The Zoologist— January, 1867. 561 



hand on the berries~of the mountain-ash, and took water: it was apparently tame, 

 excepting when no one was in sight, and then it made (when watched) strong efforts 

 to escape: the bird has been preserved by Mr. Allder, in whose possession it now is. 

 (Hungerford). From these records it appears that the visit of this beautiful bird has 

 been very general, although the numbers have not been so great as in the winter of 

 1849-50, when records of 586 being killed appeared in the ' Zoologist' (see ' Dictionary 

 of British Birds,' p. 29). I shall be truly obliged for further information.— Edward 

 Newman. 



Waxwings. — An enormous flight of waxwings has appeared on the coast of Norfolk. 

 More than ninety have been killed. My friend Mr. Stevenson has seen more than 

 sixty of them. — Id. 



Waxicings near Woohvich.—I have this day (December 3rd) received a letter from 

 my friend Mr. Wbitely, of Woolwich, who tells me that he has had brought to him, 

 during last week, no less than eight good specimens of the waxwing. This species is 

 now, I believe, a very rare and only occasional visitor to the British Isles: some of 

 these were shot in the Plumstead Marshes, near Woolwich, and two were procured in 

 the Maryon Road, at Charlton, which is about four miles from Plumstead. They 

 werejall, I believe, excellent specimens. I do not know on what days they were shot, 

 whether on fine ones or the contrary; but I presume that it was partly owing to the 

 weather that such a number (in comparison) should be taken about the same time. — 

 A. Clark-Kenned)/ ; Eton. 



Bee-eater at Stapleton, near Bristol.— Several bee-eaters appeared at Stapleton the 

 beginning of last May, and three of them were shot. One killed on the 2nd of May 

 came into the possession of Mr. Wheeler, birdstuffer, of St. Augustine's, Bristol, and 

 was preserved by him.— M. A. Mathew ; Weston-super-Mare, December 13, 1866. 



Swallow-stones (see Zool. S. S. 523).— Describing how Basil and Evangeline were 

 together in their childhood, Longfellow says: — 



" Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the rafters, 

 Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone which the swallow 

 Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its fledglings ; 

 Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow!" 

 — Evangeline, Part I. 



Creamcoloured Sand Martin.— I have had sent to me a most beautiful cream- 

 coloured sand martin, to case, for Mr. G. Wright, of the "Lee Tavern," Hackney 

 Wick, where it can now be seen : it was shot by him on Hackney Marshes last August. 

 —B. Hesse; Alfred House, Chisenhale Road, Victoria Park, November 19, 1866. 



Food of the Wood Pigeon.— While the subject is still under discussion, I may 

 mention that in the crops of specimens killed in the Vale of Ffestiniog, North Wales, 

 in 1865, 1 found the seeds of Ranunculus acris in large quantities. Turnip-leaves 

 seem to be preferred to those of the cabbage, probably because the former are usually 

 grown in less dangerous situations;* nevertheless in hard weather I have known a 

 flock of wood pigeons completely destroy whole beds of winter cabbage, picking out 

 the soft parts of the leaves, and allowing very Utile besides the bare ribs and stalks to 

 remain.— Henry L. Saxby ; Baltasound, Shetland, October 23, 1866. 



Gray Phalarope at S/ioreham.—Wh\\e shooting last month at Shoreham, I observed 

 swimming in a small pond, about a hundred yards from the sea, a gray phalarope: it 

 was feeding at the time, every now and then adroitly plunging its beak into the water 

 SECOND SERIES — VOL. II. F 



