368 BRITISH BIRDS. 



during the afternoon rested on a grassy ledge below a 

 steep bank of the mere. I repeatedly watched them 

 during January, February, and March with Mr. T. Hadfield 

 and Mr. A, W. Boyd, and except during a short frost early in 

 the year, we almost invariably found them resting in the one 

 spot. On April 9th we saw the eight birds, but on the morning 

 of April 14th, the last date on which they were seen, the game- 

 keeper only counted five. T. A. Coward. 



NESTING OF THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE IN 



SOMERSET. 



The Great Crested Grebe {Podicipes cristatus) has apparently 

 been extending its breeding-range in our islands during recent 

 years, but I fancy there are very few records yet of these birds 

 nesting in the south-west of England. I know of no records 

 of the nest having been found in Somerset until last year, 

 when I heard from quite reliable sources that two pairs nested 

 in 1910 on Blagdon Reservoir, and several ]3airs on Chard 

 Reservoir. The record is, I believe, the first for Blagdon, 

 though, possibly, not quite the first for Chard, from which 

 locality I hear that last June (1910) steps were taken to banish 

 the birds as being prejudicial to the fishing. Several pairs 

 were nesting, and eggs were found. It would be interesting 

 to hear whether there are other records from the south-western 

 counties. F. L. Blathwayt. 



Lanceolated Warblers in Scotland. — Mr. W. Eagle 

 Clarke announces {Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist , 1911, p. 71) that a 

 specimen (a bird of the year — sex not mentioned) of the Lanceo- 

 lated Grasshopper-Warbler {Locustella lanceolata) was captured 

 at the Pentland Skerries (Orkney) on October 26th, 1910, and 

 sent to him in the flesh. Mr. Clarke, who acknowledges the 

 assistance of Dr. C. B. Ticehurst, finds that a bird which he 

 shot at Fair Isle, on September 9th, 1908, also belongs to this 

 species. This is likewise a bird of the year. 



It will be remembered that this Warbler was added to the 

 British List by Mr. Caton Haigh, who obtained an example in 

 Lincolnshire on November 18th, 1909 (c/., Vol. III., p. 353). 



Mealy Redpoll in Mull. — Specimens of L. linaria from 

 Skye in November, 1910, have already been reported {supra, 

 p. 255), and we now have a record by Mr. D. Macdonald {Ann. 

 Scot. Nat. Hist., 1911. p. 114) of a specimen in Mull, on October 

 31st, 1910. 



Holboll's Redpoll in Shetland. — Additional to the 

 records already given {supra, p, 291) Mr. J. S. Tulloch records 



