NOTES AND QUERIES. 389 



them they were flying in a direct line to the locality in which they are said 

 to have nested. A male bird of this species was also killed on the 18th of 

 June last in a garden not far from Wimborne, but it was terribly mutilated. 

 — G. B. Cobbin (Riugwood, Hants). 



Reported occurrence of the Cream-coloured Courser in Lancashire. 

 — In the ' Birds of Lancashire' (p. 175), I stated that I had examined a 

 Cream-coloured Courser which had been shot in this county, and it is with 

 mingled grief and joy that I have to advise you, firstly, of an error in 

 identification, and, secondly, of an addition to the British list. The bird 

 in question, having come into the possession of Mr. W. H. Doeg, of Man- 

 chester, was submitted by him to Mr. Seebohm, and he has pronounced it 

 to be the Sociable Lapwing, Vanellus gregarius (Pall.). With the twenty 

 years' reputation of the specimen as a Courser, and being only able to look 

 at it by candle-light in a crowded case, perhaps I may be forgiven for 

 having been deceived by the superficial resemblance between the two, and 

 for having attributed such discrepancies as I could perceive, to the vagaries 

 of country bird-stuffing. However, the credit of the determination belongs 

 entirely to the gentleman named ; and possibly Mr. Seebohm, to whom 

 I have sent all the information I could get, may refer to the matter more 

 fully. — F. S. Mitchell (Clitheroe). 



Wood Pigeons in the London Parks. — I notice this year a great 

 increase of the Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) in Hyde Park. I remember 

 the first pair coming, five years ago. The male bird is now lame; his 

 plumage is almost black from the London smoke. Recently I counted 

 forty-seven, old and young, feeding on the lawn to the north of Rotten 

 Row. No doubt some of the birds from St. James's Park and Buckincrham 

 Palace Gardens have also come, attracted by the maize which is daily put 

 down by the gardener. I have watched early and late, but have never seen 

 either the Stock Dove {Columba anas) or the Turtle (C. turtur). It is 

 remarkable that the Wood Pigeon, which is so shy in the country, should 

 become so tame in London; one pair have reared two broods this season in 

 the same nest close to " the Row." The young birds find their way readily 

 to the food, though in the country they seem unable to shift for themselves, 

 and if not fed by the parent birds, they frequently die. I have often found 

 them starved to death, even near the stubbles in autumn. In the country 

 the Wood Pigeon does not come much to feed ; but in Suffolk, where the 

 Turtle abounds, we get them regularly, and I have couuted over thirty 

 within twenty yards of the windows, feeding on white peas, of which they 

 seem very fond, and some of them come from a wood three miles distant, 

 morning and evening. The Turtle Dove generally arrives the last week in 

 April, and does not come much to feed after the 1st of August, during 

 which mouth the majority of these birds depart, although I have killed them 



