holes, through one of which the sitting bird's tail protrudes; that Swifts cannot rise from the ground; that a hooting Owl bodes evil to the listener; that there are two kinds of Magpie, one that builds in hedges, the other in trees; that the Wren is the female of the Robin; that Herons dangle their legs through a hole in the bottom of their nest; and that Kingfishers breed in the holes of water-rats. I am far from supposing that I have in the foregoing series exhausted the list of vulgar beliefs, but of one thing I am certain, and that is, that a love of the mysterious and marvellous where birds are concerned is the invariable concomitant of ignorance.—H.S. Davenport (Ormandyne, Melton Mowbray).
PS.—In making use of, in an aberrant moment, the somewhat loose and frequently misapplied expression "hybernate" in connection with Swallows, as above, it has occurred to me that purists will not unreasonably infer what I by no means wish to imply. That Swallows on occasions will attempt hybernation, that is, attempt to pass the winter in an animate state in this country, is an accepted fact; but that they become torpid is quite another matter, and it is in this sense that I have not seldom detected people using the term "hybernate" in connection with Swallows wintering in England.— H.S.D.
Garden Lists of Birds.—By way of comparison with Mr. Mathew's interesting lists of birds in last month's 'Zoologist,' I add a list of birds seen by myself from the study window of this house during the ten years we have lived here. My list numbers fifty-five species, the total number observed in the parish (under 1000 acres) being about 101:—
| Mistle Thrush. Song Thrush. Fieldfare. Redwing. Blackbird. Redstart. Redbreast. Blackcap. Willow Wren. Hedge Sparrow. Long-tailed Tit. Great Tit. Coal Tit. Marsh Tit. Blue Tit. Nuthatch. Wren. Tree Creeper. Pied Wagtail. |
White Wagtail. Tree Pipit. Spotted Flycatcher. Swallow. Martin. Sand Martin. Greenfinch. Hawfinch. House Sparrow. Goldfinch. Linnet. Chaffinch. Brambling. Bullfinch. Starling. Jay. Jackdaw. Rook. Sky Lark. |
Green Woodpecker. Great Spotted Wood- pecker. Lesser Spotted Wood- pecker. Wryneck. Cuckoo. Barn Owl. Kestrel. Mallard. Wood Pigeon. Stock Dove. Turtle Dove. Pheasant. Grey Partridge. Red-legged Partridge. Moorhen. Lapwing. Whimbrel. |
In addition to these I frequently hear the Nightingale and Tawny Owl, and this year the Tree Sparrow nested in an old stump in full view of the window, but the nest with three eggs was taken before the birds were
