Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 5 (1901).djvu/53

Rh Wagtail (Motacilla alba) was seen at close quarters by the writer on Barmouth Bridge during October last.— (Harrogate).

Nesting of Long-eared Owl.—On May 3rd a nest of the Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) was found on the ground under a tiny Scotch fir amongst the heather on the peat-moss here. It contained two eggs. The nest wa,s not visited again till May 16th, when the eggs had disappeared. On the 19th, however, a second nest was discovered about a hundred yards from the first, and in an exactly similar position. It contained four eggs, from which three young birds were subsequently hatched. To make certain of the species one of the young Owls was kept. It is a beautiful bird, and has a fine appetite. One night five mice and a young rat were put in the aviary in which it was kept; next morning they had all disappeared. I think the fact that both nests were on the ground, though there was an abundance of trees close at hand, is worth recording. Mr. J.H. Gurney mentions a similar instance in 'The Zoologist' (1900, p. 103), and a case is recorded by Stevenson ('Birds of Norfolk').— (Rusland Hall, Ulverston).

"The Mode of Progression of the Phalacrocoracidæ under Water."—In confirmation of Mr. Meiklejohn's remarks on this subject (Zool, 1900, p. 557), I may say that some years ago, on a very bright sunny day, I was standing on a cliff about thirty feet high, looking down upon a perfectly smooth and glassy sea on the coast of Skye, and saw immediately below me a Shag fishing. He was hunting round and under every stone, as a terrier would for a Rat, and never once used his wings.— (Castlesteads, Brampton, Cumberland).

Early Jack-Snipe (Gallinago gallinula).—Will Mr. J. Whitaker kindly say where he twice flushed one of these little birds on August 28th last? (Zool. 1900, p. 557). My experience teaches me that the species does not immediately resort to the marshes on first arriving in England; or, let me rather say, the pioneers of the impending migratory movement, when flushed by me in Leicestershire, are never in marshy tracts, which I invariably beat in September, but are always started from dry out-of-the-way spots where one would least expect to find them. I understand that Mr. A.H. Meiklejohn has met with some experience that tallies with my own.— (Melton Mowbray).

Baird's Sandpiper in Sussex.—On Oct. 11th, 1900, at Rye Harbour, Sussex, I shot a nice specimen of Baird's Sandpiper (Heteropygia bairdi, Coues, cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Museum, xxiv. p. 570), an immature female. It was identified by Dr. Ernst Hartert, of the Tring Museum, to whom I sent it for that purpose, and was seen in the flesh by both Messrs. A.R. Ticehurst and W. Ruskin Butterfield. It was skinned by G. Bristow,