454 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



I left home on June 3rd, and did not return till August 20th, 

 and as Mr. Hunt, my neighbour and chief purvej'or of ornitholo- 

 gical news, left Wadenhoe shortly after the first-mentioned date, 

 I have very little to record during June, July, and the early part 

 of August. 



On June 10th we received information of the finding of three 

 eggs of the Hobby, Falco suhhuteo, at some twelve miles from this 

 house, in a nest in an oak tree, from which a pair of Carrion 

 Crows, Coitus corone, had been killed and their produce destroyed 

 about a month previously (letter dated June 7th). 



Mr. Hunt, on June 15th, found a nest of the Red-hacked 

 Shrike, Lanius collurio, containing three eggs, in his garden at 

 Wadenhoe. This occurrence is one of purely local interest, as 

 the Butcher-bird has only of late years bred in this neighbour- 

 hood, and the present is but the second instance of the finding of 

 its nest in this district that has come to my knowledge. 



On July 8th I heard of young Hobbies in a Carrion Crow's 

 nest, in the same tree from which I received two of tliese little 

 falcons last year (see Zool. 1883, p. 427). On July 10th three 

 young Hobbies, from the nest mentioned June 10th, were brought 

 to Lilford. The second nest (July 8th, supra), said to have been 

 destroyed by " ci'ows" — a statement about which I am, with good 

 reason, extremely sceptical. 



On August 22nd one of our gamekeepers assured us that on 

 the previous day he saw five Partridges, Perdix cinerea, sitting 

 upon the top rail and posts of a five-barred gate near this house. 

 On the 23rd we saw a large raptorial bird at no great distance 

 from us, which I believe to have been a Honey Buzzard, Pernis 

 apivoj'us. On the 25th three Whimbrels, Numenius phcBopus, 

 flew past my windows in a S.W. direction, "tittering" loudly, 

 about a.m. 



On August 27th a " white Swallow," Hirwndo rustica, var., 

 was reported by one of our gamekeepers as seen and watched for 

 some time near Aldwincle. M}- informant is quite certain as to 

 species, as distinct from Martin, Hirando urbica, and saw the 

 bird again in the same district on the 29th. My sister-in-law 

 and our coachman also reported a "white Swallow" as seen by 

 them whilst driving near Clapton on Sept. 0th ; but neither 

 informant in this latter case knows a Swallow from a House 

 Martin. 



