BRmsriDIPsDS 



EDITED BY H. R WITHERBV, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U. 

 ASSISTED BY W. P. PYCRAFT, A.L.S., AI.B.O.U. 



Contents of Number 9, Vol. II. February 1, 1009. 



Field Notes on the " Powder-Down " of the Heron, by 



J. M. Dewar '. Page 285 



Some Early British Ornithologists and their Works, by 



W. H. Mullens, m.a., ll.m., m.b.o.u. VII. — John 



Ray ( I 627—1 705) and Francis Willughby (1635—1672). 



(Plate VI.) 290 



Bird-Life in a Spring Snowstorm, by the Rev. A. Ellison, 



M.A., B.D., m.b.o.u. . . . - . . . . . . 301 



On the More Important Additions to our Knowledge of 



British Birds since 1899, by H. F. Witherby and N. F. 



Ticehurst. Part XVII. — {continued front page 270) . . 305 



Notes: — Wood-Pigeon Diphtheria (Eds.). Unusual Bu-ds 



in Hertfordshire (Hon. L. W. Rothschild, Ph.D., M.P.). 



Song-Thrush's Nest in December (H. W. Robinson). 



Eversmann's Warbler {PhyUoscopus horealis) at Fair 



Isle (H. F, W.). Little Owl in Hampshire (A. W. 



Marriage). Montagu's Harrier in Ireland (R. J. 



Ussher). Iceland Falcon in Scotland (Fred. Smalley). 



Food of the Red-Breasted Merganser (H. W. Robinson). 



Smew in Montgomeryshire (H. E. Forrest). Red 



Variety (P. montana) of the Common Partridge (C. 



Ingram). The Average Weight of Snipe (Rev. Maurice 



C. H. Bird). Pomatorhine Skua in Lancashire (Fred. 



Smalley). Two Norfolk Levantine Shearwaters (H. F. 



Witherby). Short Notes 309 



Review : — The Food of Some British Birds . . . . 315 



FIELD NOTES ON THE "POWDER-DOWN" OF 

 THE HERON. 



BY 



J. M. DEWAR. 



The Heron preens its plumage comparatively seldom, 

 and in this respect it differs from the majority of British 

 birds, which may be seen to do so at least once every day. 

 A summary is here given of observations which were made 

 in the autumn of 1907, after I had been on the look-out 

 during some half-a-dozen years for a Heron in the act of 

 attending to its plumage, 



September 20th — a calm, sunny day. Two Herons 

 perched on a log-fence, and a third near them on grass 



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