420 



Asiatic Bunting, and Dr. Sharpe (Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xii. p. 495) also states that it is "accidental 

 in Europe," but I do not believe that there is any authentic instance of its having been obtained 

 in Europe. Temminck states that it is found in the Crimea, Greece, Italy, and Provence, but 

 there is no confirmation of this. Gould figures it (B. of Eur. iii. pi. clxxviii.) under the name of 

 JEmheriza lesbia. 



Agelceus pkosniceus (Linn.) has been several times obtained in Great Britain, but all that 

 have been recorded were adult males, evidently escaped from confinement. 



Scolecophagus ferrugineus (GmeL). — One, also in all probability an escaped bird, was shot 

 near Cardiff on the 4th October, 1881 (P. Z. S. 1881, p. 968). 



Sturnella magna (Linn.). — One is said to have been seen in Norfolk, October 1854, one 

 shot in Suffolk, March 1860, and a third is said to have been obtained near Cheltenham, all of 

 which were in all probability birds escaped from confinement. This and the two preceding species 

 are common in North America. 



Caprimulgus nubicus, Licht. — Prof. Giglioli states (Ibis, 1881, p. 191) that he received a 

 specimen of this Goatsucker from a dealer in Genoa, who assured him that it had been shot 

 near that city. 



Picus villos'is, Forst. — According to Latham a pair were obtained more than a century ago 

 near Halifax in Yorkshire, and one is said (Zool. 1849, p. 2496) to have been killed near Whitby, 

 Yorkshire, but both these records are open to doubt. 



Picus pubescens, Linn. — The Rev. O. Pickard Cambridge has a specimen supposed to have 

 been shot at Bloxworth, Dorset, in December 1836, and one is recorded as having been killed 

 near Elbceuf in Normandy. Walcott relates (Brit. Birds, i. p. 49) that young Spotted Wood- 

 peckers were brought alive from West Florida and turned loose in England (cf. Newton in Yarr. 

 Brit. B. ii. p. 485). 



Colaptes auratus (Linn.). — One said to have been shot at Amesbury, Wiltshire, in 1836 (Zool. 

 1859, p. 6327), and Herr Moschler states (J. f. 0. 1856, p. 335) that one was sent from Greenland 

 in 1852. This and the two preceding species are common in North America. 



Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). — Two specimens are preserved in Dublin which are said to have been 

 shot, one in Co. Meath in October, and the other in Co. Wicklow in November 1845; but I do 

 not think that it is advisable to include this American species on the ground of these reported 

 occurrences. 



Coracias abyssinicus, Gm. — A specimen in the Paisley Museum, received from Mr. Small, 

 taxidermist of Edinburgh, is said to have been shot at Crookston, near Paisley, Renfrewshire, 

 but it is difficult to believe that a strictly African species can have strayed so far from home. 



Merops phUippinus, Linn. — I have examined a specimen belonging to the Rev. T. M. Hicks, 

 which is said to have been shot near the Snook, Seaton Carew, in August 1862 ; but it appears 

 odd that a bird which has not been observed further west than Sind should have come alive as 

 far as England, and I cannot but think that it may have been " changed at nurse." 



