arts 



BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL IN SOMERSET. 

 An adult female Blue-headed Wagtail {Motacilla f. fiava) was 

 shot at Lympsham, Somerset, on June 28th, 1920. On July 

 3rd and 8th two juveniles were also obtained both showing 

 the brown markings on the breast, and therefore indistinguish- 

 able from Yellow Wagtails {M. f. rayi) in the same plumage. 

 As no other Yellow Wagtails were observed it is almost certain 

 they belonged to the above-mentioned female and had been 

 bred in this locality, a few miles from Brean Down and the 

 shores of the Bristol Channel. The land is low lying and well 

 watered on north and south by the rivers Axe and Brue. 

 The identification of the adult bird has been confirmed by 

 Dr. N. F. Ticehurst. Stanley Lewis. 



SWALLOWS AND SIZE OF BROODS IN 1920. 

 The summer of 1920 in North Lancashire and Westmorland 

 was the worst year for Swallows within the memory of the 

 oldest inhabitants. Farms which in normal years harboured 

 six to fifteen or even twenty-five nests, had none of them 

 more than three nests this year, the majority only one, and 

 many none at all ; indeed only one farm had three. The 

 scarcity was most marked in the few seen flying around. 

 Apart from this remarkable scarcity, the broods were very 

 large ones, 57.14 per cent, containing full broods, and they 

 all throve well, as insect food was plentiful. 



