HOTES NEW BREEDING RECORDS FOR BRECONSHIRE.

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1 HOTES NEW BREEDING RECORDS FOR BRECONSHIRE. I have this.year found the following species of birds breeding near my home at Garth, Breconshire. The particulars are as follows: SOUTHERN GOLDEN PLOVER (Charadrius a. apricarius). C/4 incubated eggs on May 14th. C/4 fresh eggs on May 16th. SOUTHERN DUNLIN (Calidns alpina schinzii). C/4 and C/2 incubated eggs on May 25th. HAWFINCH {Coccoihraustes c. coccothrausies). C/4 incubated eggs on June 19th. RED-BACKED SHRIKE (Lanius c. collurio). C/6 incubated eggs on June 7th. ALEC T. WILSON. [The nest of the Dunlin has, I believe, only once been found previously in Brecon. On June 10th, 1903, Mr. J. A. Walpole Bond found a nest with four eggs on a big flat on a hill top, about 1,000 feet above the sea, where he had previously noted at least two pairs. With regard to the other species mentioned, Cambridge Phillips, in the Birds of Breconshire (1899), mentions several localities where the Golden Plover breeds. He also quotes at least one definite instance of the breeding of the Hawfinch and describes the Red-backed Shrike as common. F.C.R.J.] MUD-DAUBED EGGS OF JACKDAW WITH reference to Mr. J. H. Owen's note on this subject (antea, p. 23), on May 1st, 1908, at Woodhouselee, Midlothian, I found a Jackdaw's nest about eighteen feet from the ground in the bole of an elm tree. It contained a clutch of five eggs which were completely coated over with a layer of mud not a vestige of shell showing. I removed them, and before they could be blown it was necessary to place them in water in order to soften the mud which was hard baked on the shells. Four years previously my friend, Mr. David Hamilton, found a clutch under exactly similar conditions in the same hole. The eggs in both instances were perfectly fresh, which disproves any theory that the mud is gradually accumulated during incubation. J. KIRKE NASH. [The evidence published in this volume and previously (see

2 VOL. XX.] NOTES. 105 Vol. IV., pp. 176, 214, 250 ; Vol. VIII., p. 14; Vol. X., p. 40), seems to show that the habit of daubing their eggs with mud by the Jackdaw, though widespread, is confined to certain individuals. EDS.] UNUSUAL SITE OF GOLDFINCH'S NEST. THIS year (1926) a pair of Goldfinches (Carduelis c. britannica) built their nest in ivy growing on one. of the stone bridges which span the River Dart, Devon. The nest, which was only about 3 feet 6 inches from the ground, contained young birds on May 7th. STANLEY PERSHOUSE. THE NESTLING BEARDED TIT. WHEN examining a nest-full of recently hatched Bearded 'fits (Panurus biarmicus) this summer at Hickling Broad, Norfolk, I saw that the coloration of the inside of the mouth was wrongly described in the Practical Handbook (Vol. I., p. 257). On looking up the subject I find that I entirely overlooked Mr. W. P. Pycraft's excellent description and figures in British Birds, Vol. II., pp This description should have been quoted in the Practical Handbook. Mr. Pycraft states that there are four rows of pearly-white, conical, peg-like projections on the palate, two rows on either side of the middle line. These tooth-like bodies are not of uniform size and are set in a background of black surrounded by a rich carnelianred, the whole being framed in by the lemon-yellow gapewattles, which are not very strongly developed. The tongue is black with a white tip and a pair of white spurs at its base. I think Mr. Pycraft's description cannot be improved, and this has been confirmed by Mr. J. Vincent and Mr. Roland Green, who also kindly examined the nestlings' mouths at my request. Mr. Green referred to the colour called carnelian-red by Mr. Pycraft as rose-madder and I had noted it down as a rather deep flesh-colour. I might add that the skin of the upperpart of the nestling is dark, almost blackish, flesh-colour, somewhat like that of a young Cuckoo but not so blackish. It seemed to me that the " teeth " on the palate were set pointing slightly backwards and they might have some connexion with the retention and swallowing of food. H. F. WlTHERBY. CONTEST FOR NESTING SITE BETWEEN SPOTTED FLYCATCHER AND SWALLOW. THIS year a pair of Westmorland Swallows (Hirundo r. rustica), returning to their former nesting site on a beam inside a barn, whose door was usually shut, had to fight for possession

3 106 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XX. of their nest with a Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa s. striata). The fight lasted the whole of one day, the Swallows eventually winning and raising a brood which flew early in June. It is, I think, somewhat unusual for this Flycatcher to nest inside a closed building. H. W. ROBINSON. EARLY BREEDING OF THE GRASSHOPPER- WARBLER IN SUSSEX. MR. J. A. WALPOLE-BOND has kindly furnished me with some particulars of the nesting dates of the Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella n. ncevia) in Sussex from 1920 to 1926 as observed by himself and Mr. P. B. Smyth. Some of these records are so remarkable that it seems advisable to give details. The latest date for a clutch of fresh eggs was May 22nd, 1925 (c/6 J.A.W.B. & P.B.S.), but many nests were found with full sets between May 9th and 20th. On May 25th, 1923, a nest with the unusual number of seven young about four days old was found. Allowing fourteen days for incubation, this would make the date of the full clutch about May 7th and the first egg would have been laid on May 2nd. In the year 1926, Messrs. Walpole-Bond and Smyth met with a nest containing five young and an addled egg on May 16th. The young were about two or three days old, so that the eggs must have been laid during the last days of April! On the same day, another bird was also seen feeding young, but the nest was not found till May 25th, when they were just fledged. This was probably slightly earlier than the previous nest. A third nest with young a few days old was also discovered on May 19th, yet full clutches of fresh eggs were found in the same district up to May 19th and 20th. It is evident from the above records that, exceptionally, the first eggs may be found as early as April 24th or 25th, and full clutches by the end of April on the south coast of England, nearly four weeks earlier than the average date for the Midlands and North of England. F. C. R. JOURDAIN. EARLY BREEDING OF GRASSHOPPER-WARBLER IN SOMERSET. ON May 26th, 1926, I found a nest of Grasshopper-Warbler (Locustella n. ncevia), containing two young about three days old and four addled eggs, in Somerset. Allowing three days for the age of the chicks, and fourteen days for incubation, the first egg was laid on May 5th! I am wondering if the unusually early date had anything to do with the infertile eggs. STANLEY LEWIS.

4 VOL. XX.] NOTES. 107 PROBABLE ALPINE ACCENTORS IN HAMPSHIRE. ON January 19th, 1926, at Beaulieu, Hampshire, during the second day of a howling blizzard (the direction of which at Beaulieu was from the S.S.E.), three strange birds appeared among the Chaffinches and Sparrows, which came to food put down during the winter outside my house. They were first noticed by Sergt.-Major Adams and were seen many times by myself and also by Col. C. Hodgkinson. They were fairly tame and remained near the house from January 19th to 21st, and were twice within ten feet of the window. The points noticeable about the birds were their speckled throats, white wing-bars, deepish red-brown flanks, yellowish beaks and the colour of their legs, which was of a rather pale, but dirty salmon shade. On the ground they had a rather low, sliding movement, almost a crouch, but difficult to describe. They were larger than Chaffinches and their tracks were also larger and quite distinct, with a longish hind claw. Checking the appearance of the birds from Coward's Birds of the British Isles we had little doubt that they were Alpine Accentors (Prunella collaris). CECIL P ADDON. DIPPER IN SURREY. IN the afternoon of May 3rd, 1926, we saw a Dipper (Cinclus c. gularis) on the banks of the river Mole, near Leatherhead- Railway Bridge. When disturbed, the bird flew off down stream, and we had a clear view of it. We have both seen a good many Dippers in the north, but never before in Surrey. We have not seen the bird again and it was no doubt a passing visitor. P. F. DAGGER. A. L. MACKIE. GOLDEN EAGLE AND MARSH-HARRIER IN IRELAND. THE Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysa&us), which was well known about the Adara Mountains, co. Donegal, for the last ten years, was caught in a trap laid beside a dead sheep to destroy foxes on April 2nd, As far as can be ascertained, this is the last remaining Irish Eagle; it was a female with atrophied ovaries past breeding. Thirty years ago the Golden Eagle was a common species, breeding in Donegal, Clare, Mayo and Kerry. It was gradually exterminated, principally by poison. Another Raptor which has entirely disappeared is the Marsh-Harrier (Circus ceruginosus), which was common on the large lakes. Although Lord Castletown strictly preserved the last pair on his estate in Queen's county, when I visited

5 108 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XX. the place in May, 1908, by invitation, I only saw one solitary Harrier, and Mr. Carroll tells me he saw a single bird at the same place in Up to ten years ago we always had one or two sent for preservation, but since that time we have never had a single specimen. W. J. WILLIAMS. [The extinction of these birds as breeding species in Ireland is indeed a sad event to have to chronicle (cf. Vol. XIX., p. 211). EDS.] TUFTED DUCK BREEDING IN WILTSHIRE. ON June 29th, 1926, I saw a pair of Tufted Duck (Nyroca fuligula) with two ducklings on a pond within ten miles of Marlborough. On July 19th, there were five ducklings to be seen. I believe this is the first time that Tufted Duck have been recorded as nesting in Wiltshire. There were two pairs on the pond, but whether both nested this year is impossible to prove. S. T. C. TURNER. NEW NESTING-LOCALITY OF SANDWICH TERN IN CUMBERLAND. PREVIOUS to this year the Sandwich Tern (Sterna s. sandvicensis) has only nested in the one locality (Ravenglass) in Lakeland, but in 1926 a pair bred in another locality in Cumberland and hatched out one nestling on June 30th. R. H. BROWN. YOUNG SANDWICH TERNS GOING TO GROUND IN HOT WEATHER. THAT the chicks of both the Sandwich Tern (Sterna s. sandvicensis) and Common Tern (S. h. hirundo) go underground into rabbit-holes when disturbed or in hot weather I have known for some years, but they are nearly always within arm's length of the entrance. During my visit to a colony of Sandwich Terns in the heat wave during the last few days of June up to July 2nd, I found that on the latter date all these, except a few just hatched, were so far down as to be only reached by digging. None were less than six feet down or in, and the majority much deeper and quite out of reach. They came to the entrance to be fed, as shown by the amount of" whitewash " at the entrance of such bedaubed holes, for Sandwich Terns are dirty birds in this respect. In such distress were the few newly hatched ones in the intense heat that I placed them under overhanging sods or fronds of heather for shelter. On June 22nd, nettles, thistles and

6 VOL. XX.] NOTES. 109 ragwort were luxuriant among the nesting scrapes, yet ten days later all these lay dead and burnt with the heat. The young of one colony all flew during the first three days of June, another adjoining had young in all stages and eggs on June 22nd, and still some eggs on July 2nd, whilst a third off-shoot had only one chick out on June 22nd, all these being hatched and far underground on July 2nd, except one. One colony only had the usual fringe of dozens of dead young Black-headed Gulls round it, their heads pierced by the sharp beaks of the parent Sandwich Terns, for trespassing within their domain. The chick of the Sandwich Tern is most hardy, as it is the exception to find any deaths among them as it is among Common and Arctic Terns, where the death-rate is sometimes very high. H. W. ROBINSON. UNLIKELY RECORDS IN YORKSHIRE. In the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union Report for 1925 (Nat., 1926, p. 11), some quite extraordinary records are published on the authority of Mr. V. G. F. Zimmermann. A Hobby's nest, near Terrington (Yorks), would be a rare event in itself, but we are told that there were four young (a very exceptional number) on July 9th (an extraordinarily early date) and, further, that the nest contained " fifteen Partridge wings, four Blackbird wings, six Thrush wings, two wings of Lapwing, and the skin of a rabbit." As no comment is made in the Report on this observation, we think it as well to draw attention to its very remarkable nature. CARRION-CROW'S NEST WITH EIGHT EGGS. In the Field, 22.iv.26, p. 682, Mr. Stanley Lewis records finding a nest of Carrion-Crow (Corvus c. corone) in an oak tree in Somerset, with eight eggs on April 12th, The eggs showed some variation but there was nothing to suggest the presence of two females. A somewhat similar case was recorded by Mr. R. W. Calvert from the Oxon. and Gloucester borders on May 3rd, 1924 (Rep. Oxf. Orn. Soc, , p. 23), but in this case five eggs were of one type and three of another, so that probably two hens were responsible for the abnormally large clutch. ERYTHRISTIC EGGS OF SKY-LARK, Surg. Rear-Admiral J. H. Stenhouse records a clutch of four reddish eggs of the Sky- Lark (Alauda a. arvensis) taken on Fair Island in May, 1925, and now in the Royal Scottish Museum (Scot. Nat., 1926, p. 91). They are described as being rather lighter than normal red

7 110 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. xx. eggs of the Tree-Pipit. In a previous paper on "Erythrism in Eggs of British Birds" (antea, Vol. VII., p. 249), we were only able to record one instance of this type (c/3 from the Orkneys in Mr. Bunyard's collection), but we have recently seen a set of three from Denmark in the Lehn Schialer collection at Copenhagen and have also seen a set of three red eggs from Suffolk ascribed by the finder to this species. F.C.R. J. LITTLE OWL IN LANCASHIRE. Mr. A. R. Davidson informs us that an adult Little Owl [Athene n. vidalii) was picked up dead at Wood vale, a village lying between Ainsdale, Formby, and the western side of Downholland Moss, on July 28th, OSPREY IN SCOTLAND IN JUNE. In the Field (July ist, 1926, p. 31), Mr. N. Maclachlan states that in the evening of June 2nd, 1926, he and the vicar of Wakefield, while fishing the River Don at Glenkindie (Aberdeenshire), saw an Osprey (Pandion halicetus) about 100 feet up carrying a fish. The bird was being " mobbed " by a number of Lapwings, some Oyster-Catchers, Redshanks, and other birds and after rising in a wide semi-circle made off to the north-west. The occurrence of an Osprey at so late a date in the Highlands is of considerable interest. One was recorded in 1924 as visiting Taymount (Fifeshire) about April 26th (Scot. Nat., 1925, p. 75).