230 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
of plumage to which the Common Partridge is liable, he says (p. 80), “those 
birds which frequent and are bred on the marshy grounds of the Zuyder 
Zee and mouth of the Meuse are less in size and of a duller tint than those 
found in the drier lands of Belgium.” He observes correctly enough in his 
very first sentence that “this variety has been said to be more frequently 
found in alpine districts than in lowlands, but they are known to mingle 
occasionally with those of the common plumage.” Some years ago we 
received a Partridge of this colour, which with others like it had been shot 
in Northumberland : it is preserved in the collection of Mr. Bond.—Ep.] 
Cuckoo in ReppisH Brown Piumace tn Sprine.—In every point of 
its economy the Cuckoo seems destined to perplex naturalists. The 
occasional occurrence of brown Cuckoos in the spring must be known to 
everyone who has made a study of British birds. I say “brown” as 
contrasted with the adult gray plumage. They generally are more rufous 
than the young of the year, these brown birds differing from them about 
as much as the young in September often differ from one another. I have 
seen several of these curiously-coloured Cuckoos, and I have two in my 
possession, one a male shot at or near Cambridge in 1868, and another, the 
sex of which was not ascertained, shot at Bridlington, in Yorkshire. The 
latter measures :—Wing, 7% inches; tarsus, }inch; culmen, finch. Both 
are small, under-sized birds, and I may add that both have the occiput 
blotched with white, but I do not know that this is curious, as I have 
often noticed it in young Cuckoos in September.—J. H. Gurney, Jun. 
(Northrepps Hall, Norwich). 
DartrorD WARBLER IN Surrotk.—On the 6th April I came upon a 
pair of these little birds among some furze-bushes on the heath near Blax- 
hall, Suffolk. One of them (probably the male) was flying restlessly from 
bush to bush, something in the manner of a Stonechat or Whinchat, 
uttering all the while a sort of scolding note, similar to that of many of 
the warblers when nesting: the other was shyer, and kept diving into the 
bushes, not allowing me to have a good view of her. ‘This is the second 
time I have met with this bird near here. (See ‘ Zoologist,’ 1874, p. 3865). 
Mr. Stevenson, in the same volume (p. 3914), mentions a specimen shot on . 
Nacten Heath as being the only other Suffolk example he was aware of; so 
that the above-mentioned pair make the third occurrence, so far as I know, 
of this species in this county—G. T. Ropr (Blaxhall, Wickham Market).}) 
REDNECKED GREBE 1N Essex.—On February 3rd I observed a Red- 
necked Grebe on the large sheet of water in Wanstead Park. My 
companion and myself, both provided with telescopes, were able to approach 
within easy range by taking advantage of its diving. The bird was un- 
mistakably a Grebe, and in order to verify the species with certainty I made 
a rough sketch on the spot, noting the following characters ;—The white on 
the throat and cheeks clearly defined and running back under the black 
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