The Oologisis' Record, March r, 1921. n 



listening to the song of a nightingale. Strange to say the male 

 came and perched just above my head. Shortly after his little mate 

 swept down beside him and I was charmed. The suspected nesting 

 hole in a large oak, which I discovered in daylight, was eventually 

 reached by a ladder. 1 had to make this ladder from "duck 

 boards " and several amusing incidents took place with regard to 

 it. Though it was then 25th May the hole contained no eggs, and 

 I was moved on a day or so after so that my hopes of the eggs were 

 frustrated. 

 IcTERixE Warbler, Hippolais icterina {Vieillot). 



One of the most persistent singers in France, he seemed to take 

 up the thread of the nightingale's story. Wherever there were 

 grounds or gardens it was almost sure to be heard. I have taken 

 its nest in a red currant bush in the heart of Bapaume. One nest, 

 now safely in England, I took out of a plane tree just outside the 

 cinema theatre in the same town. I was prospecting for Gold- 

 finches at the time, for two pairs were nesting near by. The nest, 

 a beautiful structure, was some sixteen feet from the ground and 

 composed externally of white confectionery paper, which gave it the 

 appearance of a white ball. The eggs are usually five in number, 

 and the nest is found in all kinds of bushes and shrubs at varying 

 heights from four feet upwards. 

 Continental Song Thrush, Turdiis musicus, Linn. 



I also met with this bird in the grounds of Vlamertinghe Chateau. 

 I many times thought of it as a rarish bird in France and, if anything, 

 more common near Lille and the Aubers Ridge. I took one nest 

 with four fresh eggs on ist July, 1919. 



■Golden Oriole, Oriolus oriolus (Linn.). 



I found this to be a common enough bird wherever there are 

 woods and grounds to suit it. I met with it almost everywhere, 

 but one must know its notes to locate it. Contrary to what I have 

 read it is by no means a conspicuous bird and I rarely got a good 

 view of the gorgeous plumage of the male " Loriet." They are 

 noisy enough in all conscience and the cat-like call of the male, 

 and the fluting note which follows it, are soon heard when their 

 haunts are invaded. The nest is not always easy to find and often 

 very difficult to get at. I have seen it at a height of sixty feet 

 swaying in the breeze some thirty feet out on th&end of a branch. 

 I took one nest after several attempts to get at it by cutting the tree 



