joruxAi. (II- riii: uii d bird iwkstk.atiox society. 



5' 



their cliararleristic iiolc, which, In nic, always 

 Sduncis Wki- calloo. ciillon. ringiiiy over the 

 still surface of the waters. In thinking- of 

 these displays of the l,()n<T-tailed Ducks mv 

 memory calls back the vision of a perfectly 

 calm sea. bhie-grev in colour, rolling wave- 

 less on the jagged rocks which Iringe our 

 ccjasls. 'Iliese are the onl\- coudiiions under 

 which it is possible to hear there, as well as 

 see, the courtships of the I.ongtails, for, 

 should there be sufficient sea for the waves 

 to break, the noise drowns the linging call of 

 the little northern lover. In common with 

 other Ducks, he displays with u|i-ihrown 

 head and extended bill, the long tail loo is 

 brought into plav, being cocked erect into the 

 air. 



Ai this same place I have watched the 

 antics of Cormorants in spring: one which 

 we saw flew in from the sea and settled beside 

 a bird which was alreadx' sitting on a rock, 

 lie stretched out his neck, opened his bill 

 wide, then bent his head back o\er his back 

 till it almost touched his tail, then swung it 

 slowh' upwards and forwards at the same 

 time till his neck was stretcheil out (|uite 

 straight and his head rested on the rock close 

 to the other bird. He repeated this motion 

 several times, keeping all the while verv stiff 

 and rigid, while his tail, which was spread 

 out like a fan, stuck straight up into the 

 air. 



I do not pretend to ha\e done moit- than 

 touch l^rietly on the more interesting forms 

 of display in a few of our common birds, 

 'rhough less elaborate, they are no less beau- 

 tiful in their wa\- than the much \aunted 

 posturings of the Uirds of Paradise and the 

 display of the ocelli of the .\rgus Pheasant. 

 'lMie.se are sights which are .seen by compara- 

 tively few, while those I have de.scribed mav 

 be .seen by all who are fortunate enough to 

 be in the country at the right time of vear, 

 and who have eyes to .see the wdnders of 

 Xature. 



BIRDS OF THE WYE VALLEY. 



liv WILLIAM C. BLAKE. 



(Co)iti)iHeil Iroin p 31.) 



The Peregrine (Falca peregriniis, Tunstall) 

 shall next have our attention. This noble 

 bird of falconry prestige used to occur at 

 regular intervals, but now, alas, is very rarely 

 met with. Our county museum contains a 

 reall\- fine series of localK shot specimens. 



.\l)out litteen years ago a farmer of my 

 ac(|uaintance was out shooting Wood Pigeons 

 with a stuffed Ring Dove as a deco\-. Sud- 

 denly he was surprised to sec a large hawk 

 descend on his dumm\- bird. Xot wishing 

 to destro\- the rare visitur he dro\-e it off, but 

 it repeated the operation ten minutes later. 

 .\gain he frightened it awav, vowing that if 

 it anno\ed him a third time its life should 

 pay the forfeit. .\ third attempt was made 

 later, to its cost. It proved to be a tine male 

 Peregrine. 1 narrowl}- escaped having it pre- 

 sented to me; unfortunatel}', the farmer met 

 another frientl, who has it well preserved and 

 cased. 



That handsome spring \'isitor, the Hobb}' 

 {Fdico subbuleo, Linn.), a Peregrine in minia- 

 ture, is met with now and then. .\. fine male 

 specimen was killed in Penvard Wood a few 

 years ago by a neighbour of mine. I'nfortu- 

 nately, something happened to the taxider- 

 mist, and he did not gel his bird returned. 



.\ beautiful male was obtained near Here- 

 lord, and was tor years in jiossession of iti\' 

 dear old friend, .Mr. J. 15. Pille\-. .Since his 

 decease it was presented to me by his brother. 



I was recentl\- informed of a " battle ro\al " 

 in the air between a Ilobb\- and a Sparrow- 

 Haw !<, with fatal results. 



1 an-| told that it "turns up" occasionalh- 

 in the .SyiTionds N'at district. 



.\ labouring nian accosted me one da\-, ,sa\-- 

 ing he had gone up the Wye side hoping to 

 meet with a duck. Heing unsuccessful, he 

 saw a small hawk rise froni the ground, and 



