NOTES AND QUERIES. 271 



least suspicion. In the opinion of Prof. Alfred Newton this beautiful bird 

 has unquestionably occurred twice in Great Britain, and as it is a very 

 vagrant species, it seems unreasonable to disallow its claim to be considered 

 a wanderer to our shores. The species is a native of Tropical America, 

 and the occurrence of individuals with us is perhaps mainly interesting as 

 showing that " Transatlantic stragglers" are not wholly confined to natives 

 of the northern half of that continent, though whether those stragglers 

 cross by a different route, or in a different way, it is impossible to say. For 

 a description of the species the reader may be referred to Dr. Coues's ' Key,' 

 or to Mr. Ridgway's 'Manual.'— W. Ruskin Buttehfjeld (St. Leonards- 

 on-Sea). 



Honey Buzzard in Staffordshire. — Mr. E. Baylis's record of this 

 occurrence (p. 232) contains some errors which are well to be corrected. 

 The date given (1894) is incorrect. I examined the bird some years since, 

 and was informed by the gardener who killed it (not the keeper, as stated) 

 that it was obtained June 16th, 1891 ; and the record has long since been 

 saved from oblivion, having been recorded fully in the ' Journal ' of the 

 Birmingham Natural History Society. Moreover, if Mr. Baylis had referred 

 to McAldowie's 'Birds of Staffordshire,' he would have found several other 

 recorded occurrences ; and again an additional specimen recorded by myself 

 in Zool. 1888 (p. 394). As regards Warwickshire, several have occurred 

 within the county. — J. Steele Elliott (Dixon's Green, Dudley). 



Breeding of the Common Snipe in Romney Marsh. — Towards the end 

 of April, some three or four years ago, I flushed a Snipe in Romney Marsh ; 

 the question immediately occurred to me, does the Snipe breed here ? There 

 are many very suitable places, though none of large extent like there are 

 in the fens. Being well acquainted with the bird during the nesting season 

 in the fen country, I at once began to look for the nest, but could not. find 

 it. Every year since I have put up three or four in different parts of the 

 marsh, in the month of April ; but they always seemed to be only feeding, 

 as the places were generally very wet, and no nest was to be found. On 

 April 24th last, however, while hunting a small piece of rough sedge and 

 rushes with my brother, I saw a Snipe get up right at his feet, and as usual, 

 when there is a nest, fly away slowly and close to the ground. The nest 

 was easily found, situated on the top of a tussock, and contained four typical 

 <'ggs. We subsequently put up several more Snipe, but they were obviously 

 only feeding, and we were unable to find a second nest. So far as I can 

 make out, this is the first recorded instance of the breeding of this species 

 in Kent; I can find records for all the other southern counties from Corn- 

 wall to Essex, and Borrer, in his ' Birds of Sussex,' mentions it as nesting 

 on the Pevensey Levels, only some twenty-five miles from where I found 



