410 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Red Grouse. — Not abundant in districts passed through, as 

 comparatively little heather grows there. It occurs sometimes 

 on the grass at considerable distances from the heathy grounds. 



Pheasant. — Numbers of cock Pheasants were heard crowing 

 in the woods ; one in an oak thicket at over 1000 feet elevation. 



Partridge. — Several pairs seen. 



Landrail. — Several heard. 



Waterhen. — One seen in Montgomeryshire. 



Golden Plover. — Two pairs, which had young, in Radnor- 

 shire, on watershed peat-bog. 



Lapwing. — Common, and generally distributed. 



Common Sandpiper. — One or two seen. 



Oystercatcher. — Single bird seen from railway. 



Curlew. — Thinly distributed, and far from numerous. 



Lesser Black-backed Gull. — A fine adult bird seen from the 

 train inland. 



THE AUTUMN SONG OF BIKDS. 

 By 0. V. Aplin. 



Why should some birds have an autumn song and others 

 not ? Let me explain what I mean by the autumn song. The 

 birds' summer ends with their moult; I speak now of birds 

 in general, without considering the exceptions, presented by 

 Swallows, for instance. Some species become silent shortly 

 before they moult in early autumn. They cease singing when 

 they have done breeding, or as soon as their young have hatched. 

 Others sing much later in the summer. After the song has 

 ceased and an interval has elapsed, in certain cases, we hear it 

 again. From mid- August on into November the second song 

 may be heard. This is the autumn song. Some birds, if the 

 weather be genial, strike up in November (or even in October), 

 and may be heard all through the winter in mild weather ; but 

 this is not an autumn song, properly so called. It is the 

 beginning of their ordinary song, which they will continue through 

 the following spring. Such birds are the Song Thrush, Robin, 

 Wren, Hedgesparrow, and Starling. The Great Titmouse and 

 Mistletoe Thrush often begin their regular song in December. 

 This must not be confused with the autumn song. Leaving out 

 of the question this late autumn song — really the beginning of the 



