A34 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
BIRDS. 
Pied Flycatcher and Night Heron in Clackmananshire.—Early last 
spring a Pied Flycatcher was shot by a gamekeeper in this county on the 
banks of a small stream running into the Forth, not far from the town of 
Alloa. I expect to have the specimen in my possession shortly. Not far 
from the same place a fine specimen of the Night Heron was obtained in 
May, 1879, which, I think, has not hitherto been recorded.—W. ERskinE 
(Alloa House, Alloa, N.B.). 
(The Pied Flycatcher is doubtless an annual summer visitor to Scotland, 
but the Night Heron is rare there. It is rather curious that one of the 
latter birds was shot off a tree on the banks of the Black Devon, adjoining 
Alloa Park Policies, by one of Lord Mar’s keepers, 23rd May, 1879.—Ep.] 
Food of the Hobby. — Through the kindness of Mr. Schumach I 
examined the contents of the stomach of a Hobby (Falco subbuteo), which 
was shot at Caunton, Nottinghamshire, early in September last. The food 
consisted principally of coleopterous insects. I noticed particularly that 
the head of each was invariably wanting, and, so far as I could determine 
from the wing-cases, some of them belonged to the weevil family. There 
were no remains of either birds or mice. In addition, however, I dis- 
covered the bodies of five or six large moths, more or less injured by the 
process of digestion, but all evidently of the same species, and swallowed 
whole. A careful inspection enabled me to identify them as the Yellow 
Underwing (Triphena pronuba). — W. Brcuer (Hill House, Southwell, 
Notts). 
Short-eared Owl in the South of England. — During the winter 
months this species is of somewhat frequent occurrence in this part of 
Hampshire, in some winters being more abundant than in others; but has 
it ever been known to nest so far south ? The reason of my asking is this: 
in May last a gamekeeper trapped and bronght me an owl of this species. 
He had previously informed me that there was at least one pair, if not more, 
of a dark-coloured owl, which frequented the extensive heaths over which 
his “‘ beat” Jay, and that they were seldom seen in the woods like the other 
owls; and he had seen them on one or two occasions in the day-time. So 
I asked him to shoot one for identification, with the result above recorded. 
When he brought me the bird in question I naturally suggested that he 
should keep a look-out for any nest that might be built, at the same time 
telling him its probable situation, upon the ground. At different times 
during the summer he has seen the birds—on one occasion a pair flying 
together—but not in any particular locality indicative of nesting ; in fact, 
he says that sometimes he did not see them for a week or more, and then 
he would come across them in quite a different spot. As I suggested a 
possibility of his having been deceived about the species he saw flying in 
Eo 
eS 
ie 
eS = eee 
ee ee ee ee 
a 
Ocean pif; 4 
