Henry Eliot Howard

“ If, for instance, the migratory movement is interrupted by abnormal climatic conditions, such as occurred in the year 1906 on the Continent, then, when at last they do reach this country, they appear to be tired and listless, keeping low down amongst the bushes, searching eagerly for food, occasionally calling plaintively, but not singing; sometimes preening their feathers and spreading their wings and tail in the fitful gleams of sunshine, but all their movements seem sluggish, lacking their usual activity, in striking contrast to the later arrivals. ”

“ A male that has recently arrived often passes through the territory already adopted by some earlier arrival, and his behaviour under these circumstances is instructive. He creeps amongst the bushes low down, almost in the undergrowth, not singing, but occasionally uttering a note, apparently anxious to keep out of sight. It is, however, seldom that he remains long undetected by the keen eye of the owner, who immediately starts in pursuit, darting after him with very rapid flight, and chasing him often for some distance beyond the confines of his territory. ”

“ If bad weather prevails—a series of gales especially, which is frequently the case at this period—then they remain low down in the bushes and hedgerows, singing, if at all, very quietly.
They do not seem to have a preference for any particular situation as a home, but distribute themselves evenly over the land, although they appear to avoid the interior of very large woods and dense larch coverts.
The male is a most active little creature, and this restless activity seems to strike one more on his first arrival, his movements are so neat and delicate, and are so fascinating to watch. ”

“ The first males to arrive are by no means the most beautiful, as we might be led to expect, neither does the evidence point to any natural law, which would imply their adherence to any fixed rule in the order in which they migrate, such as the older birds, or the most healthy and therefore, perhaps, most beautiful, arriving first. I am almost inclined to say that the later arrivals on the whole have the richest plumage—in thus speaking I refer to all species of migrants—but the evidence is of a very conflicting character. ”

“ Owing to the position of the nest, it is often most difficult to get sufficiently concealed to allow the parent birds to feed their offspring and clean the nest perfectly naturally; and in order to obtain accurate knowledge of the mysteries of their nursery, especially with regard to certain problems relating to the order of feeding the young, the actual food that is brought, the condition in which it is delivered to the young, and the possibility of different food being supplied by the male and female respectively, it is necessary to be within a few feet of the nest. ”

“ There is much evidence to show that coition depends solely upon a certain condition in the female, for I have noticed that, during the period in which a bird is laying, it takes place generally when the female leaves her nest in the morning, less frequently in the evening, and usually at about the same time. Now whereas it often happens that the male makes overtures to the female, which are allowed to pass unheeded or which are sometimes even resented, yet directly the female is in the condition referred to, and displays it to the male, coition takes place. ”

“ One minute he may be in the tops of the tallest trees, the next down in the hedgerows, carefully examining every leaf and twig as he passes for food, which is none too plentiful, singing when he can allow himself time to do so, apparently wandering aimlessly along. ”

“ When standing close to them during these struggles they have sometimes fallen within a few feet of me, and as they tumble, locked together, through the air, twisting slowly round and round, they look like a mass of feathers devoid of all form; upon reaching the ground they lie for a few seconds exhausted or surprised, then fly quietly away, each in his own direction. ”

“ During the actual courtship the female, moving quietly from place to place, calls loudly and continuously with a very plaintive long-drawn note to the male who follows her; off and on he darts at her with a very quick flight, resulting in a mimic battle, but although the clicking of their bills as they meet is plainly audible, yet it is not difficult to see that it is all a game, or rather part of the wooing.
If it is in the tops of the taller trees that he is following her, she works her way gradually, as she moves along, lower and lower down even on to the ground, where she hops about ”

“ About this time both young and old often join the small flocks of Tits and different species of Warblers, which, roaming from field to field, travel thus in search of food—a merry party. The young have ample scope here for their playfulness, chasing whatever species happens to be nearest to them, whether Tit or Warbler. The adults are still the same restless, independent individuals, not so much following the flock, but rather taking a line of their own whenever an occasion arises. ”

“ For so small a bird the young are a long time before they are fledged sufficiently to leave the nest, the exact time being about fifteen days after the first young one is hatched.
I have sometimes speculated as to why the nestlings of some species develop more rapidly than those of others. Is there any difference in this respect between those species that build open nests and those that do not? Is the slow development confined to those species in which one parent bird only supplies food? ”

“ Each day the brooding of the offspring becomes of less, and the food supply of more consequence, yet the male never seems to think that his services are really required, feeding the young only occasionally as it suits him. ”

“ Their flight when pursuing one another is very quick, entirely different from their ordinary one, and the way they dart in and out of the trees is quite amazing, the pursuing male as he flies often uttering the two notes, of which his song is composed, very quickly; and at other times both pursuer and pursued use the same buzzing note as during the courtship. The actual fight generally takes place in the air, the clicking of their bills as they meet one another being quite loud. ”

“ As they approach the boundary the song becomes more frequent and very hurried, their whole attitude being one of great excitement. As they approach still more closely, this excitement increases, their wings are jerked about, the song deteriorates into a few notes rapidly uttered, they still pretend to hunt for food in a half-hearted sort of manner, but all the time it is evident that each one is keeping a close watch upon the other's movements: then the climax is reached, they dart at one another, tumbling over and over in the air, their bills clicking loudly ”

“ It seems, therefore, that Nature does exercise an effective control over the passions of both sexes of many species in this way, i.e., by the necessary condition of the female only arising at certain definite times, and in her case this control is by some means direct, depending upon internal processes, but in the case of the male indirect, though none the less adequate. ”

“ When old enough to follow their parents in gardens or amongst the oaks, their appetites are almost inexhaustible. Both old and young find food on the bare ground, for they are fond of searching between the rows of peas, and also in the potato drills. In the autumn they spend considerable time amongst the willows, the reason probably being that insect life is daily becoming scarce, and it is consequently more likely to be found in damp places where the different species of salix grow. ”

“ The importance of placing this question of individuality, with its far-reaching effects, beyond dispute cannot be overestimated, since it directly affects the question as to whether animal species display any traces of intellectual development from generation to generation, and, indirectly, the possibility of a progressive development from animal to human intelligence, and consequently the whole subject of the genesis of mind. The final solution must rest with those naturalists who will devote themselves to the study of one, or at the most a few, species. ”

“ The female is most pugnacious during this period when any common enemy approaches too closely, nor does this pugnacity decrease so long as her offspring are still under her care. When watching her on one occasion feeding her young, who were quite able to fly and thus escape any ordinary danger, I saw a Missel-Thrush settle on a very tall elm tree some distance away and commence to jerk his tail and chatter in a perfectly harmless manner, evidently with no evil intentions. ”

“ The migration of the females continues for about fourteen days, and this results in the nesting operations of certain pairs being temporarily in advance of those of others. In one case the courtship may be finished and the nest even built and lined ready to receive the eggs, while another male close at hand may still be without a mate; but in this latter case, when the female does at last arrive, the courtship is quickly finished and the nest, as I shall mention later, more rapidly built. ”

“ In this endeavour the dome-shaped nest adds largely to these difficulties. When the young are first hatched the female appears to be very excited, darting backwards and forwards round the nest: the male, taking advantage of her light-heartedness, pursues her and plays with her after his manner in the air. The care of the young is no great labour to her at first, but it increases daily, until it becomes a matter of some difficulty for her to keep them fully supplied with food. ”

“ Nidification commences about the middle of April, soon after the courtship has taken place. The exact time varies, and the rapidity with which the nest is built varies correspondingly with it; sometimes the nest is commenced in a lazy sort of way, a little being added to it each morning and nothing during the day; at other times it is built hurriedly, the female flying backwards and forwards with grasses and leaves, often two or three of the latter at a time, fixing them with wonderful rapidity. ”

“ I have not seen them feeding on berries, although they spend considerable time in the autumn hopping about amongst the elder bushes (Sambucus nigra) when the fruit is ripe. On their arrival in March and during the first part of April their principal food is Chironomidæ. In pursuit of these insects they search minutely the under side of the leaves of different evergreens, such as holly, ivy, &c, and the trunks of the larger trees, upon which these flies frequently cluster, almost the only species sufficiently numerous, during the cold east winds, to afford food. ”

“ He keeps, in fact, a very close watch on all birds that pass near him, frequently chasing Cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) determinedly away, and even if he gets a glimpse through the foliage of a bird passing above him he starts off in pursuit. But he is not so bold as he at first sight appears, for should the stranger, resenting his pursuit, turn and face him he immediately retires. ”

“ We are therefore forced to conclude that if intelligence has really been operative, it has at the same time been unprogressive, while in every other direction progress has been made, and this I cannot believe. ”

“ In such an existence as this we must believe that opportunities for modification will constantly arise, yet apparently no individual attempt is made to depart from the rules of the species, for we find that, in so far as the systematic study of different members of the same species enables us to judge, all these activities, both simple and complex, are similarly performed under the same appropriate circumstances by all the individuals of the same species. ”

“ For the ten days or so before the females arrive he is not as playful as later on, but seems to take life more seriously; yet at times he is most excitable and evidently keeps his passions under control with some difficulty, for I have seen a male sitting on a branch, jerking his wings and uttering his courting note, although no female had at that time arrived. ”

“ We find the same thing in the accurate measurements of periods of time, but more conspicuously in the way in which the same branch in a certain tree in the breeding territory is utilised as the headquarters. A better illustration is the manner in which the same birds repeatedly return to the same situation for the purpose of breeding. ”

“ Each male also appears to have some suitable position in his territory—a dead tree or perhaps some prominent larch—which he uses as his headquarters, and from which he makes little excursions into the different parts of his territory, always, however, returning sooner or later to this central position. ”

“ As a breeding species it is nowhere plentiful in Scotland. It occurs, however, in some numbers on the east side south of the Firth of Forth, but north of this it becomes rare, although it has been seen on migration in Caithness and the Orkney and Shetland Islands. From the Isle of Skye there is only one record, but individuals seem to visit the western isles, especially Harris, more frequently. ”

“ For instance, if the female cannot overcome her suspicion of you she will not feed naturally, her whole aim, under such circumstances, being to get rid of the food. This, then, is the difficulty, and can only be overcome—and this by no means always—with considerable patience. ”

“ This demarcation of their territory is best seen in long, narrow, wooded banks, which are known to be inhabited by different males; here the boundaries can be watched with greater ease. In some cases it is almost possible to draw an imaginary line, across which neither male, whose territories are adjoining, will trespass; in other cases there is a small intervening space between two territories, which again is not hunted by either male. ”

“ As might be expected from such active and lively little creatures, the courtship is an exceedingly interesting and also a very beautiful one, and in order to see it at its best it must, as in the case of every bird, be watched during the first few hours of daylight ”