Birds. 3117 



the obscure subject of the age to which birds arrive, I have thought that this circum- 

 stance was worth recording. — Id. 



Description of a Guillemot shot on the Coast of Sligo, Ireland. — I send a description 

 of a bird that was shot on the 20th of July, 1850, by my friend Mr. R. Irwin, and which 

 I should have considered to be the female of the black guillemot (Uria Grylle), were 

 it not for the peculiar colour of the legs, and that of the interior of the mouth. I am 

 uot aware that in this respect the female differs from the male. Beak black; inside 

 of mouth yellow : top of head, back and tail dusky black ; nape of neck dusky black 

 spotted with white; cheeks and under side of neck dirty white, the feathers edged with 

 black, which on the lower part of the neck forms conspicuous rings ; throat, breast and 

 belly white, feathers edged with dingy black ; sides irregularly barred with black and 

 white, with a spot of pure white immediately under the shoulder-joint ; primaries, se- 

 condaries, tertiaries and larger wing-coverts black ; smaller wing-coverts pure white, 

 broadly edged with black ; under coverts of wings and tail white, with few black spots ; 

 legs when shot, dark greenish black. Dimensions : — length from carpal joint to tip 

 of wing, 6J inches ; whole length of bird, 14 inches. The beak is finer and smaller 

 than that of the male black guillemot. The bird was alone when shot, and weighed 

 considerably less than a male black guillemot killed on the same day. I send you 

 this communication in order to obtain some correct information as to the species: the 

 characteristics are nearly those of the young birds, and the winter plumage of both 

 young and old ; but this is an old specimen, and was shot in the middle of summer. 

 — Francis K. Amherst ; Oscott, Birmingham, April, 1851. 



Occurrence of the Eared Grebe (Podiceps auritus) at Yarmouth. — I have a fine 

 specimen of the eared grebe, in full plumage. It came to Leadenhall market in the 

 same basket with four specimens of the great crested grebe. They were all shot near 

 Yarmouth on the 14th. The eyes are not red, as generally described, but, unlike those 

 of the rest of the grebe tribe, they are of a rich deep orange, the eyelids edged with the 

 same colour. The bird came into my possession the day after it was shot. — Richard 

 Strangwayes. 



Occurrence of the Kittiivake Gull (Larus tridactylus) on Wandsivorth Common. — 

 About five weeks since, my son informed me that a strange bird had settled on the 

 pond among ducks, I procured my gun and was fortunate enough to shoot it, when it 

 proved to be a fine male specimen of the kittiwake gull {Larus tridactylus), which I 

 preserved, and it is now in my collection. Surely this must have been an escape from 

 some collection in the neighbourhood of London. — C. Wood ; Wandsworth Common^ 

 March 17, 1851. 



Occurrence of Bonaparte's Gull (Larus Bonaparti) in Scotland. — I take the liberty 

 of sending the portrait of a gull, to ask if you can determine the species. The picture 

 is too large, in breadth especially, giving the idea of a much larger bird ; but as far as 

 the colouring is concerned, it is correct. The principal points in which it differs from 

 the common black-headed gull {Larus ridibundus) are these : — the head in the for- 

 mer is a slaty black, in the common bird brown ; the bill is black, instead of reddish 

 brown ; the legs are a bright red, like a tern's, in the common bird they are the same 

 as the bill ; and the ends of the quills are marked in quite a different way : the whole 

 bird is smaller, and the legs shorter. I shot it about the end of April, 1850, on the 

 shore of Lochlomond, in Dumbartonshire. The common black-headed gull is a fami- 

 liar bird, and this one strikes me as quite different. — George H. Leith ; 2, The Mall, 

 Clifton, March 18, 1851. 



