OCCASIONAL NOTES. 23 
but I believe not. It may be recollected that in the volume of ‘The 
Zoologist’ for 1875 (2nd ser. £692) I mentioned the fact that most of the pied 
Blackbirds I had seen had more white about the head than upon any other 
part of the body, and this observation was confirmed by Mr. Gurney (Zool. 
2nd ser. 4869). Recently, however, I have seen two specimens which proved 
the rule by forming the exception. One of these had a white tail, anda 
few pale feathers upon its back, and, as far as I know, is’ still alive, not far 
from the forest, where I have seen it once or twice in my rambles. The 
other specimen was killed by a boy with a stone, at Mudeford, near 
Christchurch, on the 16th of September. He had seen it many times 
bathing on the sea-shore, and although sought after by several persons for 
a week or two previously, it escaped till the date I have named. This 
specimen had the upper part of the back, wing coverts, and a band across 
the belly white, giving it almost the appearance of having a white belt 
round the body. ‘There were a few pale feathers about the neck, and at the 
base of the tail, but very little white about the head.—G. B. Corsin. 
OrnitHoLoGicaL Nores rroM THE Iste or WicHt.—On the 19th of 
September both Swallows and Martins, mostly immature birds, were 
observed to be congregating in considerable numbers, seemingly about to 
migrate. By the 20th of October there was a general move, and few were 
to be seen after the 25th, and none after the 4th of November. I have been 
informed by Mr. Careless, naturalist, of Sea View, that he has had a hand- 
some male Roughlegged Buzzard sent him for preservation, which was 
captured on the 13th of October, at Pelham Lodge, Ryde. It entered by 
an open window, and was found to be in poor condition; it had sustained 
an injury in the leg, and died the following day. Length, twenty-two inches ; 
extent of wings, forty-eight inches. Mr. Smith, writing on the 8th November, 
tells me that he has had seven Short-eared Owls brought to him in a 
fortnight, and that he usually gets some at the autumnal migration. Few 
Kestrels remain with us during the winter, but one was seen on the 25th 
of October, in a six mile walk on the Downs. In reply to the editorial 
queries (Zool. 2nd ser. 5160) as to when, where, and by whom a specimen 
of the Spotted Crake I recorded was shot, I am now informed that the bird 
was found on the 14th September beneath the telegraph-wires on the Cowes 
and Newport Railway, having, apparently, in its flight, come in contact 
with them; showing that, like many other species, it is nocturnal in its 
migration. Not being very rare, I merely noted its occurrence.—HENRY 
Haprievp (Ventnor, Isle of Wight). 
DartrorD WARBLER IN CornwaLL.—In Mr. Rodd’s “ List of the 
Birds of Cornwall ” (Zool. 2nd ser. 2231) the Dartford Warbler is included as 
a rare species, with the statement that ‘‘ no very satisfactory record exists of 
the capture of this small Warbler westward, although it has been seen in 
some furzy ground in the parish of Madron.” Ornithologists, therefore, 
