3652 The Zoologist — August, 1873. 



above named were some miles from the sea; and although I have no 

 reason to suppose that a straggling pair remain to breed in the forest, yet 

 I thought the occurrence of the bird at such a time and place was worthy 

 of remark, since the whimbrel is usually considered a mere winter visitor 

 with us. I am informed that a teal's nest, containing eight eggs, was seen 

 in the forest this spring. — G. B. Corbin; July, 1873. 



Waterhens nesting in Trees. — On the 12th of June I put a waterhen 

 off her nest, which was constructed fully nine feet from the ground, in a 

 whitethoru at Hempstead, in Norfolk. The gamekeeper there told me 

 that he had seen another waterhen 's nest this season about thirteen feet 

 from the ground, in a spruce fir, and that some years since he found one 

 in a spruce fir fully twenty feet from the ground. In each of these three 

 cases the tree was situated near the edge of a large pond. — J. H. Gumey ; 

 June, 1873. 



Wild Duck and Leech. — The following incident has just been related to 

 me by my friend the Rev. H. M. Wilkinson: — A wild duck had been dis- 

 covered in the river in an apparently dying state, and a closer inspection of 

 the poor suffering bird revealed a strange state of affairs. The water was 

 deeply tinged with blood for some distance, and the duck, which was about 

 three-parts grown, having been caught, a leech was discovered fastened to 

 the inside of its mouth or throat, into which situation it doubtless had 

 penetrated whilst the duck was feeding, and the poor bird had fallen a victim 

 to the puny blood-sucker. — G. B. Corbin. 



Wild-fowl at Ringwood. — On the loth of February a pair of shovelers 

 were shot near the river. I did not see the female, but the male, which 

 I weighed and measured, was a splendid bird and in most lovely plumage. 

 This species is not at all a frequent one in this neighbourhood, even in severe 

 winters : I have seen but four previously, so I am not at all acquainted with 

 the bird ; but I think the weight and measurement of the bird I recently 

 saw are worth mentioning, as it seemed to me to be very small compared 

 with a female I possess, — which I may state was sent by a friend from 

 Ireland a few seasons ago, — and it certainly is less than any of the few 

 I have previously seen. It measured, when held up by the beak, e.xactly 

 seventeen inches in length, ^and weighed barely eighteen ounces. Perhaps 

 some of the readers of the 'Zoologist,' whose knowledge of this species is 

 more reliable and extended than my own, will kindly tell us if the bird was 

 remarkable from its small size ? Several specimens of the pintail duck have 

 been shot, but were frightfully mutilated. As a rule, I believe wild-fowl 

 have been abundant this season, but on account of the continued floods few 

 comparatively were shot. I have seen some pochards and a few wigeon 

 exposed for sale, but on the whole I do not think the gunners made much 

 of a harvest. Strange to say, I have scarcely seen a siskin this winter, and 

 the snow bunting, which I have seen on several occasions during snow in 



