970 Birds. 



feet lay a large buck rabbit. " What," exclaimed I, " have we been all this time toil- 

 ing and running through these woods, till almost burst for want of breath, and torn to 

 pieces, after a rabbit P " " Yes," said he, " it is a stub-rabbit ! You may hunt them 

 almost all day long, but you can never hardly drive them to ground." — W. H. S. ; 

 Hatton Hall, April 8, 1845. 



Notes on the Birds of the Isle of Wight. By the Rev. C. A. Bury. 



(Concluded from p. 933). 



I have now reached the last order of Birds. High time, too, you 

 and your readers will perhaps be disposed to say. I certainly have, 

 in my descriptions, betrayed somewhat of the prosiness of the old 

 man. You, Mr. Editor, have kindly expressed your consideration for 

 my dotage, and been pleased to say you liked the particularity of my 

 communications. I hope your readers will be equally indulgent to 

 the infirmities of a premature old age. I believe, however, I shall 

 not trespass greatly on their patience in the description of the swim- 

 mers ; inasmuch as, numerous as they are, comprising about one third 

 of the entire number of British birds, I am less well acquainted with 

 them than with the four preceding orders. Fewer will be given upon 

 my own authority ; and less said of their habits. The southern shore 

 of our island, on which I reside, is not much frequented by sea-fowl. 

 The coast is for the most part either rock or shingle ; and conse- 

 quently supplies little food to the aquatic tribes. Sandown Bay and 

 Brading Harbour, on the eastern coast, are more favourable : but on 

 the northern shore, indented with small bays, and abounding in mud- 

 flats, many species of sea-birds abound. Yarmouth especially, situ- 

 ated nearly at the western extremity, seems to be a favourite resort, 

 and more particularly at the periods of migration ; as if it were an 

 established resting-place — a sort of house-of-call to the feathered 

 travellers : which, by the way, favours my notion that many species, 

 when leaving this country for warmer latitudes, do not cross directly 

 from our western counties, but coast along till they reach a narrower 

 passage. Perhaps, too, some species migrate along the coast till they 

 reach the locality in which they mean to fix themselves. Be this, 

 however, as it may, it is quite certain that Mr. Butler, mine host of 

 the Bugle inn, Yarmouth, a professed bird-stuffer, and well known 

 as such to some of our leading ornithologists, does pick up, espe- 

 cially in spring and autumn, specimens of many species, and some- 

 times of very rare ones. To Mr. Butler, therefore, I am indebted 



