Miscellanea, by Mr James Hardy. 511 



Song Thrush and Fieldfares. — On the 25th October last, 

 Thrushes were numerous along with Blackbirds, under the cover 

 of withering ferns, in the middle portion of Langleyford vale. 

 Farther up, among the pretty groves and clumps of birches, be- 

 low the Hope, many of the Thrushes were congregated into 

 small flocks, preparatory to migration. When a sparrow-hawk 

 passed, they flew off in concert, and alighted among the trees in 

 a body. I afterwards saw another large party flying across the 

 open waste far up the water. At the same time there were 

 present other birds of the kind in search of food among the 

 dense beds of brackens, not connected with those gatherings, 

 which may have been aliens. Keeping in separate companies, 

 there were also on the open hills many Fieldfares, new arrivals. 

 I found some fresh killed by hawks. Mr. Hughes wrote me, 

 that about that period large assemblages of Fieldfares frequent- 

 ed the Cheviot Moors, as if collecting for dispersion elsewhere. 

 At Oldcambus, December 2nd, during a frost, the local Thrushes 

 formed a small scattered flock in a field near a plantation, where 

 sheep had recently been pasturing ; and for several days numer- 

 ous Fieldfares and Starlings fed through among them, till a thaw 

 enabled them to obtain food elsewhere. In former seasons, I 

 have frequently observed, at the close of autumn, Thrushes fly- 

 ing in flocks on the moors above Eedheugh. They took refuge 

 at night in furze bushes. 



Birds that dart into the air after flies. — The Wheatears 

 on their first arrival here, April 16th, were repeatedly occupied 

 leaping from eminences after passing insects.. On May 3rd, 

 Chaffinches were active and exultant in the woods, and at inter- 

 vals giving chase to insects in the air ; it is a familiar practice 

 with both them and Sparrows to leap up after winter-gnats or 

 moths. Two Whinchats, new arrivals, seated on a hedge, 

 pursued this practice for some time, returning to the spot whence 

 they rose. The Tree Pipit also from a fixed station, springs up 

 after flies ; and I have occasionally seen the Willow Wren 

 hunting insects in this way. In autumn I "remarked a Grey 

 Wagtail making rushes along the ridge of a roof after the flies, 

 which had settled on it ; after the manner of its congener, the 

 Pied Wagtail. 



Grasshopper Warbler, {Sylvia locustella) . — Agricultural 

 occupancy of whinny banks, and grassy glades, sheltered by the 

 grey willow, or birch or hazel, have probably diminished the 

 number of native haunts of this shy summer visitant. In for- 

 mer times, at Penmanshiel, it was heard more frequently than 

 now, in the little open spaces among the bushes, widening out to 

 meadows ; and I have several times seen the timid minstrel come 

 forth on the margin of the thick grassy cover. Children are 



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