134 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Kelso Bridge. He had an excellent view of it before it took flight into 
Springwood Park, and, after seeing the remains of the Hardacres specimen, 
he is convinced that it belonged to the same species. Both birds were 
solitary.—J. E. Harrine. 
Rooks EATING Smart Brrps.—An intelligent and trustworthy farm- 
servant of my uncle’s tells me that he has several times lately seen Rooks 
(Crows he calls them) both feeding on and chasing small birds in this 
neighbourhood. One "day he saw a Rook chasing a Blackbird, which 
succeeded in escaping, and he showed me the remains of a Robin which he 
saw a Rook devouring. I have also heard from others of Rooks having 
been seen eating small birds during the hard weather, but have not had any 
opportunity of ascertaining the truth or particulars of any of these reports. 
I think it is only during severe weather, when Rooks cannot get their usual 
kinds of food, that they have recourse to this carnivorous propensity, which 
I do not find alluded to in any of the standard works on British Birds. 
—J. E. Patmmr (Lucan, Co. Dublin). 
[Several communications on the omnivorous habits and carnivorous 
propensities of Rooks appeared in ‘ The Zoologist’ for 1863 and 1864; see 
pages 8762, 8816, 8884, 8951, 9043, and 9110.—Ep.] 
Core Tir nestiInc iN THE Grounp.—Mr. Young’s experience (p. 32) 
as to the frequency of the Cole Tit choosing a hole in the ground as its 
nesting place is precisely in accordance with my own. In June, 1871, my 
dog found a nest containing young birds in the rotten stump of a Scotch 
fir, which had been broken off level with the ground: I found him 
scratching away at the hole, which I at first supposed to be that of a 
mouse. On the 9th June, 1873, I found another nest in exactly a similar 
‘situation near the same spot, and by the same means, viz., by seeing a dog 
scratching at it; this nest contained eight young birds, all of which had 
been drowned by a heavy rain. A third nest was placed in a fig-box nailed 
to the wall of the house, with a hole cut in it, and intended for the benefit 
of a pair of Tom-tits—G. T. Rope (Blaxhall, Suffolk). 
Great Sxua near SurewsBury.— A few months ago a tenant came to 
me, bringing alive in a sack a strange bird he had picked up, apparently 
quite exhausted, but not hurt, in one of his turnip-fields. It turned out to 
be the Great Brown Skua, which Mr. Henry Shaw tells me he has never 
seen alive in Shropshire in his time, and is very rare in any part of Great 
Britain. It is now quite well in my aviary, and apparently does not in the 
least object to company or confinement.—R. CHoLMonDELEY (Shrewsbury). 
Reeve ww Dorsrrsutre in Decemper.—A Reeve was caught in a 
snipe-trap in December last, in a water-meadow at Meltown St. Andrew’s. 
I have another in my possession, which was shot within a mile of this spot, 
about ten years ago.—J. C. ManseL-PLeypeLt (Whatcombe, Dorsetshire). 
