NOTES AND QUERIES. 365 



which I have obtained this season. — Julian G. Tuck (Tostock Rectory, 

 West Suffolk). 



Young Cuckoo in Nest of Twite.— This year I have been led to a 

 moor where one of our provincial birds is abundant — the Mountain Linnet 

 or Twite, Fringilla flavirostris — and there I found one busily nursing a 

 young Cuckoo. I believe the incident worthy of notice because the foster- 

 parent in this case is the only species of small birds which remain con- 

 stantly in the locality, one too exclusively moorland and closely clad with 

 heather for such birds as Chaffinches, Yellowhammers, Larks, &c. It is 

 evident that the nature of the food here provided must differ materially 

 from that which the young ones would receive in more inland or sylvan 

 situations, and it appears to be a question of considerable scientific interest 

 how far the differences of food and natural surroundings may affect these 

 remarkable birds at their different places of nativity, combined with the 

 peculiarities of the various species of birds which are called upon to be 

 their foster-parents. How the young Cuckoo may act as soon as able to pro- 

 vide for itself is also an interesting matter, for in the case under notice the 

 surroundings are those typical for Red Grouse. The young Cuckoo in this 

 case soon ejected all the other occupants of the nest, and became very 

 fierce, making a dart with its bill at one's fingers with all the combativeness 

 of an infuriated male Turkey. The foster-parents displayed their usual 

 vigilance when any one approached the nest, being as much interested in 

 the intruder as they could have been in their own offspring. — William 

 Wilson (Alford, Aberdeen, N.B.). 



Hawfinches in West Sussex. — These birds have been a great nuisance 

 here this season with their attacks on the garden peas. They seem to be 

 far more numerous of late years ; in fact, till ten years ago they might be 

 termed locally rare, but since then scarcely a season passes without some 

 stray individuals turning up. — H. Maemaduke Langdale (Thorneycroft, 

 Compton, Petersfield). 



Apparent Summer Appearance of the Shore Lark in Devonshire.— 

 On the 14th inst., at about 4 p.m., I saw near Paignton, Devon, a bird 

 which I think could be no other than Otocotis alpestris, the Shore Lark, 

 an adult male in full summer dress. It was perched on a lower bough of a 

 small tree in a meadow not twenty yards from the seashore, the sun full on 

 it, and I had a clear view at ten or twelve yards distance for perhaps nearly 

 a minute. The back was light brown with darker markings, the head with 

 apparently bluish grey on crown, and conspicuous black and white at side ; 

 but, excepting a black streak above the eye, I cannot define the exact 

 marking from memory. The bill was short and thick, the throat, breast, 

 and all under parts nearly white, excepting a conspicuous black band 



