164 CHAPTER 0? MISCELLANIES. 



following note, which I took down at the time ; it was repeated distinctly several 

 times : — cuc-cuckle-cuc. These birds are singing here even now. — Edwin Lees, 

 Dryadville Cottage, near Worcester, June 21, 1836. 



Nest of the Sibilous Locustell (Locustella sibilatrix, C. T. Wood). — Last 

 Tuesday morning I spent four or five hours in endeavouring — though unsucess- 

 fully — to discover the nest of a Locustell, a pair of which birds I observed to 

 frequent an exceedingly thick hedge of Slow and Hawthorn, with a dry ditch 

 before it, tangled every where with thick brambles and dense herbage of various 

 kinds. Yet even there I thought I should have better success than upon a com- 

 mon ; I know of another locality where there is a nest, which appears to be 

 comparatively open, considering the general haunts of the species. — Edward 

 Blyth, June 30, 1836. 



The Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) in Yorkshire. — This bird has hitherto 

 been supposed by British ornithologists to be confined to the warmest parts of 

 this country, and it appears only to have been met with in Devonshire and the 

 adjacent counties. We have, therefore, great pleasure in extending its range so 

 much further north as Campsall, seven miles to the north of Doncaster, a fine 

 female, in excellent condition, having been shot near that place on the 25th 

 of April, 1837. We cannot help thinking that the general similarity in plum-, 

 age between the Cirl Bunting and our common Yellow Bunting, may have 

 caused the former species to have been occasionally overlooked when individuals 

 have occurred in various parts of this country. Indeed, had the specimen above 

 alluded to happened to have fallen into other hands, it would in all probability 

 have been considered identical with the Yellow species. Still, no one at all 

 practically acquainted with our native Ornithology can for a moment doubt that 

 the Cirl Bunting is with us a very rare and local species. — Ed. 



The Fuscous Gull (Larus fuscus) near Doncaster. — Yesterday I saw an 

 individual of the Fuscous (or lesser black-backed) Gull cross the Thome road 

 about a mile from Doncaster, wending its way in a northerly or north-easterly 

 direction. It had probably come from the Humber up the river to Thorne, and 

 thence hither. — F. 0. Morris, Doncaster, April 3, 1837- 



Pieces of Paper found in the Stomach of a Trout. — On Friday, April 14, 

 there were taken from the stomach of a Trout, caught in the river Tay, five pieces 

 of the Fifeshire Journal. They appeared to have been but recently swallowed, 

 as they were quite legible when dried. 



On pinioning the Anatidce in Confinement. — It is not necessary to pinion the 

 wild fowl after each moult. My remarks (p. 55) had reference to the first moult 

 after having been pinioned ; for as I was anxious not to disfigure the birds more 

 than was necessary, I cut the smallest piece that I thought sufficient to prevent 

 them from flying. But I found from experience that I was obliged again to 



