NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
57 
clever way — so perfectly sometimes as to deceive for the moment even the most 
experienced ear — the notes or cries of blackbird, missel thrush, yellowhammer, 
greenfinch, tom-tit, swallow, swift, sparrow, jay, woodpecker, jackdaw, lapwing, 
seagull, &c. But what a rare gift, generally speaking, it seems to be — that of 
being able to detect in the starling’s “ noises” the voices of so many of our birds, 
large and small. It certainly is not the fault of the starling. The chief reason, I 
suppose, is that there is so little knowledge of the notes and cries of our birds. 
The starling that frequents my bedroom chimney' also imitates geese, ducks, the 
crow of a cock, the croak of a frog, the bark of a dog, the cry of a cat, the mason’s 
hammer, the creaking of a gate and of a pump handle, the postman’s whistle, and 
many other things. He has often made me think, for the moment, that the post- 
man was coming along the road. It is, however, in the reproduction of the voices 
of other birds that the starling best excels, often bringing them back to us in 
imagination, when they have perhaps long been silent, or have left our shores for 
far-off lands, as though he would remind us, with the falling leaves of autumn, and 
even in the frosts of winter, that “ the birds will sing again.’ 
Caerleon. C. E. C. 
Another Kingfisher shot ! —A sportsman (?) in search of gulls shot a 
kingfisher in Plumstead Marshes at the end of January. Two or three have been 
seen there lately. This seems very near a populous district for so rare a bird and 
perhaps stress of weather has something to do with their appearance. This 
specimen is, of course, to be stuffed, and I am afraid shooters will soon drive the 
beautiful creatures to more remote districts. 
A. C. Ei.sdox. 
The “ Aigrette” {p. 37). — Is it worthwhile pointing out to Miss S. I. 
Maude, that the ‘‘aigrette” is not pulled from the living bird’s //eat/, but is one 
of its dorsal feathers? F. W. A. 
Wild Life on the River Thames. — Alderman Burt, the representative 
of the Surrey County Council on the Board of the Thames Conservancy, has 
intimated his willingness to lay before the Board any proposals for the safe- 
guarding of the life of wild birds or the protection of wild plants which may be 
sent to him by any of the branches or members of the Selbotne Society in the 
Thames Valley. His address is Hill Side House, Richmond. 
J. Allen. 
The Twelfth Annual Report of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association 
gives a satisfactory summary of the work done during the past year. The Asso- 
ciation has co-operated with the London County Council in many of the under- 
takings referred to on pp. 52, 53, and is engaged in promoting schemes for the 
acquirement of open spaces in many densely-populated localities in the south-east 
and east of London. Since 1883 the Association ‘‘has been able to lay out 62 
gardens and 20 play grounds, covering an area of 112 acres, at a cost of ;^38 ,ocxd ; 
to plant some 3,000 tree.s, and to place about 3,000 seats in the streets and public 
gardens of the metropolis.” Subscriptions towards the development of the work 
will be welcomed by the Secretary, Mr. Basil Holmes, 83, Lancaster Gate, W. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Where are the Tits gone ? — For years I have fed these merry little 
fellows with lard and bones, and such inserted in the crannies of an old pollard, 
placed on the lawn, close to the dining-room window. They came year after 
year through the winter by dozens, three or four at a time, continuously through- 
out the day. A very pretty and interesting sight their lively antics afforded. 
Two pairs of nuthatches also attended with the greatest regularity, and besides the 
nuts fixed in the interstices of the bark, shared with the tits in the delicacies 
specially prepared for them. Nuthatches are the most restless of birds, more so 
even than the tits. They run incessantly, and with equal ease, up and down the 
bark, tail or head first as happens, and appearing first on one side of the trunk 
then on the other, with such rapidity as to give the notion of two or three pairs 
