VOL IX. J NOTES. 98 



THE NORFOLK ASHY-HEADED WAGTAIL NOA\' 

 IDENTIFIED AS A GREY-HEADED WAGTAIL. 



About May 1st, 1842. a Wagtail was killed at Sheringhani 

 in Norfolk; and recorded by my father in The Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History for that year (p. 353) as 

 Motacilla neglecta. 



On subsequent examination it was decided that it Avas 

 referable to Motacilla flava cinereocapilla Savi, and was 

 re-mentioned under that name in the Norwich NaturaUsts'' 

 Soc. Trans. (Vol. II., p. 226). 



This bird has recently been submitted to a careful scrutiny 

 by Dr. Claud Ticehurst, and compared with a series of 

 skins, the result being that he is quite satisfied that it should 

 be assigned to M. f. thunbergi, Billberg (=--M. horealis 

 Sundevall). J. H. Gurney. 



[Mr. Gurney has kindly allowed me to see this bird and 

 it is certainly a typical adult male M. f. thunbergi. This 

 being so, the inclusion of the Ashy-headed Wagtail 

 M. f. cinereocapilla, in the British List, now rests solely 

 upon the specimen obtained in May at Penzance and figured 

 by Gould {Birds of Great Britain, Part xxii.). This figure 

 is a very good one and in my opinion undoubtedly represents 

 an adult male 31. f. cinereocapilla. — H.F.W.] 



NESTING TERRITORY CLAIMED BY MALE 

 TREE-PIPIT. 



It is my opinion that the nesting territory is owiied or claimed 

 by the male Tree-Pipit {Anthns t. trivialis). On a small 

 Surrey heath I find, year after year, a number of nests of 

 the Tree-Pipit in almost the same situations and the males 

 sing from the same trees each year. I base my opinion on 

 the assumption that the female always lays the same type 

 of egg, and as I find quite different types of eggs each year 

 in these nests, I feel justified in assuming that the males 

 bring different females back each year. I have also noticed 

 that Tree-Pipits are very fond of building their nests near 

 small paths that intersect the heath. If the nest is built 

 in the middle of the heath it is usually near a small tree. 



C. W. COLTHRUP. 



NEST MATERIAL USED BY BLACKCAPS. 



Recently I have been studying the nests of the Blackcap 

 {Sylvia a. atricapilla) and find that in this district (Bray, 

 CO. Wicklow), where the birds are fairly common, all the nests 



