"WATFORD NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XI 



Some years ago a certain number of I/ondcm sparrows made the discovery — to 

 them perfectly new ' that at the base of the crocus there is a small globule of 

 honey. They cut off all the flowers ihey came across; and the sparrows as tar 

 down in the country as this had now found it out. It was a very curious 

 instance of the way in which birds hud the power of imparting knowledge to other 

 birds. "With regard to the removal of eggs by the partridge, he could not help 

 thinking that they must have been removed by some other two-legged animal. 

 We had in this district two varieties of the partridge — the French and the 

 English — and he was inclined to think that the French variety was gaining 

 ground, there being a larger number now to be found than formerly. He 

 thought that the idea of Dr. Johnson, as to swallows" conglobulating " together, 

 was derived by him from books rather than from nature, — thei'e was some 

 mention in history of swallows descending to the bottom of Lough Neagh, 

 in Ireland, and being dragged up by fishermen in their nets. There was one very 

 curious feature with regard to starlings, namely that, although not migratory 

 birds, they had a way of assembling in the autumn in the same maimer as 

 migratory birds ; and it had been suggested that it was probably the remnant of 

 habits they had when the climate was more severe than at present, and they had 

 to migrate, as they were not under the necessity of doing now. That brought 

 their minds to oneof the geological features in connexion with this paper, and 

 he thought they would all acknowledge the truth of the concluding remarks 

 relative to the view we take of creative power. 



Numerous stuffed specimens of birds, chiefly the rarer birds 

 which had been found in Hertfordshire, were exhibited by Mr. 

 Barraud, Mr. C. E. Fry, Mr. Littleboy, Mr. George Willshin, and 

 the President. 



Ordinary Meeting, 13th December, 1877. 

 Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. 



The Eight Honourable the Earl of Clarendon, the Grove, Wat- 

 ford, was elected a Member of the Society. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. "Further Notes on our Birds." ByJ.E. Littleboy. (F/VZep.SS.) 



The President said that after the remarks of Mr. Evans, at the previous meet- 

 ing of the Society, as to the possibility of partridges carrying their eggs, his 

 daughters reminded him that some doves they had kept carried their eggs about 

 with their feet ; so that it was very probable that partridges carried their eggs in 

 a similar manner. The Council had decided that a register of birds frequenting 

 the county should be kept, and as Mr. Littleboy had undertaken to be registrar, 

 he would ask him to describe the method that would be pursued. 



Mr, Littleboy said that in preparing his paper it had occurred to him that it 

 would be desirable to have a systematic record of the birds known to visit the 

 county. The only way in which this could be satisfactorily accomplished was by 

 one of the members of the Society acting as registrar and correspondent. The 

 Council had requested him to act as registrar, and he shoidd be pleased to receive 

 from the members, or from any one else, particulars of the visits of the more 

 common as well as of the rarer birds. 



2. " Report on Phenological Phenomena in Hertfordshire in 

 1876." By John Hopkinson, F.L.S., etc., Hon. Sec. {Vide p. 37.) 



Mr. Littleboy said that the question of the time of flowering of plants was 

 of a very similar character to that of the periodical visits of birds. It became 

 really a "portion of the history of the year ; and as year after year went by, the 

 character of the seasons was to some extent ascertained by the time of flowering 

 of plants, appearance of insects, and visits of birds. He should like to know 



