LARIDJE. 217 



Buckinghamshire, on whose estate it was procured. 

 The precise date, or further particulars, I was un- 

 able to ascertain. A second was taken some years 

 since near Crendon ; and Mr. Burgess told me of a 

 third which was shot at Chesham, in November or 

 December, 1859. This last is in the collection of 

 Mr. Lowndes. 



Forked-tailed Petrel {Thalassidroma Leachii), 

 After a strong gale of wind in the summer of 1847 

 or 1848, a man named William Hibbs noticed a 

 bird fluttering against a lamp at the corner of Brocas 

 Lane, Eton ; he caught it, and it proved to be a 

 Petrel of this species. He took it to a local bird- 

 stuffer, who placed it in a hamper for the night. 

 It appeared extremely thin, and was very weak, 

 although in good plumage. It was killed on the 

 morning after its capture, and was preserved for a 

 gentleman by whom it had been purchased. The 

 Rev. Bryant Burgess, of Latimer Rectory, near Ches- 

 ham, sent me an account of one of these rare Petrels 

 which was taken in that neighbourhood. Upon 

 the 1st of November, 1859, during a very strong 

 gale of wind, causing great disasters — not the least 

 of which was the wreck of the Royal Chai-tcr — 

 Mr. Poulter, gardener to Lord Chesham, found a 

 Forked-tailed Petrel lying upon the ground ' in the 

 deer-park at Latimer. When he first saw it, it 

 was upon its back, vigorously flapping its wings ; it 

 unfortunately died almost as soon as it was picked 



