The recent note by Keith Mudd (Brit. Birds 103: 409) recalled the following. On 1st March 2006, I watched a female Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus drifting across the flooded washes at Holkham, Norfolk. Over open water, the harrier hovered then swooped at a Common Coot Fulica atra, which immediately dived to escape. The harrier appeared to follow the coot’s progress under water and swooped again as soon as the coot attempted to surface. This was repeated four or five times until the harrier successfully picked off a somewhat exhausted coot. The harrier held the coot below the surface of the water and, after about two minutes, began to flap its wings in an attempt to lift the prey. Although the coot appeared to be too heavy to lift clear of the water, the effect of the harrier flapping its wings, together with assistance from a strong north- westerly wind, was sufficient to enable the harrier to drag the coot across the surface of the water. It hauled the coot about 3 m, rested for a minute or so, then resumed its task. Eventually, the harrier successfully dragged the coot a total of about 10–12 m to the edge of some Common Reeds Phragmites australis, where it proceeded to pluck the carcase. Notes 731 British Birds 103 • December 2010 • 730–734 Marsh Harrier hunting over water Jim Rushforth, 42 Rawnsley Drive, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2NX Editorial comment John Webb also reported his observations of a female Marsh Harrier successfully plucking a young Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus from the water’s surface at the RSPB’s Leighton Moss reserve, Lancashire & North Merseyside, in July 2010. This involved a clean pick-up, the raptor remaining airborne throughout. Having caught the gull, the harrier flew to the far bank of the mere where, partially obscured, it appeared to feed on the young gull. After about ten minutes, it flew off with the prey remains towards a known nest-site. We shall not publish further reports of Marsh Harriers hunting over water unless they contain particularly unusual aspects of behaviour. Eds Unusual breeding behaviour of European Bee-eaters in Malta The European Bee-eater Merops apiaster is a common passage migrant in Malta and in recent years larger numbers have been recorded during autumn. A similar trend has been noted in Sicily (Corso 2005). This species was heavily persecuted in the past and large numbers were shot, a situation that is fortunately on the decline. Spring hunting has not been permitted for three years, and in autumn hunters have been shooting fewer birds, partly because of stricter enforcement but also because hunters are responding to public pressure to reduce illegal hunting. European Bee-eaters are typically noisy birds, often heard before they are seen, but breeding birds in Malta are unusually quiet. The first confirmed breeding record was in 2006, when a pair bred at Fawwara (Bal- dacchino & Azzopardi 2007). NF inspected the site and discovered that the pair had raised four young. In 2007, two pairs bred at the same place and three young fledged. In 2008 a single pair bred in the same area, raising three young in a nest-site in a semi- disused quarry. In 2009, three pairs bred, fledging at least five young from two sites. One of the pairs had a male helper, which regularly provided food. Also during 2009, another pair with three young was noted in Gozo (Fenech 2010). During our observations and monitoring of the nest-sites, we realised that the birds were unusually silent. The behaviour of the birds was quite typical when they were well away from the nest (generally they remained within 2–4 km of the nest-site), and they were heard calling regularly as they hawked for insects. But within 1 km of the nest-site, they would fall completely silent. As they approached nearer, they would typically perch in a nearby tree or low-lying bush, some 300–500 m away from the nesting hole, and remain silent, and utter a single, lower-pitched ‘kruup’, barely audible to human ears at a distance of 500 m. This may have alerted the other pair member, in