79 



A YORKSHIRE BIRD 

 NEW TO THE EUROPEAN AVIFAUNA? 



W. EAGLE CLARKE, F.L.S., Etc., 

 J\'nt. Hist. Dept., Museum of Science and Art, Edinburgh. 



At the meeting of the Zoological Society of London held on the 

 15th of January last, the Rev. Canon Tristram, F.R.S., made some 

 remarks on a specimen of Emberiza cioides Brandt, which was 

 'believed' to have been obtained at Flamborough in October 1887. 

 This is a most interesting scrap of news for ornithologists, and it is 

 much to be hoped that full particulars concerning the occurrence of 

 this feathered stranger to Europe may be forthcoming. E. cioides 

 appears to be a rare bird in collections, and even the British Museum 

 can only boast of a few specimens. It is an inhabitant of Siberia 

 and Mongolia ; so that, as a visitor to Europe and to our own shores, 

 it cannot be regarded as a much greater waif from its accustomed 

 habitat than Turdus varius, T. atrigularis, Phylloscopus superciliosus, 

 Syrrhaptes paradoxus, Bernida ruficollis, or a few other casuals of 

 Eastern Palsearctic origin which every now and then unaccountably 

 elect to wander ' westward ho,' even unto Britain. 



NO TES— ORNITHOL OGY. 



Hawfinch near York. — I have to record the occurrence of the Hawfinch 

 (Coccothrattstes vulgaris), a male specimen of which was brought me alive on the 

 19th January, having been captured near York. I may add that it is a very rare 

 bird in this neighbourhood. — William Hewett, 3, Wilton Terrace, Fulford 

 Road, York, February 1st, 1889. 



Black-throated Diver near Alford, Lincolnshire. — In the first week of 

 May 1888, a Black-throated Diver (Colymbus arcticus L.) was shot at Hogsthorpe 

 near Alford. It is in the possession of William Boulton, surgeon, of the former 

 place, and is apparently a bird of the previous year. I heard of it at the time, 

 but did not see it until to-day. — J as. Eardley Mason, Alford, 23rd Jan., 1889. 



Wintering of the Ruff. — Mr. Cordeaux's interesting note on the occurrence 

 0,1 Machetes pugnax in mid-winter induced me to turn up one or two references. 

 YVho first recorded the wintering of the Ruff in Britain is at present unknown to 

 me. Certainly. Mr. Booth drew attention to the fact in 1876, when he published 

 his Catalogue of Birds (cf. Catalogue, p. 144). In the Zoologist (1879, p. 134), 

 Mr. Mansell - Pleydell recorded a Reeve snared in Dorset in December ; Gunn, 

 the Norwich bird-stuffer, recorded another example shot in Suffolk in January 

 (Zool., 1885, p. 54). The fact also received notice in Saunders' edition of Yarrell. 

 If Mr. Cordeaux investigates the point, I think he would find other and earlier 

 records. These may suffice in the meantime. Personally, I always associate 

 Ruffs with August and September, in which months we find that a few visit our 

 salt-marshes every year. The London markets often expose Ruffs for sale in 

 October, and in 1886 I handled eight Ruffs in winter dress, which were sent in to 

 Leadenhall on the 26th of October. But I do not think that many Ruffs prolong 

 their stay with us after September. — H. A. Maci'HERSON, Carlisle, Jan. 31st, 1889. 



I saw a male M. pugnax exposed for sale in the flesh in the Leeds market in 

 January 1877. Mr. Cordeaux informs me that a Ruff was obtained near Withernsea 

 on January 20th last — a second Yorkshire winter specimen for this season. — 

 W. E. Cla rke. 



March 1889. 



