NOTES AND QUERIES. 225 



driven, by unfavourable meteorological conditions, much to westward of 

 their normal line of flight, which is up the eastern side of the North Sea. 

 It would be interesting to know in what direction the journey is continued 

 from the headland — we may presume not northward or westward in Great 

 Britain, or these birds must have been observed and recorded in other 

 home localities. If, on the other hand, they proceed eastward, crossing 

 into Holland and Schleswig, it must be by a route of which they can have 

 had no previous knowledge or experience. — John Cordeaux (Eaton Hall, 

 Retford). 



Thrushes' Nests without mud lining. — On April 20th I found 

 three nests of the Song Thrush, Turdus musicus, two of which contained 

 four eggs, and the third three eggs. None of these nests had any trace of 

 mud in them. One of them, which I have kept, is made entirely of grass, 

 the lining of the inside being a little finer in texture than the outside. The 

 inside of the nest is left in a very rough state, and the grass is not woven 

 together at all neatly, but looks as though the birds had intended to line it 

 in the usual way, but were not able to obtain any. No doubt the reason 

 for this is the remarkably dry season. I might say that these nests were 

 found on some downs, while others found near a river within a mile of the 

 downs were formed in the usual manner. — H. F. Witherby (Blackheath). 



The Tropic-birdj Phaeton rubricauda. — At a meeting of the Scottish 

 Natural History Society, held in Edinburgh on May 5th, Surgeon-Captain 

 H. H. Johnston, Army Medical Staff, read a paper on Mauritius, with 

 special reference to the Natural History of Round Island, and exhibited 

 specimens of all the plants found on the latter island by him in November, 

 1889. Large numbers of the Tropic-bird, Phaeton rubricauda, were 

 observed on Round Island, and their eggs and young were found in the 

 crevices of the rocks near the summit of the hill. Reference was made to 

 a paper (Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Mauritius, 1842-45) by Colonel Floyd, 

 who visited the island in 1842, and observed the interesting, but apparently 

 previously unknown, manner in which the Tropic-bird used the two long 

 slender tail-feathers as a rudder by which to steer in a storm. — J. B. 

 Dobbie (Edinburgh). 



Wood Wren and Blackcap in Co. Wicklow.— On May 7th I had the 



pleasure of heariug the Wood Warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix, twice in 

 some oak trees near the " Lover's Leap," at the Dargle, Co. Wicklow. 

 I have never before heard this bird in Ireland so early as the first week of 

 May. On the same day Blackcaps were in full song below the lovely 

 Terrace Garden at Powerscourt. — H. Chichester Hart (9, Lower Hatch 

 Street, Dublin). 



Lapland Bunting in Yorkshire. — On May 11th, when with Mr. M. 

 Bailey, of Flamborough, at the Bempton Cliffs, we saw an adult male 



