9434 Birds. 



have ventured so far into the heart of a large and busy town in search of food, — Henry 

 Moses ; Russell Street, Reading. 



Migration of the Swallow and Martin. — Though both swallows and martins re- 

 mained in the Undercliff fully a month later than in the neighbourhood of York, as 

 recorded in the 'Zoologist' (Zool. 9328), still they have taken their departure this 

 season rather before the usual ))eriod of raisration, as they not unfrequently remain 

 here, and in considewble numbers too, until the first or second week in November; 

 for instance, in 1855 hundreds of swallows and a few martins were seen on the 11th, 

 nor did they finally disappear until the 14lh. Though mild (ihe thermometer averaging 

 about 55°), the end of October was boisterous and stormy ; however, numerous swal- 

 lows and martins were seen on the 27tli, and several of both species again noticed on 

 the 28tli, but none later in the month, the glass having fallen to 49° on the 3lsl. Last 

 swallow seen on the 1st of November. (Swallows were first observed here on the 9th 

 of April). It would appear from your correspondent's observations that in the northern 

 counties swallows begin to migrate much earlier than with us, confirming my remark 

 (Zuol. 5751) as to their congregating on the southern coast before final departure, 

 towards the end of October or beginning of November. The stragglers occasionally 

 observed here late in November and early in December are, as I have already stated, 

 young or late broods. — Henry Hadfield ; Ventnor, Isle of Wight, December 3, 1864. 



Arrival of Sumtner Birds in 18()4.— Last year 1 noted (Zool. 8816) the scarcity of 

 some of our summer visitants, and, as the subject is now again before the readers of 

 the ' Zoologist,' I will, if I may be allowed, make a few more remarks on the same. 

 The arrivals here this year were in general about the usual time, and not late, as many 

 were last year. The wryneck, which I first heard on the 5th of April (though I had 

 a single bird of this species sent me as early as the 19th of March ; see Zool. 9044), 

 has been unusually scarce again this summer, and I think bids f.iir soon tobecome a 

 very rare bird in this part. The redbacked shrike is another bird which is fast de- 

 creasing in numbers. Of the redstart I have no note this year, not having seen one 

 during either the spring or autumnal migraiioi) ; but this bird is always sou)ewhat 

 irregular in its movements ; some years they are plentiful for a week or ten days in 

 the spring. Tree pipits, again, may one year be seen in small flocks for a week or 

 two in the month of August, and the next year, perhaps, scarcely a bird of the sort is 

 visible. Adverse winds may, I think, partly account for these irregularities, i. e., they 

 may wait for a favourable wind before crossing the Channel, and so collect near the 

 south coast; and the redstart may perhaps regulate the length of its stay here in the 

 spring by the weather, not caring to reach its breeding-quarters so soon in a cold and 

 backward spring, but preferring to slay about in the lowlands between the hills and 

 the coast J or, on the other hand, having been detained on the opposite side of the 

 Channel by rough and cold weather, it makes the best of its way northward, not even 

 stojiping a day with us. Plenty and scarcity of food is, no doubt, often the cause of a 

 partial migration ; thus the moorhen and kingfisher appear in greater numbers than 

 usual this autumn on a clear and constant stream near here: this I attribute to the 

 dry summer that we have had, and the consequent drying up of many ditches which 

 had aflforded these birds food and shelter at other times. I have not been able to dis- 

 cern any decrease in the swifts in this district : after the young are out I have seen 

 as many as forty or fifty flying round the spire of Bosham Church. May not the 

 absence of convenient nesting-places have something to do with the scarcity of swifts 

 at_ Beverley? have no old buildings been pulled down or repaired? Yet this point 



