282 Zoology, 



bird (the one in question being a female) remained in a 

 neighbouring tree watching my motions, and when scared 

 kept hovering near the place. It was, of course, in conse- 

 quence of my interruption that the female left her prey, 

 which she would return to on my departure. 



I am induced to write these particulars, because, although 

 it is a well known fact that some of the species prey on 

 smaller birds, yet I do not imagine that such a clear example, 

 by one of the lesser butcher birds, often comes under the 

 personal observation of persons interested in the subject. I 

 am. Sir, yours, &c. — Somersetensis. Dec, 6. 1831. 



Notes on the Gray Phalarope [Tringa lobdta Lin.). — This 

 elegant little aquatic is a most expert swimmer. I have rarely 

 met with it in this neighbourhood, until within the last two 

 years, in the autumns of which several have visited our 

 shores. Captain Sabine notices it as abundant in the 

 North Georgian Islands. — W. R, Jordan, Lugehay, Teign- 

 mouth^ Devonshire^ Dec, 4. 1831. 



The Forked-tail Petrel and Gray Phalarope taken near 

 Chipping Norton, Oxon. — On the 16th of December, 1831, a 

 species of petrel was found dead, in a turnip field, near 

 Chipping Norton. It nearly accords with the description of 

 the forked-tail petrel (Procellaria Leach z7 Temminck) in 

 Bewick's British Birds, Its weight is 1 oz., length 7i in., 

 breadth 18 in. ; bill black and hooked, nearly three quarters 

 of an inch long ; nostrils enclosed in a prominent tube ; head, 

 neck, and back, slate black ; forehead more dusky ; under 

 parts sooty black ; upper tail coverts white, the under ones 

 black ; outer margin of the scapulars edged with white at 

 their tips ; primaries and secondaries black ; wing coverts 

 light brown; tail black and forked, of twelve feathers, the 

 six middle ones equal in length ; legs and feet black. It 

 possessed a peculiar kind of smell, not unlike that of the 

 common bat (Fespertilio ^wurinus L.), When found, it was 

 quite fresh, the eyes scarcely altered, and the feathers per- 

 fectly clean and undisturbed. The person who brought it 

 to me thought it was a kind of swallow, and would have 

 thrown it away, had he not observed its webbed feet. The 

 late storms probably drove this bird so far from its favourite 

 element; and want of proper food, combined with fatigue, 

 most likely caused its death : it is quite a rarity in this mid- 

 land county. Dr. Latham, in his General Synopsis of Birds^ 

 describes the forked-tail petrel as being 10 in. long ; and says 

 it is found amongst the ice between Asia and America. No 

 mention is made of it in Rennie's edition of Montagu's Orni- 

 thological Dictionary. Is the above properly a distinct species, 

 or only a variety, of the stormy petrel (Procellaria pelagica) ? 



