Birds. 2383 



body's piece of water, as the bird has not yet occurred in a wild state in Britain, al- 

 though one or two instances * like the present have been recorded ; and if it were to 

 occur, it would probably not be inland or in an eastern county. I may here take 

 the opportunity of observing, that it seems to me that it would be very convenient to 

 zoologists if persons — having had foreign or rare British birds escaped from them — 

 were in some way or other to let them know of the fact, as it would clear up doubts as 

 to the character of additions to our general and local fauna ; and I know of no better 

 means of conveying this intelligence than the pages or cover of the ' Zoologist,' which 

 I have no doubt would be open to this as to every other way of assisting in the know- 

 ledge of Natural History : for this purpose a couple of lines would, in most cases, I 

 should think, be sufficient. An immature Richardson's skua was shot on the warren 

 here, October 30th : it had been seen the day previously, and was so tame that it set- 

 tled within a few yards of a man who was mending a road, and who mistook it for an 

 eagle which had been occasionally seen here about that time, but of the capture of 

 which I have not yet heard authentically. While on the subject of skuas, I may say 

 that I saw at Cambridge, last autumn, a beautiful adult BufFon's skua, which had 

 been shot near St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, in September last. I may also as well 

 add, that within the last ten days a black-throated diver has been taken off the coast 

 at Lynn-Regis. — Id. 



On some of the Rarer Birds found in Devonshire. By W. R. Scott, M.D. 



I forward you a few remarks on some of the rarer birds which have come into 

 my possession since I last addressed you, and which I trust may not be considered 

 unworthy of your notice, nor useless as adding to the statistics of Ornithology. 



A fine specimen of the hobby (Falco subbuteo P) was shot here in 1846, and I have 

 seen one or two others shot since. I am uncertain whether the bird I have is the 

 common hobby or Falco rufipes, as the specimen does not altogether agree with either 

 of these birds as described by Mr. Yarrell. The general markings correspond pretty 

 well with the male of F. subbuteo, but the thighs are of a deep rufous colour, which 

 is one of the distinctions of F. rufipes, while the tarsi of my bird are of a lemon-yel- 

 low, and the orange-legged hobby as described in Yarrell has legs and toes of a red- 

 dish flesh-colour ; and though the bird in its different ages is recorded as passing 

 through several changes of plumage, still the legs appear in all cases to be the same. 

 In the common hobby we have the legs and toes yellow, without the thighs rufous, 

 while the other parts of the birds very closely resemble each other. 



A specimen of the Falco peregrinus has been killed here, and I have also 

 heard of another which has been taken in this neighbourhood. These birds I am 

 told are yet found breeding on Dartmoor, but they are by no means common in this 

 neighbourhood. 



A specimen of the ring ouzel (Turdus torquatus) was taken in a trap a little way 

 from this place, and from its plumage I should think it was a young bird, and which 



' Zoologist,' 2067, and Jenyns' ' Manual of British Vertebrate Animals,' 237. 



