The History of the European FaunaScharff, R. F. (Robert Francis)
History
The History of the European Fauna
Scharff, R. F. (Robert Francis)
Animals -- Europe; Zoogeography
When we come to consider the eastern birds, we have to distinguish
between resident species and migratory ones. The Black-throated Thrush
(_Turdus atrigularis_), which has been twice obtained in the British
Islands, is a mere straggler to Europe, and is not known to breed there
at all. Better known birds, perhaps, are the Golden Thrush (_Turdus
varius_), which has even occurred as far west as Ireland, the
Rock-Thrush (_Monticola saxatilis_) and the Scarlet Grosbeak
(_Carpodacus erythrinus_), which breed in Eastern Europe, but are known
only as occasional visitors in the west.
To judge by their distribution, the Bullfinches (_Pyrrhula_) are of
Asiatic origin, for seven species out of ten are confined to that
continent. Our common Bullfinch (_P. europæa_) probably came with the
Oriental migrants, or perhaps its ancestors did. But the larger Northern
or Russian Bullfinch (_P. major_) has no doubt entered our Continent
directly from the east. We have in many groups similar instances of
closely allied species or varieties, one of which, originating at a
somewhat later stage than the other, took a different route of migration
from that followed by its near relative.
The Pine-Grosbeak (_Pinicola enucleator_) is only known to British
ornithologists as an exceedingly rare visitor. Its real home lies in the
northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, and it is one of the
most typical of the Siberian migrants.
But there are a number of other species of birds, which, though probably
not of Siberian origin, only migrated westward recently, and have
either not yet reached the British Islands, or which lead one to
suppose, from their British range, that they are eastern forms.
Such, for instance, is the Nightingale (_Daulias luscinia_), which is
probably of Oriental origin, but only visits England regularly in
spring. There is no authenticated record of its ever having migrated
either to Scotland or Ireland.
The Bearded Titmouse (_Panurus biarmicus_) is one of the eastern birds
still resident in England, though unfortunately it seems to be on the
verge of extinction. It is unknown in Scotland and Ireland. Another
resident eastern species is the Nuthatch (_Sitta cæsia_), but neither of
these is probably of Siberian origin.
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