Part 19

The mandarin duck is an active and untiring bird, moving quickly on the ground, and flying easily and rapidly into trees, where it flits from bough to bough with the ease and assurance of a wood-pigeon. It lives and breeds well in confinement, and may be seen in nearly all zoological gardens, as well as on many ornamental waters.

In the summer duck, which is a native of North America and Cuba, but occasionally wanders to Jamaica and the Bermudas, the colour of the upper-parts of the male in the breeding-dress is chiefly glossy green, with the cheeks purple, and black patches on the neck, and white stripes on both the head and neck. The wing-coverts are partly blue, the flanks are brown, black, and white, while the breast is chestnut spotted with white, and the rest of the under-parts white; the beak being a mixture of black, white, purplish, yellow, and scarlet, and the feet yellow.

THE HERON

(Ardea cinerea)

The heron, or common or grey heron, as it is frequently called in order to distinguish it from its relatives, has fortunately not shared the fate of the bittern, and is still more or less common in many parts of Great Britain, where it may be seen at all hours of the day standing mid-leg deep in some stream patiently awaiting the next passing fish. Its gregarious habits and the protection accorded to many of the ancient heronries in various parts of the country doubtless account for the survival among us of this handsome, albeit thin and ill-favoured, grey bird. Nevertheless, on account of its fish-eating habits, the heron has many enemies, and is relentlessly persecuted in certain districts, especially by those connected with fisheries. Recently, however, efforts have been made to check this persecution; and in East Sussex, where there are no trout-hatcheries, these birds are protected throughout the year.

Although, as just mentioned, herons may be seen fishing at all hours of the day, they are chiefly nocturnal birds, and thus the very opposite of the kingfisher, which always captures its prey by daylight. When a heron sees a fish within reach, it strikes with unerring aim like a flash of lightning, and usually seizes its victim crosswise in its spear-like beak. In the case of larger fish, it is stated, however, to attack them by stabbing in the back--a mode of attack from which such fish, although mortally wounded, generally manage to escape. Of those fish which are seized crosswise in the beak, the larger ones are first beaten to death, after which they are swallowed head-foremost. When a successful lunge has been made, the heron resumes its motionless, watchful pose, confident that, although scared away for a time, the fish will soon return.

As the heron is a most voracious bird, consuming, it is affirmed, fully its own weight of food in a day, and as this food consists chiefly of fish, anglers, it must be confessed, have some excuse for the detestation with which they regard the species. Nevertheless, the heron does some good, as it also consumes a number of snakes and frogs, as well as water-rats. In addition to the above, herons also eat river-mussels, insects, worms, and probably also young birds.

The geographical distribution of the heron is very extensive, comprising most of the countries of the Old World, although the bird visits some of these only during certain parts of the year. In the north of Europe, for example, herons are migratory, travelling southwards to Africa in parties of as many as fifty individuals in October, and not returning till the following March or April. All streams and pieces of water in the neighbourhood of forests, or at least where a certain number of large trees are to be found, may serve as the fishing-resorts of the heron.

Herons build in large colonies, or heronries, which may contain from about fifteen to as many as four hundred nests. Formerly there were a great number of English heronries, especially in Lincolnshire, but many of these, like the well-known large one near Spalding, have been broken up. Many, however, still remain, and a new one has been recently established near Lewes. One of the largest English heronries was that of Bride, near Rye, in Sussex, which in 1860 contained as many as four hundred nests, although by 1880 there were barely a couple of hundred. Now, owing to the felling of some of the trees, this magnificent heronry has ceased to exist.

The nest is a large, rude structure of dry sticks and reeds, lined with hair, wool, and feathers, in which the female lays her three or four large green eggs. The young remain in the nest, or nesting-platform as it might well be called, until fully fledged, and are remarkably voracious. Putrefying fish cover the edge of the nest, as well as the ground below, and poison the air with their smell. The parents attend to their offspring for a few days after the latter leave the nest; but at the end of this period old and young part company.

If the nest be attacked, the parents suffer their eggs or young to be carried off, without doing more than opening their beaks and uttering mournful cries, although in many cases a single blow from the beak would suffice to slay the spoiler.

Heron-hawking was in former days a favourite sport of the nobles all over Europe. The falcon, usually the peregrine, always endeavoured to get above the heron, when, after the delivery of a successful attack, both birds fell together headlong to the ground. As a rule, the ornamental feathers--at one time highly esteemed--were plucked from the heron, which was then set at liberty.

On account of the damage it does to fisheries, the heron is even more persecuted on the Continent than in Great Britain; and is shot whenever an opportunity occurs, except in protected breeding-places.

THE GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER

(Dendrocopus major)

It is not a little remarkable that such nearly allied birds as the great green woodpecker, or yaffle, and the two kinds of pied or spotted woodpeckers should present such remarkable diversity in the matter of colouring; the former being mainly olive-yellow with a red skull-cap in both sexes, while the other two are pied above and chiefly white below, with a red band at the back of the head of the cock alone. A third group is represented by the great black woodpecker, which is wholly sable, with an ivory-white beak. The difference in the matter of colouring between the green and the pied species is probably due to their different habits, the former being to a great extent a ground-bird, fond of frequenting lawns and meadows near woods for the purpose of digging up ants’ nests, while the other two are almost completely arboreal. In the dappled shade cast by the leaves--especially those of pines--on the trunks of trees, these pied birds are comparatively inconspicuous; while among grass of moderate length the green woodpecker is absolutely invisible. It is further noteworthy that the pied species have most of the under surface of the body white, whereas in the green woodpecker the same aspect is grey. To a bird walking on grass a white under surface would certainly be no protection; but in bright sunshine on the trunk of a tree such a surface would undoubtedly tend to render the bird inconspicuous, as it would counteract the effect of the dark shade thrown by the body, in precisely the same manner as in the case of white-bellied quadrupeds.

Very curious is the fact that while, as already mentioned, the red band on the back of the pied species occurs in the adult only in the males, such a band is found in both sexes of the immature birds. This fact, coupled with the occurrence of a red head in both sexes of the green species, may be taken as an indication that red on the head was at one time a feature in all woodpeckers, but that for some reason it has been discarded in the females of the pied group.

Woodpeckers present some of the finest examples of the adaptation of bodily structure to be met with in the whole animal kingdom. The strong, conical beak is, for example, admirably suited for chiselling out, by repeated blows of the head, rotten wood in insect-infected trees, or prising off loose pieces of bark in order that the bird may be able to get at the insects and other creatures lurking beneath. Then, again, the short legs and the curious structure of the feet, with two toes turned forwards and the other backwards, enable these birds to obtain the most effective foothold on smooth, slippery bark. Lest, however, the feet should prove ineffectual, the bird is aided in climbing by its tail, the feathers of which have unusually strong quills, the tips of these being bare and shiny. When this tail is pressed firmly against the bark, the stiff tips of the feathers afford very considerable support to the ascending bird.

The climax in the way of special adaptation is presented, however, by the woodpecker’s tongue, which, owing to the form and structure of the supporting bones, can be thrust out a long distance in advance of the tip of the beak, and is covered with a sticky secretion to which insects adhere. A similar structure obtains in the tongue of the wryneck; but there are certain foreign woodpeckers in which that organ is normal.

By means of its strong beak, the spotted woodpecker chisels out in the trunk of a tree, where the wood is more or less decayed, both a sleeping and a nesting hole. A circular entrance leads for some distance horizontally into the heart of the stem, after which the hole descends vertically for some way, and then expands into a large dome-shaped chamber, which serves as a receptacle for the clutch of three to eight white eggs, these being incubated by the male and female birds alternately. It is very generally believed that woodpeckers live entirely upon insects and other invertebrate animals; this, however, is a mistaken idea, for they likewise eat various kinds of seeds and berries, as well as nuts and walnuts, which they crack in nuthatch-fashion. The cry of the pied woodpecker is either a short and sharp “hi, hi,” or a harsh and resounding “hæ, hæ”; but a more familiar sound is the tapping on the bark of the stem or larger boughs by the beak, in order that the bird may ascertain whether the wood beneath is sound or rotten. Very characteristic is the undulating flight of a woodpecker, the bird generally dropping suddenly near the end of its course, so as to alight only a short distance from the root of the selected tree, up the stem of which it then rapidly climbs.

The larger spotted woodpecker frequents woods with different kinds of trees; but its special favourites are pines, poplars, and willows.

THE SENEGAL PARROT

(Pæocephalus senegalus)

Although the name Senegal parrot, or rather perroquet de Sénégal, has been applied to several distinct members of the parrot tribe, it is now by general consent restricted to the gorgeously coloured species forming the subject of the accompanying illustration. In addition to this name, it has also the titles of orange-bellied long-winged parrot and black-headed parrot, the first of which is the more distinctive, although the second is preferable on account of its conciseness.

The black-headed parrot is a native of Senegambia and some of the countries of the West Coast properly so called, although the exact limits of its distributional area, which probably extend a considerable way into the heart of the continent, are still imperfectly known.

This parrot has been a well-known bird in Europe from very early days, as it was mentioned by Aloysius Cada Mosto so long ago as 1445, and was again referred to by the naturalist Brisson in the year 1760. Large numbers of these parrots are at times imported into Europe, especially to Havre and likewise to Liverpool. At the last-named port immense consignments used to be received now and then, but as these were for the most part young birds a very large proportion died soon after their arrival, especially when purchased singly and separated from their companions. Such young birds used to be sold at prices ranging upwards from five or six shillings; but tamed individuals are worth from twenty to thirty shillings each, while the few specimens that learn to talk fetch much higher prices.

If caught sufficiently young, these parrots make admirable cage-birds, as they are strikingly handsome, and fairly hardy. Occasionally they will lay in captivity, if provided with a suitable nesting-place. Sometimes they become very tame, although they are always nervous and excitable birds, uttering when alarmed a curious grating sound, and when thoroughly terrified giving vent to a shrill, whistling scream of fear. As a talker, the black-headed species bears, however, no comparison to the common grey parrot; and it has even been stated that the former is totally unable to learn to speak, although this is an error. The adult cock, which is rather larger and handsomer than his partner, has the head, cheek, and the upper portion of the throat brownish or blackish grey; the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts are glossy grass-green, while the wing-quills are olive greenish brown, the wing-coverts green with brown middles, and the shoulders, together with the lesser under wing-coverts, yellow. Those portions of the upper surface not already mentioned, together with the throat and the upper part of the breast and the whole of the tail-feathers, are bright grass-green. The remainder of the under surface is yellow, passing into bright orange-red on the middle of the breast and abdomen, the yellow likewise embracing the under tail-coverts. The beak is dark horny grey passing into blackish brown, with the soft “cere” at its base, like the patch of bare skin round each eye, blackish; while the feet are dark brown. Bright colour reappears in the iris of the eye, which varies from sulphur-yellow to dark brown, probably according to age.

In the hen the head is light brownish grey, the under surface uniformly yellow without any tinge of orange, while the under tail-coverts are yellowish green instead of yellow. In size the female may be compared with a small jackdaw.