Birds. 7647 



said positively to hiss like serpents at the entrance or exit of newspaper or letter. — 

 John T. Plummer ; May 30, 1861. 



Hoopoe in the Isle of Wight. — The hoopoe has been seen in several places in the 

 island this year ; four have been killed and three more seen : three out of the four are 

 in my possession ; they are very tine specimens. The ring ouzel has nested here 

 again, close to my dwelling ; Mr. F. Bond has the nest and three eggs.— H. Rogers ; 

 Freshwater, Isle of Wight. 



Hoopoe killed on Plumstead Common. — On the 14th of May T had a very fine 

 hoopoe brought me. It was shot on the morning of the 12th, on Plumstead Common, 

 Kent. Upon dissection it proved to be a female ; some of the eggs were as large as 

 No. 5 shot, and the stomach was full of the remains of beetles. The bird was very 

 fat, and in splendid plumage. — H. Whitely ; 28, Wellington Street, Woolwich. 



Kentish Plover killed in Dfvon. — On the 7lh of May a female specimen of the 

 Kentish Plover (Charadrius can a'anus) was killed on the Plymouth Breakwater, by 

 Mr. F. C. Kingston. On picking up the bird I immediately recognized the species 

 by its black bill and legs. So far as I am aware this is the first recorded Devonshire 

 specimen. Yarrell mentions one young bird being in the collection of Col. Montagu, 

 now in the British Museum, but does not state from whence it was obtained. — John 

 Gatcomhe ; Wyndham Place, Plymouth, May 14, 1861. 



Arrival of Summer Birds in the Neighbourhood of Plymouth. — March, 24th, 

 whealear ; 25th, chiffchaff. April 6th, sand martin ; 9th, willow wren ; 13th, swallow; 

 17th, blackcap and redstart; 20lh, martin and puffin ; 22nd, tree pipit ; 25th, yellow 

 wagtail and corncrake ; 26th, sedge warbler ; 27lh whitethroat and nightjar ; 28th, 

 whinchat; 29th, common sandpiper; 30th, wood wren. May 1st, grasshopper 

 warbler; 4th, swift and whimbrel; 7th, Kentish plover; 10th, greenshank; 12th, 

 spotted flycatcher. — Id. 



The Eared Grebe killed at Doncaster. — About the middle of May I had sent me a 

 splendid specimen of the eared grebe, shot at Misson, about nine miles from here, on 

 low marshy ground. — Hugh Reid ; 8, Spring Gardens, Doncaster, June 12, 1861. 



Brent Geese in April. — I saw some brent geese on the 22nd of this month on our 

 river. One which was shot from our boat was in beautiful plumage. It is unusual 

 for these geese to remain so far south thus late in the season. — Murray A. Mathews ; 

 Raleigh, near Barnstaple, April 24, 1861. 



Blade Swans at large. — A pair of black swans flew down here to-day. It would 

 be very interesting to know where they came from. If any of your readers have lost 

 them I should be glad to be informed of it. My men tried to catch them, but were 

 unsuccessful. I have thirteen black swans about my place, and I think that the pair 

 alluded to must have been flying over and were attracted by them. My old pair, 

 which I have now had about eight years, continue to breed about three times a year. 

 They have hatched more than a hundred young ones, and have reared about sixty, 

 Hardly any that they have lost died a natural death, but most of them have been 

 killed by the old ones dragging them about when they were not strong, and the cyg- 

 nets have got into holes from which they were unable to extricate themselves. No 

 weather seems to aflfect them, as they breed equally well in the most intense cold of 

 winter or the greatest heat of summer. Last winter it was necessary to break the ice 

 round the nest for them every morning, as they were completely frozen in : the nest 

 was a mass of ice and snow, and the young birds, which I now have, did not suffer in 

 any way from it. Can any of the readers of the ' Zoologist ' inform me of a similar 



