birds haunting moors and swamps, admits that he never heard one, and
thinks that a brother naturalist, who describes what, no doubt, he
heard, mistook for the booming of the Bittern the drumming of a Snipe.
Lord Lilford tells us that a lady of his acquaintance told him that as
a young wife, living near marshes, she often was kept awake by the
booming of Bitterns.
In Sir Thomas Browne's time, It was common In Norfolk, and was
esteemed a better dish than the Heron.
Willughby, who wrote about the same time, 1676, says: 'The Bittern, or
Mire-drum, it is said, makes either three or five boomings at a
time--always an uneven number. It begins to bellow early in February,
and continues during the breeding season. The common people believe
that it thrusts its beak into a reed, and by the help of this makes
its booming. Others maintain that it imitates the lowing of an ox by
thrusting its beak into water, mud, or earth. They conceal themselves
among rushes and reeds, and not unfrequently in hedges, with the head
and neck erect. In autumn, after sunset, they are in the habit of
rising into the air with a spiral ascent, so high that they are lost
sight of. Meanwhile they utter a singular note, but not at all
resembling the characteristic 'booming'.
It is called Botaurus, because it imitates _boatum tauri_, the
bellowing of a bull. Of 'Botaurus', the names 'Bitour' and Bittern are
evident corruptions; and the following names, in different languages,
are all descriptive of the same peculiar note: Butor, Rordump,
Myredromble, Trombone, Rohrtrummel, Rohrdommel, and Rordrum.
Of late years, so unusual has the occurrence become of Bitterns
breeding in this country, owing to collectors, that the discovery of
an egg in Norfolk has been thought worthy of being recorded in the
transactions of the Linnean Society; and even the appearance of a bird
at any season finds its way into the provincial newspapers or the
magazines devoted to natural history: Stuffed specimens are, however,
to be seen in most collections, where its form and plumage may be
studied, though its habits can only be learnt, at least in England,
from the accounts furnished by naturalists of a past generation. It
comes now only to be shot.
The Bittern is a bird of wide geographical range, as it resorts, more
or less, to all countries of Europe and Asia. Specimens are said to
differ much in size, some being as large as the Heron, others
considerably less; but there is no reason to suppose that they are of
different species, a similar variation having been observed in other
birds, as in the Curlew, for example, of which I have had in my
possession at once four or five specimens all of different dimensions.
The Bittern builds its nest on the ground, and lays four brown eggs,
which are tinged with ash or green. The old bird, if wounded, defends
itself in the same way as the Heron.
FAMILY CICONIIDÆ
THE WHITE STORK
CICÓNIA ALBA
General plumage white; scapulars and wings black; bill and feet
red; orbits naked, black; irides brown. _Young birds_ have the
wings tinged with brown and the beak reddish black. Length
three feet six inches. Eggs white tinged with ochre.
Sir Thomas Browne says, in his _Account of Birds found in Norfolk_:
'The _Ciconia_, or Stork, I have seen in the fens; and some have been
shot in the marshes between this [Norwich] and Yarmouth.' His
contemporary, Willughby, says:--'The Stork is rarely seen in England;
never, in fact, but when driven hither by the wind or some accident. I
have received from Dr. Thomas Browne, the eminent naturalist, a figure
drawn to the life, and a short description of one which was captured
in Norfolk.' Yarrell records instances of a few others which have been
killed, at distant intervals, in various parts of England; but the
Stork is so rare a visitor with us, that I have no scruple in
referring my readers, for a full account of the habits of so
interesting a bird, to some more comprehensive work on the subject.
The White Stork was, over 350 years ago, only an irregular visitor to
Great Britain.
THE BLACK STORK
CICÓNIA NIGRA
Upper plumage black, with green and purple reflections; under
white; bill and orbits red; irides brown; feet deep red. In
_young birds_ the bill, orbits, and feet, are olive green; and
the upper plumage is tinged with rust-brown. Length nearly
three feet. Eggs dull white, tinged with green, and sometimes
sparingly spotted with brown.
A still rarer visitor in Great Britain than the White Stork, from
which it differs quite as much in habit as it does in colour; for
whereas the one is eminently sociable with birds of its own kind, and
devoted in its attachment to human dwellings, the other is a solitary
bird, shy and wary, avoiding at all times the sight of men and their
habitations. It is a rare bird in most countries of Europe, but is
common in several parts of Asia and the whole of the known regions of
Africa. It builds a large nest in a lofty tree, and lays from two to
five eggs.
FAMILY PLATALEIDÆ
THE SPOONBILL
PLATALÉA LEUCORODIA
General plumage white; a large patch of reddish yellow on the
breast; a crest of long narrow white feathers pendent over the
neck; lore, orbits, and naked space on the neck, pale yellow;
bill black, tipped with yellow; irides red; feet black. _Young
birds_ want the yellow patch on the breast and the occipital
crest; portions of the wing black. Length thirty-one inches.
Eggs white, spotted with light red.
Spoonbills do not appear to have been common at any time; for though
Sir Thomas Browne enumerates them among the birds of Norfolk and
Suffolk, where they build in heronries, his contemporary, Willughby,
knew them only as natives of Holland. This bird is not unfrequent in
East Anglia, and it is met with now and again along the south coast,
and has wandered up the Thames valley.
The Spoonbill is a migratory bird, building its nest and rearing its
young in the north of Europe and Asia, and retiring in autumn to the
shores of the Mediterranean or to Africa. It is remarkable not only
for the singular conformation of its bill, but for 'being one of the
very few which have been found to possess no true muscles of the organ
of voice; and no modulation of a single tone appears to be possessed
by the bird.'[32]
It builds its nest in high trees, or, when these are wanting, among
reeds and rushes; and lays four eggs.
[32] Yarrell's _British Birds_.
ORDER ANSERES
FAMILY ANATIDÆ
THE GREY LAG GOOSE
ANSER CINEREUS
Folded wings not reaching to the extremity of the tail; bill
strong, orange-yellow, the nail whitish; upper plumage
ash-brown, many of the feathers bordered with greyish white;
under plumage, in front, light ash-grey, barred on the flanks
and belly with brown, behind pure white; irides deep brown;
legs dull flesh-colour. Eggs ivory white. Length two feet ten
inches.
The Geese characterized by having a large, ovate body, a long neck, a
short and stout beak, high at the base and bent down at the tip,
adapted for cropping vegetable food; the wings are large and powerful;
the legs, placed under the centre of the body, afford some facility in
walking, and the webbed feet are eminently fitted for paddling, but
rarely employed in diving. They spend the greater portion of the year
in high latitudes, where their arrival is celebrated with great
rejoicings, as an indication of returning summer. They are eminently
gregarious, flying generally in the form of a half-opened pair of
compasses, with the angle in front, or in an irregular wavy line, and
uttering a loud harsh cry, which may often be heard some time before
the birds themselves are in sight.
The present species, which is supposed by some to be the origin of the
domestic Goose, was formerly of common occurrence in Great Britain,
but is now much less frequent. It breeds in northern Scotland, coming
south from autumn to spring. On their arrival in autumn, they resort
to marshes and swamps, meadows, corn-fields, and turnip-fields,
especially such as are remote from human dwellings. There they feed by
day on such vegetable substances as fall in their way, but they are
said to prefer the young shoots of corn to any other kind of food. So
wary are they and difficult of approach, that a 'Wild Goose chase' is
a proverbial expression for an unsuccessful enterprise. At night they
retire to the broad flats near the sea, or to the mouths of rivers,
where they roost on the ground. Yarrell is of opinion 'that the term
"lag", as applied to this Goose, is either a modification of the
English word "lake", the Latin _lacus_, or perhaps an abbreviation of
the Italian "lago", from which latter country it is even probable that
we may originally have obtained this our domesticated race.'
THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
ANSER ALBIFRONS
Folded wings reaching a little beyond the tail; bill
orange-yellow, the nail white; a large space on the forehead
pure white, surrounded by a dusky band; upper plumage
ash-brown, varied with grey, dull white, and bluish black;
under plumage in front brownish white, with patches and bars of
black; behind white; irides dark brown; feet orange. Length two
feet three inches. Eggs white, tinged with buff.
A regular visitor to the British Isles, coming late in the autumn to
stay till spring, usually seen in small flocks of from eight to twenty
birds; it is entirely graminivorous, and, when undisturbed, usually
rests at night in any grass-field where it may have been feeding in
the afternoon.
Its habits, during its stay in these latitudes, are similar to those
of the other species, but it is said by Mr. Selby to 'vary from the
Bean Goose in preferring low and marshy districts to the upland and
drier haunts of that bird, and in these localities subsists on the
aquatic grasses, being very seldom seen to frequent corn or stubble
fields'. In Norfolk it has frequently been seen associated with the
Bean Goose. It has never been observed to remain with us after April,
when it betakes itself to the regions bordering on the Arctic circle.
In Lapland it is very abundant, and in the fur countries of North
America it was seen in spring by Dr. Richardson in large flocks
travelling northwards. It breeds in the woody districts skirting
Mackenzie's River, and in the islands of the Arctic Sea.
The white forehead of this bird tends to confirm the opinion
maintained by some authors that the common Domestic Goose owes its
origin to this species.
THE BEAN GOOSE
ANSER SÉGETUM
Folded wings exceeding the tail in length; bill long, orange,
the base and nail black; upper plumage ash-brown; the wings
darker, edged with greyish white; under plumage in front dirty
white, behind pure white; irides dark brown; legs orange; beak
yellowish white. Length thirty-four inches. Eggs white.
The several species constituting the group to which the Bean Goose
belongs resemble each other very nearly in all respects. All are
gregarious, fly high in the form of a V, or in an undulating line,
uttering repeated cries, which no one who has heard a domesticated
Goose can fail to recognize; they pass the night for the most part on
broad flats near the sea, and at early dawn repair inland to their
feeding-grounds. The Bean Goose is, on the authority of Yarrell, next
to the Brent Goose, the commonest and most numerous as a species among
our Wild Geese. In Scotland it is far more abundant than in England,
being seen in large flocks from October to April, especially at the
periods of migration to and from its summer quarters. But it does not
altogether desert the British Isles during the intervening months. A
few are said annually to remain, and breed in the lakes of
Westmoreland, and in the Hebrides. In Sutherlandshire, also, many
remain all the year--a fact thoroughly ascertained by Mr. Selby, who
gives an interesting account of several young broods which he saw on
the lochs, some of which he captured. They construct their nests among
the tussocks of sedge or grass hillocks on the islands, and lay from
three to four eggs, smaller than those of the Common Goose, but of a
similar shape and colour.
[Illustration:
White Fronted Goose
Pink-footed Goose
Grey Lag Goose
Bean Goose [M]
[_p. 178._]]
[Illustration:
Sheldrake [M]
Shoveler [M]
Gadwall [M]
Wild Duck [M] [F]]
THE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE
ANSER BRACHYRHYNCHUS
Folded wings not reaching to the extremity of the tail; bill
shorter than the head, narrow and much contracted towards the
tip, pink, with the nail and base black; head and neck reddish
brown; rest of the upper plumage ash-grey, edged with greyish
white; under plumage in front fawn-colour, behind white; irides
dark brown; feet pink, tinged with vermilion. Length two feet
four inches. Eggs dull yellowish white.
It is said that most, if not all the various species of wild Geese
have strong local attachments; that flocks composed of one particular
kind are in the habit of visiting, year after year, the same spot, to
the exclusion of other species, which may, nevertheless, be found
frequenting places of like character at no great distance. Of the
truth of the statement I met with signal confirmation in the severe
winter of 1860-1. I then spent several days on the coast of Norfolk,
for the purpose of watching the habits of Waders and sea-fowl. Without
indulging in the chase of wild Geese, I heard and saw a great many
flocks, of which some were unmistakably Brent Geese; others, of a
larger size and a different colour, I was obliged to include under the
comprehensive name of Grey Geese. The Brents, I found, regularly
repaired to the salt marshes adjoining Thornham Harbour, which, I was
told, was their usual place of resort. The others were known to alight
only in the meadows near Holkham. Having heard that several had been
shot at the latter place, I procured one, and on examination it proved
to be the present species, up to that time entirely unknown to me. On
consulting Yarrell, I found the following passage:--'In January of the
present year, 1841, I was favoured with a letter from the Hon. and
Rev. Thomas Keppel, of Warham Rectory, near Holkam, informing me that
a Pink-footed Goose had been killed by his nephew, Lord Coke, at
Holkam. This bird was shot out of a flock of about twenty, but nothing
particular was observed in their flight or habits.' The bird brought
to me had been shot, along with many others, out of similar flocks, in
exactly the same place, at an interval of twenty years; and I have no
doubt that the many other specimens which have been shot there between
the above two dates, belonged to the same species, the characters
which distinguish it from the common Bean Goose being not sufficiently
striking to attract the notice of sea-side gunners. The habits of the
species appear not to differ from those of its congener; it arrives
and departs about the same time, and it frequents the marshes and
uplands of Norfolk, and in winter the east coast of Scotland.
THE BRENT GOOSE
BERNICLA BRENTA
Head, beak, neck, breast, feet, quills, and tail, black; on
each side of the neck a patch of white with a few black
feathers intermixed; upper plumage dingy; all the tail-coverts
white; belly brownish grey, barred on the flanks with greyish
white. Length twenty-two to twenty-three inches. Eggs greyish
white.
The Wild Geese which we have hitherto been considering feed on grass,
clover, and grain, in quest of which they resort to inland marshes,
meadows, and arable land; but the Brent is a decidedly marine bird.
During its annual visits to our shores it stays out at sea by night,
cradled by the billows, and at early dawn repairs to the muddy flats
and sand-banks, where it feeds exclusively on marine plants,
especially laver and zostéra. As soon as these are left bare by the
ebbing tide, the Brents are taught by their instinct that they have no
time to lose, and hasten in 'skeins' or 'gaggles' making in their
flight a trumpet-like noise which, heard at a distance, resembles that
of a pack of harriers or fox-hounds in full cry. They prefer to take
their stand on those parts of the ooze which are least intersected by
creeks, and there, if left undisturbed, they continue to feed without
intermission till the rising tide lifts them off their feet. Then,
away to sea again! or, if the weather be boisterous, they seek for
shelter in the rivers and estuaries. They are local in their
attachments, returning annually to the same feeding-grounds. They do
not associate from choice with other species, for though they may be
frequently seen feeding in the vicinity of various Waders, they form
no society with them, and are, indeed, in quest of different food.
Sea-side fowlers are well acquainted with the peculiarity of their
habits, and not only know where to look for them when they are
settled, but at what points they can most easily be intercepted, going
and returning. It is the custom of the fowler to conceal himself
behind some lurking-place, natural or artificial; or, if this be
wanting, to stretch himself on the ground. Then, as a skein,
unconscious of danger, approaches, he suddenly shows himself; the
birds, panic-struck, huddle together before they alter their line of
flight, and the sportsman fires into the midst of them.
They are the most abundant of all the Geese which frequent our shores,
and are killed in great numbers and sent to market. They come to us in
November and remain till late in February, when they begin to migrate
in successive flights, the youngest bird staying until April. It is
not believed that they ever remain to breed, but that they repair to
the Arctic regions, and make their nests of withered herbage in marshy
ground.
THE BERNICLE GOOSE
BERNICLA LEUCOPSIS
Forehead, sides of the head, and throat, pure white; a dark
streak between the eyes and bill; head/neck, quills, and tail,
black; rest of the upper plumage undulated transversely with
ash-grey, black, and dull white; lower plumage white, tinged on
the flanks with grey; irides dusky-brown; bill and feet black.
Length two feet one inch. Eggs greenish white.
This beautiful bird occurs chiefly on the west side of Great Britain
in winter. 'It then more frequently retires to the sea than to the
lakes during its periods of repose, or when driven from its
feeding-grounds. A large flock then presents a beautiful spectacle, as
the birds sit lightly on the water, and when advancing elevate their
necks. Not less beautiful do they seem when on wing; now arranged in
long lines, ever undulating; at one time extending in the direction of
their flight; at another obliquely, or at right angles to it,
sometimes in an angular figure, and again mingling together. Their
voice is clear, and rather shrill, and comes agreeably on the ear when
the cries of a large flock come from a considerable distance'. In
England it is far less common, but occasionally resorts to marshes
both on the eastern and western coast. The mythical fragment of
ancient natural history, that the Bernicle is the product of a tree,
is too trite to require repetition here.
THE WHOOPER SWAN
CYGNUS MÚSICUS
Whole plumage pure white, the head and nape sometimes slightly
tinged with yellow; lower half of the bill quadrangular,
yellow, upper black; lore and a great portion of the edge of
the upper mandible yellow; irides brown; legs black; tail of
twenty feathers. _Young birds_ have the plumage grey; lore
flesh-colour. Length five feet; breadth seven feet ten inches.
Eggs dull white, tinged with greenish.
The ancient fable that Swans sing most sweetly before their death did
not survive the age which invented it. Pliny disbelieved it, and,
though the assertion may have been resuscitated from time to time as a
poetic fiction, it has found no place in works on natural history.
The Swan is not musical; it rests its claims to our admiration on
other grounds, unchallenged and indisputable; the unsullied white of
its plumage is an apt emblem of purity, and the elegance of its
movements in the water has become proverbial. The present species,
which owes its name to its powerful voice, is said to be not quite so
graceful as the tame Swan, but on land it is far more active. A bird
which has been winged by a sportsman, and has fallen on the land, can
only be overtaken by smart running. In Iceland, the summer resort of
these birds, they are much sought after for the sake of their down. In
the month of August, when the old birds, having cast their
quill-feathers, are unable to fly, the natives assemble in bodies in
the places where the Swans collect, and mounted on small but active
horses chase them through the marshes, and ride many of them down; but
the greater number are caught by the dogs, which always seize the
birds by the neck, and so encumber them that they are then easily
overtaken. But it is not the habit of Swans to remain much on land;
the perfect ease with which they float and swim indicates that the
water is their element, and a glance at their long necks tells at once
that their nature is to feed in shallow water or on the margin of deep
lakes, where with their strong bills they either tear up the stems and
roots of aquatics from the bottom, or crop at their pleasure from the
banks. To this kind of food they add such insects, molluscs and worms
as come within their reach; and (when sailing in salt water)
sea-weeds, and especially the long, ribbon-like leaves of zostéra.
During summer they frequent the most secluded swamps and lakes in the
wooded districts of the north, and build a very large nest in a spot
unapproachable by human feet. A few go no farther north than the
Orkneys and Shetlands, but their headquarters are Siberia, Iceland,
Lapland, and Hudson's Bay.
After they have recovered from their summer moult, they migrate
southwards, and arrive in Scotland, sometimes in large flocks, early
in October. Mr. St. John, in his _Wild Sports of the Highlands_, gives
an interesting account of their habits while in this country. He went
in pursuit of a flock which had selected for their winter
feeding-place some fresh-water lochs about half a mile from the sea.
They passed the day mostly on the salt water, and in the evening came
inland to feed. He found them on one of the smaller lochs, some
standing high and dry on the grassy islands trimming their feathers
after their long voyage, and others feeding on the grass and weeds at
the bottom of the loch, which in some parts was shallow enough to
allow of their pulling up the plants which they fed on as they swam
about, while numbers of wild Ducks of different kinds, particularly
Wigeons, swarmed round them, and often snatched the pieces of grass
from the Swans as soon as they had brought them to the surface, to the
great annoyance of the noble birds, who endeavoured in vain to drive
away these most active little depredators, who seemed determined to
profit by their labours. 'I observed', he says, 'that frequently all
their heads were under the water at once, excepting one--but
invariably _one_ had kept his head and neck perfectly erect, and
carefully watched on every side to prevent their being taken by
surprise; when he wanted to feed, he touched any passer-by, who
immediately relieved him in his guard, and he in his turn called on
some other Swan to take his place as sentinel.'
Swans, like wild Geese, are in the habit of returning every year to
the same district of country, and in passing to and from their
feeding-ground keep closely to the same line of flight, a peculiarity
of which fowlers take advantage by lying in ambuscade somewhere
beneath their aërial road.
When disturbed on the water they generally huddle together and utter a
low cry of alarm before they take flight. Owing to their great weight
they have not the power of rising suddenly into the air, but flap
along the water, beating the surface with their great wings, some
twenty or thirty yards. The flapping noise made while this process is
going on, may be heard at a great distance.
In severe winters, flocks of Whoopers, Whistling Swans, or Elks, as
they are variously called, come farther south, and may be observed
from time to time on different parts of the coast.
BEWICK'S SWAN
CYGNUS BEWICKI