OCCASIONAL NOTES. 113 



downwards to the veut, between the grey patches that front the carpal joint, 

 on either side, is a pure unbroken white. The measurements of the two 

 Norfolk birds are as follows, those of the female taken in the flesh, of the 



other when stuffed : — 



Female. Supposed male. 

 Length from tip of bill to end of longest tail-feather 1:3 J in. 14 in. 



Wing from carpal joint to end of longest primary (1st) Of „ 10J ,, 



Tarsus li „ If „ 



Middle toe and claw li ,. li >» 



The hind toe and claw are exceedingly small, and Thompson points out 

 that it is " placed so high that the point of the nail does not reach within 

 li line of the ground." Tail-feathers twelve. The irides and bill in my 

 bird were dark brown, the legs and feet a soiled flesh-colour. — Henry 

 Stevenson (Norwich). 



The " Churring " of the Nuthatch. — Many years ago, when a boy, 

 I was walking with a local authority on bird matters and called his attention 

 to the curious " chur-r-r-ing" of a Nuthatch. He at once insisted that 

 the noise was made by the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker ; in vain I asserted 

 that the latter bird was never seen in the neighbourhood, and he was only 

 convinced by my fetching a gun and shooting the bird (a Nuthatch). I was 

 so familiar with the noise, and had so often watched the bird in the act 

 of making it, that I was surprised to find that everyone else was not 

 acquainted with the fact. In more recent times I have watched Nuthatches 

 " churring " in the New Forest and in Kensington Gardens. Immediately 

 after the latter case a letter appeared in 'The Field,' in which, if I remember 

 rightly, the writer stated that he had heard the Lesser Spotted Wood- 

 pecker in Kensington Gardens. I cannot help thinking that the noise is 

 often attributed to Woodpeckers, especially as I do not find any notice of 

 the habit in ornithological works when dealing with the Nuthatch, though 

 in connection with Woodpeckers the habit is often dwelt upon at con- 

 siderable length. No doubt, however, some of your readers will corroborate 

 my observations. — J. Young (64, Hereford Road, Bayswater). 



Baillon's Crake in Co. Waterford. — Through the kindness of 

 Dr. Burkitt, of Waterford, whose name is well known to ornithologists as 

 once the possessor of the single Irish specimen of the Great Auk, I am 

 enabled to record Baillon's Crake, Porzana Bailloni, from a second Irish 

 locality, which is well authenticated by a label on the stand stating that the 

 bird was " taken alive, on Tramore Strand, County Waterford, April 6th, 

 1858." This interesting Rail has been, for many years, in Dr. Burkitt's 

 excellent series of South Irish birds, labelled as " Crex pusilla," aud having 

 heard of the circumstance through several friends I requested permission 

 to examine it, when I found the bird to be, as I expected, Baillon's Crake. 

 I. have also been allowed by Mrs. Moss to examine carefully the specimen 



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