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Zoological Notes, 1873. By Andrew Brotherston. 



Tengmalm's Owl (Strix Tengmalmi). — There was an im- 

 mature female of this rare British bird caught by a fisherman 

 at Greenses Harbour, Berwick, on February 4th, 1873. It 

 was kept alive till the 8th, when it died. Naturalists differ 

 as to which is the longest feather in the wing of this species. 

 The following are the relative lengths of the primaries in 

 this specimen : — The third is the longest ; the fourth one- 

 tenth of an inch shorter ; the second one-fourth ; the fifth 

 three-eights ; the sixth three-fourths ; the first and eighth 

 are equal, being one inch and three-eights shorter than the 

 third. Length, ten inches ; expanse of wings, one foot 

 nine-and-a-half inches. The Little Owl (Strix passerina) 

 is the only British bird which this has any chance of being- 

 mistaken for ; both being about the same size and colour. 

 The most apparent difference is the covering of the legs and 

 feet : in 8. Tengmalmi they are thickly clothed with soft 

 downy feathers ; in S. passerina with short hairy ones. 

 (Now in the Berwick museum.) 



Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). — A very fine specimen of 

 the Osprey was shot on the 24th of May, 1873, by Mr. John 

 Wood, near the Tweed, in front of Floors Castle. It was a 

 female in perfect plumage, and very fat. It weighed 3f lb. ; 

 length, 23^ inches ; expanse of wings, 65 inches. It had 

 not been nesting, and had no appearance of doing so ; the 

 largest eggs in the ovary being about the size of No. 5 shot. 

 It is stated of this and several other birds of prey, when 

 breeding, that if one of them is shot the other gets a fresh 

 mate in a very short time. May it not be such as this that 

 supply their places ? It had been in this district about nine 

 days before it was shot. Mr. Vost informed me a week before 

 that he had seen an " eagle " flying from the direction of 

 Newtondon across to Floors, carrying something in its feet ; 

 and Mr. C. Lang, after he had seen the preserved bird, said 

 that he had seen the same bird coming up the Tweed past 

 Sprouston, and that it "smashed itself into the water." 

 (Now in the Duke of Roxburgh's museum.) 



Dotterel (Charadiius morinellus). — An adult male in 

 summer plumage was shot about the middle of May, 1873, 

 near Morebattle, on the outskirts of the Cheviots. 



Pochard (Anasferina). — One of these "winter visitors," a 

 male, was shot on a pond near Frogden, June 13th, 1873. 



