Migratory Birds. 
(247) THE BIRD WORLD. 
Migratory Birds. 
The Breeding Season of 1907. 
From the middle of March the 
ornithologist commences to keep a sharp 
look out for the arrival of the earlier 
migrants to visit our shores. From the 
arrival of the Wheatear and the Chiff- 
chaff the cry is “ Still, they come,” until 
with the arrival of the red-backed Shrike 
and the spotted Flycatcher the list may 
be said to be closed. Having noted 
each arrival in our district, as it has 
come under our notice, we turn to the 
list, which we have kept for many years, 
and compare the date of this year with 
former years. It is interesting to ob¬ 
serve, from these notes, with what com¬ 
parative regularity these visitors to our 
shores arrive year by year. In many 
cases we find the date identical, and 
in but few cases is the margin of any 
importance. The next thing is to turn 
to the diaries to ascertain the state of 
the weather existing about the time that 
we expect to meet with the migrants, for, 
naturally, the weather that they experi¬ 
ence on their passage has a very great 
deal to do with the punctuality of their 
arrival. The diary, too, shows us the 
plenty or falling off in numbers for the 
season of the various breeds of migrants, 
and the probable causes. 
A Chilly Spring. 
The spring months of the present year 
were exceptionally cold, if we ex¬ 
cept the brief spell of hot weather at 
Easter time, and insects must have been 
obtained only at starvation price. This 
has been a very bad outlook for many 
of the birds, to which we shall later on 
refer, but there must, we think, be other 
causes for accounting for the scarcity 
of many of the migrants which in years 
gone by were very much more plentiful 
than they have been for the past year 
or so. With regard to the Swallow and 
the Robin, we should like to see 
V entente cor diale stretched to include the 
protection of these and other birds. The 
practice of netting the Swallows when 
on passage, says the Bristol Times and 
Mirror, is a shameful proceeding; the 
catch may, according to circum¬ 
stances, vary in number, but when many 
are so taken it no doubt accounts for 
the falling off in number of these 
visitors. The massacre of the Robin in 
Italy, too, is much to be condemned. 
Our Acts of Parliament stringently pro¬ 
tect the bulk of the birds, both resident 
and visitors, throughout the breeding 
season, but we cannot safeguard the 
numbers that are taken wholesale when 
coming to or returning from our shores. 
A Bean Trio. 
Speaking of the migratory birds, 
we had last year, as in the three previous 
years of 1903, 1904, and 1905, to re¬ 
mark upon the scarcity of many of them. 
In the present year we have been greatly 
disappointed at the falling off in number 
of many birds that used to be plentiful 
around us. Take the case of the Land¬ 
rail, or Corncrake, a bird to which we 
have so often referred. Only once this 
season have we heard this bird’s well- 
known call. It was calling in a field of 
corn at Farleycoombe (Backwell). Such 
of these birds as breed in the cornfield 
are safe, for by the time the corn is 
reaped they are out and far away, but 
the increasing scarcity of the bird is no 
doubt to be attributed to the fact that 
by far the greater number nest in the 
grass field, and the mowing'machine re¬ 
morselessly cuts the sitting bird to pieces 
and smashes the eggs. Were it not for 
some birds nesting away from the grass 
field, we should hear very little more of 
the Landrail. 
