196 
NATURE NOTES 
on the ground. One egg remained, and a young bird, only to be seen by looking, 
owing to its colour closely a-similating with its surroundings, sat on a twig under 
the bush. A few days afterwards there were no traces of either eggs or birds, 
which I hope (the young ones) were successfully reared. 
Although the common is frequented by children, the wiles of the old bird would 
naturally lead a boy or girl to follow it. I could not but think that this mysterious 
gilt of simulation possessed by some birds is an instance of development according 
to their needs, a theory held, I think, by Mr. C. Dixon. 
During the ages that the nightjar and birds existed on the earth before the 
advent of man, the defensive tactics against human depredation would not be 
required. I should be glad to learn if any of your readers have ob>erved this 
habit in the nightjar. Correspondents of Nature Notes in past years, who have 
written about this bird, do not appear to have noticed it. 
New Southgate, W. Denne. 
August 14, 1900. 
Greater Spotted Woodpecker. — In a garden near here a greater spotted 
woodpecker has been caught in a net protecting some cherries. The owners w'ere 
astonished at the loud cries of this strange gaudy “ foreigner,” as they thought it. 
They put it in a cage, fed it with cherries which it ate ravenously, and sent it to 
Ipswich for identification. It W’as named, returned, and liberated in its old 
haunts, and has now taken to attacking the rows of peas. 
Market U-'estou, Thetford, Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
August, 1900. 
Green Woodpecker. — A keeper, when ferreting on the Euston estate near 
here, heard a great noise in one of his nets, and found he had caught a green 
w’oodpecker which had been driven out of a rabbit hole by the ferret. I have 
never seen one of these birds go into a hole in the ground, or heard of a similar 
case. 
September, 1900. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
Summer Migrants. — Mr. Hiam's list is verj- interesting and useful, but by 
the titlark does he mean the tree or meadow pipit? I presume the former. 
Why, too, does he include the corn bunting in a list of summer migrants? 
The dates of the first appearance of red-backed shrike and turtle dove, i.e.. 
May 24 and June 6, strike me as being exceptionally late. My diary enables me 
to give the following arrivals, in this district where not stated otherwise : April l, 
chitf chaff ; li, swallow; 13, wryneck ; 14, a trusty correspondent wrote me that 
he saw and heard a nightjar near Birmingham on this date ; 16, cuckoo ; 18, tree 
pipit; 21, greater whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, nightingale; 22, willow 
warbler, whcatear ; 29, blackcap; May 6, swift; 7, whinchat, house-martin; 
13, turtle dove ; 29, red-backed shrike. (Note : nest and three eggs found on this 
date, and male and female birds seen.) 
W. Perciyai. Westell, M.B.O.U. 
5, Glenferrie Road, St. Albans, Herts. 
Choked with a Feather. — I picked up a young house-martin a few days 
ago with a feather from the nest in its mouth and throat, choked and dead. I 
have put it in spirits. J. HlAM. 
House-martin. — In common with both your correspondents, Mr. Collier 
and Mr. Warner, I have noticed that house-martins and also sand-martins are 
decreasing. Some three or four years ago both species nested here freely, but 
this year I have not seen a single nest. The sand-martin has been driven out of 
his usual breeding quarters by his inveterate enemy Passer domesticus. The latest 
date I have seen any of the Hirundinida here was a house-martin hawking after 
insects and very strong on the wing on Sunday, December ll, 189S. Has any 
reader of Nature Notes seen one later ? 
Penzance, Arthur W. Skeat Harvey. 
September 7, 1900. 
Late Nesting. — The continuing fine weather in the West has apparently 
been appreciated by the birds. On August 10 I found a yellow bunting’s nest 
