36 SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



Europe it appears to be strictly migratory, arriving late in spring, 

 when moths and the larger Coleopterous insects, upon which it prin- 

 cipally subsists, abound; but in the hotter portions of the Old 

 World, where such insects are always abundant, numbers of these 

 birds are stationary throughout the year : to these, its most common 

 food, are added birds, mice, and other small animals. In its manners 

 it is principally nocturnal, issuing forth from its hiding place on the 

 approach of twilight, in chase of those insects which are also roused 

 from their state of repose at the same time. — It breeds in holes of 

 decayed trees, clefts of rocks, and old buildings, the eggs being four 

 or five in number, of a pure white." — The sexes resemble each other. 

 Our author has, of course, represented this bird of the natural size. 



A male and female, rather less than the natural size, and beauti- 

 fully executed, of the Common Tealj Querquedula crecca, — Petite 

 Sarcelle, Ft:, — Anatra querquedula. It., — Kriek Ente, G. Widely 

 distributed over the Old World, but not found in America, the bird 

 which occurs in that country, and which has been mistaken for the 

 present species, being distinct. Breeds in the north of Britain, but 

 great flocks visit us every winter. — Selby asserts that the broods 

 hatched in Britain never leave us, and we have no doubt whatever of 

 the accuracy of the statement. " The Teal breeds," according to 

 that author, " in the long rushy herbage about the edges of lakes, or 

 in the boggy parts of the upland moors. Its nest is formed of a 

 large mass of decayed vegetable matter, with a lining of down and 

 feathers, upon which the eggs rest ;" these " are eight or ten in 

 number, and of a yellowish white." 



The Middle Woodpecker, Picus medius, — Pic mar, Fr., — Picchio 

 sarto. It., — Weisbunt Specht, G. The plate represents a male and 

 female of the natural size ; they would have been better had the atti- 

 tudes been less constrained — a very common fault with ornithological 

 painters, but one from which Mr. Gould generally steers clear. 

 Common in Europe, especially the southern districts. It feeds, like 

 its congeners, on insects procured in the usual manner of the Wood- 

 peckers, but also, according to the author of the work before us, on 

 " various fruits and berries." The eggs are of a glossy white, and 

 laid in the holes of trees. This species is remarkable for the simi- 

 larity of the sexes, which can only be determined with certainty by 

 dissection. 



The Common Jay, Garrulus glandarius, — Geai, Fr., — Chian- 

 daia. It., — Eichel Krahe, G. The figure, natural size, is in many 

 respects very good ; but it wants that indescribable pertuess of expres- 



