2352 Birds. 



of the position, soon caused the death of the unfortunate bird. After extricating him, 

 by means of a pole, I found the head quite bared of the feathers, so earnest were his 

 mates in their attempts to release him. — William H. Tugwell, Jun. ; High Street, 

 Reigate, Surrey, November 24, 1848. 



Late stay of Sivallows (Hirundo rustica) at Rye. — On the 13th of November I 

 saw two young swallows. On the 14th the same again. On the 17th I saw another. 

 On the 18th the same again. On the 28th I saw nine. On the 29th the same again : 

 these were the last I saw. None of these were our swallows, which departed long be- 

 fore. — /. B. Ellman ; Rye, December 6, 1848. 



Note on the Partridge (Perdix cinerea). — When shooting, in December, 1841, near 

 Hatfield, in Lincolnshire, I saw a pack of partridges, probably forty in number : they 

 were very wild, and it was quite impossible to get near them. I was told that it was 

 not at all an uncommon occurrence in that district. It is the first and only instance 

 that has fallen under my own observation. — Beverley R. Morris, A.B., M.D.; York, 

 November 22, 1848. 



The Black Grouse (Tetrao Tetrix) breeding in Devonshire. — This bird breeds regu- 

 larly, but in very limited numbers, on the high ground between Axmouth, Devon, and 

 Lyme Regis, in Dorset; and in 1845, when passing through Taunton, in Somerset, 

 in September, I saw a male bird, at the hotel at which I stopped, which had been shot 

 in that neighbourhood the day before. The landlord told me that some were shot 

 there every year. — Id. 



Note on the Tail-feathers of the Green Sandpiper (Totanus ochropus). — In his 

 description of this bird in the ' Naturalist's Library,' Sir W. Jardine describes the 

 three outside tail-feathers thus : " The third from the outside with only two (distinct 

 broad black bars towards the tip). The second with a spot on the outer web, the ex- 

 terior feather entirely white." In my specimen — I have but one — the third feather 

 from the outside has one distinct bar, and two dots on the outer web ; the second, one 

 imperfect bar, and one dot on the outer web ; the third, one very obscure bar, and one 

 dot on the outer web. My specimen has all the appearance of being an old bird, and 

 is in fine plumage. I have no doubt that in birds of a certain age these marks would 

 be found uniform. Of what age is my specimen ? and which is the older bird, Sir W. 

 Jardine's or mine ? Or are these the distinctions of sex ? It may be thought hardly 

 worth while to notice such trifling differences ; but any fact, however small, is of some 

 value, and, in the confessedly imperfect state of our knowledge as to the changes of 

 plumage in the sandpipers, may assist in ultimately elucidating the subject. — Id. 



Occurrence of the Common Crane in Shetland. — I saw one of these birds on the 

 mainland of Shetland, on the 14th of August last. At that time it was very shy, and 

 my only chance of getting a shot at it was spoiled by a hooded crow, which got up 

 and gave the alarm ; but I had a good view of it with my glass. I watched it for 

 some time, during which it stood with its neck raised and the feathers pressed close to 

 the body, just like a heron when alarmed. It flew like the stork and spoonbill, with 

 the neck stretched out ; the wings did not appear so arched as those of the heron. I 

 had been looking for it several clays ; but it appears I was always too late, as it 

 crossed a narrow arm of the sea usually towards the middle of the day, or after having 

 been disturbed. It frequented an isthmus of good pasture-land, called Hillswick 

 Ness, on the west of the mainland, not very far from Ronas Hill. What its usual food 

 was I do not know : the people about thought it grazed like a goose ; but when first 



