SUMMER WORKERS.
THE WRYNECK.
(_Iynx torquilla._)
The Wryneck is a migrant, which makes itself heard as soon as it appears
with its _Kyen-kyen-kyen_ or _pay, pay, pay_, which is as peculiar as it
is pleasing. It cannot be denied, that after the long silence of winter
the sound is a very agreeable one. The Wryneck does not tap and climb
like the Woodpecker, but it uses its tongue in the same way. Ants cling
to its sticky tongue. It drags out and destroys the insects from the
crevices in the bark of the trees. On this account it is useful.
It is not shy and can be observed quite close by. it owes its name to
its peculiar position when it stretches out its neck and twists it
round, raising its crest and spreading out its tail. It likes trees with
dense foliage, and orchards.
* * * * *
In England we call this bird the Cuckoo’s mate or leader, because it
always precedes the coming of that bird by a few days. This name has its
equivalent in several European languages. It is more common in the
south-east than in the west, and is rare in Wales. Some northern
counties it never visits, yet from time to time it strays up as far as
the Orkneys and the Shetlands. Towards the end of September it leaves us
for the south. In autumn it is said to eat the berries of the elder,
otherwise its food consists entirely of insects, ants and their
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE WRYNECK.]
pupæ especially. It is very courageous in defence of its young and will
hiss like a snake if an enemy or intruder approaches its nest.
Country children in our Home Counties listen eagerly for the call of the
Cuckoo’s mate, whom Eliza Cook calls “the merry pee bird.” They know
then that Spring is with us, and out-door pleasures are on the way. It
is only the size of a lark, and it is difficult to observe the bird well
either on its nest or during its short undulating flight.
* * * * *
The Wryneck is seven inches in length. It has fine, loose plumage, which
recalls that of the Owl or the Night-jar. The throat is clay-colour with
fine dark wavy cross lines; tail a beautiful grey with delicate black
speckles, and six broad pointed stripes across it; the under side is
covered with brownish-white and black spots, and delicately speckled:
from the nape, down the back, about the shoulders, are large black
spots. The flight-feathers have rust-red cross stripes; it has two toes
towards the front and two towards the back; the legs are short. It makes
its nest in any cavity it can find, and in it lays, on soft chaff, its
seven to twelve white eggs. The Wryneck, like the Woodpecker, has a long
wormlike tongue which can be extended.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE CUCKOO.]
THE CUCKOO.
(_Cuculus canorus._)
The Cuckoo is a most useful bird, as regards his food, which consists
for the most part of very mischievous insects and caterpillars of all
kinds; it is the more so as this bird is insatiable.
An individual Cuckoo probably always lays its eggs in the same
neighbourhood, and always in the nest of the same kind of bird, and
usually the same kind in which it was itself brought up. The young
Cuckoo soon obtains the upper hand in the nest, on account of its rapid
growth, and throws out its weaker foster-brothers and sisters. It always
calls its own name--though it sounds more like “_ha-hu_”; sometimes it
utters sounds which are like laughter. There is a popular superstition
that the Cuckoo foretells to those who ask it, how many years they will
live--and to young maidens, how many years they must wait for a husband.
Like the Swallow it brings the announcement of spring, and our Hungarian
children have a song:--
“Cuckoo! Cuckoo! sounds from the wood
Now let us dance and sing;
For Spring is coming; Spring is here;”
The Cuckoo detracts from its usefulness, however, by its other actions.
It greatly damages the nests of the small useful birds, in which it
places its eggs, and consequently its young ones. The female Cuckoo
selects a district, finds out all the nests of Wren, Robin,
White-throat, Wagtail, or some other, and thereupon begins to place her
egg in this. When she finds that she cannot get into a nest of a bird
which builds in a hole, she lays her egg on the ground, then takes it up
in her bill and drops it into the nest.
* * * * *
In spring and summer the Cuckoo’s note sounds all through Great Britain.
Its ways will always have a fascination both for the old and the young.
Many will be surprised to hear that scientists have now verified the
placing of its eggs in the nests of as many as 145 species; in different
countries, that is, including the nests of the Isabelline and other
Chats in Africa and China, and the Red-headed Bunting on the steppes of
Turkestan. In Lapland the Grey-headed Wagtail and the Red-spotted
Bluethroat are the foster-parents; in Andalusia the Great-spotted Cuckoo
lays oftenest in the nest of the Spanish Magpie.[2] The old poet,
Quarles, must have seen the bird with an egg in its beak when he wrote
“The idle Cuckoo having made a feast of Sparrow’s eggs, Lays down her
own i’ the nest.”
A German authority, Dr. Rey, made a collection of over seven hundred
Cuckoo’s eggs; and he states that the proportion of those which resemble
in colouring those of the foster-parents is only about thirty per cent.
Yet out of sixty-seven which he took from a Redstart’s nest fifty-seven
were blue. Another collector again states that only one blue Cuckoo’s
egg had passed through his hands. Lately a man told me of having found
two Cuckoo’s eggs in one small nest, an unusual occurrence.
The Cuckoo is a very slender, long-tailed bird, 12 inches in length. In
the male bird the mantle is ashen-grey, the tail has cross stripes, the
under-parts are whitish with cross-running wavy lines. The female and
young ones, with their reddish-brown dark cross bands, remind us of the
Hawk. From this arises the popular superstition that the Cuckoo changes
into a hawk in late autumn. The legs are yellow; eyes fiery red edged
with yellow, beak dark, reddish at the corners. It never builds a nest.
In its system of transplanting it shows itself an arrant knave, for it
places its eggs in the nests of other birds, whose eggs, as a rule are
totally different in size, colour and form. The eggs of one Cuckoo so
placed may reach the number of 20 to 22, but as a rule are about 11 to
12.
With regard to the Cuckoo’s usual habit of leaving us in the autumn, a
belated young bird may now and again spend the winter here. One
frequented my sister’s tennis ground till the end of November, when the
cat caught and killed it; and a gentleman of my acquaintance, Mr.
Robinson of Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, saw one on his farm early in
February of 1908.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE HOOPOE.]
THE HOOPOE.
(_Upupa epops._)
The Hoopoe is from base of bill 10 inches long. It is a fair bird with
beautiful variegated plumage. Head, upper back, and breast pale
rust-red; mantle, shining black, with white ornamentation; tail also
black, with a crescent-shaped white band curving inwards towards the
rump. The head is adorned with a bunch of feathers which the bird can
erect or depress at pleasure. The feathers of this are light coloured,
with black tips, but the tips of the longest feathers are black and
white. Beak, long and slightly curved, thin, and adapted for picking. It
lays four to seven eggs, greenish olive, or clay colour, but always of
uniform colour, which it places on the mould in the holes of trees. The
Hoopoe is the only bird that fouls its nest, and brings up its young in
dirt and filth. On this account both mother and young have an evil
odour, as some of the bird’s names indicate.
This national Hungarian bird is a migrant, and dwells chiefly on the
borders of woods in the low bushes, and in the neighbourhood of
pastures, where it is never weary of examining the droppings of the
cows, from which it obtains beetles and maggots. It also catches gnats
on the wing, and the leaping grasshoppers. It is a noisy bird, and its
cry “_Hup up_”--from which its name is derived--is heard sounding
vigorously from the branches. It is one of our most useful, and most
brilliantly coloured birds, and should be protected.
* * * * *
For over two hundred years the Hoopoe has been recorded as a visitor to
Great Britain, a more or less frequent one. Some years ago the late Mr.
Howard Saunders told us that the head-keeper at Ashburnham Park, in
Sussex, destroyed seven in one week, and that many a one has been slain
in Kent, at the point where they alight after crossing the Channel. A
few have, in spite of persecution contrived to breed in our country--in
southern counties chiefly. Sometimes numbers come to England in the
autumn, and it is generally an annual visitor in small numbers to
Ireland. As it is a useful bird all should try to procure protection for
it.
THE GREAT GREY SHRIKE.
(_Lanius excubitor._)
In spite of its comparatively small size this is a bold bird, and a true
“Watchman”; he keeps a sharp lookout from the top branches of a dead
tree, or a post, and will not suffer any other bird, even if ten times
his size, to perch anywhere in his vicinity. Buzzards, Ravens, Crows,
Magpies, he pounces on, something in the manner of a Falcon, and tries
to push them off. He generally succeeds in routing the intruder, for he
is indefatigable in attack. His food includes any living creature that
he can slaughter.
He picks up a fat grasshopper, hovers over and darts on a mouse, just as
a hawk does. These acts are beneficial; but they are not to be compared
with the amount of harm he does, as a cut-throat and robber among the
useful small birds. He disturbs the nests of the little singing birds
which build on the ground, ransacks bushes and treetops, and slays
mercilessly. His methods are those of the highwayman. He will sit on a
stake on the top of a hayrick and watch, keeping perfectly still, only
his eyes sweeping around. When his victim comes within range of his
vision on earth, or tree, he instantly falls upon it. His close relation
to the birds of prey, is indicated by his cry “_Tett, tett_.” His call
is a strong, rough sound, like, “_Sheck, sheck_,” or a fainter
“_Truii_.” This bird remains in Hungary through the winter, but is not
very common. Where he does take up his abode, he does great harm by
slaughtering the useful birds.
* * * * *
[Illustration: HARMFUL.
THE GREAT GREY SHRIKE.]
This Shrike is one of the regular visitors from the Continent, coming to
Great Britain in autumn and winter. In England it has even been seen
during the summer, but it has not bred with us. Lizards, mice, shrews,
frogs, and insects, especially beetles and grasshoppers, it feeds on, as
well as small birds.
The Great Grey Shrike is 9·5 inches in length. The back is light
ashen-grey; underparts dingey white, brow whitish; from the base of the
bill a broad black band passes over the eye to near the ear. Bill, legs,
wings and tail black: the wings, however, have a white patch, and also
the feathers on both sides of the tail show a white border. On the
underparts of the female bird, faint stripes of a darker shade are
discernible. The bill is indented at the point and has a hook. The bird
builds its nest in trees and lays five or six eggs, occasionally seven,
greenish-white speckled with grey.
[Illustration: A Watchful Mother.]
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE LESSER GREY SHRIKE.]
THE LESSER GREY SHRIKE.
(_Lanius minor._)
The habits of this Shrike are, on the whole, those of the larger
species, with this difference, that the Lesser Shrike, does not rob
nests, but destroys insects, and therefore does good. It also, is a
“Watchman.” It sits on a high point and flings its glances round about.
Suddenly it darts down, looks about, finds its prey, and flies back to
its former perch. When it is keeping watch over a place where the ground
is covered with thick growth, it hovers at about half the height of a
man, sometimes until it can see something that will serve as prey. If it
finds nothing, it will cease to hover, and flies back to its post. Near
the highroad it will flit onward from tree to tree, generally slightly
in advance of a vehicle, till at last, at some point or other, it turns
away over the fields and with a peculiar undulating flight returns to
the spot where it started.
The Lesser Shrike is a migrant, and departs for warmer places at the
beginning of autumn, returning to its nesting place in this country in
the spring. Its cry sounds like “_Keejay_.” It is by nature quarrelsome,
but it embellishes and enlivens the neighbourhood. Inthe warmer parts of
Europe, it is the most common of all the Shrikes.
* * * * *
This species only wanders occasionally to England, a mere straggler, on
migratory flight. If it be seen it must be protected, as a useful
species, from “the man the gun” who shoots to sell or to enrich his own
private collection.
The Lesser Shrike is smaller than the Great Shrike, but it is quite as
beautiful and has the same deportment. Besides its smaller size, it is
distinguished from its congener, by its black brow, the colour of which
merges into that of the broad black stripe. The breast is a beautiful
white, flushed with rose-colour. The white patch on the black wings is
quite small. Otherwise the colouring is the same as that of the Great
Shrike. Its nest is built in poplar trees bordering the
highroad--sometimes in other trees. It employs sweet-scented plants in
building the nest. It lays five or six pale green eggs, which have a
speckled ring round the thicker end.
THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE.
(_Lanius collurio._)
This Shrike specially likes bushes at the side of a road, or the edge of
a wood, and more particularly affects the whitethorn, or sloe bushes;
but it sometimes ventures into gardens. It kills more than it can eat,
so it impales the superfluous provender on thorns, so as to be ready
when the bird feels hungry again, or when the weather is not favourable
for hunting. So crickets, grasshoppers, cock-chafers, and, alas! also
young birds, are sometimes found sticking on thorns. As this bird keeps
to its own district, it robs the nests of the small birds in a
scandalous way, including that of the White-throat.
Care, therefore, should be taken to keep this ogre at a respectful
distance from the gardens; he does less harm in the open fields, as he
there employs his energies on the mice.
It is a migrant, and departs at the beginning of autumn, returning not
earlier than near the end of April. Wherever it is, its “_Geck, geck,
geck_,” is frequently heard. Sometimes also “_Treng, treng_,” reminding
us of the Sparrow. It imitates the song of other birds in a remarkable
way, even that of the Nightingale, often in this way misleading both man
and birds.
* * * * *
The Red-backed Shrike comes to Great Britain in May. It is the commonest
of our own three species; but is becoming rarer each year in Lancashire
and Yorkshire, being more often met with in the wooded parts of the
Southern counties and in Wales. A handsome fellow, with his grey head,
mantle of
[Illustration: PARTLY USEFUL.
THE RED-BACKED SHRIKE.]
chestnut-brown, and underparts a pale rosy buff colour, he has not the
look of the cruel bird he really is; his song is fairly sweet, and I
have heard of one which was so good a mimic that it could even bark like
a dog. This particular one had been brought up in an aviary, I believe.
All this species are, however, very imitative in their notes. In some
parts of Germany, they are looked on as a great scourge of small birds,
yet one or two of our English naturalists have tried to do justice to
the pretty fellow. _They_ have seen only beetles, wasps and other
not-to-be-regretted small deer impaled on the thorns of his larder. In
point of fact, small birds, especially our pleasant little Tits,
disappear under his notice; White-throats also occasionally, as well as
bigger fledglings.
The German naturalist Lenz writes that he made some experiments in
regard to Shrikes. In one garden he destroyed every Butcher-bird’s nest
that he could find, and shot the birds; and there he had plenty of
fruit, because the small birds stayed and destroyed the grubs and
insects. In another, a larger garden, he allowed just one Shrike to
breed. Wasps and other creatures destroyed all the fruit near the part
where this Shrike’s nest was. In a third garden Lenz allowed Shrikes to
nest freely, with the result that all the insect-eating birds forsook
the place, or else were destroyed by the Butcher-birds, and there was no
fruit. Writing of the Red-backed Shrike, one of our leading authorities
in bird matters notes that in its larder he has seen the bodies of large
moths, dragon-flies, mice, and sometimes a small bird from which the
head has been wrenched, and many a cockchafer; and Canon Tristam
considers that the food of the various species of Shrikes is almost
entirely cockchafers, where they are to be had. The Rev. T. Wood again
ranks them with the Owls for usefulness. A French naturalist also says
they have every right to be placed on the list of useful insectivorous
birds. It would seem to depend much on the nature of the district
whether this bird is to be welcomed or otherwise.
The Red-backed Shrike is 7 inches long. Its whole shape and
colouring--still more its habits--are those of a true Shrike. Crown and
neck a beautiful grey; mantle reddish-brown; the folded wings show no
white patch. Underparts pale rose colour, throat white; across the eyes
and towards the ears, is the broad black band. The middle feathers of
the tail reddish-brown, the outside feathers white near the root. The
breast of the female bird is pale, crossed by brown wavy lines. The
upper mandible is serrated and has a slight hook. The nest is usually
placed in bushes; it contains five to seven eggs nearly white, with a
ring of small darker speckles, sometimes at the larger and sometimes at
the smaller end.
THE LESSER WHITETHROAT.
(_Sylvia curruca._)
This simple, modest, agreeable bird is valued and loved by us, because
it comes in such a friendly way near our houses and ourselves. It nests
in orchards, and more especially in gardens where there are bushes, and
charms us in the early spring with its sweet trilling song,
“_Lee-lee-lee-lee-lee_.” The little song is quite simple, being just the
repetition from six to eight times of the syllable “Leeleelee.” Its
call-note is “_tack-tack-tack_.” It keeps the feathers of its head
erected whilst singing. Its food consists of all kinds of harmful
insects for which it hunts without rest, and is therefore no less useful
than the Titmouse. It feeds also on various berries, but without doing
any harm. The hen shows great self-sacrifice in rearing her brood,
amongst which is often found a stranger--the Cuckoo.
Its nest should be protected from the house Cat. Whoever protects it
secures its services for himself. The Whitethroat is migratory, and so
exposed to many dangers.
[Illustration]
Mr. Herman gives us only the Lesser Whitethroat. With us what we call
the Whitethroat proper is much
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE LESSER WHITETHROAT.]
more common (_Sylvia cinérea_). Both species arrive in Great Britain at
the same time, that is about the second week in April, to stay until the
beginning of September. With us they nest in brambles and low hedgerows,
and because of the fondness of nettle beds, schoolboys know it mostly as
the “Nettle-creeper.” The male is a courageous little bird; he will
often follow one along the side of his favourite hedgerow, flitting from
branch to branch with the feathers on head and throat bluffed out and
agitating his tail. We hear his song by night as well as by day.
The Lesser Whitethroat is 5·25 inches long. The crown is ashen-grey;
cheeks darker, mantle grey-brown; back and breast white, merging into
yellowish-red at the sides. The side feathers of the tail are
wedge-shaped, the feathers near it having small indistinct spots. Beak
small, awl-shaped; legs strong and bluish. The nest is generally found
in whitethorn hedges and sloe-bushes, at about two and a half feet from
the ground; in gardens the nest is placed higher. It is composed of fine
grass and root fibre, interwoven and compacted with spider’s web, and
lined with pig’s bristles and horse-hair. The bird lays five or six
beautifully formed eggs, which are white or bluish with delicate
speckles, which are thicker at the larger end of the egg, round which
they form a ring.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE BLACKCAP.]
THE BLACKCAP.
(_Sylvia atricapilla._)
The Blackcap prefers the underwood, particularly where higher trees
stand solitary; it also nests in gardens, even in the public gardens of
large towns, where it feeds on all kinds of insects, and so it serves
wood and garden equally well. It leads a happy family life, and during
its courting days the little wooer is full of joyous song. The song is
simple, and does not approach that of the Nightingale in our opinion,
although others say it does; it certainly cannot express so many phases
of feeling, but it is as lovely and joyous as that of a merry child. It
is heard first from one side of the bush, and then from the other, and
it carries delight into the heart of the listener. Hoffman represents
the song of the Blackcap by the syllables “_Rutia, ruetidi-rutia,
tuedili, tuedia_.” Its mating call is “_Take, take, take_,” the warning
cry “_Rarr_.” Towards autumn this bird eats all kinds of berries from
the bushes--elderberries, blackberries, and others; in the garden it
picks currants, without, however, doing any serious mischief, or being
able to do so, for its principal food is composed of insects.
The bird-catchers ensnare it on account of its charming song. They cover
its cage with greenery, so that it may imagine itself in the underwood,
and thus the poor thing lives and learns the songs of other captive
birds.
* * * * *
The Blackcap loves our old English hedgerows, about which it can find
all its necessary insect food and also good cover. It is not a very
commonly distributed bird with us; like the Nightingale, it is local in
its habitat. The young fuss about after their parents for food supplies,
after they have left the nest, more than most young birds do. Often the
Blackcap builds in a privet hedge, or some bush near to garden or
orchard, for the sake of the fruit of which it certainly avails itself a
little. Do not grudge it, the song will make up for a slight loss of
fruit, which is the more plentiful for the little bird’s making away
with insect pests that infest the same precincts.
The Blackcap’s mantle is olive-grey, underparts nearly white; the
colouring of the head forms a black cap, which extends over the eyes:
hence its distinguished name. The cap is brown on the female bird and
its young. Tail and wings dark-brown; beak thin, awl-shaped; legs
strong; very bright dark-brown eyes. The nest is always found in thick
bushes, near the ground, and it is furnished with grass and rootlets,
and also the webs of insects, sometimes hair, but very little feather.
It contains five or six eggs, which vary in colour, being sometimes
brownish, sometimes nearly white or olive-grey, speckled or otherwise
marked with a reddish tint.
THE NIGHTINGALE.
(_Daulias luscinia._)
The Nightingale leads a quiet domestic life among the thickets. It has
much occupation on the ground, whence it derives its livelihood, its
food consisting entirely of grubs and insects. In the pairing season,
and at the time when the hen is sitting, the male bird perches on a twig
near the nest and sings his song--now mournful, now stirring, now
tender; the finest song produced from any bird’s throat! Enthusiastic
bird-fanciers have put words to the Nightingale’s song and turned it
into verse. It begins thus:--
_Fid, fid, fid! kr-kr-zi-zi, doredo, reredezit._
We have a native congener, the Meadow Nightingale, which is larger than
the bird described above, and has a darker and fuller breast. The
Hungarian Nightingale of the bird dealers begins its song thus:--
_Philipp--Philipp--Philipp,_
_Tarak--Tarak--Tarak,_
_Diderot--Diderot--Diderot._
Bird-catchers have been very destructive to this noble, useful bird on
the Continent.
* * * * *
The Nightingale comes to Great Britain in the middle of April. In August
the young birds take their departure, but the old birds stay until
September in order to finish moulting before taking flight. It has been
supposed that the migration is made singly, not in flocks like that of
other small birds; but a naturalist has recorded having once seen great
numbers of Nightingales resting
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE NIGHTINGALE.]
under the bathing machines along the _whole length_ of the shore at
Brighton.
This fine singer is very local in its appearance. In the West of England
it is rarer than elsewhere, and beyond Devonshire it is said to be quite
unknown. In the Midlands it is scarce, and in the Northern counties it
is entirely absent excepting in Yorkshire, where it is getting more
common. They seem to be capricious in their comings and goings from
given localities; no doubt their presence depends on the season’s
scarcity or abundance of the food they prefer. The nestlings live on
spiders, ants and small green caterpillars in June, and they afterwards
frequent fields planted with peas and beans. The adult birds feed on
worms, insects and wild fruits, especially the berries of the elder.
The Nightingale is as plain in plumage as it is marvellous in song. The
mantle is russet-brown, shading off into reddish-chestnut near the tail,
which is rust-colour, underparts whitish. It is scarcely as large as a
Sparrow, and is much more delicately formed. Beak thin and pointed, legs
slender. The shining, dark-brown eye has a brilliant glow. Its nest is
placed among the bushes of a thicket, always near the ground. The outer
covering is of dry leaves, then come blades of grass and fine rootlets,
sometimes having hair interwoven with them. It does not stand out from
the surrounding objects, and requires a sharp eye to discover it. The
clutch consists of five or six olive-green eggs, with darker
reddish-brown veining and speckles.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE REDSTART.]
THE REDSTART.
(_Ruticilla phoenicúrus._)
This pretty and very useful bird quickly attracts notice in our gardens
by its lively disposition. When it flies the tail spreads out, and then,
when the bird settles again on any post or ledge the tail moves in a
quick, tremulous way that is most amusing.
It usually perceives the creeping and flying beetles on the grass
borders from a higher point above them; the former it picks up, the
latter it swallows on the wing, twisting and turning about as
circumstances require. It lives on all kinds of grubs and insects, and
hence its great use in wood and garden. In autumn it takes the berries
from the bushes, but without doing any mischief. Its mating call sounds
like “_Fid-fid-fid-tik-tik-tik_,” and also “_Weet, weet, tak-tak_,” and
ends with a smacking sound. In some places in Hungary the bee-keepers
are great enemies of this charming little bird, believing that it steals
their honey. This is not true, however, for it only catches the drones,
which have no sting, takes the rejected, spoiled larvæ, and the
destructive wax-mite. From its usefulness it is worthy of all
protection, and it is a joy for heart and mind.
To us also in Great Britain where this species is generally distributed
it is a joy, and in orchards its presence is most welcome. The red about
the tail shows brightly as the bird darts from branch to branch. I have
watched it myself where a nesting box has been put up for its use in an
apple tree, until the little pair became quite used to my presence and
to watch their pretty, affectionate ways was delightful. In speaking of
nesting boxes, one must give a warning in connection with those smaller
birds who like to nest in holes in walls and trees. I have seen them
with lids at the top for the proprietor to open, which, through stress
of weather and weak rusty hinges, soon came to grief. I regret to say
this happened in the case of the pair I knew best. The lid was
defective, and one night or morning early soon after the nestlings were
hatched out, a Shrike or a Crow routed them out, to my great sorrow.
The Redstart is an elegant gay-coloured bird of slender shape, in other
respects like the Robin. Throat, lores, brow and bill-base are a fine
black. The upper part of the brow is pure white, passing into the
bluish-grey of the crown. Back of the head and mantle also of the same
beautiful bluish-grey; breast, rump, and tail a brilliant chestnut-red,
but the middle feathers of the tail grey. Beak and legs delicate, but
strong. The female bird and the young are less brightly coloured. The
nest is found in cracks, holes, convenient corners, such as are under
the roof of summer houses. It is rather carelessly put together, but
well-formed, and is lined with hair and feathers. The bird lays five or
six eggs, of a fine rare blue-green colour.
[Illustration]
THE BLACK REDSTART.
(_Ruticilla titys._)
The Black Redstart which was formerly rare with us, is now a well-known
visitor to many parts of our coasts in the autumn and winter, especially
to Cornwall and Devon. It does not as yet breed with us, however. It
visits Ireland also, particularly on the east and south coasts. It is
called the House Redstart, and its congener the Garden Redstart on the
Continent; the one under notice frequents the roofs of buildings, and it
places its nest in châlets, holes in walls, sheds, etc. It is a useful
little bird.
[Illustration: The pretty Siskin.]
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE BLACK REDSTART.]
THE TREE PIPIT.
(_Anthus triviális._)
Frequenting the woods, the Tree Pipit seeks only the clearings,
especially the wild parts, where these and copsewood alternate, and the
ground is mossy. At the time of migratory flight it likes to rest on
vegetable fields and cornfields. It will rest willingly on trees, but
prefers the ground. Very small seeds it will eat, but all kinds of grubs
and caterpillars and insects it prefers. The Tree Pipit has a pleasant
note, “_Zeä, zeä, zeä_”--the mating call is more like “_Seele, seele,
seele_.” It is absolutely useful in its mode of living.
It nests in Hungary more numerously than any other of the Pipits, for it
has relatives which only visit our neighbourhood. At the time of
migration, they arrive, rest themselves, and go off again.
In addition to the Pipit here described there is the Water Pipit, which
breeds here. It seeks the mountain districts in summer, but takes refuge
in the valley in winter; Richard’s Pipit, rather larger than these
others, and with longer legs and a very long hind claw. The Meadow Pipit
only passes through our land, like the Tawny Pipit; both of the latter
nest in the far North, and they go far South in the winter.
* * * * *
The Tree Pipit comes to the South of Great Britain early in April, and
it is spread pretty considerably throughout the country, excepting in
Cornwall and Wales. As yet it is not, I believe, in Ireland. The song of
this bird is rather like that of a Canary. It begins on the highest
branch of a tree generally, after
[Illustration: USEFUL.
TREE PIPIT.]
which the bird hovers a little, then descends, singing still, to the
perch he started from.
The Meadow Pipit is the best known member of his family with us.
Ground-lark, Titlark, Ling-bird, Moss-cheeper are some of its local
names. It seems able to make itself at home anywhere in summer, but in
winter it seeks the fields in sheltered places, near the coast by
preference. Its food consists of insects, worms, molluscs and small
snails, with seeds in winter. The little bird works its creeping way up
the grass or heather, taking now and again quick little runs. The flight
is wavering and jerky. The Titlark has a very strong smell about it,
dogs “point” it frequently.
In size the Tree Pipit most resembles the Wagtail, but it has a shorter
tail. Its general colour is more like the Lark, but it is less speckled.
The mantle is olive-green, the breast yellowish. The points of the
folded tail are formed by the three first flight feathers; the fourth is
much shorter. The nail of the back toe is long like a spur, but not so
long as the toe. The beak is delicate and slightly awl-shaped. It is a
nice modest little bird; its flight dips and rises again continually. It
builds its nest cleverly with soft materials in the shape of a saucer,
and places it on the ground on a clod of earth, under the shelter of a
heap of stones, or on a grass ridge. Five eggs are laid which are very
varied, a dull blue, sometimes brownish, sometimes white, with dark
spots.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
WHITE WAGTAIL.]
THE WHITE WAGTAIL.
(_Motacilla alba._)
Wagtails are all migrants and arrive in Hungary in great numbers.
This is a lively, elegant little bird, that walks and runs well, is very
active, and always wagging its tail as it goes. It hops daintily from
stone to stone in the shallow water, picking up insects busily, and
snapping at the flies and gnats; and over the tall grasses and banks of
the water, it dashes into the air, turning and twisting in the pursuit
of insects. When there is pasture land near the water, it shows itself
to be a good friend to the cattle, by destroying the flies and gnats and
the tiny midges of the dragonfly kind, which would otherwise torment
them. Its congeners in Hungary are the Yellow Wagtail, whose underpart
is bright yellow, and mantle olive-green, which wags its tail less, and
confines itself to cattle pastures; the Mountain Wagtail, the upper part
of which is ashen-grey, and the under side brimstone yellow. Its call is
a clear “_Zeewit-zuyit-beuees_, or _zeueess_,” sometimes it sounds like
“_Kwee-kwee, kweereeree-kweeree_.”
* * * * *
The Wagtail is 7·5 inches in length, and has a long tail. It is a very
charming bird. Its plumage is of three colours--black, white, and
ashen-grey. Crown, neck, and throat black; brow, cheeks, and underparts
white; mantle grey; tail and wings black, the feathers of the latter
being edged with white; the two outer feathers on both sides of the tail
are mostly white. Rump dark-grey, underneath the tail white; bill
awl-shaped, and black, as are also the slender legs. It builds its nest
on the edge of the water in all sorts of places: in holes, between
stones, in cracks in the earth, among roots or in wood-stacks. It lays
sometimes as many as eight, but usually five white eggs, finely speckled
with dark colour, the speckling thicker at the larger end, in a ring
round the egg.
THE BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL.
(_Motacilla flava._)
This very handsome little bird, which is smaller than the White Wagtail,
and does not wag its tail so much, inhabits the low Hungarian plain, and
the pastureland generally of the open country, especially moist
moorlands, and the banks of marshes, where it keeps close to the grazing
animals, which are mostly swine and buffaloes. When swine trample down
the bank of the ponds the bird approaches, and picks up the water
insects and larvæ which have been exposed in the disturbed ground, or if
the buffaloes trample the earth on the edge of the marsh the Wagtail is
sure to be close on their heels to secure its share of food. It builds
its nest in the grasses of the meadow or at the roots of the bushes in
the hedge. It usually lays five eggs, which have light flecks on a dingy
white ground.
* * * * *
A bird I always looked for eagerly in the days of my youth, on our
Staffordshire moorlands was the Yellow Wagtail with its lovely tints.
It would come tripping blithely along a certain road on its way from one
rough fallow field to another, a most dainty, and I fancied then, even
foreign-looking little creature. It has a prettier song than its
relatives, the Grey and the Pied Wagtails, and is altogether a daintier
looking bird. Nor is it so common, being very local in its distribution.
Leaving us in September, little parties of the Yellow Wagtails are
formed then, and some districts only make their acquaintance with these
birds when on their migratory flight. Lately I heard of a company of
about seventy Wagtails resting for the night in Kew Gardens grounds,
where they had not been noted before. They frequent the meadows beside
the Brent by Perivale, Ealing, where small, thin-shelled molluscs by the
stream, and insects stirred into activity by the heavy feet of the
grazing cattle, furnish them with food. I watched one day a pretty
sight,--a nimble Wagtail in close attendance on an old sheep. The way it
darted nimbly about this animal’s face, picking off the tiny flies as
the creature fed was wonderful. Sometimes you may chance to see one
picking the torturing little insects out of an old horse’s ears as it
lies resting on the sward.
The yellow species is called _Motacilla raii_, but the Abbé Vincelot,
who wrote half a century ago, on the birds of Maine-et-Loire, treating
specially of their names as descriptive of their manners, call it
_Motacilla boarula_, and he said he thought the latter designation came
from Boaria, an old name for Bavaria, used after the Boïens, driven by
the Marcomans from Bohemia, settled there. This name Boïens seems to
have been given to the tribes who reared and tended cattle. There were
Boïens of Gaul, of Italy, and of Germany. In Poitou an ox is still
called boe and the grazier boier. By the ancient Romans the beef market
was called the forum boarium. And so the name of boarule given to the
Yellow Wagtail may be supposed to indicate this habit of following up
the cattle in quest of his insect food. Bergeronette, the common French
name of this charming and useful species, is equally descriptive of the
bird as an ally of the shepherd.
* * * * *
The Pied Wagtail, _Motacilla lugubris_, is our common and well
distributed species. The Grey Wagtail, _M. Melanópe_, a beautiful bird
with its longer tail and yellow tints, frequents our hilly districts and
mountain streams; but, the Blue-headed species is only an irregular
visitor to our Islands, on migration. The food and habits of this family
are alike, and they are all most useful to the grazier and farmers
generally.
[Illustration: A Morning Bath]
THE GREAT REED WARBLER.
(_Acrocephalus turdoides._)
This Reed Warbler lives exclusively in reed beds, and, as it is fairly
common, inhabits a large number of such places, so that in the pairing
season the whole neighbourhood resounds with its love song, which even
overpowers the croaking of the frogs. There are usually large numbers of
the birds near together, and all join with one voice in the concert. It
goes on from morning till night. Indeed during the most eager time of
its wooing it goes on all night.
The song is sometimes expressed thus:--
Karrey-karrey-karrey
Ker-ker-ker
Hedder-hedder
Duee-duee-duee, etc.
Where the reeds are thickest it shoots between them, as a weaver’s
shuttle shoots between the threads. What is still more clever is the way
in which it climbs about the straight tall stalks of the reeds. It
clasps the reed with its toes and claws, and immediately it seems to be
up on the top, then in a moment it slides down again and vanishes among
the reeds. And of what use is all this? This bird is of use in its own
way, in places inaccessible to others. It destroys innumerable grubs and
insects, which frequent water and boggy land, and does its best to make
such places habitable. The food of this Reed Warbler consists
principally of insects and their larvæ, although in the autumn, like
most creatures, instinct teaches it to eat some fruit for health’s sake,
in the shape of berries, particularly those of the elder.
The nest of this Reed Warbler is one of the marvels
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE GREAT REED WARBLER.]
of bird architecture. It is a real work of art, because, in its perfect
suitability for its purpose, it shows an amount of calculation that few
men would think a bird capable of.
[Illustration]
Whoever is acquainted with the nature of marshland, and the reed beds
that border it, knows that on the smooth surface of the water, the
breeze, the wind, the storm have free course, and can at times bluster
and rage. Everyone also knows that the lightest breezes moves the
leaves of the reeds, bends their stems and sets the whole wilderness of
them in motion, like the water itself. The wisdom of Nature has placed
this bird of the reed beds here, and so formed it that it could live
nowhere else. Therefore it must build its nest in this unstable-looking
spot and can do so in perfect safety; so that it can lay its eggs, hatch
them, tend the young birds which are at first blind, feed them and bring
them up until they are fledged and like their parents.
It is no small undertaking to build among the bending stems a nest which
will afford security in calm weather and also in storm! If the bird
fastened it to one stem, and the wind were to come, the fastenings would
soon be torn away, and all destroyed.
What then does the bird do? It chooses three or four stems at about
equal distances standing near to each other. On these it darns and knits
its nest in the shape of a high, eastern, fur hat reversed: attaching it
also with tough grass to the reed in such a manner that it can give way
on the stalk when it waves in the wind, so that the stalk cannot tear
the nest. The cup of the nest is deep, narrowing a little at the upper
edge to prevent anything falling out when moved by the wind. In this
nest the Reed Warbler lays five or six eggs of pale green with darker
speckles, which are hatched in fourteen days. It is a perfect work of
art.
The Great Reed Warbler is 8 inches in length, that is, an inch less than
a Thrush; and its form is not unlike that of the Thrush. The upper side
is brown, shading into rust colour; over the eye is a lighter stripe,
and round the ears the plumage is also a lighter colour. The underparts
are whitish, tinged on the sides with yellowish clay colour. Beak like
that of the Thrush, rather strong, slightly curved, pointed. Legs
strong, suited for clinging. The nest is treated of separately.
[Illustration: The Reed Bunting.]
We have a smaller relative of this bird in England, although it is not
known in Scotland, and is only said to have been taken once in Ireland.
Our Reed Warbler (_Acrocephalus streperus_) arrives regularly in the
latter end of April, to stay until September. It is common in those
places that suit its way of living, in the Midlands and the Southern and
Eastern counties. In form it resembles its larger relative. This species
does not confine itself to reeds or to watery quarters; it has even been
known to build in a garden at Hampstead. The slender branches of willows
or alder beside a running stream suit it well. Still it prefers reeds,
and its nest also is supported by being woven about and through three or
four, or even two reeds. The building is begun whilst the reeds are
short, but by the time the young are hatched the nest is three feet
above the water. That wandering creature the Cuckoo will even drop her
egg into this hanging nest; indeed she is fond of it. The song of this
species is at its loudest and pleasant during the long summer twilight.
It is a useful little bird.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE WILLOW WREN.]
THE WILLOW WREN.
(_Phylloscopus tróchilus._)
This bird is called the Willow Wren because it loves the willow trees,
the leaves of which, both in form and colour, are adapted to hide and
protect it.
Its nest is well hidden, being often placed near the ground, under
overhanging grasses and bushes, and built of materials found immediately
around the chosen site; it can only be discovered by the eyes of an
experienced bird-nester. It is covered over. The clutch consists of five
or six little white eggs, speckled with reddish-brown.
It is a lively, active bird, that likes to frequent the tops of trees in
thick woods, where it hops briskly from twig to twig, and is never
still. But neither its colour nor its movements betray its presence and
nature as does its voice, which is really extraordinarily strong and
far-reaching, considering how tiny is the singer, and still more tiny
its vocal organ. Its song is heard in spring, and sounds like
_Zilp-Zalp, Zilp-Zalp_, and so on. Its busy call-note is _Whit, whit!_
It feeds on the insects which it finds on the trees. In autumn, when
starving, it eats elder-berries and such things, but does no harm
whatever. As a loud harbinger of spring, and a bringer of glad-tidings
we welcome and protect it.
* * * * *
About the first week in April the Willow Wren comes to us in England,
where it is the commonest of the three small greenish-yellow Warblers
that come to us--the Chiff-chaff and the Wood Wren are its congeners.
Owing to the shape of its domed nest it has been given the name of
Oven-bird; indeed all three are known by that name, and the Willow Wren
also by that of Hay-bird, because of the dry materials it uses for its
nest. This species is very useful to the gardener, as its food consists
almost entirely of insects, flies and aphides.
The Willow Wren is a little longer than the Chiff-chaff and an inch
longer than the Wren. The upper parts, except the crown, is
greenish-brown, passing into a yellow tinge; the underparts white,
breast and throat pale yellow; the cheeks golden-brown, the inside of
the wings yellow, legs brownish; the under side of the toes yellow. All
is subdued, nothing glaring on this delicately coloured bird; indeed,
all is delicate, including the bill, which is pointed and adapted for
investigating the tiniest cracks and bud axels.
THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.
(_Múscicapa grísola._)
The habits of the Spotted Flycatcher are quite different from those of
its feathered companions in garden and forest, such as the Tits; for
while the latter are always moving, darting here, hunting there, the
Flycatcher sits quietly on the extreme end of a bough, on some point, or
on a post, and watches for flying insects exclusively; flies, beetles;
or near the bee-house it lies in wait for drones, but it never snaps at
a stinging bee or wasp. It is quiet, only occasionally moving first one
wing and then the other, as if to ascertain that they are in working
order; then, as soon as it sees a flying insect, it darts forward, sure
of aim as the Swallow, seizes its prey, and flies back in a fine curve
to its post of observation.
The Flycatcher then, belongs to the useful birds, especially in gardens,
where it destroys the harmful insects which fly among the trees. If it
should happen to make away with the gall-insect, among others in the
woods, that will not outweigh its good deeds. In gardens, at all events,
it ought to be cherished and protected. Place a nest-box, such as it
loves, with a wide opening, and let it nest there. There is not much to
be said for its song; its call note is “_Tschee, tschee_.”
* * * * *
The Spotted Flycatcher is one of our latest British spring migrants, its
usual time for coming is about the first week in May. Although it feeds
almost exclusively on insects, it has been known to eat the berries of
the mountain ash; I have noticed indeed that these disappear
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.]
before the birds more quickly than other wild berries. It is local with
us in its breeding habits. It is one of the few species which still
breed in some of our London parks and the larger gardens in town. The
nest may be found among old creepers, but in the country it is often
built on the beam of an outbuilding, and so it has been called the
Beam-bird. It is a charming little creature to note as it sweeps round
in quest of insect life. I was once watching a nest in a creeper on the
porch of an old farmhouse. The young birds, tightly packed within,
gasped greedily for the food brought by their parents. One had a fly too
big for its swallow; it was stuck in its throat, and the fledgling
graciously allowed me to push it down with a pin.
It is a charming sight to see the parent bird catch its prey when on the
wing, and carrying it promptly to the nest within the creeper. “Not only
tiny insects and moths go there, but also the bodies, denuded of their
wings, of many a white cabbage butterfly, which would otherwise have
deposited her small white eggs on the leaves of the cauliflowers in the
kitchen garden close at hand. These eggs would become green grubs, which
would injure the plants and make them unfit for food. The quick eyes of
the bird and his clever flight put an end to the mischief so far as many
a cauliflower is concerned. Flies, beetles, and aphides in hosts are
devoured--the last especially during August, when they come in myriads
from hop fields, or fruit trees--damsons; and the Flycatchers will clear
the gooseberry bushes of the hurtful sawfly. Macgillivray has recorded
that he noted a parent bird bring food to the nest five hundred and
thirty-seven times during one day! Flycatchers come back to the same
nesting place year after year. They may take a little fruit from you in
the shape of red currants, but this is open to doubt. Like other
creatures, a change of diet is, perhaps, valuable to them; but their
labours during the early summer surely entitle them to a share of the
fruit.”[3]
* * * * *
The Spotted Flycatcher is a little grey bird, smaller than the sparrow.
The upper side of its body is mouse-colour, the underside whitish: on
the breast and about the eyes are dark specks. The beak is black,
flattened out wider at the base; the upper half of it furnished with
stiff bristles on each side of the base to prevent its prey escaping.
Legs black and weak; eyes dark and bright. The nest is usually built in
trees, stumps of boughs, near the trunk, also in holes, but never very
deep ones. It is beautifully woven, of fine moss, lichens, fine rootlets
and grass, and is lined with wool, feathers and horse-hair. It contains
five eggs of light grey-green, with dark marble-like veining and specks
of rust-colour; the speckling is sometimes thicker in a ring round the
larger end.
THE PIED FLYCATCHER.
(_Muscicapa atricapilla._)
The male Pied Flycatcher is so strikingly marked a bird that he is
almost dazzling to the eye. Yet he is only in black and white, but his
markings are very decided. The female is more quietly feathered, the
frontlet, wing-patches and under parts are a buffish-white, whilst her
upper parts are olive-green. The bill is just like that of its congener
already described. The nest is made in a hole in some tree, of dry
grass, moss and rootlets with a lining of hair.
This species prefers warmer districts, where it remains chiefly in leafy
woods. The bird is a charming little object as it disports itself
amongst the young green of oak and beech woods. When on the lookout for
its prey it prefers to perch on some old withered tree branch. And so
gentle and small it looks one would not dream of its injuring a fly.
Yet, for the great benefit of the woods, it is keen in pursuit of flies,
gnats and other “small deer.” It will agitate its little wings in front
of the larger hollows in old trees, so as to create a slight wind which
will rouse and bring out lurking insects to become the prey of this
disturber of their peace. In the high beech woods this Flycatcher
pounces on the little insects that play in the rays of sunlight that
filter through the openings between the branches. A beautiful bird this
and well deserving protection.
In Great Britain this species is far less numerous than its congener. It
is, however, a regular visitor to some of our counties. Its song is like
that of the Redstart.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE PIED FLYCATCHER.]
THE WHEATEAR.
(_Saxicola œnánthé._)
This is a lively and vigilant bird. It selects a district, to which it
afterwards remains faithful. It likes fallow ground, stony hollows,
marsh-land, sandy depressions where there are undulations, also meadows
where there are grass-grown mole-hills or grass plots. From one of these
small eminences it surveys the surrounding land, and on seeing prey
instantly makes for it, and having caught it flies on to another stone
or hillock. It also perches on low posts, but only takes to a tree in
case of need. As it prefers to be in the open, it is often visible, for
when it begins to fly it spreads out its tail and the white feathers at
once attract attention. It is a very useful bird, for it lives entirely
upon grubs and insects. In autumn it destroys the caterpillars of the
white cabbage butterfly. The modest little song is not heard only from
the hillocks and stones on which it perches, but also high up in the air
when wooing his bride with sweet sounds. It is fairly common in Hungary.
* * * * *
About the middle of March the Wheatear, with its graceful motions,
begins to arrive in numbers on our own Southern and Eastern coasts. It
flits over downs and fallow lands, some pairs remaining to make nests in
old rabbit holes, and in sandy warrens near the coast, others passing on
after a brief rest, seeking higher latitudes--the rocky moorlands of the
Peak, the fallows of
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE WHEATEAR.]
agricultural districts in the Midlands, the mountains of Scotland. The
old hole of a Sand-martin in a railway cutting, a crevice in a stone
wall, the lee side of a boulder stone, or merely the shelter of a clod
of earth in a fallow field serves his purpose. As regards a nesting
site, the Wheatear is exceedingly adaptable, suiting himself to the
locality. And so the popular names given to this bird seem often
misleading to a student of its life-history. In the Southern counties as
the “Fallow Chat” it is best known, in Lancashire and Derbyshire it is
“Walltack,” “Stonecheek,” “Stone-smack,” or “Smutch”: and this in
Staffordshire is “Stone Smasher.” But tack and cheek and smutch all come
from the bird’s sharp note “Chack, chack!” uttered as it flits from
stone to stone on high land or along the wind-swept downs and warrens.
* * * * *
Steinschmätzer is the German name for the Wheatear; so the Lancashire
name of Stonesmatch is decidedly Saxon. Schmatzen is to kiss
heartily--to give a good smack in fact. The French name for this bird,
Traquet, was given because of the continual movement of the wings and
tail, which is compared to the traquet, or clapper of mills, which is
kept in motion by the wind or by the water.
* * * * *
All works on natural history describe the beautiful Wheatear as always
wary and shy to a degree, and chiefly, as we have already said, to be
found on warrens and poor lands near the coast, but as being especially
plentiful about our South Downs. In other districts, too, it frequents
the open ground and rough hillocky pastures. But who would look for the
Wheatear amongst the old slag-heaps, in the very heart of the North
Staffordshire Potteries? where, too, the bird seems to lay aside its shy
and wary little manœuvres.
Mr. Wells Bladen, the well-known Staffordshire ornithologist, reports on
the Wheatear, which arrived earlier than usual, telling us that he saw
one on a slag-heap at Etruria on March 3rd. In April again he witnessed
the curious sight of five Wheatears, mobbing a Kestrel on their
slag-heap and driving off the intruder quickly. In June there were at
least a dozen of these birds frequenting the heap, and one pair had
nested within twenty feet of a very busy railway siding. The nest, with
its lovely pale blue eggs, was in a hole in a bank of fused clinkers,
two feet from the ground. The eggs were hatched safely, but the young
birds were unfortunately killed by some mischievous person before they
were old enough to leave the nest. It was a pity the bird made its nest
so near the ground, for, as a rule the great heaps which railway
passengers between Stoke and Crewe have seen and wondered at, by night
as well as by day, are little interfered with, or trespassed on. The
dreary slag-heaps in the neighbourhood of blast-furnaces would appear to
be spots equally unattractive to man and beast, and especially so to
that brightly marked migrant the Wheatear, as it is known on the sunny,
wind-swept downs and sandhills near the sea. In August again, one was
seen on a railway waggon.
Wheatears leave us by the beginning of October, but now and again a few
stray birds are said to winter here in mild districts.
The Wheatear has the crown, back of the head and back a beautiful
ashen-grey; throat a faint buffish-white. There is a black stripe from
the bill to the eye, which broadens out towards the ear. Underparts
nearly white, breast yellowish. The side feathers of the wings are
white towards the base--at the end black; the middle feathers entirely
black. Bill awl-shaped, and, like the legs, black. The female bird and
the young are less varied in colour. The Wheatear hides its nest away in
heaps of stones, and crevices of the earth, and is most discreet as a
rule in ensuring its safety. It lays five eggs, occasionally seven,
which are usually of a uniform pale-blue colour, sometimes faintly
dotted.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE STONECHAT.]
THE STONECHAT.
(_Pratíncola rubícola._)
This lively little bird--that is the male bird--has the following
characteristics: head, throat, nape, and back black. A conspicuous white
patch on the wing-coverts. Under wing-coverts and axillaries black and
white. Bill small and awl-shaped, legs and feet black.
* * * * *
It hides its nest so well, that it is difficult to find. It is usually
built on the ground in a slight dip, so that the heads of the fledglings
are level with the surface of the ground, and thus it merges into its
surroundings. Five bluish grey eggs, speckled with brown, are usually
found in the nest.
* * * * *
The Stonechat is a very pleasant bird, that seems, wherever it may be,
to live by itself. It always sits on the topmost part of a bush, and
thence looks attentively on to the ground, yet is quite conscious of all
the insects and chafers flying about, for it is an alert captor.
Sometimes it looks as if it were turning a summersault in the air, which
is always a sign that it has disturbed a beetle in its flight and
snapped him up.
* * * * *
This little Black-throat is more a bird of the foothills, where it loves
the rocky dips where a few bushes render these not quite bare. It will
suddenly appear on the top of a bush, the point of a moth-mullein or a
nettle--always on a high perch--gives one look round, swallows an
insect, and disappears as if by magic. Soon after it will appear in
another spot, and go through the same performance. Meanwhile it wags its
little tail, spreading it out. Late in the autumn, before its
migration, it comes nearer to human dwellings, and carries on its
pursuit of insects, among the hedges. It even ventures into the kitchen
garden, where the cabbage stumps, and vegetable stalks are a favourable
position, from which it can easily secure its prey. Its song is clear,
pleasing, but not loud. Its call is “_Weet, weet, weet--tek, tek, tek_.”
The birds arrive in Hungary singly.
* * * * *
In Great Britain the Stonechat is a resident in most parts, although
such as have bred in the colder districts migrate to more sheltered
places in winter. At that season we have a number of arrivals from such
parts of the Continent as are too cold for these birds to remain in.
Grubs, worms, insects, and beetles are its chief diet, to which it adds
a few small seeds. A very destructive insect which they take is known as
the Bean Weevil. It is about a quarter of an inch in length; and it
finds lodging among the whins, which the Chat family frequent. This
beetle also haunts the rhubarb flowers in our gardens and visits the
peas, selecting, it is said, always the finest of these in which to lay
her eggs. Daddy-longlegs, cattle-flies, wire-worms, small snails, and
slugs are also eaten by the Chats--especially the Whinchat, _Pratincola
rubétra_, which comes to the South in middle of April, reaching the
North early in May. It has a long white streak over the eye, which is a
distinguishing feature of this species, also its underparts are buff,
turning to bright fawn colour on the breast and throat. The crown and
upper parts are mottled equally with sandy-buff and dark brown. Its bill
is less delicate than that of the Stonechat.
THE BEARDED TIT OR REEDLING.
(_Panurus biármicus._)
The Bearded Tit is the ornament of the Reed-lands. Its feathers being
unusually fine and light, the brilliant black moustache gives it all the
more charming and attractive an appearance. It usually slips round in
the high reeds about which it clambers very cleverly. The nest is placed
between the stalks of the reeds, and is composed chiefly of their
leaves, the colour of which harmonises with that of the bird’s long
tail, so that the latter, which stands out of the nest, cannot be
distinguished from its surroundings. The clutch consists of five to
seven eggs, which have light brown specks and stripes on a white ground.
With the disappearance of the reeds, the number of the birds diminishes.
That is why we have not in England so many of this lovely species as we
used to have. Our fens and meres in Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge
Shires, as well as in Kent, Sussex, and Essex, also in Suffolk having
been drained, the birds that lived in these have naturally left them. We
are glad, however, to know that Bearded Tits are increasing again in the
Norfolk Broads, owing to protection from the greed of private
collectors. The great naturalist, Buffon, declared that the male bird
has the charming habit of covering his mate with his wings to protect
her alike from unkind winds and the burning heat of the sun, as she sits
on her nest. _Trinkin_, the peasants of Anjon call it because of the
metallic tone of its cry. In the Norfolk Broads it has been known as the
Reed Pheasant. Scientists have found that this species differs in its
digestive organs and other points from the Titmouse family, and that it
is, as the late Professor Newton remarks, a perfectly distinct form,
representing the family Panuridæ, instead of forming one species of the
Paridæ.
It feeds on the seeds of the reeds in winter and in summer on small
molluscs.
This bird, which is a beautiful and delightful bird in every respect, is
the size of a Yellow-Hammer. Its feathers are of a silky fineness. The
head is bluish-grey; from the corner of the mouth on each side, hangs a
pointed, silky black moustache, which can be raised erect on occasion.
The nape and back are cinnamon brown, which is lighter over the root of
the tail; the tail is deep black underneath, and is wedge-shaped with
feathers of graduated length. The wings are striped with buffish-white,
black and rufous; the quills are brown with white outer borders. The
throat and chest are snow white, the under parts white with a flush of
rose colour at the sides. The pupil of the eye is golden yellow.[4]
THE GREAT TITMOUSE.
(_Parus major._)
In respect to usefulness and activity, this bird takes the foremost
place among the Tits: restless, noisy, and always cheerful from morning
to night. It clings to the end of the twigs, head downwards, to look for
insects underneath the buds; it even climbs up walls if they are rough
and uneven. It slips into holes and crevices which seem impossible of
entry. It pursues insects everywhere, and swallows them wholesale, as
though it could never be satisfied. It has no fear of men, but comes
confidently under the roof and perches on the gate, or looks in at the
window from the window sill. It is courageous, even bold, and
boundlessly inquisitive, a trait which often places its life and liberty
in peril. For the sake of a little fat it will allow itself to be snared
in a gourd or other trap. But it is just these qualities that make it so
popular.
Its voice sounds like “_tzit_” or “_sitzida, sitzida_.” This beautiful,
kindly bird deserves every protection.
* * * * *
Our sympathies are quite with this bright active creature, although some
of our English naturalists accuse it of using its strong beak in order
to split the skull of small weakly birds so as to feast on their brains.
It has even been known to treat a Bat in this manner. We recognise it
readily in the early spring by its note which is like the noise caused
by the sharpening of a saw with a file.
Two years ago I saw the largest company of Tits--Great Tits, Blue Tits,
Coal Tits, Marsh Tits and Crested
[Illustration: USEFUL.
THE GREAT TITMOUSE.]
Tits--together with a great number of tiny and beautiful gold-crested
Wrens, that I have ever seen, or indeed can ever hope to see again. It
was in a pine forest about twenty miles north of Gotha, the property of
Hans Freiherr von Berlepsch, Germany’s most ardent bird protector. He
was with us at the time and he said even he had never seen the like
before, nor had his chief gamekeeper, who is himself an ornithologist.
It was the more wonderful because we had walked for nearly three hours
through the woods that morning and had seen, with this great exception,
little wild life beyond an occasional black Squirrel and, through an
avenue of pines from afar, a grand Buck feeding in a clearing. It was in
the late autumn.
Nearly three thousand nesting-boxes have been fixed in the trees there,
and it was about one of these, a deep one, that a number of Tits had
appropriated as a warm and secure sleeping place for the autumn and
winter, that the birds--three hundred of them at least the gamekeeper
declared--had gathered; now pouncing down on it, a dozen of them at a
time, now settling in noisy zi-zi-zi-ing parties on the high branches of
pine round this centre. Perhaps, like Rooks that quarrel over a
desirable nesting site, they were all eager to secure specially
desirable sleeping quarters. Tits and Wrens do, of course, always go
about the woods in parties, when family cares are over, but on such a
scale as this rarely; and so many dainty Golden-Crested Wrens together
might not be seen again in a life-time. All the species of the Tit
family, excepting the Bearded and the Long-tailed Tit were there.
The amount of good these birds do among forest trees is incalculable,
not to mention their greatly misunderstood labours in ridding the
blossoms of our fruit trees of their infesting insect pests. Tits are,
in fact, most energetic and active insect destroyers.
* * * * *
The Great Tit is a lively bird about the size of a Sparrow. The crown,
neck, and throat black; cheeks white. A black stripe runs from the
throat over the breast and under parts. The mantle is bright green;
rump, tail, and wings plum colour, with oblique whitish stripes on the
wings. The under side of the body is a beautiful bright yellow on either
side of the black stripe. The short, strong beak is shaped like a grain
of wheat and brown in colour; the strong legs are bluish. It builds its
nest delicately, and usually in such hollow places as have a narrow
opening, sometimes even in empty beehives. It lays six to
nine--sometimes, though rarely, as many as fifteen--eggs, which are
finely formed, of a pure white, with speckles of a beautiful rust
colour.
[Illustration: A Tit’s Nestling.]
THE BLUE TITMOUSE.
(_Parus cærúleus._)
Crown bright blue, forehead and cheeks white. A dark stripe is drawn
from above the eyes towards the nape. The white cheeks are edged at the
back and underneath, with black. The under part and rump are
sulphur-yellow, or rather lemon colour. Tail and wings blue, like the
bloom on a ripe plum. There is an oblique white stripe on the wings. The
beak is like a little grain of wheat. Legs bluish. The nest is placed in
holes of trees with small opening and is composed of soft stuff and is
very lightly built. The clutch consists of seven to ten eggs, which are
like those of the Great-tit, only much smaller. As many as eighteen eggs
have been recorded as being found in one nest.
It is one of the prettiest and most useful birds, and in its actions
resembles the other Tits. The number of insects destroyed by these rises
into millions, and it has been observed that one pair, in the course of
seventeen hours brought food to their young 475 times. Its cry is clear
and piercing: “_Tgi, tgi, tgi_”--or “_Ze, ze, zirr_,” or “_Ze, ze,
he-he-he-he-he_.”
It is a real treasure, and not rare in Hungary.
* * * * *
The Blue-tit is one of our best known and best liked British birds. In
the autumn great numbers arrive on our east coasts. The Blue-tit,
especially, devours a powerful tiny beetle with the ominous name of
Scolytus destructor, which works its way from the chrysalis stage at the
end of a tunnel bored by the mother beetle in the tree, until it comes
out, after biting a round hole in the
[Illustration: USEFUL.
BLUE TITMOUSE. GOLD-CRESTED WREN.]
bark, as a perfect beetle. By this small creature’s labours the bark is
separated to such an extent from the tree that it cannot live long. A
plague of other small wood-boring beetles of like habits destroyed
1,500,000 trees in the Harz Forest one season, when the priests even
prayed in their churches for relief from this awful pest. And yet there
are still numbers of country gardeners who look upon the Blue-tit,
especially, as one of their worst enemies.
* * * * *
A house with large grounds in our populous London suburb is a large
boys’ school--a private one. One day I saw a pretty sight, one that did
credit to the character of the boys there. Between the playground and
the cricket field is an iron fence, having a wide gate. For some time
this has not been properly closed, and just within the hole in the
tubular iron post, into which the fastening bolt ought to run, a pair of
Blue-Tits have their nest. As I approached it, a number of gaping mouths
were thrust up for food. As the nestlings are fed with aphides and
gooseberry moths and the old birds have a large family to feed, and they
prey also on grubs and maggots, it is well for the vegetable garden
close by.
About sixty boys pass noisily to and fro through this gateway during
play-hours, but the wise parents think they know better than to feed
them in the sight of these. All is done during school time and early in
the morning.
A friend tells me that he knows of a Blue-Tit’s nest in an exactly
similar position. When the bird was sitting he kicked the bottom of the
iron post, and put his finger in the hole. Up flew the bold little
creature, hissing like a snake, and bit vigorously at it, fully
justifying her rural nickname of Billy-biter.
I am glad to think that some of my schoolboy neighbours will read this,
and will know that their forbearance towards these little birds is
appreciated: a forbearance towards the defenceless which is always a
distinguishing characteristic of the true gentleman.
The Blue-Tit is of great service to all flower and fruit growers, and it
comes much to our suburban, and even London gardens. And yet gardeners
at one time persecuted the little labourer, one of the prettiest and
most winsome of our common birds.
Sitting in the garden of a house I formerly lived in, I noted there, in
my apple trees laden with fruit, that the Tits--the Great, the Marsh,
the Coal, and the Blue-Tit--that had not been much in evidence since
April, when they were busy amongst the blossom buds, have come back, and
they were busy now again amid the branches. Having read lately that they
destroy the fruit, notably apples, in the autumn, I have watched them
closely. It is as I expected: a number of the apples have been attacked
by insects, and it is on these that the birds are busy, on fruit which
if they did remain on the trees--they are now falling in numbers--would
be quite worthless. The Tits enlarge the holes so as to get at the true
destroyers, and they are doing more good than harm. As the Rev. F. O.
Morris said, long ago, “the destruction of the Blue-tit by the farmer or
gardener is an act of economical suicide.”
Tits will also sometimes have recourse to the orchard in times of
drought, in order to quench their thirst by bites at the fruit. But we
should be churlish indeed if we grudged our little unpaid labourers a
small tithe of our harvest, which is the larger for their spring
services.
THE GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.
(_Regulus cristatus._)
This is the very smallest of our British birds, and indeed of all
European species. It is found generally throughout Great Britain, and it
has increased in the north greatly of late years owing to the greater
cultivation of larch and fir-trees. The numbers of these Wrens are
augmented often in autumn by great flocks that come to our eastern coast
from the Continent. A migration wave of this sort, Mr. Howard Saunders
told of, which lasted 92 days, and reached from the Channel to the Faroe
Islands. Another migration in 1883 lasted 82 days, and one, the
following year, 87 days. On such occasions bushes in gardens on the
coast are covered with birds as with a swarm of bees; crowds flutter
round the lighthouse lanterns, and often come to grief there, and weary
little travellers climb about the rigging of fishing-smacks in the North
Sea.
* * * * *
The Golden-Crested Wren is even smaller than the Common Wren, but its
feathers are more flossy. It has on its crown a tongue-shaped patch of
warm saffron yellow edged with black. The whole of the rest of its coat
is of a plain greenish gray, which is lighter on the under parts of his
body. The colour of the wings is also sober, the feathers having a
lighter edge; the little beak is thin and pointed, the legs nearly
black. The cunningly built nest is placed in the fir-trees where it can
with difficulty be discovered. The eggs, which number six, occasionally
eleven--of the size of peas--are reddish speckled with a darker shade
of the same colour. This useful little bird, always active, hopping
unweariedly about seeking food, lives exclusively on insects and grubs.
Its dwelling is among pines and fir-trees; it often associates with the
Tits, its call is “_Sit, sit, sit_.”
It is not rare, and is worth its weight in gold.
[Illustration]
THE CRESTED TITMOUSE.
(_Parus cristátus._)
In order to learn habits of the Crested Tit it is necessary to climb
high into the region of the firwoods. Here the Crested Tit is the good
genius of the neighbourhood, for with untiring zeal it hops about among
the thick branches of the fir labyrinth and destroys the most
mischievous insects. Its call is “_ziárrrr_” or “_zick güirr_.” It is
not rare in the pine forests of Hungary.
* * * * *
The Crested Tit breeds in a few of the oldest forests in Scotland where
firs and oaks remain. In Perthshire it is seen, but to England it is a
stranger, a few cases only, being on record. In Ireland also it is
practically unknown.
* * * * *
The Crested Titmouse is much smaller than the Great Tit or Oxeye. It is
easily recognised by its pointed head, which resembles that of the
Crested Lark. The feathers of this are black, edged with white; the
cheeks white; throat and round the ears black; so that the head has the
appearance of being framed. Wings and tail greyish-brown, the feathers
with whitish edges. Underneath it is a dingy white, rust colour at the
sides. Its nest is carefully built, in holes and in trees. It lays from
five to eight, sometimes ten, white eggs speckled with light rust
colour. Two broods are generally brought out in the season.
These birds are seen in Germany, and elsewhere on the Continent,
frequently in company with Golden-crested Wrens, other Tits and also
Tree-creepers.
[Illustration: USEFUL.
CRESTED TITMOUSE. COAL-TITMOUSE.]
THE COAL-TIT.
(_Parus ater._)
This lively, pretty, amiable bird, also lives in the thickest parts of
the fir woods, where it carries on its work of destroying the injurious
insects, the number of which is enormous. It used to be thought that the
Coal-Tit did harm to the young buds; but this has never been
authenticated, and even if it does break one off here and there, the
mischief is small indeed, in comparison with the service it performs
from one year’s end to the other. Its call is shrill and clear “_ziwih,
ziwih, ziwih,_” or “_sitt, sitt_”--or a long-drawn “_seeb, seeb_.”
This bird occurs in considerable numbers in Hungary.
* * * * *
The Coal-Titmouse is one of our common birds in the United Kingdom and
it is said to increase yearly, although it is not yet so common as the
Great and the Blue Tits. It is a very useful little bird as it feeds its
young largely on green caterpillars; but it eats nuts as well as
seeds--the seeds of the Scotch fir it is specially fond of.
The Marsh-Titmouse--_Parus palústris_--is another resident species in
Great Britain, but it is, with the exception of the Crested Titmouse,
the least common of our Tits. I have seen it much about our Middlesex
gardens, a superficial observer can note the difference between this
bird and the Coal-Tit easily because the Marsh-Tit has not the white
patch on the back of the head which the Coal-Tit has. It is often seen
in orchards where it does good service, but is fond of the
neighbourhood of rivers and delights itself among the alder trees and
pollarded willows of swampy ground.
The Coal Tit is the same size as the Crested Tit. Cheeks white--at the
back of the head a white patch, the rest of the head black, so that this
colour forms a broad bridle, which recalls that of the great tit.
Underneath it is of a dingy white, the mantle a bluish ash-colour with a
tinge of green. Wings and tail dark grey, the former having two oblique
whitish stripes. The nest is built on the ground, in holes in fir trees
under decaying bark, sometimes in holes in the ground--and is formed for
the most part of green moss, the interior being warmly lined with hair.
The clutch consists of six--sometimes even ten--eggs of a brilliant
white finely speckled with rust-colour.
THE LONG-TAILED TIT.
(_Acredula caudáta._)
This is a true Tit, and never rests, but is hunting here and there,
slipping in and out, in constant movement, from morning till night, now
and then indulging in such gymnastic exercises on the frailest twigs, as
would by comparison make the limb-dislocating mountebank look a clumsy
lout. Nothing can be more charming than the society of which the
Long-tailed Tit is the grand master. It comprehends the Great-Tit, the
Blue-Tit, and the Coal-Tit, one or two tree runners, Spotted Woodpeckers
and a Nuthatch. The whole form a brigade of workers, who rove through
the woods and gardens, each one working according to the measure of its
strength. They search a tree, from the bark to the point of the thin
topmost twig, where the Long-Tailed one is quite at home, so light a
featherweight is his body--the twig bends, but does not break, and the
tail acts as its balancing pole. This society gathers at the same hour
at the same place, in the late autumn, in order to seek fresh places.
The note of the Long-Tailed Tit sounds like “_je, je, je,_” and “_gey,
gey, gey, gey_.” It lives on injurious insects, and wherever it builds
its nest in wood or garden it is a priceless treasure.
It is not rare in Hungary, and deserves to be protected.
* * * * *
There are various forms of the Long-tailed Titmouse in Europe; our own
form is fairly common in localities which suit its mode of living. It is
resident and common in Ireland, but very local in its occurrence in
Scotland. These Tits often rear two broods in a season, and afterwards
the whole family may be seen flitting about
[Illustration: USEFUL.
LONG-TAILED TIT.]
together, in single file from hedgerow to hedgerow. There is a dipping
motion in their flight which is pretty to watch. All these feed on
insects and their larvæ.
[Illustration: A bright winter friend.]
The Long-tailed Tit is the size of the Wren; a round-headed little bird
with a tiny beak, and a very long tail. The head is white, and suggests
that of a grey-headed old grandfather. The fore-part of the back is
black with white patches on the shoulders, the tail black, the three
outer feathers being for the most part white, and graduated in length,
the two middle feathers being shorter. The under part is rose colour;
the tiny beak black.
THE NEST OF THE LONG-TAILED TIT.
[Illustration: LONG-TAILED TITS AND FAMILY.]
It is not only in our latitudes that the nest of the Long-tailed Tit is
considered a masterpiece, but even far away south where nature works
such marvels, where the little humming birds, scarcely bigger than the
joint of a child’s finger, shine in the sunlight like diamonds and
rubies, and build nests no bigger than half a small hen’s egg,--even
there, this nest is looked upon one of the finest specimens of bird
architecture. It is the most charming, most beautiful, and warmest bird
abode. Most often it is round, the twigs supporting it like the fingers
of the hand, and often it stands free like a little beehive. It is
beautifully roofed in with a domed top, and has at the side an opening
large enough for a big bumble bee. It is constructed of the finest moss,
and the softest fluff from the meadows and poplars; it is soft, and yet
so strongly put together that no human workman can imitate it.
In this soft, warm nest the tiny bird lays its nine, sometimes eleven,
eggs. These are white with rose-coloured spots at the thicker end. The
male and female birds sit alternately on the eggs for fourteen days; and
then the hard work begins--twelve babes to nourish, and with the finest
food!
The industry of the Swallow is truly great, but that of the Long-tailed
Tit is still greater. The Swallow seizes its booty while on the wing,
and has only to open its beak; but the Tit has to go from branch to
branch, working sometimes head downwards, sometimes swinging, in order
to secure the tiny morsels.
Truly he who does not delight in the sight of this tiny family united by
love, who is not moved when the twelve baby birds are seen sitting close
pressed together on a slender bough, and the little parents come and go,
with their continuous cry, bringing food and giving it in turn to the
young ones--he whom such a sight does not fill with pleasure, must have
a stone in his breast instead of a heart.
[Illustration: MUST BE KEPT IN CHECK.
THE TREE SPARROW.
THE HOUSE SPARROW.]