NOTES AND QUERIES. 227 



and Mr. Scroope, who visited Downpatrick Head a few days after he was 

 with me at Bartragh, saw another near the ruins on the head. — Robkrt 

 Warren (Moyview, Ballina). 



Scandinavian Rock Pipit on the East Coast of England.— Mr. Caton 

 Haigh has recently drawn ray attention to the striking difference of plumage 

 between examples of the Rock Pipit from the coast of Wales, compared 

 with those from the Lincolnshire shore, shot in October, at which season 

 they are often abundant with us, the east-coast birds being much more 

 warmly coloured underneath with a rich buff or cinnamon breast. Since 

 this, an examination of numerous skins in three local collections from the 

 Holderness and Lincolnshire coasts points to the conclusion that the 

 migratory Rock Pipits which visit us in autumn are almost exclusively the 

 Scandinavian form of this species, Anthus rupestris of Nilsson. — John 

 Cordeaux (Eaton Hall, Retford). 



Black Tern in Cheshire. — A bird of this species, Hydrochelidon 

 nigra, in mature summer plumage, was shot at Oakmere on April 22nd, 

 and fell into the hands of T. Hutchinson, taxidermist, who gave me an 

 opportunity of examining the fresh skin. Two birds were said to have 

 been shot, but one only was procured. The body was examined by 

 Mr. Newstead, Curator of the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, who found it 

 to be a male, and reported that the stomach contained chiefly Diptera 

 (a large species), also two wing-cases of a bright green Chrysomelid beetle, 

 and one specimen of Aphodius punctato-sulcata. — W. Henry Dobte 

 (Chester). 



Bulbul feeding Blue-birds in Captivity.— In one of my smaller 

 indoor aviaries I have a pair of Blue-birds, Sialia sialis, and a Red-vented 

 Bulbul, Pycnonotus hamorrhous, and when the Blue-birds go to nest, as 

 they do each spring, the Bulbul has a hard time of it. This spring, 

 however, the latter bird showed signs of mating with the hen Blue-bird. 

 He sidled up to her, warbling and whining, but she treated him with 

 contempt, and, when he came too close, made a rush at him which caused 

 him to elevate his crest and depart. Early last March the Blue-birds went 

 to nest, the hen laying four eggs of about the size of those of the 

 Wheatear, but a little bluer in tint. On the 27th the first nestling was 

 hatched, and whilst the mother was down below breaking up a mealworm 

 to feed it with, the Bulbul watched his opportunity, snatched the worm 

 away, and, after further crushing it, flew straight into the nest-box and 

 gave it to the young bird. The fright of the two parents was somewhat 

 ludicrous to witness; they evidently thought, as I did, that the young one 

 would be killed. On the 28th a second bird was hatched, and the Bulbul, 

 growing bolder, eutered the nest-box while the mother was sitting there 

 and fed the young. He would take all the mealworms he could find to 



