86 THE SPECIES, 



forehead and upper throat, and is much duller in plumage aUogether. The nest is generally 

 in a garden or orchard, or among evergreens ; it is even neater than the Chaffinch's, and 

 smaller, and it has no lichens, but consists of rootlets, grass, moss, and wool, woven together 

 and lined with willow down ; there are either four or five eggs. 



CertMa, Plate vi, CERTHIINM (Passeridse). 



85. familiaris, 5^ in. TREE CREEPER. Spotted brown above, buffish 



white below ; bill slender and decurved ; tail 



brown and long, with stiff points. 



The Tree Creeper— Dimensions, Cb ; Eggs, As— is well known in nearly all our woodland 



districts. His flight is quick and direct, and almost always downwards. _ Hehops up the tree 



trunks spirally, but keeps on the further side when observed, pressing his pointed tail against 



the trunk to support him, much as if he were a bracket ; when he reaches the top of a tree, 



or the extremity of a branch, he dives down to the root of another tree, and works up that to 



dive again to another, and so on. The note is a shrill " tree-tree-tree," with a crisp "cheep " 



as an alarm. The female does not differ from the male in plumage. The nest is in a hole in 



the tree, or in a gap between the bark and trunk ; tiny twigs are woven to narrow the 



entrance, and the nest always has a bit of bark in it, generally birch, besides the usual roots 



and feathers and moss. The eggs are from three to nine in number. 



Ceryle. Plate xi. ALCEDINIDM. 



152. alcyofty 13 in. Belted Kingfisher. Crested ; slaty blue with 



a white collar and rufous band on breast ; wings 



spotted and barred ; tail long. 



The Belted Kingfisher — Dimensions, Ld; Eggs, II— is a North American bird, of which 



two specimens, unfortunately for themselves, and for writers of bird books, strayed into 



Ireland, in 1845, to be forthwith shot for the Dublin Museums. This was the first time the 



species was ever heard of at large on this side of the Atlantic, and apparently it was also the 



last. It is hardly likely to visit us without recognition, for its call is ^escribed as a noisy 



edition of the twirl of a watchman's rattle I 



Charadrius. Plate xxvi. CHARADRIIDM, 



295. fulvus, 9 in. Eastern Golden Plover. Throat and breast 



black ; axillaries grey. 

 294. pluvialis, 10 in. Golden Plover. Throat and breast black ; 

 axillaries white. 

 The Eastern Golden Plover— Dimensions, Ic ; Eggs, Ml — otherwise the Lesser Golden 

 Plover, has been found here three or four times, generally in Leadenhall Market, It is a 

 remarkable bird, for, according to Morris, it has been seen in the Land o* the Leal I 



The Golden Plover — Dimensions, Ir ; Eggs, Nr — visits us on his migration from the 

 north in August and September, and calls again on his way home during March, leaving a 

 few representatives here throughout the year. The flight is very high, powerful and 

 sustained, flapping fast and steadily, sweeping to the ground and up again, and always 

 circling before alighting. The note is "kelleeee" or "kloveeee," with a call of " klee," 

 and an alarm of'ko.** The female is not so black below as the male, her breast being 

 mottled with white. The nest is a little heather and moss scratched together in a hollow of 

 the ground, or in a clump of cotton ^rass, and is generally found on the moors and in 

 mountain districts. The male helps in incubation. The eggs, like most pyriform eggs, are 

 four in number. 



Ciconia. Plate xviii. CICONIID^. 



213. nigra, 39 in. Black Stork. All iridescent black except from 



lower breast to tail, which is white ; remiges 32. 

 212. alba, 42 in. White Stork. All glossy white except primaries, 



secondaries, scapulars, and great wing coverts, 

 which are black ; remiges 34. 

 The Black Stork— Dimensions, Tf; Eggs, Qq— has appeared in England about a dozen 

 limes. He is not really black, but black and white, and like the White Stork, who is not 

 really white, but white and black, he has a red bill and red legs. Like his relative he 

 generally stands on one leg, and hangs his legs down as he flies. 



The White Stork — Dimensions, Ti ; Eggs, Rn— is another occasional visitor, but has 

 never been known to breed here. He has a patch of bare skin round his eye, which is black, 

 while the corresponding patch in the Black btork is red. It is a very curious thing that a 

 large bird so common in Holland should so rarely find its way across the Channel. 



