NOTES AND QUERIES. 389 



sceptical about it, I went out afterwards into the garden, and saw the 

 bird busily feeding among the leaves of a sycamore. I watched it for 

 about a quarter of an hour, and during that short time it sang thrice — 

 not faint-heartedly, but in good voice. I heard it several times after- 

 wards up till one o'clock, when the song ceased altogether. The 

 weather was remarkably warm, and the sun very bright. — A. H. 

 Meiklejohn (Ashford, Kent). 



Breeding of the Blue-headed Wagtail in Sussex. — A nest of the 

 Blue-headed Wagtail, containing four eggs, was found in a turnip-field 

 near Winchelsea on May 31st, 1901, by Mr. George Bristow, Jun. 

 Three of the eggs were accidentally broken, but the remaining egg 

 (unblown), together with the nest and the parents, have been examined 

 by Mr. H, E. Dresser, Mr. Thomas Parkin, and the present writer. 

 Mr. Dresser kindly writes that the birds " come nearest to Motacilla 

 beema, Sykes [Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1832, p. 90 ; cf. Sharpe, Cat. 

 Birds, Brit. Mus. x. p. 521, pi. vi. fig. 6 (head only)] , which species, 

 or rather subspecies, differs from M.flava in having the cheeks white, 

 with only a broad blue streak through the eye. . . . Sharpe gives the 

 range as Eastern Siberia, India, &c. ; but it has been obtained several 

 times in Southern Europe." — W. Euskin Butteefield (4, Stanhope 

 Place, St. Leonards-on-Sea). 



Jlgialitis hiaticula nesting in Middlesex (within London Postal 

 District). — Last May (1901). I was surprised to find, on the sewage 

 farm here — which is within the London postal district — Eedshanks, 

 Dunlins, and Ringed Plovers, the last named in considerable numbers. 

 From the behaviour of one pair of Ringed Plovers, I was convinced 

 that they had nested, but feared that the eggs had been destroyed by 

 a harrow at work in the field. As I was on the point of starting for 

 Holland, I asked the superintendent, who is a good and observant 

 naturalist, to keep his eye on them while I was away. He now tells 

 me (Aug. 27th) that during my absence he saw three young Ringed 

 Plovers freshly hatched, and actually caught one of them and handled 

 it. This seems to be proof of an extremely interesting event. There 

 is no doubt that Snipe breed in the same place. A Snipe was bleating 

 overhead daily during May, but, though I searched carefully for many 

 hours (wading knee-deep in liquid sewage), the vegetation was so ex- 

 cessively thick and rank, that I was unable to find the nest. I had 

 to-day (Aug. 27th) the pleasure of watching a Snipe on the ground for 

 some minutes through a glass, and in the previous week a brace of 

 Teal were shot (young birds). There are now numbers of Yellow 

 Wagtails about (this Wagtail nests here regularly), and large flocks of 



