216 BIRD WATCHING 



flight, which seems to be joyous and sportive, I do 

 not believe they have seen me. But whether they 

 have or not, the absolutely simultaneous flight of the 

 whole body is, to me, equally hard to account for. 

 Supposing what would be most likely that only 

 one bird has seen me, how has this knowledge been 

 communicated, instantaneously, to all the rest ? There 

 was no note uttered of any kind. I must have heard 

 it, I think, if it had been, so near as I was, nor are 

 pigeons supposed to have an alarm-note. It may be 

 said that the sudden abrupt flight of one alarmed the 

 rest, but all cannot have been looking at this one at 

 the same time, and it is difficult to suppose that there 

 was anything to discriminate in the actual sound of the 

 wings for one or more than one bird may, at any time, 

 fly eagerly off without affecting the others. Moreover, 

 if this were the explanation, there would have been 

 an appreciable interval of time between the flight of 

 the alarmed bird and the others, which, to my sense, 

 there was not. But, as I say, I do not believe that 

 the birds saw me, and, if not, the collective, instan- 

 taneous impulse of flight seems still harder to account 

 for on ordinary known principles. It is, of course, 

 easy to give a plausible explanation of a thing and 

 take for granted that all the facts are in accordance. 

 But the facts, when one watches them, are apt to 

 discredit the theory. Observation and difficulties 

 begin, often, at the same time." 



Returning now to the little winter collections of 

 chaffinches, greenfinches, bramblings, etc., which come 

 and feed at the corn - stacks during the winter, in 

 general they whirr up every three or four minutes, 

 but the intervals vary, and may be much longer. 



