200 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



of rats" in a tall bush in a lane-fence close to Pilton. He stirred 

 up this " cluster," and found that it was composed of some fifty 

 or more Long-tailed Tits. This is by no means the first occur- 

 rence of this kind tbat has come to my knowledge in our 

 neighbourhood; but in my experience these closely-packed 

 congregations have been generally met with in the depth of 

 winter. 



May. 



8th. About a dozen Fieldfares seen at Tichmarsh. 

 18th. A Jack Snipe seen near Warmington Mill by Mr. J. Crisp. 



June. 



19th. I received a letter from Capt. J. B. Maunsell Tibbits, 

 in which he informed me that a pair of King Ouzels were haunting 

 his garden at Kothwell Grange. I may mention that, although 

 I have no positive record of the nesting of this species in our 

 county in my lifetime, Morton, in his ' Natural History of 

 Northamptonshire' (1712), states with reference to the Eing 

 Ouzel, " With us it has bred in bushes on the sides of a pretty 

 steep valley between Clipston and Marston, in Clipston Lord- 

 ship. 1 ' And I have strong presumptive evidence of its having 

 bred in the county besides that afforded by the presence of a pair 

 of these birds at Rothwell at this season. 



25th. Four male Teal, in full plumage, dropped on to our 

 aviary-pond, but only remained for a few hours. 



26th. Four young Pied Woodpeckers were brought to me 

 from a hole in a tall oak on the property of one of my neighbours. 

 These birds fed well, and appeared to thrive for a few weeks, but 

 one after another began to droop, and all four were set at liberty. 

 I have good reason to believe that all recovered their health and 

 strength. 



July. 



3rd. Mr. W. Tomalin informed me by letter that on this day, 

 whilst fishing near Ringstead, he twice saw, and clearly identified, 

 four Curlew Sandpipers. 



10th. I received, for identification, two fresh unblown eggs 

 of Great Crested Grebe, taken at Ravensthorpe Reservoir, from 

 Mr. J. Eunson. These are the first Northamptonshire eggs of 

 this species that I have handled, though I was previously well 

 aware of the breeding of this Grebe in our county. 



