10 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



to return every evening to Southampton Water to roost. Small 

 flocks may be seen flying down the Itchen valley every afternoon 

 from 3 to 4 o'clock, by which time all have left the Sewage Farm 

 and water-meadows. On the 7th I saw a House Martin, and 

 Mr. Cobb also saw one at Fisher's Pond. Whilst walking over 

 the downs I observed a pair of Peewits behaving in a curious 

 way, and by dint of careful stalking I managed to get near enough 

 to observe them. The cock bird was standing motionless at 

 about three yards from the hen, on the look out for danger ; the 

 hen, with her tail elevated, was crouching in a tuft of grass, and 

 keeping up a continual upward motion with her breast, as if to 

 shape the nest. Meanwhile she uttered a hissing noise, which 

 exactly resembled the sound made by a Noctule. On going up 

 to the place where she had been I found a well-formed nest. On 

 the 10th the Tree Pipit arrived ; Mr. A. W. S. Fisher heard and saw 

 the Nightingale in a small coppice on the downs. Nightingales 

 are not common in the immediate neighbourhood of Winchester, 

 because of the lack of places suited to their habits ; but at 

 Hursley Otterbourne and Colden Common they are numerous. 

 Mr. Fisher also saw a flock of Golden Plover, and on the 11th 

 I saw the same birds and heard the Nightingale. On the 12th 

 I saw a Sand Martin on the Test, near Stockbridge ; Fieldfares 

 had not yet left. On the 22nd the Wryneck, lynx torqitilla, 

 arrived, one being shot at Eastleigh. I have never seen or heard 

 one in this district, and Mr. Turle agrees that they are quite rare 

 here ; they are said to be common near Southampton. On the 

 29th a young male Hen Harrier, Circus cyaneus, was shot at 

 Titchbourne, and came into the hands of Mr. W. Chalkley. 



May. 

 The Swift, Cypselus apus, arrived on the 3rd, and Turtle Doves 

 were heard on the 7th. On the 8th we saw a solitary gull in the 

 water-meadows near Twyford ; it was an unchanged Black-headed 

 Gull. On the 27th a female Hobby, Falco subbuteo, was shot on 

 her nest in Dole's Wood, near Andover ; Mr. Turle was told a 

 Sparrowhawk had been shot, but on climbing the tree he found 

 a beautiful Hobby lying dead on her eggs, which were smashed to 

 atoms. I saw several Common Sandpipers, Totanus hypoleucus, 

 on migration ; Mr. Turle says they are common at Newton Stacey 

 in August, on the return migration, but that they have not 

 nested there. 



