THE SPECIES. 9.3 



Jypselus. Plate x. CYPSELIDM. 



138. apus^ 7 in. Swift. Plumage black ; chin and upper throat 



greyish white. 



139. melba, 8 in, Alpine Swift. Plumage dark brown ; while 



below, with a broad brown band on chest. 



The Swift — Dimensions, Fp ; Eggs, Fk — comes in April, and is occasionally found as late 

 IS November. In flight the narrow wings are almo'^t at a right angle, rapidly beating for a 

 noment or so, and then held motionless, as the bird glides along, curving and swaying in 

 esponse to the working of the tail. The note is a screaming " swee-ree-ee." The sexes are 

 ilike in plumage, the young having rather more white about them than the adults. The nest 

 s in a hole in some cliff or building, generally high up ; and it is returned to year after year, 

 t is made of straw and dry grass, and other li^ht materials, stuck together with saliva 

 LS if with glue, and lined with feathers ; it is flat in shape, and contains from two to four 

 ■ggs. 



The Alpine Swift — Dimensions, He ; Eggs, Ho — is a rare summer visitor, never known to 

 )reed here. The note is a louder scream than that of the Swift, and the flight is more power- 

 ul, with a glide " like the shoot of a Kestrel." 



)aflla. Plate xxi. ANATIDM, 



238. acuta, 26 in. Pintail. Wing bar iridescent green ; tail of 16 



feathers and pointed ; neck long. 

 The Pintail — Dimensions, Rn ; Eggs, Ns — is an uncommon resident, whose numbers are 

 [reatly reinforced in the winter by migrants from the north, and in spring by migrants 

 eturning from the south. ^ The male's beak is black, with pale blue under the nostrils, while 

 he fernale's beak is greyish black above, and reddish brown below. The male has the 

 ong tail which has given him his name of Sea Pheasant ; the female is a brown bird with a 

 jrownish wing bar, and is not so large as the male. In summer the male is not unlike the 

 emale, and his beak is blue. The flight is of the ordinary duck character. Ihe note is a 

 ow " quaark." The nest is on the ground ; it is made of dead grass and sedge, and lined 

 vith brown down having faint white tips. There are from five to nine eggs. 



Jaulias. Plate ii. TURDIN^ (Passeridse), 



22. luscinia, 6:| in. Nightingale. Reddish brown above; huffish 



below ; tail reddish brown ; first primary longer 



than primary coverts. 



The Nightingale — Dimensions, Ea ; Eggs, Ec— comes in the second week of April, and 



eaves us in September, although the song generally ceases in the first week in June. He 



lings only until the eggs are hatched, and then he croaks ; but if the brood be destroyed, he 



iings again, to wind up with a croak again. The best rendering of the famous song is the 



?" reach one quoted by Macgillivray: " Le bon Dieu m'a donn^ une femme, que j'ai tant, tant, 



ant, tant battue ; que s'il m'en donne une autre, je ne la batterais plus^ plus, plus, plus, qu'un 



jetit, qu'un petit, qu'un petit ! " ^ The Nightingale is not the only bird that sings at night ; 



ind he often sings in the daytime. His flight is buoyant and quick and smooth, and 



;enerally short, for he skulks in the underwood, among the hazels, and rarely takes to t)ie 



ipen. The female is like the male, but the young are spotted like young robins. The nest 



s near the ground, sometimes on it, in a hedge-bank, or under a bush ; and is generally of 



lead oak leaves and grass, lined with rootlets and hair ; there are from four to six eggs. 



Sctopistea. Plate xxiii. COLUMBIDjE, 



267. migratorius, 16 in. PASSENGER PiGEON, Head slate blue ; throat, 

 breast, and sides reddish hazel ; back dark slate ; 

 wings black, brown, and white. 

 The Passenger Pigeon— Dimensions, Nd ; Eggs, Jj-is an American bird, whose be.'t 

 laim to be Kriiish seems to be based on some bpeciniens brought over here in a basket and 

 hot when they escaped. According to Seebohm, "there is no reason why this bird should not 

 ross the Atlantic if it felt so disposed ; but there is not the slightest evidence that it has 

 ver done so." 



:ianoides. Plate xv. FALCONIDM. 



186. furcatus^ 25 in. SwALLOW-TAiLED Kite. Bill black ; cere blue ; 



head and neck white ; back black and rump white ; 



under parts white ; wings greenish black and very 



long ; tail purplish black, very long, and much 



forked. 



The Swallow-tailed Kite — Dimensions, Rj; Eggs, Ml— is an American from the Mississippi 



nown in no other couiUry of Europe than Britain, and only known here by two specimens, 



le til St of which arrived in 1772 and the other in 1S23. 



