THE BIRDS OF NORTH=WEST LINDSEY.* 



MAX 1'1:AC()C"K, 

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^Iagpie. — Was formerly very common at Bottesford, but 

 its numbers without apparent cause have dechned of late years. 

 In 1875 flocks of over thirt}^ old and young birds together were 

 not uncommon in the early autumn. Generally it is common 

 in the district. It is most variable in its nesting places. The 

 tops of the loftiest trees at Cadney are sometimes forsaken 

 suddenly for hedges or isolated thorn bushes, when frequently 

 the nest is only from six to eight feet from the soil. A well- 

 known horse dealer of Lincoln, not long ago, was going to 

 Horncastle fair. By the road-side he passed a magpie hanging 

 outside a house in a cage. He called on the owner, and asked 

 if it were for sale ; and learning that it was, paid ten shillings 

 down for it on the spot. Taking the unlucky bird, he wrung 

 its neck, saying as he did so to his friends that he would as soon 

 meet the devil as a magpie. If he had passed it without notice, 

 he would have had no luck at the fair, nor for the next year to 

 come. This is the way ancient folklore lasts with us, dying a 

 hard and cruel death. 



Jackdaw. — Is fairly common, but not as plentiful as 

 formerly, i.e., before Bottesford Church was restored. With us 

 they also build in hollow^ trees. On Manton Common for over a 

 hundred years they have used the rabbit holes. They rob the 

 nest of the Black-headed Gull from Twigmoor, which is about 

 a mile off, and the wild fowl on the duck pond on the Common. 

 As six species of ducks breed in the neighbourhood, the Jack- 

 daws had a good time till lately in the spring and early summer. 

 Mr. Young says ' Numerous, and I am puzzled to know where 

 they all nest. From places I have known them select, I fancy 

 they find the problem not a little puzzhng.' In the ruined 

 Church at Cadney there are more than a score of breeding 

 pairs. I had a very beautiful black and white specimen shot 

 at Messingham Water Mill in 1863. 



Carrion-Crow. — Is fairly common throughout the district. 

 Only one built in Bottesford parish in 1878, but more since. 



* See 'Naturalist' for first paper, 1902, pp. 197-204; second paper 

 J 906, pp. 42-47- 



Naturalist. 



