298 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Ducks, as well as Red-breasted Mergansers, breed on the islands in the 

 lake, and there are several colonies of Black-headed Gulls and Common 

 Terns also. Redshanks regularly frequent the lake to nest on the islands, 

 and I have seen their eggs brought from an island near Cloghans. — 

 Robert Warren (Moyview, Ballina). 



Ornithological Notes from Breconshire.— Your readers will be pleased 

 to hear that the Kite [Mllvus regalis) is slowly increasing in this county. 

 I not unfrequently see one soaring steadily along in places where years ago 

 such a sight would have been a wonder. One of my boys, a good observer, 

 tells me that in October last he saw five in one spot soaring in circles 

 higher and higher, until they flew in a straight line towards the Beacons. 

 They were probably two old birds and three young ones. A pair now 

 frequent Vennyvach "Wood, the first time for certainly a number of years. 

 This increase may be accounted for in two ways, viz., the almost total 

 absence of trapping on the moors and in the wilder and more secluded parts 

 of the county, and express protection of them by one of our largest hill- 

 owners. Woodcocks were fairly plentiful last winter, e;5pecially (as is 

 always the case here) in November and February. Wildfowl of all kinds 

 were scarce. Two Scaup Ducks, Fuligula marila, were seen on the Gludy 

 Lake, but I heard of nothing else worth mentioning. Last autumn my boy 

 saw a male Sparrowhawk attack a Jay ; they were rolling over and over on 

 the ground ; he picked the Jay up, but it had very little life left ; the hawk 

 flew off and pitched in a small oak tree close by, and then flew back to 

 within a few yards of the dead Jay, evidently leaving it with great 

 reluctance ; the Jay had made a good fight for his life, as appeared by the 

 numerous feathers scattered about. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is 

 certainly increasing, while the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is decreasing in 

 about the same proportion ; this is singular and at present inexplicable, but 

 the fact remains. I also see the Stock Dove, Columba mnas, more frequently 

 than I did formerly. The Curlew, Numenius arquatus, appeared as usual 

 about the middle of March ; on the 23rd I saw a pair near Llangorse Lake, 

 and two had been seen near here a week earlier ; it keeps its time of coming 

 with wonderful regularity, but now breeds in marshy places on the lowlands 

 as well as on the hill, one of the good results of the enforcement of the 

 Wild Birds Protection Act. A friend living on the borders of the county 

 writes me on March 98th that "The Raven is sitting in Craiglas, and, I 

 should say, nearly hatching. The Dipper, Cinclus aquaticus, is also 

 nesting." The last-named bird builds very early about here; one, with 

 five eggs, sat on about a week, being found on the first Sunday in March, 

 in the middle of that heavy snow-storm. Unfortunately the Barn Owl is 

 getting very scarce; I never see one now, although my friend above quoted 

 writes me on the same date, "I am glad to tell you that the White or Barn 

 Owl is again to be seen about; they are very harmless, and it is a great 



