32 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



beyond question. The point at issue hangs, then, on the veracity of 

 his statement. I have no reason whatever to doubt that. The evidence 

 is precisely of the same nature as that of Mr. Ellison (1905, p. 391), 

 when he says "he found Cuckoos' eggs in the nest of Chaffinch," &c. ', 

 or when Mr. Parkin says (1905, p. 348) he found, in 1899, a Cuckoo's 

 egg in the nest of a Pied Wagtail. I am not surprised at such a 

 capricious bird as the Cuckoo exceptionally depositing its egg in the 

 nest of the Twite. Such occurrences are, of course, rare. Ignoring 

 the testimony of Mr. Wilson, it is sufficiently established that such 

 instances have occurred. I can quite confirm the veracity of Mr. James 

 Ellison's statement, mentioned by Mr. H. B. Booth. No man in the 

 North of England has taken more eggs of the Twite in past years than 

 he has, though it is a pity the egg of the Cuckoo was not actually seen 

 in situ. The Twite is a bird that I have been interested in now for 

 some years, especially as regards its distribution in England, and I 

 should like to see its status properly worked out. I am afraid Mr. 

 Allan Ellison's definition (1905, p. 390) of its distribution is open to 

 criticism. I should be very glad if he could give us properly authenti- 

 cated instances of the Twite breeding in England south of Derbyshire. 

 So far as my own experience and knowledge goes, the Twite in York- 

 shire is mainly confined to the hills forming the Pennines ; I say 

 mainly, because there are exceptions, a notable one being Thorne 

 Waste, a flat part on the border of the West Riding. Most of the 

 nests are built in ling (Calluna), occasionally among the heaths 

 {Erica spp.), and exceptionally among grass (Nardus). The "colony" 

 referred to by Mr. Parkin among bracken is an exception. I have 

 never known the Twite to nest on carboniferous limestone moors in the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire, nor have I ever heard of an instance. Ling 

 and the heaths are absent on these moors, but the slopes are often 

 covered with bracken. The colony mentioned above in the bracken 

 marks, so far as my knowledge goes, the eastern limit in that direction 

 of the Twite in Yorks. The site chosen is a bracken zone separating, 

 in this case, a grass summit and a wood near the bottom. I should 

 say the colony is at an altitude of from 700 ft. to 800 ft. Whenever 

 I have seen the nests they have been built in the previous year's dead 

 bracken. On the moors to the west of this place, right away across 

 the Pennines to the borders of Lancashire, the Twite breeds in more or 

 less numbers. On the immediate adjoining heather moors to the north 

 I can testify to the breeding of the Twite, though not, as Mr. Parkin 

 says, on "adjoining moors similarly placed," if they be not heather- 

 clad. Although the Twite frequently breeds in colonies, this habit is 

 to some degree dependent on local peculiarities. On long stretches of 



