OCCASIONAL NOTES. 381 
stages of size, and nests with eggs, especially of the Terns, appearing 
naked, sat upon, and hatching—just what may be usually seen in the 
second week of June in ordinary seasons. I observe that authors do not 
refer to the rich creamy tint which is observable very often in the nestling 
and undeveloped plumage of several young Terns; and I am led to refer 
to this from having received an interesting specimen of the Sandwich Tern, 
which was captured a few days since in “ Guthers,” one of the Scilly 
Islands, with the whole of the under parts from the chin and vent having 
this beautiful tone, which may be described as cream-colour, with a dash 
of salmon-pink in it, but very different from the roseate tint observable 
in the Roseate Tern and the summer plumage of the Little Gull, and 
sometimes in the Black-headed Gull. This tint which I have described in 
the young Sandwich Tern was observed in others, but not all, at the time 
it was captured. Mr. Dorrien Smith writes me word that in this island 
there are uow “heaps of Sandwich Terns on their eggs, and nests with 
eggs.” With respect to what I have said as to this creamy tint not being 
mentioned by authors, in the figure of the Arctic Tern in Gould’s ‘ Birds 
of Great Britain’ I observe there is shown in the young bird a slight blotch 
of yellow on the breast. I find, too, from Professor Newton, that this 
cream-tint has very often been observed by him in the Young Arctic Terns 
which have come under his notice—EpwarD Hearie Ropp (Penzance). 
Hasirs or THE House Srarrow.—Dr. Hamilton, in his interesting 
remarks on “ The Birds of London” (p. 273), tells us that the House 
Sparrow is a “ very early breeder,” in confirmation of which he states that 
a pair had nearly completed their nest by February 22nd, 1877, and that 
in the following year a pair had commenced building by March 2nd; but 
neither nest contained eggs, and none may have been laid for days, it being 
a hard matter to determine when a House Sparrow's nest is completed. 
Though upwards of sixty years ago I first saw the London House Sparrow, 
I know nothing of its town habits, but here, in the country, I have not 
found it an early breeder. This season, for instance, some of the nests 
were not finished by May 19th, and only two of those examined had eggs, 
when the Rook, Starling nnd Blackbird had young on the wing. Mr. R. 
Warren concludes his notice of the birds observed in the County Mayo 
during the late severe winter by saying, “Of our large colony of Sparrows 
only one old cock has returned, apparently the sole survivor and repre- 
sentative of his race.” Though this colony of Sparrows had disappeared 
from Mr. Warren’s farm by January 1st, it does not necessarily follow that 
they perished; it is more likely, considering what a hardy bird the House 
Sparrow is, that food was sought for elsewhere. Birds were picked up, but 
it does not appear that any dead Sparrows were found.—Hunry Haprinip 
(Ventnor, Isle of Wight). 
