3112 Birds. 



rookeries had sent forth their inmates ; and a hundred parks had poured out their 

 jackdaws and starlings. And such a row did they make !— the jackdaws chiding ; the 

 rooks cawing ; and the lapwings wailing ; that I can only compare it to the noise 

 emanating from innumerable sea-fowl, which has been so charmingly described in the 

 ' Letters of Rusticus.' When the whole multitude had noised as long as they thought 

 proper, and wheeled about for a considerable time, they descended in the meadows to 

 feed, and scarcely a note was heard. Such a numerous, quaint, sable-coated throng 

 I never saw assembled together. I could not estimate them at less than 30,000.— 

 J. J. Briggs ; Melbourn, March, 1851. 



Occurrence of Peregrine Falcons near Oxford. — Two male specimens of the pere- 

 grine falcon (Falco peregrinus) were shot in this neighbourhood, and brought to Mr. 

 Osman, the bird-preserver, on Saturday, the 8th of this month. They were killed on 

 the same day, but not in company. — G. J. Webb ; Brasenose College, Oxford, April, 

 1851. 



Food of the Kestrel, (Falco tinnun cuius). — On the 1st of this month, whilst Mr. 

 Gornal of this town was skinning a kestrel, he accidentally cut into the stomach of the 

 bird, and was so much surprised at its contents, that he brought me the bird. In the 

 stomach I found no less than seventy-nine caterpillars, all (except two) of one kind, 

 about a quarter of an inch in length ; the species I could not determine. There were 

 also twenty-four beetles, a full-grown field mouse, and a leech, two and a half inches 

 long. Now we would fain hope, if the beauty of the bird, its graceful flight, and the 

 interest its presence gives to a rural scene, be insufficient to protect it from the too- 

 often thoughtless keeper's and the ruthless watcher's gun, that such facts as the above 

 ought to save it ; for it is self-evident, that every kestrel destroyed is a public loss, and 

 every one who employs a keeper or watcher ought to give strict orders for their preser- 

 vation, as much as, and perhaps more so than, any species of game on their estate. 

 We also learn from the above, although its powers of flight are great, and much of its 

 life is spent in the air, that the kestrel is a ground feeder. We think it not very im- 

 probable that in the latter part of February (the bird having been shot a few days), 

 the caterpillars would be taken in a state of hybernation : the larvae were those of 

 moths. — Joseph Duff; Bishop Auckland, March 14, 1851. 



[See a paper by Rusticus, intituled " The Feathered Mousers," which appeared in 

 a late number of Chambers' admirable ' Edinburgh Journal,' — E. N.~\ 



Occurrence of the Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) at Alciston, Sussex. — An adult 

 female specimen of the hen harrier was captured alive on the downs near Alciston in a 

 singular manner, in the last month, and is now in my possession. A boy was walking 

 over the downs, when a terrier he had with him saw the bird at a distance and ran af- 

 ter it. After running in circles round the bird, the latter fell to the ground upon its 

 back, and was immediately seized by the boy.— J. B. Ellman ; Leives, Feb. 26, 1851. 



Occurrence of the Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) at Haughton, Sussex. — An 

 immature specimen of the marsh harrier was shot at the above place last month, and 

 is now in my possession. — Id. 



Occurrence of the Black Redstart (Phoenicura tithys) at Leives. On the 20th ult. 

 I obtained a specimen of the black redstart near this town. This is the fourth speci- 

 men shot near the town within twelve months. — Id.; April 4, 1851. 



Occurrence of the Black Redstart (Phoenicura tithys) near Tcignmouth. — In the 

 winter of 1844, which was one of unusual mildness, two specimens of the black red- 

 start were shot at the Parson and Clerk rocks, near Tcignmouth, by my brother and 



