38 
NATURE NOTES. 
it was a swallow at first. That it was of the “ swallow ” tribe it seems pretty 
clear. The bird was weak, and could with difficulty rise from the ground on 
which it settler! by the side of the river Grata, and this enabled the lads to get 
close to it. H. B. Rawnsley. 
An Early Brood. — In the Ulverston News of January 9th appears the 
following as denoting the mildnes.s of the season in this portion of Westmoreland. 
The postman at Arnside (Mr. Thompson) whilst on his round on December 31st 
“ found a nest of young starlings in full vigour.” These are really early birds. 
L. Petty. 
Late Birds. — At page 17 it is said that martins were seen flying about the 
cliffs to the east of Brighton as late this last autumn as November 21st. Twenty 
years ago I saw some there myself in the first week of December. It may be that 
they always linger in that neighbourhood a little longer than at Hastings, 
where I saw them in great numbers last November, but not after the first week. 
If Selbornians who live along our southern coast would yearly keep a list of their 
feathered visitors, and carefully record the dates of their arrival and departure, 
perhaps we might learn somewhat of the system of migration, upon which we are 
at present not a little in the dark. Henry Silver. 
Martins and Sparrows. — In confirmation of the statement by Miss Isabel 
Fry (p. 171, I can say that on the 23rd November, a cold foggy day, I saw 
several sand martins hawking up and down in the High .Street of Lewes. .As regards 
the persecution and driving away of the colonies of house martins by sparrows, 
I may add that this is certainly the case here, and was so at .Saltburn-by-the-Sea 
in the North Riding, where I formerly' lived. Whether this is tending to the 
house martins becoming scarcer in England or no, remains to be seen ; but there 
can be no doubt that it is driving them away from “ the busy hum of men,” and 
it is mentioned as a fact by Mr. Howard Saunders in his British Birds. It may 
lead them to build more than they now do in cliffs and overhanging banks ; but 
those of us who live near towns will lose the pleasure of watching their pretty 
ways. E. Grove. 
The Robin’s Song. — .Some of your readers have doubtless noticed the two 
entirely different songs of the robin ; we are all well acquainted with his ordinary 
song, a plaintive melody sung from the tops of trees or bushes all through the 
winter, with a dying fall. But there is his special love song also, much sweeter, 
not so loudly proclaimed, and very soft. I was sitting quietly in my garden in the 
spring and saw a robin pitch very near his mate, who was perched on the back of 
a chair. He went close up to her, his bill nearly touching hers, and he poured 
cut the prettiest love song I ever heard, quite different from his usual every-day- 
warble. On another occasion a very tame robin came into the window of the 
drawing room, and alighted on a chiffonier which had looking-glass at the back. 
He saw his reflection m the glass, gently went close up to it, and sang this very 
same love song in the sweetest way possible. All the songs of birds are love 
.songs or calls ; this was not a call, but a wooing of the gentlest and most per- 
suasive kind. It is not likely to be heard or noticed often, when the ordinary 
song of the robin is so well known and so loud. \V. E. Collier. 
The Glastonbury Thorn {Craticgus Oxycanlha, var. pr(eco.x ). — Christmas 
has arrived, and as I promised in Nature Notes for 1891, p. 156, to observe 
and report on the behaviour of the Bath specimen of this plant at this season, I 
proceed to do so. The tree to which I referred in my former note is in Hower 
now, and as the best proof of this is a view of the same or a portion thereof, I 
send you with this part of a branch bearing both flowers and fruit. The fruit, I 
need scarcely add, is the result of the spring flowering. Mr. Milburn, the 
superintendent of the Broome Botanical Garden, has supplied me with the 
specimen enclosed, as I did not like to interfere with the tree. For the informa- 
tion of those who would like to view the tree, I may add that it grows nearly 
opposite the band stand, on the north side of the avenue in Victoria Park. 
There are two more examples of this plant in other parts of the park (not 
so easily found), which Mr. Milburn has informed me are also flowering at the 
present time. 
Bath, 24th Dec., 1891. 
W. G. M'HE.tTCROFT. 
