Wilson : Notes on the FcBces of Young Birds. 51 



With Redstarts, Redbreasts, Willow Wrens, Dippers, 

 Great Tits, Pied Wagtails, Yellow Wagtails, Grey 

 Wagtails, Meadow Pipits, Spotted Flycatchers, House 

 Sparrows, *Lesser Redpolls, and Starlings, I notice that 

 the parents carry away the faeces ; but I cannot say definitely 

 whether the Great Tits and Starlings carried all away, but they 

 regularly left their nesting sites with the faeces in their beaks. 



Kingfishers. — I had two pairs of Kingfishers under observa- 

 tion in 1911, and on no occasion did I see them carry away the 

 faeces, although they occasionally removed pieces of fallen 

 earth from their nesting holes. On examining their nests, only 

 ejected fish-bones were to be found, so I assume this species 

 also swallows the faeces of their young. 



From the preceding it will be seen that the larger species, 

 such as the Thrushes, Blackbirds, and Ring Ousels, usually 

 swallow or carry away the faeces, where as the smaller species 

 generally carry them away. 



Why the faeces are carried away is evidently a habit of 

 cleanliness, or to avoid attracting the notice of their enemies ; 

 but why some species swallow them appears to be unknown. 



If the consumption of these faeces had any ill effect on the 

 birds, presumably they would soon discontinue the practice. 

 I therefore venture to suggest that one of the following reasons 

 accounts for the swallowing of the faeces by the parent birds : — 



1. There is nourishment derived from the faeces by the 



parents. 



2. There is matter in the faeces which either helps to 



remove or counteract some disorder in the parents, 

 which may be the result of close sitting during 

 nidification. 



3. The ejected faeces contain some food which the young 



cannot digest, but which is acceptable and digestable 

 by the parents. 



In The Entomologist (No. 583) are numerous records of Sphinx con- 

 volvuli (the Convolvulus Hawk Moth), includmg notes from the Isle of 

 Man, and Manchester. There are also some notes on Durham Lepidoptera. 



In The Journal of the Qiiekett Microscopical Club (No. 69), Mr. C. D. 

 Soar has an interesting paper on ' The Work of the late Saville-Kent on 

 British Hydrachnids ' (water mites) ; and there is a valuable but incomplete 

 paper by Saville-Kent on ' Contributions to our Knowledge of the Hydrach- 

 nidie. ' 



* Redpolls. — ^Mr. Arthur Duckworth informs me, that when he had 

 the above-mentioned Redpolls under observation — (which was at a time 

 when the young were about seven days older than the date at which I 

 made my notes) — he noticed that the faeces were swallowed by both 

 parents at some of their visits to the nest, and at others they were carried 

 away ; occasionally, when they found one on the outerside of their nest, 

 they picked it off and at times swallowed it, at others they carried it awa^' 



1912 Feb. I. 



