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OKNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM DEVON AND CORNWALL. 



By John Gatcombe. 



On looking over my notes for September last T found that 

 I omitted to mention the occurrence of several Turnstones and 

 Oystercatchers, which were brought in to our birdstuffers during 

 that month. The Turnstones had nearly completed their 

 autumnal moult, showing a fair amount of ferruginous-brown 

 on their backs and scapulars ; their breasts, too, were fairly 

 black. The stomachs of the Turnstones I found quite empty, 

 but those of the Oystercatchers contained remains of limpets and 

 fragments of their shells. 



On November 4th I examined a Short-eared Owl and a 

 Kestrel which had been brought to a Stonehouse birdstuffer. 

 The stomachs of both contained a quantity of mouse-fur, and 

 that of the Kestrel a very large beetle -grub. 



On November 9th, the wind blowing strong from the N.N.W., 

 I observed a Northern Diver off the Devil's Point, Stonehouse, 

 and an immature Black Redstart . on the rocks in the same 

 locality.. By the 11th some Black Redstarts were to be seen 

 on the cliffs near the Plymouth citadel. I examined the stomach 

 of a Tawny Owl, and found in it nothing but a caterpillar of the 

 cabbage moth, Mamestra brassicce. The Northern Diver, I am 

 sorry to say, was killed and brought in to a local birdstuffer. 

 Its stomach was crammed with the remains of small swimming 

 crabs, mixed with a few stones, and its gullet contained a few 

 prawns. Another was obtained on the 23rd, making the sixth 

 brought in during this month. 



On November 13th, wind blowing very hard from the N.E., 

 a male Black Redstart on the rocks near the citadel showed a 

 white patch on the wings, but little black on the breast. There 

 were two immature Red-breasted Mergansers in the Devonport 

 market. On the 23rd I examined a Little Bustard which had 

 been sent up from Trevone, near Padstow, Cornwall. It was a 

 bird of the year, and its stomach contained a large mass of 

 turnip -leaf, unmixed with gravel or stones. The last Cornish 

 specimen mentioned by the late Mr. Rodd, on the authority of 

 Mr. Stephen Clogg, was killed in the parish of St. Martin, near 

 Looe, on January 9th, 1875. 



