74 



thoroughly rummaged to no purpose, and the only inference was that the nest 

 probably occupied a situation similar to that of the Corn Bunting (Emberiza 

 ■miliaria J in one of the neighbouring wheat fields. 



The Lesser Kedpole (FriwjiUa Unaria) is an uncommon bird in Hereford- 

 shire, remarkably so considering its pretty general distribution throughout the 

 Midland counties ; its nest, which we took this year, but not in Herefordshire, is 

 exhibited, and is one of the smallest of the nests of British birds ; unlike that of 

 the common species it is built in low trees, or in the uppermost branches of a high 

 hedge, much in the situation usually chosen by the Chaffinch. (The drawing 

 exhibited was taken from a specimen shot in the early spring of 1853, being one of 

 a small party of seven or eight seen feeding upon the youn^hoots of larch trees 

 in a plantation at Moraston, near Ross). 



The Mountain Finch (Frin<jiUa montium), of which a drawing is also 

 exhibited, was observed in a thicket called the Flann Rough, in the parish of 

 Peterstow, where a small flock of them associated with the Chaffinches and other 

 small birds for some time in the month of March, 1855. 



While the rarer species of birds are generally speaking rapidly on the 

 decrease in this country, one or two kinds appear to be becoming from some 

 unexplained cause more numerous than in former years. Among these may be 

 included the common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra). Of late years this very inte- 

 resting species has frequently visited oiii- gardens and fir plantations. Since July 

 of last year flocks of these birds have repeatedly made their appearance in the 

 neighbourhood of Ross, and last Juna was the only one out of twelve successive 

 months in which we have failed to see them in the garden at Sellack vicarage in 

 small companies of from two to seven together ; they rarely remained above a few 

 hours at a time and were usually a mysterious odd number — three, five, or seven 

 — exhibiting no sign of pairing, nor can we from personal observation throw any 

 light on their nidiflcation. Most curious birds they ai'e, and very interesting it 

 has been to watch their parrot-like motions as they clamber from bough to bough 

 of the spruce fir trees, frequently breaking off a spray with the cone attached to 

 it, which they gi-asp in their claws while they extract the se^ ds, producing a lend 

 snapping noise with their powerful bills ; among those wbich visited us last 

 summer were several young males of the year, whose brilliant rosy plumage 

 formed a striking contrast to the almost sooty hues of their compa7iions. 



The eggs of the common Green AVoodpecker (Picus viridis) we have found 

 subject to some remarkable varieties of size and form : two of these with a speci- 

 men of the common type are exhibited, with those of the GreaJer and Lesser 

 Spotted "Woodpecker and "Wryneck, to which they apiproximate in dimensions. 

 One of our most handsome species is the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Picus major) 

 which is, however, a comparatively rare bird in Herefordsliire. We have noticed 

 both this and the Lesser Spotted variety in larger nvimbers in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of Hereford than elsewhere. Our Lesser Spotted Woodpecker 

 (Picus minor J exhibits a curious trait of instinct in the selection of the spot for 

 Its excavations. In choosing a decayed branch in which to perform*" *he cavity 



