OTES 



PIED WAGTAIL REARING THREE BROODS. 



It may be of interest to record that a pair of Pied Wagtails 

 have this year reared three broods from nests built in some 

 ivy at one end of the house here (Stonewall Park, Edenbridge, 

 Kent). The first brood of four left the nest on May 2nd. 

 The second " brood " consisted of a Cuckoo, which left the 

 nest on June 28th. The third nest contained three young, 

 which fledged on August 1st. The Wagtails continued to 

 feed the young Cuckoo until just before their third brood 

 hatched. 



E. G. B. Meade- Waldo. 



ON THE BRITISH BULLFINCH. 



At the meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club, held on 

 June 17th, 1908, I exhibited a series of BuUfinches, clearly 

 showing that the British race differed from its nearest ally, 

 the Pyrrhula pyrrhula europcea, of Central Europe. The 

 differences are, that the British race is slightly smaller, and 

 that the female has the back darker brown, and the under- 

 surface conspicuously darker and browner. The male, on 

 the other hand, does not differ very appreciably in colour, 

 though, if a series is compared, it is evident that the British 

 form has the red of the underside as well as the grey of the 

 upper-surface somewhat less brilliant. 



At the meeting several members asked if I had compared 

 the British Bullfinch with the great Northern Bullfinch 

 Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula. To all who know these birds 

 it is needless to remark that a comparison with the latter 

 subspecies was unnecessary, as it is still larger and more 

 brilliant than P. pyrrhula europcea, the grey of the upperside 

 being purer, and the red of the under-surface brighter. 



The somewhat darker and duller coloration of our British 

 Bullfinch, and its shghtly smaller size, again confirms the 

 general inclination of British forms to be duller or darker, 

 and often smaller than their continental representatives. 



The name of the British Bullfinch must be — 



PYRRHULA PYRRHULA PILEATA. 



Under this name {Pyrrhula pileata) Macgilhvray described it 

 in 1837, in Vol. I., p. 407, of his " History of British Birds." 



