184 Mr. G. T. Fox's Notice of some rare Birds. 



I have since seen another bird of this species, which is in the posses- 

 sion of Mr. Stoddart, of South Shields, presented to him by Mr. John 

 Straker, of Jarrow Lodge, and which was killed in June, 1830, at 

 Bedlington. Thus we have an account of five Honey Buzzards, cap- 

 tared in these counties alone, in three seasons, and it is creditable to 

 our improved scientific acquaintance with the attractive study of Or- 

 nithology, that this species, hitherto so little known in England, should, 

 as soon as captured, have been at once detected and illustrated, by 

 different individuals. 



The circumstance of three of these specimens being killed at no great 

 distance from the sea, and about the same time, and the leanness of the 

 condition of the two first killed, lead to the inference that they had 

 migrated together from the Continent, probably from France, where 

 they are understood to be more abundant than elsewhere. Young 

 birds also are much subject to wander. 



The next bird I have occasion to mention is the Red or Curlew-Dun- 

 lin {Tringa subarquata, Temm.), two specimens of which were killed 

 lately by Mr. Scruton, at Hartlepool, out of a flock of five. 



This species, though probably not uncommon on these coasts, has 

 hitherto been almost entirely unnoticed, or, if noticed, has been confound- 

 ed with the Common or Variable Dunlin. It is, probably the bird de- 

 scribed by Pennant, in the British and Arctic Zoology, and, also by 

 Latham, as the Red Sandpiper, of which the Aberdeen Sandpiper 

 is made a variety, though the latter, from the description in Pennant, 

 compared with a bird killed by Mr. Scruton, in my possession, is most 

 probably the Variable Dunlin {Tringa variabilis, Temm.) in its autumn 

 plumage, as is shewn by its belly and vent being white. The Curlew 

 Dunlin is found arranged in the Collection of Birds in the British Mu- 

 seum, and was noticed by me in the Synopsis of the Newcastle Museum 

 amongst our Desiderata, under this name. Fortunately it will now be 

 excluded from that list by the liberality of Mr. Scruton, in presenting 

 one of his specimens to the Society. I beg to add the following 

 description of the bird so presented. 



Bill, one inch and an half long, bowed as in the Pigmy Curlew 



