NOTES. 115 



know of any spot in Sussex where Black-headed Gulls have 

 bred or do breed. Although I see birds of this species in 

 every month in the year, and although I have seen small lots 

 of adult birds over likely ground in April and even later, these 

 have never bred. 



I am very doubtful about Borrer's records of the Eagle, 

 Scops and Tengmalm's Owls. The last two probably escaped 

 from captivity, as no doubt have all the Little Owls of which 

 I have notices. 



John Walpole-Bond. 



[Mr. Walpole-Bond has apparently not consulted Mr. J. G. 

 Millais' article on the Birds of Sussex in the "Victoria History 

 of Sussex," Vol. I., pp. 273-298. Records which are not to be 

 found in Borrer's work will be found with regard to the 

 Crested Lark, the Bearded Tit (seen by Mr. Meade- Waldo in 

 1892), Great Bustard (a probable occurrence in 1899, and one 

 shot in 1891), etc. Mr. J. Weaver, in a chapter on the Fauna 

 and Flora in Gordon's " History of Harting," gives some in- 

 teresting notes on the breeding of the Wood-Lark, Raven, 

 Grey Wagtail and Marsh- Warbler.— F. C. R. J. 



The Ruff is a regular autumn migrant in small numbers 

 on the coast of east Sussex, e.g., Rye Harbour. — N. F .T.] 



THE LONGEVITY OF BIRDS. 



In reply to your editorial note to my remarks on the longevity 

 of birds, may I say that if they depend mainly upon accident 

 for the curtailment of their lives, the chances are that a few 

 survive in a wild state for the natural term of their existence. 



I cannot believe that because a bird is saved from starva- 

 tion and natural enemies its life will be abnormally prolonged 

 under such conditions as caging, pinioning, chaining by the 

 leg, etc., etc. 



If, therefore, a bird is known to live thirty to sixty years 

 under these adverse conditions, it looks as though the natural 

 course of its life were a great deal longer than is generally 

 supposed. 



So great are the perils of migration, starvation, and their 

 natural enemies that the chances are very much against their 

 surviving for any length of time, and it is in this way that I 

 would suggest that Nature regulates the balance and prevents 

 undue increase. 



The fact that one pair of birds apparently returns to the 

 same nesting site (often in a peculiar position) for a great 

 number of years, rather points to the possibility that a very 

 small proportion escapes accidental death. That the same 



