MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 23 



heard her fine clear liquid notes, pursued by five or six swallows, which pecked 

 at her as she flow by; apparently much to her annoyance, for she tried hard 

 by ascending and descending, to escape from her tormentors. — Idem. 



Hooded or Royston Crow, (Corvus cornix.) — October 11th., ISoO, I sjiw a 

 large flock (say twenty,) in Kiveton Park. — Idem. 



Ned of the House Pigeon. — Mr. Rennie in his very interesting little work 

 on "Bird Architecture," page 119, says that this bird never uses tumjs 

 in the formation of its nest. I grant it is not common, but last summer I 

 watched two pairs, very closely, in order to ascertain. They were kept in a 

 pigeon-house in a farm-yard where hay, straw, and twigs lay scattered about 

 in great abundance. The hen bird remained in the hole hard at work, whilst 

 the cock kept her plentifully supplied with miall straight twigs, carefully trying 

 each with his bill before carrying it to his mate. These he deposited on a 

 ledge outside the house, for the hen to use at her convenience. Occasionally 

 the hen would leave the nest, and the cock would walk in and take a survey. 

 This continued for nearly two hours, without intermission. One thing I 

 particularly noticed which would seem to disprove Mr. Ronnie's assertion, that 

 the male bird rejected strmv for twigs; more than once he took a piece of straw 

 into his bill, but dropped it again immediately. — Idem. 



Nesting of Books, (Corvus frugilegus.) — In the work on ^^Bird Architecture," 

 page 1G2, Mr. Rennie says, "Schwenekfeldt remarks that they commonly 

 prefer large trees planted round cemeteries and churchyards; but amongst the 

 numerous rookeries with which we are acquainted, not one occurs in such a 

 locality ;" and Mr. Jenyns and Bewick seem to think they prefer noisy places 

 to more retired ones. Is early all the rookeries I have seen in Devonshire are in 

 retired places, and very many of them in or near churchyards. I will only mention 

 a few in my own immediate neighbourhood, as having fallen imder my notice : 

 Totnes, Devonshire — There was a very large rookery on the elm trees in the 

 churchyard for many years; Dartington, Devonshire — Close by and in the 

 churchyard; Follaton, Devonshire — Near catholic chapel; Sharpham, Devonshire 

 — In a wood overhanging the river Dart, adjoining a heronry. — Idem. 



Curious act of the Martin, (Hirundo urbica.) — In the summer of 1849, a 

 pair of Martins built their nest in an archway at the stables of Woburn 

 Abbey, Bedfordshire, and -as soon as they finished building it, and had lined 

 it, a Sparrow took possession of it, and although the Martins tried several 

 times to eject him, they were unsuccessful, his hard beak being too formidable 

 an obstacle for the tender beaks of the Martins; but they nothing daunted, 

 left his lordship (the Sparrow,) in full possession, and then flew to scour the 

 neighbourhood for help, returning iir a short space of time with about thirty 

 or forty Martins, who went or rather flew in a body to the Sparrow in the 

 nest, and having dragged the unfortunate culprit out, took him to the grass-plot 

 opposite, called the circle ; and there they all fell, pell mell, on him and killed 



