The Zoologist — September, 1871. 2767 



Alpine Swift in Durlianii — I beg to notice the occurrence of a very rare 

 bird on the Durham coast, on Monday last (July 24th), namely, an alpine 

 swift {Cypselus melba). I was walking with three friends from Marsden 

 Rock to Whitburn, and had reached South Point, when we noticed the bird 

 flying northwards along the cliffs. It passed us, at an easy pace, within 

 twenty-five yards, and was at ouce recognizable from our common swift by 

 its size, greater length of wing, and white belly.— 6^eo. Edw. Craivhall. — 

 ' Field ' of August 12th. 



? Alpine Swift in Wiltshire.— When staying at Calne in May, 1866, 1 saw 

 what I thought was an alpine swift disappear under an old roof of a house. 

 Having procured a ladder I caught the swift on her nest, and immediately 

 identified it as a female alpine swift. She had then but two eggs, so 

 I liberated her, hoping she would lay her full number of eggs ; but she 

 forsook the nest, and, although I made inquiries in the neighbourhood, 

 I never afterwards heard of her. I have the two eggs in my collection ; 

 they are long and narrow. — A. Sutton; Shardlow Hall, Derby. — Id. 



[The eggs have been forwarded to the ' Field ' office for examination, 

 and prove to be those of the common swift (Cypselus apus), as I confidently 

 expected. — E. Newman.] 



Food of the Turtle Dore.- In the 'Field' for July 30, 1870, p. Ill, 

 will be found a short paper, the object of which was to show that the turtle 

 dove {Columha turtur), so far from eating peas and corn, as was suspected, — 

 though it is true that they are constantly found in pulse and grain crops, — 

 do not touch the corn of either. It was then shown that two turtle doves 

 shot at the end of July contained in their crops, the one 450, and the other 

 upwards of 1000 seeds of the common fumitory, with a sprinkling of the 

 seeds of other noxious weeds. Now this summer has been confessedly late, 

 and yet as early as the 13th of June some turtle doves were shot on my 

 farm, all of which were gorged with the fumitory seeds ; and in the crop of 

 one which I opened I counted 700 seeds of this plant, and over 300 of the 

 seeds of some small chickweed ally, which, judging from the figure in the 

 new edition of Sowerby's 'English Botany,' by Dr. Syme, was referable to 

 Arenaria norvegica, only that that plant is not only rare, but a northern 

 species. It may, then, probably belong to a Stellaria or Cerastium. My 

 astonishment was great at the number of fumitory seeds, as I hardly thought 

 this plant had advanced so far in seed ; but on careful examination I found 

 that the lower flowers had formed their green seeds, but both peas and wheat 

 had only just started in flower. I am, then, still more convinced that these 

 lovely visitors only do good, and never mischief, and rejoice to see them 

 over the farm ; for, though it is true that they visit the wheat- and the pea- 

 field more especially, it is, as I feel convinced, only because these are the 

 most common habitats of the fumitory. — J. B. ; Bradford Abbas, July 22. 

 — ' Field ' of August 12th, 



