The Zoologist— November, 1868. 1457 



bird came and hovered over the spot, in hopes of another spell at the blood ; but his 



w "of Z a a h f ?i dead t0 the labourer ' s sbot T saw the bhd " ext ^ ■« *• 



house of Mr. Ambrose, of this place, to whom it bad been sent for preservation. Mr. 

 WW ard has s.nce k.ndly furnished me with the above information. As far as I know, 



2 iirtl S h eCOnd , ,nStanCe ° f the Ca f' tUle of Vultur Percnopterus in GreatBritaiu, 

 the fim hav.ng been shot on the shores of the Bristol Channel, as recorded by Yarrell 

 Morns, Macgilhvray, &c, in 1825. It is quite possible that it has more fL,ue y 

 "sued our shores, though not captured. Mr. Laver, of this town, informs me Z 



PeTdonT, a8 ° fl J f f er ', Wh ° liVed " ear BUrnhara > «"*« »" * E - -a" than 

 ^ ev wee aC n h °V UU r\ f0r Sem ' al dayS am °^ lhe h ^ ■« ^hiafixrm. 



I fll erent. V V 7 headS ' aDd W6re m ° St Pr ° bab, y the E ^" tia « *»« 



At all erenlSj , h)s b d must now> j th . ukj ^ ranke(j ^^^ , 



umir S ! ran f T, ,iCh ' ViSit ° UI Sll ° reS - The Sp6Cimen ™ Sb0t "» ^ «-2l2 

 plumage As u differs in some respects from all the definitions of this bird, I will 



deta.l us descr.pt.on, made by myself the day after the bird was shot: -Length 26 



Lot!; ' W 7 WfngS 3 5 f6et 3 inCh6S 5 Car P" S t0 l, 'P 0f ™Z W inches ; tail 10 

 mche beak from gape * inches; tarsus 3 inches; middle toe, without law, a* 



B akV,; r/'b 7 : "SV ° Uter t0G 2 ' ° n midd ' e 3 ' ° D iDD " t0e 3 > bi » d to'e 1 

 down to fl r h - C : ,0Ur ' If b00k black I ™ brown ; cere blue, with stumpv feathers 



of beat a„7ob "^^ tbe ^ and *■ ««- ■*«** which is'ln middle 



Crown of h 1 !' J u ^ *' ° pen and SUn ° Unded ** sl ™W *>*■* 

 Crown of head naked, with small downy rudimentary feathers brown and cream- 



co bored. Upper plumage.-B*ck of neck brown, each feather tipped with dark cream- 



k nn" llhth CreaU1 : COl0 ; lr ' "J* dark Sbaft ! back «« rump cream-colour ; scapularies 



long I,g thrown t.pped with light cream-colour; upper tail-coverts cream-colour; 



1 fourteen feathers, wedge-shaped, the upper feathers brown, broadly tipped with 



mSHfTV r° S '■ . Pr r" eS dalk b, ° W "' tLe tbi '- dl - g -t; secondares brown, 

 da ker at the t.ps, but edged on to outer side of the m.ddle of each feather with cream- 

 colour; tertiar.es brown, tipped with cream-colour ; upper wing-coverts mottled with 

 brown and cream colour. Under plumage. -Neck and crop dark brown; abdomen 

 hght brown, with a few dark feathers ; under tail-coverts light cream-colour ; under 

 ta.l-feathers slate-brown, broadly tipped and margined with light cream-colour ; win-s 

 underneath dark slaty brown, the upper margin beautifully mottled with dark brow°n 

 and cream colour; primaries, as seen from below, emarginated or scolloped at their 

 W, and the shafts marked with blue dots. The Egyptian vulture is common in 

 bpa.n, and has a wide range, extending through France, Norway, Egypt (where it is 

 known as Pharaoh's chicken), South Africa, and is abundant in India. Peldon 

 where this b.rd was shot, is the next parish inland to Mersea.- C. R Bree ■ Col- 

 Chester, October 8, 1868. 



Snowy Owl in Inverness-shire. - A beautiful specimen of the snowy owl (Surnia 

 nyctea) was shot last week at Knockie, by Mr. Charles Peel, and sent to Mr. Macleay 

 Inverness, for preservation. It measures 4 ft. 10 in. from tip to tip of its wings, 2 ft! 

 3 .n. from the beak to the end of the tail, and is in splendid plumage. It is rather 

 a cur,ou S c.rcumstance that the last specimen known to have been killed in these parts 

 should have been got at Knockie about four years ago.-' Inverness Advertiser.' 



Blackbird with white-barred Tail.-We have a blackbird, taken from a nest in our 

 garden at Winchester last July, with a beautifully white-barred tail : it is ten weeks 

 SECOND SERIES — VOL. III. 3 K 



