352 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



example. All the specimens I have seen captured near here have been 

 females, but I hear that another had been seen accompanying the captured 

 specimen, and this may have been a male. — Henry Layer (Colchester). 



Common Buzzard in the Lake District. — Whilst in the Lake 

 District I was shown a very fine young Buteo vulgaris, which was taken 

 from a nest in the Wythburn district this spring. Buzzards breed annually 

 in Westmoreland or Cumberland, though they are getting much scarcer. — 

 J. Backhouse, Jun. (West Bank, York). 



Variety of the Wheatear. — A few days ago I received a young 

 Wheatear from a friend who had shot it, on August 1 2th, on a hill in Kells, 

 in this county. It is of a very pale gall-blue on the back and wings, and 

 it lias also some faint dusky vermiculations principally on the coverts. The 

 under surface was beautifully suffused with rose-colour, which has now 

 almost disappeared. The usual white markings on the tail are of perfect 

 purity. — Robert Sekvick (Maxwelltown, Kirkcudbrightshire). 



Snipe perching. — Mr. J. Whitaker reports (p. 267) having seen a 

 Snipe settle on a rail. This puts me in mind of a similar occurrence which 

 I witnessed myself last year in the county of Durham. Whilst busily 

 engaged in extracting an old Wheatear's nest from a bank near to a peat 

 hog of considerable size I was attracted by a Snipe " drumming " not far 

 off, and my surprise was great at seeing the bird suddenly ily straight down 

 on to a rough stone wall, where it sat calling for several minutes. The 

 game-watcher, who was with me at the time, said that he had seen one or 

 two similar cases before, but that it was by no means a usual habit. — J. 

 Backhouse, Jun. (West Bank, York). 



Kestrel breeding on the Ground. — On the 24th of last month I 

 found a Kestrel's nest upon the ground near the middle of Wicken Fen, in 

 Cambridgeshire. It was built among the long sedge, and there was no 

 shrub which by the greatest stretch of courtesy could be called a tree 

 growing within a mile at least, though within two miles a considerable 

 number of poplars existed. I did not see any vestige of the old birds, but 

 the two young ones which the nest contained showed by their cry and 

 their colour that they were Kestrels without the possibility of a doubt. 

 They were about three-quarters grown, but one was a day or two at least 

 older than the other. In the nest also wore the remains of a third young 

 one, which had apparently beeu just dovoured by his brethren. No attempt 

 had been made at constructing a nest, but about two square feet of sedge 

 had beeu trampled down and used as a nest, though the young birds had 

 considerably extended this by burrowing tuunels under the sedge around for 



