Chirps and 
Chatter. 
(i 77) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
to the revision of the Orders at present 
in force in that county. Communications 
have been received by the Worcestershire 
Chamber of Agriculture, the Worcester¬ 
shire Farmers’ Association, and the 
Bromsgrove, Sidemoor, and Perryfields 
Allotment Association, inviting their ob¬ 
servations as to what species of wild 
birds should be included in, or excluded 
from, the Orders made under the Acts. 
The Common Night Jar. 
There are many varieties of this bird, 
which is sometimes called the Goat¬ 
sucker, but the common Nightjar is the 
only one of the genus that inhabits 
Europe permanently. It visits our 
shores in the summer, arriving in May, 
and retiring in September or October. 
The ancients believed that it sucked the 
teats of goats, but the idea is wholly 
erroneous. Like the Owl, it appears 
late in the evening, when moths, gnats., 
beetles, and other night insects are 
about; and its mouth is peculiarly 
formed for capturing its prey. The 
lining of the mouth is of a glutinous 
substance, so that there is no escape 
for the victim, even if the bird’s bill 
remains open, which is a habit, and 
causes a whirring noise. The plumage 
of the adult male is ashy-grey, spotted 
and streaked with dark brown, yellowish 
brown, and red-buff. It is of a solitary 
nature and is usually seen alone. 
Stay-at-Home Birds. 
“ We are apt to imagine,” said a 
naturalist, “ that because birds can fly, 
they are in the habit of doing what we 
should if we had wings, namely, to take 
long journeys and see the world. As 
a matter of fact, the average bird seldom 
travels any great distance from any 
place where it can find its food. It is 
firmly attached to its native haunts, and 
never cares to fly far from home. In 
some parts of the world birds are found 
inhabiting localities to which they limit 
themselves as exclusively as though they 
had no power of flight. They find all 
the food they need in those particular 
regions, and there is nothing to tempt 
them to visit other districts, even those 
comparatively near at hand. There are 
probably thousands of town birds— 
Sparrows and Pigeons—who pass their 
whole lives among the chimney pots, 
quite indifferent to the charms of the 
country. The birds of passage are 
practically the only birds that habitually 
travel.” 
Birds as Surgeons. 
Some interesting observations con¬ 
cerning the surgical treatment of wounds 
by birds were recently made by a Swiss 
naturalist. He noticed that the Snipe 
had often been seen making with its beak 
and feathers a very creditable dressing 
of a wound. It had even been known t'j 
secure a broken limb by means of a stout 
ligature. The most interesting example 
was that of a Snipe, both of whose legs 
he had unfortunately broken by a mis¬ 
directed shot. He only recovered it on 
the following day, when he found that 
the poor bird had contrived to apply 
dressings of down from other parts of its 
body fastened by congealed blood, and 
a sort of splint of interwoven feathers 
to both limbs. In a case recorded by 
another naturalist, a Snipe which was 
observed to fly away with a broken leg 
was subsequently found to have forced 
the fragments into a parallel position— 
the upper fragment reaching to the leg- 
joint—and they were secured there by 
means of a strong band of feathers and 
moss intermingled. 
The Hawk’s Fearlessness. 
As an example of the audacity of the 
Hawk, which troubles our Pigeon flyers 
in Exeter and in the North of Devon, I 
think the following is out of the ordi¬ 
nary :—There was a remarkable occur¬ 
rence at Barnstaple on a recent Sunday 
afternoon. Mr. A. Paul, who takes a 
keen interest in cage-birds, was in his 
garden, when he heard an unusual sound 
coming from the bird-cages which were 
attached to the wall of the house. On 
looking round, he was surprised to see 
