1900.] Notes, i6i 



Notes on the Influence of Man and Civilisation 



on certain Birds. 



We often read statements in print to the effect that man and his civi- 

 lisation are frequently driving away birds or other living creatures from 

 their haunts, not because such haunts are thus made unsuitable, but 

 because the too close proximity of man is objectionable, I suspect that 

 such cases are frequently exaggerated, and that, in the case of birds, it 

 is often rather the capture of the adults, the robbing of their nests, and 

 the general destruction of suitable and attractive breeding places, than 

 any indirect influence which is at work. At all events it is pleasant to 

 record instances where birds have become quite accustomed to the 

 inroads of civilisation. While travelling from Dublin to New Ross, 

 through the beautiful country traversed by the Dublin, Wicklow, and 

 Wexford Railway Company's line, I have more than once noticed Wild 

 Ducks sitting quij:e at their ease on some pool quite close to which the 

 train passed at full speed. F.ven the wary Heron too has come to regard 

 the works of man with such familiarity, that he sees no need to interrupt 

 his fishing when a train appears. I must confess, however, that I was a 

 little surprised to catch a glimpse of the reddish breast and blue back 

 of (what I had previously regarded as quite a shy bird) a Kingfisher as 

 the train rushed past the dyke by the Slaney over which it sat, We 

 passed within about twenty yards of the bird, but it remained seated, as 

 far as I could see, quite motionless on a branch overhanging the water. 

 The large black and white Kingfisher, Ceiyle rudis (Linn. ), is, apparently, 

 not so sensible. This bird is a common and conspicuous species in lower 

 Egypt, its haunts being the banks of the Nile, and of the numerous canals 

 and dykes which intersect the cultivated country. An interesting thing 

 happened to me in connection with one of these birds on one occasion 

 as I was travelling by rail from Ismailia to Cairo. A dyke ran alongside 

 the line for some distance, and by this, at a place where no intersecting 

 branch met it, sat a Kingfisher. On the approach of the train the bird 

 took flight and attempted to fly away, keeping its course, however, 

 along the d3-ke. Its speed, however, was not as great as that of the 

 train, which slowly, but surely, overtook it. The chase lasted for some 

 little distance. At length we came right up to the bird, which all the 

 time had not the sense to attempt to escape by leaving the dyke. It was 

 forced to turn and fly back, and I could plainly see its open bill as, 

 utterly fatiguedj it gasped for breath and shrieked with terror just as 

 the carriage in which I was passed it. The observation is also, I think, 

 of interest as giving a slight idea of the pace attainable by this bird 

 when on the wing and at its best speed. It evidently cannot fly at a 

 rate of thirty miles an liovir, at least for more than a very short distance. 



G. E. H. Barre;tt-Hamii,ton. 



Kilmanock, Co. Wexford. 



