also received a specimen, in the flesh, which was killed in Branspeth Woods, Durham, also in 1852 (Bree, vol. ii. p. 114).—Edward R. Alston; September 10, 1866.

Destroyers of Birds' Eggs.-In an interesting note on this subject in the 'Zoologist' (S. S. 335), Mr. Jeffery has mentioned several depredators, but he has omitted one which is a constant destroyer of nests-the cat. Last year a robin's uest, which was built in an old rusty tin can that I had placed for the convenience of any small. bird, was destroyed by a cat, and I believe the female bird caught. The eggs were nearly hatched, and might have been broken unintentionally and then eaten; the lining of the nest was pulled out. I have often seen cats hunt along hedges, peering upwards occasionally and sniffing. Mr. Jeffery accuses mice of being extensive robbers of nests; I should think that cats and weasels are more blameable. I and a friend once saw a rook flying about a gentleman's park with a large white egg in its bill; several other rooks were chasing it. The keepers hereabout catch magpies in steel traps baited with eggs.-George Roberts; Lofthouse, Wakefield.

Osprey and Golden Eagle in Aberdeenshire.—There was shot on the Links, and brought to me by Mr. Smith, an immature specimen of this bird, on September 11th, which weighed two pounds thirteen ounces. Extent five feet three inches. Length to the toes twenty inches and three-quarters; to the tail twenty-three inches. Upper mandible from the gape one inch and a half. Wing from the carpal joint nineteen inches and a quarter. Third quill the longest of the wing. It may not be unworthy of remark that portions of the down, although much faded and worn, adhered to the larger wing-coverts. An immature specimen of the golden eagle, shot also in the county of Aberdeen, in August last, and preserved by Mr. Mitchel, to whom I am indebted for an opportunity of examining it, had the down strong and fresh, adhering to the primaries, secondaries and tail-feathers. The comparative absence of the down on the osprey is doubtless to be attributed to the different habits of the birds. The stomach of the osprey contained nothing but fish, that of the golden eagle contained the greater part of a hare: the legs from the knee-joints had been swallowed whole, and some of the bones were remarkably large.-W. Craike Angus.

Osprey in Sussex.-Au osprey was shot in the salt-water creeks, near the Bishopstone Tide Mill, Newhaven, on the 13th instant, and is now in the hands of Mr. Pratt, naturalist, Brighton, for the purpose of preserving.-Charles Lang, in the Field' of September 29, 1866.

Hobby near Rochester.-As the persevering extirpation of all birds of prey has made the hobby rather rare, the fact of three being seen together may be of interest: they resort every year to a wood near Rochester, which is only used as a fox-cover, where I observed them one day last August. Their cry is very shrill, unlike that of other hawks, though sometimes they utter a note like the kestrel's. They are extremely active and restless, continually chasing each other. There could be no doubt of the species, from the note and the length of the wings. They have seldom been shot at; I have only heard of one being killed: probably they breed there.-Clifton; Cobham Hall, Kent; October 4, 1866.

Stock Dove breeding in Kent.-As Mr. Power, in his account of the birds of Rainham (S. S. 123), expresses some doubt as to the breeding of the stock dove in Kent, permit me to say that they are very common in the woods here, building both in trees and rabbit-holes.-Id.

Pied Flycatcher in Sussex.-On the 18th of September I shot a female pied fly3 s

SECOND SERIES-VOL. I.

catcher (Muscicapa atricapilla), at Buckham Hill, Uckfield, Sussex. I killed it with a saloon-pistol, as it sat quietly near the top of an oak tree in the park. My repeated endeavours to find another of its species were fruitless; and I am quite unable to tell whether my bird was bred in the neighbourhood or migrating, but I should feel inclined to say the latter.-Charles B. Wharton; Willesden, Middlesex, October, 1866. The Sky Lark.-Mr. Harting, as a Shakespearian enthusiast, teaches us that his author was a good ornithologist. I cannot forbear pointing out, as an ardent admirer of Milton, that he has subtly noted a characteristic of the sky lark, which, as far as I know, Shakespeare has been silent on-that is, its habit of singing in the night, I have heard it warbling high up in the air in the dead of a summer night. People do not generally give Milton the credit of being a good naturalist (spite of his matchless descriptions of the nightingale's song); perhaps when "outwatching the Bear with thrice great Hermes," or "unsphering the spirit of Plato" (Penseroso,' 90), he had delighted

"To hear the lark begin his flight,
And singing startle the dull night,
From his watchtower in the skies,

Till the dappled dawn doth rise." (L'Allegro, 41.)

-M. G. Watkins; Barnoldby-le-Beck Rectory.

Late stay of Swifts.—It is singular that, after writing to you about a swift seen on the 3rd of September, I should have an opportunity of seeing one so many weeks later. Yesterday (Wednesday, September 26th) I went with a friend and neighbour to see the Flamborough Caves: we had just visited the light-house, and on our way back along the cliffs all our party (eleven in number) had seated themselves on the grass, at the head of one of the numerous small bays, and were looking out to sea from about the height of two hundred feet, when I observed one swift hawking about below us: the bird then came up to our level, and was more than once within very easy shot of us, with its face towards us, at less than thirty yards distance: there could be no possible mistake about it, and I studied it most carefully through my binocular, which I happened to have in my hand. My friend (Mr. Angas, of Beeford Grange) is a very intelligent and well-educated farmer, as well as sportsman, and we were all watching the bird for five minutes. The day was warm and pleasant; thermometer 59° as we passed by the public barometer in Flamborough village on our way to the Caves, and 62° when we came back.-J. Gilbert White; Beeford, Hull.

Food of the Wood Pigeon.-Having read the two communications in this month's 'Zoologist' (S. S. 456) relating to the food of the wood pigeon (commonly called "wood-guest" here), I also beg to be heard. I have shot wood pigeons at all seasons of the year, but particularly in the autumn, and have frequently examined the contents of their crops, and have never found anything in them that would prove that they injured the farmer, except in that season when the corn is ripe and turnip-tops are to be got. This autumn I shot between forty and fifty wood pigeons, and every one of them, almost without exception, had their crops full of corn: they were preying on the corn at the time that I shot them. It was as much as I could do to keep them off four fields of corn, for when fired at in one they would fly over to another. They go in flocks of from twenty to two thousand: I think I can say two thousand without hesitation, as I have seen an acre of ground rendered almost blue with them. They flatten down the corn with their strong wings, and then alight and feed. I have seen

a field of wheat dotted here and there with various flat patches, which they had flattened down, and in which places they had hardly left a grain. When the corn is stooked they alight on the top of the stooks, and do an immense quantity of damage. I have also seen a field of turnips greatly injured by them; they picked off all the green tops, and in some parts to such an extent that they rendered the roots almost bare. As far as concerns farmers in this neighbourhood, I consider a more destructive bird than the wood pigeon there could not be.-R. M. Barrington; Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow, October 3, 1866.

Gray Phalarope, Wood Sandpiper and Black Tern near Aldeburgh.-During the last few weeks I have made several good additions to my collection of birds, amongst which are several black terns; one only has a black breast: I shot this specimen in the Mere on the 9th of September: I procured three more on the 14th, and three again on the 19th: no more have appeared since, although many at that time passed along shore towards the south. On the 11th of September a friend killed two wood sandpipers (males): these are generally very rare birds in this locality: the note is very similar to that of the green sandpiper, but the flight and manner of those birds are very different: although feeding together in small flocks, as soon as disturbed they separate and soon alight again. I obtained two gray phalaropes, one on the 18th of September, and a second on the 19th, both males. I find they feed upon the larvæ of the drone-fly.-W. Fenwick Hele, in the Field' of September 29, 1866.

Gray Phalarope in Hackney Marshes.-I beg to inform you that a specimen of the gray phalarope has been sent to me to preserve: it was shot in Hackney Marshes on the 20th of September.-B. Hesse; Alfred House, Chisenhale Road, Victoria Park, October 8, 1866.

Gray Phalarope at Mayfield.-Two very good specimens of this rare bird have been shot recently at Mayfield; one on the 15th and the other on the 17th of September. A strong wind from the south and south-west_had been blowing for some days previous.-H. T. M. Kirby; Mayfield Vicarage, Sussex, September 19, 1866.

Gray Phalarope at Eastbourne.-The gray phalarope has occurred in great numbers at Eastbourne, and neighbourhood. This beautiful little bird has lately visited our coast and "pals" (as the small ponds are called) in numbers, and "the cry is still they come." A friend living at Pevensey says there were great numbers there ten or twelve years since. From my notes I collect the following:-Friday, September 7. A coastguardman shot two at Wallsend, Pevensey. 12th. Mr. Cooper shot one at the Crumble Pond; and Mr. Osbourne, farmer, shot one in a small pond close to the high road at Eastbourne, in company with some ducks. 16th. Bates, the naturalist, through whose hands all have passed, says, "Mr. Cooper brought me twelve phalaropes last night," which he shot that day at Cuckmere Haven. 17th. Mr. Cooper shot four at the Crumbles; Mr. Vidler shot one at Pevensey, and one on the 14th; a coastguardman shot three at Pevensey; and one was shot to-day at Bexhill, in my presence. 20th. One picked up in the Marshes, which I have; Mr. Osbourne, of Eastdeane, shot two on the small pond in front of his house, in company with his ducks; Mr. Thomson has procured two at Cuckmere Haven; and Mr. Vidler has shot one at Pevensey.John Dutton; 51, Terminus Road, Eastbourne, Sussex, September 20, 1866.

Gray Phalarope at Weston-super-Mare and at Budleigh Salterton.-On the evening of the 21st of September I had two birds brought to me to be named, which had been shot upon the Sands, not far from Weston-super-Mare. They proved to be the gray

phalarope, and were in a very pretty state of plumage intermediate between the summer and winter dress. I noticed the same thing in these phalaropes with respect to their autumn change which I had observed in many other birds, and this is that the great difference in plumage is effected not by the assumption of new feathers, but by the old feathers receiving new colouring matter. Thus, in the phalarope the distinguishing gray of the winter dress first shows itself at the base of the feather, and then extends gradually outwards, driving before it, as it were, the tints of the summer plumage. A very pretty effect was thus produced in the appearance of the birds when half way through their change. Traces of the summer dress were still apparent in the rufous edging of most of the feathers; while the season of the year was proclaimed by the broad patches of pure gray which already marked the feathers on the back and shoulders and crown of the head. One of the two birds I examined had the cheeks still of the delicate rufous tinge which characterizes the gray phalarope in its summer dress. Mr. Brodrick writes to me from Budleigh Salterton that flocks of this phalarope appeared on the shingly beach at that place during the middle of September. He noticed that the birds were in a weak and emaciated state. One which was brought to him had suffered itself to be caught by the hand, to such a state of weakness had starvation reduced it. It is a very unusual thing to find this phalarope in any numbers upon our coasts, even after severe weather; its occurrence, then, in flocks is a circumstance worthy of special notice. It is not often that more than a single example of the gray phalarope has been met with, or at the most a pair have been seen together: I remember, some years since, after a rough autumn gale, seeing as inany as six together on the sands of the River Taw, in North Devon, and at the time considered that a very exceptional occurrence.-M. A. Mathew; Weston-super-Mare, October 9, 1866.

Gray Phalarope and Black Tern in Devon and Cornwall.-The late severe gales have driven an unusual number of gray phalaropes on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. A few specimens of both old and young are to be met with almost every autumn on their return from the breeding-places; but within the last three weeks more than a dozen have been obtained in the neighbourhood of Plymouth alone, and some have been observed on inland ponds, swimming among the tame ducks. All the specimens examined by myself were much emaciated, and one specimen still retained many of the red feathers on the breast peculiar to the breeding season. The young of the black tern, too, have been plentiful this season, which I anticipated would be the case, considering the numbers of old birds which made their appearance on various parts of the English coasts during the spring.-J. Gatcombe (Plymouth), in the 'Field' of September 29, 1866.

Gray Phalarope in Dublin Bay.—From the 25th to the end of September the gray (why so called?) phalarope was frequently met with in the Bay. I am sorry to record five specimens shot: four were presented to me. In its ocean wildness I had good glimpses into the habits of the bird: its food I found to be a species of sea-louse, something like our wood-louse, which greedily preys on animal substances, as dead floating birds, &c., and is to be met with, with other species, amongst floating seaweed: the bird takes these both by swimming and by dropping on the water, also from sea-weed and the tidal portion of the coast. It swims light as a cork, gull-fashion, and incessantly keeps nodding the head; it also dives after its food for a distance of five or six feet. The flight of the bird resembles that of the sand lark species. Of man it

shows no fear, and will permit, I have been told, repeated shots. All individuals seen were in the autumn moult. The gray feathers of winter prevailed on the upper surface of any birds I handled, the under surface being pure white, except on the throat, where it is tinged with buff. Young birds predominated.-Harry Blake-Knox; Dalkey, Co. Dublin, October 8, 1866.

Red Lobefoot [Rednecked Phalarope] at Scilly.—I have seen a bird, in adult winter plumage, to-day, sent from Trescoe, Scilly, of this species: there is no brown or yellow tint on the under parts, which is the case in birds of the year, but an unsullied white throughout. Birds which in summer are red underneath and in winter white show, in young birds, in the first autumn at least, a buff tint of an intermediate character: this is in accordance with a very general law in the distribution of the colours of birds. Snow buntings have made their appearance.-Edward Hearle Rodd; Penzance, October 6, 1866.

Sabine's Gull in Mount's Bay.—A specimen of this little gull, which does not often turn up, occurred in our Bay a day or two since, and I hear that some others are about; it was exceedingly tame, and was knocked down with an oar. It is in the same state of plumage as the others which have been captured here, all of which have been in the autumn and in the immature plumage of young birds. The tail is deeply forked, with a broad black tip: independent of this feature, the comparative slenderness of the bill is a distinguishing character, when compared with Larus minutus.-Id.; September 28, 1866.

Ausonia Cuvieri captured off Falmouth. By THOMAS CORNISH, Esq.

ON Sunday, the 30th of September last, a fisherman at Falmouth saw a large fish floundering about in a pool left by the receding tide. He plunged in after it, and when in about three feet water he got hold of its tail, on which the beast made a spring and towed him under. However, he held on, and was towed about the pool, sometimes on his legs and sometimes under water, until he tired out his prize and beached it. It was a fish four feet long over all, 120 lbs. weight, bright crimson fins, steel-gray over the back, having a broad scarlet band along each side, and silvery belly. The sides appeared as if sprinkled with gold dust. I have not only seen the fish, but have secured it for our Museum here.

I have very little doubt indeed but that it is the Ausonia Cuvieri, a Mediterranean and tropical resident, of which only one specimen has ever before been taken in Great Britain, and that was one taken off the Dodman, in May last, and reported on by Mr. Jonathan Couch, of Polperro, in the 'Journal of the Zoological Society.'

I have examined it carefully, in the flesh, and as well (which I find to be most important) after its skin had been taken off, and also immediately after the setting of the skin in the process of stuffing.