The Zoologist — February, 1873. 3397 



A workman observing a bird fluttering in a rather extraordinary 

 manner ran to see what was the cause, when he found that iu 

 running about a ring dotterel had somehow got its toe under a 

 limpet, which in closing instantly to the rock held it fast until the 

 man came up, who with his knife at once disengaged the limpet 

 and set the poor bird free. 



Sparrows. — To show how plentiful sparrows are in the stubble- 

 fields just now, I copied the following this morning (November 

 13th) from the 'Bridgwater Mercury': — "On Wednesday, as 

 Mr. James Wills, jun., was shooting in his father's stubble-field he 

 observed a large number of sparrows, and with the discharge of a 

 single barrel he killed three dozen and one." 



Cormorant and Shag. — November 1. Still blowing very hard. 

 Cormorants and shags plentiful, more especially the latter, which 

 have become extremely tame, swimming and diving about in our 

 bays and estuaries close to the shore. 



Cornish Chough, — Nov. 2. Examined a nice Cornish chough, 

 which had been trapped on the coast : the stomach contained 

 nothing but very fine sand. 



Hawfinch. — Nov. 5. Examined a hawfinch, which had been 

 killed at Lampen, near Liskeard, Cornwall. The contents of its 

 stomach were cracked stones and kernels of the hawthorn berry. 

 This bird appears only at uncertain intervals in Devon and 

 Cornwall. 



Rock Pipit. — Nov. 11. When rambling on the coast a few 

 miles from Plymouth I came across a most remarkable "lusus," 

 in the shape of a rock pipit which had four legs, but no tail (at 

 least, where it should have been), but that appendage had actually 

 made its appearance on the head just above the left eye, and pro- 

 jecting behind, very like the depressed crest of a hoopoe. This 

 "head-tail" (if I might so call it) seemed to be quite perfect and 

 full grown, the outer feather on each side being marked with the 

 usual dull white. Two of its legs were in their proper places, but 

 the other pair were dangling from behind, the feet touching the 

 ground, but of no earthly use, being dragged along, as it were, after 

 the bird, and appearing thin, shrivelled and light in colour, with 

 the claws much produced. Indeed it was a perfect "nightmare" 

 of a bird. There could be no possible mistake as to its appearance, 

 as my friend Mr. Bignell and I watched it "off and on" for more 

 than two hours with a powerful pocket-telescope, and could see it 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. VIII. I 



