26 
NATURE NOTES. 
without fish in frosty weather they starve. Twelve years ago 
Frank Buckland said to me, “ The ladies have taken to the 
Kingfishers and they'll have to go.” And, alas, they have gone. 
To give an idea of the present rareness of the Kingfisher, the 
last one brought to me, until quite lately, was in 1886, about 
this time ; the bird was frozen, and a small fish called the 
miller’s thumb stuck in the gorge of its throat. A few weeks 
ago a Kingfisher frozen out, and with its eyes dazed with starva- 
tion, struck against the plate glass of my dining-room, within 
six feet of the chair in which I was sitting. It lay on its side 
stunned, but managed to fly a few yards into a field. When 
caught it pecked in a mild way, and seemed very weak ; its 
crop was quite empty. A physician who happened to be present 
administered a cordial, some brandy and water, and it was 
wrapped in flannel. Sardines were inquired for, but were judged 
to be too artificial a food. Ultimately an intelligent young 
saddler of 17, who acts as general gamekeeper to my Kingfishers, 
went out in hard frost and snow, and caught three sticklebacks, 
all of which the Kingfisher swallowed, digesting one in an hour 
(the digestion of birds being most rapid) and developing moisture 
and heat ; and when we returned him to his habitat by the mill- 
stream, the bird flew out of his own accord from his basket, and 
shot in two long low loops quite 200 yards in my sight, just 
topping the wood. Thus a most valuable life was saved. 
The Goldfinches have been long becoming rarer every year. 
They are caught by professional bird-catchers from London for 
sale in the London markets, and the home counties suffer most. 
The New Forest gives more shelter and is at a greater distance 
from London, and Mr. Kelsall says the Goldfinch is resident in 
Hants, universally distributed ; and this is the happy result of 
the Birds’ Protection Act. The Redstarts are rarer still ; in 
Hampshire it is said that they are “ nowhere common ; ” and 
with us the black Redstart ( Ruticilla titys), till lately a very un- 
common bird, has occurred about as often as the old Firetail, 
that used to be so common ( Ruticilla phanicurus). 
The Woodpeckers whose nest is called by the Germans a 
'• fortress or citadel against tree vermin ” (the black Woodpeckers 
take 10 to 14 days’ hard labour for excavations of the timber 
alone) (Bechstein, 616), are now better understood “ and pre- 
served by all sensible foresters.” Still the Greater Spotted 
Woodpecker has small chance of life, as he is so rare as to be 
generally unknown — and the first impulse of wayward man is 
to shoot any rare thing that he sees, to find out what it is. 
Among other instances of the persecution of birds may be 
mentioned the Swallows, now for the last two years visibly fewer. 
Lately several have been sent up from this neighbourhood to be 
dyed black in London — and I am told that there is a man some- 
where in Sussex who eats Swallows, which is incredible. Pliny 
(xxx. 14, 76), says, Sanguis hirundinus fel — swallow’s blood is 
poison. In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in 1886 there were 
