54 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



the place, I noticed a Whinchat flying across my path and a 

 little later spied the nest. This contained six eggs slightly 

 incubated. The hen returned and flew round quite close to 

 me. The can, which had probably held paint at one time, 

 was about a foot long, and was lying at the end of a collection 

 of old iron articles of all kinds which had been dumped down 

 at that place. There was a little herbage growing round it 

 and it was slightly buried in the soil, but still the nest was 

 easily discoverable by anyone walking by ; the cavity, how- 

 ever, could not be seen into on account of its distance back. 

 The nest had a foundation of moss and was made of 

 grasses lined with finer grass and rootlets. Sach a site for a 

 Whinchat's nest is, I think, quite extraordinary. 



J. H. Stenhouse. 



NIGHTINGALES IN SHROPSHIRE. 



The present season has \^dtnessed an influx of Nightingales 

 {Luscinia m. magarhyncha) into localities in Shropshire 

 where they do not occur regularly. I have located six pairs 

 within a few miles of Shrewsbury — ^two at Betton, one at 

 Bomere, one (or two) on Pulley Common, one at Hanwood, 

 and one at Yockleton. These localities are in a line running 

 east to west about three miles south of the county town. 

 Pulley has often been favoured with similar visits before, 

 but the other places only rarely. Another pair has been 

 identified by Mr. Walter Marchant in a locality far from 

 any known haunt of the Nightingale, namely at Weston Park, 

 near Shifnal, the seat of Earl Bradford. The male was 

 first heard about May 15th and sang regularly for nearly 

 a month. It often sang by day close to some woodmen who 

 were at work. On June 12th Mr. Marchant saw both the 

 birds ; they came within ten yards or so, uttering the shrill 

 purr which Nightingales make when the nest is approached. 

 He had not time to search for the nest, but had not a doubt 

 that there was one in the plantation where the birds lived. 

 The above is the only instance of the species occurring in 

 north-east Shropshire that has come under my notice during 

 the twenty years I have kept the county records. 



H. E. Forrest. 



CUCKOO DEPOSITING EGG A^IONG INCUBATED EGGS. 



On June 4th, 1913, during the annual outing of the Felsted 

 School Scientific Society, an egg of a Cuckoo [Cuculus c. 

 canorus) was found in the nest of a Reed-Warbler (Acro- 

 cephalus s. streperus) at Diss in Norfolk. The Cuckoo's 

 egg was practically fresh (not infertile or addled) while the 



