

NOTES AND QUERIES. 227 



Pheasant nesting in a tree. — A hen Pheasant was recently found 

 sitting upon ten eggs in a Pigeon's nest in a fir-tree at about six feet from 

 the ground, in a covert on my brother's shootings near Barnwell, North- 

 ampton. — T. M. Wickham. 



[It would be interesting to know whether the eggs were duly hatched, 

 and how the young birds were brought down ; for, as stated in the 4th ed. 

 of ' Yarrell ' (vol. iii. p. 99), lofty situations, such as old nests and squirrel's 

 dreys in trees, are sometimes selected by Pheasants, but the entire brood is 

 rarely brought down in safety. — Ed.] 



Hooded Crow breeding in Northumberland.— It may interest readers 

 of • The Zoologist ' to know that the Hooded Crow, Corvus comix, has bred 

 for some years in the neighbourhood of Cheviot in Northumberland. The 

 text-books, as a rule, define the border-line between England and Scotland 

 as the normal southern limit of breeding-range of this crow in this portion 

 of our islands, and as it is well known how commonly the Hoodie breeds 

 in southern Scotland, there is nothing extraordinary in its breeding in 

 Northumberland. In 1890 a friend of mine told me he had seen a pair 

 of Hooded Crows at a nest on his shooting near Cheviot, and that at the 

 same time certain young crows were fledged and flying about close at hand. 

 These young birds, which could fly only a short distance without alighting, 

 were close to a certain nest from which young birds had recently flown, and 

 the two old crows in attendance were both Grey-backs. The young crows, 

 on the other hand, my friend told me, were all quite black and not hooded ! 

 Last year (1893) a pair of Hooded Crows again bred close to the same old 

 nest, and the keeper shot one of the old ones off the nest, which contained 

 small young newly hatched. This spring a pair of Hoodies have again 

 nested close to the same old place. It may be added that Carrion Crows 

 are also exceedingly common in this region, although they are being rapidly 

 put down, owing to the havoc these birds work in any district where game 

 is preserved. The place where the Hooded Crows, above mentioned, 

 breed is within a very few miles of the Scottish border, and ordinarily one 

 would attach no importance to it, save for the purposes of county 

 ornithology. — Alfred C. Chapman (Moor House, Leamside, Co. Durham). 



The White Wagtail in Anglesea. — While staying at Rhos Neigr, a 

 small village on the west coast of Anglesea, from April 28th to May 2nd, I 

 noted many Wagtails, some in small flocks and some in pairs, both on the 

 shore and on the banks of Llyn Maelog, which is close to the sea. All of 

 these were Motacilla alba, but I could not make out that any were 

 actually breeding. Further inland, on May 2nd, Motacilla lugubris was 

 the species I observed. — W. Henry Dobie (Chester). 



Marsh Harrier nesting near Oxford.— Some years ago I purchased 

 from Mr. Leonard Buttress, of Westbridge, Hendon, an egg of the Marsh 



