stray notes on the birds of the country-side.



231



of unfailing interest and amusement, tempered at times with annoy¬

ance one must admit, such as for instance on the occasion upon

which I found all our most promising bulbs rooted up and neatly

arranged in a line along the gravel path. Still in spite of all his

faults, and they were not few, he was a real loss, and it would be an

easy matter to fill a volume with his quaint ways and mischievous

pranks.


MAGPIES literally swarm in these parts and go about in

regular droves. Often in the evening, whilst waiting for pigeon, I

have counted between sixty and seventy coming in to roost; they

arrive almost exactly at sunset, mostly in parties of from five or six

to a dozen or more, but the flight which usually lasts about ten to

fifteen minutes is practically continuous, one lot hardly disappearing

before the next looms in sight, forming, so far as I am concerned,

an absolutely unique and most entrancing spectacle. It is rare to

see any more birds after the flight is over, but now and then a

belated bird turns up five or six minutes later and there is a con¬

siderable amount of excited chattering before the birds finally settle

down for the night.


I suppose I ought to have taken toll of them to reduce their

numbers a bit, which however much to the evident disgust and in¬

dignation of my man I could not find it in my heart to do, though I

fear there is no doubt but that they will work sad havoc during the

approaching nesting season. One, as though to give me a foretaste

of what is to follow, has already been getting '‘busy” with my

bantams eggs. As a rule they are amazingly bold, allowing one to

approach within easy shot of them before taking flight and then

only parachuting gracefully into a near-by tree. This also contrast¬

ing strongly with their behaviour when I have met them elsewhere

in these islands, for speaking generally I have always found them

wily birds, shy and indifferent of approach. With all their faults,

and I fear their name is legion, they are most interesting and pic¬

turesque bandits and without question an ornament to any landscape.


Since writing the above, another proof of their unusual bold¬

ness in these parts has been afforded me, for a pair has just finished

a nest in a fir tree adjoining some outhouses where men have been

at work constantly for the last few weeks sawing up timber, etc.



