7382 Birds. 



without unintentionally killing three or four larks by the sanae shot. Although there 

 was plenty of food for the larks upon the island, yet we found great quantities lying 

 about dead from starvation : these were birds which had evidently delayed their mi- 

 graliou until so weakened by hunger that the exertion of their loug flight had proved 

 fatal to them. Directly the milder weather came we found the larks had left the 

 island, and bad returned to their usual haunts on the mainland. We had a large 

 migration of starlings in the severe weather, but these birds were not nearly in such 

 numbers as the larks. — Murray A. Mathew' ; Raleigh, Barnstaple, February 1, 186L. 



Robin Fascinated by a Snake. — Having noticed (Zool. 7273) an account of a bird 

 being fascinated by a snake, it brought to my recollection a similar incident which 

 came under my own observation. When proceeding down the avenue here one 

 morning, at a turn in the walk I saw a robin which appeared to me spell-bound, so 

 much so as to allow a much closer approach than is usual even with that boldest of 

 the feathered tribe. On going nearer I perceived what I took to be the cause in a 

 large common snake, which was lying coiled up on one side of the path, with its head 

 a little raised. My appearance broke the spell, and the robin flew away ; at the same 

 time the snake dropped its head, and assumed a perfectly inert appearance. After 

 passing it I recollected that children were playing at the further end of the avenue, 

 and thinking the snake might alarm them I returned to the house to get a stick with 

 which to despatch it, and though I was only gone about a minute it had managed to 

 disappear amongst the bushes which lined the walk, for I could see nothing of it on 

 my return. — John Henry Belfrage ; Musivell Hill, February 12, 1861. 



Migration of Swalloivs. — I am informed by a resident at Malta that the last swal- 

 lows were seen on the 3rd of December, two days later than they were observed in the 

 Isle of Wight, as recorded in my note of the 3rd of that month (Zool. 7315). — Henry 

 Hadjield; Veninor, Isle of Wight, January 16, 1861. 



Late Stay of Swalloivs and Martins in the Isle of Wight. — Has it been noticed in 

 previous years that swallows and martins remain in the Isle of Wight much beyond 

 the average period of their departure from our coasts, or is this year an exceptional 

 one ? I observed them at Ventnor and its immediate neighbourhood every day up to 

 and inclusive of the 5th of this month. They appeared to be as lively and as much 

 at home as in the middle of summer. Martins appeared to be in greatest force at 

 Blackgang Chine on the 2nd of November : they were disporting themselves about 

 the cliffs in large numbers. I saw but one or two swallows on that day, but in the 

 town of Ventnor on the 3rd and 4th I saw several of the latter, and on the morning 

 of the 6th, just before I left, the wind at the time being east and bitterly cold, I saw 

 five. At Newport, in the centre of the island, on the same day two martins were 

 flying about the streets : they appeared to be young ones, and were very weakly. Can 

 it be that there is, after all, some tralh in the hybernating theory, and that the nooks 

 and crevices of the rocks and clifi's, at a point of our coast so far south as Ventnor, 

 afford them a winter shelter ? Is it not reasonable to suppose a swallow may become 

 torpid, and sleep away the cold months, as we know the dormouse does? — William 

 Gostling ; 5, Wykeham Villas, Wandsworth Common, November 16, 1860. 



Singular Instance of Sagacity in Birds. — At a time when there was some house- 

 breaking in this neighbourhood I placed for protection an alarm-bell under the eaves 

 of my house, with a rope through the wall into my own room. The cord was about 

 the size of a common linen line, and passed over a pulley outside, going first down- 

 wards and then upwards, with the needful pulleys till it reached the bell, which hangs 



