202 BIRD LIFE IN WILD WALES 



Curlew rose literally at my feet, quite startling me 

 for the instant. Lying so close as this, I thought at 

 first that she might be wounded, but on looking down 

 saw her nest with two eggs in it. These were almost 

 hatching, but the shell was not " pipped." It is ex- 

 tremely unusual for a Curlew to sit close under any 

 circumstances, for as a rule, the moment their haunt 

 is invaded up they all get clamouring loudly, and 

 this even if incubation be well advanced. Nor could 

 this bird have failed to see me, for I was coming down- 

 hill at the time. 



After this interesting episode I examined some 

 likely looking heather for a Grouse's nest, but beyond 

 flushing a Snipe and finding a heap of Grouse feathers 

 on a little tump (probably the work of a passing 

 Peregrine) saw nothing. In the afternoon I found 

 a Wood Wren sitting hard on seven eggs, and searched 

 besides for a Fern Owl's nest, or rather eggs I should 

 say, for nest this species has none, simply laying its 

 two marbled eggs on the bare soil, generall}- under 

 the shelter of a bush or clump of bracken. As 

 evening drew near we wended our way to the G. 

 rocks, where we located two pairs of Fern Owls, or 

 Spinners, as they call this bird in these parts. We 

 saw four in the air together, and noticed the males 

 chasing their hens in the gathering gloom. They 

 made the evening lively with their "jarring," which 

 once heard can never be forgotten, even by a person 

 with no great interest in bird-lore. 



June loth. — During a walk along the railway I 

 watched a male Shrike for some time, and seeing him 

 fly to a thick hedge running at right angles to the 



