Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/447

Rh Birdsnesting in August.—For the last two years I have noted in 'The Zoologist' a list of nests with eggs and young found on Bank Holiday in Cambridgeshire. This year I was in the same district, but searched mostly in a different direction, and the following were my discoveries:—One nest of Bullfinch, with one naked young and four eggs hatching; three nests of Thrush, with eggs stale, apparently deserted; one nest of Turtle Dove, with two eggs; one nest of Wood Pigeon, with two eggs; two nests of Meadow Pipits, with four and five eggs respectively, all apparently fresh; two nests of common Whitethroat, with young; eight nests of Yellowhammer, with eggs, mostly fresh; two ditto, with young; one nest of Tree Sparrow, with two eggs deserted; two nests of Linnet, with eggs; one ditto, with young; six nests of Greenfinch, with eggs, half of them fresh; two ditto, with young; one nest of Hedge-sparrow, with one egg in hatched-out nest; two nests of Blackbird, with eggs deserted; one of these contained one handsome egg of deep spotless blue, with a rich zone of brown at the large end. This does not include new nests of Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Swallow, and House Martin, which I did not examine.— (7, South Parade, Bedford Park, W.).

Coition of Birds in the Air.—Readers of 'The Zoologist' have doubtless been interested in some remarks that have lately appeared on this subject in the pages of that Journal. I therefore send you a short account of a personal observation. Whilst passing along one of the roads skirting Clifton Downs, about the middle of June last, I noticed some six or eight pairs of House Martins (Hirundo urbica) engaged in collecting mud from the road. Suddenly a pair alighted within three or four yards of me, where I could see them quite plainly. Immediately they dropped into the road the male bird jumped on the back of the female, and appeared to attempt copulation. In an instant, however, the hen slipped from under him, and flew toward me, pursued by the cock bird, uttering loud cries. When quite close, I distinctly saw the male bird (whilst both were in the air) resume his position on the back of the female, and complete the act of copulation. They did not appear to take the least notice of my presence.— (Clifton, Bristol).

Parasites in Birds.—A most interesting although serious epidemic in the form of Tape and Round Worms infests every Thrush and Blackbird in this immediate neighbourhood. All through last year it was prevalent, and at present seems to be on the increase. During the last two months I have examined some forty to fifty examples of Turdus musicus and T. merula, also two of T. viscivorus, that have been netted or shot from the fruit. In every case the intestine, and in a few the entire length of the alimentary canal, was full of a small Tapeworm, of about an inch in length,