More about Bitterns and Spoonbills.



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Nightingales are busy, as seem all the other birds, and except in

Song Thrushes and Whitethroats I see very little scarcity. I have

heal’d and seen one Grasshopper Warbler. Of course my journeys

are limited, and I have not been able to get to “ the spots ” where

one can bet on finding a species. People often say they have

not seen this, that, or the other because they have not localised

the right quarters, and slight deafness is fatal in field work. I find

the ear the best of all tell-tales. So many things are invisible but

speak loudly.


I watched a pair of Willow Wrens here courting. They are

both awful fools, like most other creatures at such times. Yesterday

the Flycatchers were “ making choice ”—the cocks at this time can

do “ bull rushes ” at each other. Blue-Tits now are mostly making

the place noisy with what I call their “mouse-call.” Few books

mention this first sign of amour in that species, which noise usually

is suspended when the young hatch. This is one of the most difficult

birds to keep and moult we have. I’d sooner keep Long-tailed Tits,

Wrens, Creepers and Goldcrests any day, and far preferably Sunbirds,

i. e. with the idea of betting which would survive the longest. The

Marsh Tit is the easiest kept Tit, followed by the Cole and Greater,

which are equally questionable as “ long livers.” Crested and Red¬

sided Tits are better “ livers,” and Reedlings are, of course, very

little trouble. Owls were very noisy in the grounds last night,

i. e. S. aluco. Starlings have a nest here just above that of the

Lesser-spotted Woodpecker. I hope they won’t disturb it. They

can’t get in, of course, and Nuthatches usually fool them, but

they generally have more wits than a Green Woodpecker, often

causing the latter to shift.



MORE ABOUT BITTERNS AND SPOONBILLS.


By J. H. Gurney.


(Reprinted from the ‘ Zoologist.’)


The first Spoonbills were a fine pair seen on Breydon Broad

by Mr. B. B. Riviere on May 1st, 1913; wind S.E. to S.W.,

force 2. Many other birds were on the mud-flats, including five

Sheld-Ducks, Wigeon, Shovellers, and a White-fronted Goose, all of



