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NOTES. CARRION CROW DISPLAYING to HOODED CROW. on March 13Th, 1949,1 Was Watching a Single Hooded Crow (Corvus Comix) on the Heath Near Icklingham, Suffolk

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NOTES. CARRION CROW DISPLAYING to HOODED CROW. on March 13Th, 1949,1 Was Watching a Single Hooded Crow (Corvus Comix) on the Heath Near Icklingham, Suffolk (242) NOTES. CARRION CROW DISPLAYING TO HOODED CROW. ON March 13th, 1949,1 was watching a single Hooded Crow (Corvus comix) on the heath near Icklingham, Suffolk. A Carrion Crow [Corvus corone) settled near by and hopped up close to the Hoodie which however took no notice but continued feeding on some objects on the ground. The Carrion Crow then retreated a few yards and jumped up in the air alighting close to where it left the ground. This was repeated several times but evoked no response from the feeding bird and the Carrion Crow flew away. On reference to The Handbook I was surprised to find this type of display attributed to the Hooded Crow only. C. F. TEBBUTT. [Although the type of display referred to does not appear to have been recorded in the Carrion Crow it cannot be doubted that the displays of the two birds are really identical. As is well known they interbreed freely where the ranges of the two forms meet, as in Scotland, and it has been held with much justice that they should be regarded as forms of one species [cf. antea, pp. 165-166)—EDS.] COITION OF CARRION CROW ON GROUND. WITH reference to the Carrion Crow [Corvus corone) The Handbook of British Birds (Vol. 1, p. 15) states : " Coition observed both on nest and in neighbouring tree." In the circumstances it may be of interest to record that on the afternoon of March 13th, 1949, in a pasture at Low Gosforth, Northumberland, I observed a pair of Carrion Crows in the act of copulating on the ground, the cock being mounted on the hen with wings flapping. When they separated the hen moved forward with tail feathers outspread. C. J. GENT. JAYS EATING PLANE BUDS. ON several occasions in late March, 1948, whilst watching Jays [Garrulus glandarius) in Kensington Gardens, I saw them eat the buds of the plane trees. At first I thought they might merely be pulling them to pieces, but close observation through 9 x 35 binoculars showed that although much of the bud was discarded along with its brownish outer coat a portion was swallowed, or, in some cases, retained in the gullet for use in courtship-feeding. It seems possible that deficiencies in the diet of town birds may make them consume green food that would not otherwise appeal to them : I have noticed London House-Sparrows [Passer domesticus) habitually devouring the buds of ornamental fruit trees inaBullfinch- like manner ; and at an Army Camp in Egypt in 1945 the House- Sparrows, whose food seemed to consist almost entirely of bread scraps, would eat completely any young grass shoots as soon as they discovered them, whilst similar behaviour by improperly fed captive birds is of course commonplace. DEREK GOODWIN. [In the report [antea, Vol. xxxiii, p. 92) of the enquiry into bud destruction by birds, the late Sir J. C. F. Fryer writes : " The VOL. XLII.] NOTES. 243 results indicate that the buds of bushes or treees have become a definite part of the [House-Sparrow's] diet." The habit does not seem to be confined to town birds, but also occurs in the country. —EDS.] " INJURY-FEIGNING " OF CHAFFINCH. ON about a dozen days during May and June, 1948, I visited the nest of a Chaffinch (Fringilla ccdebs) in a wood near Altrincham, Cheshire, and each time the hen bird " injury-feigned" as I approached the nest. The first few days the hen was laying, but she still fluttered off the nest and fell to the ground dragging one wing behind her and fanning her tail. During incubation the performance grew more strong and excited and the bird would run round me dragging her wing. JOHN SOUTHERN. ON June 6th, 1948, as I was walking along the road from Llang- mynech to Llansantffraid, on the Shropshire-Montgomery border, I saw a hen Chaffinch (Fringilla Calebs) cross the road in front of me to feed young in a nest in the roadside hedge. As I returned I was hugging that side of the road, which had no footpath, almost brushing the hedge. The cock Chaffinch came out of the hedge, between two and three feet from the ground, and dropped down almost on to the road, only inches in front of me. He opened his wings, puffed out his feathers, and skimmed just on the surface. He must have flown, but yet seemed only to be fluttering his wings. Although he was very close to the surface of the road I am sure that he did not touch it. The tail was partly fanned. He disappeared into the hedge on the other side of the road. His action was very similar to that of a Reed-Bunting (Emberiza schceniclus) nesting in a tuft of rushes on the narrow division between two pools in an old brickfield at Pool Quay, on May 24th. The first time this bird was disturbed it went as usual along the division. The second time I prevented this and it gave an " injury-display " across the pool. It was almost exactly like that of the Chaffinch and I was amazed that it could keep so close to the water and not touch it. This is the only occasion that I have seen a Chaffinch " feign injury " and I have met no one who has seen one. I may add thatxalthough the action was clearly of a type covered by the term " injury-feigning " it was not particularly suggestive of injury, as many such displays are, so that the more general term " distraction display " would perhaps be more applicable. J. H. OWEN. " INJURY-FEIGNING " OF YELLOW WAGTAIL. WITH reference to Dr. G. Beven's note on " injury-feigning " of Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) (antea, vol. xli, p. 274) we should like to record that we witnessed " injury-feigning " of Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava flavissima) on June 19th, 1948. We were walking along the shore at Stert, Somerset, with our dog, when 244 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XLII. we observed a hen Yellow Wagtail calling excitedly from a fence. As the dog approached the bird flew to the ground and fluttered along for a few yards trailing one wing, and still calling—it then flew to a wall and kept some distance from us. A brief search, which was all we had time for, revealed no sign of nest or young, but after we had moved on the bird flew back to the same spot. D. & M. SUMMERS-SMITH. SPRING ROOST OF YELLOW WAGTAILS. ON April 18th, 1949, in company with J. S. S. Beesley, J. F. Burton and A. H. Macpherson, we were able to observe at a reed-bed at Fairfield, Walland Marsh, Kent, an unusual roost of some 40-50 Yellow Wagtails. The birds were seen to fly in just before dusk in ones and twos and go straight into the reed bed. We disturbed and examined the birds carefully and found them to comprise ordinary Yellow Wagtails (Motacilla flava flavissima) and at least four of the Blue- headed race {Motacilla f. flava). The same locality was visited an hour after dawn on April 19th, but the birds had all dispersed. At dusk the same day two of us (G. E. M. & D. F. 0.) paid a third visit and made observations comparable exactly with those of the previous evening. As The Handbook does not mention pre-nesting roosting, we feel it worth while placing our observations on record. G. E. MANSER AND D. F. OWEN. [I have several records of similar behaviour by males, e.g. a flock of about 15, with hundreds of Pied Wagtails (M. alba yarrellii), roosting in a reed-bed by a Cheshire mere, April 21st, 1913 ; a party of 20 to 30 roosting in a reed-bed, April 23rd, 1928. The habit may therefore be commoner than is suggested by the apparent absence of any published records.—A.W.B.] LONG FLEDGING-PERIOD OF TREE-CREEPER. A pair of Tree - Creepers (Certhia familiaris) at Sampford Arundel, Somerset, began to carry nesting material behind a piece of loose bark on an acacia tree on April 17th, 1949. On May 17th, 30 days later, the young were being fed. They may have hatched out a day earlier, as on the 16th I saw the birds go to the nest four times between 8.10 and 8.30 a.m., but on the 17th I watched from 9.45 to 11 a.m. and saw both birds carrying in food continually. The young ones flew on June 5th. This gives a fledging period of certainly 19, and possibly 20 days. The Handbook gives the normal period as 14-15 days. E. M. WILLIAMS. FIRECREST IN PEMBROKESHIRE. ON April 17th, 1949, a Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus) was trapped on Skokholm Island, Pembrokeshire. It was thought to be a female. It remained in the garden throughout the afternoon of VOL. XLIL] -NOTES. 245 that day, and in the vicinity of the traps on April 18th. The bird was remarkably tame, allowing four people to photograph it from a distance of about three or four feet. This is apparently the first record for Pembrokeshire. P. J. CONDER AND JOAN KEIGHLEY. [We understand that in some parts of the country Firecrests were present in unusual numbers during the winter of 1948-9. We would welcome records of any not yet reported to us—EDS.] LEG COLOUR OF WILLOW-WARBLER. A Heligoland type trap was established at Fayid (Egypt) on March 17th, 1949, and by March 27th, six Willow-Warblers (Phyllo- scopus trochilus), all identified by wing-formula, had been caught and ringed.
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