434 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Swallow : Hirundo rustica. 



The swallow has a red chin, a white breast, its back is entirely black, 

 and its tail is more forked than that of the house martin. 



The swallow usually arrives about the second week in April, after 

 which it is generally distributed throughout the British Isles until 

 September or October, or even later. Its nest is made of mud, but unlike 

 that of the martin is open at the top, and usually placed upon a joist or 

 on the wall under the roof of a barn or outhouse. The eggs are four to 

 six in number, two broods being usually reared in a season. Mr. F. V. 

 Theobald tells me swallows do enormous good by devouring winged aphis, 

 and may be watched working amongst the hop aphis as they swarm 

 back to the plum trees. 



Hedge Sparrow : Accentor modularis. 



The hedge sparrow, called in some parts the Shuffle-wing, from its 

 peculiar flight, has somewhat the appearance of the house sparrow, but 

 its habits are quite different, and it is of quite a different family. Its beak 

 is narrow and of a brown colour, and is suited to an insect and worm 

 diet, whilst that of the house sparrow is strong and cone-shaped, suited 

 for eating grain. It is not gregarious, more than two or three seldom 

 being seen together. Yarrell says of it that it is generally diffused over 

 the British Isles, and is resident throughout the year. From spring to 

 autumn it feeds indiscriminately on insects, worms, and seeds, but not 

 on fruit, drawing nearer to the habitations of men as winter approaches 

 to gain such scanty subsistence as chance or kindness may provide. It 

 is seen in woods, hedgerows, and gardens all the year round, and does not 

 appear to be a migratory species, as the numbers do not noticeably diminish 

 during the hardest winters. Early in February the male begins its soft, 

 gentle, sweet song, and sings throughout the year except in moulting 

 time, which is in August. 



These birds live in pairs, feeding and moving in company with each 

 other. The female resembles the male closely ; it is nearly the first bird 

 to form a nest. Four or five eggs are laid of a pretty bluish colour ; and 

 the cuckoo frequently lays or places its egg in the nest of the hedge 

 sparrow, the hedge sparrow becoming the foster-parent. The character 

 given to this bird by both farmer and gardener is "all good and no 

 harm." 



Pied Wagtail : Motacilla lugubris. 



This graceful bird, often seen running along a lawn, by the edge of 

 water, or in the plough furrow, is a resident of the British Isles, but 

 some go southward in the winter. Flies, insects, and fresh-water 

 molluscs form its principal food, and on the farm and in the garden 

 its character is " good in every way." 



Miss Ormerod mentions wagtails as eating the marsh snail, which is 

 the host of the Liver-fluke, which causes such destruction to sheep. 



