104 NATURE NOTES. 
NEST-BUILDING ECCENTRICITIES OF Birbs. 
A REMARKABLE case of eccentricity in the nidification of a 
pair of Spotted Flycatchers (Muscicapa grisola, Linn.) came 
under the notice of Mr Ferguson, head gardener to Mr 
Murray Stewart of Cally, Kirkcudbrightshire, who is a keen 
ornithologist. The birds began to build in the garden 
vinery. Before they had finished they had no fewer than 
seven nests, all more or less rudimentary, placed in a line 
pointing obliquely downwards on a suitable projection from 
the structure. The normal number of eggs was laid, and 
for their reception only the four nests nearest completion 
were used, two containing two eggs each and two one each 
only. 
I have myself seen some cases of exceptional interest. 
Chief of these was that of a double nest of ring-dove and 
blackbird. When I saw it, the strange combination con- 
tained two eggs of the ring-dove and one of the black- 
bird. 
A pair of Tree Creepers (Certhia familiaris, Linn.) had 
taken possession of the decaying stump of an uprooted tree, 
aud built their nest deep down in a dark corner, which 
was just too dark for comfort. To remedy matters the 
birds pecked a hole through the decaying wood and 
bark, just over the nest. That the hole was the work of 
the birds was evident from the wood fibre scattered around 
the nest, and its apparent freshness. 
I have known cases where the Willow Warbler (Phyllos- 
copus trochilus, Linn.), in order, doubtless, to avoid the 
undesirable attention of weasels, has built its nest high in 
a hawthorn-hedge, and in two instances well up in the ivy 
covering an old wall. JI am aware that the latter case is 
not altogether exceptional; but this special instance is 
somewhat extraordinary, as the nests were exactly on the 
same spot, the second being built and used at an interval 
of nine years after the first, whether by the same pair of 
birds or not, I am unable to say. J. W. PAYNE, 
