Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/460

436 almost as if the bird had been starved to death. The other birds stayed about the locality several weeks after the death of their companion, but disappeared about the end of April. Is it customary for this species to stay in the south so late in the season, and to frequent such a locality, which, to say the least of it, must be several miles from the sea ? The bird that was picked up, although in such a lean condition, weighed between five and six pounds, if I remember correctly.— (Ringwood, Hants).

—The observa- tions of Mr. C. Matthew Prior (p. 346) coincide with mine. I found two nests of each of these species this year. The Kestrels laid five eggs each in Magpie's old nests, while the Sparrowhawks built theirs, one in a Scotch fir, the other in a larch, and each nest contained five eggs. The Sparrow- hawk, I think, uses the same nest for one year only. On approaching the nests of these birds I could not help being struck with the different behaviour exhibited by the two species uuder the same circumstances, and I should be glad to know whether the same has been observed before. On striking with a stick the foot of the trees containing the Kestrels' nests, both birds almost instantly quitted them. But, as one might expect from their bold and fearless nature, the Sparrowhawks acted very differently. Although I smartly struck the trees five or six times, both birds 'remaiucd sitting, and it was only when an expert climber, who accompanied me, had swarmed the trees to a height of about five or six feet from the ground that the birds were induced to leave their nests. This they did with loud cries, while the Kestrels flew away noiselessly. I may mention that the eggs of one of the Sparrowhawks were very different from those of the normal type in size and coloration.— (18, Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin).

—It may interest readers of 'The Zoologist' to know that my father, Mr. Robert Chambers, while shooting near North Berwick, on the 27th August last, procured a fine specimen of the Great Shearwater, Puffinus major. The bird when first seen was resting upon a piece of wreckage, and appeared to be comparatively tame, allowing the boat to make a near approach. This is the first occur- rence of the species, so far as I can discover, in the Forth. In Dr. Turn- bull's hook on the 'Birds of East Lothian' no mention is made of it whatever. On the same day Mr. Chambers procured several specimens of Richardson's Skua, Lestris Richardsonii, a bird which is especially common this year. Several Knots were also obtained, still retaining a considerable portiou of the red plumage. Throughout the mouth of August a great many examples of the Manx Shearwater, Puffinus anglorum, had been repeatedly observed in the neighbourhood of the Bass Rock and other localities. Two were shot on the 26th, and several others on the 28th.