I TO BE COMPLETED IN FOUR PARTS UC-NRLF •I B 3 DICTIONABY OF BIKDS BY ALFRED NEWTON ASSISTED BY HANS GADOW « WITH CONTRIBUTION'S FROM RICHARD LYDEKKER CHARLES S. ROY B.A., P.R.s. M.A., F.ll.S. AND ROBERT W. SHUFELDT, M.D. (LATE UNITED STATES' ARMY) PART III. (MOA-SHEATHBILL) LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1894 PRICE SEVEN SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE NET REEF POINT GARDENS LIBRARY The Gift of Beatrix Farrand to the General Library University of California,Berkeley DICTIONABY OF BIEDS BY ALFRED NEWTON L- — ASSISTED BY HANS GADOW WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM RICHARD LYDEKKER CHARLES S. ROY B.A., F.R.S. M.A. F.R.S. AND ROBERT W. SHUFELDT, M.D. (LATE UNITED STATES' ARMY) PART III. (MOA-SHEATHBILL) LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1894 LANDSCAPE MOA 577 was promptly (14th Feb. 1843) substituted for it and has ever since held ground (Proc. Zool Soc. 1843, pp. 1, 2, 8-10, 19). In due time these specimens with others, subsequently received from the same quarter (torn, cit. pp. 144-146), and referred to five, or rather six, distinct species of the genus x were fully described and figured (Trans. Zool Soc. iii. pp. 235-275, pis. 18-30), forming the first of that incomparable series of memoirs continued over nearly forty years which will always be associated with the author's name,2 but cannot be here further particularized, though mention must be made of the assistance rendered by Mr. Percy Earl and by Mr. Walter Mantell. The Moas inhabited both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, where they were represented by a considerable number of species, of which the smallest was scarcely larger than a Turkey, while the largest had a tibia of more than a yard in length. We are inclined to estimate the number of species at about 20 ; Capt. Hutton (N. Zeal. Journ. i. pp. 247-249 ; Trans. N. Zeal Insl xxiv. pp. 93 - 172) admits, indeed, 26 species, but some of these we should prefer regarding merely as varieties or sexes. Certain species were peculiar to the North, and others to the South Island, while some were common to both. A femur described under the name of D. queenslandise 3 appears to belong to a Moa, and if its reputed place of origin be correct, shews that the Family extended to Australia ; — a fact in distribution which, if true, is of extreme importance. When New Zealand was first systematically explored by Europeans, Moa-bones were found lying on the surface of the ground in many districts in great profusion, being especially abundant near the old cooking-places of the natives, and often shewing traces of the action of fire. They also occur in the most superficial and recent deposits, such as blown sands, as well as in caves and swamps. Many of the latter, such as that of Glenmark, near Canterbury, when drained have been found to be full of Moa-bones, frequently in all conceivable positions. In one particular district of the South Island, where climatic conditions appear to be peculiarly favourable, skeletons have been found with the bones connected by dried muscles, ligaments, and integument with the cuticle and feathers. Fragments of egg-shells, as well as pebbles swallowed by the birds and contained in their stomachs at their death, together with impres- sions of footprints, have likewise been discovered. The discovery of 1 Namely D. giganteus, ingens, struthioides, dromseoides, didiformis and otidi- formis. The original specific name novas-zealandise was tacitly dropped. 2 This series was issued in 1879 in a separate form under the title of The Extinct Birds of New Zealand. 3 De Vis, Proc. R. Soc. Queensl. i. p. 27, pis. iii. 17. (1884). Etheridge, Rec. Geol. Surv. N. S. W. i. p. 128 (1889). 37 211 578 MO A remains of a Moa (Anomalopteryx antiqua) in clay on Timaru Downs seems, however, to carry back the group to the Pliocene, or possibly the upper part of the Miocene period ; but the age of the beds has been called in question by Mr. H. 0. Forbes. That Moas lived down to a comparatively recent epoch is abundantly evident, and it is practically certain that they formed a considerable portion of the food of the human race by whom New Zealand was first peopled, and by whom they were in great part or wholly extirpated. Capt. Hutton considers that in the North Island Moas were extermin- ated not less than 400 or 500 years ago, while in the South Island they might have lingered a century later. The larger species (Dinornis) were always comparatively rare, but many of the smaller forms were very numerous. How so many became entombed in the swamps is a question not yet solved ; although it is suggested that debacles during a glacial period may have been the chief agents. As a rule, Moas were destitute of wings, although Capt. Hutton states that a rudimentary pair existed in Anomalopteryx (Palapteryx) dromseoides. The nearest allies of the Moas being apparently the Kiwis, it seems a fair inference that the females were larger than the males ; and this is confirmed by bones differing only slightly, but constantly, in size.1 The feathers differ from those of the Kiwis in having an aftershaft. Moas are distinguished from all existing Ratitss, in having a bony bridge on the anterior surface of the lower end of the tibia above the condyles (fig. 1). The tarso- metatarsus (fig. 2) has three distal trochleae, and in most cases (according to Capt. Hutton probably all) carried a hallux. The beak (unlike that of the Kiwis) is short and stout ; the form of the lower jaw being either U-like or V-like. The general form of the pelvis is very like that of the Kiwis ; but the sternum (fig. 3) differs by the absence of the superior notch, the more divergent lateral processes, and the abor- tion or disappearance of the grooves for the coracoids. The most remarkable features which the birds present are the gigantic dimensions attained by some of them, and the great number of species occurring in such a limited area as New Zealand. The absence of Mammals in those islands has doubtless been the chief cause which has led to this great development, both as regards species and individuals, of Moas (as well as of other flightless birds); and it has generally been considered that this development has taken place entirely within the limits of these islands;2 while Capt. Hutton suggests that the genera may have been differentiated on separate islets by subsidence during the Pliocene period. As regards their introduction into New Zealand, Mr. Wallace (Island Life, pp. 446, 447) is of opinion that Cassowaries, Emeus, Dromornis, Kiwis 1 Capt. Hutton does not admit this sexual difference in size. 2 If D. queenslandiss be truly Australian, this view will need modification. MOA 579 and Moas were derived from an Asiatic stock of Ratite birds ; but Capt. Hutton objects to this view, and suggests that the Moas are descended from volant birds, allied to the TlNAMOUS, which inhabited New Zealand during the Eocene. The Moas are thus regarded as the ancestral stock of all the Australasian Ratitaz, while those of Asia and America are supposed to have had a totally independent origin. There are, however, many objections to this view ; one of the most obvious being the absence of any evidence of the presumed Tinamou- like Eocene birds.1 Although, as already mentioned, there is some uncertainty as to the actual number of species of Moas, yet there is no doubt that the Fig. 1. EIGHT TIBIA of Euryapteryx gravis (A), 1/6, of Dinornis gracilis (B), 1/8, and Megalapteryx tenuipes (C), 1/8. Anterior view. (From Lydekker's ' Catalogue of Fossil Birds in the British Museum.') number was large. The Family may be divided into at least 5 genera, of which the first and last are very widely separated, although connected to a certain extent by the intermediate forms."2 The typical genus Dinwnis, Owen, includes the tallest of the Moas, and is characterized by the length and slenderness of the 1 It is not easy to reconcile Capt. Hutton's views as to the impossibility of an immigration of flightless birds having taken place into New Zealand, while he admits that emigrations must have happened. 2 Capt. Hutton adopts 7 genera (one of which he subdivides into two sub- genera), exclusive of one of those noticed below. 580 MOA tibia (fig. 1, B) and tarso-metatarsus (fig. 2, B), and also by the broad and flattened beak, the apparent absence of the hallux, and the width and convexity of the sternum. The typical D. novaz- zeolandias (including D. giganteus and D.ingens J) is mainly confined to the North Island, and is one of the largest species, the length of the tibia of the presumed female being 35 inches. In the South Island this Moa was re- presented by the closely -allied D. maximus (D. robustus, in part), which is the largest of all the species, having a tibia measuring 39 inches, and probably reaching a height of 12 feet. D. gracilis (fig. 1, B) and D. struthioides (fig. 2, B) were considerably smaller forms, occurring in both islands, and referred by Hutton to a distinct subgenus (Tylo- Fig. 2. RIGHT TARSO-METATARSUS of Pachyornis pteryX). elephantopus (A), and Dinornis struthioides MegCtlaptenjX, Yon Haast, worko' Anterioraspect' <F™mthesame originally referred to the Aptery- gidse, is represented by two much smaller and imperfectly -known forms from the South Island, characterized by the extreme slenderness and length of the femur and tibia (fig. 1, C), and the shorter tarso-metatarsus. Anomalopteryx, Reichenbach ( = Meionornis, Haast) is typically represented by the small D. didiformis, Owen, and, in our opinion, may be conveniently taken to include all the smaller species of the group, although Capt. Hutton prefers to separate Owen's D. dro- mseoides as Palapteryx, D. curtus as Cela, and D. didinus as Mesopteryx. On the other hand, Owen's D. casuarinus, which Yon Haast included in Meionornis, is placed by Capt. Hutton with Emeus crassus. Whether included under one or more generic headings, all these forms are characterized by having the tibia and tarso-metatarsus considerably shorter and stouter than in Dinornis, while the beak is narrow and more or less pointed, the hallux present (as in the following genera), and the sternum (fig. 3, A) very long and narrow. There is great difficulty in correctly identifying the various members of this group with the species named by Owen on the evidence of detached bones. A. casuarina, with a tibia measuring 19 inches in length, is the largest form, and A. (Cela) 1 If these forms be regarded as distinct, the name novae-zealandise, should be adopted for the latter. MOA 581 oweni, in which the tibia measures only 9 '2, the smallest. A. parva is the only member of the Family of which there is a perfect skeleton in English collections. It is identified by Capt. Hutton with the typical A. didiformis ; but a skeleton transmitted by Von Haast to the British Museum and assigned to the latter has a relatively smaller skull.1 In the type of A. (Mesopteryx) didina the integuments of the head and feet are still preserved. Emeus, Reichenbach, was established on D. crassus, Owen. It is a rather large species, to which Owen and Von Haast assigned a broad- billed skull, and although Capt. Hutton states that the skull is really of the narrow-beaked type of Anomalopteryx, we have reason to believe that the original view is correct. This Moa was confined to the South Island. Fig. 3. STERNUM of Anomalopteryx casuarina (A), and Pachyornis elepTiantopus (B), 1/6. a, Costal process ; fc, Lateral process. (From the same work.) Von Haast proposed the name Euryapteryx for the small and broad-beaked D. gravis, Owen. This species, which is confined to the South Island, is distinguished from those that follow by the absence of any inflection of the lower end of the tibia, and the relative length and straightness of that bone. It therefore seems to be entitled to generic distinction.2 If, therefore, the so-called 7). crassus really have a broad-beaked skull, both that and the present species may be included under the title of Emeus. Lastly we have the genus Pachyornis, Lydekker, likewise typi- cally confined to the South Island, and including some three or four species of large size, characterized by the extraordinary massiveness and sharpness of their limb -bones. The tarso- metatarsus (fig. 2, A) presents a remarkable contrast to the corre- sponding bone of Dinornis (fig. 2, B) ; and a similar contrast is 1 It is doubtful if this skeleton is altogether authentic. 2 According to Von Haast it is further distinguished by having a sternum of the type of Anomalopteryx, but Capt. Hutton throws some doubt on the correct- ness of the restoration of the skeleton by Von Haast. 582 MO A T-HEN— MOCKING-BIRD exhibited by the tibiae of the two genera, that of Pachyornis being further distinguished from the corresponding bone of all the preceding members of the Family by the inflection of its distal end. The sternum (fig. 3, B) is likewise very different from that of the other forms, being very wide and flat, with broad and divergent lateral processes. The skulls found with the limb-bones of P. elephantopus near Oamaru Point, and transmitted with them to the British Museum, have pointed beaks, and there is much probability of their reference to this species by Owen being correct. P. elephantopus, of which the remains, often charred by fire, are extremely abundant near Oamaru Point, was a large species, the tibia measuring 24 inches in length ; but P. immanis was still larger, with a remarkably wide tarso-metatarsus. R. LYDEKKER. MOAT-HEN, an old name for the MOOR-HEN. MOCKING-BIRD x is the name given by naturalists and others to a number of birds that possess the power of imitating the notes of other species of the Class. Comparatively speaking, however, it almost exclusively applies to the Mocking-bird of America, the Mimus polyglottus of recent ornithologists. This re- markable bird is regarded by those who have investigated its structure as belonging to the Family Troglodytidse, a group containing the WRENS, THRASHERS (Harporhynehus), and their allies ; a sub- family, Miminse, within this Family having been created to contain such birds as are represented in the United States by the last- named genus, as well as the genera Oreoscoptes, Mimus and Galeo- scoptes.2 The most THRUSH-like forms among the Troglodytidse are more or less closely related to the Turdidse, the Family containing the typical Thrushes, and none more so than are the several genera above named. Indeed, many ornithologists regard the Miminse as being 1 For this article on a subject which can only be fitly treated by an American ornithologist I am again indebted to Dr. Shufeldt. The earlier English naturalists, Charleton, Ray and Catesby wrote the name "Mock-bird"; and in England either form, or more often "Mock-Nightingale," is occasionally given to the BLACKCAP, Sylvia atricapilla, and the SEDGE-BIRD. In India and Australia the name is sometimes applied to other species, and even in North America two Wrens, Thryothorus ludovicianus and T. bewicki seem to be widely known as "Mocking-birds."— A. N. 2 In this connexion see the paper by Mr. F. A. LUCAS entitled Notes on the Osteology of the Thrushes, Miminae, and Wrens (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. vol. xi. 1888), and two papers by the present writer, viz. On the Position of Chamsea in the System (Jour. Morph. vol. iii. No. 3, 1889, pp. 475-502), also Contributions to the Comparative Osteology of the Families of North American Passeres (Jour. Morph. vol. iii. No. 1, 1889, pp. 81-114). MOCKING-BIRD 583 aberrant Turdidx, the former possessing tarsi anteriorly scutellate, while the latter are characterized by having the tarsal theca fused into one solid, smooth sheath in front. It is as well to observe here, however, that in Galeoscoptes the scutellae of the tarsus are sometimes quite obsolete. Osteologically the Mimime, Thrushes and Wrens possess apparently distinguishing characters of about equal rank and strength, while in some particulars the several genera almost seem to intergrade where the affinities are most closely drawn. From some cause or another, not yet fully determined, adult Mocking- birds vary considerably in size, especially in length, several apparently full-grown males ranging from 9| to 11 inches; and it is also a well-known fact that they likewise vary greatly in their powers of song. Although exceedingly plain in the coloration of his plumage, the Mocking-bird is a strikingly handsome and graceful bird. This is largely due to the ease and elegance of his every movement, his neat appearance, and a certain decisive dignity in all his actions. His eye is full of animation, and his constant bearing full of energy. The sexes differ but little in colour or size, the female being rather browner and at the same time smaller, while young birds are speckled below with dusky, as is the case in the majority of young Turdidas. An adult male is of an ashy-grey above, and a dingy white below. A large white space marks the blackish-brown wing, and the outer tail-feathers are also white, the remainder of the tail being black, the feathers tipped with white, the same being graduated from without towards the middle pair of usually wholly black feathers. The bill and feet are likewise black, and the irides of a fine golden cream-colour. In form, the bird is trim and Thrush-like, the tail being rather long and cuneiform. The habitat of this species may be said to extend across the entire breadth of the United States, and south into Mexico ; but north of the 38th parallel the bird becomes rare. Over this wide range the food of the Mocking-bird varies somewhat, although it may be broadly said that it everywhere consists largely of many of the smaller fruits, insects and some seeds. In some respects its nidification agrees with the typical Thrushes, the nest being placed without much regard to concealment in some bush or low tree ; being bulky, and built of twigs, dried leaves, fine fibrous roots, and sometimes to these are added wool or tow when procurable. The eggs are from four to six, bluish-green in colour, freckled with blotches of various shades of yellowish-brown. Two broods may be reared in the season, and in the southern States sometimes even three. Very often the nest of the Mocking-bird is attacked by various species of snakes, more especially the black -snake (Bascanium constrictor), which is very partial to the eggs and young of this and other birds. These attacks are met by Mimus with 584 MOCKING-BIRD conspicuous courage, and the intruder is frequently compelled to withdraw, while the victorious bird announces the result of the encounter with a perfect medley of his richest vocalizations, which are usually poured forth from the top of the tree or bush containing his nest. Were what we have given in the foregoing account of the Mocking-bird all that goes to make up his life-history, he would pass among his Class as a very ordinary representative of it indeed ; it is not, however, for any of the traits or habits thus far enumerated that he has become one of the most famous of his tribe. He is, as every student of nature knows, one of the most extra- ordinary songsters of the entire world's avifauna. As an imitator of the songs or cries of every other species of bird he has ever listened to, the Mocking-bird probably stands without a rival in the entire Class, but in addition to this power he possesses native notes of great purity, strength, energy, and sweetness. To some degree these latter resemble the notes of the Brown Thrasher, Harporhynchus rufus, but are of greater variety and far richer. For thorough appreciation, one should catch him upon a dewy morning just as the sun rises, and he flits to the top of some low tree to pour forth his medley of carols in soul-felt welcoming. This may be in some quarter of the sunny south, perhaps near the manor-house of some broad plantation, where not only can he imitate any individual of the host of native songsters about him, but vary the strain with any of those familiar sounds heard about the house and barn-yard. To see that little feathered being so brimful of ecstasy, replete with action and anima- tion, drooping his wings, spreading his tail, so buoyant as hardly to be able to retain his perch, while the air is actually filled with his inimitable musical performances, is a sight not likely to be for- gotten. Clearly, and with the greatest possible accuracy and rapidity, and with a mellow strength even exceeding the originals, he utters the notes and calls of twenty or more birds in succes- sion, ranging all the way from the plaintive air of the Blue-Bird to the harsh, discordant cries of Jays, Sparrow-Hawks, and even with equal compass the vociferations of an Eagle. Catching breath, and tossing himself lightly into the air above his perch, he alarms the entire feathered community assembled by his imitating the cries of a wounded birdling in the talons of a Hawk ; this is followed perhaps by the crowing of a Cock or the vociferous note of the Whip-poor-will, and the very incongruity appears to put his feathered listeners to shame at the hoax. Caging seems hardly to diminish his powers, and he will sing with the greatest energy the best part of a moonlit night, as lustily as though he were free in his native haunts. But enough : to have one appreciate the Mocking-bird he must be heard, and he MOLLY— MONAL 585 must be heard under all circumstances where he best loves to dwell. To compare him with his only rival, the European Nightin- gale, seems to me quite out of place, though I will say that my faith in the powers of the Mocking-bird is so firm, that I believe were he successfully introduced into those countries where the Nightingale flourishes, that princely performer might some day wince as he was obliged to listen to his own most powerful strains poured forth with all their native purity by this king of feathered mockers, the subject of the present notice. In America there are no other birds that at all deserve the name of a Mocking-bird. The Magpie often imitates bits of human speech with great accuracy, while the CAT-BIRD sometimes makes a feeble effort to bring out the notes of some of the smaller birds, but they are not to be thought of in connexion with the powerful productions of Mimus polyglottus, while the cat-like mewing note of the former is not in imitation of that animal at all, but only an accidental vocal resemblance.1 E. W. SHUFELDT. MOLLY and MOLLY-MA WK, corruptions of MALLEMUCK, applied by modern seamen to the smaller kinds of ALBATROS. MONAL or MOONAUL (Hind. Mundl),2 the Anglo-Indian name for birds of the genus Lophophorus, some of the largest of the 1 Some twelve or fourteen other species of Mimus have been recognized, mostly from South America, where the name of "Calandria" (Lark) is often applied to them, and Mr. Hudson's account (Argent. Orn. i. pp. 5-11) of the three inhabiting the portion of that continent treated of by him is well worth attention ; but M. orpheus seems to be common to some of the Greater Antilles, and M. hilli is peculiar to Jamaica, while the Bahamas have a local race in M. bahamensis. The so-called Mountain Mocking-bird, Oreoscoptes montanus, is a form not very distant from Mimus ; but, according to Mr. Kidgway, it inhabits exclusively the plains (overgrown with Artemisia) of the interior tableland of North America, and is not at all imitative in its notes, so that it is an instance of a misnomer. Of the other genera allied to Mimus, those known in the United States as THRASHEBS, and belonging to the genus Harpo- rhynchus — of which six or eight species are found in North America, and are very Thrush -like in their habits — have been mentioned above ; but there is only room here to dwell on the CAT-BIRD, Galeoscoptes or Mimus carolinensis, which is an imitator of many sounds, with at the same time peculiar notes of its own, from one of which it has gained its popular name. The sooty-grey colour that, deepening into blackish-brown on the crown and quills, pervades the whole of its plumage — the lower tail-coverts, which are of a deep chestnut, excepted — renders it a conspicuous object ; and though, for some reason or other, far from being a favourite, it is always willing when undisturbed to become intimate with men's abodes. Besides its range on the American continent it is one of the few species that are resident in Bermuda, while on more than one occasion it is said to have appeared in Europe, though whether as an unaided visitor may be doubted. — A. N. 2 See Yule and Burnell, Hobson-Jobson, pp. 443, 444. 586 MONAL Phasmnidss, the Impeyan PHEASANTS of many writers, so called because one of them was introduced to notice by Sir Elijah and Lady Impey on returning from India in 1784.1 But the species thus made known, the true L. impeianus, seems to have a re- LOPHOPHORUS REFULGENS. (After Swainson.) stricted range in southern Cashmere (Chamba), and is not common in collections, a nearly allied one, L* refulgens, which frequents the forests of the southern slopes of the Himalayas, from eastern Afghanistan to western Bhotan, being generally mistaken for it.2 Its habits, described by Mr. Frederic Wilson, writing in 1848, as "Mountaineer" in The India Sporting Review (viii. pp. 143-148), and quoted by Jerdon (B. Ind. iii. pp. 511-515), are completely those of an ordinary Pheasant, though it often shews a greater partiality for perching upon a tree when made to take wing. In some districts it seems to have been extremely numerous not so many years ago, but there is reason to fear that, in spite of the well-intended action of the Indian Government, this is not so now; for the cocks have been killed by thousands to meet the " plume " market, and their refulgent feathers are not only largely used by women to bedizen their persons, but also in the construc- tion of fans, screens and the like. The hens are fortunately without special adornment, and carry on their maternal duties comparatively unmolested in a modest attire admirably adapted to concealment, and in strong contrast to the brilliant hues of their mates, whose plumage of shining green and blue over nearly the 1 Cuvier in 1829 (Regne Animal, ed. 2, i. p. 474), and after him Yule (Marco Polo, i. p. 248), believe that it was described by Mlieui (Nat. Anim. xvi. 2), but what the last says of his "Great Indian Cock," though in several respects fitting the Monaul, seems too vague to make this certain. Some suppose that Julian took his information from Ctesias, but the fragments of the latter speak only (Indica, cap. 3) of very big Indian Cocks, a MS. at Munich reading, according to P. J. C. F. Bahr (Francof. a/M. : 1824, p. 269), d\eKTpv6ve.s u>s Trpd^ara — cocks as big as sheep I Mr. M'Crindle, in his edition of Ctesias (Bombay: 1882, p. 36, note), also thinks he had this bird in view, but woefully misspells its scientific name. 2 L. impeianus has the lower part of the back and body generally of a golden- green, while in L. refulgens the former is white and the latter black. The correc- tion of the common mistake is due to Mr. Ogilvie-Grant (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 278), and is the more welcome since the original species had been redescribed (Ibis, 1884, p. 421, pi. x.) under the new name of i. chambanus. MONK— MONSTROSITIES 587 whole body, with a gleam of gilded purple on the nape, a snowy- white rump and rufous tail, offer a marvellously bright combination of colours. Another striking feature is the crest of feathers formed almost like those of the common Peacock, and this crest is pos- sessed also by the true L. impeianus. In Assam a third species, L. sclaleri, is found (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, pi. xiv. ; 1879, pi. li.) crestless, and having the tail white with a broad reddish bar near the tip ; while a fourth, L. I'huysi, having a crest of ordinary feathers, and a dark glossy green tail (op. cit. 1868, pi. i.), in- habits Moupin. Other species may A ... r _/ (After Swamson.) not unlikely reveal themselves as the North-eastern portion of the Indian Region is explored. According to Jerdon (op. cit.\ one of the Horned Pheasants, Tragopan or Ceriornis satyrus, is also called " Monaul " by Europeans at Darjiling. MONK, a name in some parts of England for the cock BULL- FINCH, and in Australia one of many applied to the FRIAR-BIRD. MONSTROSITIES are naturally more observed in domesticated than in wild Birds, and are more commonly cases of excessive than of arrested development. The former may be restricted to overgrowth of otherwise small parts, such as double feathers, or may amount to the addition of a whole limb, or even still greater portion of the body. Frequently such supernumerary parts seem due to an early splitting of the affected member in the embryo, but whether caused by mechanical injury or due to an unusual activity of the growing and multiplying cells it is of course in most cases impossible to say. As a rule, such abnormalities are purely pathological, and not indicative of ancestral conditions, though cases are known in which latent germs have certainly been awakened and given rise to organs or parts of organs that in normal individuals of the species are either absent or rudimentary. Supernumerary toes, as in the Dorking Fowl, are of common occurrence. In these cases the additional toe is generally the result of the HALLUX being split into two, and not the real fifth toe, which was long ago completely lost by the Reptilian ancestors of Birds. Three legs are very frequent ; the third limb, which is generally smaller and with crippled toes, being attached to the caudal vertebrae, to the pelvis, or even to the femur of one of the proper legs. Such cases have been many times recorded in the Duck, Fowl, Sparrow and other common birds, while Lidbeck long ago described (K. Vetensk. Acad. Handl 1762, p. 164) an adult Eagle with three feet, of which the superfluous foot was placed between the other two and bore seven toes. A more recent and somewhat similar 588 MONSTROSITIES instance is described by Mr. H. K. Coale (Auk, 1887, p. 332), in which a superfluous toe was loosely attached to the muscles of the thigh of a Buteo latissimus.1 Monstrous examples with four legs are known in Fowls, Pigeons, Geese, Sparrows and the Goldfinch, the supernumerary pair being sometimes correlated with a double vent. A Chick preserved in the Cambridge Museum has the additional pair of limbs attached to the end of the stunted tail. Supernumerary wings, articulating below the normal Avings, likewise occur, but very rarely except the legs be also doubled, so that the monster possesses eight limbs (Tiedemann, Anat. und Naturgesch. Vogel, ii. p. 273). Many other malformations may be seen in various Museums, but only a few need be here mentioned — such as Chicks with two bills, three wings and four legs ; Geese, Pigeons, and Pheasants with two or three bills ; Chicks, Ducklings and Pigeons with two heads. Occasionally considerable portions of the trunk are affected by duplicity, producing not only two heads and necks, but two vertebral columns and two bellies. Two hearts, within otherwise normal bodies, have also been described in adult Fowls, Turkeys and Geese. The Cambridge Museum possesses a nearly adult example of a Duck which beside the two normal and functional legs has an extra right leg of the same size as the others, but ending in five complete toes. Another immature Duck has a cleft in the middle line of the sternum, separating it together with the keel into a right half and a left, in this respect continuing the embryonic condition. Similar cases of arrested development are common, and one, of a Pigeon, has been figured (Phil. Trans. 1869, pi. xxiii. fig. 172). In the same Museum is an adult male Turnstone (Strepsilas interpres), which was in perfect plumage when killed, with only one leg, and not the least trace, as ascertained on dissection, of the other. Fowls may have their toes more or less united by a web, and Ducks be without any web between their toes ; the last case is of some curiosity, insomuch as such birds, as they swim, close their toes during the back stroke, thus adapting themselves to their abnormal condition. Questions relating to abnormal excess of structure form what is called Teratology, on which the works of M. Camille Dareste 2 and Mr. Bateson 3 may be profitably studied. The former comes to the following conclusions : — Abnormalities are always due to modifica- tions of the early embryonic development. Multiple heads are the 1 The same gentleman also records a Dolidionyx oryziwrus having a horny spur, of which he gives a figure (torn. cit. p. 333), " growing from the thumb tip " of each wing. This may be compared with the examples already cited (CLAWS, pp. 89, 90), but they scarcely belong to the category of Monstrosities. — A. N". 2 Recherches sur la production artificielle des monstruositts, ou essai de Terato- genie experimentale. Paris : 1877. 3 Materials for the Study of Variation. London : 1894. MOOR-BUZZARD—MOOR-HEN 589 result of arrested development of the anterior cranial vesicle. Irregular growth of the AMNION frequently has a disturbing in- fluence upon various parts of the embryo, and thus abnormalities of the tailfold (EMBRYOLOGY, p. 201) produce hind limbs abnormal in shape and position, a crooked vertebral column and so on. Double or treble monsters, partial or even perfect twins, or triplets, may be due to any one of three causes : — two or three yolks, each with its own blastoderm (p. 200) in one common shell ; two blastoderms with one yolk ; or one blastoderm upon a single yolk, split by a subsequent injury, each portion of it producing a more or less complete counterpart of an embryo or portion of it. M. Dareste has been able to shew beyond doubt that portions of the blasto- derm artificially split off, or even parts of more advanced embryos will occasionally continue growing into a part at least of that organ, of which the respective embryonic cells were the normal substratum ; in the case of two blastoderms upon a single yolk, complete though more or less united embryos will be the result. According to the present state of our knowledge it is not justifiable to explain partly multiple monstrosities by the assumption of a fusing of originally separate embryos, but by a splitting of the blasto- derm, and if that takes place very early and is complete, each of its halves, which in Mammals have little or no yolk, may produce an independent embryo, so that in such a case the flippant saying that "A twin is only the other half" happens to be true. MOOR-BUZZARD, the common name in England, in days when the bird was not scarce, for what is called in books the Marsh-HARRiER. MOOR-COCK, MOOR-FOWL and MOOR-POULT, old English names of the bird now well known as the Red GROUSE ; but MOOR-HE^S" is the commonest name of a common bird, often called Water-hen, and in books sometimes Gallinule. An earlier English name was Moat -hen, which was appropriate in the days when a moat was the ordinary adjunct of most considerable houses in the country, and this species its ordinary denizen. It is the Gallinula chlowpus of ornithologists and so well MOOR.HEN (Atter Swainson-) known as hardly to need description. About the size of a small Bantam -hen, but with the body much compressed, as is usual with members of the Family Rallidx (RAIL) to which it belongs, its plumage above is of a deep olive-brown, so dark as to appear black at a short distance, and beneath iron-grey, relieved by some white stripes on the flanks, with the lower tail-coverts of pure white — these last being very conspicuous as the bird swims. A scarlet frontlet, especially 590 MOOR-HEN bright in the spring of the year, and a red garter on the tibia of the male render him very showy. Though often frequenting the neighbourhood of man, the Moor-hen seems unable to overcome the inherent stealthy habits of the Rallidse, and hastens to hide itself on the least alarm ; but under exceptional circumstances it may be induced to feed, yet always suspiciously, with tame ducks and poultry. It appears to take wing with difficulty, and may be often caught by an active dog; but, in reality, it is capable of sustained flight, its longer excursions being chiefly performed by night, when the peculiar call-note it utters is frequently heard as the bird, itself invisible in the darkness, passes overhead. The nest is a mass of flags, reeds, or other aquatic plants, often arranged with much neatness, almost always near the water's edge, where a clump of rushes is generally chosen ; but should a mill-dam, sluice- gate, or boat-house afford a favourable site, advantage will be taken of it, and not unfrequently the bough of a tree at some height from the ground will furnish the place for a cradle. The eggs, from seven to eleven in number, resemble those of the COOT, but are smaller, lighter, and brighter in colour, with spots or blotches of reddish-brown. In winter, when the inland waters are frozen, the majority of Moor-hens betake themselves to the tidal rivers, and many must leave the country entirely, though a few seem always able to maintain their existence however hard be the frost. The common Moor-hen is widely spread throughout the Old World, being found also at the Cape of Good Hope, in India, and in Japan. In America it is represented by a very closely- allied form, G. galeata, so called from its rather larger frontal helm, and in Australia by another, G. tenebrosa, which generally wants the white flank-markings. Both closely resemble G-. chloropus in general habits, as does also the G. pyrrhorrhoa of Madagascar, which has the lower tail -coverts buff instead of white. Celebes and Amboyna possess a smaller cognate species, G. h&matopus, with red legs ; tropical Africa has the smallest of all, G. angulata ; and some more that have been recognized as distinct are also found in other more or less isolated localities. One of the most remarkable of these is G. nesiotis, the " Island Hen " of Tristan da Cunha (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 260, pi. xxx.), which has wholly lost the power of flight concomitantly with the shortening of its wings and a considerable modification of its external apparatus, as well as a strengthening of its pelvic arch and legs.1 The same is to be said of the "Mountain Cock" of Gough Island, the Porpliyriornis comeri of Mr. Allen (Bull Am. Mus. N. H. iv. pp. 57, 58), who 1 A somewhat intermediate form seems to be presented by the Moor-hen of the Island of St. Denys, to the north of Seychelles (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 1036 ; Trans. Norf. <L Norw. Nat. Soc. iv. p. 552, note), hitherto undescribed, and accordingly now named by me Gallinula dionysiana. MOOR-HEN 591 has instituted for it a new genus, to which he also refers the preced- ing bird. A more extreme development in this direction appears to be exhibited by the singular Habroptila walladi of Gilolo (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1860, p. 365, pi. clxxii.), and to some extent by the Pareudiastes pacificus of Samoa (op. dt. 1871, p. 25, pi. ii.), but at present little is known of either. Of other forms, such as the common Gallinula (Erythra) plicenicura and Gallirex cinerea of India, as well as the South- American species classed in the genus Porpliyriops, there is not room to speak ; but mention must be made of the remarkable Australian genus Tribonyx, containing three species (Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 3, xx. p. 123), called by the colonists "Moor-hen" and " Native Hen," which seem to be more terrestrial than aquatic in their haunts and habits. Allied to all these is the genus Porpliyrio, including the bird so named by classical writers, and perhaps a dozen other species often called Sultanas and Purple Water-hens, for they all have a plumage of deep blue — some becoming violet, green, or black in parts, but preserving the white lower tail-coverts so generally characteristic of the group ; and their beauty is enhanced by their scarlet bill and legs. Two, P. alleni of the Ethiopian Region and the South- American P. parva, are of small size. Of the larger species, P. cseruleus seems to be the " Porphyrio " of the ancients, and inhabits certain localities on both sides of the Mediterranean, while the rest are widely dispersed within the tropics, and even beyond them, as in Australia and New Zealand. But this last country has produced a more exaggerated form, Notornis, which has an interesting and perhaps unique history. First described from an imperfect fossil skull by Owen (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848, pp. 2, 7 ; Trans, iii. p. 366, pi. Ivi.), and at that time thought to be extinct, an example was soon after taken alive (Proc. 1850, pp. 209-214, pi. xxi.; Trans, iv. pp. 69-74, pi. xxv.), the skin of which (with that of another procured like the first by Mr. Walter Mantell) may be seen in the British Museum. Other fossil remains were from time to time noted by Prof. Owen ; x but it began to be feared that the bird had ceased to exist,2 until a third example was taken about the year 1879, the skin and most 1 Thus the leg-bones and what appeared to be the sternum were described and figured by him (Traits, iv. pp. 12, 17, pis. ii. iv.), and the pelvis and another femur (vii. pp. 369, 373, pis. xlii. xliii. ) ; but the supposed sternum subsequently proved not to be that of Notornis, and the author's attention being called to the fact (Proc. 1882, p. 97) he rectified the error (torn. cit. p. 689) which he had previously been "inclined to believe" (Trans, viii. p. 120) he had made. 2 Notwithstanding the statement, which certainly presented some incon- gruities, made by Mr. Mackay (Ibis, 1867, p. 144). MOOR- TITLING— MO RILLON of the bones of which, after undergoing examination by Sir W. Buller and Prof. T. J. Parker (Trans. N. Zeal Inst. xiv. pp. 238-258), are now in the museum of Dresden, where Dr. A. B. Meyer declared the recent remains to be specifically distinct from the fossil, and while NOTOKNIS. Natural size. (From Buller.) keeping for the latter the name N. mantelli gave t]ie former that of N. hochstetteri. A third species ascribed to the genus, N. alba, is said to have once inhabited Lord Howe's and Norfolk Islands, but is now extinct, a specimen at Vienna (Ibis, 1873, p. 295, pi. x.) being its sole remains.1 MOOR-TITLINGr, a common local name in Scotland and the North of England for the TITLARK. MOORUK, the native name of the species of CASSOWARY peculiar to New Britain, and adopted as an English word. MOOSE-BIRD, a name for the Canada JAY. MOREPORK, in New Zealand the name of an OWL, SpUoglaux novx-zealandide, but in Tasmania that of Podargus cuvieri (NIGHTJAR), in each case from the cry of the bird. MORILLON, a name commonly given by fowlers to the female and immature male of the GOLDEN-EYE, the Clangula glaucion of 1 The genus Aptornis, of which Prof. Owen described the remains from New Zealand as nearly allied to Notornis and Porphyrio, is considered by Prof. T. J. Parker (loc. cit.) to be a " development by degeneration of an ocydromine type," and Mr. Lydekker (Cat. Foss. B. Br. Mus. p. 147) speaks of it as "allied to Ocydromus " (WEKA). MOSQ UITO-HA IVK—MO TMO T 593 modern ornithology, under the belief which still very generally obtains among them, as it once did among naturalists, that they formed a distinct species of Duck. The mistake no doubt originated in, and is partly excused by, the facts that the birds called Morillons were often of opposite sexes, and differed greatly from the adult male Golden-Eye, whose full and beautiful plumage is not assumed until the second year. The word is used in French in precisely the same form, but is in that language applied to the Tufted Duck, Fuligula cristata, and is derived, according to Littr6, from more, signifying black. MOSQUITO-HAWK, a name in America for the species of Chordiles (NIGHTJAR). MOSS-CHEEPEE, a north-country name of the TITLARK. MOTHER CAEEY'S CHICKEN, GOOSE and HEN— sailors' names, the first of any of the small black or black and white PETRELS, the second of the Giant Petrel, Ossifraga gigantea, and the third seems to be applied without much discrimination to any Petrel of middle size. MOTH-HAWK, MOTH-HUNTEE, names of the NIGHTJAR. MOTMOT, according to Hernandez in his 'Historia Avium Novse Hispanic (p. 52), published at Eome in 1651, was the Mexican name of a bird which he described well enough to leave no doubt as to what he meant ; but the word being soon after printed Momot by Nieremberg and others gave rise to the Latinized Momotus, invented by Brisson as a generic term, which has since been generally adopted by ornithologists,1 though Motmot has been retained as the English form. Linnaeus knew of only one species of Motmot, and referred it to his genus Ramphastos (TOUCAN) under the name of R. momota. This is the Momotus brasiliensis of modern ornithologists, and from its geographical range cannot be the original Motmot of Hernandez, but is most likely the " Guira guainumbi " of Marcgrave. The Motmots have been for many years recognized as forming a distinct family, Momotidas or Prionitidze, of the heterogeneous assem- blage known as Picarise or Coccygomorphx ; and the only question among systematists has been as to their position in that group. This has been discussed and illustrated with his usual assiduity by Dr. Murie (Ibis, 1872, pp. 383-412, pis. xiii.-xv.), who conclusively shewed that Todus (TODY) was the Motmot's nearest existing relative, while he believed that both Momotida and Todidte might be placed in one section (Serratirostres) with the Coraciidw (EOLLER), Meropidx (BEE-EATER), and Alcedinidx (KINGFISHER). To the latter 1 Its barbarous origin induced Illiger to substitute for it the word Prionites, and his example has been followed by some nomenclatural purists. 38 594 MOTMOT allocation Garrod (Proc. Zool Soc. 1878, pp. 100-102) partly de- murred, though admitting the Kingfisher affinity, while upholding the former, and even declaring that Motmots and Todies form but a single Family. As the conclusions of both these investigators are based on the sure ground of anatomical structure, they are of in- comparably greater value than most of those arrived at by prior systematists who judged from external characters alone. In outward appearance the Motmots have an undoubted resemblance to the Meropidse, but, though beautiful birds, various shades of blue and green predominating in their plumage, they do not exhibit such decided and brilliant colours ; and while the Bee- eaters are only found in the Old World, the Motmots are a purely Neotropical form, extending from southern Mexico to Paraguay, and the majority of species inhabit Central America. They are said to be solitary birds, or at most living in pairs, among the gloomy forests, where they sit on the underwood nearly motionless, or only jerking their long tail as the cry " houtou " (or something like it) is uttered. Their ordinary food is small reptiles, insects, and fruits. The nest of one species, as observed by Mr. Robert Owen, is at the end of a hole bored in the bank of a watercourse, and the eggs are pure white and glossy (Ibis, 1861, p. 65). Little else has been recorded of their ways. The Momotidte form but a small group, containing, according to the enumeration of them in 1873 by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin (Nomenclator, pp. 102, 103), but 17 species,1 distributed into 6 genera, of which last, however, Dr. Murie (I.e.) would only recognize four — Momotiis, Baryphtliengus, Hylomanes,&n& Eumomota — the second including Urospatha, and the last Prionorhynchus, while Dr. Sharpe in 1892 (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xvii. pp. 313-332) made an additional genus, raising the number of genera to 7 and of species to 18. The distinctions between Dr. Murie's, and still more Dr. Sharpe's groups would require more space to indicate than can here be allowed ; but it may be stated that, while all have a general resemblance in the serrated edges of the bill and many other characters, Momotus has the normal number of 12 rectrices, while the rest have only 10,2 which in Hylomanes have the ordinary con- figuration, but in adult examples of all the others the shaft of the median pair is devoid of barbs for the space of about an inch a little above the extremity, so as to produce a spatulate appearance, such as is afforded by certain HUMMING-BIRDS known as " Racquet- 1 The same number was recognized by the first-named of these gentlemen in his review of the Family (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857, pp. 248-260), where they are all diagnosed, a species, subsequently described by Dr. Cabanis (Mus. Hein. ii. p. 115), not being admitted. 2 Dr. Sharpe (I.e.) makes a different statement, but I believe Dr. Murie, whose reckoning is here followed, to be right. MOULT 595 tails," Kingfishers of the genus Tanysiptera, and PARROTS of the group Prioniturus. Waterton (Wanderings, Journey 2, chap, iii.), mentioning the species M. brasiliensis by its native name " Houtou," long ago asserted that this peculiarity was produced by the Motmot itself nibbling off the barbs, and this extraordinary statement, though for a while doubted, has since been shewn by Mr. Salvin (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, pp. 429-433), on Mr. Bartlett's authority, to be perfectly true. The object with which the operation is per- formed is wholly unknown. It is sometimes incompletely executed, and the tail has then an asymmetrical form. This must have been the case with the example that Hernandez described (I.e.), and brought on himself the criticism of Willughby (Ornithologia, p. 298) for so doing. Much of the bibliography of the family is given in Dr. Murie's paper already quoted ; and it may be remarked that in 1734 Seba, probably misled by wrong information, figured (Rerum Nat. Thesaur. tab. 67, fig. 2) under the name of " Motmot" a bird which has been identified with a species of GUAN, and is the Ortalis motmot of modern ornithology. MOULT,1 the change of plumage, or shedding of its old and often weather-beaten feathers to be replaced by an entirely new suit, to which almost every individual bird is subject at least once a year, and a process of the most vital consequence, being possibly the severest strain to which the life of each is exposed, for to judge by its effects on those we domesticate, it produces a greater mortality than temporary want of food may do. Important then as is all that relates to the subject, it is yet one that has been sadly neglected by ornithologists, among whom that careful observer the late Herr W. Meves seems alone to have published any extensive series of ob- servations,2 and it is certainly not to the credit of ornithologists in general, and especially of those who are afforded facilities by Zoological Gardens, that so much ignorance of the process should prevail as undoubtedly is the case, for since his time little advance has been made in our knowledge, so that questions arising out of investigations made by him more than forty years ago remain un- answered and disregarded ; and, apart from general works, in which the subject is usually but lightly touched, the literature relating to this branch of ornithology is very small. The structure and mode of growth of FEATHERS has already been sufficiently treated, and 1 In Middle English the word (originally a verb) is mout, the modern I being redundant, and it is derived from the Latin mutare, to change. 2 His valuable paper is in the CEfversigt of the Academy of Sciences of Stock- holm for 1854 (No. 8), and an English translation of it has been published by Mr. Dresser (Zoologist, 1879, pp. 81-89), while a German version containing some modifications and additional matter appears in the Journal fur Ornithologie for 1855 (pp. 230-238). But the essay treats also of change of colour in feathers apart from moult. 596 MOULT here we have briefly to consider the different phases which the act of Moulting offers. As a general rule all kinds of Birds are subject to an annual Moult, and this commonly begins immediately on the close of the breeding -season, but, as will be presently explained, there are some which undergo in addition a second or even a third partial change of plumage, and it is possible that there may be others still more exceptional : our information respecting these, however, is too meagre to make it worth while saying anything here about them. It must be acknowledged that with regard to the greatest number of forms we can only judge by analogy, and though it may well be that some interesting deviations from the general rule exist of which we are altogether ignorant, yet when we consider that the Ratitse, so far as observed, moult exactly in the same manner as most other birds,1 the uniformity of the annual change may be almost taken for granted. It is not intended here to say more (cf. p. 248) of the way in which a feather dies and a new one succeeds it, nor need we com- pare the process of moulting with the analogous shedding of the hair in Mammals or of the skin in Eeptiles, though the latter, in the case of the flipper-like wings of the PENGUIN — the scaly feathers of which come off in flakes — Mr. Bartlett (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, p. 6) has shewn to be remarkably close. Enough for our present purpose to see that such renovation is required in Birds, nearly all of which have to depend upon their quills for the means of loco- motion and hence of livelihood. It is easy to understand that dur- able as are the flight-feathers, they do not last for ever, and are beside very subject to accidental breakage, the consequence of which would be the crippling of the bird.2 It is obviously to pro- vide against what in most cases would be such a disaster as this last that we find the remiges, or quill-feathers of the wings, to be nearly always shed in pairs. They drop out not indeed absolutely at the same moment, though this sometimes seems to happen, but within a few days of each other, and, equilibrium being thus preserved, the power of flight is but slightly deteriorated by their temporary loss. The same may be observed in a less degree, since there is less need of regularity, with the rest of the plumage, as a little attention to any tame bird will shew, and the new feathers grow at an almost equal rate. In the young of most species the original quills are not shed during the first year, nor in the young of many does there seem to be an entire moult during that time, but in the 1 For the knowledge of this fact I am indebted to the vast experience of Mr. Bartlett. 2 By an ingenious but simple process known as "imping," which properly means engrafting, and is described in almost every book on hawking, falconers repair any broken flight-feather, and so restore the bird to its full power. MOULT 597 typical Gallinse^ which are able to fly at a very early age, often before they are one-third grown, the original quills, being proportioned to the duties required of them, are shed before the bird has attained its full size and are succeeded by others that serve it when it has reached maturity. In the Anatidze and some other groups, however, we have a singular exception to what has been above stated. Most of the former, Ducks, Geese and Swans, shed their quill-feathers all at once, and become absolutely incapable of flight for a season,2 during which time they generally seek the shelter of thick aquatic herbage,3 and it is further to be particularly remarked that the males of most of the Family Ancdidse at the same period lose the brilliantly-coloured plumage which commonly distinguishes them and " go into eclipse," as Waterton happily said, putting on for several weeks a dingy garb much resembling that of the other sex, to resume their gay attire only when, their new quills being grown, it can be safely flaunted in the open air. Here we have the first instances of Additional Moult to be mentioned. Another is not less interesting, though ornithologists must confess with shame that they have not sufficiently investigated it. This is that of the Ptarmigan, Lagopus mutus (p. 392), both sexes of which not 1 Nothing seems to be known about the moulting of the young Megapodiidse, and information thereon would be very acceptable. 2 A Patagonian form, the LOGGER-HEAD (p. 518, No. 3) Tachyeres cinereus, seems never to regain the power of flight thus lost (cf. Cunningham, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1871, p. 262). 3 It is amusing to find from comments on a paper by the Baron d'Hamonville (Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 1884, pp. 101-106), that the observation of this fact has been regarded by reviewers and others as a recent discovery. The fact may have been neglected by some writers ; but it was well known to a monk of the 12th century (Liber Eliensis, ii. cap. 105), and it is hard to imagine the time when it was not familiar to " divers persons next inhabiting in the countries and places within this realm, where the substance of the same wild-fowl hath been accustomed to breed," for they — to continue the words of an Act of Parliament (25 Hen. viii. cap. 11) passed in 1533 — "in the summer season, at such time as the said old fowl be moulted, and not replenished with feathers to fly . . . have by certain nets, engines and other policies yearly taken great numbers of the same fowl, in such wise that the brood of wild-fowl is almost thereby wasted and consumed." It was accordingly declared unlawful to take Wild Ducks or Wild Geese in this manner between the last day of May and the last day of August. Another Act in 1710 (9 Anne, cap. 25, § 4) reinforced this provision for any "Fowl commonly reputed Waterfowl, in any place of resort for wild fowl in the moulting season," and in 1737 (10 Geo. ii. cap. 32, § 10), the close time for moulting waterfowl was extended to the 1st of October. A similar state of things in the FLAMINGO came under the notice of Pallas (Zoogr. Ross.-Asiat. ii. p. 207) who therein is corroborated by Crespon (Orn. du Gard, p. 396) ; and, more recently, it has been asserted by M. Gerbe (Rev. Zool. 1875, pp. 271-277, pi. vi.) to obtain in the PUFFIN, Fratercula ardica, and in the Black-throated DIVER, Colymbus arclicus. 598 MOULT only moult after the breeding-season is over into a grey suit, and then again as autumn passes away into their snowy winter-clothing, but, divesting themselves of this last in spring, at that time put on each a third and most distinctive dress — these changes, however, do not extend to the quills either of the wings or tail.1 The number of Birds which undergo a more or- less entire Double Moult is very considerable, and the peculiarity is not always characteristic of Families or even, unless in a very restricted sense, of genera. Thus while the Garden- WARBLER, Sylvia salicaria, and the WHITETHROATS, S. rufa and S. curruca, are said to moult twice in the year the BLACKCAP, S. atricapilla, does so but once. The same may be said of the Emberizidx (BUNTING), in which Family both prac- tices seem to obtain, but on the other hand, the distinction in this respect between the Alaudidse (LARK) and the Anthinx (PIPIT), belonging to the Family Motacillidte (WAGTAIL), appears, so far as our knowledge goes, to be invariable, though the habits and general appearance of both groups are so much alike — the Alaudidss moult- ing but once and the Anthinse, conforming to the practice of the normal Motacillidte (Motacillinte), twice a year — the quills, be it understood, excepted. But it would be impossible here to give more than these few examples, and indeed we scarcely know any- thing of the subject outside of some groups belonging to the Northern hemisphere.2 In a large number of species the Additional Moult is very partial, being often limited to certain portions of the plumage, and it is yet an unsolved problem how far some of the changes to be observed are due to actual Moult and how far to the alteration of colour in the feathers themselves, as also the way by which this alteration of colour is produced, whether, as certainly happens in many instances, by the dropping off of the " barbicels " — the fine filaments that fringe the "barbules," which are arranged on the upper surface of each " barb " composing the web of the feather — or in some other manner. With either of these last considerations we need not now concern ourselves. It is unquestionable that there are innumerable species of birds, the males at least of which put forth in spring decorative plumes unknown at any other season, and it would appear that in some of them the feathers which before clothed the parts whence the newly-donned ornaments grow are doffed to make room for these paraphernalia of marriage. 1 Macgillivray (Brit. Birds, i. p. 196 ; and Nat. Hist, of Deeside, p. 405) thought there were four moults in this species, but that seems to be one too many. Meves (loc. cit.) and the Abbe Caire (Rev. Zool. 1854, p. 494) independ- ently made the discovery of the Triple Moult, and almost simultaneously announced it (cf. Gloger, Journ. fur Orn. 1856, p. 461). 2 The fullest list as yet published is that of Meves (Journ. f. Orn., loc. cit.}, but it is not entirely free from error. MOULT 599 The subject of Additional Moult is thus intimately connected with the seasonal adornment of Birds, and as that properly be- longs to a branch of the great question of Natural Selection it could not be suitably entered upon here. The reader is accordingly referred to those excellent chapters in which Mr. Darwin1 has treated the matter with his usual perspicuity, though even he has far from exhausted its varied points of interest. It remains to be remarked that though the annual Moult com- monly takes place so soon as the breeding-season is over, there are plenty of cases in which the change is delayed to a later period. This is so with the SWALLOW, Hirundo rustica, which has long been known to moult in our mid-winter or even later, and it is generally the way with the Diurnal Birds-of-Prey. But unquestionably most birds accomplish the change much earlier, and before they leave their breeding-quarters for their winter haunts, thereby starting on one of their great annual journeys with all the external machinery of flight renewed and in the best condition for escaping its attend- ant perils. But the plumage is not the only part of the Bird's integument that undergoes regularly periodical change. Many years ago Nilsson made known by a communication to the annual report of the Academy of Sciences of Stockholm on Zoology for 1828 (pp. 104-106) that in certain species of Tetraonidte (GROUSE) the CLAWS grow to an inordinate length in winter and are partly shed or worn off as spring comes on, and the fact has since received further attention (cf. Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 189, pi. 485). The seasonal elongation of the bill of REDPOLLS during summer, first announced as a conjecture by Gloger (Journ. fur Orn. 1856, pp. 433-440), had been previously made known to the present writer by Wolley, who first observed it in 1853-4 (cf. Yarrell, Br. B. ed. 4, ii. p. 139). In both these cases, however, the getting rid of the extraneous growth is to a great extent a mechanical process, and therefore in some measure comparable with the shedding of the fringes of the feathers before mentioned. Not so does it seem to be with others, and a far stranger state of things was revealed by the observation, originally made by Mr. H. G-. Palmer about 1865, according to Mr. Ridgway (U. S. Geol. Expl&r. 40th Parall. iv. p. 634), who himself confirmed it in countless instances, that irrespective of sex the White PELICAN of North America, during the breeding -season, bears on the ridge of its bill a curious horny projection, flattened at the sides and roughly-triangular in shape, which is worn for about two months only, and then dropping off may be " gathered by the bushel " on the nesting-grounds of the species, as recorded by Baird (Ibis, 1869, p. 350). Still more extraordinary was the 1 The Descent of Man and Selection in relation to Sex, chaps, xiii.-xvi. London: 1871. 6oo MOUND-BIRD— MOUSE-BIRD discovery by Dr. Bureau of the PUFFIN moulting the horny sheath of its BILL, together with the outgrowths over the eyes, while the fleshy rosette at the corner of the mouth shrinks to insignificance, completely changing the bird's physiognomy, and he has since de- scribed the same astonishing metamorphosis as existing in other allied forms, including the genera Chimerina, Ombria, and Simorhynchus (Bull Soc. Zool Fr. 1877, pp. 377-399, pi. v. and 1879, pp.' 1-63, pis. i.-vi.) Mr. Harting has given a translation of the first of these papers, with a reproduction of the remarkable plate (Zool. 1878, pp. 233-240), and Dr. Coues has published an abstract of both (Bull Nutt. Orn. Club, iii. pp. 87-91, and v. pp. 127, 128). MOUND-BIKD, a name sometimes given to the MEGAPODES in general, from their mode of modification, but not applicable to all. MOUNTAIN-, a prefix to the name of many birds, but often inappropriate, and seldom used except in books, or by persons whose knowledge is thereto limited — thus Mountain-Bunting is the Snow-BuNTiNG ; Mountain-Cock the CAPERCALLY ; Mountain-Duck several species of Anatidse — and in New Zealand apparently applied colloquially to Tadorna tadornoides (SHELD-DRAKE) ; Moun- tain-Finch the BRAMBLING ; Mountain-Parrot the Kea (see NESTOR) ; Mountain-Sparrow the Tree-SPARROW, and so on. MOUSE-BIRD (Dutch Muisvogel), the name by which in Cape Colony, Natal, and other parts of British Africa, the members of Brisson's genus Colius,1 Englished COLY in 1773 by Pennant (Gen. B. p. 31), are known — partly, it would seem, from their general coloration, but probably more from their singular habit of creeping along the boughs of trees with the whole tarsus applied to the branch. By the earlier systematists, who had few opportunities of examining the internal structure of exotic forms, Colius was usually placed among the Fringilliddz; but nearly all travellers who had seen one or another species of it in life demurred to that view. Still its position was doubtful till Dr. Murie, in an elaborate treatise on its osteology and systematic place (Ibis, 1872, pp. 262-280, pi. x.) shewed that it was no Passerine, and subsequently (Ibis, 1873, p. 190, note) proposed to regard the Family Goffidx as the sole repre- sentative of a distinct group (PAMPRODACTYL^E) — this word being coined to indicate the obvious character of all the toes being ordinarily directed forwards, though it is by no means the only peculiar character these birds possess. A few years later most of Dr. Murie's views were confirmed by Garrod (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, pp. 416-419), who added considerably to our knowledge of the general anatomy of the Family, which he considered to be related on the one hand to the Piddas (WOODPECKER), and on the other to 1 Some other generic divisions have been suggested, but on grounds so slender as hardly to merit consideration. MUGGY— MUNI A 601 the Alcedinidte (KINGFISHER), and Bucerotidaz (HORNBILL). The Coliidze are small birds, with a rather Finch-like bill, a more or less crested head, a very long tail, and are generally of a dun or slate- coloured plumage that sometimes brightens into blue or is pleasingly diversified with white or chestnut. They feed almost wholly on fruits, but occasionally take insects, in quest of which they pass in bands of fifteen or twenty from tree to tree, and hang in all MOUSE-BIRD. (Partly after Mitchell.) attitudes from the branches as they feed. It is even said that they sleep suspended by their powerful and versatile toes. Ten species are recognized by Dr. Sharpe (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xvii. pp. 338-346, and 500), all belonging to the Ethiopian Kegion (of which the Family is one of the most characteristic), and ranging from Abyssinia southwards. Three species inhabit the Cape Colony. MUGGY, possibly cognate with the latter part of Grasmiicke (Grass-Midge), the common German name of the WHITETHROAT, and allied birds ; but perhaps only a corruption of MEGGY. MULLET-HAWK, a name for the OSPREY. MUMKUFFIN, said to be a local name of the Long-tailed TIT- MOUSE. MUNIA, the general name in many parts of India for several kinds of small seed-eating birds, commonly placed in the Family 602 MURRE— MUSCULAR SYSTEM Ploceidte (WEAVER-BIRD), which are distinguished for their familiarity with man, their gregarious habits, their depredations on the rice- crops, and their ingenious NESTS, to quote Mr. Hodgson (Asiat. Researches, xix. p. 155), who not only Anglified the word but Latinized it, making it the title of a genus to which he assigned three species, while Dr. Sharpe in 1890 (Gat. B. Br. Mus. xiii. p. 326) referred to it no fewer than twenty-six. Many of them are among the commonest of exotic cage-birds. MURRE, a name applied by fishermen indifferently to GUILLE- MOT and RAZOR-BILL. MUSCULAR SYSTEM. Muscles constitute what is generally called "flesh," and are composed of fibres, each of which is an elongated cell of contractile tissue surrounded by a thin sheath of connective tissue, the whole being held together by an outer sheath of connective, and frequently elastic, tendinous tissue. The fibres are arranged with their long axes in the direction of the action or pull of the muscle, and each is intimately connected with a nerve- cell, stimulation of which causes contraction, and consequently draws together the parts to which the whole muscle is attached. In the Muscles of the Skeleton the attachment nearest to the axis of the body is called the "Head" or "origin"; the attachment furthest from the same is the " Tail " or " insertion " — no matter which extremity is the punctum Jixum : the intermediate portion is the " Belly " or " Body." In Birds, as in other Vertebrates, there are two fundamentally different kinds of Muscles : — 1. Involuntary or unstriped Muscles, which are generally of slow or rhythmical action, such as all those of the viscera, and the true cutaneous Muscles, such as those attached to the root of the feathers. 2. Voluntary or striped Muscles, in which each fibre under a microscope seems to consist of a great number of alternate dark and light disks, which cause a transverse striation. The Muscle of the HEART is in some degree intermediate between those two kinds. The nomenclature of Muscles has always been difficult. Names like Musculus deltoides or M. gracilis afford no information, and the physiological method of naming a muscle from its function permits only a limited application. The most preferable way is to use a compound word, of which the first portion should indicate the origin, and the second the insertion, further distinction, when needed, being secured by an additional adjective — as M. ilio-tibialis internus. Where the old names of human anatomy can be used without mistaken homology, they may be well applied to Birds, as with M. latissimus dorsi or M. biceps, even though the words M. MUSCULAR SYSTEM 603 spini-liumeralis and M. coraco-humero-brachialis would also fix and, moreover, in a measure describe the muscle ; but the application of these old names is not always easy, as shewn by the M. supra- coracoideus of Birds which really is the modified M. supra- spinatus of Man, and has been called the M. pectoralis minor, M. p. secundus, M. p. medius and M. subclavicus ; while the M. caud- ilio-femoralis figures as M. adductor femoris, M. gemellus, M. pyriformis and M. femoro-caudalis — the last being wrong and in- appropriate in more than one way — that is to say, it has been mistaken for at least three distinct muscles, and since the nerve- supply has not been ascertained by the writers who employ those names, it is generally doubtful which piece of flesh is intended to be described. Our knowledge of the homologies of avine Muscles may now be regarded as fairly settled by the present writer in Bronn's Thieweich (Fogel, pp. 91-325), thanks to the previous labours of Alix, De Man, Fiirbringer, Retzius, Rolleston and Riidinger, and it is based upon their nerve-supply and a study of their origin and insertion in a great number of different Birds. The taxonomic value of Muscles is theoretically great, but very limited when . put to a practical test. Most of them cannot be understood unless the whole group to which they belong be examined, and the study of their correlations is a very complicated problem. To pick out a few of the most variable muscles of the leg, and to arrange Birds according to their mere presence or absence, without regarding intermediate stages, is an easy but scarcely serious mode of investigation, and there is no wonder that systems built on such simple notions broke down. There is no reason why a dozen different kinds of Birds should not have lost the same muscle at different times and independently of each other, and that other kinds may not lose it in future if its function be no longer required or can be fulfilled by some other combina- tion. Similar conditions may possibly have abolished 3 out of the 4 famous thigh-muscles in Cypselus, Trochilus, Striges, Fregata and Accipitres, and identical circumstances have caused Dicholophus and Serpentarius to assume the same " myological formula," which in this case means only the loss of the caudal portion of the M. caud-ilio-femoralis ! It is certain that similar muscular combina- tions in two or more Birds do not necessarily mean relationship, while on the contrary similar requirements are often met in similar ways, that is to say the respective organs are "isomor- phous" if in two Birds they are modifications of one and the same substratum of the same previous condition, but if identical requirements were in both Birds reached after they had already differed in their substratum, the later requirement would be differently met, and the results would be no longer isomorphous. Thus if in a descendant of the Passeres the hallux became reduced 604 MUSCULAR SYSTEM and ultimately lost, its so-called " long flexor " muscle would in all likelihood disappear also, because in existing Passeres its tendon is unconnected with that of the M. flexor perforans digitorum, while Birds which lost the hallux before these two tendons were disconnected have kept both these muscles. Prof. Fiirbringer, who with enormous labour has exhaustively studied the muscles of the shoulder -girdle, has tabulated the chief characters of 14 muscles selected with a view to taxonomic application, but the results are very small and far less obvious than those afforded by the muscles of hind limbs. The former, as the apparatus of Flight, seem to be more uniformly constructed than the latter, which are more diversified according to the varied uses of the legs and feet. Fluttering, skimming, sailing, soaring are motions much more akin to one another, than climbing, grasp- ing, running, scratching, swimming and wading. The only really aberrant modifications of the wings and their muscles are found in the Ratitx, where they are all easily explained by reduction, and in the Sphenisddse, where bones and muscles are greatly specialized. The modifications of the hind limbs are many times greater — such as extremely long legs, with four, three or only two toes — short or long : very short legs, almost incapable of running or walking, with all four toes directed forwards, or two or one backwards, and two or more connected in various ways. Most Muscles leave an impression upon the bones to which they are attached, in the shape of ridges, furrows, crests and processes. These marks, small as they often are, are mostly significant, and of greater assistance in the recognition of a bone than its general configuration, as any one will find on trying to determine the kind of bird to which a given bone belongs. The muscles are not as a rule attached to such crests and ridges because these happen to be there, but on the contrary they shape the bone which serves as their passive framework : what is bred in the flesh comes out in the bone, not vice versa. It is the quality not the quantity of an organ that determines its taxonomic value, and adhesion to this principle precludes us from classifying Birds by trim myological formulae which seem to afford easy keys, but rather obscure than elucidate natural affinities. Without entering upon genetic and therefore fundamental differences, the voluntary skeletal muscles may be conveniently grouped thus : — A. Muscles supplied by spinal nerves. a. Muscles of the Stem (neck, trunk and tail). 1. Dorso-spinal Muscles, supplied by dorsal branches. 2. Ventri-spinal Muscles, supplied by ventral branches. /?. Muscles of the extremities (limbs) supplied by ventral branches. MUSCULAR SYSTEM 605 B. Muscles supplied by cranial nerves. a. Muscles of the Visceral Skeleton. 1. Muscles of the Jaws. 2. Muscles of the HYOID apparatus (page 452). P. Muscles of the SYRINX. / y. Muscles of the EAR (page 178) and EYE (page 229). A. The Muscles of the Stem (A.a) and of the Extrem- ities (A./3) not only exhibit many varieties in different Birds, but they are also very numerous, about one hundred pairs being recog- nized. To describe them all adequately would go far beyond the scope of this work, while simply to name them and devote a few lines to the general condition of each would, considering their great vari- ability, be of no practical use, for the dissection and recognition of Muscles is not easy. In what follows, therefore, only some of those will be dealt with which, rightly or wrongly, bear the reputation of being of taxonomic value. Musculus pectvralis, consisting of a thoracic, propatagial and abdominal portion — the first forming the chief muscular mass of the breast and arising from the sternum in the shape of a (J — the two arms of which surround the ra. supracoracoideus, the longer formed by the clavicle, sterno-clavicular membrane and the side of the keel, the shorter by the body and lateral margin and membranes, filling the sternal notches, and adjoining parts of the sternal ribs. All the fibres of this great muscle, which occupies most of the ventral surface of the sternum, converge toward the shoulder into one or two tendons, the principal of which is inserted on the greater tubercle and the upper crest of the humerus, and the muscle is the chief depressor of the upper arm during the down stroke, while it also rotates it forwards. This last is especially its effect in the Spheniscidx, giving their wings the screw -like motion, and is in conformity with the peculiar fact that the tendon of the clavicular portion of the muscle is attached to the whole length of the radial surface of the humerus between its inferior crest and the head. The weight of both the pectoral muscles together is said to amount to about 1/14 in Birds-of -Prey and 1/11 in Wild Geese of that of the whole body. M. supracoracoideus, arising chiefly from the sides of the angle formed by the keel and body of the sternum, and from part of the coraco- clavicular membrane, and covered by the ra. pectoralis, ascending from the sternum along the inner and anterior surface of the coracoid, passing by a strong tendon through the foramen triosseum and the region over the joint, and inserted on the upper tubercle of the crest of the humerus, which it rotates and ab- ducts. This muscle is generally described as a second pectoral or as the ra. mbdavius ; but Alix and Fiirbringer have shewn that its 6o6 MUSCULAR SYSTEM Mammalian equivalent is the m. supraspinatus. In Eatitse it arises almost wholly from the coracoid, and scarcely from the sternum : in Carinatw the lateral margin of its sternal origin is marked by a ridge beginning near the coracoid and running parallel to the keel, or converging towards or diverging posteriorly from the latter. The direction and extent of this ridge afford some taxonomic help, as shewn thus : — ORIGIN OF MUSCLE. STERNAL RIDGE. Converging. Parallel. Diverging. From the whole Spheniscidse, Tinami- Anseres (pt. ), Grues, Cypseli, Tro- length of the dsejGallinse, Limicolae Columbse, Opistho- chili, Capri- keel. (pt.) comus, Psittaci. mulgidae. From half to Limicolse (pt.}, Lari, two-thirds. Anseres (pt. ), Phoeni- copteras, Pelargi, Herodii, Stegano- podes, Cathartidse, Neophron, Striges, Steatornis. From the an- Acciptres (plurimi), Passeres (pt.) Picarise (plur- terior third. Colymbidse, Tubi- imse), Pici, nares. Passeres (plur- imi). M. propatagialis longus, always present, composed of slips from the mm. deltoides, pectoralis, biceps and cucullaris. Its strong belly originates near the shoulder- joint from the clavicle, scapula and coracoid. Its tendon runs directly to the carpus, forming the outer margin of the patagium or fold of skin between the anterior surfaces of the upper and forearm, which it with the m. propatag. brevis serves to extend, and consists of yellow elastic and blue non-elastic fibres, the latter radiating into and being attached to various portions of the patagium. When the wing is extended the elastic portion is stretched to about three times its ordinary length, to which it returns when the wing is folded. M. propatagialis brevis, composed like the last, absent only in Apteryx, Casuarius, Dromseus and the Spheniscidse. In other Birds it is often very complicated — the simplest condition being in the Pici, where it consists of a belly and a strong tendon, running down the anterior and outer side of the upper arm, and attached to the proximal tendon of the m. extensor metacarpi radialis longus, a little below the outer condyle of the humerus. In Cuculus its tendon is attached simply to the ulnar fascia, below the elbow- joint. In most other Birds the tendon is split into several portions, and is further complicated by receiving slips from, and by connexion MUSCULAR SYSTEM 607 with the m. propatag. longus. Frequently one or more sesamoid bones are intercalated with these tendons, which shew the most complicated arrangement in the Tubinares. Garrod devoted much labour to the elucidation of these patagial muscles, regarding them as of taxonomic value. An obvious and Fig. i. Fig. 2. Fig-3- PU. Fig. 4. Fig- 5- Fig. 6. MUSCLES OF LEFT ARM. Lateral View. (After Fiirbringer.) Fig. 1. Anas ; 2, Columba ; 3, Phoenicophases ; 4, Upupct ; 5, Menura ; 6, Cyanocorax. D, m. deltoides major ; D.pt. deltoid portion of m. propatagialis ; L.d. in. latissimus dorsi (portion); Pt.b. and Pt.l. mm. propatagialis brevis and m. longus ; T, m. triceps. (The m. biceps with its slip to the m. propatagialis is black.) constant character is the presence or absence of a slip from the m. biceps to the tendon of the m. propatag. longus, and its value may be judged from the following lists : — Present — Gallinte (excl. Craddse), Columbse, Limicolse, Laridse, Al- tidze, Rallidse, Grues, Tubinares, Colymbidse, Podidpedidse, Plialacrocorax, Plotus, Sula, Anseres, Phcenicopterus, Platalea, Caprimulgidse, Colius. Absent — Ratitte, Tinamidse, Turnices, Cracidse, Otis, Cariama, Spheniscidse, Phaethon, Fregata, Pelicanus, Palamedea, Herodii, Pelargi, Accipitres, Psittaciy Striges, Picarise (excl. Caprimulgidse), Steatornis, Pici, Passeres. M. metapatagialis, formed by slips from the m. serratus super- fidalis and m. latissimus darsi, and with the addition of the m. expansor secundariorum extending by its tendons the posterior patagium or fold of skin between the trunk and the inner surface of the upper arm. The sem^ws-portion comes from the ribs and is 608 MUSCULAR SYSTEM inserted on the patagium and the last cubital quills, the other splits off from the posterior portion of the latissimus dorsi and acts indirectly on the patagium by joining the m. anconazus longus. M. expansor secundariorum or of the cubital quills, arises as a long tendon from the sterno-scapular ligament, passes the axilla, often by a fibrous pulley, accompanies the axillary vessels and nerves along the humerus, and is inserted by a few fleshy fibres on the base of the last two or three cubital quills. It is, however, more complicated in many birds, especially GdUinsR and Anseres ; but it is scarcely of taxonomic value, being weak or absent in Golumbx, absent in Sphenisddtc, Tubinares, Steganopodes, some Herodii, Alcidse, some Accipitres, in Striges, Psittaci, CypsehmorpJue, Pici and Passeres. r. Exp. sec, WING MUSCLES OP A GOOSE. Bi. m. biceps ; Elast. sec. vinculum elasticum and Exp. sec. m. expansor secundariorum ; Lig. ligament ; Metapatag. metapatagium ; Pector. m. pectoralis ; Propatag. propatagium ; Pt. br. and Pt. Ig. mm. propatagialis brevis and longus ; Tri. m. triceps. M. flexor digitorum sublimis, arising fleshy from the inner face of the long subcutaneous elastic band that extends from the inner con- dyle of the humerus along the ventral surface of the ulna to the ulnar carpal, over which the tendon runs and is inserted on the radial anterior side of the first phalanx of the second digit. Owing to the elasticity of the humero-carpal band the wing remains closed without any special muscular exertion, while, when the wing is extended, this band assists considerably in keeping it taut.1 M. AMBIENS (page 11), long and spindle-shaped, lying immedi- ately beneath the skin as the most median or internal of all the 1 From its position immediately under the skin, tliis band may be easily cut, and though that operation would cause a drooping of the wing, it would suffi- ciently hinder its being firmly extended, and thus would be the neatest substitute for the clumsy and barbaric method commonly employed for pinioning Birds. The power of flight is more effectively destroyed if one wing only be operated upon than if both are treated. MUSCULAR SYSTEM 609 muscles extending from the pro-acetabular ilium to the knee. When typically developed, it arises with a short tendon from the outer face and the apex of the pectineal process or ilio-pubic spine and runs as a long tendon between the insertion of the m. sartorius and the patella over the outer surface of the knee-joint, where it is covered by the origins of the m. flexor perforans and perforatus dig. Hi., and the m. perforatus dig. ii., then perforating the lateral head of the m. peroneus superflcialis, it lastly forms one of the heads of m. flex, perforat. ii. or Hi. Its nerve-supply comes from the last branch but one of the middle crural plexus. This muscle is subject to many modifications, and upon their extremes were founded the two groups ANOMALOGONAT.E and HOMALOGONAT^E (see also ANATOMY, page 16). One of the functions of this peculiar muscle, which is similarly developed in Crocodiles, but absent or not differentiated from the ilio-tibial and ilio-femoral mass in other Vertebrates, is that its contraction closes the second and third toes.1 M. caud-ilio-femoralis, when fully developed, consists of ' two parts, inserted by a single strong and ribbon-like tendon near the end of the first third of the hind face of the femur. The caudal part is longer than the other, and arises from the transverse processes of one or more caudal vertebrae passing externally over the distal half of the ischium and pubis. The iliac part, which is the "accessory femoro-caudal " of some writers, is more or less triangular and arises in most cases from the outer face of the distal half or mid-third of the pro-acetabular ilium. This double-headed condition is the most primitive and obtains in most NIDIFUG^E, but in many of them as well as in many of the NiDiGOL^E either the caudal or the iliac head is absent, though in very few is the whole wanting. The absence of the caudal head may possibly be correlated with the strength of the 1 Owen, in 1835, described (Cyclop. Anat. Physiol. i. p. 296) the disposition of this muscle, which he called the gracilis, as passing ' ' first, over the con- vexity of the knee-joint, and afterwards over the projection of the heel, [so] that from its connection with a flexor of the toes, these must necessarily be bent simultaneously with every inflection of the joints of the knee and ankle. As these inflections naturally take place when the lower extremities yield to the superincumbent weight of the body, birds are thus enabled to grasp the twigs on which they rest whilst sleeping, without making any muscular exertion. " This ingenious explanation of the perching and roosting of Birds was apparently first given by Borelli (De motu animalium, Romse : 1680-82), and has been copied and made much of by many subsequent writers, though Sundevali in 1851 drew attention to the faultiness of the idea, since the ambiens muscle is absent in such typical perching Birds as the Coccygomorphse and Passeres, while it is present in the Anseres. Elsewhere I have pointed out (TMer-reich, Vogel, p. 148) that Birds possessing it can spread and stretch their toes freely while the leg is also extended because then only it is not interfered with, and accordingly it is fully developed in running, wading, swimming and rapacious Birds, but absent in those which hop and climb. 39 6io MUSCULAR SYSTEM leg ; but these four principal modifications are linked to each other by intermediate stages, which moreover frequently occur in closely- allied genera or even species. Thus the caudal head is very weak in (Edicnemus su-percUiaris and (E. bistriatus and, as Garrod found, does not exist in GB. grallarius. Dicholophus cristatus, like Otis, has lost it, but D. burmeisteri the iliac head as well. In Ciconia, the Striges and Catliartidw the whole muscle is represented only by the feebly-developed caudal head, and in Leptoptilus this also is lost. In some of the Limicolse, for instance Charadrius pluvialis and Vanellus cristatus, the presence of the iliac head is an individual variation. In Pedionomus the iliac head is very large, while the caudal is reduced to a very thin and feeble slip that does not even reach the femur, but merges into the iliac : if this reduction were continued Pedionomus would agree with Pavo and Meleagris and not with Turnix, in which the iliac head is absent. Thus the taxpnomic value of this muscle may be judged from the following table, shewing its four principal modifications : — Caudal and Iliac Head present. Caudal Head alone present. Iliac Head alone present. Both Heads absent. Ratitse Tinamidse Pedionomus Turnix Gallinse (most) Pavo, Meleagris Pterocles Columbse (most) Lopholsemus Glareola Numenius Hsematopus Scolopacinee (most) Tringinse Himantopus (Edicnemus super- Strepsilas CE. grallarius ciliaris,(E. bistri- atus Charadrius Otis Vanellus Eupodotis Crex Grus Parra Dicholophus cris- D. burmeisteri tatus Sterninse Larinse Alcidse Ibididfe Ciconiinae Phoenicopterus Leptoptilus Platalea Herodii Tubinares Steganopodes Colymbus Podicipes Spheniscidse Anatidse Accipitres Serpentarius Striges Psittaci Centropus Pici Cypselomorphse Passeres MUSCULAR SYSTEM 611 M. caud-ilio-flexorius or semitendinosus, subject to many modifica- tions, but when fully developed, as in Gallinte, arising from the transverse processes of the first three caudal vertebrae and the lateral margin of the posterior half of the post-acetabular ilium, and thence extending, as a broad ribbon, mesially from the ischiadic nerve towards the popliteal region, where it splits into two portions, one of which, being broad and fleshy, is inserted on the posterior face of the distal third of the femur, while the other starting at a right art. •II til}. LEFT THIGH-MUSCLES (Grus or Rallus). Outer view after removal of the superficial m. ilio- fibularis and m. ilio-tibialis. A, caudal, B, iliac portion of m. caud-ilio-femoralis ; X, m. caud-ilio-flexorius ; Y, accessory or femoral portion of the same ; II. fb. m. ilio-fibularis (cut away) ; II, tib. m. ilio-tibialis (cut away) ; Is. fl. m. ischio-flexorius ; Is. fin. m. ischio-femoralis ; P.i.f. m. pub-ischio- feinoralis ; Sart. m. sartorius ; N, nerve. angle joins the fascia of the inner femoral head of the m. gastro- cnemius. The divergence of these two portions is marked by a tendinous intersection, which running in the direction of the gastrocnemial insertion has caused the femoral portion of the whole to be wrongly described as the "accessory semitendinosus." The extent of the insertion on the femur varies much, occupying more than its distal half in Rliea or confined to the intercondyloid region. In almost all swimming Birds as well as in some of the Picarix, there is a complete split between the femoral and crural portions, the crural tendon being then inserted on the neck of the tibia, and the original femoral portion forming part of the median femoral head of the m. gastrocnemius, in which case the " accessory head " is generally stated to be absent. The origin of this muscle likewise varies, arising either from the tail and ilium as in Galling Pterocles, 612 MUSCULAR SYSTEM Numenius and fihamphastus, or from the ilium only as in Larus, Ardea, Grus, Corythaix and Podargus. It is frequently connected aponeuroticaily with the m. ischio-flexorius, and when its " accessory " is absent, both are inserted on the tibia by one common tendon. M. ischio-flexorius or semimembranaceus, ribbon-shaped, running parallel to the posterior margin of the preceding, present in all Birds, though sometimes much reduced, as in Podicipes, Columbze and Pterodes, arising chiefly from the outer face of the middle or distal third of the ischium and inserted by a flat tendon on the neck of the tibia, whether on its anterior crest or the posterior or inner face. A slip from the principal tendon frequently descends the leg and is inserted either separately or jointly with a similar tendon of the m. caud-ilio-flexorius, being often connected with it in various ways. M. ilio-fibularis or biceps cruris, arising from a great portion of the lateral and dorsal margin of the post-acetabular ilium, changing near the knee to a round and strong tendon that, accompanied by one of the principal stems of the ischiadic nerve, runs over a ten- dinous pulley x and passing between the outer and middle head of the m. gastrocnemius is inserted on the tuberosity of the fibula at about the level of the first fifth of the tibia. M. extensor digitorum communis, arising from the outer and anterior face of the crest and proximal half of the tibia, its roundish tendon passes mesially from that of the m. tibialis anticus through the transverse ligament along the anterior metatarsal groove and, arrived at its distal end, splits into several tendons, according to the number of front toes, to be inserted on the dorsal surface of the base of their several phalanges. In Striges and Pandion, where the fourth toe is reversible, the principal tendon first splits into two, one for the second toe, the other soon subdividing for the third and fourth. In the Rhampliastidaz and Cuculidx, the main stem goes to the third toe, and sends a short slip to each of the others. In the Picidse the tendon for the fourth toe passes through an ossified loop and over a furrow at the end of the fourth metatarsal, so as to ensure the extension of this digit with the others notwithstanding its backward position. In the Psittaci alone the principal tendon sends a slip to the hallux also, the rest being divided into an inner and outer half, each of which splits again to be inserted on the other toes, the third of which therefore receives two such tendons. M. extensor hallucis, arising from the anterior and inner face of the proximal part of the second tarso-metatarsal and inserted 1 This pulley or loop on the outer side of the knee is composed of three arms, two arising from the outer face of the external femoral condyle, the third from the inner head of the m. perforat. dig. iv. and supporting the outer of two principal branches. Owing to the pulley the contraction of this muscle does not merely draw the leg towards the trunk, but also lifts it towards the thigh. MUSCULAR SYSTEM 613 on the dorsal face of the base of the first phalanx of the hallux. Generally best developed in Birds with a large hallux, as Apteryx, Galling Accipitres, Steganopodes and Herodii, but yet very small in Picus and absent in Psittaci. When the hallux is very small, as in Pterodes and many Limicolaz, this muscle still exists, and though slender is rather long. Mm. flexores longi digitorum consist of three principal sets, each of which is again divided into several muscles, the hallux having one, the fourth toe two, and the third and second toe three each, which are conveniently distinguished by the relation to one another of their respective tendons. Those that are inserted on the base of the first phalanges are perforated immediately above the insertion by the tendons of those that are inserted on the second and third phalanges, which in their turn are perforated by those that are attached to the terminal phalanges — hence there are perforati, perforantes et perforati, and perforantes. Mm. flexores perforati digitorum ii. Hi. iv. These three, of which each anterior toe has one, arise in a variable way, either separately or partly blended, from almost any part of the region of the knee, but especially from the posterior intercondylar space of the femur, from its outer condyle, from the ligaments of the knee and patella, the proximal part of the tibia and fibula, and lastly from the tendon of the m. ambiens (page 11), of which in most cases the m. perforatus Hi. partly forms the continuation. Each of them be- comes a distinct tendon which passes posteriorly over the inter- tar sal joint, and piercing the pad above mentioned, runs along the plantar groove of the metatarse to be inserted ventri-laterally on the base of the first phalanx of the second, third or fourth toe as the case may be — their insertion being perforated as before stated. The tendon of the m. perforatus Hi. may be easily recognized, first by its passing the intertarsal joint and the pad the most super- ficially, and next by its receiving below that joint the lateral distal tendon of the m. peroneus superfidalis. The tendon of m. perforatus ii. often passes the pad through a special canal, but in Struthio is wholly absent, in conformity with the loss of the corre- sponding toe. The tendon of m. perforatus iv. passes the intertarsal joint as superficially as that of the third toe, and is often inserted on all the four proximal phalanges of the fourth toe. Mm. flexores perforantes et perforati digitorum ii. et Hi., with a similar origin to the last group, except as regards the m. ambiens (page 11). The tendon of the second toe pierces the pad by a special canal, and is inserted on the plantar and lateral faces of the base of its first or second phalanx, after having perforated that of the foregoing and being perforated by that of the following muscle. It is absent in Struthio. The tendon of the third toe in many Birds receives a vinculum or slip from that of the m. perforatus Hi., 614 MUSCULAR SYSTEM then passes the pad and is inserted like that of the second toe on the base of its own second and third phalanges. In conformity with the separate position of the hallux, the mass of deep flexors is divided into two principal portions, each becoming a strong tendon which passes through or posteriorly over the metatarsal pad and tubercle, then along the metatarsal groove for insertion in various ways on the plantar face of the last or two last phalanges, having in its course perforated the more super- ficial tendons. It is convenient to distinguish these two portions, the one as m. flexor perforans, the other as m. hallucis longus. M. flexor perforans s. profundus, arising from the greater part of the hind face of the fibula and tibia, and rarely also from the outer femoral condyle, runs covered by all the other flexors straight to the intertarsal joint, which it passes more deeply than any of the rest, entering between the pad and the tibio-tarsus, piercing the former and immediately after the metatarsal tubercle as well. In most Birds its tendon divides just above the distal end of the meta- tarse, sending a slip to each front toe. M. flexor hallucis longus, regarded as the posterior portion of the whole mass mentioned above, arises mostly from the intercondylar space, with its belly resting upon that of the preceding, but slightly towards the outer or fibular side, and its tendon in most cases accompanying that of the preceding, there to pass either through the tarsal pad and hypotarsus, resting in this case on the posterior surface of the other tendon, or lying a little towards its outer side, superficially over the pad and tubercle, after which both run down the metatarsal groove, that of the present resting on the plantar and fibular side of the other. About half-way down the middle of the metatarse the tendon of the m. flex, hallucis splits into two parts, one, continued as the so-called vinculum to the front tendon, the other, which is generally the weaker, to be inserted on the last phalanx of the hallux. It is obvious that the tendon of the m. flex, hallucis, after passing over the outer part of the ankle, must cross the deeper tendon obliquely to reach the hallux, a crossing which is correlated with its reversed position, and is really double, because the m. flex, hallucis arising more inwardly than the m. flex, perforans, and thus crossing it laterally, crosses it once above the joint and then again upon the metatarse, since its tendon goes to the hallux. It is also clear that, owing to the vinculum, contraction of the m. flex, hallucis bends not only the hallux but the other toes as well, while the m. flex, perforans acts on the front toes only. This m. flex, hallucis is therefore, properly speaking, a m. flexor communis, and the so-called m. flex, perforans is the anterior portion of the whole mass of deep flexors, a view which is justified by the fact that the m. flex, hallucis is present regardless of the absence of the hallux. MUSCULAR SYSTEM 615 According to the variable configuration of the toes, whether two, three or four in number, whether the Bird be anisodactyl, syndactyl, zygodactyl, heterodactyl, eleutherodactyl or what, the connexion between the two principal deep flexors and their distri- bution to the toes exhibits many modifications, almost any com- bination conceivable occurring in some Bird or other. There can be no doubt that the various uses of the toes — running, climbing, grasping, rowing and so on, are the chief determining causes of the manifold arrangements of these tendons. It is easy to understand the action of a single muscle by itself, but of the action of a group of muscles, of their mutual play, and how they partially counteract, supplant or support one another, we know next to nothing. One point, however, is certain, and that is that coincidence does not necessarily indicate affinity. The misconception concerning these plantar tendons has exaggerated their taxonomic value, culminating in the separation of the Trochilidse from the other Cypselomorpha^ and in the association of the Cathartiddz with the Alctdinidte, Cora- ciid&, Caprimulgidse and Bucerotidde to the exclusion of Upupa. Sundevall1 and Garrod2 have done most to describe the modi- fications of the deep plantar tendons, which are reducible to seven chief types, most of them connected by intermediate stages.3 In the following enumeration, the muscle and tendon of the flexor per- forans are called A (anterior portion), those of the flexor hallucis P (posterior portion). I. Vinculum from P to A. Tendon A splits into 3, going to toes ii. iii. and iv. Tendon P goes to i., and by the vinculum acts also on ii. iii. and iv. — i.e. upon all the toes. — The arrange- ment most commonly found in 4-toed birds, no matter whether the toes be normally placed, paired or reversible : Ardete, Ciconise, Platalea, Gallinse, Ralli, Grues, Rhinochetus, Eurypyga, Otis, Limicolse, Pterodes, Columbse, Laridx, Alcidaz, Opisthocomus, Cuculidse, Muso- phagidse, Psittaci, Striges, Euryl%mid%. In Eerodii the vinculum is either very weak or wholly lost, thus leading to type VII. II. Vinculum very strong and broad, forming the direct and principal continuation of tendon P, of which the hallux receives but a slender portion. Tendon P goes to i. by vinculum to ii. iii. and iv. — i.e. it acts on all. Tendon A goes to ii. iii. and iv. Muscles A and P of equal strength. This is the case in Apteryx, Tinamidaz (Nothurd), Spheniscidse, Steganopodes, Anseres, Colymbi, Podidpedes and also in Podica. III. Tendons A and P more or less fused throughout the greater extent of the metatarse. The vinculum and the level of the actual crossing are shifted to the distal portion of the meta- 1 Forhandl. Skandinav. NaturforsTc. 1851, pp. 259-269. 2 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875, pp. 339-348. 3 Thicr-reich, VogcZ, p. 195. 616 MUSCULAR SYSTEM tarse. Tendon A goes to ii. iii. and iv. Tendon P to i. and by vinculum to ii. also, consequently, owing to the vinculum's distal position, its action is confined to two toes. This type, to a certain extent intermediate between I. and II., is characteristic of Acci- pitres, except Cathartidse (see V.), and Pandion, in which last, perhaps owing to its reversible outer toe, A goes to ii. iii. and iv., but tendon P splits into 4, sending a slip to each toe directly, and in this case is therefore a complete flexor communis. IY. The prevalent type where the hallux is absent or very small. Both muscles are strong and almost equally developed, their tendons unite about the middle of the metatarse, the joint tendon A + P going to the front toes, the hallux receiving no tendon, and consequently there is no crossing. This type, genetically connected with II. , occurs in Casuarius, Drom&us, Rhea, Struthio, Turnix, Pterodes and Phcenicopterus, Palamedea, Dicholophus, Tubin- ares, ColymU. V. Tendons A and P unite at a variable distance below the ankle joint, passing it in the ordinary way, and there is no crossing behind the metatarse, tendon P running directly into A from its fibular side. Muscle A generally much stronger than muscle P. In the simplest case (V, a) the united tendons A + P split into 4 equally strong tendons, either just above the base of the toes, or successively first to the hallux and lastly to iv. — as in Buceros, Cypselus and Colius. Secondly an exaggerated condition of this (V,a) prevails (as V,b) in Momotidw, Todidaz, Meropidae and in some Alcedinidse, where the tendon of the hallux is split off directly from the tibial and ventral side of A above its fusion with P. Thirdly there is a condition (V, c), hitherto known in the Trochilidse only, where A and P are completely divided from each other into a deep mass (A) which goes to ii. and iii., and into a plantar mass supplying i. and iv. Careful and, from their small size, difficult preparations of this have been made by Prof. Stewart and Mr. Bourne for the Museum of the College of Surgeons in London, and any other description and figures of these Trochiline tendons are either incorrect or misleading. Lastly comes the modification found in the Cathartidse, where the fusion of the two principal tendons (as in Y,a and V,b) is followed by a splitting into a ventral mass (P) to ii. iii. and iv., and into a deep mass (A) to i. ii. and iii. This arrangement can be easily derived from type V, a, but almost equally well from the variable type III., as indicated by Pandion (fig. XL) In the latter case the Cathartidse would appear as a peculiar departure from primitive Accipitrine conditions. VI. Vinculum present, going from P to A. Tendon A single, going only to iii. Tendon P going to i. ii. and iv., and by the vinculum to iii. also, i.e. to all the toes. This most peculiar type prevails in all the anomalogonatous zygodactyl Birds, Picidw, Rham- MUSCULAR SYSTEM 617 phastidie, Indicatoridae, Bucconid&, Capitonidss and Galbulidse. The fourth toe being turned backwards behaves like a hallux and receives a tendon from the flex, hallucis, but this cannot be the only reason, since the Cuculidse and Psittad are also zygodactyl, but possess an ambiens, and belong to type I. VII. Tendons A and P are entirely disconnected, owing to the iv iii ii DIAGRAMS SHEWING ARRANGEMENT OF TENDONS OF THE FOOT. A, Tendon of the anterior portion (m. flexor perforans). P, Tendon of the posterior portion (m. flexor hallucis. The toes are numbered i. ii. iii. iv. I-VIII, The types numbered according to Garrod, Gadow and Fiirbringer. I, Gallus ; II, Apteryx ; III, Falconidae ; IV, Rhea ; Va, Cypselus ; Vb, Momotus ; V<=, Trochilus ; Vd, Upupa and Irrisor ; VI, Picus ; VII, Oscines ; VIII, Harpactes duvauceli ; IX, Dacelo gigas ; X, Heliornis surinamensis ; XI, Pandion ; XII, Cuculi. (Vc, VIII, IX, after preparations in Mus. E. Coll. Surg. ; X, after Beddard.) loss of the vinculum. Tendon A goes to ii. iii. and iv. ; Tendon P only to the hallux, which is always well developed and the only posterior toe. This type is the most differentiated and also the simplest. Morphologically therefore it is the highest. It exists in all the Passeres, except Eurylxmidse, and in some Herodii. 6i8 MUSCULAR SYSTEM Hitherto it has always been stated that Upupa has free tendons (as in type VII.) and this has been used as an argument for placing it among the Passeres ; but, as a matter of fact, in Upupa and Irrisor, tendon P sends a vinculum to the slips of tendon A which goes to iii., and this vinculum joins A below, not above, the root of the toes (see fig. V,d). VIII. This type is peculiar to the Trogonidse. These Birds are heterodactyl, the hallux and second toe being reversed, while the third and fourth are front toes, and their deep flexor tendons like- wise anomalous. Tendon A goes to the two hind toes i. and ii., and by the vinculum together with tendon P to iii. and iv. Analysis of this case means : — fusion of P with A, without any crossing; proximal splitting-off of the tendons for i. and ii. from the tibial side of A ; and consequently direct derivation from type V,a, analogous to, but more exaggerated than, V,b. These eight types are to be genetically grouped as follows : — I. II. III. IV. and VII. are closely allied to each other ; I. and IV. to be derived from II. and VII. from I., while III. is a compara- tively primary condition ; V, a shews a primitive stage, whence are developed in diverging directions V,b, V,c, V,d, VI. and VII. Any derivation of VI. from VIII. or vice versd is impossible ; and the same applies to V, c and VI. B.a. Muscles of the Visceral Skeleton, which according to their innervation, derivation and function fall naturally into three groups. 1. Group of the m. mylohyoideus, formed by the most anterior continuation of the m. cucullaris and m. constrictor colli and consist- ing of two portions: — (1) m. mylohyoid. anterior, lying between the branches of the mandible from the inner face of which its transversely-directed fibres arise to meet in the middle line, and by their contraction press the tongue and larynx against the palate, and supplied from the third ramus of the nervus trigeminus, and (2) m. mylohyoid. posterior, arising from the outer face of the posterior end of the mandible and sometimes also from the adjoin- ing part of the occiput, and inserted in the corner formed by the hyoid horn and the corpus linguze, being supplied by a branch of the nervus facialis, and drawing the tongue with the larynx upward and backward. When the tongue is very protractile or very thick this portion consists of two parts, one, m. serpi-hyoideus, arising from the serpiform process of the mandible, the other, m. stylo- hyoideus, from the occiput. 2. Group of the masticatory muscles, supplied by nervus trigeminus and n. facialis. M. digastricus or depressor mandibulse, large and often compound, generally arising from the lateral occipital bone, and inserted on the MUSCULAR SYSTEM 619 inner angular process of the mandible, acting on the jaw behind the articulation so as to open the mouth. M. tempvralis, consisting of a variable number of parts, the chief of which, arising from the postorbital process and the quadrate, pass beneath the jugal arch and are inserted on the mandible in front of the joint, acting mostly as masseters. Two or three smaller muscles, arising from the deeper region of the orbit and the interorbital septum to be inserted on the palatal and pterygoid bones, are much less constant. i M. pterygoideus, arising chiefly from the ventral face of the pterygoid, palatal and, sometimes, from the maxillary bones, and inserted on the inner face of the mandibular articulation, close the bill or, when the mouth is open, flex the upper mandible, as seen in Psittaci, Anatidse and others. 3. Group of the Hyoid muscles, supplied solely by nervus hypo- glossus often very numerous and always attached to the HYOip apparatus (page 452), whence they reach backward to the sternum or to the furcula as mm. sterno-hyoidei or mm. deido-Tiyoidei, to the larynx and trachea as mm. thyreo-Jiyoidei or mm. tracheo-hyoidei, while others extend forward to the mandible as mm. genio-Jiyoidei and genio- glossus, or lastly they connect the various portions of the Hyoid apparatus. In most cases their position is indicated by their name. System of the m. sterno-hyoideus, a long pair of muscles, pre- senting its least differentiated condition in Apteryx (where no other sterno-hyoid or sterno-tracheal exists). The broader and more superficial portion arises from the ventral face of the thyroid cartilage and the hyoid bones, meeting its fellow without being attached to the trachea, and is inserted aponeurotically on the lateral and posterior margin of the sternum, partly covering the muscles of the shoulder and breast. The deeper portion likewise begins at the thyroid cartilage, passes down the side of the trachea, to which it is firmly attached until just above the bronchial fork, where it leaves it to be inserted near the coraco-sternal articulation. From the conditions just described are differentiated the more complex arrangements found in other Birds. By reduction of the muscular mass about the middle of the neck an upper and lower portion are formed, the upper then appearing as tracheo-laryngeal or thyrohyoid muscles — the lower as sterno- or cleido-tracheal, and through further extension to the bronchi as muscles of the SYRINX. In many Birds the superficial portion of the whole system remains as one or two ribbons, m. cleido-hyoideus, running along the side of the neck and connecting the tongue with the furcula, or other parts of the scapular arch. The chief retractor of the tongue, M. tracheo- hyoideus reaches its highest development in some of the Picidx, where it takes several spiral turns round the trachea. M. genio-hyoideus, arising from about the middle of the mandi- 620 MUSKET-HAWK—NASAL GLANDS bular bar, extends as a ribbon to the hyoid bone, round which it twists loosely ; and, being attached to its dorsal extremity, the con- traction of the spiral surrounding the hyoid horns protrudes them with great force, the extent of protrusion depending on their length. This is greatest in Trochilidse and Picidze, in some of which they pass round the head and reach forward to the nostrils. M. genio-glossus, a small protractor of the tongue, connecting the os entoglossum with the chin, but often absent. M. ceratoglossus, arising from the dorsal face of the ceratohyal, inserted by a tendon laterally on the os entoglossum, which it draws sideways or bends when acting jointly with its fellow. M. cemto-hyoideus, extending from the inner face of the ceratohyal to the urohyal, but often absent. M. hypoglossus, extending from the ventral face of the body of the tongue to the ventral or lateral face of the os enioglossum. MUSKET- or MUSQUET-HAWK (0. Fr. mousquet or mouchet), an old name for the cock Sparrow- HAWK, seemingly given from its comparatively small size (Fr. mouche, Lat. musca — a fly), and hence, on the invention of fire-arms, applied to one which was smaller and handier than the older match-lock. MUTTON-BIRD, a sailors' name for at least one species of SHEARWATER, but especially for Puffinus brevicauda, presumably because "the young are literally one mass of fat, which has a tallowy appearance" (Gould, Handb. B. Austral iii. p. 462). Mr. Robert Elwes has given (Ibis, 1859, pp. 397-399) a remarkable account of one of the most frequented breeding-places of this bird on an island in Bass's Strait, which, it is to be feared, no longer exists as such owing to the devastation wickedly carried on — nearly 60,000 breeding birds having been taken in a single season. N NANDU, from Nhandu-guapu, given by Marcgrave and Piso as the Brazilian name of the RHEA, and occasionally used for that bird by some English writers. NASAL GLANDS exist pairwise in almost all Birds, and their tear-like secretion serves to moisten and cleanse the mucous lining of the nasal cavities. Each gland has a duct opening into the vestibulum of the nares below the nasal bone, and passing beneath the lacrymal bone. These glands vary much in shape, size, position and colour, in the last respect ranging from bluish-red to red and NASUT^E— NERVOUS SYSTEM 621 pale yellow. They are very large in Limioolx, except Scolopax, and are occasionally absent in S. mticola, Larute, Colymbidx and Tuhi- marwt, vesting sabcutaneously on the frontals between the eyes, or above the orbital margin and producing on these bones deep depressions, the configuration of which, together with lateral notches, or canals between the nasals, lacrymals and frontals can, with care, be used for taxonomic purposes. In most Anseres the glands are small and placed on the upper orbital margin When they are small they extend to the orbital cavity only or are restricted to the maxillary cavity, as in Raittaz. Gallin&, Cdumbae, Otis, Sula, Pdargi, Acdpiirt&) Picarix and Passeres. NASUT.E, Nitzsch's name in 1840 for the group which Uliger had called TUBINARES in 1811. NATATORES, Dliger's name in 1811 for an Order of Birds (including 6 Families and 22 genera), equivalent to the Linnaean ANSERES. Holding its place, to the exclusion of the older term, for about fifty years, ornithologists at last perceived that the group contained many forms which have no affinity, and the word is now hardly used but by writers who know little of the principle of Taxonomy. NATIVE-COMPANION, Grus australasianus (CRANE) ; -HEX, any species of Tribonyx (RAIL) ; -PHEASANT, Lipoa ocellaia (MEGA- PODE); -SPARROW, Zonasginthus octdeus, one of the WEAVER- BIRDS ; -THRUSH, Pathycephala divacea (THICKHEAD); -TURKEY, Otis austrtdis, a BUSTARD — all names used, according to Gould, by the English in Australia or Tasmania. XECK, or cervix, that part of the body which extends from the head to the thorax, the last cervical vertebra being the one which carries a pair of ribs that do not join the STERNUM. NEOPHRON, the generic term given to the Vultur percnopterus of Linnaeus by Savigny l when separating it from the other VULTURES, and sometimes used as an English word. XEOSSOPTTLE, see FEATHERS (p. 243). NERVOUS SYSTEM. This consists of two parts, (1) a Central portion, composed of the Spinal Cord and BRAIN, and (2) Peripheral, containing the Cranial and Spinal Nerves, together with all that pertains to what is called the Sympathetic. 1 He took the word from the pseudomythological Metamorphoses (or Trans- formationum congeries, Fab. 5) of Antoninus Liberalis, a writer who flourished about the middle of the second century, Xeophron being the name of a man changed, for a base trick he played, into a Vulture by Zeus. 622 NERVOUS SYSTEM I. The Spinal Cord or "Marrow" is the continuation of the medulla oblongata, extending throughout the vertebral canal to the tail, being swollen at the level of the shoulders by an accumulation of ganglionic cells to serve the Brachial Nerve Plexus governing the fore-limbs, and again in the lumbar region where the nerves of the hind -limbs have their origin. On the dorsal side of this lumbar swelling, there is a lozenge-shaped slit, the sacro-rhomboidal sinus, filled with a colourless gelatinous substance, behind which the cord lessens gradually, ending as a thin thread in the last free caudal vertebrae. The whole of this System is encased in a strong, fibrous sheath of connective tissue, the dura mater, the outer layer of which is closely attached to and forms the lining of the central vertebral canal, while its inner layer forms a looser and more meshy tissue. A much thinner membrane, the pia mater, is immediately attached to the surface of this System, penetrating its various furrows or sulci, and containing blood-vessels which nourish the nervous matter. Between the dura and the pia mater, but partly separated from each by lymphatic spaces, lies the Arachnoid Membrane. The composition of the Spinal Cord is best studied in transverse section : — in the midst is the central canal, on the medio-ventral and medio-dorsal lines are the anterior and posterior sulci, forming more or less deep vertical slits which thus divide the cord into a right and left side. The central portion of the cord, distinctly grey in colour, being composed of grey nerve-fibres, without axial cylinders, and interspersed with numerous ganglionic nerve-cells, arranged in the form of a saltire or St. Andrew's cross, of which the ventral pair of limbs contain the ganglia and send out the motory roots of the spinal nerves, while the dorsal pair contain the ganglia and send out the sensory bundles of nerve-fibres. This grey matter is surrounded by a thick mantle of white nerve-fibres, most of them conducting threads composed of an axial cylinder with a sheath, and running longitudinally parallel to each other, though at the so-called commissures a crossing from one side to the other occurs with many of both white and grey fibres. II. The Spinal Nerves arise from the medulla by a number of rootlets, which leave its surface in the form of a dorsal and a ventral root — the former (with a small swelling, the spinal ganglion, at its base) containing the sensory, the latter the motory fibres ; but all the fibres of each issue as a single bundle either between two vertebrae or pass through a hole at the anterior end of a vertebra. The first spinal or cervical nerve issues between the occiput and the atlas, and each that follows from the anterior end of its vertebra — all on leaving the vertebral column separating into three branches — a dorsal, ventral and visceral. The first two contain sensory and motory nerves mixed ; but the dorsal branches NERVOUS SYSTEM 623 are small and innervate the skin and muscles of the dorsal spinal tract, while the ventral branches are much larger, and, depending on the muscles they have to supply, are strongest in the region of the limbs. The visceral branches, or " sympathetic nerves," supply chiefly the digestive, vascular and generative organs. Four or five of the lowest cervical nerves join to form the Brachial Plexus, whence diverge those that serve the wings and shoulders ; but the composition of this plexus varies considerably not only in different species but even individually. The serial number of the nerves entering into its formation depends chiefly on the length of the neck, the extremes being found in Cypselus (10th to the 14th cervical pair), and Gygnus (22nd to 24th), inter- mediate cases occurring in Columba (llth to 15th), Gallus (13th to 17th), Anas (15th to 18th) and in many Passeres (12th to 15th). The last nerve of this plexus often marks off the boundary of the cervical and thoracic regions, by issuing just above the first thoracic vertebra. The nerves arising from this plexus are divided into (A) small dorsal branches supplying the scapular muscles, and (B) thoracic branches forming a system for the sterno-coracoid and all the wing- muscles. The thoracic branches (B) send off a group (a) to the superior and another (5) to the inferior brachial muscles. Among the former (a), the chief are (1) nervus subcoraco-scapularis for the m. subcoracoideus, m. subscapularis and m. subcoraco-scapularis, (2) n. muscuU latissimi dorsi, (3) n. axillaris, a strong nerve passing the humero-scapular joint, running between the humerus and the m. triceps, and innervating the deltoid muscles, as well as the skin of the shoulder, upper arm and propatagium, and (4) the n. radialis, the strongest nerve of all, running spirally round the dorsal side of the humerus, supplying the m. triceps, and, dividing at the elbow into a superficial and a deep branch, innervating all the numerous exterior muscles beside the skin and feathers of the forehead. Among the latter group (b) are three strong nerves (1) the n. supra- coracoideus, covered by a membranaceous ligament, crossing the coracoid and supplying the m. supracoracoideus,1 (2) the n. pectoralis for the large pectoral muscle, and (3) the n. brachialis inferior, which accompanies the last so far as the axilla, and then passing along the humerus divides into a n. medianus, supplying the m. biceps and the radial side of the forearm and hand, and a n. ulnaris, sending several branches to the ulnar side. The spinal nerves succeeding to the Brachial Plexus are those of the intercostal region, their short dorsal branches supply the 1 In many birds the median side of the coracoid has a notch (bridged by a tendinous ligament) for the passage of the nerve, which in other cases may pass through a foramen near the inner side of that bone ; but these differences have little taxonomic importance. 624 NERVOUS SYSTEM R.d. fc.w. Fig. i. Fig. 1. — Diagrammatic Representation of the peripheral Nervous System of a Bird. Ventral view. Left side showing the Somatic, right side showing the Visceral Nerves. IX. N. glossopharyngeus ; X. N. vagus, C. G. H. P. its distribution to the Carotid, the Heart, Lungs, Stomach and Gut; XII.l, Lingual branch and XII.2, Syringeal branch of N. hypo- glossus ; Sy. Sympathetic ganglion of the first spinal nerve. Fig. 2.— Diagrammatic view of a transverse section through the spinal cord on the level of the exit of a typical spinal nerve. A.H. and P.H. Anterior or ventral and Posterior or dorsal Horns with ganglia, of the grey sub- stance ; in the middle of which is seen the central canal ; Sp.G. the Spinal Ganglion of the dorsal root of the spinal nerve; Sy.G. the Sympathetic Ganglion; R.d., E.ve., R.vis. Dorsal, Ventral and Visceral (or sympathetic) branches of the spinal nerve. NERVOUS SYSTEM 625 dorsal muscles of the spine, and their long ventral branches run between the ribs, supplying the intercostal and, further back, the abdominal muscles. The Sacral Plexus is formed by the Spinal Nerves in the pelvic region, and may be conveniently divided into (A) a Crural or Lumbar, (B) a Sciatic, and (C) a Pudic portion. The first (A) is composed of from 2 to 4, but generally of 3 nerves, the foremost of which sends a long branch to the abdominal muscles, while the hindmost, n. furcalis, leaving the spinal column, as a rule, between the 2 last lumbo-sacral vertebrae, divides — one-half going to the Sciatic portion. From the Crural portion spring several branches forming 3 groups — (1) those that serve the m. sartorius, m. ambiens and some other muscles of the leg ; (2) the n. obturatorius, supplying the m. obturator and its accessories, as well as the m. adductor magnus ; and (3) a long nerve which runs down the median side of the thigh to the inner side of the knee, supplying the latter and passing subcutaneously down the median side of the leg. This nerve is almost peculiar to Birds, occurring beside only in Crocodiles and Monotremes. The Sciatic portion (B) generally consists of 5 or 6 nerves, which leave the pelvis as a thick stem, passing close behind the anti- trochanter through the ischio-iliac foramen, where a strong branch separates itself from the hinder side of the common stem to supply most of the adductor muscles of the thigh and leg. From the main stem branches are given off to the ilio-femoral, ilio-tibial, ilio- fibular and ischio-femoral muscles. The rest of the stem continues as the Sciatic nerve, accompanied by the great arteries and veins on the posterior side of the thigh, and below the knee invariably divides into 3 branches, the first of which (1) is the strongest, and passes with the tendon of the ilio-fibular muscle through the peculiar tendinous pulley on the side of the fibula, whereupon it splits into the superficial and deep peroneal nerves, to supply the extensor and peroneal muscles of the foot and toes ; the median branch (2) soon breaks up into a number of nerves for the deep flexor muscles of the toes and the inner and middle portion of the m. gastro- cnemius ; while the third (3) innervates the outer head of the gastrocnemius and the rest of the flexor muscles of the toes. As before stated, the Sciatic portion (B) receives one-half of the n. furcalis from the Crural (A), while its hindmost spinal stem, leaving the spinal column, in most birds, between or just below the hind- most of the 2 primary sacral vertebrae (see Pelvis under SKELETON), sends a branch to the Pudic portion (C), which is composed of the post-ischiadic spinal nerves. These are partly imbedded in the substance of the KIDNEYS, and run obliquely outwards, forming many anastomoses with one another, especially on the hinder parts of the ischium and pubic bone. This portion chiefly innervates the 40 626 NERVOUS SYSTEM ventral muscles between the pelvis and tail, together with those of the cloacal region and the copulatory organs. The dorsal branches of all the spinal nerves in the whole pelvic region are restricted to small, cutaneous branches in conformity with the reduction of the dorso-spinal muscles. The caudal nerves are also small, their dorsal branches supply the levator and their ventral the depressor muscle of the tail. III. The Cranial or Cerebral Nerves have been already described (BRAIN). IV. The Sympathetic System consists of the visceral branches of the Cerebro-Spinal Nerves, and supplies chiefly the alimentary and genital organs and the circulation. The Nerves composing it have no axial cylinder : they are paler than the white fibres, and are characterized by the presence of ganglia in their course, each branch containing one near its base which beside sending off other ramifications is connected with the corresponding ganglion of the next metamere, so as to form a " Sympathetic" chain running along each side of the ventral surface of the vertebral column. The two chains by means of these connexions somewhat resemble a ladder, the cross-bars of which are called rami communicantes, from a mistaken notion that they join the longitudinal " strand" or n. sympathicus of their side with the medulla, the fact being that the cross-bars are the true " rests," the lateral strands rather making the connexion between the successive ganglia. In the region of the NECK each of these strands runs, accompanied by the vertebral artery of its side, through the transverse foramen of each of the cervical vertebrae. In the thoracic region each strand is double, and the basal ganglia are successively connected with the next by a nervous branch which runs over the head of the rib, and by another which passes directly through the space between the head of the rib and its tubercle. In the pelvic region each strand again becomes single ; but, conversely to the single strand of the cervical region, each is composed of ventral branches only, while lastly in the caudal region the right and left branches approach and coalesce in the middle line. From the first thoracic ganglion there issues a cardiac branch supplying the HEART, while other branches starting from neighbouring ganglia form a sort of plexus which, accompanying the cceliac artery, innervate the stomach, LIVER and other viscera. Similar branches from the basal ganglia of the lumbar and sacral regions form a plexus with ganglia numerously interspersed, and serve the rest of the Alimentary Canal, the KIDNEYS (page 480), genital organs and CLOACA (page 90), where they partly anastomose with the branches of the Pudic portion of the Sacral Plexus. From the first pair of cervical ganglia the Sympathetic strands are continued on either side to the ganglia of the n. hypoglossus, NESTOR 627 and thence to the ganglion supremum of the combined n. vagus and glossopharyngeus. From this last, which sends out long sympathetic branches to the carotids and the throat generally, the Sympathetic chain extends to the head by complicated connexions with the ganglia of the 7th, 5th and 3rd pairs of cranial nerves (see BRAIN), its numerous branches serving chiefly the blood-vessels of the head, the lacrymal glands and the EYES. NESTOR, the name applied to a small but remarkable group of Parrots peculiar to the New-Zealand Region, of which the type is the Psittacus meridionalis of Gmelin, founded on a species described by Latham (Gen. Synops. i. p. 264), and subsequently termed by him P. nestor, in allusion to its hoary head, but now usually known as Nestor meridionalis^ the " Kaka " of the Maories and English settlers in New Zealand, in some parts of which it was, and even yet may be, very abundant, though its numbers are fast decreasing. Forster, who accompanied Cook in his second voyage, described it in his HEAD OF NESTOR. (From Buller.) MS. in 1773, naming it P. hypopolius, and found it in both the principal islands. The general colour of the Kaka is olive-brown, nearly all the feathers being tipped with a darker shade, so as to give a scaly appearance to the body. The crown is light grey, the ear-coverts and nape purplish-bronze, and the rump and abdomen of a more or less deep crimson-red ; but much variation is presented in the extent and tinge of the last colour, which often becomes orange and sometimes bright yellow. The Kaka is about the size of a Crow; but a larger species, generally resembling it, though having its plumage varied with blue and green, the Nestor notdbilis of Gould, was discovered in 1856 by Mr. Walter Man tell, in the higher mountain-ranges of the South Island. This is the " Kea " of the Maories, and has of late incurred the enmity of colonists by developing, when pressed by hunger in winter, an extraordinary habit of assaulting sheep, picking holes with its powerful beak in 628 NESTOR their side, wounding the intestines, and so causing the animals' death. The lacerations are said to be made so uniformly in one place as to suggest deliberate design ; but the bird's intent has yet to be investigated, though it is admittedly an eater of carrion in addition to its ordinary food, which, like that of the Kaka, consists of fruits, seeds, and the grubs of wood-destroying insects, the last being obtained by stripping the bark from trees infested by them. The amount of injury the Kea inflicts on flock-masters has doubt- less, as always happens in similar cases, been much exaggerated, for Dr. Menzies states (Trans. N. Zeal. Inst. xi. p. 377) that on one " run," where the loss was unusually large, the proportion of sheep attacked was about one in three hundred, and that those pasturing below the elevation of 2000 feet are seldom disturbed.1 On the discovery of Norfolk Island (10th October 1774) a Parrot, thought by Forster to be specifically identical with the "Kaghaa" (as he wrote the name) of New Zealand, — though his son (Voyage, ii. p. 446) remarked that it was "infinitely brighter coloured," — was found in its hitherto untrodden woods. Among the drawings of Bauer, the artist who accompanied Robert Brown and Flinders, is one of a Nestor marked "Norfolk Isl. 19 Jan. 1805," on which Von Pelzeln in 1860 founded his N. norfolcensis. Meanwhile Latham, in 1822, had described, as distinct species, two specimens evidently of the genus Nestor, one, from the collection of Mr. Thomas Wilson of Maidenhead, said, but doubtless erroneously, to inhabit New South Wales, and the other brought by Col.' Hunter from Norfolk Island. In 1836 Gould described an example, without any locality, in the museum of the Zoological Society, as Plyctolophus productus, and when some time after he was in Australia, he found that the home of this species, which he then recognized as a Nestor, was Phillip Island, a very small adjunct of Norfolk Island, and not more than five miles distant from it. Whether the birds of the two islands were specifically distinct or not we shall perhaps never know, since they are all extinct (EXTERMINATION, pp. 223, 224), and no specimen undoubtedly from Norfolk Island seems to have been pre- served ; 2 while, now that we are aware of the great diversity in colour, size, and particularly in the form of the beak, to which the New-Zealand members of the genus are subject, it would be unsafe to regard as specific the differences pointed out by Von Pelzeln 1 A third form, from an unknown locality, has been distinguished as ^\7. esslingi (Rev. Zool. 1856, p. 223), and has been regarded by several writers, and among them Count T. Salvadori (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xx. p. 8), as a good species, though Sir W. Buller (B. N. Zeal. ed. 2, i. pp. 150-175) believes it to be, like his own N. occidentalis and N. superbus, as well as the so-called N. montanus of Haast, founded on individual variation. 2 Canon Tristram (Ibis, 1892, p. 557) believes that one in his possession had this origin, and so it may prove. NESTS— NIDICOL& 629 from Bauer's drawing. The Phillip-Island Nestor may be distin- guished from both of the New-Zealand species by its somewhat smaller size, orange throat, straw-coloured breast, and the generally lighter shade of its tints. The position of the genus Nestor in the Order Psittad must be regarded as uncertain. Garrod removed it altogether from the neighbourhood of the Lories (Proc. Zool. Society, 1874, p. 597), to which indeed the structure of its tongue, as previously shewn by him (op. cit. 1872, p. 789), indicates only a superficial resemblance. Like so many other New-Zealand forms, Nestor seems to be isolated, and may fairly be deemed to represent a separate Family — Nestoridx — a view adopted by Count T. Salvadori (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xx. Introd. p. viii.), and fully justified by a cursory examination of its osteology, though this has hitherto been only imperfectly described and figured (Eyton, Osteol. Avium, p. 72 ; A. B. Meyer, Abbild. von F~ogel-SMetten, p. 18, pL 23). Further knowledge of this very interesting form may be facili- tated by the following references to the Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, ii. pp. 64, 65, 387; iii. pp. 45-52, 81- 90; v. p. 207 ; vi. pp. 114, 128; ix. p. 340; x. p. 192; xi. p. 377 ; and of course to Sir Walter Buller's Birds of New Zealand, especially the second edition. NESTS, see NIDIFICATION. NIAS (Fr. Niais, and that from the Low Latin Nidax, a nest- ling), corruptly " Eyas " or " Eyess," a falconer's term for a Hawk that has been brought up from the nest, in contradistinction to a " Haggard " or Hawk that has been caught wild. NIDICOL^E, a word used in this work in no systematic sense, but as a convenient term to indicate those Birds, the young of which remain in the nest for a shorter or longer time as opposed to NIDIFUG^E, or those whose chicks are hatched in a condition enabling them to leave their birthplace at once. The Nidicolte, all of which have their eyes closed at coming into the world, may be divided into four categories, according to their initial state and the way in which they subsequently develop : — (1) Those born with a clothing of "Neossoptiles" (see FEATHERS, p. 243), as Accipitres, Alcidx (partly), Caprimulgi, Colum- bian, Eurypyga, Heliornis (excl. Podica), Sphenisci, Striges, TuUnares. (2) Those born naked or nearly so, but soon acquiring a thick clothing of neossoptiles, often of complicated structure, as Ardese ( + Scopus), Cathartse, Ciconise ( + Platalea), Podica, Steganopodes. (3) Those born naked, but with a few neossoptiles growing out of the tip of the " Teleoptiles " (see FEATHERS, p. 243) as Passeres, Upupidds. (4) Those born naked and never acquiring neossoptiles, nearly 630 NIDIFICATION all being birds that breed in holes, as Alcedines, BuceroKdas, Coraciidas, Cuculidse, Cypseli, Meropidae, Momotidte, Musophagidse, Pici, Todidx, Trochilidx. The Bucconidss, Coliidse, Euryl&midse, Galbulidse and Trogonidw are probably all naked. Menura is said to have downy nestlings. Opisthocomus is born with open eyes, but is fed by its parents, and has an imperfect nestling plumage. The interesting correlation between Neossoptiles and permanent Downs (see FEATHERS, p. 242) is shewn (Thier-reich, Fogel, Systemat. Theil, pp. 76-85). NIDIFICATION, or the building of the nest in which the EGGS are to be incubated and hatched, is with most Birds the beginning of the real work of the breeding -season, to which SONG and its con- comitant actions are but the prelude or the accompaniment ; but with many it is a labour that is scamped if not shirked. Some of the AUK tribe place their single egg on a bare ledge of rock, where its peculiar conical shape is but a precarious safeguard when rocked by the wind or stirred by the thronging crowd of its parents' fellows. The Stone-CuRLEW and the NIGHTJAR deposit their eggs without the slightest preparation of the soil on which they rest ; yet this is not done at haphazard, for no birds can be more constant in selecting, almost to an inch, the very same spot which year after year they choose for their procreant cradle.1 In marked contrast to such artless care stand the wonderful structures which others build for the comfort or safety of their young. But every variety of dis- position may be found in the Class. The Apteryx (Kiwi) seems to entrust its abnormally big egg to an excavation among the roots of a tree-fern ; while a band of female OSTRICHES scrape holes in the desert-sand, and therein promiscuously dropping their eggs cover them with earth, and leave the task of incubation to the male, who discharges the duty thus imposed upon him by night only, and trusts by day to the sun's rays for keeping up the needful, fostering warmth. Some MEGAPODES bury their eggs in sand, leaving them, as many Reptiles do, to come to maturity by the mere warmth of the ground, while others raise a huge hotbed of dead leaves wherein they deposit theirs ; but in either case the young are hatched without further care on the part of either parent. The GREBES and some RAILS seem to avail themselves in a less degree of the heat generated by vegetable decay (B. Norf. iii. p. 240),2 and dragging from the bottom or sides of the waters they frequent fragments of aquatic 1 I make this statement literally on the experience of my brother Edward and myself, but I believe it will be abundantly confirmed by the evidence of other observers. 2 Mr. Southwell found the temperature of an unincubated nest of Podicipes cristatus to be 67°, that of two incubated nests to be 72° and 73° respectively, NIDIFICA TION 63 1 plants form of them a rude half-floating mass which is piled on some growing water-weed — but these birds do not spurn the duties of maternity. Many of the GULLS, SANDPIPERS, and PLOVERS lay their eggs in a shallow pit which they hollow out in the soil, and then as incubation proceeds add thereto a low breastwork of haulm. The Ringed Plover commonly places its eggs on shingle, which they so much resemble in colour ; but when breeding on grassy uplands it paves the nest-hollow with small stones. PIGEONS mostly make an artless platform of sticks so loosely laid together that their pearly treasures may be perceived from beneath by the inquisitive observer. The PIE, as though conscious that its own thieving habits may be imitated by its neighbours, surrounds its nest with a hedge of thorns. Very many birds of very different groups bore holes in some sandy cliff, and at the end of their tunnel deposit their eggs with or with- out bedding. Such bedding, too, is very various in character ; thus, while the SHELD- DRAKE and the Sand -MARTIN supply the softest of materials, — the one of down from her own body, the other of feathers collected by dint of diligent search, — the KINGFISHER forms in the course of incubation a couch of the undigested spiny fish-bones which she ejects in pellets from her own stomach. Other birds, as the WOODPECKERS, hew holes in living trees, even when the timber is of considerable hardness, and therein establish their nursery. Some of the SWIFTS secrete from their salivary glands a fluid which rapidly hardens as it dries on exposure to the air into a substance resembling isinglass, and thus furnish the " edible birds' nests" that are the delight of Chinese epicures. In the architecture of nearly all the PASSERES, too, some salivary secretion seems to play an important part. By its aid they are enabled to moisten and bend the otherwise refractory twigs and straws and glue them to their place. Spiders7 webs also are employed with great advantage for the purpose last mentioned, but perhaps chiefly to attach fragments of moss and lichen so as to render the whole structure less obvious to the eye of the spoiler. The TAILOR-BIRD deliberately spins a thread, and therewith sews together the edges of a pair of leaves to make a receptacle for its nest ; while the Fantail WARBLER, by a similar process of stitching — even making a knot at the end of the thread — unites as a sheltering canopy above its nest the upper ends of the grass stems amid which it is built. Beautiful too is the felt fabricated of fur or hairs by the various species of TITMOUSE, while many birds ingeniously weave into a compact mass both animal and vegetable fibres, forming an admirable non-conducting medium which guards the eggs from the extremes of temperature outside. Such a structure may be open and cup-shaped, supported from below as that of the CHAFFINCH and and that of a nest of Fulica atra to be 61°, while the maximum temperature of the air that day, was 58° Fahr. 632 NIDIFICATION GOLDFINCH, domed like that of the WREN and Bottle-Titmouse, slung hammock-wise as in the case of the Golden-crested Wren and the ORIOLES, or suspended by a single cord as with certain GROSBEAKS and HUMMING-BIRDS. Under such circumstances it is even some- times needful to balance the nest lest the weight of the growing young should destroy the equipoise, and, precipitating them on the ground, dash the hopes of the parents, and compensation in such cases is applied by loading the opposite side of the structure with lumps of earth. Certain WARBLERS (Aedon and ThamnoUa) for some unascertained reason invariably lay a piece of snake's slough in their nests — to repel, it has been suggested, marauding lizards who may thereby fear the neighbourhood of a deadly enemy. The clay-built edifices of the SWALLOW and MARTIN are known to every- body, and the NUTHATCH plasters up the gaping mouth of its nest- hole till only a postern large enough for entrance and exit, but easy of defence, is left. In South America we have the subfamily Fur- nariinse (OVEN-BIRD), which construct of mud on the arching roots of the mangrove or the branches of other trees globular " ovens," so to speak, wherein the eggs are laid and the young hatched. The FLAMINGO erects in the marshes it frequents a mound of earth some two feet in height, with a cavity atop, on which the hen, having oviposited, is said to sit astride with dangling legs, and in that remarkable attitude perform the duty of incubation.1 The females of the HORNBILLS, and perhaps of the HOOPOES, submit to incar- ceration during this interesting period, the males immuring them by a barrier of mud, leaving only a small window to admit air and food, which latter is assiduously brought to the prisoners. But though in a general way the dictates of hereditary instinct are rigidly observed by Birds, in many species a remarkable degree of elasticity is exhibited or the rule of habit is rudely broken. Thus the noble FALCON, whose ordinary eyry is on the beetling cliff, will for the convenience of procuring prey condescend to lay its eggs on the ground in a marsh, or appropriate the nest of some other bird in a tree. The Golden EAGLE, too, remarkably adapts itself to circumstances, now rearing its young on a precipitous ledge, now on the arm of an ancient monarch of the forest, and again on a treeless plain, making a humble home amid grass and herbage. HERONS also shew the same versatility, and will breed according to circumstances in an open fen, on sea-banks or (as is most usual) on lofty trees. Such changes are easy to understand. The instinct of finding food for the family is predominant, and where most food is there will the feeders be gathered together. This explains, in all likelihood, the associated bands of OSPREYS or Fish-Hawks, which in North America breed (or used to breed) in large companies where sustenance is plentiful, though in the Old World the same 1 As before noticed (pp. 255, 256), this statement has been impugned. NIDIFICATION 633 species brooks not the society of aught but its mate. Birds there are of eminently social predilections. In Europe, excepting Sea- fowls — whose congregations are universal and known to all — we have perhaps but the Herons, the FIELDFARE, and the ROOK, which habitually flock during the breeding-season ; but in other parts of the world many birds unite in company at that time, and in none possibly is this habit so strongly developed as in the ANIS of the Neotropical Region, the Republican Swallow of North America, and the Sociable Grosbeak (WEAVER-BIRD) of South Africa, which last joins nest to nest until the tree is said to break down under the accumulated weight of the common edifice.1 In the strongest contrast to these amiable qualities is the para- sitic nature of the CUCKOWS of the Old World and the COW-BIRDS of the New, but this peculiarity of theirs has been already dwelt upon. Enough to say here that the egg of the parasite is introduced into the nest of the dupe, and after the necessary incubation by the fond fool of a foster-mother the interloper successfully counterfeits the heirs, who perish miserably, victims of his superior strength. The whole process has been often watched, but the reflective naturalist will pause to ask how such a state of things came about, and there is not much to satisfy his enquiry. Certain it is that some birds whether by mistake or stupidity do not unfrequently lay their eggs in the nests of others. It is within the knowledge of many that Pheasants' eggs and Partridges' eggs are often laid in the same nest, and it is within the knowledge of the writer that Gulls' eggs have been found in the nests of EiDER-Ducks, and vice, versd ; that a REDSTART and a Pied FLYCATCHER, or the latter and a TITMOUSE, will lay their eggs in the same convenient hole — the forest being rather deficient in such accommodation ; that an OWL and a GOLDEN-EYE will resort to the same nest-box, set up by a scheming woodsman for his own advantage ; and that the STARLING, which constantly dispossesses the Green Woodpecker, sometimes discovers that the rightful heir of the domicile has to be brought up by the intruding tenant. In all such cases it is not possible to say which species is so constituted as to obtain the mastery ; but just as it is conceivable that in the course of ages that which was 1 There are not many works on nidification, for "Caliology" or the study of nests lias hardly been deemed a distinct branch of ornithological study. A good deal of instructive matter (not altogether free from error) will be found in Rennie's Architecture of Birds (London : 1831), and there is Mr. "Wallace's most interest- ing dissertation, " A Theory of Birds' Nests," originally published in the Journal of Travel and Natural History (1868, p. 73), and reprinted in his Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection (London : 1870). Andrew Murray's and the Duke of Argyll's remarks on this essay are contained in the same volume of the Journal named (pp. 137 and 276). The late Mr. J. G. Wood's Homes without Hands, perhaps the best of his books, contains a popular account of many Bii'ds' nests, but is devoid of scientific treatment and disfigured by some glaring errors. 634 NIDIFICATION driven from its home might thrive through the fostering of its young by the invader, and thus the abandonment of domestic duties would become a direct gain to the evicted householder ; so the bird which, through inadvertence or any other cause adopted the habit of casually dropping her eggs in a neighbour's nest, might thereby ensure a profitable inheritance for endless generations of her offspring. This much granted, all the rest will follow easily enough, but it must be confessed that this is only a presumption, though a presumption which seems plausible if not likely. Incubation is performed, as is well known, by the female of nearly all Birds, but with most of the Passeres and many others the male seems to share her tedious duties, and among the KATIT^E, apparently without exception, the cock ordinarily takes that office on himself. There are a few groups or perhaps species in which the same practice is suspected to obtain — certain of the Limicolse for instance, the GODWITS (Limosa), the PHALAROPES (Phalaropus), and the DOTTEREL (Eudromias morinellus) — and in these it is to be remarked that the hen is larger and more brightly coloured than her mate. Owing to the unfortunate neglect of those who have the best opportunities of making the needful observations,1 the period of incubation has been ascertained in comparatively few birds, and it is here possible to deal with that subject only in the most vague and general language. It may be asserted that most of the smaller Passeres of Europe hatch their young in from 13 to 15 days, but in a few species the term is believed to be shortened to 10 or 11 days, while in the largest of that Order, the Raven, it may be lengthened to some 18 or 19 days. The Barndoor- fowl ordinarily takes 21 days, but the Pheasant, though so very nearly allied, takes two or three days longer. Most Water- birds, so far as is known, and the smaller Birds- of -Prey seem to require as long a time, but the TUBINARES are said (Ibis, 1892, p. 581) to take 35 days, while the Gannet needs at least 39 ; and in the Swan incubation lasts from 35 to 40 days, and in the Condor, according to Broderip (Notebook of a Naturalist, p. 14), 54 days. The temperature of the air is commonly credited with having something to do either in hastening or retarding exclusion from the egg, but to what extent, or even whether justly so or not, seems in the absence of precise experiments to be doubtful. Certain birds occasionally begin brooding so soon as the first egg is laid,2 and this practice unquestionably has its advantages, since the offspring being of different ages thereby become less of a burthen on the parents which have to minister 1 The most valuable papers on the subject are by Mr. William Evans (Ibis, 1891, pp. 52-93 ; and 1892, pp. 55-58). 2 This seems to be very often the case with the Owls ; but, if my observation is not mistaken, the habit is not constant even with the same individual bird. NIDIFUG^E— NIGHTINGALE 635 to their wants, while the fostering warmth of the earlier chicks can hardly fail to aid the development of those which are unhatched, during the absence of father and mother in search of food ; but most birds, and it need scarcely be said, all those the young of which run from their birth, await the completion of the clutch before sitting is begun. The care bestowed, by almost every species, on the infant-brood, is proverbial, and there is hardly any extremity of danger which one at least of the anxious parents will not incur to ward off injury from their progeny. NIDIFUGdS, a word used in this work in contradistinction to NiDiCOL^: (p. 629) to signify those Birds which are able, at hatching or immediately after, to leave the nest. They are all born with their eyes open and are thickly clothed with Neossoptiles (FEATHERS, p. 243) of simple structure, as Alcidaz (portion), Anatidse, Colymbi, Dicholophus, Galling Grues, Laridte, Limicolx, Otididse, Palamedete, Phcenicopteri, Podicipedidee, Pterodes, Ralli, Ratitse, Tinami, Turnices. Opisthocomus, though born with open eyes, and able to creep about on the branches, has but few Neossoptiles and is fed by its parents. As previously remarked (page 244) the condition of the first plumage is of little taxonomic value. This applies with still more force to the difference between Nidicolse and Nidifugx. Taken as a whole the latter comprise most of the phylogenetically older groups ; but any of them may include some closely-allied members which have reached the developmental level of the former — the Alcidse, Pigeons, Plovers and Fowls for example. Most if not all Nidicolse feed their young, but there are also many Nidifugx which prefer being fed by their parents though they can feed themselves — for instance the Gulls. In order to shew the utterly useless nature of these characters in the hands of various systematists it will be enough to state that Newman considered Gulls and Birds-of-Prey to be " gymnogenous " or born naked : Bonaparte held all the Alcidx and the Sphenisci to be " PR^ECOCES " but the Laridx to be ALTRICES : Sundevall classed Herons and Storks, Sphenisci and Tubinares among the Prsecoces •, while Mr. Seebohm informs us (Classif. B. p. 9) that Pigeons do not pass through a downy stage. NIGHT-HAWK, locally applied in parts of England to the NIGHTJAR, and in North America to species of the genus Chordiles. NIGHT-HEKON, see HERON, page 420. NIGHTINGALE (Anglo-Saxon, Nihtegale, literally "singer of the night"), the bird justly celebrated beyond all others by European writers for the admirable vocal powers which, during some weeks after its return from its winter-quarters in the south, it 636 NIGHTINGALE exercises at all hours of the day and night. The song itself is inde- scribable, though several attempts, from the time of Aristophanes to the present, have been made to express in syllables the sound of its many notes; and its effects on those that hear it depend so much on their personal disposition as to be as varied as are its tones. To some they suggest melancholy ; and many poets have discanted on the bird (which they nearly always make of the feminine gender) leaning its breast against a thorn and pouring forth its melody in anguish. It is accordingly to be observed that the cock alone sings, and that there is no reason to suppose that the cause and intent of his SONG, unsurpassed though it be, differ in any respect from that of other birds. Sadness, therefore, is certainly the last impelling sentiment that can be properly assigned in this case. In great contrast to the Nightingale's pre-eminent voice is the inconspicuous coloration of its plumage, which is alike in both sexes, and is of a reddish -brown above and dull greyish -white beneath, the breast being rather darker, and the rufous tail shewing the only bright tint. The range of this bird in Europe has already been so fully described (GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, pp. 3 39-341) as to render a further account of it needless. The Nightingale reaches its English home about the middle of April,1 the males (as is usual among migratory birds) arriving some days before the females ; and, often stopping on their way, letting their song be heard in places they do not habitually frequent, pass to their proper breeding- quarters. At this time they run very great danger from bird- catchers, for their capture is effected with facility, and it is painful to add that of those then caught nine-tenths are said to die within a month. Fortunately for the species, it receives great protection from the practice of game-preserving, which guards from intrusion so many of the localities it affects, and there is probably no country in which the Nightingale breeds more abundantly and in greater security than in England. On the cocks being joined by their partners, the work for which the long and hazardous journey of both has been undertaken is speedily begun, and before long the nest is completed. This is of a rather uncommon kind, being placed on or near the ground, the outworks consisting chiefly of a great number of 1 Poets and novelists are apt to command at will the song of this bird, irrespective of season. If the appearance of truth is to be regarded, it is danger- ous to introduce a Nightingale as singing in England before the 15th of April or after the 15th of June. The "Early Nightingale" of newspaper paragraphs is generally a Song-Thrush. Mr. Harting has pointed out to me that the well-known and beautiful passage in which Izaak Walton speaks of this bird's song is an adaptation of one in D'Arcussia's Lettres de Philoierax A Philofalco (No. 24) ; but the way in which "Walton turns the idea expressed shews great superiority over the original, the words of which are " 0 quel doit estre le concert des Anges du Ciel, puis que ces Anges terrestres nous extasient par leurs chants ? " NIGHTINGALE 637 dead leaves ingeniously applied together so that the plane of most is nearly vertical. The mass is wrought so as to contain in the middle a deep cup-like hollow, neatly lined with fibrous roots, but the whole is so loosely constructed, and depends for lateral support so much on the stems of the plants among which it is generally built, that a very slight touch disturbs its beautiful arrangement. Herein from four to six eggs of a deep olive colour are duly laid, and the young hatched. If the latter, when nearly fit to fly, be taken from the nest, they can with proper care be reared by hand, and this is the only justifiable mode of proceeding for those who wish to keep this fine songster in confinement, as, if the birds survive their first moult, they may live for some years in a cage, and the cocks will in due time exercise their full vocal powers. The nestling plumage of the Nightingale differs much from that of the adult, the feathers above being tipped with a buff spot, just as in the young of the EEDBREAST, REDSTART and Hedge-SpARROW, thereby pointing to the affinity of all these forms. Towards the end of summer the Nightingale disappears, and but little has been observed of it in its winter-retreats, which are presumably in the interior of Africa. One of the few records of it at that season proves that it visits the Gold Coast (Ibis, 1872, p. 291). The Nightingale is the Motadlla luscinia in part of Linnaeus, and the Daulias luscinia of some modern ornithologists. In the east of Europe a second species occurs which was not discriminated by LinnaBus, though long known to German bird-fanciers as the Sprosser. This, the Sylvia philomela or Daulias philomela of many scientific writers, is a somewhat larger bird, which fact, and the presence of some faint spots on its breast, have caused it to receive the English name of Thrush-Nightingale. Its westward range appears to be limited to the valley of the Ehine, and the statement that it has occurred in England is erroneous. Its song is louder than that of the true Nightingale, but not so sweet in tone or so varied in note. Still further to the eastward, extending from the Caucasus through Persia to Turkestan, and occasionally occurring in winter in India, is a third species, almost simultaneously described in Berlin and Moscow as Luscinia golzi and L. hqfizi (see Radde, Orn. Caucas. p. 247, pi. xv. and Gates, Faun. Er. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 101). The name Nightingale has been vaguely applied to several other birds. The so-called "Virginian Nightingale" is a species of GROSBEAK (p. 387), and the REDWING, strangely enough, has been often spoken of as the " Swedish Nightingale." 1 1 The Nightingale holds a place in classical mythology. Procne and Philo- mela were the daughters of Pandion, king of Attica, who in return for warlike aid rendered him by Tereus, king of Daulis in Thrace, gave him the first-named in marriage. Tereus, however, being enamoured of her sister, feigned that his wife was dead, and induced Philomela to take her place. On her discovering the 638 NIGHTJAR NIGHTJAR or GOATSUCKER, a bird from very ancient times absurdly believed to have the habit implied by one of the common names it bears in many European tongues besides our own — as testified by the Greek Aiyo#?jAas, the Latin Caprimulgus, Italian Succiacapre, Spanish Chotacabras, French Tettechkwe, and German Ziegenmelker. It is admittedly the type of a very peculiar and distinct Family, Caprimulgidze, a group remarkable for the flat head, enormously wide mouth, large eyes, and soft, pencilled plumage of its members, which vary in size from that of a Lark to that of a Jay. Its position has been variously assigned by systematists. Prof. Huxley considered it to form, with two other Families — the Cypselidse (SWIFT) and Trochilidas (HUMMING-BIRD) — the division CYPSELOMORPELE. The same view was taken in 1884 by Dr. Reichenow; but in 1885 Dr. Stejneger proposed to place it in a " Superorder " Coracoidese along with $fea£0rms (GuACHARo), Coraciidw (ROLLER) and Leptosomatidse ; while in 1888, Prof. Fiirbringer put it between the Rollers and OWLS, with which it forms in his opinion a group Coraciiformes. There are two ways of regarding the Caprimulgidse — one including the genus Podargus (MOREPORK) and its allies, the other recognizing them as a distinct Family, Podargidse, as is done among others by Mr. Hartert (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xvi. pp. 519-654). As a matter of convenience the last are here comprehended in the Caprimulgidse, which will then contain two subfamilies, Caprimulginse and Podarginse ; for what, according to older authors, constitutes a third, though represented only by Steatornis, the singular GUACHARO or Oil -bird, certainly requires separation as an independent Family. Some of the differences between the Caprimulginse and Podarginze were pointed out by Mr. Sclater (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 123), and are very obvious. In the former, the outer toes have/ow phalanges only, thus presenting a very uncommon character among Birds, and the middle claws are pectinated ; while in the latter the normal number of five phalanges is found, the claws are smooth, and other distinctions more recondite have also been indicated by him (torn, cit. p. 582). The Caprimulginse may be further divided into those having the gape thickly beset by strong bristles, and those in which there are few such bristles or none — the former containing the truth, he cut out her tongue to hinder her from revealing his deceit ; but she depicted her sad story on a robe which she sent to Procne ; and the two sisters then contrived a horrible revenge for the infidelity of Tereus, by killing and serv- ing to him at table his son Itys. Thereupon the gods interposed, changing Tereus into a Hoopoe, Procne into a Swallow, and Philomela into a Nightingale, while Itys was restored to life as a Pheasant, and Pandion (who had died of grief at his daughters' dishonour) as a Bird-of-Prey (see OSPREY). The fable has several variants. Ovid's version may be seen in the 6th Book of his Meta- morphoses (lines 412-676). NIGHTJAR 639 genera Caprimulgus, Antrostomus, Nyctidromus, and others, and the latter Podager, Cfwrdiles, Lyncornis, and a few more. The common Nightjar of Europe, C. europzeus, arrives late in spring from its winter retreat in Africa, and its presence is soon made known to us by its habit of chasing its prey, consisting chiefly of moths and cockchafers, in the evening-twilight. As the season advances the song of the cock, from its singularity, attracts attention amid all rural sounds. It seems to be always uttered when the bird is at rest, though the contrary has been asserted, and is the continuous repetition of a single burring note, as of a thin lath fixed at one end and in a state of vibration at the other, loud enough to reach in still weather a distance of half-a-mile or more. On the NIGHTJAR, Caprimulgus europssus. wing, while toying with its mate, or performing its rapid evolutions round the trees where it finds its food, the bird has the habit of occasionally producing another and equally extraordinary sound, sudden and short, but somewhat resembling that made by swinging a thong in the air, though in what way this noise is produced is not ascertained. In general its flight is silent, but at times when disturbed from its repose, its wings may be heard to smite together. The Nightjar or, to use perhaps its commoner English name, Goatsucker,1 passes the day in slumber, crouching on the ground or perching on a tree — in the latter case sitting not across the branch but lengthways, with its head lower than its body. In hot weather, however, its song may sometimes be heard by day and even at noontide, but it is then uttered, as it were, drowsily, and without the 1 Other English names of the bird are Churn-Owl, Evejar, Fern-Owl, Night- Hawk, Puckeridge and Wheel-bird— the last from the bird's song resembling the noise made by a spinning-wheel in motion. 640 NIGHTJAR vigour that characterizes its crepuscular or nocturnal performance. Towards evening the bird becomes active, and it seems to pursue its prey throughout the night uninterruptedly, or only occasionally pausing for a few seconds to alight on a bare spot — a pathway or road — and then resuming its career. It is one of the few birds that absolutely make no nest, but lays its pair of beautifully -marbled eggs on the ground, generally where the herbage is short, and often actually on the soil. So light is it that the act of brooding, even where there is some vegetable growth, produces no visible depression of the grass, moss, or lichens on which the eggs rest, and the finest sand almost equally fails to exhibit a trace of the parental act. Yet scarcely any bird shows greater local attachment, and the precise site chosen one year is almost certain to be occupied the next (NiDiFiCATiON, p. 630). The young, covered when hatched with dark-spotted down, are not easily found, nor are they more easily discovered on becoming fledged, for their plumage almost entirely resembles that of the adults, being a mixture of reddish -brown, grey, and black, blended and mottled in a manner that passes description. They soon attain their full size and power of flight, and then take to the same manner of life as their parents. In autumn all leave their summer haunts for the south, but the exact time of their departure has hardly been ascertained. The habits of the Nightjar, as thus described, seem to be more or less essentially those of the whole subfamily — the differences observable being apparently less than are found in other groups of birds of similar extent. A second species of Nightjar, C. ruficollis, which is somewhat larger, and has the neck distinctly marked with rufous, is a summer visitant to the south-western parts of Europe, and especially to Spain and Portugal. Hancock recorded (Ibis, 1862, p. 39) the occurrence of a single example of this bird at Killingworth, near Newcastle-on- Tyne, in October 1856 ; but the season of its appearance argues the likelihood of its being but a casual straggler from its proper home.1 Many other species of Caprimulgus inhabit Africa, Asia and their islands, while one, C. macrurus, ranges very widely and is found in Australia. Very closely allied to this genus is Antrostomus,2 an American group containing several species, of which the Chuck- will' s- widow, A. carolinensis, and the Whip-poor-will, A. vociferus, of the eastern United States (the latter also reaching Canada) are familiar examples. Both these birds take their common name from the cry they utter, and their habits seem to be almost identical with those of the Old-World Nightjars. Passing over some other forms which need 1 A third species, 0. segyptius, recognizable by its pale coloration, has occurred about half a dozen times in Europe, and once even in England (Zool. 1883, pp. 374, 375). 2 Mr. Hartert (op. cit. p. 521) denies its generic validity, and not unjustifiably. NIGHTJAR 641 not here be mentioned, the genus Nyctidromus, though consisting of only one species (N. albicollis) which, though varying somewhat in size and coloration, ranges from Texas to Southern Brazil, requires remark, since it has tarsi of sufficient length to enable it to run swiftly on the ground, while the legs of most birds of the Family are so short that they can make but a shuffling progress. The South-American Heleothreptes, with the peculiar form of wing (counting from the wrist, in which the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th primaries are greatly elongated) possessed by the male, needs mention ; but a still more exaggerated condition exists in two African species, referred by some ornithologists PENNANT-WINGED NIGHTJAR, Macrodipteryx. (After sketch from life by J. Gedge.) to as many genera (Macrodipteryx and Cosmetornis) though probably one genus would suffice for both. The males of each of them are characterized by the wonderful development of the 2nd primary, which reaches in adult specimens the extraordinary length of 17 inches or more. The former of these, the Caprimulgus macrodipterus of Afzelius, seems to have the more northern range, occurring across the continent from Abyssinia to the West Coast, and the shaft of the elongated remiges is bare for the greater part of its length, retaining the web, in a spatulate form, only near the tip. The latter, to which the specific name of vexillarius was given by Mr. Gould, inhabits equatorial Africa, and thence to Damaraland on 41 642 NIGHTJAR the east and Fernando Po on the west, and is reported to have occurred in Madagascar and Socotra. In this the remigial streamers do not lose their barbs, and as a few of the next quills are also to some extent elongated, the bird, when flying, is said to look as though it had four wings. Specimens of both are rare in collections, and no traveller seems to have had the opportunity of studying the habits of either so as to suggest a reason for this marvellous sexual development, though the late Mr. Joseph Gedge, who accompanied Sir Samuel Baker's expedition to the Soudan, on one occasion observed a Macrodipteryx squatting on the ground with its long remiges erected perpendicularly, and the accompanying figure is from a sketch sent by him to his friend Mr. Marlborough Pryor. The second group of Caprimulginse, those which are but poorly or not at all furnished with rictal bristles, contains about five genera, of which there is here only room to particularize Lyncornis of the Old World and Chordiles of the New. The species of the former are remarkable for the tuft of feathers which springs from each side of the head, above and behind the ears, so as to give the bird an appearance like some of the " Horned " OWLS — those of the genus Scops, for example ; and remarkable as it is to find certain forms of two Families, so distinct as are the Strigidte and the Caprimulgidse, resembling each other in this singular external feature, it is yet more remarkable to note that in some groups of the latter, as in some of the former, a very curious kind of DIMORPHISM takes place. In either case this has been frequently asserted to be sexual, but on that point doubt may be fairly entertained. Certain it is that in some groups of Nightjars, as in some groups of Owls, individuals of the same species are found in plumage of two entirely different hues — rufous and grey. The only explanation as yet offered of this fact is that the difference is sexual, but, as just hinted, evidence to that effect is conflicting. It must not, however, be supposed that this common feature, any more than that of the existence of tufted forms in each group, indicates any close relationship between them. The resem- blances may be due to the same causes, concerning which future observers may possibly enlighten us, but at present we must regard them as analogies, not homologies. The species of Lyncornis inhabit the Malay countries, one, however, occurring in Burma and India. Of Chordiles the best-known species is the Night-hawk of North America, C. virginianus or popetue, which has a wide range from Canada to Brazil. Others are found in the Antilles and in South America. We have next to consider the birds forming the genus Podargus and those allied to it, whether they be regarded as a distinct Family, or as a subfamily of Caprimulgidaz. As above stated, they have feet constructed as those of Birds normally are, and their sternum seems to present the constant though comparatively trivial difference NIGHT-RA VEN—NODD Y 643 of having its posterior margin elongated into two pairs of processes, while only one pair is found in the Caprimulginse. Podargus includes the bird, P. cuvieri, known from its cry as Morepork to Tasmanian colonists, and several other species, the number of which is doubt- ful, from Australia and New Guinea. They have comparatively powerful bills, and, it would seem, feed to some extent on fruits and berries, though they mainly subsist on insects, chiefly Cicadas and Phasmidse. They also differ from the true Nightjars in having the outer toes partially reversible, and they are said to build a flat nest on the horizontal branch of a tree for the reception of their eggs, which are of a spotless white. Apparently allied to Podargus, but differing among other respects in its mode of nidification, is dSgotheles, which belongs also to the Australian Region ; and further to the northward, extending throughout the Malay Archipelago and into India, comes Batmchostomus, wherein we again meet with species having "ear "-tufts somewhat like Lyncvrnis. The Podarginx are thought by some to be represented in the New World by the genus Nyctibius, of which several species occur from the Antilles and Central America to Brazil. Finally, it may be stated that none of the Caprimulgidze seem to occur in Polynesia or in New Zealand, though there is scarcely any other part of the world suited to their habits in which members of the family are not found. NIGHT-RAVEN, a bird frequently met with in fiction, but ap- parently nowhere else. NINE-KILLER or NINE-MURDER, old and obsolete render- ings of the German Neuntodter or Neunmorder, names applied to more than one species of Lanius (SHRIKE) and due to the belief that each of the shambles of one of these birds displays the remains of nine victims ("Nimmurder" by misprint, Cotgrave, 1611, sub wee "Escriere"). NODDY, the name applied, originally by sailors, to a sea-bird from its shewing so little fear of man as to be accounted stupid.1 It is the Sterna stolida of Linnaeus, and the Anous stolidus of modern ornithology, having the figure of a TERN, and belonging to the sub- family Sterninse, but is heavier in flight, with shorter wings and the tail less deeply forked. The plumage is of a uniform sooty hue, excepting the crown of the head, which is light grey. The Noddy is very generally distributed throughout the tropical or nearly tropical oceans, but occasionally wanders into colder climates, and has been met with even in the Irish Sea. It breeds often in astounding numbers, on islands, even low cays and coral-islets, commonly making 1 Nodden, used by Chaucer, the old form of nod, is to drop the head suddenly as in falling asleep, and hence comes Sir Thomas Browne's nodipol—a. sleepy head, a simpleton— the modern noodle. Noddle, a jocular word for the head, is possibly allied, as I am told by Prof. Skeat. 644 NONPAREIL a shallow nest of sea-weed or small twigs, which may be placed on the ground, on a tuft of grass, or in the fork of a tree, while some- times it lays its eggs on a bare rock. Mr. Saunders (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1876, pp. 669-672) admitted four other species of the genus: — Anous tenuirostris, supposed to be confined to the southern part of the Indian Ocean, from Madagascar to West Australia ; A. melano- genys, often confounded with the last, but having nearly as wide a range as the first ; l and A. leucocapillus, hitherto known only from Torres Strait and the Southern Pacific. These three have much resemblance to A. stolidus, but are smaller in size, and the two latter, which have the crown white instead of grey, are now considered to be identical. The fourth species, A. C83ruleus> with which he then included the A. cinereus of some authors, but subsequently (op. cit. 1878, pp. 211, 212) recognized the last as distinct, differs not inconsiderably, being of a dove-colour, lighter on the head and darker on the back, the wings bearing a narrow white bar, with their quill-feathers blackish-brown, while the feet are reddish and the webs yellow. Three more species — A. superdliosus from the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, A. plumbeigularis from the Red Sea, and A. galapagensis from the Galapagos — were added by Dr. Sharpe (Philos. Trans, clxviii. pp. 468, 469) ; while Mr. Rothschild has described and figured (Avifauna of Laysan, p. 43, pi.) the birds which frequent the Sandwich Islands as forming a tenth — A. NONPAREIL, the name under which, from its supposed match- less beauty, a little cage-bird, chiefly imported from New Orleans, has long been known to English dealers (cf. Edwards, Gleanings, i. p. 132). It is the Emberiza ciris of Linnaeus and the Cyanospiza, Spiza or Passerina ciris of recent ornithologists, belonging to a small group, which, in the present state of knowledge, cannot with certainty be referred either to the Buntings or to the Finches, while some authors have regarded it as a TANAGER. The cock has the head, neck, and lesser wing-coverts bright blue, the upper part of the back yellow, deepening into green, and the lower parts generally, together with the rump, bright scarlet, tinged on the latter with purple. This gorgeous colouring is not assumed until the bird is at least two years old. The hen is green above and yellow beneath ; and the younger cocks present an appearance intermediate between the adults of either sex. The species, often called also the Painted Bunting, after wintering in Central America or Mexico, arrives in the southern States of the American Union in April, but does not ordinarily proceed to the northward of South Carolina. In 1 According to information supplied to Dr. F. Penrose (Ibis, 1879, p. 280) this species took up a station in 1878 on the Island of Ascension in large numbers, it having been hitherto unknown there. NOPE—NULLIPENNES 645 Louisiana, where it is especially the Pape of the French-speaking inhabitants (see BISHOP -BIRD, page 40) it is said to be very abundant; and on its appearance in spring advantage is, or was, taken of the pugnacious disposition of the males (which so often accompanies a brilliant sexually-distinct plumage) to capture them alive in great numbers by means of the stuffed skin of one so placed in connexion with a cage-trap that they instantly fall into the latter on attacking what they conceive to be a rival. In this way many thousands are said to have been taken formerly. The prisoner usually reconciles himself to his fate, and in a few days will utter his sprightly though not very powerful song; and, if provided with a mate and proper accommodation, will breed and rear a family in confinement. Belonging to the same genus as the Nonpareil is the INDIGO-BIRD, Cyanospiza cyanea, which, as a summer visitant, is widely diffused from the Missouri to the Atlantic, and extends into the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick, being everywhere regarded with favour. Though wanting most of the bright hues of its congener, the Indigo-bird has yet much beauty, the adult cock being nearly all over of a deep blue, changing, according to the light, to green. The hen is brown above and ochreous-white beneath. This species is represented in the western part of the continent by the Lazuli-Finch, C. am&na, the male of which has the upper parts greenish-blue, the wings barred with white, a pectoral band of light chestnut extending to the flanks on each side, and the lower parts white. Of the three remaining species of the genus, C. versicolor shews in the male a plumage beautifully varied with brownish-red, violet, and blue ; C. ledancheri is bluish-green above and yellow beneath, with an orange breast ; while C. rosit&, though quite distinct, comes nearest in coloration to C. ciris. These three have a more southern range than the other three ; but the first of them is believed occasionally to cross the Mexican frontier into the United States. None of the species of Cyanospiza are thought to occur further south than the isthmus of Panama ; but the wonderful Ciridops anna of Hawaii (Wilson and Evans, Birds of the Sandwich Islands) is possibly allied to this genus. NOPE, a name of the BULLFINCH, said to be an old corruption of ALP or some other form of that word (see page 1 0) which has taken on an initial n borrowed from the indefinite article an.1 NORFOLK PLOVER, a needless book-name for the Stone- CURLEW (see page 129), apparently invented by Pennant in 1766. 1 Like a newt for " an ewt " (or eft), a nickname for "an ekename," a noTce for "an oak," and several other words (cf. Skeat, Etymol. Diet, sub litt. N) ; but the only case among English birds' names where the converse process, or loss of a real initial n, has happened as in adder for "nadder," auger for " nauger," seems to be that of eyas for " NIAS." 646 NUN— NUTCRACKER NULLIPENNES, Lesson's name in 1831 (Tr. d'Orn. p. 11) for a group of birds to consist of the genus Apteryx (Kiwi) ; but lately applied in error (Century Dictionary, sub wee) to the PENGUINS. NUN (printed "Non" in Merrett's Pinax, p. 183), the adult male SMEW, from his delicate white and black plumage, and also said to be a local name of the Blue Titmouse, Parus cteruleus, according to Charleton (Onomast. p. 90), from its banded head ; but the French Nonnette and the German Nonnenmeise are names of the Marsh-Titmouse, P. palustris. NUTCRACKER, the name given in 1758 by Edwards (Glean- ings, i. p. 63, pi. 240) to a bird which had hitherto none in English, though described in 1544 by Turner, who, meeting with it in the Rhaetic Alps, where it was called " Nousbrecher " (hodie "Nuss- brecher"), translated that word into Latin as Nudfraga. In 1555 Gesner figured it and conferred upon it another designation, Caryocatactes. Willughby and Ray obtained it on the road from Vienna to Venice as they crossed what must have been the Som- merring Pass, 26th September 1663; and it has a wide range in the northern parts of the Palaearctic area, chiefly keeping to sub- alpine or subarctic pine-forests, and apparently nowhere numerous, though roving bands of seventy or one hundred have occasionally been observed in autumn, at which season it can be often seen in suitable localities in several European countries. It is the Corvus caryocatactes of Linnaeus, the Nudfraga caryocatactes of modern orni- thology.1 The first known to have occurred in Britain was, according to Pennant, shot at Mostyn in Flintshire, 5th October 1753, while about fifteen more examples have since been procured, and others seen, in this island. For many years nothing was known of this bird during the breeding-season, when it seemed to disappear from sight, and this notwithstanding the interest taken in the search for its nest and eggs. It is now pretty clear that the discovery was due to the Abbe Caire of Sanieres in the Lower Alps, but though he obtained an egg in 1846, he was unable to produce proof of the fact, and the truth was not ascertained until some sixteen years later by the Danish oologists HH. Fischer and Erichsen, who after much labour found and took nests and eggs in the island of Bornholm.2 The Nutcracker breeds very early in the year, long before the 1 A monograph of the species by the Ritter Victor von Tschusi-Schmid- hoffen was printed at Dresden in 1874 with the title of Der Tannenheher, one of its many German names. 2 Many other claimants appeared in the meanwhile without making good their pretensions. The story of the discovery is told with some details in Yarrell's British Birds (ed. 4, ii. pp. 332-337). The egg of the Nutcracker seems to have been first figured by Badeker (Journ. filr Om. 1856, pi. i. fig. 1), but the first specimen with an undeniable history, being from Bornholm as above stated, in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society (1867, pi. xv. fig. 2). NUTHATCH 647 snows are melted, and this fact coupled with that of its becoming, like a JAY, silent in the breeding-season, when at other times it is rather noisy than not, will account for the mystery which so long en- wrapped its domestic arrangements ; but, now that the secret has been divulged, nests and eggs have been found without much diffi- culty in various parts of Europe, and contrary to what was for many years believed, the nest seems to be invariably built on the bough of a tree, some 20 feet from the ground, and is a comparatively large structure of sticks lined with grass. 'The eggs are of a very pale bluish-green, sometimes nearly spotless, but usually more or less freckled with pale olive or ash-colour. The chief food of the Nut- cracker, though it at times searches for insects on the ground, appears to be the seeds of fir-trees, which it extracts as it holds the cones in its foot, and it has been questioned whether the bird has the faculty of cracking nuts — properly so called — with its bill, though that can be used with much force and, at least in confine- ment, with no little ingenuity. Considerable difference has been observed in the form and size of the bill of examples of this species, but as in the case of the HuiA (page 437) this is now supposed to depend on the sex — that of the cock being stout and short, while in the hen it is long and thin. The bird is about the size of a Jay, and of a dark sooty-brown colour spangled with white, nearly each body-feather ending in a tear-shaped patch of that colour. Beside the European species, which also extends into Northern or Central Asia, three others, very nearly akin to it, have been described from the Himalayas. Of their American cousin, Clark's Crow, as it is called (Picicorvus columbianus), inhabiting only the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and discovered during the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1804-6, an excellent account has been given by Dr. Coues (Ibis, 1872, pp. 52-59). The old supposition that the Nut-crackers had any affinity to the Piddse (WOODPECKER) or were intermediate in position between them and the Corvidse (CROW) is now known to be wholly erroneous, for they undoubtedly belong to the latter Family. NUTHATCH, in older English NUTHACK, and locally NUT- JOBBER, from its habit of hacking or chipping nuts, which it cleverly fixes, as though in a vice, in a chink or crevice of the bark of a tree, and then hammers them with the sharp point of its bill till the shell is broken. This bird was long thought to be the Sitta europsea of Linnaeus ; but that is now admitted to be the northern form, with the lower parts white, and its buff-breasted representative in central, southern, and western Europe, including England, is known as Sitta cxsia. It is not found in Ireland, and in Scotland its appearance is merely accidental. Without being 648 NUTMEG-BIRD very plentiful anywhere, it is generally distributed in suitable localities throughout its range — those localities being such as afford it a sufficient supply of food, consisting during the greater part of the year of insects, which it diligently seeks on the boles and larger limbs of old trees ; but in autumn and winter it feeds on nuts, beech-mast, the stones of yew-berries and hard seeds. Being of a bold disposition, and the trees favouring its mode of life often growing near houses, it will become on slight encouragement familiar with men ; and its neat attire of ash-grey and warm buff, together with its sprightly gestures, render it an attractive visitor. It generally makes its nest in a hollow branch, plastering up the opening with clay, leaving only a circular hole just large enough to afford entrance and exit ; and the interior contains a bed of dry leaves or the filmy flakes of the inner bark of a fir or cedar, on which the eggs are laid. Corsica has a Nuthatch peculiar to itself and remarkable for its black crown, the S. whiteheadi of Dr. Sharpe, and in the Levant occurs a third species, S. syriaca, with somewhat different habits, as it haunts rocks rather than trees ; while four or five representatives of the European arboreal species have their respective ranges from Asia Minor to the Himalayas and Northern China. North America possesses nearly as many ; but, curiously enough, the geographical difference of coloration is just the reverse of what it is in Europe — the species with a deep rufous breast, S. canadensis, being that which has the most northern range, while the white-bellied S. carolinensis, with its western form, S. aculeata, inhabits more southern latitudes. The Ethiopian Eegion seems to have no representative of the group, unless it be the Hypositta corallirostris of Madagascar. Callisitta and Dendrophila are nearly allied genera, inhabiting the Indian Eegion, and remarkable for their beautiful blue plumage ; but some doubt may for the present be entertained as to the affinity of the Australian Sittdla, with four or five species, found in one or another part of that continent, which doubt is increased by the late Mr. W. A. Forbes's discovery (Proc. Zool Soc. 1882, pp. 569-571) that the genera AcantUdositta (SPINEBILL) and Xenicus, peculiar to New Zealand, and hitherto generally placed in the Family Sittidas, belong really to the Mesomyodian group and are therefore far removed from it. The true Sittidse seem to be intermediate between the Paridse (TITMOUSE) and the Certhiidas (TREECREEPER), and some authors comprehend them in either one or the other of those groups. NUTMEG-BIED, the dealers' name in common use for Munia pundulata (COWRY-BIRD, page 108), but apparently of somewhat recent origin. OA T-FO WL—ODONTORNITHES 649 0 OAT-FOWL, a local name for the Snow-BuNTiNG ; OATSEED- BIRD for the Yellow WAGTAIL. OCCIPUT, properly the hinder part of a bird's head, from the crown backward, as opposed to SINCIPUT, but often used vaguely for the whole cap. OCTOBER BIRD, in the Antilles used for the BOBOLINK, from its arriving there in that month (B. Edwards, Hist. W. Ind. i. p. 99, note). OCYDROME, see WEKA. ODONTOGLOSS^E, Nitzsch's name in 1840 (Pterylographie, p. 191) for a group consisting of the genus Phwnicopterus (FLAMINGO). ODONTOLC^E, see ODONTORNITHES. ODONTOPHORIN^E, the supposed subfamily containing the American QUAILS (cf. COLIN), upon the distinctness of which from those of the Old World some systematists have laid unnecessary importance. Dr. Coues (Key N.-Am. Birds, ed. 1884, p. 594) says that he knows no characters to distinguish the true Quails from the so-called OdontopJiorinas. ODONTORNITHES,1 a term proposed in 1873 by Prof. Marsh (Am. Journ. Sci. ser. 3, v. pp. 161, 162) to designate a so-called Subclass of birds, consisting of the genera Hesperornis and Ichthyornis (both of which had been named in the previous year) from the cretaceous deposits of Kansas, and characterized by the presence of teeth (Fig. 1). Its founder after- wards subdivided this group (op. cit. x. pp. 403-408) into the two Orders ODONTOLC^E and ODONTOTORIVLE ; the former, represented by Hesperornis and characterized by having the teeth (Fig. 2) placed in grooves, hetero- coelous vertebrae, and the abortion of the carina sterni with a generally Ratite conformation of the scapular Fig l arch (Fig. 3) ; while the latter, typified by Ichthyornis, TOOTH or was distinguished by the presence of distinct sockets HESPERORNIS. for the teeth (Fig. 5), amphiccelous vertebrae (Fig. 6), Nicl^™ and and the Carinate modification of the sternal apparatus. Lydekker's Subsequent writers have disputed the expediency of Paleontology, this proposal, for Prof. Cope in 1875 (Vert. Cretac. ' Form, of the West, pt. iii. p. 245) and Prof. Seeley in 1876 (Q. Journ. 1 Again indebted to Mr. Lydekker's kindness for an article worthy of the closest attention, I wish to guard myself against its being taken as the expres- sion of my own views on one of the hardest subjects that the ornithologist has to consider, and one still open to various interpretations. — A. N. 650 ODONTORNITHES Geol. Soc. xxxii. p. 496) referred Hesperornis to the " Nafatores." In 1881, M. Dollo (Bull. sc. Depart, du Nord, ser. 2, iv. p. 300) pro- Fig. 2.— MANDIBLE OF HESPERORNIS. (As before, after Marsh.) nounced it to be "une autruche carnivore aquatique." This notion was popularized in 1884 by Prof. Wiedersheim (Biolog. CentralU. ii. p. 690), while Prof. Dames in the same year (Palseontol. Abhandl. ii. pt. 3) took much the same view, as did also (though in a different Fig. 3. — STERNAL APPARATUS OF HESPERORNIS. (As before, after Marsh.) c coracoid ; /, furcula ; h, humerus ; s, scapula ; st. sternum. fashion) an author in the Encyclopedia Britannica (ed. 9, xviii. pp. 43, 44), and Prof, von Zittel (Handb. Palseozool. Abth. I, iii. pp. 826, 834). Almost simultaneously, however, Prof. Vetter (Festschr. der G-es. Isis in Dresden, 1885, p. 109) explained Hesper- Fig. 4.— PELVIS OF HESPERORNIS. (As before, after Marsh.) a, acetabulum ; il. ilium ; is. ischium ; p, pectineal process ; p', os pubis. ornis as a Carinate Bird, exclusively adapted to aquatic life, and having no affinity to the Batite, though since he regarded these last as reduced Carinate its mutual relation to the Ratitaz was obvious, and people began to confound them, speaking almost in M. Polio's ODONTORNITHES 651 phrase of it as a " Swimming Ostrich." About the same time it was found that the presence of teeth was a character apparently common to all " Cretaceous " Birds. The opinions expressed by Prof. Fiirbringer in the earlier portion of his great work need not be here adduced, since they were modified in the course of its pro- gress; but he finally declared (Untersuchungen, u. s. w. pp. 1543, 1565, 1580) that the Odontolcx were the ancestral relations of his " Colymbo-Podicipites," with which they formed his Suborder " Podicipitif ormes," while a similar view was taken in 1890 by Prof. D'Arcy Thompson (Stud. Mus. Dundee, No. 10). As to the Odontotormse Prof. Marsh has displayed commendable caution. On account of some similarity, the significance of which may or may not be important, he based his restoration of Ichthyornis on Sterna (TERN), a fact which has led to exaggerated if not mis- taken views, for he was careful to state that Ichthyornis seemed to have points of resemblance to Ardea, Ciconia, Colymbus, Phalacro- corax and even to the Accipitres, while its posterior extremities alone indicated a structure similar to that of the Laridx and Alcidw. In 1893 Dr. Gadow (Thier-reich, Vb'gel, ii. p. 119) suggested that the low characters of Ichthyornis shew it to be the beginning of the Carinatx. In 1891 the present writer (Cat. Foss. B. Br. Mus. pp. 200 etseqq.), while fully admitting both the Colymbine affinities of Hesperornis and the Larine resemblances of Ichthyornis, proposed to retain the term Odontornithes for a series of Birds ancestral to the modern series of toothless Carinatde, adopting (op. cit. p. 2) for the latter, but in a wider sense, Dr. Stejneger's name (Stand. Nat. Hist. iv. p. 64) of Euornithes. In addition to the presence of teeth, the extinct series differs from the Euornithes by the absence of union between the rami of the mandible, and between the distal ends of the ilium and ischium. Whatever may be the ultimate verdict on these points of classification, it would seem probable that Hesperoi'nis should be regarded as an offshoot from the same ancestral stock as the one from which the modern Colymlidse have originated ; such ancestral stock being characterized by the presence of teeth, absence of ancylosis between the mandibular rami, and want of union between the spike-like patella and the upwardly-produced cnemial crest of the tibia. On the other hand, the abortion of the keel of the sternum, as well as the general Eatite modification of the scapular arch, are features peculiar to Hesperornis, and not common to the ancestral type ; being, in fact, nearly analogous to those presented by Didus among the Columbse. The typical species of Hesperornis (H. regalis) was of large size, attaining a length of about six feet ; while a second species (H. crassipes) was still more gigantic. Both were aquatic, and probably very similar in their general habits to the Divers. Probably more or less closely allied to this genus was the much smaller Colymbiform bird from the Cambridge 652 ODONTORNITHES Greensand, named by Prof. Seeley in 1869 Enaliornis, and the closely allied Baptdrnis from the North American Cretaceous (see FOSSIL BIRDS). While possessing heteroccelous cervicals, it is believed that Enaliornis had its dorsal vertebrae amphicoelous. Retaining in their amphicoelous vertebrae evidence of their reptilian ancestry which is lost in the more specialized Hesperornis, Fig. 6. CERVICAL VERTEBRA OF ICHTHYORNIS, FROM FRONT AND SIDE. (As before, after Marsh.) Fig. 5.— MANDIBLE OF ICHTHYORNIS. (As before after Mars'.i.) the small Gull-like birds known as Ichthyornis may probably be regarded as holding a somewhat more intimate relationship to the modern LIMICOL^E and GAVLE than is presented by the former to the PYGOPODES, the specialization connected with the absence of flight in the former genus being want- ing. Traces of affinity with Ichthyornis are, indeed, indicated by the more or less markedly opisthocoelous dorsal vertebras of the Limicolaz and Gaviaz ; but whereas both these groups have an ectepicondylar process to the humerus, and an extensor bony bridge to the tibio- tarsus, neither of these features are present in the cretaceous genus. The fenestration of the meta- carpus characteristic of the Gavise is, moreover, wanting in Ichthyornis. Hence it would appear that we must regard all the above-mentioned features characterizing the existing groups named as of comparatively late origin ; while the differences between the extinct and living forms appear to the writer far too important to admit, as has been proposed, of their inclusion in a single ordinal group. Although Apatornis, from the Yellow Chalk of Kansas, and as yet imperfectly known, was apparently an allied type, distinguished by the great development of the acromial pro- cess of the scapula, and the stouter hind limbs, the remaining genera of (? toothed) birds from the same horizon referred to the Odontornithes are named on the evidence of such incomplete remains, that it is impossible to speak of their affinities with certainty ; all that can be said for them will be found in their describer's magnificent work forming the first volume of the Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Yale College.1 RICHARD LYDEKKER. 1 Odontornithes : a Monograph on the Extinct Toothed Birds of North America. By Othniel Charles Marsh. Fol. New Haven, Conn. : 1880. ODONTOTORM^E— OIL-GLAND 653 ODONTOTOKJVLE, see ODONTORNITHES. (ESOPHAGUS (Greek o«ro<£ayos), so named by Aristotle, the gullet or " swallow " of plain English (cf. DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, page 136), the part of the alimentary canal from the LARYNX (page 512) to the STOMACH. It passes down the right and dorsal side of the TRACHEA, with which and other adjoining parts it is connected by loose tissue, entering the thoracic cavity dorsally from the BRONCHI (page 58), and when not distended it forms numerous longitudinal folds owing to the yielding nature of the tunica mucosa (page 137). Deglutition is aided by simple mucous glands, but in many birds the middle portion of the (Esophagus forms a per- manent dilatation, the CROP (page 113), to the outer surface of which thin but broad bands of striped or voluntary muscle are generally attached. These may arise from the FURCULA (page 296) as in Pigeons, or from the skin of the neck as in the Gallinse, and their action assists the conveyance of the food from the crop to the stomach. During this process, especially if only little and dry food be left, Birds, Parrots for instance, may 'be occasionally observed to stretch their neck and gape widely with their mouth. OIL-BIRD, see GUACHARO. OIL-GLAND (glandula uropygialis), in Birds the only cutaneous gland except some small organs in the external ear-passages. Con- sisting of two symmetrical portions, more or less united posteriorly in shape of a heart — since each half is broad and rounded in front and pointed behind — it is seated upon the levator muscles at the root of the tail. Internally it is formed of numerous secretory tubules which gradually unite in a common cavity opening on the surface through a variable number of orifices — there being from 3 to 5 of them in many Water-birds, though only one to each half in Anseres — frequently prolonged in form of a nipple and occasionally united in a single tube, the double origin of which is, however, shewn by a median septum. In the HOOPOE alone, according to Nitzsch, there is but one orifice to the common cavity, wherein the stinking secretion of the gland, for which the female during incuba- tion and the young while they stay in the nest are notorious, is stored. The whole structure, which is surrounded by connective tissue and unstriped muscular fibres, is innervated by the first caudo-spinal nerves, and its blood-supply is in connexion with the caudal arteries and veins. In the majority of Birds this gland is well developed, being largest in those of aquatic habit, and especially in the TUBINARES and STEGANOPODES, as well as in Pandion (OSPREY) ; but it is also large in Steatornis (GUACHARO). It exists, though hardly in a functional condition, in certain PIGEONS (Ptilopus), Cacatua cristata (COCKATOO), and most Caprimulgi (NIGHTJAR), while in other 654 OLD MAN—OLIGOMYOD^E Pigeons as Didunculus (DODLET), Goura and Treron; in other Cockatoos, in several PARROTS (Chrysotis and Pionus), in Podargus (NIGHTJAR), Otis, Argusanus and the Eatitse it is absent. This irregu- larity shews that it has not much value as a taxonomic character ; but attention to other peculiarities in its form or structure has been drawn by Nitzsch and Garrod, and especially to the presence or absence of a circlet of feathers surrounding the nipple-like orifice, and when that occurs the skin covering the gland is naked, while when the circlet is wanting the whole is covered with down inter- spersed with stiff feathers. Among the birds to which the last condition applies are the Bucconidse, Caprimulgi (excl. Podargus), Cariama, Coraciid&, Cuculidse, Cypseli, Galbulidte, Leptosomus, Mero- pid%, Momotidaz, Steatornis and Trogonidx, while by far the greater number of birds possess the tuft. Analysis of the secretion of the Oil-gland shews that its com- position closely resembles that of the sebaceous product of Mammals ; but that it differs from milk through the absence of sugar. Its use is probably the anointing of the plumage, and the presence of POWDER-DOWNS in Cacatua, Chrysotis and Podargus may possibly indicate some correlation between these organs and the oil-gland.1 OLD MAN, the name in Jamaica for Hyetornis pluvialis, one of the CUCKOWS which is also called Rain-bird, as are others of the Family. OLD SQUAW and OLD WIFE are two of the many names of the Long-tailed DUCK, the former necessarily of transatlantic origin. OLE OR ANON, the proximal end of the ULNA, projecting back- ward from and beyond its articulation with the HUMERUS, being practically equivalent to the point of the elbow. It serves as a lever during the extension of the wings, the tendons of the triceps muscle being inserted on the Olecranon. OLIGOMYOD^E, Prof. Huxley's name (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 471) for the group of Passerine Birds having but few song- muscles (SYRINX) which Johannes Miiller had previously called PICARII. 1 It seems that it would be improper here to overlook a controversy on this still unsettled question which, though now wholly forgotten, was carried on, to the amusement of our predecessors, in the later volumes of London's Magazine of Natural History, and in the early years of The Zoologist. Waterton, with the mistaken zeal he so frequently exhibited, maintained that the gland had no lubricating function, chiefly because he had observed that the so-called "rump- less " breed of Fowls, in which the gland is wanting, kept their feathers as glossy as other Fowls which possessed it. He was easily victorious so long as he had to deal only with the late Mr. F. 0. Morris, but when he met with an adversary like the late Mr. C. A. Bury, who knew something about birds, was a good observer and could write rationally, Waterton's mistaken position seems to have become plain to him, and he retired from the contest. — A. N. OLIVE— ORANGE-BIRD 655 OLIVE, a local name of the OYSTER-CATCHER, and apparently a corruption of OLAF, which is said also to be used (Christy, B. Essex, p. 238), and if so the word should be more properly spelt Olave, that being the English form of the sainted Danish king's name. (Cf. KNOT, said to be from Cnut.) OLPH (see ALP and NOPE), with the prefix " Blood " a local name of the BULLFINCH, with that of " Green " of the GREENFINCH. OMBRE or OMBRETTE, see HAMMER-HEAD. 0-0 (variously spelt), the name given in the Sandwich Islands to birds of the genus Acrulocercus (Molioa of some writers), one of the Melipliagidse (HONEY-SUCKER), of which 4 species, inhabiting as many islands, have been described. The yellow axillary tufts of one of them, A. nobilis, peculiar to Hawaii, have been greatly sought for the beautiful featherwork of the natives since the Mamo 1 (DREPANIS) became rare. OPEN-BILL (French Bec-ouvert), one of the names 2 given to birds of the genus Anastomus, allied if not actually belonging to the Cicomidze (STORK), but by some 3 regarded as constituting a distinct Family. Two species have long ^ been known— One In- BILL OF ANASTOMUS. (After Swainson.) dian, parti-coloured, A. oscitans, pondicerianus or coromandelianus ; the other African and dark coloured, A. lamelligerus, so called from the curious flattening and broadening into shining horny -plates of its feather -shafts, especially on the lower parts. In 1880, Prof. Alphonse Milne- Edwards described the form inhabiting Madagascar as distinct, A. madagascariensis. It differs chiefly from the African in its smaller size, and the deeper grooving of the bill. OPISTHOCOMUS, see HOACTZIN. ORANGE-BIRD, a name in Jamaica for Spindalis (properly Spindasis) nigricephala, wrongly identified by Gosse (B. Jam. p. 231) with the Fringilla zena of Linnaeus (which proves to be peculiar to Bahama), one of the TANAGERS, and so-called, says the former, "from the resemblance of its plump and glowing breast to that 1 At pages 166 and 225 this species was mentioned as extinct : an example, however, was obtained in 1892, and its remains are in Mr. Rothschild's collec- tion. 2 Others, and more recent, are Shell-eater, Shell-Ibis, and Snail-eater, of which the first two are incorrect, and the latter far from distinctive, though these birds feed chiefly on mollusks of the genera Ampullaria and Unio. 3 Cf. Gurney in Andersson's B. Damara Land, p. 283 ; Gates in Hume's Nests and Eggs Ind. B. ed. 2, iii. p. 224. 656 ORGAN-BIRD—ORIOLE beautiful fruit." He assigns to it also the name of Cashew-bird ; but it is not the CASHEW-BIRD of older authors. ORGAN -BIRD, the name in Tasmania for the species of GYMNORHINA there found (Gould, Handb. B. Austral, i. p. 178). ORGANIST, the English rendering of the Organiste of Buffon (Hist. Nat. Ois. iv. p. 290), though it may be questionable whether all the information he cites really refers to this species, which is the Pipra musica of Gmelin, and Euphonia musica of modern ornithology, an inhabitant of Hispaniola. Other congeneric species inhabit Jamaica, Porto Rico and some of the Lesser Antilles, though none is found in Cuba, while many more occur from Mexico throughout Central and most parts of South America. Mr. Sclater recognizes 33 species in all (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xi. pp. 58-83). ORIOLE, from the Old French Oriol and that from the Latin aureolus, the name once applied, from its golden colouring, to the bird generally admitted to be the Fireo or ICTERUS (page 457) of classical authors — the Oriolus galbula of Linnaeus — but now commonly used in a much wider sense. The Golden Oriole, which is the type of the Family Oriclidx of modern ornithologists, is a far from uncommon spring -visitor to the British Islands ; but the conspicuous plumage of the male — bright yellow contrasted with black, chiefly on the wings and tail — always attracts atten- tion, and usually brings about its death. Yet a few instances are known in which it is supposed to have bred in England. The nest is a beautifully interwoven fabric, suspended under the horizontal fork of a bough, to both branches of which it is firmly attached, and the eggs are of a shining white sometimes tinged with pink, and sparsely spotted with dark purple. On the Continent it is a well-known though not an abundant bird, and its range in summer extends so far to the east as Irkutsk, while in winter it is found in Natal and Damaraland. In India it is replaced by a closely allied form, 0. kundoo, chiefly distinguishable by the male possessing a black streak behind as well as in front of the eye ; and both in Asia and Africa are several other species more or less resembling 0. galbula, but some depart considerably from that type, assuming a black head, or even a glowing crimson instead of the ordinary yellow colouring, while others again remain constant to the dingy type of plumage which characterizes the female of the more normal form. Among these last are the aberrant species of the group Mimetes or Mimeta, belonging to the Australian Region, respecting which Mr. Wallace pointed out the very curious facts — as yet only explicable on the theory of "unconscious MIMICRY" — of which mention has already been made (pages 573, 574). The external similarity of the Mimeta and the Philemon or Tropidorhynchus (FRIAR- BIRD) of the island of Bouru is perfectly wonderful, and has again ORNITHICHNITES—ORTHONYX 657 and again deceived some of the best ornithologists, though the birds are structurally far apart. Another genus which has been referred to the Oriolidte, and may here be mentioned, is Sphecotheres, peculiar to the Australian Eegion, and distinguishable from the more normal Orioles by a bare space round the eye. The Baltimore Oriole, Orchard Oriole, and other North- American birds to which the name has been applied, belong to the wholly distinct Family Icteridas (ICTERUS). ORNITHICHNITES, a word compounded from the Greek by Hitchcock in 1832 (Am. Journ. Sc. xxix. p. 315) to signify the fossil footprints of Birds, and hence taken as the generic name of the animals which had left those marks, but are now generally believed to have been Dinosaurs (FossiL BIRDS, page 277). ORNITHOLITE, a stone containing the remains or impression of the remains of a Bird. ORNITHOLOGY, from the Greek 6pviO-, crude form of o/cws, a bird (cognate with Scandin. 0rn and A.S. Earn, whence our ERNE), and Aoyta, allied to Aoyos, commonly Englished a discourse. The earliest use of the word thus spelt seems to be in the third edition of Blount's GlossograpUa (1670), where it is explained as "the speaking of birds : the title of a late Book " l (cf. Skeat, Etymol. Diet. p. 407). ORNITHOTOMY, the dissection of Birds, and hence the science thereon founded. ORTHONYX, the scientific name given in 1820, by Temminck, to a little bird, which, from the straightness of its claws, — a character somewhat exaggerated by him, — its large feet and spiny tail, he judged to be generically distinct from any other form. Concerning its affinities much doubt long prevailed. The typical species, 0. maculatus or spinicauda, is from eastern Australia, where it is said to be very local in its distribution, and strictly terrestrial in its habits. In the course of time two other small birds from New Zealand, where they are known as the " WHITEHEAD " and 1 This book was doubtless ' Ornitho-logie, | or | The Speech of | Birds. | London, | Printed for John Stafford, and are to | be sold at his House, at the George at | Fleet-bridge. 1655.' The authorship of the book, of which there are several later editions, is ascribed by Lowndes (p. 848) to Thomas Fuller ; but whether he was the celebrated writer of that name is doubtful. Mr. J. E. Bailey in his Life of that worthy (London : 1874, pp. 761, 762) includes it among his " spurious works," though a later biographer, Mr. Morris Fuller (London : 1884, ii. p. 525) accepts it as genuine. Whoever may have been the author, the word " Ornithologie " is used in a sense very different from the meaning applied to it a few years after, for this treatise is a fable, perhaps, like the agnate ' Anthologia ' published with it, "Partly Morall, Partly Misticall," and possibly has also a political significance. 42 658 ORTOLAN " YELLOWHEAD," were referred to the genus, under the names of 0. albicilla l and 0. ochrocephala, and then the question of its affinity became more interesting. By some systematists it was supposed to belong to the otherwise purely Neotropical Dendrocolaptidse (PICUCULE), and in that case would have been the sole representa- tive of the Tracheophone Passeres in the Australian Region. Others considered it one of the nearest relatives of Menura, and if that view had been correct it would have added a third form to the small section of " PsEUDOSCiNES " ; while Sundevall, in 1872, placed it not far from Timelia, among a group the proper sorting of which will probably for years tax the ingenuity of ornithologists.2 The late Mr. W. A. Forbes shewed (Proc. Zool Soc. 1882, p. 544) that this last position was the more correct, as Orthonyx proved on dissection to be one of the true Oscines, but yet to stand, so far as is known, alone among birds of that group, or any other group of Passeres, in consequence of the superficial course taken by the (left) carotid artery, which is nowhere contained in the subvertebral canal. Whether this discovery will require the segregation of the genus as the representative of a separate Family Orthonycidse — — which has been proposed by Mr. Salvin (Catal Coll. Strickland, p. 294) — remains to be seen.3 The typical species of Orthonyx — for the scientific name has been adopted in English — is rather larger than a Skylark, coloured above not unlike a Hedge-Sparrow. The wings are, however, barred with white, and the chin, throat and breast are in the male pure white, but of a bright reddish-orange in the female. The remiges are very short, rounded and much incurved, shewing a bird of weak flight. The rectrices are very broad, the shafts stiff, and towards the tip divested of barbs. Two other species that seem rightly to belong to the genus have been described — 0. spal- dingi from Queensland, of much greater size than the type, and with a jet-black plumage, and 0. novw-guinese, from the great island of that name. ORTOLAN (Old Fr. Hortolan, mod. Fr. Ortolan), the Emberiza 1 It may be charitably conjectured that the nomenclator intended to write albicapilla. 2 Dr. Sharpe naturally extended his generous hospitality to Orthonyx and placed it in his Timeliidse (Oat. B. Br. Mus. vii. p. 329), but refused entrance to Clitonyx, which Dr. Gadow had therefore to include (op. cit. viii. p. 75) among the Paridae — a wrong position, according to Sir W. Buller. 3 Forbes also demonstrated that one at least of the two New-Zealand species above mentioned, 0. ochrocephala, had been wrongly referred to this genus, and they therefore at present stand as Clitonyx. This is a point of some little import- ance in its bearing on the relationship of the fauna of the two countries, for Orthonyx was supposed to be one of the few genera of Land-birds common to both. OSCINES 659 hortulana of Linnaeus, a bird so celebrated for the delicate flavour of its flesh as to have become proverbial, and to have given its name to others, not all of them nearly related, which are supposed to be as well-tasted. A native of most European countries — the British Islands (in which it occurs but rarely) excepted — as well as of western Asia, it emigrates in autumn presumably to the southward of the Mediterranean, though its winter-quarters cannot be said to be accurately known, and returns about the end of April or beginning of May. Its distribution throughout its breeding-range seems to be very local, and for this no reason can be assigned. It was long ago said in France, and apparently with truth, to prefer wine-growing districts ; but it certainly does not feed upon grapes, and is found equally in countries where vineyards are unknown — reaching in Scandinavia even beyond the arctic circle — and there it generally frequents corn-fields and their neighbourhood. In appear- ance and habits it much resembles its congener the YELLOW- HAMMER, but wants the bright colouring of that species, its head for instance being of a greenish-grey instead of a lively yellow. The somewhat monotonous song of the cock is also much of the same kind ; and, where the bird is a familiar object to the country people, who usually associate its arrival with the return of fair weather, they commonly apply various syllabic interpretations to its notes, just as our boys do to those of the Yellow-hammer. The nest is placed on or near the ground, but the eggs seldom shew the hair-like markings so characteristic of those of most Emberizida (BUNTING). Ortolans are netted alive in great numbers, kept from the light of day, and fed with millet, oats and other seeds. In a short time they become enormously fat, and are then killed for the table. If, as is supposed, the Ortolan be the Miliaria of Yarro, the practice of artificially fattening birds of this species is very ancient.1 In Europe the " Beccafico " (FiG-EATER), whatever that may be, shares with the Ortolan the highest honours of the dish, but the former is not artificially fattened, and on this account is preferred by some sensitive tastes to the latter. OSCINES, the third Order of Birds according to the arrange- ment in 1840 of Keyserling and Blasius (Wirldth. Europ. pp. xxxvi. and 80), consisting of forms which, among other less important characters, are distinguished by the possession of true song-muscles (cf. SYRINX and INTRODUCTION). 1 In France the word is used so as to be almost synonymous with our " Bunt- ing " ; but in some of the Antilles, where French is spoken, the Ortolan is a little Ground-DovE of the genus Chamsepelia. In North America the name is one of the many applied to the BOBOLINK, so justly celebrated for its excellent flavour, as well as to the SORA or Carolina RAIL ; while by Anglo-Indians two species of LARK (Calandrella brachydactyla and Pyrrhulauda grisea) are commonly called Ortolans (Jerdon, B. Ind. ii. p. 373). 66o OSPREY OSPRAY or OSPKEY,1 a word said to be corrupted from " Ossi- frage," in Latin Ossifraga or bone-breaker. The Ossifraga of Pliny (Hist. Nat. x. 3) and some other classical writers seems, as already said, to have been the LAMMERGEYER (page 503); but the name, not inapplicable in that case, has been transferred — through a not uncommon but inexplicable confusion — to another bird which is no breaker of bones, save incident- ally those of the fishes it devours.2 The Osprey is a rapacious bird, of middling size and of conspicuously-marked plumage, the white of its lower parts, and often of its head, contrasting sharply with the dark brown of the back and most of its upper parts when the bird is seen on the wing. It is the Falco haliaetus of Linnaeus, but un- questionably deserving generic separation was, in 1810, established by Savigny (Ois. de rfigypte, p. 35) as the type of a new genus which he was pleased to term Pandion — a name since pretty generally accepted. It has commonly been kept in the Family Fakonidse, but of late regarded as the repre- sentative of a separate Family, Pandionidw, for which view not a little can be said.3 Pandion differs from 1 In the so - called "plume -trade" the word is applied to the feathers J BONES OF OSPREY'S FOOT. taken from the back of a> tarsometatarsal bridge over the ex- certain EGRETS (cf. EXTER- tensor muscle of the toes '• fc' tibial MINATION, p. 228). 2 Another supposed old form of the name is "Orfraie" ; but that is said by M. Holland (Faune popul. France, ii. p. 9, note) quoting M. Suchier (Zeitschr. Rom. PMlol. i. p. 432), to arise from a mingling of two wholly different sources : — (1) Ori- pelargus, Oriperagus, Orprais, and (2) Ossifraga. "Orfraie" again is occasionally interchanged with Effraie (which, through such dialectical forms as Fresaie, Fres- saia, is said "to come from the Latin prsesaga), the ordinary French name for the Barn-Owl, Aluco flammeus (see OWL, infra, p. 679, note 2) ; but the subject is too complex for any but an expert philologist to treat. According to Prof. Skeat (Etymol. Diet. p. 408), "Asprey" is the oldest English form; but "Osprey" dates from Cotgrave at least. 3 Dr. Sharpe goes further, and makes a " Suborder " Pandiones ; but the OSPREY 66 1 the Falconidx not only pterylologically, as long ago observed by Nitzsch, but also osteologically, as pointed out by M. Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Ois. Foss. France, ii. pp. 413, 419), and it is a curious fact that in some of the characters in which it differs structurally from the Falconidze, it agrees with certain of the Owls, especially in possessing a bony bridge or loop (a, in fig.) on the upper part of the anterior face of the tarsometatarse, through which passes the common extensor tendon of the toes ; 1 and in having the exterior toe partly reversible ; but the most important parts of its internal structure, as well as of its ptilosis, quite forbid a belief that there is any near alliance of the two groups. The Osprey is one of the most cosmopolitan Birds -of -Prey. From Alaska to Brazil, from Lapland to Natal, from Japan to Tasmania, and in some of the islands of the Pacific, it occurs as a winter-visitant or as a native. The countries which it does not frequent would be more easily named than those in which it is found — and among the former are Ireland, Iceland and New Zealand. Though migratory in Europe at least, it is generally independent of climate. It breeds equally on the half -thawed shores of Hudson's Bay and on the cays of Honduras, in the dense forests of Finland and on the barren rocks of the Eed Sea, in Kamchatka and in West Australia. Where, through abundance of food, it is numerous — as in former days was the case in the eastern part of the United States — the nests of the Fish-Hawk (to use its American name) may be placed on trees to the number of three hundred close together. Where food is scarcer and the species accordingly less plentiful, a single pair will occupy an isolated rock, and jealously expel all intruders of their kind, as happens in Scotland.2 The lover of birds cannot see many more enjoyable spectacles than an Osprey engaged in fishing — poising itself aloft, with upright body, and wings beating horizontally, ere it plunges like a plummet beneath the water, and immediately after reappears shaking a shower of drops from its plumage. The feat of carrying off an Osprey's eggs is often difficult, and attended with some risk, but has more than once tempted the most daring of birds' nesters. Apart from the dangerous situation not unfrequently chosen by the birds for their eyry, — a steep rock in a lonely lake, only to be reached after a long swim through chilly water, or the summit of a characters on which he founds such an important division are obviously inade- quate. The other genus associated with Pandion by him has been shewn by Mr. Gurney (Ibis, 1878, p. 455) to be nearly allied to the ordinary Sea-EAGLES (Haliaetus], and therefore one of the true Falconidse. 1 This character is possessed by the group of Owls of the subfamily Striginx, according to the nomenclature of this work, but not by those of the Alucinas. 2 Two good examples of the different localities chosen by this bird for its nest are illustrated in Ootheca Wolleyana, pis. B. & H. 662 OSSIFRAGE— OSTRICH very tall tree, — their fierceness in defence of their eggs and young is not to be despised. Men and boys have had their head gashed by the sharp claw of the angry parent, and this, happening when the robber is already in a precarious predicament and unable to use any defensive weapon, renders the enterprise formidable. But the prize is worthy of the danger. Few birds lay eggs so beautiful or so rich in colouring : their white or pale ground is spotted, blotched or marbled with almost every shade of purple, orange and red — passing from the most delicate lilac, buff and peach- blossom, through violet, chestnut and crimson, to a nearly absolute black. A few years ago some of the best-informed ornithologists were led to think that persecution had extirpated the Osprey in Great Britain, except as a chance visitant. This opinion proved to be incorrect, and at the present time the bird is believed still to breed in at least two counties of Scotland, but the secret of its resorts should be carefully guarded by those who wish to retain it as a member of the country's fauna, for indiscreet publication would endanger its occupancy. OSSIFKAGE, see OSPREY. OSTEICH (Old English, Estridge ; French, Autruche; Spanish, Avestruz-, Latin, Avis struthio). Among exotic birds there can be hardly one better known by report than the strange, majestic and fleet-footed creature that " scorneth the horse and his rider," or one that from the earliest times to the present has been oftener more or less fully described ; and there must be few persons in any civilized country unacquainted with the appearance of this, the largest of living birds, whose size is not insignificant in comparison even with the mightiest of the plumed giants that of old existed upon the earth, since an adult male will stand nearly 8 feet in height, and weigh 300 pounds. As to the ways of the Ostrich in a state of nature, not much has been added of late years to the knowledge acquired and imparted by former travellers and naturalists, many of whom enjoyed oppor- tunities that will never again occur of discovering its peculiarities, for even the most favourably-placed of their successors in recent years seem to content themselves with repeating the older observa- tions, and to want either leisure or patience to make additions thereto, their personal acquaintance with the bird not amounting to more than such casual meetings with it as must inevitably fall to the lot of those who traverse its haunts. Thus there are still several dubious points in its natural history. On the other hand we unquestionably know far more than our predecessors respecting its geographical distribution, which has been traced with great minute- ness in the Fogel Ost-Afrikas of Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub, who have therein given (pp. 597-607) the most comprehensive account of the OSTRICH 663 are bird that is to be found in the literature of ornithology.1 As many conspicuous forms, the Ostrich is disappearing before the per- secution of man, and this fact it is which gives the advantage to older travellers, for there are several districts, some of wide extent, known to have been frequented by the Ostrich within the present century, OSTRICH. especially towards the extremities of its African range — as on the borders of Egypt and the Cape Colony — in which it no longer occurs, while in Asia there is evidence, more or less trustworthy, of its 1 A good summary of it is contained in the Ostriches and Ostrich Farming of Messrs. De Mosenthal and Harting, from which the accompanying figure is, with permission, taken. Von Heuglin, in his Ornithologie Nordost- Africa's (pp. 925- 935), has given more particular details of the Ostrich's distribution in Africa. 664 OSTRICH former existence in most parts of the south-western desert-tracts, in few of which it is now to be found. Xenophon's notice of its abundance in Assyria (Anabasis, i. 5) is well known. It probably still lingers in the wastes of Kirwan in eastern Persia, whence examples may occasionally stray northward to those of Turkestan,1 even near the Lower Oxus ; but the assertion, often repeated, as to its former occurrence in Baloochistan or Sindh, though not incredible, seems to rest on testimony as yet too slender for acceptance. Apparently the most northerly limit of the Ostrich's ordinary range at the present day cannot be further than that portion of the Syrian Desert lying directly to the eastward of Damascus ; and, within the limits of what may be called Palestine, Canon Tristram (Fauna and Flora of Palestine, p. 139) regards it as but a straggler from central Arabia, though we have little information as to its appearance and distribution in that country. Africa, however, is still, as in ancient days, the continent in which the Ostrich most nourishes, and from the confines of Barbary to those of the European settlements in the south it appears to inhabit every waste sufficiently extensive to afford it the solitude it loves, and in many wide districts, where the influence of the markets of civilization is feebly felt, to be still almost as abundant as ever. Yet even there it has to contend with deadly foes in the many species of wild beasts which frequent the same tracts and prey upon its eggs and young — the latter especially ; and Lichtenstein long ago remarked that if it were not for its numerous enemies " the multiplication of Ostriches would be quite unexampled." The account given of the habits of the species by this naturalist, who had excellent opportunities of observing it during his three years' travels in South Africa, is perhaps one of the best we have, and since his narrative 2 has been neglected by most of its more recent historians we may do well by calling attention thereto. Though sometimes assembling in troops of from thirty to fifty, and then generally associating with zebras or with some of the larger antelopes, Ostriches commonly, and especially in the breeding- season, live in companies of not more than four or five, one of which is a cock and the rest are hens. All the latter lay their eggs in one and the same nest, a shallow pit scraped out by their feet, with the earth heaped around to form a kind of wall against which the outer- most circle of eggs rest. As soon as ten or a dozen eggs are laid, the cock begins to brood, always taking his place on them at night- fall surrounded by his wives, while by day they relieve one another, 1 Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub quote a passage from Renmsat's Remarques sur I 'extension de I' Empire Chinoise, stating that in about the seventh century of our era a live " camel-bird" was sent as a present with an embassy from Turkestan to China. 2 M. H. K. Lichtenstein, Reise im sudlichen Africa, ii. pp. 42-45 (Berlin: 1812). OSTRICH 665 more it would seem to guard their common treasure from jackals and small beasts-of-prey than directly to forward the process of hatching, for that is often left wholly to the sun.1 Some thirty eggs are laid in the nest, and round it are scattered perhaps as many more. These last are said to be broken by the old birds to serve as nourishment for the newly-hatched chicks, whose stomachs cannot bear the hard food on which their parents thrive. The greatest care is taken by them not only to place the nest where it may not be discovered, but to avoid being seen when going to or from it, and their solicitude for their tender young is no less. Andersson in his Lake N' garni (pp. 253-269) has given a lively account of the pursuit by himself and Mr. Francis Galton of a brood of Ostriches, in the course of which the father of the family flung himself on the ground and feigned being wounded to distract their attention from his offspring. Though the Ostrich ordinarily inhabits the most arid districts, it needs water to drink ; and, moreover, it will frequently bathe, sometimes even, according to Von Heuglin, in the sea. The question whether to recognize more than one species of Ostrich, the Struthio camelus of Linnaeus, has been for some years agitated without leading to a satisfactory solution.2 It has long been known that, while eggs from North Africa present a perfectly smooth surface, those from South Africa are pitted (see page 190, note 4). It has also been observed that northern birds have the skin of the parts not covered with feathers flesh-coloured, while this skin is bluish in southern birds, and hence the latter have been thought to need specific designation as S. australis. More recently examples from the Somali country have been described as forming a distinct species under the name of S. molyldophanes? from the leaden colour of their naked parts. The genus Struthio forms the type of one group of the Subclass RATIT^E, which differs so widely from the rest, in points that have been concisely set forth by Prof. Huxley (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 419), as to justify us in regarding it as an Order, to which the name Strutliiones may be applied ; but that term, as well as 1 By those whose experience is derived from the observation of captive Ostriches this fact has been disputed. But, to say nothing of the effects of the enforced monogamy in which such birds live, the difference of the circumstances in which they find themselves, and in particular their removal from the heat- retaining sands of the desert and its burning sunshine, is enough to account for the change of habit. Von Heuglin also (p. 933) is explicit on this point. That hen Ostriches while on duty crouch to avoid detection is only natural, and this habit seems to have led hasty observers to suppose they were really brooding. 2 Dr. Gadow tells me that the discrepancy of several accounts of the Ostrich's anatomy is such as to suggest the possibility of more than one species. 3 Apparently first noticed in a Berlin newspaper (Sonntagsb. d. Norddeutsch. Allgem. Zeitung) by Dr. Reichenow, 16th Sept. 1883, and later, Mitth. Orn. Ver. Wien, 1883, tab., and Jmirn.f. Orn. 1883, p. 399. 666 OUSEL Struthionidaz, has been often used in a more general sense by system- atists, even to signify the whole of the RATIT^E.1 The most obvious distinctive character presented by the Ostrich is the pres- ence of two toes only, the third and fourth, on each foot, — a character absolutely peculiar to the genus Struthio.2 The great mercantile value of Ostrich -feathers, and the in- creasing difficulty, due to the causes already mentioned, of pro- curing them from wild birds, has led to the formation in the Cape Colony and elsewhere of numerous " Ostrich-farms," on which these birds are kept in confinement, and at regular times deprived of their plumes. In favourable localities and with judicious manage- ment these establishments are understood to yield very considerable profit; while, as the ancient taste for wearing Ostrich -feathers shews no sign of falling off, but seems rather to be growing, it is probable that the practice will yet be largely extended.3 OUSEL or OUZEL, Anglo-Saxon Osle, equivalent of the German Amsel (a form of the word found in several old English books, and perhaps yet surviving in some parts of the country), apparently the ancient name for what is now more commonly known as the BLACK- BIRD, the Turdus merula of ornithologists, but at the present day not often applied to that species, though, as will immediately be seen, used in a compound form for two others. The adult male of this beautiful and well-known bird scarcely needs any other descrip- tion than that of the poet : — " The Ousel-cock, so black of hue, With orange-tawny bill." — Midsummer Night's Dream, act iii. sc. 1. But the female is of an uniform umber-brown above, has the chin, throat and upper part of the breast orange-brown, with a few dark streaks, and the rest of the plumage beneath of a hair-brown. The 1 At one time it was not uncommon to include the BUSTARDS among the Struthionidae ! 2 Remains of a true Ostrich have been recognized from the Sivalik formation in India, and the petrified egg of an apparently allied form, Struthiolithus, has been found in the south of Russia (see FOSSIL BIRDS, p. 285). 3 Among the more important treatises on this bird may be mentioned : — E. D'Alton, Die Skelete der Straussartigen Vogel abgebildet und beschrieben, folio, Bonn: 1827; P. L. Sclater, "On the Struthious Birds living in the Zoological Society's Menagerie," Trans. Zool. Soc. iv. p. 353, containing the finest representa- tion (pi. 67), by Mr. Wolf, ever published of the male Struthio camdus ; Prof. Mivart, " On the Axial Skeleton of the Ostrich," op. cit. viii. p. 385 ; Prof. Haughton, "On the Muscular Mechanism of the Leg of the Ostrich, Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, xv. pp. 262-272 — a subject more fully treated by M. Alix in his Essai sur I'appareil locomoteur des Oiseaux (Paris : 1874) ; and Prof. Macalister, "On the Anatomy of the Ostrich," Proc. JR. Irish Acad. ix. pp. 1-24. OUSEL 667 young of both sexes resemble the mother. The Blackbird is found in every country of Europe, even breeding — though rarely — beyond the arctic circle, and in eastern Asia, as well as in Barbary and the Atlantic islands. Resident in Britain as a species, its numbers yet receive considerable accession of passing visitors in autumn, and in most parts of its range it is very migratory. The song of the cock has a peculiarly liquid tone, which makes it much admired, but it is too discontinuous to rank the bird very high as a musician. The species is very prolific, having sometimes as many as four broods in the course of the spring and summer. The nest, generally placed in a thick bush, is made of coarse roots or grass, strongly put together with earth, and is lined with fine grass. Herein are laid from four to six eggs of a light greenish-blue closely mottled with reddish-brown. Generally vermivorous, the Blackbird will, when pressed for food, eat grains and seeds, while berries and fruits in their season are eagerly sought by it, thus earning the enmity of gardeners. More or less allied to and resembling the Blackbird are many other species which inhabit most parts of the world, except- ing the Ethiopian Region, New Zealand and Australia proper, and North America. Some of them have the legs as well as the bill yellow or orange ; and, in a few of them, both sexes alike display a uniformly glossy black. The only one that need here be particu- larized is the RiNG-OuSEL, Turdus torquatus, which is at once dis- tinguishable from the Blackbird by its conspicuous white gorget — whence its name. It has also very different habits, frequenting wild and open tracts of country, shunning woods, groves and planta- tions, and preferring the shelter of rocks to that of trees. Its dis- tribution is accordingly much more local, and in most parts of England it is only known as a transitory migrant in spring and autumn — from and to its hardly as yet ascertained winter quarters.1 The WATER-OUSEL, or Water-Crow — now commonly named the " DIPPER " — is the Cinclus aquaticus of most ornithologists, and the type of a small but remarkable group of birds, the position of which many taxonomers have been at their wits' end to determine. It would be useless here to recount the various suppositions that have been expressed ; suffice it to say that most ornithologists are now agreed in regarding the genus Cinclus 2 as differing so much 1 The Ring-Ousel of central and southern Europe presents several differences, having most of its feathers edged with white, and is regarded by some authorities (Stejneger, Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1886, pp. 365-372 ; Salvadori, Boll. Mus. Zool. Torino, viii. No. 152) as a distinct species, T. alpestris (Brehm) ; but Mr. Seebohm says (Ibis, 1888, pp. 310, 311) that intermediate forms occur, and that further to the eastward, as in Caucasia and Persia, examples shew a still greater divergence, forming a local race to which he applies the name orientalis. 2 Some writers have used for this genus the name Hydrdbata. 668 OUSEL from other birds that, though essentially one of the true PASSERES (i.e. OSCINES), it forms a distinct Family, Cindidse, which has no very near allies. That some of its peculiarities (for instance, the sternum in adult examples having the posterior margin generally entire, and the close covering of down that clothes the whole body — a character fully recognized by Nitzsch) are correlated with its aquatic habit is probably not to be questioned; but this fact furnishes no argument for associating it, as has often been done, with the Turdidse (THRUSH), the Troglodytidse (WREN), or much less with other groups to which it has undoubtedly no affinity. The Dipper haunts rocky streams, into which it boldly enters, generally by deliberately wading, and then by the strenuous combined action of its wings and feet makes its way along the bottom in quest of its living prey — freshwater mollusks, and aquatic insects in their larval, pupal or mature condition. By the careless and ignorant it is accused of feeding on the spawn of fishes, and it has been on that account subjected to much persecution. Innumerable examinations of the contents of its stomach have not only proved that the charge is baseless, but that the bird clears off many of the worst enemies of the precious product. Short and squat of stature, active and restless in its movements, silky black above, with a pure white throat and upper part of the breast, to which succeeds a broad band of dark bay, it is a familiar figure to most fishermen on the streams it frequents, while the cheerful song of the cock, often heard in the hardest frost, helps to make it a favourite with them in spite of the obloquy under which it labours. The "Water- Ousel's nest is a very curious structure, — out- wardly resembling a Wren's, but built on a wholly different prin- ciple, — an ordinary cup- shaped nest of grass lined with dead leaves, placed in some con- venient niche, but en- cased with moss so as to form a large mass that covers it completely except only a small hole for the bird's passage. The eggs laid within are from four to six in number, and are of a pure white. These remarks refer to the Water -Ousel of central and western Europe, including the British Islands; but, except as regards plumage, it is be- MEXICANTJS. O VAR Y—O VEN-BIRD 669 lieved that they will apply to all the other species, about a dozen in number, which have been described. These inhabit suitable places throughout the whole Palsearctic area as well as the southern slopes of the Himalaya and the hill-country of Formosa, besides the Kocky Mountains and a great part of the Andes. Mr. Salvin, in a very philosophical paper on the genus (Ibis, 1867, pp. 109-122), refers these species — some of them wholly black and one slate-coloured — to five well-marked forms, of which the other members are either " representative species " or merely " local races " ; but all seem to occupy distinct geographical areas, — the 0. mexicanus represented in the accompanying figure having a wide range along the mountainous parts of North America to Mexico ; and it is quite possible that their number may yet be increased, for the general habits of the birds preclude much invasion of territory, and thus produce practical isolation. OVARY, OVIDUCT, see REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. OVEN-BIRD, a name locally given to several species that build domed nests in England, especially to the Willow- WREN, and in NEST OF OVEN-BIRD (Furnarius). (From specimen given to the Cambridge Museum by Mr. J. Young.) North America to Siurus auricapillus, otherwise known as the Golden-crowned Thrush; but by most ornithologists applied to birds of the genus Furnarius, belonging to the Neotropical Family 2kndrocolaptid& (PICUCULE), the best known of which is F. rufus, the Hornero (Baker) or Casera of the Spanish-speaking population. OVEN-BIRD It seeks no concealment, for its wonderful nest l is placed in the most conspicuous situations, on the top of a post, a bare rock or a leafless branch, being a massive structure with strong thick walls, composed of mud mixed with bits of straw or fibres, roughly SECTION OF OVEN-BIRD'S NEST. globular in form with an upright opening in front whence a partition extends nearly to the back, forming an ante-chamber to the portion which contains the 4 or 5 white eggs, laid on a bed of soft dry grass. The habits of this species have been mentioned by Mr. Darwin (Nat. Voy. chap, v.) and described at some length by Mr. Hudson (Argent. Orn. i. pp. 167-170), beside Durnford (Ibis, FURNARIUS. ^\ GEOBATES. (After Swainson.) GEOSITTA. 1877, p. 179) and Mr. E. Gibson (op. cit. 1880, pp. 16-18), to say nothing of Burmeister (Syst. Uebers. Th. Brasil. Fogel, iii. pp. 3, 4) and Dorbigny (Voy. Am6r. M6rid. Ois. p. 250). Allied to Furnarius are the genera Geobates and Geositta, of. which 1 Not many figures of this have been given. There is one, such as a child might draw, in Molina's Compendia (tav. 2, Bologna : 1776), and that in a Natural History (iv. p. 113) edited by Duncan is hardly more instructive: Dr. Goldi's figures (Zool. Gart. 1886, pp. 268, 271) are fair. OWL 671 last one species, G. cunicularia, with many of the habits of a WHEATEAR, bores a hole from 3 to 6 feet long in a bank or the side of a biscacha's burrow, placing its nest at the end; but Geobates, which is peculiar to the grassy plains (campos) of South- eastern Brazil, has much the habits of a LARK or PIPIT, together with the elongated cubital feathers characteristic of those forms, while another, Upucerthia, inhabits the most sterile of the upland deserts. None of these birds is of any particular beauty, but to the ornithologist they form a most interesting group, the position of which was for a long while wholly mistaken, and it was only when their anatomical structure came to be known that their place was determined among the TRACHEOPHON^E. OWL, the Anglo-Saxon Ule, Swedish Uggla, and German Eule — all allied to the Latin Ulula, and evidently of imitative origin — the general English name for every nocturnal Bird-of-Prey,1 of which group nearly two hundred species have been recognized. The Owls form a very natural assemblage, and one about the limits of which no doubt has for a long while existed. Placed by nearly all systematists for many years as a Family of the Order Accipitres (or whatever may have been the equivalent term used by the particular taxonomer), there has been of late a disposition to regard them as forming a group of higher rank. On many accounts it is plain that they differ from the ordinary diurnal Birds-of-Prey, more than the latter do among themselves ; and, though in some respects Owls have a superficial likeness to the NIGHTJARS,2 and a resemblance more deeply seated to the GUACHARO, even the last has not been made out to have any strong affinity to them. A good deal is therefore to be said for the opinion which would rank the Owls as an independent Order, or at any rate Suborder, Striges. Whatever be the position assigned to the group, its subdivision has always been a fruitful matter of discussion, owing to the great resemblance obtaining among all its members, and the existence of safe characters for its division has only lately been at all generally recognized. By the older naturalists, it is true, Owls were divided, as was first 1 The poverty of the English language — generally so rich in synonyms — is here very remarkable. Though four well-known if not common species of Owls are native to Britain, to say nothing of half a dozen others which occur with greater or less frequency, none of them has ever acquired an absolutely individual name, and various prefixes have to be used to distinguish them. It is almost the same in other countries where English is spoken, though North America has its "Saw- whet" and New Zealand its "Morepork" — each name from the bird's call-note. In Greece and Italy, Germany and France, almost each indigenous species has had its own particular designation in the vulgar tongue. The English Owlet or Howlet is of course a simple diminutive only. 2 In many parts of England the Nightjar is known as the Churn-Owl or Fern-Owl. 672 OWL done by Willughby, into two sections — one in which all the species exhibit tufts of feathers on the head, the so-called " ears " or "horns," and the second in which the head is not tufted. The artificial and therefore untrustworthy nature of this distinction was shewn by Isidore Geoffroy-St. Hilaire (Ann. Sc. Nat. xxi. pp. 194- 203) in 1830 ; but he did not do much good in the arrangement of the Owls which he then proposed ; and it was hardly until the publica- tion, ten years later, of Nitzsch's Pterylographie that rational grounds on which to base a division of the Owls were adduced. It then became manifest that two very distinct types of pterylosis existed in the group, and further it appeared that certain differences, already partly shewn by Berthold (Beitr. Anat. pp. 166, 167), of sternal structure coincided with the pterylological distinctions. By degrees other significant differences were pointed out, till, as summed up by Prof. Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Ois. foss. de la France, ii. pp. 474-492), there could no longer be any doubt that the bird known in England as the Screech-Owl or Barn-Owl,1 with its allies, formed a section which should be most justifiably separated from all the others of the group then known. Space is here wanting to state particularly the pterylological distinctions which will be found described at length in Nitzsch's classical work (Eng. trans, pp. 70, 71), and even the chief osteological distinctions must be only briefly mentioned.2 These consist in the Screech-Owl section wanting any manubrial process in front of the sternum, which has its broad keel joined to the clavicles united as a furcula, while posteriorly it presents an unbroken outline. In the other section, of which the bird known in England as the Tawny or Brown Owl is the type, there is a manubrial process ; the furcula, far from being joined to the keel of the sternum, often consists but of two stylets which do not even meet one another; and the posterior margin of the sternum presents two pairs of projections, one pair on each side, with corresponding fissures between them. Furthermore the Owls of the same section shew another peculiarity in the bone usually called the tarsus. This is a bony ring or loop bridging the channel holding the common extensor tendon of the toes — which, as already noticed, is possessed by the OSPREY, but does not appear in the Screech-Owl section any more than in the majority of birds. The subsequent examination by M. Milne-Edwards (Nouv. Arch. Mus. Mem. ser. 2, i. pp. 185-200, pis. 4, 5) of the skeleton of an Owl known as Pliodilus (more correctly Photodilus) badius, hitherto attached to the Screech-Owl section, shewed that, though in most of its osteological characters it must be referred to the Tawny-Owl 1 The Owl, however, which commonly breeds in barns in Sweden and perhaps some other parts of Europe is our Tawny Owl, Strix stridula. 2 A few more distinctive characters are shewn by Mr. Beddard in his paper on the classification of this group (Ibis, 1888, pp. 335-344). OWL 673 section, in several of the particulars mentioned above it resembles the Screech-Owls, and therefore we are bound to deem it a con- necting link between them. The pterylological characters of Photodilus seem not to have been fully investigated,1 but it is found on the one hand to want the singular bony tarsal loop, as well as the manubrial process, while on the other its clavicles are not united into a furcula to meet the keel, and the posterior margin of the sternum has processes and fissures like those of the Tawny- Owl section. Photodilus having thus to be removed from the Screech-Owl section, Prof. Milne-Edwards has replaced it by a new form, Heliodilus, from Madagascar (Comptes Bendus, 1887, p. 1282), described at length by him in M. Grandidier's great work on the natural history of that island (Oiseaux, i. pp. 113-118, pis. xxxvi. Ore). The unexpected results thus obtained preach caution in regard to the classification of other Owls, and add to the misgivings that every honest ornithologist must feel as to former attempts to methodize the whole group — misgivings that had already arisen from the great diversity of opinion displayed by previous classifiers, hardly two of whom seem able to agree. Moreover, the difficulties which beset the study of the Owls are not limited to their respective relations, but extend to their scientific terminology, which has long been in a state so bewildering that nothing but the strictest adherence to the very letter of the laws of nomenclature, which until lately have been approved in principle by all but an insignifi- cant number of zoologists, can clear up the confusion into which the matter has been thrown by heedless or ignorant writers — some of those who are in general most careful to avoid error being not wholly free from blame in this respect. A few words are therefore here needed on this most unprofitable subject.2 Under the generic term Strix, Linnaeus placed all the Owls known to him ; but Brisson most justifiably divided that genus, and in so doing fixed upon Strix stridula — the aforesaid Tawny Owl — as its type, while under the name of Asia he established a second genus, of which his contemporary's S. otus, presently to be men- tioned, is the type. Some years later Savigny, who had very peculiar notions on nomenclature, disregarding the act of Brisson, chose to recognize the Linnaean S. fiammea — the Screech-Owl before spoken of — as the type of the genus Strix, which genus he further dissevered, and his example was largely followed until Fleming gave to the Screech-Owl the generic name of Alucof by which it had been known for more than three hundred years, and reserved Strix for the Tawny Owl. He thus anticipated Nitzsch, whose editor (Bur- 1 Mr. Beddard has noticed a few points (Ibid, 1890, pp. 293-294). 2 It was dealt with at greater length in The Ibis for 1876 (pp. 94-105). 3 The word seems to have been the invention of Gaza, the translator of Aris- totle, in 1503, and is the Latinized form of the Italian Allocco. 43 674 OWL meister) was probably unacquainted with this fact when he allowed the name Hybris to be conferred on the Screech-Owl. No doubt inconvenience is caused by changing any general practice ; but, as will have been seen, the practice was not universal, and such inconvenience as may arise is not chargeable on those who abide by the law, as it is intended in this article to do. The reader is therefore warned that the word Strix will be here used in what is believed to be the legitimate way, for the genus contain- BILL OF ALUCO ™EUS. !ng the ^ 8iri^U °* Linnaeus, while Aluco (After Swainson ) 1S retained for that including the o. jiammea of the same naturalist. Except the two main divisions just mentioned — Striginse and Alucinse — any further arrangement of the Owls must at present be deemed tentative, for the ordinary external characters, to which most systematists trust, are useless if not misleading.1 Several systematizers have tried to draw characters from the orifice of the ear, and the parts about it; but hitherto these have not been sufficiently studied to make the attempts very successful. If it be true that the predominant organ in any group of animals furnishes for that group the best distinctive characters, we may have some hope of future attempts in this direction,2 for we know that few birds have the sense of hearing so highly developed as the Owls, and also that the external ear varies considerably in form in several of the genera which have been examined. Thus in Surnia, the Hawk- Owl, and in Nyctea, the Snowy Owl, the external ear is simple in form, and, though proportionally larger than in most birds, it pos- sesses no very remarkable peculiarities, — a fact which may be cor- related with the diurnal habits of these Owls — natives of the far north, where the summer is a season of constant daylight, and to effect the capture of prey the eyes are perhaps more employed than the ears.3 In Eubo^ the Eagle-Owl, though certainly more nocturnal in habit, the external ear, however, has no very remarkable develop- 1 It is much to be regretted that an interesting form of Owl, Sceloglaux albifacies, peculiar to New Zealand, the Whekau of the Maories, should be rapidly becoming extinct, without any effort, so far as is known, being made to ascertain its affinities. It would seeni to belong to the Strigine section, and is remarkable for its very massive clavicles, that unite by a kind of false joint, which in some examples may possibly be wholly ancylosed, in the median line. 2 This hope is strengthened by the very praiseworthy essay on the Owls of Norway by Herr Collett in the Forhandlinger of Christiania for 1881. 3 But this hypothesis must not be too strongly urged ; for in Carine, a more southern form of nocturnal (or at least crepuscular) habits, the external ear is perhaps even more normal. Of course by the ear the real organ of hearing is here meant, not the tuft of feathers often so called in speaking of Owls. OWL 675 ment of conch, which may perhaps be accounted for by the ordinary prey of the bird being the larger rodents, that from their size are more readily seen, and hence the growth of the bird's auditory organs has not been much stimulated. In Strix (as the name is here used), a form depending greatly on its sense of hearing for the capture of its prey, the ear-conch is much enlarged, and BILL AND EAR OF BUBO. (After Swamson.) it has, moreover, an elevated flap or operculum. In Asio, containing the Long-eared and Short-eared Owls of Europe, Asia and America, the conch is enormously exag- gerated, extending in a semicircular direction from the base of the lower mandible to above the middle of the eye, and is furnished in its whole length with an operculum.1 But what is more extraordinary in this genus is that the entrance to the ear is asymmetrical — the orifice on one side opening downwards and on the other upwards. This curious adaptation is carried still further in the genus Nyctala, containing two or three small species of the Northern hemisphere, in which the asymmetry that in Asio is only skin-deep extends, in a manner very surprising, to several of the bones of the head, as may be seen in the Zoological Society's Proceedings (1871, pp. 739- 743), and in the large series of figures given by Messrs. Baird, Brewer and Eidgway (N.-Am. Birds, iii. pp. 97-102). Among Owls are found birds which vary in length from 5 inches — as Glauddium cobanense, which is therefore much smaller than a Skylark — to more than 2 feet, a size that is attained by many species. -Their plumage, none of the feathers of which pos- sesses an aftershaf t, is of the softest kind, rendering their flight al- most noiseless. But one of the most characteristic features of this whole group is the ruff, consisting of several rows of small and much-curved feathers with stiff shafts — originating from a fold of the skin, which begins on each side of the base of the beak, runs above the eyes, and passing downwards round and behind the ears turns forward, and ends at the chin — and serving to support the longer feathers of the "disk" or space immediately around the eyes, which extend over it. A considerable number of species of Owls, belonging to various genera, and natives of countries most widely separated, are remarkable for exhibiting two phases of colora- tion— one in which the prevalent browns have a more or less rusty- red tinge, and the other in which they incline to grey. Another characteristic of nearly all Owls is the reversible property of their outer toes, which are not unfrequently turned at the bird's pleasure 1 Figures of these different forms are given by Macgillivray (Brit. Birds, iii. pp. 396, 403, and 427), and of Asio otus in the Fourth Edition of Yarrell's British Birds (i. p. 162). 676 OWL quite backwards. Many forms have the legs and toes thickly clothed to the very claws ; others have the toes, and even the tarsi, bare, or only sparsely beset by bristles. Among the bare-legged Owls those of the Indian genus Ketupa are conspicuous, and this feature is usually correlated with their fish -catching habits ; but certainly other Owls that are not known to catch fish present much the same character. From the multitude of Owls there is only room here to make further mention of a few of the more interesting. First must be noticed the Tawny Owl — the Strix stridula of Linnaeus, the type, as has been above said, of the whole group, and especially of the Strigine section as here understood. This is the Syrnium aluco of many authors, the Chat-huant of the French, the species whose tremulous hooting "tu-whit, to -who," has been celebrated by Shakespear, and, as well as the plaintive call, "keewick," of the young after leaving the nest, will be familiar sounds to many readers, for the bird is very generally distributed throughout most parts of Europe, extending its range through Asia Minor to Palestine, and also to Barbary — but not belonging to the Ethiopian Region or to the eastern half of the Palaearctic area. It is the largest of the Owls indigenous to Britain, and chiefly affects woodlands, only occa- sionally choosing any other place for its nest than a hollow tree. Its food consists almost entirely of small mammals, especially rats ; but, though on this account most deserving of protection from all classes, it is subject to the stupid persecution of the ignorant, and is rapidly declining in numbers.1 Its nearest allies in North America are the S. nebulosa, with some kindred forms, one of which, the S. occidentalis of California and Arizona, is here figured ; but none of them seems to have the " merry note " that is uttered by the European species. Common to the most northerly forest-tracts of both continents (for, though a slight difference of coloration is observable between American examples and those from the Old World, it is impossible to consider it specific) is the much larger S. cinerea or S. lapponica, whose small eyes, with their yellow iris, iron-grey plumage, delicately mottled with dark brown, and the con- centric circles of its facial disks make it one of the most remarkable of the group. Then may be noticed the genus Bubo — containing several species which from their size are usually known as Eagle-Owls. Here the Nearctic and PalaBarctic forms are sufficiently distinct — 1 All Owls have the habit of casting up the indigestible parts of the food swallowed in the form of pellets, which may often be found in abundance under the Owl-roost, and reveal without any manner of doubt what the prey of the bird has been. The result in nearly every case shews the enormous service they render to man in destroying rats and mice. Details of many observations to this effect are recorded in the Bericht uber die XIV. Versammlung der Deutschen Ornithologen-Gesellschaft (pp. 30-34). OWL 677 the latter, B. ignavus? the Due or Grand Due of the French, ranging over the whole of Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, while the former, E. virginianus, extends over the whole of North America. A contrast to the generally sombre colour of these birds is shewn by the Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca, a circumpolar species, and the only one of its genus, which disdains the shelter of forests and braves the most rigorous arctic climate, though compelled to migrate south- ward in winter when no sustenance is left for it. Its large size and white plumage, more or less mottled with black, distinguish this STRIX OCCIDENTALIS. from every other Owl. Then may be mentioned the birds commonly known in English as " Horned " Owls — the Hibous of the French, belonging to the genus Asio. One, A. otus (the Otus vulgaris of some authors), inhabits woods, and, distinguished by its long tufts, usually borne erected, would seem to be common to both America and Europe — though experts profess their ability to distinguish between examples from each country. Another species, A. 1 This species bears confinement very well, and propagates freely therein. The Owls so well known as formerly kept at Arundel Castle were always referred to it, until Mr. Borrer (B. Sussex, Introd. p. xvii.) shewed that they belonged to the kindred B. mrginmnus. 678 O WL acdpitrinus (the Otus brachyotus of many authors), has much shorter tufts on its head, and they are frequently carried depressed so as to escape observation. This is the "Woodcock -Owl" of English sportsmen, for, though a good many are bred in Great Britain, the majority arrive in autumn from Scandinavia, just about the time that the immigration of Woodcocks occurs. This species frequents heaths, moors, and the open country generally, to the exclusion of woods, and has an enormous geographical range, including not only all Europe, North Africa, and northern Asia, but the whole of America, — reaching also to the Falklands, the Galapagos and the Sandwich Islands, — for the attempt to separate specifically examples from those localities only shews that they possess more or less ill- defined local races. Commonly placed near Asio, but whether really akin to it cannot be stated, is the genus Scops, of which nearly forty species, coming from different parts of the world, have been described; but this number should probably be reduced by one half. The type of the genus, S. giu, the Petit Due of the French, is a well-known bird in the south of Europe, about as big as a Thrush, with very delicately-pencilled plumage, occasionally visiting Britain, emigrating in autumn across the Mediterranean, and ranging very far to the eastward. Further southward, both in Asia and Africa, it is represented by other species of very similar size, and in the eastern part of North America by S. asio, of which there is a tolerably distinct western form, S. kennicotti, besides several local races. S. asio is one of the Owls that especially exhibits the dimorphism of coloration above mentioned, and it was long before the true state of the case was understood. At first the two forms were thought to be distinct, and then for some time the belief obtained that the ruddy birds were the young of the greyer form which was called S. nsevia ; but now the " Eed Owl " and the " Mottled Owl " of the older American ornithologists are known to be one species.1 One of the most remarkable of American Owls is Speotyto cunicularia, the bird that in the northern part of the con- tinent inhabits the burrows of the prairie-dog, and in the southern those of the biscacha, where the latter occurs — making holes for itself, says Darwin, where that is not the case, — rattlesnakes being often also joint tenants of the same abodes. The odd association of these animals, interesting as it is, cannot here be more than noticed, for a few words must be said, ere we leave the Owls of this section, on the species which has associations of a very different kind — the bird of Pallas Athene, the emblem of the city to which science and art were so welcome. There can be no doubt, from the 1 See the remarks of Mr. Bidgway in the work before quoted (B. N. America, iii. pp. 9, 10), where also response is made to the observations of Mr. Allen in the Harvard Bulletin (ii. pp. 338, 339), as well as the former's elaborate review of the American species of the genus (Proc. U.S. Nat. MILS. i. pp. 85-117.) OWL 679 HEAD OF CARINE. (After Swainson.) many representations on coins and sculptures, as to their subject being the Carine noclua of modern ornithologists, but those who know the grotesque actions and ludicrous expression of this veritable buffoon of birds can never cease to wonder at its having been seriously selected as the symbol of learning, and can hardly divest themselves of a sus- picion that the choice must have been made in the spirit of sarcasm. This Little Owl (for that is its only English name — though it is not even the smallest that appears in England), the Chevdche of the French, is spread throughout the greater part of Europe, but it is not a native of Britain.1 It has a congener in C. brama, a bird well known to all residents in India. Finally, we have Owls of the second section, those allied to the Screech -Owl, Aluco flammeus, the E/raie2 of the French. This, with its discordant scream, its snoring, and its hissing, is far too well known to need description, for it is one of the most widely- spread of birds, and is the Owl that has the greatest geographical range, inhabiting almost every country in the world, — Sweden and Norway, America north of lat. 45°, and New Zealand being the prin- cipal exceptions. It varies, however, not in- considerably, both in size and intensity of colour, and several orni- thologists have tried to found on these varia- tions more than half a dozen distinct species. Some, if not most of them, seem, however, hardly worthy to be considered geographical races, for their differences do not always depend on locality. Dr. Sharpe, with much labour and 1 A very large number have first and last been liberated in this country by Lord Lilford and Mr. Meade- Waldo ; but though they have been known to breed in their feral state, they can hardly be said to have established themselves. 2 Through the dialectic forms Fresaie and Presaie, the origin of the word is easily traced to the Latin praesaga — a bird of bad omen ; but it has also been confounded with Orfraie, a name of the OSPREY. ALUCO FLAMMEUS. (After Wolf.) 68o OX-BIRD— OX-PECKER in great detail, has given his reasons (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. ii. pp. 291-309 ; and Ornith. Miscell. i. pp. 269-298 ; ii. pp. 1-21) for acknowledging four "subspecies" of A. flammeus, as well as five other species. Of these last, A. tenebricosus is peculiar to Australia, while A. novse- hollandise inhabits also New Guinea, and has a "subspecies," A. castanops, found only in Tasmania ; a third, A. candidus, has a wide range from Fiji and northern Australia through the Philippines and Formosa to China, Burma and India; a fourth, A. capensis, is peculiar to South Africa ; while A. thomensis is said to be confined to the African island of St. Thomas. There is also the extinct A. sauzieri of Mauritius (Trans. Zool. Soc. xiii. p. 286), and to these will perhaps have to be added a species from New Britain, described by Count T.- Salvador! as Strix aurantia, though it may prove on further investigation not to be an Alucine Owl at all. OX-BIRD, a common name for the DUNLIN, and in connexion therewith Mr. Harting, in the Introduction (p. xvii.) to Eodd's Birds of Cornwall, reasonably refers OXEN-AND-KINE, by which name some apparently small wildfowl were of old times known in the west country (cf. Carew, Survey of Cornwall, fol. 35, and a curious paper printed in the Camden Miscellany^- iv. pp. 10, 26). OX-EYE seems once to have been synonymous with OX-BIRD, but is now only known as a local name for the Great TITMOUSE (cf. Sw. Talgoxe = fat ox).2 OX-PECKER, a rendering of the French Pique-bceuf, bestowed on a small, dull-coloured bird discovered by Adanson in Senegal, the Buphaga africana of Linnaeus, which has been almost invariably referred to the Family Sturnidx (STARLING), chiefly, it would seem, because it flies in flocks, and settles on the back of cattle in search of the bots or ticks with which they are infested. Though the animals are at first alarmed at the visitation, OXPECKER. they soon get over the fright, regarding, it is said, with evident pleasure the way in which the birds creep about them and rid them of the pests. A second 1 The Editor of this, Mr. W. D. Cooper, suggests that the birds were Ruffs and Reeves, but there is no evidence that those birds were ever to be had in Devon or Cornwall ; however, Mr. C. Swainson (Prov. Names Br. B. p. 195) accepts the suggestion as if it were a fact. Mr. Sclater (List Vert. Anim. Gardens of the Zool. Soc. 1883, p. 246) applies "Ox-bird" to Textor alUrostris or alecto, one of the WEAVER-BIRDS. 2 A copy of Belon's Portraits d'Oyseaux (1557) in the Public Library of the University of Cambridge (M. 15. 43) has the English names of many of the birds written in an ancient hand. To the figure of Himantopus (STILT) the name Ox-eye is applied. OXYNOTUS—O YSTER-CA TCHER 681 species, B. erythrorhyncha, with a wholly red instead of a yellow bill was afterwards found in Abyssinia, and thought for some time to be peculiar to the more northern part of Africa, but it is now known to occur so far south as Natal, while the first has been observed in Damaraland and the Transvaal. Very little more seems to be known of the habits of either, and the systematic position of the genus must be held uncertain. OXYNOTUS, the name of a genus of birds now ascertained to be peculiar to two of the Mascarene Islands — Mauritius and Reunion (Bourbon) — where the name of Cuisinier is applied to them, and remarkable for the fact, nearly if not quite unique in Ornithology,1 that, while the males of both species are almost identical in appearance, the females are wholly unlike each other. Though the habits of the Mauritian species, 0. rufiventer, have been very fairly observed, there seems to be nothing in them that might account for the peculiarity. The genus Oxynotus is generally placed in the group known as Cbmpephagidx, most or all of which are distinguished from the Laniidse (to which they seem nearly allied) by the feathers on the lower part of the back and on the rump having the basal portion of the shaft very stiff and the distal portion soft — a structure which makes that part of the body, on being touched by the finger, feel as though it were beset with blunt prickles. Hence the name of the genus conferred by Swainson, and intended to signify "prickly back." The males, which look rather like miniature Grey Shrikes (Lanius excubitor and others), are — except on close examination, when some slight differences of build and shade become discernible — quite indistinguishable ; but the female of the one species has a reddish -brown back, and is bright ferruginous beneath, while the female of the other species is dull white beneath, transversely barred, as are the females of some Shrikes, with brown. Both sexes of each species, and the young of one of them, are described and figured in The Ibis for 1866 (pp. 275-280, pis. vii. and viii.) OYSTER-CATCHER, a bird's name which does not seem to occur in books until 1731, when Catesby (Nat. Hist. Carolina, i. p. 85) used it for a species which he observed to be abundant on the oyster-banks left bare at low water in the rivers of Carolina, and believed to feed principally upon those mollusks. In 1773 Pennant applied the name generically, though he and for nearly two hundred years other British writers had called the allied British species the " Sea-Pie." The change, in spite of the misnomer — for, whatever may be the case elsewhere, in England the bird does not 1 The only other instance cited by Darwin (Descent of Man, ii. pp. 192, 193) is that of two species of Paradisea ; but therein the males differ from one another to a far greater degree than do those of Oxynotus. 682 OYSTER-CATCHER feed upon oysters — met with general approval, and the new name has, at least in books, almost wholly replaced what seems to have been the older one.1 The Oyster-catcher of Europe is the Hsema- topus 2 ostralegus of Linnaeus, belonging to the group now called Limicolse, and is generally included in the Family Charadriidse ; though some writers have placed it in one of its own, HstmcUopodidaf, chiefly on account of its peculiar bill — a long thin wedge, ending in a vertical edge. Its feet also are much more fleshy than are gener- ally seen in the Plover Family. In its strongly-contrasted plumage of black and white, with a coral-coloured bill, the Oyster-catcher is one of the most conspicuous birds of the European coasts, and in many parts is still very common. It is nearly always seen paired, though the pairs collect in prodigious flocks ; and, when these are broken up, its shrill but musical cry of " tu-lup," " tu-lup," some- what pettishly repeated, helps to draw attention to it. Its wari- ness, however, is very marvellous, and even at the breeding-season, when most birds throw off their shyness, it is not easily approached within ordinary gunshot distance. The hen-bird commonly lays three clay -coloured eggs, blotched with black, in a very slight hollow on the ground, not far from the sea. As incubation goes on the hollow is somewhat deepened, and perhaps some haulm is added to its edge, so that at last a very fair nest is the result. The young, as in all Limicolte, are at first clothed in down, so mottled in colour as closely to resemble the shingle to which, if they be not hatched upon it, they are almost immediately taken by their parents, and there, on the slightest alarm, they squat close to elude observation. This species occurs on the British coasts (very seldom shewing itself inland) all the year round ; but there is some reason to think that those we have in winter are natives of more northern latitudes, while our home-bred birds leave us. It ranges from Iceland to the shores of the Red Sea, and lives chiefly on marine worms, Crustacea, and such mollusks as it is able to obtain. It is commonly supposed to be capable of prizing limpets from their rock, and of opening the shells of mussels ; but, though undoubt- edly it feeds on both, further evidence as to the way in which it 1 It seems however very possible, judging from its equivalents in other European languages, such as the Frisian Oestervisscher, the German Austcrmann, Austernfischer, and the like, that the name " Oyster-catcher " may have been not a colonial invention but indigenous to the mother-country, though it had not found its way into print before. The French Huitrier, however, appears to be a word coined by Brisson. " Sea-Pie " has its analogues in the French Pie-de-Mer, the German Meerelster, Seeelster, and so forth. 2 Whether it be the Hs&matopus whose name is found in some editions of Pliny (lib. x. cap. 47) is at best doubtful. Other editions have Himantopus ; but Hardouin prefers the former reading. Both words have passed into modern ornithology, the latter as the generic name of the STILT ; and some writers have blended the two in the strange and impossible compound H&mantopus. PAAUW— PALATE 683 procures them is desirable. Mr. Harting informs us that the bird seems to lay its head sideways on the ground, and then, grasping the limpet's shell close to the rock between the mandibles, use them as scissor-blades to cut off the mollusk from its sticking-place. The Oyster-catcher is not highly esteemed as a bird for the table. Differing from this species in the possession of a longer bill, in having much less white on its back, in the paler colour of its mantle, and in a few other points, is the ordinary American species, already mentioned, H. palliatus. Except that its call-note, judging from description, is unlike that of the European bird, -the habits of the two seem to be perfectly similar ; and the same may be said indeed of all the other species. The Falkland Islands are fre- quented by a third, H. leucopus, very similar to the first, but with a black wing-lining and paler legs, and Mr. Ridgway (Auk, 1886, p. 331) thinks the Galapagos have a distinct species, H. galapagensis, while the Australian Region possesses another, H. longirostris, with a very long bill as its name intimates, and no white on its primaries. China, Japan and possibly eastern Asia in general have an Oyster- catcher which seems to be intermediate between the last and the first. This has received the name of H. osculans ; but doubts have been expressed as to its deserving specific recognition. Then we have a group of species in which the plumage is wholly or almost wholly black, and among them only do we find birds that fulfil the implica- tion of the scientific name of the genus by having feet that may be called blood-red. H. niger, which frequents both coasts of the northern Pacific, has, it is true, yellow legs, but towards the extremity of South America its place is taken by H. ater, in which they are bright red, and this bird is further remarkable for its laterally compressed and much upturned bill. The South-African H. capensis has also scarlet legs ; but in the otherwise very similar bird of Australia and New Zealand, H. unicolor, these members are of a pale brick-colour. PAAUW (Peafowl), the Dutch name applied generally in South Africa to some of the BUSTARDS. PADDA, see JAVA SPARROW. PADDY-BIRD, the Anglo-Indian name for any of the smaller EGRETS, from their frequenting the rice-fields (padda). PALAMEDEA, see SCREAMER. PALATE, the roof of the mouth, whence PALATAL (commonly Palatine) Bones, being the pair of bones which connect the MAXILLA 684 PAMPRODACTYL^E— PARROT with the PTERYGOIDS, and rest by articulating facets on the ventral side of the sphenoidal rostrum of the SKULL. They have consider- able taxonomic importance. PAMPRODAOTYL^E, Dr. Murie's name (Ibis, 1873, p. 190, note) for the group consisting of the Coliidas (MOUSE-BIRD). PANCREAS, a conglomeration of glands, forming one or more lobes, and placed between the two branches of the duodenal loop (DIGESTIVE SYSTEM, pages 141-143). Its secretion, the Pancreatic Juice, contains a ferment important for digestion and enters the duodenum through from one to three short ducts, which in most birds open into its ascending branch between the hepato-enteric and cystico-enteric ducts. The size and position of the Pancreas are very variable and of little general interest. PARADISE-BIRD, see BIRD-OF-PARADISE; -DUCK, see SHELD- DRAKE. PARAKEET, variously spelt, see PARROT. PARAPTERON, Sundevall's name for the row or rows of feathers commonly known as upper wing-coverts. PARDALOTE, see DIAMOND-BIRD. PARRA, see JACANA. PARROT, according to Prof. Skeat (Etym. Diet. p. 422), from the French Perrot or Pierrot, a proper name and the diminutive of Pierre,1 the name given generally to a large and very natural group of Birds, which for more than a score of centuries have attracted attention, not only from their gaudy plumage, but, at first and chiefly it would seem, from the readiness with which many of them learn to imitate the sounds they hear, repeating the words and even phrases of human speech with a fidelity that is often astonishing. It is said that no representation of any Parrot appears in Egyptian art, nor does any reference to a bird of the kind occur in the Bible, whence it has been concluded that neither the painters nor the writers 1 "Parakeet" (in Shakespear, 1 Hen. IF", ii. 3, 88, "Paraquito") is said by the same authority to be from the Spanish Periquito or Perroqueto, a small Parrot, diminutive of Perico, a Parrot, which again may be a diminutive from Pedro, the proper name. Parakeet (spelt in various ways in English) is usually applied to the smaller kinds of Parrots, especially those which have long tails, not as Perroquet in French, which is used as a general term for all Parrots, Perruche, or sometimes Perriche, being the ordinary name for what we call Parakeet. The old English "POPINJAY" and the old French Papegaut have almost passed out of use, but the German Papagei and Italian Papagaio still continue in vogue. Some trace these names to the Arabic Bdbaghd ; but others think that word a corruption of the Spanish Papagayo. The Anglo-Saxon name of the Parret, a river in Somerset, is Pedreda or Pedrida, which at first sight looks as if it had to do with the proper name, Petrus ; but Prof. Skeat believes there is no connexion between them — the latter portion of the word being rid, a stream. PARROT 685 concerned had any knowledge of it. Aristotle is commonly sup- posed to be the first author who mentions a Parrot ; but this is an error, for nearly a century earlier Ctesias in his Indica, (cap. 3),1 under the name of /Sn-ra/cos (Bittacus), so neatly described a bird which could speak an " Indian " language — naturally, as he seems to have thought — or Greek — if it had been taught so to do, — about as big as a Sparrow-Hawk (Hierax), with a purple face and a black beard, otherwise blue-green (cyaneus) and vermilion in colour, so that there cannot be much risk in declaring that he must have had before him a male example of what is now commonly known as the Blossom- headed Parakeet, and to ornithologists as Palseornis cyanocephahis, an inhabitant of many parts of India. Much ingenuity has been exer- cised in the endeavour to find the word whence this, and the later form of the Greek name, was derived, but to little or no purpose. After Ctesias comes Aristotle's i/sirraur) (Psittace), which Sundevall supposes him to have described only from hearsay ; but this matters little, for there can be no doubt that the Indian conquests of Alex- ander were the means of making the Parrot better known in Europe, and it is in reference to this fact that another Eastern species of Palazornis now bears the name of P. alexandri, though from the localities it inhabits it could not have had anything to do with the Macedonian king. That Africa had Parrots does not seem to have been discovered by the ancients till long after, as Pliny tells us (vi. 29) that they were first met with by explorers employed by Nero beyond the limits of Upper Egypt. These birds, highly prized from the first, reprobated by the moralist, and celebrated by more than one classical poet, as time went on were brought in great numbers to Rome, and ministered in various ways to the luxury of the age. Not only were they lodged in cages of tortoise-shell and ivory, with silver wires, but they were professedly esteemed as delicacies for the table, and one emperor is said to have fed his lions upon them ! But there would be little use in dwelling longer on these topics. With the decline of the Roman empire the demand for Parrots in Europe lessened, and so the supply dwindled, yet all knowledge of them was not wholly lost, and they are occasionally mentioned by one writer or another until in the fifteenth century began that career of geographical discovery which has since pro- ceeded uninterruptedly. This immediately brought with it the knowledge of many more forms of these birds than had ever before been seen, for whatever races of men were visited by European navigators — whether in the East Indies or the West, whether in Africa or in .the islands of the Pacific — it was almost invariably found that even the most savage tribes had tamed some kind of Parrot ; and, moreover, experience soon shewed that no bird was 1 The passage seems to have escaped the notice of all naturalists until Broderip mentioned it in his article " Psittacidae " in the Penny Cyclopaedia (xix. p. 83). 686 PARROT more easily kept alive on board ship and brought home, while, if it had not the merit of " speech," it was almost certain to be of beautiful plumage. Yet so numerous is the group that even now new species of Parrots are not uncommonly recognized, though, looking to the way in which the most secluded parts of the world are being ransacked, we must soon come to an end of this. The home of the vast majority of Parrot-forms is unquestionably within the tropics, but the popular belief that Parrots are tropical birds only is a great mistake. In North America the Carolina Para- keet, Conurus carolinensis, at the beginning of the present century used to range in summer as high as the shores of Lakes Erie and Ontario — a latitude equal to that of the south of France ; and even within the last forty years it reached, according to trustworthy information, the junction of the Ohio and the Mississippi, though now its limits have been so much curtailed that its occurrence in any but the Gulf States is doubtful, and its extirpation as a species seems to be only a question of time.1 In South America, at least four species of Parrots are found in Chili or La Plata, and one, Conurus or Cyanolyseus patagonus, is pretty common on the bleak coast of the Strait of Magellan. In Africa, it is true that no species is known to extend to within some ten degrees of the tropic of Cancer ; but Pceocephalus robustus inhabits territories lying quite as far to the southward of the tropic of Capricorn. In India the northern range of the group is only bounded by the slopes of the Himalaya, and further to the eastward Parrots are not only abundant over the whole of the Malay Archipelago, as well as Australia and Tasmania, but two very well-defined Families are peculiar to New Zealand and its adjacent islands (KAKAPO and NESTOR), while the genus Platycercus, or that section of it called Cyanorhynchus, has several representatives in the Region last named, one species, P. erythrotis, reaching the Macquarrie Islands in lat. 55° S.,'the highest attained by any of the Order. No Parrot has recently inhabited the Palse- arctic area,2 nor are Parrots represented by many different forms in either the Ethiopian or the Indian Eegion. In continental Asia the distribution of Parrots is rather remarkable. None extend further to the westward than the valley of the Indus,3 which, con- 1 Cf. inter alias, W. W. Cooke, Eep. Bird Migr. Mississippi, p. 124 (1888) ; W. Brewster, Auk, 1889, p. 337 ; A. W. Butler, op. cit. 1892, pp. 49-56. 2 A few remains of a Parrot have been recognized from the Miocene of the Allier in France, by Prof. A. Milne-Edwards (Ois. Foss. France, ii. p. 525, pi. cc.), and are said by him to shew the greatest resemblance to the common Grey Parrot of Africa, Psittacus erithacus, though having also some affinity to the Ring-necked Parakeet of the same country, Pal&ornis torquatus. He refers them, however, to the same genus as the former, under the name of Psittacus verreauxi. 3 The statements that have been made, and even repeated by writers of authority, as to the occurrence of " a green parrot" in Syria (Chesney, Exped. PARROT 687 sidering the nature of the country in Baloochistan and Affghanistan, is perhaps intelligible enough ; but it is not so easy to understand why none are found either in Cochin China or China proper ; and they are also wanting in the Philippine Islands, which is the more remarkable and instructive when we find how abundant they are in the groups a little further to the southward. Indeed Mr. Wallace has well remarked that the portion of the earth's surface which contains the largest number of Parrots, in proportion to its area, is undoubtedly that covered by the islands extending from Celebes to the Solomon group. " The area of these islands is probably not one-fifteenth of that of the four tropical regions, yet they contain from one-fifth to one-fourth of all the known Parrots " (Geogr. Distr. Anim. ii. p. 330). He goes on to observe also that in this area are found many of the most remarkable forms — all the red Lories, the great black Cockatoos, the pigmy Nasiternse, and other singularities. In South America the species of Parrots, though numerically nearly as abundant, are far less diversified in form, and all of them seem capable of being referred to two or, at most, three sections. The species that has the widest range, and that by far, is the common Ring-necked Parakeet, Palxornis torquatus, a well-known cage-bird which is found from the mouth of the Gambia across Africa to the coast of the Red Sea, as well as throughout the whole of India, Ceylon and Burma to Tenasserim.1 On the other hand there are plenty of cases of Parrots which are restricted to an extremely small area — often an island of insignificant size, as Conurus pertinax, confined to the island of St. Thomas in the Antilles, and Palseornis exsul, to that of Rodriguez in the Indian Ocean (Ibis, 1872, pp. 31- 34, 1875, p. 342, pi. vii.) — to say nothing of the remarkable instance afforded by Nestor produdus 2 (see pp. 223, 224 and 628). Survey Euphrates and Tigris, i. pp. 443, 537) and of a Parrot in Turkestan (Jour. As. Soc. Bengal, viii. p. 1007) originated with gentlemen who had no ornithological knowledge, and are evidently erroneous. Some species of ROLLER possibly gave rise to the assertions. 1 It is right to state, however, that the African examples of this bird are said to be distinguishable from the Asiatic by their somewhat shorter wings and weaker bill, and hence they are considered by some authorities to form a distinct species, P. docilis ; but in thus regarding them the difference of locality seems to have influenced opinion, and without that difference they would scarcely have been separated, for in many other groups of birds distinctions so slight are regarded as barely evidence of local races. Even West- African examples are said by Count T. Salvador! (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xx. p. 448) to have larger bills than those from the eastern side, which have been further distinguished as P. parvirostris. 2 A case very like that of Nestor produdus (pp. 223, 628) is presented by the "Mascarin" (PI. Enl. 35) a Parrot which formerly inhabited the island of Bour- bon (Reunion). The last known living example was in the royal menagerie at Munich and was figured in 1835 by Hahn (Orn. Atlas, Papegeien, p. 54, pi. 39) ; 688 PARROT The systematic treatment of this very natural group has long been a difficult subject, and almost the only approach to unanimity among those who have made it their study, lies in the somewhat general belief which has grown up within the last half of this century that the Parrots should be regarded as forming a distinct Order. A few systematists, among whom Bonaparte was chief, placed them at the top of the Class, conceiving that they were the analogues of the Primates among Mammals. Prof. Huxley has recognized the Psittacomorpliaz as forming one of the principal groups of Carinatse, and, by whatever name we call them, that much seems to be evident. It will here, however, be unnecessary to discuss the rank which the Parrots should hold, and it is quite enough of a task to consider the most natural or — if we cannot hope at present to reach that — at least the most expedient way of subdividing them. It is a reproach to ornithologists that so little satisfactory progress has been made in this direction, and the result is all the more disheartening, seeing that there is no group of exotic birds that affords equal opportunities for anatomical examination, since almost every genus extant, and more than two-thirds of the species, have within recent times been kept in confinement in one or another of our zoological gardens, and at their death have furnished subjects for dissection. Yet the laudable attempt of M. Blanchard (Compt. Rend, xliii. 1097-1100 and xliv. 518-521) was not successful, and it cannot be affirmed that the latest arrangement of the Psittati is really much more natural than that planned by Buffon in 1779.1 He was of course unaware of the existence of some of the most remarkable forms of the group, in particular of Stringops and Nestor ; but he began by making two great divisions of those that he did know, separating the Parrots of the Old World from the Parrots of the New, and subdividing each of these divisions into various sections somewhat in accordance with the names they had received in popular language — a practice he followed on many other occasions, for he seems to have held a belief that there is more truth in the discrimination of the unlearned than the scientific are apt to allow. The end was that he produced a plan which is com- paratively simple and certainly practical, while as just stated it can- not be confidently declared to be unnatural. However, not to go very but all trace of it has since been lost, and the only two specimens that exist in Museums are at Paris and Vienna respectively— the latter having been obtained on the dispersal of the Leverian Museum in 1806, when it formed lot 5828 in the sale catalogue, and was there said to be from America ! (Of. Von Pelzeln, Ibis, 1873, p. 32 ; A. Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 5, vi. pi. ii. fig. 4, pi. iii. fig. 8 ; the same and Oustalet in the centenary volume of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, pp. 7-21, pi. i. ; and W. A. Forbes, Ibis, 1879, pp. 303-307.) 1 This is virtually admitted by Count T. Salvadori (torn. cit. Introd. p. viii.), the latest reviser of the Order. PARROT 689 far back: in 1867-68 Dr. Finsch published an excellent monograph of the Parrots,1 regarding them as a Family, in which he admitted 26 genera, forming 5 subfamilies ; but only in the single group NESTOR did he recognize characters that were not external. In 1874 Garrod communicated to the Zoological Society the result of his dissection of examples of 82 species of Parrots, which had lived in its gardens, and these results were published in its Proceedings for that year (pp. 586- 598, pis. Ixx. Ixxi.) The principal points to which he attended were the arrangement of the CAROTID artery, and the presence or absence of an AMBIENS muscle, an OIL-GLAND and a FURCULA ; but except as regards the last character he unfortunately almost wholly neglected the rest of the skeleton, looking upon such osteological features as the formation of an orbital ring and peculiarities of the atlas as "of minor importance " — an estimate to which nearly every anatomist will demur. Indeed the investigations of Prof. A. Milne-Edwards (Ann. Sc. Nat. Zoologie, ser. 5, vi. pp. 91-111 ; viii. pp. 145-156) on the bones of the head in Parrots make it clear that these alone, and especially the maxilla, present features of much significance, and if his investigations had not been carried on for a special object, but had been extended to other parts of the skeleton, there is little doubt that they would have removed some of the greatest difficulties. The one osteological character to which Garrod trusted, namely, the con- dition of the furcula, contributes little towards a safe basis of classi- fication. That it is wholly absent in some genera of Parrots had long been known, but its imperfect ossification, it appears, is not attended in some cases by any diminution of volant powers, which tends to shew that it is an unimportant character, an inference confirmed by the fact that it was found wanting in genera placed geographically so far apart that the loss must have had in some of them an in- dependent origin. Thus grounded, his scheme was so manifestly artificial that further criticism would here be useless ; the greatest merit of his method is that, as before mentioned (LOVE-BIRD), he gave sufficient reasons for distinguishing between the genera Agapornis and Psittacula. In the Journal fur Ornithologie for 1881 Dr. Reichenow published a Conspectus Psittacorum, founded, as so many others 2 have been, on external characters only. He made 9 Families of the group, and recognized 45 genera, and 442 species, besides subspecies. In 1883 he brought to completion a work,3 finely illustrated by Herr G. Miitzel, which forms a concise mono- graph. His grouping is generally very different from Garrod's, but 1 Die Papageien monographiscfi bearbeitet. Leiden : 1867-68. 2 vols. 8vo. 2 Such, for instance, as Kuhl's treatise with the same title, which appeared in 1820, and Wagler's Monographic/, Psittacorum, published in 1832 — both good of their kind and time. 3 Vogelbilder ausfernen Zonen. AbbildungenundSeschreibungender Papageien. Kassel: 1878-83. 44 690 PARROT displays as much artificiality ; for instance, Nestor is referred to the Family which is otherwise composed of the Cockatoos. Almost simultaneously with the last came the arrangement followed by Mr. Sclater in the List of those exhibited of late years in the gardens of the Zoological Society, and published in 1883. This seemed to be a manifest improvement on anything before proposed ; but more recently we have Count T. Salvadori, who, while cataloguing the collection of specimens in the British Museum (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xx.), came to the conclusion that 6 Families are needed. These are Nestoridse (NESTOR); Loriidse (LORY),1 with 14 genera and 71 species; Cyclopsittacidse (2 genera, 18 species); Cacatuidse (COCKATOO), with 2 subfamilies — Cacatuinse (5 or 6 genera, 26 or 27 species) and the other consisting of the well-known Calopsitta (COCKATEEL); Psittacidse, with 6 subfamilies — Nasiterninee (1 genus, 9 species), Conurinze, including the MACCAWS (15 genera, 102 species), Pionines (10 genera, 91 species), Psittacinse (3 genera, 8 species) Palxornithinse (16 genera, 114 species) and Platycercinse(l 1 genera, 50 species); while Stringopidse (KAKAPo) completes the group. That this scheme is worthy of its author's name none can doubt, but he himself remarks that materials are not yet "sufficient for a complete study of Parrots." The separation of the first and last of these Families is unquestionably required, since they stand on a very different and much firmer footing than the other four, and the recognition of Cacatuidze and Loriidse is probably justifiable, as they can be without much difficulty defined, but exception may be taken to Cyclopsittacidse as a Family, and the grouping of the genera of Psittacidse proper is open to objection. Pionus and Psittacus certainly seem to furnish two different types, to the former of which, rather than to Conurus, Psittacula appears to be attached, bearing much the same relation thereto that Agapornis, placed by the Count near Palaeornis, does to the latter. Details of this kind, however, must be expected to produce some divergence of opinion. Among the genera Chrysotis, Palxornis and Psittacus are probably to be found the most highly organized forms, and it is these birds in which the faculty of so- called " speech " reaches its maximum development. But too much importance must not be assigned to that fact ; since, while Psittacus erithacus — the well-known Grey Parrot2 with a red tail — is the most accomplished spokesman of the whole group, it is fairly 1 I take this opportunity of correcting an error (p. 520) as to tlie plumage of the young of Eclectus, which has been proved by Dr. A. B. Meyer (Zeitschr. f. gesammte Zool. 1882, i. pp. 146-162, 1884, i. p. 274, pi. xvi. and Ibis, 1890, pp. 26-29, pi. i.) to resemble that of the adult. 2 In many foreign works this species is said to be called in English "The Jacko," but no such practice is known to me, and the assertion probably originated in the general application of the name of some particular captive. Bishop Stanley had a bird so called (Prothero, Life of Dean Stanley, p. 18). PARSON-BIRD 691 approached by some species of Chrysotis — usually styled Amazons — and yet its congener P. timneh is not known to be talkative.1 Considering the abundance of Parrots both as species and in- dividuals, and their wide extent over the globe, it is surprising how little is known of their habits in a wild state. Even the species with which Englishmen and their descendants, have been more in contact than any other has an almost unwritten history, compared with that of many other birds ; and, seeing how many are oppressed by and yielding to man's occupation of their ancient haunts, the extirpation of some is certain, and will probably be accomplished before several interesting and some disputed points in their economy have been decided. The experience of small islands only fore- shadows what will happen in tracts of greater extent, though there more time is required to produce the same result ; but, the result being inevitable, those who are favourably placed for observations should neglect no opportunities of making them ere it be too late. PARSON-BIRD (so-called by the English in New Zealand from the two tufts of curled and filamentary white feathers hanging beneath its chin, which were supposed to resemble the bands worn until lately by clerics), the Prosthematodera novse-zealandise of modern ornithology. Made known on the publication of Cook's First Voyage (i. p. 98), where it is figured as the Poe or Poy-bird,2 in 1776 it was technically described by Pennant and figured by Peter Brown (Illustr. Zool. p. 18, pi. ix.) from a specimen in Tunstall's collection still existing in the Museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne (Fox, Synops. Newc. Mus. p. 138). The bird belongs to the Meliphagidse (HONEY-EATER), and is in many ways one of the most remarkable of them, being generally of glossy black with vivid green or blue reflexions, while in addition to the white gular tufts, the feathers on the sides of the neck are curved forwards and white-shafted, the greater wing-coverts also being white. It is a fine songster, and a great favourite in captivity, learning to mimic various noises, 1 In connexion with the "speaking" of Parrots, one of the most curious cir- cumstances is that recorded by Humboldt, who states (Ansichten der Natur, ed. 3, i. p. 285, Engl. transl. p. 172) that in South America he met with a vener- able bird which remained the sole possessor of a literally dead language, the whole tribe of Indians, Atures by name, who alone had spoken it, having become extinct. This incident was the theme of a poem by Curtius, printed in Hum- boldt's volume, and how cleverly it has been worked into a romance by a recent novelist all well know ; but unfortunately there are people who will have it that the romance of the story did not begin with Mr. Grant Allen. 2 This name, for a long while used in the books, was given by Cook's people, who compared the bird's remarkable gular tufts to the earrings worn by the Tahitians, and called Poies, as the word was then written. But Kago is given as the native name of the bird, and in the form Koko is still used, though Tui is the commoner appellation. 692 PARSON-GULL—PARTRIDGE including the human voice.1 In fine weather, as remarked by Mr. Layard (Ibis, 1863, p. 243), this species has the habit of mounting aloft in parties of half a dozen or more and indulging in various aerial evolutions. Another merit it possesses is that of being an excellent bird for the table, but probably few in future will have the opportunity of tasting its good qualities. Dr. Gadow has de- PROSTHEMATODERA. (After Buller.) scribed (Proc. Zool Soc. 1883, pp. 67-69, pi. xvi. figs. 6, 7) the peculiar lingual apparatus and mode of feeding of this bird. PARSON-GULL, a common name for the adult of either of the Black-backed GULLS, Larus marinus and fuscus. PARTRIDGE, in older English Pertriche, Scottish Patrick, Dutch Patrijs, French Perdrix, all from the Latin Perdix, which word in sound does not imitate badly the call-note of this bird, so well known throughout the British Islands and the greater part of Europe 2 as to need no description or account of its habits here. The English name properly denotes the only species indigenous to Britain, often nowadays called the Grey Partridge 3 (to distinguish it from others, of which more presently), the Perdix cinerea of 1 Sir "W. Buller tells us how that having addressed a Maori assemblage in the course of a negotiation, at the end of his speech the chiefs tame Tui ex- claimed "Tita" (false), whereupon the dignitary remarked that the arguments were no doubt good, but they had failed to convince his bird. 2 More than one local form has been said to exist on the continent if not in Britain. One such, inhabiting the north-west of Spain, seems worthy of notice. It was described by Df. Reichenow (Journ. fur Orn. 1892, p. 226) as P. his- paniensis, which Dr. Sharpe (Zool. Rec. xxix. Aves, p. 27) has rendered P. his- paniolensis. 3 In India the name Grey Partridge is used for Ortygornis ponticerianus, which is perhaps a FRANCOLIN (cf. Jerdon, B. Ind. iii. p. 569). PARTRIDGE 693 ornithologists, a species which may be regarded as the model game- bird — whether from the excellence of the sport it affords in the field, or the no less excellence of its flesh at table, which has been esteemed from the time of Martial to our own — while it is on all hands admitted to be wholly innocuous, and at times beneficial to the agriculturist. It is an undoubted fact that the Partridge thrives with the highest system of cultivation ; and the lands that are the most carefully tilled, and bear the greatest quantity of grain and green crops, generally produce the greatest number of Partridges. Yielding perhaps in economic importance to the Eed GROUSE, what may be called the social influence of the Partridge is greater than that excited by any other wild bird, for there must be few rural parishes in the three kingdoms of which the inhabitants are not more or less directly affected in their movements and busi- ness by the coming in of Partridge-shooting, and therefore a few words on this theme may not be out of place. From the days when men learned to " shoot flying " until the latter half of this century, dogs were generally if not invariably used to point out where the " covey," as a family-party of Part- ridges is called, was lodged, and the greatest pains were taken to break in the " pointers " or " setters " to their duty. In this way marvellous success was attained, and the delight lay nearly as much in seeing the dogs quarter the ground, wind and draw up to the game, helping them at times (for a thorough understanding between man and beast was necessary for the perfection of the sport) by word or gesture, as in bringing down the bird after it had been finally sprung. There are many who lament that the old-fashioned practice of shooting Partridges to dogs has, with rare exceptions, fallen into desuetude, and it is commonly believed that this result has followed wholly from the desire to make larger and larger bags of game. The opinion has a certain amount of truth for its base ; but those who hold it omit to notice the wholly changed circum- stances in which Partridge-shooters now find themselves. In the old days there were plenty of broad, tangled hedgerows which afforded permanent harbour for the birds, and at the beginning of the shoo ting -season admirable shelter or "lying" (to use the sportsman's word) was found in the rough stubbles, often reaped knee-high, foul with weeds and left to stand some six or eight weeks before being ploughed, as well as in the turnips that were sown broadcast. Throughout the greater part of England now the fences are reduced to the narrowest of boundaries and are mostly trimly kept; the stubbles — mown, to begin with, as closely as possible to the ground — are ploughed within a short time of the corn being carried, and the turnips are drilled in regular lines, offering inviting alleys between them along which Partridges take foot at any unusual noise. Pointers in such a district — and to this 694 PARTRIDGE state of things all the arable part of England is tending — are simply useless, except at the beginning of the season, when the young birds are not as yet strong on the wing, and the old birds are still feeble from moulting their quill-feathers. Of late years therefore other modes of shooting Partridges have had to be employed, of which methods the most popular is that known as " driving " — the " guns " being stationed in more or less concealment at one end of the field, or series of fields, which is entered from the other by men or boys who deploy into line and walk across it making a noise. It is the custom with many to speak depreciatingly of this proceeding, but it is a fact that as much knowledge of the ways of Partridges is needed to ensure a successful day's " driving " as was required of old when nearly everything was left to the intelligence of the dogs, for the course of the birds' flight depends not only on the position of the line of beaters, but almost on the station of each person composing it, in relation to the force and direction of the wind and to the points on which it is desired that the Partridges should converge. Again, the skill and alacrity needed for bringing down birds flying at their utmost velocity, and often at a consider- able height, is enormously greater than that which sufficed to stop those that had barely gone 20 yards from the dog's nose, though admittedly Partridges rise very quickly and immediately attain great speed. Moreover, the shooting of Partridges to pointers came to an end in little more than six weeks, whereas " driving " may be continued for the whole season, and is never more success- ful than when the birds, both young and old, have completed their moult, and are strongest upon the wing. But, whether the new fashion be objectionable or not, it cannot be doubted that the old one could not be successfully restored without a reversion to the slovenly methods of agriculture followed in former years, and there- fore is as impossible as would be a return to the still older practice of taking Partridges in a setting-net, described by Gervase Mark- ham or Willughby. The Partridge has doubtless largely increased in numbers in Great Britain since the beginning of the present century, when so much down, heath and moorland was first brought under the plough, for its partiality to an arable country is very evident. It has been observed that the birds which live on grass lands or heather only are apt to be smaller and darker in colour than the average ; but in truth the species when adult is subject to a much greater variation in plumage than is commonly supposed, and the well-known chestnut horse-shoe mark, generally considered distinc- tive of the cock, is very often absent.1 In Asia our Partridge seems 1 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie Grant has indicated certain characters in the plumage of the two sexes of this species whereby they maybe unfailingly distinguished. In the adult cock the sides of the neck are grey, but in the hen olive-brown, while PARTRIDGE 695 to be unknown, but in the temperate parts of Eastern Siberia its place is taken by a very nearly allied form, P. barbata, and in Tibet there is a bird, P. hodgsonise, which can hardly with justice be generically separated from it. The relations of some other forms inhabiting the Indian Region are at present too obscure to make any notice of them expedient here. The common Red-legged Partridge of Europe, generally called the French Partridge, Caccabis rufa, seems to be justifiably con- sidered the type of a separate group.1 This bird was introduced into England toward the end of the eighteenth century, and has established itself in various parts of the country, notwith- standing a widely - spread, and in some respects unreasonable prejudice against it. It has certainly the habit of trusting nearly as much to its legs as to its wings, and it thus incurred the obloquy of old-fashioned sportsmen, whose dogs it vexatiously kept at a running-point ; but when it was also accused of driving away the grey Partridge, the charge only shewed the ignorance of those that brought it, for as a matter of fact the French Partridge rather prefers ground which the common species avoids — such as the heaviest clay-soils, or the most infertile heaths. But even where the two species meet, the present writer can declare from the personal observation of many years that the alleged antipathy between them is imaginary, and unquestionably in certain parts of the country the " head of game " has been increased by the introduction of the foreigner.2 The French nearly each feather shews a buff shaft-stripe. Again the median upper wing- coverts in the cock are of a sandy-brown blotched with chestnut and black trans- verse lines, while in the hen the corresponding feathers are blackish -brown with conspicuous buff crossbars. I am much indebted to Lord Lilford and Mr. Beilby Oakes for kindly informing me that, after examining a great many Partridges, they can wholly confirm Mr. Grant's observations, which having been originally published in a newspaper (Field, 21 Nov. 1891 and 9 April 1892), and only incidentally mentioned by him in a scientific work (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxii. p. 185). will be new to many persons. 1 The late Prof. Parker first (Trans. Zool. Soc. v. p. .155) and, after him, Prof. Huxley (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, pp. 299-302) pointed out that the true Gallinse offer two types of structure, ' ' one of which may be called Galline, and the other Tetraonine, " to use the latter's words, though he is ' ' by no means clear that they do not graduate into one another " ; and, according to the char- acters assigned by him, Caccabis lies "on the Galline side of the boundary," while Perdix belongs to the Tetraonine group. Further investigation of this matter is very desirable, and, with the abundant means possessed by those who have access to zoological gardens, it might easily be carried out. 2 It is a singular fact that the game -preservers who object most strongly to the Red-legged Partridge are not agreed on the exact grounds of their objection. One party will declare that it vanquishes the Grey Partridge, while the other holds that, though the latter, the " English" Partridge, is much vexed by the Introduced species, it invariably beats off the " Frenchman " ! 696 PASSAGE-HA WK— PASSENGER-PIGEON Partridge has several congeners, all with red legs and plumage of similar character. In Africa north of the Atlas there is the Barbary Partridge, C. petrosa; in southern Europe another, C. saxatilis, which extends eastward till it is replaced by C. chukar, which reaches India, where it is a well-known bird. Two very interesting desert-forms, supposed to be allied to Caccalis, are the Ammoperdix heyi of North Africa and Palestine and the A. bonhami of Persia ; but the absence of the metatarsal knob, or incipient spur, suggests (in our ignorance of their other osteological characters) an alliance rather to the genus Perdix. On the other hand the groups of birds known as FRANCOLINS and Snow-Partridges are generally furnished with strong but blunt spurs, and therefore prob- ably belong to the Caccabine group. Of the former, containing many species, there is only room here to mention, in addition to what has been before (page 291) said of that which used to occur in Europe, the possibility, as some think, of its having been the Attagas or Attagen of classical authors,1 a bird celebrated for its exquisite flavour. Of the latter it is only to be said here that those of the genus Tetmogallus, often called Snow-PHEASANT, are the giants of their kin, and that nearly every considerable range of mountains in Asia seems to possess its specific form; while the genus Lerwa contains but a single species, L. nivicola, which is emphatically the Snow-Partridge of Himalayan sportsmen. By English colonists the name Partridge has been very loosely applied, and especially so in North America. Where a qualifying word is prefixed no confusion is caused, but without it there is sometimes a difficulty at first to know whether the Ruffed GROUSE (Bonasa umbellus) or the Virginian COLIN (Ortyx virginianus) is intended, while the " Partridge-Hawk " of the same country is Astur atricapillus (GOSHAWK), and the " Partridge - Pigeon " of Australia is a species of Geophaps (BRONZE- WING). PASSAGE-HAWK, in modern falconers' language, is one taken on its passage or migration, generally in Holland. It is therefore always what in old time was called a " Haggard," and when trained is more valued than a NiAS. PASSENGEE-PIGEON, so-called in books, but in North America commonly known as the " Wild Pigeon," the Ectopistes migratorius of ornithology, the bird so famous in former days for its multitude, and still occasionally to be found plentifully in some parts of Canada and the United States, though no longer appearing in the countless numbers that it did of old, when a flock seen by Wilson was estimated to consist of more than 2230 millions. The 1 However, many naturalists have maintained a different opinion — some making it a WOODCOCK, a GODWIT, or even the Hazel-hen (GROUSE). The ques- tion has been well discussed by Lord Lilford (Ibis, 1862, pp. 352-356). PASSERES— PASSERINE 697 often-quoted descriptions given by him and Audubon of Pigeon- haunts in the then " back- woods " of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana need not here be reproduced. That of the latter was declared by Waterton to be a gross exaggeration if not an entire fabrication ; but the critic would certainly have changed his tone had he known that, some hundred and fifty years earlier, Wild Pigeons so swarmed and ravaged the colonists' crops near Montreal that a bishop of his own Church was constrained to exorcise them with holy water as if they had been demons.1 The rapid and sustained flight of these Pigeons is also as well-established as their former overwhelming abundance — birds having been killed in the State of New York whose crops contained undigested grains of rice that must have been not long before plucked and swallowed in South Carolina or Georgia. The Passenger-Pigeon is about the size of a common Turtle-DoVE, but with a long, wedge-shaped tail. The male is of a dark slate-colour above, and purplish-bay beneath, the sides of the neck being enlivened by gleaming violet, green and gold. The female is drab-coloured above and dull white beneath, with only a slight trace of the brilliant neck-markings 2 (see PIGEON). PASSERES, the name given by Linnaeus to his Sixth Order of Birds, which though for a time set aside in favour of other designa- tions, INSESSORES and the like, or modified into such a form as PASSERINE,3 has been restored to use of late years, and approximately in its author's sense — the genera Certhia, Sitta, Oriolus, Gracula, Corws and Paradisea, which he had placed in his PICLE, being added, while Caprimulgus, the portion of Hirundo containing the SWIFTS, and Columba have been removed. For further subdivision of the Order, which, though offering comparatively little variation of essential importance, comprehends far more genera and species than all the others put together, see INTRODUCTION. PASSERINE, a group so named of Nitzsch in 1820 (Deutsche Archiv fur Physiol. vi. p. 253) to include the genera Sturnus, Oriolus, Lanius, Muscicapa, Ampelis, Hirundo, Turdus, Accentor, Sylvia, Motor cilia, Anthus, Alauda, Parus, Sitta, Certhia (with Tichodroma), 1 Voyages du Baron de la Hontan dans I'Ameriqice septentrionale, ed. 2, Amsterdam : 1705, vol. i. pp. 93, 94. In the first edition, published at The Hague in 1703, the passage, less explicit in details but to the same effect, is at p. 80. The author's letter, describing the circumstance, is dated May 1687. 2 There are several records of the occurrence in Britain of this Pigeon, but in most cases the birds noticed cannot be supposed to have found their own way hither. One, which was shot in Fife in 1825, may, however, have crossed the Atlantic unassisted by man. 3 The names Passeriformes and lately even Passeridse ( !) have been in some instances employed ; with very slight or no modification they signify the same thing as Passerinse. 698 PASSERINI—PA TELLA Eiriberiza, Fringilla, Loxia, Cindus(1) and Corvus — thus differing somewhat from Johannes Muller's application of the cognate term PASSERINI (AWiandl K. Akad. Berlin, Phys. Kl 1847, p. 366), which he regarded as equivalent to the Order INSESSORES (as it was then called), separating its members into Passerini POLYMYODI (or OSCINES), TRACHEOPHONES and PlCARII, though cautiously declaring these to be not so much the names of groups, but as merely indicating different laryngeal formations. PASTOE, Temminck's generic name in 1815 for a beautiful bird, the Turdus roseus of Linnaeus, very commonly known in Eng- lish as the Eose-coloured Pastor, one of the Sturnidse (STARLING), which is not an infrequent visitor to the British Islands. It is a bird of most irregular and erratic habits — a vast horde suddenly arriv- ing at some place to which it may have hitherto been a stranger, and at once making a settlement there, leaving it wholly deserted so soon PASTOR. (After Swainson.) as the young are reared. This happened in the summer of 1875 at Villafranca, in the province of Verona, the castle of which was occupied in a single day by some 12,000 or 14,000 birds of this species, as has been graphically told by Sig. de Betta (Atti del R. 1st. Veneto, ser. 5, vol. ii.) ; but similar instances have been before recorded, — as in Bulgaria in 1867, near Smyrna in 1856, and near Odessa in 1844, to mention only some of which particulars have been published,1 and a concise account of them will be found in the Fourth Edition of Yarrell's British Birds (ii. pp. 245-250). The Rose-coloured Starling hardly ever occurs in Africa, but is a well-known bird in India, over nearly the whole of which it regularly appears, and generally in the cold weather. PASTURE -BIRD, a name indiscriminately given in parts of North America and the West Indies to any of the STINTS and smaller SANDPIPERS met with on their autumnal migration, and then mostly resorting to the cattle-pastures. PATELLA, a sesamoid bone interposed in the tendon of the extensor -cruris muscle, and connected with the upper end of the TIBIA by the Patellar Ligament, which in old birds is often ossified. The most remarkable variations of condition are shewn in Colymbus, 1 It is remarkable that on almost all of these occasions the locality pitched upon has been, either at the time or soon after, ravaged by locusts, which the birds greedily devour. Another fact worthy of attention is that they are often observed to affect trees or shrubs bearing rose-coloured flowers, as Nerium oleatider and Robinia viscosa, among the blossoms of which they themselves may easily escape notice, for their plumage is rose-pink and black shot with blue. PEACOCK 699 where the Patella is reduced to a small ossicle within the tendon, its function being taken by the greatly-developed pyramidal p'o- cessus tibialis anterior, and in Podidpes and Hesperornis, where it is almost as large as the cnemial process with which it freely articulates. PEACOCK (the first syllable from the Latin Pavo, in Anglo- Saxon Pawe, Dutch Paauw, German Pfau, French Paon), the bird so well known from the splendid plumage of the male, and as the proverbial personification of pride. A native of the Indian penin- sula and Ceylon, in some parts of which it is very abundant, its domestication dates from times so remote that nothing can be posi- tively stated on that score. Setting aside its importation to Pales- tine by Solomon (1 Kings x. 22 ; 2 Chron. ix. 21), its assignment in classical mythology as the favourite bird of Hera or Juno testifies to the early acquaintance the Greeks must have had with it ; but, though it is mentioned by Aristophanes and other older writers, their knowledge of it was probably very slight until after the con- quests of Alexander. Throughout all succeeding time, however, it has never very willingly rendered itself to domestication, and, retain- ing much of its wild character, can hardly be accounted an inhabit- ant of the poultry-yard, but rather an ornamental denizen of the pleasure-ground or shrubbery ; while, even in this condition, it is seldom kept in large numbers, for it has a bad reputation for doing mischief in gardens, it is not very prolific, and, though in earlier days highly esteemed for the table,1 it is no longer considered the delicacy it was once thought. As in most cases of domestic animals, pied or white varieties of the ordinary Peacock, Pavo cristatus, are not unfrequently to be seen ; and, though lacking the gorgeous resplendence for which the common bird stands unsurpassed, they are valued as curiosities. Greater interest, however, attends what is known as the " japanned " Peacock^ often erroneously named the Japanese or Japan Peacock, a form which has received the name of P. nigripennis, as though it were a distinct species. In this form the cock, beside other less conspicuous differences, has all the upper wing-coverts of a deep lustrous blue instead of being mottled with brown and white, while the hen is of a more or less greyish-white, deeply tinged with dull yellowish-brown near the base of the neck and shoulders. It " breeds true " ; but occasionally a presumably pure stock of birds of the usual coloration throws out one or more having the 1 Classical authors contain many allusions to its high appreciation at the most sumptuous banquets ; and mediaeval bills of fare on state occasions nearly always include it. In the days of chivalry one of the most solemn oaths was taken " on the Peacock," which seems to have been served up garnished with its gaudy plumage. ;oo PEACOCK " japanned " plumage, leading to the conclusion that the latter may be due to " reversion to a primordial and otherwise extinct condi- tion of the species," and it is to be observed that the " japanned " male has in the coloration of the parts mentioned no little re- semblance to that of the second indubitably good species, the P. muticus (or P. spicifer of some writers) of Burma and Java, though the character of the latter's crest — the feathers of which are barbed along their whole length instead of at the tip only — and JAPANNED" PEAFOWLS. (After Wolf in Elliot's ' Phasianidse.") its golden-green neck and breast furnish a ready means of distinc- tion. The late Sir R. Heron was confident that the " japanned " breed had arisen in England within his memory,1 and Darwin (Anim. and Plants under Domestic, i. pp. 290-292) was inclined to believe it only a variety ; but its abrupt appearance, which rests on indisputable evidence, is most suggestive in the light that it may 1 This may have been the case as regards England ; but I have a distinct recollection of having seen a bird of this form represented in an old Dutch picture, though when or where I cannot state. An instance of its sudden pro- duction from the ordinary stock occurred to my own knowledge as mentioned by Mr. Darwin. PEASEWEEP—PECTINEAL PROCESS 701 one day throw on the question of evolution as exhibited in the origin of "species." It should be stated that the "japanned" bird is not known to exist anywhere as a wild race. The Peafowls belong to the Gallinaz, from the normal members of which they do not materially differ in structure ; and, though by some systematists they are raised to the rank of a Family, Pavonidte, most are content to regard them as a subfamily of Phasianidse (PHEASANT).1 Akin to the genus Pavo is Polyplectrum, of which the males are armed with two or more spurs on each leg, POLYPLECTRUM. ARGUS-PHEASANT. (After Swainson.) and near them is generally placed the genus Argusianus, containing the ARGUS-Pheasants, remarkable for their wonderfully ocellated plumage, and the extraordinary length of the secondary quills of their wings, as well as of the tail-feathers. It must always be re- membered that the so-called " tail " of the Peacock is formed not by the rectrices or true tail-feathers, but by the singular develop- ment of the tail-coverts, a fact of which any one may be satisfied by looking at the bird when these magnificent plumes are erected and expanded in disk-like form, as is his habit when displaying his beauty to his mates. PEASEWEEP (spelling uncertain), the Scottish form of PEWIT, but applied to the LAPWING only. PEC TEN, a fan-like lamella which projects into the posterior chamber of the EYE, near the entrance of the optic nerve, and is found in all Birds except Apteryx. PECTINEAL PROCESS (so called from the attachment to it of the Pectineal muscle), a process, near the anterior margin of the acetabulum (see ODONTORNITHES, fig. 4 a, page 650), and is in Birds formed by the os pubis alone, by the os pubis and ilium jointly, or occasionally by the ilium alone. When formed wholly by the pubic bone and well developed, as in Apteryx and Centrococcyx, it strongly resembles the so-called "prepubis" of Dinosaurs and other Keptiles. 1 As Mr. Elliot does in his magnificent Monograph of the Phasianidae. 702 PEEP— PELICAN PEEP, used chiefly in North America for any of the STINTS or small SANDPIPERS from their cry. PEGGY, a common name of the WHITETHROAT. PELAEGOMOEPH^E, Prof. Huxley's name (Proc. Zool Soc. 1867, p. 461) for that group of DESMOGNATH^E which contains the Storks, Herons, Ibises and Spoonbills. PELICAN (Fr. Pelican, Lat. Pelecanus or Pelicanus), a large fish- eating water-fowl, remarkable for the enormous pouch formed by the extensible skin between the lower jaws of its long, and ap- parently formidable but in reality very weak, bill. The ordinary Pelican, the Onocrotalus of the ancients, to whom it was well known, and the Pelecanus onocrotalus of ornithologists, is a very abundant bird in some districts of South-eastern Europe, South-western Asia, and North-eastern Africa, occasionally straying, it is believed, into the northern parts of Germany and France ; but the possibility of such wanderers having escaped from confinement is always to be regarded,1 since few zoological gardens are without examples which are often in the finest condition. Its usual haunts are the shallow margins of the larger lakes and rivers, where fishes are plentiful, since it requires for its sustenance a vast supply of them, pursuing them under water, and rising to the surface to swallow those that it has captured in its capacious pouch. The nest is formed among the reeds that border the waters it frequents, placed on the ground and lined with grass. Therein two eggs, with white, chalky shells, are commonly laid. The young during the first twelvemonth are of a greyish-brown, but this dress is slowly superseded by the growth of white feathers, until when mature almost the whole plumage, except the black primaries, is white, deeply suffused by a rich blush of rose or salmon-colour, passing into yellow on the crest and lower part of the neck in front. A second and somewhat larger species, P. crispus, also inhabits Europe, but in smaller numbers. This, when adult, is readily distinguishable from the ordinary bird by the absence of the blush from its plumage, and by the curled feathers that project from and overhang each side of the head, which with some differences of coloration of the bill, pouch, bare skin round the eyes, and irides give it a wholly distinct expression.2 Two speci- mens of the humerus of as many Pelicans have been found in the English fens (Ibis, 1868, p. 363; Proc. Zool Soc. 1871, p. 702), 1 This caution was not neglected by the prudent, even so long ago as Sir Thomas Browne's days ; for he, recording the occurrence of a Pelican in Norfolk, was careful to notice that about the same time one of the Pelicans kept by the king (Charles II.) in St. James's Park had been lost. Charleton says (OTiomast. p. 94) they came from the Czar. 2 It is also said to have twenty-two rectrices, while the ordinary species has only eighteen. PELVIS— PENGUIN 703 thus proving the former existence of the bird in England at no very distant period, and one of them being that of a young example points to its having been bred in this country. It is possible from their large size that they belonged to P. crispus. Ornithologists have been much divided in opinion as to the number of living species of the genus Pelecanus (cf. op. cit. 1868, p. 264; 1869, p. 571; 1871, p. 631) — the estimate varying from six to ten or eleven; but the former is the number recognized by M. Dubois (Bull. Mus. Belg. 1883). North America has one, P. erythrorhynchus, very similar to P. onocrotalus both in appearance and habits, but remarkable for a triangular, compressed, horny excrescence which is developed on the ridge of the male's bill in the breeding-season, and, as ascertained by Mr. Ridgway (Ibis, 1869, p. 350), falls off without leaving trace of its existence when that is over (cf. MOULT, page 599). Australia has P. conspicillatus, easily distinguished by its black tail and wing- coverts. Of more marine habit are P. philippensis and P. fuscus, the former having a wide range in Southern Asia, and, it is said, reaching Madagascar, and the latter being common on the coasts of the warmer parts of both North and South America.1 PELVIS, that part of the trunk to which are attached the hind limbs, and consisting of a number of fused vertebrae, beside three coalescent portions on either side of the Median line — the ILIUM, ISCHIUM and Os PUBIS (see SKELETON). PEN, said by Yarrell to be the technical name of the hen Mute SWAN, the cock being called COB. PENELOPE, the generic name most inappropriately given by Merrem to the GUANS and occasionally used as English. PENGUIN, the name of a flightless sea-bird,2 but, so far as is 1 The genus Pelecanus as instituted by Linnaeus included the CORMORANT and GANNET as well as the true Pelicans, and for a long while these and some other distinct groups, as the SNAKE-BIRDS, FRIGATE-BIRDS, and TROPIC-BIRDS, which have all the four toes of the foot connected by a web, were regarded as forming a single Family, Pelecanidx ; but this name has now been restricted to the Pelicans only, though all are still usually associated under the name STEGANOPODES. It may be necessary to state that there is no foundation for the venerable legend of the Pelican feeding her young with blood from her own breast, which has given her an important place in ecclesiastical heraldry, except that, as Mr. Bartlett has suggested (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, p. 146), the curious bloody secretion ejected from the mouth of the FLAMINGO may have given rise to the belief, through that bird having been mistaken for the " Pelican of the wilderness." 2 Of the three derivations assigned to this name, the first is by Drayton in 1613 (Polyolbion, Song 9), where it is said to be the Welsh pen gwyn, or "white head " ; the second, which seems to meet with Littre's approval, deduces it from the Latin pinguis (fat) ; the third supposes it to be a corruption of "pin- wing" (Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, iv. p. 133), meaning a bird that has undergone the operation of pinioning or, as in one part at least of England it is commonly called, 704 PENGUIN known, first given, as in Here's "Voyage to Cape Breton," 1536 (Hackluyt, Researches, iii. pp. 168-170), to one inhabiting the seas of Newfoundland, which subsequently became known as the Great Auk or GARE-FOWL ; and, though the French equivalent Pingouin l preserves its old application, at the present day, the word Penguin is by English ornithologists always used in a general sense for certain Birds inhabiting the Southern Ocean, called by the French Manchots, the Sphenisddse of ornithologists, which in some respects form perhaps the most singular group of the whole Class, or at least we may say of the Carinatas. For a long while their position was very much misunderstood, some of the best of recent or even living systematists having placed them in close company with the Alcidx (AUKS), to which they bear only a relationship of analogy, as indeed had been perceived by a few ornithologists, who recognized in the Penguins a very distinct Order, IMPENNES. The view of the latter is hardly likely to be disputed in future, now that the anatomical researches of MM. Paul Gervais and Alix (Jaurn. de Zool. 1877, pp. 424-470), M. Filhol (Bull Soc. Philomath, ser. 7, vi. pp. 226-248), and above all of Prof. Watson (Zoology, Voy. Challenger, part xviii.) have put the independent position of the Sphenisddse in the clearest light.2 The most conspicuous outward character presented by the Penguins is the total want of quills in their wings, which are beside " pin- winging." In opposition to the first of these hypotheses it has been urged (1) that there is no real evidence of any Welsh discovery of the bird, (2) that it is very unlikely for the "Welsh, if they did discover it, to have been able to pass on their name to English navigators, and (3) that it had not a white head, but only a patch of white thereon. To the second hypothesis Prof. Skeat (Etymol. Diet. p. 433) objects that it "will not account for the suffix -in, and is therefore wrong ; besides which the ' Dutchmen ' [who were asserted to be the" authors of the name] turn out to be Sir Francis Drake " and his men. In support of the third hypothesis Mr. Reeks wrote (Zoologist, ser. 2, p. 1854) that the people in Newfoundland who used to meet with this bird always pronounced its name "Pin-wing." Prof. Skeat's enquiry (loc. cit.}, whether the name may not after all be South-American, is to be answered in the negative, since, so far as evidence goes, it was given to the North- American bird before the South-American was known in Europe. 1 Gorfou has also been used by some French writers, being a corruption of Geirfugl or Gare-fowl. 2 Though I cannot wholly agree with Prof. Watson's conclusions, his remarks (pp. 230-232) on the " Origin of the Penguins" are worthy of all attention. He considers that they are the surviving members of a group that branched off early from the primitive "avian" stem, but that at the time of their separation the stem had diverged so far from Reptiles as to possess true wings, though the metatarsal bones had not lost their distinctness and become fused into the single bone so characteristic of existing Bird^. The ancestral Penguin, he argues, must have had functional wings, the muscles of which, through atrophy, have been converted into non-contractile tendinous bands, and this view agrees practically with that taken by Prof. Fiirbringer and Dr. Gadow. PENGUIN 705 as incapable of flexure as the flippers of a Cetacean, though they move freely at the shoulder- joint, and some at least of the species occasionally make use of them for progressing on land. In the water they are most efficient paddles, and are usually, if not always, worked, as birds' wings commonly are (cf. FLIGHT, pp. 267-269), with a rotatory action. The plumage which clothes the whole body, leaving no bare spaces, generally consists of small scale-like feathers, many of them consisting only of a simple shaft without the develop- ment of barbs ; but several of the species have the head decorated with long cirrhous tufts (MACCARONi), and in some the tail-quills, which are very numerous, are also long.1 In standing these birds preserve an upright position, generally resting on the "tarsus"2 alone, but in walking or running on land this is kept nearly vertical, and their weight is supported by the toes as well. The most northerly limit of the Penguins' range in the Atlantic is Tristan da Cunha, and in the Indian Ocean Amsterdam Island, but they also occur off the Cape of Good Hope and along the south coast of Australia, as well as on the south and east of New Zealand, while in the Pacific one species at least extends along the west coast of South America and to the Galapagos ; but north of the equator none are found. In the breeding-season they resort to the most desolate lands in higher southern latitudes, and indeed have been met with as far to the southward as navigators have penetrated. Possibly the Falkland Islands may still be regarded as the locality richest in species,3 though, whatever may have been the case once, their abundance there as individuals does not now nearly approach what it is in many other places, owing to the ravages of man, whose advent is always accompanied by massacre and devastation on an enormous scale — the habit of the helpless birds, when breeding, to congregate by hundreds and thousands in what are called " Penguin- rookeries " contributing to the ease with which their slaughter can 1 The pterylographical characters of the Penguins are well described by Mr. Hyatt (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 1871). Mr. Bartlett has observed (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1879, pp. 6-9) that, instead of moulting in the way that birds ordinarily do, Penguins, at least in passing from the immature to the adult dress, cast off the short scale-like feathers from their wings in a manner that he compares to "the shedding of the skin in a serpent." 2 The three metatarsals in the Penguins are not, as in other Birds, united for the whole of their length, but only at the extremities, thus preserving a portion of their originally distinct existence, a fact probably attributable to arrest of develop- ment, since the researches of Prof. Gegenbaur shew that the embryos of all Birds, so far as is known, possess these bones in an independent condition. More recently Prof. Marsh has found that in the Dinosaurian genus Ceratosaurus the metatarsals acquire a condition very similar to that which they present in the Penguins (Am. Journ. Sc. Aug. 1884). 3 An interesting account of the Penguins of these islands is given by Capt. Abbott (Ibis, 1860, p. 336). 45 7o6 PENGUIN be effected. Incapable of escape by flight, they are yet able to make enough resistance or retaliation (for they bite hard when they get the chance) to excite the wrath of their murderers, and this only brings upon them greater destruction, so that the interest of nearly KING-PENGUIN. (From living example in the Zoological Gardens.) all the numerous accounts of these " rookeries " is spoilt by the disgusting details of the brutal havoc perpetrated upon them (cf. JOHNNY). The Spheniscidze have been divided into at least eight genera, but three, or at most four, seem to be all that are needed, and three can be well distinguished, as pointed out by Dr. Coues (Proc. Ac. N. Sc. Philad. 1872, pp. 170-212), by anatomical as well as by external characters. They are (1) Aptenodytes, easily recognized by its long and thin bill, slightly decurved, from which Pygoscelis, as Prof. Watson has shewn, is hardly distinguishable ; (2) Eudyptes, in which the bill is much shorter and somewhat broad ; and (3) Spheniscus, in which the shortish bill is compressed and the maxilla ends in a conspicuous hook. Aptenodytes contains the largest species, among them those known as the " Emperor " and " King " Penguins, A. patagonica and A. longirostris.1 Three others belong also to this 1 Some authorities (cf. Sclater, Ibis, 1888, pp. 325-334) prefer calling these species A. forsteri and A. pennanti. An example of the former, weighing 78 pounds, was, according to Dr. M'Cormick (Voyages of Discovery, i. p. 259), obtained by the 'Terror ' in January 1842. PERCHERS— PETREL 707 genus, if Pygoscelis (JOHNNY) be not recognized, but they seem no further to require remark. Eudyptes, containing the crested Penguins (known to sailors as Rock-hoppers or MACCARONIS), would appear to have five species, and Spheniscus (JACKASS) four, among which 8. demersus, the well-known " Cape Penguin," and S. mendiculus, which occurs in the Galapagos, and therefore has the most northerly range of the whole group, alone need notice here.1 PERCHERS, the rendering by popular writers of the word INSESSORES, now almost wholly abandoned by systematists. PEREGRINE (Lat. peregrinus, wandering) an adjective often mistaken for a substantive, and used as an abbreviation of Peregrine FALCON, an expression that originally meant one of foreign origin, regardless of the species. PERISTEROMORPH^E, according to Prof. Huxley's taxonomy (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, pp. 459, 460), the sixth group of SCHIZO- GNATILE, consisting of the Columbx (DoVE, PIGEON), but not to be confounded with his PERISTEROPODES, a section of ALECTOROMORPM established the year after (op. cit. 1868, p. 296), composed of the CURASSOWS and MEGAPODES, being so called from the Pigeon-like structure of their feet, in which the hallux is long and on a level with the other toes, instead of being short and raised as in the other section, Alectoropodes, and it was a consideration of this difference that led to his important conclusions in regard to the GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION of Mammals and Birds before mentioned (page 313). PERITONEUM, a thin layer of connective tissue lining the whole of the body-cavity, and enveloping the viscera, as well as attaching the intestinal folds to each other and to the vertebral column as MESENTERY. PETREL, the name applied in a general way to a group of Birds (of which more than 100 species are recognized) from the habit which some of them possess of apparently walking on the surface of the water as the apostle St. Peter (of whose name the word is a diminutive form) is recorded (Matt. xiv. 29) to have done. For a long while the Petrels were ranked as a Family, under the name of Procellariidse? and thought to be either very nearly allied to the Laridse (GULL), or intermediate between that Family and the STEGANOPODES ; but this opinion has gradually given way, 1 The generic and specific distribution of the Penguins is the subject of an excellent essay by Prof. Alphonse Milne-Edwards in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles for 1880 (vol. ix. art. 9, pp. 23-81), of which there is a German trans- lation in the Mittheilungen of the Ornithological Union of Vienna for 1883 (pp. 179-186, 210-222, 238-241). 2 Most commonly but erroneously spelt Procellaridas. 708 PETREL and it is now hard to resist the conclusion that they have to be regarded as an " Order," to which the name TUBINARES has been applied from the tubular form of their nostrils, a feature possessed in greater or less degree by all of them, and one by which each may at a glance be recognized. They had been variously subdivided ; but to little purpose until the anatomy of the group was subjected to comparative examination by Garrod and W. A. Forbes, the latter of whom summed up the results obtained by himself and his predecessor in an elaborate essay (forming part ix. of the Zoology of the voyage of the ' Challenger ') which shewed determinations that differed greatly from any that had been reached by prior systematists. According to these investigators, the TuUnares are composed of two Families, PETREL, Priori turtur. (After Buller.) Procellariidse and Oceanitidte, whose distinctness had hardly before been suspected J — the latter consisting of four genera not very much differing in appearance from many others, while the former includes as subfamilies Diomedeinse (ALBATROS), with three genera, Diomedea, Thalassiarche and Phcebetria, and the true Petrels, ProceUariinte, in which last are combined forms so different externally and in habit as the Diving-Petrels, Pelecanoides or Halodroma, the Storm-Petrels, Procellaria, the Flat-billed Petrels, Prion, the FULMAR, the SHEAR- WATERS and others. Want of space forbids us here dwelling on the characters assigned to these different groups, or the means which have led to this classification of it, set forth at great length in the essay cited where also will be found copious references to previous studies of the Petrels.2 1 It is due to Prof. Coues to state that in 1864 he had declared the genus Oceanites, of which he only knew the external characters, to be " the most distinct and remarkable" of the ll Procellariese," though he never thought of making it the type of a separate Family. 2 Among these may here be especially mentioned those of Quoy and Gaimard (Ann. Sc. Nat. v. pp. 123-155, and Voy. de I'Uranieet la Physicienne, JZool.pip. 142-169) ; Jacquinot (Comptes Rendus, 1844, pp. 353-358, and Zool. Voy. au Pol Sud, iii. pp. 128-152) ; Prof. Coues (Proc. Acad. PMlad. 1864, pp. 72-91, 116- 144, and 1866, pp. 25-33, 134-197) ; Mr. Salvin (Orn. Miscell. ii. pp. 223-238, PETREL 709 Petrels are dispersed throughout all the seas and oceans of the world, and some species apparently never resort to land except for the purpose of modification, though nearly all are liable at times to be driven ashore, and often very far inland, by gales of wind.1 CAPPED PETREL, (Estrelata lisesitata. (From The Zoologist, vol. x. p. 3693.) Wanderers as they may be, there is reason to think that attachment to their home is a feeling as strong with them as with other birds, and it is only now beginning to be clear that until we know the breeding-place or places of each species — and some seem to be extremely restricted in this respect — we shall know very little to the point about their geographical distribution. But this knowledge is not easily obtained, for during the breeding-season many of these birds are almost wholly nocturnal in their habits, passing the day in holes of the ground, or in clefts of the rocks, in which they generally nestle, the hen of each pair laying a single white egg, sparsely speckled in a few species with fine reddish dots. Of those species that frequent the North Atlantic, the common Storm-Petrel, Procellaria pelagica, a little bird which has to the ordinary eye rather the look of a Swift or Swallow, is the " Mother Carey's chicken " of 249-257; and Zoology, Toy. 'Challenger,' pt. viii. pp. 140-149) ; and the distribution of the group in the Southern Ocean is treated by Prof. A. Milne- Edwards (Ann. Sc. Nat. 1882, Zool. ser. 6, xiii. art. 4 ; Germanice, Mitth. Ornith. Ver. in Wien, 1884). 1 Thus (Estrelata hsesitata, the Capped Petrel, a species whose proper home seems to have been in Guadeloupe and Dominica (where it was known as the "Diablotin "), has even occurred in the State of New York, near Boulogne, in Norfolk and in Hungary (Ibis, 1884, p. 202) ! But there is reason to fear that this species is nearly extinct, though an example is recorded (Auk, 1893, p. 361) in Virginia, some 200 miles from the sea, in August 1893, two days after a great storm, while its congener, (E. jamaicensis, runs a risk of the same fate (see EXTER- MINATION, p. 227, note 4). 710 PETTICHAPS— PEWIT sailors, and is widely believed to be the harbinger of bad weather ; but seamen hardly discriminate between this and others nearly resembling it in appearance, such as Leach's or the Fork-tailed Petrel, Cymochorea leucorrhoa, a rather larger but less common bird, and Wilson's Petrel, Oceanites oceanicus, the type of the Family OceanUidx mentioned above, which is more common on the American side. But it is in the Southern Ocean that Petrels most abound, both as species and as individuals. The Cape-Pigeon or Pintado Petrel, Daption capensis, is one that has long been well known, while those who voyage to or from Australia, whatever be the route they take, are certain to meet with many more species, some, as Ossifraga gigantea, as large as Albatroses, and several of them called by sailors by a variety of choice names, generally having reference to the strong smell of musk emitted by the birds, among which that of " Stink-pot " is not the most opprobrious. None of the Petrels are endowed with any brilliant colouring — sooty-black, grey of various tints (one of which approaches to and is often called " blue "), and white being the only hues their plumage exhibits ; but their graceful flight, and their companionship when no other life is visible around a lonely vessel on the widest of oceans, give them an interest to beholders, though this is too often marred by the wanton destruction dealt out by brutal or thoughtless persons who thus seek to break the tediousness of a long voyage. PETTICHAPS, the name under which a bird, supposed to be that now commonly known as the Garden- WARBLER, Sylvia salicaria or hortensis, was sent from Yorkshire by Jessop to Willughby (Ornithologia, p. 158), and hence more or less frequently applied to that species; or, with the qualification of "Lesser," to the CHIFF- CHAFF. The name was known in Lancashire a century later (Latham, Gen. Synops. ii. p. 413), but seems never to have been in general use in England. In 1873 the present writer obtained evidence (Yarrell, Br. B. ed. 4, i. p. 415) that it had not become obsolete near Sheffield where Jessop lived. It is also given as the name of a bird by Clare the Northamptonshire poet. PEWEE, so called from its drawling note,1 a well-known North- American bird, Contopus wrens, one of the Tyrmnidas (TYRANT- BIRD), extremely abundant in the eastern side of the continent, and represented by other species in the remainder of it. PEWIT, anciently Puet, the ordinary name of what is called in books the Black-headed GULL, Larus ridibundus, in the inland localities affected by it for breeding. The great Pewit-pool at Nor- bury in Staffordshire visited by Eay and Willughby, 14th May 1662, 1 This is said to be in sharp contrast with that of its relative called in North America the PEWIT. PHALANGES— PHALAROPE 711 and well known from Plot's description (Hist. Staffordsh. pi. xix. pp. 231-233) had ceased to be occupied by the end of the last century, and most of the other stations throughout the country have been destroyed, some through drainage, but often by carelessness and occasionally by greediness — for the eggs are a valuable commodity, even as the young in old days were accounted * — but there are still two of considerable size in England, Scoulton in Norfolk, and Twigmoor in Lincolnshire. The name Pewit, in Scotland Peaseweep, is now more commonly applied to the LAPWING, but in each case it was given from the bird's cry, as it is in North America to one of the TYRANT-BIRDS, Sayornis fusca, which is a general favourite there as a recognized harbinger of summer.2 To some ears its note sounds like "phebe," and as the " PHCEBE-bird " 3 it was first described by Pennant. In certain districts it bears the name of " Bee-eater," to which it is very likely entitled, and there it is not very popular with the owners of hives. PHALANGES, the several bones composing the digits. In those of the hind limb (or TOES) the original and almost universal number is 2 for the HALLUX, and 3, 4 and 5 for the second, third and fourth digits respectively. Exceptions are found in Cypselus and Panyptila (SWIFT), where the second, third and fourth toes have each 3 phalanges, in some of the Caprimulgi (NIGHTJAR), and in the singular genus Cholornis from Western China and of doubtful affinity, where the fourth digit is reduced to a mere stump. Of the wing-digits the POLLEX has 2 phalanges, the index 2 or 3, and the third 1 or 2 — the terminal phalanges being often very small or represented by cartilage only. PHALAKOPE, Brisson's maladroit rendering4 of the "Coot- footed Tringa" of Edwards who, in 1741, shewed himself a better judge of its affinities than many others both before and after him, since for a long while some of the best authorities thought the Phalaropes allied to the COOT, whereas they are unquestionably Limicolte, only somewhat modified in accordance with their habit of swimming. There are three species, each possessing a peculiarity of structure sufficient to warrant its being regarded as generic were the doing so convenient. The type is Phalaropus fulicarius, com- monly known in England as the Grey Phalarope, from the prevalent colour of its winter-plumage, which it has generally donned when 1 They were netted before they could fly, and kept in pens to be killed for the table as wanted, selling in Ray's time for five shillings the dozen. 2 Not to be confounded with the PEWEE. 3 This name is usually so spelt, but it has nothing to do with the moon- goddess or any one named after her. 4 His generic term should have been Phalaridopus from $aAap£s, ~l5os (cf. Murdoch, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, iii. p. 150). ;i2 PHALAROPE it visits this country, as it does almost every year.1 It wears a very different aspect in summer, when the whole of the lower parts are bright bay, while the feathers above are dark brown broadly edged with light rusty, and hence it has in this condition been called the Eed Phalarope. It is known to breed in Spits- bergen, in one part at least of Iceland, in Greenland, and presum- ably throughout Arctic America and Asia, but not on the continent of Europe. Its wanderings in winter seem to be boundless, since its appearance is recorded in Chili and in New Zealand. The next species, known as the Ked-necked Phalarope, P. or Lobipes hyper- boreus, is truly a British bird, breeding in a few spots (which are best not named) in Scotland and its islands. Of more slender form, its plumage is comparatively plain, but the bay patch on the side of the neck contrasts with the white chin to give it a conspicuous appearance. It does not range northward so far as the last, but it is found breeding in Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia and America — from Alaska to Labrador, as well as in Greenland, while in winter it would seem not to stray quite so far to the south. The third species, P. or Steganopus tricolor or wilsoni, of still more slender form, has a very restricted breeding-range in North America, not being recorded from the Pacific slope and being rare on the Atlantic coast. In winter, however, it reaches Patagonia. Did space allow, the various qualities of this beautiful group of birds would be willingly dwelt upon here. A more entrancing sight to the ornitho- logist can hardly be presented than by either of the two species first named. Their graceful form, their lively coloration, and the confidence with which both are familiarly displayed in their breed- ing-quarters can hardly be exaggerated, and it is equally a delight- ful sight to watch these birds gathering their food in the high- running surf, or when that is done peacefully floating outside the breakers. The nest, which the male — for in the Phalaropes, as in the DOTTEREL and the GODWITS, that sex undertakes the duty of incubation — leaves only to escape being trodden upon, is in itself a picture that the finder will recall with rapture, while the tameness of the birds tempts the observer to watch their ways by the hour, be the weather never so bad 2 (see SANDPIPER). 1 In numbers it is very variable. In the autumn of 1866, more than 500 were recorded as observed and mostly shot in Britain, according to the Summary which Mr. J. H. Gurney, junior, was at the pains to compile and publish in 1867. 2 Here may be noticed the "Barred Phalarope," described in 1785 by Latham (Gen. Synops. iii. p. 274) from a specimen in Banks's collection obtained at Christmas Island on Cook's Third Voyage, the Tringa cancellata of Gmelin. It seems not to have been a Phalarope at all, and in 1859 G. R. Gray (Cat. B. Isl. Pacif. p. 51) referred to it the T. parvirostris described and figured by Peale as found in July 1839, by the United States' Expedition under Wilkes, abundantly on some of the Paumotu Islands, where it was breeding and exceedingly tame. In 1874 Prof. Coues (B. North- West, p. 506) established for it the genus <dSch- PHEASANT 713 PHEASANT, Mid.-Eng. Fesaunt and Fesaun, Germ. Fasan and anciently Fasant, Fr. Faisan — all from the Latin Phasianus or Phasiana (sc. avis), the Bird brought from the banks of the river Phasis, now the Rioni, in Colchis, where it is still abundant, and introduced by the Argonauts, it is said in what passes for history, into Europe. As a matter of fact nothing is known on this point ; and, judging from the recognition of the remains of several species referred to the genus Phasianus both in Greece and in France,1 it seems not impossible that the ordinary Pheasant, the P. cokhicus of ornitholo- gists, may have been indigenous to this quarter of the globe. If it was introduced into England, it must almost certainly have been brought hither by the Romans; for, setting aside several earlier records of doubtful authority,2 Bishop Stubbs has shewn that by the regulations of King Harold in 1059 " unus phasianus " is prescribed as the alternative of two Partridges or other birds among the "pitantia3" (rations or commons, as we might now say) of the canons of Waltham Abbey, and, as Prof. Dawkins has remarked (Ibis, 1869, p. 358), neither Anglo-Saxons nor ,-. TIT v • .L j j-i. PHEASANT. (After Swainson.) Danes were likely to have introduced it into England. It seems to have been early under legal protection, for, according to Dugdale, a licence was granted in the reign of morhynchus. Mr. Seebohm (Charadriidse, p. 451, pi. xvii.) refers it to the genus Phegornis, with which it seems to have little in common ; but makes some amends by giving a good figure of it. The only specimens now known to exist appear to be those at Washington, and there is good reason to fear that the species may be extinct — the victim, most likely, of rats or other predacious animals that have found their way to its very confined haunt — a case parallel perhaps to that of Prosobonia leucoptera of Tahiti (see SANDPIPER). 1 These are P. archiaci from Pikermi, P. altus and P. medius from the lacustrine beds of Sansan, and P. desnoyersi from Touraine (A. Milne-Edwards, Ois. foss. de la France, ii. pp. 229, 239-243). 2 Among these perhaps the most worthy of attention is in Probert's translation of The Ancient Laws of Cambria (ed. 1823, pp. 367, 368), wherein extracts are given from Welsh triads, presumably of the age of Howel the Good, who died in 948. One of them is " There are three barking hunts : a bear, a squirrel, and a pheasant." The explanation is " A pheasant is called a barking hunt, because when the pointers come upon it, and chase it, it takes to a tree, where it is hunted by baiting." I have not been able to trace the manuscript containing these remarkable statements so as to find out what is the original word rendered "Pheasant" by the translator; but a reference to what is probably the same passage with the same meaning is given by Ray (Synops. Meth. Animal, pp. 213, 214) on the authority of Llwyd or Lloyd, though there is no mention of it in Wotton and Clarke's Leges Wallicse (1730). A charter (Kemble, Cod. Diplom. iv. p. 236), professedly of Edward the Confessor, granting the wardenship of certain forests in Essex to Ralph Peperking, speaks of " fesant hen " and " fesant cocke," but is now known to be spurious. 714 PHEASANT Henry I. to the Abbot of Amesbury to kill Hares and Pheasants, and from the price at which the latter are reckoned, in various documents that have come down to us, we may conclude that they were not very abundant for some centuries, and also that they were occasion- ally artificially reared and fattened, as appears from Upton,1 who wrote about the middle of the 15th century, while Henry VIII. seems from his privy purse expenses to have had in his household in 1532 a French priest as a regular "fesaunt breder," and in the accounts of the Kytsons of Hengrave in Suffolk for 1607 mention is made of wheat to feed Pheasants, Partridges and Quails. Within recent years the practice of bringing up Pheasants by hand has been extensively followed, and the numbers so reared vastly exceed those that are bred at large. The eggs are collected from birds that are either running wild or kept in a mew,2 and are placed under domestic Hens; but, though these prove most attentive foster-mothers, much additional care on the part of their keepers is needed to ensure the arrival at maturity of the poults ; for, being necessarily crowded in a comparatively small space, they are subject to several diseases which often carry off a large proportion, to say nothing of the risk they run by not being provided with proper food, or by meeting an early death from various predatory animals attracted by the assemblage of so many helpless victims. As they advance in age the young Pheasants readily take to a wild life, and indeed can only be kept from wandering in every direction by being plentifully supplied with food, which has to be scattered for them in the coverts in which it is desired that they should stay. Of the proportion of Pheasants artificially bred that " come to the gun " when the shooting-season arrives it is impossible to form any estimate, for it would seem to vary enormously, not only irregularly according to the weather, but regularly according to the district. In the eastern counties of England, and some other favourable localities, perhaps three-fourths of those that are hatched may be satisfactorily accounted for ; but in many of the western counties, though they are the objects of equally unremitting or even greater care, it would seem that more than half of the number that live to grow their feathers disappear inexplicably before the coverts are beaten. The various effects of the modern system of Pheasant- breeding and Pheasant-shooting need here be treated but briefly. It is commonly condemned as giving encouragement to poaching, and, especially under ignorant management, as substituting slaughter for sport. Undoubtedly there is much to be said on this score ; but in reply to the first objection it has been urged that as a rule 1 In his De studio militari (not printed till 1654) he states (p. 195) that the Pheasant was brought from the East by "Palladius ancorista." 2 In 1883, 134,000 Pheasants' eggs were sold from one estate in Suffolk, and 101,000 in 1893, while 9700 birds were killed upon it. PHEASANT 715 the poacher does not like visiting coverts that he knows to be effectively preserved, and that coverts containing a great stock of Pheasants, whose rearing has cost a considerable sum of money, are probably the most effectively preserved. As to the second objection, it is to be observed that what constitutes sport is in great measure a matter of individual taste, and that the reasonable limit of a sportsman's "bag" is practically an unknown quantity. One man likes shooting a Pheasant rising at his feet or sprung by his spaniels, as it flies away from him through the trees and is still labouring to attain its full speed ; another prefers shooting one that has mounted to its greatest height, and, assisted perhaps by the wind, is travers- ing the sky at a pace that almost passes calculation. If skill has to be considered in the definition of sport, there can be no doubt as to which of these cases most requires it. In regard to cruelty — that is, the proportion of birds wounded to those killed — there seems to be little difference, for the temptation to take " long shots " is about equal in either case. The Pheasant whose wing is broken by the charge, if at a great height, is often killed outright by the fall, whereas, if nearer the ground, it will often make good its escape by running, possibly to recover, or more possibly to die after lingering in pain for a longer or shorter time. On the other hand, high- flying Pheasants, having their vital parts more exposed, are often hit in the body, but not hard enough to bring them down, though the wound they have received proves mortal, and the velocity at which they are travelling takes them beyond reach of retrieval. Formerly Pheasants were taken in snares or nets, and by hawking ; but the crossbow was also used, and the better to obtain a " sitting shot," for with that weapon men had not learnt to " shoot flying " ; dogs appear to have been employed in the way indicated by the lines under an engraving by Hollar, who died in 1677 : — " The Feasant Cocke the woods doth most frequent, Where Spaniells spring and pearche him by the sent." l The use of firearms has put an end to the older practices, and the gun is now the only mode of taking Pheasants recognized as legitimate. Of the many other species or local races of Phasianus, two only can be dwelt upon here. These are the Ring-necked Pheasant of China, P. torquatus, easily known by the broad white collar, whence it has its name, as well as by the pale greyish-blue of its upper wing-coverts and the light buff of its flanks, and the P. versicolor of Japan, often called the Green Pheasant from the beautiful tinge of 1 Quoted by the writer (Broderip ?) of the article "Spaniel" in the Penny Cyclopaedia. The lines throw light on the asserted Welsh practice mentioned in a former note. 7i6 PHILIP— PHOEBE that colour that in certain lights pervades almost the whole of its plumage, and, deepening into dark emerald, occupies all the breast and lower surface that in the common and Chinese birds is bay barred with glossy black scallops. Both of these species have been to a considerable extent introduced into England, and cross freely with P. colchicus, while the hybrids of each with the older inhabit- ants of the woods are not only perfectly fertile inter se, but cross as freely with the other hybrids, so that birds are frequently found in which the blood of the three species is mingled. The hybrids of the first cross are generally larger than either of their parents, but the superiority of size does not seem to be maintained by their descendants. White and pied varieties of the common Pheasant, as of most birds, often occur, and with a little care a race or breed of each can be perpetuated. A much rarer variety is sometimes seen ; this is known as the Bohemian Pheasant, not that there is the least reason to suppose it has any right to such an epithet, for it appears, as it were, accidentally among a stock of the pure P. cokhicus, and offers an example analogous to that of the " japanned " PEACOCK already noticed, being, like that breed, capable of per- petuation by selection. To a small extent two other species of Pheasant have been introduced to the coverts of England — P. reevesi from China, remarkable for its very long tail, white with black bars,1 and the Copper Pheasant, P. scemmerringi, from Japan. The well-known Gold and Silver Pheasants, Thaumalea picta and Euplocamus nycthemerus, are both from China and have long been introduced into Europe, but are only fitted for the aviary. To the former is allied the still more beautiful T. amlierstise and to the latter about a dozen more species, most of them known to Indian sportsmen by the general name of KALLEGE. These with the comparatively plain PUKRAS, Pucrasia, the magnificent MONALS, Lophophorus, are elsewhere treated, but the fine Snow -Pheasants, Crossoptilum, of which there are several species, must, for want of space, be only mentioned here. All the species known at the time were beautifully figured from drawings by Mr. Wolf in Mr. Elliot's grand Monograph of the Phasianidse (2 vols. fol. 1870-72) — the last term being used in a somewhat general sense. With a more precise scope Mr. Tegetmeier's Pheasants : their Natural History and Practical Management (4to, ed. 2, 1881) is to be commended as a very useful work. PHILIP and PHILP, old nicknames for the SPARROW (see page 132, note 1). PHOEBE, in parts of North America a name for what is there called also the PEWIT, Sayornis fusca, one of the TYRANT-BIRDS. 1 The introduction of this species by the first Lord Tweedmouth near Guisachan in Inverness-shire is said to have been remarkably successful. PHOENIX— PIC^E 717 PHCENIX, said by Hesiod (apud Plin. H. N. vii. 49) to be a bird that lived nine times as long as a Crow ; and, in a passage too often quoted to need repetition, described by Herodotus (Euterpe, 73) from a picture which he saw in Egypt. To doubt the existence of this bird was for ages evidence of depravity, for it had been so entwined by Classical, Rabbinical, Christian and Mahomedan legend, and so used to illustrate the sublimest doctrine, that we may almost wonder at belief in it not being enjoined by some confession of faith or imported into some religious formulary. Moreover though no Greek, Latin or Arabic author 1 could vouch for having himself seen a specimen, and its last appearance on* earth was said to be in the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius (i.e. A.D. 34), as stated by Tacitus (Ann. vi. 28), yet according to Camden (Britannia, p. 783, ed. 1607) one of its feathers was sent in 1599 by Pope Clement VIII. to the celebrated Hugh O'Neal, Earl of Tyrone, then leader of the Irish opposition ; and the writer of the article " Phoenix" in the Penny Cyclopaedia (xviii. pp. 101-103) declared that even in June 1840, a very learned scholar at Oxford, subsequently stated (Notes and Queries, ser. 7, vi. pp. 481, 482) to have been Mr. J. B. Morris of Exeter College, still seriously believed in the existence of the bird. It was long ago suggested by Sir Thomas Browne (Vulgar Errors, book III. chap, xii.) that the Phcenix-story had its origin in a BiRD-OF-PARADiSE (p. 38, note 3), and unless the whole was a lie from the beginning this still seems possible ; but the late Mr. Gurney used to consider that a " Bateleur " Eagle (Helotarsus ecaudatus) was the cause of it.2 PIC^E, the second Order of Birds in the Linna3an system, composed of the genera Psittacus (PARROT), Eamphastos (ToucAN), Buceros (HORNBILL), Buphaga (OXPECKER), Crotophaga (ANi), Corvus (CROW), Coracias (ROLLER), Oriolus (ORIOLE), Gracula (GRACKLE), Paradisea (BIRD-OF-PARADISE), Trogon (TROGON), Bucco (BARBET), Cuculus (CUCKOW), Yunx3 (WRYNECK), Picus (WOODPECKER), 1 It was defined by Arabic writers to be a creature "whose name was known, its body unknown." 2 The literature of the subject is not without interest and very large, though (possibly through the lack of specimens) it has fallen off of late years. Among separate works the following may be named : — Dauderstadius, Disput. de Phcenice (Lipsise : 1665) ; Kirschmaier and Oheimb, De Phosnice (Wittembergse : 1660) ; Kirschmaier, Disputt. zooll. de Basilisco, Unicornu, Phcenice &c. (Wittemb. 1661 ; Jenae : 1760) ; Lagerloff, Phcenicis (Jt.v0o\oyla (Upsalise : 1689) ; Mennander, Dissert, de Phcenice Ave (Aboae : 1748) ; Pfeiffer, Dissert, de Phcenice Ave (Regio- monti : 1673) ; Seuberlich, De Phcenice (Regiom. 1696) ; Wendler, Dissert, de Phcenice (Gerse : 1687) ; but the above-named article in the Penny Cyclopaedia, by the late Dr. Greenhill, is especially good. 3 In the preceding edition of the Systcma Naturae more correctly spelt Jynst, which is the continental way of printing our lynx. ;i8 PICARI&—PICUCULE Sitta (NUTHATCH), Todus (TODY), Alcedo (KINGFISHER), Merops (BEE-EATER), Upupa (HOOPOE), Certhia (TREE-CREEPER), Trochilus (HUMMING-BIRD). Of this multifarious assembly the 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 16th and 21st are now almost unanimously referred to the Order PASSERES, while the disposition of the rest cannot be accounted fixed, though, except the 1st, they are referred in this book to PICARLE, a group of Birds, so named by Nitzsch in 1820 (Deutsches Arch, fur Physiol. vi. p. 255) to include the genera Coracias, Upupa, Alcedo, Cuculus, Psittacus, Picus, Yunx, Caprimulgus and Cypselus : opposed to his PASSERINE, but not to be confounded with PICAEII, Johannes Miiller's name (Alhandl. Akad. Berlin, 1845, p. 383) for what he separated as the third Tribe of his great Order INSESSORES or PASSERINI (the other two being OSCINES and TRACHEOPHONES) comprehending the Ampelidse l and Tyrannidx in addition to those included, actually or consequentially, in Nitzsch's PICARI.E. PICI, the name of an Order of Birds proposed in 1810 by Meyer and Wolf (Tascherib. deutsch. Fogelkunde, i. p. 115) to include the genera Picus, Yunx, Sitta, Certhia, Merops and Alcedo, the 3rd and 4th of which are truly Passerine. Such modern systematists as retain the term limit it to the WOODPECKERS and WRYNECKS. PICKCHEESE, a common local name of the Blue TITMOUSE. PICKET and PICKTAEN, local names for the Common TERN. PICKMIKE, a local name for the PEWIT or Black-headed GULL. PICUCULE,2 a name given, without reason says Buffon (H. N. Ois. vii. p. 82, note), to a bird figured by D'Aubenton (PL enl. 621) — the Dendrocolaptes certhia or cayennensis of later writers — continued by Vieillot in 1816 (Analyse, p. 45), and retained in 1820 by Temminck (Man. d'Orn. ed. 2, i. p. Ixxxi.) in a generic sense, while it was used as English in Griffith's translation of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom in 1829 (ii. p. 350), and is here adopted for want of a better,3 as that of the large Family of TRACHEOPHON.E, 1 Meaning what are more correctly called Cotingidee (CHATTERER). 2 Accidentally misspelt (Encyclop. Brit. ed. 9, iii. p. 743 and perhaps else- where) "Piculule." It would seem that the inventor coined the word as a combination of Picus and Cuculus. Buffon used " Pic-grimpereau," which is just as misleading. 3 Mr. Hudson, who (Argent. Orn. i. pp. 165-202) tells more of the habits of the birds of this Family than perhaps any other writer, uses for them collectively the name " "Woodhewer, " which seems unhappily applied, as no species appears able to hew wood, and the word is hardly an accurate rendering of Dendrocolaptes. PICUCULE 719 Dendrocolaptidae, which is so highly characteristic of the Neotropical Kegion. Not one of them was known to Linnaeus, and for many years very erroneous notions were entertained as to their systematic position. They are mostly small birds of dull appearance, brown being their prevalent hue, with stiff and often sharply-pointed rectrices — a character which led the earlier writers to associate them with the Pici or the Certhiidse (TREE-CREEPER), and their entire difference from both those groups was not admitted until shewn by Johannes Miiller. Mr. Sclater (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xv. pp. 2-175) groups them in 5 subfamilies, the first of which, Furnariinse, has been already mentioned in these pages (OVEN-BIRD), while the next three, Synallaxinss (with 8 genera, including Synallaxis and the curious form Oxyurus), Philydorinx (with 17 genera, including Anabatoides and Philydor) and Scle- rurinse call for no particular remark here. The last and most typical SYNALLAXIS. OXYTJRUS. (After Swainson.) ANABATOIDES. PHILYDOR. (After Swainson.) colaptinx has, according to the authority just named, 15 genera (among which are Dendrocolaptes proper and its section Dendrocops, subfamily Dendro- a, DENDROCOLAPTES ; 5, XIPHORHYNCHTJS ; c, DENDROCOPS ; ct, SITTASOMUS ; e, DENDROPLEX. (After Swainson.) XipTiorliynchus, Sittasomus and Dendroplex) and some 80 species. Indeed there is no need here to dwell upon them more than to point out their importance in the Fauna of Southern tropical America. Though now ranging all over the Neotropical Region, 720 PICULET—PIE the Antillean Subregion excepted, and even extending into Mexico, which according to most zoo-geographers is " Nearctic," — while the number of forms inhabiting the tropical portion is vastly greater than that of those now existing within " Patagonian " limits, however liberally the last may be regarded, — this Family will very likely prove eventually to belong to the more ancient population of the continent. These forms are essentially of identical nature, but exhibit many and some extreme modifications of structure, a fact which furnishes a strong argument in favour of the antiquity of the original stock. As might be expected, their differences correspond with much diversity of habit, some of the forms living on the most sterile uplands, others in the thickest forests, others in reed-beds and others again on the sea-shore. PICULET, the name apparently first assigned in 1845 by G. R. Gray1 (Gen. B. ii. p. 432) to birds of the subfamily Picumnin£ey composed according to Mr. Hargitt (Cat. B. Br. Mus. xviii. pp. 8, 521-559) of 4 genera — Picumnus with 33 species, of which 31 are Neotropical and 2 Indian; Nesoctites with a single species peculiar to Hispaniola; Ferreauxia, also with one species, confined to the Gaboon country ; and Sasia, with 3 species, ranging from Nepal through the Malay peninsula to Borneo. They are all of small size and thorough WOODPECKERS in habit and appearance, but having the tail short, soft and rounded. The geographical distribution of the whole subfamily, and especially of Picumnus proper, as above stated, points to its antiquity, and interest in the group is enhanced by the fact that Sasia has got rid of its hallux, thus affording a case parallel to that of Picoides among the Pidnse or true Woodpeckers. PIE (French, Pie,2 in Scotland Piet) or more commonly Magpie, the prefix being the abbreviated form of a human name (Margaret 3) applied as in so many other instances to familiar animals, as this bird once was throughout Great Britain, though of late years almost extirpated in many parts, and now nearly everywhere scarce. Its pilfering habits have led to this result, yet the injuries it causes are unquestionably exaggerated by common report ; and in many countries of Europe it is still the tolerated or even the cherished 1 Possibly adapted from the " Picule" of Isid. Geoffroy-St. Hilaire (N. Am. Mus. 1832, p. 396). Before him Temminck had used the word " Picumne." 2 The "French Pie" of many parts of England is the Great-Spotted or Pied WOODPECKER of authors. When the Linnsean system came to be known in this country the word "Pie " was often used in a general sense as a rendering of PiC2E, the name of one of his Orders of Birds. 3 "Magot" and "Madge," with the same origin, are names frequently given in England to the Pie ; while in France it is commonly known as Margot, if not termed, as it is in some districts, Jaquette. PIE 721 neighbour of every farmer, as it formerly was in England if not in Scotland also. Though now common enough in Ireland, there is ample evidence 1 to prove that it did not exist in that country in 1617, when Fynes Morison 2 wrote his Itinerary, and that adduced by Mr. Barrett-Hamilton (Zool. 1891, pp. 247-249) shews that it first appeared about 1676, when "a parcel," supposed to have been driven from Wales by stormy weather, landed in Wexford. It is a species that when not molested is extending its range, as Wolley ascertained in Lapland, where within the last century it has been gradually pushing its way along the coast and into the interior from one fishing-station or settler's house to the next, as the country has been peopled. Since the persecution to which the Pie has been subjected in Great Britain, its habits have undoubtedly altered greatly in character. It is no longer the merry, saucy hanger-on of the home- stead, as it was to writers of former days, who were constantly alluding to its disposition, but is become the suspicious thief, shunning the gaze of man, and knowing that danger may lurk in every bush. Hence opportunities of observing it fall to the lot of few, and most persons know it only as a curtailed captive in a wicker cage, where its vivacity and natural beauty are lessened or wholly lost. At large few European birds possess greater beauty, the pure white of its scapulars and inner web of the flight-feathers contrasting vividly with the deep glossy black of the rest of its body and wings, while its long tail is lustrous with green, bronze and purple reflexions. The Pie's nest is a wonderfully ingenious structure, whether placed in high trees or low bushes, and is so massively built that it will stand for years. Its foundation consists of stout sticks, turf and clay, wrought into a deep, hollow cup, plastered with earth, and lined with fibres ; but around this is erected a firmly-interwoven, basket-like outwork of thorny twigs, forming a dome over the nest, and leaving but a single hole in the side for entrance and exit, so that the whole structure is rendered almost impregnable. Herein are laid from six to nine eggs, of a pale bluish-green freckled with brown and blotched with ash-colour. Superstition as to the appearance of the Pie still survives even among many educated persons, and there are several versions of a riming adage as to the various turns of luck which its presenting itself, either alone or in company with others, is supposed to 1 A compendious summary of this will be found in Yarrell's British Birds, ed. 4, ii. pp. 318-320. 2 His predecessor Derricke, in 1578, said : — " No Pies to plucke the Thatch from house, are breed in Irishe grounde : But worse then Pies, the same to burne, a thousande maie be founde."— The Image of Irelande, London : 1581. 46 722 PIE betoken, for some of these versions contradict one another in details, though all agree in this that the sight of a single Pie unquestionably forebodes sorrow. The Pie belongs to the Corvidte (CROW), and is the Corvus pica of Linnaeus, the Pica caudata, P. melanoleuca or P. rustica of modern ornithologists, who have recognized it as forming a distinct genus, but the number of species thereto belonging has been a fruitful source of discussion. Examples from the south of Spain differ slightly from those inhabiting the rest of Europe, and in some points more resemble the P. mauritanica of north-western Africa ; but that species has a patch of bare skin of a fine blue colour behind the 'eye, and much shorter wings. No fewer than five species have been discriminated from various parts of Asia, extending to Japan ; but only one of them, the P. leucoptera of Turkestan and Tibet, has of late been admitted as valid. In the west of North America, from Alaska to New Mexico, as well as in some of its islands, a Pie is found which extends to the upper valleys of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, even appearing so far to the eastward as Cumberland House, in the Province of Winnipeg, and in the