NOTES AND QUERIEF. 67 



were just on the higher limit of the fir-growth, where it mingles with the 

 creeping pine. Patches of snow lay here and there. Ring Ouzels were 

 abundant ; we found half a dozen nests in the course of a morning's 

 ramble, all containing young birds. I caught two young ones which had 

 left the nest ; they were as wild as hawks at first, and I was obliged to 

 cram them, but they soon became tame and fed themselves. We conveyed 

 them down to the valley in a creel in company with three young Nut- 

 crackers which we took en route, the nest being in a young spruce not more 

 than twenty feet from the ground. The sexes of T. alpestris are dis- 

 tinguishable from the time they leave the nest. I brought these Ouzels 

 safely to England, and kept them in my sitting-room, under daily observa- 

 tion, where they changed, apparently without shedding a feather, into the 

 adult mottled plumages. I never saw a single feather either in the cage or 

 in the room during the whole time they were changing. This strikes me 

 as very remarkable. They are now deposited in the Zoological Gardens, 

 together with a specimen of T. torquatus. The difference between the 

 birds is very striking. The female of the mountain bird is much larger 

 than the male of the British bird ; they retain their mottled plumage all 

 the year. They invariably breed in trees from ten to thirty feet high, and 

 the song approaches that of the Song Thrush. I think there can be no 

 doubt that T. alpestris is entitled to specific rank. — J. Young (64, Hereford 

 Road, Bayswater, W.). 



Bittern in Berkshire. — On Jan. 10th a Bittern {Botaurns stellaris) was 

 shot by Mr. T. Dewe, of Longworth, on land in the occupation of Mr. 

 Chandler, at Duxford, about six miles north-east of Faringdon, Berks. — 

 A. Robinson (University Museum, Oxford). 



Snipe drumming in January.— On Jan. 16th I was told by a man that 

 he had heard a Snipe drumming the day before, and that same evening, 

 whilst standing for flight-shooting, I heard a Snipe drumming close to me. 

 The following evening, while at the same place, 1 heard one again. Is this 

 not unusual so early in the season ? Perhaps it may be accounted for by the 

 mildness of the weather at that time. Many Partridges have been paired 

 since the beginning of December. — John Stakes (Portchester, Hants). 



Shore Lark and Black Redstart in Gloucestershire.— A male speci- 

 men of the Shore Lark (Otocorys alpestris) was shot at Avonmouth, October 

 19th, 1894, by Mr. J. R. Burge. I know of no record of this species 

 occurring in our district for the last thirty years. On Jan. 8th I observed 

 a Black Redstart (Ruticilla titys) flying about the banks of the Avon, at 

 Sea Mills ; the bird kept very close under the bank, and, on being dis- 

 turbed, would fly a little way, and again alight close under the bank. 

 Sometimes it would fly a little way out on the mud, and, alighting on a 

 piece of wood or any projection, would vibrate its tail in the same way as 



