﻿388 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  newly- 
  hatched 
  young, 
  this 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  probable. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  

   hand, 
  Mr. 
  0. 
  R. 
  Owen 
  is 
  confident 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  Rhayader 
  

   pair 
  th° 
  male 
  bird 
  was 
  invariably 
  the 
  aggressor. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  point 
  

   which 
  we 
  may 
  hope 
  to 
  clear 
  up 
  definitely 
  next 
  spring. 
  Lest 
  it 
  should 
  

   appear 
  that 
  the 
  Buzzards 
  were 
  unduly 
  harassed, 
  I 
  may 
  say 
  that 
  none 
  

   of 
  the 
  gentlemen 
  named 
  had 
  any 
  wish 
  to 
  molest- 
  the 
  birds, 
  nor 
  would 
  

   they 
  have 
  taken 
  eggs 
  had 
  they 
  found 
  them. 
  — 
  J. 
  H. 
  Salter 
  (University 
  

   College, 
  Aberystwyth). 
  

  

  Strange 
  Accident 
  to 
  a 
  Sparrow-Hawk. 
  — 
  Many 
  times 
  during 
  over 
  

   thirty-three 
  years 
  of 
  shooting 
  experience 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  my 
  lot 
  to 
  witness 
  

   fatal 
  accidents 
  amongst 
  the 
  birds, 
  from 
  the 
  domestic 
  tragedy 
  of 
  the 
  

   tame 
  Jackdaw 
  drowned 
  in 
  the 
  water-butt 
  to 
  the 
  swiftly 
  twisting 
  Wood- 
  

   cock 
  dashing 
  bimself 
  against 
  the 
  bole 
  of 
  a 
  beech-tree. 
  The 
  most 
  

   frequent 
  cause 
  of 
  calamity 
  is 
  the 
  telegraph-wire 
  to 
  the 
  Larks. 
  In 
  most 
  

   of 
  the 
  cases 
  which 
  have 
  come 
  under 
  my 
  notice 
  concussion 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  

   cause 
  of 
  death. 
  Last 
  year 
  I 
  found 
  a 
  fine 
  cock 
  Blackbird 
  which 
  had 
  hung 
  

   itself 
  in 
  a 
  noose 
  of 
  neatly 
  twisted 
  woodbine, 
  and 
  on 
  Aug. 
  26th 
  last, 
  

   while 
  shooting 
  on 
  the 
  confines 
  of 
  the 
  Bog 
  of 
  Allen, 
  in 
  Co. 
  Kildare, 
  

   Ireland, 
  I 
  came 
  across 
  the 
  following 
  casualty 
  : 
  — 
  Across 
  a 
  rather 
  blind 
  

   gap 
  in 
  a 
  hedge 
  bordering 
  a 
  plantation 
  of 
  firs 
  was 
  a 
  tightly 
  stretched 
  

   strand 
  of 
  barbed 
  wire, 
  and 
  an 
  old 
  cock 
  Sparrow-Hawk 
  (Accipiter 
  nisus), 
  

   in 
  dashing 
  through 
  this 
  gap, 
  had 
  just 
  touched 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  groups 
  of 
  

   barbs 
  with 
  what 
  I 
  may 
  describe 
  as 
  the 
  elbow 
  of 
  his 
  wing 
  ; 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   sharp 
  little 
  spikes 
  had 
  pierced 
  between 
  the 
  tough 
  sinews 
  and 
  the 
  bone, 
  

   the 
  impetus 
  of 
  flight 
  had 
  swung 
  the 
  bird 
  over 
  once 
  round 
  the 
  wire, 
  and 
  

   there 
  he 
  hung 
  till 
  death 
  overtook 
  him. 
  Having 
  passed 
  this 
  gap 
  late 
  

   on 
  the 
  previous 
  afternoon, 
  and 
  finding 
  the 
  bird 
  on 
  the 
  following 
  

   morning 
  dead 
  and 
  stiff, 
  seemed 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  it 
  died 
  during 
  the 
  night, 
  

   which 
  was 
  a 
  singularly 
  cold 
  one 
  for 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  year. 
  The 
  bird 
  had 
  

   lost 
  a 
  considerable 
  amount 
  of 
  blood 
  during 
  his 
  struggles, 
  which 
  had 
  

   evidently 
  been 
  of 
  a 
  desperate 
  character. 
  In 
  the 
  ' 
  Field 
  ' 
  of 
  Sept. 
  3rd 
  

   or 
  10th 
  1 
  noticed 
  an 
  instance 
  lecorded 
  of 
  an 
  accident 
  happening 
  to 
  a 
  

   Kestrel, 
  so 
  perhaps 
  my 
  observation 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  sufficient 
  interest 
  for 
  

   record 
  in 
  ' 
  The 
  Zoologist.' 
  — 
  H. 
  Marmaduke 
  Langdale 
  (Compton 
  

   House, 
  Compton, 
  Petersfieldj. 
  

  

  On 
  Aug. 
  22nd, 
  in 
  Co. 
  Kildare, 
  Ireland, 
  I 
  captured 
  a 
  fine 
  specimen 
  

   of 
  the 
  Convolvulus 
  Hawk-moth 
  (female). 
  — 
  H. 
  M. 
  L. 
  

  

  Falco 
  subbuteo 
  and 
  its 
  Prey. 
  — 
  With 
  regard 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Corbin's 
  account, 
  

   in 
  ' 
  Tne 
  Zoologist 
  ' 
  (ante, 
  p. 
  347), 
  of 
  the 
  Hobby 
  taking 
  Bats, 
  I 
  may 
  

   mention 
  that 
  on 
  Sept. 
  17th, 
  1884, 
  the 
  gardener 
  at 
  Taverham 
  Hall, 
  

   Norwich, 
  shot 
  a 
  Hobby, 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  day, 
  with 
  a 
  Bat 
  in 
  its 
  

  

  