464 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



may possibly have come from the large pool referred to, this being carefully 

 preserved and only occasionally shot over. A friend of mine who shoots 

 round this pool every year tells me that the Tufted Duck, Scaup, and 

 Pochard are plentiful on it from the end of October to the begiuniug of 

 February ; but he has never yet mentioned the Gadwall, and I have there- 

 fore come to the conclusion that the small flock seen by Mr. Ridley were 

 accidental visitors, possibly settling there as a resting-place in their flight 

 up the Wye, the hill here being high above the river, and the small pool 

 alluded to being so very limited in extent, without cover of any kind, that 

 no water-bird would be in the habit of resorting to it. Still the fact of 

 their being there at all is most interesting. In my list of the " Birds of 

 Breeonshire," as it is the first yet published in this county, I have been 

 particularly careful not to insert the names of any birds except those which 

 have actually occurred in the county, or on its borders, and I have never 

 even heard of the Gadwall here. I think, however, that its occurrence 

 within half a mile of the edge of our county will justify my inserting it. 

 As to the Hawfinch, I think there can be no question as to its extreme 

 rarity here. During a residence of eighteen years 1 have never seen it, and 

 its large size and bold bearing renders it so conspicuous that it would be 

 almost impossible to overlook it. Brecon, however, is much colder and 

 much less wooded than the adjoining county of Hereford, and in places 

 very much cut oil' from the same by the Black Mountains. — E. Cambridge 

 Phillips (The Elms, Brecon). 



Greater Shearw t ater in Lincolnshire. — A specimen of the Greater 

 Shearwater, Pujfinua major, was captured near Spalding, and forwarded to 

 the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, where it may now be seen 

 in the Eastern Aviary. — A. Thomson. 



[Since this note was in type the bird has died. — Ed.] 



Osprey ra Leicestershire. — On October 13th the keeper at Sad- 

 diugton Reservoir noticed a large hawk circling and hovering over the pool, 

 every now and then making a rapid stoop towards the water. He was near 

 euough to the bird to notice its colour and markings, and on describing it 

 to me I had no difficulty in recognising it as an Osprey. The same bird 

 apparently has been seen since, as the followiug note by my friend the Rev. 

 A. Matthews will show. Gumley is only half a mile distant from Saddington 

 Reservoir. Mr. Matthews writes : — " On the 22nd October, at 2 p.m., a 

 fine Osprey passed over the garden at Gumley, at a height of from thirty 

 to forty yards, flying N.W. The bird was in full adult plumage and in fine 

 condition, and was probably, from its large size, a female. I may also add 

 that a bird, supposed to be an Osprey, was observed, on October 18th, soaring 

 in circles at a great elevation over the wood and pool at Gumley, both of 

 which join our gardeu. - ' — Thomas Macaulay (Kibworth). 



