22 
GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL. 
(Immature). 
Case 357. 
The specimen to the left was obtained in Norfolk, 
January 13th, 1873. 
This case was prepared by Mr. Booth, but was 
not noticed in his Descriptive Cataloque. 
FIRE-CRESTED WREN. 
Case 358, 
It seems incredible that such small birds as these 
can cross the 380 miles of the North Sea safely, and 
yet it is so, not only with this minute species, but 
also with their equally small congenors, the Gold- 
crests, whose migrations are referred to by Mr. Booth 
on page 18 of his Descriptive Catalogue. While 
many of the latter species remain nesting with us 
and may be seen and heard throughout the year, the 
present species is only met with but rarely, and then 
on migration. They are most readily distinguished 
from the Gold-crests by the pale streak running 
from the eye. 
Of the six specimens in this case (reckoning from 
the left to the right) all but the third come from the 
Borrer Collection. Of the first two, one was killed 
with a stone near Worthing in November, 1852; the 
third was obtained near Brighton, October 21st, 1868, 
(and was acquired by purchase) ; the next (the upper 
bird) was found dead in a garden in Brighton, 
November 5th, 1843; the fifth (the lower bird) was 
found dead at Shoreham, November 10th, 1854 ; and 
the last was captured, as Mr. Borrer was fond of 
narrating, with lantern and bell, in a shrubbery at 
Lancing, December 12th, 1846. 
This method of catching small birds at night 
while roosting in ivy and other creepers, or in other 
‘snug nooks and corners, is referred to in Rowley’s 
Ornithological Miscellany, Vol. LI., p. 354; the birds 
