The Zoologist— July, 1868. 1285 



works on the embankment picked it up and brought it to me on the 

 23rd. These birds were all reeves, and I believe the remainder of the 

 flock were also reeves, as they appeared all of the same size : they are 

 in summer plumage, but differ more or less in their colouring: they 

 are now in the collection of Mr. J. 11. Gurney, jun. I found the 

 stomachs of two of these birds, forwarded by Mr. Gurney, contained 

 the remains of some small bronze-winged beetles, common in our 

 pastures, and earwigs, also several small sharp stones : these stones, 

 felspar and quartz, must have been taken into the gizzard at a great 

 distance from this place, and probably in a granite district. 



Black Scoter. — Flocks of this species seen in the Humber during 

 May. A flock examined by the telescope on the 4th was composed 

 of birds in pairs, the male and female swimming together. About 

 thirty of these birds Inspected by the glass on the 16th were nearly all 

 females ; I could only make out three mature males. Last seen on 

 the Humber May 18th. 



Tree Sparrow. — May 27. Found two nests of this species to-day in 

 the marshes, in a pollard hawthorn overhanging a drain : these nests 

 were dome-shaped, constructed of dead grasses, and lined with frag- 

 ments of wool : I only found a single feather. The eggs resemble 

 those of the domestic bird, but are paler. 



Cuckoo. — I never remember cuckoos so plentiful as they are this 

 season : this is a subject of general remark. A friend lately found a 

 cuckoo's egg in a hedgesparrow's nest in his garden : he never heard 

 of Dr. Baldamus's theory, and described the egg to me as partly 

 resembling that of the hedgesparrow. I got yesterday a cuckoo's egg 

 from a hedgesparrow's nest in the orchard: this egg, however, in no 

 way resembles that of the hedgesparrow. 



Blackbird. — There is a blackbird's nest in the middle of a honey- 

 suckle in the garden : this nest originally contained four birds, which, 

 alarmed by the too close inspection of my household, prematurely 

 flew from the nest, and, as 1 never saw them afterwards, probably 

 became the prey of wandering cats. A day or two after the de- 

 parture of the brood the hen bird began laying again in the old nest, 

 and we have now a second brood of lour birds in the nest nearly 

 ready to leave it. The old birds are constantly feeding them, in spite 

 of the frequent croquet playing close to the nest : they are now too 

 large for the mother to cover them with her wings. 1 see her in the 

 evening sitting on the edge of the nest, their heads resting against her 

 wing. 



