466 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



as those in Aberdeenshire. In West Norfolk the Tufted Duck must be an 

 earlier breeder, as the kindness of Lord Walsingham enabled me in May 

 last to examine many nests containing the full complement of eggs, which 

 the keepers stated to be incubated on May Q9th. On that date the young 

 of the Gadvvall, Shoveller, Mallard, Teal, Pochard, and Wigeou were all 

 hatched out, but the Tufted Ducks were uniformly sitting hard. On the 

 waters of the Lewes Corporation, where the Tufted Duck (pinioned) has 

 bred for many years, occasionally interbreeding also with the Pochard, the 

 season of 1887 brought out forty young Tufted Ducks ; but, owing to 

 defective management, only three of the number grew to maturity. — H. A. 

 Macpherson (3, Kensington Gardens Square). 



Puffin and Whimbrel in Somersetshire. — I was staying with a friend 

 at South Petherton in the middle of October, and the week before he had 

 a PufSn, Fratercula arctica, brought to him, which had been picked up in 

 a field close to the village, in an exhausted state; he tried to keep it alive, 

 so as to send it to Weymouth the following day, but it died during the 

 night. I presume it was driven inland by the late storm. Is it not an 

 uncommon occurrence, as South Petherton lies between Ilrainster and 

 Crewkerne, and some twenty-five to thirty miles from the sea, in the direction 

 from which the storm came. We have during the breeding season large 

 flocks of Whimbrel, Numenius phaopiis, on the moors near here. My 

 supposition is that these birds do not breed until the second year, and that 

 they are last year's birds. Am I right in this? — H. St. B. Goldsmith 

 (Bridgewater). 



[We are surprised to hear of the occurrence of the Whimbrel in Somer- 

 setshire during the breeding season, having hitherto regarded it as a passing 

 visitor in spring and autumn. Is our correspondent sure that this bird is 

 found on the moors referred to in June? It breeds late, and is commonly 

 to be found on the south and east coasts of England during the first and 

 second weeks of May. — Ed.] 



Lesser Redpoll and Hawfinch nesting in Berkshire.— On June 10th 

 last I took a nest containing three eggs of the Lesser Redpoll, Linota 

 nifescens, near Wokingham ; and on May 20th a nest with five eggs of the 

 Hawfinch, Coccothraiistes vulgaris. As both these species are somewhat 

 local in regard to their breeding haunts, this note may be worth publishing. 

 — G. T. Phillips (Wokingham, Berks). 



Glaucous and Iceland Gulls on the Essex Coast.- -Through the 

 kindness of my friend Mr. Kerry, of Harwich, I have been able to add to 

 ray collection specimens of these two Gulls, both immature; as near as 

 I can judge, the Glaucous is in the second year, and the Iceland in the 

 third year's plumage. The first named was shot by Mr. Kerry in Harwich 

 Harbour on Dec. 25th, 1885, and the Iceland Gull was shot by a smacks- 

 man in the Cohie, near Biightlingsea, on Jan. 1st, 1887. — C. A. M-^iKRioTT. 



