Yorkshire Naturalists' Union : Annual Report, 1916, 35 



illness of active members, some valuable work has still been 

 performed. Most of the common organisms were of frequent 

 occurrence ; the interesting flagellate Anthophysa. vegetans 

 (O.F.M.) Busc, was found in quantity near Harrogate during 

 the early months of the year. 



VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY. 



West Riding. — Mr. H. B. Booth reports : — Nesting notes 

 perhaps have yielded the most interesting results in 1916. 

 Almost all the summer immigrants arrived later than usual, 

 with the exception of the Swift, which again arrived early, 

 and in numbers. Mr. A. Haigh Lumby saw two at Cottingley 

 on April 24th, and I saw about a dozen at Bolton Abbey on 

 April 29th, and they were also reported from many quarters 

 about the same time. The most interesting nesting note is 

 that of the Stonechat. Mr. W. Greaves sent me word that a 

 friend of his (Mr. D. Sutcliffe) had seen a pair of Stonechats 

 at Threshfield, near Grassington, on June 19th. On July 8th, 

 I had the satisfaction of seeing a male, female, and one young 

 Stonechat just able to fly, at the exact spot indicated, so that 

 it may almost be taken as presumptive evidence that they 

 had nested L re. These are the first Stonechats that I have 

 ever been able to see in the West Riding during the nesting 

 season. 



Very curiously, when I reported this occurrence to the 

 president of this section, he replied that he had seen a female 

 Stonechat with ' feed ' in her beak on the following day (July 

 9th) at Menston, in the same dale. Neither Mr. Parkin nor I 

 were able to see anything further of this bird, or her relatives, 

 later. Another interesting record is that of the nesting of the 

 Chiffchaff in Upper Airedale, at Gilstead, Bingley (S. Long- 

 "bottom), but the lateness of the dates almost points to it being 

 a second brood, although the birds had not been previously 

 noted in the neighbourhood. It was first heard on June nth, 

 and in conjunction with Mr. E. P. Butterfield, Mr. Long- 

 bottom discovered that there was a pair engaged in nest- 

 building. The first egg was laid on June 18th ; the completed 

 clutch of five eggs was noted on June 23rd ; and on July 5th 

 all the eggs had hatched, and eventually the five young safely 

 left the nest. This is the first nesting of the Chiffchaff so high 

 up Airedale that I have known It has been reported as nesting 

 at Apperley Bridge (Mr. Dodd), and about 27 years ago a 

 clutch of eggs was exhibited at the Bradford Natural History 

 and Microscopical Society's meeting by Mr. C. Allen, which 

 had been taken at West Wood, Baildon. That season and 

 for several seasons after, two friends and myself frequently 

 visited the spot without, however, seeing or hearing the Chiff- 

 chaff. 



1917 Jan. 1. 



