Habitation.—When wild this species frequents stony and mountainous places; and, during their migration, they may be seen resting in the fields, on the tops of isolated stakes, and other similar places; rarely on trees or bushes. They take their departure during the first fortnight in September, and return towards the middle of April, when white frosts cease.
In the house these birds must be kept in nightingales’ cages, or shut up behind a grating, and not suffered to range until accustomed in their prison to their new food; for, unless taken good care of at first, they will soon die. They can rarely be tamed.
Food.—When wild they feed on flies and other insects, which they catch as they run along.
In the house they must be given plenty of meal-worms and ants’ eggs as soon as they are taken; for, if not fed profusely, they will die, and what is rather astonishing, of diarrhœa, although they have not eaten any of the common house-food. Afterwards they may be fed on nightingales' food, and occasionally on white bread soaked in boiled milk; yet, with every attention, they can rarely be preserved more than two years.
Breeding.—Their nests, formed of stalks of grass and feathers, are generally placed in the crevices of some stone-quarry, sometimes in holes on the banks of streams or rivers, or in an empty mole-hill, or even on a heap of stones. They lay from five to six eggs, of a greenish white. To rear the young ones, they must be taken when half-fledged, and fed on ants’ eggs and white bread soaked in boiled milk.
Mode of Taking.—Limed twigs must be placed on the stones or stakes where these birds rest, or even on sticks fixed in the ground for the purpose, and they must be driven gently towards the snares.
Attractive Qualities.—No one would take the trouble to tame a full-grown wheatear, unless passionately fond of keeping birds. I have one, that, by the use of plenty of fresh ants’ eggs, has been accustomed to range the room. Its plumage is pleasing, its actions graceful; it is continually waving and spreading its fine tail. Its song is passable, but is interrupted every now and then by a kind of scream.
The present interesting species generally arrives in this country about the middle of March, and leaves it again the latter end of September or the beginning of October, though I one year saw a pair in Hyde Park as late as the 17th of November.
In a wild state they are generally to be found on downs and commons, and in Sussex some hundred dozens are caught annually by the shepherds, who sell them for the sake of their flesh, which is very delicious, particularly in autumn, when they become very fat.
This is a very interesting bird in confinement, and is almost continually singing; it will also sing by night as well as by day, if there is a light in the room where it is kept; it has a very pleasant, variable, and agreeable song, different from all other birds, which, in confinement, it continues all the winter. When a pair of them are kept together in a large cage or aviary, it is very amusing to see them at play with each other, flying up and down, and spreading open their long wings in a curious manner, dancing and singing at the same time. I have very little doubt but a young bird, brought up from the nest, might be taught to talk, as they are very imitative.
When wild the present species feeds entirely on insects, so that the more it has given it when in confinement, the better. There are very few sorts of insects that it will refuse, except the common earth-worm; small beetles, cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, most sorts of caterpillars, butterflies, moths, earwigs, woodlice, the common maggots, and almost all other sorts of insects it is very fond of, and the more that is given it, the finer will be its song. Its common food is bruised hemp-seed and bread, intermixed with fresh, raw, lean meat; also a little of the yolk of an egg boiled hard occasionally for a change.
Montacilla Rubetra, Linnæus; Le Tarier, ou Le Grand Traquet, Buffon; Der Braunkehliger Steinschmätzer, Bechstein.
This is a delicate bird that is met with throughout Europe, among scattered bushes and abrupt declivities. It is four inches ten lines in length, of which the tail measures an inch and a half. The beak is black, as also the legs, which are nine lines high; the upper parts of the body are dusky, in very old birds black, but streaked with pale rust-red, as all the feathers are edged with this colour; a white line, beginning at the nostrils, passes above the eyes as far as the ears; the cheeks are dusky, spotted with chestnut; the throat and breast are yellow, inclining to orange, the former edged with white on the sides and chin.
The colours are paler in the female, the streak above the eyes is yellowish; the upper part of the body dark brown, spotted with rust; the cheeks dark brown; the throat reddish-white; the breast pale orange, with small round, black and brown spots, which gradually disappear from age.
These birds vary till the third year. The young ones, which may be seen perched on cabbages and other plants, even on strong wheat stalks, have the whole of the upper part of the body covered with red and blackish spots, and each feather edged with this colour before the first moulting; the under part of the body is like the female. I killed two in their second year, that still had dusky spots on the breast, though they had become darker on the back; in general, the two sexes may be distinguished by the deep brown of the cheeks and back.
Habitation.—When wild they generally frequent the skirts of woods. They appear amongst us the beginning of May, and depart towards the end of September. In August they may be seen scattered over the fields, on the stalks of plants, or detached bushes.
In the house they must be kept in a nightingale’s cage.
Breeding.—The nest, constructed of dried grass mixed with moss, lined with hair and feathers, is commonly placed in a tuft of grass in the middle of a meadow or orchard. The females lay five or six eggs, of a fine light blue. Young ones reared on ants’ eggs succeed much better than those taken full grown.
Mode of Taking.—In spring, when some of these birds are seen in a field or meadow, sticks, furnished with limed twigs, should be stuck there, and the birds gently driven to that side, to induce them to settle, which they will soon do. In summer, the noose, spring-trap, and limed twigs, must be employed in the following manner:—If the noose is used, a stake must be set up, about three feet high, slit at the top to put in crossways a stick three inches long, and the noose is placed an inch and a half above, to be of the height of the bird’s breast when it is perched on the stick.
If limed twigs are used, forked switches three feet long should be employed: the fork, four inches in length, must be covered with bird-lime. Spring-traps or gins must be suspended to small stakes or cabbage stalks. As soon as a sufficient number of these spring-traps, snares, and limed twigs, are prepared, they must be carried to a cabbage garden, when a number of these whinchats has been seen; there fix the stakes in cross lines, two or three paces apart; then go to the end of the garden and drive the birds gently towards the snares; they jump from one cabbage stalk to another till they approach the stakes; then you stop, and in a short time the birds are caught one after another. When they are caught, the prisoners must be taken out and the snares arranged again; then go to the other end and again drive the birds forward as before, and thus continue till the sport is over.
Attractive Qualities.—However gay this bird may appear when free, it becomes sad and melancholy in the house. If permitted to range, it only moves to procure food, and then returns to its accustomed place, and keeps its head sunk on its breast. Its pleasing song very much resembles the goldfinch’h; but what makes it more admired, is, that it is not only heard during the day, but also in the evening, and sometimes during the night.
This pretty species is also known by the name of Furze Chat, and is very often confounded with the stonechat, which is a very different species. It generally visits this country in the beginning of April, and leaves us towards the end of September. All the fore part of the season it visits commons, where it may be seen on the furze bushes, flying backwards and forwards after the insects that pass. It builds its nest on the ground in a thicket, which it covers up with dry grass, so that it is impossible to find it without watching the old ones, either in carrying materials to build, or food to their young. I have generally found them with six or seven young ones, which, with care, are easily bred up from the nest, keeping them warm, dry, and clean, and feeding them with the same sorts of food as recommended for the old ones; they should not be taken till quite fledged, and should at first be placed in a little basket with covers, as they will then readily open their mouths for food. I consider those reared from the nest much the best, or such as are caught very young, as they may then be taught any tune, or will learn the song of any bird they hear, their own song not being a very good one.
This bird may be considered as one of the tenderest of the tribe, being very susceptible of cold. It is one of my greatest favourites. One that I bred from the nest by hand, learnt the song of the white-throat, the redstart, willow-wren, nightingale, and also that of a missel-thrush, which it frequently heard singing in a garden near by; of this latter song it was so fond, that we were frequently obliged to put our favourite out of the room, not being able to bear its loud notes; it was certainly the best bird I ever kept of any kind, singing nearly the whole year through, and varying its song continually; the only fault was its strong voice. At last, our favourite was turned out of its cage by a mischievous servant on a cold winter day, when we were from home for about an hour, and we could not entice it back; it most probably died of the cold, or took its flight to a warmer region. I scarcely entertain any hopes of ever getting such another; the food of the present species is precisely the same as the last.
This, like the preceding, is generally to be found on hills and commons, harbouring chiefly amongst the furze bushes, and feeds, as far as I have observed, entirely on insects. It is not so tender as the whinchat, some few of them occasionally stopping in this country all the winter. It feeds, when wild, on small beetles, flies, as also all sorts of butterflies, moths, caterpillars, woodlice, and various other insects.
In confinement their food must be the same as the whinchat’s. They soon become very tame, and if bred up from the nest will learn the notes of other birds, which are in general better than their own. Their own song, though loud, is very short, but they have a strong voice to repeat the notes of another bird.
Sylvia cinerea, Bechstein; Le Fauvette grise ou Grisette, Buffon; Die gemeine Grasmücke, Bechstein.
This bird is five inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two and three-quarters. The beak, five lines long, is dusky above and greyish beneath, with the corners and interior of the throat yellow; the iris is greyish brown; the shanks are brownish flesh-coloured, and ten lines high; the head is ash-grey: the cheeks, neck, back, rump, tail-coverts and lesser wing-coverts, are also ash-grey, but tinged with brown, deeper on the back than elsewhere; the throat and belly are fine white.
The female, rather smaller and lighter, rust-coloured on the wings, has not a fine white throat like the male.
Habitation.—When wild the white-throat is spread through Europe. They leave us the beginning of October, and are then observed to retire from bush to bush, and from hedge to hedge. They reappear towards the middle of April, fluttering about the bushes in the fields, the brambles, thickets, underwood of the low mountains, and the orchards, running about very swiftly.
In the house they must be treated in the same manner as the fauvette; but they are much more delicate. An amateur had better rear young birds, and treat them like nightingales. It is the only way to keep them many years.
Food.—When wild these birds are constantly seeking among the bushes for all kinds of insects, grubs, and especially small caterpillars. When, from the air becoming cooler, the supply of this sort of food lessens, they immediately substitute for it currants, cherries, and elderberries.
In the house they must be fed, as we said before, on nightingales’ food. They may, however, be given, occasionally, barley meal and white bread soaked in boiled milk; but this food alone will not agree with them, for they will upon it gradually lose their feathers, till at length they become quite bare. It is a good thing in summer to give them elderberries, though they may be red, and in winter dried ones, after soaking them in water.
Breeding.—The nest is formed of small grass stems and moss, and lined with horse-hair. It is placed in a thick bush, near the ground, or among roots at the water side, sometimes even in tufts of grass. The eggs, from four to six in number, are greenish white, spotted with olive green, and speckled at the large end with dark ash-grey. The young leave the nest so soon that it is difficult to take them from it. Their first plumage resembles full-grown ones, and the females may be known by the fainter tint of fawn brown with which the wing-feathers are edged. I have reared them easily on ants’ eggs. They soon learn to peck alone, and are tolerably satisfied with bread soaked in boiled milk; but to keep them long in health they must be fed in the same manner as the nightingale. They are pretty, engaging birds, thus reared, becoming so tame that they will perch and sing on the finger.
Diseases.—These are the same as those of the blackcap, which may be referred to.
Mode of Taking.—The easiest way is to place limed twigs on the nest, but this is repugnant to persons not cruel. Towards the end of summer, spring-traps may be set, with elderberries and gooseberries hung near them. It is difficult to take these birds at the water-trap.
Attractive Qualities.—This bird, gay, lively, and constantly in motion, is a pleasing object in the country. Its song, prolonged far into the night, consists of several strains, which rapidly succeed each other, but must be near for all its beauties to be distinguished, since the soft low tones are only occasionally interrupted by louder notes, which are shrill and follow quickly one after the other. The bird rises in the air as it sings, as if to be better heard, circles round as it ceases, and sinks again into its bush. Its call is a loud tze. When the white-throat is alone in a room, its song appears very melodious.
This is one of the most delightful and pleasing birds that can be imagined. If kept in a large cage with other birds it is so full of antics, in flying and frisking about, and erecting its crest, generally singing all the time, certainly nothing can be more amusing. It is also quite as hardy as the blackcap, and if a good one be procured, it is little inferior in song: but in this they vary considerably, the wild ones as well as those in a cage. I have now one in my possession that I have had about eleven years, in as good health, and singing as well as ever; and certainly no song need be louder, sweeter, or more varied. It is of the same temper as a nightingale, never suffering itself to be outdone. It will indeed sing for hours together against a nightingale, now in the beginning of January, and it will not suffer itself to be outdone; when the nightingale raises its voice, it also does the same, and tries its utmost to get above it; sometimes in the midst of its song it will run up to the nightingale, and stretch out its neck as if in defiance, and whistle as loud as it can, staring it in the face; if the nightingale attempts to peck it, away it is in an instant flying round the aviary, and singing all the time.
In a wild state, the present species is generally to be found in hedges and gardens, and is the most common of our British warblers, visiting us the beginning or middle of April, and leaving us towards the end of September; sometimes a solitary one may be seen in October, but not frequently. It is particularly fond of flies, or a rose-branch covered with aphides will please it very much.
Sylvia curruca, Bechstein; Motacilla dumetorum, Linnæus; La Fauvette babillarde, Buffon; Das Müllerchen, Bechstein.
This bird somewhat resembles the white-throat, but is smaller, and has less rust colour on the wings. It is five inches long, the tail measuring more than two. The beak is five lines in length, very pointed, black above, and bluish below; the iris has two rings, the outer one pale yellow, the inner a brilliant golden yellow; the shanks, seven lines high, are raven black; the head and rump are dark ash grey; the rest of the upper part of the body is grey, with a reddish tint; the cheeks and the part behind the ears are darker than the head; the throat and under part of the body are white, but the sides of the breast are tinged with reddish grey, and those of the belly with reddish brown.
The birds must be before you to be able to distinguish the two sexes; you can then only perceive that the head of the female is of a lighter colour, and the feet rather blue than black.
Habitation.—When wild this species is found throughout Europe, except the north. It is common in the hedges in Germany, disappearing in September, and returning the middle of April. Its taste for currants often draws it to the garden hedge. It is not very often seen in young coppice wood, scarcely ever on trees97, continually on low bushes.
In the house it must be lodged like the fauvette, and taken the same care of; it is so delicate, that when taken rather old it can rarely be preserved.
Food.—When wild it is the same as the preceding species.
In the house these birds cannot be kept long, unless fed on nightingales' food, mingled with ants’ eggs and meal-worms.
Breeding.—The nest is generally found on a thick gooseberry bush, or white-thorn, and on young fir trees in fir woods. It is formed of coarse dried grass, lined with small roots mixed with hogs’ bristles. There are five or six eggs, white, spotted at the large end with grey and yellow brown in a circle. The female’s attachment to her brood may be known from her dropping from her nest almost fainting as soon as any one approaches, uttering anxious cries, fluttering on the ground, and slowly retiring from the nest. Scarcely are the young ones fledged, when, if looked at, they will dart like an arrow from the nest, and run and hide themselves among the bushes. If you wish to rear them, they must be taken as I have directed for the fauvette, remembering that the male and female cannot then be distinguished.
Diseases.—These are the same as in the fauvettes.
Mode of Taking.—If snow should fall after their return, a place near a hedge should be cleared, and limed twigs fastened to the lower branches; after having thrown meal-worms there, the birds should be gently driven towards it, and for the sake of the worms they will creep under the limed twigs, and remain caught.
Attractive Qualities.—Though the plumage is not very striking, yet this bird is very pretty. Some clacking tones, rather like the noise of a mill, have given it in Germany the name of the little Miller; as these notes are heard more distinctly than the others, they are erroneously thought to be its whole song; but the rest, certainly very weak, is so soft, so varied, so melodious, that it surpasses other warblers. Whilst singing in this under tone it is continually hopping about the bushes, but when going to utter clap, clap, it stops and employs the whole strength of the larynx to pronounce this syllable. To enjoy the beauty of its song it should be alone in a room, and then no other singing bird is more agreeable, as it rarely utters its call.
This is a handsome, little, lively species, more elegant and smaller than the white-throat, and of a purer colour; its throat being as white as snow. It generally visits us the beginning or middle of April, and leaves us again the end of August or beginning of September. Its song is not so agreeable as most of the other species of warblers; but it is soft and pretty, and very different from any other. It is also more valuable by being much more rare; some seasons very few visit us, in others they are sufficiently plentiful. Its habits are somewhat similar to those of the white-throat, but it is much more quarrelsome, sometimes so much so, that it must be taken from the other birds or it will worry them to death, even if they are double its size.
In confinement it will soon become tame and familiar, and will readily take to feed on bread and milk, and also on bruised hemp-seed and bread. One that I bred up from the nest became so attached to its cage, that it could not be prevailed upon to quit it for any length of time. When the door of it was set open, it would generally come out quickly, and first perch on the door, then mount to the top of the cage, thence it would fly to any other cages that were in the room, and catch any flies that came within its reach; sometimes it would descend to the floor, or perch on a table or chair, and would fly up and take a fly out of the hand, or drink milk out of a spoon if invited: of this it was very fond. As soon as it was the least frightened, it would fly immediately to its cage, first on the top, thence to the door, and would enter in exactly as it came out. I have often hung it out at the window perched on the top of its cage, with the door open, and it would never attempt to fly away. Sometimes if a fly should happen to pass near it, it would fly off and catch it, and return with it to the top of the cage: after remaining there a considerable time, it would either return into it, or fly in at the window, and perch on the cages of the other birds. It is rather more tender than the white-throat.
The warble of the babillard (Curruca garrula, Brisson) is pretty and lively, but its song is rendered monotonous in the spring and summer by the constant repetition of its loud note of defiance, analogous to the clear lively note with which the blackcap generally concludes: this may be expressed by the monosyllable see, repeated nine or ten times in quick succession, and at times very loudly: it is a note, which, though agreeable enough when only heard occasionally, becomes quite tiresome when continually reiterated. This species, however, can warble very sweetly if it please, and, in confinement, during the first months of the year, its song is heard to great advantage in a room; it then rarely repeats its loud see see see, and when, at that time, the above-mentioned note is uttered, it forms, indeed, an agreeable variety. The song of the babillard is formed of a number of soft chirping notes, many of which are extremely sweet and musical, and though at times tolerably loud, yet they are generally delivered in a very low tone, scarcely audible at a little distance. The male is almost perpetually singing, erecting his crest and the feathers of his throat in the manner of a white-throat, and, like that species and the furze warbler, he is in constant motion the whole time, throwing himself into a variety of odd gesticulations. The song of this bird is very superior to that of many white-throats, but not to all; he has none of those harsh sounding notes which so often disfigure the white-throat’s song. He seems also to be always in such high spirits as not to know how to contain himself, taking frequently a long circuitous flight from tree to tree, and back again, a dozen times, seemingly for no other purpose than mere exercise; but he never mounts singing into the air, like the white-throat. There are yet many persons, I believe, who consider this species to be “a mere variety” of the white-throat. These two species differ from each other in size, in make, in colour, in their manners, their habits, their song, in the structure of their nest, and in the marking of their eggs; and surely, “if all these circumstances (as Wilson observes, after making similar remarks on two American birds, one of which had been considered a ‘bastard’ production of the other) be not sufficient to designate this (the babillard) as a distinct species, by what criterion, I would ask, are we to discriminate between a variety and an original species, or, to assure ourselves, that the great horned owl is not, in fact, a bastard goose, or the carrion crow a mere variety of the humming bird?”
Motacilla Tithys, Linnæus: Le Rouge-queue, Buffon; Der Wistling, Bechstein.
Length five inches and one quarter, of which the tail alone measures two and one quarter. The beak is five lines long, very pointed and black, the inside and corners yellow; the iris is dusky; the shanks are nine lines high, and black; the upper part of the body is dark bluish, or blackish gray; the rump is red; the cheeks, throat, and breast, are black; the belly and sides are of the same dark colour as the back, but tinged with white; the vent is reddish yellow.
The upper part of the body in the female is dusky ash grey; the under part ash grey, with a reddish tinge.
The colours of this bird vary during the first eight years; the oldest ones, with the exception of the tail and wings, are in general black, but deeper on the under part than the upper; the very oldest have a greyish breast.
Those a year or two old very much resemble the females, having the upper part of the body ash grey, but the under rather more of a reddish colour; the quill-feathers have a more decided border. After two years the depth of the colour gradually increases. Several bird-catchers, and from them some authors, have considered these birds of different ages as different species.
Habitation.—In its wild state the black redstart is found in the temperate parts of Europe and in Asia in the same latitudes98. They seem to prefer mountainous districts to wide plains, and they are seen in great numbers on bare chalk-hills; if found in woods, it is only in those that are on rocks. They frequent towns and villages, perching on the highest buildings, towers, steeples, churches, and castles99. In spring and autumn it hops about the hedges. It arrives early in the spring, its song is heard in the beginning of March, and it quits us in small flights towards the middle of October. It possesses one quality, not common among singing birds, that of singing all the year, or, at least, whilst in our country, however cold and stormy the weather may be.
In the house it should be kept in a nightingale’s cage, or at least not permitted to range the room.
Food.—When wild it feeds on flies, drawn by the warmth of spring from their retreat, and settled on walls; afterwards on cabbage caterpillars and other insects, and in autumn on berries.
In the house they may be kept in health a long time, if the above insects are procured for them, or if fed on nightingales’ food, adding occasionally ants’ eggs and meal-worms.
Old birds taken in autumn may sometimes be tamed and accustomed to eat the common food in the room, by putting amongst elderberries, in autumn, ants’ eggs, and meal-worms at other seasons. They have been known to live five or six years in a cage.
Breeding.—This bird makes its nest in the holes of rocks and walls, particularly in high buildings, on the timbers of barns, and places it at a distance from any other. It is constructed of hay, mixed with the hair of animals. Each laying (for there are two in the year) consists of five or six white eggs. The young have a reddish grey plumage, and should be taken from the nest when the tail is half grown, if it is wished to rear them. They should be fed on ants’ eggs, and white bread soaked in boiled milk.
Diseases.—These are the same as those of the fauvette.
Mode of Taking.—Limed twigs, with meal-worms fastened to them, should be laid wherever these birds are most frequently found. Towards winter they may be caught in spring-traps with elderberries hung opposite.
Attractive Qualities.—Its call, “fitza,” being very similar to the nightingale’e, has given rise most probably to its name of Wall Nightingale, which it has in common with the following species. Its song certainly cannot enter into comparison with that of the nightingale, for it is sad, and consists of only three strains, the middle one scarcely more than croaking; the other two may boast of a few high clear tones; it may be heard from early in the morning till night. It is always gay and active, its motions light and nimble; it shakes its tail quickly from side to side at every hop or spring, and utters continually the cry “fitza100!”
Motacilla Phœnicurus, Linnæus; Le Rossignol de muraille, Buffon; Das Gemeiner oder Garten-Rothschwänzchen, Bechstein.
Its length is five inches and a quarter, of which the tail measures two and a quarter. The beak is five lines, the tip is blunt, black on the outside, yellow within and at the corners; the iris is black; the shanks are of the same colour, and ten lines high; the base of the upper mandible and cheeks are black, as also the throat, but this is speckled with white; the white on the front of the head unites with a streak of the same colour, which extends above the eyes; the back of the head and neck, the back and lesser wing-coverts, are dark ash grey tinged with a reddish colour; the rump, breast, and sides, are red inclining to orange.
The female is very different, very much resembling that of the black redstart, yet its colours are rather lighter. The upper part of its body is reddish ash grey; the whitish throat is not clouded with black till the fifth or sixth year; the breast is dusky rust-red waved with white; the belly is dusky white; the rump is reddish yellow101.
It is not till after the first moulting that the distinction between the plumage of the males and females is obvious; even then the breast of the male retains the black tinged with white, but loses this tint in the course of the following summer; the males also have for some time a white streak on the forehead, that passes above the eyes, and the belly is more white than rust-red.
Habitation.—In a wild state these birds are found in Europe and Asia, and are very common in Germany and England. They leave us the beginning of October, and return the end of March or beginning of April. At this time and in autumn they haunt hedges and bushes; but in summer they principally frequent gardens, the banks of streams planted with willows, and even forests. Those that frequent gardens also enter towns, and will perch on the roofs of the houses, enlivening the inmates with their song from morning till night.
In the house, if given a cage, it should be of such light wire work as not to conceal the beauty of the plumage.
Food.—When wild they feed on all kinds of insects, earth-worms, currants, and elderberries.
In the house, if taken in autumn, they may sometimes be induced to feed on elderberries, rarely on the poultry paste. To entice them to this meal-worms must be mixed with it at first, and some thrown in when it is eaten; ants’ eggs must be added in spring. These birds are delicate, and always require to be supplied with insects; but never give them earth-worms, as they do not digest them easily. If kept in cages they should be given nightingales’ food; yet fed in this way it is rare to preserve them above three or four years; they generally die of consumption or atrophy.
Breeding.—The redstart generally places its nest in a hole of a tree or wall; it is negligently formed of moss, stalks of grass, feathers, and hair. The female has two broods in the year, and each time she lays from five to seven eggs, of an apple green. Scarcely have the tail-feathers begun to grow ere the young ones hop from the nest and perch on some neighbouring branch, where they receive food from the parent birds till they are able to seek it for themselves. Their plumage before moulting is ash grey spotted with white. The young females resemble the nightingale so much in autumn that they are often mistaken for it. Bird-fanciers should rear these birds on ants’ eggs, with white bread soaked in boiled milk occasionally, and thus accustom them to the common universal paste. They learn to repeat parts of the songs of their companions.
Diseases.—Diarrhœa and atrophy carry off the greatest number.
Mode of Taking.—Sticks covered with bird-lime should be placed across the hedges frequented by these birds; they must then be driven gently towards them. They are also attracted under nets, and amongst limed twigs baited with meal-worms. In autumn they may be taken in nooses, by suspending elderberries near them, either in orchards or thickets. Those intended for the house should be taken in bird-traps or springes, taking care that the wooden part be covered with felt or cork, to prevent the legs being broken. The young ones of the first year are the easiest to preserve. They also go to the water-trap without difficulty.
Attractive Qualities.—Its plumage, and still more its song and sprightliness, render this a delightful bird. It is always in motion, bowing, and moving its tail from side to side at every step; all its actions are lively and graceful. It can improve its song, composed of some very pretty strains, by adding to it parts of the songs of birds that are found near it. For instance, those that build under my roof imitate tolerably the chaffinch that hangs in a cage at my window; and a neighbour of mine has one in his garden that repeats some strains of a blackcap that has its nest near. This facility in appropriating the song of other birds is rare in birds that live in a state of liberty, and seems peculiar to this species. They become so tame that they will take meal-worms from the hand.
This is one of the handsomest of our British birds, visiting us the latter end of March or beginning of April; the earliest arrival ever noticed was the 25th of March, and they generally leave us the beginning of September. When they first arrive they mostly frequent old buildings or out-houses, for the sake of flies and small insects that often abound there. They build their nest in a hole or crevice of a wall, or in a hollow tree. They frequently ascend to the top of the highest tree within their haunt, and there sit sometimes for a considerable time, pouring out their quick and sort of fretful song. When kept in confinement I consider it the most sensible, and, if brought up from the nest, the most attached of all small birds; but it may be considered the most tender of the whole tribe. It is a real mocker, and if bred up from a young one, will learn the note or call of almost any other bird; it will also learn a tune that is whistled or sung to it, and will sing by night as well as day if a light be kept in the room where it is.
I was in possession of a handsome male bird of this species, which I kept more than six years. It became very tame, though an old wild bird when first caught, and it was so attached to its cage, that one day, having got its liberty, it flew away into the gardens, where it stayed six or seven hours, after which it returned to its cage again. In the year 1825 I saw a female bird of this species so late as the 21st of November, flying about as lively as at midsummer; it had probably escaped or been turned out of a cage. When in confinement it is particularly partial to ants’ eggs, and also to the common maggots.
Sylvia polyglotta, Ranzani; Sylvia Hippolais, Bechstein; Le Bec-fin à poitrine jaune, Temminck; Die Gelbbrust, Bechstein; Die Spotvogel, Wichterich.
This pleasing bird, which is met with wherever there are groves and bushes102, is five inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two and a quarter. The beak, seven lines long, is straight, blunt, bluish grey above, and yellow tinged with flesh-colour beneath, with yellowish corners, and the entrance of the throat citron yellow; the iris is dark brown; the shanks, ten lines high, are lead-coloured. The head is pointed in front; the back, rump, and lesser wing-coverts, are olive ash grey; a yellow line extends from the nostrils to the eyes; the whole of the under part of the body is a fine light yellow; the tail and wings are dark brown; the secondary quill-feathers have so wide a white border that it forms a spot on the closed wings.
Habitation.—In its wild state it frequents orchards, groves, and brambles; but with us it seems to prefer small woods that are interspersed with resinous trees. It arrives the end of April, and quits us as early as the end of August, before the moulting season.
In the house it is kept in a nightingale’s cage, in which no change must be made, still less must another be given it, for it would not survive these disturbances. It is so delicate, that if taken when full grown it is almost impossible to tame it.
Food.—When wild its food is all kinds of insects, smooth caterpillars, flies, gnats, &c.; and if these are scarce, berries103.
In the house it prefers these insects and meal-worms. It is only with great patience and management that it can be given a taste for the nightingale’e food. In general it will eat nothing but insects.
Breeding.—The nest of the arbour bird is one of those that are so well and curiously formed, commonly placed eight feet above the ground, in the fork of a tree. It is built of pieces of the white bark of the birch tree, dried plants, caterpillars’ webs, wool, and the upper layer of down. All these white materials give it the appearance of being made of paper. It is lined with the finest hay. The female lays five eggs, which are at first of a pale rose red, but after having been sat upon some days acquire a dark flesh-coloured tint, speckled with dark red. This species has but one brood in the year, and if the nest is approached two or three times it will desert it, whether the young ones are hatched or not.
If a person wish to have this pleasing bird in the house, as it is often seen in Hesse, he must take the young ones early from the nest, feed them on ants’ eggs and bullock’s heart chopped small, and always keep them in a warm place. As soon as the arbour bird has been placed in the situation destined for it, it must be left there constantly; its cage ought not to be changed, at least there should be no difference in the one given it afterwards, as without this attention it becomes sad, eats no longer, and dies in a short time. I may observe here, that it moults in December or January, whence we may infer that it passes the winter in a southern climate.
Diseases.—These are the same as the nightingale’e.
Mode of Taking.—This can rarely be accomplished but by placing limed twigs on the nest, which is a cruel method, and the nest is often deserted as soon as it has been approached. Neither will these birds go to the water-trap: they may be caught occasionally in bird-traps in August, by baiting them with currants104. The surest way then is to take them young, especially as the old ones cannot be tamed.
Attractive Qualities.—The song of the arbour bird is sweet, varied, full of power and melody, long sustained; yet some harsh strains have been remarked, and some resembling the notes of the chimney swallow. Whilst singing its throat is much dilated. Its call is dak, dak! hyovie, hyovie! Its plumage is pretty.
“British writers, since the time of Pennant and White, have rendered the history of several of our smallest birds a mass of confusion, which even now it will be difficult to clear up, though I feel confident I possess the means of loosening two at least of the knots of the controverted points, as I shall presently show.
“When I was residing, in the summer of 1832, at Bonn, on the Rhine, my friend M. Wichterich brought me a pair of birds with their young, which at first sight, judging from colour and size, I took to be pale canaries, till I looked at their bills; I perceived then that it was a species with which I was unacquainted, and certainly not known as British. I was accordingly not a little surprised when he told me it was the Sylvia Hippolais of Bechstein, and astonished when he said it was one of the finest song birds in Europe, very superior to the blackcap and fauvette, and in some respects even to the nightingale. I thence concluded that it was the species whose splendid song had charmed and puzzled me in an orchard at Schiedam, in Holland, and again in the gardens of Prince Maximilian, at Neuwied, on the Rhine; the rich intonation and multitudinous variety of the notes fully bearing out my friend’s opinion. This circumstance alone would go far to prove that the species is not British, for it would be impossible so fine a song bird could be concealed, particularly as it haunts gardens, and is rarely found in woods. The very contrary of the statement of Temminck, whose authority, how high soever it may be in other matters, is, with respect to habits and field observations, of not the slightest weight: he might have seen the bird, if he ever looked beyond his cabinet, in most of the gardens about Leyden, where he resides.
“I kept the old birds with their young, which they fed in a cage for some time, but to my great regret they fell a sacrifice to the common enemy of cage birds. About the same time I was delighted to find a nest of the same species in a lilac-tree in my own garden, about half a dozen yards from my parlour windows. Three of the young after leaving this nest were secured, and their mother was caught to feed them, which she did successfully, and I brought them all, and three others, home with me to England. The nest was about seven feet high from the garden level, and ten from the base of a low wall, over which the branch where it was built leaned. The workmanship of the nest is very superior to that of the blackcap, coming nearer in character to that of the finches. The frame-work is rather thick, made of dried grass stems, sewing thread, fine wood shavings, birch bark, and small pieces of linen rag. The inside is very neatly lined with roots, hair, and a few feathers and small locks of wool.
“In the full grown male the bill is about half an inch long, straight, somewhat blunt, broad and flat at the base. The upper mandible has an exceedingly indistinct notch, and is greyish blue; the under mandible yellowish, with a tinge of red; the angles yellowish, and the opening of the mouth lemon yellow. The tongue is yellow, abrupt at the point, and furnished with three bristles. The iris is dusky brown. The forehead is low, flat, angular, and pointed. The eyebrows and eyelids are yellow, and a yellow line runs from the nostrils to the eyes. The crown of the head, neck, back, and wing-coverts are olive grey, inclining more to green on the rump. The shoulder of the wing (campterium, Illiger) is yellow: the primary quill-feathers are dusky brown, with a slight fringe of olive grey; the rest of the quill-feathers have a broader fringe of greyish white, which, when the wing is closed, forms a whitish patch. The tail is two inches long, the feathers being of equal length, and of very nearly the same colours and tinge as the wing-quills. All the under parts of the body are of a fine clear lemon colour. The legs are five-sixths of an inch high, and of a lead colour; the claws greyish brown. The whole length is five inches and a half; the extent of the wings nine inches.
The female is sometimes, but not always, rather paler than the male. The young have the yellow parts very pale.
A species very similar to this has been discovered in Italy by Prince C. Buonaparte—the Sylvia icterina? of Vieillot, which frequents marshy places.