. British birds. Birds. OTES. PIED WAGTAIL REARING THREE BROODS. It may be of interest to record that a pair of Pied Wagtails have this year reared three broods from nests built in some ivy at one end of the house here (Stonewall Park, Edenbridge, Kent). The first brood of four left the nest on May 2nd. The second " brood " consisted of a Cuckoo, which left the nest on June 28th. The third nest contained three young, which fledged on August 1st. The Wagtails continued to feed the young Cuckoo until just before their third brood hatched. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo. ON THE BRITISH BULLFINCH.
. British birds. Birds. OTES. PIED WAGTAIL REARING THREE BROODS. It may be of interest to record that a pair of Pied Wagtails have this year reared three broods from nests built in some ivy at one end of the house here (Stonewall Park, Edenbridge, Kent). The first brood of four left the nest on May 2nd. The second " brood " consisted of a Cuckoo, which left the nest on June 28th. The third nest contained three young, which fledged on August 1st. The Wagtails continued to feed the young Cuckoo until just before their third brood hatched. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo. ON THE BRITISH BULLFINCH. At the meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club, held on June 17th, 1908, I exhibited a series of BuUfinches, clearly showing that the British race differed from its nearest ally, the Pyrrhula pyrrhula europcea, of Central Europe. The differences are, that the British race is slightly smaller, and that the female has the back darker brown, and the under- surface conspicuously darker and browner. The male, on the other hand, does not differ very appreciably in colour, though, if a series is compared, it is evident that the British form has the red of the underside as well as the grey of the upper-surface somewhat less brilliant. At the meeting several members asked if I had compared the British Bullfinch with the great Northern Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula pyrrhula. To all who know these birds it is needless to remark that a comparison with the latter subspecies was unnecessary, as it is still larger and more brilliant than P. pyrrhula europcea, the grey of the upperside being purer, and the red of the under-surface brighter. The somewhat darker and duller coloration of our British Bullfinch, and its shghtly smaller size, again confirms the general inclination of British forms to be duller or darker, and often smaller than their continental representatives. The name of the British Bullfinch must be— PYRRHULA PYRRHULA PILEATA. Under this name {Pyrrhula pileata) Macgilhvray d
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