Corrcspoudcnce. 
RIRD NOTES OF X"I-:W MILTON DISTRICT. 
Sin, — 1 am sciuHng' a fciv notes luiiiiiig- llu-y may interest sneli of 
our niemliers as take a pleasure in our own a\ifauna. 
Tliere has been quite an increase of jays and Magpies aliotit this 
neighbourhood, whieh, 1 hope, will he continued, and tlie birds unmolested, 
as it i.s delightful lo hear and get occasion.al glimpses of them. 
I- saw, the other d.iy, a bird going; through some most interesting 
e\i)luiions in the air; 1 watched it for some time with great fascination. It 
may have been a falcon, but I could not place it ; it did not hover as the kestrel 
does — it may have been a sparrow-hawk, but 1 have very little acquaintance 
with this bird. 
I Ii;ivc an idea that the l.iltle Owl has come into this district. I have 
heard a new cry at clusk lately, and once saw a sniallish bird, aljout the length 
of a blackbird, on the roof of my bird-house. One note is something between 
a piipi\v's bark and a whistle; another is a chattering note. 
Goldfinches seem plentiful here, but the Stonechat, Cirl Hunting, and 
one or two others are scarcer, possibly through the gorse being cut and burnt. 
A Snipe, for the past two seasons, has used ;i marshy spot near, for a 
short time, possibly before leaxing for lis brceiling haunts. 
I h.ive not heard an\ redpolls here for certain yet. I h;ul them 
roosting- close to me, when in e.inip on speci.d serxice, near St. Olave's, in 
Suffolk. 
r ha\e heard recently a thrush-like note once oi" twice after dark, 
possibly ;i i-edw ing or ;i niigr.il iiig thrush. 
Upijer Ashley, New Milton, ll.ints., ( )cl.)l)er 20th, 1918. J. Wl-llR. 
