140 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS. 



down as coming " from foreign," and there is no doubt that 

 in some seasons, and under certain conditions of weather on 

 the Continent, very great numbers of Wood-Pigeons do cross 

 the North Sea, especially in the month of November. But, 

 as it does not appear that any very great quantity of Cushats 

 are bred in Norway and Sweden, or even in Denmark, it is 

 probable that the migrations of many of our visitors are less 

 extensive, and that they have only come from the Scottish 

 Highlands, the Lothians, or other parts of these islands, 

 merely shifting about in search of food requirements. 



Then, after they have come, it is equally difficult to 

 diagnose their movements, so restless and uncertain they 

 always appear. Roughly speaking, they are usually most 

 numerous in this neighbourhood (co. Durham) during severe 

 weather ; the more prolonged the winter, the more Cushats 

 appear. But they are the slaves of the weather, and every 

 change affects their numbers. Thus, though heavy snow 

 may bring hundreds when few or none were here previousl} 7 , 

 yet in the very reverse, should there chance to be none dur- 

 ing the hard weather, they will appear in thousands on the 

 thaw. 



All the day they spend on their feeding grounds among the 

 turnip fields, stubbles, or clover lea, alternately feeding and 

 taking a digestive siesta on the nearest hedge-trees ; the birds 

 in the latter position also acting as sentries, whether pur- 

 posely or merely by accident. 



A big pack of Cushats on the feed is easily made out a 

 long way off by the habit of the rearmost birds of the flock 

 continually flying up over their companions and alighting in 

 the front rank, thus causing a constant movement. But it 

 is a great mistake to molest them during the day ; very few 

 comparatively can ever be killed then. Whoever would fill 

 his bag with Wood-Pigeons should leave them to get their feed 

 in peace, and wait for them towards night in the woods 

 where they go to roost. There, during the last hour of day- 

 light, is the time and place, in a favourable season, to kill 

 them by wholesale. As flight after flight pours in in quick 

 succession, the gunner will be rewarded for his well-timed 

 moderation during the day. But a very little shooting makes 



