The _anodon_ or fresh water mussel used to be found in Fisher’s Pond on Colden Common, bordering on Otterbourne, and the green banks were strewn with shells left by the herons, but the pond is fast drying up and the herons have been driven away by guns. The delicate _paludina_, of brown, horn-coloured, gracefully-formed shell, creeps on the water weeds, and hosts of snails may be studied. Of insects less can be said here, but it is worth noting that one live purple emperor has been captured in Ampfield wood, two dead dilapidated ones picked up at Otterbourne. The forest fly, so called, does not often come here; but it is observable that while strange horses are maddened by it, the native ones do not seem disturbed, knowing that it only creeps and does not bite. It is small and brown, not so formidable looking as the large fly, popularly called a stout, as big as a hornet, which lays eggs under the skin of cows. But with the blue, green, and orange dragonflies of summer, this list must conclude, and turn to the birds and botany of the place, mostly well known, and verified by Mr. Townsend’s _Flora of Hampshire_. BIRDS THE KITE (_Milvus ictinus_).—Sometimes hovering over heathlands or farmyards, but not very common. SPARROW-HAWK (_Accipiter fringillarius_).—Taken in a trap set for rats at Otterbourne House. PEREGRINE FALCON (_Falco peregrinus_), Hursley, 1857.—As a pair for many years had a nest on Salisbury spire, this one may have flown thus far. KESTREL (_Falco tinnunculus_)—Otterbourne, 1856. SHORT-EARED OWL (_Otus brachyotus_).—Baddesley Common, 5th March 1861. WHITE OWL (_Strix flammea_).—Nested in a barn, another year in a pigeon-loft, and again in an old tub at Otterbourne. To be seen skimming softly along on summer evenings. BROWN OWL (_Ulula stridula_).—Glides over the fields like a huge moth, and on moonlight nights in August may be heard the curious hunting note. As the eggs are hatched, not all at once, but in succession, a family taken out of a loft and put into a sea-kale pot were of various ages, the eldest nearly fledged, standing up as if to guard the nest, the second hissing and snapping, as if a naughty boy, and two downy infants who died. One brown owl was kept tame, and lived 14 years. The village people call this bird Screech Owl, and after a sudden death always mention having heard it. CHIMNEY SWALLOW (_Hirundo rustica_).—They chase the flies under the bridges on the Itchen, and display their red throats. HOUSE-MARTIN (_Hirundo urbica_).—Twittering everywhere ’neath the straw-built shed. SAND-MARTIN (_Hirundo riparia_).—Swarms sit in rows along the electric wires, and bore deeply into every sand-pit. SWIFT (_Cypselus murarius_).—First to come and first to go. Their peculiar screech and floating flight are one of the charms of the summer evenings.