174 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



which was composed of old heather-stems, with little or no lining, 

 and appeared to he a somewhat ancient structure. In it were 

 four eggs, which we obtained by means of a net attached to a 

 long rod, brought with us for the purpose, the rocky nature of 

 the place and the stiff slope to the brink rendering the use of a 

 rope quite impossible. Angling for the eggs was not at all a 

 pleasant task ; the ground above sloped not only smartly to the 

 cliff, but as smartly to the left, from which point alone it was 

 possible to work, making it necessary to be held by ropes from 

 behind and from the right. The dizzy depth beneath, and the 

 distance it was necessary to place one's chest over the edge to 

 use the net, must also be taken into consideration in appreciating 

 the position. The eggs were extremely handsome, two of them 

 being especially so, having a ground colour of a beautiful pale 

 flesh tint (almost pure pink), richly marked with red-brown. To 

 give some idea of the persecution to which the Peregrine is 

 subject, I may mention that this was the sixteenth bird shot by 

 this keeper from nests on this fell. 



Leaving the Peregrine's desolated home, we paid a visit to 

 the Eaven's nest on the other side of the fell, and inspected the 

 raw-looking little creatures, now three days old, which were 

 gaping vigorously beneath. The female Raven left the nest in a 

 very different fashion to that adopted on the 29th ult., when she 

 slunk away in the quietest manner possible ; now she was very 

 noisy, and flew around croaking during the whole of the intrusion. 

 The male bird did not put in an appearance on either occasion. 

 The Raven has bred on this fell for a great number of years, 

 confining its choice to the sites on the eastern or western slopes. 

 The Peregrine varies its choice between this fell and two other 

 sites a few miles off, in all of which it fares very badly. 



I saw an extremely fine variety of the Blackbird on Strensall 

 Common on April 24th ; the head and neck were pure white, 

 and most sharply defined from the black of the body. Redshank, 

 Teal, and Snipe were nesting on the Common in some numbers ; 

 but the place is too near York, and consequently is completely 

 ransacked. 



Migratory waders, on their way north, made their first appear- 

 ance on the Humber "clays" on May 20th, when Sanderlings in 

 partial summer dress and Turnstones in full breeding plumage 

 were observed. On the 25th eight Dotterels (E. murincllus) and 



