126 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Supposed Bee-eater in Norfolk. — In the Field (28. v. 1910, 

 p. 949) there was a note from Captain S. E. Hollond concerning 

 a bird which he and some friends had watched on May 13th, 

 1910, at Mundesley, Norfolk (c/. Field, 18. vi. 1910, p. 1098). 

 An editorial appended to the note pronounced that it was 

 " evident " from Captain Hollond's description and a sketch 

 which he had provided, that the bird was " a Bee-eater, 

 M. apiaster." As the only description of the bird given in 

 the note was to the effect that it " had no yellow at all and 

 no red," I did not feel satisfied with the identification, and 

 wrote to Captain Hollond for further particulars. These he 

 has most kindly supplied as fully as he is able, and has also 

 sent me his original sketch, from which it is at once evident 

 that the bird was not an example of Merops apiaster, since the 

 whole of the upper parts of the bird are marked as being green, 

 with the exception of the crown, Avhich is marked " dark 

 blue." From the sketch and Captain Hollond's description of 

 the bird's habits — " The flight was hawk-like ; the wings 

 were narrow. The bird took short flights, generally returning 

 to the same tree " — it appears to have been a Bee-eater of 

 some kind, and the colouring noted on the sketch fits that of 

 Merops persicus very nearly, while the fact that " under the 

 wings in flight could be seen rich chestnut," also points to the 

 possibility that this was the species. I have sent skins of 

 Merops apiaster and M. persicus to Captain Hollond, who 

 writes me that " the bird was certainly not Merops apiaster," 

 and that it was much like M. persicus, but appeared to differ 

 in several details. It is impossible to say what the bird really 

 was, and I have discussed the subject in detail only to show 

 that this cannot be accepted as a record of the occurrence of 

 Merops apiaster in Norfolk. — H.F.W. 



American Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Argyllshire. — 

 Mr. H. S. Gladstone records {Ann. S.N.H., 1910, p. 184) that a 

 specimen of Coccyzus americanus Avas found near the centre 

 of the island of Colonsay on November 6th, 1904, and is now 

 in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.). 



Little Bittern in Cornwall. — Mr. H. J. Welch records 

 in the Field (23. vii. 1910, p. 200) that he has a male adult 

 specimen of Ardetta minuta which was caught by a dog near 

 Land's End in April, 1910. 



Eider Ducks in the Clyde Area. — Mr. J. A. Harvie- 

 Brown notes [Ann. 8.N.H., 1910, p. 183) the extension of 

 Somateria mollissima to Loch Fyne, where several were observed 

 in the winter of 1909 and spring of 1910, and remarks on the 

 southward extension of this species. 



