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Increase of Wood-Pigeons and other Birds — Service to the Farmer of
these Birds — Tame Wood —Pigeons: Food of — The Turtle-Dove — Blue
Rock-Pigeons — Caves where they Breed — Shooting at the Rocks near
Cromarty.
Owing to the decrease of
vermin, that is, of all the carnivorous birds and beasts of the country,
there is a proportionate increase in the numbers of the different living
creatures on which they preyed. I do not here allude to game only, but to
all the other ferae naturae of the district. Wood-pigeons, blackbirds,
thrushes and all the smaller birds increase yearly in consequence of the
destruction of their natural enemies. The wood-pigeon in particular has
multiplied to a great extent. The farmers complain constantly to me of the
mischief done by these birds, whom I cannot defend by giving them the
credit of atoning for their consumption of corn by an equal or greater
consumption of grubs and other noxious insects, as they feed wholly on
seeds and vegetables. An agricultural friend of mine near this place, who
had yielded with a tolerably good grace to my arguments in favour of the
rook, pointed out to me the other day (March 6th) an immense flock of
wood-pigeons busily at work on a field of young clover, which had been
under barley the last season. "There," he said, "you constantly say that
every bird does more good than harm; what good are those birds doing to my
young clover?" On this, in furtherance of my favourite axiom, that, every
wild animal is of some service to us, I determined to shoot some of the
wood-pigeons, that I might see what they actually were feeding on; for I
did not at all fall into my friend's idea that they were grazing on his
clover. By watching in their line of flight from the field to the woods,
and sending a man round to drive them off the clover, I managed to kill
eight of the birds as they flew over my head. I took them to his house,
and we opened their crops to see what they contained. Every pigeon's crop
was as full as it could possibly be of the seeds of two of the worst weeds
in the country, the wild mustard and the ragweed, which they had found
remaining on the surface of the ground, these plants ripening and dropping
their seeds before the corn is cut. Now no amount of human labour and
search could have collected on the same ground, at that time of the year,
as much of these seeds as was consumed by each of these five or six
hundred wood-pigeons daily for two or three weeks together. Indeed, during
the whole of the summer and spring, and a considerable part of the winter,
all pigeons must feed entirely on the seeds of different wild plants, as
no grain is to be obtained by these soft-billed birds excepting
immediately after the sowing-time and when the corn is nearly ripe, or for
a short time after it is cut. Certainly I can enter into the feelings of a
farmer who sees a flock of hundreds of these birds alighting on a field of
standing wheat or devouring the newly sown oats. Seeing them so employed
must for the moment make him forget the utility they are of at other
times. For my own part I never shoot at a wood-pigeon near my house, nor
do I ever kill one without a feeling of regret, so much do I like to here
their note in the spring and summer mornings. The first decisive symptom
of the approach of spring and fine weather is the cooing of the
wood-pigeon. Where not molested, they are very fond of building their nest
in the immediate vicinity of a house. Shy as they are at all other times
of the year, no bird sits closer on her eggs or breeds nearer to the abode
of man than the wood-pigeon. There are always several nests close to my
windows, and frequently immediately over some walk, where the birds sit in
conscious security, within five or six feet of the passer-by, and there
are generally a pair or two that feed with the chickens, knowing the call
of the woman who takes care of the poultry' as well as the tame birds do.
I have frequently attempted
to tame young wood pigeons, taking them at a very early age from the nest.
They generally become tolerably familiar till the first moult; but as soon
as they acquire strength of plumage and wing, they have invariably left
me, except in one instance which occurred two years ago. I put some
wood-pigeon's eggs under a tame pigeoen of my children's, taking away the
eggs on which she was sitting at the time. Only one of the young birds
grew up, and it became perfectly tame. It remained with its foster
parents, flying in and out of their house, and coming with them to be fed
at the windows. After it had grown up, and the cares of a new nest made
the old birds drive it out of their company, the wood-pigeon became still
tamer, always coming at breakfast-time or whenever he was called to the
window-sill, where he would remain as long as he was noticed, cooing and
strutting up and down as if to challenge attention to his beautiful
plumage.
However, like all pets,
this poor bird came to an untimely end, being struck down and killed by a
hen-harrier. I never on any other occasion saw a wood-pigeon remain
perfectly tame if left at liberty ; and if they are entirely confined they
seldom acquire their full beauty of feather. The bird seems to have a
natural shyness and wildness which prevent its ever becoming domesticated
like the common blue rock-pigeon.
It is very difficult to
approach wood-pigeons when feeding in the fields. They keep in the most
open and exposed places, and allow no enemy to come near them. It is
amusing to watch a large flock of these birds while searching the ground
for grain. They walk in a compact body, and in order that all may fare
alike, the hindmost rank every now and then fly over the heads of their
companions to the front, where they keep the best place for a minute or
two, till those now in the rear take their place in the same manner. They
keep up this kind of fair play during the whole time of feeding. Almost
every kind of seed is eaten by them, and the farmers accuse them of
destroying their turnips in severe snow and frost. They feed also on fruit
of all kinds, both the wild berries, such as mountain-ash, ivy, etc., and
also upon almost all garden fruits that are not too large to be swallowed.
Numbers of them come every evening to my cherry-trees, where they
fearlessly swallow as many cherries as they can hold, although the
gardener may be at work close at hand. Strawberries also are occasionally
laid waste by them; and in the winter and early spring they devour the
young cabbage and lettuce-plants. Where acorns are plentiful, the
wood-pigeons seem to prefer them to anything else ; and the quantity they
manage to stow away in their crop is perfectly astonishing.
There are many months of
the year, however, during which they are compelled, nolens volens,
to feed wholly on the seeds of wild plants, thereby saving the farmers an
infinity of trouble in weeding and cleaning their lands. The wood-pigeons
breed here great numbers, the large fir-woods and ivy-covered banks of the
river affording them plenty of shelter. Their greatest enemy in the
breeding-season is the hooded crow, who is constantly searching for their
eggs, and from their white colour, and the simplicity of the nest, he can
distinguish them at a great distance off. The sparrowhawk, too, frequently
carries off the young birds, when nearly ready to fly, taking them out of
the nest. It is a curious fact, but one I have very often observed, that
this hawk, though I have seen him in the vicinity of the wood-pigeon's
nest, and have no doubt that he has known of the young birds in it, never
carries them off till they have attained to a good size, watching their
daily growth till he thinks them fit to be killed.
In game-preserves
wood-pigeons are certainly of some use, both in affording to vermin a more
conspicuous and more favourite food than even partridge or pheasant, and
in taking the attention of the larger hawks from the game. But he also
does good service in giving notice of the approach of any danger, loudly
flapping his wings as he flies off the trees on the first alarm. And at
night no bird is so watchful. I have frequently attempted to approach the
trees where the wood-pigeons were roosting ; but even in the darkest
nights these birds would take the alarm, affording in this respect a great
contrast to the pheasant. The poor wood-pigeon has no defence against its
enemies excepting its watchful and never-sleeping timidity, not being able
to do battle against even the smallest of its numerous persecutors.
Though the turtle-dove
never breeds here, and is supposed never to visit this part of the
country, I have twice seen a pair about my house, both times towards the
end of autumn. Last year a pair remained for about three weeks here, from
the middle of October to the beginning of November, when they disappeared,
probably returning southwards, not being nearly so hardy a bird as the
wood-pigeon. Besides the wood-pigeon, we have considerable numbers of the
little blue rock-pigeon breeding along the caves and rocks of the coast,
and feeding inland in large flocks. On the opposite coast of Ross-shire
and Cromarty, very great numbers are found during the whole year. The
caves there are much more extensive, and the rocks less easy of access,
than they are along our coast by Burghead, Gordonston, etc.; the
rock-pigeons therefore make those rocks their head-quarters.
Being at Cromarty early in
last June, I made an excursion along the rocks, for the double purpose of
seeing the coast, which is peculiarly bold and magnificent on the
Ross-shire side of the Cromarty Ferry, and also of shooting some pigeons
and other birds which bred in the caves and cliffs.
Having hired a boat and
crew, we started from Cromarty at the first of the ebb on a bright calm
day, with the little wind that there was coming from the west. If the
slightest east wind comes on, the roll of the sea from the German Ocean is
so heavy on these rocks that it is impossible to approach them. This is
also the case for some days after an east wind has been blowing, as there
still remains a considerable swell. On nearing the west end of the rocks,
which are several hundred feet high, we disturbed a good many cormorants,
who were resting on some points of the cliff, and basking with open wings
in the morning sun. Some parts of the rocks were quite white with the dung
of these birds. In the ivy-covered recesses, far up, were every here and
there a pair of small hawks, and rabbits hopping about high over our
heads, along narrow paths on the face of the rock. I shot a rabbit at a
great height with a rifle, and he came tumbling over and over, till he
finally fell right into a hawk's nest, to the great astonishment of the
young birds. Innumerable jackdaws breed in every crevice. As we rowed
farther on, we came opposite a large cave, which the boatmen told me was a
great place of resort for the pigeons. So, stopping our course, the men
shouted, and out came a large flock of these birds, flying directly over
our heads. I killed two or three, and the rest flew on, winding round the
angles and headlands of the coast with inconceivable rapidity. Having
picked up the birds, I landed with great difficulty on the rocks, and
making my way over the slippery seaweed, got into the cave, which extended
some distance under the cliffs. There were several pigeons' nests, though
none that I could get at; but I shot a couple of young ones that had left
the nest. The reverberation that succeeded the report of the gun in the
arched cave nearly deafened me.
Soon afterwards we landed
at another point ; and here, following the example of one of my crew, I
crept through a small aperture on my hands and knees, which led into a
large and nearly dark cave, said to be the abode of otters. Before I could
set fire to some dry fir-roots, which we brought with us, my dog was
barking furiously, some distance within the cave. We got our light and
went to examine what he had. By the tracks, he had evidently come on an
otter, who had made his escape into a small hole which seemed to go into
the very heart of the rocks, and from which we had no chance of extracting
him. This cave was too damp for the birds, but was much marked with the
footsteps of otters. Though the entry was so small, the cave itself was
both lofty and extensive.
As we floated along the
coast, stopping at the mouths of several caves, and occasionally landing,
we put up several large flocks of pigeons, and here and there cormorants
and other sea-birds. On one shelf of the rocks, far up above the sea, was
the nest of the raven. It was once inhabited by a pair of eagles, but is
now quietly tenanted by the raven. These birds had flown; but both young
and old were flying about the tops of the cliff, croaking and playing
fantastic antics, as if in great astonishment at our appearance ; for I
fancy that they have very few visitants here. I tried a shot at one with a
rifle-ball, but only splintered the rock at his feet.
Some of the caves were of
great extent, and very full of pigeons, old and young, several of which I
killed. The birds were nearly blue; here and there a sandy-coloured one,
but no other variety. Having made our way a considerable distance along
the coast, and the tide being now quite out, we landed on a green pot of
grass that stretched down between the rocks to the water's edge. Above our
heads, and in every direction, were heron-nests; some built in the
clusters of ivy, and others on the bare shelves of rocks. The young ones
were full grown, but still in the nests standing upright and looking
gravely at us. Though I thought it a shame to make any of them orphans, I
took the opportunity of killing three fine old male herons, whose black
feathers I coveted much for my salmon-flies; sitting quietly at the foot
of the rocks, I could distinctly see which birds were well supplied with
these feathers as they flew in to feed their young over my head. The
feathers that are so useful in fly-dressing are the black drooping
feathers on the breast of the cock heron : neither the young bird nor the
hen bird has them. While resting my men here, I sent rifle-balls through
three of the herons, each of whom afforded me a goodly supply of feathers.
Looking with my glass to
the opposite coast of the firth, I could distinctly see the long range of
sandhills between Nairn and the Bay of Findhorn, and could distinguish
many familiar points and nooks. While resting here, too, a large seal
appeared not above a hundred and fifty yards out at sea, watching us with
great attention, but would not come within sure range of my rifle. As we
returned homewards, the pigeons were in great numbers flying in to the
caves to feed their young. A pair of peregrine falcons also passed along,
on their way to a rock where they breed, farther eastwards than we had
been.
We saw too a flock of goats
winding along the most inaccessible-looking parts of the cliff; and now
and then the old patriarchal-looking leader would stop to peer at us as we
passed below him, and when he saw that we had no hostile intention towards
his flock, he led them on again, stopping here and there to nibble at the
scanty herbage that was to be found in the clefts of the rocks. In one
place where we landed, my dog started an old goat and a pair of kids, who
dashed immediately at what appeared to be a perpendicular face of rock,
but on which they contrived to keep their footing in a way that quite
puzzled me. The old goat at one time alighted on a point of the rock where
she had to stand with her four feet on a spot not bigger than my hand
where she stood for a minute or two seemingly quite at a loss which way to
go, till her eye caught some (to me invisible) projections of the stone,
up which she bounded, looking anxiously at her young, who, however, seemed
quite capable of following her footsteps wherever she chose to lead them.
We caught sight also of a badger, as he scuffled along a shelf of rock and
hurried into his hole.
As the evening advanced,
the cormorants kept coming in to their roosting-places in great numbers,
and I shot several of them. We saw a good many seals as we approached the
stake-nets near the ferry, but did not get any shots at them; and at one
place two otters were playing about in the water near the rocks, but they
also took good care to disappear before we came within reach of them ; and
as I wished to get back to Cromarty before it was late, I would not stop
to wait for their reappearance. I was much pleased on the whole with my
day's excursion—the beautiful scenery of the rocks, with the harbour of
Cromarty, and the distant hills of Ross-shire and Inverness-shire, forming
altogether as magnificent and varied a view as I have ever seen.
On an excursion along these
same rocks I was once nearly drowned. I had just killed a pigeon that had
dropped in the water in a recess between the rocks. We rowed in after it,
and just as I was leaning over the bow of the boat to pick it up, a
rolling swell of the sea lifted the boat nearly upright, grating her keel
on the edge of the rock. I was hoisted with the bow of the boat into the
air, and holding on looked round to see what had happened, the day being
perfectly calm ; the boatmen were pale with fright as we appeared for a
moment balanced between life and death, the chances rather in favour of
the latter. The same wave, however, as it receded, took us twenty or
thirty yards out to sea, and the men immediately rowed as hard as they
could to get a good offing. The wave that had so nearly upset us was the
forerunner of a heavy swell and wind from the east which was coming on
unobserved by us, for we had been wholly intent on our sport. I never
could understand how our boat could have righted again after the position
she was in for a few moments. The face of the rocks was too perpendicular
at the place to admit of our making good a landing had we been upset. Once
away from the rocks we were safe enough, and rigging out a couple of
strong lines with large white flies, we caught as many fish of different
kinds as we could pull in during our way over to Cromarty. A large gull
made two swoops at one of the flies, and had not a fish forestalled him,
we should probably have hooked him also. I do not know a day's sport more
amusing than one along these rocks on a fine summer day, what with the
variety of birds and the beauty and grandeur of the scenery, taking good
care, however, to avoid the rocks when there is the least wind or swell
from the east or north.
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