274 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol xm. 



BLACKBIRD LAYING SEVEN EGGS. 



As there appear to be only two recorded instances of a Black- 

 bird {T Urdus m. merula) laying seven eggs, it seems worth 

 recording that I found a nest containing this number of 

 eggs at Ewhurst, Sussex, on May 24th, 1903. 



N. F. TiCEHURST. 



BLACK REDSTARTS IN CORNWALL AND ISLE 

 OF WIGHT. 



Mr. Boyd's notes from Cornwall (p. 217), suggest that it may 

 be worth while recording some observations made by me on 

 Black Redstarts [Phoenicurus 0. gibraltariensis) in December 

 1913, and January 1914, on the Lizard peninsula. On most 

 of the cliffs from Gunwalloe round to Ruan Minor I found 

 Black Redstarts fairly abundant, and those I had under close 

 observation seemed to keep strictly to their own patch of 

 territory, just like other Chats and Warblers in the breeding- 

 season. Some of the birds were in pairs. I wonder if it 

 would be possible for any Cornish ornithologist to ascertain 

 whether the same birds return to the same bit of cliff annually. 

 Perhaps I may also record a Black Redstart that I saw on 

 April 8th, 1912, near St. Catherine's Lighthouse in the Isle 

 of Wight. H. G. Alexander. 



LITTLE OWLS IN CARDIGANSHIRE, CORNWALL 

 AND MONTGOMERYSHIRE. 



A friend of mine who was out ferreting at Llanon, Cardigan- 

 shire, about twelve miles to the south of Aberystwyth, on 

 February 7th, 1920, was very surprised to see the ferret 

 running out of a rabbit hole in alarm, with an Owl chasing it. 

 When the Owl was flying away my friend shot it. I now 

 send the bird, which is evidently a Little Owl {Athene noctua). 



I noticed in British Birds {antea, p. 196) that a Little Owl 

 was shot at Llanllugan, Newtown, Montgomeryshire, which is 

 about forty miles to the N.E. of Llanon. 



W. MiALL Jones. 



With reference to the apparently recent extension of Athene 

 noctua to Cornwall, Mr. T. V. Hodgson writes us that during 

 December 191 9 one was sent to the Plymouth Museum from 

 St. Germans and another from Menheniot, near Liskeard, 

 while a pair was also sent from Plympton (Devon). 



Mr. W. H. F. Adams writes to the Field (January loth, 1920, 

 p. 34) from Carno that a Little Owl was shot there recently. 

 Although the bird now breeds in the adjacent counties of 



