VOL. xni.] NOTES. 275 



Radnorshire and Shropshire, we believe that it has not 

 previously been recorded from Montgomeryshire. 



DARK-BREASTED BARN-OWL IN KENT. 



On December 12th, 1919, Mr. E. Catt, of Iden, received a bird 

 of this form {Tyto a. guttata) that had been found dead in a 

 barn at Wittersham. Suspecting its identity he kindly sent 

 it to me after he had stuffed it. I was able to compare it 

 with an unusually dark bird of the white-breasted race. It 

 was conspicuously darker, especially on the flanks and round 

 the outer side of the orbital rings, also both in the ground- 

 colour and grey mottlings of the upper-parts, while the grey 

 bars on the tail and the spots on the inner webs of the pri- 

 maries were replaced with black. N. F. Ticehurst. 



GOOSANDER IN CO. GALWAY. 

 On December 29th, 1919, I obtained a good view of an adult 

 female Goosander {Mergus m. merganser), which was swimming 

 about on Kylemore Middle Lake, co. Galway. The chestnut- 

 coloured head and upper-neck, and slate-grey upper-parts 

 caught my eye at once. As I watched the bird through the 

 glasses I was impressed by the rapid way in which it moved 

 along the surface of the water. 



This would appear to be the first occurrence of the Goosander 

 in Connemara. The late R. J. Ussher more than once 

 remarked on the scarcity of the species in western Connaught, 

 etc. (of. Birds of Ireland and Proc. R. Irish Acad., Vol. XXXI. , 

 part 20). Geo. R. Humphreys. 



HABITS OF LITTLE AUK INLAND. 

 In view of Mr. Cocks's note on this subject, the following may 

 be worth recording. On November 21st, 1910, by the River 

 Cam, just below the boat-houses at Cambridge, I noticed 

 several people apparently looking at something strange on 

 the water. I could not see what they were looking at, until 

 suddenly a bird — plainly one of the Alcce — rose from the 

 water and came rapidly past me, flying, I think, rather south 

 of west, in the direction of Cambridge. It was so unexpected 

 that I did not get a very good view of it. I thought it had a 

 stout beak, and concluded it must have been a Razorbill, 

 though it struck me as rather small. It was only when I 

 discovered a few weeks later that there had been a " wreck " 

 of the Little Auk {Alle alle) that I realized it must almost 

 certainly have been of that species ; but, as I had not 

 recognized it at the time of seeing it, I did not record it. 



H. G. Alexander. 



