174 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



straggling line, ganglion-like in form, swelling out into knots 

 where the birds were grouped more thickly, with thinner spaces 

 between. Watched them mostly through the glasses. Charac- 

 teristic actions were preening feathers of the breast and wings. 

 The latter they stretch out, and then, twisting the neck to one or 

 the other side, passed the primary quill-feathers, as it seemed to 

 me, through the beak. Another — one of the birds near me — laid 

 one side of the head on the ground so that I could see the eye of 

 the other side staring up. This I observed for the first time. 

 The reason I do not know. Thought at time it was to rub the 

 head, but, as I have often seen them scratch their heads with one 

 foot most neatly and effectively — as indeed do all birds — this 

 would seem superfluous, and moreover it kept the head still. 



Whilst watching the main body of birds I observed one make 

 several sudden little impetuous runs in different directions, 

 beating and striking about with its wings. There was excite- 

 ment, but the actions seemed to have no reference to the other 

 birds (as of display), who seemed quite indifferent. The line 

 was long and in general very straggling, and this particular bird 

 was not in any close proximity to others, but rather segregated. 



One of the birds that had remained after the others flew off 

 now came very near, so that — still using the glasses — I observed, 

 as he made one of the little quick characteristic runs forward 

 (suggestive of a Thrush on the lawn), the object which occasioned 

 it— a delicate white thing in the air, which I took to be a small 

 thistle-down. This he secured and ate, and I imagined that his 

 peckings at it after it was in his possession were to disengage the 

 seed from the down. Almost immediately afterwards, however, 

 a small brown moth came into the field of view, flying low over 

 the belt of dry bushy grass where the bird was. Instantly the 

 bird (who seemed to catch sight of the moth about the same time 

 as I did) started in pursuit, with the same rapid run and head 

 stretched out. He got up to the moth and essayed to catch it, 

 pecking at it in a very peculiar way, not excitedly or wildly, but 

 with little precise pecks, the head closely and guardedly following 

 the moth's motions, the whole strongly suggestive of professional 

 skill. The moth eluded him, however, and the bird stopped 

 rigidly, having apparently lost sight of it. Shortly afterwards, 

 when the moth had gone some way, he caught sight of it again, 



