variety of England; the other was as large in size as the English starling, with a half moon of yellow feathers on its breast. It rarely rose from the ground unless disturbed. This is the familiar lark of modern Virginia, associated in the popular mind with the abandoned broom-straw fields that lie scattered so thickly through the State. One of the finest of all the English singing birds is the skylark, but none of this variety comparable to its English fellow in charm of vocal power, was found by the early settlers. The yellow-breast uttered a low, soft, but unsustained note, while the voice of the smaller variety was still more indifferent in quality. In addition to the lark, there were the kingfisher, which haunted the banks of the streams, the dove, which frequented the forest, and the humming-bird, which sought its food wherever wild flowers were growing. Equally interesting was the martin, which from its aggressive character acquired very soon the name of the kingbird. Fifty years after the arrival of the English in Virginia we find that this bird was used by the planters to protect their poultry from the hawks; a conspicuous object attached to the upper portion of one side of the house of Nathaniel Bacon, Sr., was a large box full of holes, in which the martin might build its nest.[1] One of the most beautiful birds observed by the early colonists was the bluebird, deriving its name from the curious azure coloring of its plumage. Several varieties of goldfinches were also found. The Virginian partridge was larger than the English quail, but the pheasants of the two countries did not differ so much in size.[2]
- ↑ Clayton’s Virginia, p. 32, Force’s Historical Tracts, vol. III.
- ↑ “Partridges there are much smaller than ours.” Clayton’s Virginia, p. 30, Force’s Historical Tracts, vol. III. Strachey, on the other hand, perhaps referring to pheasants, declares that “partridges there are little bigger than our quails.” Historie of Travaile into Virginia, p. 125.
