Part 20

As is the case with many other members of its tribe, very little is known with regard to Senegal parrots in a state of nature. They are stated, however, to associate in small parties of about half a dozen, and to take up their quarters, whenever possible, in the tops of the huge monkey-bread trees, where they reveal their presence by uttering piercing screams at the approach of an intruder on their domains. In taking wing, and also when settling after a flight, they are stated to be somewhat awkward, but when once started they fly as straight and as swift as arrows. Details are wanting with regard to their nesting-habits; but, when the young are strong enough to fly, the whole party takes to wandering about, and then frequently do much damage to the banana, rice, maize, and other crops. In captivity, at any rate, the males perform a kind of love-dance at the commencement of the breeding-season.

The Senegal parrot is the typical representative of a genus, with rather more than a dozen species, confined to Africa south of the Sahara. That genus belongs to a subfamily (Pioninæ), of which the more typical representatives, such as Pionus and Chrysotis (Amazon parrots), are South American.

THE GOLDFINCH

(Carduelis elegans)

Properly speaking, the name “goldfinch” ought to be the designation of the canary, but it was doubtless given to the well-known British bird long before canaries were thought or heard of in England, and the former has, therefore, an indefeasible title. And, after all, if the canary be put aside, the designation is really very suitable to the goldfinch, referring as it does to the bright golden wing-bar which distinguishes both sexes from all other British birds. Taking into consideration the fact that both sexes share the brilliant plumage characteristic of the species, the goldfinch can lay claim to be the most brightly coloured perching-bird indigenous to the British Isles and north-western Europe generally.

To describe the colouring of such a well-known bird would be altogether superfluous on the present occasion, more especially as it is so excellently shown in the Plate. It may be remarked, however, that there is some amount of individual variation in this respect, and that the development of the red area on the head and of the white spots on all the tail-feathers is a feature of the adults alone; and it may be added that in regard to colouring females differ from the males chiefly by the smaller extent of the red area, which may contain black spots.

To one variation bird-fanciers have given the special name of “cheverel”; this rare sport, when fully developed, being characterised by the wholly white chin, and by the white patch on the cheek extending upwards so as to unite across the back of the head with its fellow of the opposite side. The brown patch on the breast is likewise replaced by white. Every kind of variation between a typical goldfinch and the so-called cheverel may be seen; and it is thus evident that the latter is merely a partially albinistic phase of the former.

There is an idea, doubtless unfounded, that the cheverel, or chevil, as it is sometimes called, mates better with the canary, and is likewise a superior songster; and it is to the latter notion that it owes its name, which is apparently derived from an old English word chefle or chevelen, signifying to talk idly, or chatter.

The distributional area of the goldfinch extends from the British Isles to western and central Siberia, beyond which it is replaced by the grey-headed goldfinch (Carduelis caniceps)--a bird with which the large eastern race of the European species will interbreed. Although the goldfinch is only a casual visitor to Scotland, in Scandinavia its breeding-area extends some five degrees farther north than that of its cousin, the brambling.

Owing to the estimation in which it is held as a cage-bird, the goldfinch was almost exterminated from most parts of England some years ago; but now that bird-nesting has been to a great extent stopped, the species is gradually recovering its numbers, and may often be seen on many thistle-covered commons to which it was long a stranger. In addition to Europe and western and central Asia, the goldfinch also inhabits northern Africa, while it has been introduced into New Zealand and Japan.

Its favourite haunts are open lands on the borders of woods, plantations, fields with trees, parks, and commons and other waste grounds. Thick forests it studiously avoids.

The food of this bird consists of seeds, more especially those of thistles and burdocks, as well as those of the birch and the alder. As a rule, it seeks those on the plants and trees themselves, and not on the ground; and in picking out the seeds from thistle-heads, it may be seen hanging head-downwards and in various other graceful attitudes on the stems. From the nature of its food, the goldfinch is, indeed, a most valuable bird both to the agriculturist and the gardener, on whom it confers additional benefits by disturbing insects which take up their quarters in its food-plants. It is, therefore, worthy of protection on two grounds--its utility and the beauty of its plumage, to say nothing of its song.

The nest is a beautifully made structure, nearly resembling that of the chaffinch, and generally built by the female alone, who is cheered in her task by the continuous song of the cock. It is frequently built in gardens, often at no great distance from the house, generally at a height of from fifteen to twenty feet above the ground, the most favoured situation being the fork of a bough, in which it is so well secured that it will retain its place even when the tree is felled. The four or five black-spotted bluish green eggs are laid by the female in May, and are hatched in thirteen or fourteen days. The young remain in the company of their parents for some time after they have left the nest. In many parts of the Continent goldfinches collect in the autumn in large flocks, which in winter break up into small parties of from ten to twenty birds.

THE RAZORBILL OR AUK

(Alca torda)

The razorbill, or auk, which, in suitable localities, is one of the commonest of British sea-birds, has an interest all its own from the circumstance that it is the nearest living relative of the now extinct great auk, these two species being, in fact, the sole members of the genus Alca. Both these birds present a considerable superficial resemblance to the penguins of the Southern Hemisphere; and it seems to be due to this resemblance that the latter owe their name, for there appears to be little doubt that the great auk was the true and original penguin, or pinguin, and that the birds we now know by that name were so called by the old voyagers on account of their likeness to the former species. Such resemblance as exists between the two groups is, however, merely of the most superficial kind, auks being strong fliers, with feet of normal structure, whereas the wings of penguins serve the purpose of paddles, and the bones of their feet are quite unlike those of all other birds.

Auks, in fact, appear to be near relatives of the gulls and terns, which have assumed, in accordance with their mode of life, a partially upright position of body. For these birds, in common with guillemots, very frequently breed on the narrow ledges of cliffs, where it is obvious that an upright posture affords them greater facilities for movement and at the same time economises space. In accordance with this habit, razorbills, in common with other members of the auk tribe, lay pear-shaped eggs, which cannot well roll off the bare ledges of rock on which they are often laid. As a rule, each female deposits only one, relatively large, egg; while no female incubates more than a pair of these eggs at the same time. Sometimes, in place of a bare ledge, the egg is laid in a hollow in the rock, or, where the soil is of a suitable nature, in a hole excavated by the parent bird.

All members of the auk tribe are inhabitants of the cooler portions of the Northern Hemisphere; their place in the corresponding southern latitudes being taken by the aforesaid penguins.

In addition to its remarkable bodily shape, the adult razorbill is easily recognised by the great lateral compression and subterminal expansion of the beak, from which the bird derives its ordinary vernacular name; as well as by the deep groovings and wide band on the sides of this appendage. The curved white stripe running from just in front of the eye to the root of the beak is another distinctive feature of the species; and this, too, in a more or less distinct form, in birds of all ages, whereas in the young the groovings and white markings on the beak are wanting. Considerable difference exists between the summer and winter plumages of the adult birds. In summer the head and neck are sooty brown, while the back and wings are black with a greenish gloss; the beak and the rest of the under-parts, together with a narrow wing-bar, being white. On the other hand, the winter plumage of the adults, like that of the young in summer, is browner above, while the sides of the head and the fore portion of the neck are of the same snowy white as the under-parts of the body.

The razorbill inhabits the coasts on both sides of the North Atlantic, breeding far up on the Norwegian coast, on those of Iceland and the Faröe Islands, and on the opposite side of the ocean on the shores of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Greenland; latitude 70° about marking its northward breeding range on the American side, while in Europe the limit is about one degree less. Eastwards the range extends to Jan Mayen Island; while the southward boundary of the breeding area in Europe appears to be formed by the Brittany coasts. In great Britain these birds breed, in suitable localities, all round the coasts, inclusive of those of the Shetland Islands. These limits do not, however, by any means indicate the whole range of the species, for in winter these birds visit the Mediterranean, and occasionally the Canaries.

Throughout the year razorbills associate in large flocks, although in autumn the numbers of these colonies are diminished, apparently by a portion of the birds going out to sea. Bempton Cliffs, on the Yorkshire coast, form one of their favourite breeding-places, where the birds congregate in thousands, in company with guillemots, and yield a large harvest of eggs. The laying season commences about the middle of May, but is at its height some days later; while eggs and young may be found together till late in June. By the end of July the birds have for the most part finished their breeding season, and by the first week in August nearly all have forsaken the cliffs for the sea, which is their true home, and on which they often pass the night.

INDEX

Abyssinian Green Monkey, 48.

Æx galerita, 90; sponsa, 90.

Alca torda, 100.

Alces machlis, 8.

Ammotragus lervia, 67.

Ara ararauna, 88; chloroptera, 88; cærulea, 88; militaris, 88; severa, 88.