876 Birds. 



I cannot, therefore, from the facts here detailed, come to any other 

 conclusion than that the white and pied parent pheasant, in its wild 

 state, does transmit its colour to its progeny; and the contrary I think 

 can only be considered as the exception to a general rule. 



W. H. S. 

 Hatton Hall, February 2, 1845. 



Migration of the Land-rail. On the 27th of November, 1844, my dog flushed a 

 land-rail in some rape near which I was walking, upon our Downs. I should have 

 doubted what it could be, but the bird rose too near me, and I have formerly been too 

 well acquainted with it, easily to have mistaken. — A. Hussey ; Rottingdean, January 

 1845. 



Migration of ike Water-rail. The migration of this bird having recently been a 

 subject of enquiry, a word as regards its appearance in this neighbourhood may add 

 to the knowledge of its movements. I am not aware that it has ever been seen here 

 in summer, but in the winter season, or from November to March, it is very frequently 

 found by small streams, in osier-beds, and such like places. I saw one on the 14th 

 instant ; it rose from a brook, and dropped in a ditch that had been dried or frozen up, 

 and on approaching cautiously Avithin about forty yards, being partly hidden from it 

 by a hedge, I waited to see it come out, and presently it walked from its rough hiding 

 place upon the bare turf, strutting and flitting up its tail in an amusing manner, till 

 it ran off on my moving, to a copse close by. Last winter I witnessed a similar pro- 

 ceeding, within twenty yards of me, at an open ditch that crossed a narrow piece of 

 ground between a hedge and a brook. I was in pursuit of snipes, and on crossing 

 the ditch, was surprised to see the apparent familiarity of the bird. I stood still, 

 with a setter dog at my heels, and we both watched it, till, I suppose, it began to 

 feel alarmed, and walked through the shallow stream under some thorn bushes. I 

 shot neither of these birds, thinking, with a former correspondent, they deserved to 

 live. — T. Goatley ; Chipping Norton, Oxon, December 17, 1844. 



Occurrence of the Norfolk Plover in Co. Wexford. I had lately an opportunity of 

 examining a recent specimen of the Norfolk plover {CEdicnemus crepitans), which had 

 been shot in this vicinity by Travers Hawkshaw, of Hilburn-house. This I believe to 

 be the first occurrence of this bird in this county ; although from the neighbouring 

 county of Waterford I have seen a specimen, and Thompson mentions it in his list 

 as an " extremely rare visitant'' to Ireland. Summer birds of passage remain much 

 longer with us than in England ; the greater dampness and mildness of the climate 

 probably rendering their residence here more endurable. And this cause may account 

 for the bird being found at this season. — J. Poole ; Growtown, December 8, 1844. 



Norfolk Plover wintering in Cornwall. An example of the Norfolk plover {CEdic- 

 nemus crepitans) was brought to Penzance about the 24th of December. Authors are 

 unanimous in asserting that this bird leaves our shores in the autumn ; but of the se- 

 veral instances of this bird's occurrence in the Land's End district, I do not remem- 

 ber one taking place except in the middle of winter. — Edwd. Hearle Rodd; Penzance, 

 December 31, 1844. 



Flight of the Woodcock. It seems that when passing over the sea, woodcocks fly 

 at it great height in the air. A circumstance was mentioned to mc a few days ago, 



