26 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Great BustarD 1n Essex.—A specimen of the Great Bustard was 
shot by Mr. A. Pertwee, at Woodham Ferrers, near Hull Bridge, on 
December 5th. This is avery rare bird in Essex, I think the first recorded. 
It is now in my possession, and will make a fine addition to my collection of 
rare birds.—C. Smoorny (Chelmsford). 
Virginian Corin 1x Norrotx.—On December 5th, when shooting at 
Northwold, near Brandon, I secured a game-bird which I never saw on the 
wing before—namely, a Virginian Colin (Ortya virginianus). We flushed 
two (one of which escaped) out of a belt of broom and furze on Foulden 
Heath. On the wing it looked very like a miniature Red-legged Partridge, 
and, like it, flew very fast and straight. There is no reason to suppose that 
these birds crossed over from America—a feat which indeed they would be 
physically incapable of accomplishing, except through the agency of man. 
No doubt they or their progenitors were originally turned out in some other 
part of the county, and wandered to the spot where we found them. I have 
since ascertained that several hundreds haye been turned out at different 
times by Mrs. Lyne Stephens at Lynford, by Lord Walsingham at Merton, 
and by the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh at Elvedon, near Thetford. The one 
shot on December 5th was in excellent condition, notwithstanding the 
severity of the weather and the apparent difficulty of obtaining food. Both 
crop and stomach were full of seeds of the furze. The measurements were 
as follows :—Total length, 9} inches; bill, nearly }inch; wing from carpus 
to end of longest primary (the fourth), 4} inches; tarsus, 13 inch; middle 
toe, with nail, 1g inch nearly ; expanse of wings, nearly 14 inches; weight, 
nearly 8 oz.—J. E. Harrine. 
Lesser TERNS BREEDING ON THE WickLow Coast.—In reference 
to an observation of Mr. Cox (Zool. 1879, p. 485), I may mention that 
I found a small colony of Lesser Terns, about thirty or forty birds, 
breeding on the Wicklow coast last summer.—WiLLiam W. FLemyNe 
(18, Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin). 
LarGE-HEADED Cop art THE Mourn or tHE THames.—In the last 
published number of the ‘Journal of the Linnean Society’ (vol. xiv. No. 80, 
p- 689) is a paper by Dr. Francis Day on the occurrence of Morrhua macro- 
cephala at the mouth of the Thames. ‘This fish was captured at Southend, 
but died in transit on its way to London. A second example taken with it, 
and stated to be exactly similar, was not preserved. Dr. Day considers it 
to be a distinct species from the Common Cod, and possibly identical with 
the “Lord Fish” of Yarrell. After quoting the opinions of Dr. Cobbold (Proc. 
Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinb., 1854-58, vol. i., p. 51), Dr. J. A. Smith (op. cit., 
vol. iij., p. 302), and Dr. Dyce (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., 1860, vol. v., p. 366), 
