2308 Thk Zoologist — Septembrr, 1870. 



eggs, which were not arranged neatly therein, but some were on the top of the others ; 

 all but one contained embryo chicks. The e^<js were of the usual yellowish ground 

 colour, blotched with rich umber-brown ; one or two of ihera looked as if the colour 

 had been partly wiped off, like some eggs we find of the grouse species. It would 

 appear that the quail is a late breeder, as it not unfrequently happens that the eggs 

 are found when reaping the corn in harvest, and I scarcely ihink they are all addled 

 ones. In this instance had the young hatched out safely they would have been in a 

 very helpless condition by the 1st of September, the red-letter day of the English 

 sportsman, and seeing ihat the corn will be all cut, and no doubt the last " harvest home " 

 sung by then, it seems to me difficult to conceive how they (ileprived of all shelter) 

 could have escaped destruction and migrated safely from our shores.— i^'. Boyes. 



Quails Nesting at Witncsham and Wesllelnn. — A quail's nest containing ten eggs 

 was found by some labourers while cutting grass at Witnesham, Suffolk ; and a second 

 nest, a few days previously, containing eggs, at Weslleton. The nest of this bird is 

 very unusual in this part of Suffolk. — E. Charles Moor. 



Little Egret in Devonshire. — I have just had the pleasure of seeing, at the house 

 of Mr. Adkins, bird preserver. South Street, Exeler, a beautiful specimen of the little 

 egret, killed on the 3rd of June last, at Countess Weir, on the River Exe. Ii is in 

 perfectly adult plumage, and belongs to Mr. E. H. Harbottle, of Topsham, near 

 Exeler. I also saw the note sent with the bird from Mr. Harbottle, requesting it to be 

 preserved. — J. Galcombe ; Slonehnuse, Plymouth, August 2, 1870. 



Little Bittern in Nottinghamshire. — On or about the 24lh of May last a little 

 bittern (Botaurus viinutus) was shot near Worksop, in the above county: it was a 

 male in fine plumage, and was received here for preservation by Jlr. Richardson, 

 taxidermist, by whose kindness I was enabled to add the sternum and trachea to my 

 collection. — F. Bin/es. 



Common Tern in Oxfordshire. — On the 7th of August, whilst rowing between 

 Henley and Wargrave, a common tern, evidently a bird of the year, kept flying and 

 hovering over the water, and passed so close to the boat that I nearly succeeded in 

 striking it with the oar as it flew by. The wind was blowing strongly at the time up 

 stream. — A. H. Smee ; August 14, 1870. 



Arrival of Spring Migrants. — \W\\\ov wren, first seen, April 7th; wryneck, 8th ; 

 redstart, 9th; ciiiffchaff, 13th; nightingale, 13ih; blackcap and swallow, 14th; 

 cuckoo, 18lh; lesser whitelhroat, 20lh ; whitethroat, 21st; tree lark, 21st; turtle 

 dove, 21st; sand martin, 22nd; wheatear, 23rd; garden warbler, 30ih; butcher 

 bird, May 12th; flycatcher, 13th; swift, 16th; house martin, 17th.— £". C. Moor. 



Sharks off the Cornish Coast. — When out fishing yesterday, about three miles off 

 Towan Head, we captured a l)lue shark, which measured four feet in length, being 

 about one year old. On examining it we were much surprised to find three letters, 

 "UN F," branded on its left side, under the back fin. From the inside of which we 

 took a pilchard, measuring nine inches in length. Two other sharks were also 

 captured, one of the common, the other of the blue species, which are considered 

 scarce along this coast: several dog-fish were also seen by us during the day, which I 

 need not add greatly interfered with our fishing arrangements. — Frederick Newton ; 

 Beaucliffe House, Newquay, Cornwall, August 9, 1870. 



