3400 The Zoologist — February, 1873. 



dark, nearly black, and the neck light, tinged with straw-yellow. 

 I possess a mature specimen of Richardson's skua, the butts of the 

 wings of which are of pure white, and there are also white patches 

 on other parts of the body. 



Forktailed Petrel and Purple Sandpiper. — Nov. 28. A beautiful 

 forktailed petrel was brought to a birdstuffer for preservation, which 

 was said to have fallen dead on the deck of a government ship. 

 Another was seen off the Plymouth Hoe a day or two before. On 

 the same day I observed two purple sandpipers feeding on the rocks 

 close to the surf, the spray of which sometimes dashed over them. 



Northern Diver. — Nov. 29. I remarked a very large northern 



diver near Bovisand Bay. 



John Gatcombe. 



8, Lower Durnford Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth, 

 December 6, 1872. 



Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire. 

 By John Cordeaux, Esq. 



(Continued from S. S. 3323.) 



November and December, 1872. 

 Shorteared Owl. — These owls have been very common during 

 the autumn. I frequently put them up from rough grass and 

 beds of yellow reeds on the drain-banks, places which they are 

 partial to, as they afford both dry and thick cover ; the colour of 

 the dead grasses and reeds also harmonizes exactly with the chaste 

 and sober yellow-buffs and browns of the bird's feathers, making 

 it difficult to detect. In fact, I have sometimes been first attracted, 

 when my dog has pointed one, by catching the brilliant round eye 

 of the bird. They sit close, often till nearly trodden upon, going 

 away at last with a lazy, zigzag, gull-like flight, and generally 

 alight after flying one or two hundred yards, pitching on some 

 prominent clod : here the owl sits, with his body partly inclined, 

 moving his head slowly from side to side, his eyes glittering like 

 orbs of polished metal. I have then sometimes walked quite close 

 to him, particularly if accompanied by my dogs; they always 

 show immense curiosity at the sight of a dog, especially if drawing 

 slowly forward on the point: the owl then always looks more 

 inclined to fight than fly away. Between the 8th and 10th of 

 December there was a second arrival of owls in our marshes. The 



