i62 M1SCELLA>E0US OBSEHVATIO'S. 



to Senegal ; he does not tallc at all like an ornithologist, and 

 probably saw only the swallows of that country, which I know 

 build within Governor O'Hara's hall against the roof. Had 

 he known European swallows, would he not have mentioned 

 the species ? 



The house-swallow washes by dropping into the water as 

 it flies ; * this species appears commonly about a week before 

 the house-martin, and about ten or twelve days before the 

 swift. 



In 1772, there were young house-martins t m their nest 

 till October the 23rd. 



The swift :j: appears about ten or twelve days later than the 

 house-swallow ; viz., about the 24th or 26th of April. 



"Whin-chats § and stone-chatters || stay vdth us the whole 

 year. 



Some wheatears *|[ continue with us the winter through.** 



Wagtails, all sorts, remain with us all the winter.ft 



Bul&nches,^ when fed on hempseed, often become wholly 

 black. 



"We have vast flocks of female chaffinches §§ all the winter, 

 with hardly any males among them. 



When you say that, in breeding time the cock snipes {| {| 

 make a bleating noise, and a drumming (perhaps I should 

 have rather said a humming), I suspect we mean the same 



• " The twittering swallow skims the dimpled lake." 

 " Aut argiita lacus circumvolitavit hirundo." — Virgil. 

 Few things please me more than watching the evolutions of swallows, aa 

 they fly over, and occasionally dip on the smooth surface of a pool of 

 water. — Ed. 



+ British Zoology, vol ii. p. 224. t I'bid. p. 245. 



§ Whin-chat (saxicola ruhetra, Bechst.) certainly does migrate. Stone- 

 chat {saxicola rubicola, Bechst.) is a resident, but we receive an accession of 

 numbers yearly, — W. J. 



II British Zoology, vol. ii. pp. 270, 271. t Jhid. p. 269. 



** The great body of wheatears migrate regularly ; and it is just possible 

 that a few pairs may remain during the winter, in the southern countries ; but 

 I strongly suspect Mr. White, though quoting, must be wrong. — AV. J. 



++ Mr. White seems only to have known two species of wagtail, the pied 

 and grey. The yellow wagtail i-s a regular migiatcr, but is very local in its 

 distribution. Both the others partially migrate in Scotland. Flocks of tho 

 first appear in spring, and a few pairs only remain during the winter. — W. J. 

 JJ British Zoology, vol. ii. p. 300. 

 §§ Ibid.^. 306. nil Ihid.'^. 358. 



