INTERESTING BIRDS NEAR LONDON.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] Sin,—The interest of your readers in the above subject seems yet unexhausted and perhaps, therefore, the following items supplementing my previous letter may be acceptable. A few years ago the eggs of the grasshopper-warbler were taken at Farnborough, Kent, the nest being embedded in thick rank undergrowth. I am not aware that this species has ever been noticed nearer to London, and the evidence is complete and incontestable. The quail is now far less common than formerly, and it was an agreeable experience, about a fort- night ago, to hear the soft liquid note of the female in a meadow near Newlands Corner, in Surrey. A sharp antithesis in sound is the cry of the landrail. This bird I heard for several successive years, before the place was broken up, on some extensive grass-land which lay, between the main road and the railway, between Norwood and Selhurst. The appearance of so timid a bird in such a locality seems worth noting, and one of your readers may be able to corroborate my statement. At that time I used to bicycle past the spot several evenings in the week about ten o'clock, and I was very careful to verify my first impression. It is difficult, indeed, to mistake the cry of the landrail in the stillness of the night. Some years ago I used frequently to tear robins in the churchyard of St. John's, Horsley Down, but I feel that, owing to modern improvements, this may no longer be possible.—I am, Sir, Stc„ 8 Park Mansions, Sydenham. NORTHCOTE H. VINEN.
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