Birds. 9709 



I have since noticed this habit several times, but do not recollect 

 having remarked it before in any species of wagtail. 



Sky Lark. — Several instances are on record of larks reraovin"- their 

 eggs or young when the nest has been disturbed. On the 9th of July 

 four young larks were found in a rudely scraped hollow in the ground 

 near a bunch of rushes in which the original nest was placed. It had 

 been flooded by the recent heavy rains, and the young birds must have 

 been removed by the parents, for they were not able to move of 

 themselves. 



Cuckoo. — On the 9th of July we also found a meadow pipit's nest 

 close to the young larks just mentioned. It contained three pipit's 

 eggs and one cuckoo's ; the latter differs from Yarrell's description of 

 "pale reddish gray," being of a light greenish colour, spotted with 

 dusky brown, the size ]0| lines in length by 8 lines in breadth. 

 Although the embryo was quite formed it would not have been hatched 

 for about another week, and according to Dr. Jenner's dates (as given 

 by \arrell) the young bird would not have been able to support itself 

 until about the middle of September. The latest cuckoo's egg men- 

 tioned by Mr. Morris is one which was found by Colonel Montagu on 

 the 26th of June. Last year I recorded finding a large mass of vege- 

 table fibres in the stomach of a young cuckoo (Zool. 9-282 and 9329); 

 yesterday (July 31sl) I examined another young specimen, whose 

 gizzard contained the eggs and remains of insects, and affain a small 

 quantity of fibres similar to those found last year. I enclose examples 

 of the various forms for you to examine. 



Wood and Willow Wrens.— On the 10th of July I picked up a young 

 male specimen of the wood wren, which had killed itself by flying 

 against one of the windows; I find also that a young bird in my col- 

 lection (killed last summer) belongs to the same species. It would 

 therefore appear that it breeds regularly with us, although its nest has 

 not yet been found here, and I am informed on excellent authority 

 that it has been found sparingly in various parts of Lanarkshire, 

 although nowhere plentiful. The willow wren is much more numerous ; 

 it bears the local names of " wheetie" and " wheybird," the latter of 

 which Jamieson wrongly assigns (in his 'Scottish Dictionary') to the 

 wood lark, a very rare bird in Scotland; he also suggests that "whey" 

 is allied to the Islandic "heide," a wood, which appears rather a far- 

 fetched idea; more probably the name is a corruption of "haybird," 

 from its building amongst grass. 



Peewit. — These birds commenced to flock together about the 1 7th 

 of July, but are not yet assembled in large flocks. 



