26 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Birds of the Derwent Valley. — Mr. Eobson, in 1896. " Casual 

 visitant," and of doubtful occurrence in the rest of the county in 

 summer. [Evidently rare — J. H. B.] 



Bird Life of the Borders. — Abel Chapman, in 1888. Not men- 

 tioned in index. 



Cumberland. — Eev. H. A. Macpherson and W. Duckworth, in 1886 

 (see also Lakeland, 1892). Locally resident ; generally decreased of 

 late years, though still numerous in the Eden Valley. A few pairs 

 breed sporadically in the north of the county. Very absent still in 

 Eden Valley. 



— J. A. Harvie-Brown (Dunipace, Larbert, Stirlingshire, N.B.). 

 [Mr. Harvie-Brown, in a letter accompanying the above interesting 

 excerpts, expresses his wish that our contributors might bring the 

 status of the bird up to date, viz. to the end of last year. Any notes we 

 may receive on the subject will be reserved for some completeness with 

 other records, and then published together in a condensed form. — 

 En.] 



Lesser Redpoll nesting in Middlesex. — As there appear to be very 

 few records of the nesting of Linota rufescens in Middlesex, I may men- 

 tion that on June 28th last year I found a nest near Pinner. It was 

 built in a furze-bush, and contained five eggs. As usual with nests of 

 this species, it was lined with, and constructed very largely of, down 

 from willow-catkins, with some bents and a few horsehairs. — Robert 

 H. Read (7, South Parade, Bedford Park, W.). 



A Habit of the Lesser Redpoll (Linota rufescens). — While look- 

 ing through ' The Zoologist ' for 1901, 1 noticed, on p. 316, an account 

 of the rather mysterious disappearance of the eggs and lining of a 

 Redpoll's nest. The writer of the note did not think the nest had 

 been robbed, but came to the following conclusion : — " Mayhap the 

 old birds may have removed it (i. e. the lining) to line a new nest sub- 

 sequently to the eggs being taken from the old one." In reference to 

 this remark, my experience with two pairs of Redpolls which I found 

 breeding near Oxford a few years ago may be interesting. The follow- 

 ing is a condensed account taken from my note-books : — On May 16th, 

 1898, a Lesser Redpoll's nest, which I had found a few days previously, 

 contained three eggs. I took two of these, and substituted a Linnet's 

 egg. On visiting the nest a few days later I saw the hen bird in the 

 tree with some dry grass or roots in her bill, and on examining the 

 nest I found that it had been considerably pulled about, and that both 

 eggs had disappeared. A few days later nothing was left of the nest but 

 its foundation, though the birds remained in the neighbourhood, as I 



