25 JUNE 1921, Page 14

(To sus ED/TOR or THE " SPECTATOR."3 .

SIR,—Your correspondent Mr. J. Challenor Smith is quite right as to the scarcity of the swallows this summer. We,. how- ever, cannot blame the Italians for the cause this season, but rather the terrible blizzards which swept across Europe at the time the first flights were making for these shores. The poor things must have been entirely destroyed. None arrived in this locality until May 10th—three weeks overdue—and. then in small numbers. Cuckoos, too, are very few from the same causes.