Philip Henry Gosse

“ Exhibitions are by no means rare, in the metropolis, of Finches of this and other species, brought to perform many amusing tricks, and to go through complicated and difficult manoeuvres with precision at the word of command, and even to stand discharges of gunpowder without manifesting any signs of fear. The Sieur Roman, who some years ago exhibited Goldfinches, Linnets, and Canaries in this country, had brought them to a surprising pitch of obedient docility. One would feign to be dead, and suffer itself to be held up by the tail or claw, without exhibiting any signs of life ”

“ It seems scarcely necessary to describe a bird so familiarly known; to dilate upon its light coronet of lance-tipped feathers, its taper neck, and swelling breast of changeable purple, its back and wings of brassy-green, or its superb lengthened tail-coverts, with their dilated tips marked with eye-spots of the richest purple, surrounded by rings of green, black, and chestnut, radiant with gem-like reflections. ”

“ On a Goldfinch being introduced into the cage, it was eagerly seized, and killed in a moment by the pressure of the powerful beak. Then holding it on the perch with one foot, the Toucan proceeded to strip off the feathers; after which he broke the bones of the limbs by a strong lateral wrench with his beak, and, tearing it to pieces, devoured it portion by portion, with the highest manifestations of enjoyment. Ever and anon he would take the prey in his beak, and hop with it from perch to perch, making a hollow clattering noise, and shivering his wings. ”

“ During winter the scene may at first sight appear nearly similar; the warm and flickering haze is changed for a light that can be seen into; the noise of the surge comes deeper through the clear air of frost, and with it at intervals hoarse sounds and shrill whistles, to which the ear is unaccustomed; acres of dark masses are seen, which may be taken for low rocks or scalps, and the line of the sea in the bays contains something which rises and falls, and seems as if it were about to be cast on shore with every coming swell. ”

“ Their flight is weak and undulating; their voices loud, harsh, and sudden. They lay their eggs and bring up their young in capacious chambers, which are hollowed out of the trunks of trees by the means of their powerful beaks. Their compact, well-built form indicates strength rather than grace: their prevailing hue is black, often handsomely spotted with white, and varied with brilliant red, the latter especially upon the head. Our commonest British species has a yellowish-green for its prevailing colour, instead of the more sombre ordinary hue. ”

“ The larger species are extremely shy, and difficult of approach: like some of the Corvidæ, they usually perch on the leafless branches of the loftiest trees, when their vision, unimpeded by foliage, ranges over a wide extent.
The singular excrescences which in most of the species arise from the beak, sometimes equalling that organ, large as it is, in size, not only in different species vary much in form and size, but even in the same species at different stages of its life; indeed, in very young birds there is no trace of its existence. ”

“ The clouds of birds that rise about sunset, to seek their feeding-grounds, performing many beautiful evolutions ere they go off, is incredible, except to one who has witnessed it. In Holland, where this bird is extremely abundant, and where the view on all sides is bounded equally by a low horizon, thousands may be seen on all sides at once, gleaming in the setting sun, or appearing like a dense black moving mass between its light and the spectator. ”

“ It is, as Sir William Jardine observes, "one of our most gaily tinted birds, and when darting down some wooded stream, and shone upon at times by the sunbeams, it may give some faint idea of the brilliant plumage that sports in the forests of the tropics, and that flits from place to place like so many lights in their deeply shaded recesses." ”

“ In that lofty mountain range which runs through the whole length of South America, whose inaccessible summits are covered with perpetual snow, even beneath a vertical sun, the Condor delights to dwell, fixing his habitation in solitary grandeur at the height of 10,000 or 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. Here they are to be seen in pairs, or groups of three or four, but never associate in large numbers, like the other Vultures. It does not confine itself to dead animals to satisfy its appetite. ”

“ It is at the rising and setting of the sun that the Bird of Paradise goes to seek its food. In the middle of the day it remains hidden under the ample foliage of the teak-tree, and comes not forth. He seems to dread the scorching heat of the sun, and to be unwilling to expose himself to the attacks of a rival. ”

“ The wings are, in general, well developed, and some of the genera are birds of soaring and powerful flight. The hind toe is always present, but its position and development vary in different genera.
The typical Herons have the above characters in greatest perfection: they are the most beautiful of all the Waders, not so much from the colours of their plumage, which however are chaste and agreeable, as from their taper and graceful forms, the curves of their slender necks, and the elegant hanging crests, and long decomposed plumes that adorn various parts of their bodies. ”

“ The eminent zoologist after whom our species has been named, thus describes its manners, in his "British Birds:" "It is ever in motion, running with facility by a rapid succession of steps in pursuit of its insect-food, moving from place to place by short undulating flights, uttering a cheerful chirping note while on the wing, alighting again on the ground with a sylph-like buoyancy, and a graceful fanning motion of the tail, from which it derives its name. ”

“ They are all good fliers, and some, from the extreme expanse of their wings, have extraordinary powers of flight. They spend a great deal of time upon the wing, some soaring far out over the ocean, or mounting to a most sublime elevation, others beating over a limited space, till the appearance of a fish beneath them arrests their attention, when they plunge down upon it, and instantly rise again into the air. ”

“ This Humming-bird is easily captured, as it hovers around the blossoms of the low trees, and, if allowed the liberty of a room, will become so familiar as to suck from a flower held in the hand, or even to take sugar from the lips, hovering in front of the mouth, or clinging with its tiny feet to the face of the person who feeds it. It will very readily learn to suck from a cup of sugar and water placed in the room, and will amuse itself all day in capturing minute flies, on the wing. ”

“ In the throng of the season of breeding, a very different picture is seen: the whole rocks, and sea, and air, are one scene of animation, and the various groups have returned to take up their old stations, and are now employed in all the accessories of incubation, affording lessons to the ornithological student he will in vain look for elsewhere. The very rocks are lighted up, and would seem to take a brightness from the hurry around, while the cries of the inhabitants, alone discordant, harmonise with the scene. ”

“ Denizens of the intertropical regions of the Old and New World, they shroud their glories in the deep and gloomy recesses of the forest, avoiding the light of day and the observation of man; dazzled by the brightness of the meridional sun, morning and evening twilight is the season of their activity. ”

“ The structure of the tongue is, therefore, essentially the same as in the Sun-birds; and it is applied to the same purposes, the sucking up of the nectar contained in flowers, and with it the minute insects that are always congregated in such situations. In searching these, however, the Humming-bird hovers on his strong vibrating wings in front of the blossom, while with his long protruded tongue he probes its recesses; yet not unfrequently may he be seen to assume the manner of his Oriental representative, and cling with his little feet to a leaf or twig, while he rifles the flowers. ”

“ In the smallness of the beak, and the great width of the gape, the Swallows resemble the Nightjars, as they do also in the weakness and minuteness of their feet. They are birds, however, of far more powerful wing, and though they too pursue insects, which are captured and devoured during flight, yet as their season of activity is wholly confined to daylight, their plumage has neither the lax softness, nor the mottled style of coloration common to nocturnal birds. On the contrary, the plumage of the Swallows is always close and smooth, and very often burnished with a metallic gloss ”

“ Still it is an immense bird: there seems no doubt that individuals have actually been measured, the expanse of whose wings reached to eleven feet, and whose length from beak to tail was between three and four feet. The general colour of the Condor is a glossy black, but the greater part of the wing in the male is white, as is a ruff of soft loose feathers that encircles the base of the neck. The naked skin of the head and neck is of a purplish-red hue ”

“ The Grey Shrike delights more in parks and cultivated fields, where hedge-rows and clumps of trees abound, than in deep forests, or a very open country. The small birds and quadrupeds, or large insects on which it feeds, are taken by open violence, deprived of life, and then impaled upon some thorn or sharp twig, to be more readily devoured. ”

“ As the party advances through the woods, from tree to tree, our little gleaner seems to observe a good deal of regularity in his proceedings; for I have almost always observed that he alights on the trunk near the root of the tree, and directs his course, with great nimbleness, upwards to the higher branches, sometimes spirally, often in a direct line, moving rapidly and uniformly along, with his tail bent to the tree, and not in the hopping manner of the Woodpecker, whom he far surpasses in dexterity of climbing, running along the lower side of the horizontal branches with surprising ease. ”

“ The line of the coast is now one dark moving mass; the air seems alive with water-fowl, and is filled with sounds that rise and fall, and vary as the troops wheel around; and this continues until they have again settled to their rest. ”

“ As the waters, of which these birds may, generally, be considered as the inhabitants, possess in the different regions of the globe much more in common than the land, we might expect to find their tenants, to a considerable extent, manifesting a similar community. Nor is this expectation found to be groundless, for, not only are the genera represented by peculiar species in all countries and upon all coasts, but very many even of the species in this Order are found to be truly cosmopolite, many of the Ducks, the Terns, and the Petrels completely circling the globe. ”

“ Their plumage is copious, but somewhat lax, particularly on the neck. They build in society, but live solitary. Their common habit is to watch patiently, and without motion, on the margin of the water, or within the shallows; on the appearance of prey, it is transfixed by a sudden stroke of the pointed beak with lightning-like rapidity, and swallowed whole.
The Ardeadæ are to be found, in some of their varied forms, in all parts of the globe; the typical genera are numerous in species, and widely distributed. ”

“ It has been remarked by more observers than one, that a bird's song has not only a character commons to the species, but that individual birds may often be distinguished for superior variety, power, and fulness in their notes; there being as much difference in the execution of birds of the same species, as between human voices singing the same air. ”

“ A wounded Bittern fights with desperation, lying on its back and endeavouring to clutch its adversary with its claws, as well as striking vigorously with its sharp, formidable beak. Hence, in the days of falconry, when this bird, which was favourite game, was brought down, it was the duty of the falconer to run in quickly, and seizing the beak of the Bittern, to plunge it into the firm ground, to prevent injury to the Falcon; an operation not without danger, as the Bittern generally aims to strike the eyes. ”

“ The diminutive Golden-crests, the Nightingale, the Whitethroat, and the Wood-wren, are all well-known examples of genuine Warblers, familiar to the British naturalist. The groups of this extensive Family, spread over all the habitable regions of the globe, are destined to perform an important part in the economy of nature: to them appears intrusted the subjugation of those innumerable minute insects which lurk within the buds, the foliage, or the flowers, of plants, and, thus protected, escape that destruction from Swallows to which they are exposed only during flight. ”

“ It makes one shudder to think of a living creature being precipitated from the top; yet here the female Corbie sits secure, and far more fearless, in far less agitation of spirits, than if her nest were placed in a flowery meadow. ”

“ The Eagles are widely scattered. They are birds of lofty and powerful, but not rapid flight. From the latter circumstance, they usually prefer to strike their prey on the ground, the weight of their bodies rendering them unfitted for pursuing a flying prey through its quick and tortuous evolutions. They breed in solitude, on the inaccessible crags of precipitous mountains.
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, Linn.) is the noblest species of the whole Family, for size, strength, and courage. ”

“ About an hour before dark all the hosts that have been feeding in the vicinity congregate into one vast phalanx, which, before they retire to rest, perform the most complex and beautiful evolutions, wheeling and sweeping in the air, separating and uniting, forming the most regular and varied figures, as if animated by a common impulse, or obeying a definite word of command. ”

“ Five or six feet down the chimney does this little bird begin to form her nest, about the middle of May, which consists, like that of the House Martin, of a crust or shell composed of dirt or mud mixed with short pieces of straw to render it tough and permanent; with this difference, that whereas the shell of the Martin is nearly hemispheric, that of the Swallow is open at the top, and like half a deep dish: this nest is lined with fine grasses and feathers, which are aften collected as they float in the air. ”

“ These birds subsist mainly on fruits, the buds of trees, and the tender sprouts of vegetables; from the mischief which they do in the gardens of the colonists, devouring the shoots of the culinary plants as fast as they appear, they are much disliked. They walk badly on the ground, but are expert climbers, clinging to the branches in all sorts of attitudes. They sail from bush to bush in a long row, one after another, alighting always near the ground, and clambering to the topmost twigs, with the assistance of their beak and long stiff tail, picking off the buds or berries as they ascend ”

“ They feed on the eggs and nestlings of small birds, on fruits, and also on insects. Their motions are light and elegant to an extreme degree, leaping from bough to bough with the most graceful agility; their flight, however, is laboured, and in straight lines; and though rapid, is evidently attended with much exertion; they fly with difficulty against the wind, raising the beak above the axis of the body, and propelling themselves at short intervals. ”