160 



MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS. 



Audacity of the SpAanow Hawk, (Acclpiter nisus) — In riding, a few 

 mornings ago, through a village in the neighbourhood of Doncaster, a Spar- 

 row Hawk crossed the road within a few inches of my horse's head, and dash- 

 ed into an adjacent farm-yard, containing large flocks of granivorous birds, 

 and various kinds of poultry. After whisking two or three times round a 

 hay-stack, without any apparent motive, it darted oft with that elegance for 

 which the generality of the family are characterized, and was subsequently 

 lost to sight by the intervention of houses, hay-ricks, &c. The Fowls 

 sounded their accustomed alarm-note, and the Pigeons evinced considerable 

 terror at this invasion of their territory ; but the motions of the bold depre- 

 dator are so rapid, and at the same time so noiseless, that the trepidation is 

 excited in a moment, and abates almost immediately the enemy is out of 

 sight. On the same day, towards dusk, I saw a Sparrow Hawk fly off 

 with a llobin Redbreast in his talons, in an orchard, from the opposite side of 

 the hedge to that on which I was standing. A Hedge Dunnock and ano- 

 ther Robin Redbreast were hopping about quite close to the scene of action, 

 without exhibiting the slightest apparent alarm. I have noticed this in 

 many other instances ; and, whatever the degree of fear may be before a 

 victim has been selected and secured, my observations lead me to believe 

 that the remaining portion of the before terrified flock will remain in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the Hawk whilst he is enjoying his bloody re- 

 past On one occasion, when walking with a friend, I heard the screams of 



an unhappy victim to the voracity of this bird ; and on approaching the spot 

 from whence it proceeded, the tyrant flew off and was soon out of sight, and 

 was immediately followed by a flock of Redwing Thrushes — the companions 

 of the Sparrow Hawk's prey. In this fact, doubtless, originated the popu- 

 lar error that some species of Hawk habitually live with Partridges. — N. W. 



Arrival of the Fieldfare Thrush (Turdus pilaris) in 1836. — I 

 think Mn Menteath (Analyst, vol. v., p. 347) must have mistaken the Mis- 

 sel for the Fieldfare Thrush, a mistake, indeed, I repeatedly find to be made 

 in my own neighbourhood. At the period mentioned (the beginning of Sep- 

 tember), the Missel Thrushes are frequently seen in flocks of thirty or more 

 together, and their size and appearance, when on the wing, is not unlike that 

 of the other species, though, upon being observed with attention, the pecu- 

 liar note or chatter of the Fieldfare Thrush will always be found wanting. 

 No Fieldfare Thrushes arrived last autumn upon our coast (the first they 

 make for on their rout from Norway, &c.) before the 22nd or 23rd of Octo- 

 ber, or nearly a fortnight earlier than the average period of their appearance, 

 which, from long observation, I have found to be between the 5th and 20th 

 of November. — Prideaux J. Selby, Twizell House, NorthumherlancJ. 



The Yellow-nosed Albatross a British Bird — On November 25, 

 1836, a beautiful specimen of the Yellow-nosed Albatross (Diomcdea chloro- 

 rhynclnis, Lath.) was observed hovering above the river Trent at Stockwith, 

 near Gainsborough, and was shot nearly opposite the Chesterfield canal 

 basin. Thus, according to the rule generally agreed on by Naturalists, this 

 bird may now be included in the British fauna. There are four species of 



