NOTES AND QUERIES. 429 



in this neighbourhood on August 29th, and, as far as I know, our county is 

 as yet innocent of his blood. We notice a very unusual abundance this 

 summer of the Common Turtle Dove, Turtur communis, and of the Haw- 

 finch, Coccothraustes vulgaris, in this neighbourhood ; both these species 

 are comparatively recently established in this part of our county as breeders. 

 Some thirty years ago the Turtle Dove was virtually unknown hereabouts ; 

 and, till the spring of 1870, we always looked upon the Hawfinch as an 

 occasional, and by no means abundaut, winter visitor; the Red-backed 

 Shrike, Lanius collurio, also, though not very common, is now becoming 

 well known in this district, but certainly was not to be met with within 

 the radius of my boyish birds'-nesting rambles from 1840 to 1851, to 

 say nothing of those of my occasional summers at home between the last- 

 mentioned year and 1871. Whimbrel, Numerous phaopus, were heard 

 passing over high in air before daylight on August 29th. A young Cuckoo, 

 Cuculus canorus, seen September 13th. — Lilfoed (Lilford Hall, Oundle, 

 September 15th, 1883). 



Late Nesting of the Nightjar.— With reference to the note of Mr. W. 

 Hewett (p. 380), it is somewhat singular that on the same date (August 19th), 

 my friend Mr. Butterfield, of Wilsden, informed me that on August 16th 

 he had found a nest of the Nightjar with one egg in it at Blackhills, 

 Wilsden. On the same evening (August 19th) we visited the nest, and 

 found the egg had evidently been hatched during the same day, and the 

 young bird was lying about a yard away from the egg, quite cold and appa- 

 rently dead. 1 placed it in a small tin box and took it home, and about an 

 hour afterwards was surprised to find it very lively. I fed it with small 

 moths, and it thrived very well for three days, but after that time it refused 

 to take food, and died two days afterwards. — H. T. Soppitt (Saltaire, York- 

 shire). 



Late Nesting of the Nightjar. — Mr. W. Hewett, in his note on the 

 late nesting of the Nightjar (p. 380), asks if any other correspondent has 

 found young ones so late as the date he mentions (August 19th). I have 

 found eggs very nearly as late. Last year a Nightjar laid two in a wooded 

 dell behind my house ; she laid one of them on the 26th of July, and one 

 a day or two earlier. They were hatched on the 13th of August. On the 

 4th of August, 1880, Mr. F. Norgate aud I flushed a Nightjar off two eggs 

 at Cawston, only one of which was incubated, and which probably would 

 not have been hatched for some time, my experience with the other nest 

 showing that eighteen days is the period of incubation. This is longer 

 than in small birds (Passeres). A still later instance of nidification is 

 mentioned in ' The Field ' of August 2lst, 1880, by a correspondent, who 

 records the finding of two eggs in Sussex, on August 17th, in a small wood. 

 It has been doubted whether the Nightjar rears two broods in a season ; that 



