348 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



taken from their nest. The burrow from which they had been taken 

 having been destroyed, and the birds themselves being too young to fly, I 

 determined to do my best to keep them alive. The idea of giving them 

 their natural food being out of the question, I mixed up for them a paste 

 consisting of four parts fig-dust and pounded dog-biscuit, two parts pea- 

 meal and yelk of egg, and one part ants' eggs ; hut it was quite a week 

 before they would take this food from a feeding-stick, and the task of 

 opening their mouths for every morsel was one which I should not care to 

 repeat. After about ten days, all five fed themselves greedily from a small 

 glass pot of food, and I then turned them into a large flight-cage, hoping 

 that they would take sufficient exercise to keep them in health. In this, 

 however, I was disappointed, for, although at first they took short flights 

 and roosted high up on the perches, or rock-work, in the cage, they 

 gradually spent more and more time in cramming their crops, and one by 

 one they dropped oft', until, at the end of the twenty-second day, the last of 

 the five died. I may add that, although when first taken these young 

 Sand Martins were beautifully clean, they so messed their faces with the 

 soft food it was necessary to give them, that before they died all their 

 beauty had departed.— A. G. Butler (Natural History Museum). 



The Song of the Chaffinch.— At p. 999 ante, the Rev, H. A. Mac- 

 pherson asks vvhetlier " our home Chaffinches are autumn songsters." 

 Amongst a number of other British birds, I keep two Chaffinches, one of 

 which was caught five years ago, and the other two years ago. They both 

 recommence singing every year in August, and continue singing during the 

 autumn, but they do not sing so freely as in the spring. — H. Goss (Sur- 

 biton Hill, Kingston-on-Thames). 



The Song of the Chaffinch. — I have frequently heard the Chaffinch 

 singing in the neighbourhood of Birmingham in the autumn. Throughout 

 the mild winter of 1881 I heard it almost once a week on the average. It 

 does not usually commence to sing with us until the end of February or 

 the beginning of March. The Kestrel, Green Woodpecker, and Crow have 

 recently been observed breeding in the borough of Birmingham. — W. Har- 

 couRT Bath (Ladywood, Birmingham). 



Swifts nesting in Martins' Nests.— The following is an extract from a 

 letter dated July Jind, 1887, received from my brother, the Eev. W. Bond: 



"Did you ever hear of Swifts nesting in Martins' nests? This year 



they have taken possession of some under the eaves of the vicarage 

 (Edi'ton Vicarage, Aston-on-Clun, Shropshire), which appears to me a very 

 unusual proceeding." I wrote for further particulars, suggesting that 

 there might be a hole under the eaves of the roof, and on July 29th got 

 the following reply : — " You will think me very lazy not answering your 

 queries before about the Swifts. There is no mistake about it ; there were 



