226 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. x. 



foundation. The nest was in a furzebush on the side of the 

 downs ; and when I first found it, while the birds were lining 

 it, there was nothing unusual to be seen. A week later 

 I found it destroyed, and then discovered that the upper part 

 of the Tit's nest was resting inside the Thrush's, while the 

 Thrush's had been evenly covered with a coating of moss 

 and lichen, so as to make it indistinguishable from a normal 

 nest of a Long-tailed Tit. The Thrush's nest was slightly 

 littered inside with other material, and had apparently been 

 deserted, probably in one of the spells of snowy weather 

 which lasted until the middle of April. 



A. COLLETT. 



GREAT GREY SHRIKE IN KENT. 



On November 7th, 1915, I watched a Great Grey Shrike 

 {Lanius excubitor) on some waste land near Tunbridge WelJs. 

 It appeared fairly tame and allowed me to approach quite 

 close. H. H. Farw^c;. 



BLACKCAP IN WINTER IN SHROPSHIRE. 



On December 6th, 1916, I caught a Blackcap {S'/lvia a. 

 atricajnlla) in a wire trap on the lawn here, within half a mile 

 of Shrewsbury. The bird was apparently a bird of the year, 

 and its appearance in winter, though not unprecedented i 

 is unusual. The trap which the bird entered is after the 

 pattern of those used by gamekeepers for catching Pheasants, 

 about four feet square with a wire funnel-shaped entrance. 

 I have found it particularly useful for catching Starlings. I 

 ruiged the young Blackcap ; so there is the bare possibility 

 of its being recovered. A. May all. 



SAND-MARTINS NESTING IN DRAIN-PIPES. 



Sand -Martins were apparently nesting at Oxford in or about 

 1898 in drain-pipes in a wall over the river, in a position 

 similar to that reported by Miss Haviland at Cambridge last 

 year {anfea j). 167). Several times in May or June I saw birds 

 passing in and out of small pipes built into the wall of a yard 

 belonging (I think) to the City Corporation, on one of the 

 branches of the Isis above the Seven Bridges Road. I do 

 not recollect securing actual proof that the birds were nesting, 

 but the date, and their behaviour, made it strongly probable 

 that this was the case, A. Collett. 



