Birds. 8883 
selves as naked, useless, foreign bodies; and as such fit only for exclusion. I observed 
that by far the greater number of these stones were to be found in the gizzard itself, 
which would lead me to suppose that they were retained in that organ for a longer 
period than their fleshy coverings. These, having been removed and passed on for 
the purposes of assimilation, left space for a further supply of ingesta, whilst the stones 
remained behind to assist in triturating the fresh accession ; until, owing to mechan- 
ical inconvenience from their accumulation, they were passed away one by one, simply 
making room for other and similar triturating aids—W. W. Boulton; Beverley, 
November 25, 1863. 
Waxwings near Warrington.—A small party of waxwings were seen in this neigh- 
between a fortnight and three weeks since. They perched on some alder bushes in 
the garden hedge within eight or ten yards of the windows of Mr. C. Claus, and 
remained about ten or fifteen minutes picking off a few berries that had been left on. 
James Cooper ; Museum, Warrington, December 14, 1863. 
Brambling in Sussex.—A male and female mountain finch have been shot in this 
neighbourhood, and are now in my possession.—C. S$. Maurice ; East Court Coltage, 
East Grinstead, Sussex, December 14, 1863. 
[These birds have been unusually abundant near London this winter.— Edward 
Newman). 
Hawfinch Shot near Beverley.—I have just obtained a good male specimen of this 
peculiar looking bird, whose chief peculiarity, however, really exists in the very per- 
fection aud development of mandible, on the immense power of which its ability to 
procure fitting sustenance depends. My specimen was shot yesterday, November 24th, 
amongst some bushes, on Westwood, one of the common pastures of Beverley, by Mr. 
Gamsby, of this town, who saw and shot another, but so shattered it that he did not 
consider it worth bringing home. Until last winter, when several specimens were 
obtained on Westwood, I‘only remember having seen a single hawfinch, shot in this 
neighbourhood. In the well-wooded portions of the midland counties I believe this 
bird is not uncommon; but in the East Riding of Yorkshire I have always heard it 
spoken of as more or less rare, and in this immediate neighbourhood undoubtedly so. 
On dissection I observed a curious combination of circumstances, in some respects 
resembling the internal economy of the Bohemian waxwing, and in others exactly the 
reverse. Both crop and gizzard were full of the kernels and broken portions of the 
stones of the sloe or bullace as it is termed in this locality. In this instance the bird 
evidently had fed upon the contents of the stone, and not upon its fleshy covering, as 
in the case of the Bohemian waxwing ; but on the other hand, in this instance, as in 
the case of that bird, I found that the stone of the fruit upon which the bird had fed 
was used instead of grit, as a triturating medium during the process of digestion, not 
a single portion of the latter being present, although both crop and gizzard were 
heavily charged with food. In the case of the hawfinch, however, the stone had been 
broken by its powerful mandibles to extract the kernel, on which it feeds; a sufficient 
number of stony particles being retained in the gizzard with the kernels to assist that 
organ in their trituration. In the hawfinch, then, we find portions of the stones of 
fruit acting as triturating media in the gizzard; and which, together with the assist- 
ance of the powerful mandibles, prove sufficient to accomplish that process. In the 
waxwing we find the stones of fruit unbroken, and contributing to the same end. In 
the former case it becomes a necessity for the bird to break the stone, inasmuch as it 
feeds on the contents. In the latter case it is equally necessary for the bird to preserve 
