The Bromsgrovian/Volume 2/Number 5/Notes on the Natural History of Bromsgrove
It is perhaps not known by everybody here how many interesting objects of Natural History there are to be found round Bromsgrove.
Let us confine ourselves to the birds. There is no lack of variety, for we have the red-backed shrike, the green woodpecker, the golden-crested regulus, the black redstart, and the long-tailed titmouse, the "short-tailed" kingfisher, the "long-legged" heron, and we must not leave out the chiff-chaff and the brambling finch. I will try and show where anyone who wishes to watch these birds should look for them. The red-backed shrike, or butcher bird, as it is commonly called, has its home near Grafton Manor. It builds its nest fairly high up in a thorn hedge and is easy to find, as the old birds fly about and utter a shrill grating noise when anyone comes near. It lays four or five eggs of a light yellowish colour with a ring of darker spots round the larger end. The green woodpecker's nest, on the other hand, is not half so easily discovered, being built deep down in the trunk of a tree. Perhaps "nest" is not the right word, for it does not build one, but lays its five to seven eggs on a layer of decayed wood at the bottom of the hole. This bird, although the commonest variety of all our British woodpeckers, is by no means the least handsome. The eggs are of a pure white. The golden-crested regulus builds an exquisite little nest, which it sometimes suspends under the branch of a tree, but which may often be found in other places. It is made of grass and wood, lined inside with feathers. The egg is very small and something like a diminutive robin's. The kingfisher is to be seen on the stream near Sugar Brook. It builds its nest, which is composed of small fish bones, in an upward-sloping hole in the bank of a stream, and deposits therein. five or six very round white eggs, which before being blown have a beautiful light-pink colour. Anyone who has once seen the flight of this most beautiful of British birds will never forget it. It darts past you like an arrow, and the metallic green of its back sparkles in the rays of the sun. I have only met with the black redstart once in this neighbourhood, and then I found it close to the railway, about 500 yards below the station. I am not quite certain whether this bird always builds in the holes of trees, but I believe it does. The eggs, like those of the kingfisher, are of a snowy whiteness. The long-tailed titmouse or bottle tit, as it is sometimes called, builds a nest of a size which is very large, if we compare it with that of the bird itself, and is oval in shape, with the entrance on one side near the top. The outside is covered with lichens, which give a very beautiful appearance to it. This bird lays from two to twelve eggs, very small and white, the least bit speckled with minute red spots. The colouring in this little bird is not at all brilliant, but its sharp, quick movements, and funny ways, make it none the less very interesting. The hen takes upon herself all the cares of building the nest, while the cock, no doubt, is amusing himself elsewhere. The chiff-chaff is one of our earliest arrivals in Spring. Its nest is made of grass covered with dead leaves, the whole being deftly fashioned into a dome and lined inside with feathers. It is placed very near the ground and sometimes on it in a hedgerow. The eggs are six in number, and are white with rather big reddish spots. I am told that the heron is by no means rare about Bromsgrove. As recently as last term I saw one fly over the play-ground at eight in the morning. It generally builds on the top of large trees, especially oaks and firs. It lays four or five eggs of a pale green colour. Before I finish I would remind your readers that it is now summer term, when any time that can be spared from the cricket field, the tennis court, and the bathing place, may be spent at least as healthily in the fields and woods, where I recommend everyone to go and watch the birds and their ways for himself.