REPORT OX tHE PEXXATULIDA. 9 



F. Forbcgii, but that perfectly typical F. qiuulnuKjtdaiiti occur side by 

 side with them. The description i^iven by Verrill applies perfectly to 

 the three smaller livin<^ specimens obtained by the Society at Oban, 

 but is contradicted on every point by the large specimen, which is in 

 all respects a perfectly typical specimen of the form Funiculina 

 qiiadraiifii'loris, erroneously supposed by Verrill and Gray to be confined 

 to the Mediterranean and Scandinavian seas. The point is, perhaps, 

 one of no very great importance, but, inasmuch as unnecessary 

 multiplication of species is a very definite evil, the Birmingham 

 Natural History Society may certainly be congratulated on having 

 established the fact that the Scotch Funiculina is identical with the 

 Mediterranean and Scandinavian forms, and is not a distinct species. 

 The large specimen from Oban thus acquires some historical im- 

 portance, as having been the means of proving this identity. Larger 

 specimens even than that dredged by the Society have indeed been 

 previously obtained from Oban, and there can be little doubt that 

 these fully agreed with the Society's specimen ; but of these no 

 complete description has ever appeared, nor are the specimens them- 

 selves preserved for reference, so that the Birmingham specimen, 

 which is now permanently deposited in the Zoological Museum of the 

 Mason College, may undoubtedly claim the honour of being tiie typical 

 British example of Funirulina quadra)t<jularig. 



{To be continued.) 



THE BIRDS OF LEIC E STEESHIRE. 

 PART II.— OUR WINTER MIGRANTS. 



BY THOMAS MACAULAY, JI.R.C.S.L., ETC. 



This class is much smaller than the former one. The true Winter 

 Migrants, by which I mean only those birds which approach our shores 

 in winter and leave us again for distant breeding grounds, are not 

 numerous, and I am only able to enumerate seventeen species as 

 having been observed in the county of Leicester. 



I.— The Mevlin (F(tlro .Fsdlon). If my notes were not meant to be 

 purely local it would be open to question whether this bird 

 should be classed amongst the " constant residents " or "winter 

 migrants." It undoubtedly breeds in the northern parts of 

 England, and (Morris says) in Lincolnshire. I cannot hear of 

 any instance of its breeding in Leicestershire, and it only 

 appears in this part of the country during the winter months. 

 It is not a common bird by any means with us, though scarcely 

 a winter passes by without one or two being seen. 



2.— The Short-eared Owl ( Otu.'< hraclnjotus). Not common. I have 

 never met with it myself, but Rev. A. Matthews has done so on 

 several occasions, as'^ also has my friend Mr. H. Davenport. 



