Henry Saunderson Davenport

“ It is possible that someone or other will be found to blame me for what I have recorded in the light rather of a triumph—I deemed it one on the spur of the moment; but, though highly disapproving of the indiscriminate and senseless slaughter of rare species that might breed in greater numbers with us if left unmolested, I do not see that the capture of an abnormal-coloured Blackbird deserves reprobation, and especially when it was a marked bird, and the hand of almost every dweller in the district was against it. ”

“ I have known nests in various situations: in grass fields, in the banks of roadside ditches, in coarse grass on a hillside, on railway embankments, and at the bottom of gorse bushes on the upland wastes. There is no doubt that when built in this last-mentioned position the nest is exceedingly well hidden, and not likely to be easily discovered unless you chance to beat the bird out of her recess, or detect her quitting it as she hurriedly flies forth at the signal of danger from her mate. If the eggs are on the point of being hatched, the hen will sit uncommonly close ”

“ Now I must say at the outset that I am far from wishing to criticize the observations and experiences of others, when irreconcilable with my own, in a harsh or captious manner, for I am by no means insensible of the heavy debt ornithologists of every degree owe to the writings of their predecessors; nevertheless, the truth is, or should be, the common object of all who write sketches of bird-life. ”

“ A favourite resting ground in the spring of the year with an odd Wheatear or so is a large rabbit-warren on the borders of my native village, and thither I generally betake myself in quest of the earliest arrival of this species. There is an old saying that spring has come when you can place your foot on five full-blown daisies in a cluster, but our feathered visitors, to my thinking, are the best harbingers of the glad time of the year ”

“ It is impossible to decide offhand about disease in a bird, especially when it is at large; while the few pied Blackbirds I have known kept in cages have never reverted to the normal colouring after moulting, although I have heard tell of an instance or two to the contrary. Of course, the obvious retort to this would be that none of them owed their white feathers to disease. So be it.
I have on a few occasions found six eggs in nests of this species, but five and four are more commonly met with, while it is quite the exception for a clutch to be represented by less than the last-named number. ”

“ That Clumber Spaniels should have taken to this form of pastime—hunting for little birds' nests—may seem singular, and I can only account for it in this way:—They were in the habit of frequently accompanying me in my roadside rambles, and herein I make a distinction advisedly, as had I taken them into the coverts, not only would they have proved an eyesore to gamekeepers, but, inasmuch as the entire absence of all noise should be the watchword of those who study the habits of birds in their woodland haunts, the mere presence of dogs would have tended to defeat the very object I had in view. ”

“ It would be superfluous to waste time on a discussion of the nidification of so common a species, for its nest and eggs fall an easy prey to every roving lad, while, in addition, there is scarcely a book on the birds of these islands which does not thoroughly deal with the question. Though the sites chosen for building purposes exhibit an infinite and varied assortment, there is an uniformity about the eggs which is sadly disappointing to the ornithologist, always on the look-out for abnormal coloured specimens. ”

“ Many birds pause awhile after reaching this country before engaging in nesting operations, but I am rather inclined to think that the Redstart is not one of the number. I knew of a nest in the hole of a tree one year that contained an egg so soon as the first day of May. Early on the morning of May 5th a heavy snowstorm raged for a couple of hours, and when, shortly afterwards, I inspected the nest, I found the hole, which faced due north, filled with snow, some of the eggs broken, the interior of the nest disarranged, and the locality forsaken by the birds themselves. ”

“ A characteristic feature of a large series of the nests of the Whitethroat is the profusion of dark horse-hair which is used for the lining, though, on occasions, I have noticed hair only sparingly employed—much less seldom none at all. The exterior of the structure is chiefly composed of the withered stems of goose-grass and the cocoons of caterpillars, its component parts being so dexterously and beautifully interwoven as to render the nest quite firm and compact. ”

“ A shy bird I am inclined to call the Ring-Ousel, for it will fly from rock to rock, generally keeping at a respectful distance; but when the vicinity of its nest is invaded, temerity becomes a very strongly marked characteristic of the species. ”

“ Sometimes when in pursuit of food this species has a pretty habit of poising itself on hovering wing—after the manner of Swallows in hay-fields before the grass has been laid low—and then darting down, snatching its prey, and flitting back as quickly as possible to the top of the bending spray from which it had only a few moments previously gone through the same process. I do not mean that Swallows actually perform all this—only that their suspensory movements in mid air when hawking for insects at a low level over tall standing grass are very similar to the hoverings of the Whinchat. ”

“ May 21st, May 26th, May 27th, May 28th, and May 29th; and it is partly on this account—late nesting—that I decline to accept the apparently irresponsible statement that the species rears two broods every year. The young of the first nest cannot be taught to provide for themselves all in a moment, and though some birds undoubtedly have two or three broods in the course of a summer, they are chiefly those that nest in our gardens and orchards, and whose young are out of the first-laid eggs before some of the migrants have reached our shores. ”

“ Again, some other writer has recorded his conviction that albinos never revert to the normal plumage, and that natural white feathers always remain white; but that when resulting from disease they will resume the proper colours at the moulting period. The cause of preternatural plumage in birds need not be gone into here, but my impression is—once white or pied, almost always white or pied; while I view with some little incredulity the contention that disease is accountable for some of our pied birds, and that when they resume their normal health they also resume their ordinary plumage. ”

“ Boys who meditate purchasing the eggs of Fieldfares and Ring-Ousels will do well to be on their guard, as they bear a strong family likeness to those of the species under discussion.
Blackbirds are somewhat prone to rearing a second brood in the same nest, and I have known less than a week elapse between the departure of the young and the laying of fresh eggs. In the spring of 1883 a pair of these birds possessed themselves of a vacated Mistle-Thrush's nest for their second brood, and brought them off successfully. ”

“ For a close inspection and prolonged study of the Redwing there is hardly a period more suitable than that of frost and snow, especially when a heavy fall of the latter has covered the ground to the depth of several inches, and the grass of the green fields has been hidden from our view for many days. Then it is that the poor birds, with their normal food supply cut short, and pinched with cold and hunger, draw to the roadside hedges for the purpose of feeding on the winter berries which, in mild open weather, they apparently set less store by, except on first arrival. ”

“ The Stonechat affects those wild uplands and barren heaths which are studded with a luxuriant growth of furze and other bushes of a corresponding height, and here it secures concealment for its nest and young, and a supply of food, more or less, all the year round. ”

“ It is perhaps worthy of remark that Whitethroats are not in the habit of utilising thin roots and fibrous rootlets, as some writers assert; though, as in the case of other species, it is obvious that varieties of construction may occur. The nest is more substantially built than those of its smaller relative, and less so than those of the Garden Warbler—it hits, in fact, the happy medium.
The eggs are not very variable, five being a favourite number for a clutch; very rarely have I known so many laid as six. ”

“ The nest itself is artlessly put together, and is formed of roots, small fibres, and dry grass, and frequently a little wool, and is lined with hair and occasionally a few feathers.
I do not see that we have any means of ascertaining whether or not this species is life-paired. Redstarts are, beyond question, very conservative in their regard for old haunts, but, considering it is generally admitted that the sexes do not migrate in company—the males usually preceding the females in the spring of the year—it must be purely a matter of speculation. ”

“ During the period of incubation the male bird keeps a vigilant and incessant outlook, and gives warning of the approach of an intruder by sharply uttering the notes utac, utac, and there is no more convenient eminence for observing this habit than the top of a railway embankment, the cock bird, as a rule, being perched, sentinel-like, on the telegraph wires. My wife found two nests of this species on a grassy slope just outside Scarborough in the summer of 1892, each containing six eggs, which is the usual number of the clutch. ”

“ It is a vivacious little bird to watch, and seems to have a high opinion of its own superior intelligence; while the rapid up-and-down movements of the tail, which appears to be ever in motion, is a habit which we are more apt to associate with members of the Wagtail family.
I have noticed in clutches of eggs of this species, that when all the eggs have rust-coloured specks on the surface, one of the number generally has such specks much more strongly pronounced than the rest. ”

“ A young and intelligent gamekeeper would let very little escape his eye.
A word about pied Blackbirds, which, to my mind, are more subject to variations of plumage than any other species. I have seen it stated—I cannot say where, for I read pages and pages on the subject of birds almost daily—that the white feathers turn in time to black, and that even in the case of albinos nature in due course resumes her sway; the argument being that, if such were not the case, we should be continually meeting with abnormal-coloured species. ”

“ Again, it is of untold advantage to have at your fingers' ends the different haunts affected by the different species for nesting purposes, and the actual sites usually selected by them. Moreover, it is not probable that your eye will see every nest when you are hunting a hedge, or bank, or bushes, or the brushwood and undergrowth of plantations and woods—far from it; though the possession of a stout walking-stick, discreetly used, will frequently make up for any ocular shortcomings. ”

“ This may be true of the majority, but one of the species most certainly sang to me almost daily during the first three weeks of May in 1894. There are, I may perhaps observe, many hard-and-fast notions about the history and economy of birds which are wholly erroneous, but which are possibly to be condoned from the fact that they are so often repeated, and therefore fostered, by so-called popular writers on Natural History. Original observations are what we want nowadays; how seldom, comparatively speaking, do we get them where birds are concerned! ”

“ Invariably by itself when I have so observed it—for, like other migratory species, the males precede the females—it regards the intrusion of a visitor on its temporary halting ground with consummate indifference. I should here remark, however, that the grass pastures and tillage lands of High Leicestershire are little calculated to permanently attract such species as resort for breeding purposes to the downs and warrens and the wild, mountainous, and uncultivated districts of more southern counties. ”

“ The male bird, perched conspicuously on some rock or wall, is almost certain to catch the eye first, but probably, long before you have seen it, it has seen you, and telegraphed a warning note to its mate. ”