106 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
the Wood Wren ; it possesses the deep breast-band, has dark legs, and feet 
as dark as the legs. I do not think, however, that much importance can 
be attached to the colour of the Willow Wren’s legs and feet, as this seems 
a rather inconstant and uncertain character. For instance, in three speci- 
mens procured on the same day in May, these parts were coloured as 
under:—a and B, legs light brown, feet and claws paler; ¢, legs and feet 
medium brown, claws darker. The soles of the feet in all three were clay- 
coloured, and in my experience it is only in birds of the year that they are 
bright yellow; a bird of the year procured in the following September had 
them so coloured. In a male and female procured in April, both with pale 
legs, the feet (in the dried skins) are no paler, but in a young bird procured 
in August they are decidedly so. On the other hand, in a male sent to me 
from Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, by Mr. Whitaker, early in May, 1887, 
the legs are dark brown, darker than those of the Spurn bird, and nearly 
as dark as those of the Chiffchaff; feet decidedly darker, and as dark as in 
the latter bird. Yet this example is no larger than typical Willow Wrens. 
It is a very grey bird, and bears some resemblance to those described by 
Mr. H. Seebohm (Brit. Birds, vol.i.) from high latitudes, with “ all the 
yellow and green abraded, leaving the general colour earthy brown, the 
eye-stripe having faded to a greyish white.” My grey bird, however, still 
exhibits a little dull greenish yellow on the upper parts, and the eye-stripe 
is slightly tinged with the same, but there is very little sign of the usual 
yellow and buff on the under parts. Laid side by side with an ordinary 
Willow Wren, also procured in spring (four days only earlier in the year), 
the difference in the appearance of the two birds is very striking. Dark 
legs then cannot be said to characterise the larger race of Willow Wren.— 
Oxtver V. Apuin (Bloxham, Banbury). 
_ Thick-knee in Essex in January.—A specimen of the Norfolk 
Plover, or Thick-knee, Cidicnemus crepitans, was shot on the marshes 
near here last month. This is perhaps worth recording, as the bird, being 
of migratory habits, usually leaves us about September. Just previously 
a fine Peregrine Falcon was picked up on the same marshes. It had been 
shot at and wounded, but was alive when found.—A. F. Garzs (Marsh 
Gate Lane, Stratford). 
Reported Nesting of the Redstart in December.—There appeared in 
the local papers at Scarborough an account of a Redstart’s nest and eggs 
being discovered on Christmas Day. Knowing that the Redstart is a 
summer visitor only, I went to the place where the nest had been found 
(Hackness, a small village some six miles from Scarborough), and made 
inquiries. I was fortunate enough to find the individual who discovered 
the nest, and I obtained the following information :—The nest, which was 
placed in a hole in an oak tree, was built of “ wicks” moss and grass, and 
