 |
| John Gould: it is 'a Robin among the flycatchers' |
IT has been an excellent month for British sightings of Red-breasted Flycatcher, with the East Coast, notably the Spurn peninsula, being particularly blessed. Happily, today's birders are happy solely to detect, watch and admire, but it was not always thus. As Victorian ornithologist John Gould (1804-1881) recounts in The Birds of Great Britain (1873), the first three examples recorded in Britain all came to an untimely end.
It would be very interesting could we ascertain whether the various little ornithological strangers that have of late been detected in England have either crossed from the Continent or if they are the offspring of others which have arrived at an early period of the year, bred, then departed unnoticed.
Certain it is that most, if not all, of these rara aves that have been captured or shot in Britain have been birds bred in the current year.
If immature and consequently feeble-winged examples of the Red-breasted Flycatcher do successfully cross the ocean, the circumstance must necessarily excite surprise.
It would, however, be by no means remarkable for mature birds with strengthened pinions to make such a transit, if blown out of their course during their spring migration, and remain here, and breed.
During the autumnal movement of birds from one country to another, the young would naturally seek the most southern and western parts of England such as Sussex, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall until stopped by the wide ocean which they would of course be disinclined to cross while sufficient insect-life remained for their support.
Hence, it doubtless arises that many rare birds are found in those counties during the autumn and winter months.
Of the Muscicapa parva, three specimens only have been captured in Britain, namely one near Falmouth and two on the Scilly Islands.
In the eastern and southern parts of Europe, it is very numerous, and we know that its range extends thence to Asia Minor and Western India.
In a note to The Zoologist journal for 1863 (page 8444), I wrote: "Strange to say, on the very day I visited Falmouth, one of the rarest of European birds was shot for the first time in Great Britain.
"Having been killed in Cornwall, I thought you would like to know something about it.
"The bird in question is the Muscicapa parva, and you will find it figured in the second volume, plate 62, of my Birds of Europe of which there is a copy in the Penzance Museum.
"The plate will at once give you an idea of this pretty species - a Robin among the flycatchers.
"The proper home of the species is Western India and the eastern parts of Europe, and I certainly never expected this singular bird to have been added to our avifauna.
"The specimen, which was in good condition, was sent in the flesh to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, and, in this state, I had it in my hands, so that there is no mistake about it.
"It was shot on the 24th of January, 1863, by Mr. Copeland, of Carwythenack House, in the parish of Constantine, near Falmouth, and is a female.
"Unfortunately, the specimen had been placed in some insecure place, and the head had been eaten by mice or rats, so that the body alone was sent to the Museum.
"I wrote to Mr. Copeland for an accurate account of the capture of this little wanderer.
"In reply, I received from him the following interesting remarks: 'The little flycatcher alluded to we had seen some days before it was shot.
"'We first observed it on a dead holly tree, which, with the ground around the house, was its favourite resort.
"'It was particularly active, skimming the grass to within about a foot, then, perching itself, darted occasionally with a toss, resting either on a shrub or the wire fencing.
"'There is another in the neighbourhood for which a vigilant watch will be kept.
"'I saw it, a few days ago, in a plantation 400 yards from my house.
"'Should I be so fortunate as to capture it, you shall have due notice.
"'I believe that with attention many other interesting visitors may be found.'"
A young bird, killed at Scilly in October, 1863, is mentioned in Edward Rodd’s List of British Birds, and the occurrence of a third was communicated to me by the same gentleman nearly two years later.
In a letter dated November 7, 1865, he writes "You will he pleased to hear that another specimen of the Muscicapa parva was obtained at Scilly a day or two since.
"It was observed by my nephew and Mr. A. Pechell, who were its captors, busily engaged in capturing flies.
"Its actions, while so doing, much resembled those of the common Spotted Flycatcher in darting off, and returning to, the same branch.
"From the secondary quills and the greater coverts being edged with rufous instead of being of a uniform cinereous, I think it is a current year bred male.
"Its note was louder than the suppressed one of the Spotted Flycatcher and was a well-expressed chat."
A notice of this specimen from the same pen will be found in The Zoologist for 1863 (page 8841).
I have to thank Mr. Rodd’s nephew, the Rev. J. H. Jenkinson, of St. Margaret’s Vicarage, Reading, for the following additional particulars respecting it.
"The bird was first noticed by Mr. Pechell, in a small covert of low trees, close by the house, Tresco Abbey, the residence of Augustus Smith, Esq.
"After watching it for a few moments, we came to a conclusion as to what it was.
"I fetched a small walking-stick gun and shot it.
"While we were looking at it, it was continually on the move, flitting among the branches after insects, flirting up its tail as it settled on a branch, and uttering now and then a rather harsh 'Stonechatty' kind of note, repeated once or twice.
"Its actions were like those of a Willow Warbler or Chiffchaff for which we at first mistook it, with a strong dash of those of the Spotted Flycatcher.
"The elongated white patch on each side of the tail was very visible as it flew about.
"On taking up the bird, the eye struck us as being very large and full, and it had a pale huffy rim all round it.
"The tawny colour of the throat and breast was not very strong, but was deepest on the sides of the breast.
"The sex could not be determined, owing to its being too much damaged about the lower part of the body."
Having given, in the above passages, all that is known respecting the two British-killed examples, I conclude my history of the bird with Dr. Bree’s account of it as observed in other countries, in his History of The Birds of Europe Not Observed in The British Isles (vol 1, Page 179)
"This pretty and interesting species inhabits the vast forests of Hungary and the neighbourhood of Vienna in summer, but only during the short time necessary to rear its young.
"It is an annual migratory bird in the Crimea, and accidental in France, Switzerland, and Italy.
"M. Nordmann says that the young bird may be seen in flocks in the Botanic Gardens of Odessa from the last days of July till the end of October and that the birds in full plumage, which pass in the spring, only stop a short time in those gardens.
"Nordmann adds that the vivacity of its movements, as well as the white of its tail, reminds one of the smallest species of Stonechat.
"It constantly utters a feeble chirp, lowers its tail slowly and repeatedly, and spreads it out or raises it suddenly above its wings.
" The Red-breasted Flycatcher, like the rest of its family, lives upon flies and other insects.
"It builds its nest in the forks of the branches of trees."
"Mr. Jerdon, speaking of the bird as observed by him in India, writes in Birds of India (vol. i. p. 481): 'In spring, by the end of March or the beginning of April, the male, by a partial moult, assumes a bright orange-rufous chin and throat, and the lores, cheeks, and sides of the neck become tolerably pure ashy.
"'This livery is again cast at the autumnal moult."
"'This interesting little bird is found throughout the whole of India, from the base of the Himalayas to the extreme south, and in Ceylon; also in Burmah, and from China to Afghanistan.
"'It is more common towards northern and central India than in the south, and may be seen in every grove.
"'Often a party of five or six may be observed sporting about the trunk of some mango or tamarind tree, now clinging to the trunk, then darting after an insect in the air or alighting on the ground to pick one up.
"'It is, however, frequently seen singly, and its actions much remind one of those of the British Robin.'"
No comments:
Post a Comment