. British birds. Birds. LETTERS SPORADIC NESTING. To the Editorfi of British Bibds. Sirs,—Mr. Buiiyard, in reply to iny request for information as to the grounds upon which he bases his opinion that the Hobby and Grasshopper-Warbler are sporadic in their nesting-habits, studiously avoids any attempt to substantiate his assertions by facts. In reply to the points raised by his letter in your October issue : I did not suggest a better definition because I was discussing the term as actually applied by your correspondent to the Hobby and Grasshopper-Warbler. I did not mention Hawfinch because I a
. British birds. Birds. LETTERS SPORADIC NESTING. To the Editorfi of British Bibds. Sirs,—Mr. Buiiyard, in reply to iny request for information as to the grounds upon which he bases his opinion that the Hobby and Grasshopper-Warbler are sporadic in their nesting-habits, studiously avoids any attempt to substantiate his assertions by facts. In reply to the points raised by his letter in your October issue : I did not suggest a better definition because I was discussing the term as actually applied by your correspondent to the Hobby and Grasshopper-Warbler. I did not mention Hawfinch because I agreed that this species was, like the Crossbill, a sporadic breeder in England, though in a very different degree. Mr. Witherby has ample grounds — after the latest irruption of the Crossbill as a breeding species in England, in conjunction with previous authentic records—to term this species " sporadic " ; but the cases of Hobby and Grasshopper-Warbler are totally different, and, I submit, still require to be proved. In my opinion " sporadic," as applied to the nesting of wild birds, implies " irregular in occurrence, as the result of nomadic tendencies or of ; Thus, I should describe as sporadic the nesting ot Pallas's Sand-Grouse and Crossbill, and the appearances of the clouded- yellow butterfly in England. The dictionary assigns such meanings to the word as " single," " separate," etc., but such scarcely seem to apply to the context, otherwise all birds which were not gregarious would fall under this head—excluding Crossbill and Hawfinch as semi-gregarious, or at least social, while including Hobby. In deducing generalities from statistical records, due allowance must be made for various appearances and disappearances seemingly within the above category. Thus : First appearances are not per se sporadic, as some young birds will select new breeding-places. Or, a bird may be blown out of its course and accordi
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