2682 The Zoologist — ^July, 1871. 



remaining branches merely supported the outside of the nest ; the second 

 entirely suspended on small twigs of a -willow and without any other support 

 to the nest. The first contained two eggs, the second one egg, stone- 

 coloured, and without doubt eggs of the sedge warbler. I observe Meyer 

 says he has invariably found the nests of this bird suspended, but this has 

 not hitherto been my experience. — John P. Thomasson ; Moorfield, Bolton- 

 le-Moors. 



Ortolan Buntings at Yarmouth. — On the 5th of May one of Mr. Davy's 

 men caught six ortolans at Yarmouth. Mr. Davy never had so many 

 before. He says they were wilder than yellowhammers. Two of them 

 were deposited by Mr. Bond in the Zoological Gardens, and two are in my 

 possession. About the same time one was got at Brighton. — J. H. 

 Gurney, jun. 



Sparrow's Nest in a Slab of Elm Timber. — Through the kindness of 

 Mr. E. Mackenzie, of Fawly Court, I have in my possession a slab of elm 

 timber, taken from a tree growing iu the town, in the centre of which, in a 

 hollow ten inches across, is the nest — or perhaps more properly, an accumu- 

 lation of nests — of the house sparrow. In it are the broken fragments of 

 several eggs, and two almost perfect, which, though somewhat stained, 

 still retain much of their natural colour. The tree was sawn up for planking : 

 originally there was six inches of solid timber round the hollow. Judging 

 from the large size of the tree it must have been some centuries old. — 

 Charles E. Stiibhs ; Ileidey-on-Thames, O.von, June 19, 1871. 



Hawfinch breeding in Herefordshire. — Early in the present month or 

 late iu May, a young hawfinch [Coccothraustes vult/aris) was picked up near 

 the gardens at Eywood, the beautiful seat of Lady Langdale, near Kington ; 

 and on the 9tli instant Mr. Miller, gardener to her ladyship, showed me, in 

 an orchard there, a curious nest placed on a horizontal branch of an apple 

 tree. On climbing to it I found it to be the nest of a hawfinch, from which 

 the brood had just flown. It was with great pleasure I added this curious 

 nest to my collection. — James W. Lloyd; June 23, 1871. 



Starling's Nest in a Fir Tree.— On the 1-lth of May I flushed a starling 

 from her nest of five eggs, built in a small fir tree, against the trunk, near 

 a little moorland inn. The nest was much more bulky than that of a 

 thrush. — John P. Thomasson. 



Nest of Redlcgged Partridges on a Pier. — I have lately been staying a 

 few days at Foxboro' Hall, near Woodbridge. I was shown the spot where 

 a redlegged partridge had a nest with twelve eggs. It is on a pier at the end 

 of the garden wall : the pier is covered with ivy, as is the part of the wall 

 immediately under the pier : the ivy grows over the top of the pier to the 

 height of one foot, and in the middle of the ivy she has her nest, which 

 seems slightly composed of dead leaves of the ivy ; the top of the pier 

 is four-sided. From the north side it is near the wall, which runs from 



