Strange Accidents to Wild Birds 



doubt overbalanced itself whilst standing on the edge of 

 the nest flapping its little wings an exercise fre- 

 quently indulged in by chicks before venturing forth on 

 their first flight. It was all but dead from cold and 

 exhaustion. However, I managed to warm it back to 

 life and activity by putting it inside my sweater, next to 

 my body, and it ultimately fledged quite hale and 

 hearty along with its brothers and sisters. 



Perhaps one of the strangest accidents to a member 

 of the avian world ever recorded is that of a small bird 

 becoming entangled in the long unkempt hairs of a 

 colt's tail and being dragged about a field until its frail 

 life was fluttered out in despair. 



During a ramble on the North Downs one day I 

 picked up the emaciated remains of a dead skylark, and 

 discovered a grass stem so tightly twisted and knotted 

 round one leg that the limb had withered away, and its 

 unlucky owner had apparently died from starvation. 



Many strange accidents have occurred to birds of 

 different species whilst feeding. An Irish naturalist 

 observing a dunlin behaving very curiously on the 

 seashore followed it. The bird rose into the air, and 

 flying for a short distance alighted, and shook its head 

 violently in a vain endeavour to detach a round lump 

 observable on its bill. The encumbrance proved to be 

 a cockle, which the dunlin had found open, and which 

 had trapped its too inquisitive bill as securely as if it 

 had been the nose of a rat caught between the jaws of a 

 steel trap. This is not an uncommon kind of accident, 

 however, as a Whitstable cockle recently caught a green 



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