Search

Monthly marathon

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper January's problem photograph (plate 10) was named as Shore Lark Eremophila alpestris (59%) , Lesser Short-toed Lark Calandrella rufescens (12%), Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis (6%), Short-toed Lark C. brachydactyla (4%), Skylark...

Mystery photographs

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper The bird in question is clearly a small passerine. The hefty bill is indicative of a lark (Alaudidae), finch (Fringillidae), bunting (Emberizidae) or sparrow (Passeridae). Bunting can go for a start, as the structure of the bill is all wrong: our ...

Obituary: Horace Gundry Alexander

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper When Horace Alexander died in Pennsylvania on 30th September 1989, aged 100, he left a reputation in ornithology as the complete enthusiast. 'HG', as he was referred to in distinction from his also-famous birdwatching brother 'WB', took down-to-earth p...

PhotoSpot: 30. Spectacled Eider

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper The four species of eider Somateria/Polysticta are a diverse bunch. The males differ greatly, while, although there is the potential for confusion between female Eider S. mollissima and female King Eider S. spectabilis, the female Spectacled Eider...

Crag Martins in Cornwall and East Sussex: new to Britainand Ireland

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper Having been long awaited as an addition to the British and Irish list, two single Crag Martins Ptyonoprogne rupestris occurred within 17 days of each other in mid summer 1988. The first account is by PH: On the afternoon of 22nd June 1988, I ...

Product reports

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper Items included in this feature have been submitted by the manufacturers or their agents. The reviews are the personal opinions of the reviewers; they are not the result of technical tests, but are assessments made after use in appropriate conditions (e...

Breeding biology of the Grasshopper Warbler in Britain

01 April 1990 Comments Main paper Secretive, mouse-like, with a boldly striated plumage that blends beautifully with the ground herbage in which it nests, the Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia presents one of the hardest nest-finding challenges in Britain (Campbell & Ferguson-L...

Recovery of marked birds

01 February 1938 Comments Main paper Rawdon (Yorks), 24.4.37, by Bramhope (Yorks), 15.7.37. C. Wontner-Smith. Ditto 4-S-37- Allerton (Yorks), 13.8.37. Stodmarsh (Kent), 16.4.33, by Where ringed, --.9.37. Oxford Orn. Soc. R I N G E D AS FULL-GROWN. Gt. Budworth (Ches), 17.7.35, Acton Bridge ...

Birds seen in two winter transects of the North Atlantic

01 February 1938 Comments Main paper bird-counts of the North Atlantic crossing have already appeared, and in these the significance of the figures has been fully discussed. The most comprehensive is by V. C. Wynne-Edwards (Proc. Boston Soc, Nat. Hist., Vol. XL., No. 4, pp. 233-346. January,...

Notes on the Gannetries of Sule Stack and Sula Sgeir

01 February 1938 Comments Main paper (Plate I I . ) IT may be safely said that in a quarter of a century no new information has been added to our previous knowledge of the gannetry of Sule Stack, and with the exception of my notes on Sula Sgeir [10]* these same remarks apply to this latter g...

Stay at the forefront of British birding by taking out a subscription to British Birds.

Subscribe Now