strengthened by its note, and its large eye is also much like the expression of the stonechat.-Edward Hearle Rodd; Penzance, November 9, 1865. On the Whinchat nesting in Grass Meadows.-Mr. W. Jesse (Zool. 9790) enquires if the above occurrence is not rather unusual. Now, Morris ( British Birds,' vol. iv. p. 58) says of the nest of this bird, "Where there are no gorse-bushes, it is placed in the rough grass in a pasture field, or in a meadow." And I have myself twice seen its nest mown over in a grass-field at Willesden Green, viz. on June 25, 1863, when the nest contained six fresh eggs; and then again in almost the same place in the same field on June 20, 1864.-Charles B. Wharton; Willesden, Middlesex, November 3, 1865. Richard's Pipit in Ceylon.-This bird is so uncommon throughout the world that I feel justified in recording a specimen which came into my possession indirectly, from Ceylon. The Rev. G. Swift, of Beverley, kindly presented to me several skins of birds that had been sent to his father by a friend in Ceylon. Amongst these was a fine specimen of Richard's pipit, which I have had carefully mounted and added to my collection.-W. W. Boulton; Beverley, November 7, 1865. I Black Sparrow.-Yesterday (October 28, 1865), while out walking, I saw a sparrow (Fringilla domestica) quite black; the bill and legs were of a light orange colour. never saw a sparrow of this colour before, except once, and that was in Ireland.-E. E. Knox; Yorktown, Hants. Late Nesting of the Sparrow.-A heavy pair of sheers were erected here last week for the purpose of dismounting a large gun; as soon as they were up some sparrows took possession of the tackle of the head, and, notwithstanding that it was constantly in motion and forty men working at it, they stuck to it manfully. On taking down the sheers on Tuesday last I was surprised to find a nest finished, fixed between the rope and one of the spars. This is very late in the year for nesting, and is a curious instance of the boldness of the ever-impertinent sparrow.-V. Legge; South Shoebury, November 9, 1865. White Starling.-A perfectly white variety of the starling (Sturnus vulgaris) was shot near here, in the island of Foulness, on the 31st of July last. It is in the possession of a bird-stuffer here, and, judging from its small size, it is most probably a female. It would seem that such varieties of Sturnus vulgaris are often met with in this neighbourhood, as Morris mentious two that were shot in the island of Sheppy. -Id. Cornish Chough at East Looe.-A Cornish chough was shot here last Friday, being the only one I have seen in this part of the county for upwards of twenty-five years, although I have been told they have bred in the cliffs near Polperro for three consecutive years. I have gone on purpose to look for them, but have never succeeded in seeing any. The bird shot was a bird of this year.-Stephen Clogg; East Looe, Cornwall, November 2, 1865. Raven Nesting in a Cucumber-frame.-Last spring a man named William Fowler, residing at Willingdon, near this place, had a raven which built a nest in a cucumberframe, where, I believe, it is to be seen at the present moment. It was a very large nest, nearly as big as two faggots. Many persons went to see it. In the summer the raven flew away, but came back, sat on Fowler's shoulder, buffeted him and knocked his cap off; after that it again flew away to the downs, and has never returned.-John Dutton; Eastbourne, November, 1865. Martins in December.-On the 8th of December I saw a martin at Millandreath, near Looe; on passing the same place on the 10th I observed three hawking about: I sat on my horse for a quarter of an hour or more watching them; they appeared tolerably strong on the wing. The following day I went again to see if they were there, but could not see them: I supposed they had left or died during the night, which was cold and frosty, but having occasion to pass that way on the following day, to my great surprise, there were five near the same spot, very strong on the wing, and apparently enjoying the bright sunshine: they were more shy than on the former day, so that they did not long stay for my observation, but speedily took flight over the adjacent hill. On the 13th I had a specimen brought to me which was shot at Millandreath, which I sent you the following day for your inspection; and I also heard from reliable authority that three were seen in Looe on the 14th, being the latest that I have ever heard of being seen in England by many days. A farmer who was working near Millandreath informed me that on the Thursday or Friday of last week he saw a flight of some scores, about a quarter of a mile up the valley from Millandreath, which is a beach of about half a mile in length.-Stephen Clogg; Looe, December 16, 1865. [The martin kindly sent me by Mr. Clogg was in very good condition, but the crop and intestines were entirely empty: I examined them thoroughly, with the view of ascertaining on what these birds could feed so late in the year. In the winter of 1863-4 I happened to be at Hastings at this time of the year, and daily saw martins on the wing.-Edward Newman.] White Martin.-A pure white martin was seen here last week, but fortunately escaped without being shot.-Id.; November 2, 1865. Stomach of the Cuckoo.-I have just read with surprise the strange announcement of your indefatigable correspondent, Dr. Boulton, on the hairy structures found in the stomach of a cuckoo. At once the idea struck me that these hairs were merely adventitious, and in all probability the hairs of the "tiger moth," which Dr. Boulton also noticed in the stomach. To entomologists it is a well-known fact that the hairs from the larva of many Lepidoptera have considerable penetrating power, and in the case recorded by Dr. Boulton I would suggest that the apparently fixed structures were merely such hairs partly embedded in the living membrane of the stomach. cost have I often experienced the great pain resulting from the penetration of such hairs into my fingers during my collecting days; and once, I recollect, my late brother had incautiously handled some larvæ of the "fox moth" (Bombyx Rubi), and in afterwards rubbing his face a very troublesome sore, near the eye, was the consequence. I would suggest to Dr. Boulton a careful examination of the two sets of hairs with the microscope.-George Norman; Hull, October 11, 1865. To my Moorhens perching in Trees and feeding on Pears.—Mr. Armistead (Zool. 9540) expresses surprise at seeing a moorhen perch in a tree: this is not at all unusual here, especially when the bird is flushed by a dog as described. I have on two or three occasions observed moorhens in trees, fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, feeding on the berries of the hawthorn or ivy, and very recently I saw, in a gentleman's garden near here, more than twenty moorhens in some large old standard pear trees on the borders of a piece of water they inhabited. The birds were very tame, and were perched about at different heights, busily engaged in devouring the pears, which (although it was in November) had not yet been gathered. I was told that the birds SECOND SERIES-VOL. I. F had been feeding in this manner every day for some weeks.-James Shorto; Dorchester, December 9, 1865. Discovery of a Moa's Egg at the Kai Koras.-There is at the present time being exhibited at Messrs. Bethune and Humter's stores, for the benefit of the curious, an object of no less interest than the egg of a moa, another relic of the rara avis of New Zealand. The egg is of itself an object of no common interest to ordinary people, but it must be still more so to those who watch narrowly the development of natural history in its relations to this colony, and the circumstances connected with the finding are calculated to lend a still greater, not to say a romantic, interest to it. It appears, from what we learn from Captain Davidson, of the schooner "Ruby," which trades between this port and the Kai Koras, that a man in Mr. Fyffe's employment at the latter place was digging the foundation of a house, and when on the side of a small mound he suddenly came upon the egg in question, and the skeleton of a man, supposed, of course, to be a Maori. The body had evidently been buried in a sitting posture, and the egg must have been placed in the hands, as when found the arms were extended in such a manner as to bring it immediately opposite the mouth of the deceased. This, it is assumed, was in accordance with the Maori custom, and was done for the purpose of giving the individual who was buried an opportunity of sustaining himself if he required sustenance. Between the legs of the skeleton were found numerous tools, cut from green stone, including a spear, axe, and several implements, which would lead to the belief that the man to whom the bones belonged must have been, in some way or other, connected with the wood trade—that is to say, if carpenters, cabinet-makers, &c., flourished in his time. All the bones were in excellent preservation, one arm and hand being entirely without blemish. The skull bore evidence of the proprietor having, at some time or the other, received some hard knocks, probably in the battle-field while taking his part in some of those terrific encounters which are supposed to have taken place in ancient times. Unfortunately, before the man who was digging discovered the natural treasure, the implement he was using came in contact with the shell and broke a small piece out of the side of it, but the fragments have been carefully preserved, and might readily be fitted into the aperture. The egg itself is about ten inches in length and seven inches in breadth, the shell being of a dirty brownish colour, and rather better than the thickness of a shilling coin. The inside is perfectly clear and free from all traces of decayed matter. From what Captain Davidson tells us, we should suppose that the ground where this relic was discovered must have been used as a cemetery at some distant period of the past, as Mr. Fyffe had previously found some interesting Maori emblems about the same place, but none of the natives about there -and some of then we are informed have arrived at very mature ages-have the slightest recollection of even having heard, as a matter of history, that any of their ancestors had found a final resting-place in that particular locality.—Wellington Paper. [This egg was sold by Mr. J. C. Stevens on the 24th of November for £120. -E. Newman]. Occurrence of the Stone Curlew or Great Plover at the Land's End.-It is singular but quite true that this species has never, to my knowledge, occurred in Cornwall in the summer season: at that time the bird is entirely unknown to us, being neither heard nor seen, although year after year specimens are procured in the depth of winter. I had a specimen, in high condition, sent in from the Land's End yesterday. The migratorial movement of this species is no doubt similar to other species that come north in the breeding season, retiring again in the autumn and towards winter to the southern countries of Europe and the north of Africa. The only way to account for the regular hyemal visits of the great plover to this district is that the extreme southern latitude of the British Isles, which may be included between the Lizard Point and the Land's End, is the exact northern boundary of the space occupied by the species in its winter quarters.-Edward Hearle Rodd. On the Occurrence of the Spoonbill in Middlesex. UNTIL the present year I was not aware that the spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) has ever been obtained in Middlesex, nor have I been able to find any record of its appearance in this county. On the 24th of October last I was informed that a pair of spoonbills had been shot at Kingsbury Reservoir on the previous day. Believing such an occurrence very improbable, I required some evidence to confirm the statement, more especially as on several former occasions I had been led to believe in the capture of a rare species, which proved on examination to be quite a different bird to that described. On one occasion a so-called spoonbill, which I took the trouble of tracing, turned out to be a shoveller duck, and at another time a pair of "longtailed ducks with white heads," instead of being Anas glacialis as I had been led to suppose, proved to be merely a couple of male widgeons. I therefore received the intelligence of the spoonbills last month with a certain amount of doubt; but ascertaining that the birds had been sent to London for preservation, I traced them the following morning to the bird-stuffer with whom they had been left, and luckily arrived in time to find them still in the flesh and perfectly fresh. To my agreeable surprise I found that they were veritable spoonbills. I at once set to work to examine them carefully, and note down the description and measurements of each; and the same evening I saw them skinned, and ascertained the sexes by dissection. Before stating these details, however, it will perhaps be as well to give first the particulars of their capture, which I subsequently ascertained. The birds were first observed at Kingsbury Reservoir, close to the edge of the water, and, on being disturbed and ineffectually shot at, flew to some little distance, and alighted near a flock of geese in a field adjoining a farm-yard. Thither they were pursued by two gunners, who finding, however, that the birds were very shy and could not be approached directly, employed a third person to go round through the farm-yard and drive them, while they concealed themselves under a bank where some overhanging bushes formed a good screen. This plan had the desired effect, for the birds came right over them, and were both killed. I was informed by one of the gunners, and by some labourers who saw these spoonbills on the wing, that they flew like herons, but a good deal faster and with the neck stretched out at full length like a duck, instead of being thrown back heron-like between the shoulders. They were not heard to utter any. note. I found on examination that they were male and female birds of the year. The bill, of a brownish flesh-colour, darker towards the tip, was in both very soft and weak, that of the male bird being the darker of the two. The chin and lore completely bare; the former of a yellow, and the latter of a grayish colour. A remarkable feature was the wonderfully small tongue in comparison with the length of bill, the one being not more than an eighth part of the length of the other. There was no appearance of a crest in either bird, nor was there any trace of buff-colour on the breast. I was scarcely able to determine the true colour of the eye, since the bird had been dead more than forty-eight hours, but, as far as one could judge by appearances, the irides were hazel with black pupils. The upper portions of the plumage were of a dirty white colour, darker on the back and scapulars, the under parts of a purer white. All the quill-feathers white, with black shafts, presenting a very curious and pretty appearance when expanded. The first four quill-feathers white, with dark brown tips; the first with a dark brown stripe on outer web; the second, first half of outer web brown, second half white; the third and fourth with outer webs nearly all white. The first quill shortest, the second longest in the wing. The tail square and white; the legs black. The feet much webbed, and with the under surface very perceptibly concave. The respective measurements of each were as follows: |