112 BRITISH BIRDS. 



nest, was surprised to find that it contained young, fully 

 feathered and ready to fly--- so much so, that I only managed 

 to catch and " ring" one of the brood. H. W. Robinson. 

 [The fledging-period of the Swallow, as. given by Mr. S. E. 

 Brock, was 21-22 days (c/. Vol. IV., p. 29)".— Eds.] 



NORTHERN GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS 



IN SUSSEX. 



In my Birds of Kent (p. 234) I suggested the possibility that 

 the Great Spotted Woodpeckers that are occasionally seen 

 in Thanet in autumn and winter, might prove to be migrant 

 birds from the Continent, and I had hoped last winter to be 

 able to settle the point. Mr. H. S. D. B^^ron, to whom I 

 wrote, tells me that he saw a single bird there in October, 

 but was unable to procure it. 



The question therefore remains as it was, so far as Kent 

 is concerned, but in the meantime I have been able to examine 

 five Great Spotted Woodpeckers, which were shot during 

 the last winter in east Sussex, and I find that one of these, 

 a male, shot at Ninfield on November 24th, 1910, is a well- 

 marked example of the Northern race {Dendroropus m. 

 major). The broad bill and pale under-parts are both well 

 marked, when compared with examples of the British race, 

 and the wing measures 141 mm., while the first primary 

 exceeds the longest primary-coverts by 9 mm. 



I have also recently heard that there is another s^Decimen 

 (ar adult female) in the Tring Museum, which was procured 

 at Brede on November 9th, 1903. N. F. Ticehurst. 



FOOD OF YOUNG BARN-OWLS. 



This summer I have had several chances of taking notes on 

 the food of Barn-Owls [Strix flammea) at various nests. In 

 one nest (in a tree) the food-supply for the two young Owls 

 (about a fortnight old) consisted only of two young Starlings 

 {Sturnus vulgaris), both decapitated, at my first visit. Two 

 days later the larder consisted of fourteen young Starlings, 

 all decapitated. So far there was no trace of fur at the nest. 

 On this occasion the young birds were busy devouring the 

 Starlings, which they did by starting at the wound made 

 by decapitation and tearing the flesh away, leaving little 

 but the tail- and wing-feathers. On my next visit, some 

 ten days later, the nest contained the remains of about seventy 

 victims, the majority whole ; these were nearly all Starlings, 

 but there were a few mice and rats, the latter not half grown. 

 All the bodies were decapitated. 



