From All Sources. 325 



"Beccafico," or " fiff-eater," makes its appearance in tlie orcliards. T\\v 

 bird, as its name imi)lies, is attracted by the i'ipenin<jr fruit, and ils 

 presence is naturally a source of great anxiety to tlie fig-sxrowers. Itiilecd, 

 wliat witli the l)irds and the wasps, it is necessary to i)rote<-t tlie fruit with 

 muslin l)a<,'s directly it l)e{,Mns to soften, and it may he said that tlu; Jk-c- 

 calico is not tlu' only hiru that has a wrakness for j,n-een fis,'s. 



Accordintr to tradition, these little lii,' catini,' Beccaficos conic from 

 Italy, following the ripening fit,' (;ro]). as it wre, acr(^ss the (,'ontincnt until 

 at last they arrive at the most n(n'iherly of tlie tig gardens of Europe, wliicli 

 are those in the South of England. Tlie matter-of-fact ornithologist de- 

 clares, however, that tlie Beccatico is just an ordinary British bird— a 

 summer migrant which comes here every spring just as regularly as the 

 Cuckoo or th(! Xightingale. The Beccafico, in fact, is none other than the 

 Garden Warbler, which is well known as a fruit-eater, and resorts at the 

 season to the fig-gardens because there is little else in the wav of soft fiuit 

 that can be obtained at this late date. The idea of the Heccaviio follow- 

 ing in the train of the ripening figs right acros? Europe makes a pretty 

 story, but that is all. And the fig-grower does not even appreciate the 

 picturesqueness of the time-honoured legend. In Italy, by the way, the 

 term " beccafico" does not api)ly to a particular species of bird, as it does 

 here, but to any that is to be found among the ripening figs.— Fi'om the 

 SttnnUtnl. ;5l), viii,, 1913, per Rev. G. H. Raymu'. 



NESTING OF CHESTNUT BELLIED NUTHATCH {Sitia r.i.hnwin'ufns. 



Era Ilk I). 



•'As but little appears to be on record legarding the distribution 

 and habits of S/tta castiiin'iretitr/f! in the Punjab, tlie following note may be 

 of some interest." 



" On March 4th, I met witli a pair of this s])t'cies in a grove of trees — 

 chiefly Ciru-s, P.Iiisham and Kikns liorderiiiL; a road near Eerozepore Can- 

 tonments As it was the fii'st occasion on wliieli 1 had met with any Nut- 

 hatches in the plains, 1 watched them for a time feeling. On .Alarcli I'Ttli, 

 I was passing the same way, and heard a pretr\ rippling whistle, which, on 

 investigation proved to be the call of the inali' Xntliaieh. who was alone; 

 I suspected the presence of a nest and ac coidingly watched the 

 bird, who was suddenly joined by the female; botli birds started feeding, 

 visiting the different species <d' trees impartially. A stoim came up and 

 drove me home before I had located I lie nest :tliec,oek hird when alone had. 

 it is true, i)aid a li.asty visit to the small hole in ;i large wartlike excrt'scenee 

 about 10 feet fnmi the ground on the trunk of a huge Cinis. but that iniulit 

 have been merely in the course of inscLl hniitiiig." 



"The next day I went to the sjiot and soon fouml the < 

 who was again alone, but after watching for a time, lost liim 

 up a position opposite to the small hole he had visited on tin 

 and waited. The Nuthatch soon appeared Hying in my diice 

 delighted to .see him go straight to the liole in the "wait" 

 thing in. This .showed that the nest was in the hole and the 

 visits seemed to indicate that he was feeding the hen bird wh 



