( 170 ) 

 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FKOM SUFFOLK. 



BY 



J. K. STANFORD, m.c, m.a., m.b.o.u. 



The following notes were made on the Suffolk coast, chiefly 

 during the spring and autumn of 191 9. I had little chance 

 to watch migration, and on the few days when I was out 

 practically no movement was visible. 



Common Crossbill [Loxia c. curvirostra) . — The status of 

 this bird in east Suffolk has puzzled me for years. In 1910 it 

 bred in some numbers {British Birds, III., p. 371). Except 

 for a very immature bird caught in July, 1911, I had no proof 

 of its breeding since, though pairs and small parties had been 

 very frequently seen. However, on February i6th, 1919, I 

 watched a pair building and the nest contained half-fiedged 

 young on March i6th. I think at least two pairs nested and 

 small parties were seen throughout April until May 3rd, when 

 they completely disappeared. On May 30th Crossbills were 

 back in some numbers near the coast, and on that date I saw 

 a flock of six in the Woodbridge district also, where I had 

 previously spent a week without seeing one. This bird is so 

 tame and noisy and conspicuous that it is difficult to believe 

 that its presence could have been overlooked during May. I 

 have heard Crossbills singing in Suffolk in every month except 

 July and November. They seem thirsty birds, and continually 

 visit their drinking places, and I have noticed that the young 

 birds, when just out of the nest and with mandibles still 

 uncrossed, can be distinguished in the field by their pale, 

 almost whitish, rump. 



Nightingale {Luscinia m. megarhyncha) . — I watched a pair 

 of Nightingales feeding young at a range of about two feet on 

 June nth and 12th, 1919. The old bird almost invariably, 

 after feeding the young one, plunged her beak into its gape a 

 second time and removed something which she swallowed. Both 

 birds appeared to listen for the voiding of the excreta, stand- 

 ing with head on one side and not looking into the nest at all. 



Birds Flocking to Roost. — On June nth, 1919, I found 

 Starlings {Sturmis v. vulgaris) already gathering from all 

 directions to roost in the reed-beds on Thorpe Mere. On the 

 i8th I saw a great assembly, mostly of immature birds, at 

 Sudbourn. On the nth there were also a considerable number 

 of Sand-Martins {Riparia r. riparia) coming in to the reed-beds 

 at dusk, which seems curious in the height of the breeding- 

 season. In September, on the Aide, I saw thirty or ioviy Yellow 

 Wagtails [Motacilla flava rayi) gathering to roost, once on a 



