SOME BIRDS OF BIRMINGHAM 
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which are white, are as often as not covered by water, and 
apparently do not suflfer. When the bird leaves the nest she 
carefully conceals the eggs with bits of weed and sedge, so that 
it is possible to look at the nest without noticing what it is. 
This custom is common to all the grebes. 
A pair of dabchicks, or lesser grebes, once caused great 
interest and amusement at the reservoir, not so much by their 
own movements as by those of their would-be captor. A man 
in a boat had evidently set his heart on securing them, and to 
that end he assiduously rowed about after them, invariably 
finding when he reached the place where he had seen them 
that they had dived, and were now regarding him from some- 
where well astern. A great northern diver has also been seen 
at the reservoir. He stayed there for about a fortnight, much 
to the bewilderment of a local sportsman who vainly tried to get 
a shot at the goose, as he called it. Every time he fired it 
dived at the flash, and after remaining under water several 
minutes it turned up in quite a different part of the pool. 
The pochard has been known to breed at Edgbaston Pool, 
and is believed to do so still ; and on one occasion a pair of 
common tern nested there, and the old bird was observed 
feeding her young. This took place about thirty years ago, and 
is the only occasion known on which the common tern has 
nested by inland waters, although the Arctic tern does so. 
Many of the waders have been observed at Edgbaston 
Reservoir, the rarest of which, the buff-breasted sandpiper, was 
seen there on August 29, 1889, and on April 19, 1892. This 
bird, which is a very rare visitor to the British Isles, was among 
a flock of other sandpipers, and fed close up to the observer, 
who was lying down. The proper home of this bird is in North 
and South America, and it has never been known to breed in 
Europe. 
The little stint has also been observed on several occasions. 
This delicate little bird is the least of the sandpipers, and is a 
circumpolar bird, only visiting these islands on migration. 
The dotterel, ring dotterel, whimbrel, curlew sandpiper, 
dunlin, grey and golden plovers, have also been seen at the 
reservoir on migration ; the dunlin in large flocks, but the 
others more rarely, in fact, the grey plover and curlew sand- 
piper have only been seen there once or twice. 
Most of these birds are fairly easy of approach, or rather, if 
the observer lies down and keeps still, the birds will often feed 
close to him. 
It is exceedingly interesting to watch a flock of these 
graceful birds darting here and there among the gravel and 
sand seeking their food. 
It is not pretended that this is a complete record of the birds 
of Birmingham, but perhaps those mentioned may be admitted 
to be at least among the most interesting. 
J. A. P. Crompton. 
Si. James’s Road, Edgbaston, 
