The Birds of Shetland. Ed. by S. H. Saxby
Author | : Henry Linkmyer Saxby |
Publisher | : Theclassics.Us |
Total Pages | : 128 |
Release | : 2013-09 |
ISBN-10 | : 1230214887 |
ISBN-13 | : 9781230214887 |
Rating | : 4/5 (87 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1874 edition. Excerpt: ... to some quiet spot, if they have frequently been molested. If otherwise, they are nearly sure to return to the same field after the cause of alarm has disappeared. They seldom alight with the first intention. The flock descends with a gradual sweep, suddenly contracts its dimensions as the ground is approached, wheels rapidly when within a few feet of the surface, and, rising again, flies off to a considerable distance before venturing to return.; and these manoeuvres may be repeated a score of times before it will settle upon the chosen spot. When the birds have finally resolved to alight, the flock wheels repeatedly and rapidly, then dropping rather suddenly. Snow Buntings upon the wing keep up a constant chirping, and occasionally a sudden jarring sound may be heard; and as this is usually followed by an immediate deviation of the flock from its course, it has been thought by some observers to be nothing less than a word of command; but I have been able to account for it almost completely to my satisfaction. On watching with a little patience, any person may observe that simultaneously with the utterance of the peculiar sound, one bird makes a rapid dart towards a near neighbour, and the two, in their excitement, forgetting to direct their course aright, depart from the common track, thus leading the whole flock astray; for birds upon the wing are always ready to imitate any sudden movement upon the part of an object near them, whether it be a stone thrown among them or one of their number falling to the ground. That the note in question is sometimes at least one of anger I have repeatedly observed, when two of the birds have been quarrelling over their food; but it must also have some other meaning, for it is uttered in chorus by the...