466 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Mr. Butterfield suggests in his note, it would have been more satis- 

 factory to have actually found the nest. As I did not hear of them 

 until three or four days before I went, this would have been an 

 almost impossible feat in my case. But my experience of Stonechats 

 in districts where they nest fairly commonly is that this is one of 

 those species where both old and young birds keep fairly close to the 

 nesting-site for some considerable time after the young have left the 

 nest. However, these are the first, and only, Stonechats that I have- 

 been able to see in the West Riding in the nesting season, and during 

 the last thirty years I have tramped very many hundreds of miles 

 in order to find them, or to endeavour to verify reports. As recorder 

 for vertebrate zoology to the Bradford Natural History and Micro- 

 scopical Society for nearly a quarter of a century, I have been wishful 

 to add the Stonechat to our list of known breeding species. Unfor- 

 tunately the local name here of the Wheatear is " Stonechat," and in 

 many cases that has helped to confuse matters. Saxicola rubicola is 

 a bird of passage with us — at times remaining a few da} r s, or even a 

 few weeks, in one place — in October or November, and again in 

 February or March. Mr. W. Greaves, however, informs me that a 

 pair of Stonechats, the first Stonechats recorded for that district,. 

 remained in the neighbourhood of Hebden Bridge last winter from. 

 October to February ; certainly an unusual occurrence for North- 

 West Yorkshire. Very curiously, when I sent Mr. W. H. Parkin, 

 word that there were Stonechats near Grassington Station, which 

 had apparently nested there, he replied that he had seen a female- 

 Stonechat with " feed " in her beak on July 9th at Menston, in the 

 same dale, and within four miles of my house. Neither Mr. Parkin 

 nor I were, however, able to find any further trace of this lady or 

 her relatives. — Harry B. Booth (Ben Rhydding). 



Yellowhammers' Nest in Rick. — -With reference to Mr. Cocks's 

 note on the nesting of the Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) in a 

 rick (ante, p. 352) I have found in former years at least two nests in 

 this district built in field hayricks. One of the nests contained the 

 feathers of a young Cuckoo, probably killed by a Eat. Ricks are 

 often chosen for nesting sites, and it is not unusual to find two or 

 three species nesting in the same rick. 



Besides the Yellowhammer I have found the following birds 

 breeding in ricks : Blackbird, Thrush, House-Sparrow, Robin, Wren 

 (most frequently), Pied Wagtail, and Spotted Flycatcher; and no 

 doubt other birds have been recorded. — S. G. Cummings (9, King 

 Street, Chester.) 



