[Illustration: THE BULLFINCH. (_Loxia pyrrhula._)]

THIS is a very docile bird, and will nearly imitate the sound of a pipe,

or the whistle of man, with its voice, the mellowness of which is really

charming. It is, by bird-fanciers, considered to excel all other small

birds, except the linnet, in the softness of its tones, and in the

variety of its notes. In captivity, its melody seems to be as great a

solace to itself, as it is a pleasure to its master. By day, and even

when the evening has called for the artificial light of candles, the

Bullfinch pursues his melodious exertions, and if there be any other

birds in the apartment, awakes them gently to the pleasing task of

singing in concert with him. His notes are upon one of the lowest keys

of the gamut of birds.

The plumage of the Bullfinch is beautiful, though simple and uniform,

consisting only of three or four colours. In the male, a lovely scarlet

or crimson colour adorns the breast, throat, and jaws, as far as the

eyes; the crown of the head is black; the rump and tail are white; the

neck and back grey, or lead-coloured. The name of this bird originates

from its head and neck being, like those of the bull, very large in

proportion to the body. The female does not share with the male the

brightness of colours in the plumage. Bullfinches build their nests in

gardens and orchards, and particularly in places that abound in

fruit-trees, as they are passionately fond of fruit, which they often

destroy before it is ripe.

[Illustration: THE GOLDFINCH.

(_Fringilla carduelis_, or _Carduelis elegans_.)]

THIS bird is also called the Thistlefinch, from his fondness for the

seeds of that plant. He is very beautiful, his plumage being elegantly

diversified, his form small, but pleasing, and his voice not loud, but

sweet. He is easily tamed, and often exhibited as a captive, with a

chain round his body, drawing up with trouble, but yet with amazing

dexterity, two small buckets, alternately, one containing his meat, the

other his drink. If he is old when caught, the Goldfinch, after a few

weeks, if well attended to, and gently treated, becomes as familiar as

if he had been brought up by the hand of his keeper. Some have been

taught to fire a small piece of artillery, and go through the drilling

exercise, to the great astonishment of the spectators; but the cruel and

severe treatment that animals undergo, when taught performances

altogether contrary to their nature, should prevent us from encouraging

such exhibitions.

This bird, as if conscious of the beauty of his plumage, likes to view

himself in a glass, which is sometimes fixed for this purpose in the

back of the cage. The art with which it composes and builds its nest is

really worthy of admiration; it is generally interwoven with moss, small

twigs, horsehair, and other pliant materials; the inside stuffed most

carefully with fine down, and tufts of cotton grass. There the female

deposits five or six eggs, which are whitish, marked at their upper end

with purple dots.

“The Goldfinch weaves, with willow down inlaid,

And cannach tufts, his wonderful abode;

And oft suspended at the limber end

Of plane-tree spray, among the broad-leaved shoots,

The tiny hammock swings to every gale.

Sometimes in closest thickets ’tis concealed;

Sometimes in hedge luxuriant, where the brier,

The bramble, and the plum-tree branch

Warp through the thorn, surmounted by the flowers

Of climbing vetch, and honeysuckle wild.”

GRAHAME.

The following lines were written by Cowper on a Goldfinch starved to

death in his cage. The Goldfinch speaks:--

“Time was when I was free as air,

The thistle’s downy seed my fare,

My drink the morning dew;

I perched at will on every spray,

My form genteel, my plumage gay,

My strains for ever new.

“But gaudy plumage, sprightly strain,

And form genteel were all in vain,

And of a transient date;

For caught and caged, and starved to death,

In dying sighs my little breath

Soon passed the wiry grate.

“Thanks, gentle author of my woes,

Thanks for this most effectual close

And cure of every ill.

Never your cruelty repress!

For I, if you had shown me less,

Had been your prisoner still.”

[Illustration: THE CROSSBILL. (_Loxia curvirostra._)]

THE CROSSBILL is a native of the vast pine forests of northern Europe,

and is by no means abundant in England. The bill of this singular bird

is of considerable length, and the mandibles towards the point are very

sharp and strong, curved in opposite directions, so that when closed the

points cross each other, from which the bird derives his name. This

curious organization enables them to obtain their food, which chiefly

consists of the seeds of the cones of the fir, with the greatest

facility. These seeds, for a considerable time after they have ripened,

are so firmly enclosed within their ligneous scales, that the bill of no

ordinary bird could reach them. Fixing itself across the cone, the

Crossbill brings the mandibles of its beak immediately over each other,

and insinuates them between the scales, then forcing them laterally, the

scales open. The mandibles are again brought in contact, between the

scales, and the bird then picks out the seed with their tips. It is very

interesting to find that a structure so anomalous as that of the bill of

the Crossbill is really beneficial to the creature, and not, as was

formerly rather flippantly asserted, a defect or error of nature.

[Illustration: THE STARE, OR STARLING, (_Sturnus vulgaris_,)]

IS about the size and shape of a blackbird; the tips of the feathers on

the neck and back are yellow; the feathers under the tail of an

ash-colour; the other parts of the plumage are black, with a purple or

deep blue gloss, changing as it is variously exposed to the light. In

the hen, the tips of the feathers on the breast and belly, to the very

throat, are white; which constitutes a material point in the choice of

the bird, as the female is no singer. She lays four or five eggs,

lightly tinctured with a greenish cast of blue. Starlings build in

hollow trees and clefts of rocks and walls, are very easily tamed, and

can add to their natural notes any words or modulations which they are

taught.

In the winter season Starlings collect in vast flocks, and may be known

at a great distance by their whirling mode of flight. The evening is the

time when they assemble in the greatest numbers, and betake themselves

to fens and marshes. Sterne has immortalized the Starling in his

“Sentimental Journey:” “The bird flew to the place where I was

attempting his deliverance, and thrusting his head through the trellis,

pressed his head against it, as if impatient.--‘I fear, poor creature,’

said I, ‘I can’t set thee at liberty.’--‘No,’ said the Starling, ‘I

can’t get out.’ ‘Disguise thyself as thou wilt, still, slavery,’ said I,

‘still thou art a bitter draught!’”

[Illustration: THE SATIN BOWER-BIRD.

(_Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus._)]

THIS singular bird was first brought before the notice of the public by

Mr. Gould, in his splendid work, the “Birds of Australia,” from which

the following extracts are given by permission of its author. The most

remarkable circumstance relating to this bird, is its construction of a

bower-like tenement, the object of which, it should seem, is a sort of

playing-ground, or hall of assembly.

“The Satin Bower-bird,” says Mr. Gould, “is not a stationary species,

but appears to range from one part of a district to another, either for

the purpose of varying the nature, or of obtaining a more abundant

supply of food. Judging from the many specimens I dissected, it would

seem that it is altogether granivorous and frugivorous; or, if not

exclusively so, that insects form but a small portion of its diet. The

brushes it inhabits are studded with enormous fig-trees, some of them

towering to the height of two hundred feet; among the lofty branches of

which the Satin Bower-bird finds, in the small wild fig with which the

branches are loaded, an abundant supply of a favourite food: this

species also commits considerable depredation on ripening corn. It

appears to have particular times in the day for feeding, and when thus

engaged among the low shrub-like trees, I have approached within a few

feet without creating alarm; but at other times I have found this bird

extremely shy, especially the old males, which not unfrequently perch on

the topmost branch of the loftiest tree, whence they can survey all

around, and watch the movements of the females and their young in the

brush below. Besides the loud liquid call peculiar to the male, both

sexes frequently utter a harsh, unpleasant, guttural note, indicative of

surprise or displeasure. The old black males are exceedingly few in

number, as compared with the females and young male birds in the green

dress, from which, and other circumstances, I am led to believe that at

least two, if not three years, elapse before they attain the rich

satin-like plumage, which, when once perfectly assumed, is, I believe,

never again thrown off. The extraordinary bower-like structures alluded

to above, are usually placed under the shelter of the branches of some

overhanging tree in the most retired part of the forest, and differ

considerably in size. The base consists of an extensive and rather

convex platform of stick, firmly interwoven, on the centre of which the

bower itself is built: this, like the platform on which it is placed,

and with which it is interwoven, is formed of sticks and twigs, but of a

more slender and flexible description, the tips of the twigs being so

arranged as to curve inwards and nearly meet at the top: in the interior

of the bower the materials are so placed, that the forks of the twigs

are always presented outwards, by which arrangement not the slightest

obstruction is offered to the passage of the birds. The interest of this

curious bower is much enhanced by the manner in which it is decorated at

and near the entrance with the most gaily-coloured articles that can be

collected, such as the blue tail-feathers of the Rose-bill and

Pennantian parrots, bleached bones, the shells of snails, &c.; some of

the feathers are stuck in among the twigs, while others with the bones

and shells are strewed about near the entrances. The propensity of

these birds to pick up and fly off with any attractive object, is so

well known to the natives, that they always search the runs for any

small missing article, as the bowl of a pipe, &c., that may have been

accidentally dropped in the brush. I myself found at the entrance of one

of them a small neatly-worked stone tomahawk, of an inch and a half in

length, together with some slips of blue cotton rags, which the birds

had doubtless picked up at a deserted encampment of the natives. For

what purpose these curious bowers are made is not yet, perhaps, fully

understood; they are certainly not used as a nest, but as a place of

resort for many individuals of both sexes, which, when there assembled,

run through and around the bower in a sportive and playful manner, and

that so frequently, that it is seldom entirely deserted.”

[Illustration: THE RAVEN. (_Corvus Corax._)]

“The Raven sits

On the raven-stone,

And his black wing flits

O’er the milk-white bone; To and fro, as the night-winds blow,

The carcass of the assassin swings:

And there alone, on the raven-stone,

The Raven flaps his dusky wings.

The fetters creak--and his ebon beak

Creaks to the close of the hollow sound:

And this is the tune by the light of the moon,

To which the witches dance their round.”

BYRON’S MANFRED.

THE RAVEN is about twenty-six inches in length, and his weight about

three pounds. The bill is strong, black, and hooked at the tip. The

plumage of the whole body of a shining black, glossed with deep blue;

the back of the lower part inclining to a dusky colour. He is of a

strong and hardy disposition, and inhabits all climates of the globe. He

builds his nest in trees; and the female lays five or six eggs of a

palish green colour, spotted with brown. It is said that the life of

this bird extends to a century; and even beyond that period, if we can

believe the accounts of several naturalists on the subject. The Raven

unites the voracious appetite of the crow to the dishonesty of the daw

and the docility of almost every other bird. He feeds chiefly on small

animals; and is said to destroy rabbits, young ducks, and chickens, and

sometimes even lambs, when they happen to be dropped in a weak state. In

the northern regions, he preys on carrion, in concert with the white

bear, the arctic fox, and the eagle. The faculty of scent in these birds

must be very acute; for in the coldest of the winter days, at Hudson’s

Bay, when every kind of effluvium is almost instantaneously destroyed by

the frost, buffaloes and other beasts have been killed, where not one of

these birds was seen; but in a few hours scores of them have been found

collected about the spot, to pick up the blood and offal. The Raven

possesses many diverting and mischievous qualities; he is active,

curious, sagacious, and impudent; by nature a glutton, by habit a thief,

in disposition a miser, and in practice a rogue. He is fond of picking

up any small piece of money, bits of glass or any thing that shines,

which he carefully conceals under the eaves of roofs, or in any other

inaccessible place. He is easily tamed; and, like the parrot and

starling, can imitate the human voice, in articulating words. At the

seat of the Marquis of Aylesbury, in Wiltshire, a tame Raven, that had

been taught to speak, used to ramble about in the park, where he was

commonly attended and beset with crows, rooks, and others of his

inquisitive tribe. When a considerable number of these were collected

round him, he would lift up his head, and with a hoarse and hollow voice

shout out Holloa! This would instantly put to flight and disperse his

sable brethren; while the Raven seemed to enjoy the fright he had

occasioned. When domesticated, the Raven is of great service, both as a

scavenger and in keeping watch, in the last of which he is more alert

and vigilant than almost any other animal. The Raven was the ensign of

the invading Danes, and the prejudice thereby engendered against the

bird is not yet quite extinct. Of its perseverance in the act of

incubation, Mr. White relates the following singular anecdote:

“In the centre of a grove near Selborne, there stood an oak, which,

though on the whole shapely and tall, bulged out into a large

excrescence near the middle of the stem. On this tree a pair of Ravens

had fixed their residence for such a series of years, that the oak was

distinguished by the title of ‘The Raven-tree.’ Many were the attempts

of the neighbouring youths to get at this nest: the difficulty whetted

their inclinations, and each was ambitious of surmounting the arduous

task; but when they arrived at the swelling, it jutted out so in their

way, and was so far beyond their grasp, that the boldest lads were

deterred and acknowledged the undertaking to be too hazardous. Thus the

Ravens continued to build, nest upon nest, in perfect security, till the

fatal day on which the wood was to be levelled. This was in the month of

February, when those birds usually sit. The saw was applied to the

trunk, the wedges were inserted into the opening, the wood echoed to the

heavy blows of the mallet, the tree nodded to its fall; but still the

dam persisted in sitting. At last, when it gave way, the bird was flung

from her nest; and though her parental affection deserved a better fate,

was whipped down by the twigs, which brought her dead to the ground!”

The croaking of the Raven was formerly considered a note of ill omen:

“The Raven croaked as she sat at her meal,

And the old woman knew what he said;

And she grew pale at the Raven’s tale,

And sickened and went to her bed.”

[Illustration: THE CARRION CROW. (_Corvus corone._)]

THIS bird is less in size than the raven. The bill is strong, thick, and

straight. The general colour is black, except the extremities of the

feathers, which are of a greyish tint. His delight is to feed upon

carcasses and dead animals, or malefactors exposed on the gibbet. He

roosts upon trees, and takes both animal and vegetable food. Crows, like

rooks, are gregarious, and often fly in large companies in the fields or

in the woods. On the upland moors, Crows occupy the place which rooks

fill in the low country; and as the Crow has a very coarse and uncouth

voice, the Lowlanders of Scotland are in the habit of saying that the

Highland rooks “speak Gaelic.” They are great destroyers of partridges’

eggs, as they often pierce them with their bills, and carry them in that

manner through the air to a great distance to feed their young. The

female lays five or six eggs.

Mr. Montagu states that he once saw a Crow in pursuit of a pigeon, at

which it made several pounces, like a hawk; but the pigeon escaped by

flying in at the door of a house. He saw another strike a pigeon dead

from the top of a barn. The Crow is so bold a bird that neither the

kite, the buzzard, nor the raven, can approach its nest without being

driven away. When it has young ones, it will even attack the peregrine

falcon, and at a single pounce sometimes bring that bird to the ground.

[Illustration: THE ROOK. (_Corvus frugilegus._)]

THE cawing of these birds, on the tops of high trees near gentlemen’s

houses, and in the middle of cities, is not very pleasing; yet old

habits, to which we are reconciled, have as much influence upon us as if

they were productive of amusement. Hence it has been seldom attempted to

destroy a rookery; although the noise and other inconveniences that

accompany these birds render their vicinity often troublesome. They feed

entirely on corn and insects, and are little bigger than the common

crows. In Suffolk, and in some parts of Norfolk, the farmers find it

their interest to encourage the breed of Rooks, as the only means of

freeing their grounds from the grub, which produces the cockchafer, and

which in this state destroys the roots of corn and grass to such a

degree, that instances have been known where the turf of pasture land

might be turned up with the foot. The farmers in a northern county, a

good many years ago, waged a war of extermination against the Rooks, but

the very next year the crops were so completely cut up by grubs, that

the same proprietors were at considerable expense in getting Rooks back

again. Young Rooks are good eating, but should be skinned before they

are dressed. The colour is black, but brighter than that of the crow,

which the Rook resembles in shape. The female lays the same number of

eggs; and the male shares with her the trouble of fetching sticks, and

interweaving them to make the nest, an operation which is attended with

a great deal of fighting and disputing with the other Rooks.

New comers are often severely beaten by the old inhabitants, and are

even frequently driven quite away; of this an instance occurred near

Newcastle, in the year 1783. A pair of Rooks, after an unsuccessful

attempt to establish themselves in a rookery at no great distance from

the Exchange, were compelled to abandon the attempt, and take refuge on

the spire of that building; and, though constantly interrupted by other

Rooks, they built their nest on the _top of the vane_, and reared their

young ones, undisturbed by the noise of the populace below. The nest and

its inhabitants were of course turned about by every change of the wind!

They returned and built their nest every year on the same place, till

1793, soon after which year the spire was taken down. A small

copperplate was engraved, of the size of a watchpaper, with a

representation of the spire and the nest; and so much pleased were the

inhabitants and other persons with it, that as many copies were sold as

produced to the engraver a profit of ten pounds. The woodcut by Bewick,

in the title-page to his Select Fable gives, a view of the old Exchange,

with the Rook’s nest on the vane.

It is amusing to see Rooks coming at sunset as thick as a cloud hovering

over a grove, and, after several eddies described in the air, and

incessant cawings, each repairing to its own nest, and settling in a few

minutes to rest, till the dawn calls them up again to their pasture in

the neighbouring fields.

Dr. Darwin has remarked, that an instinctive feeling of danger from

mankind is much more apparent in Rooks than in most other birds. Any one

who has in the least observed them will see that they evidently

distinguish that the danger is greater when a man is armed with a gun,

than when he has no weapon with him. In the spring of the year, if a

person happened to walk under a rookery with a gun in his hand, the

inhabitants of the trees rise on their wings, and scream to the

unfledged young to shrink into their nests from the sight of the enemy.

The country people observing this circumstance so uniformly to occur,

assert that Rooks can smell gunpowder.

[Illustration: THE JACKDAW. (_Corvus monedula._)]

THIS bird is much less than the crow. He has a large head and long bill,

in proportion to the size of his body. The colour of the plumage is

black, but on some parts inclining to a bluish hue; the fore part of the

head is of a deeper black. The Jackdaw feeds upon nuts, fruits, seeds,

and insects; and builds in ancient castles, towers, cliffs, and all

desolate and ruinous places. The female lays five or six eggs, smaller,

paler, and marked with fewer spots than those of the crow.

Jackdaws are easily tamed, and may with little difficulty be taught to

pronounce several words. They conceal such parts of their food as they

cannot eat, and often, along with it, small pieces of money or toys,

frequently occasioning, for the moment, suspicions of theft in persons

who are innocent. In Switzerland there is found a variety of the

Jackdaw, which has a white ring round its neck. In Norway, and other

cold countries, they have been seen entirely white. In a state of

nature, jackdaws and rooks frequently feed together, and the Jackdaws

come to meet the rooks in the morning, and also accompany them for some

distance on their retreat at night.

[Illustration: THE MAGPIE. (_Pica caudata._)]

“From bough to bough the restless Magpie roves,

And chatters as he flies.” GISBORNE.

THIS bird resembles the daw, except in the whiteness of the breast and

wings, and the length of the tail. The black of the feathers is

accompanied with a changing gloss of green and purple. It is a very

loquacious creature, and can be taught to imitate the human voice as

well as any of the feathered creation.

Plutarch relates a singular story of a Magpie belonging to a barber at

Rome, which could imitate, to a wonderful extent, almost every noise

that it heard. Some trumpets happened one day to be sounded before the

shop; and for a day or two afterwards the Magpie was quite mute, and

seemed pensive and melancholy. This surprised all who knew it; and they

supposed the sound of the trumpets had so stunned the bird as to deprive

it at the same time of voice and hearing. This, however, was not the

case; for, says the writer, the bird had been all the time occupied in

profound meditation, and was studying how to imitate the sound of the

trumpets; accordingly, in the first attempt, it perfectly imitated all

their repetitions, stops, and changes. This new lesson, however, made it

entirely forget everything that it had learned before.

The Magpie feeds on everything; worms, insects, meat, cheese, bread,

milk, and all kinds of seeds, and also on small birds, when they come in

its way: the young of the blackbird and of the thrush, and even a

strayed chicken, often fall a prey to its rapacity. It is fond of hiding

pieces of money or wearing apparel, which it carries away by stealth,

and with much dexterity, to its hole. Its cunning is also remarked in

the manner of making its nest, which it covers all over with hawthorn

branches, the thorns sticking outward; within, it is lined with fibrous

roots, wool, and long grass, and then plastered all round with mud and

clay. The canopy above is composed of the sharpest thorns, woven

together in such a manner as to deny all entrance except at the door,

which is just large enough to permit egress and regress to the owners.

In this fortress the birds bring up their brood with security, safe from

all attacks, but those of the climbing schoolboy, who often finds his

torn and bloody hands too dear a price for the eggs or the young ones.

There are many superstitions respecting Magpies; and it is singular that

in all the southern and middle districts of England, two Magpies

together are thought to betoken luck; while in Lancashire, and other

northern counties, they are thought to betoken misfortune. The

chattering of Magpies was formerly supposed to foretell the arrival of

strangers.

[Illustration: THE CORNISH CHOUGH, (_Pyrrhcorax graculus_,)]

IS like the jackdaw in shape and colour, but somewhat larger. The bill

and legs are of a red colour, and hence the bird is frequently called

the red-legged Crow. It is an inhabitant of Cornwall, Wales, and all the

western coasts of England, and is generally to be found among rocks near

the sea, where it builds, as well as in old ruinous castles and churches

on the sea-side. The voice of the Chough resembles that of the jackdaw,

except that it exceeds it in hoarseness and strength.

Mr. Montagu describing a Chough in the possession of a friend, says,

“his curiosity is beyond bounds, never failing to examine everything new

to him: if the gardener be pruning, he examines the nail-box, carries

off the nails, and scatters the shreds about. Should a ladder be left

against the wall, he instantly mounts, and goes all round the top of the

wall: and if hungry descends at a convenient place, and immediately

travels to the kitchen window, where he makes an incessant knocking with

his bill, until he is fed or let in. If allowed to enter, his first

endeavour is to get up-stairs; and if not interrupted, goes as high as

he can, and gets into any room on the attic story; but his intention is

to get upon the top of the house. He is excessively fond of being

caressed, and would stand quietly by the hour to be smoothed; but

resents an affront with violence and effect, by both bill and claws, and

will hold so fast by the latter, that he is with difficulty

disengaged.”

[Illustration: THE JAY, (_Garrulus glandarius_,)]

IS less than the magpie, and resembles him more in the habits of his

life than in the shape and colour of his body. Like him he is talkative,

and ready to imitate all sounds, but boasts of ornamental colours, which

the magpie is deprived of. The ablest painter can produce no colour to

equal the brightness of the chequered tablets of white, black, and blue,

which adorn the sides of his wings. His head is covered with feathers,

which are moveable at will, and the motion of which is expressive of the

internal affections of the bird, whether he is stimulated by fear,

anger, or desire.

A Jay, kept by a person in the north of England, had learned at the

approach of cattle to set a cur dog upon them, by whistling and calling

him by his name. One winter, during a severe frost, the dog was by this

means excited to attack a cow that was big with calf, when the poor

thing fell on the ice, and was much hurt. The Jay was complained of as a

nuisance, and its owner was obliged to destroy it.

The hen lays five or six eggs, of a dull white colour, mottled with

brown.

[Illustration: THE ROLLER, (_Coracias garrula_,)]

IS about the size of the jay. Its bill is black, sharp, and somewhat

hooked. The head is of a dirty green, mingled with blue; of which colour

is also the throat, with white lines in the middle of each feather; the

breast is of a pale blue, like that of the pigeon; the middle of the

back, between the shoulders, is red; the rump and lesser coverts of the

wings are dark blue; the feet are short, and, like those of a dove, of a

dirty yellow colour.

The Roller is wilder than the jay, and frequents the thickest woods; it

builds its nest chiefly on birch-trees. It is a bird of passage, and

migrates in the months of May and September. In Africa, it is said to

fly in large flocks in the autumn, and is frequently seen on cultivated

grounds, with rooks and other birds, searching for worms, insects,

seeds, berries, roots, and in cases of necessity, small frogs.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: THE KINGFISHER, (_Alcedo ispida_,)]

IS the Halcyon of the ancients, and his name recalls to our mind the

most lively ideas. It was believed, that, as long as the female sat upon

her eggs, the god of storms and tempests refrained from disturbing the

calmness of the waves, and _Halcyon days_ were, for navigators of old,

the most secure times to perform their voyages:

“As firm as the rock, and as calm as the flood,

Where the peace-loving Halcyon deposits her brood.”

But although this bears analogy to a natural coincidence between the

time of breeding assigned to the Kingfishers and a part of the year when

the ocean is less tempestuous, yet Mythology would exercise her fancy,

and turn into wonders that which was nothing else than the common course

of nature.

This bird is nearly as small as a common sparrow, but the head and beak

appear proportionally too big for the body. The bright blue of the back

and wings claims our admiration, as it changes into deep purple or

lively green, according to the angles of light under which the bird

presents itself to the eye. It generally haunts the banks of rivers, for

the purpose of seizing small fish, on which it subsists, and which it

takes in amazing quantities, by balancing itself at a distance above the

water for a certain time, and then darting on the fish with unerring

aim. It dives perpendicularly into the water, where it continues several

seconds, and then brings up the fish, which it carries to land, beatsto death, and afterwards swallows. When it cannot find a projecting

bough, it sits on some stone near the brink, or even on the gravel; but

the moment it perceives the fish, it takes a spring upwards of twelve or

fifteen feet, and drops from that height upon its prey.

The Kingfisher lays its eggs, to the number of seven or more, in a hole

in the bank of the river or stream that it frequents. Dr. Heysham had a

female brought alive to him at Carlisle by a boy, who said he had taken

it the preceding night when sitting on its eggs. His information on the

subject was, that “having often observed these birds frequent a bank

upon the river Peteril, he had watched them carefully, and at last he

saw them go into a small hole in the bank. The hole was too narrow to

admit his hand; but, as it was made in soft mould, he easily enlarged

it. It was upwards of half a yard long; at the end of it the eggs, which

were six in number, were placed upon the bare mould, without the

smallest appearance of a nest.” The eggs were considerably larger than

those of the yellow-hammer, and of a transparent white colour. It

appears, from a still later account, that the direction of the holes is

always upward; that they are enlarged at the end, and have there a kind

of bedding formed of the bones of small fish, and some other substances,

evidently the castings of the parent animals. This bedding is generally

half an inch thick, and mixed with earth; and on it the female deposits

and hatches her eggs. When the young ones are nearly full-feathered they

are extremely voracious; and as the old birds do not supply them with

all the food they can devour, they are continually chirping, and may be

discovered by their noise.

[Illustration: THE BIRD OF PARADISE. (_Paradisea apoda._)]

THERE are several distinct species of these birds, of which the best

known are the large and small Emerald Birds of Paradise, which are very

similar in appearance, and are both imported into Europe as ornaments

for ladies’ dress. Their appearance when flying in their native forests

is said to be most beautiful. M. Lesson, a French naturalist, gives the

following account:--“Soon after our arrival on this land of promise

(New Guinea) for the naturalist, I was on a shooting excursion. Scarcely

had I walked some hundred paces in those ancient forests, the daughters

of time, whose sombre depth was, perhaps, the most magnificent and

stately sight that I had ever seen, when a Bird of Paradise struck my

view: it flew gracefully and in undulations; the feathers of its sides

formed an elegant and aërial plume, which, without exaggeration, bore no

remote resemblance to a brilliant meteor. Surprised, astounded, enjoying

an inexpressible gratification, I devoured this splendid bird with my

eyes; but my emotion was so great that I forgot to shoot at it, and did

not recollect that I had a gun in my hand till it was far away.”

The head is small, but adorned with colours which vie with the brightest

hues of the feathered tribe; the neck is a beautiful fawn, and the body

very small, but covered with long feathers of a browner hue, tinged with

gold: the two middle feathers of the tail are little more than

filaments, except at the point and near the base. Although the body is

no larger than that of a thrush, the total length is two feet. This bird

has long been esteemed by ladies as a head-dress; and as those sent to

Europe for this purpose always had the legs cut off for the convenience

of packing, it was reported, and at one time believed, that the Bird of

Paradise had no legs, but that it lived always on the wing. Indeed, a

very fierce controversy arose on this subject among the earlier

naturalists.

The native place of these birds is New Guinea and the neighbouring

islands, where they are generally found in flocks of thirty and forty,

roosting on fig or teak trees. They always fly against the wind, that it

may not ruffle their light and spreading plumage, as, if the wind came

from behind, it would blow their long tails over their back. They take

shelter from storms in the most dense thickets, and feed principally on

figs, the berries of the teak, and insects. The note of the Bird of

Paradise is very unpleasant, and resembles the cawing of a raven; it is

chiefly heard in windy weather, when they dread being thrown on the

ground.

[Illustration: THE NUTHATCH, OR NUTJOBBER,

(_Sitta Europæa_,)

AND THE CREEPER, (_Certhia familiaris_,)]

IS less than the chaffinch. The head, neck, and beak are of an

ash-colour; the sides under the wings red; the throat and breast of a

pale yellow; the chin white, and the feathers under the tail red, with

white tips. The Nuthatch feeds upon insects and also upon nuts, which he

hoards in the hollow part of a tree; and it is pleasing to see him fetch

a nut out of the hole, place it first in a chink, and standing above it

with his head downwards, striking it with all his might, break the

shell, and catch up the kernel. The hen is so attached to her brood,

that, when disturbed from her nest, she flutters about the head of the

depredator, and hisses like a snake. The Nuthatches are shy and solitary

birds, and like the woodpeckers frequent woods, and run up and down the

trees with surprising facility. They often move their tails in the

manner of the wagtail. They do not migrate, but during the winter

approach nearer to inhabited places, and are sometimes seen in orchards

and gardens. The female lays her eggs in holes of trees.

[Illustration: THE CREEPER. (_Certhia familiaris._)]

THE CREEPERS are dispersed through most countries of the globe, and feed

chiefly on insects, in search of which they run in a spiral direction

round the stems and branches of trees, with great agility.

The Common Creeper is about five inches in length; its colour is tawny,

the quills being tipped with white or light brown. Its nest is formed of

dry grass and bark, and is placed in the hollow of some decayed tree.

[Illustration: THE WALL CREEPER, OR SPIDER-CATCHER,

(_Tichodroma muraria_,)]

IS larger than a house-sparrow. It has a long, slender, black bill; the

head, neck, and back are of an ash-colour, the front of the neck and

throat being a deep black; the breast is white; the wings a compound of

lead-colour and red. It is a brisk and cheerful bird, and has a pleasant

note. Clefts and crevices of rocks and the walls of old edifices are its

favourite haunts, and sometimes, but very rarely, the trunks of trees.

It feeds on insects, and is especially fond of spiders and their eggs.

The nest is made in clefts of the most inaccessible rocks, and in the

crevices of ruins, at a great height.

[Illustration: THE LYRE-BIRD OF AUSTRALIA.

(_Menura superba._)]

THIS bird is found in New South Wales, near Port Philip, but it is the

male only that possesses the splendid tail whence it derives its name.

It feeds on snails, and builds a nest like a magpie.

“Of all the birds I have ever met with,” says Mr. Gould, “the Menura is

by far the most shy and difficult to procure. While among the brushes, I

have been surrounded by these birds, pouring forth their loud andliquid calls, for days together, without being able to get a sight of

them; and it was only by the most determined perseverance and extreme

caution that I was enabled to effect this desirable object; which was

rendered the more difficult by their often frequenting the almost

inaccessible and precipitous sides of gullies and ravines, covered with

tangled masses of creepers, and umbrageous trees: the cracking of a

stick, the rolling down of a small stone, or any other noise, however

slight, is sufficient to alarm it; and none but those who have traversed

these rugged, hot, and suffocating brushes, can fully understand the

excessive labour attendant on the pursuit of the Menura. Independently

of climbing over rocks and fallen trunks of trees, the sportsman has to

creep and crawl beneath and among the branches with the utmost caution,

taking care only to advance when the bird’s attention is occupied in

singing, or in scratching up the leaves in search of food: to watch its

actions, it is necessary to remain perfectly motionless, not venturing

to move even in the slightest degree, or it vanishes from sight, as if

by magic. Although I have said thus much on the cautiousness of the

Menura, it is not always so alert: in some of the more accessible

brushes through which roads have been cut, it may frequently be seen,

and even on horseback closely approached, the bird apparently evincing

less fear of those animals than of man. At Illawarra it is sometimes

successfully pursued by dogs trained to rush suddenly upon it, when it

immediately leaps upon the branch of a tree, and its attention being

attracted by the dog which stands barking below, it is easily approached

and shot. Another successful mode of procuring specimens is, by wearing

a tail of a full-plumaged male in the hat, keeping it constantly in

motion, and concealing the person among the bushes, when the attention

of the bird being arrested by the apparent intrusion of another of its

own sex, it will be attracted within the range of the gun: if the bird

be hidden from view by the surrounding objects, any unusual sound, as a

shrill whistle, will generally induce him to show himself for an

instant, by causing him to leap with a gay and sprightly air upon some

neighbouring branch to ascertain the cause of the disturbance:immediate advantage must be taken of this circumstance, or the next

moment it may be half-way down the gully. So totally different is the

shooting of this bird to anything practised in Europe, that the most

expert shot would have but little chance, until well experienced in the

peculiar nature of the country, and the habits of the bird. The Menura

seldom, if ever, attempts to escape by flying; it easily eludes pursuit

by its extraordinary power of running. None are so efficient in

obtaining specimens as the naked black, whose noiseless and gliding

steps enable him to steal upon it unheard and unperceived, and with the

gun in his hand, he rarely allows it to escape, and in many instances he

will even kill it with his own weapons.

“The Lyre-bird is of a wandering disposition, and although it probably

keeps to the same brush, it is constantly engaged in traversing it from

one end to the other, from mountain-top to the bottom of the gullies,

whose steep and rugged sides present no obstacle to its long legs and

powerful muscular thighs: it is also capable of performing extraordinary

leaps; and I have heard it stated, that it will spring ten feet

perpendicularly from the ground. It appears to be of solitary habits, as

I have never seen more than a pair together, and these only in a single

instance; they were both males, and were chasing each other round and

round with extreme rapidity, apparently in play, pausing every now and

then to utter their loud shrill calls; while thus employed they carried

the tail horizontally, as they always do when running quickly through

the bush, that being the only position in which this great organ could

be conveniently borne at such times. Among its many curious habits, the

only one at all approaching to those of the _Gallinacæa_, is that of

forming small round hillocks, which are constantly visited during the

day, and upon which the male is constantly trampling, at the same time

erecting and spreading out his tail in the most graceful manner, and

uttering his various cries, sometimes pouring forth his natural notes,

at others mocking those of other birds, and even the howling of the

native dog, or dingo. The early morning and the evening are the periods

when it is most animated and active.”

There is another kind of Lyre-Bird, also found in New South Wales, to

which Mr. Gould has given the name of _Menura Alberti_, in honour of the

late Prince Consort.

[Illustration: THE HUMMING-BIRD. (_Trochilus colubris._)]

THERE are numerous species of Humming-Birds, but that represented above,

is one of the most common. They are abundant in South America,

particularly in Brazil; and are so small and so brilliant in their

colours, that when seen fluttering about in the brilliant rays of a

tropical sun, they look like flying gems. They are extremely active,

darting about, and thrusting their long beaks and flexible tongues into

every flower they see, in search of food. Sometimes they will remain

suspended in the air for a long time together, vibrating their wings

with such velocity, that they cannot be seen distinctly, but appear like

a mist round the body of the bird, while they make that curious humming

noise from which the bird takes its name. Sometimes they quarrel, when

their little throats become distended, their crest, tails, and wings

expand, and they fight with inconceivable fury, till one of them falls

exhausted on the ground. The most common species is _Trochilus

colubris_, the Ruby-throated Humming-Bird, and one of them has been kept

alive in a cage for more than three months, by feeding it with sugar and

water. This species is found in North America, where it migrates to the

north in summer, and is there seen even in Canada and the country of

Hudson’s Bay.

[Illustration: THE HOOPOE. (_Upupa epops._)]

THIS is a small bird, measuring no more than twelve inches from the

point of the bill to the end of the tail. The bill is sharp, black, and

somewhat bending. The head is adorned with a very beautiful, large

moveable crest, a kind of bright halo, the radiation of which places the

head nearly in the centre of a golden circle. This pleasing ornament,

which the bird sets up or lets fall at pleasure, is composed of a double

row of feathers, reaching from the bill to the nape of the neck, which

is of a pale red. The breast is white, with black streaks tending

downwards; the wings and back are varied with white and black

cross-lines. The food of the Hoopoe consists chiefly of insects, with

the remains of which its nest is sometimes so filled as to become

extremely offensive. This beautifully-crested bird is not at all common

in this country, and is solitary, two of them being seldom seen

together, while in Egypt, where Hoopoes are very common, they are often

seen in small flocks. The female generally constructs her nest in a

hollow tree, the materials employed, in addition to the remains of their

food, being very scanty, consisting in fact of a few dried grass stalks

and feathers. She lays from four to seven eggs at a time, of a pale

lavender grey, about an inch and a half long. The young are generally

hatched in June; it is said, however, that two or three broods are

produced in the course of the year. The name alludes to the note of the

bird, which resembles the word “hoop” repeated several times in a low

voice.

Though this bird is found occasionally both in England and Scotland, it

rarely breeds with us. It is common in Italy, where its strange

startling cry is often heard, without the bird being seen, as it keeps

itself concealed among trees. It is also not uncommon on the banks of

the Garonne in France, where it may be seen skimming along the ground

amongst the willows in search of the insects upon which it feeds.

There are several species of this magnificent family. The most brilliant

is undoubtedly the Upupa Superba, or Grand Promerops of New Guinea.

“There does not perhaps exist,” says Sonnerat, “a more extraordinary

bird. Its body is delicate and slender, and, although it is of an

elongated form, appears excessively small in comparison with the tail.

Nature seems to have pleased herself in painting this being, already so

singular, with her most brilliant colours. The head, the neck, and the

belly are a glittering green; the feathers which cover these parts have

the lustre and softness of velvet to the eye and to the touch; the back

is changeable violet; the wings are of the same colour, and appear,

according to the lights in which they are held, blue, violet, or deep

black, always however imitating velvet.” This bird is rare, and a

specimen is seldom seen even in the most complete collections.

§ IV.--_Scansores, or Climbers._

[Illustration: THE CUCKOO. (_Cuculus canorus._)]

“Hail, beauteous stranger of the wood,

Attendant on the spring!

Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat,

And woods thy welcome sing.

“Soon as the daisy decks the green,

Thy certain voice we hear;

Hast thou a star to guide thy path,

Or mark the rolling year?

“Delightful visitant! with thee

I hail the time of flowers,

When heav’n is fill’d with music sweet,

Of birds among the bowers.”

LOGAN.

THE well-known notes of this bird, in spite of their monotony, are heard

with pleasure in spring, as a sure prognostic of fine weather. The

Cuckoo is generally first heard about the middle of April, and ceases

towards the end of June. This bird is so shy that he is seldom seen when

uttering his singular note. The female does not build a nest, but lays

her eggs in that of some other bird.

The Cuckoo is somewhat less than the magpie, his length being about

twelve inches from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. He is

remarkable for his round prominent nostrils; the lower part of the body

is of a yellowish colour, with black transverse lines on the throat and

across the breast; the head and upper part of the body and wings are

beautifully marked with black and tawny stripes, and on the top of the

head there are a few white spots. The tail is long, and on the exterior

part, or edges of the feathers, there are several white marks; the

ground colour of the body is a sort of grey. The legs are short, and

covered with feathers, and the feet are composed of four toes, two

before and two behind.

We are indebted to the observations of Dr. Jenner for the following

account of the habits and economy of this singular bird in the disposal

of its eggs. He states that, during the time the hedge-sparrow is laying

her eggs, which generally occupies four or five days, the Cuckoo

contrives to deposit her egg among the rest, leaving the future care of

it entirely to the hedge-sparrow. This intrusion often occasions some

disorder; for the old hedge-sparrow, at intervals while she is sitting,

not only throws out some of her own eggs but sometimes injures them in

such a way that they become addled, so that it frequently happens that

not more than two or three of the parent bird’s eggs are hatched: but,

what is very remarkable, it has never been observed that she has either

thrown out or injured the egg of the Cuckoo. When the hedge-sparrow has

set her usual time, and has disengaged the young Cuckoo and some of her

own offspring from the shell, her own young ones and any of her eggs

that remain unhatched are soon turned out: the young Cuckoo then remains

in full possession of the nest, and is the sole object of the future

care of the foster parent. The young birds are not previously killed,

nor are the eggs demolished; but they are left to perish together,

either entangled in the bush that contains the nest, or lying on the

ground beneath it. On the 18th June, 1787, Dr. Jenner examined a nest of

a hedge-sparrow, which then contained a Cuckoo’s and three

hedge-sparrow’s eggs. On inspecting it the day following, the bird had

hatched: but the nest then contained only a young Cuckoo and one

hedge-sparrow. The nest was placed so near the extremity of a hedge,

that he could distinctly see what was going forward in it; and, to his

great astonishment, he saw the young Cuckoo, though so lately hatched,

in the act of turning out the young hedge-sparrow. The mode of

accomplishing this was curious; the little animal, with the assistance

of its rump and wings, contrived to get the bird upon its back, and

making a lodgment for its burden by elevating its elbows, climbed

backward with it up the side of the nest, till it reached the top;

where, resting for a moment, it threw off its load with a jerk, and

quite disengaged it from the nest. After remaining a short time in this

situation, and feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to

be convinced that the business was properly executed, it dropped into

the nest again. Dr. Jenner made several experiments in different nests,

by repeatedly putting in an egg to the young Cuckoo, which he always

found to be disposed of in the same manner. It is very remarkable that

nature seems to have provided for the singular disposition of the Cuckoo

in its formation at this period; for, different from other newly-hatched

birds, its back, from the scapulae downward, is very broad, with a

considerable depression in the middle, which seems intended for the

express purpose of giving a more secure lodgment to the egg of the

hedge-sparrow or its young one, while the young Cuckoo is employed in

removing either of them from the nest. When it is about twelve days

old, this cavity is quite filled up, the back assumes the shape of that

of nestling birds in general, and at that time the disposition of

turning out its companion entirely ceases. The smallness of the Cuckoo’s

egg, which in general is less than that of the hedge-sparrow, is another

circumstance to be attended to in this surprising transaction, and seems

to account for the parent Cuckoo’s depositing it in the nest of such

small birds only as these. If she were to do this in the nest of a bird

that produced a larger egg, and consequently a larger nestling, the

design would probably be frustrated, the young Cuckoo would be unequal

to the task of becoming sole possessor of the nest, and might fall a

sacrifice to the superior strength of its partners. Dr. Jenner observes,

that the egg of two Cuckoos are sometimes deposited in the same nest;

and gives the following instance which fell under his observation. Two

Cuckoos and a hedge-sparrow were hatched in the same nest; one

hedge-sparrow’s egg remained unhatched. In a few hours a contest began

between the Cuckoos for possession of the nest; and this continued

undetermined till the afternoon of the following day, when the one which

was somewhat superior in size, turned out the other, together with the

young hedge-sparrow and the unhatched egg. The contest, he adds, was

very remarkable; the combatants alternately appeared to have the

advantage, as each carried the other several times nearly to the top of

the nest, and again sank down oppressed by the weight of its burden;

till at length, after various efforts, the strongest of the two

prevailed, and was afterwards brought up by the hedge-sparrow.

The American Cuckoo, or Cow bird, is quite different in its habits to

the European Cuckoo, as it builds a nest for its eggs, and hatches its

young itself like other birds.

[Illustration: THE COMMON GREEN WOODPECKER,

(_Picus viridis_,)]

RECEIVES his name from his habit of pecking the insects from the chinks

of trees and holes in the bark. The bill is straight, strong, and

angular at the end; and in most of the species is formed like a wedge,

for the purpose of piercing the trees. The nostrils are covered with

bristles. The tongue is slender, and cylindrical in shape, and to the

touch is hard and bony. The Woodpecker, in common with the Humming Bird,

though for a different object, possesses the remarkable property of

being able to dart out its tongue and secure insects at a considerable

distance from its beak. For the purpose of effectually capturing the

stronger insects, the tongue is barbed at the end, and provided with

glutinous secretion. The toes of this bird are placed two forward and

two backward; and the tail consists of ten hard, stiff, and

sharp-pointed feathers. A Woodpecker is often seen hanging by his claws,

and resting upon his breast against the stem of a tree; when, after

darting his beak against the bark, with great strength and noise, he

runs round the tree with much alacrity, which manœuvre has made the

country people suppose that he goes round to see whether he has not

pierced the tree through, though the fact is, the bird is in search of

the insects, which he hopes to have driven out by his blow.

The following lines, from Moore’s beautiful song, allude to the noise

which the Woodpecker makes in searching for its food:

“I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curl’d

Above the green elms, that a cottage was near,

And I said, if there’s peace to be found in the world,

A heart that was humble might hope for it here.

Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound,

But the Woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree.”

The fact is, that this beating against the bark is for no other purpose

than to rouse the insects which the chink contains, and to force them to

come out, which they do from their alarm at the noise, when the

Woodpecker turning round takes them unawares, and feeds upon them: if

the insects do not answer the delusive call, he darts his long tongue

into the hole, and brings out, by this means, his reluctant prey. The

plumage of this bird is a compound of red and green, two colours, the

approximation of which is always productive of harmony in the works of

nature. They nestle in the hollows of trees, where the female lays five

or six whitish eggs, without making any nest, trusting to the natural

heat of her body to hatch them.

The Green Woodpecker is seen more frequently on the ground than the

other kinds, particularly where there are ant-hills. It inserts its long

tongue into the holes through which the ants issue, and draws them out

in abundance. Sometimes with its feet and bill it makes a breach in the

nest, and devours the ants and their eggs at its ease. The young ones

climb up and down the trees before they are able to fly; they roost very

early, and repose in their holes till day. There are many different

kinds of Woodpecker, five of which are common to this country.

[Illustration: THE WRYNECK. (_Yunx torquilla._)]

THIS bird, Mr. Gould tells us, has received its English name from its

habit of moving its head and neck in various directions, and with an

undulating motion, like that of a snake; indeed, in some parts of

England it is called the snake-bird. When found in its usual retreat in

the hole of a tree, it makes a loud hissing noise, raises the feathers

of the crown, and writhing its head and neck towards each shoulder

alternately, with grotesque contortions, becomes an object of terror to

a timid intruder; and the bird, taking advantage of a moment of

indecision, darts with the rapidity of lightning from a situation where

escape appeared impossible.

The Wryneck deposits its eggs on fragments of decayed wood within a

hollow tree, and makes scarcely any nest. The birds when caught young

are easily tamed.

[Illustration: THE TOUCAN, (_Rhamphastos tucanus_,)]

IS a native of South America, very conspicuous for the magnitude and

shape of its bill; which, in some of the species, is nearly as long and

as large as the body itself. The length of its body is about eighteen

inches (the size of the magpie); the head is large and strong, and the

neck short, in order the more easily to support the bulk of such a beak.

The head, neck, and wings are black; the breast of a most lovely orange

saffron colour; the lower part of the body and the thighs are vermilion;

the tail black. Mr. Gould’s specimen represents a narrow straw-coloured

belt across the centre of the breast, dividing the orange tint from the

vermilion. One of these birds that was kept in a cage was very fond of

fruit, which it held for some time in its beak, touching it with great

delight with the tip of its feathery tongue, and then tossing it into

its throat by a sudden upright jerk; it also fed on small birds,

insects, caterpillars, &c.

[Illustration: THE GREY PARROT. (_Psittacus erythacus._)]

THE tongue of the Parrot is not unlike a black soft bean, and fills so

completely the capacity of its beak, that the bird can easily modulate

sounds and articulate words; the beak is composed of two pieces, both

moveable, which is a peculiarity belonging almost exclusively to this

tribe of birds. The bill of the Parrot is strongly hooked, and assists

it in climbing, catching hold of the boughs of the trees with it, and

then drawing its legs upwards; then again advancing the beak, and

afterwards the feet, for its legs are not adapted for hopping from bough

to bough, as other birds do. Several stories are told of the sagacity of

these birds, and of the aptitude of their interrogatories and answers,

but they have been no doubt the effect of chance.

Dr. Goldsmith says that a Parrot, belonging to King Henry the Seventh,

having been kept in a room next the Thames, in his palace of

Westminster, had learned to repeat many sentences from the boatmen and

passengers. One day, sporting on its perch, it unluckily fell into the

water. The bird had no sooner discovered its situation, than it called

out aloud, “A boat! twenty pounds for a boat!” A waterman, happening to

be near the place where the Parrot was floating, immediately took it up,

and restored it to the king; demanding, as the bird was a favourite,

that he should be paid the reward the bird had called out. This was

refused; but it was agreed that, as the Parrot had offered a reward, the

man should again refer to its determination for the sum he was to

receive. “Give the knave a groat,” screamed the bird the instant the

reference was made.

The memory of Parrots is very astonishing, and they can not only imitate

discourse, but can sing verses of songs, and mimic gestures and actions.

Scaliger saw one that performed the dance of the Savoyards at the same

time that it repeated their song. The song was well imitated, but when

the bird tried to caper, it was with the worst grace imaginable, as he

turned in his toes, and kept tumbling back in a most clumsy manner.

Willoughby tells us of a Parrot, which, when a person said to it,

“Laugh, Poll, laugh,” laughed accordingly, and the instant after

screamed out, “What a fool to make me laugh!” Another, which had grown

old with its master, shared with him the infirmities of age. Being

accustomed to hear scarcely anything but the words “I am sick;” when a

person asked it, “How do you do, Poll?” “I am sick,” it replied in a

doleful tone, stretching itself out, “I am sick.”

Parrots are very numerous in the East and West Indies, where they

assemble in companies, like rooks, and build in the hollows of trees.

The female lays two or three eggs, marked with little specks, like those

of the partridge. They never breed in our climate, though they live here

to a great age. They feed entirely upon vegetables, but, when tame, will

take from the mouth of their master or mistress any kind of chewed meat,

and chiefly eggs, of which they seem particularly fond. They bite or

pinch very hard, and some of them possess so much strength in their

beak, that they could easily break a man’s finger. The Parrot is

sensible of attachment, as well as of revenge; and if in their mimic

attitudes they show great pleasure at the sight of their feeders, they

also fly up with anger to the face of those who once have affronted or

injured them.

[Illustration: THE GREEN PARROT, (_Psittacus amazonicus_,)]

WHICH is perhaps more commonly seen in England than the African Grey

Parrot, is a native of South America, and receives its name from the

great river Amazon, on the banks of which it is common. In its native

country it does much damage to the plantations, and indeed many of the

Parrots are as injurious in this respect as they are beautiful in their

plumage. The Green Parrot resembles the Grey species in its habits, and

may likewise be taught to speak with much distinctness.

[Illustration: THE BLUE AND YELLOW MACAW, (_Psittacus_, or _Macrocercus

aracanga_,)]

IS one of the largest of the parrot tribe, and painted with the finest

colours Nature can bestow. The beak is uncommonly strong; and the tail

proportionally longer than that of any of the parrot tribe. Its voice is

fierce and tremulous, sometimes sounding like the laugh of an old man;

and it seems to utter the word “Arara,” which occasions its bearing that

name in its native country.

When tame, it eats almost every article of human food, and is

particularly fond of bread, beef, fried fish, pastry, and sugar. It

cracks nuts with its bill, and dexterously picks out the kernels with

its claws. It does not chew the soft fruits, but sucks them by pressing

its tongue against the upper part of its beak: and the harder sort of

food, such as bread and pastry, it bruises, or chews, by pressing the

tip of the lower upon the most hollow part of the upper mandible.

_The Scarlet Macaw_ (_M. Macao_) is another large species, of a bright

red colour, with some blue and yellow feathers on the wings, and blue

ones about the base of the tail. It was formerly common in the West

Indian Islands, but has now become rare there. Its voice is very loud

and harsh.

[Illustration: THE RING PAROQUET. (_Palæornis Alexandri._)]

THIS beautiful species, no less remarkable for the elegance of its form

than for its docility and imitative powers, is supposed to have been the

first of the parrot species known to the ancients, from the time of

Alexander the Great down to the age of Nero. It is about fifteen inches

long; its bill is thick and red; the head and the body a bright green;

the neck, breast, and the whole of the under side of a paler tint. It

has a red circle, or ring, which encompasses the neck, and is about the

breadth of a little finger at the back; but grows narrower by degrees

towards the sides, and ends under the lower bill. The lower part of the

body is of so faint a green, that it seems almost yellow. The tail also

is of a yellowish green, and the legs and feet ash-coloured.

THE WARBLING GRASS PAROQUET.

(_Melopsittacus undulatus._)

GREAT numbers of Paroquets of different species are found in Australia,

and most of these live and seek their food upon the ground rather than

in trees. One of them is called the _Ground Paroquet_, as it is never

seen to perch upon trees, but is always running about among the grass

and herbage. The Warbling Grass Paroquet is a well known and beautiful

little Australian bird, of which considerable numbers have been imported

into this country of late years; it is deservedly a favourite, both on

account of its elegance, and from its possessing a gentle warbling note

very different from the harsh screaming of many species of its tribe. It

can, however, scream vigorously for its size. In the interior of

Australia these charming little birds occur in countless multitudes.

They feed chiefly on the seeds of grasses, which they pick up whilst

running upon the ground, but they perch in crowds upon the gum-trees for

shelter from the noon-day heat, and also before starting on an

expedition in search of water.

[Illustration: THE COCKATOO. (_Plyctolophus galeritus._)]

THIS bird is distinguished from the parrots, by a beautiful crest,

composed of a tuft of elegant feathers, which he can raise or depress at

pleasure. We meet with some of a beautiful white plumage, and the inside

feathers of the crest of a pleasing yellow, with a spot of the same

colour under each eye, and one upon the breast. The Cockatoos are

natives of the Indian Islands and Australia, where they are found in

great abundance. Their food consists of seeds and soft and stony fruits,

which last their powerful bill enables them to break with ease. They are

easily tamed when taken at an early age, after which they become

familiar and even attached, but their imitative powers seldom go beyond

a very few words added to their own cry of Cockatoo.

In a wild state they are shy, and cannot easily be approached. The flesh

of the young birds is accounted very good eating. The female is said to

make her nest in the rotten limbs of trees, using nothing more than the

accumulation of vegetable mould formed by the decayed parts of the

bough. The eggs are white, without spots; there are no more than two

young at a time. The natives first find the nest by the pieces of bark

and twigs which the old birds strip off the trees adjoining that in

which the nest is situated. It is a remarkable fact that the bark is

never stripped off the tree which contains the nest.

Mr. Bennet, in speaking of the large black Cockatoo of New Holland,

says, that if this bird observes on the trunk of a tree indications of a

larva being within, it diligently labours to get at it with its powerful

beak, and should the object of its pursuit be deep within the wood, as

often happens, the trunk becomes so extensively hacked, that a slight

gust of wind will lay the tree prostrate.

§ V.--_Gallinaceous Birds._

[Illustration: THE PEACOCK. (_Pavo cristatus._)]

ASTONISHED at the unparalleled beauty of this bird, the ancients could

not help indulging their lively and creative fancy, in accounting for

the magnificence of his plumage. They made him the favourite of imperial

Juno, sister and wife to Jupiter; and not less than the hundred eyes of

Argus were pulled out to ornament his tail; indeed, there is scarcely

anything in nature that can vie with the transcendent lustre of the

Peacock’s feathers. The changing glory of his neck eclipses the deep

azure of ultramarine; and at the least evolution, it assumes the green

tint of the emerald, and the purple hue of the amethyst. His head, which

is small and finely shaped, has several curious stripes of white and

black round the eyes, and is surmounted by an elegant plume, or tuft offeathers, each of which is composed of a slender stem and a small tuft

at the top. Displayed with conscious pride, and exposed under a variety

of angles to the reflections of light, the broad and variegated disks of

his train, of which the neck, head, and breast of the bird become the

centre, claim our admiration. By an extraordinary mixture of the

brightest colours, it displays at once the richness of gold, and the

paler tints of silver, fringed with bronze-coloured edges, and

surrounding eye-like spots of dark brown and sapphire. The hen does not

share in the beauty of the cock, and her feathers are generally of a

light brown. She lays only a few eggs at a time, generally at an

interval of three or four days; they are white and spotted, like the

eggs of the turkey. She sits from twenty-seven to thirty days.

The loud screamings of the Peacock are worse than the harsh croakings of

the raven, and a sure prognostic of bad weather; and his feet, more

clumsy than those of the turkey, make a sad contrast with the elegance

of his plumage:

“Though richest hues the Peacock’s plumes adorn,

Yet horror screams from his discordant throat.”

The spreading of the train, the swelling of the throat, neck, and

breast, and the puffing noise which they emit at certain times, are

proofs that the Turkey and the Peacock stand nearly allied in the family

chain of animated beings.

The flesh of the Peacock was anciently esteemed a princely dish; and the

whole bird used to be served on the table with the feathers of the neck

and tail preserved; but few people could now relish such food, as it is

much coarser than the flesh of the turkey. The Italians have given this

laconic description of the Peacock: “He has the plumage of an angel, the

voice of a devil, and the stomach of a thief.”

[Illustration: THE TURKEY, (_Meleagris Gallo-Pavo_,)]

WAS originally an inhabitant of America, whence he was brought to Europe

by some Jesuit missionaries, which accounts for his being called a

Jesuit in some parts of the continent. The general colour of the

feathers is buff and black; and turkeys have about the head, especially

the cock, naked and tuberous lumps of flesh of a bright red colour. A

long fleshy appendage hangs from the base of the upper mandible, and

seems to be lengthened and shortened at pleasure. The hen lays from

fifteen to twenty eggs, which are whitish and freckled. The chicks are

very tender, and require great care and attentive nursing, until they

are able to seek their food. In the county of Norfolk the breeding ofTurkeys, which is there a considerable branch of trade, is brought to

great perfection; and some weighing upwards of twenty pounds each have

been raised there. They appear to have a natural antipathy to everything

of a red colour.

Though extremely prone to quarrel among themselves, they are, in

general, weak and cowardly against other animals, and fly from almost

every creature that ventures to oppose them. On the contrary, they

pursue everything that appears to dread them, particularly small dogs

and children; and after having made these objects of their aversion

scamper, they evince their pride and satisfaction by displaying their

plumage, strutting about among their female train, and uttering their

peculiar note of self-approbation. Some instances, however, have

occurred, in which the Turkey-cock has exhibited a considerable share of

courage and prowess; as will appear from the following anecdote:--A

gentleman of New York received from a distant part a Turkey-cock and

hen, and with them a pair of bantams; which were put all together into

the yard with his other poultry. Some time afterwards, as he was feeding

them from the barn-door, a large hawk suddenly turned the corner of the

barn, and made a pounce at the bantam hen: she immediately gave the

alarm, by a noise which is natural to her on such occasions; when the

Turkey-cock, who was at the distance of about two yards, and without

doubt understood the hawk’s intention, flew at the tyrant, with such

violence, and gave him so severe a stroke with his spurs, as to knock

him from the hen to a considerable distance; by which means the bantam

was rescued from destruction.

The wild Turkey-cock is, in the American forests, an object of

considerable interest. It perches on the tops of the deciduous cypress

and magnolia:

“On the top

Of yon magnolia, the loud Turkey’s voice

Is heralding the dawn: from tree to tree

Extends the wakening watch-note far and wide,

Till the whole woodlands echo with the cry.”

SOUTHEY.

[Illustration: THE GUINEA FOWL, OR PINTADO.

(_Numida Meleagris._)]

THIS bird, which is also called the _Pearled Hen_, was originally

brought from Africa, where the breed is common, and seems to have been

well known to the Romans, who used to esteem the flesh of this fowl as a

delicacy, and admit it at their banquets. It went then by the name of

Numidian Hen, or _Meleagris_, because it was fabled that the sisters of

Meleager, who unceasingly deplored his death, were metamorphosed into

Guinea Hens by Diana. In fact, although they are now domesticated with

us, they still retain a great deal of their original freedom, and have a

stupid look. Their noise is very disagreeable: it is a creaking note,

which, incessantly repeated, grates upon the ear, and becomes very

teasing and unpleasant. They belong to the class of birds called

_pulveratores_; as they scrape the ground and roll themselves in the

dust like common hens, in order to get rid of small insects which lodge

in their feathers.

The Pintado is somewhat larger than the common hen; the head is bare of

feathers, and covered with a naked skin of a bluish colour; on the top

is a callous protuberance of a conical form. At the base of the bill on

each side hangs a loose wattle, red in the female and bluish in the

male. The general colour of the plumage is a dark bluish grey, sprinkled

with round white spots of different sizes, resembling pearls, from which

circumstance the epithet of _pearled_ has been applied to this bird;

which at first sight appears as if it had been pelted by a strong shower

of hail.

If trained when young, these birds may easily be rendered tame. M. Bruë

informs us, that when he was on the coast of Senegal he received as a

present from an African princess two Guinea fowls. Both these birds were

so familiar that they would approach the table and eat out of his plate;

and, when they had liberty to fly about upon the beach, they always

returned to the ship when the dinner or supper bell rang.

In a wild state, it is asserted that the Pintado associates in large

flocks. Dampier speaks of having seen between two and three hundred of

them together in the Cape de Verd Islands. They were originally

introduced into our country from the coast of Africa somewhat earlier

than the year 1260.

In Jamaica, where they have run wild, and become very destructive to the

plantations, they are sometimes caught, Mr. Gosse tells us, by the

following stratagem:--A small quantity of corn is steeped for a night in

proof rum and is then placed in a shallow vessel, with a little fresh

rum, and the water expressed from a bitter cassava grated. This is

deposited within an enclosed ground to which the depredators resort. A

small quantity of the grated cassava is then strewed over it, and it is

left. The fowls eat the medicated food greedily, and are soon found

reeling about intoxicated, unable to escape, and content with thrusting

their heads into a corner. It is almost unnecessary to observe that in

this state they become an easy prey. Pigeons are sometimes caught in

this manner in Germany by the poachers.

This bird has, of late years, greatly increased in this country, and is

often seen hanging at the poultry shops and in the markets; the great

abundance of them has considerably reduced their value, and they now

sell, proportionally, like other fowls. The eggs are smaller and rounder

than those of the common hen, and of a speckled reddish-brown colour.

They are esteemed a very delicate food.

[Illustration: THE MOUND-BIRD OF AUSTRALIA.

(_Megapodius tumulus._)]

IT is remarkable that this bird does not hatch its eggs by incubation.

It collects together a great heap of decaying vegetables as the place of

deposit of its eggs, thus making a hotbed, arising from the

decomposition of the collected matter, by the heat of which the young

are hatched. This mound varies in quantity from two to four cart-loads,

and is not the work of a single pair of birds, but is the result of the

united labour of many.

Mr. Gould, in his _Birds of Australia_, gives the following account of

the discovery of one of these nests by Mr. Gilbert:--

“I landed beside a thicket, and had not proceeded far from the shore,

ere I came to a mound of sand and shells, with a slight mixture of black

soil, the base resting on a sandy beach, only a few feet above

high-water mark; it was enveloped in the large yellow-blossomed

Hibiscus, and was of a conical form, twenty feet in circumference at the

base, and about five feet in height. On pointing it out to the native,

and asking him what it was, he replied, ‘Oooregoorga Rambal,’

Jungle-fowls’ house or nest. I then scrambled up the sides of it, and,

to my extreme delight, found a young bird in a hole about two feet deep;

it was lying on a few dry withered leaves, and appeared only a few days

old. So far I was satisfied that these mounds had some connection with

the bird’s mode of incubation; but I was still sceptical as to the

probability of these young birds ascending from so great a depth as the

natives represented, and my suspicions were confirmed by my being unable

to induce the native, in this instance, to search for the eggs, his

excuse being that he knew it would be no use, as he saw no traces of the

old birds having recently been there. I took the utmost care of the

young bird, intending to rear it if possible; I therefore obtained a

moderate-sized box, and placed in it a large portion of sand. As it fed

rather freely on bruised Indian corn, I was in full hopes of succeeding;

but it proved of so wild and intractable a disposition, that it would

not reconcile itself to such close confinement, and effected its escape

on the third day. During the period it remained in captivity, it was

incessantly occupied in scratching up the sand into heaps, and the

rapidity with which it threw the sand from one end of the box to the

other was quite surprising for so young and small a bird, its size not

being larger than that of a small quail.

“At night it was so restless, that I was constantly kept awake by the

noise it made in its endeavours to escape. In scratching up the sand it

only used one foot, and having grasped a handful, as it were, the sand

was thrown behind it, with but little apparent exertion, and without

shifting its standing position on the other leg: this habit seemed to be

the result of an innate restless disposition, and a desire to use its

powerful feet, and to have but little connection with its feeding; for

although Indian corn was mixed with the sand, I never detected the bird

in picking any of it up while thus employed.

“I continued to receive the eggs without having any opportunity of

seeing them taken from the mound until the 6th of February; when, on

again visiting Knocker’s Bay, I had the gratification of seeing two

taken from a depth of six feet, in one of the largest mounds I had then

seen. In this instance the holes ran down in an oblique direction from

the centre towards the outer slope of the hillock, so that, although the

eggs were six feet deep from the summit, they were only two or three

feet from the side. The birds are said to lay but a single egg in each

hole, and after the egg is deposited the earth is immediately thrown

down lightly, until the hole is filled up; the upper part of the mound

is then smoothed and rounded over. It is easily known when a Jungle-fowl

has been recently excavating, from the distinct impression of its feet

on the top and sides of the mound, and from the earth being so lightly

thrown over, that with a slender stick the direction of the hole may

readily be detected; the ease or difficulty of thrusting the stick down

indicating the length of time that has elapsed since the birds’

operations. Thus far it is easy enough; but to reach the eggs requires

no little exertion and perseverance. The natives dig them up with their

hands alone, and only make sufficient room to admit their bodies, and to

throw out the earth between their legs: by grubbing with their fingers

alone, they are enabled to fellow the direction of the hole with greater

certainty, which will sometimes, at a depth of several feet, turn off

abruptly at right angles, its direct course being obstructed by a clump

of wood, or some other impediment.”

In all probability, as Nature has adopted this mode of reproduction, she

has also furnished the tender birds with the power of sustaining

themselves from the earliest period; and the great size of the egg would

equally lead to this conclusion, since in so large a space it is

reasonable to suppose that the bird would be much more developed than is

usually found in eggs of smaller dimensions. The eggs are perfectly

white, of a long, oval form, three inches and three quarters long by two

inches and a half in diameter.

There are several other Australian birds which adopt the same singular

mode of hatching their eggs; one of these is called the Native Pheasant

(_Leipoa ocellata_), and another the Brush Turkey (_Talegalla Lathami_).

The latter has its head and neck covered with a naked skin, like the

turkey, but the lower part of this is much thickened, warty, and bright

yellow.

[Illustration: THE PHEASANT. (_Phasianus colchicus_.)]

THE name of this bird implies that he was originally a native of the

banks of the river Phasis, in Armenia; how and when he emigrated, and

began to frequent our groves, is unknown. He is of the size of the

common cock; the bill is of a pale horn colour; the nostrils arched; the

eyes yellow, and surrounded by a naked warty skin, of a beautiful

scarlet, finely spotted with black; immediately under each eye there is

a small patch of short feathers, of a dark glossy purple; the upper

parts of the head and neck are of a deep purple, varying to glossy

green and blue; the lower parts of the neck and breast are of a reddish

chesnut, with black indented edges; the sides and lower part of the

breast are of the same colour, with tips of black to each feather,

which, in different lights, vary to glossy purple; indeed, the whole

colour of this half-domesticated fowl is very beautiful, uniting the

brightness of deep yellow gold to the finest tints of the ruby and

turquoise, with reflections of green; the whole being set off by several

spots of shining black; but in this, as in every other kind of

gorgeously-feathered birds, Nature has for some wise purposes, yet

unknown to us, denied the female that admirable beauty of plumage which

belongs to the male. The Pheasant lives in the woods, which he leaves at

dusk to perambulate corn-fields and other sequestered places, where he

feeds with his females, upon acorns, berries, grain, and seeds of

plants, but chiefly on ants’ eggs, of which he is particularly fond. His

flesh is justly accounted better meat than any of the domestic or wild

fowls, as it unites the delicacy of the common chicken to a peculiar

taste of its own. The female lays eighteen or twenty eggs once a year,

in the wild state; but it is in vain that we have attempted to

domesticate this bird entirely, as she never will remain patiently

confined, and if she ever breeds in confinement is very careless of her

brood.

There are great varieties of Pheasants, of extraordinary beauty and

brilliancy of colours: many of these, such as the Gold and Silver

Pheasants (_Phasianus pictus_ and _P. Nycthemerus_), brought from the

rich provinces of China, are kept in aviaries in this kingdom.

This beautiful bird is elegantly described in the following passage:--

“See! from the brake the whirring Pheasant springs,

And mounts exulting on triumphant wings;

Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound,

Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground:

Ah! what avails his glossy, varying dyes,

His purple crest, his scarlet-circled eyes,

The vivid green his shining plumes unfold,

His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold!”

POPE’S WINDSOR FOREST.

[Illustration: THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE. (_Perdix rufus._)]

THESE Partridges are natives of Guernsey and Jersey; but are also very

frequently found on the adjoining coasts of France. Of late years they

have spread very rapidly in England; and as they are stronger and

fiercer than the common partridge, the latter becomes scarce wherever

the Red-legged Partridges are abundant. In the Western districts of

France they are very abundant, and their flesh is plump and juicy. In

England it is as white as in France, but more dry. The side-feathers are

very handsomely speckled, and there is a rich black mark beginning

behind the eye and forming a kind of gorget on the breast. The eyelids

are of a bright red, as are the bill and feet, and the claws are brown.

They build their nests on the ground; but are sometimes found perched on

trees, or on a fence or paling.

[Illustration: THE COMMON PARTRIDGE, (_Perdix cinerea_,)]

IS in weight about fourteen ounces. The plumage, although it cannot

boast of gaudiness, is very pleasing to the eye, being a mixture of

brown and fawn-colour, interspersed with grey and ash-colour tints. The

head is small and pretty; the beak strong, but short, and resembling

that of all other granivorous birds. The female lays fifteen or eighteen

eggs, and leads her brood in the corn-fields with the utmost care. Young

Partridges are among the birds which run fleetly the moment they come

out of the shell, and may sometimes be found running with a piece of the

shell still remaining on their heads. The affection of Partridges for

their offspring is peculiarly interesting. Both the parents lead them

out to feed: they point out to them the proper places for their food,

and assist them in finding it by scratching the ground with their feet.

They frequently sit close together, covering the young ones with their

wings; and from this position they are not easily roused. If, however,

they are disturbed, most people acquainted with rural affairs know the

confusion that ensues. The male gives the first signal of alarm, by a

peculiar cry of distress; throwing himself at the same moment more

immediately into the way of danger, in order to mislead the enemy. He

flutters along the ground, hanging his wings, and exhibiting every

symptom of debility. By this stratagem he seldom fails of so far

attracting the attention of the intruder as to allow the female to

conduct the helpless unfledged brood into some place of security.

The nest is usually on the ground; but on the farm of Lion Hall, in

Essex, belonging to Colonel Hawker, a Partridge, in the year 1788,

formed her nest, and hatched sixteen eggs, on the top of a pollard

oak-tree! What renders this circumstance the more remarkable is, that

the tree had fastened to it the bars of a stile, where there was a

footpath; and the passengers, in going over, discovered and disturbed

her before she sat close. When the brood was hatched, the birds

scrambled down the short and rough boughs, which grew out all around the

trunk of the tree, and reached the ground in safety. It has long been a

received opinion among sportsmen, as well as among naturalists, that the

female Partridge has none of the bay feathers of the breast like the

male. This, however, is a mistake; for Mr. Montague happening to kill

nine birds in one day, with very little variation as to the bay mark on

the breast, he was led to open them all, and discovered five of them

were females. On carefully examining the plumage, he found that the

males could only be known by the superior brightness of colour about the

head; which alone, after the first or second year, seems to be the true

mark of distinction. They fly in coveys till about the third week in

February, when they separate and pair; but if the weather be very

severe, it is not unusual to see them collect together again. We are

told that a gamekeeper, in Dorsetshire, hearing a Partridge utter a cry

of distress, was attracted by the sound into a field of oats, when the

bird ran round him very much agitated; upon his looking among the corn,

he saw in the midst of her infant brood a large snake, which he killed;

and perceiving its body much distended, he opened it, when to his

astonishment two young Partridges ran from their prison, and joined

their mother; two others were found dead in its stomach. Partridges have

ever held a distinguished place at the tables of the luxurious: we have

an old distich:

“If the Partridge had the woodcock’s thigh,

’Twould be the best bird that e’er did fly.”

[Illustration: THE QUAIL, (_Coturnix dactylisonans_,)]

IS a small bird, being in length no more than seven inches. The colour

of the breast is a dirty pale yellow, and the throat has a little

mixture of red: the head is black, and the body and wings have black

stripes upon a hazel-coloured ground. Its habits and manner of living

resemble those of the partridge, and it is either caught in nets by

decoy birds, or shot by the help of the setting-dog, its call being

easily imitated by tapping two pieces of copper one against another. The

flesh of the Quail is very luscious, and next in flavour to that of the

partridge. Quails are birds of passage, the only peculiarity in which

they differ from all other of the poultry kind; and such prodigious

numbers have sometimes appeared on the western coast of the kingdom of

Naples, that one hundred thousand have been caught in one day, within

the space of three or four miles. In some parts of the south of Russia

they abound so greatly, that at the time of their migration they are

caught by thousands, and sent in casks to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The

female seldom lays more than six or seven eggs.

The ancient Athenians kept this bird merely for the sport of fighting

with each other, as game-cocks do, and never ate the flesh. The Quail

was that wild fowl which God thought proper to send to the chosen people

of Israel as a sustenance for them in the desert.

The Chinese Quail is a beautiful little bird, and is often kept in cages

in China, for the singular purpose, as it is said, of warming people’s

hands in winter; as taking the soft, warm body of the bird in the hand

diffuses through it an agreeable warmth. It is also very pugnacious, and

is employed in fighting.

[Illustration: THE AMERICAN QUAIL, (_Ortyx Virginianus_,)]

IS larger than the Common Quail, and is something between a Quail and a

Partridge.

The CALIFORNIAN QUAIL (_O. Californicus_) is distinguished by its

possession of a curious crest or tuft of feathers on the crown of the

head.

[Illustration: THE RED GROUSE. (_Lagopus scoticus._)]

“High on exulting wing the Heath-Cook rose,

And blew his shrill blast o’er perennial snows.”

ROGERS.

THIS bird is called by some ornithologists the _Moor Cock_, and by

others _Red Game_. The beak is black and short; over the eyes there is a

bare skin of a bright red. The general colour of the plumage is red and

black, variegated, and intermixed with each other, except the wings,

which are brownish, spotted with red, and the tail, which is black; the

feet are covered with thick feathers down to the very claws. It is

common in the north of England, in Scotland, and in Wales; and not only

affords great diversion to the noblemen and gentlemen of those countries

who are fond of shooting, but also repays them well for their trouble,

as the flesh is very delicate, and holds on our table an equal place

with that of the partridge and the pheasant. The season of Grouse

shooting commences on the 12th of August. In winter they are found in

flocks of sometimes fifty to one hundred in number, which are termed by

sportsmen _packs_, and become remarkably shy and wild, seldom allowing

the sportsman to approach them within one hundred yards. They keep near

the summits of the heathy hills, and seldom descend to the lower

grounds. Here they feed on the mountain berries and on the tender tops

of the heath. The hen lays seven or eight eggs of a reddish black

colour.

[Illustration: THE PTARMIGAN, OR WHITE GROUSE,

(_Lagopus vulgaris_,)]

IS somewhat larger than a pigeon; its bill is black, and its plumage in

summer is of a pale brown colour, elegantly mottled with small bars and

dusky spots. The head and neck are marked with broad bars of black,

rust-colour, and white; the wings and belly are white. The White Grouse

is fond of lofty situations, where it braves the severest cold. It is

found in most of the northern parts of Europe and America, even as far

as Greenland. In this country it is only to be met with on the summits

of some of our highest hills, chiefly in Scotland, and in the Hebrides

and Orkneys, but sometimes in Cumberland and Wales. Its plumage becomes

pure white in winter, with the exception of the tail feathers, which

remain black.

[Illustration: THE BLACK COCK, (_Tetrao tetrix_,)]

IS about four pounds in weight; but the female, which is usually called

the Grey Hen, is often not more than two. The plumage of the whole body

of the male is black, and glossed over the neck and rump with shining

blue; the coverts of the wings are of a dusky brown, with the quill

feathers black and white. The tail is much forked in the male. These

birds never pair; but in the spring the males assemble at their

accustomed haunts on the tops of heathy mountains, where they crow and

clap their wings:

“And from the pine’s high top brought down

The giant Grouse, while boastful he display’d

His breast of varying green, and crow’d and clapp’d

His glossy wings.”

GISBORNE.

The females, at this signal, resort to them. The males are very

quarrelsome, and fight together like game-cocks. On these occasions they

are so inattentive to their own safety, that two or three have sometimes

been killed at one shot; and instances have occurred of their having

been knocked down with a stick.

Like the Capercalzie, or Cock of the Woods, a larger species of this

genus, these birds are common in Russia, Siberia, and other northern

countries, chiefly in wooded and mountainous situations; and in the

northern parts of our own island on uncultivated moors.

[Illustration: THE CAPERCALZIE, (_Tetrao urogallus_,)]

WAS also formerly an inhabitant of the forests of Scotland, but has been

extinct in Britain for many years. The male is as large as a good-sized

turkey, the female considerably smaller. Several attempts have been made

to rear the Capercalzie, and domesticate it in this country, but without

effect. They are now most numerous in Sweden, where they are much

esteemed as food. Of late years they have been brought to the English

market, and are considered very good eating.

[Illustration: THE COMMON COCK. (_Gallus domesticus._)]

“While the Cock, with lively din,

Scatters the rear of darkness thin;

And to the stack, or the barn door,

Stoutly struts his dames before.” MILTON.

THIS bird is so well known that it would be needless to say much of him.

His plumage is various and beautiful, his courage very great and

proverbial, and his intuitive knowledge of the period of sunrise has

baffled the most scrutinising researches of naturalists. When of a good

breed, and well taught to fight, he will die rather than yield to his

adversary. The hen lays a great number of eggs, and will hatch as many

as thirteen at one sitting; but this is considered the extreme number,

being as many as she can well cover. When in the secluded state of

incubation she eats very little; and yet is so courageous and strong

that she will rise and fight any men or animals that dare to approach

her nest. It is impossible to conceive how, with such a scanty

sustenance as she takes, she can, for twenty-one days, emit constantly

from her body as much heat as would raise Fahrenheit’s thermometer to

ninety-six degrees. The flesh of this bird is delicate and wholesome,

and universally relished as nourishing and agreeable food.

There are several varieties of families of this fowl. The Hamburg Cock

has a beautiful tuft of feathers about his ears and on the top of his

head; and the Bantam has his legs and toes entirely feathered, which is

more an impediment than an ornament to the bird.

The cruel sport of cockfighting may be traced back to the earliest

antiquity. The Athenians seem to have received it from India, where it

is even now followed with a kind of frenzy; and we are told that the

Chinese will sometimes risk not only the whole of their property, but

their wives and children, on the issue of a battle. The religion of the

Greeks could not see that game with pleasure, and therefore cockfighting

was allowed only once a year; but the Romans adopted the practice with

rapture, and introduced it into this island. Henry VIII. delighted in

this sport, and caused a commodious house to be built for the purpose,

which, although now applied to a very different use, still retains the

name of the Cockpit. The part of our ships so called, seems also to

indicate that in former times the diversion of cockfighting was

permitted, in order to beguile the tedious hours of a long voyage. The

Cock has been a subject of considerable interest with the poets; and has

been very commonly called by them “Chanticleer:”

“Within this homestead lived, without a peer

For crowing loud, the noble Chanticleer.” DRYDEN.

“The feathered songster, Chanticleer,

Had wound his bugle-horn,

And told the early villager

The coming of the morn.” CHATTERTON.

[Illustration: BANKIVA COCK.--JAGO COCK AND HEN.--SPANISH COCK AND HEN.]

FROM the Bankiva fowl nearly all the various kinds of fowls found in

British poultry-yards are said to have sprung. It is a native of the

island of Java, and is characterised by a red indented comb, red

wattles, and ash-grey legs and feet. The cock has a thin indented or

scalloped comb, and wattles under the mouth. The feathers of the neck

are long, falling down, and rounded at the tips, and are of the finest

gold colour. The head and neck are fawn-coloured, the wing-coverts dusky

brownish and black; the tail and belly black. The hen is of a dusky

ash-grey and yellowish colour, and has a much smaller comb and beard

than the cock.

THE PADUAN, OR JAGO FOWL.

(_Gallus giganteus._)

THE wild species, termed by Marsden the Jago fowl, is a native of Java

and Sumatra, and is supposed by Temminck to be the original of this fine

breed, though little is known of the wild sort, further than that it is

double the size of the Bankiva, or common fowl. Marsden says he has seen

in the East a cock of this species tall enough to pick crumbs from a

dining-table. They are said to weigh from eight to ten pounds. The combs

of both the cock and hen are large, frequently double, of the form of a

crown, with a tufted crest of feathers, which is largest in the hen; the

voice is stronger and harsher than that of other fowls; but the most

singular peculiarity is, that they do not come into full feather till

about half grown. The Cochin-China fowls are said to be a variety of the

Jago fowls. There are numerous hybrids and varieties of the Jago fowl

found under different names in poultry-yards, but all of them lay fine

large eggs, and are highly esteemed for the excellent flavour of their

flesh. One of the most interesting of these varieties is called

THE SPANISH FOWL,

the body and tail feathers of which are of a rich black, with

occasionally a little white on the breast. The cock of this variety is a

most majestic bird; its deportment is grave and stately, and its eyes

are encircled with a ring of brown feathers, from which rises a black

tuft that covers the ears. There are other similar feathers behind the

comb and beneath the wattles. The legs and feet are of lead colour,

except the sole of the foot, which is yellowish.

THE BANTAM FOWL

is a small variety, with short legs, most frequently feathered to the

toes, so as sometimes to obstruct walking. Many Bantam fanciers prefer

those which have clear bright legs, without any vestige of feathers.

The full-bred Bantam cock should have a rose comb, a well-feathered

tail, full hackles, a proud lively carriage, and ought not to weigh more

than a pound. The nankeen coloured and the black are the greatest

favourites. If of the latter colour, the bird should have no feathers of

any other sort in his plumage. The nankeen bird should have his feathers

edged with black, his wings barred with purple, his tail feathers black,

his hackles slightly studded with purple, and his breast black, with

white edges to the feathers. The hens should be small, clean-legged, and

match in plumage with the cock.

[Illustration: THE DODO. (_Didus ineptus._)]

SWIFTNESS has generally been considered the attribute of birds, but the

Dodo appears never to have had any title to this distinction. Instead of

exciting the idea of swiftness by its appearance, in the drawings that

have been preserved of it, it strikes the imagination as a thing the

most unwieldy and inactive of all nature. Its body is massive, almost

round, and covered with grey feathers. It is just barely supported upon

two short thick legs, like pillars; while its head and neck rise from it

in a manner truly grotesque. The neck, thick and pursy, is joined to the

head, which consists of two immense jaws, opening far beyond the eye.

The Dodo formerly inhabited the Isle of France; but it has been long

extinct--so long, indeed, that the very fact of its ever having existed

at all has been a subject of dispute amongst naturalists and scientific

men. A great deal of evidence, in the form of old pictures as well as in

writings, has been brought forward to prove that the Dodo is not a

fabulous bird, and its reality is now generally admitted. In fact, we

have very reliable testimony that a single specimen was actually

exhibited publicly in London in the year 1638.

The Dodo was supposed by the earliest naturalists who described it, to

be a kind of turkey, as in the flavour of its flesh it resembled that

bird. Later naturalists supposed it to be a kind of swan, and this

opinion was followed by the celebrated Buffon. Others thought it was a

kind of vulture; and others, judging from the shortness of its wings,

placed it in the ostrich tribe. Modern naturalists, however, having

carefully examined the bones of the bird, which have been preserved, are

of opinion that it was a gigantic pigeon. An entire specimen existed

about a hundred years ago in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, but only

part of the bird and one of the feet remain; there is also a foot

preserved in the British Museum. There is a reference to this extinct

species in Humboldt’s Cosmos. (See Bohn’s edition, vol. i. page 29, and

a note on the Dodo, by Dr. Mantell, at the end of the volume.)

The _Solitaire_ is another remarkable bird which was formerly found in

the Mauritius and the adjoining islands, but which has now become

extinct.

[Illustration: THE RINGDOVE, CUSHAT, OR WOOD PIGEON,

(_Columba palumbus_,)]

IS the largest Pigeon found in our island, by which it may be

distinguished from all others; its weight is about twenty ounces, its

length eighteen inches, and its circumference about thirty. It is

usually known as the Wood Pigeon. This bird is of a bluish grey colour,

with the feathers of the sides of the neck tipped with white, forming

several imperfect rings; the breed is common in Britain. Its habits are

like those of other birds of the tribe, but it is so strongly attached

to its native freedom, that all attempts to domesticate it, with a few

rare exceptions, have hitherto proved ineffectual.

These birds build their nests chiefly on the pine, or holly, with dried

sticks thrown rudely together; and the eggs, which may frequently be

seen through the bottom of the nest, are larger than those of the

domestic Pigeon.

Mr. Montague bred up a curious assemblage of birds, which lived together

in perfect amity; it consisted of a common pigeon, a ringdove, a white

owl, and a sparrowhawk; the ringdove was master of the whole.

[Illustration: THE STOCKDOVE. (_Columba ænas._)]

“The Stockdove, recluse, with her mate,

Conceals her fond bliss in the grove,

And murmuring seems to repeat,

That May is the mother of love.” CUNNINGHAM.

THIS bird is called the Stockdove, because it builds in the stocks of

trees which have been headed down, and are become thick and bristly; and

not, as some have supposed, because it is the stock, or original, from

which all the tame pigeons have sprung. Sometimes these birds lay their

eggs in deserted rabbit-warrens, on the sod, without making any nest.

The colour of the Stockdove is generally of a deep slate or lead tint,

with rings of black about the feathers. While the beech woods were

suffered to cover large tracts of ground, these birds used to haunt them

in myriads, frequently extending above a mile in length, as they went

out in the morning to feed. They are still found in considerable

quantities in many parts of England, but never in Scotland, forming

their nests in the hollows of trees; not like the ringdove, on boughs.

Their murmuring strains, or cooings, in the morning and at dusk, are

highly pleasing, and throw an agreeable melancholy on the solitude of

the grove. The poet of the Seasons expresses this in the following

lines, with a beautiful instance of imitative harmony:

“---- the Stockdove breathes

A melancholy murmur through the whole.”

_Spring._

Wordsworth also gives a pleasing description of the mournful cooing of

these birds:

“I heard a Stockdove sing or say

His homely tale this very day;

His voice was buried among trees,

Yet to be come at by the breeze;

He did not cease; but cooed and cooed;

And somewhat pensively he wooed;

He sang of love with quiet blending,

Slow to begin, and never ending;

Of serious faith and inward glee,

That was the song--the song for me.”

[Illustration: THE ROCKDOVE. (_Columba livia._)]

THE shape of this bird, which is the original stock of our

domestic Pigeons, is well known, and the plumage of the wild

birds is exactly similar to that of the commonest kind seen in our

dove-cots--bluish-grey, with black bands across the wings. In its wild

state it inhabits the cavities of high rocks and cliffs on the sea

coast, where it is found abundantly in our own country. The female

Pigeon lays two eggs at a time, which produce generally a male and a

female. It is pleasing to see how eager the male is to sit upon the

eggs, in order that his mate may rest and feed herself. The young ones,

when hatched, are fed from the crop of the mother, who has the power of

forcing up the half-digested peas which she has swallowed to give them

to her young. The young ones, open-mouthed, receive this tribute of

affection, and are thus fed three times a day.

There are upwards of twenty varieties of the domestic Pigeon, and of

these the carriers are the most celebrated. They obtain their name from

being sometimes employed to convey letters or small packets from one

place to another. The rapidity of their flight is very wonderful.

Lithgow assures us that one of them will carry a letter from Babylon to

Aleppo (which, to a man, is usually thirty days’ journey) in forty-eight

hours. To measure their speed with some degree of exactness, a

gentleman, many years ago, on a trifling wager, sent a Carrier Pigeon

from London, by the coach, to a friend at Bury St. Edmunds, and along

with it a note, desiring that the Pigeon, two days after its arrival

there, might be thrown up precisely when the town clock struck nine in

the morning. This was accordingly done, and the Pigeon arrived in London

at half-past eleven o’clock on the same morning, having flown

seventy-two miles in two hours and a half. An instance of still greater

speed is mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, in which a Carrier flew from Rouen to

Ghent, a hundred and fifty miles in a straight line, in one hour and a

half. From the instant of its liberation, its flight is directed through

the clouds, at a great height, to its home. By an instinct altogether

inconceivable, it darts onward, in a straight line, to the very spot

whence it was taken, but how it can direct its flight so exactly will

probably for ever remain unknown to us.

“Led by what chart, transports the timid Dove,

The wreaths of conquest, or the vows of love?

Say through the clouds what compass points her flight?

Monarchs have gazed, and nations blessed the sight.

Pile rocks on rocks, bid woods and mountains rise,

Eclipse her native shades, her native skies:--

’Tis vain! through ether’s pathless wilds she goes,

And lights at last where all her cares repose.

Sweet bird, thy truth shall Harlem’s walls attest,

And unborn ages consecrate thy nest.” ROGERS.

The Carrier Pigeon is easily distinguished from the other varieties by a

broad circle of naked white skin round the eyes, by the large fleshy

wattle at the base of its bill, and by its dark blue or blackish colour.

It would be as fruitless as unnecessary to attempt to describe all the

varieties of the Tame Pigeon; for human art has so much altered the

colour and figure of this bird, that pigeon-fanciers, by pairing a male

and female of different sorts, can, as they express it, “breed them to a

feather.” Hence we have the various names of Carriers, Tumblers,

Jacobins, Croppers, Pouters, Bunts, Turbits, Shakers, Fantails, Owls,

Nuns, &c., all of which may, at first, have accidentally varied from the

Rockdove, and these have been further improved by crossing, food, and

climate. An actual post system, in which pigeons were the messengers,

was established by the Sultan Noureddin Mahmoud, which lasted about a

century, and ceased in 1258, when Bagdad fell into the hands of the

Moguls.

[Illustration: THE TURTLE DOVE. (_Columba turtur._)]

“Go, beautiful and gentle Dove,

And greet the morning ray;

For lo! the sun shines bright above,

And the rain is pass’d away.” BOWLES.

THIS Dove brings to the heart and mind the most pleasing recollections;

its name is nearly synonymous with faithfulness and unvariable

affection. The male or female is so much attached to its respective mate

that it is said, perhaps with more poetry than truth, that if one die

the other will never survive; however, the author of these observations

was an eye-witness to the death of a female Turtle Dove, who was

unfortunately killed by a spaniel, in the absence of the male; the

disconsolate survivor, after having in vain searched everywhere for his

mate, came and mournfully perched upon the wonted trough, waiting

patiently for her to repair thither in order to get food; but, after two

days of unavailing expectation, he, by spontaneous abstinence, pined and

died on the place. Such examples are not common; and we believe that,

when not domesticated, the appearance of another female, in the time of

coupling, sets at defiance all natural propensity to constancy, and puts

an end to the much-famed disconsolate widowhood. Their general colour is

a bluish grey; the breast and neck of a whitish purple, with a ringlet

of beautiful white feathers with black edges about the sides of the

neck. Nothing can express the sensation which is excited in a feeling

mind when the tender and sweetly plaintive notes of the Turtle Dove

breathe from the grove on a beautiful spring evening:

“Deep in the wood, thy voice I list, and love

Thy soft complaining song, thy tender cooing;

Oh, what a winning way thou hast of wooing,

Gentlest of all thy race--sweet Turtle Dove!

Thine is a note which doth not pass away

Like the light music of a summer’s day;

Hushing the voice of mirth, and staying folly,

And waking in the breast a gentle melancholy.”

INGLIS.

[Illustration]

§ VI. _Grallatores, or Waders._

[Illustration: THE OSTRICH. (_Struthio camelus._)]

THIS bird is a native of Africa, and is so tall that when it holds up

its head it is seven or eight feet in height. The head is very small in

comparison with the body, being hardly bigger than one of the toes, and

is covered, as well as the neck, with a kind of down, or thin-set hair,

instead of feathers. The sides and thighs are entirely bare and

flesh-coloured. The lower part of the neck, where the feathers begin, is

white. The wings are very short in proportion to the size of the bird,

and in fact are too small to enable it to fly; but when it runs, which

it does with a strange jumping kind of motion, it raises its short

wings and holds them quivering over its back, where they seem to serve

as a kind of sail to gather the wind, and carry the bird onwards. The

speed which it will thus attain is enormous. The swiftest greyhound

cannot overtake it; and indeed an Arab on his horse cannot hope to

capture an ostrich without having recourse to stratagem. He dexterously

throws a stick between its legs as it runs, and so tripping it up, is

enabled to secure it.

In its flight it spurns the pebbles behind it like shot against the

pursuer. And this is not their only mode of annoyance. They have been

known to attack men with their claws, with which they are able to strike

with terrific force. The feathers of the back in the cock are coal

black, in the hen only dusky, and so soft that they resemble a kind of

wool. The tail is thick, bushy, and round; in the cock whitish, in the

hen dusky, with white tops. These are the feathers so generally in

requisition to decorate the head-dress of ladies and the helmets of

warriors.

The Ostrich swallows anything that presents itself, leather, glass,

iron, bread, hair, &c., but the old notion that the Ostrich could digest

metals is certainly incorrect. An Ostrich in the Zoological Gardens in

the Regent’s Park was killed by swallowing a lady’s parasol.

“O’er the wild waste the stupid Ostrich strays

In devious search, to pick a scanty meal,

Whose fierce digestion gnaws the temper’d steel.”

MICKLE’S LUSIAD.

They are polygamous birds, one male being generally seen with two or

three, and sometimes with five, females. The female Ostrich, after

depositing her eggs in the sand, trusts them to be hatched by the heat

of the climate; in the Book of Job there is a beautiful passage relating

to this habit of the Ostrich, “which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and

warmeth them in the dust; and forgetteth that the foot may crush them,

or that the wild beast may break them. She is hardened against her young

ones, as though they were not hers. Her labour is in vain; without

fear, because God hath deprived her of wisdom; neither has he imparted

to her understanding. What time she lifteth up her head on high, she

scorneth the horse and his rider.” It appears, however, that the female

Ostrich sits upon her eggs like other birds, although generally at night

only, and brings up her young. The eggs are as large as a young child’s

head, with a hard stony shell, and one has been known to weigh upwards

of three pounds. The time of incubation is six weeks. That Ostriches

have great affection for their offspring may be inferred from the

assertion of Professor Thunberg, who says that he once rode past the

place where a hen Ostrich was sitting in her nest, when the bird sprang

up and pursued him, evidently with a view to prevent his noticing her

eggs or young. Every time he turned his horse towards her she retreated

ten or twelve paces, but as soon as he rode on again she pursued him

till he had got to a considerable distance from the place where he had

started her. In the tropical regions, some persons breed Ostriches in

flocks, for they may be tamed with very little trouble. When M. Adanson

was at Podar, a French factory on the southern bank of the river Niger,

two young but full-grown Ostriches, belonging to the factory, afforded

him a very amusing sight. They were so tame that two little blacks

mounted both together on the back of the largest. No sooner did he feel

their weight than he began to run as fast as possible, and carried them

several times round the village, and it was impossible to stop him

otherwise than by obstructing the passage. This sight pleased M. Adanson

so much that he wished it to be repeated, and, to try their strength,

directed a full-grown negro to mount the smaller, and two others the

larger of the birds. This burden did not seem at all disproportioned to

their strength. At first they went at a tolerably sharp trot, but when

they became a little heated they expanded their wings, as though to

catch the wind, and moved with such fleetness that they scarcely seemed

to touch the ground. The foot of the Ostrich has only two toes, one of

which is extremely large and strong.

[Illustration: THE RHEA, (_Rhea Americana_,)]

OR AMERICAN OSTRICH, is about half as big as the African species. It has

its head covered with feathers, and each of its feet consists of three

toes. It is found on the great plains of South America, and, like the

African Ostrich, is polygamous, but the curious part of the matter is

that the females often lay their eggs almost anywhere on the ground, and

the male takes the trouble of collecting them into a sort of nest, and

sitting on them until the young birds are hatched. When thus occupied,

the males often become very fierce, and will attack any one that

approaches them too closely.

[Illustration: THE CASSOWARY, (_Casuarius galeatus_,)]

INSTEAD of the beautiful plumes of the ostrich, has his wings furnished

only with five stiff quills without barbs, which project curiously from

the feathers of the body. His plumage is black; his head is small and

depressed, with a horny crown or helmet, and covered with a naked red

skin; the head and neck are deprived of feathers; about the neck are

two protuberances of a bluish colour, in shape like the wattles of a

cock. The feathers consist of long, slender, separate barbs, which hang

down on each side of the body, so that at a distance he looks as if he

were entirely covered with the hairs of a bear rather than with the

plumage of a bird. His height is about five feet. The Cassowary is as

voracious as the ostrich, and eats indiscriminately whatever comes in

his way, and does not seem to have any sort of predilection in the

choice of his food. The Dutch travellers assert that he can devour not

only glass, iron, and stones, but even burning coals, without testifying

the smallest fear, or sustaining the least injury; and it is said that

the passage of his food is performed so speedily that even eggs will

pass unbroken. He is a native of some of the Indian islands. The eggs of

the female are nearly fifteen inches in circumference, of a greenish

colour. It has been said of the Cassowary that he has the head of a

warrior, the eye of a lion, the armament of a porcupine, and the

swiftness of a courser.

A Cassowary once kept in the menagerie of the museum at Paris, devoured

every day between three and four pounds weight of bread, six or seven

apples, and a bunch of carrots. In summer it drank about four pints of

water in the day, and in winter somewhat more. It swallowed all its food

without bruising it. This bird was sometimes ill-tempered and

mischievous, and much irritated when any person approached it of a dirty

or ragged appearance, or dressed in red clothes, and frequently

attempted to strike at them by kicking forward with its feet. It has

been known to leap out of its enclosure and to tear the legs of a man

with its claws.

The Cassowary is very vigorous and powerful; its beak being, in

proportion, much stronger than that of the ostrich, it has the means of

defending itself with great advantage, and of easily pulling down and

breaking in pieces almost any hard substance. It strikes in a very

dangerous manner with its feet either behind or before, not unlike the

kicking of a horse, at any object which offends it, and runs with

surprising swiftness.

[Illustration: THE EMEU. (_Dromaius Novæ Hollandiæ._)]

THE head of this bird is without any horny crest, and feathered, but the

cheeks and throat are nearly naked. The general colour is a dull brown,

mottled with a dingy grey, and the young are striped with black. In

appearance it closely resembles the ostrich, next to which it is the

tallest bird known, but is of a more thick-set and clumsy make, though

at the same time very swift and strong, and able to make a formidable

defence against its hunters and their dogs, by kicking in a very

vigorous and dangerous manner. It is, however, very docile, and if taken

young may be easily tamed. The flesh is considered excellent eating, and

is said to possess a flavour something between a sucking-pig and a

turkey. The only sound that this bird emits is a low drumming noise,

produced by means of a valve attached to the lungs. The female Emeu lays

her eggs in different places, but they are afterwards collected by the

male, by rolling them to one place, when he sits on them.

[Illustration: THE APTERYX. (_Apteryx Australis._)]

THIS curious bird, which has the shortest wings of any member of its

class, is found only in New Zealand, where it is called _Kivi-Kivi_ by

the natives, in imitation of its cry. It is smaller than any of the

species of wingless birds just described, and its legs are short and

stout; it has three strong front toes on each foot, and a short hinder

toe armed with a very strong claw. The body of the Apteryx is something

like that of the cassowary in its form; the neck is rather long, and,

like the head, clothed with feathers; but the most singular part of the

bird is its bill, which is long, rather slender, and slightly curved,

and has the nostrils situated quite at its tip. This curious structure

of the bill is intended to enable the bird more readily to obtain the

worms and insects upon which it feeds, and which it drags out of their

holes in the ground. It runs quickly, but only at night, and when in

motion it might easily be mistaken for a small dusky-brown quadruped.

The plumage resembles that of the emeu in its texture, and the skins are

highly esteemed by the New Zealanders, who use them for making cloaks.

Among the many curious characteristics of this bird is its habit of

leaning, when at rest, upon the tip of its long bill. When hunted it

scrapes a hole in the sand with its powerful feet, in which it hides; or

it runs into some natural cavity, if there is any near, where access is

difficult for its pursuers, and often makes a valiant defence.

[Illustration: THE BUSTARD, (_Otis tarda_,)]

IS a large and fine bird which was formerly common in some parts of

England, but has now become so rare here that the capture of a specimen

is looked upon as something remarkable. It is still abundant in some

parts of the continent of Europe. The male Bustard measures nearly four

feet in length, and has the head and neck greyish, the back buff or pale

chestnut, with a great many black bars, and all the lower part of the

body white. From each side of the chin there springs a tuft of slender

feathers about seven inches in length, standing out like a pair of stiff

moustaches. The female is a good deal smaller than the male, or about

three feet in length; she is also distinguished from her partner by the

want of the tufts on the chin, although in some cases these exist in the

female, but shorter than in the male.

The Bustard feeds on green vegetables and insects, and are also said to

kill and eat small quadrupeds and reptiles. They are polygamous, and

when the female has laid her two or three eggs in a slight depression of

the ground, and commenced the business of incubation, the male most

ungallantly deserts her, and retires to take his ease in some

neighbouring marsh. It was formerly supposed that the male Bustard paid

so much attention to his mates as to provide them with water, which he

was said to bring to them in a large pouch, capable of holding nearly a

gallon, situated under his throat. It is true that the female is without

this appendage; but modern naturalists all agree in stating that the

male bird is never seen in company with the female after she has begun

to sit. The use of this pouch is therefore still a subject of

controversy.

The female lays her eggs among clover, or more frequently in

corn-fields, the nest being merely a hollow scraped in the ground. The

eggs are two, or sometimes three, in number, and their colour is a

yellowish-brown, inclining to green.

A peculiarity of the Bustard, noticed by most naturalists, is the

extreme rapidity with which they can run. They skim along the ground,

raising the wings over the back in the same manner as the ostrich. It is

said that in former times, when the breed was commoner, it was a

practice to hunt the young birds, before they had acquired the power of

flying, with greyhounds.

As an article of food the flesh of the Bustard has always been held in

great estimation.

There are several other species peculiar both to Asia and Africa.

[Illustration: THE CRANE. (_Grus cinerea._)]

CRANES frequent marshy places, and live upon small fish and

water-insects. Their long beaks enable them to search the water and mud

for their prey, and their long necks prevent the necessity of their

stooping to pick up from between their feet the objects of their search.

The top of the head, the throat, and sides of the neck are of a blackish

hue; the back, the wings, and the body are ash-coloured. The tertial

feathers of the wings are very long, with loose webs, forming elegant

plumes, which fall over the sides of the tail. They used to be common in

the fen countries, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, but are not now so

frequently seen in England as formerly. In their flight, Cranes mount

high in the air, but their voices can be heard even when the birds cease

to be perceptible to the eye, and it is said that their sight is so keen

that they discover at a great distance any field of corn or other food

which they are fond of, and presently alight and enjoy it. These

depredations they generally commit during the night, trampling down the

ground as if it had been marched over by an army. They generally form

themselves in the air in the shape of a wedge.

“---- ---- Part more wise,

In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way,

Intelligent of seasons, and set forth

Their aëry caravan high over seas

Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing

Easing their flight. So steers the prudent Crane

Her annual voyage, borne on winds. The air

Floats as they pass, fann’d by unnumber’d wings.”

MILTON.

This bird lives to a considerable age, and as it is easily tamed, it has

been ascertained that the Crane often reaches his fortieth year. Its

nest is usually built amongst the reeds and sedges of a marsh, but

sometimes upon a ruined building. The female lays two eggs, of a pale

brown colour, with darker spots.

According to Kolben, they are often observed in large flocks on the

marshes about the Cape of Good Hope. He says he never saw a flock of

them on the ground that had not some placed apparently as sentinels, to

keep a look out while the others are feeding, who on the approach of

danger immediately give notice to the rest. These sentinels stand on one

leg, and at intervals stretch out their necks, as if to observe that all

is safe. On notice being given of danger, the whole flock are in an

instant on the wing. Kolben also adds that in the night time each of the

watching Cranes, which rest on their left legs, hold in their right claw

a stone of considerable weight, in order that, if overcome by sleep, the

falling of the stone may awaken them.

[Illustration: THE BALEARIC CRANE, OR CROWNED DEMOISELLE, (_Balearica

pavonina_,)]

IS originally, as the name expresses, a native of Majorca and Minorca,

in the Mediterranean sea, which were formerly called the Balearic Isles,

but is chiefly found now in the Cape Verd Islands. The shape of its body

is not unlike that of the common Crane, but it has a principal and

distinctive mark on the head; which is, a tuft of hairs, or rather

strong greyish bristles, standing out like rays in all directions, from

which peculiarity this species takes its other name of the Crowned

Heron. They roost and feed in the manner of peacocks.

The Demoiselle, or Numidian Crane (_Anthropoides virgo_), is remarkable

for the grace and symmetry of its form, and the elegance of its

deportment. It is rather larger than the species above described, and is

a native of many parts of Africa. It frequents damp and marshy places,

in search of small fishes, frogs, &c., which are its favourite food. It

is easily domesticated.

[Illustration: THE STORK. (_Ciconia alba._)]

THE neck, head, breast, and body of this bird are white, the rump and

exterior feathers of the wings black; the eyelids naked; the tail white,

and the legs long, slender, and of a red colour. Storks are birds of

passage. When leaving Europe they assemble together on some particular

night, and all take their flight at once. As they feed on frogs,

lizards, serpents, and other noxious creatures, it is not to be expected

that man should be inimical to them, and therefore they have been

generally a favourite with the nations they visit. The Dutch have laws

against destroying them: they are therefore very common in Holland, and

build their nests and rear their young on the tops of houses and

chimneys in the middle of its most frequented and populous cities, and

may be seen by dozens familiarly walking about the markets, where they

feed on the offal. In some places, the stork is supposed to be a herald

of good fortune to the house on which it builds its nest, and the

inhabitants place boxes on their roofs to induce the birds to take up

their abode there.

The Stork much resembles the crane in its conformation, but appears

somewhat more corpulent. The former lays four eggs, whereas the latter

lays but two.

It is said that Storks visit Egypt in such abundance, that the fields

and meadows are white with them. The Egyptians, however, are not

displeased with the sight; as frogs are there generated in such numbers,

that did not the Storks devour them, they would overrun everything.

Between Belba and Gaza, the fields of Palestine are often rendered

desert on account of the abundance of mice and rats; and were they not

destroyed the inhabitants could have no harvest. The disposition of the

Stork is mild and placid; it is easily tamed, and may be trained to

reside in gardens, which it will clear of insects and reptiles. It has a

grave air, and a mournful aspect; yet, when roused by example, exhibits

a certain degree of gaiety; for it joins in the frolics of children,

hopping about and playing with them.

During their migrations, Storks are observed in vast quantities. Dr.

Shaw saw three flights of them leaving Egypt, and passing over Mount

Carmel, each of which appeared to be nearly half a mile in width; and he

says they were three hours in passing over.

The Stork, like the ibis, was an object of worship among the ancients,

and to kill them was a crime punishable with death. The Stork is

remarkable for its great affection towards its young. This was

remarkably evinced during the great conflagration of Delft, in Holland,

during which a female Stork was noticed using every endeavour to carry

off her young family, and continuing this labour of love until the smoke

and flames prevented her own escape, and she perished with her brood.

[Illustration: THE ADJUTANT, (_Leptoptilus argala_,)]

ALSO called the Gigantic Crane, is a bird of the stork kind, and a

native of India, and other warm countries. The head and neck are bare of

feathers, as in the ostrich; the former looking as if made of wood; the

latter of a flesh-colour. The coverts of the wings and the back are

black, with a bluish cast; the under part of the body whitish; the legs

are long, without feathers, and of a greyish hue, as are the thighs,

which seem to be as slender as the leg. The bill is of enormous size,

and the bird is fond of clatting the two mandibles together. Under the

chin, there is a kind of bag or pouch which hangs down in front of the

neck, like the dewlap of a cow; in this the Adjutant stores away any

provisions that may fall in his way, after his immediate wants are

satisfied. He is a most voracious bird, and devours every kind of food,

and as he has no objection to carrion, his presence is encouraged in

towns, where he assists the vultures, crows, dogs, and jackals, in

performing the duties of scavengers. Indeed his rapacity is so great

that he swallows such innutritious substances as bone with such

eagerness and relish as to have received the name of “_Bone-eater_,” or

“Bone-taker.” When he comes about the houses he requires to be carefully

watched, as his power of swallowing is so great that a fowl, a rabbit,

or even a leg of mutton, is disposed of at a single mouthful. Sir E.

Horne states that in the stomach of an Adjutant were found a tortoise

nearly a foot long, and a large black cat; from, which we may see that

the Adjutant is by no means squeamish in his diet.

The Adjutant is indeed a very gigantic bird. Its wings often measure

fourteen or fifteen feet from tip to tip, and it is five feet high when

it stands erect.