4200 The Zoologist — October, 1874 



June oflf tie Cornish coast, I saw a ganuet somewhat similar in markings, 

 only with more white about it — in fact, I should call it a piebald variety ; 

 but the one to-day seems to me more distinct in its plumage. — W. Taylor ; 

 Yacht ' Seabelle,' off Sidmouth, September 16, 1874. 



[I know nothing of such a variety. — E. Newman.] 



LiUlc Auk and Dnnliu. — Having read Dr. Saxby's notes on the ' Birds 

 of Shetland,' T would recommend all who may be desirous of acquiring 

 information respecting the habits, migration, nidification, and eggs of the 

 rarer aquatic species, to procure this graphic, instructive and interesting 

 work, one that will amply repay the perusal — moreover, serve as a reliable 

 book of reference, particularly as regards the transition states of plumage, 

 variations in size, colouring, &c., of the eggs, — no author that I am 

 acquainted with having given us so clear an insight into these particulars, 

 so that one cannot but feel that in Dr. Saxby we had the right man in the 

 right place. Though I must not anticipate the reviewer, I may perhaps 

 venture to remark on a species or two, the little auk, for instance. 

 Dr. Saxby says, " It has become apparent that the numbers occasionally 

 drifted ashore dead have been unable to withstand the force of the gale," 

 and that as " the storm-driven birds seldom occur in the day-time, we may 

 consider that darkness is the main cause." As to the darkness, it need be 

 obscure, indeed, for the auk not to know its whereabouts. We are told that 

 " it is far more ready to make use of its wings than either the guillemot or 

 razorbill" — why, then, not seek the sheltering shores or cliffs? Starvation, 

 I believe, to be the real cause, the auk, unlike many other species, not 

 foraging inland or along shore. Dr. Saxby remarks, " It seemed a curious 

 fact that almost without exception the birds were washed ashore by an 

 easterly wind ; " the lower degree of temperature might partly account for 

 the greater mortality. That these storm-driven and weather-bound birds 

 should not have been in "poor condition," though found with "empty 

 stomachs," is not surprising, as it does not necessarily follow that they 

 should have become either thin or emaciated in so short a time. "With 

 regard to the dunlin, Dr. Saxby remarks, " that another species, or very 

 distinct variety, is supposed to exist in some j^arts of Scotland." If so, it is 

 very improbable that it should be confined to the northern part of the 

 kingdom, seeing that Tringa variabilis is so commonly and widely dis- 

 tributed. As to undersized birds and varieties, they are to be met with in 

 many species, and the length of bill is no certain criterion to guide one ; 

 for instance, having some yeai-s since shot a sandpiper with an unusually 

 short bill, and thinking it might be different from the common species, or 

 a rara avis, I showed it to a well-known ornithologist from north of the 

 Tweed, who had one of the finest collections in the kingdom ; his ready 

 remark was, "Birds' beaks, like men's noses, are not all of one length." 

 I quoted Macgillivray (and might have cited Brisson) as an authority, but 



