SELBORNE SOCIETY NOTICES 
199 
for if they grow up they are sure to copy the parasitical habits of their parents. 
A robber sparrow can easily be frightened from the nest he has appropriated, and 
will fly to the nearest tree, where he can be shot. All sparrows that roost in 
other birds’ nests in winter should be destroyed. In advocating this plan I run 
very little risk of being pulled up by Selbornians. None of us want to exterminate 
the sparrow ; but we would curb his bad habits. Swallows and martins soon find 
out the kindly help of man. Here, owing to the trees, a great harbour for 
birds, they have much difficulty in maintaining a foothold, in spite of my help : 
for the sparrows are in the ascendancy. In the village, however, they are more 
fortunate. One poor man especially protects them, and their nests almost touch 
each other under the eaves of his house. A friend of mine, a good naturalist, 
lately shot a sparrow for pulling a martin out of her nest by the “ scruff of the 
neck!’’ Edward Thos. Dau ben y. 
Market Weston , Thetford. 
Crossbills. — One afternoon in the middle of August, when standing on a 
bridge over a stream between two “ plantains ”of firs, I came across a flock of about 
twenty crossbills. At first I could only obtain a distant view of them as they flew 
across the tops of the trees. Soon, however, a pair settled on the branch of a 
chestnut tree close by, which hid them from my sight. I was sorely tempted to 
move a little so as to have a look at them, but luckily desisted. They then flew 
down to the stream, one on the bank and the other on the stem of a plant in the 
water, to drink, where I had a good view of both. They were male and female. 
These birds fly strongly, and not unlike a hawfinch. Their note somewhat 
reminds one of that bird, but is more metallic in lone, and not so harsh. The) 
often cry out together in chorus, and are then quiet for a few minutes ; after 
which one or two will utter their note. They seem always to call out as they fly. 
In making observations of this kind I have long learned the value of stillness and 
silence, without which an opportunity is often lost. Many birds soon regain con- 
fidence, and do not object to our presence, if we will only be quiet and still. I 
have stood in front of a bush in which I knew there was a grasshopper warbler, a 
very shy bird, and have seen him come out and sing on an exposed branch, 
regardless of my being barely ten yards off. I have had a Norfolk plover walk 
dose past me as I stood before him in the open daylight, and a kingfisher fly 
under my arm as I leaned against a gate. The observer should avoid creaking 
boots and loud colours. Edward Thos. Daubeny. 
Market Weston, Thetford. 
Moorhen and Carp. — On August 31, the evening being only moderately 
warm, some children were throwing pieces of bread to the fish (carp, I believe), 
in the lake in Battersea Park. The carp were executing all sorts of upward and 
broadside manceuvres, occasionally leaping a little out of the water. One could 
hear the excited smacking of their jaws. A moorhen came up, making the jerks 
and minces peculiar to the species. After several attempts it succeeded in 
snatching up a morsel of bread, but was instantly bitten on the leg by a carp, 
apparently through mistake. With a cry of pain, the moorhen flew to the island, 
twenty or thirty yards away, where it ate its food. Four or five ducks then swam 
rapidly to the bread, and soon cleared it away. 
Clapham Junction. W. Johnson. 
Wasps are very numerous and destructive this season, and measures should 
be taken to destroy nests before the young queens quit them for next year’s 
supply. This should be done early in October, if not carried out before. 
James Hi am. 
SELBORNE SOCIETY NOTICES. 
The Late Mr. T. F. Wakefield. — At a special Council meeting, held on 
Tuesday, September 20, on the proposition of Mr. G. Edwards, seconded by Mr. 
Basil Martin, it was resolved “that the Council of the Selborne Society hears 
with much sorrow of the death of Mr. T. F. Wakefield, for some years one of 
the Vice-Presidents of the Society, and in conveying to Mrs. Wakefield and her 
family the expression of its sincere sympathy, desires to place on record its 
warm appreciation of the many services Mr. Wakefield has rendered the Society, 
both on its Council and in connection with the Lower Thames Valley Branch.” 
