appears in the shape of the figure 8 at the top: it is a solid mass,— I mean the structure has been carried up simultaneously,—and two beautifully cup-shaped nests are finished all but the lining. It is principally composed of green moss, some stems of dried grass, red cow-hair, a few horse-hairs, and a variety of feathers; a few small feathers lying loose in the bottom of one nest are without doubt taken from the breast of the spotted flychtcher. There is a considerable quantity of wool used throughout, and it appears on the outside almost like a network, and is studded with lichen. I would gladly have left this curious nest where it was for further observations, but I found a number of small boys were quarrelling as to which had most right to it, so I brought it away, as it was sure to be destroyed. Curiously enough I could see no birds about but the chaffinch, but then he is everywhere. On the 27th (exactly a fortnight after making the above note) I was told that another nest had been built on the same spot, so I went again and found it to be so. This nest was an ordinary one, built with the same materials and quite finished, and rather flatter than the others; the foundation of this one is also rather oval, and very nearly as large as the other two, and the main structure is not in the middle, but at one end of it. I tried to bribe the boys to let this one alone, and went back next morning expecting to find an egg in it; but no, the little "brats " had been before me, taken the egg and smashed it, but I saw the spotted flycatcher not far from the place, which settled the matter in my mind, so I brought home the nest and placed it beside the other.

Fieldfare.-May 17. The fieldfares, which reappeared on the 28th of April, have never left the grounds until to-day, all are gone.

Pied Flycatcher. The Rev. R. Taylor, of Hesledon, near this place, told me that a pair had commenced a nest in his garden, but the sparrows having destroyed the nest they have since disappeared. I have only twice met with this species here: first in the spring of 1862, and I was struck with the resemblance of this bird to the round stumpy individual figured by Bewick, shot at Corbridge-on-Tyne; it was sitting on a small ash tree in the park: the second I saw in the spring of 1867, sitting on some rails in the nursery gardens; it was a very fine male.

Spring Migrants.-Unlike last year almost all our spring migrants have appeared in goodly numbers, but all have arrived late, except the two already mentioned. I observed none before

the month of May. I have neither seen nor heard the corncrake or the grasshopper warbler.

Gray Wagtail.-May 28. I have seen three broods of these birds, fully fledged and capable of looking after themselves, being dispersed on different parts of the streams. I had a great treat given me the other day by one of these young birds: I was sitting under a yew at the side of a stream when I heard the notes of one on the wing; it alighted on a bare ash just above me, and at once. commenced a really very sweet and pleasing song. I never before heard a wagtail sing.

Castle Eden, Durham.

JOHN SCLATER.

Rare Birds near Ringwood during the Winter of 1875-76. By Mr. G. B. CORBIN.

THE following species have fallen under my notice, and I personally inspected the majority of them :

Peregrine Falcon.-Two females were killed, and a male seen in October. One of the females was the largest I had ever seen, but its plumage was dull.

Hen Harrier and Montagu's Harrier.-A male of the former was killed on the 16th of November, and a female was trapped in the forest in January. I saw a male of Montagu's harrier in December in a somewhat strange situation,-viz., flying over the river, where some months before I had seen an osprey. The harrier flew within fifteen yards of where I was standing, and I had a good opportunity of admiring its airy and beautiful swallowlike flight.

Merlin. A female was shot on the 15th of February, when in the act of striking at a skylark.

Great Gray Shrike.-A beautiful specimen was caught in a trap which had been placed for a hawk upon the top of a post. It is the first I had ever seen in the flesh.

Bittern.-A male was shot on the 19th of February. It was in beautiful plumage, and is the only one I have seen this season. Sclavonian Grebe (?).—I interrogate the name, as I have a doubt connected with it. In March a fisherman brought me a grebe he had found on the river; at a glance I saw it was different in

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appearance from any common grebe I had seen before, as it was larger, measuring-when held up by the neck-about eleven inches. It also had a very conspicuous greenish pink sort of membrane at the base of the lower mandible, which faded completely in a day or two. The front and sides of the neck are of a dark reddish chestnut; the rest of the bird, except the breast, is of a dusky hue, and the silvery breast is itself much shaded with the same colour. The bill is black with a light tip, and the eyes were dark, almost black. The head itself is sleek in appearance, and not what I suppose the Sclavonian grebe would be, but it was pronounced to be that species by an ornithological reader of the 'Zoologist' who saw it. It seems to me to answer best the description of the "black-chin grebe" of Montagu's British Birds,' which we know is now considered a variety of the dabchick. Though larger than any common grebe I have hitherto seen, yet it is not so large as the Sclavonian is described to be, even if it answered the description of the latter, which it does not. Is such a variety of the common grebe as the one I have described well known to the readers of the 'Zoologist'?

Egyptian Goose.-A beautiful male of this lovely species was found dead near the river on the 11th of February. Three of the birds had been seen occasionally, during the previous fortnight, going and returning at flight time, and had been shot at several times, but I am told they, as a rule, kept out of range. The bird in question is undoubtedly one of the three, as three or four days before its discovery only two geese had been seen by the numerous gunners. Whether they were "escapes" or not I would not venture to say, but it is somewhat remarkable that a specimen was killed in February, 1870, and that and the present are the only ones I ever saw.

Goosander.-Occasionally killed; from the middle of December up to the end of February I saw nine, all females or immature males. How long are the males attaining their adult dress? as several of those I saw were in different conditions of plumage; one of them in particular had a lovely salmon-coloured breast and belly, but the back had all the gray markings of the immature bird. I have but once seen a male in mature plumage killed here, five or six years ago.

Gadwall.—I saw a dreadfully mutilated specimen of this species offered for sale on the 15th of December, which had been killed

the previous night in this neighbourhood. On the 30th of December I had a duck sent me as this species, but it proved to be a much larger bird, and only a variety of the common wild duck. I need not state that the gadwall is very rare in this neighbourhood; I had never seen it before. Wigeon and teal were as usual common; and I heard of pintail, tufted, and shoveller duck being killed, but I saw neither.

Black Tern.-Two of these were killed, one on the 25th of October, the other on the 29th of November; both were in the white plumage.

Ringwood, Hants.

G. B. CORBIN.

Ornithological Notes from Devon and Cornwall.
By J. GATCOMBE, Esq.

(Continued from Zool. S. S. 4824.)

APRIL AND MAY, 1876.

Ring Ouzel.-April 2. Several ring ouzels heard and seen on Dartmoor.

Chiffchaff.-April 5. Chiffchaffs were very plentiful in the Land's End district.

Curlew.-April 7. Curlews numerous on the boggy moors by the side of the River Fowey, Cornwall.

Buzzard and Peregrine Falcon.—April 8. Examined a very fine buzzard, the leg of which had been dreadfully smashed by a "gin;" also a beautiful adult peregrine falcon which had been trapped in the same manner, and its leg was only hanging by a sinew this poor bird, I was told, had been in the trap for many hours, and must have suffered dreadfully. It is a great shame that keepers should be allowed to use such cruel traps, which they do not visit sometimes for days together. Whilst on the subject of "gins," I may mention that during last winter I found a blackbird in my garden, which had fallen off its perch in a shrub, literally starved to death, in consequence of having the whole of its bill wrenched off close to the base by one of those traps which are constantly used by boys for catching small birds. There was no doubt of its being starved, for it was so emaciated that the breastbone protruded nearly through the skin. The fine peregrine falcon

before mentioned was in rather unusual plumage, for although the sides and thighs were finely barred, the whole of the belly from the lower part of the chest was beautifully marked with well-defined heart-shaped spots.

Swallow.-April 15 (the day after a tremendous gale from the north-east, with hail and snow). Observed some swallows. The wind had changed to the south-east, and the weather became rather mild.

Swift.-April 28. Remarked the first swift, and on the 29th saw several more. Wind strong, but the weather mild. I have observed for the last few years that swifts have become more numerous in the immediate vicinity of Plymouth than either swallows or martins.

Whimbrel.-April 29. Saw and heard several whimbrels to-day, and also on the 1st of May.

Rook.-May 2. Many young rooks in the Plymouth market.

Godwits. An unusual number of bartailed godwits in spring plumage seem to have made their appearance on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, and many have been killed. The stomachs of some examined by me contained the remains of "sand-hoppers." Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., in a letter to me, also mentions having met with several in Leadenhall Market, together with one blacktailed godwit and a fine spotted redshank, all I believe more or less in summer plumage. Some of these godwits seem to have been very tame, for on the 10th of May a young friend of mine, Mr. R. Hocking, of Stonehouse, told me that he had that morning killed a strange bird from one of the windows of his house, with a "pea-rifle," as it was leisurely feeding on a kind of beech just below: on examination I at once found it to be an exceedingly fine male bartailed godwit in full summer dress: strange to say, it was the first bird of any kind he had ever killed in his life. After that I examined others obtained in the neighbourhood, all more or less in the nuptial garb, and found the females to exceed the males generally in size and length of bill, but with far less red on the plumage,— indeed some with scarcely any at all; and this I have been informed was the case with the birds seen and obtained in Cornwall.

Herring Gull and Peregrine Falcon.-I am sorry to say that, owing to a severe attack of rheumatism, I have not as yet been able to visit the breeding-place of the herring gulls at Wembury, but some friends of mine who went there a short time since told