NOTES AND QUERIES. 433 



Cuckoo calling in July. — Whilst at a bowling party at Stalham on 

 Aug. 17th ult. a Cuckoo flew across the green ; one of the players 

 thereupon told me that he had heard one calling in the Broad district 

 on Aug. 13th. From my own notes I cull the following : — Earliest 

 appearance, W. Rudham, Norfolk, April 13th, 1891. Latest seen, 

 Potter Heigham, Norfolk, Sept. 25th, 1901. Earliest egg (Greenfinch 

 nest), Canvey Island, Essex, May 8th, 1882. Latest egg (Wagtail's 

 nest), Hickling, Norfolk, July 7th, 1899. Latest calling, July 8th, 

 1891 ; Brunstead, Norfolk. How late the Wood-Pigeons are breeding 

 this autumn ! On Sept. 19th there were eggs still unhatched at Cat- 

 field. Shooting there on Sept. 21st, my dog brought me an unfledged 

 squab from a very low nest in an alder-stub, and our " bag " included 

 eleven with particles of down still adhering to their neck-feathers, and 

 nineteen such were accounted for at Horning on the following day. 

 My log-book, however, reminds me that I handled a " brancher " of 

 this prolific species on Dec. 2nd, 1886. — Maurice C. H. Bird (Brun- 

 stead Rectory, Stalham). 



An October Cuckoo. — The occurrence of a Cuckoo in October seems 

 almost as improbable as the oft-repeated story of the Cuckoo in March, 

 but my friend the Rev. H. A. Harris, of Aldeburgh, came to me for a 

 night on Oct. 1st, and assured me that a young Cuckoo was still 

 frequenting some of the gardens in that town. On Oct. 7th he wrote 

 to me : — "I have to-day again seen the Cuckoo. I followed him up 

 and got quite near him in a garden close to our house. He perched 

 on the ground, or rather on a heap of garden-refuse, and began to eat 

 what I think were cabbage-butterfly caterpillars, of which there were a 

 great number crawling about seeking some place to spin up in. He 

 was very dark indeed ; even the neck and chest were a dark cigar-ash 

 colour, and the abdomen was barred with reddish brown." — Julian G. 

 Tuck (Tostock Rectory, Bury St. Edmunds). 



Large Flight of Rough-legged Buzzards near Scarborough. — On 

 Oct. 16th about a dozen Rough-legged Buzzards (Buteo lagopus) were 

 seen hovering about on the moor near to the racecourse ; four fine 

 birds were secured, and the remainder are now scattered about the 

 locality, some having since been seen in the carrs, others on the wolds, 

 and on the cliffs. The following birds have also been captured near 

 Scarborough, viz. a fine mature male Peregrine Falcon, Little Gull, 

 Crossbill, Black Tern, and a fine variety of pied Stock-Dove. — J. 

 Morley (King Street, Scarborough). 



Strange behaviour of Peregrines in Ireland. — We have received 

 Zool. 4th ser. vol. VII., November, 1903. 2 l 



