NOTES 21 



Late Nesting of the Dipper It may be worthy of record 

 that, as late as 6th September 191 7, my friend Mr Cecil Laurie saw 

 a Dipper flying backwards and forwards to its nest, in a railway 

 bridge, on the River Cairn, Dumfriesshire. Next day he procured a 

 ladder and found, from the condition of the nest, that the young 

 ones had only just flown. H. S. Gladstone. 



Swallows building in Trees. I am told by Captain T. S. 

 Morrin, R.A.M.C., that it is quite common to see Swallows building 

 in trees in France under present conditions, where the buildings 

 have all been levelled. He mentioned one poplar tree that had 

 escaped being cut down by the Germans in their retreat, and it had 

 at least a dozen nests in it, the lowest being about 10 feet from the 

 ground, and others wherever the birds could get a lodgment for the 

 nest. This was the only tree standing in this locality. He also 

 spoke of them nesting in the dug-outs, and the birds showed no fear 

 of man at all, although building within a yard of the men only, as 

 he said, "they made a devil of a mess," but the men were only too 

 glad to have them in spite of this. Capt. Morrin also spoke of them 

 nesting inside a water-tank left by the Germans. It was lying on a 

 heap of scrap, and through a hole the birds entered and had a nest 

 in each of the corners. Capt. Morrin is not quite sure if it was 

 Chimney Swallows only that built in the trees, but he speaks of seeing 

 both them and the House-martins. I have not seen any reference 

 to this change of habit due to the removal of their accustomed 

 nesting places by the devastation of war, and I thought a note might 

 be of interest for the Scottish Naturalist. Charles Kirk, Glasgow. 



The Swift near Glasgow in September. At Muirend the 

 Swift lingered later than usual this autumn (191 7). In September I 

 noted one bird on the 1st, fourteen on 2nd and 3rd, three on 5th, 

 six on 6th, three from 7th to 9th, and one from 10th to 15th. 

 John Rorertson. 



Kite in Perthshire. During a recent holiday spent in the 

 Loch Ard district the writer's attention was attracted from fishinsi 

 by the unmistakable screech of a Peregrine. As it was a brilliantly 

 fine day it was with difficulty that the bird was eventually located 

 very high up, circling round a large bird. With the aid of binoculars 

 it was observed that there was a pair of Peregrines attacking a much 

 larger and heavier hawk, having a deeply forked tail presumably 

 a Kite. All three birds passed over at a much lower altitude than 

 when first seen, and enabled the observer to distinguish, by their 



