84 Proceedings. 



and partly supported by a bramble, was the nest of a Eed- 

 backed Shrike, with the hen bird on it. The nest was made 

 of stalks and moss and small roots and one or two feathers, 

 and was lined with fine roots and a little Clematis- down. It 

 contained four eggs, not of the most ordinary type, but 

 having a white ground, blotched with grey chiefly at the 

 thick end. The male Eed-backed Shrike took his stand upon 

 the top of a thorn-bush not many yards distant, where he sat 

 twitching his tail up and down and making an angry chatter. 

 A very handsome bird he looked, with his ruddy back, slaty 

 forehead, and cream-coloured breast. 



As we ascended the hillside we came across several fawn- 

 coloured shells of the large Edible Snail. Each shell 

 measured from one and a-half to two inches across. The 

 snails are reputed to be rich eating when properly cooked. 



Amongst butterflies the Common and Chalk-hill Blues and 

 the Small Coppers were enjoying the sunshine, resting on the 

 yellow flowers of the Bird's-foot Trefoil or on the tall, blue 

 spikes of the Viper's Bugloss. 



Wandering a few yards to the right, as we neared the top 

 of the slope, a bird was seen to leave a Juniper-bush, and a 

 few minutes' close search revealed an undoubted nest of the 

 Cirl Bunting. The nest was placed about 1^ ft. from the 

 ground, and was made of dry stalks of herbs and moss, and 

 lined with a good deal of hair and a little rabbit-down. It 

 measured five inches in diameter, and was rather a deep nest. 

 In it were two young birds about a week old and one addled 

 egg. The egg was a good deal like the Yellowhammer's, but 

 the streaks were coarser and the ground colour a trifle 

 greener. The cock bird came into a bush near, where he 

 made a chirp of distress. We could see his black throat and 

 the black on the side of his head, as well as the line of lemon- 

 yellow over his eye. 



Time did not allow of our loitering longer on this part of 

 the hill, so we crossed the Suspension Bridge, noting the 

 wide-extended range of view, including one or two houses 

 near Tunbridge Wells to the south-east, Crowborough, the 

 ridge of Ashdown Forest and of St. Leonard's Forest, and 



