116 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv 



CUCKOO LAYING IN BLACKBIRD'S NEST. 

 I AM informed by a friend, Mr. Wall, whose evidence can 

 be trusted, that in June this year (192 1) in the parish of 

 Allesley, Warwickshire, a Cuckoo {Cuculus c. canorus) 

 deposited her egg in the nest of a Blackbird (Turdus m. 

 nierula), which was built on the " wall plate " — i.e., a fiat 

 beam — in the roof of an open shed. This nest was not 

 discovered till my friend noticed the young Blackbirds 

 lying dead upon the ground. These had apparently been 

 ejected at different times, the last of the four young being 

 in a more advanced state than the others as the rectrices 

 and remiges were showing. Mr Wall subsequently saw 

 the young Cuckoo in the nest when it was feathered and 

 big enough to fill the cup of the nest. Later he noticed 

 the cock Blackbird feeding the young Cuckoo at no great 

 distance from the nest. The evidence in this case seems to 

 show that, in spite of the depth of the nest, the young Cuckoo 

 managed to eject its rightful occupants. The site of this 

 nest was inaccessible except by steps or a ladder, and it is 

 practically certain that the Cuckoo's egg was not placed in 

 it by human agency. H. W. Mapleton-Bree. 



SHORT-EARED OWL BREEDING IN SUSSEX. 

 It may perhaps be worth recording that several pairs of 

 Short-eared Owls {Asio f. flammeus) nested in the neighbour- 

 hood of Pevensey, Sussex, in 1921. Nine eggs were taken 

 from one nest, as late as June 30th, but several pairs success- 

 fully reared their young, and it was no uncommon thing 

 to see during the summer eight or ten of the birds, old and 

 young, on the wing at once. 



The short-tailed vole was unusually plentiful there this 

 year, which probably accounts for the birds remaining to 

 breed. R. Ware. 



PEREGRINE FALCON BREEDING INLAND IN 

 SOMERSET. 

 I have pleasure in recording that through careful protection 

 a pair of Peregrines {Falco p. percgrimis) nested and hatched 

 out their young in the Cheddar cliffs in the spring of 192 1. 

 This is the first recorded instance for fifty years, and consti- 

 tutes, I believe, the only known inland station in southern 

 England. One of the birds escaped all danger from its first 

 appearance in 1920, and on February 25th, 1921, I sawforthe 

 first time a second bird ; after this date many observations 

 were taken of them. Stanley Lewis. 



