CHAPTER IX 
OBSERVATIONS ON ANOTHER COMMON (1921) 
During the 1920 season one or two friends and my- 
self had some slight experience of a second common, 
situated about three miles away from the scene of 
the observations recorded in the previous chapters. 
In the early part of this year (1921) I determined 
to put into force my system of studying the Cuckoos 
on this second common, provided I could secure 
the necessary help. In this I was fortunate, and 
whilst being myself responsible for the first common, 
the second came, for the most part, under the charge 
of Messrs. P. B. Smyth, C. H. Roper, C. E. Baker, 
O. R. Owen, and the Rev. Allan Ellison, who 
conducted operations of the greatest interest and 
ornithological value. 
This second common is of quite a different 
character from my original one, for whereas the 
latter is clothed with short gorse and bracken, the 
former is practically covered with a dense growth 
of heather which makes it far more difficult for all 
concerned, both Cuckoos and human beings, to 
152 
