400 STJPPLEMENTAKY NOTES, BY SIB, WM. JARDItfE. 



rat hitherto known in Great Britain ; the black-coloured individuals, 

 A. ater macgittivray, found in the north, and which we once captured in 

 Sutherlandshire, being considered as only a variety. It is scarcely 

 possible to decide now what other field mouse may have been referred 

 to in this chapter, and it will be for Mr. Bell, the present proprietor and 

 preserver of Mr. White's retreat, to discover which of the British 

 species are most abundant in his vicinity. For an excellent paper on 

 the distinctions of some of our small mammalia, see Rev. L. Jenyns in 

 " Annals of Natural History," vol. v'u.page 261. 



THE FALCON. Letter X., page 40. 



Mr. Bennet states that the " Falco" proved to be the F. peregrinus, 

 or peregrine falcon. The authority is W. Y. The yellow iris does not, 

 however, agree with this, if in its long kept state White's report could 

 be depended upon. 



GROSSHAWK, CROSSBILL, &c. Letter XL, page 41, notes * f. 



There is little to add to this note, except that specimens of the bird 

 continue to arrive at intervals, and from ornithology being more attended 

 to, they appear to be more frequently discovered ; the same localities 

 repeatedly afford specimens, and another was killed in 1849, on the 

 Northumberland coast, not far from Bamborough, in Budle Bay. Mr. 

 Thompson has given a table of its recorded appearance in Ireland, in 

 the first volume of his locally interesting " Birds of Ireland." It has 

 occurred thirty-six times between 1819 and 1847. 



The " Grossbeaks" referred to (same page) continue also to occur 

 occasionally, and have been discovered by the late Mr. Doubleday to 

 breed regularly in Epping Forest, from whence he kindly communicated 

 to us both the nest and eggs. He considers their extreme shyness has 

 hitherto kept us in ignorance of their habits, and states that their 

 principal food was the seed of the hornbeam (Corpim/us betulus). (See 

 further" Mag. of Zool. and Bot." vol. i. page 448.) 



The Crossbill (Loxia curvirostrd) is far from uncommon, but is very 

 uncertain in its visitations ; it is a bird which apparently breeds very 

 early in the season. In our own vicinity, and in Roxburghshire, for 

 several years previous to 1839, they were regularly seen, but not one has 

 appeared since. In one season they remained from November to the 

 July following, but no traces of nidification could be discovered. An 

 excellent account of the structure and anatomy of the bill, and its 

 accessaries, is given by Mr. Yarrell in the " Zoological Journal," Vol. IV. 

 (See note in present Edition, page 124.) 



FISH. Letter XL, page 42 and notes. 



The "Miller's Thumb," in the northern parts of our island, is not 

 generally distributed. We do not know its exact range, but in the 

 northern counties of England it is by no means general. 



The broad-nosed eel (A. latirostris} is the grig or glut eel of Pennant. 



