Birds. 3145 



Occurrence of the Osprey in Norfolk. — Three specimens of the common osprey (all 

 freshly killed) have been sent into Norwich to be stuffed during the past week. — J. 

 H. Gurney; Easton, May 3, 1851. 



Note on the Great Eagle Owl nesting in confinement. — I have already had the plea- 

 sure of noticing in the ' Zoologist ' (Zool. 2849) the curious fact of a pair of great 

 eagle owls in the possession of my friend, Mr. E. Fountaine, of this parish, having 

 nested, hatched, and brought up their young, in confinement, in the two successive 

 years of 1849-50 ; and I am now happy to be able to state, that the same birds have 

 again produced and hatched three eggs : the season and period of incubation being 

 identical with the dates mentioned by me in my notice on the subject last year. The 

 number of eggs in each instance has been three, which I think may therefore be safely 

 assumed to be the normal number of eggs produced by this species. — Id. 



Occurrence of the Pied Flycatcher fyc. near Rugeley. — In April last a male speci- 

 men of the pied flycatcher (Muscicapa atricapilla) was shot in Regent's Wood, on 

 Cannoc Chase. This is the first instance of the bird having been taken in Stafford- 

 shire that I am aware of. On November the 15th a fine male specimen of the snow 

 bunting (Emberiza nivalis), in its winter plumage, was shot on Cannoc Chase, by 

 one of the keepers, near Wednesford. It was a solitary bird, no other birds of any 

 kind being near it : it is very rare here. On the 19th of November a male specimen 

 of the mountain finch or brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) was killed by a boy in 

 a lane near the town. The whole of the above were preserved by and are now in the 

 possession of Mr. C. Allen, bird and animal preserver. — JR. W. Hawkins; Upper 

 Brook Street, Rugeley. 



Occurrence of the Gray-headed Wagtail (Motacilla neglecta) at Eastbourne, Sus- 

 sex. — On the 5th instant I shot a female specimen of this bird on the beach near East- 

 bourne. It has not, I believe, been previously noticed in this county. — J.B. Ellman; 

 Lewes, May 7, 1851. 



Occurrence of the Parrot Crossbill in Suffolk and Norfolk. — About a month ago I 

 was fortunate enough to obtain from Mr. Head, bird-preserver at Bury St. Edmund's, 

 a specimen, a fine red male, of the parrot crossbill, which was shot at Saxham in 

 this county, last November. As Messrs. Gurney and Fisher do not include this spe- 

 cies in their "Account of Birds found in Norfolk,'' (Zool. iv. 1312), I am glad to be 

 able to say that at Riddlesworth Hall there is one, also a red male, which was shot in 

 the neighbourhood, and. in that county, some years since. — Alfred Newton ; Elveden 

 Hall, Thetford, April 30, 1851. 



Observations on the Cuckoo, (Cuculus canorus). — On the morning of the 14th of 

 April, I was out shooting with a friend, for the purpose of obtaining specimens in Or- 

 nithology, and having arrived at a point of the river called the Alder Carr, situated 

 midway between Norwich and Thorpe, I heard from an adjoining tree the well-known 

 note of a cuckoo, which I observed perched at the distance of twenty yards. I was 

 about to fire, when over my head sailed another, with something between its mandi- 

 bles. My curiosity was excited, and leaving the other to speed on its way, I followed 

 in a boat the flying cuckoo, which I saw alight in an adjoining meadow. I reached 

 the bird within twenty yards, and observed it in the act of progressing, in a similar 

 way to the crawling of a parrot, by the side of a drain, with the substance still in its 

 beak ; after traversing some distance it stopped short, and at the same time I fired. 

 Upon nearing it, I found the substance before mentioned to be its egg, I am sorry to 

 say, broken, but still quite satisfactory to me that such was the case. Upon dissec- 

 VOL. IV. Z 



