3398 The Zoologist — February, 1873, 



as plainly as if it were in our hands. It was very active, running 

 about and feeding among the sea-weed in company with many of 

 its own species and others, none of which attempted to molest it. 

 It appeared to have no power either of spreading or erecting 

 this tail-crest. I have seen a domestic chicken, not long 

 hatched, with similar hind legs, and another with two bodies, four 

 wings and one head, but I believe such monstrosities seldom live. 

 On either side of the rump of this extraordinary rock pipit were tufts 

 of slate-coloured feathers, from under which the legs appeared. 



Golden Plover, Fieldfare and Black Redstart. — Nov. 12. Wind 

 N.E., blowing very cold. Observed three black redstarts on the 

 rocks near the Devil's Point, Stonehouse, and large flocks of golden 

 plovers and fieldfares flying over the fields along the coast beyond 

 Bovisand. 



Small Birds feeding off Heaps of Sea-weed. — Nov. 13. Walked 

 many miles on the cliffs towards the Mewstone, at the mouth of 

 the River Yealm. Noticed a great many cormorants, shags, gulls 

 and a ievt ducks ; but what struck me most was the great variety 

 of land birds which I saw feeding on the large heaps of decayed 

 sea-weed accumulated in the fields to be used for manure. On 

 some of these very decomposed and dreadfully " smelly" masses 

 I observed the following species at the same time : — Sparrows, 

 chaffinches, cirl and yellow buntings, linnets, titlarks, rock larks, 

 pied and gray wagtails, hedgesparrows, slonechats, robins, wrens, 

 and large flocks of starlings, not forgetting numerous blue titmice, 

 which latter pay particular attention to these rotten, almost liquid 

 masses, which breed no end of maggots, flies, &c. I have seen these 

 heaps quite white with the droppings of the numerous birds that 

 settle thereon. One day I observed about thirty missel thrushes in 

 a stubble-field on the cliffs just above the sea. 



Quails and Stock Doves. — 1 was told a short time ago that several 

 quails were seen during the past autumn near Tiverton, Devon, 

 and that at the approach of winter multitudes of stock doves 

 {Columba cenas) make their appearance in the woods, feeding on 

 the beech-mast. Stock doves are very rare in our neighbourhood 

 and also in Cornwall. 



Brown Owl. — A week or two since I examined a brown owl, 

 which had flown down a chimney at Sheepstor, on Dartmoor, during 

 the severe cold winds that prevailed at the time. A servant girl, on 

 going to light the fire early in the morning, saw, as she said, " two 



