Birds. 1499 



of August, my gardener informed me that "scores of nuthatches " had for several suc- 

 cessive days visited the currant-trees in my garden and robbed them of the fruit. I 

 must confess, that in the first instance I was somewhat incredulous, especially as no 

 birds of the kind had been seen here for the last two or three years ; but I was soon 

 satisfied of his accuracy as to the species, for upon going with him I saw several, and 

 some were subsequently shot. There was something remarkable in the mode in which 

 these little birds helped themselves to these rarities ; they assembled in the first place 

 in the branches of some apple-trres, which stood among the currant-bushes, and did not 

 fly from thence to the latter, but ran down the trunk of the trees, head foremost, and 

 then picked the fruit from the bushes and flew off with them. Some authors assert 

 that nuthatches have only a note in spring and are mute during the summer, but these 

 whilst engaged as above, emitted a low chirp, somewhat resembling the chiff-chaff's 

 note, but less sharp. — Oswald Mosely ; Rolleston Hall, near Burton-on-Trent, Sep- 

 tember 3rd, 1846. 



[The reader is referred to an admirable paper on the habits of the nuthatch, by the 

 Rev. J. C. Atkinson in an early number of the ' Zoologist ' (Zool. 213) : the fact that 

 it feeds upon nuts is there placed beyond the possibility of a. doubt. Sir Oswald Mos- 

 ley's interesting observation of its feeding also on currants, is, I believe, new ; but with 

 regard to feeding upon nuts, I have so frequently been an eye-witness to this opera- 

 tion, that I supposed, and I still suppose that no naturalist could doubt it. The nut- 

 shells fixed in the crevices of the bark, the attitude of the bird while hammering them, 

 and the sound of the hammering are as familiar to every out-of-door's observer as the 

 song of the nightingale, the slovenly nest of the woodpigeon, or the compact one of the 

 long-tailed titmouse. — E. IV.] 



Occurrence of the Crimson Weaver Bird in Kent. — Some years since, after a strong 

 westerly gale, the short-tailed crimson weaver bird (Euplectes ignicolor, Swains.) was 

 killed in this locality. — F. Plomley ; Lydd, Romney Marsh, Kent. 



Enquiry respecting the name of a Bird. — I have seen a bird flying swiftly from a 

 hedge near this place: it was rather larger than the common shrike, and appeared of a 

 bright scarlet all over. I shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents, who 

 can from this imperfect description furnish me with the name of the hud.— James 

 Stuart Wortley, Winchester. 



[Was not this the Weaver Bird ?— E. IV.] 



Singular habit of the Swift. — One of the last days of the sixth month, (June) 

 1835, a friend who was staying with us, my brother and myself went to spend a day at 

 Walton-on-the-Naze, a small watering-place on the Essex coast. The day was wet 

 and cold, particularly so for the time of year, but our object being more the pursuit of 

 Natural History than the usual sea-side attractions, we were quickly out of sight of 

 the village, climbing about the high cliffs to the north. Our attention was soon 

 directed to a common swift which had just entered a small crevice ; it flew away be- 

 fore we could reach. But almost directly after, we saw others clinging to slight pro- 

 jections and settling on the ledges, and so entirely did they appear weakened by the 

 low temperature of the atmosphere, that they allowed themselves to be taken by the 

 hand without the least struggle to escape ; in some places they were settled one upon 

 another, four or five deep, and we literally took them up by handfulls, five or six to- 

 gether. So numerous were they, we could probably have caught some hundreds, but 

 having secured about thirty in a basket, we carried them home with us in the evening, 

 and having placed them in a warm situation during the night, in the morning they 



