177 
FIELD NOTES. 
Nightingale Nesting near York. — A pair of nightingales 
successfully reared four young ones, which left the nest on 
June 1 2th. The nest was a fairly large, loose structure, 
composed of dead beech and rhododendron leaves with the 
addition of a few fine grasses, and was situated on the ground 
among some elder sticks and common nettles on the edge of 
a dark shrubbery at Waplington, fifteen miles east of York. 
Owing to the bad light some photographs of both parents 
feeding the young birds failed, and the young had flown away 
before a second effort was possible. — S.H.S. 
Snake Pipefish at Scarborough. — On February 28th, 
after a rough sea, a Snake Pipefish (Nerophus cequoveous), 
measuring 21 in. in length, was washed ashore in the South 
Bay near the bathing pool. This is the largest of the six 
British species of these fishes, and is by no means of 
common occurrence. It can be distinguished from the 
Great Pipefish, the next largest, by its oval section, by 
the bluish white transverse lines which ring the body at 
short intervals, and by the absence of the pectoral and 
caudal fins. It is now preserved in the Scarborough Museum. — 
W. J. Clarke. 
The Flowering Period of the Barren Strawberry. — 
The Barren Strawberry ( Potentilla fragariastrum) is invariably 
the first of our plants to flower in the neighbourhood of Douglas, 
Isle of Man. For the last seven years it has appeared on 
November 28th, 1926 ; November 25th, 1927 ; December 2nd, 
1928; October 21st, 1929; August 15th, 1930 ; September 
8th, 1931 ; and October nth, 1932. This gives the average 
date of flowering as October 20th. It should be mentioned 
that these dates are not those of out-of-season appearances, 
e.g. September violets, but that flowers have been found in 
every month from these dates each year. The August record 
is an early and not a late date as no flowers were observed 
on this wall in July and the same plant continued to flower 
throughout September. From these dates it would seem that 
the flowering period of the Barren Strawberry is much under- 
estimated by most text -books, and that a conservative 
estimate would be from November to May. Near Douglas 
it is generally common in December, while late flowers 
are to be found until the middle of June. July is the 
only month in which I have never found it in flower. — 
W. S. Cowin. 
1933 August 1 
HZ 
