86 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



probable that this is not its first occurrence in England, though 

 it may have been one of the introduced Bullfinches mentioned by 

 Mr. Tuck (Zool. 1892, p. 145). 



There is little to record in February, except that the 

 Sparrows were picking all the yellow crocusses to pieces, and 

 some Waxwings made their appearance, as will be mentioned 

 presently. 



Mr. Southwell reported an adult female Goshawk on March 

 29th at Somerleyton, and later on in the spring a Serin Finch 

 came under his observation. The latter was taken by a bird- 

 catcher named Crompton at Saxmundham, in Suffolk, and was sent 

 to Yarmouth, where Mr. Patterson is confident he saw another. 

 It lived in a cage until July, and was a female bird, very dark in 

 plumage, the result possibly of confinement, and more or less 

 artificial food. 



In January, February, and March, there was a considerable 

 incursion of Waxwings in Norfolk, and twenty-five are noted in 

 my diary as having been killed, while several others were seen, 

 the latest on March 6th, at Weston, and March 20th at Warham. 

 The slaughter was not so great as it was twenty-six years ago, 

 and one fine bird which paid me a visit was allowed to pass on 

 unscathed. Whitethorns with haws upon them are the chief 

 attraction to Waxwings. 



April 18th. — A Grey Shrike was seen near Holt by Mr.Pashley. 

 22nd.— A Grey-headed Wagtail at Bradwell (T. Southwell). The 

 Rev. Maurice N. Bird reported, through Mr. Southwell, that two 

 Avocets were seen at Hickling on the 23rd, a pair of Jack Snipes 

 on the 24th, thirteen Spoonbills on the 28th, and a White-winged 

 Black Tern and two Gadwalls on May 5th. 



Turning now from rare birds to some of the commoner 

 species, I may note that April was very prolific of Long-tailed 

 Tits' nests, of which there were six at Keswick — two in white- 

 thorn, two in yews, one in a box-tree, and one in a juniper. The 

 old notion that these nests have two holes is not quite exploded, 

 notwithstanding they have only one ; and it is very comical to see 

 both head and tail sticking out of the one aperture at the same 

 time. How the young escape suffocation is a mystery. 



At Wroxham several Tits— presumably Parus major — -were 

 reported to be seen feeding on wasps, which were so abnormally 

 abundant in August as to be a perfect plague. It was reported to 



