26 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



at present available for examination. On the other hand, there is as 

 little doubt that the true Marsh-Tit is likewise common, in Northum- 

 berland at any rate but here again the only available specimens for 

 precise determination, at the moment of writing, are a bird kindly sent 

 me by Mr. Abel Chapman, which his man had killed at Houxty-on-Tyne, 

 on 22nd February of the present year, and another obligingly sent to 

 me by another good friend from Alnwick, near which it was obtained 

 on 29th November, 1911. Both of the.se have been pas.sed by Mr. 

 Witherby as undoubted specimens of P. palustris. They are sufficient 

 to establish the fact that both birds are widely distributed with us, and 

 no doubt local residents will now pay greater attention to the matter 

 and perhaps supply more definite records. 



I may add that Mr. W. Portal has kindly sent me a specimen 

 of a Marsh-Tit {P. p. dresseri) which was taken at Hexham 

 on April 10th, 1912. H.F.W. 



Hoopoe in Yorkshire. — A Hoopoe {Upupa e. epops) is 

 recorded by Mr. W. A. Durnford (Field, 11. v. 12, p. 941) 

 as having visited his garden at Elsecar near Bamsley for 

 some six hours on May 4th, 1912. Mr. Durnford remarks 

 that this is the second appearance of a Hoopoe at the same 

 spot in the last three years. 



Tengmalm's Owl in Shetland. — A specimen of .Egolius t. 

 tengmalmi was captured alive in a bam on January 23rd, 

 1912, at the north end of Unst (T. E. Saxby, Scot. Nal, 1912, 

 p. 90). 



The Bill of the young Heron. — Professor P. P. Sushkin 

 contributes a paper to the Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 (1912, pp. 125-6 and Plate XII.,) on the " Ontogenetical 

 Transformations of the Bill in the Heron {Ardea cinerea)." 

 In this paper he shows that in an embryo the bill is at first 

 straight and rather slender, with the tip of the upper mandible 

 conspicuously swollen and the culmen concave. The gape 

 measures 12 mm. About a day before hatching the embryo's 

 bill is thicker, its swollen tip not so prominent, and is slightly 

 hooked and the culmen not so concave. The gape measures 

 22 mm. One day after hatching, the bill is larger and con- 

 spicuously thicker, and the swelling of the tip has almost 

 disappeared. The gape now measures 25 mm. About three 

 days after hatching, the bill has nearly assumed its conical 

 shape, but is still relatively short and thick, and the tip is 

 conspicuously hooked. The gape has increased to 32 mm. 



Storm-Petrel in Captivity. — Dr. C. B. Ticehurst con- 

 tributes to the Avicultural Magazine (Vol. III., pp. 111-113) 

 an interesting little paper of observations on a Storm-Petrel 

 (Hydrohates pelagicus) which he kept alive for ten days by 

 " cramming " it with fish-liver, though this is presumably 

 nothing like its natural food. Dr. Ticehurst remarks : — 



