64 Observations on the birds of a suburban garden.


have seen a robin sit on his boot while he has been digging, and

also on the barrow taking a ride.


We generally count on having at least one pair of golden-

crests about, they mostly frequent the rose-beds after the green-fly,

and I have never found their nest; probably they come from a

distance.


There is one small soft-bill which we have not seen now

for some years and that is the tree-creeper; it used however to be

seen here at times. Blackcaps seem to come more frequently than

one would expect in such a neighbourhood. Three years ago I saw

them for the first time,—about August or September—a nice pair in

an elderberry tree quite close to the house. Next year they were

there again for two or three days, so that it is probable they were

getting restless about migration. Last year I heard one calling, but

this year, about June, I heard one singing well in a garden close by,

and only last Sunday, while engaged in hunting caterpillars for my

aviary, I saw a beautiful cock in an apple-tree within a few yards of

me. This brings me to the end of the small birds, and it only

remains to mention the crows and woodpeckers, and last, but not

least, the woodpigeons, much hated by the gardeners about here.

The woodpigeons nest in several places in the garden, especially in

an ivy-covered oak-tree.


We have not seen the green woodpecker here for some

years now, but we have had quite a rarity this year in the person

of the lesser spotted. I heard one tapping away constantly in a big

oak-tree, but never saw him till Mr. Staines came in one day and

pointed him out on a top dead branch. After that I frequently

watched him with and without the aid of glasses. He then moved

to another tree, so he may come back day after day till he has

exhausted the stock of insects in that dead branch. We are really

rather pleased at being able to boast of this bird in a suburb.


Of the four crows which have been seen here, two have been

known to nest, and two years ago a pair of jays, which frequented

the garden, were supposed to have done so too. The rooks never

will stay, though they often examine our elm trees for suitable

nesting-sites. There is a rather curious point in connection with

this nesting question. Almost every year rooks are seen about the



