24 JANUARY 1931, Page 15

The whole race in Britain, as in Scotland, is strangely

devoted to man and his habitations. I knew of one, in a famous aviary, that played a regular game of hide-and-seek with its attendant. A pied wagtail in my own garden used to play a game of catch-me-if-you-can with a terrier pup. All onlookers were convinced that the bird actually enjoyed the sallies of the pup in his direction and teased him by waiting till the last moment-to evade the rush. All country gardeners know how the fly-catcher prefers a creeper on, a wall before any other nesting place. " Jacky " and " Fanny " in Australia seem to have like preferences.

W. BEACH THOMAS.