8444 Birds. 



the eggs, I took her home in a small fishing creel, and casting in a titmouse which I 

 had shot found it nearly devoured when I arrived home. I had her for a long time in 

 a cage, and a very pretty little pet she was, becoming very tame. The call-note was 

 a very musical soft whistle, which, however, I never heard, except in the evening and 

 night. I could never detect the slightest difference in plumage in the male and 

 female. Till I took the nest in Wermland no Swedish naturalist appeared to be aware 

 of the fact that this owl bred so far south. We took our first nest at Quickiock on 

 the 2nd of May, and the last on the 30th of May.— H. Wheelwright, in 'The Field* 

 of January 31,1 863. 



[This excellent and very observant naturalist sometimes uses the same word in 

 slightly different senses, thus rendering the context somewhat obscure. It will be 

 noticed in the present most interesting paper that after explicitly stating that these 

 owls make no nest, he speaks of their nests several times, alluding evidently to the hole 

 in which these eggs are deposited. The assertion that these owls make no nest I 

 believe to be quite correct. — E. Newman]. 



Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubitor) near Taunton.— Last November a specimen 

 of the great gray shrike was shot on the Nynehead estate, and has come into Captain 

 Sanford's possession. The history of this specimen is a little singular, and perhaps 

 may serve to show the fate of many a rare bird which a collector would give almost 

 anything to obtain. The shrike was shot by a labourer who brought it home for his 

 children to play with. After having amused them for a day or two it was thrown out 

 on a dung-heap, as it had become rather stale. It here attracted the notice of Captain 

 Sanford's gamekeeper, who, not knowing what it was, took it away for his master's 

 inspection. It had been in the dung-heap a day or two before this happened, so that 

 the bird-preserver in Taunton had rather a business to make a presentable specimen 

 of it. — Murray A. Matthews; Taunton, December 6, 1862. 



Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubitor) near Newmarket. — I obtained yesterday a 

 fine male specimen of the great gray shrike, which had been shot a few days previously 

 near Newmarket. — J. E. Harting, Kingsbury, January 8, 1863. 



Occurrence of the Redbreasted Flycatcher (Muscicapa parva) in Cornwall. — The 

 following communication which 1 received from Mr. Gould enables me to add the 

 above interesting and (to Western Europe) rare species to our Cornish list of birds : — 



" Strange to say on the very day I visited Falmouth one of the rarest of European 

 birds was shot for the first time in Great Britain, and it being killed in Cornwall I 

 thought you would like to know something about it. The bird in question is the Mus- 

 cicapa parva, and you will find figures of it in Part 14 of my • Birds of Europe,' which 

 you have in the Penzance Museum. The plates will at once give you an idea of this 

 pretty species (a robin among the flycatchers). I certainly never expected this singular 

 bird to have been added to our Fauna. This occasional lateral migration of birds is very 

 singular : the proper home of the species is Western India or the eastern parts of 

 Europe. The specimen was sent in the flesh to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, 

 and in this state I had it in my hands, so that there is no mistake about it. The bird 

 was in good condition, thanks to your genial climate. The bird was shot on the 24th 

 of January, by Mr. Copeland, of Carwythenack House, in the parish of Constantine, 

 near Falmouth, and is a female. Unfortunately the specimen was placed in some 

 insecure place, and the head was eaten by mice or rats, so that the body alone was 

 sent to the Museum. If you write to Mr. Copeland ask him to look out for the male, 

 which will have a red breast. — John Gould." 



