426 THE ZOOLOGIST, 



egg taken by him in 1896 is in Mr. Buttress's possession. This species 

 does not figure in the list of birds observed by Mr. Buttress in 1897, a fact 

 that may possibly be accounted for by the fact that the discoverer of the 

 eggs has more than once shot the birds off the nest. Saxby, during his 

 long residence in the Shetlands, never saw the Black-throated Diver there ; 

 and, according to Mr. Howard Saunders, " this species has not . . . been 

 identified in the Shetlands at any season " (' Manual,' p. 698). Seebohm 

 stated that large examples of the eggs of the Black-throated Diver cannot 

 be distinguished from small eggs of the Great Northern Diver, nor small 

 examples from large eggs of the Red-throated Diver (« History of British 

 Birds,' vol. iii.). The hitherto unsuspected presence of C. arcticus as a 

 breeding species in the Shetlands, therefore, if fully proved, makes the 

 paternity of some supposed Northern Divers' eggs taken in those islands 

 more doubtful than ever. — 0. V. Aplin (Bloxham, Oxon). 



Black-throated Diver in Derbyshire. — In January or February of this 

 year a Black-throated Diver was shot on Combs" Reservoir, near Chapel-en- 

 le*Frith, by a man named Peter Muir. The bird is in immature plumage, 

 the feathers of the upper parts being edged with pale slate-grey, and the 

 white plumage of the chin, throat, and sides of the head is slightly suffused 

 with brown. The following measurements will be sufficient to distinguish 

 the bird from the Great Northern Diver, a species more frequently met 

 with inland: — Wing, 11*9 in.; length of bill, 1*8 in.; depth of bill at 

 nostril, '65 in. — Chas. Oldham (Sale). 



Spotted Flycatcher's Nest constructed in Nest of Hawfinch. — I am 

 forwarding you a this year's Hawfinch's nest with a Spotted Flycatcher's 

 nest built inside, as I was not aware that Spotted Flycatchers built in other 

 birds' nests. I found the Hawfinch's nest in the fork of a whitethorn bush 

 in Wychwood Forest on May 26th, with the egg-shells lying on the ground 

 under the nest. They had been sucked either by Cuckoos or Jackdaws. 

 These birds appeared to be sucking every egg that was laid, for nearly 

 every nest of eggs had shared the same fate, both Cuckoos and Jackdaws 

 being very numerous. When passing the same spot on June 28th, I 

 noticed a Spotted Flycatcher sitting on the same nest, which looked some- 

 what different. On climbing up to the nest I discovered that it contained 

 two eggs. Feeling certain that these eggs would share the same fate as the 

 last, I took one (which I now send you) of the two eggs, with the result 

 that when I passed the place the following week the remaining egg was 

 sucked. — R. U. Calvert (Ascott-sub- Wychwood, Oxford). 



* I desire to substitute the word "Combs" for "Coombs" at p. 329, 



line 7 from bottom. 



