SucJders.— Birds. • 9465 



A Seal in the Taw near Barnstaple. — A juvenile example of the common seal 

 {Phoca vitulina) was shot in the River Taw, on the 24th of December, measuring 

 3 feet 8J inches in length, and weighings 73 fts. These animals are rarely seen in our 

 river, the last having been killed in 1851. The animal in question when skinned 

 proved to be a female, and was in excellent condition. — G. F. Mathews; Raleigh 

 House, near Barnstaple, December 31, 1864. 



Bats abroad in January.— ki about five o'clock yesterday afternoon — a warm 

 sunny day, the sky cloudless — I saw a bat of some small species flying about and over 

 the Edgeware Road, near the Victoria Rifle-ground at Kilburn. This goes to. dis- 

 prove what I have hitherto taken as an invariable rule, that bats pass the whole winter 

 in a slate of torpidity. — Charles B. Wharton ; Willesden, January 5, 1865. 



Romance of Natural History.— It is stated that about three weeks ago some 

 qnarrymen working at Wear Gifi'ord Quarry, the property of Earl Fortescue, while 

 breaking a large mass of stone, found witliin it an immense rat, of great length from 

 snout to tail, with whiskers six inches long. It is to be ofi'ered to the British Museum. 

 — Western Daily Press. [I should like to hear, first, whether the rat was alive, 

 like the toads, and, secondly, what Mr. Gosse thinks of the whole matter. — E. iV.] 



The Merlin near Hailsham, Sussex. — A very beautiful male merlin, with the blue 

 back, was shot at Hailsham about the 3rd of this month, and which I examined in 

 in the flesh. Tiie bird will be in my possession when it comes from the preservers. — 

 John Dutton ; 51, Terminus Road, Eastbourne, January 3, 1865. 



Whitetailed Eagle in Sussex. — Whilst travelling on the road between Brighton 

 and Henfield I saw a large brown mass, near the top of an oak tree, in a hedge-row 

 about three hundred yards off. I asked the coachman if it was a bird, and he pulled 

 up. Immediately an eagle rose up, and soared steadily away, and was lost sight of in 

 a wood at no great distance. It was again seen about a mile from the same spot in 

 the afternoon of the same day. The tail being very white proves it to have been an 

 adult bird. I do not think an adult bird has before been observed in Sussex. — 

 W. Bower ; Coivfold, Horsham, Sussex ; January 26, 1865. 



Kestrel v. Kestrel. — When I was out shooting last Saturday I heard, in some thick 

 bushes about forty yards in front of me, something screaming desperately. My 

 retriever heard it too, and ran in to see what was the matter. A large hen kestrel 

 flew away on his approach, which I shot, and on going up to the spot where I heard 

 the noise I discovered another hen kestrel hawk fluttering about on the ground, with 

 one of her eyes torn out and the feathers picked off" her head. I suppose the stronger 

 bird of the two was about to make a meal of her weaker sister, quite upsetting the 

 proverb that "Hawks don't pick out hawk's eyes." — /. A. Jones; I, Cowper's Court, 

 Cornhill, December 22, 1864. 



Spai-rotthawks. — While walking in the woods, last June, I noticed a nest in a 

 Scotch fir. Meeting one of the gamekeepers on my return home, I went wiih him 

 and showed him the nest. Having climbed the tree, he found five young birds, two 

 of which I asked him to bring down. On examining them, they were found to be 

 young hawks about a week old. We waited for some time, and at last shot the 

 female bird, which proved to be a sparrowliawk. We then left the tree. Next 

 morning the keeper came early to watch for the male, but after wailing some time he 

 VOL. XXIII. M 



