OTES 



TWITES IN" SHROPSHIRE IN SUMMER. 



On July 80th, 1914, I watched for several minutes a pair 

 of Twites {Carduelis f. flavirostris) at Middletown, Shropshire, 

 close to the Montgomeryshire border. My attention was 

 first attracted by the call-note of the male, many times 

 repeated, and presently his mate came flying up and the two 

 flew off together towards Wales. The place where I saw 

 them is a rough common with clumps of gorse, bracken, etc., 

 and is quite suited to the requirements of the Twite for 

 nesting. The observation is worth recording because the 

 Twite is distinctly rare here in summer, and, although Rocke 

 (writing in 1865) stated that it bred on the Longmynd, 

 neither bird nor nest has been found there since that date, 

 despite repeated searches. H. E. Forrest. 



EARLY BREEDING OF LESSER WHITETHROAT 

 AND BLACKCAP. 



On April 24th, 1914, I found a nest of the Lesser Wliite- 

 tliroat [Sylvia c. curruca) near Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It 

 was lined and ready for eggs. On May 2nd, 1914, a nest of 

 the Lesser Whitethroat was found at Bradfield, Berkshire. 

 It then contained five eggs, which were all hatched out on 

 May 17th. On May 9th I found a nest of the Blackcap 

 (Sylvia a. atricapilla) at Bradfield. It then contained 

 five eggs, tliree of which were hatched out on May 16tli, 

 the remaining two being sterile. R. Burnier. 



[The first egg in the Lesser Whitethroat's nest mentioned 

 above, at Bradfield, must have been laid by April 28th. 

 Mr. J. H. Owen found a nest at Felsted containing four 

 young at least a day old on May 14tli, 1912. In this case 

 the first egg must also have been laid in April, probably 

 about the same date. In Harting's Birds of Middlesex, 

 p. 51, it is said that an egg was found near Willesden on 

 April 28th, and Mr. P. F. Bunyard (Vol. VI., p. 87) records 

 a nest with five eggs from Kent, on May 4th, 1912. In 

 this case the first egg was probably laid on April 30th. 

 All these occurrences are from the south of England, but 

 Mr. S. G. Cummings found a nest in Cheshire with five 

 eggs on May 6th, 1902, and another with fouir eggs is 

 recorded from Salop on May 5th, 1912 {Rep. Caradoc and 

 Severn Valley F.C., 1912, p. 17).— F. C. R. Jourdain.] 



