CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES. . 163 



water — which was in all probability increased by her recent immersion — that she 

 would sooner have perished than have trusted herself to that element. — J. D. 

 Salmon, Tketford, Norfolk, April 22, 1837. 



Capture of the Jer Falcon (Falco Islandicus) in Yorkshire. — In a 

 former communication (p. 53) I stated that a Jer Falcon had been shot at Storth- 

 waite, near this city. I thought it had been so, as it was shot by one 

 Storthwaite man, and brought to me by another. I now find that it was shot 

 in the adjoining parish of Sutton-upon-Derwent ; it is still alive, and seems 

 likely to do well. — Thomas Allis, York, 4 mo. 26, 1837. 



Cunning of the Sparrow Hawk ( Accipiter nisus). — A few months ago we 

 observed a female Sparrow Hawk hovering a few yards above the ground, in a 

 stubble-field near Selby bar, and at last alight on the earth, but in such a manner 

 as to lead us to suppose that it was returning to finish its feast upon some un- 

 fortunate animal it had previously left there. "We immediately made up to the 

 spot, upon which we kept our eyes all the time ; but, strange to say, when we 

 arrived there, no bird was to be seen ! The probability is, that the Hawk must 

 have made off with its quarry unperceived, by passing along a kind of trench — 

 of which there were several, intersecting the field in various directions — leading 

 into the adjoining enclosure. — The habits of this bird are for the most part bold 

 and open, and the secretive manoeuvre noticed above is certainly a remarkable 

 deviation from its usual disposition. — Ed. 



Shower of Worms. — An extraordinary phenomenon occurred a short time 

 since in the parish of Bamford-Speke, in Devonshire. During a snow-storm, a 

 large number of black worms, each about three-fourths of an inch in length, fell 

 in the village and the neighbouring fields. They are different from the Turnip- 

 worm, and are altogether unknown to the agriculturists of the neighbourhood. 



Mortality among Birds. — The following curious statements rest upon the 

 authority of a Lausanne journal. During the last fortnight great numbers of 

 sick and dead birds, particularly Thrushes, have been found in the fields of 

 Soleure. An inflammation of the spleen is the cause, and the disease is attri- 

 buted to some acid exhalations from the earth which are said to produce the 

 grippe. All the Sparrows and Finches, it is added, have deserted the infected 

 districts ; and in several parts of Switzerland domestic animals have been attacked. 

 in a similar way. — Literary Gazette. 



Notes of the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus, Linn.). — Have you ever 

 noticed that sometimes the Cuckoo has a trisyllabic note, as if echo answered 

 thus — cue coo coo ? I have several times remarked it, especially this year, and . 

 believe it is a third note that is uttered. The Cuckoo has been singularly sonor- 

 ous this year. One awoke me the other day between one and two in the morning 

 in the field close to my house, continuing a long time. Another repeated the 

 No. 9, Vol. II. z 



