Birds. : 8961 
or still further investigate their physiological peculiarities. W. W. Boulton ; Beverley, 
January 14, 1864. 
Bitterns near Chichester—On the 8th instant a bittern (Ardea stellaris) was shot 
at Fishbourne, and, about the same time, another at or near Lavant, both within a few 
miles of Chichester. The former was brought to me soon after it was shot, and is now 
in wy collection: it is a male, and I think a very good specimen. The stomach con- 
tained the remains of a flat-fish, some sea-weed (probably swallowed with the fish), 
and a hard pellet of the fur of some animal, apparently that of the water-rat and shrew 
mixed: there were also a few feathers in the stomach. Does the bittern throw up 
pellets of the fur of those animals which it eats—W. Jeffrey, jun.; Ratham, 
Chichester, January 19, 1864. 
Bittern in Kent—An extremely fine male specimen of the bittern was killed last 
week at Orpington, in Kent—E#dward Newman. 
Ruff at Weston-super-Mare.—On the 6th of this month a specimen of the ruff was 
shot on the sands near this place.— Murray A. Mathews; Weston-super-Mare, 
January 8, 1864. 
Spotted Rail near Beverley—I have previously reported the numbers of this local 
bird which occur in this neighbourhood. During the year 1863 no less than sixteen 
individuals of this species were killed or captured alive on the River Hull, to my cer- 
tain knowledge. Mr. Hurd, of Beverley,—a poor man, but one on whose word I can 
thoroughly rely,—tells me he has shot certainly not less than ten other specimens, 
and he could-be sure the number was considerably beyond ten: he used them all for 
the table, finding them excellent eating. Hurd also states that he has seen many 
more that he failed in securing on different occasions: twice his dog caught this bird 
alive, and Hurd brought them home living: he could not mistake the species, for he 
knows both the moorhen aud water rail, the latter bird being decidedly rarer than the 
spotted rail in this neighbourhood. One of Hurd's neighbours, a “gun man” tells 
me that what Hurd states is perfectly correct, as he has himself seen more than the 
stated number of spotted rails brought home by him. Mr. William Holmes, farmer, of 
Arram, near Beverley, has shot three spotted rails during the last summer and autumn, 
and Mr. Simpson, of the Loch House, also three specimens of this bird. These indi- 
viduals have each of them seen other specimens, but have failed in bagging them, the 
birds being difficult to rise. This makes a total of thirty-two specimens in all 
captured, besides what have been seen. The summer and autumn seem to be those 
periods of each year during which the spotted rail visits this locality. Next season 
I purpose doing my best to secure the nest and eggs, so convinced am I of their 
breeding amongst the sedges and on the marshy flats that occur here and there along 
our river banks.— W. W. Boulton ; Beverley, January 22, 1864. 
The Purple Gallinule in Seotland.—At a Meeting of the Natural History Society 
of Glasgow [no date], Dr. Dewar exhibited a specimen of the purple gallinule 
(Porphyrio hyacinthinus),—a species which has not yet been recorded as British, ~shot 
in the neighbourhood of Campbeltown. The present example, however, bore no traces 
of having been in confinement; and, as the bird is fuund abundantly in many parts of 
_ Europe, its occasional occurrence in this country should excite less surprise than that 
of other birds whose geographical range is not so extensive-—Edward Newman. 
Bewick’s Swan in Derbyshire.—I have just seen a very fine adult male of Cygnus 
minor in the shop of Mr. John Cook, birdstuffer, Market Place, Derby. It was 
shot on the 18th instant, on the Trent, at Newton-Solney, near Burton-on-Trent, by 
VOL. XXII. Oo 
