TxHE ZooLtocist—May, 1876. 4923 
forgotten for a long time, but when at length it was revisited three or four 
tails appeared the only result. No doubt the surviving mouse, having 
devoured its companions, escaped by a desperate leap! The barn owl is not 
exempt from occasionally indulging itself with game, especially when it has 
to supply its young ones. I once noticed a bird of this species, in broad 
daylight, as it was skimming over a field, suddenly drop down upon a brood 
of young partridges, and carry off one in its talons. The poor mother 
partridge most bravely endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to give battle to 
the aggressor, whilst the father bird beat a retreat with his remaining young 
ones.— Arthur J. Clark-Kennedy ; Little Glemham, April 3, 1876. 
The Blackbreasted Dipper.—As I have received the Scandinavian dipper 
(Cinclus melanogaster) from Denmark, and also seen the Norfolk specimens, 
I have no doubt that Mr. Boyes is perfectly correct in assigning his bird to 
that race. A true species it can hardly be said to be, for examples occur 
with just a tinge of chesnut; such a one I have had from Spain. My 
Yorkshire example, to which Mr. Boyes alludes, and which was killed near 
Bridlington, and purchased by me of the late Mr. Jones, has a faint tinge. 
That all Kast Yorkshire dippers are Cinclus melanogaster is not probable. 
I feel sure I have seen C. aquaticus, which had been killed in that county, 
near the coast. Mr. Boyes asks about the plumage of the young dipper in 
autumn: writing from recollection, for I have not my collection to refer to, 
I should say the breast and under parts were all spotted. In that young 
stage it is the “ Penrith ouzel” of our old writers.—J. H. Gurney, jun. ; 
Edinburgh Hotel, Edinburgh, April 10, 1876. 
White Blackbird.—I got a very fine pure white variety of the blackbird 
this season; it was shot at Dromore, County Down. It has dark brown 
eyes, with orange eyelids and yellow beak, which prove it to be a mere 
variety, and not an albino. I have been told that there is one in a garden 
near Belfast, which has lived there for several years; it is also all pure 
white.— Thomas Darragh ; Belfast Museum. 
Habits of the Blackbird.—In North Berwick it seems to be the habit 
of blackbirds to perch upon housetops. I heard one singing beautifully in 
the evening—it was the 6th of April—from a factory chimney some eighty 
feet high—J. H. Gurney, jun. ; April 11, 1876. 
Blackbird with Pied Head.—Last November I shot a blackbird which 
had two dirty patches of white on each side of the head, close to its eyes. I 
should have preserved it, but it was in shocking condition, its tail, and 
many feathers from various parts of its body, being absent.—C. Matthew 
Prior ; Avenue, Bedford. 
Goldencrested Wren.—I am told by a very good observer of birds that 
last October one of those strange influxes of goldencrested wrens took place 
at Scarborough. Many were flitting about on the houses, and even in the 
streets boys might be seen striking at them with their caps. There can be 
