Arthur Gardiner Butler

“ Although almost entirely self-taught, it is no exaggeration to say that in the sexing of birds no man was his equal; he could unhesitatingly pick out a pair of birds of any imported species with such accuracy that, under favourable conditions, nesting would be almost a certainty; his eye became so trained to the differences of male and female in birds of identical plumage that, in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases, he would sex them at a glance. ”

“ The Canary, which has been so coddled by man that it has become stupid, and has been so constantly accustomed to the sight of Cats for many generations, that its natural dread of them has been blunted, is perhaps the only type of bird which frequently loses its life through the loss of the instinctive fear which might have saved it. ”

“ So far as I have had an opportunity of testing sexual characters, I believe that among flying birds, in which the male is dominant, the primaries of the male are longer than those of the female, or, at any rate, the wing from its base to the end of the longest primary shows greater length.
In the Thrushes (Turdidæ) , I believe it will be found to be the rule that the entire body is longer in the male, the skull and bill longer and narrower. In the Liotriges the adult males are rather larger than the females, with their bills slightly, but very slightly, broader. ”

“ Touching the construction of nests by birds, a great deal of poetic nonsense has been written. Most nests are pleasing objects, and some are extremely artistic; but it is not true that the most elaborate nest is entirely beyond imitation by a skilled workman; indeed, I am satisfied that a Chinese artist would be able to fashion an excellent copy of the nest of a Long-tailed Tit (that most beautiful of English types) in a tithe of the time occupied by the birds. ”

“ I have found that hand-reared Sky-Larks, however young they may be taken from the nest, sing the wild song perfectly, although they usually add parts of the songs of other birds which they may hear; and I am inclined to believe that the true song-birds, with the exception of the Mocking-bird and one or two others, rarely learn additional notes after they have become adult. ”

“ If asked how he could tell the sexes of two birds exactly alike in plumage, he would take his net, catch a pair, hold them close together, and ask you if you could not see a difference; if you hesitated, he would point out that, having nothing else to guide it, a bird must be guided (as we generally are in the case of the human species) by the face. ”

“ The wedding garments of birds are believed to be assumed for the subjugation of the hens, and birds do not wait until they are old before they begin to breed.
There is no doubt that albinism in birds is due to constitutional weakness, and is a frequent result of close inbreeding. If a pair of Sparrows (Passer domesticus) takes up its quarters in one part of a building, or in the roof of an isolated cottage, the young, inbreeding for successive generations, are pretty certain to throw individuals with more or less white in the plumage. ”

“ When it is turned into an aviary, and elects to build in a bush, it forms the typical domed nest, with entrance-hole in front, characteristic of all the Mannikins. The Canary, on the other hand, invariably builds the cup-shaped nest characteristic of true Finches. I have had these nests built in my aviaries year after year by different birds, invariably reared in the ordinary London breeding-cage.
If we deny inherited memory to birds, how are we to account for the natural fear which hand-reared birds always exhibit at the sight of a Cat ”

“ I have seen the American Blue-bird, the English Starling, the Robin, Redstart, and many other insectivorous birds swallow quantities of seed, and benefit greatly in consequence. When finches are breeding, soft food in the aviary becomes a necessity for most of them, and the pan put in for the insectivorous birds is largely resorted to. I have reared many broods of Java Sparrows, Saffron-finches, Zebra-finches, Ribbon-finches, and even a Rosa's Parrakeet, all of which were fed by their parents upon regurgitated food put into the aviaries for my insectivorous birds. ”

“ I have also found that a bird, when hand-reared, and constantly in the company of human beings, develops a higher order of intelligence, and consequently is capable of a keener enjoyment of life, than if permitted to grow up a savage. ”

“ When one critically examines the feathering, to see where the principal difference in measurement exists, it at once appears that the uncovered portion of the primaries in the male is disproportionately greater than in the female, and the emargination of the outer web in the third and fourth primaries commences considerably farther from their extremities, about half the edge of the outer web in the exposed portion being emarginate in the males, and about two-fifths in the females. ”

“ The soft inner lining is formed in the most mechanical manner; the bird collects mouthful after mouthful of wool, cow-hair, feathers, or any soft material, and carries it into the nest, until the cup appears almost full; then she sits down, scratches with her feet, and turns round and round until she has moulded it with her body into a compact felted inner cup. The addition of a few horse-hairs generally completes the little structure. [6] All cup-shaped nests are formed much in the same manner, though some birds use sticks, thorny twigs, straws, or roots, where others use grasses ”

“ The true Waxbills, when showing off and singing, usually take a long grass-stem in their beaks, grasp the perch firmly, look straight upwards, and raise themselves jerkily up and down, uttering a shrill chirp, and finishing with a short song. ”

“ The wing of the male Sky Lark, as I have already stated elsewhere, is especially adapted for powerful and sustained flight, whereas that of the female is altogether weaker in construction; indeed, so greatly do the wings differ in old birds that a glance would enable the dullest observer to decide their sex ”

“ It is therefore evident that the songs of these birds are not instinctive; they are not handed down from father to son as natural gifts, but are taught as children are taught. But this does not hold true of all birds, unless we believe, as some have asserted, that certain birds learn their parent's song while yet in the egg—a notion which to me seems absurd. ”

“ The males of Thrushes are rather longer and more slenderly built birds than the females; they have narrower skulls, and longer and more slender bills; but, when I compared my young cock Blue-bird (which had acquired its adult plumage) with its parents, I discovered that it was shorter than its mother, had quite as broad a skull, and a distinctly broader and shorter bill. ”

“ Although the hens of Saffron-Finches (Sycalis flaveola and pelzelni) frequently pursue and peck unpaired cock birds, I do not think they ever kill them, as one cock will often kill another, by tearing back the scalp from the base of the beak; but I have known a cock S. flaveola to kill his wife, who had already brought up two families, because she was disinclined to continue her labours.
The Serins (Serinus) seem to depend chiefly upon their song to captivate their brides; there is often a little chasing and quarrelling on both sides, if the hen is not inclined to undertake marital duties ”

“ As regards the acquirement of the adult plumage, some tropical birds are very precocious, but others extremely dilatory. Some of the little Ploceid Finches (such as Amadina fasciata and Tæniopygia castanotis) are in full adult plumage and ready to breed when about six to eight weeks old; thus examples of the former, which left the nest in September, were breeding in October; and it is not uncommon for Zebra Finches (T. castanotis) to build and lay when eight weeks old. ”

“ Thus the largest hen, although a bigger bird than the largest cock, measures half an inch less in entire length of wing, this difference being due entirely to the lengthening of the second to the fifth primaries, with their coverts, in the male birds. These same feathers are often, though by no means invariably, narrower in the females than in the males, and when this is the case the resisting power of the wing must be considerably weakened. ”

“ Dresser says, "beak purplish black, iris bright red, legs flesh-coloured"; whereas the specimens which I have had alive had the bill orange, tipped with dark brown; iris purple, with pale ochreous eyelid; feet pink. In the Bleeding-heart Pigeon the irides have been described as dark brown, but when closely examined they are seen to be plum-coloured.
But it is not only in the soft parts that errors have crept into scientific descriptions and illustrations. The feathers on the head are often taken liberties with. ”

“ The nidification of many foreign birds being imperfectly known, it is useful for the aviculturist not only to watch the behaviour of birds nesting in aviaries, but to save and blow infertile, addled, or deserted eggs, carefully marking them with the name of the species, and the date at which they were laid. It is true that the eggs of many imported birds are white, and differ chiefly in size, proportional dimensions, polish, &c, as, for instance, those of the Waxbills, Mannikins, Grass Finches, typical Weavers (Ploceus, but not Pyromelæna) ; the whole of the Doves and Parrots ”

“ Russ was always careful either personally to describe, or to obtain accurate descriptions of, the young plumage of all birds bred in captivity, from the egg until the change to the adult plumage; he noted the character and number of eggs, the duration of incubation, the age at which the young left the nest, and that at which their adult plumage was attained. ”

“ In the case of the Parrots, however, this was not always possible; but having devoted five years to the preparation of skulls from birds of which he had ascertained the sex by dissection, he accumulated such a mass of material that he was enabled to discover a well-defined constant sexual distinction, enabling him at all times to tell the sex of a Parrot whilst apparently only tickling its face. ”

“ It is probable that inbreeding first produced the pied Java Sparrows, from which the Chinese, by careful selection, evolved the white variety of that species. White in the plumage of birds is frequently due to old age, and increases year by year. ”

“ The postures are a good deal varied; a common type is represented by the neck being somewhat retracted, the feathers of the nape and back raised, the tail span-roofed, drooped, the wings lifted alternately, whilst the bird sways from side to side. In another dance the head is stretched forward, the body held high, with all the feathers tightly appressed, but the tail still drooping. A third position is represented by the bird gazing fixedly at its mate, with the bill nearly touching the earth ”

“ The colouring of the iris in the common Jay has been systematically stated to be brown in young birds, but blue in adults; whereas the young birds have the iris blue, and the adults vinous brown. The soft parts of Icterus jamacaii (the Brazilian Hang-nest) are thus described: "Bill black, at the base plumbeous; feet black"; the iris not being noted. In life the bill is very dark slate-coloured, the lower mandible with the basal half ashy whitish ”

“ I always think it a mistake for taxidermists, when preparing skins of crested birds, to fasten back and dry the crests in an unnatural position; it must be most misleading for artists, if not for describers. I have always insisted upon having the crests of my dead birds left standing as in life. ”

“ Touching young plumages and seasonal changes of plumage, with the manner in which these changes are contrived, the aviculturist is in a position to be of great use to the systematist. The young of quite common birds are often wanting, even in the best collections of skins, or are imperfectly represented. ”

“ The postures, bowings, and dances of birds when courting are generally exceedingly comical, and, if birds regarded them from a human standpoint, they would be better calculated to inspire a feeling of scorn than of admiration in the minds of their mates; though in some cases, where brilliant colouring is thereby exposed to the feminine eye, admiration might modify the contemptuous feeling. ”

“ They depend greatly upon their brilliant plumage, and the expansion of their crests, ruffs, and flank-plumes for attraction in their courtship; they nevertheless sing their harsh songs when making this display. The species of Pyromelæna, when singing, draw back the head, erect the feathers of the crown, nape, back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and flanks; indeed, all the feathers on the body seem to be partly erected, greatly adding to the apparent size and beauty of the birds. ”

“ For this reason I think it better for anyone who has a good ear to express the songs of birds as closely as he can in words; but, unless he really has a correct appreciation of sound, it is wiser to let the songs of birds severely alone. ”

“ There can be little doubt that the slightly greater width at the extremity of these feathers and their more even termination offer better resistance to the air, in flight, than those of the female, and, combined with the increase of length in these feathers, help materially in supporting the bird when soaring. ”

“ Certainly the adult birds which are the best mimics, and are easily taught to talk and imitate the cries of various animals, of trumpets, jews'-harps, and the like, are not to be sought among gifted songsters, but among those whose natural cries are more or less harsh and unpleasing—such as the Parrots, Crows, and Starlings. ”

“ There is far more art in the construction of a domed nest, and it necessarily takes the architects much longer; it is all built up bit by bit, of more or less mixed materials, if it be the nest of a Wren or a Tit ”

“ Of course many of the true Fringillidæ, such as the species of Sycalis and Paroaria, are well known to be dangerous associates for smaller and weaker birds; but, until 1896, I was not aware that Sycalis flaveola, savage and pugnaceous as it always is towards males of its species, was capable of murdering its own mate. ”