George Montagu

“ From the manner in which it is observed to search the grass with its bill, there can be no doubt that reptiles form part of its natural food; even mice, worms, and the larger insects, probably add to its usual repast. ”

“ It is scarcely possible to account for such a succession of change in plumage in so short a time, except by supposing that a change in the constitution of the bird, produced by captivity and a want of natural food, had caused obstruction to the usual course of moulting, and that the autumnal change had been retarded, and was scarcely effected before the spring moulting commenced. ”

“ The bird is of a mild and peaceful disposition, very unlike many of its congeners; for it never makes use of its formidable bill offensively against any of the companions of its prison, and even submits peaceably to be taken up without much struggle. ”

“ From innumerable observations it is evident that migrative birds are much more confined in their longitudinal range than in their latitudinal: hence it is that many species pass through France and Germany in the spring, and return in the autumn, which by no chance have as yet been ever observed to wander into this country, although they proceed much further north than any part of Britain. Others, from accidental causes of which we have no certain knowledge, occasionally vary a little from their natural course, and are found solitary in this country. ”

“ The under parts of the plumage continued as at first. The bill, which is full seven inches in length, has the upper mandible a trifle the longest, and deflects a little at the point: the colour is dusky-red, brighter at the base, and orange at the tip [3] : irides light hazel: the lore and orbits bare of feathers, and of a dull red: the legs and toes dull orange. ”

“ The tubes which are prepared by them are in general so extremely delicate, that they are very easily destroyed, and they are then found lurking beneath stones, or forming a new habitation by connecting together sand or mud with the slimy secretion of their bodies. ”

“ Body long, with numerous orange-coloured articulations, furnished with small peduncles, and at the anterior end with fasciculi of bristles: branchiæ large and red: mouth with a frill-like membrane beneath, and ciliated above. Capillary appendages four or five inches in length.
Length nearly twelve inches.
Diameter near the head half an inch.
The tube (which is described in Testacea Britannica under the name Sabella cirrhata) is very fragile; it is composed of sand and clay, and is lodged in the ground, with half an inch projecting above the surface. ”

“ First seventeen or eighteen joints furnished with short peduncles and fasciculi: other joints with long peduncles and no visible bristles. Capillary appendages whitish, very slender, numerous, and nearly double the length of the body. We have observed this animal fixing its tentacula, and by contracting them drawing its body forwards.
Length rarely more than three or four inches. ”

“ Beyond the seventeen first joints the peduncles are very small, and appear to be destitute of fasciculi; and they incline gradually from the sides to the back, till towards the extremity they almost meet, forming two dorsal lines: near the mouth originate numerous capillary appendages, that are five or six inches in length: the three pair of branchiæ are much ramified, and red. ”