Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/398

370 their experience is the same in other parts of Britain. Nightjars here seem to have a partiality for feeding upon Hepialidæ, arriving about the time when H. velleda appears, and not leaving the heaths for any considerable distance until the end of June or beginning of July, when it is to be seen in the fields near the village feeding upon H. humuli.— (Wilsden, near Bradford).

The Delinquencies of Starlings.—Mr. Fox (ante, p. 269) asks whether others have observed feuds to exist between Swifts and Starlings. Such quarrels are not at all of uncommon occurrence, and in one haunt at least Sturnus vulgaris, is frequently ejected on the arrival of Cypselus apus notwithstanding that possession is nine points of the law, being apparently overpowered by mere numbers as I should think, for it is hardly conceivable that Swifts could single-handed be a match for Starlings.— (Wilsden, near Bradford).

Starlings nesting in Fir Trees.—During May last I found small colonies of Sturnus vulgaris nesting in the fir trees in Burnt Wood, Emborough, near Wells; every lateral branch at an elevation above eight or nine feet was piled two or three inches deep with dead grass, hay, shavings, &c, and on this were deposited the eggs. I climbed up and examined a clutch of four eggs. The gamekeeper informed me that they nested there annually, which perhaps accounted for such a collection of rubbish.— (Wells, Somerset).

Rooks in the West-End of London.—Some time since (Zool. 1897, p. 87) I wrote that I feared Corvus frugilegus had ceased to breed in the West-End of London; but I now have the pleasure to record that this year there have been three nests in a plane tree close to Park Lane, not in the park, but opposite to it. It seems somewhat strange that they should choose such a site when the park was so near.— (64, Hereford Road, Bayswater).

Peculiar Conduct of the Woodcock (Scolopax rusticula).—It has been stated that the female of this species carries her young between her legs. I saw a female rise on a moor in this locality on the evening of June 8th, having her legs hanging down, and the hind part of her body being also in a drooping position. Three other birds—all smaller—soon rose from the same point, and flew in quite the opposite direction, their bodies being in the ordinary flying position. All the birds flew about sixty yards, and the female carried on a continual chirping, evidently feigning great pain. I followed up to where she alighted, when she rose and went away in the direction of the others, flying in the same position as at first. I have no doubt but that all this is a peculiar habit for protecting the young