270 The Zoologist — June, 1866. 



Christchuich, Ipswich) could have taken up hundreds of these birds (swallows) in 

 iheir hands. They were collected in knots, and sat on the grass in parcels of thirty 

 and forty. This, there is reason to believe, was owing both to cold and hun<;rer. * * * 

 The same suujnier, hnuse martins were found dead on the ground in Norfolk, and 

 oihers were so weak that the cats sprang on and caught them as they flew near the 

 ground. A pair of these birds, which had completed a nest under the eaves of our 

 house, were foimd dead in it, before any eggs were laid. From the above circumstance, 

 birds of this kind were unusually scarce throughout the summer." — //. Sleve}ison; 

 Maij 14, 1866. 



Ortolan Bunting in Kent.— On the lOih of April I saw here (Cobham, Kent) 

 a bunting, which, in my opinion and in that of the Editor of the ' Field,' was 

 undoubtedly Emberiza bortuhina. It was sitting on an elder bush near a large pond, 

 and remained there for some minutes. I at once distinguished it by its green head. — 

 Clifton; Cobham Hall, Kent, Maxj 2, 1866. 



An ancient Raven. — I yesleiday saw the largest and most ancient raven I haye 

 yet beheld. For years past Breau Down has been frequented by a pair of ravens, 

 whose depredations every sprin^j upon the neighbouring lambs have been a great 

 grievance to the farmers upon the flat under the Down. Nobody could get within shot 

 of the birds; no one could get at their nest; no trap, however artfully baited, could 

 ensnare them. The other day a man observed one of the birds alight on a spot to 

 which he could creep without the birds either winding him or seeing him, and as he 

 had a gun in his hands, he at once attempted to get within shot, and succeeded in 

 slaying one of the terrors of the surrounding farms. He carried the bird about in 

 triumph from farm to farm, receiving gratuities and as much beer and cider as he 

 cared to drink from all the farmers, who were most delighted to see such a trophy, 

 and then took it into the birdstuflfer of this place to have it stuffed. Looking in upon 

 iny friend the birdstufl"er yesterday afternoon, I beheld this formidable thief and tyrant. 

 The stiiffer told me be measured six feet from wing to wing, but I can hardly credit 

 this measurement. The.bird gave me the appearance of an immense age. He was 

 nearly twice the size of any raven I had before seen. The long wiry hackles of his 

 neck were of a gray-black. His beak was indeed a tremendous weapon. One 

 powerful blow of it could have broken a man's fore-arm, and how easily must it have 

 split the skull of many an unhappy lamb or rabbit: it was indeed a veritable pick- 

 axe. And then you should have seen the fellow's stalwart legs, his powerful feet, and 

 the rich and glossy black of his back, wings and belly. 1 never saw such a realization 

 of a bird of evil. Very likely it was the same bird who, just ten years ago, presented 

 me involuntarily with a line specimen of the common buzzard's egg. One May day 

 I was walking on the "sidlings" of Brean Down, when, turning a corner of the cliff, 

 I came suddenly upon a raveu, perched some twenty or thirty yards above me, with 

 some white object in his beak. Startled by my appearance the bird made hastily off, 

 and left his booty behind him. I managed to climb to the spot and found there a 

 perfectly fresh c^g of the common buzzard, with just the hole in it made by the lip of 

 the raven's beak, as he had flown with it Inmi the not, and that how many miles 

 away? Perhaps this very raven may have been the bird now exhibited in the bird- 

 stuffer's shop. There have been a pair of ravens, and but one pair, on the Down from 

 time immemorial. Doubtless the survivor will procure another mate. — Murray A. 

 Mathew; Weston-iuper-Mare. [Communicated by Mr. J. E. Harting.] 



