5752 Birds. 



more probable that we have the accumulated thousands riot only from the western 

 counties, but also from Wales and the South of Ireland ; nor do I see anything sur- 

 prising in this, or that it should be considered a wild theory ; for, it having pleased 

 Providence to endow them with such wonderful instinct, what more natural that in 

 taking their departure they should be guided by it, so that, instead of directing their 

 flight at once to the southward, which would expose them to a tenfold risk of perish- 

 ing by the way, they should shape their course to the eastward till the narrowest part 

 of the Channel had been reached, where their crossing would be unattended with risk 

 either from adverse winds or tempests. Stray birds are generally to be met with in 

 greater or lesser numbers late in the season ; but those shot for inspection I have 

 invariably found to be young birds, their plumage being speckled with white, giving 

 them a gray appearance on the back and bead; and the bills were tinged with yellow 

 at the base. Although I will not take upon me to say decidedly how it happens that 

 so many swallows are annually left, in a helpless and immature state, to shift for 

 themselves, I am inclined to believe it is somewhat after this manner. When swal- 

 lows construct their nests in exposed spots, which we know to be sometimes the case, 

 they are liable to be injured by the rain, or possibly blown down ; and when this hap- 

 pens late in the season, even if they should succeed by renewed or redoubled exertions 

 in getting their nests repaired or rebuilt, there would still remain the business of 

 incubation to be gone through again, which would necessarily throw them back 

 a fortnight or more. There is also the chance of one of the^old birds being killed, in 

 which case the survivor would have to look out for another helpmate ; so that much 

 time might be lost, as there would probably at that season be a scarcity of swallows of 

 a suitable age unpaired ; moreover, there would be the house to replaster and refur- 

 nish, eggs to be laid and incubated, and brood to be reared. — Henry W. Hadfield ; 

 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, 1856. 



Nidification of the House Sparrow (Fringilla domestica). — June 11, 1857. — In 

 walking round the garden at about six o'clock in the evening, I perceived on the lawn 

 what appeared to be a ball of hay or straw, but which on a nearer approach proved to 

 be the nest of a house sparrow. Lying near it, but quite dead, was a young bird 

 some seven or eight days old. On taking up the nest and inserting my finger, I felt 

 some young ones within, apparently dead, but on a closer inspection found that one 

 out of the two it contained still showed symptoms of vitality, although well nigh as 

 cold as its fellow-nestling. But before proceeding with my description it may be 

 necessary to account for its strange and rather mysterious appearance on the grass- 

 plot. Although the weather had been stormy and unsettled for some days, on my 

 retiring to rest about midnight it was calm ; but I am informed that towards morning 

 there was a sudden and violent squall. I am particular in noticing this circumstance 

 to show the great length of time that this young bird must necessarily have passed 

 without food ; and when we consider that probably it had not been fed since eight 

 o'clock on the previous evening, which I have ascertained from observation to be about 

 the hour the sparrow ceases to feed its young, it most probably had gone without food 

 for some twenty-two hours; at the same time not only exposed to the cold night air, 

 but still further chilled by its close proximity to its dead companion. The bird found 

 dead on the ground had probably been killed by the fall of some forty or fifty feet, as 

 it could scarcely have crept so far from the nest. On taking the poor half-starved 

 bird from the nest, the warmth of my hand seemed to revive it, so much so that I was 

 induced to try it with a worm, which, after two or three unsuccessful attempts, it 



