9416 Birds. 



were very tame, and used to take fish in the reservoirs, and in the tv?o canals which 

 adjoin them, whilst persons were standing close by. I had earnestly hoped that they 

 might have been allowed to remain in peace, but I could not help being afraid that 

 their fearless and sociable habits would in the end prove fatal. My suspicions proved 

 but too true, for on September 30lli the female bird was shot by a country lad whilst 

 fishing in the canal at Wilstone. The lad, ignorant of the value of his prize, sold it 

 to a broker at Aylesbury for 4s. It thence passed into the hands of Mr. James, of 

 Halton, who sent it to the village birdstuffer; the latter unfortunately placed it on the 

 floor of his outhouse, where, during the night, a rat managed to get in and terribly 

 mutilated the head. Mr. James, as soon as he knew of the interest I took in the bird, 

 kindly presented me with the skin. It is now in the hands of a clever birdstuffer, and, 

 with the aid of a skin which has been kindly presented to me by a friend, I hope the 

 damage may be remedied. In other respects the specimen is a very fine one. It ap- 

 pears to be a last year's bird : the male was seen about a week after the female was 

 shot, but then disappeared. Mr. Gould tells me that about that time a male osprey 

 was killed on the Thames at Maidenhead. There can be little doubt that this was the 

 male of my bird. It is rather singular that rather more than ten years ago, in 1853, 

 a third specimen of the osprey was killed on the banks of the canal at Halton, a'small 

 village about three miles from hence. It was shot by a labouring man whilst in the 

 act of devouring a dead pigeon which had been thrown on the towing-path out of an 

 adjoining dove-cole. This specimen is now in the possession of Sir Anthony de 

 Bothschild, Bart. — On the 5lh of November a very fine male specimen of the great 

 gray shrike was brought to me in the flesh. It had been killed the previous day, by a 

 labouring man, in the parish of Weston-Turville, about four miles from hence. On 

 the 17th the skin of the female bird was brought to me. It had been shot in the ad- 

 joining parish of Windorn, about a week previously. — On June 4th, whilst walking 

 with my sisters on a rough grassy down in this parish, one of the latter found a cirl 

 bunting's nest, containing three eggs, in one of the juniper bushes with which our 

 downs are in some places thickly sprinkled. I saw the female bird leave the nest, and 

 have therefore no doubt on the matter. I have an idea that this bird is not uncom- 

 mon on the downs in this neighbourhood. I have several times noticed the male 

 bird in winter and spring, and have twice had specimens brought me which had been 

 killed with other birds in the farm-yards in winter. — H. Ilarpur Crewe ; T/ie Rectory, 

 Dray ton- Beuuchamp, Tring, November 28, 1864. 



Merlin near Beverley. — On August 5th, 1864, a beautiful specimen of this, the 

 smallest British falcon, was shot by William Holmes, farmer, of Arram, near Bever- 

 ley, in the immediate vicinity of that village. It was sent to me in the flesh, and on 

 dissection proved to be an immature female. I have never seen but two other speci- 

 mens of this falcon shot in this part of the East Riding. Both of them were females ; 

 one was an old bird, the other a bird of the year ; and both are in my own collection. 

 W. W. Boulton ; Beverley. 



Voracity of young Sparrowhawlcs. — I have in my possession a fine female sparrow- 

 hawk and six young ones, which Mr. Wilson, of Woodsome Hall, steward to the Earl 

 of Dartmouth, gave me. I will give his history of them : — " One evening last June I 

 was out rabbit-shooting, and on returning home through the wood ray attention was 

 drawn to a thrush (Tardus m«s2ci<.<) that was chattering, evidently annoyed at some- 

 thing. I had the curiosity to try and find out the cause. Going in the direction of 

 the noise, I saw a hawk fly out of a tree, and, looking round, I saw a nest in a low 



