Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 4 (1846).djvu/46

1212 Abbey resound with its beautiful melody every night for a fortnight last May. It cer- tainly is a singular fact, if it does not step over into Glamorganshire or Brecknock- shire ; at all events its appearance in Monmouthshire is sufficient to account for its Welsh synonyme, which the author of the article 'Nightingale' in the 'Penny Cyco- pædia' is at a loss to explain. — C.R. Bree; Stowmarket.

Occurence of the Great Belted Kingfisher in Ireland. — I am indebted to Mr. Ball, of Dublin, for the information that a specimen of the Great Belted Kingfisher ( Alcedo Alcyon Linn), has been shot at Annsbrook, in the county Meath. Another specimen of this American bird was seen by Mr. Latouche's gamekeeper at Luggelaw, I shall endeavour to give a figure and full description as soon as practicable. — Edward Newman.

Nest and Eggs of Savi's Warbler. — I have been favoured by my correspondent, Mr. Bond with the following description of the nest and eggs of Savi's Warbler, Salicaria luscinioides of Temminck and Gould. At the date of the publication of Mr. Yarrell's History of our British Birds, the particulars annexed were unknown. Three nests were found in the summer at Backsbite, in the parish of Milton, between three and four miles north of Cambridge. These nests, in each instance, were on the ground. They are cup-shaped, compactly formed of the long narrow leaves of the common reed, (Arundo phragmitis) wound round and interlaced, but without any other lining. The eggs measure ten lines in length, by seven and a half lines in breadth ; of a whitish ground colour, covered nearly all over with minute specks of two colours, one set being of a pale red, the other of light ash gray : in some of the eggs the pale red spots are the most conspicuous, and these resemble the eggs of the grasshopper warbler, but are rather larger ; in others the gray specks are pre- dominant, and these resemble the eggs of the Dartford Warbler. — Edward Newman.

Occurrence of the Oyster Catcher inland. — On the 23rd of March, 1845, I shot the Oyster Catcher (Hæmatopus ostralegus), in the neighbourhood of Guildford on the banks of the River Wey. — F.A. Chennell ; Stoke, near Guildford, November 11th, 1845.

Incubation of the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula). — I have often heard and read of this bird exposing its eggs to the sun. I beg leave to offer the result of my observations on this subject. In the spring of 1844, while staying on the Sussex coast I made search for the nest of this bird, I found two with four eggs in each and visited them about noon every day for nearly a week, I invariably found the bird on the nest although the weather was very hot at the time. The parent bird when disturbed on the nest, creeps along the shingle to the water's edge and then flies a short distance uttering its well-known cry. The nest of this bird is merely a hole scratched in the beach, and is lined with pieces of the smallest shingle. — F.A. Chennell, Stoke, near Guildford, November 11th, 1845.

Anecdote of Herons fighting. — A curious occurrence happened at Roydon in this county, which perhaps you may think worthy of record in 'The Zoologist.' A boy observed two herons on the ground fighting with one another, he ran up and one flew away apparently unhurt, the other lay still and allowed the boy to pick it up, he took it to the gentleman who informed me of the circumstance, and the bird was examined to see what injury it had received : it was apparently not much the worse and was placed on the lawn to see if it had recovered, which it proved beyond doubt by setting all sail and making off. It is curious that so shy a bird as the heron should have allowed a lad to pick it up unless seriously wounded, and the fact of combats