314 TBE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



A VES. 



The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla melanope) in Sussex. — The nesting 

 of the Grey Wagtail in East and West Sussex has been recorded 

 (' British Birds,' vol. vi. p. 17, and ' The Zoologist,' 1912, p. 228), 

 and it would appear likely that it has now done so in a more central 

 part of the county. If a few passing birds in August are excepted, 

 the Grey Wagtail may be said to be a winter visitor only to this 

 district, but this year I have met with it occasionally since the first 

 week in April, and on June 13th I saw two young birds in Buxted Park. 

 I see no reason why this bird should not nest here, as there must be 

 many suitable places for it, but this is the first year that I have met 

 with the Grey Wagtail in nuptial plumage in the district, or have 

 seen young birds in June. — Robert Morris (Uckfield, Sussex). 



Courting Actions of the Shag. — In the lately issued Section xi. of 

 Kirkman's ' British Bird Book,' Mr. Hartert quotes my description of 

 the courting actions of the Shag (Phalacrocorax (jraculus). This, 

 however, was founded upon what I saw daring the latter part of the 

 breeding season only, which was not by any means enough to allow 

 me to tear out the heart of the bird's mystery. This I have now 

 done — or, at least, come nearer to doing — in an earlier and more 

 continuous series of observations, and I should like to state that 

 there are some peculiarities in the sexual relations of this species, 

 which, as far as I know, have been hitherto unsuspected. My present 

 notes make this evident, but I do not quite know when I shall 

 be able to publish them. — Edmund Selous. 



Velocities of Migratory Birds: Corrections. — I hasten to correct 

 an awkward slip in my paper of last month. On page 245, line 6 

 from the bottom, " 3 minutes 56 seconds " should be " 11 minutes 

 56 seconds." Col. Seely's exact words were " four seconds less than 

 twelve minutes," but in this case 105 should be the velocity, rather 

 than the 115 actually mentioned by him. Perhaps here I ought also 

 to apologise for a cruelly redundant s in line 2, page 241, and an 

 unintentional bit of phonetic spelling on the next page, line 13. — 

 Fredk. J. Stubbs. 



