The Zoologist — November, 1866. 497 



also received a specimen, «n Me y/esA, which was killed in Branspeth Woods, Durham, 

 also in 1852 (Bree, vol. ii. p. \hi).— Edward R. Alston; September 10, 1866. 



Destroyers of Birds' Egg^.—In an iiUeiesling note on this subject in the ' Zoolo- 

 gist' (S. S. .335), Mr. Jeffery has mentioned several depredators, but he has omitted 

 one which is a constant destroyer of nests — ihe cat. Last year a robin's nest, which 

 was built iu an old rusty tin can that I had placed for the convenience of any small 

 bird, was destroyed by a cat, and I believe the female bird caught. The eggs were 

 nearly hatched, and mijjhl have been broken unintentionally and then eaten ; the 

 lining of the nest was pulled out. I have often seen cats hunt along hedges, peering 

 upwards occasionally and sniffing. Mr. Jeffery accuses mice of being extensive 

 robbers of nests; 1 should think that cats and weasels are more blauieable. I and a 

 friend once saw a rook flying about a gentleman's park with a large white egg in its 

 bill; several other rooks were chasing it. The keepers hereabout catch magpies in 

 steel traps baited with eggs.— George Roberts; Lojthouse, Wakefield. 



Osprey and Golden Eagle in Aberdeenshire.— There was shot on the Links, and 

 brought to me by Mr. Smith, an immature specimen of this bird, on September lltb, 

 which weighed two pounds thirteen ounces. Extent five feet three inches. Length to 

 the toes twenty inches and three-quarters; to the tail twenty-three inches. Upper 

 mandible from the gape one inch and a half. Wing from the carpal joint nineteen 

 inches and a quarter. Third quill the longest of the win;,'. It may not be unworthy 

 of remark that portions of the down, although much faded and worn, adhered to the 

 larger wing-coverts. An immature specimen of the golden eagle, shot also in the 

 county of Aberdeen, in August last, and preserved by Mr. xMitchel, to whom I am 

 indebted for an opportunity of examining it, had the down strong and fresh, adhering 

 to the primaries, secondaries and tail-feathers. The comparative absence of the down 

 on the osprey is doubtless to be attributed to the different habits of the birds. The 

 stomach of the osprey contained nothing but fish, that of the golden eagle contained 

 the greater part of a hare: the legs from the knee-joints had been swallowed whole, 

 and some of the hones were remarkably large.— P^. Craike Angus. 



Ospreij in Sussex.— An osprey was shot in the salt-water creeks, near the Bishop- 

 stone Tide Mill.Newhaven, on the 13lh instant, and is now in the hands of Mr. Pratt, 

 naturalist, Brighton, for the purpose of preserving.— C/m»7es Lang, in the ' Field' of 



September 29, 1866. 



Hobby near Rochester.— As the persevering extirpation of all birds of prey has 

 made the hobby rather rare, the fact of three being seen together may be of interest : 

 they resort eve"ry year to a wood near Rochester, which is only used as a fox-cover, 

 where I observed them one day last August. Their cry is very shrill, unlike that of 

 other hawks, though sometimes they utter a note like the kestrel's. They are extremely 

 active and restless, continually chasing each other. There could be no doubt of the 

 species, from the note and the length of the wings. They have seldom been shot at ; 

 I have only heard of one being killed : probably they breed ihete.— Clifton ; Cobham 

 Hall, Kent; October 4, 1866. 



Stock Dove breeding in Kent.-As Mr. Power, in his account of the birds of 

 Rainham (S. S. 123), expresses some doubt as to the breeding of the stock dove iu 

 Kent, permit me to say that they are very common in the woods here, building both in 

 trees and rabbit-boles. — Id. 



Pied Flycatcher in Sussex.-Oa the 18lh of September I shot a female pied fly- 



SECOND SERIES— VOL. I. ^ ^ 



