nOTES 



ROOKS BUILDING IN AND ON CHIMNEYS. 



Mr. W. p. Westell's note {antea, p. 137), recording the 

 fact of Rooks building in cliiinneys, does not make it quite 

 clear whether the Rooks built inside the chimney or on the 

 top. It may be of interest to record that in 1904 three 

 Rooks' nests were built on the chimneys of the (then) Empire 

 Music Hall, Brighton. These nests were built entirely on 

 the top of the chimney, and the heads of the sitting birds 

 could be seen from the street. Just ojiposite, in the Pavilion 

 grounds, there has been a rookery for many years. 



Herbert Langton. 

 [In all previous accounts of Rooks nesting on chimneys 

 the nests have been described as being built on the top of 

 the chimneys and not inside. For this reason I was inclined 

 to tliink that the nests described by Mr. Westell might be 

 those of Jackdaws, as he stated that they were built inside 

 the chinmeys, but he asserts positively that they were Rooks', 

 and that a nest with eggs was taken and given to the 

 Letchworth Museum.— F. C. R. J.] 



LESSER REDPOLLS BREEDING IN 

 HERTFORDSHIRE. 



With reference to the note under this heading in the October 

 issue {antea, p. 116), since I came to live in the Hitchin district 

 about four years ago, I have seen Lesser Redpolls regularly 

 in I believe every month of the year. In 1914 I came ixpon 

 a nest in Hitchin, from which the young had flown, and I knew 

 of two separate colonies of five or six pairs each breeding the 

 last two summers, although I did not look for nests. The 

 birds were flying round in their characteristic way, singing 

 above the tree-tops, and had time been available nests could 

 I am sure have been found. 



From these notes I look upon the Lesser Redpoll as a 

 regular breeder in north Hertfordshire J. Beddall Smith. 



COLLARED FLYCATCHER IN SUSSEX. 



Two male Collared Flycatchers {MuscicajM collaris) were 

 shot at HoUington, near St. Leonards, on May 15th, 1916, and 

 were examined in the flesh by Mr. Ruskin Butterfield. These 

 and the two obtained near Winchelsea in May, 1911, are the 

 onlv authentic British occurrences. J. B. Nichols. 



