British Sea Birds
by Charles Dixon · English · Gutenberg #47115 · 401,088 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: British Sea Birds
Author: Charles Dixon
Illustrator: Charles Whymper
Release date: October 14, 2014 [eBook #47115]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRITISH SEA BIRDS ***
British Sea Birds
_By_
CHARLES DIXON
AUTHOR OF
“THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS”;
“THE NESTS AND EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS”;
“ANNALS OF BIRD-LIFE”;
“THE MIGRATION OF BRITISH BIRDS”;
ETC. ETC.
_WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS_
BY
CHARLES WHYMPER
[Illustration: ]
_LONDON_
BLISS, SANDS AND FOSTER
1896
_DEDICATION_
TO
_John William Pease, D.C.L._
[Pendower, Newcastle-upon-Tyne]
AS A SMALL BUT CORDIAL TOKEN OF ESTEEM
_This Volume is Inscribed_
BY
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
_GULLS AND TERNS._
The Gull Family—Changes of Plumage—Characteristics—Great
Black-backed Gull—Lesser Black-backed Gull—Herring Gull—Common
Gull—Kittiwake—Black-headed Gull—Skuas—Great Skua—Richardson’s
Skua—Terns—Sandwich Tern—Common Tern—Arctic Tern—Roseate
Tern—Lesser Tern—Black Tern _Pages_ 13-60
CHAPTER II.
_PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS._
Characteristics and Affinities—Changes of Plumage—Structural
Characters—Oyster-catcher—Ringed Plover—Kentish Plover—Golden
Plover—Gray Plover—Lapwing—Turnstone—Phalaropes—Gray
Phalarope—Red-necked Phalarope—Curlew—Whimbrel—Godwits—
Black-tailed Godwit—Bar-tailed Godwit—Redshank—Sanderling—
Knot—Curlew Sandpiper—Dunlin—Purple Sandpiper—Other species 61-121
CHAPTER III.
_GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILL, AND PUFFIN._
Affinities and Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Guillemot—
Brunnich’s Guillemot—Black Guillemot—Razorbill—Little Auk—
Puffin 123-150
CHAPTER IV.
_DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS._
Divers—Affinities and Characteristics—Great Northern Diver—
Black-throated Diver—Red-throated Diver—Grebes—
Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Great Crested Grebe—
Red-necked Grebe—Black-necked Grebe—Sclavonian Grebe—
Little Grebe—Cormorants—Characteristics—Changes of
Plumage—Cormorant—Shag—Gannet 151-184
CHAPTER V.
_DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS._
Ducks—Characteristics—Non-diving Ducks—Characteristics of—Changes
of Plumage—Sheldrake—Wigeon—Pintail Duck—Various other
Species—Diving Ducks—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Eider
Duck—King Eider—Common Scoter—Velvet Scoter—Scaup Duck—Tufted
Duck—Pochard—Golden-eye—Long-tailed Duck—Mergansers—
Characteristics and changes of Plumage—Red-breasted Merganser—
Goosander—Smew—Geese—Characteristics—Gray Lag Goose—
White-fronted Goose—Bean Goose—Brent Goose—Bernacle
Goose—Swans—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Hooper
Swan—Bewick’s Swan 185-240
CHAPTER VI.
_PETRELS._
Petrels—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Fulmar Petrel—
Fork-tailed Petrel—Stormy Petrel—Manx Shearwater 241-258
CHAPTER VII.
_LITTORAL LAND BIRDS._
Littoral Land Birds—White-tailed Eagle—Peregrine Falcon—
Raven—Jackdaw—Hooded Crow—Chough—Rock Pipit—Martins—Rock
Dove—Stock Dove—Heron—Various other Species 259-278
CHAPTER VIII.
_MIGRATION ON THE COAST._
The Best Coasts for Observing Migration—Migration of Species in
Present Volume—Order of Appearance of Migratory Birds—In
Spring—In Autumn—Spring Migration of Birds on the Coast—The
Earliest Species to Migrate—Departure of Winter Visitors—
Coasting Migrants—Arrival of Summer Visitors—Duration of
Spring Migration—Autumn Migration of Birds on the Coast—The
Earliest Arrivals—Departure of our Summer Birds—Arrival of
Shore Birds—Direction of Flight—Change in this Direction to
East—The Vast Rushes of Birds across the German Ocean—The
Perils of Migration—Birds at Lighthouses and Light
Vessels—Netting Birds—Rare Birds 279-295
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Black-backed Gull and Common Tern _Faces page_ 15
Ruffs—_Sparring_ ” ” 63
Guillemot and Razorbill ” ” 125
Great Northern Diver ” ” 153
Tufted Duck ” ” 187
The Stormy Petrel ” ” 243
The Chough ” ” 261
Migration Time (_on the Friskney foreshore_) ” ” 281
_Gulls and Terns_
[Illustration: BLACK-BACKED GULL AND COMMON TERN. Chapter i.]
CHAPTER I.
GULLS AND TERNS.
_The Gull Family—Changes of Plumage—Characteristics—Great Black-backed
Gull—Lesser Black-backed Gull—Herring Gull—Common
Gull—Kittiwake—Black-headed Gull—Skuas—Great Skua—Richardson’s
Skua—Terns—Sandwich Tern—Common Tern—Arctic Tern—Roseate Tern—Lesser
Tern—Black Tern._
Amongst the many natural objects that confront the visitor to the sea,
there are none more readily detected than birds. The wide waters of the
ocean and its varied coast-line of cliff or sand, shingle or mud-flat,
are the haunts of many birds of specialised type. Many of these birds
are only found on or near the sea; they are as inseparably associated
with it as the beautiful shells and seaweeds and anemones themselves.
Some of these birds are common and widely distributed; others are scarce
or local in their habitat; some frequent the shore, others the water;
whilst many are equally at home on both. Again, many of them are
migratory, or of wandering habits; some but summer visitors, others
winter refugees. It matters little, however, what the season may be, for
many interesting birds are sure to be met with by the sea; the wide
waters and wet tide-swept shores are a perennial feeding place, and a
safe and congenial refuge.
Of all the birds that haunt the sea and the shore, those of the Gull
family are the best known. From whichever direction the sea is reached,
almost invariably the first indication of its vicinity is a Gull,
sailing along, it may be, in easy, careless flight, or wheeling and
gliding high in air above the waste of restless waters. The Gull and its
kindred then are inseparably associated in the minds of most people with
the sea, and with them, therefore, it certainly seems most appropriate
to commence our study of marine bird-life.
The Gull family is divided by many systematists into three fairly
well-defined groups or sub-families, viz., the typical Gulls or Larinæ,
the Skuas or Stercorariinæ, and the Terns or Sterninæ. The Skuas,
however, are included with the typical Gulls by many naturalists, a
proceeding for which much may be said, thus reducing the three
sub-families to two. In their distribution the Gulls and Terns may
almost be regarded as cosmopolitan, but the Skuas are chiefly boreal in
their dispersal, four of the half dozen known species breeding in the
Arctic Regions, and two others dwelling in the higher latitudes of the
Southern Hemisphere. Some of the species are very widely distributed;
the dispersal of others is just as remarkably restricted. For instance,
the Glaucous Gull has a circumpolar habitat, and the Black-headed Gull
ranges from the Faröe Islands to Japan; but, on the other hand, Larus
fuliginosus is said to be peculiar to the Galapagos Islands and Larus
bulleri to New Zealand. Three out of the four species of Arctic Skuas
are circumpolar in their distribution; the fourth may possibly be so.
In adult plumage the Gulls are not remarkable for any great diversity of
colour. French gray predominates upon the upper parts; the under parts
are white, often suffused with a delicate rosy tint; the primaries are
usually dark gray, brown, or black, in many species spotted and tipped
with white. Some species assume (by a change of colour and not by a
moult) a sooty-brown or black head or hood during the breeding season;
Ross’s Gull dons a black narrow collar at that period. The wings are
ample, long, and pointed; the tail is even, except in Ross’s Gull in
which it is wedge-shaped, and in Sabine’s Gull in which it is forked.
The legs are comparatively short, and the feet are webbed.
Gulls moult twice in the year. When first hatched young Gulls are
covered with down. Young, in first plumage of the Black-headed group of
Gulls, have the feathers of the mantle, the scapulars, and the innermost
secondaries, brown with pale margins; the crown, nape, and ear-coverts
brown; and the tail with a broad sub-terminal band of the same colour.
The second plumage—assumed as soon as the foregoing is completed—retains
brown marks of immaturity on the scapulars and innermost secondaries;
the wing-coverts are streaked with brown, and the tail still retains its
brown sub-terminal band. This plumage is carried until the following
spring, when the brown hood—assumed for the first time—is mottled with
white; the tail-band is more or less broken; whilst the scapulars and
innermost secondaries assume the colour peculiar to the adult. For
several years the white markings on the primaries gradually increase in
extent until the bird arrives at perfect maturity. The larger Gulls—of
which the Herring Gull may be taken as a typical species—mature much
more slowly, the perfectly adult plumage not being assumed until the
bird is four years old. The plumage succeeding the downy stage is brown
on the upper parts, each feather with a pale margin, and white on the
under parts streaked with brown. After each succeeding moult in spring
and autumn, the traces of immaturity grow less, the wing-coverts and
tail retaining them longest. The white spots on the primaries are the
latest signs of complete maturity. The colour of the feet, bill, iris,
and irides, slowly changes until that characteristic of the adult is
assumed.
Gulls, popularly speaking, are inseparably associated with the sea, yet
the haunts of many species, especially during the breeding season, are
by no means exclusively marine ones. Almost every kind of coast is
frequented by these birds—rocky headlands, precipitous downs, sandy
dunes, mud-flats or slob-lands, and marshes; whilst every harbour round
the shore of our islands is periodically visited. Gulls are not very
pronounced migrants. They wander about a good deal during the
non-breeding season, and many Arctic species draw southwards during
winter, but all the indigenous British forms are residents on and off
the coasts throughout the year. With these few words of introduction we
will now proceed to give a more detailed account of the strictly British
species.
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL.
This, the largest of the Gulls, and scientifically known as _Larus
marinus_, is one of the least common British species, most locally
distributed during the breeding season. It is not known to breed
anywhere on the east coast of England, and but very locally on the south
coast, in Dorset. It becomes more numerous in the wilder districts, in
Cornwall, the Scilly Islands, and Lundy, and thence locally along the
Welsh coast and in the Solway district. In Scotland it becomes more
common, especially among the islands of the west coast, including St.
Kilda, and on the north coast to the Orkneys and Shetlands. It is also
widely distributed in Ireland, but there, as everywhere else, extremely
local, and nowhere, comparatively speaking, numerous. During the
non-breeding season it wanders more, and is then seen at many places
along the coast. I have seen as many as fifty of these fine birds in Tor
Bay, after heavy gales from the eastward. Montagu asserts that this Gull
is locally known as a “Cob,” but the term is of pretty general
application to the larger Gulls, and, so far as I can learn, has no
distinctive significance. In St. Kilda, where I had many opportunities
of studying the habits of this Gull, it is regarded with hatred by the
natives, owing to its depredations amongst the eggs of the other
sea-fowl. In this island it is universally known by the name of
“Farspach.” No Gull is more wary, and yet on occasion none are bolder
and more daring. I have seen a bird of this species tear to pieces a
Puffin I had shot as it floated upon the sea, and that in spite of
several shots I had at it with a rifle. It is a sad robber of the other
and more weakly Gulls, not only pillaging their nests at every
opportunity, but chasing them, and making them relinquish bits of food
they may chance to pick up within view. Like the Raven and the Crow, it
seems fully conscious of its marauding misdeeds, and correspondingly
artful, as if always instinctively fearing that treatment it metes out
so lavishly to creatures more helpless than itself.
The Great Black-backed Gull is one of the least gregarious of the
family, and the large gatherings of this species that are sometimes
witnessed are chiefly due to such accidental causes as an unwonted
supply of food, or a continued spell of boisterous weather, which often
drives Gulls in thousands into sheltered bays and estuaries. This Gull
is generally met with beating about in a solitary manner; less
frequently three or four may be seen together; whilst even in the
breeding season, when most Gulls congregate into colonies whose size
seems only to be regulated by the accommodation presented, it is
certainly the least sociable of all the British species. It is a great
nomad during the non-breeding season, often wandering far from land,
resting and sleeping on the sea. On the other hand, it is one of the
least frequent visitors of the Gull-tribe to inland districts, and, as
its specific name of _marinus_ indicates, is closely attached to the
sea. The usual call-note of this fine Gull is a loud, whining,
oft-repeated _ag-ag-ag_. Notwithstanding the purity of its plumage, and
the magnificence of its presence, the Great Black-backed Gull is almost
as unclean in its habits as the Raven or the Vulture. No kind of carrion
is refused, either lying on the shore or floating on the sea—weakly,
death-stricken lambs or wounded birds, eggs or chicks left unguarded by
their owners, fish basking or sleeping near the surface, offal cast from
the fishing boats or quays, animal refuse of all kinds, form the prey of
this Gull.
The usual breeding place of this Gull is the top of an isolated rock
stack, a little distance from the mainland; less frequently it selects a
range of high cliffs overhanging the sea. A small island in a mountain
loch is sometimes selected, and occasionally this may be some
considerable distance inland. In a few chosen spots the birds nest in
such close, if somewhat scattered proximity, that we might call it a
colony, but the rule is for odd and more or less isolated pairs to be
met with, and often at considerable distances apart. The fact that this
Gull may be found nesting in one chosen spot year by year, warrants the
supposition that it may pair for life. The usually scanty nest is made
in a hollow amongst the short turf, or heath, or on the flat ledge of a
precipice. Sometimes the eggs are laid in a bare hollow amongst the
rocks. It is formed of grass, dry sea-weed, twigs, and stalks of marine
plants, and occasionally a tuft of wool or a few odd feathers are placed
in the lining. The eggs are usually three in number, but sometimes only
two, or even one. They are grayish-brown, or brown sometimes tinged with
olive in ground colour, spotted with dark umber-brown and brownish-gray.
This Gull is a very light sitter, but is bold and clamorous when
disturbed from the nest.
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.
Very similar in appearance, but much smaller in size—it is only about
half the weight—this pretty Gull, the _Larus fuscus_ of Linnæus, is one
of the most familiar birds of the coast, especially in the more
northerly portions of the British Islands. It is a more trustful species
than its larger ally, admits man to approach it with less show of fear
or wariness, and may often be seen on the meadows and ploughed fields
near the sea, seeking for its food as familiarly as a Rook or a Daw.
Singularly enough, the east and south coasts of England are not resorted
to by this Gull for breeding purposes. It is not known to breed south of
the coast of Northumberland, or east of that of Devonshire; and this is
all the more remarkable, seeing that one of its most important colonies
in our area is situated upon the Farne Islands. It breeds locally from
Cornwall to the Solway, but further northwards becomes more generally
dispersed, right up to the Orkneys and the Shetlands. In Ireland, again,
this Gull is a very local breeder, and is only known to nest in one or
two localities. During the non-breeding season it wanders far from home,
and may then be met with on and off most of the British coasts: young
and immature birds do not resort much to the nesting colonies, but roam
widely at all seasons. It is a very remarkable fact that adult Gulls of
this species are so rarely seen near Heligoland, as the species breeds
commonly on the Baltic and Scandinavian coasts, and yet its average
appearance at the island is about once in ten years! The Heligolandish
name for this Gull is very appropriate, signifying “little mantle
wearer,” and refers to the dark slate-gray mantle. Unlike its larger
ally the present species is very gregarious, and socially inclined at
all seasons, mixing freely not only with its own kind, but with the
Herring Gull and the smaller forms, such as the Kittiwake, and the
Common Gull. These latter birds, however, must too often prefer its room
to its company, for it repeatedly robs them of their prey, and is,
Gull-like, ever ready to profit by the labours of its weaker congeners.
Like the preceding species it is almost omnivorous in its tastes, and
will as readily make a meal from stranded garbage on the shore, as from
the living fish it deftly swoops upon as they swim near the surface. On
the Lincolnshire coasts it visits the flight nets, in company with the
Hooded Crows, and preys upon any birds that may be entangled in them. It
is also a persistent follower of ships, attending the trawlers, and
feeding upon the refuse fish cast overboard when the trawl net is
emptied. It swims lightly enough even on a rough sea, riding like a cork
on the wave-crests, and sleeps upon the water, when roaming far from
land. Flocks of this Gull may often be seen standing upon the mud-flats
or level sandy reaches, preening their plumage, and waiting, it may be,
for a turn of the tide that may bring some particular food of which they
are in quest. It will be remarked that these larger Gulls, especially,
often run for a short distance before taking flight, and that when
alighting they frequently keep their long wings unfolded and erect for a
moment or two before finally closing them. Great numbers of Lesser
Black-backed Gulls and other species collect in Tor Bay during the
herring and sprat seasons, and at these times they will wait and watch
about the harbours and quays in fluttering hosts for the odd fish and
offal. The note of this Gull very closely resembles that of the Herring
Gull, so closely, in fact, that no symbol can denote the difference. It
may be syllabled as _klĭ-ou-klĭ-ou_, and during the breeding season is
very persistently uttered. Owing to its relatively longer wings, this
Gull looks more graceful in the air than its larger and heavier
congener: its flight is remarkably easy and buoyant, and on occasion
rapid.
The usual breeding places of the Lesser Black-backed Gull are low rocky
islands—these larger Gulls always prefer an island, covered with coarse
marine grass, sea campion, and the like—but in some localities a rock
stack, an island in an inland lake, on grassy downs, in mosses, and
flows. This Gull usually breeds in colonies, and some of these are very
large. One of the most extensive, within the present writer’s
experience, is situated on the Farne Islands. The entire group of
islands may be regarded as one vast colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls,
if we except a few of the outlying rocks, where the Cormorants breed. It
is more than likely that this Gull pairs for life, seeing that it
resorts to the same nesting places, year by year, for time out of mind.
The nest, even in the same colony, varies a good deal in size and
general completeness. Some birds are content merely to line a hollow in
the rocks with a little dry grass; others are more bulky yet slovenly
structures, rude heaps of turf, heather stems, sea campions, or dry
grass and sea-weed, the lining being composed of finer grasses, many of
them often semi-green. Occasionally a feather or two are seen, but these
may be due more to accident than to design. Few sights in the bird-world
are prettier than a colony of disturbed Gulls during the breeding
season. As their haunts are invaded, the frightened birds rise in
fluttering thousands, drifting to and fro like a snowstorm, in which
each flake is a startled bird. The noisy din, the rush of wings, the
swooping, soaring, fluttering Gulls, the ground strewn with nests—all
combine to form a picture in the mind that time can never efface! The
eggs of this Gull are usually three in number, sometimes as many as
four. They vary to an almost incredible degree. The ground colour varies
from pale green to dark olive-brown and gray, spotted, blotched, or
streaked with dark liver-brown, pale brown and gray. Vast numbers of the
eggs of this Gull are collected for food, especially at the Farne
Islands. The birds do not appear to suffer in any way by this systematic
pillage, for they are always allowed to rear a brood from a second
clutch at the Farnes, and most rigorously protected whilst doing so.
HERRING-GULL.
Of all the gulls that frequent the British coasts, this, the well-known
_Larus argentatus_ (_i.e._ “silver-winged”), is certainly the most
common and widely dispersed. It is no exaggeration to say that the
Herring-Gull may be met with on every part of the British coasts, from
the Orkney and Shetland Islands on the north, to Cornwall and the Scilly
Islands in the south; from the Blasquets in the wild west of Ireland, to
the mouth of the Thames and the Bass Rock in the east. It is the Gull
_par excellence_ associated in the popular mind with the sea shore—the
“Sea Gull” of the visitor to marine resorts, ubiquitous, well-known from
the Land’s End to John-o’-Groat’s. For its size, it is certainly the
tamest and least suspecting Gull found on British waters. It may be
readily recognised, when adult, by the pale grey colour of its mantle,
but the young and immature birds are less easily identified. During the
non-breeding season it wanders far and wide like the rest of its kind,
and is a very frequent visitor to the fields, not only adjoining the
sea, but at some distance inland. Whilst tilling operations are in
progress, especially in spring, it passes regularly from the coast to
the fields, following the plough, or collecting upon the newly-manured
pastures, in quest of food. Wild, stormy weather, I have repeatedly
noticed, will also drive this Gull landwards sooner, perhaps, than any
other species. Like its congeners, it is practically omnivorous. Carrion
is sought after as readily as living fish and other marine creatures. I
have also known this species regularly to visit a slaughter-house near
the coast, to feed upon the offal thrown upon the pastures for manure;
and I have repeatedly watched the pure-plumaged birds fighting with the
Rooks and Crows for a share of the feast. This Gull will also feed on
grain, grubs, and worms, is a constant follower of vessels, and
congregates in unusual numbers at fishing harbours during the sprat and
herring seasons. In its flight it is graceful in the extreme, and it may
often be seen soaring at a vast altitude like a Vulture. Writing on the
flight of this Gull, Gätke (in his fascinating work, _Heligoland, as an
Ornithological Observatory_) says: “Not only are these Gulls able to
soar in a calm atmosphere in a direction straight forwards, or sideways,
on calmly outspread wings, but, as has been more fully discussed in the
case of Buzzards, they can also, in a manner similar to theirs, soar
upwards to any desirable altitude. The Gulls are able to perform their
soaring movements on the same plane in all phases of the weather, during
the most violent storm, as well as in a perfect calm, progressing
forwards or sideways at the most variable rates of velocity; now darting
along with the swiftness of an arrow, now merely gliding, as it were, at
the slowest pace imaginable. In the latter case, indeed, we are
frequently, even against our will, forced to the conclusion that these
birds must have at their command some unknown means or mechanism which
prevents their sinking; for neither is the surface-area of their wings
large enough, nor are these organs sufficiently concave in form, to
allow of their supporting the bird after the manner of a parachute.” I
can endorse these remarks fully from my own observations (Conf. _Idle
Hours with Nature_, pp. 261, 262). That these flights are accompanied
with any vibratory movements of the feathers is erroneous, as I have had
many opportunities of satisfying myself, especially when observing the
flight of the Fulmar at St. Kilda, the birds then not being more than
six feet away from me, when I am positive every individual feather was
in perfect rest.
But to return from this digression to the general habits of the Herring
Gull. The breeding season of this Gull is in May and June. Owing to its
remarkable aptitude for accommodating itself to the various
peculiarities of the coast, it is certainly the most widely dispersed
Gull of the British species during the season of reproduction. Perhaps
its favourite breeding place is a low rocky island, but failing this it
is equally at home upon a range of sea cliffs, a stack of rocks, or less
frequently an island in a loch, or, as at Foulshaw Moss in Westmoreland,
a marsh. The nest is made on a ledge or in a hollow or chink of the
cliffs; in a sheltered hollow of the grassy downs: or amongst the thick
growth of sea campion, thrift, and other marine plants that often grow
so luxuriantly in the bird’s haunts. I have remarked that the nest is
usually larger when built on a cliff than when on the ground, and in
some cases is almost dispensed with. It is composed of turf, dry
sea-weed, coarse grass, and stalks of various marine plants, lined with
finer grass often gathered green. The eggs are two or three in number,
varying in ground colour from pale bluish-green through yellowish-brown
to olive-brown, and the spots are small and few and dark brown, pale
brown, and gray. This Gull will lay a second lot of eggs if the first
clutch be taken, as they often are, for culinary purposes. When the
nesting places are intruded upon by human visitors, the Gulls, as usual,
become very noisy, the birds whose eggs are most directly threatened
being filled with the greatest clamour. I have often remarked that Gulls
whose nests were safe in inaccessible parts of the cliffs have remained
quietly sitting on them, while their less fortunate neighbours have been
filled with noisy alarm, as they watched the fate of their eggs from the
air above. The note is very similar to that of the preceding species.
COMMON GULL.
This pretty Gull, the _Larus canus_ of Linnæus, is, during the summer
months especially, one of the most locally distributed of the British
species. The Common Gull formerly bred in Lancashire, but at the present
time is not known to do so anywhere in England. From the Solway
northwards, it becomes tolerably common as a breeding species, right up
to the Shetlands, in many inland localities, as well as on the coast. It
is also a somewhat local bird in Ireland. The Common Gull, or “Blue
Maa,” as it is locally known, is about half the size of the Herring
Gull, with a mantle, in the adult, almost as dark as that of the Lesser
Black-backed Gull. During the non-breeding season this Gull is fairly
well distributed along the coast, and then visits localities where it is
never seen in summer. It is a decided shore species, rarely wandering
far out to sea, and is one of the first Gulls driven inland by stormy
weather. Although popularly believed to be so inseparably associated
with the sea, the Gulls, and especially the smaller kinds such as the
one now under notice, often resort to fields even at some distance from
the water. The Common Gull seems as much at home inland as on the shore.
I have seen it on the high moorlands, and in Scotland flying about many
a loch pool, or land-locked sea arm; it is equally at home on the
ploughed lands and the pastures, yet its plumage seems strangely out of
place in such localities, and the incongruity is further intensified
should the startled birds take refuge in a neighbouring tree, as they
sometimes do. There is nothing specially remarkable about the flight of
this Gull; it is performed in the slow and deliberate manner of all
these birds, and is equally wonderful in many of its characteristics.
The food of this Gull is composed indiscriminately of marine and
terrestrial creatures. The bird will follow the plough, or search the
pastures for grubs, insects, and worms; it searches the shore for any
stranded creature to its omnivorous taste; it hunts the wide waste of
waters in quest of fish, and follows vessels to pick up any refuse that
may be thrown from them. This Gull is to a great extent nocturnal in
autumn and winter. Its note is a harsh and persistently uttered
_yak-yak-yak_, most frequently heard when its breeding places are
invaded by man or predaceous animals. The Common Gull is a thoroughly
gregarious and social bird, often congregating in large flocks, and
mingling with other species.
By the end of April most of the adult Common Gulls have left all our
southern coasts and retired northwards to their breeding places. As
these are visited yearly in succession, it is not improbable that this
Gull pairs for life. Its nest colonies are situated both inland and on
the coast. An island in a mountain lake, the marshy shore of a loch, the
flat table-like summit of a rock stack, or the rolling grassy downs near
the open sea, in little populated districts, may be chosen; but so far
as my experience with this Gull extends, I have found the favourite site
to be rocky islands in quiet secluded sea-lochs. These colonies of
Common Gulls vary a good deal in size; and in some districts, perhaps
where suitable sites are scarce, the bird breeds in scattered pairs
only. The eggs are laid during the last half of May and the first half
of June; only one brood is reared in the season, but if the first eggs
are taken they are generally replaced. The nest of this Gull varies much
in size; some structures are mere hollows lined with a tuft or two of
grass; others are more elaborate, composed of heather stems, pieces of
turf, sea-weed, and stalks of marine plants, lined with finer grass,
often gathered green. They are built indiscriminately amongst the long
herbage, in hollows and crevices of rocks, or on ledges of the bare
cliffs. In Norway the eggs of this Gull have been taken from the
deserted nest of a Hooded Crow, in a pine tree, but no instances of a
similar character have occurred, so far as is known, in our islands. The
Common Gull usually lays three eggs, but instances of four are not rare.
They run from olive-brown to buffish-brown in ground colour, spotted and
often streaked with darker brown and brownish-gray. The eggs of this
Gull are extremely good eating. One often wonders why they are not
gathered for the table, just as much as those of the Lapwing.
KITTIWAKE.
This charming Gull, the _Larus tridactylus_ of scientists, so named from
its entirely absent or rudimentary hind toe, is one of the best known,
as it is one of the most widely distributed, British species. These
remarks are however most applicable to the non-breeding season; for
during the nesting time it is rather more local, owing to the conditions
under which its young are reared. The Kittiwake very closely resembles
the Common Gull in general appearance, but the mantle is paler, the legs
and feet are dark brown, and the primaries, or longest feathers of the
wings, have broad black tips: it is also a perceptibly smaller bird, the
smallest in fact of the typically marine Gulls. Of all the British Gulls
the Kittiwake is certainly the most maritime in its habits, and is never
known to visit inland districts, unless driven from the coast by storms
of exceptional violence. Save in the breeding season it may be met with
on all the low-lying coasts, visiting harbours, bays, and fishing
villages, and imbuing many a littoral scene with life. The Kittiwake is
a much more oceanic bird than the Common Gull, and often wanders immense
distances from land in quest of food. It is said that birds of this
species have been known to follow vessels across the North Atlantic, but
this seems almost incredible—not because the bird is physically unable
to perform the feat, but because we can scarcely believe any bird would
wander of its own free-will so far from the local centre of its habitat.
One of the most striking characteristics of the Kittiwake is its
peculiar cry, heard to the best advantage at the nesting places. This
note, from which the colloquial name of the species is derived,
resembles the syllables _kitty-a-ake_, requiring but little play upon
the imagination to render as _get-a-way-ah-get-away_. It is only during
the breeding season that this cry is heard to perfection, and after that
is over the bird becomes a singularly silent one. The flight of this
Gull is light and buoyant, but powerful and often long sustained. The
bird may often be observed fishing at no great distance from shore,
flying to and fro every now and then, poising and hovering previous to
pouncing down upon a fish or other floating object. It is also an adept
swimmer, and very frequently sleeps whilst sitting on the waves. The
Kittiwake is perhaps more exclusively a fish-feeder than any other
British Gull. It seldom searches for food on shore, and does not exhibit
those omnivorous tastes that characterise so many of its congeners. It
is a persistent follower of fish shoals, especially herrings and sprats,
and will remain in the company of fishing fleets for weeks together. A
scrap of food thrown from a ship will speedily be seized by one of these
birds; whilst a few crustaceans and other marine creatures are taken
from time to time.
The Kittiwake is a rather late breeder. It most probably pairs for life,
as the same nesting places are resorted to each season. Of all the Gulls
none breed in more inaccessible situations. The nests are almost always
built upon a beetling ocean cliff, against which the waves are for ever
beating in ceaseless strife. Except during the three months or so of the
breeding season, this Gull is seldom seen at its nesting sites. In April
or May the birds collect at their various stations, never quite to leave
them again until the young are able to fly. It is a very gregarious
bird, and some of these “gulleries” are very extensive, containing many
thousands of pairs. In some localities, however, where the accommodation
is either limited or unsuitable, but a few birds congregate to form a
colony. The nests, often made as close together as they can be wedged,
are built upon the ledges, shelves, and prominences of the rocks.
Favourite spots are where the cliffs overhang, or at the entrance of a
cave or hollow in the precipice. They are made at varying heights on the
cliff, tier above tier, the lowest often within a few feet of high-water
mark, but the most crowded places are usually about midway up from the
sea. The nests are large and well made, many of them apparently the
accumulation of years, composed externally of turf and roots, with much
of the soil attached, and caked together. Upon this foundation a further
nest of sea-weed and the stalks of various plants is formed, finally
lined with finer and dry grass, and sometimes a few feathers. The nests
and the cliffs in their vicinity are thickly whitewashed with the
droppings of the birds. The eggs are two or three in number, rarely
four, and vary from greenish-blue, through pale buff and buffish-brown
to brownish-olive, blotched and spotted with reddish-brown, paler brown,
and gray. No words of mine can adequately describe the beauty and
animation of a colony of Kittiwakes. Their cries are deafening, and when
the frightened birds flutter from the cliffs, and pass to and fro in
thousands like a living snowstorm, the effect, whether seen from the
water or from the cliffs above is charming in the extreme. It is sad to
think that such a spot should too often become a scene of slaughter. But
such is the case; the poor birds breeding too late fully to profit by
the protection afforded by law. Vast numbers of this pretty gentle Gull
are killed yearly, for the sake of their plumage. Even when the breeding
places are left, the poor birds are shot in thousands out at sea. The
Kittiwake is the most trustful perhaps of the Gulls, and a flock will
remain hovering round a boat until almost decimated by the gunners. The
young Kittiwake is widely known along the coast under the name of
“Tarrock.”
BLACK-HEADED GULL.
In most inland districts frequented by this Gull (the _Larus ridibundus_
of Linnæus) it is known as the “Peewit,” the “Peewit Gull,” or the
“Laughing Gull.” It is not only one of the most widely distributed but
one of the best known of our sea birds. And yet to describe the
Black-headed Gull as a “sea” bird in the sense we have hitherto used the
term is, to say the least, somewhat misleading. This species belongs to
a small group which might more appropriately be termed “marsh” Gulls. It
is almost as much seen in certain inland localities as it is in marine
ones; whilst in many of its habits it bears a close resemblance to the
Rook—feeding on the pastures, following the plough, and perching
regularly in trees. During spring and summer many of these Gulls resort
to inland haunts to breed—as for instance at Scoulton Mere in Norfolk,
Twigmoor in Lincolnshire, and Aqualate Mere in Staffordshire—and from
these centres visit the surrounding country for miles, in quest of food.
Slob-lands and low muddy coasts are favourite haunts of this Gull, but
during the non-breeding season it may be met with on almost all parts of
the coast. In winter it often wanders up the larger tidal rivers for
miles; and the Gulls that visited the Thames in such abundance during
recent winters, were principally of this species, doubtless from Norfolk
and Essex. Many of these Gulls appear to pass our southern coasts,
especially in spring, and I have remarked them again in great plenty
during the sprat season in late autumn. I may in addition state that
this migration has been observed along the coast of South Devon, the
nearest breeding station being near Poole in Dorset. The birds linger
about Tor Bay in spring until, in many cases, the full breeding
plumage—the sooty-brown head—is assumed.
Owing to the great diversity of its haunts the Black-headed Gull is
almost omnivorous in its diet. Inland it feeds on grubs—especially
wire-worms—insects, worms, fresh-water fish, and newly sown grain, as I
have often ascertained by dissection; on the sea coast it subsists on
fish, crustaceans, and various odds and ends obtained about harbours or
vessels. It seeks its food both whilst swimming about the water,
fluttering above it, or when walking on the shore. This Gull is much
more Tern-like in its habits than the larger species we have already
dealt with. Of its services to the agriculturist there can be no
question; it is just as useful on the land as the Rook, without that
bird’s few little pilfering ways.
The Black-headed Gull is an inland breeding species, and resorts to
marshes, wet moors, and meres, at varying distances from the sea.
Sometimes these breeding-places are in fairly well-timbered districts,
and often surrounded by trees and bushes. This Gull, too, is remarkably
gregarious during the breeding season, and some of its colonies are very
extensive, consisting of many thousands of pairs. The “gulleries” are
visited for nesting purposes in March or April, and as the birds return
to the same spots year after year, they probably pair for life. Nesting
begins in April. Most of the nests are made upon the ground in rush
tufts, in hassocks of coarse grass and sedge, amongst reeds in shallow
water, on masses of the previous year’s decayed aquatic vegetation, or
on the flat, spongy, moss-covered ground. Odd nests are occasionally
made in the trees and bushes, or even on boat-houses. Many of the nests
can only be described as mere rounded hollows in the cushions of grass
or sedge; the more elaborate structures are usually in the wettest
situations, and these latter are often added to as incubation advances,
either to replace the wear and tear from the incessant wash of the
water, or to provide a sufficiently large platform on which the young
may rest. The nests are made of bits of reed and rush, coarse grass,
flags, and scraps of moss, lined with finer materials of similar
description. The eggs of this Gull are usually three in number,
sometimes four. They are subject to much variation, ranging from rich
brown to pale bluish-green in ground colour, spotted, blotched, blurred,
and streaked with several shades of brown and gray. Large numbers of
these eggs are gathered for culinary purposes, the crop being
systematically taken, and the birds always allowed eventually to sit
upon their final clutch. Many of these eggs are passed off for those of
the Peewit by unscrupulous dealers, notably in Leadenhall market. Few
scenes in the bird world are prettier than a colony of Black-headed
Gulls. When disturbed at their nests the birds rise in fluttering
crowds, drifting noisily to and fro, anxious for the safety of their
eggs or helpless young. As is the invariable rule with birds that
continue to replace their taken eggs, but one brood is reared in the
season.
THE SKUAS.
These birds may be readily distinguished, even when on the wing, by the
cuneiform or wedge-shaped tail, and by the dark upper plumage. The bill
is also much stouter and hooked at the point, whilst the claws are sharp
and curved. Skuas are only exceptionally seen by the ordinary visitor to
the sea-side. In the first place, they only breed in our islands in the
extreme north or west of Scotland, and in the second place they are
decidedly oceanic in their habits, after the nesting season is passed.
Occasionally Skuas may be seen on migration, especially in autumn, and
along our eastern and southern seaboard; occasionally they are driven
shorewards by protracted stormy weather, and under these circumstances
have frequently been known to visit inland localities. Odd birds are
generally seen, perhaps a party of half a dozen, but on very exceptional
occasions large flocks make their appearance—witness the thousands of
Pomarine Skuas that visited the coast of Yorkshire during the autumns of
the years 1879 and 1880.
The Skuas are birds of remarkably powerful flight, displaying marvellous
command over themselves in the air, turning and twisting with great
speed. These birds are the Raptors of the sea; a terror to the Gulls and
Terns; merciless robbers of the hard-won spoil of more weakly species;
destroyers even of the eggs and helpless young of other sea birds. All
the four species of northern Skuas are visitors to the British Seas, but
only two of them are indigenous to our islands. The first of these to be
noticed here is the Great Skua, _Stercorarius catarrhactes_, one of the
most local of British birds during the breeding season, as its only
known nesting places in our area are on Unst and Foula, two small
islands of the Shetland Group. Except during the breeding season, the
Great Skua is mostly oceanic in its habitat, wandering long distances
from land in quest of prey, attending vessels and fishing fleets, only
drawing landwards by stress of weather or unusual abundance of food.
This Skua is practically omnivorous. During its summer sojourn near and
on the land it repeatedly raids the colonies of other sea fowl, to prey
upon exposed eggs or unguarded young; it captures the smaller Gulls,
notably the Kittiwake: it also picks up any stranded fish or other
carrion; and is constantly on the watch to chase any Gull or Tern that
catches a fish, following the poor bird with fatal persistency until,
terror stricken, it disgorges its food, which is promptly seized by the
voracious Skua. The call note of this Skua is very similar to that of
the Lesser Black-backed Gull, but when under the excitement of chasing
other birds, or of seeking to guard its own domain, the bird utters a
loud cry which is likened by many observers to the word _skua_ or
_skui_.
The Great Skua resorts to its breeding grounds in April, and the eggs
are laid in May. As it returns yearly to the same places, it very
possibly pairs for life. The nests are made upon the ground of the high
moorlands, amongst the heath and grass, and are mere hollows in the
moss, sometimes lined with a little dry grass. The eggs of this Skua are
two in number, and vary from pale buff to dark olive-brown in ground
colour, sparingly spotted and speckled with dark brown and
grayish-brown. These eggs are large in size, and very closely resemble
those of the Herring Gull. But one brood is reared in the year, and by
the end of August the young birds and their parents desert the nesting
colony, and adopt their pelagic habits. Few birds are so courageous in
defence of their nests as the Skua. Even such predaceous creatures as
Eagles, Ravens, and dogs are driven off; whilst human intruders are
screamed at and approached within a few feet, the birds wrathfully
extending their legs as if they would strike, and skimming to and fro in
rage. Many tales of this bird’s daring at its nesting places are current
in Shetland, where it is known almost universally as the “Bonxie.”
Our second species is Richardson’s Skua, the _Stercorarius richardsoni_
of some systematists, the _S. crepidatus_ of others. Although not quite
so local as the preceding species, its breeding area is remarkably
restricted, so far as the British Islands are concerned. It breeds on
the Hebrides, in Caithness and Sutherlandshire, and on the Orkneys and
Shetlands. Richardson’s Skua is a more gregarious species than its
larger relative, but its habits generally are much the same. It is, for
its size, equally daring and rapacious; is also remarkable for its
powers of flight; but differs from the Great Skua in being more
gregarious. Richardson’s Skua is for the most part a summer migrant to
the British Islands, and numbers of birds pass along our coasts in
spring to their northern breeding-grounds. It is only during the seasons
of passage that the visitor to our southern coasts may hope to fall in
with this bird, and even then it does not approach the land much. Like
the other Skuas, the present species is a relentless robber of the Gulls
and Terns, chasing them up and down until they disgorge their fish, and
repeating the process at every opportunity. Eggs, young birds, and
carrion, are also eaten. It is said to capture weakly birds, but I do
not think it is so much addicted to this Hawk-like habit as the
preceding species. During summer insects and ground fruits are eaten,
whilst it has been known to take worms and molluscs. The note of this
Skua is described either as a plaintive _mee_ or _kyow_, and when in
chase of a bird it has been likened to the syllable _yah_, oft repeated.
Richardson’s Skua reaches its breeding-grounds in the British Islands
early in May. Its haunts at this season are open moors, at no great
distance from the sea. Although social at its breeding-places, it can
scarcely be described as gregarious, and the nests are usually scattered
up and down the moorland area. This Skua appears to pair annually, and
the nest, always made upon the ground, is merely a hollow, carelessly
lined with a little dry herbage, and sometimes nothing but a shallow
cavity in the moss. The eggs, normally, are two, but sometimes three
have been found, and occasionally but one. They range from olive to
brown in ground colour, spotted and speckled with darker brown and
grayish brown. Incubation is performed by the female, and lasts about a
month. At its breeding-places Richardson’s Skua is very demonstrative,
and often reveals the situation of the nest by its anxious movements
above the intruder’s head. After the young are reared the moors are
deserted, and for the remainder of the year this Skua is decidedly
pelagic in its habits and haunts.
We now pass to the Terns. These pretty graceful birds—widely known as
“Sea Swallows”—differ in many respects from the Gulls and Skuas. They
most closely resemble the former in general appearance, but may be
easily distinguished by their slender form, small size, and forked tail.
Of the dozen species that have been regarded as “British,” no less than
five breed within the limits of our islands. The Terns are far more
locally distributed than the Gulls. Many miles of coast may be traversed
without one ever seeing a Tern. They are all migratory birds with us,
visiting Britain in summer to breed, and retiring south again in autumn.
It is only during the season of passage, therefore, that they are at all
widely dispersed, for the remainder of their sojourn on our coasts is
spent at or in the near vicinity of their breeding-stations. The five
indigenous British species follow.
SANDWICH TERN.
This fine species—the _Sterna cantiaca_ of Gmelin, and the _S.
sandvicensis_ of Latham—is not only the largest of the indigenous
British Terns, but one of the rarest. It was formerly much more widely
dispersed along our coasts, but persecution has thinned its numbers, and
the seaside holiday-maker has banished it from many of its old-time
haunts. Special interest attaches to this bird, because it is one of the
very few species that have been first made known to science from
examples obtained in the British Islands. It was first discovered in
1784, at Sandwich, on the coast of Kent, and described by Latham three
years later. Alas! no longer does this beautiful Tern breed in its early
haunts on the Kentish coast; it has disappeared from there, as it has
from many another locality, without hope of return. The most important
breeding-place of this Tern, and certainly the most accessible to the
majority of observers, is situated on the famous Farne Islands; even
here the bird is much less common than it used to be. There are small
colonies on Walney Island, in Cumberland, in the Solway district, on
Loch Lomond, in the Firth of Tay, and on the coast of Elgin. Its only
known breeding-station in Ireland is in Co. Mayo.
The Sandwich Tern reaches the British coasts in April or early in May.
But little is seen of this species whilst on passage, for it evidently
keeps some distance from shore as a rule, or passes quickly and
unobserved. The smaller Terns, for instance, are commonly seen on the
coast of South Devonshire in Spring and Autumn, but I cannot recall a
single strong migration of the present species in that locality. This
Tern is seldom or never seen at any distance from the sea. Most of its
waking time is spent in the air, flying about with easy, graceful
motion, in quest of its finny prey. The Sandwich Tern, however, is
nothing near so graceful looking on the wing as its smaller relatives,
the heavier body, broader wings, and much less acutely forked tail
giving it a heavier, more cumbersome appearance. Most of its food is
obtained whilst it hovers above the sea. The way in which all the Terns
feed is very pretty. They poise and hover above their finny victims, and
every now and then dart downwards like a stone into the water and
capture a fish, fluttering up again, or remaining for a moment to
swallow their capture. A flock of Terns (of any species) fishing is one
of the prettiest sights imaginable. In addition to small fish the
Sandwich Tern devours crustaceans of various kinds, whilst its young are
fed largely upon sand-lice and beetles. The Terns are much cleaner
feeders than the Gulls, and I have never known them touch carrion or
refuse. I have, however, seen them pounce down upon scraps of food
thrown from a vessel. The usual call-note of the Sandwich Tern is a
somewhat shrill scream.
This Tern probably pairs for life, and returns regularly every season to
its old-accustomed haunts to breed. These are by preference low, rocky,
or sandy islands, covered with marine herbage, varied with barer
patches, and with beaches of rough shingle. Similar conditions are
sought on the mainland, in a secluded spot on the coast, but an island
is always preferred. The Sandwich Tern is gregarious, but its colonies,
with one exception, in our islands are nowhere very extensive. This one
exception is at the Farne Islands, where it has been computed the birds
number upwards of a thousand pairs. As the nesting-places are visited
very regularly year by year this Tern probably pairs for life. I have
noticed, however, that the birds shift their actual breeding ground from
time to time, using several spots in succession. One year they will nest
here, another year there, on the same small island perhaps, but
sometimes removing _en masse_ to another one of the group. The nests are
always placed upon the ground, either amongst the sand shingle and
drifted _debris_, a short distance from high water mark, or amongst the
sea campion, thrift, and coarse grass further inland; sometimes a bare
mound on the highest part of the island is selected. Many nests are made
within a small area, sometimes so close together as to render walking
amongst them without treading on their contents a difficult matter. The
nests are slight enough, mere hollows lined with a few bits of withered
herbage, and in some cases even this simple provision is neglected. The
eggs, which are laid from about the middle of May to the middle of June,
are generally two in number, but sometimes three. These vary from
creamy-white to rich buff in ground colour, handsomely blotched and
spotted with various shades of brown and gray. During the hot June days
the eggs seem to require little incubation, but there are always plenty
of birds about the spot, ready to rise fluttering and screaming into the
air when their breeding grounds are invaded by man. But one brood is
reared in the season, yet if the first clutches of eggs be lost they
will be replaced.
COMMON TERN.
This Tern, known as the _Sterna hirundo_ of Linnæus, by most British
ornithologists, although there can be little doubt that the great
Swedish naturalist applied the term indiscriminately to this and the
Arctic Tern, is one of the best known British species, especially round
the English and Welsh coasts. It becomes rarer in Scotland, where it is
largely replaced by the Arctic Tern. The Common Tern, distinguished by
its white underparts from the Arctic Tern, is migratory and arrives on
the British coasts towards the end of April, retiring south in Autumn.
Its favourite haunts during the summer are the various groups of low
rocky islands, and the more secluded portions of the coast where
sandbanks and shingle occur. Save on passage, this Tern is seldom seen
far from the vicinity of its nest colony. The flight of the Common Tern
is exceedingly buoyant and graceful, the long slender wings and acutely
forked tail assisting greatly in the general effect. Like the Swallows
the tarsus of the Terns is remarkably short, so that on the ground the
birds seem awkward, and rarely attempt to walk far; on the sea, however,
they are quite at home and swim well. There are few prettier sights
along the shore than a flock of Terns busy in quest of food. Where the
beach is rocky, and the water somewhat deep inshore, the birds may be
watched with ease. In a serried throng they flutter to and fro; ever and
anon a bird falls down like a fragment of white glittering marble into
the sea with a loud splash, and in a moment rises again with its finny
prey. Bird after bird keeps dropping so; now and then a bird remains
swimming on the water; now and then two birds chase each other in rapid
flight. And so for miles the Terns will continue to follow the shoal
until hunger is satisfied, or the fish retire to greater depths. The
food of this species is chiefly composed of small fish, but insects and
crustaceans are also devoured. The note of the Common Tern is a shrill
_krick_ or _kree-ick_, most frequently uttered when the bird is flying
alarmed over its invaded nesting place.
The Common Tern is rather a late breeder, its eggs not being laid until
the end of May or early in June. It breeds in companies of varying size,
the suitability of the site being in some measure a determining cause.
This Tern is equally capricious in the site selected for the nests;
sometimes one spot is chosen, sometimes another; but there can be little
doubt that the bird pairs for life, and evinces considerable attachment
for its accustomed haunts. I have found almost invariably that the
Common Tern habitually lays its eggs farther from the water than the
Arctic Tern, and always prefers to conceal them amongst vegetation of
some kind. Islands are always preferred to the mainland, doubtless
because of their greater safety. We cannot class this bird as an
elaborate nest builder, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a little
withered grass or weeds, being the only provision. The two or three eggs
vary from buff to grayish-brown in ground colour, blotched and spotted
with several shades of rich brown and gray. But one brood is reared, and
as soon as the young are strong upon the wing, the nesting places are
deserted, and the movement south begins.
Terns migrate leisurely in autumn, often remaining a day or so here and
there, on and off the coast, and are then seen in localities which they
never frequent during summer.
THE ARCTIC TERN.
This Tern, widely known to systematists as the _Sterna arctica_ of
Temminck, was unaccountably confused with the preceding species, until
the German naturalist, Naumann, appears first to have pointed out their
specific distinctness. The Arctic Tern is _par excellence_ the Tern of
our northern coasts, say from the Farne Islands and Lancashire onwards
to the Orkneys and the Shetlands. I am not aware that it breeds anywhere
on the English coast between Spurn and the Scilly Islands, but there are
a few scattered colonies on the west coast of England and Wales. This
pretty Tern may be distinguished from its near ally, the Common Tern
(which it closely resembles in size and general appearance), by its
grayer under parts and perceptibly longer outermost tail feathers. Like
all its congeners, the Arctic Tern is a summer migrant to the British
seas and coasts, arriving from the south late in April or early in May.
It prefers very similar haunts to those of the preceding species—low
rocky islands with sandy or shingly beaches, and with a fair amount of
grass and other marine vegetation upon them. It is equally gregarious in
its habits, breeding in colonies, and returning regularly to certain
districts to rear its young. Its slenderer form, and proportionately
longer wings and tail, make it even more elegant looking in the air than
its congener. It catches its food in the same Hawk-like or Gannet-like
manner, pouncing down into the water and seizing the tiny fish as they
swim near the surface. No Tern dives, and it is certainly exceptional
for the bird completely to immerse itself; usually it flutters on the
surface for a moment, then rises again. Small fish and crustaceans form
the principal food of this species. Its note is very similar to that of
the preceding Tern—a shrill and monotonous _krick_, often prolonged into
two syllables.
The nesting season of this Tern begins in June, and fresh eggs may be
found throughout that month. Rocky islands seem everywhere to be
preferred for nesting places, and the same habit of changing the exact
hatching ground prevails in this as in the preceding species. The Farne
Islands are, or used to be, a great breeding station of the Arctic Tern,
and there I have taken great numbers of its eggs. The bird probably
pairs for life. It differs somewhat in its nesting arrangements from the
Common Tern, inasmuch that it never makes any nest. No lining of any
kind is placed in the hollow which contains the eggs, and this hollow is
generally selected ready made. Another peculiarity is that the eggs are
far more generally laid nearer to the water; and this applies not only
to the Farne Islands, but to every breeding place of this Tern that I
have visited. The two or three eggs are laid in any little depression in
the coarse sand or shingle on the line of drift, or amongst small
pebbles, or even on the bare ground or rock. These eggs vary from buff
to olive, and even pale bluish-green in ground colour, heavily blotched
and spotted, especially at the larger end, with dark brown, paler brown,
and gray. They are decidedly smaller than those of the Common Tern, more
elongated in shape, and are much more olive in general colour. When
disturbed from their eggs the Arctic Terns become very noisy, and rise
in fluttering crowds above the sacred spot, continuing to fly to and
fro, screaming anxiously until the intruder retires.
ROSEATE TERN.
It is with some hesitation that I include this species, the _Sterna
dougalli_ of Montagu, in the present work, because if it really does
visit our coasts now to breed, it is so exceedingly rare and local, that
any ordinary observer of bird life by the sea could scarcely hope to
meet with it. It is interesting to remark that the Roseate Tern was
first made known to science from a skin that was sent to Montagu, from
the Cumbrae Islands, in the Firth of Clyde. It was subsequently found
breeding on the Farne Islands by Selby; it formerly bred on the Scilly
Islands, as well as on Foulney and Walney; but so far as I can ascertain
there is no direct evidence that it breeds at any of these places now.
It may be distinguished from the Common Tern by its rosy under plumage;
but as this is very apt to fade, a still more infallible distinction,
according to Mr. Saunders, is the white inner margin to the primaries.
The Roseate Tern is a very late migrant, not reaching its breeding
places until towards the end of May. In its flight and habits generally,
it very closely resembles those of the preceding species; but its note
is hoarser than that of the Common Tern. The favourite breeding grounds
of this Tern appear to be low rocky islets and—so far as our islands are
concerned—it is partial to nesting among a larger colony of Arctic or
Common Terns. It does not appear to make any nest, but deposits its two
or three eggs on the bare ground, usually in a little hollow amongst the
shingle. These eggs very closely resemble those of the Common Tern; so
closely in fact that no reliable means of distinguishing them can be
given.
LESSER TERN.
This species (_Sterna minuta_) is by far the smallest of the Terns that
visit the British coasts in summer to breed. It cannot be said to be
anywhere common, and its breeding stations are few and far between.
Curiously enough, it is not known to breed on that great resort of
British sea fowl, the Farne Islands. There can be no doubt that this
Tern is slowly becoming rarer, and in view of this fact I do not feel
justified in assisting its extermination, by naming a single locality
known to me where it now breeds. The bird-loving reader will, I am sure,
appreciate this reticence. Small colonies of this pretty Tern are
situated here and there round the British coasts, and in one or two more
inland localities. The partiality of the Lesser Tern for the coast of
the mainland, rather than for islands, as a nesting ground, contributes
largely to the decrease in its numbers. It arrives on our coasts in May,
and is readily distinguished from all its congeners by its small size.
In its habits it is certainly gregarious, but nowhere are its gatherings
as extensive as in the other common British species. Like its congeners
it is eminently a bird of the air, flying up and down in restless
uncertain flight, living almost entirely on the wing during the daytime,
only seeking the sands or the sea to sleep or to rest. It may be watched
flying along the coast, a short distance from land, in a slow irregular
way, every now and then poising for a second, and then dropping into the
water with a tiny splash to seize a fish or a crustacean. Its note is
not quite so harsh as that of the larger species, and may be described
as a shrill _pirr_, most frequently uttered when its breeding places are
invaded. Its food is composed of small fish, insects, sand-lice, and
crustaceans, most of which is secured whilst the bird is on the wing.
The Lesser Tern begins breeding in June. Like all the other species it
returns unfailingly to certain spots along the coast each summer, and
may, therefore, be presumed to pair for life. Its favourite
breeding-grounds are extensive stretches of sand, varied with slips and
banks of coarser shingle. It makes no nest, not even so much as
scratching a hollow for its eggs, but lays them on the bare ground. It
is most interesting to remark that this Tern never lays its eggs on the
fine sand, but always on the bits of rough beach—where the ground is
strewn with little stones, broken shells, and other _débris_ of the
shore—where their colour harmonises so closely with surrounding objects
that discovery is difficult. The eggs are from two to four in number—I
have on two separate occasions taken clutches of the latter—but three
may be given as the average. They vary from buff to grayish-brown in
colour, blotched and spotted with various shades of darker brown and
gray. During the hottest hours of the day the female sits but little
upon them, and it is remarkable how quickly these shore birds will rise
from their nests at the first sign of impending danger—the alarm
doubtless being given by the male bird from the air above. It is a most
exceptional thing to see a conspicuously coloured bird rise from its
nest in a bare situation; the eggs are generally coloured protectively,
and resemble the objects around them; the presence of the showily
attired parent would inevitably lead to their discovery. Early in
autumn, when the young are strong upon the wing, the return journey to
the winter home on the African coast begins, and it is during these
migration journeys that the bird is, perhaps, most commonly observed
along the British seaboard.
BLACK TERN.
Allusion may here, perhaps, be permitted to the _Sterna nigra_ or
_Hydrochelidon nigra_ of ornithologists. The Black Tern formerly bred
commonly in our marshes and fens, but has long ceased to do so. The “Car
Swallow,” as it used to be widely called in the fens, belongs to the
group known as Marsh Terns—birds that rarely frequent the sea coast at
all, so that its absence from our avi-fauna, although greatly to be
deplored, could scarcely be remarked by the observer of marine species
alone. The White-winged Black Tern and the Whiskered Tern complete this
division, known as “Marsh Terns.” Both these latter are occasional
wanderers to the British Islands.
_Plovers and Sandpipers_
[Illustration: RUFFS—Sparring. Chapter ii.]
CHAPTER II.
PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS.
_Characteristics and Affinities—Changes of Plumage—Structural
Characters—Oyster-catcher—Ringed Plover—Kentish Plover—Golden
Plover—Gray Plover—Lapwing—Turnstone—Phalaropes—Gray
Phalarope—Red-necked Phalarope—Curlew—Whimbrel—Godwits—Black-tailed
Godwit—Bar-tailed Godwit—Redshank—Sanderling—Knot—Curlew
Sandpiper—Dunlin—Purple Sandpiper—Other Species._
In the present chapter we commence the study of an entirely different
class of birds. The Gulls are for the most part seen flying in the air
or swimming upon the sea, but the Plovers and the Sandpipers spend the
greater part of their time on the ground. Again, Gulls, when adult, are
remarkably showy birds, but the Plovers and allied species are just as
inconspicuous. Many of the haunts frequented by Gulls are utterly
unsuited to the Plovers and Sandpipers. These principally delight in low
sandy coasts, mud-flats, slob-lands, and salt marshes. Rocks and ranges
of cliff have no attraction for these little feathered runners of the
shore; they obtain their food on the shallow margin of the sea, on the
sand and shingle, the mud and the ooze, or at low water among the
weed-draped stones. They are emphatically beach birds. Such parts of the
coast that have little or no beach uncovered at high water, on which
they may rest whilst the tide is turning, or at low water on which they
can seek for food, are but little frequented by these Limicoline birds.
Consequently we find them much more abundant on the flat eastern coasts
of England, and some parts of the southern coasts, with their miles of
sand and mud and wide estuaries, than on the much more rock-bound north
and west.
The Plovers, with their allied forms, the Sandpipers and Snipes, and
between which no very pronounced distinction is known to exist,
constitute a well-defined group of birds, perhaps on the one hand most
closely allied to the Gulls, and on the other hand to the Bustards.
There are more than two hundred species in this group, distributed over
most parts of the world. The Limicolæ (under which term we include the
Plovers, Sandpipers, and their allies) present considerable diversity in
the colour of their plumage, and in a great many species this colour
varies to an astonishing degree with the season. The most brilliant hues
are assumed just prior to the breeding season; the winter plumage is
much less conspicuous. To a great extent this colour is protective, the
brighter plumage of summer in many species harmonising with the inland
haunts the birds then frequent: the duller hues characteristic of winter
assimilating with the barer ground—the sands and mud-flats. It is worthy
of remark that the species which do not present this great diversity in
their seasonable change of plumage—such as the Snipes and
Woodcocks—confine themselves to haunts clothed with vegetation all the
year round; or—as in the case of the Ringed Plovers—to bare sands and
shingles. In their moulting the Limicolæ are most interesting. It is
impossible to enter very fully into the details of this function in the
present volume, nor is it necessary, for the purpose of this study of
marine bird-life, to do so. A few of the most salient facts, however,
may be mentioned. The young of all Limicoline birds are hatched covered
with down, and are able to run soon after their breaking from the shell.
They consequently spend little time in the nest, after they are hatched.
This down varies considerably not only in the pattern of the colour, but
in the colour itself. Some of these chicks, or young in down, are
beautifully striped or spotted; others are sprinkled or dusted with
darker or lighter tints than the general colour. In all, however, the
colours are eminently protective ones, and harmonise so closely with the
hues of surrounding objects that discovery is difficult; more especially
so as the chicks possess the habit of crouching motionless to the ground
when menaced by danger. The first plumage of the young bird in the
present order, approaches more or less closely in colour that of the
summer plumage of the adult. At the beginning of autumn, however, these
bright colours begin to be changed for a dress which resembles the
winter plumage of their parents. This is not effected, however, by a
moult, but by a change in colour of the feathers, only the very worn and
abraded ones being actually replaced. In the spring following, these
immature birds moult into summer plumage, similar to that of the adults,
although the wing coverts retain their hue, characteristic of summer or
the breeding season, until the next autumn, when for the first time
these feathers are changed for the gray or brown ones of winter. It
should here be remarked that the wing coverts of the adults seem only to
be moulted in the autumn, so that this portion of their plumage is
always the same colour after the bird reaches the adult stage of its
existence. The phenomenon of the alteration of colour in the plumage of
birds, and especially in Limicoline species, without moulting or an
absolute change of the feathers, is a profoundly interesting one. One of
the most remarkable facts in connection with this phenomenon is the
restoration of the worn and ragged margins of the feathers in some
Limicoline species to a perfect condition without a change or moult of
the notched and damaged feather. Schlegel was the first naturalist,
apparently, to discover that this wonderful renovation took place, but
his statements seem to have been doubted by naturalists. Fortunately
Schlegel’s opinions have been fully confirmed by Herr Gätke; and the
reader interested in the subject is referred to that great naturalist’s
remarks thereon in his book on the birds of Heligoland.[1] This seasonal
change of colour may be produced both by a moult and by actual
transition, without cast of feather, even in the same bird: the
restoration of ragged feathers and development of colour upon them may
also be progressing at the same time. Thus the black markings on the
head and neck of the Golden Plover are the result of colour alteration,
but the black on the breast is attained by moult. The colour changes in
the Sanderling, the Knot, the Dunlin, the Redshank, and numerous other
allied birds, are perfectly astonishing: in the Redshank especially so,
the profusely barred upper plumage being developed without change of
feather, and the feathers reacquiring a pristine freshness and
perfectness which seem almost incredible without a complete moult!
Comparatively speaking, the haunts frequented by Limicoline birds during
summer, or the season of reproduction, are not, in the strict sense of
the term, littoral ones. But few species breed on the actual coast—in
our islands they are represented by such birds as the Oyster-catcher and
the Ringed Plover; the vast majority rear their young in inland
localities, on moors and downs, by the side of rivers, streams, and
lakes, in swamps, and so on. As soon, however, as the duties of the year
are over great numbers of species resort to the sea coasts, where, in
all districts suited to their requirements, they form one of the most
characteristic avine features. It is amongst birds of this order that
the habit of migration is exceptionally pronounced, some species
journeying every year many thousands of miles between their summer
haunts, or breeding grounds, and their winter homes, or centres of
dispersal. In the present group of birds the wings are generally long
and pointed, a form best adapted for prolonged and rapid flight, whilst
the legs are usually long—in some species, as, for instance, the
Black-winged Stilt, exceptionally so—enabling the birds to wade through
shallows and over soft mud and ooze. In some species the feet are
semi-webbed, as in the Avocets, in others they are lobed, as in the
Phalaropes. The bill varies to an astonishing degree amongst birds of
this class, and seems specially modified to meet the varying methods by
which food is obtained. Thus we have presented to us the decurved bill
of the Curlew type, the recurved bill, characteristic amongst others of
the Avocet or the Godwits, the nearly straight bill of such forms as the
Oyster-catcher and the Phalarope, hard and chisel-like in the former,
and finely pointed in the latter; then, again, the bill in many species
is hard and horny, in others it is acutely sensitive, full of delicate
nerves, as in the Snipes and many others. The bill of the typical
Plovers differs strikingly from that of the Sandpipers and Snipes,
inasmuch that it tapers from the base to the end of the nasal groove,
then swells towards the tip. It is utterly impossible in a work like the
present, which only attempts a slight sketch of marine bird-life on
British coasts, to deal adequately with the astonishing amount of
variation, even in this single organ of Limicoline birds. We will,
therefore, now proceed to notice the most characteristic species found
on the tideways of our islands, either as resident species, as passing
migrants, or as winter visitors. It will, perhaps, be most convenient,
as well as most interesting, to deal first with those species that are
resident on our coasts, as being the most characteristic forms of this
group of shore birds.
OYSTER-CATCHER.
During summer, this species (the _Hæmatopus ostralegus_ of Linnæus and
other systematists) south of the Yorkshire and Lancashire coasts, is
decidedly local and rare; but north of those localities it becomes one
of the most common and characteristic birds of the shore, even extending
to the Shetlands, the wildest of the Hebrides and St. Kilda. It is of
interest to remark that in some parts of Scotland the Oyster-catcher
drops its marine habits, and frequents the banks of rivers and lochs.
There is, perhaps, no more conspicuous, no more handsome, no more noisy
bird along the coast, than the Oyster-catcher. It is worthily named “Sea
Pie,” its strongly contrasted black and white plumage recalling at once
the Magpie of the inland fields and woods. The favourite haunts of this
species are long stretches of low, rocky coast, relieved here and there
by patches of shingle and long reaches of sand, broken with quiet bays,
creeks, and lochs, where a large amount of beach is exposed at low
water. One may generally find an Oyster-catcher about rocky islands; it
is also very partial to resting on these, between the tides. Few birds
look daintier or prettier than the present species, as it stands
motionless on some weed-grown rock, its pied plumage, rich
orange-coloured bill, and flesh-pink legs, coming out boldly against the
olive-green masses of algæ. It is not often, however, that we can
approach sufficiently close to see such details; as a rule the bird
rises piping shrilly into the air, before it is actually seen, and long
before unaided vision can distinguish colours distinctly. During summer
the Oyster-catcher can scarcely be regarded as gregarious, but in
winter, when its numbers are increased by migrants from the north,
flocks of varying size may be met with. When flushed, the flight of this
bird is very erratic and very rapid, performed by quick and regular
strokes of the long-pointed wings; and perhaps it is now that the
colours of the bird are seen to best advantage. The call note is heard
most frequently and persistently as the bird hurries away in alarm, or
careers about the air overhead, anxious for the safety of its eggs or
young. This note cannot readily be confused with that of any other bird
upon the coast. It may best be described as a loud shrill
_heep-heep-heep_. The food of the Oyster-catcher is composed of mussels,
whelks, limpets, crustaceans, and small fish, together with various
tender buds and shoots of marine plants. Its chisel-shaped bill enables
it readily to detach limpets from the rocks, or force open the closed
valves of the mussel or the cockle. Oyster-catchers often frequent
certain spots on the coast to feed, visiting them as soon as the tide
admits, with great regularity. It may here be remarked that this bird
wades often through the shallows, but never swims, as far as I know,
unless wounded.
The eggs of the Oyster-catcher are laid in May or June, in the north a
little later than in the south. The nesting-place is usually a stretch
of rough pebbles or a shingly beach in some quiet bay, a low rocky
island, or even a stack of rocks. Although Oyster-catchers cannot be
said to breed in colonies, like some of the Gulls and Terns, numbers of
nests may be found at no great distance apart. The nest is simple in the
extreme—a mere hollow, in and round which are neatly arranged flat
pebbles and bits of broken shells. As a rule, several mock nests may be
found near to the one containing the eggs. These eggs are usually three
in number, but sometimes four, pale buff or brownish-buff in ground
colour, blotched, spotted, and streaked with blackish-brown and gray.
Two distinct types are noticeable: one in which the markings are
streaky, and often form a zone; the other in which they are large,
irregular, and distributed over most of the surface. As soon as the nest
is approached the ever-watchful birds rise screaming into the air, and
should many pairs be breeding in company, the din soon becomes general
and deafening. It is under these circumstances alone that the
Oyster-catcher permits man to approach it closely; at all other times it
is certainly one of the shyest and wariest of birds on the coast.
RINGED PLOVER.
With the present species—or resident large race, the _Ægialitis
hiaticula major_ of Tristram, as we should more correctly describe it—we
reach the true Plovers. The Ringed Plover is one of the most widely
distributed of our coast birds, frequenting all the flat sandy shores of
the British Islands, from the Shetlands, in the north, to the Channel
Islands, in the south. And not only does it haunt the coast, but it is
found on the banks of rivers and lochs in many inland districts. In many
places this species is known as the “Ring Dotterel”; in others its local
name is the “Sand Lark.” The favourite haunts of the Ringed Plover are
the sandy portions of the beach; but in autumn and winter this bird
frequently visits mud-flats. The Ringed Plover is about the size of a
Thrush, and may be easily recognised by its broad white collar, black
breast and cheeks, brown upper parts, and snow-white under parts. Its
actions on the shore are most engaging, tripping here and there along
the margin of the waves, over the wet sand and shingle, darting this way
and that as some tempting morsel of food is discovered. If in autumn or
winter, this Plover will generally be met with in flocks of varying
size; if in summer in scattered pairs or parties composed of the birds
breeding in the immediate neighbourhood. Ringed Plovers are most
attached to certain haunts, and seem to frequent them year by year,
notwithstanding continued persecution and disturbance. It is the same
when they are feeding. If alarmed they usually rise in a compact bunch,
fly out to sea a little way, then return inshore, perhaps passing two or
three times up and down before finally alighting. Again and again may
this action be repeated, although the flock has a tendency to break up
if flushed many times in quick succession, and odd birds will fall out,
or remain skulking amongst the shingle. A dense flock or bunch of Ringed
Plovers is a pretty sight. The birds fly quickly, and wheel and turn
with astonishing precision, now close to the waves, then up in the air
above the horizon, often persistently uttering their shrill call note,
which resembles the syllables _too-it_ rapidly repeated. Occasionally a
fair sprinkling of Sanderlings and Dunlins may be observed in the flocks
of this species. If seriously alarmed the entire flock will mount up
high, and go off to a distant part of the coast, or even divide into
several smaller ones, each retiring to a different spot; but almost
invariably they return, and reform into a single company on the old
familiar sands, within a hour or so of their scattered departure. The
food of this pretty little Plover consists of the smaller creatures of
the shore, such as minute sand-worms, shrimps, sand-hoppers, tiny
molluscs, and insects. That this species occasionally eats vegetable
substances I have assured myself by repeated dissection.
Although the Ringed Plover appears only to rear one brood in the year,
its laying season is prolonged from the middle of April to the beginning
of June. Early in April the winter flocks begin to disband, and the
birds to disperse over their breeding places. Many pairs may be found
breeding on one large stretch of sand in a suitable district. Some
individuals seek an inland site for their eggs, on the bank of a stream
or lake, but the majority prefer the sands of the sea-shore.
Occasionally the nest has been discovered remote from water. This Plover
makes no nest. The eggs sometimes are laid in a hollow of the sand, but
just as frequently on the level surface. The fine sand is always
preferred to the shingle, as the eggs best harmonize in appearance with
it, their fine markings becoming more conspicuous on the coarser
surface. The bird sits lightly: indeed it is most exceptional to see one
rise from its eggs, unless the spot had been previously marked. When
disturbed, the birds exhibit but little outward manifestation of alarm.
They may be seen running to and fro about the sand, but their behaviour
is very different from that of the Lesser Terns, which often nest on the
same sands. The eggs of the Ringed Plover are always four in number,
very pyriform in shape, and invariably laid with the pointed ends turned
inwards. They are large in proportion to the bird, and pale buff or
stone colour sparingly spotted and speckled with blackish-brown and
ink-gray. During May and June a smaller and darker race of Ringed Plover
passes along our coasts, to breed further north; appearing on the return
journey during August, September, and October. There is some evidence to
suggest that this race breeds sparingly on the coasts of Kent and
Sussex.
KENTISH PLOVER.
This species, the _Ægialitis cantiana_ of ornithologists, is one of the
most local of British birds. Stragglers have been obtained here and
there along the coast line between Yorkshire and Cornwall, but its only
known nesting places are on certain parts of the coasts of Kent and
Sussex. It is now nearly a century ago since this Plover was first made
known to science by Lewin, who figured it in his _Birds of Great
Britain_; and by Latham, who described and named it in the supplement to
his great work, the _Index Ornithologicus_, from examples which had been
obtained on the Kentish shingles by Mr. Boys of Sandwich. The Kentish
Plover bears a superficial resemblance to the Ringed Plover, but may
readily be distinguished by the broken pectoral band, represented by a
dark patch on each side of the breast, and the reddish-brown nape and
crown. Unlike the preceding species, this Plover is a summer migrant
only to the British coasts, arriving towards the end of April or early
in May, and departing again with its young in August or September. Odd
birds, however, have been met with during winter. The Kentish Plover
does not differ in its habits in any marked degree from the Ringed
Plover, and frequents very similar localities, stretches of sand and
shingle. Like that bird, it also gathers into small parties during
summer; but in our islands, where its numbers are limited, we more
usually find it in isolated pairs on various suitable parts of the
shore. It possesses the same restless habits; running about the wet
shining sands and shingles close to the breaking waves, in quest of the
sand-hoppers, crustaceans, worms, and other small marine creatures on
which it feeds. It cannot be regarded as a shy bird, permitting a
somewhat close approach, and manifesting little fear or alarm even when
its breeding grounds are invaded by man. Its alarm note may be described
as a shrill _ptirr_, but the usual call is a clear loud _whit_, which,
during the love season, is frequently uttered so quickly as to form a
sort of trill, as the cock bird soars and flies round and round above
his mate. The Ringed Plover utters a very similar trill during the
pairing season.
The Kentish Plover rears but one brood during the summer, and
preparations are made for this towards the end of May. It is not
improbable that this Plover pairs for life, seeing that the same
localities are visited year by year for nesting purposes. It makes no
nest, the eggs being laid in a little hollow amongst the coarser sand or
the shingle, or on a drift of dry seaweed and other shore _débris_. The
eggs are usually three, but occasionally four in number, and are pale or
dark buff in ground colour, blotched, scratched, and spotted with
blackish-brown and slate-gray. As is the almost invariable custom with
birds breeding on bare plains and beaches—and whose eggs are
protectively coloured—the Kentish Plover sits lightly, rises from her
eggs as soon as danger is discovered, and evinces but little outward
anxiety for their safety; although, in some instances, the feigning of
lameness has been resorted to, especially when the eggs have been on the
point of hatching. The young birds and their parents form a family party
during the autumn, and apparently migrate southwards in close company.
With the present species we exhaust the number of Limicoline birds that
nest upon the shore in the British Islands. All the other species that
make our sands and mud-flats their winter home, or their place of call
during their spring and autumn migrations, breed away from the actual
beach on marshes and moors and uplands, or do not rear their young at
all within our area. Closely associated with most of these birds are the
fascinating problems of Migration. We miss the feathered hosts from sand
and mud-flat as the spring advances; we note the fleeting appearance of
others along the shore bound to far away northern haunts: and then long
before the first faint signs of autumn are apparent these migrant birds
begin to return, and imbue the wild lone slob-lands and shingles with
life. To and fro with each recurring spring and autumn, the stream of
avine life flows and ebbs; by day and by night the feathery tides press
on, calling forth wonder from the least observant, filling more
thoughtful minds with the complexity and the mystery of it all. We have
not space to deal here with this grand avine movement; but, content with
this passing allusion to it, pass on to a study of the other feathered
dwellers by the sea. (Conf. _p._ 281).
It is rather remarkable how few species of Limicoline birds breed on the
British coast-line. Not a single Sandpiper nor Snipe does so, and but
two or three Plovers, as we have already seen. So far as summer is
concerned, these wading birds cannot be regarded as a very remarkable
feature of avine life upon the coast; and it is, doubtless, because they
are so little known to the majority of seaside visitors, that they
appeal so much less to the popular mind than the more ubiquitous Gulls.
But from September onwards to the following spring, Plovers and
Sandpipers are the most prominent characteristics of all the more
low-lying coasts. We will briefly glance at those species that not only
frequent such situations regularly every season, but occur in sufficient
numbers to place them beyond the category of abnormal visitors, or
storm-driven wanderers from their natural haunts.
GOLDEN PLOVER.
This species, the _Charadrius pluvialis_ of ornithologists, is, from the
regularity of its appearance and its great abundance, known almost
everywhere as _the_ Plover of the coast. It derives its trivial name
from the profusion of golden yellow drop-like spots which adorn its
upper plumage, and may always be distinguished from allied species by
its barred tail feathers and white axillaries. Large flights of Golden
Plover begin to appear on our low-lying coasts in September, and through
October and November the number steadily increases. Many of these birds
simply pass along our shore-line to haunts in the Mediterranean basin,
but many linger thereon through the winter. One of the great haunts of
this Plover is along the shores of the Wash—that vast area of mud, and
sand, and salt-marsh, which extends for miles in drear monotony, only
enlivened and made endurable by the hordes of wild fowl that congregate
upon its treacherous surface. Here, at the end of October, or during the
first week in November, the migration of the Golden Plover can be
observed in all its strength. Day after day, night after night, I have
remarked the passage of this bird, in almost one unbroken stream, flock
succeeding flock, so quickly as to form a nearly continuous throng. Upon
the sands this Plover often associates with Dunlins, Gray Plovers,
Lapwings, and other waders. Great numbers are, or used to be, shot or
netted in this district, and sent to inland markets, for their flesh is
justly esteemed for its delicacy, ranked by some as second only to that
of the Woodcock. Golden Plovers feed and move about a good deal at
night, especially by moonlight. Their food, during winter at least,
consists of sand-worms and hoppers, molluscs, small seeds, and so on.
The whistle of this Plover is one of the most attractive sounds of the
mud-flats and salt-marshes. It may, under suitable atmospheric
conditions, be heard for a long distance across the wastes, and sounds
something like _klee-wee_, occasionally prolonged into _klee-ee-wee_.
This note is uttered both while the bird is on the ground and in the
air. In the pairing season it is run out into a trill. The movements of
the Golden Plover during winter are largely regulated by the weather,
and I have known it desert a district entirely, or become very restless
and unsettled, just previous to a storm.
In spring the sea coasts are deserted, and the Golden Plover retires to
its breeding-grounds. These, in our islands, are situated on the upland
moors and mountain plateaux. The nest, invariably made upon the ground,
is often placed on a hassock of coarse herbage, or on a tuft of cotton
grass, and consists merely of a hollow, lined with a few bits of
withered grass or dead leaves. The eggs are four in number, buff
blotched and spotted with various shades of brown, and more sparingly
with gray. They are much richer and yellower in appearance than those of
the Lapwing, otherwise closely resemble them.
GRAY PLOVER.
This handsome bird, generically separated by many ornithologists from
the preceding, on account of its possessing a minute and entirely
functionless hind toe, is the _Vanellus helveticus_ of Brisson, and the
_Charadrius helveticus_ of writers who ignore the genus _Squatarola_,
founded by Leach on the above-named trivial and, all things considered,
utterly inadequate character. The Gray Plover is the first species we
have considered in the present work that does not breed in the British
Islands. Many birds of this species only pass our coast on migration in
going to, and returning from, their Arctic breeding-grounds, but a fair
number linger upon them throughout the winter. The Gray Plover may be
readily distinguished from the preceding, as well as from all other
allied forms, by the presence of a rudimentary hind toe, and by its
_black_ axillaries. In its seasonal changes of plumage it closely
resembles its ally. In the adult plumage, however, it never exhibits any
of the yellow, drop-like, spots on the upper parts, so characteristic of
that bird in every feather stage of its existence. Gray Plovers begin to
arrive on the British coasts as early as August, and the migration
continues with increasing strength until October or November. Such
individuals as pass our islands for more southern haunts return along
the British coasts during May and June. During its sojourn with us, the
Gray Plover confines itself almost entirely to the mud-flats and salt
marshes. It does not gather into such large companies as the Golden
Plover—but this may be due, perhaps, to its smaller numbers—and is often
seen in pairs or small parties, whilst odd birds will occasionally
attach themselves to flocks of Knots and Dunlins. In its habits
generally, in its flight, and in its food, it closely resembles its
commoner and better known ally. The note uttered whilst the bird lives
upon our coasts resembles that of the Golden Plover.
The breeding-grounds of the Gray Plover are on the tundras and barren
grounds in the Arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds, above the
limits of forest growth. The nest is always made upon the ground, and is
merely a slight hollow, lined with a few scraps of withered herbage. The
four eggs very closely resemble those of the Lapwing, but are not quite
so olive. When once flushed from the nest the Gray Plover becomes very
wary and restless, and does not return for some time; should the young
be hatched various alluring antics are indulged in to withdraw attention
from them.
LAPWING.
This bird is the typical species of Brisson’s genus _Vanellus_, and is
known to most naturalists as _Vanellus cristatus_ or _vulgaris_. It
cannot easily be confused with any other British bird, and is readily
identified by its long conspicuous crest, metallic green, suffused with
purple upper parts, and bright chestnut upper and under tail coverts.
Further, its appearance in the air, so far as British Limicoline birds
are concerned, is unique; the curiously rounded wings, and deliberate
Heron-like flight, together with the peculiar note, make the matter of
its identification easy to the veriest tyro in ornithology. The Lapwing
is also not only the commonest of its order found in Britain, but
certainly the most widely dispersed. Nevertheless, it is only during the
non-breeding season that the Lapwing can fairly be described as a marine
bird. From March onwards to the early autumn it retires to inland moors,
pastures, and rough undrained lands to breed, returning coastwards again
when the young are reared, especially from the more exposed and elevated
localities. The favourite marine haunts of the “Green Plover,” or
Peewit, as this bird is otherwise called, are rough saltings, mud-flats,
and slob-lands; sands and shingles it rarely visits unless when driven
to do so by heavy snowfalls; and at all times it prefers ground
overgrown with herbage to the bare beaches. As this species presents
little difference between summer and winter plumage, means for
concealment may have some influence in its choice of haunt. When
standing or running on the ground the Lapwing is a very ordinary looking
bird; graceful enough, it is true; but the moment it rises into the air
the observer is struck with the singularity of its appearance; the broad
and rounded wings are unfolded and moved in a slow flapping Owl-like
manner; very often grotesque evolutions are indulged in, the bird rising
and swooping down again, turning and twisting in a most erratic way, and
all the time persistently uttering the wild, mewing, plaintive cry that
is absolutely characteristic of this Plover—an unmistakable and unique
note among birds. It may be expressed on paper as a nasal _pee-weet_,
frequently modulated into _weet-a-weet_, _pee-weet-weet_.
As the autumn days draw on the Lapwing becomes more gregarious, often
forming into flocks of enormous size, which wander about a good deal as
the varying weather affects their supply of food. This, in winter,
consists chiefly of worms, grubs, molluscs, crustaceans, and other small
marine creatures; in summer, seeds, shoots of herbage, and various
ground fruits and berries are added. The Lapwing in its movements on the
ground is light and elegant, running and walking well, standing high
upon its legs, but it seldom seems to wade, and never, so far as I know,
attempts to swim under any normal circumstances. Great numbers of
Lapwings are killed for the table, but the flesh cannot be compared with
that of the Golden Plover, being not only dark in appearance, but
unpleasant in taste, especially after the birds have resided long in
littoral haunts.
The Lapwing at the approach of spring retires inland to breed, visiting
for the purpose moors, rough lands, water meadows, pastures, and grain
fields. The nesting habits of this species are certainly better known
than those of any other member of the Plover tribe, at least, as far as
British birds are concerned. Every person at all familiar with the
common objects of the country, knows the nest of the Lapwing, and must
time and again have been amused with the bird’s erratic behaviour, as
its breeding grounds are invaded by human intruders. The nest is always
made upon the ground, generally in a hollow of some kind, often in the
footprints of cattle and horses. Sometimes it is cunningly hidden
beneath a tuft of rushes or hassock of sedge and grass; whilst the
summit of a mole-hill is not rarely chosen. The hollow is lined with a
few bits of the dry and withered surrounding herbage; and in many cases
even this slight provision is omitted. The four eggs (five have been
recorded!) very like pears in shape, are buffish-brown or pale olive in
ground colour, handsomely blotched and spotted, especially on the larger
half, with blackish-brown, paler brown, and gray. If the flesh of the
Lapwing is not held in very high repute its eggs make ample amends for
the deficiency. Vast numbers are systematically gathered for the table;
and as the birds will replace their stolen eggs again and again, the
harvest may be prolonged over several weeks. The first eggs are laid in
April; in more northern localities not before May. In the early days of
the Plover egg season, these commodities frequently realise as much as
twelve shillings per dozen, and are a source of profit to many a dweller
in country districts. Dogs are sometimes trained to search for them.
When the young are hatched the Lapwing displays many curious tricks to
lure enemies from them, feigning death or broken wings, or swooping with
loud cries to and fro.
TURNSTONE.
It is rather a remarkable fact that this species, the _Strepsilas
interpres_ of naturalists, does not breed in the British Islands. Some
naturalists have suspected that it does so on the Hebrides, and it has
been said to nest on the Channel Islands, but no direct proof has yet
been obtained. Under exceptional circumstances the Turnstone may be met
with inland, especially during the season of its migrations, but
otherwise it is strictly a coast-bird, as much so as the Oyster-catcher,
and rears its young upon the shore. This somewhat singular bird is met
with on the British coasts, most commonly during its passage north or
south, comparatively few individuals remaining upon them for the winter.
The Turnstone cannot readily be confused with any other coast bird, its
mottled black and chestnut upper parts, black throat and breast, and
white belly, being very distinctive. The wings and tail during flight
exhibit a good deal of white upon them. Turnstones, chiefly young birds,
begin to arrive on the British coasts at the end of July, and the
migration of the species continues through August and September; the
return passage in spring may be remarked towards the end of April, and
lasts for about a month. Mud-flats, slob-lands, and salt-marshes are not
frequented much by the Turnstone; it always prefers the low rocky
coasts, and seems specially fond of haunting rocks and islands. Social
to a great extent in summer, in winter this bird is more or less
gregarious; but many odd individuals attach themselves to parties of
other shore-frequenting species. An example now lying before me was shot
from the company of Common Sandpipers. The Turnstone is a restless
little creature, ever on the run in quest of food. It may be watched
hunting about the beaches, or running amongst pebbles, and over the
piles of drifted rubbish that the tide washes up in a long irregular
line along the shore. In watching the actions of this bird, the observer
cannot fail to remark its singular habit of turning over shells and
other objects, in quest of the small marine creatures that lurk under
them, with its conical shaped beak, and perhaps occasionally with its
breast as well. This peculiarity has gained for the Turnstone its
trivial name. Not only does it run about the sand and rocks, but it
frequently wades, and has even been seen to swim just outside the line
of breakers, rising from time to time, flying a little way and then
settling upon the water again. The flight of this bird is not very
rapid, and generally taken close to the ground; its note is a shrill
whistle, resembling the syllable _keet_. During the love season this
note is run into a rapid trill. The food of the Turnstone is composed of
sand-worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and other small marine animals.
The Turnstone changes its haunts but little during the breeding season.
It rears its young on the beaches or on rocky islets, placing its nest
amongst the scanty marine herbage, beneath the shelter of a tuft of
grass or a little bush. This is merely a hollow lined with a few bits of
dry grass or other vegetation. The four eggs are olive-green or pale
buff in ground colour, blotched, spotted, and clouded with olive-brown,
dark reddish-brown, and violet-gray. But one brood is reared in the
year, and the eggs are laid in June. As soon as the young are able to
fly the movement south begins. The Turnstone breeds throughout the
northern parts of the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, as far as land is
known to extend. Its nearest breeding stations to the British Islands
are in Denmark, on some of the Baltic Islands, and in Iceland. During
winter it visits the coasts of almost every part of the world, south of
the Arctic circle.
PHALAROPES.
But three species of the genus _Phalaropus_ are known, and two of these
are British birds, one of them the Red-necked Phalarope, _P.
hyperboreus_, breeding very sparingly and locally within our limits, the
other the Gray Phalarope, _P. fulicarius_, a more or less regular
visitor to our coasts in autumn and winter. From many points of view the
Phalaropes are very interesting birds. They are distinguished from all
other Limicoline forms by the structure of the feet, which are lobed
like those of the Coot—a peculiarity which induced Edwards, in 1741, to
describe a Phalarope as the “Coot-footed Tringa.” They are by far the
most aquatic of the Charadriidæ, swimming as readily as Gulls or Ducks,
and often going for hundreds of miles out on to the open sea; indeed
they spend most of their time upon the water, only visiting land for any
lengthened period during the breeding season.
There can be little doubt that the Gray Phalarope is a more abundant
visitor to British waters, in autumn and winter, than is generally
supposed. It has little reason to visit land at all at such a season,
unless driven towards it by exceptionally severe weather. Occasionally,
however, this Phalarope has occurred on our coasts in great numbers,
something similar to the visitations of Sand Grouse, with which
doubtless most readers are familiar. The autumn of 1866 is specially
famous for a great “rush” of Gray Phalaropes to the British seas and
coasts, and it is estimated that upwards of 500 were caught, of which
large number nearly half occurred in Sussex! The most recent irruption
of Gray Phalaropes was in 1886. The Gray Phalarope lives almost entirely
out at sea, after the breeding season is over, wandering immense
distances from land, and even accompanying whales, for the sake of
catching the various small marine creatures disturbed by the “blowing”
of those mighty animals—hence to the sailor it is often known as the
“Whale Bird.” So hardy is this little bird, that it has been watched
swimming about amongst icebergs far from land. It swims lightly and
buoyantly as a foam fleck, with a peculiar bobbing motion of the head,
but it is not known to dive. It apparently flies with reluctance, always
preferring to swim out of danger. Its food principally consists of
insects, but crustaceans, worms, and scraps of vegetable substances are
eaten. The call note of this Phalarope is described as a shrill _weet_,
and the alarm note, heard most frequently during flight, as a rapidly
repeated _bick-abick-a_.
The Gray Phalarope is not known to breed anywhere on continental Europe,
but does so in Spitzbergen, in Iceland, Greenland, and probably
throughout all suitable parts of Arctic America and Asia, as far north
as land extends. In winter it is very widely dispersed, even wandering
as far as New Zealand. The Gray Phalarope is one of those species that
change greatly in the colour of their plumage according to season. In
winter dress—the plumage perhaps most familiar to British observers—the
back is gray, and the under parts pure white; but in summer the whole of
the latter are rich bright bay, and the feathers of the upper parts are
dark brown with pale reddish-brown margins. In this plumage it is known
as the Red Phalarope. Another interesting fact is that the female is
much more brightly and richly coloured than the male, and the latter not
only performs the duty of incubating the eggs, but takes the greater
share in tending upon the young! It may thus be inferred that the
pairing habits of this Phalarope are most singular, the female
conducting the courtship! The Gray Phalarope remains practically
gregarious throughout the year, breeding in colonies of varying size.
Its favourite nesting-places are beside the marshy pools and lakes on
the tundras, at no great distance from the Arctic Ocean. The nest is
made upon the ground, and consists of a mere hollow in the moss or
lichen, lined with a few dry leaves and grasses. The four pyriform eggs
are pale buff, tinged with olive, blotched and spotted with dark brown
and paler brown. At the nest the old Phalaropes are remarkably tame and
confiding, showing little fear of man, but when the young are hatched
often trying to delude him away by various deceptive antics. As soon as
the young are sufficiently matured, the nesting-places are deserted, and
young and old repair to the sea for the remainder of the year.
The second British species, the Red-necked Phalarope, is scarcely less
known to the majority of people than the Gray Phalarope. It seldom
visits the land except for breeding purposes, and as its nesting-places
in our area are not only few, but in the remotest part of it,
opportunities for observing its habits are few and fitful. It is a
summer visitor to certain parts of the Outer Hebrides, to the Orkneys,
and the Shetlands. Outside our limits its range is very extensive. It
breeds in suitable localities throughout the Arctic regions of the New
and Old Worlds, above the limits of forest growth; in winter it wanders
far southwards, and is then found on the coasts of Europe, Southern
Asia, Mexico, and Central America. Like the preceding species it is
thoroughly marine in its choice of a haunt, but does not appear to
wander for such great distances from land. It is just as tame and
confiding, just as social in summer, and as gregarious in winter. It
swims equally as well and buoyantly, with the same peculiar bobbing
motion; whilst on the land it is able to run and walk with ease. It
exhibits the same reluctance to take wing, preferring to retreat from
danger by swimming, although it flies on occasion quickly and well. Its
food is very similar, and its note is a shrill but rather low _weet_. As
Professor Newton has remarked, both this and the preceding species of
Phalarope are entrancingly interesting in their habits. “Their graceful
form, their lively colouration, and the confidence with which both are
familiarly displayed in their breeding-quarters can hardly be
exaggerated, and it is equally a delightful sight to watch these birds
gathering their food in the high-running surf, or, when that is done,
peacefully floating outside the breakers.”[2]
So far as concerns Scotland, the breeding season of the Red-necked
Phalarope commences in May, but in more Arctic localities it is deferred
until several weeks later. It returns with unerring regularity to the
old accustomed spots to rear its young. These are on the marshy moors,
beside the pools, at no great distance from the sea. The nest, usually
made on the ground, (in the valley of the Petchora it has been found in
a hassock of coarse grass a foot or more above it), is a mere hollow
lined with a few scraps of dead grass and rush. The four eggs are buff
of various shades, or pale olive, spotted and blotched with amber and
blackish-brown, pale brown and gray. As previously remarked the male
bird incubates them. When disturbed at its breeding grounds, the
Red-necked Phalarope slips off the nest and takes refuge in the water,
manifesting little concern for its safety. As soon as the young are
sufficiently matured, they and their parents resort to the sea, moving
southwards as autumn advances, and for the most part keeping to the
water until another nesting season comes round.
CURLEW.
This species, (_Numenius arquata_), is not only the largest Limicoline
bird that frequents the coast, but also one of the best known. There are
few parts of the shore during autumn and winter where an odd Curlew
cannot be found, whilst in some localities it may be classed as
absolutely common. The Curlew is another of those species that present
little difference between summer and winter plumage, and yet the haunts
it selects in summer differ very considerably from those it seeks in
winter. It is a resident in the British Islands, but its numbers are
very considerably increased in autumn, by migrants from more northern
latitudes. It may be found, as previously inferred, on almost all parts
of the shore, but such beaches where wide expanses of sand, mud, and
broken rocks occur, are specially preferred—as are also salt-marshes and
wet meadows close to the sea. Of all wild fowl the Curlew is one of the
wariest, never allowing a close approach unless stalked with the
greatest care, or surprised in some unusual way, which does not often
happen. In some districts where little beach is exposed during
high-water, the Curlews will retire some distance inland, but return
with remarkable punctuality as soon as the tide begins to ebb. Shingle
banks and islands are also often visited between tides. Curlews when
feeding are very restless birds, running and walking about the beach,
seemingly in a very careless and unsuspecting manner, but sentinels are
ever on the watch to sound the warning note, which sends the big
long-billed speckled birds hurrying away to safer haunts. The Curlew
feeds both by day and by night; and its wild somewhat mournful note,
shrill and far-sounding, _curlee_, _cur-lee_, may repeatedly be heard
during darkness. The flight of this bird is both rapid and well
sustained. Gätke, on evidence which seems absolutely conclusive,
estimates its speed on certain occasions to be not less than a mile a
minute, and possibly very much more! Although the Curlew repeatedly
wades, it is not known to swim under normal circumstances, but has
occasionally been seen to perch in a tree. All through the autumn and
winter the Curlew continues gregarious. It migrates in vast flocks, and
frequently associates with other wild fowl, although it may be that
these other and smaller species seek its company to profit by its
extraordinary vigilance. Sand-worms, crustaceans, and molluscs form its
principal food whilst living on the coast, but in summer, at its
breeding-grounds, worms, grubs, insects, ground fruits, and berries are
eaten. The European form of the Curlew is pretty generally distributed
over the western half of the Palæarctic region, and in winter is found
throughout Africa.
The Curlew begins to leave the coast for more or less inland haunts in
March, scattering over most of our swampy moorlands and rough higher
grounds to breed. The eggs are laid during April and May. The nest is
invariably made upon the ground, and consists merely of a shallow
cavity, lined with a few bits of withered herbage or dead leaves.
Numbers of pairs often nest within a comparatively small area of
suitable ground, and should one pair be disturbed, the entire community
is soon thrown into a state of alarm. The four eggs of the Curlew vary
from olive-green to buff, blotched and spotted with olive-brown and pale
gray. The Curlew begins to wander coastwards as soon as the young are
reared. By far the majority seen first are young birds, and these arrive
from the middle of July onwards.
WHIMBREL.
This species—which is the _Numenius phæopus_ of systematists—is best
known on the British coasts during its annual migrations, passing our
islands so regularly that it has received the name of “May Bird.” On the
Lincolnshire coast, as well as in many other districts, the Whimbrel is
almost universally known as the “Jack-Curlew.” During its seasonal
movements it visits most parts of the British coast-line, but mud-flats,
salt-marshes, estuaries, and extensive reaches of sand, are the most
favoured localities. Its habits are very similar to those of the
Curlew—a bird which it somewhat closely resembles in general appearance,
although it is much smaller. It is also a less wary bird, especially
upon its arrival; much stalking, however, soon teaches it shyness.
Perhaps the Whimbrel is not so often seen on the actual beach as the
Curlew; it seems to prefer to resort to slob-lands, and swampy meadows
adjoining the beach. It not only wades, but is said even to swim
occasionally, and is fond of bathing, throwing the water over itself as
it stands breast-high in the sea. In autumn and winter the Whimbrel is
certainly gregarious, but its gatherings are never so large on our
coasts as those of the Curlew. This, however, is entirely due to local
causes, for Gätke reports that on the bright warm days of April and May
they pass over Heligoland in successive flocks, at a vast height, and
flying at a tremendous speed. On migration the note of the Whimbrel may
be described as a shrill _hee-hee-hee_. Its food, during its sojourn in
small numbers on the British coasts, consists principally of
crustaceans, sand-worms, and molluscs.
The Whimbrel is a later breeder than the Curlew. During the nesting
season it is one of the most local of our birds, and is only known to
nest on North Ronay—one of the Hebrides—the Orkneys, and the Shetlands.
Its favourite breeding-grounds are the wild moors, at no great distance
from the sea. Although not gregarious during summer, many pairs often
nest on the same portion of the moors. The nest is made upon the ground,
sometimes amongst heather, or beneath the shelter of a tuft of grass,
and consists of a few bits of withered herbage, arranged carelessly in
some slight hollow. The four eggs are very like those of the Curlew, but
are much smaller. The bird’s actions at the nest are very similar to
those of the preceding species. Outside the British limits, the breeding
range of the typical Whimbrel reaches from Iceland and the Faröes,
across Arctic Europe, whilst its winter home is in Africa.
GODWITS.
These birds rank amongst the rarest and most local of the British
species of Limicolæ, so that little more than a passing allusion to them
is necessary in a work of the present character. One of them, the
Black-tailed Godwit, _Limosa melanura_, formerly known as the “Yarwhelp”
or “Barker,” used to breed regularly in some of the eastern counties of
England, but for nearly fifty years now it has not been known to do so.
The reclamation of its fenland haunts, and the practice of netting it
during the breeding season, have probably been the chief causes of its
extirpation. A few birds still continue to appear on our coasts,
especially on the vast mud-flats and salt-marshes of East Anglia, during
their annual migrations, and a few remain to winter. Outside our limits
it nests in Iceland and the Faröes, and in Scandinavia; but its chief
breeding-area extends across Europe, from Holland to the south of
Russia. In winter it draws southwards, visiting the Mediterranean basin
and parts of Africa. The Black-tailed Godwit appears on the British
coasts on passage, during April and May, the return journey beginning in
August, and lasting for about a month. In its habits it is very like the
Curlew, picking up its food on the muds and marshes, walking
deliberately to and fro, wading through the shallows, and sometimes
standing in the water breast-high to sleep. Whilst on actual migration
it is a restless bird, continually shifting its ground, but later in the
year it becomes more settled, and will visit certain spots to feed with
great regularity. Its food, whilst on our coasts, consists of insects
(especially beetles), worms, crustaceans, and molluscs. Its call-note is
a loud and shrill _tyii-it_. This Godwit breeds in May, making a slight
nest on the ground, concealed amongst herbage, in which it lays four
pyriform eggs, olive-brown, spotted with darker brown and gray.
The second and smaller species, the Bar-tailed Godwit, _Limora rufa_, is
certainly the best known, and by far the most abundant. So far as my
observations extend, this Godwit occurs in greatest numbers on the
mud-flats and salt-marshes of the Wash, where it is known in some places
as the “Scamell.” There it is often taken in the flight-nets, and it is
a well-known bird to the gunners of the coast. This Godwit passes along
the British seaboard towards the end of April, and early in May,
returning from the end of August up to the first week in November.
According to Professor Newton the 12th of May is known as “Godwit day”
on the south coast of England, because about that date large flocks of
this bird arrive thereon, on their passage north. Whilst with us its
habits are much the same as those of the preceding species. It is
gregarious throughout the winter, and often associates with other
shore-haunting birds. Both these Godwits are readily distinguished from
other Limicoline species on the British coasts by their long and
recurved bills. They also present much diversity between summer and
winter plumage. The most marked difference is seen in the colour of the
underparts, which the present species changes from white in winter to
rich chestnut in summer, whilst in the Black-tailed Godwit the chestnut
characteristic of the breeding season is confined to the neck and
breast. It is only in summer plumage that the tail of the Bar-tailed
Godwit is barred; in winter it is uniform ash-brown. Upon its first
arrival on our shores the Bar-tailed Godwit is often remarkably tame,
admitting a close approach. It is very fond of frequenting the creeks
and dykes that intersect the salt-marshes and muds, and during high
water often goes inland a little way to wait for the ebb. The food of
this Godwit consists of worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and similar marine
creatures. The note resembles the syllables _kyă-kyă-kyă_, often very
persistently repeated as the birds fly up and down the coast. In its
quest for food it frequently wades, but never swims nor dives, unless
wounded.
But little is known respecting the nidification of the Bar-tailed
Godwit, and its eggs, very rare in collections, have hitherto only been
obtained in Lapland. These so closely resemble those of the preceding
species, that no known point of distinction can be given.
REDSHANK.
During the greater part of the year this species—the _Totanus calidris_
of modern naturalists—resides upon the coasts, retiring to more or less
inland districts to breed. There are few prettier and more graceful
birds along the shore than the Redshank, distinguished by its long
orange-red legs, and white lower back, rump, and secondaries—the latter
marbled with brown at the base. In the breeding season the grayish-brown
upper plumage, and the white breast characteristic of winter, are
mottled with rich dark brown. In autumn our resident Redshanks are
largely increased in numbers by migratory individuals from more
northerly latitudes; many of these pass on to winter quarters further
south, but many others remain with us for the winter. Sociable at all
times, and freely consorting with other Limicoline species on the coast,
in winter, especially, the Redshank becomes very gregarious. Its
favourite haunts are mud-flats and salt-marshes, and it is here that the
largest flocks congregate, but many odd birds frequent coasts of a more
rocky character. Redshanks are sprightly, restless birds, almost
constantly in motion when on the feed, and scattering far and wide,
running to and fro with dainty action, wading through the little pools,
and even occasionally swimming the shallows between one mud-bank and
another. They are ever alert, and take wing as soon as danger threatens,
the scattered flock soon forming into a compact mass again. Between the
tides Redshanks often collect on some mud-bank, where in a serried
throng they keep up a confused babel of subdued cries, as if all were
talking and none listening. Its flight is rapid and most unsteady
looking—the black and white wings producing an idea of irregularity
which is more imaginary than real. Upon the coast the Redshank feeds on
sand-worms, crustaceans, molluscs, and such like marine creatures, but
during summer at its breeding-grounds, worms, insects, ground-fruits and
berries are among the substances sought. The call note of this wader is
a loud shrill _tyü-tyü_ most persistently repeated when the bird is
excited or alarmed; whilst during the pairing season the love song or
trill is happily described by Professor Newton—who has had exceptional
opportunities for observing this species—as a constantly repeated
_leero-leero-leero_, accompanied with many gesticulations, as he hovers
in attendance on the flight of his mate; “or with a slight change to a
different key, engages with a rival; or again, half angrily and half
piteously, complains of a human intruder on his chosen ground.”[3]
The Redshank breeds somewhat locally in the marshy districts of our
islands, perhaps most commonly in the low-lying eastern counties of
England, and in Scotland. It is one of the earliest waders to quit the
coast in spring, and to retire to its nesting places, which are fen and
marsh lands, swampy moors, and the boggy shores of lochs and tarns.
Numbers of nests may be found within a small area of suitable ground,
and certain spots appear to be visited annually for breeding purposes,
in some cases even after the district, by reclamation, has lost its
original marshy character. The nest is slight, but usually well
concealed, often beneath the shade of a tuft of grass or other herbage,
or in a hassock of sedge or under a little bush or tall weed. It
consists of a mere hollow scantily lined with a few bits of withered
grass or leaves. The four eggs are very pyriform in shape, and vary from
pale buff to dark buff, handsomely and boldly blotched and spotted with
rich dark brown, paler brown and gray. When disturbed the old birds
become very noisy and excited, careering wildly to and fro, and should
the young be hatched they become even more demonstrative, and by various
antics seek to decoy an intruder away. A return to the coast is made as
soon as the young are sufficiently matured. Many eggs of this bird are
gathered and sold as “Plover’s eggs.”
SANDERLING.
During the period of its spring and autumn migrations—especially the
latter—this pretty little bird, the _Tringa arenaria_ of ornithologists
who ignore the genus _Calidris_, named first by Cuvier in 1800, and
formally founded eleven years later by Illiger, established as it is on
such a trivial character (all things considered) as the absence of a
minute and functionless hind toe—is one of the commonest and most widely
distributed of Limicoline birds. Comparatively few individuals remain on
our coast to winter, and these collect more especially on the southern
beaches. In winter plumage—the dress in which it is most familiar to
British observers—the Sanderling is a delicate silvery-gray above and
pure white below; but in the breeding season, although the underparts
remain unchanged in colour, the upper parts become mottled with chestnut
and black. Comparatively few Sanderlings reach the British coasts before
August, and the southward migration continues during September. By the
middle of the latter month the bulk of the individuals has passed beyond
our limits; by the end of October but few remain, although some of these
prolong their stay over the winter. The return migration begins in
April, and lasts over May into June. There can be little doubt that the
Sanderling migrates by night. Few birds are more trustful and engaging
than this pretty little Arctic stranger. It not only frequents the long
reaches of sand, but mud-flats, estuaries, and the creeks and streams in
salt-marshes; its favourite haunts, however, are the sands. During its
sojourn on our coast it consorts in flocks of varying size; and very
frequently a small party attach themselves to a larger gathering of
Dunlins, or Ringed Plovers. Indeed for the society of the latter birds
the Sanderling shows a strongly marked preference. We may safely say
that, during the migration period, most large bunches of Ringed Plovers
contain a varying number of Sanderlings. Its actions on the sand are
very similar to those of the Ringed Plover, but it does not appear ever
to run in such fits and starts, searching the ground more
systematically, after the manner of a Stint or a Dunlin. During high
water the Sanderling very often resorts to the higher shingle, and
skulks amongst the pebbles, sometimes remaining unseen until nearly
trodden upon, so closely does its white and gray dress resemble the
stones among which it nestles. Upon the dark muds and the wet shining
brown sands it is much more conspicuous; and there are few prettier
sights along the shore than a scattered flock of Sanderlings, standing
head towards the observer, looking like so many white balls of animated
snow. It searches for its food by running to and fro about the beach,
often on the very margin of the spent waves, sometimes wading through
the shallows, or quickly dodging the foam-flecked in-driving surf. Its
food consists of sand-worms, crustaceans, various insects and great
quantities of small molluscs. In summer, however, it is almost
exclusively insectivorous, but also feeds on the buds of the Arctic
saxifrages. The note of this bird during its sojourn on our coasts is a
shrill _whit_, but this is not very frequently or persistently uttered.
During winter the Sanderling is a great wanderer, visiting parts of
Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and South America, but in the breeding
season its range seems confined to the Arctic regions. But very little
is known of the nesting habits of the Sanderling, and few of its eggs
are in collections. It is said to arrive at its Arctic haunts in May or
early June, as soon as the water is free from ice, and the ground bare
of snow. Its nesting haunts are the barren grounds and tundras near, and
the beaches of, the Arctic Ocean. The nest is a mere hollow, scantily
lined with dry grass and leaves, and the four eggs are buffish-olive in
ground colour, mottled and spotted with pale olive-brown and gray.
KNOT.
This species, the _Tringa canutus_ of Linnæus, and most modern
ornithologists, is another of the Arctic migrants that pass the British
coasts regularly on their journeys, and linger here in much smaller
numbers over the winter. Camden, in 1607, appears to have been the first
author to connect the name of the Knot with King Canute, but much
difference of opinion exists as to the reason thereof. Some authorities
assert that it was in connection with the story of that king upon the
seashore; others, and perhaps with greater reason, because of the Royal
Dane’s great liking for its flesh. The bird continued to be so closely
associated with the king by successive writers, that Linnæus followed
them in applying the specific name of _canutus_ to the Knot, which is
still retained by the majority of naturalists.
The migrations of the Knot are very marked and regular. The bird begins
to arrive on the British coasts early in August, and from then to the
end of October a nearly constant stream pours upon them, reaching its
greatest volume in September. By far the greater number pass on to still
more southern haunts, but a sufficiently large portion remain to winter
as to render the species one of the most familiar of Limicoline forms to
habitues of the coast. The return migration begins on our coasts in
April, and continues throughout May. The principal haunts of the Knot in
the British Islands are situated on the eastern and south-eastern
coasts. Mud-flats, salt-marshes, wide, expansive sands, and big
estuaries, are the spots where Knots most do congregate, for these
furnish it with a constant supply of food. Ten years ago, I remember,
great numbers of Knots used to be caught in the flight-nets on the Wash,
during October and November, but the numbers of late years have
considerably decreased. The Knot is not only very gregarious, but
social, and often mixes with companies of other waders. When feeding
Knots keep close together, generally all heading in the same direction,
and moving about quickly. If the flock is a very large one some of the
individuals are almost constantly in the air, flying over the heads of
their companions, and alighting again, as if eager to get the first look
over the ground. They are very wary when congregated in such large
assemblies, easily flushed, and often performing various evolutions,
both over the sands or the water, before alighting again. The Knot more
often runs with a series of short, quick steps than walks, and it flies
both rapidly and well. After feeding, the entire flock will often stand
for a long time on a certain piece of the shore, sleeping and preening
plumage, but even on these occasions they are somewhat restless, and it
is rare to see all still at once. They feed both by night and by day.
The call-note is seldom or never uttered, although when on migration the
birds appear to be noisy enough, crying incessantly to each other as
they fly along in the gloom.
But little is known of the nesting economy of the Knot. Its great
breeding grounds—the nesting places of the vast flocks that pass
southwards in autumn—still remain undiscovered. Where they are situated
it is useless to speculate. Naturalists are ignorant of its eggs, which
still remain unknown in collections, although the young in down have
been obtained. The Knot breeds in the high Arctic regions, in the North
Polar Basin, mostly, if not entirely above lat. 80°; and here it has
been met with during summer by various travellers. The Knot is another
bird remarkable for the great seasonal changes which its plumage
undergoes. In winter, the plumage is ash-gray above, white below; in
summer, the feathers of the upper parts become black margined with
reddish-brown and mixed with white, those of the lower parts rich bay or
chestnut. It has been remarked that the birds that winter on our coasts
do not assume such rich tints in summer as individuals that pass along
our coasts from more southern latitudes. This is probably because the
birds wintering with us are younger individuals, only the oldest
penetrating to the remoter winter home. The Knot has a wide distribution
during winter, including the Southern States, and Mexico, Africa, and it
is said Australia, and New Zealand! It is possible that in the latter
countries the Eastern Knot—the _Tringa crassirostris_ of science—is
confused with the present species.
CURLEW SANDPIPER.
This pretty little species, known to many as the “Pygmy Curlew,” and to
modern naturalists by the scientific name of _Tringa subarquata_, is one
of the rarest of the British Limicolæ. It very closely resembles the
Knot in the colour of its plumage, and in the seasonal changes that
plumage undergoes, but it is not much more than three-fourths the size,
and has a curved Curlew-like bill. This little Sandpiper, like most of
its order, is a migrant, breeding in some yet undiscovered part of the
Arctic regions, retiring southwards to winter in Africa, various parts
of southern Asia and in Australia. It is during these journeys between
the Arctic regions and the tropics that it occurs on the British coasts,
a few individuals even remaining upon them all the winter through. As
might naturally be expected it is most frequently observed on the vast
stretches of low coast on the eastern side of England; it is also a
tolerably frequent visitor to the south coast, even as far westwards as
Devon and Cornwall. A few Curlew Sandpipers arrive on our coasts in
April, but the greater number pass along them in May, stragglers
lingering until June. The return flight is noticed in August, and
consists mostly of young birds, the older ones reaching us during
September and October. The habits of this Sandpiper very closely
resemble those of the Dunlin, in whose company the bird is very
frequently found, and from which it may readily be distinguished, even
at a distance, by its pure white upper tail-coverts. It prefers coasts
of a muddy rather than a sandy character, haunting saltings, estuaries,
and muds. Here, its actions are much the same as those of all these
little sand birds; it feeds both by day and night; and often retires
during high water to some wet land near the sea, to wait the ebb. The
food of this species consists of crustaceans, worms, molluscs, and
insects. Its note is described as being louder than that of the Dunlin.
Absolutely nothing is known of the nidification of the Curlew Sandpiper,
and its egg has never yet been described. It is, to say the least,
remarkable that some of the great breeding-places of these Arctic birds
have not yet been discovered—a fact that seems to suggest a vast area of
land somewhere in the vicinity of the Pole.
DUNLIN.
Owing to the great seasonal changes of plumage which this Sandpiper—the
_Tringa alpina_ of most naturalists—undergoes, considerable confusion
has prevailed concerning it. Linnæus described birds of this species in
summer plumage as distinct from individuals in winter plumage, naming
them _alpina_ and _cinclus_; but Temminck (and before him B. Meyer) with
greater discernment united both under the name of _T. variabilis_. Birds
in the two plumages have also received distinctive colloquial names; in
summer dress, the bird is known as “Dunlin,” in winter dress as the
“Purre.” Other local names of wide application to this species are
“Ox-bird,” “Stint,” and “Plover’s Page,” the latter being derived from
the habit of the Dunlin to accompany a Golden Plover, flying to and fro
over the moors, where the two species chance to be nesting. Perhaps the
Wryneck has in like manner, gained the name of “Cuckoo’s Mate” from its
habit of flying in attendance with that bird; although some writers
attribute the term to the fact of the two species appearing in our
country about the same time.
The Dunlin is absolutely the commonest Limicoline bird of the shore, and
certainly the most widely dispersed. It possesses the habit, in common
with so many other species of this order, of retiring to moors to breed;
but as soon as nesting duties are done it returns to the coast, and for
the remainder of the year continues to reside upon it. The Dunlins that
breed in our islands represent but a very small portion of the vast
number that winter on the British coasts. The majority of these are from
more northern haunts, winter migrants, that haste away again with the
return of spring. During its residence on the coast the Dunlin is
remarkably gregarious, assembling often in flocks of thousands, which,
by preference seek such portions of the shore as are low-lying and
muddy. Salt-marshes, slob-lands, estuaries and creeks, and vast expanses
of mud—as the Wash for instance, are the favourite haunts of the Dunlin.
These large flocks of Dunlins are much more difficult to approach than
smaller gatherings or individual birds. Dunlins are active little birds,
almost incessantly in motion, running daintily about the muds, by the
margin of the waves, or wading through the shallow tide pools. During
the course of feeding a large flock will become widely scattered, and it
is remarkable how quickly the broken ranks reform. There are few sights
so pretty along the salt-marshes and mud-flats than a large flock of
Dunlins, in the act of performing those graceful aerial movements so
characteristic of this little bird during its winter sojourn upon the
coast. The whole flock, as with a single impulse, will spread out like a
net, close up again, apparently vanish, appear black, or like a flash of
silver, just as the birds turn and expose their dark or white plumage to
the light. Sometimes the flock will head straight away down the coast,
passing the observer with a rush and whirr of wings, and a chorus of
_purring_ cries; at other times a large flock will rise _en masse_ from
the muds, pass out to sea a little way, turn, and go some distance along
the shore, come back again, repeating the movement time after time, ever
and anon appearing as though about to alight, dipping and rising with
marvellous regularity. No doubt these movements will recall to the
observer the gyrations of the autumn flocks of Starlings, for there is
much in common between the two. During its sojourn upon the coast the
Dunlin feeds upon crustaceans, sand-worms, molluscs, and other small
marine organisms; but in summer insects, grubs, worms, and ground-fruits
are eaten. The usual note of the Dunlin is harsh, and resembles the word
_purr_—hence one of the bird’s trivial names; during the breeding season
it is a long drawn _peezh_. In the pairing season, when the male
indulges in certain aerial gambols, he utters a trill, which has been
likened by some observers to the continuous ringing of a small bell.
It is a rather remarkable fact that the Dunlin is the only species of
_Tringa_ that nests in the British Islands. It breeds sparingly and
locally in Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, perhaps in Wales, and thence
northwards, more generally, over the remainder of England, and in
Scotland up to the Shetlands. Dunlins begin to move from the coasts in
March and April, and to resort to their breeding places, which are
situated on the marshy moorlands and mountain swamps, often at no great
distance from the sea, or at least from tidal waters. The nest is a mere
depression, often in a tussock of grass or rushes, or beneath a small
bush, or even in a patch of thrift on bare sandy soil, lined with a few
scraps of withered vegetation, or enclosed with a few twigs or roots.
The four pyriform eggs are pale olive or pale brown, blotched and
spotted with reddish- and blackish-brown and gray. We remark the same
extraordinary difference between summer and winter plumage, as we have
already observed in the Knot and some others. In summer or breeding
plumage, the Dunlin is rich reddish-brown above, striped with dark
brown; lower breast or gorget, deep black; remainder of under parts
white. In winter the upper parts are chiefly ash-gray, and the under
parts white, except the gorget, which is now grayish-brown. Outside the
British Islands the Dunlin has a very wide distribution, breeding not
only in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres, but in many temperate
latitudes of the same; in winter it is dispersed over North Africa,
Southern Asia, the Southern States of America, and the West Indies. At
Heligoland, flocks of Dunlins invariably indicate bad weather.
PURPLE SANDPIPER.
This species, the _Tringa maritima_ of Brunnich and most modern
naturalists, but erroneously identified with the _T. striata_ of
Linnæus, by certain recent writers on ornithology, is a fairly common
and widely distributed bird on the British coasts during autumn and
winter. The fact that a few odd birds are sometimes met with on our
shores during the summer, has led to the supposition—totally
unsubstantiated as yet—that the Purple Sandpiper may breed here. During
some years this species is much more abundant than others, a fact
perhaps due to exceptionally favourable breeding seasons. The Purple
Sandpiper, readily distinguished from all other British Limicolæ by its
nearly black rump and upper tail coverts, the purple gloss of its upper
plumage, and its yellow legs—makes its appearance with us early in
September, and continues to arrive in increasing numbers during that
month and October, and leaves us by the following May. This Sandpiper is
most partial to a rocky coast, where the huge boulders shelve down into
the water, and large masses of rock and shingle are exposed at low tide.
It may, however, be frequently observed in the company of Knots,
Dunlins, and Ringed Plovers, on the mud-flats and sandy reaches. It
usually seeks for its food close to the water, running over the rocks as
each great wave breaks and retires, even darting into the seething
drifts of surf, or coursing along the very edge of the rollers, where
each one threatens to annihilate it as it breaks upon the shore.
Occasionally it may be seen to swim just outside the surf, and when
flushed it sometimes even alights upon the sea. Its food consists of
crustaceans, sand-worms, molluscs, and insects; and, during summer, of
seeds as well. Although most of this food is obtained whilst the tide is
driving in, the bird may be seen in quest of it at the ebb. It
frequently retires inland a little way, or rests upon a rocky islet or
point, between the ebb and the flow of the tide. Its flight is rapid and
straightforward, and often accompanied by its shrill and quickly uttered
_tee-wit_. The Purple Sandpiper, though social, is never seen on our
coasts in very large flocks, and, perhaps, most frequently in pairs or
alone. In Norway, however, Collett states that it assembles in countless
flocks during the winter. It is certainly one of the least shy of the
Limicolæ, and often permits of a close approach, especially when alone.
The best known breeding-place of the Purple Sandpiper, and one of its
most southerly summer stations, is on the Faröes. Other breeding places
are in Iceland, in Norway, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, and on various
parts of the north Siberian coasts, and in Arctic America to Greenland.
It arrives at its nesting grounds in May or June. These are rarely
situated far from the sea, although in the Faröes it retires to the
fells, where it begins to nest even before the snow has all melted. The
nest is but a shallow depression, scantily lined with scraps of withered
vegetation, and is made either close to the beach on broken ground,
covered with a sparse vegetation, or in some marshy spot on a hill in
the vicinity of the ocean. The Purple Sandpiper may pair for life, as
there is some evidence to show that it returns annually to certain
spots, to breed. The four eggs are pale olive- or buffish-brown,
beautifully blotched and spotted, mottled and streaked with blackish-
and reddish-brown and gray. The sitting bird lingers long upon her nest,
sometimes remaining till almost trodden upon before she starts up, and,
by feigning lameness, seeks to draw the intruder away. So closely is the
Purple Sandpiper attached to the coast, that even during the nesting
season, when its duties call it more or less inland, it always visits
the shore to feed. In summer plumage, the upper parts are marked with
rich chestnut, and in winter dress, the underparts are more spotted.
There are certain other Limicoline birds found upon our coasts, more or
less frequently, which at least deserve some passing notice; but as they
are species that are merely fleeting visitors during their annual
migrations, and never occur in sufficient number to form a dominant
feature in the bird-life of the shore, they do not call for any
lengthened description, or minute study, in a work which seeks only to
sketch the more enduring avine characteristics of the British seaboard.
We will deal with the commonest species first. During the period of its
migrations, the Common Sandpiper, or Summer Snipe (_Totanus hypoleucus_)
is a pretty frequent visitor to the coast, especially in the
south-western parts of England; and there is strong reason to believe
that a limited number may pass the winter thereon. Its habits on the
shore are very similar to those of the other Limicoline species. It
breeds commonly by the side of our inland waters, and is certainly, as
its name implies, the most abundant and the most widely dispersed of the
British waders. Another fairly regular and frequent visitor to the
British littoral in spring and autumn is the Greenshank (_Totanus
glottis_). It is most often met with on the low-lying eastern coasts;
but it is said a few birds winter in Ireland. The Greenshank breeds very
locally in Scotland, and is best known to us at its more or less inland
nesting stations. It may be distinguished by its white lower back and
central upper tail coverts, and nearly uniform gray secondaries. Of even
rarer and more local appearance is the Wood Sandpiper (_Totanus
glareola_), sometimes met with in small parties on our eastern and
southern coasts; whilst the Green Sandpiper (_Totanus ochropus_) is a
less frequent visitor still. This species is remarkable for its peculiar
mode of nesting, for instead of laying its eggs upon the ground—as is
the almost universal custom of birds of this order—it places them in the
deserted nests of other birds in trees. We must also not forget to give
a passing reference to the singular-looking Ruff (_Machetes pugnax_).
Drainage of the fens has long banished the Ruff from its ancestral
haunts, where it was once so common that a regular trade was carried on
in netting and fattening it for the table. The Ruff takes it name from
the singular, yet remarkably beautiful, frill of elongated feathers
that, during the love season, adorns the neck of the male bird. The
extraordinary variation in the colour of this fleeting sexual ornament
can only be described as marvellous, it being almost impossible to find
two birds exactly alike. This sexual development of feather ornament
seems closely associated with the polygamous habits of the Ruff; the
cock bird takes no share in family duties, and during the pairing season
wages endless battles with his rivals for the possession of the hens.
Odd birds frequent our coasts during the migration periods, and less
frequently during the winter. Two species of Stint—the most diminutive
of the Sandpipers—also deserve a brief allusion. The first and most
frequent visitor is the Little Stint (_Tringa minuta_), most numerous on
its autumn passage south. It is chiefly seen on the eastern coast-line,
but is a visitor to the Solway district. The Little Stint breeds in the
Arctic regions of Europe and West Siberia, and is a late migrant in
spring, seldom seen in any numbers on our coasts before May. It
frequents, whilst with us, mud-flats, salt-marshes, and long reaches of
sand, and often joins the Dunlins in quest of food. Its stay with us is
brief, especially in spring, and even in autumn most have gone away
before October. It may be distinguished by its small size (wing under 4
inches in length), tapering bill, and black legs and feet. The second
species, Temminck’s Stint (_Tringa temmincki_), is a larger bird than
the foregoing, and readily distinguished from all other Tringæ by its
white outer tail feathers. It is much rarer in its appearance, too, and,
as usual, most frequent on the low-lying eastern coast-line; even this
district is beyond the more general limits of its migrations. It is also
not so maritime in its haunts, and seems to migrate along more inland
routes.
_Guillemots, Razorbill, and Puffin_
[Illustration: GUILLEMOT AND RAZORBILL. Chapter iii.]
CHAPTER III.
GUILLEMOTS, RAZORBILL, AND PUFFIN.
_Affinities and Characteristics—Changes of
Plumage—Guillemot—Brunnich’s Guillemot—Black
Guillemot—Razorbill—Little Auk—Puffin._
Few birds are more thoroughly marine in their haunts and their habits
than those which are included in the present chapter. They are
inseparably associated with the sea; they form one of the most
interesting features of marine life, whether in summer, when they crowd
in countless hosts at their breeding stations upon the cliffs and
islands, or in winter, when they spread themselves far and wide over the
waste of waters. From whatever point of view we study them, they are
intensely interesting birds.
The Auks, as they are collectively termed, form the small yet
well-defined family Alcidæ. Although the Auks are a specialised group,
systematists pretty generally agree in associating them more or less
closely with the Divers, the Grebes, the Gulls, and the Limicolæ. Auks
are web-footed birds, with no hind toe, with the legs placed far back,
and the bill subject to great variation in size, and in some species
presenting considerable change in appearance according to season. All
the Auks have comparatively short and narrow wings; in the recently
extinct Great Auk these were incapable of supporting the bird in the
air; and the tail is remarkably short, in some species being scarcely
perceptible under ordinary circumstances. The Auks are exclusively
confined to the north temperate and polar regions of the Northern
Hemisphere: and by far the greater number of species inhabit the
Northern Pacific. They number some thirty species. The prevailing
colours of the Auks are black and white; none of them are showy birds;
but some species are remarkable for their eccentric nuptial plumes, and
for the brilliancy of colour of the bill. The Auks are thoroughly
aquatic, and not adapted in any way for a terrestrial existence. They
swim well, dive with marvellous skill, and save during the incubation
period, pass most of their time on the sea. None of the species are
remarkable for any great migration flights; as a rule they wander little
from their high northern homes. They are all gregarious birds, breeding
in companies wherever possible. Some species undergo but little change
in their appearance between summer or winter plumage; others are more
remarkable in this respect. During the breeding period some species
resort to lofty cliffs washed by the sea; others burrow into the ground.
Many species make no nest whatever, but others form slight structures in
which to deposit their eggs. The young of the Auks are hatched covered
with down, assuming their first plumage in a few weeks. Adult Auks moult
in September; the difference in the colour of the plumage peculiar to
the pairing season, apparently being entirely due to a change in the hue
quite irrespective of a moult. The complete change from white to
brownish-black observed prior to the breeding season on the necks and
heads of Guillemots and Razorbills is very curious and interesting.
According to the observations of Herr Gätke, the shafts of the feathers
are the first portions in which the black appears; yet almost at the
same time this colour is seen in the form of minute specks on the lower
third of the feathers, quickly spreading into crescentic markings, and
ultimately covering the entire surface. Half a dozen species are
British. Of these, four breed more or less abundantly in our area, and
the other two are irregular winter visitors. The now extinct Great
Auk—the largest known representative of the family—formerly bred in
certain parts of the British Islands, but, alas, is now only known as a
fast receding tradition. We will now proceed to a short study of these
British Auks.
GUILLEMOT.
Of all the various sea birds that cluster on the cliffs of Albion this
species, the _Uria troile_ of most modern ornithologists, is by far the
commonest, and of the present family of birds the most widely
distributed. During summer it may be met with in colonies of varying
numbers, here and there on most of our rocky coasts, from the Scilly
Islands to the Shetlands, from Flamborough Head in the east to the
Blaskets in the west. Not, perhaps, so familiar to the sea-side wanderer
as the Gull, whose ærial habits bring it more frequently into notice,
the Guillemot, nevertheless, is a seldom absent feature of marine bird
life. It is gregarious and social at all times, but joins into greatest
companies during the season of reproduction. When the nesting season has
passed the birds spread themselves more generally along the coast and
out at sea, and it is at such times that they are most ubiquitous.
Between October and March the Guillemot may often be met with swimming
close in shore, in quiet bays, and especially in the neighbourhood of
fishing villages. On these occasions it is not particularly shy, and
will allow a sufficiently close scrutiny, but it is ever wary, diving at
the least alarm, and appearing again well out of danger. The Guillemot
swims well and buoyantly; it also dives with remarkable agility, and
obtains most of its food whilst doing so. The Guillemots are rarely seen
upon the land after the young have quitted their birthplaces; they spend
their entire time upon the sea, seeking shelter during rough weather in
bays or under the lee of headlands, but not unfrequently great numbers
perish in a gale, their dead bodies strewing the coast where the tide
has cast them ashore. Except during the breeding season the Guillemot
flies very little, but during that period it often feeds far from its
rocky haunts, and may then be seen, especially at eventide, flying in
little bunches, or in compact flocks, swiftly and silently just above
the waves, returning to them. The food of this bird is almost
exclusively composed of fish, especially such small species as pilchards
and sprats; it is also extremely partial to the fry of the herring and
the pollack. Few birds are more expert at catching fish than the
Guillemot; it dives after them, and chases them beneath the surface with
marvellous speed and unerring certainty. In this chase of fish it
sometimes comes to grief by getting entangled in the drift-nets. The
Guillemot is a remarkably silent bird. I have repeatedly been amongst
thousands of these birds, both at sea and on the rock stacks where they
breed, and the only sound I have ever heard them utter is a low,
grunting noise. My experience has been chiefly confined to the earlier
part of the breeding season, and the autumn and winter months. It would
appear, though, that when the young are partly grown the birds become
more noisy, for Gätke describes their cries at the breeding-stations as
a “confused noise of a thousand voices, the calls of the parent
birds—_arr-r-r-r_, _orr-r-r-r_, _err-r-r-r_, and mingled with these the
countless tiny voices of their young offspring on the face of the
cliff—_irr-r-r-idd_, _irr-r-r-idd_—uttered in timid and anxious
accents.” I should here remark that the Guillemot never flies over the
land, never flies inland from the rocks, but always when disturbed
unerringly makes for the sea, which is almost, if not quite, as much its
element as the air.
The actions of the Guillemot are interesting enough upon the sea, few
sights being prettier than a number of these birds busily engaged in
capturing their finny food; but the most attractive scenes in the life
of this bird are to be witnessed at its breeding places. Formerly these
were much more numerous than is now the case, especially in England, but
there, on the southern coast line notably so, many a large colony has
disappeared for ever, and many another has been sadly reduced in
numbers. The distribution of the Guillemot becomes much more local
during summer, the birds crowding in vast numbers to certain
time-honoured spots. Fortunately some of these still remain fairly
accessible to the lover of birds. One of the most famous breeding
stations is at the Farne Islands; another on the cliffs at Bempton;
whilst less noted places are in the Isle of Wight, the Scilly Islands,
and the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. The great number of local names by
which the Guillemot is known round our coasts speak to its former
abundance; Lavy, Marrock, Murre, Diver, and Willock—the latter
applicable to the young—may be mentioned as a few of the best known. The
birds congregate at their old accustomed haunts in Spring, with
remarkable regularity, often punctually arriving on the same day for
years in succession. At Heligoland, and certainly other places,
Guillemots return to their nesting places from time to time during the
winter, appearing in the morning for a little while, just as Rooks are
wont to do at the nest trees. The Guillemot rears its young on the face
of the lofty ocean cliffs, or on the flat tops of rock stacks. Cliffs
with plenty of ledges and hollows are preferred, and in such chosen
spots the birds crowd so closely that, at some stations, the wonder is
how each individual can possibly find room to incubate its egg, or even
secure a standing place in the general throng. There can be little doubt
that in such crowded spots as the “Pinnacles,” many of the eggs never
reach maturity. The Guillemot makes no nest of any kind, but lays its
single large pear-shaped egg on any suitable ledge, or in any available
hollow where it can be tolerably safe from toppling over into the sea.
There are few more stirring sights in the bird-world than a large colony
of Guillemots. I still retain the vivid impressions made upon my mind by
the vast hordes of these birds at St. Kilda, at the Farne Islands, and
elsewhere. Even whilst I write, I can once more see the struggling,
quarrelling, rowdy hosts of Guillemots that crowd the famous
“Pinnacles”; still see them pouring off in endless streams, headlong
into the water, as I prepared to scale their haunt. Once more memory
recalls and paints in vivid scene the beetling St. Kildan cliffs, with
their rows and rows of white-breasted Guillemots, sitting tier upon
tier, upwards and upwards towards the dark blue sky; my tiny boat
tossing like a cork on the wild Atlantic swell, and the countless swarms
of Guillemots swimming in the sea around me, hastening to the cliffs or
returning from them, beaten off by more fortunate possessors of a place.
The Guillemot lays a single egg, without making a nest of any kind for
its reception. If this egg be taken, however, the bird will lay a second
or a third, and advantage is taken of this fact by those persons that
gather them for a livelihood. The egg of no other known bird varies to
such an extraordinary extent as that of the Guillemot, whilst few, if
any, are more beautiful. Greens, browns, yellows, pale blues, and white,
form the principal ground colour; the markings, which take the form of
spots, blotches, streaks, and zones, are composed of browns, grays, and
pinks, of every possible tint. One variety is white, intricately laced,
netted, and streaked with pink; another is a beautiful green, streaked
in the same manner with yellow, light brown, or nearly black; others of
various ground colours are zoned with blotches, or marked with
fantastic-shaped spots and rings. Some eggs of the Guillemot closely
resemble those of the Razorbill, but may be distinguished by the
yellowish-white interior of the shell when held up to the light.
There has been much controversy as to the way in which the Guillemot
chicks reach the water from their lofty birthplace. Some writers assert
that the parent bird carries them down to the sea on its back; on the
other hand, Gätke maintains that the chicks tumble off the ledges into
the water, being enticed to do so by the old birds swimming on the sea
beneath the cliffs. He writes: “in its distress, the little chick tries
to get as near as possible to the mother waiting for it below, and keeps
tripping about on the outermost ledge of rock, often of no more than a
finger’s breath, until it ends by slipping off, and, turning two or
three somersaults, lands with a faint splash on the surface of the
water; both parents at once take charge of it between them, and swim off
with it towards the open sea. This is the only way in which I have seen
this change of habitat of the young birds accomplished, during some
fifty summers.” As soon as the young are sufficiently matured, the sea
in the vicinity of the breeding-stations is deserted, and the colonies
disperse far and wide. From this time forward, to the following
breeding-season, the Guillemot’s movements are to a certain extent
unknown. As Professor Newton justly asks,[4] What becomes of the
millions of Guillemots and other Auks that breed in northern latitudes?
The birds that are met with round the coasts of temperate Europe, and
elsewhere, bear no proportion whatever to the mighty hosts whose
position and movements remain unrevealed. At present the only feasible
explanation seems to be that the birds, during the non-breeding-season,
are scattered in quest of sustenance over many thousands of square miles
of water; in summer only is their vast abundance palpable, when all are
gathered into a comparatively small area.
In connection with the Guillemot mention should be made of the Ringed
Guillemot, the _Uria ringvia_ of Latham. It only differs from the Common
Guillemot in having a narrow white band round the eye, which is
prolonged into a streak for some distance behind and below it. It may be
seen breeding in company with the commoner form, and is not known to
differ in its habits. Whether it be a distinct species—as Gätke
states—or merely a variety of the Common Guillemot, as many naturalists
believe, still remains to be decided.
BRUNNICH’S GUILLEMOT.
This Guillemot, the _Uria bruennichi_ of Sabine and most modern writers,
is a very rare visitor to the British Islands, its home being in the
Arctic regions, from Greenland possibly to the Liakoff Islands, off the
coasts of northern Siberia. It deserves a passing notice, for it is
possible that it occurs in British waters more frequently than is
generally supposed. It is a perceptibly stouter bird than the Common
Guillemot, and has the base of the upper mandible pale gray. In its
habits and economy it is not known to differ in any special manner from
the better known species, of which it is the Arctic form.
BLACK GUILLEMOT.
This species, the Dovekey, or Greenland Dove, of northern mariners, the
Tysty of the Shetlanders, and the _Uria grylle_ of naturalists, is by
far the most local of the Auks that are indigenous to the British
Islands. During the breeding season it is only known to frequent one
English locality, the Isle of Man; but in Scotland it is pretty
generally distributed along the western and northern coasts, including
St. Kilda, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands. Its chief resorts in Ireland
are on the north and west coasts. The difference between the summer and
winter plumage of this little bird is most extraordinary. In spring it
assumes a rich black dress, glossed with green, except a patch of white
on the wings; in winter it is uniformly mottled black and white; the
legs and feet are bright coral red. With us the Black Guillemot is
strictly marine in its haunts, but in Spitzbergen it was found breeding
more than a mile inland—a habit very different from any it displays with
us. In its actions it very closely resembles its larger allies. Like
them it is an expert diver—I have seen it dive repeatedly at the flash
of a gun, and thus escape the shot. It is, on the whole, a more trustful
bird, often permitting a near approach, and frequently remaining on the
surface until the boat is about to pass over it, when it will dive and
reappear quite unconcernedly a short distance away out of danger. This
Guillemot often feeds quite close in shore. At St. Kilda I used to see
parties of this species every evening, fishing under the cliffs; but, on
the other hand, I have often met with them searching for food many miles
from land. The Black Guillemot is nothing near so gregarious as the
Common Guillemot, nor does it appear to wander so far from its breeding
places to feed. It is partially nocturnal in its habits in summer,
feeding well into the dusk, and during winter seldom comes upon the
land, sleeping out at sea. Although capable of flying swiftly, it always
prefers to escape danger by diving; it swims lightly, usually sitting
high in the water, but it has the power of sinking itself more than half
below the surface when apparently alarmed. Black Guillemots may often be
seen in strings, flying to and from a distant feeding place, hurrying
along close to the water, their short wings beating rapidly, and
rendered very conspicuous by the broad white bar. The food of this
Guillemot is largely composed of the fry of the herring and the
coal-fish, but other small fishes are eaten, as are crustaceans, and
various marine insects. I have never heard the Black Guillemot utter a
sound beyond a low grunting; but its note has been described as a
whining sound, that of the young birds being more shrill. In chasing its
finny prey under the water the Black Guillemot displays astonishing
powers, darting to and fro, aided by its wings and feet. During winter
these birds wander southwards, and then they may sometimes be seen off
our more frequented coasts.
The Black Guillemot retires to its breeding-stations in May. These are
situated, in our islands, on rocky headlands and islands, and on ocean
cliffs. Here its colonies are never very large, and often much
scattered. It very probably pairs for life, and resorts often to one
particular spot year after year. The bird deposits its eggs in a hole or
cranny of the cliffs, occasionally in the clefts amongst fallen rocks at
the foot of the precipice, or on rock-strewn downs sloping to the sea.
It makes no nest, and the eggs rest upon the bare ground or rock. The
Black Guillemot, and its allies, are remarkable for the fact that their
eggs are two or three in number; in all other members of the Alcidæ the
eggs never exceed one. This peculiarity has induced some systematists to
restrict the genus _Uria_ to the Black Guillemots alone. The Black
Guillemot lays two eggs, much smaller than, and not so pear-shaped as,
those of the Common Guillemot, cream, buff, or pale green in ground
colour, blotched and spotted with rich dark brown, paler brown, and
gray. The young chicks are said not to repair to the sea at so early an
age as those of the preceding birds; and to be soon deserted by their
parents after doing so, congregating in flocks by themselves.
RAZORBILL.
This bird, the _Alca torda_ of Linnæus and ornithologists generally, is
widely confused with the Common Guillemot, and many local names refer
indiscriminately to each—such as Murre, Marrot, and Diver. It is readily
distinguished from the Guillemots by its much deeper bill, crossed by a
white line at its centre, and by a narrow yet very conspicuous white
stripe, extending from the base of the bill to the eye. Otherwise, the
Razorbill closely resembles the Guillemot in appearance, both in its
summer and winter plumage. It is widely distributed round the British
coasts, breeding in most situations where the cliffs are sufficiently
suitable, but is much less abundant in the south, and is nowhere,
perhaps, so numerous as the Guillemot. During the non-breeding season it
becomes more generally scattered, and may then be met with, although
ever sparingly, in the seas round most parts of the British coastline.
Its actions in the water are almost precisely the same as those of the
Guillemot. Like that bird it may be seen swimming to and fro, sitting
highly and lightly on the water, often permitting a very close approach,
especially in districts where it is not much harassed by the shooter. It
dives with the same marvellous celerity as the Guillemot, pursuing its
prey through the water, often at a considerable depth, as readily as the
swallows chase an insect through the air. It is a very pretty sight to
watch the Razorbill in quest of food. This may often be done from the
summits of the cliffs, but certainly to better advantage from a boat, in
which the birds can be more closely approached, and consequently better
observed. A Razorbill in the water is a remarkably striking, if not an
actually pretty bird. He sits so lightly, riding buoyantly as a cork on
the swell, turning his head from side to side as the boat approaches,
swimming rapidly before it, and often nonchalantly dipping his head into
the water and throwing a shower over his upper plumage. The boat comes
too near at last, and the bird, with a scarcely audible or perceptible
splash, disappears into the water. Several moments afterwards he rises
again to the right or left, ahead or astern, and the salt spray rolls
off his plumage glinting like diamonds in the sun. Should fish be
plentiful the birds are diving and rising again incessantly, the time of
absence depending upon the depth descended or the length of the chase.
The Razorbill ever seems to use its wings with reluctance on these
occasions, always keeping out of harm’s way by diving or swimming. It is
capable of rapid flight though, and may often be seen in strings or
skeins, hastening along just above the waves to or from a favourite
fishing place. The Razorbill is gregarious enough during summer, but in
winter it is most frequently seen in small parties, or often alone. It
also goes some distance from land, where, should a gale overtake it,
great numbers often perish, as their dead bodies washed up on the coast
sadly testify. The food of the Razorbill is largely composed of fry,
especially of the herring, but many other small fishes are captured,
together with crustaceans and other small marine creatures. The bird, so
far as my experience extends, never seeks its food upon the shore, and
obtains most, if not all, of it by diving. The Razorbill is a remarkably
silent bird; the only sound I have ever heard it utter has been a low
grunting. This note is uttered both in summer and winter, on the rocks
as well as on the sea.
In May the Razorbill gives up its roaming, nomad life upon the sea, and
collects in numbers at the old-accustomed breeding-places. These are
situated on the ocean cliffs, such as contain plenty of nooks and
crannies being preferred to those of a more wall-like character. It is
possibly due to this that the Razorbill’s colonies are never so crowded
as those of the Guillemot, and that the birds are more scattered along
the coastline. There can be little doubt that the Razorbill pairs for
life. As a proof of this I have known a Puffin burrow resorted to
yearly, whilst eggs possessing certain peculiarities of form and colour
have repeatedly been taken from one nook in the cliffs, years and years
in succession. Like the Guillemot the Razorbill makes no nest, but lays
its single egg in a crevice or hole in the cliffs, or far under stacks
of rock, poised one upon another, where to reach it is an utter
impossibility. Like most birds that breed in such situations, the
Razorbill is much more loth to quit its egg than the Guillemot, often
remaining upon it until captured. When alarmed by man the birds may be
heard scrambling amongst the crevices, and uttering their grunting cries
of remonstrance.
The single egg of the Razorbill, though not displaying a tithe of the
variety observed in that of the Guillemot, is a remarkably handsome
object. The ground colour varies through every tint between white and
reddish-brown, and the handsome large blotches and spots are dark
liver-brown, reddish-brown, gray, or grayish-brown. No shade of green or
blue is ever apparent upon them externally, but the shells, when held up
to the light, have the interior of a clear pea-green tint—a character
which readily serves to distinguish them from such eggs of the Guillemot
that resemble them in external colour. If the first egg be taken the
bird will lay another, and this process may be repeated several times,
but on no occasion is more than one chick reared in the season. It is
said that the young of this species remain upon the cliffs for a much
longer period than the chicks of the Guillemot, and that they eventually
fly or flutter down to the sea, never revisiting the rocks. The parent
will sometimes dive with its offspring, just as the Little Grebe will
do.
LITTLE AUK.
This species, the Rotche of Arctic navigators, and the _Mergulus alle_
of ornithology, is but an irregular visitor to British seas during
autumn and winter, and as it seldom comes near the land under ordinary
circumstances, is not a very familiar bird to the seaside observer.
Exceptionally severe weather not unfrequently drives this little bird
far inland. In its general colouration the Little Auk closely resembles
the Razorbill, but it is less than half the size, and has a considerable
amount of white on the wings. This curious little species congregates in
incredible numbers at certain spots in the Arctic regions, to breed.
Beechey, at the beginning of the present century, records that he has
seen nearly four millions of these birds on the wing at one time.
Colonies of the Little Auk are known in Nova Zembla, Franz-Josef Land
(?), Spitzbergen, Grimsey Island (to the north of Iceland), and the
coasts of Greenland. Like all its larger allies, the Little Auk is
thoroughly pelagic in its habits, apparently only visiting the land to
breed, living on the sea for the remainder of the year. It is well
adapted for its lengthened sojourn upon the waters. It swims well and
buoyantly, sitting rather low, flies rapidly when inclined, dives with
as much ease as a fish, and sleeps quite safely and comfortably upon the
waves. Voyagers in the Arctic regions have met with flocks of Little
Auks at most times of the year, often far from land, and occasionally
crowding upon the masses of floating ice. All observers agree in
describing it as a somewhat noisy bird, and its specific name of _alle_
is said to resemble its ordinary note. There is scarcely a winter that
the Little Auk is not obtained in varying numbers off the British
coasts, more frequently, of course, in the northern districts, but under
ordinary circumstances it keeps too far off the land to be observed, and
occurs most plentifully during periods of continued storm. Where the
uncounted millions of Little Auks winter, that are known to breed in the
Arctic regions, washed by the Atlantic, is still an unsolved problem.
The few that are observed are as nothing in comparison with the numbers
that crowd at certain spots during summer. Perhaps it is because the
area of distribution is so wide in winter, and, comparatively speaking,
so restricted during summer. The food of the Little Auk consists largely
of minute crustaceans, and possibly of small fish. The bird is said to
resort to the vicinity of fishing fleets, to pick up the refuse thrown
overboard.
In May, the Little Auk resorts to the land to breed. It is eminently
gregarious, and some of its colonies consist of an almost incredible
number of birds. Curiously enough, its breeding places are not always by
the sea, some of them being situated a considerable distance from the
coast. Sloping rock-covered banks at the foot of the cliffs, seem to be
preferred to the cliff themselves. A favourite situation is on the
sloping ground below a range of cliffs, where the surface is covered
with stones and rock fragments that have, during succeeding ages,
crumbled from the precipices towering above. Here, in cavities, worn by
wind and storm, beneath large stones and rock fragments, or in various
hollows and holes under the fallen _débris_, the Little Auk deposits its
single pale greenish-blue egg, out of reach of the Arctic foxes that
prowl about the colony in quest of prey. The actions of the Little Auk
at its nesting colony, seem to be very similar to those of the Puffin
when breeding on slopes, as, for instance, on the island of Doon, one of
the St. Kilda group.
PUFFIN.
Of all the Auks the present species, the _Alca arctica_ of Linnæus, and
the _Fratercula arctica_ of modern ornithologists, is not only the best
known, but the most readily distinguished. The Puffin cannot readily be
mistaken for any other bird along the coast, his big brightly coloured
beak and comical facial expression, being never failing marks of his
identity. In the colour of its plumage the Puffin somewhat closely
resembles the Guillemot or the Little Auk, only the throat and the sides
of the head are white. The most striking feature in the Puffin is its
beak—a deep, laterally flattened, coulter-shaped organ, banded with
blue, yellow, and red, singularly grooved and embossed with horny
excrescences, although these latter are only assumed for the pairing
season, and are cast again when the breeding period is over! Unlike most
birds, therefore, the Puffin displays his wedding ornaments on his beak!
And this singular peculiarity appears to be common to various other
species, more distantly allied, yet undoubtedly of close affinity with
the English Puffin. Many local names have been applied to the Puffin in
consequence of its singular bill. Bottlenose, Coulterneb, and Sea
Parrot, may be mentioned as the most commonly used. Like most, if not
all, members of the Auk family, the Puffin is not seen much near the
land after the breeding season has passed. Indeed, it is very doubtful
whether the bird ever voluntarily seeks the coast after it leaves it in
early autumn with its young; continued gales and storms will
occasionally drive a bird even far inland, whilst rough weather often
causes it to perish at sea, its remains being sometimes washed up in
quantities. Its actions on the water are almost precisely the same as
those of the Guillemot and Razorbill. It is an adept swimmer, a
marvellous diver; it flies well and strongly, especially during the
summer, where I have seen it in swarms, drifting round and round the
highest peaks of its island haunt on apparently never-tiring-wing. At
the summit of the cliffs its powers of flight may often be witnessed to
perfection. At St. Kilda, I have watched it gracefully poising itself in
the air, its narrow wings beating rapidly, and its two orange-coloured
legs spread out behind acting as a rudder. Of all the Auk tribe, so far
as my experience goes, the Puffin flies the most. The Puffin feeds
principally upon small fish, especially sprats and the fry of larger
fishes; it also eats crustaceans, and various marine insects. It dives
often to a great depth, and is remarkably active beneath the surface;
when on the water it generally tries to escape from danger by diving.
Sometimes the Puffin may be seen close ashore during winter, but never
in any abundance.
The Puffin becomes by far the most interesting at its breeding places.
The regularity of its appearance at these has often been remarked. In
many localities it not only arrives punctually on a certain day, but
retires from them in autumn with its young almost as regularly! In some
places Puffins arrive on the land to breed as early as March; in others,
not before April; in others, yet again, not before the beginning of May.
With the exception of the south and east coasts of England—where it is
only sparingly and locally distributed—the Puffin, from Flamborough
northwards, is widely and generally dispersed. In some places its
numbers are almost incredible, as for instance, at Lundy Island, the
Farne Islands, on some of the Hebrides, and St. Kilda. There is a very
interesting colony of Puffins established amongst the walls of the
ancient fortress on the Bass Rock, but so far as my experience goes the
colony on St. Kilda stands unrivalled, and, at a very moderate
computation, must consist of many millions of birds! The Puffin most
probably pairs for life, and returns time out of mind to certain
familiar spots to rear its offspring. In most places the bird makes its
scanty nest in a burrow which it excavates itself, but in some
localities rabbit holes are frequently made use of. In some localities,
however, the bird makes a nest in a crevice of the cliffs or beneath
heaps of rocks. By the end of April both birds are engaged in scraping
out this burrow, if circumstances demand it, which often extends for
several yards in the loamy soil, sometimes sloping downwards, sometimes
tortuous, sometimes nearly straight. At the end, or elsewhere in some
cases, the slight nest of dry grass and a few feathers is formed.
Occasionally several pairs occupy one burrow, each pair enlarging a
portion of it for their own requirements into a kind of chamber; whilst
many of the burrows have several openings, and are evidently the work of
successive years. In this rude nest the hen Puffin lays a single egg,
dull white, sometimes tinged with blue or gray, and obscurely spotted
with pale brown and gray. Contact with the earth in the burrow and with
the wet feet of the sitting bird, soon discolours this egg, and renders
it almost like a ball of peat in appearance. When disturbed at their
breeding places, such Puffins as may chance to be outside the holes soon
fly off to the sea, and join the hosts of birds that swarm in the water
near every breeding station. Those in the burrows, however, remain,
allowing themselves to be dragged out without making any attempt to
escape. Great caution and gloves are recommended, for the Puffin resents
intrusion and bites fiercely, being able to inflict a nasty cut with its
powerful beak and sharp claws.
I still retain the most vivid impressions on my visit to the grand
colony of Puffins on Doon, one of the St. Kilda group. Every available
place is honeycombed with their holes; the ground cannot afford
accommodation for all, and numbers of birds have to seek nesting places
under the masses of rock lying on the grass-covered hillsides, or in the
crannies of the cliffs at the summit of the island. As soon as we had
fairly got ashore, and begun to walk up the slopes, the Puffins, in a
dense whirling bewildering host, swept downwards to the sea, or rose
high in air to circle above our heads, in the direst alarm. It seemed as
if the whole face of the island were slipping away from under me, just
like flakes of shale down a quarry side! Not a single bird, so far as I
could ascertain, uttered a note, but the whirring noise of the millions
of rapidly beating wings sounded like the distant rush of wind! But even
Doon does not harbour so many Puffins as find a home on the face of the
mighty cliff Connacher; and when we fired a gun and disturbed them from
this noble precipice, it seemed as though the face of the entire cliff
was falling outwards into the Atlantic, the enormous cloud of birds
overpowering one with its magnificence! As soon as the young are reared
the land is deserted, and the wandering pelagic life resumed.
In connection with this species mention may be made of its former repute
as an article of food. Old records inform us that the young Puffins were
regularly gathered by the owners of the breeding-places, and were salted
down for future food. Gesner and Caius assert that the Puffin was
allowed to be eaten during Lent, probably because, in the words of
Carew, of its coming nearest to fish in taste. More than two hundred
years ago Ligon, in his _History of Barbadoes_, complains of the ill
taste of Puffins which he had received from the Scilly Islands (once a
great centre of exportation of these birds), and asserts that this kind
of food is only for servants. The taste for salted and dried Puffin,
however, still lingers in the land; for at St. Kilda vast numbers are
caught, and so preserved by the natives for food. Dried Puffin, perhaps
a twelvemonth old, is one of the few delicacies of the island; whilst
the feathers help materially to pay the rent!
_Divers, Grebes, and Cormorants_
[Illustration: GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. Chapter iv.]
CHAPTER IV.
DIVERS, GREBES, AND CORMORANTS.
_Divers—Affinities and characteristics—Great Northern
Diver—Black-throated Diver—Red-throated
Diver—Grebes—Characteristics—Changes of Plumage—Great Crested
Grebe—Red-necked Grebe—Black-necked Grebe—Sclavonian Grebe—Little
Grebe—Cormorants—Characteristics—Changes of
Plumage—Cormorant—Shag—Gannet._
The birds included in the present chapter belong to three well-defined
families. None of them are so completely pelagic as the Auks, and yet,
according to season, many of them are interesting features in the
bird-life of the coast. Unfortunately for the summer visitor to the
seaside, the Divers will be absent. They are birds that resort chiefly
to inland districts to rear their young, or are only known as winter
visitors to the British Coasts. The Divers form a small but well-marked
family known as Colymbidæ, consisting of a single genus _Colymbus_, into
which are grouped the four species that are now known to science. The
Divers are allied to the Auks on the one hand, to the Grebes on the
other, although systematists are not yet agreed upon the degree of their
relationship. United, these three families form Dr. Sclater’s order
Pygopodes. In every way the Divers are remarkably well fitted for an
aquatic life. Their strong tarsi are laterally compressed, a form best
suited for cleaving the water, the hind toe is well developed, and on
the same plane as the rest, the feet are webbed, the bill is long,
straight, spear-shaped and conical, admirably adapted for seizing the
finny prey, the wings are comparatively short, yet capable of bearing
the bird at great speed, the tail is short and fairly developed. The
Divers in nuptial plumage are remarkably handsome birds, the neck being
striped or richly marked, and the upper plumage beautifully spotted or
adorned with white bars. They are all more or less gregarious birds
during winter, and well marked social tendencies are displayed in some
species during the breeding season. Their migrations, if comparatively
short, are pronounced and regular. The young are hatched covered with
down, able to swim with ease almost immediately. Adults moult in autumn,
and assume their nuptial plumage in winter—a period doubtless when they
pair—the winter plumage thus being carried for a short time. Young
Divers carry their first plumage through the winter until the following
spring (not moulting in December with their parents), when they assume
their summer plumage, but the nuptial ornaments are not so brilliant in
colour as in adults. Whether the vernal change in colour is effected
without moulting, as in the Auks and some of the Limicolæ, appears not
to have yet been ascertained. All the species of Divers are visitors to
the British Islands, but only two breed in them, and one is an
exceptionally irregular straggler. This is the largest of them all, the
White-billed Diver, _Colymbus adamsi_, and a species apparently
circumpolar in its distribution. The Divers are all birds of the
north-temperate or Arctic regions, during summer; in winter their range
is much more extended, almost reaching to the northern tropics. With
this brief résumé of their more salient characteristics, we will now
proceed to a more detailed examination of their economy.
GREAT NORTHERN DIVER.
This species, the _Colymbus glacialis_ of Linnæus and of ornithologists
generally, is, in its breeding plumage, one of the handsomest of British
birds. Its chief characteristics are its large size—about that of a
Goose—black head and neck, double semi-collars of white and black
vertical stripes, and black upper parts, marked with white spots of
varying size, and arranged in a series of belts. Whether it actually
breeds within our limits has not yet been absolutely determined,
although evidence is forthcoming that seems to point to the fact.
Unfortunately for the seaside student of bird life, the Great Northern
Diver is only known as a winter visitor. At that season, however, it may
be met with pretty frequently off the British coasts, the young birds
especially venturing into our bays and creeks and estuaries, older
individuals, as a rule, keeping further out to sea. Adult birds are,
however, often observed near the coasts of South Devonshire and
Cornwall. I have known them linger in the waters near here until the
summer has been well advanced. Young birds of this species, in the brown
and white dress characteristic of immaturity, may often be seen quietly
fishing under the cliffs, notably in Tor Bay. One very remarkable thing
about this Diver is its singular habit of immersing the body to such a
depth that the back is quite under water. It often so sinks itself when
menaced by danger, and then, almost out of sight, swims away with great
speed. If pursuit is still continued all but the neck is sunk below the
surface, and finally, if hotly pressed, the bird will disappear
entirely, and swim along under water at a speed absolutely astonishing,
Gätke records that this Diver, when chased by a boat under these
circumstances, will dive and allow the boat to pass over it, rising
again in the rear of it, a habit which my own observations of the bird
completely confirm. How this act of immersion, without apparent effort,
is accomplished remains a mystery, and offers a problem in animal
mechanics by no means easy of solution.
The Great Northern Diver is rarely seen on land, perhaps never except
during the breeding season. Its movements on shore are ungainly in the
extreme, the legs being placed so far back that the bird can only push
itself along in a crawling sort of a way; it is equally rarely seen in
the air, and apparently only uses its wings to fly when performing its
annual migrations. How the species still retains the function of flight
at all seems almost a mystery, but perhaps the constant use of the wings
in the water keeps them to a standard of efficiency. This Diver is one
of the least gregarious, and save on passage is rarely met with in
numbers greater than a pair. It seems to be the rule for odd pairs to
take up their residence in certain spots during the breeding season;
after that period the bird is usually met with solitary, and the young
individuals, unlike so many others that evince strong gregarious
propensities, for the most part wander about alone. This Diver, like
most big birds, is shy and wary, although I have repeatedly watched it
from the cliffs in Tor Bay evincing little concern at my presence. As
may be gathered from the foregoing remarks the Great Northern Diver is a
proficient in the art of diving, and is said to be able to remain as
long as eight minutes beneath the surface—a period of time which seems
incredible. The depth to which it sometimes descends is also enormous—it
has been captured in a net thirty fathoms from the surface. The food of
this Diver is almost, if not absolutely, composed of fish. During the
non-breeding season Divers are not particularly noisy birds, but at
their nesting-places the cries they utter are both loud and startling,
described by some listeners as similar to the screams of tortured
children; as shrieks of maddened laughter, or as weird and melancholy
howls by others.
It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the Great Northern Diver breeds
nowhere in Europe, except on Iceland. It is an American species, and
nests from Greenland westwards to Alaska, south of the Arctic circle to
the more northern of the United States. It reaches its breeding-grounds
in pairs towards the end of May, as soon as the northern waters are free
from ice. Its favourite nesting places are secluded tarns and lakes, and
an island is always selected if possible, doubtless from motives of
security. The nest—always made upon the ground—varies a good deal in
size, according to the local requirements. On wet marshy ground it is
large, and composed of a heap of half rotten sedges, rushes, reeds, and
such like vegetation, lined with dry bits of broken reed and withered
grass. On drier and barer situations it is little more than a hollow in
the sand or hard ground, with, perhaps, a few bits of dry grass for
lining. The birds are very alert and watchful whilst nesting, as if
fully conscious of their comparative difficulty in escaping from danger
on the land. One bird is generally on the look out whilst the other
sits, and at the least danger the alarm is given, and the incubating
partner shuffles off in a floundering way to the water. A path is soon
thus worn from the nest to the lake. The eggs are almost invariably two,
elongated, and varying in ground colour from russet-brown to
olive-brown, spotted sparingly with blackish-brown and paler brown. When
the young are sufficiently matured, the inland haunts are deserted, and
the nomad wandering life upon the sea resumed.
BLACK-THROATED DIVER.
The present species of Diver (much smaller than the preceding), the
_Colymbus arcticus_ of Linnæus and most other writers, is the rarest of
the three that visit the British Islands regularly, and perhaps we might
also say the most beautiful in nuptial dress. All its showy colours and
patterns, however, are on the head, neck, and upper parts, the under
surface being white. The head is gray, the throat patch bl
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