VOL. XIII.] notp:s. 57 



Tit {Parus m. newtoni). On going to the place again the next 

 day he found a Great Tit on the nest. Two days after, I went 

 to see the nest myself. Unfortunately, the eggs had been 

 taken. It was apparently an old Blackbird's nest with a 

 few feathers added by way of lining. F. W. Headley. 



[An open nest of this kind is well figured in Nelson's Bird& 

 of Yorkshire, L, pi. to face p. no. — F.C.R.J.] 



HOOPOE IN SHROPSHIRE. 

 On April 26th, 1919, a male Hoopoe {Upupa epops) was picked 

 up at Burlton, near Wem. It was in perfect plumage. This 

 bird has been recorded over a dozen times in Shropshire, 

 usually in spring, but in 1895 one was shot at Claverley, near 

 Bridgnorth, in November. H. E. Forrest. 



ADULT CUCKOO KILLING NESTLING BIRDS. 

 On May 25th, 1919, a Cuckoo {Cuculiis c. canorus) paid two 

 visits to the ivy that covers the dormitory wall on the east 

 side of the school quadrangle at Haileybury. After the 

 second visit a boy got a ladder and inspected the place. He 

 found there the nest of a Pied Wagtail {Motacilla a. luguhris), 

 containing three young Wagtails just hatched, and what he 

 took for a fresh Cuckoo's egg, just deposited on the top of the 

 young nestlings. When he tried to blow the egg it turned 

 out to be just on the point of hatching. On May 26th the 

 Wagtail's nest received no visit, as far as is known, from the 

 Cuckoo, but on May 27th she came twice, and on the second 

 occasion, clinging to the ivy just below the nest and seizing 

 the three young Wagtails, she flung them back over her head 

 on to the asphalt below. Mr. C. A. Ronald can vouch for 

 all the facts. I saw the young birds on the asphalt shortly 

 after they were ejected. In British Birds, September, 1915 

 (Vol. IX., p. 95), an instance of an adult Cuckoo killing young 

 nestlings is recorded. F. W. Headley. 



[The following case, though not absolutely conclusive, throws 

 strong suspicion on the Cuckoo. The eggs in a Hedge- 

 Sparrow's nest in a bush against the wall of my house hatched 

 out on May 26th, 1918. At midday I heard a Cuckoo close to 

 the place, and on reaching the spot was surprised to find the 

 nest empty. One of the young Hedge-Sparrows, still breath- 

 ing, was caught among the creepers a few inches below the 

 nest, but I could see nothing of the others. I replaced the 

 young bird in the nest, but it was soon cold and dead. The 

 nest could not have been reached by a cat, and there are no- 

 Crows, Magpies or Jays close at hand. — F. C. R. Jourdain.] 



