NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
55 
of agriculture had long called for separate and extended treatment until the present 
work was p'jhlished. Any one who has been through the farm and class-rooms 
at Wye will be prepared for the thoroughness of the work. No previous know- 
ledge of Botany is assumed ; every step is referred to the test of expeiinient ; and, 
though thiee-eighths o( the work deals with the general anatomy and physiology 
of plants, the practical bearing of the study is never forgotten, harm crops, 
weeds and seeds, fungal diseases and bacteria, all receive adequate treatment, and 
the illustrations, especially those of grasses, from the author’s own drawings, are 
trustworthy, though often obviously the work of one not trained in drawing for 
reproduction. The samples, which, by the courtesy of the publishers, we are able 
to give, illustrate the thoroughness of the entire work. 
Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural History Society, 
1901. With two plates. Hibernia Chambers, London Briilge. Price 2s. 
Neatly printed, well edited and indexed, this part, which runs to ninety-two 
octavo pages, seems rather dear at two shillings. If is largely occupied with 
abstracts of proceedings, a report which shows a most satisfactory balance, and 
some admirable accounts of field meetings — matters interesting mainly to members. 
Only two papers appear in extenso, one on “Fossil Insects,” by W. West, and 
one on “ Rearing Lepidoptera,” by M. Montgomery. 
Received : The Naturalists’ fournal. The Naturalist, The Irish Naturalist, 
The Humanitarian, The Animals' Frietui, Our Animal Friends zx\A The Annual 
World for June and July ; The Country and The Agricultural Economist for 
July ; and The Victorian Naturalist for May, 1902. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Do birds assist one another in making nests ?— On the north 
side of our house there are two nests of marlins in course of building. One 
martin was seen to fly up to one nest with a feather in his beak : a martin in the 
said nest appeared at the opening and took the feather from the other martin, 
and then the martin who brought the feather flew away to its own nest a yard or 
two off. 
Foxton, Cambs. A. M. Gree.nwood. 
Nests. — Several nests in odd places have come to my notice this spring. 
One robin built in a flower-pot lying on its side in a potting shed frequented by 
garden boys ; when they saw the robin was building, they left the door of the 
shed open at night, and a young family was safely reared, in spite of two garden 
cats. Another robin built in an old cocoa tin which was lying on its side among 
the grass in a churchyard. The tin was rolled over by my dog, and the robin 
flew out. Only one egg hatched out of four ; but that one became a very fine 
bird. Blue tits, as usual, occupied a nest box (having turned out a pair of cole- 
tits who had taken the liberty of beginning a nest), and reared seven out of nine 
eggs. Another box, generally used by blue tits, was occupied by a wasp, Vesfa 
Nonvegica, which built a neat little pear-shaped nest, hanging from the top. 
When the young wasps came out they enlarged the nest till it touched the sides 
of the box, 3^ inches across, and then it was time to put a stop to their energy. 
House martins are very plenttful this year. One pair has taken a swallow’s nest 
of last year, and another pair began a nest close by it, but was dislodged by 
sparrow.s. Swifts also are very common, more so than I have ever noticed 
before here. 
Botley, Hants. M. S. Jenkyns. 
Cuckoo’S Egg in Unfinished. Nest.— In answer to Mr. Bamford’s 
question, I am glad to tell him that I had a similar experience last year. I found 
a cuckoo’s egg in an unfinished nest, which also appeared to be the work of a 
hedge sparrow. I left the egg to see what would happen, and visited the nest 
three times, allowing a week to elapse between each visit. Finding that nothing 
