Birds. 2969 



about Colthouse Heights, and also in the lower parts of Hawkshead Moor, and pro- 

 bably at other places. Other birds have followed the larch plantations, as an instance, 

 the crossbill, which as thou probably knows, has been pretty numerous in Henry 

 Curwen's woods, though I am not aware that they bred here. I have pleasure in an- 

 swering thy queries, and am, very respectfully, William Wilson.'' 



Considering how short a time these birds, the black game, have been here, it is 

 remarkable how widely they have diffused themselves. As our beautiful district is 

 visited by many strangers, it may interest some readers if I mention the names of the 

 localities where they are found. At Cock Hag, betwixt Crook and Underbarrow ; in 

 the extensive larch woods at Lamb How, in Crosthwaite ; and on the summit of 

 Whitbarrow, a detached limestone mountain, presenting a grand rock escarpment to 

 the lake tourist, as he approaches from Milnthorp. Perhaps they are most numerous 

 in the larch forest on the heights of Cartmel-fell. In the woods of Furness-fells, on 

 the western side of the lake, they are also as far down, I am told, as Holker Hall, the 

 seat of the Earl of Burlington. But our district is much better adapted for their re- 

 sidence now than it was formerly. At the beginning of the century, all our lateral 

 valleys falling towards Morecambe Bay, were divided by bare heights, or only clothed 

 by a scanty cover of juniper, heath or fern. Since the enclosure of the commons, 

 large tracts of them have been planted, chiefly with larch, and now afford shelter and 

 food to the new comers. It is remarkable, that within the period of my memory, the 

 summit of Cartmel-fell, then a heathy waste, was tenanted by the common red 

 grouse; it is now a larch forest, and occupied by black game. It is curious also that 

 they did not come, till the country was, as it were, prepared for them. It would 

 really appear that Nature, like a provident mother, whenever a change occurred in 

 her wide domains, producing a state of things suitable to afford food and shelter and 

 enjoyment to her irrational offspring, took care to inform them of it, and thither to 

 direct their course. P.S. — Having ascertained that these birds " came of their own 

 accord ;" one is next curious to discover from whence they emigrated. But this can 

 only be conjecture. The nearest locality where I have heard of any is Mell-fell, a 

 round, wooded hill at Matterdale, in Cumberland, and more than twenty miles distant 

 from where they were first seen with us. The rugged and lofty barrier of the Lake 

 mountains also intervenes : still it is probable that they came from thence ; for we 

 have no black grouse within the same distance, either to the east, west, or south of us. 

 At any rate, wherever they sprung from, they seem now firmly established ; and will 

 doubtless in future constitute a permanent feature in our Ornithology. — W. Pearson ; 

 Border Side, near Boldness, October 30, 1850. 



A hybrid between a Cravat Canada Gander and a Bernicle Goose was bred on my 

 premises last spring. I have never seen this cross before, though I have seen a hy- 

 brid between the white-fronted and bernicle geese in the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society in Kegent's Park. — J. H. Gurney ; Easton, Norfolk, November 7, 1850. 



Occurrence of the fork-tailed Petrel (Thalassidroma Leachii) in the Isle of Wiyht. 

 — I beg to inform you of the occurrence of a fork-tailed petrel on our shore. It was 

 found dead on the beach at Luccombe Chine near this place. The specimen is now 

 in the hands of Mr. Bacon, of Haslar, for preservation. — S. Saxby, Jun ; Bonchurch, 

 Isle of Wiyht, November, 6, 1S50. 



Occurrence of the Fork-tailed Petrel (Thalassidroma Leachii) at Briyhton. — I 

 have to-day seen a beautiful specimen of this bird, in the flesh, at Mr. Swaysland's at 



