NOTES AND QUERIES. 429 



I had the pleasure of seeing a pair of Choughs at Lulworth, and a Dartford 

 "Warbler near Wool on Sept. 20th. Both are nearly extinct in this county ; 

 I trust these survivals may forebode resuscitation. A Curlew, Numenius 

 arquata, and a Wheatear forsook their usual habits of resting on the ground ; 

 the former was seen a few days ago perched on a high fir-tree, and remained 

 there until disturbed ; the latter flitted before me, alighting from sprig to 

 sprig for a considerable distance, and unceasingly uttering its melodious 

 call-note. In spite of the persecution to which Montagu's Harrier was 

 subjected during the past breeding-season, I occasionally see one on our 

 heaths. A Great Bustard, Otis tarda, has been frequenting the high land 

 above Fontmill, near Shaftesbury, but has lately disappeared, and un- 

 harmed. — J. C. Mansel-Pleydell (Whatcombe, Blaudford). 



Late nesting of the Corn Bunting.— When shooting to-day (29th 

 September), I found the newly-made nest of this bird, with three eggs, 

 placed at the base of some thistles amongst a second growth of clover. 

 I saw the bird fly from the nest close to my feet. The Corn Bunting is a 

 notoriously late breeder, and we not unfrequently come across the uest 

 with the eggs quite fresh, or only slightly incubated, in the last week in 

 June when cuttiug clover. The occurrence of the nest with eggs at the 

 end of September must, however, be considered very much beyond the 

 ordinary season. — John Coedeaux (Great Cotes). 



Woodchat in Wilts. — As the Woodchat, Lanius pomeranus, is not 

 included in the Rev. A. C. Smith's ' Birds of Wilts,' the following note of 

 its occurrence may be worth recording. On June 6th, 1884, in Savernake 

 Forest, I saw a very brightly-coloured bird of this species. It was very 

 tame, and I made a rough sketch of it at the time, which I afterwards 

 compared with Dresser's plate. Then, in May, 1872, my cousin, the 

 Rev. H. A. Macpherson, was shown, for identification, a Woodchat which 

 had been sent, in the flesh, to a tradesman at Reading : this bird had been 

 shot close to Salisbury. — Arthur H. Macpherson. 



Black Guillemot in the Isle of Man.— Referring to the note in last 

 month's 'Zoologist' (p. 331), it may be worth while to mention that the 

 Black Guillemot, Uria grylle, has not quite ceased to breed in the Isle 

 of Man. There was at least one colony nesting on the west coast last 

 summer, in a locality regularly frequented by this species. In 1886 

 the birds were very numerous there.— P. Ralfe (6, Woodburn Square, 

 Douglas, Isle of Man). 



Merlin breeding near Brecon.— As the fact of the nesting of the 

 Merlin in this county has not, I believe, been recorded, perhaps you may 

 think it worth notice that Mr. Edgar Thomas, on the 29th May last, found 

 four fresh eggs which apparently belongs to this bird. He describes 

 the hawk as being rather like a Kestrel, but smaller. He disturbed it from 



