238 Miscellaneous. 



when he came to observe them narrowly he was surprised to find 

 them all hens, and he expresses a wish to know whether these birds 

 do come over from the continent. For my part I am quite satisfied ; 

 and after such an opportunity of observing their coming from that 

 direction have no doubt on the subject. After the females had ar- 

 rived, and a greater portion had left our coast, an immense number 

 of male chaffinches made their appearance, with an equal number of 

 redbreasts ; but the chaffinches did not follow the hens as I should 

 have thought, but betook themselves to the farm-yards, doing great 

 mischief to the granaries ; and the redbreasts also filled our hedges 

 and shrubs, so that they were swarming alive with them ; and in many 

 small hedge-rows of only a few yards' long about Northdown, several 

 hundreds would start out within a yard or so of your gun. 



About the 10th of October the wind got out to north-east again, 

 and perhaps you may be surprised when I inform you, that almost 

 every bush, shrub and garden in the vicinity of Margate was for 

 several days swarming with the Golden- crested Regulus* (^Regulus 

 aurocapillus), and a few of the Fire- crested Regulus (R. ignicapil- 

 lus) ; of the former I obtained as many as three in a shot for several 

 times, but of the latter I only got seven at different times ; but strange 

 to say, the cliffs and houses and walls were completely lined with 

 them ; and a friend of mine watched his cat in less than half an hour 

 killing no less than nine ; and, to use his own expression, he does 

 not know how many it had killed, but it had been at the work of 

 slaughter all the morning. 



The inhabitants, who saw so many birds of so curious a character, 

 put it down at once for a severe winter ; in which surmise I did 

 not concur, concluding that some spot must be the place of landing 

 of the migrators. And when, about five years since, I saw a great 

 number of Ring Ouzels (Turdus torquatus) about the neighbourhood 

 of Dover, the same opinion was then entertained by myself as well 

 as others ; but at any rate the severe weather has been a long time in 

 coming, which for my part I am rather sorry for, as this mild weather 

 is not good for collectors. 



Since my letter of last month I have only obtained the following 

 specimens : — 



Snow Buntings (Emberiza nivalis). 



One specimen of the Great-spotted Woodpecker (^Picus major). 

 One Sclavonian Grebe (Podiceps cornutus). 

 Feb. 15. — I send you the list of a few birds that have been ob- 

 tained on our coast last month. 



Several specimens of Sanderlings, Calidris arenaria ; some of them 

 nearly or wholly white. 



Several specimens of the Bar- tailed Godwit, Limosa rufa. They 

 are very plentiful along the coast. 



Feb. 16. — For several years we have been visited by vast numbers 

 of the Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, hut in no season do I re- 

 member seeing so many as at the present. Their favourite locality 



* From Mr. RicLavd Taylor, jun. we learn that during the first week of the 

 present Febioiary, he observed unusual numbers of Gold-crests in Cornwall, 



