230 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
The Attitude of Grebes on Land. — The attitudes of diving birds 
when on land are so little known that I make no apology for troubling you 
with a brief observation on the subject. Yarrell states that Grebes “ sit 
upright on the whole length of the tarsus.” This is illustrated by his 
figures of the Eared and Sclavonian Grebes, which are represented as 
resting like any of the Alcide on the tarsus. On May 4th my cousin and 
I closely examined a Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, at the 
fish-house in the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park. We found that the 
bird sat up naturally enough, not with the tarsus resting on and parallel 
with the ground, but raised at an angle of about 223°. It is clear, there- 
fore, that Yarrell had in his thoughts the Alcida, and that he was mistaken 
in ascribing their action to the Grebes.~H. A. Macruerson (Carlisle). 
Late Stay of Bramblings in Suffolk.—Bramblings have remained in 
Suffolk later than usual this year. On April 17th a fine male, which 
looked very dark in colour, was feeding under some beech-trees near the 
house. A week later there were two male Bramblings in the flesh in a 
shop in Bury; one was in ordinary winter dress, but the other had the 
head almost black, and differed from any other which has ever come under 
my notice, in having the part of the back which is usually white, of 
a bright canary yellow. This curious variety is now in my collection. On 
April 25th my gardener, who is a very keen-sighted observer, saw a pair 
here.—Juian G. Tucx (Tostock Rectory, Suffolk). 
Audacity of Jackdaws.—Jackdaws abound here in the old trees, and 
have become so mischievous, destroying all the Blackbirds’, Thrushes’, and 
other eggs (to say nothing of game) that, rather reluctantly, I ordered their 
numbers to be reduced. The next day, or nearly so, my shepherd saw a 
Jackdaw plunder a Kestrel’s nest near the house, that I have each year 
tried to protect, and take the eggs. The bird dropped one, and in order to 
identify it, I directed the man to bring me the broken egg-shell, which he 
did; and I found it to bea Kestrel’s. This attack on a hawk’s nest, although 
the Kestrel is not a bold bird, still shows a Jackdaw’s audacity to be con- 
siderable—W. OxeNDEN Hammonp (St. Alban’s Court, near Wingham, 
Kent). 
Jackdaws Nesting in old Magpies’ Nests.—In some small planta- 
tions near here Jackdaws have lately taken to occupying the Magpies’ nests. 
In May, 1887, I found in these plantations four newly-built nests of the 
Magpie, but from one of these the Magpies had been ejected by a pair of 
Jackdaws before they had completed their nest; the Jackdaws had lined 
the nest and laid eggs therein. In 1888 I did not visit these woods. On 
May 7th of the present year I found there were six old nests of the 
Magpie, each tenanted by a pair of Jackdaws, and one pair of Magpies had 
built a new nest, and up to that time kept possession of it for themselves. 
