44 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Feb. 



habits, so much so that in twelve years' observation I have 

 never yet seen one in a wild state in the neighbourhood of 

 Uppingham. 



The Great Tit, the Blue Tit, and some of the Warblers 

 have more than held their own, in consequence, no doubt, 

 of the vigorous destruction of the birds of prey. The same 

 cause has probably contributed to the increase of three very 

 attractive birds — the Redpoll, the Bullfinch, and the Gold- 

 finch. The first of these is not only a winter visitant, but it 

 also breeds regularly though not in any great numbers. The 

 Bullfinch is one of our common birds, and is especially con- 

 spicuous in winter. That universal favourite, the Goldfinch, 

 has undoubtedly profited by the Bird Protection Acts. It 

 has, however, always been commoner than generally sup- 

 posed, though it escaped notice owing to its habit of fre- 

 quenting the tops of trees. It is so common now that 

 it is no unusual thing for one small orchard of an acre 

 or less to have ioo young birds reared in it. The Tree- 

 Sparrow, an uninteresting species, has always been common 

 in Rutland. 



The Moorhen has thriven exceedingly in the last fifty years, 

 and probably there is a nest for every hundred yards on the 

 Rutland streams and dykes, and this in spite of the inord- 

 inate increase of that odious pest, the common rat. 



Perhaps the most striking example of the survival of the 

 fittest, that is of the most assertive, is afforded by the 

 Starling. Before 1850 it was by no means abundant, now 

 it is no unusual thing to see it in flocks of 1000 at a 

 time. Though a most useful bird to the farmer, it has a 

 bad habit of dispossessing other more desirable birds of 

 their nesting-holes, and we can have too much even of so 

 good a thing as the starling. Another bird which has 

 multiplied as much, and has none of the good points of 

 the Starling, is the House-Sparrow. The Avian Rat, as 

 it has been called, requires to be kept vigorously down, 

 and county councils would do well to offer rewards for 

 sparrow - heads at so much a hundred. The thinning 

 of the birds of prey has no doubt aided the Sparrow 

 enormously. 



It is a moot-point whether the Lark and the Swallow and 



