| This series of picture cards is offered in the interests of education by Brooke Bond | PG Tips | Bird Portraits


	RAVEN The largest of the crow family - intelligent - crafty - courageous and long-lived - inhabiting wild hill-country and coastal cliffs in Britain. It feeds chiefly on carrion. It is a master of the air and can spiral and torn completely on to its back while flying The nest is built on a cliff face - either inland or by the sea - and is a strong structure of heather - twigs and roots lined with grass and wool. Any bird which approaches the nest is at once attacked and often there are clashes with other birds which nest in similar situations. The raven is always the master.
	JAY A member of the crow family in spite of its handsome plumage - it is - like the others - an egg thief; it is also fond of garden peas. However - it destroys quite a number of beetle and larvae pests. Acorns and beech mast are also eaten in quantity. Its nest - made of twigs and lined with fine roots - is well-concealed in a small tree or bush. Chiefly a woodland bird - it is shy and crafty - and usually betrays its presence only by its harsh call. It has a crest which it can erect - and striking blue wing feathers-used in the making of artificial flies for fishermen.
	MAGPIE This handsome bird of the crow family is intelligent and cautious -and a great thief. Its habit of egg stealing has made the gamekeeper its sworn enemy - though any animal food - including carrion - is taken. The nest is built of twigs cemented with clay and lined with fine roots. Above a a sort of roof or dome is constructed - and there is one well-concealed entrance. When not persecuted the magpie appears to favour the neighbourhood of man. Its name is an abbreviation of the old name maggot-pie - an indication of at least one article of its diet.
	STARLING A common bird both of town and country. In winter vast flocks gather and roost in woods and plantations - and on high buildings in towns. It is not popular - being a dirty and untidy bird. It is a mimic and is able to reproduce a large variety of sounds from the call of a curlew to the rasp of a saw - in addition to its own flutings and clucks. It nests in holes in trees - and in the crevices of buildings. The young bird's plumage is grey and brown - and quite unlike the speckled - glossy - metallic plumage of the adult.
	SONG thrUSH A feature of this bird is its song - as the name implies. Perched high up on some tree - in the mornings and evenings of spring and early summer - the song thrush sings its best. It is fond of gardens and of the insects and snails to be found in them. It has its own way with snails; gripping the lip of the opening of the shell in its bill - the thrush finds a convenient stone on which it hammers the shell until it breaks and is then able to devour the soft snail inside. Often the same stone is used as an "anvil" and - around it - may be seen a litter of broken snail shells.
	FIELDFARE A bird of the thrush family which leaves its summer home in Scandinavia to spend the autumn - winter and early spring in Britain. It is a hardy bird - of fine carriage - and usually flies about the winter landscape in small flocks. Often it is in the company of redwings (another Scandinavian winter visitor) - blackbirds and song thrushes - with which it competes for the berries on the winter trees - It is a bird of the open country - its wanderings being dictated by the supply of insect food and berries. The call is harsh - quite unlike the note of any other thrush.
	HOUSE SPARROW Wherever man has his dwelling there the house sparrow is sure tube found. It is sociable a "flock" bird even in the nesting season. It is bold and mischievous - and when the corn is ripe it leaves its town or village home - and descends in devouring crowds on the grain - and does much damage. It nests in buildings and in hales in trees - and will often take over the mud nest of house martins and the holes of sand martins - occasionally evicting the rightful owners. Two broods - and often three are reared in the year.
	GOLDFINCH This exquisite finch is a real charmer - indeed the collective noun for a number of goldfinches is a "charm". Its beauty as it flutters from plant to plant reminds one more of an exotic butterfly than a bird. It is a seed-eater and likes thistle and ragwort seeds - and is therefore beneficial as well as beautiful. Its neat nest lined with wool and thistledown is often built in an orchard tree. The goldfinch is with us the whole year round.
	BULLFINCH It is a pity that this striking bird has such a bad reputation for attacking fruit-buds in orchards - for it is a beautiful member of the finch family. The bullfinch is believed to mate for life - and usually the pair will be found near each other. The male (shown here) has a blue-grey back and red breast. The female is brawn - with black and white markings-and no red breast. The nest consists of a basis of sticks supporting a shallow cup of roots and a lining of hair - and is built in a hedge or bash - and well concealed.
	GREENFINCH This sociable finch - some-times known as the green linnet - is more often seen in small flocks than alone. Iris fairly common where there is an abundance of its favourite food: the seeds of flowers and weeds - and the grain which it gleans from the stubble fields. In winter it is fond of the stockyard. The male is depicted. When he flies - bright patches of yellow are revealed on wings and tail; the female is not so bright in colour. The nest is placed in thick bushes-hawthorn - gorse - yew trees and holly-and is made of twigs and small thin roots and is lined with hair and feathers.
	YELLOWHAMMER A bird of the fields and the hedgerows - with a monotonous song which the male illustrated here - chirrups out during the finer days of spring and summer. As usual in the bird world - the female is not so brightly coloured as the male. The yellow-hammer feeds on insects and seeds and - in hard winter weather - may be seen in the stack-yards in company with finches. The nest is built near the ground - often in a hedgerow and is made of grasses and moss - and lined with hair. Because of the beautiful markings on the eggs one country name for the bird is "the scribbling lark".
	WILLOW WARBLER This small dainty bird is a summer visitor arriving in Britain in early April and spreading over the whole country. Its joyous descending trill may be heard wherever there are trees and bushes - for it finds much of its insect food on leaves and branches. The nest is built low down - sometimes actually on the ground - and is always well hidden in vegetation. As the summer draws to a close the lilting song changes and gives place to a rather sad plaintive note - and by the end of September few willow warblers are left in Britain.
	SEDGE WARBLER A summer bird arriving in this country from Africa in April and leaving - at the latest - in October. A bird of the reedy pond-side - where - on some reed-stalk or willows twig - it utters its very varied song - a strange mixture of sweet and harsh notes. It also sings while on the wing and frequently at night. It feeds on gnats - midges and other water insects and also on larvae. Its nest is usually near water - in thick herbage such as brambles and briars - and is a deep cup loosely built of coarse grass and lined with hair.
	PIED FLYCATCHER A summer visitor from Africa - not common except in certain areas in the Lake District and in Wales. Ii favours wooded valleys with a stream running through. The nest is in holes in trees in which is deposited grass and leaves with a covering of hair and wool. As its name implies it feeds on flies - and as well as catching flies on the wing it will take insects and caterpillars from the herbage. The male bird is depicted in his summer plumage. Where he is black the female is brown - and her breast is not pure white but is clouded with buff.
	STONECHAT Wherever there are rough areas of gorse - on cliff tops or rough bill land - there you may expect to see the bobbing - perky form of the stonechat. This pleasing little bird is a native and in some parts of the country remains the whole year. It feeds on insects - worms and spiders. The nest is made low down - perhaps at the base of a gorse bush or in a tangled bramble clump.
	WHEATEAR The wheatear is among the earliest of the summer visitors to arrive in Britain - but may be found only in those areas which suit it - downland - rocky hillsides - cliff headlands - and coastal sand dunes. It is a restless bird - constantly on the move - displaying a conspicuous white rump when in flight. Insects and small worms are its chief food. It nests in holes in rocks and walls or - if it lives in the sand dunes - a rabbit-burrow is used. Wheatears leave Britain in August and September - but a few have been known to linger until November.
	GREAT TIT This handsome bird is the largest of the iii family - and is with us the whole year through. It feeds chiefly on insects and larvae but - in winter when insects are scarce - will feed on acorns and nuts. It is a regular visitor to the bird-table. Any bole serves as a nesting site - even letter boxes have been used - but it is usually in a tree - wall or stump. The nest is made of grass and moss with a lining of hair and feathers.
	WREN A tiny bird but a great character - bold and courageous - with a small stump tail usually carried erect - and having an astonishingly loud song for so small a singer. The nest is usually built in rocks - walls - trees - or tree roots. It has been known to nest inside a scarecrow. Insects are its chief food - and even in winter - for it is non-migratory - this very active tiny bird appears to be able to find insect food in the form of grubs and larvae.
	SWalLOW This dainty creature with long tail feathers - known as "streamers" - arrives in Britain in April. Ii is an insect feeder and bunts its food on the wing - stooping and flickering in elegant flight - the very spirit of summer. It is fond of nesting in a beam inside a building where it constructs a rough cup of dried mud which it lines with feathers. The young - even from a third brood - usually have time to become strong on the wing before they leave us in late autumn to make the long flight to Africa. Swallows ringed in Britain have been found as far south as The Cape.
	HOUSE MARTIN A member of the swallow family and a summer visitor. Like the swallow it feeds on insects and catches these while on the wing. It builds a beautiful nest under the eaves of buildings; a shapely cup of mud - with a neat entrance near the top - and lined with dry grass and feathers. In September it is a charming sight to see the large gatherings of martins and swallows on telegraph wires and roofs - twittering together as if discussing the long and hazardous flight to Africa which all must attempt.
	GREY WAGTAIL A bird of the swift-running hill streams where it may be seen - during the summer - flashing about the banks and shallows and over the water in its hunt for insects. In rocky banks close to the water it makes its nest of grasses and small thin roots - lined with hair. The bird depicted is a male in summer plumage. Only the male has the black chin and "bib" - and this only in summer. In autumn his throat is white. Some grey wagtails migrate in winter - others - where conditions are suitable - stay with us.
	GREEN WOODPECKER Strong feet and claws and stiff tail feathers enable this bird to cling to vertical trunks and branches into which it probes with its sharp bill in its search for larvae which it extracts with its long sticky tongue. Ants also are much sought after and here again the specially adapted tongue is used. It nests in tree trunks - making a kind of vertical tunnel down from the entrance hole at the bottom of which the eggs are deposited. The ringing call has been likened to a derisive laugh - and one of its country names is the "Yaffle".
	NUthATCH A woodland bird - a haunter of dead trees on which it finds grubs and larvae - its chief food. Its strong feet enable it to run about the tree - up or down - or upside down - a woodland acrobat. As its name implies it is also fond of nuts; these it places in a crevice in the bark - then hammers away at the shells until it is able to extract and eat the kernels. The nest is made in a hole in a tree - and if the entrance is too large it blocks it up with mud to the required sire.
	KINGFISHER A small brilliantly coloured bird of the water-side - a feeder on fish - which it catches by plunging from some branch - or other perch - headlong into the water. It carries its catch - held crosswise in the bill - to a perch and - after adjusting it so that the fish is pointing inwards - swallows it whole. Water insects are also eaten. The nest is made at the end of a tunnel which the bird excavates in the banks of streams - and the only nest material is that of tiny fish bones.
	WOOD PIGEON This beautiful bird is on the farmer's black list for it is a greedy feeder unripe grain. It also feeds on acorns - bench mast - caterpillars and slugs. Its nest - built in a tree - is a mere platform of interwoven twigs through which it is possible to see the eggs from below. The nestlings - or "squabs" are fed on a milky fluid which they obtain by pushing their bills into that of the parent and taking the nourishment with a sucking action. In winter the resident population is increased by great flocks from Northern and Eastern Europe.
	CUCKOO A strange creature - feared and mobbed by some birds presumably because of its hawk-like appearance in fight. It leaves its eggs in the nests of birds of other types - to be hatched by the owner of the nest. Then the young cuckoos cast out the eggs and nestlings of their foster-parents - who continue to feed the usurping youngsters. On leaving the nest - the young cuckoos are fed - not only by their foster parents - but by any other small bird which may hear their hungry cries - until they are big and strong enough for the migration flight. Adult cuckoos arrive in Britain in April and leave in August.
	LAPWING Lapwing - peewie - green plover-these are different names for the same bird. The name "peewit" is descriptive of its call - lapwing is indicative of its broad - ample wings - and green plover denotes the bronze-green colour of its upper parts. A bird of the marshes and the muddy shore - the pastures and ploughed fields - it may be seen throughout the British Isles. It nests on the ground in some rushy pasture or marsh. Worms and larvae are its chief food. In winter it sometimes gathers in huge flocks which career about the sky often in breathtaking manoeuvres.
	RINGED PLOVER A dainty bird of the shore - particularly the shingle beach - which it haunts the whole summer through. In a shallow hollow among the pebbles it lays its four eggs which - in colour - are almost like the surrounding stones and are difficult to see. The chicks can run almost as soon as they are hatched - and there is no prettier nestling. In autumn - flocks of ringed plover may be seen about the shore in company with other waders. The wheeling movements of a fork in fight are very beautiful to watch. Most of our ringed plover stay with us all the year.
	REDSHANK One of our commonest shore birds - wary - noisy - and beautiful - especially in fight when the striking wing pattern can be seen. To bird watchers it is often a great nuisance for it gives the alarm - and puts other birds on the alert. In the summer it often nests by inland waters. The nest is placed in a grass tussock which often forms a canopy over the cup and its four eggs. Insects - grubs - and molluscs are its food which it finds on muddy shores - in swamps - and in sewage farms etc. In winter it gathers in large flocks - and there is some migration - though many redshanks stay in Britain all year.
	SNIPE The long bill of the snipe is admirably suited to its feeding habits- probing the soft mud of swamp and marsh - and literally feeling for its food -for the tips of both mandibles are pliable and full of sensitive nerves. In spring - snipe may be seen flying high and suddenly diving and emitting a peculiar bleating note. This sound is made not by the throat but by the two outer tail feathers which - in the dive - are separated from the rest and give out the peculiar sound. It nests in a tussock of rush and grass - and the four eggs are laid in a grass-lined hollow.
	RED GROUSE This is indeed a British bird for it is found nowhere else in the world. It is a moorland bird feeding on shoots - leaves and seeds of heather - ling and bilberry. When the snow lies deep on the moors it is said to burrow through it to get at the plant food below. This bird has a peculiar and distinctive alarm call when flushed which sounds like "goback - goback". The moors where it breeds are jealously guarded by keepers for it is the chief of game birds - and much money is spent on its preservation in the interests of sport.
	PARtrIDGE A bird of the fields and cultivated lands - chiefly a ground bird which flies only when it must - with rapid - whirring wing-beats and short glides; a bird favoured by sportsmen and strictly preserved in many parts of Britain. It nests usually in thick cover such as a hedgerow or beneath a hush - and lays a large clutch of eggs-from ten to twenty. During the winter partridges live in small flocks and these are called "coveys". By February 1st. most of these parties are split up into pairs and rarely is a covey seen after that date until the following autumn.
	GOLDEN EAGLE Scotland is the home of this powerful and magnificent bird of prey. It feeds on mountain hares - ptarmigan and grouse - and is therefore much disliked by the proprietors of grouse moors. However - it finds favour in the deer forests where grouse are a nuisance to deerstalkers - and it is in these wild and remote areas that the eagle is chiefly found. Its nest is built on a crag-side or - more rarely - in a tree. If undisturbed the eagle uses the same nest year after year - adding to it until in time it becomes a huge structure - sometimes as much as six feet in diameter.
	BUZZARD This large bird of prey is increasing in numbers - its chief strongholds being in Wales - the West Country - the Lake District and Scotland. On or near the ground it appears a heavy - slow bird - but when it soars high its flight is beautiful and graceful. Small mammals - insects - and sometimes carrion - are its food. It nests in trees and on ledges of cliffs and crags. A bulky nest is made - and even after the young are hatched fresh green leaves are sometimes added - as if for decoration.
	PEREGRINE FalCON The favourite bird of the falconry both for its handsome appearance and for its method of hunting. As a rule it endeavours to fly above its flying victims - then descends on it with a terrific dive - striking its prey with its hind claw - and often decapitating it. Its eggs are laid usually on some inaccessible ledge of a sea-girt cliff. No nest material is used - the eggs lying in a hollow on the bare earth or rock. The male bird is considerably smaller than the female for while he - the "tiercel" - is about 15" in length the female - the "falcon" is 18".
	BARN OWL A dweller in old gables - church towers - and farm buildings; a good friend of man for it destroys great quantities of rats - mice and voles. It is chiefly a dusk and night hunter - but will occasionally hunt in broad daylight - looking like a large pale buff moth as it quarters the fields and hedgerows. It makes no nest - and lays its eggs on the bare boards or other hard surfaces of its retreat. The barn owl does not hatch all its eggs together - but at intervals - beginning to incubate as soon as the first egg is laid. Consequently - the nestlings in one nest are invariably of different sizes.
	LITTLE OWL Less than a hundred years ago this owl - which is little larger than a thrush - was not known in Britain - but repeated attempts to introduce it from the Continent met with ultimate success - and today it is widespread throughout the country. Gamekeepers condemn it as a destroyer of young pheasants - but an examination of its pellets shows that it feeds chiefly on berries and small mammals. It is a day and night hunter. It nests in holes in trees and rocks - laying its eggs on the bare wood or rock. In its daytime excursions it is often mobbed by other birds.
	WATER RAIL This very retiring bird lives about pools and marshes and is more often heard than seen - for it loves the cover of pond-side plants. Its very narrow body enables it to slip through the close stems of rush and reed with ease. It has a weird set of calls - one of which resembles some animal in great agony. The nest is made of reeds and sedges - usually in swampy surroundings. Seven en twelve eggs are laid. The nestling is covered with black down.
	GREAT CRESTED GREBE On lakes - reservoirs and meres this grebe is fairly common - though at one time - owing to its slaughter for its satiny breast feathers - it become almost extinct. Ii is an expert diver and feeds on fish. The nest is just a pile of rotting vegetation usually placed among reeds or other water plants. The nestlings are able to swim soon after they are hatched hat often they climb on to their parent's back and are carried about the water. In winter the adult loses the frill which adorns the face and becomes a pale grey and white bird.
	WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE A winter visitor from the north which arrives in Britain in October - and is found most frequently on the west coast. If not disturbed by shooting - it grazes in the daytime on grassland and marshes and is also fond of potato fields. At dusk it flies in long sinuous V formations to estuary or sandbank where it spends the night. The young birds are without the white forehead and the black marks on the breast. In March the white-fronted geese leave Britain for their summer breeding grounds in Greenland - Iceland and Siberia.
	SHELD-DUCK The sheld-duck is a bird of the tidal fats - the saltings - and the sand dunes. It is a large duck and in some of its habits - notably its flight - it resembles a goose rather than a duck. It nests in rabbit burrows in the sand dunes - and sometimes the nest is as much as ten feet from the entrance. During the breeding season the drake develops a large knob at the base of the bill - but by July this adornment has disappeared. The ducklings are charming in their black and white down.
	TEal This is the smallest British duck. It is a common species - breeding in Britain - its numbers being increased in winter by visitors from abroad. Being a very lively duck - and a strong swift flier which can rise almost vertically from the water - the collective noun for this bird "A Spring of Teal" is very apt. It loves to dabble in the shallows - sifting tiny animalculae from the surface through the sieve-like structure of its bill. The nest is a hollow in some dry clump of rush - or other cover - lined with down plucked from its own body.
	RED-BREASTED MERGANSER This handsome duck belongs to a group known as the "sawbills". Its bill is especially adapted for catching and holding fish - having a row of tiny teeth along the edges of both upper and lower mandibles. Naturally it is an expert diver. It is a sea-duck but will sometimes come to the rivers to nest. The nest is made in thick cover - often under bushes or in long herbage. The drake is depicted. The female is a bird of sober brown - grey and black. She - too - has a crest.
	TUFTED DUCK A typical diving duck of the fresh water; common on lakes and meres - especially in winter when the local breeding population is increased by migrants from abroad. Water-weeds are their main food. The nest is usually well concealed in rushes - reeds - long grass or other herbage - and eight to ten eggs are laid. A family of fluffy brown ducklings escorted by their mother - among the lily beds of a mere - is a pretty sight. The ducklings are able to dive at a very early age. The female is much browner than the male (here shown) and her crest is not so long as his.
	FULMAR PEtrEL A gull-like bird with a peculiar bill - legs so weak that they are scarcely capable of supporting the bird - and a wonderful gliding fight which serves it well - for it is an oceanic wanderer. Before 1878 it was unknown in Britain - except on the lonely island of St. Kilda. Since that date it has extended its breeding territory - and may now be found nesting on many high cliffs around Britain. It lays one white egg on very skimpy nest material on a cliff ledge. It is a very oily bird - and one of its methods of self-protection is to squirt a jet of oil at its enemy.
	RAZORBILL A sea-bird which comes to land only for nesting - when it inhabits the ledges of high cliffs and detached rocks - usually in company with guillemots. A single large egg is laid on the hare rock - and the chick is fed on small fish - which are captured in the sea below. Under water the bird uses its wings to propel it along - the feet being used for steering. By the end of July the razorbills - both young and old - have deserted the cliffs - and will nor return to them before March of the following year - for they spend the winter at sea.
	GANNET A large sea bird which may be seen fishing off our coasts - cruising about on long wings - and then suddenly falling like an arrowhead - leaving a tall spout of spray as it plunges into the water. Often the fish is swallowed while the bird is submerged - but if the prey is large it will be brought en the surface and swallowed more leisurely. Gannets nest in large colonies - in closely packed masses of dazzling white birds - on lonely islets or on high detached rocks around Britain.
	GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL A giant amongst gulls with a wing span of over five feet - a devourer of carrion - and a killer of anything which is unfortunate enough to come within range of its powerful bill. It nests on cliffs - rocky headlands and islands - the nest consisting of an untidy arrangement of seaweed - grasses and litter on which are laid two or three large eggs. The chicks are fed on food which has been partly digested by the parent - and then regurgitated. Nearly fours years are required for the young to attain the full black and white plumage of maturity.
	ROSEATE TERN Of the five species of tern - which habitually nest in Britain - the roseate tern is probably the most elegant. It has longer tail-streamers - and a paler grey back than the other irons - and a satin-pink breast which gives it its name. These birds nest in colonies on dunes and shingle banks or on rocky islets. Small fish - which it captures by plunging headlong into the water - are its main food. The roscate tern is very much a summer bird - arriving in Britain in May and leaving in September.
	BLACK-headED GULL This gull is as much a land gull as a sea gull - for it nests in large colonies in reedy swamps and bogs far inland - and much of its food is obtained from the fields. Iris not well-named. Its head is nor black - but a rich chocolate brown for six months of the year - changing in winter to white with a dusky spot on the sides. It is fond of following the plough where it feeds in excited flocks on the worms and leather jackets which are sudden. It is our smallest common gull.
	Illustrated and described by C F Tunnicliffe

"Reaps the fields of rice and reeds - while the population feeds"
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