3628 The Zoologist — August, 1873. 



anxious to see if the pinlifooted parents would again have produced 

 an orange-legged young one. The orange-legged one mentioned 

 by me in the ' Zoologist' (S. S. 3412) slill retains his orange legs, 

 so I suppose he may be considered a real permanent variety, or a 

 reversion to the orange-legged bean goose as the parent species. 



Rook. — In the stomach of a young rook which I shot about this 

 time, by way of a terrible example, I found many of the galls from 

 the under parts of the oak-leaves : there were several of them, some 

 quite whole and others partially digested. This was to me quite a 

 new article of rook's diet. 



Herring Gull. — On the 13th the tame herring gulls hatched one 



young bird, and on the next day another. This difference in 



hatching may perhaps be accounted for by the fact that the old 



bird began to sit almost immediately after the first egg was laid, 



probably from fear of her nest being harried by rooks and jackdaws, 



from whose attacks she had suffered in the two previous years, 



before she had completed her complement of eggs. The young 



gulls when first hatched are funny looking balls of brindled down, 



very soft ; the bill and legs are dark, nearly black. The old birds 



are both most attached to their young and most energetic in their 



defence, on the slightest show of danger attacking even a stray pig 



or a cow that comes too near. The mother is also most attentive 



in feeding her young, reproducing from her throat the last meal she 



has swallowed, and holding it down in her bill for the young ones 



to pick at. The young ones are now (June 29th) just beginning to 



grow their quill-feathers. 



Cecil Smith, 



OrnUhological Notes from Devonshire. 

 By John Gatcombe, Esq. 



V Mav, 1873. 



1st. Heard the nightjar iu Bickleigh Vale. 



3rd. Wind north, and cold. Walked through Bickleigh Vale ; 

 found blackcaps numerous and singing. Observed martin, swallow, 

 wood wren, willow wren, chiffchatf, tree lark, gray wagtail, marsh 

 and longtailed tits, dipper, kingfisher, jay and green woodpecker. 



4lh. Met with several ring ouzels in Tavy Cleve, on Dartmoor. 

 Saw at the shop of a dealer in live birds a nest of young ravens, 

 and was told that the young in two other nests were destroyed by 



