NOTES FROM NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK. 283 



In dissecting a Long-eared Owl on Jan. 24th I found the 

 remains of a Song Thrush in its stomach. A male of Picas 

 minor was shot on Feb. 10th near Norwich; the female was also 

 seen, but escaped ; the birds were evidently paired. Another 

 male was shot on March 10th at Upton, near Acle. The first 

 Ring Ouzel (a male) I heard of this season was shot at Whit- 

 lingham on Oct. 11th. Two examples of the Swift (or " Devilin," 

 as it is locally called) were killed on Sept. 20th, an unusually late 

 date at which to find this bird here. An unusually fine Tree 

 Pipit was brought to me on Oct. 3rd ; it had a rufous-tinted 

 breast, and weighed l£ oz. Three Siskins and a solitary Mealy 

 Redpoll seen on a small alder-carr at Cossey on Oct. 4th; 

 I think this unusually early. Grey Wagtails seen on Sept. 20th 

 in their usual haunts at the New Mill dam and banks of the river 

 Wensum above Norwich. 



An unusual number of Landrails were killed during the 

 autumn of 1887. I received at least a dozen, from the 3rd to the 

 21st September, killed in various localities around Norwich. AH 

 the birds, with one exception, proved in good plumage, and in 

 most instances very fat. In the various dissections I found their 

 food chiefly consisted of seeds of various rushes, also insect 

 remains. In one I found the remains of a large Longicorn 

 beetle, and a full-sized land-snail, the shell of which was quite 

 perfect; this seemed an unusual-sized morsel for the bird to 

 swallow. The one exception to good plumage is an adult female 

 shot on Sept. 12th near Norwich. This bird had rather a peculiar 

 appearance, owing to the overgrowth of its upper mandible, which 

 projects considerably beyond the lower; both mandibles seemed 

 perfect, and not injured in any way to account for this overgrowth. 

 Although in plump condition, its entire plumage was covered with 

 an immense accumulation of parasites, and the basal half of its 

 feathers were quite cleared of the fibres by these pests, which had 

 deposited masses of ova at the base and around the shafts. 



On New Year's Day I received a male Hawfinch from Watton ; 

 it had its crop and gizzard filled with the broken kernels of 

 cherry-stones. Another, also a male, was killed a few days later at 

 Reymerstone, the stomach of which also contained the kernels of 

 fruit-stones. A Grey Crow, on the same date, had in its stomach 

 some rabbit-bones and large-sized pebbles. 



A female Little Grebe which I dissected on Jan. Oth had in 



z 2 



