30 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



in Wales. Probably the original breeding habitat of the Twite is in the 

 hilly coast districts bordering the North Atlantic in Ireland, Scotland, 

 and Norway. From Scotland it seems to have spread southwards into 

 England as far as the Pennine Chain extends, these hills being con- 

 tinuous with the Southern Highlands of Scotland ; but it has not yet 

 reached Wales, which is an isolated mountain region, the level country 

 between Liverpool and Stafford being a barrier which it has not passed. 

 A glance at the map of the British Islands will show the force of this 

 theory. The keenness of " collectors " in obtaining the eggs is easily 

 understood when we remember that the Twite is, as to its breeding 

 range, one of the most limited of Palasarctic species, as I have above 

 indicated. Probably the greater part of the eggs found in collections 

 have been obtained in the British Islands, where the Yorkshire and 

 Lancashire moors are its most accessible breeding haunt, and a happy 

 hunting-ground of " collectors," who can always get a price for the 

 eggs. The fact that the Twite occasionally places a conspicuous 

 feather in the inside of its nest is mentioned by Mr. Ussher (' Birds of 

 Ireland,' p. 68). Many interesting observations are recorded in that 

 book with regard to species which, like the Twite, are more common in 

 Ireland than in England. — Allan Ellison (Watton-at-Stone, Herts). 



Late Stay of Swift, and Notes on the Species. — On Aug. 25th, 1905, 

 I watched a Swift feeding young under the roof of a house in this 

 town, the bird flying up continually. The one young fledged bird was, 

 together with a broken egg, in a House-Sparrow's nest. On Sept. 3rd 

 I saw one Swift flying about midway between Wells and Shepton 

 Mallett ; this observation was on a Sunday. The Swift, in its breeding 

 quarters, appears to be an indolent and very disagreeable bird. The 

 House- Sparrows are driven out of their nests, if they chance to be in 

 the way, as soon as the Swifts arrive in the first few days of May ; 

 then the two and very often three eggs, rather long and dead white in 

 colour, are deposited about May 24th, after the eggs of the House- 

 Sparrow have been thrown out on the ground, where they lie smashed. 

 It is not uncommon to find two Swifts sitting on the same nest, and 

 many times I have found such a nest to contain three eggs. Through 

 their clumsiness in flying in and out many eggs are perforated by the 

 birds' claws, and lie cracked or broken on the stone, mortar, or board 

 on which the nests are placed ; they seem to hold the eggs in their 

 claws while incubating, for I invariably lift the bird sideways with 

 the finger-tips, and when there are eggs it seems to grip them, 

 and on one occasion last summer a bird flew off with an egg on its 

 claw. It is very noticeable, when searching through a colony, how 



