Abstract
I QUITE agree with Mr. Barrington, who writes in NATURE (vol. xii. p. 213) concerning the scarcity of birds. I find, by comparing my last year's ornithological diary with the present year's one, that I have only found about three-fourths of the number of Blackbirds' (Turdus merula), Thrushes' (Turdus musicus), Blue Titmouses' (Parus cæruleus), Pied Wagtails' (Motacilla alba), Greenfinches' (Coccothraustes cloris), Linnets' (Linota cannabina) nests that I found last year. The Hirundinidæ have been far less plentiful than usual; but the Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans) was the rarest bird here this summer. I did not succeed in finding a single nest, although our yearly average is fifteen. Other birds, as the Charadriidæ and the Mussel Thrush (Turdus viscivorus), have been very plentiful, and I found the Mountain Linnet's (Linota montium) nest for the first time I have ever met with it on the lowland south of the Humber. Will not the hard frost of last winter account for the scarcity of our native birds in some measure?
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PEACOCK, A. Scarcity of Birds. Nature 12, 534 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/012534b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/012534b0
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