Birds. 9041 
male was also procured at Birling Gap, on the 16th of December: both birds 
I examined in the flesh.— John Dutton ; Eastbourne, March 19, 1864. 
Wheatears in March.—It would appear that some wheatears do remain with us 
here in North Wales through the winter months, for I noticed a pair of them in the 
neighbourhood of Bala about the middle of this present March.— William Pamplin. 
Wheatear near Eastbourne in March.—A fine specimen of the wheatear was shot 
by a friend of mine, while we were out rabbit-shooting, on Weduesday last, the 16th of 
March. Is not this unusually early ?—Juhn Dutton; Eastbourne, March 19, 1864. 
The Query respecting the Robin.—Probably a few birds of most of the native 
species may migrate, but the habits of the robin are very easily discovered. 
Mr. Blake-Knox (Zool. 8947) is of my opinion entirely as to the libel on the robins 
killing their parent birds. In England the main body of these birds forsake 
their winter haunts, and go further into the secluded parts of the country, and 
probably the males may keep closer together in winter than the females, although they 
never appear in flocks, like the chaffinches. But there is one great difference between 
the English and the Irish robin, as Mr. Blake-Knox avers, “ Neither does the robin, 
from choice, seek man’s habitation, either in winter or summer.” This is quite con- 
trary to the habits of our English bird, as I have often, in severe weather, admitted 
robins into my house, from their apparent voluntary wish to enter. Robins will also 
enter churches in England in winter, and stay a month or six weeks quite contented, 
provided they have water given them. It must be remembered that the winters in 
Ireland are much milder than in England. The robin is greatly venerated, even by 
boys, in England. Mr. Reeks’s observation of the scarcity of the robin does not hold 
good here: the separation of the sexes I have not noticed at all—H. W. Newman; 
Hillside, Cheltenham. 
Notes on the Robin.—Touching the habits of the robin, I quite agree with 
Mr. Ranson (Zvol. 8843) that it is a mistake, notwithstanding the great weight of 
Macgillivray, to imagine that it retires from the vicinity of man for the purpose of 
nidification. Last year I found five or six nests, none of which was above one 
hundred and fifty yards from dwelling-houses: three of these were on the open 
ground among grass. In my neighbourhood the robin is abundant; I have seen five 
together this winter. I do not coincide with Capt. Hadfield (Zool. 8878) when he 
insinuates that the supposed comparative scarcity of the species might be the conse- 
quence of the want of “green lanes, mossy banks, hedge-rows and ivy-grown walls 
wherein to build their nests.” In the East Riding of Yorkshire, and in a great part of 
the West Riding, green lanes and luxuriant hedge-rows are distinctive features that 
we are proud of; and in the North-West I can testify that walls, crags and trees, 
thickly clad with ivy, are not uncommon: walls here, it is true, divide the fields instead 
of green fences, but they cannot be considered unfavourable to a bird that is partially 
a wall-builder. I suppose our county is considered ‘ the North” in the Isle of Wight. 
Again, I cannot concur with the gallant writer when he assumes that three pairs would 
rear thirty-six young ones in a season. My own opinion is that the robin, bearing in 
mind the many dangers the eggs and young, in common with those of most other 
birds, are exposed to, will not on an average rear more than four at a brood.— 
« G. Robert Lofthouse; Wakefield, February 20, 1864. 
Migration of the Goldencrested Wren.—That the goldencrested wren arrives on this 
coast about the beginning of October, in large numbers, as stated by Mr. Norman 
(Zool. 8950), I have no doubt. Living on the east coast of Lincolnshire, nearly 
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