1382 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
Sandpipers on the rocks at the Devil's Point, Stonehouse; so many are not 
often seen together on this part of the coast. Kittiwakes are now plentiful ; 
and a friend who has just returned from America tells me that Kittiwakes 
were constantly following in the wake of the ship, the whole way from New 
York to within about a hundred miles of the coast of Ireland, when their 
place was taken by Black-backed Gulls, both young and old. He also 
informed me that the common Sparrow is now as plentiful in New York as 
in any part of England, and that he was much surprised to see so many 
varieties among them, a large proportion being more or less marked with 
white. Can this be owing to change of climate? Whilst on the subject of 
varieties I may here mention that a Chaffinch having a pure white tail has 
lately been seen near Plymouth; a Bullfinch has been caught, with the top 
of its head white; and a few days since I examined a pretty pied Blackbird, 
strange to say the largest bird of its species I ever saw. During January, 
considering the general mildness of the weather, a tolerable number of 
Wigeon and Teal were exposed for sale in our market, together with an 
adult female Goosander, a young Goldeneye, and a few Pochards. Ocea- 
sionally I heard flocks of Wigeon flying up the River Tamar after dark. 
A little Grebe was brought to a local bird-stuffer, with its breast still 
clouded with dusky as in the breeding season, but without any traces of 
chestnut on the cheeks; its stomach contained nothing but the remains of 
shrimps. On February Ist I examined a common Guillemot, which had 
already assumed its full breeding dress; and on the 10th observed Larus 
ridibundus, showing apparently the full dark head; and by the 19th 
several more in various states of change. On this date I first heard the 
spring cry of the Herring Gull, and was much interested in watching 
thirteen Herons in the middle of a ploughed field among flocks of Lapwings 
and Golden Plovers. About one half the Herons were at rest, but the 
others cautiously stalking about the field, with partially contracted necks, 
which were often darted forward, apparently to strike at earthworms, grubs, 
and insects. On the 20th February a Bartailed Godwit was killed near 
Plymouth—a very uncommon species with us at this season, but tolerably 
numerous in the autumn and sometimes during spring. Chaffinches are 
now in full song, and I have remarked Pied Wagtails in perfect breeding 
dress. A gentleman shooting on Dartmoor, not long since, killed a Snipe, 
but before he could pick it up, a falcon, or hawk of some species, dashed 
down and carried it off. Instances of this kind, I have heard, are not 
very uncommon; indeed, when shooting from a boat, I have known Dun- 
lins carried off from the water, by the larger Gulls, in a similar manner,— 
JoHN GATCOMBE. 
Birps striking THE Lanrerns or Licurnouses.—With regard to 
Mr. E. T. Booth’s remarks (p. 100) on the “ Migration of Birds in the 
