MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 21 



The Swift, (Cypselus apus.) — The stay of the Swifts has been unusually protracted in this 

 neighbourhood this year. They appeared pretty regularly up to the 19th. of August, and again 

 to day, the 26tli., I saw three or four. WTiite, of Selbomo, mentions the usual time of their 

 departm-e as the first few days in August, and refers to the appearance of the bird as late as 

 the 27th. as a very unusual occurrence. Markwick, in his Calendar, which is compared with 

 that of White, in one edition of the work of the latter, mentions August 11th. as the last date 

 of his observations of the Swift. Yarrell says they usually leave by the middle of August. I 

 attribute this protracted stay to an abundant population in the insect world. — J. C. Wilson, 

 Heading, August 26th., 1852. 



I have to add to the above note, that I saw one as late as the 17th. of September. That 

 I was not mistaken I am quite sure, as I am well acquainted with its flight and appearance. 

 It did not appear to be migrating, but was hawking about for flies as usual in summer. — ■ 

 J. C. W., October 14th., 1852. 



The Pied FlycatcJier, (Muscicapa atricapilla.) — A specimen of this bird was shot at Worthing, 

 on the 17th. of September last. It is either a young male of the year, or a female; though 

 which I cannot say with certainty, never having had opportunities of comparing specimens, — 

 Idem. 



Martins in London. — October 8th., 1852. This day I saw numbers of Martins, {Kirtmdo 

 urbica,) in several of the streets in London; they were apparently hawking for flics, and were 

 especially numerous in that densely crowded thoroughfare, the High Street, Southwark, and 

 in the immediate vicinity of London Bridge. The weather is very cold, and many of these 

 birds have been observed in other parts of the town numbed, and scarcely able to fly. — E. K. B. 



Note on the Frog, (Eana temporaria.)— I was sitting in my drawing-room this very wet morning, 

 when I was called away from my book by the sudden exclamation from one of the children, 

 "Here's a Frog crawling up the window!" Strange as was the intelligence, it proved 4;o be true. 

 With arms and legs expanded on the wet glass, and adhering to it with all the under surface 

 of the body, sprawled a half-grown Frog, motionless, but with sparkling eyes, and breathing 

 naturally, as the rising and falling cheeks clearly proved. After resting a few minutes it began 

 to stir, and with remai'kable activity ascended several inches, moving its limbs exactly as a 

 sailor does when climbing the shrouds. Again it became stationary, supporting itself, however, 

 without eflibrt, and soon after mounted another stage. A third movement, a sidelong one, 

 brought it to the wooden frame of the glass, which it partially crossed, clinging to it with 

 one hand, and adhering to the glass with the other hand , its throat, and chest, the legs hanging 

 free. Its hold now was evidently not secure, and in about a minute it fell back upon the 

 window-sill outside. About four feet below the window is an iron grating, placed over a pit, 

 constnicted to admit light into a cellar window. In this pit a number of Frogs had taken 

 refuge in the scorching weather of August, and here, I supposed, they were doomed to spend 

 the rest of their lives ; but this ambitious traveller must have taken advantage of the wet weather 

 to climb four or five foot of rough masonry, four feet more of smooth psdnted wall, and about 

 ten inches of polished glass. Is this climbing power of Frogs known, and may it not help to 

 account for the strange situations in wluch the batrachian tribe are sometimes found. —C. A. J. 

 Callipers Hall, Eickmansworth, September 18th., 1852. 



The Locust, (Locusta migratoria,) at Redear. — A boy captured here on Saturday morning, 

 September 11th., a specimen of Loeusta migratoria, and another was captured in the village, 

 the same day. — T. S. Eudd, Esq., in a letter to the Editor. 



Capture of the Death's Head Moth, (Acherontia Atropos.) — On the 28th. of last May this rare 

 and splendid iloth was taken in a house not far from where I live. The inmates were quite 

 amazed, and the neighbours were called in to see the "monster;" the better however to exhibit 

 poor "Death" to the wondering, gaping throng, they tumbled him into a glass, and he was 

 there kept till "Life" had nigh "run out of Death." It is now taken better care of, and is, 

 after all, a very fair specimen. —William Bond, Frog Island, Leicester, October 2nd., 1852. 



Acherontia Atropos at Redear. — Several specimens of the Death's Head Hawk Moth have occurred 

 here lately.— D. Fkrguson, Eedcar, October 26th., 1852. 



