460 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



represented than usual, though this is not a Shrike district. As 

 regards the Willow- Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), I would call 

 attention to an alteration in its nesting-habits, as the same may have 

 been observed in other localities. Owing to a series of very wet 

 winters and early springs, this little Warbler has arrived to find its 

 former nesting-sites exceedingly damp, and, in some instances, under 

 water, and as a consequence woodlands which should have been 

 filled with it and ringing with its lively notes, have during the past 

 few years become almost deserted. One might easily suppose that 

 a decided falling-off in number had occurred ; indeed, I do not deny 

 that fewer may have been arriving here during the past five or six: 

 years, but, as a matter of fact, there have been of late many more 

 what may be described as outlying pairs of Willow-Warblers than 

 formerly. It would be interesting to know if this has been noticed 

 by observers in other localities. To form some judgment as to the- 

 number of birds affecting a well- wooded and strictly enclosed district 

 one must rely, to a certain extent, upon the amount of song he hears, 

 and they did not give us very much this year— in fact, the cold, 

 damp, and gloom which so often prevailed some time after the arrival 

 of our summer birds undoubtedly had a depressing effect upon them,, 

 and very little was to be heard of them. Chiffchaffs already had a 

 partly-built nest in my garden before I had heard one note uttered ; 

 in fact, I did not know a Chiffchaff was on the premises, and the 

 cock must have mated without a song and did exceedingly little 

 singing afterwards. The Grey Wagtail (Motacilla melanope) again 

 arrived for nesting, and three spots affected by pairs were known 

 to me. On May 27th I watched a female completing the lining 

 of a nest, but unfortunately this nest was in full view of anyone 

 crossing the bridge near which it was built, and was stolen. 

 Otherwise it was, to me, especially interesting as being the first nest 

 of the Grey Wagtail I had ever seen. Great Spotted Woodpeckers- 

 (Dendrocopus major) nested in the same tree used by them in 1912, 

 a small decayed oak standing among Scotch pines, the hole being at 

 about twice the height of that bored by them four years ago, when 

 it was rather less than eight feet above the ground. The few nests 

 of the Great Spotted Woodpecker seen by me here have been in 

 oak, cherry, and Scotch pine. The arrival of our breeding Green- 

 finches was quite up to the average, but Linnets showed a falling-off. 

 I think rather more Herons pay visits to the neighbourhood than 

 was the case some years since, and in " British Birds," vol. i., p. 360, 

 there is a notice of an article which appeared in the " Hastings and 



