NOTES AND QUERIES. 195 



and autumn migrant. In olden times it was frequently the quarry of 

 falconers, and it is stated that the 10th May was specially devoted to that 

 sport, and was known on the borders of Hertford and Cambridgeshire as 

 " Dotterel's day " (Hone's ' Everyday Book,' 182G, p. 645). It is interesting 

 to notice that Dotterel are still observed iu the same district in which 

 they are reported to have been abundant during the reign of James I. — 

 J. LiTTLEBOY (Hunton Bridge, Herts). 



[We have no doubt that the White Stork above referred to was one of a 

 pair which belonged to Mr. H. D. Astley, of Chequers Court', Tring, and 

 which made their escape. The owner advertised his loss in ' The Field,' and 

 through the medium of that journal ascertained that one of the pair had 

 been shot in Kent (Field, Nov. 18, 1882). He has since obtained another 

 pair, concerning which he has just published the following letter in 'The 

 Standard' of April 22ud : — "May I fill up a little of your valuable space 

 in order to make a request — namely, that should any one see a pair of 

 White Storks, Ciconia alba, either on private or public land, they will kindly 

 do their best to protect them, and keep them from being shot at or otherwise 

 molested ? My reason for writing this is because a pair of these birds owned 

 by me, which I had allowed full liberty in the hopes of their remaining to 

 rear their young, have flown beyond their boundaries, and having lost their 

 way are now wandering at large, if not already destroyed. They are quite 

 tame, and 1 cannot think that they intended migrating; for not only are 

 they in full moult, but they showed no signs of restlessness, and were seen 

 lingering all day iu a field about two miles off." In a later letter the same 

 gentleman says : — " Since writing you about a pair of White Storks, I have 

 heard that one has been shot, and the other wounded." It is quite possible, 

 therefore, that we may hear of their being reported as notable additions to 

 the avifauna of Hertfordshire. Verhim sap. — Ed.] 



Grey Wagtail nesting in East Cevon.^Iu May, 1880, we found a 

 nest of the Grey Wagtail, MotacUla melano2)e, at Honiton, Devon. The 

 nest was placed aboiit six feet from the ground, in a hole in the stone-work 

 of an old bridge which crosses the river Otter. It contained two eggs of 

 the Grey Wagtail and one of the Cuckoo. My share of the spoil included 

 the two Grey Wagtail's eggs, which I now possess, and my friend had the 

 egg of the Cuckoo, which I am afraid was shortly afterwards broken. — 

 J. R. Eaele (15, Norham Road, Oxford). 



Abnormal Eggs of Blackbird. — Last year a Blackbird here laid blue 

 eggs, without a single spot, the blue being almost exactly the depth of a 

 Hedgesparrow's egg. This year she has built within a few yards of the 

 same spot; all her eggs are again clear blue, without a spot. When she 

 had laid three eggs I took one to keep as a curiosity. I then found she 

 had the additional peculiarity that she sat ou only the remaining two, and 



