipe, can only be looked upon as a rare
straggler. The remaining three species are the common snipe, the great
snipe, and the jack snipe. All snipe have a peculiar zig-zag flight,
and this peculiarity renders them most difficult to kill. Bagging the
first snipe constitutes an era in life of every sportsman, and is an
event always remembered. Another characteristic of birds of this genus
is the beauty and design of their plumage. The ground colour is
streaked and pencilled in a remarkable manner with straw-coloured
feathers, which enables the bird to conform in a marvellous manner to
the bleached stalks of the aquatic herbage which constitutes its haunt.
The arrangement is somewhat similar to that of the woodcock lying among
its dead oak-leaves.
The common snipe is one of our well-known marsh birds, although
drainage and better farming have not only restricted its breeding
haunts, but have caused it to be less numerous. Still it probably
breeds in every county in England, and our resident birds are augmented
in numbers by bands of immigrants which annually winter within our
shores. These mostly come from Scandinavia, and soon after their
arrival may be seen dispersing themselves over the marshes in search of
food. At this time they are exceedingly wary, and the alarm-note of a
single bird will put every one up from the marsh. The startled cry of
the snipe resembles the syllables "scape, scape," which is often a
literal translation of what takes place before the gunner. The bird
feeds on plashy meadows, wet moors, by tarns and stream sides, and on
mosses which margin the coast. And this being so it is one of the first
to be affected by severe weather. If on elevated ground when the frost
sets in it immediately betakes itself to the lowlands, and when
supplies fail here it soon starves, becoming thin and skeleton-like.
Under ordinary circumstances the bird is a ravenous feeder, lays on a
thick layer of fat, and is certainly a delicacy. Soon after the turn of
the year snipe show an inclination to pair, one of them circling high
in the air, and flying round and round over their future nesting site.
It is now that they produce a peculiar drumming noise, caused as some
say by the rapid action of the wings when making a downward swoop;
while others assert that the noise is produced by the stiff tail
feathers; others again that it is uttered by the bird itself. This
"bleating" much resembles the booming of a large bee, and has given to
the bird several expressive provincial names. To many northern
shepherds the noise indicates dry weather and frost. The snipe is an
early breeder, and in open seasons its beautiful eggs may be found by
March or early April. These are laid in a depression among rushes or
aquatic herbage, and have a ground colour of greenish olive, blotched
with varying shades of brown. Incubation lasts only a fortnight, and
the result of this are young which run as soon as they are hatched, and
clothed in an exquisite covering of dappled down. The birds strongly
object to any intrusion on their breeding haunts, though this presents
a capital opportunity of hearing the peculiar sound already referred
to. The male will be seen flying high in circles, and whenever he
indulges the remarkable action of his wings in his curving descent the
sound proceeds from him. Upon being hatched the young are immediately
led to water and the protection of thick and dank herbage. Here, too,
food is abundant, which for these tiny things consists of the lowest
forms of aquatic life. It is interesting to watch snipe boring for
food, and it is surprising what hard ground their admirably-adapted
long mobile bills can penetrate. This is an exceedingly sensitive organ
however, the outer membrane being underlaid by delicate nerve fibre,
which infallibly tells the bird when it touches food, although far
hidden from sight. The seeds which are sometimes found in birds of the
snipe kind have come there not by being eaten, but attached to some
glutinous food, and eaten accidentally.
The second species, the great snipe, long remained unknown as a British
bird, owing to its being considered only a large variety of the bird
above mentioned. Pennant was the first to elevate it to the rank of a
species, and, once pointed out, its claim was admitted. The great snipe
does not breed in Britain, and those killed here are mostly birds of
the year, these occurring from early to late autumn. During a single
season the writer shot three examples of this bird; one was flushed
from turnips, the other two from a high-lying tussocky pasture--an
ideal spot for hares, and for which we were on the look-out. In going
away the great snipe is much slower than its common cousin, and is not
given to zig-zaging to such an extent. It lies close, flies heavily,
and on the wing reminds one very much of the woodcock. Unlike its
congeners, it does not soon "plump," but flies straight away. "Solitary
snipe" is misleading, as a pair are often found in company; whilst
double snipe, woodcock snipe, and little woodcock are each expressive
and descriptive. With regard to food and habit, this species has much
in common with its congeners. It is usually found on high and dry
situations from October to the end of the year, and seems to prefer
loose soil to wet marshes, as the former give a greater variety of
food. This consists of worms, insects and their larvæ, beetles, tiny
land-shells and grit. When in season the birds are loaded with flesh
and fat. Only a slight nest is constructed at breeding time, when four
eggs are laid; these are olive-green with purplish-brown blotches. The
bird is not known to breed with us, though it does in Scandinavia, and
here it is sometimes known to tear up the surrounding moss with which
to cover its back. This it does for the purpose of concealment, a
proceeding which is sometimes practised by the woodcock. The following
interesting fact is recorded by two gentlemen who have observed the
bird in its breeding grounds. "The great snipe has a _lek_ or
playing ground, similar to that of some of the grouse tribe, the places
of meeting, or _spil-pads_, being frequented by several pairs of
birds from dusk to early morning. The male utters a low note resembling
_bip, bip, bipbip, bipbiperere, biperere_, varied by a sound like
the smacking of a tongue, produced by striking the mandibles smartly
and in rapid succession; he then jumps upon a tussock of grass,
swelling out his feathers, spreading his tail, drooping his wings in
front of the female, and uttering a tremulous _sbirr_.... The
males fight by slashing feebly with their wings, but the combat is not
of long duration." As the characteristics of the great snipe become
known, it will doubtless be recorded as occurring more frequently than
it has been in the past. As has been suggested, it is most probable
that in a big bag of snipe the rarer species may frequently have been
overlooked, especially as the common snipe varies in size, perhaps more
than any other bird.
The jack snipe is the smallest British species, and is only a winter
visitant to this country. It breeds upon the _tundras_ of the far
north, and arrives here late in September. Unlike its congeners, it is
usually seen singly, and it procures its food in the boggiest
situations. It feeds much at dusk both morning and evening, and when
satisfied retires a short distance upland, where among dry grass tufts
it rests during the day. Its food consists of worms and other
soft-bodied creatures; under favourable conditions it lays on much fat,
and is considered a delicacy at table. Upon its first coming it makes
for wet meadows, plashy uplands, and sea-coast tracts, although the
weather regulates the altitude at which the bird is found. If severe
frost sets in it leaves the hill-tarns for lower land, and seeks the
protection of grass and rushes by the margins of streams. Open weather,
however, soon drives it from the valleys. The jack snipe is very local
in its likes, and will return again and again to the same spot; in
ordinary seasons its numbers are about equal to those of the common
snipe. It lies well to the gun, often until almost trodden on, and
birds have been known to have been picked up from before the nose of a
dog. It is more easily killed than any of its congeners, for although
it flies in a zig-zag manner it invariably rises right from the feet of
the sportsman. About April the birds congregate for their journey
northwards, and there is no authentic record of the species having bred
in Britain. Mr. John Wolley, an English naturalist, discovered in
Lapland the first known eggs of the jack snipe. And this is how he
relates the interesting find: "We had not been many hours in the marsh
when I saw a bird get up, and I marked it down. The nest was found. A
sight of the eggs, as they lay untouched, raised my expectations to the
highest pitch. I went to the spot where I had marked the bird, and put
it up again, and again saw it, after a short low flight, drop suddenly
into cover. Once more it rose a few feet from where it had settled. I
fired, and in a minute had in my hand a true jack snipe, the undoubted
parent of the nest of eggs! In the course of the day and night I found
three more nests, and examined the birds of each. One allowed me to
touch it with my hand before it rose, and another only got up when my
foot was within six inches of it. The nest of the 17th of June, and the
two of the 18th of June, were all alike in structure, made loosely of
dried pieces of grass and equisetum not at all woven together, with a
few old leaves of the dwarf birch, placed in a dry sedgy or grassy spot
close to more open swamp."
At one time snipe were commonly taken in "pantles" made of twisted
horsehair. These were set about three inches from the ground, and snipe
and teal were mostly taken in them. In preparing the snares the fowler
trampled a strip of oozy ground, until, in the darkness, it had the
appearance of a narrow plash of water. The birds were taken as they
went to feed in ground presumably containing food of which they were
fond.