The Zoologist — September, 1866. 389 



nearest in appearance to the representation and descriptions at Land of the Globi- 

 cephalus deductor (called by Cuvier Delphinus globiceps). The whole affair was 

 pronounced by an old pilot who was wiih nie to be the bottle-nosed porpoise 

 "gendering" {i.e. in ihe act of copulation — "engendering"), and he said he had before 

 seen ihe same sort of thing. To ine the sight was a novel one, and the plunge of ihe 

 big fish inlo the air so close to me was worth going many miles to see, albeit our 

 " ancient mariner'' comforted us with the assurance that the fish were roguish at such 

 times, and that if this one caught us a blow with his tail we should infallibly be stove. 

 — Thomas Cornish ; Penzance, July 23, 1866. 



Variety of the Blackbird. — I have just got a female blackbird with a number of 

 white feathers in it, but only one white wiug-feather. This bird has bred and moulted 

 twice near here: it is not so white as it was before moulting the first time, but the 

 proprietor of , the place not being to be trusted for leniency, I have had to bide my 

 time till I could quietly bag it for my collection. — William Liversedge ; 35, Stansfietd 

 Row, Barley, Leeds, July 31, 1666. 



Food of the Wood Pigeon. — Allow me to add two dishes to the wood pigeon's bill 

 of fare you give (S. S. 310), viz. dock-seeds and beech-mast. The first I have found 

 to be a frequent article of fond, some birds I have examined having their crops dis- 

 tended with it alone; and I believe you will not open many pigeons in the autumn 

 without finding some of the latter. My own idea is that wood pigeons do not consume 

 much grain, but that they punish the crops of peas and beans severely for a few weeks 

 in autumn. — James Shorlo,jun. ; High East Street, Dorchester, July 27, 1860. 



Alpine Swift and Buff breasted Sandpiper in Ireland. — When at Belfast, last May, 

 Mr. Sbeals, the birdstuffer, showed me a specimen of the alpine swift {Cypselus alpirius), 

 which had been picked up dead by a fisherman near Lough Neagh. He also pro- 

 duced a well-mounted example of the buff breasted sandpiper {Tringa rufescens), which 

 had been shot (with another too much shattered for preserving) in the People's Park, 

 near Belfast. I naturally wished to obtain these specimens, but it seems they are the 

 property of a Mr. Joyce, who prizes them highly. — Howard Saunders. 



S/one Curlew near Dorchester. — I had sent me yesterday a fine specimen of the 

 stone curlew {CEdicnemus crepitans), which was shot about four miles from here whilst 

 feeding with some wood pigeons. On dissection it turned out a young male bird. 

 These birds are now very rare in this neighbourhood, and neither the man who killed 

 it or the farmer on whose land it was shot could tell me what it was. The stomach 

 was stuffed full of the wing-cases of two or three kinds of beetles. — James Shorto,jun. 



Eggs of Baillon's Crake at Great Yarmouth. — On the 9lh of June a friend of mine 

 in this town was fortunate enough to obtain in the market four eggs of Baillon's crake, 

 and on Saturday last another of my friends was so lucky as to get five eggs of the 

 same species. Now as the above were obtained from nearly the same spot, it is 

 reasonable to infer that they were laid by one and the same bird. I have looked over 

 your excellent little work, ' Birdsnesting,' for a description of the nest, but I can find 

 no mention of either bird, nest or eggs. Now my object in writing to you is simply 

 to ascertain whether the nest is of any value or otherwise. — John Overend; Great 

 Yarmouth ; July 9, 1866. 



