NOTES AND QUERIES. 439 



nest was located in a big old-fashioned stack that was in fairly con- 

 stant use; the other two were built in two, half a mile apart, tall 

 brick ventilation shafts erected over a main sewer, as evil-scented a 

 selection as could be well imagined. These shafts have since been 

 removed. The Swallows' local favourite nesting-places are the 

 numerous pump-mills, steam- and wind-driven, dotted all over the 

 vast spreading marshes, where the Yare, Waverley, and Bure 

 meander among our East Coast lowlands. Cowsheds and barns are 

 also largely used by this species. I have seen many nests in walls 

 where bricks have crumbled away, and on beams, often on top, some- 

 times at the sides resting on big nails. On one occasion I saw a 

 nest built on an inch-thick iron rail, shaped like a saucer, with dabs 

 of clay on each side to shore it up safely as with brackets. Broken 

 panes of glass are often the only means of in- and egress ; whilst 

 those birds building in boat-houses use the space between the water 

 and the bottom of the doors. — Arthur H. Pattbeson. 



ANTHOZOA. 



Sagartia parasitica Mounting on Solaster and Hyas. — It is well 

 known that the commensal Sea-Anemone Sagartia parasitica will 

 move freely from one empty shell to another in an aquarium, and 

 probably many aquarium-keepers know that it is able to mount upon 

 the shell of a passing Hermit-Crab, but I believe that no instance 

 has so far been recorded of this Sea-Anemone mounting upon a 

 passing Starfish. On May 25th, 1916, a Sun-Star (Solaster papposus) 

 of 95 mm. in diameter was creeping slowly past an average-sized 

 Sea-Anenone, attached to the side of a stone in an aquarium, when 

 the Sea Anemone quickly pressed its disc upon the Sun-Star, as it 

 would have pressed it on the shell of a passing Hermit-Crab (see 

 p. 39 of the present volume of the ' Zoologist '). The Sea- Anemone 

 adhered to the Sun- Star and was actually dragged along the bed of 

 the tank for several inches. The Sea-Anemone was then able to 

 attach its base to a rock, and a short tug-of-war ensued between the 

 Sun-Star and the Sea-Anemone, the latter eventually releasing its 

 hold of the Sun-Star but remaining attached to the rock. The whole 

 affair occupied only a few minutes. E. Howard Birchall mentioned 

 in 1876 (in a note in the ' Zoologist,' vol. xxxiv, p. 5129) that 

 Sagartia parasitica might " often " be found attached to the limbs of 

 the Great Spider-Crab (Main squinado). It would be interesting to 

 know how often such specimens are observed. I have myself seen 

 in a tank- one of these Sea- Anemones firmly grasp with its base one 

 leg of a large Common Spider-Crab (Hijas arancus) to which it 

 remained attached. — H. N. Milligan. 



