352 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



were introduced, though now in a feral state. Neither is there any 

 parallel between the Bassenthwaite case and the case of mistaken 

 identification of Shoveler's eggs at Belfast. It may in some instances 

 be difficult to distinguish between the eggs of various ducks ; there 

 is of course more or less variation in the eggs of all birds, but it is 

 again largely a matter of experience, and Shoveler's eggs are usually 

 distinct from those of Wigeon, without the evidence of down or 

 feathers. The Shoveler breeds regularly in the Solway district. — 

 Linn^us E. Hope & D. Losh Thorpe, The Museum, Carlisle. 



Birdsnesting in August. — It is three years ago since I sent my last 

 notes under this heading to ' The Zoologist.' This year I was again 

 in the same village in Cambridgeshire for the August Bank Holiday. 

 On Saturday, July 31st, I walked from the station to the village 

 through a narrow belt of trees alongside the road. Here I found a 

 nest of Spotted Flycatcher with half-fledged young on a dead fir- 

 bough close up to the trunk. A little further on was a nest of Song- 

 Thrush in the hedgerow with nearly fledged young. Next I came 

 across a Wren's nest about four feet from the ground in a bush beside 

 a pine tree, and, feeling something soft moving inside, I opened up 

 the hole, and found it to contain a litter of young Shrews, apparently 

 the common species (Sorex vulgaris). There were four or five of 

 them, more than half-grown. I believe the Shrews generally build 

 on or under the ground — at all events, this is the first family I have 

 ever found in a bird's nest. Then a Wood-Pigeon went from its nest 

 in a beech tree, and a few yards further on I found a Turtle-Dove 

 sitting on two eggs. Alongside the road I found a Linnet with three 

 fresh eggs in a hawthorn bush. On Aug. 1st I followed a dyke or 

 drain for about a mile and a half through the cornfields. Put a 

 Common Bunting (E. miliaria) from its nest of four nearly fresh eggs 

 amongst the long grass on the edge of the dyke. In the hawthorn 

 bushes along its course put a Wood-Pigeon off a newly-made empty 

 nest, and found another sitting on two eggs. Both these nests were 

 very substantial structures, fully six inches in depth, and looking more 

 like Crows' than Pigeons' nests. Saw a party of young Hedge- 

 Sparrows and another of young Whitethroats fluttering amongst the 

 thick herbage, having evidently only just left their nests. Found a 

 Linnet with two fresh eggs, a Turtle-Dove with two deserted eggs, 

 each having a hole pecked in it, and another nest of the same species 

 with two fresh eggs. The heavy rain at midday put a stop to any 

 further search that day. On Aug. 2nd I examined some pollard- 

 willows, and found three nests of Tree- Sparrow, each with five eggs, 



