British Birds in their Haunts Part 32

The Smew, or Smee, properly so called, is a winter visitor with us, more impatient of cold than the Duck-tribe generally, and consequently frequenting the southern more than the northern parts of the island.

In open weather it resorts to our rivers and fresh-water lakes, where it feeds on small fish and other aquatic animals, which it obtains by diving. In severe frosts it either flies farther south or repairs to tidal rivers and harbours. Though not a rare bird, it is sparingly distributed. It is found on many of the continental rivers, even those which are far distant from the sea, but is not often killed, as it is shy of being approached, readily takes wing, flies swiftly, and as a diver is most rapid and expert. It is, however, little sought after, for, in spite of its relationship, its strong fishy flavour prevents it from pa.s.sing muster as a Duck. Of its nesting little or nothing is known. In the north of Devon it is called, according to Montagu, 'Vare Wigeon', from the supposed resemblance of its head to that of a 'vare'

or weasel. I have also heard it called the 'Weasel Duck' in Norfolk, and on the south coast the 'Weasel-headed'.

ORDER COLUMBae

FAMILY COLUMBIDae

THE WOOD PIGEON OR RING DOVE COLUMBA PALUMBUS

Head, cheeks, neck, and upper part of the tail, bluish grey; back and wing-coverts darker; a white crescent-shaped spot on each side of the neck surrounded by scale-like feathers with green and purple reflections; primaries grey towards the base, white in the middle, and dusky towards the extremity, with the outer web white; tail barred with black at the end; abdomen whitish; bill orange, powdered with white at the base; iris light yellow; feet blood-red; claws brown. Length sixteen and a half inches. Eggs pure white.

Two hundred and fifty years ago the taste for keeping different sorts of Pigeons was as strong as it is in the present day, and the popular names of Runts, Croppers, Shakers, Carriers, Jacobins, Turbits, Barbaries, Tumblers, Hors.e.m.e.n, Spots, etc., modern though they may sound, were then applied to the very same varieties which are described under these names in recent _Guides to the Poultry-yard_.

Many of these were of foreign origin, and were known at a remote period in various eastern countries, so that there can be no doubt that the custom of keeping tame Pigeons is of very ancient date.

The Pigeons in some of their habits approach the gallinaceous birds, with which accordingly they are cla.s.sed. They are furnished with long and powerful wings, by help of which they can sustain a rapid and continuous flight. They seek their food mostly on the ground, but do not scratch with their feet, and are more given to bathe in water than to flutter in a bath of dust, though in this habit also they not unfrequently indulge. They are furnished, moreover, with a large crop, in which the food supplied to their young is partially macerated and reduced to a kind of pulp before the latter are fed. This process is carried on more by the agency of the receiver than of the giver, as the young birds, instead of opening their mouths and allowing the food to be dropped in, help themselves by inserting their bills into the sides of the old bird's mouth. Their mode of drinking differs from that of the true gallinaceous birds; they do not take short sips, lifting the head after every draught, but satisfy their thirst by one continuous immersion of the whole bill. They build their nests of a few sticks, and lay two white eggs.

Some of the foreign species are distinguished by their brilliant plumage. Those inhabiting Britain are unmarked by gaudy tints, but redeemed from plainness by the metallic glossy l.u.s.tre of their neck feathers.

The Wood Dove, called also Wood Pigeon and Ring Dove, is the largest British species, exceeding in dimensions most varieties of the domestic Pigeon. The summer wanderer through a wood in almost any part of the country can scarcely fail to have been disturbed in his meditations by the sudden flapping of wings of some large bird, which, without uttering any note, dashes through the foliage of a neighbouring tree, and makes off with hurried flight for some distant part of the wood. Seen through the openings of the trees, its predominant tint is blue-grey, but a large patch of white is distinctly perceptible on each wing. It might be mistaken for a hawk, so rapidly does it cleave its way through the air; but birds of prey are too wary to betray their movements by the sound of their wings; they, too, rather launch into the air, than start with a violent clapping of their pinions. A Jay might make a similar noise; but when alarmed it always utters its harsh scream, and, if it comes in sight, may at once be distinguished by the striking contrast of its white and black feathers. The bird just disturbed can scarcely, then, be anything but a Wood Dove, perhaps frightened from its nest, perhaps attending on its mate, or it may have been simply digesting its last meal, or waiting until sent forth by the cravings of hunger in quest of a new one; for the bird, though exemplary as a spouse and parent, has a large crop which is never allowed to remain long empty. The food and habits of Wood Pigeons vary with the season. In spring and summer they are most frequently seen alone or in pairs. They then feed princ.i.p.ally on the tender leaves of growing plants, and often commit great ravage in fields of beans and peas. Spring-sown corn is attacked by them both in the grain and the blade, and as soon as young turnips have put forth their second pair of leaves, they, too, come in for their share of devastation. As the season advances, they visit the corn-fields, especially those in the vicinity of their native woods, preferring, above all, those parts where the corn has been laid, and where a neighbouring grove or thicket will afford them a ready retreat if disturbed. They are very partial also to oily seeds of all kinds, and it is said that since colza has been extensively grown in the south of France, Wood Pigeons have become a scourge of agriculture, and that consequently war is waged on them unsparingly. It has been remarked also, that they have become much more abundant in Scotland in consequence of 'the great increase in the cultivation of turnips and clover, which afford them a constant supply of food during winter, and the great increase of fir woods, which are their delight both for roosting and rearing their young'. At the approach of autumn they a.s.semble in small flocks, and resort to oak and beech woods, especially the last, where acorns and beech-mast, swallowed whole, afford them an abundant and generous diet. They are now in great demand for the table, but, being very cautious and shy, are difficult of approach. A good many, however, are shot by men and boys, who discover beforehand in what particular trees they roost, and, lying in ambush to await their arrival, fire at them as they drop in small parties. In winter, the small flocks unite and form large ones. So large, indeed, are these sometimes in severe seasons, that it is fair to suppose that their numbers are considerably augmented by subsidies from colder climates, driven southwards perhaps by scarcity of food.

In districts abounding in oak and beech woods, they find abundance of food during the greater part of the winter; but when this supply is exhausted, or the ground is covered with snow, they repair once more to the turnip-fields, and feed on the green leaves. Hunger, however, does not rob them of their shyness, nor make them confiding; for let a human figure appear in ever so large a field where a flock is feeding, the alarm is at once caught and communicated to the whole party, who lose no time in displaying the white bar on the wing, and are soon beyond the reach of fowler and gun.

Among the first woodland sounds of spring and the last of autumn is the note of the Ring Dove, often continued for a long time together, always monotonous, but never wearisome. It is generally considered to be tinged with melancholy, and on this account the bird itself is supposed to have been named the Queest or Cushat

Deep toned The Cushat plains; nor is her changeless plaint Unmusical, when with the general quire Of woodland harmony it softly blends.

GRAHAME.

Wordsworth celebrates it under a name generally given to the next species:

I heard a Stock Dove sing or say His homely tale, this very day; His voice was buried among trees, Yet to be come at by the breeze.

It did not cease; but cooed and cooed, And somewhat pensively he wooed; He sang of love with quiet blending.

Slow to begin, and never ending; Of sorrows, faith, and inward glee; That was the song, the song for me.

And again, still more happily:

Over his own sweet voice the Stock Dove broods.

The note may be imitated by attempting to whistle, in a very deep tone, the syllables 'cooe-coo-roo-o-o-o'; or still more closely by clasping the hands together, so as to form a hollow, open only between the second joints of the thumbs, and blowing the same words over the orifice. With a little practise so close an imitation may be produced, that a genuine cooer may be beguiled into giving an answer. I may add, too, that with the same natural instrument and with a greater expenditure of breath the hoot of the Owl may be imitated; with a gentler effort and a quiver of the tongue the coo of the Turtle Dove may be nearly approached.

The Wood Dove has never been considered to be the origin of the domestic Pigeon, nor will it breed in captivity. There is no difficulty, however, in rearing birds taken young from the nest; and birds so brought up will alight with perfect confidence on the person of their foster nurse, and feed from his hand or mouth. The nest of the Wood Dove is an unsubstantial structure, composed of sticks so loosely put together that the eggs or young birds are sometimes visible from below. It is placed in a fork or among the branches of a tree; a thick fir is preferred; but nests are to be met with in ivy and thorn bushes either in a wood, coppice, or, more rarely, in a hedgerow. The number of eggs is always two. The male bird a.s.sists in the office of incubation.

THE STOCK DOVE COLUMBA OENAS

Head, throat, wings, and lower parts, bluish grey; the lower parts of the neck with metallic reflections, no white spots; breast wine-red; a black spot on the two last secondaries and some of the wing-coverts; primaries grey at the base, pa.s.sing into dusky; tail grey barred with black at the extremity, the outer feather with a white spot on the outer web near the base; irides reddish brown; bill yellow, red at the base; feet red; claws dusky. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs white.

The Stock Dove is by some persons supposed to be so called from its having been believed at one time to be the origin of the domestic Pigeon; but as it bore the name before the above question was mooted, it is more reasonable to suppose that it derived its name from its habit of nestling in the _stocks_ of trees, and not on the branches like the Ring Dove, nor in caves like the Rock Dove. Ray and Willughby, who treat the domestic Dove as a distinct species, gave it the name of Oenas (from the Greek _oinos_, wine), and Vinago (from the Latin _vinum_), from the purpled or wine-red hue of its breast and wings. Temminck does not hesitate to identify the domestic Pigeon with the Rock Dove, without even hinting the possibility of its having derived its origin from the Stock Dove. Since, therefore, the two birds have no marked resemblance, it may be reasonably supposed that the relationship between them rests solely on the narrow foundation that there exists a wild Pigeon, popularly called a Stock Dove, and that the word 'stock' has among other meanings that of 'parentage' or 'origin'. Thus the name gave rise to a theory which, having a plausible show, was hastily a.s.sumed, and was then employed to prove a fact which will not bear the test of examination. The Stock Dove in its habits closely resembles the Ring Dove, from which it cannot easily be distinguished at a distance. When tolerably near, a sharp eye can detect the absence of the white patch on the wings and of the ring round the neck. Its flight is more rapid, and it rarely perches on a slender bough, preferring to alight on a main branch or stump.

Its note is softer, and approaches that of the tame Pigeon. But the great mark of distinction is that on which I have supposed its name to be founded; that it does not build its nest among the branches of trees, but in the side of a stump, or other locality, where no one would even think of looking for a Ring Dove's nest. Yarrell states that 'in the open counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, this species frequently makes its nest in holes in the ground, generally selecting a rabbit's burrow'. It has greatly increased in the south of England of late, and it nests along the Moray and Dornock Firths. White, who had never seen its nest, says that it used to be abundant at Selborne 'from November to February'. Yarrell saw two old birds exposed for sale with Ring Doves, in London, on January 4. It resorts in spring to the neighbourhood in which it was bred, as a convenient place for rearing its own young, and at the end of summer repairs to woods and groves better adapted for supplying it with its favourite food, acorns and beech-mast. There it flocks together with Ring Doves, vast numbers of which a.s.semble in winter in some districts, and when the fowler plies his occupation, shares their fate. It is, however, by no means so common a bird as the Ring Dove at any season, nor is it so generally distributed. In the North it is certainly only a summer visitor; and, on the other hand, it is most abundant in the south of Europe and in Africa during winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Turtle Dove [M] [F]

Stock Dove [F] Rock Dove [M]

Wood Pigeon [M]

[_face p. 208_]]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Red-legged Partridge [F]

Grouse [M]

Partridge [M]

Black Grouse [M] [F]]

THE ROCK DOVE COLUMBA LIVIA

Plumage bluish ash, lighter on the wings; rump white; neck and breast l.u.s.trous with green and purple reflections, without a white spot; two transverse black bands on the wings; primaries and tail tipped with black; rump white; outer tail-feather white on the outer web; irides pale orange; bill black; feet red. Length twelve and a half inches. Eggs white.

The Rock Dove, though a bird of extensive range, is less generally known in its natural condition than either of the other British species. As its name imports, its favourite place of resort is the rocky coast; but this it frequents, not because it has any predilection for the sea-sh.o.r.e and its productions, but that its instincts teach it to make lofty rocks its stronghold, just as the natural impulse of the Ring Dove is to find safety in the forests. If this species is the original of all the numerous varieties of tame Pigeon, it must inhabit most countries of the eastern hemisphere; for a pigeon-fancier's dove-cot, to be complete, must contain several sorts which were first brought from remote regions; and we know that in Egypt, Phoenicia, and Persia, Pigeons had a mythological importance at an early date. It is said that the Pigeons which have established themselves in various public buildings of continental cities, as Saint Mark at Venice, and Pont Neuf at Paris, are exclusively Rock Pigeons; and I have seen it stated that they frequent the towers of Canterbury Cathedral; but it is possible that these may be in all cases derived from tame birds escaped from domestication, and resuming, to a certain extent, their wild habits and original plumage. That they resort to ruinous edifices near the sea in retired districts is beyond question, as I have seen them flying about and alighting on the walls of an old castle in the island of Kerrera, near Oban, in the Western Highlands, indifferent, seemingly, whether they nestled in the lofty cliffs on the mainland, where they are numerous, or on the equally secure ruins of masonry in the opposite island. That they are truly wild here there can be no doubt. Indeed, the precipitous sh.o.r.es of Scotland, the Hebrides, and Orkneys, afford them exactly the kind of retreat that suits their habits; and here among inaccessible rocks they build their nests and on their return from their inland marauding expeditions, pa.s.s their nights. Their att.i.tudes, mode of flight, progression when on the ground, note, and manner of feeding, are the same as those of the common tame Pigeon; and, as might be expected, both wild and tame birds agree in declining to perch on trees.

Macgillivray, who had opportunities of watching them in their native haunts at all seasons, informs us that they leave their caves in the crags at early dawn, and, proceeding along the sh.o.r.e, unite with other parties on their way till they reach the cultivated grounds, where they settle in large flocks, diligently seeking for grains of barley and oats, seeds of wild mustard and other weeds, picking up also the small snails[38] which abound in sandy pastures near the sea. In summer they make frequent short visits of this kind, returning at intervals to feed their young. In winter they form much larger flocks, and, making the best use of their short day, feed more intently, thus holding out a temptation to the fowler, who, if sufficiently wary, can sometimes approach near enough to kill a large number at a shot. They are supposed to pair for life; and this, I believe, is generally the case with tame Pigeons. They lay two eggs, and sit for three weeks.

The male and the female sit, alternately relieving each other. They breed twice a year, but the number of eggs never exceeds two. Hence the old Scottish saying, 'a doo's cleckin', for a family of only two children--a boy and a girl. They may be distinguished from the other common species while flying, by showing a large patch of white between the back and the tail.

[38] _Helix ericetorum_, a flattish, striped sh.e.l.l; and _Bulimus acutus_, an oblong, conical sh.e.l.l, mottled with grey and black.

THE TURTLE DOVE TURTUR COMMuNIS

Head and nape ash, tinged with wine-red; a s.p.a.ce on the sides of the neck composed of black feathers tipped with white; neck and breast pale wine-red; back ash-brown; primaries dusky; secondaries bluish ash; scapulars and wing-coverts rust-red with a black spot in the centre of each feather; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white; tail dusky, all but the two middle feathers tipped with white, the outer feather edged with white externally; irides yellowish red; feet red; bill brown. Eggs white.

Nearly three thousand years ago the Turtle Dove had the distinction of being enumerated among the pleasant things of spring: 'Lo, the winter Is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the Turtle is heard in our land.'[39] Less sweetly, but to the same effect, sings a poet of the last century:

The cuckoo calls aloud his wand'ring love.

The Turtle's moan is heard in ev'ry grove; The pastures change, the warbling linnets sing.

Prepare to welcome in the gaudy spring!

PHILIPS.