Birds. 



8493 



flew out, which induced him to look closely into the hush, when he discovered the nest. 

 I also received from a friend, the Rev. E. Benyon, living at Culford Hall, Suffolk, four 

 miles from Bury St. Edmunds, a reed warbler's nest, containing two of its own eggs 

 and a cuckoo's. The nest was built in some high reeds, and growing on a large piece 

 of water : it was discovered in the reeds by the men when cutting them for the 

 purpose of thatching the ricks, and was built about two feet over the edge of the water. 

 I have mentioned this singular occurrence to many naturalists with whom I am ac- 

 quainted, and they never heard of an instance of the sort before. This nest was found 

 nine years ago, and my friend gave orders to the men to take particular notice and 

 care of the nest and eggs should they find one with a cuckoo's egg in it, but none have 

 been found since that time, and the reeds are cut every year, at the time when the 

 reed warblers are sitting on their eggs. I have the nest now in my possession, preserved 

 with the reed warbler's and cuckoo's egg in it, and should feel very happy to show it 

 to any naturalist who might wish to see it. I mentioned the circumstance to my old 

 and much-lamented friend, William Yarrell, who said he never heard of an instance 

 before, and had he not had the third edition of his excellent and well got up work on 

 4 British Birds' in the printer's hands at the s time, getting ready for publication, it would 

 have been noted in that work. — «/. W.*Clutterbuck ; 9, Queen's Gate Gardens, South 

 Kensington, March 17, 1863. 



Pheasants in New Zealand. — The increase of the pheasants imported into New 

 Zealand has caused the following remarks in the ' Daily Southern Cross ' of the 27th 

 of October : — " We have heard complaints in several quarters that pheasants have 

 increased so much in certain districts as to become a pest; but although they may do 

 some damage, still the good they do by destroying insects far more than counter- 

 balances the evil. Those who attempt to farm in this province know how much they 

 suffer from crickets and caterpillars; and when they learn that in the stomach of a 

 longtail recently killed no fewer than three hundred crickets were found they will look 

 with greater favour on a bird which destroys so many insect enemies at a single meal. 

 At the same time we do not wish for an undue increase of male birds, because as they 

 prevent the hens from sitting they tend to diminish rather than increase the number of 

 young broods." 



The Sandpiper Diving. — When I mentioned the sandpiper diving (Zool. 8195), it 

 was not as a lusus natures but simply as a fact hitherto little known, at least in Ireland. 

 It is, however, curious that out of the three closely allied families Totanus, Scolopax 

 and Tringa, only one species (T. hvpoleucos), and that in the family of the three most 

 remote from that of Gallinula, is known, I believe, to have this capability ; certainly 

 no other species, to my knowledge, and I have had considerable experience, dive. 

 When other species are proved to dive then the fact will be nothing remarkable, except 

 that habits hitherto generally unknown will be added to the life-histories of these inte- 

 resting birds. Captain Hadfield says in his paper (Zool. 8447), " But had it not 

 been for Mr. Leven's assertion that he had noticed their diving ' on one or two occasions 

 while the birds were amusing themselves on the shore or bank of the stream,' there would, 

 I think, be nothing very remarkable." This I consider rather inconsistent, for when 

 a bird can dive for safety can it not also dive for other reasons — food or pleasure ? My 

 chief object in writing my first paper was to learn from correspondents if the bird was 

 known to dive for food (see my second last sentence, Zool. 8196). My supposition 

 seems to have been satisfactorily confirmed by Mr. Leven's paper (Zool. 8237), and 

 again by the Rev. G. C. Green, who mentions (Zool. 8283), " and saw it occasionally 



