222 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



grass tussocks here and there, neglected fields containing clumps of stunted 

 blackthorn bushes and brambles, dingles furnished with little alder bushes, 

 and dry wastes of low cover. In places of this kind it nests, and may be 

 heard singing during the season, the favourite haunt being round Llangorse 

 Lake, where it may be termed common. I first heard the unmistakable 

 little trill of this bird when I came to live here fifteen years ago, and found 

 the first nest on May 29th, 1888. It was placed in a tuft of rushes, and 

 contained five fresh eggs, two of which, with the nest, are now in the 

 Natural History Museum, South Kensington. I have since found five 

 more nests. Eggs from three sets in my possession are mostly zoned ; 

 one clutch taken on June 9th, 1893, is unusually highly coloured. Every 

 nest is wonderfully well concealed. If it contains eggs the sitting bird 

 disappears at once in the nearest cover ; if there are young, both birds 

 come back and commence creeping and tumbling about, wings and tails 

 spread, within three or four yards of a bystander's feet, uttering a rapid 

 metallic " tick." For some years I tried to shoot a male bird before the 

 nesting season, but without success, owing to the persistent way in which it 

 keeps out of sight when singing, and have been obliged to content myself 

 with a pair of nestlings, which, set up in a nest, make a nice little case. 

 With a bird like this, which is often heard but seldom seen, the song is all- 

 importaut for ideutitication purposes. In this case it seems to me to be 

 precisely like the sound made in drawing out a line from a small Trout 

 fishing-reel the check spriug of which happens to have the right pitch. 

 During fifteen years the earliest date on which I have heard the song is 

 April 15th, and the latest July 24th. It is sometimes to be heard in July 

 in fields of standing wheat. — E. A. Swainson (Woodlands, Brecon). 



Common Crossbill in Worcestershire.— Whilst rambling over Brake 

 Wood, near Churchill, on April 15th last, I noticed a few Crossbills (Loxia 

 curvirostra) among the Scotch firs, busily employed with the cones. Upon 

 making enquiries from the keeper, he stated that he had noticed them there 

 for the last three years, sometimes numbering upwards of fifty, though this 

 winter not so plentiful. I could not satisfy myself that they were breeding 

 there. The cover is only a small one, and gave me a splendid opportunity 

 of finding their nest had they been so doing. — J. Steele-Elliott (Hill- 

 crest, Clent). 



Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) in North Cheshire.— On April 12th, 

 when walking in some meadows about six miles from Manchester, I noticed 

 a bird flying about a low fence close to a railway embankment. I went 

 cautiously towards it, keeping close to the fence. The bird kept flying in 

 and out of the gaps in the fence, often settling in the grass, and occasionally 

 making an attempt at a song. At first the yellow on the head made me 



