8890 Birds. 
of twenty-three. This bird, being nocturnal and very shy in its habits, is rarely 
seen: I have lived in the country over forty years, and I do not think I ever saw a 
dozen of them, though I must have heard thousands. I think them much too weak 
on the wing to migrate across the channel.— Thomas Mortimer ; Franklin Cottage, 
Braunton, May 25, 1863.—[ Communicated by P. H. Gosse, Esq.) 
Spotted Crake in Hampshire.—A very good specimen of the spotted crake (Crex 
porzana) was brought to me some time ago by a labouring man, who informed me 
that he had caught it in a trap set for water-rats. It was a female, and the gizzard 
contained the remains of water plants and small shells.—J. J. Armistead ; Queenwood 
College, October 25, 1863. 
Spotted Crake in County Antrim and Storm Petrel in Dublin Bay.— During a stay 
in Belfast last September I purchased a spotted crake, killed by a poor boy with a 
stone. Last autumn I killed a storm petrel in Dublin Bay.—H. Blake-Knoz ; 
Bartragh, Dalkey, County Dublin, October 30, 1863, 
Spotted Crake near Beverley.—This elegant species appears to be of very local 
occurrence. A few are generally to be found amongst the sedges along the banks of 
the river Hull each year. I have seen no less than sixteen specimens already this 
year, and others have been seen that were not captured. Up to October 13th three 
specimens were shot; from the 13th to the 26th there were twelve shot and three seen ; 
and on the 2nd of November a specimen was taken alive; making a total of nineteen 
specimens, of which fifteen were shot, one was brought to me alive and uninjured, 
having been caught by a boy, and three were seen by Mr.W. Stephenson, of Hull Bridge, 
near Beverley. I am inclined to believe that the spotted crake breeds with us, although 
I have not obtained the egg. Out of the sixteen specimens taken on the river Hull this 
season, a majority have proved to be young birds ; several, indeed, were so young that 
I think they must have been bred in the neighbourhood. On the evening of the 26th 
of October I dissected three specimens, one of which proved to be a mature female ; 
the other two birds were, one a young male and the other a very young female,—so 
young that it could not have travelled far on the wing. The old and young birds too 
have been observed and sprung together, or within a few yards of one another. 
I have observed that, as a rule, the young are smaller than the old birds; that the 
belly of young birds is whiter than in mature specimens; that the feathers on the 
sides and thighs of the young are not so richly striated with black as on those of older 
birds; that the chin of the young bird is whitish gray, that of the old one slate or ash- 
coloured; and that the band over the eye and outer half of the forehead in the young 
is speckled with white, whilst in old birds it is almost uniform ash-colour. In the 
craw of the mature female I found nothing but six or seven water and marsh snails, in 
their shells: in the gizzard of the same bird I found a collection of the remains of 
similar snails and their shells mixed up with vegetable matter.— W. W. Boulton. 
Gray Phalarope in Caithness.—A gray phalarope was shot in Wick Bay, on the 
7th of October, by Mr. John Tudor; and on the 19th of the same month a second 
specimen was procured near the South Head, by Mr. W. Peach. These are the first 
instances of the occurrence of this species in Caithness.—H. Osborne, jun.; Wick, 
November 21, 1863.—‘ Field? 
Solitary Snipe near Beverley—I saw last evening a splendid specimen of the 
solitary or double snipe in the flesh; it had been brought for preservation to Mr. R. 
Richardson, taxidermist, of this town. The bird had been shot yesterday by Mr. W. 
Stephenson, of Hull Bridge, on the river Hull, about half a mile above the bridge. 
