A VERY beautiful species of the Deer is found in the East Indies, of a

light red colour, though some of the kind are of a deeper red. It is

about the size of a fallow deer, and often variegated with beautiful

spots of bright white. The horns are slender and triple-forked. The Axis

is a timid and harmless creature, more ornamental to the landscape,

where it skips and plays in a wild state, than useful to man. It is

extremely docile, and possesses the sense of smelling to an exquisite

degree. Though it is a native of the banks of the Ganges, it appears to

bear the climates of Europe without injury.

THE MUSK DEER. (_Moschus moschiferus._)

THIS is a small species of Deer, quite destitute of horns, which lives

on the vast plains of Central Asia. It is distinguished by possessing a

pair of canine teeth or tusks in the upper jaw; and these teeth, which

are not found in the ruminant animals generally, are so long in the Musk

Deer that they project from the sides of the mouth and descend below

the chin. The Musk Deer is exceedingly active, and leaps to an

astonishing height. The male is remarkable for possessing a pouch about

the size of an egg, near the navel; this contains a brown, oily matter,

of a most powerful odour, which is the well-known perfume called _musk_,

so highly esteemed amongst Eastern nations.

[Illustration: THE GIRAFFE, OR CAMELOPARD.

(_Camelopardalis Giraffa._)]

THIS most remarkable ruminant, which in its general structure nearly

approaches the Deer, has points of affinity also with the antelopes and

camels, besides very striking peculiarities of its own.

The head is the most beautiful part of the animal: it is small, and the

eyes are large, brilliant, and very full. Between the eyes, and above

the nose, is a swelling very prominent and well-defined. This prominence

is not a fleshy excrescence, but an enlargement of the bony substance;

and it seems to be similar to the two little lumps, or horns, with which

the top of the head is armed, and which, being several inches in length,

spring on each side of the head, just above the ears, and are terminated

by a thick tuft of stiff upright hairs. The neck is remarkably

elongated, and it is furnished with a very short, stiff mane, which

stands out erect from the skin. The height of a full-grown Giraffe in a

wild state is said to be seventeen or eighteen feet, measuring from the

hoofs to the tip of the ears; but none of those in England exceed

fourteen feet. At first sight, the fore legs appear much longer than the

hind ones; but the fact is, that the legs are of the same length, and it

is only the height of the withers that occasions the apparent

disproportion. Le Vaillant was the first well-informed naturalist who

studied the habits of the Giraffe in its wild state. “If,” he says,

“among the known quadrupeds, precedency be allowed to height, the

Giraffe without doubt must hold the first rank. A male which I have in

my collection measured, after I killed it, sixteen feet four inches from

the hoof to the extremity of its horns. I use this expression in order

to be understood; for the Giraffe has no real horns; but between its

ears, at the upper extremity of the head, arise in a perpendicular and

parallel direction two excrescences from the cranium, which without any

joint stretch to the height of eight or nine inches, terminating in a

convex knob, and are surrounded by a row of strong straight hair, which

overtops them by several lines. The female is generally lower than the

male.... In consequence of the number of these animals which I killed,

or had an opportunity of seeing, I may establish as a certain rule that

the males are generally fifteen or sixteen feet in height, and the

females from thirteen to fourteen feet.” The colour of the Giraffe is a

light fawn, marked with spots only a few shades darker. The legs are

very slender; and, notwithstanding the length of the neck, it manifests

great difficulty in taking anything from the ground. To do this, it puts

out first one foot, and then the other; repeating the same process

several times; and it is only after several of these experiments that it

at length bends down its neck, and applies its lips and tongue to the

object in question. In fact, the neck of the Giraffe, although so

enormously long, is not very flexible, as it contains only the same

number of vertebræ or joints (seven) that is found in other quadrupeds

with a much shorter neck; it is admirably adapted for enabling the

animal to browse upon the branches of trees, but is not intended to fit

it for grazing. It willingly accepts fruit and branches of a tree when

offered to it; and seizes the foliage in a most singular manner,

thrusting forth a long, reddish, and very narrow tongue, which it rolls

round whatever it wishes to secure. Indeed, the tongue is a most

remarkable organ in this animal, and we have been witness of some

amusing exploits with it. In the Zoological Gardens at Regent’s Park,

many a fair lady has been robbed of the artificial flowers which have

adorned her bonnet, by the nimble, filching tongue of the rare object of

her admiration.

The Giraffe is a native of Africa; and it was for a long time known only

by the descriptions of travellers. It was first sent to Europe in 1829;

but since that time many have been introduced, and several young ones

have been born in the Zoological Gardens in the Regent’s Park.

Le Vaillant, in his entertaining Travels in Africa, gives an animated

account of a Giraffe hunt:--“After several hours’ fatigue, we

discovered, at the turn of a hill, seven Giraffes, which my pack

instantly pursued. Six of them went off together; but the seventh, cut

off by my dogs, took another way. I followed it at full speed, but, in

spite of the efforts of my horse, she got so much ahead of me that, in

turning a little hill, I lost sight of her altogether. My dogs, however,

were not so easily put out. They were soon so close upon her, that she

was obliged to stop to defend herself. From the place where I was, I

heard them give tongue with all their might; and, as their voices

appeared all to come from the same spot, I conjectured that they had got

the animal in a corner, and I again pushed forward. I had scarcely got

round the hill, when I perceived her surrounded by the dogs, and

endeavouring to drive them away by heavy kicks. In a moment I was on my

feet, and a shot from my carbine brought her to the earth. Enchanted

with my victory, I returned to call my people about me, that they might

assist in skinning and cutting up the animal. On my return I found her

standing under a large ebony-tree, assailed by my dogs. She had

staggered to this place, and fell dead at the moment I was about to take

a second shot.”

The horns of the Giraffe, small as they are, and muffled with skin and

hair, are by no means the insignificant weapons they seem. We have seen

them wielded by the males against each other with fearful and reckless

force; and we know that they are the natural arms of the Giraffe, most

dreaded by the keeper of the present living Giraffes in the Zoological

Gardens, because they are most commonly and suddenly put in use. The

Giraffe does not butt by depressing and suddenly elevating the head,

like the deer, ox, or sheep; but strikes the callous obtuse extremities

of the horns against the object of his attack, with a sidelong sweep of

the neck.

The Giraffe has a peculiarly awkward manner of trotting, as it moves

both the legs on one side at the same time. In galloping, the Giraffe

separates its hind legs widely, and at each stride brings them far

forward on each side of the fore feet; in this way the animal makes

rapid progress, although its appearance is rather extraordinary, and the

stones cast backwards by the force of the hind feet not unfrequently

assist in protecting it when closely pursued. The female Giraffe in the

Regent’s Park was a very bad mother to her first young one, as she would

not let it suck, and beat it away whenever it approached. The poor thing

was fed with cow’s milk, but it soon died. Later young ones have been

more kindly treated, and have in consequence thriven well.

[Illustration: THE BACTRIAN CAMEL. (_Camelus Bactrianus._)]

“In silent horror, o’er the boundless waste,

The driver Hassan with his Camels passed:

One cruse of water on his back he bore,

And his light scrip contained a scanty store:

A fan of painted feathers in his hand,

To guard his shaded face from scorching sand;

The sultry sun had gained the middle sky,

And not a tree, and not a herb was nigh:

The beasts with pain their dusty way pursue,

Shrill roar’d the winds, and dreary was the view!”

COLLINS.

THE BACTRIAN CAMEL is a native of the deserts of Asia, and is generally

of a brown or ash colour. His height is about six feet. He is one of the

most useful quadrupeds in oriental countries; his docility and strength,

his endurance of hunger and thirst, and his swiftness, make him a most

valuable acquisition to the inhabitants of those desert places. The

principal characteristics of the Camel are these:--He has two large and

hard bunches on his back, and is destitute of horns; the upper lip is

divided like that of the hare; and the hoofs small and placed at the end

of two long toes, which are united below by a pad-like sole. But the

peculiar and distinguishing characteristic of the Camel is its faculty

of abstaining from water for a greater length of time than any other

animal; for which nature has made a wonderful provision, by adapting the

surface of one of the four stomachs, which it has in common with all

ruminating animals, to serve as a reservoir for water, where it remains

without corrupting or mixing with the other aliments. By this singular

structure it can take a prodigious quantity of water at one draught, and

is enabled to pass as much as fifteen days without drinking again. But

besides this reservoir of water the animal is said in cases of emergency

to draw sustenance from the humps on his back, which are of a fatty

substance: thus, after long privation, they become absorbed. A large

Camel is capable of carrying ten or even twelve hundredweight, and, like

the elephant, is tame and tractable; but, like him, he has his

periodical fits of rage, and at these times has been known to take up a

man in his teeth, throw him on the ground, and trample him under his

feet. Like the horse, he gives security to his rider; and, like the cow,

he furnishes his owner with meat for his table, and the female with milk

for his drink. The flesh of the young Camel is esteemed a delicacy, and

the milk of the female, diluted in water, is the common drink of the

Arabians. The hair or fleece, which falls off entirely in the spring, is

superior to that of any other domestic animal, and is made into very

fine stuffs, for clothes, coverings, tents, and other furniture. The

female goes one year with young, and produces but one at a time. The

Camel kneels to receive his burthen, and it is said that he refuses to

rise if his master imposes upon him a weight above his strength. He has

callosities on his knees and on his breast, which prevent him from being

hurt by kneeling to take up his load; and sleeps with his knees bent

under him, and his breast on the ground. He arrives at maturity in about

five years, and the duration of his life is from forty to fifty years.

[Illustration: THE ARABIAN CAMEL, OR DROMEDARY.

(_Camelus Dromedarius._)]

ANOTHER species of Camel, of less stature than the former, but much

swifter, and having but one hard bunch on his back, is domesticated

throughout Africa, as well as in Asia. It is said that a Dromedary can

travel one hundred miles a day, and carry fifteen hundredweight.

Attempts have been made to introduce the Camel and Dromedary into our

West India islands, but they have not succeeded; they have, however,

been comparatively naturalized near Pisa in Italy. The Camels used as

beasts of burden in Egypt are all Dromedaries; and the first experiment

which an European makes in bestriding one is generally a service of some

little danger, from the peculiarity of the animal’s movement in rising.

Denon, the French traveller, has described this with his usual vivacity:

“During the French invasion of Egypt, a part of Dessaix’s division,” to

which the scientific traveller was attached, “was sent with Camels to a

distant post across the desert. The Camel, slow as he generally is in

his actions, lifts up his hind legs very briskly at the instant the

rider is in the saddle; the man is thus thrown forward; a similar

movement of the fore legs throws him backward; each motion is repeated;

and it is not till the fourth movement, when the Dromedary is fairly on

his feet, that the rider can recover his balance. None of us could

resist the first impulse, and thus nobody could laugh at his

companions.” Macfarlane, in his work on Constantinople, tells us that

upon his first Camel adventure he was so unprepared for the probable

effect of the creature’s rising behind, that he was thrown over his

head, to the infinite amusement of the Turks, who laughed heartily at

his inexperience.

Though the name of Dromedary is very generally applied to all the

one-humped camels, both in common parlance and books on Natural History,

it is said that the true Dromedary (_El Herie_) is merely a peculiarly

swift camel. The name of Dromedary, indeed, appears to be applied in the

East to all the higher bred camels, the genealogy of which is kept by

the Arabs as carefully as that of their horses.

Possessing strength and activity surpassing that of most beasts of

burthen, docile, patient of hunger and thirst, and contented with small

quantities of the coarsest provender, the camel is one of the most

valuable gifts of Providence. There is nothing, however, in the exterior

appearance of the animal to indicate the existence of any of its

excellent qualities. In form and proportions it is very opposite to our

usual ideas of perfection and beauty. A stout body, having the back

disfigured by a great hump; limbs long, slender, and seemingly too weak

to support the trunk; a long, thin, crooked neck, surmounted by a

heavily-proportioned head, are all ill-suited to produce favourable

impressions. Nevertheless, there is no creature more excellently adapted

to its situation, nor is there one in which more of creative wisdom is

displayed in the peculiarities of its organization. To the Arabs, and

other wanderers of the desert, the Camel is at once wealth, subsistence,

and protection.

[Illustration: THE LLAMA, OR CAMEL OF AMERICA,

(_Auchenia glama_,)]

IS a mild, timorous creature, not above four feet and a half in height,

and usually of a brown colour. It bears in form a general resemblance to

the Camel; but, instead of a protuberance on the back, it has one on the

breast. Llamas are used as beasts of burden by the South Americans, and

are so capriciously vindictive, that, if their drivers strike them, they

immediately squat down, and nothing but caresses can induce them to rise

again. They have been known to kill themselves by striking their heads

against the ground in their rage, when by blows they have been urged

forward against their will. They express their anger by spitting at

their adversary. The _Alpacas_ are much smaller than the Llamas, and of

different colours in a domestic state. They are used for the same

purposes, and differ little in habits and nature. The wool of both these

animals is made use of for several purposes, and is a principal

ingredient in the composition of hats in several parts of the new and

old continent; and the flesh of the young Llamas is, in their native

country, considered a great delicacy, and is as good as that of the fat

sheep of Castile. In Peru, where the animals are found, there are public

shambles for the sale of their flesh.

§ IX.--_Quadrumana, or Four-handed Animals._

[Illustration: THE OURANG OUTAN. (_Simia satyrus._)]

ANIMALS of the Monkey tribe are furnished with hands instead of paws;

their ears, eyes, eyelids, lips, and breasts resemble those of the human

species. For greater facility of description, the animals of this

extensive tribe are usually arranged in the three divisions of Apes,

Baboons, and Monkeys. Apes are destitute of tails, and the chief of this

kind is the Ourang Outan, or Wild Man of the Woods: he is found in the

forests of Borneo and Sumatra. He is a solitary animal, and avoids

mankind. The largest are said to be six feet high, very active, strong,

and intrepid, capable of overcoming the strongest man: they are likewise

exceedingly swift, and cannot easily be taken alive. When young,

however, the Ourang Outan is capable of being tamed: one of them, shown

in London some years ago, was taught to sit at table, make use of a

spoon or fork in eating, and drink wine out of a glass. It was mild and

affectionate, much attached to its keeper, and obedient to his

commands.

[Illustration: THE CHIMPANZEE.

(_Simia Troglodytes_, or _Troglodytes niger_.)]

THIS Ape, which is an inhabitant of the great forests of Western Africa,

is generally considered to be that which approaches nearest to the human

species in its conformation. When full-grown, he measures about five

feet in height, standing erect, but this is a posture which he does not

naturally prefer, and when on the ground he usually walks upon all

fours, applying the outside of his hinder feet and the knuckles of his

fore limbs to the earth. His skin is clothed with long coarse black or

dark-brown hair, which becomes scanty on the lower surface of the body

and on the limbs; the face is naked and of a flesh colour, and at each

side there hangs down a great bush of long hair like a whisker. The

Chimpanzee lives in the trees, upon the branches of which he is very

active, and he has intelligence enough to build himself a sort of hut of

branches, usually about thirty or forty feet from the ground. His food

consists chiefly of fruits, and he is said to fly from the presence of

man.

Young Chimpanzees have frequently been brought to this and other

European countries, and several of them have been exhibited in our

Zoological Gardens. They are generally gentle and rather melancholy in

their deportment, and often show much affection for those who have the

charge of them. Of a specimen exhibited in France in his time, Buffon

gives the following interesting account: “I have seen this animal,” he

says, “present its hand to lead out its visitors, or walk about with

them gravely as if it belonged to the company. I have seen it seat

itself at table, unfold its napkin and wipe its lips, use its spoon and

fork to carry its food to its mouth, pour its drink into a glass, and

touch glasses when invited; fetch a cup and saucer to the table, put in

sugar, pour out its tea, and leave it to cool before drinking it; and

all this without any other instigation than the signs and words of its

master, and often of its own accord.” Buffon adds that it had a taste

which, no doubt, some of our young readers partake: “It was excessively

fond of sugar-plums.”

[Illustration: THE GORILLA. (_Troglodytes Gorilla._)]

THIS wonderful Ape, which has lately been discovered in the same region

inhabited by the Chimpanzee, is thought, in some respects, to possess

even a greater resemblance to our own species. He is said to attain a

height of seven feet, but the largest specimens hitherto obtained have

been rather less than six feet high. By some travellers the Gorilla is

said to walk upright, with his hands resting on the nape of his neck,

but the state of his knuckles shows that he usually goes, like the

Chimpanzee, on all fours. His skin is covered with short grizzled hair,

and the naked skin of his face and hands is black. The Gorilla is much

dreaded by the negroes who have to pass through the forests frequented

by him when engaged in hunting the Elephant; this is not on account of

his teeth, although they are sufficiently formidable, but of the

enormous strength of his hands, with which he can strangle a man in a

moment, and it is even said that the old males never miss an opportunity

of performing this operation. It is even said, that as a party of

hunters is passing through the forest, one of their number will

sometimes disappear suddenly, being caught up by a Gorilla lurking upon

the low branches of a tree; the monster speedily strangles his victim

and then lets the body fall.

[Illustration: THE MAGOT, OR BARBARY APE, (_Inuus sylvanus_,)]

IS a species of Monkey quite destitute of a tail, which inhabits the

northern parts of Africa, and is also found on the Rock of Gibraltar.

Caubasson relates a laughable anecdote of one of these animals, which he

brought up tame, and which became so attached to him as to be desirous

of accompanying him wherever he went: when, therefore, he had to perform

divine service, he was under the necessity of shutting him up. One day,

however, the animal escaped, and followed the father to church, where,

silently mounting on the top of the sounding-board, above the pulpit, he

lay perfectly quiet till the sermon began. He then crept to the edge,

and, overlooking the preacher, imitated his gestures in so grotesque a

manner, that the whole congregation were convulsed with laughter.

Caubasson, surprised and displeased at this ill-timed levity, reproved

his auditors for their inattention; and on the obvious failure of his

reproof, he, in the warmth of zeal, redoubled his gesticulations and his

vociferations. These the Ape so exactly imitated that all respect for

their pastor was swallowed up in the scene before them, and they burst

into a loud and continued roar of laughter. A friend of the preacher at

length stepped up to him; and on perceiving the cause of this hilarity,

it was with the utmost difficulty he could command a serious countenance

while he ordered the Ape to be taken away.

[Illustration: THE BABOON. (_Cynocephalus._)]

A GENUS of Quadrumana, which comprises a large, fierce, and formidable

race of animals, who, though they in a slight degree partake of the

human conformation, like the Ourang Outan, &c., are in their

dispositions and habits the very reverse of gentleness and docility. The

Baboons are the ugliest of all the Quadrumana. Their eyes are small, and

sunk underneath their eyebrows. Their forehead is low, and the

development of the snout and face is enormously disproportioned to the

size of the skull. Their great strength and fierce disposition make them

very much dreaded in the countries they inhabit. Baboons differ from the

apes on the one hand, and the monkeys on the other, by having short

tails.

The _Common Baboon_ is of a sandy colour, with a reddish shade on the

shoulders, head, and back. It is playful and good-tempered when young,

but becomes morose and savage with age. Buffon thus describes a

full-grown specimen he saw:--“It was not altogether hideous, and yet it

excited horror. It seemed to be always in a state of savage ferocity,

grinding its teeth, perpetually restless, and agitated by unprovoked

fury. It was a stout-built animal, whose nervous limbs and compressed

form indicated great force and agility; and, though the length and

thickness of its shaggy coat made it appear much larger than it really

was, it was so strong and active that it might easily have repelled the

attacks of several unarmed men.”

The _Cape Baboon_, or _Chacura_ (_Cynocephalus porcarius_), is as big as

a large mastiff, covered with hair of an olive-black colour on the back,

and with paler hair beneath. He has a canine face; the snout resembles

that of a hog, and the nails are flat, but sharp and very strong. It is

said that he follows goats and sheep in order to drink their milk; he

partakes of human dexterity in getting the kernels out of nuts, and

loves to be covered with garments; he stands upright, and imitates with

ease many human actions. The cunning of these animals is well

exemplified in their mode of plunder. They form long lines, extending

from their retreat to the object in view, and then pitch the produce of

their theft from hand to hand till it is secure.

The _Mandrill_ is the largest kind of Baboon, being nearly five feet

high when it stands upright. It is distinguished from other Baboons by

having a large protuberance on either cheek, which is marked with

numerous red, blue, and purple stripes.

“Those which have been observed in a domestic state are generally

remarked to have had a strong taste for fermented and spirituous

liquors. A remarkably fine individual which was long kept at Exeter

Change, and afterwards at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, drank his pot

of porter daily, and evidently enjoyed it; it was a most amusing sight

to see him seated in his little armchair with his quart pot beside him,

and smoking his short pipe with all the gravity and perseverance of a

Dutchman. In a state of nature his great strength and malicious

character render the Mandrill a truly formidable animal. As they

generally march in large bands they prove more than a match for the

other inhabitants of the forest. The inhabitants themselves are afraid

to pass through the woods unless in large companies and well armed.”

[Illustration:

THE PROBOSCIS.

(_Nasalis larvatus._)

THE DIANA MONKEY.

(_Cercopithecus Diana._)

]

THE PROBOSCIS MONKEY is so called from its long projecting and

disproportionate nose; it is an inhabitant of the island of Borneo,

where it lives in troops on trees in the vicinity of its rivers. It is

of a savage disposition. The Diana Monkey is called after the goddess of

that name, from the crescent of white hair which ornaments its brow. It

is very playful, and one of the most graceful of the tribe; it is found

in the hottest parts of Africa. Monkeys are less in stature, and more

numerous, than the apes and baboons. They live almost entirely in trees.

Their natural food is vegetable--fruit of all sorts, corn, and even

grass; but when domesticated, they learn to eat almost anything that is

served on our tables.

There are few persons that are not acquainted with the various mimicries

of these animals, and their capricious feats of activity. Anecdotes of

this kind are very numerous; we shall content ourselves by giving the

following:--Captain Stedman, while hunting among the woods of Surinam

for provisions, says, that he shot at two of these animals, but that the

destruction to one of them was attended with such circumstances as to

ever afterwards deter him from going monkey hunting. “Seeing me nearly

on the bank of the river, in the canoe,” says he, “the creature made a

halt from skipping after his companions, and, being perched on a branch

that overhung the water, examined me with the strongest marks of

curiosity; while he chattered prodigiously, and kept shaking the boughs

on which he rested, with incredible strength and agility. At this time I

laid my piece to my shoulder and brought him down from the tree: but may

I never again be witness to such a scene! The miserable animal was not

dead, but mortally wounded. I seized him by the tail, and taking him in

both my hands, to end his torment swung him round, and hit his head

against the side of the canoe; but the poor creature still continued to

live, and looked at me in the most affecting manner that can be

conceived. I therefore knew no other means of ending his murder than to

hold him under water till he was drowned: but even in doing this, my

heart sickened; for his little dying eyes still continued to follow me

with seeming reproach, till their light gradually forsook them, and the

wretched animal expired.”

The manner in which some of the Monkey tribe capture shell-fish is

remarkably indicative of their cunning and ingenuity. The oysters of the

tropical climates, being larger than ours, the Monkeys, when they reach

the sea-side, pick up stones, and thrust them between the opening

shells, which being thus prevented from closing, the cunning animals eat

the fish at their ease. In order to attract crabs, they put their tails

before the holes in which they have taken refuge; and when the creatures

have fastened on the lure, the Monkeys suddenly withdraw their tails,

and thus drag their prey on shore.

The Monkey generally brings forth one at a time, and sometimes two. They

are rarely found to breed when brought over into Europe; but those that

do exhibit a very striking picture of parental affection. The male and

female are never tired of fondling their young one. They instruct it

with no little assiduity; and often severely correct it, if stubborn, or

disinclined to profit by their example. They hand it from one to the

other, and when the male has done showing his regard the female takes

her turn in the work of affection.

[Illustration: THE CAPUCHIN AND SPIDER MONKEYS,

(_Cebus Capucinus_ and _Ateles paniscus_,)]

ARE both natives of South America; they live in large troops, feeding on

roots, fruits, and insects, and are much more gentle than those of the

old world. Of the _Capuchin_ there are many species, differing from each

other in colour only; they are very lively, active, and amusing, and

about a foot long. The Spider Monkey, like the Capuchin, has a long

prehensile tail, which it uses like a fifth hand. Nature seems by this

addition to have more than recompensed them for the want of a thumb, for

by it, when they are unable to leap from one tree to another, on account

of the distance, they form a kind of chain, with their young upon their

backs, hanging down by each other’s tails. One of them holds the branch

above, and the rest swing to and fro like a pendulum, until the

undermost is enabled to catch hold; the first then lets go his hold, and

thus comes undermost in his turn; in this way they can travel a great

distance without ever touching the ground. Curious illustrations of this

are daily seen at the Zoological Gardens, where there are several of

these Monkeys.

[Illustration: THE OUISTITI AND MARIKINA MONKEYS.

(_Jacchus vulgaris_ and _Rosalia_.)]

THE OUISTITI, or MARMOZET, inhabits the Brazils, and is of small size,

not measuring more than seven inches, though his tail is near eleven; he

weighs about six ounces, and, like others of his kind, lives not only on

vegetables, but also upon insects, the eggs of birds, and even small

birds. His face is almost naked, of a swarthy flesh colour, with a white

spot above the nose; the tail is full of hair, and annulated with

ash-coloured and black rings alternately; his nails are sharp, and his

fingers like those of a squirrel.

The MARIKINA is a beautiful little animal, not above nine inches long,

and is sometimes called the Lion Monkey; his hair is long, soft, and

glossy; his head is round, his face brown, and his ears hid under the

long hairs which surround his face, and which are of a bright red, while

those on his body and tail are of a beautiful pale yellow, or gold

colour. He is very playful, and of a seemingly robust temperament, for

we have seen one which lived five or six years in Paris, without any

other particular care than keeping it during the winter in a chamber in

which there was a fire every day.

[Illustration: THE LEMUR AND THE MONGOOS,

(_Lemur macaco_ and _Lemur albifrons_,)]

MAY be considered as the connecting link between the Monkeys and the

genuine quadruped. Their habits are nocturnal, whence they have been

called Lemurs, or ghosts. They pass a considerable portion of the day in

sleep, rolled up like a ball, with the large tail passed between the

hind legs, and twisted round the neck. They live in troops, more or less

numerous, like the apes and monkeys, on trees, and climb with great

quickness, and leap with so much force as frequently to rise ten feet at

a single bound. They feed on fruits, roots, &c., and carry their food to

their mouth with their hands, like the apes; their voice, when not

alarmed, is a quick grunt. Their nocturnal and unobtrusive habits may

probably account in some degree for the rarity of their appearance. They

are all inhabitants of Madagascar, but allied species are also found in

Bengal, and other parts of Hindostan, in Ceylon, and Java. The above

specimens are from the Zoological Gardens, and are the White-fronted and

the Black and White Lemurs.

BOOK II.

INHABITANTS OF THE AIR.

§ I. RAPTORES. _Diurnal Birds of Prey._

[Illustration: THE GOLDEN EAGLE. (_Aquila chrysaëtos._)]

“But who the various nations can declare,

That plough with busy wing the peopled air?

These cleave the crumbling bark for insect food,

Those dip the crooked beak in kindred blood:

Some haunt the rushy moor, the lonely woods;

Some bathe their silver plumage in the floods;

Some fly to man, his household gods implore,

And gather round his hospitable door,

Wait the known call, and find protection there

From all the lesser tyrants of the air.

The tawny Eagle seats his callow brood

High on the cliff, and feasts his young with blood.”

BARBAULD.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE is one of the largest and most powerful of all those

birds that have received the name of Eagle. It weighs above twelve

pounds. Its length, from the point of the beak to the end of the tail,

is about three feet; the breadth, when the wings are extended, is seven

or eight feet. The beak is horny, crooked, and very strong. The feathers

of the neck are of a rusty colour, and the rest dark brown. The feet are

feathered down to the claws, which have a wonderful grasp; the toes are

yellow, and the four talons are crooked and strong. As in all birds of

prey, the female is the larger, and more powerful.

Eagles are remarkable for their longevity, and their faculty of

sustaining a long abstinence from food. Of all birds the Eagle flies

highest; and from thence the ancients have given it the epithet of the

_Bird of Heaven_:

“Bird of the broad and sweeping wing,

Thy home is high in heaven,

Where wide the storms their banners fling,

And the tempest’s clouds are driven.

Thy throne is on the mountain top,

Thy fields the boundless air;

And hoary peaks, that proudly prop

The skies, thy dwellings are.”

This formidable bird may be considered among its own species what the

lion is among quadrupeds; and in many respects they have a strong

similitude to each other. Solitary, like the lion, he keeps the wilds to

himself alone; it is as extraordinary to see two pairs of Eagles in the

same mountain, as two lions in the same plain.

The Eagle is found in Great Britain and Ireland, in Germany, and nearly

all parts of Europe. It is carnivorous, and, when unable to obtain the

flesh of larger animals, feeds on serpents and lizards. The story of the

Eagle, brought to the ground after a severe conflict with a cat, which

it had seized and taken up into the air with its talons, is very

remarkable; Mr. Barlow, who was an eye-witness of the fact, made a

drawing of it, which he afterwards engraved. Two instances are said to

have occurred in Scotland of the Eagle having flown away with infants to

its nest; but in both cases it is added that the children were

recovered, without being materially injured. This bird has been often

tamed, but in this situation it still preserves an innate love of

liberty. The nest of the Eagle is composed of strong sticks, and

generally built on the point of an inaccessible rock, whence it darts

upon its prey with the rapidity of lightning. The period of incubation

is said to be thirty days; and when the young are hatched, both the male

and female exert all their industry to provide for their wants. In the

county of Kerry a peasant is said once to have formed the resolution of

plundering an Eagle’s nest built upon a small island in the beautiful

lake of Killarney. He accordingly swam to the island while the parents

were away; and, after robbing the nest of the young, was preparing to

swim back with the Eaglets tied in a string; but while he was yet up to

the chin in the water, the old Eagles returned, and, missing their

family, fell upon the invader with such fury, that, in spite of all his

resistance, they despatched him with their beaks and talons.

Another native of Kerry was more fortunate in his dealings with the

Eagles. During a season of scarcity he obtained sustenance for himself

and his family by plundering an Eagle’s nest of the food brought in by

the parents for their young ones: and he was so artful as to prolong the

supply by cutting the wings of the Eaglets so as to prevent their

flying, and thus compelled the old birds to continue their attention to

their progeny.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE SEA EAGLE. (_Haliaëtus albicilla._)]

THIS bird, known also as the White-tailed Eagle, from the inside

feathers of its tail being white, differs from the golden eagle in the

greater length of its beak, in its sluggish and cowardly habits, and in

its coarser taste. It is a native of Great Britain, where it inhabits

the high rocks and cliffs that overhang the sea, and whence it pounces

on the birds, fish, or seals that it can procure for its prey. It is

smaller than the golden eagle, rarely reaching three feet in length; and

in young birds the tail feathers are brown.

[Illustration: THE WHITE-HEADED, OR BALD EAGLE.

(_Haliaëtus leucocephalus._)]

THIS bird is about three feet long, and seven feet broad, measuring to

the tips of the extended wings. The bill resembles that of the golden

eagle, and from the chin hang some small hairy feathers like a beard. As

it is found alike in the frigid and the torrid zone, it is provided for

enduring rapid changes of temperature, and its whole body is clothed

under the feathers with a kind of down, white and soft like that of the

swan. This bird builds its nest on lofty cliffs by the sea-shore, and on

the banks of rivers or lakes, and feeds almost entirely upon fish.

It is generally regarded by the Anglo-Americans with peculiar respect,

as the chosen emblem of their native land. The great cataract of Niagara

is mentioned as one of its favourite places of resort, not merely as a

fishing station, where it is enabled to satiate its hunger upon its most

congenial food, but also in consequence of the vast quantity of

four-footed beasts, which, unwarily venturing into the stream above, are

borne away by the torrent, and precipitated down those tremendous

falls:

“High o’er the watery uproar silent seen,

Sailing sedate in majesty serene,

Now ’midst the pillar’d spray sublimely lost,

And now emerging, down the rapids toss’d,

Glides the Bald Eagle, gazing calm and slow

O’er all the horrors of the scene below;

Intent alone to sate himself with blood,

From the torn victim of the raging flood.”

The number of birds of prey of various kinds which assemble at the foot

of the rocks to glut themselves upon the banquet thus provided for them,

is said to be incredibly great, but they are all compelled to give place

to the Eagle when he deigns to feed on dead animals; and the crow and

the vulture submit without a struggle to the exercise of that tyranny,

which they know it would be in vain to resist. “We have ourselves,” says

Wilson, “seen the Bald Eagle, while seated on the dead carcase of a

horse, keep a whole flock of vultures at a respectful distance, until he

had fully sated his own appetite:” and he adds another instance, in

which many thousands of tree squirrels having been drowned, in one of

their migrations, in attempting to pass the Ohio, and having furnished

for some length of time a rich banquet to the vultures, the sudden

appearance among them of the Bald Eagle at once put a stop to their

festivities, and drove them to a distance from their prey, of which the

Eagle kept sole possession for several successive days.

These Eagles sometimes hunt in pairs in a manner which shows their great

sagacity. Aware that water-fowl have the power of eluding their grasp by

diving, they hover at a distance from each other over their prey. One of

them then darts towards it with great swiftness, but the water-fowl

easily avoids the first attack by diving. The pursuer then rises into

the air, and his mate resumes the attack just as the fowl is emerging to

breathe, and compels it to plunge again. The Eagles continue alternately

to proceed in this manner till their victim is so exhausted that it

falls an easy prey.

This Eagle also frequently attacks the Osprey or Fish Hawk, when he is

returning from a successful excursion loaded with a large fish, and

compels him to drop his prey; the Eagle then descends with wonderful

rapidity, and generally succeeds in seizing the fish before it reaches

the water.

[Illustration: THE OSPREY, OR FISHING HAWK.

(_Pandion haliaëtus._)]

“True to the season, o’er our sea-beat shore

The sailing Osprey high is seen to soar

With broad unmoving wing; and circling slow,

Marks each loose straggler in the deep below;

Sweeps down like lightning, plunges with a roar,

And bears its struggling victim to the shore.”

THIS bird is always found on the sea-shore, or near rivers or lakes, as

it feeds entirely on fish. It is common in Great Britain, and also in

America, where large colonies of it are found, the birds living together

like rooks. “When looking out for its prey,” says Dr. Richardson, “it

sails with great ease and elegance, in undulating and curved lines, at a

considerable height above the water, till it perceives its prey, when it

pounces down upon it. It seizes the fish with its claws, sometimes

scarcely appearing to dip its feet in the water, and at others plunging

entirely under the surface with force sufficient to throw up a

considerable spray. It emerges again, however, so speedily, as to render

it evident that it does not attack fish swimming at any great depth.”

The toes are armed beneath with numerous sharp points, evidently

intended to assist the bird in getting a firm hold of its slippery prey.

The Osprey builds a large nest either on trees or rocks, and lays two or

three eggs, which have a reddish tinge, and are spotted with brown at

the larger end. The old birds feed the young ones even after they have

left the nest, and only rear one brood in the year.

[Illustration: THE BLACK EAGLE.]

SOME ornithologists suppose this to be merely the golden eagle in its

young state, but others make it a distinct species. It is about twice as

large as the raven. The parts about the beak and the eye are bare of

feathers, and somewhat reddish; the head, neck, and breast black; in the

middle of the back, between the shoulders, there is a large white spot,

dashed with red; a black streak sweeps along the feathers, and is

followed by a white one; the remaining part of the wing to the tip is of

a dark ash-colour. This bird has beautiful hazel eyes, full of

animation: his legs are feathered down a little below the tarsal joint,

the naked part being red; his talons are very long. He is found in

France, Germany, Poland, and delights in Alpine mountains, where he

makes the vales and woods resound with his incessant screamings when in

search of prey.

The Abbé Spallanzani had an eagle of this species, so powerful as to be

able to kill dogs that were much larger than itself. When a dog was

placed before it, the bird would ruffle up the feathers on its head and

neck, cast a dreadful look at its victim, take a short flight, and

immediately alight on its back. It held the head firmly with one foot,

and thus secured the dog from biting, and with the other grasped one of

his flanks, at the same time driving its talons into the body; and in

this attitude it continued, till the dog expired with fruitless outcries

and efforts.

The eyes of eagles are celebrated for their brilliancy and strength,

which has given rise to the popular opinion that they can gaze on the

sun without shrinking: though this, from the overhanging eyebrow of the

Eagle, would be an extremely difficult feat for the bird to perform. The

eyes of all birds are curiously constructed, so as to enable them to see

both distant objects and near ones with equal facility; and for this

purpose they are furnished with a membrane placed near the edge of the

crystalline lens of the eye, by which it can be moved at pleasure. The

orbit of the eye is formed of about twelve or sixteen bony plates, which

slide over each other when necessary. Birds are also furnished with an

additional eyelid, of extremely thin texture, with which they

occasionally appear to shade their eyes.

THE VULTURE. (_Vultur Monachus._)

THE first rank in the description of birds has been given to the eagle,

not on account of its size, but because it is nobler in its habits and

more delicate in its appetites. But it belongs to the falcon tribe, and

should be placed after the Vultures. The eagle, unless pressed by

famine, will not stoop to carrion; and generally devours only what he

has earned by his own pursuit. The Vulture, on the contrary, is

disgustingly voracious; and seldom attacks living animals when it can be

supplied with dead. The eagle meets and singly opposes his enemy: the

Vulture, if he expects resistance, calls in the aid of its kind, and

overpowers its prey by combination. Putrefaction, instead of deterring,

only serves to allure it. The Vulture seems among birds what the jackal

and hyæna are among quadrupeds, who prey upon carcases, and root up the

dead.

Vultures may be easily distinguished from eagles by the nakedness of

their heads and necks, which are without feathers, and only covered with

a very slight down, or a few scattered hairs; their eyes are more

prominent; those of the eagle being buried more in the socket, and

shaded by an overhanging eyebrow. Their claws are shorter and less

hooked. The inside of the wing is covered with a thick down, which is

different in them from all other birds of prey. Their attitude is not so

upright as that of the eagle, and their flight is more difficult and

heavy.

In this description we may include the Golden, the Ash-coloured, and the

Brown Vulture, which are inhabitants of Europe; the Spotted and the

Black Vulture of Egypt; the Bearded Vulture, the Brazilian Vulture and

the King of the Vultures, of South America. They all agree in their

nature, being equally indolent, rapacious, and unclean. The Condor also

belongs to the Vulture tribe.

[Illustration: THE KING VULTURE. (_Vultur_, or _Sarcorhamphus papa_.)]

THE KING VULTURE, or King of the Vultures, is so called, because when he

makes his appearance amongst a whole company of other birds of his kind

engaged in a feast upon a dead carcase, they all retire before him and

wait respectfully at a little distance until this monarch has eaten his

fill. He is an inhabitant of South America.

The head and neck of this bird are without feathers; the body above,

reddish buff, beneath, yellowish white: quills greenish black; tail

black; craw pendulous, and orange-coloured. It is about the size of a

turkey; and is chiefly remarkable for the odd formation of the skin of

the head and neck; this skin, which is of an orange colour, arises from

the base of the bill, whence it stretches on each side of the head; the

eyes are surrounded by a red skin, and the iris has the colour and

lustre of pearl. Upon the naked part of the neck is a collar formed by

soft longish feathers. Into this collar the bird sometimes withdraws his

whole neck, and sometimes a part of its head, so that it looks as if it

had hidden its neck in its body.

[Illustration: THE CONDOR. (_Vultur gryphus._)]

THIS bird measures three or four feet long, and its wings, when

expanded, from ten to twelve feet. Its bill and talons are exceedingly

large and strong; and its courage is equal to its strength. The throat

is naked, and of a red colour. The upper parts in some individuals (for

they differ greatly in colour) are variegated with black, gray, and

white, and the body is scarlet. Round the neck it has a white ruff of

loose hairy feathers. The feathers on the back are generally quite

black, and perfectly bright. These enormous birds, which are inhabitants

of South America, breed among the highest and most inaccessible rocks.

The female makes no nest, but lays two white eggs, somewhat bigger than

those of a turkey, on the bare rock. Some writers have affirmed that a

Condor can carry off a sheep in its claws, and others that it has

carried off children in the same manner; but these tales are manifestly

absurd, as the Condor’s feet and talons are not fitted for carrying any

great weight. Both the talons and the bill are indeed of extraordinary

strength, but they are intended for tearing objects to pieces; and

consequently we find that the Condor feeds chiefly on dead or dying

cattle, or horses, which he tears to pieces and devours where they lie.

When the Condor is gorged the hunters attack him, but his strength and

fierceness are so great, that one of Sir Francis Head’s companions, who

attempted to seize a gorged Condor, said he never had “such a battle in

his life;” though he had been a Cornish miner and was reckoned an

excellent wrestler in his own country.

[Illustration: THE BUZZARD. (_Falco Buteo_, or _Buteo vulgaris_.)]

“The noble Buzzard ever pleased me best;

Of small renown, ’t is true; for, not to lie,

We call him but a Hawk by courtesy.”

HIND AND PANTHER.

_This_ is a rapacious bird, of the hawk kind, and the most common of all

in England. It is of a sluggish, indolent nature, often remaining

perched on the same bough for the greater part of the day: as if,

indifferent either to the allurements of food or of pleasure, it were

doomed, like some of the human species, to pass its allotted span of

life in passive contemplation. It feeds on mice, rabbits, frogs, and

often on all sorts of carrion. Too idle to build itself a nest, it

frequently seizes upon the old habitation of a crow, which it lines

afresh with wool and other soft materials. In general this bird, whose

colour varies considerably, is brown varied with yellow specks; at a

certain age its head becomes entirely gray. The female generally lays

two or three eggs, which are mostly white, though sometimes spotted with

yellow. Its length is usually twenty-two inches, and its breadth upwards

of fifty.

The following anecdote, related by Buffon, will show that the Buzzard

may be so far tamed as to be rendered a faithful domestic. A Buzzard,

which had been caught in a snare, was brought to a gentleman, who

undertook to tame it. It was at first wild and ferocious, but by

depriving it of food he succeeded in constraining it to come and eat out

of his hand. By pursuing this plan he brought it to be very familiar;

and, after having shut it up about six weeks, he began to allow it a

little liberty, taking the precaution, however, to tie both pinions of

its wings. In this condition it walked out into his garden, and returned

when called to be fed; after some time, thinking he might trust to its

fidelity, he removed the ligatures, and fastened a small bell above its

talon, and also attached to its breast a bit of copper with his name

engraved on it. He then gave it entire liberty, which it soon abused;

for it took wing and flew into the forest of Belesme. The bird was given

up for lost; but four hours afterwards, it rushed into the gentleman’s

hall, pursued by five other Buzzards, which had driven it into its

former asylum. After this adventure it preserved its fidelity, coming

every night to sleep under the window. It soon became familiar, attended

constantly at dinner, sat on a corner of the table, and often caressed

its master with its head and bill, emitting a weak, sharp cry, which,

however, it sometimes softened. It had a singular propensity of seizing

from the head and flying away with the red caps of the peasants; and so

alert was it in whipping them off, that they found their heads bare

without knowing what was become of their caps; it even treated the wigsof the old men in the same way, hiding its booty in the tallest trees.

Wilson says that one he shot in the wing lived with him several weeks:

but refused to eat. It amused itself by hopping from one end of the room

to the other, and sitting for hours at the window, looking down on the

passengers below. At first, he put himself in an attitude of defence

when approached; but after some time became quite familiar, permitting

himself to be handled. Though he lived so long without food, his stomach

was found on dissection to be enveloped in solid fat of nearly an inch

in thickness.

[Illustration: THE HONEY-BUZZARD. (_Falco_, or _Pernis apivorus_.)]

THIS Buzzard eats lizards, frogs, and snails. It also feeds upon the

larvæ of bees and wasps, which form the chief food of the young birds.

Buffon says that in winter, when fat, it is good eating, a very rare

circumstance with birds of this genus. It seldom flies, excepting from

one bush to another; but, when on the ground, it runs with great

rapidity, like a domestic fowl.

Willoughby observes that it builds its nest with twigs, on which it

lays wool to receive its eggs. He saw one that took possession of an old

kite’s nest to breed in, and that fed its young with the larvæ of wasps,

for in the nest were found the combs of wasps’ nests, and, in the

stomachs of the young, fragments of wasp-maggots. In the nest were two

young ones, covered with white down, spotted with black. In the crop of

one of them were two lizards entire, with their heads lying towards the

mouth, as if they sought to creep out.

It would be highly interesting could we discover the manner in which

this bird conducts its attack on a wasps’ nest. The close feathering

round the base of the bill, is, no doubt, a protection against the

stings of the insects which they attack.

[Illustration: THE GOSHAWK, (_Falco_, or _Astur palumbarius_,)]

BREEDS in lofty trees in Scotland, and destroys a great quantity of

small game, which he seizes with his sharp and crooked talons, and

carries to his nest. He is of the hawk tribe, and somewhat larger than

the common buzzard; his bill is blue, and he has a white stripe over

each eye, and also a large white spot on each side of the neck. The

general colour of the plumage is deep brown; the breast and belly white,

transversely streaked with black; and the legs yellow. Buffon, who

brought up two young Goshawks, a male and a female, makes the following

observations: “The Goshawk, before it has shed its feathers, that is, in

the first year, is marked on the breast and belly with longitudinal

brown spots; but after it has had two moultings they disappear, and

their place is occupied by transverse bars, which continue during the

rest of its life.” He further observes that, “though the male was much

smaller than the female, it was fiercer and more vicious.” The Goshawk

is found in France and Germany; it is not common in England, but is more

so in Scotland. In former times the custom of carrying a Hawk or Falcon

on the hand was confined to men of high distinction; so that it was a

saying among the Welsh, “You may know a gentleman by his Hawk, horse,

and greyhound.” Even the ladies in those times were partakers of this

gallant sport, and have been represented in pictures with Hawks on their

hands. At present hawking is almost entirely laid aside in this country,

as the expense which attended it, being very considerable, confined it

to princes and men of the highest rank. In the time of James the First,

Sir Thomas Monson is said to have given a thousand pounds for a cast of

Hawks. In the reign of Edward the Third it was made felony to steal a

Hawk; to take its eggs, even in a person’s own grounds, was punishable

with imprisonment for a year and a day, together with a fine at the

king’s pleasure. Such was the delight our ancestors took in this royal

sport, and such were the means by which they endeavoured to secure it.

The Falcons, or Hawks, chiefly used in these kingdoms were the Goshawk,

the Peregrine Falcon, Iceland Falcon, and the Ger Falcon. The game

usually pursued were cranes, wild geese, pheasants, and partridges. The

Duke of St. Albans is still hereditary grand falconer of England, but

the office is not now exercised, except for the Duke’s own amusement.

[Illustration: THE SPARROWHAWK. (_Falco_, or _Accipiter nisus_.)]

THE SPARROWHAWK is a bold-spirited bird; the length of the male is

twelve inches, that of the female fifteen; the beak is short, crooked,

and of a bluish tint, but very black towards the tip; the tongue black,

and a little cleft; the eyes of a middling size. The crown of the head

is of a dark brown; above the eyes, in the hinder part of the head,

there are sometimes white feathers; the roots of the feathers of the

head and neck are white, the rest of the upper side, back, shoulders,

wings, and neck of a dark brown. The wings, when closed, scarcely reach

to the middle of the tail; the thighs are strong and fleshy, the legs

long, slender, and yellow; the toes also long, and the talons black. The

female lays about five eggs, spotted near the blunt end with brown

specks. When wild they feed only upon birds, and possess a boldness and

courage above their size; but in a domestic state they do not refuse raw

flesh and mice. They can be made obedient and docile, and readily

trained to hunt quails and partridges.

[Illustration: THE KITE. (_Falco Milvus_, or _Milvus regalis_.)]

THIS bird, though it belongs to the falcon tribe, is called ignoble,

because it is never used in hawking. It is easily distinguished from

other birds of prey by its forked tail, and the slow and circular eddies

it describes in the air whenever it spies from the regions of the clouds

a young duck or a chicken which has strayed too far from the brood. When

this is the case, the Kite, pouncing on it with the rapidity of a dart,

seizes it in its talons, and carries it off to its nest. It is, however,

a great coward, and if the hen flies at it, which she always does if she

sees it, it will drop the chicken and fly off. It is larger than the

common buzzard; and though it weighs somewhat less than three pounds,

the extent of its wings is more than five feet. The head and neck are of

a pale ash colour, varied with longitudinal lines across the shafts of

the feathers; the back is reddish; the lesser rows of the wing feathers

are party-coloured, of black, red, and white; the feathers covering the

inside of the wings are red, with black spots in the middle. The eyes

are large, the legs and feet yellow, the talons black. It is a handsome

bird, and seems almost always on the wing. It rests itself on the air,

and does not appear to make the smallest effort in flying, but rather to

glide along with the gentlest breeze.

[Illustration: THE FALCON.]

THE FALCON is a predaceous bird, of which there are several species. Of

these the _Gerfalcon_ (_Falco Gyrfalco_) is the largest, and is found in

the northern parts of Europe; and, next to the eagle, is the most

formidable, active, and intrepid of all voracious birds, and the most

esteemed for falconry. The bill is crooked and bluish; the irides of the

eye dusky; and the whole plumage of a whitish hue, marked with dark

lines on the breast, and dusky spots on the back.

[Illustration: THE PEREGRINE FALCON. (_Falco peregrinus._)]

THE PEREGRINE FALCON, which is the most common kind, is from fifteen to

eighteen inches in length. The bill is blue at the base, and black at

the point; the head, back, scapulars, and coverts of the wing are barred

with deep black and blue; the throat, neck, and upper part of the breast

are white, tinged with yellow; the bottom of the breast, belly, and

thighs are of a grayish white; and the tail is black and blue. Wilson

enumerates no less than ten varieties, dependent chiefly upon age, sex,

and country. It is found, more or less abundantly, throughout the whole

of Europe, principally in the mountain districts in North and South

America, dwelling in the clefts of rocks, especially such as are exposed

to the mid-day sun. It breeds upon the cliffs in several parts of

England, but appears to be more common in Scotland and Wales. Its food

consists principally of small birds; but it scruples not to attack the

larger species, and sometimes gives battle even to the kite. Falcons

rarely take their prey upon the ground, like the more ignoble birds of

the class to which they belong; but pounce upon it from aloft, in a

directly perpendicular descent as it flies through the air, bear it

downwards by the united impulse of the strength and rapidity of their

attack, and sticking their talons into its flesh, carry it off in

triumph to the place of their retreat. Like most predatory animals, they

are stimulated to action by the pressure of hunger alone, and remain

inactive and almost motionless while the process of digestion is going

on, until the renewed cravings of their appetite stimulate them to

further exertion. In different stages of its growth, the Peregrine

Falcon has been known by various English names. Its proper appellation

among falconers is the Slight Falcon, the term Falcon Gentle being

equally applicable to all the species when rendered manageable. In the

immature state, this Falcon is also called a Red Hawk, from the

prevailing colour of its plumage. The male is called a Tiercel, to

distinguish it from the female, which, in the Falcon tribe, is commonly

one-third larger than the male.

In China there is said to be a variety, which is mottled with brown and

yellow, and used by the emperor of China in his sporting excursions,

when he is usually attended by his great falconer, and a thousand of

inferior rank. Every bird has a silver plate fastened to its foot, with

the name of the falconer who has the charge of it, that, in case it

should be lost, it may be restored to the proper person; but if it

should not be found, the name is delivered to another officer, called

the guardian of lost birds, who, to make his situation known, erects his

standard in a conspicuous place among the army of hunters.

In Syria there is a species of Falcon, which the inhabitants call

Shaheen (_Falco peregrinator_), and which is of so fierce and courageous

a disposition, that it will attack any bird, however large or powerful,

which presents itself. “Were there not,” says Dr. Russel, in his Account

of Aleppo, “several gentlemen now in England to bear witness to the

fact, I should hardly venture to assert that, with this bird, which is

about the size of a pigeon, the inhabitants sometimes take large eagles.

This Hawk was in former times taught to seize the eagle under the

pinion, and thus depriving him of the use of one wing, both birds fell

to the ground together; but the present mode is to teach the Hawk to fix

on the back, between the wings, which has the same effect, only, that as

the bird tumbles down more slowly, the falconer has more time to come to

his Hawk’s assistance; but in either case, if he be not very

expeditious, the falcon is inevitably destroyed. I never saw the Shaheen

fly at eagles, that sport having been disused before my time; but I have

often seen him take herons and storks. The Hawk, when thrown off, flies

for some time in a horizontal line, not six feet from the ground; then

mounting perpendicularly, with astonishing swiftness, he seizes his prey

under the wing, and both together come tumbling to the ground.”

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE MERLIN, (_Falco æsalon_,)]

IS the smallest British species of the Falcon tribe, and, as its name

implies, is not very different in size from the blackbird; the word

Merlin signifying in French a small _merle_, or blackbird. Though small

the Merlin is not inferior in courage to any of the other Hawks; it is

noted for its boldness and spirit, often attacking and killing at one

stroke a full-grown partridge or a quail; but it differs from the

Falcons and all the other rapacious kinds, in the male and female being

of equal size. The back of this bird is party-coloured, of dark blue and

brown; the quill feathers of the wings black, with rusty spots; the

tail is about five inches long, of a dark brown or blackish colour, with

transverse white bars: the breast is of a yellowish white, with streaks

of rusty brown pointing downwards; the legs are long, slender, and

yellow; the talons black. The head is encircled with a row of yellowish

feathers, not unlike a coronet. In the male the feathers on the rump,

next the tail, are bluer; a mark by which the falconers easily discern

the sex of the bird. The Merlin does not breed here, but visits us in

October: it flies low, and with great celerity and ease. In the days of

falconry, the Merlin was considered the lady’s hawk.

In ancient days--in ancient days,

When ladies took a strange delight

In hawks and hounds and sporting ways,

A Merlin was a pleasant sight.

“’T was gentle when, in trappings gay,

Upon its lady’s wrist it stood;

Till its hood was raised and it saw its prey,

When its eye betrayed the bird of blood.”

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE KESTREL, (_Falco tinnunculus_,)]

IS the commonest of all the British Hawks, and may be seen in almost all

parts of the country hovering over the fields in search of mice and

other small animals. His flight is very peculiar. He advances only for a

short distance at a time, and then suspends himself in the air by very

short but quick movements of his wings. If no prey make its appearance

beneath him, he then goes on a little further, and again remains

stationary, but the moment a mouse or other small quadruped stirs

amongst the grass, his wings close, and he descends with the greatest

velocity. The Kestrel will also feed upon small birds and insects.

The Kestrel is a handsome little Hawk, from twelve to fifteen inches in

length, with a blue beak and yellow cere and feet. Its plumage is

reddish brown or fawn colour, elegantly marked with black spots and

bars. Its nest is built among rocks, or in the holes and corners of old

buildings and church towers, and the female lays four or five eggs,

which are reddish white, with brown spots.

[Illustration: THE SECRETARY BIRD. (_Serpentarius reptilivorus._)]

THIS singular bird, which is a native of Southern Africa, differs from

all the other predaceous birds in the great length of its legs, which

are so long that some naturalists have placed it among the Wading Birds.

It stands between three and four feet high when erect, and is of a

bluish ash colour on the back and nearly white beneath; its tail is

long, and has the two middle feathers much longer than the others and

nearly reaching to the ground; and the back of the head is adorned with

a tuft of black feathers, which the bird can raise at pleasure. It is

from this tuft that the bird has obtained his name; the Dutch colonists

of the Cape of Good Hope fancied they saw some resemblance in it to the

pen of a clerk stuck behind his ear, and accordingly called him the

Secretary Bird. Clerks and secretaries are no doubt useful personages in

their way, and the Secretary Bird, although he cannot take his pen from

behind his ear, finds abundance of work to do, although of a kind very

different from the peaceful labours of his namesakes. He is the great

destroyer of the snakes and other reptiles which swarm in many parts of

Southern Africa, and which, but for him, would increase in numbers so as

to become a positive nuisance. And here we may call our young readers to

admire the wonderful manner in which the structure of a hawk has been

modified by the hand of the Creator to suit it for a particular mode of

life. As the bird advances to attack a snake his long legs, protected by

hard horny scales, elevate his body to a considerable height above the

ground, thus giving him an advantageous position, and at the same time

enabling it to move with great speed. One of the large and powerful

wings, armed at the end with a strong spur, is raised a little from the

body and held forward like a shield, but constantly shaken, as if to

distract the attention of the foe, and thus, like a skilful boxer

sparring up to his antagonist, the Secretary makes his way towards his

intended prey. As he approaches he watches for the moment when the snake

is about to spring upon him; a single blow from the spurred wing is

usually sufficient to lay the reptile writhing in the ground in a

helpless state; it is then soon despatched and as speedily swallowed.

Some idea of the quantity of reptiles destroyed by this bird may be

gained from Le Vaillant’s statement, that the crop of one of them

examined by him contained eleven lizards, three snakes as long as aman’s arm, and eleven small tortoises, together with a good many

insects. The inhabitants of the Cape Colony are quite aware of the

services rendered to them by the Secretary Bird, and sometimes keep him

among their poultry to protect them from injurious animals; he is said

to behave with great propriety under these circumstances, rarely doing

any mischief to his companions, unless his supply of food has been

neglected.

[Illustration: THE HEN HARRIER, (_Circus cyaneus_,)]

IS seen about forests, heaths, and other retired places, especially in

the neighbourhood of marshy grounds, where it destroys vast numbers of

snipes, woodcocks, and wild ducks. It is about seventeen inches long,

and three feet wide; its bill is black, and cere yellow. The upper part

of its body is of a bluish gray; and the back of the head, breast,

belly, and thighs are white. The legs are long, slender, and yellow; and

the claws black.

§ II.--_Nocturnal Birds of Prey._

[Illustration: THE HORNED OWL, (_Bubo maximus_,)]

IS one of the largest of the Owls, and has two long tufts growing from

the top of its head, above its ears, and composed of six feathers, which

it can raise or lay down at pleasure. Its eyes are large, and encircled

with an orange-coloured iris; the ears are large and deep, and the beak

black; the breast, belly, and thighs, are of a dull yellow, marked with

brown streaks; the back, coverts of the wings, and quill feathers, are

brown and yellow; and the tail is marked with dusky and red bars. It

inhabits the north and west of England, and Wales. The conformation of

the organ of sight in the Owl is so peculiar, and so much in its nature

resembling that of the feline kind, that it can see much better at dusk

than by daylight. The Barn Owl sees in a greater degree of darkness than

the others; and, on the contrary, the Horned Owl is enabled to pursue

his prey by day, though with difficulty. Owls are sometimes tamed by

persons in the country, who carefully rear them in a domestic state,

from their propensity to chase and devour mice and other vermin, of

which they clear the houses with as much address as cats. The Owl is a

solitary bird, and is said to retire into holes in towers and old walls

in the winter, and pass that season in sleep.

“The solitary bird of night,

Through the pale shade now wings his flight,

And quits the time-shook tower;

Where, shelter’d from the blaze of day,

In philosophic gloom he lay,

Beneath his ivy bower.” CARTER.

[Illustration: THE HARFANG, OR GREAT SNOWY OWL.]

THE HARFANG, or GREAT SNOWY OWL, (_Surnia nyctea_,) is another species

which takes its prey occasionally by daylight. It is seldom seen in

England, but frequently visits North Britain, particularly the Orkney

and Shetland Islands. It is one of the few Owls that feed on fish, into

which it strikes its talons while in the water, and carries them off to

its nest. These Owls are very common in the northern parts of North

America, and are eaten not only by the Indians, but by the Europeans

engaged in the fur trade.

[Illustration: THE WHITE, BARN, OR SCREECH OWL.

(_Srix flammea._)]

“---- from yonder ivy-mantled tower,

The moping Owl does to the moon complain

Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,

Molest her ancient solitary reign.” GRAY.

THIS bird is about the size of a large pigeon. Its beak, hooked at the

end, is more than an inch and a half long. There is a circle or wreath

of white, soft, and downy feathers, encompassed with yellow ones,

beginning from the nostrils on each side, passing round the eye and

under the chin, somewhat resembling the hood that women used to wear; so

that the eyes appear to be sunk in the middle of the feathers, and only

the tip of the beak projects from them. The breast and feathers of the

inside of the wings are white, and marked with a few dark spots; the

upper parts of the body are of a fine pale yellow colour, variegated

with black and white spots. The legs are covered with a thick down to

the feet, but the toes have only thin-set hairs around them.

In ancient mythology, another common species, the _Brown Owl_ (_Syrnium

aluco_), was consecrated to Minerva, the goddess of wisdom; in allusion

to the lucubrations of wise men, who study in retirement and during the

night.

“Now the Hermit Owlet peeps

From the barn, or twisted brake;

And the blue mist slowly creeps,

Curling on the silver lake.”

CUNNINGHAM.

§ III.--_Insessores, or Perching Birds._

[Illustration: THE BUTCHER-BIRD, OR SHRIKE.

(_Lanius excubitor._)]

THE GREAT BUTCHER-BIRD, or SHRIKE, is about as large as a thrush; its

bill is black, an inch long, and hooked at the end. It is only an

occasional visitor to this country, where it is generally found between

autumn and spring. “The Shrike,” says Mr. Yarrell, “feeds on mice,

shrews, small birds, frogs, lizards, and large insects. After having

killed its prey, it fixes the body in a forked branch, or upon a sharp

thorn, the more readily to tear off small pieces from it. It is from

their habit of killing and hanging up their meat, that the Shrikes are

called Butcher-birds.” The head, back, and rump are ash-coloured; the

chin and lower part of the body white; the breast and throat varied with

dark lines crossing each other; the tips of the feathers of the wings

are, for the most part, white; it has a black spot by the eye; the

outermost tail feathers of the male are all over white; the two

middlemost have only their tips white, the rest of the feathers being

black, as well as the legs and feet. It builds its nest among thorny

shrubs and dwarf trees, and furnishes it with moss, wool, and downy

herbs, where the female lays five or six eggs. A peculiarity belonging

to the birds of this kind is, that they do not, like most other birds,

expel the young ones from the nest as soon as they can provide for

themselves, but the whole brood live together in one family. The

Butcher-bird will chase all the small birds upon the wing, and will

sometimes venture to attack partridges, and even young hares. Thrushes

and blackbirds are frequently their prey: the Shrike fixes on them with

its talons, splits the skull with its bill, and feeds on them at

leisure. On this account Linnæus classed the Shrikes with the birds of

prey; but modern naturalists have placed them with the insect-eaters, as

insects are their principal food. It is easy to distinguish these birds

at a distance, not only from their going in companies, but also from

their manner of flying, which is always up and down, seldom in a direct

line, or obliquely.

_The Little Butcher-bird_ (_Lanius collurio_), called in Yorkshire,

_Flusher_, is about the size of a lark, with a large head. About the

nostrils and corners of the mouth it has black hairs or bristles; and

round the eyes a large black longitudinal spot; the back and upper side

of the wings are of a rusty colour; the head and rump cinereous; the

throat and breast white, spotted with red. It builds its nest of the

stalks of plants, and the female lays six eggs, nearly all white, except

at the blunt end, which is encircled with brown or dark red marks. The

female is somewhat larger than the male; the head is of a rust colour,

mixed with gray; the breast, belly, and sides of a dirty white; the tail

deep brown; the exterior web of the outer feathers white. Its manners

are similar to those of the large Butcher-bird. It frequently preys on

young birds, which it takes in the nest; it likewise feeds on

grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects. During the period of

incubation, the female soon discovers herself at the approach of any

person by her loud and violent outcries.

[Illustration: THE WATER OUZEL, OR DIPPER,

(_Cinclus aquaticus_,)]

IS found in most parts of this island, and is about the size of the

common blackbird. It feeds upon aquatic insects and small fish. The head

and upper side of the neck are of a kind of umber colour, and sometimes

black with a shade of red; the back and coverings of the wings are a

mixture of black and ash-colour, the throat and breast perfectly white.

The Dipper is said to walk along the bottom of a lake or river as easily

as on land; but this is far from being the case, as, though it readily

plunges into the water, it appears to tumble about in a very

extraordinary manner, with its head downwards. Even on land the bird

walks awkwardly, as its feet are best adapted for the slippery stones on

which it passes the greater part of its life, watching for the insects

which it picks up on the edge of the water. Its movements under water

are really performed by means of the wings, the bird positively flying

through the water. When disturbed, it usually flirts up its tail, and

makes a chirping noise. Its song in spring is said to be very pretty. In

some places this bird is supposed to be migratory.

[Illustration: THE BLACKBIRD. (_Turdus Merula._)]

“The smiling morn, the breathing spring,

Invite the tuneful birds to sing;

And, while they warble from each spray,

Love melts the universal lay.”

MALLET.

THIS well-known songster does not soar up to the clouds, like the lark,

to make his voice resound through the air; but keeps to the shady

groves, which he fills with his melodious notes. Early at dawn, and late

at dusk, he continues his pleasing melody; and when incarcerated in the

narrow space of a cage, still cheerful and merry, he strives to repay

the kindness of his keeper by singing to him his natural strains; and

beguiles his irksome hours of captivity by studying and imitating his

master’s whistle. Blackbirds build their nests with great art, making

the outside of moss and slender twigs, cemented together and lined with

clay, and covering the clay with soft materials, as hair, wool, and fine

grass. The female lays four or five eggs, of a bluish green colour,

spotted all over with brown. The bill is yellow, but in the female the

upper part and point are blackish; the inside of the mouth, and the

circumference of the eyelids are yellow. The name of this bird is

sufficiently expressive of the general colour of his body. He feeds on

berries, fruit, insects, &c.

[Illustration: THE MISSEL THRUSH. (_Turdus viscivorus._)]

THE MISSEL THRUSH, so called from its feeding on the berries of the

misletoe, differs but little from the Song Thrush, except in size. He is

larger than the fieldfare, while the Throstle is smaller. The female

lays five or six bluish eggs, with a tint of green, and marked with

dusky spots.

_The Song Thrush_ or _Throstle_, (_Turdus musicus_,) is one of the best

songsters of the evening hymn in the grove. His voice is loud and sweet;

the melody of his song is varied, and, although not so deep in the

general diapason of the woodland concert as that of the blackbird, yet

it fills up agreeably, and bursts through the inferior warblings of

smaller performers. His breast is of a yellowish white, spotted with

black or brown dashes, like ermine spots.

The term Merle for the Blackbird, and Mavis for the Thrush, are used

chiefly by the poets.

“Merry is it in the good green wood,

When the Mavis and Merle are singing,

When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry,

And the hunter’s horn is ringing.”

SCOTT.

“Take thy delight in yonder goodly tree,

Where the sweet Merle and warbling Mavis be.”

DRAYTON.

[Illustration: THE REDWING, (_Turdus iliacus_,)]

IS rather less than the song thrush; but the upper part of the body is

of the same colour; the breast not so much spotted; the coverings of the

feathers of the under side of the wings, which in the thrush are yellow,

are of orange colour in this bird; by which marks it is generally

distinguished. The body is white, the throat and breast yellowish,

marked with dusky spots. It is migratory in this island, builds its nest

in hedges, and lays six bluish eggs. Like the fieldfare, it leaves us in

spring, for which reason its song is quite unknown to us; but it is

said to be very pleasing. It is delicate eating; and the Romans held it

in such estimation, that they kept thousands of them together in

aviaries, and fed them on a sort of paste made of bruised figs and

flour, to improve the delicacy and flavour of their flesh. Under this

management these birds fattened, to the great profit of their

proprietors, who sold them to Roman epicures for three denarii, or about

two shillings sterling each, which at that early period was a large

price.

[Illustration: THE FIELDFARE, (_Turdus pilaris_,)]

IS a well-known bird in this country. Fieldfares fly in flocks, together

with the redwing and starling, and change their haunts according to the

season of the year. They abide with us in winter, and disappear in

spring, so punctually, that after that time not one is to be seen. The

flesh is esteemed a great delicacy, and is highly prized in Germany,

where it is known as the _Krammsvögel_, and is sold in the markets of

Westphalia by the dozen. Their favourite food is the juniper-berry,

whence its German name. The head is ash-coloured, and spotted with

black: the back and coverts of the wings of deep chesnut colour; the

rump cinereous; and the tail black, except the lower part of the two

middle feathers, which are ash-coloured, and the upper sides of the

exterior feathers, which are white. They collect in large flocks; and it

is supposed they keep watch, like the crow, to mark and announce the

approach of danger. On any person approaching a tree that is covered

with them, they continue fearless, till one at the extremity of the

bush, rising on its wings, gives a loud and peculiar note of alarm. They

then all fly away, except one, which continues till the person

approaches still nearer, to certify, as it were, the reality of the

danger, and afterwards he also flies off, repeating the note of alarm.

Mr. Knapp, in his “Journal of a Naturalist,” says, that in the county of

Gloucestershire the extensive low-lands of the river Severn, in open

weather, are visited by prodigious flocks of these birds.

[Illustration: THE RING OUZEL. (_Turdus torquatus._)]

THE RING OUZEL differs from the fieldfare and redwing, to which it is

nearly allied, in being a summer visitor to the British islands, instead

of a winter one. It is found only in the wildest and most mountainous

districts; particularly among the Welsh mountains and on Dartmoor, in

Devonshire, where it has been known to breed.

THE MOCKING BIRD, (_Turdus polyglottus_,)

WHICH is also a species, is found in both North and South America, and

in the West Indian islands. He has a beautiful song, which he varies by

imitating the notes of almost all other birds, so that a person passing

by his haunt is regaled with a complete ornithological concert, all by a

single performer. Unfortunately, the Mocking Bird’s taste is not equal

to his musical powers. His talent for imitation is so great that he

mimics every sound he hears, and as he introduces all his imitations

freely into his songs, he often interrupts the most delightful melody

with the scream of a hawk, the bark of a dog, the squalling of a cat, or

similar discordant noises.

[Illustration: THE ROBIN, OR REDBREAST.

(_Erythacus rubecula._)]

“The Redbreast oft, at evening hours,

Shall kindly lend his little aid,

With hoary moss, and gathering flowers,

To deck the ground where thou art laid.”

COLLINS.

THE REDBREAST, or _Robin_, as he is popularly called, seems always to

have enjoyed the protection of man, more than any other bird. The

prettiness of his shape, the beauty of his plumage, the quickness of his

motions, his familiarity with us in winter, and, above all, the melody

and sweetness of his voice, claim our admiration, and have insured him

that security which he enjoys among us; though the aid of fable has also

been called in, to guard him from the assaults of thoughtless boys.

“Little bird with bosom red,

Welcome to my humble shed!

Courtly domes of high degree

Have no room for thee and me;

Pride and pleasure’s fickle throng

Nothing mind an idle song.

Daily near my table steal,

While I pick my scanty meal;

Doubt not, little though there be,

But I’ll cast a crumb for thee; Well rewarded if I spy

Pleasure in thy glancing eye;

And see thee, when thou’st eat thy fill,

Plume thy breast, and wipe thy bill.”

LANGHORNE.

In the winter season, impelled by the potent stimulus of hunger, the

Redbreast frequents our barns, gardens, and houses, and often alights,

on a sudden, on the rustic floor; where, with his broad eye incessantly

open, and looking askew upon the company, he picks up eagerly the crumbs

of bread that fall from the table, and then flies off to the

neighbouring bush, where, by his warbling strains, he expresses his

gratitude for the liberty he has been allowed. He is found in most parts

of Europe, but nowhere so commonly as in Great Britain. His bill is

dusky; his forehead, chin, throat, and breast are of a deep

orange-colour, inclining to vermilion; the back of his head, neck, back,

and tail are of a pale olive-brown colour; the wings are somewhat

darker, the edges inclining to yellow; the legs and feet are the colour

of the bill. The female generally builds her nest in the crevice of some

mossy bank, near places which human beings frequent, or in some part of

a human dwelling. Robins have been known to build in a sawpit where men

worked every day, and in various other equally extraordinary places.

When the Crystal Palace at Sydenham was being fitted up, several Robins

built their nests in holes of the large roots used to raise the flower

beds within the building. So little fear did they exhibit that their

bright eyes might be seen glancing from holes close to which men were

passing every moment. The elegant poet of The Seasons gives us a very

exact and animated description of this bird in the following lines:

“---- ---- Half afraid, he first

Against the window beats: then, brisk alights

On the warm hearth; then, hopping on the floor,

Eyes all the smiling family askance,

And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is,

Till, more familiar grown, the table-crumbs

Attract his slender feet.”

An old Latin proverb tells us that two Robin Redbreasts will not feed

on the same tree; it is certain that the Redbreast is a most pugnacious

bird, and that he does not live in much harmony and friendship with

those of his own kind and sex. The male may be known from the female by

the colour of his legs, which are blacker.

The Redbreast attends the gardener when digging his borders; and will,

with great familiarity and tameness, pick out the worms almost close to

his spade.

[Illustration: THE NIGHTINGALE. (_Philomela luscinia._)]

“Sweet bird, that shunn’st the noise of folly,

Most musical, most melancholy!

Thee, chantress, oft, the woods among,

I woo to hear thy even song.”

MILTON.

THE NIGHTINGALE has little to boast of in respect to plumage, which is

of a pale tawny colour on the head and back, dashed with a slight shade

of olive; the breast and upper part of the belly incline to a grayish

tint, and the lower part of the belly is almost white; the exterior web

of the quill feathers is of a reddish brown; the tail of a dull red; the

legs and feet ash-coloured; the irides hazel; and the eyes large,

bright, and staring. But it is hardly possible to give an idea of the

extraordinary power which this small bird possesses in its throat, as to

the extension of sound, sweetness of tone, and versatility of notes.Its song is composed of several musical passages, each of which does not

continue more than the third part of a minute; but they are so varied,

the passing from one tone to another is so fanciful and so rapid, and

the melody so sweet and so mellow, that the most consummate musician is

pleasingly led to a deep sense of admiration on hearing it. Sometimes,

joyful and merry, it runs down the diapason with the velocity of

lightning, touching the treble and the base nearly at the same instant;

at other times, mournful and plaintive, the unfortunate _Philomela_

draws heavily her lengthened notes, and breathes a delightful melancholy

around. These have the appearance of sorrowful sighs; the other

modulations resemble the laughter of the happy. Solitary on the twig of

a small tree, and cautiously at a certain distance from the nest, where

the pledges of his love are treasured under the fostering breast of his

mate, the male fills constantly the silent woods with his harmonious

strains, and during the whole night entertains and repays his female for

the irksome duties of incubation. The Nightingale not only sings at

intervals during the day, but waits till the blackbird and the thrush

have uttered their evening call, even till the stock and ringdoves have,

by their soft murmurings, lulled each other to rest, and then pours

forth his full tide of melody:

“---- ---- Listening Philomela deigns

To let them joy, and purposes, in thought

Elate, to make her night excel their day.”

THOMSON.

It is a great subject of astonishment that so small a bird should be

endowed with such potent lungs. If the evening is calm, it is supposed

that its song may be heard above half-a-mile. This bird, the ornament

and charm of our spring and early summer evenings, as it arrives in

April, and continues singing till June, disappears on a sudden about

September or October, when it leaves us to pass the winter in the North

of Africa and Syria. Its visits to this country are limited to certain

counties, mostly in the south and east; as, though it is plentiful in

the neighbourhood of London, and along the south coast in Sussex,

Hampshire, and Dorsetshire, it is not found in either Cornwall or Wales.

As soon as the young are hatched, the song of the male bird ceases, and

he only utters a harsh croak, by way of giving alarm when any one

approaches the nest. Nightingales are sometimes reared up, and doomed to

the prison of a cage; in this state they sing ten months in the year,

though in their wild life they sing only as many weeks. Bingley says

that a caged Nightingale sings much more sweetly than those which we

hear abroad in the spring.

The Nightingale is the most celebrated of all the feathered race for its

song. The poets have in all ages made it the theme of their verses; some

of these we cannot resist giving:

“The Nightingale, as soon as April bringeth

Unto her rested sense a perfect waking,

Which late bare earth, proud of new clothing, springeth,

Sings out her woes----.”

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY.

“---- ---- ---- Beast and bird,

They to their grassy couch, these to their nests,

Were slunk; all but the wakeful Nightingale;

She all night long her amorous descant sung.”

MILTON.

“And in the violet-embroidered vale,

Where the lovelorn Nightingale

Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well.”

MILTON.

“O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray

Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still,

Thou with fresh hope the lover’s heart dost fill,

While the jolly hours lead on propitious May,

Thy liquid notes that close the eye of day,

First heard before the shallow cuckoo’s bill,

Portend success in love. Oh, if Jove’s will

Have linked that amorous power to thy soft lay,

Now timely sing, ere the rude bird of hate

Foretell my hopeless doom in some grove nigh;

As thou from year to year hast sung too late

For my relief, yet hadst no reason why:

Whether the muse, or love, call thee his mate,

Both them I serve, and of their train am I.”

MILTON.

“---- ---- Now is the pleasant time,

The cool, the silent, save where silence yields,

To the night-warbling bird, that, now awake,

Tunes sweetest his love-laboured song.”

MILTON.

“How all things listen while thy muse complains,

Such silence waits on Philomela’s strains,

In some still evening, when the whispering breeze

Pants on the leaves, and dies upon the trees.”

POPE.

“There’s a bower of roses by Bendemeer’s stream,

And the Nightingale sings round it all the year long;

In the days of my childhood, ’t was like a sweet dream

To sit in the roses, and hear the bird’s song.

“That bower and its music I never forget,

But oft when alone, in the bloom of the year,

I think, Is the Nightingale singing there yet?

Are the roses still bright by the calm Bendemeer?”

MOORE.

[Illustration: THE BLACK-CAP, (_Curruca atricapilla_,)]

IS a very small warbler, not weighing above half-an-ounce. The top of

the head is black, whence he takes his name; the neck ash-coloured, the

back an ashy-brown, the wings of a dusky colour, the tail nearly the

same; the nether part of the neck, throat, and upper part of the breast

of a pale ash colour; the lower part of the belly white.

The Black-cap visits us about the middle of April, and retires in

September; it frequents gardens, and builds its nest near the ground.

The female lays five eggs of a pale reddish-brown, sprinkled with spots

of a darker colour. This bird sings sweetly, and so like the

nightingale, that in Norfolk it is called the mock nightingale. White

observes, that it has usually a full, sweet, deep, loud, and wild pipe,

yet the strain is of short continuance, and its motions desultory; but

when it sits calmly, and earnestly engages in song, it pours forth very

sweet but inward melody; and expresses a great variety of modulations,

superior perhaps to any of our warblers, the nightingale excepted. While

it sings, its throat is greatly distended.

[Illustration: THE WREN. (_Troglodytes vulgaris._)]

“Fast by my couch, congenial guest,

The Wren has wove her mossy nest;

From busy scenes and brighter skies

To lurk with innocence she flies;

Her hopes in safe repose to dwell,

Nor aught suspects the sylvan cell.”

T. WARTON.

THE WREN is a very small bird; but, as if nature had intended to

compensate the want of size and bulk in the individuals, by multiplying

them to a greater extent, this little bird is one of the most prolific

of the feathered tribe, its nest containing often upwards of eighteen

eggs, of a whitish colour, and not much bigger than a pea. The male and

female enter by a hole contrived in the middle of the nest, and which,

by its situation and size, is accessible only to themselves. The Wren

weighs no more than three drachms. Its notes are very sweet, and rival

those of the robin redbreast, in the middle of winter, when the coldness

of the weather has condemned the other songsters to silence. Like the

redbreast, it frequently approaches the habitation of man, enlivening

the rustic garden with its song during the greater part of the year. It

begins to make a nest early in the spring, but frequently deserts it

before it is lined, and searches for a more secure place. The Wren does

not, as is usual with most other birds, begin to build the bottom of the

nest first. When against a tree, its primary operation is to trace upon

the bark the outline, and thus to fasten it with equal strength to all

parts. It then, in succession, closes the sides and top, leaving only a

small hole for entrance.

[Illustration: THE WILLOW WREN. (_Sylvia trochilus._)]

THE WILLOW WREN is somewhat larger than the common Wren. The upper parts

of the body are of a pale olive-green; the under parts are pale yellow,

and a streak of yellow passes over the eyes. The wings and tail are

brown, edged with yellowish green; and the legs are inclined to yellow.

This bird is migratory, visiting us usually about the middle of April,

and taking its departure towards the end of September. The female

constructs her nest in holes at the roots of trees, in hollows of dry

banks, and other similar places. It is round, and not unlike the nest of

the Wren. The eggs are dusky white, marked with reddish spots, and are

five in number. A Willow Wren had built in a bank of one of the fields

of Mr. White, near Selborne. This bird, a friend and himself observed as

she sat in her nest, but were particularly careful not to disturb her,

though she eyed them with some degree of jealousy. Some days afterwards,

as they passed the same way, they were desirous of remarking how the

brood went on; but no nest could be found, till Mr. White happened to

take up a large bundle of long green moss, which had been thrown, as it

were, carelessly over the nest, in order to mislead the eye of any

impertinent intruder.

Mr. White distinguished no fewer than three varieties of the Willow

Wren. “I have now,” he writes, “past dispute, made out three distinct

species of the Willow Wrens, which constantly and invariably use

distinct notes.” “I have specimens of the three sorts now lying before

me, and can discern that there are three gradations of sizes, and that

the least has black legs, and the other two, flesh-coloured ones. The

yellowest bird is considerably the largest, and has its quill feathers

and secondary feathers tipped with white, which the others have not. The

last haunts only the tops of trees and high beechen woods, and makes a

sibilous grasshopper-like noise, now and then, at short intervals,

shivering a little with its wings when it sings.” Mr. Markwich, however,

declared that he was totally unable to discover more than one species.

[Illustration: THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN, (_Regulus cristatus_,)]

IS the smallest of British birds, measuring only three inches and a half

in length. It is of an olive colour, with a beautiful crest of golden

yellow feathers on its head. This charming little bird is generally

found in fir woods; it feeds on insects, and has a soft and pleasing

song.

[Illustration: THE GREY WATER WAGTAIL. (_Motacilla boarula._)]

THERE is not a brook purling along two flowery banks, not a rivulet

winding through the green meadow, which is not frequented by this

beautifully coloured and elegantly shaped little creature. We even see

them in the streets of country towns, following with quick pace the

half-drowned fly or moth, which the road-side streamlet carries away.

Next to the robin redbreast and the sparrow, they are the boldest in

approaching our habitations. The Wagtails are much in motion; seldom

perch, and perpetually flirt their long and slender tails, (whence they

derive their name,) principally after picking up some food from the

ground, as if that tail were a kind of lever, or counterpoise, used to

balance the body on the legs. They are observed to frequent, more

commonly, those streams where women come to wash their linen; probably

not ignorant that the soap, the froth of which floats upon the water,

attracts those insects which are most acceptable to them.

[Illustration: PIED WAGTAILS.]

THERE are two common species of Wagtails, the Grey kind and the Pied

Wagtail. The Grey Wagtail is retiring in its habits, and much slower in

its motions; its breast is yellow, and its wings grayish, but the Pied

Wagtail, which is a very lively little bird, and seems always in a

bustle, is black, softening into ash-colour and white; it is also bold,

and will take the food thrown to it with as much confidence as a robin

redbreast.

The Yellow Shepherdess (_Budytes flava_) is another species of Wagtail.

The male is olive-green on the back, and yellow on the lower part of the

body, but the breast of the female is nearly white. These birds do not

frequent the banks of rivers, but are generally found walking among the

grass of meadows, and following sheep. They are summer visitors to

England.

White says, that “while the cows are feeding in the moist, low pastures,

broods of Wagtails, white and grey, run round them, close up to their

noses, and under their very bellies, availing themselves of the flies

that settle on their legs, and probably finding worms and larvæ that are

roused by the trampling of their feet. Nature is such an economist that

the most incongruous animals can avail themselves of each other.”

“Interest makes strange friendships!”

[Illustration: THE SWALLOW. (_Hirundo rustica._)]

“From the low-roof’d cottage ridge

See the chattering Swallow spring;

Darting through the one-arch’d bridge,

Quick she dips her dappled wing.”

CUNNINGHAM.

SWALLOWS are easily distinguished from all other birds, not only by

their general structure, but by their twittering note and mode of

flying, or rather darting from place to place.

They appear in Britain in April, and build in some outhouse, or, in part

of a human dwelling, where they lay their eggs and hatch their young.

About August they disappear, and do not return till the following

spring. Swallows kept in a cage moult about Christmas, and seldom live

till spring.

There are several species of the Swallow: the general characters of

which are a small beak, but large, wide mouth, for the purpose of

swallowing flying insects, their natural food; and long forked tail and

extensive wings, to enable them to pursue their prey. The common Swallow

builds under the eaves of houses, or in chimneys, near their top; it is

frequently called the Chimney Swallow from its preference for the

last-mentioned rather singular situation; the Martin also builds under

eaves, and most commonly against the upper corner or side of our very

windows, and seems not afraid at the sight of man, yet it cannot be

tamed, or even kept long in a cage. The nature of the Swallow’s nest is

worthy of close observation: how the mud is extracted from the

sea-shores, rivers, or other watery places; how masoned and formed into

a solid building, strong enough to support a whole family, and to face

the “pelting storm,” are wonders which ought to raise our mind to Him

who bestowed that instinct upon them.

It is related that a pair of Swallows built their nest for two

successive years on the handle of a pair of garden shears, that were

stuck up against the boards of an outhouse; and, therefore, must have

had their nest spoiled whenever the implement was wanted. And what is

still more strange, a bird of the same species built its nest on the

wings and body of an owl that happened to hang dead and dry from the

rafter of a barn, and so loose as to be moved by every gust of wind.

This owl, with the nest on its wings, and with eggs in the nest, was

taken to the museum of Sir Ashton Leaver as a curiosity. That gentleman,

struck with the singularity of the sight, furnished the person who

brought it with a large shell, desiring him to fix it just where the owl

had hung. The man did so; and in the following year a pair of Swallows,

probably the same, built their nest in the shell and laid eggs.

Modern poets have not been unmindful of the Swallows; and our immortal

Shakspeare mentions the Martin, in Macbeth, in the following manner:

“This guest of summer,

The temple-haunting Martlet, does approve,

By his loved mansionry, that the Heaven’s

Breath smells wooingly here. No jutty, frieze,

Buttress, nor coigne of ’vantage, but this bird

Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle:

Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed,

The air is delicate.”

“The Swallow,” writes Sir Humphry Davy, “is one of my favourite birds,

and a rival of the nightingale, for he cheers my sense of seeing as much

as the other does my sense of hearing. He is the glad prophet of the

year, the harbinger of the best season--he lives a life of enjoyment

amongst the liveliest forms of nature--winter is unknown to him; and he

leaves the green meadows of England in autumn for the myrrh and orange

groves of Italy, and for the palms of Africa; he has always objects of

pursuit, and his success is secure. Even the beings selected for his

prey are poetical, beautiful, and transient. The ephemeræ are saved by

his means from a slow and lingering death in the evening, and killed in

a moment when they have known nothing but pleasure. He is the constant

destroyer of insects, the friend of man, and may be regarded as a sacred

bird. His instinct, which gives him his appointed season, and teaches

him when and where to move, may be regarded as flowing from a divine

source; and he belongs to the oracles of nature, which speak the awful

and intelligible language of a present Deity.”

The Chimney Swallow is, on the head, neck, back, and rump, of a shining

black colour, with purple gloss and sometimes with a blue shade; the

throat and neck are of the same colour; the breast and belly are white,

with a dash of red. The tail is forked, and consists of twelve

feathers. The wings are of the same colour with the back. Swallows feed

upon flies and other insects; and generally hunt their prey on the wing:

“Away! away! thou summer bird;

For Autumn’s moaning voice is heard,

In cadence wild, and deepening swell,

Of winter’s stern approach to tell.”

[Illustration: HOUSE MARTIN, OR WINDOW SWALLOW.

(_Hirundo urbica._)]

THE MARTIN is something less than the swallow, with a comparatively

large head, and a wide mouth; the colour of the upper parts a bluish

black, the rump and all the under parts of the body white, the bill

black; the legs covered with short white down.

These birds begin to appear about the middle of April, and for some time

pay no attention to the business of nidification, but sport and play

about as if to recruit themselves from the fatigue of the journey.

Should the weather prove favourable, it begins to build early in May,

placing its nest generally beneath the eaves of a house, often against

a perpendicular wall: without any projecting ledge to support any part

of the nest, its utmost efforts are necessary to get the first

foundation firmly fixed, so as to carry the superstructure safely. On

this occasion, it not only clings with its claws, but partly supports

itself by strongly inclining its tail against the wall, making that a

fulcrum; and thus fixed, it plasters the materials into the face of the

brick or stone. But that this work may not, while soft, sink by its own

weight, the provident architect has the prudence and forbearance not to

proceed too fast; but by building only in the morning, and dedicating

the rest of the day to food and amusement, he gives it sufficient time

to dry and harden. By this method, in about ten days, the nest is

formed, strong, compact, and warm, and perfectly fitted for all the

purposes for which it is intended. But nothing is more common than for

the house-sparrow, as soon as the shell is finished, to seize on it,

eject the owner, and line it according to its own peculiar manner.

Sometimes, however, the Martins prove too clever for the sparrow; when

the intruder obstinately retained possession of the nest, the Martins

have been known to collect from all parts of the neighbourhood, each

bringing a pellet of mud, with which the orifice of the nest was soon

securely closed, and the unfortunate sparrow was then left to die of

starvation. The Martin will return for several seasons to the same nest,

where it happens to be well sheltered and secured from the injuries of

the weather. They breed the latest of all our swallows, often having

unfledged young ones even so late as Michaelmas.

The first hatch consists of five eggs, which are white, inclining to

dusky at the thicker end; the second, of three or four; and of a third,

of only two or three. While the young birds are confined to the nest the

parents feed them, adhering by the claws to the outside; but as soon as

they are able to fly they receive their nourishment on the wing, by a

quick and almost imperceptible motion.

“Welcome, welcome, feathered stranger,

Now the sun bids Nature smile;

Safe arrived and free from danger,

Welcome to our blooming isle.”

FRANKLIN.

[Illustration: THE SWIFT, (_Cypselus apus_,)]

WHICH is sometimes called the Black Martin, arrives in England later,

and takes its departure earlier than any of our swallows. The Swift is

the largest of the swallow tribe, and the most rapid in its flight. Its

nest, which is generally built in the crevices of old towers and

steeples, is constructed of dried grass, feathers, thread, and similar

materials, glued together by a sort of spittle, with which the bird is

provided. The bird collects them whilst on the wing, picking them up

with great dexterity. They seldom alight upon the ground, and if by

accident they fall upon a level surface, they recover themselves with

difficulty, owing to the shortness of their legs, and the length of

their wings. During the heat of the day they remain within their holes,

and at morning and evening sally out in quest of food. They may then be

seen in flocks, whirling round some lofty edifice, or describing in

mid-air an endless series of circles upon circles. Swifts fly higher,

and wheel with bolder wing than the swallows, with whom they never

intermingle.

[Illustration: THE GOATSUCKER. (_Caprimulgus Europæus._)]

THIS curious bird, called also the Nightjar, and the Fern Owl, comes to

this country from Africa about the middle of May and usually leaves by

the end of August. These birds are generally found in low bushes, or

amongst tufts of large ferns, and generally fly at night: hence their

name of Fern Owl. The beak is furnished with bristles, and the middle

toe of each foot has a claw toothed like a comb. The female lays her

eggs upon the ground, without any nest, and lays only two. The name of

Goatsucker originated in an absurd idea that this bird sucked the goat’s

milk, from its habit of lying on the ground near cows or she goats, and

catching the flies that torment them by fixing on their udders. Mr.

Waterton, who is certainly the closest observer of nature who ever wrote

on Natural History, states, in one of his very interesting works, that

he has frequently seen the Goatsuckers catching insects in this manner,

and thus proving themselves the best of friends to the animals they are

accused of annoying.

[Illustration: THE SKYLARK. (_Alauda arvensis._)]

“Go, tuneful bird, that gladd’st the skies,

To Daphne’s window speed thy way;

And there on quivering pinions rise,

And there thy vocal art display.”

SHENSTONE.

THE SKYLARK is distinguished from most other birds by the long spur on

the back toe, the earthy colour of his feathers, and by singing as he

mounts in the air. These birds generally make their nest in meadows

among the high grass, and the tint of their plumage resembles so much

that of the ground, that the body of the bird is hardly distinguishable

as it runs along.

“The daisied lea he loves, where tufts of grass

Luxuriant crown the ridge: there, with his mate,

He founds their lonely house, of withered herbs,

And coarsest spear-grass; next the inner work,

With finer, and still finer fibres lays,

Rounding it curious with his speckled breast.”

GRAHAME.

Larks breed twice a year, in May and July, rearing their young in a

short space of time. They are caught in great quantities in winter, and

are considered choice and delicate food. It is a melancholy observation,

that man should feed upon, and indulge his sense of taste with those

very birds which have so often delighted his sense of hearing with their

songs, when they usher to the gladdened creation the return of their

best friend, the sun. The instinctive warmth of attachment which the

female Skylark bears towards her own species, even when not her

nestling, is remarkable. “In the month of May,” says Buffon, “a young

hen bird was brought to me, which was not able to feed without

assistance. I caused her to be reared; and she was hardly fledged, when

I received from another place a nest of three or four unfledged larks.

She took a strong liking to these newcomers, which were but little

younger than herself; she tended them night and day, cherished them

beneath her wings, and fed them with her bill. Nothing could interrupt

her tender offices. If the young ones were torn from her she flew to

them as soon as they were liberated, and would not think of effecting

her own escape, which she might have done a hundred times. Her affection

grew upon her; she neglected food and drink; she at length required the

same support as her adopted offspring, and expired at last, consumed

with maternal solicitude. None of the young ones long survived her. They

died one after another; so essential were her cares, which were equally

tender and judicious.”

The Lark mounts almost perpendicularly, and by successive springs, into

the air, where it hovers at a vast height. Its descent is in an oblique

direction, unless threatened by some ravenous bird of prey, or attracted

by its mate, when it drops to the ground like a stone. On its first

leaving the earth, its notes are feeble and interrupted; but, as it

rises, they gradually swell to their full tone. As the Lark’s flight is

always at sun-rise, there is something in the scenery that renders its

song peculiarly delightful: the opening morning, the landscape just

gilded by the rays of the returning sun, and the beauty of the

surrounding objects, all contribute to heighten our relish for its

pleasing melody.

“---- Up springs the Lark,

Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn,

Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings

Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts

Calls up the tuneful nations.”

THOMSON.

“Alas! it’s no thy neebor sweet,

The bonnie Lark, companion meet!

Bending thee ’mang the dewy weet!

Wi’ speckled breast,

When upward springing, blythe to greet

The purpling east.”

BURNS.

“Early, cheerful, mounting Lark,

Light’s gentle usher, morning’s clerk,

In merry notes delighting.”

SIR JOHN DAVIS.

[Illustration: THE WOODLARK. (_Alauda arborea._)]

THIS species is smaller than the skylark, and its voice deeper; it has

also a circle of white feathers encompassing the head, from eye to eye,

like a crown or wreath, and the utmost feather of the wing is much

shorter than the second, whereas in the common lark they are nearly

equal. This bird sometimes emulates the nightingale; for which, when

pouring forth his sweet melody in the grove, during a silent night, he

is often mistaken. These birds sit and perch upon trees, unlike the

common lark, which always keeps to the ground. They build their nest at

the foot of a bush, near the bottom of a hedge, or in high dry grass.

The number of their eggs is about four, of a pale bloom colour,

beautifully mottled, and clouded with red and yellow. Like the skylark,

they assemble in large flocks during frosty weather. Their usual food

consists of small beetles, caterpillars, and other insects, as well as

the seeds of numerous kinds of wild plants.

“Bright o’er the green hills rose the morning ray,

The Woodlark’s song resounded on the plain,

Fair nature felt the warm embrace of day,

And smiled through all her animated reign.”

LANGBOURN.

[Illustration: THE TITMOUSE, OR TOM-TIT. (_Parus cæruleus._)

THE LONG-TAILED TIT. (_Parus caudatus._)]

THE common Titmouse or Tom-tit is a very small bird, only four inches

and a half in length. He has a blue head, with white cheeks and a white

stripe over each eye; his back is greenish, his wings and tail blue, and

the lower surface of his body yellow. This bird, and all the species

related to it, live on insects, as well as on seeds. When kept in a

cage, it is really amusing to see with what quickness the Titmouse darts

at any fly or moth which comes imprudently within its reach. If this

kind of food be deficient, as generally happens in winter, it feeds upon

several kinds of seed, and particularly that of the sunflower, which it

dexterously holds upright between its claws and strikes powerfully with

its sharp little bill, till the black covering splits, and yields its

white contents to the persevering bird. Its general food consists of

insects, which it seeks in the crevices of the bark of trees, and when

thus engaged, clinging in every possible position to the branches, it

looks like a very diminutive blue parrot. In winter the Titmouse visits

our gardens and orchards, where he is often seen picking the buds of

fruit trees to pieces; but in doing this he inflicts little or no injury

upon the gardener, his object being the capture of insects which would

probably cause far more mischief in the ensuing summer. The nest of the

Titmouse is built in the hole of a tree or wall; the female lays usually

eight or ten eggs, and when sitting defends her nest with great courage,

pecking at the fingers of boys so vigorously that in some parts of the

country she is known by the name of Billy Biter. The _Long-tailed Tit_

is also a common bird about hedges, orchards, and plantations. He is an

active lively little fellow, and resembles the common Tit in his habits.

[Illustration: THE YELLOWHAMMER, OR YELLOW BUNTING. (_Emberiza

citrinella._)]

THIS bird is somewhat larger than the sparrow. Its head is of a greenish

yellow, spotted with brown; the throat and belly are yellow; the breast

and sides, under the wings, mingled with red. These birds build their

nests on the ground, near some bush, where the female lays five or six

eggs. The Yellowhammer may be sometimes seen perched on the finger of

some poor man or woman in the streets of London, in a state of complete

tameness; but this is the transitory effect of intoxication, and soon

after the bird is bought and brought home, it dies, overcome by the

power of the laudanum that has been given it.

This bird feeds on seeds and various sorts of insects, and is common in

every lane, on every hedge, throughout the country, flitting before the

traveller, and about the bushes. Happily for him, we have not yet

acquired the taste of the natives of Italy, where the Yellowhammer falls

a daily victim to the delicacy of the table, and where its flesh is

esteemed very delicious eating. There he is often fattened, for the

purpose of gratifying the palate of epicures.

The Ortolan, (_Emberiza hortulana_,) which is another species of the

same genus, is common in the central and southern provinces of Europe,

where it is thought exquisitely flavoured as an article of food. When

first taken it is frequently very lean, but if supplied with abundance

of food, it is said to be so greedy, that it will eat till it dies of

repletion.

[Illustration: THE WHEATEAR, AND WHIN CHAT.

(_Saxicola ænanthe_ and _S. rubetra_.)]

THE WHEATEAR is one of our earliest visitants, and may be found in every

part of Britain. In the North, it generally frequents heaps of stones,

ruins, or the dry stone walls of burial-grounds, and though it is a

very handsome bird, and in the early season sings sweetly, its haunts

have obtained it a bad name. The common alarm-note resembles the sound

made in breaking stones with a hammer, and as it utters that note from

the top of the heap which haply covers the bones of one who perished by

the storm, or his own hand, popular fancy has not unnaturally associated

the Wheatear with the superstition that belongs to the place of graves.

Beneath that heap of stones, or in some neighbouring fallow, its nest

may be discovered, formed of moss and dried grass, lined with hair,

feathers, or wool, and containing five or six eggs of a delicate bluish

white. These birds congregate on the southern downs about the middle of

July; they are then caught in vast numbers, in horse-hair nooses, which

are set between two pieces of turf turned against each other.

_The Whin Chat_ is a beautiful bird, compact in form, with a rich and

elegant plumage. Its song, which is peculiarly soft and sweet, may be

heard in spring on the bushy margins and gorse of extensive heaths. Its

nest, constructed in thick tufts of grass and under bushes, is most

carefully concealed. It is usually approached by a labyrinth to which

the rising of the bird affords no clue, and it may long be sought in

vain, though perhaps not more than a yard distant all the time. The eggs

are bluish green, without any spots, and are never more than six in

number.

The following lines, addressed to the English Ortolan, or Wheatear, by

Mrs. Charlotte Smith, allude to the foolish timidity of that bird:

“To take you, shepherd boys prepare

The hollow turf, the wiry snare,

Of those weak terrors well aware,

That bid you vainly dread

The shadows floating over downs,

Or murmuring gale, that round the stones

Of some old beacon, as it moans,

Scarce moves a thistle’s head.

And if a cloud obscure the sun,

With faint and fluttering heart you run

Into the pitfall you should shun,

And only leave when dead.”

[Illustration: THE SPARROW. (_Passer domesticus._)]

THIS bird is, next to the robin redbreast, the boldest of the small

feathered tribe which frequent our barns and houses: he is a courageous

little creature, and fights undauntedly against birds ten times bigger

than himself. Sparrows are accused of destroying a great quantity of

corn, and in several counties the landlord or farmer puts a price on a

Sparrow’s head; but the farmer is the person most injured by the plan,

as the good Sparrows, in ridding land of caterpillars, more than

compensate for the loss of grain they destroy. Mr. Bradley, in his

Treatise on Husbandry and Gardening, shows, by a calculation, that a

pair of Sparrows, during the time they have their young ones to feed,

destroy on an average, every week, three thousand three hundred and

sixty caterpillars.

This bird is easily tamed, and will hop about the house, and on the

table with great familiarity. It will feed on anything, and is

particularly fond of meat cut into small pieces. The song of the

Sparrow, if we can so call its chirping, is far from agreeable: this

arises, however, not from want of powers, but from its attending solely

to the note of the parent bird. A Sparrow, when fledged, was taken from

the nest and educated under a linnet: it also heard by accident a

goldfinch; and its song was in consequence a mixture of the two. The

male is particularly distinguished by a jet-black spot under the bill

upon a whitish ground. Sparrows are found nearly in every country of the

world.

[Illustration: THE LINNET, (_Fringilla linota_ or _Linota cannabina_.)]

IS about the size of the goldfinch; and compensates, by an extremely

melodious voice, the want of variety in its plumage, which, except in

the red-breasted species, is nearly all of one colour. Its musical

talents are, like those of many other birds, repaid with captivity; for

it is kept in cages on account of its singing.

The Redpole (_Fringilla linaria_) is a small species of Linnet, little

more than four inches in length, distinguished by a deep blood-red spot

on the crown of his head. He visits Britain in the autumn and stays with

us during the winter, his favourite summer residence being far away in

the north. Redpoles are taken in great numbers by the bird-catchers in

the autumn. Their only song is a twittering note, but they are often

attached by a brace and chain to an open cage and trained to draw their

water in a bucket.

The Green Linnet is rather larger than the house sparrow. Its head and

back are of a yellowish-green, the edges of the feathers grayish; the

rump and breast more yellow. The plumage of the female is much less

vivid, inclining to brown. Its song is trifling, but in confinement it

becomes tame and docile, and will catch the notes of other birds.

[Illustration: THE CANARY-BIRD. (_Fringilla_, or _Carduelis canaria_.)]

AS his name imports, this bird is a native of the Canary Islands; where,

in his wild state, he has a dusky gray plumage, and a much stronger

voice than when in a cage. In our northern countries his feathers

undergo a great alteration; and the bird often becomes entirely white or

yellow. Of this bird, Buffon says, “that if the nightingale is the

chantress of the woods, the Canary is the musician of the chamber; the

first owes all to nature, the second something to art. With less

strength of organ, less compass of voice, and less variety of note, the

Canary has a better ear, greater facility of imitation, and a more

retentive memory; and as the difference of genius, especially among the

lower animals, depends in a great measure on the perfection of their

senses, the Canary, whose organ of hearing is more susceptible of

receiving and retaining foreign impressions, becomes more social, tame,

and familiar; is capable of gratitude and even attachment; its caresses

are endearing, its little humours innocent, and its anger neither hurts

nor offends. Its education is easy; we rear it with pleasure, because we

are able to instruct it. It leaves the melody of its own natural note,

to listen to the melody of our voices and instruments. It accompanies

us, and repays the pleasure it receives with interest, while the

nightingale, more proud of his talent, seems desirous of preserving it

in all its purity, at least it appears to attach very little value to

ours, and it is with great difficulty that it can be taught any of our

airs. It despises them, and never fails to return to its own wild wood

notes. Its pipe is a masterpiece of nature, which human art can neither

alter nor improve; while that of the Canary is a model of more pliant

materials, which we can mould at pleasure; and therefore it contributes

in a much greater degree to the pleasures of society. It sings at all

seasons, cheers us in the dullest weather, and adds to our happiness, by

amusing the young and delighting the recluse, charming the tediousness

of the cloister, and gladdening the soul of the innocent and captive.”

It breeds generally twice a year when domesticated; and it sometimes

happens that the female lays her eggs for the second time before the

first brood is fledged. The male then good-naturedly takes her place on

the eggs while she feeds the young ones, and feeds them in his turn,

when she sits in the nest. They are very easily tamed, when brought up

with attention and kindness, and take their food out of the hand, often

perching on the shoulder of their mistress, and feeding out of her

mouth. The Canary-bird is sometimes, and with success, matched with the

linnet or the goldfinch; and the produce is a beautiful bird, partaking

of the talents and plumage of both.

Canary-birds live twelve or thirteen years in our climate, and sing well

to the end of their life.

The following curious anecdote of one of these birds is related by Dr.

Darwin: “On observing a Canary-bird at the house of a gentleman near

Tutbury, in Derbyshire, I was told it always fainted away when its cage

was cleaned; and I desired to see the experiment. The cage being taken

from the ceiling, and the bottom drawn out, the bird began to tremble,

and turned quite white about the root of the bill: he then opened his

mouth, as if for breath, and respired quick; stood up straighter on his

perch, hung his wings, spread his tail, closed his eyes, and appeared

quite stiff for half-an-hour; till at length, with much trembling and

deep respirations, he came gradually to himself.”

Some years ago, a Frenchman exhibited in London twenty-four

Canary-birds, many of which he said were from eighteen to twenty-five

years of age. Some of these balanced themselves, head downward, on their

shoulders, having their legs and tail in the air. One of them taking a

slender stick in its claws, passed its head between its legs, and

suffered itself to be turned round, as if in the act of being roasted.

Another balanced itself, and was swung backward and forward on a kind of

a slack rope. A third was dressed in military uniform, having a cap on

its head, wearing a sword and pouch, and carrying a firelock in one

claw: after some time sitting upright, this bird, at the word of

command, freed itself from its dress, and flew away to the cage. A

fourth suffered itself to be shot at, and falling down as if dead, was

put into a little wheelbarrow, and wheeled away by one of its comrades!

[Illustration: THE CHAFFINCH. (_Fringilla cœlebs._)]

THE CHAFFINCH is of the same dimensions as the sparrow, but more

lightly and elegantly formed. Its nest, which is of the most beautiful

and elaborate construction, is composed of mosses and lichens,

interwoven and lined with wool, hair, and feathers. “Four or five eggs,”

says Mr. Waterton, “are the usual number which the Chaffinch’s nest

contains, and sometimes only three. The thorn, and most of the evergreen

shrubs, the sprouts on the boles of forest trees, the woodbine, the

whin, the wild rose, and occasionally the bramble, are this bird’s

favourite places for nidification. Like all its congeners, it never

covers its eggs on retiring from the nest, for its young are hatched

blind. There is something peculiarly pleasing to me in the song of this

bird. Perhaps association of ideas may add a trifle to the value of its

melody; for when I hear the first note of the Chaffinch, I know that

winter is on the eve of its departure, and that sunshine and fine

weather are not far off. The Chaffinch never sings when on the wing; but

it warbles incessantly on the trees, and on the hedgerows, from the

early part of February to the second week in July; and then (if the bird

be in a state of freedom) its song entirely ceases.”

[Illustration]