Notes Wilson's Phalarope in Cornwall.—Early on the morning of 15 th June 1961 J.E.B. came across an unfamiliar medium-sized wader with plain brown upper-parts and a dull white rump and tail, on Marazion Marsh, Cornwall. He contacted Dr. G. Allsop and between them they

continued...

183 BRITISH BIRDS watched the bird for about five hours. N. R. Phillips was then told and he and R. Khan saw it that evening. Two days later it was found independently by W.R.P.B. and J.L.F.P., and subsequently a number of other observers went to see it. It was last recorded with certainty on 4th July. It was recognised as a species of phalarope by its charac­ teristic position when swimming and by the delicate proportions of its head, neck and bill, while its relatively large size, comparatively drab coloration and distinctive face-pattern together proclaimed it a male Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor). The detailed descrip­ tion which follows is based mainly on that obtained by W.R.P.B. and J.F.L.P. on 17th June, but the notes made by J.E.B. and others agree well with it: An unusuaEy large, long-legged, long-billed phalarope, perhaps approximating in size to a small Reeve {Philomachus pugnax) or a Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glanold), and behaving rather like those species, feeding mainly by wading along the shore rather than swimming, and having a loose, erratic, wavering flight. Forehead, crown and hind-neck ash-grey with an inconspicuous paler longitudinal patch on the nape. Rest of upper-parts except rump and tail grey-brown, appearing uniform in flight, but showing darker feather centres (especially on the scapulars) on the ground. Rump and tail off-white in flight, the tail actually slightly more brownish-grey but without any well-defined dark tip, Supercilium white, broadest over and just behind the eye, where it ceased abruptly, with a fairly broad, blackish stripe running from the bill through the eye and curving down to merge with the markings on the side of the neck. Chin white, contrasting markedly with warm-buff sides of neck, vinous-buff fore-neck and upper breast, pinkish-buff sides of lower breast and buff flanks, the last faintly marked with brownish streaks. Central under-parts white, and under-wing whitish or pale grey. Eye dark. Bill black, straight and very slender, considerably longer than head, markedly longer than in other phala- ropes. Legs rather long, dark, but upper tibia paler, possibly yellowish. Feet black, protruding beyond tail in flight, the toes apparently slightly lobed. Although tamer than many waders, it was not quite so confiding as most Grey or Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius and lobatus) frequently are. When approached to within 25-30 feet it normally flew off quietly to another part of the same pool and sat there, later returning to the original area to feed in muddy water less than six inches deep. On the 15 th it frequently associated with a Ruff and was then comparatively unapproachable, flying up at the same time as the Ruff, but not always accompanying it; it would then even fly high and circle. It usually waded up to its belly,' but swam freely in deeper water, holding its head and neck well up and its tail depressed, the tips of the closed wings extending, just beyond the tail. It fed by picking small objects from the surface all round, and also by sweeping the bill from side to side with the tip submerged, but apart from a couple of half-hearted turns it was not seen to spin. In general its behaviour was rather subdued and it did not call. While it presented no particular difficulties of identification, the 184 NOTES combination of a long, needle-like bill and contrasting face pattern at rest and the presence of a plain wing and dull white rump in flight being very distinctive, it did differ in several respects from the illus­ tration of a male Wilson's Phalarope in P. A. D. Hollom's The Popular Handbook of Rarer British Birds (i960). In particular, the bill seemed longer, the upper-parts paler and more uniform brown, and the neck less chestnut, while the paler patch on the nape, at the time thought to be a plumage aberration rather than a normal character, was much less distinct than in the illustration. The generally drab coloration and the presence of streaks on the flanks suggest that it may have been a first-summer bird. J. E. BECKERLEGGE, W. R. P. BOURNE and J. F. L. PARSLOW

Wilson's Phalarope in Nottinghamshire.—On 16th July 1961, at about 9.0 a.m., P. Hope and W.P. saw an unusual wader on the Burton Meadows area of Nottingham Sewage Farm. Later in the morning they met E.T.L., A. W. Preston and Richard Preston and took them to see the bird which was then swimming on open water in the manner of a phalarope {Phalaropus sp.). They all made notes, and returned home to compare them with descriptions in The Popular Handbook of Rarer British Birds (i960). In the afternoon E.T.L. and W.P. with D. J. Young and P. Carr found the bird again, and obtained sufficient details to confirm it as a Wilson's Phalarope {Ph. tricolor). Early the following morning it was seen by Mr. and Mrs. A. Dobbs and C. A. Johnson, and during the next ten days by a total of about thirty people. It was last recorded on z8th July. The descriptive notes below have been summarised from the observations of all those mentioned above. In general appearance the whole bird was very white, this being striking even at a distance and making it stand out from all other waders. Its under-parts were gleaming white, but above it was actually very pale grey with the primaries perhaps a little darker; the forehead, crown and nape were paler grey than the mantle, back and wings; the rump was white and the tail was also very pale; a dark smudge extended behind the eye. It had a slender neck, smallish head, fairly long and very thin bill, and slender legs; both bill and legs were black. It was a typical phalarope in shape and action, but larger than either Red-necked or Grey (Ph. lobatus and fulicarius), being only a little smaller than a Redshank (Tringa tetanus). When standing on the mud or in shallow water, it seemed very tall in comparison with, say, the Dunlins (Calidris alpina). It spent much of its time swimming and held its head very upright as it did so; this made it look longer- necked than other phalaropes and it had something of the appearance

185 BRITISH BIRDS of an immature Little Gull (harm minutus). As it swam about, it would move its head from side to side, or twirl its body in a semi­ circle, and snap at insects on the surface of the water. It actually seemed to prefer the water to the land, but it was sometimes seen on the mud of the sewage tanks or on adjacent plough or grassland with such waders as Redshanks, Dunlins, Ruffs {Philomachus pugnax) and Lapwings (Vmelius vanellus); Green and Wood Sandpipers (T. ochropus and glareola) were also in the area for comparison. It was never heard to make a sound and was always fairly shy compared with Red-necked and Grey Phalaropes, flying off when the Redshanks did. In flight it had a plumpish torpedo-shaped body and the square white rump was very prominent, particularly as the plain grey wings (no wing-bar) seemed darker than when it was at rest; the wings looked rather rounded. E. T. LAMB and W. PRIESTLEY

Wilson's Phalarope in Co. Wexford.—A Wilson's Phalarope (Phala- ropus tricolor) in almost complete winter plumage was identified at Lady's Island Lake, Co. Wexford, on 12th and 13 th August 1961. It was first seen by me on the 12th and, as a result of a telephone call, B. D. Cooper, S. Holohan and Major R. F. Ruttledge joined me on the following day. Together we had the bird under observation for one and a half hours. At the end of that time, for no apparent reason, the Dunlin (Calidris alpina) with which it had been feeding began to leave the lake in small parties; and with one such group the Wilson's Phalarope departed and did not return. The following description was made under excellent conditions of light and weather, at various distances down to about thirty yards:

Noticeably larger than. Dunlin and smaller than Black-tailed Godwits (htmasa limosa), both of which were seen near-by; about the size of, or a little smaller than, a Redshank (Jringa totanm). Bill bkck, straight and thin—quite needle­ like—and between 1} and 1J times the length of the head; legs and feet looked black, though once R.F.R. thought he detected a greenish-yellow tinge on the front of the tarsus; eye dark. Head small and dainty, neck rather long and noticeably slender; body slender (but in certain attitudes rather "full- breasted") and tapering towards tail. Forehead white; crown and nape very light grey-brown; fairly noticeable white superciliary above "a short, dark and not broad line running backwards for a quarter to half an inch behind the eye. Cheeks, chin, throat, sides of neck, breast, flanks, belly and under tail-coverts all an unmarked and delicate off-white, appearing very white at any distance at all. Back of neck light greyish-brown, contrasting with the white sides of the neck and giving a "maned" effect; mantle and back a soft, unmarked, pale greyish-brown; rump, upper tail-coverts and tail (except tip which had irregular brown marks) pure white. Primaries dark grey-brown in marked contrast to body colour; scapulars, wing-coverts and secondaries light greyish- brown, at some angles looking almost pure grey.

186 NOTES In flight, the neat white rump and upper tail-coverts produced a pattern recalling a Wood Sandpiper (T. glareola), while at certain angles the mantle and upper wings looked quite brown (there was no wing- bar whatever); the under-wings were white; the feet projected be­ yond the tail, and we thought that just the bases of the tarsi did so as well. In general, it was a strikingly white wader that, even at two hundred yards or more with the naked eye, stood out from the Dunlin like a Sanderling {Crocethia alba) in winter plumage. It fed ashore nearly all the time (no "spinning" was seen) and was very active, constantly rushing about in a darting fashion and rapidly picking food from the surface of the shallow water or mud. It had a strangely crouched posture with its body at about 30° to the ground, its neck and head more nearly horizontal and its tail rather raised. No call was heard. It should be noted that, though the bird was apparently well into winter plumage, its leg colour had not yet reached the pale state of that season. O. J. MERNE

[These are the sixth, seventh and eighth records of this North American wader in Britain and Ireland, which seems remarkable when one remembers that the species was only added to our list as recently as 1954 (Brit. Birds, 48: 15-17). In the eight years since then it has occurred once in May, twice in June, once in July, twice in August and twice in September, in widely scattered places in all four countries. The lack of any overlap in the dates of the three 1961 records raises the possibility of a single bird wandering from Cornwall to Nottingham and thence to Wexford, changing from summer to winter plumage in the course of the eight weeks concerned. However, a comparison of the descriptions, especially of notes on size and behaviour, suggests that at least two different individuals were involved.—EDS.J

Food of tits.—A recent note by Bryan L. Sage on the food of the Marsh Tit {Parus palustris) (Brit. Birds, 55: 89) reminds me that, where tits and the seeds of Compositae are concerned, things are not always what they seem. In August 1947, at Flatford Mill, Suffolk, during a bird course organised by me, several Goldfinches (Cardmlis carduelis) were being watched one afternoon at a range of about 2 5 feet as they fed on the seeds of greater burdock {Arctium lappa) growing along a rough hedgerow; two Marsh Tits joined them and all were busily attacking the heads and scattering the down. It was noticed that, when the Goldfinches extracted beakfuls of pappus, they rolled it between their mandibles for a few seconds before discarding it; whereas, when the Marsh Tits plucked out pappus, they dropped it

187 BRITISH BIRDS immediately. One of the exercises of the course was to collect (after careful observation) the remains of any food material on which a bird had actually been working. In this instance bundles of pappus seen to have been discarded by (a) Goldfinches and (b) Marsh Tits were collected separately. It was found that the former had been severed immediately above the seeds as neatly as by a pair of scissors, while those thrown away by the Marsh Tits had their full complement of seeds untouched. Further investigation showed the heads to be infested with small orange-pink larvae about three millimetres long; there were up to twenty in a head, living at the base of the pappus among the seeds, and it was noted that the heads partially stripped by the Goldfinches appeared still to contain their full quota. While it could not be claimed that the Marsh Tits were actually seen to be extracting and eating the larvae, clearly they were not interested in the Arctium seeds. Small larvae ( ? Cynipidae) can be found similarly in the heads of thistles (e.g. Cirsium palustre and vulgare) and, indeed, in many other plants. A parallel observation concerned a Great Tit (Farm major) and a turkey oak(Quercu$ cerris). The Great Tit was watched working along the twigs of the tree and gently tapping the acorns. Now and then it would concentrate its attention on a particular acorn, evict it from its capsule and immediately follow it down to the ground; there the acorn was broken up and its contents devoured piecemeal. One might have assumed that the bird was eating the kernels, but when the actual remains were collected (including one nearly intact acorn from which the tit had been suddenly frightened away) it was found that the acorns were full, not of kernel, but of five to seven weevil larvae, each in its own round cell and between them filling to capacity the entire space within the shell—a good meal. One further incident can be added, involving a Blue Tit (P. caeruleus) which profited from the exertions of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor). The latter, a resident male, was often to be seen opening up the long swollen stem-galls on willows (Salix). As it passed from branch to branch, it would frequently be followed, at first or second remove, by what was probably the same individual Blue Tit which then took its turn in searching and pecking at the broken gall. These galls were found to contain larvae of various sizes from less than one to over four millimetres in length (whether different ages of one species of gall wasp or of different inquilines is not known). It seems likely that the very small larvae might be too minute to interest the woodpecker, but a profitable investment for the tit. E..A. R. ENNION

188 NOTES Blackbirds rearing five broods in one season.—A pair of Black­ birds (Tardus meruld) nesting in Queen's College, Oxford, in 1961 laid their first clutch in January and went on to raise five successful broods totalling at least fifteen, and almost certainly sixteen, young. The first brood was reported by Mr. A. C. Larke of Queen's College to Dr. Bruce Campbell and it is believed the nestlings hatched on 7th February. The first four broods were all reared in one nest and the fifth in a second, both being old ones remaining from the previous year and situated some five yards apart on sheltered ledges of the college build­ ing. Details of each brood are summarised below (when events were not observed, data were estimated and are shown in brackets):

First brood. (1st egg 23rd January): (clutch 3 eggs): (hatched 7th February): 3 young (8 days old) 15th February: 1st young left 23rd February: other 2 young left 24th February. Second brood. (1st egg 4th March): 3 eggs 8th March: 2 eggs and 1 very small young 19th March: 1 egg and 1 young 28th March: (young left 3rd April): young near empty nest 4th April. Third brood. 1st egg nth April: 5 eggs 19th April: 3 eggs and 2 young 27th April: 4 young 6th May: (young left nth May): 4 young near nest 12th May. Fourth brood. (1st egg 18th May): 5 eggs 24th May: (hatched 2nd June): 5 young (4 days old) 6th June: 2 young in nest and 3 young near-by 18th June: nest empty 19th June. Fifth brood in different nest. Lining about 26th June: 1st egg 28th June: 4 eggs 2nd July: 3 eggs and 1 young 12th July: 1 egg (chipping) and 3 young 13th July: 4 young 25th July: 1 or 2 young left 26th July: 1 young dead in nest and 2 young near-by 28th July. There is no reason to doubt that all five broods were raised by the same pair. The hen was exceptionally tame and in the later part of the season would fly to the nest on seeing anyone approach; she then had to be lifted off and would sit on the back of one's hand and peck it while the contents of the nest were examined. The winter of 1960-61 was unusually mild and damp, and several nests of Song Thrushes (Turdus philomelos) were reported in December. During the five days prior to 23 rd January (when the Blackbirds' first egg was probably laid) the minimum grass temperature never fell as low as freezing point. The weather throughout February and March was exceptionally mild, with only two days with frost in February; however, there were two short spells of cold in March and these could have resulted in the poor success from the second brood. 1961 was a year of early breeding for a variety of species. The Blackbirds fed largely on a college lawn near the nest. The fact that the lawn was kept watered undoubtedly helped them to find worms, but even so it became hard in warm weather and they then foraged elsewhere, possibly having to go considerable distances. 189 BRITISH BIRDS Between 4th May and the second week of July Oxford had virtually no rain, except for one inch which fell on 12th June; during this time many young Blackbirds starved in other nests under observation and comparatively few new clutches were begun. That the college birds had difficulty in finding food is suggested by the long fledging periods. Although the last brood took less time than the earlier ones, the hen was noted as being very thin on 21st July, feeding visits were rather infrequent and the cock (already moulting his tail-feathers) fed the fledged young on bread. One young in this brood died when fully- feathered and a second, known to have reached flying age, was un­ accounted for. We know of no other certain case of five broods being successfully reared in one season. However, four appear to be raised not in­ frequently. A record in The Countryman (55: 46) tells of a pair which lost their first brood late in the nestling period and went on success­ fully to rear four further broods, each of three young. Two nest record cards received by the British Trust for Ornithology for i960 give instances of Blackbirds producing four broods: in one case a fifth brood may have been reared but the evidence was not con­ clusive; the other pair made seven nesting attempts, from four of which young were fledged. Finally, there are at least two records of four broods in this journal (Brit. Birds, 40: 85 and 48: 93): the second of these pairs reared seventeen young, one more than the Oxford birds produced. H. MAYER-GROSS and C. M. PERRINS

Dusky Warbler on Fair Isle.—The second British Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) was trapped on Fair Isle on 14th October 1961. The first was obtained by W. Eagle Clarke at Auskerry, Orkney, on 3rd October 1913 (Scot. Nat., 1913: 271-273). The only other west European record (apart from the now suppressed Sussex occurrence of 1916) was claimed by H. Gatke, who believed he saw one at Heligoland on 24th October 1876, though his description in Heligoland as an Ornithological Observatory (1895), pp. 284-285, is not entirely convincing. The species breeds in central Asia from about 83°E to the Pacific, and winters from north-east India to south China. The Fair Isle bird was found by Charles Hodgkinson beside the stream in the upper part of Vaadal, at about 1000. hours GMT. He recognised it as a small, extremely dark leaf-warbler which lacked any green or yellow, and recorded that it uttered a curious hard chak. It was a skulker, and he soon lost it downstream in the irregularities of the valley. Whilst trying to relocate it, he was joined by Rex Clive; together they searched the area for over an hour, until Clive spotted it inside the Vaadal trap and drove it into the box. The warbler was seen in the laboratory by G. K. Brown, M. Jones,

190 NOTES S. L, White and myself, and photographed by my wife. The follow­ ing details were recorded;

Entire upper-parts from forehead to upper tail-coverts dark earth-brown, perhaps slightly paler on rump. Wings dark drab-brown with paler buff-brown edgings on flight-feathers and similar but slightly darker edgings on greater coverts; tail uniform dark drab-brown; remiges in good condition, but tail slightly abraded. Narrow but distinct buff-white supercilium extending well back above ear-coverts and slightly down-curved behind, palest immediately above eye and matched by a narrow pale mark below eye; lores and line behind eye as crown; cheeks and ear-coverts fairly warm buff, tipped grey-brown. Under-parts: chin buff-white, throat and upper breast deeper buff with greyish wash on tips; lower breast clear buff, almost yellowish; centre of belly off- white; sides of breast and flanks washed grey-brown with warm buff tinge superimposed; under tail-coverts and sides of ventral area clear buff; axillaries and under wing-coverts clear buff. Soft parts: upper mandible dark horn, lower similar for distal half and pale yellowish-flesh at base; gape yellow; legs and feet medium reddish-brown at front, yellowish-brown behind and on soles, generally slightly darker than those of most typical Willow Warblers (Ph. trocbilm); eye dark brown. Bill slender, narrow at base; three rictal bristles, rather short; numerous short nasal hairs. Measurements: wing 54 mm., bill 1} mm,, tarsus 21 mm., tail 45 mm. (outermost feathers c, 5 mm, shorter than penultimate ones); weight 8.1 gm. at 1145 GMT. Wing-formula: 1st primary 10 mm. longer than longest primary covert; 4th and 5th longest, 2nd —7 mm., 3rd —1.5 mm., 6th —1 mm., 7th — 3 mm., 8th —4.; mm., 9th — 6 mm.; 3rd to 6th emarginated.

The yellowish tinge of the lower breast and the condition of the flight- feathers suggest that the bird was in its first winter. After release at North Haven, it flew up to the rocky outcrop above the observatory and then on to the open moorland. Here it was watched from close range as it fed from the short turf of sheep tracks among the ling. In general shape and carriage it was very like a small Chiftchaff (PL collybita), though quite unlike our commoner leaf- warblers in coloration, appearing dark brown above and pale greyish- buff below. There was nothing in the colour to remind one of an autumn Reed Warbler {Acrocepbalus srirpacms), though this was the comparison made by Gatke and repeated in The Handbook, Autumn Reed Warblers are much redder, both above and below, than the bird we were watching. The long, narrow, buff-white supercilium was fairly conspicuous at close range, but not particularly noticeable at twenty yards or so; Gatke's bird seems to have had "very prominent" eyebrows of a rustier colour. Our bird flicked its wings and tail repeatedly, but this may have been because it had been handled, for Hodgkinson stated that it had not done so when first observed. It moved very restlessly along the sheep and rabbit tracks; here it fed exclusively from the ground, though on the steeper slope it had made one or two aerial sallies after flying insects. It was still ground-

191 BRITISH BIRDS feeding when we left it after about fifteen minutes. It was not seen again. This warbler had to be distinguished from Radde's Bush Warbler (Ph. schwar^i), and it was fortunate that we had C, B. Ticehurst's A Systematic Review of the Genus Phylloscopus (1938) at the observatory, as well as a typescript of K. Williamson's forthcoming Identification for Ringers: 2. Radde's Bush Warbler has a more or less olive tinge on the upper-parts, often some yellow on the belly, a broad and con­ spicuous supercilium, a stouter and broader bill, and averages some­ what larger and heavier than the Dusky Warbler. The wing and tail measurements of the Fair Isle bird were near the lower limits given for the Dusky, and therefore outside or at the lowest figures for the Radde's. The weight was well within the range shown by Ticehurst for passage Dusky Warblers, but half a gramme below the minimum for Radde's. Ticehurst states that the Dusky has three rather short rictal bristles, whereas Radde's has five or six long ones. The wing- formulae of the two species are very similar. This Dusky Warbler was present at Fair Isle at the same time as two other Siberian birds, a Lanceolated Warbler (Locustella lanceolata) and what was considered a Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola torquata maura), and within four days of two others, a Dusky Thrush (Tardus eunomus) and a Richard's Pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae). Some of these will be described in separate notes. Charles Hodgkinson drew my attention to the curious coincidence that the previous records of Dusky Warbler and Siberian Stonechat in Britain also came within one week, the Dusky Warbler on 3rd October 1913 at Auskerry and the Stonechat on 10th October 1913 on the Isle of May (Scot. Nat., 1913: 273-274). PETER DAVIS

Nest sanitation by unfledged Pied Flycatchers.—On 23 rd June 1958, at Hawick, Roxburghshire, I was watching a pair of Pied Flycatchers (Muscicapa hypokucd) feeding their brood in a nest-box. The young, which were about ten days old, were coming to the entrance for the food in the normal way. I was struck by the fact that each of the parents would afterwards sit quite still outside the box for five seconds or more, just looking into the hole. They seldom actually went inside, yet on every third or fourth visit the parent concerned would take away a large white dropping about the size of a threepenny bit and I could not make out how they were obtaining these without going in. Eventually, however, I saw a young bird come to the entrance with a dropping in its bill and pass it to the adult. I could hardly believe what I had seen, but subsequently I was able to confirm it quite clearly several times. The male removed the droppings less

192 NOTES frequently than the female did, though he waited at the entrance hole just as much. On 2nd July, after the young had flown, I took the box down to examine it. The distance from the bottom of the hole to the floor was four and a half inches. The nest was in one corner, the material being three inches deep on three sides and two on the fourth. Inciden­ tally, buried in it I found three small corpses, pressed down quite flat, and a single broken egg. These young, which had been about one week old when they died, had presumably been squashed and suffocated by the two or three stronger nestlings which fledged. W. S. MEDLICOTT

[At first sight this record seems quite incredible, but at least two similar reports concerning Wrens (^Troglodytes troglodytes') are to be found in the literature. These observations, which were described by the Rev. E. A. Armstrong and Dr. W. H. Thorpe in a paper on " 'Casting' by Shetland Wren nestlings" (Brit. Birds, 45: 98-101) and also men­ tioned by the former in his book The Wren (1955, p. 204), were made by Mrs. G. A. Morris and Mrs. T. Silva in Hertfordshire and Kent respectively. Each reported that they and friends had clearly and repeatedly seen a brood of young Wrens pass faecal sacs to their parents with their bills. We showed Mr. Medlicott's note to the Rev. E. A. Armstrong who commented as follows: "This observation is strong confirmation of the accuracy of those on Wrens. It now seems proved that, in some circumstances, nestlings of species breeding in covered or cavity nests will pass faecal sacs to their parents after picking them up in their bills. It seems relevant to add that young Crowned Hornbills (Tockus alboterminatus) will pick up dung and drop it from the aperture of the nest (R. E. and W. M. Moreau, Ibis, 1940: 639-656); also that the adult Chough (Pjrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) will sometimes lay a chick's faecal sac on the edge of the nest and carry it off later after brooding (A. Schifferli and E. M. Lang, 1940, /. Orn., 88: 550-575). Such alternative forms of behaviour suggest that it is not quite out of the question that cuckoos may occasionally place their eggs in other birds' nests with their bills."—EDS.]

Siskins breeding in Devon.—According to both The Handbook and D. A. Bannerman's The Birds of the British Isles (vol. I, p. 108), the Siskin (Carduelis spinus) has exceptionally been recorded breeding in some southern counties of England. Such birds are usually regarded as probably of captive origin, however, and so the following records of obviously wild Siskins breeding in Devon seem of particular interest. During each of the last five breeding seasons, 1957-1961, small 193 BRITISH BIRDS numbers of Siskins have frequented areas of Forestry Commission coniferous woodland, between 1,000 ft. and 1,400 ft. above sea level, on central Dartmoor. The first birds were noticed in the East Dart valley at Believer on 15th April 1957 and two pairs were subsequently identified there. In May and June the males indulged in frequent song flights over an extensive plantation of well-grown Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) admixed with smaller stands of other conifers. Breed­ ing was established on 18th June, when P. F. Goodfellow located a pair feeding five fledglings. This family was seen by myself later the same day and on several occasions up to mid-July. There was no indication, however, that the second pair had succeeded in rearing a brood. In late April 1958 Siskins reappeared at Believer after being absent during the previous autumn and winter. In May and June at least two, and possibly four, pairs were present. They were very restless and ranged freely for food over a wide area between Believer and the village of Postbridge, a mile further up the East Dart valley. In addition to feeding in the tops of plantation conifers they foraged in pastures and hedgerows, on rough hillsides among gorse (Ulex europaeus) and hawthorns {Crataegus monogynd), as well as in beeches {Fagus sylvatica) and willows (Sa/ix spp.) and in gardens at Postbridge. Successful breeding was again established when, on 25 th June, I found a female Siskin feeding two fledglings which appeared to have been out of the nest nearly a week. In 1959, when I was unable to visit the area, three pairs of Siskins were reported at Believer by a number of observers, but no young were seen (Report of the Devon Bird-Watching and Preservation Society for I9J9)- In i960 I first saw Siskins again at Believer on 18th April. About two pairs frequented the area, but breeding was not determined. During 1961 two males were repeatedly observed and one of these was definitely mated. No fledglings were seen clearly, but on 5 th July I heard and glimpsed several Siskins which, from their calls, I considered to be juveniles. I have additional records of Siskins in the breeding season at four other localities, all between one and four miles from Believer: (i) Fern- worthy Plantation, several on 18th May 1957, one on 19th July 1958 (R. M. Curber), one on 22nd June i960 and one on 24th June 1961; (ii) Soussons Down Plantation, one on 16th June 1957, a male singing on 10th July 1958 and two males singing and chasing two days later (this is a young conifer plantation about a mile from the breeding area, which it is believed the Believer birds visited occasionally); (iii) Two Bridges, one on 17th April 1957; and (iv) Princetown, one on 28th May i960 in mixed woodland. These observations suggest that, since 1957, wild Siskins have begun 194 NOTES to colonise certain coniferous woodlands on central Dartmoor. In at least one locality the species is now a regular summer resident. It is interesting to add that there has been a parallel colonisation of these same woodlands by Redpolls (Cardwlis flammed). The Siskin is known to have bred only once before in Devon, on the island of Lundy in 1952 (P. Davis, 1954, A List of the Birds of Lundy). P. J. DARE

195