On the Lesser Redpoll in Berkshire.



3



inside a room. As long ago as 1790 Latham bestowed on this-

bird the name cegyptiacus, the Egyptian and North African

Senegal Turtle differs from the typical form from Senegal by its

large size, by the paler brown of the back and upper surface of

the tail as well as by the larger and fewer black marks on the

front of the neck. A third form has lately been described by

Erlanger from Arabia, Abyssinia, and Somaliland, it is smaller

than the Egyptian bird, hardly larger than the Senegal Dove, it

is much paler throughout and the rump and upper surface of the

tail are distinctly grey in tone and there are very few black

marks on the neck.


O11 the way to the Pyramids you cross the river by the

great Nile Bridge close to which I saw written up “Zoological

Gardens.” I w ? as sorry that time did not permit of a visit,

though then they were not so famous as they have since become.


This brings my few notes to an end, I cannot do better

than advise any of our Members to make a similar trip if they

want to see many of our rarer birds in plenty, as well as others

which do not occur here, not to mention the many other interest¬

ing things which will reward them for their trouble.



THE LESSER REDPOLL IN BERKSHIRE.


By Major F. W. Proctor, M.B.O.U.


It is with much pleasure that I am able to report that the

Lesser Redpoll (Linota rujescens') is quite common as a breeding

species this year (1905) in Berkshire; and from the reports of

friends living in the Southern Counties, who have both seen the

birds and found nests, it appears to be resident in several—

notably Surrey, Essex, and Oxfordshire. During ten years

residence at Maidenhead, I have only once previously found it

breeding in this county : this was in May 1897 on Maidenhead

thicket, where the nest was built in a furze bush about four feet

from the ground. I also found the birds nesting at Byfleet, in

Surrey, close to the Berkshire border, the previous year.


This year the birds in various districts in this county are

plentiful. In one willow or rod bed I know of a colony of six



