ITO THE EDITOR OP TEE " SPECTATOR."]
Sia,—I have of late come to the melancholy conclusion that swallows are rarer in England than they used to be and that their places are being taken by starlings. Ten or fifteen years ago many swallows built their nests under the eaves of my father's house. They had done so for years. I used to watch their pretty shadows on the blind early in the morning. They are nice little birds to have about a house, clean and pleasant in their ways, and they keep up a gentle twittering among themselves about their own affairs, and you need not listen unless you like. But they forsook us and the starlings came —bold, handsome, noisy birds, far from clean in their habits. They stopped up gutters and pipes with their nests, fouled our tanks of rain-water, and gave no end of trouble. They are fond of perching in conspicuous places and uttering a little shriek many times over. Listen to me, listen to me-c, listen to me-ee, and one has to listen. I hope this experience
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