NOTES AND QUERIES. 129 
Kingfisher and some Long-tailed Tits at St. Cross. On the 13th he 
writes :—‘ At about 5.15 p.m. a Pied Wagtail flew into a room where I 
was, no doubt attracted by the light. After flying about in a startled 
manner, it finally went out.” On the 15th Mr. L. Claypon saw the first 
Reed Buntings in the near water-meads, and on the 16th a large flock of 
Peewits, fully a hundred, heading south. On the 19th he reports a flock of 
500 Common Gulls near the town. Mr. Stares reports the following 
birds :—Dec. 2nd, saw a Great-crested, Red-necked, and several Little 
Grebes, on the Hants side of Chichester Harbour; also a pair of Tufted 
Ducks. 27th, a small flock of Siskins, feeding on the seeds of alder near 
the Hamble river. 31st, a male Blackcap, feeding on some rotten apples 
that had been thrown out for the Blackbirds; it has been here (Porchester) 
for quite a fortnight, and comes and feeds daily within two yards of the 
windows. It is still here (Jan. 4th). I may mention that I saw two 
Blackcaps near Winchester, on Oct. 18th. 
During the last two months Mr. Chalkley has received the following 
birds:—Nov. 13th, Great Spotted Woodpecker, from the near neighbourhood ; 
15th, Pin-tailed Duck, from Avington; 18th, Hen Harrier, male, from 
Andover; 23rd, Long-eared Owl, from Avington, and one on the 27th, from 
the neighbourhood; 24th, Saddle-back Crow, from Avington. Dec. 16th, 
Golden Oriole, from Avington. 
The following are some of Mr. Stare’s notes for the earlier part of the 
year, which I was not able to insert in my own notes then :—* April Ist, a 
- Tawny Owl, with eggs, sitting; 6th, a punt-gunner told me he had seen 
to-day, in Langston Harbour, a flock of about two dozen Red-breasted 
Mergansers (he called them “ Spear-wigeon”); 19th, large flocks of 
Swallows pitching in the reed beds, and numbers of Nightingales and 
Warblers about the hedges and fields; 24th, Redshank with egg, sitting. 
Saw several Swifts. Small flocks of Whimbrel (Nuwmenius pheopus) about 
Langston and Portsmouth Harbours, and several Bar-tailed Godwits just 
beginning to get the red plumage. F locks of Yellow Wagtails about the 
marshes. April 26th, Ringed Plover with young. 27th, on a piece of 
water not far from here(Porchester) I saw three White-winged Black Terns 
(Hydrochelidon lewcoptera), one of the Marsh Terns. ‘They only remained 
there one day. They are very elegant birds, flying about over the reed-beds 
and open water hawking after insects. Sometimes they would come and 
settle on some old posts that were standing in the water. May 19th, saw 
a Hoopoe (Upupa epops). I am told it had been about the spot where I saw 
it for more than a fortnight. 25th, Wood Wren with eggs. July 2nd, large 
flocks of Gulls in Langston Harbour, composed of Herring, Lesser Black- 
backed, and Kittiwake Gulls, one Great Black-backed Gull amongst them. 
10th, saw a Hobby in the woods near Titchfield. 19th, pair of Pigmy 
Zool. 4th ser. vol. II., March, 1898. K 
