NOTES AND QUERIES. 389 



finding out if the progeny inherited the pecuHarity of the mother. — John 

 Rae (4, Addison Gardens). — From ' Nature.' 



[We have on several occasions observed farmyard ducks diving in sport, 

 but not in search of food. — Ed.] 



Scarcity of Summer Birds in Co. Kildare. — During the past summer 

 Spotted Flycatchers and Cuckoos have been remarkably scarce in this 

 district ; and most of the smaller summer migrants also appear to me to 

 have been less numerous than usual. Several persons have remarked to 

 me on the great scarcity of Cuckoos, some saying that they had only heard 

 two or three all the season, while in other years they had heard numbers 

 every day. I did not hear the Cuckoo here more than half a dozen times 

 this year, although during the past few years 1 have heard it constantly 

 through the month of May from where I now write. The Spotted Fly- 

 catcher, too, has not appeared in many of its usual haunts in this imme- 

 diate neighbourhood. This was also observed by a friend of mine, who 

 remarked on its absence from his garden, where it has been in the habit of 

 nesting for years. The Corn Crake, on the contrary, which I am inclined 

 to think is becoming more abundant here than formerly, appears to have 

 been more plentiful than usual this summer. 1 saw more Corn Crakes 

 than I ever saw before during the early part of May ; they made known 

 their presence, moreover, in considerable numbers by their incessantly- 

 repeated notes. During the greater part of May and June it would have 

 been impossible in this neighbourhood to help hearing several calling at 

 once at all times of the day and night. Perhaps, however, their seeming 

 greater abundance was not a reality. The grass was very backward during 

 the spring for want of rain ; that accounts for my seeing so many, for the 

 grass in many parts of the meadows did not cover them. And I noticed 

 that after many weeks of fine dry weather, when the rain came towards the 

 end of June, the Corn Crakes became comparatively silent. So possibly 

 circumstances made them appear unusually numerous. Whether the wet 

 weather was the cause of the cessation of their notes I am unable to say. 

 The Swallow, Swift, and the two Martins appeared in their usual numbers. 

 The Chiffchaff I first heard on March 16th (the earliest date on which 

 I ever observed it) ; the Sand Martin I saw on the 27th ; and the Willow 

 Warbler I first heard on April 3rd. These three birds arrived earlier than 

 usual this year, but those which do not come so early did not, so far as I 

 observed, appear earlier than the average date of their arrival. — J. E. 

 Pai,mer (Lyons Mills, Strafian, Co. Kildare). 



Instinct in Birds. — The question of instinct, as compared with 

 reason in animals, is one commanding a good deal of attention, so that 

 circumstantial evidence on either side is of considerable value. One of the 

 most remarkable points of this question is the fear of man, or other 



