144 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vn. 



felted hair-lining usually found in Tits' nests. No_excava- 

 tion had been done by the birds in this case. 



Dr. N. F. Ticehurst informs me that the Marsh-Tit 

 occasionally breeds in nesting-boxes, and that the amount 

 of moss used by way of foundation varies according to the 

 size of the hollow, but it is always distinctly less than in 

 the case of the Blue, Great, or Coal Tit. 



The South European Marsh-Tit {P. palustris stagnatilis) 

 also has the same characteristic habits, for a nest found 

 by me in 1910, in Roumania, was in a natural hollow in 

 the trunk of a rotten tree, the opening only very slightly 

 enlarged by the birds, and the bottom of the hole for eight 

 or nine inches being filled with moss, on the top of which 

 the warm nest of felted hair, etc., was placed. 



Most of the nests and eggs in collections have been taken 

 as " Marsh-Tits " and may belong to either species, and the 

 same may be said for most of the observations recorded, so that 

 material for reliable distinctions is scarce. F. C. R. Jourdain. 



PIED FLYCATCHER ON MIGRATION IN SUSSEX. 



On August 29th, 1913, my son Geoffrey shot an adult female 

 Pied Flycatcher {Muscicapa h. hypoleuca), on the edge of 

 St. Leonards Forest, about a mile from Horsham : it was 

 feeding with a party of Spotted Flycatchers. This bird 

 very rarely appears on migration in west Sussex, this being 

 the first time I have seen it within the last twenty years. 



J. G. MiLLAIS. 



COLOUR OF THE BEAK IN THE EIDER. 

 With regard to Mr. H. W. Robinson's criticism {antea, p. 119) 

 concerning the bill of the adult male British Eider [Somateria 

 m. mollissima), I must dispute the fact that it is orange- 

 yellow at the base in life. In saying that it is "green" 

 it must be taken into account that there are various shades 

 of green, and in this case the portion alluded to is a very 

 yellow-green to olive-green. I do not think that the specimen 

 to which Mr. Robinson refers (that in the Oldham Museum) 

 has any bearing on the case, as the bill of the Eider fades 

 to various colours immediately after death, which are not 

 seen in life. As regards the colour of the bill of the adult 

 female in life, it is generally bluish-grey— but there is often 

 a greenish-yellow tinge about the base. J. G. Millais. 



COMMON SCOTERS OFF CARNARVONSHIRE 



IN SUMMER. 



Mr. T. a. Coward's reference to the large numbers of 



Common Scoters (Oidemia n. nigra) in Liverpool Bay in 



