British Birds in their Haunts Part 44

Edmonston, who had great opportunities of watching the habits of these birds, says that they do not adopt the practises correctly attributed to the Arctic Gull, or Richardson's Skua. The voice of the Common Skua is said to resemble that of a young Gull, being sharp and shrill; and it is from the resemblance of its cry to that of the word Skua, or Skui, that it obtains its popular name. That it is remarkably courageous and daring, all accounts agree. Mr. Low says that, when the inhabitants are looking after their sheep on the hills, the Skua often attacks them in such a manner that they are obliged to defend themselves with their cudgels held above their heads, on which it often kills itself; and Captain Vetch, In the _Memoirs of the Wernerian Society_, says that it not only drives away Ravens and Eagles, but that the larger quadrupeds, such as horses and sheep, which venture near its nest, are immediately put to flight. Its northern name is Bonxie.

[53] _Ornithologist's Guide to Orkney and Shetland_, p. 112.

TWIST-TAILED OR POMATORHINE SKUA STERCORARIUS POMATORHINUS

Upper plumage uniform dark brown; feathers of the nape long, tapering l.u.s.trous; sides of the face and under plumage white; a collar of brown spots on the breast, and similar spots on the flanks; shafts of the quills and tail-feathers white, except at the tip; two central tail-feathers projecting three inches, not tapering; tarsus two inches long, rough at the back, with projecting scales. Length twenty-one inches. _Young birds_--upper plumage dusky brown, mottled with reddish yellow; under, yellowish white, thickly set with brown spots and bars.

Eggs ash-green, spotted with dusky.

The habits of this bird vary but little from those of the other species. Its home is in the Arctic seas, from which it strays southwards in winter, and has been occasionally seen on our coasts.

The following account of the capture of one of these birds, in 1844, indicates a bird of unusual daring and voracity: "About the beginning of last October, a Pomarine Skua was taken in the adjoining village of Ovingdean. It had struck down a White Gull, which it would not quit: it was kept alive above a fortnight, and then died. The very first day of its captivity it (is said to have) devoured twenty-five Sparrows.

Once it escaped, and immediately attacked a Duck, which it held till recaptured."[54]

[54] _Zoologist_, vol. iii. p. 880.

RICHARDSON'S SKUA STERCORARIUS CREPIDATUS

Crown dusky; cheeks, neck, and under plumage white, tinged with yellow or brown; rest of the plumage dusky, the wings and tail the darkest. Two central tail-feathers tapering from the base, pointed, and projecting six inches; tarsus less than two inches. Length twenty-one inches. Eggs olive, with a circle of brown spots near the larger extremity, the rest speckled with the same colour.

This species of Skua, most familiarly known, perhaps, as the Arctic Gull, received its distinctive name, 'Richardson's', in honour of the eminent Arctic naturalist. It is distinguished from the species already described by its longer tail, but the habits of all are much alike; indeed, the names of 'Arctic Gull', 'Boatswain', 'and Man-of-War', appear to be sometimes employed indiscriminately.

Richardson's Skua, like the rest, inhabits the Arctic seas, but extends its wanderings southwards in far greater numbers than either of the other species, so that its occurrence on the east coast of England is not unusual. According to Mr. Dunn, 'numbers of this bird breed in Orkney and Shetland, appearing regularly in May and leaving in August: it is confined to a few situations and is strictly preserved, from the same motive as the Skua Gull. It constructs its nest on low, not mossy, heaths in exposed situations. The female lays two eggs, and has recourse to the same stratagems that the Plover employs to decoy you from the nest; but when a person approaches near to the place where the nest is built, becomes bold and fierce, and strikes severely with the feet and bill.' The following account is taken from Mr. St. John's _Wild Sports of the Highlands_: "I was much amused the other day by the proceedings of a pair of the Black-toed Gull or Boatswain. These two birds were sitting quietly on an elevated ridge of sand, near which a number of other Gulls of different kinds were fishing, and hovering about in search of what the waves might cast up. Every bird, indeed, was busy and employed, excepting these two black robbers, who seemed to be quietly resting, quite unconcerned. When, however, a Gull had picked up a prize, these birds seemed instinctively to know it, and darting off with the rapidity of a Hawk (which bird they much resemble in their manner of flight), they attacked the unfortunate Gull in the air, and in spite of his screams and attempts to escape, they pursued and beat him till he disgorged the fish or whatever he had swallowed, when one of them darted down and caught the substance before it could reach the water. The two then quietly returned to their sandbank, where they waited patiently to renew the robbery, should an opportunity occur. As the flock of Gulls moved on with the flow of the tide, the Boatswains moved on also, hovering on their flank like a pair of plundering freebooters. I observed that, in chasing a Gull, they seemed perfectly to understand each other as to who should get the spoil; and in their attacks on the largest Gulls (against whom they waged the most fearless warfare), they evidently acted so as to aid each other. If another pair of Boatswains intruded on their hunting-ground they immediately seemed to send them further off; not so much by actual battle, as by a noisy and screaming argument, which they continued most vigorously till the new-comers left the neighbourhood.

"I never saw these birds hunt for their own living in any other way than by robbing the other Gulls. Though not nearly so large as some of the birds which they attack, their Hawk-like swoops and great courage seem to enable them to fight their way most successfully. They are neatly and powerfully made, their colour a kind of sooty dull black, with very little gloss or shining tints on their feathers."

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Black Guillemot [M] [F]

Puffin [M]

Guillemot [F]

Razor-bill [M]

[_face p. 290._]]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Red-throated Diver [F] Winter and [M] Summer.

Black-throated Diver _imm._ and [M]

Little Auk [F]

Great Northern Diver [M]]

ORDER PYGOPODES

FAMILY ALCIDae

THE RAZOR-BILL ALCA TORDA

Wings reaching to the origin of the tail; head and upper parts black; a band across the wing; an interrupted line from the eye to the base of the bill, and all the under parts white; bill black, with three or four furrows, of which the middle one is white; irides hazel; legs dusky. In _summer_ the line from the eye to the bill is pure white, and the whole of the throat and neck is black, tinged with red. Length seventeen inches. Eggs white, blotched and spotted with two shades of brown.

In general habits, the Razor-bill closely resembles the Guillemot and Puffin. Indeed, in some parts of the coast, the Razor-bill is called a Puffin, and the latter a Sea Parrot; and in Cornwall both Guillemots and Razor-bills are known by the common name of Murre. At a distance the birds can only be distinguished by a practised eye; but on a close inspection they cannot be possibly confounded.

Razor-bills are common on many parts of our coast during the later summer months. They are more frequently seen swimming than flying, and if pursued by a boat are little disposed to take alarm until they are approached to within twenty or thirty yards, when they dive, but soon reappear not very far off. If two birds be in company and one be killed by a shot from a gun, its companion, instead of taking measures to insure its own safety, seems to lose the power of self-preservation. It paddles round its companion as if unable to comprehend the reason why it neither dives nor flies, and if pursued suffers itself to be overtaken and knocked down by an oar. This sympathetic feeling is not confined to birds which have paired, or to members of the same family; for in an instance which came under my own notice, both birds were only a few months old, and, as the Razor-bill lays but one egg, the birds could not possibly have grown up together.

Towards winter, Razor-bills migrate southwards, either to avoid cold or to find waters where their prey swims nearer to the surface than in our climate. In spring they return northwards, and repair, like Puffins, to places of habitual resort for the purpose of breeding. At this season, also, they are eminently social, laying each an egg in close proximity on a ledge in the rocks, lower down than the Puffins, but above the Guillemots, all of which birds flock to the same portion of coast, often in countless mult.i.tudes. The egg differs from that of the Guillemot not only in colour but in shape, being less decidedly pear-shaped. It is much sought after as an article of food, and is said to be very palatable.

The 'Auk' of Arctic voyagers is this bird. The Razor-bill is one of the best known of the Auk family, or Alcidae, although less plentiful than the Guillemot or the Puffin.

THE COMMON GUILLEMOT uRIA TRoILE

Bill much compressed, longer than the head, greyish black; upper plumage brownish black; the secondaries tipped with white; a whitish patch behind the eye on each side; under plumage white; feet dusky; iris brown. Length nearly eighteen inches. Eggs greenish or bluish, blotched and streaked with black.

This is one of our common sea-birds during a great portion of the year, though little known to ordinary sea-side visitors, owing to its habit of keeping well out to sea and having nothing ostentatious in its habits. Yet, during a cruise in a yacht, on almost any part of the coast, a practised eye will often discover a few stragglers, distinguished among other sea-birds by their black and white colours, short neck, and sharp beak. They swim low in the water; and when disturbed do not invariably dive like the Grebes and Divers, but readily take wing. They are essentially marine birds, never resorting to fresh water, and living exclusively on fish, which they capture by diving, an art in which they are scarcely less skilful than the true Divers, and which they practise in the same way--by the means, namely, of both wings and feet. Occasionally, a small party may be observed, flying in single file near the surface of the water. On the eastern coast of England, the Guillemot is best known by the name of Willock.

It is also called Tinker's Hue, or, as Yarrell gives it, 'Tinkershere'; and in the west of England it is often called a Murr.

The old writers describe it under the name of Greenland Dove, or Sea Turtle-Dove; and in Scotland it has a variety of other names. Tinker's Hue is, I presume, the sobriquet of a white bird with a s.m.u.tty back; Murr is clearly a corruption of Mergus, or 'diver'. Yet more commonly it is known as the 'Foolish Guillemot', a term of reproach a.n.a.logous to that of 'b.o.o.by', given to it from the indifference which it evinces, in the breeding season, to one of its few, but that one the most formidable of its enemies, man. Early in spring Guillemots throng together from all parts of the open sea, and repair to some lofty cliff, where, on a narrow ledge of rock, which in their folly they deem inaccessible, they lay each a single egg. As the bird holds the egg between her legs, she could not well cover more than one; and though a concave nest is very needful to keep eggs together when there are several, no such contrivance is necessary when there is one only; so the Foolish Guillemot builds no nest, but lays a solitary egg on the bare rock. The egg, which is large, is thick-sh.e.l.led and rough, so that it receives no detriment from the rock; and it is not likely to roll off, for at one end it is thick, and at the other tapers almost to a point; consequently, if accidentally moved by the parent bird when taking flight, it turns as if on a pivot, but does not fall off.

At this season, the cliffs to which Guillemots resort are frequented also by myriads of other sea-birds, such as Razor-bills, Puffins, and Gulls, each congregating with its own species, but never consorting with another. In Iceland, the Faroe Islands, St. Kilda, the Orkneys, and many parts of the coast of Scotland, the breeding season of these birds is the harvest-time of the natives. Either by climbing from below, or by being let down with ropes from above, the egg-collectors invade the dominions of these literally feathered 'tribes'. The Foolish Guillemots, rather than leave their charge, suffer themselves to be knocked on the head, to be netted, or noosed. Although stationed so close to each other that a Foolish Guillemot alone could know its own egg, they learn no wisdom from the fate of their nearest neighbours. They are captured in detail for the sake of their feathers; and their eggs are taken for food. In St. Kilda and, perhaps, elsewhere, young birds are also taken in large numbers, and salted for consumption in winter. Such as escape this systematic slaughter flounder, as well as they are able, into the sea when nearly fledged, or are carried thither by their foolish mothers. There they learn to swim, to dive, and to fish, and about the middle of August old and young disperse.

Huge baskets of their eggs are sometimes brought to the markets of seaport towns (I have seen them so far south as Devonport), and sold for a price exceeding that of domestic fowls, for they are much larger, and are said to afford good eating. Wilson, in his _Voyage round the Coasts of Scotland_, says that the natives of St. Kilda prefer the eggs of these, and other sea-fowl, 'when _sour_; that is, when about ten or twelve days old, and just as the incipient bird, when boiled, forms in the centre into a thickish flaky matter, like milk.'[55] Great quant.i.ties are used in the neighbourhood of Flamborough Head early in the nesting season.

[55] Vol. ii. p. 45.

THE BLACK GUILLEMOT uRIA GRYLLE

Upper plumage black; middle of the wings and under parts white; iris brown; feet red. Length thirteen and a half inches. Eggs whitish grey, blotched and speckled with grey and two shades of brown.

The Black Guillemot, is a resident species breeding on the Isle of Man, and on the Irish coasts. In Scotland it is common. Its mode of life, as described by Macgillivray, who was familiarly acquainted with it, differs in no material respect from that of the species already described. It is, however, much smaller, and lays two or sometimes three eggs. Macgillivray says that, on those parts of the coast which it frequents, attempts are often made to rear it in captivity; but always unsuccessfully.

In summer, these birds may be readily distinguished from other sea-fowl, by their black and white plumage and red feet: the predominant tint of the plumage in winter is white, with a tinge of grey; and in high lat.i.tudes the proportion of white increases.

THE LITTLE AUK MeRGULUS aLLE

Head and upper parts black; two bands across the wings; a spot above the eye and all the under parts white. In _summer_ the throat and front of the neck are also black. Length about seven inches. Eggs uniform pale blue.

The Little Auk is essentially a northern sea-bird, coming to us in winter, and is described by Arctic voyagers under the name of Rotche.

It is an indefatigable swimmer, and has considerable powers of flight; but it does not possess the faculty of diving to the same degree as the Divers and Grebes, as it generally stays but a short time under water. Hence it must find its food near the surface; and this is supposed to consist of the small crustaceous animals which are so abundant in the Arctic waters. Little Auks are eminently social birds, and have been observed occasionally in such numbers on the water and floating ma.s.ses of ice as almost to hide their resting-place. They rarely travel far south; and when they visit our sh.o.r.es, which is in winter, and after tempestuous weather, they are supposed to have been driven hither against their will. Instances are recorded of specimens having been found far inland, disabled or dead. It lays only a single egg.