242 BRITISH BIRDS. 



there were large flocks of other Gulls in the immediate 

 neighbourhood. Its note was singularly like that of the 

 Arctic Tern. 



During the latter part of September and the beginning of 

 October considerable numbers of Skuas, Gannets, Divers, 

 and Shearwaters passed along the Lincolnshire coast. 



G. H. Caton Haigh. 



LATE NESTS OF THE GREAT CRESTED AND 

 LITTLE GREBES. 



With reference to Mr. A. G. Leigh's note on the late nesting 

 of Grebes {antea, p. 171), on searching my note-book I find 

 the following entries : " Sept. 7th, 07, Roddlesworth Reservoir 

 (Brinscall, Lanes.), a nest of the Little Grebe {Podicipes fluvi- 

 atilis) containing four eggs ; the bird left her eggs uncovered, 

 but I was unable to ascertain how much they were incubated 

 because of several feet of deep water intervening." " Sept. 

 8th, 07, in a pond close by my house I discovered another 

 nest of the Little Grebe with two eggs ; these eggs were not 

 incubated and no more were laid ; they hatched safely." 

 Even allowing that these were second, or possibly third nests, 

 they were, I think, remarkably late for a moorland district. 



W. Mackay Wood. 



[In reference to Mr. Leigh's expression of doubt as to 

 whether the Great Crested Grebe is double-brooded, the 

 Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain writes that he has tolerably conclusive 

 evidence of one case where two broods were reared by one 

 pair of Great Crested Grebes. In 1907 a pair liad large young 

 on June ISthat Osmaston. On October 6th Mr. J. Henderson 

 reported a pair on the same pond accompanied by four young 

 in down, which looked not much larger than Dabchicks. Mr, 

 Jourdain adds that the eggs of this bird have been taken 

 from April to September, which is strong, though not con- 

 clusive, evidence — since late nests may be the result of the 

 destruction of previous eggs or broods — of their being 

 double-brooded. Mr. Jourdain gives the following references : — 

 Early dates— April 13th, 1888, 1 egg (C. R. Gawen, Zool, 1889, 

 p. 19) ; April 26th, 1881, 2 eggs (J. H. Gurney, tc, 1881). Late 

 dates — July 22nd, 1898, nests with 3, 4, and 5 eggs in North 

 Ireland, and other nests with eggs on September 1st (C. B. 

 Horsburgh, Field, October 29th, 1898). More recent records 

 of late nesting were on September 18th, 1904, when Mr C. 

 Oldham saw downy young ones {ZooL, 1905, p. 37), and this 

 year, on October 10th, when Mr. O. V. Aplin saw an old bird 

 in "practically full summer plumage," with two half-grown 



