492 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 1 8, il 



specimens in the national collection are considerably more 

 than a hundred years old. A certain amount of " weed- 

 ing out " from time to time is consequently unavoidable, 

 and is by no means so easy a process as might be sup- 

 posed. The preservation of " types," that is, of the 

 original specimens from which the species were first 

 described, has very properly been considered of great im- 

 portance ; they have been withdrawn from exhibition and 

 exposure to light, and relegated to the study series ; but 

 old and badly-mounted specimens of no historical value 

 have been discarded, and their places filled with recently- 

 obtained fresh examples of the same species, preserved 

 and mounted with all the skill which modern taxidermists 

 have been able to bestow upon them. 



The Osteological, Cetacean, and Coral Galleries con- 

 tain collections which were but incompletely represented 

 in the exhibition rooms of the old building, and in fact, 

 offer to the visitor entirely new exhibitions, of which 

 those who have been engaged in their formation and 

 arrangement may well be proud. None of these, how- 

 ever, appeal by their direct instructiveness to the British 

 public, or are appreciated by them so much as the series 

 of groups of British birds illustrating their mode of nidi- 

 fication, which is placed on the right and left of the 

 central hall. 



Here the visitor finds a collection of British birds, in 

 which each species is separately represented by a pair of 

 old birds in the plumage peculiar to the breeding season, 

 with its nest and eggs, not merely in a natural position, 

 but in the actual position in which they were found ; the 

 arboreal birds being placed on the identical branches 

 which they themselves selected for nidification, the 

 ground breeders remaining on the actual patch of ground, 

 whether grass-grown or heather-clad, in which they had 

 designed to rear their young. 



It is needless to enlarge upon the advantage to be de- 

 rived from a lesson thus accurately imparted, or upon the 

 excellent opportunity thus afforded for comparing the 

 variation in structure of nests built by birds belonging to 

 di liferent orders and families. As an aid, also, to the 

 identification of the owner of a nest unknown to the 

 finder, the series is a useful one, and will become more 

 so as the collection is extended, for the process of form- 

 ing and preparing such a collection must be slow. It is 

 nearly four years ago since Dr. Giinther commenced its 

 formation, and without the aid of ardent lovers of nature 

 like Lord Lovat, Mr. T. Harcourt Powell, Mr. D. Parker, 

 Colonel Irby, and especially Lord Walsingham, it would 

 have been impossible for him to have made this series, as 

 it is, one of the most instructive attractions of the Natu- 

 ral History Museum. As for ornithologists, it is difficult 

 to say where the interest ceases. 



Not very long since Mr. H. Seebohm gave a lecture at 

 the Zoological Gardens on " Birds' Nests," and could he 

 have pointed to these beautifully-mounted cases at South 

 Kensington, he would have had the most appropriate 

 illustrations possible to his discourse. 



From an attentive study of the subject he considered 

 that nests might be roughly grouped into five classes, 

 according as the birds which owned them relied for the 

 safety of their eggs: (i) on the concealed position of the 

 nest ; (2) upon the inaccessible position of the nest ; (3) 

 upon the protective colour of the eggs ; (4) upon the pro- 

 tective colour of the sitting hen ; (5) upon their own 

 ability, either singly, in pairs, or in colonies to defend 

 their eggs. 



Illustrations of all these five classes (and Mr. Seebohm 

 might have added a sixth, viz. contrivances employed for 

 concealing the eggs on the bird leaving its nest) may be 

 seen in the British Museum cases, and furnish as good a 

 basis as any for studying the series. 



Starting from the entrance to the Mammalia Gallery, 

 and proceeding towards the staircase, we at once come 

 upon several cases of birds which rely for the safety of 



their eggs upon the concealed position of the nest. Here 

 we find a pair of dippers with their nest of green moss 

 most skilfully constructed and domed, placed just under 

 a moss-grown stump overhanging the water. Patches of 

 the same moss around and about the stump deceive the 

 eye and render detection of the nest very difficult, unless 

 the bird is seen to leave or enter it. A section of the 

 nest, represented by an illustration, shows a curious fea- 

 ture in its construction. It is not only cup-shaped and 

 domed, but the front edge of the cup curls over towards 

 the centre of the nest, as if to protect the pure white eggs 

 from any drip or spray from the stream in whose banks 

 the nest is placed. 



Close to this group we find two cases of woodpeckers, 

 the green woodpecker or " yaffle " and the greater spotted 

 woodpecker, both of which deposit their white eggs in 

 the hole of a tree, the aperture of which as a rule is only 

 just large enough to admit the bird, and consequently the 

 nest, composed of dry chips and bits of bark, is well con- 

 cealed. But the woodpeckers might, with almost equal 

 propriety, be placed amongst those birds which rely for 

 the safety of their eggs on the inaccessible position of their 

 nest. 



It has been stated that as a general rule all eggs which 

 are deposited in holes or in well-roofed nests are white, 

 and certainly we have illustrations of this in the case of 

 the dipper, woodpecker, owl. kingfisher, swift, sandmar- 

 tin, and other birds ; but, on the other hand, the jackdaw, 

 nuthatch, tree-creeper, and various kinds of titmouse, all 

 breed in holes and yet lay coloured eggs ; while the 

 pigeons, doves, grebes, and waterfowl lay white eggs in 

 open nests ; so that no precise rule can be laid down on 

 this head. 



Almost all the small passerine birds may be said to rely 

 for the safety of their eggs on the concealed position of 

 the nest ; hence it is difficult to name any without giving 

 a long list of names. In the Natural History Museum 

 series the following examples may be noted : — The yellow- 

 hammer, with its nest of dry grass placed in a clump of 

 dead furze, whereby a contrast of colour is avoided which 

 might lead to the detection of the nest ; the meadow 

 pipit, with its nest concealed in meadow grass ; the reed 

 bunting, with its nest placed low down, to escape observa- 

 tion, in a clump of rushes. Were this nest placed higher 

 up in a plant of such open growth, it would be sure to 

 attract attention. In like manner the linnet and Dartford 

 warbler in furze, the skylark, yellow wagtail, and whin- 

 chat in meadow grass, all furnish illustrations of variety 

 in the art of concealment as practised by the tiny- 

 architects. 



Amongst birds which rely for safety on the inaccessible 

 position of their nest may be mentioned the hawks and 

 owls, raven, chough, kingfisher, sandmartin, moorhen, 

 coot, and grebe. There are few eggs more difficult to 

 take than those of the peregrine falcon, raven, and 

 chough, from the habit of these birds to nest in precipi- 

 tous cliffs ; the kingfisher and sandmartin, breeding in 

 holes which sometimes extend several feet into a bank, 

 and often not in a direct line, evidently imagine them- 

 selves safe from molestation ; while moorhens, coots, and 

 grebes, making slovenly-constructed nests upon soft, 

 treacherous ground, or amongst sedges, flags, and other 

 water plants which are unapproachable without the aid 

 of a boat, afford another instance of how the same object 

 may be achieved by a different method. One cannot fail 

 to note that the more slovenly the nest of these water- 

 birds the more likely is it to escape detection, for, were it 

 well shaped and neat in appearance, its very neatness 

 amidst a mass of wind-strewn rushes or tangled growth 

 of water-weeds would be sure to attract attention towards 

 it. 



To give instances of birds which rely for safety on the 

 protective colour of their eggs, we might mention the 

 nightjar, peewit, stonecurlew, snipe, woodcock, ringed 



