British Birds in their Haunts Part 7

ORDER PYGOPODES

Wings short

FAMILY ALCIDae (AUKS)

Bill much flattened vertically (compressed); wings short; legs placed at the extremity of the body; feet three-toed, palmated; tail short.

Food, mostly fish, and captured by diving.

133. ALCA (Razor-bill). Bill large, sharp-edged, the basal half feathered, the terminal part grooved laterally; upper mandible much curved towards the point; nostrils nearly concealed by a feathered membrane; tail pointed. _Page 291_

134. uRIA (Guillemot). Bill strong, nearly straight, sharp-pointed, of moderate length; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first primary longest. _Page 292_

135. MeRGULUS. (Little Auk). Bill strong, conical, slightly curved, shorter than the head; nostrils basal, partly covered by a feathered membrane; first and second primaries equal. _Page 294_

136. FRATERCULA (Puffin). Bill shorter than head, higher than long, ridge of upper mandible higher than crown; both mandibles much curved throughout, transversely furrowed, notched at tip; nostrils basal, almost closed by a naked membrane. _Page 295_

FAMILY COLYMBIDae (DIVERS)

Bill slightly compressed, not covered with a membranous skin; edges of the mandibles unarmed, or but slightly toothed; wings short; legs placed far behind; tarsi very much compressed; toes four. Food, fish and other aquatic animal substances obtained by diving. Females smaller than males.

137. COLYMBUS (Diver). Bill forming a pointed cylindrical cone; front toes entirely palmated; tail very short. _Page 297_

FAMILY PODICIPEDIDae (GREBES)

Hallux raised above level of other toes; toes with wide lateral lobes, united at base. Tail vestigial.

138. PoDICIPES (Grebe). Bill forming pointed cylindrical cone; secondaries, if any, very little shorter than primaries. _Page 300_

ORDER TUBINARES

External nostrils are produced into tubes; anterior toes fully webbed; hallux small or absent.

FAMILY PROCELLARIIDae

Nostrils united exteriorly above culmen.

139. FULMARUS (Fulmar). Bill not so long as head; upper mandible of four portions divided by indentations, the whole large, strong, curving suddenly to point; under mandible grooved along sides, bent at end; edges of mandibles sharp; nostrils prominent, united, enclosed, somewhat hidden in tube with single external orifice; wings rather long, first quill longest; tarsi compressed, feet moderate. _Page 304_

140. PUFFINUS (Shearwaters). Bill rather longer than head, slender; mandibles compressed, decurved; nasal tube low, both nostrils visible from above, directed forwards and slightly upwards; wings long, pointed, first quill slightly the longest; tail graduated; tarsi compressed laterally. _Page 305_

141. PROCELLARIA (Storm and Fork-tailed Petrels). Bill small, robust, much shorter than head, straight to nail, which is decurved; wings long, narrow, second quill longest, slightly exceeding third, first shorter than fourth; tail moderate, slightly rounded; legs moderate, claws rather short. _Page 307_

ORDER Pa.s.sERES

FAMILY t.u.r.dIDae

SUB-FAMILY t.u.r.dINae

THE MISTLE (OR MISSEL) THRUSH t.u.r.dUS VISCIVORUS

Upper plumage ash brown; s.p.a.ce between the bill and eye greyish white; wing-coverts edged and tipped with greyish white; under parts white, faintly tinged here and there with reddish yellow, marked all over with deep brown spots, which on the throat and breast are triangular, in other parts oval, broader on the flanks; under wing-coverts white; three lateral tail feathers tipped with greyish white. Length eleven inches; breadth eighteen inches. Eggs greenish or reddish white, spotted with brownish red. Young spotted on the head and back with buff and black.

The largest British song bird, distinguished from the Song Thrush not only by its superior size, but by having white under wing-coverts, and the whole of the under part of the body buffish-white, spotted with black. It is a generally diffused bird, and is known by various local names; in the west of England its popular name is Holm Thrush, or Holm Screech, derived most probably, not, as Yarrell surmises, from its resorting to the oak in preference to other trees, but from its feeding on the berries of the holly, or holm; the t.i.tle 'Screech'

being given to it from its jarring note when angry or alarmed, which closely resembles the noise made by pa.s.sing the finger-nail rapidly along the teeth of a comb. Its French name, 'Draine', and German, 'Schnarre', seem to be descriptive of the same harsh '_churr_'. In Wales, it has from its quarrelsome habits acquired the name of Penn y llwyn, or, master of the coppice. Another of its names, Throstle c.o.c.k, expresses its alliance with the Thrushes, and its daring nature; and another Storm c.o.c.k, indicates 'not that it delights in storms more than in fine weather, but that nature has taught it to pour forth its melody at a time of the year when the bleak winds of winter roar through the leafless trees'. The song of the Mistle Thrush is loud, wild, and musical, Waterton calls it 'plaintive', Knapp 'harsh and untuneful'. I must confess that I agree with neither. This note, generally the earliest of the Spring sounds (for the Redbreast's song belongs essentially to winter), is to my ear full of cheerful promise amounting to confidence--a song of exultation in the return of genial weather. The bird sings generally perched on the topmost branch of some lofty tree, and there he remains for hours together out-whistling the wind and heeding not the pelting rain. This song, however, is not continuous, but broken into pa.s.sages of a few notes each, by which characteristic it may be distinguished alike from that of the Thrush or the Blackbird, even when mellowed by distance to resemble either.

The Mistletoe Thrush is essentially a tree-loving bird. During winter its food mainly consists of berries, among which those of the Mountain Ash and Yew have the preference, though it also feeds on those of the Hawthorn, Ivy, Juniper, and the strange plant from which it derives its name.[1] Towards other birds it is a very tyrant, selfish and domineering in the extreme; to such a degree, indeed, that even when it has appeased its appet.i.te it will allow no other bird to approach the tree which it has appropriated for its feeding ground. I have seen it take possession of a Yew-tree laden with berries, and most mercilessly drive away, with angry vociferations and yet more formidable buffets, every other bird that dared to come near. Day after day it returned, until the tree was stripped of every berry, when it withdrew and appeared no more.

As soon as the unfrozen earth is penetrable by its beak, it adds to its diet such worms and grubs as it can discover; and, if it be not belied, it is given to plunder the nests of other birds of their eggs and young. It may be on this account that Magpies, Jays, and other large woodland birds, robbers themselves, entertain an instinctive dislike towards it. Certainly these birds are its better enemies; but in the breeding season it eludes their animosity by quitting the woods, and resorting to the haunts of man. Its harsh screech is now rarely heard, for its present object is not defiance, but immunity from danger. Yet it takes no extraordinary pains to conceal its nest.

On the contrary, it usually places this where there is little or no foliage to shadow it, in a fork between two large boughs of an apple, pear, or cherry tree, sometimes only a few feet from the ground, and sometimes twenty feet or more. The nest is a ma.s.sive structure, consisting of an external basket-work of twigs, roots, and lichens, within which is a kind of bowl of mud containing a final lining of gra.s.s and roots. The bird is an early builder. It generally lays five eggs and feeds its young on snails, worms, and insects. The range of the Mistle Thrush extends as far as the Himalayas. In Great Britain it is a resident species.

[1] That this thrush feeds on the berries of the mistletoe was stated by Yarrell, but it is not now generally believed to be a fact.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Missel Thrush Song Thrush

Redwing

Fieldfare

[_face p. 2_]]

[Ill.u.s.tration:

Blackbird [M] _imm._

Blackbird [F] [M]