4254 Birds. 



Rev. Richard Lubbock, in his ' Fauna of Norfolk,' observes, that in three instances of 

 the occurrence of this bird coming under his notice, " it has without variation been 

 found in a turnip-field." I find that your correspondent Mr. Rodd, of Penzance, in 

 recording (Zool. 4179) the appearance of several other specimens recently in Corn- 

 wall, mentions that the wind had been S. or S.E. for some days ; at the time, however, 

 when the present example was procured, and for some days previously, the wind was 

 either N. or N.E. — H. Stevenson ; Norwich, January 28, 1854. 



Occurrence of the Little Bustard in Yorkshire. — A female specimen of the little 

 bustard was shot on the 19th inst., by the Rev. W. Blow, at Goodmanhara, on 

 the Yorkshire Wolds. It has been beautifully mounted by Mr. D. Graham, of 

 York. — Thomas H. Allis ; York, February, 1845. 



Occurrence of the Common Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) near Warrington. — A fine 

 male specimen of this bird was shot at Thelwall, on the bank of the Mersey, on 

 the 12th ult., by Mr. James Taylor, and has been presented to the Warrington 

 Museum by Heniy Stanton, Esq. — Nicholas Cooke; Penketh, near Warrington, 

 February, 1854. 



Occurrence of the Common Bittern (Ardea stellaris) at Chiswick. — A fine specimen 

 of the bittern was shot at a place called " Jessop's Eyot," Chiswick, on the 7th 

 of January last, by a man who sold it to me in the flesh ; I was also informed by the 

 same person that another was shot by the toll-keeper at Kew Bridge, about the same 

 time, and that he also saw it in the flesh. I believe it is a very rare occurrence for 

 the bird to be met with in this neighbourhood. — John Dutton ; St. Peters Place, 

 Hammersmith, February 16, 1854. 



Bartram's Sandpiper as a British Bird. — As no further notice has been taken of 

 the sandpiper described some while ago in the ' Zoologist' (Zool. 3330), by Mr. Reid, 

 nor have the conjectures offered at the time been since confirmed, I am induced, in 

 the absence of a better account, to lay before the readers of the * Zoologist ' what in- 

 formation I have obtained on the subject since I have been in Doncaster. His atten- 

 tion once called to the ' American Ornithology,' Mr. Reid soon satisfied himself that 

 his bird could be no other than Bartram's sandpiper, agreeing, as it did, in the most 

 minute particulars, with Wilson's description : and the very remarkable character ex- 

 hibited in its wedge-shaped tail, leaves no doubt as to the identity of the bird. It is 

 the Tringa Bartramia of Wilson, Am. Orn. vol. ii. 353 ; Totanus Bartramius of Tem- 

 minck, Man. d'Orn. ii. 650, and of Bonaparte, Synop. 325 ; and is well-figured 

 in Gould's ' Birds of Europe.' The circumstances under which the present indi- 

 vidual was found, agree so far exactly with what are said to be its habits in America : 

 and indeed Mr. Barnard, the gentleman who sent the bird to be preserved, was parti- 

 cularly surprised that it should have occurred " so far inland, sitting on a bean- 

 stubble, and in a place near to which there is no water." The locality was near 

 Warwick, not Warrington ; and this unique specimen I understand still remains in 

 the possession of R. T. Barnard, Esq., of Kinton Hall, near that city, to whom it 

 was brought in the first instance by the man who shot it. So many of the American 

 Tringidae have already been enrolled as British birds, that the occurrence of one more 

 species cannot be looked upon with jmuch surprise ; while in the case before us, the 

 fact that Bartram's sandpiper has for some time been known as a straggler on this 

 side of the Atlantic, will no doubt serve still further to justify its introduction into our 

 Fauna. For this very interesting novelty wc are indebted to the discrimination of 

 Mr. Rcid, who, when recording its description, felt confident his sandpiper had not 



