138 



FIELD NOTES. 



Mag^pie Flocks. — In The Naturalist, p. 26, Mr. Riley 

 Fortune records a large flock of Magpies, mentioning that ' it 

 has not been given to many to see so large a flock,' and after 

 watching these birds in several counties, Yorkshire, Cheshire, 

 Hereford, Devon, Hertfordshire and Kent among them, and 

 wide apart geographically, and only come across one large 

 flock, the truth of the above-quoted statement of Mr. Fortune 

 seems undeniable. It would be of interest to know whether 

 there was any apparent reason for the collecting together of 

 the thirty-two birds, in Mr. Fortune's friend's case, since Magpies 

 usually wander about in pairs {i.e., according to my experiences, 

 except once). The reason I suggest it was probably not 

 an accidental meeting is, firstly, because when staying each 

 year at Mottram in Cheshire, an old gamekeeper told me that 

 Magpies would collect to ' pitch into the wild cats ' if they got 

 one in a hedge, or some place where escape was difficult ; but 

 whether what he called ' wild cat ' was a Polecat or only a 

 feral domestic cat, I never discovered for certainty. As 

 Polecats were rare in those woods, whereas feral domestic cats 

 roamed and hunted for some years about that time (1890 to 

 1902) to my knowledge, probably it was the latter. It cer- 

 tainly was not the true Wild Cat, none of which occurred there. 

 In any case, the only large flock of Magpies I ever saw 

 seemed to have collected because they had some living creature 

 at bay,' this being in Devonshire during August, 1892, at a 

 part about four miles from Devonport. They were collected 

 on a hedge, within a length of ten or twelve yards from one 

 end of the flock to the other, chattering excitedly, with a few 

 birds on the ground, and all appeared excited about something 

 in the hedge, judging by the way the flock kept moving and 

 individuals kept changing positions up and down the hedge, 

 and the large amount of noise, flapping of wings, etc. As 

 individuals kept moving from one part and side of the hedge to 

 another, it was impossible to count them correctly, but the 

 nearest estimate of the number would be, I should say, about 

 twenty-five. As they were well away from the road, and I 

 had shortly before had a serious disagreement with a game- 

 keeper aboat trespas-ing aftei butterflies, I did not care to 

 investigate matters too closely, but it seems most likely they 

 were attracted by a domestic cat ' at bay ' in the hedge. Was 

 there any reason in the case quoted by Mr. Fortune ? *— Fred 

 D. Welch, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., Hartley, near Longfield, Kent. 



* Possibly they were attracted by some food, probably carrion. This 

 is more likely than that such a number should gather together to attack 

 a cat. Magpies are exceedingly plentiful on the outskirts of some of our 

 large Yorkshire towns ; they find secure nesting places, undisturbed by 

 the presence of gamekeepers and other destructive agents. — R.F. 



NaturaL'st, 



