5098 Birds. 



Note on the Early Arrival of the Sand Martin and Chiff chaff. — On the 18l.li of 

 March I saw two sand martins (Hirundo riparia) flying- over the river, one of which 

 I shot, and found it in good condition and its mouth full of Dipterous insects. The 

 same day the chiffchaff (Sylvia hippolais) was very numerous. The weather was mild 

 and wet, being nearly the first rain after a long continuance of fine weather with cold 

 easterly winds. This is the earliest arrival of either of these birds I have ever noticed, 

 though last year I saw one sand martin flying about on the 23rd of March, whilst 

 snow was falling, chiff chaffs having arrived on the 21st. — W. S. M. D> Urban; New- 

 port, near Exeter, April 2, 1856. 



Familiarity of the Hedgesparrow. — May 8, 1852. A pair of hedgesparrows have 

 constructed their nest within 2% feet of the back of a garden-chair in common use, 

 and on which a boy once stood to water a shrub without disturbing the bird sitting on 

 its nest, which is placed in a blackthorn, with ivy growing around it, the leaves of 

 which form a complete canopy, sheltering it from rain and wind. The eggs slightly 

 differ, both in size and shape. The nest measured internally H inch in depth and 

 2^ inches in breadth, and was \\ inches in diameter externally. On taking the nest 

 to pieces (some weeks later) I found it composed of the following materials: — twig of 

 elm ; ditto; stalk of spinach ; piece of thorn ; pieee of tamarisk ; stalk of carnation ; 

 stalk of honeysuckle; root of ivy; piece of brier; tendril of Convolvulus; stalk of 

 flower; ditto; ditto; piece of Virginia stock; stalk of flower; ditto; ditto; some 

 stalks; a number of fine roots; some pieces of matting; piece of round gimp; some 

 ivy leaves; two or three leaves of mallows; two pieces of twine; several strings; 

 several threads ; four long pieces of cotton twist: externally, first a thick coating of 

 common green moss, mixed with a little wool, hair, and small roots and leaves; next 

 a thick mass of short hair, mixed wirh wool, worsted, rabbits' fur, human hair, and 

 that of cow or ox, and a small feather or two: the whole matted together with fibrous 

 roots, grass, hair, and threads of worsted and cotton, and lined with a moderately 

 thick coating of horse hair, and that of a dog or cat. — H. W. Hadfield ; High Cliff, 

 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, April 10, 1856. 



Colour of the Beak of the Hawfinch.— Mr. Drane states (Zool. 5059) that the bill 

 of the hawfinch changes colour when the bird is fed upon hemp seed: this is an 

 error. The food has nothing to do with it; it is simply the regular seasonal change. 

 In the autumn and winter the bill, in both sexes, is always flesh-coloured ; in March 

 it begins to change, and by the early part of April is of a deep leaden blue colour, 

 and continues so during the breeding season. The common sparrow is a familiar in- 

 stance of this change in the colour of the bill, which is horn-coloured in winter and 

 jet-black in summer. The hawfinch is not migratory in this country : it used to breed 

 in great numbers in our forest, but has become comparatively rare within the last 

 three or four years. Like many other birds which are very wild in a state of nature, 

 it becomes very familiar when brought up from the nest. — Henry Doubleday ; Epping, 

 Aprils, 1856. 



Note on the Hoopoe. — The hoopoe is placed by Macgillivray in the family of Cer- 

 ihianae (why or wherefore does not clearly appear). He also describes them as feeding 

 on beetles " which they first killed, and then beat them into a ball, which they threw 

 into the air and caught 9gt h wise." He likewise errs in saying "The form of its 

 tarsi and claws would lead us to suppose it to be a climbing or creeping bird." Again, 

 " Its very short tarsi are obviously not well adapted for walking, &c." Although a 

 great admirer of Mr. IVIacgilliv ray's works (which I have generally found very correct), 



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