Our Summer Migrants: An Account of the Migratory Birds Which Pass the Summer in the British Islands.Harting, James Edmund
Science
Our Summer Migrants: An Account of the Migratory Birds Which Pass the Summer in the British Islands.
Harting, James Edmund
Birds -- Great Britain
When it is remembered that _Anthus ludovicianus_, as stated by Professor
Reinhardt (“Ibis,” 1861, p. 3), breeds in Greenland, and, according to
Professor Blasius, is found in Heligoland (“Naumannia,” 1858), it is
certainly not improbable that it should occasionally be found in the
British Islands. At the same time it is very desirable that some more
convincing evidence than that which already exists of its occurrence
here should be placed upon record.
THE RED-THROATED PIPIT.
(_Anthus cervinus._)
The present bird has, as yet, been scarcely admitted into the British
list. I have seen a specimen in the collection of Mr. Bond, which was
killed at Unst, Shetland, on the 4th May, 1854, and about the same year,
but in September, another in the same collection was shot at Freshwater
in the Isle of Wight.
In the adult plumage the species is easily recognized by the ruddy brown
colouring of the upper portions of the plumage, and by the rufous patch
upon the throat.
In size it is equal to the Meadow Pipit, and by some naturalists it has
been considered a permanent race or variety of that species; but the
observations of Prof. Newton on this point[50] certainly tend to show
that the species is a valid one. It was met with by him in June, 1855,
when in company with Messrs. Wolley and Simpson, in a restricted
locality in East Finmark, between Wadsö and Nyborg, and several
well-identified nests were procured. A specimen procured in Heligoland
is in Herr Gätke’s collection.
It is not uncommon as a winter visitant in Turkey, and Mr. Wright has
shot many specimens in Malta, where he says it arrives in small flocks
in spring and autumn. In Egypt and Nubia this bird quite takes the place
of _A. pratensis_, and is sometimes very common there. It probably
winters also in Palestine, although Canon Tristram, during his sojourn
there at that season, only met with a single specimen on the coast of
the plain of Sharon. It has been found in China, Japan, Formosa, and
Hainan, by Mr. Swinhoe, who suggests that this bird in its winter
plumage is the _Anthus japonicus_ of Temminck and Schlegel. Mr. Blyth
thinks that it should probably be erased from the Indian list, as the
ordinary Himalayan species, _A. rosaceus_ of Hodgson, has been
confounded with it. Upon this point, however, much difference of opinion
prevails. Dr. Jerdon, in his “Birds of India,” gives _rosaceus_ as a
synonym of _cervinus_, and Mr. Hume is puzzled to distinguish _rosaceus_
from _arboreus_. He says (“Ibis,” 1870, p. 288): “Typical examples of
both species seem unmistakably distinct, but intermediate forms of the
most puzzling character occur, of such a nature that it really seems to
me impossible to decide to which species they ought to be referred.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account