The Zoologist — ^July, 1866. 811 



Little Bittern at Scilly. — I was presented yesterday, by Mr. Smith, of Trescoe 

 Abbey, wilh a very beautiful adult male specimen of this little heron, in the highest pos- 

 sible perfection of plumage, and with the neck-rufif much fuller and bittern-like than 

 any specimen I had seen before or in any representation of the bird in books. Its length 

 is exactly 15? inches. I am very glad that I ascertained its weight, no reference 

 having been made to its weight by any ornithological author in my library. Its 

 weight was exactly three ounces, and there was no waste from loss of blood or mutila- 

 tion. The bird was, contrary to any of the Ardeidse that I have handled, full of flesh, 

 with some fat on the breast ; so that, when in low condition (probably its average state) 

 it would not exceed 2^ or 2^ ounces. It was observed on the banks of the large pool 

 near the Abbey on Trescoe Island, where there is an abundance of sedge and covert 

 adapted to the economy of the heron tribe. The sex was quite apparent on dissection; 

 the diminutive size of the body was quite remarkable, not exceeding that of a missel 

 thrush. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, June 14, 1866. 



Temminck's Stint at Rainham. — On the 22nd of May last my brother, G. E. Power, 

 found a Temminck's stint frequenting the marshes in the neighbourhood : after some 

 trouble he succeeded in shooting itj an adult female in plumage intermediate between 

 that of summer and winter. Again on the 25lh of the same month he succeeded in 

 obtaining another, also a female : this latter had nearly attained its summer plumage. 

 We have now obtained five of these comparatively rare stints during the last ten 

 months; all within a radius of about a quarter of a mile. They are, however, the only 

 birds of the genus that have been heard of in the neighbourhood. — W. H. Power ; 

 City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, Victoria Park, N.E., June 5, 

 1866. 



Late Stay of the Snipe. — On the 22nd of May my brother flushed and killed a full 

 snipe, on the marshes near Eainham. It proved a female in good condition and for- 

 ward in egg, some being about the size of peas. I am sure that snipe breed in Sussex 

 and Hampshire, but have never heard of their remaining to breed in this locality. It 

 is possible, however, and not improbable, that some breed near at hand, since I have 

 found them during every month in the year except June; the latest stay in the spring 

 being the date above mentioned, and the earliest return in the autumn, the 20th of 

 July.— Id. 



Nest within Nest. — An over-year's nest of the blackbird was obtained in this 

 neighbourhood during the present season, in the interior of which a pair of industrious 

 titmice had constructed a nest for themselves and laid several eggs. — T. E. Gunn ; 

 Norwich. 



Mullers Topknot and Streaked Gurnard at Penzance. — I have had brought to me 

 to-day Muller's topknot, and I have taken this morning two specimens of the 

 streaked (also called the "French" and "rock") gurnard, all from Mount's Bay. 

 These fish are so far from exceptional here (I have myself taken forty-eight specimens 

 of the former and twenty-nine of the latter since 1858) that I should not have noted 

 them to you, but that both are classed among the rarer British fishes. — Thomas 

 Cornish; Penzance, May 31, 1866. 



Sturgeons off the Coast of Norfolk and Suffolk. — Two splendid examples of the 

 sturgeon have been captured oflF the coast of these two counties, one on the 10th and 



