100 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xtv 



broiiglit to me the same day for identification. It had no 

 doubt been driven inland by the severe gale of a few days 

 previously. A. Astley. 



BROODING PRIOR TO LAYING. 



In May 1871 I put a Green Woodpecker {Piciis viridis) from 

 a new hole in a crab-tree in Epping Forest. There were no 

 eggs, and I do not think that the bird was either roosting 

 (it was a sunny afternoon) or at work upon the hole. Fourteen 

 days later I again saw the bird leave the hole, which contained 

 a freshly-picked dandelion only. I do not think the hole had 

 altered during the fortnight I let it alone. 



H. M. Wallis. 

 [With Green Woodpeckers there is frequently a very 

 considerable period between the apparent completion of the 

 nest-hole and the laying of the first eg^, and during that time 

 the bird may be often foimd in the hole, but whether engaged 

 in putting finishing touches to its interior, roosting, or 

 engaged in premature brooding, it must be very difficult to 

 determine. — Eds.] 



Status of Ctrl Bunting in Warwickshire. — Mr. T. 

 Ground kindly communicates the following note by the late 

 A. Geoffrey Leigh : " The Cirl Bunting {Emheriza cirlus) 

 is strictly confined to a part of the southern division of 

 Warwickshire. Mr. R. F. Tomes {Vict. Hist, of Wanvick., I., 

 p. 196) states that it is most frequent in the Avon valley, 

 and instances the neighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon, 

 adding that it has occurred rarely at Leamington. This 

 marks the eastern and northern limit of its distribution, 

 with the exception of one breeding record from Great Alne 

 about 1882 (Zool., 1892, p. 122). Farther south it appears 

 to breed irregularly over the lower slopes of the Edgehills. 

 Mr. Aplin records {loc. cit.) its occurrence at Idlicote in 1882 

 or 1883 and a male at Brailes on June 13th, 1884. 



" On May 14th, 1914, I saw two males and two females 

 between Combrook and Butler's Marston, the only occasion 

 on which I have met with the species in the county. One 

 of the males was carrying food." 



Swallows in December.- — Captain C. R. S Pitman, 

 D.S.O., informs us that at midday on December loth, 1920, a 

 Swallow {Hirundo r. rustica) was hawking for insects up and 

 down the road from Paignton to Torquay, after a bitter 

 night and white frost in early morning. In the Field 



