Birds. 1701 



form an opinion of its merits, amounted lately to several thousand objects. These he 

 has been compelled, from circumstances, to part with, at a price very far below their 

 real value ; but, undismayed by this, he is still as anxious as ever in his researches, and 

 as devoted as before in his love of Nature. Such an example is well worthy of imita- 

 tion, and deserves to be known ; and I trust that, on this account, your own ex- 

 cellent publication may be the means of recommending this meritorious and modest 

 individual to a more extended notice than he has yet enjoyed. I may mention, 

 while on the subject of birds deemed rare, at least in your part of the island, that, 

 while in pursuit of the present specimen of the ivory gull, the individual now men- 

 tioned, met, in one day, and in a walk along the coast of scarcely five miles, with no 

 fewer than fifty-seven specimens of the little auk, (Mergulus alle), which had been 

 washed ashore dead. It may easily be conceived how furious and continued the 

 storm must have been which deprived so many of these intrepid little navigators of 

 life, on that very ocean, where, in ordinary weather, they disport themselves in safety, 

 and find ample means of subsistence. Specimens of razor-bills, guillemots, and 

 purlins were seen, at the same time, strewed about in corresponding numbers.— 

 James Smith; Manse of Monquhitter by Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Feb. 15th, 1847. 



Occurrence of the Gannet near Dartford, Kent. — A few days since, a gannet {Sula 

 alba) was brought to me, which had been captured by a shepherd in a turnip-field, 

 about three miles from this place. The man had much difficulty in securing it, and 

 his hands were torn in many places by its beak. The facts of its not flying when he 

 approached it, and of there being no food in its stomach, induce me to suppose it was 

 weakened by hunger. I hardly know whether the circumstance is worth writing about, 

 but I have neither seen or heard of its occurring so far up the Thames ; and the field 

 in which it was caught was fully five miles from the river. — R. O. White ; Swanscombe 

 Cross, near Dartford, March 5th, 1847. 



Occurrence of the Little Auk near Chipping Norton. — In December last, a speci- 

 men of this aquatic bird was caught thus far inland, on a farm at the village of Sal- 

 ford, about two miles from this place ; it was brought alive to the town, and has since 

 been preserved. Some years since, another individual, killed by one of the hawk 

 tribe, was picked up in an adjoining parish by a young farmer, who tried to shoot the 

 aggressor, but in vain. The prize was stuffed, and is still in the same person's pos- 

 session. — T. Goatley ; Chipping Norton, March 18th, 1847. 



Birds taken up in a Balloon. — At the altitude of 11,000 feet, they liberated a green- 

 finch, which flew away directly ; but soon feeling itself abandoned in the midst of an 

 unknown ocean of clouds, it returned, and settled on the stays of the balloon : then 

 mustering fresh courage, it took a second flight, and dashed downwards to the earth, 

 describing a tortuous, yet almost perpendicular, track. A pigeon, which they let off 

 under similar circumstances, afforded a more curious spectacle : placed on the edge of 

 the car, it rested awhile, measuring, as it were, the breadth of that unexplored sea 

 which it designed to traverse ; now launching into the abyss, it fluttered irregularly, 

 and seemed at first to try its wings in the thin element ; till after a few strokes, it 

 gained more confidence, and whirling in large circles, or spirals, like a bird of prey, it 

 precipitated itself towards the mass of extended clouds, where it was lost from sight. — 

 Scientific Gazette, August 6th, 1825. 



Notice of Ornithological and other Occurrences in Norfolk for the Month of 

 March, 1847. — The early part of this month was marked by the disappearance of the 

 unusual numbers of the marsh-tit, referred to in our last communication (Zool. 1691). 

 V T 



