282 MISCELL.VXZOUS NOTICES. 



threw off my garments; and on taking it from the water life was nearly 

 extinct, thus preferring, it appeared, death to captivity. — Samuel Howell Carter, 

 Bruce Grove House, Tottenham, Odoher 2nd., 1851. 



Carnivorous propensity of tJie Gull family, (Laridae.) — I see in '^The 

 Naturalist," an account of the carnivorous propensity of the Herring Gull, 

 (Larus argentatus) My belief is that all Gulls, when pressed for food, are 

 carnivorous: I can answer for several from my own experience. The Greater 

 and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, (L. marinus, and L. fuscus,) I have had in 

 my garden for some time, and their food is chiefly flesh of some kind: rats 

 they are particularly fond of, and the Greater Black-backed makes no diffi- 

 culty in swallowing half-gi'own ones; and should they be three-parts grown, 

 a good soaking in some water makes them disappear as easily as their 

 younger brethren. The Common Gull, (L. Canus,) and Black-headed Gull, 

 (L. ridibundus,) also are fond of the same food; in fact when I feed some 

 trained Merlins which are fastened by their traces to stones on the grass in 

 front of my windows, if not watched Avhen fed, the Gulls soon have the 

 food away from them. Blackbirds which are caught in small rat-traps in my 

 garden, if not soon removed, are sure to be killed and eaten by the Gulls, 

 Common and Black-headed. I shot, in January 1850, an Iceland Gull, (L. 

 leucopterus,) on the beach near Southwold, (at Benacre;) it was in the act 

 of feeding upon the remains of a Lesser Black-backed Gull. A friend of 

 mine, who for years kept tame Gulls, was obliged to get rid of a Larger 

 Black-backed Gull, on account of his propensity for eating, or bolting I 

 should say, young chickens. The Herring Gull, (L. anjentatus,) I have also 

 kept in confinement for some time on flesh. The Kittiwake I never had, 

 but have no doiibt of its doing well on the same kind of food. — John Farr, 

 Benacre, Suffolk, October 2'Znd., 1851. 



Bed-necJced Grebe, (Podiceps rubricollis.) — Three specimens of this bird, 

 shot near York, came under the notice of Mr. D. Graham, of this city, the 

 la3t week in January and th3 first in February, 1850, of course in the winter 

 plumage. The iiides of all these specimens were of a dirty yellowish white 

 colour, and not red, as is usually recorded. Two of these were the only 

 specimens of this bird that have ever come under my notice in the flesh; 

 and I should be glad to know if my observations on the colour of the iris 

 can be confirmed by other observers, and also if it holds good in the bird in 

 summer time. — JB. B. M. 



The Cvxikoo. — I suppose sufficient has been said respecting the Cuckoo, 

 but perhaps the following may be considered worthy of recording. The weather 

 was remarkably mild during the month of February in the neighbourhood 

 of Torquay, and I was truly surprised to hear the Cuckoo at that unseasonable 

 time. It remained with us a fortnight during the fine weather; its voice 

 was as strong and clear as ever; I heard it in May or June. The spring 

 was afterwards cold, and we did not hear the Cuckoo again till later than 



