ORNITHOLOGICAL AND ICHTHYOLOGICAL NOTES. 269 



number of old birds slaughtered by ' sportsmen ' after the close time, 

 when there are yet quantities of unfledged young on the cliffs depen- 

 dent upon them. Yet the number of sea-birds, I was told this season 

 by those best able to judge, is considered greater than ever. 



The Carrion Crows in the rrtarshes almost invariably choose a 

 thick thorn bush to build in. The nest is placed sometimes not 

 more than seven or eight feet from the ground, and generally over- 

 hanging water — a drain or pond. In the vast majority of cases I believe 

 the young get off, for it would tax the utmost energies of one of the 

 smallest and most thorn-proof boys to plunder the nest. I found two 

 nests to-day (May 27th) in thorns, both apparently with young birds 

 in them; and from an old Crow's nest of last year, in a like situation,, 

 a Kestrel went off, but I was quite unable to ascertain whether she 

 had eggs or not. This practice of building in bushes in the marshes 

 is no recent one, for old men have told me that when they were boys 

 and went bird-nesting, they often enough found the Carrion Crow's 

 nest in a thorn. 



May 27///, 1885. 



ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 

 Goosanders at Masham, Yorkshire.— On the 3rd of January, four 



Goosanders {Mergtis merganser) were seen here on the river Yore. One of the 

 birds was shot, and on dissection proved to be a female. The remaining three 

 birds have not been seen since that date, but several flights of the Common Wild 

 Duck, Golden Eye, and Teal have passed up and down the river. — T. Carter^ 

 Burton House, Masham, January 15th, 1885. 



Curious Nest of Song- Thrush. — On Whit-Monday, May 25th, I found 

 in the Copgrove Woods, Boroughbridge, the nest of a Song- Thrush [Turdus 

 imisictis) which to me, and to other members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union 

 (who were having an excursion there that day), seemed very curious. It was placed 

 among a number of young shoots covered with green leaves, springing from the 

 bole of a tree, and was formed on the outside entirely of fresh green shoots and 

 leaves of low-growing plants, the rim at the top being of perfectly fresh blades of 

 grass. With the exception of the dung lining, everything visible about it was green, 

 and the contrast to the ordinary nest of the bird, formed of dry withered material, 

 was most marked. No doubt it was done for greater concealment among the 

 surrounding green leaves, the colour of which was exactly matched, except for the 

 dulness of the nest leaves, caused by the withering process, and which would of 

 course increase every day. Whether the bird had itself plucked off the fresh shoots, 

 or they had been thrown out of the gamekeeper's garden, which was a short distance 

 away, I can't say. The nest contained one egg. — Geo. T. Porritt, Huddersfield, 

 June, 1885. . 



ICHTHYOLOGICAL NOTES. 



Basse in Whitby Harbour.— On the 12th of May a young Basse 

 {Labrax lupus Lacep.) was captured above the bridge in Whitby Harbour, in a 

 clasp net, by Dring. This is the first time I have heard or known of one being 

 caught in the harbour, though Yarrell states they frequent harbours. — Thos, 

 Stephenson, Whitby, June 9th, 1885. 



MuUer's Topknot at Whitby. — I see that Whitby is not given in the 

 ' Handbook of Yorkshire Vertebrata ' as a locality for this species {Rhonibtis 

 ptmctatus BL). One was captured off here by Freeman, on the 13th of May, i88r. 

 Thos. Stevenson, Whitby, June 9th, 1885. 



Jul}' 1885. N 2 



