THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND, 193 



Milvus Ictinus. 



The following extract from a letter of the 

 Rev. H. H. Slater, F.Z.S., refers to the autumn 

 of 1880 : — " I was staying at Patterdale, and had 

 been up Deepdale, up the rocks at the end of it, 

 intending to return by Dovedale. It was a furiously 

 hot day, and I was tired with a long scramble after 

 plants, and lay down on the top. Before long, I 

 noticed a pair of Kites, above the tops of the 

 hills, working round and round in great circles. I 

 watched them for quite an hour, during which they 

 were several times within six hundred yards, once 

 nearer fifty. As far as I could tell, with the help 

 of a binocular, they were immature birds." 



Loxia Bifasciata. 



Since the paragraph on this species was printed, 

 we have examined two females in Mr. Bond's col- 

 lection, formerly in that of Mr. T. C. Heysham. 

 The score is thus raised to seven females, of which 

 we know the present whereabouts. 



Cliaulelasmus Streperus. 



A female Gadwall, shot near Silloth during the 

 long frost of the spring of 1886, contained remains 

 of vegetable substances. Weight 1 lb. 65- ozs. 



(Edemia Perspicillata. 



Mr. Gurney's Surf Scoter is included in Stevens' 

 Catalogue of the Heysham sale as, " Lot 176 . 

 shot near Crofton Hall, August, 1856 . . . . 

 with the trachea and breastbone attached." We 

 prefer to accept Mr. Armstrong's date. 



