lie I^OTES FROM GARDEN AND FIELD 



notice, I have observed at least a dozen during the last 

 two days, about the roots of hedges and in the garden. 

 Seeing that the Thrush lives on grubs and worms for the 

 most part, hunger drives it, with other birds, to share the 

 mixed food set about for the benefit of all comers. On 

 10th February, at the side of a small run of water, a 

 mole was throwing up the soil, and a Thrush was sitting 

 watching the operation, and catching the wmms as thrown 

 up ! The hedge bottoms are rarely so hard as to prevent 

 Blackbirds and Thrashes from getting some of their usual 

 food by scraping and scratching. Berwickshire is so well 

 furnished with old hedges that the birds just mentioned 

 are rarely entirely abseut, although the lighthouse keepers 

 report that both are seen in flocks at their lanterns on 

 migration. 



The Green Plover, in countless numbers, is seen during 

 autumn and early winter, when the weather is fresh, flying 

 about the crofts in this district. It is difficult to name a 

 more interesting sight than a flock of at least a thousand 

 going through their aerial evolutions, in bright sunshine. 

 I never tire of watching these. Last season (1888-9) they 

 never left the district. This season, just before Christmas, 

 they left in a body ; and although small packs were seen 

 at the breaking up of the first storm, their numbers were 

 never great. None have been seen during the present 

 frost. Before migrating to the mud flats of Holland, these 

 beautiful birds present a most unhappy appearance, being 

 strictly a grub-eating bird — the ground being hard, no food 

 was to be had. I have often wondered how they increased 

 in numbers, seeing that their nests are robbed in such a 

 heartless manner. Now, however, they have a certain amount 

 of preservatioQ, as their eggs may not be abstracted after 

 a certain date. The young were running on the roads and 

 fields by the 10th May 1899, and how they escape from 

 birds of prey and other enemies is marvellous ; for they 

 rush, in times of danger, to the nearest tufts of grass, and 

 hide their heads, leaving their bodies exposed. The Green 

 Plover must destroy an enormous amount of grubs and 

 worms, and is perhaps the most harmless of the bird family, 

 as well as the most elegant. 



