in the order in which they first begin to open as the spring advances. } Turdus simpliciter Curruca: } Emberiza flava: } Alauda vulgaris : ca: Atricapilla: Alauda pratorum:{ Merula vulgaris : Ficedula affinis: Chloris: On to July and August 2nd. | Passer arundina- ( May, on to beginning of ceus minor: July. 16. Common lin net, 1 Gilbert White, it would seem, did not clearly distinguish the tree pipit, Anthus arboreus, which he calls the titlark, from the meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis, which is the titlark of other authors. The former is a migratory bird, arriving in April and leaving in September, and a good songster (see p. 117); the latter is found here throughout the year, though many go southward for the winter, and is a very poor songster. The former, as its name implies, lives chiefly in trees; the latter lives almost entirely on the ground, and in its habits and mode of feeding closely resembles the wagtail.-Ed. Birds that cease to be in full song, and are usually silent at or before Midsummer :: low wren, RAII NOMINA. wil-Regulus non cris- Middle of June: begins in 17. Middle 18. Redstart, 19. Chaffinch, 20. Nightingale, Birds that sing for a short time, and very early in the Birds that have somewhat of a note or song, and yet are hardly to be called singing birds :— } Regulus cristatus: } Parus palustris: Its note as minute as its per son; frequents the tops of high oaks and firs: the smallest British bird. Haunts great woods: two harsh sharp notes. Regulus non cris-Sings in March, and on to Sep tatus: tember. Cantat voce stridulâ locustæ ; from end of April to August. Chirps all night, from the middle of April to the end of July. All the breeding time; from From the end of January to July. All singing birds, and those that have any pretensions to song, not only in Britain, but perhaps the world through, come under the Linnæan Ordo of Passeres. The above-mentioned birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnæan genera : Birds that sing as they fly are but few: All birds that continue in full song till after Midsummer appear to me to breed more than once. Most kinds of birds seem to me to be wild and shy somewhat in proportion to their bulk; I mean in this island, where they are much pursued and annoyed; but in Ascen 1 To this list might have been added the robin, since it not unfrequently nests in January during mild winters.-ED. sion Island, and many other desolate places, mariners have found fowls so unacquainted with a human figure, that they would stand still to be taken; as is the case with boobies, &c. As an example of what is advanced, I remark that the golden-crested wren (the smallest British bird) will stand unconcerned till you come within three or four yards of it, while the bustard (Otis), the largest British land fowl, does not care to admit a person within so many furlongs.' 1 "Besides the barren 'brecks' of Norfolk and Suffolk, the great bustard, on good authority, appears in former times to have been extremely common on all the open parts of this island which were suited to its habits-the elevated moors of Haddingtonshire and Berwickshire, the desolate wolds of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Newmarket and Royston Heaths on the borders of Cambridgeshire, together with the downs of Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Southampton, and Sussex LETTER III. TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. SELBORNE, Jan. 15, 1770. T was no small matter of satisfaction to me to find that you were not displeased with my little methodus of birds. If there was any merit in the sketch, it must be owing to its punctuality. For many months I carried a list in my pocket of the birds that were to be remarked, and, as I rode or walked about my business, I noted each day the continuance or omission of each bird's song; so that I am as sure of the certainty of my facts as a man can be of any transaction whatsoever. I shall now proceed to answer the several queries which you put in your two obliging letters, in the best manner that I am able. Perhaps Eastwick, and its environs, where being all more or less frequented by it; but in every one of these localities it had ceased to exist before the last of the race of British bustards fell victims to the advancement of agricultural enterprise in this (Norfolk) and the adjoining county."-STEVENSON's Birds of Norfolk, vol. ii. p. 2. It has long been extinct in Scotland, the occurrence of probably the last Scottish straggler is recorded by Dr. Fleming in his History of British Animals," p. 115, where he states that one was shot in 1803 in Morayshire. As regards Ireland, the great bustard is included by Smith, in his "History of Cork," as one of the birds of the county of Cork in 1749, but if ever it was really found in Ireland, it has long since become extinct there. 66 Our knowledge of the supposed gular pouch in the male bustard, originally due to a British anatomist, Dr. James Douglas, was first made known in 1740 by Albin, in his "Nat. Hist. Brit. Birds," iii. p. 36. Since that date many have been the contributions published, and various the opinions expressed, on this very curious subject. In the "Ibis" for 1862, pp. 107-27, will be found a very full and interesting account by Professor Newton of all that had been previously published on the matter, supplemented with observations of his own, and an important communication on the same subject by Dr. Cullen is given in the "Ibis," 1865, p. 143.-ED. |