30 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



having been in captivity. The beak was flesh-coloured at the base and 

 black at the point ; eyes brownish yellow, legs and feet bright pink. After 

 being skinned the carcase was examined by Mr. Cordeaux, who tells me 

 that it was excessively fat. The stomach contained nothing but fine gravel ; 

 the bird was, however, shot very early in the morning. — C. H. Caton 

 Haigh (Aber-ia, Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, North Wales). 



Scoters in South Hants (?). — Every Hampshire naturalist must have 

 read with astonishment the statement made by Mr. Percival-Westell 

 ('Zoologist,' 1898, p. 505) as regards Scoters {(Edemia nigra) being 

 common in Hayling Island and the Isle of Wight " all the year round, so 

 doubtless breed there." Indeed a "record" for Hampshire. But, alas! 

 the writer gave away his case when he said they were called " Isle of Wight 

 Parsons," for, as it is well known, that is the local name for the Common 

 Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). Moreover, the Scoter is a very rapid 

 flying bird, and never "lazily wings " its way. We have the best authority 

 for saying that the Scoter is very rarely — if ever — in the south of Hants 

 in the summer, and we are doubtful whether there is any record of its 

 breeding here. — Alec Goldney Headley (Portchester, Hants). 



Nesting Habits of the Moorhen.— In the last number of ' The Zoolo- 

 gist ' (1898, p. 506) there appears a note asking for the results of observa- 

 tions by other ornithologists of the nesting habits of Gallinula chloropus. 

 In my own experience as a collector I never found the eggs of this species 

 covered during the absence of the parent birds — in fact, in every case the 

 eggs could be seen as soon as the nest was discovered. I remember a nest 

 which I found in a small pit near here on April 29th, 1898, containing a 

 full clutch of eggs. Although the eggs were boldly marked, and both nest 

 and eggs perfectly visible from the bank, there was not the slightest attempt 

 at concealment by covering them up. A few weeks later I came suddenly 

 upon a pair of Moorhens in a small pit at Ashley, Cheshire. The birds, 

 one of which I saw quite distinctly before it saw me, flew away, and I at 

 once searched for the nest, which I found quite exposed on the opposite side 

 of the pit to which I had seen the parent birds. As there were only two 

 eggs in it, and not a full clutch, perhaps this latter instance does not furnish 

 sufficient data on which to found an opinion ; but I think other ornitholo- 

 gists will agree with me that at any rate in many cases the eggs of the 

 Moorhen are left uncovered. — Graham Renshaw (Sale Bridge House, 

 Sale, Manchester). 



I notice in the last issue of ' The Zoologist,' 1898, p. 506, a note by 

 Mr. Hewitt on the nidification of the Moorhen, and an invitation to field 

 naturalists to coufirm or otherwise whether the sitting bird covers the eggs 

 on leaving the nest. At a small lake in a thickly wooded district near 



