NOTES Afci) QUERIES, 23 



Ornithological Notes from Worcestershire. — On the evening of July 

 4th, 1891, I saw two Curlews, Numenius arquata, fly over ray garden at 

 King's Heath. They were making direct for Cafton or Bromsgrove. I 

 have upon two previous occasions seen Curlews in this district during the 

 summer time. The keeper of Cafton Reservoir, near Bromsgrove, tells me 

 that Curlews are of fairly frequent occurrence there during the summer 

 months, and his observations have been supplemented by information I 

 have received from a gentleman living near the Reservoir. Does not this 

 suggest the possibility of the bird nesting in this district? The high 

 heath-land on Lord Windsor's estate would be a suitable spot. The Wheat- 

 ear, Saxicola cenanthe, is a decidedly rare bird in this district, and its 

 occurrence is well worth recording. On August 16th, 1891, I saw two 

 young specimens in a meadow at King's Heath, near my own house. In 

 September, 1890, I saw one adult at exactly the same spot. I have once 

 received this bird from Bromsgrove (fifteen years back), and once also from 

 Quinton (about four years ago). An adult female Ring Ouzel, Turdus 

 torquatus, was shot at Quinton on the 28th October, 1891. On April 17th, 

 1891, I secured a fine adult male, with the head largely speckled with 

 white, shot at Northfield ; both in Worcestershire. A female Merlin, Falco 

 cesalon, nearly adult, was caught in a net at Black Heath, Worcestershire, 

 on Nov. 4th, 1891. This bird is now a rare visitor to us. — F. Coburn 

 (7, Holloway Head, Birmingham). 



Ground-building Birds removing Egg-shells. — Referring to the 

 remarks on this subject by Mr. F. M. Ogilvie (Zool. 1891, p. 445), the 

 Whaup, or Curlew, Numenius arquata, makes an open nest, and does not 

 remove the egg-shells immediately the young are hatched. On the evening 

 of May 19th, 1891, I found a nest of this bird. T took one of the four 

 eggs, which was quite fresh, and continued to watch the nest. On June 

 18th, the thirtieth day after finding it, I noticed one egg chipped in the 

 morning. I re-visited the nest in the middle of the day, and heard the 

 young chick squeaking inside the shell. On my third visit, at night, the 

 down-covered youngster was sitting — though barely able to do so — in the 

 nest beside the other two eggs and the empty shell. This latter I took up, 

 and observed that it was not broken in two parts (like a Partridge's egg, for 

 example), but that the bird had come out at the larger end. The young bird 

 made a faint squeaking while I was looking at it. On the following morning 

 I found the young bird two or three yards from the nest. I replaced it, but 

 it ran out again. In the afternoon I again saw it further off than before. 

 The old bird sat two days longer on the other eggs (which were both rotten) 

 before leaving them. On Sept. 5th, after the Whaups had all left the 

 moors, I came on one of their nests, for which I had looked in vain in the 

 summer, with the bits of egg-shells lying jn and near it. — Robert Godfrey 

 (46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh). 



