70 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



that runs along the base of a thorn-hedge. It was in just such a spot 

 as a Robin would have chosen — a little hole in the bank. Somewhat 

 similarly placed Blackbirds' nests have frequently been found since. 

 Then, in the following spring, I found a Song-Thrush's nest on the 

 bare open ground in precisely such a situation as a Sky-Lark would 

 have selected — under the shelter of a tuft of grass. In 1893, within a 

 few yards of this spot, a Song-Thrush's nest was found, built on the 

 ground betwixt rows of young beech-trees that averaged four to five 

 inches high. In subsequent years, as already stated, such ground 

 nests of both Blackbirds and Song-Thrushes have been pretty regularly 

 found. Plenty of hedges and bushes are all around, so that this pre- 

 ference for a lowly site cannot be explained because of any lack of 

 suitable convenience of the usual order. At one time I thought these 

 particular Song-Thrushes might turn out to be of the Hebridean form, 

 which very often, if not always, nests amidst the herbage on rocky 

 ledges ; but a close examination did not disclose either the dark coloura- 

 tion or the hooked beak-tips of that peculiar Thrush of our western 

 islands. Of course we know that some of the North American Thrushes 

 build as regularly on the ground as our Thrushes do in trees, bushes, 

 and hedges in normal circumstances. Then there is our own Ring- 

 Ouzel, which is as often a ground-builder as a ledge-builder. — Robert 

 Service (Maxwelltown, Dumfries). 



Blackbird laying on the Ground. — Mr. Read's note on this subject 

 reminds me of a similar incident that came under my own observation 

 in Fifeshire on May 16th, 1891. At the junction of two walls a large 

 quantity of leaves lay blown together, and in the corner, on the leaves, 

 and without any further attempt at a nest, a Blackbird was sitting on 

 three eggs. On the day mentioned I put the Blackbird off the eggs, 

 and I took for granted that she had laid there through necessity, her 

 own nest mayhap having been harried when the first egg was laid. — 

 Robert Godfrey (46, Cumberland Street, Edinburgh). 



The Status of the Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans) in Britain.* — 

 North Wales appears to be a stronghold of the Goldfinch. In Mont- 

 gomery from Welshpool to the west it is comparatively common, and 

 breeds freely about Welshpool, whilst farther up the Severn Valley to 

 the source it is more local and scarcer. 



Yorkshire (West Riding). — In the West Riding I know of no authentic 

 breeding of the Goldfinch ; formerly it used to breed sparingly (within 



* We have received the following notes on this subject since our last 

 issue. — Ed. 



