56o THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



Woodhouse. (cf. Zool. 1893, p. 21 ; Nat. 1892, p. 373 ; and 

 Field, 17th December 1892.) 



The second Yorkshire specimen, a young male, was seen 

 at Kilnsea, near Spurn, on 17th October 1896, and was fired 

 at by Col. White but, apparently, not injured. On the fol- 

 lowing day it was observed by Messrs. W. Eagle Clarke and 

 H. F. Witherby, who watched it for some time through 

 powerful binoculars at a distance of a hundred and fifty 

 yards. On the wing it looked like a large Owl, and was mobbed 

 by small birds ; when it alighted behind a high bank the Grey 

 Crows hovered about it and so revealed the place where it 

 was ; it flew low, and slowly, skimming the ground. In 

 walking it carried the head and neck like a feeding Pheasant, 

 and appeared to spend its time in feeding, washing, and preen- 

 ing itself. It walked in a stately fashion, but not with head 

 upright, though when alarmed it stood with head and neck 

 erect and on the alert, the long black feathers on each side 

 of the neck being very conspicuous. It was fired at several 

 times, and on being flushed never flew to a great distance, 

 going about a hundred yards and then alighting, being 

 eventually killed by G. E. Clubley. The bird weighed 

 3lbs. iioz. ; its stomach was filled with vegetable matter, 

 chiefly heads of ragwort, and fragments of beetles. 



A peculiarity of the plumage was that the base of the 

 feathers on the back and breast was, for about a fourth of 

 their length, salmon pink, as also was the down. 



Mr. W. Eagle Clarke and the late J. Cordeaux dined off 

 the body, and found the flesh dark and tender, in taste like 

 a Wild Goose, with a savour of Grouse. 



This specimen is now in the possession of Col. White of 

 Hedon {Zool. 1896, p. 433 ; and Nat. 1896, p. 323). 



It will be remarked that both these Houbraas were so 

 tame, or unsophisticated, as to allow a shooter to approach 

 within range. 



