The Humming-bird is confined to certain portions of America. The Nightingale, if a visitor to Scotland, is only found in Berwick and Dumfriesshire in fine seasons, while it is constantly seen in Sweden, a country much colder and much more northerly. The Toucans, so brilliant in plumage, are only found in tropical South America. The Swallow, so rapid on the wing, clearing its twenty leagues an hour when it leaves us for its southern winter quarters, never deviates from the route which seems to have been traced for it by a Sovereign Master.
It may, then, be stated that the great zones of the earth differ as much in birds as in the Mammifers found in them. We find in climatic regions birds, or groups of birds, of perfectly distinct species, and which are rarely found beyond that particular zone. Glancing at the various countries forming a region, particular types of birds are easily recognised. Africa, for instance, alone possesses the Great Ostrich, while only a small species exists in America—the Rhea; the Emu represents the genus in Australia. Africa has species brilliant as the most precious stones. To America belong exclusively the Humming-birds, so remarkable for the brilliancy of their plumage. Again, if Africa is the country of the Vulture, to America belongs the Condor.
Nevertheless, the acclimatisation of birds is by no means beyond our power. Experience proves that by carrying a bird far from its native country, and placing it in conditions approaching those to which it has been accustomed, it will live and multiply—acclimate itself, in short, to its new home.
Europe possesses no ornithological type peculiar to it. It is only in Africa and America that we find those rich varieties of form and colour which characterise the feathered race. The Island of Madagascar is the land which possesses the greatest number of ornithological types—simply, perhaps, because that island abounds in species whose rudimentary wings do not permit of their wandering away. Whatever the cause, however, the species found there are not obtained elsewhere. Here we find the unique Dodo, a form of animal which became extinct in Europe in the last century.
There is a wonderful charm of companionship in birds—they give animation to the scene, skipping from bush to bush, or skimming the surface of land and water. They please the eye by their graceful shape and plumage, and they charm our ears by their ceaseless warblings. Even in this sense we lie under a debt of gratitude to these graceful inhabitants of the air. But this is far from being the limit of the benefits we derive from them. The birds of the poultry-yards furnish our most delicate food; their eggs form a considerable branch of trade, and are indispensable in the kitchen; and what would become of our country gentleman should our game birds ever become extinct?—an event by no means improbable, seeing that, in the year of grace 1868, the head-dress of every votary of fashion was decorated with the wing of a bird—not confining the demand to Birds of Paradise, Ostrich, Pheasant, and other feathers of brilliant plumage whose value was a protection, but extending to the harmless sea-fowl, which were destroyed by thousands only for the sake of their feathers.
Birds are useful to man by their feeding on the insects, larvæ, and caterpillars which infest cultivated crops. Without their aid, agriculture would become impossible. In former times it was a favourite doctrine with the agriculturist that the Passerina were the real destroyers of his crops, and a war of extermination was declared against them; but the observations of more enlightened persons have demonstrated that the chief food of most of these consists of insects, and the havoc among them has consequently been stayed; still much ignorance, and its concomitant, cruelty, exist on this point. Elsewhere, those interested soon discovered that the destruction of small birds led to formidable increase in the numbers of voracious insects—that these lively and joyous creatures, which float in the air and twitter on the bough, are sent us more for good than evil, and that if some of them make the crops pay a tax, they repay it tenfold by keeping down the excess of more destructive ravagers.
While the smaller birds have proved essentially beneficial to man, some of the larger birds exhibit similar tendencies. The Wading Bird clears the earth of serpents and other unclean and venomous animals. The Vultures and Storks throw themselves in flocks on corrupt carrion, and divest the soil of all putrefying objects: thus, in concert with insects, birds are the scavengers of the earth, lending their aid to make it a fit residence for man; in fact, are constituted by nature guardians of the public health.
In former days Falconry afforded a stately and picturesque sport to the great, in which lords and noble dames assisted. This pastime still exists in some parts of England and some portions of the East, especially in Persia, where the Falcon is trained to chase the Gazelle and small ruminants; while in China and Japan the Cormorant and Pelican are taught to fish the rivers for their masters. From very ancient times, the Carrier Pigeon was the bearer of messages now transmitted along the electric wires with lightning speed.
Nor do these benefits comprise all the claims of birds to the gratitude of man. In tropical America the Agami, Trophia crepitans, or Trumpet Bird of Guiana, is domesticated, and so docile in its habits, that it is employed to watch the flocks, which it does with the fidelity and intelligence of a Dog. "The Agami," says M. Monocour, "is not only tamed easily, but becomes attached to its benefactor with all the fondness and fidelity of a Dog. When bred in the house, it loads the master with caresses, and follows all his motions, but is easily offended." It is bold and obstinate, and will attack Cats and Dogs, fighting a tough battle with one of the latter, however considerable his size. In Cayenne the denizens of the poultry-yard are confided to its care; it leads them to their pasture, prevents them from straying to a dangerous distance, and brings them home in the evening, just as a trained shepherd's Dog will do the flocks committed to his care, and it manifests its delight by cries of joy when its master vouchsafes a caress in return for its faithful service. The Kamichi, which belongs, like the Agami, to the same order, possesses similar characteristic intelligence. Like the former, it is sociable and susceptible of education, and becomes a useful auxiliary to the inhabitants of South America.
After these brief remarks on the organisation and habits of birds, we proceed to describe the more remarkable species, arranged according to a simple and comprehensive order of classification, placing before the reader the various orders of the class Aves, in the ascending scale which has been adopted in our previous works.