Birds. 9407 



away again. There is one such place in this parish, a small planta- 

 tion of spruce and larch, not more than two acres in extent. The 

 trees are from ten to twelve feet high, and the thick, dense boughs of 

 the young spruce, feathered down to the ground, make an admirable 

 roosting-place for the hundreds of the Merulidae which resort thither 

 for shelter during the long winter nights. I have frequently passed 

 through this covert, when shooting, without seeing a single black- 

 bird or redwing ; but the case is very different towards the close of a 

 short winter's day ; then, on all the tall hedgerows which converge 

 towards the corner of the plantation facing the open country, numbers 

 of blackbirds, redwings, &c., may be seen moving by short stages 

 from their favourite haunts and feeding-grounds to the vicinity of the 

 little plantation. The other day (November 28th) I tried to ascertain 

 the number of blackbirds which frequented this spot for a night's 

 lodgings, and in the afternoon took up a position in an open spot in 

 the covert, not far from the narrow corner which faced the open 

 country. On my way down I had already put up several blackbirds 

 from the hedgerows, which had all gone into the covert. It was just 

 half-past three o'clock, and an unusually dark and gloomy afternoon. 

 Concealing myself amongst the thick branches of a young spruce, I 

 counted the blackbirds as they flew past. During the first twenty 

 minutes they kept dropping in one by one, sometimes nearly a full 

 minute occurring between the arrivals. During the next ten minutes 

 the number was greatly increased ; they were constantly passing in, 

 and by four o'clock I had counted one hundred past, and of this num- 

 ber seventy during the last ten minutes. By a quarter-past four the 

 last blackbird had come in, making altogether one hundred and thirty- 

 eight, an extraordinary number considering the open character of the 

 country, and this exclusive of many more which doubtless came in at 

 other places. From half-past three until half-past four the redwings 

 kept constantly passing in, in small parties, from two and three to 

 twenty together. I cannot speak positively to the number, of redwings, 

 as it was quite impossible to count them, my time being fully occu- 

 pied by the blackbirds ; but there certainly could not have been less 

 than ten redwings to one blackbird. Occasionally I detected a thrush 

 which came in alone, but very few ; and no fieldfares, although the 

 latter birds are found in great numbers during the day, feeding in the 

 low meadow-grounds in the neighbourhood. Numerous flocks of lin- 

 nets, greenfinches and chaffinches also passed in, seeking the friendly 

 shade of the dark spruce. The blackbirds invariably entered the 

 plantation flying low down amongst the tree-tops, and then dashed 



