NOTES AND QUERIES. 855 



intervals whilst I was watching the nest. The fourth egg was 

 cracked, but showed no signs of movement inside. 31st: All four 

 eggs hatched. June 2nd : Nest and young safe. The latter are 

 covered with a blue-grey down. 7th : Young growing. The dark- 

 brown feathers of adolescence are beginning to make themselves 

 noticeable, especially on the back. Between this date and the 14th 

 I was prevented by duties from visiting the nest, but on the latter 

 date the youngsters had gone. 



Goldfinch {Carduelis elegans). May 26th : Situated a little over 

 3 ft. from the ground, in a bush at the top of a high bank, I found a 

 Goldfinch's nest. It was beautifully made of wool and hair through- 

 out, and held five eggs. There was no bird sitting on the nest when 

 I found it, but on the following evening (the 27th) I approached the 

 nest as quietly as the surrounding vegetation would permit, and saw 

 the hen bird sitting. She seemed very tame, and let me come quite 

 close, though eyeing me all the time with a certain amount of 

 suspicion. 28th : Eggs safe. 30th : Two of the eggs hatched ; the 

 others show no signs of hatching just at present. The two young 

 that are hatched are covered with long, white, hair-like down. 

 June 7th and 8th : Visited the nest on both these dates. The young 

 birds are growing fast, though they are still covered with the long 

 white down. The skin has a bluish appearance. 14th : 5 p.m., one 

 bird only in the nest. 6.30 p.m., found the rest of the family in a 

 tree about 200 yards away from the nest. 



Skylark {Alaucla arvensis) . June 27th: Whilst walking along the 

 Eastbourne road this evening, on my way back from making an 

 observation of the Linnet's nest above mentioned, I was startled by 

 a Lark flying up from the grass at the side of the road. After a little 

 searching I found the nest with four eggs, and, judging from the 

 weight, I thought they would not be long before they hatched. I 

 was rather doubtful whether the Lark would succeed in hatching the 

 eggs, as the nest was so near to the road. On the 28th the eggs 

 were safe, and by the 30th all four were hatched. July 1st : Young 

 birds safe. 5th : Two of the birds have disappeared. I do not think 

 they have left, as, when I looked at the nest nest time (the 9th), 

 the other two young, though quite strong, had not done so. They 

 stumbled out of the nest into the long grass when I uncovered the 

 nest. I should have liked to have watched the nest closely to see 

 exactly what day the birds did leave the nest altogether, but was 

 unable to do so until the 12th. On this date the nest was empty, so 

 I hunted round the nest, but could find no trace of the young. 



Reed Warbler {Acrocephalus strejjerus). June 7th : A nest I 



