MISCELLANEA. 303 



short, sharp whistles every now and again. Its flight was 

 strong and very fast, and to ahght the bird ahuost closed its 

 wings. On Saturday I again watched it, there being only one 

 bird then, and noticed that while feeding it frequently was 

 carried off its legs and appeared to be floating or swimming. 

 When feeding, the bird was actively employed in probing 

 about in the mud, and often its head was almost under water; 

 and every ten minutes or so it lay down to rest. I shot the 

 bird on Saturday morning, September loth, and on the 

 Monday morning there was another of the same species on 

 the same pond, but it has since disappeared. — A. M. Morison. 



Swifts, Swallows, and Martins. — During the present summer 

 in Warkworth the Swifts nesting in the Castle walls appear 

 to have been in about the usual number, but there has been a 

 very great scarcity of Swallows, House and Sand Martins, in 

 fact they have been almost absent. It is suggested their 

 scarcity is to be attributed to the two past exceedingly cold 

 summers, which, depriving the birds largely of insect food, 

 was the cause of a very small number of young birds reaching 

 maturity. 



On the 31st August, 1904, a House Martin's nest fell from 

 the corner of an upper window in Roxburgh House, Wark- 

 worth. It contained but one young bird, which, being well 

 feathered, broke its own fall to the cement footpath below. 

 The remains of the nest and the young bird were placed in a 

 small basket on the sill of the window immediately below the 

 place from which the nest had fallen, and its position was 

 made secure by a nail. A hole was cut in the basket. The 

 birds fed the young one, and on the loth September it was 

 sitting on the outside of the basket evidently ready to take its 

 first flight to the trees opposite. On the 12th the young 

 House Martin left its basket and attempted to fly from 

 Roxburgh House to the hotel, which is very near; but it was 

 not sufficiently strong to reach the hotel, and fell to the 

 ground. It was picked up and put in the basket on the 

 window sill. The following morning it was sufficiently strong 

 to fly over to the hotel, and has not since been seen. 



