20 EXCHANGE. 



disturbing the birds, for they hatched and brought up four nestlings, which 

 were frequently seen sitting with the parents on the spreading branches of 

 their paternal tree; but no song was heard from the offspring, though 

 instances have been authenticated of their very early indulgence in song. 

 The exterior of the nest was formed of dry leaves of the lime, proving 

 that, in the absence of oak leaves, this bird, like many others, adopts 

 what is to be met with, and so "suits itself to circumstances". — George 

 II. Twinn, Birmingham, October 2nd., 1856. 



An agricultural gentleman I was recently visiting in Norfolk shewed 

 me in his garden an apple tree, the lower part of the trunk of which had a 

 hole about two feet and a half from the soil; a stick had often been 

 thrust in, and found to travel down much farther, shewing the hollowness 

 of the tree; the diameter of the opening was larger at the side of the 

 tree than it was when once the hollow began to descend. In this hole 

 a pair of Blackbirds stuck their nest, and plastered it securely in. One 

 morning a burrow was found at the bottom of the tree, proving that a 

 Rat must have been blocked up by the nest, and not liking "durance 

 vile," had worked a passage out. Having no desire to remove his home, 

 he kept to his lair at the foot of the tree, entering by the hole he had 

 newly formed; but his days were doomed, after the discovery of his 

 burrow, for he fell into the "tender embrace" of a deadly trap. — Idem. 



As we were driving one day (July 11th.) by the gate of a corn-field, 

 we stopped to gather an ear that was black with smut. Getting over 

 the gate, we found a small pond on our left, thickly grown round with 

 bushes, from which five young Kingfishers rose. I think we certainly are 

 losing this bird from the vicinity of dwellings, for I enquired relative to 

 its haunting a mill-stream, where I had, some few years ago, known it 

 breed three times in the season, and found that now it was never seen 

 there, nor could I get any information to form a conclusion as to the 

 cause. — Idem. 



I saw at the village of Runhall several specimens of the Fly Orchis, 

 gathered by a cottager in her little paddock. She imagined she had found 

 a prize, and so to her they were, for she conveyed the plants to a highly- 

 respectable florist in Norwich, and received for them seeds useful for her 

 garden. I also met with a fine bunch of the Canterbury Bell, with blossoms 

 much larger than when under cultivation. — Idem. 



fejnrage. 



Sea, Land, and Fresh-water Shells, for exchange.-^J?#e»4iRicK M. Burton, 

 Uppingham, Rutland. /^A' \l?- }<V* 



