I 



VOL. XIII.] NOTES. 165 



SPOONBILL IN HAMPSHIRE. 



The Spoonbill {Platalea I. leiicorodia) recorded on p. 85 as 

 having been seen at Beaulieu since May 24th, 1919, was last 

 observed on August 15th. I think there is no doubt that it 

 went away about this time peacefully and did not come to 

 any untimely end. 



Thomas H. H. Troubridge. 



A WOOD-PIGEON'S RUSE. 



On September 15th, 1919, I found the nest of a Wood-Pigeon 

 {Columba p. palmnbiis) in a hawthorn in the garden at Bedale, 

 Yorks. It was quite low down — only about ten feet above the 

 ground — and contained its complement of eggs. Each time 

 I have disturbed the bird it has fluttered down to the ground 

 and then hopped along with flapping wings just like a winged 

 Pigeon attempts to escape. It continues in this way until it is 

 about a hundred yards from the nest when it flies close to the 

 ground for another hundred or so before rising and settling in 

 a tree. Naturally a bird with a broken wing would have had 

 some difftculty in getting into a tree, but the Pigeon in question 

 had apparently overlooked that detail. 



This is the only time I have ever seen or heard of a Wood- 

 Pigeon playing the " broken- vving " trick. I should be glad 

 to know if any of your readers have seen it done. 



H. a. Booth. 



[We have once seen a Turtle-Dove behave in much the same 

 way, but we know of no case recorded of a Wood-Pigeon 

 doing so. — Ed.] 



BAR-TAILED GODWITS IN SHROPSHIRE. 



On September i8th, 1919, three Bar-tailed Godwits {Limosa I. 

 lapponica) were killed at one shot out of a flock flying high 

 over Black HiU, Clun, in south-west Shropshire. The species 

 has been recorded several times in the county, but always 

 single birds in winter. The present occurrence is remark- 

 able, both for the date and for the birds being in a flock and 

 apparently migrating. H. E. Forrest. 



BLACK-HEADED GULLS RETURNING TO THEIR 

 PARENT GULLERY. 



In my article on " The Result of Marking Black-headed Gulls " 

 {Lanes ridibimdus) I mentioned three cases of birds being 

 found dead in their parent gullery at Ravenglass, Cumberland, 

 during the nesting season, two two years and one three years 

 after being hatched there. (See Brit. Birds, Vol. VIII, p, 218.) 



