The Zoologist — January, 1867. 559 



that the birds were all caught on the sand-hills in the neighbourhood of Southport, 

 which I do not doubt, as the man appeared to me not to know that any bird was in 

 the cage except laiks; it was some time before I could make him understand which 

 bird I wanted out of the lot, and it was only when he got ihe bird in his hand that he 

 saw it was not a sky lark, and then gave it the name of " moor lark" (a name I never 

 heard before, and none of the other birdcatchers who frequent the market could tell me 

 what a " moor lark" was) : I suspect he never saw a bird like it before. Two or three 

 naturalists have seen it, and are quite satisfied that it is a Lapland bunting, though it 

 is not in the plumage of that bird as figured by either Audubon or Gould. It 

 measures as follows: — Length from tip of the beak to the end of the tail, 6£ inches; 

 from the carpal joint to the end of the longest quill-feather, 3j inches, and tarsi over 

 Jths of an inch. Legs, toes and claws pitch-black ; the hind claw almost straight and 

 longer than the toe. It runs like a lark, but occasionally hops, seldom perches, but 

 does not roost on the ground. It made itself perfectly at home in my aviary from the 

 first, and eats any kind of seed along with the other birds, and seems particularly fond 

 of oats. It differs from the figure of the adult male in not having the black on the 

 hind throat and breast well defined, but is already much darker than when I obtained 

 it. The scapulars are broadly edged with yellowish brown, as in the snipe; and the 

 chestnut colour at the back of the neck does not show much, but on separating the 

 feathers they are chestnut-coloured below the tips, and if the bird lives will no doubt 

 before long assume the beautiful appearance of the adult male. — Nicholas Cooke; 

 Spring Vine, Liscard, November 18, 1866. 



Snow Bunting at Sea. — On the 22nd of October, while some two or three hundred 

 miles to the south-westward of the Scilly Islands, a male snow bunting, in fine 

 plumage, flew on board, and was captured by myself. It was apparently much 

 exhausted, and although tempted with every description of food it refused to eat, and 

 died the next day. This is rather far south to meet with this species at such a time 

 of the year, especially as we hear of no severe weather in the north to speak of. — 

 G. F. Mathew ; Barnstaple, November 3, 1866. 



Snow Bunting at Hunstanton. — On the 14th of September I shot a good specimen 

 of the snow bunting, at Hunstanton, in Norfolk. It was hopping about on the sand, 

 at about fifteen yards from the sea : it allowed me to get within twelve yards of it. 

 I made several inquiries, and found that none had been seen at Hunstanton during 

 the summer. It is now being preserved by Mr. Whitely, of Woolwich. I observed, 

 as late as the 20th of September, a pair of swifts flying along the cliff, in company 

 with several jackdaws. — A. C. Kennedy; Eton, November 8, 1866. 



Nesting of the Nuthatch.— In the ' Zoologist' for November, 1866 (Zool. S. S. 487), 

 it is stated that the nuthatch's nest is always placed in a hole of a tree, and also 

 that it was a difficult nest to find. I do not contradict the last statement, but on the 

 2nd of May, 1866, while in search of nests, I happened to euter a sand-pit. My 

 attention was-drawn to a deserted sand martin's hole, neatly plastered up with a very 

 dark substance, like mud, with the exception of a very small hole in the centre. Upon 

 going up and examining it, I found it was a nuthatch's nest : upou extracting the mud, 

 which came out perfectly whole, I put my hand into the hole, which was about two 

 and a half feet in length, and at the further end I perceived a nest, cleverly covered 

 up with the thin bark off Scotch firs, containing three eggs, two of which I took and 

 left one remaining, and replaced the mud as well as I could. The next day I came, 



