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 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. Modern versions of the lyrics include: The rhyme was first recorded when published in "Mother Goose's Melody" in London around 1765. In this version the names of the birds were Jack and Gill: These names seem to have been replaced with the apostles Peter and Paul in the 19th century. In American English, the variant "Two Little Blackbirds" is more common. <poem> Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill.