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Dr. Arthur G. Butler,



recommendation. At times a homely brown Corncrake peeped out,

but was a bit inclined to be a recluse ; he seemed to think it was the

best policy to stick in the bushes. At first the whole aviary was in

one structure down a sloping hill, terminating at the lake, which was

taken in to the extent of a few feet ; this was a very nice idea, but, alas 1

proved disastrous, as the birds when alarmed flew down with great

violence, struck the wire netting, and perished in the water. Each

morning the keeper had to go round and fish out the corpses ; after

that the structure was altered and divided, and the lake portion cut

off. In this section a dozen Greater Black-backed Gulls were placed

—“ foul vultures of the deep ” ; these were got from a famous breeding-

ground on an island on the Mayo Coast, and what’s more, were Sinn

Feiners (translated means “all for ourselves”). Ducks and Teal

were placed in the same compartment, but disappeared one by one

as they swallowed them.


The quiet Heron feeds along this part of the lake in a wild

state, and catches eels by stealth. In spring Wild Pochards and

Tufted Ducks assemble on the lake in large flocks, and the Canadian

Brent Geese assemble sometimes in fifties; they are fully acclima¬

tised, and breed on the Viceregal pond, as well as on other lakes in

the Phoenix Park. A keeper tells a curious story of a Wild Swan

(a Bewick) which lit on the lake, and was set upon by some of the

other tame water fowl so vigorously that it became exhausted ; he

captured and pinioned it, and I think it is there still.


Now darkness is coming on, and my memory is fading like the

light, so I must close with a line from our national poet :


“ Fond memory brings the light of other days around me.”



DEVELOPMENT OF PATTERN IN BIRDS.


By Arthur G. Butler, Ph.D.


{Concluded from p. 162.)


If we accept the view that shaft-streaks represent the earliest

type of avian marking, the Larks and typical Thrushes would appear

to have changed their character less than most other birds, their

colouring being protective, the hens also having probably chosen their

mates for valour rather than for superior beauty of form or colouring.



