[Illustration:
FIG. 39.—The Wood Pigeon (_Columba palumbus_).
]
1. =Wood Pigeon= (_Columba palumbus_, Fig. 39), from April to September
scattered about in the woods, but after the breeding season wander about
in flocks, and in winter travel further south, although many remain. It
nests on horizontal branches, and feeds on seeds of fir and pine,
acorns, beechnuts, also grain, peas, vetches, rape-seed,—but seeds of
many weeds as well (_e.g._ those of charlock, vetchling, spurry,
cleavers). When the earth is covered with snow it often eats cabbage and
the leaves of winter rape, but is also of some service.
2. The =Turtle Dove= (_C. turtur_) occurs on the edges of woods,
especially those consisting of coniferous trees. Nests in the trees. For
_food_, _use_, and _harm_, cp. the preceding species. Steals buckwheat
grains from the fields.
3. The =Rock Pigeon= (_C. livia_) is the original stock of our races of
domestic pigeons. It nests, as a resident, in the Mediterranean
countries; as a migrant, on the rocky parts of the coasts of Great
Britain and the Orkneys, Shetlands, and Faroe Islands.
ORDER: =Rasores= (POULTRY).
Body strong, thick-set. Head small, often with naked, brightly coloured
patches, with fleshy combs or with a crest of feathers. Tip of the upper
beak bends over that of the lower one. No cere (cp. Doves). Wings short,
rounded; flight heavy. Feet strong. Hinder toe small and usually
attached to the tarsus higher up than the front toes. Claws blunt. A
small web at the bases of the toes. The male of several species bears a
spur on the tarsus. Birds of this order usually keep on the ground,
scraping it in search of their food, which consists of seeds, berries,
the green parts of plants, insects, worms, and snails. Young precocious
(p. 51). Several domestic birds belong to the Rasores: pheasants, the
various races of fowls, pea-fowls, guinea-fowls, turkeys.
The species living wild in Britain are game-birds. They are—the
=Capercailzie= (_Tetrao urogallus_, Fig. 40), =Black Game= (_T.
tetrix_), =Partridge= (_Perdix cinerea_), =Quail= (_P. coturnix_); none
of them are particularly harmful or useful to agriculture.
The =Pheasant= (_Phasianus colchicus_, Fig. 41) was originally a native
of the Caucasus, and shores of the Caspian Sea and Sea of Aral; it
occurs wild in Central Europe. Pheasants are troublesome to the farmer,
both by devouring the newly sown seed and by scratching up the fields.
[Illustration:
FIG. 40.—Male and Female Capercailzie (_Tetrao urogallus_).
]
ORDER: =Grallatores= (WADING-BIRDS).
The species here included differ very much among themselves; but all
seek their food, which is almost exclusively of animal nature, at the
water-edge (rivers, brooks, lakes, ditches, canals, seashore) or in damp
places (damp meadows and ploughed fields, moors, swamps). They are,
therefore, adapted to wading, and for this purpose have a long
featherless tarsus, while the lower half of the long shank is quite bare
and covered with horny scales. In flight the wading-birds do not draw
their legs up to their body, as is the case with the birds already
spoken of, but stretch them out behind to their full length. Monogamous.
Young precocious (p. 51), except in storks and herons when they are
nestlings. The shore-dwellers eat fish, bivalve molluscs, etc.; only
those species living on damp meadows and fields are of use to
agriculturists, by devouring insects, snails, and worms. These are
indicated by the letter u in the following list of the commonest native
kinds:—
[Illustration:
FIG. 41.—The Pheasant (_Phasianus colchicus_).
]
=Coot= (_Fulica atra_); =Water Hen= (_Gallinula chloropus_); =Corn
Crake= (_Crex pratensis_, u); =Plovers= (_Charadrius_, u); =Pewit= or
=Lapwing= (_Vanellus cristatus_, u); the =Snipes= (_Scolopax_); the
=Curlews= (_Numenius_, u); the =Stints= (_Tringa_); the =Godwit=
(_Limosa ægocephala_, u); the =Sandpipers= (_Totanus_, u); the =Heron=
(_Ardea cinerea_).
[Illustration:
FIG. 42.—The Woodcock (_Scolopax rusticola_).
]
ORDER: =Natatores= (SWIMMING-BIRDS).
These birds are distinguished by their swimming powers and corresponding
organization. Legs usually set on far back, shorter than the body. The
feet in particular are adapted for swimming. In some swimming-birds each
of the forwardly directed toes has a webbed margin (“split swimming
feet,” Fig. 43); in others, the three front toes are all united by a web
(Fig. 44), while the hind toe is either small or wanting (“swimming
feet”); lastly, there are some in which all the toes are forwardly
directed and united by a common web (“oar-feet”). The plumage of
swimming-birds is compact, and always kept greasy by the secretion of
the oil-gland. I shall speak of two families only.
Family: =Lamellirostra= (_Ducks_).
[Illustration:
FIG. 43.—Crested and Little Grebes (_Podiceps cristatus_ and _minor_).
]
The inner margin of the beak is covered by skin, thrown into transverse
ridges or tooth-like projections. Swimming feet (Fig. 44). Tolerably
long wings; remarkable powers of flight. Feathers soft. These birds
mostly affect shallow fresh water, in which they get their food by
grubbing in the mud, the soft skin of the beak serving as an organ of
touch. Polygamous. Young precocious (p. 51).
Here belong—the long-necked =Swans= (_Cygnus_) and the thick
short-necked =Geese= (_Anser_), in which the beak is higher than broad
at its base; the =Swimming Ducks= (_Anas_) with broader beaks, the
=Diving Ducks= (_Fuligula_), and =Goosanders= (_Mergus_) with a broad
hanging web to the hind toe. None of these birds are useful, while wild
geese and ducks are harmful.
[Illustration:
FIG. 44.—Goose (_Anser cinereus_).
]
Three species of wild =Geese= (=Grey Goose= = _Anser cinereus_, =Bean
Goose= = _A. segetum_, =White-fronted Goose= = _A. albifrons_) chiefly
breed in Eastern or Northern Europe, and only come to Britain in autumn
or winter, flying about in flocks. They eat the grass in low-lying
meadows, and even pull it up by the roots; in the cultivated fields they
devour winter corn and winter rape, and tread down more with their
clumsy feet than they eat. They are also harmful to vegetable growth,
owing to the very caustic nature of their dung, which is often deposited
in large quantities in one place. In regions where they breed they also
devour both ripe and unripe grain. Where they only occur in autumn, they
scrape potatoes, turnips, and carrots out of the ground in order to eat
them. Flocks of geese fly in a slanting line or in the form of a
ploughshare.
Among _Swimming Ducks_ damage is only done by the =Wild Duck= (_Anas
boschas_). It breeds wherever there are fresh waters. Nests amongst
grasses or swamp-plants, or in a tree. The wild ducks remain the whole
winter as long as the waters are not frozen, otherwise they go off for a
short time to the south. Food: the tops of stems, buds, leaves of
various water-plants, also barley, oats, and other grain; water-insects,
fish, and fish-spawn. These ducks also do damage in cornfields by
treading down and cracking the plants.
Family: =Longipennes= (_Gulls_).
Usually swimming feet. Legs tolerably long, adapted for wading (Fig.
45). Wings long, pointed. Beak laterally compressed. Young nestlings (p.
51). Breed in larger or smaller flocks, usually on the coast,
occasionally on the margin of fresh waters. They chiefly feed on fish,
worms, molluscs, and crustacea; sometimes, in the case of a few species,
on young birds and eggs, as well as mice and other small mammals. Gulls
are usually of no importance in agriculture; but the =Black-headed Gull=
(_Larus ridibundus_), which breeds on the banks of lakes and rivers,
devours many cockchafers and other noxious insects. The =Herring Gull=
(Fig. 45), =Kittiwake= (_Larus argentatus_ and _L. tridactylus_), and a
few other species, which breed on the coast, sometimes show themselves
inland, especially in stormy weather; they then pursue field-voles, and
catch many injurious insects.
Besides the true =Gulls= (_Larus_), I will only mention the =Sea
Swallows= (_Sterna_), with forked tails.
[Illustration:
FIG. 45.—Herring Gull (_Larus argentatus_).
]