VOL XIV. J NOTES. 209 



BRITISH RECORDS OF THE SPOTTED EAGLE. 

 With reference to the third example of the Spotted Eagle 

 (St. Columb, November 1861) referred to on page 181, Mr. 

 P. D. Williams kindly writes (January 6th, 1921) that the 

 curator of the Truro Museum informs him that this bird 

 is in excellent order, and that the statement that it was 

 destroyed by moth is quite untrue. 



Mr. Miller Christy has kindly supplied me with a photo- 

 graph of the seventh (Elmstead, October 2gth, 1891), and 

 Dr. Hartert and I have compared this and the figure of the 

 bird in Lilford's Coloured Figures of British Birds, Vol. I., 

 pi. 4, with skins, and are satisfied that it was an example of 

 A. clanga. Judging by the figure in Lilford I think this 

 bird was about eighteen months old and not in juvenile 

 plumage, as the figure shows no buffish-white tips to the tail 

 nor white on the upper tail-coverts. The figure of the 

 Sudbourne, Wickham Market, bird (Plate 5), shows these 

 clearly, and is evidently a juvenile. Of the Leigh bird (No. 9 

 in my paper, p. 181) Lord Lilford writes (p. 4) that it was 

 " nearly as beautiful " as the Sudbourne one. If one may 

 assume that he was referring to the spotting it would seem 

 clear that this was also A. clanga. 



Mr. Miller Christy also kindly points out that an Essex 

 taken Spotted Eagle has been omitted from our Hand-List 

 (1912) and from my article. This bird was exhibited at a 

 meeting of the Essex Field Club on May 23rd, 1908, by Mr. 

 Miller Christy and is recorded in the Essex Naturalist, Vol. XV., 

 p. 272. It was a male and was picked up dead at Downham 

 at the end of April 1908. It had been seen in the district 

 for several months previously and appears to have died of 

 shot wounds. This bird appears likely to have been A. clanga, 

 but this should be confirmed by examination of the specimen, 

 which, Mr. Christ}^ tells me, may still be at the De Beauvoir 

 Arms, Downham. H. F. Witherby. 



BLACK-NECKED GREBE BREEDING IN IRELAND. 

 For many years both Mr. Williams and I had received news 

 of " curious " Grebes which were seen on Irish loughs during 

 the summer months. We always ascribed them to Podiceps 

 nigricollis, and felt sure they were nesting, but it was not 

 until 1915 that proof was forthcoming and Mr. Williams was 

 able to announce a definite breeding record. On August 

 25th of that year he received a young bird of this species 

 which was undoubtedly reared in Ireland {British Birds, 

 Vol. IX., p. 125). 



Mr. Witherby, who exhibited this specimen at a meeting 



