OCCASIONAL NOTES. 351 
Wittow WREN NESTING AT A HEIGHT FROM THE GROUND.—I heard 
the other day that a nest had been found in a clump of whins, and from 
the description given of the bird and nest I surmised it was a Willow 
Wren. Wishing to ascertain whether this was the case I went, July 9th, 
to the place, which is about a mile distant, and found my surmise correct. 
It was built about two feet from the ground, and contained four eggs. 
This is the second instance in which I have found the nest of this species 
at some height from the ground. I found one in July, 1876, built between 
two rocks at a distance of three feet from the ground; and what was a re- 
markable coincidence both were built near the Goit-stock Waterfall. Whilst 
rambling in Upper Wharfedale, last Whitsuntide, I met with the nest of 
a Cole Tit in an abnormal situation. It was built in a hole ina steep 
bank, a few yards from an old moss-covered wall, in a fir plantation, and 
contained young ones nearly ‘fledged. What inducement had operated to 
determine the bird to select such an unusual site I am at a loss to imagine. 
The immediate neighbourhood offered far more apparently suitable breeding 
places.— E. P. P.. Burrerris ip (Wilsden). 
SworprisH 1N Movunt’s Bay.—Mr. A. O. Michell, of Chymowak, on 
Thursday last, August 15th, captured a swordfish, Xiphias gladius, in 
Mount’s Bay. It was seen, and deliberately fished for, and taken ona 
hook and line. Mr. Michell very kindly sent the specimen to me, and I am 
therefore able to give you its measurements :—Length, including sword, 
8 feet 7 inches; without sword, 6 feet 4 inches; from nostril to tip of 
sword, 2 feet 3 inches; greatest girth, 3 feet; from tip to tip of caudal fin, 
2 feet. Weight, 138 tbs.—TuHomas Cornisu (Penzance). 
SWORDFISH AND SUNFISH ON THE Coast oF Drevon.—On the 9th July 
a fine female swordfish, Xiphias gladius, nine feet six inches long, including 
the sword or snout, and weighing three and a half hundredweight, was 
captured near the Eddystone in the drift-net of the fishing lugger ‘ Dewdrop,’ 
and brought into Plymouth for exhibition. Upon examination I found 
several remarkable parasites, about ten inches long, adhering to the body 
just under the pectoral and other fins, which had pierced through the skin 
so deep that it required a very strong pull to get them out. Mr. Couch, in 
his account of the swordfish says :—* This fish shows itself as one of the 
most active of our visitors, occasionally springing above the surface, an 
action supposed to be caused by the irritation it suffers from the torment 
inflicted by a parasitic animal that sometimes pierces through the skin 
beneath the pectoral fins.” Adding, ‘It is probable, however, that this leaping 
above the surface which has been witnessed by our fishermen is frequently 
to be attributed to a wanton exuberance of spirits, and although many 
instances are recorded of the capture of this fish in Britain we are not 
acquainted with one in which the attention of observers has been drawn to 
