4958 THE ZooLoGist—JUNE, 1876. 
reached, succeeded in bringing off two young ones. Within fifty yards of this 
bush runs a path, and it is a marvel to me the nest was never discovered 
and robbed. I visited it one day when I expected the young to be fully 
fledged, but was a day or two too late, for they had flown, although I noticed 
them with the old birds close at hand. On approaching the bush a wood 
pigeon flew out, and on climbing up to look at the nest I discovered the 
pigeon had built her nest by the side of the buzzard’s,—in fact, had 
evidently made use of some of its material,—the two nests being worked into 
each other. The pigeon must have commenced building before the young 
buzzards could have flown, for her nest contained two eggs, which apparently 
had been incubated for several days. The buzzard’s nest was a large 
structure composed of twigs and lined with cow-hair and wool.—Gervase F’. 
Mathew ; H.M.S. ‘ Britannia,’ Dartmouth, May 9, 1876. 
Hooded Merganser.—I must apologise to Mr. Gurney for having left his 
question concerning the occurrence of this species at Sheerness in March, 
1870, so long unanswered. The birds in question were merely the common 
redbreasted merganser, the male being in fine breeding plumage. Iam 
sorry such a mistake should have occurred, and can only attribute it to a 
slip of the pen, for I never noticed the error myself, and am much obliged 
for attention having been called to it, and hope the Editor will pardon me 
for not having observed and corrected it before.—TId. 
The Divers.—-It is not easy at the time when there are no traces of what 
is called the summer plumage, to distinguish our British species of divers 
(Colymbus) apart. ‘The blackthroated diver, in its plain gray garb, is a rock 
on which many a good observer has foundered. To me that bird has always 
been more difficult to distinguish from the great northern diver than from 
the redthroated. Iam at a loss to discover any difference in colour, except 
it be that the hind neck is somewhat grayer in the blackthroated. The 
blackthroated diver is a bird which varies much in size, but in that respect 
it is always between its two congeners.—J. H. Gurney, jun.; April 25,1876. 
Attitudes of the Guillemot.—If I am not mistaken, a question was raised 
some time ago in the * Zoologist’ concerning the attitude of the guillemots 
when they sit upon the rocks. I took note about it when I was at Flam- 
borough Head last month, and I found that about as many of them face the 
sea as face the cliff—it is six of one and half-a-dozen of the other; but 
what is curious is that these birds sit in clumps, and all of each clump 
generally face the same way. I could think of nothing that guided them in 
it, and I suppose it is purely a case of “follow my leader.” Whichever 
way the first guillemot which arrives on the ledge seats himself, the others 
follow suit.—Id. 
The Puffin—I should be glad to know if any of the readers of the 
‘ Zoologist’ have observed the power of the puffin, not only to stand erect 
on its feet, but also to walk on the rock with apparently the greatest ease ? 
OO a es a 
