NOTES AND QUERIES. 245 
account of its being an annual spring visitor to England. He says:— 
“T have never seen the Golden Oriole alive or found any record of its 
occurrence in Guernsey or the neighbouring islands, and beyond the fact 
that there was one example—a female—in the Museum, which may have 
been from Jersey, I have been able to gain no information on the subject, 
except of a negative sort. The Golden Oriole is mentioned in Prof. Ansted’s 
‘ List,’ as having occurred in Guernsey and Sark, but no further information 
is given.” Mr. C. Smith thinks it probable that Guernsey was mentioned 
on account of the specimen in the Museum, but, he adds, “with this 
exception I have never heard of its making its appearance in Sark even as 
a straggler.” Mr. Kenneth Lawson has been good enough to send us an 
extract from the ‘Gazette Officielle de Guernsey,’ dated Ist May, 1886, 
Where it is stated that during the last week of April a Golden Oriole was 
caught in Sark, and after being kept alive for a few days, died and was 
forwarded to Mr. Jago for preservation. The Channel Islands apparently 
do not lie directly in this bird’s line of migration when coming up from the 
south in spring, and yet in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands it is regarded 
as an annual summer visitant, generally appearing about the end of April, 
or first week in May (see Rodd’s ‘ Birds of Cornwall,’ pp. 28, 29). Since 
the receipt of Mr. Lawson’s communication, a note has appeared in ‘ The 
Field’ of May 15th from Mr. Caplin, of Jersey, stating that he had lately 
preserved an adult male Golden Oriole, which had been shot near Samaré’s 
Manor, Jersey, on the 29th April last.—J. E. Harrina. 
The Nightingale near London. — Many observers testify to the 
presence of the Nightingale in several localities around London, and it has 
been heard even in the metropolis itself—namely, in the Flower Walk, by 
the Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, and in the Zoological and Botanical 
Gardens, Regent’s Park. In May and June it may be heard commonly in 
the woods about Hampstead, Highgate, and Muswell Hill, as well as in the 
copses around Enfield, Hendon, Mill Hill, Edgware, Stanmore, and Harrow 
Weald. At Pinner also, and Ruislip it arrives regularly in April, and we 
have frequently heard it at Kingsbury and Wembley. To the south of the 
Metropolis it may be found in Kew Gardens, and in the neighbourhood of 
Wimbledon Common ; while the further afield we go into Kent and Surrey 
the greater are the chances of meeting with it.—J E. Harrina. 
Notes on the Cuckoo.—A<s information is still required concerning 
some of the habits of the Cuckoo, perhaps the following particulars may be 
of interest :-—In the year 1874 I used often to explore the reed-beds on the 
side of the River Avon in Warwickshire, where Reed Warblers bred in 
considerable numbers. The patches of reeds were only of limited extent, 
and it was not difficult to find the Warblers’ nests. One day I found a 
Cuckoo's egg in one of the nests, and the next day I found another. 
