NOTES AND QUERIES. 427 



experimenting in this direction, for Barrow's Goldeneye would be an in- 

 teresting addition to the various species of wildfowl kept on ornamental 

 waters in this country. — H. A. Macpherson (Carlisle). 



Hybrid Mallard and Sheldrake. — I am sorry to report that the male 

 Sheldrake, which paired with a female Wild Duck, was not the male parent 

 of the young hybrids to which I referred (p. 396). Although the Sheldrake 

 was observed to pair with the duck, he seems to have been unsuccessful. 

 The eggs, it appears, were fertilised by an interloper, a Muscovy drake, 

 entirely unknown to us. The young birds are fine healthy specimens of 

 the cross between the Muscovy Duck and the Wild Duck. — H. A. Mac- 

 pherson (Carlisle). 



Baillon's Crake at Brighton. — On Sept. 2nd a good specimen of 

 Baillon's Crake was caught by birdcatchers on the downs near the Ditch- 

 ling Road, Brighton. It was brought to Messrs. Pratt & Son, where I saw 

 it alive on the following day. On dissection it proved to be a nearly mature 

 female. The base of the bill in life was greenish blue, and the breast is 

 pale grey, beautifully and regularly barred and mottled with darker grey, 

 but the chin is uniformly pale grey or almost white. The top of the head is 

 a most beautiful fawn-colour, and the eyes very bright, the irides being 

 fawn-coloured. In Saunders's ' Manual of British Birds' the adult male is 

 said to have the base of the bill and the irides red. The white line on the 

 outer web of the first primary is very distinct, but narrow. — A. F. Griffith 

 (15, Buckingham Place, Brighton). 



Black-backed Purple Gallinule in Hampshire.— In 'The Zoologist' 

 for 1866 (p. 229), the late Mr. H. Reeks, of Thruxton, recorded the capture 

 of a Purple Gallinule at Redbridge, near Southampton. Happening to be 

 in the neighbourhood, I thought it worth while to search this Porphyrio 

 out, which, with Mr. Edward Hart's help, I did, and found it in the cottage 

 of the man who shot it thirty years ago ; but instead of being Porphyrio 

 cmruleus, as we expected, it turned out to be a specimen of the Australian 

 Black-backed P. melanotus. The plumage showed no signs of confinement, 

 but the bird was probably an escaped one nevertheless. — J. H. Gurnet 

 (Keswick Hall, Norwich). 



Nesting of the Lesser Redpoll in Bedfordshire.— As the Lesser Red* 

 poll seems to have nested this year in greater numbers than usual in 

 Somersetshire, it may add further interest to the facts to note the fol- 

 lowing for Bedfordshire. Previous to this year I have only been able to 

 obtain information respecting one nest with eggs found in this county, and 

 that many years ago at Shefford. But this year I was able to obtain two 

 nests from the neighbourhood of Langford ; the first contained one egg, on 

 May 2nd, towards a clutch of five ; the second nest was taken on May 12th, 

 with five eggs. Since then a correspondent informed me that he secured a 



