NOTES AND QUERIES. 469 



Eagles near an eyrie in Strathcarron, West Ross, we were attracted by 

 the nestling cry of a small bird in a thick- set fir-wood. After some 

 careful stalking, we discovered that the sound came from a nest 

 situated about fifty feet from the ground in a slender Scotch fir, and 

 we could see the young bird flapping its wings as it continuously 

 uttered its cry. It was impossible to reach the nest by climbing, and 

 we shook the tree violently till the nest was dislodged. The young 

 bird — a Lesser Redpoll [Linota rufescens) — was found to be a prisoner, 

 having one foot tightly bound by several strands of wool to the lining 

 of the nest. A dead conpanion was in the nest beside it. This record 

 of the Redpoll's nesting in West Ross may be worth mentioning in 

 view of the meagreness of the references in Harvie-Brown's lately 

 issued ; Fauna of the North-west Highlands and Skye.' — G. A. and 

 R. B. Whyte (7, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh). 



The Rough-legged Buzzard in Somerset. — On November 13th 

 last I had a brief but clear view, through my glasses, of a Rough- 

 legged Buzzard (Buteo lagopus) flying low, and with very slow beats of 

 the wing, along a bare hill-side which is much frequented by rabbits 

 near here. From its white tail, with a broad dark subterminal bar 

 and white tip, it was presumably an adult bird. — H. Meyrick (Cleve- 

 don, Somerset). 



Totanus calidris in Bedfordshire. — As the Redshank is not a 

 common bird in Bedfordshire, it is perhaps worthy of record that I 

 saw one to-day (December 2nd) in the bed of a new lake which is 

 being made in the park. — Mary Duchess of Bedford (Woburn 

 Abbey, Woburn). 



A Remarkable Cuckoo Clutch. — Referring to the note of your 

 correspondent, P. F. Bunyard {ante, p. 430), under the above heading, 

 in which he invites readers to solve some of the points to which he 

 calls attention, I think, in all probability, that neither of the Cuckoos 

 removed an egg from the Hedge-Accentor's nest at the time of deposit- 

 ing its own, and that the nest contained only five eggs of the foster- 

 parent originally, which is not an unusual number for the bird to have 

 laid. As regards the nest being " beautifully concealed " and therefore 

 difficult to find, I would suggest that the Cuckoos discovered it by 

 watching the old birds go to it, which I believe to be often the case, as 

 I have frequently found Cuckoos' eggs in nests so completely hidden 

 in thick ivy that it would have been almost impossible for a Cuckoo to 

 have found them in any other way. What the fate of the two young 

 Cuckoos would have been it is impossible to say, but probably the 



