Birds. 7037 



forest. As to the song of the fieldfare, it is very poor, and can hardly 

 be distinguished among the chattering and clamour which always 



ever ^ 



prevails when a lot of these lively birds get together 



Contrary to custom, this year T did not see the blackthroated divers 

 till the ice had broken up, but I now observe that they, as well as the 

 goosanders and goldeneyes, have paired, and are taking up their breed- 

 ing quarters. 



Collected Observations on Bircls^ 2V../s;^-e.-Pe.baps the following remarks on Mr. 

 Newman's " Collected Observations on the Nests and Eggs of British Birds may not be 

 entirely out of place, as affording a little extra information to the young collector in 



certain localities : — 



Peregrine Falcon. T have known of the occurrence of three nests wiihin a range 

 of fifteen miles of Carlisle, viz., one near Gilsland Spa, a second near Talking, about 

 eight miles south of the last-named place, and a third on the banks of the River Eden 

 , opposite Nunnery. This last nest I discovered by watching the female. It was placed 

 ou a ledge of a perpendicular rock about two hundred feet high, nearly midway betweeu 

 ton and bottom, and quite inaccessible without the aid of ropes. The late Mr. J C 

 Heysham got the eggs from the first nest, and I stuffed the old female that was shot 



off the second nest. , . . 



Kestrel Breeds entirely in woods in this part of the country, there being no suit- 

 able rocks. In Cumberland they choose either woods or rocks, in the latter situations 

 frequently among jackdaws. , . r .r „ 



Tawny Owl. I knew of one nest in a hollow tree ; the nest was about a foot from 

 the ground, the entrance being about two feet higher. I found another nest ,n a 

 cavity formed by the decayed root of a tree that had grown m the cleft of a rock, about 

 tweUe feet from its base. As far as I can recollect there was liltle if any nest in 

 either of these cases. 1 knew of a third nest close to the ground, at the foot of a young 

 fir tree ; ibis was a rude nest of the bird's own making. 



Pied Flycatcher. Of this bird I have had much experience. They generally 

 select a hollow tree where the entrance is small, but when this was enlarged, to get 

 out the eccrs, I generally made up the entrance with pieces of bark, and they would 

 again buim in the same tree. Sometimes the redstart would contend for the possession 

 and in one case, where I had seen a flycatcher building, on my next visit, about a week 

 after, I found one flycatcher's egg and a dead female redstart in the nest. The fly- 

 catcher, however, did not always conquer, as I afterwards found. One day, while 

 passing along a footpath close to the side of the River Eden, in Barnwood, my atten- 

 tion was attracted by the sharp chick of a pair of redstarts and a male flycatcher; I 

 looked for a hollow tree, but nothing of the kind was near, and on getting up to the 

 stump of a felled tree about four yards up the bank I found, in a crack across the top 

 where the wood had decayed, a female flycatcher siuing on her nest ; she did not seem 

 inclined to leave it, so I poked two fingers in lelow her, took out an egg tried itin the 

 river and found it to be nearly hatching ; putting it carefully back I looked round for 

 the redstarts, and found them behind some loosened bark in front of the stump ; this 

 I removed, as it faced the footpath and might lead to the discovery of both uesls. Ou 



