880 Birds. 



The blackstart (Phcenicura Tithys) has appeared as usual, but not in any numbers. 

 W. S. Hore; Stoke Devonport, December 2, 1844. 



Note on the occurrence of the Pomerine Skua in Sussex. About the beginning of 

 last October a Pomerine skua was taken in the adjoining village of Ovingdean. It 

 had struck down a white gull, which it would not quit; it was kept alive above a fort- 

 night, and then died. The very first day of its captivity, it (is said to have) devoured 

 twenty-five sparrows. Once it escaped, and immediately attacked a duck, which it 

 held till recaptured. The following description and measurements are as accurate as 

 I can give, but I did not hear of or see the bird till it was stuffed, which being indif- 

 ferently done, and the plumage injured, I may not have been perfectly exact. It 

 will be perceived that this example more resembles Yarrell's skua than his Pomerine ; 

 and from the great difference of colour the bird was probably old. The bill and cere 

 are dull black, the curved point rather darkest ; the irides cannot be distinguished ; 

 head dark brown, or rather light rusty black ; chin, throat and neck the same, only 

 perhaps a shade lighter; general colour of back, wings and tail rusty black, but sca- 

 pulars and back margined with brown, which gradually becomes broader, till very 

 broad on tail-coverts ; shafts of primaries (but nothing else) white ; no perceptible dif- 

 ference of colour in tail-feathers, only one long one remains, which exceeds the others 

 about half an inch ; on breast narrow stripes of dark and light brown alternately ; vent 

 and under tail-coverts broadly barred, or mottled like the peregrine falcon or hobby ; 

 under side of tail-feathers whitish at base, increasing to dark lead ; legs dark lead- 

 colour, with a vivid tinge of light blue (probably more so when fresh), feet black. 

 Total length barely 21 inches; length of wing from anterior bend barely 16 inches. 

 I am informed that similar birds usually, but not every year, appear upon this coast 

 about the same season as the above ; and my informant not being acquainted with a 

 larger variety (which I think he would have been, had they been equally common), I 

 conceive the great skua, not the Pomerine, to be the rarity here. The vulgar name is 

 " the boatswain." Though I believe I must have seen the bird occasionally, I have 

 not hitherto noticed it particularly, certainly not witnessed its peculiar propensity. — 

 Arthur Hussey ; Rottingdean, November 5, 1844. 



Occurrence of the Little Gull in Cornwall. On the 24th instant, I received a spe- 

 cimen of the little gull (Larus minutus), in precisely the state of plumage described by 

 Mr. Yarrell as immature. This is not the first example of the capture of this species 

 in Cornwall, but it is perhaps of sufficiently rare occurrence, especially on the western 

 shores of Great Britain, to deserve a notice in your work. I observe that the tail- 

 feathers have their extremities black, and that the tail is entirely square at the end. 

 Mr. Selby however, in the last edition of the letter-press to his Illustrations, especially 

 refers to the tail of this species when immature as being concave or forked. I have a 

 specimen preserved of a bird answering in every respect to Mr. Selby's description of 

 the immature little gull, exhibiting a deeply forked tail, but I cannot help thinking 

 that his bird must have been Sabine's gull (Larus Sabini). Perhaps some of your 

 correspondents will be good enough to offer their remarks on this point. I observe 

 that in my example of the Larus minutus, the tarsus is much less robust, and the 

 claws longer and more curved than in my suspected L. Sabini. I also observe that 

 the upper mandible in the former is more arcuated, and the bill itself more robust. — 

 Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, December 31, 1944. 



