Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/329

Rh The Jay (Garrulus glandarius) in London.—On the 17th June I saw two Jays in a garden in West Kensington. My house is in a road which forms one side of a quadrangle with three other roads. All the houses in this quadrangle are back to back, and each house has a small walled-in garden, with trees in most of them. On the morning of the above date I was seated reading at the window overlooking the garden, when my attention was attracted by seeing two largish birds fly into a tree in the garden of the next house, and immediately afterwards I heard and recognized the harsh alarm-note of the Jay. Going into the balcony, and looking carefully, I made out the two birds. They were Jays. They were moving about restlessly in the tree, and more than once uttered their loud harsh call. I should think I had them under observation for three or four minutes, when first one, then the other rose and flew over the houses, taking a south-westerly direction. It seems to me strange that so very shy a bird as a Jay should be found alighting in a London garden. What wild Jays—for these looked like wild birds, and not escaped prisoners—were doing in the vicinity of London and bricks and mortar puzzles me.— (West Kensington).

Eggs of the Cuckoo in Nests of the Hawfinch.—On an evening near the end of May, while engaged in a natural history ramble, a set of eggs were shown to me by a youth. They were a clutch of five eggs of the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes vulgaris), with the egg of a Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus). As I had never previously found this combination, I was somewhat dubious as to its genuineness; but, after a few questions had been asked and answered in a straightforward way, I felt assured on the point, and determined to make a careful and systematic search in the neighbourhood. The result of this was that within a radius of half a mile from the spot two other sets of eggs of the Hawfinch, each with a Cuckoo's egg, were discovered, and a few days later another was found. The Cuckoo eggs were all after the same type, and closely resembled each other in size and colour, and the nests in which they were found were all placed in very similar situations. In quoting this occurrence, may I state that during an experience of upwards of thirty years' active field-work, in the study of ornithology, I have never before found a Cuckoo choosing the Hawfinch as foster-parent for its young.— (Ludlow).

Moor-hen breeding in a Rook's Nest.—At a large rookery near here some of the Rooks have again built in the tall Portugal laurels. Just before Rook-shooting commenced, I visited the spot in company with Mr. Michael J. Nicoll. We counted no fewer than seven nests in