NOTES. 189 



Hawks for dissection, one taken on September 18th, 1910, 

 off the Norfolk coast, and one shot at Battle, Sussex, on 

 October 18th, 1910. Both these birds had hoth ovaries 

 equally developed : in the former tlie right oviduct was in 

 much the same condition as in the first bird ; in the latter 

 the right oviduct appeared to be reduced to a ligamentous 

 strand, but it was not easy to be sure, as it had been shot 

 in that region. It is, however, interesting to note that this 

 bird was an adult and had laid eggs tliis year, as evidenced 

 by the condition of the left oviduct. It would have been 

 interesting to have seen whether during the breeding season 

 both ovaries were active (wliich seems probable), and whetlier 

 the ovum from the right ovary travelled down the left oviduct. 



Mr. H. F. Witherby informs me that he has a skin of a 

 female Sparrow-Hawk obtained by Commander H. Lynes 

 on March 20th, 1910, in the Sierra de Jerez, Soutli Spain ; 

 on dissecting tliis bird Commander Lynes found it to have a 

 double ovary. 



Mr. J. H. Gurney writes to me that Mr.T. E. Gunn, taxidermist, 

 of Norwich, has informed him that he has found a double 

 ovary in the Sparrow-Hawk, Kestrel, and Montagu's Harrier. 



If the presence of two ovaries in the Sparro\\ -Ha\\k is 

 normal it is very curious if it has not been noticed before, 

 yet the finding of this condition in three successive birds 

 must surely be more than coincidence. MacGillivray apparently 

 had not noticed it, and in Ne\\ton's Dictionary of Birds 

 I onty find the following remarks (pp. 782-3), " In the female 

 [i.e., of birds as a class] a pair of Ovaries are developed, but 

 with rare exceptions only that on the left side becomes 

 functional. ... In young birds both oviducts are almost 

 equally developea, but the right one soon becomes reduced 

 to an insignificant ligamentous strand along the ventral side 

 of part of the Kidney. This one-sided suppression of the 

 organs may possibly be referable to the inconvenience that 

 might be caused Mere each oviduct to contain an egg ready 

 to be deposited." 



Nothing is said as to what are tlie " rare exceptions." 



Claud B. Ticehurst. 



QUAILS IN LEWIS, OUTER HEBRIDES. 



With reference to Mr. W. H. Workman's note in the last 

 number of British Birds (p. 156), recording the Quail in Lewis, 

 I may note that on September 23rd, 1907, I put up and shot 

 a Quail near Gress Lodge, Isle of Lewis. The bird was stuffed, 

 and is now in the possession of the shooting tenant of the 

 Gress Lodge beat, Mr. F. P. Birch. 



