NOTES AND QUERIES. 275 



marking the spot from which they departed, I think it may be worth while 

 to put this on record. — Charles F. Archibald (Rusland Hall, Ulverston). 



Nesting Habits of the Oystercatcher. — Amongst the objects collected 

 by these birds to form nests I have observed the dry droppings of Rabbits 

 on more than one occasion. This was on a Rabbit warren on Walney 

 Island. Do Oystercatchers occasionally suck eggs ? On the shores of 

 Cardigan Bay I once saw some Lesser Terns dash angrily at a " Sea Pie," 

 which ducked its head each time. Close to the spot I found an egg, 

 evidently sucked, though not recently. — Charles F. Archibald. 



Nesting of the Dunlin in Wales. — It may be of interest to ornitholo- 

 gists to know that I found a nest of the Dunlin, Tringa aljpina, containing 

 four eggs, in Merionethshire on May 29th last. It was placed in some 

 short heather on the top of Clogwyn Llwyd, a moorland 1600 feet above 

 the level of the sea, and lying midway between Llanuwchllyn and Traws- 

 fynydd.— H. S. Davenport. [See Zool. 1893, p. 269.— Ed.] 



Wood Pigeons nesting near the Ground.— I have on at least two 

 occasions found Wood Pigeons, Columba palumbus, breeding close to the 

 ground, as mentioned by your correspondent Mr. Witherby (p. 232). In 

 each instance the nest was placed in a low tuft of blackthorn, and was not 

 a foot above terra firma. Perhaps the most remarkable fact was that the 

 blackthorn scrub grew in a wood which presented every facility for nesting 

 in trees, and other Wood Pigeons which were breeding there built in 

 ordinary situations. I have found nests of the Stock Dove, C. anas, on the 

 ground amongst ivy where the surroundings have been rocky, but in every 

 case the nest was near the edge of a small cliff or rocky buttress. I have 

 also found the eggs of these birds in rabbit-holes, or ledges of rock, about 

 old ruins, in hollow trees, in old Magpies' nests, in Squirrels' nests, once 

 in a Wood Pigeons' nest, and in pollard willows, &c. They are now fairly 

 plentiful in some parts of the south of Scotland, where they breed annually. — 

 J. J. Armistead (Solway Fishery, Dumfries). 



Greenfinch appropriating Thrush's Nest. — Last spring a pair of 

 Thrushes built their nest in a yew-tree hard by my house. The old birds 

 disappeared, and the nest being forsaken I paid no further attention to it, 

 until one day in the middle of June I heard a great chirping proceeding 

 from it. Having procured a ladder I went up to have a look, and on my 

 mounting to the top four young Greenfinches scuttled out of the nest. 

 No extra lining had been put in, and there were the four Thrush's eggs, 

 somewhat covered with debris, but unbroken. The Greenfinches had 

 unlimited opportunities for selecting more comfortable quarters. — H» 

 Marmaduke Langdale (Thorneycroft, Compton, Petersfield). 



