MACOILLIVRAY'S HISTORY OF BRITISH BIRDS. * THESE two volumes complete Dr.
Macgillivray's racy and original work on British Birds ; and, startling coincidence, their publica-
tion is accompanied by the announcement of the author's death. While the present notice was passing through the press, we read in an Edinburgh paper that the author of the History of British Birds expired last Sunday, at Aberdeen.
The distinguishing feature of Dr. Macgillivray as a natu- ralist was conscientious accuracy. The dimensions of a bird, the characteristics of its form and organization, the colours of its plumage, with the changes arising from the season or from indi- vidual variations so far as they are known, are described with the precise accuracy of an affidavit. His general and more popular de- scription of the habits of the feathered tribes, their bearing and behaviour in their native haunts, and the scenery by which they are surrounded, is not devoid of a rather forced rhetoric ; but the foots adduced may be vouehed for, as well as the grouping ; and the general colouring, however warm and glowing, is a reflex of the writer's feelings. In the British Birds there is no fancy painting, no false colours. What Dr. Macgillivray states as from himself has been observed by him ; while if he has not seen the bird, or has only seen it dead, the reader is told so, and is pre- sented with the authority. It is this exactness which gives so much truth and interest to Dr. Macgillivrav's writings. They are not " founded on" facts ; they are facts. 'The following picture of the manner in which Richardson's Skna—popularly the man- of-war bird, or boatswain—procures his food, may be taken as an example. With the exception of an occasional remark, the narra- tive, warm as it reads, is a tissue of facts that might all be tabled. The scene is the Southern side of the Frith of Forth; time, the latter end of August "The wavelets chase each other in undulating lines, the sunbeams glitter on the smooth surface of the sea, and the gentle breeze tempers the heat of noontide. The sea-birds are on wing, wheeling and hovering all around, voci- ferous in their enjoyment, their screams mingling into one harsh noise, not leas pleasing for a time than the song of the lark or blackbird. Every now and then a tern dips into the water, and emerges with a little fish in its bill, which it swallows without alighting. In the midst of all this bustle and merriment, there comes gliding from afar, with swift and steady motion, a dark and resolute-looking bird, which, as it cleaves a path for itself among the white terns, seems a messenger of death. But a few minutes ago he was but a dim speck on the horizon, or at least some miles away ; and now, un- thought-of, he is in the very midst of them. Nay, he has singled out his victim, and is pursuing it. The latter, light and agile, attempts to evade the aggressor. It mounts, descends, sweeps aside, glides off in a curve, turns, doubles, and shoots away, screaming incessantly the while. The sea-hawk follows the frightened bird in all its motions, which its superior agility enables it to do with apparent ease. At length the tern, finding escape hopeless, and perhaps terrified by the imminence of its danger, disgorges part of the contents of its gullet, probably with the view of lightening itself. The pur- suer, with all bis seeming ferocity, had no designs upon the life of the poor tern ; and now his object is evident, for he plunges after the falling fish, catches it in its descent, and presently flies off to attack another bird. In this way the marauder makes his rounds, exacting tribute from all whom he thinks capable of paying it, and not sturdy enough to resist oppression. The tern, the brown-hooded mew, and the kittiwake, he harasses; but the black-backed, yellow-footed, and herring gulls, are not his tributaries. They pay no taxes to governors, nor black-mail to protectors. The teaser never fishes for himself on such occasions, although his organization seems to fit him for aquatic rapine even more than that of the tern or gull. He is lord of the -shores, and they who fish by them must yield up a portion of the produce of their industry. When satisfied with food, he retires to the dis- tant bosom of the deep, or to seine islet or unfrequented part of the sand ; but his awakening appetite soon forces him to return, and for hours together he may be seen on wing, singling out a bird here and there and pursuing it, or gliding swiftly, as if -on urgent business, from one group to another."
The same precision with regard to facts, which after all is only another name for accurate description, is found in a more general- ized passage with some reasoning attached,—the mimetic arts in- stinctively made use of by birds to defend their young.
" The habits of the Cursorial birds are little known ; but those of the Tentatorial are patent to the observation of all who traverse our fields and moors, or have occasion to visit the sandy shores of the sea. The lapwing, the golden plover, and the common ring-plover, fly up to an intruder, keep hovering over and around him, or alight, and manifest the greatest anxiety and anger. The males sometimes, but generally the females, will move crouchingly to some distance, and flutter on the ground, as if mortally wounded, limp as if one of their legs were broken, or show a fractured or dislocated wing, hanging or whirling about in a most surprisingly simulative manner. The object of all this pretended distress is obviously to withdraw the attention of men, dogs, polecats, weasels, foxes, crows, or other animals, from their nests, and attract it to themselves. If you come up to one of these birds fluttering apparently in extreme agony, it will not cease its dis- play of suffering until you are very near it, when it will limp away with drooping wings, keeping so little ahead that you feel sure of catching it ; but gradually, as it removes from the neat, it revives, and when it has drawn you far enough to render it difficult for you to find again the spot whence you were enticed, it will fly off exultingly, emitting perhaps a merry note, as if conscious of the success of its stratagem. The unsophisticated bird, pure from the hand of nature,' and with morals uncontaminated, actually practises deceit. It secs an enemy approaching its young; it feels alarmed • A History of British Birds, Indigenous and Migratory : including their Organi- sation, Habits, and Relations; Remarks on Classification and Nomenclature; an Account of the principal Organs of Birds, and Observations relative to Practical Or- nithology. Illustrated by numerous Engravings. By William Maegifliucay, LL.D., &c. Volumes IV. and V. Published by Orr and Co.
for their safety, and, knowing that it has not strength to drive off the ag- gressor, it essays to mislead and bewilder him. Knowing that the intruder has a propensity to seize or destroy even a poor little innocent bird, it runs away a little, and then shows a broken leg and a shattered wing, as if it said, See, how easy it is for you to catch me, when I can neither run fast nor fly at all.' Then it pretends to try to rise on wing, and falls over on one side, but is up again, and limps along. `Come, you may be quite sure of me if you follow. No need of salt ; but if you have some, you see how easy it is to put it on my Mil,' So the chase commences, and soon ends in dis- appointment to the pursuer, who cannot help laughing at himself. * * * " Some persons have moralized on the cunning of birds : they cannot be- lieve that they should naturally possess any instinct leading them to acts such as in men are accounted evil. But a rational being and an instinctive animal have no moral affinity.. Why should not animals use stratagems in defence of themselves or their young ? Is cunning a greater crime than murder ? And yet who finds fault with an eagle for tearing a lamb to pieces but the shepherd and his master ? or with a hon for devouring a Bosjesinan or a Dutch Boor, but other Bosjesmen and Boors who may dread the same fate ? If a myrmeleon digs a pit, and lies in wait to seize and devour the unhappy insect that has fallen into it, do not men—moral men—make pits to entrap elephants, hyenas, wolves, and other beasts ? Who blames the fisher for his practices, although his whole art is a piece of mean deceit? He lets down into the dark sea a web of cord, and persuades the silly her- rings that there is nothing in their way. He busks a pointed and barbed hook, casts it on the water, and says to the trout, there's a nice fat fly for you! He impales a sprawling frog, and letting it down the stream pretends to attend to the comfort of the hungry pike, who is not insensible of his good fortune until he feels the steel points thrilling his pneumo-gastric nerves. The hunter and the sportsman have at least the qualities of bold- ness and openness ; but the angler is a mere cheat."
It is fifteen years since the first volume of British Birds appeared ; and the last two volumes, now before us, would have been published earlier, but for the author's ill health, which has at last terminated fatally. In point of industry or vigour no trace of time or sickness is visible. The particulars essential to the accurate student of ornithology are as minute and full as ever. The paintings of the birds, and the scenery in which they are found, are as fresh and picturelike as of yore. As much popular description is contained in the ample volumes ; but probably there is on the whole less of original matter. This in a great measure arises from the nature of the subjects, which consist of water-birds. Some of these, as ducks and geese, gulls and swans, snipes, herons, and the tribe of diving-birds, are numerous enough. Others, as the bustards, are nearly extinct, owing to the spread of cultivation and the extension of draining ; so that their habits cannot be so readily observed, even though specimens may be procured. The method of including among British birds all such individuals as may occasionally visit the country, or even solitary specimens that have been driven here by accident or stress of weather, further increases the number of birds respecting which little or no living knowledge can be obtained. This of necessity compels Dr. Macgillivray to recur more to second-hand authorities than was his wont ; but, where practicable, they are authorities after his own heart—men who, like Audubon, drew direct from nature. A further difficulty in painting certain water-birds arises from the difficulty of closely observing them. Many come to us for a season only, and that often the winter season. Observation is difficult, because some of them feed by night, many of them are very wary, and it is difficult to get close to them for purposes of observation. The wild goose, for example, is a common bird ; ask anybody accustomed to entertain opinions without analyzing them, and he will answer offhand that everything is known about them, and that you are a tame goose to suppose otherwise. Let Dr. Macgillivray put him to the question, and it will soon be found how little comparatively is known about them, and how difficult it is, when birds of the same genus but different species all mix to- gether, to ascertain the habits of each particular tribe. The cur- lew, again, is a bird well enough known by name ; it figures in fic- tion and poetry : yet, though seen at meal-times, it is not always known what curlews are taking for their meals, while even to get sight or shot at them is a matter of difficulty. The first scene of the following extract is the sea-shore ; time, the middle of October.
"All we can see or say of them here is, that at this season they have ar- rived on the sea-shore, where they frequent the beaches, searching for food in the same way as the godwits, longshanks, and sandpipers; but in what precise manner they procure it, or of what it consists, remains to be dis- covered. To see these vigilant and suspicious birds at hand, we must find some place resorted to by them, in which we may draw near without being perceived. Let us imagine ourselves in such a place. " Here is a low tract of sandy pasture, with a shallow pool upon it, and extending along a large ford or expanse of sand, covered by the tide, and laid bare when it recedes. Many curlews and golden plovers, a few ringed dotterels, two or three mallards, and doubtless hundreds of snipes, are dis- persed over the Flashy ground. That old turf fold, in which the cattle have been milked in summer, will enable us to approach the birds unseen, unless some of the curlews should happen to fly overhead and discover us, when they will be sure to sound an alarm. Now crawl this way, and see that the muzzle of your gun is not filled with sand. From this slap in the wall, cautiously raising our heads until we can bring our eye to bear on them, we may observe their motions. This is one of the few occasions on which alow forehead would be of decided advantage. There, twenty paces off, stalks an old curlew, cunning and sagacious, yet not conscious of our proximity. He has heard, or fancied that he has heard, some unusual sound; and there he moves slowly, with raised head and ear attent; but some appearance in the soft sand has attracted his notice, and, forgetting his fears, he thrusts or rather works his bill into it, and extracting something, which he swallows, withdraws it, and proceeds, looking carefully around. Now from the sur- face he picks up a snail, of that small kind named Helix ericetorum ; which, raising his head, and moving it rapidly backwards and forwards, at the same time slightly opening and closing his mandibles, he gradually brings within reach of his tongue, when he swallows it. There he has dragged a worm from the sand, and again has obtained a small crab or insect. But now two others have come up ; they are all within range : let me fire--there they are, two dead, the other with broken wing runs off screaming loudly. Curlews, plovers, redsbanks, dotterels, ducks, and snipes, all rise, and move to a dis- tance corresponding to their fears; the curlews flying out of sight, the snipes
coming back to the same spot, and the plovers alighting about two hundreds yards off.
" The curlew is extremely shy and auspicious ; so that at this season, un- less by some stratagem or accident, one can very seldom obtain a shot at it. In Harris, I once shot three from a cattle-fold in the manner described above. On another occasion, having a musket with large shot, I let fly at one feeding in a field as I was passing, hit it in the wing, and on measuring the distance found it to be seventy-fire yards. In the Hebrides, I have heard it said, that to kill seven curlews was enough for a lifetime ; but one, by lying among the rocks on a point frequented by them, might, I doubt not, shoot as many in less than a week. This method, however, I have never tried ; it being much more pleasant to be moving about than lying jammed into the crevice of a cliff."
Dr. Macgillivray stands up for the goose. The estimate in which it is generally held is only an instance of man's ingratitude, in calling the ass, and every other animal that serves him patiently and in drudgelike capacity, stupid. The domesticated goose is not so stupid as the turkey, and not more stupid than other domestic fowls. Wild geese are so wary that it is very hard to approach them.
"In early autumn, when the barley begins to ripen, flocks commit great havoc among it in unfrequented places, often at night, but mostly at early dawn. It is almost impossible to approach them while thus feeding, how- ever irregular the ground may be, as they see at night much better than their enemy. In the end of autumn, when they often feed at night in the pools and shallow lakes, I have often tried to steal upon them in the dark ; but, although creeping among sand-banks, never succeeded. Once, when, after long crawling in the most cautious manner, I got within what I con- ceived to be the proper distance, hearing the geese puddling in the water before me, I let fly into the thickest part of the flock ; on which they flew off in haste, uttering their loud trumpetlike cries. Bushing into the water, gun in hand, to secure my prizes, I found that I had shot into the midst of some tall weeds, which I had mistaken for the geese. A worse mistake was made by a man in Harris, who, hearing the geese on the marsh of Nisbost close to his house, went out in the dark, and, having shot across a narrow creek where he conceived them to be, returned. In the dawn, when he went to pick up the geese, he found dead on the opposite bank his own horse, which had been reposing there.
"From my own observation I have little more to say of the bean or corn geese than that they sit lightly on the water, floating beautifully with their heads to the wind, like a fleet of merchantmen ; swim with good speed ; but rise heavily, striking the water with their large wings, which, when rising from the ground, they spread out and flap, running forward sonic paces ; that they feed chiefly by night, unless in remote places, eating the soft pasture-grass, and frequently the long juicy root-stems of agrostrides, glycerin, and arun- dines, that occur in the pools and by the margins of lakes; that their flight is heavy and rather slow, the birds disposing themselves in lines, now straight, now angular, or waving, when they are proceeding to a distance ; and that their loud cries, rather harsh and grating when heard at hand, are pleasant to the ear when coining from a distance, especially in the stillness of night."
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