22 BRITISH BIRDS. [VoL. XI. 
only examined one Long-eared Owl in this emaciated con- 
dition. They are all common Barn-Owls, none as far as I 
can judge are of the continental form. I have heard from 
several correspondents through the country that they have 
found dead Barn-Owls about their farm buildings. The 
Barn-Owl is the commonest species in Ireland, but is scarce 
in the northern and western counties compared to the mid- 
land and southern parts of the country. W. J. WILLiAMs. 
MARKED GANNET IN NORTHERN NORWAY IN 
WINTER. 
Mr. E. Perersen of Christianssund and Mr. T. Hegerdah 
have both very kindly written to inform me that a Gannet 
(Sula bassana) marked with a British Birds ring No. 100,034 
was caught by a fisherman near Christianssund on January 
28th, 1917. We are informed that the boat passed by “ great 
masses ’’ of Gannets which were “lying quietly at sea.” 
This particular bird was apparently weak and was caught 
with a gaff. The bird was ringed as a nestling on July 30th, 
1913, on the Bass Rock by the late J. M. Campbell, the light- 
keeper. That there should have been a number of Gannets 
so far to the north as Christianssund in the middle of winter 
would seem well worthy of record, and the fact that at least 
one of them was bred four to five hundred miles to the south 
should be noted. H. F. WITHERBY. 
HERRING-GULLS DROPPING MOLLUSCS. 
On the beach at Blackpool on September 19th, 1916, I 
watched about a dozen Herring-Gulls (Larus argentatus) 
drop mussels on to the sand in order to break them. One 
bird dropped the same mussel from a height of ten to thirty 
feet no less than thirty-two times in quick succession. The 
fact that birds do drop shell-fish in this way is of course 
well known, but I thought the perseverance of this bird 
exceptional and worthy of record. J. FEw. 
MOOR-HENS AND MALLARDS EATING FRUIT. 
CoNcERNING Moor-Hens eating fruit (cf. antea, Vol. X., pp. 
251, 275 and 295), I might state that I have often watched 
them eating the berries of elder trees bordering the canal 
near Lancaster. 
A friend of mine when wild-fowling on the Cheshire Dee 
a few years ago in early October, noticed a black juice oozing 
out of the beak of some Mallard (Anas platyrhyncha) which 
he had just shot, and on opening their beaks found that they 
had been feeding extensively upon blackberries. 
H. W. ROBINSON. 
