Alfred Newton partridge. Birds became an abiding interest. Those included the great bustard ("Otis tarda"), Montagu's harrier ("Circus pygargus"), ravens, buzzards ("Buteo" sp.), redpolls, wrynecks ("Jynx"), which are small woodpeckers that specialise in feeding on ants. "The vast warrens of the 'Breck', the woods and water-meadows of the valley of the Little Ouse, and the neighbouring Fenland made an ideal training-ground for a naturalist". This enthusiasm Newton shared with his younger brother Edward: the two carried out bird observation when they were together and corresponded when they were apart. In 1846 Newton went to a tutor in Biggleswade for a few months,
Two Little Dickie Birds out of sight of the child, will mark in some conspicuous way the nail of the index finger of one hand and the nail of the second finger of the other hand. Both hands are then shown to the child as fists (folded fingers downwards) with the two fingers with marked nails pointing forward – these represent Peter and Paul. As the rhyme is recited, the hand actions are: Two Little Dickie Birds "Two Little Dickie Birds" or "Two Little Black Birds" is an English language nursery rhyme and fingerplay. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 16401.