NOTES AND QUERIES. 391 



class voice among walnut forests on my way from Vallombrosa here — 

 a ten-hour tramp over the mountains with a knapsack." He adds 

 that the heat was excessive even for Italy, and that it had not rained 

 for nearly two months. — W. Warde Fowler (Kingham, Chipping 

 Norton). 



Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) in Scotland ; calling in July. — Observa- 

 tions made in Braemar during the last two summers have some bearing 

 on Mr. J. W.Payne's note (ante, p. 351). In 1902 Cuckoos continued 

 calling " loud and oft " up to July 9th ; on that date one was seen and 

 heard in Glen Lui at an altitude of 1300-1350 ft. In the evenings the 

 calling continued till about 10 p.m., and it frequently wakened me as 

 early in the morning as 2.30 a.m. In 1903 it was quite different, only 

 one bird being heard on July 6th — a faint and wavering call. — Hugh 

 Boyd Watt (3, Victoria Drive, Glasgow). 



Wigeon breeding in Ireland : a Correction. — In ' The Zoologist' for 

 1901 (p. 269), a note appeared from me announcing the discovery of 

 the Wigeon breeding in Ireland. I am afraid that the evidence for 

 identification was not sufficiently complete, as Mr. Ussher relied 

 entirely on the down taken from the nests to identify the species. 

 Mr. Noble, who has made a study of Ducks and down, says that the 

 down is not sufficient, and the down of Wigeon and Shoveler vary so 

 much in type and resemble each other so closely that it is impossible 

 to distinguish between the two. As Shovelers were in the majority on 

 the occasion referred to, I think the question of Wigeon breeding in 

 Ireland not sufficiently established. — John Cottney (Hillsborough, Co. 

 Down, Ireland). 



[A similar disclaimer from Mr. Patterson appears in the last issue 

 of.' The Irish Naturalist.' He writes: — "There is little difference 

 between the down of some Shovelers and the down of some Wigeon, 

 but there is always a difference in the small feathers found among the 

 down. In the Wigeon these small feathers are pure white with light 

 grey bases ; in the Shoveler they are pale buff with dark brown centres. 

 This is stated on the authority of Mr. Heatly Noble, who has made a 

 special study of Duck's eggs and down." — Ed.] 



Stock-Dove (Columba cenas) in the Isle of Man. — The note of Mr. 

 P. Graves on this subject (ante, p. 316) recalls to my memory the fact 

 that in May, 1896, Mr. W. E. Teschemaker and I found a nest of this 

 bird, containing two young ones, in a hole near the cliff-top between Sea- 

 field (St. Anne's) and Derbyhaven. The young Doves were kept in a 

 wicker cage, but did not take kindly to captivity, judging from the 



