Birds. 2411 



ceiving a canary, hung in a cage, in the dining-room of the Rev. H. Armstrong, of 

 Whixley, about three weeks since, darted through a pane of glass in the window, and 

 was killed — in attempting to secure his prey — by one of the inmates of the house. 

 The bird was sent to me the day following, and now forms a part of my collection. — 

 James C. Garth. 



Occurrence of the Honey Buzzard (Buteo apivorus) at Udimore, Sussex. — A few 

 days since I obtained an immature specimen of this bird, shot at the above place last 

 autumn. — /. B. Ellman ; Rye, March 17, 1849. 



Occurrence of the Honey Buzzard near Worcester. — A specimen of the honey buz- 

 zard was shot on the 2nd of October, in Bewdley Forest, about 14 miles from Wor- 

 cester. This is a splendid specimen. — M. Curtler ; Bevere House, near Worcester, 

 January 27, 1849. 



Variety of the Tawny Owl (Strix Aluco). — A singular variety of the tawny owl 

 has been taken at Pensax, about 12 miles from Worcester. This bird is precisely of 

 the same size and shape as the common tawny owl, and is marked in the same man- 

 ner, but all the parts of the plumage which are usually brown are of a light ashy gray 

 colour. I have lately been informed by a gentleman, who resides within a few miles 

 of the place where this bird was taken, that in the summer a pair of tawny owls made 

 their nest in the hole of an old tree, and so low that any one — whilst standing on the 

 ground — could see the old bird on the nest. The female bird laid two eggs in this 

 nest, and in due time hatched both of them. The young birds were constantly ob- 

 served by my friend, and he had noticed a great difference in the colour of their 

 plumage, — the one being of the natural colour and the other of a very pale gray. 

 My friend saw the latter bird about his house several times after it had left the nest. 

 — Id. 



Occurrence of the Great Gray Shrike (Lanius excubitor) at Heacham, Norfolk. — 

 As the habits of this bird may not be generally known, the following may be found 

 worthy of a place in the ' Zoologist.' A fine adult male specimen was shot by me on 

 the 15th of January, after watching its movements for two days. I was attracted to 

 the tree — viz. the whitethorn (Mespilus oxyacantha) — by its peculiar sharp cry: on my 

 first observing it on the top of the tree, I mistook it for the gray wagtail (Motacilla 

 Boarula, Linn.), from its active, irregular flight, and the constant agitation of its tail, 

 so peculiar to the above class of birds : on nearer observation I soon perceived it dif- 

 fered in many respects from it. The Lanius excubitor is, I believe, an occasional 

 visitant in England, between the months of November and February : it is generally 

 a solitary bird, and feeds upon insects, as well as small birds and the smaller class of 

 animals, which it destroys by strangulation. After having killed its prey it transfixes 

 it upon a thorn, and then tears it in pieces with its bill, which is peculiarly adapted 

 for this process, being strong, arched and compressed, and armed with a prominent 

 emargination or tooth. When I shot this specimen it was in the act of destroying 

 and eating a small bird, which it had fixed firmly to the thorn, and which it still held 

 for some time after it was shot, — hanging from the bough with its head downwards, 

 and only fell to the ground after the muscular action had ceased. When confined in 

 a cage this bird evinces the same propensity for fixing its food, and if a sharp pointed 

 stick or thorn is not left for that purpose it will invariably fasten it to the wires before 

 commencing its repast. — (Vide Selby's ' Illustrations of British Ornithology.' ) Its 

 voice is capable of variation, and possesses great powers of imitating the notes of the 

 smaller birds, by which means it doubtless may allure them within its reach. It is 



