Birds. 825 



nest of the Oriole is generally suspended from the bough of a tree, and not fixed 

 between upright boughs, as in the case above described. — /. Pemberton Bartlett ; 

 Kingston, near Canterbury, Dec. 1844. 



Occurrence of the Lapland Bunting (Plectrophanes Lapponica), near Brighton, 

 Sussex. Early in the month of October, 1844, 1 obtained a specimen of this rare bird, 

 which was taken in a net, with a number of larks, on the Downs, near the town of 

 Brighton. According to Mr. Yarrell, in his * History of British Birds,' vol. i. p. 422, 

 only four specimens are as yet on record as having been taken in Great Britain ; and 

 this specimen will appear the more interesting, as it differs in plumage from all of 

 those. The specimen in question is undergoing a change in the colour of the feathers 

 of the head, throat, and front of the breast. These parts, instead of being velvet 

 black (as in the adult male's nuptial plumage), are much mixed with greyish white ; 

 not from a new series of feathers, but from a change in the colour of the feathers them- 

 selves. Over the eye is a brownish white streak, whitest towards the base of the bill — 

 a narrow baud of white passes from the occiput down the sides of the neck, and round 

 the upper part of the breast, forming a conspicuous boundary to the dark plumage of 

 the throat, and upper part of the neck and breast. From the base of the lower man- 

 dible a narrow streak of white passes downwards, till it nearly joins the above-men- 

 tioned white band, about the middle of the sides of the neck: thus a triangular patch 

 of black, almost uninterrupted by the lighter feathers, is shut in on the cheek — the 

 lighter feathers have most nearly obliterated the black on the chin, and middle of the 

 neck in front. The bright chestnut colour on the nape of the neck, and upper part of 

 the back, is very distinctly defined, but duller than in the summer plumage ; the bill 

 is bluish- red, excepting the tip, which is black. In all other respects it agrees with 

 Mr. Yarrell's description of the adult male in spring aud summer. This specimen 

 was caught ou the 30th of September last, and brought alive to a bird-preserver at 

 Brighton. He informs me that its manner in the cage was similar to that of a newly 

 captured sky-lark, running on the floor, and jumping over the perches : the only note 

 it uttered was a harsh chirp. I took this specimen to Mr. Yarrell, in November last, 

 and he at once pronounced that it had bred during the last summer. This appears to 

 be the only adult male which has yet occurred in Britain. — William Borrer,jun., 

 Cowfold, Sussex, December Wth, 1844. 



Nest and Eggs of Long-tailed Titmouse and Golden-crested Wren. I have met 

 with something unusual relative to the eggs and nidification of two species of birds, 

 since the notices with regard to them have appeared in the ' British Eggs,' which are, 

 I think, worth a record. There is in Mr. Empson's museum, at Bath, a nest of the 

 Long-tailed Titmouse, which has a hole at each side of it, so that it has the appear- 

 ance of a basket, the dome over it forming the handles. This is not new ; I mention 

 it to bear testimony to a previous notice by Mr. Selby, on the same subject. Last 

 spring I saw a nest of the Golden-crested Wren, which was placed in the centre of a 

 low juniper-bush, and very little more than a foot above the ground. The eggs were, 

 too, so totally different from those usual to the species, that, together with the strange 

 position of the nest, I was almost in hopes that they would prove to be something new. 

 The bird was, however, taken upon the nest, and examined. The eggs, instead of 

 being, as they usually are, of an oblong form, and closely freckled all over with rust- 

 coloured markings, were like those of the willow wren, nearly round, of a pure white, 

 and sparingly spotted with reddish-brown here and there, like eggs of the marsh 

 titmouse, and the sparingly spotted variety of those of the willow-wren. — W. C. 

 Heivitson, Bristol, Dec. 1844. 



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