202



the holes often are rabbit burrows. Nests seem also to have

been found nearer Gloucester, on the tops of short broad willow

trunks out of which spring the dense growth of withies. A

somewhat remarkable feature is the distance inland the birds

will go to nest. Two miles is no unusual distance, but in June,

1S96, a nest and eggs were found at the top of Stinclicomb Hill,

4^ miles from the river and about 700 feet above its level. In

order to bring down the young birds to the water, the old birds

carry them from the cliffs, usually in their bills, by the scruff of

the neck, like cats carrying kittens, but occasionally tucked up

between the legs. Sometimes, too, if they are walking 011 land,

they carry the young on their backs. This method seems to be

adopted in dense withy-beds, probably because taking out the

young in the other ways, would bruise them either against the

withies or the ground-growth. However, when the birds nest

some distance from the river, they do not necessarily carry their

young the whole way ; for on several occasions early in the

morning, the old birds have been seen crossing roads, escorting

their broods towards the water. Such a procession too is formed

from the high-water mark if the tide is out. When the sun is

rising on some June morning, and trying to pierce, with a cold

yellow gleam, the fog that still clings to the river, there may

faintly be seen in the dimness what appears to be a curious long

animal, slowly wending its way over the sleek shining mud. As

it conies out of the mist, it will be seen to consist of a Sheld-

Drake followed by a newly-hatched brood : the Sheld-Duck is

the last and helps with her bill the little running stumblers if

they fail to go fast enough.”


This book is written in a distinctly novel style ; it is not a

mere list and description of the species to be met with in

Gloucestershire, like most works on county Ornithology; but is

written in a continuous form, and the distribution of the county’s

avifauna is discussed in a philosophical manner. Each

pa^e contains some solid fact, recorded from the observa¬

tions of a keen observer and true naturalist ; and we put the

book aside with a feeling that Mr. Mellersh had taught us much

of the life history of birds. Six good drawings by Mr. E.

Neale, M.B.O.U., illustrating birds in their natural haunts and

surroundings, are given. Of these that of the Buzzards sailing

over the Forest of Dean is perhaps the most pleasing.


At the end of the book the Author gives us a Glossary of

Local Names for the birds in Gloucestershire, and a Reference



