School: Ballyhahill (C.) (roll number 10686)

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1. Bird-Lore

   

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   Bird Lore
   There are many wild birds found around here.... thrush, lark, blackbird, wren, robin, magpie, crow, seagull, curlew, yellow hammer, wagtail, snipe, hawk, cuckoo, swallow and the corncrake. The last three are migratory birds, that is they leave us in the autumn, and go to the sunny south. They come back again at the end of Spring.
   Old swallows leave us in September, and the young ones in October. These birds generally build their nests in under the roof of an old barn or shed, and in cow-houses. The cuckoo flies away in July. She builds a nest, but usually lays her egg on the ground then takes it up in her bill and deposits it in the nest of an insect-feeder, such as the hedge-sparrow, or pud(?) wagtail. Sometimes small birds mistake the cuckoo for a hawk, and they gather around to mob her.
   Blackbirds and thrushes build their nests in bushes. They make them of sticks, mud, moss, and hair, and the eggs take three weeks to hatch. It may be remarked here that the cuckoo's egg takes only a fortnight to hatch out. the robin and the wren both build their nest on the sheltered side of an earthen fence. The magpie and the crow build their nest on tall trees. To prevent children from robbing birds' nests they are told they well get sore hands and sore bodies if they do so.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. animal-lore (~1,185)
         1. bird-lore (~2,478)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Annetta Dalton

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Cloonlahard East, Co. Limerick

   Informant

   Mrs James Dalton

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   81

   Address

   Cloonlahard East, Co. Limerick