NOTES AND QUERIES. 487 



another, also a male, from Mr. Darby, of Oxford, which was shot close to 

 the city, and stuffed by him. Mr. Darby informs me that he has a youug 

 one which was killed at Waterperry, near 0.\ford, in the middle of 

 September. On Sept. 2iid, while shooting at Bloxham Grove, near here, 

 my brother and I saw a pair of these birds ; one was flying rapidly round 

 a clump of chestnut trees, apparently hawking for insects; the flight was 

 peculiarly easy and graceful. We were able to get near enough to dis- 

 tinguish the colours, and the long pointed wings were very conspicuous. — 

 F. C. Aplin (Bodicote, Banbury). 



Breeding of the Hawfinch in North Yorkshire. — On the 22nd 

 of May last my brother found a nest of the Hawfinch here, containing five 

 beautifully marked eggs. The nest was about six feet from the ground, in 

 a hawthorn bush growing by the river-side ; it was built of twigs and lined 

 with fine roots, but so loosely that, when standing below, the contents 

 could be seen through the structure. The hen bird, which was sitting 

 on the nest when it was discovered, sat very close, and when she left her 

 eggs the male bird flew towards her, and both circled round in an 

 agitated manner. In the same bush was another nest, constructed in the 

 same way as the one described above, from which it was not a yard 

 distant, and a brood of young had evidently been reared in this last year. 

 In July, 1883, finding that much havoc was being wrought among the 

 peas in the garden by some strong-billed birds, nets were thrown over the 

 rows, and the following day a young male Hawfinch was found entangled in 

 the meshes. After this no more damage was committed in our garden, but 

 some of our neighbours complained that their green peas were being 

 plundered in a wholesale fashion. I may mention that some years since 

 an adult male Hawfinch was captured in the gardens at Swinton Park, in a 

 net thrown over some rows of peas. — T. Carter (Burton House, Masham). 



White Wood Pigeon and other Varieties.— When walking up the 

 meadows here on September 8th three Wood Pigeons flew past at about 

 eighty yards, and I was surprised to see one of them was nearly white. 

 This must have been the bird which has been about during the last three 

 years, and how it has escaped so long is a wonder. A birdstuffer in 

 Nottingham informs me that he has seen two white Sand Martins and a 

 cream Redpoll lately, and we have a white Sparrow, a white Lark, and 

 cream-coloured Wagtail about here. A cream-coloured Rook was picked up 

 dead at Popplewick Hall last spring. — J. Whitakek (Rainworth Lodge, 

 Mansfield, Notts). 



Notes on the Birds of Berkshire. — Our summer migrants were all 

 early tliis year in arriving, with the exception of the Cuckoo, which I did 

 not hear till April 29th. The Nightjar arrived either that date or the day 

 following; a keeper saw young Nightjars newly hatched about June 5th, 



