MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 235 



which was unfortunately hrokon, but with much care, and by putting it on the egg of a Hedge 

 Accentor, a fair specimen was made of it, and which, with another (sound one) laid on the follow- 

 ing Monday, the 17th., is now in Mr. Jackson's very excellent collection of British Birds' Eggs, 

 to which they make a very valuable addition. The colour of the eggs is of a pale bluish green 

 ground, as given in the first figure in the llev. F. 0. Morris's "Nests and Eggs of British 

 Birds," without the dark spots, but smeared with a dull rusty brown, dense at the large, and 

 gradually diminishing towards the small end, which is entirely free from brown. As these 

 eggs differ so much from Mr. M.'s second figure, and also from the figure given by Mr. Hewitson, 

 in his splendid work on birds' eggs, the question arises, does confinement modify the colouring 

 of eggs? The affirmation is borne out by some eggs laid by a Kestrel, for many years kept 

 in confinement by Mr. Jackson, who has the eggs still in his possession, the colouring matter 

 of which is collected at the small end, leaving the large end of a pure white.— Stephen Clogg, 

 East Looe, August 4th., 1854. 



A short time since, I was struck by the strange appearance of a Skylark, (Alauda arvensis,) which 

 rose from a wheat-field, singing most joyously and clearly, at the same time bearing something 

 white in its mouth; it proved to be a mutin which he was carrying from his nest, and which 

 dropped close to my side on the road where I stood. I should have thought such a burden 

 would have interfered with the clearness of the song, but it had no such eff'ect. — Idem. 



In the latter part of June, my dog disturbed a nest of young Willow Wrens, when one 

 apparently more frightened than the rest, attracted his attention by flying before him, keeping 

 a few feet from his nose; Mr. Jackson, another friend, and I, also started off" in pursuit of 

 the same bird; but after a fruitless chase for two or three hundred yards, the apparent youngster 

 flew vigorously into an oak overhead, when we discovered we had been lured away from the 

 nest and young by one of the old birds, who, I have no doubt, rejoiced at having deceived 

 three of the lords of creation. This is to me a new trait in the history of "Willow Wrens. 

 — Idem. 



Is it a G/iosi?— Last night, between nine and ten o'clock, on my way home from the 

 country, in passing through a field which bears the unenviable notoriety of being haunted, 

 I was amused by the appearance in the twilight of a huge misshapen white figure hovering 

 over and accompanying my setter in all his turnings and windings, whilst hunting over the 

 field; presently he came close to me, when I discovered the figure to be nothing more than 

 a White Owl, and on his again scampering off from me, followed by the Owl, it struck me 

 that the two would have made an excellent ghost if seen by any one of a superstitious turn ; 

 and being unaware of the nature of the apparition — a White Owl, on the back of a large 

 black Setter, coursing over a so-called haunted field.— Idem. 



T/ie Greater Spotted Woodpecker, (Picas major.)— On the 17th. of Jfay last, I procured a 

 female Greater Spotted Woodpecker with eggs, from an orchard near Shrewsbury. The eggs 

 were five in number, white, and about the size of a Starling's. The bird has since been set 

 up by Mr. John Shem, Taxidermist, High-Street, Shrewsbury.— John Kiddell, Leamington, 

 June 14th., 1864. 



T/ie Seed Warbler, (Salicaria arundinacea.)— On Tuesday last. May 30th., I found the nest 

 of the Reed Warbler in an elder bush, containing three full-fledged young ones. This is certainly 

 the earliest nest I ever heard of, as I have seldom found a nest with eggs in before the 

 18th. or 20th. of May. Perhaps some persons may think I have mistaken the bird, as I 

 know there is a very common idea that these birds build only on reeds; but I can at once 

 disprove this, by forwarding you nests, (and eggs from the same nests,) placed in the side 

 branches of the upright poplar, the elder, the dogwood, and the alder. I have also found the 

 nests in lilacs, and once in some pendant ivy. In this part of the county we have a great 

 many pollard willow trees, and I frequently find the nests placed on the small twigs which 

 grow about three feet high in the heads of these willows, which would make the total height 

 from the ground about ten or eleven feet: I also find them in osiers about four feet from 

 the ground. By the small twigs on the heads of the willows, I mean the boughs that have 

 been overgrown by the others, and consequently never attain a size thicker than a small 

 switch. Should you think this, to me, remarkable occurrence of the early breeding of the 



