Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/182

156 surprised at the length of time she remained away from the nest, and fully expected the eggs would be addled, but she hatched off safely. This year she sat so close that, for so shy a bird, I could not have credited it had I not been a witness of it. She would allow me to fire off my gun beneath the tree without quitting the nest. I had been constantly shooting Sparrows for some time before I noticed this. Twice these Missel Thrushes have reared two broods in the same nest. There are three or four trees in which they invariably build, but very seldom nest two years in the same tree. Only one pair returns each year.

A male Shoveller and a male Teal were seen on the river on May 21st, which looked as if the ducks of each species were sitting somewhere in the neighbourhood.

In the "carrs" near the river, about six miles from Beverley, two pairs of Redshanks were nesting, for the first time, to my knowledge, on May 24th. No doubt the swampy nature of the ground from the recent floods had invited them to remain. The actions of these birds were very interesting and new to me. They toyed about a long time and were very noisy; one of them alighted on some posts and rails near me, whistling and making a chatting noise like the word "chick, chick, chick, chick," repeated any number of times. Presently it rose on the wing and flew a little way, gave a few very rapid vibrations of its wings, then held them pointed downwards in a peculiar manner, reminding one of the Common Sandpiper as it skims along a drain, or a butterfly that has been nipped the wrong way in the net. Every now and again it would return and go through the same performances. A Dunlin in full summer plumage, on the river the same day, was probably on its way to its breeding haunts.

On May 27th four young Redshanks, a few days old, were found, and I regret to say the old female, after five or six unsuccessful shots, was killed, on one of our commons called Swinemoor. This common lies very low, and was once a swampy morass where the Bittern and Redshank held their sway: it is now drained and made into a pasture for cattle and a so-called "recreation ground" for the people. [We regret to learn that the Wild Birds Protection Act is not more respected there. A momentary consideration ought to convince the shooter that a nesting bird is as useless for the table as, from its ragged state of plumage at this season, it must be to the collector.—]