The Zoologist — February, 1866. 95 



Station, in Suffolk, about a month since. I remember finding exam])les of the black- 

 bird and redwin;; by the roadside, in ibe neighbourhood of Wymondhara, two years a;;o. 

 All the individuals above named were killed in precisely the same manner, viz., 

 across the throat, in one or two instances the windpipe being nearly severed ; I had a 

 very fine exam|)le of the woodcock forwarded to me during 1863 by a friend from 

 Roys ton, in Hertfordshire: this bird had received a large gash across its breast: it 

 must have struck the wires wiih great force, as I found they had cut half through the 

 poor victim's body. — T. E. Gunn ; West PoUergale, Norivich. 



Birds at Sea. — On the 5ih of October, 1865, during the voyage of the steam-ship 

 "Nova Scotia" from Liverpool to Quebec, Canada, when in hit. 26° 28' N., long. 

 23° 24' W., over 600 miles from the coast of Ireland, and 700 from Liverpool, the 

 following birds were captured on the deck and rigging of the steamer: — golden plover 

 {Charudrius virginianus), two specimens ; virgiuian rail {Ralltis viryinianus), one spe- 

 cimen. The former is common to boih continents, and the latter to the Eastern and 

 Middle States of America. The birds were brought to Quebec by Mr. W. F. Bowes, 

 the officer in charge of the mails. Nine other species came on board the steamer, a 

 few of which Mr. Bowes informed me belonged to the Falconidce. It is to be regretted 

 these were not brought to this city for identification. The capture of American birds 

 so close to Europe is very interesting to naturalists who study the geographieal range 

 of species belonging to both coutiiieuls. — William Cooper; Quebec, Canada, October 24^ 

 1865. 



Ornithological Scraps from Wexford. — Ou the New Bridge at Wexford I had the 

 pleasure of seeing two white wagtails catching flies among the timber close to the 

 water's edge: they would frequently perch on the top rail, quite close to me, with their 

 mouths full of flies, evidently showing that they had young in the neighbourhood : 

 late in the day I saw another pair several miles from where I saw the first. Saw a 

 cirl bunting, a male: very rare in Ireland. I noticed a habit of the heron quite new 

 to me : some were lying in the water, the head and neck only emerging : there was 

 about a foot of water on the ooze. Saw three wild swans together far out towards the 

 harbour; species unknown. There was a very fair sprinkling of hlackheaded gulls on 

 the ooze ; a few curlews, whose whistle called back old recollections of wintry nights 

 spent wild-fowl shooting, and made me wish for foggy November again ; but, alas ! it 

 is only June, and the sun as hot as in the tropics, and not even enough ice iu the 

 little town to cool one's beer. Hooded crows very abundant. A few common gulls 

 {Larus canus) and herring gulls (Z. argentalus), young bird?, were fishing in the river. 

 A few stray cormorants passed overhead. In a lovely little dell upon the coast, I came 

 upon a great blackbacked gull and a magpie, feeding side by side on a dreadfully 

 putrescent horse. To do the hooded crows justice, not one was near it, but perhaps 

 they were gorged. — Harry Blake- Knox ; Ulverlon Place, Dalkey, June, 1865. 



Ornithological Notes from Beverley. — I beg to send you two or three more rare 

 captures, which, added to my last communication (Zool. S.S. 27), will make up a 

 complete list for the year 1865. — 



Merlin. On the 6lh of November Mr. Fidgate, gamekeeper, of Eske, near Beverley, 

 shot a female merlin, which I got, in the flesh, for my own collection. Mr. Falgate 

 thought it was a sparrowhawk, and he tells me that he shot another exactly similar 

 about the same time, which he threw away. The merlin is a rare hawk in this neigh- 

 bourhood. I have four specimens, which are the only examples I had previously seen. 



