NOTES AND QUERIES. 409 



brook and the Dart, where the horses cross at the races, and I suppose 

 here in the Ley, huudreds breed every year. Nests I have found by 

 dozens, built on four reeds generally, but sometimes three, so that in case 

 the water should rise, the nest would float up and down." In a subsequent 

 communication, received a few days later, Mr. Toll states : — " In a small 

 piece of reeds at Torcross, now broken down by Starlings, my brother found 

 several Reed Warblers' nests. He has taken two or three, but they are 

 much damaged ; one has eggs, and the bird evidently deserted the nest 



owiug to the Starlings My brother tells me that the reeds were full 



of warblers at the end of the Ley. During a dry summer, when we were 

 children, we used to hunt for the warblers' nests, and see who could find a 

 nest on the longest reeds to put in the nursery : we must have taken 

 hundreds of such nests. When I send you the nests and eggs you will be 

 able to see for yourself how beautifully the nests are made of the tops of last 

 year's reeds." I duly received the nests, eggs, and also specimens of the 

 bird. Not the least interesting part of Mr. Toll's communication is the 

 statement that the Starlings disturb the breeding warblers, for the Starlings 

 do not flock to the Ley till August, and this is a late date for the warblers 

 to be sitting. — E. A. S. Elliot (Kingsbridge, S. Devon). 



Exportation of Larks and Thrushes.— Quite a trade in Larks and 

 Thrushes is carried on between Brighton and Paris, throughout the whole 

 of the winter season, by wholesale netting on the Brighton Downs. From 

 a dozen to twenty hampers full of these birds (averaging about 14 fbs. per 

 hamper) are sent off daily to Paris alone, to say nothing of those which are 

 retained for home consumption. 



The Hoopoe in Somersetshire. — On the 7th Sept. last a Hoopoe, 

 Vpupa epops, was shot in au orchard at Berrow, and was seen, in the flesh, 

 at the local birdstuffer's at Burnham by my friend Mr. Wm. Stoate, who 

 kindly sent me a notice of the occurrence. So far as I know, this is the 

 first authenticated instance of this species having been killed in this 

 county. — H. St. B. Goldsmith (King's Square, Bridgwater). 



[The late Mr. Cecil Smith, in his ■ Birds of Somersetshire,' included 

 the Hoopoe (p. 259) in these words : — " This is an occasional summer 

 visitant, rare indeed in this county, so much so that I can find no recorded 

 instance of its capture or occurrence." He refers, however, on the next 

 page to one which was "seen at Monkton, near Taunton, during the 

 months of April and May, 1866." He adds, "It was seen several times 

 running about on a dunghill near a farmhouse, and was described as 

 constantly erecting its crest." Besides this peculiarity, he received such 

 an accurate description of the bird that he felt quite sure it could be 

 nothing but the Hoopoe. Mr. Cecil Smith, however, overlooked several 

 instances of the occurrence of this bird in Somersetshire which had been 



ZOOLOGIST. NOV. 1802. 2 M 



