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P: Ly SCRARER, °M:A:, PH.D.” EIR:S: Ere

SECRETARY OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

ILLUSTRATED WITH Seventy-two Colowred Plates and Sixteen Hundred Engravings BY

W. KUHNERT, F. SPECHT, P. J. SMIT, G. MUTZEL, A. T. ELWES, J. WOLF, GAMBIER BOLTON, F.Z8.; AND MANY OTHERS

VOL. EV.

SHC TTON. VelLink

LONDON FREDERICK WARNE & CO. AND NEW YORK

1895

‘ @ ? > wore Se - ae, Fe MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS EDINBURGH

OnE ENS

BLED S

CHAPTER XIV.—HeErons, Srorks, AND Ipises,—Order Herodiones.

~ . . ¥ . . . Characteristics of the Group—The Heron Tribe (Family Ardeidw)—True Herons (Ardea)

—Great White Heron—Little Egret—Other Species—Night Herons (Nycticorax)— Little Bittern (Ardetta) — Bitterns (Botaurus) — Boat-Billed Heron (Canchroma) — Whale-Headed Stork (Family Balenicipitide)—Hammer- Head (Family Scopide) —The Stork Tribe (Family Ciconiide)— True Storks (Ciconia)— Maguari Stork (Dissura) — White - Bellied Stork (Abdimia)—Jabirus or Giant Storks (Mycteria) — Adjutant or Marabou Storks (Leptoptilus)—Shell -Storks (Anastomus) — Wood Storks (Tantalus and Pseudotantalus)—Ibises and Spoonbills (Family Plataleidw) —Ihbises (Ibis, etc.) —Spoonbills (Platalea)

CHAPTER XV.—Framincors, Ducks, AND SCREAMERS,—Orders Odontogloss?, Anseres, and Palamedece.

Common Characters of the Three Groups.—The Flamingoes (Order Odontoglossi, Family

Phenicopteride) —'True Flamingoes (Phenicopterus) — Short - Legged Flamingoes (Palelodus)—The Duck Tribe (Order Anseres, Family Anatide)—Spur-Winged Geese (Plectropterus)—Half-Webbed Geese (Anseranas)—Cereopsis Goose (Cereopsis) — New Zealand Goose (Cnremiornis)—True Geese (Anser)—Their Habits—Brent or Sea- Geese (Bernicla) — Northern Species — Habits — Southern Species—Egyptian and Knob - Winged Geese (Chenalopex)— The Swans (Cygnus) — Whistling Swans — Bewick’s Swan—American Swans—Mute Swan—Black-Necked Swan—Black Swan —Fossil Swans and Geese —Comb-Ducks (Sareidiornis) — Cotton - Teal (Nettapus) —Tree- Ducks or Whistling Teal (Dendrocygna)—Sheldrakes (Tadorna)—Common Sheldrake—Ruddy Sheldrake—The True Ducks (Anas)—Mallard— Dusky Duck— Gadwall—Habits of Ducks—Shoveller-Ducks (Spatula)—Pin-Tailed Ducks (Dafila) —Teal (Querquedula)—Wigeon (Mareca)—Summer and Mandarin- Ducks (x)— Pochards and Scaup-Ducks (Fuligula)—Golden-Eye and Buffel-Head (Clangula) —Harlequin-Duck (Cosmonetta)—Long-Tailed Duck (Harelda)—Eider-Ducks (Som- ateria)—Their Habits— The Scoters ((Edemia) —Stiff-Tailed Ducks (Hrismatura) —The Mergansers (Mergus)— Their Habits— The Screamers (Order Palamedee, Family Palamedeide),

CHAPTER XVI.—THE PIGEONS AND Sanp-GrovusE,—Order Columbe.

Characteristics of Pigeons—Green, Painted, and Fruit-Pigeons (Family Treronidw)—Wedge-

Tailed Green Pigeons (Sphenocercus)—Other Genera (Vinago, Crocopus, etc.)— Painted Pigeons (Ptilopus, etc.)—Wart-Pigeons (Alectrenas) and their Allies-—Fruit- Pigeons (Carpophaga, ete.)—Wood, Long-Tailed and, Passenger—Pigeons (Family Columbide) —Rock- Dove and Allies (Columba)—Stock-Dove — Wood-Pigeon — Long - Tailed Pigeons (Turacena)—Cuckoo- Pigeons (Macropygia)—Allied Genera—Passenger- Pigeon

PAGE

289

320

vi CONTENTS

PAGE (Ectopistes) —The Ground- Pigeons (Family Peristeride)—Mourning Doves (Zenaidura, ete.) —Galapagos Pigeon (Nesopelia)—White-Winged Doves (Melopelia) —Turtle- Doves (Turtur)—Allied American Genera (Columbula, etc.)—Cinnamon-Dove (Haplopelia)— Blood-Breasted Dove (Phlogwnas)—Wonga-Wonga Dove (Leucosarcia)—Blue-Bearded Cuban Dove (Sturnenas)—Cape Dove (4ina)—African Ground-Dove (Chalcopelia) — Bronze - Winged Doves (Chalcoptera) — Australian Ground - Doves (Phaps) — Harlequin - Dove (Histriophaps) — Peneilled Doves (Geophaps) — Plumed Bronze- Winged Dove (Lophophaps) — Crested Bronze - Wing (Ocyphaps)— Nicobar Pigeon (Calenas) — Crowned Pigeons (Family Gouride) — Tooth - Billed Pigeon (Family Didunculide)— Dodo and Solitaire (Family Didide)— The Sand - Grouse (Family Pteroclidv) — Pallas’s Sand - Grouse (Syrrhaptes) — Black - Bellied Sand - Grouse (Pterocles)—Pin-Tailed Sand-Grouse (Pteroclurus)—Common Sand-Grouse, 5 otog

CHAPTER XVIL—Tue Game-Brrps AND Ratts,—Orders Gallinw and Fulicarie.

Characteristics of Game-Birds—Grouse and Ptarmigan (Family Tetraonidw)—True Grouse and Ptarmigan (Lagopus)—Red Grouse— Willow Grouse — Black-Game (Lyrurus) —Capercaillie (Tetrao)—American Grouse (Canachites)—Other Genera—Prairie-Hens (Tympanuchus)—Sage Grouse (Centrocercus)—Sharp-Tailed Grouse (Pediocetes)—Rutted Grouse (Bonasw)—Hazel-Hens (Tetrastes)—Partridges, Pheasants, Turkeys, and Guinea- Fowls (Family Phasianidw) — Snow - Partridges and Snow- Cocks (Lerwa and Tetrogallus)—Red-Legged Partridges (Caccabis)—Bonham’s Partridge (Ammoperdix) —Francolins (Francolinus)—True Partridges (Perdix)—Allied Genera—Tree-Partridges (Arboricola) — Wood - Partridges (Caloperdiz, etc.) — Quails (Cotwrniz) — Bamboo- Partridges (Bambusicola)—Spur-Fowl (Galloperdix) — Blood-Pheasants (Ophrysia)— Monals (Lophophorus)— Fire-Backed Pheasants (Acomus)—Bulwer’s Pheasant (Lobio- phasis) —Eared Pheasants (Crossoptilum)— Kalij Pheasants (Genneus) — Koklass Pheasants (Pucrasia)—True Pheasants (Phasianus)— Golden and Amherst’s Pheasants (Chrysolophus) —- Game-Fowls (Gallus) — Peacock-Pheasants (Polyplectrum) — Argus Pheasants (Argusianus)—Reinhard’s Argus (Reinhardius)—Peatowl (Pavo)—Guinea- Fowls (Numida, ete.) — Vulture - like Guinea-Fowl (Acryllium) — Turkeys (Meleagris) —American Partridges and Quails (Odontophorinw)—The Megapodes and Brush- Turkeys (Family Megapodiide)—Megapodes (Megapodius)—Brush-Turkeys (Talegallus, ete.)— Maleo (Megacephalum)—Curassows and Guans (Family Cracida)— Curassows (Crax)—Mituas (Nothocrax) — Pauxi Curassow (Pauxis)—Derbian Guan (Oreophasis) —Guans (Penelope, etc.) —'The Hoatzin (Family Opisthocomide)—'The Rail Tribe (Order Fulicariw) — True Rails (Family Rallide, Genus Rallus)— Weka Rails (Ocydromus)—Corncrake and Carolina Rails (Crex)— Pigmy Rails (Corethrura)— Water-Hens (Tribonyx, Gallinula, etc.) —Gallinules and Coots (Porphyrio and Fulica) —The Finfeet (Family Heliornithide), . ; : : ; é . 393

CHAPTER XVIII.—TuHeE Bustarps, THICKNEES, AND CRANES,—Order A lectorides.

Characters of the Group—The Bustard Tribe (Family Otidide)—True Bustards (Otis)— Little Bustard —- Long-Beaked Bustards (Hupodotis)—Rufted Bustards (Hubara)— Florican (Sypheotides) — The 'Thicknees (Family (dicnemidw)— The Seriemas (Family Cariamide) —'The Trumpeters (Family Psophiidw)—The Cranes (Family Gruide)—True Cranes (Grus)—Common Crane—Sarus Crane—White Crane—Other Species — Crowned Cranes (Balearica)—The Courlans (Family Aramide) — The Kagus (Family Rhinochetide)—The Sun-Bittern (Family Eurypygide), : . 451

CHAPTER XIX.—TueE Piovers, SAnpPIPERS, SNIPE, JACANAS, AND GULLS,— Orders Limicole and Gavie. Characteristics of the Two Groups—Distinctions of the Plover Tribe—Pratincoles and Coursers (Family Cursoriide) — Pratincoles (Glareola) — Cream-Coloured Courser

CONTENTS Vil

(Cursorius) — Black-Backed Courser (Pluvianus)— The Plover Tribe (Family ao Charadriide)— Ringed Plover (Agialitis) — Sand Plovers (gialophilus) — True Plovers and Dotterels (Charadrius) —Lapwings—Four-Toed Lapwings (Vanellus) —Three-Toed Lapwings (Hoplopterus) — Wattled Lapwings (Lobivanellus) — Stilts (Himantopus) — Avocets (Recurvirostra) — Oyster-Catchers (Hematopus) — Curlews

and Whimbrels (Numenzus)— Phalaropes (Phalaropus)— Hard-Billed Sandpipers

and Ruffs (Totanus) — Godwits (Limosa) — Snipe-Beaked Sandpipers (Hreuwnetes) —Turnstones (Strepsilas)—Cleft-Footed Sandpipers (Tringa)—Sanderling (Calidris) —Painted Snipe (Rhynchea) — Woodcock and Snipe (Scolopaa)— Jacanas and Water - Pheasants (Family Parride) — Sheath-Bills (Family Chionidide) — Seed- Snipe (Family Thinocoride)— The Gull Tribe (Order Gaviw)—Terns, Skimmers,

and Gulls (Family Laride)—Terns (Hydrocheiidon and Sterna)—Noddies (A nous)— Skimmers (Rhynchops) — Fork-Tailed Gulls (Yema) — Ross’s Gull (Rhodostethia)

Typical Gulls (Larus)—Kittiwakes (Rissa)—Ivory Gull (Pagophila)—The Skuas (Family Stercorariide), . - ; : : : : : . 470

CHAPTER XX.—THE TuBr-Nosep Birps, Divina Birps, and PENGUINS,— Orders Tubinares, Pygopodes, and Impeinnes.

Characteristics of the Tube-Nosed Birds — The Albatrosses (Family Diomedeide) — The Petrels (Family Procellarvide)—Giant Petrel (Ossifraga)—Fulmar Petrel (fulmarus) —Allied Genera— Shearwaters (Puffinus) — Capped Petrel and Bulwer’s Petrel (Estrelata and Bulweria)—Cape Petrel (Daption)—Dove-Petrels (Prion)—Storm- Petrels (Procellaria)—Allied Petrels—Wilson’s Petrel (Oceanites)—The Diving Petrel (Pelecanoides) — The Diving Birds (Order Pygopodes)—The Auks (Fanuly <Aleide) —True Auks (Alcea) — Great Auk—Razorbill — Guillemots (Uria) — Short-Billed Guillemots (Brachyrhamphus)— Little Auk (Mergulus)—Pacifie Pigmy Auks (S7no- rhynchus, ete.)—Puftins (Fratercula)—The Divers (Family Colymbidw)—The Grebes (Family Podieipedide)-— Typical Grebes (Podicipes) — Thick-Billed Grebes (Pod- ilymbus)—The Penguins (Order Impennes)—The Genera and Habits of the Spheniscida, — 519

CHAPTER XXI.—Tue Tinamus, Fuicutiess Birps, Erc,—Groups Crypturi,

Stereornithes, Ratite, Odontornithes, and Saurure.

Characters and Genera of the Tinamus (Order Crypturi, Family Tinamide)— Extinct Patagonian Flightless Birds (Group Stereornithes)—The Flightless or Ostrich-Like Birds (Subclass Ratitw)— The Ostriches (Family Struthionide)—Their Distribution and Habits-—Capture and Domestication—-The Rheas or American Ostriches (Family Rheide)—The Cassowaries and Emeus (Family Casuariida)—Cassowarties (Caswarius)— Emeus (Dromeus) — Allied Extinct Birds —The Kiwis (Family Apterygide)— The Extinct Moas (Family Déinornithide) — The Epyornithide —'Toothed-Birds (Group Odontornithes)—Lizard-Tailed Birds (Subclass Saurure, Genus Archwopteryr) . 55]

INDEX To FourrH Vonumr, comprising Sections VII. and VIIL., : 2 5 ee Dini

LIST GF ILLUSTRABION:

COLOURED PEAGkEs

GOLDEN PHEASANTS,

Nicut Heron anp BoaTBILy,

Wiup Duck, : FLoricAN AND MACQUEEN’S BUSTARD, East AFRICAN BALEARIC CRANE, GIANT PENGUINS,

OSTRICHES,

CHINESE PHEASANTS IN COVERT, Group OF BrITISH GULLS AND TERNS,

Taye

Storks Assembling tor Migration,

Cannon-Bone of Wood-Stork,

Furcula of Heron, :

Goliath Heron in Bieeaiee Plumage,

Grey Herons and their Nest,

Great White Heron,

Little Eeret, ; :

Common Bittern in Various Postures, 30at-Billed Heron, ,

Perrier leads and their Nest,

Fureula of Stork,

White Stork,

W hite-Bellied Stork,

African Adjutant, ;

West-African Wood-Stork,

Head of Bernier’s Ibis,

The Sacred Ibis,

White Spoonbill,

Tibia of Flamingo,

European Flamingoes,

Cannon-Bone of Duck,

Spur-Winged Goose,

White-Fronted Goose,

Frontispiece Facing page 298

Upland Geese,

-

344

PAGE 333 334 336 338 342 343 346 304 357 308 359 361 363

364 365 368 369 370 371 374

378 381

LUISTAOF TELUS LRA LIONS

Blue-Bearded Cuban Doves,

Crested and Common Bronze - W eel

Doves, . Nicobar Pigeons, : Albertis’ Crowned Pigeon, Tooth-Billed Pigeon, The Dodo, : A Flock of Pin-Tailed Sande Grdfise, Ring-Dove on Nest,

Vulture-Like Guinea-Fowl] on the Gren

Ptarmigan in Winter Dress, Ptarmigan in Summer Dress, Spitzbergen Ptarmigan, ; Willow-Grouse in Summer Dress, Willow-Grouse in Winter Dress, Black-Game at Home, Black-Game in the Snow. . Hybrid Capercaillie,

Prairie- Hens,

Ruffed Grouse,

French Partridges,

A Covey of Grey Parone Red-Crested Wood-Partridges, Common Quail,

Crimson Tragopan,

Mantchurian Eared Pheasant Horsfield’s Pheasant,

Silver Pheasant, : A Bouquet of Common ethoncennr Amherst’s Pheasant,

Argus Pheasant Displaying, Peacock, :

Crested and Common Guinea Fowl Vulture-Like Guinea-Fowl Perching Group of Guinea-Fowl,

Common Turkey,

Californian Quail, .

Black-Throated Crested @unil: Australian Brush-Turkeys, Celebean Maleo,

Crested Curassows,

Derbian Guan,

Carolina Rails,

Mortier’s Water-Hen,

Common Coot,

Senegal Finfoot,

Group of Bustarde ;

Little Bustard in Breeding Bimnaee Arabian Bustard,

Common Thicknee,

Brazilian Seriema, .

Trumpeter,

Common Crane,

Sun-Bittern,

PAGE

382

384 385 386 387 388 391 392 393 394 395 397 398 399 400 401 402 404 405 410 A412 414 415 418 422, 423 424 426 428 430 432 433 434 435 435 436 437 439 440 442 443 446 448 449 450 451 454. 456 459 461 462 465 469

| |

Common Pratincole,

Black-Backed Courser,

Ringed Plover,

Common Lapwing

Egyptian Spur- Eyed taped Head of Chilian Stilt,

Avocets,

Common Oyster- Guicher,

Common Curlew,

Grey Phalarope,

Rutts and Reeves,

Bar-Tailed Godwit,

Common Turnstone,

Knot Sandpiper,

Woodcock in Covert,

Woodcock and Nest,

Common Snipe,

A Family of Wilson’s Suite

Brazilian Jacana,

Common Sheath-Bill,

Latreille’s Seed-Snipe, :

Young Gulls covered with Down,

Head of Broad-Billed Tern,

Common Tern,

Black Skimmer,

Black-Headed Gull,

Common Gull,

Herring-Gull,

Lesser Black-Backed Gull,

Kittiwakes Nesting,

Pomatorhine Skua,

Albatrosses Nesting, .

The Giant Petrel,

Fulmar Petrels,

Cape Petrels Swimming,

Storm-Petrels on the Waves,

Great Auk,

Common Guillemots,

Little Auks, :

Head of Tufted Auk,

Knob-Billed Auks,

Head of Whiskered Puttin, Yommon Puttin,

Great Northern Diver,

Haunt of the Black- Tampated me er,

Crested Grebe,

Metatarsal Bone of Peneaine

Rock-Hopper Penguins,

Group of Black-Footed Penguins,

Humboldt’s Penguin,

Great Tinamu, or Martineta,

Pentland’s Tinamu,

Skull of Giant Flghtless Patagonian

Bird,

mn or om

0 OF oo BD tM BO hb

Breast-Bone ot a Ratite Bird, Ostriches Feeding, .

Head of Common Rhea,

Head of Long-Billed Rhea, Australian Cassowary,

Skull of Austrahan Cassowary,

LIST OR ILL OGSIICATIONS

PAGE 556 Dow 560 561 564 565

Emeu and Chicks, . ‘meu Resti Emeu Resting,

Kiwi Feeding, ; Skeleton of Short-Legged Moa, Leg-Bones of Short-Legged Moa, Skeleton of Lizard-Tailed Bird,

PAGE 567 568 571 572

~—6

Hille

576

SHAPTER AAV:

Herons, SToRKs, AND IpisEs,—Order HERODIONES.

STORKS ASSEMBLING FOR MIGRATION.

Agreeing with the members of the preceding order in their bridged palates, the absence of basipterygoid processes on the rostrum of the skull, the tufted oil-gland, and the presence of a downy stage in the helpless young, the herons and their allies the storks and ibises differ very markedly in general appearance, and present several important distinctive features. In the first place, their imbs— especially the metatarsal segment—are greatly elongated; and if the toes are webbed at all, the first toe is not involved. Secondly, the plumage of the neck, instead of being continuous, has a large bare tract reaching upwards from the spine. In all, the rather small and slit-like nostrils are placed near the root of the long, powerful, and generally sharp-pointed beak; but whereas in the

VOL. IV.—19

290 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

majority — of the group the hinder end of the mandible is truncated, this is not the case with the ibises. Mostly birds of considerable size, the members of this order all have long and powerful wings, while in habits they are essentially waders and they generally nest in trees. Externally, herons and storks present a marked general similarity to cranes; but, as we shall see in the sequel, the latter differ in the structure of the palate, in their “precocious” young, and also in the conformation of the bones of the leg. In the cannon-bone the two outer trochlez

LOWER END OF THE LEFT CANNON-BONE OF THE INDIAN WOOD-STORK.

are of nearly equal length.

THE HERON TRIBE. Family ARDEIDZ.

The members of this family have the body thin and much compressed, the neck generally long and thin, and the beak straight, narrow, and pointed, with the grooves in which the nostrils are placed stopping short of its extremity, and its cutting-edges serrated at the tip.) On the chin the feathering generally or always extends considerably in advance of the line of the nostrils. The leg is of medium length, with the front surface of the metatarsus covered with more or less scute- like plates, the toes are mostly three, and the claw of the third one is pectinated on the inner side. The wings, although large, are somewhat blunt at the tip, owing to the second, third, and fourth quills being nearly equal in length. The short and rounded tail has either ten or twelve feathers; and there are bare spaces round the eyes and on the lores. The presence of a so-called powder-down patch of crumbly downy feathers on each side of the rump is

Be et ecu eon absolutely characteristic of the family ; and

there are no bare tracts on the sides of

the neck. The general plumage, which is very variable in colour, is soft and loose; the feathers on the crown of the head, back, and upper breast being frequently elongated. Externally the two sexes are chiefly distinguishable by difference of size. In the skeleton the lower mandible is not produced posteriorly to its articulation with the skull; and the V-shaped furcula is characterised by the projection of its median process within the angle, as shown in the figure. With the exception of the extreme north, herons—of which there are some seventy species—are met with in all parts of the globe, and at almost all habitable

1 The boat-bill is exceptional in the form of the head and beak.

HERONS. 291

elevations. They are, however, most numerous in tropical and subtropical regions, where they form the predominating element in the bird-life of swamps and marshes. A few seem to prefer the sea-coast, others more generally frequent rivers, While the majority confine themselves to lakes and marshes. Some, again, are to be met with in the open country, while others are partial to thickets or woods. Their gait is slow and measured; and their flight of considerable strength, but uniform, and accompanied by continual flapping of the wings. Many of them habitually associate in large flocks, and all build in company; their large nests containing from three to six unspotted whitish or bluish green eggs. Essentially waders, most members of the family are able to swim to a certain extent; and, like the other members of the order, the whole of them are carnivorous; fish forming the greater portion of their diet, although many of the smaller species are large eaters of insects, and all will devour animals of any kind that they are able to capture.

The common grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is the type of a large and widely distributed genus, characterised by the long, straight, sub- conical beak, in which the nostrils are pierced in a groove at the base, and partially concealed by a membrane. The long and slender legs are naked for some distance above the ankle-joint; the front of the metatarsus is covered with large scales ; and the toes, of which the third and fourth are partially joined by a web, are of moderate length, the third being much shorter than the metatarsus. The wings are moderate, with the second quill the longest; and the short tail has twelve feathers of nearly equal length. Formerly strictly preserved in Britain for the royal sport of hawking, the common heron is in most parts left to look after itself, although several of its breeding-places are still well protected. Its distinguishing features are the crest of long blackish feathers depending from the back of the head; the white forehead and cheeks; the grey hue of the plumage of the upper- parts, tail, and wings; the black primaries; and the long white feathers covering the chest, above which the front of the neck is white marked with elongated bluish grey spots; the under-parts being greyish white with black streaks. The beak is yellow, the lore yellowish green, the iris yellow, and the legs and toes greenish yellow, with the claws brown. In total length the heron measures about 3 feet. The female is less brightly coloured and has shorter plumes than the male. The common heron ranges over the greater part of Europe, although it is not found in the extreme north, while in the south it is mostly a winter visitant only, although it breeds on the Lower Danube. Eastwards it ranges through Asia to China and Japan, and is common in many parts of India and Ceylon; while it has been recorded from Australia. It also ranges over Africa to the Cape, although it is doubtful if it breeds in the south of that continent.

Nearly allied to the preceding is the more slender-necked purple heron (A. purpurea), in which the crown and back of the head, together with the plumes, are purplish black; the cheeks and sides of the neck fawn with bluish black streaks; the back and wing-coverts slaty grey; the long feathers on the back chestnut; the tail grey; the chin pale, and the neck reddish buff; the point of the shoulder and under wing-coverts chestnut; and the under-parts maroon- red anteriorly, and a mixture of maroon, grey, and black posteriorly. The beak and iris are yellow, as is the tibia; while the greater portion of the meta-

True Herons.

292 HERQNSY STORKS, AND TIBISES.

tarsus and feet is brown, the claws being black. A straggler to Britain, the purple heron is common in Holland and Spain, and ranges over the greater part of Europe to the southward of Central Germany. To the eastward it ranges from the Mediterranean to the Indian region, the north of China, and the Philippines, in such districts as are suitable to its habits, but only breeds in the warmer regions. Common and resident in Egypt, it appears to be mainly a winter

GOLIATH HERON IN BREEDING PLUMAGE (4 nat. size).

visitor to most other parts of Africa, although it is a permanent inhabitant of certain marshy districts. The last member of this group of the genus we shall notice is the goliath heron (A. goliath), of which the total length is about half as much again as that of the common species. In this splendid bird the crest takes the form of a number of moderately long pointed feathers. The head and crest, the point of the shoulder, and the under-parts, with the exception of the white throat, are reddish chestnut-brown; the sides and back of the neck bright bluish grey ; the upper-parts a more ashy grey; and the long loose plumes on the front

HERONS.

293 of the neck externally white and internally black, frequently with reddish shaft- stripes. The iris is yellow, the lore green, the upper mandible black, the lower mandible greenish yellow at the tip and many-coloured at the base, while the legs

GREY HERONS AND THEIR NEST.

and feet are black. This heron is widely distributed over Africa; and in 1845-46 numerous specimens were obtained by Blyth in the market at Calcutta, since which date, according to Mr. Hume, there is no definite record of its occurrence in India, although it may have been seen in Ceylon.

294 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

Water of every kind, from the sea-marge to the mountain-stream, forms the favourite haunt and hunting-ground of the herons; and there the common species may be seen standing alone and silent, knee-deep in the flood, watching patiently for a passing fish, with its head drawn back and ready to strike with unerring aim at a moment's notice. Although the chief food of these birds consists of fish, all kinds of water-animals, not too large for their capacities, are captured easily, among them being frogs, snakes, water-voles, young water-fowl, crustaceans, insects, and worms. ‘The usual time for fishing is early in the morning and late in the evening, while on moonlight nights the business is con- tinued till a later hour. In spite of its extreme voraciousness, the heron is not considered a wholly unwelcome visitor to trout-streams, on account of the number of voles and coarse fish it destroys. Mostly solitary during the winter, the common heron assembles together in the early spring for nesting in large numbers; the “heronry” being generally situated in tall trees, and occupied for generation after generation. Heronries, like the well-known one at Cressy Hall near Spalding, have been so often described, that it will be unnecessary to repeat the details here. It may be observed, however, that the nest, which is of large size, and relatively flat and wide, is formed of sticks and lined with twigs, fibres, and grass ; and that the three or four eggs are bluish green in colour. While the hen is sitting, the male bird takes his stand during his hours of rest on a branch hard by, where he may be seen maintaining his position in the face of a gale. Both parents take a part in feeding the young, and after the first brood is able to take care of itself a second clutch of eggs is laid. In English heronries the nests are commonly built in oaks, elms, or wych-elms, but in Kashmir the magnificent chunars or plane- trees are the favourite breeding resorts of these birds. Occasionally the nests are built on rocky cliffs overgrown with ivy or low shrubs. The alarm-cry of the heron is the well-known hoarse crank, crank, but in the breeding-season the note is more prolonged. In Sind, where the common heron is very numerous, it 1s employed by the natives as a decoy-bird for other water-fowl. “ About every fisherman’s village,” writes Mr. Hume, “hundreds may be seen perched about on the boats, on stacks of brushwood thrown into the water, and on poles, perfectly motionless, and more like stuffed than living birds. The eyelids of all are sewn up; they dare not move, poor things, and, wherever they are placed for the day, there they remain immovable. Generally they are lightly tethered by one leg, but I saw several, perhaps old prisoners, in no way tied.” Occasionally, a bird gets loose and flies skywards in the usual circling manner, and in such cases they are never known to return, but wander forth to perish miserably from hunger.

The purple heron is a more nocturnal bird than the common species, approxi- mating in its habits to the bittern. The goliath heron, according to observations made by Major E. A. Butler in Natal, does not appear to breed in companies. A nest seen by this officer “was situated in the centre of an open valley, and placed on the top of a patch of green sedge beaten down by the wind and rain, and forming, as it were, a sort of small island, being raised about two feet above the level of the water. It consisted of a dense mass of dry sedge and reeds lined with dark-coloured sedge and a species of aquatic creeper, being about two feet in diameter and very flat on the surface, and exposed to view from all sides.

HERONS. 295

The male bird was sitting, and as we approached raised himself off the nest and walked slowly away in an erect attitude for a few yards before taking flight.” The three eggs, although larger, were similar to those of the common species. Great Very different in appearance to the more typical representatives White Heron. of the genus is the great white heron (A. alba), which, together with the numerous smaller forms known as egrets, is characterised by its more slender

os aa re SS es

GREAT WHITE HERON (3 nat. size).

body and limbs, the extremely long neck, less robust bill, the white plumage, and the beautiful elongated plume-like feathers of the back. On account of these differences some writers have referred these birds to a separate genus (/1 erodias). The great white heron is a few inches longer than the common species, and has the whole plumage of a glistening silvery white; the feathers at the back of the

296 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

head are but slightly elongated, but those on the lower part of the front of the neck attain a considerable length; while the long filament-like feathers of the back are developed only during the breeding-season. In the latter period the bill is black, although yellow in the autumn ; the lore is green, the iris yellow, and the limbs nearly black. An exceedingly rare straggler to Western Europe and the British Islands, this splendid heron is more common in Spain and the south of France, while it is abundant in Sicily and along the south-eastern borders of the Mediterranean. Eastwards it extends through Asia Minor, Turkestan, and the warmer parts of Asia to Manchuria and Japan; being migratory in the more northern districts, but resident in India, Burma, ete., where its size is somewhat smaller. It also occurs during the winter in North Africa; while in Australia and New Zealand it is replaced by a closely allied form (A. flavirostris), in which the beak is stated to be yellow at all seasons.

This species feeds on small fish, reptiles, molluscs, and insects. As a rule silent, it leaves its feeding-ground early in the evening to seek a roosting-place among tall trees; and in Ceylon and India breeds in company with spoonbills, common herons, and other waders in similar situations. The nest is described as being remarkably flat, with scarcely any hollow for the reception of the three or four greenish eggs. Writing of the New Zealand species, Sir W. L. Buller observes that “it is very interesting to watch this stately bird stalking about in its haunts, or fishing in the shallow water, its snow-white plumage rendering it a very conspicuous object. I have always found it very shy and difficult to approach, the slightest sound exciting its suspicion, and making it take wing It flies high and in wide circles, the wings forming slow and regular flappings, the head bemg drawn in upon the shoulders, and the legs trailing behind.” In New Zealand the white heron breeds in several places near the sea in company with the white-throated

2?

cormorant; upwards of twenty-five nests having been counted in one of these haunts. When this species breeds in association with the common heron, it usually occupies the middle region of the trees, of which the tops are occupied by the herons, while the lower boughs may be tenanted by night-herons.

The little egret (A. garzetta), which is one of the rarest stragglers to Britain, may be taken as a well-known example of small white herons, collectively known as egrets. The male bird, which measures about 25 inches in length, during sprmg and summer has the whole plumage pure white,

Little Egret.

with a crest of two long, narrow feathers, some elongated plumes on the lower part of the front of the neck, and the filament-like feathers of the back greatly developed. The beak is black, the lore lavender, the iris varying from yellow to pale lavender, and the legs mostly black, although yellowish interiorly. The winter dress lacks the crest and the plumes on the back. In Southern and South- Eastern Europe this egret is a common species; and it ranges thence through Asia Minor and Persia to India, China, and Japan; while it occurs locally throughout Africa, and has been obtained from Northern Australia. The little egret nests in bushes and trees in the neighbourhood of swamps, in company with the other waders; the nest being a platform-like structure of sticks intermingled with a few reeds, upon which are laid from three to six bluish green egos. The bird differs from the white heron in being generally very noisy. Both this and the

HERONS. 2

preceding species occur in great numbers on the inland waters of Sind; and both, like the common heron, are kept in confinement by the fishermen. Mr. Hume says that a single boat of about twenty feet in length will contain “a man and _ his wife, an old man, some relatives, six children, six or eight herons (grey and white), a couple of cormorants, a kid, a dog, and otter-spears, nets, lines, hooks, and the like, of all descriptions.”

LITTLE EGRET (} nat. size).

Among other species, brief reference must be made to the beautiful buff-backed heron (A. bubulcus)', which is so common along the banks of the Nile, and is frequently pointed out to tourists as the sacred ibis. During the breeding-season this bird has the plumage of the head, neck, and breast, rufous buff, and some long plumes on the back also of the same tint; the remainder being white, with a tinge of creamy on the wing-coverts. The beak is reddish at the base, and yellow at the tip; the eye and lore are golden pink; and the limbs yellowish red. This bird always displays great partiality for cultivated grounds, feeding not only upon frogs and locusts, but likewise on worms and larve turned up by the plough, as well as on ticks from the backs of cattle, habit it is frequently termed the cattle-egret. The squacco heron (A. ralloides) is

Other Species.

from which

1 Sometimes referred to a distinct genus Bubuleus.

298 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

a still smaller species, measuring only 19 inches in length; and is of special interest as forming a connecting link between the others members of the genus and the night-herons. Its distinctive features are the great length of the beak, and the presence of a mane-like crest extending from the back of the head all down the neck. In the full plumage the feathers on the top of the head are yellowish brown, with dark streaks; those of the crest are white, with black borders; the sides of the head and neck are reddish buff; the interscapulars and long hair-like feathers of the back pale reddish brown; and the remainder of the plumage white. The beak is blue at the base and black at the tip; the lore green; and the legs are yellowish green, with black claws. Essentially a South European and African form, the squacco ranges in summer over the more northern parts of the continent, and has been taken on a considerable number of occasions in the British Islands.

The night-herons, of which the European species (Vycticorax griseus) is the best known, are comparatively small birds, taking their name from their habit of spending the day in sleep and waking up in the evening to pass the greater part of the night in searching for food. They are distinguished by the relatively short beak being very thick at the base and shghtly bent down at the tip; by the moderately long and stout legs, in which a portion of the tibia is naked, and the metatarsus is longer than the third toe; the very broad wings; and also by the plumage, with the exception of some three thread-like plumes from the back of the head being smoother and more compact than in the true herons. The scutes on the front of the metatarsus are six-sided, and the tail has twelve feathers. In the adult of the common species, the crown of the head, nape, upper back, and shoulders are blackish green, the remainder of the upper-parts and the sides of the neck ashy grey; the under-parts pale straw-colour; and the head plumes (which in old birds may be increased above the ordinary three) pure white. The iris is a fine purple-red, the beak black with a yellow base, the lore green, and the foot greenish yellow. In the young bird the head plumes are absent, the general colour of the upper plumage is brown with longitudinal rusty yellow and yellowish white flecks, while the under-parts have a whitish, and the neck a yellow ground with brown markings; both the iris and beak being brown. In total length the night-heron measures about 23 inches.

Night-Herons.

The genus has an almost world-wide distribution, being found in regions as remote from one another as Britain and New Zealand; and the common European species has likewise a very wide range. In Northern Europe the latter is a comparatively rare visitor, and it is said to be becoming less numerous in the north of Germany and Holland, where it breeds; but it is abundant in Spain, Italy, and the Danubian provinces. Thence it extends eastwards through Palestine to India, Burma, China, and Japan, as well as the Malayan Islands; while it ranges throughout Africa, and is represented in North America by a rather larger race, which in South America passes into a darker variety. The habitat of the night- heron is generally in thickly-wooded districts, and by preference in the near neighbourhood of swamps; although not unfrequently these birds inhabit groves at considerable distances from water, from whence they make long nocturnal flights to their fishing-grounds. Except during the breeding-season, they seldom,

NIGHT HERON, AND® BOATBILE

7, iy Ti ae my

- pe hall

* “yy i

a

BITTERNS. 299

unless disturbed, rouse themselves from their slumbers in the daytime; but when the young are hatched, the parents are compelled to go abroad in search of food during the daylight hours. Perching with its neck resting on its shoulders, the night-heron when disturbed from its slumbers flies but a short distance, and again settles. When on the wing, the head is drawn in between the shoulders, and the legs stretched out behind; the flight being slow and flapping, and the course of the bird indicated in the darkness by the utterance from time to time of a characteristic hoarse croak. In Europe the breeding-season lasts from May to July; the nests being generally placed in bushes or low trees near swamps, but at other times in groves which may be also tenanted by other members of the order, and rarely among reeds. Large numbers of birds associate in these breeding-places; and when the young are hatched, the noise made by the birds as darkness comes on is described as deafening. ‘The nests in some places are made of rice-straw, and are remarkable for their size and solid structure ; and the pale greenish blue eggs vary from three to five in number. The food of these birds comprises aquatic insects, worms, molluscs, frogs, and small fish.

Omitting mention of some important genera, brief reference must be made to the little bittern (Ardella minuta), as the representative of a small genus in some respects connecting the night-herons with the true bitterns. These birds are much smaller than the night-heron, measuring only 13 inches in length, while agreeing with the foregoing genera in having the second quill of the wing the longest (although but slightly so), and the third toe shorter than the metatarsus; they differ in having only ten short feathers in the tail, in the tibia being feathered nearly to the ankle, and in the greater length of the toes. The legs are rather short; and the straight, slender, pointed beak is slightly longer than the head. In the male the plumage of the crown of the head, nape, back, and shoulders, as well as the primaries and tail-feathers, are shining greenish black : and the wing-coverts and under-parts tawny buff, marked on the breast and flanks with black. The beak, lore, and iris are yellow; and the legs and feet greenish yellow. The smallest member of the heron tribe found in Britain, where it is an occasional visitor, the little bittern ranges over Southern Europe to Northern Africa, and extends eastwards to Kashmir and North-Western India. Migrating to South Africa, it is represented there by a distinct resident species; while in America its place is taken by a smaller form.

Little Bittern.

Before the drainage of the fens and the general advance of cultivation, the boom of the bittern was a familiar sound in many parts of England, but the bird is now only a somewhat rare visitor, although a nest was taken as late as the year 1868. The common bittern (Botawrus stellaris) belongs to a genus easily characterised by the great length of the toes, of which the third is as long as the metatarsus, by the three first quills

Bitterns.

being of nearly equal length and the longest in the wing, and by the short tail comprising ten soft feathers. The strong beak is rather longer than the head, somewhat higher than broad, and with the extremity of its upper mandible slightly curved downwards; the longitudinal slit-like nostrils being partially covered by a bare membrane. The legs are of medium length, feathered nearly down to the ankle, and with large scutes on the front of the

300 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

metatarsus; while the toes are very une jual length, and the first unusually elongated. Owing to the equality in length of the first three quills, the somewhat elongated wings are rounded at their extremities. There is but little difference 2 e . a ae Z . =e . between the plumage of the young and mature birds. Although inferior in size to the heron, from which it differs markedly in its much shorter and thicker neck, larger and plumeless head, and shorter beak, the bittern is a decidedly striking bird; and its mottled plumage of buff, brown, and black, is adapted to harmonise with the dead stalks of the reeds and flags among which it habitually skulks. As

COMMON BITTERN IN ITS VARIOUS POSTURES (+ nat. size).

regards coloration, the crown of the head is black with a tinge of bronzy green, the elongated feathers at the back of the head and nape being barred with black and buff; the remainder of the body-plumage is characterised by having a buffish ground variously marked with reddish brown and blackish brown flecks, bars, and streaks, with a dark stripe from behind the angle of the beak and another down the front of the throat. The primaries are mingled greyish black and chestnut, and the tail-feathers reddish brown with black markings. The beak is greenish yellow, tending to horn-colour at the tip, the lore green, the iris yellow, and the leg and foot green with pale horn-coloured claws. In length a male bittern may vary from 28 to 30 inches. The American bittern (B. lentiginosus), which is an accidental visitor to Britain, differs from the common species, not only by its

BOAT-BILLED HERON. 301

o

inferior size and more slender limbs, but likewise by the uniformly lead-brown hue of the primary quills of the wings.

The common bittern, like so many members of the present family, has a wide geographical distribution, extending all over Europe as far north as latitude 60°, and even to 64° on the Yenisei, in Asia, and ranging eastwards through Central Asia to China and Japan. It also occurs in Persia and Northern and Central India, as well as in Burma; and likewise ranges over the whole of Africa, in localities suited to its habits. The New World species is found over the greater part of North America. The bittern is essentially a bird of the swamps, among the reeds and bulrushes of which it either skulks in the rail-like manner shown in the central figure of our illustration, or stands erect, as depicted in the background, when it presents a strange resemblance to a_ pointed stump. When disturbed in the day among a bed of reeds, it generally rises within easy shot, and after flapping lazily along for a short distance, once nore takes to covert. While on the wing, it utters a resounding cry, replaced during the breeding-season by the hollow boom, from which the bird derives its name; and in its evening flights the bittern is said to soar in circles to vast heights. The breeding-season in Europe commences in March and April; and the nest, which is formed of a mass of reeds and flags, is placed either in thick covert, or on the marge of a swamp. ‘The four eggs are olive-brown in colour, but may be tinged with green when fresh laid. Among our ancestors the bittern was regarded asa favourite dish; and in Landseer’s well-known picture a bittern figures among the offering sent to the abbot of Bolton Abbey. Instead of booming, the American species during the breeding-season utters a ery which has been compared to the sound produced by hitting a stake with a mallet. Writing of the American bird, Dr. Coues observes that “when the bittern is disturbed at his meditation, he gives a vigorous spring, croaks at the moment in a manner highly suggestive of his displeasure, and flies off as fast as he can, though in rather a loose, lumbering way. For some distance he flaps heavily with dangling legs and outstretched neck; but when settled on his course he proceeds more smoothly, with regular, measured wing-beats, the head drawn in closely, and the legs stretched out behind together like a rudder. He is very easily shot on the wing, dropping at a touch of even fine shot. When winged, he croaks painfully as he drops, and no sooner does he touch the ground than he gathers himself in defensive attitude to resent aggression as best he can. He fights well, and with more spirit and determination than he might be expected to show. He has a very ugly way of pointing his resistance with quick thrusts of his spear-like bill, capable of inflicting no slight wound on an incautious hand. The food of this bird consists of various kinds of small aquatic animals. In its stomach may be found molluses, crayfish, frogs, lizards, small snakes, and fishes, as well as insects. Such prey is captured with great address, by spearing, as the bird walks or wades stealthily along”; the thrust of the bill being marvellously quick and skilful. It may be added that in America as well as in the Old World bitterns are to a certain extent migratory.

Boat-Billed The last member of the family to which it will be necessary

Heron. to allude is the remarkable boat-billed heron (Canchroma cochlearia)

of South America, which, while agreeing with the other representatives of

302 HERONS, STORES “AND SiBISIES

the group in essential characters, differs by the broad head, terminating in the wide and boat-like beak, from which the creature derives its name. The boat-bill is about the size of a night-heron, and resembles the more typical members of the family in the pendent plumes at the back of the head, and the presence of twelve comparatively stiff feathers in the tail. The broad beak is rounded off in front, where it is somewhat bent down; the legs

BOAT-BILLED HERON (,°, nat. size).

are rather short and feathered to the ankle, with toes of moderate length; the wings are strong and large, with the fourth quill the longest; and the tail is short and truncated. ‘The crest is large, and formed by the feathers of the back of the head and nape, but there are no elongated plumes on the back; the front of the throat is, however, naked. In colour, the forehead, throat, fore-neck, and cheeks are white; the lower neck and breast yellowish white; the back clear grey; the hinder region of the upper part of the neck and the under-parts rusty reddish brown, passing into black on the sides; and the wing and tail-feathers

WHALE-HEADED STORK. 303 whitish grey. The iris is mostly brown, the beak brown with a yellow border to the lower mandible, and the leg and foot yellowish.

The savaku, as the bird is called by the natives of South America, frequents the thick woods borderi ing the Brazilian rivers, where it may be seen either solitary, or in pairs during the Nee itne geatin These birds are more numerous in the interior than near the coast; and may be observed either in the low bushes on the banks or perched on boughs high above the river. Their food consists of various aquatic creatures, especially worms; but from the conformation of their beak, which is probably used for grovelling in the mud, it is doubtful if these birds can catch fish. Practically nothing has been ascertained as to their breeding-habits, although it is known that the eggs are uniformly white, and very similar in general appearance to those of a heron.

THE WHALE-HEADED STORK. Family BALANICIPITIDA.

The extraordinary-looking and gigantic bird known as the whale-headed, or shoe-billed stork (Baleniceps rex), which is peculiar to certain parts of Africa, forms the sole representative of a distinct family, whose nearest relationship, according to Mr. Beddard, appears to be with the herons, and from which family it may be a highly modified offshoot... While agreeing with the herons in the presence of powder-down patches on the rump, and the absence of bare tracts on the sides of the neck, as well as in several internal features, the whale-head is distinguished by the absence of pectination on the claw of the third toe, and likewise in the V-shaped furcula having no process jutting forth into the angle. Apart from these morphological features, the large size of these birds, and their extraordinary beaks, render them perfectly distinguishable at a glance from all their allies. The broad and depressed beak, unlike that of the boat-billed heron, is concave in profile, with a strong ridge down the middle of the upper mandible, the tip produced into a bold hook, and the cutting-edges highly curved; the minute nostrils being situated at its base and not placed in a groove. The lower mandible is covered with a soft, leathery skin for the greater part of its length, although horny at the tip. The legs are very long, and naked for a considerable distance above the ankle; and the elongated toes are not webbed. The long and broad wings have the third and fourth quills the longest; the tail is of moderate length, with twelve feathers; and there is a short bushy crest at the back of the head. The prevailing ground-colour of the plumage is a fine ashy grey, the larger body-feathers being bordered with lighter grey, and the wing and tail-feathers greyish black. The iris is yellow, the beak horn-colour, and the leg and foot black. In size this bird comes between the white and the marabou stork, although much nearer to the latter than the former.

Known to the Arabs as abw markub (father of a shoe), this giant bird is. restricted to the White Nile and its affluents, and although everywhere rare is most numerous in the districts of Kitsh and Nuer in Northern Equatoria, where

1 This relationship is not admitted by Professor Newton.

304 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

it may be found either singly, in pairs, or in small companies. It always frequents regions the most remote from human habitations, where it may be seen standing— sometimes breast-deep—in the water by the side of some tall papyrus stem, and frequently resting on one leg only. But seldom is this bird seen away from the neighbourhood of tall reeds, although it sometimes takes its station on a white-ant hill on the bank, and occasionally resorts to open reaches of the river. When first disturbed by a boat, it will fly off slowly above the reeds with a great noise, and again settle; but if roused a second time, it rises high into the air, and will not again return to its haunt until the danger is past. Its flight is not unlike that of the marabou stork, but the heavy beak is generally kept resting on the crop. The only sound it utters is aloud snapping of the beak, in which respect it resembles the storks. Its principal food is fish, in order to capture which the bird often stands breast-deep in the stream with its enormous beak lowered to the surface of the water; while at other times several individuals will combine to drive the fish towards the shallows by marching in a semicircle through the water, and making a great flapping of their wings. It has been asserted that these storks will kill and eat snakes; but it is probable that the statement has arisen from their devouring the fish known as the bisher (Polypterus), which the natives sometimes term a water-snake. That dead carcases and carrion are also consumed appears to be well ascertained. The breeding-season takes place during the rains; the nest being situated on some slight elevation among the reeds, especially one surrounded on all sides by water. Here the birds collect a vast quantity of stalks and water-plants, often soliditied with mud, so as to form an accumulation of about a yard in height. The eggs, which are small in proportion to the size of the bird, have thick white shells, which are, however, bluish when first laid, but become brownish as incuba- tion progresses; they are overlain with a chalky coating. Young taken from the nest thrive well on a fish diet, and are easily tamed.

THE HAMMER-HEAD. Family SCOPID2£.

From a structural point of view the small brown African bird, known as the hammer-head or umbre (Scopus wiibrella), is even more remarkable than the pre- ceding, since it combines many features common to the herons and storks, and is accordingly regarded by Mr. Beddard as nearly allied to the common ancestral stork from which those two groups have sprung. It differs from the herons in the absence of powder-down patches on the rump, and of pectination in the claw of the third toe, as well as in having the angle of the furcula without any median projection; but it resembles them in having the rings of the bronchial tubes incomplete behind, and closed with membrane. In some other parts of its internal anatomy it agrees with the herons on the one hand and the storks on the other; but it differs from all herons except the boat-billed species in the shortness of its triangular tongue, and thereby resembles the whale-head and the storks, while it is peculiar in having large bare tracts on the sides of the neck. The hammer- head measures about 25 inches in total length, and has a somewhat cylindrical

HAMMER-HEAD. 305 body, a short and thick neck, a very large head, and a beak rather longer than the head, much compressed, straight, and bent down at the tip. The legs and toes are of medium length, the latter connected at their bases by a web; the wing is broad and rounded, with its third quill the longest; the tail is moderately long and has twelve feathers; and the contour-feathers are thick and long, those on the back and sides of the head being developed into a broad and bushy crest, The

HAMMER-HEADS AND THEIR NEST (} nat. size).

coloration is a uniform umber-brown, generally brighter on the under surface ; the quills of the wings being shining and darker than the back, while those of the tail have a broad purplish brown band at the tip, and smaller bars near the root. The iris is brown, the beak black, and the leg and foot blackish brown or black, Nowhere abundant, the hammer-head is spread all over Africa, as well as Madagascar and the south of Arabia; and although generally inhabiting the plains, in Abyssinia ascends to an elevation of some nine thousand feet in the mountains. It frequents the neighbourhood of water in wooded districts, and VOL, IV.—-20

306 HERONS, “SLORLS,. AND IBISES.

appears to be generally found singly or in pairs. Resembling in many of its general habits the ibises, the hammer-head when passing from lake to lake flies strongly and ascends high into the air; and is reported to utter a kind of croaking cry. The most interesting feature connected with this singular bird is, however, its nest. This is a huge, dome-like structure of sticks, so firmly built that it will bear the weight of a man, and frequently from a yard and a half to two yards or more in diameter. Generally placed in a fork of a tree near the ground, although sometimes in a rocky cleft, the nest has a single entrance situated on its most concealed side. Internally it contains three chambers—a hall, a drawing-room, and a sleeping apartment, with entrances so small that the bird . can only creep in. The sleeping-chamber occupies the highest portion of the nest, in order to be safe from floods, and in it, upon a bed of water-plants, are laid the white eggs, which are from three to five in number and are incubated by each parent in turn. The middle chamber serves for the young when they are too big for the inner one, while the hall is used as a look-out station. In Angola the nests of other birds are said to be taken by the hammer-head. The chief food of these birds appears to consist generally of fish; but in some districts, at least, river- mussels, frogs, lizards, small snakes, and worms and insects, constitute a portion of the diet. Although the two members of a pair do not always remain together, they appear to be associated for life; and at times the two birds, or occasionally three, will go through a peculiar kind of dance-like performance. Everywhere these birds are mainly crepuscular, and are but seldom seen in the full daylight.

THE STORK TRIBE. Family CICONIIDA.

The storks may be distinguished externally from the herons by the absence of pectination on the inner edge of the claw of the third toe, by the metatarsus being covered with reticulate scales, by the absence of powder-down patches on the sides of the rump, and by the feathering on the under surface of the lower mandible not extending in advance of the line of the nostrils. In the skeleton the furcula, which is generally U-shaped, is characterised by the absence of any median projection into its angle. All storks have short triangular tongues, whereas herons (except the boat-bill) have long ones; and, with the exception of two genera, they are characterised by the rings of the bronchial tubes being complete. There are certain other anatomical features, into the consideration of which it will be unnecessary to enter. As supplemental characters, it may be mentioned that in all the members of the family the body is plump; the beak in the form of a long compressed cone, with a sharp point, but may be either turned up at the extremity, or gaping in the middle; the leg is long, strong, and naked for a considerable distance above the ankle; the toes are short, and the three front ones connected by a short basal web; the wings large; and the short and rounded tail with twelve feathers. The contour-feathers of the head and neck may be either narrow and elongated, or short and rounded; while in some cases they may become woolly or hairy, or even, in old age, with horny lance-like tips. The two

STORKS 307

sexes may be distinguished by a difference in size, while the colours of the young are duller than those of the old birds. Storks, of which there are some twenty species, have a world-wide distribution; those inhabiting the northern regions of the globe being migratory. They are all diurnal in their habits, and the only sound they utter is produced by a sharp snapping of the beak. Extinct genera carry the family back to the early part of the Miocene period.

The true storks are characterised by their perfectly straight sharp beaks, in the horny covering of which the nostrils are perforated, by the webs of the front toes extending to their first joints, and by the third, fourth, and fifth quills being of nearly equal length. By far the best known species is the white stork (Ciconia alba), in which the whole of the plumage, with the exception of the black

True Storks.

greater wing-coverts and quills, is pure white, the beak being red, the bare space round the eye black, the iris brown, and the foot and leg red, with brown claws. The whole length varies from 42 to 44 inches. With the exception of the extreme north, the stork ranges over the whole of Europe, although not breeding every- where, and being merely an

irregular visitor to the British \ ff Islands. Eastwards its range Bere ey te re

extends through Turkey and

Persia to Central Asia and a great part of India, while in winter the bird visits Northern Africa in large numbers. In France, where it is much _per- secuted, it is now only a passing visitor; but it breeds in large numbers in Holland, Germany, and indeed over the greater part of Central and Eastern Europe, where it enjoys protection on the part of the inhabitants. The stork has become thoroughly habituated to human habitations and the presence of man, by whom it is esteemed, not only on account of its value as a scavenger, but likewise from its well-known fidelity to its young, which has become pro- verbial. In Palestine, where they only exceptionally breed, storks make their appearance at the latter part of March on their northern journey, while in Holland and Denmark they generally arrive about the middle of April. They arrive and depart (as shown in the illustration on p. 289) in immense flocks ; and on their arrival spread themselves over the country in search of food, which comprises small mammals and birds, reptiles, frogs, insects, ete. In most parts of Europe the stork generally builds on chimneys, where boxes or other receptacles for the nest are frequently placed for its accommodation; and as it returns year after year to the same spot, the nest, which is originally a shallow structure of

308 HBRONS, STORKS, AND TBISES:

sticks, gradually attains a height of several feet. In the absence of buildings, trees or rocks are, however, adopted for nesting. The eggs, usually from three to five in number, are pure white. During the breeding-season the birds keep up a constant clapping noise with their beaks, and this noise not unfrequently betrays their whereabouts when soaring at such a height as to be quite invisible to the naked

WHITE STORK ($ nat. size).

eye. As an instance of the constancy displayed by the males and females of this species it is stated that for three years a female which remained during the winter in Europe, was visited annually by her mate, when both nested as usual. In the fourth year, however, the male bird also remained with his partner during the winter, and this continued for three years. Eventually both birds were shot, when it was discovered that the female had been prevented from migrating by an

STORKS. 309

o

old wound. On the other hand, there are well-authenticated instances of tame storks having been mobbed and killed by their fellows, and the same fate is stated to have overtaken a female stork whose eggs had been replaced by those of a hen, which in due course were hatched into chickens.

The second European representative of the genus is the black stork (CL nigra), which is likewise an occasional visitant to England. In this bird the plumage of the head, neck, and upper-parts is brownish black, with a variable metallic lustre; the under-parts, from the lower breast, being white, and the wings and tail lacking the lustre of the contour-feathers. The iris is reddish brown, the beak blood-red, and the leg and foot carmine. The black stork, which is a rather smaller bird than its white cousin, inhabits Central and Southern Europe, occasionally ranging northwards, and is found all over Africa, while eastwards it extends to China, and, in winter, India. Unlike the white species, it shuns human habitations as widely as possible, frequenting the most secluded swamps on the banks of lakes and rivers, and nesting in tall forest trees.

Black Stork.

In Jutland Mr. Elwes describes the nests as being lined with moss, and having a diameter of some four feet; the four greyish white eggs being deposited in a shallow cavity in the centre. Writing of the habits of a captive individual of this species, Montagu observes that the stork does not gorge an eel instantly like the cormorant; on the contrary, it retires to the margin of the pool, and there disables its prey by shaking and beating with its bill, before it ventures to swallow it. I never observed this bird attempt to swim; but it will wade up to the belly, and occasionally thrust the whole head and neck under water after its prey.”

There are a few other Old World representatives of this genus, but there are none in North America; while the Maguari stork of South America (Disswra maguari) and the West African white-necked stork (D. episcopus) are more generally referred to a distinct genus, characterised by the tail being deeply forked and its lower coverts stiffened so as to resemble true reetrices.

i Although externally not unlike the black stork in general White-Bellied S y 8 Sore appearance, the white-bellied stork (Abdimia sphenorhyncha) of

Africa is made the type of a distinct genus, as it differs from the more typical’ storks in having the rings of the bronchial tubes incomplete behind and closed with membrane; thus indicating that it is a generalised type retaining evidence of the original kinship of the family with the herons. Considerably smaller than the black stork, this species has the head and neck black, with a purple lustre; the back, wings, and tail black tinged with green, and the bend of the shoulder and under-parts white. The iris is brown, the naked space around the eye blue, and that on the throat red, the beak greenish with a red tip, and the leg and foot brownish grey, except at the ankle-joint, where it is red. From Dongola in the Sudan, nearly to South Africa, this stork is found in vast numbers, although it frequents the villages only during the breeding-season. There, however, it nests but seldom on houses, preferring trees in the neighbourhood, and in the south generally selecting mimosas. Not unfrequently it breeds in large companies, as many as thirty nests having been observed in a single tree. The eggs are rather smaller than those of the white stork, but vary considerably in form and dimensions. The simbil, as this bird is

310 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

called in the Sudan, receives from the natives of that district the same veneration

and protection as is accorded to its white cousin in Holland, while it closely agrees

in its general mode of life.

par raster Giant This group is typically represented by the American jabiru storks. = (Mycteria americana) of Brazil, but may also be taken to

snclude the saddle-billed jabiru (IL senegalensis) of West Africa, and the

black-necked jabiru (JL australis) of Australia and Southern New Guinea,

WHITE-BELLIED STORK (} nat. size).

although the two latter are frequently referred to a distinct genus, under the name of Xenorhynchus. These birds are of large size, and easily recognised by the greatly elongated beak being nearly straight along its upper border, but curving upwards inferiorly towards the tip, and its cutting-edges presenting a similar curvature; while at its base it often has a saddle-like waxy growth. The Jeg is much elongated, with the toes very short; the wing long and rounded, with the third quill the longest; and the short tail sharply truncated. In the African and Australian species the upper rings of the

STORKS. 311

o

bronchial tubes are incomplete behind, as in the white-bellied stork, but in the third they are complete like those of the true storks, although narrower at the back than in front. In the American jabiru the head and neck are bare and black, and the remainder white; but in the African species the feathered head and neck, the wing-coverts, the shoulders and the tail are black, with a metallic lustre, while the rest of the plumage, inclusive of the quills, is dazzling white. In the latter species the iris is yellow, and the beak red at the base, then black for a short distance, and blood-red in its anterior half, while the fleshy saddle on the upper-part of its base is variously coloured. The legs are mostly greyish brown, but the toes are carmine-red. In length the male measures upwards of 59 inches. The saddle-billed jabiru is described as being one of the handsomest of all the storks when in its native wilds, being especially beautiful during flight, when the white quills of the wings stand out in marked contrast to their black coverts. It is found on both the White and Blue Nile to the southward of the 14th parallel of north latitude, and thence through the Sudan, but it also occurs on both the east and west coasts. Living in pairs, it frequents sandbanks on the rivers, as well as the margins of lakes and swamps; but it is so shy, and at the same time generally so rare, that but little is known of its habits.

Aaintiantion The largest and at the same time by far the ugliest of the Marabou Stork. storks, are the adjutants or marabous of the Oriental region and Africa, which apparently derive their military title from their measured walk. These ungainly birds are primarily distinguished by the presence of a large, naked, pendulous pouch on the front of the throat, which may measure as much as 16 inches, and has no connection with the gullet, although probably communicating with the respiratory organs. They are further characterised by the large body, thick and naked neck, by the head being either bare or thinly clad with down, and by the enormous size of the beak, which is very thick, four-sided, and somewhat wedge-shaped, with a sharp point. The legs are of great length. The whole plumage is rough and untidy-looking; the large and rounded wings have the fourth quill the longest; while the moderately long tail is characterised by the great development of its under-coverts, which form the well-known marabou or comercolly feathers. Our illustration represents the African species (Leptoptilus crumeniferus), known to the Arabs as abw sci (father of the leather bottle), in which the head is reddish flesh-coloured, sprinkled over with short hair-like feathers. The plumage of the back is a dark metallic green, while that of the neck and under-parts is pure white; the quills of the wing and tail being black and lustreless, and the greater wing-coverts having their outer webs bordered with white. The iris is brown, the beak a dirty whitish yellow, and the leg and foot black, generally with a superficial coating of white. The total length of a male is about 63 inches. In India and the Burmese countries the genus is represented by the great Indian adjutant (LZ. dubius), of which there is a larger and a smaller race; while the Javan adjutant (Z. yavanicus) is a smaller Oriental species. Remains of extinct adjutants occur in the Plocene rocks of the north of India, and probably in the Miocene deposits of France.

1 This is the derivation given by Brehm; but Sir S. Baker says that the name is abw scen, or father of ithe beak,

312 HERONS, STORKS, AND TBISES.

In India the adjutant is a summer visitant, arriving towards the close of the hot weather about the end of April or May, and remaining through the rainy season till October. It is, however, a somewhat local bird, being most common in Bengal and the north-eastern districts, and well known to all residents in

AFRICAN ADJUTANT (4 nat. size).

Calcutta, where these birds are in the habit of perching in numbers on the parapets of Government House during the rains. They breed in Burma and the Malayan countries, a favourite nesting-place being some lofty scarped limestone rocks called the Nidong Hills on the Attaran River, to the south-east of Moulmein. On account of their value as scavengers, these birds are protected

SHELL-STORKS. 313 by law in Calcutta and some other Indian cities, nothing seeming to come amiss to them in the way of food, from the carcase of a large animal to a dead cat, or from small birds to frogs and fish. Adjutants generally congregate in vast flocks, although in the neighbourhood of towns solitary birds may often be observed, either stalking about alone or standing with outspread wings to dry their plumage, or perched on one leg while asleep on some building or tree. Their flight, although heavy and flapping, is powerful in the extreme, and they frequently soar at immense heights in the air, from which they descend to join the vultures at their feasts. Writing of the arrival of one of these birds at such a carnival, Sir S. Baker observes that “a pair of long, ungainly legs, hanging down beneath the enormous wings, now touch the ground, and abu scen has arrived, and he stalks proudly towards the crowds, pecking his way with his long bill through the struggling vultures, and swallowing the lion’s share of the repast.” Inthe Nidong Hills the adjutant, according to Mr. C. T. Bingham, nests in vast numbers during November and December, and in January the parents may be seen feeding the young birds on the topmost pinnacles of their almost inaccessible rocks. The nest is a large mass of sticks and twigs, devoid of lining, and scarcely any depression in the centre; the number of eggs varying from two to four, and these being large chalky-white ovals. Occasionally, it is stated, the nests are placed in trees, and the young birds are thickly covered with fluffy white down. The shell-storks or shell-ibises as they are often called, of which there is one African (Anastomus lamelligerus) and one Indian species (A. oscitans), are much smaller birds than any of the preceding, from all of which they are at once distinguished by the two mandibles of the compressed and serrated beak being in the adult in contact at their? two extremities, but gaping widely in the middle. On account of the second and third quills being the longest, the large wings are pointed, and the tail is short. Although the Indian species has a normal plumage, that of the African kind is remarkable in that the shafts of all the feathers of the throat, under-parts, and thighs are prolonged into small horny processes at their extremities. In colour the whole plumage is blackish with green and purple reflections; the iris is red, the beak yellowish, and the leg and foot black. Young birds lack the horny plates at the tips of the feathers. In length the African species measures about 26 inches. The latter species is widely distributed over Central and South Afriea, and is also met with at Mozambique. Like its Indian congener, it feeds almost exclusively on molluscs, especially Ampullaric, and according to Livingstone breeds among reeds, although it has also been stated to nest in trees. In the

Shell Storks.

Barotse country the breeding-places are occupied year after year by vast numbers of these birds, and the natives are accustomed to make a regular harvest of the young. With regard to the peculiar gaping of the beak, Professor Ball writes that “this was at one time supposed to be due to attrition of the edges, caused by the nature of the food upon which the bird is generally believed to subsist. Jerdon, however, stated that the bill of a young bird which he examined exhibited the same gaping. This I did not find to be the case with any of the large members which I saw. The bills were very much smaller than in the adult birds, were conical in shape, and the edges were in distinct apposition, or slightly

AND IBISES.

7 2

SLORKS

Y ?

HERONS

314

The change does not appear to me to be due to any loss

of material of the bill by attrition, but to a structural bowing or arching of the

”

overlapping, throughout.

mandibles.

agreeing with the other members of the present

general form of the beak, the wood-storks, or wood-

<

Although family in the

Wood-Storks.

Y

7]

WEST AFRICAN WOOD-STORK (4 nat. size).

k between the typical storks and the ibises, the beak thick, long, rounded, tapering, and

curving downwards at the tip; the foot long-toed, with large webs; the wing long

o” link

fo}

and are frequently referred to a separate family. In these birds the neck is of the head large ;

ibises, form a kind of connectin medium length ;

IBISES. ae and broad, with the second quill the longest; and the tail short and truncated. Unlike the storks, the plumage of the adult differs considerably from that of the young. Although the skull agrees in essential characters with that of the true storks, the furcula is V-shaped. The American wood-stork (Tantalus loculator) is the sole representative of its genus, and is characterised by the whole head and upper part of the neck being bare. On the other hand, the African (Pseudotantalus abis) and Indian wood-stork (P. leucocephalus) have only the forehead naked ; while the beak, legs, and tail are much longer. All resemble the ibises in their mode of feeding.

In the African wood-stork the general colour of the plumage is white, with a tinge of rose on the back; the scapulars and wing-coverts being marked with small purplish streaks below their white tips. The tail-feathers and quills are shining greenish black; the eye being yellowish white, the beak waxy yellow, and the leg and foot red. In size the bird is somewhat inferior to the white stork. Young birds have the neck and upper-parts ashy grey, and the rest of the plumage yellowish grey. The species is restricted to Western Africa.

The American wood-stork is a common bird in many parts of the United States, where it associates in large flocks. According to Audubon, it feeds entirely upon fish and aquatic reptiles, of which it consumes enormous quantities. To procure their food, these birds walk in numbers through shallow, muddy lakes ; and “as soon as they have discovered a place abounding in fish, they dance, as it were, all through it, until the water becomes thick with the mud stirred from the bottom by their feet. The fishes, on rising to the surface, are instantly struck by the beak of the ibises, and on being deprived of life they turn over, and so remain. In the course of ten or fifteen minutes, hundreds of fishes, young alligators, and water-snakes, cover the surface, and the birds greedily swallow them until they are completely gorged, after which they walk to the nearest margins, place them- selves in long rows, with their breasts all turned to the sun, in the manner of pelicans and vultures, and there remain for an hour or so.” In the adult bird the head and upper-part of the neck are bare and of a livid blue colour, tinged with yellow on the forehead; the legs are blue, tinged with yellow on the webs; while the plumage is white.

IBISES AND SPOONBILLS. Family PLATALEID&.

The last group of the order comprises the medium-sized birds known as ibises and spoonbills, represented by some thirty species distributed all over the globe, and which may be conveniently included under a single family heading. All these birds are distinguished from the storks by the beak being soft for the greater part of its length, although hard at the tip, and marked by a deep groove extending from the slit-like nostril on each side of the base of its upper mandible to the very tip, which is truncate and bent down. The limbs are stout and of moderate length, with the front toes connected by a short basal web; the wings are generally pointed; and the tail is short and truncated, and the plumage soft. As regards their skeleton, the lower mandible has its angle produced into a

316 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES,

recurved process behind its articulation with the skull, instead of being truncated as in the storks; the skull has a pair of small vacuities on the occipital surface ; and the nasal apertures are in the form of extremely long slits (shizorhinal), in place of being ovals. Finally, the furcula resembles that of the storks. All these birds associate in large companies, and differ from the typical members of the preceding family in their habit of probing about with their beaks in water in search of food, till they come in contact with some object, which is then seized. They nest in trees, and lay white eggs.

Owing to the general interest attaching to the sacred ibis, and likewise from the gorgeous coloration of the scarlet ibis of America, the ibises are some of the best known representatives of the order under considera- tion. These birds, of which there are several genera, form a subfamily characterised by the slender and nearly cylindrical beak, which tapers gradually towards the tip, and is more or less arched from its base. In all of them the head is more or less bald, although occasionally only the lores are naked; and _ they generally have plume-like scapular feathers at the hinder end of the back. The sacred ibis of Africa ([bis ethiopica) is the type of a genus char- acterised by the very long and moderately

HEAD OF BERNIER’S IBIS. (From Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1870.) stout bill: the long wing,

in which the _ second quill is slightly longer than the third; the short, twelve-feathered tail; and the- general white hue of the plumage. The African species attains a length of about 29 inches, and has the naked head and neck black, while the plumose feathers of the back and the tips of the quills are greenish black; the rest of the plumage being white, tinged here and there with buff It is represented by the closely-allied black headed ibis (2. melanocephala) in India; while in Madagascar there is Bernier’s ibis (J. bernierz), distinguished by the much smaller extent of the naked black portion of the neck; and a third species (J. stricti- pennis) inhabits Australia. The Japanese ibis (Nippenoa nippon) differs by having only the face bare of feathers; it inhabits both Japan and China.

Although so common in the country of the Pharaohs during its times of ereatness, the sacred ibis is now unknown in Egypt; and Leith Adams has doubts whether it was ever indigenous there. As he observes: “ There could have been no difficulty in procuring individuals from the shores of the Red Sea; and to a people so well practised in taming wild animals (as were the ancient Egyptians), we may

Ibises,

IBISES. ant eat | conclude that it was soon domesticated, and bred freely, Moreover, like the black- headed ibis of India, which usually lays from four to five eggs, we can easily suppose that the numbers rapidly increased. On the contrary, when its protectors vanished from the land, so did the ibis.” This species now breeds in the Upper Nile, in Nubia, and the Sudan, as it does in Abyssinia, and it extends through the continent to the Cape, where it is, however, of rare occurrence. It is essentially a water-loving species, and, like its Indian cousins, may be met with in small or moderate-sized flocks on the margins of rivers or lakes, or in the flooded rice-fields

THE SACRED IBIS (4 nat. size).

where it wanders in search of the molluses, insects, crustaceans, and worms, which constitute its chief food. The flesh has a fishy taste, which renders it quite uneatable to Europeans. In the lore of Ancient Egypt the ibis was the emblem of Thoth, the secretary of Osiris, and was consequently held in the greatest venera- tion, as is proved by the numbers of its mummified remains found in the temples. At what date it disappeared from Egypt is unknown, but it remained at the conquest of the country by the Romans, by whom it was introduced into Italy. Among the other genera of the subfamily we may first refer to the warty-headed or black ibis (Geronticus papillosus) of India, and the bald-headed ibis (G. calvus) of South Africa, as well-known representatives of an Old World genus dis-

318 HERONS, STORKS, AND IBISES.

tinguished from the last by the longer and more slender beak, the shorter toes, and the bald part of the head being confined to the crown, as well as by the dark hue of the plumage. The Indian species has a triangular patch of red warts on the top of the head; the general colour of the upper plumage being dark brown, passing into black, with the wings and tail steel-blue, the quills dusky black, and the under-parts blackish brown. An exceedingly common bird in India, where it is generally known as the curlew, this ibis is usually found in the open country away from water, where it feeds largely on insects. It builds on high trees, laying from two to four eggs.

WHITE SPOONBILL (4 nat. size).

The glossy ibis (Falcinellus iqneus), which is an occasional visitant to the British Islands, represents a third genus, differing from the last by the still greater length of the beak, by the elongated metatarsus being covered in front with large scales instead of hexagonal scales, and the longer toes. In the wings the second and third quills are the longest, and the face alone is naked. This ibis is a dark- coloured bird, the prevailing tints of the plumage being various shades of reddish brown, with purplish reflections; and is remarkable for its wide distribution, ranging over the greater part of Europe and Asia, and also occurring in North America, and rarely in the north of Africa, as well as in Australia. The genus also contains other species, and has an almost cosmopolitan distribution. In

SPOONBILLS. 319

0

Eastern Europe and India, this bird is found breeding in colonies comprising thousands of individuals; the nests being generally placed in low bushes.

The last genus we have space to mention is exclusively American, and comprises the beautiful scarlet ibis (Guara rubra), ranging from Northern South America to Central America and the West Indies; and the white ibis (G. alba), which is South American. While agreeing with the preceding in having the front of the metatarsus covered with large scales, they differ in that the whole front of the head is naked in the adult. Both have the tips of the wings blackish: the rest of the plumage being scarlet in the one, and black in the other.

While the glossy ibis appears never to have been anything more than a casual visitor to England, there is good evidence to show that the beautiful bird known as the white spoonbill (Platalea leucolodia), nested in Suffolk and Sussex some three centuries ago, although now it is but rarely seen in Britain. The genus to which the spoonbill pertains represents a subfamily distinguished from the ibises by the beak being very broad and depressed, widening out at the tip into a spatulate expansion, and except at the extremity being almost straight. Like the storks, spoonbills have no true organ of voice; but they differ from the members of the former group in having the lower end of the windpipe folded in a figure of eight. Their tongues are short like those of the storks, but blunted at the end. Spoonbills, of which there are several species, have a cosmopolitan distribution, although they are not found in Malaysia and Oceania. In the common species, which attains a length of about 32 inches, the whole plumage of the adult, inclusive of the crest at the back of the head, is white, with the exception of a band of buff feathers on the front of the lower part of the neck, and a streak of the same tint up each side of the same. The roots of some of the feathers of the back also display a rosy tinge. With the exception of the extremity of its rounded portion, when it is yellow, the beak is black, as are also the legs and feet; while the iris is bright red, and a patch of naked skin on the throat is yellow. Young birds have no crests, and the shatts and tips of the primary quills black. The spoonbill ranges over the greater part of Europe except the extreme north, while eastwards it extends across Southern Siberia to Amurland and the north of China; its southern range including India and North Africa. In Japan it is replaced by the greater spoonbill (P. major), and this country is also the habitat of the lesser spoonbill (P. ™m inor).

The spoonbill frequents either marshes, lakes, or sandbanks in rivers, where it may be met with in small parties or large flocks. It feeds in shallow water, in which it dabbles with its broad beak in search of insects, crustaceans, molluscs, frogs, and small fish. It breeds in numbers in a marsh near Amsterdam, which is, however, being drained; and there are numerous nesting-places in India. In Holland the nests are situated on the mud among reeds, and are raised to a height of from twelve to eighteen inches, being composed of reeds and mud, and tapering from base to summit, upon which is a slight depression for the white eges,—usually four in number. The eggs are laid at intervals of several days and incubated at once. In colour the eggs are dull white, with reddish brown streaks and spots. In India and Ceylon the spoonbill nests in tall trees,

the pipal and the tamarind being favourites. t

Spoonbills.

CHA PRT E Reeve

FLAMINGOES, Ducks, AND SCREAMERS,— Orders OpontToGLossI, ANSERES, AND PALAMEDEZ.

TAKING the general term “ducks” as including the geese, swans, etc., the members of the three groups above named will comprise the remaining orders of birds with bridged (desmognathous) palates, all of which are broadly distinguished from those hitherto described by the circumstance that their young are covered with down when hatched, and are able to run within a few hours of their first appear- ance in the world. The members of these three orders are accordingly the only birds which have bridged palates, and “precocious” young. In regard to the flamingoes, it has only been recently ascertained that the young are hatched in this forward condition. In the collective group the three front toes are either completely webbed, or united by a fold of skin; and in most cases the beak is either depressed and expanded, or has its extremity so bent down as to be at right angles to its base, while its angle is produced in a recurved process behind the points of articulation with the skull. Generally the rostrum of the base of the skull has oval basipterygoid facets placed relatively far forwards; and in all cases the oil-gland is tufted. Many of the group are more or less completely herbivorous. .

THE FLAMINGOES. Order ODONTOGLOSSI,—Family PH@NICOPTERIDZ.

With an apparently intuitive perception of its zoological relationship, the Persians apply the name of kaj-i-surkh (red goose) to the flamingo, and have thus forestalled the ornithologist, by whom these birds were always associated with the storks and herons, as indeed they still are by some. Possessing the above- mentioned features in common with the other two groups treated in this chapter, the flamingoes, if we had only existing forms to deal with, might be readily distinguished by the peculiar form of their beaks; but it happens that there are certain nearly allied extinct birds in which the beak appears to have been of a more normal form; and we are accordingly compelled to rely largely on other features in defining the order. The whole group is readily characterised by the great length of the legs, in which the tibia may be not greatly longer than the metatarsus, while the first toe is rudimentary, or even wanting. The lower end of the tibia differs widely from that of the duck tribe in that its lower end is not bent inwards; while the corresponding extremity of the metatarsus is very similar to that of the storks, having

FLAMINGOES. 321

o

the trochlea for the second toe markedly shorter than either of the others, and much bent back, whereas in the storks and herons these three trochlew are of nearly equal length. In the existing forms the basipterygoid facets on the rostrum of the skull are rudimentary; and in all the metacoracoid (as figured in Vol. III. p. 294) is characterised by its shortness and breadth, and its firm articula- tion with the breast-bone. In their long legs and neck, and the absence of unfeathered areas on the latter, as well as in many features of their internal anatomy, the flamingoes resemble the storks, near which they are placed by some authorities. Their extinct allies are, perhaps, still more stork-like; so that the family may probably be regarded as somewhat intermediate between the storks and ducks, being ancestrally connected with the former.

The true flamingoes, of which there are

True Flamingoes. 2 aya f . FRONT VIEW OF THE

some nine existing species, constitute the genus LOWER END OF THE

Phenicopterus, and are readily characterised by the beak RIGHT IBIS: OF THE FLAMINGO.

being sharply bent down at an angle in front of the nostrils ; its upper mandible being broad and flattened, and the lower one deep and channelled. The leg is also of great length, with the metatarsus but little shorter than the tibia. While some species have a small first toe, in others this is completely wanting; and in all nearly the whole length of the tibia is devoid of feathers. The neck is of great length and slenderness ; and the wing of moderate size, with the first quill slightly the longest; while the tail is short and even. Flamingoes, although unknown in Australia, are distributed over the warmer regions of the greater part of both hemispheres, a few individuals occasionally wandering as far north as the British Islands and Northern Germany. With the exception of two species inhabiting the Chilian Andes, these birds frequent open country in the neighbourhood of large rivers, where the water may be either fresh, brackish, or salt. In a fossil state flamingoes occur in the lower Miocene rocks of France. All the members of the genus are characterised by the general red hue of the plumage,—either rosy white or full scarlet,—with black on the wings. In the adult of the European flamingo (P. rosews) the whole of the plumage is rosy white, with the exception of the quills of the wings, which are black, and the light scarlet wing-coverts. The iris and naked skin round the eyes are yellow; the beak is rosy red at the base and black at the tip; and the legs and feet are pinkish red. Young birds, on the other hand, lack nearly all the rose-colour, while their secondary quills are barred with black, and all the naked parts are of a leaden hue. A full-grown bird may vary from 5 to as much as 6 feet 5 inches in length. In this species there is a small third toe, which is, however, wanting in the two Chilian forms. The common flamingo visits the salt-marshes and lagoons at the mouth of the Rhone and other districts in the south of France during the breeding-season, where it may at times be met with in thousands. It is Bea abundant in similar localities in Spain; and its range extends southwards to the Cape, and eastwards to Lake Baikal, India, Ceylon, ete. The American flamingo (P. ruber) is, however, distinct, having the gene1 ral colour of the plumage a full vermilion-scarlet. Flocks of flamingoes, as they may be seen by the lakes VOL. IV.—21

a, bony bridge; 0, tubercle.

FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

322

On

of North-Western India, form one of the most wonderful sights in the world.

lividuals, which may be seen either massed upon the water, looking like huge

Ina

the lakes of Sind, Mr. Hume describes the flocks as comprising tens of thousands

of

Still more wonderful is it

slands, or floating above it like a cloud at sunset.

rosy 1

).

nat. size

¢

MINGOES (

LA

EUROPEAN F

se enormous flocks rise suddenly when alarmed; as you approach

as they remain on the water at rest, they look s

“to see one of the

them, so long of faintly r

ly like a mass

imp

A rifle is fired, and then the exposure of the upper and

of the wing turns the mass

osy snow. waving too and fro in mighty fold

under-coverts

i

o 5

into a

gantic, brilliantly rosy searf,

t floats away.”

ally a wader, the fl

S, aS 1

ll and

an swim we

leep water ¢

LTC

’M1Ngo

Although essenti

DO ELS. Bo8 powerfully, carrying the neck nearly straight and inclined somewhat forwards, and moving in a series of jerks. In flight, the neck and legs are stretched straight out in front and behind; the flock progressing in the same formation as geese, and uttering “gageling” cries almost indistinguishable from those of the latter. Although flamingoes doubtless consume a number of small aquatic animals, it would appear that their chief food consists of various water-plants, which are pulled up from beneath the surface. When feeding, the flamingo turns its head the wrong way up, in which position its bent beak forms a most efficient spoon-like instrument. The nests, as described by Mr. Abel Chapman at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, are in the form of round basin-shaped elevations of mud placed in close continuity on the mud-flats. They may vary from 2 to 6 inches in height, but the majority are very shallow, and present somewhat the appearance of a number of plates spread over the plain. Other single nests were, however, situated in the water, and were in consequence much taller. The eggs, two in number, have a chalky external coating, beneath which is a greenish blue shell. During incubation Mr. Chapman states that the birds have “their long red legs doubled under their bodies, the knees projecting as far as beyond the tail, and their graceful necks neatly coiled away among their back feathers, like a sitting swan, with their heads resting on their breasts.” According to Brehm, the period of incubation lasts a month; and the young take to the water almost immediately after hatching, swimming to a much greater extent than their parents. When conditions are not favourable for building, nests like the above cannot be formed, and the eggs are dropped anywhere ; while, in some seasons, from persecution or want of water, the birds do not breed at all.

Short-Legged During the Miocene period there existed in Europe numerous

Flamingoes. flamingo-like birds which cannot be referred to the existing genus, even if they belong to the same family. The best known of these have been named Palclodus, and were smaller birds than modern flamingoes, from which they were distinguished by their relatively shorter and stouter legs and longer toes, while it is highly probable that the beak was not deflected in the manner characterising the true flamingoes.

THE Duck TRIBE.

Order ANSERES,

Family AVATID£.

Nearly related as are the members of the duck tribe to the flamingoes, yet they are very different-looking birds, easily distinguished by external characteristics. In the first place, their legs are always short, and inferior in length to the wings ; the tibia being usually feathered nearly or quite to the ankle, and scarcely free from the body. The cannon-bone, or metatarsus, differs from that of the flamingoes in its shortness, although the two resemble one another in the shortness and back- ward direction of the trochlea for the second toe, while the tibia is at once distinguished by the marked inflection of its lower extremity. The first toe, although generally small, is always present ; while, as in the flamingoes, the three front toes are, except in one instance, completely webbed. The relatively short

324 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

beak is comparatively straight, and more or less depressed and laterally expanded, with peculiar laminations on its edges; while the rostrum of the lower surface of the skull shows well-marked basipterygoid facets for the articulation of the pterygoid bones. In the skeleton of the body the metacoracoid is much longer and narrower than that of the flamingoes, and is also much less firmly articulated to the breast-bone. The plumage is characterised by its dense and compact nature, and the facility with which water is thrown off from its surface. In the wings there are always ten primary quills, but the number of tail-feathers is Hable to variation. All the members of the order moult annually in the autumn, and the quills of the wings are generally shed so rapidly as to incapacitate the birds for flight for some days. In the true ducks, however, the males change their contour- feathers twice in the year. Although the ducks resemble the flamingoes in laying uniformly-coloured eggs, they differ in that the number in a clutch is large, instead of being generally but a pair; the eggs themselves are further characterised by their hard and usually very smooth shells.

The general external appearance of the members of the duck tribe is too well known to need special mention. It may be observed, however, that their build is that best adapted for rapid progress through the water; the breast and fore-part of

the body being broad and rounded, the hinder extremity

narrow and tapering, and the legs placed relatively far back. Although it has been attempted to divide the members of the order into several distinct families, the whole of them

FRONT AND LOWER VIEWS ‘ S . : OF THE RIGHT cANNon- are so nearly allied that it seems impossible to do more than

a cae yaa eroup the genera of the one family Anatide under several subfamilies, and even some of these are very difficult of definition. The species of the family, which are probably about one hundred and sixty in number, are distributed all over the globe, although more numerous in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere than elsewhere. All are thoroughly aquatic in their habits; but while the majority are swimmers, the members of one group are expert divers. As a rule, they associate in flocks of larger or smaller size, and migrate in numbers to the northern portions of their habitat for the breeding- season. They are all birds of strong flight, and when on the wing fly in the well-known chevron-shaped formation, frequently at a great height in the air. Although the majority of the species are more or less omnivorous in their diet, the mergansers subsist exclusively on fish, while the greater part of the food of the geese consists of grass. The group is not a very ancient one, the earliest known forms occurring in the lower beds of the Miocene division of the Tertiary period.

Spur-Winged The African spur-winged geese (Plectropterus), of which there

Grace: are two species, take their name from the long spur on each wing, which is sharply pointed and attached to the outer side of the wrist-joint; and as they differ in several important points from the other members of the order, they constitute a subfamily by themselves, some writers even making them the repre-

SPUR-WINGED ‘GEESE. 325 sentatives of a distinct family. The lores are naked, and the metatarsus is covered in front with large scutes ; thus differing in both these characters from the geese. The beak is of considerable length and of nearly equal width throughout, terminating in a nail-like knob, and having at its base a large protuberance. In the adult the front of the head is bare and warty, and the cheeks and part of the neck are also naked. The leg is of considerable length, with the lower part of the tibia bare, the metatarsus wide and compressed, and the first toe relatively long, simple, and elevated, the front webs being somewhat deeply incised. In the common P.

SPUR-WINGED GOOSE (4 nat. size).

gambensis the plumage of the upper-parts and the sides of the breast is black, tinged with coppery green; the wings are mottled with white, the abdomen white with patches of black behind the thighs, the naked parts of the face reddish, and the beak and legs reddish and orange-yellow. In size the bird nearly equals the English wild goose. The spur-winged goose inhabits tropical Africa, ranging from Senegambia southwards to the Transvaal and Zambesia, being replaced in Abyssinia and the adjacent regions by Riippell’s spur-winged goose (P. rueppelli). A tew stragglers have been observed in Britain. In the Sudan these birds are generally found in small parties, which for a considerable part of the year frequent the

326 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

banks of rivers, although during the moulting-time, when unable to fly, they seek the retirement and shelter of reedy marshes and swamps; and in the breeding- season the flocks divide up into pairs. Farther south, according to Messrs. Nicolls and Eglinton, they frequent the reedy margins of Lake Ngami and the Chobi and Zambesi Rivers, where they breed in immense numbers. When, however, the smaller water-courses and pools are filled with water, these birds desert the impenetrable swamps, to wander in pairs over the country. “The broods usually number from eight to twelve, the old birds remaining with their progeny for the remainder of the season following the nesting. They do not feed in the day, but may be then observed in the open water, or standing motionless on some dry bank, rocky prominence, or island. When on the wing, they continuously utter a low, hissing noise, and shortly after sundown, just before darkness sets in, leave their day- resorts and fly to the feeding-ground, which is generally some very shallow pass or swamp overgrown with grass, and here they spend the night in search of leeches and water animalcule.” The nest is a huge structure of reeds and flags, generally built among the reeds, but occasionally in a low bush; and to the northward the number of eggs is said to be much less than that above mentioned. During the night they generally fly low; and, in accordance with the length of their legs, they walk less awkwardly than the true geese. Shy and wary, as well as endowed with great vitality, these birds are difficult to kill, and the flesh of the old ones is rank — and tough. They are easily tamed, and thrive in confinement, although their disposition 1s pugnacious. Half-Webbed A still more peculiar form than the last is the half-webbed or Coene: pied goose (Anseranas melanoleucas) of Australia, in which the front toes are only webbed at the base, and the hind one is very long and not raised above their level, and furnished with a large claw. The lores are naked, and the metatarsus is reticulate and longer than the third toe. This remarkable bird, which is about the size of the brent goose, constitutes a distinct subfamily by itself, and has a dull black and white plumage, and a hooked beak, with a large, warty, comb-like prominence on the front of the head. The claws are long and sharp, and the whole foot is adapted for perching. In accordance with this structure, these birds sit for hours on the branches of the Australian tea-trees, and but seldom enter the water. Their ery is loud and hoarse, but quite unlike that of the common goose; and the windpipe is folded on itself, although on the side of, instead of within, the breast-bone, as in the swans. Cee enacts The large cereopsis goose (Cereopsis novee-hollandie) of New Zealand and Tasmania is the sole existing representative of another subfamily characterised by the extreme shortness of the beak, which is covered at the base with a waxy skin, and has its extremity bent down and truncated so as to approximate in appearance to that of a fowl. The body is very stoutly built and massive, the neck short and thick, the head small, the leg long, and the foot with short toes, powerful nails, and deeply incised webs. The wings are broad, with strong quills; the tail is rounded, and the body-plumage soft. The colour of the plumage is a clear ashy grey, with brown reflections, passing into hghter grey on the crown of the head, and marked on the back with blackish brown spots near the tips of the feathers; the under tail-coverts and the tips of some of the wing-

feathers being also blackish brown. The eye is scarlet, the beak black, with its waxy covering greenish yellow, and the leg and foot blackish.

In habits the cereopsis goose—commonly known in Australia as the Cape Barron goose—is much more of a land than a water bird, its gait being very unlike that of an ordinary goose, and its rate of swimming slow. The flight is, moreover, heavy. Essentially diurnal in their habits, these birds are nowhere common, and are rapidly diminishing in number, having been even exterminated in some of the smaller Australian islands. During a long sojourn in Victoria, the “Old Bushman” states that he only saw these birds on two occasions—“ once in a small flock, and once when two pitched with the tame geese at Mordialloe (as they are fond of doing), and which were caught alive. They soon became tame, and used to stalk about the paddock; but they were very pugnacious with the other geese. Their call-note was a deep, trumpet-like sound.” The nest, although no great work of art,is better built than that of most members of the family, being smoothly rounded inside, and decorated with feathers and down. In size the eggs are relatively small, while in form they are rounded, and in colour yellowish white. The period of incubation varies from thirty to thirty-eight days, according to the weather, and the young are able to run immediately after breaking the egg.

New Zealand Till within a comparatively recent date New Zealand was in- Goose. habited by a nearly allied but larger goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans),

which, like so many of the large birds of those islands, had totally lost the power of flight, the wings being very small, and the keel of the breast-bone wanting. In all probability these birds were exterminated by the Maories. As in the cereopsis goose, the metacoracoid of this extinet species was much wider and shorter than it 1s in the other members of the family.

The true geese (Anser), together with several allied genera, constitute a fourth subfamily distinguished by the following char- acteristics, and including some forty species, having an almost world - wide distribution. In size the geese occupy a middle position in the family, none of them being large. The neck is of moderate length, being always shorter than the body ; the lores are feathered; the beak is not longer than the head, and tapers to

The True Geese.

the extremity, which is covered by a large nail-like knob; while the metatarsus is rather long, exceeding the third toe in length, and is covered on all sides with reticulate scales. The tail-feathers may be either fourteen or sixteen ; and although the two sexes are usually very much alike, there is great specific variation im colour. But a single autumnal moult of the plumage takes place; and all these birds are essentially vegetable feeders, many of them grazing in the well-known manner of the domestic breeds. They are all birds of strong, though somewhat heavy flight; and although some are confined to the Southern Hemisphere, the majority seek the remote regions of the north in which to breed, ranging in winter over the warmer parts of the same hemisphere. As compared with the swans, their more elevated bodies and relatively longer legs (in which the tibia is feathered nearly to the ankle) are indicative of more terrestrial habits. In the members of the genus Anser, there is but little if any black in the plumage of the head and neck; the beak and feet are light-coloured, and usually reddish in the adult; and the tail has sixteen feathers,

328 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.,

The genus is represented by some twenty species, ranging over the cold and temperate regions of the globe, but becoming almost cosmopolitan in the winter. Of these the typical member is the grey-lag goose (A. cinereus), which is probably the parent form of the domesticated breeds, and is the only species which nests in the British Islands. It is characterised by the white or whitish nail on the beak ; by the remainder of the beak, together with the feet, being usually flesh-coloured, although liable to vary from creamy white to purplish red; while the wing-coverts and rump are slaty grey. In length, the male measures about 35, and the female 30 inches. Breeding at the present day in the British Islands only, in the north

of Scotland and Ireland, the grey-

SS lag goose ranges all over Europe

——— SSS and North and Central Asia as far

east as Amurland, while in winter it spreads over Southern China and Upper India. The white- fronted goose (A. albifrons), of which there is a larger and a smaller variety, is another British species, although only a winter visitant, also found in India during the cold season. It is a much smaller form than the preceding, the length of the larger race only reaching 27 inches, while in the smaller it varies from 24 to 20. The beak is generally orange- yellow, with a white nail; the feet being likewise of the former hue; while the forehead is characterised by the presence of a variable amount of white feathers at the base of the beak; and the plumage of the breast is much mottled in the adult with brownish black. The Old World distribution of this species is very similar to that of the last; but it is found during winter in North-Eastern Africa, while it also occurs in Greenland, and is represented in the rest of North America by a variety (A. gambeli). The smaller form is often termed the dwarf goose. Agreeing nearly in size with the grey-lag goose, the bean-goose (A. segetwm)—another well-known British species—may be readily distinguished by the black nail of the beak; the middle portion of the beak being orange-yellow, and its base black; while the legs and feet are also orange-yellow or orange. This species also ranges over the greater part of the northern half of the Old World, occurring during the winter in Britain, the shores of the Mediterranean, India, and Japan. It is, however, essentially a northern form, only breeding in Scandinavia to the north of latitude 64°, and in Siberia on the tundras near lakes and pools beyond or near the limits of forest. The pink-footed goose (A brachyrhynchus) is a closely allied smaller

WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE,

GEESE. ae

species or variety, measuring only 28 inches in length, and characterised by the middle portion of the beak being generally pinkish, although sometimes orange- yellow; while the feet are usually flesh-coloured. Breeding in Spitzbergen, probably Iceland, and perhaps Novaia Zemlia, this small goose visits the British Islands in great numbers during the winter, while it occurs rarely in Northern India. The snow goose (A. hyperborews), of which there is a large and small race, belongs to a second group of the genus! characterised by the very stout and slightly convex beak, and by the head and neck, or the whole plumage of the adult, with the exception of the primaries, being entirely white. The snow goose is one of those in which the primaries are black, and the rest of the plumage white ; the smaller variety measuring 23 inches in length. Distributed over the whole of North America, this essentially northern species probably has a cireum- polar distribution, and nests on the barren Arctic tundras, although but little is known of its habits. Ross’s goose (A. rossi) of north-western North America, is a smaller form, with numerous caruncles at the base of its shorter beak; while the American blue-winged goose (4. cwrulescens) has a large portion of the plumage of the body greyish brown, with bluish grey wing-coverts and rump.

The true geese for the greater part of the year frequent marshes, lakes, moors, or open plains, where there is water; but during the winter not unfrequently seek the sea-coast. Their harsh “gaggling” notes are among the most discordant of sounds; and although they associate in flocks during the winter, and frequently also breed in company, each male has but a single consort. The nest is of large size, with the numerous eggs of a creamy white colour; and both sexes take part in the work of incubation. In undisturbed districts they feed during the day, but, when frequently fired at, their feeding- hours are mostly nocturnal; shoots of young grass and corn forming their favourite food. The snow goose, however, subsists largely on berries in the summer. Writing of the grey-lag goose in India, Mr. Hume observes that when not feeding, these birds “spend their time dozing or dawdling about on the margin of some lake or the bank of some river, always by preference choosing some island in these for their noontide siesta. Unless disturbed, they very rarely take to the water. Although they rise rather awkwardly and slowly, with violent and rather noisy flappings of their wings, they fly very strongly and easily when once off, and I do not know a more beautiful sight than the sudden and rapid descent of a large flock from high in the air to some sandbank. The flock comes along in sober state, circles round decorously once or twice, and then suddenly down they come with incredible rapidity, twisting and turning with an ease and grace for which no one could at other times have given them eredit.’ When passing from one piece of water to another, they frequently fly in an irregular mass, but, when journeying long distances, the flock generally ascends to a great height, and flies either in a line or a chevron. During the winter in India these geese are commonly seen in flocks of from thirty to a hundred, but at times a thousand or more may be collected together. The grey-lag does not go so far north to breed as the bean-goose - and its northward, and sometimes also its southward migration, is consequently earlier. The nest of the grey-lag is built of grass and flags,

Habits.

1 Frequently separated as a distinct genus Chen.

330 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

without lining, and is usually placed either at the base of a tussock of coarse grass or among heather; the general number of eggs being six,

Shy and wild as is the grey-lag goose in many districts, on the larger Indian rivers, according to the experience both of Mr. Hume and ourselves, it may be easily approached within range, with the aid of a boat protected in front by a sereen, behind which the sportsman lies concealed. In this manner a flock standing on a sandbank may be approached within a hundred yards without causing much disturbance. “As you approach nearer,” writes Mr. Hume, “all begin to walk slowly away, and, as a rule, if you persist in coming within twenty yards, and coming on quicker than they can walk, they rise and fly; or if you” stand up in the boat, or make any sudden noise, they will equally take to wing, but if you drift quietly down on them, they will let you come within twenty or thirty yards without quitting the bank.” With the first shot they rise with a deafening clamour, generally circling round the boat, and often affording the chance of a second shot.

The Brent or Although nearly allied to the snow geese, the typical brent geese Sea Geese. of the Northern Hemisphere (Bernicla) are distinguished from the true geese by their darker plumage, in which the head and neck are chiefly black, and the beak and feet entirely black, at all ages. All these birds are characterised by their short subconical beaks, of which the length is considerably less than that of the head; the mandibles having their inner edges nearly straight, and their lamelle nearly or completely concealed; while the nail at the tip is ovate, and the nostrils oval and nearly central. The long wings are also more pointed than in the true geese, and the tail is short and rounded.

Of the more typical representatives of the genus, we may first mention the brent goose (B. brenta), characterised by the head and neck being black, with the exception of a white patch on each side of the latter. The length is about 22 inches; and in the typical form the upper part of the breast is black, while the lower part of the latter and the abdomen are slaty grey. There is, however, a variety (glaucogaster) in which the under-parts below the breast are nearly white. The brent goose inhabits all Arctic Europe and part of Asia, wintering in the British Islands, North Germany, France, Belgium, etce., and occasionally ranging to the Mediterranean and the Valley of the Nile. It breeds in Spitzbergen, Novaia Zemlia, and the islands of Arctic Siberia, and thence to the extreme north; while in America it nests in Greenland, and ranges southwards on the east side of that continent as far as New York, or even Texas. In western Arctic America it is replaced by the American brent goose (B. nigri- cans), distinguished by the white of the middle of the neck forming an almost complete collar; the winter range of this species extending along the Pacific sea- board as far as Lower California. The bernicle goose (B. lewcopsis)—anciently supposed by some extraordinary confusion of ideas to have been produced from the well-known ship-barnacles—is a larger species, measuring upwards of 25

Northern Species.

inches in length, and easily recognised by the greater part of the front of the head being white, although the lores and the feathers at the base of the upper mandible are black. The plumage of the upper-parts is largely lavender-grey; the scapulars, wing-coverts, and many of the wing-feathers tipped with a bluish black

GEESE. ia

°o

erescent edged with white at the end, while the primaries and tail-feathers are almost. black; the breast and abdomen being greyish white, and the under tail- coverts pure white. This species is an inhabitant of the coasts of Northern Europe, ranging in winter to the British Islands, and occasionally found as far south as Spain and Italy. How far eastwards it extends in Northern Asia is at present unknown; while there is no definite information as to its breeding, although it probably nests in Novaia Zemlia, Spitzbergen, and the regions still

\\

UE)

MALE AND FEMALE HALF-BRED UPLAND GEESE. (From Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1876.)

further north. It probably also breeds in Greenland, being occasionally found on the Atlantic coasts of North America. A fourth very distinct representative of the genus is the Canada brent goose (B. canadensis), easily recognised by its black head and neck, with a large triangular patch of white on each cheek, usually joined by a band beneath the throat, but sometimes separated by a narrow black line. Occasionally there is also a white collar encircling the lower part of the neck. As regards the rest of the plumage, the tail, rump, and primaries are brownish black, the upper tail-coverts and region of the vent white, and the

332 : FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

=

remainder greyish brown, lighter below than above, with the tips of the feathers paler. This goose, which is very variable in size and coloration, inhabits the whole of North America, as far south as Mexico. Very different from all the above is the handsome bird known as the red-breasted goose (B. rujicollis), which may be recognised by the black forehead, white lores, and the rich chestnut of the neck and upper breast bordered above with white. The ear-coverts have also an angular patch of chestnut bordered with white; the upper-parts are blackish brown; the top of the head, part of the sides of the face, the back of the neck, the throat, the primaries, tail-feathers, and lower breast are black ; and the upper and lower tail-coverts and the abdomen white. In length this bird measures from | 21 to 22 inches. Its native home is the tundras of Siberia, whence it wanders occasionally during the winter to Scandinavia, Northern Germany, Holland, the British Islands, and other parts of Kurope.

From being such exclusively Arctic birds, our acquaintance with the habits of the more typical brent geese is not so intimate as would be desirable. In Europe during the winter they generally frequent the neighbour- hood of the coasts, although at times penetrating some distance inland. Usually collecting at this season in considerable flocks, these birds always indicate their near presence by the constant gaggling kept up as they feed, or by the hoarse cronk of their call-note. The food of the bernicle goose consists chiefly of grasses and bents growing on the sandhills; while the brent goose eats seaweeds and other water-plants, as well as crustaceans and other small aquatic creatures. On the other hand, the Canada goose subsists largely on berries and corn. During its migrations the latter species assembles in flocks, which unite together to form a vast column, with each section under an appointed leader. At such times they generally fly throughout the night, although occasionally resting in the daytime. When about to alight, pioneers descend from the flock to select a favourable and safe feeding-ground; and during the whole time that it is on the ground, the flock is guarded by sentinels. The watchfulness of these guardians renders a flock of Canada geese almost impossible to approach by stalking; and the plan adopted in many parts of the States is to dig pits in a stubble-field, in which the sportsmen take up their position surrounded by a number of decoys. The geese are then shot during their morning and evening flights from lake to lake, when they are attracted within easy range by the decoys. In the Magdalen Islands this species makes its nest in marshy plains, occasionally laying as many as nine eggs in a clutch. The brent goose, on the other hand, breeds on the sides of slopes on the bare space left between the line of snow and the sea-ice; the four eggs being deposited on a bed of grass, moss, and saxifrage, overlain with down. Occasionally the nest of another bird is adopted by some of the members of this genus. All the brent geese are readily tamed, and breed in confinement, several of the species crossing with one another.

The brent geese of the Southern Hemisphere differ more or less markedly from their northern cousins, and some or all of them have accordingly been separated (as Cloéphaga) from the genus Bernicla, although we follow Mr. Sclater in including the whole of them under that name. Several of these lack the black heads and necks of the northern species; and in some, such as

Habits.

Southern Species.

GEESE. 333

the upland goose (B. magellanica), ranging from the Falkland Islands to Chili, and the kelp goose (B. antarctica) of the Falkland Islands and Patagonia, the male is mainly white, while the female is mottled brown. In other cases, however, as shown in our figure, which is taken from hybrids between the upland goose and another species known as B. dispar, the difference between the two sexes is less marked, although the male still has a lighter head and neck. Other species are the small Australian brent goose (B. jubata), which is of the size of a duck, and characterised by the extreme shortness of its beak, and its blackish head and neck ; and the Sandwich Island goose (B. sandvicensis). According to Mr. W. H.

ijt

( 7A nM My { i My

i) Hi

fi ya ca a i

EGYPTIAN GOOSE (} nat. size),

Hudson, the upland goose, which, like some other members of the genus, has a small spur on its wing, visits Patagonia in great numbers during the winter, and inflicts much damage on the growing crops of young corn and clover.

The Egyptian goose (Chenalopex cegyptiaca) is the best known

Egyptian and Knob-Winged member of a genus typically represented by the knob-winged goose Beers. (C. jubata) of South America. It is characterised by the beak being

equal in length to the head, and of rather slender form, with the tip bent suddenly down so as almost to conceal the lower mandible, and the nostrils placed near its base. The wings are rather long and broad, and are each armed with a small bare knob, while the tail has fourteen rounded feathers. The legs are relatively long,

334 ~ FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

o

with the metatarsus exceeding the length of the third toe; and the first toe is well developed. The windpipe of the male differs from that of ordinary geese in being dilated at the lower end. In colour the Egyptian goose has the sides of the head and front of the neck mottled yellowish white ; a patch round the eye, the hinder- neck, and a collar round the lower part of the latter are chestnut-brown; on the upper-parts the general hue is mingled grey and black, and that of the under-parts yellowish brown, marked with black and white, and becoming lighter on the hinder-part of the breast and abdomen; the breast having a patch of chestnut brown. The carpal portion of the wing and wing-coverts is white, with black tips to the smaller coverts; the secondaries are tinged with reddish bay, and edged . with chestnut; and the prim- aries and tail-feathers are brilliant black. The iris is yellow ; the beak is horn-colour above, with the tip pink, the nail, margin, and base dark brown, and the lower mandible cherry-red; the legs and feet being pink.

This handsomely coloured bird, which is the vulpanser of Herodotus, was domesticated by the ancient Egyptians, and, although not sacred, was the emblem of Seb, the father of Osiris. It now occurs in the Nile Valley southwards of Cairo, and thence ranges over the greater part of tropical Africa, and is the common wild goose of the Cape Colony. Going about either singly or in pairs, the Egyptian goose frequents both rapid running streams and pools and lakes , and its nest may be situated either on dry land or among long swampy grass in the Zambesi district. Further north these birds have, however, been known to rear their young on ledges of steep cliffs. The young brood leave their parents as soon as they are strong enough to fly. When on the wing, a loud, harsh, grating noise, which has been compared to the bark of a dog, is continually uttered. This goose has been more or less completely acclimatised in England, where it may not unfrequently be seen on ornamental waters; and in confinement it has bred with several other members of the family,—among them the spur-winged goose. The flesh is superior in quality to that of the latter species. The windpipe of the male is peculiar in having a large bony capsule on the left side of its lower extremity.

AMERICAN KNOB-WINGED GOOSE.

So indissolubly was the attribute of whiteness connected among

The Swans, : 5 : 5 the ancients with the swans, that the idea of a black swan, as ex-

SWANS. age pressed in the well-known line, rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cygno, was considered a mere flight of the poetic imagination. Nevertheless, not only does a black swan exist, but a second species is remarkable for having a black head and neck and a white body. The swans, all of which may be included in the single genus Cygnus, are readily defined as members of the present family characterised by their exceedingly long necks, their naked lores, the simple first toe, and the metatarsus reticulated and shorter than the third toe with the claw. The group as thus defined, indicates not only a genus, but likewise a distinet subfamily. All these birds are of large size, and have the flexible and slender neck as long as, or longer than the body; while the beak exceeds the head in length, and has its edges parallel, and the terminal nail small. The tail-feathers vary from twenty to twenty-four in number; and, with the exception of the black Australian swan, the plumage is entirely or mainly white in the adult state. The two sexes are nearly alike; and there is but a single moult. Swans, of which there are comparatively few species, are distributed over the greater part of the world except Africa south of the Sahara, North Australia, and the northern districts of South America. The gracefulness of their form, and especially the beautiful curving of the neck, is proverbial; and they are all birds of powerful flight, more aquatic in their habits than the geese, but also walking well on land. Frequenting lakes and other inland waters in summer, they often seek the sea in winter; but while some prefer open waters, others, like Bewick’s swan, rather favour marshes and narrow rivers. Their food consists of the seeds, stems, and roots of flags and other water-plants, supplemented by insects and molluses. All the white swans are migratory, and during their migrations fly both by night and day. Like the geese, they are more or less gregarious, especially during the winter ; and they also resemble those birds in pairing apparently for life. Their large untidy nests are placed on the ground, often among tussocks of coarse grass, and contain from three to eight dull whitish eggs. As a rule, the young birds have feathered lores, and a greyish brown plumage. The call-note is loud and trumpet- like.

At least two species of swans are winter-visitants to the British Islands, while a third occurs in a domesticated state, although probably a few wild individuals also arrive. The first of these is the whooper or whistling swan (C. musicus), which belongs to a group of species common to the northern half of both the Old and New Worlds, and characterised by their com- paratively short and rounded tails; while it is specifically distinguished by the lores and the basal portion of the beak to below the nostrils being yellow, the remainder of the nostrils being black. In length this species reaches 60 inches. The whooper is essentially an Arctic species, breeding chiefly within the Arctic Circle either on the islands in the deltas of the great rivers, or on the lakes of the Siberian tundras. Iceland and the northern parts of Scandinavia are also favourite nesting- haunts of this species, which appears to breed in pairs and not in small flocks. Mr. Hume is of opinion that during its winter migration this species does not, except in unusually severe winters, go as far south as some of its allies, although at times it reaches the Mediterranean Islands, Egypt, Algeria, and Palestine. Eastwards, it visits the Caspian, Persia, Turkestan, China, and Japan, but is unknown in India

Whistling Swans.

336 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

proper. The nesting-season commences in the latter half of May, the usual period of incubation being about six weeks; but the young birds are unable to fly before the end of August. In diet these swans are mainly vegetarians.

A considerably smaller bird than the last, this species (C. bewickv) may be distinguished by the yellow of the bill not extending below the nostrils; the total length being about 50 inches. The general distribution is very similar to that of the whooper, although this swan is only an accidental visitor

Bewick’s Swan.

WHISTLING SWAN (4 nat. size).

to Norway, and does not breed in Iceland. Indeed, it is only within the last twenty years that its nest and eggs were first obtained; and even now very little is known of its breeding-habits, since this swan is even a more northerly bird than the whooper. Its note is less loud and harsh than that of the latter, being indeed somewhat musical in sound. In winter this swan congregates in enormous flocks, which may be numbered by hundreds, or even thousands; and it is at all times exceedingly wary and difficult to approach. In both the whooper and Bewick’s swan the windpipe is bent upon itself, and is received into a cavity in the front of the breast-bone, from which it again emerges to enter the chest; but the nature of the folding is different in the two species, and serves to distinguish between them.

SWANS. 437

North America possesses two representatives of this group of swans, namely, the American swan (C. coluwmbianus), and the trumpeter swan (C. buccinator), both of which have the windpipe folded. These two species have black beaks; but whereas in the former the number of. tail- feathers is usually twenty, the beak is not longer than the head, and the naked skin of the lores generally shows a yellow spot; in the latter there are twenty- four tail-feathers, the beak is longer than the head, and there is no yellow on the lores. The trumpeter somewhat exceeds the whooper in size, whereas the other species is somewhat smaller. In defence of wounded companions the American swan is stated to display great affection, a number having been known to collect round a disabled bird and aid its escape by pushing it forward in the water and supporting its broken wing. In its southerly migration it collects in flocks of twenty or thirty, flying only when the wind is favourable, and then ascending to a great height in the air. The flock flies in the form of an elongated wedge; the rate of their progress being estimated at upwards of a hundred miles an hour.

The mute swan of the Old World (C. olor) indicates a second group of the genus, characterised by the relatively long and wedge- shaped tail, the presence of a large tubercle at the base of the beak, and the absence of a fold of the windpipe entering the breast-bone. In addition to these features, the mute swan may be recognised by the coloration of the beak, in which the base, together with the lores and tubercle, is black, while the terminal portion is orange- red; the coloration being therefore just the reverse of that met with in the whooper. In size the mute swan agrees with the latter; the tubercle of the bill attaining its greatest development in old males. Best known in the British Islands as a domesticated bird, there is little doubt that during the winter there are some wild visitants. The range of the species includes Europe and some portions of Asia, the breeding-area embracing South Sweden, parts of Germany, Russia, Transylvania, Turkestan, ete., while during winter these birds enter Northern Africa, Egypt, and North-Western India. While swimming, the mute swan is the most graceful of all its kin, being the one in which alone the neck is bent in true “swanlike” form. Deriving its name from the absence of any cry in the domestic race, it appears that wild birds trumpet like the whooper. The nesting-time— during which the male bird displays extreme pugnacity—takes place in May; the

American Swans.

Mute Swan.

nests being generally built in association, and the number of eggs in each varying from five to eight. The only swannery in England is the one at Abbotsbury, near Weymouth, belonging to the Earl of Ilchester, where in 1880 there were upwards of fourteen hundred birds. This swannery, which dates from very ancient times, is situated on the estuary known as the Fleet, of which the upper portion is brackish while the lower parts are completely salt. In the breeding-season the nests cover a large area near the shore; and while some of the young birds remain to increase the numbers in the swannery, others wander out into the Fleet and become nearly wild. The severe winter of 1880-81 reduced the number of swans to about eight hundred, an average which has been since maintained.

A considerable amount of discussion has taken place as to whether the so-called Polish swan (C. immutabilis), distinguished by the smaller size of the tubercle on the beak, the black edges to the gape, and the slaty legs, as well by the plumage

VOL, IV.—22

338 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS,

of the eygnets being often white from birth, 1s entitled to rank as a distinct species. It is, however, very probable that the distinctive features of the bird itself may be due to immaturity; while the white plumage of the cygnets may be merely an effect of domestication. Black-Necked The handsome black-necked swan (CL nigricollis) from Chili, Swan. Argentina, and other southern districts of South America, is easily distinguished from all the preceding by the black head and neck; the rest of the

BLACK SWAN.

plumage being white, and the lores and base of the beak red. It agrees with the mute swan in having the tail long and wedge-shaped; but differs in the scalloped margin of the web of the toes.

This Australian species (C. atratus) differs from all its congeners, not only in the predominant hue of the adult plumage being blackish, but also by the young having feathered lores, and likewise by the extreme short- ness of the tail, and the crispness of the scapular and inner secondary feathers. The naked parts of the head and the skin at the base of the beak are red, and the

Black Swan.

DUCKS. 339

o

feathers of the pinion white, but otherwise the bird is black. Inferior in size to the whooper, this elegant bird is far less shy than the majority of its genus; and when flying overhead at night utters a decidedly musical call-note. In Victoria the “Old Bushman” writes that after the young birds ean fly, black swans were common “on all the large swamps and lagoons; sometimes in good-sized flocks, but generally in small companies, which I took to be old birds and birds of the year. Karly in summer they retire to their breeding-haunts, and we saw very little of them again till the swamps and water-holes filled. They appear to breed in August and September. The nest is a large heap of rushes, and the female lays five to seven dirty white eggs, not so large as those of the mute swan.” It is added that the islands in Westernport Bay are favourite nesting-sites. Being a bird of heavy flight, the black swan always endeavours to save itself, if possible, by swimming rather than by taking wing.

Fossil Swans and Remains of the whooper and Bewick’s swan in the superficial

Geese. deposits of the Thames Valley indicate that those birds were contem- poraries of the mammoth; while, in the Miocene of Malta, Faleoner’s swan (C. falconert) was of larger size than any existing form, from which it differed by its extremely short and goose-like toes. Bones of the existing species of European geese are found in the same deposits as those yielding the remains of modern swans; while an extinct species (C. @ningensis), of the size of the bean goose, occurs in the Miocene rocks of Baden.

Comb Duck and Before coming to the more typical ducks, there are three genera

Cotton Teal. demanding a brief notice which, to a certain extent, connect the ducks with the geese, and thus render the classification of the family so difficult. The comb ducks, of which there is an Indian (Sarcidiornis melanonotus), an African (S. africanus), and a tropical American species (S. carwnculatus), are large and somewhat goose-like birds with short and high beaks, and characterised by the presence of a blunt spur on the wing, a fleshy protuberance at the base of the beak of the male, and the glossy blackish plumage of the beak, the wings being brightly marked like those of ducks. Although the two sexes are very similar, the males are much larger than the females. The Indian species measures from 30 to 34 inches in length. In habits it approaches the tree-ducks, frequently perching on trees, and generally nesting in holes in their trunks,

The Indian cotton-teal (Vettapus coromandelianus) is a member of genus also having one African and two Australian representatives; and somewhat resembles a miniature of the comb duck, although lacking the comb and spur, and also differing by the more sombre coloration of the female. The beak, moreover, is still Slaten and higher at the base; and the tail differs from that of all the true ducks in having but twelve feathers. The Indian species, which associates in large flocks, measures 13 or 14 inches in length.

Tree-Ducks or There being no representatives of the group in Britain, the idea Whistling Teal. of ducks habitually perching in trees may seem to many persons somewhat unnatural, yet this is the normal habit of the tree-ducks, or, as they are generally called in India, whistling teal. Although approaching the more typical ducks in the form of the beak, which is somewhat depressed at the end, this genus (Dendrocygna) may be distinguished from them by the front of the metatarsus

340 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

being reticulate, in which respect they resemble the geese. The lores are feathered ; the legs rather long, with the lower portion of the tibia bare; the wings are short and rounded; and the abbreviated tail is almost concealed by the coverts. The sexes are nearly alike; and although in some species there is a bright patch or speculum on the wing, in coloration these birds approach the Egyptian goose and ruddy sheldrake, to both of which they may be allied. In their voice, as well as in the plumage undergoing but one moult, and likewise in the vegetable nature of their food, these birds again approach the geese, and differ from the ducks. Tree- ducks are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world ; and it is highly remarkable that one species (D. viduata) is common to South | America and West Africa. The general colour of the plumage of these birds is some shade of brown or chestnut, with the back, wings, and tail variously marked with darker brown and slaty; but in one of the American species the abdomen is black, while in a second the under-parts are dirty white. The Indian D. javanica measures about 20 inches in length. The latter species frequents well-wooded, well- watered, and well-drained districts throughout India; being found during the breeding-season in pairs, but in the cold weather and spring associating in flocks, which, according to Mr. Hume, may number from twenty to two thousand head. Migratory in their habits, these birds, writes the last-named observer, are very tame and familiar, “ frequenting village ponds, and living on the trees surrounding such, even on trees growing inside the enclosures of cottages. They are rather dull birds, slow on the wing and easily shot, and they have a habit of circling round and round the gunner when one of their number has been shot, that often proves fatal to the greater portion of the flock, when it unfortunately falls under the tender mercies of butchers. When absolutely required for food, a pair or so may be shot, but they are indifferent eating, and fly so poorly that they really afford no sport.” Their deficiency in the matter of flight, is, however, counterbalanced by their ex- pertness in swimming and diving, a wounded bird being most difficult to capture. When not on the wing, these birds are most commonly seen either feeding on the water, or resting on trees. Chiefly vegetarians, they subsist largely on rice, as well as various water-plants, but also consume insects and molluses. They derive their name of whistling teal from their double hissing whistle-like note, which is always uttered when the birds are alarmed or about to fly, and is often repeated during flight, although but seldom heard when they are feeding or at rest. The nest may be situated either in a hollow tree or between the fork of a large branch, or on the ground, and if built by the birds themselves is unlined; a deserted crow’s nest is, however, often taken advantage of. The number of eggs is usually from ten to twelve. Curiously enough, when the nest is in a tree, the young are carried down by the parent birds to the water. Mr. Hume has observed the ducklings carried in the claws of their parents, but it has been stated that they are sometimes borne on their backs.

The handsome birds known as sheldrakes (Tadorna), which are near relations of the tree ducks, may be regarded as the first repre- sentatives of the subfamily Anatine, in which are included all the more typical ducks. The members of this group are relatively short-necked birds of smaller size than the true geese, from which they differ in having the front of the

The Sheldrakes.

PLOGCTISS: 341

o

metatarsus covered with scutes, and the length of that segment shorter than the third toe; while they are further characterised by having only a small membrane attached to the first toe. The beak is variable; and the number of tail-feathers ranges from fourteen to eighteen. In the males, the lower end of the windpipe is dilated, as it is in the spur-winged and Egyptian goose, the comb ducks, ete. None of these birds are in the-habit of diving for their food. The sheldrakes resemble the tree ducks in that the plumage of the two sexes is nearly alike; but in the ducks there is usually great differences between the two, the males having a very beautiful coloration, with a bright metallic patch or speculum, on the wing. The sheldrakes further agree with the tree ducks in having but a single annual moult ; whereas, in many of the ducks, the males moult their contour-feathers once in the early summer and again in autumn. ‘The subfamily comprises a very large number of species arranged under many genera, and having an almost world-wide distribution, although most widely spread during the winter of the Northern Hemisphere. The exigencies of space admit of a reference only to some of the more important genera. In addition to the similarity in the coloration of the sexes and their single moult, the sheldrakes are characterised by the presence of a conspicuous white patch on the front of the wing, by the relative length of the metatarsus (above which a portion of the tibia is bare), and also by the prevalence of chestnut, black, and white —often in strongly contrasting masses — in the plumage. The beak is about equal in length to the head, and higher than broad at the base (near which are situated the nostrils), with the nail bent down and hooked. In the long and powerful wings, the second quill is the longest. The sheldrakes form a group of six species, breeding in the temperate regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and visiting India and the adjacent countries in winter, but quite unknown in the New World.

Common The handsomest and, in Europe, the best known representatives

Sheldrake. of the genus is the common sheldrake, or burrow duck (7. cornuta), which is sufficiently characterised by the head and neck being dark glossy green, below which is a broad collar of white, followed by a band of rich chestnut ex- tending across the back and breast; the remainder of the plumage being mainly black and white, with the speculum of the wing marked by green and chestnut on the secondaries. ‘The beak is red, while the legs and toes are flesh-pink. The usual length is about 25 inches. This sheldrake is essentially an inhabitant of the temperate regions of the northern half of the Old World, being a resident through- out the year in the British Islands, and scarcely ever penetrating within either the Arctic Circle or the Tropics. From Britain its range extends to Japan, where it is a winter visitor; and the limits of its migration include Persia, North-Western India, and North Africa; while it breeds not only in Europe, but in Southern Siberia, Mongolia, Turkestan, ete. Essentially a coast-bird in Europe, in India the sheldrake is more commonly found on inland waters, although it haunts the shores of Sind. On the coasts of Europe these birds prefer sandy districts, especially those with numerous rabbit-burrows, in which they breed, and hence derive their name of burrow-duck. Yarrell writes that the nest is always in a burrow of some sort, and frequently in one describing part of a circle, so that it may be situated as much as ten or twelve feet from the entrance. It is composed of bents of grass,

342 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

lined with fine soft down. In the Frisian Islands the natives construct artificial burrows for these birds to nest in, and make a regular harvest of the eggs; the number laid by a single bird, if some are from time to time removed, reaching as many as thirty. The note of the sheldrake is a shrill whistle; and its food usually consists of seaweed and various small marine animals. Its conspicuous white and dark plumage renders the sheldrake easy of detection among the ducks; but, in India at least, it is extremely shy and difficult to approach.

NS

COMMON SHELDRAKE (1 nat. size).

A very different looking bird to the last is the ruddy sheldrake, or Braminy duck (7. casarca), which, while but a rare visitor to the British Islands and North-Western Europe generally, breeds in Spain, the valley of the Danube, and southern Russia in great numbers, and thence extends through Persia, Turkestan, and South Siberia to Amurland and Japan; while in winter it visits India, Burma, and China in swarms. Although so largely migratory in Asia and non-migratory in Europe, the occurrence of this species during the winter in North Africa indicates that some individuals make a periodical move even in the western portion of its habitat.

The greater part of the plumage of the Braminy is a full orange-brown, but in the summer the male has a black ring round the neck; while at all times the point of the wing and wing-coverts are pale buffy white, the primaries, rump, and tail- feathers blackish leaden grey, and the secondaries rather lighter, with a brilhant

Ruddy Sheldrake.

DUCKS. Ae

bronzy green speculum formed by their outer webs, except at the tips. The beak and legs are leaden and blackish. In size, this bird corresponds closely with the ordinary sheldrake. Some of the favourite breeding-places of the Braminy are the great lakes of the Tibetan Highlands, such as the Pangkong and Tsomorari, on the former of which the writer has seen them in numbers. In such regions these birds build in clefts or cavities of rocks; but in other districts the nests are more commonly placed in burrows and other holes, while in Mongolia they have even been known to be situated in the fireplaces of deserted villages. Visiting the country during the winter in myriads, Braminys at that season are to be met with on every piece of water in India; and, as Mr. Hume observes, no object is more familiar in river scenery “than a pair of these ducks, standing or squatting, side by side on the banks, or on some chur [island]; no sounds are more perpetually heard as one floats lazily down with the stream, than their loud warning notes, repeated more earnestly as one draws nearer and nearer, and followed by the sharp patter of their wings as they rise on the approach of the boat. Very wary they are, and yet not at all afraid of men, so long as they keep just out of gunshot.” Uneatable except when skinned, and then by no means a bonne bouche, the Braminy is most cordially detested by the Indian sportsman, as its harsh ery and noisy flight puts up all other water-fowl in the neigh- bourhood while still beyond shooting-range. = EG ae The beautiful wild duck or mallard (Anas boscas) is the typical repre- sentative not only of the true ducks of the genus to which it belongs, but likewise of all the freshwater non-diving ducks of the present subfamily; the gen- eral characters of which have already been mentioned under the head of the sheldrakes. The WILD DUCK. true ducks are characterised by having the broad and depressed beak about equal in length to the head, with its sides either parallel or partially dilated, and both mandibles provided with well-marked transverse lamelle on their inner edges; the oval nostrils being situated in advance of its base. The legs are shorter than in the sheldrakes, and placed nearly under the centre of the body, with the metatarsus somewhat rounded in front. The wings are rather long and pointed; while the tail, which may be either pointed or wedge-shaped, is comparatively short. Of the true ducks there are numerous species, with a cosmopolitan distribution; and while in the wild duck the plumage of the two sexes is very distinct, this is not the case in some species, such as the Indian spot-bill duck

(A. pecilorhyncha).

544 FLAMINGOES, DUCKS, AND SCREAMERS.

Such a familiar species as the British wild-duck—the ancestral stock of most of our domesticated breeds—might seem to require little or no description, but the omission of such a notice would entail confusion later on. The mallard, then, is characterised by the male being more brightly coloured than the female, except during the breeding-season ; and by the brillianey of the wing-speculum in both sexes at all times. In winter the adult male has the four middle tail-feathers curled upwards; the head and neck are brilliant velvety green, and separated by a white collar from the rich chestnut of the breast; while the wing-speculum is a brilliant metallic violet, bounded in front by a black and then a white bar, and behind by two similar bands. The beak is yellowish green, and the legs and feet orange-red. In length the bird measures about 22 inches. On the other hand, the female at all times, and the male in the breeding-season, have the wings coloured as above, and the whole of the rest of the plumage varie- gated with dusky and ochre, the former appearing in the centre of the feathers and on the upper-parts, and the latter on the edges of the feathers and lower-parts. Such characters suffice shortly to distinguish this handsome species from its allies. As regards its distribution, the mallard may be said to inhabit the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, although its chief range is restricted to the zone lying between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic.

The dusky duck (A. obscwra), of eastern North America, may be taken as an example of a second group of the genus in which the sexes are