5 JULY 1935, Page 20

An Old Nursery Some ornithologist has, I believe, been asking

for evidence on the use of a nest for a second or third brood. Even this is not common, indeed, is rare, except with the swallow tribe and some of the birds that live in holes. In one old house that I inhabited there was every year for many years a tit's nest in a crack between the wood of the window frame and the brick ; and I could never see that the old material was removed, though some of it presumably must have 'been. In some of the sanctuaries it is the custom to clear out old nests because they occupy desirable sites. One loses something by taking this precaution, for old nests are often popular with other animals. Bees, mice, weasels, and stoats and even bats—to quote my own experiences—will all use them.