82 LOCAL JOTTINGS. 



the young family, when nearly fledged, would fall over; but I suppose they 

 were destroyed by some days of severe wind and rain which we had about 

 that time, for the old ones deserted the nest afterwards. We however 

 picked up the fragments of some of the egg shells which had fallen after 

 the eggs were hatched: they were of a light brownish tint, spotted with dark 

 brown. 



Another nest is in the mouth of a cave which can only be entered at low 

 water. The nest is inaccessible, and visible from below, but not from above. 

 If very much wished for it might perhaps be reached with the help of a 

 rope. We left it unmolested last year in hopes of getting the young, in 

 which I was disappointed by being absent from the island just at the time 

 they were fledged. This nest is a very old establishment, and has been 

 occupied many years. Nearly every evening, and at all times of the year, 

 the old pair come to roost in its neighbourhood. I have sometimes watched 

 them making themselves comfortable for the night; after trying several, they 

 at last select a sheltered inaccessible ledge overhanging the sea, upon which 

 they lie down with their legs tucked under them. 



These birds are at all times tame, but at the breeding season they are 

 very bold. They do not take much notice of a visitor until very closely 

 intruded upon, and then become very vociferous, flying over his head, and 

 frequently alighting about forty yards distant, or less. Their brilliant coral 

 bills and legs are then very conspicuous, as they contrast with the glossy 

 blackness of the plumage. 



Sometimes on a fine calm day the Iled-legged Crow amuses itself by 

 soaring up to a great height, and then sailing round and round in circles, 

 after the manner of the Eagle. One fine spring morning I witnessed a pair 

 doing this when I was accompanied by a veteran sportsman, who was almost 

 deceived by them, taking them for Eagles, until they began to call, which 

 at once betrayed them; and when they descended, the matter was put 

 beyond a doubt by shooting one. The natives call these birds St. Columba's 

 bird; no doubt because it used to breed upon the cathedral in greater numbers 

 formerly, when those ruins were less distm'bed by steam-boat visitors. 



lona, 1852. 



LOCAL JOTTINGS.— No. 3. 

 DORCHESTER— DORSETSHIRE. 



BY J. GARLAND, ESQ. 



The Hoopoe, (Upupa Epops.) — The celebrated naturalist, Gilbert White, 

 in his "History of Selborne," mentions the circumstance of a pair of these 

 pretty birds frequenting his garden, but they did not breed there; now I am 

 credibly informed that a pair built their nest and bred for several years. 



