Part 28

Reed Bunting

The Common Bunting Snow Bunting

Yellow Wagtail

Grey Headed Wagtail

White Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail]

THE CIRL BUNTING EMBERIZA CIRLUS

Crown dark olive, streaked with black; gorget and band above and below the eye bright yellow; throat, neck, and band across the eye, black; breast olive-grey, bounded towards the sides by chestnut; abdomen dull yellow; back brownish red, with dusky spots. Female--the distinct patches of black and yellow wanting; the dusky spots on the back larger. Eggs greyish, marked with ash-coloured and black blotches and lines.

With the exception of its black chin and throat, this bird closely resembles the Yellow Hammer. Its habits, too, are much the same, so that little can be said of it which does not equally apply to its congener. It appears, however, to be much less patient of cold, and is consequently mostly confined to the southern counties of England, from Cornwall to Kent, and in the valley of the Thames. In the south of Europe, in the islands of the Mediterranean, and in Asia Minor, it is said to replace the Yellow Hammer, which is far less common. It is in the habit of perching higher than the Yellow Hammer, and is said to be partial to elm-trees. The present editor knows of its nesting recently in Hertfordshire.

THE REED BUNTING EMBERIZA SCHOÉNICLUS

Head, throat and gorget black (in winter speckled with light brown); nape, sides of the neck, and a line extending to the base of the beak on each side, white; upper parts variegated with reddish brown and dusky; under parts white, streaked with dusky on the flanks. Female--head reddish brown, with dusky spots; the white on the neck less distinct; under parts reddish white, with dusky spots. Length six inches. Eggs purplish grey, blotched and lined with dark purple brown.

Wherever there is water, in the shape of a lake, canal, or river, lined by bushes and rushes, there the Black-headed Bunting is pretty sure to be seen at most seasons of the year. The male is strongly marked by his black head and white collar; the head of the female is of the same colour as the body; but the white collar, of a less bright hue, she shares with her mate. 'Reed Bunting' and 'Reed Sparrow' are other names for the same bird. In summer it rarely quits the vicinity of water. At this season its food consists of various seeds and insects; but on the approach of winter it either forms small parties, or joins itself on to flocks of Yellow Hammers, Sparrows, and Finches, and visits the stack-yards in search of grain. It builds its nest in low bushes, or among aquatic plants, very near the ground, employing bents, bits of straw, reeds, etc., and lining it with hair. The eggs are four or five in number, of a dull, livid purple colour, marked with irregular curves or blotches of darker purple, which remind one of the figure of the lines, so often seen on bramble leaves, made by leaf-eating grubs. Its note resembles that of the other Buntings, and is pleasant from its association with walks by the river's side rather than for tone or melody. In Scotland the Reed Bunting is migratory, repairing southwards in October and returning in March.

SNOW BUNTING PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS

Head, neck, portion of the wings, and lower parts white; upper parts black, tinged here and there with red. Length six inches and three-quarters. Eggs pale reddish white, speckled and spotted with brown and pale red.

This, though a northern bird also, does not confine itself so closely to the Arctic regions as the preceding species; but is of common occurrence in many parts of Scotland during autumn and winter and later in the season in various parts of England. Macgillivray, whose acquaintance with British birds, especially those of Scotland, was very accurate, was inclined to the opinion that the Snow Bunting or Snow-flake breeds on the higher Grampians, having observed a specimen on a mountain of this range so early as the fourth of August, while the migratory flocks do not appear until two months later. "About the end of October it makes its appearance along the coasts or on the higher grounds of the south of Scotland, and about the same period in the south of England, although it is there of much less frequent occurrence. Assembled in large straggling flocks, or scattered in small detachments, these birds may be seen flying rather low along the shore, somewhat in the manner of Larks, moving in an undulating line by means of repeated flappings and short intervals of cessation, and uttering a soft and rather low cry, consisting of a few mellow notes, not unlike those of the Common Linnet, but intermixed at times with a sort of stifled scream or churr. When they have found a fitting place, they wheel suddenly round, and alight rather abruptly, on which occasion the white of the wings and tail becomes very conspicuous. They run with great celerity along the sand, not by hops, like the Sparrows and Finches, but in a manner resembling that of the Larks and Pipits; and when thus occupied, it is not in general difficult to approach them, so that specimens are easily procured. At intervals they make excursions into the neighbouring fields, alight in cornyards, at barn-doors, or even on the roads, where they obtain seeds of oats, wheat, and weeds, which I have found in them. In the villages along the coast of Lothian, they are sometimes, in spring, nearly as common as Sparrows, and almost as familiar. About the middle of April, or sometimes a week later, these birds disappear and betake themselves to their summer residence." Its habits, as observed in England, are similar; but the flocks are generally smaller. In the Arctic regions, it is abundant from the middle or end of April to the end of September. Its nest is composed of dry grass, neatly lined with deer's hair and a few feathers, and is generally fixed in the crevice of a rock or in a loose pile of timber or stones. In spring it feeds principally on the buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia, one of the earliest of the Arctic plants; during winter, on grass seeds. Peculiar interest attaches to the Snow Bunting, from the fact that it is (according to Linnæus) the only living animal that has been seen two thousand feet above the line of perpetual snow in the Lapland Alps. Mention of it frequently occurs in books of Arctic travels. I must not omit to state that the specimens obtained in Great Britain vary so considerably in the proportions of white and tawny in their plumage, that there were at one time considered to be three several species. In Norfolk, I have seen them in severe weather flocking with Larks, among which they make themselves so conspicuous by the white portion of their plumage, as to be popularly known by the name of 'White-winged Larks'.

THE LAPLAND BUNTING CALCARIUS LAPPÓNICUS

Crown of the head black, speckled with red; throat and breast black, a broad white band extending from the eye down the sides of the neck; nape bright chestnut; back, wings, and tail variegated with brown, white, and black; under parts white, spotted at the sides with dark brown. Length six inches and three-quarters. Eggs pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown.

This bird, as its name denotes, is an inhabitant of high northern latitudes; and its occurrence in this country is very rare. A few only have been shot, in places remote from each other; and in the year 1843, a female was captured by a bird-catcher near Milnthorpe, in Westmoreland, and kept for some time in an aviary, where it soon became friendly with its companions and took its daily meal of rape, canary, or hemp seeds, and now and then a sprinkling of oats, with apparent satisfaction. In the Arctic regions it inhabits hilly and mountainous districts, and spends most of its time on the ground, where it runs in the manner of Larks, and where also it builds its nest. The male is said to have a pleasing song, combining that of the Skylark and of the Linnet.

FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ

THE WHITE WAGTAIL MOTACILLA ALBA

Summer--head, breast, wings and tail variegated with black and white; chin, throat, and neck black; back and scapulars pearl-grey; side of the neck as low as the wings white. Winter--chin, throat and neck white, with an isolated black gorget. Length nearly seven inches and a half. Eggs bluish white, speckled with black.

This species has bred in England more frequently than has been supposed. It is not uncommon in Cornwall in spring, and indeed it visits many of our English counties. Its nest has been found in such odd places as a Sand Martin's burrow and the middle of a strawberry bed. The present editor has seen it nesting among the spraying branches of a Virginian creeper growing over trellis work. A beautiful little bird it is.

THE PIED WAGTAIL MOTACILLA LÚGUBRIS

Summer--all the plumage variegated with white and black; back and scapulars, chin, throat, and neck black; a small portion of the side of the neck white. Winter--back and scapulars ash-grey; chin and throat white, with a black, but not entirely isolated, gorget. Length seven inches and a half. Eggs bluish white, speckled with dark grey.

The Pied Wagtail or Dishwasher is a familiar and favourite bird, best known by its habit of frequenting the banks of ponds and streams, where it runs, not hops about, picking insects from the herbage, and frequently rising with a short jerking flight, to capture some winged insect, which its quick eye has detected hovering in the air. Its simple song consists of but few notes, but the tone is sweet and pleasing, and is frequently heard when the bird is cleaving its way through the air with its peculiar flight, in which it describes a series of arcs, as if it were every instant on the point of alighting, but had altered its mind. While hunting for food, it keeps its tail in perpetual motion. It shows little fear of man, and frequently approaches his dwelling. It may often be noticed running rapidly along the tiles or thatch of a country house, and it not unfrequently takes its station on the point of a gable, or the ridge of the roof, and rehearses its song again and again. Very frequently, too, it perches in trees, especially such as are in the vicinity of ponds. Next to watery places, it delights in newly-ploughed fields, and hunts for insects on the ground, utterly fearless of the ploughman and his implements. A newly-mown garden lawn is another favourite resort; so also is a meadow in which cows are feeding, and to these it is most serviceable, running in and out between their legs, and catching, in a short time, an incredible number of flies. The country scarcely furnishes a prettier sight than that afforded by a family of Wagtails on the short grass of a park, in July or August. A party of five or six imperfectly fledged birds may often be seen scattered over a small space of ground, running about with great activity, and picking up insects, while the parent birds perform short aërial journeys above and around them, frequently alighting, and transferring from their own mouths to those of their offspring, each in its turn, the insects they have just captured. They are at all times sociably disposed, being seen sometimes in small parties, and sometimes in large flocks. It has been noticed that when one of a party has been wounded by a discharge from a gun, another has flown down as if to aid it, or sympathize with it. Advantage is taken of this habit by bird-catchers in France. It is the custom to tie Wagtails by their feet to the clap nets, and make them struggle violently and utter cries of pain when a flight of the same kind of birds is seen approaching; these stop their flight, and alighting are caught in large numbers for the spit, their flesh, it is said, being very delicate. They share, too, with Swallows the praise of being among the first to announce to other birds the approach of a Hawk, and join with them in mobbing and driving it away.

About the middle of April, the Pied Wagtail begins to build its nest. This is usually placed in a hole in a bank or hedge, among stones, or in the hollow of a tree; it is composed of dry grass and withered leaves, mixed with moss, and lined with wool, hair, and a few feathers. It is a compact and solid structure, capable of protecting the eggs and young from the damp soil, but is not generally concealed with much art; and hence perhaps it is frequently selected by the Cuckoo, to lay an egg in.

Towards autumn, Pied Wagtails for the most part migrate southwards. In the midland counties they may be often observed in large companies, in October, halting for a few days wherever food is abundant, and then suddenly disappearing; after which only a few stragglers are seen until the spring. They return northwards about the beginning of March. In the extreme south of England they are numerous all the year round; but as many instances have occurred of their alighting on a ship at sea, it is probable that the majority migrate to some southern climate, where the ponds do not freeze and gnats gambol at Christmas.