4832 Tue ZooLocist—MarcHu, 1876. 
of the shorteared owl (Otus brachyotus) have made their appearance this 
season in this district. Many have been shot, and on several occasions 
six, eight, ten and even twelve have been flushed in a single field— Henry 
Nicholls ; Kingsbridge, Devon. 
Barn Owl and its Castings.— The other day I was examining some 
pellets or castings of the barn owl, and found they consisted principally of 
entire skulls of the house sparrow. There was one skull of the short-tailed 
field mouse, and to my surprise one of the common shrew, showing that if 
hard up the bird will overcome the repugnance it has to shrews as food.— 
Robert Mitford ; Haverstock Place, Hampstead, July 9, 1876. 
Great Gray Shrike in East Yorkshire.—This bird seems to have been 
scarcer than usual in this part of the county this autumn. When the tide 
of migratory birds sets in from the north, and woodcocks, shorteared owls, 
redwings, fieldfares, &c., make their appearance on this coast, a few great 
gray shrikes are generally shot, but so far only one specimen has come 
under my notice; it was shot at Spurn the last week in October, and was a 
very clearly marked bird. Mr. Richardson, in whose hands I saw it for 
preservation, had saved the body for my inspection, but it was in such a 
bad state IT could not make out the sex, and was unable to ascertain its age, 
though, judging from its general appearance, it would be taken for an old 
bird, the markings were so distinct and pure; still its breast was barred, 
and we are told in Prof. Newton's ‘“‘ Yarrell” that this is an unmistakable 
sign of youth: we are also told, quoting from Sharp and Dresser, that the 
double white bar on the wings—caused by the basal half of the secondaries 
and primaries being of that colour—is more fully developed in adult birds. 
I wish to point out that I have just compared a few specimens, and am 
inclined to think, with all due deference to such an eminent authority as 
Prof. Newton, that the barred breast is not always a sign of youth: the 
younger birds are no doubt more distinctly barred (though I am not quite 
sure that this is so in all cases); nevertheless, adults—birds showing the 
double bar very clearly, and having their secondaries broadly margined with 
white—have still their breasts slightly barred, whilst I have a bird without 
any trace of bars on the breast, and apparently a fine old bird that has not 
the double bar on the wings.—F’. Boyes ; Beverley. 
PS. Since the above was written, I have heard of at least four specimens 
of this bird being obtained in East Yorkshire.—/’. B. 
The Claim of the White-collared Flycatcher to a Place in the British 
List.—Messrs. Pratt and Sons, the well-known taxidermists, informed me 
that they saw a pied flycatcher with a distinct white collar on the 24th of 
April, 1871, at Brighton, which may have been a white-collared flycatcher 
(Muscicapa collaris). ‘This species was introduced by Mr. Gould into the 
British list. In his ‘ Birds of Great Britain,’ began in 1862 and completed 
in 1873, he has given a beautiful figure of it. I fear it must, however, be 
