igo ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



had not gone far when I caught sight of the coveted nest : in it were 

 six typical eggs not more than two or three days incubated. It was 

 built about six inches clear of the ground, among tall bushy 

 heather, and was composed of withered grass, mosses, and leaves, 

 with a lining of deer's hair and feathers. Superficially it looked 

 not unlike a Wren's nest hanging in the heather, but a closer 

 inspection showed its kinship with that of the Willow Wren it was 

 (besides being off the ground) rather bulkier, however, and the dome 

 projected more over the entrance, so that the eggs were quite out of 

 sight. The female, which I saw leave the nest several times, 

 evinced considerable anxiety, uttering a plaintive thew-ee, thew-ee, 

 much like the note of a Greenfinch under similar circumstances ; 

 but the male continued his monotonous chiff chiff chief chiff chief chiff 

 chief chief, etc., without apparent concern. Judging from rny own 

 experience, I am inclined to think that in the case of the Chiff-chaff, 

 and its allies the Wood Wren and the Willow Wren, the nests are 

 built chiefly, if not solely, by the females. WILLIAM EVANS, Edin- 

 burgh 



The Tree-Sparrow in Midlothian. I observe in the "Annals" 

 for April that it is stated there is no recorded notice of the Tree- 

 Sparrow (Passer montanus), having been observed in Midlothian 

 previous to Mr. Eagle Clarke's seeing a small flock near Comiston 

 on the 29th December last. Perhaps mention may be made of the 

 following circumstances which I noted on the day it occurred. On 

 the zyth February 1882 I happened to be walking past the garden 

 of Holyrood in the Queen's Park, when my attention was drawn to 

 a twittering sound of birds with which I was not familiar. I found 

 the chirping proceeded from a flock of Tree-Sparrows in the hedge 

 above the wall of the garden. I was quite familiar with the appear- 

 ance of the Tree-Sparrow, as I had observed them for several years 

 breeding around my house in East Lothian, but I had never seen a 

 flock of the birds before. After watching them for some time, they 

 became disturbed and flew off to the crags on the hill close by. I 

 estimated their number from twenty to twenty-five. Thinking it 

 might interest them, I wrote that night to my friends Mr. A. B. 

 Herbert and Mr. Robert Gray. Both these gentlemen visited the 

 place next afternoon, but there was not a bird of any kind to be 

 seen. This I was not surprised at, as the i yth February was a 

 bright, warm, calm, sunny day, whilst during the night a gale of 

 wind sprang up and continued next day. The Tree-Sparrows had 

 doubtless betaken themselves to some more sheltered situation. It 

 would be interesting to know if Tree-Sparrows have continued to 

 breed in Ayrshire near Ardrossan as mentioned by Mr. Gray in his 

 "Birds of the AVest of Scotland."- -R. SCOT SKIRVING, Edinburgh. 



Great Gray Shrike and Rough-legged Buzzard in Lanark- 

 shire. A Great Gray Shrike (La/n'i/s excubitor) was shot in Lanark 



