M1SCELLA?«£0US OBSERVATIONS. IGl 



sittiu2^ on the handle of a plough and devouring a fish ; it 

 used to precipitate itself* into the water, and so take its prey 

 bv surprise. 



A great ash-coloured * butcher-bnd was shot last winter 

 in Tisted Park, and a red-backed butcher-bird at Selborne. 

 They are scarce birds in this country. 



Crowst go in pairs the whole year round. 



Cornisli choughs :J: abound, and breed on Beechy Head, 

 and on all the cliffs of the Sussex coast. § 



The common wild pigeon, || or stock-dove, is a bird of pass- 

 age in the south of England, seldom appearing till towards 

 the end of November, — is usually the latest winter bird of 

 passage. Before our beechen woods were so much destroyed, 

 we had myriads of them, reaching in strings for a mile 

 together, as they went out in a morning to feed. They leave 

 us early in spring. Where do they breed ? 



Tiie people of Hampshire and Sussex call the missel-bird^ 

 the storm-cock,** because it sings early in the spring, in blow- 

 ing, showery weather. Its song often commences with the 

 year : with us it builds much in orchards. 



A gentleman assures me he has taken the nests of ring- 

 ouselstt on Dartmoor ; they build in banks on the sides of 

 streams. 



Titlarks H not only sing sweetly as they sit on trees, but 

 also as they play and toy about on the wing ; and particularly 

 while they are descending, and sometimes as they stand on 

 the ground. §§ 



Adamson's|||| testimony seems to me to be a very poor evi- 

 dence that European swallows migrate ^^ during our winter 



* British Zoology, p. 161. f Ibid. p. 167. X I^id. p. 198. 



§ Cornish choughs abound in the Isle of Man, and breed there. They are 

 also found on the Galloway and Kirkctidbright coasts. — W. J. 



|l Bntiish Zooloffy, vol! i. p. 216. 1 Ibid. vol. i. p. 224. 



** In Staffordshire it is called the tJtrice cock; but for what reason I knov/ 

 not. — Ed. 



++ British Zoology, p. 22.Q. Xt I^id. vol. ii. p. 237. 



§§ Mr. White must have mistaken this for anthusarboi'eus, or tree-lirk. 

 The titlark {avthvs pratensis) seldom sits on trees. — W. J. 



iHl British Zoology, vol, ii. p. 242. 



*u*] I have reason to believe that there is no portion of the world in wliioh 

 fuallows congregate at certain seasons, from which they do not periodically 

 uiigrate. — Ei>. 



