9042 Birds. 
opposite Spurn Point, I have for several years closely watched the arrival and de- 
parture from this neighbourhood of our migratory birds. I find, on referring to my 
note-book, that on the 12th of October, 1863, I observed large numbers of the golden- 
crested wren on the few scattered hedge-rows and bushes in the open marsh country 
near the Humber; many on the reeds in the drains; and at a lonely farmstead, close 
to the Humber, quantities of these active little fellows were busily searching up and 
down on the fold-yard fences, in the old sheds and on the stacks. In all these 
localities I have never seen a single specimen at any other time during the year. 
A day or two afterwards they had all disappeared.—John Cordeaux ; Great Coates, 
Ulceby, Lincolnshire, April 4, 1864. 
Tree Sparrow near Eastbourne.—Four specimens of this moorland sparrow were 
brought to me on the 8th of January last, shot near here: they are not uncommon 
during the winter, and congregate in small flocks.—John Dutton. 
Further Capture of Hawfinches near Beverley.— Since my last communication 
(Zool. 8884) relative to the occurrence and dissection of the hawfinch (Fringilla cocco- 
thraustes), I have had the opportunity of examining five more specimens of this 
singular bird. Two were shot by Mr. Eaton, of Beverley, in the “ Pits” on West- 
wood, a common adjoining the town; one on Friday, December 11, 1863, and the 
other on the following Monday. These “Pits” are of ancient date, and are now 
thickly studded over with large hawthorn bushes, mixed up with the sloe and other 
brushwood. The birds were taken to Mr. R. Richardson, of Beverley, for preserva- 
tion, at whose house I saw and dissected both specimens. The first proved to be a 
youvg male of the year, and the second an old male, in splendid plumage. The con- 
tents of the gizzard in both specimens I found to be precisely the same, consisting of 
the kernels of the sloe or bullace, mixed up with small fragments of the fruit-stone: 
the organ in each was quite full of this food, which was in various stages of trituration. 
On the Sth instant three other specimens of the hawfinch were brought to Mr, Richard- 
son for preservation: they had been shot by Mr. Smelt, of Beverley, in the same Pits 
whence the other specimens were obtained. I dissected all three specimens: The first 
was a mature male; the gizzard was full of the kernels of the slue, more or less 
broken and mixed up with fragments of the fruit-stone: the second was a young 
female, and the third a young male, whose gizzards contained an exactly similar mass 
of food to that found in the gizzard of the other bird. Thus far, in every specimen of 
the hawfinch I have dissected, the food has proved to be the kernel of the sloe or 
bullace, and this alone. In no instance had the bird swallowed the outer flesh of the 
fruit; and in every case the only triturating aids taken with the food were small frag- 
ments of the fruit-stone.— W. W. Boulton; Beverley, January 13, 1864. 
Contents of Crop and Gizzard of Hawfinch.—I feel much obliged to Mr. Tyrer 
(Zool. 8951) for communicating the results of his dissection of a hawfinch. It is 
only by a careful series of dissections and observations, and a comparison of notes 
amongst students of Nature in various localities, that the certainty and uniformity of 
any habit, &c., amongst the lower animals can be correctly ascertained. I trust 
Mr. Tyrer will excuse my offering one or two suggestions that have occurred to me 
since reading his communication. First, then, Mr. Tyrer remarks that on dissection 
his bird’s crop “ proved to be empty, but his gizzard was quite full of the kernels of 
plums or damsons (not sloes),” &c. The hawfinch in question is stated to have been 
shot “at the close of last month,” and, as Mr. Tyrer’s communication is dated 
“ January 13, 1864,” it must have occurred at the end of December, 1863; at which 
