BIRDS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 261 



THE BIRDS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 



BY EDWARD E. EVANS. 



(Continued from page 249.) 

 Starlings chatter from every vantage ground, whether on the tree 

 top or the pine end of a house, and in the winter time gather into large 

 flocks, and, settling on the arable land, prove themselves the farmer's 

 best feathered friend. A Raven was shot near the Severn a little while 

 since while feeding on a dead sheep, and is now in the hands of Mr. 

 Webb, of High Street. It is a rare bird anywhere, but has been seen 

 two or three times in the county, and is thought to breed in Dean Forest. 

 A few pairs of Carrion Crows are to be seen at certain places up the 

 Brimscombo and Chalford Valley, while the Jackdaw, Magpie, and Jay 

 are all well-known birds and common enough. The " cawing " of the " noisy 

 rooks in the tall elm trees " which they have made their home, is always a 

 pleasant sound to me, as they are noisiest during the pairing season, 

 which means that a new year has come, that the time of the singing of 

 birds will soon begin, and with it longer days and bright, warm sunshine 

 "to glad and cheer the heart of man." When strolling in a neighbouring 

 wood we may be pretty sure to hear the " tap tap " of a Woodpecker, 

 as it pecks away the rotten bark in search of insects, or laboriously 

 works a hole in the solid trunk, where it may lay its eggs. The Green 

 Woodpecker, Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and 

 Wryneck or Cuckoo's Mate, are all to be found in our larger woods. 

 The Wryneck is a very curious bird, and if disturbed in its nest 

 puffs itself out, at the same time making a curious hissing noise 

 something like that made by a snake, hence its name, " Snake Bird." 

 I fear it is rapidly getting less common in our land. The Creeper, Wren, 

 Nuthatch, and Hoopoe are all closely allied to the foregoing. The little 

 Wren is to be seen everywhere, hopping inquisitively into our very doors 

 and greenhouses in quest of flies, and when its family, which often 

 reaches sixteen in number, requires its utmost exertion, it is very bold 

 and pert. The Creeper and Nuthatch are sometimes seen, while that 

 very magnificent bird the Hoopoe, with its splendid crest, was shot near 

 Gloucester some time ago. The " Cuckoo's monotone " is heard every- 

 where, making the valleys echo with its well known but welcome cry. 

 I don't know why it should be so plentiful in Gloucestershire, but it is 

 very common. I once remember no less than four at one time in a large 

 elm on our lawn, what the matter was I could not well make out, but 

 they certainly made a tremendous noise, probably hen birds were scarce 

 that year and the males were quarrelling over one poor hen. It was 

 never my good fortune to find a nest with a Cuckoo's egg in it, but still 

 it does breed here as I frequently hear of it in Wagtails' nests. The 

 common Kingfisher is fairly plentiful up the Brimscombe Valley, and it 

 is but f 3w seasons in the year that I cannot be sure to see one at a 

 oertain place in our mill yard. A hole in a wall in the tail of a water- 

 wheel was its breeding place for several years. It is beautiful when 



