142 BRITISH BIRDS. [VOL. XT. 
Surrey. Mr. J. H. Owen informs us that he has also taken 
a Cuckoo’s egg in a Song-Thrush’s nest during the present 
season. 
Cuckoo tn SHeTtaAnD.—Mr. W. H. Greenaway reports 
(Scot. Nat., 1917, p. 217) that on May 25th, 1917, he was 
told that a Cuculus canorus had been heard calling on Foula, 
and on the following day he saw two of these birds, which 
have been rarely recorded from the Shetlands except from 
Fair Isle, where they appear both in spring and autumn. 
PurPLE Heron In BerwicksHire.—Mr. T. G. Laidlaw 
records (Scot. Nat., 1917, p. 214) that on April 8th, 1917, 
he saw an example of Ardea purpurea near Duns. He 
managed to get within twenty yards of the bird and had- 
no difficulty in identifying it, having frequently seen the 
species in the Camargue. 
Lirrte BirreERN IN SwHeETLAND.— Dr. T. Edmondston 
Saxby states (Scot. Nat., 1917, p. 214) that an adult female 
example of. [zobrychus minutus was captured alive at 
Burrafirth, Unst, on May 29th, 1917. The bird had been 
mobbed and severely punished by Herring-Gulls. This 
appears to be the third occurrence of the species in Shetland. 
SANDWIcH TERN BREEDING IN co. GaLway.—Prof. C. J. 
Patten states (Irish Nat., 1917, p. 155) that Mr. J. Glanville, 
the light-keeper, informs him that small numbers of Sterna s. 
sandvicensis were breeding in 1917 on Mutton Island, Galway. 
CiutcH oF Dwarr Eacs or BLACK-HEADED GuULL.—With 
reference to the note on this subject (antea, p. 119), Mr. R. E. R. 
Sanderson (Surg. Prob. R.N.V.R.) writes us that he possesses 
a clutch of three dwarf eggs of L. ridibundus, taken at Scoulton 
Mere, Norfolk, in June, 1911, which measure 40 x 29, 
42 x 30,and 41 x 29mm. One egg differs widely in colour 
and markings from the other two, and thus furnishes strong 
evidence that the same hen does not always lay a constant 
type of egg. All three eggs were infertile, and the shells were 
thicker than is normal in this species. 
INCREASE OF QUAIL IN WEXFORD IN 1917.—Mr. C. B. Moffat 
states (Irish Nat., 1917, p. 155) that in the summer of 1917 
there was an unusually large number of Coturnix c. coturnia 
in the Ballyhyland district of co. Wexford. He considers 
they were more numerous than in any year since 1893, 
when there were a great number, though in 1899 many also 
appeared, 
