82 THE OENITHOLOGIST. 



how in one morning's walk in a wood — a remnant of the old 

 Northumbrian forest — he had found three Sparrow-hawk's 

 nests, all of which were built in oaks. 



Only this spring, in a certain locality in Leicestershire, 

 where Magpies are a little too numerous in the opinion of the 

 shooting tenant, I had taken the eggs from two nests of the 

 latter species, built as is customary at the tops of fairly tall 

 trees, but a Sparrow-hawk which bred in the same wood a 

 little later on chose to construct a new nest in a small fir, in 

 preference to adapting one of these empty nests of the Magpie. 

 In Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire all the nests I have seen 

 have been placed in firs or oaks, chiefly the latter, and generally 

 on some stout branch and near to the main stem. As a rule 

 I think the Sparrow-hawk constructs a new nest every year, 

 and though in many cases the parent birds undoubtedly utilise 

 an old Wood Pigeon's or other nest as a foundation for their 

 superstructure, still on the other hand, I believe they at other 

 times construct their own home in its entirety. As an instance 

 of the latter fact, I can point to the last nest I found. This 

 was in a tree which a gamekeeper had passed several times 

 during the spring without observing a trace of a nest, and on 

 further examination I found, close at hand, but further in the 

 wood, two previous nests, one of which contained a large 

 accumulation of small bones of mammals and birds, the 

 young having got off in this case in the previous year. 

 49,'Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham. 



By J. J. Baldwin Young. 



On the !24th ult. I found a Sparrow-hawk's nest in a small 

 wood by Lough Coun, Co. Mayo. Having in mind Mr. H. S. 

 Davenport's article in the then current number of the Oeni- 

 thologist, a friend who accompanied me, and I, examined the 

 nest and its surroundings most carefully. The result was that 

 we satisfied ourselves that there was not a trace of old nest 

 underlying the new. The whole structure was composed of 

 fresh material. I may say that the nest was built in a tall 

 thin spruce. 



Richmond Park, via Sheffield. 



Erratum. — Page 62, line 10, for " ed. 4 " read " ed. 3." 



