390 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Blackcap, it would seem that birds usually return to their nests after having 

 been robbed of the first egg. In the case of the Black Redstart, indeed, 

 the first egg laid was taken ; next day another egg was laid and taken ; two 

 days later there were two more eggs, also taken, and the following day there 

 was another, also taken. The bird then forsook the nest. A Kestrel's nest 

 with four addled eggs out of six may also be worth recording. — L. W. 

 Wiglksworth (Geysostrasse 15, Brunswick). 



Hawfinch breeding in Wirral. — This summer we have had a pair of 

 Hawfinches, Coccothraustes vulgaris, nesting at Ashfield, near Neston, 

 Cheshire, as far as I can discover, for the first time in this neighbourhood. 

 They successfully reared their brood ; but I fear few escaped, in consequence 

 of the damage they did to the young peas in the gardens round, but one of 

 the old birds was seen as lately as Sept. 13th.- -Edward Comber (Leighton, 

 Parkgate, Chester). 



Spotted Crake in Wirral. — A specimen of the Spotted Crake, Crex 

 porzana, was picked up by Mr. Buckley, on the 26th August last, under the 

 telegraph-wires close to Neston, Cheshire. It was apparently an old bird 

 in full plumage.— Edward Comber (Leighton, Parkgate, Chester). 



Breeding of the Woodcock in Ireland. — Your correspondents will 

 probably be interested to hear of a Woodcock's nest later still than any 

 which have been mentioned. The following has been communicated to me 

 by my friend Mr. J. Johnston, of Bray : — " On August loth, while a party 

 of gentlemen were Grouse-shooting on the hills above Powerscourt Water- 

 fall, a Woodcock was flushed and shot the moment it rose. Capt. Monck 

 went to pick up the bird, and found a nest with four tiny young ones just 

 free of the shells." Late nests of the Woodcock have been so frequently 

 noticed that there is good reason to conclude that the bird generally pro- 

 duces two broods in the season, in Ireland at least. Some years ago a 

 number of nests were reported to me as having been found towards the end 

 of June by a man who had been searching in the Coollattin Woods for young 

 Bullfinches ; they were placed, he said, on the ground under holly-bushes, 

 and contained each four eggs. There is no doubt that the nests are much 

 more frequently discovered in the early spring, and any eggs I have obtained 

 were taken in April or May ; but the reason is obvious, the dense shade of 

 the woods after they have put on their leafy honours affording the late 

 nests a much more effectual concealment. Moreover, the evening flight of 

 the Woodcock alluded to by Mr. Ussher may be observed from March to 

 July, and, like the drumming of the Snipe, is peculiar to the breeding 

 season. The Snipe also, in this country, is undoubtedly double-brooded, 

 the first eggs being deposited about the third week of April, and the 

 second clutch about the middle of June or later. On July 25th last a 

 Snipe was sitting on four eggs near Cappagh, Co. Waterford, but this is to 



