NOTES AND QUERIES. 69 



a natural state. The nests, of which I have examined scores around 

 Shrewsbury, are constructed of long grass, with moss, &c., added for 

 warmth. We know that birds build their nests by laying a foundation 

 first, next raising the sides, and finally putting in the lining. It would 

 seem that the Dormouse acts quite differently. Many birds weave their 

 materials skilfully together, using the beak like a bodkin. The Dormouse 

 has no such tool, and does not weave the grass at all. Apparently he puts 

 together a bundle of grass-stalks, and then dives into the middle, taking in 

 other pieces, one by one, always working from the centre, rounding the 

 nest by revolving inside it, and enlarging it by pressing outwards. This 

 first nest was removed to clean the box. A fresh supply of hay was put in ; 

 the Dormouse in two nights constructed a second nest as perfect as the first. 

 Afterwards a third was made under similar circumstances, and there he still 

 resides. I never saw him at work on these, as he made them entirely by 

 night. — H. E. Forrest (Shrewsbury). 



AVES. 



Some Appearances of the Ring-Ouzel at St. Leonards-on-Sea.— 

 I have noticed Ring-Ouzels [Tiirdus torquatus) here during the spring 

 migrations of 1899 and 1900. I saw the first on April 6th, 1899, about 

 midday, near Fel&ham farm ; and on April I5lh, 1900, about 7 a.m., I saw 

 another ; on Oct. 19th, 1900, I shot a fine specimen (male), and on the 

 26th I saw three more, all within the same fields. It seems to occur 

 regularly on the autumn migration, about the middle of October, and 

 I should say, judging from my own observations, during the spring migra- 

 tion also. — Michael John Nicoll (10, Charles Road, St. Leonards). 



Yellow Wagtails wintering in the Isle of Man. — While on a visit to 

 the Isle of Man, I observed, on Dec. 8ih, two Yellow Wagtails [Motacilla 

 campestris) on the cultivated land under Maughold Head, by Ramsey. I 

 have never heard of the bird wintering in the British Isles before, but this 

 interesting instance is no doubt due to the extremely mild winters nearly 

 always experienced in the island. — C H. B. Grant (Putney). 



Notes on the House-Martin and Sand-Martin. — A pair of House- 

 Martins [Chelidon urhica) had three young in the nest at Lower Hagley so 

 exceptionally late as Oct. 16th, 1900, after which date no House-Martins 

 were observed in this neighbourhood, the last Swallows being seen on 9th 

 inst. On Aug. 4th a white House-Martin, probably an albino and a young 

 bird, was in company with others circling around in Hagley Park. A small 

 colony of some six or eight pairs of Sand-Martins (Cotile riparia) have 

 utilised for their nesting accommodation a wall of red sandstone which is 

 built alongside the cutting of the road at Belbroughton. — J. Steele- 

 Elliott (Clent, Worcestershire). 



