British Birds. 
eggs. All four nests were exeeedingly well hidden, one 
being placed in pampas-grass, one in sedge and two on the 
ground hi long grass. 
The lirst brood were hatched on the 2(jth .June. Tliere 
was a small iScotch lir near the nest and I saw the female 
remove a lot of blight from it, which she carried to the 
nest; and also dock -seeds. The young were covered with 
blackish down, and had yellow beaks. They did well for a few 
days but the last died on the 2n(l July. 
Meantime, the young pair had not been idle, though 
1 had not had time to look for the nest, but after a long hunt 
I found it on the following day. It was in the very 'thickest 
part of a clump of sedge, and contained four' young, several 
days of age. IVo left the nest on the 10th, and the remain- 
ing two on the following day. They seemed restless little 
creatures, continually shifting about in the cover, and gave 
their anxious parents a lot of trouble in linding them at 
fnealtimes. They were lighter in colour than the adults, 
and the outer tail feathers were almost entirely white; the 
upper part ol the breast ticked with very dark brown. 
One died on the 25th, and two disappeai ed some weeks 
later. The remaining one is a good specimen and is now 
in my bird-room. The old pair laid again but I removed 
the eggs (as also those of the third female) and released the 
adults. 
This species seems quite suited to aviary life ana the 
male in breeding plumage is a handsome bird, but he is cer- 
tainly not a success as a vocalist and few aviarists seem 
to think him worth keeping. In a natural aviary, however, 
the Reed Buntuig flitting in and out of the reeds makes, to 
my mind, a charming picture, and always reminds me of the 
many happy days I have spent on the Norfolk Broads with 
rod and camera. 
Sundry Notes in a letter dated October 12th, Dr. 
P. Gosse (Beaulieu, Hants) writes: 
To-day's sudden change to cold and rain has upset all 
the House Martins. There are about 50 under one gable 
on this house. One bird, evidently 111, I found sitting oji 
the window-sill. On putting it into the cage for the night, 
I noticed the enclosed bug moving among the feathers pf 
