NOTES AND QUERIES. 223 



sharp-pointed twig, and in falling the latter, being firmly fixed in the bird, 

 was broken off from the main stem. — Basil W. Martin (Elm House, 

 Hampstead). 



Active Mimicry by the Chaffinch. — I recently observed the nest of a 

 Chaffinch {Fringilla ccelebs) near my house, in a hedge by the turnpike-road, 

 and built in a blackthorn-bush in full bloom. In order, I imagine, to make 

 the nest as little distinguishable as possible from its surroundings, the birds 

 had dotted it all over with small pieces of white paper ; one fragment which 

 I detached appeared to be blotting-paper. Passing the place a few days 

 since I noticed that all the bloom had fallen from the bush, and that all the 

 pieces of paper had been removed from the nest. This had not been dis- 

 turbed, and contained eggs. It seems a fair inference that the birds 

 recognized that their object in putting the scraps of paper about the 

 nest was likely to be defeated when the blossom fell away, and accord- 

 ingly removed them. — R. H. Ramsbotham (The Hall, Meole Brace, 

 Shrewsbury). 



Rose-coloured Pastor in Kent. — A fine adult male of the Rose- 

 coloured Pastor [Pastor roseus) was obtained on May 14th last near Apple- 

 dore, in Romney Marsh, Kent. It was sent for preservation to Mr. G. 

 Bristow of this town, to whose kindness I am indebted for the privilege of 

 examining the specimen in the flesh. — L. A. Curtis Edwards (31, Mag- 

 dalen Road, St. Leonards-ou-Sea). 



[This record is an interesting one to ornithologists, but describes a 

 distinct disregard to the laws relating to a close-time for birds. — Ed.] 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor).— I have 

 read Mr. Stanley Lewis's note {ante, p. 184) with much interest, but I 

 regret that I cannot support his suggestion that this Woodpecker produces 

 its vibrating sounds by any exercise of the laryngeal muscles. In a note 

 which I drew up for Dr. A. G. Butler, and which he printed at length in 

 ' British Birds, their Nests and Eggs ' (vol. iii. p. 29), I have discussed the 

 subject. The method by which the vibratory sound is produced is, that 

 the bird employs its bill to strike one particular piece of bark again and 

 again with extraordinary rapidity. It is not peculiar to either sex. Both 

 sexes are expert in the production of this curious effect. In 1894 it was 

 my good fortune to acquire a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. They 

 lived in an aviary-cage beside my bed, and entertained me with their lively 

 actions from break of day onwards. They knew me so intimately that they 

 allowed me to follow their every movement. I wrote pages and pages 

 about them with the birds at my side, when the majority of people were 

 sleeping soundly. The male died in the following winter, but the female 

 lived in my possession until she escaped through an open window in the 



