92 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



down nowadays that the birds, rather than leave their old haunts, 

 nest in the stubs of trees, or bushes, that are left ? This observa- 

 tion is remarked upon year after year, and deserves recognition. 

 I would also seek a solution of the problems as to why : A. The 

 Blackbird is such a solitary species, and, so far as I know, does 

 not flock. B. Why the Song Thrush is so much tamer than 

 the Blackbird, when both species resort to the same haunts, and 

 the same mode of life. C. Does the Blackbird pair for life ? 

 D. Why is a Blackbird with white feathers so often mobbed by 

 others of its own species ? 



In " British Birds," March, 1915, Mr G. Bathurst Hony gives 

 particulars of a Mistle Thrush's nest where the parents swallowed 

 the pieces of empty shell, and the faeces, until the last day or two 

 that the young were in the nest. The faeces, we are told, were 

 then carried away. Is it not most unusual for birds to swallow 

 egg shells and faeces, and, except in the case of colonising sea- 

 birds, is it not rather true that shells and faeces are always 

 removed from the vicinity of the nest ? I have noticed with 

 interest that, when feeding their young, the parent Great Tits fly 

 in with food and emerge almost invariably carrying excrement, 

 with which they fly away some considerable distance. This 

 hygiene among birds, even in the case of the despised Sparrow, 

 is deserving of record. 



In the Scottish Naturalist, 1914, Mr W. Evans relates that he 

 watched a Blackbird greedily devouring Daisies, and Mr J. K. 

 Nash states that he has seen a Song Thrush in two different 

 seasons feeding fully-fledged young with the same flower. Only 

 blossom heads w T ere eaten, the full length of stalk being left. 

 Is this usual, and are Daisy flower heads nourishing to birds ? 



I have noticed particularly that, in addition to feeding the 

 spotted chicks when they have left the nest, the male Redbreast 

 (Erithacus rubecula melophilus) also supplies the adult female 

 with food. Comparing this pleasing domestic trait with that 

 of the Wild-duck (Anas boschas), the drake of which forsakes 

 his consort as soon as nesting operations are commenced, one is 

 bound to regard the homely Redbreast as a species which has 

 developed full paternal responsibility for attending to his wife 

 and children, both as a dutiful husband and solicitous father. 



Passing on to the Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola), that impetuous 

 bird w r hich is such a lover of furze commons, I have a note that, 

 whereas the food of this species consists, as a rule, of insects, I 

 have seen it dangling a Lizard in its beak, and have also known 



