THE SPECIES. 79 



shoe to me, to me I Why so ? Why so ? Why so ? Because my heel is as long as my toe."' 

 The female resembles the male in plumage. The nest is always on the ground, and is 

 composed of grass or herbaceous plants with a little moss, lined with dry grass, rootlets, and 

 hair. The eggs are from three to five in number. It is perhaps worth noting that the 

 larks, unlike the pipits, never bathe in water, but dust themselves clean. 



The White-winged Lark — Dimensions, Gj ; Eggs, Fd — made one appearance in this 

 country and was promptly bagged as British. Curiously enough, this solitary specimen, 

 caught near Lewes, in 1869, was a female. Its nest has to be sought for in Siberia and 

 Turkestan. 



Alca. Plate xxxii. ALCIDM. 



2,73. tarda, 17 in. Razorbill. Black above, white below ; thin white 



line from bill to eye ; 12 tail feathers. 



374, impennls, 32 in. Great Auk. Black above, white below ; broad 

 white patch between bill and eye ; 18 tail feathers. 



The Razorbill — Dimensions, Nn ; Eggs, Rd— can be found in our estuaries all the year 

 round, but it comes ashore in its thousands in the beginning of April. Its flight is rapid and 

 direct, with a considerable roll so as to display its breast and back alternately ; and when the 

 birds are in any number they always fljr in single file. Afloat it can be distinguished from 

 the Guillemot by its upturned tail. In winter it loses its green gloss, and its chin and throat 

 become white. Its note is a grunting croak, which some have syllabised as " hurray." 

 The female lays but one egg, and this in a crevice or on an overhung ledge, without any 

 attempt at building a nest. In incubation she takes watch and watch with the male, neither 

 of them couching across the egg, but along it. The Razorbill egg is greenish when held to 

 the light, while that of the Guillemot is yellowish white. 



The Great Auk — Dimensions, Sk ; Eggs, Ss — is said to be extinct, and is only included 

 here by request, in the hope that some day it may, in Miltonic phrase, return from visiting 

 " the bottom of the monstrous world." Like the Razorbill, it built no nest and laid a 

 solitary egg. 



Alcedo. Plate xi. ALCEDINIDM, 



151. ispida, 7 in. Kingfisher. Head black and blue ; back blue ; 



white spot on neck ; chin white ; breast chestnut ; 



legs red. 

 The Kingfisher — Dimensions, Et ; Eggs, Dq — is one of the gayest in plumage of our 

 resident birds. Its flight is straight and unwavering, like a flash of blue flame, but 

 occasionally it pauses and hovers in the shade, though it never does so in the sunshine. Its 

 note is a shrill "pip, pip, pip." The female has the beak orange on the lower base, and is 

 not so bright in colour generally. The nest is in a slimy hole in a bank near water, and is 

 composed of ejected fish bones. The eggs are from six to nine in number, and are of a deep 

 pink colour until the yolk is blown out of them. They are nearly round in shape. 



Ampelis. Plate vi. AMPBLIN^ (Passeridse). 



77. garrulus, 7^ in. Waxwing. Brown and chestnut above ; throat 



black ; secondaries tipped with scarlet ; tail tipped 



with scarlet or yellow. 



The Waxwing — Dimensions, Gh : Eggs, Fl — only finds its way to this country in 



exceptionally cold continental winters. Its eggs were first discovered by Wolley, in 1856, in 



Russian Lapland. The females have fewer wax tips than the male, particularly as they gSt 



older, when the male often has wax tips to his tail as well as his wings. 



Anas. Plate xxi. ANATIDJE. 



236. strepera, 20 in. Gadwall. Wing bar white. 



235. boscas, 24 in. Mallard. Wing bar purple ; tail of 14 feathers. 



The Gadwall — Dimensions, Ph ; Eggs, Oc — is resident in the eastern counties of England, 

 but the numbers are occasionally swollen by winter migrants. The flight is very strong, the 

 wings whistling as they flap. The note is a shrill "quack" — whence the specific name — 

 but occasionally a double quack ** is given. The female has very little chestnut on the 

 shoulder of the wing, and is brown in colour, but like the male is distinguishable from the 

 other ducks by the white wing bar or "speculum." In summer the male assumes the 

 female plumage, but the bill is always black with blue at the base, while the female's bill is 

 dusky with dull orange at the sides. The nest is placed on the ground under the shelter of 

 a bush, and not far from water, but in a dry place. It is formed of dry grass, leaves, and 

 rushes, and lined with smaller down than that of the Mallard. The eggs are from 8 to 13 

 in number, and of a greenish hue when fresh. 



