82, THE ZOOLOGIST. 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
AVES. 
Wagtails eating Trout.—Both the Pied and Yellow Wagtails (Mota- 
cilla lugubris and M. raii) have been observed to take Trout fry. They 
regularly frequent the nursery ponds here in the spring. Hach pond is 
fitted with a fine screen of perforated zinc at its outlet, which collects 
a considerable amount of floating matter, consisting for the most part 
of aquatic and other plants. Amongst this floatage a good many insects 
occur, and these naturally prove an attraction to the birds. Occasionally, 
however, a small Trout gets too near the screen, and is washed on it 
by the current, when the Wagtails take advantage of such an occurrence 
to secure the fish and to devour it. I need hardly say that they are made 
welcome to any fish they take in this way, as no one here would think 
of molesting them. The habit, however, seems worth recording.—J. J. 
ARMISTEAD (Solway Fishery, Dumfries). : 
The Kingfisher in Surrey. — When so much is written about the 
extermination of Alcedo ispida in England, it is pleasant to be able to 
record that this bird is frequently to be seen so near London as Surrey. 
The Kingfisher still exists on the Wey and the Mole, the two chief rivers 
in the county, as well as on their smaller tributaries. About three winters 
ago I saw a specimen on the river Mole at Cobham; in October, 1897, 
another on the Pip-brook near Dorking; in the same month another at 
Bramley, near Guildford, in the valley of the Wey. On the Tillingbourne 
stream, which rises on Leith Hill and flows westward into the Wey, I have 
frequently seen Kingfishers; several times near Abinger Hammer, and in 
May, 1896, at Shere. There is a certain pond in the valley where I 
suspect a pair nested last season, for I made several expeditions to see them, 
and was generally rewarded. I am inclined to think that this species has 
increased in the county these last years; certainly I do not remember 
having ever seen So many. Can we attribute this to the Wild Birds Pro- 
tection Acts? A correspondent of the ‘ Field’ recently reported that a 
pair of Kingfishers had for some time frequented the lake in Battersea Park, 
a very uninviting part of Surrey one would think. It would be interesting 
to know whether the birds are still to be seen there. — Harotp RussELu 
(Shere, Guildford, Surrey). 
(The bird is also to be seen on the Wandle.—Eb. | 
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