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BIRDS selection there is always a kind of super- structure of its own, which in one nest examined by the writer was composed wholly of dead couch grass, locally known as 'squitch.' It is very rarely that the nest is at any great height from the ground. 103. Kite. Milvus ictinus, Savigny. It would seem that when Hastings wrote in 1834, the kite, though very rare, was not extinct in Worcestershire. His words are, 'The Kite, Milvus vulgaris, and Osprey, Balhucardus haliaetus, but very rarely occur.' Lees mentions the middle of the last century as the date when the kite was well known on the Malvern Hills, but was no longer there in 1870. Yet he makes the following remark- able statement : ' Curiously enough about twenty years ago the Grimsend estate was unoccupied for a considerable time ; the kites returned to their old haunts, and remained till the Grimsend again secured a tenant.' He records one as having been shot in Croome Park in the winter of 1869-70. I have a note of one having been killed there which is now in the collection of Mr. Martin Curtler, and which may be the bird mentioned by Lees. 104. Honey - Buzzard. Pernis apivorus (Linn.). I can record two instances only of the occurrence of this bird in Worcestershire. One was killed at Eardiston, and is now in the Worcester Museum, and the other was taken at Witley Court about thirty years since, and is now in the collection of the present writer. It is probable that there are other Worcestershire specimens in private collections, for Hastings wrote, ' not of un- common occurrence.' The latest appearance of this fine bird which I can record was about the middle of May, 1894, when one was taken in a jay trap at Ragley Park, on that side of the estate nearest the Ridgeway, which divides the counties of Warwick and Wor- cester. Although therefore it was probably not killed in Worcestershire it must have been in very near proximity to it. [Iceland Falcon. Falco islandus, Gmelin. In one instance only have I known the Iceland falcon to occur in the midland counties. One was shot by Mr. John Hyatt on his estate at Quinton in Gloucestershire, in very close proximity to the boundary of Worcestershire, in the autumn or early part of winter of 1852. It was seen and examined by me when freshly killed, and the species determined.] 105. Peregrine Falcon. Falco peregrinus, Tunstall. The peregrine is a regular- visitor to our county, no winter passing when a certain number of them are not seen. The vicinity of rivers appears to be the most favoured locality for them, as they prey on teal and moorhens. But peewits, wood-pigeons, and partridges also form part of their diet, and the feathers of these birds are left in the meadows showing what has been their bill of fare. But besides the feathers of the birds on which they have fed, they cast some of their own, which on examination not only determine the age of the traveller but also the sex. Lees appears to have regarded the peregrine as a rare bird, and mentions one killed at Croome Park, 'some years ago,' and Mr. W. Edwards re- cords one shot at Cradley in 1872, and another at Evesham in 1878. This falcon builds in Wales not a very great distance from the county boundary. 106. Hobby. Falco subbuteo, Linn. The hobby was formerly a comparatively common summer visitor to the vale of the Avon, when the swallow was an abundant bird, but has now become rare. Several nests have come to the knowledge of the writer in the Avon valley, though only one which was within the boundary of the county. It was found at a place called Porter's Coppice near Evesham, and full-fledged young were taken from it, one of which was seen and examined by the writer. Another nest was discovered near the village of Willersey, Gloucestershire, half a mile from Broadway in Worcestershire. The time to see and note the hobby in former years was in the autumn when the swallows were gathered in countless numbers in the evening to roost in the osier and reed beds of the Avon. On the evening of the 30th of July, 1847, the writer and two friends took their station near some osier beds at Welford-on-Avon, with the intention of looking after the hobbies which were known to come there to feed on the swallows. The air was literally filled with the latter birds for a distance of a quarter of a mile up and down stream. At first one hobby appeared and passed on rapid wing through and through the cloud of swallows, occasionally making a dash at one. Soon afterwards a second came, followed at intervals by two others, making up four which were in sight at the same time, and were passing backward and forward through the swallows just where they were thickest. One hobby being shot, the others left 159