186 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



was no mistaking them. ; they were much paler than M. lugubris, being 

 ash-grey on the upper parts instead of black, and more white about the 

 sides of the head and the neck. — Basil W. Martin (Hampstead). 



In spite of Mr. Martin's assurance, I may point out that there is a 

 danger of mistaking these birds in the month of August, as young Pied 

 Wagtails at that time so much resemble White Wagtails that I should not 

 care myself to accept the above identification as beyond dispute. The 

 spring is the safest time to identify White Wagtails, and even then it must 

 be remembered that there exists in this country a form of M. lugubris 

 which is practically intermediate between typical examples of that species 

 and of M. alba. Indeed, were I to come across an observer whose ideas of 

 Pied Wagtails were confined to the more than sooty examples he would 

 meet with on the South Downs, and were I to ask him to accompany me 

 to the valley of the Trent after the arrival of the Wagtails in spring, he 

 would probably see there birds which he might, with justice, pronounce at 

 first sight to be his idea of White Wagtails. — H. Kirke Swann. 



Late Nesting. — I found the nest of a Greenfinch with four eggs on 

 August 23rd — rather a late date. A Yellow Bunting's nest and two fresh 

 eggs were found on the 24th. — C. Milburn (Middlesbro'). 



The Ringdove. — In the spring of 1894 I found, within a short distance 

 of each other, two nests of the Ringdove, which, in addition to the 

 ordinary platform of sticks, were thickly lined with some sort of vegetable 

 down. Is not this very unusual ? I can find no instance of it mentioned 

 in any work on ornithology, and I have never myself since met with a similar 

 case. — D. E. McCausland (Hereford). 



Double-Yolked Egg. — I have in my collection a double-yolked egg of 

 the Chiff-Chaff, taken with three others from a nest at Dinedor, near 

 this town, in 1894. Perhaps this is worth recording, as double-yolked eggs 

 are rarely laid except by birds kept in confinement. — 1). E. McCausland. 



Notes from Herefordshire. — Owing to the recent gales we had visits 

 from marine birds. On September 26th a Tern (St erna fluviatilis) was shot 

 on the River Wye near Ross. Three days later a second (of the same 

 species) was obtained. Both are in my possession. On October 10th I saw 

 a flock of at least twenty common Gulls flying over the town, apparently 

 from one bend of the river to another. —William Blake (Ross, Hereford- 

 shire). 



The Grey Phalarope. — A fine specimen of the Grey Phalarope was 

 shot here on September 27th by a farm labourer. — J. Ward (Blacklands, 

 Calne, Wilts). 



