THE ZOOLOGIST—SEPTEMBER, 1872. 3229 
to the house. On several occasions I have heard them as late as 
midnight. I believe that they emit their peculiar jarring note as 
well when flying as when perched, as I have often listened to the 
“jar,” which proceeded from somewhere close to my window, 
although there is nothing near my window on which these birds 
would be likely to settle. 
Spotted Flycatcher.—I found, on the 12th of June, a very curious 
nest of the spotted flycatcher. It was placed at the end of a hole 
in an old wall, abgut four feet from the ground, and was composed 
almost entirely of rabbit-fur. For the lower part of the nest some 
moss and a few leaves had been used; the rest consisted of the 
above-mentioned fur interwoven with a few cow- and horse-hairs. 
It contained five hard-set eggs, which the female was very un- 
willing to leave, letting herself almost be caught on the nest. The 
nest, which was of a round shape, measured seven inches and one- 
eighth in diameter, and the inside or cavity, which was remarkably 
shallow, was about three inches broad by barely half an inch in 
depth. This is by far the largest nest of this species that has come 
under my notice. 
Black Redstart.—On the 13th of June I observed a very fine 
adult male black redstart sitting on a hedge close to a road. It 
was remarkably tame, allowing me to approach within three yards 
of it before it took flight, and then only to settle again on the 
nearest bush. 
Song Thrush.—This year I have found three nests of the song 
thrush in this neighbourhood with quite spotless eggs of the usual 
light blue ground colour, and several others which contained almost 
spotless ones. These are certainly, not in all cases the second 
laying or batch of eggs, for in one of the above-mentioned instances 
I ascertained it to be the first laying, as I had seen the nest in 
which they were found being built, almost from the very beginning. 
T also received two other varieties of thrushes’ eggs, which, from 
their similarity, must have been taken from the same nest: they 
are of the usual ground colour, but instead of the usual spots they 
have at their thick ends several large irregular blotches of a dark 
brown, with overlying black spots; besides these they are marked 
with a few faint minute spots and streaks: they were found in this 
neighbourhood. 
Peewit and Common Sandpiper.—Whilst walking along the 
reservoir of Stonyhurst, some weeks ago, I was much surprised at 
SECOND SERIES—VOL, VII. 22 
