NOTES AND QUERIES. 147 



I believe they were not shot at while here, but were very shy and wild. 

 They always rose from the water very soon after one came within sight 

 of them, and flew with a strong and rapid flight, high in the air, to a 

 more distant part of the lake. They did not associate with the Wigeon, 

 Wild Duck, Coots, or Waterhens, and, unlike the AVigeon, which spend the 

 day until evening, when they commence feeding, with their bills buried in 

 the plumage of the back, they were always on the alert when on tiie water 

 with neck and head erect. They disappeared about the middle of January, 

 and have not been seen since. I am not aware that the Tufted Duck has been 

 recorded as met with in this county before; it does not appear to have 

 been observed here of late years, although, as naturalists are scarce here, 

 and perhaps those who record their observations still more so, it may be 

 that this species is not in reality a very rare visitor. In tlie market in 

 Dublin I saw three Tufted Ducks during the winter, which were said to 

 have been obtained in the neighbourhood, probably on the Dublin coast. — 

 J. E. Palmer (Lyons Mills, Straffan, Co. Kildare). 



Great Grey Shrike in Devonshire. — Seeing two specimens of this 

 winter visitant recorded (pp. 68, 69) has reminded me to send you the 

 record of a male specimen shot on the Kingsbridge Estuary by Mr. W. C. 

 Mackie. I visited the spot on the following day, and found the remains of 

 a Chaffinch, " spitted " by the Butcher-bird on a thorn-bush, which, from 

 its position, must have been impaled alive. Is Lanius excuhitur considered 

 graminivorous as well as carnivorous ? for I found a number of seeds in its 

 stomach and gizzard. The bird is in the possession of Mr. Henry Nicholls, 

 and is the only specimen that has occurred here during the long course of 

 his observation in South Devon. Referring to another subject, that of 

 method in recording observations suggested by Mr. Harvie Brown, I give 

 his plan my unqualified approval, believing that many men who have little 

 time to write out a sheet of foolscap would gladly jot down on the form 

 described the information desired, and a stimulus would be given to recording 

 facts bearing on Ornithology. — Edmund A. S. Elliot (Kingsbridge, Devon). 



Sooty Shearwater at Redcar.— On Sept. 17th last, while Mr. E. B. 

 Emerson and J were out shooting about two miles off Redcar, I secured an 

 example of the Sooty Shearwater, Pvffinus f/riseus, a bird new to the York- 

 shire fauna. The sea was perfectly calm, and when we first observed it, it 

 was resting on the water in company with two Razorbills, and allowed us 

 to row up within easy range. I disabled it and got it into the boat, and 

 proceeded to kill it by pressing it across the breast ; it was possessed of 

 great strength, and fought and scratched with its claws in the same way as 

 a Pomatorhine Skua (see ' The Field,' Dec. 20, 1879). Messrs. H. Stevenson 

 and Howard Saunders have kindly assisted me in identifying this bird, 

 which Mr. Stevenson exhibited at a meeting of the Noifolk and Norwich 



