Birds. 7817 



Occurrence of the Spotted Eagle near St. C'olumb, Cornwall. — Another specimen 

 of this rare eagle has made iis appearance in Cornwall during the past week. It was 

 shot in the parish of St. Mavvgan, near St. Coliinib, and it was reported in the local 

 papers as being the golden eagle. The bird was sent to Mr. Vingoe for preservation, 

 and in this way it has cume under my immediate observation. I have examined it 

 minutely this morning, and it is quite as good a specimen, and pretty nearly in the 

 same state of plumage, as the one shot at Trebartlia in December last. Both are in 

 the state of plumaye denoting them to be birds of the year, with the yellow spots and 

 blotches on the quill and scapularies extending over a considerable portion of the 

 feathers. In the specimen now under notice the yellow over the back and scapularies 

 is even more predominant than in my bird, and there is also a greater amount of yel- 

 low mixed with brown, on the belly and under parts, approaching to almost a pure 

 bufif-yellow on the under tail-coverts and the thighs; the ciliated feathers on the neck 

 have the extremities rather paler than in my bird. The bird was gorged with horse- 

 flesh, and in very low condition. Length 2 feet 3| inches. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; 

 Femance, November 6, 1861. 



Occurrence of the Rosecoloured Piistor near York. — A beautiful specimen of this 

 rare bird has been shot, and another seen, in this neighbourhood. The cock bird was 

 shot, and he was in full feather. — J. Ranson ; York. 



Tomtit's Nest in a Stone Bottle. — A large stone bottle, having been left in out 

 garden to sweeten, was taken possession of by a tomtit, who built a nest in it. Although 

 the bottle was wanted, it was given up, and in due time the young ones were intro- 

 duced into the world through a bottle neck. The tomtit is called in Yorkshire " billy 

 biter."— /rf. 



Extraordinary Gathering of Magpies. — Never having heard that magpies either 

 congregate or fly in flocks, I was greatly surprised, on returning from a drive yester- 

 day, about 5 o'clock p.m., to see a number of these birds fly out of some old trees close 

 to this village, and join in the air at a little distance from the trees (at about the 

 same elevation as their highest branches from the ground), and sufficiently close to 

 enable me not only to distinguish the black and white feathers of their plumage, but 

 also the peculiar fan-like expansion of their tails when flying. I counted twenty, and 

 believed there were a greater number in the flock, which flew very close together : my 

 servant says he counted twenty-one. Is this a common occurrence ? — F. Battershy ; 

 Balnalack, Rathowen, West Meath, October 30, 1861, 



The Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus). — The tree sparrow is very common in this 

 neighbourhood (ten miles west of York). They are less than the house sparrow, and 

 are here called redheaded sparrows, from the colour of the feathers on the head, which 

 are more or less of a reddish brown. The cock of the house sparrow may be readily 

 distinguished from the female by the darker colour of the feathers on the head, and 

 the patch of black feathers which extend from the base of the bill a considerable way 

 down the breast, and which are entirely wanting in the female. In the tree sparrow 

 these black feathers are found extended from the base of the bill down the breast in 

 both sexes. The nest is generally placed in a hole in a tree (old pollards are preferred), 

 and sometimes (but rarely) in a hedge, in which case the nest is domed, with a hole in 

 the side for admission.' The interior of the nest is a mass of poultry-feathers. The 

 eggs are smaller, rounder, and of a darker colour than the eggs of the house sparrow. 

 Last year above a hundred eggs passed through my hands, and I found less variety in 

 them than in those of the eave sparrow, whose eggs vary in shape and colour more 

 VOL. XIX. 3 X 



