NOTES. 81 



SOOTY TERN IN SUSSEX. 

 On April 24th, 1911, a man named Hill saw a bird in difficul- 

 ties on the rocks at Black Rock, just beyond the eastern 

 boundary of Brighton. He ran after it and caught it, and 

 brought it to Messrs. Pratt, the taxidermists, at Brighton, 

 who recognized it as a Sooty Tern {Sterna fuliginosa) . It 

 was in the last stage of exhaustion, but showed no outward 

 signs of injury. Dr. Langton, M.B.O.U., saw it before it 

 was skinned. Having been exhibited at the British Ornitho- 

 logists' Club on May 10th, 1911, it was purchased for the 

 Booth Museum, where I hope it will be on view shortly. 



Arthur F. Griffith. 



HERRING-GULL'S NEST WITH FIVE EGGS. 

 On May 22nd, 1911, I found a nest of a Herring-Gull {Larus 

 argentatus) containing five eggs, on the Island of Maleggan 

 in the Scilly Isles. Two birds might have been using one 

 nest to account for this, but I should sa}^ that all the eggs 

 were laid by the same bird. This was the only nest of the 

 Herring-Gull I found on this particular island, which is 

 little more than a rock. The nest could not have been 

 tampered with, owing to the difficulty of landing on the 

 island, and I understand we were the first persons to land 

 there this year. H. W. Robinson. 



[Leverkiihn {Fremde Eier im Neste, p. 1) says that on Sylt 

 he found double clutches of five and six eggs both of the 

 Herring-Gull and also of the Common Gull {Larus canus). 

 In all cases it was evident that the eggs were laid by two 

 hens.— F.C.R.J.] 



EXTRAORDINARY DEVOTION OF SOME BIRDS 

 TO THEIR NESTS. 

 Last year I gave an instance of extraordinary devotion on 

 the part of a pair of Lesser Whitethroats to their nest (Vol. 

 IV., p. 148) ; some further instances have lately come under 

 my observation. The first is that of a Tree-PiiDit {Anthus 

 trivialis), which was sitting on five eggs when I first saw it. 

 I was at once struck by the pugnacious attitude the bird 

 assumed, flapping about, uttering a shrill note the whole 

 time. Passing the spot on the following day, I looked to see 

 if she was all right, and there she sat with mouth open looking 

 at me and simply refusing to move. I was so impressed 

 that I walked back to the cottage where I was staying (some 

 four miles away) and returned with my camera. The bird 

 sat still with open mouth, and watched me as I opened 

 out the grass and other vegetation to see the nest. Nor 



