sceptical about it, I went out afterwards into the garden, and saw the bird busily feeding among the leaves of a sycamore. I watched it for about a quarter of an hour, and during that short time it sang thrice—not faint-heartedly, but in good voice. I heard it several times afterwards up till one o'clock, when the song ceased altogether. The weather was remarkably warm, and the sun very bright.—A.H. Meiklejohn (Ashford, Kent).
Breeding of the Blue-headed Wagtail in Sussex.—A nest of the Blue-headed Wagtail, containing four eggs, was found in a turnip-field near Winchelsea on May 31st, 1901, by Mr. George Bristow, Jun. Three of the eggs were accidentally broken, but the remaining egg (unblown), together with the nest and the parents, have been examined by Mr. H.E. Dresser, Mr. Thomas Parkin, and the present writer. Mr. Dresser kindly writes that the birds "come nearest to Motacilla beema, Sykes [Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1832, p. 90; cf. Sharpe, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus. x. p. 521, pl. vi. fig. 6 (head only)], which species, or rather subspecies, differs from M. flava in having the cheeks white, with only a broad blue streak through the eye.... Sharpe gives the range as Eastern Siberia, India, &c.; but it has been obtained several times in Southern Europe."—W. Ruskin Butterfield (4, Stanhope Place, St. Leonards-on-Sea).
Ægialitis hiaticula nesting in Middlesex (within London Postal District).—Last May (1901) I was surprised to find, on the sewage farm here—which is within the London postal district—Redshanks, Dunlins, and Ringed Plovers,[1] the last named in considerable numbers. From the behaviour of one pair of Ringed Plovers, I was convinced that they had nested, but feared that the eggs had been destroyed by a harrow at work in the field. As I was on the point of starting for Holland, I asked the superintendent, who is a good and observant naturalist, to keep his eye on them while I was away. He now tells me (Aug. 27th) that during my absence he saw three young Ringed Plovers freshly hatched, and actually caught one of them and handled it. This seems to be proof of an extremely interesting event. There is no doubt that Snipe breed in the same place. A Snipe was bleating overhead daily during May, but, though I searched carefully for many hours (wading knee-deep in liquid sewage), the vegetation was so excessively thick and rank, that I was unable to find the nest. I had to-day (Aug. 27th) the pleasure of watching a Snipe on the ground for some minutes through a glass, and in the previous week a brace of Teal were shot (young birds). There are now numbers of Yellow Wagtails about (this Wagtail nests here regularly), and large flocks of
- ↑ Ægialitis hiaticula (Wikisource-ed.)
