NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
117 
congealed, and now the egg is (juite firmly glued on and presents a most curious 
appearance as it lies before me. 
I found a gold-crest’s nest — carefully concealed under a thick fir-branch — 
.similarly treated last spring. At whose door do these crimes lie? There are a 
few jays and numberless squirrels in these extensive woods : the latter, I shrewdly 
suspect, are the authors of the mischief. Which of these two would primd fade 
be in the better position to discover such artfully-concealed nests at the end of a 
thick fir-branch ? 
Those who have leisure would do a great service to lovers of our small birds — 
warblers and the like — if they could keep a systematic eye on the daily menu of 
Sciurus vulgaris : it might enable us to decide whether or no the squirrel is a 
luxury only to be enjoyed at the sacrifice of the lives of many of our woodland 
eggs and fledgelings. 
A. C. Mackie. 
120 . Long-eared Owls.— On March 26 I found three eggs of this bird 
placed in a deseited squirrel’s “drey”; I took one egg, and on a later visit 
found that one of the remainder was “ chipped ” and the other addled ; the birds 
subsequently deserted the eggs, and when I finally visited the nest, the originally 
“ chipped ” egg was gone and the addled one remained. What was the explana- 
tion of this? Did the owls themselves eat the sound egg or was it the work of 
jays or squirrels? In any case it would seem that the bird or beast was able to 
differentiate between an egg with a chick in it and one which was addled. Is 
this borne out by other instances ? 
North Walsham, Norfolk. A. C. Mackie. 
121 . Herons Swimming.— Some think that these birds do occasionally 
swim. My observations lead me to think that they do not, I used to see them 
almost daily when living clo.se to Langsione Harbour, where they often permitted 
the tide to rise up round their bodies. When in this position they moved about, 
walking it seemed to me, but not actually floating. If the water rose too high 
they took to their wings and sought another spot. Herons never settle down on 
water beyond their depth, which they would do if they were in the habit of 
swimming. 
Southacre, Swaffham, Norfolk. Eu.munu Thos. Daube.ny. 
April, 1904. 
122. Humming in the Air. — I have been much interested in the corre- 
spondence in your pages on this subject, but I am still inclined to think that the 
humming is caused by bees. 
(1) Because the note appears to me to be exactly the same as that produced 
by bees, either when they are visiting a grove of lime-trees in blossom, as men- 
tioned by Mr. Gibbons, or when swarming near their hives. 
(2) The insects seen following a stone thrown in the air, when the humming 
is heard, are about the size of bees and fly like them, although I have never had 
them come near enough to me to be sure that they were bees. 
May I suggest to your readers that they should make careful observations 
during the coming summer and send reports of the result to Nature Notes ? 
I would ask them especially to throw stones high in the air when they hear the 
humming ; perhaps some one may devise some means of discovering the identity 
of the insects which follow the stones. 
IVeston, Lambotirne, Berks, R. OsMOND. 
May to, 1904. 
123 . Glow- worms. — ^Is there not a prevalent idea that it is unlucky to 
disturb these beautiful insects? If so, it is much to be encouraged. In warm 
summers, and in the month of August, they are common in this neighbourhood, 
and their “ tiny spark ” may often be seen after dark close to the roadside. I 
have observed them night after night in e.xactly, or almost exactly, the same 
spot, unmolested by the frequent passers-by, though very conspicuous ; and I 
noticed just the same thing some years ago near a country town in Brittany. 
Fern Bank, near Buxted, A. L. H. 
May, 1904. 
