9498 Birds. 



Stonechat and Whinchat. — I was surprised on reading Mr. Gunn's 

 note (Zool. 9455) to find that the former bird is rare in Norfolk during 

 the winter months, and that the latter is met with at that lime of 

 the year. The stonechat remains in Sussex the whole year, and is, 

 I think, as numerous in winter as in summer : I have seen several 

 during the late frosts, and they do not care much about the cold. The 

 whinchat, on the contrary, I have never seen in the winter ; they come 

 here in the spring, breed on our downs, and leave again in the autumn 

 with the rest of the summer visitants. 



Meadow pipits, gray wagtails and pied wagtails stay the whole 

 winter with us. The pied wagtail seems to feel the cold very much. 



I saw three birds on the 28th, which puzzled me ; the first rose 

 from a flock of sheep in a meadow. The note was one which I had 

 never heard before, a sort of " che, we, chee, awee," a clear whistle, 

 not unlike that of the green sandpiper, uttered frequently as the bird 

 was flying away. I afterwards found two others with a flock of larks. 

 They were about the size of larks, but the wings appeared to be 

 shorter, as they were flying. Is the note of the snow bunting anything 

 like this? 1 think they must have been either buntings or finches. 

 It was scarcely light enough to see their colour or markings. 



W. Jeffeky, Jun. 



Ralhain, Chichester, February 4, 1865. 



Erratum. — There is an error in the first line of page 9450 of the ' Zoologist ' : 

 for "sorabre" read "imber" — the name given by some of the earlier authors to the 

 young of the great northern diver. 



Ornithological Notes from the Isle of Wight. 

 By Captain Henry Hadfield. 



Though few water-fowl were observed on our coast during the 

 early part of the winter, which was unusually mild, the severe and 

 stormy weather which ushered in the new year brought us a good 

 sprinkling of wild fowl, some of rather rare occurrence. 



Great and Lesser Blackhacked Gulls. — Were seen on the 13th of 

 January, during a gale, flying about the Blading Marshes. 



Gannet. — Many seen off" the coast about the middle of the month. 

 [An unusual number of gannets have been observed in the Channel 

 during the last ten weeks. — E. N.'\ 



Curlew and Godwit. — Seen about the Brading Marshes. 



