66 NOTES. 



a man, who was formerly a gamekeeper on the Kiveton estate, that about 

 five years since, in the spring, he shot a very fine specimen of this bird, at 

 Anston Stones, (about two miles from where I write.) He was in the act 

 of shooting a Magpie, which, much to his surprise, remained quite motionless, 

 and, as he termed it, ^scared.' On looking upwards, he saw a large Hawk 

 soaring at a great height above himj as it approached him, he -fired and 

 brought it down; when it proved to be a Goshawk. The Magpie was so 

 alarmed, that it remained perfectly still on the ground, heedless of the report 

 of the gun, and consequently met with the same fate as the Goshawk. I 

 feel sure this may be relied on, as the keeper gave me such an accurate description 

 of its plumage, etc. There was another Bird of the same kind in company 

 with the one shot, but it was never seen after. These were the only ones of 

 the kind he had ever seen in this part. 



May not the bird, above referred to, prove to be the Peregrine? It would 

 be well if the fate of the specimen could be traced, so as to determine the 

 species with certainty. — B. B. M. 



Ash-coloured Harrier, (Circus Montagui.)— Male and female shot 27th. May, 

 1850; near Alson, Hants. Male, seventeen inches from head to tail; three 

 feet four inches expanse of wing. Female, nineteen inches from head to tail; 

 three feet six inches expanse of wing. 



<)7i an Otd. — Two of my friends were walking near Sharpham ' Lodge, 

 "^rotnes, Devonshire, a few years since, when one of them s^aw an C)wlet in the 

 hedge, which he captured. It immediately set up a loud, shrill cry, when he was 

 suddenly struck with great force, in the face by the female bird, attracted to 

 the place by the cries of its young one; and before he had time to recover 

 his surprise, the attack was repeated; and continued until he dropped the 

 young bird; and even then the female flew after him for a considerable 

 distance. 



On the KifKjfislier, (Alcedo ispida.) — Rennie, in ^^Bird Architecture," page 

 28, says "Kingfishers are by no means numerous; there being probably as 

 many Bank Swallows in one colony, as Kingfishers in the empire." I have, 

 on a morning, frequently seen a dozen on the banks of the River Dart, in 

 Devonshire, whilst fishing, and along a mill leat, near Totnes, Devonshire, 

 about half-a-mile long. A friend writes me they are very plentiful also on 

 the banks, of the Kennet, in Wiltshire: they are also numerous in this 

 neighbourhood, (Kiveton Park;) frequenting mill-dams and the banks of the 

 Chesterfield canal. Several have been shot at a mill near Bcighton, about 

 four miles from this. I have often noticed, on coming suddenly on a 

 Kingfisher, that instead of flying off", he, by some means or other, manages 

 to conceal the more brilliant parts of his plumage, so as almost to escape 

 detection; and with his bill pointed upwards, remains perfectly motionless, 

 and can, with difficulty, be got to relinquish his position. 



