﻿106 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  destruction, 
  and 
  possibly 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  some 
  connection 
  between 
  

   it 
  and 
  the 
  late 
  stay 
  of 
  the 
  Swifts 
  reported 
  from 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  

   England. 
  I 
  had 
  no 
  opportunity 
  of 
  examining 
  the 
  nests 
  again 
  

   later 
  in 
  the 
  year, 
  but 
  was 
  told 
  that 
  this 
  breeding-place 
  was 
  after- 
  

   wards 
  entirely 
  deserted 
  by 
  the 
  Swifts, 
  although 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  

   thirty 
  years 
  past 
  every 
  available 
  hole 
  had 
  always 
  been 
  occupied. 
  

   On 
  the 
  evening 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  day 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  Moorhen's 
  nest 
  in 
  a 
  

   quickset 
  hedge, 
  about 
  3 
  ft. 
  6 
  in. 
  from 
  the 
  ground, 
  which 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  a 
  single 
  young 
  bird 
  in 
  a 
  moribund 
  state, 
  apparently 
  

   deserted 
  by 
  its 
  parents. 
  The 
  fields 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  are 
  

   subject 
  to 
  floods, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  frequently 
  flushed 
  Moorhens 
  from 
  

   the 
  tops 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  spruce-firs 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  feet 
  high 
  in 
  an 
  

   adjacent 
  plantation, 
  and 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  an 
  empty 
  

   nest 
  which 
  I 
  once 
  found 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  firs 
  belonged 
  to 
  this 
  

   species. 
  Another 
  bird 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  before 
  found 
  nesting 
  

   in 
  a 
  hedge 
  is 
  the 
  Pied 
  Wagtail 
  ; 
  yet 
  on 
  June 
  14th 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  large, 
  

   substantial 
  nest 
  of 
  this 
  bird 
  in 
  a 
  rather 
  slight 
  bit 
  of 
  hedge 
  close 
  

   to 
  the 
  roadside. 
  The 
  hen 
  was 
  sitting 
  on 
  the 
  nest, 
  which 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  five 
  slightly 
  incubated 
  eggs. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  keepers 
  at 
  

   Osmaston 
  showed 
  me 
  a 
  Blackbird's 
  nest 
  in 
  mowing-grass 
  at 
  

   some 
  considerable 
  distance 
  from 
  any 
  hedgerow 
  or 
  bush. 
  It 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  young 
  birds 
  on 
  June 
  23rd, 
  and 
  my 
  informant 
  assured 
  me 
  

   that 
  he 
  had 
  noticed 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  nests 
  this 
  year 
  in 
  similar 
  places. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  probably 
  about 
  seven 
  couple 
  of 
  Tufted 
  Ducks 
  

   breeding 
  on 
  the 
  ponds 
  at 
  Osmaston 
  this 
  year, 
  and 
  perhaps 
  three 
  

   more 
  at 
  Yeldersley. 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  Boulsover 
  tells 
  me 
  that 
  this 
  year 
  

   they 
  bred 
  at 
  a 
  pond 
  in 
  Hassop 
  Park, 
  and 
  most 
  likely 
  at 
  Ashford 
  

   Lake 
  as 
  well, 
  as 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  birds 
  were 
  seen 
  there 
  throughout 
  the 
  

   summer. 
  

  

  Under 
  date 
  of 
  July 
  15th, 
  Mr. 
  H. 
  G. 
  Tomlinson 
  writes 
  that 
  

   "the 
  young 
  are 
  just 
  hatching 
  in 
  a 
  Willow-Wren's 
  nest 
  in 
  a 
  

   holly-bush 
  five 
  feet 
  from 
  the 
  ground 
  " 
  at 
  Burton. 
  Curiously 
  

   enough, 
  the 
  Wild 
  Duck 
  furnishes 
  the 
  last 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  item 
  

   in 
  my 
  egg-journal 
  for 
  1903, 
  for 
  on 
  Oct. 
  2nd 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  H. 
  Walton 
  

   found 
  one 
  sitting 
  on 
  thirteen 
  eggs 
  near 
  Monk's 
  Pool, 
  Breadsall. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  A. 
  S. 
  Hutchinson 
  informs 
  me 
  that 
  among 
  the 
  birds 
  which 
  

   passed 
  through 
  his 
  hands 
  were 
  a 
  " 
  lemon-coloured 
  Chiffchaff 
  and 
  

   a 
  white 
  Willow- 
  Wren." 
  

  

  The 
  nersistentlv 
  dull 
  and 
  wet 
  weather 
  which 
  was 
  characteristic 
  

  

  