BIRDS 1895. He once had a fine old male, shot in a yew tree in the Grove, Bedford. 46. Pied Flycatcher. Muscicapa atricapilla, Linn. This bird probably passes through the county annually but in very limited numbers on its spring and autumn migration. On 13 May 1 87 1 Mr. J. King shot a female in his gar- den at Langford. Mr. W. R. Butterfield of St. Leonards-on-Sea gives me particulars of a specimen of this bird in his collection, an adult male, which was killed near the river Ouse in the vicinity of Bedford, September 1895. Mr. A. Covington says he has never had a local specimen through his hands, but has a note of one shot at Wilshamstcad in the autumn of 1870. Mr. Cane informed me that a male was shot at Pcpperstock from a pair that were said to have a nest in the hole of an apple tree. Colonel Barclay men- tions that he observed the pied flycatcher during 1898 at Tingrith. 47. Spotted Flycatcher. Muscicapa grisola, Linn. Locally, Wall-bird. A common summer migrant equally dis- tributed throughout the county. Frequently nests in private gardens and the public walks and grounds of towns ; in Bedford it nests regularly. Mr. A. Covington told me of a pair that built near his house in Lurke Street, Bedford, in the fork of a grape vine trained to the wall, for nineteen years in succession, and were still doing so when he left that neighbourhood. Mr. C. F. Woods mentions a pair that built their nest for four consecutive years on the hinge of a pair of very heavy doors at Woburn. 48. Swallow. Hirundo rustica, Linn. Generally arrives about the middle of April, but in some years it may be a few days later. Its departure takes place usually at the end of September or early in October, though many may have left us before these dates. The swallow has been observed with us as late as November. There are many osier and reed beds locally where swallows and martins congregate to sleep in enormous numbers. Several white varieties or albinos have been recorded. 49. House-Martin. Chelidon urbica (Linn.) Although the house-martin arrives at about the same time as the swallow, and one of its first thoughts seems to be to visit its old nest- ing haunts, as a rule it is somewhat later than the latter bird in starting incubation, it being seldom before the second week in June that its full complement of eggs is found. It evidently rears at least a second brood, as young birds may be observed in the nest very late in the year. Mr. A. Need sent particu- lars to the Field, 1898, of two pairs still with young in nests on his house at Leighton Buz- zard during the first week of October. De- parture takes place generally about the end of September and early October, but they are frequently observed in some numbers up to the middle of the latter month. Mr. J. King mentions seeing one on 4 November 1898 at Langford. In the Field some fifteen or twenty are mentioned as staying within the county as late as 17 November in 1875. A perfectly white house-martin is reported as having been seen about the neighbourhood of Bedford {Field, 11 August 1877). 50. Sand-Martin. Cotile riparia (Linn.) The sand-martin is generally the first of the swallow family to arrive. Mr. J. King has observed it at Langford as early as 26 March 1897, and on 3 April 1899 ten or more came under my observation flying around Southill Pool. Departure takes place towards the end of September, although many may leave at a much earlier date. By far the largest breeding station within the county is the colony at Sandy, where they nest in the sandy cutting close to the railway station in numbers roughly estimated at a thousand pairs, and perhaps this is considerably below the correct figure. Two white sand-martins were killed by Mr. J. Cole at Haynes many years ago ; one is in Mr. T. Cane's posses- sion, and the other retained by Mr. Cole himself. 51. Greenfinch. Ligurintu chloris (Linn.) Locally, Green Linnet. A resident species which, with the excep- tion of the common sparrow, considerably outnumbers any of our other species of finches. During the autumn and winter they flock together in considerable numbers in company with many other species, but particularly with the common sparrow, and remain gregarious, often as late as April, some time after other species have left them. For sleeping accom- modation the flights of greenfinches resort to certain of the numerous tall hedgerows so common in some of our districts, where they congregate in hundreds towards the evening. This they continue to do so long as the leaves remain to afford them sufficient shelter; when these fail they resort to evergreens. 52. Hawfinch. Coccothraustes vulgaris, Pallas. This bird has probably increased in num-
