Rarae Ayes
There has never been a year' I should think, when so many rare birds were recorded in this island. Whether the wonderful summer Wai the cause, or the developing popularity of our island, I do not know. A large number of the records have been published, one the other day on the chief news page of The Times. Hoopoes and golden. orioles have been numerous, and hopes of their breeding ran high ; and there is no known reason why they should not breed here. Nightingales, numerous in old haunts, very widely extended their range, especially towards the north. A whole bevy of rare appearances is still to be made public, l believe, especially from the now thoroly. organised obssrvation posts on the north-east coast. What has elt'astonished me in the little I know of these observations—which will appear first in technical publica- tions—is the account of the migratidis of birds we commonly regard as more or less sfatic and home-keeping, 'tie greater spotted woodpecker, for example. Of the birds that have permanently, it is hoped, returned after a regrettable absence, examples are the kite in the west and the avocet in the east. The increasing popularity of London and its neighbourhood is a strange phenomenoti.' Can anyone, for example, attempt to explain why the black redstart should turn cockney?
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