Bird Notes and News 



77 



Teal, Pochard, and Tree-duck are common, 

 also two ducks which I cannot identify. 

 Size slightly less than the Shoveller, ruddy 

 brown, tufted head in the male, sooty grey 

 plumage and flamingo pink on the underside 

 of the wings ; female, no crest and rusty 

 brown plumage. The distinctive feature 

 of the male is a bright vermilion and serrated 

 bill, which is drab colour in the female. 



Another bird which puzzles me is slightly 

 larger than the Teal : a fish-eater with a 

 Merganser's bill ; the male is a beautifiilly 

 marked white bird with characteristic black 

 bars round the base of the neck and a 

 typically harlequin crest ; the female has 

 no crest, but a ruddy brown head and neck. 

 It has duck's plumage and is not a Grebe. 

 Is there such a small Merganser ? The 

 common Merganser is a daily visitor to the 

 lake, as is also the Dabchick. 



In the cultivated valleys the Common 

 Partridge and French Partridge abound. 

 Blue Rock Pigeons are plentiful. Wood- 

 pigeons are rarely seen. Woodcocks come 

 in with the north wind in considerable 

 numbers. 



The Black Vulture is seen frequently in 

 the vicinity of old camping grounds, besides 

 the Golden Eagle and Bonelli's Eagle. 

 Montagu Harriers are common, as well as 

 Marsh and Glen Harriers : Peregrine Falcons 

 are comparatively scarce ; Buzzards take 

 heavy toll of Mallards at dawn and dusk. 

 The Great White Heron, the Squacco, the 

 Night and Grey Herons, the white Egret, 

 and Bittern are found in all the Doiran 

 marshes ; Cormorants and Shags are familiar 

 denizens of the waterways and have as 

 companion one little Kingfisher. 



On ploughed land the Calandra Lark is 

 frequently seen, with a black-throated Tree 

 Lark ; and all our English finches are 

 represented. Of soft-billed birds, Robins, 

 Blackbirds, and Song-Thrushes inhabit all 

 sheltered spots, whilst the ravines are peopled 

 with Dippers, Grey and Yellow Wagtails. 

 and the interesting Sedge Warblers and 

 Bearded Tits. 



Perhaps no list would be complete without 

 reference to our useful scavenging bird 

 friends, which include Magpies, Jackdaws, 



Rooks, Carrion and Hoodie Crows, and 

 Ravens. Every oak ravaged by borer- 

 worms or weather acts as host to a whole 

 tribe of Little Owls. I counted thirty-two 

 fly out of a tree in a wood near the lake. 

 Screech and long-eared Owls are the constant 

 companions of our night-posts. Of lesser 

 birds of prey the Kestrel, Hobby, and 

 Sparrowhawk, and of medium size the 

 Kite, are perhaps worthy of mention ; 

 whilst the smallest and most mischievous 

 is the Great Grey Shrike — famihar figure 

 on telegraph post or tamarisk bush. 



It is remarkable how little all our feathered 

 friend.o — who help to make our life so much 

 more endurable up here — are affected even 

 by the barrage fire or artillery. They 

 re-occupy their usual haunts quite calmly 

 as soon as the fire lifts." 



FROM MACEDONIA. 



From Macedonia " I.C.B." writes to the 

 Scotsman : " Soon the storks Avill be building 

 and occupying their great nests on cottage 

 chimney tops, stunted trees, and elsewhere. 

 By the month of May, the first blue birds, 

 which are about the size of jays, make their 

 appearance — their A^vid colours showing 

 to perfection among the green leaves of 

 the trees. The shy hoopoe, too, with its 

 crested head and chequered colours — of 

 bu£f and grey — is often to be met with by 

 June, flying about in lonely, especially 

 deserted hamlets and unfrequented parts. 

 The dipper, water blackbird, or ousel, is 

 often to be seen on a rock in the bed of a 

 stream or rumiing about under the water, 

 looking for its insect food. On a branch 

 a foot or two above the stream, the weaver 

 bird builds its nest, which is made of the 

 blossom of a species of willow and has the 

 texture of thick, closely woven felt. By 

 July the nests of the bee-eater can be seen, 

 or at least the holes in the banks of streams 

 in which the nests are built. These birds 

 are about the size of a starling, but when 

 flpng high in the air their flight is so light 

 and graceful that they might easily be 

 mistaken for swallows. The bill is black, 

 but the head of a fine bronze colour ; the 

 body green and blue, and the wings light 

 brown, tipped with green " 



