Ii8 
NATURE NOTES. 
except a few small clumps of briers. At the base of the wall, in a slight dip of 
the ground, lies loosely on its side an old tin paint pot, capable of holding about 
an imperial gallon. This pot is nearly half filled with withered beech leaves 
blown info it by the wind ; and on top of these leaves, midway in the pot, the 
robins have built their nest, which to-day (March 27) contains five eggs. 
St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. X. 
A Jackdaw’s Note. — Years ago we had a tame jackdaw that was very 
fond of standing on the fender before the fire in the dining-room, and behaving in 
the way the mocking-bird mentioned on page 79 did, only he must have looked 
more ridiculous still, for he stretched out both wings, opened his bill as wide as 
possible, put his head on one side, and closed his eyes. In this position he would 
remain for a length of time, thoroughly given up, it seemed to us, to the enjoyment 
of the heat. 
Llandtidno. S. T. 
Blackbird. — In my garden there is a hen blackbird with a yellow bill. As 
they become advanced in years their bills change colour. This must be a very 
old bird to have a bill bright yellow like the cock. 
Thetford. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
The Nightingale’s Croak. — May I ask if it is generally considered that 
the nightingale croaks on its first arrival in the spring as well as after the young 
are hatched in the summer? The idea was a new one to me until this spring, 
when I was assured by an ornithological friend that he had repeatedly noticed 
it. About three weeks ago I had the opportunity of seeing and hearing a 
nightingale give about a dozen croaks in succession and then fly to another 
branch and burst into a continued song. 
C. J. Palmer. 
Nuthatches. — For the last two winters a pair of nuthatches have been in 
the constant habit of flying into our library, which has a door opening into the 
garden, to pick up the nuts awaiting them. A few are strewn on the floor near 
the door, and others are placed in a basket at about a couple of yards’ distance 
from it, and very near my writing table. As long as the door is open, and the 
basket contains nuts, they pay repeated visits. A coco-nut cut in half and hung 
at the door is another attraction. I have not yet induced them to take nuts from 
the basket when held in my hand. For the last six or seven weeks they have 
ceased their visits. I wish the squirrels, who may frequently be seen among the 
fir trees in our little garden, could be prevailed upon to approach the house ; 
but hitherto neither nuts nor sopped bread have had the effect of overcoming 
their timidity. The stable cats are never allowed to come this side of the 
house. 
Dorrington Vicarage, Shrewsbury. Mary L. Wayne. 
Martins. — On March 22 I saw from twenty to thirty martins hawking high 
up, too high to be certain of the kind, but I think they must have been sand 
martins, for if there had been any white about them I should have seen flashes of 
it. The nearest abode of sand martins is more than three miles from us, and I 
have not heard whether they have been seen yet. Am I not right in thinking it 
a very early visit? On the 29th I heard a chiffchaff, but not since. They seldom 
remain with us ; last year was the first for many years that one has remained the 
whole summer constantly within hearing. Ours is not a good neighbourhood for 
birds, the trees and hedges are too ruthlessly cut down. 
Wallingford. M. S. Y. 
A White Sparrow. — Last September, about the 28th, I saw a perfectly 
white, or rather cream-coloured, sparrow. We had a very heavy gale of wind 
and our lawn was covered with swallows sitting all over it, and by threes on the 
crocpiet hoops, and suddenly this perfectly cream-coloured bird descended among 
them and then flew up into the trees, and I feel certain from its behaviour that 
it was a sparrow, though I could not get close to it, without a dark feather in it. 
I have not seen it since. A friend tells me that for the last two years she has 
seen a pair of sparrows in the near neighbourhood of Windsor with white heads, 
but their eyes are not pink. I never but once before saw so many swallows on 
