In Montagu's "Ornithological Dictionary," under the article "Song
of Birds," there is the following remark: "Regarding the note of
alarm which birds utter on the approach of their natural enemies,
whether a Hawk, an Owl, or a Cat, we consider it to be a general
language perfectly understood by all small birds, though each
species has a note peculiar to itself." I was last April very much
pleased at witnessing an illustration of the truth of this
opinion. I found a nest of young Throstles at the root of a hazel,
and although they could scarcely fly, yet as they were near a
footpath, and the next day was Sunday, when many idle and
mischievous lads would be rambling about, I thought they would be
safer out of their nest than in it; and as I knew that when so far
fledged, if they were once disturbed they would not continue in
the nest, I took one from the nest and made it cry out, and then
put it back again; but in one minute, not only it but its three
companions had disappeared in the long dry grass which was round
about. On hearing the cry of their young one, the parent bird set
up such shrieks of alarm as brought all the birds in the wood to
see what was the matter. I noticed the Blackbird, the Chaffinch,
the Titlark, the Robin, the Oxeye (greater Titmouse), the Blue and
Marsh Titmouse, and the Wren all uttering their cries of alarm and
apprehension; even the golden-crested Wren, which usually seems to
care for nothing, was as forward and persevering as any of them in
expressing its fears on this occasion; indeed, the only bird which
seemed indifferent to all these manifestations of alarm was the
Creeper, which continued its anxious and incessant search for
food, as it flitted from one tree to another, examining them from
root to branch without ever seeming to understand or to care for
what seemed to have so much frightened the others. (June 30th,
1832.)
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DATES OF THE APPEARANCE OF SOME SPRING BIRDS IN 1832, AT
CLITHEROE.
Young Rooks heard, 5th April; House Martin seen, 14th; Sandpiper,
14th; Willow Wren, Spring Wagtail, and Redstart, 17th; Wheatear,
19th (this is generally the first spring bird seen); Sand Martin
and Swallow, 22nd; Cuckoo heard, 26th; Wood Wren, Blackcap, and
Whinchat, 28th; Mocking-bird and Whitethroat, 4th May; Swift, 7th;
Flycatcher, 11th; and Fieldfares were not seen until the 2nd of
May, which is later than I ever observed them before. (In the
parish of Allesby, near Coventry, Fieldfares were observed as late
as the 14th of May.)
No doubt many of these birds were in the neighbourhood earlier
than the dates I have attached to them, but they are the periods
at which I saw or heard them.
The study of Natural History is perhaps as little followed in this
neighbourhood as in any part of the kingdom, notwithstanding the
facilities which are offered. Our flora is beautiful, varied, and
possesses many rare plants, yet I only know of two herbaria; the
birds are abundant, yet there is but one collector of them; and as
for insects, although I frequently take what I consider rare
species, yet I cannot find an entomologist in the whole district,
or I would send them to him.
In conclusion, allow me to say, that the leisure hours a somewhat
busy life has enabled me to spend in these pursuits, have been
some of the happiest of my existence, and have awakened and
cherished such an admiration of nature and such a love for the
country and its scenes, as I think can never be appreciated by the
inhabitants of large towns, and which I cannot describe so well as
in the words of one of my friends in a beautiful apostrophe to
England, when leaving it--never to return: [11]--
"To thee Whose fields first fed my childish fantasy, Whose
mountains were my boyhood's wild delight, Whose rocks, and woods,
and torrents were to me The food of my soul's youthful appetite;
Were music to my ear--a blessing to my sight."
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