322 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Cirl Bunting in Carnarvonshire. — As an interesting fact bearing upon 

 the apparent extension of the range of the Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) 

 in North Wales (if, indeed, it really is extending its range, and has not 

 merely escaped notice until recently in some localities it is now known 

 to inhabit), I should like to record that on the' 29th June I watched, 

 and listened for some time to the song of, a nlale of this species at Llanbe- 

 drog, about four miles west of Pwllheli. I could hear another bird singing 

 at a little distance. The particular spot was the beautiful sheltered garden 

 of Glyn-y-Weddw, which is heavily planted with conifers and other trees, 

 and partly surrounded with plantations. Here, in the soft air, myrtles, 

 escallonias, bays, fuchsias, and even camellias and other tender plants 

 flourish in the open. The fact of the Cirl Bunting singing on and off from 

 noon to two o'clock on that particular day, when the leaden sky, growling 

 thunder, and warm heavy air were enough to depress all living creatures, 

 shows that this species, like the Corn and Yellow Buntings, is a persistent 

 singer after the early freshness of the day and the summer is past. — 0. V. 

 Aplin (Bloxham, Oxon). 



Appearance of the Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) 

 in Yorkshire. — While I was sitting in a small wood some three miles from 

 Beverley, my atteution was attracted by the violent actions of two birds 

 which seemed to be mobbing something. In a short time they came 

 closer, and I saw that the object of their ire was a Great Spotted Wood- 

 pecker. The smaller birds were Greenfinches, and they were making 

 furious dashes at the Woodpecker as he hung on to the trunk of a tree. 

 The reason for their attack was obvious, as, when the Woodpecker had gone, 

 I found a Greenfinch's nest, with the bird sitting on it, quite close to the 

 spot. This was on May 27th. — A. H. Meiklejohn (104, Gilda Brook 

 Road, Eccles, Lancashire). 



Economy of the Cuckoo. — Referring to the notes of Mr. Tuck (Zool. 

 1898, p. 477) on the economy of the Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), it is not an 

 exceptionally rare occurrence to find two eggs deposited in one nest in this 

 district; but the Cuckoo scarcely or ever selects the nest of the Hedge- 

 Sparrow. Roughly speaking, 80 per cent, are laid in the nest of the 

 Titlark, 5 per cent, in that of the Whinchat, and the rest in nests of 

 various species. My sons once brought me an egg which had been laid 

 in the nest of a Ring-Ouzel. Whilst at Marley some time ago, with 

 Mr. Carter, of Bradford, we found a Titlark's nest containing two Cuckoo's 

 eggs, which were remarkable on account of the fact that both the Titlark's 

 and Cuckoo's eggs deviated in a marked degree from the normal type, 

 the former being scarcely distinguishable from the Pied Wagtail, with 

 which, in colour and markings, the eggs of the Cuckoo very closely 



