132 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



found, but a pair, evidently mated and on their way to breed, 

 were picked up dead in a street in Sheringhara, having, as was 

 supposed, struck an overhead wire in the night (H. M. Upcher). 

 The male was distinctly spotted on the flanks, which in the 

 female were quite clear. 



12th. — Five Knots in red plumage on Breydon muds 

 (B. Dye). 



14th. — At the present time there are two Long-tailed Tits' 

 nests t in gorse bushes, both very conspicuous, and that is often 

 the case with nests of this early species, which are built before 

 the leaves have come out. Another nest was in a cherry plum, 

 another in a privet bush, and another was in a wild honeysuckle; 

 on previous occasions nests at Keswick have been built in yews, 

 juniper, whitethorns, thuja, jasmine, and box. Long-tailed Tits 

 are paired by Valentine's Day if the weather is at all favourable, 

 and completed nests* are to be found in March, yet at the same 

 time old birds are still to be seen in flocks. 



15fch. — An unusual sight was witnessed in the village of 

 Castleacre — a Heron flying along the principal street carrying a 

 large Eel in its beak. The bird was flapping awkwardly within 

 a few feet of the ground, borne down by the struggles of its 

 prey, perhaps impaled upon one of the mandibles, which would 

 quite account for its not getting rid of it. Eventually the bird 

 rose to a greater altitude and made off. (Correspondent of the 

 'E.D. Press.') 



18th. — In a "Nature Study " now on exhibition at the Castle 

 Museum, arranged by Mr. F. Leney, the results of planting the 

 contents of a Partridge's crop are shown. Nothing has come up 

 except harmful weeds, including bindweed (Convolvulus), Persi- 

 caria, white goosefoot, and annual Poa. The bird was sent up by 

 Mr. Colman, and had been killed near Norwich. A Partridge dis- 

 sected in Scotland, also in May, by Miss L. Florence, contained 



* These marvellous structures attracted the attention of naturalists as 

 long ago as the sixteenth century, the first to describe one having been the 

 illustrious Swiss physician Gesner (1555), who was followed, and at greater 

 length, by Aldrovandus (1599-1603), who had discovered a nest with nine 

 young ones. Salerne, however, perhaps taking his information from Ray, 

 thought they laid twenty eggs. Instances of three or four birds in attend- 

 ance upon one nest have been recorded (' British Birds,' iv. pp. 79, 209), 

 which would account for such a large number as twenty. 



