The Zoologist— Makch, 1871. 2523 



see the bird : presently I descried something looking white partly concealed 

 amongst the weeds at my feet : this I made out to be the waterhen, and 

 the whiteness arose from small globules of air with which it was covered. 

 As the weeds amongst which the bird was partly hid were not more than 

 three or four inches beneath the surface of the water, I put down my hand 

 and brought it up by the beak, when the water immediately ran off it like 

 quicksilver, and the feathers seemed as dry as ever. On releasing this 



" artful dodger," it made off as fast as its long legs and feet could carry it. 



F. Boyes; Beverley, February 16, 1871. 



Egyptian Oeese in Cornwall.— In the early part of last month, a report 

 reached me that two spurwinged geese had been shot at Seatou, in the 

 parish of St. Germans. At that time, being very unwell, I was unable to 

 make enquiries as to the truth of the report : about ten days since I met 

 in Looe, the person who was said to have shot them, and on makinw 

 enquiry of him, he told me that " the birdstuffer of Devonport " who had 

 set them up pronounced them to be spurwinged geese, and that they were 

 very valuable. I now felt very amxious about them, and on Saturday last 

 I rode out to see them, and was much disappointed to find a pair of 

 Egyptian geese, tolerably well set up, and in good feather ; when killed 

 they weighed together eleven pounds, being evidently male and female. 

 They were shot on the 1st of October of last year : they were seen to come 

 in from the sea and alight on the beach, where they were shot at and the 

 goose wounded, the gander taking flight, but quickly came back over the 

 wounded bird, when he was killed : they do not appear as if they were 

 birds escaped from confinement, and if they are wild birds their appearance 

 with us is sufficiently rare to warrant a notice ; and at the same time it 

 shows the necessity of enquiry as to the true species of reported rare birds, 

 although " birdstuffers " may have pronounced their i^eniiij.— Stephen 

 Clogg ; East Looe, Cornwall. 



Canada Goose. — I see, in the February number of the 'Zoologist ' (S. S. 

 2486), a notice, by Mr. Marcus S. C. Rickards, of the occurrence of the 

 Canada goose near Glastonbury, in which he observes that this is pi-obably 

 the first reported occurrence of this bird in Somerset, as I had not included it 

 in my ' Birds of Somersetshire.' Perhaps you will allow me to give my reason 

 for this omission, as it bears upon what at present is rather a moot point 

 amongst ornithologists, namely, what birds may properly have a claim to 

 be placed in the list of British birds. My reason then for not haviuc^ 

 included the Canada goose amongst the birds of Somerset was not that I 

 had not heard of its occurrence in the county in an apparently wild state 

 but from the very natural reluctance expressed by Mr. Rodd in the same 

 number of the ' Zoologist ' to admit its legitimate claim to belong to our 

 Fauna. This reluctance was increased in my case, as I knew of many 

 escapes from ponds in this immediate neighbourhood, including my own ; 



