9564 Birc/s. 



he has it slill ; it is a vei-y beautiful specimen. He tells me he had once for preserva- 

 tion a hoopoe, the only one seen near here, which was shot at Ainsworth Shaw on the 

 14th of April, 1851. Mr.Goll is a very inlelligenl n);in, and well acquainted with the 

 Orniihulony of this district. — Richard Tyrer ; Kelyldey, March 22, 18(55. 



malformation of a Snipn's Bea /c.—hixsl February, along with five brace of ordinary 

 billed snipes, I shot one with the beak .■'o curiously formed tliat 1 made a note of it for 

 the pages of the 'Zoologist.' A sni|/t', making a very peculiar cry, rose sonic seventy 

 or eigbly yards from me, and piichcd again about a quarter of a mile distant. On 

 reaching the place, my red setter " Dan " brought up witb a dead set. The bird rose, 

 emitting the peculiar cry " ku ku," and fell to my first barrel. Never hearing a snipe 

 utter this note, I was confident of a rara avis, biit on picking up my bird all thought 

 of Sabine's and the brown snipe vanished: my bird was only a common Sc(dopax 

 gallinago, a pule variety, and a bird of last year, but with a most peculiar beak; in 

 fact, a perfect " recurvirostra," similar to no bird I know but the avucet. This peculiar 

 formation of bill accounted for the strange cry. So perfect is the turn of the beak in 

 both mandibles, that if the bird had been shot in any foreign country, it would be con- 

 sidered most probably a distinct species. — H. Blake- Knox ; Dalkiy, Co. Dublin, 

 March 18, 1866. 



Si'lilaty Snipe near Thetford. — It may interest the readers of the 'Zixdogist' to 

 bear thai on the 13ili of March I saw, on tiie Litile Oase, near Thelford, a solitary 

 snipe (Scolopax major) : it rose within ten yards of me from a marshy place. I noticed 

 particularly its steadier flight, the while on the tail, which it carried in a curious 

 manner, the greater distinctness of its markings, and its greater size, as compared with 

 the common snipe. — M. R. Pryor ; Croxton, Thetford, March 14, 1865. 



Abundance of Jack Snipe duriny the past Winter. — I can also bear witness to what 

 I have seen recorded by several observers respecting the abundance of j.ick snipes 

 during the past season. .As is always the ease when the smaller species is plentiful, 

 the common snipe has been unusually scarce even in the Somersetshire peat-moors, 

 one of its most favourite haunts in the kingdom. At Cliristmas time a full snipe wa.s 

 not to be bought anywhere in tiie fens. All through the winter in this neiglii)ourhood 

 jack snipes have been in the proportion of at least four to one common snipe. Last 

 October the feus were so dry that there was no feeding for snipes. Consequently tiie 

 birds in their autumn migration went elsewhere, finding themselves disa)>pointed in 

 what in ordinary seasons has always been a ricli feeding-;;round. The heavy snow- 

 falls at the beginning of the year brought the fens to their customary state of midsture, 

 and thus, (.n their way nortiiwards to breed, many snipe were led to visit them, and 

 at the end of last month and the beginning of this better sport has been had among 

 the long-beaks than at any other time during the season. — Murray A. Malhew; 

 Weslon-sup(-r-Mare, April 11, 1865. 



Spoonbill near Helston. — .\\\ unusually adult spoonbill was killed, on Tuesday last, 

 on the banks of the Loe Pool, a hike barred off fioin the sea by a mound of shingle, 

 about two miles from Helston. The occipital crest is about three inches long, and 

 probably would have been far better developed in another fortnight. — Edward Hearle 

 Rodd; Penzance, March 24, 1865. 



Ruff's and Rievts in Cornwall. — 1 observed at Mr, Vingoe's laboratory two ruffs, 

 one with the head and neck white, and apparently preparing to turn out the ruffed 

 fealheis. I am not acquainted with this bird in iis nuptial dress; those that have 

 appeared here have been almost entirely in the winter; the specimen now under notice 



