244 BRITISH BIRDS 



Rose-coloured Starling in Caithness. — A specimen of 

 Pastor roseus was shot at Dunbeath on July 11th, 1907 {Ann. 

 S.N.H., 1908, p. 195). 



Nightjars Breeding in Captivity. — An extraordinary 

 case of a pair of Nightjars breeding in captivity is recorded 

 by Mrs. Heinroth, wife of Dr. 0. Heinroth, of the Berlin 

 Zoological Gardens. In November, 1908, a male bird was 

 obtained, and was kept with great care through the winter. 

 In the following spring a mate was procured, and pairing 

 took place at the end of May. The male made a nesting 

 place by scraping in a peccary-skin rug in the dining room. 

 An egg was laid on June 2nd and another on the 4th. The 

 hen bird did most of the sitting, but the male occasionally 

 reheved her. On June 18th the first egg was chipped, and 

 hatched on the morning of the 20th, while the second egg 

 hatched on the afternoon of the same day. The young fed 

 at first by taking the parents' beaks as far as the nostrils 

 into their own. On June 24th the old birds again paired, 

 and on July 3rd and 5 th eggs were laid in the same spot 

 upon the rug. Incubation in this case lasted eighteen days 

 as against sixteen and a quarter in the first case, the longer 

 time being accounted for by the fact that the old bird 

 allowed the eggs to cool several times. The tameness of 

 these Nightjars is described as extraordinary — the six birds 

 flying about the room, taking no notice of strangers, and 

 being quite ready to settle on the shoulder or take food 

 from the hand {Die Gefiedeste Welt, xxxvii., 29-31, 33-4, and 

 Field, 17, X., 08, p. 717). 



Red-footed Falcon in Norfolk. — The Rev. Juhan G. 

 Tuck records the occurrence of a female Falco ves'pertinus , 

 which was shot near Sandringham about the middle of June 

 last {Zool, 1908, p. 394). 



Scottish Heronries.— Mr. H. Boyd Watt gives a hst of 

 230 Scottish breeding places of the Heron, but of these he 

 marks forty-five as now not occupied, while many others 

 appear to be tenanted by only a pair or two. {Ann. S.N.H., 

 1908, pp. 218-223). 



Purple Heron in Caithness.— A young male Ardea 

 'purpurea is reported on the Thrumster Estate on September 

 16th, 1907 {Ann. 8.N.H., 1908, p. 199). 



Glossy Ibises in Northumberland and Cornwall. — A 

 party of five Plegadis falcinellus arrived near Alnmouth on 

 August 30th. Four (two of which are said to be in 

 immature plumage) were secured during the following ten 



