142 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the nest was not noted. In November last a friend of mine described 

 to me a nest which had been built the previous spring under the pro- 

 jecting thatch of the roof of his summer-house. As he was uncertain 

 to what bird the nest had belonged, it was suggested that I should come 

 and look at it. It was after ten o'clock at night, and my friend took a 

 lantern to give us light. As soon as the light was cast on the nest 

 under the thatch, which proved to be a Wren's, a Wren darted out of 

 it, fluttered for a moment in the light of the lantern, and disappeared 

 into the darkness, showing that these incomplete nests are intended 

 not only as shelters for the young broods, but also as warm roosting- 

 places during the winter. It would be interesting to hear the opinions 

 of practical observers as to the number of these " cock" nests in pro- 

 portion to those used for purposes of incubation. I should think them 

 about five to one. That the male is the builder of these nests I have 

 frequently had proof, having heard him sing while engaged in build- 

 ing. — Allan Ellison (Watton-at-Stone, Hertford). 



Water-Pipit at Eastbourne. — It is perhaps worth recording that I 

 shot two Water-Pipits (Anthus spipoletta) here in November last, on the 

 17th and 25th respectively. They attracted my attention by their large 

 size and unusually dropping flight ; they were flying round some pools 

 of brackish water near the town. I should have reported them before, 

 but waited to get them identified by Mr. Howard Saunders, which has 

 now been done. The local birds tuffer has never had any in before. — 

 E. C. Arnold (Blackwater House, Eastbourne College). 



Pacific Eider (Somateria v-nigrum) in Orkney. — The bird recorded 

 by Mr. W. J. Clarke in ' The Zoologist ' (ante, p. 74) differs in several 

 features from the descriptions of the species given by Gray (Proc. Zool. 

 Soc. Lond. pt. xxiii. p. 211, 1855), and Salvadori (Cat. Birds, Brit. 

 Mus. vol. xxvii. p. 431). On Dec. 17th (three days after death) the 

 bare spaces at the base of the bill were dull ochreous yellow, and the 

 tip clear horn- colour. The tarsi and toes were olive-green, the webs 

 blackish, and the irides dark brown. On comparing the bird with the 

 Common Eider, and the type-specimen of Dresser's Eider in the Owens 

 College Museum, Manchester, several differences not given by Salva- 

 dori or Gray were noticed. In the Pacific Eider the bare spaces of the 

 bill and the feathered wedge on the culmen are far more acute than in 

 the common species ; and, as the latter feature is said to be apparent 

 even in the young in down, it may possibly serve as a means of 

 separating the females of the two species. In the Orkney bird the 

 green colour of the occiput does not extend towards the eyes as 

 a border to the black cap, in this point resembling the Common Eider, 



