ACCENTOR AIPINU3,
' £
ACCENTOR ALPINUS.
Alpine Accentor.
MotacUh alpina, GraeL. edit Linn. Syst Nat., tom. i. p. 957.
Stwmu moritanus, Gmel. ibid., p. 804.
—■— - eoi laris, Gmel. ibid., p. 806.
Accentar alpmtts, Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl., tom. iii. p. 700.
Those persons who have done me the honour to consult my work on the ‘ Birds o f Asia ’ will have observed
that all the species o f this form contained therein are figured under the generic term Accentor; but I may
here remark that Professor Kaup has divided the birds hitherto placed in that genus into three genera,
reserving Accentor for the present'species, with which its near allies A . nipalenm and A . altaicus must be
associated, proposing the term Tharrhaleus for the common Hedge-Aceentor of Europe, A . modularity, with
which must be placed A . wmaculatus, A . rubeculoides, A . strophiatus, and the Japanese A . rubidus,— and
Spermolegus for the A . atrogularis vel. monta,tellies. Now, although I have not adopted these divisions, I
admit that the German savant has sufficient reasons for separating the Accentorine birds into two genera; but
I strongly object to the generic separation of the A . atrogularis from Tharrhaleus, since, in my opinion, it is
identical in form. The species, then, of Professor Kaup’s restricted genus Accentor, of which the bird here
represented is the type, are three in number, namely A . alpinus, A . nipalensis, and A . altaicus; all are
inhabitants of mountainous districts. Compared with the members of the genus Tharrhaleus, o f which T
modularis is the type, these Alpine birds have longer wings, and more robust forms, and the marking of their
'• Th*? are be even more tame in disposition than our well-known
Hedge«p*m»w; at least it is so reported o f A . alpinus. The birds of this latter form also affect very
diffiwnt localities, rocky won,.tains being the utescwM wherein they km? «0 dwell, rather than among the
lowlands. They ««id the Wild HI,ododeodrom Inc together—the European species with the Rhododendron
the discovery o f so many species o f which made Dr. Hooker's name so famous among botanists. The
European A. alptnns keeps true to Us locality; for n seldom leaves the Alps, and never intrude« upon the
liauuts of those inhabiting the great Himalaya« range*, which, in like manner are constant to their natural
abodes. The Accentors constitute a w«il-de&n«l group o f birds, the members o f which are confined to
the Old World, and, as far as we yet know, to its northern regions. What claim, it may be asked,
has the Accentor alpinus to a place in the avifauna of Great Britain ? If we look into the works of
Macgillivray, Yarrell, or Thompson, we shall find it recorded that a pair were seen in the garden of
King’s College, Cambridge, and one being shot, on the 22nd of November 1822, it was submitted to the
inspection o f the ornithologists living at the time, accomjmnied bv a scrap o f information hearing out their
rock-loving disposition; for it was noticed that when not on tin.* ground they frequented the buttresses of the
surrounding buildings. The second example was supposed to have fallen a victim to a cat. In Loudon’s
Magazine for 1832 is another record of the occurrence o f this bird.
“ I am indebted, says Mr. Yarrell, “ to the Rev. Dr. Goodenough, the Dean o f Well*, for the knowledge
o f the occurrence of a third example of this rare bird, which was shot in the garden of tin* Deanery, in
Somersetshire, in 1833. . . . The same character was noticed in the specimens both at Cnntbridge and
Wells, the birds observers to approach unusually close to them, and, when a t length «Mured to
move, making very short flights and always settling on some part o f tbe nearest building. The resemblance
o f the steeple-crowned edifices of Cambridge and at the Deanery o f Wells to the pointed and elevated rock*,
of their own peculiar lmunts was supposed to have been the attraction in both the localities referred to.”
Still more recently Mr. Gatcoinbe has submitted to my inspection a very fine pair shot by himself in Devonshire,
respecting which be has favoured me tbe following note
“ On the 20th o f December. 1858, while walk «ay ■»< the coast in the of l*tv mouth, alter
some heavy gales from the south-west, I wn*. surprised aud utterevted in mv«hc h itair of Moinr
Accentors hopping about among the grass at« tfe ^ -s' the rlifli. Harms •->«vuhtd them for some lime 1
returned home for inygun ; but wbcu I cam« h « ■ ^ had disappeared, and. although I *r>iulously searched
the whole of the coast, I did not see them stgsk» ..«mu Hm* IQtb of <h* following »«eYth, January 185V
when I had the good fortune to about them. ;'Y. closely resembled of vlw -ominon Hedge-
Accentor ; and they were tolerably tame, hut. uk «formed, tBHuedtateiv flew down among the rocks
tittering a note which resembled the words ft fir. tree *** .-rii-Mv repeated, rrmiodu*v ux morb of 5 he noise
made by some kinds of small bird • ■ h fight ing