Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 4 (1900).djvu/307

Rh with the point of the beak, and its head was moved with extraordinary speed so that the action appeared almost continuous. I estimate the continuation of each period of hammering at five or perhaps ten seconds, which was followed by a somewhat longer pause. The bird was of very brilliant plumage—evidently the male bird—and the noise had been repeated four or five times when it was joined by a second bird, evidently its mate. The pair then moved to another part of the tree, and to the leafy branches of a beech tree standing between me and the fir, and it was only at times that I could distinguish them before they flew away. My presence was quite unsuspected by them, and I am convinced that the rattling was the call-note of the male bird, as it is said to be. Upon the meeting of the birds the noise was at once discontinued, and the only sound the birds made were soft twittering noises, as if speaking to one another. The branch used as a sounding-board was of considerable size, and at a height of about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. The bird whilst hammering was almost sitting at the union of the tree and the branch in an upright position, and its beak was moved nearly horizontally, being very slightly inclined downwards. With the aid of the glass I clearly saw marks of the beak upon the bough.—

Breeding of the Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) in Kent.—On May 3rd last I put up a pair of Shovelers from a piece of water in Romney Marsh; I got a good view of them through my glasses, and saw them a second time about half an hour later, when they flew back over my head. I searched the neighbouring rush, tufts, &c, but was unable to find any nest. On going back, however, to the same place on May 19th, I saw the hen bird swimming, followed by nine young ones a day or two old. The cock bird was not visible on this occasion. So far as I am aware, this is the first record of the Shoveler breeding in Kent.— (Winstowe, St. Leonards-on-Sea).

Breeding of the Garganey (Querquedula circia) in Kent.—I have the pleasure of recording, I believe for the first time, the breeding of the Garganey in Kent. My brother found the nest on May 2nd in Romney Marsh. It was situated in quite a dry place in some long grass, and between thirty and forty yards from the nearest water. When first seen the nest consisted of only a few strands of dead grass, and contained one egg. On May 3rd there were two eggs, and a lot more grass-strands had been added to the nest, which was so well covered up and hidden that we had some difficulty in finding it again. On May 7th the nest contained six eggs, which were sparsely covered with down and a few grass-stems, the nest itself, owing to its increasing size, being much more easily seen than before. Subsequently, on May 12th, we found a second nest containing