nS BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



LITTLE OWL BREEDING IN WARWICKSHIRE. 



The Little Owl (Athene n. noctua) is, from the accounts 

 which reach me, on the increase in Warwickshire. One pair 

 has this year (1913) reared four or five young at Baginton, 

 three miles south of Coventry, and four eggs were taken 

 and the hen bird killed on the nest by boys at Bubbenhall. 

 Both nests were in holes in trees previously occupied by 

 Jackdaws. James R. Starley. 



[We know of no previous record of the Little Owl breeding 

 in Warwickshire. — ^Eds.] 



RUDDY SHELD-DUCK IN CHESHIRE. 



On July 17th, 1913, I noticed a female Ruddy Sheld-Duck 

 {Casarca ferruginea) swimming on Rostherne Mere, Cheshire. 

 It remained on the water for over three weeks, and was seen 

 by Mr. A. W. Boyd and Mr. T. Hadfield. As a rule, the bird 

 swam so low in the water forward, that the pale wing-coverts 

 were hidden ; but when it flew, as it did on the 19th when we 

 approached it in a boat, the wings showed a large, almost 

 white, patch. It was shy and nervous and would not allow 

 the boat to get near. The natural supposition would be that 

 this bird had escaped from confinement, but the note of " D," 

 in the Field for July 19th (p. 177), describing a visit of six 

 birds to Loch Spynie in early July, suggests the possibility 

 of a Ruddy Sheld-Duck invasion. T. A. Coward. 



COMMON SCOTERS IN SUMMER : 



In Cheshire and North Wales. 



On June 19th, 1913, Mr. A. W. Boyd saw five Common 

 Scoters {Oidemia n. nigra) on Rostherne Mere, Cheshire ; 

 all were black birds, presumably males. On the 20th I could 

 not see these latter, but there were two brown birds with pale 

 cheeks (females or young males) on the same water. On the 

 22nd, Mr. F. Brownsword, when on the beach at Old Colwyn, 

 noticed, far out in Liverpool Bay, what looked to the naked eye 

 like a line of steamer-smoke, but with the aid of glasses he 

 could see was a long flight of Scoters travelling eastward 

 towards Abergele. He could not estimate the numbers, but 

 guessed that the line was at least a mile in length. Several 

 small parties alighted on the water whilst he was watching 

 the birds. 



There were again three Scoters on Rostherne on the 27th : 

 two were males and one a pale-cheeked bird. Mr. Boyd only 

 found one, a brovMi bird, on July 2nd, but saw four black 

 Scoters on Marbury Mere, near Northwich, on July 5th, 



