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HELM FIELD GUIDES
Birds of
South-East
Asia
Concise Edition
Craig Robson
CHRISTOPHER HELM
LONDON
Christopher Helm
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
www.bloomsbury.com
Craig Robson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as
Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system,
without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
To find out more about our authors and books visit www.bloomsbury.com. Here you will find extracts, author
interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for our newsletters.
11227m1-9 prelims 7/12/04 12:17 PM Page 3 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
This guide is a condensed version of A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia (Robson 2000), and is intended
to be as portable as possible, for use in the field. Obviously, in order to save space and therefore weight, the species
accounts are relatively short and are intended to be as concise as possible within the publisher’s brief. Additionally, the
illustrations are spread across an increased number of plates (142 rather than 104), and all of the species text faces
the relevant plates. For more detailed information on a given species, consult the above-mentioned guide.
Taxonomy and nomenclature follow A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia, with the following exceptions (the
references followed for each treatment appear in parentheses): Siamese Partridge Arborophila diversa is lumped in
Chestnut-headed Partridge A. cambodiana (Eames et al. 2002); Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx fugax
becomes two species, Malaysian Hawk Cuckoo H. fugax and Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo H. nisicolor (King 2002);
Mongolian Gull Larus mongolicus is treated as a distinct species, rather than a race of Herring Gull L. argentatus
(Yésou 2001, 2002); Slender-billed Vulture Gyps tenuirostris is split from Long-billed (Indian) Vulture G. indicus
(Rasmussen and Parry 2001); Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastata is split from Lesser Spotted Eagle A. pomarina
(Parry et al. 2002); Green-backed Flycatcher Ficedula elisae is split from Narcissus Flycatcher F. narcissina (Round
2000); and Common Stonechat Saxicola torquata becomes Siberian Stonechat S. maura (Wink et al. 2002). Three
species new to science also appear in this guide: Omei Warbler Seicercus omeiensis (Martens et al. 1999), Chest-
nut-eared Laughingthrush Garrulax konkakinhensis (Eames and Eames 2001), and Mekong Wagtail Motacilla
samveasnae (Duckworth et al. 2001). Additionally, the generic name Houbaropsis is reinstated for Bengal Florican,
rather than Eupodotis (Inskipp et al. 1996), and the common name Ludlow’s Fulvetta is used for Alcippe ludlowi,
as the alternative (Brown-throated Fulvetta) is so misleading. Unfortunately, however, in order to balance out the plates,
and compare some similar species, it has not been possible to follow the exact (correct) species order.
Eleven species that were not illustrated in the original work (Wandering Whistling-duck Dendrocygna arcua-
ta, Swan Goose Anser cygnoides, Sacred Kingfisher Todirhamphus sanctus, Stilt Sandpiper Micropalama
himantopus, Aleutian Tern Sterna aleutica, Black Tern Chlidonias niger, Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon
rubricauda, Chinese Penduline Tit Remiz consobrinus, Snowy-throated Babbler Stachyris oglei, Chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs and Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus) are now fully illustrated, as are 16 species that have been
recorded as new to the region since publication of the original work (Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator,
Alpine Swift Tachymarptis melba, White-headed Stilt Himantopus leucocephalus, Laughing Gull Larus atri-
cilla, Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla, Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea, Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus,
Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii, Rusty-bellied Shortwing Brachypteryx hyperythra, Wallcreeper Ticho-
droma muraria, Pleske’s Warbler Locustella pleskei, Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, Chestnut-
eared Laughingthrush, Ludlow’s Fulvetta, Mekong Wagtail and Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica). A single
new subspecies (or species, depending on your viewpoint) now recorded from the region, White Wagtail Motacilla
alba lugens (aka ‘Black-backed Wagtail’), is also illustrated. Significantly, it has also been possible to have more
than 120 illustrations from the original guide improved or corrected.
Two species (Vega Gull L. vegae and Saunders’s Tern S. saundersi) that were included in the original work, but
have not been recorded from the region, are now deleted.
All species known to have been recorded in the region by the author up to spring 2003 are dealt with and illus-
trated, and distribution and other texts have been widely updated. Two new species for South-East Asia have been
recorded between this date and the book going to press: Little Gull Larus minutus at Bang Pu, Samut Prakan,
C Thailand, in November 2001, and Eurasian Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus at Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Peninsular
Malaysia in January 2001.
If readers find any errors or omissions, the author (c/o New Holland Publishers) would be pleased to receive any infor-
mation that updates or corrects that presented herein, in the hope that an improved edition may appear in the future.
5
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• The total length of each species appears after the species name.
• A comparative approach has been adopted with species descriptions, where scarcer species are generally com-
pared to commoner or more widespread species. In general, those species considered to be easily identifiable
have been afforded less coverage than the more difficult species.
• Comparisons between similar species are dealt with directly and separately under the various sex/age or other
headings.
• Males are described first (except in polyandrous species) and female plumage compared directly to the male
plumage.
• Names of illustrated subspecies are only given after the first sex/age class dealt with. It can be assumed that the
following illustrations are of the same race, until another one is mentioned. The ornithological regions of South-East
Asia (see inside back cover) where a given subspecies has been recorded (e.g. NW Thailand, S Annam) appear in
parentheses after its name – though generally not in the case of the first subspecies listed, the range of which can
be deduced by consulting the map and then subtracting the ranges of other subspecies. Subspecies given as ‘ssp.’
are currently undescribed or in the process of being described.
Details of non-illustrated sex/age classes refer to the last named subspecies in the sequence. The subspecies listed
under ‘Other subspecies’ are generally not considered to differ markedly from the first subspecies mentioned.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to a number of people for their valuable assistance during the preparation of this work. In particular, I
would like to thank those artists who painted new figures and made amendments to some of the original ones.
During visits to the bird collections at the Natural History Museum, Tring, I was greatly assisted again by staff there
(Mark Adams, Robert Prys-Jones and F.E ‘Effie’ Warr).
Others who helped me in updating the text were Philip Round, Pamela Rasmussen, Per Alström, Bill Clark, Peter
Davidson, Will Duckworth, Jonathan Eames, Tim Inskipp, Mikhail Kalyakin, Peter Kennerley, Ben King, Le Hai Quang,
Paul Leader, Yoshimitsu Shigeta and David Wells.
I am also very grateful to Nigel Collar for his painstaking work in editing the manuscript, and the designer at
D & N Publishing for the difficult task of rearranging the plates. Jo Hemmings, Jane Morrow and Charlotte Judet at
New Holland showed a high level of commitment to the project.
6
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7
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GLOSSARY
Axillaries: the feathers at the base of the underwing. Morph: a permanent alternative plumage exhibited by a
Bird-wave: mixed-species feeding flock. species, having no taxonomic standing and usually
Casque: an enlargement of the upper mandible, as in involving base colour, not pattern.
many hornbill species. Nomadic: prone to wandering, or occurring erratically,
Cere: a fleshy structure at the base of the bill which with no fixed territory outside breeding season.
contains the nostrils. Nuchal: pertaining to the nape and hindneck.
Clang: loud ringing sound. Ocelli: eye-like spots, often iridescent.
Clangour: clanging noise. Orbital: surrounding the eye.
Comb: erect unfeathered fleshy growth, situated Pelagic: of the open sea.
lengthwise on crown. Polyandrous: mating with more than one male (usually
Crest: tuft of feathers on crown of head, sometimes associated with sex-role reversal).
erectile. Post-ocular: behind the eye.
Distal: (of the part) further from the body. Race: see Subspecies.
Dorsal: of or on the back Rami: barbs of feathers.
Eclipse: a dull short-term post-nuptial plumage. Shaft-streak: a pale or dark line in the plumage
Face: informal term for the front part of the head, produced by the feather shaft.
usually including the forehead, lores, cheeks and often Subspecies: a geographical population whose
the chin. members all show constant differences, in plumage
Flight feathers: in this work, a space-saving collective and/or size etc., from those of other populations of the
term for primaries and secondaries. same species.
Fringe: complete feather margin. Subterminal: immediately before the tip.
Frugivorous: fruit-eating. Terminal: at the tip.
Graduated tail: tail on which each feather, starting Terrestrial: living or occurring mainly on the ground.
outermost, is shorter than the adjacent inner feather. Tibia: upper half of often visible avian leg (above the
Gregarious: living in flocks or communities. reverse ‘knee’).
Gular: pertaining to the throat. Trailing edge: the rear edge (usually of the wing in
Gunung: Malay word for mountain. flight).
Hackles: long, pointed neck feathers. Underparts: the lower parts of the body (loosely
Hepatic: brownish-red (applied to the rufous morph of applied).
some cuckoos). Underside: the entire lower surface of the body.
Knob: a fleshy protrusion on the upper mandible of the Upperparts: the upper parts of the body, usually
bill. excluding the head, tail and wings (loosely applied).
Lappet: a fold of skin (wattle) hanging or protruding Upperside: the entire upper surface of the body, tail
from the head. and wings.
Lateral: on or along the side. Vagrant: a status for a species nationally or regionally
Leading edge: the front edge (usually of the forewing when it is accidental (rare and irregular) in occurrence.
in flight). Vermiculated: marked with narrow wavy lines, often
Local: occurring or relatively common within a small or only visible at close range.
restricted area. Web: a vane (to one side of the shaft) of a feather.
Mask: informal term for the area of the head around Wing-bar: a line across a closed wing formed by
the eye, often extending back from the bill and covering different-coloured tips to the greater or median coverts,
(part of) the ear-coverts. or both.
Mesial: down the middle (applied to streak on chin/ Wing-panel: a lengthwise strip on closed wing formed
throat, mostly of raptors); interchangeable with gular. by coloured fringes (usually on flight feathers).
8
7/12/04
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Page
AVIAN TOPOGRAPHY
The figures below illustrate the main plumage tracts and bare-part features. This terminology for bird topog-
raphy has been used extensively in the species descriptions, and a full understanding of these terms is impor-
tant if the reader is to make full use of this book; they are a starting point in putting together a description.
lores tail
supercilium
eyering
culmen
tertials
eyestripe
upper scapulars
mandible
lesser coverts
median coverts
lower mandible
moustachial stripe greater coverts
malar stripe submoustachial stripe secondaries
carpal joint
9
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3 BLACK PARTRIDGE Melanoperdix nigra 24–27 cm 8 SMALL BUTTONQUAIL Turnix sylvatica 13–14 cm
(a) Male nigra: Glossy black with slightly browner wings. (b) (a,b) Female mikado: Buff-and-black-streaked chestnut wing-
Female: Dark chestnut; buffier head-sides/throat/vent, black coverts, paler breast than Yellow-legged, bluish/blackish bill, grey-
scapulars spots. Chestnut scales/bars on head-sides/throat (may ish-pinkish legs. Male: Mantle less rufous. (c) Juvenile: Breast
be blacker on cheeks). (c) Juvenile: As female but fine pale and duller than female, blackish spots across breast. Other subspecies
dark vermiculations and some pale spots above; less black on T.s.dussumier (Myanmar): Paler above, more obvious buff and
scapular, large whitish spots and dark bars down breast- rufous-chestnut on hindneck/upper mantle. T.s.davidi (Cochinchi-
sides/flanks, whiter vent. HABITAT & BEHAVIOUR Broadleaved ever- na). VOICE Female territorial call is series of 1 s long hooo notes.
green forest; up to 610 m. Very shy. RANGE Sc R Pen Malaysia. Recalls Barred, but notes more mournful, longer, slower, and more
slowly repeated. HABITAT Dry grassland, thickets bordering cultiva-
4 COMMON QUAIL Coturnix coturnix 20–20.5 cm tion; up to 1,150 m. RANGE Sc/lo R C,S,E Myanmar, NW,C Thailand,
(a) Male coturnix: Possibly tends to have less chestnut base Cambodia, N,C Laos, E Tonkin, C Annam, Cochinchina.
colour to breast/flanks and browner upperparts than non-
breeding male Japanese; slightly larger (wing >105 mm). (b) 9 YELLOW-LEGGED BUTTONQUAIL T.tanki 16.5–18 cm
Female/first winter: No dark gular stripe. May be inseparable (a,b) Female blanfordii: Yellow legs, black spots on sandy-buff
in field (either sex) from Japanese. VOICE Male territorial call is coverts, deep buff breast-patch, round black upper flank spots,
rhythmic whistled pit pil-it. May give slightly ringing pik- mostly yellowish bill. Shows the most contrasting wing-coverts.
kreee when flushed. HABITAT Lowland grassy areas, cultivation. Male: Lacks female’s rufous nuchal collar. (c) Juvenile: Duller
RANGE Ra WV/V W,S Myanmar. breast-patch than male, faint dark bars on lower throat/breast,
duller wing-covert spots. VOICE Females apparently utter low
5 JAPANESE QUAIL Coturnix japonica 19 cm hooting notes, which increase in strength and turn into human-
(a) Male non-breeding japonica: As female but throat with like moan. HABITAT Grassland, scrub, cultivation, secondary
blackish to chestnut gular-line and bar, breast warmer (often growth; up to 2,135 m. RANGE Un/co R (except southern S Thai-
more chestnut and less blackish streaks. (b) Male breeding: land, Pen Malaysia, Singapore). Un PM E Tonkin, N Annam.
Pinkish-chestnut head-sides/throat diagnostic. Often has dark
throat-bands. (c,d) Female/first winter: Brownish above with 10 BARRED BUTTONQUAIL Turnix suscitator 15–17.5 cm
whitish/buff streaks and speckles, rufescent to chestnut (a,b) Female thai: Black throat-patch and breast/flank bars,
breast/flanks, with black and whitish streaks. Pale buff/whitish black-and-buff-barred coverts, rufous-buff vent. Quite greyish
throat with double dark bar at side (often short moustachial line above. (c) Male/juvenile: No black on throat/breast. (d)
almost joining first bar). Base colour of breast and flanks tends Female blakistoni (rc NW Thailand, N Indochina): Rufous-
to more chestnut than Common (broad chestnut streaks may be chestnut above (both sexes). Other subspecies T.s.atrogularis
distinctive if present), typically somewhat darker/greyer above; (S Thailand southwards): Richer buff below. T.s.plumbipes
wing <105 mm. Sharply pointed feathers on throat-sides dis- (SW,W Myanmar); pallescens (C,S Myanmar). VOICE Females give
tinctive if visible. VOICE Males utter a loud choo-peet-trrr or soft, quickly repeated, ventriloquial series of rising ooo notes
guku kr-r-r-r-r. HABITAT Grassy areas, cultivation; up to (increasing in volume before ending abruptly). HABITAT Dry grassy
500 m. RANGE Sc/un WV Myanmar, NW Thailand, N Laos, W,E areas, thickets, cultivation; to 1,650 m. RANGE Co R throughout.
Tonkin. V Cambodia, C Annam. ? B N Myanmar, E Tonkin.
10
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11 11 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
2c
2b
1a 2a
3c
4b 3b
4a
3a
5b
5a 6b
5c 6a
5d
8b
7c
8a
8c
7b
7a
10b
9b 10d
9a
10c 10a
9c
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1b
2b
1a 2a
2c
1c
2d
3
5
4b
4c
4a
7a
7c
7b
8b
8a
11
10a
10b
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14
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15 15 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
2c
1c
2a
1b
1a 2b
4a
3b
3a
6b
4b
5b
6c
5a 5c
6a
7b
8b
8a
9d
7a
9a 9c
9b
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1d 1b
1a
1c
2f
2a
2e
2b
3b 2d
3a
2c
4b
4a
6b
5
8b
6a
7a
8a
7b
11227m01 BSEA/plates 1-20 7/12/04 11:56 AM Page 18 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
4 MOUNTAIN PEACOCK PHEASANT Polyplectron inopinatum 9 GREAT ARGUS Argusianus argus M 160–203, f 72–76 cm
M 65, f 46 cm (a) Male argus: Naked blue on head/neck, warm brown above
(a) Male: No crest or pale facial skin, very chestnut above, with with fine pale speckles/mottling, mostly dark chestnut below,
small bluish ocelli, blackish below, whitish-speckled head/neck. very long secondaries and very long white-spotted tail. (b)
(b) Female/juvenile: Ocelli smaller and black, tail shorter. Female Head and neck like male, complete rufous-chestnut col-
VOICE 1–4 fairly loud harsh clucks/squawks (c.0.5 s apart), every lar, less distinct markings above, duller and plainer below, much
5–6 s. HABITAT Broadleaved evergreen forest; 800–1,600 m, shorter barred tail, much shorter secondaries. Juvenile As
rarely 600 m. RANGE Un R extreme S Thailand, Pen Malaysia. female. Male soon develops longer speckled tail. VOICE Male ter-
ritorial call is loud KWAH-WAU (WAU louder/longer). Female
5 GERMAIN’S PEACOCK PHEASANT P.germaini M 58, f 48 cm gives 25–35 loud WAU notes, latterly longer, more upward-
(a) Male: Smaller/darker than Grey, darker ocelli (more greenish- inflected. HABITAT Broadleaved evergreen forest; up to 950 m.
blue but often look darker purple), red facial skin. (b) Female: RANGE Un/lc R south Tenasserim, S Thailand, Pen Malaysia.
Darker/plainer than Grey, more defined ocelli, no obvious pale
scales above, reddish facial skin. Juvenile: Ocelli blacker/fainter 10 GREEN PEAFOWL Pavo muticus M 180–250, f 100–110 cm
than female; faintly pale-scaled coverts, plainer below. VOICE Faster (a) Male imperator: Green, scaled blackish, long neck, tall
and higher than Grey: erraarrrrrr....erraarrrrrakak....aarrrr- crest, extremely long train with colourful ocelli. (b) Female:
akh-akh-akh-akh...AKH-AKH-AKH-AKH... HABITAT Broadleaf Duller, lacks train. Juvenile: Duller than female. Second-year
evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, bamboo; up to 1,400 m. male similar to adult but lacks ocelli on train. Other subspecies
RANGE Lc R east Cambodia, C(south), S Annam, Cochinchina. P.m.spicifer (west of Irrawaddy R), muticus (Tenasserim/S
Thailand southward). VOICE Territorial males utter loud KI-WAO;
6 GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT P.bicalcaratum M 56–76, females loud AOW-AA (AOW stressed). HABITAT Open forest
f 50 cm (mainly by rivers/wetlands); up to 915 m. RANGE Vl R N,C,S Myan-
(a) Male bicalcaratum: Greyish; white throat, green/purple mar, W,NW Thailand, Cambodia, N,S Laos, N,C,S Annam,
ocelli above, pink face-skin. (b) Female: Darker/plainer; less Cochinchina. FR (currently?) SW,W,E Myanmar, Tenasserim, C
distinct ocelli. Juvenile: As female. Other subspecies Laos. FR (E) NE,S Thailand, Pen Malaysia.
18
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19 19 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
2c
1a
2b
2a
3a
1b 3b
5b
4a
5a
4b
7b
6a
6b
7a
8b
9b
10a
10b
11227m01 BSEA/plates 1-20 7/12/04 12:07 PM Page 20 (5th Reflex Blue plate)
3 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Anser albifrons 8 COMMON SHELDUCK Tadorna tadorna 58–67 cm
65–75 cm (a,b) Male: Looks black-and-white; green-glossed hood, chest-
(a,b) Adult albifrons: Pinkish bill, broad white frontal patch, nut breast-band, red bill with large basal knob. Male eclipse:
irregular black belly-patches, orangey legs. In flight, darker Bill knob smaller, face mottled whitish, less defined breast-band.
upperwing-coverts than Greylag, all-dark underwing. (c) Juve- (c) Female: Smaller; bill duller with no knob, head/neck duller,
nile: No frontal patch or belly-patches. Smaller/smaller-billed face marked with white, breast-band thinner/duller. Female
than Greylag, darker (particularly head/neck), more orangey eclipse: Duller/greyer; more white face markings, even less dis-
legs. VOICE In flight, repeated musical lyo-lyok (pitch varies), tinct breast-band. May resemble juvenile. Juvenile: Largely
higher than Greylag and Bean. HABITAT Lakes, rivers, grain fields, brownish head, neck and upperparts, whitish face, eyering and
grassy areas; lowlands. RANGE V W,E Myanmar. foreneck, no breast-band, all whitish below, white-tipped flight
feathers, dull pinkish bill. VOICE Female utters rapid gag-ag-ag-
4 LESSER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Anser erythropus ag-ag...; male thin low whistles. HABITAT Large rivers, lakes,
53–66 cm coastal mudflats; up to 400 m. RANGE V SW,N,C,S Myanmar, NW,C
(a,b) Adult: Smaller than Greater, shorter body, neck and legs, Thailand, N Laos, E Tonkin, C Annam.
smaller and brighter pink bill, yellow eyering, rounder head
(forecrown steeper/higher), white frontal patch extends further 9 WHITE-WINGED DUCK Cairina scutulata 66–81 cm
onto crown and ends in more of a point. Wings project notice- (a,b) Male: All dark with black-speckled whitish hood (can be
ably beyond tail-tip at rest (not or only slightly projecting in mainly white), mostly yellowish bill; white coverts contrast with
Greater); rather darker overall (mainly head/neck) with small- black primaries. Female: Smaller/slightly duller, usually denser-
er black belly-patches (usually) and clearer white line along mottled hood. Juvenile: Duller/browner, initially pale brownish
inner edge of flanks. (c) Juvenile: From Greater by propor- head/neck. VOICE Vibrant honks in flight, often ending with nasal
tions, primary projection, darker coloration. VOICE Flight calls whistle. Single short harsh honks. HABITAT & BEHAVIOUR Pools
quicker/squeakier than Greater, typically repeated kyu-yu-yu. and rivers in forest, freshwater swamp forest; up to 800, rarely
HABITAT & BEHAVIOUR Freshwater lakes, marshes; recorded at 1,500 m. Not gregarious; mostly nocturnal feeder. RANGE Ra/lo
c.800 m. Walks/feeds faster than Greater. RANGE V E Myanmar. R N Myanmar, W,NE,S Thailand, Cambodia, C,S Laos, N,S Annam,
Cochinchina; formerly NW Thailand. FR (currently?) SW,W,C,E,S
5 GREYLAG GOOSE Anser anser 78–90 cm Myanmar, Tenasserim, Pen Malaysia.
(a,b) Adult rubrirostris: Pink bill/legs, quite pale plumage,
plain head/neck, no belly-patches (only speckles). Pale coverts 10 COMB DUCK Sarkidiornis melanotos 56–76 cm
in flight. Juvenile: Duller bill and legs, no dark belly-speckles. (a) Male non-breeding melanotos: Black-speckled hood,
VOICE Deeper than other geese. Loud clanging honking aahng- grey flanks, broad knob (comb) on dark bill; dark wings. Male
ahng-ung in flight. HABITAT & BEHAVIOUR Lakes, rivers, estuar- breeding: Much larger comb, buffy head-/neck-sides. (b,c)
ies, arable fields, grassy areas; lowlands. Usually in flocks; may Female: Smaller; duller above, no comb. (d) Juvenile: Mostly
associate with other geese. RANGE Ra/lo WV N,C Myanmar, E dark brown upperside, dark brown eyestripe, rest of head, neck
Tonkin; formerly N,C Annam. V NW Thailand, C Laos. and underparts washed brownish-buff with some dark markings
on breast-sides/flanks. VOICE Occasional low croaks. Wheezy
6 BAR-HEADED GOOSE Anser indicus 71–76 cm whistles and grunts when breeding. HABITAT Freshwater lakes
(a,b) Adult: Striking black-and-white pattern on head and and marshes; lowlands. RANGE Ra/sc R (some movements) N,C,S
neck, yellow bill and legs; pale wing-coverts contrast with dark Myanmar, Cambodia. Ra WV NW,NE,C Thailand, Cochinchina. V
flight feathers above and below. (c) Juvenile: Rather uniform C Laos, E Tonkin. FR (currently?) SW,E Myanmar.
20
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
“But Prince had a bad habit, and that was the reason he was to be
sold. He balked whenever a grown person rode or drove him. The
only thing he was any good for at all was carrying Charlie and me to
the store for Mother. He would take us both at once or one at a time
wherever we wanted to go and never balk once while we were on his
back. Father said that if Charlie and I had been older he would have
kept Prince, but by the time we would need a horse Prince would be
too old to be of much use. If he could even have been trusted to take
Mother to church and back when the roads were too rough to drive,
Father would not have sold him. But he was sure to stop some place
or other, no matter how cold the day, and refuse to budge until he got
ready. So Father said he could not afford to keep him any longer,
and as none of our neighbors would want him he would sell him to
the horse dealer for what he could get. This wouldn’t be much, for of
course Father would tell the man that Prince balked.
“So we went to the fair as usual, except that Prince went along
and was hitched with the other horses to the fence until Father
should get ready to see the horse dealer some time after dinner.
“I went with Mother to Floral Hall, which was just a little,
whitewashed building, and looked at quilts and fancy work and cakes
and pies and pianos and stoves and pumpkins and potatoes until I
got tired and wandered on ahead of Mother—who was busily talking
to some people she knew—to the door, and there was Charlie
waiting for us.
“He had been out to see the cattle and poultry. He said our white-
faced steer and Mother’s bronze turkeys had taken blue ribbons and
he wanted me to come and see them.
“As we passed our horses, Prince whinnied, and I suggested that
we say good-by to Prince again. So we went over to where he was
hitched to the fence. We petted him and fed him an apple that
Charlie had in his pocket, and then Charlie said we would take a last
ride. So he got on first and I climbed up behind him and put my arms
around his waist and we were off. For a while Prince trotted about on
the grass, and then we came to an opening that led into the race
track. Before we realized what he was doing, Prince had turned
through this opening into the circular track.
“Two men were standing at the entrance talking. One of them was
an old man. The other, a big man with a wide-rimmed felt hat and
high-topped boots, waved a riding whip at us and called out
something that we did not hear as we passed, but Prince kept right
on. Charlie could have turned him around, but he wouldn’t, though I
begged him to. The trainers were exercising their horses on the
track, but Prince paid no attention to anything, looking neither to right
nor to left. We must have been a queer sight—two children riding
bareback on a big farm horse around the race track. By the time we
got to the grandstand quite a crowd had gathered and they cheered
us loudly as we passed. Charlie, not to be outdone, waved his hat in
return.
Prince turned through the opening that led to the race track
“In the excitement and confusion, sister Belle, who was going
down the cellar stairs backward with a mirror in her hand, in which
she was supposed to see the face of the man she would marry, fell
halfway down the stairs, and John Strang picked her up and sure
enough he was the man she married later.
“After that Charlie and I didn’t say much, for the pan of taffy was
still under the lilac bush by the front gate and we didn’t want to go
into any explanations about why we happened to be out there too.
“Here, here, don’t forget your ‘apple a day.’ There now, good night,
dears.”
MEASLES
Bobby and Alice and Pink had the measles. First Bobby had taken
it with a headache and a sick stomach. Then Alice had got sick with
what seemed to be a cold, and at last Pink took it. She just wakened
up one morning all covered with tiny red spots, and of course she
knew right away that she had the measles, too.
They had all been awfully sick, but now they were better, though
they still had to stay in a darkened room, which they didn’t like a bit.
“It’s the worst part of the measles,” complained Bobby bitterly.
“Just like night all the time.”
“Well, then,” said Grandma, who was making them a call, “let us
pretend that it is night and I will tell you a story about when I had the
measles a long, long time ago.
“In those days measles was considered a necessary evil for
children. That is, people thought that all children must have it one
time or another, and the younger you were when you had it the less
it would hurt you. All our family had had the measles except Charlie
and me. We had never had the measles, and Mother was quite
worried about it. She said she wouldn’t expose us on purpose, but
she did wish we’d get it before we got much older and have it over
with. There had been no measles epidemic in our neighborhood for
several years, and this is how one came about.
“One Saturday, late in June, Father took Charlie and me to
Clayville with him. We were to visit with Aunt Louisa while he
attended to his business. He let us out at Aunt Louisa’s street and
said when he got ready to go home he would come after us.
“Charlie and I started up the street, but neither of us had ever
been there alone and all the houses looked alike to us. We couldn’t
decide which was Aunt Louisa’s.
“Finally we selected one that we were sure was hers and went
around to the side door and knocked. Instead of Aunt Louisa or
Mettie, a little girl opened the door and told us to come in. This was
queer, because Aunt Louisa had no children. But I supposed she had
company and stepped into a sitting room that was so dark I could
hardly see a thing at first. We sat very still for a while, and I wished
that Aunt Louisa would come. In the dim light I made out a bed in
one corner, but I didn’t know there was anyone in it until a boy, who
had evidently been asleep, raised up his head and looked at us in
surprise. And we looked at him, too, for he certainly was funny
looking with his face all covered with little red spots.
“‘By, golly!’ he said. ‘What you doin’ in here?’
“I replied with dignity that we were waiting for Aunt Louisa.
“‘She doesn’t live here,’ he said crossly, and lay down again. ‘She
lives in the next house. Must have been my little sister let you in.
This is our house and I got the measles.’
“Charlie and I got out as quickly as we could and hurried to Aunt
Louisa’s, but we decided that we would not tell her or anyone else
we had had such a glorious, accidental chance for the measles.
“‘We mightn’t take the measles after all,’ Charlie pointed out, ‘and
then Mother would be disappointed.’
“‘I hope we don’t take them on the way home,’ I said anxiously. I
didn’t know then that it takes the measles germ nine days to mature
and that we were in little danger of taking it before that time.
“The next day, being tired from my trip to town, I imagined I was
sick and I was sure I was taking the measles. Charlie examined my
face carefully, though, and said he couldn’t see any red spots. In a
day or two Charlie thought he was taking the disease, but there were
no red spots on his face, either.
“‘And if they’re in you Mother says they’ve got to come out,’ I told
him wisely. ‘So as long as it doesn’t show on the outside we haven’t
got it.’
“A week passed, and after several more false alarms we came to
the conclusion that we were not going to take the measles after all.
“Sunday the Presiding Elder was to be at our church and there
were to be two sermons, one in the morning and one in the
afternoon, with a basket dinner in between. Mother and the girls
were very busy cooking and baking, or maybe some of them would
have seen that Charlie and I were not well on Saturday. I ached all
over, my head most of all, and Charlie said he felt sick from his head
to his toes. We slipped out to the barn and crawled up in the hay loft
and lay down on the hay. Nanny Dodds almost found us there when
she came out to hunt some eggs for an extra cake—Mother had
already baked three cakes, but she said she had better bake four to
make sure there’d be plenty.
“Charlie and I had been eating green apples. Mother always
allowed us to eat green apples if we put salt on them. But we had
been in the orchard and the salt was at the house, so we hadn’t
bothered to wait, but had eaten the apples without salt. We thought it
was the green apples that were making us sick. As we didn’t want to
be dosed with castor oil and maybe have to stay home from
preaching next day, we didn’t tell a soul we felt sick.
“Anyway, we were both better by Sunday morning, for who
wouldn’t have been better with a new white dress to wear and a
leghorn hat with a wreath of daisies around the crown?
“But in church even my new clothes couldn’t help me. The sermon
seemed very, very long, the air was hot and close, and I felt terribly
sick. I wanted more than anything else in the world to take off my hat
and lay my head in Mother’s gray silk lap, but of course I was much
too big to do that. I looked across to the men’s side where Charlie
sat beside Father, and there he was all slumped down in his seat,
holding his head in his hands.
“Neither of us ate much dinner, but there were so many people
eating with us that Mother didn’t notice. And right after dinner we
went down to the surrey and climbed in, Charlie on the front seat, I
on the back.
“We covered ourselves, heads and all, with the lap robes, and
there we lay and slept the live-long afternoon, until Father came to
hitch the horses up to go home.
“‘These youngsters must be all tired out,’ Father said when Mother
and Aggie and Belle came out to get in the surrey. I raised my head
up, but I was so dizzy I lay right down again, but not before Mother
had seen me.
“‘Let me see in your throat, Sarah,’ she demanded, and then to
Father she said solemnly, ‘I knew it! The second I saw her I knew it.
Sarah has the measles.’ Father thought surely she must be
mistaken, but she examined Charlie, and would you believe it? He
had the measles, too.
I looked across to Charlie and he was holding his head in his hands
“On the way home, with my head in Mother’s lap and Charlie
leaning on Belle, we told them all about going to the wrong house
when we went to see Aunt Louisa, and the boy who had the
measles, and everything.
“‘Just exactly nine days ago today,’ Mother fairly groaned.
“‘Aren’t you glad, Mother, that we surprised you with the measles?’
I asked, puzzled, for she didn’t seem a bit glad that we had them,
though she had always talked as if she would be.
“At this Father and Belle and Aggie and even Mother laughed.
“‘If I don’t miss my guess,’ said Father, ‘you’ve surprised a good
many other people with the measles, too, and I bet a lot of them
won’t be very glad.’
“Of course a lot of folks did take the measles from Charlie and me,
but the weather was warm and they all got along nicely, so there was
no great harm done.
“Some of the folks wondered where in the world Charlie and I
could have caught the measles. But old Mrs. Orbison, who came to
see us right away, settled that by announcing, ‘I always say that
things like that are in the air. No one knows where they get them or
how.’”
SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR
It was the evening before Thanksgiving. Grandma had told Bobby
and Alice and Pink about the first Thanksgiving, celebrated so long
ago by the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony to show their gratitude
because their lives had been spared in spite of many hardships and
because their crops had been plentiful enough to support them
through the coming winter.
And she had told them how that now, on recommendation of the
President, the last Thursday of November is set apart by
proclamation of the governors of the different states as an annual
Thanksgiving Day.
“Thanksgiving at our house was a wonderful time,” Grandma said
thoughtfully. “Next to Christmas, it was the best day of all the year, I
think. And it always began weeks before the real Thanksgiving Day
—when Mother made the mincemeat and the plum pudding and the
fruit cakes.
“All day Mother and the girls would work, crumbing bread for the
puddings, washing currants, slicing citron, beating eggs, measuring
sugar and spices, chopping suet and meat in the big wooden
chopping bowl, and seeding raisins. I helped seed the raisins. I liked
to seed raisins until I got all I wanted to eat. Then after that I didn’t
like the sticky things a bit.
“When everything was all mixed and ready, the pudding would be
packed in muslin bags and the cake put in pans lined with writing
paper and they would be steamed for hours and hours. When they
were done and cool they would be put away, beside the big stone jar
of mincemeat, to ripen for Thanksgiving.
“Father said that Thanksgiving came at just the right time of the
year. All the fall work was done by then, the corn husked, lots of
wood cut, and the butchering was over. The meathouse was filled
with hams and sausage and side meat, and there was always a jar
of pickled pigs’ feet. The apples had been picked and the potatoes
dug and both buried out in the garden alongside the cabbage and
beets. The nuts had been gathered in, and the popcorn was ready to
pop. The finest pumpkin had been set aside for the pies, and the
biggest, proudest, young turkey gobbler was fattened for the
Thanksgiving dinner.
“And then, on Thanksgiving morning, what delicious smells came
out of our kitchen! You know what they were! You’ve all smelled the
very same kind of smells coming out of your kitchen, I know you
have. Mm! mm! and the dinner! And every one of the family at home
to enjoy it and lots of company, too.
“But we didn’t think of just things to eat, either. Father said folks
were likely to do that. We seldom had services at our church on
Thanksgiving because the minister was usually off in another part of
the circuit holding a meeting. But at the breakfast table, after Father
had asked the blessing, to preserve and foster, as he said, the real
spirit of the day, each one of us would tell something we had to be
thankful for.
“And one Thanksgiving morning Charlie said he couldn’t think of
anything to be thankful for except, of course, Father and Mother and
good health and Sport, but nothing special, he said. I knew what was
the matter with Charlie. He had asked Truman to lend him his gun to
take along when he went to look at his traps. Truman had refused
because he had just cleaned it, and Father had said Charlie could
carry a gun when he was twelve years old and not before.
“Afterward when I went with him to his traps he told me he was
tired being thankful for ordinary things like those everybody else had.
He wanted something different, such as a silver watch, or a Wild
West pony, or a magic lantern.
“He said he could be the thankfulest boy on Sugar Creek if he had
any of those things, and he thought Thanksgiving ought to come
after Christmas anyhow—then a fellow would have more to be
thankful for.
“We were down at the hole under the willows where we fished in
summer and the boys set traps for muskrats in winter. It was getting
colder, and I told Charlie I thought I’d go on to the house instead of
going with him to the cabin in the sugar grove where he and Truman
were keeping their skins that winter. The cabin was convenient to the
traps, and Truman had put a good lock on the door and he and
Charlie each had a key. I wanted to go to the house to play with
brother Joe’s baby and see whether anyone else had come and to
find out how the dinner was coming on. So Charlie told me to go
ahead and he would come as soon as he skinned a couple of
muskrats he had caught in his traps.
“There were so many of us and so much confusion that I did not
notice until dinner was nearly over that Charlie was not there. When I
called Mother’s attention to it, she said he was probably around
somewhere and would eat presently. It took a long time to serve
dinner that day, and afterward a sled load of neighboring young folks
came in and there were games and music and a general good time.
No one missed Charlie but me, and I didn’t miss him all the time,
either.
“But about four o’clock in the afternoon Mother came out to the
kitchen where some of the girls were popping corn and asked
anxiously if anyone had seen Charlie. Belle said he hadn’t come in
for any dinner.
“‘I can’t imagine where he is,’ Mother said. ‘He never did a thing
like this before. He may have met the Orbison boys and gone home
with them, but I can’t understand it at all. It isn’t like Charlie.’
“Just then Truman came up from the cellar with a big basket of
apples we had polished the previous day.
“‘What about Charlie?’ he asked. ‘Where is he? What’s the
trouble?’
“Mother explained that Charlie had gone to his traps early that
morning and hadn’t been at the house since, nor been seen by any
one since he had started for the cabin with two muskrats to skin.
“Truman just stared at Mother.
“‘You say Charlie went to the cabin this morning?’ he repeated
slowly as if he couldn’t believe it. ‘Well, then, by jingoes, Mother,
that’s where he is right now!’ And he went on to tell how when he
was coming from feeding the stock on the upper place he had
noticed that the door of the cabin was shut, but the lock was not
snapped. He supposed Charlie had forgotten to tend to it as he had
one other night, and so he had snapped it shut and come along
home. Charlie had evidently been busy and had not heard the lock
click.
“‘Oh, the poor boy!’ cried Mother. ‘Go see about him at once,
Truman.’ And she began putting things in the oven to heat.
“And, sure enough, that was where they found Charlie—he had
been locked up in the cabin all day. When he found he was locked
in, he had tried to pry the windows open, but they were securely
nailed down. He had shouted himself hoarse and had even
attempted to climb up the chimney and get out that way.
“A little later, when he was thoroughly warmed and had had a
good wash and sat at the kitchen table eating his dinner, with Mother
piling up good things on his plate and Charlie eating as if he were
afraid some one would snatch it away before he got enough, Father
came out of the sitting room and stood looking down at him.
“‘Well, son,’ he said, ‘have you thought of anything special to be
thankful for yet?’
“‘Yes, sir,’ Charlie answered, grinning. ‘I’m thankful for something
to eat and a fire.’
“Well, well, if it isn’t bedtime already!”
TAKING A DARE
The next evening when Bobby and Alice and Pink came to
Grandma’s room, she was astonished to behold an ugly black-and-
blue lump on Bobby’s forehead, right over his eye.
“Why, what’s this?” Grandma asked, laying down her knitting and
examining the bruise. “Wait till I get the arnica, and then you can tell
me all about it.”
And while she bathed Bobby’s swollen forehead with the arnica,
Bobby told her how another boy had dared him to hang by his toes
from the scaffolding of a half-finished house and how his feet had
slipped and he had had a fall.
“He said I was afraid to try,” said Bobby, “but I showed him!”
“And you got hurt into the bargain,” remarked Grandma, taking up
her knitting again. “Don’t you know, my dear, that it is sometimes
braver to take a dare than not? There is a time to say ‘no,’ and the
boy or girl who doesn’t know when to say ‘no’ is often foolhardy
rather than brave. I didn’t always know that, though, and I’ll tell you
how I learned it. When I was little I played so much with brother
Charlie that in many ways I was like a boy. One of Charlie’s codes
was that he would never take a dare, and so of course it became my
code, too.
“One Friday night Betty Bard came home from school with me to
stay until Saturday afternoon. It was in the fall, and the nuts were
ripe. On the meathouse floor, spread out to dry, were chestnuts,
walnuts, hazelnuts, hickory nuts, and butternuts. Betty’s grandfather
was our preacher. There were no nuts of any kind on the ground
belonging to the parsonage, so we had been giving Betty some of
our nuts. She had already gotten hickory nuts and chestnuts, and
this evening we had gathered a bag of walnuts and we were out in
the wood lot shelling them.
“We each had a flat stone to lay the nut on and another stone to
hit it with. We wore old leather gloves to protect our hands, for the
walnut juice makes an ugly brown stain. We would lay a nut on the
flat stone, hit it hard with the other stone, and the green outer
covering or shell would come off easily, leaving the walnut, which
would then have to be dried.
“Not far from us Charlie sat cracking walnuts, left over from the
year before, for the chickens. He would crack a nut and throw it to
the chickens and they would pick the meat out with their beaks.
Mother said walnut meats were good for the chickens and made the
hens lay, and we often had to crack walnuts for the chickens. But this
evening Charlie did not want to do it. He wanted to go on the hill to
look at some traps he had set for rabbits, and he offered to give me
his new slate pencil if I would crack the walnuts. Any other time I
should have jumped at the chance of getting a new slate pencil so
easily. But this evening, I wanted to help Betty shell her nuts so we
would have time the next day to play and go down to the persimmon
tree.
“‘Very well,’ declared Charlie. He said that if I wouldn’t help him, he
wouldn’t go with us to the persimmon tree. And without him to shake
the tree, how would we get the persimmons? We had an especially
fine persimmon tree that my great-grandfather had planted, and
Betty and I wanted to get the fruit that was in the top branches.
Charlie had promised to climb the tree for us, but now he said he
wouldn’t do it unless I would finish cracking the walnuts.
“‘All right, you needn’t,’ I replied. ‘We don’t want you. I’ll climb the
tree myself. But really I did not think for a moment I would do any
such thing, for, of all the trees around, grandfather’s persimmon, as
we called it, was the hardest to climb.
“Charlie laughed mockingly.
“‘I dare you!’ he cried. ‘I double dare you!’
“I jumped up, and so did Betty, and we threw our gloves to the
ground and started for the persimmon tree.
“‘Are you sure you can do it?’ whispered Betty.