346 The Zoologist — August, I8GG. 



Honey Buzzard in Suffolk. — A fine female specimen of the honey buzzard 

 (Falco apivorus) was shot on the V8ih of June, at Mulfoid, near Lowestoft. Its 

 plumage was good and very preliily mottled on the breast. The ovary contained a 

 cluster of eggs in a forward state of development, varying in size up to as large 

 as the thrush's. Its stomach was filled with the remains of the spoiled flycatcher's and 

 thrush's eggs, which I was enaliled to identify by discovering fragmeuls of the egj;- 

 sbells intermixed wiih the contents. — T. E. Gunn ; 3 West PoUergate, Norwich. 



Tatvny Owl's Nest on the Ground. — The following are the particulars resjieeting a 

 tawny owl's (^ir/o? aZuco) nest found on the ground, in North Wales, June 1, 1866: — 

 The nest was close to the edge of a small wood of pines and beeches at Hafod-y-llyn, 

 Merionethshire, within a stone's throw of the Festiniog Railway on one side, and a public 

 road on the other. It was merely a hollow scraped in the dead beech-leaves on the 

 ground, and sheltered on one side by the steepness of the hill, and on two others by 

 pan of an old moss-covered stump, some two feet high. The old bird did not fly ofl" till 

 I was close upon it, and then, by no means scared by the sunlight, made its way at 

 once to a safe distance. The uest contained three eggs, of a pure and glossy white, 

 and of the following measurements: — 



i. Length 1 inch 11 lines, breadth I inch G\ lines. 



iii. „ 1 „ 10 „ „ 1 „ 5i „ 



There were no very old or hollow trees in the neighbourhood, which may perhaps 

 account for the nest being on the ground. — Charles B. Wharton ; Willesden, 

 Middlesex, June '23, 1866. 



Occurrence of the Bee-eater in Wiltshire. — A very fine male specimen of the bee- 

 eater was shot, in the afternoon of the 4th of May, in the parish of Bishopslowe, in 

 this county. The bird was observed in an orchard amusing himself the whole day in 

 hawking for insects, and he is reported to have been in the habit of returning to a 

 certain tree, which he bad selected as his station, and of knocking his bill smartly 

 against the branch, previously to swallowing the insict he had captured. A mason 

 named Turner, in the employment of Mr. Tem])le, of Bishnpstowe, watched the bird 

 from the top of a cottage where he was repairing the tiles, and being attracted by the 

 beauty of the plumage, sent for a gun, and shot it from the spot where he was winking. 

 I am informed that the bird was quite alone. — Alfred Charles Smith; Yatesbury 

 Rectory, Calne, June 4, 1866. 



Food of the Wood Pigeon. — In reply to your request (S. S. 310), I beg to say that 

 I believe the whortleberry to be the chief food of the wood pigeon at this season (see 

 Zool. 9723), and clover. Besides, ivy-berries and beech-mast have to be added to the 

 winter " bill of fare." I have the authority of an experienced poulterer, through 

 whose hands many dozens pass during the year, in corroboration of my own observa- 

 tions: he says that much charlock-seed is found in their crops, which alone is more 

 than enough to compensate the farmer for the grain consumed. — Henry Hadfield ; 

 Ventnor, Isle of Wight, June 6, 1866. 



The Common Crane in India. — The common crane of Europe visits ludia in 

 numerous flocks during the cold weather. In the Deccan and Central India it is 

 generally seen in small flocks of four, six or eight, to twenty, now and then in much 

 larger numbers, especially in the Punjaub and the Norlh-Westeru Provinces. It 



