British Birds in Their Haunts

The Slavonian, or Horned Grebe, approaches so closely in habits to the two preceding species that it is unnecessary to say more than that it inhabits the northern parts of America and Europe, visiting us from autumn to spring. Audubon describes its nest as a rude structure of weeds, situated at a distance of about twelve feet from the water's edge; but other authors state that though it constructs its nest of these materials, it disposes it among weeds in such a way that it rises and falls with every alteration in the level of the water. It lays from five to seven eggs, and the male is supposed to assist in the office of incubation.

This is essentially a bird of the south, visiting us in spring and summer, but also now and again in autumn and winter, but this more rarely. It is said to have bred occasionally in the southern counties, and more often in Suffolk and Norfolk. To the north it becomes more scarce, although it has been observed up to the Orkneys. Just a few instances are recorded from Cumberland, but the bird is rare on our western side. Very few have been met with in Ireland. In Algeria it is said to nest in "societies more densely crowded than any rookery," the nests being raised on islets with stout foundations constructed by the bird. In Denmark the nests observed were on tussocks at the edge of the lake, and they were made of moss, part of which the female used to cover her eggs with on leaving them.

The Lesser Grebe, or, as it is more commonly called, the Dabchick, is the only species with which it is possible to become familiarly acquainted in Britain. It frequents rivers, ponds, and lakes, in all parts of the country, rarely flying, and still more rarely coming to land.

Rambling by the side of a sluggish river, the sides of which are lined with reeds or bulrushes, one may often descry, paddling about with undecided motion, what appears to be a miniature Duck no longer than a Blackbird. It does not, like the Moor-hen, swim with a jerking movement, nor when alarmed does it half swim and half fly in a direct line for the nearest bank of weeds. If you are unobserved, it swims steadily for a short distance, then suddenly disappears, making no splash or noise, but slipping into the water as if its body were lubricated. It is diving for its food, which consists of water insects, molluscs, small fish and worms. As suddenly as it dives so suddenly does it reappear, most likely not far from the spot where you first observed it:

Another short swim and it dives again; and so it goes on, the time spent under the water being far in excess of that employed in taking breath. Advance openly or make a noise, it wastes no time in idle examinations or surmises of your intentions, but slips down as before, not, however, to reappear in the same neighbourhood. Its motives are different: it now seeks not food, but safety, and this it finds first by diving, and then by propelling itself by its wings under water in some direction which you cannot possibly divine; for it by no means follows that it will pursue the course to which its bill pointed when it went down. It can alter its line of flight beneath the water as readily as a swallow can change its course of flight through the air. But wherever it may reappear, its stay is now instantaneous; a trout rising at a fly is not more expeditious. You may even fail to detect it at all. It may have ensconced itself among weeds, or it may be burrowing in some subaqueous hole. That it has the power of remaining a long while submerged, I have no doubt. There is in the parish of Stamford Dingley, Berks, a large and beautiful spring of water, clear as crystal, the source of one of the tributaries of the Thames. I was once bending over the bank of this spring, with a friend, watching the water, some five or six feet down, as it issued from a pipe-like orifice and stirred the sand around like the bubbling of a cauldron, when there suddenly passed between us and the object we were examining a form so strange that we were at first doubtful to what class of animals we should refer it. In reality, it was a Dabchick, which, alarmed probably by the noise of our conversation, was making for a place of safety. As it passed within two or three feet of our faces, we could distinctly see that it propelled itself by its wings; but it appeared not to have observed us, for it kept on in a direct course towards the head of the spring. We searched long in the hope of discovering it again, but failed; and as there were no weeds among which it could possibly hide above water, and we could examine the bottom of the spring almost as thoroughly as if it contained air only, we could but conclude that our apparition had taken refuge in a hole under the bank.

Early in spring, when Dabchicks leave the small streams and water-courses for broader pieces of water, they have been observed to fly; and during the building season also they have been seen circling round in the air near the locality of their intended nest. The nest itself is constructed of weeds of all kinds, forming a thick mass raised but a few inches above the surface of the water, and invariably far enough from the bank to be inaccessible except by wading. The Dabchick lays five or six long-shaped eggs, pointed at either end, of a chalky white colour. These the bird, when she leaves the nest, covers with weeds for the purpose of concealment, and on her return continues the work of incubation without removing the covering, so that the eggs soon lose their white hue, and before the period of hatching have become very dirty. The young birds can swim and dive immediately on leaving the egg. I have never myself seen a Dabchick fly through the air or walk on land, neither have I ever heard its note. The latter, a low clicking and chattering sort of noise, it is said to utter in spring. It breeds even in St. James' Park. Females smaller than males.

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ORDER TUBINARES

FAMILY PROCELLARIIDÆ

THE FULMAR PETREL
PROCELLARIA GLACIÁLIS

Head, neck, under plumage, and tail, white; wings bluish ash, the primaries brownish grey; beak, irides, and feet, yellow. Young of the year grey tinged with brown, mottled on the back with deeper brown; bill and feet yellowish ash. Length nineteen inches. Eggs white.

In some of the Outer Hebrides Fulmars breed; but the great station, to which tens of thousands annually resort, is the remote island of St. Kilda. To the Fulmar indeed, and in a less degree to the Gannet and two or three other sea-birds, the island is indebted for its being able to boast of human inhabitants. Eggs and birds, fresh or salted, furnish them with food; the Fulmar with oil: and feathers pay their rent. In the Shetlands it is said to be increasing.

Professor James Wilson says: 'The oil is extracted from both the young and old birds, which, however, they must seize on suddenly and strangle, else, as a defensive movement, the desired (and pungent) oil is immediately squirted in the face and eyes of their opponent.' This oil is ejected, not, as it is sometimes said, through tubular nostrils, but directly through the throat and open mouth. The flesh of the Fulmar is also a favourite food with the St. Kildans, who like it all the better on account of its oily nature.

The Fulmar is essentially a sea-bird, and never comes to land except in the breeding season, when it builds its nest of herbage on the grassy shelves of the highest cliffs, and lays a single egg, if which be taken, it lays no more. The young birds are fed with oil by the parents, and on being molested spurt out through the throat and open mouth the same fluid, which, being of a rank smell, infects not only the nest, but the whole neighbourhood. The young birds, which are taken early in August, are boiled, and made to furnish a large quantity of fat, which is skimmed off and preserved for winter use. The old birds are considered great dainties.

In the Arctic regions the Fulmar is well known for its assiduity in attending on whale ships, keeping an eager watch for anything thrown over; and when the operation of cutting up a whale is going on, helping itself most greedily to stray pieces of offal, and venturing so near as to be easily knocked down by a boathook or to be taken by hand.

Owing to the rankness of its food, the smell of the Fulmar is very offensive. A specimen recently shot was brought to me in Norfolk, early in January, 1862, and being a great rarity, was carefully preserved and set up; but on being sent home from the bird-stuffer's it was banished to an outhouse, where it has remained for three months without losing anything of its offensive odour.

The Great Shearwater is far less abundant than the preceding species, and may indeed be considered a rarity. A few solitary specimens have from time to time been shot on various parts of the coast, and they have occasionally been noticed in considerable numbers off the coast of Cornwall. In the Scilly Islands, where they are called 'Hackbolts', they are said to be yet more frequent. The Great Shearwater differs little in habits, as far as they are known, from the other species.

That a bird whose generic name is Puffinus should sometimes be called a 'Puffin' is not surprising; and the reader who meets with the name in books should satisfy himself whether the subject of his study be an Auk or a Shearwater, before he admits as facts any statements about the 'Puffin' which may fall in his way. Yarrell, for instance, gives the name of Puffin to the bird already described under the name of Fratercula Arctica, while by Montagu that bird is described under the name of 'Coulterneb', 'Puffin' being given as a synonym for the Shearwater. Off Cornwall it is called skiddeu and brew.

The Shearwater is so called from its mode of flight, in which it 'shears' or skims the water; and its distinctive name, Manx, it owes to its having been formerly very abundant in the Calf[60] of Man, a small island lying south of the Isle of Man.

The Manx Shearwater is, during the greater portion of the year, an ocean-bird, and only ventures on shore during the breeding season. It then repairs to some island, or portion of the coast little frequented by man, and in society with other birds of the same species there takes up its summer quarters. A sandy or light earthy soil, scantily furnished with vegetation, is preferred to any other station. Its nest is a hole in the ground, either the deserted burrow of a rabbit or a tunnel excavated by itself, or less frequently it lays its one egg in the crevice of a rock. During the day Shearwaters, for the most part, remain concealed in their holes, and lie so close that they will suffer themselves to be dug out with a spade and make no attempt to escape. Towards evening they quit their hiding-places, and paddle or fly out to sea in quest of food. This consists of small fish and other marine animals which swim near the surface, and are caught by the birds either while they are floating or 'shearing' the water. No nest ever contains more than one egg, but that one and the chick which it produces are objects of the greatest solicitude.

Unfortunately for the poor Shearwaters, their young, though fed on half-digested fish oil, are delicate eating; consequently, some of the stations of these birds have been quite depopulated, and in others their numbers have been greatly thinned.

Willughby tells us that in his time 'Puffins' were very numerous in the Calf of Man, and that fully fledged young birds, taken from the nests, were sold at the rate of ninepence a dozen. He adds, that in order to keep an accurate reckoning of the number taken, it was customary to cut off, and retain, one of each bird's legs. The consequence was that the state in which the birds were sent to market was supposed to be their natural condition, and the Puffin was popularly believed to be a 'monopod' (one-footed bird).

This station is now nearly, if not quite, deserted; but colonies still exist in Annet, one of the Scilly Islands, on the south coast of Wales, in the Orkneys, and in the Shetlands. In the Scilly Islands the Shearwater is called a Crew, from the harsh note uttered by the bird when its burrow is invaded; in the north, a Lyrie or Scrabe.

Under the name of 'Mother Carey's Chickens' the Petrels must be known to all readers of voyages. According to the belief popular in the forecastle, these birds are invisible during calm or bright weather; but when the sky lowers, and a storm is impending, suddenly, no one knows whence, forth come these ill-omened heralds of the tempest, inspiring more terror than would be caused even by the hurricane which they are supposed to commence. In reality, the Petrels are scarcely birds of the day; they love to hide themselves in holes and behind stones. It is not, therefore, surprising that when the sea is calm, and the sun bright, they lurk in their hiding-places, if near enough to land; or, if on the open ocean, lie asleep on the surface of the water, unnoticed, because still and of small size. An overcast sky, however, awakes them as twilight would, and they leave their hiding-places, or rise from their watery bed, not because a storm is impending, but because the cloud which accompanies the storm brings them the desired gloom. When in motion they are more conspicuous than when at rest, and they follow the wake of a ship for the same reason that other sea-fowl do, for the sake of the offal thrown overboard. They will sometimes accompany a ship for days, showing that they have untiring power of wing, and to all but the superstitious greatly relieving the monotony of the voyage.

The Petrel builds its nest, a rude structure of weeds and rubbish, either in the hole of a cliff or under stones on the beach, and lays a single egg. It rarely comes abroad by day, and if disturbed ejects from its mouth an oily matter, after the manner of the Fulmar. Towards evening it comes forth from its stronghold, and skims the sea in quest of food, which consists of floating animal matter of all kinds. Its name, Petrel, or Little Peter, is derived from its habit of occasionally skimming along so close to the surface of the sea as to dip its feet in the water, and present the appearance of walking; but its ordinary flight is very like that of the Swallow.

The Storm-Petrel breeds in the Orkney, Shetland, and Scilly Islands and a few on the Welsh coast, also in the Channel Islands, but a genuine ocean-bird quits the land as soon as its young are able to accompany it. It is frequently seen in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and is not an uncommon visitor to our shores, especially during severe weather.

Its note is only heard during the season of incubation, when its retreat is often betrayed by a low twittering.

Storm-Petrels are gregarious birds; they breed in colonies, and skim the sea in small flocks. The French steamers which sail between Toulon and Algiers are said to be regularly accompanied by these birds.

The Fork-Tailed Petrel, a native of North America, does not differ materially in habits from the other species. It is met with almost annually on our east coast, and is common off Cornwall. In Ireland it is frequent. This species was first declared to be a British bird by Bullock, who found it at St. Kilda in 1818.

 

♂: male      ♀: female

Aberdeen Sandpiper: a name for the Knot
Aberdevine: a name for the Siskin
Accentor, Hedge: Sparrow, Chanter or Warbler
Alk: the Razor-bill
Allamotte: the Petrel
Allan: the Skua
Alp: a name for the Bullfinch
Annet: the Kittiwake Gull
Arctic-bird: the Skua
Arctic Skua
  "    Tern
Assilag: the Petrel
Awl: the Woodpecker

Badock: the Skua
Bankjug: the Chiff-chaff and Willow Warbler
Bargander: the Sheldrake
Barley-bird: the Siskin and Wryneck
Barred or Lesser-spotted Woodpecker
Bar-tailed Godwit
Basal: at or near the base
Beam-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Bean Crake: the Land-Rail
  "    Goose
Bearded Reedling
Bee-bird: a name sometimes given to the Flycatcher;
sometimes to the Willow Warbler
  "    -eater
  "    -hawk: the Honey Buzzard
Beech-finch: the Chaffinch
Bergander: the Sheldrake
Bernicle Goose
Billy: the Hedge Sparrow
Billy-whitethroat: the Whitethroat
Bittern
Black-a-top: the Stonechat
Black-billed Auk: a name given to the Razor-bill in the winter
plumage of the first year
Blackcap: a name sometimes given to the Black-headed Gull,
the Marsh Tit, and Coal Tit
Black Duck: the Scoter
Blacky-top: the Stonechat
Bloodulf: the Bullfinch
Blind Dorbie: the Purple Sandpiper
Blue-backed Falcon: the Peregrine Falcon
  "    -bird: the Fieldfare
  "    -cap: the Blue Tit
  "    Darr: the Black Tern
  "    Hawk: the Peregrine Falcon
Blue-headed Wagtail: the greyheaded Wagtail
  "    -tailed Bee-eater
  "    Tit: the Tom Tit, the Blue-cap
  "    -winged Shoveler: the Shoveler
Boatswain: the Skua
Brake-hopper: the Grasshopper Warbler
Brambling, or Bramble-finch
Bran: the Crow
Brancher: the Goldfinch in its first year
Brantail: the Redstart
Brent Goose
Broad-bill: the Shoveler
Bronzie: the Cormorant
Brook Ouzel: a name given to the Dipper, and incorrectly to the Water-Rail
Brown Owl, or Tawny Owl
  "    -Leader Gull: Black-headed Gull, Red-headed Gull or Hooded Gull
  "    Starling: a name sometimes given to the young of the Starling
  "    Tern: the Tern in its immature plumage
Budfinch: the Bullfinch
Bullfinch, Common
  "     Pine, or Pine Grosbeak
Bunting, Lapland, or Finch
Burgomaster: the Glaucous Gull
Burrow Duck: the Sheldrake
Bustard, Great

Cackareer: the Kittiwake Gull
Caddaw: the Jackdaw
Calloo: the Long-tailed Duck
Cargoose: the Crested Grebe
Carinate: in the form of a keel
Carrion Crow
Car-swallow: the Black Tern
Cere: the wax-like membrane which covers the base of the bill in the Falconidae
Chaldrick or Chalder: the Oyster-Catcher
Chanchider: the Spotted Flycatcher
Channel Goose: the Gannet
Chanter, Hedge: Sparrow, Accentor or Warbler
Charlie Miftie: the Wheatear
Chank, and Chank-daw: the Chough
Chepster: the Starling
Cherry-finch: the Hawfinch
Cherry-sucker, Cherry-chopper, and Cherry-Snipe: the Spotted Flycatcher.
Chevy Lin: the Redpoll
Chickell: the Wheatear
Chickstone: the Stonechat
Chippet Linnet: the Redpoll
Church Owl: the White Owl
Churn Owl: the Nightjar
Churr: the Dunlin
Cirl Bunting
Clack Goose, Clakes: the Bernicle Goose
Clatter Goose: the Brent Goose
Clee: the Red Shank
Cleff: the Tern
Clinker: the Avocet
Cloven-footed Gull: the Tern
Coal-and-candle-light: the Long-tailed Duck
Coal Goose: the Cormorant
Coaly Hood: the Bullfinch or Coal Mouse
Cob: the male Swan
Cob: the Great Black-backed Gull
Cobble: the Great Northern Diver
Cobbler's Awl: the Avocet
Cobweb: the Spotted Flycatcher
Cockandy: the Puffin
Cock-winder: the Wigeon
Coddy Moddy: the common Gull in its first year's plumage
Coldfinch: the Pied Flycatcher
Colk: the King Duck
Colin: a name in New Spain for Quail
Compressed: flattened vertically
Coot-foot: the Phalarope
Copperfinch: the Chaffinch
Corbie: the Raven
Corndrake: the Land-Rail
Cornish Crow, or Daw: the Chough
Cornwall Kae: the Chough
Coulterneb: the Puffin
Crake, Little
  "    Spotted
Crank bird: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Craw: part of the stomach in birds
Cream-coloured Plover: Swiftfoot or Courser
Courser Gull: the Glaucous Gull
Creeper, Creep-tree, or Tree-creeper. These names are in some places given to the Nuthatch
Crested Cormorant: the Shag
  "    Heron, Common or Grey
Cricket-bird: the Grasshopper Warbler
Cricket Teal: the Garganey
Crooked Bill: the Avocet
Crossbill: Common
Cuckoo's Leader or Mate: the Wryneck
Cuhnen: the ridge of the upper mandible
Cultrate: in the form of a billhook or pruning knife
Curlew-Jack: the Whimbrel
Curwillet: the Sanderling
Cushat: the Ring Dove
Cutty Wren: the Common Wren
Cygnet: the young Swan

Daker Hen: the Land-Rail
Danish Crow: the Hooded Crow
Darr, Blue: the Black Tern
Dertrum
Depressed: flattened horizontally
Deviling: the Swift
Dick Dunnock: the Hedge Sparrow
Dippearl: the Tern
Dirty Allen: the Skua
Dishwater: the Wagtail
Diving Pigeon: the Guillemot
Dobbler and Dobchick: the Lesser Grebe
Door Hawk and Dorr Hawk: the Nightjar.
Dorbie: the Dunlin
Doucker: a popular name for a Grebe or Diver
Doveky: the Black Guillemot
Dove-coloured Falcon: the Peregrine Falcon
Draine: the Missel Thrush
Duck Hawk: the Marsh Harrier
Ducker: a popular name for a Grebe or Diver
Dulwilly: the Ring Plover
Dunkir and Dunair: the Pochard
Dun Crow: the Hooded Crow
Dundiver: the female and young of the Merganser
Dung Hunter: the Skua
Dunlin
Dunnock: the Hedge Sparrow

Earl Duck: the Red-breasted Merganser
Easterling: the Smew
Ebb: the Bunting
Ecorcheur: the Shrike
Egret: a tuft of long narrow feathers found on the lower part of the neck of the Herons.
    The name is also sometimes extended to the two tufts of feathers, resembling ears or horns,
    in some of the Owls
Elk: the Hooper Swan
Emmer or Ember Goose: the Great Northern Diver
Emmet Hunter: the Wryneck
Erne: the Eagle

Falk or Falc: the Razor-bill
Faller: the Hen Harrier
Fallow Chat, Fallow Finch, Fallow Lunch, or Fallow Smich: the Wheatear
Fanny Redtail: the Redstart
Fauvette: the Garden Warbler, also applied to others of the Warblers.
Feather-poke: i.e. "sack of feathers" is the Chiff-chaff, so called from the
    materials and form of the nest
Felt and Feltyfare: the Fieldfare
Fiddler: the Common Sandpiper
Field Duck: the Little Bustard
Field Lark: the Skylark
Fiery Linnet: the Common Linnet
Finch, or Lapland Bunting
Fire-crested Regulus or Wren
Fire-tail: the Redstart
Flapper: a young Duck
Flopwing: the Lapwing
Flusher: the Butcher-bird
Foot: The foot of a bird consists of four, never less than three, toes,
    with their claws, and the joint next above, called the "tarsus"
French Linnet: the Redpoll
  "    Magpie: the Red-backed Shrike
  "    Pie: the Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Gaggle: a flight of Wild Geese
Gairfowl: the Auk and the Razor-bill
Gallinule: the Moor Hen; this name is sometimes applied to the Crakes
Gallwell Drake: the Land Drake
Gannet: the Skua
Garden Ouzel: the Blackbird
  "    Warbler
Gardenian Heron: the young of the Night Heron
Gaunt: the Crested Grebe
Gidd: the Jack Snipe
Gillhowter: the White Owl
Gladdy: the Yellow Hammer
Glaucous Gull
Glead, Gled, or Glade: the Kite
Goat Owl and Goatsucker: the Nightjar
Goldeneye
Golden-crested Regulus, Warbler or Wren
  "    Oriole or Thrush
  "    Plover
Gorcock: the Moor Cock
Gorsehatch: the Wheatear
Gorse-duck: the Corn Crake
Gorse Linnet: the Common Linnet
Goud Spink: the Goldfinch
Gouldring: the Yellow Hammer
Gourder: the Petrel
Gouk: the Cuckoo
Graduated: a term applied to the tail of a bird when the middle
    feathers are longest and the outer ones are shorter in gradation
Greenwich Sandpiper: the Ruff
Grey: the Gadwall
Greybird: the Thrush
Grey-Duck: the Gadwall
  "    Coot-footed Tringa: the Phalarope
  "    Crow: the Hooded Crow
  "    Falcon: the Hen Harrier
  "    Heron: common or Crested Heron
Grey Lapwing, or Sandpiper: the Grey Plover
  "    Linnet: the Common Linnet
  "    Owl: the White Owl
  "    Partridge: the Common Partridge
  "    Shrike, Lesser: the Ash-coloured Shrike
  "    Skit: the Water-Rail
  "    -lag: Fen, Stubble, or Wild Goose
Grisette: the Whitethroat
Ground Lark: the Pipit and Bunting
  "    Wren: the Willow Warbler
Guldenhead: the Puffin
Gull-tormentor: the Skua
Gunner: the Great Northern Diver
Gurfel: the Razor-bill
Gustarda: the Bustard

Hackbolt: the Greater Shearwater
Hadji: the Swift
Hagdown: the Greater Shearwater
Haggard: the Peregrine Falcon
Hagister: the Magpie
Half-Curlew: the Whimbrel and Godwit
  "    -Duck: the Wigeon, Pochard, etc.
  "    -Snipe: the Jack Snipe
Harle: the Red-breasted Merganser
Harpy: the Marsh Harrier
Hawk Owl: this name is sometimes given to the Short-eared Owl
Hay-bird, or Hay-Tit: the Willow Warbler
Hay-Jack: the Garden Warbler and Whitethroat
Heather Bleater: the Snipe
Heath Throstle: the Ring Ouzel
Hebridal Sandpiper: the Turnstone
Heckimal: the Blue Tit
Hedge-Chicken: the Wheatear
  "    -Jug, the Long-tailed Tit
Hegrilskip: the Heron
Helegug: the Puffin
Hellejay: the Razor-bill
Hern, Hernshaw, Heronshaw: the Heron
Heronsewgh: the Heron
Herring-bar: perhaps a corruption of Herring-bird, Diver
Herring Gant: the Gannet
  "    Gull
Hew-hole: the Woodpecker
Hickwall: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
High-hoo: the Woodpecker
Hiogga: the Razor-bill
Hissing Owl: the White Owl
Hoarse Gowk: the Snipe
Hoddy: the Crow
Holm Cock and Holm Screech: the Mistle Thrush
Hoop: the Bullfinch
Hornfinch: the Petrel
Horniwinks: the Lapwing
Horra: the Brent Goose
Horsefinch: the Chaffinch
Horsmatch: the Red-backed Shrike, the Wheatear and Whinchat
Howlet: the Brown Owl
Howster: the Knot
Huckmuck: the Long-tailed Tit
Hullat: the Owl

Icebird: the Little Auk
Imber, or Great Northern Diver
Isle of Wight Parson: the Cormorant
Iris (plural, Irides): the coloured circle of the eye surrounding the pupil
Isaac: the Hedge Sparrow
Ivy Owl: the Barn Owl

Jack Curlew: the Whimbrel
Jackdaw
Jack-nicker: the Goldfinch
  "    Saw: the Goosander
  "    Snipe
Jar Owl: the Night Owl
Jay, Jay Pie, or Jay Pyet
Jenny: the Wren
Jid or Judcock: the Jack Snipe

Kadder and Kae: the Jackdaw
Kamtschatka Tern: the Black Tern
Katabella: the Hen Harrier
Kate: the Hawfinch
Katogle: the Eagle Owl
Kiddaw: the Guillemot
King-Harry: the Goldfinch
Kip: the Tern
Kirktullock: the Shoveler
Kirmew and Kirmow: the Tern
Knee: a name often given, though inaccurately, to the junction of the
    tarsus and tibia of a bird.
Knot

Lamhi or Lavy: the Guillemot
Land Curlew: the Great Plover
Lary: the Guillemot
Laughing Goose: the White-fronted Goose
Lavrock: the Skylark
Leg-bird: the Sedge Warbler
Lesser wing-coverts: the feathers which overlie the greater
    wing-coverts, or those next the quills
Ling-bird: the Meadow Pipit
Linlet: a young Linnet
Lobefoot: the Phalarope
Long-tongue: the Wryneck
Loom or Loon: the Diver
Lore: the space between the beak and the eye
Lough Diver: the Smew
Lum, Lungy: the Guillemot
Lumme: the Diver
Lyre: the Manx Shearwater

Madge Howlet: the White Owl
Maglowan: a name for the Divers
Magpie Diver: the Smew
Malduck, or Malmarsh: the Fulmar
Mallemoke: the Fulmar
Mandibles: upper and under, the two portions of a bird's bill
Man-of-war bird: the Skua
Manx Shearwater: the Manx Petrel
Marketjew Crow: the Chough
Marrot: the Guillemot and Razor-bill
May-bird, or Mayfowl: the Whimbrel
Mavis: the Thrush
Meadow Crake, or Drake: the Gallinule
  "    Pipit, Titlark or Titling
Meggy-cut-throat: the Whitethroat
Merlie: the Blackbird
Mew or Mow: a Gull
Millithrum: the Long-tailed Tit
Minute Gallinule: the Little Crake
  "    Merganser: the young Smew
  "    Tringa: the Little Stint
Mire Snipe: the Snipe
Mistle Thrush, or Mistletoe Thrush
Mitty: the Petrel
Mock-bird: the Sedge Warbler
  "    Nightingale: the Blackcap and Garden Warbler
Monk: the Bullfinch
Moor Blackbird, or Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Moor Hen, or Water Hen
Morrot: the Guillemot
Moss-cheeper: the Meadow Pipit
Mother Carey's Chickens: the Petrels
Mountain Linnet: the Twite
  "     Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Mouse Hawk or Owl: the Hawk Owl
Mow: a Gull
Mud-plover: the Grey Plover
Muggy: the Whitethroat
Mullet: the Puffin
Mum-ruffin: the Long-tailed Tit
Murdering-bird: the Butcher-bird

Nape: the upper part of the neck behind
Neck-a-pecker and Nickle: the Woodpecker
Night-crow, or Night-hawk: the Nightjar
  "    Heron
Nope: the Bullfinch
Norfolk Plover: the Great Plover
Norie: the Cormorant
Northern Crow: the Hooded Crow
Norway Lark: the Snow Bunting
Nun: the Blue Tit

Oke: the Auk
Olive: the Oyster-catcher
Olive-tufted Duck: the Goldeneye
Operculum: a lid or covering
Orbit: the skin that surrounds the eye, and in some birds is
    destitute of feathers
Ouzel, Water, or Dipper
Oven-bird: the Chiff-Chaff, Willow Warbler, and Wood Warbler
Owl, Long-eared or Horned
  "    Short-eared or Little-horned
  "    Tawny or Brown

Padge and Padge Owl: the Barn Owl
Palmipedes: Web-footed Birds
Pandle-whew: the Wigeon
Parasitic Gull: the Skua
Parrot, Ailsa: the Puffin
  "    Sea: the Puffin
Parson Mew: the Black-backed Gull
Passerine: belonging to the order Passeres
  "    Warbler: the Garden Warbler
Pea-finch: the Chaffinch
Pearl: the Tern
Pease Crow: the Tern
Peck: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Pectinated: cut like a comb
Peese-weep: the Peewit, also sometimes given to the Greenfinch
Peggy: the Wren, Whitethroat and the Garden Warbler
Peggy cut-throat: the Whitethroat
Petrel: the name Petrel is in some places given to the Godwit
Pettychaps, Greater: the Garden Warbler
  "    Lesser: the Chiff-chaff
Philomel: the Nightingale
Pianet: the Magpie, and Oyster-catcher
Picarini: the Avocet
Pick-cheese: the Tom-Tit and Great Tit
Pickmire: the Black-headed Gull
Picktarney and Picket: the Tern
Pictarn: the Black-headed Gull
Pie, Sea: the Oyster-catcher
Pied Diver: the Smew
  "    Wagtail
  "    Wigeon: the Garganey, and Goldeye
Pie-finch: the Chaffinch
Pienet and Piet: the Magpie
Piet, Water: the Water Ouzel
Pigeon Hawk: the Sparrow Hawk
  "    Mow, Red-legged: the Black-headed Gull in its winter plumage
Pigmy Curloo, or Sandpiper
Pine Bullfinch, or Pine Grosbeak
Pink: the Chaffinch
Pink-footed Goose
Pinnock: a Tit
Pint: the Laughing Gull
Pintail Duck
Pirenet: the Sheldrake
Plover's Page: the Purple Sandpiper
Pocker, or Poker: the Pochard
Poke-Pudding: the Long-tailed Tit
Pomarine Skua, or Gull, Twist-tailed
Poor-willie: the Godwit
Pop: the Redwing
Pope: the Puffin
Popinjay: the Green Woodpecker
Port-Egmont Hen: the Common Skua
Post-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Primaries: the quills, usually ten, of the terminal joint of a bird's wing.
Provence Furzel: the Dartford Warbler
Proud-tailor: the Goldfinch
Puckeridge: the Nightjar
Pudding-poke: the Long-tailed Tit
Puffin
Puffinet: the Black Guillemot
Purple Sandpiper
Purre: the Dunlin
Puttock: the Buzzard and Kite
Pywipe: the Lapwing

Quaketail: the Wagtail
Que: the Night Heron
Queest or Quest: the Ring-dove
Queet: the Coot and Guillemot
Quills: the large feathers of the wing, called primary, or digital;
secondary or cubital;
and tertiary, or humeral;
according as they arise from the terminal, middle, or inner joint
Quill-coverts: a row of feathers immediately covering the base of the
    quills above and below, and therefore called upper and under
Quinck: the Goose

Rafter-bird: the Spotted Flycatcher
Rail, Land
Rain-bird: the Green Woodpecker
  "    -Goose: the Red-throated Diver
Raptores: Birds of Prey
Rasores: Gallinaceous Birds
Rattle-wings: the Goldeneye
Redcap: the Goldfinch
Red Godwit: the Bar-tailed Godwit
  "    Grouse
Red-headed Linnet: the Common Linnet and Redpoll
  "    Pochard: the Common Pochard
  "    Wigeon: the Common Wigeon
  "    Hoop: the Bullfinch
  "    -legged Crow: the Chough
  "    "    Godwit: the Spotted Sandpiper
  "    "    Gull, the Black-headed Gull
  "    "    Partridge
  "    -necked Coot-foot, Lobefoot, or Phalarope
Red Sandpiper: the Knot in its summer plumage
Redstart, Common
  "    Black
Red-throated Diver
Red-winged Blackbird: Maize-bird, or Starling
Reed-bird: the Sedge Warbler
Reed Bunting: the Black-headed Bunting
  "    Fauvette: the Sedge Warbler
  "    Pheasant: the Bearded Tit
  "    Sparrow: the Black-headed Bunting
  "    Warbler or Wren
Reeve: the female of the Ruff
Richardson's Skua
Richel Bird: the Lesser Tern
Rind-tabberer: the Green Woodpecker
Ring Blackbird: the Ring Ouzel
  "    Dove
Ringed Dotterel, or Plover
  "    Guillemot
  "    -necked or Great Northern Diver
Ring-tailed Eagle: the Golden Eagle in its second year's plumage
Rippock: the Tern
Rochie: the Little Auk
Rock-birds: the Auk, Puffin, and Guillemot
  "    Dove, Rocker Dove, Rockier Dove
  "    Hawk: the Merlin
  "    Lark, or Pipit
  "    Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
  "    Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
Rodge: the Gadwall
Rood Goose, or Brent Goose
Rose-coloured Ouzel, Pastor, Starling or Thrush
  "    Linnet: the Redpoll, and Common Linnet
Rotck, or Rotcke: the Little Auk
Rothermuck: the Bernicle Goose
Ruddock: the Redbreast, Robin
Ruddy Goose, or Sheldrake
  "    Plover: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Ruff (female Reeve)
Runner: the Water-Rail
  "    Stone: the Ringed Plover

St. Cuthbert's Duck: the Elder
St. Martin's Snipe: the Jack Snipe
Sandcock: the Redshank
Sanderling
Sandsnipe: a Sandpiper
Sandwich Tern
Sandy-loo: the Ring Plover
  "    Poker: the Pochard
Sarcelle: the Long-tailed Duck
Saw-bill: the Merganser
Scale Drake: the Sheldrake
Scallop-toed Sandpiper: the Phalarope
Scammel: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Scapulars: the feathers which rise from the shoulders and cover the sides of the back
Scar Crow: the Black Tern
Scarf and Scart: the Shag
Scaurie: the Herring Gull
Scooper: the Avocet
Scotch Goose: the Brent Goose
Scout: the Common Guillemot
Scurrit: the Lesser Tern
Scrabe: the Manx Shearwater
Scraber: the Black Guillemot
Scraye: the Tern
Screamer and Screecher: the Swift
Screech: the Missel-Thrush
  "    Martin: the Swift
  "    Owl: the Barn Owl
Scull: the Skua
Scuttock: the Guillemot
Sea Crow: the Cormorant, and Black-headed Gull
  "    Dotterel: the Turnstone
  "    Hen: the Guillemot
Sea Lark: the Rock Pipit and Ring Plover
  "    Mall, Mew, or Mow: the Gull
  "    Parrot: the Puffin
  "    Pheasant: the Pintail Duck
  "    Pie: the Oyster-catcher
  "    Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
  "    Snipe: the Dunlin
  "    Swallow: the Tern
  "    Titling: the Rock Pipit
  "    Turtle-dove: the Guillemot and Rotche
  "    Wigeon: the Scaup
  "    Woodcock: the Godwit
Seaford Goose: the Brent Bernicle
Secondaries: the quill-feathers arising from the second joint of the wing
Sedge-bird, Sedge Warbler, or Sedge Wren
Selninger Sandpiper: the Purple Sandpiper
Serrator: the Ivory Gull
Serrated: toothed like a saw
Serrula: the Red-breasted Merganser
Sheldapple: the Crossbill This name and "Shelly" are sometimes given to the Chaffinch
Shepster: the Starling
Shilfa: the Chaffinch
Shoeing-horn: the Avocet
Shore-bird: the Sand Martin
  "    Pipit: the Rock Pipit
Short-eared or -horned Owl
Shrieker: the Black-tailed Godwit
Shrimp-catcher: the Lesser Tern
Shrite: the Missel Thrush
Silvery Gull: the Herring Gull
Skart: the Cormorant, and Shag
Skein: a flight of Geese
Skiddaw: the Guillemot
Skiddy Cock, Skilty, or Skit: the Water-Rail
Skite: the Yellow Hammer
Skitty: the Spotted Crake
Skrabe: the Black Guillemot
Snake-bird: the Wryneck
Snite: the Snipe
Snow-bird: the Ivory Gull
  "    -Bunting: Flake, or Fleck
Snuff-headed Wigeon: the Pochard
Solan, or Solent Goose: the Gannet
Solitary Snipe: the Great Snipe
Song Thrush: the Common Thrush
Sparlm-fowl: the female Merganser
Spectacle Duck: the Goldeneye
Speculum: the bright feathers which form a kind of disc of the wing of the Ducks
Speckled-bellied Goose: the White-fronted Goose
  "    Diver: the young of the Great Northern Diver
Spider-diver: the Dabchick
Speney: the Petrel
Spink: the Chaffinch
Spoonbill, White
Spotted-necked Turtle Dove: the Turtle Dove
Sprat Loon, the young of the Great Northern Diver
  "    Mew: the Kittiwake Gull
Spurre: the Tern
Standgale, or Stannel: the Kestrel
Starling, Common, Stare, or Starenil
Staynil: the Starling
Steel Duck, Larger: the Goosander
  "    "    Lesser: the Merganser
Stint: the Dunlin, or any similar bird, is often so called on the coast
Stock-Dove
Stonechacker or Stoneclink: Stonechat
Stone Curlew: the Great Plover
Stonegale: the Kestrel
Stone Hawk: the Merlin
Stone-smirch: the Wheatear
Stork, White
Storm Cock: the Missel Thrush
  "    Petrel, or Storm Finch
Straney: the Guillemot
Summer Snipe: the Sandpiper
  "    Teal: the Garganey
  "    Duck, or Sheldrake: the Long-tailed Duck
Sweet William: the Goldfinch
Swiftfoot: the Courser
Swimmer, Little: the Phalarope
Swine-pipe: the Redwing

Tail-coverts: upper and under, feathers covering the basal portion
    of the tail feathers above and below
Tailor, Proud: the Goldfinch
Tammie Cheekie and Tammie Norie: the Puffin
Tang-waup: the Whimbrel
Tangle-picker: the Turnstone
Taring, Tarrot: the Tern
Tarrock: the young of the Kittiwake Gull
Tarse: the male Falcon, a name used in falconry
Tarsus: the bone of a bird's foot next above the toes. In a domestic
    fowl the tarsus is the portion between what is called
    the "drumstick" and the toes; the shank
Tatler: a Sandpiper
Teal Cricket: the Garganey
Teaser: the Skua
Teewit: the Peewit
Tertiaries: the quills which spring from the third or inner joint of a bird's wing
Thistlefinch: the Goldfinch
Three-toed Sandgrouse
Thrice-cock: the Mistle Thrush
Throstle: the Thrush
Tibia: the joint of a bird's leg next above the tarsus; the "drumstick."
Tick: the Whinchat
Tidley: the Wren
Tinkershere, or Tinker's hue: the Guillemot
Tippet Grebe: the Crested Grebe
Titlark, and Titling: the Meadow Pipit
  "    Sea: the Rock Pipit
Tom Harry: the Skua
Tom Pudding: the Dabchick
Tommy Norie: the Puffin
Tomtit: the Blue Tit
Tonite: the Wood Warbler
Tony Hoop: the Bullfinch
Tope: the Wren
Tor-Ouzel: the Ring Ouzel
Towilly: the Sanderling
Tree Pipit, or Lark
  "    Sparrow
  "    Sheeler: the Tree Creeper
Tuchit: the Lapwing Plover
Tufted Duck
Tuliac: the Skua
Turkey-bird: the Wryneck
Turtle, Sea: the Guillemot and Ricke
Twink: the Chaffinch
Twit Lark: the Meadow Pipit
Tystie: the Black Guillemot

Ulnia: the Tawny Owl
Under tail-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the tail beneath
Under wing-coverts: the feathers which cover the wings beneath
Upper tail-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the tail above
Upper wing-coverts: the feathers which overlap the base of the quills
Utick: the Whinchat

Vare Wigeon: the Smew
Velvet Runner: the Water-Rail

Wagell: the young of the Great Black-backed Gull
Wall Hick: the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Wash-dish and Washerwoman: the Pied Wagtail
Water-hen: the Moor-hen
  "    Crow, the Dipper
  "    Junket: the Common Sandpiper
  "    Ouzel or Dipper
  "    Sparrow: the Sedge Warbler
  "    Tie: the Wagtail
  "    Wagtail: the Pied Wagtail
Waxen Chatterer or Waxwing
Wease-alley: the Skua
Weasel Coot: the young Smew
  "    Duck: the Smew
Weet-weet: the Common Sandpiper
Wellplum: the Red-headed Pochard
Whaup: the Curlew
Whautie: the Whitethroat
Wheel-bird, or Wheeler: the Nightjar
Wheety-why: the Whitethroat
Winthrush: the Redwing
Whewer: the Wigeon
Whey-bird: the Whitethroat
Whilk: the Scoter
Whim: the Wigeon
Whimbrel or May-bird
Whin Linnet: the Common Linnet
Whistling Plover: the Golden Plover
Whistling Swan: the Whooper Swan
White Baker: the Spotted Flycatcher
White-breasted Blackbird: the Ring or Water Ouzel
  "    -faced Duck: the Pochard
  "    Tinch: the Chaffinch
  "    -headed Goosander: the Smew
  "    -headed Cormorant: the Common Cormorant
  "    -headed Harpy: the Moor Buzzard
  "    Nun: the Smew
  "    -spot Cormorant: the Common Cormorant
  "    -tail: the Wheatear
  "    -winged Black Duck: the Velvet Scoter
Whit-ile, i.e. Whittle: the Green Woodpecker
Whitterick: the Curlew
Whitty-beard: the Whitethroat
Whitwall and Witwall: the Green Woodpecker
Wierangel: the Ash-coloured Shrike
Willock and Willy: the Guillemot
Willow-biter: the Tomtit
Willywicket: the Common Sandpiper
Windhover and Windfanner: the Kestrel
Windle, Winnard, and Wind-thrush: the Redwing
Wing-coverts: several rows of feathers covering the basal part of
    the quills above and below, and called the upper and
    under wing-coverts; the feathers outside these are
    called the lesser wing-coverts
Winglet: a process arising from near the base of the terminal joint of
    the wing, answering to the thumb in the human hand
Winnel and Windle-Straw: the Whitethroat
Winter-bonnet: the Common Gull
  "    Duck: the Pintail Duck
Winter-Gull, or Mew: the Common Gull in its winter plumage
  "    Wagtail: the grey-headed Wagtail
Witch: the Petrel
Witwall: the Green Woodpecker
Woodcock Owl: the Short-eared Owl
  "    Sea: the Godwit
  "    -Snipe: the Great Snipe
Woodcracker: the Nuthatch
Wood Grouse: the Capercaillie
Woodpie: the Green Woodpecker
Wood Sandpiper
  "    Shrike Woodchat
Woodspite, Woodwall, and Woodwele: the Green Woodpecker
Wood Warbler, or Wren
Writing Lark: the Bunting, so called from the markings of the eggs

Yaffil, Yaffle, Yaffler, Yappingale: the Green Woodpecker
Yardkeep and Yarwhip: the Bar-tailed Godwit
Yarwhelp: the Stone Plover and Godwit
Yeldrin and Yeldrock: the Yellow Hammer
Yellow legged Gull: the Lesser Black-backed Gull
  "    Sandpiper: the young of the Ruff
  "    Owl: the White Owl
  "    Plover: the Golden Plover
  "    Poll: the Wigeon
  "    Warbler: the Willow Warbler
  "    Yeldock, Yoit, Yoldrin and Yowley, the Yellow Hammer
Yelper: the Avocet