History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

66 BIRDS. PASSERES. Pastokwhitespot on the breast are ill defined, the plumage beneath inclining moreto grey, with a tingeof red. Nest on the ground, among heath. Eggs 4 to6, greenish-white, with brown spots. In the young, the breast spot is indistinct.This species breeds in several places in Scotland. It is not rare in thePentland Hills, near Edinburgh. Congregates in autumn, before departingfor the south.Gen. XXVI.PASTOR— Base of the bill destitute of singlestiff hairs. Nostrils, in part,membrane.covered with a feathered50. P. roseus. Rose-coloured Ousel.— Head with a crest offeathers.Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. G27- Temtn. Orn. i. 13G—An irregular visitant.Length 8 inches. Upper mandible, and the tip of the lower, of a yellowishrose-colour ;the rest black. Feet yellow. Irides brown. Head, neck, andbreast black, with a gloss of violet. Belly and back rose coloured. Wingsand tail brown, with a violet gloss.Under tail-covers and thighs, black, withwhite rays. Head of the female plain, and the colours less bright. Nest inthe holes of trees and in walls. Young, above, are of an Isabella brown colour.This species visits Britain irregularly. It was first recorded by MrEdwards, who found it near London, and at Norfolk. Dr Pulteney (Dorsetshire,p. 11.), mentions it as having been found at Long Critchel. Montagustates, that about Ormskirk, at Lancashire, it occurs almost every season. InScotland, it has occurred in Dunkeld (Stat. Ac. xx. 439), and Mr Bullock informedme, that he received it from Hoy, in Orkney, where it was shot in thegarden of the Reverend Mr Hamilton. I have seen a specimen from Ireland,in the possession of N. A. Vigors, Esq. Chelsea.Gen. XXVII. ORIOLUS. Oriole.— Upper mandible witha ridge.Nostrils naked, opening longitudinallyin an extendedmembranaceous space.51. O. Galbula. Golden Oriole.— Plumage of a golden yellowcolour.Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. 626. Temm. Orn. i. 129.—An irregular visitant.Length 10 inches. Space between the bill and eye, the wings and tail,black ; the ends of the last yellow. Bill and irides red. Feet bluish. Thecolour of the female inclines to olive-green on the back ; and grey, with a tingeof yellow beneath, with dusky streaks. Nest suspended from trees. Eggs4 or 5 ; white, with a few solitary spots of brown or black. Young like thefemale, but the spots beneath more numerous. This bird was first recordedby Pennant, as having been killed in South Wales. It has likewise beenfound in Cornwall. In 1807, two examples were killed in Scotland, the firstin the spring, at Loch llansa, in Arran, which I saw ; the latter in the beginningof winter, at Restalrig, near Edinburgh. According to Mr Wood, onewas shot, in company with blackbirds, 2Gth April 1824, at Aldershot, in Hampshire,—Annalsof Phil. July 1824, p. 03.Gen. XXVIII. CINCLUS. Dipper.— Ridge of the uppermandible slightly concave in front of the nostrils, whichare linear.No stiff hairs at the gape.