NOTES AND QUERIES. 25 
interbred, why should there not be frequent hybridism in a state of Nature 
among many birds which have never been suspected of it? Who could 
possibly distinguish a hybrid between the Pied Wagtail and the White 
Wagtail, the Chiffchaff and the Willow Wren, or the Lesser Redpoll and 
the Mealy Redpoll, when the birds themselves are almost indistinguish- 
able? Although the first cross in Mr. Monk’s hybrid Wagtails bespoke 
its origin in its plumage, the second cross showed very little signs of it— 
practically none at all. In the same way, hybrid Ducks, which not only 
did not show their origin, but which did not show hybridism at all in their 
plumage, have been bred in confinement. These have been male or 
female, neither sex preponderating, and such birds, for aught one can say, 
may often occur in a state of freedom.—J. H. Gurney, jun. (Northrepps, 
Norwich). 
Cuckoo Flying at Night.—On the morning of July 12th a Cuckoo was 
found dead in our garden; during the previous night he had flown violently 
against the stay ropes of a tent which is pitched, during the summer 
months, in front of our house. He was not damaged in any way externally, 
except that most of the feathers of the gullet were rubbed off; but, on 
dissection, the brain and all the internal organs of the body were found to 
be gorged with blood. This was the apparent cause of death, as no local 
injury could be detected. The bird was a young male of the fleeting year, 
and was probably on its annual immigration, which, from this occurrence, 
appears to take place during the night—A. Marruews (Gumley, Market 
Harborough). 
Nesting of the Dipper.— Referring to Mr. Edward’s interesting 
account of a Dipper or Water Ouzel’s nest on a boulder (Zool., 1884, 
p. 468), I may state that a few years since a pair of these birds built their 
nest in a similar situation here, on a large mossy boulder in the middle of 
a rapid stream in the River Burn. The nest was about a foot and a half 
from the surface of the water; and, to the best of my recollection, the 
young were reared in safety, though a freshet would have swamped the 
structure. In 1883 I found a nest built in the fork of a small tree which 
overhung the river, a situation I have never previously heard of. The 
nest was placed about seven feet up the trunk, which was covered with 
moss, but, owing to the angle at which the tree leant across the water, the 
nest was only about four feet from the surface. It was not in any way 
worked round the branches but simply rested in the fork, and was of 
unusually large size. Water Ouzels build, year after year, within a few 
yards of some chosen spot for which they seem to have a great liking. 
I have seen a nest built on the face of a perpendicular bare scaur, where 
the green nest was, when first erected, a very conspicuous object, owing to 
the want of surrounding vegetation; but as the materials withered and 
