NOTES AND QUERIES. Ill 



confinement ; one was afterwards shot. On April 11th Mr. Davies saw a 

 pair of Green Sandpipers, Tetanus ochropus, on migration near Elstead. 

 Nothing of special interest occurred during the summer months, but during 

 the first week in August we again saw several Green Sandpipers with 

 Common Sandpipers on migration ; the latter were very common on our 

 river all this month. On Sept. 11th I went with Mr. Davies to a large 

 pond in the neighbourhood of Farnham, where, to my great surprise, I saw 

 a solitary Golden Plover, Charadrius pluvialis, among some Peewits, an 

 unusually early date for this species. We also saw a Greenshank, Totanus 

 canescens, feeding on the shores of the lake ; this bird was very wary, but 

 with the aid of a glass we were able to identify it perfectly. On the 16th 

 we saw an unusually large " charm " of Goldfinches, quite forty or fifty 

 birds. On Sept. 20th 1 heard a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Picus minor. 

 On Oct. 9th the first winter Snipe arrived, and on the 17th the first Teal ; 

 both these species breed in the neighbourhood, and we have found the nests 

 within the last few years; they do not appear in the river valley in the 

 summer months. On the 17th the first Fieldfares arrived. On the 31st 

 a Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus, was found in a bedroom of our house. On 

 Nov. 5th I was surprised to see a Snipe sitting on a boundary stone ; also 

 a Willow Wren or Chiffchaff, I am not sure which, as it was getting dusk 

 at the time. On the 6th the first Redwings arrived. On the 15th the 

 first Siskins, Chrysomitris spinus, arrived ; five were taken by a bird- 

 catcher, and the others have been with us ever since in considerable num- 

 bers, feeding on the catkins of the alders ; they may be seen clinging to 

 the twigs in every conceivable position, like Tits, and keeping up a low but 

 incessant twittering, — with them are a few Lesser Redpolls ; and Gold- 

 finches, which seem very plentiful this autumn, consort with both species. 

 On Dec. 1 7th I saw five Snipe sitting on a rail, and on the 1 8th Mr. Davies 

 and I saw two Snipe perched on the top of an alder, quite 30 feet from the 

 ground. — R. S. Robertson (Godalmiug). 



Hybrid Sparrows.— The Rev. J. G. Tuck has recently forwarded for 

 my inspection a Sparrow which was 6hot with a number of others on 

 Jan. 13th, in a farm-yard near Bury St. Edmunds, and which he considered 

 to be a hybrid between Passer domesticus and Passer montanus. In this 

 opinion it is pretty evident he is right. The bird has the plumage of the 

 Tree Sparrow, but with only a faint indication of the black cheek-patch, and 

 has the crown almost grey, like that of the House Sparrow, while the beak 

 in size and form is intermediate between the two. Considering that the 

 Tree Sparrow is locally common, and the House Sparrow generally 

 abundant, such hybrids as this might be expected to occur frequently in a 

 state of nature. Possibly they do ; but if so, they are rarely detected. 

 Several instances have been reported of the two species pairing in captivity. 

 One such case occurred in an aviary at the Zoological Society's Gardens in 



