From All Sources. 293 



in (lull woalluM'. wIumi llic l)ii(]s aiu; most apt to rnn into liidint,'. Tho 

 slioplicnls iisc',1 to tliiiik tluy liiid iloiie well if they (•..nl.l takr throi' or four 

 dozen l)ir(ls in ;i diiy, hut an old shi^pherd who worked on Westside Farm, 

 near Rri^diton, once took as many as thirteen dozen l)et\veen dawn and dusk, 

 and as the |)riee was then oi2fhteeni»ence a dozen he equalled his weeks waj^ea 

 in a sini,de ilay. This I'ecoi-d however was easily eclipsed by another shep- 

 herd, who nrar East Dean durintf a ijreat fli.frht of tho hirds took neaily a 

 hundred d >'. "i in thi' spi'-(> of •_' I lioin-s. As tinio went (iii tlic l)irds liccanie 

 scarw, as tin' rrsult of this lieavy annual toll on thcii' nuuil.frs, l)ut this was 

 not the only reason for the discontinuance of this wholesale slan<,diter. 



The passinjif of the Wild Birds' Protection Act made the capture of 

 Whea tears too risky a business in the early part of the season, wlren tho close 

 time was still in force-^that is. up to the beginning of August— and later, 

 when the law peianitted the shepherds to begin trapping, the farmers decided 

 to i)ut ;ui enil to it. i)artly on account of the damage done to tlic pasture of 

 the downs, and partly because it was found that the shepheids often neglect- 

 ed their pro|K'r work to sn])i)Iement their earnings at the exjiense of the 

 Wheatears. It is said that within quite recent years a little trapping still 

 continued to be done on tho sly at the instigation of the dealers, but one 

 may now walk from one end of the downs to the other and never see so much 

 as the scar in the turf left by the shepherd's "coop." — From iho " S,tn)iilai-<1 " 

 AiKjuxt 2UI. 1913, per Rev. G JT. Rdt/nor. 



FIRE CAUSED BY A BIRD'S NEST.— The Folkestone fire 

 brigade was yesterday called to a fire caused by a bird's nest. The outbreak 

 occurred at 2, Priory Gardens, a boarding-house on the sea front, occupied 

 by Mr. W. R. Record. The bird's nest had been built just below a wooden 

 window-sill, and was ignited by spai'ks from a chimney. In turn the window- 

 sill cauglit alight. The fire was, however, subdued before any extensive 

 damage was dime. --From tlw " S/,iii<J,iriJ,'' Au;/Hst J3, WIS. per h'cr. G. II- 

 Riii/iKir. 



MYSTERY OF THE SWIFT {Cypsehi^ apm, Linn.) 



CHAX(iIX(; 11. \ 151 TS. -Just now a special interest attaches to the 

 movements of the Swifts, who.se time of departure has airived Usually by 

 the end of July there is a perceptible thinning of the ranks of these mo.st 

 .sombre-looking, yet most merry, of our summer bird -visitors, and by the time 

 that the second week of August has run its course nothing more than an 

 occasional straggler is to be seen. 



Of late years, however, the habits of the Swifts — like those of a few 

 other birds of the migratory kind— appear to be undergoing some sort of 

 change. It has ever been a mystery why these birds, which are the latest of 

 all of the so-called " swallow tribe," never appear in this country until May 

 is almost or actually here ; and ecjually mysterious is their apparent anxiet}' 

 to leave our shores while summer is still with us. But two years ago it was 

 n)ticed in many parts of the country that while the chimney Swallows and 

 H(mse IMartins a]n">eared to be in.an unusual hurry to depart, the Swifts 

 seemed to be inclined to linger beyond the usual date of their goiuL'. In the 

 third week of August a few pairs of the birds were still to be seen even 

 many miles inland, and the last stray members of the tribe did not finally 

 disappear until the very end the month. 



