OCCASIONAL NOTES. 305 
were seen here till the third week in April, they were observed at Sea View 
by the 3rd of the month. Swallows were seen in the Undercliff on the 
5th of April, but no Martins till the 29th, though one was observed at Sea 
View on the 9th; and the Wryneck and Whitethroat on the 12th. The 
Nightingale was heard on the 14th of April, though there was a slight fall 
of snow on that day; but they were not in full song till towards the end of 
the month—if then! The Cuckoo was first heard on the 14th of April. 
The Wheatear was not observed till the 17th, though, doubtless, it must 
have arrived earlier. The Redstart was seen on the 30th of April, and the 
Whinchat and Blackcap on May-day. <A small flock of Whimbrels was 
observed on the 9th of May: a Sandpiper on the 12th; Swifts were also 
seen on the 12th. On the 7th of May a Wagtail—Ray’s—settled on the 
rigging of a pilot-boat when some ten miles off the coast. On the 2nd of 
May, young Rooks were observed in some lofty elms at Bonchurch; one 
was seen to leave the nest when about to be fed; it was well-feathered, and 
well-nigh full-grown. The Starling, which is also an early-breeder, has 
young some weeks old; they are most voracious, and are fed every few 
minutes, but the old birds will not enter the nest-holes if closely watched, 
and resent the intrusion by a hissing, angry note. Though the above and 
other species have well-fledged young, some of the House Sparrow’s nests 
are still unfinished, and only two of those examined on the 19th of May had 
eggs. In one there were four eggs, which were being incubated ; the other 
had but three. No bird’s eggs that I know of vary more in size, colour, 
and diversity of marking. Though not over-nice in the choice of building 
materials—as I have had occasion to point out—I never (that I remember) 
saw them before using freshly-mown grass to form their nests. Both the 
Blackbird and Thrush were late in building: no nests heard of till the 3rd 
of April. Martins are also backward, so there is little chance of two broods 
being reared this year— Henry Haprrevp (Ventnor, Isle of Wight). 
AN ERRONEOUS BREEDING- HAUNT ASSIGNED TO THE BEARDED TITMOUSE. 
—Permit me to point out an error in Montagu’s ‘ Ornithological Dictionary,’ 
edited by Newman (1866). On p. 354, in the article on the Bearded 
Titmouse is written: “It is found . . . . amongst the great reedy 
tracks near Cowbit in Lancashire.” The last word should be ‘‘ Lincolnshire,” 
Cowbit being near Spalding. It appears desirable that this imaccuracy 
should be noted, for I have seen it copied at least twice, viz., in Mr. A. G. 
More’s paper in the ‘Ibis’ for 1865, on “The Distribution of Birds in 
Great Britain during the Nesting Season,” and thence into Mr. Dresser’s 
‘Birds of Europe,’ part 38. Newman evidently overlooked it in his 
revision of the Dictionary—F. 8. Mrrcnent (Clitheroe, Lancashire). 
[The mistake occurs in the original edition of the Dictionary, published 
in 1802; Newman no doabt relied on the general well-known accuracy of 
Montagu.—Lp. | 
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