122 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



Spurn there were many Hedge-8parro\s's about the lanes and 

 hedgerows, but it A\as only on the 9th that I saAv any number 

 on the ridge. T. A. Cowakd. 



EARLY LAYING OF CUCKOO. 



Referring to the note by Mr. Selous in the last number of 

 British Birds (p. 90) re " Early Laying of Cuckoo," I can 

 quite confirm his i-emarks as to the scarcity of records for 

 Great Britain for April. In my series of 307 British-taken 

 eggs of Cuckoos (extending over a period of forty-eight 

 years), I have only one taken in April, viz. Sussex, Api'il 

 30th, 1905, in a nest of a Hedge-Sparrow ; and in a series of 

 370 eggs from the Continent I have only three, viz. South 

 Dalmatia, April 23rd, 1885, in a nest of an Eastern Orphean 

 Warbler ; Malaga, April 29th, 1894, in a nest of an Orphean 

 Warbler; and Seville, Spain, April 16th, 1898, in a nest of 

 a Dartford Warbler. 



Regarding the deep, rich red-bro^\'n type of egg, they are 

 not so uncommon as Mr. Selous imagines. I have ten of 

 these, viz. two with Spotted Flycatcher, one with Reed- 

 Warbler, one with Wood- Warbler, one with Meado^\-Pipit. 

 four with Tree-Pipit, and one Avith Robin — all fine-coloured 

 eggs, but getting a trifle duller each year. 



Herbert Massey. 



LONG-EARED OWL ENTERING A BUILDING. 



On July 19th, 1912, a Long-eared Owl {Asio o. otus) entered 

 the school building at Felstead (Essex), and created some 

 disturbance by flying up and down one of the dormitory 

 corridors about 9.15 p.m. It was captured by Mr. J. E. 

 Montgomery after some trouble, and was very savage. This 

 is the fourth example I have seen near the school, and for 

 such a purely woodland species to enter a building seems to 

 me sufficiently extraordinary to be worthy of record. 



J. H. Owen. 



SQUACCO HERON IN NORFOLK. 



I LEARN on good authority that an adult male Squacco 

 Heron [Ardeola r. ralloides) was taken near Horning, Norfolk, 

 on July 5th, 1912. H. W. Robinson. 



NIGHT-HERON IN SHROPSHIRE. 

 I LATELY examined an adult example of the Night-Heron 

 {Nycticorax n. nycficorax) which had been obtained early in 

 May, 1912, on the Severn, near Shre\\sburv. The species is 



