382 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



missed them ; and this is hardly sufficient reason for thinking the birds 

 have entirely abandoned the route. These are merely suggestions, for 

 sufficient material does not seem to be available at present for a settlement 

 of the question. But some solution of tho problem as that indicated above 

 is, T think, more reasonable than that arrived at by Seebohm, or to be 

 gathered from his conclusion, viz. that A. obscurus ranges all along the west 

 and north coast of Scandinavia as a dusky bird, and, becoming almost white 

 on the under parts (ground colour) in the north, suddenly, in the north-east, 

 develops a plumage entirely different to what is generally accepted as the 

 type of A. obscurus, but resembling A. spipoletta in all but the colour of 

 the outer tail-feathers ; these examples being scarce, and found in summer 

 actually on the same ground as the typical birds, with which they inter- 

 grade. My suggestion is to call these bright-coloured birds examples of an 

 Arctic race of A. spipoletta, rather than of a Scandinavian form (it cannot 

 be called the Scandinavian form) of A. obscurus. It would be quite as 

 reasonable to do so, and, I venture to think, if not more correct, at least 

 less confusing. — 0. V. Apltn. 



Honey Buzzard in Hertfordshire. — I have always understood that the 

 Honey Buzzard, Pernis apivorus, is a rare bird, and as an immature speci- 

 men has been caught on my property here, it may be of interest to record 

 the facts. On October 2nd my man, on going his rounds, came across a 

 snared rabbit, of which the lower hind parts had been partly devoured. It 

 was clear this was not the work of a Fox or a Pole-cat, and he baited a trap 

 with the same rabbit at 6 p.m. He passed at 10 p.m., and the trap was as 

 he left it. At 5.30 a.m., before the light was sufficient for him to discern 

 what was in the trap, he found the bird. I mention the time of capture, 

 for it seems strange that the bird should have been feeding between the 

 hours named at this season. In the fourth edition of ' Yarrell's Birds ' I 

 see that there is a record of the Honey Buzzard having been taken " in a trap 

 baited with a rabbit."— F. M. Campbell (Rose Hill, Hoddesdon, Herts). 



[The Honey Buzzard being a summer visitor to this country, Oct. 2nd 

 seems an unusually late date at which to meet with it here. — Ed.] 



Rose-coloured Pastor in Hampshire.— Mr. W. Bradden, the well- 

 known taxidermist of Guildford, informs me that a male specimen of this 

 rare visitor was shot on May 4th in this year at Greatham, near Liss. It 

 was found on an apple-tree. — John Bucknill (Epsom). 



Night Heron in Co. Cork. — During a visit this summer to my 

 brother, who was stationed at Kilworth Camp for the manoeuvres, I made 

 the acquaintance of a Mr. F. Lucas. He very kindly presented me with 

 the skin of an immature Night Heron (Nycticorax griseus). I regret to 

 say he did not ascertain the sex when skinning it. He shot the bird 

 in March, 1894, not far from the town of Fermoy, as it was feeding in 



