inferior size. The predominant tints of the plumage are the same, and
the habits of the two are so similar that a separate description is
unnecessary. The present species is, however, far less common, though
it breeds in the Outer Hebrides and in Scotland, where both eggs and
young birds have been observed, and migrates southward in winter. It
lays two eggs, near the edge of a fresh-water loch; and Mr. Selby
observed that a visible track from the water to the eggs was made by
the female, whose progress upon land is effected by shuffling along
upon her belly, propelled by her legs behind. In the breeding season
the old birds are often seen on the wing, at which time also they have
a peculiar and loud cry, which has been compared to the voice of a
human being in distress.
[Illustration:
Red Necked Grebe.
Black Necked or Eared Grebe.
Slavonian Grebe.
Great Crested Grebe [F] Winter [M] Summer
[_face p. 298_.]]
[Illustration:
Manx Shearwater [M]
Stormy Petrel
Fork Tailed Petrel [F]
Fulmar]
THE RED-THROATED DIVER
COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS
Bill slightly curved upwards, with the edges of both mandibles
much incurved, not exceeding three inches in length; head,
throat, and sides of the neck mouse-colour; crown spotted with
black; neck both above and below marked with white and black
lines; on the front of the neck a large orange-coloured patch;
back dusky brown; lower parts white. _Young birds_--upper
plumage mouse-colour, darker on the back, where it is marked by
longitudinal white lines; wings dusky; feathers on the flanks
dusky, some of them edged with white; all the under plumage
pure white. Length twenty-six inches. Eggs chestnut-brown,
spotted with darker brown.
The name 'Loon,' given in some districts to the Crested Grebe, is
elsewhere given to the Red-throated Diver. The term is an old one, for
our countrymen, Ray and Willughby, quoting yet more ancient
authorities, describe the Northern Diver under the name of 'Loon', and
the Black-throated Diver under that of 'Lumme', the latter being the
name of the bird in Iceland and Norway, and the former probably an
English corruption of the same word, which in the original signifies
'lame'.
On no part of our coast must we expect to hear this bird popularly
called by the name of 'Red-throated', for, though common on many parts
of the coast, almost all the specimens observed are young birds of the
year, which have the throat pure white. Several were brought to me by
the sea-side gunners on the coast of Norfolk. In May birds with red
throats are noticed. A writer in the _Zoologist_[58] says that they
are very numerous in winter off the coast of the Isle of Wight,
passing and repassing in small flocks and in two lines about a mile
apart. Of the hundreds which fell under his notice one only had a red
throat, and this was captured under singular circumstances. On April
24, 1839, some fishermen observed an object floating which they
imagined was a keg of spirits, but which proved to be a large fish of
the kind known as the Fishing Frog, or Angler. On hauling it on board
with their boat-hooks, the fishermen discovered that the animal had
nearly choked himself by swallowing, tail foremost, an adult
Red-throated Diver. The head of the bird protruded from the throat
into the mouth of the captor, and, strange to say, it had not only
survived its imprisonment, but was unhurt. It was extricated and
presented to the Zoological Gardens, where it lived for six months.
Another writer in the same magazine[59] says that he saw a large
number in Norway during the breeding season, but not one without the
dark red throat.
This species, like the rest of the genus, obtains its food by diving;
when pursued it rarely tries to escape by taking wing, though it has
the power of flying with great rapidity. During the breeding season
especially, it often flies about over the water with its long neck
outstretched, and uttering a wailing scream.
I am informed by a friend, that while fishing in a boat in calm water
off the coast of North Devon, he has many times seen Divers pass
through the water, at a considerable depth below, propelling
themselves by a free and active use of their wings.
From October to May only these Divers frequent our coast. Towards the
end of spring they withdraw northwards and build their nests, of
coarse grass and other herbs, close to the edge of a fresh-water loch.
They lay two eggs, and the male is said to take his turn in the office
of incubation. Many stay to breed in the Orkneys and Outer Hebrides,
and in Ireland.
[58] Vol. iii. p. 974.
[59] _Zoologist_, vol. ix. p. 3084.
FAMILY PODICIPEDIDÆ
THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE
PÓDICEPS CRISTÁTUS
Bill longer than the head, reddish, the tip white; distance
from the nostril to the tip seventeen or eighteen lines; cheeks
white; crest and ruff dark brown and chestnut; upper plumage
dark brown; secondaries white; breast and under parts silky
white; bill brownish red; irides red; feet dull green.
_Female_--crest and ruff less conspicuous, colours generally
less bright. _Young birds_ have neither crest nor ruff. Length
twenty-one inches. Eggs white.
The Great Crested Grebe is thus described by Sir Thomas Browne, under
the name of Loon: 'A handsome and specious fowl, cristated, and with
divided fin-feet placed very backward. They come about April, and
breed in the broad waters; so making their nest in the water, that
their eggs are seldom dry while they are set on.' Fifty years ago the
Loon continued to be so common on the Broads of Norfolk that eighteen
or twenty might be counted together. It is more or less resident in
England and Wales--in the meres of the Midlands and the lakes of
Breconshire, and has lately bred in the vicinity of the Clyde.
The movements of this bird in the water are described as most
graceful; in swimming it vies with the Swan, and it is a skilful
diver. As seen perched up in a museum its form is ungainly, but in its
native element it might serve as the standard of perfection among
water birds. The legs, compressed so as to present a sharp edge, cut
the water with a minimum of resistance; the webbed feet are placed so
far backwards that they fulfil at once the office of propellers and
rudder; the body is conical and covered with satiny plumage, which
throws off water as perfectly as the fur of the otter; the long neck
tapers to exceedingly narrow dimensions and terminates in a small head
produced into a slender bill. The conformation of the greyhound is not
better adapted for fleet running than that of the Grebe for rapid
diving. The chase, I need scarcely add, consists of fish; but the
Loon will feed on frogs, tadpoles, and any other small animals which
fall in its way. It frequents fresh water during the summer months,
but on the approach of winter repairs to the sea, not, it would seem,
from any desire of varying its food, but to avoid being frozen up. It
builds its nest among rushes or decaying weeds, but little above the
level of the water, and lays four eggs, the male assisting his partner
in the office of incubation.
The young can dive and swim immediately that they are hatched; but if
the mother be suddenly alarmed while they are with her, she takes them
under her wing and dives with them.
The name Loon is supposed to be a corruption of the Finnish
designation, Leomme or Lem, 'lame', given to several of the
_Colymbidæ_ on account of the awkwardness with which they advance on
land.
The Loon is found in lakes throughout a great portion of both the
eastern and western hemispheres, but not very far to the north. It
rarely flies, except at the period of migration, when it passes
swiftly through the air, with neck and feet extended to their full
length.
RED-NECKED GREBE
PÓDICIPES GRISEÍGENA
Bill as long as the head, black, yellow at the base; distance
from the nostrils to the tip eleven lines; crest very short;
head and crest lustrous black; cheeks and throat mouse-colour;
a black band along the nape; breast bright rust-red; lower
parts white; flanks spotted with dusky; feet black, greenish
yellow beneath. _Young birds_ have the head, neck, and back,
dusky; throat, cheeks, breast, belly, and abdomen, silky white;
sides of the breast spotted with grey. Length sixteen inches.
Eggs dirty greenish white.
The Red-necked Grebe is smaller than the Loon, from which it differs
also in wanting the elongated crest, in having a more robust bill in
proportion to its size, and is further distinguished by the grey hue
of its cheeks, on account of which last character it is known in
France under the name of _Grébe Jou-gris_. It is a native of the
north-eastern parts of Europe, and is fairly common along the eastern
coast of Great Britain from autumn to spring. In habits it differs
little from the last described species, but is less common, occurring
both in fresh-water lakes and along the sea-coast.
SLAVONIAN GREBE
PÓDICIPES AURITUS
Bill strong, shorter than the head, compressed throughout its
whole length, black, with the tip red; eyes with a double iris,
the inner yellow, the outer red; distance from the nostrils to
the tip of the bill six or seven lines; head and bushy ruff
glossy black; two horn-like crests orange-red; lore, neck, and
breast, bright chestnut; upper plumage dusky; secondaries and
under parts white; bill black, rose-coloured at the base and
red at the tip. _Young_--crest and ruff wanting; upper plumage
and flanks dusky ash, under parts white; irides white,
surrounded by red. Eggs dirty white.
The Slavonian, or Horned Grebe, approaches so closely in habits to the
two preceding species that it is unnecessary to say more than that it
inhabits the northern parts of America and Europe, visiting us from
autumn to spring. Audubon describes its nest as a rude structure of
weeds, situated at a distance of about twelve feet from the water's
edge; but other authors state that though it constructs its nest of
these materials, it disposes it among weeds in such a way that it
rises and falls with every alteration in the level of the water. It
lays from five to seven eggs, and the male is supposed to assist in
the office of incubation.
THE BLACK-NECKED OR EARED GREBE
PÓDICIPES NIGRICOLLIS
In summer the head and neck of this species are black, with a
triangular patch of long golden-reddish feathers on the
ear-coverts. Breast and belly white--flanks a dull chestnut,
bill black, upcurved slightly. In winter it resembles the last
named Grebe in plumage, excepting that it is white on the
primaries. Length twelve inches.
This is essentially a bird of the south, visiting us in spring and
summer, but also now and again in autumn and winter, but this more
rarely. It is said to have bred occasionally in the southern counties,
and more often in Suffolk and Norfolk. To the north it becomes more
scarce, although it has been observed up to the Orkneys. Just a few
instances are recorded from Cumberland, but the bird is rare on our
western side. Very few have been met with in Ireland. In Algeria it is
said to nest in "societies more densely crowded than any rookery," the
nests being raised on islets with stout foundations constructed by the
bird. In Denmark the nests observed were on tussocks at the edge of
the lake, and they were made of moss, part of which the female used to
cover her eggs with on leaving them.
THE LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCHICK
PÓDICIPES FLUVIÁTILIS
Bill very short, shining, compressed; no crest or ruff;
distance from nostrils to tip of the bill five lines; tarsus
with a double row of serratures behind; head black; cheeks
bright chestnut; breast and flanks dusky, mottled with white;
upper parts dark brown, tinged with green; primaries ash-brown;
secondaries white at the base and on the inner web, under parts
dusky ash, tinged on the thighs with reddish; bill black,
whitish at the tip and base of the lower mandible; irides
reddish brown; feet externally greenish brown, beneath
flesh-colour. _Young birds_ are ash-brown above, slightly
tinged with red; breast and flanks reddish white; belly pure
white; bill brown and yellowish ash. Length nearly ten inches.
Eggs dirty white.
The Lesser Grebe, or, as it is more commonly called, the Dabchick, is
the only species with which it is possible to become familiarly
acquainted in Britain. It frequents rivers, ponds, and lakes, in all
parts of the country, rarely flying, and still more rarely coming to
land.
Rambling by the side of a sluggish river, the sides of which are lined
with reeds or bulrushes, one may often descry, paddling about with
undecided motion, what appears to be a miniature Duck no longer than a
Blackbird. It does not, like the Moor-hen, swim with a jerking
movement, nor when alarmed does it half swim and half fly in a direct
line for the nearest bank of weeds. If you are unobserved, it swims
steadily for a short distance, then suddenly disappears, making no
splash or noise, but slipping into the water as if its body were
lubricated. It is diving for its food, which consists of water
insects, molluscs, small fish and worms. As suddenly as it dives so
suddenly does it reappear, most likely not far from the spot where you
first observed it:
A di-dapper peering through a wave,
Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in.
SHAKSPEARE.
Another short swim and it dives again; and so it goes on, the time
spent under the water being far in excess of that employed in taking
breath. Advance openly or make a noise, it wastes no time in idle
examinations or surmises of your intentions, but slips down as before,
not, however, to reappear in the same neighbourhood. Its motives are
different: it now seeks not food, but safety, and this it finds first
by diving, and then by propelling itself by its wings under water in
some direction which you cannot possibly divine; for it by no means
follows that it will pursue the course to which its bill pointed when
it went down. It can alter its line of flight beneath the water as
readily as a swallow can change its course of flight through the air.
But wherever it may reappear, its stay is now instantaneous; a trout
rising at a fly is not more expeditious. You may even fail to detect
it at all. It may have ensconced itself among weeds, or it may be
burrowing in some subaqueous hole. That it has the power of remaining
a long while submerged, I have no doubt. There is in the parish of
Stamford Dingley, Berks, a large and beautiful spring of water, clear
as crystal, the source of one of the tributaries of the Thames. I was
once bending over the bank of this spring, with a friend, watching the
water, some five or six feet down, as it issued from a pipe-like
orifice and stirred the sand around like the bubbling of a cauldron,
when there suddenly passed between us and the object we were examining
a form so strange that we were at first doubtful to what class of
animals we should refer it. In reality, it was a Dabchick, which,
alarmed probably by the noise of our conversation, was making for a
place of safety. As it passed within two or three feet of our faces,
we could distinctly see that it propelled itself by its wings; but it
appeared not to have observed us, for it kept on in a direct course
towards the head of the spring. We searched long in the hope of
discovering it again, but failed; and as there were no weeds among
which it could possibly hide above water, and we could examine the
bottom of the spring almost as thoroughly as if it contained air only,
we could but conclude that our apparition had taken refuge in a hole
under the bank.
Early in spring, when Dabchicks leave the small streams and
watercourses for broader pieces of water, they have been observed to
fly; and during the building season also they have been seen circling
round in the air near the locality of their intended nest. The nest
itself is constructed of weeds of all kinds, forming a thick mass
raised but a few inches above the surface of the water, and invariably
far enough from the bank to be inaccessible except by wading. The
Dabchick lays five or six long-shaped eggs, pointed at either end, of
a chalky white colour. These the bird, when she leaves the nest,
covers with weeds for the purpose of concealment, and on her return
continues the work of incubation without removing the covering, so
that the eggs soon lose their white hue, and before the period of
hatching have become very dirty. The young birds can swim and dive
immediately on leaving the egg. I have never myself seen a Dabchick
fly through the air or walk on land, neither have I ever heard its
note. The latter, a low clicking and chattering sort of noise, it is
said to utter in spring. It breeds even in St. James' Park. Females
smaller than males.
ORDER TUBINARES
FAMILY PROCELLARIIDÆ
THE FULMAR PETREL
PROCELLARIA GLACIÁLIS
Head, neck, under plumage, and tail, white; wings bluish ash,
the primaries brownish grey; beak, irides, and feet, yellow.
_Young of the year_ grey tinged with brown, mottled on the back
with deeper brown; bill and feet yellowish ash. Length nineteen
inches. Eggs white.
In some of the Outer Hebrides Fulmars breed; but the great station,
to which tens of thousands annually resort, is the remote island of
St. Kilda. To the Fulmar indeed, and in a less degree to the Gannet
and two or three other sea-birds, the island is indebted for its being
able to boast of human inhabitants. Eggs and birds, fresh or salted,
furnish them with food; the Fulmar with oil: and feathers pay their
rent. In the Shetlands it is said to be increasing.
Professor James Wilson says: 'The oil is extracted from both the young
and old birds, which, however, they must seize on suddenly and
strangle, else, as a defensive movement, the desired (and pungent) oil
is immediately squirted in the face and eyes of their opponent.' This
oil is ejected, not, as it is sometimes said, through tubular
nostrils, but directly through the throat and open mouth. The flesh of
the Fulmar is also a favourite food with the St. Kildans, who like it
all the better on account of its oily nature.
The Fulmar is essentially a sea-bird, and never comes to land except
in the breeding season, when it builds its nest of herbage on the
grassy shelves of the highest cliffs, and lays a single egg, if which
be taken, it lays no more. The young birds are fed with oil by the
parents, and on being molested spurt out through the throat and open
mouth the same fluid, which, being of a rank smell, infects not only
the nest, but the whole neighbourhood. The young birds, which are
taken early in August, are boiled, and made to furnish a large
quantity of fat, which is skimmed off and preserved for winter use.
The old birds are considered great dainties.
In the Arctic regions the Fulmar is well known for its assiduity in
attending on whale ships, keeping an eager watch for anything thrown
over; and when the operation of cutting up a whale is going on,
helping itself most greedily to stray pieces of offal, and venturing
so near as to be easily knocked down by a boathook or to be taken by
hand.
Owing to the rankness of its food, the smell of the Fulmar is very
offensive. A specimen recently shot was brought to me in Norfolk,
early in January, 1862, and being a great rarity, was carefully
preserved and set up; but on being sent home from the bird-stuffer's
it was banished to an outhouse, where it has remained for three months
without losing anything of its offensive odour.
THE GREAT SHEARWATER
PUFFINUS MAJOR
Bill two inches long; tail pointed; upper plumage dusky; under,
deep ash grey. Length eighteen inches.
The Great Shearwater is far less abundant than the preceding species,
and may indeed be considered a rarity. A few solitary specimens have
from time to time been shot on various parts of the coast, and they
have occasionally been noticed in considerable numbers off the coast
of Cornwall. In the Scilly Islands, where they are called 'Hackbolts',
they are said to be yet more frequent. The Great Shearwater differs
little in habits, as far as they are known, from the other species.
THE MANX SHEARWATER
PUFFINUS ANGLORUM
Bill an inch and a half long; tail rounded; upper plumage
brownish black lustrous; under white; sides of the neck barred
with grey; sides spotted with grey. Length fourteen inches.
Eggs nearly round; pure white.
That a bird whose generic name is _Puffinus_ should sometimes be
called a 'Puffin' is not surprising; and the reader who meets with the
name in books should satisfy himself whether the subject of his study
be an Auk or a Shearwater, before he admits as facts any statements
about the 'Puffin' which may fall in his way. Yarrell, for instance,
gives the name of Puffin to the bird already described under the name
of _Fratercula Arctica_, while by Montagu that bird is described under
the name of 'Coulterneb', 'Puffin' being given as a synonym for the
Shearwater. Off Cornwall it is called _skiddeu_ and _brew_.
The Shearwater is so called from its mode of flight, in which it
'shears' or skims the water; and its distinctive name, Manx, it owes
to its having been formerly very abundant in the Calf[60] of Man, a
small island lying south of the Isle of Man.
The Manx Shearwater is, during the greater portion of the year, an
ocean-bird, and only ventures on shore during the breeding season. It
then repairs to some island, or portion of the coast little frequented
by man, and in society with other birds of the same species there
takes up its summer quarters. A sandy or light earthy soil, scantily
furnished with vegetation, is preferred to any other station. Its nest
is a hole in the ground, either the deserted burrow of a rabbit or a
tunnel excavated by itself, or less frequently it lays its one egg in
the crevice of a rock. During the day Shearwaters, for the most part,
remain concealed in their holes, and lie so close that they will
suffer themselves to be dug out with a spade and make no attempt to
escape. Towards evening they quit their hiding-places, and paddle or
fly out to sea in quest of food. This consists of small fish and other
marine animals which swim near the surface, and are caught by the
birds either while they are floating or 'shearing' the water. No nest
ever contains more than one egg, but that one and the chick which it
produces are objects of the greatest solicitude.
Unfortunately for the poor Shearwaters, their young, though fed on
half-digested fish oil, are delicate eating; consequently, some of the
stations of these birds have been quite depopulated, and in others
their numbers have been greatly thinned.
Willughby tells us that in his time 'Puffins' were very numerous in
the Calf of Man, and that fully fledged young birds, taken from the
nests, were sold at the rate of ninepence a dozen. He adds, that in
order to keep an accurate reckoning of the number taken, it was
customary to cut off, and retain, one of each bird's legs. The
consequence was that the state in which the birds were sent to market
was supposed to be their natural condition, and the Puffin was
popularly believed to be a 'monopod' (one-footed bird).
This station is now nearly, if not quite, deserted; but colonies still
exist in Annet, one of the Scilly Islands, on the south coast of
Wales, in the Orkneys, and in the Shetlands. In the Scilly Islands the
Shearwater is called a Crew, from the harsh note uttered by the bird
when its burrow is invaded; in the north, a Lyrie or Scrabe.
[60] 'Calf', on many parts of the coast, is a name given to the
smaller of two rocks in proximity, of which the larger is
called the 'Cow'.
THE STORM-PETREL
PROCELLARIA PELÁGICA
General plumage like the last; tail even at the extremity; legs
moderate; membranes black. Length scarcely six inches. Eggs
white.