Notes Nest-site provision experiment for Long-eared Owls To attempt to improve the breeding success of Long-eared Owls Asio otus, artificial nest- sites were provided in an area where the owls were known to overwinter. The nests provided consisted of two types: old potato or apple-picker baskets made of willow, with the handles removed, and baskets of a similar shape made of wire-netting. Three willow baskets and six wire baskets were sited in November 1979, in a small Cambridgeshire wood of mixed deciduous trees, comprising mainly willow Salix, silver birch Betula, oak Quercus and hawthorn Crataegus. All the baskets were fixed to suitable trees at a height of approximately 5 m, and then each lined with sticks of various lengths and thicknesses to provide a firm base. 140. Long-eared Owl Asio otus on nest in willow basket provided as artificial nest-site, Cambridgeshire, May 1981 (D.J. Gamer) continued... 376 Notes 377 During the first year, 1980, none of the baskets was used, but in 1981 one of the willow baskets was occupied by a pair of Long-eared Owls (plate 140), which had a clutch of three eggs, of which two hatched, and two young fledged. Current literature states that Long-eared Owls nest in the same area each year, but not in the same nest. This is probably due to the fact that natural sites (e.g. old birds' nests and squirrels' dreys) are destroyed over winter and do not last for a further year. With this experiment using these more substantial nests, it is hoped that the same site will be used in succeeding years. D.J. GARNER 73 Needingworth Road, St Ives, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE174JY Nightjar taking water in flight So far as I am aware, there are no published records of the Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus taking water, but observations in Sudan suggest that water may be taken in flight. Just after sunset on 2nd November 1977, I saw a late migrant Nightjar leave some bushy vegetation bordering the Blue Nile near Khartoum and fly down to a few centimetres above the river; it then flew parallel to the bank and, as it passed me at 3-4m, lifted its tail and wings a little above the body level and dipped its head so that its bill scooped the water momentarily, rippling the surface, in a manner similar to that employed by hirundines or swifts Apus taking water on the wing; it continued over the water as though to repeat the action, but unfortunately passed behind some vegetation out of sight before doing so. Very few nightjars have been recorded taking water, presumably because exceptional conditions are required for such observations. All refer to water being taken in flight. Published reports include: the Golden Nightjar C. eximius in the Sudan (Ibis (1902): 1-33); the Egyptian Nightjar C. aegyptius in Turkestan (Dementiev & Gladkov, 1966, Birds of the Soviet Union, vol. 1); and the Allied Nightjar C. ajfinis of Pakistan and India (Ali & Ripley, 1970, Handbook of the Birds oj India and Pakistan, vol. 4). In addition, I have seen the Long-tailed Nightjar C. climacturus taking water in flight at Khartoum, although in a manner somewhat different from that described above. ANTONY PETTET Botany Department, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan Swift persistently attacking Starling On 7th September 1979, while watching a group of five Swifts Apus apus above Narborough Park, near Leicester, I saw one suddenly and persistently attack a passing Starling Sturnus vulgaris. The attacks came from behind and below, often making contact with the Starling's belly and vent. The vigour, speed and timing of the 15 or 16 approach pursuits were remarkable and often appeared to treble the flight speed of the Starling, which, even though it jinked and circled, could not evade its pursuer. The attacks ceased when the Starling took refuge in a nearby tree. DAVID NOAKES 41 Trinity Road, St Johns, Narborough, Leicester No member of the Behaviour Notes Panel has ever seen a comparable incident. EDS 378 Notes Observations at Lesser Spotted Woodpecker's nest Between 17.26 and 20.26GMTon 16thJune 1979, nearByfield, Northamptonshire, we watched a nest of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos minor. We recorded the number and duration of visits, and removal of faecal material, by the adults; the number of times each adult put its head into the nest-hole on each visit was also recorded, since this might indicate the amount of food brought to the nest. The male visited more frequently (31 out of 46 visits), and put his head in the hole more often on each visit (male mean 7.2, female mean 5.0; Mann-Whitney U-test, P< 0.05), but the length of feeding visits did not differ significantly between sexes (male mean 5.2 seconds, female mean 5.0; P< 0.05). When we ended our watch, the male had remained in the nest for 20 minutes (previous longest period, 34 seconds), so we wonder if the male's habit of incubating at night before the eggs hatch (Bannerman 1955) is continued after hatching. Of 20 faecal pellets removed, the male disposed of 18,12 of these in a concentrated bout before entering the nest for the final time. This nest-sanitation behaviour resembles that of the Great Spotted Woodpecker D. major, largely by the male (Steinfatt 1937), at the end of the day (Blair & Tucker 1941). Faeces were not dropped directly from the hole as reported by Blair & Tucker (1941), but were carried to nearby trees and either dropped or wiped off there. This, too, is as reported for Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Owen 1925), but contrasts with the behaviour of the Green Woodpecker Picus viridis, where a parent (usually the female) swallows the faeces (Owen 1922). The observed predominance of the male Lesser Spotted in nest-sanitation recalls Carlson & Carlson's (1978) record of a male of that species removing a dead nestling from a nest. M. I. AVERY and R. A. COCKERILL Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, South Parks Road, Oxford 0X13PS; Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, Madingley, Cambridge REFERENCES BANNERMAN, D. A. 1955. Birds oj the British Isles, vol. 4. Edinburgh. BLAIR, R. H., & TUCKER, B. W. 1941. Nest sanitation. Brit. Birds 34: 250-255. CARLSON, K., & CARLSON, C. 1978. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers apparently dismembering dead nestling to remove ft from nest. Brit. Birds 71: 360. OWEN, J. H. 1922. On some breeding habits of woodpeckers. Brit. Birds 15: 61-62. 1925. Notes on the nesting of the Great Spotted Woodpecker. Brit. Birds 19: 125-128. STEINFATT, O. 1937. Beitr. FortPflBiol. Vogel 13: 101-112. Abnormal Sand Martin in Essex At about 07.00 GMT on 30th June 1979, at the Naze Public Open Space, Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, I watched about a dozen Sand Martins Riparia riparia skimming low over the reserve scrape ponds, a few hundred metres from a breeding colony. One martin seemed to possess two tails: one was quite normal for the species, but the other appeared to grow out from the undertail-coverts, as long again as the normal tail and made up of wispy translucent feathers in a graduated form. The feather shafts could be clearly seen as they flopped about in flight, although they did not inhibit it in any way. A young birdwatcher confirmed what I had seen, and we both watched the bird for about 15 minutes down to about 20m. Eight days later, John Fitzpatrick saw this, or a similar bird, Notes 379 at William Girling Reservoir, approximately 112 km southwest of Walton- on-the-Naze (see below). JOHN K. WESTON 78 Woodberry Way, Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex C0148EW On 8th July 1979, while watching a flock of Sand Martins near William Girling Reservoir, Chingford, Essex, I noticed one with an abnormal growth of white feathering extending from its underparts in a streamer to approximately 30mm beyond the end of its tail. When observed from below at close range, care was taken to note that the white feathering was not a foreign object attached to the belly: no sign of a break or join to indicate the presence of some sticky substance could be seen. I watched the martin for half an hour, during which time it entered a nesting hole containing two young. It was not seen again on two subsequent visits. J. FITZPATRICK 18 Edwick Court, High Street, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire In our opinion, caution should be exercised: we consider that it would be almost impossible to be absolutely certain of the nature of the extra feathering without examination in the hand. EDS Swallows feeding on rising ants In extremely hot weather on 29th August 1979, on the River Ribble at Brungerley Bridge, near Clitheroe, Lancashire, I observed a group of Swallows Hirundo rustica behaving in a manner new to me. Ants Lasius alienus were emerging from their nests and soaring upwards on their nuptial flights, where a host of birds including Black-headed Gulls Laws ridibundus, Sand Martins Riparia riparia, Swallows and House Martins Delichon urbica waited for them. About 10m from where I was lying, five Swallows seemed to be squatting on the ground close to where the ants were emerging and taking the insects before they became airborne; they made no movements that could be interpreted as 'anting'. A further three Swallows were perched in a willow tree Salix full of rising ants. RON FREETHY 15 Lower Manor Lane, Burnley, Lancashire BB12 OEB House Martin feeding young Sand Martins On 6th September 1979, while counting young Sand Martins Riparia riparia at the nesting holes at Filey Brigg, North Yorkshire, I saw a House Martin Delichon urbica land at the entrance to one of the holes where two young Sand Martins were sitting.