Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 2 (1898).djvu/232

200 its nest fellows, and in all cases where I have seen young Buzzards in the nest one precocious chick has bullied the other one, or sometimes two, unmercifully. The next day a second Buzzard's nest contained two eggs which were chipping to hatch.

Pied Flycatchers were singing on every hand, and were already building, though, owing to the backward spring, the oak woods were as bare as at mid-winter. I noticed, as on previous occasions, that the Flycatchers were very fond of tenanting a hole which has been previously occupied by the Greater Spotted Woodpecker.

As usual in this hill-district, I found the Wood Warbler very numerous, almost to the exclusion of the Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. In the Nant Berwyn its note drew my attention to a Lesser Redpoll, a bird which I have long been on the look-out for, but have never previously seen in this county. It must have been breeding.

On May 19th a Buzzard's nest in the neighbourhood of Pont Erwyd contained one egg which looked incubated. On the night of the 20th, which was still and warm, I heard the Manx Shearwater's note about 11 p.m. In Cwm Woods, on the 23rd, I listened to the Golden Oriole's call coming from the tops of the oaks, followed by its harsh note. Both were familiar, as I had heard them daily on the Rhine. The bird was on migration, and must have passed on at once, as I failed to hear it subsequently. I believe this is the first reliable record for the county.

On May 26th I visited the colony of Lesser Black-backed Gulls upon the Teifi Bog, about twelve miles from the sea. Four nests which were found contained three eggs apiece. About thirty of the birds were on the wing. Five Whimbrel were still upon the strand on May 30th; they continue to pass all through the month.

On June 2nd I saw a Buzzard about the rocks at Pistyll y Llyn. I found a few pairs of Redshanks breeding on June 6th at Mochras Island, south of Harlech. A Nightjar was sitting upon two eggs which were laid upon bits of cork and cinder, the flotsam of an unusually high tide in the lagoon. On the following day I noted a family of Ravens about the rocks at Cwm Bychan lake. A Turtle Dove's nest at Llangorwen contained two eggs which were hatching on June 22nd, and I subsequently heard the