Birds. 2775 



31st of January, an adult male smew near Ely. The latter specimen is intended for 

 the museum at Ely.-T. W. Foster ; Wisbeach, March, 1850 



Occurrence of the Smeio (Mergus albellus) in Northampton*™.-! saw a fine male 

 adult smew on the river Nene, near Stoke, in Northamptonshire on Saturday the 

 of January, 1850, which I fired at, and unfortunately nnssed. I may as well mention 

 that the place above named is more than thirty miles from the sea, and that it is a 

 river of no great size. I was quite near enough to tell what species it was^I believe 

 the smew in adult plumage to be very rare so far inland.-!*. L. Powys ; Harrow-on- 



the-Hill, March, 1850. . ' ' T 



Occurrence of the Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus Serrator) m the Thames.-l 

 received on the 28th of January, for preservation two fine specimens (male and _ fe- 

 male) of the red-breasted merganser: they were shot in the Thames near ^ Ba king, 

 on the Essex coast, nearly three weeks since: the delicate yellow colour usually ob- 

 servable upon the belly of the male has quite faded, and become nearly white : the 

 gen"eman P who shot them informed me that the yellow was very bright when the tad 

 was just med.-Thomas Hall ; 6, City Road, January 31 , 1850 



Occurrence of the Sclavonian Grebe (Podiceps cornutus) at Ptddmghoe, Sussex. - 

 An immature specimen of this bird was shot at the above place last week by a person 

 who also shotL Egyptian goose and peregrine falcon mentioned in a former com- 

 munication.-/. B. Ellman ; Lewes, February 1,1850. 



Occurrence of the Eared Grebe (Podiceps auritus) on Whittlesea Washr-L beauti- 

 ful female eared grebe, in full winter dress, was shot on Whittlesea Wash, m the 

 middle of December.— T. W. Foster ; Wisbeach. ^ ' 



Occurrence of the Black-throated Diver (Colymbus arcticus) at Chesterfield^-K 

 very fine specimen of the black-throated diver was killed at Chesterfield in Cam- 

 bridgeshire, a few days smce.-Frederick Bond; Kingsbury, Middlesex, January 20, 



85 Occurrence of the Black-throated Diver on Barton Pond.-Am&le specimen of the 

 black-throated diver was killed, a week or two back, on Barton Pond [where situate ?], 

 and is now in the possession of the Rev. T. Blofield, of Hoveton.-7\ H Burroughes ; 

 Harrow, February 5, 1850. . 



Occurrence of the Black-throated Diver and the Tippet Grebe (Colymbus unnator) 

 in Northumberland.-^ male specimen (young) of the black-throated diver, and a 

 male specimen of the tippet grebe, were killed on Thursday last, at Blyth, Northum- 

 berland.— Robert Lewins; Morpeth, February 15, 1850. 



Note on the Changes of Plumage periodically incident to the Great Northern, Black- 

 throated and Red-throated Divers.-!n the ' Zoologist' (Zool.2621) there is an impor- 

 tant notice by Mr. Rodd, which appears to me satisfactorily to prove the truth of the 

 opinion held by many naturalists, that the great northern diver assumes at the autum- 

 nal moult a livery closely resembling that worn by the birds of the year for the first six 

 or eight months of their feathered existence. I think I can offer some additional evi- 

 dence of this being the case. In the great northern diver the beak is much less de- 

 veloped in birds of the year than in more adult specimens : the perpendicular d.ameter 

 of the two mandibles, especially of the lower one at its thickest part, being very ob- 

 viously greater in the older than in the younger specimens ; in addition to which, the 

 colour becomes much lighter, or in fact almost leaves the bill in old birds of this spe- 

 cies, making in this point also a marked contrast between these and the younger 

 birds Now, I have met with two specimens of the great northern diver in the e.ne- 



