2564 Birds. 



that he is attracted by the peculiar odour which is almost inseparable 

 from a sick room. His sense of smelling is -extremely acute, for if 

 there is a putrid animal, bird, or bit of flesh, or even human excre- 

 ment in the neighbourhood, he is sure to find it out. One winter 

 I noticed several birds almost daily about a certain house where sick- 

 ness was rife, and yet on ordinary occasions a bird was rarely, if ever, 

 seen there. A pair of magpies built a nest on the top, and when the 

 young were nearly fledged, it was attacked by a carrion crow, who, in 

 a most daring manner, seized one of the brood, and was voyaging 

 away with him. The parent birds, however, attacked him with great 

 vigour, made him release his captive, and drove him away from the 

 neighbourhood. The poor magpie fell to the lot of a labourer, who 

 gave it to his children to rear and make a pet of. 



Jay (Corvus glandarius). Found in the large woods; rarely seen 

 in the open country, except when cherries are ripe. I remember 

 once going to shoot ring-doves in a copse, and seeing something on a 

 branch overhead, I fired, and down fell a lump (apparently of old 

 rags), but which proved to be jays, which, when it touched the 

 ground, separated into different parts, each bird flying away in a dif- 

 ferent direction with a most vociferous chattering. The weather was 

 very severe, and the birds had evidently huddled together in that cu- 

 rious manner for warmth. 



Green Woodpecker {Picusviridis). Sometimes called the "yaffle," 

 from its notes. Here, a dog is said to " yaffle " when it keeps up a 

 constant low bark. Also called the " whittle," from its habit of chip- 

 ping bits of wood from trees. A boy cutting slices off a stick, is said 

 to be "whittling" it. 



Great Spotted Woodpecker (Plcus major). Saw one on Decem- 

 ber 26, 1841. It was in the open country, and I was attracted to it 

 by its loud and remarkable noise. I found it extremely wary of 

 approach, taking wing before I could get within gunshot : it flew 

 from one tree to another, alighting on the branches, and not on 

 the bole. 



Lesser Spotted Woodpecker {Picus minor). December 11, 1844, 

 one killed near Newton in this parish, but was considered a great 

 stranger in these parts. It was shot from the top of a very tall elm- 

 tree, by a person who was killing fieldfares : its plumage was beauti- 

 ful, the white parts being well defined. The tongue of this bird 

 is well worth examination, being finer than a needle at the extremity, 

 and slightly serrated, which enables the bird in a masterly manner to 

 pick out insects from the bark of trees. 



