296 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
frequently seen on the top of a tree or the topmost or outside bramble of a 
hedge, where it sways about with the wind, uttering its call of “ U-tick, 
tick, tick,” occasionally introducing a “chat, chat.” They feed on flies, 
beetles, &c., and much resemble Stonechats in their pursuit of them and 
flight. They sit closely, and make a great fuss on the nest being approached, 
—H. G. Tomuinson (The Woodlands, Burton-on-Trent.) 
Tue Grossy [pis 1n DorsetsHireE.—The Glossy Ibis is occasionally 
met with in the neighbourhood of Poole Harbour. In 1859, to my 
knowledge no less than six of these birds occurred there ; and, as I believe 
no mention of them has been made in The ‘ Zoologist,’ it may be as well 
to record them. Five of the specimens in question are now in Wareham, 
one of them in my own possession. They were killed in the autumn in the 
upper part of the harbour, or rather on the marshes surrounding the 
mouths of the two rivers Frome and Trent. ‘They were probably all 
young birds, being in dull plumage, and wanting the richer shades of 
chestnut which characterise the adult A man named Gover told me that 
one stormy, wet morning in October, 1877, while going down to Poole in a 
“lighter” behind a tug steamer, just after daylight, he saw four birds on 
the mud at the edge of a small creek running into the Wareham channel ; 
that they were like Curlews in appearance, but stood a little higher on their 
legs, and were black in colour. This information he volunteered, remarking 
at the same time that he had no doubt the birds were “ Ibises—same as I 
shot afore,” alluding to the fact of his having killed one of the birds pro- 
cured in 1859. I think there can be no doubt that this species visited us 
again last year; but I am unable to state the fact from personal observa- 
tion. The man said the birds were very tame, allowing the tug and lighters 
to pass close by them, without offering to move; on their return from 
Poole the flowing tide had covered the banks, and of course the birds were 
gone. The man’s evidence was corroborated by the men on the tug. 
I have known him a long time, and he is very intelligent with regard to 
the harbour-birds. His occupation having necessitated his going up and 
down between Wareham and Poole on an average oftener than once a day 
for the last twenty or thirty years, he has naturally had good opportunities 
for observation. He has not shown much worldly wisdom, however, in the 
price he has asked and accepted for some of the rarer birds shot by him, 
e.g., half-a-crown for a splendid specimen of ‘ Sabine’s Snipe,” and five 
shillings for a perfect adult-plumaged Common Crane (Grus cinerea.) He 
had some difficulty in getting so much for it, and had actually determined 
to take it home and eat it, as it was a large fut bird, and he calculated that 
it would be of more use to his family in the way of sustenance than the 
half-crown he was munificently offered for it! At last, however, he got his 
five shillings, and the Crane was saved.—T. M. Pix: (Westport, Wareham), 
