those of the finches and linnets, are slovenly and loosely-made
structures; and that of the Blackcap is no exception to the rule. The
birds take some pains, however, to conceal it, and both male and female
bestow a good deal of trouble upon it. It is generally placed a few feet
from the ground, and is composed of dry bents, and lined with horsehair.
The eggs, usually five in number, are white clouded with pale brown, and
sparsely spotted with black towards the larger end. They closely
resemble the eggs of the Garden Warbler, but differ in being smaller,
and as a rule of a warmer tint; the pink or reddish-brown colour with
which the eggs of the Blackcap are often suffused is not found in those
of its congener. Both sexes take their turn at incubation, relieving one
another to feed; but the male will often feed his partner on the nest,
and then sit and sing to her. As to the song, it is simply delightful. I
refrain, however, from attempting a description, for two reasons. The
attempt has been made very often, and mere verbiage can convey but a
very faint notion of its nature. It must be heard to be appreciated. If
I were asked the question, “How am I to know the song when I hear it?” I
would reply, “Approach the bird as slowly and as noiselessly as
possible, until you can see the individual singing.” This is the only
way to learn the songs of birds. The note of each species then becomes
impressed upon the memory, and can afterwards be detected without
hesitation when the bird is not in sight. To acquire this knowledge,
however, of the songs of birds, one thing is necessary—an ear for music.
This, unfortunately, cannot be imparted by teaching; and unless it exist
as a gift of nature, the delight of music can never be experienced.
There is this consolation, however, for those who are not musicians—they
cannot feel so much the loss of a pleasure which they have never
experienced.
THE ORPHEAN WARBLER.
(_Sylvia orphea._)
The Orphean Warbler, as its name implies, is another noted song bird;
but, though not uncommon in some parts of Europe and Asia, its claim to
be included amongst our British warblers rests on very slender grounds.
So long ago as July, 1848, a pair of this species were observed in a
small plantation near Wetherby, and the hen bird was shot and forwarded
to Sir William Milner, who informed Mr. Yarrell of the fact. On this
single instance it was included by the last-named naturalist in his
“History of British Birds.” Since the last edition of that work was
published (1856), there is reason to believe that the Orphean Warbler
has occurred again at least on two occasions in England. In June, 1866,
the late Sergeant-Major Hanley, of the 1st Life Guards, well known as a
bird fancier, purchased a young warbler, which had been chased and
caught by a boy near Holloway. Mr. Blyth, who saw it in the following
December, pronounced it to be without doubt a female Orphean Warbler. As
the bird when caught was unable to fly, it is evident that a pair must
have nested in the neighbourhood. I have seen a nest and eggs which were
taken in Notton Wood, near Wakefield, in June, 1864, which certainly
appertained to none of our common warblers, and the eggs could not be
distinguished from well-authenticated eggs of _Sylvia orphea_.[14] Mr.
Howard Saunders has reported a similar nest and eggs from East
Grinstead. The eggs differ from those of the Blackcap and Garden Warbler
in being white, spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with ash-grey. The
bird may be briefly described as a large form of the Blackcap, exceeding
it by half an inch in total length, and by a quarter of an inch in
length of wing, the male having the black crown which characterizes our
well-known songster, and resembling it generally in appearance. It
differs, however, in having the bill shining black instead of horn
colour, the under parts white instead of grey, the legs brown instead of
slate colour, and the outer tail feathers margined with white instead of
being uniformly grey. In habits and mode of life it assimilates, as
might be expected, very much to the species with which we are so
familiar. Those who have seen the nest, state that it is large for the
size of the bird—a loose and open structure, rather shallow, and
generally placed in a low bush near the ground. Mr. Yarrell has given
very scanty information about this species, particularly as regards its
geographical distribution, from which it might be inferred that very
little is known of it. This, however, is not the case.
While the Blackcap migrates almost due north and south, the Orphean
Warbler migrates westwards and northwards from the east and southeast,
and _vice versâ_. In North-west India, particularly in the neighbourhood
of Umballah, it is tolerably common. The Rev. Canon Tristram found it
numerous in Palestine, and especially abundant under Mount Hermon.
Messrs. Elwes and Buckley include it in their list of the birds of
Turkey (“Ibis,” 1870, p. 19), and Lord Lilford has noted its occasional
occurrence in spring in the Ionian Isles. Rüppell includes it amongst
the birds of Arabia and Egypt,[15] but either it is not very common in
Egypt, or it has escaped the searching eyes of many English
ornithologists in that country. Mr. O. Salvin found it tolerably common
in the Eastern Atlas, and it has also been met with in Tripoli (_cf._
Chambers, “Ibis,” 1867, p. 104). As it is thus found in North Africa,
and, according to Professor Savi, is a summer visitant to Italy, one
would naturally expect to find it in Malta; but Mr. C. A. Wright, who
has paid great attention to Maltese ornithology for many years, states
that he has never met with it himself, and that only one instance of its
occurrence in Malta is known to him. In Spain it has been observed as a
summer visitant both by Lord Lilford and Mr. Howard Saunders. The
last-named naturalist says (“Ibis,” 1871, p. 212) that it nests there in
May, and refers to the frequent inequality in the size of eggs in the
same nest—a peculiarity which does not seem to have been previously
noticed. In Portugal it appears to be only an occasional summer
visitant, apparently not straying so far westward as a rule. I am not
aware that it has been found further to the south-west than Morocco. Mr.
Tyrwhitt Drake met with it in this country in 1867, but considered it
rare.
According to the observations of Von der Mühle, in his “Monograph of the
European _Sylviidæ_,” and of Captain Beavan on various birds in India
(“Ibis,” 1868, pp. 73, 74), there is good reason to believe that both
the Blackcap and the Orphean Warbler completely lose the black crown in
winter, and reassume it at the approach of the breeding season.
Criticizing these remarks, however, the late Mr. Blyth wrote:—
“Do the males of these birds lose the black cap in winter? Certainly not
the former—at least as observed in captivity—and therefore I cannot help
doubting exceedingly that they do so in the wild state. Upon a bad
Indian drawing of the Orphean Warbler, reproduced in the ‘Proceedings of
the Zoological Society’ for 1851 (p. 195, pl. 43), the supposed _Artamus
cucullatus_ was sought to be established. The habits of the Orphean
Warbler are thus described in Jerdon’s ‘Birds of India’—in which
country, by the way, it passes the winter, the males then retaining
their black cap:—‘It frequents groves, gardens, hedges, single trees,
and even low bushes on the plains; is very active and restless,
incessantly moving about from branch to branch, clinging to the twigs,
and feeding on various insects, grubs, and caterpillars, and also on
flower buds. It is sometimes seen alone, at other times two or three
together.’ Undoubtedly it must needs feed also on soft fruits. The hen
of this bird bears an exceedingly close resemblance to the Lesser
Whitethroat, except in size; while the cock bird further differs in
having the black cap _at all seasons_. There is likewise in India the
_Sylvia_, or _Curruca_, _affinis_, which resembles our Lesser
Whitethroat, excepting in being as large as our Common Whitethroat. The
latter bird has lately turned up in the north-west of India; and the
British Lesser Whitethroat is the only one of the group which extends
its range eastward to Lower Bengal, where it occurs, however, only above
the tideway of the rivers, upon the sandy soil in which the Baubul
(_Vachelia farnesiana_) grows plentifully. There I have observed our
familiar little friend in abundance during the winter months, but never
upon the alluvion or mud soil; and the same remark applies to _Hippolais
rama_. It has been suggested to me that there may be a race of
“Blackcap’ that visits Eastern Europe, the males of which have a
rufous-brown cap like the females. In our race of Blackcap the diversity
of the sexes is very noticeable, even in nestlings.”
Captain Beavan, in the article before referred to, says: “Specimens of
the Orphean Warbler, procured on the 22nd of October, had no trace
whatever of a black head, and were considered by Colonel Tytler to be
the young of the year; but in my opinion the state of the plumage was
not sufficiently juvenile; and I think that the old birds adopt a
different colouring according to the time of year, probably putting on
the black head as the breeding season approaches.” To this observation
the editor of the “Ibis” appended the following note: “That this view of
the case is correct there is probably little doubt (_cf._ Von der Mühle,
‘Monogr. Europ. Sylv.,’ p. 48).”
From these observations it was surmised that the same might be the case
with the Blackcap.
[Illustration: GARDEN WARBLER]
THE GARDEN WARBLER.
(_Sylvia hortensis._)
To those who are unacquainted with the bird, the Garden Warbler may be
best described as equal in size to the female Blackcap, resembling it in
colour without the chestnut crown, having the belly pure white instead
of greyish white, and the legs lighter in colour. It appears much later
than the Blackcap, seldom arriving before the end of April. Both sexes
are alike in outward appearance; but it has been ascertained, by careful
observers who have dissected the birds, that the males invariably arrive
in this country before the females. Pennant, Montagu, and other old
authors, called this bird the Greater Pettychaps, while they bestowed
the name of Lesser Pettychaps—presumably from its resemblance in
miniature—upon the Chiff-chaff.
Throughout England the Garden Warbler appears to be pretty generally
distributed. Mr. A. G. More, however, in his essay on the Distribution
of Birds in Great Britain during the nesting season (“Ibis,” 1865, p.
25), speaks of it as scarce in Cornwall and Pembrokeshire, and absent
from Wales. Mr. Rodd, on the other hand, characterizes the Garden
Warbler as a summer visitant to East Cornwall, and says it “breeds
annually in the woods at Trebartha, in North Hill, from whence specimens
of its nest and eggs have been received.”[16] He adds also that it has
once been met with near Penzance; and that in the autumn of 1849 several
specimens were obtained from Scilly. Dr. Bullmore, in his “Cornish
Fauna” (p. 17), confirms Mr. Rodd’s statement that it is a summer
visitant to East Cornwall.
It will be remarkable if this bird is not found to be common in some
parts of Wales, since it not only occurs in Ireland, but is not nearly
so scarce there as the observations of Mr. Thompson would lead us to
suppose. In his “Natural History of Ireland” (Birds, vol. i. p. 185),
this naturalist refers to the Garden Warbler as extremely rare in
Ireland, and notices its occurrence only in the counties of Cork and
Tipperary. If I mistake not, Mr. Blake-Knox has met with it in the
county of Dublin; I have myself observed it in Wicklow; and Sir Victor
Brooke has lately assured me that in the county of Fermanagh, about
Lough Erne, it is common in summer, and nests regularly in the
neighbourhood of Castle Caldwell, to the north-west of that county. In
the same neighbourhood, he added, the Blackcap is unknown. When we
remember the number of naturalists with whom Mr. Thompson was in
correspondence in all parts of Ireland, it is singular that so few of
them should have been able to report the presence of this bird in their
respective districts. I have already referred to the changes which have
taken place in the local distribution of many species of birds within
the last twenty or thirty years, and there is no reason for doubting
that the statements published by Mr. Thompson in 1849, and the
observations of naturalists of the present day, are both perfectly
correct, and that the Garden Warbler, like many other birds, is now
common in localities where formerly it was unknown. The number of
resident naturalists in Wales is very small as compared with England;
nevertheless, it is to be hoped that those who have the opportunity will
examine into the truth of the alleged absence from Wales of this bird,
and publish the result of their investigations.
The limit of the Garden Warbler’s range northwards in the British
Islands has not been satisfactorily ascertained. That it is found in
many parts of the south of Scotland we know from the observations of
Macgillivray and the late Sir William Jardine; but we have yet to learn
whether it penetrates to the Highlands or visits the Hebrides. According
to Selby, it is found throughout the greater part of Scotland; but Mr.
Robert Gray, in his recently published “Birds of the West of Scotland,”
is disposed to think that it is not commonly distributed. It is, as he
says, very difficult to judge of the comparative numbers of so shy a
bird, as it is even less frequently noticed, save by the patient
observer, than some other species of greater rarity. “In the sheltered
and wooded districts of the midland and southern counties,” he adds, “it
is one of the most attractive songsters, tuning its loud and gleeful
pipe on the top of some fruit tree an hour or two after daybreak, and
again about the dusk of the evening. These love notes, however, are not
of long continuance, for the bird becomes silent after the young are
hatched, unless a second brood is reared, when the same wild yet mellow
blackbird-like song is again for a short time heard. Mr. Sinclair has
observed the Garden Warbler at Inverkip in Renfrewshire, where the
richly-wooded preserves afford it a constant shelter during its summer
sojourn.” In Shetland, according to Dr. Saxby,[17] it is a rare autumn
visitor, usually occurring in September. By exercising great caution he
has sometimes approached within a few feet of the bird, and watched it
picking the green _aphides_ from the sycamore leaves. It does not appear
to have been observed in Orkney. Its range northwards in Europe,
according to Nilsson, extends to Sweden, where it is observed to be a
regular summer visitant, arriving in May and leaving in August. In all
the countries bordering the Mediterranean it appears to be well known.
Mr. Saunders informs me that it is common in Spain in spring and autumn;
and Mr. Wright, referring to its presence at the same seasons in Malta,
where it is known as the far-famed “beccafico” of the Italians, says
that as many as a hundred dozen are sometimes brought in at a time.[18]
Lord Lilford has once found this bird nesting in Epirus.[19] The late
Mr. C. J. Andersson met with it as far south as Damaraland, South-west
Africa. In habits the Garden Warbler closely resembles other members of
the genus. Shy and restless, it differs from the Blackcap in its
inferior powers of song, and from the Whitethroats in being less
garrulous. It is nevertheless a beautiful songster, and will sometimes
sit in the midst of a thick bush in the evening, like a Nightingale, and
maintain a continued warble for several minutes without a pause. Its
song is somewhat irregular, both in time and tune, but it is wonderfully
mellow for so small a bird. It sometimes commences its song like a
Blackbird, but always ends with its own. In some of its actions it
resembles the Willow Wren, for it seems constantly in motion, hopping
from bough to bough in search of insects, and singing at intervals. It
is very partial to fruit of all kinds, but at the same time destroys
vast numbers of caterpillars, spiders, and _aphides_. Much against my
inclination I have shot a few Garden Warblers in the spring soon after
their arrival, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of their food,
and can therefore affirm, from personal inspection, that they destroy
quantities of insects which are destructive to foliage. Under the head
of Blackcap, I have referred to the nest of the Garden Warbler for the
purpose of comparison, and need only add here that it is generally well
concealed, and that, unless the owner is seen near the nest, it is
oftentimes not very easy to distinguish the eggs from those of its
congener, which have been already described.
[Illustration: Decorative glyph]
[Illustration: COMMON WHITETHROAT]
THE COMMON WHITETHROAT.
(_Sylvia cinerea._)
Far from leading a retired life like the last-named bird, the
Whitethroat forces itself into notice by its noisy chattering and
repeated sallies into the air. We cannot walk along a country lane in
May without being reminded at every twenty yards of the presence of this
demonstrative little bird. With crest-feathers erect and half-extended
wings, it bustles in and out, gesticulating loudly, and seems to live in
a perpetual state of excitement.
The country lads call it the “Nettle Creeper,” from its frequenting
overgrown ditches and hedgebanks where the nettle is plentiful, amongst
the stems of which it builds its nest. It comes to us about the third
week in April, and remains until the end of August. It is very generally
distributed in the British Islands, and is as common in Ireland as it is
in England. In the north of Scotland it is said to be rare; but a
correspondent of Mr. More finds it breeding regularly in Mull and
Iona.[20] It visits Scandinavia in summer, and is found also at that
season in Russia and Siberia. It is one of the commonest birds in spring
and autumn in Malta, and is occasionally observed in Corfu in September
and October. In winter it is not uncommon in Asia Minor and North-east
Africa. Amongst the birds collected at Aboo, North-west India, by Dr.
King, in September, 1868, Mr. Hume found one which both he and M. Jules
Verreaux identified at once as _Sylvia cinerea_. Unlike the Garden
Warbler, the Whitethroat sings a good deal on the wing, sometimes
returning to the branch it has just left, after the manner of a Tree
Pipit, sometimes re-alighting elsewhere. The song, which is commenced on
arrival, generally ceases early in the month of July. Its habits, and as
Mr. Thompson says, the grotesquely earnest appearance which the erected
crest, feathers, and distended throat impart when singing, render this
bird one of the most interesting of our warblers. It seems to prefer the
tallest and thickest hedgerows, where there are plenty of brambles and
briars, and ditches which are choked with weeds and nettles. It does not
keep, however, to the fields and lanes, but visits our gardens and
orchards in company with its young to pilfer currants, raspberries, and
other fruit when ripe. The caterpillars to be found on the currant trees
are favourite morsels with this bird, and we should not forget that if
it takes a few currants it is also the means of saving a good many.
The nest of the Whitethroat is generally placed near the ground, amongst
nettles or other rank herbage, and is constructed of dry grass-stems and
horsehair. The eggs, usually five in number, are minutely speckled all
over with ash-brown or ash-green, and spotted at the larger end with
gray. I have watched an old Whitethroat bringing food to its young, and
have been surprised to see in how short a space of time it contrived to
find food and return to the nest. Sometimes it was impossible to see
even with a glass what this food was, but at other times I could plainly
discern a caterpillar wriggling between the mandibles.
[Illustration: Decorative glyph]
[Illustration: LESSER WHITETHROAT]
THE LESSER WHITETHROAT.
(_Sylvia sylviella._)
This is not nearly so common a bird, nor so generally distributed in
Great Britain, as the last-named. It is confined more or less to the
midland and southern counties of England, is very rare in Scotland, and
unknown in Ireland. Mr. Rodd, in his “List of Birds” before quoted, says
the Lesser Whitethroat is only seen in Cornwall during the autumn
migration, and then only occasionally at Scilly. In Wales it appears to
be equally scarce (_cf._ More, “Ibis,” 1865, p. 25), but it is possible
that, from its general resemblance to the last-named bird, it may have
been often overlooked. The respective measurements of the two species
are as follows:—
Total Wing. Tarsus.
length.
Common Whitethroat 5·5 in. 2·9 in. ·8 in.
Lesser Whitethroat 5·2 ” 2·5 ” ·7 ”
Independently, however, of its smaller size, the Lesser Whitethroat may
be distinguished by its black ear-coverts, and by the absence of the
pale rufous edgings to the secondaries, which are so conspicuous in the
larger species. The legs also are slate-coloured instead of
yellowish-brown.
In haunts, habits, and mode of nesting the two species are very similar,
and what has been said of one will apply almost equally well to the
other. Both arrive also about the same time—namely, the third week in
April; and by the end of August, when the young are strong enough to
shift for themselves, they depart again southwards. Although the nests
of the two species are very similar, the eggs of the Lesser Whitethroat
have a much clearer ground-colour, and are never so profusely freckled
as those of its congener. On the contrary, the spots of ash-brown, or
ash-green, are almost always at the larger end, leaving the smaller end
of the egg almost spotless.
The range of the Lesser Whitethroat southward is probably more or less
identical with that of the Common Whitethroat. It is abundant in Spain
in winter and early spring, but does not remain to breed there. In
Malta, strange to say, it has only been recognised once; but in Egypt
and Nubia, especially from Dendera to the First Cataract, it is very
numerous in winter. Individuals of this species have been seen to alight
on vessels in the Mediterranean, even when upwards of sixty miles from
the nearest land, and thus its ability to migrate from Europe to Africa,
and back, is sufficiently established. Eastward it penetrates to Lower
Bengal, where, in the cold season, it is said to be not uncommon.
[Illustration: REDSTART]
THE REDSTART.
(_Ruticilla phœicura._)
Sprightly in its actions, and more vividly coloured than many of our
Summer Migrants, the Redstart cannot fail to attract attention in the
districts which it frequents during its sojourn with us. It would be
difficult, indeed, to find a more beautiful little bird than the male
Redstart in his nuptial plumage. The pale grey colour of the head and
back, relieved by a silvery white spot upon the forehead and a jet-black
throat, contrasts strongly with the bright chestnut of the breast, upper
tail coverts, and tail. From the bright colour of its tail, in fact, it
has derived the name Redstart, which is simply the Anglo-Saxon
equivalent for “Red-tail.” “Fire-tail,” “Brand-tail,” and “Quick-start,”
are other local names by which it is variously known. The last-named has
reference to the singularly characteristic movement of the tail, which
is rapidly flirted horizontally instead of vertically, as in the case of
most other birds.
Upon this point, however, there seems to be some difference of opinion.
Macgillivray, a high authority in such matters, observes, “As to the
motion of the tail in this bird, which has supplied some observers with
a subject of dispute, I am convinced that it is vertical—that is, up and
down, and not alternately to either side, although at each jerk the
feathers are a little spread out, as is the case with those of many
other birds of this order, as the Stonechat and Whinchat.” I feel sure,
notwithstanding this opinion, that I have frequently observed a
horizontal movement.
Its mode of progression on the ground has been compared by the same
observer to that of the Wheatear, “for it neither walks nor runs,” he
says, “but advances by leaps.” I cannot, however, completely endorse
this view, for I have frequently seen a Wheatear run, and at times very
rapidly. “Unless on a wall, or on bare ground, however, it seldom hops
much, for it procures its food chiefly by sallying after insects on the
wing, or by alighting on the ground to pick up those which it has
observed amongst the herbage, and on trees it flies from branch to
branch.”
Although generally distributed in England and Scotland, the Redstart is
nowhere very common, being most plentiful, apparently, in the southern
counties of England, and becoming rarer as we proceed northward. In
Ireland it is scarcely known at all, and does not visit the Hebrides. On
the Continent, however, it has a tolerably wide range, extending from
Archangel throughout Scandinavia and the whole of Europe, except
Portugal, to the Mediterranean, which it crosses to visit North Africa,
Egypt, and Abyssinia for the winter season.