806 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
slender in shape; it flew with its tail forked. I heard its cry twice after- 
wards, but was unable to get another sight of it, and I saw it no more. Of 
its being a Woodpecker I have not the slightest doubt. Perhaps some of 
your readers who have heard the cry of the Black Woodpecker may be 
enabled to test the correctness of my surmise. It had a most resonant and 
startling cry, and I cannot do better than liken it to the note of alarm of 
the Curlew, omitting the “courlee” with which that bird always finishes. 
About a fortnight since a man picked up in a wood on a farm near 
Talgarth, in this county, a young Woodcock that was unable to fly; there 
were two others in the same spot. This confirms my idea that the Wood- 
cock occasionally nests here, and I have found the same from the very early 
birds that are killed from time to time here, and which I have no doubt 
have been bred in this county. I had also last week the pleasurable oppor- 
tunity of examining the Garganey, Querquedula circia, killed by Mr. Alfred 
Crawshay, and reported by him in ‘ The Field.’ It is a female bird, and a 
nice specimen. It was killed on the old course of the River Usk, near 
Talybont, and was by itself. This old course of the river is now choked up 
with rushes and willows, and is an excellent place for all kinds of duck. 
The common Wild Duck breeds here every year. Mr. Crawshay tells me 
that he saw an Osprey, Pandion haliaétus, last year at Llangorse Lake. It 
dashed down on the water several times, but he did not see it actually take 
a fish; this is the third occurrence of this bird, to my knowledge, in this 
county. While on this subject I may mention a most singular shot made 
right and left last winter by Mr. Crawshay at a flock of Goosanders, Mergus 
merganser ; one barrel killed one and the other two old males in most 
splendid plumage. I saw the three stuffed. He tells me there were 
about eight in the flock, and finding he could not get near them he 
sent an attendant to drive them over his head, with the above result.— 
E. CamBrinGE Paruips (Brecon, South Wales). 
“Humming” of the Snipe.—When walking up the meadows on the 
17th June last I heard a Snipe “humming.” The sound was so peculiar 
that I stopped to discover, if possible, the cause. As the bird came round 
“humming” within twenty yards of me, I saw through my glasses that two 
or three feathers of one wing were wanting, and one or two also out of the 
other. The sound produced was quite a treble compared with the usual 
sound, which I fancy varies very little. In the afternoon I again heard the 
same bird, and as there was another with full wings “ humming” at the 
same time, the difference was very marked. Several times both birds came 
within twenty yards, and I noticed that when the noise was made the tail 
was spread, the wings quivered, and the beak was closed. The very great 
difference between the sound produced by the bird with the whole wings 
and that of the one with several feathers wanting fully satisfied me that the 
