HERBERT ON BIRDS. 



95 



but turning, by some muscular contraction, each individual quill sideways, in the same 

 manner that the bars of a Venetian blind are turned to admit more light, and having 

 descended to the customary point, it re-adjusts its feathers and rises again obliquely 

 without sound. They will continue for hours together amusing themselves in this 

 manner upon a mild day, and when they are in this mood, the sportsman has very 

 little chance of getting near them. The cushat has a sportive movement a little 

 similar, in the summer time, in the narrow wooded valleys amongst the hills : it is 

 less observed in flat countries. It descends obliquely without any motion of the 

 wings, and when it has dived to the usual point of descent, flaps its wings with 

 a loud noise, and towers again obliquely to the other side of the valley." — p. 120, 

 note. 



The singular natural provision for the cleanliness of nestling birds 

 has been frequently remarked, but it was never before, so far as we 

 are aware, put in so striking a point of view as the following : — 



" Affectionate Cleanliness. — It is a very curious provision made by nature, that the 

 dung of all nestlings is enclosed in a thin membrane, which enables the old birds to 

 carry it away in their bills, which they do regularly each time they bring food to the 

 nest. The young instinctively, even before they can see, protrude their hind quarters 

 to eject the dung from the nest ; but, if the parent did not carry it away, there would 

 be a congeries of dirt under the nest, which would not only be uncleanly, but would 

 attract attention and discover their retreat. As long as young birds are kept to their 

 nest in a basket, or box, the membranous covering continues ; if they are let out to 

 perch, it ceases ; if they are shut down again in the nest, or basket, it re-appears. 

 The warmth and quiescence of the nest certainly occasion it, and principally the quies- 

 cence ; but how it should have that effect, I cannot pretend to understand. It is a 

 marvellous provision of almighty wisdom."* — page 191, note. 



Mr. Herbert's remarks on the stone curlew and the dottrel, shew 



the immense superiority which a field naturalist possesses over those 



who merely study in cabinets filled with dried skins. With respect 



to the stone curlew, {(Edicnemus crepitans, Temminck,) he says : — 



" My observation is, that it is found only on chalk. I used to find it and its two 

 eggs on the bare ground in September, at Highclere, in Hampshire ; but only where 

 there was a chalk subsoil. It never strayed to the sand or gravel, and consequently 

 was not upon the heaths ; but in the chalky turnip fields. Temminck says, it is found 

 on high sandy uncultivated tracts, and heaths far from water. I have found it 

 only on chalk and ploughed land. I have seen it on the chalk district in Kent. 

 I have never seen it in Yorkshire, nor in the vicinity of the moors, where they 

 should be found if Temminck's account were true. I do not believe that it ever lays an 

 egg upon sand, as he states. The dottrell (Charadrius morinellus,) also is peculiar to 

 dry chalk districts, and feeds chiefly upon small, green beetles ; but Temminck most 

 erroneously states that it lives in desert miry places, (lieux deserts elfangeux). He should 

 have said dry sheep walks. It is probable that the insects to which these species are 



* "See a paper on the cleanliness of animals, by J, Rennie, in the Roy. Inst. Journ. 

 Oct. 1830." 



