OBSERVATION NOTES AND QUERIES. 



39 



Hydrochelidon nigra. — During a recent 

 visit to Cookham on the 26tli of May, I 

 obtained the following ornithological notes 

 from Mr. Briggs, of that place, which may- 

 prove of interest to some of my readers. 

 He had procured for my collection good 

 specimens of the following birds — Black 

 Tern ( H. nigra ), Nightingale ( Luscinia 

 philomela ), and a Blackcap ( Sylvia atri- 

 capilla ), to each of which an interesting 

 episode is attached. It is rare to find sea 

 birds, so far inland, and this is the first 

 time the Black Tern has come under my 

 notice, although sometimes when a strong 

 east wind has been blowing for a day or 

 two, sea-swallows have been shot in the 

 neighbourhood of Cookham, and the Com- 

 mon Tern (Sterna hirundo ) has been seen 

 there two or three times in the last few 

 years. In the present instance four birds 

 were observed, and one of them, described 

 to me as a "white one," was particularly 

 noticed by several people. I think this 

 must have been S. hirundo. Two out of 

 the four were shot a little way from Cook- 

 ham, and taken to Mr. Briggs, who pur- 

 chased them for my collection. On dis- 

 section they proved to be male and female 

 of nigra, the latter being full of minute 

 eggs. The second bird mentioned ( L. 

 philomela ) was a male, which killed itself 

 by flying against the glass window of a 

 conservatory. "With regard to the Blackcap 

 ( S. atricapilla ), this was a hen, and Mr. 

 I B. 's attention was drawn to it by a man 

 on the estate, who told him a young bird 

 was lying in the middle of the road. On 

 going to the spot, Mr. Briggs found it to 

 be a hen Blackcap, evidently in great pain, 

 as it allowed him to capture it without 

 resistance. It died shortly after, and on 

 skinning it, Mr. B. found it to be com- 

 pletely egg-bound. — R. B. Shaepe. 



Food of the Kestrel. — ^About a week ago 

 Mr. Briggs received from a friend near 



Reading, a parcel in which was a fine male 

 Kestrel ( Tinnunculus alaudarius ) which 

 had been sent "just as it was shot." In 

 its claws was a slow-v/orm tightly clenched, 

 and still living when the parcel was opened. 

 Unfortunately both bird and reptile were 

 too much injured for preservation, the 

 beak of the former being entirely shot 

 away. Mice, small birds, and insects have 

 been noticed as the food of this hawk, but 

 I know of no instance recorded of the 

 Kestrel making a meal of a slow- worm. — 

 R. B. Sharpe, May 31. 



Parus cceruleus. — A curious instance of 

 the confidence reposed in man by some 

 birds during the breeding season, was told 

 me by Mr. Briggs. A Blue Titmouse 

 ( Parus cceruleus ) had built its nest in a 

 brick wall at Formosa, and when there 

 were two eggs in the nest, Mr. Briggs 

 Avatched the female into the hole, and then 

 caught her. The little bird, however, did 

 not seem to be very frightened, and he had 

 not the heart to kill it, and therefore re- 

 leased it. When freed, it perched on a 

 pear tree hard by, and then returned to the 

 hole, and on May 26th was sitting on six 

 eggs. — R. B. Sharpe. 



Singular Instincts of Birds, and contrary 

 sites chosen for building in. — In the spring 

 of 1856 1 found a nest of the Missel Thrush, 

 containing four eggs, sitting, built on the 

 top of a wall, notwithstanding the place 

 was surrounded by trees suitable for that 

 species to build in. The following summer 

 I met with a nest of the Blackbird, con- 

 taining four eggs, built in a Magpie's nest, 

 eight yards from the ground. There were 

 plenty of rocks, bushes, &c, , round about. 

 Shortly after this, and not far from the 

 place, I discovered a Chaffinch's nest con- 

 taining four eggs, sitting, built on the 

 flat ground, at the foot of a large oak, in 

 an extensive woodland district. On the 

 16th of May, of the present year, I dis- 

 covered a nest of Ring Ouzels, fully fledged. 

 The young brood made their exit at my 



