VOL. VI.] NOTES. 279 



two days before the Cuckoo, but despite the dispaiity of 

 size, the interloper Avhen about forty-eight hours of age 

 ejected its companion, which i*emained near the nest and 

 Avas fed by its parents, the Cuckoo also receiving a share of 

 the food. 



Unfortunately observations were brought to a sudden 

 termination by the mysterious disappearance of the Cuckoo 

 Avhen less than a week old. Howard Bentham. 



[Skv-Larks have been recorded as fosterers of the Cuckoo 

 by F." Bond, J. E. Harting, J. Palmer, M. A. Mathew, and 

 E. V. Seebohm (Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus.. III., p. 112) but in 

 most cases the evidence of first-hand observation is not 

 very satisfactory, so that Mr. Bentham's detailed record of 

 the hatching of a young Cuckoo in a nest of this species is a 

 welcome addition to our notes on the subject. — F.C.U.J.] 



BLACKCAP AND SWALLOW IN ENGLAND 

 IN WINTER. 



The occurrence of the Blackcap [Sylvia atricapilla) during 

 winter in the British Isles is sufficiently unvisual to deserve 

 notice. On December 29th, 1912, I saw a male bird near 

 Bourne End, in Buckinghamshire. It Avas very much 

 exhausted and I succeeded in catching it, a.nd examined 

 it closely. Before releasing the bird I photographed it 

 several times, in order to establish its identity beyond a 

 doubt. It is possible that the bird was swept up by the 

 southerly gales at Christmas- time and was exhausted hj 

 flying, or else it had been wintering Avith us owing to the 

 mildness of the weather, and was Aveak from starvation. 



G. K. Baynes. 

 [Lt.-Col. F. G. L. Maimvaring reports [Field, ll.i.1912, 

 p. 94) having seen a Swallow t-\vice on January 3rd, 1913, 

 at Upwey, Dorsetshire. — ^Eds.] 



"LATE" SWIFTS. 

 In connexion with the dates quoted in the editorial note 

 under this heading in the January number [supra, p. 255), 

 I [give from my notebooks the "last" dates for the Swift 

 for the last ten years for the district of Duddingston, which 

 is ^within the bounds of the city of Edinburgh : — 



10th September, 1903. 7th September, 1907. 



13th September, 1904. 17th September, 1908. 



15th September, 1905. 29th August, 1910. 



2nd September, 1906. 14th September, 1911. 



From an experience of over thirty years, the last ten of 

 which I have stayed in Duddingston, I am of opinion that 



