NOTES AND QUERIES. 377 



6 in. ; tarsus, 1 in. The plumage was in perfect condition, and there was 

 no abrasion of the extremities of the wings or tail-feathers such as there 

 certainly would have been had the bird made its escape from captivity. As 

 above stated, it was picked up dead in a garden near Bridport, where 

 it had been previously observed flying about. It is possible, of course, 

 that its advent to this country may have been aided by a temporary 

 rest in the rigging of some homeward-bound vessel, but of this there 

 is no evidence. The last specimen of this bird recorded to have been 

 met with on this side of the Atlantic was also picked up dead, in a wood 

 near Aberystwyth in October, 1870 (' Handbook of British Birds,' p. 124), 

 and in April, 1871, was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society 

 (P.Z.S. 1871, p. 299), by Mr. Dresser, who remarked that it showed no 

 signs of haviug been in captivity, and was apparently a young bird. The 

 specimen now under notice was evidently adult, as appeared not only by 

 the measurements and the general absence of light edges to the feathers of 

 the dorsal plumage, but also by the fully-developed bill and feet. This 

 makes the sixth instance in which the American Yellow-billed Cuckoo has 

 been met with in the British Islands. — J. E. Harting. 



The Rate of Flight in Birds.— Mr. Warde Fowler makes incidental 

 mention (supra, p. 309) of a subject concerning which there seems to exist 

 much difference of opinion among naturalists, viz. the rate of flight in birds. 

 Since Mr. Fowler only " roughly calculated" the speed (150 miles per hour) 

 at which the birds were travelling, it were unfair to take it as altogether 

 expressive of his opinion ; and I need only say that from repeated observa- 

 tions (made to satisfy myself as to the accuracy or otherwise of the estimates 

 of Michelet and the Duke of Argyll) I conclude that Swallows very rarely 

 exceed 100 miles per hour. Indeed, so far as I can judge, the ordinary 

 flight of these birds during their migrations is from fifty to sixty miles per 

 hour. Those who have noticed these migrations will to a greater or less 

 extent agree with me in regarding the flight on such occasions as peculiar 

 thereto — less brilliant and evolutionary, but more steadily maintained than 

 the usual flight, being, in short, that of birds on a serious errand. Calcula- 

 tions made after the manner of Mr. Fowler's (" by noting the progress from 

 point to point") are apt to be faulty, owing to the great difficulty of knowing 

 for certain when birds are passing a distant point. It would be of interest 

 and value if readers of 'The Zoologist' would give the benefit of their 

 experience in this matter, with a view of arriving at some unanimity of 

 opinion. — W. C. J. Buskin Butterfield (Stanhope Place, St. Leonards- 

 on-Sea). 



[The latest contributions to knowledge on this subject which have 

 reached us are to be found in the recently-published English translation of 

 Herr Gatke's ' Birds of Heligoland,' noticed in the first article of the present 

 number. In the chapter on "Velocity of the Migration Flight" (p. 63) 



ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XIX. — OCT. 1895. 2 G 



