The Zoologist — April, 1867. 703 



day, when Mr. Rogers, wishing to save at least one young bird, took away tbe fifth, 

 hoping to rear it by hand, but it lived only a day or so. The old birds are now alive, 

 apparently very happy and in good health. Whilst writing on rearing young birds by 

 hand, I may mention a remarkable instance which occurred at Plymouth a year or two 

 ago. A friend of mine found a gull's nest on some cliffs in the neighbourhood, and, 

 seeing the bill of a young one just appearing through a hole in an egg, he broke it, 

 released the young bird, wrapped it up carefully, brought it home, fed and kept it until 

 it became full grown, when he sent it away as a present to a friend. — John Gatcombe ; 

 Plymouth. — From the ' Field ' newspaper. 



Goshaiuk in Ireland. — Since my last communication on this subject (S. S. 632) I 

 have found the following passage in a scarce work on hawking entitled ' A Treatise of 

 Modern Faulconry,' by James Campbell, which was published in Dublin in 1780: — 

 " The goshawk is found in the north of both Scotland and Ireland, where she builds 

 her nest in a tree" (p. 214). — /. Edmund Harting ; Kingsbury, Middlesex, February, 

 1867. 



The Lesser Gray Shrike (Lanius minor) a British Bird. — On referring to the 

 'Zoologist' for the year 1851, you may observe a notice of the occurrence of a female 

 specimen of L. excubitor having been sent from St. Mary's, one of tbe Scilly Isles, in 

 the first week of November: this specimen, which stands in my case of shrikes with 

 another and larger gray shrike, which is the L. excubitor, an adult male bird, is so 

 much smaller that I had for a long time regarded it as the adult female of L. excubitor ; 

 subsequent observations, however, of this small Scilly bird caused some doubts in my 

 mind as to its identity with the great gray shrike, and my friend the Rev. John Jen- 

 kinson, iu a late visit, entered upon the subject, which led to an able and valuable 

 description of my two birds and one of his own, and I can only refer your readers at 

 preseut to the notice which appeared in the ' Zoologist' (S. S. 605) since. On meeting 

 Mr. Gould in the county some time since, I mentioned to him my conviction that my 

 small bird specifically differed from the great shrike, from the shorter and more conical 

 shape of the bill, its much shorter tail, and the distribution of white in the feathers of 

 the tail being different from the larger bird : the blotch of black behind the eye was 

 much broader and not approaching to the character of a streak, and the upper plumage 

 was entirely plain dull gray, without a vestige of white on the scapularies. Mr. Gould 

 asked me to send the two birds for his inspection, which I did, and he writes me word 

 that my small bird is Lanius minor, the first instance of its occurrence in the British 

 isles, so far as he knew. It will be right to state that this specimen has not the Hack band 

 in front on the forehead, as represented in the 'Birds of Europe' and Dr. Bree's work 

 on European birds; but as Temminck says that the young birds are without this band 

 my specimen may be a young bird with plumage much worn. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; 

 Penzance, March 5, 1867. 



Eggs of Ring Ouzel and Blackbird. — You seem to think (' Birdsnesting,' p. 11) 

 that the eggs of ring ouzels and blackbirds are so nearly alike as scarcely to be dis- 

 tinguished: my own opinion is that there is a specific difference between them; but as 

 there will be several pairs breeding with us this year, I will collect their eggs myself 

 and leave you to judge whether there is not a marked difference between the two 

 species. — H. W. Feilden. 



Black Redstart at Dawlish. — I saw this morning, in a shrubbery at Dawiish, a 

 female specimen of the black redstart. The shrub on which the bird was perched was 



