270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



which I have found nests of this bird here, and I mention the fact, 

 as in the only authoritative account of the Birds of Hampstead 

 (J. E. Harting in Lobley's ' Hampstead Hill,' 1889) the Lesser Ked- 

 poll is recorded as occasionally being seen here in the autumn only, 

 and no instance is therein given of its having nested at Hampstead 

 up to that time. — H. Meyeick (The Mount, Hampstead). 



Short-eared Owl Nesting in Essex. — Fourteen years ago I recorded 

 a nest of this interesting bird on Northey Island (Zool. 1896, p. 233). 

 For the last month or more we have constantly seen a pair of these 

 birds about on our meadows and marshes, and quite thought they 

 were nesting on our land, but my son, Lieut. T. M. Fitch, and one of 

 my daughters undertook an expedition of discovery when they were 

 at home, and located the nest in a marsh on an adjoining farm, Little 

 South House, half a mile away from Northey. The grass was being 

 cut in the adjoining marsh, and the next evening my son brought 

 back the mangled remains of four young Owls, and the driver of the 

 mower picked up four others in the nest. Mr. Ashcroft, tenant of 

 Little South House, was anxious they should be preserved, but his 

 man mowed over them with the machine inadvertently. The day 

 before yesterday (July 7th) my head horseman brought me a fully- 

 fledged young Owl — a little beauty — that he had caught while 

 ploughing in one of my fields ; it was especially lively, but was 

 pinioned, and had a cut on the neck just above its wing. I sent 

 it back at once, and trust that it may live, but doubt if it will ever 

 fly ; one old bird is still about every evening, but previously it was 

 very busy all day. At any rate, we can account for nine young ones, 

 but I fear the mother was killed with her family. — Edward A. Fitch 

 (Brick House, Maldon). 



Supposed Occurrence of the Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides fur- 

 catus) in Surrey. — A stuffed specimen of the Swallow-tailed Kite was 

 on exhibition at the Museum Congress of the South-Eastern Union 

 of Scientific Societies, held recently (June 8th to 11th) at Guildford. 

 I made enquiries about this bird, and the information I received from 

 the local taxidermists, Messrs. W. Bradden and Son, of North Street, 

 was that the skin was brought to them some ten years ago by a 

 cottager, who said that his father shot it some years previously at 

 Chiddingfold. The skin was in a deplorable condition, having evi- 

 dently been taken off the bird by some one who had no knowledge 

 of taxidermy, and this clearly shows on the bird now that it is set 

 up. The cottager was given a few shillings for the skin, and this was 



