VOL. XIII.] NOTES. 141 



them. As the wings became heavy with moisture the latter 

 was shaken off or the wings were drooped to the sides. But 

 they were never closed, and the original movements and 

 postures were soon resumed again. The harder it rained the 

 more outstretched the wings were held ; as the rain abated 

 the outstretching would decrease. It took some time to 

 convince me that the bird was welcoming the hard shower, 

 but eventually I found this conclusion irresistible because, 

 while it still rained, the bird commenced on the perch those 

 curtseying movements which, while bathing, immerse the 

 lower breast and belly-feathers. These movements were 

 repeated on more than one occasion. When the rain ceased 

 the bird flew to its shelter and remained there for the night. 

 I attempted to photograph the Buzzard with the wings 

 horizontal, but movement, which was never quite absent, and 

 a hopeless light made it impossible ; however, I was able to 

 obtain a picture of the resting position, assumed when the 

 horizontal position became tiring, and of this I enclose a print. 



T. Lewis. 



PROBABLE MONTAGU'S HARRIER BREEDING IN 



SUSSEX. 



When at Brighton last month Mr. W. Swaysland told me 

 that a Harrier had bred on the Downs near the town in the 

 spring of 1919, and four young were hatched, which were 

 taken by some boys, one of them having been brought to him. 

 He thought it to be Montagu's Harrier {Circtis pygargus), not 

 the Hen-Harrier, and from his description it seems tolerably 

 certain it was this species, which has bred formerly near 

 Brighton. H. Kirke Swann. 



WHOOPER IN ROSS-SHIRE IN JUNE. 



On June 5th, 1919, when proceeding to fish on Loch Beanna- 

 charan, an extension of the Meig, one of the main affluents of 

 the River Conon, I was surprised to find a Whooper {Cygnus 

 cygnus) on it, which had undoubtedly arrived overnight. It 

 remained on the loch until the morning of June 13th, but in 

 the interval, paid visits to some of the smaller hill lochs. I 

 found the bird somewhat shy when I attempted to approach 

 it on foot, but vehicles passing did not disconcert it to the 

 same extent. While the plumage was perfectly white, it 

 showed a trace of immaturity in the upper mandible, which was 

 of a creamy-yellow colour, instead of the full lemon-yellow of 

 the adult Whooper. D. Macdonald. 



