318 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



great extent the type of egg laid by the parent bird. — J. Steele 

 Elliott. 



Calling of the Cuckoo in July. — The late Mr. Howard Saunders 

 in his ' Manual of British Birds ' states that the Cuckoo calls up to 

 June 20th. To fix such a precise date is rather an emphatic state- 

 ment for such an authority to make, and certainly one that is in 

 error. That the continuous calling ceases about that date would 

 have been more correct, but I have many notes from Bedfordshire of 

 their calling even in July. My friend the late Mr. J. King heard the 

 Cuckoo at Biggleswade as late as July 8th in 1897, and until July 

 17th in 1899, a female on July 6th and a male on July 9th in 1900, 

 July 4th in 1901, and July 15th in 1902. Personally I heard them 

 frequently in various localities up to July 7th in 1907, and in the 

 present year at Turvey on July 4th, when at 6 a.m. I heard a female 

 call once and a male call loudly and frequently for some ten minutes 

 or more. That in some localities the calling ceases at a much earlier 

 date than in others I am fully aware, and at my home in Shropshire, 

 where I have kept close observation the present year, I have not 

 heard or seen an adult since June 16th. The return migration of 

 the adult Cuckoo is given as in July and August, but I think it 

 practically takes place as soon as their calling ceases and the 

 majority of our birds have taken their departure even before the end 

 of June. If is unfortunate that the Eeports of Migration printed in 

 l^he ' Bulletin ' of the British Ornithologists' Club throw very little 

 light on the return movements of the adult Cuckoo, as in the few 

 records given so very few state whether such refer to the old or 

 young birds. — J. Steele Elliott. 



Buff-backed Heron in Somerset. — A specimen of the Buff-backed 

 Heron was shot at Martock, Somerset, on January 28th, 1909, and 

 preserved as a skin by a Mr. Sherring. I received the specimen from 

 a friend of Mr. Sherring, and sent it to Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, who verified 

 my suspicions as to the species. The data are preserved, pinned 

 around the neck of the bird, which unfortunately has a rather 

 neglected appearance. This is, I think, the only occurrence in 

 Somerset, and a rarity for any part of England. — Stanley Lewis 

 (Wells, Somerset). 



Notes on Nest-boxes. — Our nest-boxes this season have contained 

 nothing new or of special interest, except the brood of Tawny Owls 

 already recorded on p. 232. Three boxes have been occupied by 

 Stock-Doves, but they have not been very successful, as I believe 

 only one brood got away. In one case both eggs had been taken out 



