Note on the Pied Wagtail.—A friend, writing to me on the 5th December, mentioned a circumstance in the economy of our Water Wagtail which may interest your readers. " A pair of these Wagtails did a thing this summer which I should imagine to be unusual—they built in an old rick of faggots which had not been touched for two years, and reared a brood. Before the brood had left the nest the old birds took possession of an old nest near by in the same rick, laid their eggs, and reared a second brood, continuing to feed the first brood during the second operation of incubation. Before the second brood had flown off, the first had quitted the nest, and the old pair immediately returned to it, and, without deserting the second brood, proceeded to lay for a third time. There was every prospect of a third hatching, but the bird was disturbed,—one of the eggs broken in the nest,—which caused it to be forsaken. Is this an unusual thing? It seems to me a very curious instinct, very anti-Malthusian, and, in a bird with so few natural enemies, uncalled for, the determination to rear such a lot of progeny."—E.H. Rodd (Penzance).
Spotted Redshank in the County Mayo.—A Spotted Redshank visited us last autumn, and haunted the shores of the Moy Estuary for some weeks in October and November; but owing to the very stormy weather we had then I was unable to make any attempt to secure it. The first intimation I had of its presence in the locality was early in October, when on two occasions I heard a faint call like that of the Spotted Redshank, but too indistinct to be recognized with certainty. However, on the 3rd November, when returning from Bartragh in my punt, I again heard the same peculiar call, sufficiently near and distinct to be clearly recognized, and shortly afterwards 1 saw the bird Hying very high in the direction of Bartragh. On the 10th I heard it frequently calling amongst the islands at Rozerk, and on the 17th I fell in with it on the Moy view shore, feeding with some Common Redshanks, and had such a good view of it through a glass that I was able to see most distinctly the dark line between the bill and eye, which would have enabled me to identify the species, even if I had not heard its call.—Robert Warren (Moyview, Ballina).
Sparrowhawks Flocking.—One bright afternoon, about the 8th or 9th September, on the heaths bordering Hants and Dorset, my attention was attracted by a noise which resembled the "weet, weet, weet" of the Wryneck. On first hearing it I was at a loss to know from whence the sound proceeded; but I was not long in doubt, for on looking up I saw far above my head, in the clear bright sunshine, a number of birds plaving with and chasing each other in rapid circular flights, very gracefully executed, uttering at the same time the cry above alluded to. The birds proved to be nine Sparrowhawks, two of which seemed considerably less in size than the others, but all possessed equal powers of wing. Upon enquiry
