92 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. xI. 
from twelve to thirteen days, that both parents feed the young, 
and that the young leave the nest on the 11th or 12th day. 
Mr. S. E. Brock (Zool., 1910, p. 117) gives incubation period 
as twelve to thirteen days and fledging-period thirteen to 
fourteen days. In all the nests which have come under my 
observation the male has helped to feed the young and has 
shown great anxiety when the nest was approached, but in 
the case of the bird watched by Major Arundel, it is possible 
that some accident may have happened to him during the 
time of incubation. —F. C. R. JourpDat.| 
SWALLOWS AND MARTINS SETTLING AND 
FEEDING, ON FLOWERS. 
On the evening of July 29th, 1917, at 8.45, I was watching a 
large flight of Swifts (A pus a. apus),Martins (Delichon wu. urbica) 
and Swallows (Hirundo r. rustica) over a small grassy knoll at 
Grasmere. On the top of the knoll there were tall plants of 
ragwort and thistle plainly to be seen standing out against 
the sky; the birds were flying low over the plants and 
sometimes hovering like a moth at the flowers, and now and 
again Swallows and Martins would settle for a few seconds on 
the flat heads of the ragwort and pick off the insects. On 
examining the plants I found a quantity of little black flies. 
The Swifts were never observed to perch. The flight lasted 
about 15 minutes. I have never previously seen Swallows or 
Martin feeding in this way. HerRBert MASSEY. 
MARTIN FEEDING YOUNG SWALLOWS. 
A parr of Martins (Delichon u. urbica), this summer, 1917, 
built a nest outside a farmhouse, near here (Cheadle, 
Staffordshire), on an iron bracket underneath a spout running 
under the eaves. House-Sparrows evicted the Martins and 
partly demolished the nest, leaving only the lower portion, 
which formed a cup, well protected from rain by the spout 
above. A pair of Swallows (Hirundo r. rustica) then took 
possession of the remaining portion of the nest, lined it with 
feathers, and duly hatched off four young ones. A boy, who 
is a good observer of birds, told me, when I went to “ ring ” 
the young birds that a few days before he had distinctly seen 
a Martin go to the nest and feed the young Swallows. The 
old Swallows appeared to be much annoyed, and tried to drive 
away the Martin. I have several times myself seen more 
than one pair of Martins feeding the young in one nest and I 
have no reason to doubt the boy’s observation. 
Joun R. B. MASEFIELD. 
[A good many cases of more than one pair of Martins 
feeding the same brood of young have been noted (e.g.. ef. 
