1016 The Zoologist — December, 1867. 



is now as perfect as ever." My informant unfortunately did not notice the exact dates 

 of the fracture and its reparation, but I have quoted his words in reference to the 

 occurrence, which may be fully relied on. — J. H. Gurney. 



Magpie with Yellow Beak. — With reference to the occurrence, in Scotland, of a 

 magpie with a yellow beak, recorded in a former number of the ' Zoologist,' it may be 

 interesting to your readers to be made acquainted with the following: — One day last 

 July while walking with a friend iu the neighbourhood of Buckfaslleigh, we saw in a 

 hedge-row before us a magpie busily employed searching for food. On approaching 

 the bird it did not exhibit those symptons of alarm which are generally common to the 

 species, but on the contrary continued grubbing about in a very unconcerned manner. 

 This appearing unusual (as it is a notorious fact that the magpie is one of our most 

 wary birds) I paid more attention to it than I should otherwise have done. We still 

 continued to advance, and it was not until we were about twenty yards from the bird 

 that it imagined it time to be off. It then walked deliberately into the middle of the 

 road before taking wing. While here it was in the full glare of the sun, and I then 

 observed, to my astonishment, that it possessed a bill of a bright lemon colour at the 

 base, but of a darker hue towards the top. I uttered an exclamation of surprise, and 

 called my companion's attention to it, and he agreed with me that he had never seen 

 or heard of a magpie with a beak so coloured. Now comes the question, how 

 are we to account for this colouring ? Not to its egg-loving propensities as suggested 

 by Mr. Beckwith, as this bird's beak was of a much lighter tint than it would have 

 been had it been stained with the yelk of an egg ; besides, I was close enough to observe 

 that the beak was perfectly smooth and had a very apparent gloss, which it would not 

 have had bad the bird been feeding on egg, as in that case it would have been of a 

 dull "-amboge colour and destitute of gloss. I do not imagine for a moment that this 

 bird was any other than our common species, as in every other particular it was 

 identical with P. caudata. The only conclusion I can arrive at to account for this 

 abnormal appearance is that the bird was affected with some disease of the organs 

 which secrete the horny matter of the beak, and in this, as in other cases, may be 

 attributable to the extreme old age of the bird. — G.F. Mathew. 



Lesser Spotted Woodpecker near Windsor. — On the 22nd of October an adult male 

 of this species was shot in Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire. The red upon the crown of 

 the head was very bright : I saw it in the possession of Mr. Ferryman, of Dalchet, who 

 was preserving it for the person who shot it. — A. Clark- Kennedy. 



The Gray P/ialarope in Norfolk. — On the 9lh of October an adult female speci- 

 men, in the autumnal change of plumage, was shot at Beeston, near Cromer, and 

 passed into my hands for preservation : its stomach contained the fragments of some 

 minute shells and the remains of some small shrimps, including two quite entire. 

 Two other specimens were also obtained about the same time, one at Lynn, and the 

 other at Elmhain. — T. E. Gunn; 21, Regent Street, Norwich. 



Peacock with White Wings. — I saw a peacock to-day that had six or seven of the 

 primary quill-feathers and about the same number of the secondaries of each wing of 

 a pure while. Is this variation at all an unusual occurrence in this species? — Id. 



Early appearance of Jack Snipe. — While shooting on the marshes near Raiuham, 

 Kent, on the morning of i..e 23rd of September last, I was surprised at finding a 

 couple of jack snipe. This is, I think, unusually early, as I have not before noticed 

 them till the second week in October. They were apparently both adult birds, with 



