X Proceedings. [Novejnber zSth, igi6. 



The Secretary communicated the following note from Mr. 

 W. Henry Todd. 



In a communication to this Society on the 30th April, 191 5, 

 Mr. T. A. Coward records the behaviour of a blackbird in re- 

 peatedly fighting its own reflection in a pane of glass. This 

 conduct, Mr. Coward suggests, is due to sexual excitement, 

 which induces the bird to drive away any rival from what he 

 regards as his " sphere of influence." 



A case of a blackbird flghting his own reflection has re- 

 cently occurred at my house at Flixton. On the 24th October, 

 igi6, my wife heard a repeating noise in the cellar, and found 

 it was occasioned by a blackbird attacking a window in the 

 cellar, the upper part of which is about 12 inches above the 

 level of the ground. 



On the loth November the blackbird again visited the win- 

 dow and repeated the performance. 



On the nth, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, on going 

 into the cellar, I found the blackbird fighting its reflection in 

 the same window. My wife observed the bird at about the 

 same time of day on the previous occasion. 



The window faces due west, and, being near the ground, 

 gets splashed with dirt. On each occasion when the bird was 

 observed by my wife, the window had been cleaned in the 

 morning, making the reflection clearer. It is possible that there 

 may have been other window visits, and contests, with the phan- 

 tom enemy. 



The fact of these incidents having occurred in October and 

 November appears to contradict Mr. Coward's theory that the 

 pugnacity of the bird is due to sexual excitement. On the 

 other hand, as the temperature on the loth and iith November 

 was very high for the time of the year, and the character of 

 the weather remarkably spring-like, it may be contended that 

 the climatic conditions had stimulated sexual excitement. 



Mr. Coward, in reply, pointed out that in many species 

 the period of sexual excitement, and in some cases of actual 

 pairing, begins in autumn, and that male blackbirds are, this 

 year, already displaying. Probably the weather influences the 

 time at which displays begin. The female birds appear to 

 be less excited than the male. 



Miss Laura Start confirmed the fact that display had 

 begun; she recently watched two males displaying before one 

 female. 



Mr. Herbert Bolton, M.Sc, F.R.S.E., read a paper en- 

 titled "The Mark Stirrup Collection of Fossil Insects 

 from Commentry, Central France." 



This paper is printed in the Memoirs. 



