7430 Birds. 



probing of iLe rook's beak in tbe earth in search of its food (worms, &c.), causes bare- 

 ness upon the beaks of this species. — S. P. Saville ; Dover House, Union Road, Cam- 

 bridge. 



Late Stay of Swallows. — lu the January number of the 'Zoologist' (Zuol. 7315) 

 Captain Hadfield has an interesting statement respecting the late stay of swallows in 

 the South of England ; I, however, cannot coincide with him when he says he thinks 

 they would not suffer much, even should they spend a whole winter with us. I re- 

 member quite well on November 28, 1846, seeing several on the wing here, one of 

 which 1 shot, and on close examination it was in a most emaciated condition, and 1 

 think could not have lived much longer. This is the latest date I ever saw or heard 

 of swallows being seen in this neighbourhood. I saw them very near the spot where 

 I shot a fine specimen of the great sedge warbler, and ^I believe the only one that has 

 ever been seen in England. I shot it on May 28, 1847. — Thomas Robson ; Stoalwell 

 Iron Works, near Gateshead-on-Tyne, February 13, 1861. 



Migration and Torpidity of Swallows. — It is with some hesitation that I venture 

 to reply to Mr. Goatling's queries (Zool. 7382), on those somewhat vexed points, for 

 " men convinced against their will are of the same opinion still." First. " 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 excep- 

 tional one ? I observed them at Ventnor and its immediate neighbourhood every day, 

 up to the 5th of this month " (November). Frequently, and recorded in the ' Zool- 

 ogist ; ' for instance, this season martins were seen as late as the beginning of Decem- 

 ber. Secondly. " Can it be that there is, after all, some truth in the hybernating theory, 

 and that the nooks and crevices of the rocks and cliffs, at a point of our coast so far 

 south as V^entnor, afiFord them a winter shelter.-"' Being a native of the place, and 

 having— as boy and man — resided in the Undercliff for upwards of thirty years, I think 

 it probable that it must have fallen under my notice, had swallows taken up their winter 

 quarters here. When a boy, there was scarcely a fissure, hole or corner that 1 had not 

 peered into, when netting and shooting rabbits; and there having, within my recol- 

 lection, been numerous slippings and founderings both of sea and land cliffs, swallows 

 must have been discovered did they winter here, as suggested by Mr. Gostling. Thirdly. 

 " Is it not reasonable to suppose a swallow may become torpid, and sleep away the 

 cold months, as we know the dormouse does ? " I think not, seeing that none have been 

 discovered in a torpid state that I am aware of, though many of the old authors, even 

 down to White and Pennant, have entertained the idea ; the latter, however, records 

 the opinion of the celebrated anatomist, John Hunter, saying: That he had dissected 

 many swallows, but found nothing in them different from other birds as to the organs 

 of respiration. That all those animals which he had dissected of the class that sleep 

 during winter, such as lizards, frogs, &c., had a very different conformation as to those 

 organs. That all these animals, he believes, do breathe in their torpid state. And 

 Montagu says, " Mr. Bewick relates an excellent account of the experiments of a Mr. 

 Pearson on swallows, with a view to obtain facts with respect to the absurd obsolete 

 opinions concerning their winter torpidity." " The result of many years conlinemenl of 

 these birds was, that at no time of the year did they indicate the smallest tendency to 

 torpidity," &c. Montagu, again, in referring to the subject, remarks, " It is somewhat 

 extraordinary that those who have stated such as facts [the torpidity of swallows] do 

 not mention what species of swallow was so found, nor have we been able to find a 

 single person of good authority who ever saw the fact," &c. With regard to the dor- 



