1787, I examined the nest of a hedge-sparrow (_Accentor modularis_),
which then contained a cuckoo and three hedge-sparrows' eggs. On
inspecting it the day following, the bird had hatched; but the nest then
contained only a young cuckoo and one hedge-sparrow. The nest was placed
so near the extremity of a hedge, that I could distinctly see what was
going forward in it; and, to my great astonishment, I saw the young
cuckoo, though so lately hatched, in the act of turning out the young
hedge-sparrow. The mode of accomplishing this was very curious; the
little animal, with the assistance of its rump and wings, contrived to
get the bird upon its back, and making a lodgment for its burthen by
elevating its elbows, clambered backwards with it up the side of the
nest till it reached the top, where, resting for a moment, it threw off
its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from the nest. It remained
in this situation for a short time, feeling about with the extremities
of its wings, as if to be convinced whether the business was properly
executed, and then dropped into the nest again. I afterwards put in an
egg, and this, by a similar process, was conveyed to the edge of the
nest and thrown out. These experiments I have since repeated several
times, in different nests, and have always found the young cuckoo
disposed to act in the same manner. "It sometimes happens that two
cuckoos' eggs are deposited in the same nest, and then the young
produced from one of them must inevitably perish. Two cuckoos and one
hedge-sparrow were hatched in the same nest, and one hedge-sparrow's egg
remained unhatched. In a few hours afterwards a contest began between
the cuckoos for the possession of the nest, which continued undetermined
till the next afternoon, when one of them, which was somewhat superior
in size, turned out the other, together with the young hedge-sparrow and
the unhatched egg. The combatants alternately appeared to have the
advantage, as each carried the other several times to the top of the
nest, and then sunk down again, oppressed by the weight of the burthen;
till at length, after various efforts, the strongest prevailed, and was
afterwards brought up by the hedge-sparrow." Jenner's experiences have
been corroborated by repeated experiments since. Colonel Montague
carried a hedge-sparrow's nest, so inhabited, into his house where he
could watch it at leisure and where he saw the young cuckoo frequently
oust the baby hedge-sparrow in the manner described. The cuckoo feeds on
caterpillars, and insects. It may be tamed, but as a rule does not live
long in confinement. Its note is heard from April to June.
The Cuckoo and the Thrush.
That the cuckoo is scarcely an amiable bird would appear from the
following incident recorded by Dr. Stanley: "A young thrush, just able
to feed itself, was placed in a cage. A short time after, a young
cuckoo, which could not feed itself, was placed in the same cage, and
fed by the owner. At length it was observed that the thrush fed it; the
cuckoo opening its mouth, and sitting on the upper perch, and making the
thrush hop down to fetch its food. One day, while thus expecting its
supply, a worm was put into the cage, and the thrush could not resist
the temptation of eating it, upon which the cuckoo descended, attacked
the thrush with fury, and literally tore out one of its eyes, and then
hopped back. Although so lacerated, the poor thrush meekly took up some
food, and continued to do so till the cuckoo was full grown."
The Trogons.
The Trogons are among the most gorgeous of living birds; the brilliance
of their plumage defying verbal description. Their main colour is "a
metallic golden green, boldly contrasted with scarlet, black, and
brown." "The Resplendent Trogon," says Mr. Wood, "is the most gorgeous
of all this gorgeous family. Its long and gracefully curved tail is
nearly three feet long, and the whole of the upper surface, and the
throat, are a glowing green; the breast and under parts are bright
crimson; the middle feathers of the tail black, and the outer feathers
white." These birds are natives of Mexico.
The Kingfisher.
The Kingfishers are a wide-spread family, being found all over the
world. There are numerous varieties, of which the Common Kingfisher and
the Laughing Kingfisher are all that we can notice. The Common
Kingfisher is indigenous in England where it usually lives on the banks
of rivers and streams, feeding upon fish and insects. It makes burrows
or holes in the banks, where it lays its eggs and rears its young;
fishing from the low branches of trees which overspread the water. When
the fish is caught it is beaten to death against some hard substance and
then swallowed whole, head foremost. The Common Kingfisher is somewhat
larger than the lark, and has a beautiful metallic coat which shimmers
with a very pleasing effect as it darts among the greenery of the river
bank or flies along the surface of the water. The Laughing Kingfisher
belongs to Australia and is so named from its peculiar cry. It is one of
the largest species of its kind. Other species belong to the Moluccas
and New Guinea, and a few to America.
The Hornbill.
The Hornbill is famous for the size and shape of its bill, which is very
large. There are several varieties, African and Indian. They live mostly
on fruit, though some are said to eat reptiles. They have some very
curious habits. Mr. Wallace describes the habit of the male Hornbill of
shutting up the female during the period of incubation and feeding her
through a small hole left open for the purpose.
The Goat-Suckers.
The goat-sucker is so called from the belief long entertained that it
was in the habit of sucking the teat of the goat. There are several
varieties and they are remarkable for the strangeness of their cries.
The Goat-sucker has sometimes been called the Night-jar from its
discordant note, it is also known as the Fern Owl. Mr. Wood says:--"It
may be seen at the approach of evening silently wheeling round the
trees, capturing the nocturnal moths and beetles; then occasionally
settling and uttering its jarring cry. When flying the bird sometimes
makes its wings meet over its back, and brings them together with a
smart snap. It arrives in England in the beginning of May and leaves in
December. The Whip-poor-will and the Chuck-will's-widow both belong to
this family."
The Whip-poor-Will.
The Whip-poor-will, which is peculiar to America, is celebrated for its
singular melody, which is heard in spring to issue at night from the
woods and glens of all parts of the country. It is a rapid warbling
repetition of the name given to the bird, and is so distinctly
pronounced, as to seem like the voice of a human being. It is a solitary
bird, remaining silent and sequestered during the day, but at night it
often approaches a dwelling, and pours forth its song upon the
door-step, or a neighbouring tree.
Chuck-Will's-Widow.
This bird, also peculiar to America, is about a foot in length,
resembling in colour, form, and habits, the whip-poor-will. It is a
solitary bird, frequenting glens and hollows, and seldom making its
appearance during the day. Its song, which is uttered, like that of the
whip-poor-will, at night, is a constant repetition of the sound,
chuck-will's-widow, very distinctly articulated. It is common in
Georgia, and is regarded by the Creek Indians with superstitious awe. It
is very seldom seen in the Middle or Eastern States; "but I recollect
once," says an American writer, "to have known a whole village in New
England in terror and amazement at hearing one of them singing its
strange song on the edge of a swamp. The superstitious part of the
inhabitants considered it a prediction of some evil that was to befall a
widow of the parish; but there was a diversity of opinion as to who the
hapless Chuck-will's-widow might be."
The Swift.
The Swift, so called from the remarkable speed of his flight, is also
known as "Jack screamer" from the shrillness of his voice. He winters in
Africa and arrives in England about May, remaining until about the
middle of August. He builds his nest under the eaves of houses and
frequents steeples and other lofty edifices, forming his nest of grasses
and feathers. The esculent swift, so called from the fact that its nests
are edible, builds at the sides of almost inaccessible cliffs, a habit
which renders the collection of these singular dainties very dangerous.
The nests are formed of mucilaginous sea-weeds and have the appearance
of isinglass. They are considered great delicacies in China, where they
are found. They abound in Java. The swifts resemble the swallows in
several particulars and have often been classed with them, there are,
however, important differences which separate them.
The Humming Bird.
There are hundreds of kinds of Humming Birds, nearly all of them natives
of America, where they frequent the gardens, and sip the honey from the
honeysuckle and other plants, like the hive and humble bee. The humming
bird is several times larger than the latter, but flies so swiftly as
almost to elude the sight. Its wings, when it is balancing over the
flower, produce a humming sound, from which it takes its name. It is the
smallest of the feathered race, and is one of the most beautiful in the
elegance of its form, and the glossy brilliancy of its delicate plumage.
Small as it is, however, it is exceedingly courageous, and has violent
passions. The length of this bird is three inches; it lives partly on
honey obtained from flowers, but devours also great quantities of very
small insects. The general colour is a rich golden green on the upper
parts; the breast and neck are of a dusky white. Its nest is very small,
and is elegantly lined with the down of the mullein. It is covered on
the outside with moss, to imitate the colour of the limb on which it is
built.
ORDER III.
The Parrots.
The parrots never fail to interest, on account of their beauty of form
and colour, and their aptitude for imitating common sounds. There are
some hundreds of species, belonging to different parts of the world, the
Cockatoos to Australia, the Macaws to America, and many varieties to
Africa. The Macaws and some other kinds are among the most gorgeous of
living birds and whether seen in their native wilds or in the aviaries
of civilisation never fail to excite admiration. The Cockatoo is
distinguished from the true parrot by its crest; other species are
differentiated by habit, size, colour, and form. The better known of
these are, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, the Ground parrot, the Macaw,
the Grey parrot, the Green parrot, the Parrakeets and the Love-birds.
The Parrot's Intelligence.
Many stories are told of the remarkable powers of individual parrots and
the singular appropriateness of their remarks on particular occasions.
These are often so startling as to arouse suspicion of their
authenticity, and yet a moment's reflection will show that coincidence
plays a large part in these demonstrations, and that many of the most
astonishing examples of felicitous interjection, or repartee, are due to
this, and not to any special gift of intelligence on the part of the
bird. An ordinary parrot with half a dozen phrases which it is
constantly repeating, will in the nature of things, often use them in
singularly felicitous connection with current conversation. No notice is
taken of the many instances in which the phrase is inappropriate and yet
a few cases of remarkable fitness are held to demonstrate extraordinary
intelligence. Teach a parrot such a simple rejoinder as "not I!" and
the bird using it in answer to all sorts of questions, will often use it
with apparent intelligence, but a doll might be made to show equal wit.
That parrots are taught to give certain answers to certain questions is
of course true, but in these cases the questions suggest the answers and
all the intelligence is shown by the interrogator. Those birds which
have lived many years and acquired many phrases, will naturally, from
the extent of their repertoire, the more often surprise their hearers;
but that they show any greater intelligence may perhaps be doubted. That
some of the parrots, and especially the Love-birds, show great feeling
for each other and attachment to their owners is well known, but the
claim sometimes made that they show greater intelligence than any other
birds may be very safely disputed. The term "parrot-like," as applied to
the repetition of lessons by rote which are not understood by those
repeating them, involves no injustice to the parrot.
Famous Parrots.
There have been many famous parrots who have played their part in
history if they have not rivalled the geese that saved Rome. The Emperor
Basilius Macedo was induced by a Parrot, who cast a gloom over the
guests at a banquet by continually calling out, "Alas, alas! poor Prince
Leo", to liberate his son whom he had confined on suspicion of treason.
The Emperor observed the gloom of his guests and urged them to the
pleasures of the table, when one of them is said to have responded, "How
should we eat, Sire, when we are thus reproached by this bird of our
want of duty to your family? The brute animal is mindful of its Lord;
and we that have reason, have neglected to supplicate your Majesty in
behalf of the prince, whom we all believe to be innocent, and to suffer
under calumny." Whether the bird had been purposely taught this phrase,
or had merely acquired it by hearing its frequent repetition does not
appear. The following memorial which appeared in the London papers in
October 1822 is quoted from the "Percy Anecdotes." "A few days ago,
died, in Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, the celebrated parrot of Colonel
O'Kelly. This singular bird sang a number of songs in perfect time and
tune. She could express her wants articulately, and give her orders in a
manner nearly approaching to rationality. Her age was not known; it was,
however, more than thirty years, for previous to that period, Colonel
O'Kelly bought her at Bristol for one hundred guineas. The Colonel was
repeatedly offered five hundred guineas a year for the bird, by persons
who wished to make a public exhibition of her; but this, out of
tenderness to the favourite, he constantly refused. She could not only
repeat a great number of sentences, but answer questions put to her.
When singing, she beat time with all the appearance of science; and so
accurate was her judgment that if by chance she mistook a note, she
would revert to the bar where the mistake was made, correct herself, and
still beating regular time, go through the whole with wonderful
exactness." A Grey parrot is said to have been sold in 1500, for a
hundred guineas, to a Lord High Cardinal at Rome, on account of its
ability to repeat, without error, the Apostles' Creed.
The Grey Parrot.
The Grey Parrot though less attractive in colour than other species, is
perhaps the most popular of the parrot family on account of its superior
accomplishments as an imitator of familiar sounds. Mr. Jesse secured
from a lady friend a description of the performances of a grey parrot
which resided at Hampton Court, from which we quote the following: "Her
laugh is quite extraordinary, and it is impossible not to help joining
in it, more especially when in the midst of it she cries out, 'Don't
make me laugh so; I shall die, I shall die!' and then continues laughing
more violently than before. Her crying and sobbing are curious; and if
you say, 'Poor Poll, what is the matter?' she says, 'So bad, so bad; got
such a cold;' and after crying some time, will gradually cease, and
making a noise like drawing a long breath, say, 'Better now,' and
begins to laugh." "If any one happens to cough or sneeze, she says,
'what a bad cold.' She calls the cat very plainly, saying, 'puss, puss,'
and then answers 'mew'; but the most amusing part is, that whenever I
want to make her call it, and to that purpose say, 'puss, puss', myself
she always answers, 'mew', till I begin mewing; and then she begins
calling 'puss', as quickly as possible. She imitates every kind of
noise, and barks so naturally, that I have known her to set all the dogs
on the parade of Hampton Court barking, and the consternation I have
seen her cause in a party of cocks and hens, by her crowing and
chuckling, has been the most ludicrous thing possible. She sings just
like a child and I have more than once thought it was a human being; and
it is most ludicrous to hear her make what one would call a false note
and then say, 'oh la!' and burst out laughing at herself, beginning
again in quite another key. She is very fond of singing 'Buy a Broom',
which she says quite plainly, but if we say, with a view to make her
repeat it, 'Buy a Broom', she always says 'Buy a _Brush_', and then
laughs as a child might do when mischievous. She often performs a kind
of exercise which I do not know how to describe, except by saying that
it is like the lance exercise. She puts her claw behind her, first on
one side and then on the other, then in front, and round over her head;
and whilst doing so, keeps saying, 'Come on, come on!' and when finished
she says 'Bravo, beautiful,' and draws herself up."
Parrot Talk.
To deny the parrot the understanding of what it says, is to relieve it
of the responsibility of using bad language, and offering unsound
advice, and this it surely needs. A gentleman who was in the habit of
kissing his parrot and then kissing his wife, before leaving home in the
morning, taught the bird to say, on being kissed, "Now kiss the missus,"
with the result that most of the gentlemen visitors who took any notice
of the parrot were recommended to salute the lady of the house. Another
parrot whose cage occupied a window close to a fashionable church
continually accosted the passers-by, by calling out "That's right! Go to
church, keep up appearances." Such remarks must often be very
embarrassing, as must have been the words and actions of a parrot who
frequently called out "Who kissed the pretty girl?" and then gave a
perfect imitation of the sound of several kisses in succession. Perhaps
no more aggravating use was ever made of a parrot's powers than that
witnessed by Buffon, who says, "I have seen a parrot very ridiculously
employed, belonging to a distiller who had suffered pretty severely in
his circumstances from an informer who lived opposite him. This bird was
taught to pronounce the ninth commandment,--'Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbour,' with a very clear, loud, articulate
voice. The bird was generally placed in a cage over against the
informer's house, and delighted the whole neighbourhood with its
persevering exhortations."
ORDER IV.
Pigeons.
There are many varieties of pigeons, some being peculiar to certain
districts, and others covering a much more extended geographical area.
Mr. Darwin divides the British varieties into four groups: I. The
English carrier; the Runt, and the Barb. II. The Fantail; the African
owl; the Short-faced Tumbler; the Indian Frill-back; and the Jacobin.
III. The English Pouter, and IV. The Dove-cote pigeon; the Swallow; the
Spot; the Nun; the English Frill-back; the Laugher, and the Trumpeter.
The Passenger pigeon of America, the Nicobar pigeon of the Philippine
Islands, the Great-crowned pigeon of New Guinea and the Hook-billed
ground pigeon of Samoa are other important species.
Carrier Pigeons.
In the "Percy Anecdotes" there is a brief history of the use of carrier
pigeons, which we quote as follows:--"The first mention we find made of
the employment of pigeons as letter carriers is by Ovid, in his
'Metamorphoses', who tells us that Taurosthenes, by a pigeon stained
with purple, gave notice of his having been victor at the Olympic games
on the very same day to his father at Ægina. Pliny informs us that
during the siege of Modena by Marc Antony, pigeons were employed by
Brutus to keep up a correspondence with the besieged. When the city of
Ptolemais, in Syria, was invested by the French and Venetians, and it
was ready to fall into their hands, they observed a pigeon flying over
them, and immediately conjectured that it was charged with letters to
the garrison. On this, the whole army raising a loud shout, so
confounded the poor aërial post that it fell to the ground, and on being
seized, a letter was found under its wings, from the sultan, in which he
assured the garrison that 'he would be with them in three days, with an
army sufficient to raise the siege.' For this letter the besiegers
substituted another to this purpose, 'that the garrison must see to
their own safety, for the sultan had such other affairs pressing him
that it was impossible for him to come to their succour;' and with this
false intelligence they let the pigeon free to pursue his course. The
garrison, deprived by this decree of all hope of relief, immediately
surrendered. The sultan appeared on the third day, as promised, with a
powerful army, and was not a little mortified to find the city already
in the hands of the Christians. Carrier pigeons were again employed, but
with better success, at the siege of Leyden, in 1675. The garrison were,
by means of the information thus conveyed to them, induced to stand out,
till the enemy, despairing of reducing the place, withdrew. On the siege
being raised, the Prince of Orange ordered that the pigeons who had
rendered such essential service should be maintained at the public
expense, and that at their death they should be embalmed and preserved
in the town house, as a perpetual token of gratitude."
Pigeons on the Wing.
Pigeons are said to travel as fast as 2,200 yards per minute and to
sustain flight for hundreds of miles at a stretch. The extraordinary
manner in which they will find their way almost incredible distances has
suggested all kinds of speculation as to the instinct or sense which
guides them. A well known pigeon fancier, interviewed by a writer who
published the results of the interview in "Chums" (Cassell & Co.) says,
"The popular notion that carrier pigeons are guided by some 'direction
sense,' or blind instinct, is quite as absurd as the French belief that
they follow certain electrical currents. I have had to do with pigeons
for over twenty years," he continued, "and I am open to demonstrate to
anyone that in flight they are guided by sight alone. Of course, some
pigeons are more sagacious, cleverer than others; but the fact remains,
and everything tends to prove it. For example, no carrier-pigeon can
find its way over a strange country: it often gets lost in a fog; and
again, until taught by experience, it is often led astray by colours and
objects which appear to be familiar. Quite recently, when I was trying
some young birds, I had an instance of how easily they may be led
astray. Close to my residence is a large red-brick building, which, to
an old bird, would prove a good landmark miles away. In this case,
however, the birds had not been tried before, although, of course, they
had been let loose and had circled round the loft for several weeks. I
took five birds with me some half-mile distant from home; and, letting
them loose separately from the box, was rather surprised to see four out
of the five, after circling round, fly off in an entirely opposite
direction to that in which they should have gone. I soon solved the
mystery, however, for, watching the birds, I saw they were making for
another red-brick building, which showed up clearly in the sunlight.
Arriving there, each one evidently discovered its mistake, and, after
flying back to the starting-point, found their whereabouts, and made for
home--not in a straight line, however, for young birds invariably take a
crooked, tortuous path, as though feeling their way. If pigeons are let
loose on water (from a boat in a lake or wide river), they always make
for the nearest land first; then, circling round, widening their circle
and rising higher at the same time, they keep the starting-point in view
until they sight some familiar object, in which direction they travel.
If a bird is dull, or 'stupid,' as we term it, and has been tried from
various points of the compass, it often happens that, when taken to a
distance (say thirty or forty miles), the time occupied in reaching the
loft is three of four times longer than was expected; but, take it there
next day, and the journey will be done quicker than a mile a minute. Why
is that? Well, the birds get confused; some object which it may have
seen on a former journey, may possibly stand out boldly; and, flying at
once toward this, the bird may find itself just as far from finding the
'lay of the land.' Thus it may go from one familiar point to another
before 'striking' for home. That is the reason why, in training a bird
for a match, we take it only in the direction from which it will have to
fly, increase the distance gradually, until the bird is familiar with
the path it must travel and recognises each landmark as soon as it comes
in sight."
ORDER V.
Fowls.