Quadrupeds. — Birds. 3843 



specimens, for such was our paucity of provisions, and the insufficien- 

 cy of our means to take plenty of fish, that there were never any to 

 spare, and it would have been running the risk of mutiny to abstract 

 a specimen for my pickle-jars from my hungry people. 



" I made a great effort to get specimens of the hyacinthine macaw, 

 and engaged two hunters for some ten or twelve days. They ascended 

 amongst the cataracts in a small boat, and I thus obtained six tolera- 

 ble skins ; although the price given by ornithologists in London, will 

 never repay the extra expense and trouble they occasioned me. 



" I am sorry I cannot get any part of the things ready to send by 

 this vessel. I arrived here quite exhausted, suffering under a bilious 

 attack, and quite incapable of doing anything ; but now, thanks to a 

 course of calomel, rest, and wholesome food, am a little better. 



"H. W. Bates." 



Occurrence of the Otter in various Localities. — In the * Nottingham Journal ' for 

 the 25th of February, 1853, it is stated that "An otter of about 30 lbs. weight was 

 shot at Barrow-on-Soar, Leicestershire, on Saturday last." There has also been one 

 seen about Colwick Hall, Nottingham, this winter. A few years ago an otter was 

 shot at Beeston Weir, by the present Sir Eobert Clifton, who saw it come out of the 

 water as he was lying in wait for ducks in the dusk of the evening. Traces of otters 

 are still occasionally seen on the river Derwenl, between Matlock and Derby; but the 

 animals must be in extremely small numbers. An otter was caught in a landing-net 

 some months ago in the Thames, a short distance below Windsor Bridge. There are 

 still a few of them in the slow-running feeders of the the Thames in Berkshire. — Ed- 

 ward Wolley ; Beeston, February 25, 1853. 



Additions to the List of Birds of Orkney and Zetland. — In addition to our list of 

 birds printed in 1848, besides the occurrence of several rare species, we have to add 

 the following, as novelties : — Tengmalm's owl, (Noctua Tengmalmi) ; the common 

 whitethroat, (Curruca cinerea) ; Bohemian waxwing, {Bombycilla garrula) ; and spot- 

 ted redshank, (Totanus fuscus). — Wm. Balfour Baikie, M.D.; Haslar Hospital, March 

 2, 1853. 



Occurrence of the Collared Pratincole (Glareola torquata) in Wiltshire. — I have 

 great pleasure in recording the occurrence of that rare visitor to this country, the col- 

 lared pratincole, which pleasure is considerably enhanced by the circumstance of its 

 being shot in my own county, and of its finding its way into my collection, through the 

 kindness of the gentleman who killed it. It appears that in the middle of November 

 last, when Mr. Hussey, a farmer, of Tilshead, was walking over his land, the day being 

 very rough and cold, the wind blowing from the East, he saw a strange bird descend 

 near him with the velocity of lightning, and settle inside a sheep-fold among the sheep. 



