Birds. 9723 



be an adult, nor did it take wing till I moved. It was subsequently 

 joined by the male, a darker and somewhat larger bird, though, from 

 Temminck's remark, "Longueur 7 pouces," without, as usual, saying 

 the male, it might be inferred that they are of the same size : he makes 

 the length of this species the same as that of the pied wagtail, but we are 

 told by another author that it is half qn inch shorter. On the 29th T 

 observed a pair in a meadow, following the cows and catching flies 

 from under their noses : when their beaks were well crammed they 

 flew over the cliff to feed their young. The female has but the crown 

 of the head and nape black, the breast being grayish black, and the 

 cheek and side-neck of a dull grayish white, as described by Tem- 

 minck. That it is the Motacilla alba I have little doubt, but will 

 endeavour to procure a specimen or two when they have done 

 breeding. 



Sky Lark. — June 23, Having watched a pair on the downs, I noticed 

 that while the female collected the building materials the male bird 

 kept guard, perched on the topmost twig of a furze, but invariably 

 rising on wing with a low hovering flight to rejoin his mate. The 

 yellowhammei', too, is rebuilding. 



Wood Pigeon. — June 2-3. As usual at this season I found a number 

 on the downs in pairs and small flocks, feeding on the whortleberries 

 growing among the heather and furze. 



Swift. — June 26. Between 4 and 5 p. M. I saw near Shanklin some 

 forty or fifty swifts hawking at a moderate height. The evening was 

 calm, dull and sultry ; thermometer 70^. I never remember seeing 

 them in such numbers in the island. 



July, 1865. 



Common Swan. — July 7. Though the plumage of a cygnet, on the 

 Bonchurch Pond, now appears to be of a pure white, when the wings 

 are raised a grayish brown tinge is observable on the back, and the 

 bill is still of a dusky colour, Init with a slight yellowish tinge and the 

 gaple line black. Early in the spring the whole plumage had more or 

 less of the gray and reddish brown colour, and there was but a slight 

 frontal knob, nor is it yet ftilly developed, though the bird (a male, I 

 believe) is now as large as its adult companion, and more powerful, 

 frequently remaining with head immersed for thirty or forty seconds, 

 whereas its mate does not keep under above half the time. Though 

 Temminck remarks that it is not until " la troisieme annee" that " tout 

 le plumage est d'un blanc pur," I am inclined to believe him mistaken, 

 and Yarrell right in saying that " the gray colour is borne for the 



