2924 Birds. 



plover, Kentish plover, dunlin, turnstone, sea-pie, godwit, whimbrel, curlew, and red- 

 shank. — J. W. Hulke ; Deal, September, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) in East Lothian. — While 

 walking with a friend on Tyne Marsh, on the 15th of June last, I was attracted by 

 the appearance of a bird in the midst of a colony of herons ; I at once conjectured that 

 it was either an egret or a spoonbill, and, on returning with a pocket-telescope and 

 a couple of fowling-pieces, discovered it to be the latter, but was unable to procure it, 

 although loaded with Ely's long range. — John Nelson; Kirkland Hill, Preston-on- 

 Kirk, August 27, 1850. 



Occurrence of the Horned Grebe (Podiceps cornutus) at Manchester. — Amongst the 

 acquisitions of local species which I have lately made to this museum, is a curious 

 specimen of this rare inland visitor ; it was shot in the autumn of 1848. on Beswick 

 resevoir, a piece of water almost surrounded by mills and houses. Most fortunately it 

 fell into the hands of a skilful preserver of birds, John Howard, of Salford, in whose 

 possession it has remained till the present time, puzzling many of the humble natu- 

 ralists, who have endeavoured to make out its species. That they should not have suc- 

 ceeded is not very surprising, for the specimen has a very different plumage to any 

 figure in the works of Gould and other eminent authorities, and it is hardly to be ex- 

 pected that it would have been recognized in the cheaper works ou Natural History, 

 which the poor naturalist necessarily looks up to as his instructor and authority : it is, 

 however, encouraging to him to learn that the day has at length arrived when the privi- 

 lege of consulting the best of works, — such as Gould, Temminck, L. Buonaparte, 

 Wilson, Selby, Yarrell, and every other eminent writer upon Natural History, is 

 secured to him in the free-library and museum which Salford now possesses, and in 

 the free libraries which are springing into existence throughout the kingdom. The 

 plumage of this specimen is worth recording: — top of the head, lower part of the neck 

 and upper surface smoky-black; feathers of the cheeks mottled with black and white, 

 scarcely meeting behind the head ; a stripe of chestuut tipped feathers extending from 

 the base of the beak over the eyes to the back of the head, but not projecting beyond ; 

 front and sides of the neck, flanks and rump mottled with dusky and chestnut ; under 

 parts and throat silvery-white. — John Plant ; Salford Royal Museum and Library, 

 September 14, 1850. 



Addendum to the Rev. Mr. Smith's Communication (Zool. 2905) on Sea-Fowls. — 

 In the first week of May of this year, a guillemot was brought to Mr. Thomas 

 Edward, in Banff, which, although considerably damaged and disfigured, he had no 

 difficulty in recognizing as the bridled guillemot (Uria lacrymans). Being anxious 

 about what is so great a novelty, at least in this part of the country, he requested 

 some of his correspondents to be on the out-look, and the consequence was that, in the 

 first week of June following, he received another specimen of the same bird, which was 

 in the finest condition, and apparently in the height of its plumage. This, after being 

 stuffed, I have had an opportunity of examining. The circle around the eye, and the 

 line extending beyond it, are both of them white, and are very distinctly marked. 

 The bony circle enclosing the eye has an appearance, as if it were composed of a suc- 

 cession of small, elevated, rectangular, and transverse plates. The plumage struck me 

 as being blacker in colour than that of the common guillemot (Uria Troile), and as 

 being intermediate, as it were, between it and that of the razor-bill auk (Alca Torda). 

 The two specimens now mentioned, were obtained from the rocks at Gamrie, which are 

 taken notice of in the ' Zoologist' (Zool. 2905); and, notwithstanding that it has not 



