20 1 Queried aJid Amiiccrs. 



bablc. Blindness was out of the question, as botii eyes seemed perfect. I 

 was thus completely puzzled. Thinkiuiij over the affair some time after- 

 wards, a more satisfactory solution of this ornithological p,roblem occurred 

 to me. It is well known that this bird, I believe, more pjirticuhirly than 

 the rest o^ its congeners, is infested Vvith the insects called Hippobosca 

 i/frundinis ; I have, therefore, but little doubt that the poor bird, in a 

 paroxysm of suffering, occasioned by these tormenting insects, dashed itself 

 unheedingly against the wall. I am the more confirmed in this belief by 

 recollecting that several small reddish insects ran about my hand at the 

 time I held the bird. I shall feel much obliged if you, or any of your cor- 

 respondents, would favour me with an opinion on the subject. — O, 

 ClaptoHy Nov, 1831. 



I recollect having found i/irundines alive on the ground thrice in the 

 course of my life : the first (when a schoolboy), //.yi'pus, on longish grass, in 

 a village churchyard ; the second, H. rustica, long after, on a flower-border at 

 the foot o.' a 10 ft. wall; the bird being partially hidden by the plants which 

 grew in the border. Both of these, on being elevated in my hand, flew 

 away : the second, however, but feebly, and for only a short distance. The 

 third was, I am pretty certain, a martin {H. urbica), which I found six 

 or seven years ago, also at the foot of the wall above named. On exa- 

 mining it closely, I soon discovered the cause, without question, of its for- 

 lorn condition ; viz. three luxuriant individuals of the sv.allow tick (Hip- 

 pobosca ifirundinis), which ran so nimbi}', and played at hide and seek so 

 dexterously among the feathers of the bird, that I had some difficulty in 

 securing them. The bird was afterwards set down on the ground to take 

 its chance. These ticks were not, however " small and reddish," as O. 

 describes his to have been, but rather large, and tinged with a bluish green 

 hue : disagreeable objects, but singular in their lanceolate wings, it is 

 possible, and perhaps probable, that the two first-named birds were, from a 

 similar cause, driven in despair to rest on the earth. — J. D. 



The Creeper {Qertkia familidris) resident^ not migratory^ in Lancashire. — • 

 In reply to W. H. White's query (Vol. IV. p. 473.), I have to state that it 

 remains here the whole year. Specimens are numerous in this neighbour- 

 hood, but are not in winter so frequently observed as they otherwise would 

 be, in consequence of their often associating at that time with the different, 

 species of titmouse ; and using the same call-note, which is very different 

 from that used by them when they are in single pairs, as is the case when 

 they are not in company with the titmice. But they are most frequently 

 seen in company with the ox-eye (Parus major), the blue (P. ca^ruleus), 

 cole (P. ater), and marsh titmouse (P. palustris), which associate in small 

 flecks, and use the same call-note as if they were all of one species. — 

 T. G. Clilheroe. Lancashire ^ Jan. 17. 1832. 



The Creeper (Certhiafami/idris) may be occasionally seen in the southern 

 counties throughout the year. I never heard that it was even thought to 

 be migratory. — Edward Kewman. Deptford, Sept. 19. 1831. 



The Creeper {Ccrthla familiar is).— Mr. White asks (Vol. IV. p. 473.), 

 is this bird migratory or not ? As a contribution towards an answer, I beg 

 to say it is by no means uncommon in this neighbourhood during summer j 

 but of it in winter I can only say that I saw one shot here either in the 

 end of December, 1830, or early in January, 1831. — IIe7irj/ Turner. Biny 

 SL Edm unds, Oct. 24.1831. 



In Kensington Gardens this bird may be seen through the winter. I saw 

 it thera in the middle of November, and in the end of January, 1832. At 

 both times it was most diligently occa{)ied in entom.ological research : in the 

 first case it was exploring the bark of a tall acacia tree (Cobbett's locust 

 tree, llobinia Pseud-y'/cacia L.). The surface of the trunk of an acacia tree 

 is very uneven, exhibiting deep irregular longitudinal grooves, besides the 

 prevalence of chinks in the bark, as is common to all trcL-s, but which 



