■38 
NATURE NOTES 
Mimicry in Starling. — -With reference to the note hereon in the May 
issue of Nature Notes, a year or two since I had a wonderful starling, wonder- 
ful, that is, as regards its imitative powers. “ Nigger” could utter the plaintive 
call of “ Cuckoo,” the laugh of the green woodpecker, and the quack of a duck 
with e.xcellent effect, but so soon as I introduced a jackdaw into my collection, 
“ Nigger” was silent thereafter. 
In a wild state, my observations lead me to suppose that the “song” of the 
starling is little varied, and I have not noticed any mimicry other than when the 
bird has been kept in captivity. 
5, Glenfe 7 -rie Road, VV. Percival Westell, M. B.O.U. 
St. Albans, Herts. 
May 30, 1900. 
House Martin. — Have the members of the Selborne Society noticed the 
scarcity of the house martin in the last few years, or is this scarcity confined to 
this district ? 
Ill the year 1897 we bred very large numbers of this favourite bird under our 
deep over-hanging eaves, and when young and old took their flight, preparatory to 
leaving us in the autumn, they appeared like a swarm of bees. The next year 
none came to their accustomed haunts here, not one built a nest. Last year one 
pair built, and bred their young. This year so far none have built, but a few pair 
have paid visits. I have remarked everywhere in this district that where many 
used to be annually seen, there are now very few. We have more swallows than 
usual, who build chiefly in the barn, and swifts fly up and down the valley. If 
the scarcity of the house martin is general, can their absence be explained ? We 
are very careful to keep sparrows out of their nests, and I think it well to knock 
down their nests in the winter, leaving only their mark, not only that sparrows 
may not adopt them, but also because old nests are not so safe for the young as 
new ones. I have observed no hostility between swallows and martins, for we 
have had both for many years, and I cannot see any rivalry between them. I 
prefer martins ; they fly up to their nests over our windows, and give a cheerful 
chirp. 
Woodtown, S. Devon. W. F. Collier. 
Jtme 19, 1900. 
Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth.— In reply to Mr. Farley allow me to say 
that this insect does not hibernate ; but there are two broods. Several of them 
were to be seen last year hovering over the bean blossoms in my kitchen garden 
at the end of May. Late in the autumn many took refuge in odd corners in my 
house, and in such like places, where they died from cold and want of food. 
The spring brood often escapes notice from being less numerous than the autumn 
one. Ed.mund Thos. Daubeny. 
Mysterious Emigrants. — To Messrs. Donald Currie & Co.’s steamer, 
“ Tintagel Castle,” must be granted the palm for the greatest number of refugees 
carried away from South Africa. Mysterious was their arrival, no less secret their 
departure. 
Leaving Cape Town on May 8, we noticed large numbers of bees flying 
around the ship, and one Sunday when in latitude 13° south, 1° west, from 
forward arose a swarm which, settling on a ventilator, completely covered it. 
Never before, I think, has there been so curious a place for swarming bees as a 
varnished ventilator on a ship in mid-ocean. 
We constructed a nondescript hive, and there content they remained for the 
next seven days. On the 20th we drew near to Cape Verde, passing about nine 
miles off, and going that morning to see our little colony, found it flown. Surely 
instinct must account for the bees’ quiescent state during the days when land was 
far off, and their sudden departure as we drew near the coast. 
We wonder how they will fare in the land of their adoption ; will they be 
stronger than the natives of the bee world in those parts, or will war be waged 
against the intruders, and so exterminate them ? Darwin accounted for the 
appearance of isolated members of a species totally unrepresented by others of 
their kind in the surrounding country in many clever and accurate ways and 
reasonings. How he would have welcomed this straightforward case of voluntary 
migration! E. II. Shackleton, F.R.G.S., 
3rd Officer, s.s. “Tintagel Castle,” in the Daily Mail. 
