58 BRITISH BIRDS. 



from the country Ravens, which are black as jet, according 

 to the old saying, As black as a Raven. I have seen some of 

 these Ravens sit upon a lamb, that has been dropped weak, 

 not being able to run, when they have got to his head and 

 picked out the creature's eyes while yet alive. Another 

 remark I shall make, which is to point out the difference 

 between the manner of birds of the hawk-kind carrying their 

 prey, and those of the carrion kind. Now, it is observable 

 that Buzzards, Kites, Hawks and Owls constantly carry their 

 prey in their claws, whereas Ravens, Carrion-Crows and 

 Magpies carry their food in their beaks." 



H. W. Feilden. 



LITTLE BITTERN IN ORKNEY. 



On May 14th, 1909, a servant of Mr. Scarth, of Binscarth, 

 Orkney, when passing the opening into the sea of the Stennis 

 Loch in Orkney, caught alive an adult male Little Bittern 

 (Ardetta minuta). Mr. Scarth tried to keep the bird alive, but 

 it only lived a few hours. It was sent to Messrs. Small and 

 Son, of Edinburgh, to be stuffed. 



There seems to have been only one other specimen recorded 

 in Orkney and that was from Sanday (at Lopness), in 1806. 



W. Cowan. 



SHOVELER NESTING IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 

 I am pleased to be able again to report the nesting of a pair 

 of Shovelers (Spatula clypeata) in Staffordshire, on a piece 

 of water about a mile from the nest I reported last year 

 (c/. Vol. II., p. 95). Eleven eggs were safely hatched out on 

 May 16th. It is very probable that there are one or two 

 other nests in the neighbourhood, as at least two other drakes 

 are to be seen. w Wells Bladen. 



TURTLE-DOVE IN SCOTLAND. 

 A male example of the Turtle-Dove (Turtur communis), a 

 rare bird in Scotland, was procured at Kels"o, Roxburghshire, 

 on May 15th, 1909. w A Nicholson. 



LATE NESTING OF WOODCOCK. 

 I flushed a Woodcock off her nest on June 8th and found 

 there were four eggs, one of which I took and extracted the 

 young bird — this was in Ross-shire. The nesting of the Wood- 

 cock at so late a date is remarkable, and I think it may be 

 worthy of record. Richard H. W. Leach. 



