98 THE SPECIES. 



Fulmarus. Plate xxxiii. PROCELLARIIDM. 



390, hcEsiiatus, 16 in. Capped Petrel. Head brown ; rump white ; 



white below. 

 38q glacialis, 19 in. FuLMAR. Head white ; rump grey ; buff below. 



A Capped Petrel — Dimensions, Nl — was once found by a boy in a furze bush near SwaflF- 

 ham ; it bit his hand, and he thereupon killed it, and made it into a British bird. It is a 

 tropical species, and its eggs are unknown. 



The Fulmar — Dimensions, Ot ; Eggs, Rj— is well known to sailors as the Mollymoke, anci, 

 on the American seaboard, as the Noddy. Its flight is like a GuU's, sweeping along with only 

 an occasional flap, following the curves of the waves hundreds of miles out over the sea, on 

 which it sleeps ; but, unlike a Gull, it holds its wings out straight, instead of curving them. 

 Its first primary is the longest ; it has a short, reticulate tarsus ; and its nasal tubes join on to 

 the maxillary margin. Its note is a cackle. It is said to breed in Britain, on the strength of 

 its haunts at St. Kilda, which Is rather a long way out in the Atlantic. It makes no nest, and 

 lays but one egg, which can be recognised by its coarse grain and strong smell. 



Gallinago. Plate xxvii. SCOLOPACIDM. 



311. gallimda, 7^ in. JACK Snipe. Mantle glossy purple; inside webs 

 of scapulars glossy green ; remiges, 24 ; axillaries 

 white ; tail feathers, 12. 

 310. ccelestis, 10 in. Snipe. Axillaries whitish ; tail feathers 14. 

 309. major^ \x\ in. Great Snipe. Remiges 25 ; tail feathers 16 or 



iS ; four outer ones on each side whitish ; median 

 wing covers tipped with white. 

 The Jack Snipe — Dimensions, Gd ; Eggs, Jk — comes to us in September, and leaves us, 

 for his breeding haunts in the north, in April. The flight is straight and rapid, beginning, in 

 silence, with a few zigzags. This bird used to be considered the male of G. ccelesiis, which 

 was the "Jill" Snipe. 



The Snipe — Dimensions, In ; Eggs, Kc — unlike the Jack Snipe, calls as he rises, the note 

 being " chiswick," given as he zigzags up, preparatory to getting straight away. In the 

 breeding season the male makes a curious drumming sound as he swoops down in his flight, 

 with his tail outspread. The sexes are alike in plumage. The nest is in a hollow in the 

 ground, generally under a tuft of grass, and always in a swampy place ; it consists of a few 

 scraps of sedge or dry grass, and there are four eggs. 



The Great Snipe — Dimensions, Js ; Eggs, Ll — rises silently, like the Jack Snipe, but is a 

 mere straggler to this country. It has a good deal of white in its tail feathers, and keeps its 

 tail well spread as it flies. Its call is *' bad, bad 1 " 



Gallinula. Plate xxiv. RALLIDjE, 



283, chloropus, 13 in. MOORHEN. Red or brown shield on forehead ; 



plumage blackish grey ; wing with white streak ; 



flanks streaked with white ; under tail coverts 



barred with white ; remiges 23, second primary 



longest ; legs greenish. 

 The Moorhen — ^Dimensions, Ko ; Eggs, Lj — is almost as well known under the more 

 appropriate name of Waterhen. It bobs its head as it swims, and bobs its tail as it walks ; it 

 dives readily; and its flight is low and slow, with the legs hanging, legs, which it may be as 

 well to note, are not webbed, although it is a water bird. The call is " krek-rerk-rerk.'* 

 The sexes are alike in plumage, both having the red frontal plate, and the white line on th" 

 wing feathers. The nest is a mass of reeds, often on the ground, sometimes afloat on ^ 

 pond, and now and then up a tree 20 feet or more above the water. It is lined with dry 

 grass and sedge, and contains from 4 to 10 eggs. 



Garrulus. Plate ix. COR VI N^^ (Passeridas). 



125- glandarius, 14 in. Jay. Crown white, buff, and black ; face with a 

 black moustache ; throat white ; upper parts 

 brown ; wing coverts chequered with blue, white, 

 and black ; tail barred with blue ; under parts pale 

 brown shading into white; lower back white 

 The Jay — Dimensions, Lo ; Eggs, Hk — has pale blue eyes and a peculiarly wide swallow, 



and is generally found where there are oak trees about. The flight is a flopping one, with a 



closure of the wings preceding the downward shoot. The call is a screeching ' rake, rake,** 



but the Jay can imitate anything except the human voice. The sexes are alike in plumage. 



The nest is in the lower branches of some good sized tree, generally in the thick of a wood ; 



it is a bulky cup-shaped structure of twigs and roots, lined with rootlets and grass, and it 



contains from five to seven eggs. 



