26 Mr. J. H. Gurney — Comparative 



very curious auecdote of a Dutch Swan which bore its ring 

 102 years. 



The lightest aluminium rings are recommended by some 

 pigeon-fanciers, as they do not rust, to be fixed close round 

 the leg (tarsus), but they are not so pliable as white metal 

 rings, which can be made of all sizes, open easily, and are 

 said not to corrode. Either sort can be obtained from 

 Mr. A. C. Hughes, Fulwell Station, Twickenham, the 

 inventor of interlocking rings, such as are shown in the 

 accompanying figures. If used for young birds, the day of 

 putting them on should be deferred as long as possible, for 

 in most cases the tarsus continues to grow until the bird is 

 full-grown, and cruelty may arise from too tight a ligature. 



Interlocking rings lur niii iking- birds. 



Since 1891 about nine young Woodcocks have been 

 annually ringed at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, as I 

 learn from Mr. E. G. Wheeler, who adds that the practice of 

 ringing them will be continued by the Duke's orders. If 

 they are not all shot, we may anticipate that naturalists will 

 get some statistics from some of these '' Longbills,''^ but some 

 have been killed already in the Alnwick preserves, besides 

 one in Kent and another in Ireland. There is at present no 

 case of a Woodcock living more than 6^ years. 



In 1896 nineteen U7'ia bruennicM and twenty-two Rissa 

 tridadyla, were liberated in Franz Josef Land marked with 

 a " J ^^ (Ibis, 1898, pp. 268, 271) . In 1898 Col. Feilden had 

 some birds ringed at Holkham in Norfolk with rings stamped 

 '' Holkam 1898 "; and Miss Hamond ringed 44 young Sterna 

 fluviatilis at the same place with rings inscribed " 1898," and 

 one of them has turned up already. In 1887 a marked 

 Albatross was released off Cape Horn. 



In the case of the Alcidce daubs of paint have been tried, 



