114 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



there lias been no great flight of birds bred at a distance. I saw the first. 

 Teal on October Oth. On the 2)st of that mouth T counted eight Pochards 

 on Clattercutt Reservoir, and have since seen as many as a score together. 

 A Tufted Duck has been joined by three others. Wigeou appear to have 

 been very scarce, the first I heard of was on November 19th. On the l^th 

 January I watched for some time three Goldeneyes, Claugula glaucion, on 

 the reservoir. One was a beautiful male, almost, if not quite, adult; the 

 others were in brown plumage, and apparently females, from their smaller 

 size. Some of the common Wild Ducks were paired by that date, as one 

 might almost e.xpect, considering the extremely mild season. A male 

 Siskin, which I have since obtained, was taken by a Goldfinch catcher 

 at Broughton about November 10th; this may have been one of the 

 Nortliiini|itonsl)ire birds (Zool. 1883, p. 502) which had passed further 

 southwest. — Oi.ivEH V. Api.in (Great Bourton, near Banbury). 



Grey Shrike near Carlisle.— A female Shrike was shot on the IGth 

 January last, in the immediate neighbourhood of Carlisle, which appears 

 to be intermediate between Lanius major and L. excuhitor. The bases of 

 the secondaries are slightly tinged on the inner edge with greyish white, 

 but the outer edges are black. It was much discoloured by smoke, having 

 haunted the neighbourhood of the Caledonian Railway for at least a week. 

 When observed by me, on January 12th, it was perched almost motionless 

 on the inside of a tall hedgerow, towards the top. It looked very grey and 

 dark, until it saw nie, when it flew swiftly across the corner of the field, 

 showing well the first white bands across the black wings. The Great 

 Grey Shrike has often occurred in Cumberland, — an old male was shot at 

 Kirklinton last December,— but I have not yet e.xamined a local thorough- 

 bred Pallas' Grey Shrike. The above-mentioned female Shrike weighed 

 two ounces and half-a-drachm. — H. A. MACPiiERSON (Carlisle). 



Variety of the Yellowhammer. — Last March a curious variety of the 

 Yellowhammer, with bright rufous marks, about one-fourth of an inch long, 

 on either side of tlie chin, and a tinge of the same colour over the eye, was 

 netted at Coldham Common, near Cambridge, and is at present in the 

 possession of Mr. Daggett, taxidermist. The rest of the plumage is of 

 the normal type of a cock bird. — J. H. Gurney, jun. 



Little Gull at Rainham, Keut. — A Little Gull was shot on the 

 Medway near here on the 17th September last. It was prettily mottled 

 on the back with black and white, all the under plumage being a pure 

 white. The bird is still with IMr. Charles Gordon, of the Dover Museum, 

 where I sent it to be stufled. On the 7th February, 1870, I shot an 

 immature Little Gull when flying over a ploughed field beside the river; 

 the wind at the time was blowing strong from the east. On the 14th 

 a Little Gull, an adult in winlei' plumage, was brought me, which was 



