Honey Buzzard, Bohemia?! Tfaxwing. 615 



The Honey Buzzard (Falco apivorus L.), a fine individual 

 of, was shot, a few days ago, by Mr. W. Thompson, of the 

 Bleach Green, near Brandon, three miles from Sutherland. 

 Mr. Thompson shot it on the wing ; and, when he went to take 

 it up, he found that the craw, or stomach, had burst with the 

 fall, and that hundreds of wasps, with their larvae, were lying 

 on the ground. He has sent the specimen to Mr. W. Proc- 

 tor, keeper of the museum of the Durham university, for 

 preservation. (The Hull Advertiser, October 9. 1835.) [In 

 the account, it is stated, besides, that " The length of this 

 bird, from the bill to the end of the tail, is 22 in. ; and, when 

 the wings are expanded, they measure 49 in. from tip to tip." 

 It is not absolutely clear whether this is stated of the species, 

 or of the individual noted on.] 



The Bohemian Waarwing, or Chatterer (p. 511.); the. Appen- 

 dages to its Wings vary in Number in different Individuals : 

 an instance of this. — A beautiful individual of the Bohemian 

 chatterer was shot in January, 1835, by Mr. John Cros- 

 thwaite,of Hall Garth, in Thornthwaite, close to his own house. 

 u . . . . the secondaries are tipped with yellow, each 

 pointed with a flat horny substance of a bright vermilion 

 colour. These appendages vary in different subjects: this 

 bird has five on one wing, and seven on the other . . . This 

 is the only " individual " which has been shot in this part since 

 1 803." ( The Carlisle Journal, in the latter part of January, 

 1835.) 



[Qharadrius minor has been taken in Britain ; Grounds of 

 Proof of the Correctness of Identifying the Birds so deemed as 

 it.'] — I have just seen the 53d number ; and, in p. 510., was 

 much surprised to find an article by Mr. Strickland, question- 

 ing the accuracy of Mr. Gould in considering the bird which I 

 sent to him for inspection as the young of the little plover (Cha- 

 radrius minor). Mr. Strickland has, apparently, formed his 

 opinion solely from Mr. Gould's plate, without either ex- 

 amining a specimen of the bird (C. minor), or the description 

 of it in the works of any of the Continental naturalists. Had 

 he done this, he would have found that Mr. Gould was incor- 

 rect in figuring it with a white rump, as that character is not 

 possessed by the little plover, either in the young or adult 

 state : how the mistake occurred in Mr. Gould's plate, I can- 

 not say. 



I am perfectly acquainted with the common ring-plover 

 in every state of plumage, having killed and examined a 

 great number of specimens at various times ; and I have no 

 hesitation in saying that the specimen in question is quite dis- 

 tinct from that bird, and that it is really the young of Cha- 



