84 THE SPECIES. 



■J'lie female, as with all the other Geese, is not so large as the male. The note has been 

 rendered as " halm, halm," or " a-what." The popular name is due to the popular notion 

 that it is bred not from eggs but from barnacles. 



The Canada Goose — Dimensions, Tg ; Eggs, Sj— is almost as big as a Swan. It has often 

 been imported but has never been proved to find its way across the Atlantic on the wing, and 

 it owes its place in the list to the fact of its having been shot when escaped from confinement. 



Botaurus. Plate xvii. ARDEIDM. 



211. leniiginosus, 27 in. AMERICAN BITTERN, Crown black ; primaries all 



brown. 

 210. stellaris, 30 in. Bittern. Crown brown , primaries chestnut 

 barred with brown. 

 The American Bittern — Dimensions, Sa ; Eggs, Nf — has occasionally^ straggled here 

 during the winter, but has not yet got as far as the Continent. It can be distinguished from 

 the Common Bittern by its primaries having no bars. Its call is "like the noise made by 

 driving a stake in boggy soil," whence its local name of the Post-driver. 



The Bittern— Dimensions, Sg ; Eggs, Ne— does not often breed here now. Its flight is 

 low, slow, steady, and silent. Its note is a deep "boom," a sort of bellowing " proomb," 

 with a sharper call of **ca-wak." The female is like the male in size and plumage. 

 The nest is generally placed on the mud in the thick of a reed bed, and it is composed of 

 dead reeds and flags, with no sign of interlacement or regular arrangement. It contains 

 three, four, or five eggs. 



Bubo. Plate xiii. STRIGID^. 



169. ignavus, 26 in. Eagle Owl. Facial disk obsolete over eyes ; 



plumicoms large and falling , no operculum ; 



plumage dark brown above, yellowish below, 



mottled and patched ; bill black ; 29 remiges, 



third primary generally longest, but rareiy much 



longer than fourth ; claws black. 



The Eagle Owl — Dimensions, Rp ; Eggs, Qc — is a very doubtful resident in this country, 



except in confinement. Its cry is a deep "oo-hoo," which is rarely heard except in the 



spring. The female is about two inches longer than the male, and never makes a nest. 



Bulweria. Plate xxxiii. PROCELLARIID^. 



395. columbina, 10 in. Bulwer's Petrel. Plumage black ; tail wedge- 

 shaped. 

 A Bulwer's Petrel— Dimensions, Is ; Eggs, Kj — was found floating dead on the Ure in 

 that year of Accession, 1837. Its home is on the Desertas, near Madeira; the species had 

 never been seen in this country before nor has it been seen here since. The case is worth 

 noting as showing that is not even necessary for a bird to be seen here alive to secture its 

 admission to the British list. 



Buteo. Plate xiv. FALCONIDM. 



176. vulgaris^ 23 in. BuzzARD. Remiges 25 ; fourth primary longest, 



third almost as long, first as long as the eighth, and 



second longer than the sixth, first four notched ; 



tail whitish brown with ten or more dark brown 



bars ; legs yellow ; claws black. 



The Buzzard — Dimensions, Ql ; Eggs, Of— is still resident in this country, but is not 



often met with. The plumage is very variable, being sometimes nearly white, but the size 



and tail and short legs are enough to know him by. His flight is low, heavy, and leisurely, 



with a spiral rise. His note is like a long-drawn scale of vowels, "a-e-i-o-u." The female 



is like the male, but larger. The nest is on some tall tree in the thick of a wood ; it is about 



two feet across, built of large sticks outside, twigs within, and lined with fresh beech leaves. 



The eggs are either two, three, or four. 



Calcarius. Plate viii. EMBERIZINM. (Passeridae). 



117. lapponicus, 6\ in. Lapland Bunting. Black head ; white eye 



stripe ; chestnut collar ; black and brown spotted 



back ; spotted wings ; tail brown and white ; throat 



black ; under parts white, joined by thin white line 



to eye stripe. 



The Lapland Bunting — Dimensions, Ed ; Eggs, Dp — is occasionally met with in the 



autumn among a flock of larks. It was first found here, in Leadchhall Market, iu 1826. The 



female has a brown head instead of a black one. 



