576 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



Insessores.^/ed by the resident males, at which time they (the sup- 

 v — y—' posed females) utter a low hissing note, and flutter their 

 wings like young dependent birds. This we have often 

 seen, and vouch for. 



The red-start is a rarer species. It haunts retired well- 

 wooded lanes, where the timber is in a better state than the 

 stone dikes ; for it highly approves of the latter when old, 

 moss-covered, and full of holes. It is a bird of passage, 

 and although greatly less familiar than the red-breast, we 

 have seen it build beneath the cottage eaves. It is an ac- 

 tive, restless bird, easily recognised by its snow-white fore- 

 head, black throat, ashy back, and fine reddish orange 

 breast and rump, to say nothing of the constant vibratory 

 motion of the tail. 



The blue bird of America (Sylvia sialis) has the whole 

 of the upper plumage of a fine blue, while the throat, 

 neck, breast, and flanks, are bright orange brown. In ge- 

 neral character and movement this bird resembles the Euro- 

 pean red-breast, and may be said to be as familiarly known 

 in summer to the children of America as the robin is to 

 ourselves. Wilson informs us that its society is much 

 courted by the inhabitants of the country, and that few 

 farmers neglect to provide for him a snug little summer- 

 house, ready fitted, and rent free. He is migratory over 

 the northern districts, but a few remain throughout the 

 winter in some parts of the United States. A more re- 

 cently described species, nearly allied to the preceding, 

 was procured by Dr Richardson at Fort Franklin, and is 

 named by Mr Swainson Erythaca arctica. Its colour is a 

 fine ultra-marine blue above, beneath greenish blue, whit- 

 ish on the lower part of the abdomen, and under tail-co- 

 verts. It seemed to be merely a summer visitant of the 

 fur-countries, and no other knowledge of its haunts or ha- 

 bits has been yet obtained. 



The genus Curruca, Bechstein, has the bill straight, 

 slender throughout, a little compressed anteriorly, the upper 

 mandible slightly curved towards the point. It contains that 

 prince of European songsters, the nightingale ( C. luscinia), 

 a bird of shy and unobtrusive disposition, seldom seen in 

 open places, but loving the protection of a close entangled 

 undergrowth of brakes and bushes. Its powers of song 

 are generally admitted to be unrivalled, although the effect 

 is no doubt enhanced by the solemn stillness of the sum- 

 mer night, when every other voice has sunk to rest, — for 

 then 



The wakeful bird 

 Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid 

 Tunes her nocturnal notes. 



The words of the divine Milton are sacred ; yet we know 

 not that the female sings. It is a curious coincidence, how- 

 ever, that she should be asserted so to do by Pliny. Our 

 British nightingales never venture farther north than Don- 

 caster, although in Sweden and the northern parts of Ger- 

 many they are less restricted in their summer movements. 

 To this genus belong several other excellent British song- 

 sters, such as the rich-voiced black-cap (C. atricapilla), 

 the greater petty-chaps ( C. hortensis), and the white-throat 

 or muggy (C. cinerea). These, as well as the following, 

 are called abroad fauvettes. 



A few species which affect damp underwood and reedy 

 marshes, such as the grasshopper warbler (S. locustella), 

 the sedge-warbler (S. phragmitis), and the reed-wren (S. 

 arundinacea), constitute the genus Salicaria of Mr Sel- 

 by. To the same little group, we doubt not, belongs the 

 beccamoschino of the Tuscans (Sylvia cisticola, Temm.), re- 

 markable as exhibiting the propensities of a tailor-bird. 

 The nest is placed near, but not upon the ground, usually 

 in a bush of lengthened herbage, the leaves and stalks which 



form the external covering being drawn together, while a Insessores- 

 flooring for the nest is made somewhat lower down, by *""" "V— •" 

 curving the leaves across. The beauty of the structure 

 consists in this, that the latter are not supported by their 

 mutual interlacement, but are sewed together, sometimes 

 by spiders' webs, sometimes by thread-like portions of va- 

 rious plants. The interior is chiefly composed of vegetable 

 down. The nests constructed in April are much less fi- 

 nished than those of August, owing to the absence, in the 

 earlier month, of several materials which greatly conduce 

 towards their elegance and solidity. 1 



Another limited genus, called Accentor, has the bill 

 also slender, but rather more conical than the other Sylvias, 

 with the edges slightly bent inwards. The species are 

 much more hardy than the preceding (all of which are 

 birds of passage) ; and our only British representative, com- 

 monly called the hedge-sparrow (A. modularis), remains 

 with us throughout the winter. It seems characteristic of 

 the northern parts of Europe, being seldom seen in France 

 except during winter ; and the few that occur in Italy are 

 known to breed among the mountains, only descending to 

 the plains when the summer heat is over. With us what 

 school-boy knows not its mossy, twig-entangled nest, and 

 pure unspotted eggs of greenish blue ? A larger and still 

 hardier species is the alpine warbler (A. alpinus), of the 

 accidental occurrence of which in the garden of King's 

 College, Cambridge, an instance is recorded by Mr Selby. 

 This bird is an inhabitant of the most mountainous regions 

 of Europe, and particularly affects those districts which 

 are of an abrupt and rocky character. It is common among 

 the Alps of Switzerland, and may be usually seen in the 

 environs of the convent of St Bernard. In summer it 

 ascends to a great elevation, where it breeds beneath the 

 ledges of the rocks, laying four or five eggs of a greenish- 

 blue colour. As winter advances, and the snow begins to 

 gather amid the desolate steeps, it descends towards the 

 vales and middle regions of the mountains, where it sub- 

 sists upon the seeds of alpine grasses, and of other plants. 

 In summer it destroys grasshoppers, and various insects, 

 and their larvae. 2 



In the genus Regulus, Cuv., the bill is still slender, 

 but conical, sharp pointed, and the sides, when viewed 

 from above, are slightly concave. The species are much 

 more active and arboreal than those last named. We may 

 mention as an example our beautiful golden-crested wren 

 (R. auricapillus, Selby ; Mot. regulus, Linn.), the smallest 

 of British birds. It inhabits woods and forests, and flits 

 rapidly from tree to tree, examining the leaves and branches 

 in search of insects. Its manners resemble those of the 

 tit-mice, in company with which it often travels. Mr Selby 

 has recorded, that after a severe gale from the north-east, 

 thousands of these tiny creatures were seen to arrive upon 

 the sea-shore and sand-banks of the Northumbrian coast,— 

 many of them so fatigued as to be unable to rise again 

 after alighting on the ground. In this genus Cuvier re- 

 tains our willow or yellow wren, and lesser petty-chaps 

 (M. trochilus and hippolais), which most other modern 

 writers keep apart in their restricted genus Sylvia, bestow- 

 ing other titles (Erythaca, Phmnicura, Philomela, &c.) on 

 the genus which Cuvier has so called. These transpositions 

 are the bane of Ornithology. Several true Reguli inhabit 

 North America. 



Our common (kitty) wren forms, with certain foreign 

 species, the genus Troglodytes of Cuv. The bill is 

 rather more slender than in Regulus, and slightly arched. 

 The generic name of Motacilla, of such extensive 

 application in the older systems, is now restricted to the 

 wag-tails, such as M. alba and cinerea, Linn. Our yellow 



1 Nuovo Giom. dc' Letterati, t. vi. (where the nest is figured) ; and Ornitologia Toscana, t. i. p. 

 * Illustrations of British Ornithology, vol. i. p. 247. 



282. 



