Birds. 2023 



had escaped ; it had a different look to any tame ones I have ever seen, and the gar- 

 dener said he saw two of them in the garden at first. It was after one of these disap- 

 peared that my friend took up with the pigeons ; he was always master in any little 

 skirmish which took place occasionally, hut still they seemed to get on very well to- 

 gether. It appears to be a rare bird so far north as Yorkshire, but has occasionally 

 been met with even in Scotland. — Beverley R. Morris, A.B., M.D.; York, January 

 18, 1848. 



Extremely large Red Grouse (Lagopus Scoticus). — I have to-day seen what may 

 be termed a giant of the above species ; it weighed thirty ounces (the average weight 

 is stated to be about twenty ounces) : the heaviest I have ever heard of before was 

 twenty-six ounces. It was shot above the Golynos Wood, about a mile from the town. 

 — James Bladon ; Pont-y-Pool, January 18, 1848. 



Occurrence of the Collared Pratincole (Glareola Pratincola) near Scarborough. — A 

 fine specimen of the collared pratincole was killed, when in company with a flock of 

 dotterels, in May, 1844, on Staxten Wold, five miles from Scarborough. It is in the 

 possession of Mr. Peter Hawksworth. — W. M. E. Milner ; Nunappleton, Tadcaster, 

 February 5, 1 848. 



Great Plover (CEdicnemus crepitans) wintering in Cornwall. — In my letter to you 

 of the 31st of December, 1844 (Zool. 876), I referred to the occurrence of the great 

 or Norfolk plover in this neighbourhood, on the 24th then instant ; and in reference to 

 the general supposition that this species leaves us in the autumn, I mentioned, that of 

 the several examples which had been captured in the Land's End district, I knew of 

 none that were so obtained except in the winter months. Two more instances of its 

 occurrence have come under my notice this season, one in the third week of January 

 last, and another in the present week ; the first at the Land's End, and the second 

 near Falmouth. — Edward Hearle Rodd ; Penzance, February 5, 1848. 



Peewit (Vanellus cristatus) destructive to the Wireworm. — Among birds useful to 

 the farmer the peewit ought certainly to be included : the gizzard of one which I ex- 

 amined last spring was completely crammed with the destructive wireworm. — Joseph 

 Poole ; Killiane, Wexford. 



Occurrence of the Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) at Battel. — A fine specimen of the 

 common bittern was caught here about the beginning of last month. It was seen to 

 fly into a hedge, and was so exhausted as to allow a man to capture it by seizing it by 

 the legs. — James B. Ellman ; Battel, February 5, 1848. 



Enquiry respecting the Migration of Plovers (Charadrius pluvialis and cinereus). 

 — Do plovers, gray or golden, migrate ? The question was new to me, and occasioned 

 by a conversation with a resident on our south coast, who was kind enough to write 

 his observations as follow : " On Friday last, January 28th, 1848, 1 witnessed a con- 

 tinued flight of plovers (gray or golden) at Ballymacon, a place between Dunmore 

 and Tramore, in the county of Waterford, across the sea : they commenced early in 

 the morning, and continued till late in the evening. I enquired of parties living on 

 the spot if this was a rare occurrence, and ascertained it was not. Query, do those 

 birds migrate, and to where ? " The course of flight was towards the Spanish coast. 

 Some of the readers of the ' Zoologist ' may probably be able to throw light on the 

 subject. — James Clibborn ; Waterford, 2nd mo. 11 th, 1848. 



Woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) drowned in crossing the Channel. — Some years ago, 

 a few miles from the Land's End, the sea was strewed with hundreds of woodcocks : 

 it is probable that they were exhausted by their long flight, and hundreds seem to have 



