NOTES AND QUERIES. 845 
Capt. Lyons found it breeding near Quilliam Creek, Melville Peninsula. 
He described it as laying four eggs in a tuft of withered grass, without any 
nest. Sir John Richardson reported the Knot as breeding in Hudson's 
Bay, and down to the 55th parallel (Faun. Bor. Amer. Birds, p. 387); 
and, according to Mr. Hutchins, the egg is of a dun-colour, fully marked 
with reddish spots. It will be recollected that Major H. W. Feilden, 
naturalist on board H.M.S. ‘Alert’ in the English Arctic Expedition of 
1875-76, brought home the young in down of this bird from Knot Harbour, 
Grinnell Land, lat. 82° 33’ N- They were found on July 30th, 1876, a 
previous careful search for the eggs having proved unsucessful. — J. HK. 
Harvine. 
The Siskin in Co. Sligo in Summer.—While riding to Ballina, on 
July Ist, I observed a male Siskin at Moyfort, flitting about the tops of the 
long grass on the side of the road, and afterwards in an adjoining field, 
where it pursued the same career, evidently searching for insects of some 
kind. From the fact of its hunting for insects, I infer that it must have 
had a nest with young somewhere near, probably in the extensive larch 
plantations of Belleek Manor, just across the river. This is the first 
instance I have known of the occurrence in summer of the Siskin in the 
West of Ireland; moreover, in winter it is of very rare occurrence in this 
district. Many years ago, however,.I met with a large flock during winter 
feeding on the alders in the glen at Raffern, Co. Cork; and, shooting some 
specimens for identification, a female bird was slightly wounded in the wing. 
On bringing her home I put her into a cage, where she became so tame 
that she paired with a canary the following spring; and built a nest, but 
unfortunately died in laying her first egg. — Ropert WARREN (Moy View, 
Ballina). 
{In Ireland the Siskin occurs chiefly as a winter visitor, but we learn 
from Mr. A. G. More that the nest has been found in the counties of 
Antrim, Wicklow, and Waterford.— Eb. | 
The Note of the Great Black Woodpecker.—With reference to the 
note of a supposed Great Black Woodpecker, described by Mr. E. Cambridge 
Phillips (antea, p. 305, 806), it may perhaps be useful to remark that the 
ery of this bird is described in Meyer's ‘ British Birds’ (8vo ed. vol. iii. 
p- 227), and in Dresser’s ‘ Birds of Europe’ (vol. v. pp. 6 and 8), with 
sufficient precision to afford a basis for comparison with that heard by 
Mr. Phillips. —J. H. Gurney (Northrepps Hall, Norwich). 
White Wood Pigeons.—I have lately received a handsome variety of 
the Wood Pigeon. It has the flight-feathers and tail of the normal colour, 
except the three central feathers in the latter, which are pure white. On 
the breast are a few feathers, very faint, of the normal colour; otherwise 
the bird is quite white. It was shot in Fifeshire last December, and 
