200 Letter's, Extracts from Correspondence , Notices, S^c. 



To the Editor of ' The Ibis.' 



Sir, — I keep an ornithological eye on the south coast, and 

 report to you one or two incidents of 1859. 



Three nests of the Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus, came 

 under my notice, — one in the cliiF near Seaford, and two at the 

 back of the Isle of Wight. Four eggs were obtained at Fresh- 

 water, and both Falcon and Tiercel, alas ! caught in one day. 

 At Culver there were two young birds and the same number of 

 addled eggs ; but, strange to say, in addition, a partridge's {Perdix 

 cinerea). I did not see this, but it was reported to me, as a fact, 

 by two reliable and distinct witnesses. How can we account for 

 this unusual circumstance ? Probably the hen partridge, being 

 on the point of laying, was carried oflf by the Peregrine, and 

 the operation was terminated, and perhaps hurried by fright, in 

 the situation found. It would have been curious if the Falcon 

 had subsequently hatched the egg, though not very likely to 

 happen, as she had, I suppose, done sitting at the time. Per- 

 haps your experience can furnish a parallel instance. 



The frightful storms of the first week in November last 

 appear to have been, as usual, destructive to the Laridce, but 

 particularly to the Fork-tailed Petrels [Procellaria leachii) ; 

 three specimens were found at or near Seaford — one, Nov. 3rd, 

 by a beach-comber. I saw this in the meat ; it was in moult, 

 and had the new black down underneath ; its plumage was 

 shabby. Nov. 6th, another was captured alive; and the third, 

 Nov. 8th, also living, by a coast-guard ; the two first ap- 

 peared to have been starved, but the last was in good condition. 

 One was also picked up dead, Nov. 7th, at Eynesbury, near St. 

 Neots, Huntingdonshire. The cause of this mortality, I take 

 to be, the roughness of the sea, which prevents the Petrels 

 from feeding; and when weak from fasting they try to shift 

 their quarters; the wind then overpowers them, and they are 

 •dashed against cliflFs and rocks. Frequently the plumage of 

 specimens obtained in this manner is quite worn away by 

 attrition, as if the birds had endeavoured to rise above some 

 obstacle, and only succeeded after many efforts. 



1 am desirous to mention that on Nov. 14th a curious hy- 

 brid was taken near Brighton, in the common clap-nets used 



