72 



BIRD NOTES AND NEWS. 



materials are not to be got, a nest of sticks is made, 

 and sometimes is jjlaced in the middle of the jjond, 

 if it is shallow. But to naake one nest does not 

 content the parent. Her needs require three or four, 

 and the use of these reserve nests has puzzled manj^ 

 ornithologists. The uses of them are probably two. 

 The first of these, which I can support with a little 

 personal observation, is probably to serve as a 

 resting-place for the young birds when they make 

 their first swim in the water, as I have often seen 

 them, after they have just come out 9f the egg, swim- 

 ming frona nest to nest, taking brief rests between 

 their short swims. The other explanation is that 

 when the water rises so as to threaten the nest, the 

 Water -hen takes her eggs and carries them to the 

 reserve nest, and lays them there while she raises 

 the nest above danger, when she carries them back 

 in like fashion. This, I think, would be a very 

 liretty sight, but I have never seen it done. 



" Both eggs and chicks are subject to maiiy 

 dangers, rats attacking the former, while pike and 

 cats often end the latter's existence. 



" In siunmer the Water-hen is a rather shy bird, and 

 flees at man's approach, but in the winter will often 

 come on to a lawn, even close to a house, to look for 

 worms, slugs, snails and suchlike, which compose its 



chief food The bird's flight is quite a strong 



one, but it is most often seen flying just above the 

 water, with its feet touching the surface. The feet 

 are not webbed as in most water-fowl, so that it is as 

 much at home on the land as on the water, and can 

 run quite fast. 



" This is i^robably the only bird which has been 

 caught on a fish-hook. While fishing once I suddenly 

 saw one of this species dive for my worm, but as I 

 had heard of similar accidents I quickly drew up the 

 line before it had time to snatch at the bait. A 

 friend of mine, however, on drawing up one of his 

 night-lines felt a weight on the end, and congratvilated 

 himseK on a catch. At the other end was no fish, 

 but a dead Moor-hen. 



" I once took two of this bird's eggs and put them 

 under a sitting-hen. She hatched the eggs, but 

 inunediately she saw the chicks, furiously she dashed 

 at them and trod them to death. A hen is generally 

 such a good mother to any bird she may have 

 hatched, that I consider this rather remarkable, and 

 cannot attempt to explain it. I have never tried 

 the experiment again, so that I cannot tell if it is an 

 habitual occurrence." 



B. A. Medley, Winchester College. 



IN THE COURTS. 



Shooting a Snow-Bunting. — At Cardiff, on 

 June 13th, Bert Ansaldo was charged with possession 

 of a newly-killed Snow-Bunting. Defendant was 

 one of a ral)bit-shooting party who went over from 

 Cardiff to the Island of Flat Hobn, where the bird 

 was nesting. He denied ha\dng shot it, but on 

 being discharged was severely censured by the 

 Bench. [The case was pressed by the R.S.P.B., 

 this being the first record of the Snow-Bunting 

 bree:ling so far south, and at the request of their 

 representative the bird was forfeited, and will be 

 presented to the Cardiff Musevim.] 



Taking Lapwing's Eggs. — At Peterhead, on 

 April 13th, two seamen were fined 3s. each for taking 

 six Lapwing's eggs. The Sheriff said the fine was 

 small, as the aim was principallj^ to warn otliers. 



Bird-catching. — At Great Yarmouth, on April 

 11th, Albert Edward Garrett was fined 20s. for using 

 nets to take Goldfinches and Linnets, and for 

 cruelty to a Linnet decoy, wliich was badly bruised. 

 He had birds, cages and a stow-box in his possession. 

 Defendant said he did not set the nets to catch 

 birds, and it was not the brace which bruised the 

 bird. Nets and gear were forfeited. (Yarmouth 

 has recently obtained a Protection Order, and 

 evidently means to look after its birds). — At 

 Sproatley ( Yorkshire), on April 25th, Ai'thur 

 Marshall was fined 10s. and costs for taking wild- 

 bii'ds. Nets to be confiscated. — At the Children's 

 Court, Chelmsford, on Ajiril 7th, WilUam Bundock, 

 aged 15, was convicted of taking birds with a net. 

 He had at his home two Goldfinches, five Linnets 

 and a Greenfinch, and his father admitted that the 

 boy had been in the habit of bird-catching for two or 

 tliree months. Let off on payment of costs and the 

 liberation of the bii'ds. 



R.S.P.B. COMPETITIONS. 



The following are the dates by which Essays 

 should reach the Society ; — 



Bird - and - Tree Essays (Elementary Schools), 

 August 1st. 



Public-School Essays, October 7th. 



Protection of Crops, December 1st. 



Particulars may be obtained from the Secretary, 

 R.S.P.B., 23, Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. 



JJll who are interested in Bird Protection should read 



"FEATHERS AND FACTS." 



A Reply to the Feather -Trade, and Review of Facts 



with reference to the Persecution of Birds for 



their Plumage. — Price 6d. 



Published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 23, 

 Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. 



BiBD Notes and News (issued quarterly) will 

 be sent post free to any address for Is. per annum, 

 payable in advance ; single numbers, 3d. 



To Members of the Society subscribing 5s. and 

 upwards per annum it is forwarded gratis and post 

 free. 



Printed by Witherby & Co., 326, High Holborn, W.C., and 

 published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 

 23, Queen Anne's Gate, S.W. 



