APRIL. 81 



overshot the mark some few feet, and then turned the head round 

 facing the direction from which they had travelled. 



Nut Hazel leaves bursting. Wild Hyacinths in the woods coming 

 forward apace. Although I have been out a good deal, I have not 

 heard or seen a single Summer Migrant; but in to-day's high wind, it 

 was not possible to hear hardly any bird. 



1-lth. My notes from to-day until the 17th (inclusive) refer to 

 the district of Rickmansworth, Herts. 



South winds. Chaffinch, Skylark, Song Thrush, and Common 

 Wren singing. Very warm. Saw a black Lamb as I passed through 

 Cassiobury Park. A barge was in the lock, and curiously enough the 

 name of it was the " Plover." 



The dull, velvety red blossom of Larch Fir out. Saw the first 

 two Butterflies of the season; not close enough to identify; probably 

 Brimstones. Coal Tit and Yellow Bunting singing. Rooks prey on 

 the keeper's Hen's eggs. Sowing Mustard is a good way of ridding the 

 land of the Wireworm. 



A boy in the district has killed 14,000 House Sparrows in nime 

 months ! 



A keeper tells me he has seen as many as 20 pairs of Ravens on a 

 Vermin pole on Lord Falmouth's estate in Cornwall at one time 1 1 And 

 this only a few years agol 



Saw black Rabbit and a pair of Herons. The latter look like 

 breeding in the Park. 



Rooks leave a neighbourhood sometimes for apparently no 

 reason, but it is probably because the nest trees are decaying. 

 I give the suggestion for what it may be worth. Some brute set fire 

 to a nest of young Owls here last Summer. They were those of the 

 Tawny Owl, the nest being placed in a hollow tree. Jackdaws very 

 plentiful, nesting in holes of trees in the Park. Saw pair of King- 

 fishers up Trout stream, also Moorhens. On the Vermin pole I noticed 

 Stoats, Rats, Jays, Sparrow Hawks, Magpies, Cats, and Hedgehogs. 

 The Frog's love song heard in the Park at night, as also the hoot of 

 several Owls. 



15th.- Robin, Hedge Sparrow, and Chaffinch singing at 5 a.m. 

 I am told by a keeper that he has never found a Sparrow Hawk's egg 

 before May 8th, but always on that date. Can any of my readers 



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