Page:White - The natural history of Selborne, and the naturalist's calendar, 1879.djvu/156

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
134
NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE.

Birds that sing for a short time, and very early in the spring:

    RAII NOMINA.  
21. Missel-bird. Turdus viscivorus. January 2nd, 1770, in February. Is called in Hampshire and Sussex the storm-cock, because its song is supposed to forbode windy wet weather; it is the largest singing bird we have.
22. Great titmouse or ox-eye, Fringillago. In February, March, April: re-assumes for a short time in September.

Birds that have somewhat of a note or song, and yet are hardly to be called singing birds:

23. Golden-crowned wren, Regulus cristatus. Its note as minute as its person; frequents the tops of high oaks and firs; the smallest British bird.
24. Marsh-titmouse, Parus palustris. Haunts great woods: two harsh sharp notes.
25. Small willow-wren, Regulus non cristatus. Sings in March, and on to September.
26. Largest ditto, Ditto. Cantat voce stridulâ locustæ; from end of April to August.
27. Grasshopper-lark, Alauda minima voce locustæ. Chirps all night, from the middle of April to the end of July.
28. Martin, Hirundo agrestis. All the breeding time; from May to September.
29. Bullfinch, Pyrrhula.  
30. Bunting, Emberiza alba. From the end of January to July.

All singing birds, and those that have any pretensions to song, not only in Britain, but perhaps the world through, come under the Linnæan ordo of Passeres.

The above-mentioned birds, as they stand numerically, belong to the following Linnæan genera:

1, 7, 10, 27,   Alauda. 8, 28, Hirundo.
2, 11, 21,   Turdus. 13, 16, 19, Fringilla.
3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 15, 17,
18, 20, 23, 25, 26,
Motacilla. 22, 24, Parus.
14, 29, Loxia.
6, 30,   Emberiza.