226 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



having been previously observed for three summers, and the other for five 

 or six ; they were both females, and I believe an adult male of this colour 

 has never been obtained. The adult brown Cuckoo is thought by some to 

 be a distinct species, and has been figured and described under the name 

 of Cuculus hepaticus" If our memory serves us, for it is a good many 

 years since these remarks were penned, the two examples of adult brown 

 Cuckoos above mentioned were shot by that excellent field-naturalist, the 

 late Frederick Bond, and were long preserved in his collection. — Ed.]. 



Black Redstart in Kent.— On March 26th I saw a Black Redstart, 

 R. tithys, near the village of Wye. It flew up from the side of the road, 

 and perched on the roof of a cottage close by. It was apparently a young 

 bird in the uniform slaty-grey plumage. — J. H. Caton Haigh (Aber-Ia, 

 Penrhyndeudraeth, Merionethshire, North Wales). 



Dark Variety of the Barn Owl. — A very dark buff-coloured variety of 

 the Barn Owl, Strix ftammea, was brought to Mr. Pratt, the taxidermist at 

 Brighton, on October 24th, 1893. It was caught in a barn near Brighton, 

 and proved to be a female. It must not be forgotten that there is a fulvous 

 or dark race of our Barn Owl, which I have occasionally seen (cf. Zool. 1880, 

 p. 43 ; 1885, p. 52) ; but the present example is still darker, especially on 

 the back. Dr. Sharpe, in his study of the Barn Owls, confirms the general 

 opinion that any very fulvous Barn Owl is a migrant from Denmark, where 

 this dark race or species preponderates. The example now referred to closely 

 resembles one which I lately saw in Mrs. Dawson Rowley's collection, which 

 is figured in the ' Ornithological Miscellany,' vol. i. p. 62. This also was 

 caught at Brighton. Writing from memory, there is one in the Norwich 

 Museum darker and more richly coloured than either of these. This was 

 taken on our east coast in December, 1864, and is alluded to in Stevenson's 

 ' Birds of Norfolk.' Whether these dark owls can ever be maintained as a 

 species is doubtful, and that certainly was not my father's opinion, nor is it 

 Dr. Sharpe's, in spite of the immense difference between the extremes 

 of the two phases in respect of colour. — J. H. Gurney (Keswick Hall, 

 Norwich). 



Short-eared Owl on Northumberland Moors.— With regard to certain 

 remarks which I made in ' The Zoologist ' for March (p. 1 14), in 

 reference to the visitation of Short-eared Owls to certain Northumberland 

 moors, I may state that on the moors referred to they are not now present. 

 The voles having disappeared, the owls have apparently followed suit, 

 The keeper told me he had found several dead owls, and he attributed their 

 death to want of food, in other words, scarcity of mice ; apparently a 

 certain area of moor has only a limited number of mice on it, insufficient 

 to maintain an indefinite number of owls. — A. C. Chapman (Moor House, 

 Leamside). 



