4804 THE ZooLoGisT—FEeEBRvARY, 1876. 
Great Crested Grebe near Kingsbridge.—On the 24th of December a 
female specimen of the great crested grebe was shot near the mouth of the 
river Avon.—R. P, Nicholls. 
Blackthroated Diver in Somersetshire.—A few days ago, in the shop of 
Mr. Petherick, the birdstuffer, at Taunton, I saw a blackthroated diver, 
which had been shot near Williton at the latter end of November: it was 
an adult bird, in nearly perfect plumage, except that the black on the throat 
was slightly mottled with white. This is the rarest of the three British 
divers in the West of England, not being common even in winter or young 
plumage, and is the first Somersetshire specimen I have seen. A great 
northern diver, in very nearly the same plumage, was shot about the same 
time in the marsh, which has been much flooded all through November and 
December.—Cecil Smith. 
Blackthroated Diver in Filey Bay,—At Filey, on the 14th of December, 
Mr. Brown showed me a splendid adult blackthroated diver, in almost full 
plumage, which was shot in the Bay on the 10th. The immature birds are 
not uncommon; several have been met with lately —dJulian G. Tuck ; 
December 21, 1875. 
Sandwich Tern on Filey Brigg.—On the 18th of December Mr. Brown 
sent me a fine male specimen of the Sandwich tern, shot on Filey Brigg on 
the 15th. This is by no means.a common species on the east coast, and 
certainly the middle of December is not a time when one would expect to 
meet with it. My bird was perfectly healthy and in high condition, so 
its late stay could not be attributed to a shot-wound or anything of the 
kind.—Id. 
Glaucous Gull at Flamborough.—On the 27th of November I received 
an immature glaucous gull from Flamborough. Several more have been 
killed on the coast.—Id. 
Little Gulls off Flamborough Head.—Three little gulls (all immature) 
were shot by Mr. Bailey, off Flamborough Head, during the first week in 
November.—d. 
Second Instance of the Audacity of the Skua,—I have another instance 
to give you of what I suspect to be the audacity of the common skua 
(Stercorarius catarrhactes (Linn.). A gentleman was walking on the shore 
in Northumberland, when a bird, which was described to me as a large 
gull, made an attack upon him. He warded off its first blow with his arm, 
and when it came at him the second time he succeeded, by a quick clutch, 
in seizing one of its wings. Unfortunately he had not a tight hold of it, 
and the bird—whatever it was—broke away from him and went out to 
sea.—J. H. Gurney, jun. 
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