NOTES AND QUERIES. 46 J 



wing in this species appear to be of great strength, enabling them to keep 

 under water in all weathers when fishing. Having made a capture of one, 

 we noticed the remarkable way in which, when in the water, it turned over 

 on its side : our captive, when placed on the level ground, forthwith pro- 

 ceeded to run like a chicken, and was not happy until placed in a tank 

 which contained a few small Trout ; but it did not seem able to find them, 

 albeit it swam about with its head beneath the surface as if looking for 

 something, and I marked the ready way in which it could dive in only a 

 few inches of water. Many birds attain their full size before the primary 

 quills are completely grown, and this was the case with the Guillemot in 

 question, which we ultimately consigned to the Loch from which we 

 obtained it. The Red-throated Diver, Colymbus septentrionalis, I did not 

 meet with ; but a beautiful pair of Black-throats, C. arcticus, were swim- 

 ming side by side on Loch Quoich on August 15th. So far as could be 

 judged at a distance they had lost little of their superb summer plumage. 

 I am surprised at Mr. Thomasson seeing a pair of this species with three 

 young ones, as stated (p. 346), for two is undoubtedly the usual number, 

 and his discovery that they occasionally have three is very interesting. — 

 J. H. Gurney (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



Habits of the Grey Wagtail.— I have read with much pleasure Mr. 

 0. V. Aplin's interesting notes on the Grey Wagtail (pp. 371 — 376). In 

 almost every part of Ireland which I have visited I have found this a very 

 common bird, in many places more numerous than the Pied Wagtail. 

 About Shillelagh I know of some six or eight nesting places of the Grey 

 Wagtail, within a couple of miles, most of which are frequented every 

 year, the nest being generally built for a series of years in the same spot. 

 A mill, a bridge, an old farmyard near a stream, are favourite haunts during 

 the breeding-season, for the bird is by no means shy or retiring. To my 

 observation, in at least five cases out of six, this bird builds its nest directly 

 over the water of a stream, while the neighbourhood of a waterfall seems 

 to afford a special attraction. There is a bridge where for many years a 

 pair of Grey Wagtails have nested in the same spot, a recess behind over- 

 hanging tufts of grass on the sloping top of a buttress, about six feet 

 above the water, the nest being completely hidden from view. Whenever 

 I have taken this nest the birds have always built again within a couple of 

 weeks, usually in the same place, but occasionally on a different part of 

 the bridge. This year the nest contained five eggs on April 1st ; but the 

 eggs are more frequently laid about a fortnight later, and there is a second 

 brood about the beginning of June, a new nest being constructed not far 

 from the site of the old one. A very favourite nesting-place is close to the 

 outfall of a mill, often within reach of the spray of the falling water ; and 

 in such a place I have known of a nest every spring for the last ten years, 

 built in a crevice of the masonry, and sheltered by a hanging tuft of grass. 



