VOL. vn.] NOTES. 19 



On the foUo^ving day I put it up three times from a wet 

 willow-bed and a reed-bed at opposite ends of the mere, on 

 one occasion getting within ten yards of it before it rose. 

 It proved to be an adult female or immature male Marsh- 

 Harrier [Circus ceruginosus). Its head was entirely cream- 

 coloured and was a most striking feature even at a considerable 

 distance ; on examining the series of skins of this species 

 in the " Dresser " Collection, I found a specimen which it 

 resembled very closely — a female shot in Asia Minor in March. 

 After giving me an excellent opportunity of watching it 

 for some time as it flew with slow ^ving-beats and glided over 

 the mere, it rose to a great height and disappeared from view 

 in the north. A. W. Boyd. 



GREENLAND FALCON IN CO. DERRY. 



Messrs. Sheals have had sent to them for preservation a fine 

 male Greenland Falcon (Falco r. candicans) which was shot 

 at Dungiven, co. Derry, on April 15th, 1913. 



Wm. C. Wright. 



BEWICK'S SWAN IN SHROPSHIRE. 

 In January, 1913, an immature example of Bewick's Swan 

 {Cygnus hewickii) was shot out of a part}^ of three at Claverley, 

 near Bridgnorth. It was cooked and eaten, and the flesh 

 was said to resemble in colour and flavour that of the hare. 

 I did not hear of it for some time after, but fortunately the 

 feet had been kept, and one of these was procured and sent 

 to me by Mr. W. Wells Bladen. From the measurement 

 of the tarsus there is no doubt as to the species. There 

 are several previous occurrences on record in the county, 

 the most notable being in December, 1899, when a flock of 

 twenty-three visited Ellesmere and stayed for several days 

 on the meres. H. E. Forrest. 



GEESE KILLED BY LIGHTNING. 



A SEVERE and sudden storm broke over a farm between the 

 Solway and Annan (Dumfriesshire) early in April, 1913. The 

 farm men working on a field all ran for shelter ; as they ran 

 they heard thuds behind them, but ran the faster. On their 

 return later, they found eighteen dead Barnacle-Geese {Branta 

 leucopsis), two of which were singed, but the rest not marked ; 

 another was found further off. They must have been part 

 of a flock migrating high up in the air, as none were seen 

 or heard passing. M. Portal. 



[In our first volume (p. 29) Mr. J. H. Gurney recorded a 

 similar accident to a number of Pink-footed and White-fronted 



