( 228 ) 



ON THE MORE IMPORTANT ADDITIONS TO OUR 

 KNOWLEDGE OF BRITISH BIRDS SINCE 1899. 



BY 



H. F. WITHERBY and N. F. TICEHURST. 

 Pakt XV. 



(Continued from page 150.) 



LAPWING Vanellus vulgaris Bechst. S. page 555. 



The wings of the two sexes have been shown by Mr. F. W. 

 Frohawk to be different. Those of the male are rounder 

 and broader than those of the female, a characteristic which 

 may be distinguished in flight. The formulae of the primaries 

 are as follows : — 



<$ 1st = 7th. ? 1st = 4th. 



2nd and 4th, equal. 2nd and 3rd, equal and longest. 



3rd, longest. 



7th, 8th, and 9th, IJ in. longer than in ? . 



" In the male the primaries are long and broad, giving a 

 decidedly curved outline, wliile the secondaries, being con- 

 siderably shorter, add greatly to the rounded appearance of 

 the wing." Mr. Frohawk also points out that the bill of the 

 female is longer and her crest shorter than in the male (F. W. 

 Frohawk, Ibis, 1904, pp. 446-451, figs. 5-10). 



AVOCET Recurvirostra avocetta L. S. page 561. 



Cornwall. — One was shot in the Cober Valley, Helston, 

 on April 21st, 1900 — " the only specimen recorded from Corn- 

 wall during the past twenty-seven years " (J. Clark, Zool., 

 1907, p. 286). 



Norfolk and Kent. — They still visit these counties with 

 fair regularity every year in May or June. 



Essex. — An immature female was shot at Leigh-on-the- 

 Sea in November, 1908, and another was shot near the same 

 place in August, 1901 (F. Cooper, Field, 1908, p. 888.) 



North Wales. — One seen and identified by Capt. Bailey 

 on a marsh near Llanelltyd in 1901 (H. E. Forrest, Vert. 

 F. N. Wales, p. 338). 



BLACK-WINGED STILT Himantopus candidus Bonn. 

 S. page 563. 

 Cheshire. — An adult male was obtained on the Mersey 

 at Latchford, but the date is unknown (Coward and Oldham, 

 B. of Cheshire, p. 207). 



