NOTES AND QUERIES. 391 



from the first, and placed ou a ledge overhung by a portion of the cliff, and 

 some fifty or sixty feet from the summit. This nest contained six fresh 

 eggs, which were taken on March 29th. The birds then returned to the 

 first nest, and laid two more eggs, which were also taken — cruel to relate — 

 on April llth. I do not think they laid again, but am not sure, as the 

 cliff was not revisited by ray friend after the third nest was robbed. — 

 E. A. Butler, Lieut.-Col. 



[The Raven is now so rare a bird in the South of England that it is 

 deplorable to hear of such persecution as that above reported. Surely one 

 " clutch " of eggs ought to have satisfied the collector ! — Ed.] 



Hawfinch nesting in Norfolk. — I found a Hawfinch's nest in my 

 garden, on the 18th May, containing five fresh eggs. It was built on one 

 of the outside boughs of a tall cedar, about eighteen feet from the ground, 

 and composed of dead sticks, lined with fibrous roots, with white lichen 

 round the edge and on the outside of the nest. Old birds are very shy and 

 seldom seen, although the tree was on the lawn, close to the house, and 

 within a few yards of my window. I heard of three other nests this year 

 near Lynn, one of which was low down on an elder-bush, nine feet from the 

 ground, the other two about twenty feet. Another nest was taken at Aldeby, 

 near Beccles, by a son of Col. Freeland. — E. A. Butler, Lieut.-Col. 



Red-breasted Flycatcher in Ireland. — A specimen of Mascicapa 

 parva was killed by striking against the lantern of the Arklow (South) 

 Lightship, seven miles from shore, on October 23rd, 1887, and was 

 forwarded to me in a semi-decomposed condition. Only the head, wings, 

 legs, and tail could be saved. The entry in the schedule for October 23rd 

 is as follows : — " Several small birds from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. about lantern ; 

 wind W.S.W., fresh, gloomy. Several killed and fell overboard. Two sent 

 by post." The two birds sent by the mate of the lightship (Mr. A. B. Wall) 

 were a Red-breasted Flycatcher (which is labelled " name unknown ") and 

 a Black Redstart, which struck the lantern at 3 a.m. Prof. Newton and 

 Mr. Howard Saunders have both seen this specimen, in which the essential 

 characters of Muscicapa parva are well shown, and agree in the deter- 

 mination of the species. With the exception of one killed at Berwick-on- 

 Tweed, on Oct. 5th, 1883, this species does not seem to have been recorded 

 from any portion of the British Isles during the last five-aud- twenty years, 

 since three were obtained in Cornwall and Scilly in 1863 and 1865, iu the 

 months of January, October, and November respectively. — Richard M. 

 Barrington (Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow). 



Pied Flycatcher in Ireland. — Referring to my friend Mr. Warren's 

 note (p. 267), I may remark that the Pied Flycatcher has occurred on two 

 occasions at Irish light-stations. I possess a wing and leg of one taken 

 at 8 p.m. on Sept. 21st, 1886, at the Tearaght Rock Light. This rock is 



