Puslapio vaizdai
PDF
„ePub“

66

66

protected, soon be banished altogether. In many parts of France and Italy, in Spain and Portugal, it is still common, as also in Russia and on the plains of Tartary. In its native haunts it is a permanent resident, unless forced by scarcity of food during the inclemency of winter to seek a temporary asylum elsewhere. Under these circumstances flocks of five or eight sometimes visit the coast, but oftener cultivated enclosures near the dwellings of man, who seldom fails to thin their number. Its flesh is held in high estimation. Though becoming tolerably tame in captivity to those with whose presence it is familiar, the Bustard never altogether loses its innate shyness and distrust. In a state of freedom it is so wary as to be approached with the greatest difficulty, selecting as its reposing place the centre of the largest enclosure, if the country be enclosed, or the wildest and most open part of the plain, so as to be free from the danger of a surprise. Upon being disturbed," says Mr. Selby, so far from running in preference to flight, (as has often been described,) it rises upon the wing with great facility, and flies with much strength and swiftness, generally to another haunt, which will sometimes be at the distance even of six or seven miles. It has also been said that, in former days, when the species was of common occurrence, it was a practice to run down the young birds (before they were able to fly) with greyhounds, as affording excellent diversion. So far from this possibility existing, with respect to the present remnant of the breed, the young birds, upon being alarmed, squat close to the ground, as the young of the lapwing, golden plover, &c. and in that position are frequently taken by hand; indeed this is even the habit of the female during the time of incubation." The eggs of the Bustard are deposited on the bare ground, sometimes amongst clover, but generally in corn-fields; they exceed those of the turkey in size, and are of a pale brownish olive, with darker blotches; the number is two, which it appears is the usual number with the whole of the Bustard family. The food of this species consists of grasses, green corn, the tender leaves and sprouts of turnips, and grain, but worms are not

refused, and even mice and young birds are devoured, being swallowed whole.

The adult male possesses a singular membranous pouch, beneath the skin on the fore part of the neck, having an entrance to it beneath the tongue. It is of considerable capacity, being able, as Montagu informs us, to contain three or four quarts of water, the purpose for which some have thought it was designed. Of this, however, there is no proof; nor, indeed, is its use at all ascertained.

The length of the male is more than three feet; from each side of the cheeks, near the lower mandible, arises a tuft of long wiry feathers, with loose barbs. The fore part of the neck, over the pouch, is destitute of feathers, the skin being bluish black. Head and back of the neck bluish gray; a longitudinal streak of black occupying the top of the head. Upper surface of a fine orange yellow, beautifully barred with zigzag transverse markings of black. Under surface white, a tinge of yellow occupying the chest. Tail white at its base, passing into yellowish brown, with one or two black bars.

The female is about half the size of the male, and wants the moustaches and the throat-pouch; her head and neck also are of a deeper tint of gray.

The LITTLE BUSTARD, (Otis Tetrax, LIN.) though placed among British birds, has claims to our Fauna only as being an accidental visitor, eight or ten specimens having been killed or taken in various counties. The arid plains of Spain, Italy, and Turkey are its favourite localities. It is also found, though more sparingly, in the South of France; but in the northern parts of the continent is never seen. Its manners and food are precisely those of the Great Bustard, but it is much inferior in size, the adult male measuring only eighteen inches, the body being somewhat larger than that of a pheasant. Its flesh surpasses in flavour that of all other game. The male, in his summer dress, is very beautiful; the top of the head and the upper surface generally are rich tawny yellow, with dots and bars of black. The throat is slate

E E

colour, below which a necklace of white encircles the upper part of the neck. This is followed by a band of

black. The feathers down the back of the neck are considerably elongated. The under surface is white, but a crescent of black passes across the chest. The quillfeathers are black. The female is yellow, varied with black bars and dashes above, and white beneath.

The RUFFED BUSTARD (Otis Houbara, LIN.) is the third European species; but it is of as rare occurrence in Europe as the Little Bustard in England. It is a native of Barbary and Arabia, in the deserts of which it finds a congenial abode. The sides of the neck and chest, in the adult male, are graced by a range of long plumes, the foremost and upper portion of which is white, the remainder black. The front of the neck is white, minutely mottled with gray. The head is surmounted with a beautiful crest of white plumes. The upper surface is tawny yellow, with zigzag bars, black; the under surface is white. The young male wants both the crest and the ruffles down each side of the neck; the general colour above being of a dull tawny yellow, varied with bars and dashes of black. The female is not known; and it is more than probable that, after the breeding season, the adult male loses the crest and plumes on the chest and neck.

Of the other species several are African, of which the Otis Kori, described by Mr. Burchell, in his Travels in Southern Africa, measures upwards of five feet in height. The others are Indian, and pass under the general name of Florikens. Of these we may enumerate the Otis Bengalensis, Otis nigriceps, Otis fulva, Otis Indica, Otis aurita, &c. The food of several of these is almost exclusively grasshoppers. Their flesh is much esteemed.

The Bustards are all peculiar to the older continents, none being natives of America; they generally congregate in flocks, and one species, the Otis nigriceps, is so common in the Deckhan, that one sportsman has shot

nearly a thousand; this noble bird measures fifty-six inches in length; the male has the throat-pouch, which we noticed in the Great Bustard of Europe. See Zool. Proceed. vol. ii. p. 155.

From the Bustards we pass to the PLOVERS, (Charadriadæ, VIGORS,) a family comprehending various welldefined groups, some allied to the one which we have just left; others to groups belonging not only to the present order, but to that of the swimming birds also. Hence some frequent the low flat shores of the sea, or the mouths of rivers and marshy districts; while others take up their abode on open plains, heaths, or stony tracts of country. Not a few are feeders by twilight, or even during night, and have the large full eye, so characteristic of nocturnal habits. This fulness of eye is necessarily accompanied by a corresponding expansion of the socket, giving the head an enlarged appearance, a feature very prevalent among them. The number of eggs laid by the females throughout most of the genera is four; in one genus, however, Edicnemus, the number, as in the bustards, is two. The Plovers run well and rapidly, and their flight is also sweeping and strong, the wings being long and pointed. Most are subject to a double moult, one before the breeding season, when a striking summer livery is assumed; another in autumn, when this livery is laid aside, for a plainer dress during winter.

The genus Edicnemus has close affinity to the Bustards; it is characterized as follows: bill longer than the head, strong, straight, depressed at the base, and compressed at the tip, which is hard; nostrils placed in the middle of the upper mandible; tarsi long and slender; toes three before; wings pointed; tail graduated; eyes large, and formed for night.

The genus Edicnemus embraces but a limited number of species, all very similar to each other in plumage and habits. One is a native of Europe, and is also tolerably common in our island during summer, where it is known

under a variety of names, such as the Great Plover, the Norfolk Plover, the Stone Curlew, and the Thick-kneed Bustard. It is the " COMMON THICK-KNEE" of Selby, (Edicnemus crepitans, TEMM.) This interesting bird

66

[graphic][merged small]

visits our wide hilly downs and extensive commons, in April or May, where it appears in small flocks, which are extremely shy, and difficult to be approached, flying around in wide circles, if disturbed from their repose, and occasionally settling, but immediately rising on the least appearance of danger, and making a still wider sweep; indeed, if much harassed, they quit the spot entirely. They run along very nimbly, with the head poked out, and on a level with the body, but do not trust to their speed on the ground for safety, as far as man is concerned. Though not limited to any particular districts, the Thick-knee is principally to be met with in the southern and eastern counties of our island, and especially Norfolk, Suffolk, and Sussex. On the continent it is common in Spain, the south of France, Germany, Italy, and Turkey, and extends also over various parts of Asia and Africa.

« AnkstesnisTęsti »