NOTES. 335 



records of Magpie-flocks, a vagueness as to the exact time of 

 the year is noticeable. I have seen both November and 

 December mentioned, but there is the possibility of error due to 

 the observer being unaware of the import of the gatherings. 



On January 24th, 1909, while with Messrs. Chadwick and 

 Milne in a small wooded valley in south-east Lancashire, we 

 came across a small party of eight birds, and decided to watch 

 them. They were in the branches of a sycamore, and were 

 jumping about and parading in a most ludicrous manner. 

 It would be impossible to describe in a few words the actions 

 of these birds, but there was no room for doubt as to the real 

 meaning of the function. Although crowded together they 

 were evidently in pairs ; one would " show off " to its mate, 

 and when she (?) turned away, he (?) would promptly jump 

 round to be in front of her. Owing to the trim way in which, 

 the birds carried themselves (with feathers pressed close to 

 the body) they seemed slimmer, and the legs showed more 

 of the tibiae, than usual. Every few seconds the head-feathers 

 would be rapidly erected and depressed, and the tail uplifted 

 and opened and closed bike a fan — an action that I remember 

 noticing in an amorous Jackdaw. The voices of the birds were 

 markedly different from those of other seasons. Sometimes one 

 of these Magpies would leave the others and take a course 

 through the trees in the wood, but it was always followed by 

 a companion. On these journeys they approached within a 

 few feet of our heads ; we were greatly struck by the 

 unexpected grace of flight displayed on their amatory 

 excursions. 



An adequate account of the astonishing antics of these birds 

 would take up too much space, but one rather interesting item 

 must be mentioned. On February 7th, a few miles away, 

 I saw a party of ten " holding a meeting " on a low stone- wall 

 near a wood. Although their actions differed somewhat 

 from those of the others, the import was the same. As there 

 were no twigs to spring about in, some of the birds were 

 jumping about the field or the wall, or even hanging like 

 Kestrels a foot or so above the ground in front of their 

 prospective mates. There was a puzzling disparity of colour 

 amongst these birds, and about half of them (the males ?) were 

 far whiter than the others. I soon found the reason for this. 

 In these lighter birds the wings were almost entirely hidden 

 by the white feathers of the flanks ; and the shoulder-patches, 

 and even the few feathers on the rump, were fanned out to 

 such an extent that the birds looked at first glance almost as 

 white as Gulls — or " male Smews," as I put in my note-book 



