Finches.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



331 



abode. Occasionally the lark sings while resting 

 on a clod of earth, but generally while in the air ; 

 rising spirally on quivering wings, it trills forth its 

 animated and varied lay, mounting higher and 

 higher, till it seems a mere speck in the clear blue 

 sky. Its descent is oblique, and at first gradual, till 

 within twenty or thirty yards of the ground, when 

 ceasing its strain, it sweeps down suddenly to join 

 its mate. The lark breeds in April or early in May, 

 constructing a nest of vesretable stalks and dried 

 grasses, lined with fine fibres, upon the ground, 

 amongst corn or other herbage : the eggs are of a 

 greenish-white spotted with brown : two broods are 

 reared annually, the latter in July or August. The 

 ordinary flight of the lark is easy and undulating, 

 and on the ground it trips along with great facility, 

 its feet, and especially the elongated slender hind- 

 claw, expressly adapting it for the giassy surface 

 of the field, "its food consists of insects, worms, 

 grain and other seeds, the leaves of the clover, &c. 



On the approach of winter, larks begin to collect 

 in immense flocks, increased as the severity of the 

 weather sets in by foreign arrivals : they frequent 

 stubble-fields, turnip-fields, and similar situations, 

 and being accounted a delicacy for the table, mul- 

 titudes are captured at this season by means of nets 

 and sent to the London market. Great numbers 

 are taken in the neighbourhood of Dunstable, and 

 more are imported from Holland. 



The lark is too well known to need a minute 

 desciiption. With respect to the genus Alauda, we 

 may observe that it is characterized by a subconical 

 beak and an elongated and nearly straight hinder 

 claw. (Fig. 1482, the egg of the lark.) 



1450 (&). — The Woodlark 



{Alavda wlorea). Le Lulu, I'Alouette desBois, or le 

 Cujelier of the French ; Bauralerche or Waldlerche 

 of the Germans. This species is found over every 

 part of Europe, as high northwards as Sweden ; in 

 the colder countries it is migratory, but not in 

 the more temperate. In our island it is most abun- 

 dant in the midland and southern districts, fre- 

 quenting well-cultivated and woody scenery ; its 

 song is very sweet, though less thrilling and varied 

 than that of the skylark. It is generally uttered on 

 the wing, and is often continued for an hour with- 

 out intermission, the bird describing all the time 

 a series; of widely extended circles. Sometimes it 

 pours out its strains while perched on the branch of 

 a decayed tree. It breeds in April : its nest, placed 

 under the shelter of a low shrub or tuft of herbage, 

 is formed of dried stalks and grass, lined with fibres 

 and hair ; the eggs are of a pale wood-brown, marked 

 with blotches of grey and dark brown. The wood- 

 lark does not associate in flocks during the winter, 

 like the skylark, but merely in small families of 

 five or seven individuals, which separate on the 

 approach of spring or soon after Christmas, when, 

 if the weather be mild, the males begin to utter 

 their song. The woodlark needs no detailed descrip- 

 tion. 



1483 (n). — The Commox Bunting 



(£mheriza miliaria). Bruant proyer, Temminck ; 

 der Grauammer, Bechstein. In the genus Embe- 

 riza the bill is conical, hard, sharp-pointed, and 

 compressed at the tip ; the roof of the upper man- 

 dible is furnished with a hard-rounded protuberance. 

 The Common Bunting is spread over the greater 

 portion of Europe, and is abundant in our island, 

 especially in the arable districts, collecting in large 

 flocks in the autumn, which frequent hedges, barn- 

 yards, and the precincts of farm-houses : and their 

 flesh being esteemed, they are often shot or netted 

 in considerable numbers. In the spring they sepa- 

 rate, and dispersing themselves through the country 

 in pairs, breed in corn-fields, or in ditch-banks run 

 wild with briars and brambles, making the nest, 

 which is placed near the ground, of dried grasses 

 lined with fibres and hair; the eggs are of a pale- 

 greyish yellow tint, with spots and veins of reddish 

 brown. During the spring, and while the female is 

 engaged in the task of incubation, the male may be 

 often seen perched conspicuously on the highest 

 twig of a tall hedge, uttering a succession of singular 

 and irregular notes. Grain is the favourite food of 

 this species, whence it is often termed Corn-Bunting. 

 This bird is too well known to need a description. 



1483 (b,c). — The Yellow-Hammzr (Male and 

 Female) 

 (Emberiza citrinella). Bruant jaune, Temminck; 

 Goldammer, Bechstein. Few of our native birds 

 are more delicately and beautifully coloured than 

 the Yellow-IIammer or Yellow-Bunting, but being 

 very abundant it is less noticed, excepting as an 

 intruder with other granivorous birds into the stack- 

 yard, than it deserves. During the winter it collects 

 in small flocks, or associates with flocks of the com- 

 mon bunting; and pairs in spring, during which 

 season the male may be often observed on the top- 

 most twig of a hedge-row uttering a monotonous 



chirp ; if approached, it flies ofi', keeping along the 

 hedge, and settles at a little distance : if followed, 

 it repeats its flight again and again. 



The yellow-hammer builds on the ground, in low 

 bushes, in beds of nettles or other herbage, and its 

 nest is formed of dried grasses with a lining of hair ; 

 the eggs are of a pale purplish white, with streaks 

 and waving marks of chocolate colour. This spe- 

 cies is to be met with throughout the greater part 

 of Europe. Fig. 1484 represents its nest. 



1483 (d).— The Reed-Buntikg 

 {Emberiza schcEnichis) ; Reed Sparrow ; Black- 

 headed Bunting Le Coqueluche, Buffon ; Bruant 

 de Roseau, Temminck ; der Rohrammer, Bech- 

 stein. 



Wherever marshy spots and swamps, abounding 

 with weeds, willows, and aquatic herbage, off'er a 

 suitable abode, from Italy to Sweden, and in the 

 British Islands, the reed-bunting will be found, in- 

 habiting the same places as the reed-warblers (Sali- 

 -caria). Its nest and those of the latter birds have 

 been often confounded, but the reed-bunting never 

 suspends its nest between the stems of reeds, 

 although it frequents them ; on the contrary^ it is 

 built in a low bush or tuft of grass : we have seen 

 it under the covert of rushes and in young ozier- 

 beds : it consists of dried grass and moss lined with 

 hair. The eggs are pale pinky-grey, spotted and 

 veined with reddish brown. The reed-bunting has 

 no song, but that of the sedge-warbler has been by 

 some authors attributed to it — a mistake first cor- 

 rected by Montagu, and which arose from the two 

 species frequenting the same localities. The food 

 of this species of bunting consists of the seeds of 

 reeds and other aquatic plants, insects and their 

 larvae ; in severe winters it seeks the farmyard as 

 a place of supply and shelter. In Holland it is 

 very abundant. The general colour of this bird is 

 pale brown, the male having the head, throat, and 

 centre of the chest black ; a patch of white, begin- 

 ning below the angle of the bill, spreads round the 

 neck, and extends down the sides of the breast and 

 over the under surface : quills brown ; rump bluish 

 grey. 



1485. — The Ortolan 



{Emberiza hortulana). L'Ortolan, BufFon ; Ortolano 

 of the Italians ; Garten-aramer of the Germans- 

 The native districts of this bird may be regarded as 

 the southern provinces of Europe ; it is common in 

 Tuscany and some parts of France, and occasionally 

 it is found as far north as Holland and Sweden. 

 Several instances of its having been killed in Eng- 

 land are recorded by Selby and other writers. It 

 is the Emberiza Tunstalli of Latham ; the green- 

 headed Bunting of Brown and of Bewick ; suppo- 

 sitious species founded on specimens captured in 

 I our island. It would appear that North .-\frica is 

 the winter residence of the ortolan, and on its pas- 

 sage it visits Gibraltar every spring and autumn. 

 Mr. Strickland saw it at Smyrna in April, and 

 Colonel Sykes enumerates it among the birds of the 

 Dukhun (in India). Millet and other grains, with 

 insects in spring, constitute its diet. It builds on 

 the ground in corn-fields, or in the covert of hedges 

 or bushes, constructing a nest of fibres and leaves, 

 lined with fine grass and hair. The eggs are 

 reddish grey streaked with brown, or bluish white 

 spotted with black. ItSi manners much resemble 

 those of the yellow-hammer. 



When properly fed, for which purpose there are 

 large establishments in the south of Europe, where 

 they are placed after having been trapped and fur- 

 nished with plenty of millet-seed and other grain, 

 these birds become very fat and are delicious. In 

 the male, the throat, the circle round the eyes, and 

 a narrow band springing from the angle of the bill, 

 are yellow, these two yellow spaces being sepa- 

 rated by a blackish grey dash : head and neck 

 grey, tinged with olive, and spotted with brown ; 

 feathers of the upper parts blackish in the middle 

 and reddish on their edges, under parts reddish 

 bay ; tail blackish, the external feather with white 

 on the outer vanes : bill and legs flesh-colour. 

 Length six inches and a quarter. The female is 

 smaller, and less decidedly and brightly coloured. 



1486. — The Scarlet Tanaqer 



{Tanagra rt(bra,Vi\\%OTC) ; Pyranga rubra, Vieillot. 



The Tanagers are characterized by a conical bill, 



triangular at its base, slightly arched along the 



ridge, and notched towards the end. The wings 



are stiort, the colours brilliant. Country, America. 



The Scarlet Tanager, or Summer Red-bird, is one 



of the most beautiful of its race ; the male in full 



plumage being scarlet-red, with the wings and tail 



black. The female, and the male in autumn, are 



dull green, inclining to yellow, with the wings and 



tail dusky: length about six inches and a half. It 



; is in August that the male moults and exchanges 



1 his scarlet for the greenish-yellow dress. "This 



j splendid and transient resident," says Nuttall, "ac- 



companying fine weather in all its wanderings, 

 arrives Irom his winter station in tropical America 

 from the beginning to the middle of May, and ex- 

 tends his migrations probably to Nova Scotia as 

 well as Canada. With the shy, unsocial, and sus- 

 picious habits of his gaudy fraternity, he takes up 

 his abode in the deepest recesses of the forest, 

 where, timidly flitting from observation, he darts 

 from tree to tree like a flashing meteor. A gaudy 

 sylph, conscious of his brilliance, and the exposure 

 to which it subjects him, he seems to avoid remark, 

 and is only solicitous to be known to his humble 

 mate, and hid from all beside. He therefore rarely 

 approaches the habitations of men, unless perhaps 

 the skirts of the orchard, where he sometimes, how- 

 ever, builds his nest, and takes a taste of the early 

 and inviting, though forbidden, cherries. Among 

 the thick foliage of the tree in which he seeks sup- 

 port and shelter, from the lofty branches, at times, 

 we hear his almost monotonous tsliip-witee, tship- 

 idee, or tshuhadee, tshukadee, repealed at short in- 

 tervals, and in a pensive under-tone, heightened by 

 the solitude in which he delights to dwell. The 

 same note is also uttered by the female when the 

 retreat of herself and young is approached ; and the 

 male occasionally utters, in recognition to his mate, 

 as they perambulate the branches, a low whispering 

 'tait,\n a tone of caution and tenderness. But be- 

 sides these calls on the female, he has also, during 

 the period of his incubation, and for a considerable 

 time after, a more musical strain, resembling some- 

 what, in the mellowness of its tones, the song of the 

 piping baltimore. The syllables to which I have 

 hearkened appear like 'ishoove 'wait 'wait, 'vehowit 

 tvait, and 'wait, 'vehowit vca wait, with other addi- 

 tions of harmony, for which no words are adequate. 

 This pleasing and highly musical meandering ditty 

 is delivered for hours, in a contemplative mood, in 

 the same tree with his busy consort. If surprised, 

 they flit together, but soon return to their favourite 

 station in the spreading boughs of the shady oak or 

 hickory. This song has some resemblance to that 

 of the red-eyed vireo in its compass and strain, 

 though much superior, the 'wait 'wait being 

 whistled very sweetly in several tones, and with 

 emphasis ; so that, upon the whole, our Pyranga 

 may be considered as duly entitled to various excel- 

 lences, being harmless to the farmer, brilliant in 

 plumage, and harmonious in voice." 



The same author describes the nest (which is 

 built about the middle of May, on the horizontal 

 branch of some shady forest-tree, commonly an 

 oak, but sometimes in an orchard-tree) as but 

 slightly put together, and usually framed of broken 

 rigid stalks of dry weeds or slender fir-twigs, loosely 

 interlaced and partly tied with narrow" strips of 

 Indian hemp (Apocynum), some slender grass- 

 leaves, and pea-vine runners (Amphicaipa), or 

 other frail materials ; the interior being some- 

 times lined with the slender, wiry, brown stalks of 

 the Canadian cistus (Helianthemum), or with slen- 

 der pine-leaves ; the whole so thinly platted as to 

 admit the light through the interstices. The three 

 or four eggs are dull blue, spotted with two or 

 three shades of brown or purple, most numerous 

 towards the larger end. As soon as their single 

 brood, which is fledged eariy in July, is reared, they 

 leave for the south, generally about the middle or 

 the end of August. 



" The female," says this interesting author in con- 

 tinuation, "shows great solicitude for the safety of 

 her only brood; and, on an approach to the nest, 

 appears to be in great distress and apprehen-sion. 

 When they are released from her more immediate 

 protection, the male, at first cautious and distant, 

 now attends and feeds them with activity, being al- 

 together indifferent to that concealment which his 

 gaudy dress seems to require from his natural ene- 

 mies. So attached to his now interesting brood is 

 the Scarlet Tanager, that he has been known, at all 

 hazards, to follow for-half a mile one of his young, 

 submitting to feed it attentively through the bars of 

 a cage, and, with a devotion which despair could not 

 damp, roost by it in the branches of the same tree 

 with its prison." 



The food of this species consists mostly of winged 

 insects, such as wasps, hornets, and wild bees, the 

 smaller kind of beetle, and other Coleoptera. Seeds 

 are supposed to be sometimes resorted to, and they 

 are veiy fond of whortle and other berries. 



1487.— The Snow-Bird 

 (Struthits hiemalis, Bonaparte). Fringilla hiemalis, 

 Liniiifius. 



This species, which is a true finch, must not be 

 confounded with the Snow Bunting (Plectrophanes 

 nivalis) of the artic regions of the old and new 

 world, of which it is also a native, migrating in flocks 

 southwards on the approach of winter. InAraerica 

 they spread at this season over the United States to 

 the shores of Mexico. About the 20th of October, 

 says Wilson, "they make their first appearance in 

 those parts of Pennsylvania east of the Alleghany 



2U a'' 



