On some birds of the Balkans.



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Their characters are not attractive, although they are not

dangerous to other species of birds, for their wings are too feeble.

One never sees them on the ground.


The moult affects them but little in appearance, and .their

plumage is superb throughout the year ; amongst foliage they have

a fine effect with their blue bodies, pearl-grey tails, and red heads.

I have never heard them coo. I have now had them for over three

and a half years in captivity.



SOME BIRDS OF THE BALKANS.


By Capt. Bernard E. Potter.


(Written for the ‘ Balkan News.’)


The Bee-Eater is a beautiful bird and one that is new to

many of us. In July last I passed each day quite close to a nest

in the bank of a stream, with a large round hole for entrance. Just

beyond were some tents, hut the birds were never scared away.

They appear to he about the size of starlings. Their flight is graceful

and swallow-like. They fly high in the air and might easily be

mistaken for swallows, with their quick flutter of wings and gliding

motion.


The bill of this bird is black, very long, straight, and sharp-

pointed. The head is a fine bronze colour, the body green and blue,

the wings a light brown tinged with green. Watched from below

the wings and tail look almost transparent. I saw one newly-fledged

young bird at the entrance to the hole leading to the nest; with

head turned aside it awaited in eager expectation its parents seen

skimming the air high aloft. In their bills I have distinguished what

might be large moths or beetles.


The shallows and marshes of Lake Butkovo and its river

are favourite resorts of water-fowl. Great Herons can be easily

approached. They are very tame, as most of the birds of this country

are. They lack the blue-grey colouring and head plumes of our

British Heron, but the former are larger and taller. They are of a

whitish-grey colour with black wings and dark markings on the



