Thk Zoologist — April, 1870. -2107 



" first and second speikled divers," and the birds uld are geliii)g the leaden-gray 

 neck and red patch on the throat peculiar to the breeding season. — /. Gulcombe. 



Blacklhroated Diver and RfdbieaHed Merganser on ike Thames. — On the 26th of 

 January 1 bad the good forlune to obtain at Leigh a specimen of the blacklhroated 

 diver: it is an immature male: a few black feathers, however, were just beginning to 

 appear on the ihroat, more especially at the sides and upper part of the throat. On the 

 same day I shot a redhreasted merganser, an adult male, which was swimming in 

 company with a female. — A. H. Smee. 



Puffin on the Dublin Coasl in February. — A puffin was picked up dead on the 

 sea-shore last February. It is a bird of last year, in iis lirst winter plumage: it is 

 very seldom a puffin is met with in winter. I have killed two of these " winter puffins" 

 myself; also one in second winter, the only example I have ever seen or heard of: 

 they are in my collection. — H. Biake-Knox; March, IS70. 



Avocet and Little Auk at Rye. — At Rye lately I saw another of the avocets (an old 

 bird) taken there during the snow storm at Christmas (Zool. S. S. 2024), and a little 

 auk shot in Rye Harbour. — Alwin S. Bell; March 12, 1870. 



Little Gulls on the Yorkshire Coast. — At Scarborou.;h, Mr. Roberts tells me in a 

 letter, he has had five little gulls, three of them mature. I have also had two sent me 

 iroiii Bridlington Quay, both shot one day in February ; and a coirespondent informs 

 me that fourteen little gulls, chiefly young birds, have been shot there, on the coast, 

 this winter. — Id. 



Little Gulls at Bridliuylon Bay. — During the lale severe easterly gales we 

 have had great numbers of wild ducks and sea birds in Bridlington Bay, and 

 among them several little gulls, of which, as far as I am at present able to ascertain, 

 about thirty have been shot, fourteen of which have come into my possession ; of these 

 nine are adult birds and five young ones Mr. Yarrell, in his description of this bird 

 (.idult in winter plumage), omits to meution that the uuder surface of the wings is of 

 siaie-gray : this is almost uniform in some, while in others the primaries are almost 

 black, the shafts of the feathers being white. The piimaries, secondaries and terlials 

 are all lipped with white, and the whole under surface of the body has a beautiful 

 roseate tint, which soon disappears after death. The young are not so large as the 

 adults, and weigh on an average from eight to twelve drachms less ; the roseate 

 colour is not so perceptible, and the legs and feet are pale pink ; those of the old birds 

 are vermilion ; claws black or dark brown. The largest of the adults measures 

 eleven and a quarter inches in length, and weighs four and a half ounces, and the 

 smallest of the young measures nine and a half inches in length, and weighs three 

 ounces, but the latter is an exceptionally small specimen. I do not remember ever 

 seeing more than three at one time, and I particularly noticed that the old birds and 

 young ones did not associate ; for instance, when I saw two together, they were 

 invariably either both old or both young. Tijey were never to be seen except when 

 very stormy; when the weather is milder they have invariably disappeared, although 

 we have immense numbers of the more common species. — Thomas Boynlon ; Ulrome 

 Grange, Lowlhorpe, Hull. — '■Field' of February '26th. 



Abundance of the Little Gull on the Norfolk Coast. — During the middle part of 

 February the little gull occurred in some numbers along the Norfolk coast, and many 

 specimens were shot. I received a dozen birds for preservation for different parties: 

 all these were males and adult specimens, with the exception of two, which were birds 



