520 Short Communications ; — 



on January 21. 1833, I procured another grebe from the same 

 vicinity : it proved, on dissection, to be a female also, and was, 

 I think, from its plumage and weight, the female of the great 

 crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus). It weighed 2 lbs. 8 oz. 

 The stomach of this also was empty, and the contents of the 

 gizzard precisely similar to the contents of the gizzard of the 

 former one. I examined the feathers each time as accurately 

 as I could, and feel convinced that, in each bird, they were 

 from its own body. In p. 409. of Rennie's edition of Montagu's 

 Ornithological Dictionary a similar notice occurs. Temminck 

 also mentions it, in his Manuel oT Ornithologie, as peculiar to 

 the grebes : and, again, in p. 320. of vol. iv. of the Zoological 

 Journal, we again find the fact among Mr. YarrelPs notes on 

 comparative anatomy. Of what use in the economy of the 

 bird this extraordinary circumstance is, it must be difficult to 

 conjecture. Perhaps the feathers may assist the digestion of 

 the food, and this be the purpose for which they are swallowed. 

 Some of your readers may be able to state whether the larger 

 grebes are ever found without feathers in the stomach ? An 

 answer to which question may assist in solving the difficulty. 

 — T. K. Toomavara, Ireland, Oct. 4. 1833. 



A Dabchick choked by a Bullhead Fish. — A gentleman at 

 Cowbridge last week found, in a meadow belonging to him, 

 through which runs a river, near the river's bank, a dabchick, 

 dead, with the head of the fish stuck in its throat, while the 

 fish's tail still protruded beyond the bird's beak. {Morning 

 Advertiser, Feb. 14. 1833.) — James FennelL 



Hose Ousel (Pastor rbseus Tern.) shot near Dublin. — There 

 was shot, on the 20th of last July (1833), close to Dublin, a 

 female of that very rare bird, the rose ousel (Pastor roseus 

 Tern.). I saw it at Mr. Wall's, to whom it had been sent for 

 preserving. It was opened with great care. The eggs were 

 small, and not distinct : it had, therefore, probably finished 

 laying, as the season was so far advanced. The gizzard was 

 muscular, and, from its contents, its food seemed to have been 

 cherries ; parts of the skins were very visible : no stones of 

 them, however, remained, if it had ever swallowed them. The 

 inside of the gizzard and mouth were stained a bright pink ; 

 I suppose, from its food. — T. K. Toomavara, Ireland, Octo- 

 ber 4. 1833, [See also in p. 12. and 150.] 



The Hawfinch. (Vol. I. p. 374., III. 1 76. 435, 436., V. 582. 

 734., VI. 81.454.) — Eight individuals, four males and four 

 females, have lately been shot by the gardener at Daylesford 

 House, near Chipping Norton. The first was killed on 

 January 31., and the last on February 16. 1833; the others 

 in the interval. They had frequented the hawthorn bushes 



