The Zoologist— August, 1869. 1803 



two miles above Barnstaple he noticed a strange bird sitting on the lower branch of an 

 alder bush overhanging the river. On approaching nearer the bird flew off, and my 

 brother at once knew it was someihing uncommon ; and as it pitched again within a 

 short distance, he went to a neighbouring cottage and borrowed a gun, with which he 

 was lucky enough to bring it down : it proved to be a magnificent male specimen of 

 the above species in full breeding plumage, and was beautifully shot. It is now in the 

 hands of Mr. E. Ward, of 60, Wigmore Street, who I dare say will be happy to show 

 it to any one wishing to see it.— Gervase F. Matkew, R.N., P.L.S. ; Barnstaple, 

 May 16, 1869. 



Crane at Lynn.— On Friday, the 4th June, a specimen of the crane {Grus cinerea), 

 which is a very rare bird in this country, — only a few instances being on record of its 

 capture in Norfolk,— was shot on the South Pickenham estate by John Hubbard, 

 gamekeeper to E. A. Applewhaite, Esq. 



Crane at Tewkesbury.— On the 22nd of May I received, in the flesh, a young male 

 crane, which had been shot on the 17th by Mr. Joseph Smith, at Fiddrington, near 

 Tewkesbury.—/. H. Gurney, Jan. ; Bank, Darlington. 



Crane at Wareham. — On May )8lh, we received from Wareham an adult female 

 of the common crane {Grus cinerea).— William Hart ; Christchurrh. 



Cranes in Norfolk. — If your correspondent " Grus " (Burnham), who announced in 

 last week's ' Field ' the occurrence of four cranes at Burnham, Norfolk, would kindly 

 forward me any further particulars respecting them to 10, Unthank's Road, Norwich, 

 I should feel greatly obliged. I should be glad to know the age and sex, if ascer- 

 tained, of the birds shot, and what has since become of them; also, if noticed, the 

 contents of iheir stomachs. On the 7t!i of May two cranes were seen, and one, » 

 young male, was shot in a barley layer at East Somerton, near Yarmouth. On the 

 25th of May another was shot and winged in the Saltmarshes at Thoruham, near 

 Lynn, and was kept in confinement till the 6th inst., when it died. Again, on the 4th 

 inst., another young male was shot at South Pickenham, near Swaffham, which, with 

 the Burnham ones, were probably members of one flock dispersed over that part of the 

 country. The occurrence of so many of these rare visitants in one season is the more 

 remarkable, as I am not aware of more than four examples having been killed in 

 Norfolk during the last half century.— ^. Stevenson; Norwich, June 15, 1869 {Field}. 

 Little Gull. — A very pretty example of this species was picked up dead at Braunton 

 last January, and has been preserved by the bird-stuffer of this town, who thought it 

 was some species of tern. — G. F. Mathew. 



Note on the Nest of Podiceps minor. — Never having seen the nest of the little 

 grebe, I was very glad to avail myself of the opportunity of inspecting three, which 

 ofl"ered itself on the occasion of a recent visit to Scoulton JVIere. The first nest found 

 contained no eggs, and had probably been robbed ; the second contained two eggs, one 

 fresh laid and quite unstained; the third, six eggs slightly incubated: all the nests 

 were built just within the margin of the reeds which bordered one part of the island- 

 not so far in as to be out of sight, and where the reeds grew sufficiently far apart to 

 allow of the birds diving away from the nests without offering any impediment. They 

 were composed, in each instance, of the dead leaves of the common reed {Phragmites 

 communis), and at first sight presented the appearance of a small heap of wet and 

 almost rotten vegetable matter, raised from four to six inches above the surface of the 

 water. The two nests containing eggs were each covered over with the same material 



