'9'S 



-^^ •] Stray Feathers. 5S 



suffering from some injury wliicli caused it to percli frecjucntly, 

 I would [)oint out that this spot is 7 miles from where I made my 

 observations on the i8th inst. I have further noticed that when 

 the bird gives a short whirr it is neitlier so loud nor so clear as 

 the longer one — in fact, in the longer call, say of 30 seconds' 

 duration, it almost seems as though the bird is in reality getting 

 up speed. 19th April, i()i5. 



" Tawny Frogmoitth {Podargus strigoides) . — The Boobook Owl 

 may say ' More pork,' but to say that the Frogmouth does not 

 is quite incorrect. I have heard it give the cry scores of times. 

 25th March, 1015." 



From Magazines, &c. 



Captives Set Free. — In Bird Notes and News, vol. vi.. No. 5, 

 Mr. W. H. Hudson, F.Z.S., has a charmingly written article 

 entitled " On Liberating Wild Birds." Those who believe that 

 it is foolish to give caged birds their liberty because they will be 

 mobbed and killed by wild birds may change their opinion on 

 reading of Mr. Hudson's experience. He was at Seaford for a 

 few days, and noted in the landlady's kitchen a Bullfinch in a 

 cage that had not been cleaned for many days. Mr. Hudson 

 cleaned out the cage, hung it in a shady place, and gave the Bull- 

 finch greenstuff daily. On the day of his departure he put the 

 bird in a cardboard box. The woman remonstrated, saying that 

 her husband would be angry when he returned home, but 

 put in her purse the half-crown that Mr. Hudson laid on the 

 table in payment for the bird. 



" At Lewes," writes Mr. Hudson, " I got out of the train just 

 to give the bird its freedom. I had thought of the Abbey garden 

 as an ideal spot for the. purpose ; it was private, shaded by trees, 

 full of wild birds, and the keeper I knew as a bird-lover. Once 

 inside the grounds I opened the box, and the Bullfinch fluttered 

 out on to the grass. He appeared wild with astonishment, 

 craning his neck and looking all round, then fluttering a yard or 

 two further away, but unable to fly. Presently he recovered a 

 little from his excitement and began to examine the grass and 

 herbage about him, and then to taste the green buds and leaves. 

 This tasting occupied him some time, and at intervals he looked 

 up and piped his little plaintive note, now becoming louder each 

 time it was uttered. Then all at once the impulse to fly came 

 to him, and, first fluttering over the grass, he succeeded in rising 

 and flew straight away to a distance of 40 or 50 yards, where a 

 stone wall, a remnant of the ancient Abbey, stood in his way. 

 He failed to rise high enough to get over, and so came fluttering 

 to the ground. There he again began looking about him, and, 

 finding something to his liking, spent two or three minutes in 

 biting at it. Then once more he was seized with the desire to 

 fly, and on this occasion rose higher and flew further, and finally 



