24 ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES. 



or inconspicuous species, seldom ever has a true local name at all ; 

 yet this is often forgotten, and those noting local names not un- 

 frequently are tempted to doubt the genuineness, because it is not to 

 be heard of in all, or even most of the districts in which it grows. 

 In conclusion it may be interesting to quote a few of the less-common 

 names given in this flora: — 'Flower of Dunluce' (Geranium pratense: 

 about the castle, where it grows), ' Tormenting Root ' (Potentilla 

 tormentilla), ' Blooming Sallow' (Epilobium angusiifolium), 'Farmer's 

 Plague ' (sEgopodium podagrarid) ' Espibawn ' ( Chrysanthemum 

 leucanthemum), ' Prushus ' (Sonchus arvensis), ' Bee Nettle ' (Galeopsis 

 versicolor). 



The book is well printed, and attractively bound in bevelled 

 boards, with a quite sufficiently accurate (recognisable to a botanist) 

 outline in gold leaf of the Irish Rose (E. hibernica) on the cover. 

 Misprints in the book seem to be rather numerous, and the paginal 

 reference figures in the indices are by no means to be relied 

 upon. — F.A. L. 



NO TES— ORNITHOL OGY. 



Flamborough Bird-notes. — The light -keeper the other day informed me 

 that several birds had been killed against the lighthouse during the late dark and 

 stormy nights: — Thrushes [Turdus musicus), Blackbirds (7! merula), Fieldfares 

 (T. pilaris), Redwings ( T. iliacus), Larks (Alauda arvensis), also Snow-Buntings 

 {Plectrophancs nivalis), etc. Two Rough-legged Buzzards (Arckibuteo lagopus) 

 have been got here, on» shot and the other caught in a rabbit-trap ; they are 

 splendid specimens. October nth. — -One male Sand-Grouse {Syrrhaptes para- 

 doxus) shot here, several more seen. — Matthew Bailey, Flamborough, 

 December 8th, 188S. 



Food of the Rough-legged Buzzard. — Mr. Garland, of Netherwood Hall, 

 Barnsley, reports the occurrence of a male Rough-legged Buzzard (Archilmtco 

 lagopus), which was shot in his presence at Bessecar, near Doncaster, on Nov. 2ist. 

 On the bird being opened, the stomach was found to contain the almost complete 

 remains of a mole, a proof that these birds are vermin-destroyers, and do not feed 

 solely upon game. Another specimen of this Buzzard, obtained near Barnsley in 

 1876, had a rat in its claws when shot. — Wm. E. Brady, i, Queen Street, 

 Barnsley, December 5 th, 1888. 



Crossbills in Cumberland. — I was in a certain part of East Cumberland, 

 which it is not necessary to specify, on November 30th last, in which there is a 

 very large wood, mostly of fir. While having lunch I saw a large flock of cross- 

 bills {Loxia curvirostra) some sixty strong, out of which I took toll to a small 

 extent. I subsequently saw, in the same wood, and on the same day, two smaller 

 parties, one of twenty, the other of fifteen or thereabouts. It used to be thought 

 that the crossing of the mandibles was a sure indication of the sexes of the cross- 

 bills. It is an indication, but not an unfailing one. I find that in females the 

 upper mandible nearly always crosses to the left, in the male to the right. — 

 H. H. Slater, Irchester Vicarage, Wellingborough, December 4th, 1888. 



Pallas' Sand-Grouse on the Yorkshire Wolds. — A pair of Pallas' Sand- 

 Grouse {Syrrkaples paradoxus), shot from a flock of thirty at Market Weighton 

 last June, have been presented to the Sheffield Public Museum, and the donor of 

 them, writing in December, states that examples of the bird are still to be met 

 with on the Wolds. — E. Howarth, Weston Park, Sheffield, December 24th, 

 1888. 



Naturalist, 



