NOTES AND QUERIES. 117 



"Decrease of the Corn-Crake and Wryneck." — Eeferring to Mr. 

 Steele Elliott's remarks under this heading [ante, p. 74), very much 

 the same state of things prevails in South-vv^est Surrey. 



Corn-Crake. — During the last seven or eight years I have per- 

 sonally only had three records of this bird : — (1) A nest in the village 

 of Hambledon about the year 1901 ; from this I have an egg in my 

 possession. (2) Three specimens were caught alive, but injured by 

 telegraph-wires, by a man working on the line at Guildford in July, 

 1902. I have one of these birds in my collection. (3) A nest in the 

 neighbourhood of Dorking in 1907. As to the probable cause of the 

 scarcity of the Corn-Crake, I can offer no definite reason, but would 

 suggest a succession of unseasonable summers, and possibly the new 

 reaping-machines killing the birds, old and young, from their skulking 

 habits. Also the reclaiming of old haunts for building purposes. It 

 is many years now since I have heard the familiar cry. Bucknill 

 (' Birds of Surrey '), writing in 1900, says : — " In some years it is 

 very much more common than in others, but over the whole of the 

 rural district of the county is generally freely distributed." 



Wryneck. — It is worth noting that, although abundant in the 

 parishes of Milford and Witley, the Wryneck is entirely absent from 

 Brook (which joins Witley parish), and for the past four years I 

 have listened in vain for its note. This is all the more extraordinary, 

 because the bird is so plentiful not only in the parishes named but 

 throughout the whole south-western portion of Surrey. I can offer 

 no explanation, for the country in Brook is so well wooded, and 

 differs in no way from neighbouring villages, being, if possible, even 

 more rural. — Gordon Dalgliesh (Midhurst, Sussex). 



Immature Glaucous Gull (Larus glaucus),— A specimen was shot 

 on the shore at Deganwy on Thursday, Feb. 23rd, 1911, and pre- 

 sented to the Chester Museum by Dr. A. Hamilton. The stomach 

 contained a few shore-pebbles only. Sex undeterminable. The 

 donor writes : — " Since I first saw it, it has always more or less 

 been amongst the large flock of Herring and other Gulls which 

 frequent the beach in front of my house, and feed largely on the 

 garbage deposited there." — Alfred Newstead (Chester). 



iVE L L U S C A. 



A Large Squid on the Northumberland Coast. — A fine example of 



the large species of Squid (Sthenoteuthis pteropus, Verr.) was cast 



ashore recently on the coast of Northumberland. It was found on 



Jan. 8th, 1911, by Mr. H. V. Charlton, on the sandy beach between 



