Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/374

350 of the two species. Although such hybrids are not unknown to naturalists, they are perhaps sufficiently uncommon to deserve notice when met with. — J.E. Harting.

— On the 10th June, while rambling with my brother in the Peak District of Derbyshire, we found a Thrush nesting under circumstances that were quite new to us. We were descending the steep but grassy slope of a hill some 1600 feet above sea- level, and when about fifty feet from the summit, a Thrush rose from under our feet, discovering four eggs laid upon the short grass without trace of any nest. The hill faced the north, and the narrow ledge upon which the bird sat was fully exposed to the weather, which was very cold and wet about that time. I have heard of Thrushes laying upon the ground under the shelter of a bush or overhanging bank, but never in such an exposed situation. — (Burton-on-Trent).

— Mr. J.E. Palmer says (p. 254) that "Professor Newton mentions in his edition of 'Yarrell' two instances in which this bird has been known to build in other situations than on the ground." This would seem to imply that the nest is generally placed on the ground. I have found a great many nests of this bird at different times, and they have all, without exception, been placed in bushes, brambles, and low hedges above the ground, from one to three feet. Indeed I believe the nest of the Chiffchaff is never placed on the ground, and when the contrary has been stated the nest of the Willow Warbler has been mistaken for it. The nest and sometimes the eggs of these two birds are much alike. I shall be glad to know if I am correct. — (The Woodlands, Burton-on-Trent).

[We have found numerous nests of the Chiffchaff on the ground in woods, under brambles or other thick undergrowth, as well as on hedge- banks. — ]

— An instance somewhat resembling that mentioned in the July number of 'The Zoologist' (p. 256), of a Cuckoo laying two eggs in the same nest, has just occurred in our stackyard, where, some time back, a Pied Wagtail's nest was discovered in one of the stacks containing a young Cuckoo. For a fortnight or more before this, a Cuckoo was seen almost every afternoon about the garden, and just before the young one left the nest the old Cuckoo was several times observed to fly past within two or three yards of the nest, though never to settle by it. The young Cuckoo left the nest on the 27th June, and on the 30th my brother discovered in the same nest a Cuckoo's egg, together with one of the Pied Wagtail. I see but little reason to doubt that the two Cuckoo's eggs were laid by the same bird. — (Chignal, near Chelmsford).