Birds' Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting

Part 1

Transcriber Notes

Italic text is denoted by underscores and bold text by =equal signs=.

1. Goldfinch. 2. Magpie. 3. Bullfinch. 4. Starling. 5. Chaffinch. 6. Raven. 7. Linnet. 8. Rook. 9. Wren. ]

Birds' Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting

By R. Kearton, F.Z.S.

Author of "With Nature and a Camera," "British Birds' Nests," "Wild Life at Home," etc. etc.

Illustrated with 22 Coloured Plates

Cassell and Company, Limited London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1913

First printed February 1890. Reprinted June 1890, May 1893. New and Enlarged Edition January 1896. Reprinted June 1896, November 1898, July 1900, March 1902, September 1903, July 1905, December 1907, January 1913.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PREFACE

The very kindly reception by the press, and a steady public appreciation, have led to this endeavour to make my little book more complete, by preparing an Enlarged Edition, including all British-breeding birds that have now any reasonable claim for treatment. The work deals with a number of more or less familiar winter visitors that do not stay to breed with us; however, this is perhaps an advantage nowadays, when we all travel much and far.

As mentioned in the preface to the first Edition, this book is not intended to encourage the useless collecting of birds' eggs from a mere bric-à-brac motive, but to aid the youthful naturalist in the study of one of the most interesting phases of bird life. It is to be hoped that the Act of Parliament empowering County Councils to protect either the eggs of certain birds, or those of all birds breeding within a given area, will be of great benefit to many of our feathered friends.

Besides a pretty extensive experience, I have, in the preparation of this work, sought the aid of such excellent authorities as Yarrel (fourth Edition), Seebohm, Dixon, and others, to all of whom I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness.

R. KEARTON.

Boreham Wood, Elstree, Herts, 1896.

Works by R. KEARTON, F.Z.S., F.R.P.S.

KEARTON'S NATURE PICTURES

THE FAIRYLAND OF LIVING THINGS

BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS

OUR BIRD FRIENDS

NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS

WILD NATURE'S WAYS

WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA

PICTURES FROM NATURE

WILD LIFE AT HOME

THE ADVENTURES OF COCK ROBIN AND HIS MATE

THE ADVENTURES OF JACK RABBIT

Part 2

STRANGE ADVENTURES IN DICKY-BIRD LAND

Cassell and Company, Ltd., London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne

BIRDS' NESTS, EGGS, AND EGG-COLLECTING

INTRODUCTION.

=The Problem of Preservation.=--As a rule the first subject to which the young naturalist turns his attention is the most interesting one within his reach, and that subject is undoubtedly found in bird-life; particularly that portion of it which concerns the nests, eggs, young, and various modes of nidification, for this is really the kernel of ornithology. Its details teach him the utility of systematic study and close observation, two important points in all matters of scientific research.

It is my intention in the following pages to furnish as full and interesting particulars on Oology, which may fairly be entitled to the dignity of a science, as can be found, or is likely to be required, in any popular treatise of its modest compass.

This particular branch of natural history has been until lately but indifferently studied--in fact, considered unworthy of higher attention than that which could be bestowed upon it by schoolboys. People have been content to know that the wonderful architecture and mechanism of a bird's nest was the outcome of a force vaguely known as instinct, without taking the trouble to discover its workings, extent, or limits.

Instinct is an extremely difficult power to define, and whether it be described as "hereditary habit," or simply accepted as an unknown law of Nature blindly followed by its possessor, it cannot be denied that it is the outcome of conditions, and always amenable to them. If the word mystery were often substituted for instinct, it would not be at all out of place, for it means quite as much. It is more honest to acknowledge our ignorance than to fence it round by speculative theory or cover it by almost meaningless phrases. Survival of the fittest is undoubtedly Nature's great law. With this end in view she governs and regulates the actions of birds in exactly the same way as she controls the colour and character of their plumage, shape, size, tint, and number of their eggs, first movements of their young, and other peculiarities we do not understand.

If we grant that birds possess highly-developed imitative faculties and tenacious memories, with a discriminating power which enables them to adapt certain habits of life to surrounding conditions, even this fails to explain a great deal. Supposing it is the secret of their beautiful nest-building, the house sparrow adopting trees to nest in where the houses are built of brick and lack crevices, or the falcon deserting its usual high inaccessible crag and nesting on the ground; it cannot possibly account for a young duck taking the water directly it has left the shell, or the habit of young plovers, snipes, grouse, and other birds crouching flat when danger is overhead even as soon as they are hatched. A stronger point still is migration, for birds cannot return to their old haunts by a memory of landmarks, as pigeons do even in their longest flights, for they fly over immense bodies of water and traverse vast tracts of land by night, on wings the length and strength of which have been specially developed for such long flights. Some fly across great stretches of country, yet are never seen except at the points from which they start and finish their flight. Neither can these journeys be performed always under the guidance of leaders, for all migratory birds do not travel in flocks.

I will endeavour to point out how Nature has solved the problem of preservation; and it is equally interesting whether by the self-governed action of the bird, or the blind following of an impulse known only as instinct. Because we are unable to find any protective colouration in the plumage of a bird, its eggs or nest, we must not conclude that such peculiarity is a mere accident or useless decoration, for it either serves some wise end unknown to us, or has done so in far past ages, and is perpetuated because its possession is not distinctly harmful, and may at some future date be again called into requisition against danger. The extinction of nearly all birds whose existence is reasonably well-known has not been due to natural causes, but to man or the influence his civilisation has introduced. Nature never made such a mistake as the introduction of rabbits and sparrows into Australia. They are two potent forces turned loose into practically unrestricted space, without any of their natural limiting influences.

=Protective Colouring of Birds.=--The protective colour of the plumage of certain birds is the great source of their safety during incubation. For instance, birds which nidificate on the ground, such as Black and Red Grouse, Pheasants, Partridges, and Sandpipers, all subject to the depredations of winged and creeping enemies, are preserved by the modification of their tints. The same means of security attend their eggs and downy young, even the extreme simplicity of their nests aiding the escape of detection. Birds whose down has protected them during the early part of their history, become aware of the dangers which threaten a more conspicuous plumage, which is a marvellous thing, whether acquired by reasoning or instinct. This is proved by the action of birds of the same order. The Golden Plover, with plumage in harmony with the surroundings of her nest (her feathers being still further subdued in colour during the breeding season), sits much closer than the Green Plover, although a shyer bird, with eggs possessing the same protective qualities. The Green Plover knows her plumage is much more conspicuous than her eggs, and quietly slips away before danger approaches half so near as the golden plover will allow it.

I am surprised to find so great an authority as Darwin assert that "the species which represent each other in distinct countries will almost always have been exposed to different conditions, but we can hardly attribute to this action the modification of the plumage in the males alone, seeing that the females and the young, though similarly exposed, have not been affected."

Possibly such may be the case where no protective modification is necessary in the female or young; but what about the fact that female Red Grouse differ much in the colour of their plumage, according to the conditions under which they live, though the males are left totally unaffected? Instance the female Grouse, known as the "Moss-hen," always found on the highest and most exposed situations where there is little cover, consequently great need of harmonising colours: a strong point, I venture to assert, in favour of protective utility.

Moulting has been rendered subject to the law of preservation in a remarkable degree, for where birds are open to periodical changes of surrounding conditions which materially affect their existence, they are provided with an extra moult. For example, the Ptarmigan's plumage is pure white for winter snow, and brown for summer heather.

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