36 
W. BICKERTON-NOTES ON BIRDS 
visitors last year. I had the pleasure of finding a nest containing 
five eggs within a few yards of a well-frequented public footpath. 
The brood got safely off. At least one pair also haunted a by no 
means retired part of High Street, Watford, and the song could he 
heard nightly about the end of April. 
Chiffchaef ( Phylloscopus rufus ).—I fear there can he no doubt 
that this little “ harbinger of Spring ” is sadly decreasing in 
numbers in the county. Several of my correspondents have 
noticed its increasing scarcity. 
Blue Tit ( Parus cceruleus ).—So far as my own observation goes, 
this attractive little bird has been unusually numerous during the 
Autumn and Winter. Previously I should have said that this tit 
was the least numerous of the four common species, great tit, 
marsh-tit, coal-tit, and blue tit, hut during the period named the 
number of blue tits I have seen has exceeded all the others put 
together. 
Tree-Creeper ( Certhia familiar is). —This bird, on the other hand, 
has been unaccountably scarce in the Watford district. I have not 
seen a specimen in Cassiobury Park for months. Previously 
I never failed to see at least one on every ramble, and occasionally 
I have seen three or four in the course of a single walk. 
Meadow-Pipit ( Anthus pratensis). —In Mr. Crossman’s list it is 
stated that a few pairs remain to nest in suitable localities chiefly 
on the northern boundary of the county. It may therefore be 
worth recording that during the past Summer I found within 
a short distance of Watford a nest containing four eggs. 
House-Martin ( Chelidon urbica). —Mr. Gibbs informs me that 
a St. Albans gentleman observed two of these birds clinging to one 
of the windows of St. Peter’s Church during the first week in 
December. Mr. H. Lewis also reports that two were seen near the 
L. and N.W. Bailway Station in the same town on November 8th. 
Surely the first of these records would have intensified that 
haunting mystery as to the wintering of the Hirundines which 
proved such a source of perplexity to the great naturalist of 
Selborne! 
I think there can be no doubt as to the increasing scarcity both 
of swallows and house-martins during recent years. 
Goldfinch ( Carduelis eleyans ).—In November I was informed by 
a workman at one of our local watercress-beds that he had seen 
a fairly large flock of these exquisite little birds, and had counted 
over 40. This is good news indeed. On the other hand, the 
Hon. A. Holland-Hibbert informs me that he has not seen a single 
specimen in his district for the last fifteen years. Mr. E. P. 
Thompson reports having seen five together at Elstree, and states 
that apart from this “ very few, if any, have been seen for three or 
four years.” Mr. M. Vaughan, of Haileybury, reports that “ gold¬ 
finches are fast becoming extinct.” 
The reason usually given in explanation of the decrease in the 
number of goldfinches is the decrease in thistles and thistle-seeds 
owing to the improvement in methods of agriculture, and the 
