The natural history of British birds: or, a selection of the most rare, beautiful, and interesting birds which inhabit this country: the descriptions from the Systema naturæ of Linnæus; with general observations, either original, or collected ... By E. Donovan, F.L.S. In five volumes. ... [pt.5]

Table of contents

- [halftitle]

- [titlepage]

- PLATE CI. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. COMMON PHEASANT.

- [description]

- PLATE CII. ANAS ALBIFRONS. WHITE FRONTED GOOSE.

- [description]

- PLATE CIII. FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. GOLDFINCH.

- [description]

- PLATE CIV. RALLUS AQUATICUS. WATER RAIL.

- [description]

- PLATE CV. FALCO OSSIFRAGUS. SEA EAGLE.

- [description]

- PLATE CVI. FULICA ATRA. COMMON COOT.

- [description]

- PLATE CVII. COLUMBA OENAS. STOCK PIGEON.

- [description]

- PLATE CVIII. MOTACILLA LUSCINIA. NIGHTINGALE.

- [description]

- PLATE CIX. PAVO CRISTATUS. CRESTED PEACOCK.

- [description]

- PLATE CX. FULICA CHLOROPUS. WATER HEN, OR COMMON GALLINULE.

- [description]

- PLATE CXI. ANAS GLACIALIS. LONG-TAILED DUCK.

- [description]

- PLATE CXII. SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS. RED SHANK.

- [description]

- PLATE CXIII. STRIX FLAMMEA. WHITE OWL.

- [description]

- PLATE CXIV. FRINGILLA LINARIA. LESSER RED-HEADED LINNET, OR REDPOLE.

- [description]

- PLATE CXV. LOXIA PYRRHULA. BULFINCH.

- [description]

- PLATE CXVI. GALLINULA CREX. CRAKE GALLINULE.

- [description]

- PLATE CXVII. CORVUS CORNIX. HOODED CROW.

- [description]

- PLATE CXVIII. TANTALUS IGNEUS. GLOSSY IBIS.

- [description]

- PLATE CXIX. EMBERIZA CITRINELLA. YELLOW HAMMER.

- [description]

- PLATE CXX. STERNA SANDVICENCIS. SANDWICH TERN.

- [description]

- PLATE CXXI. STRIX STRIDULA. TAWNY OWL.

- [description]

- PLATE CXXII. RALLUS PORZANA. SMALL SPOTTED GALLINULE, OR WATER-HEN.

- [description]

- PLATE CXXIII. MOTACILLA RUBECULA. RED-BREAST.

- [description]

- PLATE CXXIV. ANAS BOSCHAS. MALLARD.

- [description]

- INDEX TO VOL. V ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO THE SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

- VOL. V. ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO LATHAM'S SYNOPSIS OF BIRDS.

- DIVISION I. LAND BIRDS.

- DIVISION II. WATER BIRDS.

- VOL. V. ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO PENNANT's BRITISH ZOOLOGY.

- VOL. V. ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS; OR, A SELECTION OF THE MOST RARE, BEAUTIFUL, AND INTERESTING BIRDS WHICH INHABIT THIS COUNTRY: THE DESCRIPTIONS FROM THE SYSTEMA NATURAE OF LINNAEUS; WITH GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, EITHER ORIGINAL, OR COLLECTED FROM THE LATEST AND MOST ESTEEMED ENGLISH ORNITHOLOGISTS; AND ILLUSTRATED WITH FIGURES, DRAWN, ENGRAVED, AND COLOURED FROM FINE AND LIVING SPECIMENS.

BY E. DONOVAN, F. L. S.

IN FIVE VOLUMES. VOL. V.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR; AND FOR F. AND C. RIVINGTON, No. 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 1799.

PLATE CI. PHASIANUS COLCHICUS. COMMON PHEASANT.

GALLINAE. Bill convex: the upper Mandible arched. Toes connected by a membrane at the bottom. Tail feathers more than twelve.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill convex, short, strong. Head carunculated with bare flesh on the sides. Legs (mostly) furnished with spurs behind.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. General colour reddish. Head blue. Tail long, wedge shaped. Membrane of the cheek warted, and of a bright red colour.

- PHASIANUS COLCHICUS: rufus, capite caeruleo, cauda cuneata, genis papillosis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 629. 4.

- PHASIANUS COLCHICUS: Gmel. Syst. I. p. 741.

- Phasianus Colchicus. Linn. Syst. I. p. 271. 3.

- Phasianus Colchicus. Brun. Orn. 58.

- Phasianus Colchicus. Frisch. pl. 123.

- Phasianus Colchicus. Olin. uc. p. 49.

- Pheasant. Raii Syn. p. 56. A. 1.

- Pheasant. Will. orn. p. 163. pl. 28.

- Pheasant. Albin. I. pl. 25. 26.

- Le Faisan. Bris. Orn. I. p. 262. 1.

- Le Faisan. Buff. Ois. 2. p. 328. pl. 11.

- Le Faisan. Pl. Enl. 121. 122.

That mind which is inclined to admire the wonders and beauties of creation, will pause to examine with more than ordinary attention, a bird, in which nature has displayed an elegance and variety of colours, sufficient to arrest the admiration of ancient philosophers; and furnish them with the happiest simile to abash human ostentation[*].

Perhaps, there are few tribes of birds in which nature has been more profuse of her amplest colouring than that of the Pheasant. The common species as we now consider it in this country, notwithstanding its beauty, is inferior in that respect to two others that are also found at large in some of our woods. The Ring and painted Pheasants are far more richly decorated, and these may probably be as abundant in future generations as the Common Pheasant is at present. The variegated Pheasant is beautiful, and the scarcely exampled delicacy of the White kind renders it an interesting variety. The beauty of all these varieties are, however, eclipsed by the Argus Pheasant; and probably, were we better acquainted with the Phasianus superbus, and some other gigantic Chinese species[*], we might place them among the most brilliant of the feathered race.

At what period of time the Pheasant was introduced into this Country, it is impossible now to ascertain. They have, in all probability, been long naturalized in this Country. Some of our domestic fowls, it is supposed, were introduced more than two thousand years ago, Caesar noticing them. Whether this circumstance may assist conjecture, concerning the introduction of the Pheasant, we dare not presume to determine. Pheasants were first brought into Europe from the banks of the Phasis, a river of ancient Colchis, in Asia Minor: at present it is found throughout Europe, in a wild state. It has not hitherto been discovered in America.

The female is smaller than the male; the general colour, brown, variegated with other obscure colours, the tail is shorter than in the male; and the space round the eye, which is bare in that sex, is covered with feathers in the female.

They breed like the Partridge, on the ground. Lay from twelve to fifteen eggs, smaller than those of the hen, and of a paler colour than those of the Partridge. The young follow the females like Chickens.

Several authors have noticed a circumstance of this bird, which surprising as it may appear, is by no means peculiar to the Pheasant only. After the hen has done laying and setting, the plumage of the female becomes like that of the male, and she is then entirely neglected by him. Salerne, Edwards, and others, have mentioned this of the Pheasant, Guinea Hen, Rock Manakin, &c. and Mr. J. Hunter had a paper in the Philosophical Transactions on that subject. Latham observes, that it does not always require mature age to give the hen Pheasant the appearance of the male.

Notes

*
When Croesus, king of Lydia, was seated on his throne, adorned with royal magnificence, and all the barbarous pomp of eastern splendour, he asked Solon if he had ever beheld any thing so fine! The Greek Philosopher, no way moved by the objects before him, or taking a pride in his native simplicity, replied, that after having seen the beautiful plumage of the Pheasant, he could be astonished at no other finery.

BUFFON.

↵

*
Colonel Davies has a drawing of the tail feather of one of the Chinese species of Pheasants, which is six feet in length.
↵

PLATE CII. ANAS ALBIFRONS. WHITE FRONTED GOOSE.

ANSERES. Bill obtuse, covered with a thin membrane, broad, gibbous below the base, swelled at the apex. Tongue fleshy. Legs naked. Feet webbed or finned.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill convex above: flat beneath: hooked at the apex; and beset with membranous teeth.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Ash coloured, front white.

- ANAS ALBIFRONS. Cinerea, fronte alba,

- ANAS ALBIFRONS. Gmel. Syst. I. p. 509.

- ANAS ALBIFRONS. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 842. 27.

- Anas Erythropus. Lin. Syst.—Faun. Suec. 166. (fem.)

- Anas Erythropus. Georgi Reise. p. 166.

- Anas Septentrionalis sylvestris. Bris. 6. p. 269. 3.

- Laughing Goose. Edw. pl. 153.

- White Fronted Goose. Br. Zool. No. 268. pl. 94. I. (the head)

- White Fronted Goose. Arct. Zool. No. 476.

- White Fronted Goose. Lath. Gen. Syn. Vol. 6. p. 463. 22.

- L'Oye Sauvagè du nord. Bris. Av. 6. 269. 3.

- L'Oye rieuse. Buff. Ois. 9. p. 81.

- Polnische Ganss. Kram. 339.

- Vild Gaas. Brunnich.

The length of the White Fronted Goose exceeds two feet; the weight is about five pounds. It has neither beauty of colours or elegance of form to render it an interesting species. The white space on the forehead is the most striking peculiarity of the bird, and its name is sufficiently characteristic of that part, to distinguish it from every other British species of the Duck tribe. It is found in the fens in small flocks, during winter, and migrates in March. In England it is rather uncommon.

Linnaeus considered the White Fronted Goose as the female of the Bernacle Goose, of which credulity has reported so much, and we may think naturalists have said too little; for it seems yet, but doubtful with some Ornithologists whether the opinion of Linnaeus be wholly unfounded in truth or not, though they have ventured to separate them into distinct species.

As many kinds of the Duck tribe inhabit the lakes and forests of Lapland, and other arctic regions, during the breeding season, it is difficult in some instances, to distinguish the mere differences of sex or age from specific distinctions. The bernacle of which the white fronted Goose has been supposed the female, were believed about two hundred years to be bred on the coast of Scotland; but those who asserted this, declared also, that they were generated out of decayed wood, or were hatched in the shell of the Lepas Antifera, a marine production very common in those parts. It has several membranous branches or arms, and at the end of each, is situated a multivalve shell. The feathered beard of the fish hanging out of the shell, were the supposed feathers or limbs of the young Tree Geese, as they were called by the projectors of this whimsical hypothesis.

PLATE CIII. FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. GOLDFINCH.

PASSERES. Bill strong, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strong, conic, straight, sharp.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings marked in the middle with yellow: the tips white. Tail black: most of the feathers marked with a white spot near the end.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. remigibus antrorsum luteis, extima immaculata, rectricibus duabus extimis medio reliquisque apice albis. Lath. Ind. Orn. I. 449. 58.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Lin. Syst. I. p. 318. 7.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Gmel. Syst. I. p. 903.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Klein. p. 365. I.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Schaef. El. Orn. t. 24.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Frisch. t. I.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Muller, No. 258.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Faun. Arag. p. 87.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS. Merian Ins. t. 173.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Br. Zool. 2. No. 124.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Arct. Zool. 2. p. 283.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Lath. Gen. Syn. 3. p. 281.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Russel. Alep. p. 70.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Will. Orn. p. 246. t. 46.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Albin. I. t. 64.

- GOLDFINCH, OR THISTLEFINCH. Raii. Syn. av. 89.

- Le Chardonneret. Buff. Ois. 4. p. 187. t. 10.

- Le Chardonneret. Pl. Enl. t. 4. f. I.

- Le Chardonneret. Bris. av. 3. 53.

- Cardellino, Zinnan. Vov. p. 58. t. 8. 47.

- Cardelli, Olina. 10.

- Stiglitza, Faun. Succ. sp. 236.

- Stiglitz, Kram. 365.

- Stiglitz, Scopoli. 211.

- Stigeliz, Wirsing. Vog. t. 9. and 30.

Amongst the common birds that inhabit this Country, the Goldfinch claims a decided preference to our attention. It would be superfluous to expatiate on the beauty of a bird so well known, and difficult to add any information to its general history, that has escaped the notice of ornithologists.

The Goldfinch is found throughout Europe, and in many parts of Africa and Asia. The varieties of it are numerous. Latham mentions no less than eight kinds. One of these is like the common sort, except the fore part of the head, which is red, and about the eyes white. Another, supposed to be a mixed breed with the Lark, has a flesh-coloured bill, irides yellowish; head, throat, and neck black, spotted with red near the bill; breast, back, scapulars, and rump yellowish brown; belly, sides, thighs, and under tail coverts, white.

Instances of Goldfinches wholly white sometimes occur; one specimen of that kind is preserved in the Leverian Museum, and another, in which those parts only, which are red in the common sort, have a glossy tinge of that colour. A third sort in the same collection, is white except the crown of the head, which is mottled with red, and a crescent of the same colour under the throat; the wings are yellowish.

Goldfinches of the opposite extreme of colour are not uncommon. Some are entirely black with a slight trace of red about the head, in others even this trace is obliterated. Birds that are fed on hemp seed, of which the Goldfinch will eat freely, often become entirely black. Buffon mentions one, in which the head only was of that colour. Willughby and Ray describe a variety that had no red on the head, but a saffron-coloured ring surrounded the bill. Brown has another, with the head striped alternately with red and yellow. Buffon and Brisson have a sort, in which the wings and tail are brownish ash-colour: and that part dingy, which in the common sort is yellow. In young birds of the common sort the head is grey.

The nest of the Goldfinch is curiously constructed of moss, liver-wort, thistle-down, &c. and lined with wool, hair, and the down of the sallow. It lays five eggs, of a whitish colour, and marked with deep purple spots.

These birds breed twice in a year. In winter they assemble in flocks. Generally frequent places where thistles grow in abundance, being particularly fond of the seeds of those plants.

PLATE CIV. RALLUS AQUATICUS. WATER RAIL.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC GHARACTER. Bill compressed, incurvated. Tongue jagged at the end. Body compressed. Tail short. Toes four divided to the base.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Wings olive-brown with black spots. Sides of the lower part of the belly marked with white.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Alis griseis fusco maculatis, hypochondriis albo maculatis, rostro subtus fulvo. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 755. I.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Linn. Syst. I. p. 262. 2.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Gmel. Syst. I. p. 712.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Schaeff. El. t. 60.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Muller, No. 219.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Scop. Ann. I. No. 155.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS. Klein. av. p. 103. 2.

- Gallinula aquatica, Mars. Dan. v. p. 68. t. 32.

- Gallina serica Gesneri, Raii. Syn. p. 114. A. 4.

- Ralla aquatica. Aldr. av. 3. 179.

- Gallina Cinerea. Gesner. av. 515.

- Water Rail, Bilcock.

- Brook-Ouzel. Br. Zool. 2. No. 214. t. 75.

- Brook-Ouzel. Albin. I. t. 77.

- Brook-Ouzel. Will. Orn. p. 314.

- Lè Rale d'eau, Buff. 8. p. 154. t. 13.

- Lè Rale d'eau, — pl. enl. 749.

- Lè Rale d'eau, Bris. av. 151. tab. 12. fig. 2.

- Wasser hennl. Kram. 348.

- Jord-Koene. Brunnich, 193.

This is the only species of its genus we have in Britain. Brisson and Linnaeus place it with the Land Rail or Crake; and Ray with the Water Hens. Pennant observing the difference between the essential characters of the two latter tribes, and that of the Water Rail, constitutes a new genus of our species. The Water Rail is distinguished by its slender, compressed and incurvated bill. The Crake (Gallinule) by the base of the upper mandible reaching far upon the forehead, and being membranaceous: the bill is also thick at the base, and sloping to the point.

The length of the Water Rail is twelve inches, breadth sixteen inches, weight four ounces. It frequents the rushy and sheltered sides of rivulets and ponds, among which it can conceal itself from danger. It is a very shy bird. Flies indifferently, but walks with great celerity, and has been seen to run on the surface of the water when there has been any weeds to bear it up[*].

The Egg is more than an inch and an half in length; of a pale yellowish colour, marked with dusky spots.

Notes

*
Latham.
↵

PLATE CV. FALCO OSSIFRAGUS. SEA EAGLE.

ACCIPITRES. Birds of prey. Bill and claws strong, hooked, an angle in each margin of the upper mandible. Body muscular. Females larger than the males.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill arched from the base, which is covered with a wax-like membrane or cere.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Cere and legs yellow; the latter feathered half-way down. Body brown. Tail marked on interior webs with white.

- FALCO OSSIFRAGUS: Lin. Syst. Nat.

- FALCO OSSIFRAGUS: cere lutea pedibusque semilanatis, corpore ferrugineo, rectricibus latere interiore albis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 12. 7.

- Haliaetus seu Ossifraga. Raii. Syn. p. 7. No. 3.

- Haliaetos. Turneri.

- Sea Eagle. Will. Orn. p. 59. t. 1.

- Sea Eagle. Br. Zool. 1. p. 167. t. 17.

- Sea Eagle. Lath. Gen. Syn.

- Bone-breaker, Kolb. Cap. 2. p. 137.

- Le Grand Aigle de Mer. Bris. Orn. 1. p. 437. No. 9.

- L'Orfraie, Buff. Ois. 1. p. 112. t. 3.

- Le Grand Aigle de Mer. Pl. enl. 415. (fem.)

- Gaas Orn. Brunnich. 13.

- Bein-brecher, Ossifraga.

- Meeradler, Fisch-arn, Haliaetos. Gesn. av. 201. 203.

This species is little inferior in size to the Golden Eagle. The length is three feet six inches; it is a stout bird, and is armed with formidable talons: it may be distinguished from the Golden Eagle by the legs, which are, for half their length, bare of feathers in the Sea Eagle: the legs of the Golden Eagle, on the contrary, are feathered to the toes.

It inhabits most parts of Europe. In these kingdoms it is found, in Scotland and Ireland; and sometimes, though rarely, in England. Our specimen was shot in the Hebrides. It is observed of this species, that it grows much larger in North America than in Europe. In Russia and Siberia it is very common.

This Bird lives chiefly on Fish, which it takes in the same manner as the Osprey. It is supposed that the Eagle mentioned by Kolben, is this species; he says, at the Cape of Good Hope it feeds on the Land Tortoises, which it carries into the air to a considerable height, and, by letting it fall on some rock, dashes the shell in pieces, that it may more easily pick out the flesh.

PLATE CVI. FULICA ATRA. COMMON COOT.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill short; from this a callus extends up the forehead. Nostrils narrow. Toes furnished with a broad scalloped membrane.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. A thin skin covers the fore-part of the skull. Body black. Feet lobed or scalloped.

- FULICA ATRA, fronte calva, corpore nigro, digitis lobatis. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- FULICA ATRA, fronte incarnata, armillis luteis, corpore nigricante. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 777. 1.

- Fulica recentiorum. Gesner. av. 390.

- Common Coot. Raii. Syn. p. 116. A. 1.

- Common Coot. Will. Orn. p. 319. pl. 59.

- Common Coot. Albin. I. pl. 83.

- Common Coot. Penn. Br. Zool. No. 220. pl. 77.

- Common Coot. Arct. Zool. No. 416.

- Common Coot. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. 275. 1.

- Common Coot. — Suppl. 259.

- La Foulque, ou Morelle, Bris. Orn. 6. p. 23. 1. pl. 2. fig. 2.

- La Foulque, ou Morelle, Buff. Ois. 8. p. 211. pl. 18.—Pl. enl. 197.

- Folago o Polon. Zinan. 108.

- Blas-klacka. Faun. Succ. sp. 193.

- Liska. Scopoli. No. 149.

- Kleiner Bloessling, Gunth. Nest. u. eg. t. 29.

- Danis Vand-Hoene,

- Bles-Hoene. Brun. 190.

These Birds are common in the summer throughout England, and are sometimes met with in the winter: it frequents several northern countries, such as Sweden, Norway, Russia, Siberia, Greenland, &c. It is also found in Jamaica, in Carolina, and other parts of North America.

It frequents the borders of ponds and lakes, and makes its nest among the reeds, grass, &c. The nest is large, and contains fourteen or fifteen, some say twenty eggs, two inches and a quarter in length, of a pale brownish white, sprinkled with minute chocolate-coloured spots, in a very regular manner.

The food consists of small Fish and water Insects, grain, roots of plants, &c. which it takes partly by diving into the water. The adult birds are as large as a small fowl. The colour of the skin on the forehead, Brisson says, is of a full red; Latham says it is white, except in the season of incubation, when it is not of a full red, though it is tinged with that colour.

PLATE CVII. COLUMBA OENAS. STOCK PIGEON.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill soft, strait. Nostrils half covered by a naked skin. Toes divided to their origin.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Bluish. Back of the neck shining green, changeable. Two small black bars across the wings. End of the tail black.

- COLUMBA OENAS. Linn. Syst. Nat.

- Columba Oenas: caerulescens, cervice viridi-nitente, dorso postico cinereascente, fascia alarum duplici apiceque caudae nigricante. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 589. 1.

- Columba, lignorum proprie, Klein. av. p. 119. 8.—ld. ov. p. 33.

- Stock Pigeon, or Stock Dove. Br. Zool.—Arct. Zool.

- Stock Pigeon, or Stock Dove. Albin. 2. t. 46.

- Stock Pigeon, or Stock Dove. Lath. Gen. Syn. 4. p. 604. 1.—Suppl. p. 197.

- Le Pigeon sauvage, Bris. Orn. I. p. 86. No. 5.

It is the opinion of Pennant, that all the beautiful varieties of Pigeons, so highly esteemed by Pigeon-fanciers, are descended originally from one species, the Stock Dove. Latham has, with considerable industry, arranged these fancy varieties under their Linnean specific names, which Pennant has omitted. Brisson imagines that the Roman Pigeon, Columba Hispanica of Linneus, has given birth to all these varieties.

That kind called the Carrier, is much celebrated for its particular attachment to its native place. It was anciently used in many eastern countries to convey letters with expedition; at present the custom is not so general. Joinville speaks of them in the crusade of St. Louis to Palestine; and Tasso in the siege of Jerusalem, &c. The custom of conveying letters by means of these Birds, may be traced to a very early period. It is not only related of them, but of Swallows, by Pliny and Aelian, that they were employed on such service; and the earliest poets, who generally intermingled some truth with their allegory, made the Dove the messenger of the lover, and emblem of innocence,

"Gentle Dove,

"Whither fly'st thou from above?"

"From Anacreon, friend, I rove,

Bearing mandates to his love."

Anacreon, Ode 9, to Bathyllus.

All writers on Egypt mention the vast number of Pigeons that are bred in that part of the world, where they proverbially constitute a great portion of the poor husbandman's estate. In Persia also they are bred in immense numbers. They are altogether a pleasing and useful species in whatever country they are domesticated[*].

In a wild state these Birds have two broods in a year; in a state of confinement, sometimes three. They usually lay two eggs at a time, and sit from fourteen to seventeen days before the young are hatched. They migrate in vast multitudes into the south of England at the approach of winter, and return again in spring. They frequent woody places, and commonly build in the hollows of decayed trees.

Notes

*
Their dung is used for tanning leather, is a valuable manure for the land, and is employed in medicine: formerly saltpetre was collected from it. It is used for many other purposes by distant nations.—Vide Lath.
↵

PLATE CVIII. MOTACILLA LUSCINIA. NIGHTINGALE.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill slender, weak. Nostrils small. Exterior toe joined at the under part, to the base of the middle one.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Reddish above, beneath dirty white. Tail red-brown.

- MOTACILLA LUSCINIA. Linn. Syst.

- SYLVIA LUSCINIA: rufo-cinerea subtus cinereo-alba, rectricibus fusco-rufis, armillis cinereis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 506. 1.

- Sylvia Luscinia. Scop. ann. 1. No. 227.

- Nightingale. Raii Syn. p. 78.

- Nightingale. Will. Orn. p. 220. pl. 41.

- Nightingale. Albin. 3. pl. 53.

- Nightingale. Russ. Alep. p. 7.

- Nightingale. Penn. Br. Zool. No. 1. 145.

- Nightingale.—Arct. Zool. 2. p. 416. A.

- Nightingale. Lath. Gen. Syn. 4. 408. 1.—Suppl. 180.

- Le Rossignol. Belon. av. 335.

- Le Rossignol. Buff. 5. p. 81. t. 6. f. 1.—Pl. enl. 615. 2.

- Slauz. Scopoli. No. 227.

- Nachtergahl. Faun. Suec. Sp. 244.

- Nattergale. Brun.

- Nachtigall. Frisch. 1. 21.

- Au-vogel, Auen-nachtigall. Kram. 376.

- Rusignulo. Zinan. 54.

The Nightingale is very common in England, except in the northern parts, where it is never seen. It comes in the beginning of April, and leaves us in August. It is found in Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, China, and Japan. The female makes her nest in a low coppice or quickset hedge, that is thickly cloathed with foliage. It is composed of hay, and reeds, intermingled with oak leaves, &c. She lays four or five eggs of a greenish brown colour. The male scarcely differs from the female.

In the evening the Nightingale begins a song that continues till morning. Concealed in some thicket, this charming songster pours forth those melodious strains, whose harmony, sweetness and variety, combine to fill the mind with soft emotions of sensibility, and endear solitude to the contemplative man. The Nightingale is the favourite of every rural poet, and the loftiest genius has constantly noticed it in his solemn descriptions of evening, or of night.

"— The wakeful bird

Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid

Tunes her nocturnal note."

"— The amorous bird of night

Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star

On his hill-top to light the bridal lamp."

Milton's Paradise Lost.

The Nightingale is sometimes kept in cages. Those reared from the nest are better than such as are caught in a wild state, because they sing throughout the year, except in the time of moulting. Those which are caught begin to sing about six or eight days after. Mr. Latham says, that neither this nor the Blackcap is found in Ireland. Mr. Pennant says it does not inhabit Scotland, though Sibbald places it in his list of the Birds of that country.

PLATE CIX. PAVO CRISTATUS. CRESTED PEACOCK.

GALLINAE. Bill convex: the upper Mandible arched. Toes connected by a membrane at the bottom. Tail feathers more than twelve.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strong, convex. Nostrils large. Head small, crested. Spurs on the legs. Feathers above the tail very long, broad, expansible, consisting of ranges of feathers, adorned at their ends with rich ocellated spots.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. An erect crest on the head.

- PAVO CRISTATUS: capite crista erecta. Linn. Syst. Nat.—Faun. Suec. 197.

- PAVO CRISTATUS: capite crista erecta. Scop. Ann. 1. No. 162.

- PAVO CRISTATUS: capite crista erecta. Brun. p. 58.

- PAVO CRISTATUS: capite crista erecta. Frisch. pl. 118.

- PAVO CRISTATUS: capite crista erecta. Kram. el. p. 355.

- Peacock. Raii Syn. p. 51. A. 2. p. 183. 18.

- Peacock. Will. Orn. p. 158. pl. 217.

- Peacock. Sloan. Jam. p. 302. No. 23.

- Peacock. Brown. Jam. p. 470.

- Le Paon. Bris. Orn. 1. p. 281. pl. 27.

- Le Paon. Buff. Ois. 2. p. 288. pl. 10. — Pl. enl. 433. (male). 434 (female).

- Pfau, Gunth. nest u. Ey. t. 22.

- Pavone, Zinnan. Uov. p. 25. t. 1. No. 1.

In compliance with preceding writers on the ornithology of Great Britain, we have added the Peacock to our work: the propriety of placing that magnificent Indian species, with the humble and simple-coloured birds of this country, we presume not to defend. We may proudly claim it for a British domesticated species, but other nations of Europe have the same privilege. Of the beauty of a bird so well known, and which has excited admiration in all ages, we can say little: language would but feebly express the variety and brilliance of colours that profusely adorn the plumes of this majestie creature.

Peacocks were known three thousand years ago. In the days of Solomon, the Tarshish fleet of that monarch brought them to Jerusalem. In Greece they were also known very early: at Athens they were highly prized. It is supposed they were carried hence to Samos, where they were preserved near the temple of Juno. The epicures of Greece thought them a delicacy; and the young Pea-fowl is esteemed among us. It is said, that when Alexander was in India he sound vast numbers on the banks of the Hyarotis, and was so delighted with their beauty, that he appointed a punishment for those who should kill any of them.—It is also found in Africa.

In our climate the Peacock does not come to its full plumage till the third year. The female lays five or six greyish eggs, the size of those of a Turkey: the time of sitting is from twenty-seven to thirty days. The young are fed on barley-meal, chopped leeks, and curd; the old ones on wheat, barley, &c.

It is an Italian proverb, that the Peacock has the appearance of an angel, and voice of the devil; for its cry is exceedingly inharmonious. In India, it is related, that they are taken by carrying lights to the trees where they roost, and having painted representations of the bird presented to them at the same time: when they put out the neck to look at the figure, the sportsman slips the noose over their heads and secures them. It is said also, that the inhabitants of the mountains on both sides of the Ganges take them with a kind of bird-lime, made from oils and the juices of certain trees.

As we believe a figure of that superb variety of the common Peacock, Le Paon Panachē; of Buffon, would be more acceptable to the reader than the sort which so frequently occurs, we have preferred it for this work. It is a most superb and elegantly variegated specimen: and we only regret that the limits of our plate, and imperfect state of that, imitative art, colouring, will not permit us to do justice to its incomparable beauty. The original measures seven feet, of which the train forms a considerable part. This appendage, which is usually mistaken for the tail itself, rises from the back and descends to a vast length. The tail is not more than one foot and an half in length, and consists of eighteen brownish-grey feathers. The female has a very short train, and the spurs are generally wanting.

PLATE CX. FULICA CHLOROPUS. WATER HEN, OR COMMON GALLINULE.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes diviled.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill short, thick, convex. Forehead bare. Toes finned.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Callus and garters red. Above deep olive, beneath cinereous. Outer edge of the wing, and tail coverts white.

- FULICA CHLOROPUS. Linn. Syst. 1. p. 258. 4.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 698.

- Fulica chloropus major. Raii Syn. p. 113. A. 1.—Will. Orn. p. 233. 5. 58.

- Chloropus major nostra. Aldr. av. 3. 177.

- Gallinella aquatica. Zinan. 109.

- GALLINULA CHLOROPUS. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 770. 13.

- Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen. Will. Orn.

- Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen. Raii. Syn.

- Common Water-Hen, or Moor-Hen. Albin. II. pl. 72. 3. pl. 91.

- Common Gallinule. Br. Zool. No. 217. pl. 77.

- Common Gallinule. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. p. 258. sp. 12.

- Poule d'eau. Buff. 8. p. 171. t. 15.—Pl. enl. 877.

- Poule d'eau. Bris. Orn. 6. p. 3. 1. pl. 1. fig. 1, 2.

- Wasserhennl. Kram. 358.

Length of this species fourteen inches, breadth twenty-one, weight fifteen ounces. It is a common bird in this country, frequents the sides of rivers and ponds, and is supposed to feed on small fish, and on plants.

It has two or three broods in the summer; the nest is usually placed on a low stump near the water, and contains seven eggs of a dirty white colour, sparingly speckled and spotted with rust colour, and nearly two inches in length. The female is smaller than the male, the colours are throughout much paler, and the throat is sometimes white; in some birds it is grey, in others the colour of the rest of the neck.

PLATE CXI. ANAS GLACIALIS. LONG-TAILED DUCK.

ANSERES. Bill obtuse, covered with a thin membrane, broad, gibbous below the base, swelled at the apex. Tongue fleshy. Legs naked. Feet webbed or finned.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill broad, depressed, hooked at the apex, with membranous teeth. Nostrils oval, small. Tongue broad, edges fringed near the base. Feet,—middle toe longest.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Tail long, pointed. Body black, beneath white.

- ANAS GLACIALIS. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 203. 20.

- ANAS HYEMALIS. Lin. Syst. 1. p. 202, 29.

- ANAS GLACIALIS, cauda acuminata elongata, corpore nigro subtus albo. (mas adullus.) Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 864. 82.

- LONG-TAILED DUCK. Edw. v. 280.

- LONG-TAILED DUCK. Penn. Br. Zool. 283.

- LONG-TAILED DUCK. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. p. 528. 73.

- Swallow-tailed Shieldrake. Will. Orn. p. 364.

- Le Canard a longue queue d'Islande. Bris. Orn. 6. 379.

- Canard de Miclon. Buff. Ois.—Pl. Enl. 1008.

This species varies exceedingly in the colours of the plumage. In some the principal colour is a kind of chocolate brown, in others deep black. It varies no less also in the disposition of the white spaces on the head, neck, and body in different birds. In the male, the fore part and sides of the head are of a reddish grey, with an oval black spot on each side of the neck, a little below the head; the remainder of the neck white. The female has only the sides of the head white (except the belly), the neck being of a dusky black in general; though specimens have been seen, that much resemble the adult male bird. The colour of the legs vary much in different specimens also.

Linnaeus divided the supposed male and female into two species; the first he called ANAS GLACIALIS, the other ANAS HYEMALIS. Later authors, who have had more opportunity of observing their manners of life, have supposed them only the two sexes of one species.

Mr. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, uppen. describes the two Linnaean species as the two sexes of ANAS GLACIALIS; and Mr. Latham since, in his Index Ornithologious, places Anas Glacialis as the adult male; this is the bird which Buffon calls, canard à longue queue; that which Ray terms Anas caudacuta, Havelda' Mr. Latham describes as the young male. (µ) The female had been described by Mr. Pennant in the Arctic Zoology[*]: Mr. Latham makes it the (γ.) of Anas Glacialis:—the same author has added further, the Querquedula ferroensis, of Brisson, or Sarcelle de Ferroe, of Buffon, as the (δ.) of the same species.

These Birds frequent the more northern parts of the world, such as Sweden, Lapland, Greenland, &c. and only visit the English coasts in very rigorous winters. In the orknies they are seen in flocks from October to April. These Birds living chiefly on the water, dive and swim well, and subsist on small shell-fish. They build their nests among the grass, &c. on the sea shore. The variety mentioned by Mr. Latham, which is called O'Edel by the inhabitants of the Ferroe isles, has the black streak down the middle of the crown to the hind head, as in our specimen, from which we have been led to consider our Bird a variety also.

The length of our Bird is twenty-one inches.

Notes

*
Vol. 11. p. 76.
↵

PLATE CXII. SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS. RED SHANK.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill long, slender, strait, weak. Nostrils linear. Tongue pointed. Toes divided, back toes small.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Beak and feet red. Body ash-colour. Secondaries of the wings tipped with white.

- SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS, rostro rubro, pedibus coccineis, corpore cinereo, remigibus secundariis albis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 722. 25.

- Scolopax Totanus. Faun. Suec. No. 167.

- [*] Totanus. Aldr. av. 3. 171.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. Will. Orn. 299.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. Raii. Syn. av. 107.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. Albin. 3. t. 87.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. Br. Zool. 2. No. 184. t. 65.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. Lath. Gen. Syn. Vol. 5. 150. 20.

- Red Shank or Pool-Snipe. — Suppl. 245. 20.

- Chevalier aux pieds rouges. Buff. 7. p. 513. t. 28.

- Le Chevalier. Bris. Orn. 5. p. 188. 4. pl. 17. fig. 1.

- Glareola. Klein. av. p. 101. 1.

- Rothfusstler. Kram. 353.

- Gallinula erythropus. Gesner. av. 504.

The length of this Bird is twelve inches, its breadth twenty-one inches, and its weight exceeds five ounces. In this country these birds are not uncommon, except in the northem parts. They frequent fens and marshes in the breeding season, but separate and conceal themselves in the winter.

Its noise is similar to that of the lapwing, whose manners it also imitates when it is disturbed. It lays four eggs, of a whitish olive colour, marked with irregular black spots. In winter the colours of these Birds become paler.

The Redshank is found in most parts of Europe and America. Mr. Latham describes a variety of this species from the drawings of the late Dr. Fothergill, which inhabits the marshes of China.

Notes

*
Albin says, "This bird is not the Tetanus of Aldrovandus;" he adds, "This is much less, has a shorter bill and feet, and differs in the dusky colour of its back, and the red colour of its legs and feet."—Alb. p. 82. Vel. 3.
↵

PLATE CXIII. STRIX FLAMMEA. WHITE OWL.

ACCIPITRES. Birds of prey. Bill and claws strong, hooked, an angle in the margin of the upper mandible. Body muscular. Females larger and more beautiful than the males.[*]

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill hooked, without cere. Nostrils covered with bristly feathers. Head large. Eyes and ears very large. Tongue bifid.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Head smooth. Body yellowish, with white spots. Beneath white, with pale black spots.

- STRIX FLAMMEA: Lin. Syst. Nat.

- STRIX FLAMMEA: capite laevi, corpore luteo punctis albis, subtus albido punctis nigricantibus. Lath. Ind. Orn. T. 1. p. 60. 28.

- Aluco minor. Aldr. av. 1. 272.

- White Owl. Br. Zool. 1. No. 67.

- White Owl. Lath. Gen. Syn. 1. p. 138. No. 26.

- White Owl. — Suppl. p. 46. 26.

- Common Owl, Howlet, Madge, Gillihowster, &c. Will. Orn. 104.

- Common Owl, Howlet, Madge, Gillihowster, &c. Raii Syn. av. 25.

- Common Owl, Howlet, Madge, Gillihowster, &c. Alb. Vol. 11. pl. 11.

- L'Effraie, ou Fresaie. Buff. 1. p. 366. t. 26.

- L'Effraie, ou Fresaie. Pl. Enl. 440.

- Le petit Chat-haunt. Bris. av. 1. 503.

- Perl Eule. Frisch. 1. 97.

- Perl Eule. Kramer El. p. 324. 5.

- Alloco Zinnan. 99.

It need scarcely be said that the white owl is common in every part of England, and is generally sound throughout the continent of Europe. It inhabits North and South America, and is very frequent in some parts of Asia. Except in the breeding season, it lives in barns and out-houses, where it is useful in destroying the mice that infest such places. In the breeding season it retires to holes in lofty buildings, or the hollows of trees.

Some species of owls see well in the day-time: the white owl has not that faculty; it is only in the twilight in mornings and evenings, or in moonlight nights, that it can see clearly to take its prey. While the young are in the nest, the male and female go alternately in quest of food, make a circuit round the fields, drop on their prey instantly, and return with it in their claws.

These birds cast up the fur or feather of the creatures they devour in the form of small pellets, like those of the hawk tribe.

Notes

*
Mr. Latham has a note on this character of the owls in page 46, Supplement, in which he says, that in such of the owl genus as he has seen, the male was larger than the female, and therefore the owls differ in that respect from all other birds of prey.
↵

PLATE CXIV. FRINGILLA LINARIA. LESSER RED-HEADED LINNET, OR REDPOLE.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill conic, slender towards the end, and sharp pointed.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Dusky and reddish brown, varied with black. Belly whitish. Two whitish bars on the wing coverts. Pole of the head, and the breast red.

- FRINGILLA LINARIA. Lin. Syst. 1. p. 322. 29. Fn. Sv. 241.

- FRINGILLA LINARIA, fusco griseoque varia, subtus albo-rufescens, fascia alarum duplici albida, vertice pectoreque rubris. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. p. 458. 83.

- Linaria rubra minor. Raii Syn. p. 91. A. 3. Will. p. 191. t. 40.

- Lesser red-headed Linnet, or Redpole. Br. Zool. No. 132. t. 54.

- Lesser red-headed Linnet, or Redpole. Lath. Gen. Syn. 3. 305. 75.

- Lesser red-headed Linnet, or Redpole. Suppl. pl. 167.

- Le petite Linotte de Vignes. Bris. Orn. 3. p. 138. 31.

- Le Sizerin. Buf. Ois. 4. p. 216.

- Grasiska. Faun. Suec. sp. 241.

- Grasel, Meerzeisel.

- Tschotscherl. Kram. 369.

- Rothplattige Staenfling. Frisch. 1. 10.

All the Finches except the Siskin are supposed to continue in these kingdoms throughout the year; but shift to different parts according to the seasons. The Redpole is known to breed in the mountains of Wales[*]. Mr. Pennant saw the nest of this species on an alder stump near a brook, about two or three feet from the ground. The outside was composed of dried stalks of grass, and other plants, intermixed with a little wool: it was lined with hair and a few feathers. The eggs, four in number, were of a pale bluish green, thickly sprinkled near the blunt end with small reddish spots.

In October and November these birds arrive near London in vast numbers. The colours of the female are generally paler than those of the male: the spot on the forehead is saffron colour.

Notes

*
Barrington Miscel. p. 217.
↵

PLATE CXV. LOXIA PYRRHULA. BULFINCH.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strong, convex above and below, and thick at the base. Nostrils small and round. Tongue truncated at the end. Toes placed three before, and one behind.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Head, wings, tail, black. Upper tail, coverts, and vent white.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA artubus nigris, tectricibus caudae remigumque posticarum albis. Linn. Syst.—Fn. Sv. 178.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA artubus nigris, tectricibus caudae remigumque posticarum albis. Scop. Ann. 1. No. 202.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA artubus nigris, tectricibus caudae remigumque posticarum albis. Faun. Arag. p. 86.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA artubus nigris, tectricibus caudae remigumque posticarum albis. Sepp. Vog. t. p. 133.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA artubus nigris, tectricibus caudae remigumque posticarum albis. Schaeff. Elem. Orn. t. 59.

- Rubicilla, sive pyrrhula. Gesner. av. 733.

- Coccothraustes sanguinea. Klein. Av. p. 95. 5.—Id. Stem. p. 19. t. 19. f. 13. a. b.—Georgi Reise, p. 174.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, Will. Orn. 247.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, Raii Syn. p. 86. A.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, Albin. I. pl. 59. 60.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, Br. Zool. 1. No. 116.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, Lath. Gen. Syn. 3. p. 143. 51.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, — Suppl. p. 152. 51.

- Bulfinch, Alp, or Nope, — Ind. Orn. 1. p. 387.

- Le Bouvreuil. Brisson. av. 3. 308.

- Le Bouvreuil. Buff. Ois. 4. p. 372. pl. 17.

- Monachino, Sufolotto. Zinan. 58.

- Domherre. Faun. Suec. sp. 225.

- Gumpel. Gunth. Nest. u. Ey. t. 54.

- Gumpl. Kramer. 365.

- Gimpl. Scopoli, No. 202.

- Cuisolotto. Olina, 40.

- Blutfinck. Frisch. 1. 2.

- Le Pivoine. Belon av. 3. 59.

The male of this common but beautiful Bird is distinguished from the female by the rich black colour on the crown of the head, and the crimson on the cheeks, breast, belly, and throat, those parts being of an obscure hue in the female.

In the winter and spring it frequents gardens, and does much injury to the fruit-trees. In summer it retires into the woods to breed. It forms a nest chiefly of moss, about six feet from the ground, and deposits five or six bluish eggs, marked with dark spots. The wild note of this Bird is not admired, though they may be taught to whistle any tune in a tame state, and are then much valued.

There are several varieties of this species, one of them in particular, is entirely black. Instances are recorded of these birds, after being taken in full feather, in the course of three or four years becoming jet black, and then again recovering their former colours.

PLATE CXVI. GALLINULA CREX. CRAKE GALLINULE.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill thick at the base, stoping towards the point: base of the upper mandible reaching far on the forehead, callous. Body compressed. Wings short and concave. Tail short. Toes divided to their origin.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Above, greyish brown, middle of each feather black. Wings rusous brown. Beneath, reddish white.

- RALLUS CREX. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- GALLINULA CREX: grisea pennis medio nigricantibus, alis rufoferrugineis, corpore subtus albo-rufescente. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 766. 1.

- Porphyrio rufescens, Bris. 5. p. 533.

- DARKER HEN, OR RAIL, Raii Syn. p. 58. A. 8.

- DARKER HEN, OR RAIL, Will. Orn. p. 170. pl. 29.

- DARKER HEN, OR RAIL, Albin. 1. pl. 32.

- Corn-crek. Sib. Scot. 16.

- Land Hen. Will. Orn. p. 316.

- Crake Gallinule. Br. Zool. No. 216. pl. 75.—Arct. Zool. No. 412.

- Crake Gallinule. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. p. 250. 1.

- Le Rale de Genet, ou Roi des Cailles, Bris. Orn. 5. p. 159. pl. 13. f. 2.

- La Poule-Sultane roussatre, Bris. Orn. v. p. 533. 5.

- Re delle Quagliz. Zinan.

- Wiesen Schnarre, Wachtel Koenig, Gunth. Nest. u. Ey. t. 45.

- Wachtel-konig. Kram. 349.

- Rostz. Scopoli, No. 154.

This Bird is common in many parts of Great-Britain in summer, and departs before winter, except in Ireland, where it is supposed they remain throughout the year. Being constantly found in company with the Quails, the Crake has been called in many countries, their king, or leader.

Independent of a striking generical difference, the manners of these birds are altogether distinct from those of the Water Rail, with which it has been sometimes confounded. It is found among corn, grass, broom, or furze on heaths, and never in watery places. It lays ten or twelve eggs of a reddish white colour, marked with ferruginous blotches: feeds on all kinds of infects, and on grain; and its flesh is much estemed.

Length of this species is nine inches and a half; weight, from six to eight ounces. Its note has been compared to the word Crek often repeated; and hence its name, Crake.

PLATE CXVII. CORVUS CORNIX. HOODED CROW.

PICAE, Bill compressed, convex.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strong conic, with bristles at the base. Tongue cleft at the end.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Ash colour. Head, throat, wings, and tail, black.

- CORVUS CORNIX. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- CORVUS CORNIX: cinerascens, capite jugulo alis caudaque nigris. Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 153. 7.

- Cornix cinerea, Bris. Orn. 2. p. 19. 4.

- Cornix nigra Monedula, Ger. Orn. 2. p. 35. t. 146, 147.

- ROYSTON CROW. Albin. 2. t. 23.

- ROYSTON CROW. Raii Syn. p. 39. A. 4.

- ROYSTON CROW. Will. Orn. p. 124. pl. 18. 77.

- HOODED CROW. Br. Zool. 1. No. 77.

- HOODED CROW. Arct. Zool. 2. p. 251. D.

- HOODED CROW. Lath. Gen. Syn. 1. p. 374. 5.

- HOODED CROW. — Suppl. p. 77.

- La Corneille mantelée. Buff. Ois. 3. p. 61. t. 4.

- Mulacchia cinerizia, Monachia. Zinan.

- Kraka. Faun. Succ. Sp. 88.

- Grave Kran, Kranveitl. Kramer 333.

- Urana Scopoli, No. 37.

The Hooded Crow is not uncommon during winter in many parts of England. With us it is a bird of passage. In those countries where is breeds, it retreats to the mountains for that time, and descends into the plains as the winter approaches. In many parts of Scotland it is the only species of crow known, and in the northern islands and mountains, it is said to remain the whole year.

Like the rook and crow, this Bird feeds on carrion and the offals of animals; and also on shell-fish, which they find on the banks of rivers; at other times, on seeds and grain, and mountain-berries. They are more elegant and varied in their plumage than the common crow, but not less mischievous to young birds, or any wounded or defenceless animals. Their nests are built in trees, and commonly contain six eggs. The length of this Bird is twenty-one inches.

PLATE CXVIII. TANTALUS IGNEUS. GLOSSY IBIS.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill long, thick at the base, incurvated. Face naked, nostrils linear. Tongue short. Toes connected by a membrane.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Very glossy, general colour blackish; variegated with red, blue, and green. Head and neck black, tips of the feathers whitish.

- TANTALUS IGNEUS: corpore nigricante coeruleo viridi et vinaceo variegato-nitente, captie colloque nigris pennis albido fimbriatus. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. p. 708. 16.

- Tantalus igneus, Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 649.

- Numenius igneus, N. C. Petr. 15. p. 460. t. 18.

- Glossy Ibis. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. p. 115. 14.

The Glossy Ibis is extremely rare in this country. It is not noticed by Mr. Pennant in the last editions of the British Zoology. Dr. Latham has placed it in his list of British Birds, but mentions only one instance of its being found in England. "In the Leverian Museum is one of these, which was shot in Cornwall." Lath. Gen. Syn. v. 5.

Our specimen of this species, we are informed, was also shot in England, and on diffection proved to be a male. Whether the specimen from which Dr. Latham's description is taken, differed in sex from this, we are unable to determine. The description does not exactly agree with our bird; and the specimen referred to, is removed from the Leverian collection. In the description, the eyes are placed in a white space: the eyes in our Bird are surrounded with black. The legs are also described of an olive colour in the dead bird, and green when living; those parts appear reddish in our preserved specimen: we had no opportunity of observing the true colour in the living bird; but it must certainly have been more of a red, or at least reddish brown, than olive. Neither of these differences, however, affect the essential character of the species; and we consider our bird, beyond dispute, the Glossy Ibis of Dr. Latham. The length of this Bird exceeds twenty-two inches.

PLATE CXIX. EMBERIZA CITRINELLA. YELLOW HAMMER.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill conic, the sides of each mandible bending inwards; a hard knob in the roof of the upper mandible.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Crown of the head, throat, and belly, yellow. Tail dark: feathers edged with olive, the two outmost with white, and a white spot on the interior sides, at the tip of each.

- EMBERIZA CITRINELLA: rectricibus nigricantibus, extimis duobus latere interiore macula alba acuta. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- EMBERIZA CITRINELLA: Lath. Ind. Orn. 1. 400. 7.

- EMBERIZA FLAVA. Gesner. av. 653.

- EMBERIZA FLAVA. Klein. av. p. 92. 5.

- EMBERIZA FLAVA. Bris. 3. 258. 1.

- Yellow Hammer, Raii Syn. p. 93. A. 2.

- Yellow Hammer, Will. Orn. p. 268. pl. 40.

- Yellow Hammer, Albin. 1. pl. 66.

- Yellow Hammer, Br. Zool. 1. No. 119. pl. 50.

- Yellow Hammer, Arct. Zool.

- YELLOW BUNTING. Lath. Gen. Syn. Vol. 3. 170. 7.

- Le Bruant, Bris. Orn. 3. p. 258. 1.

- Le Bruant, Buff. Ois. 4. p. 342. pl. 8.

- Le Bruant, — Pl. Enl. 30. 1.

- Cia pagglia riccia, Luteae alterum genus. Aldr. av. 2. 372.

- Sternardt. Scopoli. No. 209.

- Zivolo, Zigolo. Olin. uc. t. p. 50.

- Ammering, Goldammering. Kram. 370.

- Groning, Goldspink. Faun. Suec. Sp. 230.

This is a very abundant species throughout Europe. In England, its manners of life are so well known, that we avoid entering into a minute detail of them. The colours of the female are dull; and it has scarcely any yellow about the head.—The male is a very pretty bird; liable, however, to variation in different specimens. In some, the head is brown, in others yellow, marked with brown; in birds of fine plumage it is of a beautiful yellow; the colours throughout very full, with the yellow delicately blended into the olive, and have a fine effect.

These Birds feed on grain and insects. They make a large nest of hay and straw, mixed with moss, and dried leaves, and lined with hair and wool. The nest is generally placed on the ground, or in a low bush. It lays five or six eggs, veined irregularly with purplish or brown colour, and sparingly blotched with the same. There is more than one brood of this species in the year.

PLATE CXX. STERNA SANDVICENCIS. SANDWICH TERN.

ANSERES. Bill obtuse, covered with a thin membrane, broad, gibbous below the base, swelled at the apex. Tongue fleshy. Legs naked. Feet webbed-or finned.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strait, slender, pointed. Nostrils linear, Tongue slender and sharp. Wings very long. A small back toe. Tail forked.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. White. Back and wings pale, hoary, lead colour. Upper part of the head black; front speckled and white. Outer margins of the quill feathers black. Shafts white.

- STERNA SANDVICENSIS. Lath. Suppl. Gen. Syn.

- STERNA BOYSII: alba, dorso alisque canis, pileo nigro, fronte maculis albis, remigibus nigricantibus scapo albo. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 806. 10.

- Sterna Cantiaca. Guiel. Syst. 1. p. 606.

- Sandwich Tern. Lath. Syn. 6. p. 356. 9.—Boy's Sandwich.

- Young bird, or variety β.

- Sterna Nivaa, cauda emarginato, corpore variegato, macula aurium nigra. Linn.

- Rallus lariformis. Scop. Ann. 1. No. 156.

- La Guifette. Buff. Ois. 8. p. 339.—Pl. enl. 924.

This is certainly the new species of Tern, which has been found on the Sandwich coast, and described under the name Sandvicensis [*] by Mr. Latham: Our specimen does not precisely agree with the description given by that author; but the following considerations seem to justify our conclusion.

The plumage of many Birds differ considerably in colours and markings in the various stages of their growth; and even in the adult state, we frequently observe varieties which it is difficult to refer to their true species.—From the general appearance of the Bird before us, it has been thought the young of the common Tern, and it stands for such in the Leverian Museum: It cannot however be the young Bird of that species; in the contour it is obviously different, and the form of the beak, with other striking peculiarities, must certainly remove it from that species.

Mr. Latham, in describing the Sandwich Tern, says, the back and wings are a pale hoary lead colour, and in the young Birds are much clouded with brown: he says also the head is much dotted with white in some specimens; but observes, that all Terns with black heads are liable to the same variation[*]. Thus far our specimen may be considered as the Sandwich Tern; but the colour of the legs and claws of that Bird is uniformly said to be black, while in ours they are orange: this is however accidental, and by no means a permanent character; the orange-coloured legs and feet is striking, but not invariable in the Common Tern, as is proved by the variety β with black feet, described by Mr. Latham in the Index Ornithologicus[†]; we also find a specimen of the Sandwich Tern in the British Museum, which has the legs and feet of a dull yellowish or orange colour, and differs from the specimen we have figured only in the form of the tail, which is not forked as in the adult Birds.

The Sterna Navia of Linnaeus, and La Guiffette of Buffon, is considered by Mr. Latham as the young Bird of the Sandwich Tern. Our specimen differs very little from the descriptions given by these authors.

Length of our Bird fourteen inches. It was shot in the Chelsea road.

Notes

*
Catalogue of British Birds. Vide Supplement of Synopsis. Altered to Sterna Eoyill in Idex Ora.
↵

*
In the adult common Tern, the black of the head extends to the base of the bill; in the Sandwich Tern the forehead is white.
↵

†
Sterna Hirundo. β. var. pedibus nigris, rectricibus extimis toto albis. Lath. Ind. O•n. 2. 808. 15.—Phil. Trans. lxii. p. 421. Forster.
↵

PLATE CXXI. STRIX STRIDULA. TAWNY OWL.

ACCIPITRES. Birds of prey. Bill and Claws strong hooked, an angle in the margin of the upper mandible. Body muscular. Females larger and more beautiful than the males.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill hooked, without cere. Nostrils covered with bristly feathers. Head large. Eyes and ears very large. Tongue bifid.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Head smooth. Body reddish, or tawny brown. White spots on the wing.

- STRIX STRIDULA: capite laevi, corpore ferrugineo, remige tertia longiore. Lin. Syst. Nat.—Fn. Suec. 55.

- Strix. Aldr. av. 1. 285.

- Strix Orientalis. Hasselquist, Itin. 233.

- Noctua Major, Frisch.

- COMMON BROWN, OR IVY OWL. Will. Orn. 102. t. 14.

- COMMON BROWN, OR IVY OWL.—Albin. I. t. 9.

- COMMON BROWN, OR IVY OWL. Raii Syn. av. 25

- TAWNY OWL. Br. Zool. No. 68.

- TAWNY OWL. Lath. Gen. Syn. 1. 139. 27.

- TAWNY OWL.—Ind. Orn. 1. p. 58. 25.

- Le Chathaunt. Bris. Orn. 1. p. 500. No. 1.

- Le Chathaunt. Buff. Ois. 1. p. 362. t. 25.

- Le Chathaunt.—Pl. Enl. 437.

- Braune, oder stock Eule. Frisch. t. 96. (mas.)

- Gelblicke, oder brand Eule. Frisch. t. 95. (fem.)

- Strige. Zinnan. Uov. p. 100. t. 16. f. 89.

- Skrik uggla. Faun. Suec.

- Nacht Eule, Gemeine. Kram. 324.

- Nat Ugle. Brun. 18.

The length of this bird is fourteen inches; breadth thirty-two inches. The male is darker in colour than the female. This kind of owls inhabits woods: in England they remain the whole year. The species is found throughout Europe and America.

La Chouctte, ou Grande Cheviche, of Buffon, is supposed to be the female of the Tawny Owl; but the description differs in some particulars from those specimens we have examined.

PLATE CXXII. RALLUS PORZANA. SMALL SPOTTED GALLINULE, OR WATER-HEN.

GRALLAE. Bill roundish. Tongue entire, fleshy. Thighs naked. Toes divided.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill compressed, sharp. Nostrils oval. Toes four. Body compressed.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Above olive brown, variegated with spots and dashes of black and white: beneath ash-colour, with white marks.

- Rallus Porzana. Lin. Syst. Nat. 1. p. 262. 3.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 712.

- Gallinula Porzana: fusco-olivacea nigro albidoque variegata et maculata, subtus cinerea albido varia, rectricibus duabus intermediis albo marginatis. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 772. 19.

- Rallus aquaticus minor, sive Mauetta. Bris. 5. p. 155. 2. t. 13. f. 1.

- Gallinula ochra Gesneri. Raii Syn. p. 115. 7.

- Spotted Gallinule. Br. Zool. 11. No. 215. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. p. 264. 18.

- Petit Rale d'eau, ou le Marouette. Buff. Ois. 8. p. 157.

- Kleines gesprenkeltes Wasserhuhn. Frisch. 2. 211.

This elegant species is scarce in Great-Britain. It is of the migratory kind; but is known to breed here. Mr. Latham says in Cumberland.

This is a solitary creature, living entirely among reeds in marshy places. The nest is very singular, and is built on the water; it is composed of rushes matted together in form of a boat, and is fastened by one end to a reed that it may float in security on the water while the female sits on the eggs.

The length of this bird is nine inches.

PLATE CXXIII. MOTACILLA RUBECULA. RED-BREAST.

PASSERES. Bill conic, pointed. Nostrils oval, broad, naked.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill strait, slender. Tongue jagged.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Greyish. Throat and breast ferruginous orange.

- MOTACILLA RUBECULA, grisea, gula pectoreque ferrugineis. Lin. Syst. Nat.

- Sylvia Rubecula. Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 520. 42.

- Robin Red-breast, or Ruddock. Will. Orn. 219.

- Red-breast. Br. Zool. Raii Syn. av. 78. 1. 147. Lath. Gen. Syn. 4.

- Le Rouge-gorge. Bris. av. 3. 418.

- Pettirosso. Olin. uc. t. p. 16.

- Rotgel. Faun. Suec. sp. 260.

- Roed-Finke, Roed-Kielke. Brun. 283.

- Rothkehlein. Frisch. 1. 19.

- Rothkropfl. Kram. 376.

- Smarnza, Taschtza. Scop. No. 231.

The manners and oeconomy of this little creature are familiar to every one. It frequents inhabited places in the winter; in summer it retires into thickets or decayed buildings to breed. The nest is composed of dried leaves mixed with hair and moss, and lined with feathers: it contains from five to seven eggs of a dusky white colour, sprinkled with irregular reddish spots. The young birds are very unlike the adults, being spotted with white.

The Robin has been chosen by our earliest poets to pourtray instinctive affection towards man. An artless tale[*]: a pathetic appeal to the tenderest feelings, pleads its behalf to the infant mind, and maturer age rather cherishes than discards its first impressions. Hence the Robin, through successive ages, has become an object of fondness, and superstitious respect; and, as if conscious of our pity and protection, it boldly visits our dwellings in winter, and claims that subsistence the inclement season denies.

—"The RED-BREAST, sacred to the household gods,

Wisely regardful of th' embroiling sky,

In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves

His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man

His annual visit. Half afraid, he first

Against the windows beats: then brisk alights

On the warm hearth; then hopping o'er the floor,

Eyes all the family askance,

And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is,

Till more familiar grown, the table crumbs

Attract his slender feet."

THOMSON.

Divested of the pleasing poetic similes that are interwoven with the history of the Robin, it is a savage little animal, and in perpetual warfare with its own species, and every other tribe of small birds. It feeds on insects and seeds, or when pressed by hunger, on many other kinds of food. The note is fine and soft.

Notes

*
An ancient and simple ballad, Tit Bales in the Wood.
↵

PLATE CXXIV. ANAS BOSCHAS. MALLARD.

ANSERES. Bill obtuse, covered with a thin membrane, broad, gibbous below the base, swelled at the apex. Tongue fleshy. Legs naked. Feet webbed or finned.

GENERIC CHARACTER. Bill convex above, flat beneath, swelled at the apex, with membranous teeth.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER AND SYNONYMS. Ash colour, middle tail feathers of the male recurved. Bill strait. An incomplete white collar on the front of the neck.

- ANAS BOSCHAS cinerea, rectricibus intermediis (maris) recurvatis, rostro recto, torque alba. Lin. Syst. Nat.—Lath. Ind. Orn. 2. 850. 49.

- Anas domestica. Gesner av. 113. 96.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Will. Orn. 371. 380.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Raii Syn. p. 145. A. 1. 150. 1.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Albin. 2. pl. 10.—1. pl. 99.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Br. Zool. 2. p. 279. pl. 97.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Arct. Zool. No. 494.

- Common Wild Duck and Mallard. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. p. 489. 43.

- Le Canard Sauvage. Bris. Orn. 6. p. 318. 4.

- Le Canard Sauvage. Buff. Ois. 9. p. 115. pl. 7. 8.

- Le Canard Sauvage. —Pl. Enl. 776. 777.

- Gras-And, Blanacke. Faun. Succ. Sp. 131.

- Welde Ente. Frisch. 21. 158—159.

- Ratza. Scopoli.

- Einheimische ent. Stock ent. Kram. 341.

This is the parent stock of our domesticated or common Duck, The varieties in a tame state are endless, but they uniformly preserve one character by which we can trace them to this wild origin; this is the short curled tail feathers of the Drakes, which are constant in all its varieties of plumage, and the form of the bill in both sexes, whether in a wild or domestic state.

These birds are so well known, that we bestow little attention on their beauty; or we should consider the Mallard Drake the most beautiful of the web-footed birds that inhabit this country. The plumage throughout is of singular richness, and the various dotted streaks and lines on the plainer colours are uncommonly elegant, The colours of the female, as in other instances, are more simple.

Wild Ducks abound in this country, but are no where more plenty than in the fens of Lincolnshire[*]. The means of taking these birds are various, and have been described with minuteness by many authors. The method in common use in England is to set large decoy nets in the places they frequent, and by means of a trained bird entice them into its labyrinths[†]. The inhabitants of other countries have also various and peculiar contrivances to entrap these, and others of the water fowl. These birds breed in marshy places, and lay from ten to sixteen eggs. Dr. Latham says they are sometimes known to lay the eggs in a high tree, in a deserted Magpie, or Crow's nest, and mentions an instance of one being sound at Etchingham in Sussex, sitting upon nine eggs, in an Oak, twenty-five feet from the ground: the eggs were supported by twigs laid crossways[‡].

Length of this species near two feet; weight, two pounds and an half.

Notes

*
In only ten decoys, in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet, thirty-one thousand two hundred have been taken in one season.—British Zoology.
↵

†
The decoy nets are generally placed on a piece of water nearly surrounded with wood, that the birds may not be frightened or disturbed. They are so contrived, that different pipes lead to it from several directions; these pipes are so many avenues of net-work supported by hoops, which become gradually narrower from the opening, and lead up a ditch, at the end of which the funnel net is placed. Along these pipes, at proper intervals, are screens of reeds, behind which the decoy man conceals himself from the birds. The Ducks trained for decoys are fed on hemp seed, which being light, floats on the surface of the water. When the evening sets in, the decoy man throws some of the seeds from behind one of the screens to the trained bird; this entices him into the pipe, and the wild fowl follow. When they arrive at a certain part of the avenue, the decoy bird dives under the water, and the rest pass on till they enter the purse net, where they are taken.—Brit. Zool. &c. &c.
↵

‡
Lath. Gen. Syn.
↵

INDEX TO VOL. V ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO THE SYSTEM OF LINNAEUS.

ORDER I. ACCIPITRES.

- FALCO OSSIFRAGUS Plate 105

- STRIX FLAMMEA Plate 113

- STRIX STRIDULA Plate 121

ORDER II. PICAE.

- CORVUS CORNIX Plate 117

ORDER III. ANSERES.

- ANAS ALBIFRONS Plate 102

- ANAS HYEMALIS Plate 111

- ANAS BOSCHAS Plate 124

- STERNA SANDVICENSIS Plate 120

ORDER IV. GRALLAE.

- TANTALUS IGNEUS Plate 118

- SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS Plate 112

- FULICA ATRA Plate 106

- FULICA CHLOROPUS Plate 110

- RALLUS CREX Plate 116

- RALLUS AQUATICUS Plate 104

- RALLUS PORZANA Plate 122

ORDER V. GALLINAE.

- PHASIANUS COLCHICUS Plate 101

- PAVO CRISTATUS Plate 109

- COLUMBA OENAS Plate 107

ORDER VI. PASSERES.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA Plate 115

- EMBERIZA CITRINELLA Plate 119

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS Plate 103

- FRINGILLA LINARIA Plate 114

- MOTACILLA LUSCINIA Plate 108

- MOTACILLA RUBECULA Plate 123

VOL. V. ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO LATHAM'S SYNOPSIS OF BIRDS.

DIVISION I. LAND BIRDS.

ORDER I. RAPACIOUS.

- GENUS II.

- FALCO OSSIFRAGUS, SEA EAGLE Plate 105

- GENUS II.

- STRIX STRIDULA, TAWNY OWL Plate 121

- STRIX FLAMMEA, WHITE OWL Plate 113

ORDER II. PIES.

- GENUS III.

- CORVUS CORNIX, HOODED CROW Plate 117

ORDER III. PASSERINE.

- GENUS XXXIV.

- LOXIA PYRRHULA, BULFINCH Plate 115

- GENUS XXXV.

- EMBERIZA CITRINELLA, YELLOW BUNTING Plate 119

- GENUS XXXVII.

- FRINGILLA CARDUELIS, GOLDFINCH Plate 103

- FRINGILLA LINARIA, LESSER REDPOLE Plate 114

- GENUS XLI.

- MOTACILLA LUSCINIA, NIGHTINGALE Plate 108

- SYLVIA RUBECULA, REDBREAST Plate 123

ORDER IV. COLUMBINE.

- COLUMBA OENAS, STOCK PIGEON Plate 107

ORDER V. GALLINACEOUS.

- GENUS XLVII.

- PAVO CRISTATUS, CRESTED PEACOCK Plate 109

- GENUS LI.

- PHASIANUS COLCHICUS, COMMON PHEASANT Plate 101

DIVISION II. WATER BIRDS.

ORDER VII. WITH CLOVEN FEET.

- GENUS LXVI.

- TANTALUS IGNEUS, GLOSSY IBIS Plate 118

- GENUS LXVIII.

- SCOLOPAX CALIDRIS, REDSHANK Plate 112

- GENUS LXXII.

- RALLUS AQUATICUS, WATER RAIL Plate 104

- GENUS LXXV.

- GALLINULA CREX, CRAKE GALLINULE Plate 116

- GALLINULA CHLOROPUS, COMMON GALLINULE Plate 110

- GALLINULA PORZANA, SPOTTED WATER HEN Plate 122

ORDER VIII. WITH PINNATED FEET.

- GENUS LXXVIII.

- FULICA ATRA, COMMON COOT Plate 106

ORDER IX. WEB-FOOTED.

- GENUS LXXXVIII.

- STERNA SANDVICENSIS, SANDWICH TERN Plate 120

- GENUS XCII.

- ANAS ALBIFRONS, WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Plate 102

- ANAS HYEMALIS, LONG-TAILED DUC Plate 111

- ANAS BOSCHAS, MALLARD Plate 124

VOL. V. ARRANGEMENT ACCORDING TO PENNANT's BRITISH ZOOLOGY.

GENUS I.

- SEA EAGLE Plate 105

GENUS II.

- TAWNY OWL Plate 121

- WHITE OWL Plate 113

GENUS IV.

- HOODED CROW Plate 117

GALLINACEOUS.

- CRESTED PEACOCK Plate 109

- PHEASANT Plate 101

GENUS XIV.

- STOCK PIGEON Plate 107

GENUS XVIII.

- BULFINCH Plate 115

GENUS XIX.

- YELLOW BUNTING Plate 119

GENUS XX.

- GOLDFINCH Plate 103

- LESSER REDPOLE Plate 114

GENUS XXIV.

- NIGHTINGALE Plate 108

- REDBREAST Plate 123

GENUS XXX.

- RED SHANK Plate 112

GENUS XXXIV.

- WATER RAIL Plate 104

GENUS XXXV.

- CRAKE GALLINULE Plate 110

- SPOTTED GALLINULE Plate 122

GENUS XXXVII.

- COMMON COOT Plate 106

GENUS XLIV.

- SANDWICH TERN Plate 120

GENUS XLVII.

- WHITEFRONTED GOOSE Plate 102

- MALLARD Plate 124

- LONG-TAILED DUCK Plate 111

VOL. V. ALPHABETICAL ARRANGEMENT.

- Albifrons, Anas, Whitefronted Goose Plate 102

- Aquaticus, Rallus, Water Rail Plate 104

- Atra, Fulica, Common Coot Plate 106

- Boschas, Anas, Mallard Plate 124

- Calidris, Scolopax, Red Shank Plate 112

- Carduelis, Fringilla, Goldfinch Plate 103

- Chloropus, Gallinula, Common Gallinule Plate 110

- Citrinella, Emberiza, Yellow Bunting Plate 119

- Colchicus, Phasianus, Common Pheasant Plate 101

- Cornix, Corvus, Hooded Crow Plate 117

- Crex, Rallus Plate 116

- Cristatus Pavo, Crested Peacock Plate 109

- Flammea, Strix, White Owl Plate 113

- Hyernalis, Anas, Longtailed Duck Plate 111

- Igneus, Tantalus, Glossy Ibis Plate 118

- Linaria, Fringilla, Lesser Redpole Plate 114

- Luscinia, Motacilla, Nightingale Plate 108

- Oenas, Columba, Stock Pigeon Plate 107

- Ossifragus, Falco, Sea Eagle Plate 105

- Porzana, Gallinula, Spotted Water Hen Plate 122

- Pyrrhula, Loxia, Bulfinch Plate 115

- Rubecula, Motacilla, Redbreast Plate 123

- Sandvicensis, Sterna, Sandwich Tern Plate 120

- Stridula, Strix, Tawny Owl Plate 121

FINIS.

Information about this book

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The natural history of British birds: or, a selection of the most rare, beautiful, and interesting birds which inhabit this country: the descriptions from the Systema naturæ of Linnæus; with general observations, either original, or collected ... By E. Donovan, F.L.S. In five volumes. ... [pt.5]

Donovan, E. (Edward), 1768-1837.

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— The natural history of British birds: or, a selection of the most rare, beautiful, and interesting birds which inhabit this country: the descriptions from the Systema naturæ of Linnæus; with general observations, either original, or collected ... By E. Donovan, F.L.S. In five volumes. ..., Donovan, E. (Edward), 1768-1837.. 5v.,plates ; 8⁰. London :: printed for the author; and for F. and C. Rivington,. 1799.. [Five additional volumes numbered 6-10 were published between 1816 and 1819.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT100223.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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