"284 Field Notes. 



liad found t"he nest, with eggs, of a Moorhen besides a sheet 

 of water in this neighbourhood, but on shewing me the eggs 

 last week, they proved to be eggs of the much rarer bird, 

 the Water Rail. It is certainly a scarce breeding species 

 in nearly, if not in all parts of Yorkshire, perhaps in some 

 districts more so than formerly. It is said to have bred 

 formerly in the valley between Thornton and Bradford, but 

 not within recent years. I have no record of its having bred 

 in any other part of Airedale, although it has bred in Wharfe- 

 dale, Ribblesdale and Nidderdale very sparingly. It is 

 more commonly met with as a winter visitant. I have seen 

 it at Cottingley Bridge, and have a stuffed specimen which I 

 received from the late Mr. Pilling, which had been got in 

 the neighbourhood of Harden or Bingley. — E. P. Butter- 

 field. 



Two Eggs of Cuckoo in Nest of Linnet. — Cuckoos have 

 been abundant here this summer. Few however, were seen 

 before the last week in May or the first week in June, when they 

 were everywhere in the woods where there was any quantity 

 of oak trees ; the leaves at this time were infested by myriads 

 of larvae, of various species of moths, chiefly H . defoliaria on 

 which they were feeding and of which they are fond. The 

 catterpillars also attracted large numbers of Starlings and 

 other birds, but in spite of the united efforts of all the birds, 

 the trees, soon after the middle of June, were almost as bare 

 as in winter. The Cuckoos here gave up calling on or about 

 June 2oth, since which date very few have been seen. Two 

 eggs of the Cuckoo have been found in the nest of a Linnet 

 with three eggs this season, on Blackhills, which is the first 

 instance of the Linnet having been victimised in this district, 

 and another Cuckoo's egg has been found in the nest of a 

 Hedge Sparrow, which is a very rare occurrence here. The 

 two eggs found in the nest of the Linnet were very similar, 

 but there was a slight variation, and they might have been 

 laid by different cuckoos. Two eggs brought to me by two 

 young men from a nest which I take to be Skylark, built 

 in a meadow near Barden Tower about a fortnight ago, 

 I take to be those of a Cuckoo, if so, they have been laid by 

 one Cuckoo. — E. P. Buttekfield. 



This year, quite near my house, I found a Hedge 

 Sparrow's nest in a gorse bush, containing a newly-hatched 

 Cuckoo, and on the edge of the nest two dead 3'oung Hedge 

 Sparrows and one egg. Visiting it again about lo days later, 

 I found the nest deserted and the young Cuckoo dead in the 

 nest ; apparently it was about a week old. — R.F. 



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