WHITLOCK : BIRD NOTES FROM THE MID-TRENT VALLEY. 67 
Willow Wren (Piylloscopus trochilus). 1 twice found Cuckoos’ 
eggs in the nest of this species in May. The eggs were of the 
Redbreast type. In the first case the parent birds had deserted 
their charge. 
Red-legged Partridge (Caccabis rufa). This species is very 
erratic in its nesting habits. I had one egg given me taken 
from a pheasants’ nest, and two others, from different localities, 
which had been dropped in the fields at random. Eggs of this 
species, when newly laid, are tinted with a beautiful lilac, some- 
thing like the bloom ona violet plum. On wetting the shell 
the yellow Sake colour at once appears, but fades again as 
the egg drie 
Pheasant ipl torquatus). When searching in a wood for a 
Chiffchaff’s nest, I started back at the sight of what I took to 
be a snake. It was the tail of a hen Pheasant which protruded 
from some brambles, under which she was quietly brooding. 
The deception was very perfect, the black barrings and rounded 
edges of the feathers presenting a very snake-like appearance. 
Great Grey Shrike (Zanius excubitor). A small party seem to 
have found their way into this district in October. On the 7th 
I saw an example near Beeston, and rather more than a fortnight 
later a second was caught alive at Gotham. Both these were of 
the common type. On December 13th I saw what I feel sure 
was a third, sitting on the telephone-wires above South Parade, 
in Nottingham. A strong wind was blowing, and the bird 
seemed to have great difficulty in retaining its balance. 
White Wagtail (Mosacilla alba). Amongst a number of the 
Pied species feeding on a sandbank in the Trent, I noticed a 
family party of this species on September 2nd. 
At the foot of my neighbours garden is a row of the 
broad-leaved poplar, the foliage of which in summer harbours 
great numbers of small insects. During September these 
trees are frequented by Willow Wrens, Chiffchaffs, Lesser 
Whitethroats, and Blackcaps, all of which may be seen 
busily engaged in feeding on these insects in the upper 
branches. Wishing for a specimen of the last-named, 
I secured a male. On picking it up I was conscious of a very 
sickly smell which pervaded the body. It seemed to arise from 
the juice of elder berries, with which the intestines of the bird 
were deeply discoloured. The above-named species give way 
at the fall of the leaf to Chaffinches, Lesser Redpolls, Tits, and 
the common House Sparrow, all of which feed as eagerly on 
Mar. 1895. 
