62 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



between the latter place and Bexhill. I note that Mr. A. R. 

 Leslie Melville has recorded {Field, May 15th, 1920, p. 692) 

 one, that he saw on the Downs at Hove in the third week of 

 April. The last one that I heard of prior to the above was 

 seen at Rye Harbour by the Hon. Mrs. Parker on January 



30th, I917. N. F. TiCEHURST. 



EARLY NESTING OF GREY WAGTAIL. 



Referring to the notes on the above subject {antea, pp. 39, 

 40), I should like to state that I found a nest with five eggs 

 at Shepton Mallet, Somerset, on March 31st, 1910. Here this 

 species is common, and the latter half of April and early May 

 is the general nesting-time, although full sets can often be 

 found during the first week of April. Stanley Lewis. 



HOOPOE IN SHROPSHIRE. 



A Hoopoe {Uptipa e. epops) was seen by several people at 

 Ellesmere about the end of April 1920. Another was shot 

 there April 13th, 1912. Most of those recorded in Shropshire 

 have been in the spring or early summer, but one was obtained 

 at Claverley, Bridgnorth, in November 1895. 



H. E. Forrest. 



GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER IN ARGYLL. 



With reference to Mr. Charles Kirk's note {Scot. Nat., 1919, 

 p. 185) and your short note thereon (Vol. XIII., p. 299), I am 

 able to add the following facts through having stayed the 

 whole of June and latter half of September 1919, and the 

 whole of June 1920 in the St. Catherine's district of Loch 

 Fyne. Immediately after our arrival my wife and I had 

 our attention drawn to a curious hamrnering noise repeatedly 

 heard. By walking on the grass margin of the roads we 

 were soon able to see these very interesting birds {Dryobates 

 major subsp. ?) very frequently at close quarters. 



On a stretch of about five miles on the St. Catherine's side 

 of the Loch I formed the opinion that there were probably 

 two or three pairs, but although we looked very diligently for 

 signs of nesting we saw none. Their work on rotten branches 

 was very evident, however. 



On the Inverary side there was also evidence of their presence, 

 and in one place they seemed to have made some attempt to 

 excavate a nest hole in the trunk of a dead beech, but as it 

 was about 20 feet from the ground I was not able to examine 

 it as to depth. Although the work seemed quite recent, no 

 birds were ever observed near it. 



