its old dwelling, clings to its walls, peeps in or even enters many
times a day. It has been proved by several experiments, that the same
birds return year after year to their old nests, and it is hard to
believe, so thoroughly delighted do they seem, that they are guided
simply by an impassive instinct. If so, why should they hang about the
'old house at home' so many days before they begin to set in order
again the future nursery? No elaborate plans of alterations and
improvements are to be devised; last year's family are launched on the
world, and are quite equal to building for their own accommodation. No
collecting of materials is requisite. The muddy edge of the nearest
pond will provide plaster enough and to spare to carry out all
necessary repairs; shreds of straw are to be had for the picking up,
and farmyard feathers are as plentiful as of yore. It would seem then
a reasonable conclusion, that a bird endowed with an instinct powerful
enough to guide it across the ocean, and a memory sufficiently
powerful to lead it to the snug window corner of the same cottage
where it reared its first brood, may live in the past as well as the
present, and that its seeming joyousness is a reality, even mixed
perhaps with hopeful anticipations of the future.
As the reader may, if he will, have ample opportunity of watching the
habits of a bird that probably builds its nest under the eaves of his
own house, whether he dwell in a town, a village, or a lonely cottage,
it is unnecessary to enter into further details of its biography.
[Illustration:
Swift [F]
Sand Martin [F]
Swallow [M] House Martin [M]
[_face p. 84._]]
[Illustration:
Tree Sparrow [M]
Linnet [M]
House Sparrow [M]
Brambling [M]]
THE SAND MARTIN
CÓTILE RIPÁRIA
All the upper parts, cheeks, and a broad bar on the breast,
mouse-colour; throat, fore part of the neck, abdomen, and under
tail-coverts white; legs and feet naked with the exception of a
few small feathers near the insertion of the hind toe; tail
forked, rather short. Length five inches. Eggs pure white.
While all the other British species of Swallow resort from choice to
the haunts of man, the Sand or Bank Martin is indifferent about the
matter. Provided that it can find a convenient place for excavating
its nest, other considerations are omitted. It is said to be partial
to the vicinity of water, but even this selection is rather to be
attributed to the accidental circumstance that perpendicular cliffs
often have rivers running at their base, than to any decided
preference shown by the bird for such situations. Railway cuttings
carried through a sandy district offer, perhaps, equal attraction; and
it is probable that a majority of the colonies planted within the last
twenty years overlook, not the silent highway of the river, but the
unromantic parallel bars of iron which have enabled man to vie almost
with the Swallow in rapidity of flight. The word colonies is
applicable to few British birds besides the Sand Martin. Others of the
tribe not unfrequently construct their nests in close proximity with
each other, and, when thus associated, are most neighbourly--hunting
in society, sporting together, and making common cause against an
intrusive Hawk; but still this is no more than a fortuitous coming
together.
It so happens that a certain district offers good hunting-ground, and
the eaves or windows of a certain house are peculiarly well adapted
for sheltering nests; so a number of Window Martins, not having taken
counsel together, but guided each by independent choice, find
themselves established sometimes so close together that their nests
have party walls, like the houses in a street. They accordingly make
acquaintances, and are sociable to a limited extent. But Sand Martins
go beyond this, they are comrades banded together by municipal laws,
which no doubt they understand and obey, inhabiting dwellings which
constitute a joint settlement, returning without fail to the familiar
haunt after every annual migration, or if they desert a station,
leaving no stragglers behind, and pitching their camp anew in some
locality which common consent has pronounced to be an eligible one.
They are not, however, exclusive in their fraternization; as they hunt
in society with their relatives the Swifts and Swallows, and even
accompany them in distant flights. I have repeatedly observed Sand
Martins flying about with others of the same tribe many miles away
from their homes. They may readily be distinguished, as I have stated
before, by their dingy mouse-coloured hue, smaller size, and less
forked tails. I have never had an opportunity of watching a colony
engaged in their mining operations at the busy period of their year,
that of nidification; but from the description by Professor Rennie
(_Bird Architecture_) and that by Mr. R. D. Duncan, quoted by
Macgillivray, the sight must be most interesting. The task of the
older birds must be a light one; not so, however, that of the younger
members of the flock. The former have neither walls nor roofs to
repair; the holes which served them as nests the previous year afford
the same accommodation as before. All that is needed is, that the
remains of the old nest should either be removed or receive the
addition of a few straws and feathers to protect the eggs and young
from direct contact with the cold sand; their labours then are over.
But the new colonists have a toilsome work to perform before they can
enjoy the gratification of bringing up a family. The settlement is
fixed probably in the perpendicular face of a bank of sand, gravel, or
clay, at an elevation from the ground which varies from a few to a
great many feet. Their claws are sharp and well adapted for clinging,
the beak short, rigid, and pointed, no less well suited for
excavating. Grasping the perpendicular surface of the bank with their
claws, and steadying themselves by means of their tails they commence
operations by pricking a small hole with their bills. This hole they
gradually enlarge by moving round and round, and edging off the sand
with the side of their bills, which they keep shut. Their progress is
slow at first, but after they have made room to stand on the
excavation, they proceed rapidly, still working with their bills, and
carefully pushing out the loosened sand with their feet. At one time
the male, at another the female, is the excavator. When their
burrowing is impeded by the resistance of a stone, they either dig
round it and loosen it, or, if it prove so large as to defy removal,
they desist and begin another cell. The form of the hole varies both
in size and shape, but it rarely exceeds three or four inches in
diameter, and more or less approaches the circular form. The depth
varies from a few inches to three feet, and the direction seems to
depend on the nature of the soil encountered. In all, however, the
extremity of the hole is enlarged to a diameter of five or six inches,
and is situated above the level of the entrance, so that no rain-water
can lodge. The work is performed only in the mornings, and is
consequently carried over several days. The nest itself consists of
straws of grass and feathers, and is placed in the terminal chamber.
The eggs are five or six in number, pure white, and of a rather long
shape.
FAMILY FRINGILLIDÆ
THE GREENFINCH
LIGURINUS CHLORIS
All the plumage yellowish green, variegated with yellow and
ash-grey. Length six inches. Eggs bluish white, speckled and
spotted with purplish grey and dark brown.
The Greenfinch, or Green Linnet, is one of our most generally diffused
birds. No bird is a more frequent inhabitant of country gardens during
the summer than this, being attracted, it would seem, not so much by
the prospect of abundance of food, as by its fondness for building its
nest in evergreens and the thick hedges of shrubberies. The lively
greenish yellow tint of the plumage on its throat and breast
sufficiently distinguish it from any other British bird; and its note,
when once identified, can be confounded with no other song. Let any
one who wishes to obtain a sight of one, walk anywhere in the country
where there are trees, on a bright sunny day in May or June, and
listen for a monotonous long-drawn croak, trying to pronounce the
syllable '_twe-e-e_' or '_bree-eze_'. No matter what other birds may
be tuning their lays, the harsh monotone of the Greenfinch, if one be
near, will be heard among them, harmonizing with none, and suggestive
of heat and weariness. In a few seconds it will be repeated, without a
shadow of variation either in tone or duration; and if it be traced
out, the author of the noise (music I cannot call it) will be
discovered perched among the branches of a moderately high tree,
repeating his mournful ditty with extreme complacency for an hour
together. Very often he takes advantage of the midday silence of the
groves, and pipes away without any other competitor than the Yellow
Hammer, whose song, like his own, is a constant accompaniment of
sultry weather. The Greenfinch has another note which is heard most
frequently, but not exclusively, in spring. This is a single plaintive
chirp which may be easily imitated by human whistling; it resembles
somewhat one of the call-notes of the Canary-bird or Brown Linnet,
and, being full and sweet, harmonizes with the woodland chorus far
better than the monotonous croak described above. Another of the notes
is a double one, and closely resembles that of the 'Peewit', hence it
is called in some places 'Pee-sweep'. The Greenfinch builds its nest,
when not among evergreens, in some tall thick bush either in a hedge
or coppice. Less neatly finished than that of the Chaffinch, it is
nevertheless a beautiful structure. It is composed externally of a
framework of light twigs and roots, interleaved with moss and wool, to
which succeeds a denser layer of the same materials lined with hair.
It lays five eggs, which are of a light grey colour, almost white,
variously speckled with purple, and of a long shape. In winter,
Greenfinches congregate in large numbers, and feed together on the
seeds of various weeds in stubble fields, or not unfrequently they
descend on newly-sown fields of wheat, where they are very
troublesome. If disturbed, they rise simultaneously, fly rapidly only
a few feet from the ground to another part of the field, but before
they alight wheel about several times with singular precision of
movement, disappearing from the sight and reappearing according as the
dark or light portion of their plumage is turned towards the
spectator; and by this peculiarity they may be distinguished from
flocks of other small birds at a great distance. If repeatedly
disturbed, they alter their tactics, and take refuge in the top
branches of the neighbouring trees until their persecutor has turned
his back, when they return to the charge with the same perseverance
which they display in the repetition of their summer song. These
flocks, probably, are composed of individuals which have banded
together in some more northern climate, and emigrated southwards in
quest of food; for smaller parties, either unmixed, or associated with
Sparrows, Chaffinches, and Buntings, frequent our farmyards and
gardens in undiminished numbers.
THE HAWFINCH
COCCOTHRAUSTES VULGARIS
Lore, throat, and plumage at the base of the bill black; crown
and cheeks reddish brown; nape ash-grey; back dark reddish
brown; wings black, great coverts white; some of the quills
truncated at the extremity; under parts light purplish red;
tail short. Length seven inches. Eggs light olive-green, with a
few brown spots and numerous irregular lines of a lighter tint.
Judging from its conformation, one would, without knowing anything of
the habits of this bird, pronounce it to be a professor of some
laborious occupation. Its short tail and wings unfit it for long
aërial voyages, and its thick neck and ponderous bill denote the
presence of great muscular power, and such, indeed, it both has and
requires. It is not a common bird, and was until within the last few
years considered to be migratory; but so many instances have occurred
in which its nest has been found, that no doubt is now entertained of
its being a constant resident. In Berkshire I have several times seen
two or three together busily occupied in picking up the seeds which
had fallen from the cones of a spruce fir. On one occasion a nest was
brought to me by a man who had found it built on some twigs which grew
from the trunk of a tall oak-tree; it was built of the tangled white
lichens which grow on trees, on a foundation of a few roots, and
contained five eggs. I afterwards discovered another nest of exactly
similar structure, which I believed must have been built by the same
bird, but it was empty. In Hertfordshire a single Hawfinch visited my
garden one winter for several days in succession, and diligently
picked up and cracked the stones of laurel cherries, from which
Blackbirds had, a few months before, as busily stripped the pulp. In
the cherry orchards in the neighbourhood they are not uncommon, where,
even if not seen, their visits are detected by the ground being
strewed with halves of cherrystones, which these birds split with
their powerful beaks as cleverly as a workman with the chisel. Their
note I have never heard, but the proprietor of the orchards assured me
that he had often detected their presence by the low twittering noise
which they made, a description the truth of which a writer quoted by
Yarrell confirms. I have never seen a nest in Hertfordshire, but on
several occasions have observed their eggs among the collections made
by the country boys in the neighbourhood. Besides cherrystones,
Hawfinches feed on hazel-nuts, hornbeam seeds, the kernels of the fruit
of the hawthorn, seeds of various kinds, and, when they can get them,
green peas, for the sake of which they often venture into gardens.
They usually build their nests in trees at an elevation varying from
twenty-five to thirty feet, and the nest is composed of dead twigs,
intermixed with pieces of grey lichen; this last material varying
much in quantity in different nests, but being never absent.
THE GOLDFINCH
CARDUÉLIS ÉLEGANS
Back of the head, nape, and feathers round the base of the bill
black; forehead and throat blood-red; cheeks, forepart of the
neck and lower parts white; back and scapulars dark brown;
wings variegated with black, white and yellow; tail black,
tipped with white. Length five inches. Eggs bluish white,
speckled with pale purple and brown.
This little bird, as sprightly in its habits as it is brilliant in its
colouring, is perhaps a more general favourite than any other British
bird. Though in its natural state less familiar with man than the
Redbreast, and inferior as a musician to the Lark, the Thrush, and
others of our resident birds, it is more frequent as a caged bird than
either, and thus is known to tens of thousands of city folk who never
heard the wild song of the Thrush, nor saw a Redbreast under any
circumstances. In a cage it is attractive from its lively movements,
its agreeable song, and yet more from its docility, as it not only is
readily tamed, but may be taught to perform various tricks and
manoeuvres utterly repugnant to the nature of birds. Its affection,
too, for its owner is not less remarkable. Of this many instances are,
I doubt not, familiar to the reader; but the following is not so well
known. There was some years since in a small town, about twelve
leagues from Paris, a tame Goldfinch, which belonged to a carrier, and
which for many years regularly accompanied his master twice a week to
and from the metropolis. At first it used to content itself with
perching on the driver's seat, and from time to time flying a short
distance ahead, or gambolling with other birds of the same kind that
it encountered on the way. By and by it seemed to grow dissatisfied
with the slow pace of the wagon, and took long flights in advance,
still returning from time to time to its accustomed perch. At length,
becoming more enterprising, it would leave its master in the lurch,
and fly in advance the whole of the way, and announce his approach at
the house in the city where he put up. If the weather was stormy, it
would quietly await his arrival, taking up its quarters by the
fireside; but if the weather was fine, it would, after making a brief
stay, return to meet him. At every meeting, caresses and
congratulations were exchanged, as fondly as if they had been
separated for years. This romantic attachment was at length terminated
by the disappearance of the bird, but whether through the
instrumentality of a cat, a Hawk, or some mischievous boy, was never
discovered.
Whatever doubt may exist as to the services rendered to man by the
Sparrow and Chaffinch, about the Goldfinch there can be no difference
of opinion. The farmer has no better friend, and yet an abundance of
Goldfinches on an estate is anything but a welcome sight; for it
denotes abundance of its favourite food, the seeds of thistles. Where
these weeds flourish, there, for the most part, Goldfinches are to be
met with in considerable numbers. The French name, _Chardonneret_,
denotes 'a frequenter of thistles', and the ancient Greek and Latin
name for it, _Acanthis_, is of similar import; the _Acanthis_, Pliny
tells us,[13] bears animosity against no living creature but the
donkey, a beast which eats the flowers of thistles, and so deprives it
of its food. To this dietary it adds the seeds of dandelions, centaury
and other weeds, but shows a decided preference for the seeds of the
compound flowers. Its nest is among the most beautiful that birds
construct. One now before me is placed among the terminal branches cut
from the bough of a Scotch fir which grew at an elevation of about
twenty feet from the ground. It is encircled by upwards of a dozen
leafy twigs which unite beneath its base, and form both a firm support
and effectual shelter. The substance is composed of tufted white
lichens (_Usnea_ and _Evernia_), and a few fine roots and wiry stems
of garden-thyme, felted together with wool so securely, that it is
scarcely possible to remove one of them without damaging the whole.
With these is intermixed a piece of worsted, and a thread of sewing
cotton; a few horsehairs succeed, and the whole of the interior is
thickly matted with the white silky down of the coltsfoot. Other nests
vary in the materials employed, moss being sometimes used instead of
white lichen, and willow-cotton or feathers instead of the down of the
coltsfoot. Thistle-down is sometimes named as the material of the
lining; but this must be under unusual circumstances, that substance
being generally unattainable in spring. Besides fir-trees, the apple
and elm are often selected by Goldfinches to build their nests in, and
they not unfrequently resort to any low tree in a hedge or shrubbery,
also to young oak-trees. In autumn, Goldfinches assemble in flocks of
from ten to twenty or more, and resort to waste places, or the borders
of fields, where thistles abound, and it is hard to imagine a prettier
sight than a party of these innocent and brilliant hunters, perching,
all heedless of spines and prickles, on the thistle heads, plucking
out the seeds with the pappus attached, and cleverly separating the
former from their appendage. While thus employed, they seem to take it
for granted that no one will molest them, but continue their useful
labour, twittering pleasantly all the while, until the spectator comes
within a few yards of them, when they fly off like butterflies to
another prickly bed.
Owing to more efficient bird-protection the Goldfinch, which was
decreasing largely in numbers, is now on the increase again.
[13] _Nat. Hist._, lib. x., cap. lxxiv.
THE SISKIN
CARDUÉLIS SPINUS
Crown black; behind the eye a broad yellow streak; all the
plumage variegated with grey, dusky, and various shades of
yellow and yellowish green; wings dusky, with a transverse
greenish yellow bar, and a black one above, and another black
one across the middle of the tertiaries; tail dusky, the base
and edge of the inner web greenish yellow. _Female_--all the
colours less bright, and no black on the head. Length four and
a half inches. Eggs greyish white, speckled with purplish
brown.
The Siskin, or Aberdevine, is best known as a cage-bird, as it is only
a very occasional breeder in Great Britain, and during the period of
its stay is retiring in its habits. Siskins are more frequently met
with in the northern than the southern counties of England, but they
are common in neither, and will only nest where pine woods abound.
They are generally observed to keep together in small flocks of from
twelve to fifteen, and may be heard from a considerable distance, as
they rarely intermit uttering their call-note, which, though little
more than a soft twittering, is as clear as that of the Bullfinch, to
which it has been compared. Their flight is rapid and irregular, like
that of the Linnet. They leave their roosting-places early in the
morning, and usually alight on the branches of alder-trees, where they
remain all day. The seeds of the alder, inclosed within scales
something like those of the coniferous trees, form the principal food
of these pretty little birds, who are obliged to hang at the
extremities of the twigs in order to explore the seed-vessels on all
sides. Occasionally, but less frequently, they are seen visiting heads
of thistles and burdocks, and not unfrequently they descend to the
ground for the sake of picking up scattered seeds. During the whole of
their feeding time, they never cease twittering and fluttering about
joyously from twig to twig. Now and then, as if by preconcerted signal
given by a leader, they all take flight to another tree or, after a
short evolution, return to the same from which they started. Should it
happen that, while one little band is occupied in despoiling a tree,
another is heard in the air, the latter is immediately invited by
general acclamation to take part in the banquet, and rarely fails to
accept the invitation. Owing to this sociability of character they are
easily entrapped, provided that one of their own species be employed
as a decoy bird. They soon become reconciled to captivity, and are
valued for their readiness to pair with the Canary-bird, the note of
which the joint offspring is thought to improve. The nest, which in
some respects resembles those of the Greenfinch and Chaffinch, is
concealed with great care in the fork formed by two branches of a fir,
with which it is so skilfully made to assimilate, that it is almost
impossible to discern it from below. In France, Siskins are most
numerous from the middle of October to the beginning of December. They
are then supposed to travel southwards, and appear again, but in
greatly diminished numbers, in spring, at which period they are
considered to be travelling towards their summer quarters in Russia
and Scandinavia.
THE HOUSE SPARROW
PASSER DOMESTICUS
Crown and back of the head dark bluish ash; lore, throat, and
front of the neck black; above the eyes a band of uniform
reddish brown, intermixed with a few small white feathers;
upper feathers dark brown, edged with reddish brown; a single
transverse white bar on the wing; cheeks, sides of the neck,
and under parts greyish white. _Female_--head, nape, neck, and
breast ash-brown; above the eye a light yellowish brown streak;
rest of the plumage less bright. Length five inches and
three-quarters. Eggs white, spotted and speckled with dark grey
and brown.