The Zoologist— April, 1871. 2563 



fuU-plumaged birds in Cornwall : those that have hitherto come under my 

 notice have been birds in the immature [AiimsLge.— Edward Hearle Rodd; 

 Penzance, March 3, 1871. 



Rednecked Grebe and Bittern in Somerset.— Mr. Bidgood, the curator 

 of the Museum at Taunton, has a very fine rednecked grebe in his 

 possession, whicli he bought of one of the public-house keepers at Taunton, 

 •who was vainly endeavouring to delude his customers into having it for 

 dmner, under the impression that it was a wigeon. It is a very fine 

 specimen, with much of the red of the full adult plumage appearing on the 

 neck : it had been shot at North Curry, on the 16th of February. The 

 bittern I saw at the Museum on the 4th ; it had been shot that morning on 

 the Sandhill estate, near here, and brought in for Mr. Bidgood to stuff.— 

 Cecil Smith; Lydeard House, Taunton, March 6, 1871. 



Blacli Swan and Kooper near Deal.— During the late frost about nine 

 swans visited the marshes : three were shot, but they were in very poor 

 condition, weighing about fifteen pounds : one was a black swan {Cygnus 

 atratus).—H. J. Harding; 131, Lower Street, Deal. 



Storm Petrel near Wantage.— March 7. To-day I saw a specimen of 

 the storm petrel that was found dead near Wantage a short time since : the 

 body was quite dry and hard, and could not be skinned.— IF. H. Herbert ; 

 Wyfield Manor, Boxford, March 16, 1871. 



Albatross in Derbyshire.- 1 copy the following from the ' Field ' of the 

 17th of December, which I shall be much obliged if you will reprint, as it 

 proves my father to have been quite right :— " The simple facts of the case 

 are that the bird in question {i. e. the albatross) was never shot by Mr. West 

 until long after its death at the hands of some other imitator of the ' Ancient 

 Mariner.' The bird was brought to Clay Cross, as I am informed, by a 

 guard in the employ of the Midland Railway, who had picked it up after it 

 had been ejected from some museum on account of its bad condition. It 

 had no feet, and had been badly stuffed, whilst its weight was certainly not 

 over 10 lbs., instead of 50 lbs. as West represented." The above letter is 

 signed by the Editor of the 'Derbyshire Times.' According to the 

 ' Analyst ' (vol. vi. pp. 160, 161), an albatross was once shot on the Trent 

 at Stockwith. For some very judicious remarks on the right of this species 

 to be included in the European list, see Schlegel's 'Revue Critique,' 

 Partii., p. 111. — J. H. Gurney, jim. ; Hanover Square, March 3, 1871. 



[Referring to my note (S. S. 2527), where I have said, " the statement 

 cannot be rejected on the single score of improhahiUty,'" I intend to convey 

 the idea that there is a graver reason for rejecting it. Mr. West declares, 

 " I shot this monstrous bird near Claycross Station, and had several shots 

 before I could capture it, having nothing but No. 4 shot to shoot with. 

 * * * Its weight was upwards of fifty pounds." This I rejected, and 

 still reject, not as "improbable," but as obviously untrue. His statement 



