NOTES. 213 



the lining was varied, wool, grass, string, feathers, and hair 

 of cows being utilized. All the nests were near main roads. 

 We should estimate the number of Crossbills in the district 

 at about two hundred, but only a small proportion of these 

 was breeding. James R. Hale. 



T, P. Aldworth. 



INCREASE OF STARLINGS IN CORNWALL AND 



DEVON. 

 Some forty-five years ago, at a meeting of the Exeter 

 Naturalists' Club, I called attention to the great increase of 

 the Starling {Sturnus vulgaris) in Devon and Cornw^all, and 

 elicited some interesting information on the subject from 

 various persons. According to Mr. J. R. Collins, it was not 

 till the spring of 1855 that the Starling was known to breed in 

 Cornwall, and then only one pair nested at Trewardale, near 

 Bodmin, increasing to five pairs in 1864. Even up to 1878 

 Mr. Rodd stated he had not succeeded in marking it as a 

 resident west of Truro. Before 1892, however, the Starling 

 had become a resident throughout Cornwall. 



A few years since Starlings decreased considerably in the 

 neighbourhood of Exeter, probably owing to the great droughts 

 we experienced, but they have been gradually increasing again, 

 and their numbers this year exceed anything I liave ever seen 

 before. I noticed the first large flocks as early as June 16th 

 this year. All through August very large flocks assembled 

 here every evening. Some tall elms near the River Exe 

 serve as a rendezvous, and small flocks may be seen arriving 

 from all parts until gradually the main body has assumed 

 enormous dimensions. They fly about the river for an hour 

 or so, making excursions over the marshes for a mile or 

 more returning to the trees to rest. As darkness comes on 

 they leave the trees and sweep low over the reed-beds in the 

 middle of the river, and after a few evolutions suddenly drop 

 en masse into the reeds, where they roost. 



W. S. M. D'Urban. 



THE CONTINENTAL JAY IN KENT AND 



SUSSEX. 

 In my History of the Birds of Kent (p. 196), I referred to the 

 probability that the continental Jay {Garrulus g. glandarius) 

 occurred in the county sometimes (? regularly) as a migrant 

 in autumn. At that time the records, though suggestive, 

 were fe^^', and no specimens were available for examination. 

 This autumn accordingly I wrote to Mr. H. S. D. Byron, 

 t o whom I am indebted for so much information with regard 



