Mr. B. 31. Christy, Natural History Notes. 69 



some distance away. Next morning I again visited the 



nest before six o'clock, and found all the young ones quite 



dead. The result surprised me considerably ; it seemed 



to be a failure altogether of the bird's sense — a case 



of complete mistake. The bird built her nest in a place 



from which she had no power, or at least made no 



attempt, to remove her young to the water, and all died in 



consequence. 



E. M. C. 



Saffron Walden, May Mth, 1880. 



III. 



{Bead Mne 26th, 1880.) 



I^SEND herewith, for exhibition at the next meeting, a 

 curious object, which Mr. Travis gave me a week or 

 more ago. A lump of mud, such as it is, does not in a 

 usual way carry much interest along with it ; but I venture 

 to think that this case will prove an exception. This 

 strange lump of mud is the work of a Nuthatch (Sitta 

 ccesiajj and had it been used to partly close the mouth of 

 the bird's nesting-hole, there would have been nothing 

 unusual about it; but its history is different. It was found 

 a year or two ago in Audley End Park, close to a place 

 where I now know of a nuthatch's nest in which young 

 are being reared. When found it occupied the centre 

 of an old thrush's nest placed out on one of the 

 branches of a large yew tree. The thrush's nest has been 

 now removed, but its lining of rotten wood, &c., still 

 remains adhering to the mud, which, it will be seen, is 

 harder than many a brick, and I notice a specimen of 

 Glausilia rugosa sticking in it. 



The question arises. What could have induced the birds 

 to till the old thrush's nest with this earthy structure ? It 

 could not have been for nesting purposes ; for although the 

 hole in the centre is quite as large as that left by nut- 

 hatches in any nest I have seen, yet in the position it was 



