202 



FIELD NOTES. 



BIRDS. 



Fatality to a Sparrowhawk. — On the 28th February, 

 during a snowstorn, a beautiful little male Sparrowhawk 

 killed itself by dashing against one of the windows of my house 

 at Bayston Hill, near vShrewsbury. This is the third incident 

 of the kind that has come to my notice. — H. E. Forrest. 



Variation of the Colour of Sparrows' Eggs — A few 



years ago I fitted up a row of six or seven nesting boxes under 



the headstone of a window, near which my daily occupation 

 at that time kept me. They were very readily appropriated 

 by House Sparrows, and I had good opportunities of observing 

 the habits of the birds. The boxes were made with a ' back 

 door ' so that I could investigate the contents from the inside 

 of the room without disturbing the nests, and I took care to 

 examine every nest that was made and every egg that was 

 laid. From one of these nests I obtained the unusually-marked 

 eggs here illustrated — taking one egg at a time at intervals, 

 and replacing them by normal eggs taken from one or other 

 of the neighbouring nests. In this way I got the whole clutch 

 without inflicting any unnecessary discomfort upon the birds. — 

 Charles Mosley, Lockwood. 



Naturalist, 



