NOTES AND QUERIES. 77 



on p. 20 of 'The Zoologist' for January last, the following passage 

 occurs : — " ... it has been shown that the vitality of such seeds is not 

 impaired by the partial digestion to which they are subjected." May I ask, 

 in connection with the above, whether there is any truth in the statement, 

 which I have seen in print elsewhere, to the effect that the germination of 

 such seeds (holly, e.g.) as naturally lie dormant a year is accelerated a 

 twelvemonth by passing through the bodies of birds ? — M. C. H. Bied 

 (Brunstead Eectory, Norwich). 



Roosting Habits of the House Sparrow. — Between Eltham and 

 Sidcup, Kent, are some birch-thickets in which Pheasants are preserved. 

 House Sparrows come from all directions to sleep in these places. They 

 begin to arrive at about 2.30, and, until after four o'clock, they are 

 continually coming, in small parties of rarely more than thirty birds, flying 

 high and fast, and seemingly from some distance. On December 29th 

 last I watched from 3.30 till 3.50 — twenty minutes — and counted 453 

 Sparrows, besides a few Greenfinches, descending into a small area some 

 thirty yards square, in one thicket. On another day, while walking 300 

 yards, I saw 153 Sparrows descend at the same place. They roost in 

 small groups of from thirty to sixty birds, in the upper branches of the 

 birches, many of them being in full view from the road, and all of them 

 directly exposed to any rain that may fall during the night. In winter 

 Sparrows ordinarily sleep either in their nesting-places in walls, or ricks, 

 ivied trees, hedges, &c. I do not know of any British bird smaller than a 

 Starling which ever selects so exposed a dormitory as that above mentioned. 

 In the same district, also, Sparrows sometimes build in elms and other 

 large trees, many of their nests being placed far out on the branches, 

 domed, and strong enough to withstand the winter; but they are not 

 occupied at that season.— Charles A. Witchell (Sidcup, Kent). 



Nesting of the Goldcrest. — I am sorry that in jotting down a casual 

 remark, currente calamo (Zool. 1895, p. 448), I should have seemed to 

 discount the interest of Mr. Davenport's note on this subject (Zool. p. 21); 

 for nothing was further removed from my pnrpose than to undervalue the 

 original observations of so good a field-uaturalist. Contrariwise, I am 

 looking forward with anticipation of pleasure to Mr. Davenport's forth- 

 coming book, which I feel sure will receive a hearty welcome from all 

 ornithologists. — H. A. Macpherson (Carlisle). 



Hybrid Crows.— Some years ago I mentioned, in ' The Birds of 

 Cumberland,' two mounted specimens which combined the characteristics 

 of the so-called Hooded and Carrion Crows. I had recently an opportunity 

 of purchasing one of these birds on the death of its owner, a man named 

 Barnes, who shot it in Wastwater. It has the ash-coloured breast and 

 collar of the so-called Hooded Crow, but the belly and the entire back are 



