NOTES AND QUERIES. 35 



and in excellent condition. Length from point of beak to end of tail, 24f in. ; 

 breadth of wings, when extended, from tip to tip, 52 in. ; weight, 3 lbs. 11 oz 

 By a curious coincidence it is not at all uulikely that this Falcon was seen 

 by Mr. Henry Swaysland, jun., in June last, who, writing to his father at 

 Brighton, described the bird's plumage in accurate terms, having approached 

 it within a distance of thirty yards, when sitting on the cliffs near Rousdon, 

 Lyme Regis, the seat of Sir Henry Peek, M.P., for which gentleman 

 Mr. Swaysland, jun., has been arranging a collection of birds, and on whose 

 domain the wild and lofty cliffs fronting the sea form a splendid haunt for 

 many of our noblest birds, and where, I have been informed, the Peregrine 

 and the Raven have been seen nesting within a short distance of each 

 other. — T. J. Monk (Lewes). 



[Our contribrutor does not state to what species of Gyr Falcon the bird 

 in question belongs; but another correspondent, Mr. Thomas Parkin, of 

 Haltou, near Hastings, who has seen it, assures us that it is a Greenland 

 Falcon.— Ed.] 



Food of the Bittern. — I do not think that any record has been pub- 

 lished of a fine Bittern shot near Brookhampton, Oxon, late in November, 

 1879. I saw it in Oxford Market, and Mr. Darbey, the birdstuffer, opened 

 it, when we took out six or seven small dace. — H. A. Macpherson (Oxford). 



Honey Buzzard in Lincolnshire.— On the 21th October T received 

 a fine specimen of this bird, which had been shot near Boston a day or 

 two previously. The crop was quite empty. It is a light variety, and 

 an adult female. — J. Cullingford (University Museum, Durham). 



Purchase of the Audubon Collection of Birds.— Prof. Henry A. Ward, 

 of Rochester, New York, has purchased from Mr.M. R. Audubon, a grandson 

 of the famous ornithologist, the collection of 748 skins of birds gathered by 

 John J. Audubon, when preparing his great work, the ' Birds of America.' 

 The collection is said to be in a fine state of preservation, and many of the 

 labels are in Audubon's handwriting. 



Yarrell's 'British Birds.' — The 16th part of the fourth edition of 

 " Yarrell," revised by Mr. Howard Saunders, will be published next month, 

 and it is expected that the succeeding parts will thenceforward be issued at 

 regular intervals. 



'The Ibis' List of British Birds.— We understand that 'The Ibis 

 List of British Birds,' compiled by a Committee appointed by the British 

 Ornithologists' Union, is for the most part in the press, and will be published 

 before the next annual meeting of the B. 0. U. 



FISHES. 



Swordfish on the Coast of Norfolk. — A line example of Xiphias 

 gladius, Linn., was captured in Burnham Harbour, on November 13th, 



