BIRDS AND BERRIES
'We have a somewhat untidy blackberry hedge on one side of our back garden, and blackbirds search the ground below for fallen, ripe berries,' writes Mr. S. Bone, of Wembley Hill. 'They also do' a sort of combined jump and flutter to knock off projecting berries from detached horizontal sprays that are near the ground. Thrushes search the ground only. Sparrows do not seem to care for them; pigeons go for near-by elderberries only; star- lings seldom go near the blackberries. The migrating birds that came to the garden some twenty years back have been driven to feed and rest farther out by the increase of houses, so my list is short. Mice brave the logan- berries' prickles and admire my typing through the window of my den.' I was interested to hear again of the fluttering.by means of which blackbirds knock down wild fruit. I have been fascinated to see them do the same sort of thing on branches of ripe rowans and some- times on elderberries. They seem to prefer to do this rather than to perch and depress the slender branches.
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