written originally for the Annals of Scottish Natural History,' but was not sent in, for the reason I gave, that I hoped to revisit the islands; but a note recording the "Long-tailed Field Mouse in the Outer Hebrides" was inserted in the January number of that Journal instead. In this notice I mentioned St. Kilda as a locality in which this mouse occurs, and I wrote this from seeing a specimen at the British Museum, which I understood had been obtained by the minister of that island; but as I was informed that no others had been received, and as this single specimen was in spirit, and useless so far as measurements were concerned, I did not think it worth mentioning in my article. For comparison I have looked at something like 300 skins, a great number of which were collected and preserved by myself and measurements taken in the flesh, from nearly every county in the British Islands, and I find that those received from Ross, Cromarty, Skye, and all also parts of Ireland, are perfectly typical Mus sylvaticus. I have not yet received any specimens from Orkney, but there seemed no reason to wait for these, as it could not possibly affect my description. As to the Inner Hebrides, they are merely part of Scotland, and the fauna is not likely to differ from that of the mainland.-W. E. DE WINTON.

Harvest Mouse in Shropshire.-In your interesting article on the Harvest Mouse (pp. 418-425) I note that you do not include Shropshire amongst the counties in which it has been found. In 1872, when on a visit to the late Mr. W. Hyslop, in the village of Church Stretton, twelve or fifteen miles from Shrewsbury, one of the children brought in a Harvest Mouse. I enquired where she had found it, and went to the place in search of others. It was a low, flat bit of marshy land (afterwards reclaimed), through which ran an open, sluggish streamlet, and on the margin of which grew rushes. A portion of the upper end of the field skirting the road to Little Stretton was cultivated, and growing oats. After much search I found the remains of three nests, empty, and one with only two young ones in it, full grown and lively. That would be in August, or early in September, for the oats were ripe. I was informed that these mice were "quite common "there. It was in the same neighbourhood, high up on the Long Mynd Mountain, that I once encountered an Otter, one very clear moonlight night, twelve miles from any stream. There had been a long spell of dry weather, if I mistake not. I have seen Harvest Mice in Ayrshire, in the Mauchline district, forty years ago, where they were then common.-G. W. MURDOCH (Milnthorpe, Westmorland).

Provincial Names of Animals.-In Earwaker's East Cheshire' several extracts are given from the accounts of the wardens of the parish church at Wilmslow, and, among other entries, are records of two disbursements for "Maupe " heads, sixpence being paid for six heads in 1666, and sixpence for sixteen heads in 1669. The author suggests that Moles were referred to, but if that animal had been intended, it is more probable that "Moudywarp," a name still in use among the country people in Cheshire,

would have been the word used, although "Mold" occurs in the Stockport churchwardens' accounts for 1700, when a penny was paid for two of these animals. Can any reader of The Zoologist' throw light upon the subject, and state what a "Maupe" really is?-CHARLES OLDHAM (Romiley).

BIRDS.

Nesting of the Goldcrest.-I am surprised that Mr. H. S. Davenport considers that "authors with common consent have apparently ignored" the fact that Regulus cristatus nests against the side of a tree. In such a familiar text-book as the fourth edition of Yarrell's Birds' we are told that such a situation is occasionally adopted, and that the late Mr. Hewitson had seen a Goldcrest's nest in the middle of a juniper-bush. In the neighbourhood of Carlisle the Goldcrest nests both against the sides of trees, and in the centre of furze-bushes. On the 13th of May last, a young friend of mine brought me a Goldcrest's nest, which was carefully concealed in the heart of a furze-bush; and several others have been found in furzebushes on the same common. The fact has long been known to the Carlisle field-naturalists, and is not a new departure from the usual habits of this Regulus. At Orton, near Carlisle, where the Goldcrests generally nest in furze, there is plenty of coniferous timber, so that it is from choice rather than from necessity that the Goldcrests there nest in furze. I imagined for years that the Goldcrest nested under fir-branches only, because I never happened in those days to come across nests in any other situation; but the latest records only amplify Professor Newtou's remarks in the fourth edition of Yarrell, and cannot fairly be regarded in the nature of a discovery.-H. A. MACPHERSON (Carlisle).

Nesting of the Goldcrest.-In this neighbourhood I have found Goldcrests' nests more often among the hanging slender branches of ivy covering small stunted trees or thorns, and in larch and fir-woods than anywhere else, the average height from the ground being ten feet.-RICHARD M. BARRINGTON (Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow).

Quail in Surrey.-The occurrence of the Quail in Surrey, at any time unusual, is still more remarkable during the month of October. On Oct. 1st one was shot in a field of turnips near Ashstead by a member of a party walking up Partridges; it was in very fair condition, and was eaten. On Oct. 8th, while shooting near Headley, another Quail was observed by several people, including myself. It was running through some tall but thin mustard, two or three yards in front of the beaters. It ran into a thick broad hedgerow, and I saw it again on two or three occasions; it would not take wing, however, though I do not think it was wounded Apart from the rarity of the occurrence, the late date at which it was noted is, I suppose, due to the splendid warm weather which prevailed at the end of September.-J. A. BUCKNILL (Epsom).

Breeding of the Goldeneye in the Washburn Valley.-A pair of Goldeneyes, Clangula glaucion, bred last summer in a plantation on the margin of Fewston Reservoir, near Otley, Yorkshire. The young ones, four in number, were seen repeatedly in the vicinity of the nesting-place. After careful investigation, I detected the female was a wounded bird, unable to fly. This in all probability is the cause of their breeding here. A pair of Goldeneyes bred under similar circumstances during the summer of 1891, in a plantation on the margin of Swinsty Reservoir. One of the young ones was caught by my spaniel dog. The old male bird was shot, and is now in the collection of the Leeds Naturalist Club. The Goldeneye is a regular winter visitant here in limited numbers. The area of the two Reservoirs is 356 acres.-WM. STOREY (Fewston Lodge, Fewston, near Otley).

Broad-billed Sandpiper in Sussex.-On Oct. 2nd a female Broad-billed Sandpiper, Limicola platyrhyncha, was shot near Rye Harbour, Sussex, out of a small flock of Duulins, Tringa alpina. It was a female bird of the year, and is now in the collection of Mr. Alexander, of Cranbrook. It is, I believe, the third specimen which has been obtained in Sussex. Mr. Burton shot one in the same neighbourhood on Aug. 13th, 1887, which is now in Lord Lilford's collection. Previous to this, namely, in October, 1845, Mr. Borrer purchased one in the flesh which had just been shot near Shoreham (Birds of Sussex,' p. 227).-G. W. BRADSHAW (Hastings).

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Red-necked Phalarope near St. Leonards. Mr. Knight, of St. Leonards, shot a male Red-necked Phalarope, Phalaropus hyperboreus, on Oct. 17th, at a small pool of water on the Salts, Bulverhythe, near St. Leonards. It weighed 1 oz.; contents of gizzard, flies. Mr. Borrer, in his 'Birds of Sussex' (p. 218), notices five previous occurrences of this bird in the county.-G. W. BRADSHAW (Hastings).

Swallows returning to their Old Nests. On June 6th, 1893, I caught with a fishing-net a pair of House Martins, H. urbica, which had built their nest under the eaves of our house. I put a small split-ring on the leg of each bird. The following year, June 20th, the birds returned with the rings still on their legs. A pair of Martins again nested here during the present summer in the same place; but unfortunately the male bird was killed by flying against a telephone-wire, When picked up it still had my ring on its leg. I was unable to prove the female to be also a marked bird, for she deserted the nest soon after the male bird was killed. WM. STOREY (Fewston Lodge, Fewston, near Otley).

[This is not the first time that the experiment has been made of marking birds with a view to ascertain whether they return to spots where they have previously reared their young, and in the case of both Swallows and Swifts it has been proved that they do. For reported cases of the

kind, see The Field,' Sept. 30th, 1876; June 4th, 1881; and July 1st, 1893.--ED.]

Grey Shrike and Pomatorhine Skua in Norfolk.-On Oct. 3rd and 4th I was fortunate in shooting specimens of these birds on the north coast of Norfolk. The Shrike was an adult male, barred with white on the primaries, the inner primaries and secondaries tipped with white. The Skua was a young male in the intermediate plumage between the adult and bird of the year. The two central tail-feathers projecting only two inches, and with a dark band two inches wide across the upper part of the breast.A. D. SAPSWORTH (Woodford Green, Essex).

Spoonbill in Norfolk. On Oct. 5th and 6th a Spoonbill visited the marshes and mud-flats in the same district. It was an adult bird, for the pale yellow crest was visible with the aid of glasses, but its extreme wariness would not allow of a nearer approach than 100 yards.-A. D. SAPSWORTH (Woodford Green, Essex).

Kestrel taking Young Pheasants.-That the Kestrel prefers fur to feather is now recognised by all but the most obdurate of gamekeepers, although the reproach that the bird will take young game cannot be altogether wiped ont. At the time of the hatching of the Pheasants during the late breeding season a female Kestrel was given to me which had fallen a victim to its repeated raids on a young brood. On dissection the justice of the charge was made abundantly clear, and indeed the bird was shot in the act of carrying off one of the brood. I was informed at the time that had it not been shot it would have cleared out the whole brood, although the truth of this information appeared to rest on opinion rather than experience. It is known that Kestrels do "often contract the bad habit of infesting the coops and carrying off the young birds," but Professor Newton says that this evil may easily be stopped, and that "the Kestrel is in the first place attracted to the spot by the presence of the mice which come to eat the Pheasants' food" (Yarrell, Br. B., ed. 4, i. p. 79). A comparison of Mr. Borrer's account of the Kestrel (Birds of Sussex,' pp. 12, 13) with that of the late Mr. Knox's (Ornithological Rambles in Sussex,' ed. 1. pp. 51-63) indicates a decrease of the species in Sussex of late years, which the former partly accounts for in the fact of there being fewer opportunities of appropriating the deserted nests of Crows and Pies, since these birds also have decreased.-W. C. J. RUSKIN BUTTERFIELD (St. Leonardson-Sea).

Alleged former Nesting of Golden Eagle and Goshawk in England. -Dr. John Hill, the author of several zoological and geological works, whose History of Animals' was published in 1752, gives in vol. iii. of that folio an account of a supposed nest of the Golden Eagle in the south of England 150 years ago, which had the unusual complement of four eggs.

After remarking that he had shot one in Charleton Forest in Sussex, he adds that he had "once found a nest there, built in a strange, wild manner, and with four eggs in it." This statement need not be too hastily discredited, for his description of the Golden Eagle-" the size of a turkey with legs feathered down to the toes"—is detailed, and does not appear applicable to any other raptorial species; indeed it may have been taken, and very likely was, from the one he shot, though the number of eggs in the nest is certainly rather indicative of a Buzzard. Further on he mentions a Goshawk's nest in Rockingham Forest, in Northamptonshire, remarking that these birds are very bold, and that a servant who climbed the tree, probably to take the young, was attacked with the utmost fury by both the parents, and wounded in the face. There is nothing improbable in the supposition that this nest was that of a Goshawk, and Dr. Hill's statement that this bird "breeds with us in woods," may be applied to England as well as Scotland, where in the early part of the eighteenth century it was probably common. Other birds of prey also come in for a share of his attention, and his remarks will repay reading, for the worthy doctor has many notes of interest scattered throughout his bulky volume. In Lincolnshire he met with large flocks of Cranes, and in the same forest where he found the supposed Golden Eagle's nest he saw a Roller, and on the downs of Sussex great numbers of Bustards. He also killed four Black Grouse " on Hindhead, a vast mountainous heath on the Portsmouth road," and his account of the Bittern is evidently from personal observation, at a time when, as he says, they were "very common in our fen countries."J. H. GURNEY (Keswick Hall, Norwich).

Black Tern in Wales.-In The Zoologist' for October last (p. 381) Mr. Mainwaring has recorded the occurrence of the Black Tern in North Wales, and remarks on its rarity in the Principality. It has also occurred on Llangorse Lake, Breconshire. It is stated in the Transactions' of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, 1890-92, that two specimens of this bird were shot there in 1889, and were preserved. The Common Tern is often to be seen on that lake, and the Lesser Tern occasionally; but I believe this is the only instance on record of the occurrence of the Black Tern on this sheet of water.-E. A. SWAINSON (Woodlands, Brecon).

Supposed Breeding of the Crested Lark in Kent.-Among the oological discoveries this year none is perhaps likely to evoke more interest than the egg of the Crested Lark (Alauda cristata), taken in Romney Marsh on June 7th, and subsequently purchased by me at Stevens's Auction Rooms. The recorded evidence of the breeding of this bird in England having hitherto been confined to one alleged instance, at Ibiston, near Cambridge, in 1881 (Zool. 1883, p. 178), ornithologists will doubtless be glad to hear of a well-authenticated case, the parent birds having been seen by Mr. Sydney Webb, as well as by Mr. George Gray, a well-known