with danger either to dogs or men, the sharp claws and powerful hind
legs of the animal making it a formidable enemy at close quarters.
Dawson in his "Present State of Australia" says: "A full-sized 'wool
man' at bay always sits on his haunches, and when he rises to move
forward, he stands four, or four and a half feet high. In this manner,
he will, when pressed, meet a man, and hug and scratch him, if not to
death, in such a way that he does not soon forget it. When hard pressed,
and near to water, the kangaroo always takes it; if it be deep water,
and the dogs follow him, one or the other is almost sure to be drowned.
If a single dog, the kangaroo is nearly certain to come off victorious,
by taking his assailant in his fore arms, and holding him under water
till he is dead; but, if he has two dogs opposed to him, he is not left
at liberty to hold either of his opponents long enough under water to
drown him, and he generally himself falls a sacrifice, after a long and
hard struggle. Notwithstanding the courage and ferocity of the kangaroo,
when pressed, he is otherwise extremely timid, and more easily
domesticated than any wild animal with which I am acquainted, The
smaller ones are frequently quite as swift as a hare; and I have
sometimes seen them outstrip the fleetest dogs." Young and inexperienced
dogs are almost sure to fall victims to the sharp claw and powerful hind
leg of the kangaroo, with one stroke of which he will rip the dog open
and let his entrails out.
ORDER XIII.
Monotremata.
The order Monotremata includes two families, the _Ornithorhynchidæ_ and
the _Echidnidæ_, both of which belong to Australia. The Duck-billed
Platypus belongs to the former, the Australian Hedgehog to the latter
family.
The Duck-billed Platypus.
The Duck-billed Platypus is one of the most singular of animals. "When
it was first introduced into Europe," says Mr. Wood, "it was fully
believed to be the manufacture of some impostor, who with much ingenuity
had fixed the beak of a duck into the head of some unknown animal. It
will, however, be seen by examining the skull of the animal, that this
duck-like beak is caused by a prolongation of some of the bones of the
head." The Platypus lives on the banks of rivers in burrows which it
forms, and feeds on water insects and small shell fish. It is web-footed
but its feet are so constructed that it can fold back the web when it
wants to burrow, and unfold it when it wants to swim. The hind feet of
the male are armed with a sharp spur.
The Australian Hedgehog.
The Australian Hedgehog is about a foot long. It lives in burrows and
feeds on insects, has a long tongue but no teeth. It has spines from
which circumstance it is called a hedgehog after its English namesake,
though its spines are almost hidden by its hair. It is said to be a
dull, unintelligent animal.
CLASS II--AVES.
Classification.
The Birds are distinguished from the Mammals by many obvious
characteristics, chief among which are their bodily form, their feathery
covering and their manner of producing their young by means of eggs. The
Birds form the second class of the sub-kingdom Vertebrate and according
to the classification followed in this work are divided into ten orders.
These orders are, I Passeres: birds characterised by the habit of
perching; II Picariæ: birds that climb, etc. Ill Psittacini: the
Parrots; IV Columbæ: the Doves; V Gallinæ: the Fowls; VI Opisthocomi:
the Hoazin of Brazil and Guinea; VII Accipitres: the Birds of Prey; VIII
Grallatores: the birds that wade; IX Anseres: the Birds that swim; X
Struthiones: the Ostrich, the Emu, etc., etc.
ORDER I.
Perching Birds.
The species of this order are very numerous, and have been variously
divided by different authorities. Mr. Wallace forms them into five
groups, which classification we shall find it convenient to follow.
These five groups are: I The Thrushes and Thrush-like perching birds; II
The Tanagers and similar kinds; III The Starlings and allied species; IV
The Ant-eaters, etc., and V The Lyre Birds, and the Scrub Birds of
Australia. The first group includes many well known feathered
favourites: the Thrush; the Blackbird; the Mocking Bird; the Tailor
Bird; the Wren; the Robin; the Nightingale; the Titmouse; the Golden
Oriole; the Jay; the Magpie; the Raven; the Rook; the Carrion Crow; the
Jackdaw; the Chough; and the Bird of Paradise. The second group includes
the Swallow; the Martin; the Goldfinch; the Linnet; the Canary; the
Bullfinch; the Bunting and many others. The third group contains the
Starlings; the Weaver Bird; the Lark; the Wagtail, and the Pipits; the
fourth group, the King Bird of North America; the Manakins of Guinea;
the Chatterers of South America; the Bell Bird of Brazil, and the
Umbrella Bird of the Amazon. The fifth group contains the Lyre Birds and
the Scrub Birds of Australia.
The Thrush.
The order of Thrush-like perching birds is a very large one, including
nearly three thousand known varieties. Of these it will be impossible,
within present limits, to even mention a very large number, and we shall
content ourselves with dealing with a few of the better known species.
The Common Thrush.
The Thrush is one of the most popular of English native birds, as its
song is one of the most beautiful of those of the bird kind. It is a
herald of the English spring and summer, beginning to sing at the end of
January and continuing until July. It builds its nest in a hedge or
bush, and, as it breeds early in the year, lines it with a plaster of
mud to protect its young from the cold winds. It is a bold bird and will
vigorously defend its nest from the attacks of larger birds. It feeds on
insects, snails and worms.
"Watch an old thrush," says Dr. Stanley, "pounce down on a lawn,
moistened with dew and rain. At first he stands motionless, apparently
thinking of nothing at all, his eye vacant, or with an unmeaning gaze.
Suddenly he cocks his ear on one side, makes a glancing sort of dart
with his head and neck, gives perhaps one or two hops, and then stops,
again listening attentively, and his eye glistening with attention and
animation; his beak almost touches the ground,--he draws back his head
as if to make a determined peck. Again he pauses; listens again; hops,
perhaps once or twice, scarcely moving his position, and pecks smartly
on the sod; then is once more motionless as a stuffed bird. But he knows
well what he is about; for, after another moment's pause, having
ascertained that all is right, he pecks away with might and main, and
soon draws out a fine worm, which his fine sense of hearing had informed
him was not far off, and which his hops and previous peckings had
attracted to the surface, to escape the approach of what the poor worm
thought might be his underground enemy, the mole."
The Missel Thrush.
The Missel Thrush, so called from its fondness for the mistletoe, is
larger than the common or song thrush, less melodious and not so common
in England, but well known upon the continent of Europe. Like the song
thrush it finds a determined enemy in the magpie, against which it often
defends itself with success. It is, however, unable to withstand a
combined attack. Gilbert White says: "The Missel-thrush is, while
breeding, fierce and pugnacious, driving such birds as approach its nest
with great fury to a distance. The Welsh call it "pen y llwyn," the head
or master of the coppice. He suffers no magpie, jay, or blackbird, to
enter the garden where he haunts; and is, for the time, a good guard to
the new-sown legumens. In general, he is very successful in the defence
of his family; but once I observed in my garden, that several magpies
came determined to storm the nest of a missel-thrush: the dams defended
their mansion with great vigour, and fought resolutely _pro aris et
focis_; but numbers at last prevailed, they tore the nest to pieces, and
swallowed the young alive."
The Blackbird.
The Blackbird is another of the most cherished of English song birds. It
is one of the earliest to wake the morning with a song. Its habits are
similar to those of the Thrush; it builds its nest in bushes, in
shrubberies and gardens, safe from the sight, but close to the haunts of
man. It lines its nest with a plaster of mud which it covers over with
dry grass, and is exemplary in the care of its young. It has a black
coat as its name implies, and an orange tawny bill. The blackbird has to
some extent the power of the mocking bird, of imitating the sounds it
hears,--such as the chuckling of a hen, the song of the nightingale, the
caw of the crow. In the "Magazine of Natural History" of September 1831,
Mr. Bouchier of Wold Rectory, near Northampton, says: "Within half a
mile of my residence there is a blackbird which crows constantly, and as
accurately as the common cock, and nearly as loud; as it may, on a still
day, be heard at the distance of several hundred yards. When first told
of the circumstance, I conjectured that it must have been the work of a
cock pheasant, concealed in a neighbouring brake; but, on the assurance
that it was nothing more or less than a common blackbird, I determined
to ascertain the fact with my own eyes and ears; and this day I had the
gratification of getting close to it, seated on the top bough of an ash
tree, and pursuing with unceasing zeal its unusual note. The resemblance
to the crow of the domestic cock is so perfect, that more than one in
the distance were answering it. It occasionally indulged in its usual
song; but only for a second or two; resuming its more favourite note;
and once or twice it commenced with crowing, and broke off in the middle
into its natural whistle. In what way this bird has acquired its present
propensity I am unable to say, except that as its usual haunt is near a
mill where poultry are kept, it may have learned the note from the
common fowl."
The Blackbird of America resembles his English cousin in most
particulars. He is often seen following the plough, looking for worms in
the fresh furrows, and frequently, like the crow, stealing the planted
maize or Indian corn from the hill. In the autumn the American
Blackbirds gather in vast flocks, and sometimes produce a roar like the
rush of a waterfall by their flight.
The Mocking Bird.
The Mocking Bird is a native of America and many stories are told of its
wonderful powers of mimicry. The following description is furnished by
Wilson: "The plumage of the Mocking Bird, though none of the homeliest,
has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, and, had he nothing else to
recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice; but his figure is
well proportioned, and even handsome. The ease, elegance, and rapidity
of his movements, the animation of his eye, and the intelligence he
displays in listening, and laying up lessons from almost every species
of the feathered creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and
mark the peculiarity of his genius. In his native groves, mounted upon
the top of a tall bush or half grown tree, in the dawn of a dewy
morning, while the woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers,
his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every competitor. The ear can
listen to his music alone, to which that of all the others seems a mere
accompaniment. Neither is this strain altogether imitative. His own
native notes, which are easily distinguishable by such as are acquainted
with those of our various song birds, are bold and full, and varied
seemingly beyond all limits. They consist of short expressions of two,
three, or at the most five or six syllables, generally interspersed with
imitations, and all of them uttered with great emphasis and rapidity,
and continued with undiminished ardour for half an hour, or an hour, at
a time. His expanded wings and tail, glistening with white, and the
buoyant gaiety of his action, arresting the eye, as his song most
irresistibly does the ear, he sweeps round with enthusiastic ecstasy and
mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away. 'He bounds aloft
with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover or recall his very soul,
which expired in the last elevated strain.' He often deceives the
sportsman, and sends him in search of birds that are not perhaps within
miles of him, but whose notes he exactly imitates: even birds themselves
are frequently imposed upon by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by
the fancied calls of their mates, or dive with precipitation into the
depth of thickets at the scream of what they suppose to be the
sparrow-hawk."
The Tailor Bird.
The Tailor Bird is a small bird of no very remarkable appearance, but it
is singular from its habit of sewing leaves together in forming its
nest. This it does by using its beak as a needle, and certain vegetable
fibres as thread, and sewing the edges of leaves together in the form of
a pocket, in which it deposits its eggs and rears its young.
The Golden Crested Wren.
The Golden Crested Wren is the smallest of British Birds, and it is one
of the most beautiful, according to Mrs. Bowdich it only weighs eighty
grains. It is peculiar among British birds for suspending its nest to
the boughs of trees. Its nest is an elegant structure, sometimes open at
the top, sometimes covered with a dome, having an entrance at the side.
It is a tame bird, and often visits country gardens where it may be
distinguished by its green and yellow coat with white facings, and its
golden crest. Captain Brown says: "its song is weak and intermittent,
yet sweet as that which fancy attributes to the fairy on the moonlight
hill."
The Migration of Birds.
Captain Brown, quoting from "Selby's Ornithology", gives an interesting
account of the way in which our native birds are reinforced from other
countries.--"On the 24th and 25th of October, 1822," says Mr. Selby,
"after a very severe gale, with thick fog, from the North East, (but
veering, towards its conclusion, to the east and south of east,)
thousands of these birds were seen to arrive upon the sea-shore and
sand-banks of the Northumbrian coast; many of them so fatigued by the
length of their flight, or perhaps by the unfavourable shift of wind, as
to be unable to rise again from the ground, and great numbers were in
consequence caught or destroyed. This flight must have been immensely
numerous, as its extent was traced through the whole length of the
coasts of Northumberland and Durham. There appears little doubt of this
having been a migration from the more northern provinces of Europe
(probably furnished by the pine forests of Norway, Sweden, &c.), from
the circumstance of its arrival being simultaneous with that of large
flights of the woodcock, fieldfare, and redwing. Although I had never
before witnessed the actual arrival of the gold-crested regulus, I had
long felt convinced, from the great and sudden increase of the species,
during the autumnal and hyemal months that our indigenous birds must be
augmented by a body of strangers making these shores their winter's
resort.--A more extraordinary circumstance in the economy of this bird
took place during the same winter, _viz._, the total disappearance of
the whole, _natives_ as well as strangers, throughout Scotland and the
north of England. This happened towards the conclusion of the month of
January 1823, and a few days previous to the long-continued snow-storm
so severely felt throughout the northern counties of England, and along
the eastern parts of Scotland. The range and point of this migration are
unascertained, but it must probably have been a distant one, from the
fact of not a single pair having returned to breed, or pass the
succeeding summer, in the situations they had been known always to
frequent. Nor was one of the species to be seen till the following
October, or about the usual time, as I have above stated, for our
receiving an annual accession of strangers to our own indigenous birds."
The Willow Wren.
The Willow Wren is a summer visitor to the British Isles. He arrives
about the end of March and leaves in the month of September. He is an
active little bird, an expert fly-catcher and an agreeable singer. His
coat is of a greenish yellow-brown, his waistcoat is white tinged with
yellow.
The Common Wren.
The Common Wren is indigenous to Great Britain. It builds its nest under
the shelter of thatched eaves, in out-of-the-way and unusual places. It
is a plain homely looking little bird of a pale chestnut brown colour.
Captain Brown gives the following interesting description of a wren's
music lesson.
A Wren's Music Lesson.
"A pair of wrens," says Captain Brown, "built their nest in a box, so
situated that the family on the grounds had an opportunity of observing
the mother's care in instructing her young ones to sing. She seated
herself on one side of the opening of the box, facing her young, and
commenced by singing over all her notes very slowly and distinctly. One
of the little ones then attempted to imitate her. After chirping rather
inharmoniously a few notes, its pipe failed, and it went off the tune.
The mother immediately took up the tune where the young one had failed,
and distinctly finished the remaining part. The young one made a second
attempt, commencing where it had left off, and continuing for a few
notes with tolerable distinctness, when it again lost the notes; the
mother began again where it ceased, and went through with the air. The
young one again resumed the tune and completed it. When this was done,
the mother again sung over the whole of her song with great precision;
and then another of the young attempted to follow it, who likewise was
incapable of going through with the tune, but the parent treated it as
she had done the first bird; and so on with the third and fourth. It
sometimes happened that the little one would lose the tune, even three
or four times in making the attempt; in which case the mother uniformly
commenced where it had ceased, and always sung to the end of the tune;
and when each had completed the trial, she always sung over the whole
song. Sometimes two of them commenced the strain together, in which case
she pursued the same conduct towards them, as she had done when one
sung. This was repeated at intervals every day, while they remained in
their nest."
The House Wren.
The American House Wren is described by Audubon as a cheery familiar
little bird, resembling the common wren in many of his habits, if not
indeed identical with it.
Wilson says, "in the month of June a mower hung up his coat, under a
shed, near the barn, and two or three days elapsed before he had
occasion to put it on again, when thrusting his arm up the sleeve, he
found it completely filled with some rubbish, as he called it, and on
extracting the whole mass, found it to be the nest of a wren completely
finished, and lined with a large quantity of feathers. In his retreat,
he was followed by the forlorn little proprietors, who scolded him with
great vehemence for thus ruining the whole economy of their household
affairs." Wilson also tells a very pretty story of a pair of wrens who
built their nest upon a window sill, one of whom, the female, venturing
to enter the room was devoured by a cat. The male bird showed much
uneasiness when he missed his mate, but after a time disappeared for two
days, returning with a new wife, and with her help removing the two eggs
left by her predecessor to a new nest in a more secure position.
The Nightingale.
The Nightingale and the Sky-Lark, may perhaps be said to divide honours
in the sphere of feathered song. Both have entranced innumerable
auditors and both have won noble tributes from poets' pens. Both,
moreover, are plain birds. The nightingale is of a tawny colour on the
head and back, and of a greyish white on the throat and under parts. It
has a full large eye of great brightness. It is one of the largest of
the song birds, measuring seven inches in length. The nightingale is
found in Yorkshire but not in Lancashire, also in Surrey, Sussex, Kent,
Dorsetshire, Somersetshire and East Devonshire, but not in Cornwall. It
belongs to France, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Palestine.
The Nightingale's Song.
"The Nightingale's song," says the author of "Tales of Animals," "unites
strength and sweetness, in a most wonderful degree, as its notes may be
heard on a calm evening at the distance of half a mile. The most
consummate musician might listen with delight to its song, whatever
might be his peculiar taste, as it can at one moment thrill the heart
with joy and at another melt it to sober sadness, by the laughing and
sighing modulations which follow each other in rapid succession through
the melody, which is seldom interrupted by a pause. As if conscious of
its unrivalled powers, it does not join the sometimes discordant concert
of the other songsters, but waits on some solitary twig till the
blackbird and thrush have uttered their evening call, till the stock and
ring doves have lulled each other to rest, and then it displays at full
its melodious fancies." The following is an attempt made by a well-known
naturalist to reduce the song to writing:
"Tiuu tiuu tiuu tiuu--Spe tiuu zqua--Ti[=o] ti[=o] ti[=o] tio tio tio
tio tix--Qutio qutio qutio qutio--Zquo zquo zquo zquo--Tzü tzü tzü tzü
tzü tzü tzü tzü tzü tzi--Quorror tin zqua
pipiquisi--Zozozozozozozozozozozozo zirrhading!" &c. &c.
Quaint old Izaac Walton says: "But the nightingale, another of my airy
creatures, breathes such sweet, loud music out of her instrumental
throat, that it might make mankind to think that miracles are not
ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps securely,
should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descents,
the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her
voice, might well be lifted above earth, and say, '_Lord, what music
hast thou provided for the saints in Heaven, when thou affordest bad men
such music on earth!_'"
The Robin Redbreast.
The Robin Redbreast is a prime favourite in English cottage homes. Its
appearance on the window sill at the approach of winter is an
irresistible appeal to human sympathy and seldom fails of a hearty
response. Captain Brown mentions a robin which, during a severe storm,
came to the window of the room where his father sat, upon which his
father opened the window, to give it some crumbs. "Instead of flying
away, the robin hopped into the room, and picked the crumbs from the
floor. His father, being very fond of animals, took great pleasure in
taming this bird, and so completely succeeded, that it would pick small
pieces of raw flesh and worms from his hand, sat on the table at which
he wrote, and, when the day was very cold, perched upon the fender. When
a stranger entered, it flew to the top of a door, where it perched every
night. The window was frequently opened to admit air, but the robin
never offered to go away. As the spring advanced, and the weather became
fine, it flew away every morning, and returned every evening, till the
time of incubation arrived, and it then flew away altogether. At the
next fall of the year it again asked for admittance, and behaved exactly
in the same manner as before. It did this a third time, but when it flew
away the ensuing spring, it was never seen again." Robins have been
known to build their nests in queer places. Mrs. Bowdich tells of one
which attached its nest to the Bible of the parish church of Hampton,
Warwickshire, and of others which built theirs on the reading desk of a
church in Wiltshire and deposited six eggs in it.
The Intelligence of the Robin.
The Robin is an intelligent little bird and some pretty stories are told
of its sagacity. Mrs. Bowdich mentions a gardener who was in the service
of a friend of hers, who having made a pet of a robin, was one day much
struck with the uneasiness of his little friend, and concluding that he
wanted assistance followed him to his nest, which occupied a flower pot,
when he discovered that a snake had coiled itself round the little home.
Happily the gardener was in time to save the birds though at the snake's
expense. In "The Gardener's Chronicle" there is a story, quoted by Mrs.
Bowdich, of a robin which having been caught young and kept with a
nightingale, learned the nightingale's song so perfectly as to be
indistinguishable in performance.
The Titmouse.
There are several varieties of the Titmouse; the Blue Titmouse, the
Great Titmouse, and the Long-tailed Titmouse are some of these. The Blue
Titmouse, sometimes called a Tomtit, is a plucky little bird and resists
capture with such vigour that according to the Rev. J. G. Wood it has
become known to rustic boys by the name of "Billybiter." "The angry hiss
of the female," says Mr. Wood, "has frequently caused an intruding hand
to be rapidly withdrawn, for the sound is so exceedingly like the hiss
of an irritated snake, and the little beak is so sharp, that few have
the courage to proceed with their investigations. A pair of these birds
built their nest in the coping of the Great Western Railway, at the
Shrivenham station, not two feet from the fiery and noisy engines, which
were constantly passing. The men respected the courage of the little
birds, and the whole brood was hatched, and suffered to fly at liberty."