224 ORNITHOLOGICAL N0TE8. 



large nests do they build in the fine old elms, which have sheltered the 

 antique mansion for many a half century. The quantities of fish which these 

 birds bring from the River Clewyd, two miles off, is really astonishing. Every 

 half hour may one of them be seen slowly sailing towards his nest with some 

 aquatic capture in his mandibles, and then, what a noise, what a snapping 

 and gobbling do the hungry expectants make! 



The steward informed me that he was seldom at a loss for a dish of fine 

 fresh trout after the young ones had been hatched, for both parent and child 

 were so awkward about the feeding, that nearly half the food they brought was 

 dropped from the nests and lost. During my last visit, for 1 have paid many 

 at this season, I could have collected in a very short time from under the 

 trees a handsome pannier full of trout and flounders. Broken green egg shells 

 lay scattered about, and the very air was tainted with the aroma of putrid 

 eels, strangulated frogs, and decayed shrimps and shell-fish. 



Appleby, Westmoreland, 1854. In a letter to the liev. F.O. Morris. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



BY G. B. CLARKE, ESQ. 



Occurrence of the Guillemot, (Uria troile,) at Fenny Strafford, Bucks. — Oo 

 the 13th. of November, 1852, during the heavy floods which then prevailed, 

 I had a Guillemot brought to me, which had been caught in the river at 

 Fenny; it was a male bird, and very poor; there was another seen at Simpson 

 the next day, but it escaped. 



Gray Phalarope, (Phalaropus lobatus,) at Hockliffe, Beds. — One of these 

 interesting and rare little birds was shot at Hockliffe on September 30th., last; 

 its quick movements while in the water attracted the attention of the party 

 who shot it, who was also surprised that it was so tame; — it allowed of a 

 very near approach without exhibiting any signs of fear. 



Ring Ouzel, (Turdus torquatus,) in Beds. — The occurrence of the Ring 

 Ouzel in Beds, is of rare occurrence; I believe only once before recorded, and 

 that in the winter. This bird was shot on April 25th., at Woburn Sands, 

 in the garden of W. H. Denison, Esq., by whom it was killed, he thinking 

 it was a singularly-marked Blackbird. I think there is very little doubt but 

 what it had a nest there; it is a male bird, and in excellent plumage. 



Nest of the Redpole, (Linaria minor,) in Beds. — As I do not perceive that 

 there is any record of the Redpole nesting in this county, I send this 

 partly because the nest is somewhat differently constructed to the one 

 mentioned in the Rev. F. 0. Morris's admirable work on "British Birds," vol. 

 ii., page 323. This nest, a very small neatly made one, was placed in a 

 hawthorn, about four feet from the ground, and was built principally of wool, 

 stems of grass, a very small portion of moss, and lined with horse-hair, 



