Birds by Land and Sea 



mentioned that one observes the great number of 

 perching birds for which Beaumaris is noted. The 

 outskirts of these woods, the roads descending 

 through them beneath trees which arch over and 

 enclose them, and above all the fine Menai Road 

 which runs parallel with the Strait at the base of the 

 ridge, were the haunt of immense numbers of small 

 birds. 



This wooded ridge, with its closely planted 

 trees and populous undergrowth, is the haunt of 

 the sparrow-hawk. Lurking in the foliage on the 

 edge of the wood, the bird watches field and wood 

 at once, and the shifting companies of birds that 

 come and go in the shadow and shine which make 

 the outskirts of a wood so attractive to them. At 

 one time I saw it dart upon a young lapwing which 

 had sought the neighbourhood of the woods! de, 

 probably for better cover. The young lapwing 

 proving a refractory captive as the hawk mounted 

 with it hanging in its claws, the latter struck it twice 

 with its bill as it flew, and then, grappling it closer, 

 made off across the open fields, where every lapwing 

 for a mile round was already up, having taken the 

 alarm from those nearer the scene of the capture. 



At another time, I was returning over Baron 

 Hill, when I was attracted by the cries of a pair 

 of blackbirds ; and, as I approached them, I noticed 

 that their attention was too fully occupied to be 

 diverted by my presence. Robins and tits, chaf- 

 finches and greenfinches, hopped excitedly about 



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