ORNITHOLOGY. 



575 



Insessores. The general plumage is brown. The tail of the female is 

 v ~~~v~ —' of the ordinary structure. This bird inhabits rocky dis- 

 tricts. Though placed in its present station by Cuvier, it 

 certainly seems more allied to the gallinaceous than the 

 passerine order. Its history, however, is still obscure, and 

 its anatomical structure, we believe, has not yet been in- 

 vestigated. 



From the last-named genus, it would appear an abrupt 

 and bold transition to the feeble-bodied, soft-billed stone- 

 chats, warblers, wagtails, and other Sylviadae, all of which, 

 however, Baron Cuvier has here grouped as intermediate 

 between Menura and Pipra. They form a very nume- 

 rous assemblage, all characterized by a rather straight 

 and slender bill, but varying, on the one hand, by the de- 

 pression of the mandibles, towards the fly-catchers, and 

 on the other, by its compression and curvature, towards 

 the straight-billed butcher-birds. The Sylviadae or war- 

 blers are divided by Mr Swainson into the five following 

 sub-families, viz. 1st, Saxicolince or stone-chats, in which 

 the bill is depressed at the base, the gape furnished with 

 diverging bristles, the feet lengthened, the tail rather 

 short, the head large ; 2d, Philomelince or nightingales, in 

 which the general structure is larger and more robust than 

 in the typical warblers, and the feet more formed for perch- 

 ing ; 3d, Sylviance or true warblers, of which the size is 

 very small, the structure weak, the bill very slender, 

 straight, with the under mandible much thinner than the 

 upper ; 4th, Parianm or tit-mice (placed by Cuvier in the 

 conirostral tribe), in which the bill is either entire or very 

 slightly notched, and more or less conic, the hind toe large 

 and strong, and the lateral toes unequal ; 5th, Motacillinm 

 or wagtails, in which the bill is lengthened, straight, and 

 slender, the legs long, and formed for walking, the hind 

 toe elongated, and the tail narrow and lengthened. 1 Mr 

 Swainson has elsewhere remarked, that the Sylviadae might 

 be termed " ambulating fly-catchers," since, when viewed 

 collectively, they are only separated from the Muscicapi- 

 nis by a different mode of feeding, indicated by the supe- 

 rior length and structure of their feet, — these parts being 

 adapted for constant locomotion, either among branches 

 or upon the ground ; while in the true fly-catchers the feet 

 are short, small, and feeble, in accordance with the seden- 

 tary habits of the species. " Comparing the warblers, on 

 the other hand, with the thrushes, we see that the best 

 distinction between the two groups lies in the very cha- 

 racter which assimilates the Sylviadce to the fly-catchers, 

 namely, the basal depression of the bill. We allude, of 

 course, to typical examples ; since all these distinctions are 

 softened down, in proportion as the three groups approxi- 

 mate. 2 We shall now proceed with our exposition of Ba- 

 ron Cuvier's system. 



The genus Saxicola, Bechstein, has the bill slightly 

 depressed and broadened at the base. The species of this 

 genus seem confined to the ancient continents and New 

 Holland. They feed on insects, build on the ground or 

 among heaps of stones, and usually frequent rather wild 

 and barren places. We have three British species, the 

 wheat-ear or white-rump (S. ananthe), which is migratory, 

 and arrives with us in early spring, irequenting commons 

 and mountain pastures, but also occurring in more culti- 

 vated places, though always preferring open districts ; the 

 whin-chat (S.rubelra), likewise migratory, but later in its 

 arrival, and frequenting moorlands and commons covered 

 with furze or low brushwood, where it is almost always seen 

 to alight upon the topmost spray; and the stone-chat (S. ru- 

 bicola), which resides in Britain throughout the year, and 

 is often found in moistish places. Of these the white-rump 

 is the most esteemed as food, being compared by many 

 to the ortolan. It is much sought after in Italy, that " land 



of song," where, by the strangest mal-association, a man Insessores. 

 no sooner hears a feathered warbler sing than he desires to N ~™ — v~"~-' 

 shoot and eat it. Even in the southern parts of Britain it is 

 much esteemed; and Pennant tells us, that as many as 1840 

 dozen have been taken in a single season at East Bourne, 

 in Essex. In the south of Europe it is usually captured by 

 means of a peculiar net, and the lure of a living owl ; with 

 us a noose of horse-hair placed between two upraised or 

 inclined portions of turf, between which the bird attempts 

 to pass in search of insects, is found sufficient. In regard 

 to the stone-chat, Temminck mentions that, though sta- 

 tionary in Africa, in Europe they are birds of passage. It 

 is singular in this case that they should remain through- 

 out the year in Britain. The fact that they do so, how- 

 ever, is undoubted, as we have ourselves shot them on the 

 Pentland Hills when the ground was covered with snow. 

 Signor Savi mentions that they are stationary in Tuscany, 

 although " per il tempo del caldo maggiore dell' estate, e 

 dell autunno, molti abbandonano le pianure, e si retirano 

 su i monti per cercare luoghi piii freschi." 3 



In the genus Sylvia of Wolf and Meyer (Ficedtda, 

 Bech.) the bill is merely a little narrower at the base than 

 in the preceding. The generic title, however, has been 

 variously applied of late, by different writers, to their re- 

 stricted groups, — Mr Selby using it to designate our willow 

 and wood wrens, while Cuvier makes it contain, among 

 others, the four following British species, viz. the red- 

 breast (S. riibecula), the blue-throat (S. suecica), the com- 

 mon red-start (S. pluznicurus), and the black red-start (<S'. 

 tithys). Of these, the second and fourth can scarcely be 

 regarded as otherwise than of accidental occurrence in 

 England, and have never been seen in the northern quar- 

 ters of the island. The red-breast is perhaps the most be- 

 loved of British birds, and is remarkable for its combina- 

 tion of familiarity and independence. When left to its 

 "own sweet will," it enters houses freely in cold or snowy 

 weather, will perch night after night on corniced book- 

 case, or seek repose upon the golden scallop of a picture 

 frame ; but it hates all forwardness in others, and will not 

 voluntarily come in contact with any hand, however beau- 

 tiful. It hops delighted, singing as it goes with low and 

 plaintive note, along the comfortable carpet, or darting up 

 suddenly towards the window-frame, will utter a louder 

 gush of angrier melody on seeing some orange-breasted 

 brother, perched on leafless spray, still braving the increas- 

 ing darkness. For a time, just before nightfall, he seems 

 himself to suffer from some uneasy instinct, or probably 

 desires, from habit, to secure his usual perch in old fan- 

 tastic yew or thick screened holly; but, on second thoughts, 

 he soon assumes some quiet corner, above the reach of cu- 

 rious children's hands. Not seldom when the evening 

 fire burns brightest, he descends on muffled wing, his large 

 and liquid eye dilated less with fear than quiet wonder, 

 and after a brief survey, he re-ascends his place of safety. 

 Although this bird remains about our doors throughout 

 the summer, building near out-houses and in orchards, yet 



Some red-breasts love amid the deepest groves 

 Retired to pass the summer days. Their song 

 Among the birchen boughs, with sweetest fall 

 Is warbled, pausing, — then resumed more sweet, 

 More sad, that to an ear grown fanciful, 

 The babes, the wood, the men, rise in review, 

 And robin still repeats the tragic line. 



We have a notion, that in Scotland the female red-breast 

 is migratory. At least, in the vicinity of Edinburgh, we 

 recognise her not throughout the long-enduring winter. 

 All the individuals then about our gardens sing and Jtgltt, 

 till, in the month of March, some strangers show them- 

 selves, but do not sing, and are immediately followed and 



1 Nut. Hist, and Classif. of Birdi, ii. 238. 



1 Fauna Boreali-Americuna, part ii. p. 20. 



3 Ornitologia Toscana, i. 231. 



