Birds. 2019 



the one will not at all agree with those of the other. The similarity of sound has 

 doubtless led to the mistake ; perhaps indeed our own word ' gyr-falcon ' is derived 

 from the bird being of a vulture size; or perhaps it may be from its wheeling or gy- 

 rating flight : at any rate the one bird is at the head of the noble, the other at the 

 bottom of the ignoble birds of prey. — Id. 



Plumage of the Tawny Owl (Syrnium stridula). — The bird from which this descrip- 

 tion has been taken was kept in a garden, in a state of half-domestication, for the 

 purpose of seeing if any change of plumage would take place ; but this was never the 

 case. The facial disk had its posterior two-thirds reddish-brown, the rest grayish- 

 white ; the sides of the face well defined by a dark-brown ring ; top of the head a 

 mixture of brownish-black and rufous, with^wo irregular white stripes, passing from 

 nearly over the eye backwards to near the occiput ; hind neck of the same colour as 

 the head, but with less black ; back rufous-brown, each feather having a dark central 

 mark ; scapulars principally white, tipped with dark brown ; lesser wing-coverts nearly 

 the same, as are also the greater ; wing-primaries barred with buffy-white and dark- 

 brown ; two middle tail-feathers nearly uniform in colour, being chestnut-coloured ; 

 the others the same, irregularly barred and mottled with dark brown ; the whole of 

 the under parts a mixture of palish rufous and white, each feather having a narrow 

 central mark of darker brown. This bird was four years old, and in deep moult at the 

 time of his death ; on dissection it was found to be a male. All the new feathers 

 which were coming were of a bright ferruginous or chestnut colour. It is well known 

 that many individuals of this species occur of a grayish colour, and Mr. Yarrell has 

 described one of these as an adult male. He says, " The females are larger, and 

 much more ferruginous or tawny in the general colour of their plumage. Young 

 males are for a considerable time, probably till their second autumn, similar in colour 

 to the females." I think this specimen distinctly shows, if the gray birds are the per- 

 fectly adult, that it requires as long a time as five years to attain this plumage. I am 

 much more disposed to consider it as a variety to which the tawny owl is very subject, 

 for I distinctly remember a gentleman having three in a garden, which had been 

 taken from the nest that season, two of which were decidedly gray birds. Two speci- 

 mens, male and female, killed together, in November, 1846, were both chestnut or 

 tawny birds, and exactly similar in plumage. From an examination of the bones, I 

 should think them both old individuals. I have been somewhat particular in describ- 

 ing this specimen, because the exact age and sex are known, and there is still much 

 obscurity about the plumage of the tawny owl. — Robert F. Tomes ; Welford Hill, near 

 Stratford-on-Avon, January 10, 1848. 



Occurrence of the Scops Eared Owl (Scops Aldrovandi) near Wexford. — I find I 

 have noted down, under date of 19th of last 4th month, the following particulars of 

 the capture of the above bird. — " Our Wexford bird preserver has lately received a re- 

 cent specimen of that most rare and beautiful little owl. He got it from the vicinity 

 of Kelmore (a fishing village on our south coast), and was unable to give me any fur- 

 ther information about it." — Joseph Poole ; Killiane, Wexford. 



Occurrence of the Bohemian Waxwing near Newcastle-on-Tyne. — A fine specimen of 

 that rare and uncertain visitant, the Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrula), was 

 shot at Axwell on the 29th of December last. — T. J. Bold; 42, Bigg Market, New- 

 castle-on-Tyne, January 18, 1848. 



Early Nidification of the Robin (Erythaca rubecula). — I to-day saw a robin's nest 

 with five eggs, which was found in a garden at Wheldrake, near this city. The bird 



