Jackdaw, which the violence of the wind had driven upon the arrow and literally impaled." The one story corroborates the other.—J.H. Gurney, Jun. (Northrepps Cottage, Norwich).
Cuckoo laying in a Swallow's Nest.—The Cuckoo's egg I mentioned to you as having been deposited in the nest of a Swallow was taken by one of my boys from a nest built under the bridge in Cassiobury Park. I have never met with or heard of another instance of this egg being found in a Swallow's nest, nor do I think that the fact is recorded in any book on Natural History. The small size and peculiar position of the nest preclude the possibility of the egg having been laid in it in the ordinary manner, and I do not doubt that it was conveyed there in the Cuckoo's mouth. I believe this mode of depositing the egg to be the ordinary one adopted, as few of the nests selected would admit of so large a bird sitting in, or even on them.—George Rooper (Nascott, Watford).
[At pp. 222, 223 of 'Our Summer Migrants' will be found lists, from various authentic sources, of the birds in whose nests the egg of the Cuckoo has at different times been found. The number of species amounts to fifty-six, but the Swallow is not included. The instance above narrated by Mr. Rooper is the first of the kind that has come to our notice, and is extremely interesting.—Ed.]
Kite at Northrepps, Norfolk.—This afternoon (May 2nd) I saw, at Northrepps, a Buzzard going south, and immediately afterwards a second, and then a Kite. I was very much surprised at seeing the Kite, although it is not long since my father saw one at Northrepps; and it was still more unusual to see it so late in the year in company with Buzzards migrating southwards. They were high up, but the sky was very clear, and I could plainly see the light head and forked tail of the Kite, and observe every now and then the tail turned rudderwise.—J.H. Gurney, Jun. (Northrepps Cottage, Norwich).
Correction of an Error.—In my 'Notes from Beverley,' p. 157, in mentioning the note of the Spotted Crake, I am made to say—"The males begin to call at dusk like Corn Crakes or Quails, only the note is very different, and may be imitated by pronouncing quickly the word 'gluck'—'gluck' every three or four seconds." Please read "quick"—"quick" for "gluck"—"gluck," as the latter would make it very like the note of the Quail, which bird I frequently hear in the summer here; though when the corn is reaped they seem to leave us, judging by the very few that are killed in the shooting season. I should liken the notes of the Quail to "ghut, ghut it"—"ghut, ghut it."—F. Boyes (Beverley).
Introduction of Foreign Land and Fresh-water Mollusca.—With reference to the occurrence in this country of foreign land and freshwater shells (p. 232), I may mention that they are now very frequently introduced. I myself turned loose on a moor in the county of Durham,
