Birds. 2765 



breeding season is over, the female departs, but the male never leaves us ; indeed he 

 is so attached to the children, that if we leave home for a time he is seldom seen ; 

 but as soon as we return, and he hears the voices of his little friends calling him by 

 name, he comes flying over the fields, squealing with joy to see them again. He is 

 now so well known amongst the feathered tribes of the neighbourhood that they take 

 no notice of him, but will sit upon the same tree with him : even the rooks appear 

 quite friendly. I never saw Billy attempt to catch a bird, but the large black beetles 

 and cockchafers are a favorite food with him in summer.^.Hewr?/ R. Crewe ; Breadsall 

 Rectory, Derby, March 4, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Goshaivlc (Falco palumbarius) in Northumberland. — An imma- 

 ture male goshawk was killed in the vicinity of Bellingham, North Tyne, in October 

 last. — T. J. Bold; 42, Bigg Market, Newcastle-on-Tyne, February 8, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Snowy Owl (Strix nyctea) in Norfolk. — A specimen of the 

 snowy owl was shot at Beeston, near Cromer, on the 22nd of January. It is a male 

 bird, apparently of last year. This is the second instance, within a few years, of this 

 species occurring in the parish of Beeston. The readers of the ' Zoologist ' will 

 perhaps also recollect the occurrence of an adult gyrfalcon, not very long since, at the 

 same place. — J. H. Gurney ; Easton, Norfolk, February 1, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Snowy Owl in Norfolk. — Another specimen of the snowy owl 

 has lately occurred in this county, having been killed at St. Faith's about the end of 

 February. It was a male bird, and apparently an older specimen than the one already 

 recorded as having been killed at Beeston. These two specimens, together with ano- 

 ther which was seen, but not shot, about six months since, at Swannington, make 

 together three instances — in the course of half a year — of the occurrence of this rare 

 bird in this county. — Id. ; March 13, 1850. 



Tengmalm's Owl (Strix Tengmalmi) killed near Marsden, Durham. — A specimen 

 of the rare Tengmalm's owl was killed on the sea-coast near Marsden, in October, 

 1848.— T. J. Bold; February 8, 1850. 



Varieties of the Blackbird (Turdus merula). — In the beginning of December, 1849, 

 a pair of blackbirds were shot in Happyland Garden, near this place ; the cock 

 silvery white, without a spot ; the hen dirty white, with a few spots of brown on the 

 scapulars. — Joseph Duff; Bishop Auckland, February, 1850. 



Note on the Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris). — On looking over my notes of last year, 1 

 find that I saw a flock of fieldfares as late as the 6th of May. — William Bond ; 

 Frog Island, Leicester, March 15, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Black Redstart (Sylvia Tithys) in Torbay. — A female black red- 

 start was shot, in November last, on Goodrington Sands, by a gentleman who, two 

 years since, procured a male of the same species at the same place. — Alfred Newton ; 

 Thetford, February 2, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia sylviella) near Carlisle. — My friend 

 Mr. J. Barnes killed a specimen of the lesser whitethroat at Rose Hill, near Carlisle : 

 there was a pair of them in company, evidently breeding, during the summer of 1849. 

 This I believe to be a more northern locality than has been before recorded. I was 

 informed by an eminent ornithologist in Cumberland that its occurrence in that county 

 was a great rarity. — /. B. Hodgkinson ; 12, Preston Street, Carlisle, March, 1850. 



Early Appearance of the Chiff-chaff (Sylvia rufa) in Yorkshire, in 1846. — I have 

 read with much interest some observations on the arrival and departure of migratory 

 birds in Oxfordshire, by the Reverends A. and H. Matthews. On comparing their 

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