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The main cause of migration is undoubtedly scarcity of food; conse¬

quently in very mild seasons many migratory birds delay their departure

beyond the regular time, and have sometimes to suffer for their foolhardiness.

It has been said that migratory birds become restless at the season of migra¬

tion,implying that they instindtively know when the time comes round. From

mv own observation of birds in aviaries, I have become very sceptical on this

head : of all the migratory species I have kept, I never knew one to be more

restless at the season of migration than at any other time. I kept a pair of

Redwings for over two years and finally sold them in such fine condition

that, going straight from my house to a show, they took a First: these.birds

never were restless after their first moult, but were as tame and quiet as

Song-Thrushes; and, as spring came round, the male sang his singular song

cheerfully enough at all hours of the day.*


As with our British Birds, so it is with foreigners: I never knew an

Indigo-Bunting to be restless at the season of migration. I believe all

statements of this nature are based upon an error of observation: if you

stare at any bird persistently, it must be tame indeed,_ not to become

restless; and, if you desire to ascertain whether it is anxious to migrate,

you stand still and watch it. Even in a large aviary, a bird soon discovers

whether it is singled out for observation : take a net into an aviary to catch

a particular bird and the latter discovers, in next to no time, that he is the

one to be captured, and becomes the most frantic of all in his efforts to

escape. In like manner, if you sit down in front of cage or aviary to

sketch a bird, it immediately begins to fidget about, turn round and round

on the perch, fly hither and thither, and in every possible manner do its

utmost to render your task more difficult: it feels that it is being singled

out for observation, and becomes nervous as a natural consequence.

Some birds, such as Goldfinches, Siskins and Redpolls, are restless at all

times; but not more so at one time than at another ; all birds are most

restless just before going to roost. “ Migratory instindt” is little more than

a pretty way of describing the cravings of unsatisfied appetite, sometimes

accompanied by a shrinking from cold.



BRITISH BIRDS WE HAVE KEPT.


IV.


THE KINGFISHER.


By 0 . P. Arthur.


Considering how much has been written and said, lately, against

keeping Kingfishers in captivity, I feel rather loth to have anything to say

on the matter ; and should not have done so, had not our Hon. Secretary,

Dr. Simpson, asked me to give my experience of them. In the first place,

I should like to say that I utterly disbelieve all that has been written about

Kingfishers soon becoming extinct. I firmly believe there are as many, or

more, about than there were thirty years ago ; but probably they have

shifted their quarters to more favourable localities. Has the preservation

of fish anything to do with this? Thirty years ago, when I was a boy, if

anyone had seen a Kingfisher “round the river,” it soon got noised about,

and probably two or three dozen persons would take their walk the

following Sunday afternoon (if in the Summer), to try to get a glimpse of

this wonderful bird ; but now the} 7 are one of our commonest birds,

comparatively speaking. I have refused to give a shilling for six young

ones, and have had lots of fresh shot birds offered me at threepence per

head and refused to give it. Without looking at my book, I believe it is

about three years ago that I had, in three months, fifty-four Kingfishers

brought to me to be preserved, either for hats or cases ; yet along our river

and the brooks they seem as plentiful as ever. Many are caught by cats; and



A Fieldfare which I obtained and parted with at the same periods as the Redwings, also

seemed quite indifferent to the season of migration.



