VOL. viii.J NOTES. 23 



c. coccothraustes (a rare visitor to Ireland) Avas killed by 

 fl3dng against some canvas at Balbriggan on February 

 14th, 1914. 



House-Sparrow in Uist. — ^At the end of May, 1913, 

 Miss E. L. Turner observed some House-Sparrows in Uist 

 {Scot. Nat., 1914, p. 31)— a fact worthy of note, as Mr. N. B. 

 Kinnear stated (Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist., 1907, p. 19) that the 

 bird was at that time still confined to Castlebay (Barra), 

 Tarbert (Harris), and Stomoway (Lewis). 



Blue-headed Wagtail in Yorkshire. — Mr. W. Greaves 

 records (Nat., 1914, p. 160) that an adult male Blue-headed 

 Wagtail (presumably Motacilla flava flava) was seen amongst 

 Yellow Wagtails from April 17th-20th, 1914, at Mytholmroyd 

 in the Hebden Bridge district. He himself watched it at 

 close range on the 18th, and noted the distinguishing 

 characters. 



Black Redstarts in Northumberland. — Mr. J. M. 

 Charlton records (Zool., 1914. p. 148) examples of Phcenicurus 

 o. gibraltariensis at Cullercoats on December 26th, 1913, 

 and February 10th, 1914. 



Little Owl in Radnorshire and Yorkshire. — 

 Mr. Heatley Noble informs us that a pair of Athene n. noctua 

 were seen in Radnorshire at the begimiing of April, 1914. 

 Mr. F. Boyes writes [Field, 4.IV.14, p. 734) that one was 

 shot at the end of March at Leconfield near Beverley, and 

 that two others have been shot there. Both these notes 

 suggest that the birds are breeding in the localities mentioned. 



Little Owl breeding in Somersetshire. — Mr. S. Lewis 

 records (Zool., 1914, p. 112) the breeding of the Little Owl 

 in 1912 at Doulting near Shepton Mallet, and Mr. H. L. 

 Popham AATites (t.c, p. 150) that it has nested for the last 

 four years to his certain knowledge (and possibly longer) 

 at Pensford, near Bristol. The bird is evidently still extending 

 its range rapidly, and apparently in all directions from its 

 centres of introduction. 



Habits of the Merlin. — Mr. E. W. Taylor contributes 

 an interesting article (Nat, 1914, pp. 115-20), with some 

 nice photographic illustrations, on the nesting-habits of the 

 Merlin {Falco r. regulus). He has observed that the female 

 appears to do most of the actual feeding of the young, though 

 the cock usually does the hunting, and flying towards the 

 hen drops the prey, A\'hich she catches with a neat swoop 



