Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

The nest, built of small sticks and lined with feathers, is generally placed on a low branch of a tree not far from the ground, and contains four or five white eggs when the laying is complete. The song of the pine grosbeak is very melodious. Mr. Audubon states that he once "knew one of these sweet songsters, which in the evening, as soon as the lamp was lighted in the room where its cage was hung, would instantly tune its voice anew." The same fascinating author states that they are caught under snow-shoes, put up with a figure of four around the wood-cutters' camps in the State of Maine, and that their flesh is said to be good eating. A friend of his gives the following account of one in a state of domestication:

"I received," said his friend, "a male in splendid plumage, but so emaciated, that he seemed little else than a mass of feathers. By cautious feeding, however, he soon regained his flesh, and became so tame as to eat from my hand without the least appearance of fear. To reconcile him gradually to confinement, he was permitted to fly about my bed-room; and, upon rising in the morning, the first thing I did was to give him a small quantity of seed. But three mornings in succession I happened to lie rather later than usual, and each morning I was aroused by the bird fluttering upon my shoulder, and calling for his usual allowance. The third morning I allowed him to flutter about me some time before showing any symptom of being awake: he no sooner observed that his object was effected, than he retired to the window, and waited patiently until I arose."

Surely there is more than instinct in such conduct; in such actions have we not evidence of memory, association, and inference? Mr. Audubon's friend goes on to say that, as the spring approached, the bird used to whistle occasionally in the morning, and that his notes were exceedingly rich and full. The migratory instinct seems, however, to have prevailed in full force; for the narrator adds, that when the pine grosbeaks began to move to the north, the former familiarity of the bird entirely disappeared. The instance of the night singing here recorded, does not appear to stand alone; for Bechstein observes, that these birds (which are liked both on account of the ease with which they are tamed, and of their agreeable song), will sometimes sing in the night; and he adds that, in captivity, they keep their song throughout the year, whereas the wild birds only sing in the spring.

Though there was circumstantial evidence to show that the common crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) had bred in this country; and though it had been seen in some places throughout the year, Mr. Yarrell, whose industry in collecting facts is well known, was not able, when he published his interesting account of the bird,

to find any instance in which the eggs or nestlings had been taken. Notwithstanding the case of their being observed during twelve months, the species, in the present state of our knowledge, can only be regarded in the light of an occasional visiter. It inhabits Lapland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Siberia, Russia, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, the Alps, and the Pyrenees in the Old World, and visits Spain and Genoa. These countries may be considered as its southern limit, generally speaking; but the Prince of Canino notices it as very rare and accidental near Rome: and adds, that it only appears in the hardest winters. In North America-for there now seems to be no doubt that the crossbill of that country is identical with the European bird,—Mr. Audubon found it more abundant in Maine, and the British provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, than anywhere else, and he met with it in the month of August in the great pine-forest of Pennsylvania. In the Old World its haunts are in such forests.

To this country they have generally come in large flocks. Mr. Yarrell observes, that there are some curious records of their appearance in the years 1254 and 1593. Of their visit in the last-named year, he gives the following account from an old MS., with a copy of which he was favoured by the Rev. L. B. Larking, of Ryarsh Vicarage, near Maidstone.

66

The year 1593 was a greate and exceeding yeere of apples; and there were greate plenty of strang birds that shewed themselves at the tyme the apples were full rype, who fedde upon the kernels only of those apples, and haveinge a bill with one beake wrythinge over the other, which would presently bore a greate hole in the apple, and make way to the kernells; they were of the bignesse of a bullfinch, the henne right like the henne of the bullfinch in colour: the cocke a very glorious bird, in a manner al redde or yellowe on the brest, backe, and head. The oldest man living never heard or reade of any such like bird; and the thinge most to bee noted was, that it seemed they came out of some country not inhabited; for that they at the first would abide shooting at them, either with pellet, bowe, or other engine, and not remove till they were stricken downe; moreover, they would abide the throweing at them, in so much as diverse were stricken downe and killed with often throwing at them with apples. They came when the apples were rype, and went away when the apples were cleane fallen. They were very good meate"- -as they are considered to this day, especially at Vienna, where Mr. Gould saw multitudes of them exposed for sale for the table, in company indeed with swallows, martins, and other small, birds, but looked upon as far superior to all the rest.

In the years 1821, 1836, 1837, and 1838, these crossbills

visited England in considerable force. In 1791 many were taken at Bath. Mr. Yarrell remarks, that in 1828 they appeared at Westmoreland; that in 1829 they were numerous in Yorkshire; and that they have been, he might also say, plentiful in various parts of England from the winter of 1835, to January, 1839 (when he wrote his history of the species), probably induced, as he observes, to remain longer in this country now than formerly, by the greater abundance of fir plantations, to which they particularly resort for their principal food in winter. In April, 1839, Mr. Charlesworth exhibited at the meeting of the Zoological Society, the nest, eggs and young, so long in vain sought for, from the neighbourhood of Farnham, in Surrey. Nests had before been seen near Dartford, in Kent, and near Saffron Walden; in the first case, on a pine-tree in the last, in an apple-tree. No eggs, however, were laid in either case; but, according to Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, a pair some years ago completed a nest in the aviary at Audley-End, and the hen laid five eggs, but did not sit. The specimens exhibited by Mr. Charlesworth, were accompanied by notes relating to their discovery, by H. L. Long, Esq., who stated that the nest was lodged close to the central stem of a Scotch fir, about thirty inches below its highest point, at the base of the shoots of the year 1837: it was supported beneath by five or six ascending lateral branches of the tree, which so completely concealed it, that it could have scarcely been perceptible from the ground, and the retreat of the parent birds was only betrayed by their occasional visits. Mr. Yarrell observed that the eggs very nearly resembled those of the greenfinch, but that they were larger, and had a smaller portion of red-colouring, and this not confined to the larger end of the egg. It is not stated of what the nest was composed; but that built at Audley-End was of a loose texture, not unlike that of the greenfinch, "though not nearly so well, or so carefully built, and the eggs contained in it were not unlike those of that bird, but larger."

The plumage varies greatly at different periods. The nestling is dark green, with blackish longitudinal marks. The young birds in June and July have the head, neck, and all the under parts of the body streaked longitudinally with dusky brown, and then resemble the hen siskin; but the streaks in the male crossbills are much more distinct and bright than they are in the females. In September, the colour of the males is more uniform, and the stripes more diffused. At the first autumnal moult, some change to red only, or yellow only, and others to red and yellow mixed.

The young hens at the same period become greenish yellow on the crown of the head, and on the whole of the under parts, mixed with grayish-brown primrose-yellow, tinged with green, on

[ocr errors]

the rump and upper tail-coverts, and of the same colour as the male on the wings, tail, and legs.

never

But the most curious part of the organization of the crossbills is the structure of the beak, the mandibles of which cross each other at the extremity from right to left, or from left to right. Buffon, who is ever too ready to charge nature with a fault, speaks of this structure as a deformity. A more admirable instrument for the purpose it has to accomplish was invented. In the nestlings the mandibles do not cross at all, because in that state their crossing would interfere with the sure reception of the food brought to them by their parents; their bills, therefore, are straight, and the under mandible shuts within the upper one. But as soon as the bird is arrived at an age when it must provide for itself, the mandibles cross to form a fitting tool for splitting apples, and even almonds, and for opening fir-cones. Mr. Townson kept some in captivity, and had an opportunity of witnessing how perfectly the disposition of the mandibles enables the bird to tear or wrench open what is presented to it. His pets would often come on the table whilst he was writing, and carry off his pencils, little chip-boxes in which he occasionally kept insects, and other similar objects, and tear them to pieces in a minute. Their mode of operation was first to peck a little hole, into which they inserted their bill, and then split or tore the object by a force exercised laterally. When he treated them with almonds in their shells, they got at the kernel in the same manner, namely, by first pecking a hole in the shell, and then enlarging it by wrenching off pieces by the lateral power. Mr. Yarrell mentions a pair kept by Mr. Morgan, which were impatient and restless under confinement, climbing over the wires of their cage with their beak and claws, like parrots. One of their principal occupations was twisting out the ends of the wires of their prison-a feat which they performed with ease and dexterity. Then there was a short, flatheaded nail which confined some strong net-work, and was an object on which they especially delighted to try their strength. The male, who was the leader in every exploit, worked at this nail till he drew it out of the wood; not, however, without breaking off the point of his bill in the experiment. At last their patron, wearied out by their incessant destruction of cages, was obliged to banish them. With this same formidable instrument they can pick up the smallest seeds, and shell hemp and similar grains, notwithstanding Buffon's rash assertion to the contrary. The beautiful disposition of the muscles by which the beak is worked, and the exquisitely-adapted tongue, with its horny scoop for the reception of the dislodged seed, directed, are

figured and described in a masterly manner by Mr. Yarrell in the "Zoological Journal," and in his "British Birds."

There is an odd superstition connected with these birds in Thuringia, which makes the wood-cutters very careful of the nests. The crossbills in captivity are subject to many diseases, such as weak eyes, swelled and ulcerated feet, &c., arising probably from the heat and accumulated vapours of the stoveheated rooms where they are kept. The Thuringian mountaineer believes that these wretched birds can take upon themselves any diseases to which he is subject, and always keeps some near him. He is satisfied that a bird whose upper mandible bends to the right, has the power of transferring colds and rheumatisms from man to itself; and if the mandible turns to the left, he is equally certain that the bird can render the same service to women. The crossbill is often attacked with epilepsy, and the Thuringians drink every day the water left by the bird as a specific against that disease.

The parrot crossbill (Loxia pityopsittacus) which is much larger than the common crossbill, and the white-winged crossbill (Loxia falcirostra) are both occasionally seen in this

country.

Passing by those wagtails (Motacilla) that visit this country-for they have no song beyond call-notes-we approach a family modest and even sombre in their attire, but in which the full power of bird-music is developed. The Sylviada, or warblers, afford examples of almost every degree of song, from the oftenrepeated double-note from which the chiffchaff takes its English name, to the rich and varied melody of the black-cap and the diapason of the nightingale.

The chiffchaff (Sylvia hippolais) is the smallest of the British visiters, and we have received one in a cover, together with a written half-sheet of paper, franked by the penny stamp, which now affords such extensive communication on subjects of business or pleasure. It is a welcome little bird; for it is one of the earliest heralds of spring, generally arriving early in March; it has been heard in the very beginning of February. Its snug nest is generally made on or near the ground, sometimes in the ivy that covers a wall, and is framed of dried grass, withered leaves, and moss on the outside, with an abundant warm lining of feathers, on which the six tiny white eggs scantily speckled with dark purplish red, are deposited. This sprightly species lingers long with us, and as he brings fine weather with him, so he does not depart till the middle of October, after which the winter generally comes rapidly upon us. Nay, so attached is the bird to its summer quarters, that Colonel Montagu saw it in the winters of 1806 and 1808 in the mild climate of Devonshire. In

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »