various authors, editor W.L. Distant

“ On creeping up behind a big boulder, to within about five yards of the nest, I saw a cock Blackbird, Turdus merula, which had made his way to the nest,—in spite of being mobbed by the cock Chaffinch,—peck at the hen-bird till she flew off, and, deliberately picking up an egg in his bill, fly away with it. I was so astonished that I jumped up the bank to try and mark him down, and see what he was going to do with the egg, but unfortunately he entered a small but dense plantation, where I lost all trace of him, and could find no Blackbird's nest with young or eggs. ”

“ It seems a pity to destroy the poor little harmless creature whose movements amongst the heather are so graceful and interesting, and whose body, especially the under parts, shine with an iridescent gloss in the hot sun, and when taken in the hand the keelless scales which envelope its body make it feel cold and smooth to the touch, like an eel. ”

“ What is the use of fining a man a nominal sum, when he has a wealthy collector behind his back, ready and willing to pay all his expenses, with a substantial margin for himself to boot? Is this likely to prove any deterrent? I would have every bird that was not proved to be distinctly injurious to agricultural or horticultural produce properly protected for a certain season by a proper law, properly enforced; and should any bonâ fide collectors desire eggs or specimens of any particular species, they should, on payment of a fixed fee, receive a proper permit to acquire the same. ”

“ I believe most fully in the principle of "live and let live," and consider it a thousand pities that certain birds—e.g. game—should be protected at the expense of the extinction of certain other beautiful birds—viz. the Jay and the Magpie. Of course I well know that these two are inveterate egg-stealers, nor would I for a moment recommend too many to be kept on an estate, but a pair or two add much interest and beauty to the landscape; and I hold that no true sportsman would utterly exterminate these birds, even though they caused him to lose a few gamebirds' eggs every year. ”

“ Cormorants flying to and fro; and an occasional Rock Pigeon darting out of some crevice, and whirling away out of sight with its rapid flight. Jackdaws too breed in great numbers in the crevices in the chalk, and a pair of Ravens have a nest every year somewhere in the cliff. I saw them several times wheeling about and tumbling over in the air in their peculiar manner, evidently on the look-out for Gulls' eggs wherewith to feed their young ones. ”

“ I saw the old Cuckoo around the greenhouse several times in the morning, as if she wanted to get in. I left the door open while I went to my dinner, and when I came back I disturbed the old bird, and I found the three young Wagtails and one egg lying on the shelf; one of the young ones was still alive, and a young Cuckoo in the nest not quite out of its shell. Some people have an idea that it is the young Cuckoo that turns the young birds out of the nest, but it is the old Cuckoo that comes and turns the young ones out ”

“ In making my former observations I must have been misled by the notes of some young Blackbirds in the surrounding bushes; but as there is so little variation in the cries of the young of any species, I felt justified in describing the note of the young of a species from the observation of only one family of nestlings. It is curious that while the songs of the Blackbird and Nightingale are so dissimilar, several of the strains of the latter have the same intervals of pitch, and practically the same rhythm, as some of the more elaborate rattling alarms of the former. ”

“ The Viper, on seeing the Mouse, followed it cautiously, striking a hind limb, which appeared to cause very little inconvenience to the Mouse; the Viper, however, still following up, struck again, this time fairly across the loins, and then retired to the further part of the case, seemingly to await results. In less than two minutes the Mouse was dead. Soon the Viper came slowly towards the body, with head lowered, prodding the earth as if smelling the track of its prey, and, although the body was completely hidden by grassy turf, went straight to it. ”

“ The question of Ducks quitting their young and flapping along the water in front of an intruder has no bearing whatsoever on the points involved. Eggs are one thing; young birds another. In the case of the latter, the maternal affection is infinitely stronger. I have stroked a Partridge sitting on her nest; she seemed not at all disconcerted. I have also walked suddenly on to the top of a brood of "cheepers," and been furiously attacked, after a fashion, by the old bird—the female. ”

“ I have been watching for some time past another nest built by a pair of Blackbirds in a loose stone wall close by the house, and to-day (May 26th) I was pleased to hear the chirping of young birds, and to see the old male carrying food to and fro. The season has been very bleak and cold; the leaves are only appearing on the trees now, and this, together with the desire to circumvent the odious cats, may have induced this particular pair of Blackbirds to abandon their usual habit of building in a shrub, and flee for security to a stone fortress. ”

“ The only Wagtail I Saw was near a pond at Cintra, and belonged to the beautiful blue-headed species (M. flava) , varieties of which have received many different names. In the lodge of Gardens of Monserrate there was a much decayed specimen of a small raptorial bird which may once have been a Hobby. I looked in vain for the Iberian Sparrow, but the House-Sparrows were abundant. It is one of the ornithological sights of Lisbon to see them go to roost in the trees of the Avenida. They weigh down the acacias in their thousands, and their twittering is like the crash of a waterfall. ”

“ Howsoever the facts are to be accounted for, I do not disguise my personal conviction that the Cuckoo herself abstracted the surplus eggs of the Meadow Pipit, and that she had some excellent though recondite motive for so doing. To others I leave the responsibility of explaining away an apparently singular aberration on the part of a species which, according to some people, is "knowing" even to the extent of being able to diversify the colouring of its eggs to suit the exigencies of each recurring situation! ”

“ The birds were in full summer plumage, being apparently paired, and from their manners, had I been a little further north, I should have had no doubt as to the existence of a nest not far off. I visited several old nesting places of the Chough on the Kirkcudbrightshire coast, but not a bird of the species was to be seen, and I fear they have gone, never to return. Talking to an old fisherman, who was a close observer of birds, I gathered that fifty or sixty years ago they were common in several localities. ”

“ Now I think all candid readers must admit that when birds which were reared in a small cage within a cage, and whose ancestors were so reared for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years, can at any given moment exactly reproduce the typical nest of their remote wild ancestors without any model whatever to guide them, it is absolutely certain that the laws regulating their method of building are inherent in their natures, and not acquired. ”

“ As soon as the would-be capturer approaches, the sound ceases, and the insect remains invisible. The assimilation of the green colour of the insect and the green surroundings which it always chooses as a band-stand is so close, that it is almost impossible to detect the creature until it recommences to chirp, when the rapid movement of the elytra betrays its whereabouts. The stridulation of this species is loud and prolonged, but in several of its relatives is short and sharp, and all the more difficult to locate, as the observer does not obtain a fair chance to listen attentively. ”

“ A feeble light penetrates some of the main tunnels, but in the side workings it is pitch-dark at all times of the day, and here footprints were numerous in places more than a hundred and fifty yards from the outer air. The piles of gnawed hips and blackberry-seeds in birds' nests in the woods outside showed that food was plentiful enough there, but in the tunnels there were not even fungi on which the Mice could feed, and the drippings from the candles of casual trippers did not seem sufficient to account for their presence. ”

“ I know well how disappointing it is to a beginner to have his attempts at stuffing severely criticised by some professional who sees faults which the tyro perhaps fondly imagined did not exist. I can fully endorse Mr. Grabham's statement to the effect that one must have any amount of patience, and be devoted to the study of whatever branch or branches of taxidermy he desires to pursue. I am devoted to stuffing, and attempt everything which falls into my hands, from caterpillars to fish. ”

“ Lesser Terns were familiar objects in May and June, the smart little fellows fishing all around one, as if man had never an evil thought, and they were attracted still closer by an imitation of their note. ”

“ One day in July I collected a large handful of flowering grasses—a very favourite food with all small finches—and flung it into the aviary, where it was immediately covered by a crowd of little birds. The Bengalees, however, as if recognizing this as the natural building material of their ancestors, flew off with it stem by stem to a small bush, where they constructed a neatly domed typical Mannikin's nest, with the usual circular opening in front. In this nest one egg was deposited, and then some other birds began to pull the domed portion to pieces for their own use ”

“ Again, with respect to the Snake-like hissing noise made by certain nesting birds, the following remarks occur;—"For a bird will hiss when on the nest, and at no other time, and which has yet never seen a Snake, or apparently never heard it hiss; such is a town-bred fowl or duck." Sitting Ducks certainly hiss in an unmistakable manner at an intruder, but, extensive as is the vocabulary of the domestic fowl, I do not remember ever hearing either a town or country hen under any circumstance make a sound which could be likened to a "hiss." ”

“ It matters not what the temperature of the season may be, the immense flocks of Wigeon and Teal are never seen as they were formerly, and some species, as the Goosander and Pochard, are usually absent altogether; the former beautiful species was never abundant, but the latter was once killed in some numbers. It is true the Teal, years ago, often nested in the Forest or in the valley of the Avon, but not in such numbers as to produce the enormous flocks which used to "swish" over one's head in the winter twilight; and I recollect an old sportsman once killing six Pintails at a single shot. ”

“ It has been a daily pleasure to watch these elegant and chastely coloured little creatures, so suggestive of a north-country beck, running here and there on the lawn, sometimes on the window-sill, or perched on a window-box or the scraper of the side door. ”