drooping legs over it. Instances almost without end of the delight which the study o f birds affords might
be cited ; but I will now say a few words on their uses as articles o f diet.
As a rule, birds are far less utilized in this country than on the Continent, where even the smallest are
eaten, the Robin, the Wryneck, and the Wren not excepted, as a visit to the markets o f Paris and Rome
will testify, the sylvan Beccaficos and the Ortolans being specially regarded as bonnes bouches.
Among the water-birds, the Scoters and other diving ducks, being regarded as partly fish and partly fowl,
are allowed to be eaten on fast-days, and are therefore in great req u est; and Mr. Augustus Smith, o f Scilly,
tells me that tbe French sailors who land on those islands frequently ask his permission to kill Cormorants
and Shags, considering them, as they do, the best o f fowl. The Gannet is largely eaten in the northern
parts o f the kingdom; while the Fulmar not only forms the principal diet o f the St.-Kildan, but its feathers
constitute his bed, and its oil furnishes him with medicine and the means o f light. The late Mr. John
Macgillivray states that the eggs “ are much esteemed by the natives, who gratify their partiality by robbing
all the nests in the month o f May, and apparently tru st to the bird laying a second t i m e “ and,” adds
Mr. Robert Gray, “ the young is valued more than all the other tribes of birds taken to g e th e r; it may be
said to be their staff o f life. The 12th o f August, if a notable day on the moors, is more so on the rocks of
St. Kild a ; for it is the harvest o f the people, who are aware that it will only last eight days; and therefore
sleep itself is banished for this space, seeing th at the millions that may be left on the eighth day after the
12th are sure to be off to their own fairy world for a season. The number killed in this one week may be
from eighteen to twenty thousand.” In a valuable paper on the Solan Goose o r Gannet by Dr. R. O.
Cunningham, published in * The Ibis ’ for 1866, it is stated, on the authority o f the celebrated Harvey, that
“ the young, when they attain the magnitude o f the domestic Goose, are sweet and fit for e a tin g ; but the
flesh o f the old birds is hard, lean, and dry.” And Ray in his ‘ Itineraries ’ mentions th at “ the young ones
are esteemed a choice dish in Scotland. As the bird feeds upon mackerel and herring, the flesh o f the
young smells and tastes strong o f these fish.”
At the present time, according to Dr. Cunningham, “ from one to two thousand o f the young birds are
killed annually for sale, and after being plucked obtain prices o f from sixpence to a shilling each. At one
time they figured a t the tables of the Scottish monarchs, and more recently were esteemed by the citizens
o f Edinburgh and other towns, being roasted and eaten as a relish before dinner. Now, I believe, their
consumption is chiefly limited to the lower classes ; and I have been informed on good authority that, after
being parboiled and having had their legs cut off, they are sold in considerable numbers to the Irish peasants
who come over to Scotland a t harvest time.”
It is quite impossible to give an estimate of the numbers o f wild Ducks and Geese that are yearly
consumed in the three kingdoms; but that they are immense will be readily conceived when it is stated that
from the various decoys, and from the Continent, hundreds, if not thousands, are weekly sent to the
markets o f the metropolis and other large towns, to which the professed wild-fowl shooter also transmits
his quota o f Widgeons, Pochards, and Brent Geese. The Common Pewit and the Golden Plover are
largely consumed, as are also the Stints and other strand-loving birds. The supply o f Snipes and Woodcocks
is dependent in a great measure upon the nature o f the season, as is also, to a certain extent,
that o f the Wood-Pigeon, the Partridge, the Grouse, the Pheasant and other game-birds. The Dottrel,
which passes over over our islands from south to north during the month of May, is subjected to a large
annual toll, and, with the imported and fattened Quail and the Ortolans, form delicate viands for the
tables of the wealthy and o f the epicures who require such whets for their appetites, and who can afford
their purchase. Besides the species above mentioned, many other kinds, and even the eggs of several,
are diligently sought for—those o f the Lapwing, Black-headed Gulls, and Guillemots, especially the former,
being in great request. These remarks may appear trite, but they serve to show that many of our birds
are extensively utilized.
Much has been written upon the classification, general structure, power o f flight, and senses of bird s;
but were I to go into detail upon these matters I should only be reproducing what has been so ably
treated by such men as Macgillivray, Owen, Jerdon, Flower, Huxley, Parker, and others. I cannot,
however, conclude the present introduction without touching lightly on some o f these points.
Most writers on Natural History have placed the class Aves immediately above the Reptiles and below
the Mammals, from either o f which they are clearly separated by the distinctive characteristics shown in
their general form, habits, feathered covering, and powers o f flight. I t is in regard to some of these
that I would now wish to say a few words. All those who have studied the anatomy of birds, even but
cursorily, must have become specially aware of the wonderful adaptation shown by nature in fashioning the
skeleton so as to enable the creature to support itself in the air with the least possible exertion, and
propel its body with varying degrees o f swiftness through that element; they will have noticed that this
power of flight is aided to a considerable extent by the fact of the bones being hollow, and their cavities
communicating for the most part with the cells o f the lungs—a provision ensuring the maximum of strength
with the minimum o f weight.
The wings of birds modify in various ways the velocity with which they are capable of cleaving the air.
Some, like the Land-Rail and the Bittern, with rounded wings, evince considerable reluctancy to quit the
ground, and, when they do so, merely fly to a short distance; others, such as the Auks and Penguins, have
indeed but the rudiments o f those o rg an s; while others, again, have their wings and pectoral muscles