74 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



very different opinions have been expressed about its origin. The 

 question is whether it is to be regarded as a very miusual — one might 

 almost say unique — variety of pkimage, or whether it may not be 

 one of twelve which were daubed with red paint (oxide of iron) by 

 Mr. J. Campbell, the lighthouse-keeper, in May, for the purpose of 

 ascertaining whether these birds always keep to the same nests, and 

 to the same mate. If the latter be, as some think, the explanation of 

 this supposed natural freak, the dappled appearance of the back is ac- 

 counted for, because the new white feathers as they gradually pushed 

 their way through would produce this effect. In a letter to Mr. i\.t- 

 kinson, which has since been printed ('Country Life,' Dec. 24th, 1910), 

 Mr. Campbell states that it was not one of the Gannets marked by 

 him with paint, but in a communication to the present writer he is 

 less confident about it, preferring to reserve his opinion until next 

 April, when he hopes it may appear again. Should it do so the 

 matter is settled, and the bird will be proved to be a variety, for the 

 whole of the plumage would have been moulted by then and the paint 

 with it, if it was painted. Mr. Eiley Fortune and Mr. Atkinson are 

 both satisfied that this Gannet was not an artificially coloured one, and 

 their opinion is entitled to the fullest consideration, as they are the only 

 naturalists who have seen it, and they watched it for a long time 

 at close quarters. They discussed the question of whether it could 

 be one of Mr. Campbell's marked birds while they were looking at it, 

 and came to the conclusion that the delicacy of the markings and the 

 richness of the colour of the head and neck negatived such an idea. 

 — J. H. GuRNEY (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



Decrease of the Corn-Crake and Wryneck. — It w^ould be of very 

 great interest to obtain records of the present status of these two 

 birds in this country in comparison to what they were in former 

 years, and endeavour to throw some light on the cause of their 

 extermination or altering distribution. In my native county of 

 Bedfordshire thirty years ago one or more pairs of the Corn-Crake 

 might be found nesting in any of the larger meadows of mowing 

 grass, and more or less commonly throughout the county, whereas 

 now they have practically ceased to nest everywhere. I have not 

 heard of a nest being found for many years past. A few are still 

 heard as they rest for a few days during their spring movements, and 

 again they are not infrequently killed in autumn on their return 

 movements southwards. The Wryneck, " Cuckoo's Mate " or " Touch- 

 dial," was a well-known summer migrant, and its eggs were com- 

 monly found by us as schoolboys. From that time it seems to have 



