VOL. XIV.] NOTES. 211 



BLACK TERN IN LANCASHIRE. 



In addition to my record {antea, p. 141) of the occurrence 

 of the Black Tern {Hydrochelidon n. nigra) in west Lancashire 

 in May and June 1920, I observed a pair of these birds on 

 Marton I\Iere (near Blackpool) on the evening of September 



28th, 1920. R. A. H. COOMBES. 



SABINE'S GULL IN DEVON. 



On October 4th, 1920, an immature male Sabine's Gull 

 {Xenia sabini) was shot on the Exe estuary, and presented 

 to the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. It is of occa 

 sional occurrence on the south coast of Devon, in autumn, 

 and always in immature plumage. There have been less 

 than a dozen actual records, and no previous ones from the 

 Exe. It seems, however, to have occurred considerably 

 more often than this would imply, especially as regards the 

 Exe estuary. T. P. Backhouse. 



FOOD OF THE WATER-RAIL. 



A Water-Rail (^ [Rallits aquaticus) killed November 23rd, 

 1920, on the Gowan River, Westmorland, had in its crop 

 remains of the freshwater crayfish, including two claws and 

 some legs. As far as I am aware this crustacean has not 

 been previously recorded as forming part of the food of the 

 Water-Rail. Crayfish are plentiful in the river. The bird 

 was dissected by Miss Marjory Garnett, of Windermere. 



J. F. Peters, 



Breeding of the Brambling in Scotland. — In 

 the Scottish Naturalist (1920, pp. 181-182) there is an 

 interesting note on the breeding of the Brambling {Fringilla 

 montifringilla) in Sutherland by Catharine Hodgkin and T. E 

 Hodgkin. On May i8th, 1920, the cock and hen bird were 

 observed, and the nest was begun on the following day. 

 Progress was watched daily, and on May 22 nd the hen was 

 seen in the almost completed nest. By May 31st seven eggs 

 had been laid, which were taken on June 3rd, when incubation 

 had begun. The nest was placed in the fork of a Scotch pine 

 at 25 ft. from the ground, in a wood of pine and a few larches. 

 The margin of the nest was much wider than that of the 

 Chaffinch, measuring outside 5 ins., inside 2h ins. No other 

 Bramblings were seen in the neighbourhood. The parent 

 birds were not shot as they were sufficiently identified by the 

 recorders, but we think it was a pity to take the whole clutch 

 of eggs. It was not necessary for the sake of identification, 



