5080 ‘Tue ZooLocist—S EPTEMBER, 1876. 
Woodchat Shrike at Lyme Regis.—On the 22nd of June, being on the 
Lyme Undercliff with a companion,—both of us provided with good 
telescopes,—we observed a fine male woodchat shrike perched on one of 
the bushes which abound over that vast tract of tumbled ground. I had 
no doubt of the identity of the bird; but, not having seen one before 
in this country, I made a sketch while watching it, noting carefully the 
arrangement of its colours—remarking the rich red-brown of the upper 
part of the head and neck, the black line running backwards from the 
forehead and inclosing the eye, the large white patch on the shoulder and 
the smaller white mark on the otherwise black wing, and the pale gray of 
the throat and breast. These observations we were able to make at our 
leisure, as the bird remained for some minutes before us, within easy range, 
frequently changing its position, turning now its front and now its side to 
our view. My notes having been taken down and verified on the spot, 
though they are imperfect as a description of the shrike, are yet sufficient to 
leave no doubt as to the identity of the species —Arthur Lister ; Highcliff, 
Lyme Regis. (From the ‘ Field,’ July 8, 1876.) 
Fauces of the Blackeap.— Prof. Newton, on the authority of Beltoni, says 
the fauces of the nestling blackeap are pink (Zool. 8. S. 3527), and further 
on Mr. Cecil Smith, from personal observation, speaks of them as pale 
pink (S.S. 3627). A few weeks ago I found a blackeap’s nest, with eggs in 
it on which the old bird was sitting, and her young when hatched had what 
I should term mouths of a bright red-lake colour. On my last visit to the 
nest they were nearly fit to fly, and I took one of them out of the nest to 
examine it.—J. H. Gurney, jun. 
Blue Tit nesting in a Hole used by a Kingfisher.— A few days since 
I went with a boy to be shown a hole where a pair of kingfishers had bred 
this year. It is near the top of a small arch which is under the canal and 
through which a stream runs: it is about two feet from the entrance to the 
arch. On looking into this hole I saw a bird which was not inclined to 
come out; however, after a little poking with a stick, out came a blue tit 
into my hands: it was a little frightened and glad to fly away. It was 
impossible, from the shape and size of the hole, to ascertain whether it 
contained eggs or young birds. So far as my experience goes, kingfishers 
prefer nesting in holes in the banks of streams to holes in masonry.— 
J. E. Palmer ; Lucan, County Dublin, July 22, 1876. 
‘Supposed new British Lark” (Zool. 1697).—The isabelline variety of 
our common sky lark, which is not of infrequent occurrence, is described as 
a species upon anatomical grounds, under the name of Alauda isabellina, 
in the fifth volume of the ‘ Zoologist’ (Zool. 1697), by Mr. S. Mummery. 
The passage is alluded to in the first volume of Dresser's ‘ Birds of 
Europe’ (article Skylark), under the head of varieties, and everyone will 
agree with the author that under that head these birds must go. Having 
