2944 Tue ZooLocist—Fersruary, 1872. 
Cuckoo near the Sea.—Your correspondent, Mr. H. R. Leach, seems 
surprised at hearing the notes of a cuckoo close to the sea. Here we 
seldom hear them anywhere else: the cliffs are the parts they mostly 
frequent. September is late for them.—C. B. Carey; Candie, Guernsey, 
December 14, 1871. 
A Domestic Hen living Twenty-four Days without Food.— A common 
hen belonging to a warehouse-keeper in Liverpool disappeared on the 11th 
of December last, and though search was made for her could not be found. 
On removing some cotton to-day she was found to have wandered between 
two bales, and got jammed in such a position that she could neither advance 
nor retreat. The poor bird was, of course, thoroughly emaciated, but alive, 
and had actually plucked the feathers and drawn blood from her breast for 
nourishment in the agony of starvation. Though extremely weak from 
being without food for more than three weeks, there seems now a good 
chance of her recovery.—H. Durnford; 1, Stanley Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, 
January 5, 1872. 
Redlegged Partridge nesting in a Tree.—Some instances of abnormal 
nidification in the redlegged partridge have been lately mentioned in the 
‘Zoologist.’ Last June (as I am informed by the keeper) a pair rested in 
the crown of an oak tree near this house, at a height of about twelve feet 
from the ground. Their nest had to be destroyed, as they, unfortunately, 
took to killing some young pheasants at a coop which was placed near.— 
J. H. Gurney, jun. ; Northrepps, Norwich. 
French Partridge perching.—A friend of mine when out covert-shooting 
in the month of November last, at Chippenham, in Cambridgeshire, shot a 
bird perching in a spruce fir, about twenty feet from the ground. It was 
seen by several members of the party to alight in the tree, but owing to the 
density of the covert was supposed to be a pheasant. Though repeatedly 
thrown at with sticks and stones, it refused to move. On picking it up it 
proved to be a French partridge.—Arthur W. Crichton; Oaford and Cam- 
bridge Club, Pall Mall, S.W., January 8, 1872. 
Collared Pratincole near Gosport.—As instances of the collared pratincole 
occuring in Great Britain are extremely rare, I venture to*record the 
capture of one, which, though happening some few years back, may prove of 
interest to your readers. A brother officer of mine, Lieut. Telfer, informs 
me that in the month of October, 1864, he was strolling along the beach of 
Stokes Bay, near Gosport, when he saw a bird fluttering along the margin 
of the shore, evidently maimed or very weary, as it was unable to fly but a 
few yards at a time. Not having a gun with him, he pursued it, throwing 
shingle at the bird, finally knocking it over, when it proved to be a fine 
example of Glareola pratincola. Mr. Telfer took the bird home and _pre- 
served it, but the skin is no longer in his possession: having shortly after 
gone abroad to join his regiment he lost sight of the specimen, and now he 
