262 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Starlings in the City.—A pair of Starlings, which have lately been 
seen in the neighbourhood of Christ Church, Spitalfields (situated close to, 
though really outside, the City boundary), have this year bred in the 
steeple. I have to-day (May 27th) seen their nest, containing two half- 
fledged young birds, on a narrow ledge protected by a weather-board, just 
above the clock. On the same ledge, which is not more than two yards 
long, there were also three Pigeons’ nests,—two containing eggs, and one a 
young bird.—J. H. Ken (Church House, Spitalfields). 
Ornithological Notes from Mayo and Sligo.—Although the Sandwich 
Terns appeared earlier than usual,—on March 19th,—the cold and wet 
stormy weather drove them out of the estuary, and until the 24th I did 
not see them again, when a pair returned to fish in the channels; but the 
main flock did not make its appearance until some days later. The 
very stormy and unusually wet weather of this spring had a remarkable 
effect on our smaller summer visitors, both in retarding their return to their 
summer haunts and in lessening the numbers that usually visit this 
locality. Rain or hail fell on eighteen days during the month of March, 
and on nineteen days in April, while the thermometer seldom rose beyond 
50° or 53° in the latter month ; and up to the 23rd of May rain has fallen 
on eighteen days also. I did not hear a Willow Wren until April 29th, 
and, strange to say, it is the only bird of this species singing in our woods, 
though in former seasons several could be heard singing all about the place ; 
and another singular fact worth mentioning is, that not a Chiffchaff has 
visited us this season : we had only one bird last season, though in previous 
years several used to frequent our woods and plantations of about fifty 
acres in extent. I saw a Swallow on May Ist, and heard a Whimbrel, 
Numenius ph@opus, on the same day. The Corn Crake was heard on the 
9th, aud the Spotted Flycatcher on the 10th, but not a Whitethroat was 
heard until the 22nd. The Cuckoo was also late, but being from home I 
was unable to record the date when first heard. I heard the Common 
Sandpiper, Totanus hypoleucus, on the Bunree River, near Ballina, on the 
13th, and saw a pair at the same place on the 20th; and saw Swifts for 
the first time on May 11th. On April 5th, in order to observe what birds 
were about the estuary, I went down to Bartragh and the Moyne Channel 
in my punt, seeing four Wigeon and a Great Northern Diver (in winter 
plumage) near the island of Baunross ; and on the Moyne Sands a flock 
of twenty-four Sheldrakes and about two hundred Godwits, Limosa 
lapponica (none of them showing any trace of the red summer plumage), 
a few small lots of eight or ten Curlews, three Grey Plovers, and a few 
Knots and Turnstones. In the Channel and in Killala Pool I saw five 
Great Northern Divers; and lying on the point of land running out into 
the Channel, nearly opposite the old abbey, a herd of fourteen or fifteen 
large Seals, all of which shuffled into the water before I could get within 
