254 



FIELD NOTES. 



BIRDS. 



Early Arrival of the Swift and Cuckoo.— I first heard 

 the cuckoo calling this year on April i8th, at 6 a.m. This is 

 the earliest date upon which I have heard him in this district. 

 ■On April 29th, I saw a single Swift flying above my house at 

 8-30 p.m. ; on the 30th there were several more. I have 

 never previously known the Swift to arrive in Harrogate in 

 April. — R. Fortune. 



Turtle Doves near AUerton. — When travelling by road 

 from York to Harrogate on June 8th, I put -jap four turtle 

 doves from a turnip field on the outskirts of-^llerton Park. 

 These birds are to be found in the country round Harrogate 

 almost every year, odd pairs only, and seldom in the same 

 place two years in succession. It seems to point to desire on 

 the part of these birds to extend their range northwards, as 

 in other portions of Yorkshire they appear to have become 

 regular summer visitors. — R. Fortune. 



Kestrel and Rabbits. — In several newspapers, a report 

 appeared in which it was stated that Capt. C. W. Knight, in 

 one of his lectures, said that he took, thirty young rabbits 

 from a Kestrel's nest. This was pretty widely copied, and 

 gave one writer of game notes the opportunity of slanging the 

 Kestrel in a thorough manner. Capt. Knight states that 

 what he said was that once he found the remains of thirty 

 young rabbits in a Buzzard's nest. As a rule, when the 

 daily or weekly popular press deal with natural history matters, 

 they make a pretty hash of it. — R. Fortune. 



Osprey in Nidderdale. — On May 27th, during my absence 

 from home, a telegram came from Mr. Charles Barlow, of 

 Pateley Bridge, ' Mature Osprey on Gowthwaite to-day.' I 

 went over as soon as I could in the hopes of seeing the bird, 

 but was not successful. Mr. Barlow informed me he first saw 

 the bird, which was in full adult plumage, on the mud at the 

 top of the reservoir. He brought Major Smith, of Rams- 

 gill, to see it, and upon their return the bird was on the wing ; 

 it made two stoops, causing a splash, but he could not see 

 whether it obtained a fish or not. In the afternoon it had 

 disappeared and has not been seen since. It was badly 

 mobbed all the time it was on the wing by about a dozen 

 black-headed gulls. — R. Fortune. 



o :- 



The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society oj London, No. 305, 

 contains a paper on the Arctic Flora of the Cam Valley at Barnwell, 

 Cambridge, by Miss M. E. J. Chandler ; a note on Archiniylacris pringlei, 

 sp. nov. by Mr. H. Bolton ; the anniversary address of the President, etc. 

 The insect remains described by Mr. Bolton were obtained from the 

 Keele measures of Shropshire by Mr. J. Pringle. 



Naturaliet 



