The Zoologist— April, 1869. 1645 



in a few moments down came the objects which were causing the disturbance^in the 

 shape of two wrens closed in despe);ite conflict. They continued the combat at our 

 feet, and we managed to capture one of them under a hat, the other making its escape 

 to the top of the rock, and immediately givin-f out its vigorous notes of defiance. Ou 

 our prisoner being released be forthwith returned the challenjie in notes equally loud; 

 and in less than a minute the two had again closed, and again came to the ground strug- 

 gling together. A second time one of them was caught under the hat, but it got away, 

 and lost no time in answering the note of battle already sounded by its antagonist. 

 The contest was resumed for the third lime, and with the same result, the two falling 

 to the ground together as before. We attempted another capture, but failed. Whether 

 the defiant notes which were again sent forth ended in a fourth battle we did not stop 

 to ascertain. We noticed that in closing they grasped each other's feet and fought 

 with their beaks. — James Murlon ; Silverdale, Lancaster, March 1 7, 1869. 



Purple Sandpiper at Weston-super-Mare. — On the 21st of January last I shot a 

 purple sandpiper near Weston-super-Mare: it was a female specimen, and was not in 

 company with any other bird. As this species is not frequently met with on this 

 coast it may be worih while to notice this instance of its occurrence. — 31. S. C. 

 Richards ; Clifton, February 25, 1869. 



White JVoodcock.— \ buff-coloured woodcock, shot by Mr. Robert B. Templer, in 

 Galway, is mentioned in your March number (S. S. 1602). I have an old oil-paiuting 

 of a woodcock as nearly pure white as possible: the artist has depicted two sides of 

 the bird, and there is hardly a coloured feather upon it. The picture bears the 

 following inscription: — "This very remarkable woodcock was shot by the Earl of 

 Gainsbro', Nov. 7, 1748, and painted from the bird itself, by S. Goodwin, of Oakham." 

 From the handsome frame assigned to the production, and the trouble taken to give 

 a double representation, this appears to have been thought a very great wouder at 

 that time of day. — Geo. Dawson Rowley ; 5, Peel Terrace, Brighton, March 3, 186M. 



The Skins of Alca impennis. — I have read in the 'Zoologist' for March (S. S. 

 1603) the letter of Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., on the four skins of Alca impennis: oue of 

 these, that belonging to Mr. Frank, is now on its road to join a (emale already in my 

 collection; but as I have received the invoice, dated Rotterdam, February 13, and 

 as yet no signs of the bird, I conclude that it has either taken to its natural element 

 again, or else that the Custom-house officers have turned ornithologists. Mr. Gurney 

 speaks of one "in full summer plumage"; would that he could tell us of a specimen 

 "in full winter plumage" — he would be a great benefactor to my work 'The Alciana,' 

 I having searched many places iu Europe in vain. The downy stale would be still 

 more desirable, but this is now lost for ever — one of the good things gone never to 

 return.— /rf.; March 1, 1869. [See ante, p. 1641.] 



Bewick's Swan at Flamborough. — I have, in the flesh, a Bewick's swan shot on a 

 pond at Flamborough, by Mr. Johnson Dove. It is pure white, except that the 

 forehead is marked with rust-colour. I believe that the merit of the first discovery of 

 this species was actually due to my friend Mr. Hancock, although Richard Rutledge 

 Wingate " lulit hunores" (of Selby's ' British Ornithology,' ii. 284). — /. H. Gurney, 

 jun. ; The Bank, Darlington, February 26, 1869. 



Kitliwake Gulls on the Thames. — Cooper, the birdsluffer, of Radnor Street, 

 St. Luke's, showed me to-day a kiltiwake gull, which had been shot with another, about 

 the middle of last month, on Chertsey Common. The bird was in the change from 



