February i, 1891] 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



ittmmtng 



What is to be seen everywhere in London. 



{Continued from page J.) 



Among the birds which are excessively abundant in 

 Europe, I mentioned Crows, Magpies, Blackbirds, 

 Quails, Thrushes, etc., all of which belong to species 

 very injurious to Agriculture ; although at times they 

 feed also on Larvae, Chrysalis and Insects, but they 

 only do so when seeds or fruits are scarce. 



Everyone has seen immense flocks of Magpies, 

 Crows and Blackbirds. Thrushes, although not so 

 abundant in the North of England, are very common 

 in the South of France, Italy, Spain, and in many 

 other Countries ; especially during the autumn, when 

 they make a great havoc in the Vineyards and Olive 

 Tree Plantations, reducing sensibly the harvest. 



If the opinion of the farmers was asked, I have no 

 doubt that all of them would agree to the destruction 

 of the above-mentioned species of birds. 



In some Countries Thrushes are so abundant that 

 anyone can bag from 50 to 100 birds in a day by dis- 

 posing nooses for that effect in the Olive trees or 

 in Vineyards, and this without diminishing their 

 number. 



As to Magpies, I know several Feather Merchants 

 who, since 1865, receive yearly about 200,000 of these 

 birds for ornamental purposes, and I have not seen 

 any difference in their number in England or in 

 France. 



Blackbirds are so common in Spain, that about 

 200,000 skins are sent annually to Paris, and sold 

 between i|d. to 2d. each. The flesh of these birds 

 is sold to poor people at about sixpence per dozen, 

 and they say that they are a very good eating. 



The same is done with many of the other species 

 collected for their feathers. 



Therefore, the only difference that I can see is that 

 many birds are killed for eating purposes only, the 

 feathers being lost by not taking the trouble to make 

 these birds into skins, or because buyers want them 

 as killed, and pay a little more for them ; meanwhile 

 the others are killed not only for eating purposes, but 

 also for saving their feathers which are in great 

 demand among the Plumassiers. Flence the advan- 

 tage of these last on the former, by being useful twice — 

 first by serving as food to poor people, and secondly 

 in being the means to procure work to a large 

 number of persons. . 



The mention of the Blackbirds recalls to my 

 memory a fact of which I have been a witness during 

 a stay of several weeks, January and February, 1880, 

 at Sevilla, the famous Spanish Capital of Andalusia, 

 on which there is a popular saying amongst the 

 Spaniards of (i Quien no ha visto Sevilla no ha 



visto Maravilla," which translated literally reads as 

 follows : — Who hath not seen Sevilla hath not seen a 

 Marvel. 



Near Sevilla, there are some remains of great works 

 made by the Romans when they were masters of that 

 beautiful Country. 



The principals are remains of a very magnificent 

 road going from Sevilla to the old Roman City 

 Italica ; vestiges of an Aqueduct, and lastly the old 

 City itself, which are well worth seeing. 



Of course I went there, and was very much 

 interested with what I saw of the Coliseum, Forum, 

 and other ruins. Coming back to town a little before 

 dusk I saw myriads of Blackbirds flying in all direc- 

 tions and setling for the night at special appointed 

 places exactly in the same manner as the Mexican 

 swallows {Hirundo bicolor) mentioned in Number 1 

 of this Journal. 



For about half an hour I was quite interested with 

 this sight. 



The birds had selected a field of Indian Canes as 

 resting place. 



Not far off was a small house, where I entered and 

 made the acquaintance of the owner of the Canes. 

 I spoke to him of the sight I had just witnessed, and 

 learnt that the Blackbirds had elected his field of 

 Canes as a permanent domicile. Every morning 

 at daybreak large flocks take their flight and disperse 

 in all directions, always returning at night. They 

 do not assemble in one compact group, as the 

 Swallows, but come or go away in flocks of several 

 hundred. 



I stayed at Sevilla during part of January and Feb- 

 ruary. At that time of the year they feed on olives 

 and do great injury to the owners of these trees, 

 eating a very large quantity of the fruits, and there 

 was no end of complaints about them ; but the most 

 extraordinary fact about these birds remains to be 

 told, although I cannot guarantee anything about it. 

 Several reliable persons informed me that the 

 owner of the Indian Cane plantations did a splendid 

 business with these birds in this way. 



Everyone knows that Blackbirds are very greedy, 

 and I was told that at sunset all these birds are seen 

 moving continually about from one place to another 

 when it is time to retire to their night refuge ; but 

 before leaving the Olive trees where they feed, every 

 one of them carries in its beak, and even in its legs, 

 one or two fruits which they have to drop when perch- 

 ing in their favourite resting branch. So next 

 morning, the owner of thé Canes had only to fill his 

 basket with the olives brought by the birds, and does 

 a brisk business of it, gathering more fruit than the 

 owner of the Olive trees plantations. 



Of course, I only mention it for its worth, as I did 

 not try to verify the fact ; but if true it is worth 

 knowing. 



At the same place I saw what I considered an 

 interesting way of catching Plovers ( Vanellus 

 cris la tus) by means of hooks of the same kind as those 

 employed in fishing. They have loose lines 10 to 12 

 yards long fixed in the soil at one end, and with a 

 hook baited with worms at the other. 



These lines are laid every morning on the ground, 

 in the vast jplains which surround Sevilla. Once or 



