32I 
FIELD NOTES. 
BIRDS. 
Three House Martins Building one Nest.— During the 
last week in May (which is late for a first nest, and rather early 
for a second one), some House Martins commenced ‘ claying’ 
along a line under the eaves of an unfinished building immediate- 
ly opposite my house, and after making more than a yard of 
it, in almost a straight line, commenced building up the nest. 
I noticed that there were three birds, and expected that more 
than one nest was being built. The three birds were about 
the nest until incubation commenced, when I could only see 
two of them, and several evenings, at dusk, I flushed two birds 
only off the nest. I expected that the third bird would put 
in an appearance again during the period of feeding the young, 
but although I watched very carefully I could not account for 
more than two adult birds.—H. B. Booty, Ben Rhydding. 
Strangers at the Farnes.—On July 2oth, while in a 
photographic tent on The Knoxes, I had under observation two 
large gulls quite unknown to me. They were on the water 
between The Knoxes and The Farn, swimming about and ex- 
amining the seaweed for more than half-an-hour. 
They seemed to be quite as large as the Greater Black 
Backed. The beak appeared to be dull red or perhaps brown ; 
the throat breast and what was visible of the under parts were 
white ; the mantle and wing coverts were Herring-Gull grey 
or perhaps a little darker. On the head was a black cap with 
a well defined edge, and intermixed with the black were a num- 
ber of whitish feathers, and with a more definite white mark 
running diagonally beneath the eye, in each bird. 
The beak colouration does not agree, but I can find no gull 
of an equal size and with a black cap which so nearly fits this 
description as the Great Black Headed Gull, which so far as I 
can discover has only been recorded in Britain on one occasion, 
when an adult specimen was shot at Exmouth in 1859. The 
birds rode lightly on the water, and held their heads very erect ; 
the feet were not seen. 
It was unfortunate that, while I was endeavouring to attract 
Mr. Fortune’s attention, Darling, the watcher, happened to row 
by, and put up the birds without noticing them. Can anyone 
name them ?—JASPER ATKINSON. 
Decrease in the Number of Starlings.— During the last 
twenty years or more I have paid much attention to the 
Starlings of mid-Airedale— with Shipley as a centre—and 
mid-Wharfedale—with Ben Rhydding as a centre. The 
Starling is a most interesting bird to watch. I have never yet 
been able to satisfy myself of a second brood in one season, 
although I have heard of second, third and even fourth broods 
in one season. I believe that the Starlings of this neighbour- 
1913 Sept. 1. 
