NOTES AND QUERIES. 519 



[It is of course impossible to maintain a perfect uniformity in nomen- 

 clature in these pages. This is quite apparent even in the writings of the 

 British ornithologists who contribute to ' The Zoologist.' We endeavour 

 as f%r as possible, without unduly interfering with the views of our con- 

 tributors, to conform the avian nomenclature with that of Mr. Howard 

 Saunders for Britain, and with that of Mr. H. E. Dresser for the Conti- 

 nental or " Western PalaBarctic Region." Surgeon Hurlstone Jones, the 

 writer of the paper to which Mr. Aplin's criticism is applied, is now serving 

 on the China Station, and could not be consulted on the point. The two 

 names were therefore printed as in the MS., the popular name " Sardinian 

 Warbler " being considered as sufficient to prevent any misunderstanding. 

 —Ed.] 



Nesting of the Common Sparrow (Passer domesticus). — In the 

 September issue of ' The Zoologist' [ante, p. 424), Mr. J. Steele-Elliott 

 remarks : — " Yarrell points out that the Sparrow may occasionally be seen 

 in winter carrying materials to the holes they inhabit ; this is evidently 

 only for sleeping accommodation." I hardly think Yarrell's actual remarks 

 convey the idea that nesting material collected in winter is intended only 

 for sleeping accommodation, and, as a matter of fact, it is not. In large 

 factories and workshops where there is a sufficient warmth the Sparrow 

 nests amongst the rafters all the year round. I remember one instance 

 where, in a large engineering works, I found a young naked Sparrow at the 

 end of January which had fallen on to a bench from a nest in the roofing. 

 It is astonishing what apparent stupidity and iugenuity are combined in the 

 construction of some of these nests. In a large warehouse in Glasgow, 

 where bolts and nuts were being packed, I used to notice many Sparrows' 

 nests on the wooden horizontal tie-beams. Sometimes the whole mass of 

 rubbish would tumble off on to the floor, when another nest would be im- 

 mediately commenced in the same place. Tn one case, however, I found 

 that the birds had securely anchored their nest by actually winding seven 

 or eight strings right round the beam, which was nine inches deep, and 

 weaving their nesting materials into them. In this particular nest neither 

 hay nor straws were used. It was a large mass consisting entirely of 

 strings drawn from the packing-bags, cottou-waste, and feathers. Roughly 

 speaking, it was about fourteen inches diameter, and eight inches deep, 

 open at the top, where the eggs were laid in a small cup-shaped hollow about 

 three inches diameter. — Robert H. Read (Bedford Park, Chiswick, W.). 



Rooks in London. — A new colony of Corvus frugilegus in London in 

 the year 1900 deserves to be recorded in ' The Zoologist.' During the 

 early winter months I often observed one or two Rooks about the open space 

 in Hyde Park, where the Great Exhibition stood between the Serpentine 



