438 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and Mr. Blagg (p. 393) mentions another somewhat similarly placed on 

 the trunk of an ash. Both of these remind one of the nests placed on stones 

 projecting from the masonry of bridges, as described on page 314. The 

 position of the nest on the post and rail is exceedingly like that of some of 

 those situated in trees. It is amusing to notice how young Dippers, still 

 unable to fly, will if disturbed from their nest flutter into the water and 

 escape by floating down the stream. — Allan Ellison (Trinity College, 

 Dublin). 



Blue-throated Warbler at Sheerness. — On Sept. 17th I had the 

 pleasure of seeing one of these pretty little birds as it was hopping about 

 among some masses of Atriplex and Chenopodium growing at the foot of the 

 sea-bank beyond Marine Town. Sheerness. It was quite tame and allowed 

 me to look at it for a considerable time as it ran in and out among the 

 plants, occasionally snapping at some insect or flitting off to a stone on the 

 adjacent shingly beach, where it sat and watched for a few minutes, and 

 then returned to the Atriplex, and went on with its search for flies, &c. It 

 appeared to be a young bird in moult, for I could only see a few blue 

 feathers on its throat, and there was no trace of a white or reddish spot. — 

 Gervase F. Mathew(H.M.S. ' Tyne,' Gibraltar). 



Scarcity of the Spotted Flycatcher. — With respect to the notes 

 which have recently appeared under this heading (pp. 352, .394), and the 

 Editor's comment thereon, I can state that in the counties Dublin and 

 Wicklow, Spotted Flycatchers did not seem less plentiful this year than 

 usual. On May 24th, during an excursion of the Dublin Naturalists' 

 Field Club, we observed quite a flock of these birds among the trees at 

 Poulaphuca Waterfall, near Blessington, Co. Wicklow. On August 13th, 

 near Shillelagh, I observed perhaps a score of Flycatchers, some of them 

 young, still fed by their parents, in company with Creepers and several 

 species of Tits, collected in a group of alders on a river-bank. In the 

 neighbourhood of Waterford also I observed no scarcity of Flycatchers. — 

 Allan Ellison (Trinity College, Dublin). 



Kingfisher flying into a House. — One often reads of birds flying 

 against glass, and sometimes into a room, and possibly the following occur- 

 rence may be thought worthy of a note : — Early on the morning of 

 September 7th a Kingfisher flew into the dining-room of an old farm-house 

 in a neighbouring village. The window faces the south, and is shadowed 

 by a wing of the house which runs to the east, so that the room is not a 

 light one, and the window does not show out at all brightly from the out- 

 side. Is it possible the bird was pursued by a Hawk ? or what could have 

 induced it to fly into the room? — Henri F. Allison (Beckingham, 

 Newark). [The bird was probably deceived by the reflection of trees and 

 ihruba in the window-panes. — Eu.| 



