264 The Zoologist — June, 1866. 



dozen fiequetiling a rye stubble not yet ploughed in. These, I 

 imagine, were a migratory fligiit resting on their passage, as I never 

 before met with so many together in the spring of the year, although 

 several pairs remain to breed during the summer, 



Spooitblll. — A fine old male, which had been seen about Breydon 

 for nearly a fortnight, was shot on the 2nd of May, and had a rich 

 band of buff across the breast, but the crest not much elongated. The 

 throat contained three or four three-spined sticklebacks, quite perfect, 

 and the stomach was filled with the remains of others, mixed with 

 sand and silt from its last feeding-ground. 



l^himhrel. — Were killed at Blakeney on the 1st of May, and is 

 known there as the. *' May bird." 



Barlailed Godwil. — A])peared on Breydon on the 7th. The 12th 

 of May is known amongst Yarmouth gunners as " godwit day," as 

 they are then commonly seen on the " muds," especially with a S.AV. 

 wind and drizzling rain. 



H. Stevenson. 



Norwich, May 8, 18fi6. 



Ornitlioloyical Notes from West Sussex. 

 By W. Jeffeuy, jnn., Esq. 



(Continued from S. S. 168). 



Makch, 1866. 



Gray Wagtuil. — March 14. Saw a gray wagtail, in which the 

 c^iange in plumage had just commenced, a few black feathers showing 

 on the throat about the base of the bill. This species usually leave 

 us about the end of the month. 



Common Bunting. — Have seen nothing of the common bunting 

 throughout the winter until the middle of March ; about this time a 

 few a))peared, and by the end of the month they were, true to their 

 name, common. They may now be seen almost all the day on the 

 topmost twig of a hedge, on a clod of earth, or some otlier eminence, 

 uttering their "tic-tic-tic-tic." &c., &c. This song, if it can be so 

 called, not being heard in winter, is perhaps a frequent cause of a bird 

 so inconspicuous in colour being overlooked. Their only note in 

 winter is a single " tit " or " tit-tit," uttered generally while the bird is 

 on the wing. Still .the only conclusion that one can arrive at is that 

 they emigrate from here as the winter comes on, either to some locality 



