Birds. 3943 



dipped after its prey, but was again discovered ; and now, as if in re- 

 sentment of its daring invasion of their territories, a little host of swal- 

 lows gathered about it, and strove to strike or drive it down. But 

 this was not soon or easily accomplished ; the bat appeared deter- 

 mined to enjoy some of the good things to be obtained in its unusual 

 elevation, and it was a considerable time before it was finally obliged 

 to seek its shelter among the houses. I could not help admiring the 

 courage, as well as agility, which the little flutterer exhibited on this 

 occasion. 



• Jonathan Couch. 



Polperro, June, 1853. 



Note on the Song of the Willow Wren and Chiff-chaff. — A curious circumstance 

 came under the observation of Mr. Vingoe yesterday, which he has reported to me, 

 respecting the song of what he considers to have been a chiff-chaff. It consisted of 

 the usual passages of both its own chirp song, and the modulated cadence of the wil- 

 low-wren. It commenced with the " chip, chop " notes, but these passed gradually to 

 the song of the willow-wren, but the blending of the two songs was different at times, 

 sometimes the performance being confined to one without the other, at others united, 

 but the notes peculiar to each species were, when uttered, distinct and specific. — Ed- 

 ward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, May 23, 1853. 



Note on the Copulation of Swifts. — There is an observation in White's Selborne 

 (Letter 61, to Daines Barrington), relative to the way in which sexual intercourse 

 takes place amongst the swifts, the author firmly believing that it is effected while on 

 the wing. He says, " The fact I would advance is, that swifts tread or copulate on 

 the wing; and I would wish any nice observer, that is startled at the supposition, to 

 use his own eyes, and I think he will soon be convinced." A little further on he con- 

 tinues : — "If any person would watch these birds of a fine morning in May, as they 

 are sailing round, at a great height from the ground, he would see, every now and 

 then, one drop on the back of another, and both of them sink down together, for many 

 fathoms, with a loud piercing shriek. This I take to be the juncture when the busi- 

 ness of generation is carrying on." This observation of the worthy old historian of 

 Selborne, is one that appears not to have been noticed by subsequent writers. I have 

 searched the works of Temminck, Degland, Keysorling and Blasius, and, among our 

 own writers, Montagu, Fleming, Selby, Jenyns, Yarrell, Thompson, and Morris, with- 

 out meeting with any comment ; but the late Professor Macgillivray, in his admirable 

 work on British birds, has the following remarks : — " Such phenomena certainly pre- 

 sent themselves, yet it is not by any means improbable that they are merely indicative 

 of the hostility of rival males, for we often see larks fighting in the air, and so keenly 

 engaged, that they sometimes descend ' many fathoms ' before separating ; and I have 

 observed eagles struggling on wing, and emitting ' a loud piercing shriek,' although 

 no one could reasonably suppose them to be then copulating." It is quite evident that 

 none of these writers have ever observed what White alludes to, or they would neither 

 have passed it over in silence, nor yet supposed it to be the rivalry of males. On the 



