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Birds. 9679 



of their mother. I do not mean to assert that the kestrel never kills 

 birds J on the contrary, I have found the remains of a voung peewit in 

 the stomach of one, but I think ,t is quite certain ih^t they do au.ch 

 more good than harn,. I should have observed that the old birds 

 mentK)ned above showed themselves true falcons in courage and 

 attachment to their young, the hen repeatedly scooping close to our 

 heads and uttering tlie mast pierciug cries, which were echoed by her 

 mate as he hung poised in the a>r above us. The kestrel is here called 

 the red hawk — not an inappropriate name. 



Scarcity of S,nnmer Birds of Passage. -^Xar^y correspondents of 

 the Zoologist have lately complained of the increasing scarcity, of 

 our summer migrants, and particularly of the swallow tribe. I re<Met 

 to say that this is also the case here to a very marked extent, ahnost 

 the only exceptions being the willow wren an.l spotted flycatcher 

 which are both plentiful. We have no swifts in the immediate nei<di- 

 bourhood, but used to have numbers of swallows and martins, and a 

 few sand martins in suitable places, but all these birds have been 

 scarce these last two or three years. I have not seen a single white- 

 throat this season and but very iev^ sandpipers. I do not think that a 

 satisfactory explanation of this remarkable fact has yet been advanced • 

 let US hope, however, that the change will not be a permanent one' 

 and that we may again see these "amusive birds" in their wonted 

 numbers. 



Tree Pipit. -A rare bird with us; two or three were observed in 

 the beginning of June, one of them a young one. 



Bird imilnting a Buck.— On the evening of the 12th of June I was 



surprised to hear the " quack, quack » of a duck at some distance from 



any probable resort of such fowl, wild or tame, and was still more 



astonished when I caught sight of the author of the sounds-a bird 



perched on a tree about fifty or sixty yards distant. I am convinced 



that it was either a blackbird or a starling, probably the former • but 



as It stood out against the evening sky we could make nothing of its 



colours, and, when I attempted to approach nearer, it disappeared into 



a thick wood and was seen no more. There could not be the slightest 



doubt as to the bird in question being the mimic; the "quackin-" 



was wonderfully distinct, and indeed quite undistinguishable from that 



of a drake. More than one instance of wild blackbirds imitatin- the 



crowing of a cock are on record. " 



Spotted Flycatcher.—^ nest of this species was found built 07i the 

 ground; it was placed on the bare earth among the exposed roots of 



e 



