224 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



together, bat there was no doubt whatever about the species. They flew in 

 a V formation, but every now and then got into great confusion, as if they 

 had suddenly been fired at — H. R. Kelham (Captain 74th Regiment). 



[This observation of the migration of Bitterns in a flock is extremely 

 interesting, and we have not been able to find any similar record relating 

 to this species. Sportsmen in England when out snipe-shooting have 

 often come across a number of Bitterns scattered about over the marsh, 

 and suggesting the probability of the arrival over night and gradual 

 dispersal of a flock of these birds, but we believe that no actual observation 

 of a flock en route as seen by Captain Kelhain has hitherto been reported. 

 —Ed.] 



Choughs in the South of Ireland.— Since October last I have seen 

 two pairs of Choughs, Pyrrhocorax graculus, about the cliffs at the mouth 

 of Glandore Harbour. On the loth April I saw a pair, which were very 

 noisy, wheeling about over my head. They must have had their nests 

 somewhere near. I often see them going and coming to and from their 

 feeding-grounds. They seem to go a considerable distance inland. I once 

 saw a pair about four miles from the sea. — C. Donovan, Jun. (Myross 

 Wood, Leap, Co. Cork). 



A Blind House Martin on the Wing. — Late in the summer of 1879, 

 while watching the flight of some of these birds at Mytton, in Shropshire, 

 I observed one of them repeatedly fly very close to where I was sitting. It 

 was much slower and more deliberate in its movements than its companions, 

 and I succeeded without difficulty in catching it. On examination I found 

 that it was blind, the balls of both eyes being absent. I placed it on the 

 back of my chair, where it remained for some time. It then flew away and 

 resumed its local flight. During the time it was at rest on its perch 

 I observed that it turned, or rather twisted, its head as if in the act of 

 listening. Its flight also was much lower than that of its companions, and 

 it was curious to notice how it avoided coming in contact with the branches 

 of the trees through which it constantly flew. — G. Gyt.es (Kilmurry House, 

 near Waterford). 



[We remember to have heard some years ago of a wild duck being shot 

 which on examination proved to be completely blind — a case, it was believed, 

 of congenital blindness. The sense of hearing, in both these cases, must 

 have been intensified to such an extent that the birds were guided entirely 

 by the notes of their companions. But how they contrived to avoid coming 

 in contact with intervening obstacles is marvellous. — Ed.] 



Fire-crested Wren at Oxford. — As I believe that examples of this 

 bird have hitherto been recorded as occurring in the summer and autumn 

 only, I may mention that on February 10th, of this year, I observed one 

 in the Botanical Gardens here. It was twisting about in a yew tree, and 



