NOTES AND QUERIES. 35 



want it." That being the case I retained it, and, on a more careful exami- 

 nation, was struck by the size of its head, the high arching of the bill, as 

 well as the feathered culraen, and the white spots about the head, while the 

 absence of white on the wing showed that it was not the Velvet Scoter; it 

 proves to be a young male Surf Scoter, (Edemia perspicillata, and the entire 

 absence of fat from the body leads me to suppose it had recently been 

 driven on our coast. The stomach contained marine grass, small shells, and 

 pebbles. Dr. Elliot-Coues, in his 'Key to North American Birds,' gives a 

 very good figure of the head of the young male of this species, which is 

 very different in marking to the adult male or female. — Edmund A. Elliot 

 (Kingsbridge, South Devon). 



Variation in Plumage of Woodpeckers and Nuthatch. — My experi- 

 ence points to the fact that Woodpeckers — and especially the green species 

 — are not liable to much variation in plumage, although we sometimes see 

 a specimen the pale yellowish green of the under parts of which is dappled 

 with darker arrow-headed markings, attributable, I think, to immaturity. 

 A short time ago I saw a male Green Woodpecker, the upper plumage of 

 which was unusually bright with its mixtures of green and yellow ; but 

 the whole under parts, from beak to tail, were of a uniform dark leaden 

 grey, reminding one of the breast and belly of the Water Rail, Rallus 

 aquoticus. It had been badly shot, and, being in an advanced state of 

 decomposition, was not preserved. I recollect a few years ago seeing a 

 Nuthatch, the entire plumage, especially the under parts, of which were of 

 the same dark hue. Is it likely that the bark of trees has anything to do 

 with darkening the lighter parts of the plumage of scansorial birds ? The 

 white patches upon the plumage of D. major and minor are often more or 

 less tinged with a dusky shade, whilst, on the contrary, I once saw a Picus 

 viridis, the colours of which appeared to be washed out ; and even the 

 larger wing-feathers, nsually dappled with white, were of a uniform dull 

 buff. Whilst on the subject of variation in Woodpeckers, I may mentiou 

 a white D. major, which some readers of ' The Zoologist ' may have seen 

 in a woodman's cottage in the Forest, and which eventually, I believe, was 

 purchased by the late Mr. Marshall, of Belmont, Taunton. — G. B. Cokbin 

 (Ringwood). 



Spotted Redshank in Co. Dublin.— On the 24th September last I was 

 fortunate enough to shoot a specimen of this rare wader on the shore of 

 Baldoyle Estuary. This, I believe, makes the fourth recorded occurrence 

 of Totanus fuscus on our east coast, the three other specimens obtained in 

 Ireland having been shot by Mr. Warren, of Moyview, Ballina, in the Moy 

 Estuary (Zool. 1887, p. 468, and 1889, p. 35). My specimen is a bird of 

 the year, having the breast clouded over with dusky grey. — E. Willtams 

 {'2, Dame Street, Dublin). 



