Henry Eliot Howard

“ By 4 o'clock every bird was uttering a note of some sort or other.
Going farther in among the nut-bushes, I found Garden Warblers plentiful, and Blackcaps, of course, for a more jealous couple it would be impossible to find. The Blackcap is generally the aggressor; he flies at the Garden Warbler, and then starts to sing, his tail spread out and his wings drooping; and now is the time when they sing most beautifully, more so even than when the females arrive. At times they positively seem to curse one another, the Blackcap always being the more excitable of the two. ”

“ For, watch a Blackcap on his arrival, or any other male before actually having mated, and you will see that his or their movements point to the fact that all the thoughts are concentrated on the one object—the possession of a female—and to attain this object all their powers, chiefly vocal, are directed. Any thought of the construction of a nest—if really there is at all at this period, which I am inclined to doubt—must be in comparison with the other momentous event in the bird's life wholly insignificant. ”

“ This tendency—due to what I might term a too superficial observation, combined with the fact that it is far more difficult to determine an increase than a decrease in a certain species—is, to my mind, a great pity, as it is calculated to diminish that scientific observation which, carried on at all seasons of the year, can alone give an insight into those problems of ornithology which the naturalist is constantly called upon to investigate. ”

“ As amongst all animals, so amongst birds, the survival of the fittest plays the most important part in the formation of their history; that is to say, certain species will increase, others will decrease; partly because their habits are not adapted to the changes brought about by civilization, partly as a direct result of the growth of some stronger and opposing species. There is too great a tendency at the present time to seize upon the fact of the decrease of a certain species, and to exaggerate it into a proof that the birds of this country are in a bad way ”

“ She is more difficult to watch than the male, on account of her habit of creeping along the ground; in fact, the only times I have seen the females at all lively is for the first hour after dawn during May and June. At that time the male and female chase one another, and I have seen the female when tired of this sitting quietly on a dead branch of a nut bush, but by sunrise she was off back to her nest. ”

“ The first of these is the Starling, a bird which probably possesses an energetic force to a greater degree than any other species in this country. The great factors which govern the life of all birds are—first, food; and, secondly, immunity from attack during the nesting season. Climate, of course, also plays an important part, periodical seasons of extreme cold having an appalling effect on certain birds. But Starlings have very little to fear from any of these, their habits being in every way suited to human civilization; their diet is so varied that they are very rarely short of food ”

“ We notice the same ignorance with regard to the appreciation of the beauty in the form of a bird. But can we wonder at this when even artists, whose powers one would think were altogether trained to appreciate that which is beautiful in form of every description, fail to appreciate that which is beautiful in a bird? ”

“ The male walks—you might almost say struts—along in front of the female, picks up a leaf, again walks on for a little, drops it, and disappears with quick darting flight after another—probably rival—male. Presently he returns, crawls to the top of a bush, commences to sing, in the middle suddenly breaks off, and again darts off after the other male, then returns and marches on in front of the female, and again picks up and carries a leaf. ”

“ A number of Starlings collect on or about the tree in which the Woodpecker is, and they all in their turn mob him, and worry his life, until, tired out, he goes off in the hope of finding some other place where he can nest in safety. It is obvious that Woodpeckers are a class of birds whose habits are clearly not adapted to civilization, while woods and forests are continually decreasing in every direction; trees that show the slightest sign of decay are by the present utilitarian generation immediately felled. ”

“ The sun was just rising, and the rays of light coming through a slight mist gave all the trees and foliage that extraordinary glow which those who are accustomed to being out at that time of day will readily understand. ”

“ Food, of course, gives the limit of numbers, and they depend to a great extent on civilization for their food; and in this fact we shall find, I think, a reason for their increase. As the population grows, so does the need of market-gardens, with an increase in the cultivation of vegetables, and thus more peas are grown, which, from the middle of June to the end of July—that is to say, for the first six weeks after the young are fledged—form their staple food. ”

“ In the winter, contrary to the experience of other birds, they have always a plentiful supply of food. One can then find them feeding on the berries and seeds of holly, yew, and hornbeam, and in that they only eat the kernels, they have an advantage, devouring what other birds discard. They are also better off than they used to be for nesting-sites, the large orchards in fruit-growing districts affording them ample shelter. A very large proportion of the nests I have found have been in apple-trees, which seems to have been the experience of others ”

“ Selous I should still have been satisfied with the conclusion I then arrived at, viz. that it was an outward sign of the one absorbing picture in the bird's mind—the construction of its nest. Sexual frenzy precisely describes the condition of the males of the above species at this time—that is to say, during the week or so they are mating—and in every case where I have closely followed their movements at this period, they have performed the same curious ceremony, usually in the midst of intensely excited and nervous actions. ”

“ The same energy which compels them to seek food, compels them also to find somehow or somewhere suitable places to rear their young, the consequence being that some other species has to suffer. For some years past I have watched the struggles enacted between Starlings and Green Woodpeckers for the possession of the latter's nesting-site, and in not a single case have I seen the Woodpeckers able to hold their own. ”

“ At first sight it appears unlikely and almost incredible that a few Hawfinches could do much damage to a field of peas; but if anyone has any doubt on this point, let him watch the birds at work, and see how a family takes up its abode in a field, and how from early in the morning until late at night they are hard at work splitting up the pods; when I think even the most incredulous will be compelled to admit that at least a great deal of damage is done. ”

“ A good many Ravens are trapped yearly by the farmers, as they seem to think they do considerable harm; they will also tell you that if they trap a Raven the surviving one will get another mate in a few days. It is impossible here, even with a rope, to get at the nest, which is always built in an overhanging part of the cliff; the young birds leave this nest about the end of March. I only saw three pairs during August, but they seem to wander a good deal at this time of year. ”

“ I intend to visit the island earlier another year. A few Black-headed Gulls also build on the same island; they are quite the most common of all the Gulls I saw during August.
Coming to the smaller birds, Wheatears could be seen everywhere, the highest point I found them at being two thousand feet. The majority of them were in very good plumage, but there were a few not long out of the nest. They would allow you to get quite close to them without showing any sign of fear; as a rule, my experience is rather the opposite in England. ”

“ It will repay anyone to sit still for an hour or two at dawn to watch them. The female then walks along amongst the undergrowth, threading her way in and out, sometimes pecking or pretending to peck at something; the male follows a few feet behind, at times picking up a dead leaf in his bill, and carrying it for some distance while following the female, apparently with no object, unless it is a gentle reminder to her that he wishes to commence nesting operations. ”

“ The increase of these birds is perhaps more remarkable than the Starling, and at first sight more unaccountable. But when we come to examine their habits and life-history, and to see how the conditions now existent apply to them, the cause of their increase becomes more apparent. That there is a very remarkable increase requires very little observation to prove, and to me it has become yearly more interesting. ”

“ Only those who have seen the sea-birds on these cliffs during May, June, and July have any idea of the swarms that breed there. Of course, in August very few were left, those that were consisting chiefly of Kittiwakes, and the faces of the cliffs were lined in many places by the young birds, nearly all of which were ready to fly; some I did see with a good deal of down, but by far the majority were already commencing to take short flights. The old birds were very fearless, and would almost let you touch them before they would leave the rocks. ”

“ I have watched them at work within six feet of my head, and to see the quick way they pass from branch to branch, and the pieces of what would be cherries falling to the ground, one wonders how it is possible for any fruit to come to maturity at all. ”

“ The male in this county sings at most hours of the day and night until the female begins to sit, when he is almost silent, and remains so till the young are out of the nest, then he commences to sing again—that is to say, from the middle of May till about the third week in June. ”

“ The female seems to be more fond of walking along the ground than the male, and when disturbed off her nest slips quietly down amongst the thick undergrowth that generally surrounds the nest, shortly to return providing there is no noise or movement to frighten her. ”

“ The climate in Sark and in the west of Donegal are much the same. The rainfall of both is above the average; both are subject to bad sea fogs from the Atlantic, and are therefore very damp. On the other hand, the climate of Worcestershire is peculiarly dry, the rainfall being much below the average. Looking, then, at this fact, that a lower pitch corresponds with a damp climate, and a higher pitch with a dry climate, I think I am justified in coming to the conclusion that clmate exercises a certain influence on the pitch of the notes and songs of certain species. ”

“ The males of probably all species do not get their full song for some years, in the same way that they do not really get their full plumage—I think it very probable that the two correspond; but this song of the immature males differs rather in the direction of fulness and richness of tone than in any actual change of the song, and is very easily distinguished from this dialectical change.
My observations in a damp climate have always been made either in March or July. ”

“ They are called "oil birds" by the natives, as most probably they are in other places. On the same island a few Great Black-backed Gulls breed, but for some reason they do not do so on the mainland.
A certain number of Choughs are always to be found; their numbers seem to vary very little year by year. In one or two places round the cliffs a pair always build, generally in a hole in an overhanging cliff at about fifty feet or so from the sea. There is one typical hole they build in, and from all accounts they have done so for years ”

“ There is a certain class of people, who come chiefly from the large towns in the north, and who call themselves sportsmen, and whose only idea of sport is to shoot as many sea-birds as possible, and leave the bodies lying with their legs cut off; the legs, I presume, are kept as trophies. The slaughter is indiscriminate; even bodies of Black Guillemots have been picked up floating about minus their legs.
I was told by a native that the destruction of Cormorants had done him a great deal of damage, by the number of sheep he lost over the cliffs. ”

“ In September the young males make an attempt at singing, but it only results in a curious crackling noise; they are certainly more easily approached than the old birds, and at this time of the year I have often seen them basking in the sun on dead branches, when they will allow a very near approach before disappearing into the bushes with that curious habit they possess of flirting their tail. ”

“ It is easy to find the holes they are in by the smell, which is very strong. The young were hatched about the beginning of the month, and looked like fluffy balls of down, their eyes not being open; they grow very slowly, but I cannot say the date at which they leave the nest. The old birds never attempted to fly away when taken off the nest, but uttered a little squeak, and ran straight back down the burrow. ”

“ It is difficult to forecast how this will affect other species, but the Hawfinch is a pugnacious as well as a very strong bird, and if this rate of increase is maintained—as there is every reason to suppose it will be—then some other weaker species already struggling with the physical conditions of life is bound to suffer; but the result to farmers and fruit-growers is very apparent. ”