NOTES AND QUERIES. 429 



barred pectoral fin, and the corrugated under part of the Lesser 

 Eorqual [Balcenoptera rostrata), thus placing its identity beyond 

 doubt. It had in all probability been run into by a steamer. I 

 estimated its length at about twenty-five feet. — Aethur H. Patter- 

 son (Ibis House, Great Yarmouth). 



AVE S. 



Nocturnal Habits of Turdus iliacus. — On reading Mr. Stubbs's 

 very interesting notes on the movements of Eedwings during dark 

 nights (ante, p. 361), I then understood why I always failed to 

 secure any of these birds when roosting in the hedges, their unusual 

 alertness and wildness offering such a contrast to the habits of the 

 Song-Thrushes and other small birds at night. When living at Moy 

 View, Eedwings, Thrushes, and various small birds roosted regularly 

 during the winter in two hawthorn hedges at the sides of the middle 

 avenue. Wishing to obtain some Eedwings alive, I made several 

 attempts from time to time to take them on the roost, using a lantern 

 on dark nights to show where they sat on the branches, but all my 

 efforts were in vain, for no sooner did the light shine on the bushes, 

 and before we got near, the birds rose with loud cries from the roost 

 and vanished into the darkness. I then tried the plan of keeping the 

 light shaded, and only showing it when at the hedge-side, but nothing 

 would induce them to remain ; almost invariably on the darkest 

 nights, even without a light, we could not get near the hedge before 

 the birds left with their wild cries. This habit at night was different 

 to that of the Song-Thrushes and other small birds, sitting quietly 

 on their perches, as if dazzled by the light, and in most cases 

 allowing themselves to be taken by the hand. — Egbert Warren 

 (Ardnaree, Monkstown, Co. Cork). 



The Nocturnal Habit of the Redwing. — In ' The Zoologist ' {aiite, 

 p. 361), Mr. E. J. Stubbs contributes an interesting article on the 

 nocturnal habits of the Eedwing. I gather from his theory that he 

 considers the calls of the Eedwings overhead during the colder half 

 of the year to be chiefly due to the wanderings of the birds during 

 the hours of darkness rather than to these being closely connected 

 with the migratory movements of this species. Perhaps to a certain 

 extent his surmise may be correct, but I cannot think for a moment 

 that they are entirely non-migratory actions. He is good enough to 

 favourably quote notes of mine from ' The Naturalist ' three years 

 ago, but asks why I should consider the phenomenon now to be (1) 



