British Birds in their Haunts Part 39

Some sportsmen wisely recommend that no Woodc.o.c.k should be shot after the middle of February; for it has been ascertained that increasing numbers of these remain for the purpose of breeding in this country; and it is conjectured, with reason, that if they were left undisturbed in their spring haunts, they would remain in yet larger numbers. As it is, there are few counties in England in which their nest has not been discovered; and there are some few localities in which it is one of the pleasant sights of the evening, at all seasons of the year, to watch the Woodc.o.c.ks repairing from the woods to their accustomed feeding-ground.

The nest is built of dry leaves, princ.i.p.ally of fern, and placed among dead gra.s.s, in dry, warm situations, and contains four eggs, which, unlike those of the Snipes, are nearly equally rounded at each end.

There have been recorded numerous instances in which a Woodc.o.c.k has been seen carrying its young through the air to water, holding the nestling between her thighs pressed close to her body.

During its flight, the Woodc.o.c.k invariably holds its beak pointed in a direction towards the ground. Young birds taken from the nest are easily reared; and afford much amus.e.m.e.nt by the skill they display in extracting worms from sods with which they are supplied. The Woodc.o.c.k is found in all countries of the eastern hemisphere where trees grow; but it is only met as a straggler on the Atlantic coast of the United States.

THE GREAT SNIPE GALLINaGO MAJOR

Crown black, divided longitudinally by a yellowish white band; a streak of the same colour over each eye; from the beak to the eye a streak of dark brown; upper plumage mottled with black and chestnut-brown, some of the feathers edged with straw-colour; greater wing-coverts tipped with white; under parts whitish, spotted and barred with black; tail of sixteen feathers; bill brown, flesh-coloured at the base. Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs brownish olive, spotted with reddish brown.

The Great Snipe, Solitary Snipe or Double Snipe, is intermediate in size between the Woodc.o.c.k and Common Snipe. Though not among the rarest of our visitants, it is far from common. It is, however, an annual visitor, and is seen most frequently in the eastern counties in the autumn. Its princ.i.p.al resorts are low damp meadows and gra.s.sy places near marshes, but it does not frequent swamps like its congeners. This difference in its haunts implies a different diet, and this bird, it is stated, feeds princ.i.p.ally on the larvae or grubs of Tipulae (known by the common name of Father Daddy-Long-legs), which are in summer such voracious feeders on the roots of gra.s.s. It breeds in the northern countries of Europe, and in some parts of Sweden is so abundant that as many as fifty have been shot in a day. When disturbed on its feeding-ground, it rises without uttering any note, and usually drops in again, at no great distance, after the manner of the Jack Snipe. It may be distinguished by its larger size, and by carrying its tail spread like a fan. In the northern countries where it breeds it is found most commonly in the meadows after hay-harvest, and as it is much prized for the delicacy of its flesh it is a favourite object of sport. It is remarkable for being always in exceedingly good condition, a remark which applies to specimens procured in this country as well as those shot in Sweden. The nest, which has rarely been seen, is placed in a tuft of gra.s.s, and contains four eggs. The _Zoologist_ once mentioned the fact of four solitary Snipes being killed in the county of Durham in August, and two of these were young birds, scarcely fledged.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Great Snipe

Jack Snipe [M]

Common Snipe

Woodc.o.c.k [M]

[_face p. 256_.]]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Knot [M]

Wood Sandpiper.

Sanderling [M]

Whimbrel [M]]

THE COMMON SNIPE GALLINaGO CaeLESTIS

Upper plumage very like the last; chin and throat reddish white; lower parts white, without spots; flanks barred transversely with white and dusky; tail of fourteen feathers.

Length eleven and a half inches. Eggs light greenish yellow, spotted with brown and ash.

The Common Snipe is a bird of very general distribution, being found in all parts of the eastern hemisphere, from Ireland to j.a.pan, and from Siberia to the Cape of Good Hope. It is common also in many parts of America, especially Carolina, and is frequent in many of the American islands. In Britain, Snipes are most numerous in the winter, their numbers being then increased by arrivals from high lat.i.tudes, from which they are driven by the impossibility of boring for food in ground hardened by frost or buried beneath snow. In September and October large flocks of these birds arrive in the marshy districts of England, stopping sometimes for a short time only, and then proceeding onwards; but being like many other birds, gregarious at no other time than when making their migrations, when they have arrived at a district where they intend to take up their residence, they scatter themselves over marsh land, remaining in each other's neighbourhood perhaps, but showing no tendency to flock together. Their food consists of the creeping things which live in mud, and to this, it is said by some, they add small seeds and fine vegetable fibre; but it is questionable whether this kind of food is not swallowed by accident, mixed up with more nourishing diet. The end of their beak is furnished with a soft pulpy membrane, which in all probability is highly sensitive, and enables the bird to discover by the touch the worms which, being buried in mud, are concealed from its sight. Snipes when disturbed always fly against the wind, so when suddenly scared from their feeding-ground, and compelled to rise without any previous intention on their part, they seem at first uncertain which course to take, but twist and turn without making much progress in any direction; but in a few seconds, having decided on their movements, they dart away with great rapidity, uttering at the same time a sharp cry of two notes, which is difficult to describe, but once heard can scarcely be mistaken. When a bird on such an occasion is fired at, it often happens that a number of others, who have been similarly occupied, rise at the report, and after having performed a few mazy evolutions, dart off in the way described. At other times they lie so close that between the sportsman and the bird which he has just killed there may be others concealed, either unconscious of danger, or trusting for security to their powers of lying hid. This tendency to lie close, or the reverse, depends much on the weather, though why it should be so seems not to have been decided. But the movements of Snipes generally are governed by laws of which we know little or nothing. At one season they will be numerous in a certain marsh; the next year perhaps not one will visit the spot; to-day, they will swarm in a given locality; a night's frost will drive them all away, and a change of wind a few days after will bring them all back again. If very severe weather sets in they entirely withdraw, but of this the reason is obvious; the frozen state of the marsh puts a stop to their feeding. They then retire to milder districts, to springs which are never frozen, to warm nooks near the sea, or to salt marshes. Perhaps the majority perform a second migration southwards; for, as a rule, they are most numerous at the two periods of autumn and spring--that is, while on their way to and from some distant winter-quarters. After March they become far less frequent, yet there are few extensive marshes, especially in Scotland and the north of England, where some do not remain to breed. At this season a striking change in their habits makes itself perceptible. A nest is built of withered gra.s.s, sometimes under the shelter of a tuft of heath or reeds, and here the female sits closely on four eggs. The male, meanwhile, is feeding in some neighbouring swamp, and if disturbed, instead of making off with his zigzag winter's flight, utters his well-remembered note and ascends at a rapid rate into the air, now ascending with a rapid vibration of wing, wheeling, falling like a parachute, mounting again, and once more descending with fluttering wings, uttering repeatedly a note different from his cry of alarm, intermixed with a drumming kind of noise, which has been compared to the bleat of a goat. This last sound is produced by the action of the wings, a.s.sisted by the tail-feathers, in his descents. One of its French names is _Chevre volant_, flying goat, and the Scottish name 'Heather-bleater', was also given to it as descriptive of its peculiar summer note. The female sits closely on her eggs, and if disturbed while in charge of her yet unfledged brood, endeavours to distract the attention of an intruder from them to herself by the artifice already described as being employed by others of the Waders.

'Sabine's Snipe', which was at one time thought to be a distinct species, is now admitted to be a melanism, a dark variety of the Common Snipe, recent examination of specimens having proved that its tail contains fourteen feathers and not twelve only, as was supposed.

It is seldom found outside Great Britain.

THE JACK SNIPE GALLINaGO GALLiINULA

Crown divided longitudinally by a black band edged with reddish brown; beneath this on either side a parallel yellowish band reaching from the bill to the nape; back beautifully mottled with buff, reddish brown, and black, the latter l.u.s.trous with green and purple; neck and breast spotted; belly and abdomen pure white; tail of twelve feathers, dusky edged with reddish grey; bill dusky, lighter towards the base. Length eight and a half inches. Eggs yellowish olive, spotted with brown.

As the Great Snipe has been called the Double Snipe, on account of its being superior in size to the common species, so the subject of the present chapter is known as the Half Snipe, from being contrasted with the same bird, and being considerably smaller. The present species is far less abundant than the Common Snipe; yet still it is often seen, more frequently, perhaps, than the other, by non-sporting observers, for it frequents not only downright marshes, but the little streams which meander through meadows, the sides of gra.s.sy ponds, and the drains by the side of ca.n.a.ls, where the ordinary pedestrian, if accompanied by a dog, will be very likely to put one up. Its food and general habits are much the same as those of the Common Snipe; but it rises and flies off without any note. Its flight is singularly crooked until it has made up its mind which direction it intends to take; indeed it seems to decide eventually on the one which was at first most unlikely to be its path, and after having made a short round composed of a series of disjointed, curves, it either returns close to the spot from which it was started, or suddenly drops, as by a sudden impulse, into a ditch a few gunshots off. I have seen one drop thus within twenty yards of the spot where I stood, and though I threw upwards of a dozen stones into the place where I saw it go down, it took no notice of them. It was only by walking down the side of the ditch, beating the rushes with a stick, that I induced it to rise again. It then flew off in the same way as before, and dropped into the little stream from which I had first started it.

From this habit of lying so close as to rise under the very feet of the pa.s.senger, as well as from its silence, it is called in France _la Sourde_, 'deaf'. In the same country it is known also as 'St. Martin's Snipe', from the time of its arrival in that country, November 11; with us it is an earlier visitor, coming about the second week in September.

A few instances are recorded of the Jack Snipe having been seen in this country at a season which would lead to the inference that it occasionally breeds here; but no instance of its doing so has been ascertained as a fact.

THE SANDERLING CALIDRIS ARENARIA

_Winter_--upper plumage and sides of the neck whitish ash; cheeks and all the under plumage, pure white; bend and edge of the wing and quills blackish grey; tail deep grey, edged with white; bill, irides, and feet, black. _Summer_--cheeks and crown black, mottled with rust-red and white; neck and breast reddish ash with black and white spots; back and scapulars deep rust-red, spotted with black, all the feathers edged and tipped with white; wing-coverts dusky, with reddish lines, and tipped with white; two middle tail-feathers dusky, with reddish edges.

_Young in autumn_--cheeks, head, nape, and back variously mottled with black, brown, grey, rust-red and dull white.

Length eight inches. Eggs olive, spotted and speckled with black.

The early flocks of Sanderlings often consist of old as well as young birds, which is not the common rule with Waders. They are plentiful on our sandy sh.o.r.es, and they sometimes visit inland waters. By April the return pa.s.sage begins. The note is a shrill _wick!_ They arrive on our sh.o.r.es early in autumn, keeping together in small flocks, or joining the company of Dunlins, or Ringed Plovers. In spring they withdraw to high lat.i.tudes, where they breed; they are not, however, long absent.

Yarrell mentions his having obtained specimens as late as April and June, and I have myself obtained them as early as the end of July, having shot at Hunstanton, on the coast of Norfolk, several young birds of the year, on the twenty-third of that month; and on another occasion I obtained a specimen on the sands of Abergele, in North Wales, in August. This leaves so very short a time for incubation and the fledging of the young, that it is probable that a few birds, at least, remain to breed in this country, or do not retire very far north. Little is known of their habits during the season of incubation, but they are said to make their nests in the marshes, of gra.s.s, and to lay four eggs.

Like many other sh.o.r.e birds, they have an extensive geographical range, and are found in all lat.i.tudes, both in the eastern and western hemispheres.

THE CURLEW SANDPIPER TRINGA SUBARQUATA

Bill curved downwards, much longer than the head.

_Winter_--upper tail-coverts and all the under parts white; upper plumage ash-brown, mottled with darker brown and whitish; breast the same colours, but much lighter; bill black; iris brown; feet dusky. _Summer_--crown black, mottled with reddish; under plumage chestnut-red, speckled with brown and white; much of the upper plumage black, mottled with red and ash. Length seven and a half inches. Eggs yellowish, with brown spots.

This bird, called also the Pigmy Curlew, is of about the same size as the far commoner Dunlin, from which it is distinguished not only by the difference in the colour of its plumage, but by the greater length of its beak, which is curved downwards. Pigmy Curlews are observed from time to time in this country at the periods of autumn and spring, and it is said that a few remain with us to breed, but their nest and eggs have never been detected. In their habits they resemble the Dunlins, from which they may readily be distinguished, even when flying, by their white upper tail-coverts. They are of wide geographical range, but nowhere abundant, and visit us on pa.s.sage in spring and autumn.

THE KNOT TRINGA CANuTUS

Beak straight, a little longer than the head, much dilated towards the tip; tail even at the extremity; a small part of the tibia naked. _Winter_--throat and abdomen white; breast and flanks white, barred with ash-brown; upper plumage ash-grey, mottled with brown; wing-coverts tipped with white; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with black crescents; bill and legs greenish black. _Summer_--streak over the eye, nape, and all the under plumage, rusty-red, the nape streaked with black; back streaked and spotted with black, red, and grey. The upper plumage of _young birds_ is mottled with reddish brown, grey, black, and dull white; legs dull green. Length ten inches. Eggs unknown.

The Knot, Willughby informs us, is so called from having been a favourite dish of King Canutus, or Knute. It is a migratory bird, visiting the coasts of Great Britain early in autumn, and remaining here till spring, when it retires northwards to breed. During the intervening months it keeps exclusively to the sandy or muddy sea-sh.o.r.e, a.s.sembling in small flocks, and mixing freely with Dunlins, Sanderlings, and Purple Sandpipers. Some authors state that it feeds princ.i.p.ally early and late in the day, and during moonlight nights; but I have seen it on the coast of Norfolk in winter feeding at all hours of the day in company with the birds mentioned above, and differing little from them in the mode of obtaining its food. But I remarked on several occasions that, when a flock was disturbed, the Knots often remained behind, being less fearful of the presence of man; in consequence of which tardiness in rising they more than once fell to our guns after their companions had flown off. On their first arrival, they are said to be so indifferent to the vicinity of human beings that it is not difficult to knock them down with stones. Their provincial name in Norfolk is the Green-legged Shank, the latter name, Shank, being applied for shortness to the Redshank. Dr. Richardson states that 'Knots were observed breeding on Melville Peninsula by Captain Lyon, who tells us that they lay four eggs on a tuft of withered gra.s.s, without being at the pains of forming any nest.'

Flocks of young make their appearance early in August, the adults arriving a little later.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Dunlin [F] [M]

Little Stint.

Temminck's Stint [M]

Cream-coloured Courser.