36 



JOURNAL OF THE WILD BIRD IN'VESTIGATIOX SOCIETY. 



recoi^nize " that the trade of the bird-catcher is 

 of great antiquity, and having no desire to sec it 

 interfered with, provided," etc. Where do the 

 Committee suggest that the votaries of this 

 ancient and cruel calHng should ply their trade? 

 If the highways, etc., are closed to them, unless 

 owners of property are prepared to welcome 

 them, which is not at all likelv, deliberate tres- 

 pass is the only course open. There is a very 

 large and growing opinion that the bird-catcher 

 is a pernicious pest, and that it is high time that 

 such a trade should be put an end to. 



We are still anxious to see more local branches 

 formed. There are a large number of members 

 in different parts of the country who have both 

 the time and knowledge necessary to make such 

 branches successful, and yet who hesitate to take 

 the preliminary steps. We appeal to all such to 

 come forward and lend a helping hand. The 

 work is urgent and interesting, and there never 

 was a time when it was more necessary. In all 

 our big centres of population, and in all our 

 country towns, we desire to be represented bv a 

 local branch. Each will be a centre of influence 

 and education. Surely for such objects as the 

 W.B.I.S. stands for we shall not have to appeal 

 in vain. 



INCREASE OF LONG-TAILED TITS 



In their valuable paper on the effect of the \\ inter 

 of 1916-17 on our resident birds (Brit. Birds, 

 1918, pp. 26-35) Messrs. Jourdain and \\'itherbv 

 state that the Long-tailed Tit " was apparentlv 

 almost exterminated, hardly anv being reported 

 in 1917, but a few pairs evidently survived. . . . 

 There seems no doubt that quite 80 or 90 per 

 cent, were killed off, but the wandering habits of 

 this species in winter will probablv soon lead Ic 

 the re-colonizing of many ancient haunts." 



In Fifeshire we failed to notice any specimens 

 either during 191 7 or 1918, and only very few- 

 were seen in the early part of 1919. There was 

 a marked increase during this latter year, and 

 during the present winter we have seen quite a 

 number of flocks of ten or a dozen liirds. 



Walter E. Coli.inge. 



.As elsewhere, the Long-tailed Tit suffered 

 severely in Cheshire during the winter of 1916-17, 

 but I am pleased to say that its numbers are now 

 gradually increasing. During the last few weeks 

 and during January I saw a number of flocks in 

 various parts of tliis countv.-- E. R. G. 



Mr. Ernest Biade reports in Cinufrv Life, 

 Feb. 7th, the re-establishment of this bird " on 

 the northern border of Exmoor, in the vicinitv of 

 Minehead and Porlock," where he saw nine or 

 ten flocks of them during a fortnight's stav ; 

 " one contained between fifteen and twenty 

 birds." 



MORTALITY OF COMMON TERNS IN 1919. 



In 1919 a great mortality occurred among, the 

 newly hatched Terns. In some cases they lay 

 dead in the nest, three chicks or one or two 

 chicks, with one or two eggs. Others lav out 

 on the turf. It is supposed that the very cold, 

 wet weather of the early summer brought about 

 this destruction, but the deaths could only have 

 occurred through the parent bird deserting their 

 nests. The weather may have been so incle- 

 ment that the parent birds could not remain on 

 their nests, or it may be that they had gone off 

 for food and had failed to find it expeditiously.—- 

 H. Chas. Wuttamson, Marine Laboratory, 

 .\herdeen. 



THE FOOD OF THE BROWN OWL. 

 It has Irequentlv puzzled luv to know what 

 owls, and particularK' the Brow 11 Owl, feed upon 

 during liard frostv weather. On the nights of 

 November iith-i4th the thermometer here 

 registered o\er thirty degrees of frost, much too 

 cold one would have thought for field mice to be 

 about. Xevertheless there were many Brown 

 Owls about during' this period. On the morning 

 of the 14th I examined some recently regurgi- 

 tated pellets, not present on the previous evening, 

 and found remains of at least six long-tailed 

 field mice and the lower jaw of a brown rat.— - 

 Ix. .\. [-IA1, \xD, Cupar, Fife. 



HABITS OF BROWN OR TAWNY OWL 

 For two years a pair of Brown or Taw ny Owls 

 ha\e nested and reared their young in a hollow- 

 tree in front of our house. Truer mates never 

 existed. I particularly watched them last year. 

 Each sat, side by side, on an apple b-iugh for 

 three-quarters of an hour. Excepting their 

 heads, neither nicned a feather. Frogs con- 



