8160 



Birds. 



Note on the Breeding of the Dartford Warbler in the New Forest. — I had a nest 

 of four eggs of this bird brought to me, which were taken at the bottom of a furze 

 bush, on the 29th of April, on Lyndhurst Heath. The eggs are similar to those of the 

 whitethroat, but are easily distinguishable by the general appearance: the ground 

 colour is a light gray, neatly covered with bluish and stone-coloured specks. The 

 egg is, moreover, smaller than those of the whitethroat. The nest is very compact, 

 and is composed of moss, fragments of heath and furze, with a few bents, lined with a 

 little horse-hair and very fine grass; the outside of the nest is bound round with a 

 very broad flag-like grass, which gives it somewhat the appearance, externally, of the 

 nest of Savi's warbler. The Dartford warbler was much more plentiful in the New 

 Forest in 1858 and 1859 than in 1861 and this year; in fact, I did not see half-a-dozen 

 birds this year where there were dozens in the two first-named years. I believe the 

 diminution of numbers is owing to the wet and cold summer of 1860 and the severe 

 winter of 1860-61. I was unable to blow more than two of the above-named eggs, 

 as they were very hard-set. — W. Farren. 



Dates of Arrival and Nesting of Birds. — In the ' Zoologist' for June (Zool. 8026) 

 is given the dates of arrival of the swallow, &c, in the South ; the following are a few 

 memoranda I have made down here: — 



March 1. Saw first wheatear ; also a tawny bunting, nearly all white ; it was very 

 tame. 



April 8. Heard chiflchaff. 



April 10. Saw last woodcock, and got the eggs of common wood owl. 



April 13. Found the nest of missel thrush with eggs, also that of the longeared 

 owl; the young well feathered and almost able to fly. 



April 18 . Found the nests of peewit and common snipe, both with four eggs ; also 

 saw a flock of fieldfares, thirty-three in number, — the latest I have seen them here 

 was in 1855, on the 29th of April. 



April 20. Saw first wood wren. 



April 22. Saw first house martins. 



April 26. Saw first chimney swallow, whinchat and cuckoo, and heard landrail. 

 April 27. Found yellow bunting's nest with three eggs. 



May 4. Found curlew with four eggs, also longeared owl with two eggs, and 

 wheatear with six. 



May 17. Found a red grouse with six eggs, also a brood of young ones, running 

 strong ; same day, found a curlew with four eggs ; the old bird sat on the nest till a 

 friend and I walked within two yards of it : I never heard of a curlew sitting so close 

 before. 



May 28. Found a teal with nine eggs. 



Landrails have been very plentiful this season : an old bird was killed on its nest, 

 and two eggs broken with a scythe, on the 2nd of July. I received the remaining 

 eight eggs, which were far from hatching. In 1854 and 1858 I saw house swallows 

 and martins earlier than usual, — viz. on the 14th of April. — Thomas Thompson; 

 Winlaton. 



The Nest of the Nightingale. — Living in a neighbourhood abounding in these 

 birds, I have had considerable opportunities of observing their habits. This year 

 I have known nine of their nests, last year six : they were placed in all sorts of situa- 

 tions ; in the bottoms of hedges, among nettles, the remains of last year's brambles, on 

 and at the sides of ivied stumps, amongst grass and dead leaves in a wood, dense 



