Azotes and Comments. 307 



young in my garden this spring, \-iz., the Red-breasted Fly- 

 catcher (Muscicarpa parva). I have not previously heard of 

 the nesting of this species in this country, and I think the 

 specimens that have been shot by collectors have usually 

 appeared at the end of summer. The bird is very like an 

 undersized Robin, but the breast feathers are of a much 

 brighter orange-chestnut and the outer tail-feathers are 

 white tipped with black. The nest, which is said to be found 

 usually in beech-trees, and to be placed on a branch against 

 the trunk or in a hole, was in this instance at the end of the 

 branch of a fir-tree, farthest from the trunk, and appeared to 

 be an old nest relined and repaired. Unfortunately, after the 

 young birds had flown, a strong wing blew the nest into the 

 adjoining road, where it was destroyed before I could recover 

 it.' To this the editor adds ; ' This very Robin-like little 

 Flycatcher is scarcely bigger than the Blue Tit, and its song 

 is said by Dresser to resemble that of the Wood- Wren. Its 

 young are not generally hatched until June, but there is no 

 previous record for Great Britain.' The last sentence seems 

 sufficient to draw attention to the record in our pages, but 

 if the 3^oung were hatched and away by May 12th, it makes 

 us wish that an ornithologist of some standing had confirmed 

 the record. 



LANCASHIRE NATURALISTS. 



The Lancashire and Cheshire Naturalist for August is an ex- 

 ceptionally good number, and the contents principally refer 

 to the two counties named in the title. Among the papers 

 referring to these counties are ' Oligochaet Worms,' by Rev. 

 H. Friend ; Aphidae,' by A. W. R. Roberts ; ' Fungus 

 Flora,' by H. J. Wheldon ; ' Moorland Hepatics,' by W. H. 

 Pearson ; ' Plant Parasites,' by W. A. Lee ; Galls on Carex 

 stricta,' by A. A. Dallman ; and ' Notes on Manx Flora,' by 

 J. A. Wheldon. 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



Besides ' Some Breeding Habits of the Sparrow-Hawk ' 

 (illustrated), by J. H. Owen, British Birds for September 

 contains a record of a Meadow-Bunting shot in Sussex in 

 April, 1915, duly ' examined in the flesh,' and is the sixth 

 record for England (five being in Sussex !) ; and a solitary 

 Sandpiper, shot in Sussex in May, 1916, duly ' examined in the 

 flesh,' and is the seventh recorded British specimen and the 

 second for Sussex. What we cannot understand is why these 

 presumably valuable details should have been withheld from 

 the scientific world for all these years. If the author of these 

 rare Sussex records has a sheaf of them to trot out at 

 respectable intervals, one would suggest that the editor of 

 British Birds gives us a special ' shot in Sussex and examined 

 in the flesh ' supplement, and let us get it over in one dose. 



1918 Oct. 1. 



