NOTES AND QUERIES. 125 



already brought out at least one brood of young each. Mr. Lennox found 

 that in one nest there were eggs just on the point oi hatching, and the 

 other nest looked as if it had been only a few hours vacated by a young 

 brood. The old Swallows were not seen after the evening of the 17th 

 October. On the 1 9th and 20th October a Swift was seen flying along 

 the streets and over the houses of Maxwelltown. On the 20th October 

 I saw beneath the eaves at Lochanhead Railway Station, about five 

 miles west of Maxwelltown, a brood of four Martins that would probably be 

 ready to leave the nest on the following day. The parents were busily 

 catching for them the " midges" that swarmed along the roadsides during 

 the sunny blinks betwixt the very heavy showers that had continued 

 during the whole day. The dates for each of these three species are later 

 than I have ever previously noted, and it is to me the more remarkable 

 since the great body of the Swallow tribe left us last season a few days 

 earlier than usual. The many cold, wet, and blustering days last autumn 

 may account for this earlier departure, but there were frequent warm, 

 though dull, days, on which Dipterous and other small insects were 

 abundant in the air, and these may have enabled the individuals I saw to 

 prolong their stay, which was plainly attributable to causes that affected 

 individuals only. — Robert Service (Maxwelltown, Kirkcudbrightshire). 



Great Grey Shrike in Suffolk, — I had a fine adult specimen of 

 this bird brought to me by Mr. J. A. Smith, of Akenham Rise Hill, near 

 Ipswich. It was shot on December 2nd, and is believed to be the only 

 specimen killed here for many years past. — J. E. Taylor (The Museum, 

 Ipswich). 



Great Grey Shrike near Cockermouth. — I had the good fortune to have 

 given me a Great Grey Shrike, shot by Frazer, head-keeper to Mr. L. F. B. 

 Dykes, of Dovenby Hall, on the 11th December last. Though very badly 

 shot, I succeeded in skinning it, and have got a fair specimen. It is a bird 

 rarely shot in this neighbourhood. — George Mawson (Cockermouth). 



Curious Site for Sparrow's Nests.— At Hove, on the western side of 

 Brighton, are some large gas-holders. Round the circumference of these 

 huge cylinders small wheels are attached, with broad flat spokes, which 

 pass up and down against the upright supports of the holders, so that when 

 the holders are filled, they rise to a considerable height, and when they are 

 nearly exhausted of gas they fall almost to the trough of water surrounding 

 the base of the cylinders. The Sparrows in the neighbourhood often build 

 their nests between the nave and rim of these wheels, supported by the 

 broad spokes, and have sometimes even hatched their young, notwith- 

 standing the fact that the nest and its contents must slowly revolve, so that 

 at each half-revolution what was the top of the nest becomes the bottom, 

 and the sitting bird must have accommodated itself to the altered position 



