VOL. XIII.] notp:s. 87 



PHEASANT BREEDING IN SPARROW-HAWK'S NEST. 



During the present season (1919) at Lochinch in Wigtown- 

 shire, a Pheasant {Phasianns colchicus) laid an in old Sparrow- 

 Hawk's nest in a larch, twenty-?ix feet from the ground. 



When I saw it the hen was sitting hard, but about a week 

 later the keeper climbed up when the hen was off to see whether 

 the eggs were hatching. Two of the chicks dropped out 

 when he began to climb, and two more left as he reached 

 the nest. He brought down the two remaining ones with 

 him, while the seventh egg was addled. The chicks were 

 none the worse for their fall and were seen to join the hen 

 Pheasant. B. Van de Weyer. 



[Pheasants have been recorded as breeding in old nests at 

 heights varying from nine to thirty feet from the ground 

 on numerous occasions. The old nest of the Wood-Pigeon 

 appears to be most frequently used, but those of the Sparrow- 

 Hawk and Owls are also occasionally taken possession of, 

 as well as Squirrels' dreys. Photographs of a Pheasant 

 sitting in a spruce twenty-two feet from the ground will be 

 found in the Birds of Yorkshire, II., pi. to face p. 524. Cf. 

 also Field, June 23rd, 1877 ; June 15th, 1895 ; June 14th, 

 1902 ; June ist, 1907 ; June 19th, 1909, etc ; Zool, 1876, p. 

 5046 ; 1894, pp. 227 and 266, and 1911, p. 159. The Rev. 

 C. F. Tomlinson [in Hit. June 7th, 1916) informed me that he 

 had found a Pheasant sitting on twelve eggs in an old 

 Squirrel's dre}^ in a spruce near Ripon at least fifteen feet 

 from the ground. — F. C. R. Jourdain.] 



Common Scoter Breeding in Ireland. — Mr. H. B. 

 Rathborne reports that Common Scoters {Oidemia n. nigra), 

 though not nearly so numerous as in 1918, when they were 

 present in exceptionally large numbers (cf. Brit. Birds, XII., 

 p. 215), are still breeding in the district where they were 

 first discovered by the late Major Trevelyan. About seven 

 pairs were nesting in the neighbourhood and two nests con- 

 taining eight and five eggs respectively were personally 

 examined by Mr. Rathborne in 191 9. 



Little Auk in Derbyshire in May. — In Mr. N. H. 

 FitzHerbert's Ornithological Record for Derbyshire, 1918, 

 p. 177 [Joiirn. Derby. Arch. & Nat. Hist. Soc, 1919), is a note 

 on the capture of a Little Auk {Alle alle) in full summer plumage 

 in the village of Egginton near Derby, which was brought 

 alive to the Rev. F. F. Key on May 24th, 1918. All previous 

 records of this species in Derbyshire have been during the 

 winter months, from November to February. 



