Part 23 (1/2)
The Bunting.
There are several kinds of Bunting; the English Bunting common to wayside hedges, and familiar from its habit of flitting in front of the traveller, and the Snow Bunting of the northern regions, which turns white on the approach of snow.
The Starlings.
We come now to the third division of the _Pa.s.seres_ or perching birds, to which Mr. Wallace attaches the name of the starlings. ”The starlings or _Sturnidae_,” says Dr. Percival Wright, ”are a well marked old-world group. No species of the family are found in Australia.”
The Common Starling.
The Common Starling is a bird of pa.s.sage, arriving in England about the beginning of March and leaving some time in October. Knapp says:--”There is something singularly curious and mysterious in the conduct of these birds previously to their nightly retirement, by the variety and intricacy of the evolutions they execute at that time. They will form themselves, perhaps, into a triangle, then shoot into a long, pear-shaped figure, expand like a sheet, wheel into a ball, as Pliny observes, each individual striving to get into the centre, etc., with a prompt.i.tude more like parade movements than the actions of birds. As the breeding season advances, these prodigious flights divide, and finally separate into pairs, and form their summer settlements.” The Starling is a handsome bird and usually nests in old buildings, though it has a preference for a dove-cote if it can gain admission. It is a peaceable bird and for all its military evolutions does not seem to war with other species. Its domestic character is also good.
The Weaver Bird.
The Weaver birds which are included in this division, are a very interesting species. They belong to Africa, where they hang their nests upon trees, those of the sociable weaver birds giving the trees the appearance of partially thatched wall-less structures. Le Vaillant thus describes his experience of the sociable weaver bird: he says:--”I observed, on the way, a tree with an enormous nest of these birds, to which I have given the appellation of republicans; and as soon as I arrived at my camp, I dispatched a few men with a wagon to bring it to me, that I might open the hive and examine its structure in its minutest parts. When it arrived, I cut it to pieces with a hatchet and saw that the chief portion of the structure consisted of a ma.s.s of Buckmans gra.s.s, without any mixture, but so compactly and firmly basketed together, as to be impenetrable to the rain. This is the commencement of the structure; and each bird builds its particular nest under this canopy, the upper surface remaining void without, however, being useless; for, as it has a projecting rim and is a little inclined, it serves to let the rain water run off and preserve each little dwelling from the rain. Figure to yourself a huge, irregular, sloping roof, all the eaves of which are completely covered with nests crowded one against another, and you will have a tolerably accurate idea of these singular edifices. Each individual nest is three or four inches in diameter, which is sufficient for the bird. But as they are all in contact with one another around the eaves, they appear to the eye to form one building and are distinguishable from each other only by a little external aperture which serves as an entrance to the nest; and even this is sometimes common to three different nests, one of which is situated at the bottom and the other two at the sides.” One of these structures examined by Patterson contained three hundred and twenty inhabited cells.
The Lark.
The skylark is common all over Europe and is an especial favourite in the British Isles, It builds its nest on the ground among growing corn or high gra.s.s, and shows especial care for its young. Its song is perhaps the most joyous and inspiriting of those of English birds.
Captain Brown quotes the following interesting particulars of its song from a communication made by Mr. J. Main to the ”Magazine of Natural History:” ”His joyous matins and heavenward flight have been aptly compared to hymns and acts of adoration and praise. No bird sings with more method: there is an overture performed _vivace crescendo_, while the singer ascends; when at the full height, the song becomes _moderato_, and distinctly divided into short pa.s.sages, each repeated three or four times over, like a _fantasia_, in the same key and time.
If there be any wind, he rises perpendicularly by bounds, and afterwards poises himself with breast opposed to it. If calm, he ascends in spiral circles; in horizontal circles during the princ.i.p.al part of his song, and zigzagly downwards during the performance of the _finale_.
Sometimes, after descending about half way, he ceases to sing, and drops with the velocity of an arrow to the ground. Those acquainted with the song of the skylark can tell without looking at them whether the birds be ascending or stationary in the air, or on their descent; so different is the style of the song in each case. In the first, there is an expression of ardent impatience; in the second, an _andante_ composure, in which rests of a bar at a time frequently occur; and in the last, a graduated sinking of the strains.”
The Maternal Instinct of the Lark.
Mrs. Bowdich quoting from ”The Naturalist” gives the following pretty story of the maternal instinct of the Lark:--”The other day, some mowers shaved off the upper part of the nest of a skylark, without injuring the female, who was sitting on her young: still she did not fly away; and the mowers levelled the gra.s.s all round her, without her taking any notice of their proceedings. The son of the owner of the crop witnessed this, and, about an hour afterwards, went to see if she were safe; when, to his great surprise, he found that she had actually constructed a dome of dry gra.s.s over the nest during the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for ingress and egress; thus endeavouring to secure a continuance of the shelter previously supplied by the long gra.s.s.”
Buffon tells a remarkable story of the self-sacrifice of a young lark who took upon itself the duties of a foster mother. He says:--”A young hen bird was brought to me in the month of May, which was not able to feed without a.s.sistance. I caused her to be educated, and she was hardly fledged when I received from another place a nest of three or four unfledged skylarks. She took a strong liking to these new-comers, which were scarcely younger than herself; she tended them night and day, cherished them beneath her wings, and fed them with her bill. Nothing could interrupt her tender offices. If the young ones were torn from her, she flew to them as soon as she was liberated, and would not think of effecting her own escape, which she might have done a hundred times.
Her affection grew upon her; she neglected food and drink; she now required the same support as her adopted offspring, and expired at last consumed with maternal anxiety. None of the young ones survived her.
They died one after another; so essential were her cares, which were equally tender and judicious.”
The Lark and the Hawk.
The Lark when pursued by the Hawk has been known to seek refuge under the protection of man, as the following quoted by Captain Brown from Bell's ”Weekly Messenger” will show. ”On Wednesday, the 6th of October, 1805, as a gentleman was sitting on the rocks at the end of Collercot's sands, near Tynemouth, Northumberland, dressing himself after bathing, he perceived a hawk in the air, in close pursuit of, and nearly within reach of a lark. To save the little fugitive, he shouted and clapped his hands, when immediately the lark descended, and alighted on his knee, nor did it offer to leave him, when taken into the hand, but seemed confident of that protection, which it found. The hawk sailed about for some time. The gentleman, after taking the lark nearly to Tynemouth, restored it to its former liberty.”
The Wagtails and Pipits.
The Wagtails, of which family the Pied Wagtail is the most familiar, derives its name from its habit of wagging its tail. As Mr. Wood says, ”it settles on the ground and wags its tail; it runs a few paces and wags its tail again; pecks an insect, and again its tail vibrates.” It frequents sandbanks and the margins of rivers where it finds its food.
It is found in England throughout the year, migrating to the southern counties in the early winter. The Pipits, of which ”The Meadow Pipit”
and the Tree Pipit are the best known varieties, are found all over the British Isles as well as in many parts of Europe.