The Zoologist— February, 1874. 3869 



Honey Buzzard. — On the 8th a honey buzzard was shot by the 

 keeper at Cotheleston. He first saw it on the borders of a large 

 wood on the side of the Quantock Hills ; after chasing it from place 

 to place and from tree to tree, he eventually succeeded in stalking 

 up to it and shooting it. It was a young bird, probably in its 

 second year, as the gray feathers of the head of the adult were 

 gradually supplanting the darker brown ones of the young bird. I 

 did not see this bird, and was not told of it till more than a month 

 afterwards, as both the keeper and the birdstufFer at Taunton, to 

 whom it was taken, believed it to be a common buzzard ; so I can 

 give no further particulars as to contents of stomach, &c. The 

 bird is now in the possession of Mr. Esdaile, on whose ground it 

 was shot. 



September, 1873. 



Sparrowhawk and Partridge. — On the 15th I was out shooting 

 with a friend at a place called Pitsford Hill, near Wiveliscombe, 

 and as the keeper and myself were marking a covey of partridges 

 we saw a large female sparrowhawk strike at the last bird of the 

 covey, which was lagging considerably behind the others. The 

 moment the partridge became aware of the hawk it dropped like a 

 stone into a thick hedge over which it was passing; the hawk 

 retired into a tree close by, and there remained, probably waiting 

 for the partridge to move. We went on shooting, and on returning 

 to the place in about an hour we found the hawk still in the tree, 

 and, after some difficulty, rose the partridge from the exact spot in 

 the hedge into which we had marked it drop. Neither of the birds 

 were shot at, so they may have renewed their acquaintance on 

 another occasion. 



Buffon^s Skua and Pigmy Curlew. — On the 18th of this month 

 Mr. Haddon, of Taunton, shot a BufFon's skua near Stolford, on 

 the coast, near Quantox Head. I afterwards saw it at Mr. Bid- 

 good's, who had it to stuff: it was a bird of the year, in the dark 

 sooty plumage. Buffon's skua is a rare bird in this county, though 

 it does occur both inland and on the coast, and occasionally in 

 nearly adult plumage; one such was recorded by the Rev. M. A. 

 Mathew in the 'Zoologist' for 1863 (Zooh 8448). The curlew 

 sandpiper was also shot by Mr. Haddon at the same place and on 

 the same day : he told me he thought there were one or two others 

 in company with it, but he was unable to obtain another. This 

 bird seems only to occur occasionally on our coast; it is, however, 



SECOND series — VOL. IX. K 



