382 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



habit of the Sparrow-Hawk has been noticed elsewhere. — A. H. Meikle- 

 john (Highworth, Ashford, Kent). 



Nesting of the Hobby in Shropshire.— In ■ The Zoologist ' for March 

 last (ante, p. 143), I noted that the Hobby (Falco subbuteo) nested in 1899 

 near Ludlow. My friend Mr. J. Palmer, who originally found the nest, 

 has just informed me that the pair have returned this year, and laid again 

 in the identical spot. The eggs were taken June 30th, but, as last year, 

 they have laid again, and are being allowed to rear the brood. The Hobby 

 is known to return year after year to the same nest, but the habit is curious, 

 inasmuch as it does not build a nest for itself. In this case the nest is an 

 old Crow's. Another pair of Hobbies are haunting the vicinity, and a male 

 was shot five miles away on July 3rd. These three are probably the young 

 reared there last year. I trust they may be spared. — H. E. Forrest 

 (Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury). 



Curlew Nesting in Surrey. — I have just heard of a Curlew's nest 

 (Numenius arquata) being found in the spring of 1896 on Chobham Com- 

 mon, about twenty-eight miles from London, two eggs from which are now 

 in the possession of a Mr. Tice. Has the Curlew ever been known to nest 

 in Surrey before? I have seen the two eggs, and they are certainly those 

 of a Curlew. — Spencer H. Le Marchant (Chobham Place, Woking). 



[In Mr. Bucknill's ' Birds of Surrey ' it is stated that in 1893, '* during 

 the whole of the summer, a pair were uoticed near Frensham, which probably 

 had a nest on the moor (Streatfteld in lit.)."— Ed.] 



Variations in the Notes and Songs of Birds in different Districts. — 

 The above subject is one which seems to have been noticed very little by 

 ornithologists ; in fact, I never remember seeiug more than one reference 

 at all to it. If this variation was slight, it would be possible for it not to 

 have been noticed by naturalists ; but this is not so, the differences being 

 so marked that I cannot believe it has escaped the notice of those who 

 know all the notes and the song of all birds they have come in contact 

 with. It does not appear to me to be a difference in the way the song is 

 put together, but rather that the note is in a different key, and therefore the 

 first time you hear it you are apt to be misled into believing it is entirely a 

 different bird. If it were only in the resident bird that this variation 

 existed, it might be explained by the climate ; but this is not so, the 

 differences being much more marked in the summer migrants than in the 

 more resident species. Then, again, it does not exist in all birds, and the 

 explanation of it puzzles me. Taking the two districts that I am best 

 acquainted with — that is to say, Worcestershire and Co. Donegal— I will 

 give the difference as it appears to me. The notes and songs of all birds 

 in which this variation exists are in a lower key in Donegal than Worcester- 



