FIELD NOTES. 
BIRDS. 
Bird Notes from Whitby.—On July 27th, a woodcock 
was found in this district sitting on four eggs. The bird con- 
tinued to sit until August 6th, when it left the eggs, two of 
which contained chicks. A common buzzard was trapped a 
few miles from Whitby about September 7th, and early in 
November an immature female Peregrine Falcon was taken 
in a trap in this neighbourhood. Small parties of Shags 
were flying south along the coast on November 29th, and two 
immature birds were shot.—THos. STEPHENSON. 
Unusual Fate of a Long-Eared Owl.—Some little 
time ago a friend in the South sent me a live Long-Eared 
Owl. I had intended ‘ enlarging’ it in one of our woods, 
but in the meantime, kept it in an outhouse. This out-house 
formerly swarmed with mice. I set a few ‘ Little Nipper’ 
traps in order to catch some to feed the owl with. Every day 
I found these traps sprung, and in most cases some little - 
distance from the point where they were set; in some cases 
a big spot of blood being either on or near them. I could not 
understand this, but one morning I found a three-parts-grown 
rat in one, caught by the nose. I gave him to the owl, for whom 
he formed a pleasant meal. On the evening of the 11th, I 
placed food for the owl, who soon came down to it, but on the 
following morning he was missing. As it was impossible for him 
to get out I was puzzled. A search revealed a heap of his 
feathers and a small portion of the carcase. The rats had 
overcome him and made a meal of him. As the bird was in 
perfect health and condition, I can only surmise that a party 
of rats must have attacked him, perhaps over a bit of meat, 
and had come off best in the struggle.-—R. FORTUNE. 
—=" Oi —— 
LEPIDOPTERA. 
Pterophorus pheodactylus Hub. in Yorkshire.—In the 
appendix to the list of Yorkshire Lepidoptera, Mr. Porritt 
recommends the deletion of phe@odactylus as a county species ; 
it is therefore of considerable interest to record that on July 
roth, 1902, I found this species in plenty flying over and 
settling upon its food plant, Rest Harrow (Ononis arvensis), at 
Sledmere. I boxed about twenty specimens to renew my 
series, and might easily have taken three or four times the 
number. At the same time and place I captured a couple of 
Cnephasia lepidana Curt.=politana Haw.—WM. MANSBRIDGE, 
Liverpool. 
-O; 
The name of Dr. Francis Darwin, F.R.S., appears in the list of New 
Year’s Honours. He has received a knighthood. 
Naturalist. 
