OTES 



RARE BIRDS IN SUSSEX. 



A PAIR of Lesser Grey Shrikes {Laniiis minor) were shot at 

 Hollington, St. Leonards, Sussex, the male on May 5th, the 

 female on May 7th, 1912. They wei-e examined in the flesh 

 by Mr. W. H. Mullens and Mr. Ruskin Butterfield respectively. 

 L. minor has occ;urred fouiteen times before in Britain, 

 according to the Hand-List. 



A male Grey-headed Wagtail {Motacilla f. thunhergi) Avas 

 shot at Scotney near Rye on April 28th, 1912. It was 

 examined in the flesh by Mr. Ruskin Butterfield. 



Two Western Black-eared Wheatears {(Enanthe, h. his- 

 pafiico') were obtained near Winchelsea, the first a male, near 

 Dogshill Coastguard Station, on May 16th, 1912, which was 

 examined in the flesh by Mr. L. Curtis EdA\ards. The second, 

 also a male, but much darker on the back and I belie\e a 

 younger bird, was shot near Winchelsea on May 19th. 1912, 

 and examined in the flesh by Mr. T. Parkin. Both these 

 specimens are of the black-throated form, of which four 

 previous specimens have been obtained in Britain. The 

 above are now in my collection. J. B. Nichols. 



HOODED CROW IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 



As it is seldom that Ave get authentic records of this bird 

 in our county (although there is no doubt that it annually 

 passes along our lai'ger river-valleys on migration), it may 

 be worth while to note that two Hooded Cro\AS (Corvus c. 

 comix) Mere recently sent to me, one shot at Cresswell, 

 near Cheadle, on Monday, October 7th, 1912, and the other, 

 probably its mate, was shot near Leigh, about two miles 

 distant from Cresswell, a few days later. Both these birds 

 have been preserved for the North Staffordshire Field Club 

 Museum at Hanley. John R. B. Masefield. 



LESSER REDPOLL BREEDING IN KENT. 



When wandering through an orchard at Ashford, Kent, on 

 June 3rd, 1911, I discovered a nest of the Lesser Redpoll 

 iCarduelis I. cabaret) in the branch of a pyramid pear-tree 

 about five feet from the ground. The five eggs Avere highly 

 incubated, and four of them were hatched in the next three 

 days. I left the district on the 11th, but was later informed 

 that the young birds were successfully reared. I saw another 



