Richard Kearton

“ The Chaffinch generally builds her nest in the forks of trees covered with lichens; it is made of moss, wool, and lichen, the inside being lined with hair and feathers. She makes a beautiful nest, small but deep, and it harmonizes so much with its situation that it is often difficult to find. She lays four or five eggs of a grayish-blue, spotted and streaked with a dirty purple-red. She sits very close, in fact I once knew a bird remain on her nest till a mischievous boy caught her by the tail, pulling it out as she rose to fly ”

“ The young Cuckoo arrives into the world without a scrap of down or the sign of a feather on its dusky, ugly little body. Very soon after it is hatched it begins to show signs of great restlessness and energy, endeavouring to throw out whatever else there may be in the nest in the shape of eggs or young. Nature has equipped the little monster well for its murderous task, by providing a hollow between its broad shoulders for the reception of its victims. ”

“ Mechanical Construction of Eggs.—We now come to another phase of the protective principle, even more remarkable than those we have already discussed, and equally useful. This is in the mechanical construction of eggs to suit their situation and surrounding conditions. What an admirable provision Nature has shown in placing the axis of a bird's egg just where it will prevent it rolling off a flat surface, such as a ledge of rock, when moved by the terrible gusts of wind that sweep over high latitudes, or perhaps roughly moved by the parent bird suddenly fluttering off when scared. ”

“ He alights generally on the topmost branch of some favourite tree, from which elevation he mounts the air to varying heights of from twenty to sixty or seventy feet by a series of rapid wing beats, commences to utter his song with a chee, chee, chee, chee, when he has reached a sufficient altitude for his purpose, and delivers it whilst he is gliding down slowly in a kind of half-circle through the air with outstretched wings, expanded tail, and dangling legs. ”

“ The eggs, numbering from four to seven, are easily distinguished from those of the Reed Warbler by their lighter ground colour, which is greenish-white to greenish-blue clouded with underlying markings of grey and spotted with olive-brown.
It is as a singer of great sweetness and power, however, that the bird chiefly concerns us in this little work.
Last summer I spent several days in the West of England studying the species, and whilst I was lying hidden with my camera within three feet of a nest, had many opportunities of hearing the exquisite song of the male to perfection. ”

“ It is more honest to acknowledge our ignorance than to fence it round by speculative theory or cover it by almost meaningless phrases. Survival of the fittest is undoubtedly Nature's great law. With this end in view she governs and regulates the actions of birds in exactly the same way as she controls the colour and character of their plumage, shape, size, tint, and number of their eggs, first movements of their young, and other peculiarities we do not understand. ”

“ Whilst living in a house-boat on the Norfolk Broads, studying Nature, I have had many excellent opportunities of observing the habits of this interesting bird, and have often heard it singing at night when the stars were reflected on the dark, still water around me and not a breath of wind stirred the balmy air. ”

“ The best time of all, however, to hear a Grasshopper Warbler in full song is at sunrise. When the first gleam of rosy light tints the dead brown reeds with coppery red and dewdrops twinkle on every blade of grass, the bird mounts to the topmost twig of some stunted alder bush or blade of sedge, and standing quite still, with widely opened mouth and quivering body, pours forth his strange song in one incessant stream. Whilst the music lasts the head is turned from side to side, and it is this action [Pg 69] which appears to give it a ventriloquial effect. ”

“ People have been content to know that the wonderful architecture and mechanism of a bird's nest was the outcome of a force vaguely known as instinct, without taking the trouble to discover its workings, extent, or limits. ”

“ Wren refuses to be “pauperised” like the Robin, the Blackbird, and the Song Thrush, and disdaining the help of man, hunts all day long for its own support in a spirit of hopeful independence. It does not matter whether it is an old moss-grown stone wall, a stack of loose firewood, or a shrubbery, in and out goes the little nut-brown bird from cold grey morn till glooming eve, examining every crack [Pg 60] and cranny for some lurking morsel of insect life. ”

“ The Common Wild Duck is also liable to depart widely from her usual habit in the selection of a site for her nest, sometimes adopting a Crow's nest, and even the tower of a church, which latter has occasioned much speculation amongst naturalists as to how the parent bird managed to convey her progeny safely to water.
The Fly-catcher is amongst the foremost of our eccentric birds in the choice of breeding quarters, its nest having been found in street lamps in different parts of the country, and in one instance on the head of a hoe hanging against the wall of a tool-house. ”

“ It is a great pity that it should be so much persecuted by egg collectors, some of whom seem bent upon ruining its chances of ever becoming a regular British breeding species. To listen to the bird’s exquisite song for ten minutes is a far greater pleasure than to gaze for a month at its empty egg shells in a cabinet. ”

“ I will endeavour to point out how Nature has solved the problem of preservation; and it is equally interesting whether by the self-governed action of the bird, or the blind following of an impulse known only as instinct. ”

“ Shady woods, well-timbered dells, and stream-sides with plenty of matured trees clustering round are beloved haunts of the Chiffchaff, which builds its nest on or near the ground amongst tall grass tangled with brambles and small bushes, hedge and ditch banks, and sometimes in ivy growing against trees and walls. ”

“ And, on the other hand, if these seeming departures from instinct be admitted as due to reason, it seems strange that whilst some birds are capable of this, others exhibit what seems to human understanding profound stupidity. I have known birds vainly try to build in positions where it was impossible for a nest to rest, each piece of material falling to the ground, until sufficient had been collected for a great many nests; yet the bird kept on collecting sticks, moss, and grasses, until probably she was obliged to drop her eggs in the fields. ”

“ Linnets flock together as soon as the breeding season is over—some of them to migrate, and others to wander about the country visiting stubble fields and waste lands in search of seeds. It is a very pleasant sight to watch a flock resting on the sunlit top of some tall tree on a fine winter’s day, and hear the sociable little birds holding a kind of chattering concert. ”

“ This bird cannot really be said to make a nest of any kind, simply selecting some natural depression in the earth, beneath the shelter of a furze-bush or common bracken. She lays two eggs, which are grey, beautifully spotted, and marbled or veined with dark brown and tints of a bluish-lead colour, glossy. The female sits so closely, and harmonises so well with her surroundings, that, unless one happens to detect her beautiful large eye, the chances are very much against finding her nest. ”