78 Lincolnshire Notes & Queries. 



Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Hooded crow, Rook, 

 Swift, Great black woodpecker, Green woodpecker, King- 

 fisher, Cuckoo, Ring-dove, Barn owl, Tawny owl, Buzzard, 

 Sparrow-hawk, Peregrine falcon, Kestrel, Mallard, Pheasant, 

 Red-legged partridge, Common partridge, Land rail, Moor hen, 

 Lapwing, Heron, Woodcock, Black-headed gull. 



In addition to these, Swan, Geese, Wild duck, Pigeon, 

 Golden plover, and common Curlew have been seen to pass over 

 flying, and there may have been other and rarer birds unnoticed. 



If the winter is severe the song thrushes depart, and are not 

 so plentiful the following spring. We had several blackbirds 

 more or less speckled with white, and one with a foot missing 

 frequented the Rectory garden for two years ; his misfortune 

 did not prevent him from rinding a mate. A few whin- 

 chats return every year; one pair can always be found 

 about the same hedge. Redstarts are rare, as there are no 

 stone buildings or walls in the parish ; a pair or two 

 frequent the woods. The nightingale from being a passer-by 

 remained to breed, though I never actually heard of the nest 

 being found ; on a still evening it can be heard a quarter of a 

 mile off. Nightingales have increased very much in Lincoln- 

 shire of late years. The white throat and willow wren are 

 very common, especially the latter ; the chifF-chaff less so. 

 The gold crest is plentiful in winter, and some remain to breed ; 

 I found a nest in April, 1882, full of eggs ; it was beautifully 

 made, of moss, almost as round as a ball, and suspended at the 

 end of a spruce fir branch. The parent birds attracted my 

 attention by their shrill noise. By May ist the young were 

 hatched. I only once saw a pair of tree-creepers. Pied wag- 

 tails migrate in winter, and return regularly in the middle of 

 March. In July, 1882, two young cuckoos were hatched by 

 wagtails, and brought to the garden to be fed. I noticed the 

 first on the i6th, and was able to observe it from the window. 

 On the ground it was very awkward ; when following the 

 wagtail for food it took two or three hops, then flew a little 

 way, and opened its orange-lined mouth very wide. At times 

 it sat on the edge of the sunk fence, and whilst the wagtail 

 was was searching for food running backwards and forwards ; 

 the cuckoo never ceased screaming. When the wagtail could 

 not conveniently reach its mouth it sat on its head and put the 

 food in from above. On the 23rd a second cuckoo appeared 

 with another wagtail in attendance, this cuckoo being rather 

 smaller and differently marked. 



