OTES 



THE LAND-EAIL INQUIRY. 



Mr. H. G. Alexa^tdee, who has very kindly undertaken to 

 work out the results of this inquiry, asks us to state that 

 he A\ill be glad of any information regarding the jDast and 

 present status of the Land-Rail, from anyone who has not 

 already sent in a schedule. All readers, therefore, who have 

 not already given information, are particularly requested 

 to apply for schedules direct to Mr. Alexander at 3, Mayfield 

 Road, Timbridge Wells. — Eds. 



NOTES ON EARLY NESTING. 



I VENTURE to think that it may be of interest to record the 

 exceptionally early laying of some of the birds in south-east 

 Devon this year. Of eight nests of the Goldfinch {Carduelis 

 c. britannicus) which have come imder my notice, one held 

 a complete clutch of five eggs on April 30th : from two, the 

 young birds flew on May 29th, and the last of the five hatched 

 on May 28th. On May 22nd I found a nest of ^^'ell-feathered 

 young Swallows [Chelidon r. rustica), and the birds flew on 

 May 30th ; and a House-Martin's nest, destroyed accidentally 

 on May 28th, contained four eggs in an advanced stage of 

 incubation. A nest of the Blackcap {Sylvia a. atricapilla) 

 contained four eggs on May 3rd, and j'oung Tree-Sparrows 

 {Passer m. montanus) were ready to fly ; while House-Sparrows 

 {Passer d. domesticus), on the contrary, had only just 

 commenced to lay by May 25th. Lewis R. W. Loyd. 



[Though unusually early, the above dates for Goldfinches' 

 nests are by no means the earliest on record, for Mr. C. Borrer 

 mentions a nest in west Suffolk which contained three eggs 

 on April 13th, 1912 {Brit. Birds, VI., p. 254). The Swallows 

 Avere also imusually earty, but in the early season of 1912 

 eggs were recorded even from Cumberland as early as 

 May 7th {Bull. B.O.C., Vol. XXXII., p. 117). For notes 

 on Blackcap, see antea, p. 16. Under natural conditions the 

 House-Sparrow is generally rather a late breeder. — ^F. C. R. 



JOTJRDAIN.] 



I FOUND the nest of a Chiff chaff {Phylloscopus c. coUyhita) 

 apparent!}' completed at Basildon, Berkshire, on April 19th, 

 1914, and a nest with one egg at Cromhall, Gloucestershire, 



