Birds. 2353 



seen, some six or eight weeks before I was there, it was at the earcass of a sheep, and 

 it flew several times round the head of the boy who disturbed it, screaming and 

 frightening him much. Curiously enough, when last seen, it was also u pecking the 

 body of a dead sheep." This was on the 13th of October, moon fall, as Mr. Gideon 

 Anderson, the laird of Hillswick, has kindly informed me. A stay of so rare a visitor 

 three or four months in the same neighbourhood is very interestiug : if it were to re- 

 turn another year with a mate it would be still more so. Willughby's authority, and 

 the old law against taking their e_. nelusive as to the fact of their formerly 



frequenting the Cambridgeshire fens and breeding in this country. Several years 

 since one was shot in the island of South Konaldsha, in the Orkneys, and one or two 

 instances are recorded of its visiting Shetland. The people about had exaggerated 

 stories of the great bird that had appeared at Hillswick. Many had seen it, yet from 

 their descriptions I had some doubts whether it was a bustard or a crane: one man 

 had been near enough to see the red about the head. — John Wolley ; 3. Roxburgh 

 Terrace, Edinburgh, November, 1848. 



Note on the Heron (Ardea cinerea) as an article of Food. — In the accounts of feasts 

 in the olden time, we often see mention made of the heron, as one of the delicacies set 

 before the guests. Some four or five years ago I had the curiosity to taste one, which 

 had been shot on Strensall Common, near this city. It was kept a reasonable time, 

 and dressed in the most approved mode. It was not at all fishy, but was hard and 

 dry, and of no very agreeable flavour. There was little encouragement to make a se- 

 cond attempt. In justice to the heron, I must, however, admit that this was an adult 

 bird in full leather : possibly a more juvenile specimen might have proved more pa- 

 latable. Even this one might, I should think, have passed muster if made into what 

 is known to all sailors as a sea-pie, and which makes almost anything savoury and 

 r —Beverley R. Morris, A.B.. M.D. . Y: :. V 2d. 1-4 > 



Occurrence of the Summer Duck (Anas sponsa) near Deal. — On Monday, Novem- 

 ber 6th, a fine specimen of this bird was shot in the meadow at Walmer Castle : I am 

 not aware that it has previously occurred in this neighbourhood. Another specimen 

 fhot in a dyke at Marsh Side, Chislet, by a person of the name of Rogers, on the 

 8th of November. Both birds are males. — J. W. Hulke ; 155, Lower Street, Deal, 

 Kent, November, 1848. 



Remarkable Colour of the Yelk in the Eggs of the Common Duck. — At a farm near 

 Norwich I was shown some eggs of the common duck, the yelk of which was of a dark 

 brown colour, not unlike melted glue : the eggs were laid that day and smelt quite 

 fresh. They are perfectly good for hatching ; but the young lay the same sort of e. . - 

 and therefore, of course, the breed is not worth keeping. There are a great many 

 ducks kept at the same place, but only a few lay these peculiar eggs. — Peter E. Hansel/ ; 

 Thorpe, December 14, 1848. 



Occurrence of the Green Cormorant (Phalacrocorax graculus) and Hooded Crow 

 (Corvus comix) near Borobridge. — Last week, the keeper on the estate of Andrew 

 Lawson, Esq.. at Roecliffe, near Borobridge shot an immature specimen of the green 

 cormorant, and also a very good specimen of the hooded crow. — James C. Garth; 

 Knaresborough, October 27, 184 



Ornithological Observations in Norfolk for September and October, 1848. — In Sep- 

 tember: the Sandwich tern, at Lynn, about the end of the month : the red-necked 

 phalarope, at Waxham, on the 26th and 30th ; and the hobby, at Brixton, about the 



