NOTES AND QUERIES 279 



with the point of the beak, and its head was moved with extraordinary 

 speed so that the action appeared almost continuous. I estimate the con- 

 tinuation of each period of hammering at five or perhaps ten seconds, which 

 was followed by a somewhat longer pause. The bird was of very brilliant 

 plumage — evidently the male bird — and the noise had been repeated four 

 or five times when it was joined by a second bird, evidently its mate. 

 The pair then moved to another part of the tree, and to the leafy branches 

 of a beech tree standing between me and the fir, and it was only at times 

 that I could distinguish them before they flew away. My presence was 

 quite unsuspected by them, and I am convinced that the rattling was the 

 call-note of the male bird, as it is said to be. Upon the meeting of the 

 birds the noise was at once discontinued, and the only sound the birds made 

 were soft twittering noises, as if speaking to one another. The branch 

 used as a sounding-board was of considerable size, and at a height of about 

 fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. The bird whilst hammering was 

 almost sitting at the union of the tree and the branch in an upright position, 

 and its beak was moved nearly horizontally, being very slightly inclined 

 downwards. With the aid of the glass I clearly saw marks of the beak upon 

 the bough. — Oliver H. New. 



Breeding of the Shoveler (Spatula clypeata) in Kent. — On May 3rd 

 last I put up a pair of Shovelers from a piece of water in Romney Marsh ; 

 I got a good view of them through my glasses, and saw them a second time 

 about half an hour later, when they flew back over my head. I searched 

 the neighbouring rush, tufts, &c, but was unable to find any nest. On going 

 back, however, to the same place on May 19th, I saw the hen bird swim- 

 ming, followed by nine young ones a day or two old. The cock bird was 

 not visible on this occasion. So far as I am aware, this is the first record 

 of the Shoveler breeding in Kent. — N. F. Ticehurst (Winstowe, St. 

 Leonards-on-Sea). 



Breeding of the Garganey ( Querquedula circia) in Kent. — I have the 

 pleasure of recording, I believe for the first time, the breeding of the 

 Garganey in Kent. My brother found the nest on May 2nd in Romney 

 Marsh. It was situated in quite a dry place in some long grass, and 

 between thirty and forty yards from the nearest water. When first seen 

 the nest consisted of only a few strands of dead grass, and contained one 

 egg. On May 3rd there were two eggs, and a lot more grass-strands had 

 been added to the nest, which was so well covered up and hidden that we 

 had some difficulty in finding it again. On May 7th the nest contained 

 six eggs, which were sparsely covered with down and a few grass-stems, the 

 nest itself, owing to its increasing size, being much more easily seen than 

 before. Subsequently, on May 12th, we found a second nest containing 



