ORNITHOLOGY OF RIDING MILL ON TYNE. 97 



others had formerlj' supported a conical roof covering a threshing- 

 machine crank, worked b}' horse-power. The roof was gone, and 

 the pillars stood, each capped by a flagstone, under which the 

 nest was jjlaced. I find by my notes that the bird nested there 

 in 1866, 1867, and 1868, and always in the same pillar. I have 

 eggs from there. 



Swallow, Hirundo rustica, L. ; Martin, Chelidon urhica, L. ; 

 Sand Martin, Cotile rijmria, L. — Common summer visitors, the 

 first and last the commonest. 



Goldfinch, Carduelis elegans, L. — I have not met with this 

 bird in Northumberland nor in Durham, but in 1866 I took a nest 

 with four eggs near Cronkley Scar, in Upper Teesdale : this was 

 within a quarter of a mile of the county of Durham. 



Siskin, Chrysomitris sjmius, L. — A rare occasional winter 

 visitor, never seen in large numbers, but usually in twos and 

 threes. Very irregular in its appearance. 



Greenfinch, Ligurinus chloris, L. — A common resident. 



Hawfinch, Coccothraustus vulgaris, Pall. — One day, late in the 

 summer of 1871, as I was sitting by a hedgeside whilst out 

 shooting rabbits, a female Hawfinch flew on to the hedge 

 close to where I was, and remained there for some little time 

 without seeing me. This is the only instance I know of its 

 appearance here. 



Sparrow, Passer domesticus, L. — A common resident. 



Tree Sparrow, P. montanus, L. — A rare occasional visitor. 

 One specimen in my possession was shot during the autumn of 

 1877 at Riding Mill. I took the nest some years ago at Durham ; 

 it was in a hole in a tree not far from the Prebend's Bridge. 



Chaffinch, Fringilla ccelebs, L. — A common resident. 



Brambling, F. montifr lug ilia, L. — A rare and irregular winter 

 visitor. 



Linnet, Linota cannabina, L. — A common resident. 



Mealy Redpoll, L. Unaria, L. — A rare and irregular winter 

 visitor, usually in small numbers, consorting usually with the 

 following. One shot by me at Healey in November, 1878. 



Lesser Redpoll, L. rufescens, Vieill. — A resident, pretty com- 

 mon. Large flocks occasionally seen during the winter (when 

 this bird is much more plentiful, owing to immigration from the 

 more northerly parts of the kingdom); these flocks number 

 several hundreds. 



ZOOLOGIST. — MARCH, 1884. I 



