Clydeside Orchards The orchards that slope down to the Clyde
are of singular loveliness and are normally much beloved of birds. Can it be true that the birds (always excepting blackbirds and thrushes) are deserting them ? It is, I think, a common lament this year—certainly in counties as far apart as Hereford and Hertford—that the flycatchers are very rare and, some say, the redstart. Indeed my own impression is that a good many of the warblers are rather few, with the notable exception of the nightingale ; and whitethroats are numerous enough (though not in such quantity as my corre- spondent remembers). The warblers are of course great eaters of insects and few of them eat fruit. Their diminution, if general in the north, would be a serious loss to the fruit grower. Is this experience on the Clyde shared elsewhere ? In the south many cherry orchards have been entirely stripped by finches, thrushes and by starlings who are the worst
enemy. Their taste for fruit seems to be on the increase. Even apples are not despised.
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