Yorkshire N aturalists* Union : Annual Report, 1932. 23 
Two Woodcocks brought off four and three respectively. This latter is 
very interesting, as it is the first time the Woodcocks have been recorded 
.as nesting here. 
The Bearded Tit has not been seen. This does not, however, preclude 
its presence. Many Goldfinches have been about the whole of the summer, 
and as many as nine nests have been noted. Most of the small birds 
and finches have done very well. There are a good many Woodpeckers. 
Reed Warblers have been especially abundant. 
A very interesting curiosity in nesting occurred when a Wren took 
possession of the feathered carcase of a Kestrel hung from the keeper’s 
vermin pole, and reared a tight packet of a dozen or more young. The 
.-body was nailed through the skull and all the flesh had fallen away from 
the neck vertebrae. The bird had entered through the pelvic arch, and 
I constantly expected that the increasing weight as the young birds 
-grew would be more than the contact adhesion of the neck vertebrae 
would stand. I am pleased to say, however, that they managed success- 
fully to get off. 
Spurn — Ringed Plover.- — At Kilnsea we started watching on May 
16th. By July 18th we had marked twelve nests containing four eggs uni- 
formly each, on the Beacon and eleven on the Spurn similarly containing 
four eggs. One found on May 15th was afterwards found to have only 
three, but with that exception, all the others seemed to be undisturbed. 
The Terns were very much more erratic. They started laying about 
May 29th, and up to June 26th 48 nests had been recorded with two or 
•three eggs, a total of 125 ; no nests with less than two were recorded after 
June, 26th, and only four with two up to that date. Two of these again 
laid another egg each, so that June 26th may be taken as about the 
last recorded period when eggs were laid. 
The notices which the Union fixed a few years ago appear to have 
-at least had the effect of making common knowledge that it is illegal to 
touch the eggs, and there has been little trouble this year. 
An Oystercatcher laid three eggs and was first observed on June 
26th at Kilnsea on the Humber side. They were all hatched out on July 
3rd. This is an interesting record. There have been no abnormal tidal 
■conditions, and for the second year in succession the birds appear to 
-have done well. The colony, however, does not seem to appreciably 
increase, as last year the number of nests recorded was 48. 
The Stone Curlews do not appear to be doing very well in the 
Thornton Dale district. Mr. J. Green only reports two pairs nesting, 
and it was wet and^stormy every day they were sitting. The birds 
nesting ground has been nearly all planted up under the reafforestation 
scheme. A pair were reported as frequenting the 50 -acre rough pasture 
field, below the village, but no signs of a nest were found. They may 
not have been a nesting pair, or, alternatively, they may have been sterile. 
Mr. Green reports a tremendous lot of Lesser Whitethroats in the 
Thornton Dale district. He reports a Gold Crested Wren as having 
nested behind the ivy on an old tree bole, like a tree creeper. Mr. Green 
also reports Goldfinch and Bullfinch within a short distance of the Gold 
! Crest. He reports having seen twelve Geese passing westward on July 
12th. They were probably Canada Geese, as from time to time during 
the summer months parties of these leave private waters and wander 
around . 
With respect to the season generally, it appears to have been a good 
one for most birds. Wood Pigeons have been plentiful, game birds have 
been patchy, but all the finches and commoner birds have had an excellent 
^nesting time. A great many Kestrels have come over this year, and 
Ducks have been very plentiful in the estuary, but up to the present 
no Woodcock have been noted. The Pink -footed Geese arrived in their 
usual numbers. 
There has, however, been nothing of outstanding note to record. 
1933 Jan. 1 
