NOTES AND QUEBIES. 331 



urther up stream, where a hen Chaffinch was sitting on her nest in the 

 fork of an alder. On creeping up behind a big boulder, to within about 

 five yards of the nest, I saw a cock Blackbird, Turdus merula, which had 

 made his way to the nest, — in spite of being mobbed by the cock Chaffinch, 

 — peck at the hen-bird till she flew off, and, deliberately picking up an egg in 

 his bill, fly away with it. I was so astonished that I jumped up the bank to 

 try and mark him down, and see what he was going to do with the egg, but 

 unfortunately he entered a small but dense plantation, where I lost all 

 trace of him, and could find no Blackbird's nest with young or eggs. I 

 wish now I had waited to see if he came back for more. I visited the 

 Chaffinch's nest two days afterwards, and the eggs were all gone, but 

 whether taken by the marauding Blackbird I cannot say. — Oxley Grabham 

 (Heathwold, Goathland). 



The Voices of the Blackbird and the Nightingale compared. — 

 There are some slight traces of generic vocal resemblance between these 

 two birds. The Blackbird's rattling alarm, it is true, is widely distinct 

 from the croak of the Nightingale ; but the latter exclamation is sometimes 

 spread out, as it were, in a succession of ticking sounds, reminding one of 

 the "lit it it" cry of the Robin, the more simple rattling alarms of the 

 Blackbird, and the rapid " chick ik ik " alarm of the Whitethroat. The 

 Nightingale employs these clicking notes especially towards the young, to 

 whom a single " tick " appears to be addressed as a parental hush. The 

 connection between these sharp sounds and the croak is obvious, for often 

 an exclamation begins with the croak, and merges into a succession of 

 ticks. Similarly the Robin has the habit of beginning the " lit it it " alarm 

 very quickly, and ending slowly. Another note, apparently an alarm, which 

 I have heard (I think) from the female Nightingale, is a single, short, full 

 whistle, closely like the " quilp " alarm of Blackbird and Redwing. I have 

 also heard a Nightingale near its young utter a long high " distress note " 

 — practically the same as the high " distress note " of the Robin ; and 

 Dr. A. G. Butler informs me that he has heard the same note in the 

 Nightingale. It has also a simple short squeak, closely like the call of the 

 Robin, but less like the call of the Blackbird. When living at Stroud, I 

 had some difficulty in observing the Nightingale, which was not common 

 there. One day I followed a family party of two old ones and three young, 

 in a thicket, and watched the feeding of the young, having often a very 

 clear view of the whole operation. It was then that I came to the con- 

 clusion that the cry of the young Nightingale was practically identical with 

 that of the young Blackbird of the same age, and I so stated my opinion 

 (' Evolution of Bird-Song,' p. 103). Near Eltham I have observed many 

 young Nightingales, and I find that their cry is not like that of the young 

 Blackbird. In making my former observations I must have been misled by 



