252 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



unlike that of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but is 

 more prolonged and not nearly so shrill. The earliest 

 record of their appearance that I have by me is April 3 ; 

 their note last heard July 3 ; bird last seen August 27." 



Dr. A. G. Butler states : " Towards the end of June, 

 1880, I noticed a Wryneck examining a decayed apple- 

 tree in an orchard at Bobbing in Kent. One of the holes 

 in this tree had been occupied the previous year by a 

 Bobin ; the remains of whose nest still lay at the bottom 

 of the cavity. Previously I had not taken the eggs of 

 the Wryneck, and therefore I was interested in more 

 senses than one. Watching the bird through my glasses 

 I was convinced that it had decided to take possession of 

 the Bobin's old nest ; but as I was returning to town in 

 a day or two, I knew I could not myself take the eggs, 

 so I called the son of the man who rented the orchard, 

 and promised him a shilling to send me the complete 

 clutch. A little more than a week later I received five 

 eggs, which were all that were deposited." 



Unusual Nesting-Site for the Wrynecl:. — " In the last 

 number of the Zoologist (p. 265) I recorded the fact of a 

 Tree- Sparrow nesting in a mole-burrow in a brick-earth 

 cutting in Kent. On July 9 I was examining the holes 

 in the same cutting on the chance of finding a late nest, 

 when I heard a sound not unlike that made by shaking 

 a handful of silver coins, issuing from one of the holes ; 

 after half an hour's hard work I was able to insert my 

 hand, when I discovered that the hole was occupied by 

 five full-fledged young Wrynecks. There appeared to be 

 no nest, or, if there was, it was so completely concealed 

 under the mass of malodorous guano that I did not dis- 

 cover it. I have never met with any recorded instance 

 of the Wryneck breeding in a hole in the ground, and it 



