This section looks at individual species of birds, in Britain, America, and abroad. Many of these accounts spring from the pens of ardent naturalists and birdwatchers like Olivia Thorne Miller and John Burroughs of America, and Grant Allen of Britain. These writers do more than tell us about the basic habits of a bird; they bring birds to life as individuals, with characters as well as characteristics. Accounts like these went a long way toward convincing the Victorian world that birds weren't mere pests to be exterminated by farmers, or feathered targets to be hunted for sport or to decorate ladies' hats.

Baltimore Oriole

A Summer Bird (Harper's Monthly, 1876B)

Blackbird

The Blackbird by Harrison Weir (Girl's Own Paper, 1880)

A Negro Melodist, by A.H. Malan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Bluejay

Little Boy Blue, by Olivia Thorne Miller (Atlantic Monthly, 1893)

Butcher-Bird (Shrike)

Glimpses of Nature: A Woodland Tragedy,* by Grant Allen (The Strand, 1897B)

Cat-Bird

A Study of a Cat-Bird, by Olive Thorne Miller (Atlantic Monthly, 1883)

Observations of a cat-bird that made itself at home in the author's house!

Crow

The Crow by Mrs. C.S. Nourse (Demorest, 1879)

A look at this much maligned bird in life and in fable.

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 14: Zig-Zag Corvine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Crows, ravens, kookaburras, etc.

Dotterel

Haunts of the Dotterel (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Seeking the nests of a small plover in Scotland.

Dove

Doves, by E.S. Starr (Century Magazine, 1888B)

Doves' Down, or, Pigeon Life, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

An interesting series on doves and pigeons, including an article on the passenger pigeon, which was still quite common in Britain!

Tame Doves, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Eagles & Hawks

The Eagle Family (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Eagle Stories (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Fish-Hawks and Their Nests (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 12: Zig-Zag Accipitral, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Eagles, hawks and owls.

Frigate Bird

The Frigate-Bird (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Goose

Michaelmas Geese (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

A look at geese overall, historic, domestic, and wild.

Honey-Bird

The Honey-Bird (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

A South African bird that seeks bee-hives; the natives use the bird to guide them to stores of honey.

Hornbill

The Hornbill Family (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

The Hornbill, by Fred Beverley (St. Nicholas, 1875)

Hummingbird

The Food of Hummingbirds (Godey's, 1868)

Bird Architecture (Scribners, 1879A)

Hummingbirds of the world and their nests.

Kingfisher

The Life Story of a Kingfisher, by S.L. Bensusan (The Strand, 1905B)

A fictionalized account of the life cycle of a kingfisher.

Kookaburra

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 14: Zig-Zag Corvine, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Crows, ravens, kookaburras, etc.

Laughing Jackasses, by Richard Gurney (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

Lark

Larks and Lays (Leisure Hour, 1860)

Moor-Hen

Tame Moor-Hens (Good Words, 1902)

Nightingale

A Hunt for the Nightingale, by John Burroughs (Century Magazine, 1884A)

Night-Jar

The Night-jar (Stories of History, 1891)

Moorland Idylls 1: The Nightjar*, by Grant Allen (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

Osprey

The Osprey (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Ostrich et al.

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 7: Zig-Zag Cursorean, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Owl

Asnapper: The Brown Owl, by Eliza Brightwen (Girl's Own Paper, 1895)

Eliza Brightwen's account of sharing her drawing-room with a particularly sociable bird.

Moonlight Marauders (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 12: Zig-Zag Accipitral, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1893)**

Eagles, hawks & owls.

The Owl, by R.B. Lodge (Windsor Magazine, 1903A)

Parrot

Zig-Zags at the Zoo 21: Zig-Zag Scansorial, by Arthur Morrison and J.A. Shepherd (The Strand, 1894)**

• See Pet Birds for more articles on parrots.

Pigeon

A Bird of Few Friends, by A.H. Malan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Doves' Down, or, Pigeon Life, by Emma Brewer (Girl's Own Paper, 1890)

An interesting series on doves and pigeons, including an article on the passenger pigeon, which was still quite common in Britain!

Quail

Bob White, the Game Bird of America, by Alfred M. Meyer (Century Magazine, 1883B)

The Quail (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Moorland Idylls 3: A Flight of Quails*, by Grant Allen (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

Robin

The Bird of the Morning, by Olive Thorne Miller (Atlantic Monthly, 1883)

"If every bird has his vocation... that of the American robin must be to inspire cheerfulness and contentment in men."

The Sorrows of a [Robin] Son and Heir (1898)

Rivalry between a pair of robins.

Rock Pipit

A Sea-Farer's Home, by F.A. Fulcher (Argosy, 1893)

Sapsucker

A Picus and His Pots, by Maurice Thompson (St. Nicholas, 1882B)

The sapsucker, a woodpecker who makes cups to catch and store nectar.

Shoebill

The New Bird: Balaeniceps Rex (Leisure Hour, 1860)

The discovery and classification of Africa's Shoebill or Shoe-Billed Stork.

Swallow

Moorland Idylls 5: Our Winged Housefellows*, by Grant Allen (English Illustrated Magazine, 1895A)

Titmouse

Among the Titmice, by Rev. M.G. Watkins (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

The Ways and Whims of Thomas [a Titmouse], by Alfred Bamford (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1890)

Vulture

The Vulture (Pictorial Museum of Sport & Adventure, ca. 1890)

Wagtail

The Ways of Wagtails (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

Woodcock

A Few Words About Woodcocks, by A.H. Malan (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1881)

Woodpecker

The Story of a Green Woodpecker, by S.L. Bensusan (The Strand, 1905B)

A fictionalized account of a woodpecker's life.

Extinct Birds

Feathered Forms of Other Days, by R.W. Shufeldt (Century Magazine, 1886A)

*See Grant Allen's Nature Series for the complete "Moorland Idylls" and "Glimpses of Nature" series.

**See the complete ZigZags at the Zoo series.

See also:

• Song Birds & Game Birds

• Sea Birds & Waterfowl

• Bird Stories