Swallows in the porch

Swallows, from 1914

Aged 97 in 1978 Collingwood published a paper in the Ibis on adaptations for carrying young found in the woodcock. He compared the structure of the foot with that of the snipe and explained the differences in relation to the carriage by adults of young birds. In this paper, he referred to, ‘Ingram (1908)’, in relation to possible carriage of young in Latham’s snipe in Japan.

In Random Thoughts on Bird Life he wrote - Upon reflection, I think the following have been the highlights of my ornithological career. My sojourn on Dassen Island with its millions of Jackass Penguins; the sight of thousands of Little Auks flying to and fro like a swarm of bees in front of their huge breeding colony in Spitzbergen; my excursion to the Guacharo-haunted Oroponche cave in the mountains of Trinidad; my fortnight among the teeming bird life of Iceland, and, lastly my discovery of the first Marsh Warbler’s nest to be found in Kent.

Florence died aged 97 in 1979. Collingwood lived on to reach his century.There are many stories about him in old age. One relates to his final illness in 1981. He had three rhododendron seedlings too young to flower. One at a time, he gave them to his friend Alan Hardy. As Collingwood gave him the third and last, he said – ‘but if I get better I want them back!’

He died on 9 May 1981. The flowers had just fallen from Taihaku cherry in his garden. His daughter Certhia was able to tell him that the swallows, which nested every year in the porch at The Grange, had returned.