262 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
seemed to take their newly-found liberty happily and reasonably, I took no 
trouble to catch them again, but allowed them to fly from bush to bush in 
the shrubbery close by the house, which they seemed to take to, and where 
the loud musical notes of the male bird could be heard all day long. Some- 
times a glimpse of him as he flitted across the pathway could be caught, 
looking most brilliant with his beautiful scarlet coat, or when perched on 
the top of some hawthorn or syringa shrub, evidently in high delight at the 
elysium in which he suddenly found himself. The day after they escaped I 
saw a rough nest of dead grass and leaves, or rather the beginning of one, 
in a decidedly bare yew tree of small dimensions,—in fact only about six 
feet high. 1 thought the construction and materials of the nest were of an 
uncommon kind, but never imagined that the red birds could have got so 
soon to work. The next day the gardener told me that he had seen the 
hen on this nest, whilst the cock was perched on the top of the tree it was 
in. So this was proof positive ; and in two days more an egg about the size 
of a Lark’s, dull white spotted with reddish brown, was laid. By the end 
of five days there was a corresponding number of eggs. For a fortnight 
the hen sat closely, when four young birds hatched and: prospered for a 
week. At the end of that time I went, meaning to take the brood to rear 
up by hand and make them tame, so that the old birds might lose no time 
in nesting once more. To my great disappointment two of the young ones 
had disappeared, whilst the other two did not look flourishing, and the 
nest was pulled to one side. A Jackdaw, or some other vermin, had 
evidently been at work, for there were signs of a peck on the stomach of 
one nestling. The parent birds were flying round in an excited state. 
Whatever had stolen the others I felt sure would return, consequently I 
took the remaining two; but they died before the day was over. This was 
on the 15th of June. On the 17th I discovered that the Virginians were 
not to be beaten, and had begun another nest close by the former spot, but 
this time in a holly bush, unfortunately equally bare of foliage and no 
larger than the yew tree. To add to these disadvantages, the nest is within 
a yard of the ground. It is curious that such spots should be chosen 
when there is such an abundance of thickly growing box-bushes and various 
other kinds of shrubs all round, places one would imagine any bird would 
infinitely prefer. However, I must hope for better luck this time. At any 
rate, this is a proof of what foreign birds will do, and how easily they might 
be naturalised in England, if people would but venture on such experiments, 
provided others could be persuaded not to shoot every uncommon bird that 
crosses their path.—H. D. Astiry (Chequers Court, Tring). 
Little Gull in Guernsey.—On a recent visit to Guernsey I was shown 
a Little Gull, which had been picked up dead in a field in St. Martin’s 
parish on the 17th of January last; it was a fully adult bird in winter 
plumage. The Little Gull does not occur very frequently; 1 could 
ie 
