Lcttars, Extracts, Nolics, &;c. 529 



Birds on the Black Sea in Winter. — Mr. Jack Chaptnan, 

 writing from Souvoraski, at the north-east corner of the 

 Black Sea, says : — " During the whole of the winter there 

 are great quantities of IIoney-Buzzards here, but what they 

 feed on during the very cold weather I cannot understand. 

 Crowds of Hen, Marsh, and Montagu's Harriers also spend 

 the winter here, and are very interesting to watch. So far 

 as I can make out, when the ground is soft they live on the 

 ants and mole-crickets which are passing the winter just 

 under the surface. When it is hard weather large quantities 

 of Larks and other small birds collect in flocks near the 

 river. It is then very interesting and exciting to watch the 

 Harriers. They fly slowly up Avind for two or three hundred 

 yards ; then turn round and come full speed down wind 

 close to the ground, and as they dash through the crowds of 

 small birds, catch any one that is unlucky enough to get 

 directly in the way. If they fail to kill they repeat the 

 performance. They hardly ever follow a bird — I presume, 

 because they are not active enough on the wing to catch one 

 if they did. However hard the weather, the Honey-Buzzards 

 do not seem to trouble about the small birds; but I have 

 seen them on occasions follow up a Duck that I have badly 

 wounded and eat it when it has fallen, much to my disgust. 

 During the autumn great flocks of Hobbies stay here for a 

 time, but they all go away before the cold Aveather comes. 

 There have been a pair of birds here the whole winter that 

 I should very much like to know the name of. They are 

 Geese, and the whole of the breast is quite red. They may 

 be Ruddy Sheldrakes, but, from what I can remember of 

 one I shot last year, that bird is no bigger than the ordinary 

 Sheldrake, while this Goose, as I presume it to be, is con- 

 siderably larger.^' 



[The Goose is obviously Anser ruficollis, which is well 

 known to visit the Caspian and Black Seas in winter, and 

 occasionally to go as far south as Egypt. — Enn.] 



Hybrid betiveen Peacock and Guinea -fowl. — We arc 

 indebted to the proprietors of 'The Field' for the use of the 



