9678 Birds. 



so stripped and went after it. At one side of the bay the rocks 

 shelved down and ran out for some way into the water: at a little 

 distance lay a long low island-rock, and through the gap between the 

 sea broke in with some little force. For this gap the gull at once 

 made, and I thought if I could only cat him off from the open sea 

 I might be able to turn him towards the shore and come up with him, 

 as he could not fly and made no attempt to dive. We both swam our 

 best, but he was quite "at home," whereas 1 was "at sea," and as he 

 had obtained a good start before I was ready to follow, he fairly 

 distanced me, and got through the gap into the open sea, where I soon 

 lost sight of him among the huge waves: these rolled through the gap 

 with such force that I preferred to return to the shore rather than run 

 the risk of being dashed upon a rock. Two nests which we obtained 

 of the great blackbacked gull are worth mentioning ; instead of the 

 usual colour, the eggs are a beautiful pale blue, in one or two cases 

 marked with faint gray spots, and in others wholly plain, looking more 

 like large eggs of a heron than those of a gull. 



J. Edmund Harting. 

 Kingsbury, Middlesex, June, 1865. 



Ornilhological Notes from Lanarkshire. 

 By Edward R. Alston, Esq. 



(Continued from page 9654.) 



June, 1865. 



Kestrel. — Although the usefulness of the keslrel is now generally 

 admitted by all observing naturalists, yet in many places this beautiful 

 bird is still held as an outlaw, to be trapped or shot on every possible 

 occasion. Tiie following experiment may therefore be worth noting : — 

 Five young kestrels were taken from the nest on the 8lh of June, and 

 placed in a cage at the foot of the tree. They were about a fortnight 

 or three weeks old, and the light gray down was rapidly giving place 

 to brown feathers, except on the crown of the head, so that they bore 

 a striking resemblance to little irate lawyers in gray wigs; tlie only 

 food found in the nest was the remains of a water vole. The old birds 

 fed them in the cage for two days, and brought them numbers of mice, 

 but no feathers or other remains of birds could be found among the 

 castings. Accordingly, on the third day, the prisoners were unani- 

 mously found "not guilty" of poaching, and were restored to the" care 



