VOL XIV.] NOTES. 98 



tion of a note on this specimen in the local papers led to the 

 discovery that another Hoopoe, shot nearly fifty years ago 

 within the boundary of the borough of Walsall, was still in 

 existence in the possession of the man who shot it, and who 

 kindly allowed me to examine it. It was killed on December 

 14th, 1872, a remarkable date, and is still in very fair condition. 



W. Davies. 



WRYNECK IN NORTH DEVON. 



On August I2th, 1917, I saw a Wryneck {Jynx t. torquilla) 

 on my lawn at Barnstaple I watched it for some con- 

 siderable time feeding on something in the grass, which 

 subsequent examination proved to be small ants. I distinctly 

 noticed the curious twisting movement of the head and 

 erection of the head feathers. Its plumage was unmistak- 

 able. D 'Urban and Mathew, in their Birds of Devon, 

 refer to the Wryneck as " a casual visitor of rare occurrence," 

 and in North Devon "a very rare straggler at the period of 

 autumn migration." J. G. Hamling. 



SUSCEPTIBILITY OF KESTREL'S PLUMAGE TO 



WET. 



The plumage of the Kestrel {F. t. tinnunculus) seems to be 

 peculiarly susceptible to wet. Heavy rain so soaks the body 

 and flight feathers that the bird is sometimes forced to the 

 ground and rendered incapable of flight. During one of 

 many wet days recently, and following a night of steady 

 rain, I found a dead Kestrel by the side of the road. There 

 was no apparent injury, but the feathers were saturated. 

 The stomach appeared to be quite empty, and the bird had 

 evidently died of wet and exposure during the night . The same 

 day another Kestrel was caught, by a friend, on the ground 

 from which it was unable to rise. It was in a thoroughly 

 drenched and bedraggled condition. My sister gave it food 

 and shelter for the night, but it would not eat. In the morning 

 it was quite dry and lively. We poured warm milk and 

 forced some pieces of raw meat down its throat. More meat 

 then thrown to it was eagerly snapped up and swallowed. 

 After a short rest, to allow of the meal being assimilated, it 

 was released, when it flapped across a field, got "on to the 

 wind," and soared away out of view. H. A. F. Magrath. 



A NEW NESTING-PLACE OF THE GANNET. 



When looking northward from Hermaness Hill, Unst, this 

 month, July 1920, I noticed a number of Gannets {Sula 



