﻿NOTES 
  AND 
  QUERIES. 
  267 
  

  

  Pennant 
  describes 
  the 
  fore 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  neck 
  of 
  the 
  Black-chinned 
  

   Grebe 
  as 
  ferruginous. 
  Sowerby's 
  book 
  was 
  issued 
  in 
  1804-6. 
  In 
  1813 
  

   Montagu 
  expressed 
  an 
  opinion 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  figured 
  on 
  the 
  plate 
  

   before 
  referred 
  to, 
  and 
  other 
  examples, 
  were 
  no 
  other 
  than 
  unusually 
  

   dark 
  varieties 
  of 
  the 
  Little 
  Grebe 
  (' 
  Supplement 
  to 
  the 
  Ornithological 
  

   Dictionary).' 
  The 
  seasonal 
  changes 
  which 
  Grebes 
  undergo 
  were 
  not 
  

   at 
  that 
  date 
  properly 
  understood, 
  but 
  the 
  accurate 
  Montagu 
  (probably, 
  

   having 
  regard 
  to 
  his 
  opportunities, 
  the 
  best 
  ornithologist 
  this 
  country 
  

   ever 
  produced) 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  right 
  track, 
  and 
  stated, 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  quoted 
  

   above, 
  that 
  the 
  Little 
  Grebe 
  and 
  the 
  " 
  supposed 
  species 
  " 
  called 
  the 
  

   Black-chin 
  Grebe 
  were 
  connected 
  by 
  birds 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  intermediate 
  stages 
  

   of 
  plumage. 
  Neither 
  Sowerby 
  nor 
  Montagu 
  referred 
  the 
  Chelsea 
  

   examples 
  to 
  any 
  other 
  species 
  than 
  the 
  Black-chinned 
  Grebe, 
  now 
  

   known 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  Little 
  Grebe, 
  to 
  which 
  species 
  the 
  birds 
  figured 
  on 
  

   t. 
  70 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  British 
  Miscellany 
  ' 
  undoubtedly 
  belong. 
  — 
  0. 
  V. 
  Aplin 
  

   (Bloxham, 
  Oxon). 
  

  

  Notes 
  on 
  Nest-Boxes. 
  — 
  During 
  the 
  past 
  season 
  we 
  have 
  had 
  in 
  our 
  

   nest-boxes, 
  drain-pipes, 
  &c, 
  Great 
  Tits, 
  Blue 
  Tits, 
  Nuthatches, 
  Tree- 
  

   Sparrows, 
  House- 
  Sparrows, 
  Starlings, 
  and 
  one 
  brood 
  of 
  Wrynecks. 
  

   The 
  increase 
  of 
  Tree- 
  Sparrows 
  during 
  the 
  hist 
  few 
  years 
  is 
  remarkable, 
  

   as 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  seven 
  or 
  eight 
  years 
  after 
  coming 
  here 
  in 
  1887, 
  I 
  

   did 
  not 
  see 
  a 
  nest 
  or 
  an 
  egg, 
  and 
  this 
  year 
  at 
  least 
  six 
  boxes 
  have 
  been 
  

   occupied 
  by 
  these 
  little 
  birds. 
  One 
  pair 
  of 
  Great 
  Tits 
  brought 
  off 
  a 
  

   family 
  in 
  a 
  House- 
  Sparrow's 
  nest 
  of 
  which 
  they 
  took 
  possession. 
  The 
  

   "Wryneck's 
  nest 
  was 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  box 
  which 
  I 
  had 
  forgotten, 
  and 
  I 
  did 
  

   not 
  see 
  it 
  till 
  the 
  young 
  were 
  hatched. 
  One 
  must 
  see 
  " 
  Mrs. 
  Wryneck 
  

   at 
  Home," 
  with 
  the 
  lid 
  of 
  her 
  dwelling 
  removed, 
  to 
  appreciate 
  the 
  

   accuracy 
  of 
  the 
  name, 
  the 
  contortions 
  of 
  the 
  creature's 
  neck 
  and 
  body 
  

   under 
  those 
  conditions 
  being 
  most 
  interesting. 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  a 
  friend 
  

   take 
  down 
  one 
  of 
  his 
  boxes 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  Wryneck 
  was 
  sitting 
  on 
  her 
  

   eggs, 
  lift 
  off 
  the 
  lid, 
  exhibit 
  the 
  occupant, 
  and 
  hang 
  her 
  up 
  again 
  with- 
  

   out 
  her 
  flying 
  off. 
  A 
  few 
  days 
  ago 
  I 
  found 
  five 
  adult 
  Great 
  Bats 
  in 
  a 
  

   box 
  occupied 
  earlier 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  by 
  Starlings, 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  once, 
  in 
  

   examining 
  a 
  Tree-Sparrow's 
  nest, 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  the 
  large 
  Red-tailed 
  

   Bee 
  in 
  possession. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  I 
  killed 
  a 
  green 
  Hornet 
  in 
  

   an 
  old 
  weather-beaten 
  box, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  wood 
  had 
  become 
  soft 
  and 
  

   decayed. 
  — 
  Julian 
  G. 
  Tuck 
  (Tostock 
  Rectory, 
  Bury 
  St. 
  Edmunds, 
  

   Suffolk). 
  

  

  Migratory 
  Notes, 
  &c, 
  for 
  May 
  and 
  June. 
  — 
  Cuckoo 
  (Cu&ulus 
  canorus) 
  

   first 
  heard 
  around 
  here 
  on 
  May 
  1st, 
  and 
  heard 
  to 
  about 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  

   June; 
  Corn-Crake 
  (Crex 
  protends) 
  on 
  May 
  15th 
  ; 
  Swallows 
  {Hirundo 
  

  

  