ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



91 



distance a number of birds diving and swimming after the manner of 

 Grebes ; so we approached. Several shots were fired at one of them, 

 but without success, as it dived whenever we got within sixty yards, 

 as well as every time we fired, and the motion of our boat caused the 

 shot to go anywhere, occasionally, but where we meant to send it. 

 But by the free use of wire cartridges, and sticking to the same 

 individual, one was at length secured. Hurrah ! A young Red- 

 necked Grebe. Thinking there might be an adult in the party, we 

 picked out the whitest looking survivor, and gave chase, and after 

 a variety of futile shots, fired as soon as the bird came to the surface — 

 and affording a considerable amount of excitement, as no one could 

 tell in what direction the bird would appear next — a shot took effect 

 in the head, and an adult Red-necked Grebe was brought on board, still 

 retaining a good deal of the chestnut colour of the summer plumage 

 on the neck. We left the remainder of the party to their enjoyment, 

 and reached North Sunderland without further adventure. 



We then tramped back to Bamborough, with the appetites 

 usually begotten of such expeditions, and the old 'skart,' shortly to 

 be made into a skeleton, was unanimously, except so far as he was 

 concerned, ceded to M. to carry. How Mrs. Henry managed to 

 board us at the price she did, was always a mystery to me ! 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 Breeding of the Hawfinch in North Yorkshire.— On the 22nd 



of May last, my brother found here a nest of the Hawfinch {Coccothraustes vulgai-is). 

 It was built about seven feet from the ground, in a hawthorn bush, by the river-side. 

 The foundation was of twigs, and the lining of roots ; but the whole fabric was so 

 loosely put together that, as we stood beneath it, we could see the eggs, which 

 were five in number, through the nest. The hen bird was sitting on the eggs when 

 the nest was found, and was very unwilling to leave it. When she came off, she 

 was joined by the male bird, and both flew round for some time, seeming much 

 agitated, the boldly marked plumage of the latter showing to great advantage in 

 the bright sunlight. In the same bush, and only about three feet from this nest, 

 was another similarly constructed, and from which a young brood had evidently 

 been fledged last year. Doubtless it was the family from this nest which helped 

 themselves so freely to our green peas in July, 1883. So many pods were robbed 

 .of their contents, that we threw nets over the rows, and the following day found 

 a young male Hawfinch entangled in the meshes, after which the birds paid us no 

 more visits. Some years since an adult male Hawfinch was captured in a similar 

 manner in the kitchen garden at Swinton Park. — Thomas Carter, Burton 

 House, Masham, September 2nd, 1884. 



Occurrence of the Barred Warbler (Sylvia Nisoria) on the 



Coast of HoldernesS. — On the 28th of August, I obtained a young female 

 of this bird, the first specimen recorded from Yorkshire, and only the second from 

 Great Britain. I took it, when alive, for an exceptionally brilliant Garden 

 Warbler. It is in a very interesting state of plumage and considerably more adult 

 than the very young bird figured in Dresser's ' Birds of Europe ' (plate 68). The 

 wings and tail are exactly those of an adult female, the back is plain light grey, the 

 feathers of the rump and upper tail-coverts only being tipped with white, the 

 under parts are of a greyish white, but in certain lights faint traces of dark bars 

 are visible on the flanks ; the under tail-coverts are as in adults, darkish grey with 

 white margins. The bill is very strong and heavy for -5^. Nisoria. — Henry H. 

 Slater, Irchester, Oct. 20th, 1884. 

 Nov. 1884. 



