British Birds in their Haunts Part 37

In some of its habits it resembles the Plovers, as it frequents open plains and runs with great rapidity. In nidification, also, and in the shape, colour, and markings of its eggs it is a.s.sociated with the same tribe; while in its mode of flight and habit of catching flies while on the wing, it approaches the Swallows. Hence it was named by Linnaeus, _Hirundo pratincola_, and under this designation it is figured in Bewick. Its true place in the system is, however, undoubtedly, among the waders, several of which not only feed on insects, but are expert in catching them on the wing.

FAMILY CHARADRIIDae

THE THICK-KNEE OR STONE CURLEW OEDICNeMUS SCoLOPAX

Upper parts reddish ash with a white spot in the middle of each feather; s.p.a.ce between the eye and beak, throat, belly, and thighs, white; neck and breast tinged with red, and marked with fine longitudinal brown streaks; a white longitudinal bar on the wing; first primary with a large white spot in the middle; second, with a small one on the inner web; lower tail-coverts reddish, the feathers, except those in the middle, tipped with black; beak black, yellowish at the base; hides, orbits, and feet, yellow. Length seventeen inches. Eggs yellowish brown clouded with greenish, blotched and spotted with dusky and olive.

Though a citizen of the world, or at least of the eastern hemisphere, this bird is commonly known under the name of Norfolk Plover, from its being more abundant in that county than in any other. It is also called Thick-knee, from the robust conformation of this joint; and Stone Curlew, from its frequenting waste stony places and uttering a note which has been compared to the sound of the syllables _curlui_ or _turlui_. Like the Cuckoo, it is more frequently heard than seen, but that only by night. In some of its habits it resembles the Bustard, and is said even to a.s.sociate, in Northern Africa, with the Lesser Bustard. Its favourite places of resort are extensive plains; it runs rapidly when disturbed, and when it does take wing, flies for a considerable distance near the ground before mounting into the air. It frequents our open heaths and chalk downs and breeds in Romney Marsh and in the uplands of Kent and Suss.e.x.

By day the Thick-knee confines itself to the ground, either crouching or hunting for food, which consists of worms, slugs, and beetles, under stones, which it is taught by its instinct to turn over. After sunset, it takes flight, and probably rises to a great height, as its plaintive whistle, which somewhat resembles the wail of a human being, is often heard overhead when the bird is invisible. It is singularly shy, and carefully avoids the presence of human beings, whether sportsmen or labourers. Yet it is not dest.i.tute of courage, as it has been seen to defend its nest with vigour against the approach of sheep or even of dogs. Nest, properly speaking, it has none, for it contents itself with scratching a hole in the ground and depositing two eggs.

The males are supposed to a.s.sist in the office of incubation. The young inherit the faculty of running at an early age, being able to leave their birth-place with facility soon after they are hatched; but the development of their wings is a work of time, for their body has attained its full size long before they are able to rise from the ground. Before taking their departure southwards in autumn, they a.s.semble in small parties, numbering from four to six or seven, when they are somewhat more easy of approach than in spring. In the chalky plains of La Marne in France they are very numerous; and here, by the aid of a light cart, fowlers in quest of them have little difficulty in shooting large numbers, the birds being less afraid of the approach of a horse than of a human being. But when obtained they are of little value, as their flesh is barely eatable.

The Thick-knee is migratory, visiting us in the beginning of April to stay till October. His flights are made by night.

THE CREAM-COLOURED COURSER CURSORIUS GALLICUS

Plumage reddish cream colour; wing-coverts bordered with ash-grey; throat whitish; behind the eyes a double black bar; lateral tail-feathers black towards the tip, with a white spot in the centre of the black; abdomen whitish. Length nine inches. Eggs unknown.

Though the specific name Europaeus would seem to imply that this bird is of frequent occurrence in Europe, this is not the case. Not more than three or four have been observed in Great Britain, at various intervals, from 1785 to 1827; and on the Continent it is an equally rare visitor to the plains of Provence and Languedoc.

It is a native of Syria, Egypt, and Abyssinia, frequenting pools and other moist situations. It is singularly fearless of man, and when disturbed prefers to run, which it does very swiftly, rather than to take flight. Its winter residence is supposed to be the central lakes of Africa, from which it returns to the countries named above early in autumn, and disappears at the approach of winter. Nothing is known of its nidification. About the autumn of 1868 one was shot in Lanarkshire.

THE GOLDEN PLOVER CHARaDRIUS PLUVIALIS

_Winter_--upper plumage dusky, spotted with yellow, cheeks, neck, and breast mottled with ash-brown and buff; throat and abdomen white; quills dusky, white along the shafts towards the end; beak dusky, feet deep ash-colour; irides brown.

_Summer_--upper plumage greyish black, spotted with bright yellow; forehead and s.p.a.ce above the eyes white; sides of the neck white, mottled with black and yellow; lore, throat, neck, and lower parts deep black. Length nine inches. Eggs yellowish green, blotched and spotted with black.

The Golden Plover is a common bird in the south of England during the winter months, and in the mountainous parts of Scotland and the north of England during the rest of the year; yet so different are its habits and plumage at the extremes of these two seasons, that the young naturalist who has had no opportunities of observing them in their transition stage, and has had no access to trustworthy books, might be forgiven for setting down the two forms of the bird as distinct species.

In the hilly districts of the north of Europe, Golden Plovers are numerous, sometimes being, with Ptarmigans, the only birds which relieve the solitude of the desolate wastes. Though numerous in the same localities, they are not gregarious during spring and summer, and are remarkable for their fearlessness of man. So tame, indeed, are they that, in little-frequented places, when disturbed by the traveller they will run along the stony ground a few yards in front of him, then fly a few yards, then stand and stare and run along as before. On such occasions they frequently utter their singular cry--the note so often referred to in Sir Walter Scott's poems--which, like the Nightingale's song, is considered simply plaintive or painfully woe-begone, according to the natural temperament or occasional mood of the hearer. This bird builds no nest; a natural depression in the ground, unprotected by bush, heather or rock, serves its purpose, and here the female lays four eggs, much pointed at one end, and arranges them in accordance with this.

At the approach of autumn, no matter where their summer may have been pa.s.sed, Plovers migrate southwards in large flights, those from Scotland to the southern counties of England, where they frequent wide moist pastures, heaths, and reclaimed marshland. From the northern parts of the continent of Europe they take their departure in October, either to the European sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean, or to the plains of Northern Africa. In these migrations they are not unfrequently joined by Starlings. They travel in close array, forming large flocks much wider than deep, moving their sharp wings rapidly, and making a whizzing sound which may be heard a long way off. Now and then, as if actuated by a single impulse, they sweep towards the ground, suddenly alter the direction of their flight, then wheel upwards with the regularity of a machine, and either alight or pursue their onward course. This habit of skimming along the ground and announcing their approach beforehand, is turned to good purpose by the bird-catcher, who imitates their note, attracts the whole flight to sweep down into his neighbourhood, and captures them in his net, a hundred at a time, or, when they are within range, has no difficulty in killing from twelve to twenty at a shot. Not unfrequently, too, when some members of a flock have been killed or wounded, the remainder, before they remove out of danger, wheel round and sweep just over the heads of their ill-fated companions, as if for the purpose of inquiring the reason why they have deserted the party, or of alluring them to join it once more. This habit is not peculiar to Plovers, but may be noticed in the case of several of the sea-side waders, as Dunlins and Sanderlings. In severe winter weather they desert the meadows, in which the worms have descended into the ground beyond the reach of frost, and so of their bills, and resort to the muddy or sandy sea-sh.o.r.e. In the Hebrides it is said that they do not migrate at all, but simply content themselves with shifting from the moors to the sh.o.r.e and back again, according to the weather. In the northern parts of France, on the other hand, they are only known as pa.s.sengers on their way to the south. From making their appearance in the rainy season they are there called _pluviers_, whence our name Plover, which, however, is supposed by some to have been given to them for their indicating by their movements coming changes in the weather, in which respect indeed their skill is marvellous.

The Golden Plover, sometimes called also Yellow Plover, and Green Plover, is found at various seasons In most countries of Europe; but the Golden Plovers of Asia and America are considered to be different species.

THE GREY PLOVER SQUATaROLA HELVETICA

_Winter_--forehead, throat, and under plumage, white, spotted on the neck and flanks with grey and brown; upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with white and ash colour; long axillary feathers black or dusky; tail white, barred with brown and tipped with reddish; bill black; irides dusky; feet blackish grey. _Summer_--lore, neck, breast, belly, and flanks, black, bounded by white; upper plumage and tail black and white.

Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs olive, spotted with black.

Many of the Waders agree in wearing, during winter, plumage in a great measure of a different hue from that which characterizes them in summer; and, as a general rule, the winter tint is lighter than that of summer. This change is, in fact, but an extension of the law which clothes several of the quadrupeds with a dusky or a snowy fur in accordance with the season. The Grey Plover, as seen in England, well deserves its name, for, as it frequents our sh.o.r.es in the winter alone, it is only known to us as a bird grey above and white below.

But in summer the under plumage is decidedly black, and in this respect it bears a close resemblance to the Golden Plover, with which, in spite of the presence of a rudimentary fourth toe, it is closely allied. My friend, the Rev. W. S. h.o.r.e, informs me that he has seen them in Norfolk wearing the full black plumage in May. The occurrence of the bird, however, in this condition, in England, is exceptional; while in the northern regions, both of the Old and New World, it must be unusual to see an adult bird in any other than the sable plumage of summer.

The Grey Plover is a bird of extensive geographical range, being known in j.a.pan, India, New Guinea, the Cape of Good Hope, Egypt, the continent of Europe, and North America. In this country, as I have observed, it occurs from autumn to spring, frequenting the sea-sh.o.r.e, and picking up worms and other animal productions cast up by the sea.

Grey Plovers are less abundant than Golden Plovers; yet, in severe seasons they a.s.semble in numerous small flocks on the sh.o.r.es of the eastern counties, and, as Meyer well observes, they are disposed to be "sociable, not only towards their own species, but to every other coast bird. When a party either go towards the sh.o.r.e, or leave it for the meadows and flat wastes, they unanimously keep together; but when alighting, they mix with every other species, and thus produce a motley group." They fly in flocks, varying from five to twenty or more, keeping in a line, more or less curved, or in two lines forming an angle. Their flight is strong and rapid, rarely direct, but sweeping in wide semicircles. As they advance they alternately show their upper and under plumage, but more frequently the latter; for they generally keep at a height of sixty or a hundred yards from the ground, in this respect differing from Ringed Plovers, Dunlins, etc.

Occasionally one or two of the flock utter a loud whistle, which seems to be a signal for all to keep close order. Just as Starlings habitually alight wherever they see Rooks or Gulls feeding, so the Grey Plovers join themselves on to any society of birds which has detected a good hunting-ground. During a single walk along the sands I have observed them mixed up with Dunlins, Knots, Gulls, Redshanks, and Royston Crows; but in no instance was I able to approach near enough to note their habit of feeding. They were always up and away before any other birds saw danger impending. In autumn they are less shy.

The people on the coast describe the Grey Plover as the shyest of all the Waders, and could give me no information as to its habits; but Meyer, whose description of this bird is very accurate in other respects, states that "its general appearance is peculiar to itself; it walks about on the ground slowly and with grace, and stops every now and then to pick up its food; it carries its body in a horizontal position on straight legs, and its head very close to its body, consequently increasing the thick appearance of the head."

The Grey Plover breeds in high lat.i.tudes, making a slight hollow in the ground, and employing a few blades of gra.s.s. It lays four eggs, on which it sits so closely that it will almost be trodden on. When thus disturbed its ways remind one of the Ringed Plover.

THE DOTTEREL EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS

_Winter_--head dusky ash; over each eye a reddish white band, meeting at the nape; face whitish, dotted with black; back dusky ash, tinged with green, the feathers edged with rust-red; breast and flanks reddish ash; gorget white; beak black; hides brown; feet greenish ash. _Summer_--face and a band over the eyes white; head dusky; nape and sides of the neck ash; feathers of the back, wing-coverts, and wing-feathers, edged with deep red; gorget white, bordered above by a narrow black line; lower part of the breast and flanks bright rust-red; middle of the belly black; abdomen reddish white. Young birds have a reddish tinge on the head, and the tail is tipped with red. Length nine inches and a half. Eggs yellowish olive, blotched and spotted with dusky brown.

The Dotterel, Little Dotard, or Morinellus, 'little fool', received both the one and the other of its names from its alleged stupidity.

'It is a silly bird', says Willughby, writing in 1676; 'but as an article of food a great delicacy. It is caught in the night by lamplight, in accordance with the movements of the fowler. For if he stretch out his arm, the bird extends a wing; if he a leg, the bird does the same. In short, whatever the fowler does, the Dotterel does the same. And so intent is it on the movements of its pursuer, that it is unawares entangled in the net.' Such, at least, was the common belief; and Pennant alludes to it, quoting the following pa.s.sage from the poet Drayton

Most worthy man, with thee 'tis ever thus, As men take Dottrels, so hast thou ta'en us Which, as a man his arme or leg doth set, So this fond bird will likewise counterfeit.

In Pennant's time, Dotterels were not uncommon in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, appearing in small flocks of eight or ten only, from the latter end of April to the middle of June; and I have been informed by a gentleman in Norfolk that, not many years since, they annually resorted also in small flocks to the plains of that county. Of late years, owing most probably to their being much sought after for the table, they have become more rare; and the same thing has taken place in France.

The Dotterel has been observed in many of the English counties both in spring and autumn, and has been known to breed in the mountainous parts of the north of England; but I may remark that the name is frequently given in Norfolk and elsewhere to the Ringed Plover, to which bird also belong the eggs collected on the sea-coast, and sold as Dotterel's eggs.

THE RINGED PLOVER aeGIALITIS HIATiCULA

Forehead, lore, sides of the face, gorget reaching round the neck, black; a band across the forehead and through the eyes, throat, a broad collar, and all the lower parts, white; upper plumage ash-brown; outer tail-feather white, the next nearly so, the other feathers grey at the base, pa.s.sing into dusky and black, tipped with white, except the two middle ones, which have no white tips; orbits, feet and beak orange, the latter tipped with black. _Young_--colours of the head dull; gorget incomplete, ash-brown; bill dusky, tinged with orange at the base of the lower mandible; feet yellowish. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs olive-yellow, with numerous black and grey spots.

On almost any part of the sea-coast of Britain, where there is a wide expanse of sand left at low water, a bird may often be noticed, not much larger than a Lark, grey above and white below, a patch of black on the forehead and under the eye, a white ring round the neck, and a black one below. If the wind be high, or rain be falling, the observer will be able to get near enough to see these markings; for sea-birds generally are less acute observers in foul weather than in fair. On a nearer approach, the bird will fly up, uttering a soft, sweet, plaintive whistle of two notes, and, having performed a rapid, semicircular flight, will probably alight at no great distance, and repeat its note. If it has settled on the plain sand or on the water's edge, or near a tidal pool, it runs rapidly, without hopping, stoops its head, picks up a worm, a portion of sh.e.l.lfish, or a sand-hopper, runs, stops, pecks, and runs again, but does not allow any one to come so near as before. The next time that it alights, it may select, perhaps, the beach of sh.e.l.ls and pebbles above high-water mark. Then it becomes at once invisible; or, if the observer be very keen-sighted, he may be able to detect it while it is in motion, but then only. Most probably, let him mark ever so accurately with his eye the exact spot on which he saw it alight, and let him walk up to the spot without once averting his eye, he will, on his arrival, find it gone. It has run ahead with a speed marvellous in so small a biped, and is pecking among the stones a hundred yards off. Its name is the Ringed Plover, or Ringed Dotterel. Fishermen on the coast call it a Stone-runner, a most appropriate name; others call it a Sea Lark. In ornithological works it is described under the former of these names.

The Ringed Plover frequents the sh.o.r.es of Great Britain all the year round. It is a social bird, but less so in spring than at any other season; for the females are then employed in the important business of incubation, and the males are too attentive to their mates to engage in picnics on the sands. The nest is a simple hollow in the sand, above high-water mark, or on the shingly beach; and here the female lays four large, pointed eggs, which are arranged in the nest with all the small ends together. The young are able to run as soon as they break the sh.e.l.l; but, having no power of flight for a long time, avoid impending danger by scattering and hiding among the stones. The old bird, on such occasions, uses her wings; but not to desert her charge.

She flies up to the intruder, and, like other members of the same family, endeavours to entice him away by counterfeiting lameness or some injury.

The Ringed Plover sometimes goes inland to rear her young, and lays her eggs in a sandy warren, on the bank of a river or the margin of a lake; but when the young are able to fly, old and young together repair to the sea-sh.o.r.e, collecting in flocks, and for the most part continuing to congregate until the following spring. Their flight is rapid and sweeping, consisting of a succession of curves, while performing which they show sometimes their upper grey plumage, and at other times the under, which is of a dazzling white. Occasionally, too, as they wheel from one tack to another, every bird is lost sight of, owing to the perfect unanimity with which, at the same instant, they alter their course, and to the incapacity of the human eye to follow the rapid change from a dark hue to a light.

Not unfrequently one falls in with a solitary individual which has been left behind by its companions, or has strayed from the flock.

Such a bird, when disturbed, utters its whistle more frequently than on ordinary occasions, and, as its note is not difficult of imitation, I have often enticed a stray bird to fly close up to me, answering all the while. But it has rarely happened that I have succeeded in practising the deception on the same bird a second time.

THE KENTISH PLOVER aeGIALITIS CANTIANA

Forehead, a band over each eye, chin, cheeks, and under parts, white; upper part of the forehead, a band from the base of the beak extending through the eye, and a large spot on each side of the breast, black; head and nape light brownish red; rest of the upper plumage ash-brown; two outer tail-feathers while, the third whitish, the rest brown; beak, irides, and feet, brown. _Female_ wants the black spot on the forehead, and the other parts black in the male are replaced by ash-brown. Length six and a half inches. Eggs olive-yellow, spotted and speckled with black.

The Kentish Plover differs from the preceding in its inferior size, in having a narrower stripe of black on the cheeks, and in wanting the black ring round the neck. It is found from time to time in various parts of the country, breeding in Kent, Suss.e.x and the Channel Islands, but is most abundant on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean. Its habits resemble closely those of the allied species.

On the authority of the Greek historian Herodotus, a little bird is found in Egypt called the Trochilus, which is noted for the friendly and courageous office it performs for the Crocodile. This unwieldy monster, having no flexible tongue wherewith to cleanse its mouth, comes on sh.o.r.e after its meals, opens its jaws, and allows the Trochilus to enter and pick off the leeches and fragments of food, which, adhering to its teeth, interfere, with its comfort. This story was long believed to be a fable; but the French naturalist Geoffrey de Saint Hilaire has, in modern times, confirmed the veracity of the father of history, and p.r.o.nounces the Trochilus of the ancients to be the _Pluvier a Collier interrompu_, the subject of the present chapter. The Cayman of South America is also said to be indebted for a similar service to the kindly offices of a little bird, which, however, is not a Plover, but a Toddy.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Curlew [M]