194 
NATURE NOTES 
*Coal Titmouse... 
‘Great Titmouse 
Marsh Titmouse 
Twite ... 
‘Grey Wagtail ... 
*Pied Wagtail ... 
*Yellow' Wagtail 
Garden Warbler 
Grasshopper Warbler 
Breeds regularly and is fairly common. 
>) >» >» 
occasionally but is rare. 
and is fairly common. 
,, common, 
but scarce, 
sparsely. 
(My two friends have found up to date seventeen nests of these birds, which 
is believed to be the record for Scotland.) 
‘Sedge Warbler ... ... Breeds regularly and is common. 
‘Willow Warbler 
Wood Warbler 
‘Wheatear 
‘Whinchat 
‘Greater Whitethroat 
‘Common Wren 
*Golden-crested Wren 
,, very common, 
but is scarce, 
and is fairly common. 
but sparsely. 
They have also taken the eggs of the woodcock in the district. 
St. Albans, Herts, June, igoi. W. Percival Westell. 
Plovers and Curlews. — There is an idea prevalent that the curlew and 
the lapwing are becoming scarcer. This may be so in other parts of the country, 
but it is certainly not the case in Upper Ribblesdale. Never have 1 seen and 
heard so many curlews as during this spring. I should be inclined to say that 
there has been a steady increase in the last five years. Lapwings, or “ tewits,” 
as they are locally termed, are as common as ever, although large numbers of 
their eggs are collected annually for food. The reason for their abundance 
appears to be that the local dealer will not purchase any eggs after a certain date, 
and consequently the birds can rear a brood. The plover is not given to for- 
saking her nest, but will continue to lay like any barndoor fowl. The trade in 
eggs has the effect of ensuring a close time and protecting the birds, for it is to 
the interest of every farmer and farmer’s boy to stop the collection of eggs early 
in the season, and also to discontinue the shooting of the birds. 
Settle, July 13, 1901. Addison Crofton. 
Jackdaw. — A jackdaw has for the last three or four years built a nest in the 
turret of Settle Church. The nest was begun upon the floor, but has been 
raised to the level of the window -sill by a vast accumulation of slicks. There 
must be several barrow-loads of material collected in the mound, and the height 
is about three feet or more. 
Settle, Craven, Jily 13, 1901. Addison Crofton. 
Tits. — In a church at which I have lately been, a pair of tits built their 
nest. The birds entered by the shutters in the tower, about forty feet from the 
ground ; they then crossed the belfry, going through one of the holes for the ropes 
in the belfry floor ; then past the vestry to their nest in the nave. 
Market Weston, Thetford, Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
August, iqoi. 
Pigeon with odd Eyes. — When at Minehead, I was shown a pigeon with 
odd eyes, one the usual pigeon’s eye, the other with a very large black pupil 
resembling the eye of a fish. The bird’s sight was in no way affected, but it bad 
a most curious effect. 
Teignmouth, Devon. Caroline E. Farley. 
Tame Kingfishers. — When fishing at Barton Mills, recently, I had a 
somewhat curious experience, and one which, I think, has fallen to the lot of but 
few anglers. I was sitting on a garden seat, on the bank of the Tuddenham 
Stream ; the weather W'as warm, and fish were shy, and I had fallen into a semi- 
somnolent state when a kingfisher alighted upon my rod. In a few minutes it 
was joined by a second bird of the same species. The two kingfishers preened 
and plumed themselves, and then dived once or twice in quest of fish, returning 
again to their perch on my fishing rod. This continued for about half an hour ; 
