JOURNAL OI- THK Wll.n BIRD IN VKSTKiATlOX SOCIETY. 



37 



stilulc a considerable porlion of the food during 

 the nesting: season ; mice and young sparrows are 

 also brought to the nest. The frogs are seized 

 hold of by the hind legs, and last year the whole 

 familv seemed to be brought up almost entirely 

 upon this diet. — E. Little, Felstead, Essex. 



"In putlilessly destroying the wild birds man has 

 interfered with the 'balance of nature, and so has 

 helped the ravaging hordes of insects and gnawing 

 animals to multiply without adequate check. All 

 this means that we, the consumers of fruits, 

 vegetables, and tlie grains, must pay higher prices 

 for- the food we eat and the clothes we wear.' 



— J. E. Pfabody. 



THE BREEDING OF THE KING PENGUINE 



An occurrence as unique as it is interesting is 

 recorded in a recent number of Xalurc by Mr. 

 T. H. Gillespie, who describes the breeding of 

 the king penguine in the Park of the Zoological 

 Society of Scotland, Edinburgh. The first egg 

 laid was broken by the birds, a second was 

 evidently an unfertile one, but a third was laid 

 on September ist and successfully hatched on 

 October 24th. The chick, like the egg, is carried 

 on the feet of the parent. By placing its head 

 in the parent's mouth, it was fed at frequent 

 intervals with semi-digested fish disgorged by 

 the parent. It is to be hoped that the chick will 

 be successfullv reared. 



BIRDS THAT SING BY NIGHT 

 In a recent number of CviDitrv Life, Mr. C. 

 Ingfram discusses the various species of wild 

 birds that sing bv night. It is generallv assumed 

 that the nightingale is the onlv British bird that 

 docs so. Here the habit is undoubtedlv fixed, 

 but there are other species which become vocal 

 during the hours of darkness, cither bv accident 

 or under specially favourable conditions. Mr. 

 Ingram mentions the reed-warbler, the wood- 

 lark, and the icterine warbler. To these we can 

 add the redbreast, which we have frequently 

 heard breaking into song during the night, and 

 less frequently the blackcap. In the Zoologist, 

 1859, p. 6446, Mr. E. H. Rodd recorded an 

 instance of the redbeast and thrushes being in 

 full song between i and 2 a.m. on a moonlight 

 night in January. 



BIRD H3USES AND THEIR OCCUPANTS. 



Under the above title Mr. P. .\. Taverner, the 

 (iovernmenl Ornithologist of the Dominion of 

 Canada, contributes a most useful and practical 

 article to the Ottawa Naturalist (1919, p- 119). 

 .•\ list of the birds that can usually be induced to 

 occupy nesting-boxes is given, and a schedule of 

 their specific requirements, such as, size of floor, 

 depth inside, distance of entrance from floor, 

 diameter of entrance, number of feet from ground 

 of the house, etc. In Canada the purple martin 

 is the onlv bird that will occupy a nesting-box 

 in colonv, and considerable space is devoted to 

 the details of a house for such. This article will 

 w ell repay perusal by all interested in attracting 

 \\ ild birds. 



BIRD LIMING IN LOWER EGYPT. 



" The protection of migratory birds is now, 

 both in W'estern Europe and Northern .'\merica, 

 recognised as a duty that each nation owes to the 

 other nations of the earth," writes Major S. .S. 

 Flower, in an introduction to a recent publication 

 on Bird Liming in Lower Egypt, written b\- Mr. 

 Lewis Bonhote. It Is quite evident that such a 

 dutv is not recognised bv the Egyptian nation, 

 and the sooner the Government teach them to do 

 so the better. 



In his report Mr. Bonhote draws attention to 

 the cruel and illegal practice of smearing twigs, 

 rushes, etc., along the coast, with bird lime, 

 whereby, during the migration season thousands 

 of insectivorous birds are destroyed daily. 

 .Amongst the species enumerated are the common 

 whcatear, whinchat, nightingale, common white- 

 throat, lesser whitethroat, willow, sedge, reed, 

 and marsh warblers, chiffchaff, spotted fly- 

 catcher, hoopoe, and kingfisher. 



The author points out that, " .Apart from the 

 fact that this trade is entirely illegal, and aiso 

 apart from its economic aspect, the trade itself 

 involves extreme cruelty to the unfortunate 

 captives : firstly, they may be left struggling on 

 the slick for hours, though this is not usual ; 

 then they arc removed from the stick, and thrir 

 'itniifis or tails, if covered with lime, ;- uglily 

 pulled out. For the next twenty minutes or so 

 they are carried about by the legs in bunches of 

 half-a-dozen or more, and finally put into a dark 

 basket, often overcrowded, large and small with- 

 out .-my discrimination. One does not need to 

 be a sentimentalist to be horrified by such a 

 siglit, and I feel sure that if the head authorities 



