70 "Behold the Birds of the Air" 



in our hand that he is a Wheatear. We know that a 

 tame Swan will drive away Water-fowl, and that a wild 

 Swan will not, while Coots will attract them to the water 

 they inhabit. The Nut-hatch will run up and down 

 trees; the Creeper upwards only; the Goatsucker will 

 never perch across a branch but only sit along it, and so 

 markedly distinguish himself from the Cuckoo and the 

 Hawk for which on the wing he might easily be mis- 

 taken. Still as of yore the temple-haunting Martlet 

 will prove himself the guest of summer, and to-day, as 

 in the reign of King Duncan, we may observe that 

 where these birds most heed and haunt the air is 

 delicate; while the Ptarmigan, on the other hand, will 

 not only frequent bleak mountain-tops, but shun their 

 sunny side : and though the hens and young birds 

 will come far into England in winter the male Snow- 

 bunting after he acquires mature plumage, scorning such 

 effeminacy, will brave out the cold in more northern 

 climes. 



Not so mysterious as this similarity of character, but 

 equally wonderful, is that of the outward form. This 

 is a matter more easily demonstrated to the eye than the 

 other, and yet it is doubtful whether many even amongst 

 those that see birds every day, have ever noticed how 

 marvellous it is. As an instance, I will take a bird 

 which every one must know the Chaffinch. Every 

 cock Chaffinch has a black forehead, 1 and a bluish-grey 

 head and nape, with a narrow half-collar of oil-green, 

 between this and the chestnut of his back : the quill 

 feathers of his wing have each a narrow edging of greyish- 

 white; of the wing-coverts, some are always black, and 

 some white, and one row is black at the base with a 

 white tip to each feather : the inner primaries have each 

 a white patch at the base of the outer web, while the 



1 That is to say, in summer. In winter, the plumage of the head 

 and upper part will with equal certainty be found obscured by the 

 long brown margins of the feathers ; the edging of the wing-tertials 

 will be tinged with ochre ; and the white of the wings with lighter 

 yellow. 



