LEACH'S PETEEL. 141 



on the shore near Tor Abbey, in December, 1849; one near 

 Plymouth, in December, 1856, of which John Gatcombe, Esq., 

 of Wyndham Place, has written me word ; on January 4th., 

 1850, one was taken alive, but in an exhausted state, on the 

 highroad between Edgware and Stanmore. One of these birds 

 was found on one of the high downs near Seaford, Sussex, 

 of which R. V. Dennis, Esq. has informed me, and of four 

 others about the same time near Brighton; another picked up 

 dead on or about the 6th. of November, 1850; one at Rotting- 

 dean, taken alive, December 14th., 1848. In Oxfordshire, one 

 was found dead in the winter of 1850-51, at Blenheim Park, 

 near Woodstock, the seat of His Grace the Duke of Marl- 

 borough; another in the parish of Weston-on-the-Green, in 

 February, 1838, others also; one shot near Henley, in the year 

 1847; one also at Chipping Norton. In Durham, one, obtained 

 by the Rev. A. Shafto. One in the county of Hereford. In 

 the county of Cumberland, one was taken in a net in the 

 Sol way Firth, in November, 1841; also in Derbyshire; and 

 in Cambridgeshire one at Bassingbourne. 



In Hampshire, one was found dead in the year 1850, at 

 Luccombe Chine, in the Isle of Wight. Several near London ; 

 Mr. Yarrell bought one in the Leadenhall Market, alive at the 

 time. In Shropshire one, recorded by T. C. Eyton, Esq., of 

 Eyton, near Shrewsbury. In Cornwall, one was obtained near 

 Penzance, in November, 1852; others at Falmouth, Gwyllyn 

 Vase, Carrack Road, and Swanpool, but rarely. One was 

 picked up on Hindhood, near Liphook, Surrey; one in the 

 neighbourhood of Haslemere, in the same county, 21st. of 

 November, 1840; several near Dunswold, February 2nd., 1841. 

 Another in Gloucestershire; and four or five near Bristol, 

 Somersetshire. In Yorkshire, an individual was found at 

 Kirkhammerton ; another in one of the streets of Halifax, 

 December 16th., 1831; another on Sutton Common, near 

 Doncaster ; three or four near York; one shot near Sprotborough, 

 on the River Don, in 1837; a few near Leeds. 



In Scotland the first British specimen was obtained near 

 St. Kilda, one of the Hebrides, in the summer of 1818. Since 

 then one was obtained in Dumfriesshire, in the lower part of 

 Annandale, by Sir Patrick Maxwell, Bart.; it was found dead. 

 Another by John Jardine, Esq. ; and a fourth on St. Boswell's 

 Green, in Roxburghshire. 



It has occurred in Ireland, but only occasionally. 



These birds appear to be more shy than the other kinds, 



