362 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
remarkable series of ninety-two eggs of the Cuckoo. Of these twelve are : 
blue, and, with the exception of four, were all taken from nests of the 
Redstart. Five of them were taken by Herr Baethe in the district Anhalt : 
in 1869, on the following dates:—two on May 22nd, one on the 28th, 
one on June 13th, and one on July 6th—strong circumstantial evidence 
that they were laid by one and the same bird, and that consequently 
the same bird lays the same coloured eggs.—Henry Serepoum (The Oaks, 
Alleyne Park, S.W.) 
GuLis EsEcTING PELLEYs.—Is it a generally known fact that the 
larger species of Gulls eject the undigested portions of their food in the 
form of pellets, after the manner of Owls and other birds of prey? I have 
two Gulls, the Herring and Lesser Black-backed, running at large in the 
garden, and have noticed that they get rid of the undigestible part of their 
food in this manner. The pellets are composed chiefly of fish-bones, loosely 
packed together, from two to four inches in length. I have not met with 
any reference to this habit of Gulls in any ornithological work which I have 
read, and my own idea is that, as the birds do not get sufficient exercise in 
captivity, they are unable to digest their food so well as when in a wild 
state, and so are compelled to return those parts which are too hard for 
digestion. I have kept Kittiwakes and Common Gulls in confinement, but 
never noticed this habit in them.—T. H. Newson (North Bondgate, Bishop 
Auckland). 
[This habit of rejecting the indigestible portions of the food in the shape 
of pellets has been observed not only in the birds of prey and Gulls, but 
also in Rooks, Shrikes, and Flycatchers.—Ep. ] 
Nesting oF Montacu’s Harrikr NEAR York.—I am glad to be able 
to record the nesting of Montagu’s Harrier near York, and as this bird is 
now rarely found breeding in any part of Britain, perhaps a few notes 
concerning it will be interesting to the readers of ‘ The Zoologist.’ In the 
spring of 1875 Mr. Widdas, a well-known naturalist both in Leeds and 
York, with two of his friends, was rambling through the woods in the 
neighbourhood of Stockton-on-Forest. They had been searching about for 
some time, when, on approaching some whin-bushes, out flew a Harrier, 
which, from its small size and general appearance, they concluded was 
Montagu’s Harrier. Luckily for the bird, Mr. Widdas’s gun was unloaded 
at the time, so they contented themselves with gazing after it until it — 
disappeared. Advancing towards the spot from whence it rose, they were 
surprised to fiud a nest, containing one egg, placed on the top of some 
whins and brambles. As it was the first Harrier’s nest they had seen in 
situ, some little time was spent in examining its structure. It was built 
about two feet above the ground, and was composed chiefly of rushes and 
other aquatic plants. It measured about one foot and a half in diameter, 
