NOTES AND QUERIES. 113 



nibbling one ear of a smaller mouse, which was crouching in a quiescent 

 state, as though in some manner mesmerised ; but when I interrupted 

 the operation and removed the patient from the cage to some rough grass 

 it speedil}' recovered its activity and made its escape. These mice, after 

 being kept for some months in confinement, may not unfrequently be seen 

 nibbling off the tops of their own tails, just as is sometimes done by tame 

 monkeys. I may add that in the spring T give my Harvest Mice twigs of 

 hazel, the leaf-buds and partly-expanded leaves of which thev devour with 

 great avidity. Also that a bunch of fresh moss, with the earth adhering to 

 the roots, seems to be a great treat to them ; they eagerly burrow into it, 

 probably in search of small insects and similar dainties. — J. H. Gueney 

 (Northrepps Hall, Norwich). 



BIRDS. 



Rough-legged Buzzard in Shetland. — Some weeks ago I received from 

 my native island of Unst a fine specimen of the Rough-legged Buzzard, 

 Buteo lagopus, shot at Haroldswick. This bird, although frequently occur- 

 ring elsewhere in the British Isles, has not before been observed in Shetland, 

 so far as I am aware. It is not included in Dr. Sa.xby's list, and its 

 appearance in Unst is therefore possibly worthy of being recorded as an 

 addition to the number of occasional feathered visitors. I am indebted for 

 this handsome bird to Mr. Thomas Thomson, of Baltasound, who carefully 

 preserved the skin and sent it to me. He mentions that it was a female, and 

 apparently adult, both observations being borne out by the measurements 

 and plumage. — T. Edmondston (Jan. 24). 



Waxwing in Shetland. — A specimen of the Waxwing was shot in 

 January last at Norwick, Unst, and submitted to Mr. J. T. Garrick, who 

 writes, " This bird has been met with in Shetland only at very rare intervals. 

 Dr. Saxby has mentioned its occurrence in Unst in 1861, and again on the 

 mainland in 1866. In the spring of 1851 several were seen on the main- 

 land by Mr. Dunn." Unfortunately the specimen now referred to had 

 been kept uuskiuned so long that it was found impossible to preserve it. 



Food of the Stone Curlew. — In my note on the food of the Stone 

 Curlew (p. 68) I see I must have made a clerical error, writing Helix 

 variahiUs for Helix vermiculata. Both are equally common here, but the 

 substance of the shell of H. vermiculata is considerably thicker than that of 

 H. variabilis, and is also larger. — E..F. Becher. 



Wildfowl in North Oxfordshire. — A Dunlin, Tringa alpina, was shot 

 in the Cherwell Valley, at Gouldern, on November 9th ; it was seen in 

 company with two others wading in a partly flooded meadow, and allowed 

 my informant to walk up within shot. Wildfowl have not been plentiful 

 this winter. Of Mallard and Duck we have had comparatively few, and 



ZOOLOGIST. — MARCH, 1884. K 



