Birds. 8877 
Ring Ouzel in Yorkshire—The ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is, I believe, very 
plentiful in some localities: here, however, it is only an occasional visitant ; indeed, I 
have only seen four specimens during the last four years, actually shot in the neigh- 
bourhood. On the 10th of October a nice female specimen was shot on Swinemoor, 
one of the common pastures belonging to the town of Beverley, and in its immediate 
vicinity: the bird was killed by Mr. W. Boyes, of this place, and given to me by him- 
self. On the 12th of October another female specimen of the ring ouzel was sent to 
me from Malton, near which town it had been shot: it came to me in the flesh, and had 
been recently killed. The man who shot it did not know what it was, and supposed it 
to be a variety of the common blackbird (7urdus meruda): I presume, therefore, that it 
is not common about Malton, which is distant from Beverley about twenty-five miles. 
—W. W. Boulton; Beverley, November 4, 1863. 
Eggs of Grasshopper Warbler.—I received, in June, 1862, a nest of three eggs of 
the grasshopper warbler (Sylvia locustella), quite fresh laid: the person who took them 
informed me he found them near Surlingham, Norfulk.—T. £. Gunn; Surrey Mews, 
Norwich, November 20, 1863. 
Scarcity of Summer Migrants.—Might not the scarcity of our smaller summer 
migrants this year, as complained of by various correspundents, such, for example, as 
Mr. Boulton (Zoo). 8726), be satisfactorily accounted for by the fact of the unusual 
scauty existence of insect-life, their principal subsistence in this their transitory home? 
I may add, my experience quite confirms that adduced by Mr. Boulton. Even the 
merry voice of the charming little sedge warbler met the ear less frequently this year 
than is its wont.—S. P. Saville; Dover House, Cambridge, October 3, 1863. 
Scarcity of Singing Birds—The scarcity of singing birds has been already noticed 
by some of the contributors to the ‘ Zoologist, and I beg to append another reason 
I intended to bave named, which, in my opinion, tends greatly to diminish the number 
of our favourite choristers of the woods. I allude to the extraordinary mania in 
schoolboys, and indeed in “ children of a larger growth,” to make collections of the 
eggs of small birds of all descriptions. Next to the collection of postage-stamps, the 
““Ovomania” (a vocable coined or hatched for the occasion) stands predominant; and 
no wonder that we see complaints made of the diminished numbers of our charming 
native songsters, as well as of garden warblers, and indeed of all the migratory birds.— 
H, W. Newman; Hillside, Cheltenham. 
Varieties of the Corn Crake, Yellow Bunting, Sparrow, Linnet, Blackbird and 
Common Bunting.— During last year I added the following varieties to my collection. 
Corn Crake: upper parts rufous, fringe of the feathers gray ; wing-coverts and quills 
bright ferruginous, the former barred with white; under parts white, slightly rufous 
on the breast. Yellow Bunting: upper parts deep cream-colour ; tail and wing-quills 
white. Sparrow: cream-colour. Linnet: bead entirely white, rest white and brown. 
Blackbird: pied. Common Bunting: head and upper parts white.—H. Blake-Knoz ; 
Bartragh, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, November 4, 1863. 
Notes about Robins.—I have been much interested in and fully agree with Mr. 
Ranson’s remarks (Zool. 8843) about the robin, and may record as very singular that 
every robin we have given to our tame fox has always made him sick ; he was sure to 
vomit it after having swallowed it. He is the best animal to kill rats and mice I ever 
had ; in fact he will leave any sort of food for a rat. Query, Where are the hen robins 
during the winter ? are they in the woods? I only see the male birds during that 
season in the town, and only one within a certain radius; for should another encroach 
