[62]“American Ornithology.”
[63]Professor Newton’s Appendix to Baring Gould’s “Iceland,” p. 408.
[64]Gillet, “Ibis,” 1870, p. 306.
[65]Von Schrenck, “Reise in Amurland.”
[66]“A Spring and Summer in Lapland,” p. 281.
[67]Tudbury, “Mag. Nat. Hist.,” vol. v. p. 449.
[68]“Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia,” p. 347.
[69]“The Land of Israel,” p. 105.
[70]“History of British Birds,” vol. ii. p. 251 (3rd ed.)
[71]Journ. As. Soc. Beng. xxiv. p. 277.
[72]“Birds of North America,” p. 313.
[73]Jones’s “Naturalist in Bermudas,” p. 34.
[74]“Wanderings of a Naturalist in India,” p. 49.
[75]See “The Birds of Middlesex,” p. 126.
[76]Thompson, “Nat. Hist. Ireland” (Birds), i. p. 377.
[77]Irving, “Tales of the Alhambra.”
[78]“Mag. Nat. Hist.,” 1834, vol. vii. p. 462.
[79]“Contributions to Ornithology,” 1850, p. 109. It is not included by
Herr Müller in his “Bird Fauna of the Faroes.”
[80]“A Spring and Summer in Lapland,” p. 281.
[81]Ayres, “Ibis,” 1863, p. 321.
[82]E. C. Taylor, “Ibis,” 1867, p. 56.
[83]Lord Lilford, “Ibis,” 1860, p. 234.
[84]Tristram, “Ibis,” 1865, p. 77.
[85]In the Grey Phalarope we have a notable instance of a contrary
habit. This bird passes through England on its way southward in
autumn, but invariably selects some other route on its return
northward in spring.
[86]Blyth, “Ibis,” 1866, p. 339.
[87]Blyth, “Ibis,” 1865, p. 45.
[88]See Thompson’s “Nat. Hist. Ireland” (Birds), vol. i. p. 423.
[89]“Birds of Egypt,” p. 174.
[90]“Observations on the Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia,” p. 336.
[91]“The Land of Israel,” p. 250.
[92]Thompson, _op. cit._
[93]Mr. Robert Gray of Glasgow has seen it in grass fields, cleverly
picking ghost-moths (_Hepialus humuli_) off the stems, from the
points of which these sluggish insects were temptingly hanging. But
as a rule, he adds, the Nightjar captures its prey while in flight.
[94]See Atkinson’s “Compendium of Ornithology,” p. 108, and Stanley’s
“Familiar History of Birds,” p. 260.
[95]“The Birds of Sherwood Forest,” p. 172.
[96]“The Birds of the West of Scotland,” p. 212.
[97]The late Mr. Blyth thought that the Cuckoo found in Java by Dr.
Horsfield was not the Common Cuckoo of Europe, but an allied race
(_C. canoroides_, Müller, _optatus_, Gould), whose range extends
eastward at least to China, and southward to Australia. If so,
doubtless the same remark applies to Japan. _Cf._ “The Ibis,” 1865,
p. 31.
[98]“Naumannia,” 1853, p. 307.
[99]On certain facts in the economy of the Cuckoo, “Ibis,” 1865, pp.
178-186.
[100]This species, however, is included in Dr. Thienemann’s list above
given.
[101]“The Birds of Middlesex,” 1866, p. 120.
[102]_See_ “Nature,” 18th Nov. and 23rd Dec., 1869, 6th Jan., 7th July,
and 18th Aug., 1870.
[103]“Ibis,” 1865, p. 183.
[104]“Hist. Brit. Birds,” vol. iii. p. 128.
[105]It would seem that this account was first published by Mrs.
Blackburn, in what she terms “a little versified tale of mine,”
entitled “The Pipits,” which appeared in Glasgow in 1872.
[106]_Cf._ Garland, “Naturalist,” 1852, p. 82.
[107]“Gleanings in Natural History.”
[108]For a notice of this singular habit I am indebted to my friend Mr.
H. E. Dresser, who has translated Naumann’s observations on the
subject in his beautiful work on the “Birds of Europe.”
[109]_Cf._ “Zoologist,” 1858, and “Proc. Zool. Soc.,” 1863, p. 264.
[110]Mr. Benzon of Copenhagen informed my friend Mr. Dresser that a
short time ago the Hoopoe was by no means rare in Norway, but now
that the forests have been cleared of all the old and hollow trees
it has entirely vanished from the fauna of his district.
[111]“The Birds of the West of Scotland,” p. 198.
[112]“Nat. Hist. Ireland” (Birds), vol. i. p. 353.
[113]On this point the late Mr. Blyth, writing in the Natural History
columns of “The Field,” 17th August, 1872, under the signature “Z.,”
remarked that Orioles are amongst the few birds which breed before
attaining the mature plumage, and the females acquire this later
than the males, being always, however, of a greener shade. He had
observed this in _O. melanocephalus_, _O. chinensis_, _O.
tenuirostris_, and _O. acrorhynchus_, but thought that “the old
females of _O. galbula_, and _O. kundoo_, less frequently attain the
male colouring than those of the other species mentioned.”
[114]“The Birds of Damara Land,” p. 136.
[115]“The Birds of Norfolk,” vol. i. p. 360.
[116]“The Birds of the West of Scotland,” p. 223.
[117]“The Birds of Shetland,” p. 152.
[118]Baikie and Heddle, “Fauna Orcadensis,” p. 55, and Gray, _op. cit._
p. 223.
[119]“Birds of Egypt,” p. 214. See _ante_, p. 281.
[120]Irby, “Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar,” p. 134.
[121]A Landrail caught on Canvey Island, at the mouth of the Thames,
lived in confinement on corn and water for a week, when it made its
escape.
[122]Jones’s “Naturalist in the Bermudas,” p. 45.
[123]“Storia Naturale degli Uccelli che nidificano in Lombardia,” pt.
xxxii. t. 91.
[124]“Bengal Sporting Magazine,” 1842, p. 870.
[125]Out of twenty-four correspondents, thirteen call this bird the
Landrail and eleven the Corncrake, and this in various parts of the
country, so that neither name can be regarded by any means as local.
INDEX.
B
Blackcap, page 4, 10.
Butcher-bird, 276, 325.
C
Chiff-chaff, 28, 307.
“ Yellow-billed, 29, 30.
Corncrake, 288, 312.
Cuckoo, 219, 306.
Cuckoo’s-mate, 242, 320.
D
Dove, Turtle, 282, 323.
F
Flycatcher, Pied, 160, 323.
“ Red-breasted, 168.
“ Red-eyed, 169.
“ Spotted, 155, 311.
G
Goatsucker, 204, 320.
Golden Oriole, 262.
H
Hoopoe, 249.
L
Landrail, 288, 312.
M
Martin, House, 184, 304.
“ Purple, 190.
“ Sand, 41, 43, 187, 305.
N
Nightingale, 32, 313-318.
Nightjar, 204, 320.
O
Oriole, Golden, 262.
P
Pipit, Meadow, 124.
“ Pennsylvanian, 149.
“ Red-throated, page 152.
“ Richard’s, 142.
“ Rock, 130.
“ Tawny, 146.
“ Tree, 135, 318.
“ Water, 138.
R
Rail, Land, 288.
Red-backed Shrike, 276.
Redstart, Common, 74, 310.
“ Black, 78.
Reed Warbler, 101.
S
Shrike, Red-backed, 276, 325.
Stonechat, 13.
Swallow, 42, 43, 170, 302.
Swift, Alpine, 199.
“ Common, 191, 305.
“ Spine-tailed, 203.
T
Turtle Dove, 282.
W
Wagtail, Grey, 112.
“ Grey-headed, 121.
“ Pied, 106.
“ Ray’s or Yellow, 117, 319.
“ White, 110.
Warbler, Aquatic, 91.
“ Blackcap, 44.
“ Garden, 59, 326.
“ Grasshopper, 86, 322.
“ Great Reed, 101.
“ Icterine, 29, 30.
“ Marsh, 92.
“ Melodious, 29, 30.
“ Orphean, 51.
“ Reed, 82, 85, 101, 326.
“ Rufous, 103.
“ Savi’s, 88.
“ Sedge, 81-85, 319.
“ Willow, 24.
“ Wood, 16, 323.
Wheatear, 1, 321.
Whinchat, 9, 321, 322.
Whitethroat, Common, 67, 309.
“ Lesser, 71, 322.
Willow Wren, 24, 308.
Woodchat, 281.
Wood Wren, 16, 323.
Wryneck, 242.
[Illustration: Decorative glyph]
CHISWICK PRESS:—PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS,
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THE NATURAL HISTORY
AND
ANTIQUITIES
OF
SELBORNE,
IN THE COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON.
BY THE REV. GILBERT WHITE, M.A.
[Illustration: Gray Wagtail]
THE STANDARD EDITION BY E. T. BENNETT.
_Thoroughly revised, with additional Notes_,
BY JAMES EDMUND HARTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S.
AUTHOR OF “A HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS,” “THE ORNITHOLOGY OF
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ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS BY THOMAS BEWICK, HARVEY, AND OTHERS.
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[_Specimen Page._]
38 _NATURAL HISTORY_
in my outlet; but were frighted and persecuted by idle boys, who would
never let them be at rest.[126]
[Illustration: THE HOOPOE.]
Three gros-beaks (_Loxia coccothraustes_)[127] appeared some years ago
in my fields, in the winter; one of which I shot: since that, now and
then, one is occasionally seen in the same dead season.
[126]The hoopoe is an irregular spring and autumn visitant to this
country. It has occasionally nested here, and would do so, no doubt,
more frequently if unmolested. Colonel Montagu states, in his
“Ornithological Dictionary,” that a pair of hoopoes began a nest in
Hampshire, but being disturbed forsook it, and went elsewhere; and
Dr. Latham, in the Supplement to his “General Synopsis,” has
referred to a young Hoopoe in nestling plumage, which was shot in
this country in May. A pair nested for several years in the grounds
of Pennsylvania Castle, Portland (_cf._ Garland, “Naturalist,” 1852,
p. 82), and according to Mr. Turner, of Sherborne, Dorsetshire, the
nest has been taken on three or four occasions by the school-boys
from pollard willows on the banks of the river at Lenthay. The birds
were known to the boys as “hoops.” Mr. Jesse, in a note to this
passage in his edition of the present work, states that a pair of
hoopoes bred for many years in an old ash tree in the grounds of a
lady in Sussex, near Chichester.—Ed.
[127]_Coccothraustes vulgaris_ of modern systematists.
Transcriber’s Notes
--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.
--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.
--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.