Birds. 2493 



Mountain Linnet {Fringilla montand). A pair bred in the summer 

 of 1840 on a rocky bank called Anchor Church, a few miles distant 

 from Melbourne. The nest was found in June, built in a low bush of 

 bramble and furze, about two feet from the ground, and contained five 

 eggs. This is the only instance which has come to my knowledge 

 of the appearance of this bird here. 



Bullfinch {Loxia pyrrhula). As the villages hereabouts are almost 

 belted with orchards, the bullfinches commit serious damage upon gar- 

 deners and horticulturists. They frequent our gardens about February, 

 and prefer the buds of the cherry, plum, damson and gooseberry, and 

 pass over the currant, apple and pear with little molestation. They 

 are particularly fond of stone fruits. I have seen a single bird clear 

 more than a dozen twigs in a very short time : he commenced at the 

 bottom of each twig, twisting off every bud until he arrived at the top, 

 when he moved to another. They certainly prefer the blossom buds. 

 Towards spring they seek the plantations and woods to breed, and are 

 little seen. 



Crossbill [Loxia curvirostra). Crossbills have been shot off some 



fir trees in a small planting on Melbourne Common. They were 



stripping the fir cones and cracking them for the seeds. 



John Joseph Briggs. 

 Melbourne, Derbyshire. 



(To be continued). 



On useless Records in the ' Zoologist.' — There is one subject to which I wish to 

 call the attention of the writers in the ' Zoologist,' namely, to be sure that their notes 

 really record something new, or at least worthy of record. I nad intended to notice this 

 on the receipt of the March number, containing an account of the capture of a pole- 

 cat in Suffolk, of a bittern near Bury, and a curlew on Foulmire, recorded by Mr. 

 Newton in that number : now the polecat, I will venture to say, is to be found on 

 most rabbit-warrens ; in some parts of Suffolk it is far too common. The bittern, 

 though rarer than before the marshes were drained, cannot be considered as an extra- 

 ordinary bird ; and the curlew is not at all rare on any of the inland meres. The 

 consequence has been that one or two of your correspondents have gathered that these 

 animals are rare in Suffolk, and think it worth while to record their appearance in 

 their own counties. Mr. Newton, however, has been fairly surpassed, in the June 

 number, by Mr. Burroughes, who gravely records the death of a tufted duck, the 

 commonest of all the lobe-toed Anatidae in our inland waters ; nor can his other note 

 of the capture of the rough-legged buzzard be considered as worthy of remark. I 

 would not wish to disparage the efforts of my brother naturalists in the common cause, 

 still less to discourage a young naturalist like Mr. Burroughes ; but when erroneous 

 VII Y 



