518 



BIRDS. 



Birds, 

 Migratory 



The snow 



bunting. 



Bohemian 

 or waxen 

 chatterer. 



Tlie hoo- 

 poe. 



ber3 that are sent, during the winter season by stage 

 coaches, from the | raj of England to 



the all-devouring capital, are truly astonishing. The 

 American woodcock is in all respects ti the 



European, only of hss si/.-. They return from Bri- 

 tain to their native haunts in February and the be- 

 ginning of March. 



The snow bunting, better known in Scotland by 

 the name of snow flake, or flight, (eittbrrizt nivalis). 

 It is late in the season before theae birds shew them- 

 selves here ; they are commonly the heralds of hard 

 and snowy weather, and sometimes, if fatigued, fall 

 on vessels while on their passage across the IVntland 

 Firth. We apprehend they do not quit Lapland, 

 Norway, or the northern parts of America, until, by 

 the heavy storms of these rigid climates, they are 

 forced to seek a comparatively milder temperature. 

 It is said, that a few breed in the mountains of Scot- 

 land, but we never saw, nor indeed heard of, any per- 

 son who discovered during summer a nest, or even a 

 straggling bird of that species. They are not often 

 observed in England, as their excursions to the south 

 generally terminate in the Cheviot hills. They as- 

 semble in great flocks, are sudden in their arrival, 

 and equally so in their departure. 



The Bohemian or waxen chatterer, or the silk tail, 

 [ampolis gamilus) is a singularly beautiful bird. It 

 is bigger than a sky lark, the length, from the tip 

 of the tail, being nine, and the breadth, when the 

 wings are extended, twelve inches. The bill is of a 

 deep black ; on its head there is a crest. The breast 

 is chesnut, the belly ash, the back bay, the rump of 

 a dun colour. The outward wing feathers black 

 and spotted. Upon the tips of the seven small quills 

 are horny appendages, of a finv vermilion, somewhat 

 resembling sealing wax. They are gregarious, and 

 visit us but with a short stay, and that only in two 

 or three years, and not annually, as alleged by Pen- 

 nant and the late Dr Ramsay. We have at different 

 times seen small flocks of them about Collington, a 

 village to the west of Edinburgh, where several have 

 been shot, and afterwards preserved. They come al- 

 ways in February, remain a few days, and then re- 

 turn to their native country, Bohemia. 



The hoopoe (upupa epops). Not breeding in 

 Scotland, we shall set it down as a winter bird of 

 passage. They come from Italy and Germany, are 

 desultory in their motions, and observe no stated 

 times in their appearance, indeed few are to be met 

 with in this country at any season. We have seen 

 only two here, one which the late Mr Weir found 

 near Edinburgh, and had afterwards preserved in his 

 museum, and another which was sent us from the 

 east nook of Fife, by a gentleman who had shot it 

 there. The hoopoe is near the size of the lapwing, 

 but does not weigh one half so much. The head is 

 adorned with a fine crest, of two inches high, reach- 

 ing from the bill to the nape of the neck ; both 

 the plumage and the figure are truly elegant, and 

 many take it to be one of the most beautiful birds in 

 Europe. Its appearance used formerly to be reckon- 

 ed by the vulgar as a presage, of some direful cala- 

 mity. few of the anas and mergus genera, who 

 breed during summer in the retired lakes and swamps 



of Lapland, Norway and Finland, arrive here earlv Bird- 

 winter. ' Catching. 



Befoi this article, we have to regret, that """v^"' 



such itum as a thorough knowledge of the 



migration of birds should have been so little studied, 

 and so long neglected. Indeed, until it is more 

 sought for in the fields than in the closet, any farther 

 insight into this divine impulse cannot well be ex- 

 pected. What excellent opportunities have our cler- 

 gymen, sportsmen, and travellers, to inform themselves 

 and the world of the curious particulars which attend 

 this wonderful subject ! They might easily, by ta- 

 king observations, which are t-o often within their 

 reach, soon remove the various doubts and uncertain- 

 ties that still hang upon this most interesting branch 

 of our natural history. (a. d ) 



BIRD Catching, denotes the art of taking birds 

 or wild fowl ; and is performed in various ways, ac- 

 cord. ig to the seas**) of the year, or the species of 

 bird intended to be caught; 



It the flame of sulphur be held under the trees, on By suffbea- 

 which birds are observed to perch during the night, t'n, 

 they soon become suffocated, and fall down in a state 

 of insensibility : In this manner pheasants are fre- 

 quently caught. 



If a portion of wheat, or any other grain, be steap- By imoxi- 

 ed in a mixture of wine lees and hemlock juice, and cation, 

 then scattered in those places where birds are known 

 to resort, they will speedily be inebriated by eating 

 it, and drop down upon the ground, or become un- 

 able to escape. 



When the ground is covered with snow, choose a By a fall- 

 spot within 20 or SO yards of a window, door, or any '"g-hoard. 

 other shelter, by which you may be concealed from 

 die birds ; and clear away the snow from a space 

 about six or seven feet square. In the middle of this 

 space place a wooden table or board ; fasten to its 

 sides several pieces of pipe staves, about six inches 

 long and one broad, in such a manner that it may 

 easily turn upon the nails ; and under the four ends, 

 which are not nailed, put four pieces of tile or slate, 

 that they may not penetrate the ground, so as that 

 the table may fall down upon the slightest jog. Make 

 a small notch in the end of the table, in order to put 

 into it the end staff, which should be si ven inches 

 long and one broad, and let the other end rest upon 

 a piece of slate or tile. Arrange the whole in such 

 a manner, that the board would be ready to fall to- 

 wards the place where you stand, if it were not sup- 

 ported by the end staff; and to the middle of this 

 staff let one end of a small cord be fastened, while the 

 other end is conveyed to your station. To make the 

 board fall more readily, a little earth, or any other 

 material least likely to frighten the birds, may be 

 laid upon it ; the whole is then to be covered with 

 straw, and some grain scattered underneath and 

 round about the board. When the birds perceive the 

 ground free from snow and covered with straw, they 

 will readily fly to pick up the corn round the board, 

 and will gradually proceed to that which lies under 

 it ; the cord is then to be pulled, and the stick being 

 thus drawn out, the board will fall down and secure 

 the birds Cihdernealh. 



The smaller kinds of birds are frequently taken 



