NOTES AND QUERIES. 269 



they are often very destructive. I have seen them pull up youug broad- 

 bean plauts ; I have known them take, in a few hours, three dozen seedling 

 French marigolds which had just been bedded out. Apparently all this 

 mischief is very useless, as numbers of flowers and plants are scattered on 

 the verandah, or may be found in the gutters between the gables of my 

 house. But this is not their worst fault. At this time of the year it is a 

 great pleasure to see the Swifts racing through the air, and to hear their 

 shrill cries as they chase one another. Several pairs of Swifts nest every 

 year in my house ; but before they arrive the Starlings have taken posses- 

 sion of their nesting-holes. This leads to a fierce war being waged between 

 the two species. It is true that now and again a Swift succeeds in throwing 

 one or two unfledged Starlings out of the nest, but more often a battle takes 

 place between the adult birds, and the Swift is very roughly treated. Some- 

 times he manages to escape, and flies far away hotly pursued by the Starling. 

 But often they both fall to the ground together, and the Swift is left in a 

 state too feeble to rise, and becomes an easy prey to any prowling cat. 

 Several times the Swift's piteous squealing has brought me to the window, 

 and I have seen the Starling hammering him with its beak. Last year I 

 ran out and picked up a Starling and Swift clinging to one another so 

 tightly that at first I could not disentangle them. The Swift was very 

 weak indeed. However, I kept him indoors through the night, and next 

 morning he was able to fly. This year Swifts did not come to us till the 

 7th of May, and already there were fights on the 15th, 16th, and 17th. 

 Starlings are delightful birds, their varied songs and mimicry are so 

 amusing, and in the winter they are among the few species which come to 

 enliven us ; consequently I do not like to shoot them, especially as shooting 

 is apt to frighten the birds in my aviary. And yet they are a terrible 

 nuisance, injuring plants, harrying the Swifts, and filling up ventilators and 

 gutters. I should like to know whether others have observed the same 

 feud existing between Swifts and Starlings. I have known Starlings to 

 oust Sand-Martins, and have read of their taking possession of the holes 

 made by Woodpeckers ; but I do not remember ever seeing any note on 

 their interference with Swifts. — W. Storks Fox (St. Anselm's, Bakewell). 

 [In 1836 the Rev. T. Salway recorded a discovery of the skeletons of 

 Swifts and Starlings in the tower of the church at Oswestry, Shropshire. 

 As many as fifty-seven were discovered together in a small chamber rather 

 more in size than " half a square foot " (Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. ix. p. 350). 

 Swifts are seemingly pugnacious birds. Bree, writing in 183*2, says : — 

 " Swifts, I am told (though I never witnessed the fact), will sometimes 

 fight with each other, and in such cases the contending parties are occa- 

 sionally brought to the ground, and have been found so circumstanced, and 

 with the claws of each mutually clasped into those of the other." — Ed.] 



