430 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



men say that on landing the birds fly up in immense numbers, and 

 the nests are in such close proximity one with the other as to make 

 it difiBcult to decide upon the number in each nest. The men, however, 

 believe that they lay but one egg if not disturbed. This applies to 

 the 'Egg-bird.' The Noddies refuse to leave their nests, and resist with 

 open beak all attempts to dislodge them, and have to be forcibly removed to 

 get at their eggs." — H. W. Marsden (Gloucester). 



Manx Shearwater in Staffordshire. — A specimen of this bird, picked 

 up alive in a village near here, was given to me on the 9th of September 

 last.— E. W. H. Blagg (Cheadle, Staffordshire). 



Manx Shearwater in Herefordshire. — A Manx Shearwater was picked 

 up on the 7th September last in the parish of Upton Bishop, near Ross. 

 When found it seemed remarkably tame, and during the four or five days 

 it was kept alive it made no effort to fly. It weighed 14 ounces, and 

 measured 12^ inches from tip of bill to end of tail. Though it would not 

 feed itself it retained all that was put down its throat ; chopped meat, 

 sopped bread, and minnows were given to it. It refused fresh water, but 

 when put into a bath of water in which Tidman's sea-salt had been 

 dissolved, it drank readily. It appears to me that hurricanes are not the 

 only cause of the appearance of sea-birds at a distance from the sea. 

 Possibly they may change the east for the west coast by the most direct 

 route, or if migratory species the land may lie between them and their 

 destination. Gulls seem to do fairly well on the passage, but Petrels not 

 so well, judging from several 1 have heard of being found dead and dying. — 

 W. Blake (3, Myrtle Villas, Ross). 



Sooty Shearwater at Flamborough. — Allow me to record the capture 

 of a specimen of the Sooty Shearwater, Piiffinus griseus, which was obtained 

 near Flamborough, August 27th, and is now in the possession of Mr. J. 

 Morley, birdstuffer, of this town, where I saw it the day after he had 

 mounted it. A very dark specimen, in good plumage, was shot in the 

 autumn of 1879, by Sir William Feilden, Bart, near Filey, and is now in 

 his collection. — R. P. Harper (2, Royal Crescent, Scarborough). 



Note on the Tree Pipit. — In the last edition of Yarrell's ' British 

 Birds ' the Tree Pipit is described as having the legs, toes, and claws pale 

 yellow-brown (vol, i. p. 574). A male and female which I procured this 

 year, on the 14th May and the 11th June, had three parts pale brownish 

 flesh and pale flesh with no brown shade respectively, the feet very slightly 

 darker in each case. These colours were noted down at once, and I observed 

 that they had changed slightly in a few hours. The legs finally dry to 

 pale — almost transparent — yellowish brown, the feet being a shade darker, 

 and the description in Yarrell was probably drawn up from a specimen in 

 this condition. — Oliver V. Aplin (Bloxham, near Banbury). 



