Vol. xi.] 14 



the worst exposure for the boxes, the best height for which 

 was from four to six feet from the ground. A heavy lid that 

 will open enables the boxes to be cleaned and the old nests 

 taken out every year, a few holes being pierced in the bottom 

 of the box for draining purposes. The heavy solid boxes 

 must be fixed firmly. 



Four species of Tits used these boxes, but 80 per cent, of 

 the number were occupied by Blue and Great Tits, the latter 

 predominating. Occasionally, however, the case was reversed, 

 and Blue Tits were the predominating occupants. Wrynecks 

 used them often, preferring boxes in open situations, and a 

 pair of these birds would often devastate a number of Tits' 

 nests, without using the boxes themselves. Nuthatches 

 frequently availed themselves of the boxes, plastering the 

 holes round with mud as well as the inside of the lid after the 

 box had been fastened down. This year (1900) they took to 

 the boxes so freely that out of 25 within a limited area no 

 less than 17 were occupied by them. 



Large boxes fixed in trees at from 20 to 30 feet from the 

 ground, of the size of 20 inches square, with a double-span 

 roof, and a projecting eave of about 4 inches over the hole, 

 were occupied by Barn- and Tawny Owls, Jackdaws, Stock- 

 Doves, and Kestrels, while Squirrels and Stoats occasionally 

 took them. Kestrels were the prevailing birds this year, no 

 fewer than five pairs nesting round one field, in which about 

 1000 young Pheasants were reared, and the Hawks never 

 touched any of the latter, though they passed over the field 

 repeatedly in all directions. Mr. Meade- Waldo would not 

 imply that Kestrels did not occasionally take young Pheasants 

 from the coops, but as voles swarmed throughout the nesting- 

 season in some of the young plantations, the Kestrels doubtless 

 found abundance of their favourite food. All these Kestrels 

 disappeared about the beginning of August, after which time 

 scarcely a bird was to be seen. Many other species of birds 

 occupied boxes occasionally ; though there were practically 

 unlimited nesting-sites in the neighbourhood, but few boxes 

 were left untenanted. 



