326 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ill-defined that in places there is a strip of ground which may or 

 may not be under water. The river itself is often choked with 

 Potamogeton, and arrow-head, yellow water-lilies, and large forget- 

 me-nots brighten it up ; while the scent of crushed horse-mint is 

 overpowering in the July air. The meadows are very swampy 

 and liable to flood, especially above the village. Altogether it is 

 a nice bit of marshy country, and visited in the winter by a fair 

 lot of Duck and Snipe. We found two Moorhens' nests with 

 eggs, and a Little Grebe's in mid-stream with five eggs. An 

 anxious Wild Duck appeared to have young in the cover, and 

 a couple of pairs of Peewits wheeled and screamed over the 

 meadows. 



7th. — A Turtle-Dove's nest with two eggs was only three and 

 a half feet from the ground in a hedge. It was lined with butter- 

 cup flower-stalks gathered green ; another nest on the 12th was 

 lined with "squitch." July seems to be the chief breeding month 

 of this bird here. 



8th. — Bullfinches are unusually numerous this summer. To- 

 day I found, in two of the hedges of a small field, three nests, 

 two of them with eggs, and the other just finished. All three 

 nests were thickly lined with hair — dark horse-hair, grey horse- 

 hair, and a mixture of cow- and horse-hair. 



13th.— News of a brood of twenty Partridges hatched. All 

 resident small birds are "swarming" now. 



August 7th. — Young birds continue to emerge. There are 

 young Song-Thrushes hardly able to fly, and Wrens just on 

 the wing. 



10th.— Many Swifts. 



12th. — Greenfinch's nest with four fresh eggs in apple tree. 

 A good many Swifts. 



14th.— Still a few. 



16th. — None to be seen. 



20th. — One Swift. Not for some years have I seen so many 

 Swallows and Martins in the sky in the evenings. 



22nd. — A Wheatear. 



24th. — Over seventy Martins and one Swallow on the roof 

 up to 8.30 am., and many more earlier in the morning. 



Eain on fifteen days amounted to about 4*50 in. 



September 2nd. — Two Land-Piails. Nearly all corn cut. 



