BIRDS IN A RIPON CITY GARDEN. 



Major HORACE C. ST. PAUL. J. P. 



The H'i/.'ows, Ripon. 



The following- is a list of wild birds, 76 in number, which 

 I myself have seen in my garden during' the last ten years. 

 It also includes, as far as I have been able to ascertain, the birds 

 that nest here. I have seen one or two species the names of 

 which I did not know. My house and garden are on the banks 

 of the river Skell, and beyond and joining - it is a small but long 

 plantation with a stream running- through it, which always in 

 winter is the resort of Woodcock and Snipe. The banks of the 

 river are thick with Willows, therefore there is variety of cover 

 and food for all kinds of birds, and they evidently appreciate it 

 Moreover, I am fortunate in having- a near neighbour who is 

 also a member of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, and who is 

 as fond as I am of the feathered tribes. 



Few people can realise, when they hear the chorus of sweet 

 songsters in the spring, and are shown innumerable nests in 

 almost every tree, that from my garden to the Ripon Market 

 Cross is not ten minutes' walk. 



A few years ago Bullfinches, Redpolls, and flocks of Gold- 

 finches we saw constantly, but alas, the bird-catcher — one of 

 the curses of a country town — is busy here, as everywhere, and 

 does his best, in spite of all my efforts, to rob us of our rarer 

 feathered songsters. 



All the winter the Water Ouzels sing and disport themselves 

 on the stepping-stones below my windows, and Waterhens arc- 

 up and down the stream constantly, or are feeding on the bank 

 in front of my house. Unfortunately there are not as many 

 Kingfishers as formerly, but at least a pair I see often flashing 

 up and down. It was in the very hard winter of 1886 that 

 I saw Grouse in the garden, no doubt driven off the moors (not 

 eight miles off) by the severity of the weather. Many other 

 birds have sought shelter here from the same reason, that ol 

 course do not stay with us. 



List of Birds Seen in tuk Garden at the Willows, Ripon. 



Blackbird ( Tardus merula). 

 Thrush [Turdus m us tens). 

 Common Sparrow 



( Passer (lowest icus ). 



■ Hedge Sparrow {Accentor modularis). 

 •Wren {Troglodytes troglodytes'). 

 ''Willow Wren [Phylloscopus trochilus). 

 •Robin [Erithacus rubecula). 



