Birds. 2499 



made certain of obtaining the bird from the shooter, I should have watched on Friday 

 night myself.— #. T. Frere ; Blofield, June 14, 1849. 



Occurrence of the Little Bittern near Manchester. — On the 19th of May last, a gen- 

 tleman, who was out with a gun in the immediate vicinity of the Water- works Com- 

 pany's reservoir at Gorton, shot a very fine specimen of the little bittern, which is now 

 in the possession of Mr. Harrop, bird and animal preserver, 13, Cooper Street, where 

 it may be seen. There is no instance of this bird having been previously met with 

 in this neighbourhood. — Thomas Webster ; Ormond Street, Manchester, June 1 1 , 

 1849. 



Occurrence of Spoonbill, $-c, near Yarmouth. — The following rather scarce birds 

 occurred at or near Yarmouth, early in this month : a spoonbill (male), a pair of wood 

 sandpipers, and one or two specimens of the Kentish plover. More recently a 

 beautiful male specimen of that rare bird, the gray-headed wagtail (Motacilla neg- 

 lecta) has been procured at Lowestoft. — J. H. Gurney ; Easton, near Norwich, June, 

 1849. 



Occurrence of the Spotted Sandpiper (Totanus macularius) near Bishop's Auckland. 

 — A fine specimen of that rare bird, the spotted sandpiper, was shot by Mr. H. Gor- 

 nal, animal preserver, on the margin of the river Wear, a little west of this place, and 

 is now in my collection : it was shot early in April, and appeared to have arrived a 

 few days earlier than the common sandpiper. — Joseph Duff; Bishops Auckland, June 

 16, 1849. 



Occurrence of the Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanura) on Guy him Wash. — 

 Four beautiful specimens of the black-tailed godwit, in spring plumage, were shot on 

 GuyhirnWash, six miles from Wisbeach, on the 18th ultimo. It is many years since 

 the godwit was seen on this Wash, at this season of the year. — T. W. Foster, Curator ; 

 Wisbeach. 



The Landrail (Crex pratensis) remaining in England during Winter. — In the 

 1 Zoologist' (Zool. 2419) it is mentioned that a landrail had been seen near Eye, in 

 December, and that another occurred in February. This supports me in believing 

 that, in many parts of the country at least, landrails do not migrate, but remain all 

 the winter. I know of many instances of their being observed during that season in 

 Orkney, and of their having been dug out of turf-dykes and peat-mosses in a torpid 

 state. I mentioned several such cases in the first part of the ' Natural History 

 of Orkney,' about a year ago, and have given also other facts and reasons opposed to 

 their supposed migration. — Wm. Balfour Baikie ; London, May 22, 1849. 



Occurrence of the Gannet or Solan Goose (Sula bassana) near Wisbeach. — I have un- 

 der preparation two fine adult male specimens of the solan goose, both of which were 

 taken in this neighbourhood during the present month. The wind for some days 

 previously had been blowing from the north-east, and the birds appeared to be in an 

 exhausted state, so much so that in both instances they were taken by the hand. I 

 have a third specimen, which was taken in 1843, in company with some tame geese. 

 — T. W. Foster. 



Occurrence of the Caspian Tern (Sterna Caspia) near Great Yarmouth. — A fine 

 specimen of the Caspian tern was shot by Mr. Harry Barber, of this town, on Satur- 

 day morning, June 9th, on Breydon Walls, about a mile from Yarmouth. It is a 

 remarkably fine bird, and measures from tip to tip of the wings 4 ft. 3^ inches, and 

 from the tip of the tail to the point of the beak 22 inches. It is a male specimen in 



