Clifton College Scientific Society. 73 



The wheatear is common in certain localities, and. Morris men- 

 tions Durdham Down as a favourite resort for it. It is also 

 plentiful in the counties of Lincoln, Sussex, and Cambridge, 

 generally preferring open and exposed situations. It arrives here 

 about the end of March, departing again in August. The birds 

 are most frequently seen in pairs, and are somewhat shy and hard 

 to approach. They seldom alight on a tree, and the nest is gene- 

 rally placed in a crevice amongst rocks, or on an old wall. 



The redstart, another of our yearly summer visitants, is not a 

 common bird, generally frequenting orchards and gardens, and is 

 very seldom seen in waste places. I have seen several in the 

 Leigh woods, and, I believe, it is pretty plentiful there ; but as it 

 is a bird of retired and wary habits, it usually escapes observa- 

 tion. The cuckoo, one of the best known of all birds, is plentiful 

 here, as indeed almost everywhere. It arrives in England in 

 April, and is truly the herald of the spring. It departs again at 

 the end of July, or beginning of August. The habits of this bird 

 are familiar to everybody, and therefore I need not say much 

 about them here. The birds are plentiful on the Somerset side of 

 the bridge, especially at some distance past the village of Leigh. 

 The nest generally selected by the cuckoo to build in is either 

 that of the hedge-sparrow or water-wagtail, and many are the 

 anecdotes told about the battles between the rightful owner and 

 the usurper, the victory almost always ending in favour of the 

 latter. The note of the cuckoo ceases about the end of June as a 

 rule, but it has several times been heard as late as the 15th or 

 10th of July. An unusual quantity of cuckoos have appeared in 

 England this year, and I have seen this fact remarked more 

 especially in some localities. 



I will now proceed to mention the swallow family. There are 

 four species : common swallow, martin, sand-martin, and swift. 

 They resemble each other in a great many points, and are, no 

 doubt, very familiar to most people. The swift is the rarest, and 

 arrives latest in England . It is, I believe, less frequent than it 

 used to be ; but why this should be so, is entirely unknown. The 

 favourite haunts of the swift are buildings in towns and villages, 

 church steeples, fortresses, and castles. 



I have seen it remarked several times that the swallow is not 

 so plentiful in England this year as usual, and around London it 

 certainly has been comparatively scarce. 



All these birds are more or less common in Clifton. The sand- 

 martin I have not seen on this side of the river, but at some dis- 

 tance across the suspension bridge it is common enough. The 

 nest is remarkable, being placed at the bottom of a tunnel bored 



