l62 



" the last especially during August, when they come in 

 " nij-riads from hop-fields or fruit-trees — damsons ; and the 

 " Flycatchers will clear the gooseberry bushes of the hurtful 

 " sawfly. Macgillivray has recorded that he noted a parent 

 " bird bring food to the nest five hundred and thirty seven 

 " times during one day ! 



" Flycatchers come back to the same nesting-place j^ear 

 " after year. They may take a little fruit from you in the 

 " shape of red currants, but this is open to doubt. . . Probably 

 " the habit of keeping within close range of the nest and the 

 " active habits of this bird have been the cause of its being 

 " considered a great thief by the more ignorant among 

 " gardeners and cottagers. One of these, who was employed at 

 '• Lilford, told his master one day that he had 'a very curious 

 " pair of birds' near his cottage, such as he had never seen be- 

 " fore. They took his green peas, and actually had built in an 

 " old battered hat which he had stuck up on a stick to frighten 

 " off all thieves. From the description given, and from a sight 

 " of one of the birds later, the builder was proved to be a Fl}'- 

 *' catcher, but that it took peas was an absolute fallac}'. The 

 '• devourer of peas was, no doubt, a far more knowing and 

 " wary bird — the Haw-finch." 



Stiperstitiojis abojit Animals, by Frank Gibso7t. 

 The Walter Scott Pitblishing Company, Ltd. 2>l^. 

 Here is to be found a good deal of curious information, 

 interesting, no doubt, to those who are fond of folk- 

 lore and such like, but not appealing specially to 

 the aviculturist as such, though a good half of the 

 "superstitions" appear to be about birds. 



